Do you have it in you?

If you have it in you, we're looking for you.


India's Armed Forces is looking for a few good men. For the best and the brightest amongst you.For men with intellect, idealism and courage.Men who can lead and inspire others.

The Indian Army is looking for a few good men & women. A few of the best and the brightest. A few with fire in their belly. A few with intellect, idealism and courage. If you have it in you, we’re looking for you.

If you have it in you, we're looking for you.

India's Armed Forces is looking for a few good men. For the best and the brightest amongst you.For men with intellect, idealism and courage.Men who can lead and inspire others.

The Indian Army is looking for a few good men & women. A few of the best and the brightest. A few with fire in their belly. A few with intellect, idealism and courage. If you have it in you, we’re looking for you.

Officer in the Indian Army

As an officer in the Indian Army, you will be heir to a glorious heritage. Blended perfectly with the latest in hi-technology, training techniques and strategic doctrines. You will be part of one of the world's finest Armies. Trained not just to be an officer, but a SOLDIER'S SOLDIER.

You are a Special Person

Every year, thousands apply to become officers. Only a handful get through. You could be one of the chosen few. Do you have it in you? The time has come. To tighten your belt. To brace yourself for the road ahead. To choose the right path. The path that will decide where your life goes from here. Are you ready for the decision that will change your life forever? The Indian Army is looking for a few good men & women. A few of the best and the brightest. A few with fire in their belly. A few with intellect, idealism and courage. If you have it in you, we’re looking for you.

We build Men and Women of Character

An Indian Army Officer is the hallmark of what every human being aspires to be….. a pillar of strength and courage, whose mettle has been put through the acid test time and again. A career in the Army. It will teach you to face the toughest of situations in life with panache you have never known before. It will help you become a multidimensional personality who will be a force to reckon with. Interested? UNLIMITED OPPORTUNITIES While the Indian Army trains you in the art of war the curriculum consists of academic subjects too. Besides it also gives you ample scope to acquire new skills constantly. You can participate in activities like river rafting, para jumping, rock climbing, trekking, mountaineering or even desert safaris. When it comes to adventure and sports, there’s no place like the army.

Unparalleled Education
The Indian Army is a place where you’ll never stop learning. Nowhere else can you get such phenomenal opportunities to constantly hone and upgrade your skills. NDA awards you a Bachelor’s degree in Arts, Science or Computer Science on completion of your training. If you join the technical stream, you will be offered a Graduate and Post Graduate degree in Engineering from one of the finest institutes of technology in the country. If you are selected for the prestigious Defence Services Staff College course. You’ll be awarded a Master of Science degree in Defence and Strategic Studies. The Indian Army also runs some of the country’s most prestigious academies and institutes. This covers a wide range of subjects from engineering to medicine, administration to strategy, and armament technology to management. The choice is indeed limitless. In fact, you can even get into Research & Development, if you desire. That’s not all. You can also take a study leave amidst your tenure for an added educational qualification.

Unmatched Lifestyle

As an Indian Army Officer at 21, you’d be looking at a lifestyle that one cannot imagine in any other profession, so early in life. For all those of you who want to take the plunge, here’s how you can get into the Indian Army. You have several options. You can join right after school or after graduating. Read on to find out more.

http://armedforces.nic.in/

http://joinindianarmy.nic.in/

Ross Jeffries: Seduction Guru

Ross Jeffries is a former comedy writer and the creator of "Speed Seduction," a set of teachings that draws from Neuro Linguistic Programming and other hypnotic techniques. Jeffries claims these methods help men understand women, particularly their motivations and psychology, in order to successfully establish sexual relations. Ross has taught at numerous seminars in locations including Los Angeles, New York and London. Ross's current version of Speed Seduction focuses on techniques of moving energy through the body and "magick". He and his supporters claim great success in changing the attitudes and thought processes of men seeking success with women.

Ross was born in September of 1958 and was raised under the Jewish faith in Gardena-Hawthorne, L.A., California. He had a variety of jobs, and worked at various times insurance claims adjustor, marketing assistant, paralegal, and failed comedy writer. It is clear that while Ross was in his twenties he was an angry man. But it was the notion of Neuro Linguistic Programming, the basis of a book by Richard Bandler, that made him leave all of these careers behind to pursue a more psychological life. Jeffries favorite super hero is the Green Lantern and he has been known to wear a Green Lantern ring.

Speed Seduction

Jeffries was the first of the Seduction Community to create a site and publish user-friendly books on dating women and self-improvement. His first book, "How To Get the Women You Desire Into Bed," created a huge buzz[citation needed] and online communities were created to discuss and aid the development of the art of seduction[citation needed]. Ross has many products, including "Unstoppable Confidence," "Fear into Charisma," "Gold Walk-Up," his seduction home-study course spanning 13 audio CD's and a 107 page accompanying book, and his seminars. From the Bahamas to Palo Alto to London, he lectures seminars on "Hyper-Responsive Connections."
The basis of the original Speed Seduction books and courses is that a person feels the emotions expressed in a story or a linguistical pattern. The goal is to arouse women with words, to put them in a sexual state. Phonetic ambiguity and anchoring are not that often used. Non-verbal communication (hypnosis- like tone of voice) is essential.

By using anchors and "weasel phrases," these states can be anchored to you. From that point on, you can remind a woman of these emotional states by your appearance or touch, as featured in How to Get the Women You Desire into Bed (1992).

A student of Richard Bandler's NLP school, Jeffries was the first to apply the NLP persuasion tactics to the dating field in a structured and systematic way.[citation needed] Jeffries' students have included Neil "Style" Strauss and David DeAngelo, two well-known seductionists.

He was featured as a pick-up mentor to Neil Strauss in Strauss' bestselling book "The Game".

Examples of Speed Seduction Theory

The "Basic Speed Seduction" course consists of CD/DVD recordings of a three-day live seminar, a workbook, and a deck of NLP "Patterns" used to structure sentences as commands. The system has you speak some words of a sentence at a normal tone, while the parts of the sentence you want the person to interpret subliminally as a command are said at a lower register. An example of a Pattern would be, "I told my dog to go inside the house." The words "go inside" may be interpreted by the unconscious mind as a command. A weasel phrase would be to say something without directly violating the other. For example, "Just for the sake of me getting to know you better what would someone have to do to get you totally intrigued?" Another Jeffries device is phonetic ambiguity. Sentence example: "Standing on the hill, I could see the river twinkling below me." According to Jeffries, the words "below me" could be unconsciously interpreted as an embedded command to "blow me". Especially, if at the point those words were spoken, you spread your hands palms up with fingers pointing down at the crotch area.

However as one advances through the Speed Seduction courses/products, the entire technique changes to traits like Signal Recognition, essential NLP skills and defusing the approaches of other AFCs (average frustrated chumps). In various seminars (palo alto 02', London 03') he rumors of writing a new book.

Controversy

Jeffries argues that his methods are completely different from the "dating framework" that is advocated by other "romance gurus." He considers the dating framework to be heavily promoted by the entertainment industry for commercial reasons and to be ineffective for bringing men and women closely together, either for sex or romance. Jeffries denies that he is a misogynist, claiming his techniques are designed to bring pleasure to both men and women through a deeper understanding of the needs of each person. [1] Controversy has also appeared towards Jeffries's online presence, arguing with other Pickup Artist's (PUA's) such as Tyler Durden[2] and various other members of the mASF over general technique, principles and original creation of techniques.

There is controversy over how various Speed Seduction "Forbidden Patterns" such as "October man sequence" are kept "secret" to all but a few.[citation needed]

Film portrayals

Jeffries is rumored to be the model for Tom Cruise's character in the 1999 movie Magnolia, Frank "T.J." Mackey, a predatory "seduction guru." Cruise himself denies this, though Paul Thomas Anderson, who wrote and directed the film, stated in the magazine "Creative Screenwriting" that Jeffries was the main inspiration for the Mackey character.[citation needed] At the 2003 London Speed Seduction Seminar, Jeffries re-enacted Cruise's opening scene in Magnolia, complete with Richard Strauss' music as featured in the film.

http://www.speedseduction.biz/

Indecent Proposal

Pointillism is a French-originated style of painting where an image is created out of small spots of pure colour, which seem to mix when seen from far away. Transpose such a definition onto one’s marriage and you’ve got a loving partnership between husband and wife that (only) appears that way when viewed from a distance; up close it distorts to nothing more than tiny, negligible dots of colour. In the foreground of Adrian Lyne’s Indecent Proposal, is such a marriage – the union between Diana (Demi Moore) and David Murphy (Woody Harrelson).

This implicitly insightful, uneven, bathos-ridden film poses questions pertinent to the ingenuousness of all couples – questions that challenge the authentic nature of love. Arthur Rimbaud proclaimed, “Love… no such thing. Whatever it is that binds families and married couples together… that’s not love… that’s stupidity, or selfishness, or fear. Love doesn’t exist. Self-interest exists; attachment based on personal gain exists. But not love. Love has to be reinvented.” This assertion finds contemporary delineation in Indecent Proposal.

Upon introduction, the relationship in question has come apart as David recounts through voice-over, the “invincibility” he and Diana once felt together. Diana’s subsequent narration is an example of the film’s hokiness, as it offers platitudinous simplicity – that hokiness however, is overcome. As the film unfolds, we see a nostalgic, sexually congruous couple set apart from other couples in their mushy fondness for one another. That fondness is tested when their financial stability is lost to economic strains – forced to follow David’s capricious advice of “taking a risk,” and gambling their reserves in Las Vegas.

John Gage (played coolly and competently by Robert Redford), a morally inverted billionaire financier, acts as the pull on this couple’s loosely spooled thread.

Though the film has been criticized as mostly bravura with no real substance, the level of human complexity put onscreen here deserves praise and emulation; this complexity begins with the couple considering an offer of one million dollars for a night with Diana. The film fleshes out Diana’s disaffected, desensitized, seemingly fulfilled American housewife… who treats marriage as an emotional convoy. Signs of quiet dissatisfaction show themselves throughout the film as she remains scantily clad just long enough for Gage to notice, or she accepts her status as his good luck charm in the casino. The viewer should be sure to examine her emphatic assurances of happiness to see how they actually prove her dissatisfied.

The melodrama of Indecent Proposal is a throwback to Douglas Sirk’s brand, in that it seeks to subvert the status quo rather than support it, offering a biting criticism of contemporary marriage. Also Sirkian, are the juxtapositions of sentimentality and subtlety.

The film’s conclusion satisfies the melodramatic formula while subverting its predictability; it offers a fantasy resolution while remaining ambiguous. And as it drives toward that conclusion there’s a magnificent scene that perfectly encapsulates the advantage of properly mixing sentimentality with subtlety. David has coolly arrived unannounced at a benefit auction to sign divorce papers, and in the process the audience shares in the splendour of what he’s learned. Harrelson shines in this scene that oozes real-life complexity dealing with the gap between manhood and insecurity, and discovering how manhood can take its shape by learning from the male stages of insecurity. Underpinning the film’s brilliance is a pensive John Barry score that incites one to self-reflect.

Though the film has been criticized as mostly bravura with no real substance, the level of human complexity put onscreen here deserves praise and emulation. - Jon Lap

Hocus-pocus

I just met a copywriter – and he doesn’t “know” David Ogilvy! He’s NEVER heard of him! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

My Comments: Oldboy

I believe that a man must’ve an element of “savagism” in him. “Modernism” is turning us into Urban Sissies and Eunuchs!

Oldboy

"The octopus being eaten alive was no special effect but a real animal; four were killed during the making of the movie. Actor Choi Min-sik, a Buddhist, said a prayer for each one. It should also be noted that the eating of live octopuses (called sannakji in Korean) as a delicacy is not unheard of in East Asia, although it is usually cut, not eaten whole. When asked if he felt sorry for the actor Choi Min-sik, director Park Chan-wook stated he felt more sorry for the octopus."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_boy

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oldboy/

My (Public Key) Digital ID

My (Public Key) Digital ID is here:

https://digitalid.verisign.com/services/client/index.html

IF MY EMAIL IS NOT DIGITALLY SIGNED THEN IT IS NOT FROM ME!

Comment posted by Fatima Mirza
at 5/22/2007 6:18:00 AM
Thanks for this info.

Swayamvar

A Suitable Boy right out of Vikram Seth's novel is looking for you . . . .

Where’re you?

Would-be bride eh? Hmm. She'd look like Princess Niloufer or Penelope Cruz or Rachel Weisz or Keira Knightley or Danica McKellar! Remember Winnie Cooper? LOL Just kidding! I’ll give you some keywords: She’d be well-read, liberal, intelligent and pretty. (No brain-dead beauty, please!) Type B personality! Shouldn’t be tomboyish! Talkative. Great mind-set. Humor. And, of course TALL and SLIM! This isn't a prerequisite but it'd be splendid if she: speaks impeccable, chaste Urdu; loves Urdu poetry; and is an American from Lucknow! That’s all for now.

"Swayamvara (Sanskrit: स्‍वयं‍वर), in ancient India, was a practice of choosing a life partner, among a list of suitors by a girl of marriageable age. Swayam in Sanskrit means Self and Vara means choosing or wanting.

In this practice, the girl's father decides to conduct the Swayamvara of the daughter at an auspicious time and venue, and broadcasts the news of this to the outside world. Kings, typically used to send messengers to outside lands whereas commoners arranged to spread the news within the local community.

On the appointed day and venue, a list of suitors arrive at the girl's home and ask for her hand. The girl and her family get to choose among the suitors, sometimes through evaluating the completion of various tasks assigned. When the girl identifies the husband of her choice, she garlands him and a marriage ceremony is held immediately."

Amjad Ali Khan

He was all of 6 years old, when Amjad Ali Khan gave his first recital of Sarod. It was the beginning of yet another glorious chapter in the history of Indian classical music. Taught by his father Haafiz Ali Khan, a musician to the royal family of Gwalior, Amjad Ali Khan was born to the illustrious Bangash lineage rooted in the Senia Bangash School of music. Today he shoulders the sixth generation inheritance of this legendary lineage.After his debut, the career graph of this musical legend took the speed of light, and on its way the Indian classical music scene was witness to regular and scintillating bursts of Raga supernovas. And thus, the world saw the Sarod being given a new and yet timeless interpretation by Amjad Ali Khan. Khan is one of the few maestros who consider his audience to be the soul of his motivation.




As he once said, "There is no essential difference between classical and popular music. Music is music. I want to communicate with the listener who finds Indian classical music remote."

He has performed at the WOMAD Festival in Adelaide and New Plymouth, Taranaki in New Zealand, WOMAD Rivermead Festival in UK, Edinburgh Music Festival, World Beat Festival in Brisbane, Summer Arts Festival in Seattle, BBC Proms, International Poets Festival in Rome, Shiraz Festival, UNESCO, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Adelaide Music Festival, 1200 Years celebration of Frankfurt and Schonbrunn in Vienna.

In the matter of awards, Amjad Ali Khan has the privilege of winning the kind of honours and citations at his relatively young age, which, for many other artistes would have taken a lifetime. He is a recipient of the UNESCO Award, Padma Vibhushan Highest Indian civilian award), Unicef's National Ambassadorship, The Crystal Award ( by the World Economic
Forum and Hon'ry Doctorates from the Universities of York, England, Delhi University and the Vishva Bharti (Deshikottam) in Shantiniketan and "Commander of the order of Arts and letters" by the French Government and this year, the 15th Fukuoka Asian Culture Grand Prize 2004 in Japan.

He represented India in the first World Arts Summit in Venice, received Hon'ry Citizenship to the States of Texas, Massachusetts, Tennessee and the city of Atlanta. April 20th, 1984 was declared as Amjad Ali Khan Day in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1995, Mr. Khan was awarded the Gandhi UNESCO Medal in Paris for his composition Bapukauns.

His collaborations include a piece composed for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yoshikazu Fukumora titled Tribute to Hong Kong, duets with gutarist Charley Byrd, Violinist Igor Frolov, Suprano Glenda Simpson, Guitarist Barry Mason and UK Cellist Matthew Barley. He has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Yorkshire, Washington, North Eastern and New Mexico. BBC Magazine had voted one of his recent CDs titled ‘Bhairav’ among the best 50 classical albums of the world for the year 1995. In 1994, his name was included Biographical in International Directory of Distinguished Leadership, 5th edition. In 1999, Mr. Khan inaugurated the World Festival of Sacred Music with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In 1998, Khan composed the signature tune for the 48th International Film Festival. In March 2002, Mr. Khan released his Carnegie Hall concert recording, Sarod for Harmony-Live at Carnegie Hall to commemorate his fiftieth performing year. Once again this year, Maestro Amjad Ali Khan performed for His Royal Highness Prince Charles at his Highgrove Estate for the second time after earlier recitals in 1989, 1995 and 1997(at St. James Palace).

He has been a regular performer at the Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Kennedy Center, Santury Hall (First Indian performer), House of Commons, Theater Dela Ville, Muee Guimet, ESPLANADE in Singapore, Palais beaux-arts, Mozart Hall in Frankfurt, Chicago Symphony Center, St. James Palace and the Opera House in Australia.

In his case, the term 'beauty of the Ragas' acquires a special meaning as he has to his credit the distinction of having created many new Ragas. It is love for music and his belief in his music that has enabled him to interpret traditional notions of music for a new refreshing way, reiterating the challenge of innovation and yet respecting the timelessness of tradition.

Two books have been written on him. The World of Amjad Ali Khan by UBS Publishers in 1995 and Abba-God’s Greatest Gift To Us by his sons, Amaan and Ayaan published by Roli Books-Lustre Publications in 2002. A documentary on Mr. Khan called Strings for Freedom won the Bengal Film Journalist Association Award and was also screened at the Ankara Film Festival in 1996.

‘Coming Masters’ as the New York Times calls them, his two sons, Amaan Ali Khan and Ayaan Ali Khan are well known names in the music scene and are the seventh generation of musicians in the family. Amjad Ali Khan's wife Subhalakshmi Khan has been a great exponent of the Indian classical dance, Bharatnatyam, which, she sacrificed for her family. As a soul, so in his heart, he is a man who has proven his indomitable belief in the integration of two of life's greatest forces, love and music. He is a living example of a man who practices that integration each day of his life, both on stage and off stage.

http://www.sarod.com/

Vikram Seth

Biography
Born in 1952 in Calcutta, India, Vikram Seth was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, Stanford University and Nanjing University. He has travelled widely and lived in Britain, California, India and China. His first novel, The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse (1986), describes the experiences of a group of friends living in California. His acclaimed epic of Indian life, A Suitable Boy (1993), won the WH Smith Literary Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book). Set in India in the early 1950s, it is the story of a young girl, Lata, and her search for a husband. An Equal Music (1999), is the story of a violinist haunted by the memory of a former lover. Vikram Seth is also the author of a travel book, From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983), an account of a journey through Tibet, China and Nepal that won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, and a libretto, Arion and the Dolphin: A Libretto (1994), which was performed at the English National Opera in June 1994, with music by Alec Roth. His poetry includes Mappings (1980), The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985), winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Asia), and All You Who Sleep Tonight: Poems (1990). His children's book, Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992), consists of ten stories about animals told in verse.

Vikram Seth's latest work is Two Lives (2005), a memoir of the marriage of his great uncle and aunt.

Genres (in alphabetical order)
Children, Fiction, Libretto, Poetry, Translation, Travel

Bibliography
Mappings Writer's Workshop (Calcutta) (re-issued Viking 1994), 1980
From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet Chatto & Windus, 1983
The Humble Administrator's Garden Carcanet, 1985
The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse Faber and Faber, 1986
All You Who Sleep Tonight: Poems Faber and Faber, 1990
Beastly Tales from Here and There (illustrated by Ravi Shankar, re-issued Phoenix House 2002) Phoenix House, 1992
Three Chinese Poets: Translations of Poems by Wang Wei, Li Bai and Du Fu Faber and Faber, 1992
A Suitable Boy Phoenix House, 1993
Arion and the Dolphin: A Libretto Phoenix House, 1994
An Equal Music Phoenix House, 1999
Two Lives Time Warner, 2005

Prizes and awards
1983 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet
1985 Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Asia) The Humble Administrator's Garden
1993 Irish Times International Fiction Prize (shortlist) A Suitable Boy
1994 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) A Suitable Boy
1994 WH Smith Literary Award A Suitable Boy
2001 EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award) for Best Book/Novel An Equal Music

Critical Perspective
It comes as a surprise to some readers of Seth’s A Suitable Boy (1993) that the author of this, the longest novel in English ever written, has also penned six volumes of poetry. What is surprising is not Seth’s shift between prose and poetry (here he is in the company of several contemporary writers), but that an author famous for such an expansive, ‘unrestrained’ work of fiction, could also write with the formal and verbal restraint, economy and discipline of Seth-the-poet.Mappings (1980) was Seth’s first volume of poetry, a little known collection, it includes translations of work by Chinese, German and Hindi poets. Through Mappings Seth served something of an apprenticeship while revealing an early preoccupation with European and Chinese (Seth does not see himself as a singularly ‘Indian’ writer) cultural production that has, if anything, become more pronounced in his more recent work.Mappings was followed by From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983), a popular and compelling autobiographical tale of the author’s journey from Nepal to India and the many and varied people he meets on the way. Travel also provides the direction for Seth’s next two collections, The Humble Administrator’s Garden (1985) and All you who Sleep Tonight (1990). The Humble Administrator’s Garden, is a witty collection of nature poems structured around plants/places: Wutong (China), Neem (India) and Live-Oak (California). All you who Sleep Tonight is an elegant book of poetry that combine the sharp humour that characterises so much of Seth’s writing with darker subjects such as Auschwitz and Hiroshima. In his next book of poems, Seth further displays his capacity for wit in Beastly Tales from Here and There (1991). As its title makes explicit, this is another narrative of journeys and journeying that takes us through Greece, China, India and the Ukraine not to mention the fantasy world of Gup. Structured around the classic tension between good and evil and punctuated by superb illustrations, these tales in verse will appeal as much to children as to adults.In a more recent collection, Three Chinese Poets (1992) Seth offers us his most ambitious and daring translation to date. The ‘three Chinese’ of the title are the T’ang dynasty poets Wang Wei, Li Bai and Du Fu. Translated from the original ideograms (the graphic symbols of the Chinese writing system), Seth closely follows the form and subject of the poems in what is a controlled and skillful collection.Seth’s first ‘novel’ - The Golden Gate - was published in 1986. Composed of no less than 690 rhyming tetrameter sonnets (more than 7000 lines). Gore Vidal has called it ‘the Great California novel’. The Golden Gate is a satirical romance set in San Francisco and is centred on the relationship of two professionals.In his next novel, A Suitable Boy Seth combined satire and romance to even greater effect in what became one of the most popular epic narratives of the late twentieth century. This heavy weight novel, described by one critic as ‘three and a half pounds of perfection’ has earned Seth comparison with Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens and George Eliot. The classic realism of A Suitable Boy, which took Seth almost a decade to write, was for many readers of Indian fiction in English, a welcome break from the magical realism of that other heavy weight author from the subcontinent, Salman Rushdie. Indeed Seth describes his preferred prose style in a manner that seems to implicitly contrast him with that of Rushdie: ‘the kind of books I like reading are books where the authorial voice doesn’t intrude … [or] … pull you up with the brilliance of their sentences'. Of course, such comparisons ultimately conceal more than they reveal: if Seth’s novel represents a move away from self-conscious modernist experimentation then how are we to read the self-conscious epigraph with which it opens: ‘The secret of being a bore is to say everything’ (Voltaire)?Set in Brahmpur, A Suitable Boy uses the taboo relationship between a boy and girl as a metonym through which to explore the post-Independence conflict in India between Hindus and Muslims. The novel centres on four families: the Kapoors, Mehras and Chatterjis (Hindus) and the Khans (Muslim). Mrs Rupa Mehra is looking for a ‘suitable boy’ for her wayward daughter, Lata. ‘Suitable’ here means Hindu, but Lata, it seems, has her eyes set on a Muslim boy. The repercussions of this relationship consume one thousand three hundred and forty nine pages.Seth’s novel, An Equal Music (1999, is another romantic novel, but this time minus the satire of A Suitable Boy and a thousand or so pages. The book centres on two gifted musicians: Michael Holme and Julia McNicholl. As Michael works on a Beethoven piece for the Maggiore Quartet, he grows increasingly preoccupied with recollections of his student days in Vienna where he met Julia. When the two are re-united by chance in London, their relationship is re-kindled. One of the most impressive aspects of this novel is the way in which it manages to convey music through language. While Seth is modest about his musical abilities, the fact that he was commissioned to write a libretto (later published as Arion and the Dolphin) for the English National Opera in 1994 suggests he is no novice. An Equal Music takes a conventional romantic plot and renders it compelling and novel through the seductive clarity and precision of its prose.

James Proctor, 2003

Question: Who are you? -- Osho

Question: Who are you?
Answer: Whomsoever you think, because it depends on you. If you look at me with total emptiness, I will be different. If you look at me with ideas, those ideas will color me; if you come to me with a prejudice, then I will be different. I am just a mirror. Your own face will be reflected. There is a saying that if a monkey looks into the mirror he will not find an apostle looking at him through the mirror. Only a monkey will be looking through the mirror. So it depends on the way you look at me. I have disappeared completely so I cannot impose on you who I am. I have nothing to impose. There is just a nothingness, a mirror. Now you have complete freedom. If you really want to know who I am, you have to be as absolutely empty as I am. Then two mirrors will be facing each other, and only emptiness will be mirrored. Infinite emptiness will be mirrored: two mirrors facing each other. But if you have some idea, then you will see your own idea in me. -- Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic / Osho

Must-Read for GIRLS!

At ZoneAlarm, we are dedicated to offering advanced Internet security solutions made easy for everyday people. We also believe that knowledge is essential, and so we've created this comprehensive guide to protecting your family's PC. It's free, easy to understand, and offers all the information you need to create a safe environment for enjoying all the benefits of the Internet.

By ensuring that your computer is protected, you also keep your friends and family, and even the entire Internet community at large, safe. Together, we can work to defend the integrity of the Internet.

You'd download How to Protect Your Family's PC (PDF guide) from the following URL:

http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/promotions/defendthenet/index.jsp

http://www.zonealarm.com/

Comment posted by Maqsood Qureshi
at 5/15/2007 5:47:00 AM
Girls are vulnerable -- and are exploited easily.

Serious repercussions -- if her computer is compromised.

Got it? Want to hear some explicit and gory details? Dummy!

Tickling you half to death! Kootchie koo!

Comment posted by sara
at 5/14/2007 11:06:00 AM
But may I ask, why GIRLS? girls only?

How about guys? They're supposed to protect themselves too..

With respect,

My Comments: Spelling Bee

Turn OFF your spelling checker! Spell checkers make you dyslexic!

Here's something to pep you up for it:

http://www.akeelahandthebee.com/

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/beeseason/

Postscript: My daughter should be like (Eliza) Flora Cross in Bee Season!

National Spelling Bee

The National Spelling Bee was launched by the Louisville, Kentucky, Courier-Journal in 1925. With competitions, cash prizes, and a trip to the nation's capital, it was hoped the Bee would stimulate “general interest among pupils in a dull subject.” The Scripps Howard News Service took over the Bee in 1941. Over the years the national finals have grown from a mere 9 contestants to about 270. In 2006, Katharine Close, an eighth-grader at the H. W. Mountz School in Spring Lake, N.J., took home more than $42,000 in cash and prizes for correctly spelling ursprache. Here are the winning words that made past spellers into national champions.

1925 gladiolus
1926 abrogate
1927 luxuriance
1928 albumen
1929 asceticism
1930 fracas
1931 foulard
1932 knack
1933 propitiatory
1934 deteriorating
1935 intelligible
1936 interning
1937 promiscuous
1938 sanitarium
1939 canonical
1940 therapy
1941 initials
1942 sacrilegious
1943 NO BEE
1944 NO BEE
1945 NO BEE
1946 semaphore
1947 chlorophyll
1948 psychiatry
1949 dulcimer
1950 haruspex
1951 insouciant
1952 vignette
1953 soubrette
1954 transept
1955 custaceology
1956 condominium
1957 schappe
1958 syllepsis
1959 cacolet
1960 troche
1961 smaragdine
1962 esquamulose
1963 equipage
1964 sycophant
1965 eczema
1966 ratoon
1967 chihuahua
1968 abalone
1969 interlocutory
1970 croissant
1971 shalloon
1972 macerate
1973 vouchsafe
1974 hydrophyte
1975 incisor
1976 narcolepsy
1977 cambist
1978 deification
1979 maculature
1980 elucubrate
1981 sarcophagus
1982 psoriasis
1983 Purim
1984 luge
1985 milieu
1986 odontalgia
1987 staphylococci
1988 elegiacal
1989 spoliator
1990 fibranne
1991 antipyretic
1992 lyceum
1993 kamikaze
1994 antediluvian
1995 xanthosis
1996 vivisepulture
1997 euonym
1998 chiaroscurist
1999 logorrhea
2000 démarche
2001 succedaneum
2002 prospicience
2003 pococurante
2004 autochthonous
2005 appoggiatura
2006 ursprache

Tenacious Saira Banu

Saira Banu was a fey beauty, as delicate as filigreed lace. But the painted talons she flashed on screen were also a symbol of her tenacity and spirit.

In a male-dominated film industry, Saira Banu was that rare actress who played heroine to Shammi Kapoor in Subodh Mukherjee's Junglee and, 14 years later, played his daughter in B R Chopra's Zameer.

Saira surmounted histrionic limitations, a gossiped-about illness and a much-married status to etch a long career as a glamour icon.

Gifted with an alabaster complexion, mahogany eyes (or was it lenses?), aquiline nose and an enviable figure, Saira thrived because her debut in Junglee (1961) coincided with the onset of the era of colour and Kashmir in Hindi films.

Though Saira had spent a significant part of her childhood in London and was a finishing school product, she fit the rustic beauty role in Junglee to a T. Cast as an innocent Kashmir ki kali who reduces the wild city cad Shammi Kapoor to a puddle of devotion, Saira exuded freshness and friskiness.

Filmalaya's Junglee created hysteria. Saira was considered a beauty queen for much of her career, but never again looked as breathtakingly beautiful as she did in Junglee.

Saira inherited her beauty from her mother, renowned 1940s actress Naseem Banu. Initially, filmmakers couldn't see beyond that. Saira was willing to learn (the novice dancer would keep a studio open at Filmalaya Studios to practise her dancing and became a proficient Kathak artiste).

But most of her 1960s films showed her either shrieking (who can forget the roof-shattering "You... farebi" from April Fool), simpering ("Samjhao apne dil ko" she whispers to an excited Rajendra Kumar while he drools Aaj ki raat yeh kaisi raat in Aman), or squealing (the famous Aiyaa from Shagird).

Aayee Milan Ki Bela (1964) witnessed both, the mehboob of the audience Rajendra Kumar, and the hunk-in the-making Dharmendra ardently wooing Saira. The film's success ensured that Saira and Rajendra teamed in three films in succession: Aman, Jhuk Gaya Aasman and K Asif's incomplete Sasta Khoon Mehnga Paani.

Those who linked her with the much-married Rajendra Kumar were silenced when Saira wed tragedy king Dilip Kumar (ironically, Rajendra Kumar's inspiration) in 1966. Saira willingly sublimated her single image for this May-December pairing, but did not stop acting in films.

Saira had starred regularly with Mukherjee scion Joy in many a clunker, but the 1967 hit Shagird proved a welcome wedding present. Playing a village Venus once again, Saira sported mini-saris that caught the fancy of the fashion-conscious though few had the courage to emulate her.

Always a fashion plate, Saira was forever encased in the pearl strings, chokers, mink stoles and mathapatti saris designed by mother Naseem.

By and large, Saira's performances had been like jelly --- they instantly melted in the mouth and were soon forgotten. But she showed a surprising flair for light-hearted drama in Shagird (her electric comic interactions with I S Johar and Joy saw her bagging a Best Actress nomination), and Padosan (1968). Padosan, in fact, was a family favourite. Her grandmother viewed it each time she wanted a mood elevator.

But success chose to play hide and seek with Saira through much of her career. The late 1960s saw the industry being flooded with rumours of Saira being seriously affected by a serious blood disease (it was actually a severe case of colitis).

She had to take a break and lost out on many films including Chhoti Bahu with reigning superstar Rajesh Khanna.

The silver lining to the dark clouds was provided by Manoj Kumar. Ignoring all advice, he decided to play the waiting game for Saira to recover. He cast her as the smoking, drinking, miniskirt flaunting Indian girl in Purab Aur Paschim. The film's success accentuated Saira's Westernised image.

In the rollicking comedy Victoria No 203 (1972) she may have spent some screen time posing as a man. But there was no mistaking her identity when she wore two towels and tantalised Ranjeet in the sensual Thodasa thehro.

When Sharmila Tagore, Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi flaunted their sexuality, Saira (who had been bold right from her Mera naam Rita Christina days in April Fool), became the first from the Asha Parekh-Nanda-Sadhana brigade to adapt to the times. Her daring decolletage made her rivals rush to their tailors (designers had still to enter the fray, full-time).

Her contemporaries Asha Parekh and Sadhana may have shone in the 1960s but by 1972, their halos were dimming. Saira was still a saleable star. The 1970s saw the release of over half a dozen films costarring her with Dharmendra (Aadmi Aur Insaan, Resham Ki Dori, Saazish, Chaitali, International Crook, Jwar Bhata, Pocketmaar).

Most of these films didn't line the pockets of the distributors but that didn't deter Dharmendra from working with her repeatedly.

This was Saira's most fecund phase. She had seven releases in 1974 and did two films (Zameer and Hera Pheri) with Amitabh Bachchan too.

Ever since her marriage to Dilip Kumar, Saira looked for roles with a dramatic centre. Her valiant attempts to establish a reputation as an actress after Gopi, Sagina and Bairaag (all with Dilip Kumar), and films like Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Chaitali met with limited success.

In 1976, Saira chose to draw the curtains on her career.

Subsequently, she has weathered a storm in her marriage, essayed a cameo opposite her husband in Duniya (1984); become a successful television producer but has primarily concentrated on being Mrs Dilip Kumar.

-- Dinesh Raheja

Read me first, please!

This message is for Siri, blog etc.

Thank you for your comments.

There’s some glitch – I guess . . . .

I get the following error whenever I try to access your Profile/Blog:

“Profile Not Available

The Blogger Profile you requested cannot be displayed. Many Blogger users have not yet elected to publicly share their Profile.

If you're a Blogger user, we encourage you to enable access to your Profile.”

If this isn’t some glitch – you simply wish to remain anonymous then you’d know that I don’t “interact” with anonymous users.

Sounds contradictory! I’m interacting with you! LOL I mean one-on-one, active interaction! :-)

Comment posted by blog
at 5/7/2007 11:26:00 AM
yeah glitch kya hota hai mian? angrezi thodi kamzoor hai(lol)

batatey meray ko?

Osho: My Mentor. My Guru.

My Mentor. My Guru.

Comment posted by prem nischal
at 6/9/2007 5:53:00 AM
sir, your intro about osho is beautiful.thank you.i would like you to know about that a live stream of osho in the name oshodhara in delhi,india. you should please know more about it.i hope you will for my sake. thank you once again. my id:preoshonischal@gmail.com
premoshonischal@rediffmail.com

Comment posted by Aymen
at 5/11/2007 2:34:00 PM
Salaam Alaykum(if u still use this greeting)

dear brother...this person is nothing more than a crappy human.I thought by the look of it you are a muslim.

There is Prophet Muhammad...who has left behind a better guidance than this man.

younger than you,though I am...i have believed in the monotheism and the acceptance of Prophet Muhammad as the best example for the whole of mankind/.

Comment posted by siri
at 5/7/2007 1:26:00 AM
Dear Maqsood,

U said ur mentor , ur guru ?

But he is not alive. do u think he is of any use now to u?

His vision of religions is completely different and very hard to digest to we asians.