What is love actually?
  nuances of ego. Human ego wants a relationship; this feeling comes from the mind. Love that is more than infatuation. It’s totally related to heart. Let your heart replace your mind and start loving your partner truly. Relationships are intended to be the most striking part of human life, but regrettably it is the most intricate one. In solitary word, the ground is ego. “Give me some personal space”, “Please let me breathe”, “Stop this nonsense, I can’t take it anymore”, “Stop doubting me”, “The call was waiting whom were you talking with?”, “What the heck do you think of yourself?” and  so on. These sentences are natural when you get provoked by your partner. We are all ego-driven to some extent, so let’s acknowledge it and embrace that we need to separate the ego to cultivate and maintain a truly amazing relationship with someone. People think it is macho to use ego to get what they want. It’s probably the reason why some people are very successful, but they end up losing a fair bit in terms of respect outside work. Ego really blinds a lot of people and we have this ME, ME, ME culture. Had they’ve slowed down a bit and gone for a softer way  to handle things, it would have been better. Partners might feel much better. We’d be happy to sacrifice comfort for the greater good and longevity of a relationship. The best way to think of your ego is to remember the old Tom and Jerry cartoons. Remember the little devil that would appear? Well, think of the little devil on the left shoulder as your ego. The angel on the right shoulder is what you need to listen to!  Brush that dirt off your shoulder. Nothing will ruin a relationship (even the best of relationships) more quickly than ego. Oppose the enticement to defend yourself: Think about the number of times you’ve fought with a significant other and whenever things get a little heated, you start to defend yourself. All you hear is you being attacked, and you immediately go into “defending yourself” mode. Do you know that when you defend yourself in a fight, what’s really happening is your ego is defending itself? It also means that you’ve stopped listening to the other person. If someone tells you that they don’t like the way you’ve been acting lately, why not hear them out instead of defending yourself? It will almost always create a much better outcome. An ego-free relationship will have a nourishing, benevolent influence on every other  relationship. Its influence and positivity will prevent the birth of any ego. So guys throw a dart on your calendar when you go on a romantic date. Make your partner feel special. Love unconditionally. Live life to the fullest by a spirit of sacrifice. “Real happiness lies in making others happy.”Don’t be fake; the realistic ego is very important. Try to look out of the frame and fulfill the expectations of your partner, get adjusted in some situations. Leave your ego and let the relationship win. You will be the happiest person on earth! - S Ratna kumari, associate professor Human development specialist Faculty of home Science Image: Flickr1, Link2, Link3, Flickr: Link4, Link5, Link6, Source: The Hans India, I do, I do, I do! British couple celebrate their love with 22 wedding ceremonies around the world and have EIGHT more still to go 
Rose petals and romance aboard an old ship in Costa Rica, left, and in Peru, right, where the couple say the ceremony was the most emotional, touching and beautiful
It is meant to be the happiest day of your life. So Alex Pelling, 32, and Lisa Grant, 30, must be having an extremely happy year. The East Yorkshire couple have been travelling the world since last summer and celebrating their love for each other by having 22 wedding ceremonies in different countries - and they still have eight to go. What's more, the pair say they are now more in love than ever. So far they have been hitched among dolphins in Hawaii, dressed as vampires in LA, on an island in Honduras, in a crayfish-riddled lake in Michigan, in a vineyard in Quebec, on the beach in Mexico, on horseback in Banff and in 15 other locations around Central, South and North America. Speaking to MailOnline, the couple - who have known each other for 11 years and been dating for six - said: 'The idea came as we looked for a place to get married before we left our lives behind to travel around the world for two years. 'The wedding opportunities offered to us in the UK did not suit what we wanted, so we decided to look for the perfect place to wed while we travelled. 'After a glass of wine or two the idea grew, and we made a decision to have a small ceremony in every country we visited, with the local cultures and traditions in mind. 'At the end of our trip (which we have just extended to three years) we will choose our favourite place to officially "tie the knot"!' Ever since their first wedding in Manchester (which Alex organised as a surprise for Lisa), the couple have kept an online blog about the travels, and professional photographers have helped document the trip. Anyone who wishes to attend one of their ceremonies can request an invitation on their blog. To fund the trip Alex and Lisa and sold both the car repair shop Alex owned and their home. Sticking to a strict weekly budget they have been travelling and living in their 25-year-old Dodge campervan, called Peggy, which has cut out any costs for accommodation. Alex said: 'The budget is very tight but we are managing. Our biggest cost is fuel, obviously, and we do a weekly shop at local markets to reducing our living costs. 'And of course we could not even begin to afford to throw a wedding every other week if it was not for the generosity of the photographers, suppliers, families and people we meet on our journey. 'Everyone helps us for free or a minimal cost as they want to help us spread the love and to be a part of our adventure!' When asked about any problems they have encountered along the way, the couple say making repairs to Peggy has been the biggest hurdle. 'Making repairs to Peggy has been our biggest hurdle,' they said. 'We bought her in Canada and have covered over 55,000km so far. We have only had minimal problems but they have been difficult to solve with the language barriers! 'With regards to the wedding side of the journey, everyone has been so accommodating and we have had very few obstacles, only once were we turned away for a ceremony for not having commited to the same religious beliefs as the local church. 'And even then the church invited us to attend mass and dedicated that evenings prayers to us and our travels and commitments to each other.' The couple say their Peru wedding was 'the most emotional, touching and stunningly beautiful; and therefore probably their favourite, and that one of the trickiest to organise was in Belize, where they wanted to hold a ceremony in the Toledo district with help from local Mayan people, but where a week-long torrential downpour and a photographer stuck 600km away hampered proceedings. 'We were about ready to give up when the sun came out just in time for the wedding! It was a beautiful day and we learned such an important lesson about the things we take for granted!' Luckily, the couple say the only unpleasant wedding guests they have had have been 'a thousand banana spiders in Honduras on the island of Utila, and maybe a couple of smelly drunk fishermen in Chile'. Even more luckily, they say they are still as much in love as they were when their adventure began. 'And probably more so! We are together 24 hours a day, seven days a week and live in a van. We arrange weddings, share the driving, split the blog workload and take it turns to make each other breakfast in bed every day. 'If there is anything that makes you know you are meant to be together it is surviving this trip without a single argument. We still get nervous before every single ceremony!' Alex and Lisa are running a competition with Zankyou and Unicef to fly two people out to their final destination wedding. To enter, visit their blog www.2people1life.com, In Guatemala the couple are dressed in the colourful clothes as they are blessed. They say that they are still as much in love now as they were when the adventure began. Source: Travelfwd+, Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan Love Story in Kareena's Words: Kareena in an
interview to Hello! India, for its latest issue has finally put an end to the world’s curiosity about how Saif Ali Khan, her live-in boyfriend of five years and husband-to-be, uttered the three magic words to her. “Actually, he never really said it… he isn’t that romantic,” says Kareena So, did she just move in one fine day even though her boyfriend hadn’t declared his feelings officially? “Nooooo, not like that! We’d been dating for a couple of months, and he said, “Look… I’m not 25 years old, you know. I can’t keep dropping you home every night. So, he came and met my mother and told her, “She’s my woman, I want to spend the rest of my life with her. We want to live together…’ My mom was pretty cool about it. I just got my stuff together and that was it. No fuss.” The ultimate sign of commitment came when Saif got her name tattooed prominently on his arm, says Kareena “It means far more to me than a piece of paper. What bigger commitment can a man make than that? I have never doubted Saif…” Actor Kareena Kapoor recalls the moment when she fell in love with beau Saif Ali Khan. “We were in Ladakh to shoot Tashan. I had just broken up with Shahid Kapoor. Even though I had met Saif socially, we hadn’t spoken much. When I spotted him near the hotel pool, he was tanning on a lounge chair, clad in just jeans. I told my friend, “Oh my God… he’s so hot!” After our first shot, we chatted and he made me laugh a lot. I hope it always stays that way. Today, we are best friends. I hope marriage only adds to what we share,” she said. Ask her about ripples in their domestic heaven and she says, “He sleeps too much! Also, he takes much longer to get ready than I do. I wait for him patiently." And what bugs Saif about her? “He yells ‘Put away that damn phone…’ as I am constantly BBM-ing. Other than this, we don’t really argue or fight,” admits Bebo. Saif dons the apron while Bebo sips wine and waits for his masterpiece. She admits he’s the better cook. Although the actors are slated to get married on October 16, Kareena says they have lived together as husband and wife for five years. “We both knew this was going to be a commitment for life. In fact, we check into hotels as Mr and Mrs Khan. We want the wedding to be really small. Just our close friends and family. After the small signing ceremony, we’ll get into our jeans and ganjis and chill out!” Kareena-Saif Love Story, Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor Love Story, Kareena-Saif Romance story, Image: photobucket.com, Source: Latest News, Kidnap Victim Elizabeth Smart's Fairy Tale Wedding Details: Surrounded by family and friends, a jubilant Elizabeth Smart marries Matthew Gilmour in a beautiful Hawaiian paradise just a month after the two were engaged. The 24-year-old kidnap survivor shares details of her romance with her Scottish Prince Charming, her dress, and their big day exclusively in this week's issue of PEOPLE. This fairy-tale ending could not have been foreseen 10 years ago, when Smart, just 14, was kidnapped from her bedroom in Salt Lake City. Miraculously rescued nine months later, she grew into a confident young woman who bravely faced down her captor in court and vowed not only to forgive him, but to move on with her own life despite her horrific ordeal. And now that same young woman – who works as a child-abuse advocate – inspires her friends and family as she enters this bright new chapter of her life. "It's who she is now that is the important thing," her new mother-in-law, Kay Gilmour, 49, tells PEOPLE. "She's a most gracious, very brave, very strong young woman." Healing and happiness are so intertwined for Smart that she chose to celebrate her wedding in the place she visited in 2003 during her recovery from her kidnapping, when the then-traumatized teen was first reunited with her family. "Oahu is a very special place for me, very different than what I was used to," Smart tells PEOPLE. "I guess you could say it was kind of a refuge." Perhaps as much of a relief to Smart was Gilmour's saying he had never heard of her when the two met in Paris in January 2009. "I got to know her as she truly is," says Gilmour, 22, from Aberdeen, Scotland. Both were in France to perform their Mormon missions, and a quiet friendship quickly sparked. "The thing that attracted me the most to her – at the beginning and now – is how confident she is, especially considering everything she has been through," he says. "As soon as we were together, I felt he was my best friend," Smart tells PEOPLE. "I couldn't imagine life without him." A few months later Gilmour asked her to marry him, and the two began to plan a summer wedding in Salt Lake City, where he plans to attend college. They moved up the date to escape intense interest from the media and plan a larger party back in Utah in the spring. Once they changed their plans, the race was on for a dress, and after trying on "just about every dress in Utah," Smart scored a coveted appointment slot – and a gown – at New York's historic Kleinfeld's bridal salon while on a weekend trip with a girlfriend. She had the white, dotted tulle Alita Graham retrofitted with lace sleeves and a sweetheart neckline to conform to Mormon standards for her temple wedding ceremony. Happily finalizing the remaining details for the reception with the Turtle Bay Resort, she flew from Salt Lake City with her parents, Ed and Lois, 54, and Gilmour two days early. On the morning of her wedding day, Smart looked every bit the radiant – and ready – bride. Her younger sister Mary Katherine, 19, at her side, Smart calmly snacked on dried mangoes as her family helped her fix her hair and makeup and put on her dress. Gilmour, wearing the kilt of his late father, Stewart (who died of cancer in 2008), was driven to the Laie Hawaii Temple by his uncle Neville Henderson, who assured him, "Your father is going to be here in spirit." After the ceremony, witnessed only by the immediate family and a few friends, they returned to Turtle Bay Resort for a luncheon with the entire wedding party of family and friends (including Smart's siblings Charles, 25; Andrew, 21; and William, 14). Source: Starpulse.com, David Cameron shares tips for happy marriage: David Cameron has revealed
 the secret to his successful marriage to wife of 16 years, Samantha. The British PM, 46, said resolving a row before bed time is the key to wedded bliss. And he said that despite his day job of running the country, his missus, 41, still likes him to share kitchen duties when he gets home. “Don’t go to bed on an argument, and share the cooking,” the Sun quoted Cameron as saying. Mr Cameron had previously declared how he can remember the details of his wedding night “minute by minute”. The PM said the couple keep their romance going with a weekly “date night” either at home or in an Italian restaurant. The couple have three children - Nancy, eight, Arthur, six, and two-year-old Florence. Son Ivan, who had cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy, died at the age of six. Image: flickr.com, Source: Indian Express, Flowers really are the way to a woman’s heart, say experts: London: Women are far more  likely to find a man attractive and accept a date with a stranger if they are in the presence of colourful flowers, a new study has shown. The associations between flowers and romance are so strong that the man doesn’t even have to buy a bunch of flowers himself. Nicolas Gueguen, a psychologist at the University of South Brittany, also found that just a pot of daffodils on a nearby table or a splash of colour from the garden will soften the female heart. In one study, Gueguen asked 46 female student volunteers to sit in a room on their own and watch a video of a man talking about himself. Half the students watched the video in a room brightened up with three vases of flowers – a mix of roses, daisies and marigolds. The rest sat in an identical room without flowers. When they had watched the video in the room decorated with pots of flowers, they rated the man as more attractive and were more willing to go on a date with him. In a second study, the same experiment was repeated with 122 single women aged from 18 top 20. This time after they had watched the video, they were led into a room and told to sit down where a man was waiting. The women were told he was a fellow student taking part in the experiment, but in reality he was an actor, recruited by the scientists. When the pair were left alone the man was instructed to talk for five minutes about the experiment and then ask the woman on a date. Image: photobucket.com, Source: Indian Express, Winter romance for newly-weds in Harbin: Eighteen couples from across the world 
have decided to brave the freezing temperatures in Harbin, to say "I do" en-masse. It's an annual tradition at the Ice and Snow Festival, but what's the attraction of a winter wedding? Making a commitment. Sub-zero temperatures didn't stop 18 couples from getting together to tie the knot. In fact, it made the event even more special. Gao Xiaoyu, bride, said, "It was winter when we first met. The ice wedding gives us a chance to remember our first date." With a giant snow sculpture as the backdrop, newly-weds step up to the stage to accept the blessings from relatives and friends. Li Feng, groom, said, "I'm a vocal teacher. And my wife used to practice singing in her spare time. Similar interests put us together. Our friendship blossomed into romantic love." Taking vows and swearing their love for one another, the excitement of the occasion is evident. The local government-organized group wedding is one of the highlights of the ice and snow festival in Harbin. For the couples, marriage is a commitment to love and support each other. Doing it in a unique ice city makes the event one they will never forget. Source: China.org.cn, Man to give wife million roses on Women's Day: Based on a romantic pop hit from Soviet times, a
Kazakh man has ordered one million red roses for his wife on International Women's Day that will be observed on Thursday. The man had a spat with his wife and sought to make up to her, according to the Express-K.kz news website. The order for one million Dutch-grown roses was placed with a florist in Kyzylorda city in Kazakhstan and is to be delivered on Thursday. Local prices for roses on International Women's Day ranged from 500 to 2,000 Tenge ($3 to $13) per flower, which means the one-million order could cost the caring husband between $3 million and $13 million. The 'Million Roses' song was popularised by Soviet pop diva Alla Pugacheva in 1982. The song, which tells a story of an artist trying to win a woman's heart through the gift of flowers, sold over six million copies as a single. Image: flickr.com, Source: Asian Age, Valentine’s Day History, Traditions, Facts &
Figures: By Marina Kosareva: Hello and Happy each Valentine’s Day! If you are single I know you feel like switching me off right about now but don’t be in a rush. This is not going to be a lovey-dovey programme. I’m going to take a look at this romantic holiday and investigate how it all began and why we are all forced to feel guilty bad about it one way or another. If you are one of those people who can’t wait for this day to come you’re probably wondering what guilt has to do with it, let me explain. So if you are single, all this day does is point out the fact that you have no one special in your life, right? That’s the way it works. If you happen to like someone you might expect them to give you something as a sign that they are into you. So you spend your day wondering and in the end you might not get anything. That doesn't necessarily mean that guy or girl doesn’t like you. It could mean that they don’t like this holiday. And this brings me to the reason why even those who do have someone special in their life, sometimes feel guilty about Valentine’s Day as well. There are so many men and women out there who hate the fact that they have to show and prove their affection on one particular day of the year. They don’t like the fact that it’s becoming increasingly commercialized and that they’re being forced to buy all these little chocolates and teddy bears in the shape of heart. You know what I’m talking about. All the stores fill their shelves in red merchandise with “I love you” blasting in every corner. Don’t worry if you’re one of the romantic types, I’m not here to destroy your Valentine’s Day. I just want to give you both sides here. So imagine a girl who’s had no one on Valentine’s Day for a year or two or more, and the all of a sudden she happens to be with someone on this day. But the guy she’s with is not into the holiday. So again she gets nothing. That makes her feel bad and the guy feel bad as well. This actually happened to me before. For about three years I always managed to find myself single on this holiday. Then one year, I thought finally I’m not going to feel like an outcast on Valentine’s Day. Well, guess what? My boyfriend hated Valentine’s Day. So when he came home from work that evening like nothing ever happened, I was looking at him like, come on what are we doing, where are we going. You know expecting that he had planned a romantic evening somewhere. You know what I got? A tempurpedic pillow pillow that we had discussed about buying for a long time and he just happened to pass by a store and get it. It didn't even have anything to do with Valentine’s Day. Needless to say it was the most unromantic gift I had ever received on this day. Then when I told him about how it was Valentine’s Day and couples normally do this and that he told me how felt about it and then felt guilty that I was disappointed. So all of a sudden this day that’s supposed to be all about romance and happiness became very sad. And by the way, if it wasn’t Valentine’s Day we would’ve had a great evening. Isn’t that ironic? In any case I decided to forget what this day means and he decided to organize romantic events for this occasion because it meant something to me. So now he plans and buys me stuff and I don’t. I’m just kidding of course. Oh and another point I want to make here is about expectations. All the women I know have their hopes up for what they’re going to get or what they will do on this day. If by any chance they don’t get what they expected somewhere deep inside they are disappointed. No isn’t that just terrible? I don’t know about you but I think this day is just made for disaster. OK don’t turn off the radio, I’m done ranting about it. Now I will actually talk about how the whole Valentine’s Day thing started. I actually never researched it so I was very curious to find out myself. I want to know who’s responsible for this romance madness and how it became an international extravaganza with so many products and events dedicated to it. So let’s begin our exploration. Saint Valentine’s day is named after early Christian martyrs. We don’t know who exactly because there were many men named Valentine back in those days. The day was established by Pope Gelasius I in 500 AD. Back then, people honored two Valentines and those were the Valentine of Rome and the Valentine of Terni. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia there was another martyr named Valentine but not much is known about him. And of course then the day had nothing to do with love or romance. It was just a name day. In 1969 when the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints was revised, Saint Valentine’s Day was removed and transferred to local and national calendars. That was because the Church didn’t have enough information about the person it was named after. The only place that still celebrates this day in the traditional sense is Balzan which is in Malta. And that’s because they claim to have found relics of the saint. Traditionalist Catholics are also said to follow in their lead. Now, if we are talking about legends then there are two versions of the story. One says that Saint Valentine was being persecuted for being a Christian. Before his execution he performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer. According to American Greetings there was a twist to that legend. They claim that before Valentine was executed, he wrote the first "valentine" card and that was to the girl he healed. He addressed her as his beloved and signed "from your Valentine". Another twist to this legend claims Valentine was a priest who disagreed with a law ordering young men to remain single and performed secret marriage ceremonies for them. If we look at time periods in terms of months, in the ancient Athenian calendar, mid-January to mid-February was dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera and was known as gamelion. In Ancient Rome, February 13th through the 15th was considered a period of fertility known as Lupercalia.If we talk about facts here, the first association of St. Valentine’s Day with romance was made by English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. He wrote a poem in honor of the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. It said, "For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate." Unfortunately, in terms of romance and birds mating this didn’t make sense because experts say that the middle of February is an unlikely months for birds to be mating in England. In any case, in 1797 a British publisher created The Young Man’s Valentine Writer which had verses for those incapable of writing romantic poems to their loved ones. They became extremelypopular and the rest of course is history. Hallmark claims that more than 140 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year and more than half of those are purchased in the six days leading up to the holiday. Now that’s Hallmark research but in general about a billion Valentine's Day cards are said to be exchanged in the US each year. It’s also one the largest seasonal card-sending occasions of the year, next to Christmas. Women are said to purchase 85% of all the cards which is hardly surprising. I haven’t met many men who like to talk or write about their emotions at length. And if you do a get a card sometimes it’s empty which kind of defeats the purpose, but anyway. Apparently most of these cards are given to teachers, then children, following that we have mothers, then wives and finally romantic partners and pets. Yes even pets get to feel special on Valentine’s Day. I think that’s ridiculous. At least give them a special food or something. You know something they can appreciate. I must say I was surprised to hear that teachers and children get more cards than wives and significant others. Parents actually get 1 out of every 5 cards. Looking at this in a global perspective, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day each year. Now who do you think buys most of the flowers, men or women? This is no srprise really. 73% are bought by men and the rest by women. Men also buy most of the candy. By the way Richard Cadbury was the one who invented the first Valentine’s Day candy box. And that was in the late 1800s. Oh and check this out. Apparently the Italian city of Verona, famous for being the homeland of Romeo and Juliet’s romance, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day. I can’t help but wonder who sends these letters. It can’t be small children because they wouldn’t be reading Shakespeare at such a young age. And as far as anyone else goes, why do that? I don’t get it. And that’s our round up of interesting facts about Valentine’s day. I don’t know about you but personally I’ve learned a lot of new things about this holiday. I almost feel like a Valentine’s Day expert now. It’s amazing how it all started so simply and exploded into this super crazy shopping extravaganza. I looked at some of the cards that were made in the mid 1980s and they are so simple, yet it’s clear that a lot of thought went into them. They are super detailed and have embellishments on them. Now our cards are all aimed at creating some sort of an effect. And that’s usually to shock you or make you laugh. I definitely think that there was more meaning in this day before. Here in Russia this holiday is of course celebrated like in most parts of the world. We have events organized at various clubs and bars. The shops are all decked out in ‘Be By Valentine’ type of stuff. As far as other countries go, there are many which celebrate this holiday on different dates and have slightly different names for it but the principle is always the same more or less. There is one place I want to talk about in particular though and that’s because I found something they do quite funny. So apparently in South Korea if you got nothing on the 14th of February or the 14th of March which is another extension of their version of this holiday then you go and eat. Yeap, if you got no presents then you should go to a Chinese restaurant, eat black noodles and mourn your single life. Mourn your single life? That’s a bit harsh don’t you think. Now that’s exactly what I was talking about earlier. All this day does is making people feel guilty all the time. Anyway let’s move on and take a look at countries where Valentine’s Day is being met with a lot of harsh criticism. First we have India. Even though the holiday is becoming extremely popular over there Hindu and Islamic traditionalists call it a cultural contamination from the West. They have asked their followers to boycott the holiday as well as any form of so-called ‘public admission of love’ as they are and again I quote alien to Indian culture. In 2002 and 2008 religious police in Saudi Arabia, managed to ban the sale of all Valentine's Day items, instructing shop workers to remove all red items. That’s because they said the day is considered a Christian holiday. And guess what happened next? A black market appeared selling roses and wrapping paper. I swear I think I’ve heard it all today. Black market for caviar is one thing but for wrapping paper? Let’s move on to Pakistan where Valentine’s day is becoming increasingly popular but there are people trying to put an end to it. Apparently a political party is calling for it to be banned. Over in Iran, this holiday is seen as anything but representative of Islamic culture. Conservatives have been criticizing it for years. Actually this year the Iranian printing works owners' union banned the printing and distribution of any goods promoting the holiday. That includes cards, teddy bears and everything else along those lines. But we’re not perfect either. In the Belgorod region here in Russia the local government has also banned the holiday. Shops cannot sell special merchandise, venues cannot host events dedicated to the holiday. Officials claim tit promotes temporary affections rather than true love, and therefore contradicts Russia's traditional culture and morals. Image: Photobucket, Source: Voice of Russia, A very French 'Roméo & Juliette': French musicals are quite distinct from Broadway or West
The French musical "Roméo & Juliette" will land in Shanghai on December 22 for a 16-day holiday run at Shanghai Culture Square, the city's new musical theater venue on Yongjia Road.
End productions; they tend to be more impressionistic and emotional, with more emphasis on the music itself than on exposition of the story. Since it premiered in Paris in 2001, the French "Roméo & Juliette" based on Shakespeare's play has been performed in 16 countries and in 12 languages, watched by more than 5 million people. Musical theater is in its infancy in China, though it's catching on. The construction of Shanghai Culture Square attests to the high expectations for musical theater in China. Most musicals are foreign imports of hit shows, a couple, such as "Mamma Mia!" and "Cats," have been translated into idiomatic Chinese and given Chinese touches. Both were very successful in first-tier cities such as Shanghai and Beijing and both are touring nationally. So far, only a few original Chinese musicals have been staged. Fei Yuanhong, artistic director of Shanghai Culture Square, says the French "Roméo & Juliette" is very French and was imported because it's quite different from Broadway and West End productions. It's staged in 18th-19th century French costume. "The culture of the French people is very unique. It's perceptual and romantic," Fei says. "French musicals place more emphasis on the music than the drama itself, so they are really great to listen to." The language tends to be more flowery and emotional and sometimes characters step out of character and make observations about what's happening in the play. This "Roméo & Juliette" will have Chinese subtitles, but the story is so universally famous that there should be no problem understanding. "You see a lot of original plays on Broadway and the West End, but many French musicals are adapted from famous stories. So you can dive into the plot line when the music starts," Fei says. The score by Gerard Presgurvic contains songs in diverse styles. Some are famous and topped the French billboard when the musical premiered a decade ago, such as "Aimer" ("Love") and "Les Rois du Monde" ("Kings of this world"). Together with the dances and often impressionistic stage design, the French shows provide a fresh experience for local audience, according to Fei. However, introducing foreign musicals is just one way to promote musical theater in China. United Asia Live Entertainment introduced Chinese versions of two Broadway musicals, "Cats" and "Mamma Mia!" Last year "Mamma Mia!" was staged in 190 shows in six cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Wuhan and Xi'an - and selling 85 million yuan (US$13.6 million) in tickets. It is now touring more second-tier cities. "Cats" was a big success at Shanghai Grand Theater from August to October this year. Today it celebrates its 100th show in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, and moves on to Beijing. The investment in the Chinese "Mamma Mia!" was around 70 million yuan and for "Cats" it was 70 to 80 million yuan, according to Ma Chengcheng, vice manager of marketing for United Asia Live Entertainment. The box office for "Cats" was more than 32 million yuan in Shanghai and attendance was more than 90 percent, considered a huge success. Localizing the Chinese-language musicals helps tell the story, making the story and lyrics easier to understand. In the Shanghai version of "Cats," which is set in a junk yard, familiar props are used, such as "Xinhua Zidian," the best-selling Chinese language dictionary, mooncake boxes and Shanghai car license plates. "And for the performances, we added Shanghai dialect and will have some Cantonese when performing in Guangzhou," Ma says. A well-developed musical market includes regular performances, repertory theater, brand loyalty, touring casts and related industries, such as themed merchandize. Last year, Shanghai Culture Square imported the French musical "Notre-Dame de Paris," and Fei says tickets for "Roméo & Juliette" are selling better than those for "Notre Dame." "The market for musicals is developing and getting bigger, but it will take quite some time for the market to mature and for watching musicals to become a lifestyle," Fei says. On the journey of expanding the musical market in China, United Asia Live Entertainment's ultimate goal is to create original Chinese musical productions, says Ma. "Next year we may try to make some small-scale original musicals ... (but) it still needs original creations to support the Chinese musical industry," he said. Source: China.org.cn, Age no bar for Delhi divas: “40s is the new
30s,” agrees socialite Tanisha Mohan, and she supports Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz when she says that she feels better and content in her 40s than she did in her mid-20s. Irrespective of the Hollywood and India divide, what Diaz said holds true if we notice the pretty faces in Delhi circuit. Women, well above their 40s, dress up in expensive designer brands and look so comfortable in their skin that they seem to give a tough competition to the younger lot. A businesswoman, Ramola Bachchan, in her late 40s, does not mind experimenting with her style and is confident about trying out dresses of different lengths. “It is so because I am confident to wear what I want. I don’t need to dress up like a mother or a grandmother if I am in certain age. Everyone wants to look smart and stylish and wear what works for them,” says Ramola. A constant face in the party circuit, Tanisha Mohan is known for her labels and confidence with which she carries them. “20s is the time when you are struggling and trying to find your hood. In 30s, you are still settling down but by the time you reach 40s, you are comfortable in your skin, and know what you are and what you want in life. All this gives you the confidence to do things your way. Women are changing in the way they used to be earlier. They have time to pamper themselves, manage multiple things, work-out for the best body type and have the confidence and the guts to do stuff they want,” justifies Tanisha. Designer Rina Dhaka says changes come with time and age. “Experience and life gives you the confidence, which makes you look best in your 40s. Sometime back I dug out an image of myself shot by Prabuddha Dasgupta when I was 22 and tell you the least, I was shocked looking at the image. Though I had everything from success to money, family support and a man who loved me, but I looked miserable due to lack of confidence. Now that I have crossed all the barriers and everything in life is sorted, I feel as if I am in my 20s. 40s is the age when women have attitude, happiness, fitness and confidence, so they look the best,” says Rina. Make-up artist Meenakshi Dutt says there is no need to stop. “There is nothing called old age now. Why should we stop putting make-up, dressing up or going out? Life is all about us, our personality and the way we want to live,” says Meenakshi, who strongly advocates that age is just number. Tanisha adds, “I have seen many women in their 40s looking absolutely fabulous and girls in their 20s looking not too pleasant. Everything depends on your confidence”.Image: flickr.com, Source: The Asian Age, Salman Khan and his beautiful women: He's
hot, he's sexy and women across the globe swoon over him. Yeh, we are talking about Bollywood star Salman Khan. Many call him a bad boy, a 'woman beater', yet he's the hunk and the best for all the females. Salman Khan has entertained us with his various avatars for decades now. Call him a lover boy, a comedian or an action hero, Sallu bhai blooms in each of his roles. Today, he's one of the most successful actors of the industry. But, we feel that the credit for his success should also go to those actresses, who have worked with Salman in various films. Salman romanced several actresses onscreen. We are here to treat you with the pictures of few of his onscreen women. Whom do you think looks the best with Sallu onscreen? Source: Salman Khan, A Cute Love Story Of Husband And Wife:
There was a husband who Daily sent his wife a rose, When he was out of town. 1 day he died, Still his wife received a rose, Every day………She was shocked…She asked the florist…He told her…That her husband had paid Advance for her whole life…..“love someone in such a way that it remains forever….”Source: Article, Wedding
bells for five Bollywood beauties: Marriage is no more a roadblock for Bollywood beauties and this year five actresses, including reigning queens Kareena Kapoor and Vidya Balan, tied the knot with thier long-time beaus. Genelia D'Souza, Esha Deol and Lisa Ray too joined the bandwagon. Also, it has been a welcome change to see actresses doing everything traditionally - either within their homes or at temples. IANS gives you a lowdown on Bollywood actresses' weddings of the year: (1) Kareena Kapoor: Bollywood 'heroine' Kareena shut gossip-mongers when she sealed her four-year-old relationship with actor Saif Ali Khan Oct 16. The revelry was as big and fat as one would've expected, but there is no doubt that it turned out to be a well-guarded event. Whether it was a pre-wedding rooftop bash, a simple registered marriage affair, a 'nikaah' ceremony at various venues or their grand 'Walima' (reception) in the national capital - Saifeena gave a fairy tale effect to their romance - with the privacy they rightfully deserved. "(2) Vidya Balan: "Ooh la la" girl Vidya Balan's nuptials with Disney UTV managing director Siddharth Roy Kapoor turned out to be another classic case in point for a celebrity's "private affair". Attended by close friends and family members, the Dec 14 wedding in Mumbai was as simple as it could be - weaving together both - Siddharth's Punjabi and Vidya's Tamil traditions. (3) Genelia D'Souza: Genelia and Riteish Deshmukh set out on their Bollywood journey together with "Tujhe Meri Kasam" in 2003. Who knew that would be the start of a life-long journey for them. One of Bollywood's cutest real life couples, they managed to keep tight-lipped about their relationship for almost eight years. They had a Maharashtrian-style wedding Feb 3, followed by a simple church wedding. Their wedding reception, of course, was attended by almost the entire Mumbai film fraternity. (4) Esha Deol: Esha Deol married her businessman beau Bharat Takhtani June 29 in a traditional south Indian ceremony, complete with women in classy Kanjivarams, at Mumbai's Iskcon temple. A Krishna devotee, Esha preferred to keep her nuptials low-key, though a star-studded mehndi took place a day earlier and a reception followed a day after their wedding. (5) Lisa Ray: Indo-Canadian actress Lisa Rey exchanged wedding vows Oct 20 with management consultant Jason Dehni in California's Napa Valley, where they had also got engaged. Lisa had said in an interview that they wrote their own vows and only exchanged garlands as that's how her father wanted it. She chose only Indian designers to craft her trousseau for her special day - she wore a gown by Wendell Rodricks, and later changed into a Satya Paul sari. Source: News Track India, Love story against military background: By Evelina Guretskaya: Russian film-makers have set themselves a serious task of producing a film dedicated to Russian heroes of the war of 1812 against Napoleon’s France. Director Anton Sivers’ film crew is making a film called ‘Vasilisa Kozhina’. The Russian President has announced this year to be a Russian History Year. The war against Napoleon which ended 200 years ago with Russia’s victory and the expulsion of the French troops from Russia’s territory, followed by the liberation of the European countries invaded by Napoleon, is one of the most dramatic pages of our history. The whole world knows about these historic events from Leo Tolstoy’s great novel War and Peace which has been translated into dozens of languages. The film version of this book made by outstanding director Sergey Bondarchuk in 1969 won an Oscar and was shown on film screens all over the world. However, even such a large-scale film epic could not tell of all the heroes of the war of 1812. Vasilisa Kozhina is one of those heroes and her life story is a separate episode of the war against the French invaders, which, nevertheless, explains a lot about the nature of Russian people who rose to resist the invaders. Vasilisa Kozhina was a Russian serf, the wife of a village elder in the Smolensk Region in the west of Russia. Napoleon’s troops invaded Russia through that region and later retreated over that land fleeing from the Russian army commanded by Mikhail Kutuzov. Legend has it that when the Smolensk lands were occupied in August 1812 the French killed Vasilisa Kozhina’s husband. Vasilisa, the mother of five children, decided to take her revenge on the enemy and formed a resistance detachment which mostly consisted of widows and teenagers armed with village tools, such as pitchforks, scythes and axes. They decoyed enemy soldiers into an ambush and took them prisoner, so as to pass them to the Russian troops later. However, the film ‘Vasilisa Kozhina’ is not just a reconstruction of historical events, it is a fiction film, so there are a lot of invented episodes in it, producer of the film Yuri Sapronov said in his interview with The Voice of Russia. – This film is a love story which takes place against the war background. Vasilisa is a serf and her new love is a nobleman, Ivan Rokotov. Their love has no future but true love does not even fear wars. The original film script described Vasilisa Kozhina’s love for a French officer but later the authors wrote a new plot, which is not so dramatic. As for Vasilisa’s struggle against the invaders, it is known for certain that not only Commander of the Russian army Mikhail Kutuzov but also Emperor Alexander I was aware of it. After the war she was awarded with a silver medal and 500 roubles. The film crew hope that the film will be shown in Russian cinemas at the end of the year. Source: Voice of Russia, Women chose taller 
men as partners: A new study on heterosexual couples, reportedly the first of its kind, finds that when it comes to height preferences, both genders prefer a man to be taller than his female partner, but not too much taller. Researchers from Groningen University in the Netherlands analyzed data based on the Millennium Cohort Study of parents of almost 19,000 babies born in the UK in 2000. They found that in more than nine out of ten couples, the man was taller than the woman. Differences in height were on average about 14cm. A previous 1980 study of US and UK couples found that in only one out of 720 couples was the female taller than the male. Because women are on average shorter than men, chance predicts that the occurrence of couples in which the female is taller is two out of 100, 14 times higher than the findings observed in that study, wrote the Dutch researchers. But researchers note that while women prefer tall men, they don't want them too tall. Couples in which the male was more than 25cm taller than the woman were rarer than expected by chance. Interestingly, women prefered larger height differences than men, but tall women and short men prefered smaller height differences, while short women and tall men prefered larger differences. The findings were published yesterday in the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) One. Past research has also found that taller men are more likely to be married and tend to have more children than shorter men. Image: flickr.com, Source: Hindustan Times
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