Mundane as it may seem, this is in some ways a metaphor for the challenges facing the nation, argue Arvind Subramanian and Devesh Kapur in their new book, A Sixth Of Humanity.
120 Bahadur is underwhelming, adding little fresh perspective and generally feeling like a standard war drama we have seen umpteen times before, notes Mayur Sanap.
Their remarkable World Cup-winning campaign was not the only topic covered when India's women cricketers sat down for a light-hearted conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence where tattoos and even skin care routine came up for discussion.
Ma Durga might be the city's most celebrated annual visitor, but Kali is the resident Goddess, notes Sandip Roy.
Quentin Tarantino listed his Top 10 movies of the 21st Century, and the list had quite a few surprises.
'How do we truly measure a life? Is it in milestones or the fleeting moments we cherish later?' 'Or perhaps in the anniversaries that come each year, like an old friend?'
While the DMK depends on a 'silver sieve' of welfare schemes to stay in power, its support is slowly draining away under the weight of poor governance, corruption, and voters who are no longer satisfied with benefits alone and now want basic administration to work, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Alaya F's New York trip was so special that her heart decided to stay back!
'The stamina and junoon you see in him, for acting, singing, dancing, working out, just about everything, makes age just a number as far as Salman Khan is concerned.'
Bollywood actresses amp up the glamour this festive season.
2025 will go down as one of the most unsettling chapters in Indian cricket -- not merely because of who retired, but because of how and when it happened.
As it gains commercial viability, the food will likely become a powerful political currency.
Naomi Osaka has four major titles under her belt but the second round at Flushing Meadows, Wimbledon and Roland Garros was as good as it got this year for the Japanese 26-year-old, who exited the Australian Open in the first round.
'I was just a little kid in a darkened theatre, and I remember that beam of light just cut across the room, and I remember looking up, and it seemed to just explode on the screen.'
The Punjab Congress has suspended Navjot Kaur Sidhu from its primary membership after she made a controversial remark about the chief minister's chair costing Rs 500 crore.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'At a time when there was little awareness of world music, playing western tunes on eastern instruments like the flute and the dholak, blending vocal polyphony with Indian folk and contemporary styles, Salilkaku created a new musical genre in Bengal called Gana Sangeet.'
'One of the dignified aspects of their relationship is that Hema reportedly told Dharamji that she would never disturb his first family.'
'We have come to the point in civilisation where emotion seems to be something you hide or you have to be discreet about, or to be ashamed of.'
The little girl with a plastic bat in a small town must feel that the world is open to her, just as I felt after watching a triumphant Team India in 1983, says Sachin Tendulkar.
'Nawaz's character was created around Vikram Betaal.' 'Betaal was a little more gimmicky, funny; he would laugh at you, tease you.' 'That's why I made Nawaz very quirky.'
Aseem Chhabra ranks the Best of 2025's films that released in theatres, or went directly to OTT platforms.
And beyond personal grief, Satwik's gratitude spilled outward -- to those who cheered, to those who stood by him, and to the nation itself.
At the stroke of midnight, Harmanpreet Kaur created her legacy, "broke the barrier" and declared that this is not the end but just the beginning.
Names and names and names and names... 329 in all. Some Indian. Some Canadian. Some British. Berry. Gupta. Jain. James. Bhatt. Beauchesne. Chatlani. Enayati. Lougheed.... Vaihayasi Pande Daniel visits Ahakista, Ireland, home to the memorial for the worst terrorist atrocity in India's history.
'Now, the sport has the opportunity to transcend barriers -- of gender, of perception, of accessibility.'
'I have always broken my image every time I went on screen. I don't know what it means to be a Greek God but people used to call me one.'
Meet Zeenath PA, the Kochi social worker whose handmade wigs are helping Cancer survivors reclaim their identity.
The venue for the Filmfare Awards shifted to Ahmedabad last weekend, and stars dazzled on the red carpet and on stage.
Eventually, the speculations cleared up after it was confirmed by the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia. He disclosed that India had refused to accept the Asia Cup trophy during the presentation ceremony from ACC Chairman Naqvi, who also serves as Pakistan's interior minister.
Singer-actress Sulakshana Pandit, 71, passed into the ages on November 6 after a prolonged illness. Besides her acting roles, she leaves behind some beautiful songs to remember her by.
Few people have left the kind of imprint on India's advertising canvas as Piyush Pandey. An observer who seemed to know what made the country tick, a man who could find humour in life's everyday struggles and spin magic from it, one who understood that to reach the masses you needed to communicate with them in their language and context -- he was all of this and more.
'We would like to believe and back ourselves to know these conditions or adapt to these conditions a lot faster even if we find them slightly different, as compared to, say, somebody who is brought up in Johannesburg and has played all his cricket at the Wanderers ground.'
Film folk are busy celebrating Ganpati by visiting their friends' homes, pandal-hopping or simply at home.
The partition of Bengal in 1905 split more than a province, it touched people's hearts and awakened India's fight for freedom.
The biryani, happily, was the very definition of simple. light-textured, with a subtle tomato-ey twang, it reminded me a lot of a North Indian pulao. The flavour whack came from the sweet-sour Khatta Baingan simmered in a gravy of tamarind, jaggery, fried mustard seeds, and spices, served with it.
'I wanted to go for the heart, and at the same time, open the audience's mind.'
As someone who could not predict a single beat in advance, who was exhilarated by its audacity to throw random elements together and take chances all over the place, Sreehari Nair thinks Odum Kuthira Chaadum Kuthira is one of the best films of the year.
'I'm totally focussed on finding the right energies around me. A lot of the treatment is psychosomatic, as my mother keeps reiterating, if you think positive, positive things will happen to you.'
