Frail and famous
Diseases don’t differentiate between the common man and celebrities, writes Smiti Munwani
n Salman Khan’s fans were on tenterhooks when the star went to the US in August 2011 to get operated for a painful nerve disorder called trigeminal neuralgia, which causes intense pain in the face. The macho star has decided to slow down and do only one film at a time.
n It’s been a year of grave concern for millions of Rajnikanth fans as health woes have continued to hound the superstar.

During the shooting of Coolie in 1984, Amitabh Bachchan went down to myasthenia gravis — an autoimmune neuromuscular disease of the nerves

Forgotten legacy
Urdu was once the first language of Punjab. It has now lost its sheen and remains confined to the Malerkotla region only, writes Shariq Majeed
After Partition of India, Urdu may not have been the first language of Punjab, but it continues to rule the hearts of the people who went through the trauma. The younger generation in the state also has love for the language. Krishen Betaab, who was born before Partition, has studied Urdu till the secondary level in the times when it was the first language of Punjab state.

Exotic embroidery
Indian embroidery cannot be replicated elsewhere. It is the skill and finesse which give the craft a distinctive look, says Sita Mehta
What sets an Indian garment apart from the rest? In this age of globalisation, when everything is available everywhere, you cannot merely trust the designer’s label to be sure. That can be easily sourced – just as the fabric, pattern, colour schemes, embellishments and accessories can be generated anywhere anytime.