Social networking sites like Facebook are propelling movements and are acting as catalysts for change

Social lives of the youth today depend largely on logging onto their favourite networking sites, and while the flip side is often highlighted, the good goes unnoticed.

Real conversations in real time have given way to easier screen dialogue in networking portals. That’s not all, they are also sparking off movements and becoming an agent of change. And the fact that Gen Y is glued to it makes it a potent tool to spread awareness and transform.

Talk of being innovative! A young businessman in the city, who got married on Valentine’s Day, created a wedding website as a gift for his bride-to-be, Neelam.

The trend is already popular in metro cities and Jaipur is catching on fast.

Litesh Chandnani decided to create a website of their marriage. He said, “I wanted everybody to know about the most special day of our lives and share wonderful memories.

 “I named it ‘Surprise’ as nobody in my family including Neelam knew about it.” All the information regarding sehra bandi, barat procession, ladies sangeet, engagement ceremony, was on the website.

Planning a wedding can be time-consuming. The internet comes to your rescue to invite and share information with friends

Marriages are made in heaven, solemnised on earth…and now stored on the internet! Apart from video compact disk (VCD), cassettes and photo albums, people have found a novel way to store their wedding memories-the internet. Storing wedding ceremonies in the form of a website or web pages is the ‘in’ thing. And to help the uninitiated, some Indian and international portals offer their service to design wedding websites and web pages.

Home seekers have been thronging affordable housing options at exhibitions

The phenomenal response to the recent MHADA scheme was a clear indication of the strong demand for budget homes from Mumbaikars. This trend was further witnessed last weekend at two property exhibitions, one held in the western suburbs and the other, in the central suburbs.

At both places, the stalls offering budget homes witnessed heavy crowds, with visitors making detailed inquiries about the overall cost break-up and finance options available. Site visits were offered by most builders and in some cases accepted on the spot, as the extended three-day weekend provided scope for that as well.

The good days for Marathi won't be far if the masses use the language confidently during their day-to-day work along with the classes, said senior artist and critic VB Deshpande.

He was speaking with DNA on the eve of Marathi Bhasha Diwas celebrated on February 27.

He said, "The countries, which have been created on the basis of language, observe February 22 as International Language Day. However, we observe February 27 as Marathi Bhasha Diwas in Maharashtra to commemorate the birth anniversary of renowned writer Vi Va Shirwadkar alias Kusumagraj, who was very particular about the use of the language."

We started observing the special day ten years ago as Marathi Bhasha Diwas to preserve the language, he said.

A study by International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai, and the Population Council, New Delhi, has revealed that young men in villages are more likely to have pre-marital sex than thier city counterparts.

But half the youth who had pre-marital sex did not even know that one sexual act was enough for pregnancy to take place. A total of 7,570 married and unmarried women and men between the ages of 15-29 were interviewed.