Kaju Katli, Chum Chum, Puran Poli -- stars share their favourite Diwali recipes.
'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.'
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.
'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.'
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.
'It is the regional parties and their leaders who are the ones we have to watch.'
'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.
'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.
'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.'
Deras like Sacha Sauda made the poor feel secure, cared for, loved, provided a support system and gave them dignity, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'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.
'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.'
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
'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.
Specially abled Sai Kaustuv Dasgupta talks about how he wants to make his life a message to all the 'wheelchair warriors'.
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.
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.
On Kishore Kumar's 86th birthday, we revisit a Rediff.com exclusive special by Pritish Nandy on the late legend.
Raima Sen comes out of her grief to tell us what grandmother Suchitra Sen's death means to the family and to cinema.
Over Dosas in Mumbai, Oscar winner Megan Mylan tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel why she chose India and girls empowerment as the subject of her new documentary.
Deven Verma passed away into the ages on December 2. We re-publish an interview done with the veteran actor.
'I have tutored my family and myself to fight hunger,' the former agent for the disgraced Saradha chit fund says, his eyes welling up. 96 of the 107 cases referred to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office are based in Bengal!
'Our daughter's name is ANITA-BRIGITTE. She should actually bear the name of AMITA, but the German authorities would have certainly objected to such an unusual name so we chose the name Anita which is almost sounding like Amita.' 'Brigitte was chosen by me because its short form in German is Gita.' Netaji's family had no idea that he had married and had a child till his brother Sarat Chandra Bose received a letter from Emilie Schenkl. A fascinating glimpse from Madhuri Bose's book, The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence, An Insider's Account.
How do you translate a first love into a profession? How do you become a writer once you set your heart on it? Susmita Bhattacharya, who once worked as a graphic designer in Mumbai, now teaches the basics of English to newcomers to Britain and is also a creative writing tutor. Her first novel The Normal State of Mind was published earlier this year after a grim battle with cancer.
PepsiCo India's new CEO admits to being an ardent follower of the world's management gurus and they clearly mould his outlook.
Aseem Chhabra's take on the highlights of Indian cinema this year.
'As Rai spoke, in an unbelievably dead pan, almost off-the-cuff tone, about helping plan the murder of two youngsters, drugging them with vodka and whiskey spiked with dava (medicine), smothering one, dragging a body in rigor mortis out of a car, burning a corpse, destroying evidence, and so on, it felt like he was discussing nothing more surprising than the intricacies of the weather.'
'My great grandfather Henry Ford would have been very happy with the lifestyle I am leading and the things I believe in.' He's a servant of god. A temple builder. Manu Shah meets the Ford who spreads word about the glories of Krishna.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances