India's laughing clubs and yoga centres are helping violence hit Israel to relieve stress as more and more laughing clubs and meditation centres are becoming popular across the country, media reports say. Caught in between spiralling violence and severe economic depression for nearly four years, laughter therapy, an idea copied from India's "mirth is medicine" laughing clubs, have been a rage in Israel's main cities for some months now. Israelis are trying to relieve tension by a jolly good laugh, Debka Files reported on Saturday. With increasing acceptance of Indian culture in Israel, a lot of centres based on age-old Indian techniques, primarily yoga and mediation have sprung up all around Israel, it said. Earlier, the elderly among the Gaza settlers, faced with the prospect of being removed from the settlements, had advised the community members to resort to yoga and meditation to relieve themselves from the stress of the impending eviction.

Courtesy: The Indian Express, July 17, 2004

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A handful of dedicated people who take time off every week to impart lessons on Indian languages, music and Hinduism were honoured at an event in Johannesburg. The occasion was the first Guru Purnima Day of the Mayfair School of Music and Hindi. Started in 1996 with about 22 students, with classes in harmonium and tabla only, the school now has 32 students who also attend classes on Hindi, Gujarati and Hinduism. Five teachers, one of them trained in India, give their time on Saturdays to teach children and a few adults. Rajivbhai Shrivastava, who has been the manager of the school since 2000 after arriving from India earlier to work here for the United Breweries Group, said he did so because of a passion to teach children music and language. "It is very gratifying to see parents sending their children, some as young as six years, to learn to play musical instruments; speak the language; and learn about Hindu culture," said Shrivastava.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, July 13, 2004

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CHENNAI: The saga of Munnabhai continues. Film maker, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Vinod Chopra Productions and Twentieth Century Fox are in talks for an English version of last year's much talked about Hindi movie, Munnabhai MBBS for the global market. While this should put an end to speculation that Munna Bhai MBBS was a take-off from an Hollywood flick Patch Adams, Chopra is also gearing up to launch a second film on the Munnabhai series. The about to be launched film will be called either Munnabhai BA LLB or simply Munnabhai LLB. On the domestic front, the Sanjay Dutt-starrer is being re-made in five different Indian languages - Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali. "The negotiations with Twentieth Century Fox have reached an advanced stage and the deal could be finalised anytime from now. Munnabhai MBBS was an original idea that was getting its shape over two and half years on my drawing board. If it wasn't so, will Twentieth Century Fox be talking to me for the rights," Mr Chopra told The Economic Times.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, July 06, 2004

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