Many of them were not even born during the 1984 riots but the hurt still ran deep with many Sikh youth introspecting on events of 25 years ago and empathising with journalist Jarnail Singh for throwing a shoe at Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
"I think it was a very bold and strong step. It not only showed the anguish and frustration of an individual but voiced the sentiments of the entire Sikh community against the judgment regarding the 1984 Sikh riots," Arshdeep Singh, a college student, said.
As the anti-Sikh riots came back in the reckoning with the Delhi journalist hurling his shoe at Chidambaram over his response to the clean chit given by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to Congress leader Jagdish Tytler for his involvement in the riots, everyone agreed that the issue was right.
Balwinder Singh, a young priest, said the patience of the Sikh community had been wearing thin.
"Do not try our patience any more. We have been waiting for justice the past 25 years. Whatever has happened is just a mere reflection of the community's views. If the government does not take any action, we will see to this on our own."
Added another student, Tanvir Singh Sandhu.
"The incident has moved me very strongly. Even though the method used by the journalist was very immature, the message he wanted to convey was very right. At least now the government knows that ordinary people are not sleeping and they know how to voice their opinions."
According to Saaghar Singh Sachdev, an assistant manager with an insurance company, Jarnail Singh's action was a "a method to attract the attention of the people on the issue".
"Though he tried to ape the Iraqi journalist who the a shoe at Bush, still he has given light to the fire within us against the recent developments in the 1984 Sikh riots case."
HR professional Tajinder Singh said the Sikh community was deeply pained and anguished. "For the past 25 years we have been waiting for justice and the accused are not only moving freely but enjoying all sorts of protection."
"The act may not be justified, but people are finding ways to fetch attention towards injustice to Sikhs. The government must brought the accused to book before the common men take law in their own hands," he said.
And businessman Manjeet Singh felt such actions were necessary to make their "grievances audible to a deaf government".
More than 3,000 people, including more than 2,000 in Delhi alone, were killed in the immediate aftermath of prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination in October 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards.
A shoe was thrown at Home Minister P Chidambaram during a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday. The shoe was thrown by a journalist from Dainak Jagran, Jarnail Singh.
While speaking to media, an unapologetic Singh said he will not apologise for his action, though his manner of protest might have been wrong. "My manner of protest might have been wrong, but I did not intend to hurt anyone," said Jarnail Singh.
After replacing Aishwarya Rai thrice - as the actress with most Internet downloads, ambassador of a jewellery brand and now as the Indian face of Barbie - 24-year-old Katrina Kaif has proved how young actresses in Bollywood are giving their 30-plus colleagues a run for their money.
Not just Aishwarya, Katrina has also replaced 33-year-old Sushmita Sen for an endorsement deal with shampoo brand Pantene.
Noted film critic Saibal Chatterjee says this is a "normal phenomenon" in the industry.
"Actors have a very short span of life as most of them start early and by the time they cross 30, the nature of the roles they get are more mature than candyfloss stuff. So the industry is always on the lookout for young blood," Chatterjee told IANS.
Other young actresses like Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor and Genelia D'Souza too are walking away with the lion's share of films and brand endorsements in the industry these days.
Deepika has been cast instead of 35-year-old Aishwarya in Kalpana Lajmi's "Singhasan". She has also bagged the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) ad from 34-year-old dimpled beauty Preity Zinta.
Like Katrina, Bollywood's size-zero girl Kareena, 28, nudged Aishwarya out of the Filmfare Top-10 Power list. And 'Masakali' girl Sonam Kapoor has succeeded Aishwarya as the Indian face of cosmetic brand L'Oreal.
After the success of "Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na", Genelia D'Souza has become a sought after name and replaced Preity and Rani Mukerji as the brand ambassador of Cadbury's Perk and Fanta respectively.
These apart, Kareena took on the mantle of doing a full-fledged role opposite Aamir Khan in "Three Idiots" after Kajol walked away.
"When Rekha and Hema Malini turned older, Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi replaced them. When the latter two became slightly older, Aishwarya Rai and Rani Mukerji took their place and now these two are being replaced by Katrina and Priyanka. It's a cycle - even these actresses will be dethroned some day," said Chatterjee.
Said Priyanka, who was cast in "Dostana" after Aishwarya declined the offer: "Age is nothing but a number. You can't generalise in terms of age, but no one in this industry is indispensable. Someone takes over from somebody. I have and I'm sure it will happen to me too at some point."
Apart from Tabu, Preity and Sushmita, a lot of the older actresses - Bipasha Basu, Aishwarya, Rani, Lara Dutta, Kajol and Shilpa Shetty - are making few appearances on screen.
While some say that they have made a personal choice to do just a few roles in a year, others like Shilpa and Preity are shifting gears between acting and business after they chose to be part of the cricket extravaganza, the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Preity, who recently featured in offbeat films like "The Last Lear" and Deepa Mehta's "Heaven On Earth", says she might get back to her bubbly, girl-next-door image, only if she gets a role with substance.
"I will do masala movies for sure, but I would like to have substance in them. I can't do just the glam chick any longer. I've been there, done that. It just doesn't inspire me any more. I have to leave that for the other girls to do. That's the way one grows," she had said.
But right now she has only one film in her kitty - Jahnu Barua's "Har Pal".
Tabu, 38, who has been absent from the silver screen after "The Namesake" and "Cheeni Kum", too has only one film "Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai". Similarly, Rani also has just one project in hand - Yash Raj Films' tentatively titled "Hadippa".
And 34-year-old Kajol, who drifted away from the scene after marriage, is doing only Karan Johar's much-hyped film "My Name Is Khan".
"I am not going to do four films a year. I will work, but at my own speed," Kajol had earlier told IANS.
After marrying actor Ajay Devgan in 1999, Kajol cut down on her film roles and makes occasional appearances on the silver screen.
However, Aishwarya's kitty still seems full - the Padma Shri awardee is shooting for Mani Ratnam's "Ravana" with husband Abhishek Bachchan, Tamil film "Endhiran" (earlier titled "Robot") alongside superstar Rajnikanth and Vipul Shah's "Action Replay" opposite Akshay Kumar.
The world famous Jim Corbett National Park, home to the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger, is a paradise for birds, with over 600 different species being recorded in the 1,400 sq km preserve. And where birds perch, can bird watchers be far behind?
Migratory birds such as Osprey, Ruddy Shelduck, Mallard and Gadwall, among others, come all the way from Europe and Central Asia to the lush green forests of the Himalayan foothills in this Kumaon region of the state, some 300 km from Delhi.
Many Himalayan birds also take refuge in Corbett during winters to escape the extreme conditions in the higher reaches of the mountain range. These include flycatchers, the Great Barbet and Wallcreeper.
Thousands of bird watchers from India and abroad visit Corbett during the winter to watch this spectacular congregation of birds.
"As few people are able to spot the big cats in the preserve, the birds have become a major attraction among visitors," says naturalist Ajay Ghale of Leisure Hotels, which runs the Riverview Retreat and Corbett Hideaway hotels in Ramnagar.
"The most sought after bird in Corbett is Ibisbill, a Himalayan bird, which migrate to the forest for three months from November to January. It is a very rare bird, and we only get to see five to six birds around the water bodies. Many people come here to watch this bird," Ghale told IANS.
"The Corbett National Park is a characteristic of the Himalayan mountain system. It offers a great diversity of habitats due to variation in altitude, relief, and temperature," says naturalist Sanjay Chimwal of Leisure Hotels.
Some rare birds found in Corbett include Orange-flanked Bush-robin, Blue-fronted Redstart, Brown Rock-Chat, Little Forktail, Orange-headed Thrush and Red-throated Pipit.
"I come here every year to watch the Himalayan birds. You find several species of aquatic and migratory birds in the Sal forests during winter. The most important thing is that as you travel to higher altitude from here (Corbett), you can spot more colourful birds," said Michael Sanders, a Italian bird watcher.
Realising the interest of visitors in bird watching, almost all the hotels in the area have included amateur ornithology in their tour packages.
"Twenty percent of our guests during a year are typical bird watchers. We host large bird watchers' groups during the winter," said Vibhas Prasad, director of Leisure Hotels.
"Jai Ho!", the Oscar-winning best song from "Slumdog Millionaire" and 'slumdog', the term used to describe the boy from the slums of Mumbai who became a millionaire, have been named top 'HollyWORDs' of 2008.
"Jai Ho! - literally 'Let there be Victory' in Hindi" - and 'Slumdog' - "Definitely a politically incorrect term for young slum-dwellers in Bombay (Mumbai)", top the list of words from Hollywood that most influenced the English language in 2008, according to the 6th Annual Survey by the Global Language Monitor.
The language monitoring group, which uses an algorithm to track the frequency of words and phrases in the world's print and electronic media, noted Thursday it was the first time that two words from the same movie were ranked in the Top Ten.
"2008 was a remarkable year for words in films, with a Hindi phrase, the name of a Laotian tribe, a West African drum, and a modified quotation from Frederick Nietzsche all making the list," said Paul J.J. Payack, President and Chief Word Analyst of the Global Language Monitor.
Closely following were 'Hmong' from "Gran Torino", 'Nuke the Fridge' from "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" and 'Twinkie defense', which followed the events depicted in "Milk".
Rounding out the Top Ten were: 'Djembe' (The Visitor), "There are no coincidences" (Kung Fu Panda), "What doesn't kill you makes you...stranger," (The Dark Knight), Posthumous (The Wrestler), and Katrina from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button".
This is how the group described the other Top Hollywords:
3. Nuke the Fridge (Indiana Jones and the...) - Indiana Jones surviving a nuclear blast in a lead-lined fridge is viewed as proof that the franchise has run its course.
4. Hmong (Gran Torino) - The name of the mountain-dwelling peoples of Laos who were US allies in the Indochinese Wars of the 1960-70s.
5. Twinkie Defense (Milk) - The apocryphal outcome of the 1979 trial of Dan White. The term was never actually used in the trial but was picked up in the media as a stand-in for 'diminished capacity'.
6. Djembe (The Visitor) - West African percussion instrument that Tarek teaches Walter.
7. There are no coincidences (Kung Fu Panda) - Oogway's solemn pronouncement to Master Shifu.
8. What doesn't kill you makes you...stranger (The Dark Knight) - The Joker's twist on the famous Nietzsche epigram.
9. Posthumous (The Wrestler) - Yes, that really was Mickey Rourke as a Best Actor nominee, well after he had been pronounced dead many a time.
10. Katrina (Benjamin Button) - The ominous and pervasive threat of Katrina framing the movie demonstrates the depth to which the hurricane has penetrated the American subconscious.
Rahman won two Oscars, best original score and best original song - Jai Ho - with fellow Indian Gulzar.
Resul Pookutty bagged another award for sound mixing of the rags-to-riches Mumbai movie, which also won best picture and best director.
Smile Pinki, about an Indian cleft-lip girl, won best short documentary.
The success of Slumdog sparked massive celebrations back in India.
The Oscar wins made front page news in all the newspapers, with special praise for AR Rahman, who is a cult music composer in India.
Slumgod, headlined The Indian Express .
"Like it or not, you have to have been swayed by its anthem song, Jai Ho. And whether or not this prepares the ground for an Indian original to cross over, there had to have been misty eyed moments when AR Rahman took his bow," the newspaper said in an editorial.
Writing in the same paper, critic Sandipan Deb said that though India should "really rejoice for the six children" who acted in Slumdog and for composer AR Rahman, "it's a bit too much if we take this as a victory for Indian cinema".
"It's a non-Indian film which happened to have an all-Indian cast. We shoot entire films abroad nowadays, especially in the US, remember?".
'Triumph of hope'
India Breaks Sound Barrier headlined The Times of India , alluding to the success of Rahman's music and Resul Pookuty's sound mixing awards.
"You know India has arrived when everybody in Hollywood's Kodak Theatre - from Brad Pitt to Kate Winslet, Steven Spielberg to Meryl Streep - move to the beat of Jai Ho," the newspaper wrote.
The newspaper said that India "justifiably has much to celebrate about Slumdog's night of Oscar glory".
"Three Indians have won individual Academy honours this year, and that's a tremendous achievement."
The newspaper said that "for all its problems, India is a multicultural experiment that works".
"Just take a look at the Indians who won Oscar accolades this year -they follow different religions. But they accepted the honours as Indians, on our behalf, and dedicated their wins to us".
The Hindu newspaper called the film's success as a "triumph of hope".
The newspaper said that though Slumdog was made by a British director and funded by a European company, "it is seen by many at home as an Indian film".
'Curious amalgam'
The newspaper pointed out that unlike Richard Attenborough's Gandhi - the film won eight Oscars - the cast of Slumdog was "almost entirely Indian".
Also, it said, "the style that permeates the film is a curious amalgam - one that represents a true cinematic union between Hollywood and Bollywood".
The Hindu said that "India impacted on this year's Oscars in another way, and one that deserves special mention: the best documentary award to Smile Pinki".
Hindustan Times said that Slumdog was a "great exhilarating film that has brought willy-nilly the 'Bollywood' language into mainstream world cinema".
"What better way for us to be flattered than when a foreign film hits Oscar gold by going down our 'filmy' path?"
But, in an editorial page piece in the same newspaper, critic Indrajit Hazra wondered whether Slumdog was really an 'Indian' film.
"If there's any 'national' aspect to the Slumdog Millionaire mega-haul it is that of AR Rahman winning two Oscars - not because he is an Indian national, but because, through the score of the movie and the two songs he has been able to bring the contemporary Hindi film sound into the international mainstream," he wrote.
"The rest, as they don't say enough, is nationalistic poppycock."
Slumdog Is Top Dog, headlined Mail Today
The newspaper said Rahman's awards proved that the composer's music has "gone beyond India, and is part of the global mainstream, something incredibly creative and human, and something very personal, linked to his genius".
The Economic Times said it was a "Bollywood show at the Oscars, as a group of kids walked the red carpet and won a million hearts".
AR Rahman told DNA newspaper that the Oscars would help Indian talent.
"I think it's a great bridge .. it is the starting point for Bollywood and Indian talent. Americans [earlier] had an aversion to any other culture."
"Now we are probably making our culture more acceptable, we are setting a trend .. I loved the way the kids came in [the Slumdog child actors walking the ramp].. it was so moving."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7907043.stm
Describing his father Moninder Singh Pandher as a "fine, innocent man", Karandeep Singh Pandher blamed the media for his conviction Thursday for the rape and murder of 14-year-old Rimpa Halder in Nithari in Noida area.
"I thank the media for their help - thanks to them a fine innocent man has been sent to jail. Thank you very much!" an angry Karandeep Singh told IANS.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court Thursday afternoon convicted businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surendra Koli for raping and killing Haldar.
The CBI in its May 2007 charge sheet accused Koli of abduction, rape and murder of Haldar, and exonerated Pandher. But the court after hearing the defence argument in July 2007 charged Pandher too with rape and murder.
After the conviction was announced, Moninder Singh Pandher's wife Devinder Kaur and son burst into tears.
Karandeep hugged his father and said: "Sorry Papa, I could not save you." Pandher replied: "Don't cry�"
Asked if the verdict surprised him, Pandher's son said: "I will not say anything on this."
"I feel what anyone whose innocent father was sent to jail would feel," Karandeep said.
Avoiding the media glare, the family immediately left the courtroom. Moninder Singh Pandher and Koli were whisked away by the police.
Special judge Rama Jain will pronounce the quantum of punishment Friday morning.
While both Pandher and Koli were found guilty of murder and rape, Koli was also booked under the additional charge of abduction. Pandher was found guilty of destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy.
The two men were arrested Dec 29, 2006, after the Noida police found 15 skulls outside Pandher's D-5 bungalow, touching Nithari village in Noida on the outskirts of the national capital.
Subsequently, more bones were recovered from the drain behind the bungalow. Eventually, investigations revealed that the remains belonged to four young women and 15 girls who had been raped, killed and their bodies mutilated.
In the first of the Nithari case verdicts, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court Thursday convicted businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic help Surendra Koli for raping and killing 14-year-old Rimpa Haldar.
Special Judge Rama Jain held Pandher and Koli guilty of murder and rape of Haldar, one of the 19 young women and children from Nithari village in Noida area whose body parts were found in a drain behind Pandher's bungalow in December 2006.
While Koli was also found guilty under the additional charge of abduction, Pandher will be punished for destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy. Both the accused now face charges punishable with death.
Jain will pronounce the quantum of punishment Friday morning. This is the first verdict in the 19 cases registered by the CBI.
After the conviction was announced, Pandher's wife Devinder Kaur and son Karandeep burst into tears.
Karandeep hugged his father and said: "Sorry Papa I could not save you." To which Pandher replied: "Don't cry�"
Avoiding the media glare, the family immediately left the courtroom while Pandher and Koli were whisked away by the police.
For the family of the teen, who was sexually abused and brutally hacked to death, however, the verdict was an affirmation of their faith in the judiciary.
"My faith in the judiciary has increased after the conviction and I hope the court will give them death penalty," said Rimpa's father Anil Haldar, who drives an autorickshaw.
"God has given us the courage to fight against these high-profile people. Finally, justice has gone in our favour and we are very happy. Now my daughter's soul will rest in peace. Both the accused should be hanged," said his wife Dolly.
Hours before the ruling, the judge called Pandher and Koli in her courtroom and asked Pandher if he wanted to say something about the confessional statement Koli had given in a Delhi court in 2007.
To this, Pandher shook his head and said: "I don't want to."
Jain prodded him further about his involvement with a woman named Payal, who was mentioned in Koli's statement. Koli had said Pandher allegedly had sexual relations with the women victims "who would often spend the night".
To this, Pandher did not deny his involvement, and said, "Yes, yes (haan haan) Payal".
The two men were arrested Dec 29, 2006, after the Noida police found 15 skulls outside the businessman's D-5 bungalow in Noida on the outskirts of the national capital.
Subsequently, more bones were recovered from the drain behind the bungalow. Eventually, investigations revealed that the remains belonged to four women and 15 young girls who had been raped, killed and mutilated.
After the judgement, Khalid Khan, lawyer for the Nithari victims' families, said: "This is the landmark judgement and victory of justice. The court has found both Pandher and Koli guilty for rape and murder."
"The sentence will be announced Friday and both will get the same punishment. I will seek death penalty for them. The CBI tried to save Pandher but could not do it," a jubilant Khan, who was hoisted up on people's shoulders in celebration, said.
The CBI in its charge sheet in the gruesome murder of Haldar in May 2007 had exonerated Pandher of abduction, rape and murder. Two months later, however, the court reprimanded the agency and Pandher was made co-accused with Koli.
The CBI charge sheet stated that Haldar was strangled and then cut to pieces by Koli with two kitchen knives and an axe four years ago. It said Koli was suffering from necrophilia (urge to have sex with a corpse) and necrophagia (urge to eat the flesh of a body).