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The Enduring
BABU

The life of a civil servant is not humdrum and humourless. K. C. Sivaramakrishnan strings together interesting episodes from his years in office in his book. Excerpts: ON the Ring Road in Delhi as one proceeds from Tees Hazari to Majnu Ka Tila, a large building coloured in pink can be noticed on the left. The only attractive feature of the building is its long and slightly curved verandah. Much of this is obscured by a high compound wall and barbed wire fencing since the building is now used for some defence research work. This is the Metcalfe House built by Charles Metcalfe, a successful colonial administrator.

Civil defence escapades The lotus finally blooms

Hope from the Superman
Tania Sahai, who attended Barack Obama’s November 4 victory rally
in Chicago, says that the President-elect may be set to follow in the footsteps
of another American icon — Abraham Lincoln
MY mom wakes me up and tells me that I will not be going to school today. There are tanks outside our house and there is a coup and curfew in place. It is August 19, 2001, in Moscow, then the capital of the USSR.

Punting across Cambridge
The best way to absorb the ambience of the university town of Cambridge in England is to hire a chauffeur-driven punt and cruise along River Cam, says Rachna Singh
THE very name of Cambridge elicits a reverent sigh from students and academicians all over the world. But on a bright summer day the University town of Cambridge in England presents a sight that does not conform to its image of studious Cambridge scholars going around with their noses buried in a ‘tome’.

Break with formula
M. L. Dhawan
A new crop of directors has infused in Hindi cinema the much-needed freshness of approach, both in terms of content and presentation. This new-age cinema, presented through distinctive narrative styles, is finding favour with the cinegoers.

A living legend
Shoma A. Chatterji
PANDIT Bhimsen Joshi needs no introduction. One of the prominent Hindustani vocalist living legends, Panditji has not just won a huge fan following but has also won over his critics.

The big picture
As many as 100 films from 62 countries were screened at the recent
Kolkata film festival, writes Shoma A. Chatterji
THE eight-day-long 14th Kolkata Film Festival (KFF) held recently screened around 276 films, retrospectives, tributes and celluloid ‘pearls’ and ‘diamonds’ from across the world. There were 17 Indian entries, 44 short films, eight documentaries and several children’s films.

Fit and vegetarian
Vimla Patil
ONCE again that time of the year is here. International agencies like PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) are looking for winning candidates of the sexiest vegetarian of the year 2008.