Giriraj hill experience during Diwali.

Festive season with family is over-whelming. Happiness increases when you can make someone else happier with your actions, I guess many people believe that. Diwali in Mathura could be so amicable, I never could have known if my parents would not have obligated me to go there. Three vital festivals among others in Hindu community, which I never thought could make me feel so lighten.

Lighting Diyas on Diwali, near the Mansi Ganga river in Govardhan was spectacular. For the first time, I experienced the safe diwali with my family and  without crackers. [But I bet no one in Delhi thought of a safe Diwali, the pollution aftyer Diwali explained a lot about it] Next day, the Giriraj pooja with my Mother felt so sublime. My mother reminding me and my brother about the story of Hindu mythology, When Lord Krishna raised the hill on his little finger to save the people and animals from Lord Indra, took me back in that lifetime. And the day after was the the bhaiya dooj, I love the festival as it makes me feel responsible and being cared for at the same time. In this festival we honor our brothers for taking care of us and swear to protect him from all kinds of endangerment. It sounds a lot like Raksha bandhan but it's quite different. People in Mathura believes that if brother and sister swamp together in the Yamuna river on this special day, Yamraj (hindu mythology believes that after death, Yamraj collects your soul and takes it to hell), cannot take their souls as Yamuna is his sister and he gave her the boon. Govardhan means nourishment of cows. Lord krishna asked his villagers to worship the hill as the hill provides food and shelter not only to the people but also the cows.Lord Krishna walked the cows to the hill everyday to feed them. Govardhan hill parikrama is one of the auspicious things in Mathura. Devotees believe that if they walk around the hill, their devotion towards Lord Krishna increases, almost everyday many devotees walk around the hills. My parents walk around the hill each time they visit Govardhan. There are two parts of the hill. One of the hill is of 8 km long and another is 14 km.

A RIDE TO NANDI HILLS.

Nandi hills are located about 35 km east of Bangalore and about 4500 ft above sea level. The early morning getaway with your siblings on a bike ride is something wondrous. The whoosh of the bike was miraculous.  I can still feel the frosty wind on skin when I think about the hills. The resistance of the glacial wind while walking towards the hills. Sudden change in weather, with scorchy sun trying to bake my skin. The temples on the top of hill were dedicated to Sri Ugra Narasimha & Sri Yoga Narasimha. The temple on the lower hill is dedicated to Sri Bhoga Narasimha. The walk from the entrance gate was quite sublime. On the top of the hill was Tipu Sultan's summer retreat and remains of Tipu's fort.There were alluring tree houses on the top of the hills.The walk down from the hill was on different road on hill rocks, it was exquisite.

A journey of Manali

The never ending drive to Manali was amazing. The chilled wind that I felt on face gave me the feeling of my hometown(Shillong). I never wanted the road to cease, the scenery was just so overwhelming. Halfway to Manali we took rest in a lodge but I could not wait until the next morning to begin my journey again, so I did not sleep. Next day we left early morning and the weather was awesome, bright sunlight and chilly wind. On the way, we got down to a river and enjoyed the glacial water, the hills, the cool air. On such a wonderful journey, when you  have just the right person by your side, the journey becomes perfect. The icy-cold nights were bewildering. The people were lovely, they showed great hospitality. Their traditional costumes were beautiful. Solang valley was brethtaking, skiing and cable cars. It was an incredible experience.

12 DREAM BEACHES OF INDIA

CHANDIPUR, ODISHA

       A small sea resort located in Boleswar district of Odisha. It is on the Bay of Bengal. This beach is also known as vanishing beach due to its uniqueness. The water subsides from one to four kmsduring the ebb tide. This happens all year long, twice a day. Horseshoe crab is also found here on the beach.

MARINA BEACH, CHENNAI

        It is a natural urban beach situated in the city of Chennai. The distance of the beach is 13 km, which makes it the longest beach in the country and second longest in the world. Due to turbulent current in the waters, bathing and swimming is prohibited. Due to pollution, the beach has lost its jolly ambience and rich eco-system.

THARANGAMBADI, TAMIL NADU

        Tharangambadi formerly known as Tranquebar is a panchayat town in the Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu. The meaning of te place name is “place of singing waves”. This place is best known for holding the oldest monument-the shiva temple. The temple was built by few Arabian ship-wrecked sailors a thanksgiving for their lives being saved in 1309.

RADHANAGAR, ANDAMAN & NICOBER

       It is a village located in Havelock island, it is the largest of the islands that comprise Ritchie’s Archipelago, a chain of islands to the east of Great Andaman islands. The island is located 57 km northeast of the capital city, Port Blair. The five villages are Govinda nagar, Bejoy nagar, Shyam nagar, Krishna nagar and Radha nagar.

LAXMANPUR (NEIL ISLAND), ANDAMAN

        Neil island is one of the most beautiful islands of Andaman & Nicober group. Laxmanpur beach is a beautiful, white, sandy beach that is full of shells, dead corals and provides an awesome view. The beach provides stunning sunset view.

AGATTI ISLAND, LAKSHADWEEP

          Agatti is a 5.6 km long island, situated on a coral atoll in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. During the monsoon time, boats are not allowed outside the lagoon because of the violent sea. The presence of the reef maintains calm at the lagoon. The narrow winding roads and a fishing community gives quite a nice feeling. The road that runs through the island gives you the glimpses of blues of the beach, it can be best enjoyed by hiring a bicycle.

MUZHAPPILANGAD BEACH, KERELA

        It is located parallel to national highway 66between Kannur and Thalassery. This beach is the longest drive-in beach in India. The beach festival is celebrated in the month of April and it is one of the important tourist attention in the district of Kannur in Kerela. This place is a paradise for driving along shore, many people try out stunts. There is an unpaved road winding through coconut groves leading to the beach.

ARAMBOL, GOA

        Arambol is a town in the Pernem taluka of north Goa district, the beach is a traditional fisherman village. A short walk north of the main beach is a smaller beach with a “fresh water lake” close to the sea. The jungle valley, enclosed between low hills hide a spectacular Banyan tree. Adjoining the banyan tree there is stone sculpture created by an American conceptual and land art artist, Jacek Tylicki “give if you can – take if you have to” also called the ‘The money stone’. It has become a pilgrimage destination.

KUNKESHWAR (KONKAN COAST), MAHARASHTRA

        Kunkeshwar is located in the Sindhudurg district, and is on the bank of Arabian sea. There is a temple for the Hindu deity Shiva in the town. This temple is holy place in Konkan, and is also known as Konkan kasha. Kunkeshwar produces Alphanso mangoes. The sailor who built the temple, committed suicide from the top of the temple, as he was scared of being punished by his community, for building temple being a Muslim.

OM BEACH, KARNATAKA

        Om beach is a south facing beach of Gokarna town, which is on the western coast of India in the North Karnataka. The beach is named so because it is shaped like the auspicious Om symbol. It is the only natural om shaped beach. It has a few shacks & easteries, and also boat services to other beaches. Karwar’s scenic beauty inspired Rabindranath Tagore to write his first poem.

ST. MARRY’S ISLAND, KARNATAKA

        The island is also known as coconut island and Thonsepar, are a set of four small islands in the Arabian sea off the coast of Malpe in Udupi, Karnataka. They are known for their distinctive geological formation of columnar basaltic lava. According to folk legend, in the year 1498, Vasco da Gama land first on the St. Mary’s island, fixed a cross on the island and name one of these islands ‘O Padrao de Santa Maria’ as a dedication to Mother Mary.

LAND’S END (DHANUSHKODI), TAMIL NADU

         Dhanushkodi is a ghost town situated to the South-East of Pamban island. It is 18 miles west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The area around Rameswaram has been frequently ravaged by several high intensity cyclones and storms in the past.

The Hindu scripture Ramayana says that Lord Rama built a bridge or causeway, called Ram Setu or ‘Rama’s bridge’, between the mainland and Sri Lanka, in order to bring his army across. Hindu pilgrims usually bathe in the sea.

'GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN' HEIGHTEN SUNNY DEOL'S COMEBACK

Directed & Written by - Sunny Deol

Story - Shaktimaan Talwar & Sagar Pandya

Screenplay - Sanjay Masoom & Vishal Vijay kumar

Cast: Sunny Deol, Rishabh Arora, Harsh Chhaya, Shivam Patil, Anchal Munjal, Tisca Chopra, Ruhanika Dhawan, Narendra Jha, Diana Khan, Soha Ali Khan.

Produced by - Dharmendra

Cinematography - Ravi Yadav    

Edited by - Chandan Arora         

Produced by – Dharmendra & Ronak Motla

 Music by - Vipin Mishra

Cinematography by - Ravi Yadav

 

                    Sunny Deol’s action-packed comeback with ‘Ghayal once again’ strikes a tremendous response at the box office. Sunny Deol, single-handed pulled off the film. The collection of the first 3 days is Rs 23.25 crore.

                  

                   ‘Ghayal once again’ is an amazing social drama. The story is beautifully portrayed about a man who owns a news channel. It’s about how a single man fights against the corrupt system. The movie contains almost all the social evils that exists in our society, and it is placed very nicely in sequence one after the other. The social evils, high profile people, corrupt system, all woven together that tells us a convincing story smoothly without making things clumsy.

                     The movie is also appreciable in terms of VFX, SFX and cinematography. The set design is marvellous. Mumbai city is shown from a point of view, which is never shown before. Sunny Deol have really done a wonderful work from writing the story to directing to acting. Despite the financial crisis, he did not give up on it and completed the movie.

TOP 5 ACTORS WHO MADE IT WITHOUT A LEADING LIGHT.

ANUPAM KHER

          

              He was born in Shimla, where his father was a clerk. He completed studying in Himachal. He performed plays in Himachal Pradesh University. There was also a phase in his life, when he used to sleep on the railway platform, during his struggling days as an actor in Mumbai. Finally, his hard work and dedication paid him off.

             He made his debut in ‘Saraansh’ (1984, Mahesh Bhatt).  He received the Filmfare critics award for best performance in ‘Daddy’ (1989, Mahesh Bhatt). He has starred alongside Hindi Cinema’s superstar, Shahrukh Khan in many movies such as ‘DDLJ’, ‘kuch kuch hota hai’, ‘Veer Zara’, etc. He also directed and produced few films. He received best actor award from the Karachi International Film Festival.

            He hosted few TV shows among them ‘The Anupam Kher Show’ was a big hit. He is also the former chairperson of National School of Drama, New Delhi. He also worked in Hollywood a few times, recently he starred in a British film ‘Shongram’, a fictional romantic drama.

NAWAZ UDDIN SIDDIQUI

           

               He was born in an orthodox muslim family in Budhana, a small town of western Uttar Pradesh. He completed B. Sc in chemistry and worked as a chemist in Vadodara for a year. He came to Delhi in search of a job, but was drawn into acting after watching a play. He performed in plays with a group of friends to fulfil one of the criteria of NSD.

             After graduating from NSD, he went to Mumbai. During his struggle, he encountered many problems. In 2004, he was unable to pay his rent, he asked a NSD senior if he could stay with him. The senior agreed to share the apartment only if Nawaz was willing to cook meals for him.

             Nawaz first appeared, with a small role in Aamir Khan starrer, ‘Sarfarosh’ (1999, John Mathew Matthan). After that he hung out at film studios and shootings but only found stereotypical roles. He also tried to get work in television serials but did not accomplish anything.

             His appearance in ‘Black Friday’ (2007, Anurag Kashyap) took the plunge for other powerful roles. He was first spot in the movie ‘New York’ (2009, Kabir Khan). Nevertheless, it was his role as a journalist in ‘Peepli Live’ (2010, Anusha Rizvi & Mahmood Farooqui), that got it him appreciation as an actor. He got fame in 2011, through his back to back hit movies like ‘Kahaani’, ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ (duology), ‘Talaash’. He bagged the filmfare award for best supporting role in Talaash.

              In 2015, his roles in ‘Manjhi’ (2015, Ketan Mehta) and ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ (2015, Kabir Khan) acquired him great applause. For his performance in ‘Haraamkhor’, he was awarded the best actor in New York Indian Film Festival.

AKSHAY KUMAR

            

                 Rajiv Bhatia, known by his screen name ‘Akshay Kumar’ was born in Amritsar. Since childhood, he was least interested in studies. His was an accountant but never forced him to study, he always appreciated Akshay’s interest in sports and supported him. After completing high school, he went to Bangkok to learn martial arts and worked there as a waiter and chef to make his living. Couple of years later, he started import-export business in various things, whichever earned him more wages.

                After obtaining a black belt in taekwondo in India, he started teaching martial arts in Mumbai. One of his student, a pioneering photographer suggested him into modelling which gradually led to a modelling assignment. He earned good amount, so chose the modelling career path. He also worked as a background dancer in various films. The day which changed his life was, one morning when he missed his flight for fashion shoot in Bangalore. Discouraged and depressed, he visited a film studio along with his portfolio, and he was signed for the lead role in Deedar by Pramood Chakravarty. Due to some reasons Deedar got delayed and thus ‘Saugandh’ (1991, Ray N. Sippy) became his debut film.

                 From there on, he accepted every challenge that came his way but never stopped. His action films gave boost to his career, specially his ‘Khiladi’ series. He is a versatile actor. He played many different roles with affluence, be it romantic, comedy or action. He redeems each role very graciously. He did not win many awards though he got number of nominations.

PRIYANKA CHOPRA

                 

                She is the Miss World pageant winner of 2000. She is an actor and singer. In course of time, she has become one of most popular high-profile celebrities in India. She has received several nominations and awards including a National Film Award for best actress, and Filmfare awards in five different categories, only actress to achieve this. She was awarded Padma Shri in 2016. She is also an incredible singer.

                 Priyanka wanted to pursue engineering or psychiatry but during her pageantry, she received offers to join the Indian Film industry. She made her first debut in the Tamil film ‘Thamizhan’ (2002, A. Majid). The subsequent year, she starred in ‘The Hero’ (2003, Anil Sharma), her first hindi film. Her breakout role in ‘Aitraaz’ (2004, Mustaan Burmawalla and Abbas Burmawalla) procured great critical praise. Furthermore, she gave hits like ‘Andaaz’, ‘Mujhse Shaadi Karoge’, ‘Krrish’, ‘Don’, etc.

                   She made her first debut in singing with her first single “In My City” in 2012. She received People’s choice award for the song and nomination at the World Music Awards. Her songs, “Exotic” and “I can’t make you love me” also made great success.

RAJNIKANTH

                  

                  As a child he was studious yet mischievous with interests in sports such as cricket, football and basketball. He was enrolled at Ramakrishna Math at the age of 12, a Hindu monastery setup. He was taught Vedas, traditions, etc. in addition to the spiritual lessons, he also started acting in plays at the math. After completion of school, he worked as a bus conductor in Bangalore Transport Service. He also continued acting in plays.

                   One day, he decided to join the ‘Madras Film Institute’ but his family was not in support. His friend and co-worker Raj Bahdur motivated him to join the institute and also financed him during the phase. During his stay at the institute, he was performing in a stage play and got noticed by a Tamil film director K. Balachander. The director advised him to learn to speak Tamil, he followed his advice immediately. And he made his debut from Tamil film ‘Apoorva Raagangal’ (1975, K. Balachander). Rajnikanth considers him as his school.

                    Consequently, there was no looking back. He went to become one of the rising star of south Indian film industry. He also tried luck in Bollywood but failed to achieve the same success. So, he stuck to the Tamil industry. He is respected as “God” by his fans all over India for his unique acting styles.

Do you know, which are the 10 most expensive costumes of movies in Bollywood ?

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10. TEVAR

Sonakshi wore a lehenga-choli for the song “radha nachegi”, which is worth 75 lakhs. Her outfit was made of ivory white fabric with gold zardozi and gota embroideries.

9. KAMBAKHT ISHQ

Kareena’s dress for the ‘title song’ was designed by Aki Narula and brought from Emporio Armani in Paris, which cost around 8 million rupees. Her costumes in the movie were designed by world-renowned designers, Stella Macartney and Robert Cavalli.

8. JODHA AKBAR

The four times National Award winning costume designer, Neeta Lulla has given Bollywood industry the remarkable films in terms of grandeur costumes. The beautiful Rajasthani weaves with warm tones of saffron, emerald, copper, brown, and henna red costumes that she designed for Aishwarya was startling, which cost 2 lakhs each. The bold chunky jewellery and subtle make up gave the perfect look to her character.

7. RAM-LEELA

Anju Modi’s designs were explicit. The antique kutch woven fabric in the skirt of lehenga, the bright colours that she used, created a dramatic effect. Among these were the 30 kg lehenga created by her for the promotional poster. Cost spent on the movie's costume design was approximately 3-4 crores. Dangling pearl and stone-studded earing added up to her look.

6.PREM RATAN DHAN PAYO

The vibrant lehenga’s and exquisite jewellery worn by Sonam Kapoor makes a beautiful throusseau. Men wearing heritage jewellery -emeralds, pearls and turbans gives a glam look to the movie. The royal look was put together by Sonam herself along with Anamika Khanna. Expense would be 4-4.5 crores(approx.).

5. ROBOT

Fifty-seven costumes were used for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, including a “Mexican tribal” look that she spotted during the “Kilimanjaro” segment. Manish Malhotra and Mary E. Vogt designed the film’s costumes.The total amount spent on the movie's costume was 5 crores among which around 3 crore was solely used for robot's outfit.

4.VEER

Veer wore 6 expensive costumes in the movie. His costumes were designed by Anna Singh. The cost of each costume was about 20 lakhs.

3.DEVDAS

Madhuri’s costumes cost around 15 lakhs and aishwarya’s dress 10-12 lakhs. Madhuri is draped in rich vibrant Indian hues, exquisite Varanasi sarees, brocades and silks. Aishwarya wore simple cotton, Dhakai cottons using traditional motis and borders in the first half, while in the second half, Neeta ventured them into a new form of traditional sarees. The designers were- Sandeep Khosla, Abu Jani and Neeta Lulla.

2.BAJIRAO MASTAANI

Designer Anju Modi made sartorial choices about Nizams and peshwaswhile designing for Deepika and Ranveer in the movie. Deepika had been dressed in floor-skimming anarkalis and angrakas paired with farshi pajamas. The polka jewellery was also sourced to match her background. The jewelleries were worth 5 crores and her costumes 3 crores. Priyanka’s and Ranveer’s costumes were also made by her. She had to make several pairs of same outfit for songs and war scenes.

1.RA ONE

There were 20 G-ONE costumes in the movie each of 4.5 crores. Total cost for his costume was 100 crores (ra-one’s costume exclude). The body suits worn by Khan and Rampalwere designed by Robert Kurtzman and Tim Flattery, and made by a team of specialists based in Los Angeles. It was a tough job to create a superhero costume not already created.

Wazir, a justified title of the film.

Director - Bejoy Nambiar
Story by - Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi.
Music by - Ankit Tiwari, Shantanu Moitra, Prashant Pillai, Rochak Kohli, Rohit Kulkarni,           Gaurav Godkhindi.
Cast - Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Aditi Rao Hydari, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh.


               Wazir is a startling thriller movie with an excellent plot line. A well written script by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi. The story is completed based on a chess board game. The game here is amazingly used as a metaphor with the characters. The script is very compact with a time limit of 104 minutes.

               Farhan and Amitabh play role of a fathers who have lost their daughter, sharing same grief. Amitabh (Omkarnath Dhar) is chess grandmaster who lost his legs and wife in an accident and daughter after an year. Farhan (Danish Ali) is an ATS  officer who lost his daughter in a firing with terrorists. He is suspended for killing a terrorist in unauthorised firing, who is the killer of his daughter. His wife blames him for their daughter's death. The story also have a very good political point which is interconnected with terrorism.

               Second half of the film is full of suspense and thrill. It holds our attention till the end. Climax is just outstanding,  which leaves us dumbstruck. The representation of chess game in a dance form is really remarkable.

                The movie is also very pleasing in terms of cinematography,  music and direction also. Although the first half of the film eeems little sloppy, it's not bad. It can be watched more than once. 

Odd-even formula for Delhi cars.

           The Indian capital has started the trial phase of a new initiative which will see private cars allowed to operate only on alternative days from January 1-15, depending on whether their licence plates end in even or an odd number.

            This initiative is taken in order to control pollution in Delhi. The city also seen a marked increase in the number of hospital patients with respiratory illness.

            Many people are in support of this rule. They feel it's for our benefits and health improvement. They are not completely wrong.  But there are people who are having trouble in reaching their work places on time.  There are business loss for so many people, as there shipment won't reach on time, they have to keep in mind the odd-even numbers.

             Using public transport is not an easy option. Sometimes people have to change few buses or metros. Carpool is also not a good option.  We don't always get it on right time.

             Instead of making the odd-even rule, the government should try to clean the city neatly.  And check the vehicles which emits harmful gases (especially trucks) and only those vehicles should be allowed on road which are checked.  This will help check the air pollution and reduce it.

             Some researchers say, they have not seen much difference in the environment.  But kejriwal says the pollution has decreased by 40%. Some people are happy with this rule, as they have a relief from long hours traffic issues.