Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (K3G) has not even hit the screens properly and pirated DVDs are unabashedly doing the rounds in London already. You can easily pick one up for a mere £13 in Southall. At Glassy Junction in Southall one of the main attractions these evenings is to watch the DVD of K3G along with a glass of lassi. Piracy is on the rise and the UK Government has been trying its best to curb it. It is estimated that the Indian entertainment industry loses millions of pounds every year to piracy. To crack down on the rampant piracy in the Asian sector, special task officers were deployed in Britain but it now appears that with a mammoth hit like K3G, the piracy business would continue to flourish however much you tried to curb it.

-Ishara Bhasi

HOT FAVOURITE: Rev'd Nazir-Ali

Scouting for Successor

With the confirmation that George Carey will retire as the Archbishop of Canterbury in October, the search for a successor is in full swing. A hotly tipped favourite is the Rt. Rev'd Michael Nazir-Ali, the 106th Bishop of Rochester, who, to the bewilderment of his peers, was canvassing for the vacancy this week. Born in Karachi into a Shia Muslim family, and a convert to Christianity, the 52-yearold Bishop is a popular choice.

ONE WITH THE CROWD: Dixie's images capture the Mela's serenity

He was the world's youngest Anglican bishop and the first Asian religious leader to sit in the upper house of the UK Parliament. The Pakistani pontiff is 3-1 favourite with bookmakers William Hill, and the personal choice of Carey to succeed him as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.

-Poonam Joshi

Great Show of Peace

Aunique photographic exhibition opened at SOAS' Brunei Gallery recently. Featuring the work of student Benjamin Dix, aka Dixie, the show chronicles the sights and spirit of the Kumbha Mela, universally acclaimed as the greatest show on earth. Dixie was invited to the 1998 Kumbha Mela by Guru Laxman Das with whom he had been living in an ashram in the Himalayan caves on his first visit to India. The exhibition contains a personal selection of pictures taken during his time in the company of sadhus and capture the serenity of the spiritual gathering. On till June.

-Poonam Joshi

Faith Gears Up

The last thing a person thinks of while going on a pilgrimage is a health risk. However, this year the British Health Department is all geared up with a special health campaign to educate the Muslim community in Britain about a dangerous new strain of meningitis at Haj. The disease has affected travellers to the Haj in the past two years, resulting in 10 fatalities last year. The campaign is designed to make people aware of the right vaccine-the usual meningitis vaccine does not protect people against the new strain. Even the Saudi Arabian Government has made the vaccination a visa requirement this year.

-Ishara Bhasi