On this Day in History

Nargis, one of the leading actresses of Indian cinema, was born as Fatima Rashid on 1 June 1929, and grew up in Bombay (now Mumbai). Her father was originally from Rawalpindi and mother, Jaddanbai, was a singer and dancer.  Fatima started acting in films when she was just six, under the adopted screen name of “Baby Nargis.” She was henceforth... Read More →

“Dear John, who asked you to die?” ~ Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Indian director, talks about his friend and contemporary John Abraham in a memoir, Cinema, Literature and Life. Tragic death at a young age can be extremely painful to loved ones. Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s simple line calling out to his friend, who died at the age of 49, in his memoir shows... Read More →

“Rituparno’s comparison is only Rituparno. Bengal has lost a golden man of golden era.” ~ Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, quoted on NDTV, 30 May 2013 Rituparno Ghosh, Indian director, writer, actor and producer, is considered among the gems of cinema personalities from Bengal. His rather untimely death on 30 May 2013 came as a shock to the... Read More →

“No national leader was identified so closely with the interests of the peasantry as Mr. Charan Singh.” ~ Editorial Comment in The Indian Express, quoted in Profiles of Indian Prime Ministers by Manisha Chaudhary Charan Singh, one of the biggest icons of ‘rural upliftment’ and agricultural reforms in the 1980s, was the fifth Prime Minister of India, succeeding Morarji Desai in... Read More →

“A man of many parts – a learned and deeply religious person, a very fine and powerful actor who swayed millions of people, a forceful orator and above all, a man of the masses.” ~ Narasimha Rao quoted in Obituary: N T Rama Rao, in The Independent Newspaper, 19January 1996. N T Rama Rao, or Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, or... Read More →

“Is there a man in the whole country who can take the place of Nehru?” ~ Gulzarilal Nanda, acting Prime Minister after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru spoke in a national broadcast, 27 May 1964. The emotional statement made by Gulzarilal Nanda on the death of Jawaharlal Nehru describes the Nehru’s position in the government and in the hearts of... Read More →

“Though [Vilasrao Deshmukh] came from a rural background, he had a vision for Mumbai as a megapolis and he executed many initiatives.” ~ B Venkatesh Kumar, Political Science professor at Mumbai University. Vilasrao Deshmukh, a prominent Congress Party leader and Member of Parliament, was a renowned politician from Maharashtra. In his entire political career spanning almost forty years, he held... Read More →

“Gruesome attack in Chhattisgarh is an attack on democracy. Time has come to adopt policy of Zero Tolerance towards Terrorism & Naxalism.” ~ Narendra Modi tweeted about the attack on Congress leaders by Maoists in Chhattisgarh, 25 May 2013 (11:37 p.m.) 25 May 2013 was a dark day for several Congress Party members’ families. According to news reports, about 27... Read More →

Main akela hee chala tha janibe manzil magar, log saath aate gaye aur caravan banta gaya! (Translation: I set off alone towards my goal, but, people came along and it began to turn into a caravan!) ~ One of the most famous verses by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Majrooh Sultanpuri was the man behind over five decades of Hindi film song lyrics... Read More →

“I consider the Maharani of Jaipur [Gayatri Devi] one of the most beautiful women of this century for her looks, her presence, the way she carries herself and the clothes she wears. In the latter part of her life, she has done a lot for Jaipur in setting up institutions of education and improving the lot of women.” ~ Amitabh... Read More →