'Writing the next bestseller is the main thing on my mind': Ken Follett

Swift justice: To avoid the chief justice of India waiting for the keys of his official residence, the Supreme Court has designated two bungalows for the purpose. Earlier, 5 Krishna Menon Marg was the sole CJI bungalow and 7 Krishna Menon Marg served as the secretariat. Now, while CJI Surya Kant gets 19 Akbar Road, assigned a year ago—a temporary secretariat was recently requested there—Justice Vikram Nath, who is next in line for CJI, gets 5 Krishna Menon Marg. The Registry calls it efficiency, but legal circles say it is the judiciary’s most elegant housing scheme where justice is done even before the CJI unpacks | Illustrations by Jairaj T.G.

Slim chance: Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K.T. Rama Rao seems to be unconcerned by corruption allegations in the Formula-E race case. He joked that if jailed, he’ll simply do yoga and lose weight. The Telangana governor recently cleared filing of the charge-sheet related to the 55-crore payment to Formula-E Operations Ltd, allegedly without proper permissions, ahead of the 2023 polls. Congress calls it corruption. BRS calls it policy. Meanwhile, people watching the probe drift into political comedy are wondering if the government will ever get the money back.

Pawar play: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s blunt talk has landed him in fresh controversy. Campaigning for Pune local body polls, he warned voters that as finance minister, he would ensure development funds depending on their support for his candidates. His cousin, NCP(SP) MP Supriya Sule, was not amused and has asked party workers to bring this to the attention of election officials.

Compassionate journalism: THE WEEK’s principal correspondent Pooja Biraia was conferred the Laadli media and advertising award for gender sensitivity 2025. She won it for her article ‘The Bully and the Bullied’ (September 8, 2024), for “sensitively unpacking the complex realities of bullying, from school-yards to cyberspace, and for foregrounding care, counselling and accountability over punishment”. As per official statistics, writes Pooja, India leads globally in the percentage of children reporting cyberbullying. The 15th edition of the Laadli Awards, presented by the NGO Population First, honoured 63 journalists.

Music and magic: Will she or will she not? That’s the big question fans are asking ahead of the Oscars about Ariana Grande winning one for her performance in the movie musical Wicked: For Good. But regardless of whether she wins or not, Indians have a reason to celebrate: Wicked The Musical is coming to the country for the first time, at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, from March 12-29. So get ready to escape into the magical land of Oz—filled with beauty, wonder and music—as Elphaba and Glinda (the future Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good) build their relationship and explore the question that has forever plagued humanity: what does it mean to be wicked? | Getty Images

Anatomy of grief: In 2021, Chloe Zhao became the first and only woman of colour to win the Oscar for best director. Now, she is aiming for an encore with Hamnet, a rich imagining of the lives of William Shakespeare’s family, which Vanity Fair described as “a guttural scream of a film”. According to Steven Spielberg, one of the film’s producers, “Every decision Chloe makes comes from her feelings.... I’ve always felt she is a creation of the earth itself.” Hamnet was Shakespeare’s son whose death at a young age is said to have inspired the play Hamlet. The film is an adaptation of Maggie O’ Farrell’s 2020 novel—a lush exploration of grief and how it changes a person, and how a deeply experienced loss transformed into one of the greatest creative works ever produced | AP

Quiz and cricket: Amitabh Bachchan is all set to host the women in blue in the upcoming episode of Kaun Banega Crorepati. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and five other members of the World Cup-winning Indian women’s cricket team will be there, along with head coach Amol Muzumdar. The 17th season of the reality show began airing on Sony LIV and Sony Entertainment Television on August 11 | AFP