'Besides electoral opportunism, a sustained vilification of AMU on one or the other pretext helps them sustain their 'everyday communalism', the new strategy of the BJP of the Narendra Damodardas Modi-Amit Anilchandra Shah era,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
What better way to know a place than to learn its cuisine? Learn the art of working with terracotta and stoneware clay... ...If it's textiles that turn you on, a holiday in Jaipur could be just the thing for you.... ...Add an extra dimension to a holiday in spiritual Dharamsala by immersing yourself in Tibetan art...
Let us see the problem for what it actually is: Illegal Immigration plain and simple, confined to the northeast with a definite communal slant that poses a national security risk and one that needs to be dealt with firmly and promptly by stringent identification (and deportation), says Vivek Gumaste.
Taking a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the Congress was a people-oriented party, unlike the BJP which was about one individual.
'Do you think Indian voters are so immature that they can be impressed or won over by such freebies before the elections?' Election Commissioner Sunil Arora asks A K Bhattacharya.
'People wondered aloud why she had given up on the aging, getting-day-by-day-more-infirm avatar. And was freshly blooming.'
Two giant brands get into a slugfest over the goodness of ice creams and frozen desserts, reports Sohini Das.
'Many tourists are keen to break the law and see the tribals. But what difference would it make? They are humans like us. We do not like intruders, neither do they. Very little of their homes is left, so we might as well let them be,' says Chintan Purohit.
Abhishek has been posting fond memories and interesting anecdotes on Instagram, recapping his #RoadTo20.
Kaju Katli, Chum Chum, Puran Poli -- stars share their favourite Diwali recipes.
'The relationship between Victoria and Tagore was one of mutual admiration and respect.'
Bangladeshis say it is easier in Portugal to get Residency papers, which give them access to all EU countries, reports Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'In contrast to the generally buoyant tone of the Economic Survey in January, he sounds uncharacteristically pessimistic, saying that forces in the world economy -- slowing global trade, protectionism, robots -- will limit India's manufacturing to levels well below what propelled East Asia's economies decades ago.'
...But ends up being oddly moving, says Sreehari Nair.
'Without it, it is going to be much, much, much, much worse.' 'In the meantime, we really need to work on a sort of war footing, given that it is a natural disaster, provide relief, provide essentials, till we get biological herd immunity, we need to get economic immunity, and also social immunity.'
Will the Aam Aadmi Party repeat its magic or are Delhi voters going to reprimand it for party chief Arvind Kejriwal's maverick 49-day chief ministership in the upcoming state assembly elections? Search for the answer led me to party ideologue Yogendra Yadav, who appears to have some justification and back-of-the-envelope calculations to suggest that his party stands a chance, despite rival Bharatiya Janata Party's surge in other recent state polls.
Empowered in the Modi government, junior ministers have enough on their plate.
'President Kalam would always say -- this was one of his pet sentences -- that "If you don't do anything, there will be no difficulties but if you do things, there will be difficulties. You have to overcome them. Don't be afraid of difficulties".'
'To be good at the heptathlon takes at least seven years; to compete internationally and win medals takes 10 years.' 'Swapna became Asia's best heptathlete in just five years!' 'Nobody would have believed it. but she did it.'
'People on both sides of the Hindutva debate need to read and understand the texts first,' Bibek Debroy, translator of the unabridged Mahabharata, tells Kanika Datta as he gets started on a similar project for the Ramayana.
'It is the regional parties and their leaders who are the ones we have to watch.'
'After living in the US for over three decades, where I would spend Diwali nights with close friends and eat Indian meals, I have recently started to return home during the festival. But none of that old Diwali exists for me.'
'After having rejected and sometimes also being rejected by 32 men in my unsuccessful journey to matrimony, I prayed that it would be love at first sight with motherhood,' says Priya Ramanathan.
Deras like Sacha Sauda made the poor feel secure, cared for, loved, provided a support system and gave them dignity, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Girgaum, once a thriving neighbourhood of Maharashtrians in south Mumbai, who loved their seafood and meat, has slowly been taken over by vegetarians, forcing eateries serving non-vegetarian food to shut down, says Neeta Kolhatkar
'Sridevi was a responsible mother.' 'I have heard her talking about her daughters.' 'Once in a while, they came on set. She would make sure she had time for them.' 'That's why she could play a mother so wonderfully in English Vinglish.'
'Gandhi turned his life into a counter-intuitive experiment in old ideas like non-violence and swadeshi.' 'He offered numerous universal ideas that talk to the human condition.' 'His ability to take risks was outstanding,' says Sopan Joshi, explaining why the Mahatma's ideas are as relevant as ever.
'Hindus are proud of what the Dharmashastras symbolise, but they don't want to do any work to preserve it!,' Sanskrit scholar Donald Davis tells Kanika Dutta.
At 24, an age when most people struggle to make a mark in their first jobs, Krishanu Kona rode solo for 224 days non-stop, covering 25 states.
Specially abled Sai Kaustuv Dasgupta talks about how he wants to make his life a message to all the 'wheelchair warriors'.
Indrani Roy shares 4 traditional Bengali preparations for the festive season. You can share yours too!
Irrfan Khan talks Piku and his next Hollywood film, the Tom Hanks starer Inferno.
Amitabh Bachchan talks about Te3n, Aaradhya and actors he would love to work with!
Shubir Rishi/Rediff.com narrates the morning safari that he took on day two at the Pench National Park. He was on a road trip to the Pench-Kanha-Tadoba national parks.
He had no airs about his talent, he did not intellectualise it, he just lived and breathed acting.
From Dudhwa to Veppathur and Havelock Island, the Indian tourism market is booming like never before.
'Prashant has left us and it is really tragic. But I want to hold on to those little moments of happiness that he shared with me and with others whose lives he touched. That is how I want to remember him.' Aseem Chhabra pays tribute to Patang director Prashant Bhargava, who passed away on May 16. He was only 42.
Mittal would travel in trucks with his consignments.
'Initially, I was worried how the Calendar Girls would gel. But we bonded on screen and off.' On the sets, we were very mischievous. We were called the Calendar Girls School Girls! Madhur sir was like principal. He would actually tell us to calm down and maintain discipline!' Meet Calendar Girls' Akansha Puri.
