Re-made for each other

No longer are divorced women viewed as tainted or unholy. The concept of a woman as an exclusive property of a man has been replaced by the perception that if the reputation of a divorced male remains unsullied, why should the same also not hold good for a woman? The commendable thing is that there is a shift in the attitudes of not only men but also their families. Chetna Banerjee analyses the emerging trend in remarriages.

Unveiling a bridal bonanza
THE one-stop wonder called Bridal Asia, took shape only because someone dared to dream. When Divya Gurwara conjured up a vision it seemed far-fetched, but with persistent sincerity today it easily bears the mantle of excellence…… and all because she wanted to add the necessary dazzle to the institution of marriage and all that it entails….. because she wanted to touch every tentative step with magic as it crosses the symbolic threshold….. because she wanted only the best for the bride!

About authors, critics and typists
by Ruskin Bond
AUTHORS maddened by critics might take heart by recalling Hemingway’s direct action against critic Max Eastman in 1937. Eastman had questioned Hemingway’s manhood in his review of Death in the Afternoon, which he had sarcastically titled "Bull in the Afternoon".

The palace that is an enigma
by K.R.N. Swamy
CAIRO is one of the most ancient bastions of Islam and its famous Al Azhar University devoted to Muslim theology is the final arbiter, when it comes to interpretation of the Koran. Walking in the suburbs of the famous city, replete with ancient mosques and museums redolent with Islam, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Hindu Palace in the elite suburb of Heliopolis.

All you wanted to know about forests
by H.C. Gera
SET in the sylvan surroundings of the Doon valley, the forest research institute was established in 1878. It was initially named as Imperial Forest Research Institute. D.Brandis, a botanist, who was the pioneer of the natural resource conservation became the first Inspector General of Forests of British India. 

ON THE SANDS OF TIME
1977: When realism ruled the roost
by M.L. Dhawan
BASU Chatterjee’s Swami was an interesting conjugal drama in which, a free-spirited girl, Shabana Azmi, was forced to marry a reticent widower, Girish Karnard. She resented the liaison and unabashedly pined for the man she once loved. The film showed how she overcomes her former infatuation and stays on with her sincere and stable husband instead of eloping with her wayward, vacillating lover.

Water as weavers’ muse
by Kunal Khurana
NEXT to figurative works, water happens to be the most representative, yet least recognised theme of Indian art. In no other culture have water-related subjects found as much expression in paintings, sculpture, weaving and pottery as in the subcontinent.

It may ad(d) to TV history
HISTORY of sorts is likely to be made in the realm of television commercials. A 120-second-long commercial is being launched by Siyarams at an astronomical cost of Rs 20 crore.

NATURE:  They change colour to merge with flowers
by Nutan Shukla