ARTHUR J PAIS

All stories by ARTHUR J PAIS

'Almost every song seems inspired today'

'Almost every song seems inspired today'

Rediff.com16 Feb 2022

'I cannot be confined to just one or two kinds of music.'

God, math, and Ramanujan's fascinating story

God, math, and Ramanujan's fascinating story

Rediff.com22 Dec 2016

December 22 marks the 129th birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the greatest Indian mathematician of our time. Just 32 when he died, Ramanujan has fascinated mathematicians, writers and filmmakers for nearly a century.

The Man Who Lived for the Story

The Man Who Lived for the Story

Rediff.com12 Jan 2016

Generations of Indian Americans have had Arthur first note their feats and recount it to the world. And that is why so many desis across America have been saddened by his passing.

Diwali kitchen: Top Indian-American chefs share their fav recipes

Diwali kitchen: Top Indian-American chefs share their fav recipes

Rediff.com10 Nov 2015

Have you tasted Besan ke ladoo cookies?

'A woman of her times and yet someone belonging to Gandhiji's era'

'A woman of her times and yet someone belonging to Gandhiji's era'

Rediff.com16 Oct 2015

'Asked which Dilip Kumar films were among her favourites, she said she had seen not a single movie of his until that time. This became a sensational issue. She did not mean to offend Dilip Kumar. There was not a bone of diplomacy in her and she never acquired that calculating attitude even at the cost of some of the roles that she would eventually lose.'

My Aunt Smita Patil

My Aunt Smita Patil

Rediff.com14 Oct 2015

Smita Patil would have been 60 on October 17 had fate not cruelly snatched her from us in 1986. She was only 31 when she died. Rediff.com salutes the incomparable actress in a special series.

'Modi's requirements were simple: The meal had to be pure veg'

'Modi's requirements were simple: The meal had to be pure veg'

Rediff.com12 Oct 2015

'The main meal consisted of one soup, a salad, 2 or 3 vegetarian dishes (including at least 1 green vegetable), a variety of rice, freshly prepared Rotis or Phulkas, Dal, and yogurt.'

'I wanted the Marigold Hotel films to give very strong sense of India'

'I wanted the Marigold Hotel films to give very strong sense of India'

Rediff.com19 Mar 2015

Arthur J Pais interviews John Madden, director of the Marigold Hotel films, on the difficult task of creating an equally hilarious and as feeling a sequel.

Being undocumented in the United States

Being undocumented in the United States

Rediff.com16 Dec 2014

There are 2.5 lakh undocumented Indians across the United States. While President Barack Obama's executive order last week does help, only the US Congress can really address the needs of those caught in the immigration tangle.

'Would Mira Nair make a Missouri Masala now?'

'Would Mira Nair make a Missouri Masala now?'

Rediff.com12 Dec 2014

Civil rights activist Deepa Iyer, former executive director, South Asian Americans Leading Together, a social justice organisation thought after a visit to the minority businesses hit in recent weeks that the tragic story in Ferguson, Missouri, offers Indian Americans an opportunity to stand up and decry police brutality and show sympathy and support for African Americans in the beleaguered city

Indians target of home invasions in New Jersey

Indians target of home invasions in New Jersey

Rediff.com3 Dec 2014

Residents anxious after masked gunmen break into 4 desi homes in New Jersey, many disappointed over the police's response to the violent crimes. Arthur J Pais reports from New Jersey.

4 Indians among Rhodes scholars this year

4 Indians among Rhodes scholars this year

Rediff.com24 Nov 2014

The scholars are awarded for their outstanding scholarly achievements, character, commitment to others and to the common good.

Study debunks notion that Asian Americans prefer boys over girls

Study debunks notion that Asian Americans prefer boys over girls

Rediff.com14 Aug 2014

In analysing census data from 2007-2011, researchers found that the at-birth sex ratios of Asian Americans are the same as white Americans. Arthur J Pais reports

I was threatened against running for Congress: Upendra Chivukula

I was threatened against running for Congress: Upendra Chivukula

Rediff.com5 Jun 2014

New Jersey state Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula may have triumphed over his opponents in a Democratic Party debate last week, but his campaign for a House of Representatives seat is caught in a controversy. Arthur J Pais reports

'To call the BJP or its leaders 'fascist' is historically untenable'

'To call the BJP or its leaders 'fascist' is historically untenable'

Rediff.com16 May 2014

'Narendra Modi could be too old to change his personality. On the other hand, his attachment to the RSS could be mostly sentimental. So one must hope that if he becomes prime minister, he is able to detach himself from the RSS view of the world as completely as Narasimha Rao detached himself from the Congress's First Family.' 'India cannot be governed by the autocratic methods by which he has governed Gujarat. If he becomes prime minister he will have to learn to speak in a more civil language about his political opponents,' historian Ramachandra Guha tells Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com

Anurag Kashyap: No one takes films seriously in India

Anurag Kashyap: No one takes films seriously in India

Rediff.com6 May 2014

While work on his most ambitious project Bombay Velvet is on, Anurag Kashyap's taut and gritty thriller Ugly screened at the ongoing New York Indian Film Festival.

Desis join pro-immigrant rally in US

Desis join pro-immigrant rally in US

Rediff.com20 Mar 2014

Rishi Singh, who recently joined a protest meeting against anti-immigrant laws in Arizona and demanded legislation to help the children of the undocumented, has known for over 17 years what it means to be an illegal young man in the United States.

Box Office boost for Oscar-winning movies?

Box Office boost for Oscar-winning movies?

Rediff.com3 Mar 2014

Arthur J Pais analyses Oscar 2014 big wins and losses.

'We alert people in India to be careful about such books'

'We alert people in India to be careful about such books'

Rediff.com28 Feb 2014

The court case in India against Wendy Doniger's book The Hindus was in a way initiated in Atlanta, Georgia, by a group of Indian-American businessmen including Dhiru Shah, who have been fighting against several controversial books on Hinduism by Western thinkers and professors in recent years.

'Banning books seems more like Taliban culture than Hindu culture'

'Banning books seems more like Taliban culture than Hindu culture'

Rediff.com27 Feb 2014

'How can Hindus protest efforts to ban an edition of the Gita in parts of Russia, and force a publisher to withdraw an academic critique of Hinduism, all in the same breath? It makes the Hindu community seem petty, self-serving, and hypocritical. Episodes like this allow Hinduism to be "owned" by the most conservative, intolerant, extremist voices. These people do not speak for me, and they certainly don't represent the form of Hinduism I practice and love," Princeton University's Hindu chaplain Vineet Chander tells Rediff.com's Arthur J Pais.

Next