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Victorious Cross
 The
passing of the last
surviving Indian Victoria Cross winner, Umrao Singh, marked the end of
an era. Vijay Mohan reports the
heroic deeds of other Indian recipients of the award, cherished as an
epitome of heroism and bravery.
Here began
the story of Victoria Crosses won by Indians. A story immortalised by
deeds of heroism. A story whose mortal link with the present
generation snapped with the passing away of Subedar and Hony Capt
Umrao Singh. At 86, Captain Umrao Singh was the last surviving Indian
VC winner.
Last
of the ‘Victorians’
Lt-Gen Baljit Singh (retd)
The
50th anniversary of the
end of World War II was one among the several mega-celebrations
organised in the UK during the fading years of the last century. The
recurrent theme of almost all ceremonies was the hope that the carnage
of the battlefield must not be allowed to inflict humanity in the new
millennium.
Preserving
a bond
Vibhor
Mohan visits the monastery at Khampagar, near Palampur, to see
how the body of Yogi Amtrin has been preserved by his followers
Time
has been held back in a
small room of the Khampagar monastery in the Tashi Jong area, 18 km
from Palampur. Not being able to reconcile to the death of 84-year-old
Tibetan meditation master, Yogi Amtrin, his students have taken on
themselves the challenging task of preserving his body.
His
Alaap struck a chord
Channi Singh pioneered the
Punjabi music revolution in the UK, writes Prabhjot
Singh
For
the godfather of bhangra music in
England, Channi Singh of the group Alaap, awards come naturally.
Latest in the list of honours and awards has been the "Lifetime
achievement for Punjabi music Award given to him by the Lord Mayor of
Leicester, Mary Draycott, at the 13th anniversary celebrations of the
BBC Radio’s Punjabi Programme.
British band
gets rocking
British
band Trickbaby is in
the news because four of its compositions feature on the soundtrack of
Bluff Master. The music of UTV’s Abhishek Bachchan-Priyanka
Chopra starrer has been released in the market to a thunderous
response.
Call of faith
Such is the belief in the
powers of Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti, that his dargah in Ajmer
draws visitors from all faiths every day, writes Humra
Quraishi
Khwaja
Moinuddin Hasan Chisty—also
known as Gharib Nawaz—had especially come from the Middle East and
settled in Ajmer. He had come when he was in his middle age but stayed
on till his last years. It’s said that that he was born in East
Persia around 533 Hijri ( 1138-39 A.D ) and lost his parents at an
early stage.
‘It
is difficult to do comedy’
I think I have a lot more to
learn as an actor. The new faces these days are quite talented and are
a force to reckon with, Akshay Kumar tells V.
Ananth
Akshay
Kumar is confident that his latest
release Deewane Huye Paagal, which is basically a funny,
romantic and racy love story, will turn out to be a hit at the box
office like his last release Garam Masala. On the eve of the
release of his film, he sounded very enthusiastic about the film.
Act,
dance and sing
Although the singing star
phenomenon is catching up, film critics say there is nothing artistic
about the trend as the stars these days are bad singers
An
increasing number of lead actors in the
Hindi film industry are no longer content to only emote and dance in
their films—singing your own songs is the new trend in Bollywood.
Loaded
with suspense
Two stories run parallel in Lemming,
an excellent specimen of French cinema, and one event leads to
another, writes Ervell E. Menezes
When
Alain Getty (Laurent Lucas) invites his
boss Richard Pollock (Andre Dussollier) and his wife Alice (Charlotte
Rampling) to dinner, it is the beginning of the fireworks and tension
that lasts right through 129 minutes of the film.
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