Brunch 03 08 2014 by Hindustan Times

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WEEKLY MAGAZINE, AUGUST 3, 2014 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

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BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

To read Brunch stories (and more) online, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch. To discuss the stories (or give feedback), follow @HTBrunch on Twitter. For everything cool on the Internet, like Hindustan Times Brunch on Facebook. And for videos, check out our channel (youtube.com/HindustanTimesBrunch).

Wishful Thinking

by Saudamini Jain

‘Mr Grey Will See You Now.’

On The Brunch Radar

by Saudamini Jain

LOVE IT

n Vidyut Jamwal n Tales from Tinder. A tiny app, so much love n Using Pippin's Song in the new Hobbit trailer n Eid selfies n Discovering interesting little notes in old books. (Must make a habit of leaving bits of scribbledon paper in all my books)

Last week, I watched the spanking new trailer of Fifty Shades of Grey in the office – oh so Not Safe For Work and yet so part of keeping up with what's happening. And then I saw Mr Grey... it's so over between us now. While the whole world – from bored housewives to precocious teens – was lapping up EL James’ bestselling Fifty Shades trilogy, we were cringing at the atrociously written novel (take lessons from Literotica, James!). But there was something hot there, we grudgingly admitted. Anastasia Steele, the innocent virgin and Christian Grey, rich, powerful and so very dark. She'd never even been attracted to anybody before and he was a Dominant incapable of love. They begin to have kinky sex – a very watered down PG-13 version of it – every few pages of the novel. And they fall in love. ‘Oh my...’ Literary snobbery aside, we couldn’t wait for the film adaptation. Mostly because Mr Grey is the stuff that perfect sexual fantasies are made of. Until of course they decided to give us Jamie Dornan, thereby turning Grey into a total dork forever. All you can do now is to close your eyes and imagine it's one of these guys instead. (Oh! The things a girl has to do for love!) 1. Michael Fassbender: Because his sex scene with Penelope Cruz in The Counsellor was so hot. And he's proved himself by doing the sex addict thing in Shame. Who can top this man at playing a Dom Sadist? Plus, there is something deliciously cruel about him. 2. Matt Bomer: Because although words cannot do justice to this man, film can and does! By not making him Grey, the filmmakers broke hundreds of thousands of hearts (89,391 fans had even petitioned for him to star in the film). He looks like he belongs in that Red Room of Pain. 3. Chris Evans: We of course would have never even considered Captain America until we saw some shirtless shots of him. 4. Henry Cavill: Superman with super looks. A true man of steel. And boy, can he fly! 5. Ryan Gosling: Naturally, our first choice. Turns out, he didn’t want to do the role. But can you imagine him saying, “Laters, baby”?

Cover design: MALAY KARMARKAR

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Rachel Lopez, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Veenu Singh, Yashica Dutt, Amrah Ashraf, Satarupa Paul, Saudamini Jain, Asad Ali, Atisha Jain

AUGUST 3, 2014

n Videos where they ask people GK questions to highlight the stupidity of the human race. Appalling, we get it. Can you stop now? n Promotional texts on WhatsApp n That you have to pay for every extra sachet of ketchup at Mc D's. Na na na na na, I'm shovin' it n The dying art of making pickle n Studies about children's habits that make parents paranoid

SHOVE IT

Watch out for the 20’s Forever series in Brunch over the coming weeks – Your key to tight & bright skin

Stuff You Said Last Sunday hal changed patriarc These girls have d hard an on ati dic de mindsets through inspire other girls in also Nain work, which will s to Lalita-Balraj do Ku . try un co vthe hie ac ch su ing shar duo. Please keep Saluja ments! – Jagdish the great to revive Sometimes, it's . es ro he n tte go memories of for ing what the ow kn ed joy en Really e doing now KBC winners ar mehta aid alb – @kun

WEEK LETTER OF THE en I first read wh 15 t ou ab s wa I er, r, an Urdu teach Manto. My fathe g him till I din rea m fro me banned under would read him Today's @HTBrunch To turned 18. But, I hool, moving bus sc the the quilt, in has stories on 13 y home. n tha er years oth ce and every pla ul of KBC and 35 years ticle was delightf Reading your ar of Bukhara. Eyes and this with many and I am sharing mouth both water a people. Also the bit! sing – @diptakirti decision of choo fia Sa th wi e tur his pic usual. ji is wise and un to read Would be happy Find Hindustan Times cutting more of you on Brunch on es. edge personaliti Facebook or tweet to - Shiraz Husain @HTBrunch or Usmani

by Zehra Kazmi

Rules Of The Game AHMAQAANA: Foolish Use this to shoot down all the silly ideas at meetings and family dinners. “Yeh kaisi ahmaqaana baat hai.” TARBIYAT: Upbringing When you hear fouryear-olds hum Honey Singh songs, upbraid their hapless parents by asking, “Aap inko kaisi tarbiyat de rahe hain?” BEHIS: Unheeding, Insensitive After spending hours in queue to submit a form to unsympathetic government ofﬁcials, say, “Itne behis mat baniye, kaam kar dijiye”. IMKAANAAT: Possibility When you're buying tomatoes, safely complain, “Sarkaar badal gayi, par mehengai kam hone ke koi imkaanaat hi nahi nazar aa rahe”.

DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor, Design), Monica Gupta, Swati Chakrabarti, Payal Dighe Karkhanis, Ajay Aggarwal

Nothing more pleasant than reading about the rains while it's actually raining! – @RiddhiKhandhar

LAANATI: Condemnable Replace some of your choicest cusswords, with the all-purpose, milder laanati. Yell at those who incur your wrath, “Apni laanati shakal le kar dafa ho jao”.

The Pakistani dramas on Zindagi have taught us several things. We now know that TV shows can have proper storylines, and they don't have to drag endlessly. Sets can look like actual homes. And soap actors don't have to look like they're on their way to a hideous fancy dress party. But our most important takeaway? The crisp Urdu dialogue. Here's a smattering of some oft-repeated words you can sprinkle in your daily conversation

Drop us a line at: brunchletters@hindustantimes.com or to 18-20 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001

TAWAQQO: Expectation To express grave disappointment, shake your head and say, “Tumse aisi tawaqqo nahi thi”. AKHRAAJAT: Expenses When justifying your salary package to Human Resources, say, “Mere akhraajat bohot badh gaye hain”. SUST-UL-WAJOOD: This is a new one. Someone whose entire persona reeks of laziness. Needless to say, this has to be used for lazybone younger brothers! “Sust-ul-wajood, ab uth bhi jao.”

FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT National — Sanchita Tyagi: sanchita.tyagi@hindustantimes.com North — Siddarth Chopra: siddarth.chopra@hindustantimes.com West — Karishma Makhija: karishma.makhija@hindustantimes.com South — Sharbani Ghosh: sharbani.ghosh@hindustantimes.com

COVER STORY PHOTOS: THINKSTOCK; SHUTTERSTOCK

Well, we’r we’re certainly trying. Between pop culture, the news, social networks and every trending topic thrown at us, being in-the-know is now frankly exhausting. How did we get here and what’s to become of us? Don’t Google for answers, read on… by Rachel Lopez Basically super expensive Italian wines not recognised in the Italian wine classification system

Are they fished from polluted d rivers? Are farme basa fed dead basa? Is it just a n by smear campaig US fishermen?

It already has! Salman’s film entered the 100-crore club on Eid

t’s 2014. You can’t walk into a party and introduce yourself by just saying you run a business anymore. You have to be a businessperson who’s also into Super Tuscans or collecting jazz records. And you can’t just leave it at that. You also have to be able to discuss other things: the new Waheeda Rehman book with the classics fan, fitness trackers with his marathon-aspirant wife, and basa farming with their foodie cousin. Have the kids been invited? Then you’d better know the lyrics to that song from Frozen and if Hike beats WhatsApp. Your host will want your opinion of his new curved TV, a fellow guest will ask if Kick will fare better than Jai Ho? And eventually, everyone will have discussed yesterday’s topic of outrage, today’s headline, this afternoon’s developing story and the tweet from 10 minutes ago. Dessert? That reminds me, what’s the name of that natural sweet leaf everyone’s been talking about?

AUGUST 3, 2014

Let’s stop for a minute here; if for nothing, then just to catch your breath. You’ve discussed hobbies, books, fitness, food, films, apps, technology, the news and health, all in one evening. All to keep up with your peers. A few years ago, you could get by with polite mumbles about the weather and politics. Now, it’s hip to be square. You need to know everything about everything and show it, or have the party ignore you for the evening. How did we end up like this?

Wired World

It’s tempting to blame the Net – after all, for the first time in history, it’s brought us all together, introduced us to new interests and made us aware of how many things we can be interested in. “Even one generation ago, information was hard to access,” says consumer analyst Santosh Desai. “If you didn’t know about a band, a film, a style, you remained an outcast for longer.” Today, the solution is literally in your pocket. “So

Don’t sweat, I’m just referencing a song from the ’80s

many people have mobile devices, be it smartphones or tablets and what not,” points out Anja Kovacs, project manager at Delhi’s Internet Democracy Project. And with many of those devices now connecting to the Internet, it’s easier than ever to be plugged in. But for India the Web was only one part of a bigger change. “For us the Internet revolution happened at roughly the same time as globalisation,” says Faiz Ullah, a researcher associated with the School of Media and Cultural Studies at Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences. As a people newly exposed to what the modern world had to offer, and with newly acquired money to pursue it, we’ve steadily found more to like, influence our peers and be influenced in return. Haven’t heard of molecular gastronomy, mixed media, mayor de Blasio and the Mi3? Where on Earth have you been? There’s no excuse (or tolerance) for ignorance today. “The gap between the trivial and the essential is narrowing,” says Desai. “It is all worth knowing now.”

A new dining trend, art works that use more than one medium (like canvas and metal), New York’s polarising bigwig and Xiaomi’s phone that sold out in two minutes on Flipkart

It’s called stevia, it’s many times sweeter than sugar, so you need less, which diabetics love

The e-book costs roughly a dollar (or `61) on Amazon.in

Pressure Points

That guy from TV show Game Of Thrones who has spies everywhere

Except, knowing everything is impossible (even if you’re Varys, the Spider). The Net adds roughly 34 hours of new video, 430 blog posts, 680 new web sites, two lakh new photos and 25 lakh Facebook likes every single minute. It would take you over five years to just watch the amount of video that crosses the Net every second. Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, at the Department of Clinical Psychology at Bangalore’s National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, has conducted several studies to ascertain what happens to those obsessed with keeping up. He found that missing out on minute-by-minute developments in social media actually caused stress. “The subjects told us that they want to know this or that because their friends knew about it, so they also had to know,” he says. He also adds that knowledge itself had turned into a status symbol, fostering competitiveness, a sense of, “I should know this before someone tells it to me.” Ullah calls it a feeling of “being at a disadvantage if you don’t have cultural capital”. But there’s a catchier term: Fear Of Missing

THIS MUCH WE KNOW Accept your limits It’s good to be aware of what’s happening, but at some point it helps to understand that you can’t know everything, says Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma of NIMHANS, Bangalore

Out, or the even catchier FOMO. Writer Twaambo Kapilikisha knows the symptoms well. “It got to a point where I had my phone on me all the time,” she says. “I was in the middle of a conversation with a friend one day and I started to check my phone, going ‘Uh-huh, uh-huh’ as she spoke. At one point she’d stopped talking but I was still scrolling through the phone.” Her short, fun e-book How FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) Is Actually Making You Miss Out argues that we risk burnout, jeopardise quality relationships and even our sense of self by chasing events that have no lasting importance for our lives. So what if you logged out for a couple of days? Just two days; say, July 8 and 9 this year. Here’s a bit of what you’d have missed: Israel’s offensive on Gaza, marijuana being legalised in parts of the US, the first look at that hot California felon Jeremy Meeks, and SpiceJet’s one lakh seats on sale for as little as `999. The greater loss would arguably be Brazil’s. But you’d have missed it and the record 35.6 million tweets it spawned.

Spread Thin

Sure, to appear cool in public, you now have to be a geek in private. But our obsession with keeping up is changing the very way we per-

ceive and consume knowledge – we know a frightful more things, but frightfully little about them. “Earlier if you did not have depth of That hilarious knowledge of a subject you were hashtag that makes considered a foolish person. Now, fun of how priviliged you are respected if you know a litpeople whine about trivial issues tle about a lot of things,” says Desai. “Imagine a world littered with many `1 notes instead of a few `10 notes. It makes us interesting and s Some 29 Indian shallow at the same time.” to have signed up The issue worries Ullah more. live there, should ild “If this obsession with informawe manage to bu nts human settleme tion is only a repository of trivial nuggets, then we’re missing something,” he says. “There are political implications to depthless-ness. It promotes simplicity and that leads to a sort of conservatism.” Will our #FirstWorldProblem ultimately create a more conservative society? Or will future generations get over their obsessions and make fun of us at their parties on Mars? You don’t have much time to think. Networking company Cisco One zettabyte = estimates that by next year, the 1,000 exabytes. 00 Web will have grown so big it will One exabyte = 1,0 petabytes. have to be measured in zettabytes. 1,000 One petabyte = If you had to burn it all on disc, terabytes. you’d need 250 billion DVDs. 00 One terabyte = 1,0 Desai thinks there will always gigabytes. be a social pressure to keep up. But So, pretty big! Kovacs believes we’ll ultimately have a handle on it. “Historically, with every new type of technology, there are all kinds of fears and lot of stories about what these new things do to our brain, etc,” she says, citing the advent of radio and television. “Every time any technology provides a new paradigm in communication, it leads to a shift At the end of in the amount of information peothe first day ple get into their lives and creates his photo went viral, he’d even anxiety. So this is nothing new.” got himself an Ullah believes the next generaagent! tion will be able to survive this embarrassment of riches too, probably by ignoring it. “I have students who walk out mid-lecture to take a call as if they had nuclear-launch codes on their phone,” he jokes. “But I also know students They lost the FIFA who don’t carry a cellphone today.” With inputs from Satarupa Paul rachel.lopez@hindustantimes.com Follow @GreaterBombay on Twitter

semifinal match to Germany by 1-7 No pressure!

Can’t keep up? Don’t let it get the better of you

Choose your feed Writer Twaambo Kapilikisha prefers Twitter to Facebook, where one is “less likely to hurt someone’s feelings by unfollowing”. You don’t need to follow every platform obsessively.

Take a chill pill Holidays offer a good sense of how little you missed when away, says Anja Kovacs, at the Internet Democracy Project. “You have other wonderful experiences to contribute instead.”

Give it a rest There’ll always be another party, another movie, another restaurant, a smarter smartphone, says consumer analyst Santosh Desai. Everything is not important.

Ease the pressure Be tolerant of those less clued in than you are so they’ll be less stressed about keeping up, says Kapilikisha.

AUGUST 3, 2014

Keep it real In a world of likes and retweets, watch where your afﬁrmations are coming from, says Kapilikisha, “The Net is ﬁckle. A Like is not an emotion.”

See the last update “Much of what you miss is forgotten fast. “If you know the last development it’s enough,” says Desai.

COVER STORY

Mumtaz: Shah Jahan, my love, it’s time for me to go… Shah Jahan: *sniff* I’ll make sure the world will never forget you.

Society Tried To Keep Up With Pop Culture. What Happened Next Will Melt Your Brain Struggling to cope? Ashish Shakya was too, until he realised how silly he was being “I cried because my 3G was down, until I met a man who had no smartphone.” – Rumi

HE INTERNET is arguably the greatest invention of the 21st century, second only to the polio vaccine and the cyborg that assumed the form of Mick Jagger years ago. Like the best drugs, it offers escape in enslavement and we’re happy to roll up our sleeves for the friendly neighbourhood WiFi dealer. While we’re devouring our way out of a pop-culture pile the size of Texas, we’re also taking in other vital information, like FB updates on the bowel movements of a guy you once met at a party in 2008, a carnival of countless GIFs, memes, listicles, must-watch videos, Twitter controversies, wardrobe malfunctions, social media gossip, longform pieces and impotent outrage. They’re all tugging at your sleeve, begging you to watch their latest trick, until you give in, putting aside that presentation, letting go of the steering wheel, leaving your patient half cut on the operating table, and you sense your brain leaking out of your ears, holding up a white flag. The most recent brain-stomp happened a few weeks ago, courtesy Poonam Pandey, Queen of The Will-She-Won’tShe Clan (Spoiler Alert: She won’t.) This is a woman whose career is based on the fact that men like adipose tissue. The World Cup was on at the time, prompting a brainwave that was both

Mumtaz: You mean…? Shah Jahan: Yup, Hashtag WeMissYouMumtaz will trend for centuries. Mumtaz: … Shah Jahan: Anyone found not tweeting it will have their hands cut off. Mumtaz:

hilarious and tragic. Around the seen status updates of them sitting quarter-final stage, she announced in castles, wallowing in cake, while that if Brazil won, she’d give away you’re out on the streets, fighting her bra to one lucky fan. Prospecstray dogs for a slice of bread so tive serial killers only had to tweet you can start a food blog about it. answers to the awfully worded A great side-effect of this is an #WhyIWantBRAOfactual, physical sense PoonamPandey to win. of discomfort when WE NEED RELIEF As expected, it was a you’re separated from from the Twitterclassy affair: your phone. I’m not fueled impression Poonam ran this saying I’m obsessed, that we are living in contest only because – but if my building an age of unparaland I wish I were makwas on fire and I had leled importance, ing this up – the word to choose between with our wars, our ‘Brazil’ contains the saving my phone and a word ‘bra’. I don’t know newborn baby, I would, debts, our riots, our what she would’ve without doubt, pick up missing children, offered if the Virgin the baby to check if our after-premiere Islands had qualified. my phone was underparties, our IPOs This Twitter conneath it. and our rogue test wasn’t something Now I’m not a missiles. that I, or anyone else, “trained psychologist”, Alain de Botton needed to know about. but I did watch an epiI couldn’t have avoided sode of House where it either, because it was he pretended to be one, right there all day, being shared so I feel qualified to say this: FOMO and retweeted, albeit ironically. To is just Insecurity 2.0. We all want be honest, a part of me wanted to to sit at the cool kids’ table, and be know, because judging people is told that yes, we belong, except that extremely therapeutic. the location of the table changes The inability to cut off from everytime you look away. such noise is one of the symptoms But hey, don’t take my word of a form of social anxiety called for it. This was first put forth by a FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). social scientist at Oxford called Dr That’s just the informal name – the Andrew Przybylski, who apparscientific term is: HAHA YOU’LL ently spends his free time hating NEVER BE SANE AGAIN. vowels. According to Przybylski’s This fear is compounded by the survey, the Fear Of Missing Out possibility, no, certainty, that everywas strongest in people whose one you know is doing better than basic psychological needs, like love you. You know this because you’ve and respect, were unfulfilled. Of all the networks out there, Facebook has to be the biggest source of overload. It’s like a party that started off as fun, but now you just want to get hold of your friends and leave, because random strangers have started making small talk about their “opinions” and “feelings”, all of which are stupid. Seriously, this is my default reacPhoto: THINKSTOCK

tion while scrolling through my news feed: “Don’t care.” “Don’t care.” “Don’t care.” “Don’t care.” “Holy crap, you got fat.” “Don’t care.” “Ooh, who’s that hottie? Oh wait, double-barrel surname. Never mind.” “Don’t care.” “Don’t care.” “Die.” Instagram’s better, because you get to jazz up your neediness with pretty filters. Meanwhile, Twitter is a completely different beast. Sure, it’s great for when you want to overthrow oppressive regimes so as to make way for more oppressive regimes. But it has also destroyed productivity the way Hitler destroyed the hopes of anyone wanting to sport a cool half-moustache. I’m just glad social media wasn’t around during the Mughal era, because then the Taj Mahal would never have been built. Also, it would’ve made for an awkward deathbed scene (see box above). I could run down our obsession with sharing all I want, but the truth is that as a modern-day writer, my career relies on distracting you better and for longer than anyone else. In fact, I wanted to call this piece ‘Exclusive Katrina Kaif Bikini Shots Reveal Birthmark Shaped Like Ranbir’, just so it would stick in your goldfish brain. I cannot lie, I want you to tweet and Facebook and Reddit and Snapchat this piece to everyone you’ve ever known. Do it before the next distraction comes along. Seriously, hurry. Poonam Pandey just started unbuttoning her top. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

Ashish Shakya is a writer, stand-up comedian and one-fourth of the comedy collective AIB. He lives in Bombay and is in a committed relationship with his smartphone

WELLNESS

twitter.com/HTBrunch

Photo: IMAGESBAZAAR

Energy No Bar

RUNNING ON EMPTY

The reason you are always tired could range from what you’re eating, what you’re thinking or even how you live

Why are you so tired and what can you do about it? by Kavita Devgan

AS THIS happened to you? n Your favourite sitcom is on... but you are dozing off fitfully in front of it... n You hate those 20 stairs up to your second floor house! n First half of the day: chirpy; after lunch: droopy. n You can’t seem to want to get out of bed. What happened to the eight hours of rest you just had? Everything seems to tire you. n Today you slumped on the floor of the Metro – your legs simply couldn’t hold you up... You’re not alone. “I am just so tired” is possibly the most repeated phrase in urban cities. Between mild tiredness and chronic exhaustion, where do you fit in? And what actually is going wrong?

MONSOON HAVOC

“Staying well hydrated and aerated are two essential requirements for feeling energetic,” says Dr Krishna Kant Dhebri, a family physician from Mumbai. “When it is hot and humid outside, more blood flows near the skin to cool the body down. As a result, less blood reaches the muscles, and this leads to lethargy.” Lack of water makes your system work harder, which again causes fatigue. So during July-August (the wettest and sweatiest months), drink plenty of fluids and eat cooling foods. Drink a big glass of water as

soon as you wake up, then finish two litres through the day. Go easy on caffeine. And if you are a coffee-before-I-open-my-eyes person, it is better to glug some water first.

PLATING ENERGY

Healthy energy production begins with healthy digestion. Instead of one or two large meals, eat lightly several times a day, including whole grains, oats, sprouts and enough vegetables and fruits. Vinegar also helps beat exhaustion. Add a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar to a glass of chilled water and sip slowly. If you don’t like the taste, just add sliced cucumbers. Of course the other rules for good eating hold true too: choose unrefined flour, low GI foods, and less sugar wherever possible. Food allergy can drain your energy too. If you feel fatigued right after a meal, get yourself checked.

LADIES, CHEAT TO CONCEAL Feeling tired but need to put your best face forward? Charoo Chawla Anand, director at Blliis by Ravissant, Delhi offers makeup tricks: n Rub ice on the face to sooth eye pufﬁness. n Apply white eyeshadow or highlighter in the inner corners of the eyes and just under the lower lip. n Use a pop of fuchsia pink or orange on the lips. Or go for neons, they give your face and personality a burst of colour.

n Cheek tints add a fresh look (and look better than creams and powders). n Groom those brows. Use a soft brow powder to fill in gaps and aim for an arch at the highest point for a defined look. n After you’re done, apply a drop or two of an ayurvedic eye drop into the eyes. This will give an instant brightness. And once you are done, flash your best smile and you are ready to go.

AUGUST 3, 2014

EXERCISE HELPS

“Keep moving to feel less tired,” says Nisha Varma, Reebok master trainer (North India). “When you are sedentary, your metabolic rate decreases and you burn fewer calories, so you feel exhausted.”

BAN BOREDOM

Can’t nap in the day? Close your eyes for 20 minutes to recharge yourself

When you are bored, you feel tired. “Ever noticed how you don’t feel tired while cheering at a concert for hours together? But even sitting through a train journey leaves you fatigued?” asks Dr Madhusudan Solanki, consultant psychiatrist at Saket City Hospital, Delhi. “Boredom sets in because of monotony of tasks. It affects your mood, and how you feel about yourself at that point of time. A negative self-appraisal reflects as physiological tiredness,” he explains. “So keep refreshing your environment, add diversity to your work, and take breaks,” he advises.

SLEEP STATUS

batteries.” Sleep apnea might interfere in your sleep and tire you out (snoring is a good symptom). “Get a sleep test done, if you suspect any such thing,” adds Dr Bhatia.

You know the drill: at least eight hours at night. Dr Manvir Bhatia, visiting senior consultant in neurology and sleep medicine at Medanta – The Medicity, Gurgaon, also recommends a mid-day nap. “Even if you don’t sleep, close your eyes for 10 or 20 minutes and listen to some soothing music or meditate. This will recharge your

VITAL VITAMINS

“Tiredness is often a manifestation of low haemoglobin levels from iron deficiency,” explains Dr Debri. “Look for accompanying pale skin, fast heart beat and irritability. Iron supplements and an iron-rich diet can help rectify this.” Vitamin B deficiencies also lead to a similar run-down and weak feeling, as does Vitamin D, so get some sun.

TAXED THYROID?

“Feeling tired in the morning is a hallmark of weak thyroid function,” says Dr Sudhindra Kulkarni, endocrinologist, Fortis hospital Mumbai.

FINALLY...

If your fatigue lasts more than six months and is so severe that you can’t manage daily activities, see a doctor. Persistent, unexplained exhaustion may just be a symptom of something bigger. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com Photos: THINKSTOCK

TRAVEL

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Thin Red Line

SNOOPED OUT!

They might be followed around – but Indians in Pakistan will find plenty of friends and warmth in Islamabad by Ruchira Hoon

RAILING SPOUSE. That’s what I was. I’d chucked up my job, packed up my home and decided to accompany my husband to a posting that was about to change our lives. This wasn’t just anywhere in the world, this was across the border – in Pakistan. Was I scared? Strangely, I was never more certain of what I wanted to do. I was fascinated by the country – where my grandparents were born, the country that they had to leave behind. And while I couldn’t retrace their steps completely, what I learnt about the country changed the way I felt about it.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

priately. And for God’s sake don’t shoot off your mouth. We needn’t have worried. For, from the time we landed in Isloo, though it was nearly midnight, it was as if the city was waiting to receive us. The first thing that struck me was that everyone was just so courteous – from the flight stewardess to the taxi driver to the hotel staff – and that everything was just so green. After all, the new city of Islamabad, at the foothills of the Margalla Hills, was made with the terrain and the weather in mind. Plus we’d landed at the end of summer and the leaves were already turning an autumnal auburn. I had carried my dupatta with me, just in case I felt I would have to cover my head. But to my surprise I saw only a handful of women wearing the hijaab or burqa. And while salwar kameez suits were the main dress code, they were worn so trendily, that I instantly wanted to go shopping. Over the next couple of months I learnt that pants and jeans were just as easily a part of their wardrobe as they were ours.

So, were we tailed from the moment we touched down? Yes, of course we were. We were followed when we went to buy cleaning supplies for the house, followed when we went to the bank to open an account, and followed especially when we headed out to meet people. And yet, the people who tailed us were polite and non-intrusive. As we learnt to recognise them and greet them each time we saw them, they just became part of who we were. We realised that it was a lot easier leading a transparent life, over that of secrecy, only because they’d get to know everything in any case. The walls really have ears here. But that didn’t stop me from exploring and meeting new people. In fact, one of the first things I did was trawl the Internet to find out what happened in the city. And you’d be surprised at what I learnt.

It’s true when they say that there are many Pakistans within Pakistan

Based out of Islamabad, barely 12 hours from New Delhi by road, we were so close, yet so far. Especially since we were on a restricted visa, which meant we couldn’t step out of the capital city, even if our lives depended on it. You see, we had been warned aplenty before we’d left and the advice kept rolling in even when we reached there: You’ll be under surveillance. Look over your shoulder constantly. Try not to stick out like a sore thumb. Be careful about who you meet. Don’t dress inappro-

AUGUST 3, 2014

FOOD = FRIENDS

I learnt that Islooites love their cars and that the underground racing circuit was buzzing! Late into the night you could hear cars whizzing past only to find out they were racing. I also learnt that Pakistanis love food, which is perhaps why every couple of blocks you’d see new restaurants opening every couple of weeks. How good

UNITED COLOURS OF ISLOO

Commuters ride on a bus adorned with colourful paintings as they travel from Islamabad to Rawalpindi they were was slightly suspect, but as the weeks turned into months, we picked out our favourites. My love for food took me down another path. I found out all about the farmers’ market that had just about started. Fresh herbs, organic vegetables, local artisanal cheese, beautiful flowers and enough home-baked goodies to stock up for the rest of the week. That’s where I made my first few friends and got talking about all things food. As a regular to the market, I was soon asked if I’d like to cook there each week. I jumped at the opportunity – I could experiment with the seasonal produce and give out samples to people.

ARRE BHAI!

I met some of the nicest people at the market, people who I’m proud to call my friends, people who made a difference to my life. But that didn’t mean the surveillance ended there. Every once in a while one of the ‘bhais’ as they were fondly called, would come to the market and then “surreptitiously” take my photograph on their mobile phone cameras. Which brings me to the part about how our phones were tapped. To be honest, I found it quite amusing that they felt I was important enough to have my phone wired, considering most

STEEPED IN CULTURE AND HISTORY

Certain segments of society in Islamabad display a genuine appreciation for the Indian classical dance and music tradition (above). A bharatanatyam performance (left) drew a packed house. The Kuch Khaas Farmers’ Market (below) has an assortment of organic fruits and vegetables and lots of baked goods

of my conversations bordered on girly issues and planning a family wedding. It was quite something when we realised that the authorities knew where we were going even before we got there. Despite that, we ended up going out almost four times a week. There were social occasions we’d be invited for, dinners at people’s homes, and regular curious visits to places that had been recommended to us. I also ended becoming part of the Islamabad’s Supper Club and hosted the first-ever dinner of fullfledged Kerala cuisine.

THE REAL DEAL

But it didn’t just stop there. I realised there was a segment of Pakistan so steeped in culture that some things just had to be done. For example, the vibrant theatre scene included watching the performances of the local production house, Insolent Knights, and the

AUGUST 3, 2014

productions of the acclaimed playwright Anwar Maqsood. And a bharatanatyam recital, which ran to a packed house. But the real deal was at people’s homes. This was where Abida Parveen took centre stage. This was where the qawwal Sabri brothers performed. I was lucky enough to be invited to listen to their goosebump-inducing Sufi music. It’s true when they say that it’s the people who make the country, not the government. We got to see that. It’s true when they say that there are many Pakistans within Pakistan. Because we got to see that too. I got to see a Pakistan that wasn’t all bombs and shooting (although they were several of those incidents while we were there). I got to see a Pakistan that my grandparents talked about – of benevolence, of giving, and of an era that seems almost forgotten. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

REEL WORLD

“Social Media Is Full Of Cowards” Outspoken and honest, Sonam Kapoor says she gets bad press every time she opens her mouth by Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi

ETTER KNOWN in showbiz for being a fashionista than for box office appeal, industry child Sonam Kapoor is endowed with good looks, an enviable lineage and loads of attitude. Even as she awaits the popular verdict on Khoobsurat, where she reprises the role originally played by Rekha, the leading lady of hits such as Raanjhana and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, says she looks for ‘different characters’. But Sonam’s refreshing frankness stands out in an industry where most stars like to play safe. Although she makes for good copy, her outspoken nature also tends to land her in trouble. Her riposte: “Everything that I say, however weird, tends to be taken so seriously. It makes me feel so important.” Excerpts from an interview:

But you don’t generally say nonweird stuff... Didn’t you say something to the effect that one has to be bad looking to be a good actor?

How is that weird? I think it was just misunderstood. I don’t know if I make sense or not but all I wanted to say was that just because you are good-looking, you can’t be perceived as a non-actor or bad actor. And just because you are not a great looker, you are bound to be a sterling performer. Tell me, isn’t that the general thinking?

Photo: ROHAN SHRESHTHA

AUGUST 3, 2014

Perhaps, but more than the looks of a star, it’s more to do with the kind of films too, isn’t it? Films aren’t just candy floss or about being ‘good looking’ anymore.

Absolutely. But good or realistic cinema doesn’t always have to be about blood and gore. Unfortunately, we have started believing that realistic films have to have the traits of the hinterland, people dying, no make-up, wearing cotton saris and being all raw. Really now, is that all that is real? Are we saying that there is no positive side at all? No laughter, no love, nothing? Why have we forgotten the Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Vijay Anand style of movie making? Those films were as real as you could get. So what is this stereotype?

Is that why you are comfortable with doing films such as Aisha or now your next one, Khoobsurat?

To be honest, yes. Aisha or Khoobsurat are as real as it gets. Aisha was your average south Delhi girl. And Khoobsurat is a love story. Having said that, it isn’t true that I only like playing girls living in la la land. I have also done a Delhi 6, a Raanjhana and a Mausam. Each character was as real as the other. And they were different.

Essaying Rekha’s original role in Khubsoorat wouldn’t have been easy. Did it add to the pressure?

I have always lived under pressure. Being Anil Kapoor’s daughter doesn’t make life very easy. I have to live up to a certain name in any case. But at the cost of sounding immodest, I don’t think I am even trying to be Rekhaji. In fact, the film in its entirety is rather different. Although the ensemble cast and the basic theme may be similar, we have changed it completely into a present-day love story. The original film wasn’t really a love story. And my character in the film is only inspired by Rekha. It isn’t the same character. Every character has his or her own life and grows on their own. So does this one.

protected and so cocooned that there is just no exposure. And the unfortunate bit is that we get so comfortable that we don’t even want to venture out. Everything is monitored. We are told that we are not supposed to have an opinion. And even if we do, we shouldn’t express it. It could be about anything. From the Gaza strife to khap panchayats, we don’t have to talk about anything. The PRs insist that it could generate bad press. And who really wants that? So, most of us just tend to keep quiet.

You don’t seem to be toeing the line though…

And look at the bad press or negative publicity that I garner every time I open my mouth. (laughs)

But how can one live in such splendid isolation?

Exactly my point. Each of us then starts looking like a fool or a clone of the other. I have been trying to break away from this mould endlessly. I speak my mind. I have an opinion and I don’t mind expressing it. The problem is that people are too scared to make mistakes. But unless you do, how do you ever learn? When I started out, I refused to be the conventional Swarovski-sporting, chiffon-draped diva on the red carpet. I insisted on wearing clothes that I liked and those that suited my body type. I was told not to. But look what it did. Suddenly I became this style icon and fashionista. I didn’t call myself that. The press did.

It wasn’t a snide remark on Deepika. In fact, it was a compliment to her stylist Anaita Shroff Adajania

Talking of being in la la land, most actors of the present generation seem to be living in a space that is absolutely away from reality… Yes, they are. And believe me it’s bl***y scary. You know, we are so

True, but you also receive a lot of flak

SOFA, SO PRETTY!

Khoobsurat is inspired by the 1980s hit featuring Rekha and Ashok Kumar

for a lot of things you say.

At least I make for good copy then (laughs). A lot of things are said in the moment, in jest or in context. They need to be understood accordingly. Like on Koffee With Karan, I said things that I believed would be understood by an intelligent mind. Also, the show is like that. It is fun, tongue-in-cheek and frivolous. I wasn’t meant to be dead serious. I expected people to have a sense of humour and take things as they were said, in good spirit.

Come on, you did make a snide remark about Deepika…

It wasn’t a snide remark about Deepika. It was in fact, it was a compliment to her stylist, Anaita Shroff Adajania, who is also a great friend of mine. I just said Anaita does a great job with Deepika. It was perhaps her PR guys who didn’t appreciate the compliment and talked about it negatively.

You actually take criticism rather well… In fact, you often laugh at jokes made about you.

That’s because I don’t take myself seriously at all. I can laugh at myself. If I am happy with all the appreciation, I should be able to handle all the criticism as well. And for me it is immaterial how many people say good things or bad things about me. I have an opinion and I voice it. Be it about rape or LGBT rights. Even if five per cent people agree with me, I am happy about it.

Criticism, especially on social media can be quite unnerving…

Yes, but that is the culture of social media. It is full of cowards who

have no b***s to come in front and say anything. So they find this anonymous medium their best bet to vent their frustrations. How seriously can you really take them? And why?

You have had big banner film projects, but the hero always seems to get the applause, like Dhanush in Raanjhanaa, or Farhan in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.

I wouldn’t agree with the Raanjhanaa bit. I think both Dhanush and I were praised equally. The first half was Dhanush’s and the second half was mine. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was, of course, Farhan’s film. And I have no problem with that. I did that film because I just had to be a part of that project. I would rather do films that make me grow as a performer than clone myself in every film just to get equal screen time. Please, that is so boring. At least you remember my characters in all my films. They don’t blur and merge with each other like they do for most others.

So is it just good fortune or a conscious decision to do such movies?

Absolutely a conscious decision. In fact, I feel this is the only intelligent thing that I have done, ever. I am not ready to do just any film that comes my way. Even my next few films have me in absolutely different characters. I am doing Arbaaz Khan’s next production Dolly ki Doli, which is more of a dramatic comedy. Sooraj Barjatya’s next film Prem Ratan Dhan Payo is a pure love story opposite Salman and then, I’ve bought the rights to Anuja Chauhan’s Battle For Bittora. That again will be a very different film and role. So yes, I don’t quite follow a pattern and don’t intend to do it ever.

AUGUST 3, 2014

tavishi.rastogi@hindustantimes.com

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On A Friendly nOte

What strikes me as most extraordinary about Bangkok is that despite political upheaval, things take only a couple of months to return to normal

ANY YEARS ago (and I think I wrote about it at the time) the Thais gave me an award and declared that I was a Friend Of Thailand. I think they meant that I knew the country reasonably well, had travelled all over, and (this is probably the operative bit) had both written about it extensively and anchored many TV shows on travel and cuisine in Thailand. Last week, the Thai government invited all Friends of Thailand over the years to Bangkok for a huge street party. The idea was to reassure the world that despite recent political developments, Thailand was entirely safe for tourists. Indians will need no convincing; last year over

Vir Sanghvi

rude travel DINER’S DELIGHT

The New York deli, Dean & Deluca, has branches all over Bangkok (above). There is a glittering Zuma (below), a branch of the London-based chain, at the St Regis hotel

a million of us went to Thailand and it is the most popular overseas destination for Indians, way ahead of Singapore, which was once a big favourite. But Europeans tended to stay away from Bangkok and the Thais are particularly grateful to Indians who kept coming no matter what they read in the papers. In fact, it is now difficult to find seats to Bangkok from India, partly because Thai Airways has unnecessarily cancelled its second daily Delhi-Bangkok flight. The party was fun with a parade down Ratchadamri Road and a fair on the stretch that connects Central World to Siam Paragon. There was also a formal function which turned suddenly informal when members of the audience (or what appeared to be members of the audience) jumped up and did a flash mob routine singing acapella before they were joined by drummers and danced all the way up to the dais. I enjoyed the party. But I have to be honest. The idea of a street fair is hard to pull off in Bangkok because many streets host permanent fairs anyway, with stalls selling local products, very good food and (dare one say it?) some bootleg products. But everyone had a great time (I thought I saw around 40 Indian travel agents and tour operators joining in the festivities) and from the Thai perspective, the event was a success, demonstrating to the world that everything is back to normal in Bangkok. What strikes me as most extraordinary about Bangkok is that no matter how much the Western tourists may stay away, things take only a couple of months to return to normal and then, it is almost as though the

AUGUST 3, 2014

problems never happened. The other strange thing is that though tourist arrivals may go up and down, the boom in restaurants and hotels continues unabated. Each time I come to Bangkok at least two fancy new hotels have opened. And the signs of prosperity are unmistakable: the new hot mall in town is Central Embassy, which has every designer brand you can think of, from Hermès and Chanel to Ralph Lauren and John Varvatos. Alongside this boom is another one. We all know that Thai is one of the world’s greatest cuisines and that no matter how little you pay it is impossible to eat badly in Bangkok. But till around 10 years ago, the restaurant scene was static: hotel outlets and some small places that you had to be an insider to discover. But now, Bangkok is Asia’s new gourmet capital. According to the San Pellegrino list, Asia’s best restaurant is in Bangkok: David Thompson’s Nahm. Number three on the list is our very own Gaggan. And there are many others, including the influential Bo.Lan. Everyone has their own theories but I date the beginning of the dining boom to the opening of Sirocco at the top of the State Tower in 2004. At the time, Sirocco was a standalone and it changed the rules of the game because it was impossibly glamorous and offered a new dimension to al fresco dining. Deepak Ohri, who opened Sirocco for Thai owners, then went on to spin Sirocco’s success off into a hotel (called Lebua at State Tower) and two other restaurants, Breeze and Mezzaluna. At the moment, Breeze is the gastronomic star in his stable, with wonderful Chinese food overseen by Singapore’s superchef Sam Leong. The next significant development was the opening of Bo.Lan. It was started by a Thai chef called Duongporn ‘Bo’ Songvisava, who went to work for David Thompson at his Michelin-starred Nahm in London. While there, she met an Australian chef called Dylan Jones. The two of them married, came to Bangkok and opened Bo.Lan, dedicated to proving that there was more to Thai food than pad Thai. They dug out ancient recipes and served the kind of complex cuisine that no Thai restaurant bothered with. Bo.Lan was already a success when Thompson, who had won acclaim for his Thai food in Sydney and London,

Photos: VIR SANGHVI

CELEBRATING THAILAND

The Thai government-hosted street party was fun with a parade (left) down Ratchadamri Road and a fair on the stretch that connects Central World to Siam Paragon with stalls selling very good food (above) FANCY HEIGHTS

Each time I come to Bangkok, at least two fancy new hotels have opened. And the signs of prosperity are unmistakable finally took the plunge and opened Nahm in Bangkok. He was nervous about how Thais would react to an Australian cooking their cuisine and it turned out that he was right to be apprehensive. The opening of Nahm was accompanied by so much xenophobic criticism in Thailand that the New York Times even did an article on the controversy. While the Nahm controversy raged, another of his former chefs arrived in Bangkok to open a modern Thai restaurant called Sra Bua. This was a branch of a Michelin-starred Thai restaurant called Kiin Kiin in Copenhagen and served a vaguely molecular take on Thai flavours. Thais were not overly delighted by the fact that three white men should be running the Thai restaurants most celebrated by Western guides: Bo.Lan, Nahm and Sra Bua. I am not sure how they feel about the fact that though Asia’s thirdbest restaurant (according to the San Pellegrino list) is also in Bangkok it is run by an Indian. I don’t need to say much more about Gaggan Anand, who has featured in this column often before but along with Nahm, his is the most difficult restaurant to book in Bangkok. The dining boom has led foreign chains to open Thai operations. The New York deli, Dean & Deluca, has branches all over Bangkok. There is a glittering Zuma – a branch of the London-based chain – at the St Regis hotel and it is rumoured that the big French chefs – Joël Robuchon et al – are all on their way. This time around I decided to check out the Bangkok upmarket dining scene. I didn’t meet David Thompson but the food at Nahm was spectacular: a home-style prawn curry served with cucumber and pickled vegetables; roast pork with an intense dipping sauce; chicken Chiang Mai style; soft-shell crab; and stir-fried beef. The great maxim of Thai food is that each dish must combine sweet,

salty and sour flavours. And nobody does that better than David. Dinner at Bo.Lan was different. Though David is dependent on the trendy décor of the Metropolitan Hotel where Nahm is located (i.e. not enough light to see the food properly), Bo and Dylan have tried to recreate a wooden Thai house at the Thong Lo end of Sukhumvit Road. They only serve two set menus so that guests get a sense of how Thai food should be eaten, in what combinations and in what order. The meal started with canapés and included a glass of herb-infused whiskey served with local sour fruits. Later, we had a northern-style rice salad (very nice but I thought the presentation was too poncey) and the main courses included a salad of grilled beef with mangosteen, a curry of clams and betel leaf, cured pork simmered in coconut cream and served with fishcakes and a wonderful home-style chicken soup. The many desserts included a durian pie from which the nauseous smell of durian had magically been removed. I asked Bo how people reacted to being told that they could not order a la carte. Either they ate what the chef had selected for the day or they went elsewhere. She said that so far people had been understanding but Bo.Lan now plans to offer an a la carte lunch menu for people who don’t want to eat so much. I am not sure how the international chains will do. The Dean & Deluca at Central Embassy was jam-packed but there were only a few tables occupied at the large and luxurious Zuma. This is strange because the location is good and the food was up to London standards: barbecued pork belly skewers, delicious ribs, and best of all, eggplant that had been cooked almost as if it were a fish with the flesh moist and flavourful under the skin. But of one thing I am certain: Bangkok will continue to flourish. I stayed this time at the Peninsula on the other side of the river and though it had all the familiar Hong Kong Peninsula hallmarks, including airport transfers by helicopter, service was far better than in Hong Kong. After all, nobody understands hospitality like the Thais.

EAT TILL YOU DROP

Till around 10 years ago, the restaurant scene was static: hotel outlets and some small places that you had to be an insider to discover. But now, Bangkok is Asia’s new gourmet capital

Thai is one of the world’s greatest cuisines and that no matter how little you pay, it is impossible to eat badly in Bangkok

AUGUST 3, 2014

MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Vir Sanghvi, log on to hindustantimes. com/brunch The views expressed by the columnist are personal

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Photo: ALECOUNSWORTH.COM

Over And Over AgAin N As people were writing their obit, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah resurfaced. With their new album, Only Run, the now two-man band sounds more evolved and sophisticated

INE YEARS is like a century in the Internet era but that is how long ago Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the American indie band, which is mainly based in Brooklyn, New York, created a ripple when it burst upon the music scene without the help of a record label, an agent or any other facilitator. CYHSY, as they’re known in short form, released their self-titled first album as a completely DIY project, aided only by a virtual buzz by fans, bloggers and websites. That buzz got deafeningly loud in indie music fans’ circles; the band’s first album became a hit; and critics sat up and took notice. That was in 2005. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, the album, was sonically what you’d classify as art-rock – experimental, form-shifting, genre-hopping and, best of all, an album that you knew the band probably had as much fun putting together as you had when you heard it. Frontman Alec Ounsworth and his bandmates made art-rock, which can be notoriously self-indulgent and abstruse, instantly accessible, danceable and hummable too. It helped that Ounsworth had a medium-pitched voice that warbled with nervous excitement but exuded a pop-like happiness even when he sang about his deepest thoughts. That first album

THE FRONTMAN

Sanjoy Narayan

download central

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah was characterised by Alec Ounsworth’s (above) singular vocal style. Their new album Only Run sounds more polished than earlier ones

Photo: ERICA HERNANDEZ/MOONHOOCH.COM

‘CAVE MUSIC’ FROM NYC

Moon Hooch’s self-titled first album is a livey affair: instantly accessible and guaranteed to raise your spirits

with memorable songs such as Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away, The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth and Details of the War, was hailed as one of the finest in the music world and the band instantly got touted as one of the hottest ensembles to look out for. In the next few years CYHSY released two more albums – Some Loud Thunder (2007) and Hysterical (2011) – but although they were well received, they never really created the sensation that their debut DIY album had done. In between those releases, Ounsworth did some solo work – his 2009 album Mo Beauty is like a CYHSY album with a couple of standout tracks – the low-key Holy, Holy, Holy Moses (Song For New Orleans) and the percussive South Philadelphia (Drug Days) are ones I like. Then, I gathered that four of the six-member band had quit in the past couple of years, reducing CYHSY to a duo with only Ounsworth and the drummer Sean Greenhalgh. Then, just as people were writing their obit, the band resurfaced and this year, in June, CYHSY as a duo dropped their fourth studio album, Only Run. Ounsworth and his remaining band-member do multiple duties on the album, which unlike CYHSY’s earlier ones, has a lot more keyboard use, synth lines and, in general, more polish than those earlier ones. To some, that may be a disappointment. Or not. Only Run has interesting collaborators – one track has The National’s Matt Berninger doing a stunning cameo reminiscent of his band’s early albums such as Boxer and Alligator;

AUGUST 3, 2014

on another, we discover the Canadian DJ and turntablist, Kid Koala’s contribution. When I first heard CYHSY, their sound seemed very familiar yet new. Here’s why: on their early albums you discovered the influence of a rash of earlier bands on CYHSY – ranging from older ones such as Joy Divison, The Clash and Talking Heads, to relatively newer indie bands. Yet, Ounsworth and his band managed never to sound like a derivative of those. They had their own sound, characterised mainly by Ounsworth’s singular vocal style. On Only Run, the band sounds more evolved and sophisticated, though, interestingly, it is self-produced like their first album (the second and third had outside producers) but the CYHSY’s trademark – that of springing sonic surprises – remains intact. If you’ve ever travelled on the New York subway then Moon Hooch’s rock-infused jazz music may seem familiar because it sounds as if they’re playing in an underground tunnel – in fact, the band says it plays ‘cave music’. Moon Hooch began as buskers in the NYC subway system and in front of the city’s famous Metropolitan Museum of Art before being talent-spotted and then landing gigs opening for bigger bands. A record deal followed and their self-titled first album, Moon Hooch, which has 14 upbeat tracks, showcases their trademark sound: jazz with rock and dance music influences, all of it delivered by way of two saxophonists and a drummer. It’s a lively affair Moon Hooch’s music, instantly accessible and guaranteed to raise your spirits – jazz-rock-soul fused to make an exuberant cocktail. For a taste, head over to their Bandcamp page (moonhooch. bandcamp.com). Download Central appears every fortnight

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Photo: NEW YORK TIMES

‘Firing Steve JobS WaS a MiStake’

Admits former Apple CEO John Sculley, who’s now partnering with another tech brand

T WAS A typical interview set up in a hotel room converted into a temporary studio. Bright hot lights, a snakepit of wires and cables, sound and camera technicians scurrying around trying to make a boring room look like a million bucks, two chairs dramatically placed in front of each other and an army of PR people trying to micromanage everything. What wasn’t typical was the man who sat in front of me. n In 1967, he joined Pepsi as a trainee. By 1977, he was the youngest president in the company’s history. n In 1975, he triggered off the cola wars with Coke with a controversial taste challenge campaign and went on to

Rajiv Makhni

techilicious

OCTOPUS S520

The ﬁrst phone from John Sculley’s smartphone company, Obi. In a world full of low price-high spec phones can Obi’s Octopus hold up? The S520 is great looking, but there’s nothing radical about it. The back is silver with white accents at the top and bottom. It has a 5-inch HD display with a 720p resolution, runs on Android 4.4.2 and has an Octa Core processor (its biggest USP at this price), dual SIM support, 8GB storage, an 8MP camera and 2MP front-facing camera and an 1800mAh battery. Good enough? Well it’s entering a tough market. Hopefully, with John Sculley at the helm, this is just the start of great things.

make Pepsi a force to be reckoned with. n In 1983, he was lured by Steve Jobs to join Apple. He was reluctant until Jobs asked him a legendary question, “Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?” n Sales at Apple increased from $800million to $8billion under his management. n But his greatest legacy and an impossible-to-remove tag line associated with his name is that he was the reason for the ouster of Steve Jobs from his own company, Apple, in 1985. It was almost surreal to be sitting in front of him now. There’s a certain enigma attached to John Sculley and yet there also lies a fascinating story underneath. The John Sculley that one reads of in magazines, books and articles was very different from the one directly in front of me. An open-collar shirt, a sports jacket, perfectly ironed pair of jeans – he looked thinner and younger than his 75 years and way fitter than he looks in any of his photographs. But it wasn’t only about his physical appearance, it was also about what he represents. A man who has made history and also been part of some of the most important touch points in the world of technology. On the firing of Steve Jobs: He was quite clear that Steve Jobs was never fired, only asked to step down. And while the semantics of that can be debated, his next observation cannot. He admits it was a huge mistake, a visionary like Jobs should never have been removed! He describes the Steve Jobs of that time as very different from the Steve Jobs who came back to come up with the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. He describes him, at that time, as mercurial, stubborn and with very limited knowledge of the economics of running a business. He thinks the Apple board should have worked harder to make sure that he and Jobs could have carried on working together. This of course is very different from what Sculley said three months after he had Jobs

AUGUST 3, 2014

ONCE UPON A TIME

Steve Jobs, chairman at Apple (left), and John Sculley, chief executive of Apple, introducing their new Macintosh computer, in 1984 removed in 1985. At that time, he had said that Jobs won’t be missed and that “Apple has been running now for three months without any involvement at all by Steve Jobs, and the consensus at the company is that things are going much better since the reorganisation”. On how the current Apple CEO Tim Cook is performing after Steve Jobs: Sculley seems to think that Cook is doing a great job considering the difficult legacy he inherited at a difficult time. He considers Apple to still be a great company, that the next refresh cycle of all its products will bring in some huge numbers and that some future products have great potential. He did admit though that expectations from Apple were always going to be of radical innovation and that it wasn’t possible to live up to those expectations every time. He counted Google and Amazon as being more cutting-edge companies currently. On whether the rumoured Apple iWatch would be successful: He was quite clear that the only company that could make a smartwatch that people would wear would be Apple. That’s because Apple has hired people from the fashion industry to get the iWatch correct. The reason almost every company failed with a smartwatch is that they had geeks and techies build them. Thus, the product itself was nerdy and geeky and not something people would strap on. Apple will have to come up with a product that does far more than just be a notification extension to their phone. He expects the iWatch to sell in millions. On why John Sculley was associating himself with Obi, a low cost smartphone company and calling it the Next Big Thing: He said it’s all about timing. It is only now that a company can build a top-of-the-line, high-specs phone with no compromises at an astonishingly low price; as the technology was finally there to do that. This was the phone for the next billion smartphone users. And those users would come from places like India, by graduating from a feature phone. He was very sure that Obi would become a premium international brand with flagship phones in every category at unbelievably low prices. I did close by asking him what he thinks would have happened if Steve Jobs hadn’t been asked to step down. With a twinkle in his eye he said, “Very good things”. What those very good things would have been, we will never know! Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3

MORE ON THE WEB For previous Tech columns, log on to hindustantimes. com/brunch. Follow Rajiv on Twitter at twitter. com/RajivMakhni The views expressed by the columnist are personal

indulge

Who Is An IndIAn? S

And does marrying a Pakistani make you any less of one?

O, WHAT makes an Indian an Indian? Or to put it another way, what turns an Indian into a foreigner? Or, for that matter, what turns a foreigner into an Indian? I only ask because, as I sit down to write this, a controversy has broken out about whether Sania Mirza deserves to be appointed brand ambassador of the newly minted state of Telangana. In case you have been living on a desert island for the past decade or so, Sania Mirza is India’s first bonafide female tennis star, who, at the peak of her playing form, had a world ranking of 27 in singles and five in doubles. In the course of

Seema Goswami

spectator It should be up to a woman to decide which country she wishes to belong to: the one she was born in or the one she married into

MORE ON THE WEB For more SPECTATOR columns by Seema Goswami, log on to hindustantimes.com/ brunch. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ seemagoswami. Write to her at seema_ ht@ rediffmail.com The views expressed by the columnist are personal

her chequered career, she met, fell in love with, and married a Test cricketer called Shoaib Malik (and the two appear to be living happily ever after, thank you very much). So, nobody should have been too surprised when K Chandrasekhar Rao, the chief minister of Telangana, held a ceremony to appoint Sania as Telangana's brand ambassador. After all, she is the pride and joy of Hyderabad, where her family have lived for generations (since 1908, since you ask). What better brand ambassador could a state possibly have than a local girl who became an international star through a combination of sheer talent, hard work, and a ferocious desire to succeed? Ah, but here’s the rub. You remember the husband I mentioned, don’t you? A decent sort of chap who plays cricket rather well. The problem is that he plays cricket for Pakistan. And even though the couple currently lives in Dubai, Shoaib is a Pakistani citizen. Cue, angry BJP legislators like K Laxman queuing up to denounce the decision to appoint Sania the brand ambassador of Telengana. How could the state government possibly give the gig to a woman who is the ‘daughter-in-law of Pakistan’? Never mind that Sania has retained her Indian citizenship, still plays for India, and has announced proudly, “I am an Indian, who will remain an Indian till the end of my life.” But for sexist, misogynist, traditionalists like the BJP member and others of his ilk, a woman is defined by the man she

MISOGYNIST LOGIC

Sania married a Pakistani; ergo, even if she is still an Indian passport holder, she can no longer call herself an Indian AUGUST 3, 2014

Photos: GETTY IMAGES

MARRIED TO INDIA

Sonia Gandhi’s ‘foreign origin’ is like the proverbial Damocles sword hanging over her head weds. Once she is married, she takes on the identity and nationality of her husband, and ceases to be herself, or even a person in her own right. Sania married a Pakistani; so, she is Pakistan’s daughter-in-law. Ergo, even if she is still an Indian passport holder, she can no longer call herself an Indian. That’s how the argument goes… at least that’s how it goes until the woman in question is Sonia Gandhi. Then, the argument is turned right on its head. Like Sania, Sonia too met a man of a different nationality, fell in love and got married. She left her native Italy at the age of 22 to come and live with her husband, Rajiv, whom she married in 1968. So, she has now spent 46 years in India as opposed to the 22 she spent in Italy. She took on Indian nationality in 1983 so she has been a citizen of this country for more than 30 years. And even after her husband was brutally assassinated in 1991, she chose to stay on in India, which she regarded as her natural home. So, by any reckoning, if anyone has earned the right to be referred to as ‘India’s daughter-in-law’ it is Sonia Gandhi. And yet, when it comes to being counted as Indian, she still doesn’t quite cut it. Her ‘foreign origin’ is like the proverbial Damocles sword hanging over her head. Which brings me back to my original question. Who is an Indian? And who is not? And on what basis is that decision made? Well, if you ask me, it all comes down to one word: choice. If you choose to be Indian, no matter where you were born, where you currently live, or whom you are married to, then you are an Indian. If you choose not to be Indian, no matter if you were born in India, are married to an Indian, and live in India, well then, you are not an Indian. It really is as simple as that. That is what the ‘idea of India’ is all about. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen may have lived almost his entire adult life abroad, may be married to a foreigner, but still holds on to his Indian passport. So he indubitably is an Indian. Ditto steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, who lives and does business abroad but has refused to give up his Indian passport. The late K R Narayanan may have married a Burmese lady while still in the foreign service, but that didn’t prevent him from becoming the President of India. But while we have no problem with identifying these men as Indian, women often encounter a grey area when it comes to establishing their identity and their nationality. Which brings us back to where we started: why this fuss about Sania and Sonia? And why the double standards? Is it because the patriarchy is unwilling to grant these women – and others like them – what men take for granted: the freedom to choose? It should be up to a woman to decide which country she wishes to belong to: the one she was born in or the one she married into. And it is for us to respect that choice.

WELLNESS

MIND BODY SOUL

SHIKHA SHARMA

CHAKRAS AND YOU

Yoga looks at chakras as the body’s energy points. And they are located almost exactly where the hormone-secreting glands that connect our mind, emotions and body are situated

HE ENDOCRINE glands secrete hormones, connect our mind (thought) and emotions (feelings) to our physical selves (flesh and blood). How? Here’s an example. When you feel afraid, the system releases powerful hormones that kick-start a flight-or -fight response in a fraction of a second. The hormones released by the adrenal gland are carried all across your body via the bloodstream. Simultaneously, your brain starts planning your response by stimulating the nerve endings on the muscles of your legs and arms. So your emotions, mind and body are all prepared to respond. It’s interesting to see how your body’s energy chakras are closely correlated with the endocrine glands.

chakra is blocked, it could lead to diabetes or liver and digestive disorders. It also creates mental energy and will power.

BASE CHAKRA (MOOLADHARA CHAKRA) This chakra keeps the energy vortex connected with our basic needs of survival (food and waste elimination), and procreation. The gonadal glands are associated with this chakra.

THIRD EYE CHAKRA (AGYA CHAKRA) Associated with the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. This chakra is the master instructor, responsible for giving instructions to the whole body. If this chakra is blocked, there could be multiple hormonal imbalances.

Photo: IMAGESBAZAAR , SHUTTERSTOCK

SACRUM CHAKRA (SVADHISTHANA CHAKRA) It controls our emotions and response to fear. It is most closely associated with the adrenal glands. It also balances water in the body. Ever noticed that when you’re afraid or stressed, your body bloats?

HEART CHAKRA (ANAHATA CHAKRA) The thymus is the gland most closely linked to this chakra. This chakra is for courage, faith, family, love and community. The thymus gland is the seat of immunity cells. THROAT CHAKRA (VISHUDDHI CHAKRA) The thyroid gland is most commonly associated with this chakra. The vishuddhi chakra is for clarity of communication between the mind, heart and soul and the ability to understand situations clearly without fear or doubt.

NAVEL CHAKRA (MANIPURA CHAKRA) It’s connected to the pancreas and the transformation of food into energy. If this energy

CROWN CHAKRA (SAHASRARA CHAKRA) Associated with the pineal gland, little is known about this chakra except that it responds to light. When the cosmic consciousness shines in the mind of humans, they attain truth. ask@drshikha.com

MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Dr Shikha Sharma and other wellness stories, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch

AUGUST 3, 2014

FOFA R SH W IO A N R D

twitter.com/HTBrunch

The Designer Who Goes The Distance L

She has one flagship store, rarely gives interviews, hardly ever does shows. But you can’t ignore Anamika Khanna

by Sujata Assomull Sippy

AST WEEKEND, many of fashion’s most prominent influencers flew across the country to Kolkata for a fashion presentation. There was no catwalk, no cocktail party and no celebrity in attendance, yet this was a show every fashion editor wanted to write about. Kolkata’s Anamika Khanna is perhaps one of the few designers who, when she does show at fashion weeks, opts for an off-site show. This time, as part of the recentlyconcluded Couture Week in Delhi, she decided to keep her show not only off-site, but off-city too. In fact, this is the first time the Fashion Design Council of India had initiated a show like this. Khanna has always been a bit of an enigma. She is not fashion’s most profitable or popular designer. But she commands the industry’s respect. “She has an aesthetic and sensibility par excellence and I think everyone in the industry respects her for the way she uses craftsmanship,” says Sunil Sethi, president of the Fashion Design Council of India. “You cannot afford to miss her show.” The last time Khanna showed in Delhi was a year ago and nearly every designer in the city, from Rohit Bal to Masaba Gupta, gave her collection a standing ovation. It was Masaba’s first Anamika Khanna show and she says, “She is an inspiration to younger designers. She shows us what beautiful clothes are”. Masaba is not alone in her praise. Designer Gaurav Gupta adds, “I love her. Anamika is very individualistic, she loves beauty and technique and celebrates India with love and sophistication.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Though Khanna’s presence in terms of retail is small (she has only one flagship store in Kolkata, sells from 13 other stores in India and has a store-in-store at Ensemble in Mumbai’s Lion’s Gate), her stamp on Indian fashion is strong. And though she was one of the first Indian designers to show in Paris, she is all about India. She takes

AUGUST 3, 2014

LADY IN WHITE

Above: Anamika Khanna, who insisted she would only show in Kolkata this year and (left) two of her creations

from the past and pushes it forward. She loves traditional Indian crafts, yet loves to experiment. Khanna revived Indian embroidery techniques such as zardosi, gave Indian fashion the half sari, the dhoti pant, the zipper kurta and the cape dupatta. Her clothes are Indian, but international in outlook. This year at the Cannes red carpet, Sonam Kapoor, who is something of an Anamika Khanna favourite, wore a pale pink sari dress that had a train. Not surprisingly, the train is now one of Indian fashion’s hottest trends: many designers added trains to their ensembles at the recent edition of the Shree Ram Jewellers India Couture Week.

Photos: GETTY IMAGES, AFP

“The thing about Anamika is that she cares more about craft than commerce. She knows how to make something experimental,” says Rhea Kapoor, Sonam’s sister and a stylist. Khanna, herself is modest. “It makes me feel good that my work has inspired others,” she says. “But I am oblivious to what others do. If they are inspired by me that means my message is being received.” Sometimes, her almost nonchalant attitude to Indian fashion can seem like she’s being indifferent about the very industry she works in.

ART OF FASHION

Forty-something Khanna has no formal training, which means she is not bound by rules. She has had 15 years in the industry, rarely gives interviews, and has never hired a PR agency. In an industry that loves to play the peacock, her quiet style has meant that perhaps her work has not received its due. And though the fashion media love

THE BOLLYWOOD CONNECT Sonam has worn more Anamika Khanna outfits than any other female star, whether it’s at Cannes or a film awards function. She is also Khanna’s muse (the designer has said on many occasions that she feels Sonam has a better knowledge of fashion than even she does). Khanna has also styled Sonam for films such as Delhi 6 (2009) and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2103). Other actors spotted wearing her pieces: Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu, Kareena Kapoor, Freida Pinto and many others.

GO WITH THE FLOW

Deepika Padukone wears Anamika Khanna at a Chennai Express event

DRAPE IT

Soha Ali Khan in a typical, stunningly draped creation from the designer DRAMA QUEEN

A high necked collared jacket worn over dhotis, Kareena shows how Anamika Khanna combines craft, costume and contemporary chic

her work, it is also irksome that she is so inaccessible. For the mother of twin boys, fashion is a passion, family is life. So if there is one complaint you will hear of Khanna, it is that you do not get enough of her designs. Khanna says this is because you have to make a decision between “quality and quantity,” but admits that now that her kids are off to college in America, you will see more of her work. There is talk of her opening stores in Mumbai and Delhi, but Khanna just says, “Right now I want to spend as much time as I can with my boys before they leave for college. And then I am going to be all about work”.

ART OF FASHION

Meanwhile, her latest fashion presentation in Kolkata was vintage Anamika Khanna. While she is not sure if she showed 34 or 35 looks – “I was changing things even that morning, my team was ready to shoot me” – she does know that there were 32 different embroidery techniques on display. Some of the pieces were mounted like art and sat next to heritage pieces, such as African tribal neckpieces and an Egyptian bridal veil, that had inspired her. Photographs of her new collection were also on the walls. The idea was to present fashion as art, and to juxtapose the old and the new. The colour palette was in her traditional style: ivories and blacks, with deep reds and colour thrown in. And though the collection had all the signature pieces – jackets, capes, dhotis – it all looked new. Her love of all things gothic had been replaced by a new love of baroque, adding a real vintage feel to her modern silhouettes. Fabrics were mainly light and often diaphanous, adding a sense of romance. And her stand-out technique was the use of appliqué that resembled flower petals. Khanna’s true legacy is a commitment to craft and by showing her pieces museum style, she made this evident. She may not understand commerce, and communication, but she knows the art of fashion. Sujata Assomull Sippy has been a fashion commentator for almost two decades and was the launch editor of Harper’s Bazaar India brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

FOFA R SH W IO A N R D

HERE’S NO denying the fact that fashion trends make everyone look the same. Pretty much the same can be said about fashion blogs. A few years ago, fashion bloggers were the people who led us away from the sameness of trends and showed us how to create our own sense of style. Now, however, it’s hard to tell them apart. All extol the virtues of Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter trends. All show

off pretty selfies as posing models. All are aimed at readers who think that `8,000 for a casual top is unaffordable. All? Well, like the small Gaulish village in the Asterix comic books, some fashion blogs still hold out. They boldly reject the common stereotypes. Take a look at some of the best. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

Not Just POSERS If you thought every fashion blogger out there was just a clone of the other, you’re missing out on great chroniclers of style who break free from convention by Apekshita Varshney MYTH: Fashion bloggers are rich girls showing off BUSTED BY: Aanam Chasmawala’s blog, What When Wear

Photos: MEGHA MEHTA

hasmawala is not some rich fashionista with more money than sense. She makes a living as a stylist and model, and as a contributor to other fashion blogs and magazines. “I interned, freelanced, and worked for months to be able to buy a Macbook that would help me work better,” she says. The 23-year-old mass media graduate has her eye on every trend, fabric and sequin that exists. Her blog, What When Wear, covers everything from shopping hauls to fashion previews, and styling tips to who’s wearing what. For her readers, Chasmawala’s blog is gospel. “Every year, one of my followers takes my advice on what to wear on her birthday,” she says.

BITS AND BOBS

Chasmawala’s posts zoom in on fashion’s every little detail

MYTH: Fashion blogging is totally a girl thing BUSTED BY: Purushu Arie’s blog

urushu Arie is very much a purush. And he doesn’t just write: he also models the clothes he talks about. Why? Because Arie, a graduate from the National Institute of Fashion Design, knows what he’s talking about. But he wasn’t always this comfortable with his blog. “It was a secret for the first six months,” he says. “None of my friends knew about it.” Today, his blog is about more than just fashion for men – something ignored by other fashion bloggers. It is a comprehensive commentary on trends and styles that a lot of people might find too funky. “The content on most fashion blogs is not well-researched or accurate,” complains Arie. So the desire to give bloggers a better platform to express themselves, led him and his girlfriend to start Rivista di Moda, a magazine for fashion bloggers.

AUGUST 3, 2014

MYTH: Fashion bloggers know about clothing but nothing else BUSTED BY: Swati Ailawadi’s blog, The Creative Bent

ilawadi’s blog, The Creative Bent presents a side to fashion few others have explored – the smarter side. Driven to match her blog’s content to that produced by fashion journalists, Ailawadi does much more than sign her posts with XOXO. The Creative Bent is rich with articles about why you should be an environmentally conscious fashionista and how the neon fabric you buy at a branded store comes from the poorest neighbourhoods of Delhi. She boldly criticises designers who are size-biased and addresses India’s obsession with fairness products. She also occasionally posts fashion-forward DIYs, like 15 new uses for a coat hanger. “It took time, but I got readers who wanted to read about fashion, not just see women in pretty clothes,” says Ailawadi.

MYTH: Fashion bloggers love expensive couture BUSTED BY: Gia Kashyap’s blog, Gia Says That and Aayushi Bangur’s blog, Style Drive

CHEAP AND CHIC

Gia Kashyap scouts bazaars for style treasures

more than `1,500. Meanwhile, Aayushi Bangur’s blog, Style Drive, shows you cute DIY hacks that add life to the shoes, bags and shirts you already have in your wardrobe. Her tips on hair styles, nail art and upgrading old shoes, clutches and shirts push you to be on-trend without going broke every season.

ennyWise is the title of one of the most popular sections of Gia Kashyap’s blog. Ambling through street markets around India, Kashyap highlights the wealth of low-priced fashion India has. “I want to hire writers from all over the country to document affordable nationwide street shopping,” she says. Kashyap’s online store is easy on the pocket too, nothing costs

Spike up that shirt like Bangur

MYTH: Fashion blogs are only about pouts, poses and selfies BUSTED BY: Manou’s blog, Wearabout

anou (who doesn’t use his last name) travels through India and Bhutan, shooting photos of random people on the streets who display an effortless style. “My blog is actually inspired by a Japanese photo documentary,” he says. You’ll never see Manou himself in his blog. He just posts pictures of other fashionable people in their own zones. There are no big brands, no poses, no commentaries on trends. Just a celebration of what fashion is really about: a natural sense of style.

WORD ON THE STREET

Manou doesn’t photograph himself but other people AUGUST 3, 2014

STEP 1 Gather your stuff - the shirt, the spikes, a marker, needle and matching thread STEP 2 Thread the needle and mark the spots on your fabric so you know where to sew. I wanted three lines of spikes on my pocket STEP 3 Follow the marked spots and sew each spike on. When you’re done, don’t forget to knot the loose end of the thread STEP 4: Carefully take them out when spikes go out of fashion

MYTH: Fashion bloggers are model thin BUSTED BY: Sonaksha Iyengar’s blog, The Sonshu

hy can’t fat girls rock crop tops?” asks Sonaksha Iyengar, the plus-sized blogger who refuses to wear tents just to hide her dimensions. Her blog, The Sonshu, is a respite from all those jazzed-up, Photoshop-ed posts of petite women in tiny clothes. “Yes I am fat. Let’s talk about it,” she says fearlessly. Iyengar is not merely curvy. She is fat, comfortable with it, and has an attitude like Mindy Kaling. “Brands discriminate,” she says. “Popular brands never approach fat bloggers.” But style is never about size, and Iyengar’s simple, effective style proves just that.

FOFA R SH W IO A N R D

The Runway Bridegroom Getting married this year? Want to look as fashionable as your bride on D-day? Here are new trends for men that you might want to follow – or not by Satarupa Paul

SEMI-FORMAL suit for the engagement and sangeet – check. A sherwanichuridar-dupatta ensemble for the wedding – check. A tuxedo for the night of the reception – check. A few comfy T-shirts and boxers for shagun, mehendi and all those other ‘women-only occasions’ when you can blissfully laze around an empty house while the gazillion relatives flock to the venue to dote on your would-be bride – smile and check.

Guys, if you thought you had your wedding wardrobe figured out, think again. Traditionally, women have spent long months and big bucks choosing and perfecting their trousseau with the latest designs picked fresh off the ramps. But men always had a dearth of options for D-day: it was either the ubiquitous, allpurpose suit or more recently, the Bollywood-inspired sherwanis. So we don’t blame you for looking so fashionably old-fashioned.

Since the last season however, a whole range of new trends has emerged for the bridegroom. Here are the ones that caught our attention. We also asked our jury of five stand-up comedians to comment on our five choices for men. They claim that they know nothing about fashion, but we know they are closet experts on all things stylish. So pick from our list or mix and match to suit your style and personality. Grab the limelight for a change.

DRAPES FOR DUDES

SUIT WITH A DESI TWIST

hat do you relate the word ‘drape’ with? Women and saris? Windows and curtains? How about men and dhotis? While the dhoti is traditionally worn in many parts of India in many different forms, the immaculately draped dhoti is essentially a Bengali staple. Many Bengali men recall learning to drape and manage a dhoti as one of their earliest exercises in growing up. Draping a dhoti is a ceremony that is still excitedly practised in many Bengali households during religious events and weddings. Last season, the draped dhoti and variations of it found pride of place in the wedding collection of designer Tarun Tahiliani, who teamed it with a kurta, a bundi and a cummerbund. “The last time I wore a dhoti was some 18 years back. It was not draped well and hence fell off,” says Tahiliani. His dhotis thus come with a waistband and zipper so you don’t have to fear a wardrobe malfunction on your important day. “It is contemporary, evolved and pre-draped, therefore easy to wear and perfect for the modern Indian man who is rooted in tradition, but is also used to the western notion of cut and finish,” says Tahiliani.

he dhoti makes an appearance in this look as well. If you like to play it safe and play it smart, then all you have to do is substitute the trousers of your regular suit with a dhoti. “The dhoti-suit portrays the essence of reincarnation: the modern silhouette of the suit paired with the quintessentially Indian dhoti,” says Anju Modi, the designer behind the creation. “The silhouette is quite adaptable to different body types, be it a lean or broad frame.” Deconstructed, the look has essentially the key elements of a three-piece suit – shirt and tie, waistcoat and blazer – paired with a dhoti. “A more traditional yet contemporised look would be a bandhgala jacket and long kurta worn with a dhoti. For a regal look, team the dhoti with a long shirt and embroidered jacket, and replace the tie with a cravat,” suggests Modi.

BRUNCH STYLE SCORE BRUNCH STYLE SCORE The look takes the draped dhoti to people who traditionally may not have ever worn it, but who are adventurous enough to try it with silhouettes they are comfortable with. It scores a few brownie points for evoking the elegance of another time, albeit in a modern avatar. Best for the engagement ceremony. Our stand-up comic’s verdict “This look is modern at the top and traditional at the bottom. I would totally marry my man in that outﬁt because FINALLY there will be some equality in how many metres of cloth the bride and the groom have to wear at a wedding. This will make the foreplay on suhaag raat last at least four times longer because we will both have too much material to get out of the way” - Aditi Mittal

It’s fuss-free, easy-to-wear, and can be experimented with. You can also play the look down by opting for a simpler jacket with clean detailing or play it up with printed jackets, contrasting colours and heavy embroidery. Best for the sangeet night. Our stand-up comic’s verdict “This is fabulous, a suit with a dhoti. I will surely wear this, I mean, who doesn’t want to look like a packet of 50-50 biscuits? Sweet bhi, salty bhi. So what if, in all my wedding pictures, I will look like someone has Photoshop-ed my upper torso on someone else’s dhoticlad legs.” - Rajneesh Kapoor

FOR THE MONK IN YOU

emember those flowy, airy, full-length trousers that your sisters and girlfriends have been flaunting last year and this? Bollywood’s favourite designer Manish Malhotra has taken the palazzo out of women’s closets and translated it into wedding wear for men. Don’t look shocked just yet. One of the most wearable trends to emerge this season, the palazzo is simply in keeping with the natural progression that men’s sherwanis have assumed over the years – from being paired with tight churidars to loose salwars and now flowy palazzos. “The look is simple to deconstruct: structured, traditional long kurtas with details like pleats and high collars teamed with loose palazzos,” says Malhotra. The colour palette is traditional – beige, white, ivory and maroon, with gold detailing.

N IO RD H A S W FAOR F

PLAYING THE PALAZZO

his is a bonus look that we couldn’t resist including in this style guide. After all the pomp and show of your gala wedding, if, just if, you want to renounce all your earthly attachments and go off to the Himalayas to attain nirvana, you might want to check out this look. This combination of kurta-blazer-shawl-flowy skirt/ anarkali-churidar was designed by Anju Modi last year as part of her wedding collection. “This menswear line drew inspiration from a centre of femininity, but the context was the Mahabharata and a revisitation of the traditions and essence of that period historically,” she says. “These experiments help me gauge who an ‘Anju Modi’ man is. It was well accepted last season and that is what led us to experiment with the dhoti-suit this season.”

BRUNCH STYLE SCORE BRUNCH STYLE SCORE It’s a clean silhouette that can easily be adapted off the ramp, and is close to the popular sherwani-salwar trend of the last couple of seasons, which means it can be effortlessly accepted in even the strictest of men’s wardrobes. It will blend in with the sherwanis your friends will be wearing, yet you’ll stand out with those flowy trousers. Best for your wedding day. Our stand-up comic’s verdict “The pants look like a great fit for people who have elephantine calves. I also like how they flare out at the bottom, offering more room than the average Bombay apartment. Would I wear it to my wedding? Probably not, since I’m pretty sure I’ll marry my TV, and it’ll be a T-shirt-andboxers-only affair” - Ashish Shakya

We believe it is the perfect ensemble to make your exit from worldly pleasures but with one last style statement that your loved ones will remember you by. Best for soul searching minus a soulmate. Our stand-up comic’s verdict “It’s a lovely expression of a man in touch with his feminine side. If the groom bolts, there will be a whole new meaning to skirt-chasing. India is all about propagation of the species and the skirts will keep the family jewels well-aired to do it. But there’s no way a man wearing this can sit astride a horse. Somehow, I have never fantasised over a man riding towards me sitting side-saddle!” - Neeti Palta

BRUNCH STYLE SCORE

ALL HAIL FLOWER POWER

n the last day of your wedding celebrations, go all out and play the baroque dandy if you dare. The most boisterous trend for men to come out this season has to be Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s bandhgalas and structured jackets with slim (not skinny) trousers. Sounds harmless so far? Check out the accompanying photo and you will understand why we are slightly sceptical about this collection. The ensembles come in floral prints in a range of shades from subtle pastels to eye-catching reds and oranges. “I wanted to do slightly tipsy, overbearing menswear without smothering them with too much embroidery. There was a near schizophrenic quality to the clothing, but the silhouettes kept them extremely wearable,” Mukherjee says. Not every man’s cup of tea then? He disagrees, “I think we underestimate the Indian man. Our maharajas and many countrymen from the past were the original dandies. The spirit of decoration and exuberance still remains dormant in the Indian male’s psyche. I would not be surprised if this trend becomes a commercial success in the country.”

We love the prints and we love the fit of the garments, we just don’t love them together in one ensemble from neck to ankle. What we would love is a man who could wear that look and come out looking like a god! Best for the formal reception. Our stand-up comic’s verdict “The colours in this look like photosynthesis gone wrong. Or like something you’d see in the Great Barrier Reef. Very lovely coral. Probably modelled on Coral Gracias. I think if you were to spy on an aquatic creature, this would be wonderful camouflage. I could fit into Bikini Bottom! The floral arrangement is a bit tight in the crotch area. Very tight, in fact. If I wore it on my wedding day, I’m pretty sure I’d have my suhag raat with my suit, not my wife” - Sorabh Pant satarupa.paul@hindustantimes.com Follow @satarupapaul on Twitter

AUGUST 3, 2014

THE BOOK: The Girl With All The Gifts by MR Carey THE GIST: A desolate Britain, destroyed by a zombie apocalypse. A small number of human beings are holding out against the undead at a fortified army base of sorts. This is also home to children infected with the zombie fungus (but who retain the ability to think rationally, learn and react to most human emotions). Melanie, a 10-year-old kid, is living out her routine life as a test subject for scientists trying to find a cure. Until an incident forces them to leave the base. READ IT FOR: An interesting zombie back story. The ‘hungries’ have all been infected by Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, an actual fungus. Here, it attaches itself to a host body (ants usually), kills the ant but continues to grow. Then the fungal spores burst and latch on to other unfortunate ants. Pretty cool, right? And the way this fungus hops over species, infecting human beings is cooler still. QUICK REVIEW: It’s difficult to shove past clichés when writing horror (more so if you narrow it down to a niche – like zombie novels) but this is a commendable departure from the usual. CAUTION: Predictably, there is scientific insight and jargon. And a subtext of science vs morality. BEST LINES: You can’t save people from the world. There’s nowhere by Asad Ali else to take them.

From The he Biblio Files

BOO

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A thrilling novel about zombies

BRUNCH BOOK CLUB

BRU

CHALLE

We’ve been eating our way through the ever-expanding pile of books on the Brunch bookshelf. Sample these compiled by Saudamini Jain

Hands down, this is the book of the month THE BOOK: No Country by Kalyan Ray THE GIST: It is the year 1989 and twin murders unfold with surprising calm on the first page of this book. Then the novel draws you in, lightly by the hand at first and then with a kind of magnetism that drags you – headfirst – across two continents over two centuries, chasing two bloodlines through potato fields in Ireland, mangrove forests in Bengal, the tomb of a pir in Dhaka, Calcutta at Partition, an iceberg in the Atlantic and, incredibly, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. This is a book about homes, lost and found, and the journeys to their reclamation; this is a book about the yearning for an identity; this is a book about what it means to belong to a country. QUICK REVIEW: In his beautiful voice, Ray has created characters

that seem to glow out the pages with their humanness, each voice fragile and strong at once, grappling with its own set of heartache and history. READ THIS IF: You’re into masterful storytelling, gripping narratives and/or love books in general. CAUTION: This is a book that WILL take its time and only when it’s done with you, some 50 hours later, will you emerge – dazed, bruised, stronger and irrevocably in love. BEST LINES: If I think of nations, it is when they are misbehaving, or are playing sports like good boys. What does it mean to belong to a nation? Is it the accident of birth? Is it a memory, a yearning for some obscure stamp on the soul, some tune that plays in the blood? Or is it what others insist you are – painting your corner of the room by Richa around you?

The one with the powerful protagonist THE BOOK: The Legend of Ramulamma by Vithal Rajan THE GIST: A poor, widowed Dalit midwife in a village in the Deccan relies on her political acumen, flair for drama and shrewdness to deliver the poor from injustice, bring powerful landlords to book and navigate her way around the system cleverly. The 12 stories in the book give us a window to her colourful life and all the flavours of the village around her. QUICK REVIEW: The book is simple, in terms of language and content, but nuanced. The characters are all well-defined and loaded with perspective. And the many sides of Ramulamma – caring, fiercely loyal, clever, a drama queen, naïve, shrewd and a fantastic liar – make her a deliciously fleshed-out character. READ IF YOU LIKE: RK Narayan and his fictional village of Malgudi CAUTION: While the author tries delving into the deeply complex and often inter-connected problems in society, most situations get resolved a little too easily. And as much as we all love happy endings, the sheer simplicity of it all starts to ring false. BEST LINES: Ramulamma had known the sub-inspector for a long time, but no one in his right mind would say they were friends – that accusation would have been rejected by both with contempt. by Jyotsna Raman

Why Ashwin Sanghi and James Patterson should write a Bollywood thriller James Patterson is an internationally bestselling author, whose thrillers have sold more than 300 million copies. Ashwin Sanghi is an Indian Dan Brown and has struck gold in recent years with his mythology-laced thrillers The Rozabal Line and the Krishna Key. In a high-proﬁle collaboration, the two brought us Private India, the eighth installment of Patterson’s Private series in which ace sleuth Jack Morgan collaborates with local detectives from various nations. Private India is set in Mumbai. A devious serial killer on the loose. The twist: the murders are connected to Indian mythology. Bodies turn up as caricatures of the nine incarnations of goddess Durga. We think the “joint

AUGUST 3, 2014

effort” would have been better served penning a Bollywood screenplay. Here’s why: 1. Everything in the book is over the top. The detective agency is the world’s largest, and has gleaming labs with high tech equipment and techies who can hack into any database except remove their own identiﬁcation chips. The perfect lab for the perfect hero. 2. The writing brings together all the clichés about Mumbai: Bollywood, the police and the underworld. Corrupt cop – check. Damsel in distress – check. Don with a heart of gold – check. Female cardboard cutout characters – check. The murdered director and the singer both are eerily reminiscent of Jacqueline Fernandez’s “character” in Kick – they exist to further the hero’s courageous exploits. 3. The unlikely hero is (surprise!) a troubled cop with an all-too-familiar backstory. There is family

tragedy, the protagonist blames himself for it, and has eyes “that had seen too much pain”. Remember Talaash, anyone? Of course, Sanghi has thrown in a hint of adultery. 4. The underworld is not such a bad place. The don almost kills a terrorist who asks for a consignment of RDX. “I may have my faults but I don’t do business with terrorists,” he says, making it clear he won’t support an “attack on Indian soil”. Sallu – the evergreen Robin Hood – would approve. 5. Bizzare ﬁght sequences. Atop Mumbai’s Tower of Silence between a cop and a detective who hides a sword inside his cane. Vultures circle overhead and eventually eat the body of the vanquished corrupt cop, who falls into a death pit after losing his balance. by Dhruba Jyoti Purkait

FINE PRINT

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Obsessed With Young-Adult Stories? Why don’t you write one too? The tales that have turned bestsellers and blockbusters sound similar enough... by Aparna Sunderasan

OU’VE BEEN running a lot lately. You don’t know why, but you know that if you stop, something bad might happen. *Whispers follow you wherever you go. People stare or gasp at the sight of you. And somehow everyone knows your name, even though you are not on TV. *You have enemies you never knew existed. You bought a chocolate cake for a friend’s birthday and ninjas tried to break into your house later that night. If none of this sounds insane, you’ve probably been reading too many fantasy adventure novels aimed at the not-quite-grownups. So how do you write your own? Follow these cliches and prepare for adventure.

Start With A Prophecy

Like all great heroes – Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, among others – life is complex, chaotic and dangerous because someone out there has identified the hero as The Chosen One. In real life, a soothsayer probably declared to your parents that they would bear either an engineer or a doctor or an heir to the family business. Forge your own path and write a book... about a hero whose path came pre-forged.

Give The Hero A Life That’s Full Of Gloom

Being a parent in the young adult world is a perilous job. Consider the casualty rate: Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) lost her father to an accident in a coal mine. Tris (Divergent) lost her rebel parents to the system. Harry Potter’s folks died trying to save him. Worse, Bella Swan’s dad, just didn’t “get” her (the Twilight series). Give your protagonist a life that makes escape worthwhile. Nothing gets young adults excited like escape from cold, hard reality.

Make The BFF A Know-It-All

How else will your hero coast through life without doing the dirty work himself ? Percy Jackson had the brainy Annabeth Chase, Harry Potter had the brainer Hermione Granger, even those girls from the books had to go to the library for plot details. Geeky sidekick = less reason for you to drone on in narration.

Turn Your World Into A Dystopia Or A Magical Realm Or Both

Everything seems like it’s coming apart. A ruthless dictator controls everything. Throw in vampires, werewolves, elves and trolls. But make the biggest threats the school bully and the ones with money.

Ensure That Love Problems Are Bigger Than The World’s Problems

“We’re all gonna die! Wait. Let me kiss first!” If, in the midst of all the discovering, slaying and camping out in the wild, your characters find time for love, your book will be the stuff of legend. If it’s a love triangle, even more so.

Get Them To Save The World!

Because in a brave new world of no parental supervision, who else is going to save us all? The qualified and experienced adults are morons anyway, right? Or traitorous, mistrusting or evil. Your heroes will just do it themselves. Young adult life can be, like, so unfair! brunchletters@ hindustantimes.com

PERSONAL AGENDA

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Actor

Sushmita Sen BIRTHDAY PLACE OF BIRTH SCHOOL

November 19

Hyderabad

Kendiya Vidyalayas across India, Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute, Delhi

SUN SIGN HOMETOWN Scorpio

I’ve lived all over India

HIGH POINT OF YOUR LIFE

The ones that come after every low point

They come after every high too

Photo: PAYAL KUMAR

how to do nothing

current state of mind. All of me by John Legend. Your favourite co-star for a romantic film. Shah Rukh and Salman. The biggest surprise you gave someone. The best surprise to give anyone is to love them back. Your favourite street food. Dahi papdi, pani puri and dry bhel. The best thing about Delhi is... The hot chocolate fudge from Nirula’s. What turns you on? A cultured man. What makes your day? Hearing the word Maa every morning. It’s the word that tells me my day’s going to be great because it’s started on the right note. You destress by... Hanging upside down on aerial silk. The last line of your autobiography would read... “It’s the end of the life of the caterpillar, whom God calls a butterfly.” — Interviewed by Veenu Singh

AUGUST 3, 2014

FILMS YOU HAVE SEEN MORE THAN FIVE TIMES.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995) and Pretty Woman (1990)

my movies

Rohit Shetty

The day I was born

LOW POINT OF YOUR CURRENTLY I AM... LIFE Everything and learning

If you weren’t an actress, you would have been... Everything I am today. One classic film you would have loved to be part of. Cleopatra (1963). Has motherhood changed you in any way? If I have to put in one word: completely. Change isn’t even the right word, it has made me evolve. Bollywood’s sexiest actor. Arjun Rampal. And the fittest. Also Arjun Rampal. The best thing about working with Shah Rukh Khan. The chemistry we share. A black sari or a little black dress, which works for you? It depends on the man who is looking at me. One outfit that you have been criticised or praised for. I was praised for a red sari. If you were the editor of a magazine, who would you put on the cover? Angelina Jolie. She is the one who inspires me. The best thing about writing poetry. Allowing yourself to feel. The craziest thing a fan’s done for you. He wrote me multiple letters with blood. I finally had to get him arrested to save his life. A dessert that best describes you. Mishti doi or Bengali bonde. One song that describes your

A DIRECTOR YOU REALLY WANT TO WORK WITH.

FIRST BREAK

THE MOST OVERRATED FILM.

I don’t rate films

THE MOST PAISA VASOOL FILM.

It would have been my film, Paisa Vasool (2004), had it not flopped A MOVIE THAT WAS A PART OF YOUR CHILDHOOD.

Satte Pe Satta (1982)

THE FIRST MOVIE YOU SAW ON THE BIG SCREEN.

I don’t remember