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… It [the Last Hour] will not come until you see ten signs… landslides [with a sinking down, caving in, or displacement of the earth] in three places, one in the East, one in the West and one in Arabia… (Sahih Muslim)

It is revealed in the verses of the Qur’an that all animate and inanimate entities, the entire universe, will inevitably come to an end.

This end, the Last Day in other words, will be the final day of the life of this world, but also the beginning of the eternal life of the Hereafter. That day, as revealed in the Qur’an, is when “mankind will stand before the Lord of all the worlds” (Qur’an, 83:6). On the Last Day, the universe and all living things will be destroyed and that destruction will take place as the result of events that have never been seen before. In Surat al-Ma’arij our Lord reveals:

On the Day the sky is like molten brass and the mountains like tufts of colored wool. No good friend will ask about his friend even though they can see each other. An evildoer will wish he could ransom himself from the punishment of that Day, by means of his sons, or his wife or his brother or his family who sheltered him or everyone else on Earth, if that only meant that he could save himself. But no! It is a Raging Blaze. (Qur’an, 70:8-15)

It is a day when all people will comprehend the great might of God and will be a day of panic, fear and suffering for unbelievers. Our Lord reveals in the Qur’an that “the Hour is coming” (Qur’an, 20:15) and that it will take place suddenly, when people are least expecting it (Qur’an, 16:77 and 7:187). In another verse, our Lord has told us that certain signs will appear before the Hour:

What are they awaiting but for the Hour to come upon them suddenly? ITS SIGNS HAVE ALREADY COME. What good will their reminder be to them when it does arrive? (Qur’an, 47:18)

Our Prophet Muhammad (saas) has described these portents that will take place prior to the Hour in detail in the Hadith. In addition to signs of the Last Day, he has also made statements regarding the period immediately before it. This period, when the signs of the Last Day will appear, is the “End Times.”

In the first period of the End Times the world is filled with material and spiritual problems; in the second period that follows, God will liberate people from degeneration, war and injustice by means of the Mahdi. In this period, known as the Golden Age, war and conflict will come to an end, the world will be filled with plenty, abundance and justice, and Islamic moral values will spread over the whole world and be widely lived by. Following the end of the Golden Age, the world will suffer a very rapid collapse, after which the Hour will come. However, it needs to be made clear that, as on all other subjects, we have no other information regarding the Last Day than that taught us by our Lord. Only our Lord knows the time of the Hour, which will inevitably take place:

Say: “I do not know whether what you are promised [the Hour] is close or whether my Lord will appoint a longer time before it.” He is the Knower of the unseen, and does not divulge His unseen to anyone. (Qur’an, 72:25-26)

The Signs of the Last Day Are Coming True One after the Other

When we examine the Hadith on the End Times, we encounter a most extraordinary situation. The signs set out in detail by our Prophet (saas) hundreds of years ago are taking place just about everywhere in the world “in the age we are living in,” one after the other and in the manner described in the Hadith. The slaughter, war and conflict being experienced all over the world, the increase in corruption, unlawful things being regarded as lawful, the acceleration of moral degeneration, the open denial of God, the abandoning of the moral values of the Qur’an, the grave difficulties being experienced by Muslims, the groundless killing of innocent people, the spread of poverty and hunger, the emergence of false men of religion, the popularity of magic and fortune telling, the rise in fraud, corruption and adultery, the emergence of false messiahs and many other signs all show that the period through which we are living bears a greater resemblance to the End Times than any other in history. (For detailed information, see The Signs of Jesus’ (pbuh) Second Coming by Harun Yahya.)

Some of these signs of the End Times revealed in the Hadith have been seen to some extent at various times in Islamic history and in different parts of the world. However, this does not mean that any of those ages was the End Times.

Because in order for a period to qualify as the End Times, all the portents revealed by our Prophet (saas) must take place one after the other in the same period of time. This is set out in the Hadith:

Signs following one another like the pieces of a necklace falling one after the other when its string is cut. (Tirmidhi)

For example, one of the signs given in the Hadith is the solar and lunar eclipses during the month of Ramadan:

…The first one is the lunar eclipse in the first night of Ramadan, and the second is the solar eclipse in the middle of this month. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 47)

Indeed, solar and lunar eclipses followed one another in the month of Ramadan in the years 1981 and 1982. It is beyond question that solar and lunar eclipses are very natural and frequent phenomena. The important thing, however, is that these should take place at 15-day intervals during the month of Ramadan, and for this to be repeated in two consecutive years. In addition, the fact that these eclipses took place at the same time as other signs stated above strengthens the likelihood that these eclipses are those being referred to in the hadith. Another extraordinary thing is the way that our Prophet (saas) informed us that a comet will appear immediately after these eclipses of the Sun and Moon:

The rise of that star will occur after the eclipse of the Sun and the Moon. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 32)

As stated in the hadith, Halley’s comet passed close by the Earth in 1986 (Hijri 1406), in other words in the early 14th century. This follows the eclipses of the Sun and Moon that happened in 1981 and 1982 (Hijri 1401-1402). Therefore, the rise of this star coming at the same time as other signs, and just as described by the Prophet (saas), indicates that these phenomena may well be the signs referred to in the Hadith.

Another important element that must be borne in mind when examining the signs of the End Times is the size of the sign in question, its force and effect. For example, our Prophet (saas) has cited the rise in earthquakes as a sign of the Last Day. There is no doubt that earthquakes of various magnitudes have taken place at all periods in history. However, in the End Times, through which we are living, there has been a huge rise in the number and intensity of earthquakes worldwide. According to US Geological Survey (USGS) reports, the number of earthquakes registering greater than 5.0 in the 400 or so years between 1556 and 1975 is only 110. According to that same body, 1685 earthquakes registering more than 6.5 have taken place in the 23 years between 1980 and 2003 alone. This information confirms the account given by our Prophet (saas) and shows that the signs of the End Times have characteristics far more extraordinary than those of any comparable events that have taken place in other periods. Our Prophet (saas) has also given news of many other signs of the Last Day as well as just these. Islamic scholars refer to some of these as minor signs, and to others as major signs. One hadith in which our Prophet (saas) imparts the tidings of the ten major signs of the Last Day is as follows:

… It [the Last Hour] will not come until you see ten signs… landslides [with a sinking down, caving in, or displacement of the earth] in three places, one in the East, one in the West and one in Arabia… (Sahih Muslim)

In this article we shall examine these signs in the light of certain major recent developments.

(For detailed information regarding the other signs of the Last Day, see Signs of the Last Day, The Signs of Jesus’ (pbuh) Second Coming, Terrorism: The Ritual of the Devil, The End of Times and the Mahdi by Harun Yahya).

THE SINKING DOWN IN THE EAST:

THE TSUNAMI DISASTER IN INDONESIA

One of the signs of the Last Day revealed by our Prophet (saas) is that of the “sinking down in the East.”

The probable significance of this sign is the disappearance of an area of land or a human community. (God knows best.) This portent bears a close similarity to the 2004 tsunami disaster in Asia. Therefore, our Prophet’s (saas) portent regarding the “sinking down in the East” may be indicating this terrible catastrophe. (Our Lord knows best, of course.)

Throughout history various disasters, earthquakes and tornadoes have struck Asia and the Far East. These wrought terrible destruction and large numbers of people lost their lives in them. However, the tsunami that took place on 26 December, 2004, in southern Asia and that resulted in the loss of more than 225,000 lives, was the worst of these disasters. During this dreadful catastrophe, the enormous energy released by 1000-kilometer breaks as a result of the movement of underground plates and shifting land masses, together with the enormous energy produced in the oceans, struck the coasts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Maldives, the Seychelles, and even Somalia, 5,000 kilometers away.

This tsunami disaster in the End Times, when the signs of the Last Day are coming true one by one, affected a very wide area, and led to cities being flooded by sea water and to a new map of the world. Therefore, the expression “sinking down in the East” may well be referring to this disaster in southern Asia. (God knows best.)

THE SINKING DOWN IN THE WEST:

THE “KATRINA” DISASTER IN THE USA

The terrible destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the US Gulf of Mexico last month brings to mind another of the signs of the Last Day mentioned by our Prophet (saas): “the sinking down in the West.”

This “sinking” which our Prophet (saas) declares will take place in the End Times must necessarily be much greater and have a much greater impact than similar ones in the past. Indeed, the damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina was far worse than that inflicted by similar phenomena in the past.

Throughout history great disasters have been experienced in Europe and America. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and terrorist attacks have cost the lives of thousands. However, none of these disasters have had such a terrible impact as Hurricane Katrina, causing millions of people to flee, tens of thousands to lose their lives, immense harm to three large states, and the flooding of whole cities. This makes Hurricane Katrina different from disasters of the past, and ensures it top place in the list of destruction in US history. For that reason, the Katrina catastrophe may well be one of the three incidents of sinking referred to by our Prophet Muhammad (saas). God knows best, of course.

The Dimensions of the Katrina Disaster
The Katrina disaster has been the subject of intense coverage in newspapers and on the television for around a month now. However, these reports fail to emphasize the multilateral effect of the disaster, both on the USA and globally. The true dimensions of the disaster are being hidden from people, and the scale of the destruction is being underplayed. The fact is that Hurricane Katrina led to the deaths of more than 10,000 people, life becoming impossible in almost all of three major states (Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi), the complete evacuation of one of the most important cities in the USA, the greatest air rescue operation in the US history, millions of people losing their homes and livelihoods, and damage in excess of $100 billion. Various writers have referred to the fact that such a disaster has not been experienced on US soil since the Civil War. This disaster, compared by some federal authorities to Hiroshima and the tsunami catastrophe in Indonesia, is expected to have long-lasting consequences for many years, and resulted in a large region sinking under the water, as described by our Prophet (saas) in the hadith.

The damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina may be summed up as follows:

- Katrina was classified as a category 5 hurricane, representing the most violent category on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, falling to category 4 in some places. Only 3 category five hurricanes have made landfall in the US since records began. Yet none of those caused such massive damage as Katrina.

- The death toll could not be established with certainty in the wake of the disaster, though officials said the number could be tens of thousands. Material damage is expected to exceed $100 billion. This estimate excludes long-term damage (effects on the soil, sea, life and climate).

- Hurricane Katrina entered the American continent from the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, 29 August, and affected three states. Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi became virtually uninhabitable. The wind speed rose to 260 km/h. The area affected, a national disaster zone, is 233,000 km2 – an area almost as large as the United Kingdom.

- The hurricane first affected the state of Florida, where 13 people died and where the storm caused great material damage. It then headed for the state of Louisiana, causing terrible damage to the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Buildings on the coasts in particular suffered immense damage. It is estimated that more than 10,000 lost their lives in these three states; 80% of the city of New Orleans – the largest in the state of Louisiana – remained under water.

- The cities of Biloxi and Gulfport in Mississippi were flooded by waters rising up to 9 meters, and 90% of homes in this area were completely destroyed. Hotels and entertainment centers built on the shore were completely ruined. This brings to mind another sign of the Last Day reported by our Prophet (saas):

He asked: “What becomes of you when death meets people and homes become graves?” (Mukhtasar Tazkirah al-Qurtubi, p. 392, no. 726)

- Some 5 million people were left without electricity in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It has been announced that due to the terrible damage inflicted, it may take months for electricity to be restored to the whole city.

- America obtained 25% of its petrol needs from the Gulf of Mexico. Today, 91% of this area’s total production capacity of 1.5 million barrel/day is unusable. 83% of the natural gas emerging has been stopped. 561 of a total of around 650 maritime oil platforms were evacuated in time by helicopter. 20 platforms either sank or were dragged from their moorings, and one continues to burn. Nobody knows what damage has been caused to those which have been abandoned. The resulting sea pollution is yet another aspect of the disaster. Eight refineries have been abandoned along the shores of the Mississippi River. Those still working have been closed down because the pipeline bringing oil to land from the Gulf of Mexico broke. The almost complete stoppage of oil production in the region has impacted on the US economy, and it is also expected to have permanent damage on the world economy.

- Hundreds of thousands of homes have been rendered uninhabitable, and hundreds of thousands have been badly damaged.

- The number of missing is estimated at around 35,000. More than 300,000 children in the region are estimated to have been made homeless.

- Electricity cuts, and the fact that telephone lines, mobile phones and the Internet no longer work has brought business life to an almost complete standstill. It is estimated that around 1 million jobs have been lost in all sectors.

- Educational institutions in the regions have been closed. A great many schools cannot be used, and great damage has been inflicted on others.

- Local newspapers and TV stations have abandoned their offices, and have been forced to continue working over the Internet.

- It is stated that it is only a matter of time until epidemics begin in flooded cities. The corpses that fill the streets, the toxic substances in the water, the chemical waste products from factories in the water, rubbish, and petrol wastes represent a severe threat to the flooded cities. The US Army plans to begin spraying using military planes against the mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus and that multiply rapidly in stagnant water.

New Orleans Has Sunk to the Ground

While Katrina inflicted grave harm on many cities, it has made New Orleans uninhabitable. 80% of New Orleans, regarded as one of the centers of tourism and culture in the USA, was under water, which in some areas was more than 6 meters deep. Therefore, New Orleans has almost vanished by being buried under water. In the same way that our Prophet’s (saas) portent regarding “the sinking down in the East” may refer to the tsunami disaster in Indonesia, the “sinking down in the West” may also indicate the disappearance of the city of New Orleans. God knows best, of course.

New Orleans is a city surrounded by Lake Pontchartrain, the River Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, and is founded about 2 meters below the sea level. However, some parts of the city lie up to 6 meters below the sea level and are protected against possible flooding by pumps, channels and levees. This system, regarded as one of the most expensive flood protection systems in the world, was constructed in stages since the 1800s, and has been regularly strengthened. However, the levees that run for some 560 kilometers around the city were designed to meet category 3 hurricanes. They could not withstand category 5 hurricanes such as Katrina (category 4 on some days). Thus Hurricane Katrina destroyed two of the city’s most important levees, as a result of which water from the lake, the sea and the river flooded 80% of the city. The shores of Lake Pontchartrain were almost entirely submerged.

Following the hurricane, these levees are planned to be repaired and the water pumped out of the city. However, very few of the 148 pumps are actually working, for which reason the pumping out of the floodwater that fills the city is expected to take months. One major difficulty is that since the pumps responsible for cleaning up the city are submerged, it is difficult to find anywhere to send the many meters of water covering the city. Another problem is the scale of the impact that the pumping of the waters, badly polluted by corpses and wastes, into the River Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain will have on life, which is expected to even worse in the years to come. The emptying of polluted water into the lake, river and sea in the region, regarded as one of the main ports of the US fishing industry, will do serious harm to maritime life. However, officials state that there is no alternative and that pumping will go ahead as planned.

This is the worst disaster since the founding of New Orleans in 1718. The city has experienced a great many storms and hurricanes to date but this city, which directly encounters a hurricane every 14 years, has never been subjected to such destruction. The consequences of the New Orleans disaster may be summarized as follows:

- One million people fled New Orleans before the hurricane struck. Tens of thousands who remained sought shelter in the Louisiana Superdome Stadium and an exhibition hall. Others sought to protect themselves from the waters by climbing up to high elevations. Thousands of helpless people who sought shelter on the roofs and upper floors of buildings waited days for help to arrive. Many people died from hunger, thirst and various illnesses. There have also been widespread reports of lootings, murders, beatings and *****. When part of the roof of the Superdome, regarded as one of the safest places to shelter, collapsed, this too ceased to offer any safety.

- Some 9,000 people who were unable to evacuate the city and 550 National Guard troops were installed in the Superdome. Following the intensification of the hurricane this number rose to around 60,000 on September 1. Tens of thousands of people fought for their lives in the stadium, which was devoid of electricity, air conditioning and running water. As the evacuation was stepped up, New Orleans began being referred to as a “ghost town.”

- A rapid rise in looting, rape, beating, suicide, robbery and drug dealing brought chaos to the city and those buildings in which large numbers of people were sheltering.

- 80% of homes in New Orleans are uninhabitable.

- Tens of thousands of people do not have enough to eat and drink. There is no clean water or food in the city.

- One million people are without electricity due to the powerful winds that uplifted trees and power lines, due to which it is reported that critically ill patients in hospitals are dying.

- The flood waters have lifted coffins out of graves in some cemeteries in New Orleans. Television broadcasts have shown coffins floating in the waters covering the city.

The disappearance of almost the entire city of New Orleans bears a close similarity to another sign of the End Times related by our Prophet (saas). This is revealed in these terms in the hadith:

Great cities will be ruined, and it will be as if they had not existed the day before. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi `Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 38)

A city really has disappeared under the water and been made uninhabitable.

Indeed, one of the ongoing debates in the USA these days is the possibility of completely abandoning New Orleans and founding the city in another place in the wake of the terrible destruction.

COULD THE “ARMY DISAPPEARING IN THE DESERT” BE THE THIRD SINKING?

Attention is drawn in the hadith of our Prophet Muhammad (saas) to “a third sinking in the Arabian peninsula,” in addition to those in the East and West.

This sinking that will take place in the Arabian peninsula bears a close resemblance to another hadith:

An army comes to fight. Once they enter the desert, the one in the front and the back disappear, and the ones in the middle cannot save themselves. (Tirmidhi, Sunan Ibn Majah, Sunan Abu Dawud)

One of the most noticeable incidents of the 2003 Iraq War was the sudden disappearance of a large part of the Iraqi Army. Many newspapers and TV channels reported on the disappearance of the 60,000-man force known as the Republican Guard and 15,000-man force known as the Fedayeen. The fact that this is indicated in the above hadith shows that one of the signs of the Last Day may have taken place. Indeed, the finding in the days to follow of a part of their warplanes buried under the desert sands strengthens the possibility that the reference in the hadith of the sinking of an army in the desert may concern the Iraqi Army. (God knows best.) When we consider this hadith together with our Prophet’s (saas) reference to “sinking down in Arabia,” it may well be that the event in question refers to this extraordinary situation that came about during the Iraq war. (God knows best.)

THE IMPORTANCE OF REFLECTING ON THE SIGNS OF THE LAST DAY

Most people in the world are to a greater or lesser extent aware of the horror of the Last Day. Nonetheless, some people are unwilling to think or talk about such a vital matter. They make great efforts never to bring the fear that will be experienced when the Hour comes to mind. They are even unable to bear it when news of a catastrophe they read in the paper or a film depicting a disaster reminds them of the Last Day. They refuse to reflect on the fact that this day will inevitably arrive.

The same things happened in the wake of the Katrina disaster. People generally attempted to underplay the catastrophe, the terrible disaster was not reported in an unbiased manner, and people soon lost interest in this terrible destruction. People failed to learn about the horror experienced by hundreds of thousands as they should have.

Yet all these disasters and catastrophes are a warning, a reminder from our Lord. People who consider these disasters honestly, listening to the voice of their conscience, will easily realize the transitory nature of the life of this world and will turn to God. They will understand that it is not too late to live by Islamic moral values and will not be like those who ignore the reality that the Last Day will inevitably come to pass. Our Lord states the following with regard to the unbelievers who harbor doubts about the Hour:

When you were told, “God’s promise is true and so is the Hour, of which there is no doubt,” you said, “We have no idea what the Hour is. We have only been conjecturing. We are by no means certain.” (Qur’an, 45:32)

Some people deny the Hour in its entirety:

But instead, they deny the Hour; and We have prepared a searing blaze for those who deny the Hour. (Qur’an, 25:11)

All these people who deceive themselves with regard to the Hour are making a terrible mistake. That is because in His verses God reveals that it is close at hand and that there can be no room for doubt regarding this:

We did not create the heavens and Earth and everything between them, except with truth. The Hour is certainly coming… (Qur’an, 15:85)

As we have already stated, the fact that the signs of the Last Day were fully described 1,400 years ago and are coming to pass one after the other is a matter of the greatest importance. This is definitive proof so that we might understand that in describing in detail 1,400 years ago the picture that would emerge our Prophet (saas) was referring to the present day and age. The reports of the End Times paint a most accurate picture of our own time. This, of course, is a miraculous phenomenon calling for deep reflection.

Under the pen name of Harun Yahya, Adnan Oktar has written some 250 works. His books contain a total of 46,000 pages and 31,500 illustrations. Of these books, 7,000 pages and 6,000 illustrations deal with the collapse of the Theory of Evolution. You can read, free of charge, all the books Adnan Oktar has written under the pen name Harun Yahya on these websites www.harunyahya.com

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Humour and jokes is not only relieving stress, but also enrich your life and keeps you in touch with friends and family. The fluctuation of emotional state, low blood sugar, heart disease, overactive thyroid and is also considered by science to some effects of stress. What makes a thing of such complexity that stress is actually different from person to person. There are people who might not be comfortable sharing their emotions with others, regardless of how they are close to the person. Writing about what happened during the day is a self-cleaning of all the worries over a hard day’s work.

The fast pace of the world clouded by the pressures of work and they demands the humour and jokes compounds in life. Therefore, such websites have been a booming sector in recent years because people are made to believe that their use of services is the only effective way to increase humour and jokes in life. However, it is not necessary to participate in an activity splurging money to get humour and jokes. Take every opportunity to the millions of dollars flash smile. However, too much, it could yield negative emotional, physical and mental effects of a person.

A very inspiring book can create a sense of lightness and motivation of a person. Studies show that 40% of people who have heart disease are less likely to be inclined to laugh. As funny as it appears in, humour and jokes is the cheapest and easiest way to relieve stress. Joking with friends, watching funny movies or TV shows and reading funny cartoons are cheap and fun solutions to stress. Stress may be part of daily life, but this is not necessarily synonymous with grace and let it take over. Accentuating the positive is one way to cope. After all, stress is not what happens is how we react to it.

Recent studies at the University of Baltimore have shown that people who have humour and jokes are less likely to have heart disease. In addition, people with heart disease are 40% less likely to humour and jokes compared to the fate of these people without heart problems. If this is true, the very elixir which could solve a serious health condition related to heart is the prime condition of the act of laughing at jokes really funny. This is particularly important for those who do not have time to exercise or do physical activities. Laughing also prevents hypertension because it reduces the likelihood of stress. It relaxes muscles and reduces the supply of dopamine in the blood.

Knowing all this, how can you practice the habit of humour and jokes to keep from heart attack? The maintenance of a light-hearted provision is essential in preventing heart attacks. Whenever the stress began keeping in the think of these situations can reduce your stress and anxiety. humour and jokes not only produce natural laughter, but also help maintain good mental health. Therefore in every day hard working life humour and jokes is not only necessary to make laughter in your life, it also keeps you fit in the life.

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One of the four metropolitan in India, Mumbai is the largest city and the state capital of Maharashtra. Earlier called Bombay, Mumbai is factually a congeries of seven island located on the Konkan coast.

Mumbai is best known for its Bollywood industry which is an internationally acclaimed Hindi film industry. Since Mumbai is an important city, accommodations come in all variety. Whether you are looking cheap Mumbai hotel or luxury hotels in Mumbai, you will find it all here. Offering you a gamut of interesting holiday packages to choose from, Mumbai Hotels are just the right place on earth to relax

Well dotted with architectural wonders, cozy restaurants, and first-rate hotels, Mumbai is a Chic city. Some of the famous hotels in Mumbai are as follows:

Taj Hotel in Mumbai

If one were to describe the Taj Palace Hotel of Mumbai in a word then it would no doubt be magnificent. Since its inception in the year 1903, the Taj Hotel has made a mark for it self. The structure of the hotel is an eclectic architectural brilliance of Oriental, Moorish and Florentine styles. The interiors of the hotel and its rooms has been decorated and embellished delightfully with exquisite art collection, hand-woven silk carpets on the floor, an impressive cantilever flight of steps, arched alabaster ceilings, spacious guest rooms, gigantic halls, crystal chandeliers among others.

Hotel President Mumbai

One of the finest five star hotels in Mumbai, the Taj Presidency Mumbai is an excellent place to put up if you are looking for indulgence and world class comfort. Centrally located and boasting of many interesting features like the idyllic harbor views from the rooms that are charmingly furnished this hotel make you feel like GOD.

Mumbai has many places of interest for visitors and tourist. Being the dream city of India, Mumbai is full of surprises and attractions. Chowpatty beach is one of the most exuberant locations in Mumbai. The balmy beach with pleasant breezes passing by makes you feel absolutely wonderful. A quite stroll on the beach, or basking in the sun or simply savoring the beauty of this serene beach is a great way to spend your time here. The best time to visit Chowpatty beach is during the months of August/ September when the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated throughout the state with great pomp and show. Do not miss on the special bhelpuri dish of this beach. In South Mumbai harbor you will be dazzled by the Gateway of India. A colossal structure, the design of the Gateway of India has been inspired from the16th-century Muslim styles of Gujarat. A landmark of Mumbai, the vicinity of the arch is full of snake charmers, street hawkers and touts. Another breathtaking attraction of Mumbai is the St. Thomas Cathedral. Being the oldest of all English building in Mumbai, the cathedral was recently renovated in the year 2004 and has been awarded the renowned UNESCO World Heritage Award. Its ******** commenced in the year 1672 and the after a long period of remaining unattended its construction was completed in the year 1718.

A great place to hit on your vacation, Mumbai is where dreams come true.

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meez (also spelled shalwar kameez or shalwar qameez) is a traditional dress worn by both women and men in Southern Asia. Salvars or shalvars are loose pajama-like trousers. The legs are wide at the top, and narrow at the bottom. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The side seams (known as the chaak) are left open below the waist-line, which gives the wearer greater freedom of movement. It is the most common dress for men in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Sports TeesSalwars are gathered at the waist and held up by a drawstring or an elastic belt. The pants can be wide and baggy, or they can be quite narrow and made of fabric cut on the bias. In the latter case, they are known as churidars. The kameez is usually cut straight and flat; older kameez use traditional cuts, as shown in the illustration; modern kameez are more likely to have European-inspired set-in sleeves. The tailor’s taste and skill are usually displayed not in the overall cut, but in the shape of the neckline and the decoration of the kameez.

When women wear the salwar kameez, they usually wear a long scarf or shawl called a dupatta around the head or neck. For Muslim women, the dupatta is a less stringent alternative to the chador or burqa (see hijab and purdah). For Sikh and Hindu women (especially those from northern India, where the salwar kameez is most popular), the dupatta is useful when the head must be covered, as in a temple or the presence of elders. For other women, the dupatta is simply a stylish accessory that can be worn over one shoulder or draped around the chest and over both shoulders.

Modern versions of the feminine salwar kameez can be much less modest than traditional versions. The kameez may be cut with a plunging neckline, sewn in diaphanous fabrics, or styled in sleeveless or cap-sleeve designs. The kameez side seams may be split high up to the waistline and, it may be worn with the salwar slung low on the hips. When women wear semi-transparent kameez (mostly as a party dress), they wear a choli or a cropped camisole underneath it.

The Shalwar kameez is sometimes known as “Punjabi suit,” in Britain[1] and Canada.[2] In Britain, especially during the last two decades, the garment has been transformed from an everyday garment worn by immigrant South Asian women from the Punjab region to one with mainstream, and even high-fashion, appeal.

In India, the garment was originally confined to the North, but as a convenient and modest alternative to a sari – and also as one that flatters practically any body-type – it has become popular across the nation. By varying the fabric, color and the level of embroidery and decoration, the salwar-kameez can be formal, casual, dressy, or plain; and it can also be made to suit practically all climates.

Shalwar kameez have been in use for at least 2,000 years. The women from the royal graves found at the site of Tillya Tepe in northwestern Afghanistan, dating from c. early 1st century CE, were wearing shalwar kameez.

Garments cut like the traditional kameez are known in many cultures; according to Dorothy Burnham, of the Royal Ontario Museum, the “seamless shirt,” woven in one piece on warp-weighted looms, was superseded in early Roman times by cloth woven on vertical looms and carefully pieced so as not to waste any cloth. 10th century cotton shirts recovered from the Egyptian desert are cut much like the traditional kameez or the contemporary Egyptian jellabah or galabia.

Wide legged pants with drawstring were worn in many areas ruled by Turko-Iranian horse riding steppe peoples of Central Asia. The Ottoman Empire was ruled by Turks; many Iranian dynasties, including the recent Qajar dynasty, were of Turkic origin. Their characteristic clothing became court dress and eventually popular dress. Their wide-legged pants have been called Turko-Mongol[8] and Turco-Persian. This style is still worn in contemporary Turkey and Iran.

Starting in the 12th century, a series of raids and invasions established Islamic Turko-Iranian rule — the Delhi sultanate and later the Moghul empire — over much of what is now Pakistan and a small portion of north western India. The new rulers wore the kameez and the characteristic Turkish pants, which were called salwars or shalwars. Again, fashion followed rule and the salwar suit became popular throughout the area.

Transliterations starting from Punjabi often render the sibilant sound at the start of salwar/shalwar as an “s”. Transliterations starting from Hindi-Urdu usually use “sh”. Both spellings are found in common English usage. The shalwar spelling seems to be most common in Canada and the United Kingdom, and is the preferred spelling in the Oxford English Dictionary. Salwar seems to be more common in the US and is found at many online stores selling salwar kameez.

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For any self-respecting nation, patriotism of its citizens is its heart-beat. If it is there, not only is the nation’s continued existence across centuries and millennia guaranteed, but is progressive evolution is also ensured. It if is not there, the nation suffers decline, debility and eventual doom.

India is fondly called ‘Bharati’ by its people. The name harks back to its epic past, whose beginnings have defied determination. Hence, India evokes a sense of timelessness. Of course, India has been changing perpetually ever since its hoary antiquity. It has also suffered such vicissitudes of history as have pushed several other ancient nations and civilizations into extinction. How then has India faced all these internal changes and external assaults, and yet managed to remain alive as a vibrant and ascendant nation in the 21st century? The answer is: Patriotism – the common emotion and self-awareness that unites our people in spite of the unmatched diversity they exhibit.

As an art form that strikes the chords of both emotion and intellect, the power of cinema is unmatched. Naturally, Indian cinema has contributed immensely to the cultivation of this uniting and uplifting feeling of nationalism. Patriotic films, as a special and much-admired genre of Indian cinema, have had a tremendous impact on our people, cutting across religious, regional, linguistic and economic identities. Moreover, they have also proved their unsurpassed power of communicating both to educated and illiterate masses.

For most Indians, cinema is the enduring source of the image of their nation as a vast and diverse land bound by the Himalayas in the north, surrounded by oceans on three sides, girdled by sacred rivers like the Ganga, Yamuna and Godavari, and blessed with captivating natural beauty and rich resources. For them it is also the primary source of knowledge about our national heroes, martyrs, the struggles and sacrifices of our forefathers, the work of our social reformers, the wars of the pre-and-post-Independence era, including the recent and ongoing war against cross-border terrorism, and our achievements as a free and democratic nation.

Thus, few can contest Indian cinema’s, particularly Hindi cinema’s, unmatched contribution to strengthening the bonds of national integration, countering divisive feelings, educating the people about our shared national history and, through all this, re-enforcing in them pride and love for the Motherland.

Ananya Bharati is a documentary that encapsulates the spirit of patriotism that the Hindi film industry has captured on celluloid and nurtured in the hearts of Indians. Produced under the banner of my company, Swayam Infotainment, I thought the most apt beginning to this documentary would be ace musician A.R. Rahman, bowing to the motherland with his rendition of Maa Tujhe Salaam. This forms a part of his album VANDE MATARAM produced by BharatBala Pictures. Ananya Bharati categorises Indian patriotic Indian patriotic films primarily into three categories. The first category comprises films associated with terrorism. The second, features films about martyrs of the freedom struggle and events linked to the partition of the country and the third category has war films that depict the India-Pakistan conflict.

Ananya Bharati also talks about films on nation-building like the recently released Swades. The documentary concludes with an emotional punch in the form of a bouquet of patriotic songs that have captured the national imagination.

Patriotic Films – The Beginning

The Hindi film industry’s adoption of patriotic themes happened at its very inception, when India was engaged in a unique struggle for freedom from the British colonial rule. The first film which boldly ventured in this direction was Sohrab Modi’s Sikandar. This 1941 film carried the message of patriotism indirectly by praising the valour of King Porus in his war against the invader, Alexander the Great. Other films of this era were Bandhan (1940) and Kismet (1943).

When freedom dawned on 15th August 1947, ending 200 years of alien rule, the Indian film industry was there to celebrate this historic transition. The air those days was filled with the hopes and dreams of building a New India, most inspiringly articulated by our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Bollywood captured this mood in films like Naya Daur (1957) and Hum Hindustani (1960). Anand Math (1952), Jaagriti (1954) and Leader (1964) focused on the freedom struggle and the sacrifices made by its martyrs. Some others like Sikander-E-Azam (1965) and Jis Desh Mein Ganga Beheti Hai (1960), through their songs, talked about the greatness of India. Then there were films that were inspired by the violation of the country’s barriers by its enemies. Three notable films made on the subject were Haqeeqat (1964), Prem Pujari (1970) and Lalkar (1972). Of these, Haqeeqat, which is about the Chinese aggression in 1962, has left a lasting impact.

Some recently made films on the subject:

Also set against the backdrop of the Partition is the 2003 film Pinjar, a cinematic adaptation of Amrita Pritam’s famous novel of the same name, by Dr. Chandraprakash Dwivedi. Incidentally, he had made a highly popular TV serial Chanakya, which chose an Indian hero of ancient times to transmit many contemporary messages. Showing the trauma of partition, the film powerfully conveyed that atrocity does not have any religion and sounded the warning that history must not be allowed to repeat itself.

The great revolutionaries of the freedom movement like Sardar Patel, Udham Singh and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar inspired many film make to make films on them. Veer Savarkar’s inspirational life was the subject of a film – Veer Savarkar by Ved Rahi in 2001.

Any description of the films in this category would be woefully incomplete without reference to Indian cinema’s fascination with the life and martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who kissed the British gallows at the tender age of twenty four. His life story has never failed to inspire the masses. Innumerable songs have been composed about hi, and the youth throughout the country have idolized him. He ahs been a symbol of bravey and nationalism. Manoj Kumar’s SHAHEED (1965), which contained the immortal song Mera rang de basanti chola, was the first of the series. The year 2002 alone saw five films added this series! Two of them featured mega stars in the lead role – Ajay Devgan in The Legend of Bhagat Singh and Bobby Deol in 23rd March 1931 – Shaheed.

ProVFX Visual Effects and Editing School has been written by Pranay Rupani who is a Freelance Writer

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Globalization has really changed the way we do business in today’s world. Besides giving us the exposure to the international market, we are also faced with the daunting task of learning new language. This has been necessitated by the fact that there is no one universal language that is spoken and understood by the people all over the world. So in order to communicate with their target market, companies have started using the services of foreign language translators. Foreign translation agencies have played a pivotal role in helping the businesses expand their reach. They have assisted companies in translating their technical, financial and product document.

As the demand for the foreign language translation services grew, many foreign language translators entered this business. Due to this, there was a strong competition amongst these translation companies. In order to increase their business, most of these translators resorted to a sharp price cuts. As a result, the buyers of the translation services benefited by getting their work done at low prices. However they lost out on the quality of the translated document. Due to this, most of them suffered business loss and also wasted their money. Hence the key to succeed in the international market is to use the services of reputed foreign language translator.

What decides the quality foreign language translator?

Are you wondering how to trust if the translator is capable of providing quality translation services? Well, then read on to find out more about what makes an effective translator.

Is the foreign language translator suitable certified? Any translator who holds ISO 9001 or EN 15038 certifications are considered as the best in the industry. Looking to translate a medical document into Hindi? Does the translation company have medical background? Are they native Hindi speakers? Remember, both these questions must be answered in positive in order to get error-free translation. What is the reputation of the translation agency amongst its former clients? Were they happy with the quality of the service provided? Was the company able to meet its deadlines? Do you want the translation done in a specific format like Word 2008? If so, does the foreign language translator have the required expertise? Have they ever done a similar type of work before? Is your chosen translation service provider open to accepting payment through your chosen payment method? Do keep in mind that certain payment processors like Paypal and Western Union are not accepted by some translators.

Do remember these points and then you can rest assured that you get the best of the foreign language translators.

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Few months after Patrika challeged the leading Newspaper in Bhopal & Indore and leads over all the other players in the region, it is now stepping a foot forward in another strategically important city Ujjain.

Madhya Pradesh, the only state where monopoly existed in the Hindi belt of newspaper market has witnessed a sea change. The leader’s 50 years old monopoly has been finally demolished. The recently launched newspaper; Patrika, which comes from the Patrika Group has 5 lakh 75 thousand readers in Bhopal and Indore, this puts it neck to neck with the said leading daily, in just six months of launching. The Expansion to Ujjain will certainly add strength to Patrika’s efforts in becoming the overall leading daily in M.P.

Currently,Patrika enjoys a big lead over the rest of the players in Bhopal and Indore; in fact its readership is more than the numbers of both the 3rd and 4th major player in the state put together.

Elated National Head Marketing, Dr. Arvind Kalia states, “ It is truly a great moment for Patrika team. After an amazing launch in Indore & Bhopal , We are entering Ujjain which is yet another important location in M.P with great strategic importance. When we entered MP an year ago, we came with a commitment that we shall always maintain a high level of quality. I thank the readers and advertisers of MP who have shown their faith in the newspaper & given us the confidence to Expand our wings to Ujjain as well.”

It is interesting to compare what Bhaskar has achieved in 50 years, Patrika has achieved in just 6 months putting the leader in a defending position in Bhopal and Indore. Dainik Bhaskar is already witnessing a continuous decline in its readership of Bhopal and Indore editions, since IRS R2 07. From 20.85 lacs readers in R2 07, the readership has declined by 21% to 16.45 lacs, whilst the ad rates were always sky-high, because of which the CPT for the advertisers rocketed from Re.0.60 in R2 07 to Rs. 1.07 in R1 09 an increase of 78%! Now with Patrika entering Ujjain, it is seen as a milestone step in its journey to Provide Quality News & truth to the people of M.P.

Dr. Kalia says, “Bhopal and Indore together contribute to 74% of the total ad spends on the state of MP,Adding Ujjain to our armour will afurther strenghten our Marketing efforts & strategies in M.P. Patrika is already on the way to capture the major share from advertisers in many sectors. To name a few, for the month of May 09 – Patrika has a 100% ad share of educational clients such as Resonance, FIT JEE, Asia Pacific, IT Bench, Gupta tutorials and many others in Indore. In Bhopal also, Patrika has ad share of more than 50% in segments like real estate, lifestyle, automobile and education..

A very confident & elated Deputy Editor of Patrika Group, Mr. Bhuwanesh Jain states “We at Rajasthan Patrika are strongly committed to our reader’s desire in providing quality news & truth under all circumstances. Our entry in Ujjain is yet another milestone in our endeavor to fulfill the above said commitment to our readers. We are now entering Ujjain and we will do our best to enlighten the journalistic values as we have been doing over the past 50 years. We are committed to provide true news from the roots of the land”.

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All examples of Urdu poetry possess certain unique characteristics and have unique structure. Those rules which are kept while composing Urdu poetry are concerned to meter, rhymes, rhythm and other specific components of Urdu poetry. But inspire of such number of different rules which are used for composing Urdu poetry, these poems are very bright, colorful and expressive.

Here are forms of Urdu poetry:

1. Ghazal – is a collection of couplets called “shers” which contain such components as bahar, malta, maqta, qafiya and radeef.  Each couplet has its own thought or theme. Every couplet must have the same meter, same rhyme, and same radeef. Each couplet also should have malta and sometimes maqta, which is a pen name of the author included in the last couplet of the poem.

2.Marsiya – is a form of Urdu poetry which depicts grief and sadness  because of death of noble man or lovely person..  We can read examples of marsiya which depict self-sacrifice of Hazrat Imam Husain and his troops during the battle of Karbala.

3.Masnawi -   is a long, epic, narrative poem which tells about big battles carried out in the past. There is also philosophical and ethical background in such poems.

4.Qasida – is a form od Urdu poetry whoch look like long ballad whiten to honor the king or a noble person. Sometimes you can metet qasisas which depict great battles too.

5. Nazm is a form of Urdu poetry which doesn’t have equivalents in literature of other cultures. The main characteristic of nazm is the one theme which can be traced through whole poem. And it is different from the ghazal where every couplet has different theme.

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Pakistani music features many diverse elements that include elements from other parts of South Asia in addition to Central Asian folk music, Persian music, Turkish music, Arabic music and even some recent influence from American music. With so many influences, Pakistani music has become a fusion of many sounds that results in a distinct Pakistani sound.

When it comes to Hindi songs you typically think of snake charmers with simple musical instruments that play simple musical tones. However, Pakistani music is drastically different than this common image. Throughout the past decade, Pakistani music has dramatically changed and is now focused on Pakistani pop songs. Many Pakistani singers have been seen in the movies singing Bollywood songs.

Pakistan has some of the biggest names in music today. Back during the sixties Noor Jehan was considered one of the biggest icons in Pakistani music. Then there was Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who was considered to be responsible for the survival of Pakistani music. He is responsible for bringing Pakistani music to the attention of the world. He was the first Pakistani singer to reach an international market and made Pakistani music popular throughout the world. Even today people throughout the world continue to discuss his music.

As Pakistani pop songs became popular more icons came. Two pop era singers that gained popularity include Junaid Jamshed and Ali Azmat. As these two singers entered the Pakistani music scene the style of music evolved greatly. Today, mp3 songs have made it possible to get Pakistani music from the internet. This has helped to spread Pakistani music throughout the world more than ever before.

Today Pakistani music has six distinct types. The first is classical Pakistani songs. This form of music has almost disappeared but still influences some of the modern singers. Then there is semi classical or ghazals. Ghazals are a form of music in which a poem is sung. Ghazals are a very beautiful form of music that you can’t experience in English songs. Third is folk music, each of the four provinces in Pakistan has their own unique music sound. A fourth, dynamic music genre is the qawwali/devotional which has been made popular by artists such as the Sabri Brothers, Aziz Mian and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Fifth are Bollywood songs or film music. This is music that you typically see in films or on television. Lastly are Pakistani pop songs which became popular along with the privatization of Pakistani television.

Pakistani pop songs have exploded onto the world scene in recent years and have become much more popular than English songs in some movies. One example of Bollywood songs making it into the western film audience is the song by Najane Kyun which was the featured single on the soundtrack for Spiderman 2. This album made Indian pop songs successful throughout the world and won three awards. It is artists and music like this that is bringing Indian pop songs to the attention of people throughout the world who never used to focus on Pakistani music before.

Many mp3 songs now focus on a Pakistani influence. Three popular international singers today from Pakistan include Ali Azmat, Josh and Natasha. In some countries these singers are even doing better than English songs and Hindi songs. And it’s no wonder since Pakistani music is drastically different from Hindi songs. This is why Pakistani music is the most popular form of Indian pop songs today. When you choose to order your next mp3 songs be sure to check out at least one Pakistani song, you will be quite impressed.

In the 21st century, Pakistani pop music is continuing to increase in popularity, more than other genre singers. The music industry in Pakistan is still dominated by Pakistani pop music and this popularity is spilling over into India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh as well as countries in South Asia and Central Asia. The growth of Pakistani pop music has also been helped by Pakistani Britons and Pakistani Americans who are spreading their culture.

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Indian Singles Are Finding Traditional & Modern Matches Online!



The Internet has introduced a rise in online relationships in India and dating websites are becoming hugely popular.

The Internet has replaced the NAYAN or the traditional matchmaker or communicator in Indian arranged marriages. It is a vehicle of social change in a country where pre-marital relationships are frowned upon.

The availability and accessibility of the Internet offers India’s urban youth the opportunity to meet each another and to converse without fear of being socially rebuked. Romance, Matrimonials, pen pals, matchmaking, friendships, life partners, college mates – are all being found by the men and women of India online.

The ancient land of India portrays a landscape of vibrant cultural heritage and spiritual mysticism.

As the seventh largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west.

Home to charismatic gurus, prowling tigers and shimmering temples, India today boasts 28 billionaires, 100,000 millionaires and a middle class that is now bigger than the total population of the United States. A sprawling, chaotic democracy with 850 languages in daily use, 28 federated states and a stubborn caste system, India has a population of more than a billion people, half of them under 25.

 

Almost in spite of herself, she is poised to become the world’s third largest economy, and a powerful voice in world affairs.

Propelled by an IT sector boasting some of the best engineers on the planet, India is taking over the world’s cyber business. Multi-nationals around the world are rushing to her doorstep and superpowers both east and west aggressively court her affections. Thousands of “medical tourists” flock to India’s luxury hospitals for cut-price, first-rate treatments while sumptuous new hotels draw in growing crowds of vacationers seeking Indian secrets to rejuvenate mind and body.

 

The Indian miracle is among the strangest stories in economic history. It is a “jobless” boom, with the IT sector employing just 1.6 million lucky people. Outside the formal job economy, five hundred million workers wait impatiently for their turn at fortune in the Indian renaissance.

India’s breath taking land and seascapes, its colourful festivals and religious ceremonies and most of all, its diverse and articulate people, are capturing worldwide attention.

Movie-goers around the world worship the stars of the world’s largest dream-factory, Bollywood. In India, actors are the new gods and goddesses, or, at the very least, some of the country’s more successful politicians.

Bollywood, with its popular movies and Hindi Songs, has become a worldwide passion. Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai. Bollywood employs people from all parts of India. It attracts thousands of aspiring actors and actresses, all hoping for a break in the industry. Models and beauty contestants, television actors, theatre actors and even common people come to Mumbai with the hope and dream of becoming a star.

 

Once a problem, the World Wide Web has solved the problem of Indians finding a lifelong relationship – both traditional and modern – by finding their true match.

The Internet has even been called “A feminist tool for empowering women who do not see the need of waiting for someone else to arrange their marriage, or for the groom to visit several brides before making his choice. It gives women who hitherto have not had the opportunity, the choice to make friends from members of the opposite sex, without fear of social rebuttal.”

Online Dating sites dedicated to specific cultures are growing. For Indian singles, there is IndianCupid.

IndianCupid.com is bringing together thousands of Indian women and men in India and abroad. This is the premier community for Indian dating, with 1000s of new members signing up everyday. Choose from an extensive list of matrimonials featuring local and Non Resident Indian singles interested in dating and marriage.

 

Meet and date beautiful single India women and India girls seeking foreign men for Indian dating and India marriage. Search and find India woman and Indian singles …

Helping India single men and women to find online romance and love…

To learn all about India dating for modern and traditional singles, go to INDIA DATING – Meet Your Indian Match!

 

See more articles by top relationship experts at WUVING.com – WUVING.com – Free Online Dating & Relationship Advice



WUVING.com Free Online Dating Tips.

Meet women and men locally and worldwide. Specialized categories with people looking for longlasting love and romance in mind.

Emphasis on men and women looking for a traditional loving relationship. Categories include North American singles, Our Military, Single Parents, BBW, interracial, International and many more.

“Have you had your WUVING today?” WUVING.com

www.wuving.com

 

 

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Aspirants who want to pursue their career in journalism can appear for diploma/ courses in mass communication. In India, there are a large number of mass communication colleges, which offer Postgraduate diplomas/Degree Courses in English and Hindi journalism, radio and television journalism and advertising and public relations.

Today, mass communication has evolved as one of the fastest growing and most in-demand skills all over the world. Gone are the days when most students went for medical and engineering courses. Now-a-days, mass communication has become one of the concrete career options among the youth. Without any doubt, journalism has been playing a crucial role in keeping the right face of the society in front of the masses for so long. But now, with a sudden spurt in the number of newspapers and news channels, the demand for mass communication graduates has increased over nightly, hence tempting youngsters to make their career in this field. In India, there are countless colleges and institutes that offer part-time and full-time diploma/degree courses in media, films and mass communication.

Mass communication primarily involves communicating to the masses with the help of different modes. The main motive of this field is to inform its target audience about what is happening around them. The most popular mediums through which one can communicate with the maximum number of audience are radio, television and print. These mediums are really helpful in transferring the information to the masses. Apart from that, the internet has also emerged today as one of the widely used means of transferring the information to the educated audience. Following is a list of some of the most prominent mass communication colleges in India.

Mudra Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad, Gujarat : It is a renowned and famous institute that offers a variety of diploma/degree courses in Mass Communication. Some courses it offers are PG Programme in Communication Management and Entrepreneurship, PG Diploma in Management in Communications, PG Certificate Programme in Integrated Marketing Management, PG Certificate in Advertising Management and Career Development Programme in Design Communications Management.

The Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi: This institute was established more than thirty years ago. It provides various courses, including print journalism, radio journalism, photo journalism, television journalism, communication research, development communication, advertising and public relations.

The Asian College of Journalism Chennai, Tamil Nadu: It is a postgraduate college that offers a variety of courses for the students aspiring for a career in Mass Communication. This college provides students with journalism education designed according to the specific needs of India.

St. Xavier Institute of Communications Mumbai, Maharashtra: Established in 1969, this institute offers a range of courses in production and training.

The Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media based Bangalore, Karnataka : It is a renowned and one of the leading post-graduate schools of journalism and media, and provides students with industry-specific courses in media.

Times School of Journalism, New Delhi: It provides PG Diploma in Journalism including six weeks internship with the Economic Times and the Times of India. The students who have completed their graduation in Law, Finance, Management, Economics or Science and Technology are preferred.

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Indian and British Culture – Comparison in Language, Culture and Society

India is a country of diverse culture. It has 22 official languages and over a thousand spoken languages. This site is an effort to provide information on each known Indian Language.

Individual mother tongues in India number several hundred. According to Census of India of 2001, 29 languages are spoken by more than a million native speakers, 122 by more than 10,000. Two languages have played an important role in the history of India: Persian and English.

Sanskrit and Tamil are the classical languages of India according to the Government.

Article 343 of the Indian Constitution recognizes Hindi in Devanagari script as the official language of central government India. The Constitution also allows for the continuation of use of the English language for official purposes. Article 345 provides constitutional recognition to “official languages” of the union to include any language adopted by a state legislature as the official language of that state. In effect, there are “official languages” at the state and center level but no one “national language”.

Until the Twenty-First Amendment of the Constitution in 1967, the country recognized 14 official regional languages. The Eighth Schedule and the Seventy-First Amendment provided for the inclusion of Sindhi, Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali, thereby increasing the number of official regional languages of India to 18.

The Constitution of India recognizes 22 languages, spoken in different parts the country, namely Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Meitei, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

Hindi is an official language of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Marathi is an official language of Maharashtra. Punjabi is a official language of Punjab. Gujarati is the official language of Gujarat. Tamil is a official language of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Malayalam is the official language of Kerala and Lakshadweep. Kannada is the official language of Karnataka. Telugu is the official language of Andhra Pradesh. English is the co-official language of the Indian Union. 1

Whereas, in UK the widely recognized language is English and English is recognized as officially recognized language is English by the government. The other languages in UK are Welsh, Irish, Ulster Scots, Cornish, Gaelic and British Sign Language.

The details of Languages, Society and Culture can be described as under:

Languages in India

The different states of India have different official languages, some of them not recognized by the central government. Some states have more then one official language. Bihar in east India has three official languages – Hindi, Urdu and Bengali – which are all recognized by the central government. But Sikkim, also in east India, has four official languages of which only Nepali is recognized by the central government. Besides the languages officially recognized by central or state governments, there are other languages which don’t have this recognition and their speakers are running political struggles to get this recognition. Central government decided that Hindi was to be the official language of India and therefore it also has the status of official language in the states. 3

Language in the UK

The United Kingdom does not have a constitutionally defined official language. English is the main language (being spoken monolingually by more than 70% of the UK population) and is thus the de facto official language.

Other native languages to the Isles include Welsh, Irish, Ulster Scots, Cornish, Gaelic and British Sign Language.

Immigrants have naturally brought many foreign languages from across the globe.2

Indian Society & Culture

Hierarchy

The influences of Hinduism and the tradition of the caste system have created a culture that emphasizes established hierarchical relationships. Indians are always conscious of social order and their status relative to other people, be they family, friends, or strangers. All relationships involve hierarchies. In schools, teachers are called gurus and are viewed as the source of all knowledge. The patriarch, usually the father, is considered the leader of the family. The boss is seen as the source of ultimate responsibility in business. Every relationship has a clear- cut hierarchy that must be observed for the social order to be maintained.

The Role of the Family

People typically define themselves by the groups to which they belong rather than by their status as individuals. Someone is deemed to be affiliated to a specific state, region, city, family, career path, religion, etc. This group orientation stems from the close personal ties Indians maintain with their family, including the extended family. The extended family creates a myriad of interrelationships, rules, and structures. Along with these mutual obligations comes a deep-rooted trust among relatives.

Just Can’t Say No

Indians do not like to express ‘no,’ be it verbally or non- verbally. Rather than disappoint you, for example, by saying something isn’t available, Indians will offer you the response that they think you want to hear. This behaviour should not be considered dishonest. An Indian would be considered terribly rude if he did not attempt to give a person what had been asked. Since they do not like to give negative answers, Indians may give an affirmative answer but be deliberately vague about any specific details.

This will require you to look for non-verbal cues, such as a reluctance to commit to an actual time for a meeting or an enthusiastic response. 3

British Society, People and Culture

The United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is comprised of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It is important not only to be aware of these geographical distinctions, but also the strong sense of identity and nationalism felt by the populations of these four nations.

The terms ‘English’ and ‘British’ do not mean the same thing. ‘British’ denotes someone who is from England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. ‘English’ refers to people from England. People from Scotland are ‘Scots’, from Wales ‘Welsh’ and from Northern Ireland ‘Irish’. Be sure not to call someone Welsh, Scots, or Northern Irish ‘English’.

The Class System

Although in the past few decades, people from varied backgrounds have had greater access to higher education, wealth distribution is changing and more upward/downward mobility is occurring, the British class system is still very much intact although in a more subconscious way. The playing field is levelling but the British still seem to pigeon-hole people according to class.

Class is no longer simply about wealth or where one lives; the British are able to suss out someone’s class through a number of complex variables including demeanour, accent, manners and comportment.

A Multicultural Society

Formerly a very homogenous society, since World War II, Britain has become increasingly diverse as it has accommodated large immigrant populations, particularly from its former colonies such as India, Pakistan and the West Indies. The mixture of ethnic groups and cultures make it difficult to define “Britishness” nowadays and a debate rages within the nation as to what now really constitutes being a Briton. 2

After reviewing the above literature it is significantly proven that the culture in UK and India has many differences in them. These differences bring the changes in perception, values and attitude of the local people, and are one of the major obstacles in marketing of any product which is marketed in India and United Kingdom.

References:

http://www.indianlanguages.com/main/index.php http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/UK.html http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/india-country-profile.html.

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ow that who is the most popular American idol? If you are one of the real Madonna fans, yes you should be able to answer this question. As we all know that Madonna may be the most beautiful and the most successful American idol in the history. It is very hard and painful before she got this success. If you want to know more about Madonna’s story, then this article may prove to be useful to some extent.

This is because when most people think of Madonna, the first think that comes to their mind is usually the basic information, which somehow may not be interesting or beneficial such as about her bad experience. But there’s a lot more of her information in the good side to be learnt. The following article covers a topic that has recently brought to be discussed about this famous American idol. If you’ve been thinking you need to know more about it, here’s your opportunity.

We have to accept that Madonna is not the idol, who only gains reputation among people and her fans. She had built her respective reputation among American press and media not only in her home country but also to people all over the world. She is probably only one celebrity who could give any kind of performance no matter in which role she is performing, such as being an actress, singer etc. She has proved that she could bring the most of her talent in each role to give entertainment to her fans.

However, one of the greatest things that I would like to mention in this article is that she is the celebrity who pays attention to charity activities and dedicate some of her time and money to many of orphans, especially African orphans who need care and help regularly.

Apart from that, she also accept African infant. It can seen that although she has many projects and works but she always remain free to spend some of her time on this charity activities and this is the most impressive side of Madonna on my perspective.

Moreover, she is now in the second half of her life, even though she still never loses her reputation and love that millions of the fans gave to her. Madonna is the favorite of many people and whenever she has concert performance, the tickets will be sold out in just few hours. She has proved that her age is absolutely not an obstacle for her professions and she still never give up on this.

One of the most distinct impressive side of Madonna for me is she is never get down with the press and media. According to the fact that every celebrity or actress could not escape from media’s criticism, but she never let this criticism to let her down and effect to the performance to her fans.

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Here is the list of Bollywood movies releasing in 2009. Akshay Kumar has quite a good line up of films in 2009 while Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan have a film each, apart from their special appearances in three films. Among the actresses, the three Ks-Kangana Ranaut, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif look set to have a good year.

* Victory: Victory starring Harman Baweja, is one of the most expensive movies of 2009. The story is about a boy from a small time village in Rajasthan who fulfills his father’s long cherished dream of being an acclaimed cricketer at the national level. There are cameo appearances by many international cricketers as well. Anupam Kher and Amrita Rao costar in Victory.

* Acid Factory: Acid Factory, a Sanjay Gupta film has an elaborate start cast of Dia Mirza, Irrfan Khan, Fardeen Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Aftab Shivdasani and Danny Denzongpa. Acid Factory is about a group of people, whose sense of past has been erased from their memory. It is a high octane thriller, making the bad and evil relish-able. Dia Mirza plays a bad woman for the first time. The music of Acid Factory has been give by many music directors, including Sandeep Chowta, Anand Raj Anand, Mika Singh. The director of Acid Factory is Suparn Verma.

* Raaz-The Mystery Continues: Director Mohit Suri attempts to show in this sequel to Raaz, that no one is good or bad totally; every one has their own demons to fight. Raaz-The Mystery Continues is a story of three people. Emraan Hashmi an artist, visualizes and prophecies the brutal death of Kangana Ranaut. Kangana’s beau (reel and real life) Adhyayan is determined to save her at any cost. The movie under Mukesh Bhatt’s Vishesh Films releases on January 23, 2009.

* Chandni Chowk to China: Director Nikhil Advani is back with a prized Akshay Kumar starrer-Chandni Chowk to China. The story is such that Akshay Kumar works at a roadside foodstall in Chandni Chowk, cutting vegetables and dreaming of a better life. He consults astrologers, tarot readers and the lot, believing in everything but himself. His redeeming moment comes when two strangers from China claim that he(Akshay) is a reincarnation of a war hero and takes him to China. Akshay moves along with Ranvir Shourey in a bid to realize his brave past. Along the way he meets Deepika Padukone and they set off in a series of adventures.

* Billu Barber: If Aamir Khan adapted a movie Ghajini from the south last year, Shahrukh Khan does a similar thing this. Billu Barber produced by Shahrukh Khan is loosely based on the friendship between Kishen and Sudama and also borrows from the Malayalam superhit Kuselan. Shahrukh Khan plays himself in the movie(call it an extended special appearance) while Irrfan Khan, who is the protagonist plays a small town barber. Whatever the fate of the film, one thing is for sure: you will blown away by the performances of two of the best actors of Bollywood.

* Delhi 6: The best director of 2006 Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra produces and directs this film. It is an autobiographic take on his growing days in Delhi. The film should be the trump card for actress Sonam Kapoor. It also stars Abhishek Bachchan. There is a huge expectation from the director who started a revolution with Rang De Basanti.

* Delhi Belly: Imran Khan who had played two distinct roles in hit Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and flop Kidnap, comes back in a frothy comedy, to be made by the best producer in Bollywood, yep you guessed it right, Aamir Khan. There is buzz that Delhi Belly is an adult comedy with ’strong language’ and sexual innuendos. The movie Delhi Belly is being marketed as an adult copy, appealing to a niche audience and international market. The film is directed by Abhinav Deo.

* New York: Kabir Khan who surprised us pleasantly with “Kabul Express” comes back in 2009 with a taut thriller called ‘New York’ . New York stares Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh and John Abraham who has stripped himself to the buff(rejoice girls!) for a particular sequence of the film. New York is a contemporary story of three friends whose lives are scarred events beyond their control.

* Luck by Chance: The man of multiple talents Farhan Akhtar stars in what could be one of the finest Bollywood movie release to 2009.The star studded release include Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sherwani, Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Kapoor. Luck By Chance is a take on the aspiring actor with stars in his eyes, who wants to get a foothold in the Bollywood industry. It is a movie about how much of an impact does luck play in Bollywood.

* 8 x 10: This will be Akshay Kumar’s first ‘non-filmi’ movie if one can use this term. In a relatively low budget film directed by the ever dependable Nagesh Kukoonoor and produced by Percept, it will portray Akshay Kumar as a man who can look into the past of dead people by touching objects that belonged to them. Inspired lightly by ‘Sixth Sense,’ this film is a must watch.

* Alibaug; Directed by Sanjay Gupta, it has a bevy of actors: Sunjay Dutt, Sanjay Suri, Diya Mirza, ROhit Roy and Maushmi Makhija. The story deals with nine youths who have just graduated from college and are looking at the real world that awaits them.

* Alladin : Alladin is an interpretation of Arabian Nights. It stars Riteish Deshmukh as Alladin and Amitabh Bachan as the genie. Expect a lot of special effects in this funny tale. Sanjay Dutt also stars in the film as a villain called Ringmaster, directed by Sujoy Ghosh.

* Ajab Prem ki Ghajab Kahani: Raj Kumar Santoshi, one of the prolific directors of Bollywood, attempts to bring the magic of Andaaz Apna Apna once again with a comic caper *** love story, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. The movie has a simple story of Ranbir Kapoor who moves around in his life, aimlessly. He keeps on fooling around till he meets Katrina Kaif and falls in love with her. After that the fun and madness begins.

* * Aashayein: Aashayein directed by Nagesh Kukunoor stars Ayesha Takia and John Abraham. John Abraham plays a compulsive gambler suddenly discovers that he is a victim of terminal illness, and that he has only 90 days to live. He is admitted to a hospital where he discover love, companionship and the beautiful meaning of life.

* Kambhakkt Ishq: One of the most talked about movies, Kambhaqt Ishq has beeen in news since 2008. Kambakth Ishq has cameo roles from major Hollywood stars including Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards. The film stars Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. Akshay Kumar who plays stuntman, will be back in his action avatar, doing dare devil stunts. The movie also stars Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora and is directed by debutant Sabir Khan. Kambakth Ishq is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala.

* London Dreams: London Dreams, one of the most expensive movies of 2009 stars Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan and Asin. London Dreams is a story about two pop stars Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan who fall in love with a South Indian girl, Asin.

* Rensil D’ Silva’s next: Rensil D’Silva who was Rang De Basanti’s screenplay writer become director with this film. It is a thriller with global terrorism in the background. The movie stars Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Kareena Kapoor. Karan Johar is the producer.

* Hissss: Hissss is synoymous with Mallika Sherwat. Hollywood collaborates with Bollywood to produce Hissss. Mallika plays a snake who is on the way to seek vengeance. An American visitor steps into the jungles of India and kills the female snake’s mate which makes her seek revenge. Expect a lot of special effects in this flick. Apparently Mallika Sherwat who is dressed in a painfully heavy snake costume(she couldnt even go to the loo for 10 hours flat while shooting for this film) has no dialogue to mouth in the film.

* De Dhana Dhan: Priyadarshan is back with his style of comedy with De Dana Dhan. The movie stars the current hot onscreen pair-Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar. Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal also star in the film, hopefully to recreate the Hera-Pheri magic, 9 years ago. De Dana Dhan is a story of two broke guys who are in search of big money, to prove a point to their girlfriends. The movie also stars Sameera Reddy and Neha Dhupia.

* What’s Your Rashee: Director Ashutosh Gowariker tries a love story with What’s Your Rashee? starring lovers Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja. The movie is an adaptation of a Gujarati novel by Shri Madhu called Kimbali Ravenswood. The romantic movie is a story about how Harman Baweja has just ten days to win over the love of his life, Priyanka Chopra.

* Kaminay: One of the most prolific directors, Vishal Bharadwaj comes back with a bang in Kaminay, starring Shahid Kapur, Priyanka Chopra and Amol Gupte(the creative director of Taare Zameen Par). Easily one of the awaited films of 2009, you will see Shahid Kapur in a double role here. The look of Shahid is going to be totally different for Kaminay and it is reportedly kept under the wraps. The movie is supposed to be a comedy with a difference.

* Imtiaz Ali’s next film: Imtiaz Ali, who had given the saccharine sweet Jab We Met, two years ago, comes up with a romantic intense tale, which stars Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan. Though the story is kept under wraps, it will be a true-blue love story of 2009.

* Wake Up Sid: Call it unconventional romantic pairing, but we have Konkona Sen Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor starring in Wake Up Sid, directed by debutant Ayaan Mukherjee. It is a Karan Johar production. Will be interesting to see how people from two different genres, Konkona and Ranbir do with this one.

* It’s My Life: The sweetheart of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na(2008) pairs up with Harman Baweja in the movie Its My Life. The movie is directed by the director with the superhit track record, Anees Bazmee.

* Wanted-Dead or Alive: Starring the muscular Salman Khan and the voluptuous Ayesha Takia, Wanted-Dead or Alive should be the first big hit of the most under rated performer of Bollywood, Ms. Takia. Prabhudeva’s first Bollywood directorial venture is a remake of his Tamil-Telugu blockbuster Pokiri. The pairing of the two beautiful actors is wonderful and the chemistry is going to sizzle the screen.

* Blue: Blue, one of the most expensive film of Bollywood ever(budget more than Rs.100 crores), has Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Lara Dutta and Zayed Khan in lead roles. The action film is shot in Bahamas and is written by American writers Joshua Lurie and Bryan M. Sullivan. The movie has a lot of underwater scenes and dare devil stunts by Akshay Kumar. A.R.Rahman has given music for the film. Australian singer Kylie Minogue has been reportedly paid 1.5 million dollars to sing for Rahman, Antony D’Souza is to direct the film.

For more exciting Bollywood movie releases of 2009, please refer to my blog.

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NEED AND CONTEXT

It has been observed that the recent economic growth in the Asian cities indicate that there has been a breakdown of traditional support systems such as the family because of rapid urbanization and modernization. Moreover, a large number of people are living below the poverty line in impoverished environment in urban and rural communities. Their acute needs for housing, food, health, education, and incomes are the very forces that push adolescents to look for a means of livelihood on the streets, engage in prostitution, be hooked up with crime/drug syndicates, or become victims of sexual and physical abuse. It is a battle of bare struggle for daily survival and contributes in every ways they can. Any measure to penalize parents of such children will only result in further abuse and oppression of people who are already disadvantaged. Such children struggle hard in getting the most essential requirements to meet the basic needs of life and such children need special attention and educational intervention. These disadvantaged adolescents are generally malnourished and often anemic; many of them physically stunted, suffer psychologically from undue family pressures and abuses and are neglected at home. They tend to develop low self-esteem from broken families, single-headed households because of the death, separation, or labor migration of one of their parents. Moreover, they live in slums and squatter communities, sub-human conditions and are susceptible to crime syndicates and gang conflicts, substance/drug abuse, and gambling.

In the developing and under developed countries like India and Thailand a large percentage of population live below the poverty line and adolescents from such environment face difficulties in getting access to good education. It is therefore felt that in both the surround adolescents are of in the process of development and failure to meet their developmental need have lend to safe and serial destructions behaviors. Adolescents lack necessary life skills for cape up in to the realities and challenges of life. Adolescents accords for the largest portion of the world’s population and have been on an increasing trend and there are “230 million Indian adolescent in the age of group of 4 to 19” that (Population and Health IndoShare, 2006). Moreover, it is expected that this age group will continue to grow reaching over “214 million by 2020” (United Nations (UN) 2000) due to has traditionally been a male dominated society and has a strong son preference in most part of but Indian girls tend to be discriminated against by their families and also demographic trends indicate deep-rooted gender discrimination. In India, the condition of disadvantaged adolescents resembled that of their centers pail Thailand. Indian Young adolescents are facings serious problem of lack of access to reliable knowledge on the process of growing up reproductive health practices and value system. There has been a need to provide education on the developmental changes and needs during teenagers. This may reduce the risk of future.

Today, almost every Indian and Thai whether rich or poor, young or old, is exposed to much that is foreign, largely because in the last two decades India and Thailand has become one of the region’s most popular tourists destinations. At times, the growing economy and favorable investment opportunities have also attracted many foreign multinationals, which continue to add to the already fair large expatriate community. However, despite the intensity of their exposure to “foreign” influences, particularly western cultures and lifestyles, Indian and Thai culture remains a solid influence within family life and early childhood. From birth, Indian and Thai adolescents are still much more deeply immersed in culture than they are exposed to foreign influences despite the fast-paced changes that have been affecting Indian and Thai adolescents. The adolescents of deferred families are emotionally disturbed and driven adrift as wanderers, delinquent children with im-permissive behaviors such as loitering, gambling, drug addiction, crime, truancy, prostitution, and begging, illegal dealings. As the consequence of these adverse behaviors, cases of illegal pregnancy, baby abandonment, and HIV/AIDS infection are becoming more and more severe.

There also reported, “Thai Children are spending more time in talking and chatting on the phone and the trendiest models of mobile phones, love hanging out with their friends at night, the drugs problem and the loss of Thai identity and shopping for brand name products. The latest fashion among the hobbies of many of today’s Thai children is they are becoming increasingly violent and blaming society and their own families for their behavior and involve in premature sex, drugs and aggressiveness”. “The study found that despite the well-to-do family backgrounds of the teens surveyed, most of them shared a common problem of loneliness, depressive tendencies and a need for love”. The gap between parents and children is greater than ever before, arising from broken families or from families which faille to inculcate morals in their children because they havenless time for their children and had left them to the peril of sick and violent society in Thailand (Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, Thongbai Thongpao 2002), (Tong Thum Struggles, 2006)

With the best intention and efforts of the education as a social instrument, it is possible to promote the complete welfare of disadvantaged population. Among the several types of disadvantaged adolescents, Adolescents forced to enter the labour market, adolescents affected by HIV/AIDS and adolescents affected by narcotic drugs need special attention. They have trouble in getting proper guidance to overcome personal problems and require proper guidance and counseling to become aware of the ill effects narcotic drugs, labour market and HIV/AIDS. It may not be possible to develop awareness in the expected manner through normal school curriculums. Hence, a separate educational intervention, which is nothing but a planned programme of educational guidance, organized to meet the scientific and psychological needs of disadvantaged adolescents in the age group of 13-16. Hence, in this study, an attempt will be made to study the educational adjustment of disadvantaged adolescents and to find out the impact of a structured educational intervention programme in developing proper awareness and attitude towards reproductive health, drugs, sexuality and values.

The present study examined the impact of an educational intervention programme on the knowledge and attitude on disadvantaged adolescents in Northern India and Thailand. The study intends to assess and compare the knowledge about the process of growing up, HIV/AIDS awareness, values and attitude of teen-age students staying in the schools. Reproductive health education is a key strategy for promoting preventive measures among teenagers.

METHOS

The sample for the study consisted of 225 disadvantaged adolescents who included 125 adolescents from India (Chennai Himmat Slum area, Jammu region) and Thailand (Yong People Develop Chiang Mai and Teresa Anusorn Foundation (Ban Teresa) Chiang Rai, Province). The sample populations of disadvantaged adolescents are residents of orphanages and slum area and studying in high school classes in the age of groups from 13 to 16 years. Data was collected by administering knowledge test consisted of items on process of growing up HIV/AIDS, reproductive organs and their functions family planning and parenting and attitude scale to measure beliefs and practices about sexuality and abstinence. An experimental design consisted of experimental and control group was formed. Questionnaires were translated from English to Hindi and Thai, (mother tongue of the respondent), then back in to English to ensure that no meaning was lost in translation. There were use two groups of learner: both the groups were given Pre-Test as well as Post-Test, where experimental group were given intervention programme and control group was not be given any intervention programme.

Control group: – there were in two states: ten administrators conducted face-to-face interviews and Focus groups with disadvantaged adolescent in India and Thailand.

First state, in India country; 10 Indian administrators were called the Indian disadvantaged adolescents from there house at Slum area (Jammu), meeting for data collected were an adjustment questionnaire in each of person and groups by Hindi (mother tongue of the respondent).

Second state, in Thailand country: 125 questionnaires in Thai (mother tongue of the respondent) were administered to the Thai disadvantaged adolescent of two orphanages, I collected later the questionnaires.

Intervention / Treatment Programme

Experts: Facilitators who were willing to participate in the study were invited for receiving community sensitization, booklet distribution, and CD training;

Experimental group: 200 students (and also inmates) belonging to Channai Himmat, Slum area (Jammu, India), Teresa Anusorn Foundation (Ban Teresa), and Yong People Develop (Thailand) who had got least scores namely, were given one day training programme on intervention or treatment as;

In the morning: the orientation and participants programme concentrated on basic issues such as general framework of adolescent growth, and consisted of discussions and demonstrations. The training programme practiced the activities to develop the knowledge level and the attitude about HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and reproductive health education

In the afternoon until evening: the revised questionnaires were administered to the experimental group in 3 sessions as: (a) the personal details. (b) The knowledge level and attitude were administered to find out themselves and whenever they had doubt in understanding the items, the administrators made them easy by giving supplementary examples. In addition, (c) group discussed for preparation of suggestive measures to improve and policies.

Design of the study

An educational intervention programme consisting of awareness activities presented through media presentation, discussion and interaction was presented to the experimental group. Universals and multivariate analysis of the data were used to assess the impact of interventions and to identify the predictors of change in knowledge and attitude. Significant changes in terms of gain between pre-test and post-test was observed.

Analysis

The completed questionnaires were collated and entered into the computer. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS. After verification and reduction of data, descriptive frequencies were completed. This was followed by uni-variate and multi-variety procedures to assess the impact of the interventions and to identify other predictors of change in knowledge and attitude. Analysis was stratified by *** shown how responses to the variables of knowledge and attitude, differ boys, girls, age, and education. Descriptive statistics was used to profile the study population. Knowledge and attitude was then used to explore the demographic variables associated with HIV/AIDS, drug abused and reproductive Health Education. The following statistical techniques were applied in the present project: Paired Samples “T”-test and “F”-test.

FINDINGS

The demographic profile of the 250 Indian and Thai respondent questionnaires is shown the relationships between demographic characteristics of Indian and Thai were founds Indian boys (54.40%) less than Thai boys (56%), and Indian girls (45.60%) more than Thai girls (44%). In the same age group of Indian and Thai 15 years old, and the same of the secondary school of Indian: (Standard: 9) and Thai: (Grades 3), had significant .05 is shown in Table 1.

Answers were grouped in comparing scores from Indian and Thai disadvantage adolescent after received a treatment on knowledge and attitude about HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and reproductive health education, all participating (N= 200) were group interviewed and after the intervention had significant difference is (0.05), are shown in Table 2-16.

The findings also revealed significant differences between boys and girls in knowledge and attitude towards reproductive health education. Implications of the study for the awareness programmes were suggested.

DISCUSSION

In many Northern states of India and Thailand, the HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and reproductive health needs of Indian and Thai disadvantaged adolescents are either poorly understood or not fully appreciated. Evidence is growing that this neglect can seriously jeopardize the HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and reproductive health education needs and future well-being of them.

The policies addressed the effectiveness of the programmed to highlights what there needs to be done to promote and protect to the disadvantaged adolescent in India and Thailand in the future as: all schools should develop textbooks making learning interesting by following extensive community sensitization in support of adolescent reproductive health education appropriate in Indian and Thai cultural and tradition. Because of Indian and Thai culture and tradition, adolescents kept learning by them long time ago that, made them grow up in the wrong life and have been against morality.

Indian and Thai adolescent problems erupt from families and by themselves after they have been sexually abused or because their families could not understand adolescent behavior and teach them about reproductive health education and sexual health education. Such as should improve in knowledge and attitude among school-going adolescents with the media modern of families. In addition, it was found that sexually abused violated in Indian and Thai adolescents should learn and practice self-protection and should gather knowledge of the Child Rights and much more.

India disadvantaged adolescents

1. Indian disadvantaged adolescents are neglected from home, school and there country of the knowledge. They tend to undeveloped of the confidents and very poorly of the knowledge, attitude about Reproductive Health, drug and HIV/AIDS. Thus as, should to improve and increase and learn the knowledge attitude and understanding of disadvantaged adolescents

2. In India, the responsible organizations both governmental and non-governmental of India have to develop policies for adolescent and should to include HIV/AIDS education and health programme in schools curriculums. In addition, those reproductive health educational services for adolescent girls are especially needed in schools and families.

3. Parents, families, teachers and administrators in orphanages or schools should be encouraged to discuss or give guidance and approval about reproductive health education, drug and HIV/AIDS with their disadvantaged adolescent.

Thailand disadvantaged adolescents

1. Should to improve and increase the knowledge attitude and understanding of disadvantaged adolescents in Northern about reproductive health education and sexual health education.

2. Especially, in Northern, Thailand having spread of higher Drug and HIV/AIDS, thus as should to teach or train to get about the knowledge attitude and understanding of reproductive health to adolescents and parents more then other.

3. The reproductive and sexual health education should be included in the curriculum for the second level – primary education (Grades 4-6), Third level – secondary education (Grades 1-3) and Fourth level – secondary education (Grades 4-6). It is too late to start from Third level – secondary education (Grades 1-3) in Thailand thus; the Ministry of Education has to prepare a new policy to put this subject at the Basic Education Curriculum Standard as soon as possible.

4. It appears that in Thailand media has caused a change in *** related values among adolescents. With the misuse of Internet in getting information on *** related issue supplemented by the use of Cell phone, TV, VCD, DVD and booklets is increasing Crime problems of sexually abused. Thus, the qualities of the textbooks or booklets to be distributed to the adolescents.

TABLE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank to Dr. Y. N. Sridhar, Guide of Research for me. I would like too many helpful and thank the following students, Mr. Kasame Sakonllapap, Mr. Santi Jongkongka, Mr. Prasarn Ruansang and people for their supported. I thankfulness to Father Carlo Luzzi, Mother Elisa Cavana, Father Niphot Thiengwiharn and my family, for contributing to this study by providing funding.

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Hindi Hub Articles


It might seem strange at first glance that Bollywood and Hollywood have become such cozy friends. The world’s two greatest film industries have always been independent of each other, with different aesthetics, storylines, actors and audiences.

But after more than a century running parallel to each other, Bollywood and Hollywood are now engaged in a symbiotic dance that has seen Bollywood movies become a Hollywood success, Singh is King top the worldwide box office charts, and Spiderman in all its avatars win the box office in India. Aishwarya Rai does a juicy cameo in Pink Panther:2, Sylvester Stallone and Denise Rich do cameos in Khambakht Ishq, and Snoop Dogg is an enthusiastic item boy for the keynote song in Singh is King. Hollywood is now financing Hindi movies, while Bollywood finances Hollywood flicks.

Cultural Imperialism is dead. Long live cultural free trade.

Still, some things do get lost in translation, so the increasing cooperation between the two film industries has created a demand for people who understand them both intimately.

Vishal Solanki is a gifted, young cinematographer who has experience in both cultures and both industries. Solanki began studying photography initially at the Indo American Society in Mumbai and subsequently succeeded in enrolling at the over 150 years old historic Sir J. J. Inst. Of Applied Art, Mumbai (the most reputed institution for Applied Art in India).

While studying for his BFA, Solanki also spent a lot of time drawing, painting and studying all forms of artistic applications. Solanki graduated Sir J. J. Institute Of Applied Art winning 5 awards, including the State Government Bronze Award for best work, the CAG Bronze and the John Walter Thompson ‘Big Idea of the Year’.

He returned to work as an apprentice to renowned veteran Director of Photography Binod Pradhan on commercials, music videos and one of the most successful movies in Bollywood history, Munnabhai MBBS directed by Rajkumar Hirani. Solanki also assisted cinematographer Vijay Kartik on his famous Bollywood venture Taxi No. 9211, directed by Milan Luthria.

On the other side of the world, Solanki was Director of Photography on Losing You, a feature film directed by Canadian director Ian Clay, which is slated for release in 2009.

Apart from feature films, he has created a stir in the Documentary genre, which is almost non-existent in Bollywood. His work on documentary Pashan Palvi has received immense praise and his work on female infanticide documentary titled ‘Sunaina’ is receiving a great response in film festivals in Europe.

When did you know you were going to be a cinematographer?

It happened over time, so I can’t give you a precise date. I always loved movies, and was particularly drawn to the look of a movie. While I was studying painting at Sir J. J. Inst. Of Applied Art, I took up a course in still photography alongside.

Soon I was assisting my seniors in lighting portraits and helping them out in the dark room printing black and white photos. I then took up photography as my specialization at JJ. I was 18 and during that time, I was looking at movies constantly to get inspiration for lighting. Slowly, I realized that cinematography would offer me avenues to discover both lighting along with emotions with the help of narrative. Devdas had just released and whole of Bollywood was stunned by the visuals created by Binod Pradhan. After that, I had no doubts that I wanted to work and learn under him. I called his residence for around fifteen days non-stop, making friends with all his family, but he was generally out on shoots. Finally one day he picked up the phone and allowed me to meet him on set at Concorde Studios where he was shooting a commercial for Fair and Lovely cream. I would say after that shoot, I had no doubts that cinematography is what I wanted to do.

Was there a formal connection between the institute and Bollywood? Did you know when you got out of college you would work in Bollywood?

Well I won’t say that there was a visibly formal connection, but at the same time people seem to trust students of JJ without any doubt. I was doing still photography when I was 19 and 20 for big clients like Airtel, Planet M and a lot of advertising print media. Also, some alumni of JJ had emerged as successful filmmakers both in ad films and feature films. I just looked up to them and I thought that if they could do it, I could do it as well. I did not look at Bollywood as the only area of concentration since there was a lot of media like tv commercials, music videos and documentaries which in essence is not always Bollywood but I still have a strong liking in creating such media.

So your career began when you were still in school. What did you do then?

 

I am very happy with the way things have gone. I was always the youngest no matter which set I was on. At a certain point, people advised me that I was young and that I had time for formal training. I then planned to leave for my studies in Cinematography and Directing. I received an honors in both from the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood.

That’s interesting, how do you compare and differentiate between Bollywood and Hollywood? Did you notice a difference between the industries?

 

Yes, definitely. There is a difference in almost everything. Every thought. Every way of doing things. On a larger level Bollywood is a film industry, whose psychology is primarily based on sentiments and beliefs of the Indian culture to a large extent and Hollywood is a more assorted basket as far as these beliefs are concerned. It is a more cosmopolitan mix of screenwriters, directors and other technicians who come along from diverse backgrounds. Also I think Hollywood films have a more universal liking than Bollywood generally because they are made for a wider audience whereas Bollywood aims at Indian audiences in India and rest of the world generally. Language also plays an important role in reaching larger audiences. Technically, there is also a difference in the length, pacing and the structure in which the scripts are written. Also, it is important to not that Indian audiences are very different from rest of the world. Very often it happens that a Hollywood film which does great in the US may not do as good at the box office in India and vice-versa.

Who are your favorite cinematographers and why?

 

I admire the work of cinematographers like Vittorio Storaro, Conrad Hall, Roger Deakins, Christopher Doyle, Dion Beebe, John Toll, Wally Pfister, Gordon Willis, Rodreigo Prieto, Dante Spinotti and Bill Pope. From Indian cinematographers, I am a big fan of Binod Pradhan, Ravi K. Chandran, Santosh Sivan, Ashok Mehta and Anil Mehta. I think they all have great skills in lighting and composition of course, but on a higher level it is how they perceive a script and transform it into compelling storytelling.

What was the most challenging job you’ve had and why?

 

I cannot think of one now. I mean of course there are many challenging things in every project we do, but most of that is planned in pre-production stages. I generally shoot films in many languages. Releve was no dialogue, whereas El Buen Amigo was in Spanish, Pashan Palvi was in Marathi and Losing You in English. India speaks many languages! This is a challenge for any cinematographer because in the end, he has to interpret the script and create his own language on celluloid which is based on lights and shadows; where every audience can connect on an emotional level. Also I have had the opportunity of working with good directors who knew exactly what they wanted so I cannot think of any anecdotes.

What is the future of cinematography, and film itself? The near future? Long term future? What new technology should we look out for?

 

As everyone knows that film is diminishing, as in film stock, digital technology such as Hi Definition and Blu Ray are definitely the near future. The beauty of technology is that you never know the long term future, because technology

 

always takes us by surprise! One thing is for sure, media will get more easy to access, through the internet via cell phones, laptops etc. making viewing an easier experience.

And what is the future of Bollywood-Hollywood cooperation and co-production?

 

It will be a great fusion of different sensibilities and techniques, coming together to tell a universal story with emotions for a worldwide audience. Both India and the US are vast countries, with cosmopolitan cities and people from all around the world and different cultures. India within Indians itself, is so diverse with so many languages, dialects and cultural behavior. This is just the beginning and I am sure it is one of a breathtaking journey!