Achala Sachdev : The ” Zohara Jabeen ” of ” Waqt ” Fades Away

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           May 07 , 2012           00.55         A.M. I was busy writing my pending travel diaries of Madhya Pradesh visit , when the news came of the death of Achala Sachdev . She died in Pune on April 30 , 2012 at the age of 91 [...]

Vidur’s Travel Diary – 10 : Dabra

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           MAY 04 , 2012           01.55 A.M. After Orchha visit on February 29 , 2012 , I returned to Dabra in the evening . Next day on March 01 , 2012 , it was party on the occasion of House – [...]

Pongal the Food ; Not the Festival

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           JANUARY 28 , 2012           01.40 A.M. I always knew that Pongal is very important festival of Tamil Nadu . During my Allahabad days and then during my stay in Deoria , my native place , I came to know more about Pongal , the festival . This festival is akin [...]

1oo Years of Sliced Bread

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           JANUARY 04 , 2012           00.15 A.M. Just read a very interesting news item in today’s ” Mumbai Mirror ” and was tempted to write a blog . Sliced bread completes 100 years in 2012 . It has become a part of our lives and no one thinks that it was [...]

60 Years of Screen : A News Paper of Indian Cinema

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           January  01 , 2012           01.20 A.M. ” Screen “ weekly completed 60 years in 2011 . I share my birth year with this film weekly . In fact ” Screen “ is few months senior . Hindi film industry fascinates [...]

Incredible DEV ANAND SAHAB : The Immortal Mortal

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA            DECEMBER 07 , 2011           10.30 P.M. On December 04 , 2011 , I woke up as usual in the morning imagining a lazy Sunday and as per my habit picked up my BlackBerry to check BBM messages . I opened the page and got a [...]

In Search Of My Roots In Bihar

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA                 JUNE 17 , 2011                      11.55 P. M. This blog is personal in nature , definitely very personal . People who generally visit my blog space , are not going to find it very [...]

Vidur’s Film Diary – May 2011

DEORIA – UTTAR PRADESH – INDIA                 JUNE 01, 2011                    01.00 P.M. In this 25th edition of Vidur’s Film Diary, I would like to take stock of the first quarter of the year 2011. Hindi film industry suffered losses of over 200 crores in this first quarter. Of the 67 releases so far [ including dubbed [...]

28 Years & Two Cricket World Cups

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA                 APRIL 05 , 2011                    01.15 A. M. It happened 28 years ago. It was in 1983 and I was in my home town Deoria in Uttar Pradesh. It was era of Black & White T V  and we were watching Cricket World Cup being played at Lord’s in London. [...]

A 15 Year-Long Funeral

NIGHT………………………………1.15 A.M.   It is February 25 , 2011 today. 15 years back on this very date [ February 25 , 1996 ], my elder son Nitin Chaturvedi died. He was going to his college at Malad from Nalla Sopara, where we were living at that time. Some where in between Vasai and Borivli , [...]