Hugh Hefner is no more, neither is Playboy’s brand of intellerotica. Sexy has found itself traded in for crude sexism, just as the word “liberal” has been shown the door by a right-wing nationalist vocab.

A rigid code governs the way we must mourn – a code that Nupur Talwar broke. When she failed to display her pain on an interview, she earned the censure of our TV-watching public.

The first time I met Amrita Pritam, she told me that a smoke is one of the few pleasures of life. I knew then that Amrita Pritam was the writer – and the woman – I wanted to be.

In "Rustom", Sylvia Nanavati is portrayed as a repentant wife, awash with tears. But the real Sylvia would not be relegated to the role of the adulteress.

Each reunion I attend begins with hope and ends with a headache – and a promise that I will never, ever hang out with these high-school losers again.

The psychosis of Ramanna in Raman Raghav 2.0 is predictable. I wonder why Cyanide Mallika, the notorious killer who poisoned six women, has never captured a filmmaker’s imagination.

Yoga and meditation programmes in prisons have been known to bring real rehabilitation and long term change, especially for inmates dealing with trauma

Moderation is not my key; balance is not in my lexicon. Addiction is an inspiration. And I pray that every obsession gives me a high.

In India, the help is a set of arms and legs with a heartbeat. "People like them" are different from "people like us" and the chasm is deep. Until they make the crossover.

In the age of hyperlinks and 24X7 news, there is no way to arrest a snowballing rumour. The Talwars learnt this when they became the monsters in their own nightmare.