My life in Rangoon

Monica Sindhwani, whose family has lived in Myanmar for generations, left Rangoon for India at 20.Married to a retired Indian Army officer, she relives her memories of the pagodas, the greenery and......

10 things you need to know about Mahashweta Devi

Writer and activist Mahashweta Devi, who passed away after a prolonged illness on Thursday, authored more than a 100 novels and 20 collections of short stories. She was not only a celebrated writer......

Now, 250 scholars slam PM Modi for rising intolerance

A group of academics and scholars on Friday expressed their outrage and anger against the "assault on academic and constitutional freedom", joining the recent protests by writers, artistes,......

The king who made his own calendar

Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh, was not just a poet, playwright, dancer and patron of the arts, says Payal Mohanka. He was a royal who hand-created his personal calendar. Wajid Ali Shah,......

The T-Shirt Wars

Ajit Balakrishnan on the evolution of a cultural symbol. IMAGE: Mark Zuckerberg, Marlon Brando and Peter Thiel. Photographs: Getty Images   I stood gazing admiringly at the perfect green......

Kolkata's rickshaw pullers stare at a bleak future

The West Bengal government wants to replace hand-pulled rickshaws with battery-operated ones. But the rickshaw pullers are apprehensive that they will lose their livelihood   Image: A rickshaw......

The best malls in India

Biren Somaiya, 38, senior advisor, JP Morgan Chase, regularly hops into High Street Phoenix in Mumbai's Lower Parel from his nearby home at King's Circle to pick up "goodies". Somaiya never has......

Which business family owns Outlook?

Indian media Which business family ownsOutlook? Take the Rediff Biz Quiz and find out how much you know about the Indian print media.Biz Quiz is best viewed in Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape......

When Dilip Kumar met Vajpayee...

It is to Vajpayee's credit that he told Dilip Kumar to ignore Thackeray and to follow his own conscience.But the episode -- as indeed, the manner in which Dilip Kumar has been made to pay for being......

Buddhadeb Dasgupta passes away

Photograph: Kind courtesy Deepti Nabal/Instagram Eminent film director Buddhadeb Dasgupta, who had been battling kidney ailments for quite some time, died at his residence in Kolkata early on......

When Satyajit Ray got UPSET

There is a world that Satyajit Ray created in his films that I wanted to be a part of -- as Durga bathed in the rain to Ravi Shankar's music; when Charulata sat on the swing regretting she never......

10 roles that proved Soumitra Chatterjee's versatility

This is an alternate list of 10 screen roles that saw Soumitra Chatterjee, a paragon of gentility, venture beyond his comfort zone and deliver masterclasses of subtlety and depth, lists Saibal......