Typos: JUNGLE NIGHTS: EPISODE 1

Typos: JUNGLE NIGHTS: EPISODE 1:

The croaks seemed to have stirred something deep within. We stood there listening for a fair while, trying to figure out how many of them there might be and then, as if on a silent command, five flashlights came out in unison. Powerful beams chased the sound and little halos lit up the lake. On cue, like new stars on the night sky, bright orange dots twinkled back at us from the surface of the lake…

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Passionate About India: Who is the terrorist here? Is it the Naxalite? Or ...

Passionate About India: Who is the terrorist here? Is it the Naxalite? Or ...:

Every time Naxalites strike, the state wakes up to the problem of their menace. Yes, it’s true that today, the actions of Naxalites are looking similar to those of terrorists and I have often condemned their actions in the past. And in a democracy,

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Typos: THE MIRACLE THAT MATTERS

Typos: THE MIRACLE THAT MATTERS:            Imagine.. A ledge, high, very high, more than three miles high above the waters of the nearest sea... High above the clouds, where shards of ice fly like witches on brooms in winds that howl like banshees and where snowy glaciers still carve out morraines like they have since time began... Looking down on all of creation, from the roof of the world sits that ledge...

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The Fascinating World of Marketing: MASLOW AS MESSIAH FOR MARKETERS

The Fascinating World of Marketing: MASLOW AS MESSIAH FOR MARKETERS:     To those familiar with the craft of managing successful brands it came as perhaps a surprise that Anna Hazare found no place in India Today’s 2013 compilation of the most powerful people in India, even though the social activist had topped the list for 2012. A careful analysis would throw up many factors that could be responsible for this. In the first place, those who promoted the brand (media, corporates, et al) and crafted a halo around him had their own agenda which did not match the philosophy of brand Anna

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Passionate About India: IPL - caught at silly point!

Passionate About India: IPL - caught at silly point!:          

The IPL typically represents media frenzy, glamour and excessive of vices that supersede the sporting domain of the event; the event is taking cricket lovers for a ride as the glitterati topple the sporting paradigm of the game of cricket. IPL is packaged in a way that even those population segments that might not be hardcore cricket fans are glued to their television sets allured by the clamour of celebrities, glamour and the hysteria that goes with it. The money-spinning potboiler that the IPL is, it undoubtedly speaks of a very efficient and hot business model with all the right proportions of the marketing mix embedded in it. But with the largesse comes the cost. And the cost is the game of cricket itself. The unearthing of betting scandals, players’ complicity in spot-fixing, underworld kingpins’ involvement and monetary misappropriation are all turning the premise of what was supposed to be a perfectly innocent game – the game of the gentlemen. 

 

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Typos: THE FOUNTAIN IN THE CLOSET

Typos: THE FOUNTAIN IN THE CLOSET            Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth! With a title like that, Peter Keldar’s little treatise was bound to find success on the publishing charts, over and over again. Written in 1939, Keldar’s little gem has since spawned hundreds of editions, translations, versions, workshops in spas and health centres, discussion forums and YouTube videos. But a question still lingers… Does this fountain really quench one’s thirst for everlasting youth?

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Passionate About India: From Aashiqui 2 and 25 years of QSQT to Amitabh Ba...

Passionate About India: From Aashiqui 2 and 25 years of QSQT to Amitabh Ba...:Uff! How vividly I remember that summer day – during the start of our summer vacations in class eleventh – when I went to watch this iconic film called QSQT. First day, first show. At the Paras cinema hall in South Delhi. All alone. Because of Juhi Chawla! Yes, only because of her, as I had become a fan of hers ever since she became Miss India! My friends had no such extra love for her and they refused to accompany me! I remember that the hall was as good as empty, with a handful of couples sitting far and wide! And what a film I enjoyed in the emptiness of that hall! For the next seven days, I kept going back to see the same movie with a different set of friends each time (with the last set of friends coming back repeatedly) as the crowds kept swelling.

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Typos: THE BEST THAT NEVER WAS

Typos: THE BEST THAT NEVER WAS:  I don’t know how Hussey is faring right now. Baba won our little battle, and so I’m twiddling my thumbs while I watch “Maa”. But the mind wanders and wonders how Mr. Cricket’s holding up against Steyn. Am I missing out on the best battle this IPL, or is the Dale versus Gayle battle better? Or is it Sunil Narine who poses the greatest challenge for the batting behemoth from Jamaica?

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Passionate About India: Who says corruption is punished in elections? And ...

Passionate About India: Who says corruption is punished in elections? And ...:   Normally, it is difficult for me to be cynical like media pundits generally are. But after looking at election results in so many states since 2010, the one sad conclusion that I can draw is that the corruption card is being overstated and over-hyped. it appears as if allies and perception management play a bigger role in deciding elections than actual facts related to corruption and plunder.

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Typos: THE UGLY DUCKLING

Typos: THE UGLY DUCKLING: He sat by the tracks and felt the line come to life. The rail road quivered, excitedly. And in his little toes, he felt the same excitement as the distant rumble rolled closer. He put down the diary in which he was giving words to his angry tears and got to his feet. The ballast poked and pricked at his bare feet but he couldn’t feel any of it.

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Passionate About India: Our neighbours are waging wars through TV and radi...

Passionate About India: Our neighbours are waging wars through TV and radi...:    Strange as it may seem, despite India’s image of an amiable and polite nation, the country is surrounded by a league of adversaries with their noose always sharp to bait the hinterland and disturb the peace-cord of the nation. Needless to say, Pakistan is a major player in the league; China too is not far behind for all the obvious reasons. But what is most disconcerting is that the entire set of our neighbours, including Bangladesh and Nepal, have left no stone unturned to create political fissures in the border states; thus creating a rift between various ethnic and racial classes. Not only by our immediate neighbours, but India is also attacked with venomous content by and from unlikely quarters including apparently non-interfering Saudi and UAE communities.

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