WEEKLY MAGAZINE, JUNE 3, 2012Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

VIR SANGHVILiving life five-star

SANJOY NARAYANJack White rocks

SEEMA GOSWAMI Damsels no more indulge

HottestitemNo Chamelior Munni,SonaliBendre lovesKajra Re

Cannesdo spiritRajivMakhni onthe red carpet!

It’s cool, it’scoveted and onlyBollywood’sbrighteststars with thebiggest hitscan get in

It’s cool, it’scoveted and onlyBollywood’sbrighteststars with thebiggest hitscan get in

SHAH RUKHKHANRa.OneDon 2

SALMAN KHANDabanggReadyBodyguard

AAMIR KHANGhajini3 Idiots

JUNE 3, 2012

4 WATC H O UT FO R

03.06.2012Namita Mohile I wait for Brunch every Sunday and enjoy itwith my cup of tea :) Talking about today’s Brunch, I reallyloved reading the cover story Champs to Riches. Keep upthe good work guys!

Binoy Dass The cover story Champs to Riches bySaurabh Duggal makes for a good read. These are thereal heroes who have earned money the hard way andhave changed people’s view towards CWG where peo-ple have made crores through scams. These fivechamps have really worked hard to earn crores throughtheir achievements in a right way

Deepti Gupta Loved chef Vikas Khanna’s personal agen-da :-) Thank you Brunch:-)

facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunchLIKE, COMMENT, SHARE

@Pooja_Gupta: Awesome article @RajivMakhni – SavingFace. Loved the opening para. Well said. Also, couldn’tstop drooling over the mango pics @HTBrunch

@Ardhra_ @HTBrunch @SeemaGoswami I totally agree withyou. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is going the natural way (AmI Looking Fat In This Baby?)... Why should people have aproblem with that?

@Ajaythetwit @HTBrunch @vikaskhanna1 was great read fora ‘cook at home’ like me...Kudos to you for bringing thisalong with Vir Sanghvi’s research on cooking!

@karishmau Loved @ashokbanker’s interview in Brunch, (Ihave no caste, I am an Indian). I only wish it was longer.

@oneworldgovt @HTBrunch @SeemaGoswami I can’t understand why people worry about Ash (Am I Looking FatIn This Baby?). Why can’t they worry about more important situations of our country and the world?

@brightstar464 @seemagoswami excellent article in Brunchover Ash’s post partum weight gain. Sounds like a tightslap on all the nose pokers face....

TWEET YOUR HEART OUTtwitter.com/HTBrunch

indulge10

12

14

Famous FiveDon’t miss Gursimran Khamba’sirreverence on Monday, RajneeshKapoor’s comic strip Rezi Vastavon Tuesday, The FakeJhunjhunwala’s sarcasm onWednesday, Judy Balan’s uncanny take on life on Thursdayand Gautam Chintamani’s Split-Screen on Friday.

The 100 crore clubisn’t exclusive to theHindi film industry.Various Hollywoodmovies have set thecash registers ringing.Superhero film TheAvengers grossed over$1.3 billion. The 1939classic, Gone with theWind, has held therecord for the highestgrosser for 25 years. To know more, log onto our website!

Drop a line atbrunchletters@hindustantimes.com

or to 18-20 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi,Rachel Lopez, Mignonne Dsouza, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna Tewari, Yashica Dutt,

Pranav Dixit, Amrah Ashraf, Saudamini Jain, Shreya Sethuraman

DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor, Design), Monica Gupta, Swati Chakrabarti,Ashish Singh, Rakesh Kumar, Suhas Kale

Right season, right readIT WAS really nice to read the article on mangoes, WillThe Real King Of Fruits Please Stand Up, May 27. Thisis the right season to read the article. The best part isthat I came to know of the popular varieties across theworld. My favourite is the paayri which is a bit soft anddelicious. No doubt the mango is the king of fruits.

– RAJESH C ASHAR, via email

To the champions!WHILE READING Brunch, I realised how much effortgoes into bringing out each issue as it appears tous...absolutely flawless! All things in place – the content, the pictures and the presentation. Your coverstory Champs to Riches was so refreshing. Likewise, I am short of words to completely appreciate all the other articles. Just wanna say that Sunday is incomplete without Brunch :-).

– ANUPRIYA, via email

Cover: ASHUTOSH SAPRU

BRUNCH ON THE WEBhindustantimes.com/brunch

Gear up, for every weekthe best letter will get aSHOPPING voucher worth

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LETTEROF THEWEEK!

An inspiration YOUR COVER story Champs to Riches made methink beyond my skills. From small towns to bigcities, from crowded buses to luxurious cars, fromrented homes to self-owned ones... your coverstory about sports stars was outstanding and aninspiration for the middle class. It has provokedme to transform myself into a more active person.

— ADITI GUPTA, via emailAditi wins a shopping voucher worth `2,500. Congrats!

RUDE HOTELSIndian hotels are set to improveguest convenience

DOWNLOAD CENTRALWhat makes Jack White’s musicso compelling?

SPECTATORWhy are women their own worstenemies?

Scripting new stories of success

03.06.2012

The shopping voucher will reach the winner within seven to 10 working days. In case of any delays, please contact chirag.sharma@hindustantimes.com

PersonalAgendaActress SonaliBendre wouldlove to fly toouter space

18

Brunch BlogsThis week, check out Everything Alternative by Amrah Ashraf. The under-ground world of alternative culture.

16 My premiere at CannesRajiv Makhni thought he’d giveTechilicious a break this week.Catch him at Cannes as hewrites about his red carpet experience

Cover StoryMembership to the100 crore club iscoveted, competitive,and comesautomatically. There’sno one way around it

6

JUNE 3, 2012

AAMIR KHAN was the firstmember of this club in 2008.Salman Khan gained entrytwo years later. And though

Shah Rukh Khan can’t see eye toeye with Salman and is hardly bestfriends with Aamir, he was hopinghe’d be inducted too. His hopesturned to reality last year, makingmembership probably one of hisbiggest Diwali gifts, ever. AjayDevgn needed the support of someco-stars to gain entry to this club in2010. But once in, it only took a yearfor him to prove that he could wellhave done it solo. Hrithik Roshanwas admitted to the club only thisyear. And though he has tried sever-al times, Akshay Kumar has beendenied entry. He finally got inducted only in April this year.

Just what is this club? Where is itlocated? Why is it the apple of everystar’s eye? Who are the other mem-bers and what does the club do?

Welcome to the 100-crore club!It’s not an actual organisation, but aterm used by the film industry tosegregate the more successful starsfrom the rest: only those actorswhose films net R100 crore or morein India are approved for member-ship. It’s cool, it’s coveted, it’s for thecrème de la crème. And it’s the latest status symbol in Bollywood!

WHO’S WHOGetting into the 100-crore club isnot as simple as being in a moviethat has rung up R100 crore. To beconsidered for entry, a film musthave made that gigantic amount innet collections, not gross. For theuninitiated, gross collection of a filmis the sum total of the money whichis collected at all the ticket countersof cinemas across the countryscreening that film. Net collection iswhat remains in the film industry’shands after paying off the entertain-ment tax to the different state gov-ernments. ■ Membership can’t come on thestrength of a film’s overseas successeither. Otherwise Shah Rukh Khanwould’ve been the club’s foundermember. Since Ghajini (2008) wasthe first film to net more than R100crore on Indian soil, Aamir Khanhas gone down in Bollywood historyas the inaugural inductee of theclub. At the time, Aamir wouldhardly have been aware of what hestarted or known that he’d just bro-ken into an exclusive echelon thatwould become the measure of astar’s box-office appeal in themonths and years to come. His film3 Idiots (2009) actually crossed the

6 COVER STORY

It only admits stars whose films havemade the biggest bucks. So who’s in?*Membership is competitive, coveted and can come any time. Kuch bhi ho sakta hai!

Imag

ing:

MON

ICA

GUPT

A

*

hindustantimes.com/brunch 7

JUNE 3, 2012

R200 crore mark, but if there stillisn’t a R200 crore club, it is becauseno film has come close to nettingthat amount since!

Apart from Aamir, the100-crore club has onlyfive other members:Salman Khan, ShahRukh Khan, Ajay Devgn,Hrithik Roshan andAkshay Kumar. ■ Salman Khan gainedentry in 2010 with Dabangg (R143 crore)and consolidated his po-sition with not one buttwo blockbusters the fol-lowing year. Both Readyand Bodyguard crossedthe R100-crore markwith net collections of R122 crore andR145 crore respectively, makingSalman the highest scoring Khan onthe 100-crore scale. ■ Had Shah Rukh Khan’s My NameIs Khan (February 2010) been as suc-cessful in India as it was on the over-seas circuit, he would’ve been thesecond member of the club. Butsince it did not collect R100 crore inIndia, he had to wait for almost twoyears till his Ra.One released in theDiwali of October 2011.

Director Shirish Kunder may havetweeted about how he “heard a 150-crore firework fizzle” at the time,but the fact is that Ra.One gave its

hero-producer, Shah Rukh, credibili-ty in the form of the club member-ship by collecting R115 crore – and ofcourse a huge windfall (revenues

from other sources likesatellite rights, subsidyfrom the UK govern-ment, overseas busi-ness etc). Shah Rukhquickly followed upRa.One with Don 2,which netted R110 crorewhen it released twomonths later.■ Ajay Devgn becamea member of the clubeven before ShahRukh, surprising as itmay seem. HisGolmaal 3 released in

2010, just managed to cross thethreshold figure (it made R108crore), and although it had a multi-star cast, only Ajay gained entryinto the club because, of all thestars of the film, only he could haverepeated the feat with a solo star-rer a year later (Singham, R100crore) in 2011. ■ Hrithik Roshan and AkshayKumar are the latest entrants to the100-crore club. Hrithik’s Agneepath,released early this year, managed toearn R122 crore, while the club doorsfinally opened for Akshay Kumarwith Housefull 2, which earned R112crore when it released this April.

THE FINE PRINTThe public may have its own defi-nition of hits and flops, but the filmindustry has always gone by thecost-versus-revenue analysis todetermine success (it is also theonly objective way of defining hitsand flops). A number of avenues ofrevenue now exist for a producerin addition to a theatre screening.But it is a generally accepted prin-ciple in the film trade that incomefrom most of the other sources likesatellite television, home video, etc depends largely on the earn-ings from the theatrical business of a film.

The 100-crore club does not takeinto account the cost of a film as itgoes solely by revenue. It is for thisreason that Shah Rukh Khan, withRa.One (total cost R150 crore approx)and Don 2 (total cost R80-85 croreapprox), is as entitled to club mem-bership as Aamir Khan, with ablockbuster like 3 Idiots (total costR55 crore approx) and SalmanKhan, with a superhit like Bodyguard(total cost R75-80 crore approx).

NO WOMAN NO CRYOnly male stars are members of theclub so far. To understand why noactress is a member, it must beunderstood that the club has, afterall, been ‘formed’ by the trade andthe media. And excluding womenfrom the group is characteristic ofan industry which exercises genderdiscrimination more than otherindustries. You may have heard ofproducers paying Akshay Kumarand Salman Khan fees of R20 or R25crore but have you ever heard of anAishwarya Rai or a Kareena Kapoorgetting that kind of remuneration?Frankly, the industrycan’t be wholly blamedfor the gender biasbecause it is the audi-ence which gives maleactors far more impor-tance than female stars,the occasional VidyaBalan film notwith-standing. In commercialpotboilers (which arethe only films capable ofcatapulting their heroesinto the club), heroinesget far less scope than the heroes,which is the reason why the clubmembership has so far beenrestricted to male actors.

It would’ve been interesting to seewho the industry would’ve inducted

into the 100-crore club if The DirtyPicture had touched 100 crore –Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah,Tusshar or Emraan Hashmi? Onsecond thought, it would’ve been animpossible task for a woman-orient-

ed film to collect R100crore in the first place.An interesting aside:Kareena Kapoor hasthe maximum numberof 100-crore filmsunder her belt, morethan even SalmanKhan. Kareena’s reportcard reads: 3 Idiots,Golmaal 3, Bodyguardand Ra.One.Unfortunately, as theclub is not open to

heroines, Kareena is a non-memberdespite her enviable score.

Even among the male stars, it isonly the main leads who are consid-ered worthy of membership. SanjayDutt and Rishi Kapoor in Agneepath

After 3 Idiots, no

film hascome

anywhereclose tonetting

R200 crore!

KareenaKapoor has

the maximumnumber of100 crore

films underher belt

“... Na baap bada na bhaiya... The whole thing is that ki bhaiya sabse bada rupaiya!” – Mehmood in Sabse Bada Rupaiya (1976)

Like any club, the 100 crore clubalso has rules of its own. But sinceit is more a nomenclature than an actual club, the rules are unwritten. In fact, there is neithera statute nor any memorandum orArticles of Association for Bolly-wood’s latest club. Some basic club rules:

You must be a star to be eligi-ble for membership. The clubdoes not recognise any other

community – neither producersand directors nor distributors.

You must be saleable, sinceonly stars whose films collect R100 crore or more

can join the club. (These are netcollections, not gross. Net collec-tions are defined as total box-of-fice collections – that is, gross col-lections minus the entertainmenttax). Their saleability is of paramount importance. It ismeasured in terms of how muchmoney their films make.

Since the club is more of aleague than a real club, itgoes without saying that its

members never really meet under the auspices of the club.

You cannot ‘apply’ for membership in that sense ofthe term. It comes

automatically. The club has no other rules, besidesthe aforementioned.

It is not a registered body.

Ghajini R115 cr3 Idiots R202 cr

Dabangg R143 cr

Ready R122 cr

Bodyguard R145 cr

Housefull 2R112 cr

Ra.One R115 cr

Don 2 R110 cr

Founding memberThe Khanwith the mostnumber of 100crore movies

Akki triedseveraltimes to gainentry into theclub but was denied every single time tillApril this year

Though it was amulti-starrer,

Golmaal 3propelled Ajay

Devgn into the clubThe new kid

on the block

King Khan was inducted after the

sci-fi hit Ra.Onereleased in

October last year

Agneepath R122 cr

Golmaal 3R108 cr

SinghamR100 cr

Only stars whose films net R100 crore or more in India can become members of the elite 100 crore club. Here’s how they have fared so far

All figures are net collections

JUNE 3, 2012

8 COVER STORY facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch

3 IdiotsGolmaal 3Bodyguard

Ra.One

GhajiniReady

Housefull 2Dabangg

Don 2Agneepath Singham

were as brilliant as hero HrithikRoshan and, therefore, by implica-tion, as responsible for the filmcrossing the R100-crore mark. Butthey weren’t included in the clubsimply because they were villains,not heroes. Ditto for Prakash Raj inSingham, whose comic villainy wentdown famously with the audience;but again, it was only hero AjayDevgn who made it to the club.

STAR POWERInterestingly, although it is the

film which touches the 100-crore mark, it is the star whogets membership of the club.This is another indicator ofhow stars are worshipped bythe industry. Bollywood hasalways been a star-drivenenterprise and it is not uncom-

mon for stars to hog the lime-light for a hit. Even in earlier

days, when the success of starsand films was measured byjubilees, it was Rajendra Kumarwho was reverentially referred to

as ‘Jubilee Kumar’ because of theline of silver and golden jubilees hehad to his credit. No director orproducer has ever had the ‘jubilee’word appended to his name.

Most of the R100-crore filmshave worked equallywell in multiplexes andsingle-screen cinemas.Perhaps Don 2 is theonly exception becauseit scored largely in thecineplexes. But unlikemost other 100-crore-films, Don 2 had thebrand advantage sinceit was a sequel.Golmaal 3 had a similarbrand value eventhough the previoustwo films were not halfas big or successful.Agneepath had tremendous recallvalue because of the 1990 versionof Agneepath starring AmitabhBachchan (despite the fact that thefirst one was a box office debacleand became a cult classic only

much later on TV and DVD). Although there is no time frame,

films normally touch the 100-crorefigure in two to four weeks. Today,the business of films has becometouch-and-go. Most hits have a run

of only four to six weeks.Among the stars whoare members of theclub, Salman Khanholds the distinction oftouching the 100-croremark in the shortestpossible time(Bodyguard, one week!).

It would be interest-ing to see who the newmembers of the clubwill be and whetheranyone will be able tobreak the records setby Aamir (3 Idiots is

the only film to cross the R200-crore mark) or Salman (Bodyguardis the fastest R100-crore film).

Komal Nahta is a trade analystand the editor of Film Information

brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

SalmanKhan’s

Bodyguardtouched the

100 croremark in thefirst week

itself

Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi, Imran Khan couldall make it to the club given the ficklenature of the audience and the indus-try. Ranbir Kapoor seems a likely

candidate but needs to do morepan-Indian films.

“Mere paas bangla hai, gaadi hai, bank balance hai, izzat hai, shohrat hai. Tumhare paas kya hai?” – Amitabh Bachchan in Deewar

Had the membership of the 100 crore club not been restricted to male stars, these are thefive leading ladies who would have been rubbing shoulders with them. Minus ten for gender bias!

Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

Education has played a pivotal role in building this new india. The growth in theEducation Sector is phenomenal.

JUNE 03, 2012

EMPOWERING INDIA

IV

PROMOTION

Awise man once said, “Knowledge isPower”. And in a country like ours itis not just empowering but impera-tive given that more than 50% of

India’s population is below the age of 25years. Like most areas of Indian life, even theworld of education has seen a major gap indemand and supply. With a larger number ofapplicants and lesser number of governmentuniversities and seats, many students find itdifficult to get into courses and institutes oftheir choice. Earlier on, missing or dropping ayear seemed the only option but now withthe advent of many reputed private collegesand universities, a plethora of avenues haveopened up for the young and ambitious.

Many engineering aspirants who fail toclear the JEE now find themselves landingthe course of their choice in premier privateinstitutes. Even the thought of dropping ayear is passé. And to add to this bright side,even the teacher student ratio in most ofthese private institutes is rather goodenabling a lot of personalized attention toeach student.

Private universities have almost evangel-ized an overly competitive milieu that oftenpushes many bright students to depression.The last few years have witnessed a rise inthe number of private institutes offering anarray of courses. From mainstream coursessuch as Engineering, Architecture andJournalism to new age courses such asAnthropology, Financial and InvestmentAnalysis, Forensics, Solar and AlternateEnergy to name a few.

Private universities are modelled on thelines of providing great customised solutions.The intent and motive of most private univer-sities is to be able to break away from tradi-tional fields of study and provide for betterand bigger avenues to the youth of India.This is not to say that tests and entrance

ab c

IISSSSUUEE EEDD IITTOORR IIAALLHH IIGGHHLL IIGGHHTT

ROLE OF GOVT.BODIES &UNIVERSITIES INNATION BUILDING

CURRENTPROFESSIONALSTUDIESOPPORTUNITIES

ROLE OF PVT.UNIVERSITIES INPROFESSIONALSTUDIES

PROFESSIONALEMPLOYMENTOPPORTUNITIES ININDIA

TThheessee aarree ssoommee kkeeyyffaaccttoorrss wwhhiicchh hhaavvee iinnfflluu--eenncceedd uuss ttoo bbrriinngg aa wwoorrllddccllaassss eedduuccaattiioonn pprroodduuccttffoorr tthhee bbrriigghhtt eenneerrggeettiiccyyoouutthh ooff IInnddiiaa

EDUCATION SPECIAL

examinations in such places aren’t stringentand take in poor talent but yes the criteria areslightly more relaxed and options availablebroader so as to enable as many students aspossible.

Bright students from economically weakersections aren’t denied admissions and aretaken in on 100% scholarship in most suchuniversities. Also, a healthy mix is provided toensure all ethnicities and even nationalitiesstudy under one roof. In order to broaden thehorizons of the students studying with them,most universities tie up with ones abroad toenable their faculty to upgrade skills and alsoconduct exchange programmes.

The success stories of many private univer-sities has not just been scripted in India butalso abroad. Many such universities havenow opened campuses in countries likeDubai and are eyeing opportunities in coun-tries South East Asia, Middle East etc.

While everyone is in the business of mak-ing money, the intent and effort of privateuniversities is quite admirable given thatmany of their students find themselveslanding plush job offers through campusplacements alone. So all’s well that endswell and in the end continuous effort notstrength or intelligence is the key to unlock-ing potential.

Over the years there has been huge boonin Education Sector in India. With the PrivatePlayers coming into the foray the gapbetween the education imparters and educa-tion receivers has reduced where-in the pri-vate universities have a huge role to playtoday in the Nation Development. Theseinstitutions has widened the reach of theeducation in the country, And now lots ofopportunities has arisen due to these institu-tions.

Let’s take a look at these Universities inNorth India who has taken step & con-tributed immensely in the overall develop-ment of India.

JUNE 03, 2012 V

GALGOTIAS UNIVERSITYWhat differentiates Galgotias Universityfrom other universities?Galgotias University has been founded with avision to create and perpetuate a thinkingecosystem for the education of students so asto enlarge their thinking and imagination, suchthat they emerge as intellectually, socially andspiritually evolved global leaders. We fosteropenness to cutting-edge future roadmapsand emerging knowledge blocks with a con-stant eye on applicability and scalability.

What global advantages is GalgotiasUniversity bringing to India?We firmly believe that only the finest mindscan shape the finest minds of the future, forlife. Which is why Galgotias University's glob-al-level faculty comprises the finest academicminds drawn from Purdue University, GeorgiaTech, Oakland, Arkansas State University &National University Singapore. SECONDLY, toaugment our quest for academic excellence,we have put in place a basket of internationalpedagogies right from the beginning. These

bring out the best in every student andenable students to maximise their potential.

What building blocks enable Galgotias toget 100% placements?CONTINUING WITH THE ACADEMIC BUILD-ING BLOCKS, Galgotias industry-led syllabusenables comprehensive student training,industry-relevant project support, industryvisits and internships, hands-on technical andsoft skills training. Extensive interaction withdomain experts ensures the absolute job-readiness of each student.

How important is research and develop-ment at Galgotias University?We have empowered our students with thepower of thinking quotient, the art of experien-tial learning and skills to learn continuously forlife. This is supported with GalgotiasUniversity's research-driven education, hugelaboratory infrastructure and dedicatedresearch-oriented faculty with a proven trackrecord of instilling a research culture in thestudents body right from year one. NASA hasrecognised Galgotias' talent by selecting theMoon-Buggy designed by Galgotias student'sfor permanent exhibit at the NASA MarshallSpace Centre, Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A.

How do you ensure quality in terms of stu-dent enrolment as well as quality faculty?Galgotias University has emerged as the insti-tution of choice for high calibre students pur-suing higher studies. To ensure this we takestudents of good merit only, like in the caseof engineering, students with less than85%(PCM) do not qualify for admission atGalgotias University.

High quality intake applies to the facultytoo. The basic qualification for teaching hereis a Ph.D., so that even first year students aretaught by Ph.D. level faculty who have stud-ied and taught in institutions of excellenceacross the world.

AAPPGG SSHH IIMMLLAA UUNN IIVVEERRSS IITTYYAAPPGG SSHH IIMMLLAA UUNN IIVVEERRSS IITTYY

GGGGSS IINNDDRRAAPPRRAASSTTHHAA UUNN IIVVEERRSS IITTYY

JUNE 03, 2012VI

PROMOTION EDUCATION SPECIAL

PRAMOD GOYALCHAIRMAN, APG SHIMLA UNIVERSITY

As APG Shimla University will befocusing on professional education-that of engineering & technology, man-agement, law, fashion, hospitality &hotel management-How does it plan tomeet the changing job requirements inthese fields?Jobs in different fields of education havedifferent requirements. But there has beena radical change in the requirement of thepresent day corporate world. Proficiency inhis or her own field of specialization is notthe only need of the day, rather the industrytoday needs a complete package compris-ing of excellent communication skills,sound intellect, presence of mind, adapt-ability and professionalism.

In this regard, APG Shimla University hasa very dedicated placement cell to take

care of industrial training and soft skillsdevelopment of the students, so as to fulfillthe requirements of the market.

Students of APG Shimla University aretaught to learn how to earn.

What are APG Shimla University’s newinitiatives?APG Shimla University, located in the lapof Himalayas, the Queen of Hills, Shimla,draped in forests and exotic water falls hasbeen set up with the vision to serve thesociety by shaping global achievers oftomorrow, ready to be “leaders par excel-lence”.

We provide students with the best edu-cation & environment for all round develop-ment of a person with professionalism ofhighest standard.

Some of the initiatives of APG ShimlaUniversity to meet world class educationstandard are:■ Global Orientation: student exchangeprograms with various esteemedUniversities abroad.■ Diversity: interaction between diversecommunity of students of different socialand cultural background.■ Preeminent Faculties: Excellent & expe-rienced faculty group comprising of Ex-IITians, IIMs, Delhi University academi-cians.■ Technology: personal laptops with E-books and national and international jour-nals.■ Placement: dedicated placement cell forindustrial training and guidance and to pro-vide best placement opportunities.

We invite students to “COME AND DIS-COVER THE APG SHIMLA EXPERIENCE”.

BEST EDUCATION & ENVIRONMENT FOR TOMORROWS LEADERSPOONAM SHARMA,GROUP DIRECTOR –ACCURATE GROUP OFINSTITUTIONS

PROF. D. K. BANDYOPADHYAYVC, GGS INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY

Is research considered to be geeky andtough and do students shy away from it? We receive 4000 applications for researchwith only 100 seats every year so obviouslyyour question is a myth. What is missing isthe right culture for research and a certainsensitivity towards a research scholar. If theresearch scholars gets the degree in timeand can engage in work of his/her kind,why would he/she not pursue it. Indiansworld over are known to have fertile minds.

Do you try and cater to the non-conven-tional job requirements emerging in themarket? How? Different sectors of the economy, govern-ment, NGOs, corporate sector etc areshowing different job requirements. Andthese are spearheading innovations incourses and curriculum as well. We at IPUare totally aware of such requirements andupgrade our course curriculum every 4 to 5years.

The government has given licenses to alot of private universities?

GGSINDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY : WORKING TOWARD’S NATION BUILDING

Q A

The main force behind thegrowth of the Accurate

Institute as one of the premiermanagement Institute in Delhi/NCR is none but its GroupDirector Ms. Poonam Sharma. Agreat & firm believer & follower ofher own ethics, values, crafts andprinciples, she moves selectively& meticulously on pre- fixed, pre-set, well-planned & defined pathensuring hundred percentachievements.

She was conferred with manyrenowned awards like-■ “Best Woman EntrepreneurshipAward” in All India AchieversConference.■ “Edupreneur of the year Award”in 18th Devang Mehta B – SchoolAffairs Award.■ “Leader in Education Award” in“Women Leader in India Award-2010”.■ Recognised among top 5 in“Best Young Women Entrepreneurin India” in the “Women Leader inIndia Award-2010”.■ “CSR Eminent Directors ofLeading Institutes Award-2011”by the Competition SuccessReview.■ “Leader in Education Award” in“Women Leader in India Award-2011”.

CONTINUED ON PAGE VIII

PROMOTION

POONAM SHARMAGROUP DIRECTOR, ACCURATEINSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

For education, having an environment con-ducive to learning and developing fertileminds is a pivotal. While there are universitiesgalore claiming to be making an impact byequipping the youth with all skill setsrequired in this cutting edge modern daywork life, few and far possess the right infra-structure to make these claims a reality.Accurate institutes of Management, have gotall the pre-requisites to provide an ideal envi-ronment.

Set in a 16 acre lush green campus atGreater Noida, the institute is imbibed withmodern infrastructure, Wi-Fi facility and tech-nological support to facilitate teaching, learn-ing and personality development. Accurate

inculcates in its students a global perspec-tive, while at the same teaches them how tobe keenly perceptive about local conditions.

Even the building of the Institute has beeninnovatively designed with world class facili-ties and amenities to match the expectationsof the exponentially dynamic corporateworld. To help students relax, indoor andoutdoor recreational activities like table ten-nis, badminton, volleyball, billiards etc. arewidely available.

The Institute offers an array of coursesfrom engineering and management pro-grammes to MCA, PGDM, PGDM-IB andPGDM-MM. All programmes are approvedby AICTE, Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment, Government of India.

The PGDM programme has been devel-oped with an innovative teaching methodolo-gy and includes regular industrial interac-tions, with foreign trips to groom studentsinto becoming techno business managers.

The Institute has been ranked among thetop 50 business schools of India by an inde-pendent ranking body. The faculty ofAccurate emphasizes on quality educationwith focus on case study teaching methods.

However, the academic life at Accurategoes beyond the curriculum. For cultural andsocial functions, the auditorium with a largecapacity at the campus provides an idealplatform for students to express themselvesthrough public speaking, theatricals, playsand general entertainment. While food is a

major dampener in most institutes, the cafe-teria at Accurate offers exclusive variety ofIndian and Chinese dishes and is an idealplace to chill out after the hectic class sched-ules

Under the able guidance of Group DirectorMs. Poonam Sharma, Accurate promises arich pool of highly qualified and dedicatedteam of faculty that is responsible for havingindustrial academia interface so as to planthe Syllabus for the various managementcourses offered. The syllabus is reviewedevery trimester.

To further enhance the knowledge of thestudents towards management challenges,the library at Accurate Institute is wellequipped with precious books, textbooks,reference books, periodicals and journals. Itis supported by a large well-ventilated twofloored reading-room. The library is enrichedwith digital facilities and computer system.

Placement is on top agenda at campus forall. The entire gamut of academic activitiesare oriented to provide the best possibleplacement in leading corporate houses/MNC’s preferably in Delhi NCR as well as inother parts of India. Accurate Institute hasestablished a dedicated Centre for CorporateRelations for enhancing the exposure of thestudents to the corporate world and to act asan interface between the Institution and thecorporate world. The CCR also focuses onfinal placement as well as arranging summerinternship for various students.

ACCURATE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT : A HAPPENING CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

Q A

What are the advantages and disad-vantages of this trend? Pvt. Universities are coming to the fore inthe form of State Legislatures or DeemedUniversities. No Doubt it has enhanced theGER( Gross Enrolment Ratio) of the coun-try and is providing education to many stu-dents but quality is an issue, There is greatdearth of qualified faculty in the countrythat can make or break a student’s career.

Proper infrastructure is considered pivotalto education. What are your views on it? Bricks and mortars are no doubt needed,

but they do not make a grand institution.The faculty and facilities make up for theinfrastructure and if they are in place, goodeducation is not far away.

Please tell us something about IPUniversity’s new initiatives?In the journey of 14 years of IP University,we have never looked back. There is atremendous support both from myChancellor’s office and by Govt. of NCT.We have been given total freedom toshape this University as a national one ofrepute. But with all comes great responsi-

bilities and I’m happy to say that all myfaculty members and staff members arein unison working towards living uptothis. We endeavour each day to take thisuniversity to great heights. We have astate of the art campus, where teachingand learning are both equally enjoyableprocesses. We are taking in PHD scholarsevery year to produce 100 PHD holdersevery year. This has given us tremendousamount of boost to our research activi-ties. We are following semester systemwith a very stringent attendance andcredit system.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE VI

EDUCATION SPECIAL

JUNE 03, 2012X

PROMOTION

What is Sharda University doing in the fieldof Research ?At Sharda, we are constantly working towardschanging the set pattern and delivering qualityeducation that goes beyond acing exams. Webelieve that a system that binds and confinesstudents, is one that isn’t conducive with theidea of learning. We inaugurated a researchunit the day we opened the gates of our cam-pus, , Scientific bodies has also got approvedfor entrepreneurship unit, We’re also settingup “Incubation Centres” – an open and freespace for students to develop ideas and bringthem to fruition. Once these ideas are can beturned into workable proposals, we’ll alsoarrange for students to take them to VentureCapitalists.

At Sharda, we take great pride in our stu-dent body and hence are careful and thor-ough with our selections. The admission pro-cedure for our M.Tech and PhD programmesis very stringent, ensuring that only the crèmede’la crème of the applicants are admitted.Our scholarship program funds a 100 of thebrightest students from those selected towork in the field of research, and we bear allexpenses for student or faculty travellingoverseas to publish papers and attend con-ferences. Our stipends for PhD scholars andguides can go upto R30,000.

In order to keep our great student mindsalert and to best facilitate their learningexperience at Sharda, we take great care toprovide them with the best-equipped facultyfrom across the world. This year alone, wehave hired 20 Professors from abroad, out ofwhich 12 are NRIs and 8 are from the US,UK, Japan and China. To further ensure thatour course material lives up to global stan-dards of research, we make sure to regularlysend our faculty members to internationaluniversities and conferences. At Sharda, wevalue the trust being put in us by the society,and are leaving no stone unturned in ourefforts to establish the university as a leadingname in the field of research in the `country.

Sharda University is known to focus onprofessional education, How are the jobrequirement’s changing and where doSharda University grades fit in?It is our ability to adapt according to theneeds of the market and the corporate worldthat keeps us a step ahead of other universi-ties. A robust mechanism keeps us updatedon industry trends allowing us to tailor ourcourse curriculum to best equip our studentsfor their careers. Our focus on practical train-ing and industry experience gives our studentthe push they need to succeed in their pro-fessional journeys.

For long there has been a discussion onthe infrastructure being a key part to edu-cation and the environment. How do yousee it?Infrastructure is very key to any university,Good surrounding, laboratories, journals allare key to the general being of any univer-sity, We have spent crores of rupees onsourcing advanced journals, as without allthese you cannot do good research. Sincewe are in North India where temperaturesgo upto 45 degrees, we have 80% of theentire campus airconditioned, as we don’tsee it as a luxury but as a necessity for acomfortable learning and research environ-ment. Also we are spending around 10crores of maney to implement OraclePeopleSoft University Management SystemSuite to manage university processes.PeopleSoft is the world leader in such solu-tions and we are the first university in thecountry to go for the end-to-end suiteimplementation. With such inititatives,Sharda University will be one of the mosttechnologically advanced universities, notonly in India but globally.Please tell us something about SHARDAUniversity’s new initiatives?We have come out with a diversity policy,where-in we have representation from differ-ent cultures, religions, nationalities, so as to

become a true Global University. We haveopened a full-fledged language school in theuniversity to train students in foreign lan-guages. We are aiming at increasing the for-eign students intake, from China, Korea,Asian Countries, Mangolia, African Countries,Middle East etc.

We are aiming at bringing the OverseasStudents as well as the faculty ratio to 20%.We already have 450 foreign studentsenrolled this year, and by this trend we see itreaching 1000 soon.

We have tie-up with 20 leading foreign uni-versities wherein and, students can get credittransfers and study a part of their course inthese foreign universities.

We are also planning to open a campus inChina, The students will go to China to studyfor 2 years and the students will be taught byIndian origin faculties.

We have sent students to many countriessuch as Thailand, Singapore on exchangeprograms, to understand the culture, method-ology all these without any extra fee. We arealso in the process of opening up campusesin Middle East, Africa. We believe in equalrepresentation from across the country in ourcampus 40% faculties are from North Indiaand 60% are from rest of India.

SHARDA UNIVERSITY BUILDING

TO BE A TRUE GLOBAL UNIVERSITYTO BE A TRUE GLOBAL UNIVERSITY

PRADEEP K GUPTAVC & CHAIRMAN, SHARDA UNIVERSITY

EDUCATION SPECIAL

ISPENT LAST weekend at the soon-to-be-opened ITC Grand Chola in Chennai. Thoughthe property is still weeks away from itslaunch, the rooms and some of the restau-

rants are ready and it has already been the sub-ject of raves in travel publications (Conde NastTraveller, Travel and Leisure etc.) and in trademagazines. I don’t think ITC wants the media tosay very much about the hotel till it is launchedproperly, so I will hold off doing a full-fledged review.

But it was while staying in a standard entry-level room (the ITC One rooms and the suites arenot finished yet) that I began to wonder abouthotel-room design. The Grand Chola rooms areincredibly well designed in terms of user-friend-liness and guest-convenience. Not only are theylarge (probably the largest standard rooms in anyIndian deluxe hotel) but they are also thought-fully designed so that you never have to strain orstruggle to do anything.

If ITC can do it at the Grand Chola, I thoughtto myself, then why can’t other hotels? Why are so many expen-sive hotel rooms, the world over, so badly designed? Why is stay-ing in a five-star hotel not always the luxury experience it should

be, given that you are paying through the nose?

SIZE DOES MATTER I’m past the age where I can live in a broom clos-et and spend all my time in the hotel bar or lobby(as the American hotelier Ian Schrager wantedguests at his pioneering trendy hotels to do). Iwant a room of a reasonable size. I don’t care howfashionable or famous the hotel is.

Guests at five-star hotels like to look half-decentwhen we go out for meetings or to meet friends.So we need space to keep our clothes and to dress.I hate hotels that don’t have enough drawers orcupboards. Nor can I understand why deluxehotels do not install full-length mirrors that areplaced so that you can step back and look at your-self properly. Part of the problem is that Indianhotel rooms tend to be Western and masculine inconception. Designers don’t take into account thatIndian women wear saris and need full-lengthmirrors. And it isn’t just the women: even guyslike full-length mirrors.

READING AND WRITINGAre many of the people who design hotel roomsfunctionally illiterate? I’m guessing that they are– judging by the number of hotel rooms in whichit is impossible to read or write.

Take the writing desk, a standard fixture in busi-ness hotel rooms. At least half the time, the chairin front of the desk has been designed so that youcannot sit comfortably in it. Either the back iswrong or it is too high so that your legs do not fit

under the table. Nor is there a light over the desk and the lampcannot be angled towards your book, pad or computer.

So it is with reading in bed. It is getting slightly better now

Vir Sanghvi

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Why is staying in afive-star hotelnot alwaysthe luxury experience itshould be,given that youare payingthrough thenose?

A MATTER OF SIZENot only are the rooms atITC Grand Chola, Chennai,large, they are alsothoughtfully designed

IT’S A FIVE STARLIFE. REALLY?

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with overhead reading lights but many hotel rooms have fancy-looking bedside lamps that do not throw enough light on the pil-low area making it impossible to read.

Hoteliers like to imagine that we wake up each morning, havequick showers and rush down to their breakfast buffets. In fact,many of us like to drink a coffee and read the papers in our roomsbefore we head out. But in too many hotel rooms there will beno place where you can sit comfortably, a cup of coffee in frontof you and read the morning paper.

PLUG POINTS These days, many of us travel with electrical/electronic devicesthat need to be plugged in to power points. So why then are hotelsso reluctant to provide plug points or adapters? In many hotels Iend up using the shaver socket in the bathroom to charge my phonebecause there are no other convenient plug pointsavailable.

When plug points are to be found, they are locat-ed at floor level or hidden behind furniture so youhave to get down on your knees and move tablesaround before you can plug anything in.

Admittedly this is changing. I’ve noticed that thenew Oberoi and ITC hotels are plug-point aware.But many other hotels simply don’t think of guestconvenience.

FURNITUREI always think that the mark of a great hotelier isthat he chooses furniture for functionality first anddesign second. Biki Oberoi has always insisted thatthe bedside tables at his hotels be large enough totake a glass and bottle of water, a table lamp, a bookor two and perhaps a bottle of medicine.

At ITC hotels, Nakul Anand is so obsessive about detail thathe tested cushions for comfort levels and then issued exact measurements (height, depth, width, kind of padding inside, etc.)for each cushion at the Grand Chola. (He is such a details guythat even the ice cubes have size specifications so that they fitperfectly into each glass!)

Lesser hoteliers don’t bother. They think that if a room looksnice, that’s enough. They just don’t get it – regular guests prizecomfort and convenience over some designer’s vision.

TECHNOLOGY The great paradox of hotels is that while they are crazy abouttechnology for themselves (guest recognition software etc), theydon’t understand what kind of technology guests need. The thingwith most modern consumer technology is that it takes a day ortwo to familiarise yourself with yourgadget – after which it will give youmonths of service and pleasure. Exceptthat hotel guests don’t have hours towaste learning how to operate thedevices in their room. So all hotel tech-nology must be easy to use instantly.

And yet, at every basic level, so manyhotels fail to realise this. The simplestexample is the light switch. I’m alwaysshocked by how difficult it is to put offlights at night in many hotels unless youuse a master switch (which also puts offyour bedside lamp and the plug pointsin which your devices are plugged.)

So it is with TV/audio systems. Most proprietaryvideo systems I have seen at hotels (NEOS, movies-on-demand etc.) pack up again and again. Nor arethey guest-friendly. A classic example is TV vol-ume. All hotels restrict the volume on their TV sets. This may be fine when it comes to TVchannels.

But the in-house movies – which you pay for andare then played on the same TV set – are usuallyset at lower volumes so no matter how much youpush up the sound controls on your set, you can’tproperly hear the dialogue.

When you install an external DVD player, it requiresthree guys from the engineering department to figure out how to connect it. Worse still, nobodyknows how to switch your TV set between the various input options. And even if you can find the

TV channel you want, there is a chance that it would have goneblank or that the picture will have broken up. The problem is thatmost hotels leave the monitoring of TV reception to engineers andelectricians who couldn’t be bothered to check the quality.

At the Grand Chola most of these problems have been sortedout because each guest has an easy-to-use iPad by his bed thatcontrols everything (lights, TV, movies etc.). Perhaps this is whatthe future will be like.

BATHROOMSHotels spend a lot of money on building bathrooms. But all too often,there are basic design flaws. If you have doors to the WC stall orthe shower then make sure that they are not transparent. Nobodywants to make a public display of himself while on the toilet.

Showers are another problem area. We all want lots of waterpressure. But we don’t want spaceship-type controls so that it

takes 15 minutes to figure out how towork the shower.

As for bathtub stoppers, hotels wastemoney on high-tech stoppers whichalways pack up in a few weeks. Whynot just use a plug? It’s cheaper and italways works.

And finally, my all-time bathroom bug-bear: signage. We don’t take showerswith our glasses or contact lenses on. Sowhy must hotels place near identical bot-tles of shower gel, shampoo and condi-tioner by the shower with the letteringso small that you can’t tell which is which?

To be fair, some of these complaintsare being addressed. If the Grand Cholais anything to go by then Indian hotelsare acting to improve guest convenience.But the changes are not widespreadenough. And the speed is too slow.

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We needspace to keep

our clothesand to dress.I hate hotels

that don’thave enoughdrawers orcupboards

MORNING WOESMost hotel rooms will not have a placewhere you can sit comfortably with a cupof coffee and read the morning paper

EYE FOR DETAILAt the ITC, Nakul Anand isso obsessive about detail that he testscushions for comfort levels

ALL CLEARIf there are doors to theWC stall or the shower,they should not be transparent

TABLE SERVICEBiki Oberoi (above left) insists that the bedside tables at his hotels be largeenough to take a glass andbottle of water, a table lamp,a book or two and perhapsa bottle of medicine

Photos: THINKSTOCK

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JACK WHITE is no flash in the pan. Years andyears from now, when music writers will lookback on the history of contemporary music

of the late Nineties and the ensuing decade or two,White ought to feature in their writings as a one-of-a-kind musician – actually, not just as a singu-lar musician but a singular musician’s musician.

Anyone who has followed White’s career from1990 or thereabouts will have been struck by acouple of things – his remarkably prolific abilityto produce works of music (he has, either on hisown, or as part of his former band, The WhiteStripes, or with other bands such as Raconteursand The Dead Weather, recorded around a dozenalbums); his steadfast commitment to playstripped-down classic blues-based rock and yetnot even once sound predictable or boring; andhis huge dedication to curate music, both by youngfledgling musicians and old, classic legends.

That last bit is demonstrated by the work thatWhite does as a producer. He’s a great producer,by the way. Besides many of his own albums – either as part ofbands or on his own – White’s Third Man records has producedmany young bands’ work but also greats such as Loretta Lynn,Jerry Lee Lewis and Wanda Jackson, often bringing them out fromretirement to cut new albums like last year’s new albums by Jackson

and Lewis. He’s played with Alicia Keys as well as with ahost of new musicians.

But it is White’s own work that stands out andmakes him what I think no music critic can everignore. Each one of his albums, whether it is his TheWhite Stripes ones with Meg White or with othermembers of The Raconteurs or The Dead Weatheris worth collecting and listening to… often. So it iswith the 13-track solo album from White,Blunderbuss. What makes White’s music so com-pelling is, as I said, his being a stickler for stickingto tradition. He is an extremely gifted guitarist who

uses little or no digital help (most of his equipment is old-fashionedand analog); he plays his music satisfyingly loud and with nary ahint of the namby-pamby that many of today’s rockers seem to findit hip to embrace; and he is never predictable or same-sounding.

Blunderbuss is White’s first truly solo work. For the most partof his itinerant career, he has chosen to be part of bands, albeitbands that have mostly been driven by him and, therefore, theirrecords have usually been oozing with all of what he believes insounding like. On Blunderbuss, White delves into vintage, tradi-tional sounds – ranging from a cover of a Little Willie John songto tracks that are steeped in country and soul and even funk.Why, he’s even brought in British psychedelic rock sounds of theSixties in some tracks. As one critic called it, on Blunderbuss,White has brought back the “pre-computer, post-hippie” sound.If you’re a British early prog-rock fan (think Traffic, Led Zep andso on), this album will quickly get glued to your head.

Blunderbuss is a studio album, produced, arranged, writtenand played by Jack White and a team of great musicians. It islike most albums that have come out of White’s projects, an impec-cably recorded product but I am told his live concerts too aregreat. White is touring now and I just missed watching him inconcert by a day but that’s another story. The point to note isthat he’s been touring in part with another band that is creatingripples – Alabama Shakes, the traditionalist garage-soul bandthat White has feted (and you would have read about if you cometo this column regularly!) since they made their appearance. Imissed their concert but I have, of course, done the next bestthing: watched every video of theirs – White’s and AlabamaShakes’ – that I could get my browser to go to. And it’s been purebliss every time. But yes, on my to-do list there’s a Jack Whiteconcert written up right on top. He’s one of those in today’s worldof rock music to keep watching.

To give feedback, stream or download the music mentioned inthis column, go to http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/

download-central, follow argus48 on Twitter

hindustantimes.com/brunch

JUNE 3, 2012

SanjoyNarayan

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It’s always bliss to hear Jack White. Hisblues-based rock and unpredictablesound make him a singular musician

WHITE MAGIC

REVIVAL OF SORTSWhite brought back the “pre-computer, post-hippie”sound with his 13-track solo album Blunderbuss (above)

White is agreat

producer tooand has

brought outmany youngbands’ work

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WITHOUT FRILLSWhite is an extremely gifted guitarist who useslittle or no digital help

HONESTLY, THERE are times when Idespair of my own sex. It’s not the smallstuff that gets me down – that I can live

with by gritting my teeth and counting slowly toten so that I don’t have a meltdown in public.

You know the sort of thing I’m talking about:the kind of meanness that only women are capa-ble of subjecting each other to. Oh, she’s gottenso fat after her baby! We all know how she gotthat promotion (by sleeping with her boss, didn’tyou know?). My God, can that hemline get anyhigher? Honestly, if she dresses like that, it’s onlya matter of time before she gets molested. I couldgo on and on, based on my vast and varied lifeexperiences, but you get the general drift.

Yes, all of this annoying, but it is still small pota-toes. You can take a deep breath, tell yourself thatyou’re better than this, and stay silent.

But it’s the big stuff that I really can’t sweat.That’s what makes me foam at the mouth, shoutdementedly at the TV set and mutter balefullywhen I read the papers. That’s what makes meso angry that I can barely form a cogent argu-ment to explain my views. But for the benefit ofall of you reading this column, I’m going to try.

It all began with the Park Street rape case in Calcutta, whichthe fabulously rational chief minister of West Bengal, MamataBanerjee, helpfully characterised as a ‘conspiracy’ against hergovernment even before the facts of the matter has been estab-lished. It is to the credit of two other women – the rape vic-tim herself, who refused to lie down and play dead; and acourageous police officer by the name of Damayanti Sen –that the culprits were hunted down and that the wheels ofjustice were set in motion.

But I was revisited by the same despair I felt at the timeof the Park Street incident by the curious case of ZohalHamid and the molestation that never was. We were all riv-eted by the appearance of this US national on TV, telling ushow the Australian cricketer Luke Pomersbach, had molest-ed her in her hotel room. And that when her fiancé, Sahil

Peerzada, tried to protect her, Luke hit him so hard that hehad to be rushed to hospital.

So, there we were, feeling outraged on behalf of this braveyoung woman who had had the courage to take on an influentialgroup of people in a foreign country, in an attempt to gain jus-tice for herself. We hissed and booed at a media that suggestedthat because she was always so well-dressed, perfectly coiffedand made-up, she couldn’t possibly be a victim. And we felt astrange pride when she threatened to sue Siddhartha Mallya,who sent out a sexist, offensive tweet about her after the inci-dent, if he didn’t apologise forthwith.

Here was a woman, we felt, who was willing to fight for herrights, no matter how hard and arduous a battle it might be. Thiswas a woman who was not willing to take things lying down, nomatter how powerful the people she was up against.

How wrong we were!No sooner had Peerzada been released from hospital than

Zohal’s entire body language changed. In a joint interview con-ducted with the two, she sat poker-faced while Peerzada resolutelyrefused to refer to her by the ‘f’ word (as in ‘fiancée’). And she

didn’t raise as much as a murmur when he referred to Sid Mallyaas a nice guy, and suggested that things would soon be sorted outbetween them.

Sure enough, the case has now been withdrawn by Zohal Hamidbecause she wishes to ‘go back to her own country’. And by back-ing down so cravenly because her boyfriend/fiancé/whatever he’scalling himself this week patently wanted her to, she has madeit doubly difficult for other victims of such drunken misbehav-iour to be taken seriously by the authorities.

All of which makes me wonder: just how long will we womengo along with taking the lead from the men in our lives? Justwhat will it take for us to accept responsibility for our own actions,and live with the consequences of our behaviour, however unpleas-ant they may be?

Well, that day is a long time coming if what I read in today’spaper is anything to go by. A woman has sued her live-in boyfriendof eight years, accusing him of ‘rape’ because he married some-one else citing parental pressure. The court had admitted herpetition and the man could soon be in jail facing rape charges –all because he refused to marry his live-in girlfriend.

Now, I can understand a woman being upset about being dumpedafter living with a man for eight years. I would get it if she wantedto scratch his face, throw his clothes out on the street, or even egghis car. But to accuse him of ‘rape’? All because he didn’t marry her?

Frankly, it beggars belief. And it reinforces the idea that mat-rimony is some glittering prize that men are good enough to bestowon us. And that a woman’s reputation is ‘ruined’ if the man she issleeping with neglects to make an ‘honest woman’ of her.

Are we really buying into this tosh in the 21st century? If that’snot cause enough for despair, I don’t know what is.

seema_ht@rediffmail.com. Follow Seema on Twitter at twitter.com/seemagoswami

JUNE 3, 2012

Why do women persist in being theirown worst enemies?

SeemaGoswami

THE SAME-SEX WARS

spectator MOLESTED! REALLY?

US national, Zohal Hamid (above left) alleged that Australian cricketer Luke Pomersbach (below) hadmolested her. And that when her fiancé, Sahil Peerzada (above right), tried to protect her, Luke hithim so hard that he had to be rushed to hospital

We felt astrange pridewhen Zohalthreatened

to sueSiddhartha

Mallya

facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch14 indulge

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IKNOW WHAT you’re thinking.“What the heck is Rajiv Makhnidoing walking the red carpet atthe Cannes Film Festival?” Well,

I’ve been asking myself the samequestion.

SON OF THE SOILMy mother was born in Amritsar.Her parents arrived there fromPakistan at the time of the separa-tion with pretty much nothing morethan the clothes on their backs. Myfather was born in Burma, gotthrown out at the time of the con-flict and arrived in Assam withnothing (apparently, they survivedby eating leaves). Both families aretotally self-made and without pre-tences. Thus my upbringing wasvery basic and totally son-of-the-soil. When you take that guy andput him into a world of limousines,champagne breakfasts, yachts, pho-tographers and a daily walk on thered carpet – you’ve pretty much gota classic case of a fish out of water!

WALK FOR WHOM?All I knew about Cannes (by theway, it’s pronounced kaan, just likethe Hindi word for ear) was theannual flurry of pictures I had seenof glamorous filmstars. To me, everyman on the red carpet looked like awaiter (I think it’s something to dowith the Indian mindset and the factthat most restaurants at one timehad all the servers wearing tuxedos)and most of the women looked likefully adorned Christmas trees. Itwas apparently very prestigious asit is by invitation only and manystars announced that they were“officially” asked to walk the redcarpet (that is complete hogwash –unless you’re part of the movie

being screened, you’llwalk the carpet for oneof the brand sponsors ofthe festival). Thus whenI was asked to walk thered carpet by two spon-sors, not once but ontwo nights – I was verysure I had arrived. Thiswas to be my debut, my virgin strut,my ‘Le Festival International duFilm de Cannes’ walk into glory.

MAD SCRAMBLEAll of this was happening in themiddle of my new show, Croma

Tech Grandmasters 2 (it has a bru-tal schedule of almost 12 hours dailyshoot time over 20 days). The madscramble to get a visa, clothes (atCannes you need a ‘event’ outfitevery four hours) and juggle it allwas just perfect to put me in a ‘final-ly a celebrity’ frenzy. I was done(red carpet outfits – Ashish Soni forthe first, Shantanu and Nikhil forthe second), finished my shoot at 9pm and flew out at 11.55 pm.

FINALLY HERE!Cannes is located on the French

Riviera and enjoys 12hours of sunshine dur-ing summer. When Iarrived, it was raining!Unseasonal, they calledit. The limo driver wasAlgerian, chatty andgave me a runningcommentary as wesailed past million-dol-

lar yachts and billion-dollar homes.We turned into the Pullman Resort(almost every star comes here for aphoto shoot; it has the most stun-ning overhang to the sea) andCasino (I lost 100 euros in threeminutes and never went back). A

quick change and I was taken totown (comically textbook French –quaint luxury shops, streetsidecafes and the over burdening sweet-ness of the French accent). Nextstop, the 150-foot poster of MarilynMonroe (the face of the Festival)that loomed over ‘Palais desFestivals’ – the building where thered carpet takes place.

GOLD CLASSThe rest is pretty much a whirl-wind. All meals have the word‘course’ and ‘black tie’ attached tothem (that includes breakfast),champagne is the water substitute,all events are taken very seriously,the whole thing runs like an incredi-bly well oiled machine, the PR peo-ple and minders are the real gods,everything is gold class (the limosare gold-plated) and it’s all aboutyachts, helicopters and the high life.

MY NEW LIFE?The red carpet lives up to the hype.It’s very well managed but has ahierarchy to it. Regular RedCarpeters go first, A-list stars gosecond and the Movie Director andStar Cast come in last. You’redeposited on the sidewalk, a minderwill explain when you have to walkand which photographers and chan-nels you have to pose for. Fromthere you’re whisked into the the-atre (huge) and plonked down towatch the screening. Once themovie ends, the Director and StarCast stand up and the audiencebreaks into a standing ovation (thedamn thing carries on for morethan five minutes even for terriblemovies!). Then you’re off to theafter parties and after-after parties.

It’s heady, exhilarating, anabsolute adrenaline rush. I mayhave been brought up grounded,very basic and totally son of the soil– but I could get used to this!

Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology,NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru

and Newsnet 3. Follow Rajiv on Twitter attwitter.com/RajivMakhni

16 PEOPLE

JUNE 3, 2012

MarilynMonroe isthe face ofthis year’s

festival

I swapped gadgetsfor glamour,gambling and gold-plated limos. Whata week it’s been! by Rajiv Makhni

“So, where’s the Cannes Film Festival being held this year?” – Christina Aguilera

SHAMELESS PLUGAt the Pullman with fashion blogger JayStrut (above), on the red carpet (left)

My PremiereAt Cannes

If you weren’t an actress you wouldhave been?I’d still be in movies, probablybehind the camera.The book that inspires you? The works of Toni Morrison:Paradise, The Bluest Eye, Love

– I have read them all.The movie that always brings a smileto your face? As Good As It Gets.When you’re alone at home, what doyou love to do the most? You’ll always find me reading.

Yoga or the gym – what do you prefer? Neither, but since I don’t have achoice, I exercise at the gymregularly.The best thing about Bollywood? The drama!Chikni Chameli or Munni, what’s yourstyle? I am more of a Kajra Re girl.Are Indian men still mama’s boys? Probably. I’m glad mine is not. The last thing you bought for under`10? Chewing gum.Your personal style – an earthy cottonsari or a hot mini? Neither. I prefer wearing acomfortable pair of denims.The love of your life? Without a doubt, Goldie!How many pairs of blue jeansdo you own? Not too many. I could do with afew more shades of blue.

Your ultimate travel destination? Europe.One thing you can’t stand. I am very particularabout my things, so Iguess I can’t be disor-ganised. What will we find in yourfridge right now?Fruit, cheese, milk, left-over Chinese or pizza.Five skincare/make-upthings you can’t do without?I love Oriflame’s kajal,

Giordani Gold liquid eyeliner,Oriflame Beauty Studio Artistlipsticks, a nice hand and bodycream and a good cleansingmilk.One thing your son stops you fromdoing?Getting some ‘me’ time.One word you would associate withmotherhood?Fulfilling.

18 hindustantimes.com/brunchPERSONAL AGENDA

—Interviewed by Veenu Singh

FIRST BREAK Naaraaz, though the first to release was Aag

if i could... SUN SIGNCapricorn

BIRTHDAYJanuary 1

SCHOOL/COLLEGERamnarain RuiaCollege, Mumbai

PLACE OF BIRTHMumbai

LOWPOINTOFYOURLIFEYet tocome

HIGH POINTOF YOUR LIFE There have been many.The birth of my son,the awards that I havereceived have beenvery rewarding

HOMETOWNMumbai

Sonali Bendre

YOU HAVE 30 SEC-ONDS TO PACKFOR A TRIP: WHATDO YOU TAKE?

My creditcard

GO DEEP SEA DIVING

JUNE 3, 2012

Actress

Phot

os: T

HINK

STOC

K

Phot

o: R

AJ K

RAJ

GET MYHUSBANDTO LOSEWEIGHT

TRAVEL THROUGH TIME

I’D FLY TOOUTERSPACE

CURRENTLY DOINGActing as the first brand ambassador of Oriflame India