This week's digest of stories that are weird, true and funny.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
Remembering how Azzedine Alaia, the son of farmers changed the world of fashion.
Dolly Jain knows 325 ways of draping the sari, a talent that has taken her to the Limca Book Records.
The Delhi high court asked the AAP government to explain whether it is not enough to continue their odd-even vehicles scheme for one week instead of running it till January 15.
'It is beyond him to understand how human beings can say the same thing to mean so many different things.'
It is a sight that both warms and breaks the heart. The women of Shaheen Bagh seem oblivious of the cold, these women and their children, the latter ranging in age from 19 days to early teens, who have been occupying the road for over two weeks now. Some of them have not gone home for days, but their faces are clear, unlined by fatigue, their eyes bright and fierce as those of the falcon, shaheen, the area is named for.
With one million users in Brazil, and 35,000 here in India within three weeks -- are we going to witness an encore from Orkut Bykkkten?
'The Himalayan people may not represent a large or politically influential section of the population, but India's security depends on them.' 'Let us hope Sikkim remains a beacon of stability,' says Claude Arpi after a recent visit to the picturesque north eastern state.
'What adult citizens do in the privacy of their home, what they eat or drink or watch, is not the government's concern.'
'There are two things that will never go out of business in most countries around the world -- oil and sex.' Sunny Leone gives us her point of view.
He's promoting khadi through his swadesi clothing brand.
China's Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong again harped on the need to build consensus over the admission of new members in the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group.
'They will talk about secularism, but communalism -- they just won't say there exists such a beast.' 'It's harmful for society to brush it under the carpet.' 'If we talk about secularism, we must talk about communalism.'
There are several other famous temples across India that disallow non-Hindus to enter their place of worship, Rediff.com lists some of them.
The jallikattu issue has revived pan-Tamil political sentiments especially among youths, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Being trendy was never this simple!
'India has set standard of beauty rules. They feel that everyone needs to be perfect.' 'You may be beautiful and have the perfect body. But if you have big boobs, you'll still get teased.'
Ivanka spoke for a good 15 minutes, gracefully, looking straight at her audience, her face wreathed often in winning smiles. She is an articulate, striking, woman who charmed her audience.
'Because of the impact the movement has had, people will think twice before misbehaving because you don't know who will turn out to be another Tanushree Dutta.'
A look at few gurus who have attracted controversy in recent times.
Duvvuri Subbarao recounts how his tensions with P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee, then finance ministers, over monetary policy spilled over into other issues in the central bank in this excerpt from Who Moved My Interest Rate?, his memoir of his term as Reserve Bank of India governor.
A look at few gurus who have attracted controversy in recent times.
'When a woman uses stunning sexy photo shoots to make a splash and be noticed by the audiences and the industry, it doesn't mean she can be broken down to breasts, buttocks, legs, navel and oh... a pretty face,' says movie director Suparn Verma.
Because we mirror his beliefs, says Savera R Someshwar.
In an exclusive conversation with Rediff.com's Sonil Dedhia in Mumbai, Sania reveals what made her give up on singles, and why she is unsure about competing in the Rio Olympics. She also tries to reason why India's young girls are not following in her footsteps and trying to make a mark in tennis.
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.
Badami asked Das if Indrani was in the room. Das, whipping out his hand and pointing it at Indrani, announced: "Yes, she is right there." Indrani, who was looking down, through most of the hearing, momentarily raised her eyes, just a fraction and glanced at him. That was the first time either of them looked at each other. Till then, and later, Das refused to look at her, as if he was not able to, either out of anger or revulsion. It seemed mutual. Indrani too pretended throughout like he did not exist.
Two young dhaakad designers tell us why they want to dress up the First Lady of Bollywood.
Meet 28 year-old Dusyant Sridhar who is a techie by day and an Upanyasakar after work, giving discourses on ancient scriptures.
In walked the scruffy band of pirates, without any swagger. Mostly tall or burly men, with weather beaten, resigned faces, the majority were dressed in track pants and tees; a few had skull caps. Some of their T-shirts had messages like 'I'm not in danger, I'm danger' or 'Long Beach California Surfer'.
Sarpanch leaders are changing Rajasthan for the girl child, says Rashme Sehgal.
16 is yet another formulaic representation of teenage life, writes Paloma Sharma.
Two young designers from Meghalaya are making a positive impact with their skills.
'Elected representatives have won elections in the past on the basis of money power received from the central government.' 'This fact has been highlighted by former army chief V K Singh who boasted of crores of rupees being distributed to Kashmiri politicians in order to buy their loyalty and win votes.' 'All the Kashmiri politicians have been co-opted by the Indian State,' says separatist Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Goan beauty Gail Nicole Da Silva, first runner up Miss United Continent 2014 tells us how her personal success has inspired several others to believe in their dreams.
'I told the lady I was two months pregnant, but that did not seem to bother her.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com visits the infamous cages of Mumbai's oldest red light district, Kamathipura, to find out how human trafficking has given India the awful reputation of the nation with the highest slavery rates in the world.
'Most of the time we do close-ups you'll be looking at the camera or your main lead, your leading lady, is left of the camera, right of the camera -- she's never there. So, your best close-ups are looking at some unfortunate-looking assistant director or a cameraman. All the romantic close-ups I'm looking at some guy.' Salman Khan tells P Rajendran/ Rediff.com how he shoots his romantic scenes.
Is Being Human, the actor's apparel brand, an extension of his persona or is it a move to correct his bad-boy image?
Javed and Farhan Akhtar discuss the new and the classic Don.
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