WEEKLY MAGAZINE, APRIL 6, 2014 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times
A day before the nation goes to the polls, a look at the wackier side of the world’s largest democracy!
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BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
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Apples And Oranges
compiled by Abhilasha Gupta
THE ELECTION IN-QUIZ-ITION We Asked: Who is the current chief minister of Delhi? They said: “Arvind
Kejriwal” “No one” “Adrishya Kejriwal” We Asked: What is the upper house of Parliament? They said: “First floor!” The correct answer: The
Rajya Sabha
The correct answer: The
capital is under President’s rule until a new chief minister is elected
We Asked: Who elects the President of India? They said: “We do!!”
We Asked: How did people vote before the Electronic Voting Machine? They said: “They didn’t!”
“They voted using their thumb print”
The correct answer: The President is indirectly elected by the people through elected members of the Parliament of India (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha), as well as members of the state legislatures
Ballot papers were used for people to cast their vote
“The Parliament”,“In his own house”,“India Gate”
Oh, Grow Up!
THE BOOK: Aristotle And Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz THE GIST: Long title, short book. Coming of age, plus coming out. ONE-LINE REVIEW: No sap, but so easy to read, sa you’ll wish you were a teen yo in love. CAUTION: Two kisses! CA BE BEST LINE: “The problem with my life was it was someone else’s idea.”
“When people start voting”
Democratic Party”,“BSP is Bihar Shakti Party” Nobody knew the others
The correct answer:
The correct answer: JDP is the Jharkhand Disom Party; BSP is the Bahujan Samaj Party; DMK is the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam; and AIADMK is the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The correct answer:
The BJP confirmed to field its PM candidate, Narendra Modi from Varanasi – plus, it has become the battleground for the Modi-Kejriwal tussle
Tomorrow! The first phase begins on April 7
We Asked: Where is Sheila Dikshit now? They said: “Don’t know”
“Chilling in Delhi” “Nobody knows that” The correct answer:
We Asked: When were the last general elections? They said: Didn’t they
We Asked: Where does the Prime Minister of India stay? They said: “Teen Murti Bhavan”,
The Book Club
Ganga in Varanasi has become very polluted” “Gender issues, because of the increasing number of ‘kothewalis’”
Serving as the governor of Kerala
The correct answer:
by Rachel Lopez
We Asked: Why is Varanasi in the news right now? They said: “Because
India goes to the polls starting tomorrow. So we asked college kids, many of them first-time voters, about what’s happening. Their answers We Asked: When hurt so much, we almost cried do the Lok Sabha elections We Asked: What are the full forms of begin? JDP, BSP, DMK, AIADMK? They said: They said: “JDP is Jharkhand
happen just now?
The correct answer: 2009 The correct answer: 7, Race Course Road
On The Brunch Radar
LOVE IT
n Billy Joel and Jimmy Fallon singing
The Lion Sleeps Tonight n That sex workers were so furious with Nagesh Kukunoor’s character, a pimp, and so moved by his film, Lakshmi that they swore at him and wanted to beat him up at the special screening of the film. n That Facebook is experimenting with drones to provide Internet connectivity across the world n People sending you self-help books out of concern n Kimye! (Best guilty pleasure, ever!)
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 — TS Bharat: t.bharat@hindustantimes.com
APRIL 6, 2014
The correct answer: 28 and
seven union territories
by Saudamini Jain n Holi without any photos n Accusing the Big B of promoting ghosts. Come on! n Waiting for your visa n That you can no longer eat ice-cream at India Gate after midnight n Shreya Sethuraman (she’s leaving Brunch)
Cover illustrations: JAYANTO
SHOVE IT
We Asked: Name the seven sisters. They said: “Mamata Banerjee,
Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Jayalalithaa, Sarojini Naidu, Priyanka Vadra, Mayawati. Haha” We Asked: Which finger do they apply the ink on? They said: “They apply
it on the nail and not the finger” “The middle finger” The correct answer: The index finger of the left hand
We Asked: How many states does India have? They said: “23”,
“24”,“25”,“26”, “27”,“28”,“29”, “30”
HOW TO READ 24 BOOKS (OR MORE) IN ONE YEAR
The correct answer:
The cluster of the seven north-eastern states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura
We Asked: What does CPI stand for? They said: Consum-
er Price Index
The correct answer:
Communist Party of India Photos: THINKSTOCK, SHUTTERSTOCK
THE BR BRUNCH BOOK CHALLENGE
So April Ap is here, and if her you started at the vvery beginning, yyou should have been through at least six books. And we’re proud to announce that most of you have (including many of those who joined the #BrunchBookChallenge late). Here’s a shoutout to people who’re
on top of the #BrunchBookChallenge Our top-of-the-line champions for this month are: Abhinav Chakraborty @AbhinavCJ (Book 19) Otklyuchen Mechtatel @ToskaSaudade (book 24) Saloni Sharma @MinimallyMeh (book 20) Devil Diva @Dhriti19 (book 18) Great going, you guys!
#BrunchBookChallenge
The Brunch Book Challenge is an @HTBrunch initiative to get readers to read at least 24 books in 2014. Read anything you like, just keep us posted. Tweet your progress to @HTBrunch with the hashtag #BrunchBookChallenge
EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Rachel Lopez, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna, Yashica Dutt, Amrah Ashraf, Saudamini Jain, Shreya Sethuraman
DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor, Design), Monica Gupta, Swati Chakrabarti, Payal Dighe Karkhanis, Rakesh Kumar, Ajay Aggarwal
Drop us a line at: brunchletters@hindustantimes.com or to 18-20 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001
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WELLNESS
MIND BODY SOUL SHIKHA SHARMA
KNOW YOUR NUTRIENTS
Vitamins and minerals are essential for our health. Get to know them better
V
ITAMINS AND minerals are often called micronutrients because the body needs only tiny amounts of them, but to miss even those small quantities is disastrous.
VITAMINS
They also perform these vital functions: n Build bones and protect vision. n Interact favourably with other nutrients. Without vitamin E, your body can’t absorb and store vitamin A. Get your fat-soluble vitamins from chicken, whole milk and eggs, fish, tuna, avocados, nuts, whole grain and exposure to the morning sun.
MINERALS
The body needs, and stores fairThey are either water- or ly large amounts of the major fat-soluble. Vitamin C and the minerals, which travel through B-complex are water soluthe body in various ways. ble. Here’s what they do: Potassium, for example, n Release energy to is quickly absorbed improve digestion and into the bloodstream metabolism. and is excreted by the n Produce energy for kidneys, much like a many body functions. water-soluble vitamin. n Build proteins and C FOR COLOUR Trace minerals carry For Vitamin C pick tomacells. And also help out various tasks: toes and citrus fruits cells multiply. n Iron is best known n Make collagen, for ferrying oxygen which knits together through the body. wounds, supports blood vessel n Fluoride builds bones and walls, and forms a base for wards off tooth decay. teeth and bones. n Zinc helps blood clot and Get your B vitamins from helps your sense of taste and green leafy vegetables, citrus smell. fruits, beans, nuts, oats milk, n Copper helps form many legumes, fish, soya bean and enzymes. eggs. For Vitamin C, eat more Get your dose of minerals from citrus fruits, tomatoes, spinach, wholegrains, soy milk, almonds, potatoes, amla, berries, green walnuts, beans, peas and dark and red peppers, and green leafy vegetables broccoli. such as spinach. Food Vitamin K, D, E is the best source and A are fat soluof vitamins and ble. They keep our minerals. But if you GO NUTS eyes, skin, lungs, gastake supplements, don’t Walnuts are rich in trointestinal tract and exceed safe levels. essential minerals nervous system working. ask@drshikha.com Photos: IMAGESBAZAAR, THINKSTOCK
MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Dr Shikha Sharma and other wellness stories, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch APRIL 6, 2014
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COVER STORY
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ANTO Illustrations: JAY
As the world’s largest democratic exercise starts tomorrow, we bring you the action from the most colourful constituencies and candidates by Team Brunch
T
HE GREAT Indian Election Carnival is in town again. Even as the mind boggles at the sheer size of the democratic exercise, you can’t miss the cacophony, the candour and the colourful candidates across 543 constituencies. At Brunch, we take a light-hearted, irreverent look at the Greatest Show on Earth and figure out the big guys, the new players, the entertainers, the athletes and the other jokers in the pack. We've also done some jugglery of our
THE DATES
Polling dates
The sheer scale of the Indian general elections is mindboggling. We’ve done the numbercrunching so that you can figure out the figures
April 7 May 12 Poll verdict
May 16
own, with the HT Brunch political awards, a bit of crystal gazing, who might have what ringtones this poll season, the online wars, the election symbols still up for grabs, who's wearing what, the ink you can't get rid of, what to do on polling day – and much more! Irrespective of who has the last laugh when the results are declared next month, there can be no shortage of controversy, colour or entertainment in the Indian election hullaballoo. Yes, it happens only in India!
THE NUMBER OF...
9 Phases
Spread over 36 days. The 2009 polls were held in five phases from April 16 to May 13 (27 days)
Constituencies
First-time voters in crores
543 2.3 Voters in crores
81.4 the number has risen from 71.4 crores in 2009 and 67.1 crores in 2005
Election personnel likely to be deployed more than
1.1 crore
Polling stations
9,30,000 Electronic voting machines
14,68,430 Vials of indelible ink (10ml) likely to be used this time
2.2 million Source: ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
APRIL 6, 2014
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SACHIN PILOT, 36 Indian National Congress Constituency: Ajmer, names in t es gg bi e th of of some y ad Rajasthan re al ’ve See a new side ho w t among those Did you know? The the fray (at leas ats). Think you already know r se young, good-looking announced thei ... d we! And then Parliamentarian is a them well? So di keen sportsperson with a decent record in pistol shooting. And he likes flying light aircraft, RAHUL GANDHI, 43 enjoys theatre and travelling. Indian National Congress SALMAN KHURSHID, 61 Constituency: Amethi, Uttar Indian National Congress Pradesh Constituency: Farrukhabad, Did you know? Every year, the Uttar Pradesh eligible bachelor reportedly goes Did you know? When he was to Myanmar to meditate in a studying English Literature in monastery. The Lok Sabha site Delhi University’s St Stephen’s lists Rahul’s sporting interests College, Khurshid was known as as “scuba diving, swimming, an all-rounder. He was an NCC cycling and playing squash” and cadet, cricketer and presented his preferred leisure pastimes shows on All India Radio’s Yuv as “reading, playing chess and Vani service. Sons of Babur, a play flying.” Outside the political that Khurshid wrote, has been arena, he has been spotted at translated into many languages. cricket matches, farmhouse parties, upscale gyms and tony MULAYAM SINGH restaurants.
NARENDRA MODI, 63
Bharatiya Janata Party Constituencies: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara, Gujarat Did you know? Apparently the Gujarat CM has a thing for style. He believes in mixing pyjamas and short-sleeved kurtas with Texan hats, jeans and T-shirts. His collection of hats isn’t likely to have a Kejriwal cap though!
ARUN JAITLEY, 61
Bharatiya Janata Party Constituency: Amritsar, Punjab Did you know? The former highprofile Supreme Court lawyer is fond of tasteful watches and fountain pens, and voraciously blogs every day from his iPad, even when he is on the campaign trail.
LARGEST CONSTITUENCIES
Area-wise Ladakh, 1,73,266.37 sq.km Voter-wise Outer Delhi SMALLEST CONSTITUENCIES
Area-wise Chandni Chowk, 10.59 sq.km Voter-wise Lakshadweep
YADAV, 75
Samajwadi Party Constituencies: Mainpuri and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh Did you know? Inspired and influenced by Socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, Mulayam was the district champion in
Lyrics that could be the tas ringtones of some ne LK ADVANI Dil to bachcha hai ji (Ishqiya) MAMATA BANERJEE odega? (Prem Yeh laal rang kab mujhe chh Nagar) JASWANT SINGH anush) Dil aisa kisi ne mera toda (Am AL ARVIND KEJRIW rat) Saare niyam tod do (Khoobsu AV YAD LALU PRASAD of Wasseypur) Jiya ho Bihar ke lala (Gangs
PRAKASH KARAT ra Naam Joker) Jaane kahan gaye woh din (Me RAKHI BIRLA Tirchi topi wale (Tridev) KUMAR VISHWAS Main shayar toh nahin (Bobby) SMRITI IRANI dum (Rocky) Aa dekhen zara kisme kitna hai
P C SORCAR aankhon mei Leke pehla pehla pyaar bharke koi jaadugar hai aaya se ri nag u jaad ar khum (C.I.D) AKHILESH YADAV karega (Qayamat Papa kehte hain bada naam Se Qayamat Tak)
lightweight wrestling. Netaji was once pehelwanji!
KAPIL SIBAL, 65
Indian National Congress Constituency: Chandni Chowk, Delhi Did you know? The successful lawyer is a keen poet. Apart from a book of poetry (I Witness: Partial Observations), which evoked mixed reviews, the former lawyer has taken to airing his compositions on Twitter. Sample this: 30 days, 84 tweets, They say I’ve reached over 2cr peeps. As much I am on this medium sold, I gather all that twitters isn’t gold.
SUSHMA SWARAJ, 61
Bharatiya Janata Party Constituency: Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh Did you know? She often quotes Hindi poetry in her speeches. Swaraj invoked Bashir Badr in Parliament with: “Tumhe wafa yaad nahi, humein jafa yaad nahi,” in response to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying “Humko hai unse wafa ki umeed, jo nahi jaante wafa kya hai.”
LK ADVANI, 86
Bharatiya Janata Party Constituency: Gandhinagar, Gujarat y Did you know? Passionate about Boll Bollywood, Advani is known to host pr previews of Shah Rukh films. He w worked as the film critic of the right-wing magazine, ma Organiser.
ARVIND KEJRIWAL, 46 AR
Aam Aadmi P Party Constituency: Varanasi Constituenc Did y you know? The Magsaysay award winner for 2006 was aw born on Janmashtami and his bor grandparents first named him gr Krishna. Also Also, the WagonR that made headlines has been donated dona by party workers.
VOTERS: THE GENDER DIVIDE
Male
52.4% Female
47.6%
Source: ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
APRIL 6, 2014
There’s no better way to entice voters than with celeb candidates n Gul Panag, 35, actress, AAP, Chandigarh: It’ll take some major offroading for soni kudi Gul to get her political career on track and the other Sikhni, Kirron Kher, off track. n Kirron Kher, 58, actress, BJP, Chandigarh: The aggressive Punjabi faces opposition from her Congress counterpart, Pawan Bansal, “young” Gul, and her own party workers in Chandigarh. Will those ornate saris help? n Ravi Kishan, 42, actor, Congress, Jaunpur, UP: He’s popular, has chutzpah, and he’s from the heartland. But Congress is not in robust shape in his constituency. Ka hoibe, babua? n Manoj Tiwari, 41, actor, BJP, Northeast Delhi: He’ll need to bring out a few more Hanuman Chalisa music CDs before the lord helps him charm the Purvanchalis. n Moon Moon Sen, 65, actress, Trinamool Congress, Bankura, West Bengal: Better known as Bengali screen icon Suchitra Sen’s daughter, Moon Moon’s fight against stalwart Basudeb Acharya of the CPM may not be easy. Time to switch on the mishti doi charm. n Biswajit, 77, actor, Trinamool Congress, New Delhi: He could always try singing Beqarar kar ke hame yun na jaiye… to woo the bhadraloks of Chitaranjan Park. n Shatrughan Sinha, 67, actor, politician, BJP, Patna Sahib, Bihar: Very active politically, the Bollywood star has to deal with infighting within his own party. He should just roar at them, “Khamosh!” n Nagma, 39, actress, Congress, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh: Glamorous Nagma may have an edge in Muslim-dominated Meerut (even if no one can recall her films). But can she be more than a pretty face? n Raj Babbar, 61, actor, politician, Congress, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh: He’s facing a former Army chief and a former TV journalist. But he’s also a former Bollywood hero, isn’t he? n Prakash Jha, 62, filmmaker, JD (U), West Champaran, Bihar: The goodwill of Nitish Kumar may not translate into any aarakshan of votes for Jha. He’s lost before! n Omkar Das Manikpuri, 43, actor, AAP, Chhattisgarh: Peepli [Live]’s Natha needs to get back his reel wit and innocence to become a real hero in his hometown. n Hema Malini, 65, actresspolitician, BJP, Mathura, UP: Hema’s Radha act could help in this traditionally BJP seat. But Mathura is a long way from Tamil Nadu – or Mumbai. n Vinod Khanna, 67, actor-politician, BJP, Gurdaspur, Punjab: He may have to invoke his guru Osho Rajneesh once again to generate love for him amongst his voters. n Rakhi Sawant, 35, actress-item girl, Independent, Mumbai North-West: By her own admission, she is here to add spice to the elections. Her war cry: media bulao, media! n Paresh Rawal, 63, BJP, Ahmedabad East, Gujarat: This is the veteran actor’s ‘Oh! My Modi’ moment. But opposition to his candidature from within BJP can create a lot of hera pheri.
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COVER STORY
’ 50 posts ng in other ways. They’ll ‘like rs ’t vote have no problem voti yea don five t who nex ple the peo t for Mos live . we tion ...As if that’s ever a solu can arguably decide how ant t that mighty mark of ink that on Facebook, but don’t wan Yukti Sehgal, brand consult ia professional I e med aus ta, bec ply Gup ha sim Ric I don’t vote her thing. Udit Kulshretha, photograp logy I’ve never voted. I hate politics to the core. know it won’t add up to any ideo ind Arv d like ly real I I don’t vote because I see no ally the Indian initi ut w, abo eho ist sim Som pes a is I’m that te ly hurt. I’m glad I or political party or candida t. (Kejriwal) and then I felt bad ietal rything from far. governmen you can use NOTA, capable of bringing about soc : But didn’t vote. I like to watch eve ticipate in nch Bru reform. Brunch: Then how do you par can’t you? in Brunch: What about NOTA? my democracy? YS: Yes, but I don’t believe te ’t was to don t I wan but I er ld fath wou y my Wh : with wds, UK gs cro in thin or uss ues disc I que : in RG e ding stan re is som port anyone. I debate sup time on NOTA? The day the and . ard nge forw cha e a com for waiting k at the politician who is willing to wor . with people but I don’t vote. day ground level, I will vote that
A footballer, a shooter and two cricketers are vying to enter Parliament
Clothes make a man, but at election time, they make a party too. While some political dress codes, like the Gandhi topi and the Nehru jacket, have always been around, there are new sartorial symbols in our netas’ wardrobes. We bring you a few of them The big bindi or tilak It’s the elaborate tilak, blood-red sindoor, prominent bindi or just a simple saffron mark for most BJPwallahs, men and women.
Smriti Irani and Vasundhara Raje The salwar kameez When it comes to women in politics, saris are generally the go-to option, be it Jayalalithaa’s numerous silks, Sonia Gandhi’s Bagru prints or Vasundhara Raje’s floral chiffons. Even Mamata Banerjee’s trademark dishevelled outfit of choice is a white cotton sari. But many of AAP’s women candidates, whether it's Shazia Ilmi or Rakhi Birla are seen campaigning in salwar kameezes instead. (Did someone say Behenji?)
The trouser-shirt It’s rare to see a politician in half-sleeved office-type shirts, the sartorial choice for a large section of men in country. But AAP is an exception. We saw the ubiquitous muffler that Arvind Kejriwal sported all through this winter, as well as Yogendra Yadav’s equally visible gamcha. And most of the AAP men (starting with Kejriwal), such as Kumar Vishwas and Ashutosh, are usually seen in shirts and trousers. The black Nehru jacket Made popular by our first Prime Minister, Nehru jackets have been the de-facto uniform for many politicians hoping to come across as suave but still old-school.
Adopted across parties, it’s difficult to distinguish a politician’s party from his Nehru jacket. But it appears that the Congress has popularised a subtle subclause to the trend: the black version. Be it Rahul Gandhi, Kapil Sibal, or Digvijay Singh, they have all been seen campaigning in the black garment.
Yogendra Yadav
Rahul Gandhi
n BHAICHUNG BHUTIA Darjeeling, TMC India’s best-known footballer kicks off a new ball game against BJP’s SS Ahluwalia on a Trinamool ticket. Little-known fact: He met his wife, Madhuri, when she was working with a Delhi five-star hotel. The two are now proud parents of twins, a boy and a girl. n MOHAMMAD AZHARUDDIN Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Congress Apart from captaining India for years, the right-hand batsman was one of India’s best slip fielders. His bucket-like hands never let a snick slip by. So, when Congress asked the Hyderabadi to field in a new state, Rajasthan, after Uttar Pradesh, he was game. Great catch, Ajju! Grey zone: Azhar was banned for life by the BCCI for alleged match-fixing in 2000. In November 2012, the Andhra Pradesh High Court declared the life ban illegal. n MOHD KAIF Phulpur, Congress Dependable batsman and livewire fielder, Kaif’s Kodak moment came during the 2002 NatWest series, when he helped India chase 326. Now, in his innings as politician, one hopes Kaif has a longer run than cricket, where his luck ran out after 13 Test matches. Will Phulpur’s voters shower him with bouquets or brick-bats? Little-known fact: Kaif’s dad Mohammad Tarif played for Railways for many years and brother Saif represented Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy. n RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE Jaipur Rural, BJP The first sportsperson in independent India to bag an individual silver at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Little-known fact: The dapper athlete was spotted at designer Raghavendra Rathore’s show at a fashion week. But the two of them are not related.
It isn’t quite the Oscars or the Emmies, but politicos do make for award winners! The Cholbe Na Mamta Banerjee Award: To Arvind Kejriwal for being such an indefatigable protester. Instituted in the name of the feisty street fighter-turned-CM from Bengal, who threatened to make a news, sorry, noose, out of her shawl during one of the demonstrations. What is this sublime affinity between mufflers, shawls and activists? The Dal Badlu Award: To Ram Vilas Paswan for proving that strange saying which involves politicians and bed-fellows.
Paswan left the NDA, joined the UPA and again joined the NDA, all within a span of slightly more than a decade. The Ab Tak Chhappan Award: To Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. He said at a rally in Uttar Pradesh that it would take a 56-inch chhaati to turn the state into Gujarat. Former pehelwan Mulayam is thumping his chest in retaliation. The Easy Migrant Award/Rajya Sabha TV National Integration Award: To Mohammad Azharuddin for setting up homes in Hyderabad
Illustrations: JAYANTO
APRIL 6,2014
and Mumbai, winning elections from Uttar Pradesh and now throwing his hat into the Lok Sabha ring, for the second time, from Rajasthan. Clearly Ajju bhai is not averse to batting on an alien wicket! The Chandni Chowk to China Award: Jointly to Harsh Vardhan and Kapil Sibal of the BJP and Congress respectively, for promising the moon and the attendant chandni to residents of the Old Delhi constituency. Will the new MP decongest Delhi-6, the way politicians promised Mumbai would be turned into a Shanghai?
In 50 years, maybe... The Johri Bazaar Award: To the BJP for fielding Bappi Lahiri, the man with the golden Gaan, from Jadhavpur. It’s just that customs and CISF personnel are dreading the thought that Bappi Da could come to Delhi for the swearing in and have to pass through a metal detector! The Hum AAP-ke Hain Koun Award: To Kumar Vishwas of the Aam Aadmi Party. Whether it is taking jibes at Kerala nurses or making other politically incorrect comments, he has made it a habit of planting his foot into his
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I
COVER STORY
t’s the one time you’re happy to have ink on your finger. The indelible ink, also called voter’s ink, which is stamped on the voter’s index finger as proof that he or she has voted, is no ordinary paint. “It’s a way of eliminating fake voting,” says Rajesh Malhotra from the Election Commission of India. “Once a person has voted, she or he cannot vote again as
the ink cannot be On removed by any a voter’s finger, chemical, deterthe ink is applied as a gents or oil. Also line from the top edge of the nail to the bottom because it is of the first joint of the left photosensitive, forefinger. This was first it reappears if done on February 1, 2006. someone tries to Earlier, it was applied erase it. It takes on the joint of the nail three weeks to a and skin month, depending bod temperaon your body ture, for it to go away.” Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited (in association with the Election Commission of n A day or two before voting in you India, National Physical look for your name and the loca r area starts, tion of the Laboratory and National polling booth in your area on the Chief Election Officer’s (CEO’s) website. Log Research Development onto the Election Commission website to find Corporation), a Govlinks to each state’s CEO’s website. A helpline call ernment of Karnaer centre number is also listed, so you can text and taka under undertaking, is the ask for location specifics. little-known company in little-kno n Park 200 metres away from the polling area and Mysore that is the sole Mysor walk from there. n Leave you r cell phone at home. n There is provision for drinking water. Toilet facilities, ramps, and ample shade are also available at each polling area . n To help mak e an informed choice, a vote r can obtain copies of the nominat ion form and the affidavit by any candidate from the Returning Officer.
n The polling station has separate queues for men, women and the physically cha llenged. n Once insi de the polling station: a. Go to the first polling offic er, who will check whether your name is on the rolls. b. He/she will check your iden tity document. c. Next, the polling officer will say your name out aloud and tick your name in the marked copy of the roll. The name is called out loudly so that the other polling agents may note it down in their copies of the electoral roll as well. d. You will then move to the second polling officer, who will apply the inde lible ink on your left forefinger. Then, you will have relevant column of the Registe to sign in the r of Voters. A voter’s slip will be prepared. e. Then, you will move to the third who will re-check the indelible polling officer, mark. The officer will take the voter’s slip and allow you to proceed to the voting com partment. f. You will record your vote and leave. g. Another employee posted in the polling station will check for indelible ink on your finger again. h. Hurrah! You have exercised your democratic Source: ELECTION right as a citizen of India! COMMISSION OF INDIA
keep We’re a superstitious lot. We ry checking everything with eve card t taro st, logi ero num er, astrolog can find. reader, palmist and parrot we tarot a with ck So we decided to che ut how reader and an astrologer abo time: this fare will ns ticia poli these
reader Poonam Sethi, tarot card is Rahul Gandhi: The card that these days frequently showing up for him ws a lot of sho It rds. Swo of e Nin the is tension. of Wands Narendra Modi: The King card. This card has been his dominant g to play a goin is on pers the that ns mea . role nt significa that is Arvind Kejriwal: The card is the frequently showing up for him There is 50. 50ns mea ch whi riot, Cha decisions, some confusion or even bad making the from him ent which may prev i. kind of impact he had in Delh d cards goo e Som gh: Sin m laya Mu Card the with , him for up ing are com This t. mos the up g of Lovers showin nerships or means that some strong part him. alliances are on the way for
Photo: IMAGESBAZAAR
15
Some first-time candidates, all sons and daughters of our netas
The ink typically contains silver nitrate which stains the skin on exposure to ultraviolet light, leaving a mark that is impossible to wash off and only disappears as external skin cells are replaced
manufacturer and supplier of this ink. They got an exclusive license to make this ink from NRDC, New For Delhi, way back in the 2009 1962. The company general elections, also manufacMysore Paints and Varnish supplied tures industrial two million vials of coatings, paints, 10ml each varnish and lac, but today, their ink business has overshadowed the paint business. They export voter's ink to 28 countries such as South Africa, Canada and many others, for their elections. The ink is usually dabbed on the skin with a stick, but other countries use it in different ways. For instance, in Cambodia, the voter’s finger tip is dipped in the ink. Now, that’s a strong message.
Mamata Banerjee: Her cards don’t seem re is to be looking too good. The unexe som but ggle stru h not muc . pected alliances may happen Ajai Bhambi, astrologer Rahul Gandhi: His ascend ws the influence of ant is Taurus, but it also sho of many people, but port sup Mercury. He had the hasn't been able to utilise it. shows a mix of Narendra Modi: His kundli makes a Panch s Mar re whe n, Mars and moo hak. This yog takes Ruc ed call Mahapurush Rajyog ever, there may How a person from rags to riches. on. fusi con or s lem prob e be som yog called Pravajra Arvind Kejriwal: He has a person becomes the that Rajyog. This means strength and something because of his own out. d rule be cannot ant is Cancer. His Mulayam Singh: His ascend come down will tion importance in this elec . drastically. He is on a decline a Capricorn ascendMamata Banerjee: She has in this election. er gain a be to g ant. She is goin
differing predictions! what will happen!) ws kno one no is, h The trut
(As you can see, there are
n CHIRAG PASWAN, 31 Who: Former (unsuccessful) actor and son of Rajya Sabha MP and Lok Janshakti Party president, Ram Vilas Paswan. Constituency: Jamui, Bihar Education: B. Tech in Computer Science from Delhi University Gets crowds because of his Bollywood background, but hadn't returned to Bihar since his debut movie (Miley Naa Miley Hum, 2011), which bombed at the box office. Did you know? In an interview last year, he is reported to have said that his good looks make him stand apart from other contenders. n JAYANT SINHA, 50 WHO: Son of former BJP finance and external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha. Used to work in an investment firm. Constituency: Hazaribagh, Jharkhand Education: IIT, Delhi and Harvard Business School, USA Says he’s helped his father in many Lok Sabha elections, but his own party workers feel that giving him a ticket may prove costly for the BJP. Did you know? Two of his inputs for tax reforms found their way into his father’s 1998 budget under the NDA regime. n MISA BHARTI, 38 Who: Eldest daughter of the nine children (seven daughters and two sons) of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi Constituency: Pataliputra, Bihar Education: She topped MBBS (Gynaecology) from Patna Medical College and Hospital. But it was alleged that the exams were rigged so that she could top them. Has limited political experience. Did you know? She’s named after the dreaded MISA (Maintenance of Security Act) under which Lalu was jailed during the Emergency. n KARTI CHIDAMBARAM, 42 Who: Lawyer, member of All India Congress Committee; son of finance minister P Chidambaram Constituency: Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu Education: Degree in Business Administration from University of Texas at Austin, USA, and LLB from Cambridge University, UK Is known to be liberal and open-minded. But he is contesting from Sivaganga, where Congress has no allies and where his father lost when he contested in 1999. Did you know? He wanted to become a professional tennis player. In 2012, was embroiled in a Twitter controversy when he used Section 66A of the Information Technology Act to send a man to jail for alleging that Karti had amassed a lot of wealth.
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COVER VER STO STORY S TO
Photo: SHUTTERSTOCK
We’ve seen the jhadoos, cycles, elephants, trains, lanterns, lotuses and hands... but there are plenty of symbols still available with the Election Commission of India. Here are a few of them (we thought they’d find quite a few takers): or even blocking, but also to occasional rifts in close friendships. Says Hitesh Chabbra, marketing manager with a leading electronics comven n if you y have the rare privipany, “I have been using my status lege ge of not having a Facebook messages to share my opinions account, Gmail id or a Twitter on politics, and I often highlight a handle, we don’t need to tell you particular party’s shortcomings. that the election wars are being Not only have I argued with fought as much online as on the several friends on my list, but a ground. While party workers are close friend even threatened to physically hurling eggs, ink and send me to jail when that party shoes at each other; people are comes to power.” He doubts if also flinging abuses, opinions and things will improve with the said agendas online. friend after the elections are over. Political debates on Facebook The Internet, it seems, has newsfeeds and Twitter not onl only made people timelines are sudmore informed and denly as common as opinionated but also Hundreds of hashtags, wedding pictures and eager to ensure that dozens of Facebook groups. everyone knows it. stand-up jokes. HowSome popular ones: ever, what happens As friendships on Facebook doesn’t crack and relationTwitter hashtags always stay on Faceships rip, it seems #khansiinkashi #krantikaribahutkrantikari book. Not only are that we have no choice #myvote2014 these heated debates – either we join in or turning into surly suffer through endFacebook groups public spats online, less political posts, n Modi Magic India n Arvind Kejriwal Online Sena where a difference in till sunny vacation n Rahul Gandhi is India political opinion can pictures take over our lead to un-friending screens again.
E
BREAD Has no one taken the humble dabalroti because ‘roti, kapda aur makaan’ is no longer a hot election slogan?
CARROM BOARD This could be so appropriate for any party from that part of the world (where carrom is an ongoing obsession)
COCONUT And this one for a party from that other part of India where it is consumed in every way imaginable AXE
FAN FROCK
SAW
SPOON Both these symbols would work very well for netas who can identify with ‘pankha’ and ‘chamcha’
Now this one is tough. We can’t figure out who should adopt this as their symbol. Any suggestions?
Given the fact that so many of our netas are not exactly peace loving, they might want to consider these
WALKING STICK
Someone we know who loves her handbag could have tried for this symbol
Sadly enough, we can’t think of who should take this one. It’s a symbol of erudition and learning, isn’t it?
Did advancing age ever stop a neta from dreaming of power? Now you see why this one works!
LADY PURSE
BOOK
Symbol source: ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
This special issue was put together by Aasheesh Sharma, Yashica Dutt, Veenu Singh, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Parul Khanna and Shreya Sethuraman Send us your feedback at brunchletters@hindustantimes.com
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The Legends do have IT I
One can be either the beating heart of New Delhi or a railway station. And the other is a perfumed oasis of cool luxury. Which hotel you prefer says more about you than it does about them
T IS A funny thing, but two of Delhi’s most iconic hotels are celebrating anniversaries at roughly the same time. The Taj Mahal Hotel on Man Singh Road is getting ready for its 35th birthday. And at the Oberoi, they’ve already started reviving old menus to recall the early days of the hotel, which will turn 50 next year. What makes the coincidence more significant is that the two hotels are traditional rivals, with histories that are closely intertwined. When Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi was a mere employee of the Cecil Hotel in Simla, the Tatas already owned the grand old Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay. But the Tatas were too busy to worry about the Taj and it became a sloppy and inefficient hotel. Air India’s Bobby Kooka (he created the Maharaja) wrote that he once asked JRD Tata why, when he was so critical of the slightest imperfection in Air-India, he did nothing about the mess at the Taj. “Because I wouldn’t know where to begin,” JRD replied. But while the Taj remained just another sloppy hotel, the Rai Bahadur built the Oberoi chain into India’s leading hotel company with the purchase of the Grand in Calcutta and a management contract for the Imperial in Delhi.
Vir Sanghvi
rude hotels But the Rai Bahadur’s ambition was to build a modern international hotel with 24-hour room service, an all-day coffee-shop and many other speciality restaurants. He found the land and started to build the hotel that we now know as The Oberoi in the early Sixties. But then, he ran out of money and the project stalled. The story goes that somebody suggested to the Rai Bahadur that he could gain access to USAID funds if he found an American partner. He discovered that this was true, entered into a partnership with InterContinental Hotels (then owned by PanAm) and in 1965, the Oberoi Intercontinental opened. Run by the Rai Bahadur, his son-in-law Gautam Khanna and managers sent by
TOP OF THE LINE
Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi’s ambition was to build a modern international hotel with 24-hour room service, an all-day coffee-shop and many other speciality restaurants APRIL 6, 2014
InterContinental, it may have been one of Asia’s first world-class hotels. I remember staying there in 1969 as a small boy and feeling I’d ended up in paradise. There were pancakes for breakfast, hot fudge sundaes on room service, six speciality restaurants and the world’s best mocha cake (or so I believed!). I wasn’t the only one to feel like that. JRD Tata recognised that the rules of the game had changed, empowered a newlyhired catering manager called Ajit Kerkar to transform the Taj and began talking to US chains about possible tie-ups. Seven years after the Oberoi InterContinental had opened, the Taj unveiled its own modern block, a new tower which was also a partnership with InterContinental. Some people preferred the revived and expanded Bombay Taj; some liked the Delhi Oberoi, but there wasn’t much to choose from. Until 1973, that is – because that was when the Rai Bahadur opened the grand Oberoi Sheraton in Bombay, a hotel that was superior in scope to the Taj’s InterContinental tower. The Taj knew that to take on the Oberois, it had to open in Delhi but JRD Tata, Ajit Kerkar and the rest were political novices while the Oberois knew Delhi inside out. So none of the Taj’s plans came to anything till the company decided to build a new property on the site of the old Fonseca Hotel on Man Singh Road. The construction began in 1976 but quickly stalled. The Taj believed the Oberoi lobby had sabotaged the project. But because this was the time of the Emergency, Taj executives were able to use Rukhsana Sultan (the mother of actress Amrita Singh) to reach out to Sanjay Gandhi who was then India’s most powerful man. Sanjay brushed aside all the opposition and a deal was struck whereby NDMC would partner the Taj and own the shell of the new hotel. (This has now come back to haunt the Taj, which took NDMC for granted.) Sanjay took a personal interest in the project, asking to see the plans and making little suggestions. On one celebrated occasion, he looked at the plan and asked, “Don’t you have roof-top restaurant like Café Chinois”? (Chinois was at the Oberoi InterContinental)
hindustantimes.com/brunch
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The Eighties belonged to the Taj. It attracted all of Delhi’s top politicians, it introduced powerlunching to the capital “Err, no,” Kerkar replied. “Roof-top restaurants don’t work and they put too much pressure on the lifts.” Sanjay looked at him stonily. “But I like roof-top restaurants,” he said, shortly. And so, they changed the plan to include one. (It used to be the Casa Medici and is now Longchamp). Even the Oberois were not influential enough to stop Sanjay Gandhi and the Taj Mahal Hotel was finally built. By the time it opened, the Congress was out of power. But the Oberois were also out of luck. The Taj took all of two days to make the Oberoi InterContinental look tired and secondrate. It is hard now to remember how the Taj changed Delhi. It introduced Sichuan food (House of Ming) to north India; and it brought real Indian food (Haveli) to compete with the Oberoi’s Mughal Room which was just an over-priced version of Kwality. And by keeping prices low, the coffee shop, Machan, attracted a buzzy young crowd that found it could afford to eat full meals at a five-star hotel for the first time. (In contrast, young people could only afford cold coffee at the Oberoi’s Cafe Expresso). The Eighties belonged to the Taj. It attracted all of Delhi’s top politicians, it introduced power-lunching to the capital, its Emperor’s Lounge became such a deal-maker’s paradise that cynics called it the Racketeers’ Lounge and every celebrity of consequence who visited Delhi stayed at the Taj. When Sanjay Gandhi’s old cohorts left the Congress after his death and founded the Rashtriya Sanjay Manch, wags referred to it as the Rashtriya Sanjay Machan because that was where its members were to be found. In contrast to the Taj’s vibrant Indianness, the Oberoi seemed like a replica of a depressing 1950s hotel designed for travelling salesmen in the American mid-west. But nothing stays static in the world of hotels. In 1987, Biki Oberoi, the Rai Bahadur’s charismatic son took effective control of the company, decided to junk the Sheraton-InterContinental model and remodelled the Oberoi (they dropped the InterContinental) as the Indian answer to the elegant Regent hotels of South East Asia.
In 1987, Biki Oberoi, remodelled the Oberoi (they dropped the InterContinental) as the Indian answer to the elegant Regent hotels of South East Asia
I’m still not sure how Biki managed it but he took a dismal outmoded property and turned it into the epitome of chic and sophistication. In the early ’90s, the Oberoi emerged once again as the equal of the Taj, a situation that only changed at the end of that decade when the Tatas forced out Kerkar and the Taj group temporarily lost the plot. A disastrous re-fit of the hotel destroyed the much-loved old Machan and put in place the hideous version that now exists. An ugly new lobby was designed and just as India was discovering real luxury and personalised service, the Taj group turned its Delhi property into a charmless room factory, sacking or transferring any member of staff who actually knew any of the guests by name. The Taj Mahal did not really recover till the beginning of the 21st century when two outstanding general managers (Abhijit Mukherji and Yannick Poupon) turned the property around and made it seem like a luxury hotel again. A kickass general manager (Digvijay Singh) opened two outstanding new restaurants: Varq and Wasabi, and the Taj was back in the reckoning. Today, the two hotels are equals once again. Which hotel you prefer says more about you than it does about them. The Taj epitomises a certain kind of Delhi: politicians, lawyers, deal-makers and lots and lots of Bombay notables who treat it as their Delhi residence. The Oberoi is preferred by rich, well-travelled foreigners, old-money Delhi and not-soyoung ladies who wear tight jeans and carry Birkin bags. (The Hermès shop is at the Oberoi; the company’s Indian partners are Gautam Khanna’s family – so there is a sense of elegant continuity there.) Both hotels have outstanding general managers, the classy and quietly competent Jay Rathore at the Oberoi and the dynamic and insightful Satyajit Krishnan at the Taj. Both have great restaurants: the Taj’s Wasabi and the Oberoi’s rocking Threesixty° attract the same kind of crowd. The Taj has better Indian food; the Oberoi has better Western food. The Taj lobby can be either, the beating heart of New Delhi or a railway station depending on your perspective. The Oberoi lobby, on the other hand, is a perfumed oasis of cool luxury. I imagine that just as the Oberoi’s brilliant chef Saumya Goswami is masterminding a series of revivals of the hotel’s classic dishes, the Taj will revisit some of the hotel’s greatest hits (if they can find someone who remembers them; these days the Taj has zero institutional memory). There will be parties, festivals and celebrations. And that legendary rivalry will be played out once again.
APRIL 6, 2014
A CHANGE FOR BAD
In the early ’90s, a disastrous re-fit of the Taj destroyed the much-loved old Machan (above) and put in place the hideous version that now exists
TAKING CONTROL
Once, when asked why he did nothing about the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay which had become sloppy and inefficient, JRD Tata (above) had replied, “Because I wouldn’t know where to begin.” 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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When Flagship smartphones Collide I PART - I
What happens when HTC and Samsung come out with their latest smartphones?
WOKE UP today morning and thanked God as it meant I was one more day closer to the release of the Apple iPhone 6!” No, that’s not a statement by me proving that I have gone completely insane, but a Twitter message I read a few days ago. There’s a big new release in the world of mobile phones almost every single day. But only a few releases can truly have everybody waiting with bated breath or lead to the kind of complete madness the above tweet proves. In fact, I’m going to drill it down to about five companies that can still pull it off. Samsung with its Galaxy S series and its Note series, Apple with its iPhone, HTC with its One, Nokia with its next PureView Lumia and Google with its next Nexus phone.
Rajiv Makhni
techilicious The rest may make headlines and news, but they are still to have that cult fanboyism-level madness around a release. And now that insanity has been taken to a whole new level, as two of these ‘I can’t breathe’ phones have literally come out together. Launched side by side are the new HTC One M8 and the Samsung Galaxy S5. Time to analyse the impact when two gigantic forces of nature collide.
HTC ONE M8, The Successor Yes, it’s not been
WORTHY SUCCESSOR
Light shining through micro pixel holes and displaying pertinent information MORE ON THE WEB For previous columns by Rajiv Makhni, log on to hindustantimes. com/brunch. Follow Rajiv on Twitter at twitter.com/RajivMakhni
The views expressed by the columnist are personal
TRIPLE CAMERA TRICKS
Turn the phone around and you discover that the back is adorned with two cameras. The second does just one thing and that is to capture the depth information in each picture you take. Thus, you can do a lot of things with an image AFTER you’ve shot it. You can change focus completely and bring things into the foreground clearly while completely blurring the background and vice versa. Very DSLR-like effects are possible and some pre-planning can set up stunning images. The controls are easy to use and many more tricks are available here. Also, going with the flavour of the season, the front camera now has a really good and very intelligent ‘selfie mode’. You can play around with a lot of things in that mode, including make yourself look thinner. Imagine the mayhem and THREE-IN-ONE amount of weight people will now ‘shed’ on picThe two cameras tures posted on Facebook! at the back and
one camera in the front is quite a leap ahead
called the HTC One Two (sigh of relief) and also not the HTC One Up, but a more generic and slightly boring HTC One M8 (the M8 refers to the 8th flagship phone from HTC). But the word boring stops right there as this is by far the most stunning phone from inside-out in a long, long time. When HTC came out with the One about a year back, it threw down the gauntlet and challenged the competition in every way. Stunning design, true unibody all-metal construction, fantastic screen and true differentiators in sound and camera optics. Unfortunately the best phone in the world at that time didn’t change the fortunes of HTC the company, as some terrible production problems and some not-so-great marketing made sure that the One didn’t sell in the numbers it deserved. Enter the One M8. This phone has to live up to that stellar reputation, outdo it, be better than the competition and at the same time, make sure that this time there are no screw-ups in sales and numbers. Not an easy task – but then the phone has had a good start by just being what it is. This is mobile form and design at a whole new level now. The M8 is all-metal and more, comes in gold (why, why this new gaudy obsession with gold by every company), silver and grey, and is smoother and better finished than any oth-
APRIL 6, 2014
er phone in the market. A bigger FULL METAL JACKET full-HD screen, fantastic proces- The phone is all metal sor, great hardware specs and bet- and comes in gold, silver ter battery rounds up all that you and grey – with a smooth need in your next phone. And then and better finish comes the camera, or should I say three cameras? Yes, this one has two at the back and one in the front. So, what are two cameras doing at the back? I’m glad you asked, as this is quite a leap ahead for cameraphone optics.
MORE TRICKS UP IT SLEEVE
The HTC One M8 has a lot of other interesting things, including front facing ‘boom’ speakers and a very attractive and new front cover that works on the principle of light shining through micro pixel holes and displaying pertinent information. It also has BlinkFeed and HTC’s own Sense overlay on the OS that is still one of the least intrusive of the lot. Big things missing are: no fingerprint scanner, it’s not dust-resistant and waterproof and it feels a little big in the hand.
CHEAP PLASTIC LOVERS In a perfect world, a phone as
superior in design and features as the M8 would automatically win the smartphone war. Nothing like that is about to happen. It has to take on a juggernaut of problems as well as spate of a ‘take no prisoners’ competition all around it. The biggest one, of course, is that the Samsung Galaxy S5 releases at exactly the same time. HTC’s CEO may have gone on record to say that Samsung phones are for people who like ‘cheap plastic’, but that still means it’s going to outsell the HTC One M8 by millions. Exactly why that may happen will be revealed next week, when I do a hands-on in-depth review of the Galaxy S5. Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3
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Photo: RAJESH KUMAR
On The Campaign Trail… In this election season, some free and unsolicited advice to our politicians
E
LECTION SEASON is upon us in all its maddening glory. Newspapers are heaving with poll-related news, telling us the caste breakdowns of constituencies, how they voted the last time, and what chances the principal political leaders have this time around. TV news channels have suspended regular programming to bring us live speeches from Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal whenever they
Seema Goswami
spectator speak at party rallies (which is pretty much every day). And even in the real world, all conversation seems to revolve around the elections, and what kind of result they will throw up. In this season of poll mania, it is hard not to get caught up in the madness. And so yes, I have succumbed as well, mainlining the news reports, following the social media accounts of politicians, and yes, watching the endless reports on the electoral fights in Varanasi, Vadodara, Amethi, Rae Bareli, Amritsar, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, and other key constituencies. Which is why, this Sunday morning, I feel compelled to offer some free and completely unsolicited advice to all the candidates in the fray. n First off, a quiet word for the men. No matter what the provocation, do keep your shirts on. Or your kurtas. Or even your banians. Nobody needs to see those man boobs or jiggly bellies even if you are taking a ‘holy dip’ in the Ganga (yes, Arvind Kejriwal, I am looking at you). This nation has suffered enough. It doesn’t deserve to be traumatised any further. n Ladies, please be advised to post a cordon of heavies around you to keep away the gropers, especially the ones that belong to your own party. Congress candidate from Meerut, film star Nagma, learnt this the hard way. She was first filmed being manhandled by a Congress MLA, who later claimed that he was only trying to say something in her ear above the din of campaigning. Nagma brushed that off but a few days later was seen slapping a man at a rally when he got too close for comfort. Maybe next time, she should keep the pepper spray handy. (As indeed should all the women candidates out there.) n Remember, this is the era of electronic media and social media. You may be making a speech in one state but it is
DECENCY DEMANDS!
No matter what the provocation, do keep your shirts on. Or your kurtas. Or even your banians. (Yes, Arvind Kejriwal, I am looking at you) heard across the country. So, don’t use arguments that don’t travel well. Narendra Modi, for instance, made a vow at a rally in Jammu to free the state of J&K from dynastic rule. Chief minister Omar Abdullah was quick to respond. “I dare NaMo to make exactly the same speech against dynastic politics in Punjab or Maharashtra. Come on, money where your mouth is,” he tweeted. n This should really go without saying, but it makes a complete mockery of the election process if you make speeches threatening to kill your political opponent. This is an election. You are supposed to beat him by the ballot not the bullet. But nobody sent that memo to Imran Masood, the Congress candidate from Saharanpur, who was filmed making a speech in which he threatened to chop Narendra Modi to pieces. He has since been booked for hate speech. And we can only hope that this serves as a salutary example to others. n Say one controversial thing every day to keep in the news. Better still, time your statement so that it makes the primetime TV news bulletin. There is no better, or cheaper, way of staying in the limelight. Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP colleagues have perfected this art. It’s time other political leaders played catch-up. n Use social media to bypass traditional media and get your message across to the voters without any intermediaries. Shashi Tharoor has first-mover advantage in this regard. But since then, other politicians have also seen the endless possibilities of this strategy. Narendra Modi, Shivraj Chauhan, Sushma Swaraj, Digvijay Singh and RPN Singh have accounts on Twitter, and Arun Jaitley is fast becoming a presence on social media as well. n It may be a good idea to hire stand-up comics to write your lines for you because – let’s face it – you are really not that funny or witty on your own. There are, of course, exceptions like Arvind Kejriwal who came up with this classic: “If Advani wants Modi to listen to him, he should drop the ‘v’ from his name.” n And if you do make a witty remark in the course of an interview, then don’t get too over-excited. And for God’s sake, don’t look off camera and smile proudly at your support staff, even if they are applauding you from the sidelines. (Yes, Amar Singh, I do mean you!)
Say one controversial thing every day to keep in the news
SOCIALLY ACTIVE
Shashi Tharoor (above) has first-mover advantage on social media. Now, Arun Jaitley (below) is fast becoming a presence there as well
Photos: GETTY IMAGES
APRIL 6, 2014
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
twitter.com/HTBrunch
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What did you find?
’Tis the season for springcleaning – and discovering tiny hidden treasures in the nooks and crannies of your home by Shreya Sethuraman
I
T’S THAT time of the year again when you finally get off your chair/ sofa/ bed and decide to indulge in some healthy spring cleaning. Of course, you could take tips from cleanliness freak Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) from Full House, but we’d like to tell you about the things you’ll certainly (re)discover and what you should do with them.
CKIER, A 50 OR IF YOU’RE LU TE NO E PE A 100 RU This will be tucked in some book, or in the back-pocket of a pair of denims or in the side pocket of your cotton kurta. What to do: Rejoice! The value of this note is probably priceless, given the unexpected joy it has given you. Use it to buy something fun for yourself, like a plate of sinful chhole bhature, spicy chaat or that bar of decadent dark chocolate!
DISCARDED MOBILE
PHONES
Some people sell their old mobile phones to buy new ones. Some others however, keep storing old phones (with absolute disregard for the environment). The message from your old flame holds no value, she/ he is married now. And if you both ended up marrying, you really don’t need a phone to remind you of your love, right? What to do: Deposit the phone at an environmental centre.
THOSE ABSO LUTELY WO RN OUT DENIM S You bought them with your first salary and wore them last to last winter. The washed-out look is beyond recognition and the ends have begun to wither. You forgot you even had them lying in your cupboard. What to do: Donate them. If you haven’t worn them in so long, you won’t again. Keep your sentiments aside, someone else needs them more than you. Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK, THINKSTOCK
ou where y ate, ,h the one This is ems – on love tever o wrote p , nature, wha here w hip friends your mind. Or rt o came to your first sh ittle te ‘l you wro as about the were w u story. It d girl’ (yes, yo e ). red-hair rown as a kid e style B th Charlie do: Laugh at ue love What to you used – tr e ou do of rhym find, when y your f to is hard e, you’re out o ry v a fall in lo the unnecess be or cri mind – s used to des e.’ v e adjectiv t brush with lo rs fi r u o ‘y
THAT LETTER FROM YOUR FRIEND ou did write Admit it, you and receive actual letters, not the mandatory ou lived school comprehensions. You in the hostel, your friend in another city and another hostel. That was another world. You learnt about another city, its people, their culture, their food through pages filled with love. What to do: Call up that friend. Cry about what all you wrote. You have a treasure trove with you, cherish it. You can’t miss these. They were taken from your now defunct point and shoot camera. You remember how excited you were when you took out the film roll and gave it for developing. These photographs depict happy times – that family picnic, the school farewell (when managing a saree /suit / kurta-pyjama was the biggest achievement) and your first ‘night out’. What to do: Scan the photos and email them to those featured. You’ll make their day, and many memories! shreya.sethuraman@hindustantimes.com Follow @iconohclast on Twitter
BRUNCH DATE
Photo: LUDRA MANI BELWAL
The Name Is Bond, Ruskin Bond The celebrated author is 80 but sharp as a tack. In his beloved Mussoorie, he recalls leopards, London and his 20s by Prachi Raturi Mishra
T
HE VIEW from his small window shows a bright and sunny day. He watches the world go by – noisy young boys returning from school, sparrows chirping on a nearby tree, cows trundling home, the bells on their necks jingling. Just short of 80, Ruskin Bond, the Padma Shri and now Padma Bhushan author, is sitting in his favourite chair in his cosy little cottage in the Landour area of Mussoorie. A narrow flight of stairs takes one to the room, which has a couple of old Hollywood posters on the walls, and comfortable cane chairs for visitors to sit on. Born to British parents Edith Clerke and Aubrey Bond in a military hospital in Kasauli (his father was in the Royal Air Force), Rusty, as he was fondly called, saw his parents get divorced when he was just four. He did his schooling in Shimla, Jamnagar and Dehradun. In the summer of 1963, Ruskin Bond decided to settle down in Mussoorie. He has written children’s books, several novels, and love stories, often set in his beloved hills. Some of his stories have been made into films: The Blue Umbrella, A Flight of Pigeons (Junoon) and Susanna’s Seven Husbands (Saat Khoon Maaf). Bond now lives with his adopted family in a
cottage he bought ten years ago. Excerpts from the interview:
Could Rusty have ever thought he’d grow up to be a Padma Bhushan?
Not at all. Rusty was always the unconventional rebellious type. He liked writing even when he was in school and often won prizes for it. But that he would be liked for it was not a thought that would have crossed that young boy’s mind.
When did you know you wanted to be a writer?
The four years in the UK were not easy. I missed my friends and the simple life in Dehradun
When I was growing up, I remember having read all the books in the library. I often tried to emulate my favourite writers. So I guess I wanted to be an author when I was in school. When it actually came down to making a living out of something, I knew it would have to be writing.
You’ve lived in Kasauli, Shimla, Jamnagar, Dehradun, London. What made you settle in Mussoorie?
A few years after my father’s death, my mother sent me to the United Kingdom for “better prospects” in 1951. Those four years were not easy. I had grown up in Dehradun and I missed my friends, my simple life back home. In fact, it was while I was in the UK that I started writing my first book The Room on the Roof (which later went
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on to win the 1957 John Llewellyn Rhys prize, awarded to a British Commonwealth writer under 30). I would work in the day and write at night. I did all kind of jobs to sustain myself. I worked at a grocery store, in the public health department and what was then Thomas Cook and Sons. The last job was particularly interesting but I got fired from it. I had a young woman who was my boss but she soon started having an affair with a fire attendant and was thrown out. I had to manage the show and I must say I made a mess of it. I often took calls and had to do hotel bookings. I never did and in fact don’t still get the hang of bed descriptions. So I often separated people who wanted to sleep together! Then I moved to London and worked at a photo studio. This was
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If not an author, what would you have been?
I wanted to be a tap dancer when I was very young. I also wanted to be a footballer and I did play decently. Something that my form will belie today! In fact, I can still kick the ball well, running after it is another thing altogether.
an interesting job. All this while though, I worked hard to find a publisher for my book. And when I did and got an advance of 50 pounds, I knew it was enough to get me home to India. Those days one travelled by ship. The tariff to get to India was 40 pounds and I still had ten pounds left!
What were the early days like?
I came back to Dehradun. To begin with, I was very ambitious. So I wrote short stories and poems and religiously bombarded newspaper and magazine editors with them. Sometimes I got lucky and some got selected and I earned a few hundred rupees. Since I was in my 20s and didn’t have any responsibilities I was just happy to be doing what I loved doing best. Also, when you are young, things happen around you rather
Who is your favourite author?
I enjoy reading classics. In fact, I recently re-read Wuthering Heights. I like Charles Dickens. Somerset Maugham, PG Wodehouse, Anton Chekov, Ernest Bates, Graham Greene. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome is something I still like re-reading. So I guess there are many.
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than to you. So I still remember I was in school when I received a letter that my father was no more. I also remember how I was watching Blossoms in the Dust with a few friends in a hall in Dehradun when the show was stopped midway and we were told that Mahatma Gandhi had been shot. I guess I just trudged along. Fortune and name came much later. I also wrote for children and three of my books were published in London so that lifted my income to some extent. In the summer of 1963 I decided to move to Mussoorie because it had always been close to my heart. Also, it was the closest to Delhi and I wanted to be in touch with all the editors and publishers. I edited a magazine called Imprint from Mussoorie for about four years. It was in the 1980s that Penguin decided to come to India and asked me to work on a few books. I already had hundreds of short stories that I had been writing.
grew in.” Also, I guess I just like leopards. I must admit I write ghost stories when I run out of people. I often use my dreams to get inspired for these as I guess dreams have a ghost-like quality to them. But yes, as I grow older I enjoy writing humour because you learn to see humour in a lot of things.
Did you ever get close to getting married?
I did have my share of falling in love. I got close to marriage once or twice but I was finally rejected. You see, I was a very attractive young person. But combine that with being an author who didn’t make much money in his 20s and 30s. Looking back, I have no regrets. A young boy Prem came looking for a job in the early 1970s and I became his default father. Soon he married and had children. Today I have three grandchildren (Rakesh, Mukesh and Savitri) who also have children. So we are actually three generations of the family in the house. They all call me dadaji. So I guess I am lucky. I don’t really live like a single old man.
I got close to marriage once or twice but I was rejected. Looking back, I have no regrets
You have written love stories, children’s books, ghost stories. What do you enjoy writing the most?
It’s difficult to pick a favourite. I guess some of my early short stories like Night Train at Deoli. When it comes to writing, I keep moving between genres. The 1950s and 1960s is what I could call my romantic period... Night Train at Shamli, and The Eyes Have It. Writing for children is fun and in fact recently I had a young boy ask me why there are so many leopards in my stories. I told him, “Well, I’ve always had leopards prowling around the places I
Do you still use a typewriter to write?
How do you write in a house full of so many people?
An author should be able to write anywhere. In a busy train, in a roomful of people. Once you are in your own world, the surroundings don’t matter as much. Plus l guess I like the feeling of the family around me. It probably helps me make up for the lonely childhood I had.
Well, I still have three old typewriters lying at home. Now I only write by hand, something I have always liked. The computer hurts my neck. Besides, I still have decent handwriting so I guess nobody minds much.
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What is your day like?
Lazy. I do write every day but I respond to weather. So if it’s a nice sunny day, the kind I love the best, I am in a good mood. When it rains and snows, I am usually a little grumpier.
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PERSONAL AGENDA
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Actress
Kalki Koechlin BIRTHDAY SUN SIGN
January 9
PLACE HOMETOWN SCHOOL/COLLEGE OF BIRTH Puducherry Hebron School, Ooty;
Capricorn Puducherry
University of London
FIRST HIGH POINT LOW POINT BREAK OF YOUR LIFE OF YOUR LIFE Dev.D (2009)
Getting a really intelligent script
All set to judge the Nokia-Your When I spent nine Wish Is My App, a reality show to months rejecting scripts be aired on NDTV Prime soon
If you weren’t an actress, you would have been… A criminal psychologist, because I love to explore how people’s minds work. The best thing about being a woman. That I’m not a man. How did your training in theatre help you in Bollywood? I feel that any kind of experience helps because the more you learn, the better you become. Romance or comedy, what interests you more? As an actor, I’d like to explore every genre, but personally I love rom-coms. One classic Hindi film you wish you’d been a part of. I would’ve loved to be a part of Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa [1957]. Your favourite memory of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. It has to be the snowball fight between Ranbir Kapoor and me. On his team were his bodyguards and his hair and make-up people and I had Deepika [Padukone] and Aditya [Kapoor]. The best thing about Bollywood. If you are willing to work hard, then Bollywood
WHOSE STYLE SENSE DO YOU ADMIRE THE MOST?
I think that Neha Dhupia has a great sense of style
CURRENTLY I AM...
has a lot to offer. Your favourite apps. I love QuizUp, a trivia-based game on all imaginable topics, which you can play with your friends online. A piece of advice you wish someone had given you 10 years ago. That it is very important to take your time. Your favourite hangout. It has to be my mother’s house near Ooty. It is an ideal getaway as you don’t get mobile network there. I love to just relax and read a lot. A song that describes your current state of mind. Ajeeb daastan hai yeh from Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai [1960]. The craziest thing a fan has done for you. A student from Ahmedabad, who has been chasing me on Twitter, wants to fly all the way from there to see me. Who is your 3am friend? Kali Roy, my neighbour and a theatre artist. I run to her whenever I’m in need. Three things you would wish for if you were stranded on an island. Lots of drinking water, tanning lotion and a bunch of my friends.
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Three skin care products you can’t do without. I love most L’Occitane products. I also like the makeup remover from Vichy and argan oil from Morocco. Your favourite street food. I think Delhi has the best street food and I love gol gappas. A dessert that describes you. I have a sweet tooth but I think Rasmalai suits me best. The biggest risk that you have taken. When I tried to fund my education in London by working there. That was the first time I did everything on my own. Your fitness mantra. I like swimming a lot. I’m not a fan of the gym. I prefer to move outdoors or do yoga. The best way to destress. I have a hot bath after a long day, switch off my phone and read a book. I also enjoy going for treks. The last line of your autobiography would read…. “I have more coming, I’m not dead yet!” — Interviewed by Veenu Singh
let’s vote
HAVE YOU BEEN VOTING REGULARLY?
Unfortunately not. But if I vote this time, then I’ll go for NOTA.
WHAT ARE THE THINGS YOU LOOK FOR IN A POLITICAL PARTY?
I want free education for boys and girls till the age of 18. All crimes against women should be fast-tracked with a 24-hour helpline. YOUR FAVOURITE SLOGAN.
We need a ‘womanifesto’ and not just a manifesto. Photo: THINKSTOCK