'Robi Thakur, R Tagore/ Ohe, what a bore!' Kakoli sang in Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy, scandalising my Bengali brethren no end. Due reverence to Bengal's most sacrosanct icon is paid in Parabaas by William Radice and others.

Mazdak in The Dawn, one of Pakistan's leading newspapers, has reacted with some uneasiness to Who Killed Daniel Pearl?, Bernard Henri-Levy's yet to be translated expose of who was behind the death of the young journalist.