It was 12 in the night and I was dead tired when I got a call from our family friend asking me to run a campaign in the newspaper to ‘Save Water’ during Holi festivities. I naively asked him, Why? He replied bluntly, “Perhaps we can’t send them water but we can certainly empathize with people dying of drought in Maharashtra.” I was touched. Read more

I am not much of a movie buff, but a great admirer of our Bollywood stars for their talent. Facing camera is certainly an art. But my interaction with two extremely popular stars has left me wondering if they ever go beyond script and stop acting to be their own self. Read more

This dates back to the 80’s. Late Vir Bahadur Singh was the Chief Minister of the state. I remember my first meeting with him. Singh looked uncomfortable, avoided eye contact throughout the interview. Read more

It was quite a shocking scene. Three girls gyrating to Bollywood music on the streets of Bihar on the day (July 5) Opposition had waged a war against the UPA government on the burning public issue of Inflation. Read more

Before taking off for London, my daughter mused, “Mumbai is my dream city. But sometimes I do feel that I should pay back to the city (Lucknow) I grew up in.” Read more

The day Amar Singh, Anil Ambani and Amitabh Bachchan had raised a toast to celebrate the ascent of their friend Mulayam Singh Yadav to the Chief Minister’s chair, people were reminded of the Bollywood blockbuster Amar, Akbar, Anthony. Read more