Kartikey Sehgal
The Taj Mahal hotel is lonesome at night. The Gateway of India is sealed. Only gunmen patrol the area. Stray visitors are asked to move away quickly.
The lonesome Taj does not reflect the resplendent mood described in newspapers and magazines, when the 105 years old luxurious hotel re-started its services.
The gunmen are still and wary. They ask me to not go near the Gateway and to hurry with my walk along the area.
Ananth Venkatesh
Contests between South Africa (SA) and Australia in cricket have historically been colossally competitive, considering that these two nations are proud of their sporting culture. The ongoing three-Test and five-match ODI series of Australia against SA promises to be exhilarating and delightful for the purist cricket lover.
With 20-20 menacing the two conventional formats of the game, Tests and One Day Internationals (ODI), the confrontation between the two Southern hemisphere rivals is surely going to thrill cricket connoisseurs worldwide.
Notwithstanding the unsurprising ascendancy of India in Tests and ODIs lately, the rivalry of ‘Safs’ and ‘Kangaroos’ has traditionally satiated the appetite of authentic cricket fanatics in the globe.
Benita Fernando
Don’t tell me
The palpitating secrets of your shredded heart
I already know them.
Ananth Venkatesh
Terrorism, a poison that has historically maimed a plenteous number of blameless Indians, rocked India once more for nearly 3 days. Mumbai’s Taj Hotel, a legendary symbol of architectural splendour, was targeted by Islamic bigots. The Oberoi-Trident was also brutalised by the bloody insaneness of the terrorists. Mumbai, familiar with such bigotry, had to endure the chilling ramifications of another intelligence blunder and the ineptitude of the law-enforcement machinery.
Kartikey Sehgal
Modern office cubicles are defined by strong walls, sound-proof glass doors and hushed conversations. Amidst the reigning modern discipline there are specimens of creative power in the form of the Laughing Buddha, cartoon sketches on walls and casual attires.
Starting from the collar, snake-like curvaceous patterns dominated his shirt-design. My interviewer announced.
“Seven percent”
Santa Singh
Outside a cinema hall, when the audience had finished braving another terrible Hindi movie, I walked towards a water cooler and found a young man, clad in a plain white shirt and faded jeans, reading some lines aloud.
These were not ordinary lines. They sounded like typical Hindi film dialogues. I wondered if this man would go on to become an actor and subject us to more atrocities. I felt like smashing his head then and there.
Kartikey Sehgal
[Anil Kumble, one of India's greatest Test cricketers and inarguably its most prolific match-winner, announced his retirement here at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Sunday.] Source
Anil Kumble remained true to the tradition of ‘beautiful’ bowling. The tradition speaks that the bowler must aim to put the ball in the right spot. The batsman must adjust himself to play the ball. It was also expected that the batsman would play a proper cricketing shot. Cricket was graceful and batsmen would mind if they got runs the ‘wrong way’.
Kartikey Sehgal
[The author met actor Joy Sengupta who talked about his vision for Indian cinema.]
Joy Sengupta wants to develop films that cater to an international audience and the local Indian masses.
Movies should have fierce locality and a global vision. Movie watching should be an experience. It should make you grow from within.
That’s subject to movie-making…
That too should be an experience. Otherwise we’ll have masala films like *** and *** and ***. I am tired of Indian cinema that has been run over by Bollywood
Kartikey Sehgal
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s ‘talisman’, written just before his death in 1948, is popular and often finds its way in school books. It is often understood as
* The feeling of pity for the poor,
* A call for social service
* Absence of ego in humans.
Here is an interpretation that talks about the individual and her talents instead of a sense of pity for the society.
Kartikey Sehgal
I went to the sea and the waves were eager to meet me.
A Marathi television channel crew was shooting an entertainment program near the sea. A crowd of men had gathered to look at the shoot and the girl in green who is the anchor of the program.
The anchor sat on a rock.