For us, the case is a story. For the Talwars, it’s a battle for justice. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image I am mystified by our ongoing fascination with the murder two years ago of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar. Part of our morbid interest, I am guessing, stems from the mysteriousness of this double murder. Despite three investigations — though let’s not accuse the Noida police of anything close to an ‘investigation’ — two from separate CBI teams, we are no closer to the truth about what happened on the night of May 15, 2008, when the ninth grade teenager was killed…

Do artistes and penury have some sort of a tragic, karmic connection? The great Bharat Bhushan (Baiju Bawra, Mirza Ghalib, Barsaat ki Raat) died in abject poverty, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image Because Subrata Kundu had been fairly regular on the page 3 circuit at a time when I was a fairly regular journalist on page 3, his passing recently caught my eye. You couldn’t miss him, that man with a broad smile and thick mop of hair. Then, suddenly one day, the photographs stopped and newbies with names like Kitty, Monty, Thenny, Ronny took over. I failed to notice…

New Delhi needs more than just grand edifices to join the list of the most liveable cities. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image I am dumbstruck by the sheer size and scale of Delhi’s new airport Terminal 3. The capital’s latest edifice heralds “a new India, committed to join the ranks of modern, industrialised nations,” says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Press reports have bordered on gush: a world class hub, the capital’s pride, an ultra-modern edifice to a country’s aspirations. I don’t want to rain on this party, yet, I can’t help feeling: great about the airport, too bad about the…

Arshi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, the ‘chief royal patron’ of Bhutan’s first-ever literature festival delivers the keynote address at the India House Auditorium. Namita Bhandare elaborates. Talk about journalistic privilege. Ambassador and writer Pavan Varma’s beautiful, willowy daughter Batasha looks at me sympathetically when I whisper to her: “I really have to file.” So, notwithstanding her seven-inch heels, she gamely takes me up through the kitchen and service area to her father’s fabulous wood-panelled study, sits me down on his computer and five minutes later I am in business. Batasha, incidentally, is a journalist, so the empathy is easy to understand.…

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,…