We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Would there have been an incomparable batsman named Sachin Tendulkar had Doordarshan not telecast Guide one summer afternoon? A fascinating excerpt from Abhishek Mukherjee and Joy Bhattacharjya's must-read book, The Great Indian Cricket Circus.
'The wave of terrorism is over in Kashmir. Local people do not support it.'
'Diljit and Prabhas are so similar -- very humble, down-to-earth, extremely shy introverts and at the same time, extremely talented guys.'
'In anything in life, privilege helps.' 'Privilege means access. Access means connections.' 'Does it help? Of course, it does. In whatever you do.'
Spicy Mutton Kheema always makes for a satisfying meal.
Ramnaresh Sarwan foresees a mass exodus of the Caribbean players to mainland America where the game has got a major push with hosting of the T20 World Cup.
WFI obtains accreditation of Vinesh Phogat's coach and physio for Asia Olympic qualifier
'I don't think we have ever seen such alignment of everything that we need in the banking sector.'
'Will make sure that we create value. We will again look for organic and inorganic opportunities.'
The Aussie all-rounder 'invests' in himself with help of a Mumbaii-born chef Velton Saldanha.
Tokyo -- the songs Japan, Love In Tokyo and Sayonara from the 1966 Hindi film automatically pop up in the mind -- is buzzing and crowded like any other metropolis, discovers Deepa Gahlot. The modern apartment blocks are built cheek by jowl, so close together that one can open the window and borrow sugar from the neighbour in the next building. One of the fears of the Indian traveller is the unavailability of vegetarian food. Every city and town in Japan has an array of Indian restaurants that serve every variety of cuisine, right from Gujarati to Punjabi to Andhra and Kerala meals.
'Given the inherent volatility, investors should take at least a three to five-year view.'
The cloud kitchen market in India will hit $1.05 billion by 2023. Just 13% of the total market has been utilised so far.
Indian economy is gathering momentum in the second quarter, though inflation would continue to average above the central bank's comfort zone of 6 per cent, said an article in the RBI's monthly bulletin released on Thursday. The consumer price index (CPI) based retail inflation shot up significantly to 7.44 per cent in July, from 4.87 per cent in the preceding month, mainly due to soaring prices of tomato, vegetables and other food items. In his address to the nation on the Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to take more steps to contain price rise.
There's nothing more satisfying than a meal of freshly fried puris served with a spicy raseela potato preparation.
A separate menu has been prepared for the 15 Indian patients -- all Keralites -- and the two United Kingdom nationals
The so-called high networth individual portion saw 620x more demand than shares on offer.
The heat of the spices in the rasam will make you sweat out the cold.
'The world needs Gandhi now more than any other time in history.'
RediffGURUS Ashwini Dasgupta, Anu Krishna, Dr Karthiyayini Mahadevan and Jinal Mehta answer queries from Rediff readers.
Fight the high season and ridiculous prices with these simple and easy travel hacks.
These skincare tips will come handy before you step out to drench yourself in the colours of Holi.
'When I was rejected last year, I told myself I won't give up.'
An exclusive extract from Richard Zimler's compelling look at the Inquisition in Goa.
Ranju Sarkar discovers 48East -- a Bengaluru-based food start-up that delivers flavours from 48 Asian countries to your doorstep.
India decisively withstood global headwinds in 2023 and is likely to remain as the world's fastest-growing major economy on the back of growing demand, moderate inflation, stable interest rate regime and robust foreign exchange reserves. Despite widespread pessimism witnessed among the developed nations and the worsening geopolitical situation, India recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) expansion of 6.1 per cent in the March quarter. The growth moved up to 7.8 per cent in the June quarter and was 7.6 per cent in the September quarter. For the first six months of this fiscal, the growth was 7.7 per cent.
'Being one of the 150 million upper middle class consumers, I can vouch that the average expenses on white goods or clothing are minimal. Indians are not consumerist by nature,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Birj Bhushan loyalist Sanjay Singh becomes new WFI president
'We went from zero to about 10 million users in three months. Paytm came out with the wallet play and we came out with the UPI play.'
'There cannot be any standards at all. Mind your own business.'
Shreekant Sambrani remembers P R S 'Biki' Oberoi, personal friend and hospitality icon, who passed into the ages this week.
The four incumbents -- Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal -- are likely to be re-elected. All four are from the Democratic party.
Where we bring you a taste of the best celebrity foodgasm moments.
'If you are caught in a violent storm at sea you have to deal with it and find a way out which Abhilash Tomy did.'
The fate of the ministerial conference was sealed after assistant US trade representative Sharon Bomer Lauritsen said permanent solution to the food stockholding issue was not acceptable to America.
The talented artiste was invited to sing at the Tiffany's fashion show that was hosted at the Hermitage Hotel, Monaco, as part of the festival this year.
Renowned chefs reinvent traditional age old recipes for your palate
HS Prannoy said continuous experimentation has been the key to his "special" season as he reached his second final of the year at the Australian Open Super 500 tournament in Sydney.
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