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India’s second Prime Minister, late Lal Bahadur Shastri, was born on October 2, 1904. The great leader was known for his simplicity and disciple and morals. Shastri was imperative in leading India through the Indo-Pakistan War in 1965 successfully. The most popular slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” was given by none other than Shastri. The objective of the motto was to lead the people of India to realisation of self-sustenance and self-reliance. The nation is celebrating the 116th birth anniversary of senior leader of the…

In 1939, when popular American novelist Gertrude Stein wrote The World Is Round, it was markedly different from other children’s literature of the time. In its pink pages, Stein wrote about a little girl named Rose who was in search of her individual identity. Rose had a favourite song, that she would only sing in the presence of her big dog Love which went like, “I am a little girl, and my name is Rose. Rose is my name. Why am I a little girl? And why is my name Rose?". Stein isn’t the only famous writer, who despite not…

The Nobel Prize is a prestigious award given every year to those who make exemplary contributions to the world in their field of work. It was first launched in 1901 in the name of Alfred Nobel, Swedish businessman and the inventor of dynamite. He contributed all his wealth to the fund which gives the prize to deserving scholars. This year’s Nobel Prize for different categories was announced yesterday. On this occasion, let’s revisit the time when an Indian received the Nobel Prize for the first time. In 1913, Rabindranath…

In a new book, titled A Road Well Travelled, former CBI Director RK Raghavan, known for his role as the Special Investigation Team head in the 2002 Gujarat riots, revealed how he was harassed for giving a clean chit to then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. Raghavan tells in the book that in a petition filed before the Supreme Court, widow of Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, Zakia Jafri, alleged that the chief minister (Narendra Modi) and his officials were complicit in the riots of 2002. Jafri also charged that her…

There is a very defined trajectory to Shashi Tharoor’s literary pursuits. Be it books like India: Midnight to Millennium (1997) and India Shastra: Reflections on the Nation in our Time (2015) or more recently, Why I Am A Hindu (2018) the politician and writer cannot move away from the themes of nationalism, secularism, and patriotism. In his latest offering titled The Battle of Belonging, Tharoor harks back to similar questions yet again and examines how our gendered, caste, and religious identities align with the rapidly…

Douglas Stuart’s debut novel, ‘Shuggie Bain’, which won the Booker Prize 2020 last night, is the embodiment of an oxymoron. It is tender at heart yet ferocious in essence as it traces the complex relationship arc of a young boy (Shuggie Bain) and his mother (Agnes Bain), who is an alcohol addict. With its many intricate details, the novel paints a graphic and authentic picture of the 1980s’ impoverished Glasgow neighbourhood, and the deep disappointment and resentment that Agnes feels on being unable to escape it. Agnes…

Although official historical narratives remember the Indian soldiers who ‘contributed’ to the First World War by fighting for the British empire, there were more than 550,000 Indian men, who participated in the same war as ‘non-combatants’ whom no one remembers. They were porters, stevedores, construction workers, janitors (sanitation workers who cleaned latrines), washermen, stretcher-bearers, water-carriers, cooks and many other menial job workers. It was through their backbreaking work that the British were able to…

A new book, titled Vajpayee: The Years that Changed India is all set to hit the stands on 25th December to mark the birth anniversary of veteran BJP leader, and former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The book charts the course of Vajpayee’s prime ministership and tries to give the readers a glimpse into Vajpayee’s thought process and political philosophy. Written by Shakti Sinha, who had worked very closely with Vajpayee during his tenure as the prime minister, and is currently the honorary director of the Atal…

January 14, 2021 marks 123rd death anniversary of English writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson also known as Lewis Carroll. Lewis was born on January 27, 1832, in Daresbury, Cheshire, England.Lewis was the eldest son and third child of the Rev. Charles Dodgson and Frances Jane Lutwidge. He grew up in isolated villages in the English countryside with his ten siblings. The writer who gave the world much of muchness through one of his greatest works Alice in Wonderland went to Christ Church, a constituent college of Oxford…

During my research for the book Guru Dutt An Unfinished Story, various accounts of Guru Dutt’s colleagues, close friends and his family members suggested that despite being at the peak of his success, Guru Dutt’s constant refrain used to be, “Mujhe lagta hai mai paagal ho jaoonga (I think I’ll go crazy!)”As a biographer, I was curious to know what was the turbulence in Guru Dutt’s life and cinema? Why was Guru Dutt constantly restless and lonely? Why would he run away from Bombay looking for escape from his tortured state…