The Hindu : New Delhi News : Inside delhi

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Tuesday, Jul 08, 2008
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Inside delhi

Jungle raj

The tall claims made by the Sheila Government about changing the face of public transport in Delhi seem limited to the addition of a few swanky air-conditioned buses to a fleet still dominated by the unruly Bluelines.

Despite an overwhelming opposition to the way the buses are allowed to bend rules and unleash terror on the streets, little has been done to improve their services. Travelling in these buses, especially after sundown, for women is an exercise that tests valour.

Women travellers have to brace themselves for unwarranted comments, rowdy behaviour and remarks laced with innuendo. Not only do fellow-passengers turn the proverbial Nelson’s eye to such incidents, the driver and the conductors fare worse. A friend travelling in one of these buses over the weekend was shocked when no one in the bus came to the rescue of a co-passenger who was being showered with abuses by a drunkard.

The woman’s fault was that she chided the drunken man for his bad behaviour. The ugly episode came to an end only after the woman called up the police. After the drunkard was taken away by the police, the friend asked the conductor why he didn’t come to the rescue of the passenger and offload the wayward one.

The conductor’s reply summed up the situation of the public transport in the city.

“My job is to collect fares and save my own skin,” he said, adding as an after-thought, “When no one in the bus was protesting, why should I have intervened and invited trouble for myself?”

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Show time

This past Friday saw a debut by the year’s two most hyped newcomers in Bollywood. While ace actor Aamir Khan zeroed in on a campus love story to launch his nephew Imran Khan in “Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na”, Harman Baweja had daddy dearest Harry Baweja making a futuristic “Love Story 2050” for him.

With so much at stake, those involved with the two movies have quite expectedly been on a promotion and PR overkill during the past few days.

The lead actors of both the films seemed omnipresent, making appearances on chat shows and game shows on television, phone-in programmes on radio and many other public events, not to forget endless rounds of media interviews.

Aamir Khan, one of the producers of “Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na”, being his meticulous self, went a step further to ensure that the audiences go back absolutely content after watching his movie.

This Sunday, when a friend booked tickets at a South Delhi cinema hall, little did she know what was on offer.

Barely had the movie got over and the credits begun to roll that the viewers were in for a surprise. Aamir Khan himself took over the stage. Accompanied by director Abbas Tyrewala and the lead star cast of the movie, Aamir got chatting with the audience inviting their reactions.

He introduced the six actors who play friends in the movie. The widest cheer came for debutant Imran Khan with many girls trying to breach the security cover to hug him. The young actor blushed when a girl from the audience yelled asking if she could kiss him.

The actors crooned a bit, danced and delivered some dialogue from the movie on public demand. All in all, it turned out to be complete “paisa vasool” entertainment for those who came to watch the show.

Parul Sharma

Unusual expeditions

To inspire children to give a thought to the planet they live on, an Indian publishing house released 12 brand new titles of National Geographic’s award-winning school publishing series this past week.

The titles, “Reading Expeditions”, have been co-published by National Geographic and Popular Prakashan. The series intends to take children on a journey across the earth, sharing its amazing stories and provide students with the tools they need to become strategic and independent readers.

Making the announcement, Popular Prakashan Chief Executive Officer Manish Purohit said: “We are proud to associate ourselves with National Geographic which is one of the world’s largest non-profit scientific and educational organisations and supports an education programme combating geographic illiteracy. We believe in giving the best to the children about geographical knowledge through the book titles like ‘Rocks & Minerals’, ‘Eco-system’ and ‘Star & Galaxy’.”

For the first time, National Geographic has co-published its books in English with an Indian publishing house. Since 1888, the magazine has covered every part of the earth, sharing its amazing stories with Generation X. Besides supporting critical expeditions and scientific fieldwork, its Mission Programmes encourage geography education for students.

Madhur Tankha

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