Fine photo

Debarshi Duttagupta has made history of sorts. He is the first Indian to become a Grand Prix winner for his photograph “Learning to Fly” at the recently concluded Nikon Photo Contest International 2010-2011. His picture was chosen from over 60,000 photographs from across the world. “It was an amazing experience after I came to know that I was the winner. I have goose bumps as I speak to you about it,” says Duttagupta, a Calcutta-based entrepreneur. The picture of a diver that won him the contest was taken in the holy city of Varanasi. “The sheer energy created by the diver was truly fascinating,” says Duttagupta, who will be awarded with Nikon’s best camera and lenses. What’s more, his prize-winning entry will make it to photo exhibitions around the world. Good show!

Brave heart

Akash Dube could have invented the phrase “never say die”. For the last three years, the Sharjah-based teenager, who’s a cancer survivor, has been coming to Chennai to keep his tryst with the Terry Fox Run, an annual charity run held on August 21 in different cities around the world to raise funds for cancer research. Akash is not just a participant at the event, but also its main organiser. While he was being treated for cancer at a Chennai hospital, Akash, an avid runner, networked with IIT, Madras, and others and eventually launched the event in the city in 2009. All set to join Stanford University this year, Akash, whose cancer is in remission, promises to be back in Chennai every year to hold the Terry Fox Run as long as he lives. Atta boy, Akash.

Singh along

When musicians bond, they do it with style. Take London-based percussionist Talvin Singh and Delhi-based Sufi singer Madan Gopal Singh (in pic). Madan hopes to sing at Talvin’s wedding in Calcutta on Sunday. And Talvin, who is marrying a Sikh girl from the city, is slated to accompany Madan when he performs in London next week. The London do is a fund-raiser for the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust that seeks to raise funds to put up a bust of the British spy — born of an Indian father and an American mother — who was executed by the Germans during the Second World War. For the two Singhs, performing for a cause together is clearly a step in the right direction.

Taxing times

Pity poor Mammootty. The Malayali superstar has been whining about being unfairly targeted by the income tax department. The Kochi IT department said that he has undisclosed income worth Rs 30 crore, invested in real estate and assets abroad, and raided his home and office. Since then, Mammootty has been lamenting to anyone who cares to listen that the media and the IT officials are after his blood and that it is only his work that’s kept him going during the rough patch. Unfortunately, that rough patch may just get rougher. The IT department has declared that further inquiries are being initiated against both Mammootty and Mohan Lal, another Malayali superstar who’s facing a tax probe. Well, Mammootty, you got to take the rough with the smooth.

Write stuff

Chetan Bhagat seems to have inspired a whole generation into becoming writers. First there were other IIT-ians like him hoping to strike gold by spinning a yarn. Now even teenagers are taking a cue from Bhagat and having a crack at writing novels. Anshul Sharma is one such Bhagat devotee who has managed to get his book published at the ripe old age of 19. An engineering student in Agra, Sharma says he was inspired to write a book while reading Bhagat’s novel, Three States. The story of two teen lovers, It Should Be U!! My Love, is not Sharma’s first attempt at writing, though. He says writing was his hobby when he was younger. But guess what? Sharma thinks he can be a better writer than Bhagat. Oops, that won’t please the Bhagat fan club quite so much, will it?