"Boy Bands are hot again!"

Aparajita Basu : Managing Editor : Allahabad Post

With acts like One Direction, The Wanted and Big Time Rush storming the pop charts, boy bands are back in a big way.

"Boy bands are hot again," James C. McKinley Jr. wrote in a New York Times article on Mar. 23.

"We Love Boy Bands," Billboard declared on two separate covers of its Mar. 31 issue, featuring recent incarnations of the boy band phenomenon: One Direction and The Wanted.

Not since New Kids on the Block in the '80s, and the Backstreet Boys and 'NSYNC in the '90s, have boy bands been so predominant.

The tipping point for the recent spate of boy band dominance came when One Direction, a creation of Simon Cowell (the "American Idol" judge), became the first British band to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.


Their debut CD, "Up All Night," sold to the tune of 176,000 copies in its first week, a feat that no British band had ever achieved before, not even such icons as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Bee Gees, the Sex Pistols, Oasis or Radiohead.

But even with all of this activity swirling around the new boy bands, is it correct to say that the boy band is back? After all, two famous groups that ruled the pop charts in previous decades, New Kids and the Block and the Backstreet Boys, are still at it in 2012. The fully grown men are currently on a mega-world tour through June under the super group moniker, NKOTBSB, a united front that spawned from a 2010 NKOTB show in New York City. And longstanding boy bands (e.g., Hanson, the Jonas Brothers, even Boyzone) are still holding strong.

So, perhaps, the better question to explore is, Did the boy band ever really go away?

(source)

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The Immortals of Meluha - Amish Tripathi

Aparajita Basu : Managing Editor : Allahabad Post

An enticing synopsis, the ever elusive Indian mythology and my first Indian literature by a modern author. Presenting my honest views of Shiva #1 The Immortals of Meluha by Amish Tripathi and it was so so...read on and find out why.....(foreign readers please make note that this is trilogy is a work of fiction and by all means not what the Hindu religious scriptures say)

Here is the summary of the book:

1900 BC. In what modern Indians mistakenly call the Indus Valley Civilisation. The inhabitants of that period called it the land of Meluha a near perfect empire created many centuries earlier by Lord Ram, one of the greatest monarchs that ever lived. This once proud empire and its Suryavanshi rulers face severe perils as its primary river, the revered Saraswati, is slowly drying to extinction. They also face devastating terrorist attacks from the east, the land of the Chandravanshis. To make matters worse, the Chandravanshis appear to have allied with the Nagas, an ostracised and sinister race of deformed humans with astonishing martial skills!

The only hope for the Suryavanshis is an ancient legend: When evil reaches epic proportions, when all seems lost, when it appears that your enemies have triumphed, a hero will emerge.

Is the rough-hewn Tibetan immigrant Shiva, really that hero? And does he want to be that hero at all? Drawn suddenly to his destiny, by duty as well as by love, will Shiva lead the Suryavanshi vengeance and destroy evil?

Like every Pantheon of Gods in every religion around the world, India is also not far behind....we have our own Pantheon in the Hindu Religion - the big three Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva (also known as Mahesha) and the lesser famous deities Indra, Varun, Agni, etc. and the Shiva Trilogy is based upon this fact only, they are Gods but how did they become known were they divine entities or just simple Homo sapiens like us who became known hundreds of years later as Gods for the deeds they performed centuries ago.


Shiva in the 1900 BC, a rough hewn Tibetian immigrant, he is the leader of his tribe and as he is drawn to his destiny he and his whole tribe leave their old life style and go to Meluha, what modern India mistakenly known as the Indus Valley Civilization, a near perfect empire created centuries before by the Lord Ram but all in not perfect they face the extinction of their most important river, Saraswati and in addition to it terrorist attacks. Is Shiva, really their hero as the legend of the Neelkantha says but the important question is will he accept his destiny.


Author Amish Tripathi has woven a clever and asthetic tale. Its history meet folk lore and the clever infusion of philanthropic and humanitarian issues. With these redeeming qualities it still needs a lot of work. The dialogues while simple could have been better, it is a historical tale and people then did not know swear words like "damnit", so yes the language needs much work. Then there is the fact that somras (aka liquor) is depicted as the drink that induces immortality, which is weird since it is injurious to health. The plot is flat, it doesn't have the factor that makes you loose yourself in it like a good novel should.


At last, not the greatest book but people are saying that the second book is much better, maybe i'll check it out later. We'll see.....

"Not the greatest book but just love the concept of the plot"

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On Mother’s Day: For all the Moms!

Richa Tiwari : Managing Editor : Allahabad Post

A lovable note

As pure as a morning dew,

Reflects your care.

Holding my tender hands,

You were always there………

Stirring honey with every word,

You caramelized my soul.

My alma mater,

You gave my life a goal.

Effigy of benevolence,

Magnanimous you.

From the depth of my heart,

I state the true……………………

No more words do I find,

To describe your love.

Affectionate than affection,

You are my dole of dove.

The reason of my being,

My building block.

My Mother,,,,,

You always Rock………..

  

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Interesting Mamta Banerjee... isn't !

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Present condition of University of Allahabad after Ruckus

Senior Correspondent : Allahabad : Allahabad Post

An uneasy calm prevailed in and around the Allahabad University on Friday after the violence witnessed on Thursday night. The hostlers observed a black day on Friday and also took out a protest march. The university has been closed for two days.

To avoid a repeat of Thursday violence, administration has deployed heavy police force in and around the four campuses of AU. Although AU was closed, barring some departments conducting their exams, heavy police force guarded the roads and crossings, especially at Union Hall gate, KPUC gate and the main gate of the varsity. Police officials including SP City SK Yadav patrolled the campus and checked I-Cards of the students came to appear in the examination. The situation on the science campus was also calm as various departments conducted the earlier scheduled exam programme.

Vice-chancellor Prof AK Singh held a meeting with officials including Dean Students Welfare, chief proctor, Registrar, finance officer, at his residence. Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, AU PRO Prof PK Sahoo said, "The exams will be held as per the announced programme but the meeting of the Academic Council (AC), scheduled for April 28, has been deferred. The varsity administration wants to make it clear that the legitimate inmates of all hostels should not panic as AU authorities are there to cater to all their problems and as far as their stay for appearing in competitive exams are considered, a three member committee, headed by Dean Research and Development N R Forooqi and Prof BP Singh and DSW Prof R K Singh as its members, will look into the issue and give its recommendations to AU." Another committee, comprising all the deans and DSW has been formed which will be in regular dialogue with the students and hostellers and cater to their needs, added the PRO.

On Thursday night, when the varsity administration failed to pacify the agitated hostellers and the latter refusing to accept anything short of postponement of the decision of vacating the hostels till June 30, heavy violence was witnessed in and around the Arts campus. When the police took the vice-chancellor safely to his residence, the students became aggressive and police had to resort to teargas to disperse them.

Next two hours, there was total lawlessness on the roads and the campus. The hostellers burnt two cars parked at AU and torched a bus. They damaged the glass panes of the house of chief proctor.

They also ransacked AU guest house wherein they burnt the sofa kept at the main reception, damaged all the glass panes and earthen pots along with the plastic chairs. They smashed the LCD TV kept at the reception and the entire area was engulfed in heavy smoke. The guests i.e. the faculty members of various institutions which had come to AU for taking exams etc ran along with their belonging.

After Thursday incidents, Friday witnessed an uneasy calm at the campus. Shopkeepers were reluctant to open their shops and thus opened the same partially. The hostellers along with student leaders assembled at the Union hall and marched towards the V-C office. Wearing black ribbons in their arms, they stayed at the portico for around an hour and while these agitated protesters were addressing the gathering, police kept a close watch. Later they marched towards district collectorate. Meeting the ADM City, they handed over a memorandum demanding dismissal of the V-C, Prof Singh.

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Ruckus & Voilence continues in University of Allahabad

Prateek Pathak : Managing Editor : Allahabad Post

Protesting the order to vacate hostels, students of the Allahabad University on Thursday fought pitched battles with police as they torched a police vehicle and two state transport buses as well damaging varsity property. Several students were injured in the clashes and taken to nearby medical facilities.

With the violence threatening to escalate further, police baton-charged the rampaging students and chased them away, a police spokesman said. Police also lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the mob.

The sudden violence broke out after a simmering discontent over the hostel eviction orders issued by the varsity management.

The vice-chancellor had recently issued directives to all wardens of the hostels in the university campus that hostels be vacated after the examinations were over. Incensed at this diktat, students had been airing their disagreement and were claiming that this would effect their preparations for the competitive exams.

The angry students had cordoned off the Vice-Chancellor AK Singh's office and held him captive for several hours following which a large contingent of policemen had been deployed at the campus Thursday.

The violence broke out as rumours of disciplinary action against the protesting students did the rounds and by late evening students started pelting the police with stones and engaged in a direct confrontation.

The mob of students soon attacked anyone who came in their way, vandalised in the office campus and set on fire vehicles, including buses.

While the large contingent of security personnel managed to securely evacuate the VC and other staff held hostage, the atmosphere in the varsity campus remained tense.

Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and Rapid Action Force (RAF) units have been deployed in the area to avoid further flare up of the situation.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Allahabad Naveen Arora said that the situation was under control in "the varsity campus and the city as well". "The violence lasted for about 30 minutes but now things are fine, though some injuries from both sides have been reported" he informed.

Inspector General of Police (Law & Order) BP Singh said that the situation was under control and other than containing the incident of violence, police was bracing up for Friday just in case a large number of students congregated and created any further ruckus.

"We are monitoring the situation and are hopeful that the violence would be contained and the campus would remain calm," he added.

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