Random Variables

With the Indian Super league(ISL) creating a lot of buzz around and with the Champions Tennis League(CTL) kicking off and soon to be followed by the star studded ITPL,India is slowly turning towards other sports apart from the Gentleman's Game Cricket.Cricket is almost like a religion in India,with over 1.5 billion people blindly following it .Once consider to be world power and with multiple Olympic Gold under its kitty,Hockey,considered to be India's National Sport lays in dismay.Call it Indian Sports ministries negligence,uninterested media or the cash strapped boards,no sports other than Cricket is been able to have a strong foothold in India.But in recent times with the introduction of various league be it the likes Pro Kabbaddi League,Indian Badminton League or Indian Hockey League and Indian Super League,Indian Sports is witnessing a Wind of Change.These league are not only able to gel with Indian Sports enthusiasts but also attract many sponsors,broadcasters and not the mention the Glamor which they had been deprived off since ages.The success of these leagues is largely credited to the Indian Premier League(IPL) as it is said to be the trend setter of this field and the rest simply followed it .But for one who has closely followed the IPL from its early days definitely knows how it came into existence.IPL,now consider to be one of the top sporting brand and is competing with the likes of NBA and EPL(two of the world's most popular league) only came to formation as an attempt to counter another emerging cricket league in India.The Launch of Indian Cricket League(ICL) in 2007 was the sole reason behind the Lalit Modi(One must feel pity for this guy) led and BCCI backed IPL,launched in 2008.The Essel Group(promoter of ZEE Telefilms) led league,the first of its kind in India ,was focussed on creating a pool of talented young players and set up academy all around the country.Without the back up of the BCCI,The ICC(ruled by the BCCI and its riches to an extent) also ruled against the support of the league which was focused for the development of the game.Though ICL found support among few state governments and also some celebrity too came forward,it lasted only for 2 seasons and in 2009,the league was gulped down into the darkness of time.

The success of IPL is no joke and within 6-7 years it has receive humongous fame and became one of the most talked annual sporting event in the world.But if it is taken into account,ICL the league which is now lost deep into the shadows of time was the only reason behind IPL and can simply be called the founding stone of the league culture in India.

It was back in 2004 when an investment banker tried to test his luck and take a dip into the vast sea of creative writing.In a country where one first become an engineer and then decide what to do next in life,he had never imagined his past expereince would come out to be so handy for him and set him on a journey to become India's most profilic English language novelist.Yes I am talking about India's very own Chetan Bhagat.

Mr.Bhagat debuted with Five Point Someone: What not to do at IIT! in 2004.The book was loosely based on his experience as an Engineering student and with India producing nearly 10 lakhs engineer everywhere,it was an instant success and sold over 700,000 copies.Mr.Bhagat himself being an alumni of IIT-D was easily able to connect himself with the students and many were able to relate it with their life.With the success of his very first book,Chetan Bhagat marked his arrival on the big stage.In 2005,Mr.Bhagat came out with his second novel One Night @ the Call Center and like its predecessor, it met with largely positive reviews. In 2008 he published his third book,The 3 Mistakes of My Life,though critics were not too impressed with the book,but like his previous two novels,this one was to a best-seller.With three national best-sellers already in his kitty,Chetan Bhagat was a big name in India now and he even came to more limelight when his second novel One Night @ the Call Center was adapted into a bollywood movie Hello.Though the movie was an below average hit,but what it did was to pave a way for Bhagat into Bollywood.His fourth book 2 States: The Story of My Marriage came out in 2009 and was said to be based largely on his life and it was first of Chetan Bhagat novel after quiting his job as an investment banker. 2 states was followed by Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition in 2011,What Young India Wants(a failed attempt in Non-fiction) in 2012 and more recently the highly publicised Half Girlfriend in October 2014.

After 10 years from his very 1st release in 2004,Chetan’s books have remained bestsellers and four out his seven novels have been already adapted into successful Bollywood films and the others are in process of being adapted as well.The New York Times called him the ‘the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history. Time magazine named him amongst the ‘100 most influential people in the world’ and Fast Company, USA, listed him as one of the world’s ‘100 most creative people in business’.Chetan even writes columns for leading English and Hindi newspapers.But keeping everything aside,the main question that arises is that in a country which is blessed to have the likes of Amitav Ghosh,Vikram Seth,Arundhati Roy,Naipaul and with such strong Literary background,how come a man with such aaverage literary skill make such impact.Basically the success of Mr.Chetan bhagat can be summarised with few points-

1.The ease in his writing i.e. use of simple words and plain english.Anyone with moderate english skill who had tried his hand in reading God of Small things or related stuff will definitely know that,one needs to have a dictionary by his/her side from the very first page.

2.With all that Chetan knows to write is about College,Love,Sex,Friendship and all other stuff that can be easily adapted into a Bollywood flick,he easily tends to connect with the youth of the country.As every every young blood has or is going through the situation to an extent.

3.Unlike many established writer,Mr.Bhagat ceases to end his story within 300 pages and thus matching the frequency of the impatience generation of the country and moreover his book are very affordable in terms of pricing when compared to others.

Personally I am not a Bhagat fan but it will unfare if I say I didn't enjoy reading Five point someone and 2 states,rest I felt were more or less written to made into a flick.Chetan bhagat with his repeatetive and compact style of writing has limited the literary development of his reader,who now don't try or want to look beyond him.Like SRK who everytime manages to pull off a lover boy image,Chetan Bhagat too manages to pull his novel projecting IIT's and IIM's.Any attempt to write beyond his comfort leads to a big disappointment and What Young India wants is a big example of a failed.Like every coin has two sides, similarly no matter how one rate Chetan Bhagat,but one cannot neglect the fact the he is fully responsible for making many youth fall in love with books and take up reading as a hobby.

Lastly I wanna conclude by saying that hate him or love him,but Chetan bhagat has become a juggernaut of Indian writing industry and there's no stopping this guy.

                                       “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”

Mahatma Gandhi,our very own Father of the Nation was a preacher of Clean India,but unfortunately after his death just like most of his ideals including a dream for cleaner India got lost in time.India which is on the verge of becoming a Global Superpower soon is been rank 123rd in Cleanliness by a Global agency.Keeping all this in his mind our Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra modi launched a nation wise campaign Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on 2nd October 2014.The Prime Minister has appealed to each and every Indian to take part in this initiative and lay the foundation for a cleaner India.

India is a country where more than 60% of its total population lives in rural areas and abide by the system and rules laid by their forefathers.They are unaware of all the progress,be it medical science,agriculture,technology etc. and still goes by full faith on their age old systems.When one visits a village or any other rural part of India he can easily spot people coming and going out of the fields with a bucket of water mostly in early morning.This leads us to a problem of poor sanitation facilities in our country most in rural part and its hazardous impact on the society and the environment. The reason for around 600 million people defacting in open everyday is the lack of awareness among them regarding proper sanitation and thus leading to less or no construction of toilets and lack of other hygienic amenities.Not only men,in a country like India were women and girls are worshipped contributes to it and are mostly the victims of its after effects both physically and mentally and is a big hitback towards their dignity and self respect.Even when the small Babli,who today learnt about sanitation,use of toilets in school questions her parents about toilets gets a rude reply from them and ask her to use the fields like others does and thus caging her thoughts about proper sanitation facilities too.

When one tries to look at the after affects of improper sanitation,he/she would be astonish to find out that in addition to creating a vile environment to live in it also pollutes one's food and water bodies with the help of the flies the breed on them.This strongly impacts to the health of the people mostly the women and the kids as they have to deal with it 24*7.

The government is trying to deal with the issue by conducting awareness program and with the help of print and electonic media.The Tv commercial featuring Vidya Balan,speaks for its own and the recently launch Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has made many come forward and take the initiative forward.One of the organisation that always supporterd this initiative and moreover was actively involved beforehand is Hindustan Unilever Limited.HUL under its flagship sanitation brand Domex, currently runs the Domex Toilet Academy (DTA) programme. Domex Toilet Academy was launched on 19th November 2013 and focusses in promoting the benefits of clean toilets & good hygiene.The programmea also aims to build 24000 toilets by 2015 in rural areas faced with the problem of open defecation. And moreover it has also come up with "You Click Domex Contributes" initiative where one can bring about the change in the lives of millions of kids, thereby showing your support for the Domex Initiative. All one need to do is “click” on the “Contribute Tab” on www.domex.in and Domex will contribute Rs.5 on one's behalf to eradicate open defecation, thereby helping kids like Babli live a dignified life.

            
             Please be a part of the initiative an help to build a toilet for all the babli's.

Welcome to the 21st century where inter caste marriage is slowly if not at a velocious rate becoming a non issue . But still a lot of stigmas are associated with inter caste marriages. Still many families and the society in particular do not approve of inter caste marriages and thus leading to honour killing. Honour killing of couples goes on in various states of India, though their is nothing to honour about so called “honour killing”.

Everyone knows that India is a diverse land that swank of having different culture, traditions and religions,but what is the point of having such different variety when people just cannot digest the very thought of their integration. Also one of the best solution to stop racial discrimination according to region , religion , caste, etc I belief is the amalgamation of different caste in the form of marriage. It will also help the next progeny to learn two different cultures and values which will help them to become better human beings. Their is something for every one of us to learn from different cultures and as Indians we must feel proud of having such a strong traditional backbone with us.

For those who belief that Inter caste marriage is prohibited according to our traditions I would like to bring to your understanding that the holy book of Hindus “The Gita “ Lord Krishna does not say anything against inter caste marriages. Infact Lord Krishna says that a person is qualified to a caste according to two qualities. 

1. Guna (personal quality).

2. Karma (aptitude for a particular type of work). 

He makes no mention of Varna (caste) being determined by birth.

So we should make our choices not on the basis of to whom she or he was born but on his/her personal quality. This attitude of specially our younger generation will make india a much stronger country and will take India to new heights.

Article Courtesy- Partha Pratim Bhuyan

Located near the Indian city of Agra along the river Yamuna,lies one of the world's greatest architectural treasures.The Taj mahal need no introduction,framed with white marble,the supernatural beauty of the Taj Mahal speaks with a voice of its own to visitors from all over the world of feelings that are common to all humanity.The Taj Mahal, which is considered one of the great wonders of the world, was built as the pee-eminent expression of a man's love for a wife. According to people,other works or lets say what we learn from our text books that it was built by Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan in commemoration of his loving wife Mumtaz.It is to be said that it took nearly around 22 years for 20000 worker to complete this work of art.

It was back in late 2013,I was reading a novel called Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi,though quite interesting as a whole,But the most interesting part in the book is where the author reveals that The Taj Mahal was an ancient Hindu Temple.Though it was purely a work of fiction,but some context were more or less enough to make one believe it for  true.After finishing the book and going by curiosity,I tried googling about The Taj being a Hindu Temple and to my suprise it was not a theory that was only limited to the novel,There were few people who went by it and moreover had proof to support it.One of them was Professor P.N. Oak, author of Taj Mahal: The True Story, who believes that the whole world has been duped. He claims that the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya), worshipped by the Rajputs of Agra city.In the course of his research, Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace had been usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. Shah Jahan then remodelled the palace into his wife's memorial. In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai Singh for Mumtaz's burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur is said to retain in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for the surrender of the Taj building.

The use of captured temples and mansions as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers.

Oak's inquiries begin with the name Taj Mahal. He says this term does not occur in any Moghul court papers or chronicles, even after Shah Jahan's time. The term 'Mahal' has never been used for a building in any of the Muslim countries, from Afghanistan to Algeria.

'The usual explanation that the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal is illogical in at least two respects. Firstly, her name was never Mumtaz Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani,' he writes. 'Secondly, one cannot omit the first three letters from a woman's name to derive the remainder as the name for the building.'

Taj Mahal is, he claims, a corrupt version of Tejo-mahalaya, or the Shiva's Palace. Oak also says that the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy tale created by court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archaeologists. Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan's time corroborates the love story.

Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting that the Taj Mahal predates Shah Jahan's era:

Oak also points out a number of design and architectural inconsistencies that support the belief that the Taj Mahal is a typical Hindu temple rather than a mausoleum.

Many rooms in the Taj Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan's time, and are still inaccessible to the public. Oak asserts they contain a headless statue of Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples.

Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi's government tried to have Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the first edition with dire consequences.

Stephen knapp also a strong propagator of these theory takes us more deep into it with his video

”TajMahal: Was it a Vedic Temple? Photographic Evidence, by StephenKnapp”.

A lot more videos and articles covering it can be found online easily and the only way to validate this theory as wrong or right is by opening the doors of the several sealed rooms inside the Taj Mahal.

Keeping all the controveries aside,lastly I want to add that be it a mausoleum or a temple,the Taj Mahal has left people enthralled all over the world with its unique identification  and has made every Indian including me proud to have it on our soil.

Courtsey:The controversey surrounding the origins of Taj Mahal(bbc.co.uk),Youtube,Wikipedia,

Krishna key-Ashwin Sanghi.

2. Instamojo:Founded by Aditya Sengupta, Akash Gehani, Harshad Sharma and Sampad Swain.Unlike OLX an Quikr it is a platform to sell digital product like an E-book or Digital music only,one has to do is register and put a link to his digital products.

For me it all started in the summer of 2007,when one of my friend introduce me to a whole new world of social networking,he introduce me to Orkut.From connecting with old friends to making some new ones,sending scraps,to evaluating/rating friends profile and changing themes,it became the next big thing.In a post by Google it said that Orkut helped shape life online before people really knew what ‘social networking’ was”,it started conversations, and forged connections, that had never existed before and indeed it was true.

Launched on 24th January 2004 as Google’s first foray into social networking,it was named after its creator a former Stanford graduate and google employee Orkut Buyukkokten.Though it never happened to create a big impact globally,it was working wonders in country like Brazil and India where in 2008 it became the most visited site.Unfortunately for Orkut it was also that time when another social networking site called Facebook was picking up its pace and as one can see always see it coming, one of the biggest migration in the history of mankind from Orkut to Facebook happened.Once a jam packed place,now a barren land,Google came up with many schemes to revive it but all in vain,by then Facebook has captured the whole world of social networking.In june 2011,Google began its second innings in the world of Social networking and with the aim of dethroning facebook by introducing Google+(plus).

In July,2014  it was announced in a blog post, Google will shut down Orkut in September of 2014 and focus on Google plus,later it was confirmed that it will be on 30th September when Orkut will officially go down.

One can login into Orkut today for the last time and take a dip into nostalgia with their very first experience to social networking with a option to connect their account to google + and export all their photos,scraps...

Here's the official guidelines for the exporting their account.

Lastly,I would say that I enjoyed every bit of time with you whole heartedly and had great fun,but now its time to give you a farewell...

To be born again,
First you have to die.
To land upon the bosomy earth,
First you have to fly.
How to ever smile again, if
First you don’t cry.
How to win the darling’s love,
Mister, without a sigh.
To be born again;
First you have to die.
To bath upon the shower of joy,
First you have to crawl through the desert so dry.
How to knit the yarn of success, if
First you don’t try.
How to ever lead a life,
Mister, if you always asks, why?
And to be born again
“First you have to die;”


                     

P.S: Inspired by Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses

                                           

From our primary classes we had been regularly taught that India is a secular country,apart from being the largest democracy.With a total of 29 states and 7 UTs,India always followed an one and all concept of “Unity in Diversity” or rather we are made to believe that.The biggest irony is that the whole concept of Unity can now only be found in mere writings largely in textbooks.Over the past 3-2 decades India has witnessed a drastic change in its internal as well as external scenario(which is not my concern here). India which we once consider as one united kingdom,now has been divided into numerous different states who does not share a healthy relation among themselves.The reason at grassroots level for such situation is the inability of the Central Government to pay equal attention to each and every state in India and thus resulting into the formation of more and more regional political parties and militants groups demanding right for their states. Staying in power at the top level and filing their own pockets by favoring the top corporate honchos has become the only motive for the ministers. One of the important factor that leads to favoritism among the states is the uneven division of the lok sabha seats. Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with almost 1/5th of the total seats in the lower house has become the main center of attraction for all the political parties.A good show in polls in these states and you are in control of the entire country. With this division of seat, states from North East India which contribute small portion to the total seats and militant prone state like Jammu and Kashmir are neglected because it does not contribute much to their political ambitions.One of the other factor that is leading to this division of our country is the incapability of the central government to solve the difference between ststes over a common issue.the on going krishna -godavari water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is a perfect example of it. India has always been a country were people from different etnics ,culture,race,colours lived in peace in the past.But are we sticking to it now,I am afraid but the answer would be a Big No. Everyday we come across news that a student from North East being question about his nationality , molested and even beaten to death.May it be Delhi,Mumbai or any other state,We are the citizen of India first then the state and no he/she can take away this right of ours. Another factor that comes into my mind is the enforcement of regional language,I agree by the fact that everyone should take pride in his/ her native language but why to force it on other and student of india I.e the buiding blocks of our nation are highly impacted by it.A student from punjab studying in South India is been told by his professor to learn the regional language if he want to understand clearly in the class, “yeh kaissi baat hui bhai”???. A person's lack of knowedge regarding their own country is one thing that has shocked me in the recent past,with people asking me some insane question like “Guwahati to Bengal mein hain na”??, Tripura being the capital of Guwahati , to mention a few decent one and I would like to pass on by it.

Its not like that we are always busy fighting with each other,people of India irrespective of state,culture from time to time have complemented each other by stanting other may it be the Nirbhaya case or the recent Jadhavpur University case,its that we need to be consistent.Lastly I conclude on a note the these are few among many factor s that are needed to be sorted out because this attitude of ours once led to annexation of our country in the hands of a foriegner and thus 200 years of darkness. So we should always take our stand and a stick to a single motto-

                            

Aah!!! its hardly three weeks for my final exams and no matter what comes next I will be an engineer after that for sure.reading was not my cup of tea though I read Chetan Bhagat,Ravindra Singh and few others long back.It was until I join engineering and with not much to do,i took up reading seriously and thus opening myself to a world of fiction,fantasy,realism and all other things.It was in june 2012 when one of my friend told me about a book called Chankaya's Chant,busy with the shiva trilogy it dint created much impact on me.Over with the secrets of the Nagas,i asked the same friend of mine if he has some good novel with him and he gave me the Chanakya's Chant and thus beginning of an epic journey with the Indian Dan Brown.Before I started with the book I did my part of research on the author Ashwin Sanghi. He graduated with a BA (Economics) from St. Xavier’s College and earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management.He was already the author of an Indian best selling book The Rozabal Line,which he wrote in 2007 under his pseudonym Shawn Haigins. But what excited me the most about him was his area of writing which was largely based on historical, theological and mythological themes and being a history buff by myself I could not asked for more.The book deals with the life of Chankya and Gangasagar Mishra,haunted by their past ,the book unfold their epic journey and how they manage to become a king-maker.The book preys on greed, venality and sexual deviance that brings out the best of both the men. The book was quick to have an impact on me and I went looking for his other book and thankfully I managed to find his latest released of the every year 2012 itself The Krishna Key. It is an anthropological thriller and his third novel after The Rozabal Line(the last of his novel that I read) and Chankya's Chant.The book follows a history professor that has to prove his innocence against a murder charge and solving the prolonging puzzle of the Krishna Key.Alongside a present day story the book portrayed Krishna in a "perfectly grey character" along with his ruling policies and treasures,the book also deals with the lost city of Dwarka,Of Taj Mahal being a Shiva temple.The book was again an Indian National best seller and finding its comparison with Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol.Being a not so famous author in 2012,I was not able to find his first book The Rozabal Line with any of my friend and I could not go for the hard copy all by myself,as I am always sort of cash. Finally after some searching on Mr.Google,who has the answer for everything I managed to find an Epub version of it and what's next,I was back to business again.A thriller fiction it deals with the subject of Jesus having survived the crucifixion and having settled down in India and how in a strife-torn Kashmir, a tomb called Rozabal holds the key to a riddle that arises in Jerusalem and gets answered at Vaishno Devi.It also spoke about an ultra-elite group of twelve commandos, similar to the Deccan Mujahideen,their formation and sole purpose.The book drew lots of similarties from Da Vinci's Code and was one hell of a page turner that moved with some serious pace and takes you across every continent.

In 2013, Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson announced that they will be co-writing an India-based thriller within Patterson's "Private" series.The novel is on the verge of completion and is slated for a release on 21 July 2014.With just three novels old and the fourth one on the line,Ashwin Sanghi has managed to become one of my favorite writers. If stuffs from Dan Brown and similar interests you then trust me with the books like The Rozabal Line and The Krishna key this Dan brown from India will not disappoint you,rather will blow you out of your mind. So if you are looking for some interesting book to read this summer,your search ends here.

In the past, mostly people interacted in groups having face-to- face relationships. Today, they are continuously exposed to messages generated from the centre.The history of mass media is comparatively recent. The oldest form is the press which was set up first by William Caxon at Westminster in 1476. The first wireless communication was made between the Isle of Wight and the English mainland in 1882, the phonograph was patented in 1877. The first cinema film was made in Paris in 1895.

In India, after the independence, new horizons were seen by the country in all the aspects of five year plans stressing the need to solve some of the national problems, such as, lack of cultural identity, absence of economic policy and so on, the development of mass media was boosted.The need for communicating with the masses and influencing them was felt in order to have the impact of the independence. This led to tremendous progress in the fields of print and the broadcast media.Freedom of speech and expression along with freedom of press was provided by the constitution as a fundamental right. Over and above, constitution also granted freedom of movement, right to profession and property, right to hold meetings and cultural gatherings.All these led to the unabated progress of mass media in the country.With the extending impact of media of mass communication on individuals and groups, the Indian society overall is reacting swiftly. The pervasive effects of the various media on the various spheres of the Indian life- economic, social, cultural, intellectual, religious and even moral values are transforming rapidly.Mass media are capable of creating various kinds of impact on mankind. They play a crucial role in the function and change of any society. A study of social change cannot be done without studying mass media. Therefore, in the present times when technology has brought about changes in the society, mass media studies have become important.

Mcluham, the Canadian writer perceives mass media in a very broad perspective. It is his thesis that, the medium is the message; he says that the content of a mass medium cannot be divorced from its context and from its technology.A statement made on television will be very different from a statement made through the press, the form and nature of the message's dissemination actually modifies the material.The visual image of television news involves us directly as compared to the news reported in the newspaper. Whether or not we discuss the wheel in the context of mass communication is a moot point, but it is obviously true that the wheel has changed many human societies in a way which is quite as radical as television or the press.He says that we have been too much pre occupied with the messages, or content, of mass media, and too little concerned with the media themselves, as they function within human society.The mass media constitute a powerful and pervading force in our lives. We are exposed daily to a bombardment of media messages. Most of the information we receive about our community, our state, the nation and the world comes to us through newspapers, magazines, television and radio.

The information and views communicated through these media have great impact on our attitudes toward people, events and problems. Mass media expose people to a flood of information almost narcotic sing reader, listener or viewer. Due to mass media the range and amount of information available to the people has vastly increased.Media confer a certain social status or people's position in society is enhanced when they appear upon television or are mentioned in the press. Mass media like films, television and press have particular glamour, which is enjoyed by those who are in them.Thus, mass media tend to enforce and corroborate social norms and bring personal attitudes and public morality closer.Mass media are common denominators. They serve the interest of the larger groups.

Media consumers are selective in their consumption of media output. They accept the messages which are easy for them to understand and they do not have to exert themselves in watching a programme or reading a newspaper. They also accept messages which reinforce their beliefs and reject or ignore those which have contrary views.Another criticism about the impact of mass media is that they do not keep pace with the changes that are taking place in society and usually maintain stereotyped roles and values. For example, widow woman in today's society wear dresses of all types and colors but films and television serials show them in their stereotyped white dress with no jwellery.Thus, mass communication process is more likely to sustain rather than challenge the existing political and social power structure in society.As a result, mass media look for supportive Communication and avoid that communication which projects alternative opinions. Mass media play a significant role in the socialization of the young. An extensive exposure necessarily influences young, who are always believed to be passive respondents.

Watz and Hoffman note that: "the social potential of mass communication has hardly been tapped". Effective use of the mass media has the potential for increasing the public's understanding of the goals of development programs and activities of development workers.It can increase public support for development programs and it can have a significant impact on the decisions of development planners, policy makers, and legislators that affect these programmes.It can help people function better in the community, by providing information that can support the coping capacities of persons under stress and consequently, it can significantly expand the impact of the development programmes in any community.A much wider range of target groups can be reached, not only those who might benefit from the programmes but also persons and groups that may be willing to provide tangible and intangible support for these development efforts, as a result of being better informed about them .Mass media in India are actively involved in the tasks related to different aspects of national development and they are assisting government and the masses in social, economic and political development. Thus, mass media have contributed to the mobilization of human resources for national development.The mobilizing of human resources requires a great deal of attention of what the population knows and thinks of national development, and especially to the encouragement of the attitudes and social customs and the provision of knowledge, which will be favourable to the development, the mass media have undertaken the job quite competently.It is evident from the tremendous changes that have taken place in the entire range of human activity in the country. Research studies by communication scholars also have proved that mass media have immensely aided and assisted the rate and score of development.

The studies conducted by Shramm, Rao and others have shown that the interaction between the media and the society from development point of view is 'constant and cumulative.'This helps people to set common goals of development and arrive at sound consensus. Media have communicated to the people about country's five year plans, development programmes, education system etc. and this has motivated people to become partners in the progress of the country.

The farm technology was communicated to the rural masses through mass communication media such as radio and films which became link between university laboratories and farmers.

This contributed to tremendous agricultural progress and ushered in green revolution in the country. There have been problems and constraints in the process of development but, on the whole, mass media in India have immensely contributed to bringing about change and development in India.

It has been realized that no significant development can take place without using mass media.

In other words, the mass media can have impact on a variety of important development programmes, relations, public education, and prevention functions of the development programmes.

It has also been observed that as the time devoted to media increases, people's participation in an organized action decreases. As a result, they remain away from the decision making and action for any personal or national development activities.

Mass media do not involve the individual directly. They bring changes largely in the psychological domain. They capture the audience by changing their opinions, attitudes, beliefs, knowledge and value systems.Psychological changes are considered to be more effective as compared to the change which is introduced directly into the social structure by means of law and government policies to which individuals are forced to adjust.The new media have brought about changes in the old media for example, due to the impact of television, newspapers and magazines have become more illustrative, radio has been trying to become more innovative in attracting the listeners, advertising has become part of every mass medium and so on.Moreover, due to the review of the programmes offered by every medium, competition to offer more and more interesting programmes of common taste has increased among the mass media.What about education? Mass media in India such as television, radio, newspaper, try to offer educational and enrichment messages for farmers, school children, youth, woman, and other groups. This again may be due to the competition among and within the media.Folk media have been very effective in promoting the message of literacy, mobilizing women and bringing them together to discuss issues related to their everyday lives. Street plays have proved very effective in integrating and mobilizing women for anti-arrack movement in Andhra Pradesh.

Sometimes too much of exposure to information leads people to saturation. For example, if we are exposed to the events of terrorism in Kashmir or Punjab for a very long period, we become less sensitive to the sufferings of people due to terrorism. Here the immediacy of visual image is lost and media ceases to be an informant.Mass medium like television has made great impact on the families by changing the way of life. In the last ten years Indian family has under gone drastic changes as far as family relations standard of living, style of living and buying habits are concerned.

To sum up, mass media create impact by playing their role as change agent, reflector and reinforcer of dominant values and attitudes in society which can have a significant impact on the decisions of development planners, policy makers and legislators that affect development programmes.

Article courtsey:www.studymode.com

“That poem was his favorite… When he lost courage, when he felt like just giving up — just lie down and not get up again — he would recite it. And it would give him what he needed to keep going.”

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

This poem has served as a great inspiration to me whole my life,i hope it does the same for you.


(courtsey www.openculture.com)

Almost everyone agrees that “Hotel California” by the Eagles is an absolute classic song, but people aren’t quite as sure over what it’s about. There are a multitude of theories surrounding the subject matter of “Hotel California,” only one of which has been confirmed by the band as true. However, a solid case can be made for some of the alternate interpretations. Even if they aren’t “official,” they’re still interesting,I’ll look at the lyrics (and beyond) through a different lens, giving support for the many different ways of looking at the song.

I want to take a look at one of the most controversial interpretations of the lyrics. According to some people (mostly Evangelical Christians), “Hotel California” is secretly about Satanism. Is it? Let’s take a look at the reasons for this claim:

1. Supposedly there was a Christian church in California (or on a California Street, depending where you look) that was abandoned in 1969. Later a group of Satan worshippers took over the building, converting it into a Satanic worship place. Followers of this theory point to the lyric “we haven’t had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine” (the “spirit” being the Spirit of Jesus Christ, which left with the Christians in 1969). It’s also interesting to note that the “The Satanic Bible” was first published in 1969. Some people even refer to the lyric before that line (“So I called up the captain, ‘please bring me my wine’”) as evidence that the Eagles were referring to the blood of Christ, symbolically portrayed in Communion rituals as wine.

2. “The master” referred to in the lyrics could be referencing Anton LaVey, leader of the Church of Satan, and supposed owner of this Satanic worship center.

2. The lyric “This could be Heaven or this could be Hell” sets a religious tone and invokes a feeling of moral ambiguity, as one might feel when being tempted.

3. The lyric “They just can’t kill the beast,” in which the “beast” is either Satan, as he is referred to in the Bible, or well-known occult figure Aleister Crowley, who went by the nickname “the beast.”

4. The lyric “What a nice surprise, bring your alibis,” which refers to the way many Satanists would lie about their allegiance to Church of Satan.

5. The lyrics “We are all just prisoners here, of our own device” and “You can check out at any time you like, but you can never leave” seem to refer to people who have taken a binding oath, which Church of Satan members were rumored to have done.

5. This wouldn’t be the only time the Eagles had used dark religious themes in their music. One of their other songs is called “Have a Good Day in Hell,” and they have a live album called Hell Freezes Over.

6. One of the most convincing arguments of the Satanism theory involves the imagery on the album jacket itself. In this photo, which can be seen on the jacket, pay close attention to the middle window sitting above the crowd of people:

… the bald-headed face resembles Anton LaVey’s! I’ve read that the person up on the balcony was actually just a woman the band hired for the photo, but why would she stand up there, mysteriously?

7. Take a look at the back cover of the album:

There’s one lone person in this photo – a janitor sweeping up after the party, one would assume. Not according to the people who are convinced “Hotel California” is about Satanism. There are two theories concerning the janitor – the first is that he is actually a dead body being propped up by a mop. (Some people even take this farther, claiming he was sacrificed by LaVey himself.) The second theory is that when the band took the photo, they thought they had captured the image of an empty hotel lobby. Only when they got the picture developed did they see the image of the janitor appear, making him some kind of ghost.

As you can probably imagine, there’s no real evidence to back any of this up.

8. And finally, in a move that seems way too direct to be true, supposedly Don Henley, one of the writers of the song, said in an interview, “We made the whole thing up as a symbol. The song’s just about Satanism. I don’t know why people have to twist its meaning all up.” I can’t find any convincing record of this, however.

So, is “Hotel California” really about Satanism? I don’t think so. Many of these highly imaginative rumors have no evidence behind them, and the band has denied that the song was about Anton LaVey’s pseudo-religion. However, some people to this day hold to the belief that the Eagles were secretly trying to convert the masses into devil worshippers with this song. Now you can at least understand where they’re coming from, right?

This article is not about my parents,your or anyone else parents,its that I could not come out with a good and interesting title so this funny one struck.Few days back I was going through an article in THE TIMES OF INDIA ,it was about teen migrating to newer social networking sites like twitter,instagram from facebook and they called it THE LEVIS EFFECT. The title was suprisingly catching and Levis???? isnt it a fashion brand and how its connected to social networking migration.The article was based on the reports that in 2013 twitter took over facebook as the largest social networking site and how teens mostly ageing between 18-19 years are massly attracted towards other sites. The report says that in 2012 the average age of the people login to facebook was 18 but in 2013 it jumped shockinlgy to 31.Its that now a days most parents are taking the help of facebook to monitor over their lads and thus this increase in number is forcing their children to opt. for other alternative.Most of the analyst compare this situation to what exactly happened with jeans. During the 80's when jeans were introduced into market it became a craze, a hit among the teens,wearing a levis jeans was cool and was a style statement in itself.Slowly as years rolled wearing jeans were not cool anymore.Parents and their children all started using it,jeans which were once exclusive to the boys and girls were now used by their parents too.Thus to come up with something unique teens started looking for alternative like the shorts,cargos etc.Now the same thing is happening again but in a digitised manner.

Though badly framed but I guess it wont stop you in sharing it...........
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