Namesake is the debut novel from Jhumpa Lahiri, the author who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2000 for her “Interpretation of Maladies”. “Interpretation of Maladies” was acclaimed globally for the author’s talent in detailing the lives and transportation from India to America and also because of its grace.

As a Bengali-American writer, in her first novel Lahiri again falls back on the theme of exploring a Bengali in Boston. Namesake is a cross-cultural, multigenerational story of a Hindu Bengali family’s journey to acceptance in Boston.

The author meticulously explores the theme of the complexities of the immigrants, their experience of foreignness, the clash in their life-style, conflicts of assimilation, cultural disorientation, and the snarled ties of generations.

She portrays the experience of an Indian family twisted by these complexities and their life is therefore torn between two polarities, their respects and admiration for Indian traditions, customs and rituals and the American lifestyle.

Namesake is a tale of solitude; it is a tale of love and emotional upheaval that is accurately portrayed by the author with ironic observations and an eye for details.

For the last few weeks, the television channels are flooded with debates over the relationship between Jodha and Akbar. While some opined that Jodha Bai was Akbar’s wife; according to some other she was his daughter-in-law.

But the epic saga of Asutosh Gowariker takes you beyond all these debates and discussions. Historians acknowledge that the Emperor did marry a Hindu princess and the film is an exploration of the journey of Emperor Akbar to his love.

The 3 hours 40 minutes film tells you how after conquering Afghanistan to India and Himalaya to Godavari, the emperor encounters love and is completely defeated by it. The legacy of long films that this director started with his debut film, Lagaan, continued through Swadesh and finally to Jodha Akbar.

The name of the film, “Jodha Akbar” obviously suggests how two people due to circumstantial setting finally fall in love. The canvas of the film is remarkable. Like his two prior films, the music of the film is composed by A.R Rahman.

The songs of the film are already in top chart busters of the nation. The film is an aesthetic approach from Asutosh Gowariker. If you hope to find historical relevance in this phenomenal movie you will be utterly disappointed.

Putting an end to the controversy that reigned all over the country, the government of India decided to extend the duration of the visa of the Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen.

The 45 years old author is cautioned to remain sensitive to India’s faith and tradition. After her six months visa expired on this Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared the news of the new duration extension of the visa of the author; although the duration of the fresh visa has been kept a secret.

There have been many speculations about this extension of the visa after Taslima has been bundled out of Kolkata following a violent religious outbreak in November last year. Since then the author has been leading a hidden life somewhere in Delhi because of her security purposes.