Vicky Toppo is a young man who transforms into a woman each time he takes to the stage to dance to Bhojpuri or Bollywood songs. He tells Archana Masih about life as an entertainer in the interiors of Bihar's villages.
He keeps a Ganesha idol in his room. His next book will have eight chapters set in Mumbai. He loves India; it's his biggest market. Yet there is one thing that bestselling Jeffrey Archer detests -- it actually drives him nuts! -- about this country.
Elated over winning the Nobel Peace prize, renowned child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi on Friday dedicated the coveted award to people of India and vowed to work with renewed vigour against exploitation of children and to ensure their welfare.
'My stay in Mumbai was taken care of by Vinod Khanna, food by Daisy Irani, work was provided by Feroz Khan, and Sunil Dutt paid me without my doing any work. My wife is 12 years younger than me. She was a child artiste. I got the title Shakti Kapoor: Cradle snatcher. But she was too good so I decided to marry her. I will marry Shraddha off after three years. I don't want her to be an older heroine or marry at 40. I want her to marry at the peak of her career. But I will not force her.' Straight talk from Shakti Kapoor.
He has drawn fresh strategies to take his businesses to the next level.
'Love yourselves. Embrace all that this life has in store for you, let your heart be as deep as the deepest ocean and as wide as the farthest horizon.' Beautiful words from Shah Rukh Khan.
'I didn't get any recognition in Kerala for this film and it has definitely hurt me. When the whole world is celebrating the return of Sanskrit, my state is busy ignoring it.' Vinod Mankara talks about his award-winning film, Priyamanasam.
The verdict in the right to privacy case is historic and of global significance because it establishes dharma, righteousness and destroys adharma.
The verdict in the right to privacy case is historic and of global significance because it establishes dharma, righteousness and destroys adharma.
'For me, he was a bridge to lifelong friendships in a land where I had none.' 'He helped break barriers of language and suspicion.' Maharaj Damodardas salutes the one and only Rajinikanth!
Kainchi, near Nainital, attracts devotees from near and far, 42 years after the death of its spiritual leader, Neem Karoli Baba.
Darjeeling is on the boil over the demand for a separate Gorkhaland state. June and July are bad months to have a strike. Tea picking during its most valuable season has been affected. Those consequences will be felt all over the world and ultimately damage Darjeeling tea.
Bollywood's Badshah turns 50 on November 2, and it's time to celebrate his life and movies.
Don't forget to make your pick for the newsmaker of 2015.
'Renu Raj has exploded many civil services myths.' 'The popular belief is that unless they come from English speaking, sophisticated and affluent families, prepare at a young age, get educated in a first rate college, go to a coaching class in one of the metro cities, take the examination several times, the aspirants cannot make it to the civil services list, particularly its very top.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan -- who serves in an honorary capacity at the NSS Academy where Renu coached for the IAS -- on how she surprised even herself by topping the UPSC exam.
True Indian scenes most often lie on less travelled routes, along roads that have fallen off the map, after modern highways have come up. On the fourth leg of their 2,148 km journey, Rediff.com's Archana Masih and photographer Rajesh Karkera discover one such forgotten place in the Thar Desert.
A look at few gurus who have attracted controversy in recent times.
Amitabh Kant tells Rahul Jacob how India could be made an easier place to do business in and why India's software smarts will give it an edge.
Indian billionaires do not believe in sitting on their wealth.
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
In an interview to HarmonyIndia.org, the artist, who had famously said that he lived to paint and painted to live, spoke of what the 'bindu' meant to him, about his friend M F Husain and the legacy that he will leave behind.
...He'd be running a successful aviation business, says Anjuli Bhargava.
'When I was staying in Teen Batti (in south Mumbai), I had one washroom and we were 10 people. Today I have three washrooms and I am the only one using all of them. Can you see the quantum leap that I have taken in life?' Jackie Shroff gets candid.
They say that cinema is a reflection of society. If that is true, what kind of society are we living in, asks Paloma Sharma.
'With folded hands, on humanitarian grounds, if she can get temporary bail on medical grounds so she can get treatment.' 'If she dies, the whole trial gets derailed.'
Hidenori Ish talks about his fascinating journey, from a small town in Japan to Tamil Nadu in India, for the love of music.
Here's your weekly digest of the most weird, true and funny news from the across the world.
'Modi, focused on youth and their aspirations, has articulated a truly disruptive change: One of hope, of duties rather than rights, of standing up to the world instead of being bullied by it,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'I didn't want the biopic on Swami Chinmayananda to be a propaganda film,' filmmaker R S Prasanna tells Shobha Warrier/ Rediff.com
More than the traditional Dravidian political rivalry that's now on display, it's boiling down to father-son one-upmanship within the DMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Now that Tamil Nadu's tallest politician is no more, it remains to be seen how new political re-alignments could shape up, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rajeev Srinivasan on whom the Congress might put forth as its leader in 2014.
Beautiful glimpses into Dilip Kumar's life with Saira Banu.
'I kept telling myself I'd quit after every film. I saw myself in my first Hindi film Kashmir Ki Kali and I didn't like myself. I said, one more film and I'm done. But it continued.' Sharmila Tagore gets candid on her 70th birthday.
Meet the cleanliness warrior from Nagaland who is cleaning up the holy ghats of Varanasi...
Here's the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the United States Congress.
For developing technology that is at the heart of high speed WiFi and 4G mobile systems Arogyaswami Paulraj receives one of science's highest honours, the Marconi Prize 2014.
'Once, when I was standing around on the set one day, whining about something -- you know we were gonna work through supper or the long hours or whatever, Tommy Lee Jones said to me, 'Isn't it such a privilege, Meryl, just to be an actor? Yeah, it is, and we have to remind each other of the privilege and the responsibility of the act of empathy. We should all be very proud of the work Hollywood honours here tonight.'
'Muslims, like people of all other faiths, are quite comfortable with the idea of nationalism and democracy today. But are they following Islam in its spirit? That is a different question.'
Shreekant Sambrani is confident that today's adversity will make the country emerge even stronger
