Details

Da Vinci
He said he struggled to finish what he started because he had so many other interests.

Nikola Tesla
He invented the radio, but was distracted before announcing it, so Marconi ultimately got the credit.

Theme: Doomed love; Egdon Heath, a brooding moor in Hardy’s mythical Wessex—metaphor for how small man’s desires seem against the colossal power of fate and nature.

Memorable characters: Beautiful, passionate, ill-fated Eustacia Vye; Egdon Heath.

Bottom line: One of the finest novels ever—and what a Hindi movie would be, if Bollywood could write.

The former Dire Straits lead guitarist and singer will play in Mumbai in March. How clued up are you on rock’s most tasteful player?

A. He wrote the music for Barry Levinson’s prophetic political spoof, ‘Wag the Dog’.

B. Some critics dismissed him as a poor Bob Dylan copy; he and Dylan do not get on.

C. He nearly died in an accident last year when a driver turned into his motorcycle’s path.

D. He may be best known for a joke few people got; the track ‘Money for Nothing’ was a sly dig at consumer culture.

Answer B. The two get on: he has teamed with Dylan on many recordings.

A walking reference library. Derives from the Greek poly (much) + manthanein (learning). Eg: Mathematician John von Neumann, whose expertise included N-weapons, economics, finance, physics, meteorology, computer science, European history, fast cars, liquor and women.