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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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ThePrint Profile

Pickpocket, ‘catamite’, govt employee—the many lives of Tamil cult writer Charu Nivedita

Charu Nivedita shot to mainstream literary fame after ‘Conversations with Aurangzeb’. He’s a genius to fans, a porn peddler to critics, but his life is extraordinary any way you look at it.

Jiddu Krishnamurti—Reluctant messiah, Indira Gandhi’s adviser, enduring philosopher

Jiddu Krishnamurti warned against the dangers of personality cults, religion, and dogma, but amassed an ever-growing flock of devotees. A look at his legacy on his death anniversary.

Dadasaheb Phalke ‘invented cinema’ in India. His films connected Indians to their roots

Dadasaheb Phalke cast his own daughter, Mandakini Phalke, in ‘Lanka Dahan’ and ‘Shri Krishna Janma’ when the very idea of women in films was anathema to society.

Arya Samaj founder Dayanand Saraswati inspired Gandhi to Aurobindo, championed ‘Vedic truth’

Dayanand Saraswati's 200th birth anniversary, 12 February, is a fitting time to revisit his progressive vision and lasting impact.

A British botanist took Sikkim’s rhododendron to Europe—tale of espionage, kidnapping, jail

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker was the first European to be permitted to trek through Sikkim, where he discovered the richly coloured rhododendron.

Agha Shahid Ali was an inspiration to friends, a lover of people. His poems linked memory and history

Agha Shahid Ali rejected minimalism and sought to broaden English through the expressiveness of Urdu, despite his immersion in American poetry.

Tamil Nadu’s architect Annadurai questioned ‘Hindi imposition’, drove Congress out of Madras

Since CN Annadurai formed his government in Tamil Nadu in 1967, no leader from the Congress has held the position of chief minister in the state.

Karnal to cosmos & beyond—Kalpana Chawla’s journey is still a roadmap for India’s dreamers

On 1 February 2003, Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian woman to fly to space, was just minutes away from landing on Earth aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. It was already too late.

‘Rhythm king’ OP Nayyar faced AIR bans for music that was ‘too trendy, westernised’

OP Nayyar rode success with Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, and Mohammed Rafi but his relationships with them were difficult. He once accepted the Filmfare award on Bhosle's behalf and then tossed it out of his car on his way home.

Lenin to Gandhi & Einstein, the controversial cross-continental legacy of CPI founder MN Roy

From Moscow to Mexico, MN Roy, a freedom fighter and founding member of the Communist Party of India, made more enemies than friends. A look at his fading legacy on his death anniversary.

On Camera

Profit margins in lottery industry are tiny. Here’s how Future Gaming paid for its electoral bonds

Neither state govts nor companies earn large profits from lotteries. However, a look at the system shows there’s ample evidence of murky dealings and financial irregularities. 

BRO connects new axis to Ladakh, to be shortest route

The all-weather Nimmu-Padam-Darcha Road will connect Manali to Leh through Darcha and Nimmu on Kargil-Leh Highway.

For BJP, Kejriwal is an idea whose time has come to be destroyed

The ‘idea’ Kejriwal's politics grew around was a no-holds-barred fight against corruption. That is the reason Modi govt has now tarred him and his entire party with the same paint.