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Book fest BOOM
The buzz around literature festivals is growing with many now being held in India. In spite of the intellectual eyebrow being raised in disapproval, these are here to stay as the old order
changeth, writes
Nirupama Dutt
Here
is a boom in literature festivals all over the country from Jaipur to
Thiruvananthapuram; from Mussoorie to Mumbai; from Bokaro to Kolkata.
But what does literature have to do with festivals? This is a question
that purists are asking. They hold that literature is the child of
grave solitude in both its creation and in its consumption. William
Wordsworth’s famous definition of poetry —"Poetry is the
spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from
emotion recollected in tranquility"— they feel, holds good
for all literature.
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Life
beyond glory
This Republic Day, Harish Chandra
Mehra, India's first bravery award-winning child, recalls the highs
and lows of his life, writes Vivek Shukla
Come
January, and memories start haunting Harish Chandra Mehra, who became
a real-life hero a little more than five decades ago. As children who
have won the bravery awards pass through Rajpath during the Republic
Day parade, 68-year-old Mehra, who won the first bravery award, will
be watching them on TV in a sombre mood. On October 2, 1957,
14-year-old Harish Chandra Mehra saved the lives of Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru and other dignitaries at the Capital’s Ram Lila ground.
Crocodile
attends Papal audience
Pope
Benedict XVI addressed around 7,000 faithful — and a crocodile. To
commemorate the Rome zoo’s 100th anniversary, staff members attended
the Pope’s general indoor audience in Vatican City and brought along
a rare baby Cuban crocodile to represent the zoological park’s
animals.
Smallest
frog found
Herpetologists
have discovered a new frog species in the tropical forests of Papua
New Guinea which they say is smallest vertebrate ever found. The
previously unknown creature, speckled in red and black, measures just
7.7 mm in length from nose to butt. It is so small that end to end
more than two would fit on a dime.
A PEACE OF INDIA
NARRATIVE
of A NATION
After a decade of travelling
through the length and breadth of the wonderful nation that is India, Brian
Mendonca discovers how despite the diverse strains of culture
and regional variants, there is an inherent unity in the patchwork
quilt
When
I bounced the title of my second book of poems A Peace of India:
Poems in Transit with friends a while ago, some of them wryly
retorted "piece?" – or "pieces’? That was the time
Jharkhand was happening and and we had not yet got to Chhattisgarh.
Telangana was nascent and the Manipuris were doing their bit with the
headhunters. Nearer home, trains occasionally got stoned at Hubli or
Belgaum and the only safe transit point between two states seemed to
be the silence in Silent Valley.
Nehru
as a fashion icon
The
stylish Nehru jacket, popularised by India’s first Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru, has been listed among the top global political
fashion statements. Nehru’s
attire has found place in the list that includes the tracksuit of
Cuba’s communist leader Fidel Castro’s and former Chinese leader
Mao Zedong’s safari suit, according to the Time magazine.
Blogging
on the beach
Travel blogs are incredibly easy
to set up and there are dozens of blogging templates to choose
from. one must, however, follow a few guidelines to keep your readers
interested, writes Gillian Orr
You’ve
finally booked that trip of your dreams and you’re about to embark
on an exciting new adventure. What better way to let friends and
family know you’re safe — as well as making them just a teeny bit
jealous — than by sharing your exploits via a travel blog? From the
gap-year student, who wants to appease her worried parents while
she’s backpacking around Vietnam to the enterprising ex-cubicle
dweller, who uses his money-spinning blog to fund his never-ending
globetrotting, there are thousands of travel blogs to discover online.
Champions
of a melting cause
Two sherpas are going to trek the
Great Himalaya Trail in an attempt to highlight the dangers that the
climate change is posing to the Himalayan region
A
sherpa, who has climbed Mount Everest a record 21 times, will trek
hundreds of miles, along some of the world’s highest mountains, to
highlight the impact of climate change on the Himalayas, according to
organisers of the event.
Cinema
with a cause
Films on the theme of
corruption often make the audience sit up and think, writes M.
L. Dhawan
Many
a filmmaker has tried to
make films which combine the ingredients of popular entertainment with
aspirations of social amelioration and humanist development. There has
been a number of films based on corruption and crumbling system of
governance. Just when the audience has had enough films on violence
and vulgarity, there comes a film which makes the audience sit up and
think.
Vidya
unplugged
Vidya Balan is not sitting
on her laurels after the success of The Dirty Picture but is
ready with her next release Kahaani, in which she plays a seven-month
pregnant woman, writes Sreya Basu
You have emerged as the new ‘Hero’ of Bollywood post The Dirty
Picture. How do you feel?
Really filmmaking is team effort. It is very elating when people give
the actor credit for the success of a film. So I will also not refuse
to it. But I think it is team effort and I am hoping that the success
of The Dirty Picture will help me get a chance to work with
more good directors and good teams; so that I can continue my
performance level.
FRUIT FACTS
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