The Bhutan Literary Festival had an unexpected visitor today when King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the fifth king, said he wanted to meet writers from India. The Bhutan Literary Festival had an unexpected visitor today when King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the fifth king, said he wanted to meet writers from India. At a hastily convened tea, that included home-made samosas, at India House, the residence of Indian Ambassador Pavan Varma, the king dressed in a traditional black gho and accompanied by the Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck who is a published author and a patron of the festival,…

Kinley Dorji, secretary in the ministry of Information, points out that the main competitors of newspapers in Bhutan are not television, but word-of-mouth rumour mongering. Kinley Dorji, secretary in the ministry of Information, points out that the main competitors of newspapers in Bhutan are not television, but word-of-mouth rumour mongering. “Bhutan is a small country,” he says to me over drinks the previous night. “Here we not only know who is sleeping with whom, but also who will be sleeping with whom.” At last count, Bhutan had six newspapers, five radio stations and one television station. Earlier at a reception,…

Several speakers at Bhutan’s first literary festival have pointed to what they see as televisions baleful influence. Popular culture is often a measure of a country’s social priorities and Bhutan is no different. Television was first introduced in 1999 and several speakers at Bhutan’s first literary festival have pointed to what they see as its baleful influence. TV is being blamed from everything from changing role models (the king has been ousted by 50 Cent, though Long Live the King remains the general sentiment) to wanting more anglicized names with one schoolgirl apparently renaming herself Britney from Tshering. There’s a…

Belgium is planning to ban the burqa to ‘liberate’ women. But coercion seldom results in change, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image In large parts of secular India, Hindu widows, some of them no more than children, are constrained to wear white. Even if you’ve never been to Benaras where widows are reportedly dumped by the dozen in various ashrams, you have only to see Deepa Mehta’s Water or any of the dozens of photo-features that routinely pop up in newsmagazines, to see these women dressed in stark white, unadorned by jewellery, many with shaved heads, begging for a few rupees,…

This is not only a valued collection of photos of a nation in flux but it also restores visual archiving to its rightful place, writes, Namita Bhandare. HT Image There’s a photograph in this tome of a book that describes the tension and politics of Partition better than words. It’s of a meeting to announce the June 3 plan for India’s Partition. Lord Mountbatten sits dead centre, on one side are Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Acharya Kripalani and Baldev Singh. On the other side is the Muslim League represented by M.A. Jinnah and Shaukat Ali. Mountbatten has a…

The fracas over Amitabh Bachchan’s presence at the Bandra-Worli sealink opening is silly, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image Who owns the Bandra-Worli sealink in Mumbai? We know who constructed it. We know who inaugurated the first phase. We know who it is named after. But who owns it? Who can legitimately claim that this sea link belongs to them? The guys who built it and collect toll? The governmentwalas for clearing permissions? The labourers who built it? Can we dare to say that this piece of architecture belongs to the people of Mumbai, those who can afford to travel on…

In 2005, the euphoria surrounding the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi had already set in. The media couldn’t seem to get enough stories on how the capital was on its way to becoming a ‘world-class city’. There was hope everywhere of new beginnings. HT Image In 2005, the euphoria surrounding the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi had already set in. The media couldn’t seem to get enough stories on how the capital was on its way to becoming a ‘world-class city’. There was hope everywhere of new beginnings. But Delhi is nothing if not…

In her bright blue sari, smile firmly in place it’s hard to believe that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (37) is standing bang at the epicentre of a whirlwind of confusion and dust of Rae Barely. A cavalcade of some 50 journalists, both print and television, local police, her own Special Protection Group and Congress party workers are in attendance. HT Image In her bright blue sari, smile firmly in place it’s hard to believe that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (37) is standing bang at the epicentre of a whirlwind of confusion and dust of Rae Barely. A cavalcade of some 50 journalists,…

There’s a story, most likely apocryphal, relating to Mayawati’s visit to a posh beauty parlour at a five-star hotel. HT Image There’s a story, most likely apocryphal, relating to Mayawati’s visit to a posh beauty parlour at a five-star hotel. There, the Bahujan Samaj Party boss spied a glamorous politician’s wife having her weekly pedicure. Mayawati is said to have turned to the hair-dresser attending to her: “Mujhe aise hi latein chahiye (I want my hair to look like those).” The story, when I heard it sometime in the mid nineties, was accompanied by much tittering in that particular Delhi…

In a crisis, people need two things: a plan to effectively counter it (or even better, to prevent it), and strong and resolute leaders. Our real tragedy is that we seem to have neither, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image Mumbai is still recovering from the horrific terrorist strikes that began on Wednesday night. But the hand-wringing and the sermonising have begun. Words are tossed about: ‘dastardly act’, ‘spirit of Mumbai’ and so on. But the one question we should be asking is this: what do we learn from these repeated strikes? Even as we prepare to ‘stamp out’ terrorism, are…

Raj Thackeray is a chip off the old block, yet another one-trick pony from the Sena stable, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image Hum UP ke log hain, hume Hindi mein baat karni chahiye – Jaya Bachchan at the promotion of Drona in Mumbai. If you are from Delhi, then why have you come to Maharashtra?- Bal Thackeray to Shah Rukh Khan in an editorial in Saamna Actress and Rajya Sabha MP (Samajwadi Party) Jaya Bachchan’s apparently casual remark sparked off a furore, with Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) declaring a boycott of all Bachchan films unless the actress apologised for…

In the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case one thing is clear: nobody — English or Hindi, tabloid or broadsheet, print or TV — has come out smelling of roses, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image On national networks, TV anchors and editors Deepak Chaurasia and Ashutosh are clear: the media have nothing to apologise about in the Rajesh Talwar case. Now that the doctor, once accused of murdering his daughter, is out on bail for lack of evidence, you’d imagine that he’s trying to pick up the pieces of his life and get on with it. No such luck. The murder of Aarushi…