A story dating back to the 18^th century about a certain James Daly, manager of a Dublin theater who, deep into his cups one evening boldly declared he could invent a new word and overnight make it part of English language. Daly hired street urchins and beggars and sent them off with orders to mark the word on every city wall. The word was quiz, and by noon the next day everyone was asking what it meant. The ‘act of asking’ soon became the meaning of the word. More…

Share This

The politics of the Middle East and South Asia and the relationship of the United States with many of the countries in the region have been fodder for many journalistic articles and fictional books in the past. More…

Share This

Right from the beginning, Khaled Hosseini had something to live up to. When you author a first book as critically acclaimed and widely read as ‘The Kite Runner’, you know expectations will be running high for the book that follows in its wake. With ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’, Hosseini has successfully managed to meet those expectations. More…

Share This

Bean reviews the newest Pixar movie Ratatouille. A rat wants to become the best chef in Paris. Can he do it? More…

Share This

In honor of the last Harry Potter book being released in a few weeks, Bean compares Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings to see if the former has been inspired by the latter. More…

Share This

Dhoom 2 hit cinema screens on the back of a high voltage publicity campaign. Everyone was left with tantalizing glimpses of Bipasha in a bikini, Aishwarya in assorted short and tight accoutrements and Hrithik Roshan looking fabulous. The trailers were slick and the promos were, pardon the cliché, very international. More…

Share This

It is that time of the year when church-going folk are all set to prepare, physically and spiritually, for another Christmas. Pastors and priests will soon spend time with their flocks guiding them through a period of fasting and preparation before the celebrations commemorating the infant Jesus’ birth. More…

Share This

“You walked out in a cast 3 weeks back, feigning a fracture. We’ve been getting zeroes the last 3 episodes from the judges for the no-show. You have to dance this time. Come on” More…

Share This

The legends of the Norsemen are not like the legends of other peoples. There is not in them the comforting knowledge of one supremely powerful force of good that is far more potent than any antagonistic force of evil could ever be. More…

Share This