BOOK REVIEW - 2 STATES

Love marriages around the world are simple: Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married. In India, there are a few more steps: Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy. Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl. Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family. Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married. Welcome to 2 States, a story about Krish and Ananya. They are from two different states of India, deeply in love and want to get married. Of course, their parents don t agree. To convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple have a tough battle in front of them. For it is easy to fight and rebel, but it is much harder to convince. both protagonists are likeable.while krish juggles between his job and different cities in his attempt to marry the love of his life ananya, she is sorting out problems as her marriage if fixed with some other guy by her parents.Will they make it?

BOOK REVIEW - TWILIGHT

Twilight is told by 17-year-old Bella Swan, who moves from Phoenix to the small town of Forks, Washington, to live with her dad for the remainder of high school. There, she meets Edward Cullen and his family, who possess an other-worldly and irresistible beauty and grace to which Bella is drawn. Twilight is the tale of Bella and Edward's burgeoning relationship, brimming with standard teenage drama alongside the unexpected, because, after all, Edward and his family are vampires. These undead friends have chosen to deny their urge to drink human blood, instead slaking their thirst with the blood of animals. Bella soon finds out, however, that not all vampires in her life are constrained by such scruples.

The book has been praised for its treatment of sexuality and morality. Although there's plenty of yearning and sensuality, there is no sex, drinking, or drug use. Edward refuses Bella's desire to be turned into a vampire herself, on grounds that it wouldn't be the right thing to do.

Twilight is an easy and enjoyable read. Its first-person viewpoint keeps the the pages turning. This isn't a masterpiece of literary achievement, however. You have to take it for what it is –- a unique and entertaining, if not flawlessly written, story. Twilight will almost certainly appeal to teenage girls and many women of all ages, but probably not to the majority of males. It's sure to make readers eager to devour the next three novels.

Hindustani Classical Music in Bollywood

Hindustani Classical Music in Bollywood

Bollywood music, which has been the most popular musical genre in India owes its sustenance and longevity to the classical musical tradition, from which it heavily borrowed during the first few decades of its existence.

Classical based songs blossomed inBollywod during a period that witnessed a great renaissance of musical compositions in Hindi Cinema, particuarly during the fifties, in the process, creating a trend that continued well up to early eighties. This period, particularly the fifties saw some great numbers, which inspired a whole generation to adopt classical music and created what is still referred as the 'Golden Period' of Bollywood Music. In the process, it also created many legends whose work continues to be extremely popular till date.

Here are the TEN ALL TIME BEST Bollywood songs based on Raagas of Hindustani music. They are best in the way they have preserved the integrity of the Raag (the original classical composition) and yet delivered a unique musical proposition which brings out what is great about classical music.

Bollywood music itself is not classical music. These are numbers composed by adhering closely to the classical Raag and sung almost to perfection by the legendary masters.

Bollywood music, which has been the most popular musical genre in India owes its sustenance and longevity to the classical musical tradition, from which it heavily borrowed during the first few decades of its existence.

Classical based songs blossomed inBollywod during a period that witnessed a great renaissance of musical compositions in Hindi Cinema, particuarly during the fifties, in the process, creating a trend that continued well up to early eighties. This period, particularly the fifties saw some great numbers, which inspired a whole generation to adopt classical music and created what is still referred as the 'Golden Period' of Bollywood Music. In the process, it also created many legends whose work continues to be extremely popular till date.

Here are the TEN ALL TIME BEST Bollywood songs based on Raagas of Hindustani music. They are best in the way they have preserved the integrity of the Raag (the original classical composition) and yet delivered a unique musical proposition which brings out what is great about classical music.

Bollywood music itself is not classical music. These are numbers composed by adhering closely to the classical Raag and sung almost to perfection by the legendary masters.

Changing fashion Trends Indian Marriages

The concept of Indian wedding has seen drastic changes over the last few years. In the yesteryears, the ceremony was a brief affair, confined to an economical budget, even though the guest list was long. On the contrary, in the present time, the occasion is generally celebrated in an elaborated way, with number of rituals that are conducted before, during and after it. A long guest list, colorful and extravagant venue, lavish feast and a series of rituals are the key ingredients of the 'big fat Indian wedding' that we see today. In the following lines, we have discussed about the changing trends in Indian marriages.

The Concept Of Arranged And Love Marriage
The custom of arranged marriages has been a part of Indian culture since the fourth century. The practice was begun primarily to maintain and pass on the family traditions from one generation to the other . In fact, arranged marriages are in majority, because not all people have accepted the concept of love marriage. However, with the changing time, people in India have accepted the concept of love marriage, which is otherwise considered against the Indian culture. People in the rural India are now more liberal, when it comes to love marriages. Therefore, both arranged and love marriage find equal importance in the wedding scenario of India.

Wedding Attire
The wedding attire has also seen a drastic change, over the passing years. Initially, the bride and the groom used to wear traditional dress, of their respective religions, regions or community. Today, although they still wear their traditional dress during the important wedding ceremonies, they resort to the outfit that is different from the traditional ones for other rituals.

Planning
People's perception of planning the wedding has also changed over the passing years. Few years back, wedding and engagement were the sole responsibility of the bride's family. People within the family took efforts in decorating the venues chosen for conducting different ceremonies . Today, although the bride's parents still finance for the wedding ceremony, (except the reception party, which is thrown by the groom's family), people are now resorting to professionals to make arrangements for their weddings, right from the menu to the decorations. They hire wedding planners for the purpose.

IMPACT OF WESTERNIZATION

 Indian Culture, which is one of the oldest & richest cultures, is now days posing a serious threat as western culture is establishing its strong base in India and slowly and gradually wiping the Indian culture and changes its shape. After globalization (started since 1992 in India), It had already made its presence in Metro’s and now slowly heading towards other parts of India. The culture of India has been shaped not only by its very long history, unique geography and diverse demography, but also by its ancient heritages, culture and traditions. Regarded by some historians as the "oldest living continuous civilization of Earth", the Indian tradition dates back to 8,000 BC and has a continuous recorded history for over 2,500 years (starting from Rig Vedic period).

Westernization has greatly affected our traditions, customs, our family and our respect and love for others. The concept of joint families is remarkably decreasing and everyone wants to remain aloof from others. Nobody now bother about others and only cares about himself/herself which is totally contradictory to our Indian culture which depicts that,   to be a part of each other Joys and Sorrows to celebrate the moments together and share the grief together. Day by day all our value for which India has the pride is vanishing & western culture is incubating in India with faster rate.  There’s no harm in taking good things from western but this does not mean that we should completely adopt it and pretend to be western and misrepresents our identity. It is understandable that India is growing in every field and there is necessity of knowing all the cultures and their traditions.

GLOBALIZATION

Globalisation is the new buzzword that has come to dominate the world since the nineties of the last century with the end of the cold war and the break-up of the former Soviet Union and the global trend towards the rolling ball. The frontiers of the state with increased reliance on the market economy and renewed faith in the private capital and resources, a process of structural adjustment spurred by the studies and influences of the World Bank and other International organisations have started in many of the developing countries. Also Globalisation has brought in new opportunities to developing countries. Greater access to developed country markets and technology transfer hold out promise improved productivity and higher living standard. But globalisation has also thrown up new challenges like growing inequality across and within nations, volatility in financial market and environmental deteriorations. Another negative aspect of globalisation is that a great majority of developing countries remain removed from the process. Till the nineties the process of globalisation of the Indian economy was constrained by the barriers to trade and investment liberalisation of trade, investment and financial flows initiated in the nineties has progressively lowered the barriers to competition and hastened the pace of globalisation

TRADITIONAL VS MODERN GAMES

Looking at the modern children, one striking difference between the childhood that the previous generation had and the one that this generation is having is the lack of Indian

or native games. In our generation (i.e., 1980s and before) we used to play a variety of indoor and outdoor games that were the games of this soil. Nowadays almost all kids play games like cricket, tennis and football. Nobody is playing games like Kabaddi, Goli, Ghilli. These games have a rich culture and heritage value and were tools of passing on some ancestral knowledge or the other.

Nowadays we develop these skills by paying money to centers that conduct personal development courses.

The values that we achieve by playing these games are more when compared to the games that we play nowadays.

It is true that modern games may be, to some extent, beneficial for children to foster some skills, such as computer skills or the capacity to keep up with the latest trend. This is because children have to be proficient at computers and the Internet if they want to join online games, which, in fact, helps children acquire a particularly powerful skill at work in future. At the same time, children have the chance to experience the state-of-the-art technology, raising their awareness of innovation rather than stay conservative.

However, I think traditional games are still indispensible in children's learning process, even much more essential than modern games, especially in modern society. One primary merit of traditional games is that they foster children's communication skills. Unlike most modern games which focus on the interactions between children and machines, traditional games provide a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere where children can chat, laugh and cooperate face to face. As a result, communicating with a variety of people will not be an issue for these children any more.  By contrast, modern games are developed by game companies for the purpose of profits. Therefore, there is a risk that children may be exposed to unhealthy contents, such as violence or pornography, arranged in the games by such companies to secure financial survival.

Thus, I would conclude that traditional games should be, by no means, ignored by parents and teachers with the advent of modern games. Only through traditional games can children be ensured a positive and healthy skills learning process.