Rajeev Sharma

PAKISTAN'S military establishment has been giving a queer argument to its political leadership for years when it comes to the issue of "dealing with India" — keep India destabilised and the Indian Army preoccupied with internal security duties. The reason: it would be equivalent to the Pakistan Army having two extra divisions at no cost. This was the argument given by the then chief of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt. Gen. Hamid Gul, in the late 1980s. Gen. Gul once told Benazir Bhutto that giving up this policy would entail a further increase in the defence budget.

Terrorism: The cancer spreads unhindered
by Amar Nath Wadehra & Randeep Wadehra
FROM Manhattan to Manila, the world is being painted red with human blood. Narco-terrorism, bio-terrorism, state terrorism, cross-border terrorism etc. are variations of the all-encompassing generic term, "terrorism."

Santa’s spell still endures
by Maharaaj K. Koul
LIKE all ancient festivals, Christmas is a potent mixture of legends old and new, with a few more myths thrown into the pot as each year passes. You probably know more about Christmas traditions than you think.

About Kabul rubble, Lahore trouble
by K. Rajbir Deswal
BEFORE I narrate the chroniclers' and travelers' account, I am to say with some sense of belonging that I represent that age bracket of Indians, who in their childhood had heard stories of places at this instant in Central Asia and particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan and who can still recall, with equal amount of wonder, coupled with a nostalgic pinch experienced within, the happy things related to places like Kabul, Kandhar, Baluchistan, Herat, Peshawar, Chaman, Quetta, Karachi and Lahore.

Promoting promiscuity
by Roopinder Singh
SOON after The Bold and the Beautiful was aired on Indian idiot boxes, a colleague made a pertinent observation—the storyline could be summed up by saying that everyone was sleeping with someone other than the person he/she was legally supposed to do so with, i.e., their respective spouses.

Looking forward to their past
by Anurag
PAST, and times to come seem the best while all things in the present seen worst. This is how Shakespeare would have summed up the September 11-induced sickness pervading this planet.

HOLLYWOOD HUES
Delightful Dr Dolittle reaches out to animal world
by Ervell E. Menezes
IF Shrek that delightful modern "ugly duckling fable set the trend, there are others in the same genre trying to hold a candle up to that absolute winner but with not as much success Dr Dolittle comes next in order of merit.

Famous Fortnum & Mason
by K.R.N. Swamy
THIS five-storeyed grand store — "Fortnum & Mason" — of 185 Piccadilly — London, is the most famous shop in the world for Christmas food hampers. It also figures in India’s history. In 1857, as the British soldiers stormed into the palace of the Indian national leader Nana Saheb Peshwa in Bithoor, they were surprised to find lot of delicacies from Fortnum & Masons stored in the kitchen stores.

WHAT'S COOKING: Take a vacation from calorie charts
by Geetu

STRESSBUSTERS: Helping the child deal with painful emotions
by V.K. Kapoor

NATURE: Tales of a deadly army
by Nutan Shukla

TRAVEL: Marvel in marble
by Usha Bande