This is the story of Pinky, one of the many small town girls who come to the city for higher studies. It is based on actual incidents from real life and provide an insight into the conflicts, dilemmas and contradictions thatrage in their minds. Raman Mohan gives Pinky’s story, and of those like her, in first person singular.

Why do brides cry during their bidai? by Roshni Johar WITH the dancing, feasting and pheras over, it’s time for doli or vidai rather the grand finale to a wedding, when the bride leaves for the groom’s house. Invariably, the moment the band or the shehnaiwalas start playing the old favourite chhod ke babul ka ghar, mujhe pi ke nagar, aaj jana pada, the mood immediately swings from a cheery to a weepy one. The bride bursts into tears a la Bollywood style with parents, relatives and friends joining in a tearful adieu. Now the daughter has become parayi.

Sionara ...classroom!
by Suchita Malik
THE redundancy factor seems to be overtaking me of late. I feel I have become redundant ... redundant as a teacher ... at least that is what I gather from my students in the college. I insist upon the students to come to the classroom along with the text-book, if they want to understand and appreciate the finer nuances of poetry or drama. 

Sentinels of slander
by I.M. Soni
A "gentleman" once asked me if I had spent six months in a mental asylum afterI had an unsuccessful love affair. I was stunned but he was sure that I was lying. Much later, I came to know that the "lunatic" in his story was another man with the same surname as mine.

Star styles for the season
FOR all those wanting to lap up all those interesting personal details about the latest famous face of Bollywood, Gracy Singh, the heroine of Lagaan, here is a checklist of her style preferences:

Growing plastics on farms
by Shirish Joshi
DRIVING his tractor along a dusty road in Punjab, Ranjitsingh, a farmer gazes towards the horizon at rows of tall, leafy corn plants shuddering in the breeze as far as the eye can see. Not only are kernels of corn growing in the ears, but also granules of plastic are sprouting in the stalks and leaves. This is not a dream. The day this will become a reality is not far away.

BRIDGE: Establishing the dummy’s suit
by Omar Sharif

DREAM THEME: Returning to the infant stage
by Vinaya Katoch Manhas