World Wildlife Week – October 1, 2009

By Jayashanker V S

It is an irrefutable fact that India is way behind other world countries when it comes to creating awareness among the public and their contribution towards wildlife conservation. Every year during the World Wildlife Week celebrations between October 1 and 7, the children, youth and the elderly are made to go through the customary set of activities leaving them with no or little insight into the ways and means of contributing to wildlife conservation.

Usually, the world wildlife week begins with batches of people being taken on guided walks through the various animal sanctuaries in different cities, and the tiger and lion safaris in the few national animal parks. And for children it is just fun time as they take part in the painting and elocution competitions with the theme being wildlife. Then what follows are the customary lectures on the alarming statistics on wildlife in India, the various animal welfare and conservation programmes and screening of the films and documentaries on wildlife.

But is this enough? Can these mere talk shows, guided tours and walks and thematic painting and elocution competition really help wildlife conservation? Sadly, only very little! I am not on a fault-finding mission here; these do help a bit create some awareness on the wildlife scenario and the ‘ongoing’ conservation efforts in the country but the more important aspect of public contribution are completely ignored.

Conservation is about understanding, and practising small things that could make a big difference in the lives of our canine friends! There has to be workable programmes introduced, beyond the traditional week long wildlife celebrations inside the tall walls of the sanctuaries and the open fields of the national parks, which would inculcate the active participation of everyone in the society towards wildlife conservation!

Need of the hour: Taking cues from the global wildlife conservation efforts
The action should start from the streets, and at our homes! And remember, these conservation activities cannot afford to stop after one or two weeks; it is a long term vision and has to go on and on till we have healthy figures on par with international standards.

Take for instance some of the programmes launched by the various wildlife federations across the globe. The U.S-based National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has active wildlife conservation programmes for children and adults. The idea is to make kids understand the importance of wildlife conservation and start early! For example, there is the children magazine on wildlife, wild animal baby music CDs, and DVDs, and the most popular attractive scheme called ‘wild animal baby adoption center.’ No! It does not mean that children are asked to adopt a wild animal and raise it! It is a symbolic wildlife adoption by paying a small amount which will help the NWF towards wildlife conservation. Children make small donations to gift themselves the certificates of adoption, a free plush animal, a wild animal baby story card and much more interesting stuff.

This serves the twin purpose of creating awareness and helping wildlife conservation. Camping tips are also held where kids build tents and spend time to study the animals around them. Children are also encouraged to clean up their backyards, plant the right mix of plants and help create a haven for wildlife and their pets.

Global warming – Your small efforts can make big difference in wildlife conservation
Forests are the homes of many wild animals and deforestation kills their habitat. Planting trees is an effective and viable solution to gift back the natural habitat to our canine friends. Global warming is equally bad to animals and wildlife conservation! Changes in temperature, water, food and their habitat have a negative impact on the health of the wildlife and in raising their young ones. Scientists around the world agree that cutting just 2 % of carbon emissions every year, that’s 80% over the next 40 years, we can avoid the worst impacts of global warming.

Our tiny little every day actions can make a big difference to help reduce global warming. By doing this we help ourselves and our fellow animal friends! Go green! Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, adjust your thermostat, and join the ‘lights off’ campaign. You can also turn off lights when you don’t need them! Check how your computer can be tweaked to save energy and reduce global warming. Adopt high fuel efficiency standards for your vehicles. Even the kind of clothes you wear can help reduce global emission. It is being said that the production process for a cotton T-shirt blended with polyester uses petrochemicals and releases roughly 10 times the shirt’s weight in carbon dioxide.

The furniture we buy also adds to the destruction of tropical rainforests around the globe. This in turn adversely affects the wildlife habitat and their future. This doesn’t mean that you should not buy furniture at all. It simply means buying only certified furniture that will help protect rainforests and wildlife like furniture made out of wheat panels, sunflower board, aluminium, polywoods, wrought irons, metals, and stones. For example, in the U.S the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has certified some companies making and selling outdoor and garden furniture. Choosing FSC-certified Garden furniture ensures that forests are managed to protect water, soil, and wildlife habitat in addition to providing wood products.

Similarly, solar powered products can help greatly reduce carbon emissions and help us and the wildlife. Choose wisely eco-friendly electronic items like cell phones, TV and other gizmos that could help in reducing global warming and wildlife conservation.

Corporate responsibility can help in a big way in cutting global warming and in wildlife conservation. With a little initiative, corporate houses can turn their backyards and farms into eco-friendly garden and a wildlife-friendly habitat.

e-way and wildlife conservation
With blogging being widely used today, spreading awareness on wildlife conservation and sharing stories of how global warming has affected your neighbourhood wildlife could well make a huge difference. All that is needed is a little understanding and effort.

Stock taking
How many of us know about the number of wildlife sanctuaries and wildlife national parks in India? Many of us have heard about Project Tiger but do we know what is being done to protect them? How many of us do our bit in our everyday lives to reduce global warming? Are you an active animal activist? Take a pledge today and help you, others and our beloved animals. Remember, it’s their world too!

Opinion: Old Is Gold — Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow

By Sivamani Vasudevan (Guest Writer)

WEEKEND GUEST COLUMN  Old is gold, it is always said. When I was a five-year old, some 55 years ago, my elders said their olden days were gold. Today, my son, who is around 30, says, “old is gold.”

I always wonder why everyone's olden days are better than their present. Old music and songs were good. Old films were outstanding. Old clothings were of better quality. Old craftsmanship was worthier. Old silk sarees were good. In the olden days, food was of high standards. Old vessels and wares were of high quality.

Straight Talk: Why Is A Muslim In India Expected To Explain An Act By Algerian Muslims In France?

What happens when you are in a newsroom working on something that may offend people, when you hear that in another newsroom ten colleagues were killed and 11 others were grievously hurt for doing the same. I had just finished writing on religious fundamentalism and was discussing Islamism with a believing Muslim colleague, when the horror of Charlie Hebdo streamed in on TV.

Of course, what I do is nowhere close to what the satirists at Charlie Hebdo do. Indian laws do not allow that kind of freedom of expression.

'And The Award Goes To...': What Backstage Drama Goes Behind 'Award Ceremonies' In India?

Jockeying for trophies, frantic planning and the mania leading to each event - a glimpse into the not-so-glam aspects of these shows.

It's that time of the year in B-Town — award season time, whilst up north the buzz is all about the next instalment of the Jaipur Literary Festival and the Patna Lit Fest that follows as well as the ongoing Kolkata Literary Festival; here in the city of dreams — this month is about dreams realised. But as with literary festivals, the stories off stage, the drama that leads up to the main day, the jockeying for awards, the absence or the presence of actors or rather stars — is what makes up the narrative.

Not Living a Muslim Lifestyle?

By Samiya Anwar & M H Ahssan

There is more to a Muslim lifestyle, though, than glossy photographs in a magazine, no matter how attractive they appear. A Muslim lifestyle is altogether different from the ways of life of many of the people we live with. It is maybe because so many Muslims are living the kind of lives which are not really Muslim lifestyles, that the rest of the world so misunderstands Islam. Take, for example, the real case of the restaurant in North London. The sign over the door read, "Fully Licensed Halal Restaurant." In other words, the halal restaurant was licensed to serve alcohol! What sort of message does that give to non-Muslims?

Let us be quite clear. Islam is perfect and has nothing at all to be ashamed of. Nothing. Muslims, however, are not perfect at all. We all make lots of mistakes and we often settle for second best in the way we live our lives. Peer pressure is very strong and it is easy to give in to pressure from friends and others, who are urging us to relax the code of behaviour we learned at home or in the mosque. Very subtle advertising on the television or in the press shows us ways of dressing, for example, or styles of music that are not acceptable in Islam. Not going along with the crowd can make us feel left out and alone.

There are other behaviours, though, which go beyond this trend of fashions and music. Settling for that sort of lifestyle runs the risk of putting us outside the bounds of Islam. Every Muslim knows that drinking alcohol is haram. We all know, though, that some Muslims do drink, and some even drink alcohol to excess. Even worse, the trend of taking mind altering drugs, which is also haram, has become acceptable in some circles as just one of those things you do when you are growing up. Just as alcohol can lead to a lowering of our own self-control and, in its turn, lead us on to do other things that we know to be wrong, "mild" drugs can lead us on to more addictive drugs and to a lifestyle in which we need money to finance such an expensive habit.

In life, all people crave happiness and fulfilment. Some people will go to great lengths to achieve it. The great message of Islam is that true happiness can only be found in Allah. When we see football hooligans on television or read the alarmingly high levels of suicide or alcoholism or drug addiction in many countries of the Western, "developed" world, we see the results of people craving happiness where it cannot be found. Temporary "highs" will not answer the deepest needs of our hearts.

In the same way, relationships in Islam are governed by ways of behaviour. We have ways of being introduced to members of the opposite sex, for example. We have codes of behaviour for when boys and girls, men and women, are together. We have rules of courtship and ways of preparing for marriage. All of these are not just cultural baggage, as some would want us to believe. They exist for a very real reason. Casual sexual relationships may be quite common in some, non-Muslim societies, but Muslims have this code of behaviour to prevent such relationships. And it is not just to prevent freedom that we have such rules. Casual relationships do not bring happiness. Sexual activity before marriage, with one or many partners, of the same or the opposite sex, leaves people feeling used and taken advantage of. Films and soap operas may present such behaviour to us as normal, but it is not normal to behave in such a way, because using other people as sexual objects is to deny why they exist at all. It is to cheapen ourselves and to settle for second best in life.

Settling for second best is the worst trap we can fall into. Loving relationships are what we all hope to find in life. We all hope to find that special person we can one day settle down with and who will make us feel whole. That person will complete us and will complete our religion. Out of that union will come children, in sha' Allah. Settling for the kind of casual relationships we see on TV as normal, is not what Muslims want. It is not what you would want for your sister or your mother, is it? Islam has the highest respect for women. It also has the greatest respect for human beings and their bodies. Settling for second best and giving in to desires are not what will answer the deepest needs of our hearts.

Almighty Allah has given us, as Muslims, a way of life that does bring that happiness we crave. Islam teaches us that we must control bodily desires, like the desires for food and for drink and for sexual gratification, in order to become better people. Just remember, for example, how good it feels in Ramadan to fast for the sake of Allah and to deny our bodies the right to rule over us. Muslims are human beings like anyone else. They did not drop out of the sky. Sometimes it is really difficult to live a chaste and decent life, especially when all those around us are just doing whatever they want and behaving with no limits to stop them. Islam, though, is there to help us as much as to make rules to govern us. Islam brings the real happiness we are all after, if we will allow it to.

The consequences of living a non-Muslim lifestyle can be seen in any Western country. They can be seen in marriage breakdown and divorce figures. They can be seen in the number of unwanted pregnancies or in the high levels of crime and violence that exist in many of the world's big cities. They can be seen by the way people are discarded when they are no longer of any use. Islam, on the other hand, presents us with a different way of looking at life. It shows us that people are created by Almighty Allah and that they exist to serve Him and to find true happiness in doing so. Care for children and the elderly, respect for parents and for the place of women in society, all of these are what Islam holds up as being of importance.

“We are the world” is the voice of today’s young minds. They are comfortable with every thing of today and welcome the changes open heartedly. Religion is absolutely no bar. It is not that only a Christian or American drinks or night out often and not the other religions youth. Gone are those days when we hear any such news. Now, it is same with everyone. More to join this genre is the Muslims. Yes. In the present day of globalization and westernization, where everything is getting influenced and adapted, Muslims are no at the back. They are more of Muslims in every crime and hoax we find around us these days.

Now, more than ever, the youth is often regarded as the source of society's challenges and deficits. Who is responsible for all these parents, teachers or they themselves who are away from the true knowledge of the world? The underage drinking, drugs, sexual preferences and violence is what we find in the youth today

The decency and simple life of Prophet, the messenger of Allah is out of the brains and what is left is the new western culture. There are less of prayers (Ibadat) more of music in the houses. We are not addicted to reading The Holy Quran but hooked to the new gadgets. The Muslims are undoubtedly changed from years and welcome every change for the sake of entertainment and pleasure. It is all about making life’s simple and easy they say. But no they are heading life towards a baffled world where they are left muddle up.

I have seen many young men and women walk down parks and green lanes with earphones and portable music systems or cell phones, completely shutting out from the world. They don’t care of anyone or everyone. The lifestyle they portrays is only night outs, lounging in the pubs, tapping feet to the rocking music in discs, showing off 8 GB I-pods; N-Series mobiles, the latest bike, Levis jeans and Woodland shoes are the common lifestyle of the urban youth today. All these ’cool stuffs’ are essentials, if they don’t have it, then it will affect their “so called image” in college campus or their common hang-outs. This is the youth of today-unorganized with limited outlook and lack of aim in life.

The youth has forgotten that praying five times is a good exercise than any other weight loosing machines. A simple morning walk is better and outdoor games are much more vigilant than video games available in mobile phones and computers. No doubt, they are useful to us but Possessions and acquisitions may seem marvelous. But after a while, you do not own them, they own you.

Youth is getting a raw deal from the media, its entertainment industries and fashion designers who are said to be responsible to have created an image containing a more negative look for our youth occupying sexuality, violence, coarser language and revealing clothing. It is this which makes young minds turn to terrorist and cheat themselves in the name of religion. Is this true or another typecast question or anything else?

It won’t be anonymous to say that today the life has become a puzzle to many who doesn’t understand what is right and what is incorrect. They just move with the money. . It is not long ago India had several terror attacks and it is the youth behind every threat. It is only because they are confused. They don’t follow their heart but do what is wanted by others. “Anything for money” is the new slogan of every person.

We see these days youngsters running for IT jobs in spite of market being down, pink slips on rise. Everyone is ready to crush their minds for American labor. They are ready to miss the “good night sleep” of 5-6 days in a week and have snaps in the day but do their jobs honestly. There is a negative perception of this vibrant segment of our society, the American Muslim youth who work for American or abroad return or holding American Visas have to cope with threat of terrorism. Muslim youth often find themselves in unfriendly environments within their own communities, where activities and programs are not relevant to their needs, where their opinion doesn't count. They have to face the stereotype questions and where their voice is seldom heard.

What's wrong with today's youth is that the parent's are more interested in being their kids "friend" then being a parent. And this leaves them with more of freedom irrationally to do things they wish and every wrong becomes good as they feel of it being wanted. Wants are always unlimited. There is no limit to them. But it is important to fulfill the needs not wants. Today parents have no control over kids but kids do control them otherwise.

The recent beaten up girl by people in Mangalore pubs is no good to hear such a harsh humiliation from India. The women is said to be garment of men who is treated in inhuman way for catching up in pubs. Who is to blame here? Gals says they are above 18 and independent to hang out with guys and party at pub or whatever. Society has become more violent than it was, and young people are pushed towards adulthood faster than they were. This is Americanism not Indiana’s or Islam. The Muslims of today has left behind the religious books and teachings of Prophets and live life wishfully which is becoming more perplexed than ever. It is only we the youth responsible for all. Unless the Muslim youth realize that they are moving in a wrong direction, nothing can be done. There is a need to take initiative by every parent, every teacher to nurture best of religion and humanism in the mind of children so that they inherit the best of values which can only help us to see a better and change tomorrow in the coming years.

At The Root Of All Lynchings: Vigilantes Don’t Expect To Be Punished, Victims Don’t Expect To Get Justice

Pehlu Khan, a Muslim, was lynched by Hindu criminals, professing to be cow vigilantes. The incident fills one with grief and anger. Around the same time, Farook, a Muslim atheist in Coimbatore, was lynched by Muslim criminals, claiming to be true believers.

Search deeper and you will find the case of a Hindu doctor lynched by a mainly Muslim mob, over a cricket dispute. Hindu rail passengers lynched a Muslim youth, in what began as a dispute over seats.

Opinion: The Sheer Savage Greed of The Civilized Society

By Sudip Roy | INN Live

Delhi Law Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti’s midnight raid in Khirki village, during which he ordered policemen to search and enter houses, arrest people without warrants, and allegedly said that “black people, who are not like you and me, break laws”—strips naked the unashamed inhumanity of the Aam Aadmi Party regime’s moral posturing. Underneath the holier-than-thou mask of that moral posture lies the unmistakably horrible sneer of the ordinary racist thug. This is the real face of Somnath Bharti. I hope it is a face that the Aam Aadmi Party can turn itself away from.

Not Living a Muslim Lifestyle?

By Samiya Anwar & M H Ahssan

There is more to a Muslim lifestyle, though, than glossy photographs in a magazine, no matter how attractive they appear. A Muslim lifestyle is altogether different from the ways of life of many of the people we live with. It is maybe because so many Muslims are living the kind of lives which are not really Muslim lifestyles, that the rest of the world so misunderstands Islam. Take, for example, the real case of the restaurant in North London. The sign over the door read, "Fully Licensed Halal Restaurant." In other words, the halal restaurant was licensed to serve alcohol! What sort of message does that give to non-Muslims?

Let us be quite clear. Islam is perfect and has nothing at all to be ashamed of. Nothing. Muslims, however, are not perfect at all. We all make lots of mistakes and we often settle for second best in the way we live our lives. Peer pressure is very strong and it is easy to give in to pressure from friends and others, who are urging us to relax the code of behaviour we learned at home or in the mosque. Very subtle advertising on the television or in the press shows us ways of dressing, for example, or styles of music that are not acceptable in Islam. Not going along with the crowd can make us feel left out and alone.

There are other behaviours, though, which go beyond this trend of fashions and music. Settling for that sort of lifestyle runs the risk of putting us outside the bounds of Islam. Every Muslim knows that drinking alcohol is haram. We all know, though, that some Muslims do drink, and some even drink alcohol to excess. Even worse, the trend of taking mind altering drugs, which is also haram, has become acceptable in some circles as just one of those things you do when you are growing up. Just as alcohol can lead to a lowering of our own self-control and, in its turn, lead us on to do other things that we know to be wrong, "mild" drugs can lead us on to more addictive drugs and to a lifestyle in which we need money to finance such an expensive habit.

In life, all people crave happiness and fulfilment. Some people will go to great lengths to achieve it. The great message of Islam is that true happiness can only be found in Allah. When we see football hooligans on television or read the alarmingly high levels of suicide or alcoholism or drug addiction in many countries of the Western, "developed" world, we see the results of people craving happiness where it cannot be found. Temporary "highs" will not answer the deepest needs of our hearts.

In the same way, relationships in Islam are governed by ways of behaviour. We have ways of being introduced to members of the opposite sex, for example. We have codes of behaviour for when boys and girls, men and women, are together. We have rules of courtship and ways of preparing for marriage. All of these are not just cultural baggage, as some would want us to believe. They exist for a very real reason. Casual sexual relationships may be quite common in some, non-Muslim societies, but Muslims have this code of behaviour to prevent such relationships. And it is not just to prevent freedom that we have such rules. Casual relationships do not bring happiness. Sexual activity before marriage, with one or many partners, of the same or the opposite sex, leaves people feeling used and taken advantage of. Films and soap operas may present such behaviour to us as normal, but it is not normal to behave in such a way, because using other people as sexual objects is to deny why they exist at all. It is to cheapen ourselves and to settle for second best in life.

Settling for second best is the worst trap we can fall into. Loving relationships are what we all hope to find in life. We all hope to find that special person we can one day settle down with and who will make us feel whole. That person will complete us and will complete our religion. Out of that union will come children, in sha' Allah. Settling for the kind of casual relationships we see on TV as normal, is not what Muslims want. It is not what you would want for your sister or your mother, is it? Islam has the highest respect for women. It also has the greatest respect for human beings and their bodies. Settling for second best and giving in to desires are not what will answer the deepest needs of our hearts.

Almighty Allah has given us, as Muslims, a way of life that does bring that happiness we crave. Islam teaches us that we must control bodily desires, like the desires for food and for drink and for sexual gratification, in order to become better people. Just remember, for example, how good it feels in Ramadan to fast for the sake of Allah and to deny our bodies the right to rule over us. Muslims are human beings like anyone else. They did not drop out of the sky. Sometimes it is really difficult to live a chaste and decent life, especially when all those around us are just doing whatever they want and behaving with no limits to stop them. Islam, though, is there to help us as much as to make rules to govern us. Islam brings the real happiness we are all after, if we will allow it to.

The consequences of living a non-Muslim lifestyle can be seen in any Western country. They can be seen in marriage breakdown and divorce figures. They can be seen in the number of unwanted pregnancies or in the high levels of crime and violence that exist in many of the world's big cities. They can be seen by the way people are discarded when they are no longer of any use. Islam, on the other hand, presents us with a different way of looking at life. It shows us that people are created by Almighty Allah and that they exist to serve Him and to find true happiness in doing so. Care for children and the elderly, respect for parents and for the place of women in society, all of these are what Islam holds up as being of importance.

“We are the world” is the voice of today’s young minds. They are comfortable with every thing of today and welcome the changes open heartedly. Religion is absolutely no bar. It is not that only a Christian or American drinks or night out often and not the other religions youth. Gone are those days when we hear any such news. Now, it is same with everyone. More to join this genre is the Muslims. Yes. In the present day of globalization and westernization, where everything is getting influenced and adapted, Muslims are no at the back. They are more of Muslims in every crime and hoax we find around us these days.

Now, more than ever, the youth is often regarded as the source of society's challenges and deficits. Who is responsible for all these parents, teachers or they themselves who are away from the true knowledge of the world? The underage drinking, drugs, sexual preferences and violence is what we find in the youth today

The decency and simple life of Prophet, the messenger of Allah is out of the brains and what is left is the new western culture. There are less of prayers (Ibadat) more of music in the houses. We are not addicted to reading The Holy Quran but hooked to the new gadgets. The Muslims are undoubtedly changed from years and welcome every change for the sake of entertainment and pleasure. It is all about making life’s simple and easy they say. But no they are heading life towards a baffled world where they are left muddle up.

I have seen many young men and women walk down parks and green lanes with earphones and portable music systems or cell phones, completely shutting out from the world. They don’t care of anyone or everyone. The lifestyle they portrays is only night outs, lounging in the pubs, tapping feet to the rocking music in discs, showing off 8 GB I-pods; N-Series mobiles, the latest bike, Levis jeans and Woodland shoes are the common lifestyle of the urban youth today. All these ’cool stuffs’ are essentials, if they don’t have it, then it will affect their “so called image” in college campus or their common hang-outs. This is the youth of today-unorganized with limited outlook and lack of aim in life.

The youth has forgotten that praying five times is a good exercise than any other weight loosing machines. A simple morning walk is better and outdoor games are much more vigilant than video games available in mobile phones and computers. No doubt, they are useful to us but Possessions and acquisitions may seem marvelous. But after a while, you do not own them, they own you.

Youth is getting a raw deal from the media, its entertainment industries and fashion designers who are said to be responsible to have created an image containing a more negative look for our youth occupying sexuality, violence, coarser language and revealing clothing. It is this which makes young minds turn to terrorist and cheat themselves in the name of religion. Is this true or another typecast question or anything else?

It won’t be anonymous to say that today the life has become a puzzle to many who doesn’t understand what is right and what is incorrect. They just move with the money. . It is not long ago India had several terror attacks and it is the youth behind every threat. It is only because they are confused. They don’t follow their heart but do what is wanted by others. “Anything for money” is the new slogan of every person.

We see these days youngsters running for IT jobs in spite of market being down, pink slips on rise. Everyone is ready to crush their minds for American labor. They are ready to miss the “good night sleep” of 5-6 days in a week and have snaps in the day but do their jobs honestly. There is a negative perception of this vibrant segment of our society, the American Muslim youth who work for American or abroad return or holding American Visas have to cope with threat of terrorism. Muslim youth often find themselves in unfriendly environments within their own communities, where activities and programs are not relevant to their needs, where their opinion doesn't count. They have to face the stereotype questions and where their voice is seldom heard.

What's wrong with today's youth is that the parent's are more interested in being their kids "friend" then being a parent. And this leaves them with more of freedom irrationally to do things they wish and every wrong becomes good as they feel of it being wanted. Wants are always unlimited. There is no limit to them. But it is important to fulfill the needs not wants. Today parents have no control over kids but kids do control them otherwise.

The recent beaten up girl by people in Mangalore pubs is no good to hear such a harsh humiliation from India. The women is said to be garment of men who is treated in inhuman way for catching up in pubs. Who is to blame here? Gals says they are above 18 and independent to hang out with guys and party at pub or whatever. Society has become more violent than it was, and young people are pushed towards adulthood faster than they were. This is Americanism not Indiana’s or Islam. The Muslims of today has left behind the religious books and teachings of Prophets and live life wishfully which is becoming more perplexed than ever. It is only we the youth responsible for all. Unless the Muslim youth realize that they are moving in a wrong direction, nothing can be done. There is a need to take initiative by every parent, every teacher to nurture best of religion and humanism in the mind of children so that they inherit the best of values which can only help us to see a better and change tomorrow in the coming years.

Bigg Boss-8 Diandra Episode: 'Kissing Doesn't Make You Pregnant' As India Is Sexually Ignorant

"Kissing doesn't lead to pregnancy," said model Diandra Soares, after her exit from the reality tv show Bigg Boss, reminding many that ours was once the nation of the Kama Sutra and is now that of "sexpert" Mahinder Watsa's column.

Soares was presumably being sarcastic, but the idea that someone would think kissing causes babies doesn't seem entirely impossible in India. For a country whose population can barely be contained within its boundaries, it's alarming to realise how little India knows about sex.

Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA)

Divergent thinking, creativity and an out-of-the-box solutions approach

“Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad as an entity wishes to distinguish itself firmly as a Communications Management School, differentiated by creativity, divergent thinking and out-of-the-box solutions approach,” says Professor Ashok Ranchhod. He adds, “We wish to be identified as the best C-School (Creative School), globally.”

Students are exposed to core courses in their first year to develop a general management perspective. The second year they need to specialise in any of the four broad themes: Brand Management, Marketing Research, Advertising Research and Media management. Course work also comprises rural research projects, understanding communication in the urban context, corporate venturing and entrepreneurship.

Factors that point towards an effort to build up a good resaerch base include steady tie-ups with good institutions in the UK (Southampton Solent), USA (Southern Methodist and Georgia), and Singapore (Nanyang), encouraging faculty members and students to engage in writing research papers, and the introduction of a PhD programme this year.

While the library, better known as KEIC (Knowledge Exchange and Information Centre) is resourceful especially in media & communications, market research, brand management and advertising, one wonders why they are not as aggressive on publishing. KEIC, open 24 hours a day, houses the best online resources, be it the databases of the World Advertising Research Centre, TV commercials, Luerzer’s Archive or Euromonitor Intelligence.

Post tea at Micafé, Vivek Shah, a final year student, takes us on a tour of the campus. First, MICORE (the research division) and then the entrepreneurship cell. We walk through Chhota, the 24-hour canteen, the only smoking zone in the campus and then reach the hostel Silveroak, meant for exchange students and entrepreneurship cell scholars, which has rooms little better than the twin-sharing rooms in other hostels. Other MICA centres of excellence consist of Management Development (MDC) and Development Communications (CDC).

The gym and football field spring to life post 5 p.m. And you have post-dinner meets to discuss projects etc.

MICA Radio also focuses on issues relevant to residents of the neighbourhood, and has MICAns generating their own content and music. Another eye-catching feature is the not-so-well lit gallery where students showcase their intellect and creativity.

Professor A F Matthew, who has an interest in Development Communication, is literally a campus USP. His lecturing-style includes screening films. Jyoti Sudhir, Communications Manager, MICA quips, “It’s a myth that MICA is only for those who wish to pursue careers in media and advertising. It also offers courses in market research, retail, creative communication and more.”

FAST FACTS

Location: Shela, Ahmedabad
Director: Prof. Ashok Ranchhod
Flagship programme: PGDM (Communications)
Approval/ Accreditation: AICTE approved
Student intake: 120 Fees (full course): Rs. 500,000
Board & lodging (two years): Rs. 75,000
Admission test cut-offs: CAT- 89.5, GMAT - 600
Full-time faculty: 25 (Senior Professor & Professors - 11; Associate & Asst Professors - 7; Faculty Associates - 7)
Faculty with industry experience (over 10 years): 8 Student placements: 100% Average salary: Rs. 7.50 lakhs
Top recruiters: JWT, L’Oreal India, Media E2E, NDTV, Ogilvy and Mather
Conferences: Chutnefying English- International conference on Hinglish
Student Activities: MICANVAS (annual brand management event), Sankalp (in-house theatre society), SPICMACAY, MICA Lecture Series (MLS), Black Coffee (in-house magazine)
Other programmes: PG Programmes in Retail Communications Management, Crafting, Creative Communications Executive PG Diploma Programmes in Management (Communications) Fellowship Programme in Management
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Exclusive: Delhi Became 'Rape & Crime' Capital Of India

By Kritika Sharma / New Delhi

India achieved a 'world record' in crime by registering 4-rapes in an hour, according to police statistics. India is glowing, shining in all fields, named one of the progressive country in developing world. Fastest growing economic, information technology countries. But despite stringent laws and policing, failed in curbing the rapes in the country. 

December16 changed Delhi, but unfortunately for the worse. With more than four rapes every 24 hours in the months after the brutalisation of a 23- year- old woman in a moving bus on December 16 last year, the city’s ‘ rape capital’ tag is more apt than ever. There have been 806 cases of rape reported in the first six months of this year. All of 2012 saw 706 cases. That comparison alone yields the terrifying conclusion that Delhi’s rape epidemic has more than doubled in intensity.

Impact of Celebrity Endorsement on a Brand

By Saurabh Katyal

The motif behind total branding may be decocted as an attempt to amalgamate diverse activities to win customer preference. Apropos to this context, the topic “Impact of celebrity endorsement on overall brand”, is a significant one. The crescendo of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily increasing over the past years. Marketers overtly acknowledge the power of celebrities in influencing consumer-purchasing decisions. It is a ubiquitously accepted fact that celebrity endorsement can bestow special attributes upon a product that it may have lacked otherwise. But everything is not hunky-dory; celebrities are after all mere mortals made of flesh and blood like us. If a celebrity can aggrandize the merits of a brand, he or she can also exacerbate the image of a brand.

If I may take the liberty of rephrasing Aristotle’s quote on anger, “Any brand can get a celebrity. That is easy. But getting a celebrity consistent with the right brand, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way... that is not easy.”

Celebrity endorsements are impelled by virtue of the following motives:

• Instant Brand Awareness and Recall.
• Celebrity values define, and refresh the brand image.
• Celebrities add new dimensions to the brand image.
• Instant credibility or aspiration PR coverage.
• Lack of ideas.
• Convincing clients.

The scope of a celebrity on the incumbent brand:

Simply stating, a brand is a differentiated product and helps in identifying your product and making it stand out due to its name, design, style, symbol, color combination, or usually a mix of all these.

Before we can scrutinize the effects of celebrity endorsement on the overall brand, we have to ferret the implicit nuances that act as sources of strong brand images or values:

• Experience of use: This encapsulates familiarity and proven reliability.
• User associations: Brands acquire images from the type of people who are seen using them. Images of prestige or success are imbibed when brands are associated with glamorous personalities.
• Belief in efficiency: Ranking from consumer associations, newspaper editorials etc.
• Brand appearance: Design of brand offers clues to quality and affects preferences.
• Manufacturer’s name & reputation: A prominent brand name (Sony,Kellogg’s,Bajaj,Tata) transfers positive associations

The celebrity’s role is the most explicit and profound in incarnating user associations among the above-mentioned points. To comprehend this, let us analyze the multiplier effect formula for a successful brand:

S=P* D*AV --the multiplier effect
Where S is a successful brand,
P is an effective product.
D is Distinctive Identity
and AV is Added values.

The realm of the celebrity’s impact is confined to bestow a distinctive identity and provide AV to the brand; the celebrity does not have the power to improve or debilitate the efficiency and features of the core product. Thus, we are gradually approaching an evident proposition claiming,

“The health of a brand can definitely be improved up to some extent by celebrity endorsement. But one has to remember that endorsing a celebrity is a means to an end and not an end in itself.”

An appropriately used celebrity can prove to be a massively powerful tool that magnifies the effects of a campaign. But the aura of cautiousness should always be there. The fact to be emphasised is that celebrities alone do not guarantee success, as consumers nowadays understand advertising. They know what advertising is and how it works. People realize that celebrities are being paid a lot of money for  endorsements and this knowledge makes them cynical about celebrity endorsements.

Compatibility of the celebrity’s persona with the overall brand image
A celebrity is used to impart credibility and aspirational values to a brand, but the celebrity needs to match the product. A good brand campaign idea and an intrinsic link between the celebrity and the message are musts for a successful campaign. Celebrities are no doubt good at generating attention, recall and positive attitudes towards advertising provided that they are supporting a good idea and there is an explicit fit between them and the brand. On the other hand, they are rendered useless when it comes to the actual efficiency of the core product, creating positive attitudes to brands, purchase intentions and actual sales.

Certain parameters that postulate compatibility between the celebrity and brand image are:

• Celebrity’s fit with the brand image.
• Celebrity—Target audience match
• Celebrity associated values.
• Costs of acquiring the celebrity.
• Celebrity—Product match.
• Celebrity controversy risk.
• Celebrity popularity.
• Celebrity availability.
• Celebrity physical attractiveness.
• Celebrity credibility.
• Celebrity prior endorsements.
• Whether celebrity is a brand user.
• Celebrity profession.

Successful celebrity endorsements for a brand- An Indian perspective
The latter part of the '80s saw the burgeoning of a new trend in India– brands started being endorsed by celebrities. Hindi film and TV stars as well as sportspersons were roped in to endorse prominent brands. Advertisements, featuring stars like Tabassum (Prestige pressure cookers), Jalal Agha (Pan Parag), Kapil Dev (Palmolive Shaving Cream) and Sunil Gavaskar (Dinesh Suitings) became common. Probably, the first ad to cash in on star power in a strategic, long-term, mission statement kind of way was Lux soap. This brand has, perhaps as a result of this, been among the top three in the country for much of its lifetime.

In recent times, we had the Shah Rukh-Santro campaign with the objective of mitigating the impediment that an unknown Korean brand faced in the Indian market. The objective was to garner faster brand recognition, association and emotional unity with the target group. Star power in India can be gauged by the successful endorsement done by Sharukh for three honchos- Pepsi, Clinic All Clear and Santro. Similarly, when S Kumars used Hrithik Roshan, then the hottest advertising icon for their launch advertising for Tamarind, they reckoned they spent 40 - 50 per cent less on media due to the sheer impact of using Hrithik. Ad recall was as high as 70 per cent, and even the normally conservative trade got interested.

In the Indian context, it would not be presumptuous to state that celebrity endorsements can aggrandize the overall brand. We have numerous examples exemplifying this claim. A standard example here is Coke, which, till recently, didn't use stars at all internationally. In fact, India was a first for them. The result was a ubiquitously appealing Aamir cheekily stating Thanda matlab Coca Cola. The recall value for Nakshatra advertising is only due to the sensuous Aishwarya. The Parker pen brand, which by itself commands equity, used Amitabh Bachchan to revitalize the brand in India. According to Pooja Jain, Director, Luxor Writing Instruments Ltd (LWIL), post Bachchan, Parker's sales have increased by about 30 per cent.

India is one country, which has always idolized the stars of the celluloid world.
Therefore it makes tremendous sense for a brand to procure a celebrity for its endorsement. In India there is an exponential potential for a celebrity endorsement to be perceived as genuinely relevant, thereby motivating consumers to go in for the product. This would especially prove true if the endorser and the category are a natural lifestyle fit like sportspersons and footwear, Kapil-Sachin and Boost or film stars and beauty products.

Some Global Examples
Globally, firms have been juxtaposing their brands and themselves with celebrity endorsers. Some successful ongoing global endorsements are as follows:

• Celebrity endorsements have been the bedrock of Pepsi's advertising. Over the years, Pepsi has used and continues to use a number of celebrities for general market and targeted advertising, including Shaquille O'Neal, Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, and Busta Rhymes, who did a targeted campaign for their Mountain Dew product.
• George Foreman for Meineke. He has also sold more than 10 million Lean Mean Fat-- Reducing Grilling Machines since signing with the manufacturing company.
• James Earl Jones for Verizon and CNN.
• Nike golf balls, since the company signed Tiger Woods in 1996, have seen a $50 million revenue growth. Nike's golf line grossed more than $250 million in annual sales. In 2000 he renegotiated a five-year contract estimated at $125 million.
• Other successful endorsements like Nike—Michael Jordan, Dunlop—John McEnroe, Adidas—Prince Naseem Hamed, and so on.
• Venus Williams, tennis player and Wimbledon champion has signed a five-year $40 million contract with sportswear manufacturer Reebok International Inc.

Advantages of a celebrity endorsing a Brand
Brands have been leveraging celebrity appeal for a long time. Across categories, whether in products or services, more and more brands are banking on the mass appeal of celebrities. As soon as a new face ascends the popularity charts, advertisers queue up to have it splashed all over. Witness the spectacular rise of Sania Mirza and Irfan Pathan in endorsements in a matter of a few months. The accruement of celebrity endorsements can be justified by the following advantages that are bestowed on the overall brand:

• Establishment of Credibility: Approval of a brand by a star fosters a sense of trust for that brand among the target audience- this is especially true in case of new products. We had the Shah Rukh-Santro campaign. At launch, Shah Rukh Khan endorsed Santro and this ensured that brand awareness was created in a market, which did not even know the brand.
• Ensured Attention: Celebrities ensure attention of the target group by breaking the clutter of advertisements and making the ad and the brand more noticeable.
• PR coverage : is another reason for using celebrities. Managers perceive celebrities as topical, which create high PR coverage. A good example of integrated celebrity campaigns is one of the World’s leading pop groups, the Spice Girls, who have not only appeared in advertisements for Pepsi, but also in product launching and PR events. Indeed, celebrity-company marriages are covered by most media from television to newspapers (e.g. The Spice Girls and Pepsi)
• Higher degree of recall: People tend to commensurate the personalities of the celebrity with the brand thereby increasing the recall value. Golf champion Tiger Woods has endorsed American Express, Rolex, and Nike. Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones is used by T-Mobile and Elizabeth Arden. 007 Pierce Brosnan promotes Omega, BMW, and Noreico.
• Associative Benefit: A celebrity’s preference for a brand gives out a persuasive message - because the celebrity is benefiting from the brand, the consumer will also benefit.
• Mitigating a tarnished image: Cadbury India wanted to restore the consumer's confidence in its chocolate brands following the high-pitch worms controversy; so the company appointed Amitabh Bachchan for the job. Last year, when the even more controversial pesticide issue shook up Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and resulted in much negative press, both soft drink majors put out high-profile damage control ad films featuring their best and most expensive celebrities. While Aamir Khan led the Coke fightback as an ingenious and fastidious Bengali who finally gets convinced of the product's `purity,' PepsiCo brought Shah Rukh Khan and Sachin Tendulkar together once again in a television commercial which drew references to the `safety' of the product indirectly.
• Psychographic Connect: Celebrities are loved and adored by their fans and advertisers use stars to capitalise on these feelings to sway the fans towards their brand.
• Demographic Connect: Different stars appeal differently to various demographic segments (age, gender, class, geography etc.).
• Mass Appeal: Some stars have a universal appeal and therefore prove to be a good bet to generate interest among the masses.
• Rejuvenating a stagnant brand: With the objective of infusing fresh life into the stagnant chyawanprash category and staving off competition from various brands, Dabur India roped in Bachchan for an estimated Rs 8 crore.
• Celebrity endorsement can sometimes compensate for lack of innovative ideas.

Disadvantages of a celebrity endorsing a brand:
The celebrity approach has a few serious risks:

1. The reputation of the celebrity may derogate after he/she has endorsed the product: Pepsi Cola's suffered with three tarnished celebrities - Mike Tyson, Madonna, and Michael Jackson. Since the behaviour of the celebrities reflects on the brand, celebrity endorsers may at times become liabilities to the brands they endorse.
2. The vampire effect: This terminology pertains to the issue of a celebrity overshadowing the brand. If there is no congruency between the celebrity and the brand, then the audience will remember the celebrity and not the brand. Examples are the campaigns of Dawn French—Cable Association and Leonard Rossiter—Cinzano. Both of these campaigns were aborted due to celebrities getting in the way of effective communication. Another example could be the Castrol commercial featuring Rahul Dravid.
3. Inconsistency in the professional popularity of the celebrity: The celebrity may lose his or her popularity due to some lapse in professional performances. For example, when Tendulkar went through a prolonged lean patch recently, the inevitable question that cropped up in corporate circles - is he actually worth it? The 2003 Cricket World Cup also threw up the Shane Warne incident, which caught Pepsi off guard. With the Australian cricketer testing positive for consuming banned substances and his subsequent withdrawal from the event, bang in the middle of the event, PepsiCo - the presenting sponsor of the World Cup 2003 - found itself on an uneasy wicket
4. Multi brand endorsements by the same celebrity would lead to overexposure: The novelty of a celebrity endorsement gets diluted if he does too many advertisements. This may be termed as commoditisation of celebrities, who are willing to endorse anything for big bucks. Example, MRF was among the early sponsors of Tendulkar with its logo emblazoned on his bat. But now Tendulkar endorses a myriad brands and the novelty of the Tendulkar-MRF campaign has scaled down.
5. Celebrities endorsing one brand and using another (competitor): Sainsbury’s encountered a problem with Catherina Zeta Jones, whom the company used for its recipe advertisements, when she was caught shopping in Tesco. A similar case happened with Britney Spears who endorsed one cola brand and was repeatedly caught drinking another brand of cola on tape.
6. Mismatch between the celebrity and the image of the brand: Celebrities manifest a certain persona for the audience. It is of paramount importance that there is an egalitarian congruency between the persona of the celebrity and the image of the brand. Each celebrity portrays a broad range of meanings, involving a specific personality and lifestyle. Madonna, for example, is perceived as a tough, intense and modern women associated with the lower middle class. The personality of Pierce Brosnan is best characterized as the perfect gentlemen, whereas Jennifer Aniston has the image of the ‘good girl from next door’.

CONCLUSION
Despite the obvious economic advantage of using relatively unknown personalities as endorsers in advertising campaigns, the choice of celebrities to fulfill that role has become common practice for brands competing in today's cluttered media environment. There are several reasons for such extensive use of celebrities. Because of their high profile, celebrities may help advertisements stand out from the surrounding clutter, thus improving their communicative ability. Celebrities may also generate extensive PR leverage for brands. For example, when Revlon launched the "Won't kiss off test" for its Colorstay lipsticks in 1994 with Cindy Crawford kissing reporters, the campaign featured on almost every major news channel and equally widely in the press. A brief assessment of the current market situation indicates, that celebrity endorsement advertising strategies can, under the right circumstances, indeed justify the high costs associated with this form of advertising.

But it would be presumptuous to consider celebrity endorsement as a panacea for all barricades. Celebrity endorsement if used effectively, makes the brand stand out, galvanizes brand recall and facilitates instant awareness. To achieve this, the marketer needs to be really disciplined in choice of a celebrity. Hence the right use of celebrity can escalate the Unique Selling Proposition of a brand to new heights; but a cursory orientation of a celebrity with a brand may prove to be claustrophobic for the brand. A celebrity is a means to an end, and not an end in himself/herself.   (Newsindia Syndication)

A Lavish Wedding of Jaipur

By M H Ahssan & Rosy Fernandez

Over three days and nights, The Pink City in Jaipur witnessed a Hindu wedding to remember – a sensory feast of centuries-old rituals and lavish revelry in grand celebration of the marriage of Anisha Sharma and Abu Dhabi’s Gaurav Varma.

Nira Varma has not stopped dancing for three days. She started when her son Gaurav exchanged rings with his new bride-to-be; she was still dancing a day later when her future daughter-in-law had her hands painted with henna in preparation for her big day; she twirled at the helm of a procession of hundreds heralding the groom on horseback and as she finally takes home the new addition to her family, she cannot help but break into a little jig.

Little wonder she is struggling to contain her glee, for this is no ordinary wedding. When Gaurav Varma, the only son from a prominent family of UAE restaurateurs, decided to spend the rest of his life with Anisha Sharma, the wheels were set in motion for lavish, no-expense-spared festivities lasting three days and nights.

The Varmas are stalwarts of the Indian community in Abu Dhabi where Gaurav’s father Vinay, 65, relocated from Meerut near Delhi 39 years ago to launch his catering empire, which now includes the Royal Orchid restaurants, and the Chappan Bhog, Kwality and Soy eateries.

But for the spectacular wedding, the action moved more than 2,000 miles east to the Rajasthani capital Jaipur in India, once the home of polo-playing princes and maharanis.

The Pink City, nicknamed after the rosy glow of its buildings, is known for its colourful art, sumptuous textiles, rich folklore and traditional music and dance. In keeping with the palatial setting, the wedding rituals staggered over several days take place in increasingly glamorous locations – with feasts fit for a Rajasthani king on each occasion.

“We just want to have fun,” declares the father of the groom. “Usually a wedding takes place in either the hometown of the bride or groom. Neither of our families are from Jaipur in this case, but we thought what better place for three days of merrymaking?”

Anyone who has seen the film Monsoon Wedding will be familiar with the spectacle of traditional Hindu nuptials. From guests competing to wear the brightest, most ornate outfits, to the revelry and dancing which mask the solemn vows being taken, Indian weddings are a sensory feast. Add in the notoriously raucous Hindu Punjabi element which makes up Gaurav’s heritage and it’s clear why 250 revellers have flocked from across the world to celebrate.

“I love weddings, Punjabi weddings in particular,” shouts Seema Shetty across the din of a dancing procession and a marching band.

The 26-year-old founder of Bite Rite, the health food chain, and owner of Zari Zardozi Indian restaurant in Al Raha, has flown in from Abu Dhabi with her entire family, including her parents Bavaguthu Raghuram and Chandra Kumari, who both head NMC medical group, brother Binay, and sisters Neema and Reema.

“You see the true culture of a place, any place in the world, at a wedding,” gasps Seema, catching her breath in between her energetic bhangra moves. “Most of us have friends from all over the world so it is a perfect opportunity to show our culture.

“Punjabi weddings are the most colourful and are all about having complete fun. The further north you go in India, the less conservative they get – north Indians love a spectacle. You just have to look at the clothes to see what bright, colourful people they are.”

In the midst of the action, it is little surprise Anisha looks overwhelmed at times and a shy awkwardness hangs in the air between her and her new partner. Born in Gwalior near Delhi and now living in Mumbai, she met Gaurav, 28, in June last year and was engaged to him 20 days later. They have met only a couple of times since.

Arranged marriages may be fading in popularity among the Mumbai jet set, who enjoy fairly westernised lives. But for supplanted communities, like the tight-knit Indian network in Abu Dhabi, an arranged marriage is a chance to preserve cultural and religious values to pass on to future generations, and many turn to their homeland to find the perfect match for their offspring.

In previous times, caste, social standing and matching astrology charts were ranked as high factors. These days, compatibility and education are deemed more important.

Anisha, from a family of Brahmins, the highest caste, was introduced to Gaurav by a mutual friend of both their fathers. The restaurateur, who is helping run his father’s business, was visiting Delhi to check on the family’s diner there, Dine-Esty.

“Ours was a completely arranged marriage,” says Anisha, a producer on India’s Star TV until she quit two months before the wedding. “My dad called me when I was at work and said, ‘There is an important e-mail you should check and tell me what you think’. It was Gaurav’s CV with his picture. I found it interesting and he looked nice so I said I would meet him.

He was leaving for Abu Dhabi a day later so we met for dinner on his last night. We hit it off really well. He never went back as planned. Instead, my dad came out with us the next night and then Gaurav came to Delhi to meet my mother. Apparently he had already decided on the first night, but it took me a lot longer to make up my mind. It was 20 days before we were engaged. I was thinking about leaving the country, my family and friends. I am very attached to my country. I originally wanted to marry someone in Mumbai.

“I had seen about six boys before Gaurav but I would like to have my own career and some of the suitors had a problem with that. Sometimes you just don’t click and I was starting to despair of ever meeting the right man. I liked a lot of things about Gaurav, particularly the fact he respects everyone a lot, which is very important.

“He understands it is difficult for a girl. He has done a lot to assure me that whatever I want to do, I can.

She is looking forward to married life, even though she has never been to Abu Dhabi, where the couple will live. “My parents have mixed feelings about me going. They are happy about me getting married but parents always feel a loss when a bride goes to another house.”

Born in Abu Dhabi, Gaurav had lived all over the world and had, by his own admission, a fairly hedonistic existence during his eight years in Las Vegas, where he worked in hotels. While his own friends express surprise that he decided to go down a traditional route in finding a lifelong partner, he says, “Contrary to what people believe, there is a choice involved. I had not met anyone myself and was not averse to the idea of an arranged marriage.

“We met on a Friday and I asked her to marry me on the Monday. We have a lot of things in common – family values, understanding, respect. She has a good heart and is career-minded. I feel very comfortable with her.

“This way we get to know each other while we are married. If you can get along, that is all that matters. For me, it is the start of a better life.”

But before the pair can face the challenges ahead as husband and wife, there are a long list of centuries-old rituals and ceremonies to go through, intended as blessings to set them off on the best start in life. While the basic blessings remain the same, customs can vary wildly according to region and background and for many guests, this is their first taste of a Punjabi wedding.

The mayhem begins at Jaipur’s Sanganeer airport, when revellers from the UAE, Britain, the US, Canada and other regions of India arrive to be met by gaudy banners announcing: “Welcome to Gaurav and Anisha’s wedding”.

The guestlist reads like a Who’s Who of the Indian glitterati in the UAE, including the Indian ambassador Talmiz Ahmed, the Shettys, Jayanti Maitra, head of research at the Centre for Documentation and Research in Abu Dhabi, and Raman Khanna, business development director for Aldar.

The Rambagh Palace, formerly owned by the Maharaja of Jaipur and the home of royals for nearly two centuries, is the scene for the first of many rituals, the chunni charana and ring ceremony – and the first opportunity for the bride to show off her trousseau. She dazzles in a flesh-toned, crystal-encrusted sari, her hair wound into a long plait entwined with flowers while her mother Nivedita, 50, a commercial lawyer for India’s Supreme Court, could pass for her older sister in an equally elegant ivory sari.

Mrs Varma, 58, presents Anisha with jewellery and clothes and drapes an elaborate turquoise shawl around her shoulders for the chunni charana. The act is deeply symbolic, explains the groom’s uncle Virender Sekhri. “It is effectively saying: ‘Now she is ours, we are going to protect her’. The bride keeps it all her life and either passes it down between generations or has it put on her when she is cremated.”

The second Anisha and Gaurav exchange rings, Mrs Varma breaks into a dance, arms in the air, leading the way for revelry which continues until 5.00am the next day.

As the bride and groom join her on the dance floor, Gaurav takes his first tentative step towards his matrimonial duties, putting a protective arm around Anisha. But the pair are still not officially married and part company at the end of the night until the following day for a mehndi, or henna painting, at midday.

The shindig, in the colonial-style Hari Mahal Palace hotel, is akin to a combined hen and stag party as the women cluster to gossip and have their hands and arms painted with the dye while their menfolk gather to give Gaurav tips for married life.

As the groom’s party arrive laden with gifts and a handmade basket packed with henna, they are greeted by the bride’s guests and ceremonial drums. Mrs Varma brandishes a key ring with a framed photo of Gaurav and declares: “I don’t have house keys for you yet so I am giving you the keys to his heart.”

Anisha, resplendent in an orange and red shelwar kamees, sits under a canopy made entirely of marigolds for hours on end while swirls of the dye are painstakingly applied to her hands and feet in elaborate flower motifs. The leisurely afternoon is a chance for those who have been through it before to reminisce about their own experiences.

“When my sons got married, I wanted to make sure I got all the ceremonies right,” says Aruna Misra from Mumbai, 56, a former schoolfriend of Vinay Varma. “We planted banana and mango trees for fertility and carried water with haldi [turmeric] for the mehndi. My eldest sister was very impressed that I knew all the customs – until I told her I’d done my research on Google.

“We had so much fun and the rituals are part of it. When a bride enters the groom’s house she normally throws her house keys and rice over her head to signify returning what she had in her mother’s home and kicks over a bowl of rice in the doorway for luck. My naughty friends told my Polish daughter-in-law that the harder she kicked, the more I would love her. She kicked the bowl with all her force and it flew to the other side of the house, smashing several vases on the way.”

Ritu Mehra, 48, from Delhi, smiles nostalgically as she says: “Mine was a love marriage, which was very unusual in those days. Rajiv was working near the college where I was studying and we fell in love when I was 21. My parents wanted me to meet a suitor, though. Finally I told them about Rajiv. My parents weren’t happy about it but eventually came round and we are still happily married 27 years later.”

“This is all new to me,” says Dr Maitra, originally from Calcutta. “Each wedding speaks a story about the different customs and rituals depending on the region. It is not just about tying the knot, it is a celebration between two families. The visual impact is extraordinary and you learn so much. Weddings in India are talked about all over the world and cause jaws to drop. The scale and dimensions of this one are huge. It is very lavish and elaborate and I would not have missed it for anything.”

The evening sangeet, or music ceremony, creates another spectacle as guests adorned with their finest gold and gems don bright rainbow colours and sequins to watch staged performances. In the past, musicians would sing traditional wedding ditties while the bride hid herself away in preparation for her big day. These days there is no room for demure brides and it is Anisha herself, in green satin pantaloons and a red bodice, who takes to the stage with her friends to tease the groom with songs and dances.

Having grown up with Bollywood films and, no doubt, performed the routines in their bedrooms until they have them down pat, they could rival any screen star as they borrow heavily from the movies and their corresponding songs to tell the story of Gaurav’s bachelor days in Las Vegas: Ma Da Ladlaa Vigar Gaya (The Mother’s Boy Has Been Corrupted), his first meeting with Anisha Desi Girl (Asian Girl) and his current status Lucky Boy.

Future matches are often made at these events and one female guest whispers: “Of course we all dream of falling in love and finding someone to spend the rest of our life with. Many couples date on the quiet and involve the parents when marriage is on the cards. But failing that, there is the fallback of an arranged marriage as your parents will always try and find the best for you.”

It is 8.00am on the day of the wedding proper before the exhausted revellers make it to bed, with the bride and groom escaping just three hours earlier. But there is little time to rest for the bride as she prepares to leave her the home of her mother and father Anil, 50, a financier, for good. Bangles and gold ornaments are strapped to her wrists for luck and her female relatives smear her face and body with a paste of turmeric, gram flour, yoghurt and oil to bring out the glow in her complexion. It takes hours to prepare her for the most significant part of the wedding; to carefully apply her make-up, adorn her with chunky gold jewellery and help her into her bridal lengha, a cropped top and floor-length skirt in heavily embroidered green with matching scarf, covering her head.

For Gaurav, the run-up to the ceremony means wearing a cream silk sherwani, made of a long tunic and trousers and having a turban wound onto his head, complete with a veil of red and white flowers as a priest blesses him and money is circled over his head to represent good fortune. His male relatives have the same headgear put on before he gets on a white horse, bejewelled and draped in cloth of mouthwatering Rajasthani colours, to set off on a procession to meet the bride.

And what a procession. There are marching bands with drums and trumpets, dancing in the streets, and the long line of his guests dressed in an array of saris in every shade under the sun. As the baraat, or groom’s party, arrives at the majestic Jay Mahal Palace hotel, it is met by the bride’s relatives, who shower them with red rose petals and adorn the men with garlands of white carnations. The footpath, despite being less than 200 metres, takes the best part of an hour to negotiate as the groom on his horse is given the welcome of an A-list celebrity, complete with red carpet.

The bride is brought out to meet him for the jaimala, or exchange of flower garlands. Traditionally, a groom stood on his toes to make the bride stretch upwards as it would often be his first opportunity to see her. As Gaurav forgets this custom, his friends bear him up on their shoulders, forcing Anisha to do the same so she can reach him.

Fireworks shoot off into the crisp night sky as they make their way to an outdoor pagoda strewn with marigolds for the two-hour blessing. Even during this sombre part of the ceremony, during the priest’s chants, the entertainment continues for the guests, who can wander in and out of the rituals and are treated to a lavish buffet and displays by fire-eaters and professional dancers, some balancing up to 10 pots on their heads.

As the ceremony concludes, a scarf is tied between Anisha and Gaurav and they walk around a fire seven times in a ritual called pheras. Each circuit represents a different aspect of life, such as prosperity and fertility, and while the bride leads for the first three, her new husband takes over for the last rounds showing their marriage is one of joint leadership. Gaurav smears her forehead with red powder to show she is married and hangs a mangal sutra necklace around her neck.

The marriage concluded, Anisha steps into a wooden doli, a sort of carriage carried on the shoulders of her male relatives to take her to her new home. Her mother, brother and friends weep as she leaves her old life behind. It is a poignant, sombre moment. A bewildered three-year-old cousin, Tia Palkar, bursts into tears and says: “Mummy, why are they sending her away? And where are you going to send me?”

“Marriage involves a lot of sacrifices,” observes Vinay Varma. “Most of the young ones today live abroad for many years but they have never forgotten their culture, their family upbringing and respect for their elders. We have found all those qualities in our new daughter. As long as they remember to respect one another and fall back on each other, they will be blessed for life.”

How to feed your billionaires?

By M H Ahssan

Freebies for the IPL - at a time of savage food subsidy cuts for the poor - benefit four men who make the Forbes Billionaire List of 2010 and a few other, mere multi-millionaires.

And so the IPL fracas is now heading for its own Champions League. Union Cabinet Ministers, Union Ministers of State, Chief Ministers (and who knows a Governor or two might pop up yet) are being named as people trying to influence the bidding process. Both houses of Parliament are in uproar. The taxmen have launched a "survey."

Many in the media and politics are happy to reduce it all to issues of propriety or personality. For, the BCCI-IPL is one platform where the Congress and the BJP cohabit, normally with ease. Big money is, after all, a secular, bi-partisan space. (Or tri-partisan: let's not deny the central contribution of the NCP to this phenomenon.) It's also interesting that the media, though now compelled to give the IPL's underbelly some coverage, are still reluctant to ask larger, harder questions. To go beyond their Modi-Tharoor feeding frenzy. And to avoid induced amnesia.

It was just 10 years ago that cricket was rocked by the game's biggest-ever match-fixing scandal. That too had its centre of gravity in Indian cities, and involved Indian bookies and Indian businessmen. But along comes a new hyper-commercialised version of the game. It has scandal-waiting-to-happen written all over it and the media say "wow! This looks great," promptly going into the "willing suspension of disbelief" mode.

This venture had the right names, high glamour and, above all, big advertising and corporate power. There were obvious conflicts of interest (apart from what it did to cricket, the game) from day one. Here was Big Business in open embrace with its political patrons. There were also those who did not give the public office they held a fraction of the time or importance they gave to the BCCI-IPL. But few serious questions came up in the media.

Now there's a forced discussion of opaque dealings, bribes, and "we-know-how-to-deal-with-you" threats. Of shady investors, murky dealings and, possibly, large-scale tax evasion. Of franchisees alleging they were offered a $50 million bribe to exit. Or claiming that a Union Minister warned them to withdraw from the rodeo with grave threats.

It all leads to things much bigger than Modi versus Tharoor or issues of "impropriety" (a nice, genteel word). Leave aside the narrow money details or the fact that some franchisees are thought to be losing tens of crores each year. Skip the fact that despite those losses, newer franchisees between them put up over Rs.3000 crores for two teams that don't exist. Only a tiny band of journalists have at all shown the scepticism demanded of their profession. These few have stuck at it gamely only to find themselves isolated, mocked as party-poopers and the recipients of threats and abusive mail.

How about questions on public subsidies going to some of the richest people in the world? The BCCI-IPL cost the public crores of rupees each year in several ways. The waiving of entertainment tax worth Rs.10 to 12 crores for the IPL in Maharashtra alone was discussed in the State's Assembly. It was little reported and less discussed in the media. Maharashtra has extended other support to the IPL, which is yet to be quantified. This, despite being a State whose debt will cross Rs.200,000 crores in the coming year. And there are similar subsidies and write-offs extended to the BCCI-IPL in other States, other venues.

A whole raft of concealed freebies from public resources to the BCCI-IPL is also not discussed. We have no picture of their full scope. No questions either on why a public sector company should be billing itself as the "sponsor" of a team owned by the fourth richest man in the planet. No questions asked about issues ranging from super-cheap land leases and stadia rentals and low-cost stadia security. We don't even know what the total bill to the public is: just that it is probably in tens of crores. We do know that these supports to the IPL from public money come at a time when subsidies to the poor are being savaged. But we don't want to go down that road. An inquiry into the IPL must cover the BCCI as well and must record all the open and hidden write-offs and subsidies that both get.

Who stand to gain from the public wet-nursing of the IPL? Among others, four gentlemen who make the Forbes Billionaires List of 2010. Three of them are team owners and one is a title sponsor. All dollar billionaires and long-time residents on the Forbes List. Then there are the mere millionaires in the shape of Bollywood stars. For all these and other worthy people, governments bend over backwards to make concessions. Even as they slash food subsidies in a period of rising hunger. Big time partying is an integral part of the IPL show. Only look who is paying for that. Street argot has already begun to brand the IPL as Indian Paisa League or, more directly, India Paisa Loot.

But the BCCI and the IPL preside over huge sums in advertising. So even when the IPL angers the media by pushing them around on coverage restrictions, the media cave in. The larger silence continues. The strongest criticism of what has been going on (till the Kochi chaos) has come from Sports Minister M S Gill, an old-fashioned cricket lover actually worried about the game. Not from the media that cover the IPL. He has criticised the tax concessions and security subsidies that have hurt public security in the cities concerned while the IPL is on.

It's also worth pointing out that Mr. Gill is the one Minister (of the four Ministers on your TV screens in the present drama) actually connected with sports in a legitimate way - and not tainted by scandal. But maybe that's natural: the IPL has little to do with sports.

The Sports Minister pointed out a long time ago that there were dangerous conflicts of interests at the top levels of the BCCI-IPL. He also told Karan Thapar on television that he found the idea of "letting off tax" (waivers for IPL) quite unacceptable. "This is a poor country. I never forget that. There is a huge deficit in the budget even this year ..." And went on to say that: "when business is earning it in the shape of these teams and whatever the structure, I think the legitimate tax should be taken and should be used for the country maybe even for sports, other sports." Far from that happening, we are taking it from the public and handing it out to the billionaires.

Fire brigades in the cities have been muted or overruled in their objections to the IPL's 'hospitality boxes' (where seats can cost you Rs.40,000) as fire hazards. But some of these tickets also get you to a late night party with IPL stars and other dubious benefits. Some have raised the question of what this does to the players' performance the next day. But the party goes on. Nothing could be further removed from the lives of the 'cricket crazy public' - whose supposed interests are invoked for every new spin to the game. IPL does not come cheap.

Mumbai's elite recently preened themselves on Earth Hour where the city saved some power by switching off lights for 60 minutes. Great savings could be made if all IPL games were played in daylight. There is something ugly about that much electricity consumed by a private profit entity (guzzling public money) in a season when Marathwada and Vidarbha suffer 12-15 hour power cuts. Something that always devastates the performance of their poorer children in the examinations. They could end up having (on paper at least) a Right to Education, but none to electricity.

With the IPL comes the convergence of the most important media trends: the ABC of Media - Advertising, Bollywood and Corporate Power. Corporate barons and Bollywood stars own cricket teams. One IPL team is owned by a newspaper. Other dailies have become 'media partners' of IPL teams. Some Bollywood stars have 'promotional agreements' for their films with TV channels who disguise their paid-for gushing over those films as "news." Once national heroes, cricket's top icons are now 'capital assets' of the franchise owners.

Once proud of their disavowal of tobacco and liquor advertising, the icons now plug for the latter in surrogate form. And are linked to the former in other ways. And a once great game moves from heartfelt public ownership to a pocket-driven private one; from a national passion to a hyper-commercial nightmare.