Shake off your linguistic shackles, save Hindi

Hindi, our mother tongue and our national language, is dying a slow death. It is losing its importance in fast-changing modern India. It is getting limited to speaking and verbal communication. Today, people prefer reading English newspapers, watching news in English and reading more of English literature than Hindi.

Hindi can be made more popular and given its due importance, but the initiative has to be taken by us. We, perhaps, have forgotten that India is the land that has produced great Hindi novelists and poets like Munshi Premchand, Mahadevi Verma, Harivansh Rai Bachchan, and many more, but today’s generation has forgotten these names and is deviating towards Western authors like Stephanie Meyer, PG Wodehouse, Eric Segal, etc.

Students should be encouraged in schools to read Hindi literature. Hindi should be made a compulsory subject up to class XII. Students can be provided with Hindi newspapers about once a week. To make Hindi popular, novels read by the youth – such as those by Chetan Bhagat – can be translated in Hindi to make the language more popular.

Full report here Indian Express

Vampire mysteries

The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner, a novella by Stephenie Meyer tells the story of Bree Tanner, a vampire first featured in The Twilight Saga's Eclipse.

The novella, primarily set in Seattle, is told from the viewpoint of Bree, a new born vampire who narrates her journey along with the members of her coven and vampire army as they unknowingly prepare to close in on Bella Swan and the Cullens.

Riley, the coven's leader whose main job was to lure humans, had captured Bree and probably the other members of the coven and taken them to their mysterious creator known to them only as ‘her'. Little did they know, they were entangled in a maze larger than they could have ever imagined.

Full report here Hindu

Patterson, Meyer are highest-paid authors

Thriller writer James Patterson and Twilight author Stephenie Meyer top Forbes Magazine's list of the world's highest-paid authors. Released on August 19, the list also includes Stephen King, Ken Follett, and JK Rowling.

The financial magazine's ranking is based on earnings from books, film rights, television, gaming deals and other income from June 1, 2009, through June 1, 2010.

James Patterson comes in first with an income of $70 million over the course of the year. The prolific thriller writer's success is most prominent in the US, where, says Forbes, one out of every 17 novels purchased is by Patterson.

Stephenie Meyer's wildly successful Twilight series has sold 100 million copies worldwide. The release in June of the third Twilight film contributed to the estimated $40 million Meyer earned, landing her in second place.

Full report here Hindustan Times

Forbes' richest fictional character

Carlise Cullen, father to vampire hero Edward from the Twilight series, has been named the richest fictional character by Forbes.

According to the 'Forbes Fictional 15' awards announced by the magazine, the vampire doctor created by Stephenie Meyer has beat the long established millionaires like Scrooge McDuck and Richie Rich to grab the top slot.

This centuries-old vampire's estimated worth is a staggering $34.1 billion, what with shrewd long-term investments in steel, gold, oil, his accumulated doctor's salary for 340 years without paying for groceries or health care expenses. He also owns several valuable properties, including yacht, a private island and a collection of Renaissance art, the magazine said.

Cullen is followed by old McDuck in the second place with property worth $33.5 billion. Famous for his stingy ways, McDuck keeps most of his fortune in gold coins, all piled high inside his Duckburg "money bin."

Full report here Indian Express