The hills are alive: hugged by the Queen, blessed by the Abbot

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The sound of music resonated in the most unlikely fashion - After being treated to a dose of "high culture" music, if you'll allow me that distinction, on Sunday evening by Bhutanese singer Sonam Dorji and Pakistani musician and writer Ali Sethi, Monday evening saw Delhi-based band Eka rocking a pretty massive crowd of Bhutanese youth! This at the picturesque clock tower in what seems to be the heart of town. Pockets of the crowd, sitting patiently on the steps at least half an hour before the concert began, went fairly wild - or as wild as we've seen in these parts. What's pretty amazing is that they knew almost all the songs - from Rock On to songs from Taare Zameen Par...Arshad Warsi got the crowd going, from on-stage as well. I think it's interesting, a little disturbing? Not just for the older Bhutanese who talk of....

From the Land of the Thunder Dragon

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Mountain Echoes has kicked off to a promising start here in Thimphu, Bhutan. There's usually only so much you can say about a literary festival, but here's one whose location has everyone gushing. From landing at the gorgeous Paro airport to taking a small walk around a part of Thimphu, a city said to have a population less than South Delhi, a city that didn't used to have proper roads or too many cars even 10 years ago (but has since made up for both), to the majesty of the Himalayas, there's something about this place. I don't know how long the honeymoon period lasts (by 3 years, it's worn off for one foreigner/ resident I spoke to) but so far, so good. (Hold on, I know it's just been 1 day, and the festival really kicks off tomorrow!) Speaking of majesty - it's not until you....

It's a wrap : On the Jaipur Lit Fest, fatigue and censorship

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Festival fatigue has indeed set in, but I must remember not to keep asking people if the massive crowds leave them feeling wiped out! The crowds have thinned, the hysteria's dying down and the sun's about to set on another edition of the Jaipur Lit Fest here at Diggi Palace. Just like last year, I'm left confused how many editions of this festival I've seen - I think this is my sixth. My first would have been 2007, when it was much smaller and the guests of honour -- as it were -- were Kiran Desai, Suketu Mehta and Salman Rushdie. Which is of course far from the case this year. Do watch our special coverage and interviews with Mohammed Hanif, Booker Prize winner Ben Okri, Tiger Mom Amy Chua and others. Michael Ondaatje, Steven Pinker, A C Grayling were other huge draws, but the Jaipur Literature....

Failing our children: India's capital shame

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Delhi's not supposed to be on this list - not on a list of shame, for heaven's sake, when it comes to child mortality and child malnutrition. As the national capital, we're supposed to be better - we're about the glitz and the glam, surely? The culter-ati and literati? All of us who live here though, know what a sham that is. Forget the beggar children you ignore at street lights or even the children of your domestic help...the brown hair a tell-tale sign of malnutrition. Forget the statistics, if you can... Every year according to the International Food Policy Research Institute, 2.5 million children die in India - more than half could have survived given adequate nourishment. The diseases associated with malnutrition? Malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia. Forget too if you can that this figure is double that of sub-Saharan Africa. Forget the dead - Spare a thought....

World Mental Health Day

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It's world mental health day today -something none of us can afford to ignore. First the disturbing stats: The World Health Organisation estimates that 1 in 4 people will need mental health care at some point in their lives. All known estimates show India has a huge shortfall of trained mental health professionals. The last estimate we've seen from the National Human Rights Commission says the country is short 30,000 trained psychiatrists. Psychologists say there's also no guarantee on the quality of care. There's a rise in anxiety disorders, in depression, that often goes un-noticed, or un-remarked upon, until we hear of a spate of young suicides. (More on myths and facts on suicide as well as helplines here) I've spoken to exam helpline counsellors in the past, about the academic pressure students are under, only to be told most calls have....

India: Literature festival central

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What is it about literary festivals? The thought of one can drive some people into rhapsodies, or have others pull their hair out, and that's not just organisers and their teams. How much is too much before we all plead festival fatigue? We have the massive Jaipur Literature Festival, the Hay Festival Kerala, a Mumbai festival, a Goa festival (and who needs an excuse to go to Goa, anyway!), not to mention the Kovalam Lit Festival, that just wrapped up this past weekend. Frankly, I'm pretty much lit festival-ed out! But then again, I couldn't help but go to the Kovalam Lit Fest, not for the gorgeous location, so much as the chance to interview Mohammed Hanif and Fatima Bhutto. And am I glad I did! Yes, this year, they were dropping like flies - writer after writer missing from the line-up. From Hanif, to Basharat....

From Anna to Binayak, one short week in the news

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Thank goodness for the Supreme Court, I have to say right at the outset. But it's really incredible how important the spotlight the media offers is, or media glare, even, if you prefer... In a country like this (or any?) - who knows what happens in the corners, in the shadows? How often people are charged with sedition in this country? In this day and age?! If it can happen to the Binayak Sens and almost with the Arundhati Roys, then what of people unknown? It's a chilling thought. The temptation of a police state is never all that far. It's not perfect of course - I know there are excesses and editorialising ... and a tendency to conflate the spectacle with the issue at hand. I mean overnight Anna Hazare has become a symbol of the people's movement against corruption, and he did acquire a bit of....

Day two: Counting down to the Grammys

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Just a quick note as we dash out this morning, downtown LA beckons... We're going to meet Chandrika Tandon today - nominated for a Grammy in the best contemporary world music album category for Soul Call... which I started listening to, it's really quite mellow, and had a calming effect. (Note to self: listen to more of this and less pop/ rock insanity... ) She sounds pretty incredible, so watch this space for more. (Note to self continued: Also why not go the entire LA way and start power yoga while tying down multiple jobs! One of which must be theatre :)) Yesterday we were up in Beverly Hills (first time, and I repressed the urge to hunt down this 90210 zip code!) - for a shoot with Jay Sean, the British artist who's getting bigger by the minute - his latest single, featuring L'iL Wayne, called Hit....

Grammys: Dispatch one from the City of Angels

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So many songs in my head - so little time to choose an appropriate soundtrack, to this blog. You pick - from California Dreaming... to LA Woman or Cah-lii-fforr-nnia Gurrls. This is LA - and somehow, it's exactly how you'd picture it, and not at all - at the same time. There's something in the air, there's something about some of these effortlessly cool people, and defintely something about Hollywood that draws in hordes of tourists. (Note to self: when locals here say Hollywood, they're talking Hollywood Boulevard, which I've driven down at break-neck speed now, looking for appropriate sites to shoot. They don't mean Hollywood, as embodied by Leo diCaprio or Mark Wahlberg (though I just met someone who spent 9 months working on a movie with him...of course he did, this is LA!) ... But said boulevard is a good place to see that big ol' iconic....

Jaipur Lit Fest: We coulda danced all night

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I have to announce right at the outset, that I've been to the Jaipur Literature Festival so many times, I have to double check whether this is my fourth or fifth year (it's the fifth!)... Festival producer Sanjoy Roy called me a "friend of the festival" last year, while festival co-director William Dalrymple thought I was more like festival "furniture"... Laugh track aside, I somehow morphed into a double role this year, not just covering it for CNN-IBN, but I was there as a writer, as well, moderating some sessions. It's tough to explain just how massive this festival has become, without referring to the enormous crowds, packed sessions, or near-panic attacks that writers and journalists are prone to, at the sight of said enormous crowds. Some of the anxiety has to do with the fact that you're constantly worried about which session to get to (there's so much....