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What has Calcutta found hot in the past 12 months? Google’s Hot Trends, which is a snapshot of what’s on the public mind right now worked out on the basis of the number of hits a name or a subject is commanding on the search engine, springs some surprises.
It also shows Calcutta is traditional in some ways — we like our Darjeeling and Puri more than any other travel destination. Hot Trends provides a ranking of Indian cities against each subject/name and the data is taken from there. It’s a product still under development and comes with the warning: Don’t base your Ph.D thesis on the information it offers.
What: Rani or Bipasha?
Why: The tall bombshell from Ballygunge looks like a dwarf beside the small angel of love from Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic. Rani’s Bong connection may not be as strong (she has never lived in Calcutta) as Bipasha’s but Calcuttans look for her the most of all Bollywood beauties. The only time Bipasha beat Rani hands down — or should it be feet down — was in July 2007, but it had taken no less a player than Cristiano Ronaldo to plant a playful kiss on the Bong blast. But the little lady with the husky voice was back on top as soon as dusky Bips hurried back into John Abraham’s rippling arms.
Who: I am a Rani Mukherjee fan. I check for information about her whenever she has a new release. I look for pictures, reviews and interviews — Shruti Agarwal, 23, student.
Moral: Next-door girl, not sexy siren, is the queen of Calcutta’s heart.
What: Amitabh or Shah Rukh?
Why: Big B is ahead of King Khan, though only just and though Bachchan’s Sarkar Raj wasn’t strong enough to stand up to SRK’s Om Shanti Om. The reason could be the blog where the otherwise reticent Bachchan Senior speaks his mind about Shah Rukh and sometimes on other things as well. The main man of Kolkata Knight Riders has set up a powerful cricketing connection with Calcutta but the local boys haven’t helped him with their performance to rise up the Net popularity pole.
Who: I am a big fan of the Big B and have been a regular visitor to his site. I make time to go through his blog quite regularly just to keep myself updated about what is going on — R. Venkatesh, a graphic designer.
Moral: Big B with blog is bigger than King Khan with KKR.
What: Sourav or Dhoni?
Why: The man held responsible for dropping the Prince of Calcutta from the ODI side, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is strangely giving Sourav Ganguly some competition in his own backyard. Though Mahi is leagues ahead of “Dadi” in the rest of the country, in Calcutta and Bengal the senior (a curse word now) cricketer stays ahead of the Indian ODI and T20 skipper. But Dhoni’s popularity among women and the harsh realisation in Sourav’s supporters that their man has little chance of making it back to the ODI team have let the Rage from Ranchi put a foot in the door.
Who: Sourav Ganguly is the one I look up most on the Internet, definitely much more than Dhoni. Sourav is the son of this soil, one who has made a mark in the national arena. Mostly I check for statistics regarding Sourav — Arijit Nag, content developer
Moral: Bengal before India.
What: Inflation
Why: The entire country is bleeding from the price hit but Calcutta has pushed the panic button. For the whole of June, it seemed we could not have enough of “inflation” — on the Net, that is, topping the list of Indian cities looking up the subject. The search began in earnest with the oil and gas price hike and struck a high on June 20 when inflation clambered to 11.05 per cent.
Who: The moment I heard it had reached double figures I logged on to check how much the inflation rate actually was and what I would have to sacrifice to maintain my lifestyle — Meghna Dass, student.
Moral: Cost-push raises inflation demand.
What: IPL or Euro?
Why: The number of searches for IPL from Calcutta is way ahead of those for the Euro football championship. Did someone say Bengal loves its football? Calcutta pitches itself for the bat and ball as firmly as does the rest of India but it’s also true that the European extravaganza is grabbing more eyeballs in this part of the country than in other Indian cities.
Who: Since the KKR was one of our accounts, we had to keep constant track of how interested people were. We noticed that after we released pictures and information on the KKR press conference, the hits on our official site went up manifold. There were also interesting blogs. One blogger had asked others to suggest ways in which Yuvraj Singh could win Preity Zinta’s heart (having won her hug already) — Paromita Ghosh, public relations entrepreneur.
But the Euro has its followers: I check regularly for information on the Euro. I am a supporter of the Portuguese team, so after every match, I searched the Net for coverage in the Portuguese media. Otherwise I often check for information about Mohun Bagan and the Brazil team. Football is in our blood — Soumya Bose, 32-year-old content developer.
Moral: Bat some, ball some.
What: Tata Nano
Why: The “people’s car” caught the attention of millions, more so obviously in Calcutta — and Bengal — because it’s being built here. Questions about whether the Tatas had to compromise quality to stay within the budget, curiosity about the name and a shot at, finally, an affordable car took Calcuttans to the top of the list of Indian cities Netting the Nano.
Who: I looked it up a lot. The first thing that puzzled me was the name. So I went on the Net to check what it means and why it is so named. Then I wondered whether it is really what it promises to be — Sayantan Das Adhikari, public relations entrepreneur.
Moral: Smaller the car, bigger the catch.
What: Admission
Why: Calcutta has topped the search list for the word admission in the last 12 months and it peaks on June 2, the day admissions to city colleges began. Top colleges like St Xavier’s and Presidency went online this year. So did many of the lesser-known institutions.
Who: After my Class X board exams, I checked up information about coaching institutions for engineering entrances — Piyal Banerjee, student.
We may all want to go to America, but we’re also enchanted by the name Oxford, which beats Princeton and Harvard hands down in the number of Calcutta’s searches.
Moral: Think America, worship Oxford.
What: Federer or Nadal?
Why: Calcuttans have given the cold shoulder to the one-man armada called Rafael Nadal while swooning over the Swiss lord of the lawn. We also seem to like our grass because Nadal just made Federer look like a novice on the clay of the French Open. It’s now Wimbledon time and the ‘F’ word is on the lips of everyone.
Who: I check for the results of matches that I may have missed. Federer is my favourite because his game is more complete and his act is equally good on and off the court — Avishek Ghosh, businessman
Moral: We like ’em grass Fed.
What: Madonna or Britney or Angelina?
Why: Even news of Jolie’s pregnancy — a double to boot — failed to up her popularity. Madonna and Britney Spears top the charts. So what if the young singer’s brat act is often sickening and if she has done little singing for some time now? So what if the 50-pushing Madonna does seem a little off doing the bunny act? But she does do her adoption act well, though not as well as Angelina, who’s such an angel of charity.
Who: I prefer Madonna to Britney. Britney is over-hyped. Madonna reinvents herself in every album. I check for music reviews and album ratings — Arindam Bhattacharyya, media planner in an advertising agency.
Moral: No one likes an angel.
What: Darjeeling, Digha, Puri
Why: Bengalis search more for Darjeeling than any other hill station. Calcutta remains number one for searches on Digha and second for Puri, though Goa has been more popular with Bengalis this season. Come rain, come shine, Bengalis are in love with Darjeeling and Puri.
Who: I think Darjeeling or Puri is still popular with Bengalis because it makes for a quick getaway. When I went to Digha with some of my friends some time back, I looked up hotel details and reservation on the Net. But there is not enough information on the Net about places around Calcutta — Mrinalini Menon, media professional
Moral: Why look beyond your nose?
What Calcutta does not search for:
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Manmohan Singh
George Clooney
Brad Pitt
Aishwarya Rai/Abhishek Bachchan
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