Hindustantimes Brunch 6th May 2012

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, MAY 6, 2012 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

indulge

VIR SANGHVI

Island of taste

RAJIV MAKHNI

Smartphone wars

SANJOY NARAYAN Levon at the helm

SEEMA GOSWAMI Female bonding

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W AT C H O U T F O R

06.05.2012

Travel Special Brazil Pack your backpack and experience Brazil on a tight budget

Mauritius Mauritius has always been known for its sea and sand. The good part: nothing’s changed

Thailand The next time you visit Bangkok, make time for eating the best food ever

South Africa Wine, whales, whisky and music in the land of the Big Five

inbox LETTER OF THE WEEK! Do as the Romans do

THE SIMPLEST, yet most difficult method of getting rid of anxiety (The Age Of Anxiety, April 29) is to cut down on one’s activities. Ask yourself “Do I really need to do so many things? Are they actually vital to my existence?” Keep in mind what the Romans asked themselves 2,000 years ago: “Quo Vadis?” (Where are you going?)

— RAJESHWARI SINGH, via email Rajeshwari wins a shopping voucher worth ` 2,500. Congrats!

Other scene stealers BEHIND EVERY successful man, there’s a woman.

And behind every successful film, there are a few supporting actors. The write up (The Spotlight Is On Four Scene Stealers From Two Sleeper Hits, April 29) was a tribute to such actors. Other examples could have been Naseeruddin Shah (Dirty Picture), Gulshan Devaiah (Hate Story) and Annu Kapoor (Vicky Donor).

– DR GULATI, via email

Write in, the best letter every week can win you a SHOPPING voucher worth

R2,500!!

The shopping voucher will reach the winner within seven to 10 working days.

In case of any delays, please contact chirag.sharma@hindustantimes.com EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Rachel Lopez, Mignonne Dsouza, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna Tewari, Yashica Dutt, Pranav Dixit, Amrah Ashraf, Saudamini Jain, Shreya Sethuraman DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor Design), Swati Chakrabarti, Rakesh Kumar, Ashish Singh, Saket Misra, Suhas Kale, Shailendra Mirgal, Monica Gupta

Drop a line at

brunchletters@hindustantimes.com or to 18-20 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001 MAY 06, 2012

TRAVEL ON THE WEB As always, there’s a lot more online.

Read about some other exotic destinations on the Brunch website.

While you’re at it, check out what happens when we, at Brunch, decide to don our travel hats.

All the ‘Travel Smart’ tips in this issue have been written by Rishad Saam Mehta, avid traveller, photographer and the author of Hot Tea Across India

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RUDE FOOD Real puddings are too old-fashioned for most chefs

Rohan Agrawal Brunch has got everything in it... life, music, gadgets, health, everything! Especially Rajiv Makhni... He is like the god of gadgets!

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Shipra Bhatnagar Food, fashion, fitness, fame of a game = BRUNCH. Brunch is all what makes your Sunday a funday! After six hectic days, Brunch rejuvenates us.

Your weeklong hard work makes a difference in our lives. Brunch=All in one=Hard to find.

22 TECHILICIOUS Samsung vs Nokia vs Apple: Who’s the new smartphone king?

Avneet Puri I read Rajiv Makhni’s article (So many Apps, So little time, April 29) for the first time and loved it!

These apps have no doubt changed our lives but at the same time most of them go unused! Brunch and Sunday go hand in hand! Keep up the good work guys!

TWEET YOUR HEART OUT twitter.com/HTBrunch @tangled26 #vir sanghvi and his rude fashion is impeccably stylish! Yearning to get to a Paul Smith store @KumarSinha @seemagoswami’s @HTBrunch column today is meant to put smiles on our lips & it did, thanks...

I smile whenever my son smiles. @Ajaythetwit @HTBrunch These so-called ‘smaller stars’ sometime make a movie ‘big’ & successful. Interesting read! @kunjattakili Tone down your expectations from life & yourself. Learn to be happy with what you have #mindyourmind #coverstory @HTBrunch

BRUNCH ON THE WEB hindustantimes.com/brunch

new! The Accidental Philosopher on the ‘last words’ we’d say Judy Balan, author of the bestseller Two Fates – The Story of My Divorce, on that eerie feeling about what we say to people before they die. Read The Accidental Philosopher on Thursday!

24 DOWNLOAD CENTRAL His doughty spirit and great vocals made The Band’s Levon Helm stand out till the very end 26 SPECTATOR What kind of person can you be best friends with?

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Personal Agenda

Stunning Hollywood actress Monica Bellucci’s favourite fashion label is Dolce & Gabbana Cover Design: PRASHANT CHAUDHARY

The Fantastic Four Don’t miss Gursimran Khamba’s irreverence on Monday, Rajneesh Kapoor’s comic strip Rezi Vastav on Tuesday, The Fake Jhunjhunwala’s sarcasm on Wednesday, and Gautam Chintamani’s Split-Screen on Friday.

Brunch Blogs This week, check out Tied To The Screen by Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi. A masala mix of relationships and films.

SOUTH AFRICA

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Beyond The Big Five

Travel Special

The Big 5 in Africa mean lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo. Spot them all and you’ve got your paisa vasool. But there are more attractions in South Africa, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your friendly travel magazines. Here are 5 things you gotta, gotta experience

by Indrajit Hazra

HANGING AT TAGORE’S

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or Indians travelling to South Africa, places associated with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi are mandatory pilgrimage sites. But then, don’t forget Tagore’s. It’s a quiet, dark, barmeets-clubroom place at Cape Town that keeps getting louder as the evening progresses.

Tagore’s is hard to miss for two reasons. One, the flowing beard-covered Jerry Garcia-meets-Gandalf graffitied-face of Rabindranath Tagore on the wall outside greets even the uninitiated.

Two, this outpost of South African bohemian life is the residence of the coolest man in South Africa: Leroy the softspoken lord and master of Tagore’s well-stocked bar. And by the coolest man in the country, I include Nelson Mandela.

The wooden furniture, the corners with adequate shadows, the slightly decadent air mixed with various spirits, and the music that seeps out of nowhere until you’re knee-deep in

COLOURS OF BOHEMIA

Artist Maia’s impression of Tagore’s, the popular Cape Town hangout it make Tagore’s a must-visit. For the intellectually minded, the evenings are punctuated by readings, performances and finger-on-the-chin discussions by an eclectic local crowd. I was happy to be part of a roomful of them listening in on people speaking – and singing – on ‘Language and Oppression’. For the less inclined, there’s always the second floor to sprawl out in.

My evening graduated to Leroy’s helpful servings of Irish whiskey and choice of songs on the sound system. I had sceptically requested for The Smiths’ There’s a light that never goes out.

Leroy played it on a loop with a quiet grin making the act of leaving Tagore’s at around three at night seem like being exiled. Come to think of it, Leroy, with his black, scraggly beard and bony face, looks so much like the young Rabindranath T.

The slightly decadent air mixed with various spirits makes Tagore’s a must-visit

MAY 6, 2012

WHALE OF A TIME

o not travel down the coastline from Cape Town to the seaside town of Hermanus is to miss something grand. The best season for this four-hour road trip is between August and November. And the best place for a pit stop has to be the Schulphoek Guesthouse. But even the sea food spread, put on the table by Schulphoek’s husband-wife hosts Mannes and Petro van Zyl, is just an appetiser of things to come. For, the reason to visit Hermanus is to catch a whale.

One of the joys of being on a boat with a group of jolly rogers from Delhi and Mumbai is that when the sea gets choppy, it’s easy to notice the change just by looking at the faces.

At the fishing village of Grootbos, we clambered aboard the boat, happy that our fellow travellers included former cricketer and administrator Ali Bacher and his wife Shira, a few bottles of bubbly and canapés.

Armed with camera phones – and lis-

tening to Ali tell us about the first post-apartheid India-South Africa Test series – we were all Captain Ahabs waiting to catch a glimpse of Moby Dick.

The thing about getting seasick is that you pray that you’re not the first one to start hurling. The thought of getting sick while the boat was taking almost 45-degree rollercoaster dips didn’t terrify me as much as the fact that I could be the only one expelling my seafood lunch. The captain told me to hold on to the edges of the boat as he continued to describe the mating habits of the Southern Right Whales that we would be spotting any time now.

And then, even with my stomach sloshing against my Adam’s apple, we spotted a black shape. It first looked like a piece of dark wood, then like a surfacing submarine, and then finally, the shape grew a flipper before bubbling the waters around its massive body.

The next 45 minutes we spotted some five whales. “There he blows!” I said, holding on to a rod attached to the floor for dear life.

We were all Captain Ahabs waiting to catch a glimpse of Moby Dick

THERE HE BLOWS!

Whale-spotting near the seaside town of Hermanus can be exciting

Photo: THINKSTOCK

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Photos: INDRAJIT HAZRA

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SABI SABI NIGHTS

ou don’t come back from South Africa without seeing the land animals. So there I was, getting off a three-hour flight from Western Cape province to Nelspruit in the province of Mpumalanga. Our destination: Sabi Sabi, a 65,000hectare private game reserve.

As a wildlife sceptic, I was polite but firm about not breaking my back to see animals. I get to see elephants near my house next to the Yamuna and I’d rather eat buff meat steaks than see water buffaloes. But once I stepped into Sabi Sabi, it was love at first sight with the wide verandah that overlooked a watering hole for the animals. And behind this verandah was another watering hole, where the clientele was human.

Under a swirling fan, I could lap on my lager in the afternoons and blended malts in the evening.

Once at Sabi Sabi, to not venture out in an open jeep safari would be like going to the poolside and not tak-

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ing a dip. So there I was, buttoned-up to my neck in a portable tent, with the rain belting down. The jeep hurtled and stopped, with the radio crackling messages between our guides-drivers about where the last elephant/leopard/rhino had been spotted. I saw a lion gnawing away on his grub. A size-zero lioness was walking about as if waiting to catch his eye. “The lion first eats then it lets the lioness have a share of the kill,” our guide said, reminding me of my family. “They mate only after they eat. The act takes up three or four seconds.” I was reminded of my family again.

On the second day, we stopped by a clearing where a leopard was sitting with its prey on the branch of a tree. I could have sworn that it was a papiermache model the staff had propped up as an emergency back-up. But then I saw it move through the binoculars. It really was a leopard.

Sabi Sabi was unforgettable not so

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

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may not know my Cabernets from my Sauvignons. But South Africa is wine country and at least I could tell folks back home that I had fine wine, next to the finest vineyards in the world. So there I found myself plonked on a wine trail as I ‘tasted’ one variety after the other on an empty stomach at the Fairview Wine Estate.

Our heads pleasantly abuzz, we found ourselves in the pretty village of Franschhoek. Sitting at a lunch table at Le Petite Ferme – after a sip of the pink wine, I tactically spilled my glass to get it replaced with a fine South

PICTURE PERFECT The astoundingly pretty village of Franschhoek

African beer – we were told about how the village near the Drakenstein Mountains was founded in 1688 by French Huguenot immigrants fleeing the persecution of Catholics.

The main street was lined with stores for tourists, although one building had a board pinned with posters on drugs and how they are harmful, not to mention illegal. The thought that Franschhoek can harbour antisocials in hoodies or drug peddlers at

much because of the animals I saw but because of the atmospherics and the sounds I heard through the night – animal cries and the rustles in the leaves. A few nights at the place tells you that ‘getting away’ isn't only about withdrawing from everyday life, but it’s more about getting into a place where the nights are darker and the sky is wider, even as the critter comforts are a walk away from your room.

A leopard with its prey

doorways seemed as fanciful as finding a Black South African in any of the variety of restaurants, bistros, art galleries and curio shops in this village. Although there could be, I sensed after coming out of the town church, desperate (French-speaking) housewives here. Alors!

The moment I land at the Lanzerac Wine Estate and am introduced to the Lanzerac Hotel’s area manager, the brightly tanned and well-honed Michael Hunter-Smith, I step back in time. Over a few rounds of whisky egged on by bowls of macadamia nuts, I imagine Mohandas Gandhi being thrown out of the precincts for not appreciating the fantastic Spanish hacienda settings. The two black stone leopards at the mouth of the hotel lobby’s entrance seem to demand the attention of a bearded conquistador on horseback. Today, with the right amount of money to spend, anyone can spend a weekend in this quiet, imperial getaway. And I would recommend the pinotage braised lamb shank and quenelle of spinach mousse from the dinner menu. I had no idea what it meant but it tasted bloody tres bien.

very clear. Travel agents usually take the vegetarian choice.

■ Check in online as soon as you can and secure seats towards the front of the plane. The food and drink service starts from up front and you deplane faster at your destination.

■ Always ask if it’s a full flight – and if they are overbooked request them to

MAY 6, 2012

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THE REAL McCOY

TRAVEL SMART ■ Try to block seats when you book tickets and make your meal preference

Learn to fly in style and comfort

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Photo: THINKSTOCK

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Travel Special

LEON KING

ape Town is stunning in its beauty and you can walk for hours on end through the BoKaap (literally, ‘Above Cape’) Malay area with its house facades bursting with colour before settling down for a drink and food at the Noon Gun Tea Room that overlooks the city. But it was in Johannesburg that I wanted to catch the Kings of Leon, the American rock band with its distinctive Southern sound. While I had missed their gig in Cape Town, I could still make it to their show at the Soccer City Stadium in Soweto.

Travelling inside Joburg can be tricky, with distances being big and walking about not an option because muggings are real and frequent especially if you seem like a tourist. But attending the Kings of Leon was nonnegotiable, so there I was, piled up in a taxi with my three compatriots, an hour later walking towards a structure that looked like that giant spaceship in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. For a while, I kept wondering why the stage looked so small even though there weren’t that many rows in front of us. I was then told with the sharpness that comes with moderate sobriety that the band seemed miles away because we were seated along the length, not the breadth, of this gigantic 94,736-seater stadium.

Even with the giant screens helping me locate the band, the concert was excellent. Joburg works for the concert gypsy. So if you’re keen to attend the Moody Blues concert on June 1, you can start planning for your South Africa winter trip (it’s below the equator, remember?), picking and choosing from the other alternative Big Five.

FOR THE CONCERT GYPSY

The gigantic 94,736-seater Soccer City Stadium in Soweto

bump you up. If you’re a couple, giving the check-in staff the impression that you are on your honeymoon / anniversary increases your chances further.

■ If your choice of meal is not available, you could politely but firmly try an earnest request – for example, “I’m severely allergic to vegetarian meals and I might die on the flight if I were to eat one” – and they’ll probably get you a non-vegetarian meal from Business or First Class.

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BRAZIL

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IN SALVADOR Centuries-old Portuguese buildings now house restaurants and shops

IN SANTA TERESA Tram tracks run past quaint cafés in Rio’s leafy neighbourhood

Travel Special

IN SALVADOR The Barra lighthouse can be seen from most of the beaches in the city

A Real Deal

It’s on the wish list of most travellers, but even if you’re on a budget, far away Brazil is nearer than you think text and photos by Noel Braganza

M

Y LOVE for Brazil began the moment I discovered the bossa nova, a sound that lingered through most of my years in Delhi. What triggered my decision to visit Brazil last July was the fact that Sahil, one of my closest friends, was working there at the time, and wouldn’t be there for long.

WEEK ONE

I landed in Sao Paulo, with about 600 real (the local currency, pronounced hay-aa-eil and approximately R16,500) in cash and 600 real on a travel card (I was on a budget) and enough excitement to rival a five-year-old with a new bike. Sahil met me at the airport and we rushed out into the nippy night, heading into the city. An hour and a half later, we were in Sao Paulo city, ready to couchsurf for the night.

The next day, we dropped in to South America’s largest park, Ibirapuera. Brazilians are obsessed with their physical

You can see all of Rio from the statue of Christo Redento

appearance. Their government runs free gyms and people were jogging or bicycling along the many paths.

We spent a fair bit of time trying to fit into a very physical world before returning. On the way, we spotted various diners and restaurants that served cheap food (10 real or less) near our place. Chicken, rice, beans and salad became my staple diet for most of my stay in Brazil.

Most of my evenings in Sao Paulo were spent clubbing or walking through what, in part, resembles New York or London. We carried just about 50 real, an identity card and a debit card – never any valuables. Sao Paulo is reasonably safe, but you don’t want to attract any attention to yourself.

After three days in Sao Paulo, we moved to Paraty (Para-CHee), an old Portuguese city in the north. We took the bus, and the best part about the journey was the natural landscape along the way.

At Paraty, we checked into our dorm at the Youth Hostel Che Lagarto and, map in hand, began to explore the city. The cobbled streets were lined with Portuguese buildings housing swish restaurants, souvenir shops and hostels.

By evening, we headed back MAY 6, 2012

IN OURO PRETO

This city hosts a month-long arts festival with street theatre, concerts, performances and music every day to our hostel and were informed that they’d be throwing a beach party. We headed out into the night with our fellow hostellers, only to return to a night of horror. My knapsack with my camera, passport and money was gone. We woke up the hostel staff and a hunt began. It turned out that my bag, along with some other ones, were emptied and dumped in one of the unused rooms.

The thief, though, was kind, and had left my passport behind. I didn’t care about my money – I had insurance. But they took my brand new camera (the photos you see here were taken on my phone).

The managers at the hostel let us stay our next two nights for free, They even got us a free night’s stay at their hostel at Ilha Grande, our next destination.

WEEK TWO

Getting to Ilha Grande was a bit of an adventure too. We took a bus to Angra, sprinted from the bus stop

with our overweight bags to the jetty and only just managed to make it onto the boat to catch the last ferry there. Cold and hungry, we curled up into our seats and shielded ourselves from the icy Atlantic air that was gushing through the length of the ferry.

After 45 minutes of taking in the gorgeous scenery, we reached the grand island that has some of Brazil’s most stunning beaches, nature trails and hill peaks. The sea here was dotted with hundreds of tiny boats and yachts swaying gently as if being rocked to sleep by the lazy ocean. The cold jungle mist rose to cover a peak that easily resembled the head of a duck.

Our hostel was right on the bay, and it had its own wooden deck that overlooked spectacular coral reefs.

The island was perfect to explore on foot, but the uphill-downhill hike took over two hours and was exhausting. I was quite breathless by the time we reached the pristine white Lopes Mendes beach and dived into the clear blue Atlantic Ocean. Thankfully, it was possible to take a boat around the island back

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IN CAPÃO Brazil’s second highest waterfall is visible from the area’s mountains to the hostel.

Next stop: Rio de Janeiro. We took the last ferry out to the Mangaratiba pier and took a bus to the city. Rio is the most stunning city I have seen. Urban development and nature thrives side by side. It was more alive than Sao Paulo and looked like a city that would never sleep. We couchsurfed here as well and went clubbing almost every night. The clubs here are huge and were open all the way into the morning. Buses clipped along empty streets even at 3 am, all full of people.

Rio’s best seen on foot, so we walked down from Copacabana to Ipanema along the beaches. The entire walkway was lined with outdoor gyms, jogging tracks and juice bars.

In the distance you could see the famous Pão de Açúcar (Loaf of Sugar), peeking out of the ocean.

That evening, we took a rickety, narrow gauge tram to see a friend in the old neighbourhood of Santa Teresa. The area is rundown, but leafy and dotted with quaint cafés.

Our next destination, the sleepy mining hill town of Ouro Preto, was an overnight bus trip away. We arrived at the crack of dawn smack into a month-long arts festival. The whole city was transformed into a colourful bustling hillock. There was street theatre, concerts, performances and lots more happening every day. Every time I took a turn, I was greeted by beautiful churches.

IN CHAPADA DIAMANTINA NATIONAL PARK Trekking is a popular activity

The steep slopes aren’t for the fainthearted. But Ouro Preto is truly the perfect example of how history can stand the test of time.

The trip wasn’t done. A few days later we flew up north to Salvador, the third most populous city in Brazil. Salvador is known for its outdoor parties and the easygoing attitude of its people. The centuries-old colourful buildings now enjoy a new life as restaurants and tiny souvenir shops. I also got to witness the world-famous Olodum group drumming away in the narrow alley; its sounds echoing a good 10 blocks away.

Salvador’s local cuisine is delicious, in particular, a deep-fried snack called acarajé, essentially a ball of peeled blackeyed peas. I was warned not to eat more than one by the bus driver who dropped us to the Itapaon market, the consequences of which I would only realise the next day.

Acarajé is available all over Salvador, but places like Itapoan attract crowds every evening after 5 pm. With beer flowing and acarajé frying, these evenings always end up becoming one big community party.

Ouro Preto is the perfect example of how history stands the test of time

TRAVEL SMART

Navigate busy airports with ease

WEEK THREE

After a couple of days in Salvador, we went into the wild again via a bus to Capão, a small village that acts as a base for trekkers at the limestone tabletop mountains in Chapada Diamantina National Park.

The climb was gruelling for the first

IN RIO Walking from Copacabana to Ipanema lets you see a slice of local life

Travel Info

Before you slip into a pair of Havaianas and dream of samba on the beach, here’s what you need to know

FLYING THERE There are no direct flights to Sao Paulo, so one could fly via Johannesburg or Paris, New York or Dubai. The route that makes the most sense is via Dubai, as you don’t need a transit visa.

VISA Getting a Brazilian visa isn’t difficult.

It takes about a week for the High Commission to issue the visa, so plan accordingly, especially if you’re visiting other South American countries. See http://novadelhi.itamaraty. gov.br/en-us/how_to_apply.xml.

TRAVELLING WITHIN BRAZIL Your best options are bus or Metro, which are cheap (2.5 real) as taxis are very expensive.

There are no intercity trains.

EATING ON A BUDGET If you’re vegetarian, food will be expensive and difficult to find. Street food in Salvador is a must, especially acarajé, and beer. Restaurant food everywhere is extremely expensive, local diners are much cheaper and fun (10 real or less).

TRAVEL TIPS ■ Brazil is expensive, rough it out by using hostels and public transport.

■ The best way to enjoy Brazil is to do things the locals do, because they really know how to turn life into one big party.

■ You would also perhaps like to learn some basic Portuguese.

■ Book your youth hostels online before you travel.

■ Never travel with bling.

SNACK ATTACK

Salavdor’s deep fried snack, acarajé, is delicious

Yellow fever vaccination

This is not mandatory for Brazil, unless you’re travelling to the Amazon. Yellow fever vaccinations are only available at a few designated places in some cities IN MUMBAI, you can get the IN DELHI, go to the international IN KOLKATA, inoculation at the Seamen’s airport, the International Inocula- the Port Health tion Centre at Mandir Marg, the Organisation Medical Examination public health laboratory at the or the Organisation, Nav Bhavan, Town Hall on Alipur Road or Ram international Ballard Estate, or at the Manohar Lohia Hospital. airport. international airport.

couple of hours, but once we were at the tabletop, the horizon opened up to the Pati Valley, an endless expanse of mountains. The winds here are so strong that the waterfall doesn’t really get a chance to reach the bottom. Instead it rises right back to shower the top of the cliff as a never ending cycle of rain.

When I returned to Rio, I was

Flying out of busy airports like Mumbai or Delhi can be quite traumatic because of the queues everywhere. Here are some ways to make your flow from the taxi’s seat to the airplane’s seat somewhat smoother.

■ If you’ve checked in online, go straight to the dedicated bag drop desk. If there isn’t one and the airline staff is trying to herd you into the general check-in line, stand firm and insist that you be allowed to join a shorter queue – the Business or First Class.

MAY 6, 2012

Travel Special

determined to visit Cristo Redentor.

You can really see all of Rio from this vantage point. Take the famous Trem do Corcovado tram up the hill or simply share a taxi to the top. It’s relatively more expensive than the other things I did, but it was definitely something one should do when they are in Rio. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

■ If you’re a couple or a larger group, then once you’ve checked in, one of you should go and stand in the immigration queue. Let the others fill up the forms and join the queue where the ‘line-catcher’ is standing.

■ Carry as little hand baggage as possible and empty your pockets (phone, wallet, passport, keys etc) into your hand baggage for the security check.

■ Mumbai and Delhi’s duty free zones are some of the cheapest in the world. Buy all your alcohol before you depart and collect it when you arrive.

THAILAND

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Back For Seconds

Travel Special

BOWLED OVER

Japanese rice bowl (left) at Don Don Tei, satays on the street (below)

The next time you visit Bangkok, make time for pleasures of the culinary kind

by Rachel Lopez

T

HE BEST thing about Bangkok isn’t that the people are always smiling; it’s that they are always eating.

They’re at it everywhere, huddled over a bowl of duck noodles in Jatujak Market, chewing on beef satay on street corners, or sitting down to stir-fried squid and rice almost as soon as you’ve paid up and left a restaurant. This is a city whose chemists stock salmon-skin wafers, whose general stores offer steamed pork buns and whose street carts will serve you a proper meal – soup, mains, dessert, fruit, drinks and all – without ever scrimping on quality or quantity.

There’s more to Bangkok dining than basil-flecked green curry in touristy Patpong. Here are some recommendations for your next trip.

GO JAPANESE

If you can’t afford Japan (honestly, even the Japanese can’t sometimes), Bangkok is the next best place to sample the cuisine. Thais love Japanese food and there’s enough of a Japanese population to ensure a flowering of restaurants that cater to expat tastes. You could start with a pre-set Bento box at the ubiquitous Fuji, which has branches in most of the larger malls and which has a moderately priced menu. Or head to the Isetan section of Central World to choose from a dozen-odd restaurants like Kabuki, a 150-yearold Japanese brand that specialises in traditional dining.

ROYAL THAI SHOW

At Ruen Mallika, royal Thai fare like fried flowers (above) are on the menu. Bangkok (below) is a paradise for gourmets

STAR TURN

Chef Gaggan Anand’s restaurant Gaggan (left) serves up molecular gastronomy Indian style (above and below)

Simpler fare is available at Isetan’s Don Don Tei, which serves ricebased set meals. Most mall restaurants have plastic food displays and menu descriptions in English. Yes, they’ll happily offer cutlery if you’re clumsy with chopsticks. But if there’s one thing the Thais like as much as Japanese food, it’s buffets. Make the best of both in MBK mall at Shabushi – an all-you-can-eat deal on sushi, tempura, beverages and hotpot cuisine. Help yourself to an array of raw meat, seafood, veggies, tofu and egg off the conveyor belt. Drop it into your bubbling pot of broth.

Cook. Devour. Repeat.

Bring It Home

SUPERMARKET SWEEPS FOR ADVENTUROUS FOODIES Bangkok’s supermarkets have an exceptional selection of snacks, spices, sauces and pastes. They’re great places to stock up on black fungus (a delicate mushroom for thin soups), Vietnamese pho kits (noodles, soup mix, chilli sauce, bean sprouts, dehydrated meat and chives), green curry sets (of rice, curry, coconut milk), octopus chips (they taste like prawn), pork munchies, seaweed strips (for soups and salads) and vacuum-fried fruit and veggies.

TRAVEL SMART

Keep your passport secure

Photos: ANTOINE LEWIS; GAGGAN

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There’s a 75-minute dining limit. But you’ll be stuffed long before the time’s up.

RETHINK INDIAN

You could head to Indian restaurants in crowded Nana and come out with your world unchanged. Or you could go to Ploenchit, two Skytrain stops away to taste the future. Kolkata-raised Gaggan Anand’s restaurant Gaggan does to Indian food what his mentor Ferran Adrià pioneered at his threeMichelin-star restaurant El Bulli in Spain. There are things like raita, papad, dhokla and kulfi on the menu. But the raita looks like a white egg yolk and bursts inside your mouth, the papad’s made from pureed and dehumidified carrot, the dhokla is an airy snow and the kulfi creamy without any cream. Cutting edge contraptions and techniques go into the making of a Gaggan dish – but the ingredients are super

Here are steps you can take to avoid running about like a headless chicken: ■ Ensure that you’ve made copies of your passport and have stored them in different places beforehand.

■ Scan your passport’s relevant pages and upload to your email. In fact, you should also have a document uploaded that lists your passport number, credit card numbers and helpline numbers. Always carry a few spare passport photos.

MAY 6, 2012

fresh, additive-free and healthy. The food is quite simply delicious.

DISCOVER THAI

Once you’ve had your fill of noodle broths, street-corner satays, foodcourt curries and hotel buffets, seek out Silom’s Taling Pling to eat as the locals really do. The home-style Thai menu means you dine on friedfish salad with the sour taling pling vegetable picked from the restaurant garden, chicken wrapped in pandan leaves, soft shell crab, puffball mushroom curry and of course, a creamy, coconutty green curry.

Should you fancy something fancy, the harder-to-find Ruen Mallika serves royal Thai cuisine – delicious platters of fried flowers (roses, frangipani, jasmine and all), ostrich meat, omelette-wrapped noodles, gigantic crayfish and homemade coconut ice cream – in a 180 year old teak house. rachel.lopez@hindustantimes.com

■ Note down the address of the Indian embassy in the countries you are

travelling to, the phone number and the days and hours of operation.

■ If you lose your passport, the first step is to make a police complaint and

get an attested copy of the same.

■ Head to the embassy where arrangements will be made for a new passport or an emergency travel document. You will need this to depart the country you are travelling in.

MAURITIUS

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Travel Special

FLY BY ADVENTURE

Important tip: Choose your hotel wisely (left); Mauritius also offers visitors the chance to go skydiving (above)

Island Odyssey

Photos: MAURITIUS TOURISM PROMOTION AUTHORITY

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It’s not for penny-counting backpackers.

But for those who love the good life, Mauritius offers wave after wave of fun

by Serena Menon

M

OST FILM buffs would remember the Mauritius captured in the scene from Agneepath (1990), in which Amitabh Bachchan staggers out of the pristine sea to come face to face with villain Kancha Cheena (Danny Denzongpa) seated on a beach chair sipping a drink. Slurp. This is exactly what one imagines doing in the country that used to be one of the hottest filming locations due to its liberal laws.

The greatest thing about Mauritius is that it seems stuck in a time warp. The sea is just as blue, the beach just as pristine as it used to be. The coast, roads and expansive fields are some of the cleanest in the world, and never will you find too many people crowding any spot.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY

One of the most important aspects to keep in mind about Mauritius is

FACTS & FIGURES Visa: Visa for up to 60 days on arrival for Indian citizens.

Currency: Mauritian Rupee. One Mauritian Rupee is roughly two Indian rupees.

Flights: Air Mauritius offers direct flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.

TRAVEL SMART

Plan ahead if you hire a car on a vacation

picking the right hotel. The country is packed with massive properties with private beaches; and some offer tours and complimentary meals.

By day two, you begin to understand the country’s strategy: nothing is really free, and there’s a high price to everything. It’s probably why it doesn’t attract too many young people looking for a cheap place to party.

But for those who can never have enough of clubbing, Mauritius is heaven. Apart from the clubs and pubs situated right on the beaches and inside the hotels, shopping complexes turn into discotheques every Saturday night.

GO WILD, BUT NOT OVERBOARD

Indian visitors.

Apparently, Sanjay Dutt orders himself a few bottles every time he visits Mauritius.

These mall-disco gigs, which feature a mix of live music and DJs, usually go on through the night. By the time the sun comes up, everyone retires for the day.

Since it’s populated with a mix of Indians, Chinese and Europeans, you’ll never get bored of the sights or sounds. The most common language is Mauritian Creole – best described by the self-deprecating natives as “poor man’s French”.

The great thing about Mauritius is that it seems stuck in a time warp

CLUB MIX

Space-starved Mumbai could really use an ingenious idea like that. The lobby of a medium-sized partially open complex becomes the dance floor. A bar is set up on one end, and word is spread informally. Usually, it’s some young locals who double up as the bartenders and create obscure cocktails using the local, most-famous brand of white rum: Green Island. It’s a big hit among

GO DEEP

By day three or four, you’d be dying to take advantage of the water sports. Which is when you should attempt seabed walking, since it isn’t a sport you can indulge in, in India’s muddy waters. In Mauritius, the water is clear right from when you descend into the sea from the boat. Seconds before your head is submerged, a heavy giant glass

■ Book online and as early as you can. You’ll have the advantage of getting a higher segment car for a cheaper rate.

■ If you pay when you book, you are often guaranteed the model you have chosen, instead of a random car. If you block a BMW 3 series, the firm could give you a similar car (an Audi A4 or a Mercedes-Benz C Class). But if you make full advance payment, you are guaranteed the BMW. ■ A GPS is a definite advantage and you should avail of that option.

MAY 6, 2012

Keep your trip relaxed – with two adventure activities at most, such as quad biking (left) and underwater fun globe is placed on your head. The air bubble inside the globe helps you breathe once your feet touch the seabed (I’m convinced there is a better ‘un-Neanderthal-like’ way to do this but I haven’t found it yet).

Over the next few minutes as you try and balance yourself against the undercurrents, the fish start nibbling at the tidbits handed to you by your guide. Between trying to stand straight, keeping your globe upright, feeding random fish and posing for pictures, you’ll find yourself having a pretty good time.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

I happened to find myself in Mauritius on a chance work trip and I decided to make the most of it.

Others plan their trips and pack them with lots to do. My suggestion — don’t. Keep it relaxed. Go for a walk on the beaches, dive into the seafood buffets, drive to the closest forest area and continue walking.

You’ll come back having experienced a lot more. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

■ Holidays offer plenty of opportunities to rent big, like a Porsche or a BMW Z4. However, these require two credit cards as security.

■ Avail of the Zero Liability cover option. So if you total the car, you don’t have to pay a dime.

(All the ‘Travel Smart’ tips have been written by Rishad Saam Mehta, avid traveller, photographer and author of Hot Tea Across India)

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BITE INTO SWEET, WHITE SNOW

ing wrong with it. It just wasn’t very good or at all special.

Chastened by that experience, I avoided Floating Islands for the next couple of years. If the world’s best chefs couldn’t make them taste very good, then what was the point of the dessert?

Vir Sanghvi Then, in the early 1990s, somebody ordered me a Floating Island at a simple bistro in Paris. The dessert was a revelation. At the base was a lake of freshly made Crème Anglaise (what you and I call A real pudding, like the Floating Island, custard), tasting of milk, cream and orange egg yolks. Floating on the lake was a giant iceberg of rarely holds the interest of most chefs. the whitest and fluffiest meringue I had ever eaten.

Biting into the meringue was like biting into the To them, it is boring and old-fashioned – sweetest, most delicate snow. It was, I decided, but it’s my all-time favourite dessert going to be my favourite dessert from now on.

And so it has remained (edging out bread and ATE MY first Floating Island at a top chefs’ butter pudding and even an airy hot soufflé). dinner in 1985. The dish was the dessert Except that I haven’t had the chance to eat as course at a meal cooked by some of Europe’s many Floating Islands as I would have liked. Most greatest chefs. Even now, I can remember chefs consider it a boring, old-fashioned dessert the chefs gathering (over many glasses of chamnot worthy of their talents, and spend their time pagne – most of them were French) to discuss the devising new riffs on expensive chocolate (isn’t it menu for the evening. There were several Michelin odd how they all want to brag about using Valrhona Three Star chefs, including the great Pierre or Amedei or some other obscenely-priced chocoTroisgros, Jean Lameloise, Jean-André Charial, late on their menus?) or making silly little pasPierre Romeyer and Eckart Witzigmann. There tries. Real puddings, like the Floating Island, rarely were famous Two Star chefs too: Michel Rostang hold their interest. and Alain Dutournier.

One of the few places you can still be reasonAfter selecting a very French menu for the ably certain of finding a Floating Island, howevdinner (Fish in Saffron Sauce, Civet de Poulet er, is France. The French have two names for it. etc.), Pierre Troisgros instructed the chefs to cook Oeufs à La Neige translates as Snow Eggs which what he called ‘Iles Flottantes’ (French for Floating is a good description of the taste of the dessert.

Island) for the dessert.

And IIes Flottantes translates as Floating Island.

TOUCH IT UP I still recall the pudding. It consisted of a custard sauce in Some chefs make a distinction in that a single iceberg of Michel Roux offers a which there floated little lumps of egg white. meringue is called Ouef à La Neige while the kind of thing the variation of the Floating Given the standard of the rest of the meal (the chefs were Three Star chefs cooked in 1985, with three or four little blobs Island with strawberries phoning it in so the food was pretty bad), I was not surprised to of meringue on a puddle of custard gets called Floating Island. at Le Gavroche in the find the pudding course entirely unmemorable. There was nothBut basically, as far as I can tell, the names are used intersummer changeably for the same pudding depending on the chef’s personal preference. (There is also – according to Larousse Gastronomique – a completely different dessert made with slices of sponge cake that is also called Floating Island, which adds to the confusion).

The French do not regard the Floating Island as a haute cuisine dish. (The Three Star chefs were phoning it in when they made it their dessert course at our dinner and refused to do anything more elaborate). It is a bistro dish, found in small restaurants where the owners cook themselves. When Michelin-starred chefs offer it on their menus, they usually feel the need to tart it

I

rude food

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THE LE GAVROCHE FLOATING ISLAND This is the recipe from one of London’s best regarded old establishment French restaurants. They serve it on the summer menu when strawberries are in season.

SERVES 4 500g strawberries 100g sugar or to taste 6 egg whites 340g caster sugar 300g caster sugar for caramel and poaching liquid Photo courtesy: A LIFE IN THE KITCHEN BY MICHEL ROUX JR

MAY 6, 2012

To make the strawberry compote, simply sprinkle a little sugar over some washed and hulled strawberries. The amount of sugar depends on the sweetness of the berries. Bring this to the boil, then immediately take off the heat, cover, and leave to cool.

Beat the egg whites with a whisk until frothy, then add 340g caster sugar. Continue to whisk until firm and smooth. Using a

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I stay awake at nights thinking of the utterly and completely wonderful Floating Island at the Coffee Beans by Dao in Thailand up by adding berries or some other variation and then make the point that it was cooked this way by their mothers or grandmothers by way of explanation/apology. Some – like Raymond Blanc – are honest enough to concede that it is a great pudding, far better than most of the poncy desserts that Michelin-starred chefs have created. Blanc even says that he hopes that it will be the dessert at the last supper he ever eats.

One reason why haute cuisine chefs do not bother with Floating Island is that it is relatively easy to make – for a chef anyway. (I would slash my wrists in the kitchen if you asked me to cook it.)

While researching this article, I looked up as many Floating Island recipes as I could find. They were all broadly the same. The dish has three components. The first is the custard. The only point of difference between chefs is in the consistency of the custard.

Some say it should be thin. Others incline to my view that it should be a relatively thickish sauce so that it forms a contrast to the lightness of the meringue.

The second component is the egg. All recipes advise the same thing: beat the egg whites till stiff and add sugar. The point of divergence is the next step. In one set of recipes, you poach the egg whites for a few minutes in either water or milk. Another set of recipes requires you to put the whites in the oven.

The third component is the value addition. Do you add a layer of caramel? Some praline perhaps? Some fresh fruit flavours?

Chocolate, even? Depending on which value addition you choose, the recipe can vary.

But otherwise, it is the same straightforward method: make a custard, poach (or bake) beaten egg whites and then add Something Else for variety. You can see why fancy chefs don’t find it particularly challenging.

While the Floating Island is still easy enough to find in France, it is hard to get elsewhere. The only places in England big kitchen spoon dipped in cold water, scoop out a big island of meringue and plunge the spoon into simmering sweetened water. The island should come off the spoon and poach in this liquid.

Carry on doing this until all the egg whites are used, not forgetting to flip the island over after 3-4 minutes to cook on both sides. Once cooked, gently take the islands out of the liquid with a slotted spoon.

Place on a rack to cool and

drain.

When cold, pour freshly made caramel over the top – simply heat some sugar in a heavy pan until liquid and golden.

To serve, place some compote in each bowl, followed by Crème Anglaise flavoured with vanilla, and finally the caramelcoated floating islands.

200g fresh milk 40g castor sugar Pinch of salt Method Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a large bowl until foamy, add a pinch of salt and beat until whites hold soft peaks. Add sugar one tbsp at a time, beat until whites are stiff and fluffy.

Scoop some meringue (about the size of an egg) onto a large oval spoon. Then, using another large spoon, gently transfer the meringue from spoon to spoon, and drop the meringue into the milk.

Shape two or three meringues, dropping each into milk, simmer for one minute. Using a heatproof rubber spatula, turn meringues over the milk.

Simmer for another minute.

Repeat the process, shaping and then poaching six meringues. Transfer to a waxed-paper-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least one hour and up to three hours.

that serve it are old-fashioned restaurants run by French chefs.

Raymond Blanc does it at the Manoir and Michel Roux offers a variation at Le Gavroche in the summer. And that’s about it.

Otherwise, you really have to search for the pudding.

But two years ago I discovered an incredible Floating Island at the unlikeliest of places. Coffee Beans by Dao is a chain of Thai restaurants that serves excellent versions of the local cuisine at reasonable prices. The branch I go to (at Soi Ruamrudee – I am not willing to vouch for the other branches) also has a counter that sells cakes, desserts and biscuits to either eat on the premises or to take away.

My guess is that the desserts are made in a central commissary somewhere in Bangkok and then dispatched to the chain’s branches all around the city. And I am happy to concede that there is nothing particularly fancy about the puddings. (They are not going to give Pierre Hermé sleepless nights).

But here’s the thing: they are cheap and delicious. I would gladly eat those desserts over anything produced at a fancy French patisserie. In particular, I love the crème caramel, the banoffee pie and the cheesecakes and I stay awake at nights thinking of the utterly and completely wonderful Floating Island.

You can get an excellent riff on the Coffee Beans by Dao Floating Island at the new On The Waterfront on the grounds of Delhi’s Aman Hotel. (They also do a brilliant bread and butter pudding, but that’s another story). I’ve ordered it each time I’ve gone (and that’s something like six times already!) and I sometimes think I only go there to eat the Floating Island.

You also get an upmarket Floating Island at Delhi’s Le Cirque.

The food at is usually good but that is because of chef Mickey Bhoite’s determination to lighten Le Cirque’s leaden recipes.

When it comes to desserts, alas, the restaurant sticks too closely to the heavy-handed traditions of the original in New York where I imagine each recipe begins with these worlds: “Take a classic French dessert. Now, make it as stodgy as possible…”

But if you can’t get to any of these places, don’t worry. You are probably a better cook than I am (and I am the world’s worst cook) so it should be easy enough for you to make your own Floating Island. Try the recipes I’ve included, and cook it yourself.

You are going to love it!

MAY 6, 2012

DESERT WISH

Chef Raymond Blanc says that he hopes that Floating Island will be the dessert at the last supper he ever eats

Photo courtesy: RAYMONDBLANC.COM

SURPRISE PACKAGE

This is pastry chef Sayed Alam’s own recipe.

It is not the leaden Le Cirque recipe from the same hotel.

Crème Anglaise 125ml fresh milk 125ml fresh cream 5 egg yolks 50g caster sugar 1 vanilla pod (optional) Method Scrape seeds off vanilla bean halves into a heavy small saucepan, add beans, milk and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover and stand for five minutes.

Whisk egg yolks and caster sugar for about two minutes or until thick. Gradually whisk in warm milk mixture, stir over low heat until custard thickens and runs down the back of a spoon. Strain custard into small bowl, cover and chill for at least three hours to set.

Floating Meringue 100ml egg whites 50g caster sugar

Photos: THINKSTOCK

THE LEELA’S FLOATING ISLAND

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IT’S WAR! Samsung vs Nokia vs Apple: who will be number one in the next five years?

Rajiv Makhni

Blaring Big Headline Strategy Analytics announces: Samsung shipped 44.5 million smartphones and overtook Apple (35.06 million units) to become the world’s number one smartphone vendor.

Really Loud Headline IIHS declares: Samsung sold 32 million units of smartphones while Apple sold 35.06 million units. Thus Samsung remained in the second place in the smartphone segment, behind Apple Inc. Incredibly Intense Headline All analysts declare: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in the first quarter overtook Nokia Corp to become the world’s largest cellphone brand for the first time. Samsung sold 92 million units to Nokia’s 83 million.

T

HE THREE headlines came within days of each other, had two major contradictions and are indicative of the amazing number game that is now played out every quarter. At stake are two crowns: who is the King of the Smartphone Kingdom across the world and who is the Master of the Universe in total mobile phone sales? And within these two battles lies a tale of misdirection and deceit.

THE SMARTER CROWN

A NEW CELL KING?

THE ONLY WAY IS UP

The next version of the Note (above) and more aggression with upcoming Windows Phone 8 phones will give Samsung some serious numbers

STILL GOING STRONG

It is way too early to knock Nokia off the smartphone market completely

For 14 years, Nokia has reigned supreme. It has been the first cellphone for most people across the world; it is synonymous with the word ‘mobile phone’; it has got more brand recall than almost anything else on earth (analyst Tomi Ahonen calls it “the brand most widely spread on the planet”); more people use a Nokia phone than drink Coca Cola, wear Levi’s jeans, Nike running shoes or write with a Bic pen. In a nutshell, Nokia was the undisputed monarch and king of the mobile phone. Was! And now Samsung has toppled it and Nokia is dead! And in that last statement lies the foolishness of people jumping not just a gun but an entire platoon of tanks. How can a company that sells 83 million mobile phones be dead? The misdiagnosed demise of Nokia is based on the fact that its Windows Phone smartphone sales have not set the world on fire. While it is true that mobile phone growth currently is predominantly fuelled by smartphone sales, the feature phone market isn’t dead or buried! In emerging markets as well as countries like India, feature phones will still continue to dominate for the next five years. Enough time for Nokia and Microsoft to plan for the NOT BIG ENOUGH

The last two versions of the iPhone were just very minor upgrades to the iPhone 3GS MAY 6, 2012

future. Nokia Windows smartphones sales reflect the typical sluggishness of a huge transition and it is way too early to knock them off the smartphone market completely.

My Blaring Big Prediction: Nokia will continue to be number two for the next two years.

Samsung may forge even further ahead. Apple cannot touch this crown unless it comes up with at least three other iPhone variants including an economy iPhone. If the Microsoft-Nokia gamble pays off in two years, you may still see Nokia reclaim what it has been for 14 years.

This is the fun story. Samsung is the new smartphone king and most people tend to agree with that analysis. It has sold 9 million more smartphones than Apple, and has so many variants within that category (dozens within Android, also a player in Windows Phone, plus has its own OS, Bada) that it positively makes Apple look silly with its ‘only iPhone’ strategy. Samsung is aggressive – it’s building a great worldwide distribution network and manufactures most of its components in-house. Case closed, right? Wrong! While there is no disputing the fact that Samsung is on a roll, there are still grey areas that lie within. For starters, Samsung doesn’t declare smartphone sales numbers – an unfortunate decision that came out of a controversy over the number of phones it shipped versus number of phones it sold. If Samsung wants to be a clean and clear number one, it also needs to report things more clearly. Second, the smartphone arena is no longer only about the device itself but the entire ecosystem: apps that consumers bought, accessories available for that company’s products, music downloaded, videos and movies bought, eBooks sold to users of that device. And in this arena, there is only one undisputed king – Apple.

My Really Loud Prediction: Samsung will leap further ahead.

The new Samsung Galaxy S phones revealed in London, the next version of the Note and more aggression with the upcoming Windows Phone 8 phones will give it some very serious numbers. But there are four bludgeoning hits coming in the future. A huge comeback from from BlackBerry with its OS 10, Nokia and Microsoft hitting incredibly hard in the next one year, LG unleashing some great phones and Apple with its iPhone 5 (a real new iPhone, since the last two were just very minor upgrades to the iPhone 3GS) and an economy iPhone (may well be the iPhone 4S at a unlocked price of $199). King Samsung has its fight cut out.

This is a number game that matters as it’s a game involving billions of dollars and the very survival of many companies. While the roadmap for the next two years seems quite set in stone, who will be number one in five years? It could be any of the big three or a complete unknown. A new king may already have been born – we just don’t know it yet!

techilicious

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Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3.

Follow Rajiv on Twitter at twitter.com/RajivMakhni

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AND HE SHALL BE LEVON

His doughty spirit and great vocals made The Band’s Levon Helm stand out till the very end FULL OF SOUL

Levon Helm (above) released two solo albums in the late 2000s even after battling cancer; The Band (below) were Bob Dylan’s electric backing band

A

FOR POSTERITY

Sanjoy Narayan

download central

24

COUPLE OF days after Levon Helm, drummer, singer and key member of The Band, the legendary rock group of the 1960s and ’70s (and then again the ’80s and the ’90s), died in the middle of last month, I got to hear a podcast that excerpted two radio interviews with Helm – one from 1993 and the other 2007.

There was a distinct difference in Helm’s voice between the two interviews. In the 1993 interview he sounded exactly like he did on The Weight. Remember The Weight? I pulled into Nazareth, I was feelin’ about half past dead;/ I just need some place where I can lay my head. “Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?”/ He just grinned and shook my hand, and “No!”, was all he said. What a gorgeous song that is. The vocals were shared by three of The Band’s singers. Besides Helm, there was Richard Manuel and Rick Danko.

The song itself was written by guitarist Robbie Robertson who, I read somewhere, was inspired by the films of Luis Buñuel to write The Weight.

I heard the The Weight on The Band’s first studio album, Music from Big Pink (1968), some eight or 10 years after that record came out, and was instantly hooked to the group, soon realising that even before recording their own album, The Band were actually Bob Dylan’s initially much-maligned electric backing band. But I

Scorcese’s film, The Last Waltz, is based on The Band’s last show in San Francisco in 1976

am digressing and should get back to what I was mentioning about Helm’s voice. Compared with 1993, in the 2007 interview, Helm’s voice had become a rasp. True, he was no longer 53 but 67 (he was 71 when he died last month) but his voice had withered. That was because of cancer. There is nothing perhaps sadder than a great singer being afflicted by cancer of the throat, which Helm was diagnosed with in 1998. But the man fought back.

Instead of a laryngectomy, Helm opted for radiation and by the 2000s, he was singing again. Those early post-cancer recordings included the Midnight Rambler sessions, which began featuring Helm’s daughter Amy and a bunch of other musicians.

The doughty Helm released two new solo albums in the late 2000s – Dirt Farmer (2007) and Electric Dirt (2009), on both of which his voice, ravaged as it was by the disease, still sounds remarkably good.

The second album, Electric Dirt, is the one I’d recommend (although Dirt Farmer won a Grammy) for it features a great tracklist: there’s Tennessee Jed (by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter), Stuff You Gotta Watch (Muddy Waters), When I Go Away (Larry Campbell) and Kingfish (Randy Newman) among others.

Helm’s inning with The Band, of course, stands out. And if you’ve seen Martin Scorcese’s film, The Last Waltz, based on The Band’s last show in San Francisco in 1976, you will know what I mean. The Last Waltz is probably the best rock concert film ever made and I’ve watched it in many incarnations – in a raggedy cinema theatre in Calcutta; on a badly recorded VHS cassette; and, now, periodically, on a well-mastered DVD. The Last Waltz begins with a slogan: “This film should be played loud”. And it features The Band, of course, but also many others, including Dylan whom the group backed, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton and Dr John.

The Band broke up, as I have gathered, chiefly because of differences between Robbie Robertson and the rest of the band.

Scorcese’s film has also been criticised for its over-focus on Robertson and not the rest of the band. And, the break led to some bad blood between Helm and Robertson. The Band reformed in 1983 but without Robertson the run wasn’t nearly as good as it had been in the 1960s and ’70s. Besides Music from Big Pink, I like their album, Stage Fright (1970) and Rock Of Ages (a live concert album from 1972). I also like, mainly because of the oddity, their two albums with Bob Dylan – Self Portrait (1970), which has a self-portrait by Dylan on the cover but is, otherwise, a very, very bad album; and, Before the Flood (1974), which is a live double album that is very, very good. Then, of course, there is Dylan’s brilliant Basement Tapes album on which The Band are his band.

On most discussions about The Band, it is Robbie Robertson, who hogs the show, and perhaps it is Scorcese’s film that is to blame a little for that, but for me, it is always Helm, who actually hired Robertson and most of the other musicians for his band, who stands out. Levon Helm. RIP. To give feedback, stream or download the music mentioned in this column, go to http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/ download-central, follow argus48 on Twitter

MAY 6, 2012

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Photos: THINKSTOCK

MY KIND OF WOMAN

Seema Goswami

MY PLATE OF GREENS

To share a salad is a definite deal-breaker for me

How can you tell whom you are likely to be best mates with?

THAT SWEET FEELING

Sharing a dessert – a nice, gooey, chocolaty concoction – is something I can totally get on board with

PAIN IN THE...

I can never get along with women who wear high heels on long-haul flights

So hanging out with sporty, tomboy types was out of the question. Instead, all potential friends had to pass what I called the ‘Do you read Enid Blyton?’ test and only those who had read everything from The Secret Seven to The Famous Five and the Malory Towers series were in with a chance.

As I grew older, this test was further refined.

Anyone who dissed Georgette Heyer as just another romance writer was off my radar in less time than it took to say Beau Brummel. Later still, all those who regarded Ayn Rand as the Fountainhead of all wisdom got short shrift. And more recently, Dominick Dunne has become my litmus test for People Like Us (or, more accurately, People Whom I Like).

But books are just the beginning. The tests of incipient friendship extend far beyond them. Take bread, for instance. No, I mean that. Take bread.

Go on, take it. Break off a morsel, slather on some butter, or dip it in olive oil, and plop it into your mouth. Um, delicious, isn’t it?

What? You don’t eat bread? Or carbs of any kind, except on the weekend? Oh well, it was nice knowing you, but this kind of abstention spells goodbye in my book.

In fact, truth be told, food can be a minefield littered with the corpses of would-be friends. You want to share a salad? A salad?

Seriously? You can’t even commit to an entire portion of lettuce leaves and rocket finished off with a touch of balsamico? Sorry, but that’s a deal-breaker for me. (Now, sharing a dessert – a nice, gooey, chocolaty concoction – that I can totally get on board with.)

Okay, you got me. I like a woman who enjoys her high-calorie treats, who doesn’t shy away from a bite of pasta or a slice of pizza. I like a woman who has an appetite and is not afraid to feed it. Though it can get a tad annoying if she stays startlingly thin at the end of all that face-stuffing.

And then, there are those women whom I know I would simply never get along with in a million years even if they shared my reading lists and my love for a perfectly crisp French fry. These are just some of the categories that come to mind: ■ The kind of women who wear high heels on longhaul flights. You see them at airports all the time, teetering on laughably high stilettos, mincing along on shoes that look more like torture instruments. These are the women who would puncture the evacuation slide if the plane ever had to make an emergency landing. You want to steer clear of them.

■ Women who are rude to waiters. Though, to be fair, this one applies to men as well.

■ Women who treat their domestic staff badly. It doesn’t matter how beautifully you behave in company if you go back and terrorise your house help. If you can’t treat the people who clean and cook for you and look after your children for good measure with respect (if not love) then what hope is there for the rest of us?

spectator

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T

HERE ARE some questions that always pop up when a group of young girls gets together. Who is your kind of man? What qualities do you look for in a guy?

How would you like your future husband to be?

The answers are often as hackneyed as the questions. The words ‘tall, dark and handsome’ have been known to be uttered. As have ‘sensitive and caring’. A sense of humour is always touted as a desirable quality. And everyone wants a well-educated, even ambitious man though only a few will admit to looking out for a rich one.

I guess all of us start out with a mental checklist against which we judge any potential mates. It is another matter that this checklist is the first thing to go out of the window when true love strikes.

Then, it doesn’t matter if he stands a couple of inches shorter than you or how deep his pockets are. It doesn’t matter if his jokes are unfunny and he doesn’t have a hint of a six pack. And it certainly doesn’t matter that he doesn’t look like one of those pinups you idolised throughout your teenage years.

Once you’ve fallen in love, even the most unsuitable of creatures begins to look like your ideal man.

And no matter what he is or how he is, he magically metamorphoses into your kind of man.

But then, that’s love for you. It has the knack of turning the world on its head. It has a way of making everything you once believed in seem futile and foolish. As the song goes: “I stand alone without beliefs; the only truth I know is you.”

Perhaps that is why I have never wanted to define – not even in my head – who my kind of man would be. At some subliminal level I guess I always believed that when I met him, I would know.

But women – ah, now we’re talking. I’ve always been very clear in my head about who my kind of woman is. (And just so we’re clear, by that I mean the kind of woman I could be friends with; not one whom I dream of having babies with.)

It all began – as things tend to do – in school.

It didn’t take me long to realise that I wasn’t really cut out for sport and rough-housing of any kind.

I’ve always been very clear in my head about the kind of woman I could be friends with

BONDING WITH BOOKS

In school, all potential friends had to pass what I called the ‘Do you read Enid Blyton?’ test MAY 6, 2012

seema_ht@rediffmail.com. Follow Seema on Twitter at twitter.com/seemagoswami

PERSONAL AGENDA

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twitter.com/HTBrunch

Hollywood actress

Monica Bellucci if i could...

I’D HELP ALL THE CHILDREN IN THE WORLD

SUN SIGN Libra

BIRTHDAY

September 30

HOMETOWN London

SCHOOL/ COLLEGE

FIRST BREAK

Signed with Elite Classic High Model Management School, Italy in 1988 after moving to Milan. Started acting in 1990, got PLACE OF BIRTH nominated for a César Award for the Città di Castello, Italy movie L’Appartement in 1996

HIGH POINT OF YOUR LIFE

The birth of my children

END VIOLENCE

and have people respect women and children ERADICATE POVERTY

YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY DESTINATION?

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Photos: THINKSTOCK

Brazil

How comfortable are you with nudity?

It depends on the situation!

However, I’d never consider doing pornographic movies.

MAY 6, 2012

LOW CURRENTLY DOING POINT OF I am about to shoot for a YOUR French movie that will LIFE be directed by Danièle

When and where were you happiest?

My children light up my life.

Since the birth of my two children, I wake up happy every day.

Low points, too, can be interesting

Thompson. Also I’m the face of Oriflame’s new Royal Velvet range

Your greatest extravagance?

I love to be stylish and my favourite designer is Dolce & Gabbana. However, I am not so extravagant! I am pretty classic.

The one thing you love about Bollywood?

The energy!

One role you wish you had played?

Caterina Sforza in the Borgia series of books by Mario Puzo.

Your mantra for success?

You can’t control success.

The sexiest man alive?

My husband (Vincent Cassel).

What do you indulge in: shoes or bags?

Shoes.

Your strategy for days when you feel fat?

It is simple: eat healthy, exercise, drink loads of water, sleep well and be happy.

What would we find in your fridge right now?

Almost everything. You forget that I have children.

The book on your bedside table?

A book by Virginia Woolf.

The song that always lifts your spirits?

All Sade’s songs.

If you were an ice cream, what flavour would you be?

Chocolate.

One thing about you that isn’t generally known?

I can be funny.

The one thing you’d always like to get as a gift?

A bag!

The exercise routine that scares you?

I don’t do anything dangerous.

The last line of your autobiography would read?

And she died in her sleep…

One thing you can never eat?

Candied fruit.

You destress with?

Gymming and sleeping.

— Interviewed by Veenu Singh