Picture perfect

As cover girls go, this one is a bit different. An untitled work by painter Shamshad Husain adorns the cover of journalist-author M.J. Akbar’s latest book titled Blood Brothers. The painting ? of a woman in green ? is about eight years old, says Husain. “I had presented it to Akbar, who in turn decided to use it on his book,” he adds. This, however, isn’t the first time that the 60-year-old painter has lent his works for literary causes. Pick up a copy of Amitav Ghosh’s Calcutta Chromosome and you get the picture. But things have hotted up lately on the bookish front, says Husain. He is also going to do the cover and illustrations for a forthcoming book by Saeed Mirza. The filmmaker has just written an autobiographical novel, tentatively titled Letters to a Democratic Mother. And the artiste has picked up his paint brush.

In God he trusts

In the past, scientist Mani Bhaumik has gone about playing God to the sightless. As a pioneer of the revolutionary LASIK eye surgery technique, he has given to people ? in true scientists’ fashion ? what divinity had taken away from them. So there’s no reason why this IIT alumnus, who now lives in southern California, should suddenly embark on a quest for spirituality, right? Wrong. Bhaumik has just written a book titled Code Name God ? The Spiritual Odyssey of a Man of Science, which seeks to demonstrate how both spirituality and science are essential for human existence, and how a perfect balance can be struck between the two. And here’s what Sidney Sheldon has to say about the book, soon to be published by Penguin. “This book may change your life,” says the author of pot- boilers.

LOVE IN THE AIR: Pariva

New face

Pretty faces on the small screen come a dime a dozen, but there’s a fair bit of buzz about a PYT called Pariva who is all set to grab eyeballs ? or so say those behind a new television series on Prithviraj Chauhan. Made by the Sagars ? remember how they turned India into a Ramayana-watching nation? ? the series, to be shown on STAR starting May 12, features Pariva as the warrior-king’s love interest, Sanyogita. Angad Bedi, son of cricketer Bishen Singh, acts in and as Dharti Ka Veer Yodha, while Nirmal Pandey is his arch enemy, Ghori. Clearly, there’s love and war in the air.