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Not many takers for reality shows
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Celebrities figure out the difference between original and adapted versions of reality shows
It's no cheating. In refined language, it's termed as inspiration or even better, as adaptation. After five seasons of Indian Idol, four seasons of Bigg Boss, three of Khatron Ke Khiladi, adaptation of reality shows is quite a trend. With every season, we have more. This season, the addition is Zor ka Jhatka, Ma Exchange, Wife Bina Life and Guinness World Records: Ab India Todega. We ask celebs if they see any discrepancy between the original and their 'photostat copies'.
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Spice up your rainy day
Pyar hua, ikrar hua hai, pyar se phir kyun darta hai dil seems to be the ultimate ode to a rainy day. Raj Kapoor and Nargis romancing under a big umbrella is an indelible memory etched on the mind of every Indian (probably Russian as well). Romancing in the rain is a given, we get you more fun ways to make most of a drizzle in spring season.
Getting drenched in the rain with my sister Sofea is my idea of fun on a rainy day. If friends join to splash some muddy water around, that's what we call super fun! A long walk in the rain, followed by 'garmagarm halwa' made by none other than my mom completes a perfect rainy day. A long drive to a hill station with my girlfriend is my idea of fun on a rainy day. Driving on serpentine road with raindrops splattering the windscreen is heavenly. Drizzle is the best time for sitting at some cozy place looking out at the falling drops. Sipping coffee and chatting with friends is the best bet. What we suggest n n n n n n n n Season of love: Basant is not only the season to worship Sarsawati but also Kamdev (love God). Spring is the season of new leaves, plants and flowers, and also of procreation! PS: Well, if it doesn't rain today, save it for a RAINY DAY |
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Some of these youngsters share with us their lucky charms.
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People from different nationalities such as Australians, the British, the Dutch and New Zealanders all love Indian fare, as do our own countrymen. However, Indians enjoy Chinese food the most after their ghar-ka-khana (home-made food). The French, though, seem to like Indian food over Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and even Greek cuisine. Their affinity to Indian food is ranked just behind their fondness for French and Italian cuisine.The same is the case for Australian travellers, who rated Indian food among the world's tastiest cuisines. Interestingly, Koreans and Japanese ranked Indian food as their least favourite meal while travelling. The survey, which polled more than 4,000 travellers worldwide, noted that among the major Asian cuisines— Chinese, Thai and Indian — Thai food finds the most fans among international travellers. When it comes to trying out the local cuisine, Indians tend to be reserved and trail behind the people from 18 nationalities polled in this survey. The Koreans, however, seem to give gastronomy the most importance when it comes to choosing the place of travel as well as trying out the local cuisine. Apart from Koreans, Australians and Kiwis are also among the most adventurous when it comes to trying out local cuisine while on a trip. The survey was conducted between October and November in 18 countries — Australia, Brazil, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain and the UK, among others. — PTI
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Avon India launches its Beauty Zone Built in 2200 square feet area, Avon launched its first state-of-the-art Beauty Zone in the city. Located in Sector 9, this beauty zone is essentially a one-stop point where the Avon independent sales representatives can experience world-class quality products, place and collect orders; attend extensive sales, product and beauty training programs and attend monthly campaign meetings. Present on the occasion Hemant Singh, managing director, Avon beauty products said, "With Avon we are trying to empower women and help them set their own business. And with opening of this beauty zone we are also launching the first time facility of e-ordering." The Avon Beauty Zone will also give an opportunity to aspiring representatives who can register themselves to become an Avon independent sales representative and enjoy the benefits or choose to register to become an Avon independent sales leader and start their own Avon business. —TNS
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Natalie dreads red carpet events Hollywood beauty Natalie Portman may be sweeping the awards and earning brownie points for her red carpet fashion choices but the actress says that she dreads the award ceremonies. The 29-year-old actress, who is expecting her first child with fiance Benjamin Millepied is not nervous about giving speeches but is more concerned about taking a tumble in front of paparazzi, Contactmusic reported. "There's so much going on, I'll just try not to trip at any point! I'm trying to protect my future child," said Portman. The Star Wars star, who is up for an Oscar for her portrayal of an obsessed ballet dancer in the Darren Aronofsky-directed movie Black Swan is busy planning for the new arrival but haven't decided where the baby will be born or raised. "It'll be as positive and as clean an environment as I can find. But apart from that I don't know," she added. — PTI
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McAvoy's charming ways
"I have played roles where my character has to be quite charming and I have found it quite easy to do. I think some of it is in my bones but some of it is more deliberate. I remember that it was never that difficult for me to get a director to look up and pay attention to me. Mind you, I don't know if that's necessarily charm," he said. The 31-year-old Scottish star who has a seven-month-old son, Andrew, with wife Anne-Marie Duff thinks his likability is a "bit weird", particularly as he isn't always a gentleman.
— IANS |
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Vishal certifies: Shahid & Priyanka
a hit couple
In a most 'lethal' way actress Priyanka Chopra enumerated seven ways to lose one's lover. "There are seven ways to lose your lover, in this box," Priyanka said, after unveiling the press kit, which contained a rope, a syringe, a knife, a bottle of 'poison', a sachet of 'potassium cyanide', an ice pick and a strip of Viagra tablets, used for treating male erectile dysfunction.
"This is a gift, which you, as a boyfriend, can give your girlfriend, if you want to," the sultry actress, who had donned 12 different looks in Whats Your Rashee, said, at a promotional event for Vishal Bhardwaj's 7 Khoon Maaf, at a suburban luxury hotel last night. 7 Khoon Maaf is based on Ruskin Bond's short story Susanna's Seven Husbands and releases this Friday. Priyanka Chopra essays Susanna who slays seven of her husbands one by one, in her never-ending quest to find love. "This is such a romantic gift we have given you. Now, who does that," Priyanka cooed, asking media persons not to open the box immediately. Asked about Shahid, Priyanka, sporting a mischievous grin, quipped: "What about him?....my date is with you." It was then left to Bhardwaj to 'certify' the relationship when he said Bollywood has seen many hit pairs like Raj Kapoor-Nargis, Amitabh Bachchan-Rekha and Shahid Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra. This sent Priyanka into peals of laughter.
— PTI |
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Javier Bardem wins
Hollywood actor Javier Bardem was named the Best Actor at the Goya Awards, Spain's answer to the Oscars.
The Spanish star who recently welcomed his first child, a bay boy with actress wife Penelope Cruz, received the award for his role as a cancer ridden single father in the Barcelona drama, Biutiful. The 41-year-old actor, while receiving his fifth Goya, dedicated his trophy to his wife and his son. "I receive it as a warm hug and support from my colleagues, which is the most important for an actor. I dedicate it to my wife and son for awakening my heart and smile every day," he said. Black Bread, a drama set in the post civil war Spain walked away with nine awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Agusti Villaronga. Highest Academy nominated The King's Speech, which tells the true story of King George VI who had struggled with his stammering problem was named Best European Film.
— PTI |
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Taylor Swift 'Enchanted' by 'Owl City'
Swift, 21, who recently split from actor Jake Gyllenhaal after dating briefly, has hinted a secret crush on the Fireflies hitmaker in her track Enchanted from her third single album Speak Now. Swift, who is known to pen down songs about her relationships, admits that the song was inspired by the duo's first meeting in New York city. Young, 24, has in turn responded to Swift with a track, also called Enchanted, thus revealing his feelings for the blonde beauty. "I'll be the first to admit I'm a rather shy boy and since music is the most eloquent form of communication I can muster, I decided to record something for you, a sort of a 'reply' to the breathtaking song on your current record. "You are a true princess from a dreamy fairy tale, and above all, I just want you to know... I was enchanted to meet you too," writes Young in his website. The Love Story hitmaker has not tried to hide her sweeping romance and has also capitalised the letters A-D-A-M in the song's lyrics. — PTI
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Get a date in quick time
People advising you to be patient, have a huge circle, attend parties, go out…perhaps think that you have five years to hook up! Get specific, throw a tantrum, grab attention, strike a conversation and voila! Here're your five speedy tips on how to get a date in 24 hours. Exploit a cute pet: No girl can refuse or resist a pug or a puppy. For the nerds who are still clueless, they can take their "trained pet" out for a walk in the neighbouring park. Tiptoe an equally cute girl/guy (as the case may be), if she loves pets, there's no way an introduction wouldn't ensue. If she doesn't, say you hate them too! Speed date: Rather than beat about the bush, hit the bull's eye! No elaborate dinners, no expensive dates, no wasting time, get on the net and there are a thousand online speed dating options. Better still, join a dozen online dating websites rather than social networking sites. Try an upscale women's store: Pretend to be buying something for your cousin who's size somewhat happens to be the same as that of the hottest woman in the store! Need we tell you what to do next? Anybody with a decent level of communication skills should be ten-digits richer. If not, there are stores and opportunities galore! Stand outside the 'no stag entry' club: Risky but well paid proposition. Stand outside all the places that discourage stags and encourage couple entries. Every group of friends has at least one stag dying to get in! If nothing works, concoct your own story: Borrow a newspaper from the single neighbour you've been eyeing, visit a unisex salon, strike up a causal chat, play in the park and often drop business cards…just because the deadline is 24 hours. It is absolutely embarrassing to get turned down by a gorgeous woman or a man. Remember not to take anything too seriously. The key to being a sought-after is to take good care of yourself physically as well as emotionally. manpriya@tribunemail.com
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At the heart of students’ life
Centre of joy
Commonly known as Stu-C, it is the veritable heart of the varsity. "One cannot think about PU without it. It is our refuge from boredom and tedious lectures. It is also a meeting point where one can have lovely food," says Navdeep Sangha, from the PU sociology department. Route to fun
Whatever the petrol rates, 'geris' have always been an integral part of university life. "Driving one's vehicle aimlessly with friends is a big stress buster. It's fun and creates a great bond with friends," says Ritu Kalia, from the mathematics department. Meeting point
All that's latest
Cars, latest gadgets or trendy dresses, PU is the first place where you'll find them. "Everyone is keen to show-off their latest purchases. After all, style matters a lot," says Vishal Singh, from the mathematics department. |
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The study found that dopamine release in response to music elicited "chills", changes in skin conductance, heart rate, breathing, and temperature. Combining PET and fMRI brain scans showed that dopamine release is greater for pleasurable versus neutral music, and that levels of release are correlated with the extent of emotional arousal and pleasurability ratings. "These findings provide neurochemical evidence that intense emotional responses to music involve ancient reward circuitry in the brain," said Dr. Robert Zatorre, neuroscientist at The Neuro. "Music is unique in the sense that we can measure all reward phases in real-time, as it progresses from baseline neutral to anticipation to peak pleasure all during scanning," said lead investigator Valorie Salimpoor, a graduate student in the Zatorre lab at The Neuro and McGill psychology program. "It is generally a great challenge to examine dopamine activity during both the anticipation and the consumption phase of a reward. Both phases are captured together online by the PET scanner, which, combined with the temporal specificity of fMRI provides us with a unique assessment of distinct contributions of each brain region at different time points." The study appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience. — ANI
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You could be suffering from iPod-itis!
Top audiologist Dr Tony Kay warns that these are the people who are at a greater risk of going deaf in later life. According to Kay, senior chief audiologist at a Liverpool hospital, the number of young music lovers visiting the clinic with hearing complaints has increased dramatically in the last two years. Kay, of Aintree University Hospital, said he is concerned that 'iPod-itis' is causing Britain's youngster's irreparable damage. He said, "We all have emotional attachment to our music players but if music lovers are not careful this sustained exposure could eventually lead to complete hearing loss. "Going out every night or working in close proximity to loud music blaring out of speakers can be extremely hazardous. "Youngsters who listen to music on personal music players do not understand the damage they are causing. In the last two decades we have seen more people in their late teens and early 20s with tinnitus because they have been exposed to music that is too loud." "Often on trains, people will turn up their music players to drown out background noise, which is hammering their ears. If you can hear the music a person is listening to three seats away, imagine how loud it must be for them." However, Kay feels that "Good ear-plugs and lower volumes" can help safeguard hearing. He says that if his warning his heeded, every clubber can "enjoy music for decades longer."
— ANI |
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Dating online? Beware of spelling and grammar errors Dating may have become hi-tech, but romantic rituals remain much the same, says a new study. Like in traditional dating, online lovebirds are influenced by non-verbal cues like spelling errors, the number of exclamation marks and the use of grammar. Zoe Hazelwood, psychologist at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), who led the study, has found that traditional and online dating are, in fact, very similar. For example, she found non-verbal communication was also just as important in online dating as it was in traditional dating, according to a QUT statement. "Although online traditional non-verbal cues are not present, in our research we found people do judge potential partners on things aside from what they are saying," she said. "People form impressions online based on things like spelling errors, use of acronyms, amount of exclamation marks, use of grammar - things like that. "They may not pursue a relationship with someone if they do not like their writing style, or feel they have poor spelling." — IANS
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Even kids know what’s fair play If you think only grown-ups have a sense of fair play, think again, as a new study has found that even children as young as three years also understand and value sportsmanship. The study by a team of international researchers found that children as young as three years prefer to share with a peer the spoils after they worked together to earn a reward, even in situations where it would be easy for one child to keep all of them for himself. The study published in Psychological Science, was inspired by work in chimpanzees that found their cooperation regularly breaks down. "Chimpanzees often compete over food, which prevents them from working together on a task, even if that's the only chance for them to get a reward" said study author Felix Warneken of Harvard University. "So we were wondering if the same is true also in young children," said Warneken who carried out the study with researchers from the University of Gottingen and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Other research in humans has suggested that young kids might not be very good at sharing, but this has usually depended on asking the children what they had do in hypothetical situations, or giving them one shot at dividing up resources. For this study, the researchers wanted to take a more thorough look at how young children share, particularly in a situation where they had to work together for a common goal. They had pairs of children, all three year old, complete a task in which they had to collaborate to get a prize. The prize -- gummy bears, stickers, or other items -- was piled on a board with wheels inside a transparent box. If only one child pulled on a rope, the board wouldn't move, but if they pulled together, they could bring it toward them and reach the food or toys through windows in the transparent box. Sometimes there was only one window to reach through; sometimes there were two. But even when there was only one window, which meant that one child could have monopolised the prizes, the children almost always shared equally. Each pair of children was tested several times. "We were surprised that this rule was so strict-that equality was so strongly preferred," Warneken said, adding that the children shared virtually without conflict. "It was rarely the case that one took all the resources and the other kid had to say, 'Hey, that's not fair.'" Sometimes, if one child didn't take their half of the spoils immediately, the other would even point it out. This helps explain how mutually beneficial arrangements evolve, Warneken said. It seems like they should show up everywhere -- if we cooperate, we're both better off. But in fact, even a species as similar to us as chimpanzees doesn't necessarily display that behaviour. So, maybe what's missing from chimps -- and what humans have in abundance -- is the ability to get along with others, Warneken added. — PTI
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It's a cruel idea in the first place to exchange your mother with someone else. Being a part of the show would mean my family too has to be onscreen. I am happy to be in my comfort zone and I don't understand how people can experiment with their family life, which is far more important than money or fame. One needs to be emotionally cold to go for such a reality show.
I really don’t understand how do these reality shows manage to get enough contenders. If it was surprising to see boys vying to get hooked with Rakhi, it was appalling to see girls queuing up to get married to 'middle-aged' Rahul. I would never for any amount of money or for any celebrity be a part of such a reality show. I am not in favour of exhibiting my emotions in front of the whole world. You can't make yourself fall in love.
The whole idea of going on a blind date is bizarre. Why does anybody need to go on a blind date when there are social networking sites to know about people? And impressing the date's relatives is even weirder. It doesn't make any sense because the guy or the girl is more important than the relatives. No matter what, I would never go for such a reality show. Convincing someone's grandmother is out of question.
Zor Ka Jhatka is just like any other reality show. I wouldn't like to be a part of it if it wasn't for Argentina. I don't mind trying my hand at water adventure as well. The host doesn't matter to me and I won't even mind leg pulling. All I would be bothered about is getting an opportunity to be in Argentina and try my hand at water sports.
Every adapted version of a reality show is a huge challenge for the channel, hosts and even participants. We can't just blindly copy a concept. People's sensibilities can’t be ignored. The difference between Master Chef India and Master Chef Australia was in terms of dishes and cooking methods.
I prefer the original shows to the adapted versions. In India, a reality show is seldom about reality because a lot depends on the popularity of the stars. For example, In Jhalak Dikhla
Ja, (adapted from Dancing With The Stars) I think I get votes for the popularity I enjoy due to my show Sasuraal
Gendaphool. In the original version, only the performance matters.
n Walking along Sukhna under light showers
Exams are the time when temples register the highest footfall by youngsters. Students who are to appear in the boards put in their papers before God - for an easy outing, for confidence or simply to help them calm down.
I recite the Gayatri Mantra just before the exam. This assures me that I will have his support throughout the exam. Reciting the mantra is my way of banishing nervousness.
I always carry a small card that my social studies teacher gave me before my 10th boards. Carrying it gives me loads of positive energy.
I know that I have to do all the hard work, but a quick visit to the temple instills confidence. It's not just for the exam, before anything important I go to the temple, be it a birthday or New Year. My faith makes me seek divine blessings before any significant move.
I visit the temple both before and after the exam. It's like bribing God - please make sure I do well, I will come calling to your place! After all we all do everything else in the world to get good marks. Why not have faith in God?
I have a lucky pen with which I love to write my exams. I also take a small pendent of Ganesha along. I feel they are my lucky charms. I also know they will help only if I work hard.
I think of Lord Shiva before I start my exam. This instills confidence in me. I also make it a point to spend a few moments in the temple in my home.
Travellers criss-crossing the globe have ranked Indian food as fifth on their list of favourite cuisines, according to a survey. The survey conducted by Hotels.com says that Italian cuisine, renowned for its pizza and pasta, ranked as the most popular fare among the survey respondents worldwide, followed by French, Thai and Chinese food.
Hollywood actor James McAvoy owes his successful career to his ability to win over directors and co-stars with his charm during auditions. The The Last King of Scotland actor admits he finds it easy to stand out in a crowd thanks to his smooth-talking ways, which he believes have boosted his chances at doing well in auditions, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
Taylor Swift's real life love story might have a happy ending as her self-confessed crush, Owl City star Adam Young, has now dedicated a romantic ballad to the country singer.
If you're reading this on Wednesday morning, chances are you wouldn't be single by Thursday night! Chances are that you'd have plenty of things to do with the newly found date on the following Saturday.
Everybody says college life is fun, but university life is even better! Promising loads of fun, university life sure is a thing to look forward to. 
Meet up friends: old or new. Talk, have coffee or simply roam around; the choice is yours. "The university is a place where one can meet new and old friends on a regular basis. All my friends are studying in different departments, so I end up meeting everyone daily," says Shainaini Dhamija, from the economics department. 
A new study from the McGill University has revealed that listening to music is just as pleasurable as food, drugs and sex. Listening to music releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain important for more tangible pleasures associated with sex or great food.
Youngsters who are 'emotionally attached' to playing their music at full blast on their music players are in for a rude shock. A doctor has revealed that a whole generation of music fans are suffering from 'iPod-itis' - ringing in the ears - from playing music too loud, reports a publication.