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Starry Nights
''Starry Nights'' is Shobha De's second novel. It is said that the novels' characters, Aasha Rani and her lover Akshay, were based on the real life love-affairs of Amitabh Bachchan with Rekha Ganesan and Dharmendra Singh Deol with Hema Malini. It was a best seller in India and cemented its authors reputation as being a provocative and daring author. Plot summary The protagonist of the book is Aasha Rani, a dark, chubby girl from Madras who has striven for seven years to become a famous Bollywood starlet. Her mother, Amma, has pushed her to attain this status by selling herself into the world of blue films before she was twelve years old, and when she was fifteen to Kishenbhai, a once-famous producer who was encouraged by Amma to take her as a lover in exchange for a film role. Kishenbhai, unable to secure a role for her any other way, finances a film with his own money after promoting her as the newest Bollywood starlet and having her sleep with the appropriate people to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shobha De
Shobha De (''née'' Rajadhyaksha, formerly Kilachand; born 7 January 1948) is an Indian novelist and columnist. She is best known for her depiction of socialites and sex in her works of fiction, for which she has been referred to as the "Jackie Collins of India." Early life and education Shobhaa De was born on 7 January 1948 in Satara district, Maharashtra and brought up in Bombay (now Mumbai). in a Marathi people, Marathi family. Her father was a district court judge, and her mother was a home-maker. The youngest of four siblings, she has two sisters and a brother. Shobha grew up in Mumbai, where she attended Queen Mary School, Mumbai, Queen Mary School. She graduated from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, Saint Xavier's College. Career At age 17, she began her career as a model, which lasted for five years. At age 20, she began her career as a journalist, writing "agony aunt" advice columns and features for society magazines. She was the editor of the magazine ''Stardust (magazi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gangster
A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and resources that support much larger and more organized crime, complex criminal transactions than an individual criminal could achieve. Gangsters have been active for many years in countries around the world. Gangsters are the subject of many novels, films, television series, and video games. Usage In modern usage, the term "gang" is generally used for a criminal organization and the term "gangster" invariably describes a criminal. Much has been written on the subject of gangs, although there is no clear consensus about what constitutes a gang or what situations lead to gang formation and evolution. There is agreement that the members of a gang have a sense of common identity and belonging and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South India
South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area () and 20% of India's population. It is bound by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse, with two mountain ranges, the Western and Eastern Ghats, bordering the plateau heartland. The Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Penna, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water. Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Kochi are the largest urban areas in the region. The majority of the people in South India speak at least one of the four major Dravidian languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. During its history, a number of dynastic kingdoms ruled ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assassination
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are ordered by both individuals and organizations, and are carried out by their accomplices. Acts of assassination have been performed since ancient times. A person who carries out an assassination is called an assassin. Etymology ''Assassin'' comes from the Italian and French Assissini, believed to derive from the word '' hashshashin'' (), and shares its etymological roots with '' hashish'' ( or ; from ').''The Assassins: a radical sect in Islam'' – Bernard Lewis, pp. 11–12 It referred to a group of Nizari Ismailis known as the Order of Assassins who worked against various political targets. Founded by Hassan-i Sabbah, the Assassins were active in the Near East from the 11th to the 13th centuries. The group killed members of the Ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper Class
Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper class is generally distinguished by immense wealth which is passed on from generation to generation. Prior to the 20th century, the emphasis was on ''aristocracy'', which emphasized generations of inherited noble status, not just recent wealth. Because the upper classes of a society may no longer rule the society in which they are living, they are often referred to as the old upper classes, and they are often culturally distinct from the newly rich middle classes that tend to dominate public life in modern social democracies. According to the latter view held by the traditional upper classes, no amount of individual wealth or fame would make a person from an undistinguished background into a member of the upper class as one must be born in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Call Girl
A call girl or female escort is a prostitute who (unlike a street prostitution, street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency."Is the number of trafficked call girls a myth?" BBC News. (9 January 2009) The client must make an appointment, usually by calling a telephone number. Call girls have traditionally had a number of routes available to advertise their services, including classified advertisements in magazines and latterly via the Internet. The use of online classified advertisement websites such as Backpage for this purpose has increased during the 21st century. An intermediary advertiser, such as an escort agency, may be involved in promo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Socialite
A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditional employment. Word history The word ''socialite'' is first attested in 1909 in a Tennessee newspaper. It was popularized by Time (magazine), ''Time'' magazine in the 1920s.David E. Sumner, ''The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900'', 2010, , p. 62 United Kingdom Historically, socialites in the United Kingdom were almost exclusively from the families of the British nobility, aristocracy and landed gentry. Many socialites also had strong familial or personal relationships to the British royal family. Between the 17th and early 19th centuries, society events in London and at English country house, country houses were the focus of socialite activity. Notable examples of British socialites include Beau Brummell, William ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multiracial
The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for multiracial people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethnic'', ''biracial'', ''mixed-race'', ''Métis'', ''Muladí, Muwallad'', ''Melezi'', ''Coloureds, Coloured'', ''Dougla people, Dougla'', ''half-caste'', ''Euronesian, ʻafakasi'', ''mulatto'', ''mestizo'', ''Wiktionary:mutt, mutt'', ''Melungeon'', ''quadroon'', ''Quadroon, octoroon'', ''Quadroon#Racial classifications, griffe'', ''sacatra'', ''zambo, sambo/zambo'', ''Indo people, Eurasian'', ''hapa'', ''hāfu'', ''Garifuna'', ''pardo'', and ''Gurans (Transbaikal people), Gurans''. A number of these once-acceptable terms are now considered Offensive language, offensive, in addition to those that were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AIDS
The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, preventable disease. It can be managed with treatment and become a manageable chronic health condition. While there is no cure or vaccine for HIV, Management of HIV/AIDS, antiretroviral treatment can slow the course of the disease, and if used before significant disease progression, can extend the life expectancy of someone living with HIV to a nearly standard level. An HIV-positive person on treatment can expect to live a normal life, and die with the virus, not of it. Effective #Treatment, treatment for HIV-positive people (people living with HIV) involves a life-long regimen of medicine to suppress the virus, making the viral load undetectable. Treatment is recommended as soon as the diagnosis is made. An HIV-positive person who has an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of island countries, sixth-largest island country by area and lies east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The Geography of New Zealand, country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps (), owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. Capital of New Zealand, New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and subsequently developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or academic difficulties), relationship problems (such as breakups or divorces), or harassment and bullying. Those who have previously attempted suicide are at a higher risk for future attempts. Effective suicide prevention efforts include limiting access to methods of suicide such as firearms, drugs, and poisons; treating mental disorders and substance abuse; careful media reporting about suicide; improving economic conditions; and dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). Although crisis hotlines, like 988 in North America and 13 11 14 in Australia, are common resources, their effectiveness has not been well studied. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for approximately 1.5% of total deaths. In a given year, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Traffic Light
Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – also known as robots in South Africa, Zambia, and Namibia – are signaling devices positioned at intersection (road), road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control the flow of traffic. Traffic lights usually consist of three signals, transmitting meaningful information to road users through colours and symbols, including arrows and bicycles. The usual traffic light colours are red to stop traffic, Amber (color), amber for traffic change, and green to allow traffic to proceed. These are arranged vertically or horizontally in that order. Although this is internationally standardised, variations in traffic light sequences and laws exist on national and local scales. Traffic lights were first introduced in December 1868 on Parliament Square in London to reduce the need for police officers to control traffic. Since then, electricity and computerised control have advanced traffic light technolog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
