“Goodbye Mr Chips” is the story of Mr Chipping, the Latin teacher of Brookfields High School in America. He was affectionately called “Mr Chips”. During World War I the German teacher Max returned to his fatherland Germany, to fight for his country. Chips was saddened by the “waste of young lives in a pointless war”,…

Dan Brown’s fictional work, “The Da Vinci Code” has sold millions of copies worldwide. The movie is now due for release. Wonder how much money Brown made out of the book, and how much more he will get out of the movie? The adage that a half-truth is more dangerous than a lie holds good…

(A sequel to “Dil ka Dard”) “Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai?” is a 1980’s Hindi movie starring Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Om Puri. It received the Filmfare Critics’ award for the Best movie in 1981. It is about the angst of a young car mechanic who initially felt that undisciplined…

Those who don’t learn the lessons of history are condemned to repeat the same mistakes. I see a striking resemblance in the behaviour and attitude of some of our current crop of leaders, with those of the past. Hence my apprehension that they may be falling in to the same trap, or making the same…

No prizes for guessing that this is written in the aftermath of the Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) episode and the sentencing of Baba Ram Rahim (BRR) for raping two of his disciples 15 years ago. This is the tip of the iceberg. The State invariably becomes wiser after the event. Now we know that many…

Yeh mere dil ka dard hai (the pain in my heart). Pradhanmantriji, I have not heard your “Mann ki Baat” on All India Radio, as it comes across as moralising propaganda. Mera dil hai Hindustani, so I want to express to you the anguish of my heart; not some lofty ideals from the mind. In…