800 websites blocked (and counting) to date by our democratically elected government that champions “freedom” as possibly the only vague notion in its rhetoric laden yet bankrupt and obsolete manifesto.

How convenient that the ridiculous Facebook non-controversy has provided the perfect opportunity for the entrenched Personality Cult to systematically attempt to demolish any sort of [...]

Ayasofya, Istanbul’s defining landmark at the heart of the city in history-soaked Sultanahmet is often referred in guidebooks as one of the greatest monuments a traveler will ever see. From the outside it isn’t very impressive – its exposed brickwork and peeling façade only downplaying and readying you for the dizzying effect it has upon [...]

I’m recently returned from Goa, where I was at IFFI for a few days, doing mostly non-IFFI things, hedonistic and aimless. I saw a couple films, but that’s not what this post is about.
I was at IFFI because I’d been on the Panorama non-fiction jury. Did I want to take on this onerous task? Not [...]

I spent the last four days in Goa. It wasn’t a holiday of sand, sea and sangria, but a workshop held by Video Volunteers. On the other hand it did turn into a holiday of a different sort – of hard work, total immersion in an earnest experience, a genuine feeling of both giving and [...]

The thrill of meeting a celebrity is something that one can’t describe with words. As a kid, when I first saw Dr Rajkumar, the Kannada actor, my joy new no bounds. It was a life ambition being fulfilled.  
A few years later I saw, in very close quarters, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr. Lal Krishna Advani [...]

In a very grim sort of way, Pakistan has become the most entertaining spot on the planet over the last two years or so.  The last year of General Musharraf’s quasi-military dictatorship was compelling especially with the growth of the local media channels that brought the furore and filth of Pakistani politics right into our [...]

As a young woman, just starting working life, I remember going to my first ever Women’s Day rally about 19 years ago. A motley group of women and a few good men marching down a central Bombay street yelling: meri behna maange: Aazadi! Arre Jaativaad se: Aazadi – that’s still the most infectious chant I’ve [...]

Out of sheer boredom now that TV is filled with piffle, the bored people in Pakistan have been twiddling their thumbs making idle talk and out of this useless chatter comparisons have emerged between our own ex General Parvez Musharraf, who has now changed species and turned into a mere Civilian and the former Ugandan [...]

I’ve been feeling a bit old lately - not only because the years are ticking on by- but because I realise now that in my life so far I can actually speak of something that changed in a seminal way, pinpoint a big shift: the shift being from using the term “alternative” when speaking of [...]

A litte bit louder now….jump up and SHOUT now!!!!
Dear Sir,
According to a report published in Daily Times on the 22nd of December, (Shelter on Cards to Protect VVIPs from Disasters) it is stated that the People’s Party government is about to green-light at the expense of 8 billion taxpayer’s rupees, the erection of a shelter [...]