Mainstream Weekly

A Literary Genius talks of his Mentor

Anees Chishti — 2016-11-07T06:24:38Z

DIVERSITIES
This piece has been written in the backdrop of Prem Chand's 80th death anniversary on October 8, 2016.
The late Prof Raghupati Sahai 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri, one of the greatest Urdu poets of the last century, winner of the first Jnanpith Award, and an interpreter of the agonies, yearnings and struggles of the people latent in his romantic couplets, had a very strong ego. Except for some masters of a distant era like the English poet Wardsworth or Urdu poets like Meer Taqui Meer, (…)

- 2016

Whither Indian Theatre: an interview with alkazi

Anees Chishti — 2016-06-06T02:07:14Z

Veteran theatre personality Ebrahim Alkazi is now ninety. In this year, a number of programmes have been launched in different parts of the country to highlight the life-time achievements of this stalwart theatre director who has produced an illustrious crop of actors, directors, playwrights and practitioners of other crafts of theatre. Many of his students have become renowned film personalities as well. We reproduce here an interview of the theatre legend with Anees Chishti, conducted over (…)

- 2016

Nikhilda! You Never Die!

Anees Chishti — 2015-06-28T22:29:49Z

June 25, 1975: 6 am: The telephone rings and there is the voice of a dear senior journalist friend—something that is not unusual as he often used to surprise me with some important information before the day started. But this was something that was extraordinary and would have been unbelievable if it had not come from him. I was told that late last night Jayaprakash Narayan and Morarji Desai had been woken up in their sleep and taken to some unknown place by the police. A little later came (…)

- 2015

Nehru's Scientific Attitude

Anees Chishti — 2015-05-30T21:25:23Z

Science has brought all these mighty changes and not all of them have been for the good of humanity. But the most vital and hopeful of the changes that it has brought about has been the development of the scientific outlook in man. —Jawaharlal Nehru
Nehru's understanding of science in relation to the country's development was penetrating. He, unlike some of his senior contemporaries, viewed science with an unbiased and realistic attitude. His belief in the scientific method was unshakable. (…)

- 2015

Amrita Sher-Gil

Anees Chishti — 2014-03-15T20:27:54Z

TRIBUTE
Renowned artist Amrita Sher-Gil's birth centenary took place last year. She was born on January 30, 1913 and passed away on December 5, 1941. The following tribute, by noted writer Anees Chishti (editor of the periodical, Alp-jan), who was then associated with Mainstream, appeared in this journal's February 22, 1964 issue, precisely fifty years ago.
She came, she created and became immortal. This is how the brilliant painting career of Amrita Sher-Gil can be described in brief. (…)

- 2014

Media Scene Today

Anees Chishti — 2013-02-18T18:29:35Z

To mark fifty years of Mainstream, a panel discussion was held at the India International Centre, New Delhi on January 29, 2013; the topic was “Indian Media Scene Today: Potential and Reality”. Those who spoke on the subject were Kuldip Nayar, Nikhil Dey, Medha Patkar, Bharat Dogra, and Suhas Borker was the moderator. Anees Chishti, one of the panelists, could not attend as he was indisposed, but he sent the following piece as his contribution to the discussion. However, it could not be read (…)

- 2013

Mainstream: An Enlightening Half-Century

Anees Chishti — 2013-01-03T17:46:31Z

Fifty years is a long period for any forum to survive and move from strength to strength. Mainstream can look with great pride to its role in the five decades of its existence, particularly because it started publication without big money support and could sustain only with the help of a small group of conscious individuals. The group kept getting larger and larger with each passing month and year, without any worthwhile revenue coming by way of advertisements. The beginnings were almost (…)

- 2012

Shankar: An Appreciation of The Cartoon Wizard

Anees Chishti — 2012-05-22T00:00:15Z

[The following piece on Shankar, the reputed cartoonist, appeared in Mainstream (May 1, 1965). Anees Chishti, the well-known veteran writer-cum-journalist, who then worked in this journal, wrote it at the suggestion of N.C. and it was quoted by Pothan Joseph. It is being reproduced precisely because Shankar is in the news these days, one of his cartoons used in an NCERT textbook having been withdrawn due to vociferous protests by MPs who charged him with “insulting” a Dalit icon in (…)

- 2012

Nehru's Scientific Attitude

Anees Chishti — 2008-05-28T18:44:22Z

- May 24, 2008

Sachar Committee Report : A Review

Anees Chishti — 2007-04-24T21:33:00Z

The report of the High-Level Committee appointed by the Prime Minister under the chairmanship of Justice Rajindar Sachar, retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, to study the ‘Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India', has been a subject of wide discussion in the press, among parliamentarians and other politicians as well as in other informed sections of the society.
The seven-member Committee had as its members eminent personalities like Sayid (…)

- December 23, 2006