BLIZZARD OF BRAINS

Ok, so all you bibliophiles n pedants out there, a brilliant opportunity for you to test and amplify your literary skills as well as flaunt it.

Yes I’m talking about the annual "WORLD BOOK FAIR 2008" which is going to ensue in our very own Delhi at our favorite trade fair haunt PRAGATI MAIDAN. The world book fair is believed to be one of the most eminent trade fair of books and educational material and has participants from within and outside the nation. The fair not only showcase books and teaching aids but it also flaunts a vast collection of journals, periodicals, newspaper, and stationery and library materials.

This fair is quite different from the other book fair that happens in November because this fair is only for trade purposes and there is no retail involved. So the visitors would probably comprise of book sellers, book retailers, librarians, teachers, professors, wholesalers, literary agents etc.

The year 2008 as claimed by some national daily will be the year of book worms; n this is just the preliminary…Image the New Year kicking off with some really outstanding book fairs like the “Thiruvananthapuram Book Fair” then the “Guwahati Book Fair” and now the “WORLD BOOK FAIR.” This is indeed a great beginning and a great omen too for bibliophiles…:)

It seems to me a proffer too enthralling to renounce. So step up and step out and be primed for a squall of acumen coming your way in next to no time…

Till then

Suelta le Arma Por Favor
&
Adios……

CELEBRATED REFLECTIONS

The book launches are becoming one-off in publishing conduit but I deem that they are a great platform to promote and seize discussion for imperative and fretful issues, spaced out from launching the book, of course.

But as typical, keeping the aged norm in mind, I’ll be talking “books” here.
Recently there happened two book launches, one a book on bollywood by a bollywood connoisseur and the other being a cartoon book.

The book called ‘Reflections’, is a pictorial coffee table book by a bollywood veteran silver screen photographer, showcase a plethora of pictures of eminent bollywood personalities.
It was considered a privilege to be photographed by him, said a noted yesteryear’s actress.

Dhiraj chawda, the photographer has incarcerated many bollywood personalities in his camera ranging from Devika Rani, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand. Singing legend Lata Mangeshkar, classical music exponent pundit Ravi Shankar, music directors SD Burman, RC Boral and even present days actresses like Karisma Kapoor and Kajol as babies.

WA RE WAH..!! Applause applause… oh I’m sorry I deviated from my theme. But no, I didn’t, actually this is what the other book called. ‘WA RE WAH’-a compilation of cartoons, topics on cartooning and cartoonists. The book contains addresses and telephone numbers of 26 eminent cartoonists from all over India.

Quite an interesting contemplation, I must declare. Keeping the interest quotient modernize, the launch too of the book was quite pioneering.
Cartoonists P. Mohammed, Prakash Shetty, S.V. Padmanabha and Chandra Gangolli, and the author of the book Vasant Hosabettu drew cartoons on the spot. Later, magician Uday Kanathur put the cartoons in a magic box and made them vanish and lo and behold – pulled out the “Wa Re Wah” book from the box.

Well well well, it seems that there is something impressive in civic now, to sensitize my reading and arty buds… pssst… ;-)

TREAT FOR WORMS....

Hey, u got it all wrong.... read the post to know which uncanny worms i'm talking about..

The year 2008 will be the “YEAR OF BOOKWORMS” as claimed by a national daily, with big authors and bigger numbers, the Indian publishing industry seems all set for a grand new year.
The industry is getting increasingly corporative and a lot of retail space is due to be added. Also industry insiders anticipate alteration in the relation between publishers, distributors and retailers.
The dawning of the New Year hosted two book festivals for the avid book lovers. One was the Thiruvananthapuram book fair and the other Guwahati book fair.

Thiruvananthapuram book fair
The capital city of Kerela, a city of book lovers, is playing host to an eleven-day-long International book fair started on December 29th.
The book fair is organized as a part of the “Grand Kerala Shopping Festival” and was inaugurated by Vice-President Hamid Ansari.
Books of every possible genre, size and audience are put on view to enthrall the potential buyers and in all languages.

All the leading publishers in the country such as Penguin Books, Oxford University Press, Roli Publications, Rupa Publications, Sahitya Akademi, Pearson International, Orient Longman, Scholastic, Sage, Macmillan and National Book Trust of India are participating in the fair.
The fair will also endow with a forum for interaction amid book enthusiasts, authors, publishers, book merchants and libraries.

Special Programmes for children featuring Mrinalini Sarabhai and Kanchana Mukherjee are also organized, in addition to the daily book review gala and painting competition.


Guwahati book fair
As an abiding trait, the Guwahati Book Fair has been an instantaneous hit with the book aficionados, attracting around 12,000 visitors every day on an average, regardless of the bulging seethe of violence swallowing up the State.

The fair, which started on December 30, is 12-day programme, participated by more than 100 publishers and booksellers from across the country.
“Books still enjoy the zeal and attention of the intellectuals throughout the world, though after the advent of the internet, television and other modern gadgets, the existence of books was considered under threat,” said noted linguist Dr Pramod Chandra Bhattacharya while inaugurating the 22nd Guwahati Book Fair
With the inaugural ceremony of the book fair, the Publication Board has also set in motion its yearlong golden jubilee year celebrations.
As part of the board’s plan to release 52 new books and 25 reprints, more than 30 books were released in the fair by veteran journalist Radhikamohan Bhagawati.

Altogether 105 booksellers, distributors and publishers from athwart the country have taken part in the fair. Fifty-seven firms from the State, 25 from Kolkata, 18 from Delhi and one firm each from Ludhiana, Patna, Meerut, Mumbai, Pune and Shillong have taken part in the fair.

The main entrance of the fair is designed with a collage of the PBA publications’ snapshots printed aesthetically.

The book fairs are certainly an indulgence for the ardent booklovers and not only the book lovers but also an establishing floor for the various publishers.

The year 2008 is indeed going to be a "year of worms.....

oh..... bookworms"....!!!

"STUNG BY STING"

How unethical are the ethics of sting ops? What methods are valid to divulge transgressions? Is deception justifiable when the aim is to tell the truth?
The new era of sting operations bring forth some particularly acute questions.

The unmarked angle to the media now is “sting operations” to expose a social crime.
One can debate endlessly about the ethics of these issues, and not be any closer to resolution, except where motive is clear. But how can a layman judge the credibility of the motive?

Marching into someone’s solitude to expose certain issue is morally wrong because the behavior of the people involved might or might not be natural. They might be motivated to commit a crime or illustrate offense to be projected as a crime.
There exists huge distinction between ‘tempting’ or ‘noosing’ people to accept gifts or backhanders and ‘exposing of corruption’. The misdeed would not have been committed if the covertly journalist had not encouraged the act.
In this way investigative journalism is giving way to ‘Yellow Journalism’.

The disclosure of sting operations carried out by Tehelka on the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat created a stir at a time when the state was headed for assembly elections.
Questioning the timing of the sting and the manner in which it was carried out clearly indicated the mindset to bring about sharp communal divides’ at the time of polls and urge the Election Commission to take steps to check such ‘menacing stab’ to worsen communal split.

These days the media - print, web or television are beneath stern competition. They have to look for what sells ahead of journalist's ethic about presenting the news to public.
But there is a world that does not exist as far as journalists are concerned….

Sting operations are lawful journalistic paraphernalia and means of investigation, but like all other prevailing tools they have to be used vigilantly

The journalist is not a policeman. His intact "supremacy" gushes from the societal good that his profession does. In good journalistic associations, there ought to be ample control methods in place against probable mistreatment of the reporters’ entrée to sources of authority. Above and beyond, there is a basic difference between the quality of print exposés and those by television, due to the differences in the nature of the technology used.

Neither is sting good journalism, nor a secure device for a journalist to lever.

A journalist once said, “News is something someone somewhere doesn’t want to be published – all the rest is advertisement”.

Paperback affaire…!!!!

Bonjour fellas...!
As I told you to check back for constant updates, here I am with my topic of the day. I shall be discussing about the Patna Book Fair which took place at a nine day schedule in Patna. A grand affaire that ended on Sunday witnessed a huge gathering of visitors and particularly the youth.
There were nearly 570 book stalls and going by the organizer's claim this was bigger and better than ever before. The fair inaugurated by chief minister Nitish Kumar witnessed the visit of some of the elevated dignitaries of the literary world including veteran poet-filmmaker, author GULZAR, filmmaker Prakash Jha, noted writer Prabhash Joshi, Sonal Mansingh & many others.

With legendary works of highly acclaimed n criticized author Taslima Nasreen, and others including Vishnu Nagar, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Manu Bhandari and Salman Rushdie the organizers were sure to anticipate a grand success in their endeavors. Books of APJ Abdul Kalam, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, and Taslima Nasreen sold like hot cakes.

Apart from fiction best sellers or celebrity memoirs, the other hottest selling book at the Patna book fair was the holy QURAN with more than 500 copies being sold, mostly to non Muslims.


Notwithstanding the books which were the main attraction of the book fair, there were numerous cultural fête, colloquiums, painting exhibitions and career counseling events.
The organizers had to rebuff some of the publishers in the lack of supplementary space because there was a huddle of publishers from all over the nation.

It was bigger compared to the earlier fairs and this time it added some big publishing house to its cadre like Penguin, Prentice Hall of India, and Jaypee.

So we hope to see some good and bigger publishing houses next time.

A PROLOGUE TO MY COSMOS....!!!!

I’m not a very good speaker but I can write pretty well...
I’m not a very good expresser but I can feel very well...
A little kinder, but a little blinder...
When I’m weary I try to be cheery
I’m brave when temptations bid me wave...

I am
physically Conscious
Spiritually Grounded
Professionally Aggressive
Creatively Ingenious
Musically Inclined
Fashionably Innovative
And that’s y I chose a profession where my thoughts speak for me…
Hhhmm… Ok my thoughts n my profession.. I’ll jus give u all a snappy briefing about my thoughts and profession. I’m into entertainment media and my gush of discussions would be revolving around everything and anything related to “INFOTAINMENT”. i.e. from books to magazines, from talk shows to daily soaps, from interviews to reviews, from IT to Fashion industry.

I talk less, but I like talk sense. My prior experiences in working have taught me how to bring ideas to life and that’s what I do. M an avid reader n among my favorites are false impressions, the fountainhead, satanic verses, the alchemist.

I am more than words. I am actions
I like more than simple things, I like things simple...

A Few lines by kamala das- would best describe me.

“I don’t know politics but I know the names
Of those in power, and can repeat them like
Days of week, or names of months, beginning with Nehru.
I am Indian, very brown, born in
Delhi, I speak three languages, write in
Two, dream in one.

The language I speak,
Becomes mine, its distortions, its queer nesses
All mine, mine alone. It is half English, half
Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest,
It is as human as I am human, don’t
You see? It voices my joys, my longings, my
Hopes, and it is useful to me as cawing
Is to crows or roaring to the lions, it
Is human speech, the speech of the mind that is
Here and not there, a mind that sees and hears and is aware.

I am sinner,
I am saint. I am the beloved and the
betrayed. I have no joys that are not yours, no
aches which are not yours. I too call myself I.”

PLZ ENSURE CONSTANT CHECKS FOR MORE UPDATES IN MY COSMOS..