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No more the dark, dingy rooms traditionally associated with gambling, it's time to bet online
American country singer Randy Travis had something else in mind when he highlighted the word 'gambling' in his song - You see love is a gamble, it is a chance you take. You lay your heart down, and you bet it won't break — and a love-struck soul would agree!
But now that Shakespeare is long gone, gambling too has acquired a new lover, the web browser and it has shifted its base from the podium of the heart to the more realistic virtual world. This makes sense and sounds real too. So, the love affair continues, though in an all-new setting. You bet it has more takers, we mean more 'dedicated poets' gambling then ever before. Did we tell you, the stakes have soared too! For it is money that you stand to lose now than a fluttering heart! This festive season brings out gamers, the 'subtle' term for gamblers, as they raid the online casinos with full fury - betting, losing and making money, everything with the click of the mouse, giving us the leverage to use the term social gambling, all for right reasons! Attribute it to the festival season or to the loyal social networking brigade, online gambling is an exciting sport for those who are hooked on to the local 'teen patti', blackjack, rummy, poker, and craps et al. We are serious people. And how? "To begin with, pick a game you are good at. Gambling on higher levels is not recommended for starters," shares DJ Salil, a freelancer who does gigs in Manali. "It is not a child-child game, it is more synchronised than you thought. Whatever game you select, there should be a computer to play against. Thereafter, you get a choice in terms of boot money. A minimum amount of money is put in every time." What money are we talking about here? "Nothing comes for free, gambling online involves moolah, which means you get online chips for real money debited from your credit card," laughs Salil on the fact that he has validated his stance on the 'seriousness' of online gambling. However, it still doesn't make it a grave affair. Did someone say it's illegal? "Oh! Is it so? It is a fun thing, just like any other activity like chatting online. Only when you hear that it involves moolah, one sits up to notice it," chips in Mukesh Karbhanda, a student who has shifted his loyalties from the card spread, which he usually plays at his friends' place to playing at all popular casinos online. And it is Mukesh who tells us that blackjack is a popular online game. The reason why it is popular online is because it can be quite intimidating to sit down at a blackjack table. What makes it a real catch is that it involves 'real' money! Didn't we know the paradox virtual and real world intermingling! Online casinos are designed in a way to give the feel of real casinos like the Cherry Red Casino. It has an assortment of games like Roulette and Craps for a real table experience. Advait Sharma, who prepares third-party applications for mobile companies from Panchkula, is hooked to Shanghai Rummy and Rummy 500. "The excitement and fun is for real because you know it involves currency. And if you don't know, online gambling involves groups as many users can connect to each other," he says. If everything today begins and ends on a virtual note, you thought gambling would remain restricted to a small cubicle with dim lights? Well then, get real! jasmine@tribunemail.com
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She did not come to walk the ramp, nor to attend any show. Bringing in the first Bollywood quotient on the third day of the ongoing Spring-Summer edition of the Wills India Fashion Week, actor Mugdha Godse stopped by to get a hair makeover done here. Celebrity stylist Sapna Bhavnani gave the Fashion star a brand new hairdo—Mugdha's hair was gathered up in tight rolls at the crown of her head and a hair accessory in the shape of a huge bow was fitted onto it at the Fiama Di Wills lounge in New Delhi. "I am here to introduce the new Spring-Summer look styled by Sapna Bhavnani. It's all about looking and feeling young. You put on simple make-up and wear a nice accessory and get a fresh look this season," said Mugdha, dressed in a dark grey zipped dress and matching wedge heels. She also said she is very particular about hair care and only uses gentle products for her tresses. "My hair is very soft so I use gentle products. Among natural ingredients, I use aloe vera for my hair," she said. The model-turned-actor, who was at the previous edition of WIFW to promote her film Jail, said she would love to check out the stalls and the new designers this time. Mugdha is gearing up for the release of her next film Will You Marry Me which is slated to hit theatres in December this year. When asked whether she is open to doing item numbers, Mugdha said, "It depends, I will do it if I like, but you may not see me in one anytime soon as I am yet to be offered one that I have wanted to do," said Mugdha. — PTI
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The National Crafts Mela at Kalagram is a one-stop shop that suits all tastes Neha Walia
Come festival season
and the city be spoilt for choice at the numerous exhibitions that offer
something different, but the National Crafts Mela is indeed a one-stop
shop where art get innovative, traditionally. It brings a lot of colour,
elegance and interesting elements with an array of fashion, home
furnishings and ethnic pieces of art. National award-winning artisans
and weavers have put forth a collection of exquisite crafts from across
India - jewellery, paintings, fabrics, utility items - and the very fact
that these represent heritage makes it worthwhile. Here's a pick from
the best of the best on display. Furnishings
galore Looking for ideas to give a fresh look to your home this
festive season? We can help out with some minimalistic makeover ideas.
Add more colour with the entire range of dry flowers from the
Northeast. Available in all shapes and sizes and of course, colours,
these come handy at Rs 10 per stick. And maintenance is no issue as they
are lightweight and easy to wash. Home furnishings go a bit detailed
and designer with silk cotton cushions, in bright hues and embellished
with pearls, beads and semi-precious stones. The range starts from Rs
150 and goes up to Rs 1,500. Go for a traditional masterpiece of
Tanjore paintings; a golden touch and religious symbols complete the
look. A basic piece costs Rs 3,000 and if you want go grand, the best
comes at a price of Rs one lakh. Elegance with innovation, Shesham
woodwork from Saharanpur is another example of going designer with a bit
of heritage. Intricate work done with precision, the furniture and
decorative items are for all seasons. Go antique with garden lanterns or
wooden chests; wall mirror frames, coffee tables and many more. The
price starts from 250 and goes up to Rs 45,000. Ceramic cutlery items
and kitchenware are apt for your designer kitchen. Hand-painted and
moulded in innovative shapes, the delicate items come handy at Rs 60 per
piece. Surahis, cups, flower vases, the collection has it all.
The price ranges between Rs 500 and Rs 1,500. For a simple touch, one
can choose from the jute mats and rugs, hand weaved and made of natural
grass. Costing anywhere between Rs 400 and Rs 5,000, it adds no frills
look without much effort. Cane furniture from Tripura for the living
room and garden area too solve the purpose. But simplicity comes with a
price tag, and here it shows Rs 2000 for a garden lamp and Rs 32,000 for
an entire couch set. Fashion mart If home
is not the only thing that needs a makeover, then be spoilt for choice
with some colourful and smart skirts from Northeast. For collectors, mekhelas
from Assam, traditional silk kurtis from Sikkim with zari work,
Benarsi silk saris and kantha work fabrics from West Bengal are a
major attraction. All it costs is a few hundred rupees and you have a
designer piece in your wardrobe. To match the elegance, thewa
art jewellery brings an interesting combination of glass and gold—23
Carat gold filed over coloured glass and intricate designing makes it a
must have. With rising gold prices, a thewa art jewellery piece
worth Rs 10,000 sounds like a very good deal. For the more experimental,
copper jewellery is an option. A neckpiece costs around Rs 1,500 and
sparkling somethings come for Rs 100. Colourful juttis and mojris
too complement the look and are hassle-free fashion accessories. Price
starts from Rs 150 and goes up to Rs 500. And for the nature lovers,
some healthy and natural skin solutions come as Himalayan range of
natural handmade soaps. Lavendar, mint, honey, apricot, lemon choose
your flavour according to your skin type. Made with natural oils like
olive, coconut and palm, these do not contain any chemicals and have
healing properties. And Rs 90 per bar is what it costs. nehawalia@tribunemail.com
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Social studies
There's the fluff, the frills, the fun, the frivolity, the fooling around, the frolicking about and what not! Fine, what next? What beyond? Goodwill hunting is a 360 degrees endeavour. So apart from all things peripheral, student festivals still remain a practical in social responsibility. If a star night is important, so is the social tangent. Blood donation camp is as much part of the itinerary as the dumb charades. Tree plantation drive is as indispensable as the face painting exercise! "The basic idea is we've had our share of fun, celebrating, merry-making, now what about contributing to society?" Ankita Sehgal, final-year student, School of Communication Studies, questions. The department's ongoing media festival Soch, apart from 20 plus fun-filled activities spread over three days, had blood donation camp and a seminar on traffic awareness as part of the schedule. She adds, "We cannot concentrate on just one aspect of any event, especially being budding journalists. A seminar on traffic awareness was included because these days there's a lot of rash driving among youth and since we get a lot of footfalls from the varsity students, it was the perfect platform to promote responsible driving." Student festivals are anyways a perfect platform to promote the social causes, reflect the right ideology and make an impact. Recently concluded International Youth Peace Festival at GGDSD College anyways had a better future as the core philosophy. With the rest of the festivals organisers still hush about the soon-to-happen students festivals, there's no conceding the importance of taking up social issues. "It was the entire team's idea to do something social as well. We had a complete list and the plethora of causes, out of which we'll take up one for the upcoming fest," shares Rohit Sahi, final-year student, Panjab Engineering College. He adds, "Since we are students, it's our moral duty to take up a cause and do something for the society and contribute to its betterment in any which way." So the social responsibility lessons get practical and the millions spent in making the event a success ought to have an altruist value as well. Many admit though none announce, somewhere, it's an exercise in brand-building, a concept targeted to complete the picture perfect image of the festival. Opines Garima Ahuja, MA student, Panjab University, "The importance of social causes can be judged from the fact that even every alumni association worth its name takes up a social cause as complete package of the celebrations. Let alone singular occasions, there's a staple in community service with some of the other institutes. As shares Anshul from UIET, "We anyways have a blood donation camp every six months." manpriya@tribunemail.com
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Classical vibes
While we take pride in representing the sixth generation of the illustrious Mishra family of Benaras Gharana, we are equally burdened with the responsibility of carrying on the traditional excellence of this rich legacy and explore new horizons in the realm of classical music," say the vocalist duo of Rajnish and Ritesh Mishra. Sons of Rajan Mishra and disciples of Rajan-Sajan Mishra, they were brought up in Benaras and educated at Delhi university. Dedicated and humble, there sole aim is the propagation of classical music. Decorated with prestigious awards such as the Sur Ratan Samman, Sangeet Natak Akademy Yuva Bismilla Khan Pursuskar and more, the young classical vocalists of international eminence are regular performers for SPIC-MACAY. They also train aspiring singers at the Rajan-Sajan Institute of Performing Arts (RASIPA) in Delhi. The duo are in the city on the invitation of vocalist Premila Puri for a concert for Triveni Sangeet Sabha. "We are conscious of the high expectations of music lovers; we take every concert as a challenge," says Rajnish. And what makes them synchronise so well? Says Ritesh, "First we do riyaz individually and later team up to improvise the composition."
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It was a very exciting day for the members of Aspiration Ladies Club. They came dressed in saree and lahenga with compulsory seven shringaar, at Chandigarh Club on Tuesday to celebrate Karva Chauth. The members reached the venue at 10.30 in the morning to celebrate the day with fun filled activities. It was opportunity to spend sometime with friends. Despite fasting, ladies took part in all activities. Say Neepa Arora, founder member, Aspiration Ladies Club, "This year we planned to celebrate the very special occasion of Karva Chauth in an unique way. Club members got the opportunity to display handcrafted items made by them, like- decorated puja thali, decorated chhanni, vases with flowers, other artifacts. Accessories like pendants, earrings and bracelets also were put on display. The programme went on till afternoon. All the games were related to Karva Chauth. The main attraction of the programme was the catwalk by the member's who were dressed according to the theme. A rapidfire round was also played in which questions related to TV serials were asked, most hilarious moment was when members were asked nick names of their husbands. Says Monika Singhal, co-founder, "Lots of gifts were distributed to members in different categories including best mehandi, lady of the day, best hair do, best dancer, special gift to the lady with husband's photo as wallpaper of mobile etc. Decorated chhannis were given to all the ladies as return gift which were decorated by members only." End of the day Ladies went home with hands full of gifts and the hearts full of happiness and with the promise to celebrate next Karva Chauth together. — TNS
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"Shooting the ad campaign was definitely a new experience for me especially since this is the first time I have dealt with comedy as a genre. Coincidentally, it was also my first experience working with Ritiesh and Prasoon. I had great fun shooting with Ritiesh. Ritiesh is an easy-going person with a fantastic sense of comic timing," said Kashyap in a press statement. The campaign, which consists of a series of five ad films, features Deshmukh in hilarious situations, where his calls get disconnected because of lack of call credit on his phone. "Working on this campaign was definitely a fun-filled yet challenging experience. We all had a great time shooting the campaign. It was incredible working with Anurag Kashyap and Prasoon Joshi," said the actor. — PTI
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Oberoi paid homage at Paritala Ravi ghat at Venkatapuram village in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. He met Ravi's wife and TDP MLA Paritala Sunita and had lunch with her. He praised the Rayalaseema delicacies served for lunch. The actor arrived in Anantapur district from Bangalore to a warm welcome from the supporters of Paritala Ravi. Reading out a few lines in Telugu, Oberoi said he came to Anantapur district to offer homage to Ravi. "I consider it my privilege to play the character of Ravi. I am at loss for words to explain my happiness over the response the character is getting. It is a very very special experience for me. I am thankful to all of you," he said. Sunita said the actor expressed willingness to help in fulfilling Ravi's wishes to build schools in the region. "He (Vivek Oberoi) went to a temple which was built by Ravi for conducting mass marriages. He asked me if Ravi had any other wishes in the service of the people. When we told him that Ravi wanted to build schools, he said he is ready to offer his help for the purpose," she said. — PTI
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Right direction
Veteran Bollywood filmmaker Yash Chopra is planning to
wield the megaphone again in 2011 after a gap of six years. His last
directorial venture was Indo-Pak love story Veer-Zaara in 2004,
starring Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta. The 78-year-old director is
synonymous with romance in the Indian film industry with his films like Waqt,
Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila, Chandni, Lamhe and Dil
To Pagal Hai. "I will be directing a film next year and like my
other films, it will be shot in Switzerland," Chopra said without
divulging details. Chopra was in New Delhi to receive 'Swiss Ambassador's Award 2010' for his contribution in promoting Switzerland through his cinema. He was accompanied by his wife and Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone. While Deepika has worked in his home production-Yash Raj films, Chopra said he would love to cast her in his next movie. He is called the 'King of Romance' in Bollywood. — PTI
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Ritiesh Deshmukh is the latest Bollywood actor to join the advertising bandwagon and he will be seen in a series of commercials for Videocon Mobile Services, directed by Anurag
Kashyap. This will be the first-ever television commercial for the actor lauded for his comic roles and Kashyap promises that the advertisements will make the viewers laugh out
loud. The campaign for Videocon mobile services' unlimited tariff plans were
conceptualised by Prasoon Joshi, the National award winning ad guru-turned-lyricist.
Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi
today paid tributes to slain TDP MLA Paritala Ravi whose character he
essays in Ramgopal Varma's recently-released movie Rakta Charitra.