Hindustantimes Brunch 6th November 2011

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER 6, 2011 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

Cyrus will tell us at least one disgusting thing about Indian men that women don’t know

Like a 39-year-old man asking his mother for money before leaving home...?

Why do guys turn berserk after marriage? What goes wrong?

Tell us, Cyrus...

TV’s funny man Cyrus Broacha gets the third degree from buddies and former VJs Maria and Mini. That’s what happens when you write a book on the Average Indian Male

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What’s Wrong With Indian Men? 6

Gorgeous girls and long time friends, Maria Goretti and Mini Mathur give Cyrus Broacha the third degree about Indian men (given that he’s just written the definitive book on the Average Indian Male).

And he better have a good answer ready!

We’re Logged On facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch Jai Singh Though I feel Brunch has become an essential read for me and there is nothing much to add to its flavour, still if possible kindly add Travel Q&A section {sort of Travel Truth website–but related to only Indian destinations}. No worries if it comes alternately.

Aadil Mohammed Could you possibly make an issue on Harry Potter around the 16th of November, the day when the first Harry Potter movie was released?

Lalit Wadhwa With the advent of nuclear families and growing insecurites, the business of marriage broking has risen manifold. The marriages that are considered to be made in heaven, are infact being now solemnised by these brokers.

Mishri Shah Thanks for such amazing articles. But today’s articles were the best specially let your hair down.

A Vampire In My Living Room

With Indian filmmakers using zombies and vampires over our own desi ghosts, it won’t be long before we write a eulogy for bhoots and atmas.

EAT

Masala Wrap

It’s only a matter of time before the old Punjabi-dominated stand-alone sector folds PLAY

Our Twisted Future

Once you can bend a screen to your will, you can change everything LISTEN

Where (Some) Musicians Love To Eat

Hint: It’s not a nightclub, doesn’t advertise and doesn’t have a website!

LIVE

From Rags To Riches

Reality television can change your life; so long as it was pretty grim to begin with PERSONAL AGENDA

The capital of the Czech Republic retains its old-world charm, but with a modern twist. So, visit Prague and experience your own ‘Praha!’ moment.

Aradhana Seth

There’s No Khan-Test

Ra.One might be celebrating its box office success as the No. 1 grosser of all the Khan films but that’s only until the next Khan film releases

twitter.com/HTBrunch @25rby @RajivMakhni Each room will be meant for diff genres of music, n ultimately house in utter chaos! @shawnchandy Today’s issue shows how indians are so practical when it comes to marriage. Wealth & Looks are imp. Love can take a backseat @colourmecrimson Thank you HT Brunch for featuring Jonty Rhodes :) Such a delightful read. @Ipsita_Shome Jonty Rhodes’ interview in today’s HT Brunch. *fangirl giggle* @pinkvilla pinkvilla.com/node/183911 - Vidya Balan on the cover of HT Brunch. @awesm4 Missing thou since 2 sundays but am sure u r safe at home!

Write to brunchletters@hindustantimes.com For marketing and ad-related queries, contact Suresh Tripathi 09818899646

BRUNCH ON THE WEB

The photographer/ filmmaker on her unique definition of love, her gadgetfree holiday and what makes her day!

hindustantimes.com/brunch

Read Select EXCLUSIVE!!

Stories From the Previous Issue of Brunch Quarterly on the Web!

Pitcher Perfect: If it’s a Sunday, it must be Sangria. This wine cooler seems to be tailormade for lazy afternoons and brunches, made in large pitchers, with chunks of fruit floating about. So transform those slothful Sunday mornings. Ole!

Log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch

I S S U E

INDULGE

Point Me to Prague

Calling All Tweeple

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T H I S

EXCLUSIVE NEW SLIDESHOW! B-Town Sizzles F1 As the nation went abuzz with the first Indian Grand Prix, Bollywood came to cheer.

From Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta to Deepika Padukone, all came, saw and floored us with their style!

Plus an all-access pass to your favourite stories from this and previous Brunch issues. Log on!

FEED BACK Made in heaven?

THE (NEW) Business of Marriage

by Ira Trivedi (30 October) made for an interesting read and showed that if one has the drive, will and desire to succeed in any chosen field, then the sky is the limit. Of course the ability to innovate and do things differently also plays a key role in moving ahead of the run-of-the-mill types. Unlike the days of yore when one needed to be armed with a degree or doctorate to land a white collared job or get into a professional venture, the business opportunities that exist today are phenomenal and limitless.

Thus a gifted singer, dancer, sports person or a yoga teacher can make their millions if given the right breaks or the right stage to showcase their talents. With technology and the internet coming right into our drawing rooms, there is even more room to excel for tech savvy and upwardly mobile businessmen.

The shining examples of Gopal Suri, Pankaj Shastri or Geeta Khanna are proof enough that new age businesses are certainly here to stay but it will take some doing to get there and stay put.

— N J RAVI CHANDER, Bangalore IRA TRIVEDI meticulously narrated the emerging marriage business from ordinary pandits/shastries to corporate levels wherein brokers are arranging marriages through their online websites, posters and local franchises. It’s surprising to learn that these agencies are earning a huge amount as commission on the total expenditure or onetime charges after the marriage is solemnised.

But it appears that once that happens, these brokers don’t claim responsibility. Therefore the parents and the boy/girl should verify the authenticity, family background, educational and professional profiles, personal habits, financial status and other essentials before finalising the marriage. Prior meetings of the both boys and girls and their family members can be immensely useful for successful marriages. The government should also make some legislations for breach of trust or agreement, wrong information and a suitable fee structure by the brokers.

— A S MALHOTRA, New Delhi

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Kushalrani Gulab (Deputy Editor); DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor Design), Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Mignonne Dsouza, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna Swati Chakrabarti, Rakesh Kumar, Ashish Singh, Tewari, Pranav Dixit, Yashica Dutt, Amrah Ashraf Saket Misra, Suhas Kale, Shailendra Mirgal

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

Cover design: Ashutosh Sapru Photo: Natasha Hemrajani

ORY T S R COVE

g n with o r w Indian men?

comic Cyrus Broacha, TV anchor Mini Mathur and former TV veejay Maria Goretti variously calling each other Cy, Broacha, Maria, Mathur and sundry other nicknames over the solid hour that we interviewed them (after a stunning photoshoot) at Bonobo – Bar.Love.Food. in Bandra West, Mumbai.

Broacha (even we are falling into the habit now) is just about to release The Average Indian Male, his second book (the first was Karl, Aaj aur Kal). So who better to quiz a man who claims to deconstruct Indian men than two very old women friends – who don’t hesitate to ask the tough questions and laugh at the funny answers! We just went along for the ride….

Mini: So Broacha, tell us what your book is about?

Cyrus: It’s Mr Broacha, and the book is about…

Maria: (Interrupting) So do we have to call you Mr Broacha?

Mini: Why? Cyrus: Respect…

Mini: And what will you call us?

Cyrus: Bhabhi.

Maria: Did he say bhabhi?

Mini: He did say bhabhi, he’s obviously taking on the wrong chicks.

So what is your book about?

Cyrus: (starts to answer) Maria: And why did anyone ever commission it?

Cyrus: If you don’t let me answer, why are you even bothering to I have a big I love Indian men. problem with Indian ask me questions? You go on But NOT the talking, you’re worse than me. men. They don’t average Indian man.

So the book is Random open doors...

House’s idea, not mine… We (Want to shoot them (True, true, Mini, apart did a book before called Karl, sometimes, Maria?) from other things...)

Aaj or Kal….

Mini: Because there are no ideas It’s true, the that are your own…

Average Indian Male Cyrus: No they’re not. Although I indulges in a lot of am a scientist and some ideas are… body touching Mini: Tell us about your book!

(Cyrus, please stop doSkip the preamble. Tell us what ing that right now!) it’s about.

Cyrus: They wanted me to write a book where people could just read three or four pages and then throw it away, and I said ‘But that’s any book I write’.

(The girls laugh uproariously) Cyrus: So I told them, instead of writing fiction and novels, can I write about Indian men? Because I was just thinking, I do this skit about Indian men, so I said, can I make it into a bigger thing… and I find them very fascinating.

Maria: So do I. I find them fascinatHAT HAPPENS when Gorgeous girls Maria Goretti and Mini Mathur ing. you get three very good Mini: Are you mad? friends, three old colgive Cyrus Broacha the third degree about Maria: I find some Indian men leagues (that’s two very hot women Indian men (given that he’s just written the extremely hot! Extremely intelliand one really, really funny guy) gent. together? Complete chaos, a lot of definitive book on the Average Indian Male...)

Cyrus: I’m speaking about the interrupted sentences, and a lot of

by Mignonne Dsouza generic Indian man, not all Indian name calling – the clean type, we men. hasten to add – with TV’s resident photos by Natasha Hemrajani

What’s

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HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

Mini: Why is it only about the Indian man and why is it not…?

Cyrus: (Interrupting) I love women, but it just doesn’t go anywhere. I’m a male magnet – men just come up to me. You put me anywhere in a place where I don’t speak the language and see. Deep in Kerala, I have male friends.

Mini: So just admit it, you’re writing about the Indian man because you don’t KNOW how to write about any other man!

BRUNCH: I just wanted to ask Mini and Maria, if you had a chance to ask any Indian man what’s wrong with them...

Cyrus: I’m here.

Mini: (To Brunch) Dr Broacha’s here for you. (To Cyrus) Do you want to know what’s wrong with Indian men or would you rather not know?

Cyrus: I’ve done the research. There is some collective thought coming from a lot of people. Indian men are really quite normal people, but… why do they hold hands?

Maria: Why DO they hold hands!?

Cyrus: Why do they have thin legs?

Why do they…

BRUNCH: Why DO Indian men hold hands?

Cyrus: You see, India is so populated, they hold hands so that they don’t get lost in public.

When you see a hot chick, what do you think? (Should the answer

be really obnoxious, Maria is prepared...)

Mini: Okay, one at a time. I get to ask the first question. I want to know: Would you rather a woman came and told you what was bothering her or would you try and find out what is wrong?

Cyrus: It does not really matter one way or the other, because of the personality of the woman. Some are very forward with their feelings and some are not. My point is that over the years I’ve realised that many men, me included, have lots of flaws… like my wife complains about the mother thing, like why does a 39-year-old man…

Mini: (Interrupting) You’re 39??!!!

Cyrus: ….ask his mother for money just before leaving for the airport. I mean, she can’t understand that.

Mini: I can’t understand that either.

You’re weird.

Cyrus: Or why does your mother pack your bags.

Mini: I also want to tell the readers of HT that he does not carry any money. He borrows R10 when he has to take an auto in the suburban part of town, he does not carry a phone or wallet and his mother still answers his calls.

Maria: But let me say something in your defence. You are an Indian man, and (addressing Mini) he actually bailed me out

I think that alimony would be very expensive

once in Delhi, when a company did not pay our room bill, and he said, “Don’t worry Maria, I’ll leave my bags here and let’s both go to the airport. And he left his bags behind.”

Mini: That’s because his bags only have dirty T-shirts in them.

Maria: But it was so sweet of him! I still find that Indian men have far better manners, and they treat women far better…

Cyrus: When they’re dating you, that’s true.

Mini: I don’t agree.

Cyrus: I have heard stories from my friends.

Maria: I love Indian men. I do! Not the average one though.

Mini: I have a big problem with Indian men. They don’t open doors…

Cyrus: And they walk in front of their wives and families.

Mini: And as a very wise friend of mine said, ‘Marriage in India should have been an outdated institution the minute a woman brought her first salary home.’

Cyrus: Correct.

Mini: (To Cyrus) After marriage, you guys turn berserk. What’s wrong?

Cyrus: Personally speaking, I’m very scared of women, so it’s a little different for me.

Maria: I just want to

I want to tell the readers of HT that Cyrus does not carry any money. He borrows R10 when he has to take an auto

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

know Cyrus, when a woman says something like ‘I need to talk to you’, I want to know what goes through your mind at that time?

Cyrus: You see, men’s perceptions are not as good as women, we don’t pick up on small things.

Maria: But just answer me, what if I call you and if we were in a relationship (both girls laugh uproariously), and I say, we need to talk…

Cyrus: To be honest, he would pretend to be sincere, but he would not be good at it.

Mini: I think the biggest problem with the Indian man is that he changes the minute he gets married.

Cyrus: I think the biggest problem with the Indian man is that he’s brought up to believe he’s great.

Which he’s not. And he thinks like that because of the way his mother treats him, his family treats him… I know someone who has these incredible daughters, who will probably educate themselves and take care of him when he’s old, but he still wants a son. They glorify these men. If you notice, the moment you send them to America, they get levelled suddenly, because there is nobody protecting them. But in India, he’s this big king in his little world. And that’s why a lot of Indian men are not happy in foreign areas and cultures because they absolutely have no balls. And it’s all to do with the mother. The mother has given them too much importance.

Mini: Aren’t you making too many generalisations?

Cyrus: But THAT is the problem with the Indian male.

Maria: So how will things change?

Cyrus: The main point is that once women get financial security, things will change. They bring money to the table, everything changes.

Mini: That’s true – but they expect that if they are getting 50 per cent of the money to the table, they will also get 50 per cent help from the husband.

Cyrus: Then the husband’s whole attitude will change.

Mini: But that’s already happening.

Women are getting money to the table and subsidising men’s lives but Indian men do not subsidise their wife’s housework.

Cyrus: You’re absolutely right but I think that could change also.

Mini: Then the other thing. Broacha, tell me, do you think Indian men like their wives to look smouldering hot or they’d much rather look at other hot chicks but their wife should look… like the wife?

Cyrus: The sati savitri bit is a huge problem. But that’s why I have you two, to change that perception.

Indian men should be very comfortable with their wives in bikinis, in…

Mini: My husband is very comfort-

7

ORY T S R VE able with it.

COCyrus: Your husband is a different

man, he’s exposed to different cultures, he’s a well-read man… we’re talking about the generic man here!

We’re talking about Mrs Sharma who’s sitting at home, doing nothing, and watching Ekta Kapoor serials. It’s a different world.

Mini: So Mr Sharma wouldn’t want Mrs Sharma to look like Malaika Arora, if she could?

Cyrus: Within the confines of the bedroom he would, but to the outside world not so.

Maria: I agree.

Mini: Would he be okay with having an affair, but not his wife having an affair? The whole double standard thing.

Cyrus: Yes. I know a lot of men and they are like that.

The one thing you would change about yourself, Cyrus?

BONOBO PHOTO CREDIT: D. - BAR.LOVE.FOO WORTH ADDRESS: KENIL D 2N 2, E AS PH LL MA KING FLOOR, OFF LIN AD, RO ROAD, LINKING , BANDRA WEST MUMBAI.

Plenty.

Maria: Okay, tell us one disgusting thing about Indian men that women don’t know.

Cyrus: We can graphically talk about sex, really graphic. I once discussed this with this producer I worked with, I can’t even tell you how graphic we were, and then I jokingly asked him, ‘So how many times do you screw your wife,’ using these exact words, and he got very angry, because…

Maria: You were talking about the wife!

Cyrus: And I don’t understand why he reacted like that because we had just discussed sex graphically!

What is the big deal?

Maria: You can’t say screw, it should be make love…

I want to be taller and have stronger legs!!

Cyrus: What difference does it make! That’s hypocrisy!

Mini: Not it’s not.

Cyrus: So wife we can’t talk about, but if it was just a girl, it’s fine.

Maria: Cy, what is the one thing the Indian man wants to really know from a woman?

Cyrus: When are we going to have physical relations?

Maria: That’s all a guy wants to know!?!?!

Cyrus: From a male point of view, that’s a huge problem. We really want to know how long it will take before we’re going to get down and dirty. It would be nice if you could clear that up and say ‘look, maybe after seven dates, we could go somewhere’. Women have that problem, they hedge a lot.

Maria: And I also want to ask, you know, in our field, we meet new people all the time…

Cyrus: What, are you in sales?

Maria: Don’t be funny! What I want to ask is, when you see a hot chick, what do you think?

Cyrus: That alimony would be very expensive.

(Girls laugh uproariously) BRUNCH: Why do Indian men scratch themselves inappropriately in public?

Cyrus: That is something I can’t explain. I have seen Indian men, poor men, businessmen, men from different parts of the country – we’re unified in this.

BRUNCH: Why aren’t Indian men okay with women earning more than them?

Cyrus: They’re worried about losing power. Money is power.

Mini: Do you think that cuts across classes?

Cyrus: Yes, yes yes.

Maria: When a woman has a kid, do you think of her differently?

Cyrus: Why are you saying a woman, when we have a kid…

Maria: When you and me have a kid?? (They laugh) Cyrus: I don’t think you’d like to have a kid with me….

Maria: Cy, I want an answer.

If you see a girl, and think she’s hot, and then you see her with two little ones in tow, does your perception of her change?

Cyrus: But there are two types of men, the men who do and don’t have children.

Now that I have children, I’m quite okay with children, but when I didn’t…

Maria: So does the woman become hotter?

Cyrus: Depends on your

Cyrus, you’re such a loser!!

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

RAPID FIRE Maria: The one girl you would run to if she called?

Cyrus: Sonia Gandhi. I love power. I like Margaret Thatcher. I like Angela Merkel.

Mini: The one thing you’d change about yourself?

Cyrus: I want to be taller and have stronger legs.

Mini: The one person you would’ve married had you not met Ayesha (his wife)?

Cyrus: You. (Looking at Maria) You would have been the best man. (Lots of laughter) Maria: The one thing the Indian woman should change about herself?

Cyrus: I just think Indian women initially have wrong notions about men. They are too nice initially. Then their hopes get dashed. Aim low.

Maria: So you are saying…?

Cyrus: Don’t expect too much.

We’re getting better, but not that good.

Mini: Do you think the Indian woman is growing at a faster pace and leading the revolution of modernisation much more than men?

Cyrus: I think yes – men are a mafia, and we want to keep the women as much out of it as possible. So it’s going to be a tough fight. But I do feel that… if you look at police sniffer dogs, they always hire females – they’re ferocious and they are more loyal.

Mini: But I don’t think women get their due in this country.

Cyrus: I think everywhere is still a male-dominated world…

Mini: No. Internationally, women get their due.

Maria: I think that now that women are educated, and they work, they are bringing up their families differently.

fantasy. It’s a very personal thing.

(The girls laugh).

Mini: Broacha, tell me, how long do you think it’s going to take Indian men to completely reboot themselves?

Cyrus: It’s going to take a long time as compared to other countries.

And the mother has to stop glorifying her son.

Mini: What is the one thing the Indian man should change about himself?

Cyrus: He should walk behind the woman sometimes. I don’t know why it happens but it’s not cool.

Cyrus Broacha’s The Average Indian Male, published by Harper Collins, will be released later this month

Variety

A VAMPIRE IN With Indian filmmakers and TV producers looking at desi zombies and vampires, it won’t be long before zomcoms and bloodsucking sagas become commonplace

by Parul Khanna Tewari

OH HOW SEXY! Twilight’s success gave Indian filmmakers and TV producers a reason to look at vampires more closely

TWILIGHT-INSPIRED? Pyar Ki Ek Kahaani is an Indian vampire romance

indihorror

An iconic horror flick and a few others that broke through the clutter

VEERANA A Ramsay classic, known as much for its fear factor as its voluptuous women.

RAAT Revathi as a possessed girl did a great job of scaring us (and there were no hideous faces).

BHOOT Had A-list actors (for the first time).

The movie managed to unsettle us.

RAAZ The first slick, sensual ghost film that had oodles of glamour.

RAGINI MMS India’s Blair Witch Project, it was fairly scary.

E

VEN IN our weakest moments, as we leave the hall after watching American zombie favourite, Resident Evil, we don’t shrink with horror, thinking, “On the way to the loo, I might be attacked and eaten by a zombie.” Nor do we open the doors to our homes fearing that a vampire may be hiding near the fridge. We’re more likely to be afraid of the local bhoot/atma.

Most of us have been exposed to the Western obsession with zombies and vampires (in the form of movies, books and music). We’ve read Dracula, watched Francis Ford Coppola’s movie version and the cult zombie flick, Night Of The Living Dead, and we’re likely to throng theatres next year to see Tom Cruise in World War Z (Z for zombies).

But we don’t fear zombies or vampires the way we do our own bhoots and prets. However, with Bollywood making movies with zombies and vampires, all this might change – very soon. We will get to see the undead, the crazies, the pallidskinned and ruby-lipped bloodsucking vampires – and all in full-on desi style.

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IN LINE WITH THE WEST

A few credible filmmakers (Navdeep Singh of the Manorama Six Feet Under and Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK of Ragini MMS fame) have just announced movies with zombies in them – a first in Bollywood. Navdeep will be directing Rock The Shaadi with Abhay Deol and Genelia Dsouza and Raj will be doing Go Goa Gone with Kunal Khemu in the lead. Apart from these two zombie flicks, there is also Pyar Ki Ek Kahaani, the Twilight-inspired vampire love story running on Star One right now. In the pipeline is Bloody Veer (a vampire flick) and director Satish Kaushik’s new film based on Shantanu Dhar’s vampire book Company Red. Put it down to globalisation (read Americanisation) of popular culture. But why now? After all, zombies and vampires have been favourites with Western filmmakers, authors and even TV producers for eons.

STARS TURN INTO ZOMBIES Abhay Deol will be seen in Rock The Shaadi and Kunal Khemu is rumoured to star in Go Goa Gone.

Both are touted as zombie flicks

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

Well, the global success of the Twilight series (and TV shows such as True Blood and Vampire Diaries) may have something to do with it.

The creative director of Pyar Ki Ek Kahaani, Chloe Ferns, reveals that though Ekta Kapoor, producer of the show, was keen to do a vampire show for the longest time (she is supposedly a fan of such programmes), she didn’t because she felt audiences weren’t ready. “We had saas-bahus running on TV. A vampire serial was a big risk,” says Ferns. Film critic and author Anupama Chopra feels it’s time we borrowed vampires and zombies because both lend themselves to great story-

zombie guide

MY LIVING ROOM!

make for great entertainment for us but aren’t that scary.

telling, especially now, when Indians audiences are at their most receptive.

“Vampires are such a sexy idea,” says Chopra. “There’s a seductive strain to them and they’re worthy of being copied. Zombies have an element of comedy which can be explored by us.”

(Rock The Shaadi aims to do exactly that, the CEO of Ekta Kapoor productions Tarun Garg tells us).

WILL IT WORK HERE?

THEIR BHOOT, OUR BHOOT

Why is the West fascinated, intrigued and horrified by zombies and vampires? For the same reason that Indians are petrified of bhoots and atmas: it’s part of their folklore. Says Rachel Dwyer, Professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema, SOAS, University of London, “Much of the horror genre in the West is associated with the Gothic which is also closely linked to Christianity – churches, graveyards, priests, crucifixes, signs of the cross, the devil etc. Indian horror films have used Om and similar symbols but need to create a language of horror. There is a long tradition of the other world in India, levels of hell, bhoots, vetals, chudails etc. but these haven’t been so popular for films.” It’s all about our belief systems, says lifestyle management

YOUNGSTERS WILL RELATE TO

BOLLYWOOD MOVIES ABOUT VAMPIRES AND ZOMBIES expert Rachna K Singh, who gives advice on NDTV Good Times’ horrorbased reality show India’s Most Haunted. “In Christianity, the dead are buried not burnt. That’s why the concept of the undead. But we burn our dead,” she says. That could explain why zombies and vampires

But Indian youngsters have grown up being exposed to Western ideas, says Singh, so it’s easy for them to imagine SRK as a sci-fi superhero or even a vampire. As Dwyer says, “There’s no reason why a new type of horror film couldn’t emerge in India. But if there’s no tradition with known features, they would have to build on new fears and create a genre which will lead to expectation, which is half of the thrill.

You also need scary actors. Christopher Lee was a great Dracula and, of course, Bela Lugosi lives on after his death (please excuse the bad joke)!”

Filmmakers are also trying to make the concept more relatable. Tarun Garg says says there won’t be much blood and gore (usually a patent of zombie films) in Rock The Shaadi, “which is anyway a romcom (zombies intruding a Punjabi shaadi in Rajasthan).” Pyar Ki Ek Kahaani has also been suitably Indianised.

It’s an all-new genre for India and likely to do well with the biggest audiences (16-25-year-olds). As Rachel Dwyer says, it’s a scary world.

parul.khanna@hindustantimes.com

for IDIOTS

Zombies are animated corpses, who have been brought back to life by black magic or voodoo. They are also called the undead.

■

■ In real life, people who seem hypnotised or lost in another world, are often called zombies. (People in love or those who have got ditched may display such behaviour).

White Zombie is considered the first zombie film.

■

There’s also an American band called White Zombie.

■

The zombie industry is a multi-billion dollar one in the West (specifically America). There are zombie toys, video games, movies, art.

■

■ Zombie flicks come out in a sort of pattern in America. Periods of social unrest and war are often followed by big spikes in zombie movie production.

When millions of people go through something horrific together – whether it’s slavery, war or the plague – they seem to hunger for stories about zombies.

There are zombie experts in America (we kid you not) who offer zombie theories (like the ones stated above).

■

■ Rock band Cranberries immortalised the word ‘zombie’ in its cult song Zombie.

Americans love zombies because (say the zombie experts, not us) they reflect human beings’ greatest fears.

And as they say, you can shoot down a zombie, but not a recession.

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indulge eat

| play | listen | live

rude food

Vir Sanghvi

Masala Wrap

rience at a stand-alone restaurant in my neighbourhood. I have often passed the Moti Mahal Deluxe in South Extension but have never ventured inside. A few weeks ago, inspired by the fact that the original Moti Mahal invented tandoori chicken, I wandered into the South Extension branch and decided to try the kebabs.

The meal did not begin well. I got there at about 1.15 pm or so and found a large, dingily-lit restaurant that was mostly empty. As I passed one of the few tables that was occupied, I heard the captain urging guests to order Chicken Manchurian.

Once we were seated, a young waiter approached us menacingly, stood very close to the table and asked threateningly: “Mineral or Normal? Thanda ya normal?” It takes a special kind of skill to intimidate your guests while only asking them what kind of water they want, but this guy managed it effortlessly.

It is only a matter of time before the Then, an older man who reminded me of restaurant managers old Punjabi-dominated stand-alone sector in Connaught Place restaurants in the Sixties came over to take order. folds. The restaurants that will survive will theI ordered half a tandoori chicken (which should be the house speciality given that Moti Mahal invented the dish), barrah kebab, garbe those that are more in tune with the lic chicken tikka and two Cokes. The old boy refused to write any spirit and ethos of new India of this down. “Yaad rahega,” he said dismissively.

Ten minutes later he was back. “Barrah kebab nahin hai,” he said flatly. “Taiyyar nahin hai.” He handed me a menu. I ordered a seekh HIS COLUMN was inspired by three quite separate and kebab instead. He looked satisfied and ambled off. distinct happenings. The first was the HT Crystal Awards.

When the food came it was served on sizzling hot plates, a style As you may know, the awards are divided into two cateof preparation which means that you have to wait for the sizzle to gories. The first and important one is the Popular Section subside before you can eat, by which time of course the food has where awards are voted for by readers of HT City. The second is started cooling rapidly (not necessarily a good idea when it comes my own awards which are less representative and more subjective. to kebabs).

Generally, my awards try and keep some sort of balance between The tandoori chicken was tough; all the juices had been sucked the hotel sector and the stand-alone sector while the popular awards out of it. The chicken tikka was okay till it cooled down (which was are more tilted towards the stand-alone sector. This year howevquite soon) at which stage it became rubbery. The seekhs were terer, there was an unusually high proportion of popular awards for rible, managing to be both fatty and tough, a feat that is difficult to the hotel sector. Two hotels (the Maurya and the Trident-Oberoi pull off in a kebab made from keema. complex in Gurgaon) bagged a huge number of Crystals, higher None of this was cheap given the depressthan ever before. ing nature of the ambience (the third floor Even in my awards, the stand-alones of a building in South Extension) and the were not the obvious ones: L’Opera in Khan surly, inept nature of the service. Our bill for Market, Set’z (Zest) at Emporio, Royal three kebabs, two Cokes and water was China in Nehru Place, Café Diva in Greater around R1,300.

Kailash, and Lite Bite Foods (who own The third event that sparked off this colPunjab Grill, Zambar, Asia 7 and severumn was a meeting with the three chefs who al other brands) are all new operafront Masterchef India. The star of this series tions and aspire to high standards of class and is the charismatic New York-based Amritsar sophistication.

TOPPING IT UP boy, Vikas Khanna, who I suspect we will be The second event In the Punjabi restaurants, there was lots of cream and hearing more about. But I also enjoyed talkthat inspired this butter used in the finishing and garnishes of sliced ing to his colleagues Kunal Kapoor and Ajay column was a really dire expehard-boiled eggs were routine Chopra who were also part of the first, more

T

PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

NOTHING SPECIAL The tandoori chicken at the Moti Mahal Deluxe in South Extension was tough; all the juices had been sucked out of it

SETTING STANDARDS Such places as Set'z, Cafe Diva (this picture) and Royal China (right) offer better than five-star experiences at prices that are far lower

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

MASTER PLAYER Of the old Connaught Place restaurants, every chef I spoke to still had respect for Embassy

Bollywood-inspired, season with Akshay Kumar.

Both Ajay and Kunal are professionally trained chefs from the hotel sector (their resumes include Taj, Leela, Westin, etc.) who have never before interacted in the kitchen with so many amateur chefs. I asked them what they thought the impact of the first season of Masterchef was. Ajay told me about all the housewives he had met who now cooked food differently and served it in a way they had never done before. He said he asked one woman where she had learnt to cook like this. “From TV,” she said.

You can say what you like about the current generation of cooking shows, from mass-market Hindi (Masterchef India) to more niche English (the Australian Masterchef on Star World, Ritu Dalmia’s Italian Khana on NDTV Good Times, Top Chef on AXN, etc.) but there is no doubt that they have made middle-class Indians

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

13

OVER TIME,

THESE MULTICUISINE RESTAURANTS ADDED CHINESE MENUS. THESE ALWAYS INCLUDED CHICKEN MANCHURIAN AND SWEET CORN SOUP

PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

MAKING WAVES The Maurya (above) and the Trident-Oberoi complex in Gurgaon (below) bagged a huge number of Crystals this year, higher than ever before

look differently at food and restaurants.

Which takes me back to where I started. My guess is that a revolution is on its way in the stand-alone sector. For years and years, Indian restaurants were associated with a certain kind of Punjabi hotelier. Moti Mahal (the original) was an exception because it made no attempt to seem sophisticated but the market was dominated by the Kwality-Volga-Gaylord kind of operation (which the Moti Mahal Deluxes aspire to) where restaurateurs tried to serve a multicuisine menu consisting of so-called Continental food and a Punjabirestaurant cuisine of the sort that no Punjabi would eat at home.

These were the restaurants that dominated Churchgate Street or Connaught Place and all the local and suburban markets.

All of us have eaten in such restaurants at some stage. Unlike the original Moti Mahal, they did not base their menus on tandoori cuisine but included lots of gravy dishes, made with massive quantities of oil and twice the quantity of masala we would use at home.

(For dessert you had a Gelusil or a Digene.) There was lots of cream and butter used in the finishing and garnishes of sliced hard-boiled eggs were routine.

The Continental stuff was dodgy: goat hamburgers in which the patty was similar to a shammi kebab and the buns were often lightly pan-fried; breaded chicken or keema cutlets sometimes with a bone stuck into the meat; sandwiches with lots of bread and little filling along with very bad French fries.

Over time, these restaurants dropped the socalled Continental sections and added Chinese menus. These always included Chicken Manchurian and Sweet Corn Soup; ‘Chinese’ food of the sort that was as unknown in China as the ‘Continental’ food was in Europe. Some of these restaurants paid their waiters a pittance, leaving then to eke out a living from tips and the chefs never underwent any kind of training. Nor were recipes standardised.

When the five-star restaurants arrived, the multicuisine/Punjabi sector suffered a jolt. But it survived on grounds of price. No matter what you thought of the food, it was still a lot cheaper than dinner at a hotel.

But now I suspect that those days are ending. Several factors have made the difference. One: in urban markets, rents are high so these stand-alones either have to move to undesirable locations (higher floors of buildings) or charge high prices. Two: guests are becoming more demanding and more sophisticated. They watch food shows on TV and are exposed to so many external influences that they expect much more than these places can offer.

Three: There is more money in the market today. There are more hotels. Put together, these factors mean that young professionals would rather eat a good meal, prepared hygienically and served in pleasant surroundings than pay for the old-style stand-alones.

Four: the restaurant sector is changing. Such places as Set’z, Royal China, Cafe Diva and L’Opera offer better than five-star experiences at prices that are far lower than five-star. How can the old stand-alones ever compete with these new places given that their food, service and ambience can be below-par?

And five: the opening of malls, airport terminals and new realestate options has meant that such companies as Lite Bite (or Yum or Blue Foods) can now open world-class, stand-alone restaurants with uniform standards at new locations.

It is, I think, only a matter of time before the old Punjabi-dominated stand-alone sector folds. The only restaurants that will survive will be those that offer good food. Moti Mahal Deluxe is a franchised operation and standards vary from outlet to outlet. As dismal as I found the South Extension branch, the version in Greater Kailash is good and continues to thrive. Similarly, of the old Connaught Place restaurants, every chef I spoke to (including ITC’s Manjit Gill) still had respect for Embassy. In Bombay, Copper Chimney has successfully re-invented itself.

So yes, there will be exceptions. But speaking generally, it is time to kiss this sector goodbye. The consolation is that its place will be taken by new stand-alones that are more in tune with the spirit and ethos of the new India.

PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

indulge

COOKING IT ALL The star of Masterchef India series is the charismatic New York-based Amritsar boy, Vikas Khanna

indulge

techilicious

Rajiv Makhni

THRICE AS NICE Flexible screens can allow mobile phones to flip out three screens (or more) and still fold flat

spe

Our Twisted Future

CRYSTAL-BALL GAZING Bendable, foldable newspapers: yes, you are looking at the future

Once you can make a screen – that hard, rigid thing on your phone, laptop or TV – bend to your will, you can change everything (and if that sounds too literal, that’s because it is!)

I

WALK INTO my recording studio and one of my colleagues says she has something to show me. She proclaims it to be the most unique, most exclusive and most amazing gadget I have ever seen.

She fishes out a shocking pink cover and from within its leathery confines slides out... an iPad 2. As I brace myself for something boring and mundane, I notice that the iPad itself doesn’t look right. It seems to curve and curve at a spectacular angle, flexing convexly about an inch and a half right in the middle. That’s just the thin aluminum case. The shocking part is that the screen also appears to be curved and runs flexibly along the same lines as the outer casing. Even more wonderment follows. The impossibly curved iPad 2 works! There are no cracks, no fault lines, the touchscreen works as do the rest of the insides. How did she manage this uniquely curved iPad 2, the first of its kind anywhere in the world?

It turned out that the ‘bend’ iPad was a gift from her husband, who ran his car over her handbag that contained it. Once the wheels had run over the massive bag and all the screaming and shouting was over, they found that the weight of the car and the rubber on the wheels had left them with this strange, unique and frankly weird contraption. Why the screen hadn’t splintered, why the iPad isn’t in pieces and how in heaven’s name does it work are questions left to the almighty and Steve Jobs sitting at his side. I advised her not to get it repaired, that she was in possession of what nobody else in the world had.

She had the world’s first working, flexi-curved gadget and I had just seen the future!

that the greatest era of design will start once a screen can be folded, curved and bended.

THE KILLER OF ALL CATEGORIES

One of the greatest problems for designing any device is inventing a way to minimise the size of the device while simultaneously maximising the size of the display. While shape and size and style will change, the greatest benefit will come from size amplification. If you can fold a screen down to a quarter of its size and then open it to its full size at the press of a button, you’ve just made every current product category look foolish. Why would you need a Tablet and a mobile phone? What would be the difference between a Netbook, Notebook and an Ultra-portable? Of what use is a desktop monitor? Why would you need a large-screen TV? It’s all pretty much redundant. A thin cylindrical device can be opened up and used as per the size you need. It can be your mobile phone as is, your Tablet when you need to browse, a Notebook when you want to type out a document and when you press a button, transforms into giant-sized TV.

IF YOU CAN FOLD

ALL FANTASY

AND EXPAND A SCREEN, WHY WOULD YOU NEED A NETBOOK OR A MOBILE PHONE?

Foldable screens and displays have been the stuff of sci-fi legend for ages and numerous device prototypes have been in play for years now. Nokia showcased the Kinetic, a bendy, rubbery flexible little thing that is very futuristic.

Semi-foldable e-readers have been shown and a display the size of a newspaper could be rolled up just like a newspaper. But nothing has made the journey into a real product.

THE GREATEST ERA OF DESIGN STARTS NOW

It has been predicted by many that the greatest invention and breakthrough of the future will be foldable bendable screens. It’s the one thing that changes the whole technology paradigm.

Every single gadget anywhere in the world – its shape, size, materials used, look and feel, the operating system, how you interact with it, the button placement – is dictated by the screen placement. Because the screen is a flat, rigid thing that leaves no flexibility as far as its placement is concerned, you design around it. Once you get rid of this liability, everything changes! You can let your imagination run wild, you can cross any boundary, you can make your wildest fantasy come true. It is said

14

SO, WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?

Why aren’t we taking this leap yet? It all has to do with how these screens work. While bendable and curvable screens have been around for a while, the holy grail is true foldable screens. Till you can’t fold ’em in half, you can’t achieve the dream. Many other conditions must still be met: the screen must open thousands of times without creasing, it must be mechanically and optically robust, it must have a hard, protective surface as good as glass and must still be as clear as current screen technology. All this is happening as we speak. Many companies, including Samsung, are working on an active matrix OLED BEND IT LIKE... display that is actually mounted on silicone The Nokia Kinetic is rubber, which is a hyper-elastic material. a bendy, rubbery, Prototypes are working brilliantly and even a flexible little thing quadruple fold has now been achieved (a 4.5-inch that is very futuristic screen opens to a breathtaking 18-incher).

The Nokia Kinetic should be out in about two years; single-fold screen devices will be out in about three and multi-fold wonders will be available in about five. If you can’t wait, maybe you can aim for a curved iPad too. Get in touch with me and I’ll give you the number of my friend’s husband – you can utilise his amazing driving skills.

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

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

indulge

eat | play |

listen

download central

Sanjoy Narayan

Hint: It’s not a nightclub. It doesn’t advertise. There’s no website (and hell, the owner’s still a struggler)

E

VER SINCE The New York Times did a gushing story a couple of weeks back about his place, Emilio Vitolo’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Salubrious isn’t a word you’d use to describe New York’s East Houston Street around where it intersects with Mott Street. Neither would you call it tony or elegant. Far from it. There is a kind of perpetual pattern about the construction that happens to take place around the area. Large trucks, big men with hard hats, scaffoldings, and paint cans… all of this is ubiquitous around that stretch of E Houston. Not exactly a place where you’d expect star musicians to hang out.

But they do. David Bowie has been (and still is) a regular; Lenny Kravitz has been frequenting the place for years; and Billy Joel is a frequent customer. Oh, today’s lot loves it too. Rihanna and Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg and Sheryl Crow. As well as the movie stars: Tom Hanks, Daniel Day Lewis and even Michael Caine.

The place is Emilio’s Ballato and it is not a nightclub. It has never advertised and doesn’t have a website. On the day that we walk in on a rainy late October afternoon, Vitolo, a burly man in his fifties and in a black round-necked jersey, is fielding calls. “Hello? No, no, no, no. We don’t take reservations,” he says into the phone in a typical NoLita accent, “but if you walk in we’ll accommodate you.”

Ballato is an Italian restaurant that musicians appear to love. Unlikely that may seem, considering not just its location but also its shabby and nearly decrepit state. The wall paint is peeling off; the awning needs replacement; the few tables and chairs are nondescript and except for the posters and the photographs (expect to see everyone’s from Caine to Daniel Day Lewis to Bieber to Bowie as well as Vitolo’s own family album ones, including a portrait with his wine barrel-making father and mother and other siblings) it’s a decor that is anything but appealing.

It’s the food, you soon realise, which makes hip musicians flock to Ballato. Try it once and you’re going to go back again and tell your friends and they will theirs and so on. That’s precisely what the rockers, bluesmen and movie stars do. It’s word of mouth that has

PHOTO COURTESY: ANNIE FITZSIMMONS

Where (Some) Musicians Love To Eat

LOOKS CAN BE DECEPTIVE At Emilio’s Ballato in New York’s East Houston Street, the few tables and chairs are nondescript – it’s the food that makes hip musicians flock to it

spread the fame of Vitolo’s small room. I tried the Zucchine Fritte and (as suggested – courtesy the Times story – by Warren Haynes, guitar virtuoso) squeezed lemon on it. The mozzarella that came with the Caprese salad was the best I’ve had, as were the pomodorini and even the chopped celery. Fresh ingredients made all the difference.

A Spaghetti alla Puttanesca did justice to its name (after all, it means spaghetti whore-style) by being spicy, tangy and anchovy-salty. But my piece de resistance was the Salsiccia e Broccoli de Rabe. The sausages were home-made and divine and the broccoli rabe (bitter spiked leaves) sauté that came with it complemented it perfectly.

Vitolo started as a pastry and dessert chef so it’s no surprise that the Italian cheesecake that came in the end was so good that even a bloated stomach (thanks to the food and a bottle of excellent Valpolicella Ripasso 2009) couldn’t make me resist the temptation of digging into it.

Yes, this episode of DC has quietly bypassed the usual raving about music and focused instead on food that some musicians appear to love. Ballato’s location has other musical antecedents. Years ago, in the 1970s, it used to exist in another incarnation – a restaurant where Warhol and Lennon used to hang around. If you’re sitting in Ballato today – indeed, if you’re able to find it on the unglamorous East Houston Street (it’s a blink and you miss it kind of a place) – you half expect a hipster musician or two to walk in or an artist or actor or, of course, a celebrity. And it happens.

Perhaps a fitting thing about Ballato is that for all its ‘musician connections’ you don’t get to hear any music at all in there. It’s a serious food joint where I’d think the big names of music and the arts come down for some serious noshing. By all accounts though, Emilio Vitolo who’s been in the restaurant business in New York for more than 20 years is still a struggler, despite his restaurant being a hit among the hip. But at Ballato, he’d rather make a great bowl of pasta than a vault full of greenbacks. I’d go again if I can to the place where some great musicians like to eat great food. If you’re in New York, skip the Statue of Liberty and head towards East Houston.

To give feedback, stream or download the music mentioned in this column, go to http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/download-central, follow argus48 on Twitter or visit our website: www.hindustantimes.com/brunch PHOTOS: REUTERS

GAME FOR GRUB (From left) Lenny Kravitz, Justin Bieber, Snoop Dogg, David Bowie... they all love Emilio’s Ballato

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eat | play | listen |

live

From Rags To Riches

spectator

Seema Goswami

THE REAL WINNER The Prince dance troupe from Orissa, winners of the first season of India’s Got Talent, were sold as the underdogs of the competition

Reality television can change your life; so long as it was pretty grim to begin with

P

OVERTY TOURISM in India may be passé these days, what with droves of high-rollers flying in their private jets to invade our palace hotels and luxury resorts, but hard-luck stories have found fertile ground elsewhere: on Indian television shows. No matter which channel you turn to or which programme you watch, the song remains the same: the participants vie with one another to tell viewers just how badly off they are, and how this stint on TV has the potential to change their lives for the better.

On Masterchef India, we have already met two ‘single mothers’ who are living away from their children – cue quivering chins and discreet tears followed by brave smiles – and hope to reunite with them if they do well on this show. No, I can’t work out either how these two events are related but the ladies bring up their domestic troubles whenever the opportunity presents itself and the judges look suitably sympathetic. Does this make the food they cook taste any better? No clue. Should their sad lives make a difference to their scores when the results are tabulated? Of course not. And yet these ‘personal problems’ crop up ever so often.

Meanwhile Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) has recast itself as a show for India’s Less Fortunate. The catchline of the show says it all: ‘Koi bhi aadmi chhota nahin hota.’

The promise is clear: this is the show that ‘aam aadmi ko khaas bana deta hai.’ In keeping with the theme, participants roll on to tell their stories of woe to the greatest superstar of them all, Amitabh Bachchan, and confess how they are looking to transform their lives by a big win.

This one hopes to pay off his debts with the prize money; the other wants to buy a house for his parents. This one wants to complete her studies; the other wants to send his kids abroad to study. So far, so heart-breaking.

Take the lucky chap from a small Bihar village who won the R5 crore pay-off (and was promptly – if somewhat predictably – nicknamed Slumdog Millionaire). Sushil Kumar grew up in a mud house with a leaking roof, didn’t even own a TV set and had to watch the earlier seasons of KBC at a neighbour’s house. A government clerk, he taught at a local institute to supplement his income while he studied to crack the civil services exam so that he could fulfil his dream of becoming an IAS officer. But now, with the KBC prize money, he could buy a new house for his family, give enough money to his brothers to set up businesses of their own, and sit and home to prepare for the civil services exam rather than working two jobs.

Kumar’s was the typical rags-to-riches story that makes the stuff of television TRPs these days, an arc that goes effortlessly from deep deprivation to fame and money, taking in a teary TV appearance along the way. Clearly, to make it in reality television – or game shows, for that matter – these days, your reality has to be more gritty than glossy.

And by allowing the participants to tell their stories, these shows

TO MAKE IT IN REALITY TELEVISION

THESE DAYS, YOUR REALITY HAS TO BE MORE GRITTY THAN GLOSSY 16

DREAM COME TRUE Sushil Kumar’s win in KBC was the typical rags-to-riches story that makes the stuff of television TRPs these days

WE ARE FAMILY On Masterchef India, we have already met two ‘single mothers’ who hope to reunite with their children if they do well on the show

tap into our love of the underdog. The back stories also help to humanise the participants on these shows, to make them flesh-and-blood creatures that we care about. And that makes it easier to evoke sympathy and a certain fellow-feeling (otherwise just how badly would we react to somebody else walking away with a R5 crore prize while we lolled about on our sofas?) for the participants of these shows. The subliminal message is clear: if they can transform their lives, maybe we are in with a chance as well.

Small wonder then that the format of using hard-luck stories as a magnet has been adopted by reality shows across the board. India’s Got Talent could just as well have been titled India’s Got All Teary as the sob stories piled on. The winners of the first season, the Prince dance troupe from Orissa, were sold as the underdogs of the competition, impoverished performers from one of the more impoverished states of the Indian Union. This, despite the fact that they were so talented that they would have won on sheer merit. And yet, their backstory was told and re-told... and then told yet again for good measure.

There is no mistaking the message: television can change lives; it can make fortunes; it can transform destinies. It can take a poor man who lives in a mud hut in a Bihar village and turn him into a crorepati.

It can unearth unknown talents in the depths of rural India and make them national superstars.

In other words, reality television has the potential to change your reality. There’s just one caveat: don’t bother to apply if you are middle-class and middle-income. Unless you have a hard luck story to tell – and sell – you simply don’t stand a chance. seema_ht@rediffmail.com. Follow Seema on Twitter at twitter.com/seemagoswami

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

Travel

POINT ME TO PRAGUE

SCENES FROM A CITY The Astronomical Clock (far left); Wenceslas Square (above); The Neo-Renaissance Rudolfinum (left); A hot dog vendor (below); Detail of a gate at Prague Castle (far below)

Nothing can prepare you for the Prague moment – it’s a mix of awe-inspiring view and old-world charm – but with a modern twist text and photos by Jhilmil Motihar

I

T MAY have been because our feet were refusing to comply or because after two days, we were gasping for some non-Gothic air.

What-ever the reason, it was in a Prague street that we succumbed to the best foot massage – right in the middle of Franz Kafka country.

It’s not what one should fly to the Czech Republic for. But let not the travel literature and 10-thingsto-do-in-Prague lists limit you either. Prague (or Praha) is like your favourite film – you can watch it from any scene and every time you’re surprised to discover something new.

GOING LIKE CLOCKWORK

Like all travellers, we had done our homework. But nothing can prepare you for your Prague moment.

Mine happened on the second day. After checking for weather updates (130 Celsius with cold winds), we tumbled out of our room on to one of Prague’s busiest streets near Old Town square.

Following the swarm of tourists and ignoring the many cafes (Prague’s famous beer, Pilsner Urquell, would have to wait), the cobbled streets and baroque facades, we reached the Square. That is when I saw the mass of heads looking upwards.

They were all staring at the towering Astronomical Clock or Orloj. The medieval clock tower has an astronomical dial, with the positions of the sun and moon and a calendar dial representing the months. The real pageantry begins when it’s time to announce the hour. This is when four carved figures around the dials come to life. They represent Greed holding a bag of money, Vanity with a hand mirror, the Turk symbolising entertainment, and the most interesting, Death, a skeleton that rings a tiny bell to signal the hour.

18

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The square is also where we met our guide, who took us on a long but exhilarating walk of Prague. She first pointed to the Gothic two-spired Church of Our Lady before Tyn on the other side of Old Town Square. The church spires end in golden globules (something we notice across Prague). We were told that these contained building maps so that in case the structure was destroyed, it could still be rebuilt.

We next skipped through Prague’s most expensive street – Pariska – with the best-dressed people and even better dressed windows. Past the Rudolfinum, the stunning neo-Renaissance home of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, we found ourselves on one of Prague’s many bridges. Our guide told us that on January 1 each year, local men, in a show of bravado, jump into the Vltava river below.

Last year, she said, the temperature on that day was -60 Celsius.

She also pointed out to a giant metronome (a pendulum that indicates tempo of a piece of music) that stands in the exact same spot which once played host to the tallest Stalin statue in the world.

That one was dynamited out of existence in 1991 once the former

TRAVEL INFO

GETTING THERE: A number of airlines like Swiss, Emirates, KLM, Air France and Turkish Airways have flights to Prague.

VISAS: A Schengen visa is required. See ttp://www.mzv.cz/ newdelhi/en/index.htm

Soviet Russia broke up. But the metronome’s position continues to be a massive reminder of the country’s Communist past.

UP THE STEEP SLOPE

Just beyond the bridge, in the Mala Strana (Lesser Town) area, lies the expansive Wallenstein Palace.

Built in the Baroque style to rival Prague Castle, it houses the Czech Senate. Manicured gardens aside, the compound has a wall that looks like it’s all skulls and bones. But these are just artificial stalactites.

The way past these gardens to the castle (Pra ský hrad) district is dotted with a wine and beer garden, all excellent spots to take a breather.

It was here that I had my Praha moment. After having climbed the broad steps, I turned to look at the view. And it was from this vantage point that the city with its thousand spires and the Vltava with its bridges opened its cobbled heart to me.

The world’s largest castle compound is an architecture obsessor’s 3D dream. Every possible style is contained within this area. The haunting St Vitus Cathedral is a stellar Gothic example; the Basilica of St George is styled in the Romanesque tradition.

The castle also houses a monastery and museums.

I’LL BE BACK

The Czech Republic may have shrugged its communist pall, but we were looking forward to walking down Wenceslas Square. The broad Boulevard, now Prague’s commercial centre, was the location of many protests during the Velvet Revolution. But it doesn’t take long to go from let’s-down-some-beers to let’s-look-in-awe. A 20minute walk away is the Jewish Quarter (Josefov). Once a thriving ghetto, it is a reminder of a chilling past.

Our three and a half days in Prague, were just about enough to skim the surface. But if one has to devour each layer, it’s important to view the city like that earlier mentioned favourite film.

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

Wellness

CASE NOTES PART II

Point Break

WHEN MARKETING professional Dinesh Athaide slowed down his bike at a busy Mumbai intersection, he had no idea what was going to happen next. Athaide braked to let a senior citizen cross the road, but instead lost control of his bike, and broke his leg.

“I had no idea I had broken my leg, but after I got home that day, I was in pain,” recalls Athaide. He decided to go to the doctor, and after an X-ray confirmed the break, spent a month in a cast. “After that, I used a walking stick for three days,” says Athaide, who has since made a full recovery.

BROKEN LEG

Fractured bone? Don’t let it set you back

by Mignonne Dsouza WHAT HAPPENED

When one breaks a leg, that could mean anything: (a) a hairline crack (where the bones have cracked, but not broken), which is a mild injury, (b) a closed injury, where the bone breaks in one or several places but without any associated skin damage, (c) a compound fracture, where there is a loss of skin or muscle associated with the fracture. Finally, in the most serious instance, the broken leg is also associated with injury to a nerve or blood vessel surrounding the bone.

WARNING SIGNS

Bike accidents are the most common causes of broken legs, accounting for 50 to 60 per cent of incidents. This could be via a direct hit to the leg, resulting in the bone breaking at more than one place, and is also accompanied by skin abrasions. If a person sustains a fall from the bike – where the bone is broken at one place – it’s termed a rotational injury.

Sportsmen playing football and hockey can also suffer from broken legs.

Seniors are also prone to such incidents due to falls in bathrooms and other areas.

Finally, broken legs may result from a stress fracture – this happens when people not used to regular exercise suddenly get into an intensive exercise schedule.

THE SOLUTIONS

A broken leg can be easily identified – one can see that the leg is deformed and

CAST OFF People who use bikes should consider having leg guards

swollen. Sufferers may also hear a crunching sound, either at the moment of impact or when walking after an accident. There may be severe pain and a bluish discolouration.

The first move is to splint the leg, and seek medical opinion. In case of a closed injury, the swelling is reduced and the leg is kept immbolised and elevated. If there are skin abrasions, the priority is to stop the bleeding and see that there is no nerve damage. Then, a soft plaster is applied, until the swelling reduces, after which a final plaster can be

MIND BODY SOUL

A five part series

applied. These days, patients do not need to suffer a heavy cast, which can cause itching and mobility problems. Lightweight plaster bandages can be applied after a day or two, once the swelling has subsided.

If the bone is broken at more than one place, plate screws and rods may need to be fixed, via a minimally invasive method. The patient can start walking the next day.

LIFESTYLE CHOICES

People who use bikes should have leg guards installed. In uncomplicated fractures, the patient can make a full recovery. Other cases depend on the extent of injury – if blood vessels are damaged, disability can result; in multiple fractures, there are chances of deformity.

(Inputs by Dr IPS Oberoi, senior consultant orthopaedics, Artemis Health Institute, Gurgaon))

SHIKHA SHARMA

Slurp it up S

OUP IS a great way to get the best of nutrition in a delicious form.

Soups are good for reviving our health and are low-cal. For all recipes below, toss all ingredients in a pot, stir well and cook for five to 10 minutes.

RECIPES BROCCOLI & ONION SOUP Ingredients: Broccoli, chopped; Celery or leeks, diced; Onion (white or red), chopped; Vegetable stock; Salt and pepper; Thyme or oregano, dried or fresh; 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped; 1 tsp butter or olive oil SPINACH TOFU SOUP Ingredients: 3 cups hot water or stock; 1 cup spinach, chopped; 1 cup tofu, chopped; 1 tsp sesame seeds, roasted; Salt and pepper; 1 small piece of boiled and mashed potato for thickness

BENEFITS OF HAVING SOUP IN THE EVENING

Food intake is reduced Fresh soups are rich in fibre, which helps reduce cholesterol and diabetes.

■ Soups containing vegetables and herbs are curative for people having pain in the joints.

■ It is good for reducing the effects of atherosclerosis in the blood vessels.

■ Vegetable soup is rich in vitamins and minerals.

■ It has soluble fibres, which facilitate bowel movements.

■

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VEGETABLE CLEAR SOUP Ingredients: 1 tsp chili, minced; 1 tsp garlic, minced; 2 tsp coriander, chopped; 4 cups vegetable stock; 1 onion, chopped; 1/2 cup carrots, sliced; 1 cup celery, leeks or spring onions, sliced; 1 cup cabbage, diced; 1/2 cup green beans, diced; 1/2 cup lentils; 1 tsp lemon juice; Salt & pepper CELERY SOUP Ingredients: Celery, including the rind; Butter; 1 potato, peeled and diced; 1 onion, chopped; Vegetable stock; Brown bread; Walnuts; Olive oil; Salt and freshly milled black pepper LEMONGRASS SOUP Ingredients: 6 cups vegetable broth; 3 stalks fresh lemongrass; 1” square fresh galangal, grated; 1/2 medium white onion, diced; 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced; 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips; 1/2 can water chestnuts, sliced

CABBAGE CARROT SOUP Ingredients: 2 garlic cloves; 2 carrots; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 large onion, chopped; 8 cups cabbage, shredded; 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock; 3/4 tsp ginger, ground; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp black pepper; 3/4 cups fresh dill; 1/3 cups tomato paste ask@drshikha.com PHOTOS: THINKSTOCK

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Reel World

THERE’S NO KHAN-TEST

THE SUPERHERO CAPER RA.ONE’S SUPER OPENING BEAT THE OTHER KHAN FILMS

SALMAN VOWED TO PROTECT HIS SLOT AS THE NO. 1 KHAN WITH BODYGUARD ON EID

SMART CONTENT AND EXECUTION MADE AAMIR KHAN’S 3 IDIOTS A TOP RANKER

The box office competition between the three Khans is escalating by the day

by Udita Jhunjhunwala

number of screens and each film record set by 3 Idiots and then, a trying to outdo each other in terms year later, Bodyguard trumped of prints, screens and shows.” Sunil Dabangg. And now it’s Ra.One’s Punjabi, CEO of Cinemax India Ltd, turn to upset the charts. agrees. “The weekend is big because With each subsequent release, the returns are immediate. You not only are Aamir, Salman and don’t need to wait 26 weeks to make Shah Rukh nudging one another money any more.” He suggests that HEN SHAH Rukh Khan decided to out of Bollywood blockbuster the first two weeks’ collections are release his superhero extravaganza slots, but with the buzz around important to indicate whether a film December release Don 2, Shah Ra.One on Diwali day (Wednesday, DON 2 is profitable or not.

October 26, 2011), audiences took a Rukh might be competing against MAN IN THE MIRROR: For “The opening weekend is glamour break from their Diwali cleaning to wonder his own record-breaking opening this much anticipated and hype; but if the film has meat it whether the superstar was taking a gamble. In the figures as well. Consider that December release, Shah will sustain weekdays. And if it can first five days, Ra.One garnered `91.10 crore in Salman Khan has been his own Rukh might be competsustain the second weekend and the closest competition in the last year India alone (at the time of going to press), and ing with his own recordsecond week’s days, then you know – first with Dabangg hitting a high press reports have exclaimed at the record-breakbreaking opening figures you have a success on your hands. 3 ing ‘biggest Diwali day opening’ and ‘the biggest note, followed by Ready, both of of Ra.One. ever weekend release for both India and the overwhich were upstaged by Idiots saw a dip only from the third seas box office’. SRK’s gamble seems to have paid weekend,” says Punjabi. On the importance of the Bodyguard. off. He is, for now at least, the leading Khan at the opening day, three-day and five-day collections, Trade analysts agree that the adulation and fan Bollywood box office, having trounced Salman Nahta adds, “This is partly because of the number following for the three Khans is unmatched, and Khan who held pole position after his Eid blockof screens and partly a result of hype. There are no films starring any of these three mega stars guarbuster, Bodyguard (August 31). second chances and the thrust is no longer on conantee an opening. “They have been ruling the box tent but being able to attract the audience.” office for more than two decades. We say Aamir Ra.One released across more than 3,000 Besides Don 2, the other Khans’ films are only Khan created history with 3 Idiots, even though it screens in India in both 2D and 3D and was dubbed in Tamil and Telugu as well, grossing `170 was also Raju Hirani’s film,” says Vajir Singh, ediexpected in the next financial year, so at least in crore worldwide in the opening weekend (first five tor Box Office India.

2011-12, the biggest competition to Shah Rukh and days of release). However, it is Aamir Khan’s Salman will be Shah Rukh. So what is it about the Examining the five-day collections of Bodyguard three Khans that keeps them at the top of the 3 Idiots that remains at a hard-to-beat number and Ra.One, Komal Nahta, editor, Film numbers game? “Aamir guarantees the best conspot among the Khan triumvirate’s films. Its overInformation and koimoi.com, adds, “Earlier it tent. Salman’s audience wants him to have a great all net collections are still hard to touch. But would take a year or two for a film to break role, good songs, look good and dance well. They records. Now it takes a few weeks because of the Dabangg did break the first-day and first weekend are not bothered about the subject. Shah Rukh is FIVE DAY FIGHT: The Numbers Have Spoken still huge overseas. His fans want a good subject but they mostly want to see him in romantic films.

Movie Opening day Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 5-Day Total If Ra.One had had that romantic angle, it might Ra.One R18.00cr R25.10cr R16.00cr R16.00cr R16.00cr R91.10cr have done even better,” says Nahta.

So the verdict is unanimous: a Khan is as big as Bodyguard R21.00cr R17.50cr R13.25cr R14.85cr R19.50cr R86.10cr his next release, and one Khan’s release is the 3 Idiots (2009) R15.75cr* R12.00cr R13.25cr R11.00cr R9.65cr R61.65cr biggest only till the next Khan’s film comes along.

W

* Includes paid previews on Thursday

20

Note: All figures are net all-India collections. Courtesy koimoi.com

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

PERSONALAGENDA AGENDA PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPHER/FILMMAKER

ARADHANA SETH

Since ‘production designer’ doesn’t sound that glamorous, we simply decided to call Aradhana Seth a ‘filmmaker’ for the purposes of this interview. Then we realised there’s more to her: she’s a photographer, director, installation artist and also, author Vikram Seth’s sister. Seth has dabbled in decidedly erudite pursuits like investigating architectural history. She has also worked on films like Deepa Mehta’s Earth and Fire and Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited. Which, in our book, makes her super interesting. Catch her first exhibition, Everyone Carries A Room About Inside, her take on ‘space,’ from November 7 to December 8 at Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai One word that describes you best?

Discreet.

If a traffic constable hauled you up, what would you do?

Confuse him.

horse or a skateboard. Why?

Skateboard – a big sense of freedom, mobility, manoeuverability and fun.

Earth’s crowded and chock full of trash. Choose another planet.

Planet X, the new planet.

Your first kiss was…

Delicious.

Choose: Air India or Indian Railways.

You get high on?

A new idea, a new frame, a little detail and colour palettes.

A place where you would like to be lost for a month?

A gadget-free beach.

A tune you can’t get out of your head?

Aik Alif by Saieen Zahoor.

What did you do with your first paycheque?

Bought something for my mother.

The one law you would break if you could get away with it?

The airport baggage scanners.

Do you love Luv Storys?

Moonstruck by them!!!

Indian Railways. I spent many months on The Darjeeling Limited.

What makes your day?

Small gestures. Little things.

What screws it up?

Nagging and people snapping.

Love is…

...permanent impermanence. Impermanent permanence.

The last time you rode on a bus?

The red bus. The airport shuttle at Goa airport.

The weirdest thing that ever went into your mouth?

My foot!

Your favourite freedom fighter?

Che Guevara.

The colour ‘pink’ for you is...

Pink flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) in Yucatán, Mexico.

If you could have chosen your own name, what would you have chosen?

The last movie that made you cry?

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, directed by

Share a secret with us… you can trust us, we’ll only print it!

If you were the last person left on earth, what would you do?

I will stay with mine.

I’m very ticklish.

You are late for work and all the roads are jammed. Choose a mode of transport: a cycle, a

Julian Schnabel. It’s a translation of the French memoir Le scaphandre et le papillon by journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby.

Initially, I would drive around to figure out if I am really the last person! Wouldn’t you? Then explore. Experiment and make stuff with anything that I felt like creating. Photographing and filming, listening to the sounds of nature.

– Interviewed by Veenu Singh

PHOTO COURTESY: EVA SCHLEGEL

LIFE IN THE FAST FOOD LANE: CHOOSE YOUR MENU

SUSHI AND SASHMI, MISO SOUP

22

WHICH SUPERHERO WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE AND WHY?

FLASH, BECAUSE HE CAN GET ANYWHERE IN A FLASH!

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2011

IF YOU COULD HAVE HAD A STAR PERFORM AT YOUR WEDDING. WHO WOULD IT BE?

BOB DYLAN. IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE, PLAY ON!