CORRUPTION: DEMOCRACY Vs. ANNAGIRI

Hi Everybody,

How have you been? And what's been the latest at your end? Well, lot's been happening in India particularly which has caught the shock and awe of the world and has even been heralded as the so called 'second freedom struggle'!!! The other day, I was visiting a friend and we happened to get talking on the wave of anti-corruption that had swept our country, the repercussions,the possible resolution on the issue or the possible backlash it could have if the situation was not salvaged in time.

RECOUNTING JULY: A MONTH THAT WAS NOT TO BE...

Hello Everybody,

How have you been? Trust all's well at your end! Let's do a quick run-down on all that transpired in the month gone by...

Preparations for the 2012 London Olympics are not underway...but they're all set to host the games even today as they are already showcasing the medals to be given to the winners next year! Now cut to last year,same time in August 2010...ten days before the countdown to  the prestigious Commonwealth games we were yet repairing our stadiums,the grounds, the residential complex and in some places construction was still under way! In India,they'd call it the 'jugaad' culture...now go google it out to find out what that means!

ROYAL SPLENDOUR & DESI BEATS: RECOUNTING WILL-KATE NUPTIALS & WORLD CUP 2011

Hi Friends!

How's life? Trust all's well with you and your loved ones. In the last two months I wrote on happenings and events in my country and around the world that didn't give us much of a reason to smile or celebrate about....well then let's compensate you all for that! :-)  

Ah....the taste of victory!

Let's start with India first...well, though there has been no respite from the scam and corruption in our country,but we do have crusaders like Anna Hazare who keep the government under checks and balance.But before Anna Hazare's movement could commence early last month, on 2nd April 2011 (Remember this date, it's history and finds a direct entry into sports lovers journals of reference)both India and Indians all over the world had a reason to celebrate when the Indian cricket team brought home the coveted World Cup after 28 long years and not before beating reigning favorites Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as we marched past to the big WIN.

CHANGE WE MUST, CHANGE WE CAN

Hello Friends,

How are you doing? Trust all's fine with you by the grace of God.Last month's blog I spoke about women's emancipation and liberation and explained that the day a woman can stand up to her convictions and refuse to accept her identity by the stereotypical roles defined for her, from that day on everyday would be Women's Day.

Here's some good news from the west and some not-so-good news from India on this front.Okay, here it is....in the history of Oscars,Kathryn Bigelow,ex-wife of James Cameron (whose film Avatar was tipped to sweep the Oscars...yeah as I was told!) became the first woman to win the Oscar for the Best Director and the Best Film for her film The Hurt Locker...and it swept away some major wins in the other categories as well. No doubt about that,it was definitely Bigelow's biggest evenings of her life! Though one had the gut feeling that she'd win the Oscar when she won at the BAFTA's and I had an inkling that her win was imminent....but then Avatar was a favorite too after all Cameron toppled his own film Titanic with the highest grossing film worldwide with the collections of a record $2,685,140,003 ...so this fact could not be ignored either. Another factor if I analyze things correctly was at the BAFTAs in 2008, when Danny Boyle swept the BAFTA's for his film Slum-dog Millionaire and that gave him the edge at the Oscars...so definitely Bigelow had earned her brownies before the big night and took home the coveted prize (right under the nose from her ex-husband)! 

FASHION - TODAY, TOMORROW & FOREVER

Hello Everybody,
How have you been? Trust all's well at your end. Well, there's nothing really special happening at my end...the month just passed by...except for the last 3 days of January which was very very exciting.....out of the blue and in a long time I was given a reporting assignment and I had fun taking it up!!
 

Chandigarh, a li'l city in North India organized the first ever Chandigarh Fashion Week where supermodels from across the country, internationally and from the city participated in this 3-day event held at the Taj Hotel.

 

I have always been this shy and introvert kinda girl...and you bet, I still am! I don't know where this energy and confidence came from…I was actually interacting with the models, designers (yeah yeah…one or two big names too!) and taking their quick sound bites for the camera. We had Russian model Natalia, film actors Udita Goswami, Shahwar Ali and well-known models Jesse Randhawa, Simran Kaur Mundi (reigning Miss India-Universe), Shriya Kishore (reigning Miss India-Earth), Amanpreet Wahi, Barkha Kaul and many other regional models who I must say also have it in them to become the next supermodel (thank God, barring two or three none of the 42 models were size-zero...as I absolutely detest it!)

India is known for its culture, traditions, villages and spirituality. We have 31 states, 1618 languages, 6400 castes, 6 ethnic groups and 29 festivals which is not just celebrated with great fervor both India and across the globe.

Now you must be wondering that a little while ago I was talking about the fashion show and from nowhere I came to discussing India. Okay...let me come to the point. There is one state in India which is known to be flamboyant, filthily opulent and spendthrift when it comes to weddings....it has to be Punjab!! You ought to attend a Punjabi wedding to know what I'm talking about! Punjab is known for its extravagance when it comes to wedding celebrations...be it the designer wedding trousseau and exquisite jewellery (polkis, kundan, solitaires and of course gold...never mind the prices of gold going up!!), the cuisines (never mind the prices of essential food commodities/ items going up, there has to be 50-75 dishes in an affluent Punjabi wedding!!) and the elegantly decorated venues (yes...now a days we have the "theme" or the "concept" wedding and there's a separate industry looking after this as well!).

And it is exactly this weakness (as I may put it) of Punjab that the designers had come readied and prepared to capture the ever flourishing apparel and clothing market and cash-in on the on-going wedding season!! Yes, it was definitely raining wedding with almost 25 out of the 30 odd designers showcasing designer wears for occasions like the engagement, marriage or even the reception ceremonies. There were exquisite wedding trousseaus for both men and women. Take the colorful bridal lehengas and saris with heavy zardozi and intricate embroidery, the embellished motifs on the blouses for women, the flowing gowns, flowing party dresses, mermaid dress, layered-dress (reminded me of the multi-layer cream cake you get to see in a Christian wedding!!). For men we had diamond-crusted attires in velvet and silk in rich dark colors, which added to the royal look on the sherwanis and the band-galas, which was the highpoint at the 3-day fashion event.

Now another weakness the North Indians have is that they are in love with the Hindi film industry….oh…don’t get me wrong. Even I love Hindi films, the actors and actresses….but outta here people tend to ape fashion trends depicted in films indiscriminately without having a clear sense of what suits them and what does not. Here again in the fashion week-end, besides the ethnic wear we also had a good dose of western clothing - men’s wear in colors of pink and purple, funky open chappals, trendy jewellery, headbands, wooden bangles, stylishly beautiful short dresses and the untidy hair…..all of which I understood was that attitude in fashion goes hand-in-hand. This point was re-iterated when I happened to ask Pallavi Jaikishen, a veteran fashion designer what was in and out this summer….and guess what she said…“It’s simply the attitude that matters!” Definitely, attitude and fashion complete and complement each other!

The designers breath-takingly beautiful collection just swayed the audience away...I don’t think there's a better place other than India to market “fashion” as we are a consumerist society! At times I even tend to believe that we consume fashion just like food without really understanding the whole essence of it! Though I belong to the North India and somewhere trace my roots in the West of India (I also belong to Mumbai better known as Bombay until sometime back) as well...here's one respite for all of you is that at least Sonyaa does not count herself in this mad-rush especially when it means spending lakhs on designer wears!
 

All in all if I had to sum it up, on the positive side this 3 day fashion bonanza was not just a showcase of designer wears ....but it was talent, creativity and the spirit of the people working behind the ramp, the designers, the organizers, choreographer, technician in putting this show together and the people who came in great numbers to watch this spectacular event that made it a huge success!!!!

Did you enjoy reading this article? Do you agree/ disagree with what I have to say? Whatever it may be….do not forget to share your views, opinions and thoughts with us on the same.

Take care and ciao until next month.
Love,
Sonyaa

CELEBRATING SONYAA's RANDOM MUSINGS FIRST BLOG ANNIVERSARY

Hello Everybody,

Am so happy to be back again writing to you....one month is a loooooong hiatus....am so glad to have a few but devoted readers who make it a point to read the articles published on my blog....I know...many a times I have to pester you to read them and many a times you do so on your own...you know what I really appreciate the latter. I would also like to humbly thank all those who have subscribed to my blog postings, shared their comments and more importantly contributed their lovely articles on Sonyaa's Random Musings.

USHERING IN THE NEW YEAR WITH FORGIVENESS...

Hello Everybody,

How've you been?? It's really been a long long time I wrote to you all and what better time to write to you as we usher in the New Year - a year we'd hope to start our lives anew and with a prayer that will be blessed and filled with joy, happiness, abundance, love, brotherhood, forgiveness and compassion.

THE INDIAN CONNECTION!

Hello Everybody,

After weeks of tiring you endlessly on the situation prevalent in India and over the world, today I have come up with an interesting post for you. You’d surely agree with me when I say that India has made a mark in every field be it science, technology, education, IT & computers etc and certain names like Lakshmi Mittal, Sabeer Bhatia, Indra Nooyi, Kalpana Chawla, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw are among the names that come to your mind when I ask you to enlist the people who have brought India on to the world map.

But today I’m going to talk of people in the area of performing arts, who have made a mark in the foreign soil but with a difference…yes they have an Indian lineage behind them, some of them may be Indians who have had a successful innings as a model, actor or actress etc in Hindi films first but have gone on to carve a distinct identity for themselves in Hollywood,whether they may have been successful or not…but their effort is certainly laudable because they dared to think out of the box and not surprising that today Hollywood actors are being directed by their Indian counterparts!! 

INDIA's STRUGGLE FOR HER SECOND INDEPENDENCE

Hello friends,

Welcome again to yet another interesting feature on India's Independence. You must be wondering what's wrong with me today! Independence Day is gone and why am I discussing it yet again....but if you have carefully read my previous week's posting reminiscing the times when our forefathers gave a clarion call for our Independence to the present day where the communal divide was breaking our country, you'd realize that the culminating factor which is likely to emerge out of it in the near future would be INDIA's STRUGGLE FOR HER SECOND INDEPENDENCE!

Yes, my dear friends, and that's precisely what Mr. Pannu would be discussing today. He weighs the pros and cons of the leadership in our country, the havoc makers disrupting peace and harmony and the divide taking place in the psyche of the people, but ....at the same time he assures us that there is still a ray of hope provided we wake up NOW!!

BARGAINING LIFE

Hello Everybody,

I'm back again with yet another interesting post for you.......but hold it...this time I have a surprise for you. In our post today we have Manpreet Walia from India sharing some interesting facets of life. Through the heart-rending story of his friend, he explains us the quintessential meaning of life. After all what is life? Is it all about Money? Owning a Rolls Royce? Spending time with your loved ones? Or what? Does anyone have a perfect definition and answer of LIFE itself?