Across the divide

There are as many voices and opinions on Kashmir as there are people but the desire for removal of controls on both sides of the LoC cuts across all lines, finds A.J. Philip as he travels to PoK FOR us Indian journalists visiting "Azad Jammu and Kashmir" at the invitation of the South Asian Free Media Association, Mirpur, located at the extreme south of the state, was the first port of call. And it was not a flattering experience to be welcomed as "journalists from held Kashmir and India".

Curtains down on folk forms
Anjum Sayed
CALL them loud, vulgar, burlesque, puerile... but they are as much part of India’s glorious heritage as jatra and ramlila. While these traditions of the performing arts have survived the advent of modern technology and modern forms of entertainment, nobody spares a thought for vesha, kaniyan koothu, tamasha, domkachh, swang....

Pride of Patiala
General Chanda Singh, the famous polo player, made a mark internationally but little is known about him in his own town. Jangveer Singh reports
IT is easy to miss Fateh House if one is not careful. Situated on the Upper Mall, Patiala, a theatre and a row of shops sandwich the entrance to the house of late Brigadier Fateh Singh. The reason for visiting the house is to find out more about General Chanda Singh, one of the best polo players of the world.

Brush with the wild
A seven-day safari ride in Masai Mara in Kenya is a treat for adventure lovers, writes R. P. Devgan
MASAI Mara in Kenya is an unusual holiday destination. The African Safari to Masai Mara, Naivasha and Nakuru lakes and the world-famous Aberdares tree top hotel is worth a trip. The landscape all along the Mara and rift valleys is more than just picturesque and the climate very pleasant.

Noor Jehan lives on in her songs
Pran Nevile
NOOR Jehan, the melody queen who enchanted millions of music lovers in the subcontinent for more than half a century passed away four years ago in Karachi on December 23, 2000. Those who witnessed her meteoric rise from a child artist, Baby Noor Jehan, to Malika-e-Tarannum greatly miss the phenomenal musical genius.

Frames from afar
Ervell E. Menezes recounts foreign films that made the grade at the 35th IFFI in Goa.
THE 35th International Film Festival of India in Goa will be remembered more for the entertainment dished out on the Panjim waterfront than for the quality of films in the cinemas. And though the fare was initially poor, the quality gradually improved and towards the end some excellent films were screened in the Cinema-of-the-World category.

• Toast to Dilip

• Gulzar’s guru