<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/53708970.cms" /> 
 In a small town called <keyword id="2648" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Anand">Anand</keyword> in western India in 1946 farmers were having a difficult time having to deal with the exploitative trade practices followed by the local trade cartel. Refusing to be cowed down by the cartel, farmers of this area went on a milk strike. And they approached the great Indian patriot Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for a solution. His advice was natural, start a cooperative movement. 
 
And they did. 
 
Inspired by India’s freedom struggle, it all began when farmers in a small town near Anand city in Gujarat made milk as a symbol of protest. Tribhuvandas Patel was a local leader who had been imprisoned number of times during India’s struggle for freedom. With the help of his supporters, he found a dairy co-operative in 1946 in Anand. The cooperative movement was a movement against the atrocities of Polson Dairy, a locally-owned dairy in Anand, which procured milk from farmers at very low rates to sell to the Bombay (now Mumbai) government. 
 28 year old Mechanical Engineer from Kerala, <keyword id="168701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Verghese-Kurien">Verghese Kurien</keyword> arrived in Anand in 1949 as a government employee to manage a dairy. Fed up with his monotonous and unchallenging job he had already made up his mind to leave but upon Tribhuvandas Patel’s request he agreed to stay back for few months to oversee installation of the newly ordered machineries. No one then knew that Dr. Kurien would never leave Anand and make it the milk capital of India. In 1955 <keyword id="26280" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="amul">Amul</keyword> (then short for Anand Milk Union Ltd) was born. Verghese Kurien was in almost every way the architect of Amul. He went from helping farmers repair their machinery to revolutionising the Indian dairy industry by scripting Operation Flood, a cooperative movement that turned India from a net importer of milk into one of the world’s largest producers. Not for nothing was Dr. Verghese Kurien called the Milkman of India. 
 
The first dairy, Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union, which created Amul in 1955, handed over the brand name to Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) in 1973. Thus, in 1973 the GCMMF was established to market milk and milk products manufactured by six district cooperative unions of Gujarat. 
 
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 Branding played a major role for Amul’s success, the (original) Amul Girl was created by <keyword id="245066" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sylvester-daCunha">Sylvester daCunha</keyword> (daCunha Communications) to counter the Polson dairy girl. Polson’s sexy village belle didn’t stand a chance to the tubby little moppet in the polka-dotted dress and a matching ribbon. Amul ads were cleverly designed to add a tinge of nationalism to an essentially rural revolution. The first Amul Ad campaign came in 1967 in Bombay (now Mumbai). And the response was phenomenal... and continues to be. Amul is also credited with a Guinness world record for longest running ad campaign of the world for its Utterly Butterly girl portraying day-to-day issues since 1967. In 1977, the Amul story was showcased through a Hindi movie titled Manthan directed by Shyam Benegal starring Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, Smita Patil and Amrish Puri which also won National award for best film. The movie again demonstrated the power of collective might as the movie was financed by a contribution of Rs. 2 by 5 lakh farmers. 
 
And then, Amul became a brandname in its own right. It is said that for Operation Flood, Kurien’s idea of having farmers own the brand went a long way in creating a sense of ownership and, in turn, responsibility for the product’s quality. Since the mid-90s, Amul has been able to take the range outside the security of traditional products, milk powder and butter. Amul diversified to everything from ice-cream, curd to long-life flavoured milk. Brand Amul is now present in over 50 countries. 
 
<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/53709061.cms" /> 
 
Amul has come a long way since its inception. The contribution of Amul in development of rural India as well as economic growth of the nation is legendary.

Inspired by India’s Freedom Struggle: Amul - The Brand, The Revolution, and The Campaign

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/32424106.cms" /> 
 
People who know what acting is know that it is not only a profession that brings with it money and fame. In fact, those are mere perks for a person who gives his heart and soul to performing arts. Though it is true that acting can not be taught as this is skill that comes from within, there are many courses available in a number of acting institutes in India that help you polish this skill and learn the intricacies involved. 
 
Following is a list of acting schools from where you can enrol in acting courses and get a degree or diploma in performing arts. 
 
National School of Drama, New Delhi 
 
National School of Drama, or NSD as it is fondly called, is the Mecca of acting in India. An autonomous organization under the Ministry of Culture, this school has produced some of the best acting talents of the country including Pankaj Kapoor, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, and Irrfan. It provides a three-year full-time diploma course in dramatic arts, following which you can pursue your career in theatre or films. The requirement for admission in this course is a graduation degree in any subject and participation in at least 6 theatre productions. A preliminary test/audition is conducted at five centres, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Guwahati. 
 
Film And Television Institute of India, Pune 
 
If NSD is the Mecca of actors, FTII is no less. Known to be the origin place of some of the best talents of industry, this autonomous organization under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting offers a two-year post graduate diploma in acting, and has produced actors like Jaya Bachchan, John Abraham, Rajkumar Rao, Shabana Azmi and the late Smita Patil. The prerequisite for joining this prestigious course is a Bachelors Degree in any discipline from a recognised university, followed by a screening by a team of selectors. 
 
Asian Academy of Film and Television, Noida 
 
AAFT is another institute that provides graduate, post graduate and diploma courses in acting. Alma mater of Arjun Kapoor, this upcoming acting school has seen some of the best minds in the industry paying a celebrity visit and guest lectures. Founded by Sandeep Marwah who is closely related to the family of Anil Kapoor, this media school has seen some established film and TV actors as its alumni. 
 
The <keyword id="22547" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Barry-John">Barry John</keyword> Acting Studio 
 
Known for training Shah Rukh Khan in acting, Barry John is accredited for training many young talents in his acting studio. Varun Dhawan, Sushant Singh Rajpoot, Dia Mirza, Freida Pinto, Lillete Dubey, Manoj Bajpai and Richa Chadda are some other prominent names to have featured in the alumni list of this studio. Having branches in Delhi and Mumbai, it offers part time and full time courses in acting for anyone above 18 years of age. 
 
<keyword id="6534" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Actor-Prepares">Actor Prepares</keyword> 
 
Who better than a national award-winning actor to teach you the minutiae of acting? Padma Shri Anupam Kher runs this one-of-a-kind acting school in Mumbai, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and London. Ali Zafar, Preity Zinta, Manish Paul, Ruslan Mumtaz and Kunal Kapoor are some of his alumni to have made it big in the show biz. Offering part-time courses and diploma courses as well as customised workshops and children workshops, Actor Prepares is the only acting school to be founded by an actor who is professionally active in acting and theatre. 
 
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Inspired by India’s Freedom Struggle: Amul - The Brand, The Revolution, and The Campaign

Nazia Bijal

Top Institutes In India Where You Can Learn Acting

Nandini Sharma