Saturday, March 23, 2013

Legendary Bollywood mega star Amitabh Bachchan has turned 70.



1 He is a double MA.
2 He wanted to become an engineer and had been keen to join the Indian Air Force.
3 He worked in Calcutta for the shipping firm Shaw & Wallace as executive and as a freight broker for Bird and Co.

4 His first salary was Rs 500 *(not less considering the times!)
5 It was in Calcutta that he bought a second-hand Fiat as his first car.Not a bad car in that zamana!
6 Though his surname was Srivastava, his father had adopted the pen name Bachchan. Amitabh has stuck to this name only. How would have Amitabh Srivastava sounded?
7 His actual height is 74 inches or 1.88 m, the tallest-ever top star in Hindi cinema. (This I am not very sure of!)
8 His father considered naming him Inqalab (Revolution) before deciding on Amitabh (unending brilliance). (Legendary poet Sh. Sumitra Nandan Pant suggested his name Amitabh)
9 He made his film debut in 1969 as a voice narrator in Mrinal Sen's BhuvanShome.. (In addition, imagine this voice was rejected by AIR!)
10 Sunil Dutt signed him for a mute's role in Reshma Aur Shera because of a letter of introduction from then PM Indira Gandhi to friend Nargis. (Referrals always work! ;))
11 Kalyanji-Anandji helped him in his struggling days and even introduced him to Prakash Mehra.

12 During his struggling days, Amitabh Bachchan had spent a few nights on a bench at Marine Drive, Mumbai. He loves to point out to the bench every time he drives past it. (Like the lampshades under which scholars have studied!

13 Director Satyajit Ray also used Bachchan's voice in his 1977 Shatranj Ke Khiladi.
14 Yet his baritone voice saw two rejections from the All India Radio. Ameen Sayani, radio ace, turned him down too in Mumbai.(Kya kehte hain Ameen sahib ab? YOU lost a real awaz ki dunia ka dost!)
15 He debuted in Saat Hindustani.
16 Mr.. Bachchan was paid Rs. 1,000 for his debut film where he struck a lifelong friendship with Tinnu Anand.
17 Comedian Mehmood was also a mentor to Bachchan in his days of struggle and offered him place to stay in his own home. He still mentions this in his blogs. Gratitude!

18 The superstar has given 12 consecutive flops before his first big hit Zanjeer. (Failures are the pillars to success!)
19 His favourite screen name is Vijay as seen in over 20 movies. Another common name has been Amit.
20 Big B met his future wife Jaya at the Film and Television Institute of India , Pune and later on the sets of Guddi. And it is said onseeinghim she said Kaisi kaisi shakal k log hero banne a jate hain!
21 Mr Bachchan married Jaya Bhaduri in 1973 after a long courtship. Eyewitnesses of their romance include actress Nadira and common mentor Hrishikesh Mukherjee. (Late Rajesh Khanna used to warn Jaya for going around with AB as he did not like him much, perhaps had some insecurity!)
22 Amitabh-Jaya are the only real-life couple to have starred on-screen for30 years from Ek Nazar to Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham - 28 years after their marriage.
23 He is the only actor to have had a minimum one jubilee a year from 1971 (Anand) to 1988 (Shahenshah). He had no release in 1987 except for a cameo in Jalwa.
24 He has played more double roles than any other actor has. In Mahaan, he had a triple role.
25 He holds the record for most number of best actor nominations for popular film awards.

26 Mr Bachchan was the first choice for Shashi Kapoor's role in Utsav and Jackie's in King Uncle.
27 His last film, which cast actress Nirupa Roy as his mother, was Lal Baadshah in 1999.
28 He started being called Big B in late '90s after his second comeback with Mrityudaata. (It was more of a go back!)

29 During the shooting of Khuda Gawah, Afghani president provided Amitabh with his country's air force for protection.. It was the most watched Indian film in the history of Afghanistan . (Din knows this!)
30 Big B always maintains that no Hindi actress is more beautiful than Waheeda Rahman.

31 Salim-Javed had originally written Mr. India with Amitabh Bachchan in mind.(I bet he would have overshadowed the Mogambo more than Anil could!)
32 The song Rang barse from Silsila and some lyrics from Alaap were penned by his father, Dr. Harvanshrai Bachchan. So is the poetry in Agneepath. (Didn’t know about Silsila and Alaap)

33 He is the only actor to star in a remake of his own film as hero as well as villain.(Sholay we are talking about)
34 He is a vegetarian and a teetotaller. (That is an achievement being in glam industry)
35 Amitabh Bachchan is ambidextrous. (Bole to he can write with his both hands)
36 The Indian comic character Supremo is based on him. (Didn’t know this either)
37 Jaya is often heard saying, "Amitji is a loner!", Perhaps, he needs time to miss and remember Rekha!
38 The first Asian actor to have a wax model of his likeness displayed at Madame Tussauds' in London . Another statue was installed in New York and Hong Kong in 2009.
39 In 2001, Amitabh Bachchan was honoured with the 'Actor of the Century' award at an Alexandria Film Festival in Egypt .
40 Was named Actor of the Millennium in a BBC News Poll ahead of such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, and Marlon Brando.
41 In 2003, he was conferred with the honorary citizenship of the French town of Deauville .
42 Bruce Willis once commented, at the opening of Planet Hollywood , that Mr Bachchan was 'bigger than any Hollywood star.'
43 Was awarded the Padma Bhusan in 2001. (No Bharat Ratna yet)
44 When he was out of work at the turn of the millennium, he called and asked Yash Chopra for a project. Mohabattein happened. (Wow, how many of us get projects on demand!)
45 Has been known to suffer from asthma. (Oops, din know that!)
46 Also a rare muscular disorder known as myasthenia gravis.
47 Despite his near-fatal accident and subsequent myasthenia gravis (a muscular disorder), Mr Bachchan performed a stunt from a height of 30 feet for a scene in Aks. (Bravo!)

48 On October 31, 2006, he shocked the unit of Shootout at Lokhandwala by recording 23 scenes in 5 hours! (Gajabb!)
49 His daughter, Shweta, is married to Nikhil Nanda, whose mother is the late Raj Kapoor's daughter. (Bachchan-Kapoor relation)
50 Mr Bachchan loves comfort. The flooring at his home is Italian marble, the bath fittings are from France and Germany . (Who doesn’t love comfort)
51 It is said both his bungalows, Pratiksha and Jalsa, put together would be worth R 160 crore!
52 Interestingly, Jalsa was gifted to the actor. (His brother’s wife Ramola Bachchan had gifted it to Jaya)
53 Amitabh Bachchan is very fond of suits. His favourite is Gabbana. They have been designing his suits for the past 30 years. (The complete man!)
54 The fabric is especially imported from Italy , the thread from France and buttons from England . (Reminded of JL Nehru tastes!)
55 His other favourite brand is Fratelli Rosetti, with prices starting from Rs 35,000. (bade log!)
56 The Big B owns 11 cars, including one Lexus, two BMWs and three Mercedes. (The list seems endless)

57 His favourite is the Lexus. The car is bulletproof.
58 The car has radial tyres that are normally used for Formula 1 races. The cost of each tyre is Rs 2.5 lakh.
59 When they were young, his kids Shweta and Abhishek asked him to not come to school because it caused too much commotion. (Hahaha!!!)
60 The Big B has a passion for collecting watches. It is said he never repeats his watches. His favourite brand is Longines, which costs about Rs 2 lakh. (Kya shauk nahi hai janab ko!)
61 His other interest is collecting pens. The actor has a collection of over thousand pens. Mont Blanc gifts him a special pen every year on his birthday. (Another one!)

62 Mr Bachchan loves to visit London and Switzerland .
63 In London, he prefers to stay at St James Court, five minutes from Buckingham Palace .
64 According to ad pandits, a company once paid him Rs 10 crore for 10 days. That works out to Rs 7,000 per minute! (Because he is worth it!)
65 He hates the word Bollywood, the word that most use to describe the Hindi film industry.
66 He also dislikes the word Beti B, coined for his granddaughter Aaradhya. He preferred to call her bitiya. Jaya, his wife, calls Aaradhya Strawberry. (Strawberry is cute name)
67 On the 27th of July, 2012, Amitabh Bachchan was given the due honour to carry the Olympic torch during the last leg of it’s relay in London 's Southwark.
68 Saat Hindustani is his only black-and-white film.(Din know this)

69 Was one of the judges for the 1995 Miss World beauty pageant. (Before ABCL organized one in India )

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Re-Evaluation value of happiness...

Excellent Article written by someone..…..


Yesterday, I was driving, and the FM radio went off for few seconds. I
thought, I should have an iPod. Then suddenly I realized that I have not
used my iPod in last 6 months. And then, more things, Handy cam in last 2
years, Digital Camera in last 2 months, DVD player in last 1 month and
many more. Now I can say that I bought that Handy cam just out of impulse,
I have used it twice only in last 4 years.

So, what's wrong and where? When I look at myself or my friends I can see
it everywhere. We are not happy with what we have but all are stressed and
not happy for the things we don't have. You have a Santro, but you want
City; You have a City, but you want Skoda. Just after buying a new phone,
we need another one. Better laptop, bigger TV, faster car, bigger house,
more money, and .I means, these examples are endless. The point is, does
it actually worth? Do we ever think if we actually need those things
before we want them?

After this, I was forced to think what I need and what I don't. May be I
didn't need this Handy cam or the iPod or that DVD player. When I see my
father back at home. He has a simple BPL colour TV, he doesn't need 32"
Sony LED wall mount. He has a cell phone worth Rs 2,500. Whenever I ask
him to change the phone, he always says, "It’s a phone; I need this just
for calls."

And believe me; he is much happier in life than me with those limited
resources and simple gadgets. The very basic reason why he is happy with
so little is that he doesn't want things in life to make it luxurious, but
he wants only those things which are making his life easier. It's! a very
fine line between these two, but after looking my father's life style
closely, I got the point. He needs a cell phone but not the iPhone. He
needs a TV but not the 32" LED. He needs a car but not an expensive one.

Initially I had lot of questions.

I am earning good; still I am not happy...why?

I have all luxuries; still I am stressed.... ....... why?

I had a great weekend, still I am feeling tired...... why?

I met lot of people, I thought over it again and again, I still don't know
if I got the answers, but certainly figured out few things. I realize that
one thing which is keeping me stressed is the "stay connected" syndrome. I
realized that, at home also I am logged in on messengers, checking mails,
using social networks, and on the top of that, the mobile is not letting
me disconnected. On the weekend itself, trying to avoid unwanted
calls,Whatsup updates and that is keeping my mind always full of stress. I
realized that I am spending far lesser money than what I earn; even then I
am always worried about money and more money. I realized that I am saving
enough money I would ever need, whenever needed. Still I am stressed about
job and salary and spend.

May be, many people will call this approach "not progressive attitude",
but I want my life back. Ultimately it's a single life, a day gone is a
day gone. I believe if I am not happy tonight, I'll never be happy
tomorrow morning. I finally realized that meeting friends, spending
quality time with your loved one's; spending time with yourself is the
most important thing.

If on Sunday you are alone and you don't have anybody to talk with, then
all that luxuries life, all that money is wasted. May be cutting down your
requirements, re-calculating your future goal in the light of today's
happiness is a worthwhile thing to do. May be selling off your Santro and
buying Honda City on EMIs is not a good idea. I believe putting your
happiness ahead of money is the choice we need to make.

I think, a lot can be said and done but what we need the most is
re-evaluation of the value of happiness and time we are giving to our life
and people associated with it.

Think about it……

A superb story worth sharing

There once lived a great mathematician in a village outside Ujjain . He was often called by the local king to advice on matters related to the economy. His reputation had spread as far as Taxila in the North and Kanchi in the South. So it hurt him very much when the village headman told him, "You may be a great mathematician who advises the king on economic matters but your son does not know the value of gold or silver."

The mathematician called his son and asked, "What is more valuable - gold or silver?" "Gold," said the son. "That is correct.... Why is it then that the village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of gold or silver? He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know what is more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son."

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the village headman carried this impression. "Every day on my way to school, the village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He laughs, the elders jeer, everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school. This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold or silver."

The father was confused..... His son knew the value of gold and silver, and yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked the silver coin. "Why don't you pick up the gold coin?" he asked. In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the box were at least a hundred silver coins. Turning to his father, the mathematician’s son said, "The day I pick up the gold coin the game will stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money."

The bottom line is:
Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it.
That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means allowing others to win in one arena of the game,
while we win in the other arena of the game. We have to choose which arena matters to us and which arenas do not. 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

ON LINE FREE LINK AVAILABLE FOR INTERNET USER


For English into English Words, Idioms, Synonyms, Antonyms, etc.
For Gujarati Words
For Gujarati into Gujarati, English into Gujarati and Gujarati into English words.
For reading good Guajarati Literature
For Listening to Gujarati Songs and getting their words.
For Gujarati Writing/Typing through computer easily.
For the recipes of edibles:
For reading many Gujarati and English newspapers and magazines:

ગુજરાતી ભાષા ની ઇન્ટરનેટ પર મઝા માણવા માટે ઉપયોગી વેબસાઈટો ની યાદી

[1]Readgujarati.com ટૂંકી વાર્તા, પ્રવાસવર્ણન, નિબંધ, હાસ્ય-લેખ, કાવ્ય, ગઝલ, બાળસાહિત્ય, લઘુકથા, વિજ્ઞાનકથા સહિત વિવિધ પ્રકારના ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યનો રસથાળ. રોજેરોજ પ્રકાશિત થતી બે કૃતિઓ સાથે 3000થી વધુ લેખોનો સંગ્રહ.
[2]Tahuko.com ગુજરાતી સુગમ સંગીત, લોકગીત, ગઝલ તેમજ કાવ્યનો સમન્વય. મનગમતા ગીતો સરળતાથી શોધવા માટે કક્કાવાર અનુક્રમણિકા. 300 થી વધુ કવિઓ, 75થી વધુ સંગીતકારોની 1500થી વધુ કૃતિઓ.
[3]Layastaro.com રોજેરોજ કવિતા, કવિતાનો આસ્વાદ અને વિવિધ પ્રકારના પદ્યસાહિત્યનું રસપાન કરાવતી વેબસાઈટ. સુપ્રસિદ્ધ કવિઓ તેમજ ગઝલકારોની ઉત્તમ રચનાઓ.
[4]Aksharnaad.com ચૂંટેલા સાહિત્ય-લેખો, વાર્તાઓ, ગીરના પ્રવાસવર્ણનો, પુસ્તક સમીક્ષા તેમજ અનુવાદીત કૃતિઓ સહિત પ્રાર્થના-ગરબા-ભજનનું મનનીય સંપાદન.
[5]Gujaratilexicon.com આશરે 25 લાખ શબ્દો ધરાવતો ઓનલાઈન ગુજરાતી શબ્દકોષ. ગુજરાતીથી અંગ્રેજી અને અંગ્રેજીથી ગુજરાતી શબ્દાર્થ શોધવાની સુવિધા. ગુજરાતી જોડણી તપાસવા સહિત વિવિધ પ્રકારની અન્ય ઉપયોગી સુવિધાઓ.
[6]Bhagwadgomandal.com ૨.૮૧ લાખ શબ્દો અને ૮.૨૨ લાખ અર્થોને સમાવિષ્ટ કરતો ગુજરાતી ભાષાના સાંસ્કૃતિક સીમાસ્તંભરૂપ જ્ઞાનનો વ્યાપક, વૈજ્ઞાનિક અને ઉત્તમ ખજાનો. ડિજિટલરૂપમાં ઇન્ટરનેટ અને સીડી માધ્યમ દ્વારા ઉપલબ્ધ. સંપૂર્ણ રીતે યુનિકોડમાં ઓનલાઈન નિ:શુલ્ક ઉપલબ્ધ.
[7]Vmtailor.com ડૉ.. વિવેક ટેલરના સ્વરચિત કાવ્યોની સૌપ્રથમ બ્લોગ પ્રકારની વેબસાઈટ. સુંદર ગઝલો, ગીતો, હાઈકુ અને કાવ્યો. સચિત્ર ગઝલો સાથે પ્રત્યેક સપ્તાહે એક નવી કૃતિનું આચમન.
[8]Vicharo.com વ્યાખ્યાતા શ્રી કલ્પેશ સોનીના સ્વરચિત ચિંતનલેખોનું સરનામું. એ સાથે કવિતા, ગીત, જીવનપ્રસંગ અને હાસ્યલેખનો સમાવેશ. દર સપ્તાહે એક નવી કૃતિનું પ્રકાશન.
[9]Mitixa.com કાવ્ય અને સંગીત સ્વરૂપે ગુજરાતી લોકગીતો,ભક્તિગીતો, શૌર્યગીતો, ગઝલો, ફિલ્મી ગીતો તેમજ અન્ય સુપ્રસિદ્ધ રચનાઓ.
[10]sheetalsangeet.com ઈન્ટરનેટ પર 24 કલાક પ્રસારીત થતો ગુજરાતી રેડિયો.
[11]Rankaar.com પ્રાચીન-અર્વાચીન ગીતો, ગઝલો, કાવ્ય,ભજન, બાળગીતો, લગ્નગીત, સ્તુતિ, હાલરડાં સહિત નિયમિત પ્રકાશિત થતી સંગીતબદ્ધ રચનાઓનો સમન્વય.
[12]Urmisaagar.com સ્વરચિત ઊર્મિકાવ્યો તેમજ ગુજરાતી સાહિત્યના કેટલાક ચૂંટેલા કાવ્યો,ગઝલોનું સંપાદન.
[13]Cybersafar.com કોલમિસ્ટ શ્રી હિમાંશુ કિકાણીની ટેકનોલોજીના વિષયોને સરળ ભાષામાં સમજાવતી વેબસાઈટ.
[14]Saurabh-shah.com જાણીતા પત્રકાર-લેખક શ્રી સૌરભ શાહની વેબસાઈટ.
[15]Jhaverchandmeghani.com રાષ્ટ્રીય શાયર શ્રી ઝવેરચંદ મેઘાણીની વેબસાઈટ.
[16]Anand-ashram.com સંતવાણી અને સંતસાહિત્ય ક્ષેત્રે કાર્ય કરનાર ડૉ. નિરંજન રાજ્યગુરુની વેબસાઈટ.
[17]Adilmansuri.com કવિ શ્રી આદિલ મન્સૂરીની વેબસાઈટ.
[18]Rajendrashukla.com જાણીતા કવિ-ગઝલકાર શ્રી રાજેન્દ્ર શુક્લની વેબસાઈટ.
[19]Manojkhanderia.com કવિશ્રી મનોજ ખંડેરિયાની વેબસાઈટ.
[20]Pannanaik.com કવિયત્રી પન્ના નાયકની વેબસાઈટ.
[21]Rameshparekh.in કવિશ્રી રમેશ પારેખની વેબસાઈટ.
[22]Harilalupadhyay.org સાહિત્યકાર શ્રી હરિલાલ ઉપાધ્યાયની વેબસાઈટ.
[23]Gujaratisahityaparishad.org ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય પરિષદની વેબસાઈટ.
[24]Nirmishthaker.com સુપ્રસિદ્ધ કવિ, કાર્ટૂનિસ્ટ અને હાસ્યલેખક શ્રી નિર્મિશ ઠાકરની વેબસાઈટ.
[25]Vicharvalonu.com જાણીતા સામાયિક ‘વિચારવલોણું’ની વેબસાઈટ. એકાંતરે સામાયિક અને પુસ્તિકાનું પ્રકાશન અને તેને ડાઉનલોડ કરવાની સુવિધા. અગાઉ પ્રકાશિત થયેલી પુસ્તિકાની યાદી. ઓનલાઈન ઑર્ડર મૂકવાની સુવિધા.
[26]Uddesh.org સાહિત્ય અને જીવન વિચારના સામાયિક‘ઉદ્દેશ’ની વેબસાઈટ. અગાઉ પ્રકાશિત થયેલા અંકો વાંચવાની સુવિધા. નવા પ્રકાશિત થયેલા પુસ્તકોની માહિતી. તાજા અંકમાંથી કેટલાક અંશો માણવાની સુવિધા.
[27]Gujblog.feedcluster..com ત્રણસોથી વધુ ગુજરાતી બ્લોગમાં પ્રકાશિત થતી કૃતિઓ એક જ સ્થાનેથી માણી શકાય તેવી સુવિધા.
[28]Gu.wordpress.com ગુજરાતી ભાષામાં બ્લોગ બનાવવા માટેની સુવિધા.
[29]Bhashaindia..com ગુજરાતીમાં ટાઈપ કરવા માટેનું સોફટવેર અહીંથી ડાઉનલોડ કરી શકાય છે. તદુપરાંત અન્ય ભારતીય ભાષાના સોફટવેર તેમજ તેને કોમ્પ્યુટરમાં કાર્યાન્વિત કરવાની તમામ માહિતી આ વેબસાઈટ પર ઉપલબ્ધ છે.
[30]Vishalon.net ગુજરાતી ભાષામાં બ્લોગ બનાવવા માટે તેમજ કોમ્પ્યુટરમાં ગુજરાતી લખવા માટેના અન્ય જરૂરી સોફટવેર ડાઉનલોડ કરવા માટેની વેબસાઈટ.
[31]plantejv.wordpress.com ગુજરાતી ભાષા ના યુવાનો મા કદાચ સૌથી વધારે લોકપ્રિય લેખક જય વસાવડાની ફેમસ બ્લોગ સાઇટ.