A lot of people only associate him with his music. And, obviously, he's a great musician. But Rahman, above all else, is a living example of spiritual equilibrium and intrinsic human goodness. A fascinating excerpt from Krishna Trilok's Notes Of A Dream: The Authorized Biography Of A R Rahman.
Theoretically, Modi, who understood corporate finance, committed no crime by raising debt to fund a growing business. In fact, he did a tidy job of it, but his operation started to see the ground underneath it give way in January 2018. A fascinating excerpt from Pavan C Lall's Flawed: The Rise And Fall Of India's Diamond Mogul Nirav Modi.
Rediff reader Anil Kumar shares some crucial dos and don'ts to follow.
'It is at the root of all the reservation tussles, and the sharpening polarisation that we witness today, be it on Jat politics or the problems faced by Indians from the north-east in many places,' says Ambassador Kishan S Rana.
We asked readers if they were ever discriminated against because of their dark skin. Here are their responses.
Mithali Raj will come out with her autobiography next year which will provide a candid and revealing look into her personal and sporting life.
At a time when the Kashmir valley has been shut down, it is perhaps appropriate that we remember Lal Ded, Kashmir's best known spiritual and literary figure, someone remembered with divine adoration both by Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. A fascinating excerpt from Sandhya Mulchandani's For The Love Of God: Women Poet Saints Of The Bhakti Movement.
Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt unearths some never-told-before details of Narendra Modi's early life. Read on!
'After watching Elvis Presley, Shammi Kapoor decided to pick the rock and roll star's style itself.' 'Dada was the kind of producer who took a leap of faith and gave Shammi Kapoor the freedom to display himself as crazy, mad, rough -- all the charms of Elvis Presley -- in his films.'
While it's important for the courts to enjoy public trust, says Mitali Saran, the only way to protect the institution is to scrupulously prove its credibility.
A former Maoist speaks to Shobha Warrier
'I wasn't interested in shackling my freedom to a Bollywood actor.' A fascinating excerpt from Lisa Ray's memoir Close To The Bone.
A new Unicef report reveals that more than 650 children died as military conflicts and political games in the embattled country waged on for the sixth year.
Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has expressed concern about India being the world's largest beef exporter and claimed that the money from illegal animal slaughter was used for perpetrating acts of terrorism.
Sreemoyee Piu Kundu's writing, much like its creator, defies the very idea of labels.
'We fear worse things to happen. We feel this is just a teaser.' 'I wonder whether later, the Christian community will be targeted.'
News of all that transpired on and off the football field
Nikhil Lakshman remembers the times he spent with the legendary writer who passed into the ages six days before his 86th birthday.
'There is nothing wrong in accepting Rama as a God.' 'You will not get to read a story as deep as Valmiki's Ramayana in which he talks about complex relations, strong emotions, pain, desertion and unconditional love. Whether you depict Rama as a human being or a divine person, the Ramayana is an epic with a great human story.' 'It is not religious intolerance at all; this is part of political power and polarisation. A religious person will never act intolerant towards another religion.'
'We met on a Mumbai local some time ago, but the lessons she taught me about money management and life in general have stayed with me,' says Geetanjali Krishna.
'We missed 21 months of Nisha's life. We don't want to miss another second.'
India's beloved President -- there has been no other who has influenced the nation as much -- never stepped back from inspiring people to be the very best that they could be.
'You've got to be a doer to be re-elected.' 'You don't have to be a great communicator or an orator any more because voters want to see action and development on the ground.' 'And they want a doer rather than just an orator.'
'It was a professional relationship with Jayalalithaa.' 'Being a businessman, I have to be in touch with the ruling party.'
'If they are not ready for a 10 to 20 year journey, they should not become entrepreneurs.'
The race for VIP perks has pernicious consequences and is undermining the elite's authority
In a first of a special series on second generation Indian Americans giving back to India, we begin with Meghana Sreevatsava's story.
Malini Agarwal reveals how she blogged her way to Bollywood, fame and success.
'Amit Shah and his fellow travellers need to realise that India was divided because of competitive communalism of forces like Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League, prodded, aided and abetted by the colonial power,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Dayanita Singh, artist and curator, is giving photography a new art form.
'I suggest Rahul Bajaj come out in the open and give us his own white paper on the perceived sense of fear that he thinks haunts corporate India,' says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
'The military in Pakistan is capable and self critical, but intelligence is stuffed full of lifers who resist change, which is why career soldiers in Pakistan try with all their might not to be transferred into the ISI.'
'Karpoori Thakur must be remembered by people today who are tired of witnessing fractious politics where corruption, bigotry, hatred and violence seems to have become distressingly recurrent,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Mallya understood, astutely, that the Dhingras were very keen to acquire Berger Paints. He upped his asking price. The figure Vijay asked for was found to be much more than what Kuldip and Gurbachan had anticipated. A fascinating excerpt from Sonu Bhasin's Unstoppable: Kuldip Singh Dhingra And The Rise Of Berger Paints.
Our problem is that we look at these words from a non-Indic perspective, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Modi, in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, wrote that the US and India are forging a deeper and stronger partnership that extends far beyond the Beltway and the Raisina Hill.
'In her insecurity, she destroyed the institutions of democracy.' 'She packed Parliament with her supporters with loyalty being more important than ability; she superseded judges; she corrupted the civil service.' 'She knew how to use people against each other and was quite a master of that.' 'She would do this with calculated skill and in the bargain cause enmity between brothers, split up families.'
Rediff reader Arun Mehta who's lived and worked in multiple countries shares his wisdom.
Sunit Nair writes about what he thinks of his Father -- the word, the idea and the person.
'Mamata's fascination with stars is so deep-rooted that she uses her clout as chief minister to get close to them.'
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