Kim Sharma 21-January

Kim was born in Ahmednagar to an Indian father and a Japanese mother. She has 3 sisters. Kim did her schooling at St. Joseph's Convent in Panchgani. She then returned to her hometown and joined a junior college.

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Of her college days, she said 'Having studied in a boarding school, where most of the girls were from aboard, living and studying in Ahmednagar came as a culture shock'. While in her twelfth standard, she decided to quit studies. Her niece used to study in Army Public School of Ahmednagar. As one of the famous faces of Ahmednagar college, she was offered many fashion shows and modeling.

In August 2011 it was revealed that Kim had secretly married a Kenyan businessman named Ali Punjani, who she had been dating for a few weeks.

Career

On a trip to Mumbai, she auditioned for Close-Up toothpaste and was selected. She then appeared in Sunsilk, Pepsi, Tata Safari, Ponds, Fair & Lovely, Clean-n-Clear and Liril advertisements. She is also the brand ambassador of Olay in India.

Sharma caught the eye of producer Aditya Chopra who signed her for his next directorial venture titled Mohabbatein. The film also marked the launch of five other newcomers-Uday Chopra, Jugal Hansraj, Jimmy Shergill, Shamita Shetty and Preeti Jhangiani. Mohabbatein also starred superstars Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. It was a huge hit and started Kim's career in Bollywood.

 

Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) 19-January

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The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was the spiritual leader of the Rajneeshee religious sect headquartered at Rancho Rajneesh in the Central Oregon desert from 1981 to 1985. He attracted hundreds of thousands of red-clad followers from around the world, known as sannyasins. These followers, mostly educated and affluent, followed Rajneesh's teachings which he argued did not reject but rather built on, other religions. Described by reporter David Sarasohn as a “combination of Eastern mysticism…and the Western human potential movement,” the Rajneesh believed that meditation and sexual exploration were essential to spiritual enlightenment.

Born Rajneesh Chandra Mohan in 1931, Rajneesh grew up in Kuchwada in central India. In 1955 he earned a masters degree in philosophy and taught at two universities until 1966. In 1974 he founded an ashram (commune) in Poona (Pune), India where his success as a spiritual leader began. On July 10, 1981, his assistant Ma Anand Sheela, the president of the Rajneesh Foundation International, purchased the 64,000 acre Big Muddy Ranch straddling Wasco and Jefferson Counties in Central Oregon. The Bhagwan renamed it Rancho Rajneesh and moved there in August 1981.

The Rajneeshee developed the city of Rajneeshpuram, whose population was estimated between 2,000 and 3,000 in 1983 and 1984. They also planned a communal farm on the property. As the population of sannyasins increased, so did local resistance. Reports surfaced that Rajneesh was exercising mind control techniques on his followers. To the suspicion of the residents of the nearby town of Antelope, he owned fleets of Rolls Royce cars and private jets, while sannyasins on the commune labored 12 hours each day without monetary compensation. A lengthy struggle between the Rajneesh and their neighbors erupted, attracting the attention of the international press. On September 13, 1985 Sheela, his assistant, fled the commune for Europe amid criminal charges.

Despite Rajneesh's attempts to distance himself from Sheela, the commune collapsed, and on October 28, 1985, he too fled. Arrested when his jet refueled in Charlotte, North Carolina, Rajneesh was tried in Portland on charges of immigration fraud. Immediately after his trial on November 14, Rajneesh left for India and changed his name to Osho. He spent the rest of his life in several countries including Greece and Uruguay. He died on January 19, 1990 in Poona, India where his followers still operate an ashram.

Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan 18-January

“Mitti Ka Tan, Masti Ka Man aur Kshan Bhar Jeean” these are the lines given by an eminent Hindi poet, Mr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan for his introduction. He was the poet of Chhyavaad literary movement which means Romantic Upsurge. He was best known for his work named 'Madhushaala'.

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He was a proud father of Shahenshah of Bollywood Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. He was born in a Kayasath family to Pratap Narayan Shrivastav and Saraswati Devvi. He did his formal schooling from a municipal school and took forward the tradition of family by going to Kayasath Paathshaala for Urdu training. He later pursued his higher studies at Allahbaad University and Banaras Hindu University. During this period he came under influence of Independence Movement, then came under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. After realizing that this is not his forte he went back to college and taught in English Department of Allahbad University, followed by doctoral thesis on W. B. Yeats at Cambridge University. His thesis got him PhD at Cambridge.

In 1926, at the age of 19, Bachchan married his first wife, Shyama, who was then 14 years old. However she died ten years later in 1936 after a long spell of tuberculosis and then married Teji Suri in 1941. They have two sons Amitabh and Ajitabh. In 1955, Harivanshrai shifted to Delhi to join the External Affairs Ministry as an officer on special duty and during the period of 10 years that he served he was also associated with the evolution of Hindi as the official language. He also enriched Hindi through his translations of major writings. As a poet he is famous for his poem Madhushala (a bar selling alcoholic drinks). Besides Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat, he will also be remembered for his Hindi translations of Shakespeare's Macbeth and Othello and also the 'Bhagvad Gita'. However in Nov 1984 he wrote his last poem 'Ek November1984' on Indira Gandhi's assassination

Javed Akhtar 17-January

One name that is synonymous with romance, aesthetics and Urdu poetry in contemporary India is that of Javed Akhtar. This famous lyricist and songwriter was born on January 17th 1945 in Gwalior. The life history of Javed Akhtar is a roller coaster ride and the number of honors to his name is an endless list that is still growing. This multi talented personality is a renowned poet and lyricist in the Indian film industry. Javed Akhtar is the son of a famous Urdu poet Jaan Nisar Akhtar and Safia Akhtar who was a writer and a teacher. His past generation has a lineage of prominent poets and writers and Javed skillfully takes the tradition forward. Read on further to know more about Javed Akhtar biography.

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His grandfather is looked upon as the milestone in Urdu poetry and is the famous Muzter Khairabadi. Another famous Urdu poet, Majaz, was his mother's brother. Javed Akhtar's generation undoubtedly has an impressive lineage of poets and writers. His parents were also professors at the Hamidia College in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. As a young lad, Javed went to Cambridge School, Bhopal. He graduated from Safiya College, Bhopal in 1964. In his yesteryears, Javed was a radical kid, which is what created a distance between him and his father.
After spending some difficult time in Bhopal for some years, he arrived in Bombay (Mumbai). Popularly known as the city of dreams, every artist definitely tries his luck once in the famous Indian film industry. He got his first major break in the year 1969 in the movie "Seeta aur Geeta". It was on this set that he met Honey Irani and later married her. They had two children, Farhan and Zoya. Farhan Akhtar is a leading producer in the Indian film industry today. He divorced Honey Irani and married Shabana Azmi, the daughter of another famous poet, Kaifi Azmi.

Javed Akhtar excelles as not just a poet but also as a scriptwriter and a song lyricist. He got fame when he collaborated with the famous scriptwriter Salim Khan and they both penned down some unforgettable hits as the duo of Salim-Javed. Both of them delivered some beautiful hits like Zanjeer, Deewar, Haathi Mere Saathi, Don, etc.

The duo parted ways in the year 1981. Since then Javed has worked independently and has scripted many movies. Javed Akhtar won a national award for best lyricist for the hit movie Saaz in the year 1996. This trend carried on for two more years as he won national awards for the movies Border and Godmother in 1997 and 1998 respectively. He has scripted some very hit films like Sagar, Arjun and Betaab. But after a while, he returned back to being a lyricist.

Javed Akhtar has also won 7 Filmfare awards and the government of India has honored with the titles of Padma Shree and Padma Bhushan. He is a multi-talented personality who continues to get rave reviews and awards for his works. His first collection of Urdu poems was released in the year 1995. It was read by millions in both Hindi and Urdu. It was also released as an album and sold many CD's. The famous artist M.F. Hussain is said to have painted around 16 canvases inspired from the poems.

Kabir Bedi 16-January

Kabir Bedi is an internationally acclaimed Indian actor. He has acted in over 60 Bollywood films and has hits like "Khoon Bhari Maang", "Kurbaan" and "Main Hoon Na". He is well-recognized for his role of Emperor Shah Jahan in "Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story".

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Popularly recognized in the West for his role as a villainous 'Gobinda' in the James Bond film, "Octopussy", Kabir also played a pivotal role in the Columbia Pictures' "The Beast of War", a film on the Russian war in Afghanistan. He is best known in Europe for playing a Pirate in "Sandokan", a popular TV mini- series. He also starred in "The Bold and the Beautiful", the second most watched television show in the world.

Kabir Bedi with his deep voice, rare wit and strong persona is known to have hosted a bevy of events, awards shows and corporate shows in India. Recently, he hosted an event for the Government of Madhya Pradesh to mark the thousandth year of the incarnation of the King of Bhopal Raja Bhoj.

Lately, Kabir has also been associated with corporate shows for renowned brands like Serco, Godfrey Phillips and Business India.

Currently, Kabir is working on a Tamil film titled "Aravaan", directed by Vasanthabalan.

Indian Armed Force Day 15-January

The Armed Forces Flag Day or the Flag Day of India is a day dedicated towards collection of funds from people of India for the welfare of the Indian Armed Forces personnel. It has been observed annually in India on December 7 since 1949. Over the years, it has become a tradition to commemorate this day as an honour to the soldiers, airmen and sailors of India.

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Immediately after India achieved independence, a need arose for the government to manage the welfare of its defence personnel. On August 28, 1949, a committee set up under the defence minister decided to observe a Flag Day annually on December 7. The idea behind observing a Flag Day was to distribute small flags to the general population and in return collect donations. Flag Day gains more significance as it considers that it is the responsibility of the civilian population of India to take care of the families and dependents of the armed forces personnel who fight for the country.

The Flag day is mainly observed to serve three basic purposes

• Rehabilitation of battle casualties


• Welfare of serving personnel and their families


• Resettlement and welfare of ex-servicemen and their families.

The Armed Forces Flag Day commemoration and the collection of funds through distribution of flags. It is a time for Indians to express its gratitude and appreciation to the current and veteran military personnel of India and to acknowledge those who died in service to the country.

On the Flag Day all three branches of the Indian armed forces, the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy, arrange a variety of shows, carnivals, dramas and other entertainment programmes to showcase to the general public the efforts of their personnel to ensure national security. Throughout the country small flags and car flags in red, deep blue and light blue colours representing the three Services are distributed in return for donations.

Makar Sakranti 14-January

Makar Sankranti is a major harvest festival celebrated in various parts of India. According to the lunar calendar, when the sun moves from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn or from Dakshinayana to Uttarayana, in the month of Poush in mid-January, it commemorates the beginning of the harvest seaso

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n and cessation of the northeast monsoon in South India. The movement of the earth from one zodiac sign into another is called Sankranti and as the Sun moves into the Capricorn zodiac known as Makar in Hindi, this occasion is named as Makar Sankranti in the Indian context. It is one of the few Hindu Indian festivals which are celebrated on a fixed date i.e. 14th January every year.

Makar Sankranti, apart from a harvest festival is also regarded as the beginning of an auspicious phase in Indian culture. It is said as the 'holy phase of transition'. It marks the end of an inauspicious phase which according to the Hindu calendar begins around mid-December. It is believed that any auspicious and sacred ritual can be sanctified in any Hindu family, this day onwards. Scientifically, this day marks the beginning of warmer and longer days compared to the nights. In other words, Sankranti marks the termination of winter season and beginning of a new harvest or spring season.

All over the country, Makar Sankranti is observed with great fanfare. However, it is celebrated with distinct names and rituals in different parts of the country. In the states of northern and western India, the festival is celebrated as the Sankranti day with special zeal and fervor. The importance of this day has been signified in the ancient epics like Mahabharata also. So, apart from socio-geographical importance, this day also holds a historical and religious significance. As, it is the festival of Sun God and he is regarded as the symbol divinity and wisdom, the festival also holds an eternal meaning to it.