Kavita

The picturesque north Indian state of Rajasthan will boast of yet another attraction on December 10. The historic Madhavendra Palace,

To highlight the relevance of the ancient science of yoga in an increasingly fractious world, prolific Indian filmmaker,

World renowned tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain, also dubbed “Encyclopedia of the Tabla”, has regaled audiences around the

Zohra Sehgal, the grand old lady of Bollywood and international films was all of 102 when she died on July 14, 2014. But she's

The scenes from the refugee camps in West Bengal in 1971 are etched forever in Mustafa Manwar's mind: grim, distressed faces and a deathly silence which enveloped everyone, including the children. “They were getting basic necessities such as food and clothes but laughter, which is crucial for human beings, was missing. Even the children did not play together. The trauma was tremendous because of the inhumanity of the Pakistani army. So I thought I would have puppet plays to boost the refugees' morale and bring back laughter in their lives,” says Manwar, puppeteer, artist, director and producer of TV programmes and author of screenplays.

“All I can smell is rotten flesh...” said a deeply disturbed Kishor Parekh, India's first photojournalist on his return from the war zone of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1971. His horror of the war is captured in his famous work “Bangladesh: A Brutal Birth”. The series

Tomes and tomes have been written about Rabindranath Tagore. In contrast, little has been uncovered about his illustrious extended family, particularly the secluded yet strong Tagore women, the delight of a researcher or writer. Dr. Aruna Chakravarti takes on both persona for her novel “Jorasanko”, that she describes as docu-fiction. “A lot of the book stems from my imagination but the major events are based on facts,” she says.

Culture is a great leveler. Even as India and Pakistan are on edge with each other, there is always an avid audience in India for Pakistani music, theatre and films. Unsurprisingly, expectations ran high recently when Lahore -based Ajoka Theatre brought four productions to Delhi for its four-day Theatre for Peace Festival. Under the banner of “Humsaya”, Ajoka ('contemporary' in Punjabi) won many hearts with its presentations of “Bullah”, “Dara”, “Kaun Hai Yeh Gustakh” and “Lo Basant Ayee”