If you haven’t seen an Opus before, it’s over 800 pages long, with each page half a metre square. It weighs more than 30 kg. It’s certainly no ordinary book!”

That is Sachin Tendulkar on Opus, a series of lavish books on some of the world’s famous individuals and enterprises. Among others, there are ready or planned Opus editions on Michael Jackson and Wimbledon, Vivienne Westwood and Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. There is one on Ferrari, and some believe it is heavier than Ferrari’s F1 car. But Tendulkar is one of only two individual sportsmen to have an Opus dedicated to them, the other being Diego Maradona. 

‘Greatness Immortalised Greatly’ is the somewhat clunky slogan of the Opus Media Group, the company that makes the books. Kraken Opus, the publishing division, says their purpose is to create “the most epic, stunning and iconic publications ever seen in the world of sport and entertainment”. They do make some (relatively) affordable copies. But the real talking points are their outsized, outpriced special editions. 

Yes, Opus is no ordinary book. As per the official website, its weight is more like 40 kg, not just ‘over 30’. Reading develops intellectual brawn, it is said. Reading Opus will also develop the muscles of your arm. Cardio one day, Opus the next. That could soon be the fitness routine of the health conscious.

You have played racquet sport doubles. Opus could see the advent of doubles reading. Two readers on either side. The owner of the copy could even sell tickets and have two-hour shows of the book.  

Excuse me. The phone’s ringing. “Hello?”

 “Hello. This is David Howman from Wada (the World Anti-Doping Agency). Please convey to all prospective buyers of Opus in India that they will have to sign our Whereabouts Clause. We don’t want readers to use steroids so as to be able to carry copies of Opus.”

There. Another Opus effect.  

It doesn’t stop there. With each Tendulkar Special Edition costing $75,000, robbers now have a new target. “Bhai, forget jewellery. Books are the new thing.” 

The phone is ringing again. “Yes?”

“Hullo! This is Dev Anand!”

 “Yes sir. How are you sir? I have watched Jewel Thief 17 times.”

 “Then I have some good news. I’m thinking of a sequel to Jewel Thief. I even have a title. Book Thief.”

Ah! India’s very own version of the pepper spray! A 21-year-old from Varanasi has designed an electric device that can be attached to shirts and jeans. The inventor, Shyam Chaurasia, who dropped out of school when he was in the sixth standard, says he came up with the idea “to check harassment against women”. The battery-driven kit can be just as effective against pickpockets when fitted to jeans, says Chaurasia. But here’s the catch. The device will not distinguish between friendly and not-so-friendly touches. So you might just end up mildly electrocuting a friend.  Still, the item has caught the eye of at least one businessman. Chaurasia is hoping to seal a deal with a company from Mumbai that is flying in to test the product. Mumbai locals, better watch out!

Till now, we thought baby talk was just ata-pu, gadda-badu. A new study has shown that babble can actually predict if a toddler is on the autistic spectrum. Scientists at the University of Memphis have used a computer programme to study baby talk and all the codes that lie within it. This audio analysis has already identified more than 85 per cent of autistic and non-autistic kids. Toddlers with autism tend to mangle syllables more. This programme could be used to screen children; early diagnosis means early intervention. In America, one out of 110 kids are on the autistic spectrum. Incidence is also on the rise in India.

Sperm whales, feeding in places like the Arctic and Antarctic, are showing high levels of toxic and heavy metals, according to a $5 million study by Ocean Alliance, an American research and conservation group. The whales ingested pollutants that may have been produced by humans thousands of miles away. High levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury and titanium were found in tissue samples taken by dart gun from nearly 1,000 whales over five years. Mercury levels were as high as 16 parts per million. Fish high in mercury, like shark and swordfish, typically have levels of about 1 part per million. Chromium, an industrial pollutant that causes cancer in humans, was found in all but two of the 361 sperm whale samples.

Here’s something Indian cities could learn from the United Kingdom. London has launched a Cycle Superhighway to make more people commute via bicycles. Highly visible bright blue cycle lanes, symbolising freedom, now run from the southern suburb of Merton to the city centre, as well as from Barking, in eastern London. The remaining ten routes are eventually planned to radiate out from the centre of London like spokes, and will be finished by the end of 2015. Cycling has become an effective form of alternate transportation in congested metropolises like New York City and Paris. Promoting a pedal culture improves traffic conditions while lowering the city’s carbon footprint.

Sending communal messages is not uncommon in Indian politics, but when the CPM does this, it hints at a desperate move by a besieged party to save at least one of its forts from falling in next year’s Assembly elections. Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan’s controversial remark on 24 July that the PFI was trying to convert the red bastion into a “Muslim country” may well be fuelled more by electoral considerations than by the actual threat posed by religious extremists.

The PFI or the Popular Front of India, whose activists were accused of chopping off the hand of a college teacher, has accused the Marxist party of playing the soft Hindutva card in view of the elections to local bodies in September and the Assembly early next year.

 “The PFI is a social organisation engaged in educational and employment generation activities for Muslims. We never preach Islamic religion and the government has not been able to substantiate its charge,” says PFI national executive member Professor P Koya, “The ruling CPM is playing a dirty political game to consolidate Hindu communal votes at a time when Muslim and Christian minorities have started drifting towards the Congress.”

The CM has even accused the PFI of pumping in money to lure youth into Islam and persuade them to marry Muslim girls. “In 20 years, they want to make Kerala a Muslim majority state,” he says.

While the Congress, with an eye on the substantial minority population, has echoed the PFI line, the CPM has closed ranks. Even Achuthanandan’s adversary, Pinarayi Vijayan, the powerful CPM state secretary, has defended the CM.

Asserting that the lecturer, who had prepared a question paper allegedly insulting the Prophet, was assaulted by “those who have nothing to do with PFI”, Koya says, “The incident was blown out of proportion to blame an organisation and a community.”