The following is a news story I did for a news agency I'm working for.
By Raksha Kumar, Indo-Asian News Service
New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS): As India's fashion industry races to catch up with the rest of the world, ramp modelling is fast becoming a viable option for young women.
It's also a sign of the changing times that large sections of Indian society that not too long ago looked down on modelling as a profession are coming around to accept it as a career that holds promise.
"People have become more broad minded; the designers have grown and become more experimental," contended Monikangkana Dutta, who will be walking the ramp for the third time at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) that opened here Wednesday."Globalisation has helped as it has served to expand peoples' minds," said Shruthi Agrawal, who does so for the first time at the Aug 30-Sep 3 fashion week.
Even so, it wasn't easy for Shruthi, whose parents insisted she first focus on her studies."My parents wanted me to give priority to my studies so I did my post graduation," she said.Being a Muslim, Sanea Sheikh, also a fashion week first-timer, had a slightly different problem - of changing mindsets."It was difficult. It took time to convince my parents."
But then, as Monikangkana pointed out, young women wanting to become models have invariably faced parental roadblocks."Four to five years ago, 70 percent of the models rebelled against their families to become models. Today their numbers are much lower."
To that extent, Garima Parnami was rather lucky."My parents are very open minded, they trust me," said Garima, who will walk the ramp at the fashion week and hopes it will be the gateway to a rewarding career.
Seema Gupta, mother of model Nandita Gupta, cited growing professionalism as the reason for modelling being accepted as a profession."There are agencies that take complete responsibility for the grooming of the youngsters," she stated.
The jury, however, is out on that one.According to Garima, "agencies only serve cooked food; they don't teach you how to cook. You have to eat what they serve". Monikangkana agreed, saying the agencies were not the least helpful. "Most agencies are only money making machines," she maintained.
Even so, the sheer number of agencies that exist are a pointer to the fact that they do serve a purpose.In sum, few will dispute the fact that urban India's acceptance of modelling as a career has phenomenally increased in the past few years.
Indo-Asian News Service
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Different Colours of Journalism
"JOURNALISTS ARE NOT LIARS… they are factually challenged."
-a (wise) man.
In this age of 24*7 journalism, the profession is one of the most spoken about, criticized, yet, interestingly the most sought after.
The people in the profession rarely realize their invaluable contribution to the ever expanding database of jokes when they frame headlines like, ‘Teenage Girls Often Have Babies Fathered By Men’.
But you would forgive them for such minor errors, because they work under tremendous pressures. They have to beat the competition! Their rivals in the field would write a headline reading, ‘Tomatoes Come In Big, Little And Small Sizes’ (The Daily Progress, March 30, 1995). I wonder if there were any more sizes he could have mentioned.
No wonder they say that ‘Professional Journalism’ is an oxymoron!
Why are we picking on the small scribes? After all, how many of us have seen the ‘big’ ones in in action make such blunders? Perhaps a few here or there. On the second of November the Los Angeles Times carried a headline ‘Larger Kangaroos Leap Farther, Researchers Find’. I see, what a research that should have been! Twenty days after this The New York Times said ‘Our Survey Finds Dirtier Subways After Cleaning Jobs Were Cut’. Elementary, my dear Watson, why would you want a survey to tell you that!
Now I know the true meaning of competition.
These incidents have forced 'experts' to say that journalism is literature in hurry. Veterans in this field are God’s gift to mankind. Therefore a wise man once remarked, ‘that old reporters never die they just get de-pressed, and old photographers never die they just stop developing’.
‘Who needs comedians? Journalists are much more laughable,’ such compliments are showered on the journalists who can remark ‘War Dims Hope For Peace’ (fantastic!) or even better, ‘Panda Mating Fails, Senior Veterinarian Takes Over.’
I won’t be surprised if we started watching news channels for our daily dose of entertainment. Much has been written about intelligent journalists asking people in flood affected areas whether they are comfortable and cozy!
As a prospective journalist it is my duty to give you both sides of the picture. And the not-so-bad news is that not all of journalism is as bad. There is hope and I wish things change for the better in the future.
Raksha Kumar.
-a (wise) man.
In this age of 24*7 journalism, the profession is one of the most spoken about, criticized, yet, interestingly the most sought after.
The people in the profession rarely realize their invaluable contribution to the ever expanding database of jokes when they frame headlines like, ‘Teenage Girls Often Have Babies Fathered By Men’.
But you would forgive them for such minor errors, because they work under tremendous pressures. They have to beat the competition! Their rivals in the field would write a headline reading, ‘Tomatoes Come In Big, Little And Small Sizes’ (The Daily Progress, March 30, 1995). I wonder if there were any more sizes he could have mentioned.
No wonder they say that ‘Professional Journalism’ is an oxymoron!
Why are we picking on the small scribes? After all, how many of us have seen the ‘big’ ones in in action make such blunders? Perhaps a few here or there. On the second of November the Los Angeles Times carried a headline ‘Larger Kangaroos Leap Farther, Researchers Find’. I see, what a research that should have been! Twenty days after this The New York Times said ‘Our Survey Finds Dirtier Subways After Cleaning Jobs Were Cut’. Elementary, my dear Watson, why would you want a survey to tell you that!
Now I know the true meaning of competition.
These incidents have forced 'experts' to say that journalism is literature in hurry. Veterans in this field are God’s gift to mankind. Therefore a wise man once remarked, ‘that old reporters never die they just get de-pressed, and old photographers never die they just stop developing’.
‘Who needs comedians? Journalists are much more laughable,’ such compliments are showered on the journalists who can remark ‘War Dims Hope For Peace’ (fantastic!) or even better, ‘Panda Mating Fails, Senior Veterinarian Takes Over.’
I won’t be surprised if we started watching news channels for our daily dose of entertainment. Much has been written about intelligent journalists asking people in flood affected areas whether they are comfortable and cozy!
As a prospective journalist it is my duty to give you both sides of the picture. And the not-so-bad news is that not all of journalism is as bad. There is hope and I wish things change for the better in the future.
Raksha Kumar.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Women choose neo-look salwar-kameez as office wear
This is a story I did for a news agency I'm working for.
Salwar kameez, the three-piece traditional Indian garment considered the second skin of the unfashionable brigade, is now being flaunted as corporate wear.
The neo-look salwar-kameez bears little resemblance to the dress that the women of Punjab have been wearing for years. The stylish cuts, the colour schemes and the smart motifs lend this Indian garment a truly global look.
Kameez is a knee-length tunic worn over a salwar, a trouser. A duppatta is a long flowing piece of cloth that completes the ensemble.
Unlike before there are hundreds of designs to choose from. But the range of fusion wear - a mix of ethnic and western designs - continues to be a hit with the young and the not-so-young.
The new designs, which can easily pass off as western attire, are doing well both in India and abroad. In fact the garments are being cleverly marketed as "Indo-western" wear.
Company executive Sadhana Mehta, who wears salwar-kameez to work, told IANS: "Some years ago I would never wear a salwar-kameez to work. The women wore corporate western suits to look smart like their male colleagues. Not anymore."
Apart from the neo-look, it is the comfort factor which makes the garment so popular.
"Comfort levels are high. It fits all body types. You can play around with designs which make you look fat, thin, tall, short," says Priya Pradhan, who owns a boutique in Bangalore.
A salesman at Westside, a retail clothes outlet, says, "Fusion fashion has given the salwar suit a new lease of life. We can see its presence in the West, where the salwar is seen as being 'cool'."
There are hundreds of online sites that sell only salwar-kameez. A spokesperson for a design house in New Delhi says, "Because of their graceful feminine elegance salwar-kameez fill the void created by western attire."
Even students love wearing the modern avatar of the salwar-kameez to the campus. Twenty-one-year old Maya, a Delhi University student, wears short kurtas which can pass off as spaghetti tops, over a salwar which can pass off as a trouser. She often wears a short kurta over a pair of jeans and tops it off with a stole (a dupatta).
But old-timers are not too happy with the neo-look. "The purpose of the dupatta is lost," rues 56-year-old Kuljeet Kaur, a housewife.
Vinoo Tripathi, a sociologist, has the last word. "The story of the salwar is another classic example of India's limited influence on the West and the complete westernisation of Indian tradition."
Raksha Kumar
Salwar kameez, the three-piece traditional Indian garment considered the second skin of the unfashionable brigade, is now being flaunted as corporate wear.
The neo-look salwar-kameez bears little resemblance to the dress that the women of Punjab have been wearing for years. The stylish cuts, the colour schemes and the smart motifs lend this Indian garment a truly global look.
Kameez is a knee-length tunic worn over a salwar, a trouser. A duppatta is a long flowing piece of cloth that completes the ensemble.
Unlike before there are hundreds of designs to choose from. But the range of fusion wear - a mix of ethnic and western designs - continues to be a hit with the young and the not-so-young.
The new designs, which can easily pass off as western attire, are doing well both in India and abroad. In fact the garments are being cleverly marketed as "Indo-western" wear.
Company executive Sadhana Mehta, who wears salwar-kameez to work, told IANS: "Some years ago I would never wear a salwar-kameez to work. The women wore corporate western suits to look smart like their male colleagues. Not anymore."
Apart from the neo-look, it is the comfort factor which makes the garment so popular.
"Comfort levels are high. It fits all body types. You can play around with designs which make you look fat, thin, tall, short," says Priya Pradhan, who owns a boutique in Bangalore.
A salesman at Westside, a retail clothes outlet, says, "Fusion fashion has given the salwar suit a new lease of life. We can see its presence in the West, where the salwar is seen as being 'cool'."
There are hundreds of online sites that sell only salwar-kameez. A spokesperson for a design house in New Delhi says, "Because of their graceful feminine elegance salwar-kameez fill the void created by western attire."
Even students love wearing the modern avatar of the salwar-kameez to the campus. Twenty-one-year old Maya, a Delhi University student, wears short kurtas which can pass off as spaghetti tops, over a salwar which can pass off as a trouser. She often wears a short kurta over a pair of jeans and tops it off with a stole (a dupatta).
But old-timers are not too happy with the neo-look. "The purpose of the dupatta is lost," rues 56-year-old Kuljeet Kaur, a housewife.
Vinoo Tripathi, a sociologist, has the last word. "The story of the salwar is another classic example of India's limited influence on the West and the complete westernisation of Indian tradition."
Raksha Kumar
Is SMS killing creativity?
This is a story I did for a news agency I'm working for.
Text messages and short message service (SMS) have become an easy mode of communication for everyone. But sceptics argue that they are killing the creative side of people.
Madhu Gupta, 47, feels low-cost services like SMS (short message service) are doing away with creativity among the youngsters as her daughter wished her for her birthday by forwarding an SMS.
"We used to spend hours decorating a card for parents during their birthdays; today I just get an SMS from my daughter. I feel as if someone else is wishing me on her behalf," Gupta told IANS.
However, Shalini, a university student disagrees with Gupta. "Well someone must have framed the initial message, how can it then kill creativity."
Argues 23-year-old Anupama, "It is a quick way of keeping in touch with near and dear ones. It is the best way out when you have nothing to say."
"The readymade SMSs stops us from thinking, they make us believe that we are not good communicators," says a Delhi-based psychology teacher.
"However, there are no official data to prove that SMS forwards hinder creativity levels," says the teacher.
The markets today are flooded with books having readymade text messages, available for Rs.10, and according to a vendor who is earning considerably well by selling them, his primary customers are youngsters.
A Bangalore-based psychologist, told IANS, "Due to physical distances day by day, there is a greater need for people to be in touch."
"And not everyone has been good at expression and will never be. But we can exercise the right side of our brain a bit more, which is what we need in this technology-dominated world."
Raksha Kumar
Text messages and short message service (SMS) have become an easy mode of communication for everyone. But sceptics argue that they are killing the creative side of people.
Madhu Gupta, 47, feels low-cost services like SMS (short message service) are doing away with creativity among the youngsters as her daughter wished her for her birthday by forwarding an SMS.
"We used to spend hours decorating a card for parents during their birthdays; today I just get an SMS from my daughter. I feel as if someone else is wishing me on her behalf," Gupta told IANS.
However, Shalini, a university student disagrees with Gupta. "Well someone must have framed the initial message, how can it then kill creativity."
Argues 23-year-old Anupama, "It is a quick way of keeping in touch with near and dear ones. It is the best way out when you have nothing to say."
"The readymade SMSs stops us from thinking, they make us believe that we are not good communicators," says a Delhi-based psychology teacher.
"However, there are no official data to prove that SMS forwards hinder creativity levels," says the teacher.
The markets today are flooded with books having readymade text messages, available for Rs.10, and according to a vendor who is earning considerably well by selling them, his primary customers are youngsters.
A Bangalore-based psychologist, told IANS, "Due to physical distances day by day, there is a greater need for people to be in touch."
"And not everyone has been good at expression and will never be. But we can exercise the right side of our brain a bit more, which is what we need in this technology-dominated world."
Raksha Kumar
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