Somethings I steadfastly believe .. .. marriages are personal affairs – National honours like Padma awards should be given for those who serve the society, a Scientist, Doctor and someone who had done great deed for social cause need not share platform with cine actors !! During the years I was educated, I saw only a handful of cinemas in theatres ~ in year 1996 alone I would have watched 100 movies !~ yet, how many of you know this piece of info (knowledge is power !!)
Thamizhan is a 2002
Tamil political thriller film directed by debutant Majith and produced by G.
Venkateswaran. The film had Vijay in the
lead role with Priyanka Chopra, making her debut
as a lead actress.The film's score and
soundtrack were composed by D. Imman. It was dubbed in Telugu as ‘dammunte Kasko’.
For those
with some memory – a couple of months ago ! ~ responding to petitions seeking a
ban on firecrackers in India, Supreme Court on 23rd October imposed several
restrictions on firecrackers, refraining from a blanket ban. Apart from setting
a window of only two hours, 8 pm to 10 pm, for fireworks during Diwali, the
apex court also said that only Green Crackers will be allowed in the country. Green crackers are low pollution firecrackers that scientists
have developed in recent years but not yet available in local markets. Ms. Chopra Priyanka, a
brand ambassador for Breathefree, starred in a a public service initiative for
asthma patients organised by Cipla, which manufactures inhalers. On Deepawali
morning, Breathefree posted a video of
Ms. Chopra on Twitter as part of its #BerokZindagi (Unstoppable Life) campaign
seeking people to desist crackers. She pleaded for asthma patients and pets .. .. ‘let us celebrate crackerless Diwali’ thundered some cine stars.
Priyanka Chopra is stated
to be the queen of Bollywood.She was
the winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant. One of India's highest-paid and most
popular celebrities, Chopra has received numerous awards, including a National
Film Award and Filmfare Awards in five categories and Padma Sree too in
2016.So the regal Umaid Bhawan Palace
in Rajasthan made for the perfect setting as the 36-year-old actress tied the
knot with 26-year-old singer Nick Jonas in a multi-day ceremony this weekend.
The sprawling
residence, which was built between 1928 and 1943, is divided into a private
residence for the Jodhpur royal family and a luxury five-star hotel boasting 64
utterly breathtaking Art Deco-styled rooms and suites. A large hall at the
palace in Jodhpur where the wedding party is staying was decorated with
marigolds and the theme for the guests was 'pink, orange and purple.' The
second wedding also featured a 40-ft high mandap, or canopy, adorned with red
flowers. The haldi ceremony is when the bride and groom have their hands and feet,
and sometimes their faces and necks, covered with a paste made from tumeric.
It is a rich man’s
place. Stays at the hotel vary throughout the year, but rates start at around
Rs.25000 approx ( £280) for a room with a king bed and go up to Rs.11.10 lakhs
( £12,270) a night for the grand
presidential suite. A key feature of the suite is its 447-square-foot bathroom
that includes a hot tub, steam room and most impressively, a bath designed by
the late Polish artist Stefan Norblin, which is carved out of a single piece of
pink Italian marble.
Before
one proceeds further, read media reports that Chinese authorities are now pushing
for a 'comprehensive wedding reform' to crack down on extravagant ceremonies. Current
'lavish and wasteful' wedding practices including sky-high monetary gifts and
vulgar hazing rituals have encouraged 'rampant money worship' and 'declining
morality,' according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.Couples
are now encouraged to celebrate their big day in a more civilised, traditional
and frugal way, the ministry said at a conference on Friday.
Wedding
costs in China have skyrocketed over the last two decades, especially in rural
areas. People have increasingly found the need to compete with neighbours and
friends in spending more money on weddings including expensive receptions,
lavish outfits and overseas wedding shoots.Officials in some cities last year placed a cap on increasing 'bride
prices' - money paid by the groom's parents to the brides' family, saying the
practice has been getting out of hand, reaching more than 100,000 yuan
(£11,000) in some poorer rural villages. At the same time, hazing rituals - pranks
couples are put through to help them relaxbefore the wedding ceremony - have often resulted in violence and
assault. The current
issues 'not only hinder growth and poverty alleviation in rural areas, but also
affect the harmony of families and healthy development of society,' the
ministry said at a national conference in Jinan, Shandong province.
Back home, during
the Hindu festival time of Deepavali, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka
Chopra rooted for a cracker free Diwali and better quality air in many
campaigns. In one of those, she even declared that she is asthmatic and
appealed to people to celebrate Diwali with “lights
and laddoos and love, and not pollution”. However, at her own wedding
day, skies over Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur lit up with fireworks. But little did
they know that the sparks would fly all over the nation through social media
turning into protests.
PETA India took to
Twitter to slam the couple. With that, PETA also shared its video from four
years ago, highlighting the woes of the animals, titled, 'Captive Elephants in
Jaipur: PETA India's 2014 Inspection'. Others tweeted - Wonderful display of
secular, non polluting, noiseless, animal friendly, pre 8 pm fireworks in
Bollywoodstan.
Celebrities they
can talk, they can do anything ~according to the News Minute, Tamil Nadu’s festival of lights saw the
police land on people’s doorsteps to crackdown on those who violated the
Supreme Court order on timings for lighting fireworks. As many as 2,100 cases
were registered and at least 650 people were arrested by the police across
Tamil Nadu on Tuesday for bursting crackers outside of the time limit set by
the state government -- 6am to 7am and 7pm to 8pm for Deepavali.
Have something to
say ! ? ~ but don’t get branded as Hindutva brigade by voicing anything like
this ..
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
5th Dec 2018.
