Good Girl Gone Bad!

Every year I promise myself to stay away from Big Boss. But the Mr. Hubby – mom in law duo ensure I fall prey to the juicy gossips and join them in watching all the episodes.

When this season began, I was least motivated to keep up with Big Boss 7. Only Andy and Gauhar gave me some hopes of an entertaining season. It has been a trend that people engulfed in some controversy or generally not doing anything in life are called to participate in Big Boss seasons (who else would have three months to spare?) So when Tanisha’s name was announced, I wasn’t too surprised either. All I remember of her is the Kajol connection and a certain “Neal n Nikki” movie which we had comfortably opted to leave after an hour of watching.

On the launch night of Big Boss 7, Tanisha’s name was announced with much fanfare. Honey coated introduction by Salman made him sound more like a representative of the Bollywood fraternity rather than the host of Big Boss 7. But when Tanisha arrived in the “yucks” red dress look, she justified her selection for Bigg Boss!

Not everyone is blessed with a fab body but madam could have shown a bit poise rather than choosing to lift the dress (typical Jhalla walla style!) while exploring the Big Boss House.

We viewers are not that ruthless after all. Puppy fat, kiddish tone, bad dressing sense, we took them signs of an overprotected, immature kid and thought that considering the family she comes from, she would prove to be one of the most balanced contestants of the house.

Poor Tanisha dear…the balancing act lasted just a week or two until Tanisha’s eyes met Arman’s. And thus began Tanisha’s journey from good to bad. I wondered who is Arman, a 40 something short tempered arrogant uncle who still finds him cool dude. He calls himself actor, but when I googled it out, it showed he has delivered all flops till date! The only movie I could relate to was a certain Jani Dushman where Mr. Arman plays a snake (True to his quality of spitting out doses of poison!)

What Tanisha saw in Arman, she only knows, for that something made her dance to his tunes like no other snake would. She took on almost all other housemates, passing her unwanted judgement on other people’s matters. While Arman earned all the footage, Tanisha earned all the brickbats. What more, even the Arman she countered the world for, snubs her away whenever other inmates question their “just friendship”. The last time this happened, I recalled Kajol’s comments about her sister entering the Bigg Boss house. She had said Tanisha has the quality to lead and organize everyone. Little did she know that fatal attraction robs away even the best of qualities in a person and Tanisha too is just a human being, though quite a dumb one.

Every weekend, it is the good old industry boy Salman who gives Tanisha subtle hints for what not to do as per the unspoken rule book of her filmy family. Be it his suppressing Protyusha to stay Tanisha afloat in the argument, or reminding Tanisha and Arman about the number of cameras in Bigg Boss house (the unsaid in that comment provided so much food for gossip minds!) Every Friday I watch Bigg Boss with bated breath, it might be Tanisha’s chance to get evicted, going by the rising number of dislikes among the housemates. But whenever, Salman Khan announces her safe, I wonder, are the industry folks being partial to her?

While watching the show, often I think aloud – what is it that makes Tanisha so vulnerable to Arman, what is it that makes her run around him and do a constant display of being by his side, a’la true Bhartiya naaari! I know many women actually fall for guys who are dominating and arrogant, as they find it macho. But coming from the family of superstars, Tanisha certainly deserves someone much better than the baddie Arman. So, is it love for Arman, or love for footage that makes Tanisha hover around him? At her age and looks, she could be easily overshadowed by the Ooomph overdose Gauhar, or the cutie cutie Ellie…and maybe this Arman affair is just a spotlight gimmick. Whose name will be printed alongside hers on the wedding card, only time will tell...but my only advice to Tanisha would be –

People come to reality shows to save their failing careers. If you can’t do anything good, at least don’t go bad. Will make groom hunting easier for your family! 

Book review – Baramulla Bomber

Author – Clark Prasad

Publisher – Niyogi Books

Pages – 316

Price – Rs, 395 (You can also grab it from Flipkart)

Sneak preview from the book

An ancient weapon from the Vedas & Bible

Once hunted by the Nazis

Powered by the sound of the universe

Reborn with the help of Quantum Physics

Going to be Unleashed onto the world

& Kashmir holds it’s secret

The only way

To save the world

Is to challenge one’s faith

Multiple intelligence agencies are tracking Mansur Haider, a God fearing aspiring cricketer from Kashmir. His girlfriend, Ahana Yajurvedi is trying to locate her missing mountaineering team, which vanished after a mysterious earthquake struck Shaksgam valley. Investigating Mansur and the Shaksgam valley incident is Swedish Intelligence officer, Adolf Silfverskiod, whose only relationship to God consists of escorting his girlfriend to church.

A dual China-Pakistan battlefield scenario facing the Indian Home minister, Agastya Rathore, whose ancestoprs carry a prehistoric secret linked to the stars. He is faced with the challenge of finding a lasting solution to the Kashmir crisis.

Which Biblical weapon was tested in Shaksgam Valley? Why is MansurHaider important?Is there a solution to the Kashmir crisis? Can destiny be controlled? Does a cosmic religion exist?

My view

When BlogAdda sent me Baramulla Bomber for review, I was quite uncertain if I would do justice to the book. For it is a science fiction espionage thriller. I have been often disappointed by many books claiming to be science fiction stuff when all that they end up doing is revolving around some plot, unnecessarily complicating it and then winding up everything in a hurry.

The cover seemed very impressive and even the impressive illustrations and the maps. And no sooner had it arrived that I thought it would be the perfect companion for my metro rides. But don’t get caught by mis notions. It’s a book with many a twist and turns, and one has to concentrate else the ever changing situations and the constant inflow of new characters will leave a reader thoroughly confused.

The author has created a heady cocktail with ingredients like the Kashmir issue, Indo China relations, science, mythology, a dash of cricket for humour and lot of thrill. Each character has his own story to tell – Mansur Haider, who undergoes the transformation from an aspiring cricketer to the Baramulla bomber; Agastya Rathore, the home minister who has to find a way to save a nation; the author has done justice to the characters and the fast pace of the book.

Overall, Baramulla Bomber is sure to keep your thrill quotient high with its fast pace and lot of twist and turns.

The one area where I felt the author could have fared better is the length of the book. It was a real struggle to keep up with the book in the initial hundred pages, coz the overflow of information and illustrations was beginning to get irritating. However, once you cross that mark and started to get the hang of the story, it is sure to keep you hooked on. Full of suspense, in fact the author has even mentioned a disclaimer in the book for bloggers not to give details of the plot or plot spoilers, so grab your copy now!

About the author –

Clark Prasad, aka Suraj Prasad, was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He has mostly lived in Lagos, New Delhi, Mangalore and Kozhikode.

A pharmacist with a management degree, Clark currently works as a management consultant and is based at Bengaluru. Baramulla Bomber is his first book.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Book review – The Guardian Angels, By Rohit Gore

Author – Rohit Gore

Publisher- Grapevine india

Pages – 328

Price – Rs. 125

Sneak Preview from the book

The Guardian Angels is the epic and tumultuous story of two star-crossed lovers who weren’t just soulmates but were also each other’s protectors.

…he is the son of a billionaire,

…she is the daughter of a socialist

…he is quiet and unassuming,

…she is a firebrand and spirited.

My view

Somewhere in life, we all encounter that special someone who understands the hidden us, can read the unexplained in our eyes, can decipher the things unsaid from our silence and gets the telepathy right from miles away. S/he might be a friend, a lover, or even a sibling…a true soul mate. That’s what The Guardian Angels is all about, the story of two soul mates,  who as the title aptly explains, are each other’s guardian angels.

The story revolves around the lives of Aditya Mehta and Radha Deodhar. Aditya is the bright future of the Mehta group, while Radha is the grounded daughter of a former trade union leader. Adi and Radha’s paths cross early in life when the bold and blunt Radha saves the nervous and lonely Adi from a bunch of buffoons near the school. Her presence of mind and bold attitude has  Adi impressed in the first interaction itself, for the simple and sweet looking girl has the brains to utter a lie that drives the buffoons away.

Radha too, is charmed by the shy Adi, and pens down every bit of her feelings in her journal. She is impressed by his sudden show of courage when he takes on the buffoons all by himself when they try to harm Radha in revenge. From then on, begins a relationship of a lifetime, sans a definition or a name.

The book alternates between extracts from Radha’s journal and incidents from her and Adi’s life. Adi grows up to be a bright cricketer and is perceived the future of Mehta empire. He values his family, empire, passion for the game and the friendship of Radha. As Adi’s mother once points out to him, Radha keeps him grounded amidst the glitz and glamour of his high profile life.

The next several chapters see Adi and Radha grow up and choose their respective fields. But no matter how far or how different they are, they never fail to be there when either one of them is in trouble. Radha is a responsible girl who stands like a rock by Adi in every moment of crisis – be it his mission to rescue his sister from a bad boyfriend, the one moment that destroys his shining career in cricket, or even taking upon himself to prevent his family from falling apart.

Adi and Radha are life the tracks of a train. Apart but always for each other, and whenever needed, they cross to give that required support.

With growing up also comes confusion, for distance creates the obvious disagreements and misconceptions. Adi moves abroad for higher studies and Radha immerses herself into social activism. The two always know the affection deep inside, and it’s fun to see them struggling to admit it to their own self. Like buddies loyal to some vow, they never stop sharing the minutest of details, be it their interactions with the opposite sex. And the dash of jealousy midst the concern and hidden love for the soul mate makes for an interesting read.

Just when life begins to lose the complexity and love is in the air, a cruel tragedy shadows their happiness. Radha has a rare Huntington’s disease gene in her father’s family. Initially she laughs it away at the pretext of the famous Deodhar forgetfulness. But later, when the disease takes away her father and also engulfs her, Radha takes a practical decision – not to ruin Adi’s life with her diseased self. She doesn’t want to leave the Adi she loves with lifelong loneliness and grief after she is gone. Her decision seems to be getting right when Nicole and Adi get engaged and Radha moves away to leave them in peace.

But Adi has been Radha’s guardian angel whenever she has been in trouble – from saving her from the bullies in school, to secretly arranging for her father’s treatment without hurting Radha’s self respect. When Radha is on the verge of being raped and killed, Adi fights to save her life as if  it were his own.

Does Adi accept this final goodbye from Radha as their destiny? Or he plays her guardian angel again? To know more, grab your copy now!

The book becomes slow paced in some of the chapters. Owe it to the verbosity of the writer, as I felt some chapters could have been cut short. But overall, a nice emotional read, if you are a fast paced reader like me!

About the author –

Rohit Gore, an engineer and MBA works with the IT industry. A sports aficionado and an avid traveller, his greatest passion is reading and it inspires him to write. He is a frequent contributor to many online writing forums and is also the author of – Circle of three, A Darker dawn and Focus, Sam.

The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve.

Dil Chahta Hai

The perils of working while watching TV – you open the laptop to write about something but end up writing on a subject on the opposite pole!

Dil Chahta Hai (DCH) – a movie which, 12 years after its release still rings a bell in my heart, for a multitude of reasons. It was the first movie to be released when I joined college. Almost overnight, all the Siddharths (and even the Sidhants) in my college were rechristened “Sid”, the Sameers “Sam”. I still remember, it had become a rage back then. One day, my friends and I decided to bunk classes and watch DCH at a theatre near college. That the theatre gave 20% discount to the students of our college was an added advantage! I was super excited coz it was my first movie in college life! We bought the tickets and 15 minutes before the show, I thought of informing mom I would be late. The moment I told mom I was out to watch a movie, she just went ballistic. It was my grandpa’s shraad that day and mom was furious at me for being an irresponsible teenager – how I had chosen to watch a movie with friends instead of coming home for the shraad. What happened next was even more embarrassing – the teasing by my friends, disposal of that extra ticket, and the comments next day in college. I stopped hanging out with that group after that incident!

Pic source: Google search

But that didn’t deter me from buying an audio cassette of DCH and spending long hours with my walkman headphones! Its funny that I still remember the entire sequence of songs on both sides of the cassette!

DCH also brought about a new wave in Indian cinema – that of Farhanism! The wave that continues to give us many such refreshing movies.

If you haven’t watched Dil Chahta hai, you have missed one of the best movies in Indian cinema. A movie that meanders around the lives of three friends – Sid, Sameer and Akash. Three very different people exploring life their way, yet very loyal to the buddy bonding. While life is a comedy of errors for Akash (Amir Khan), for Sam (Saif Ali Khan), the definition of love changes with every girl he meets. It’s only Sid (Akshaye Khanna), a painter who is shown the most sensible of the trio, though he too is infected by the love bug when he falls for a woman much older than him.

The movie begins in the waiting room of a hospital with Sid and Sam remembering the good old days. The story goes in flashback and many beautiful scenes follow. The farewell party of college where Akash creates a scene when he proposes Shalini (Preity Zinta); the fabulous trip to Goa and the roadster drive and the fish eating scene in the title track! (Coincidently, the movie also has Kiran Rao, aka Mrs Amir khan in one of the shots in Goa. She was assisting him with the movie back then.); Sam’s little affair with a foreigner who robs him in his own hotel room also leaves you laughing out loud!

Pic source:Google search

Sam and Sid discover love in their own style. While Sam, who usually finds love in every second girl he meets falls in love eventually with a girl his parents choose for him. But just like his confused self, love also comes to him after a lot of confusion. (And only after he dances in typical retro style to the song “Wo ladki hai kahan”…the song that gave us the famous “Bird dance” step!)

Pic source:Google search

As for Sid, he finds his love in Tara (Dimple Kapadia), a lady much older than him. Love is evident in his eyes as he makes a beautiful portrait of hers and takes her out for dinner on her birthday. But his feelings aren’t understood by his friends and even his own mother, for they fear the relationship wil die a natural death due to age gap and Tara being a divorcee with an alcohol problem. This even creates a rift between friends when Akash makes fun of Sid’s love.

Pic source:Google search

The friends go their own ways with Sid immersing himself into painting (after being rejected by his lady love) and Akash going to Australia to manage his father’s business.

Destiny, however has different plans for Akash. The same person who considers love a fallacy, eventually falls in love with a girl who is engaged to someone else. The scenes shot in Sydney are lovely (the roller coaster ride scene) and the director beautifully shows how a fun loving Akash slowly understands that thing called love during an Opera show, but prefers to hide his feelings under layers of humour. 

Pic source:Google search

Pic source:Google search

Eventually it is crisis that brings back the buddies together and they untangle the knots in each other’s life.

Pic source:Google search

The movie has awesome music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy that will make you keep pressing the repeat button! I loved every track, especially “Kaisi hai ye rut”, “Jane Kyon” and “Tanhayee”

Excellent direction, music, story and act, no wonder the movie won the 2002 National Film Award for the best feature film in Hindi.

If you have already seen Dil Chahta Hai, go for it and relive some beautiful old memories. If you haven’t, well you are missing something!

For the love of Art-our first painting class

This is in continuation to my earlier post “For the love of Art”… for those who had been waiting to read the sequel to my earlier post, apologies for the delay! The lazy me, office, home and most importantly, sponsored posts and contests tried their best to keep this post away…but I ain’t that bad a blogger, I keep my promises…

So here we go…

Was it the love for Mr. Hubby or the hatred for my poor drawing skills that convinced me, I don’t know, but the following Sunday, we packed whatever art material we had (just in case we were asked to begin painting with acrylics the same day! Lol!) and zoomed for our class. My condition throughout the drive was that of a kid going to a dentist who asks his mother “will it pain?”…I too kept asking Mr. Hubby, “U sure na I can do it?” And just like the mother assures it won’t pain much, he too assured me I would easily learn to paint with finesse.

All that convincing dashed for the trash bin when we entered the class…for our classmates ranged from 3 to 12 year olds! As the teacher welcomed us, I gave Mr. Hubby a quick “I will kill you” look and he gave me a helpless smile. I was certain the paints and the pencils will continue to rest inside the boot of the car, as this would be a kiddo type class…which meant this was my first and last class, which meant no more painting without the blame on me! Woohoo!

The teacher, who was younger than us, it seems had other plans…

He began by showing us around the whole area and reading my face, even told me that the students range from small kids to housewives and senior citizens! Lovely canvasses decorated in acrylic donned the walls of our classroom. There were also some very interesting sculptures (one even in the shape of a sharpener made with granite!) and the teacher told us those were part of an exhibition recently concluded.

The more artwork he showed the more I feared, for it became clear the class wasn’t meant to be just simple drawing and painting.  I could see a teenager painting stuff that I can never even imagine myself trying in the wildest of dreams. Mr. Hubby however, was completely at ease and I marvelled at the way he discussed stuff like modernism, cubism, works of Monet, Constable, Picasso etc. with the teacher.

We were soon assigned our first task – to do a still life in pencil of two pots and a glass bottle placed on a table.

the prop

Now, you might wonder, what is so tough about making a pot or two? But lemme tell you it is far tough than it seems – getting the entire finer details and shading right (even the glass!) by using just pencil!

Within minutes I realized not only was I a bad painter but also a terrible one at simple drawings. I couldn’t just get 2 simple pots on a large sheet right! If the left of the pot got too curvaceous, the right one was lesser curvaceous. I sat staring at the blank sheet in frustration feeling stuck, somewhat like Pie in The Life of Pie…in the middle of nowhere!

Just half an hour had passed which meant I had to go through the ordeal for another 1 ½ hours! Since we were first timers and adults, we attracted kids; they occasionally peeped from behind at what we were drawing. As I sat tortured, I saw a hyper enthusiastic Mr. Hubby already done with his drawing and asking the teacher for shading tips. 

The teacher praised him for his work and gave me a funny look, yet reassured me in a friendly tone, “It’s your first time, relax…some patience and you will get it right. Look at that girl, she has been painting that setup for a month now and only now is it near completion.” Patience? I was almost in tears and cursed myself for being so impulsive. “Why did I impulsively go for something that requires so much patience? A painting even takes months to complete and here I am hoping to get a perfect still life in an hour! That’s why I love blogging. Atleast at the end of an hour, I have a post ready and uploaded!”

I remembered the art room of my school, it too had similar still life set ups with perfect spot lights and students working passionately for hours getting them right in paint. I had often laughed at them for being so super vellaaa and here I was. Anyway, I soon realised it made no sense sitting idle as I would be the laughing stock of the classroom if my sheet didn’t look any different after 2 hours!

So I began to try, rubbing and drawing, with a frequent eye on Mr. Hubby’s sheet and another on my watch! I had decided it would be my last class, but didn’t want to look a loser at my maiden attempt. 

They say art is something that requires immense concentration! And here was me! Sweat, hunger, thirst, urge to check my phone, nature’s call…my mind was full of everything but concentration!

Once a blogger, always a blogger! Soon, it occurred to me that these painting classes can give me good fodder for my blog…imagine a separate tab of posts containing my experiences from being a horrible to a great artist! While struggling with my first sketch, I even started imagining the content of some posts!

A tall shadow got me back to the class! The teacher was standing there, smiling and looking at my sketch. I looked at the watch…time up….”Not bad, he said, your drawing is decent, but you need to work on the shading part…Don’t worry, a sketch a day and you will improve in a week’s time!”.

A sketch a day? Did I hear him right? I am a living pendulum between kitchen and living room when at home, and he expects me to make a sketch a day?

He praised Mr. Hubby for his detailed and clean art work and advised him more practice. As I sat in the car, I announced it was my first and last class. “Why?” a shocked Mr. Hubby asked me. I narrated him the entire story in a cranky childlike tone. But he was quick and clever to get the deal of my interest. He sounded super enthusiastic about my idea of a series of posts on my painting classes. He even offered to treat me to Mc Donald’s burger after every painting class! (hehe…) and encouraged me by praising my efforts and perseverance. Art is about trying and exploring and he sounded certain that with practice and time, I too would get it right…

I had thought it to be my first and last class…

But the person who said change is the only constant had some brains after all!

Two months have since passed and I look forward to my art classes now…initially it was for the Mc Donald’s treat but now it is truly for the love of art! I am surprised at how an impatient me can feel so comfortable with drawing…so much that I have tried out portraits as well!

my first still life

Me wonderzzz…

That’s life…a pandora’s box…we don’t know what lies inside…well, a lot of beautiful stuff does…we just need to explore with an open mind!

From still life to outdoors to portraits to watercolours, Mr. Hubby and I have happily gone through the metamorphosis. But it hasn’t been a smooth one for me…specially the day we were taken to a park and asked to do outdoors in pencil! Wanna know what happened next? Well, will tell you in my next post “For the Love of Art – our first outdoor”

 

Wear your attitude!

Ambi Pur mini vent clip…chhotaa pack badaa dhamaal!

Whenever mom in law goes out of Delhi, Mr. Hubby and I get into a total bachelor mode! Now I don’t mean to sound mean coz the same me also calls her numerous times a day with excuses just because I miss her. You see, all moms are amazing but in the bouquet of care also comes a long list of do’s and don’t’s. And thanks to the caring mom in law I have, the list of don’ts is a bit too long.

So the last time she went to visit her sister, Mr. Hubby and I planned a night out with our gang of friends. Music, masti, dhamaal and lots of good food! Since ma tries her best to keep us away from the “unsafe” street food, her absence was the best time to gorge on that!

You see, we Dilliwaalaas are very style conscious. We might gorge on the local rolls on the street but we like to do it in style. So, every evening you will Dilliwaalas enjoying street food in the comfort of their a/c cars dumped…oops parked near the roadside eateries.

All was perfect that night, till about 10pm, when a call on Mr. Hubby’s phone got us all freaked out. It was a call from his boss. He had called up to inform him of his arrival the next morning. An important issue had to be discussed with the client and he wanted Mr. Hubby to pick him from airport so they could discuss the plan before meeting the client.

We took one look at our car, bits of chips, onion rings, chutney and other food items scattered on the seat and floor. Even if I cleaned up the mess, the smell would tell the tale of the night out to the boss. “I will take a cab instead to pick boss, though I hate giving directions to the cabbie” Mr. Hubby said with a sad face.

“Sprinkle a strong perfume! The smell will go” a friend suggested. “But it will be gone by the time I reach the airport, and would perhaps get on my head before the boss.” Mr. Hubby junked the idea.

However, the dumb suggestion had rung the bell in my mind, and reminded me of the Ambi Pur mini vent clip sample I had received few days back. “Don’t worry, I have something that will turn the smell to smile. Relax” I said with a smile.

Mr. Hubby was up early next morning and was still upset to see the remains of last night in the car. While I had the car all cleaned up, the smell refused to vacate the premises, just like troublesome tenants refusing to vacate the house!

I opened the clip and fixed it in the car. “Can this small packet do what a strong perfume cannot?” Mr. Hubby was still doubtful. “Rest assured. Ambi Pur is especially designed to eliminate bad odour and not merely mask it. Don’t worry, the smells will be all gone by the time you reach the airport.” I reassured him.

A smiling Mr. Hubby came to pick me from work that evening. As I sat inside the car, it felt like some other world to which I was transported. Not even a trace of the smells which could speak of last night. “So, did your boss smell something fishy?” I giggled and asked Mr. Hubby. “Smell? Oh, he was all smiles…in the evening, on his way back to airport, he even asked me what perfume do we use inside our car as he found it very relaxing.” He said. “And what about the smell?” I asked “No smell, only smiles…we got the deal done! “

The deal was done for me too, for my chhotaa clip had indeed managed the badaa dhamaal!

This post is written for the Ambi Pur mini vent clip contest by Ambi Pur and Indiblogger. Ambi Pur, from our very own P&G has come up with an entire range of air fresheners to transform your driving experience from smelly to smiley. Available in five exciting shades - New Zealand springs, Lavender comfort, Sky Breeze, Light Citrus and Thai Dragon fruit! Do try and escape into freshness whenever you drive!!!

Mind Rocks youth summit, Delhi 2013 – a rocking experience that made my day

There are some moments in our life that give us immense joy…moments that are remembered forever. For me, Mind Rocks 2013 summit Delhi was one day full of pleasant experiences that I will never forget.

Waking up early in the morning on a lazy Saturday and reaching the venue at 8.30am seemed a task to me. But when I reached Siri Fort auditorium, I was amazed to see the swarm of youngsters at the registration desk, eagerly waiting to be let in. Once in, counters distributing the goody bag and food coupons welcomed us. Munching my donut, sandwich and sipping the flavoured milk, me and my blogger friends quickly surveyed the goodies inside the yellow sling bags…tummy full and bags full, we were all smiles as we entered the auditorium. And inside, the best surprise awaited us…bloggers had been allotted special seats in the front! “Wow! That means we can watch Farhan Akhtar & Virat Kohli that close!”, the three of us echoed in excitement!

Rocking Start

The auditorium was full of young power, students, professionals; all awaited the event to begin. India Today surely knew how to energize the crowd on a boring morning. So when the winner of Mind Rocks Be a rockstar contest, rock band Antriksh began their performance, the thump of the drums and resonance of the guitar strings had the crowd swaying.

The performance was followed by welcome address by Kaveree Bamzai, Editor, India Today. We were eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of our favourite youth icons…

Sportsmanship at its best with Leander Paes

When Kunal Pradhan, Deputy Editor, India Today, introduced the first youth icon for the day, Leander Paes, our eyes went wide with excitement. For not only was Leander looking super fit and dashing but the humbleness in his tone and the simplicity with which he spoke bowled us over! He shared the story of his childhood, his passion for the game, his struggle in the journey to success and his zest for life that keeps him going. He had mentioned he goes for any event only when he believes in it and his quotes did prove that. “If you can handle triumph and disaster at the same time, then let’s play the game and play it hard”...good words flowed until the buzz of the siren signaled it was time for the next session.

Bhangra with the rap queen

We were wondering who next and suddenly RJ Aparshakti Khurana from Oye 104.8 FM announced Hard Kaur! Hard Kaur, with her bindaas attitude and witty answers was an instant hit with the crowd. The story of a simple girl of Indian origin, Taran Kaur Dhillon making it big in the male dominated UK rap industry had us all impressed, while her impromptu bhangra and rap with the crowd had us all pleased. “Nobody is a superstar, skills come first”, was her mantra before the siren went buzz for the next session.

The fruit of risk taking

Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO, yatra.com spoke about the importance of failures in ones life and how the disappointments are just a catalyst to propel you to work harder towards your goal. He called the story of his life, his meandering ways – from his stint with entrepreneurship to his MBA from Insead, from the aftermath of 9/11 on his career to the life changing decision he took after being fired….he shared it all as budding entrepreneurs in the crowd heard with attention. “Don’t be afraid to take risk. You don’t know what will happen until you try it out. Seize the opportunity with conviction, focus and self belief” was his mantra.

Crime not age

If you thought Mind Rocks was just about fun, well, MindRocks also creates awareness in the youth about their rights and duties. The next session, crime and age spoke about the need for amendment in the juvenile justice act, in the wake of the Nirbhaya Gang Rape case. Dr. Kiran Bedi began the session explaining some eye opening facts about the juvenile justice act to create awareness amongst the youth. Despite being the icon that she is, she hit an instant connection with the youth when she said “Dil ki baat hoti hai to Hindi mein hi nikalti hai!” Gul Panag shared her concerns about women safety and earned a housefull of applauds when she questioned people naming their shops “Gulab Chand and sons” and not “Gulab Chand and daughters”while Nishta Gautam got us all emotional with her heart touching poem on the Nirbhaya Gangrape case. 

A panel discussion on juvenile justice act followed with focus on the need to amend the act so that crime, not age becomes the topmost priority in the eyes of law.

The appearance of Nirbhaya’s parents at the summit was a real emotional moment and many tears flowed as the parents spoke about how the act should be amended to punish true offenders who get unfair protection by the tag of being a juvenile. They also unveiled India Today’s campaign on juvenile justice act amendment “Crime not age”

How I wrote my first book

Author of the famous “Shiva Trilogy”, Amish Tripathi was next youth icon on stage. Taking us through his journey towards his first book, Amish spoke about how self belief, focus and being pragmatic helped him achieve success in his field. “Be open to questioning and stay focussed” was his mantra.

First Time Voters, critical elections

The next session was a real stormy one. For the panel included representative each from the major contending parties for the assembly elections – Deepender Singh Hooda from Congress, Mr. Sanjeev Kaul from BJP and Arvind Kejriwal from AAP. It was a real treat to hear the three of them talking about their commitment to improve the state of affairs and at the same time, telling their party to be better than the other two. Rahul Kanwal as the moderator was at his best, sometimes throwing the perfect question to get the Netas talking and also to cease fire whenever someone went overboard. The icing of the cake was when Arvind Kejriwal stepped to give his speech…for the crowd went bursting with enthusiasm as Slogans like “Bharat Mata ki Jai” echoed the venue.

Pet Pooja

Rain started by the time we were out for lunch and between the hide and seek that the raindrops played, we gorged on the spread laid especially for the young delegates. It was also time to tag our facebook profiles with the Mind Rocks hashtag and some picture posing with the mind rocks placards.

The real youth icon

Lunch was followed by an award ceremony to felicitate a young icon who worked to educate herself and others in her village and also took initiatives to create awareness about various social issues in her village. To our horror, our reserved seats had been grabbed by some college kids and negotiation skills were tested big time as we convinced them to get our seats back.

Chance pe dance with Lauren and Salman

The girls went ooh and the guys went aah as Salman and Lauren entered the stage and had the crowd rocking with their “perfect” lift and dance moves. They even obliged some enthusiasts from the crowd to join them for the dance moves while others danced in their seats. It was fun to see Lauren try Bhangra moves with much enthusiasm. She came across as someone very cute and friendly yet focussed. “Never give up, always push towards your goal” was her mantra.

Virat Kohli!!!

When Virat Kohli entered the stage, it was as if the whole auditorium was on wild fire. Jumps, shouts, shrieks, the crowd when ballistic with excitement. But that didn’t deter Virat, who shared how he learnt the right way from his mistakes. It was really inspiring to hear him talk about the rough patch when he was expelled from the Indian team. However, instead of sulking about it, Virat was positive enough to keep practicing and got back to his form, earning much appreciation and fame. “Stay determined, stay focussed, stay yourself” was his mantra.

Love, life and Relationships

After success tips by Virat Kohli, it was time to discuss love and relationships with Aditi Rao Hydari. However, more than the session on relationships, it turned out to be a session on Aditi herself. While RJ Aparshakti kept throwing requests for song, dance and her personal life, Aditi too was very sweet as she interacted with the crowd. Though it seemed her outfit was making a bit uncomfortable for her to dance so she tried her best to perfect the repetitive moves. A small contest followed where 3 guys from the crowd were asked to write a post card expressing their feelings to Aditi and the best one chosen by Aditi won a prize.

Stay Hungry, stay smart

Ajay Bijli of PVR cinemas shared his story from a boy who loved to watch movies in Priya cinema to the entrepreneur who revolutionized the entire experience of cinema theatres. From his favourite PVR theatre to getting the latest technology to viewers, his session was a real interesting one.

Icing on the cake

The last session was the session I had been awaiting all day long. And perhaps the whole lot of others too. For when Farhan Akhtar came on stage, the crowd went uncontrollable. The moderator Kallie Puri had to try hard to get the crowd calm so that Farhan could speak. Me and my blogger friends were just speechless, capturing every moment in our eyes, with a wide smiles on our faces. Farhan spoke about his passion for cinema that pushes him to try something new every time. His passion was evident from the fact that in childhood he watched a film everyday before going to school (and wake up early morning to watch the movie). With a great sense of humor, Farhan took on the house. The crowd couldn’t help but ask for more of Farhan and he too gladly performed a song and dance with the crowd.

After a day full of sessions, it was time to unwind. Hard Kaur took on to the stage and the crowd grooved to her performance on popular numbers.

Meeting so many youth icons on a single day was like a real dream come true, a magic box of celebs. Thanks India Today for making the day so special and the opportunity to be among the official bloggers for the event! 

You can catch highlights of the event at

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/youthsummit/delhi/2013/