VIJAY K. SAZAWAL
A Tragedy
Without An End
Today, the role of
mujahideen in propping up a miniscule separatist movement in
J&K is acknowledged even by those who were its organisers
but, sadly, ten years later I wonder if we will ever learn
from history
AJAI SAHNI
Eyes Wide
Shut
Unfortunately only the most dramatic
incidents of terrorism or the dubious pronouncements of
Pakistan's military dictator and his proxies tend to get
attention, while the gradual and sustained campaign of
subversive mobilisation and capacity building remain
ignored.
K.P.S. GILL
A Study In
Contrast
There can be no comparison between the
magnitude and impact of the coordinated July 7 terrorist
attacks in London and the failed fidayeen operation in Ayodhya
on July 5, but it is useful to look at the political and media
responses to these two incidents.
Blast From
The Past
The terrorist attack, if nothing else,
backdates Advani into his old charioteer days. Will he pick up
the yokes? Updates
Narayan
Ran...
Tiger's capo Rane quits. Is he big enough
for a split? Updates
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| Speak up! Express yourself in our
free- wheeling discussions or start those of your
own. |
Ayodhya:
So the destruction of the mosque
was an expression of "national sentiment"?
The Law
of the Land Has the Kanchi Shankaracharya
arrest been handled right?
Ayodhya: the attack
would be foiled only by our vigilance.
Opposition: Is
boycotting Parliament a responsible step?
RSS:
What is the Sangh parivar's real
objective?
Kashmiri
Pandits: the forgotten people? Refugees in
their own land?
Governors: Time to
check their discretion
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 Diamonds are forever. Or so the Cartiers
thought, till they wanted to have for their archives
what was the closest to the original; the Patiala
Necklace they had once produced. But no amount of effort
could produce natural stones of the same brilliance.
It was extravagance unbound even by the profligate
standards of the maharajas. The eighth Maharaja of
Patiala, Sir Bhupinder Singh Mohinder Bahadur, GCSI,
GCIE, GCVO, GBE, ADC, had asked his newly acquired
friend, the eldest grandson of Louis-Francois Cartier of
Paris, Louis-Joseph Cartier, to make the Patiala
Necklace; the biggest ever created by Cartier with 2,930
diamonds amounting to 962.25 carats, set in platinum—a
metal new to India of the 1920s where jewellery showed a
preponderance of gold. Nothing was quite as stunning as
the Patiala necklace that would have been famous if only
for the light yellow octahedral crystal from the De
Beers mine. The 428.50 carat (pre-1913 non-metric carat)
rock was 47.6 mm through its longest axis and 38.1 mm
square and the House of Cartier created history in 1928.
What was discovered at a London auction was a
pathetic remnant of the original. Even the pendant was
gone. What remained of the original were detailed notes
and sketches in the Cartier archives that documented
every stone used; the necklace was no more than an
interesting string of platinum. The only solution was to
mimic reality. And that Cartier has now done.
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.gif)
 State
Gazette
A
substitute for the real Patiala; The native's
partisanship; The flight of his fancy; This waning wave
will wash them out; Rekindling an extinct joy and The
jaunty step that slipped.
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