India

Muslim journalist M.J. Akbar is founder and editor-in-chief of The Asian Age, an English language newspaper published in India. He's also the author of five books, including his latest, The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict Between Islam & Christianity.

Film critic John Powers reviews Lagaan, the new film from India made in Bollywood which he says may be one of the few Indian films to make it big over here. Its already been released in England and is also released on DVD.

Writer Bharati Mukherjee's new novel is Desirable Daughters (Theia Press). Mukherjee is an Indian-born writer who emigrated to the U.S. as an adult. Her new novel is about a traditional Brahmin family transformed by contemporary culture. Mukherjee is the author of five novels, two nonfiction books and two collections of short stories, including The Middleman and Other Stories, for which she won the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Novelist Arundhati Roy. Her popular novel "The God of Small Things" is being called obscene, and is in danger of being banned in India. (Interview by Marty Moss-Coane)

Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Salman Rushdie's new book, "The Moor's Last Sigh." (Pantheon).

Book critic John Leonard reviews the new book by Vikram Seth, "A Suitable Boy." It's Seth's first novel written in prose.

Ghosh was born in Calcutta and studied in India, Britian, and Egypt. He has a new novel, "In An Antique Land," which tells the story of two Indians in Egypt: a 12th century slave who Ghosh had read about, and Ghosh himself. He'll talk with Terry about the current violence in India between Muslims and Hindus.

World Music critic Milo Miles reviews some music from India's Bollywood films. He says songs written for these movies tend to incorporate a wide array of influences, from lush strings to reggae. For a taste, Miles recommends "Dance, Raja, Dance," by Vijaya Anand

New York Times reporter Edward Gargan is in India covering the erupting conflict between the Muslims and Hindu fundamentalists. Last Sunday a symbol of India's Muslim minority --a 16th century mosque--was destroyed by Hindu zealots. Gargan, along with other British and American journalists, was brutally beaten during the chaos..

Film director Roland Joffe. His movies include, "The Killing Fields," and "The Mission." His latest film is "City of Joy," based on the book of the same name by Dominique Lapierre about life in the slums of Calcutta.

Book critic John Leonard reviews a biography of Paul Scott, who wrote the Raj Quartet, which includes the Jewel in the Crown. The book is written by Hilary Spurling. Leonard knew Scott personally, and says the book does justice to his tragic life.

Nugent has written an account of his trip to India and the Himalayas in search of one of the world's rarest birds.

World music critic Milo Miles checks out a couple of acts that have shaped the sound of popular music in India.

Book critic John Leonard reviews "The Search for the Pink Headed Duck," by Rory Nugent, about his travels to India and Tibet. He says Nugent is a "splendid quack" whose stories are exotic and sometimes hard to believe.

World music commentator Milo Miles explains how Peter Gabriel transformed folk music of the Middle East into the world pop sound that became the soundtrack for Scorsese's film "The Last Temptation of Christ."

Filmmaker Ketan Mehta (Kay-Tahn May-Ta). He's one of a group of young, politically committed directors in India today who believe movies can be effective tools for social change and not just entertainment, and his films have dealt with such issues as the caste system and feminism. His latest film, "Spices," tells the story of a young woman in a remote village in India and her struggle to resist the advances of a powerful feudal overlord.

Book critic John Leonard reviews the German author's new book, about his travels to Calcutta. Frustrated with the industrial revival of the two Germanies, Grass goes abroad to learn about other models of national identity.

Writer Bharati Mukherjee. Her new book of short stories, The Middleman and Other Stories, portrays immigrants from Third World countries who strive to maintain their indigenous identity while embracing much of Western culture and lifestyle.

Indian writer Ved Mehta. He's written several books of autobiography, most all of which have been serialized in "The New Yorker" magazine. His autobiographies are poignant accounts of his blindness, his education in England, and the role that language came to play in his life.

Film producer Ismail Merchant, who, with film director James Ivory, is responsible for films like "The Bostonians," and "Room with a View." His upcoming film, "Maurice," is, like "Room with a View," an adaptation of an E.M. Forster novel.