Lit fests in India have become vibrant cultural celebrations across India, bringing together celebrated authors, emerging voices, poets, thinkers and passionate readers, many of them very young, under one lively roof.
It's one big bowl of crunchy goodness.
'The quality of justice is directly linked to the quality of judges -- if that suffers, justice delivery suffers.'
'Our fractured world has been embroiled in wars and hatred, and many sessions reflect these concerns.'
"The most successful governments in Afghanistan tend to be those who have the biggest tents, which would include all communities and therefore leave all communities satisfied after a point and do not create massive resentments. Now, this is not a government which I would imagine would successfully govern Afghanistan," Dalrymple, the historian said.
The lingering effects of colonial rule show up in a variety of subtle and not so subtle ways, says Rupa Subramanya Dehejia
England off-spinner Jamie Dalrymple is hoping for a last-minute call-up for the final Ashes test against Australia, starting in Sydney on Jan. 2.
William Dalrymple discusses his latest book, which delves into nine spiritual lives and uncovers multiple Indias, with Vaihayasi P Daniel.
'When Sikhs were killed in the Afghan-Sikh war in 1837, the Afridis used to bury their heads like flowerpots in the ground,' writer and popular historian William Dalrymple tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'When Sikhs were killed in the Afghan-Sikh war in 1837, the Afridis used to bury their heads like flowerpots in the ground,' writer-historian William Dalrymple, whose latest book Return of a King is a historical work based on the First Afghan War, tells Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
British writer and historian Patrick French has died in London after battling cancer for four years, his family announced on Thursday.
The 67-year-old gave the example of two neighbouring states, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, to buttress his point on why seat-sharing pattern of the INDIA bloc will vary from state to state.
As photographs and video clips were distributed on social media, aviation security watchdog BCAS issued show cause notices to IndiGo and Mumbai airport operator MIAL over the incident, official sources said on Tuesday.
Shree Jagannath Sena, a Puri-based outfit, submitted a memorandum to the President, seeking her intervention to facilitate the process of bringing back the Kohinoor diamond to the 12th-century shrine.
Some Twitter users were serious in their demand for the return of the Kohinoor diamond, while others had a humorous take on the issue.
'If you can come with some arrangement with the Pakistanis that Pakistan ceases to stop creating trouble in Kashmir in return for the Indians not arming Afghanistan, everyone wins.' William Dalrymple discusses his new book Return of a King, Afghanistan, the Mughals and, of course, India with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Pilot and author Alkesh Nair shares his fascinating reading list.
Two authors track a diamond with a bloody history.
'In the West, the Taliban is known for its medieval barbarism, public executions, stoning of women for adultery. But for many Afghans now, they are respectable -- as the Taliban provides security,' says noted writer William Dalrymple in a two part interview with rediff.com's Arthur J Pais.
In a rapidly urbanising India, the future of cities is as important a policy priority as the issue of backward areas' development. India needs more viable, modern and cosmopolitan cities and Hyderabad was emerging as one. It has been fortunate so far not to be destroyed by the kind of chauvinism that is contributing to the decline of Mumbai and the slow growth of Chennai, or the politics and economics of negativism that has stunted Kolkata.
'I can tell you the case that hurts me the most is the one in which the little boy is forced to sign the Kohinoor over.' 'You take a mother away from a child, you surround him with grown ups speaking a different language, you tell him he must sign this over or else...'
Barack Obama recently unveiled his list of 19 favourite books from 2019.
Rediff reader Nirdesh Singh recounts how mesmerised he was after visiting Delhi's fifth city -- Firozabad
In what could further stoke the Salman Rushdie controversy, a section of authors at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Friday launched a campaign demanding immediate lifting of the 23-year-old ban on the controversial writer's book The Satanic Verses.
Ending weeks of speculation, the writer finally broke his silence on his visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival
The agony of waiting for Salman Rushdie, words of wisdom from Ben Okri and Amish Tripathi and a rather strange interaction with a Muslim activist who refuses to name the author he's protesting against. That was the second last day of the Jaipur Literature Festival, reports Abhishek Mande.
'Facebook and Google no longer need to have infantry regiments and cavalry like the East India Company because they are inside everyone's phones listening to our conversations.'
Fatima Bhutto, the outspoken niece of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto, was in Mumbai recently to launch her book Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir. The life and times of the Bhuttos is seen afresh in a passionately partisan but well-constructed memoir, says acclaimed-writer William Dalrymple about Fatima's book. He reviews it in context.
Barack Obama's staff could not have chosen a better venue than Humayun's Tomb for his only cultural outing in the capital.
He's one of India's most famous fashion photographers and he's dating a supermodel 15 years younger. In a tete-a-tete with Arthur J Pais, Prabuddha Dasgupta discusses the commercialisation of the fashion industry today, his relationship with Laxmi Menon and why he prefers not to work with Bollywood personalities.
The Dominica high court on Wednesday ordered that diamantaire Mehul Choksi be produced before a magistrate there to answer charges of his illegal entry into the Caribbean island country, local media reported. Dominica high court Judge Bernie Stephenson issued the orders after nearly three hours of hearing on a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of Choksi who had claimed that he was abducted from neighbouring Antigua and Barbuda and forcefully brought to the Caribbean Island nation. She adjourned the habeas corpus matter till Thursday, Dominica News Online reported.
William Dalrymple discusses with Arthur J Pais how the situation in Afghanistan is fast deteriorating.
"People in India are showing their angst, their concerns, their worries about the future of India. Everybody wants development, what has Modi done? He has done his own development rather than development of the country," he added.
'If Rahul Gandhi disappears, Modi has to talk about his own policies and why they failed'
Two Booker prize winners Kiran Desai and Salman Rushdie will be the major attractions of 2007's 10-day Jaipur Heritage International Festival, which begins on January 13.
England have named a provisional 30-man squad for the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.
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