June 9
Maqbool Fida Husain, arguably India’s best known artist, was born on 17 September 1915 in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. He died, in self-imposed exile from his country, on 9 June 2011. A self-taught artist, M.F. Husain took to drawing from an early age. Usually not prone to throwing tantrums as a child he would, however, get annoyed if denied his eraser,... Read More →
June 8
Habib Tanvir, one of India’s best known playwrights and theatre directors, was born Habib Ahmed Khan on 1 September 1923 in Raipur in present-day Chhattisgarh. He died on 8 June 2009. His father was from Peshawar and mother from Raipur. Tanvir’s maternal uncles dabbled in poetry and music. His elder brother took part in amateur theatre. The young Habib would... Read More →
June 7
On 7 June 1893, Mohandas Gandhi, then a young Indian lawyer recently arrived in South Africa, was asked to shift from the first class compartment of a train even though he had a valid ticket, just because he was not white-skinned. He refused and told the railway officers that if they wanted to throw him out, they could but he... Read More →
June 6
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a charismatic Sikh preacher, who became a symbol of militant religious fundamentalism and anti-establishment fervour in the early 1980s — but whose committed band of followers held him in high regard — was born a few months before India’s independence. His death on 6 June 1984 during the Indian army’s storming of the Golden Temple — the Sikhs’... Read More →
June 5
Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, the second head or Sarsanghchalak of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was born on 19 February 1906 in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family. ‘Guruji’, as he was known to his friends and followers, died on 5 June 1973. Golwalkar’s views on minority rights and Indian history are controversial — and while members of the Sangh... Read More →
June 4
Nutan, one of India’s leading film actresses of the 1950s and 1960s, was born on 4 June 1936 to Kumarsen Samarth, a filmmaker, and Shobhna Samarth, an actress-producer. Though she appeared as a child artiste in the 1940s, Nutan’s first major role was in the 1950 film Hamari Beti when she was 14. The film was produced by her... Read More →
June 3
M. Karunanidhi, five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu and head of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), was born on 3 June 1924 in Tiruvarur to Muthuvel and Anjugam. Before he became a full-fledged politician, Karunanidhi was known as a writer of scores of stories, novels and, most significantly, screenplays. He wrote film scripts that were socialist and rationalist in theme... Read More →
June 2
Mani Ratnam, a renowned Indian film director whose work has received national and international acclaim, was born on 2 June 1956 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. His father was a producer in the South Indian film industry. Mani Ratnam completed his schooling in Chennai and later secured and MBA degree from Mumbai. His initial job was that of a management consultant. ... Read More →
June 1
Nargis, one of the leading actresses of Indian cinema, was born as Fatima Rashid on 1 June 1929, and grew up in Bombay (now Mumbai). Her father was originally from Rawalpindi and mother, Jaddanbai, was a singer and dancer. Fatima started acting in films when she was just six, under the adopted screen name of “Baby Nargis.” She was henceforth... Read More →
May 31
“Dear John, who asked you to die?” ~ Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Indian director, talks about his friend and contemporary John Abraham in a memoir, Cinema, Literature and Life. Tragic death at a young age can be extremely painful to loved ones. Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s simple line calling out to his friend, who died at the age of 49, in his memoir shows... Read More →
