To become a writer, that noble thing, I had thought it necessary to leave. Actually to write. It was necessary to go back. It was the beginning of self knowledge. —V.S. Naipaul   IT is no surprise that Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul has won this year’s Nobel Prize for literature. The surprise is that it took so long. At long last, Naipaul’s literary journey, through half lives, half societies, comes full circle.

V.S. Naipaul’s Genius, and its Limitations
by Darshan Singh Maini
THERE'S a saying in Persian that when an award or a prized object comes to one late in life, that’s just the right time for it. The Nobel Prize to Naipaul could be interpreted that way perhaps. Short-listed earlier, he wasn’t quite ripe for it till his book The Enigma of Arrival (1987) which had airs of nostalgia and elegic about it.

Not good enough for a matchless girl!
by Karam Chand
IT is universally believed that there are basically two questions one has to answer in life. One, what is one going to do? And two who is going to be the mother/father of one’s children? In today’s world, closely related to these two is the third one — where are we going to school our children? Our peculiar situation and circumstances combined, personally speaking, the latter has weighed more heavily on our minds than the first two put together.

Paper chains and violent men
by Rooma Mehra
WHEN in late 1991, I received a chain letter for nuclear disarmament in the world, my pen friend, Mimouni Benaouda in Algeria was one of the first people who came to my mind as the next link in the chain.

Trees with spiritual attributes
by Pran Nevile
FROM time immemorial, certain trees and plants in India have been invested with divine attributes. Hindus were taught to worship and revere trees and plants in the belief that it would influence their own personal well-being. Evergreen trees were regarded as symbols of eternal life and to cut them down was to invite the wrath of the gods.

The wife who surrenders  is the one who conquers!
by Mohinder Singh
KAPURS, Hari a surgeon and Mohini a beautician, began a dream marriage 15 years back. But by now much of the mutual adoration has evaporated. What exactly went wrong?

Rani of raga and rock
by Anjum Sayed
WHEN Shubha Mudgal sang Dhoom Pichuk, many were shocked. How could an accomplished exponent in khayal and thumri be singing Indipop? Soon after, Shubha came up with Ali More Angana, followed by the chartbuster, Ab ke Sawan... and of late, Mann ke Manjeere.

Questions about life
by Sansar Chandra
THE MAHABHARATA is an inestimable treasure-house of knowledge and wisdom based on ancient India’s historical, religious, ethical and philosophical perceptions. According to its compiler Maharshi Veda Vyasa, just as butter in milky products, nectar in medicines, Himalayas in mountains and cow in quadrupeds are rated supreme, similarly the Mahabharata is second to none in the range of epics.

TRAVEL: Temples that symbolise poetry in stone
by Arun Gaur