music and India

Music is an essencial part of our life...we cry in tune (check the bollywood) romance in tune die in tune (ahh bollywood) and now its confirmed that we play in tune! :)
Wednesday, 21 January 2009

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bowlers face music with bhajans, songs on Sehwag's lips
New Delhi: He does not lose sleep before a match, he does not worry about the pitch -- Virender Sehwag just hums Sai Baba bhajans and Kishore Kumar songs till the bowler is about to deliver the ball.

Here is the dashing opener's simple formula for success in his own words : "I want my mind to be absolutely free while facing up to a bowler. I try to hum songs, Sai Baba bhajans and Kishore Kumar songs, especially those pictured on Amitabh Bachchan till the bowler is about to deliver.

"I then tell myself: watch it. I try to sing songs as perfectly as possible in order to keep my mind completely uncluttered," he told PTI in an interview here.

Excerpts from an interview:

Q: When you look back, do you fret about why you went for a six when you were on 294 in Multan?
A: I never look back. I have never looked back on that innings. What is gone is gone, it's over.

Q: Surely a triple century ought to mean something. Not one but 2 triple centuries?
A: They don't. Surely not as much as winning a match for your team. All of us play to win. Nothing is more thrilling than winning a match for your team.

Q: What is the most important aspect of your batting?
A: For me, the most important part of batting is my still head. I try touching my helmet with my left shoulder to keep it still. Once Sunil Gavaskar asked me to take middle or off-stump guard. And I think it has suited me. With a leg stump guard, you could be chasing a wide delivery. Or leaving a gap. With a middle-and-off stump guard, the bowler doesn't know where to pitch his stuff. If it is in stumps, you could whip it to onside. If its outside the off-stump, he is allowing you to play your favourite shots. I always take middle stump guard.

Q: Like Tendulkar who doesn't sleep before a Test match, do you also worry about bowlers and conditions and pitch?
A: I don't. I do have an idea on whom to treat with respect and who to go after. It would surprise most to know that I never look at the wicket. Never. I don't worry about whether the pitch has grass or moisture or is flat. When I captained in South Africa (when Rahul Dravid was injured in the one-day series in 2006-2007), I looked at the wicket in the first match but not thereafter.

Q: It has been said that don't give room to Sehwag; tuck him up; don't allow him free swing; post fielders at third man and sweeper cover and bowl bouncers and you would get him. But after 66 Tests and 15 centuries, they are still trying!
A: I never hook. Only recently I tried it against James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff but it was because I saw it pretty early and knew how to keep it down. The thing is, it's impossible for a bowler to bowl six deliveries in an over which rise to chest-high. The moment a bowler errs, I pounce on him.

© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved.
Source: http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1789883

Going green@Khadi

As I mentioned earlier, going green is one “fakoconsciousness”(check my earlier posts...)that’s growing among Indian youth…and the latest craze over Khadi depicts the same…
Khadi was always popular among a niche group but now it became cool to be in khadi among the hip and happenings...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Khadi' catches imagination of budding designers
Tue, Jan 20 10:20 AM

Rajkot, Jan 20 (ANI): Taking cue from the latest trends of going 'green' budding designers in Gujarat used 'Khadi', an eco-friendly handspun fabric for their latest creations.

The students of fashion designing said that Khadi wears brought full circle to the days immediately preceding independence when Mahatma Gandhi had called Khadi soul of nation.

The creations by these students are to be showcased during a fashion show scheduled to coincide with the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

"People use various fabrics for their clothes, but Khadi has not been experimented with that much as yet. There are hundreds of varieties of khadi available, so we thought that we could make dresses like capri and saree. Our designs have turned out to be innovative," said Riddhi, a fashion-designing student.

Khadi, a versatile fabric, is natural and handspun and hand woven from excellent fibres of cotton, silk and wool or a combination of at least two fibers. With the youth increasingly taking to Khadi, those who have always endorsed the fabric feel vindicated.

"We want that Khadi should be presented to the nation in a new manner. The young generation should be acquainted with the fabric. We are happy that the friends group in the city has come forward to promote Khadi. We are supporting them and these people have organised a fashion show on January 30," said Devendra Bhai Desai, a man at a Khadi clothes shop.

'Khadi', was symbol of non-violent opposition to the British colonial rule. It soon became a household creation following his clarion call during freedom struggle. (ANI)

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090120/824/tnl-khadi-catches-imagination-of-budding_1.html

the trend of Indian job market seems positive

India is in better shape then rest of the economy...the priority of Indian youth still remains "the career"...a dream job...and money money money which will make the self & "family" happy...

a report on the situation of "Indian job market":
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'In India, you'll still get a job'
Sun, Jan 18 10:53 AM

New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) The 'India Shining' story may be under stress by the ongoing economic crisis, but some sectors and career options still hold promise for job seekers this year, according to human resource experts.

Leading advisory Boston Consulting Group says India will have a demand for 85-90 million people across various sectors, and the majority of the demand will come from high-growth industries like IT, outsourcing, banking, retail and healthcare.

Similarly, a survey by HR consultancy Manpower projects hiring to rise steadily by around 18 percent from this quarter in many sectors, signifying that jobs in India may not be entirely affected by the financial turmoil in rich nations.

'India poses a far more positive outlook as compared to what has been happening across the world,' said Cherian Kuruvila, director operations, Manpower India, adding that seven percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the country showed that the economy remained healthy.

'Employers in the mining and construction industries as also services sector are especially looking to scale up,' Kuruvila told IANS, but added that new jobs won't be distributed evenly through all regions and industries.

India has a work force of 484 million people, of which 273 million work in rural areas, 61 million in manufacturing and about 150 million in services, says the Boston Consulting Group that recently conducted a study on the country's services sector.

'Going forward, the Indian economy is likely to be overwhelmingly dependent on the growth of services. More than 70 percent of India's incremental GDP and 60 percent of new jobs over the next five years are expected to be generated by services.'

A survey across the Asia-Pacific region by TNS, a market research and business analysis firm, with Gallup International, a global human resource consulting firm, also threw up interesting findings.

Sixty-two percent of the Indians polled felt they would be able to hold on to their jobs in 2009 and the 57 percent who expected unemployment to rise did not not consider they would be the ones affected.

'It seems, despite the slowdowns and reports of downsizing, there is an overall confidence among the employed in India that 'My job is secure! Difficulties, if any, are for others, not me',' said TNS India executive director Chhavi Bhargava.

Experts concede that the present financial meltdown has raised doubts over the performance of some industries and its impact on salaries and perks, but hope Indian businesses will come out of the slump earlier than their counterparts overseas.

'The impact on salary was felt in 2008 and it may continue till some time. The payouts were significantly lower than the 15-200 percent bonus payouts in 2007,' said Absolute HR Services chief executive Kunal Banerji.

'Gone are the days of experimentation with jobs. I would advise employees not to be adventurous checking different jobs. Stability is the mantra,' said Confiar Consultants managing director Vivek Ahuja.

Apart from advising employees to keep their jobs this year, HR consultants also feel these are also the times when people will turn to age old values and ethics and play by the book.

'The old adages like no substitute for hard work and no short-cuts to success are back in vogue,' Banerji told IANS. 'Stay hungry for work or stay hungry is the mantra for corporate India.'

Source:http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090118/836/tbs-in-india-you-ll-still-get-a-job_1.html

inglodians are 'yellowed' !

The vibrant, bright yellow is surprisingly one of the most favored color(perceived as anti fashion) this season among the Inglodians. Though yellow was seen on International and Indian ramps in the last few seasons, it was never popular among the Inglodians.
Right from their clothing, accessories, handbags, footwear, nail enamels, make-up to their foods (French fries, maggi noodles) the bright, shinny yellow is everywhere. In terms of clothing, yellow is being seen to be worn by itself as also with accent colors, mostly black, this winters, just to tone down the brightness. Yellow eye-shadow appears to be the latest trend in make-up, whereas yellow nails have been doing rounds since quite some time. ..why? cause the aam admi (masses) is going monotone due to the trickle down of last season’s trend….



Check out the Yahoo! India trend opinion for this season:



copyright to Neha & Kaustav (INgene)

Fanta Apple- A report

The drink, Fanta Apple , sporting a communication tagline of ‘Go Bite’ has been developed especially for Indian consumers was being blasted off in Oct.08. The company roped in actress Genelia D’Souza as the brand ambassador for the brand. Fanta Apple has launched in a phased manner starting with the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu followed by a national roll-out. Fanta Apple is retailed across 35,000 outlets in the two states in the launch phase.
Source :
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?tp=on&autono=48642

...but INgene survey reports that it is a sure flop in India! cause, simply the product dsn't appeal to the Indian youth psychography. One respondent said "agh..u know, the liquied actually looks like petrol!"....do u think after this also, Coca-Cola will fool around with this fluid? huh...funny, they seems to have a dead market research team...
In India, most of the apple flavored drinks (chk Appy, Red Bull and so on...) are still struggling to get a ground...



Photo source: http://www.coca-colaindia.com/media/media_whats_new_detail.aspx?id=256

survey report- indian youth 08 (Centre of the Studies of the Developing Societies (CSDS) on Monday in collaboration with Konard-Adenauer-Stiftung)

The below report exactly depicts of what I said about the "bharatiyas*" category (check the side bar for more information).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Over 70% of Indian youth never heard of globalisation'
Posted: Dec 23, 2008 at 1336 hrs IST


A study on Indian youth finds out that attitudes towards globalisation etc haven't changed much.

New Delhi: A section of Indian youth are still conservative in making friends outside their religious circles and more than a two-third have never heard about globalisation, said a report released in Delhi.

The report 'Indian Youth in a Transforming World: Attitudes and Perception' was released by Centre of the Studies of the Developing Societies (CSDS) on Monday in collaboration with Konard-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), an international organisation with German roots.

The report said that only 29 per cent of the Indian youth have ever heard about globalisation while 66 per cent of them still consider alcohol as taboo. About 48 per cent said they have strong faith in the democratic values while 27 per cent were indifferent to these issues.

Presiding the event, noted psephologist Yogendra Yadav from CSDS said "the survey exposes the underlying attitude of the youth and tries to study political and social values prevalent among the India's youth population."

Family remains a key institution among the Indian youth with parental authority continuing to be crucial, with 60 per cent saying that final decision on marriage should be taken by parents. "Family support system is invaluable." While 27 per cent of country's youth reported that they did not have friend from other gender, religion or caste.

Commenting on the fact that youth of the country is transforming but the politics is not, Lok Sabha MP Sachin Pilot a panel member said, "India politics is also changing and we will see much transformation during the next decade."

"There is disconnection between globalisation and the 'Dalit youth' of this country because youths belonging to that segment of the society are still concerned about social and political security like right to vote," a panellist, Bhanwar Meghuvanshi of Dalit Adhikar Avam Ghumantu Adhikar Abhiyan from Rajashthan said.

"Dalits welcome modernisation and technology but we are afraid of globalisation as we are not able to participate in it," he said.

Muslim youths said they are discriminated upon in terms of employment opportunities, according to the survey.

Youths are vertically split about India's relations with the United States of America. 39 per cent of the youths oppose US hegemony while 35 per cent are in favour of broad relationship with the super power. Urban youths want better relations with Pakistan in comparison to rural youths, the survey claims.

"Dressing up in the latest fashion is important among the Indian youth. Young men in India tend to be more fashion conscious than young women," the report said. Internet penetration in India remains poor. Only 12 per cent used internet frequently.

When asked about prioritizing their concerns, 54 per cent said that they are most worried about unemployment and poverty while 35 per cent of the youth said that terrorism in the country is largely due to the Government failure.

For 44 per cent of the youth population carrier is their greatest anxiety. 24 per cent of the youth said that they are anxious about global terrorism.

The survey recognised 'education' as the key driver of modernism and the educated youths pledged more faith in the Indian democratic system.

India's 34 per cent of the total population consist of the youths, one of the worlds largest and in line with countries like China and Brazil. Remarkably, India will be the only country even after more than a decade which will continue to have 34 per cent of the youth population.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/over-70-of-indian-youth-never-heard-of-globalisation/401950/

india@innovate

India's dream of becoming the "innovation hub" seem deep down the sea...

Not really in the know of things HT
Mon, Jan 12 01:20 AM


Prime Minister Manmohan Singh likes to say India should aim to be a "knowledge superpower". Unfortunately, a number of studies show India is falling behind in achieving this otherwise exemplary goal. Both the CII-Insead Global Innovation Index and the World Bank's latest Knowledge Economy Index indicate this slippage is happening because other countries are doing more to collect and develop the ingredients for innovation. Innovation is a cycle by which new ideas are created and converted into economically useful products and concepts. At a time when capital and labour are available on tap, it is innovation that increasingly separates top-rung nations from the rest. India's innovative abilities have traditionally been held back by two obvious and glaring bottlenecks: a poor literacy rate and an abysmal physical infrastructure. But the Global Innovation Index shows that other drags, and ones which could be addressed more quickly than the other two issues, are university-industry research collaboration and the overall state of government innovation. Indian universities, even the much-touted Indian Institutes of Technology, produce little when it comes to research and development. They are rock-bottom when it comes to converting knowledge into something tangible for the economy. Nine-tenths of the patents filed from India are done so by foreign multinationals based here. The Indian government's research and development, largely geared to defence purposes, similarly contributes little to the larger economy. There has been no reform of higher education in India. The universities have been unable to scale up either the quantity or quality of their students - and the human resource ministry has shown itself unable to think beyond the prevailing and failing education model. At least the greenshoots of a competitive innovation culture are beginning to emerge in India's private sector, notably in pharmaceuticals. But it is sobering to see countries like Qatar and Kuwait, let alone Brazil and China, rate much higher in the knowledge sweepstakes and move faster up the ladder than India. The silver lining is that a recent Hewitt Associates study shows that India, as usual, straddles both ends of the spectrum. While south and north-western India are knowledge-empowered, eastern and northern India are areas of darkness. A new national innovation bill is pending. However, this cannot exist in isolation. It is the lack of broader structural reforms in education, infrastructure, even finance and intellectual property, that need to be addressed.

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/32/20090112/1049/top-not-really-in-the-know-of-things.html

look "cool"

being "cool" is the "happening" today...

the "new look" of indian youth

looking "cool" = looking different = looking "ugly" (to the "aam admi..gosh)...that reaffirms my theory of adopted differentiation...

check how wonderfully the Indian youth (the Inglodian* segment) are redefining the meaning of "being beautiful@cool"...



Looking / being rebellious is cool. The most known "face of cool" is Che...

"zilZie" (her orkut user name) told : "che is not the youth icon ..,..... i can bet .... 90 % of the people wearing his t-shirt dnt knw abt him ..,...10 % knowz the name,.........n da 2 % knws wt he was ..n wt he exactly is ................ "
and in fact few thinks Che was a rock star!

The photo below is ZWERIN's (Orkut id), he stated that "...and id like to point out..that the pictures you took were not to portray in particular the look factor related to "che.."its the idea of abstract notions regarding youth power..to the color red."


All photos are copyright to Orkut.co.in and the original posters / members of Orkut.

mumbai attack...

the doers have done it again...streight from the heart:



Source: http://tshirtsdonebydoers.blogspot.com/

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Interesting data on the AID & Youth and polygamy @ India...

Urban youth most vulnerable to HIV & AIDS

The epidemic of HIV/AIDS in India has reached to a figure close to 2-3 million. The government and various other NGOs are trying their best to control the numbers. But a gloomy picture has been emerging from the IT/BPO sectors of India. Call centers where an estimated 1.3 million youth – mostly fresh out of college – are currently employed, are now said to be the new high risk areas of HIV and AIDS. Though data is still being collected – many activists agree that HIV infection is increasing steadily among the IT, BT, call centre and BPO employees.

I was doing some research and reading articles on internet on the same topic for last few days when I came across few real accounts. I was perplexed by the same.

“I did make out initially with one of my male colleagues. Sex, for all its overtones, was a great stress buster, nothing more and definitely not for money. After a few months, having a guy to go out with became one of those things on my ‘must do’ lists. But somewhere along the line, the line stressed out, perhaps more because of my financial weakness. Today, if someone’s willing to pay me well for something, I might not decline the offer! Who knows when I’ll lose my job! My friends already have. But with my ’part time’ job, I’m saving at least a lakh every month,” says a BPO employee.

Dr Suniti Solomon, credited with the first HIV case in India in 1986, in an interview to a magazine TSI (The Sunday Indian) says that around five call centre/BPO employees from Chennai visit her every week to undergo HIV tests.

The Wall Street Journal had warned of Indian call centres and BPOs becoming HIV risk areas back in 2006 itself! It referred to a study conducted in February 2006, which found that 11 per cent of the 1,100 workers at a particular call centre and outsourcing business in Noida have had more than five sexual partners. (By contrast, a separate study found that only seven per cent of 1,300 adults across the country said they had more than five sexual partners.)

So what are the reasons that this section of youth is so vulnerable to the infection?

Call centres and BPOs are the sectors that accommodate the highest number of youth. They are sexually active and the lifestyle, odd working hours may contribute to it. Men and women live alone and work in close quarters. Indian call centre industry is waking up to this new BPO-bonding. BPO units are turning into hubs where inter-personal bonding takes place. And often, this bonding takes a sexual turn. There is reason to believe that their vulnerability to AIDS is genuine.

A Telegraph-MODE survey conducted in Calcutta, Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore some time back demonstrates that call centre employees let off steam by holding wild parties and seek physical comfort with the opposite sex. In Mumbai, 89 per cent people polled said they regularly attend wild parties and 74 per cent (55 per cent in Bangalore) said they seek the company of the opposite sex.

A BPO employee based in Pune in an interview to TSI told that they devote weekends for exciting experiments. “Having multiple sex partners has existed for some time now. But now, even group sex is gaining popularity. Weekends are devoted to such ‘experiments’ by promiscuous people, both married and single.

An unofficial swapping club exists in one of the well known MNC where the members meet once a month, usually on Fridays, in resorts in the city outskirts. After cocktails, the game starts. All the wives sit in their respective cars; the cars are locked and the keys are put in a basket. Then, the blindfolded husbands pick the car keys. Which lady they take home for the night depends on the keys they get. After a night of fun, they return the cars and wives to their respective owners.”

Dr Satish who was invited to hold talks on HIV and AIDS during an awareness programme for IT, BT sector four years ago says “But everyone present there were well aware of the modes of HIV transmission and its consequences. The company had called me because their toilets used to get clogged with condoms!” During his interaction with the participants, he found out that while 10 per cent of the male employees preferred their spouse to be a virgin, virginity was not really an issue with 80 per cent of the female employees who felt ‘that’ could be easily fixed with Hymenoplasty, a hymen reconstruction surgery.

The increasing number of HIV cases among urban, well educated and financially stable people debunks the myth of illiteracy and poverty being the greatest hurdles in our war against HIV and AIDS. It will be hard to believe that they dont know about HIV/AIDS. But sadly their chalta hai attitude and easy access of everything is the reason that drives these people to risky behaviour. Youth are part of our system and future of this country but they are themselves indulging in the self-damaging activities. You can not blame the western culture either because the today’s youth is well aware of pros and cons of everything. Probably, the lack of morality, the proper mindset and abstinence will soon make India country with highest number of HIV infected people.

The government must ensure that more concrete steps are taken and companies should also try to educate their employees and this should not be mere tokenism. HIV and AIDS awareness programmes should not be restricted only to rural areas; it should also encompass the ‘literate uneducated’ sections of the urban society.

Source:http://india.targetgenx.com/2009/01/11/urban-youth-most-vulnerable-to-hiv-aids/

"Fakoconsciousness" is cool

Among Inglodian* & Indian youth* the Fakoconsciousness (copyright Kaustav SG 08) is cool...Fakoconsciousness means a method to create an impression that one is "attached" with an ecological or sociological cause...that can be just wearing a green tee with quotes as "go green"!

the most popular casual look @Indian youth (female)

The youth went for mix again...and a few sketches I will put-up here...
the "hide & seek" aspect is hot...and tradition is well mixed...





The most popular colors for 2009 are :


the kurtas are the most popular outfit. comfortable, contemporary ethnic, suitable for all occasions depending on cuts and styles the kurtas can be teamed with skin tight denims in shades of blue or black or leggings in black, brown or white. accessories with kurtas would be neckpieces, bold or subtle depending on ones choice and wirst bands of wooden or stone beads, just one or two.hair long , can be straight or layered, tied up in hot regions like mumbai and south india, left open in northern parts like delhi. the other prominant trend noticed is tees with harem pants or patiala salwar, trend popularized by movies like jab we met and jaane tu..ya jaane naa.a scarf or stoll around the neck, mostly in northern regions as it gives a bit of warmth in winters. scarf trend in metors like mumbai and banglore is not that popular as the weather is not very favorable to put many layers of clothing, it gets ucomfortable after a while. some other hairstyles taking prominance are grunge, out-of-bed look, hair undone deliberately, do not comb with wet showered look, as seen in fashion movie, flaunted by priyanka and kangna....this trend of not being perfect, deliberately being an anti-fashion is cool...
(writeup by INgene member Neha)

"do good" is “cool”

Like The Bicycle Project (http://www.thebicycleproject.blogspot.com/) new approach in social welfare activities are hot in India…this trend will have a broader impact on the youth segment in future…