Gripevine

Doesn't the whole I wanna marry a prince charming thing belong in fairy tales? Where either an oppressed young woman like Cinderella, or those who are under the clutches of an evil witch/spell need to be rescued by the kiss of true love. Real life princes though don't come from the same mould. How many dashing, handsome, real life princes do you know? The last time I checked, most of them had balding pates, hardly qualify as handsome, and seem to take an awful long time to propose to their supposed true loves, or those who were patient enough to wait it out. Plus marrying a real life prince ain't all glitz and glamour. It's more like exchanging a life of freedom for one in a fishbowl. And in this age of social media, keeping anything private can be tough. Especially your past. Unless you lived like Rapunzel until your prince came along, or slept for a 100 years like Sleeping Beauty. Plus you will still be expected to provide the requisite male heir. A male heir w...

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Was there once a female Pope that sat upon Saint Peter's throne in the hallowed halls of the Vatican? Well according to a certain urban legend there was. Her name was Joan and she reigned for more than two years sometime during the Middle Ages.  According to accounts written by medieval monks, Joan who was of English parentage, hailed from Mainz, Germany and studied at a monastery there established by English missionaries while disguised as a boy. Women were mostly confined to their homes during those times. As such it would have been unthinkable for a girl to seek admission to a monastery to study. In his " History of Emperors and Popes, " a monk named Martin Polonus writes that  Joan learned Greek and Latin and became knowledgeable in many branches of knowledge. After becoming sufficiently learned, this future pontiff dressed in male attire and went to Athens with a man said to be either her lover or teacher and subsequently made her way to Rome. By virtue of her...

At what might have been her 50th birthday had she lived, Diana is still the favourite muse of the fourth estate. It's okay that she's not around anymore to create the news that in the past sold millions if not billions in newsprint. All you need is a computer generated image of the late princess with a whimsical take of how her life might have turned out had she survived and voila you have a story! There is good journalism and there is tacky journalism, and Tina Brown seems to excel in the latter. For someone who knew Diana and had lunch dates with her, could Brown not have paid a more fitting tribute to her in print? C'mon Ms award winning journalist and editor, were you that dry on ideas that you had to resort to putting a dried up looking Diana on the cover of Newsweek . Of all things the Newsweek - that which was once seen as a respectable publication. But I suppose those days are over, considering that The Daily Beast has merged with Newsweek to form The Newswe...

Several delicatessens at some of Mumbai's most prestigious addresses have been a hive of activity since the second last week of June. Their staff have been on their feet way past closing hours churning tray after tray of colourful North Indian sweetmeats. As the poor workers toil away, the proprietors of these establishments who count the rich and famous among their clientele, are smacking their lips with glee. As savvy businessmen they have anticipated such an event years in advance, and have stocked up on all the sugar and dough required. They are seeing big money and from a very "Big" man at that! Known in film circles and by his adoring fans as Big B. Big B is about to become a grandpa for the third time. He has two grandchildren by daughter Shweta Nanda. But by all appearances, one could be mistaken for thinking that it's happening for the very first time. On June 21, the Bachchan family doyen tweeted to the world: "NEWS NEWS NEWS !! I AM GOING TO BECO...