Hindustantimes Brunch 11th September 2011

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER 11, 2011 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

Across India, a handful of eco warriors are weeding out pollution. Their tools of choice: firm resolve and radical lifestyles

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STORIES Single? Married? Married with kids? Your holiday style is more dependant on your relationships than you think. Grab Brunch Quarterly and read what well-travelled celebs say!

Male discrimination Anushka Manchanda’s bohemian style extends to her holidays. No hotels for the peppy singer. She stays with family, friends or friends of friends. Once, she and a friend even slept in an airport!

Green Card Holders

We’re Logged On facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch Yashvir Chawla North-East people are amazing. They are North ki Aan and East ki Shaan.

Ali Naqvi Seema Goswami's article ''Name and Shame'' was outstanding, this is the best article of seema goswami i have read so far. One thing which we all should learn from this article is that just as women’s names are protected, so should the reputation of me.

COUCH POTATO 7

THE UNEASY ROMANTICS Two refreshingly different shows on Indian TV that claim to break the mould. Is that really so?

Ankit Ramawat One of d best english magzines-BRUNCH Kingg Singh Brunch is the Best magazine I ever have read Mahesh Kumar Singh Had a good time reading Brunch today :) Devika Gulati good cover story. I would like you guys to write about authors. like maybe J K Rowling or Stephenie Meyer. That would be amazing to read . And I hope you guys will really consider this .

Calling All Tweeple twitter.com/HTBrunch @dratanugoswami People in Delhi always mistook me for a Bengali and when I said am Assamese shld hve seen d blank look on their faces.

Thanks @HTBrunch for highlighting my region. It was long overdue. @VaibhavSharma_ reading HTbrunch now at 11pm.now i can sleep well.#busySunday. @abir_sanyal At last&at least someone acknowledged the presence of a part called "North-East",otherwise,"the benumbed left hand of India"Great @patralekha2011 Fantastic story on NE in Brunch. Already checked out one of the recommended eateries.. @DKMahant I see the presentation of events in North as regular news, of NE as regular documentary.

PERSONAL AGENDA

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LUCKY ALI

The singer talks about why life gets him high, his love for fried chicken and how he’d hate being the last person on earth

INDULGE EAT

The World In My Kitchen

With everything available at the upmarket grocer, it’s a good time to cook PLAY

Fit-Tech: Gadgetry To Get That Perfect Body! (Part 2)

Gadgets to keep you on top of your form LISTEN

Electric Pipers

Can music made on a computer be real music? It just might be your thing LIVE

Makeover Mania

Will you try and change the man you love into the man of your dreams?

BRUNCH ON THE WEB WHY OUR BLOGGERS ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE WORLD!

hindustantimes.com/brunch New Photo Gallery

1. Gursimran Khamba is a pi**ed off writer who’s going to knock all your troubles off 2. Rajneesh Kapoor has mastered the art of zen and with his Yoda-like calm, global warming just needs a slow hand movement 3. The Fake Jhunjhunwala – He’s rich! More than the whole world's wealth put together. If that can't solve your problems, then we don't know what will!

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For some people, every day is Earth Day. They don’t just talk but actually live by their beliefs. In the world of carbon footprints, meet five families whose shoes are size ‘small’

Fashion fusion for men: Move over, ladies! The Van Heusen India Men’s Week proved that models can carry anything from sherwanis to tight boxers. So, don’t wait to feast on some male eye candy!

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Kushalrani Gulab (Deputy Editor); Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Mignonne Dsouza, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna Tewari, Pranav Dixit, Yashica Dutt, Amrah Ashraf

SEEMA GOSWAMI in her article Name and Shame (Spectator, 4 September) has raised a pertinent question that whereas the identity of a female rape victim is protected under the Indian law, the same protection is not available to the alleged rapist. This law was enacted at a time when cultural and traditional values of the society were more conservative and the disclosure of the victim’s identity resulted in social isolation and virtually a disqualification for marriage.

These values have undergone a sea change and gender bias in social and normal life has disappeared if not been totally eliminated. The right to equality is asserted by the fair sex and they fight for it to claim their due. It is no doubt a positive sign. At the same some of them are actively participating in crimes like frauds and falsely implicating innocent persons in sexual assaults. Thus extending anonymity to the alleged rapists appears justified as it can protect the identity of those implicated falsely .

— O P TANDON, via email

Prodigal pass

IT WAS hugely disappointing and surprising at the same time not to find a write-up on tennis prodigy Somdev Devvarman, who hails from Tripura, in the cover story (Northeast Calling, 4 September). He is an Asian Games gold medallist and I have recently seen him put up a spirited fight in the US Open Championship. I feel he deserved a sizable space in your cover story, being one of the most luminous faces currently from the North East.This is also because not many are aware of his background, his journey into the challenging world of international tennis and his achievements.

— VIDISHA ROY, Mumbai

India Centric

IN SALE Sale Sale: The Best Bang for Your Buck (Techilicious, 28 August ), Rajiv Makhni suggested that we grab the HP touchpad for `4,500 and Sony playstation 3 for about `11,000. This may be possible for people who are in the US but I have not been able to locate any place in India that is selling these at the above prices. The net is full of people searching for these products at these prices but not being able to get them. I wish Rajiv would talk about products in India instead of focusing on what’s available in the US. — SASI, via email

DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor Design), Swati Chakrabarti, Rakesh Kumar, Ashish Singh, Saket Misra

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

Cover design: Ashutosh Sapru Photo: Thinkstock

Couch potato

The uneasy romantics

No decent serial to watch on TV? All look the same? We zoom in on two shows which set out to be different... but are they really?

by Veenu Singh

MATURE LOVE

PHOTO:KUNAL PATIL

WHAT THE SHOW IS ABOUT

SHOOTING TRPS Sakshi Tanwar and Ram Kapoor who play the lead in Bade Achche Lagte Hain (this pic) and a still from the show (right)

Consider this: Saas-bahu conflict. Scheming vamps. Suffering heroine. That’s what we saw on our TV sets for many years, from 2000 onwards. (Does anyone remember Star Plus’ Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi or Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki? Or have the serials been forgotten – deservedly – like bad dreams?)

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Now consider this: Village settings. ‘Burning’ social issues such as female foeticide. General gloom and doom. That’s what we’ve been seeing on our TV sets for the past three years, ever since Balika Vadhu (Colors) became a runaway hit.

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And finally consider this: Our very short letter to Hindi TV channels. Dear Star Plus, Sony, Colors etc. Can we please see something different? Thank you.

Yours sadly, viewers.

LOVE AAJ KAL

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NAVYA

The serial on Star Plus is a love story of two young people from traditional families and how they move ahead with their relationship while maintaining their values.

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O BE FAIR, when it comes to serials and soaps, it isn’t as if there’s nothing else on TV. There are a few crime shows on Sony which get good ratings.

There are a few other serials (such as Saas Bina Sasural – doesn’t the name say it all?) which are different and which do decently in terms of popularity.

But in the world of Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs), where nothing matters except ratings, to be different is akin to tempting fate. A ‘different’ serial will usually not hit the really high spots in the ratings chart.

Or so many nervous channel executives believe.

Audiences seem fixated on regressive, traditional (as in resistant to change), clichéd serials, they claim. Case in point: at the time of going to press, the country’s No. 1 show is the singu-

DIYA AUR BATI HUM

A new offering on Star Plus, about a man of modest education who helps his wife to fulfil her dreams of becoming a civil servant (while braving much ridicule).

larly depressing Sathiya Saath Nibhana (Star Plus) about a simple bahu having a really hard time in her sasural, which is peopled by at least two very scary women and one very uncaring husband.

But two recent serials which appear to be bucking the trend are Bade Achche Lagte Hain (Sony) and Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon (Star Plus). Of the two, Bade Achche... is the real bona fide hit. Already the No. 1 fiction show on Sony, it’s racing up the TRP charts across channels. The success of Iss Pyaar Ko... is more modest though by no means unremarkable; currently it is the fourth most-watched serial on Star Plus.

Both shows are supposed to be primarily love stories with the family as a side show instead of being family sagas with a bit of love on the side. Moreover, the

Bade Achche Lagte Hain launched on Sony May-end this year and has become a certified hit. It’s the story of a 30-plus middle class working girl called Priya (she takes coaching classes; come on, everyone can’t be a rocket scientist, can they?) who falls in love with a 40-plus rich businessman, Ram, after an arranged marriage with him.

WHAT WORKS

The fact that the heroine works and wears kurtis and jeans and doesn’t look like a walking-talking jewellerycum-wedding-saree store. That the male lead is fat and everyone (including our heroine) makes fun of his portly frame. Says Ram Kapoor who plays, well, Ram, “I told the scriptwriters not to be subtle about my weight but to go ahead full steam. That kind of realism is very attractive to male members of the audience.” The idea of two relative strangers finding love after an arranged marriage is equally real, he adds. On her part, Sakshi Tanwar, who plays Priya, found the idea of mature love very attractive.

The initial clashes between the two also made for lively viewing.

WHAT DOESN’T

Ram and Priya just got married in a ceremony that seemed to last several centuries. So many tears were shed, they could have irrigated an entire farm. Also, doesn’t the mother-in-law look like she’s going to turn into a scheming saas? Can the serial’s pace quicken a little please? And can the focus stay on the lead pair?

KUCH TO LOG KAHENGE

Soon to be seen on Sony, it is a love story between two doctors. The rumour goes that it’s a bit like the old Pakistani serial, Dhoop Kinare, which became very popular

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

GEET HUI SABSE PARAYI

This serial on Star One is about a young girl’s arranged marriage to an NRI which turns out to be a farce. She runs away to save herself and also to finally find true love.

PHOTO: PRASAD GORI

TURBULENT LOVE

WHAT THE SHOW IS ABOUT

Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon began on Star Plus early June and is getting good ratings. It’s a Mills and Boon sort of love story between a cheerful, innocent small-town girl, Khushi, and a heartless business tycoon with a tragic past, Arnav.

WHAT WORKS

LOVE IS A CHEMISTRY LESSON Barun Sobti and Sanaya Irani who play the lead pair in Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon (above) and in a still from the show (above right)

ONCE UPON A TIME

love stories themselves are hat ke.

Bade Achche... is a mature romance where a 33-year-old woman falls in love with a 42year-old man after an arranged marriage. Incidentally, the relationship starts off on the wrong foot: neither can stand the other.

It’s difficult to believe that this serial comes from Balaji, whose temperamental boss Ekta Kapoor was the original creator of saasbahu serials.

“Actually Ekta has always been a trendsetter,” points out Bade Achche Lagte… director Ravinder Gautam, “It was her idea to make this serial as real as possible. She wanted the writers to keep situations contemporary and convincing. For example, the character of Sakshi (the heroine) is shown as mature and level-headed. She is in her 30s, single and quite fine with being single. Today, there are many single women in their 30s who identify with Sakshi’s character. They are becoming part of the audience for the show. The kind of feedback we are getting is amazing.” Gautam adds that he has

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KAHIN TO HOGA

This Balaji serial, which ended in 2007, became an instant hit due to its lead pair and their chemistry. Everyone fell in love with Rajeev Khandelwal who played the hero.

been working on serials for ten years but for the first time, one of his close friends who is a Navy Commander is actually watching a Hindi serial and liking it!

But even in a modern serial like Bade Achche..., traditional elements are very much there – Sakshi’s mother, for instance, is one of those desperate, nagging mothers whose only mission is to see her on-the-shelf daughter get married.

LOVE...HATE?

In Iss Pyaar... too the lead pair (though they are young, unlike the Bade Achche… couple) can’t stand the sight of each other. The serial tracks their journey from intense hatred to intense love. As Vincent Franklin, the script head of Iss Pyaar… puts it rather dramatically, “Hate will bring two absolutely different people together, love will separate them and a misunderstanding will get them back together again. Finally, love will triumph over everything else.” The fact that there is sizzling chemistry between the good

KASHISH

looking lead pair adds to the drama.

Iss Pyaar... is mainly meant for a younger audience, but the creative team says it recognises the fact that there are older family members watching the show too.

For their benefit, the hero and heroine’s families are shown to be from Lucknow. Characters speak with local inflections; colloquialisms abound. Both households are devout and celebrate all festivals, major and minor, with extreme enthusiasm. Noble sibling love is another major thread of the show.

So while both Bade Achche... and Iss Pyaar... are not exactly run of the mill shows, commercial compulsions mean that they can’t be too different either. Iss Pyaar… would have been another show altogether if it had been 95 per love, and five per cent family.

Ditto for Bade Achche… But that’s probably being too optimistic.

Maybe in another ten years, we might get a really full-bodied, passionate love story. Till then, wait.

The fact that the love story is more intense hate than inane romance. That the lead pair have scorching chemistry. That the serial began as an office love story (even though we can swear we have never seen such an office in our lives). That Khushi is spirited and fun. That Arnav is a dark, enigmatic character in the best tradition of romantic anti-heroes. Says Barun Sobti, who plays Arnav, “The two characters are complete opposites and opposites attract.” Adds Sanaya Irani, who plays Khushi, “The fact that it is a young love story has attracted a lot of young viewers.”

WHAT DOESN’T

Often we’re confused whether we’re watching a love story or a religious channel since so many people in the serial visit temples, fast and pray with such unflagging piety. And sometimes we wonder if we are seeing a family saga after all, since some episodes have so little of the love story and so much of the family (a scheming vamp and mean aunt are already on the scene...so is a pet goat, by the way).

And at other times, we wonder if the directors go to sleep while directing some episodes, because the pace is so slow, it would make a tortoise look like a hare. Oh and by the way, whatever happened to that office?

veenus@hindustantimes.com

This was the ’80s version of a Mills & Boon story about a successful, snooty film director and a newcomer in the industry. He’s nasty to her, just to hide his feelings.

TRISHNA

This charming 1984 remake of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Trishna was also the acting debut of actress Kittu Gidwani. But would it seem dated now?

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

ASTITVA EK PREM KAHANI

Shown on Zee, it was the story of a doctor who falls in love with a younger man. The show ended in 2006, and is remembered for its strong female lead.

COVER STORY

GREEN CARD

HOLDERS

For some people, every day is Earth Day. They don’t just talk about it. They actually live by their beliefs. In the world of carbon footprints, meet five families whose shoes are size ‘small’

by Abhijit Patnaik

K

ERMIT THE Frog, it seems, wasn’t entirely right when he sang “It’s not that easy being green”. Talk to any of these five families from around the country and you will know why. From a consultant in Delhi trying to live “off the grid”, to vegetarian artists in Bangalore with an electricity bill of R300 per month, to a garbage-loving retired rubber technologist in south Mumbai, families from all walks of life across the country are making all sorts of changes to their homes and their lifestyles to reduce their carbon footprint.

Often, they’re unfairly dismissed as health- and eco-minded hippies.

Depending on your idea of environmental friendliness, you could see them that way too. But these people have a certain vision of life and they do their best to live by that vision. Read on to see how and why these families reusereduce-recycle, and why you don’t necessarily have to waste the green in your wallet to be ‘green’.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

abhijit.patnaik@hindustantimes.com

A man of the elements

SANJAY BHALLA, an engineer in Delhi with a passion for solar energy – think street lights and heaters – makes a business out of it d e l h i

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ROM THE rooftop of his home in Nizamuddin, you can see the dome of Humayun’s tomb.

The same rooftop where Sanjay Bhalla, a self-proclaimed solar enthusiast, has installed a water heater and an exterior lamp which run on nothing but the boundless energy provided by the sun.

Bhalla, who looks much younger than his 51 years, is an active speedcyclist and occasional golfer. Solar energy is both his passion and his profession. He runs Silverspark, a company which provides energy solutions in the form of street lights and water heaters that run on solar power. After installing the solar heater at home, he has almost never switched on the old electric water heaters. Even on a cloudy day, the water is hot at 60 degrees and ready for use.

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Bhalla’s travels through rural India influenced him to use the power of the sun to get electricity to villages.

“In the Muzaffar Nagar-Saharanpur belt in UP, I once saw a big 1.7 lakh litre tank to supply water to a village – but no electricity to fill it. A solar pump would have done the trick.

After all, why should there be a mineral water bottle seller in a village with plenty of water? Use solar!” he says. Even street lighting – especially in far flung areas – can be done cost effectively using solar lights, thus eliminating the need to set up grids there, according to him. “The return on investment is huge in rural India.”

PHOTO: RAJ K RAJ

His house also boasts an elaborate rainwater harvesting facility, set up in 2002. “This is my baby,” he says, pointing to a large pit in his garden where rain water collects and percolates into the ground. Since he has installed this system, the water that would earlier flood the street and go down the drain now recharges the water table. “The quality of groundwater has improved,” he says, proudly. “You have to, however, make sure the pit doesn’t get clogged. My heart bleeds when I see the rainwater harvesting pits in Delhi’s famous Lodi Garden – they are totally choked and don’t serve any purpose.”

Bhalla considers himself nearly alone when talking about green solutions to everyday problems. “I would give my acquaintances a half out of ten in environmental awareness. It used to be zero, but some are waking

‘WHY SHOULD THERE BE A MINERAL WATER SELLER IN A VILLAGE WITH LOTS OF WATER?’ HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

1. Use LED lights at home 2. Prevention is better than cure: Make sure your rainwater harvesting pit does not get choked due to silt.

up to solar water heating. When we talk about these solutions, most of my friends laugh, saying, nahi chalta.”

He feels that solar appliances have earned a bad name because in trying to make them cheap, quality has been compromised, making them unreliable. Pointing to his exterior solar light, he says, “Is it expensive? Yes. But it’s a quality product, it provides me security at night, and I don’t have to worry about it for at least five years.”

He continues to dream, and dream big. He is setting up a model home in Noida which does not use electricity from the grid, yet is complete with modern amenities – to demonstrate that solar appliances are the way of the future.

What does his family think of his ventures? “They laugh and say that I should be thinking of retiring, not thinking of solar power,” he says.

Living by their principles

MB NIRMAL & VIJAYALAKSHMI NIRMAL, eco ‘fundamentalist’ and doctor respectively, aim to turn concrete jungles into green jungles c h e n n a i

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B NIRMAL, often referred to either as a crackpot or a genius depending on your point of view, has a dream. Together with his doctor wife Vijayalakshmi, he wants to create a green jungle within the concrete jungle of Chennai.

It seems he’s succeeding. In their two-bedroom flat in Majestic Towers opposite the inter-city bus stand in Chennai, the couple lives with almost 200 hundred plants. But that’s not the only eco-friendly concept 67-year-old Nirmal lives with. Once a banker and now an avowed environmental ‘fundamentalist’ running an eco-concern called Exnora, he convinced Vijayalakshmi, now 63, to use only public transport to commute every day to and from the hospital where she works.

She doesn’t mind: the two of them have been environmentally responsible for as long as they can remember.

It isn’t easy. Earlier this year, the kitchen garden the couple convinced residents of their building to involve themselves in was hit by a pest attack.

The problem was compounded by heavy rain – plants just died. But Nirmal is undeterred. “We all get our vegetables from this garden,” he says.

“But I don’t want to take even a tomato from here. The produce will go into a

common pool and then be distributed.

This will be managed by the youth brigade of our residential complex.”

It’s not uncommon to see Nirmal talking to the plants after his customary morning walk. After that, he takes the staircase to his 12th floor flat. City farming, indoor farming, street farming, gutter farming, terrace farming – farming anywhere and everywhere – is important, he explains, because there will be a global food shortage by 2020.

Green living is not expensive at all, and the benefits far outweigh the initial expenses for, say, LED bulbs and energy efficient gadgets, says Nirmal, as he launches into a tirade on his passion – the conservation of resources. “I have to showcase this lifestyle to motivate other people,” he explains.

So in their home, not a single food grain is wasted; drinking water is served to guests in a bottle accompanied by a tumbler (so that they take only as much as they want); and purchases are made only after the couple assess whether they absolutely need it.

“We have almost every gadget people use, but we switch them off when they’re not in use,” says Nirmal. So the electricity bill for their 2,100 sq ft flat works out to R2,300 for two months.

“We use the AC very rarely, only for

PHOTO: RS KUMAR

IT’S NOT UNCOMMON TO SEE NIRMAL TALKING TO THE PLANTS AFTER HIS MORNING WALK

guests who may want it,” says Nirmal.

“The stress is on natural light and air, so we often don’t even use a fan.”

Though Nirmal is often out, running Exnora, doing development work with the help of civic bodies and motivating young people in conservation activities, he never forgets his dream. “Come back after five months,” he says. “The entrance to my flat will be like a jungle!”

— KV Lakshmana klakshmana@hindustantimes.com

WHAT YOU CAN DO 1. Water plants with used water collected from your wash basins and kitchen sink 2. Treat toilet water with bacteria and use it to water plants 3. Also collect the water used to wash rice and vegetables and use it to water plants 4. Do not imagine that soapy water, collected after a bath, can’t be used. It can also be used for plants as it is rich in potassium 5. If you live in a small apartment, use surface space sparingly for plants. Rather, use walls and other vertical space to grow plants 6. Spray neem paste to drive away mosquitoes rather than use pesticides with chemical compounds 7. Avoid owning a dining table. Instead, serve food from a trolley.

That way you serve only as much as is needed. Make it a point not to waste food 8. For your plants, do not buy flower pots. Only use containers of different hues, including bamboo shoots, which make for very good vertical plant holders

COVER STORY

An artist’s paradise

iments which doesn’t use electricity – and then used to water the garden.

“The rain water harvesting facility SANJAY & PRATIBHA SINGH, a couple that shows how using sunlight makes their home ideal in all weathers – and makes it ‘breathe’ also waters the garden for five months a year,” Singh says. b a n g a l o r e With plenty of green around the house, and sunlight streaming in through the eight foot-tall windows the right is a large garden. The house HE SENSE you get when you and majestic skylight, the house has itself is very open – there are doors hear artist Pratibha Singh, just one fan. “We use it only a few 46, talk about the various fea- only where essential. The stabiliseddays a year,” says Singh. tures of her ‘green’ home, is that it is mud-bricks (a mix of cement, mud Pratibha and Sanjay, both art-gradand quarry-dust) used to build their living, breathing, almost human. uates from Shantiniketan in West house are not burnt, but ‘breathing’.

When she and her husband, felBengal, always were environmentally These, along with the flooring, which low-artist Sanjay Singh, moved into friendly, but friendship with another uses a similar mix, ensure the house their home in Singapura, about 13 is cool in summer and warm in winter. Bangalore resident, who runs the km from Bangalore, it was to get rainwater harvesting club, took things The ‘grey’ water of the kitchen is away from the city. But the past to the next level. Inevitably, there recycled using a natural filter – a eight years have been more than system of gravel, sand and other sed- were skeptics amongst family and that. Their idea of simple living has matured in this, their home.

Enter the compound and you are greeted by a virtual green cave – a Pongamia tree-covered driveway. On

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THE SINGHS’ HOUSE HAS JUST ONE FAN. ‘WE USE IT ONLY A FEW DAYS A YEAR’

In the company of trees

Bhatia – to make it that way.

A retired rubber technologist, Bhatia, 63, lives with his wife, daughANIL BHATIA makes the immediate environment around him green ters and grandson. The family startand healthy through vermiculture and bio-composting. The soil in his ed their eco-warrior journey by sepagarden is crawling with worms but that just means one thing: it’s rich! rating dry and wet garbage, which he says is a basic practice for an ecom u m b a i friendly lifestyle. The wet waste comprising vegetable peels, fruit seeds and raw fruits and vegetables is used for bio-composting. Now every home in Bhatia’s building makes its contribution to the wet waste, which is used in the building’s garden.

“The idea is not just to plant saplings but to take care of trees,” explains Bhatia. “Houses near healthy trees are automatically pest-free.”

The soil of the plant or the tree needs worms to till it. This is vermiculture, wherein worms consume the waste and their excretion leads to nitrate fixation in the soil. If you visit his building’s garden, Bhatia will make you examine the soil and see the worms in it, indicating that the soil is rich in manure and nutrients.

The garden extends along the length of the entire lane. There are banyan trees, asoka trees, neem trees, papaya trees, mango trees, deodar trees and the list goes on. Three garWHAT YOU CAN DO deners maintain it on a daily basis.

PHOTO: HEMANT PADALKAR “We have gardeners because the lane 1. Segregate waste. Collect wet NIL BHATIA’S house is one is long,” says Bhatia. “But you don’t garbage and dry garbage separately of many apartments on D need people if you’re doing this for 2. Mix your wet garbage with the soil Road in Churchgate, your own house. Just take care to sepof your plants and trees. You will not Mumbai. The lane is well-known arate your waste and use the wet need to add fertilisers if you do this not only because it is located waste to make your own soil.”

3. Make your own soil. Use dry directly opposite Wankhede What’s striking is Bhatia’s treatleaves, cow urine and waste along Stadium, but also because it has ment of garbage. His family does not with wet garbage to create a combeen labelled a ‘model road’ by treat garbage like it’s dirty. “There’s post pit. In about three months, it’ll Mumbai’s municipal corporation nothing dirty about vegetable peels turn into soil because of its cleanliness and and their seeds,” says Bhatia. Their 4. Try to avoid creating cooked greenery. However, what sets this dustbin is a steel utensil, which is waste. Never throw away cooked lane apart from others is the 18 cleaned on a daily basis. It does not food, use leftovers creatively years of effort of the residents and stink at all. “That’s because the stink 5. If you are composting, do not add the initiative of one resident – Anil starts when you mix dry waste with artificial chemicals to your plants

A

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HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

friends – questions were raised on the feasibility of environmentally friendly homes. Singh, however, wonders why.

“In the long run, such a house is cost effective – and it wasn’t more expensive during construction either,” she says. “For example, we don’t have to deal with cracks or need to re-do our walls with toxic paints since they are natural – and look as good as new.”

All their habits – from small ones like switching off the lights when leaving a room to adding organic waste to the compost pit have been inculcated in their seven-year-old son Utkarsh.

All this translates into the story’s jaw-dropping statistic – their monthly electricity bill is only R300!

And living with so much light has post-sunset advantages as well. “In the city, the moon is hidden. Here, the beautiful winter moonlight streams in through the skylight,” says Singh. wet waste. Items such as paper and plastic need to be discarded separately.”

The building also uses bio-sanitised water. Bhatia, who interacts regularly with Dr Uday Bhawalkar, the director of Bhawalkar Ecological Research Institute in Pune, uses certain root enzymes given by Bhawalkar to ‘cleanse’ the water in his building. Three to four of these root enzymes, which are the size of green peas, can be used to balance the nutrient content of water in a way to make it fit even for drinking.

“Enzymes in trees’ roots help to make even dirty or saline water absorbed by the roots useful,” explains Bhatia. “Placing those

‘HOUSES NEAR HEALTHY TREES ARE AUTOMATICALLY PEST-FREE. SO TAKE CARE OF TREES’ enzymes in our water tank ‘cleans’ the water.” So much so that the gutter area of the building, where the waste water pipes are, doesn’t stink at all.

The effect of this bio-sanitisation has shown results in the health of the building’s domestic staff. Some of their children were perpetually ill but after consuming the bio-sanitised water, they’ve been much healthier. Moreover, because of this combination of healthy trees and biosanitised water, the Bhatias do not use phenyl or any other disinfectant to mop the floors of their pest-free house.

— Sharanya Misra Sharma sharanya.sharma@hindustantimes.com

WHAT YOU CAN DO 1. Grow organic food, especially local vegetables that are suited to the climate. In Bangalore that means fruit and vegetables like puisaag, coriander, passion fruit, pumpkin and spinach 2. Do not build on the entire plot – leave plenty of garden space around your home 3. Don’t over-consume.

Sometimes people buy things in bulk because it’s cheap – even if they don't need it. Don’t do any surplus buying PHOTO: GIREESH GV

WHAT YOU CAN DO 1. Manage with natural ventilation whenever the weather or your state of mind allows this 2. Reduce air-conditioning to the minimum 3. Get air-conditioners with good temperature controls 4. Set them as high as possible (28 °C) to save power 5. Use ceiling fans in combination with the air-conditioners 6. Reduce or eliminate high water elements in your diet: coffee, refined sugar, red meats, white meat.

This is healthy for you too!

7. Install a flush cock and reduce the quantities of flushed water

Top design SANJAY PRAKASH is a committed eco-friendly architect (a rare breed) who wonders where Delhi’s butterflies have gone g u r g a o n

H

AVE YOU noticed Delhi has such few butterflies now?” says architect Sanjay Prakash, walking us through his sprawling home in Palam Vihar, near the Delhi-Haryana border.

Prakash, 53, lives in a majestic home with domed ceilings, bamboo

floored bedrooms and a rooftop kitchen garden. He and his wife and two daughters have made many environmentally friendly modifications to their lives and home.

To name a few – riding a cycle for local work, not flying or driving when they can go by train or bus, keeping reusable bags in the car to cut the use of plastic bags, separating waste into organic and inorganic and composting the organic, managing with natural ventilation when the weather allows it... phew!

Their house has much more hidden behind, under and over the walls than you can see. Gravity materials like sand and soil were used during land-

PHOTO: SANJEEV VERMA

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

A VARIETY OF ECOFRIENDLY ELEMENTS HAS MADE PRAKASH’S HOME A STANDARD-SETTER scaping to make it cement-free and pervious, low-flow faucets and showerheads were installed. Low wattage lighting, a south-facing orientation (best suited for Delhi’s climate), optimised natural ventilation, the use of reused glass, a white insulated roof (to keep the building cool) and recycled steel have made this home the iPad 2 of homes – a standard setter.

“Just like you have credit/debit or matter/anti-matter, anything we create must in the end destroy something else,” says Prakash. Ernst Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful (a book whose mantra was holistic development) had influenced him to undertake ecologically friendly design as an architect. A stint as a research associate for a professor at IIT Delhi on solar projects across India enhanced his knowledge. And after building many institutional edifices in a ‘green’ manner, Prakash finally decided in 2005 that it was time to be his own employer.

Such has been the appeal of his home’s design that a former Silicon Valley engineer who had bought a plot nearby asked Prakash, who is more of an institutional architect, to design his house. “He almost went on a dharna till I agreed. You can see his house across the street,” says Prakash.

Outside, looking at his one lakh-litre rainwater harvesting tank, we notice a white butterfly fluttering by. “Look, did you see that?” Prakash asks.

In the end, it’s all for the butterflies.

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indulge eat

| play | listen | live

The World In My Kitchen With pretty much everything exotic now available at your local upmarket grocer’s, there’s never been a better time to be an enthusiastic home cook

rude food

Vir Sanghvi

EASY BET Once you get the right ingredients, risotto can be absurdly simple

GET IN SHAPE Go beyond spaghetti and try one of the many interesting pasta shapes now available in the shops

E

PHOTOS: THINKSTOCK

ACH TIME I go to my local branch of Godrej’s Nature’s Basket in Delhi’s Defence Colony, I am so impressed by the range of foods available and by how nice the sales people are that I forgive the shop for the sloppy check-out system and for how long it takes to pay for my groceries as clerks struggle with keyboards and stare bemusedly at bar codes.

But they are not the only ones to be bemused. Increasingly I find that as we, in urban India, cope with this harvest of plenty, we are bewildered and confused by the vast array of foods on offer. What do we do with them? What are they meant for, exactly? How will they make dinner more exciting for us? What recipes will work?

Will our families like this new fangled stuff? And so on.

There are no easy answers to some of those questions because I suspect that the situation varies from household to household and palate to palate. But speaking for myself, I am delighted that many of the things I have written about over the last decade or so no longer seem exotic and hard to find. You may not have a vast range of brands yet or find luxury ingredients, but you can, nevertheless, buy pretty much everything you would once have had to go abroad to find at your local upmarket grocer’s in much of urban India.

This opens up a range of possibilities. My advice, as always, is to steer clear of the ready-made, frozen or refrigerated meals on offer because they are usually disgusting and to buy fresh ingredients to cook dinner for yourself. You’ll find that it is surprisingly easy to cook foods that were once considered so exotic that you had to go to fancy restaurants to eat them. Some options that have now opened up include: THAI FOOD: For years and years, the people of Thailand have perpetrated an elaborate double bluff on the world.

Their cuisine is so terrific that it can seem forbidding to the amateur chef. Certainly, if you take the Thai food at top restaurants in Bangkok with its mixture of many rare herbs, hard-to-find fruit and complicated freshlyground pastes, you would never dare attempt it at home.

But here’s the double bluff: though Thai haute cuisine is immensely complex, most ordinary Thais do not have the time to

14

IT IS SURPRISINGLY EASY TO COOK FOODS THAT WERE ONCE CONSIDERED EXOTIC

MIX IT UP Quick Thai curries (above right) are easy to make. Buy a packet of curry paste, sauté it lightly, pour in some coconut milk, add meat or fish and cook till it tastes right

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

make the complicated version at home. Much more than Indians, they rely on packaged masalas, frozen food and commercially made sauces. In the right hands, these can lead to delicious meals even if they are not quite haute cuisine quality.

There is still a problem with making many Thai dishes in India: you don’t get the right fresh herbs and many of the vegetables are unknown to your local subziwalla. But thanks to the availability of packaged pastes, you can make many Thai dishes at home in India.

The food won’t be perfect but it will reach the standard of your neighbourhood Thai restaurant.

For instance, the proper recipe for Tum Yum soup is complicated and slightly stomach churning (you need to poach prawn brains), but you can make a reasonable version with cubes. Put Tum Yum cubes and a chicken stock cube (nothing in Thai cuisine works without stock) into a pan of boiling water and add fresh ingredients (prawns – frozen will do; onions, herbs and leaves, sliced ginger etc.) and you will end up with a dish that is perfectly acceptable. You will need to adjust the seasoning with nimbu and fish

OFF THE SHELF You can now buy arborio rice at your local grocer's

QUICK TWIST Sauté sliced mushrooms separately and then add them to the arborio rice

stock (nam pla) to taste but it should be good enough to serve to guests at a dinner party.

Quick Thai curries are also absurdly easy to make. Buy a packet of curry paste, sauté it lightly (an Indian touch – Thais are not that keen on frying masalas), pour in some coconut milk, add meat or fish and cook till it tastes right. When it is ready, adjust the flavours with sugar (an important ingredient of Thai food) and nam pla. If you want a meatier flavour, use massaman curry paste, mutton and parboiled potatoes and then add peanuts at the last stage.

Everything you need is easily available. Thai pastes are now sold at every grocer’s, as are tum yum cubes, nam pla and tetra-packs of coconut milk.

This kind of food is easier to make than Indian food and makes a nice change.

ITALIAN FOOD: For years and years, whenever I have written about risotto, I have had to add such qualifiers as “I am sure you can get the right rice if you look hard enough.” No longer. Now, I am pretty sure that you can buy arborio rice the same way that I do – at your local grocer’s.

Once you get the right ingredients, risotto can be absurdly simple. You sauté the arborio (or a similar kind of rice) in olive oil till it crackles, then you add a glug of white wine (any crap wine will do, even Sula) and stir till the liquid is absorbed. Meanwhile, heat a pot of stock (you can use chicken cubes) and once the wine has disappeared, start adding the stock, ladle by ladle to the rice. The principle is the same as the wine. You add enough stock to cover the rice, stir and wait till it is absorbed. Then you add another ladleful and repeat the process. When the rice tastes done to you, you do the finishing.

In Italy, chefs will add risotto ingredients to the pan with the rice, but you can cheat and sauté sliced mushrooms separately (with herbs or whatever you like) and then add them to the rice when it is cooked. Then, you check the flavour (which will have come from the stock) and start the finishing. You can grate a little Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese to add an umami taste and give you a creamier texture and a knob of butter to even out the flavours. Some people add cream. I don’t think you necessarily need to do SAY CHEESE this but it is an option.

Grate a little Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Bring the dish to the to add an umami taste to the risotto table soon after it has been cooked and you will seem like a great chef even though the actual cooking process has been simpler than making khichdi. The trick is in the ingredients: good rice, good quality stock (shop around till you find a brand you like), nice butter (Amul is okay but you get many imported butters now), flavourful cheese and the mushrooms.

Everything you need for the dish is available just a few minutes away from your house!

Pasta is slightly more complicated. In the immortal words of Robert Plant, there are two paths you can go by (but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you are on). The Indian version of pasta is a thick curry with bits of maida floating around in it. If this is what you like, it is easy. Buy spaghetti, penne or whatever at your grocers’ and then buy a readymade Bolognaise or tomato or cheese sauce and pour it over the pasta.

In Italy, however, the pasta is the point of the dish – not the sauce.

My suggestion is that, whichever approach you follow, splash out on good quality Italian pasta. (A supermarket brand like De Cecco is okay; you don’t have to look for gourmet or artisanal pasta.) Go beyond spaghetti and try one of the many interesting pasta shapes now in the shops. Cook it the usual way, in a pot of salted boiling water.

Then, eschew the thick sauce of old. Buy some interesting vegetables – baby corn, mushrooms, snow peas, peppers etc. – and sauté them in olive oil. When the pasta is ready, add it to the pan in which the vegetables have been cooking along with a few spoonfuls of pesto (easily available everywhere now). If the taste is too herby for you, grate some parmesan over the dish.

As time goes by, you will learn to adjust the flavours. You may sauté your vegetables with lots of garlic. You could add a dash of a hotter flavour (chilli, perhaps?) And eventually, you may even do without the packaged pesto. Whatever you do, you will end up with a classy, fresh-tasting dish that is made with a minimum of effort.

THE FUTURE: I am already out of space. But as you can see, there has never been a better time to be an enthusiastic home cook. In the circumstances it would be a shame to pass these opportunities up and to order a take-out pizza instead!

It’s time to head for the kitchen.

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

15

PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

indulge

FOR PASTA, BUY SOME INTERESTING VEGETABLES – BABY CORN, MUSHROOMS, SNOW PEAS, PEPPERS ETC. – AND SAUTÉ THEM IN OLIVE OIL

PHOTO: DINODIA

READY TO EAT Put Tum Yum cubes and a chicken stock cube into a pan of boiling water, add fresh ingredients and you will end up with a Tum Yum soup that is perfectly acceptable

indulge play eat |

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Fit-Tech Gadgetry:

Get That(PART Perfect Body!

2) More new age technology and gadgets to keep you on top of your form

techilicious

Rajiv Makhni

B

Y THE time I get down to part 2 of a column, the reactions to the first one have flooded in. And mostly, they follow a pattern. Waves of likes (I enjoyed your...), some strong dislikes (have you lost it, today’s column was completely...) and charges of plagiarism (usually by people who set up an anonymous Twitter account that very day, just for that). But last week’s column was unusual; while all of the above were right there, this time there was a huge amount of additional feedback. It seems people here use a lot of technology and gadgets to keep them on the personal fitness track. Today’s column incorporates a lot from that feedback.

THE YEAR IS 2050

If you’re one of those people who can’t stand the thought of lifting weights for an hour, then pay attention. How about no weights, 10 minutes of your time and the effect of a two-hour workout?

All you have to do is strap on a special vest and pants and do a few actions for 10 minutes. The technology behind Miha Bodytech is EMS, but at a whole new level. Electro-Muscular Stimulation EASY TONE has been in play for many years and while controversial, does seem to give results. On the MB Miha Bodytech machine it goes a lot further. The first time you gives a complete workout, don the vest and plug into the machine, even doing a simple task like lifting your hand takes strapped in this suit incredible effort. By the time I finished my 10-minute routine, it was like I had run five miles and worked out for 45 minutes.

CAVEATS: Very expensive, unwieldy as you have to get in and out of that damn electro suit, EMS is very controversial right now.

FOODTEC

Seventy per cent of your weight loss will come from diet control and 90 per cent of diets fail. If you’ve struggled with portion control, cravings and given in to your sweet tooth, then science and technology could help. The first is Sensa.

Spray a little of this powder on any food you are about to eat and the powder talks to your brain. The scientific principle behind this is pretty sound. Whenever you eat, smell and taste receptors send signals to your brain to tell your body it’s time to stop eating. Sensa does it faster. Thus no bingeing and no over-eating. The second is for all sweetaholics and chocoholics. Whenever the ‘wild need’ hits, chew a piece of gum and the need for your daily hit disappears. The best part – the chewing gum uses an ancient Indian ayurvedic ingredient that really does work.

Meshashringi is known as the destroyer of sugar and

THE NEW FITNESS MANTRA IS

BURN IT Gadgets like Bodymedia Armband monitor your progress daily

TO TAKE 10,000 STEPS A DAY AS THE MINIMUM ACTIVITY LEVEL 16

SENSES IT! Sprinkle Sensa on your food and stop bingeing

REAL-TIME TRAINING With Your Shape Fitness Evolved (above), a celebrity trainer will analyse your actions

Supresalin 60 Craving Control Gum uses this to the best of its abilities. Chew it and your mouth can no longer taste anything sweet for a while. Chocolate tastes horrid and bitter, apple pie tastes like cardboard and ice cream like a gooey mess of nothingness.

CAVEATS: Sensa didn’t really do much for me but I may have been too aware of being in ‘test mode’.

Also, carrying a sprinkler and spraying all over food in restaurants or at work can make you seem like a certified lunatic. Still, it seems to have worked for a lot of people. Supresalin works but is expensive as hell.

GAME ON

It started with the Nintendo Wii Fit and it’s now been taken to extraordinary levels. Microsoft Kinect and Sony Move can make your gaming area a true state of the art gym.

With Kinect you don’t even need to hold anything. Lots of options there. Your Shape Fitness Evolved (celebrity trainers will analyse your actions as you exercise, and correct your form in a real-time mode), Zumba (gives you a workout with real time dance lessons like salsa, reggaeton, hip-hop), Motion Sports (you control a realistic avatar, Kinect captures video of your performance and broadcasts it with live commentary. Has soccer, football, boxing, skiing) are some of your best choices.

CAVEATS: None really, other than fighting your family for space and time and not knocking over furniture.

BIG BROTHER: STRAPPED TO YOU

It’s beautiful out there. All alone, in the wilderness, running like the wind. That is old hat! Today, you need to track your progress, mileage, speed, distance, calories burnt, GPS your information to all and make sure that your exploits in the gym are Tweeted and Facebooked to the world. Devices like FitBit (small device that can track your motion and gives you amazing data about your activity level all day, plus uploads it all wirelessly to your FitBit account online), Bodymedia Armband (like FitBit but uses sensory reading from the body) or even Omron Go Smart Pedometer (works on a Tri-Axis reading, thus you can keep it in your pocket, bag or hand) can be your weapons of choice. The new age mantra of fitness is to have 10,000 steps a day as the bare minimum level of activity. These will help you track it all day.

CAVEATS: May shock you when you come to know that you clock in only 20 per cent of your target level of activity.

Technology can make sure that you enhance, motivate and keep to your fitness goals. So go out there, shake it, lift it, twist it and run it – and make sure you have a device that tracks it all for you. Me, I’m going the opposite way. For the moment I’m going to go get myself deep into a piece of molten gooey chocolate cake. I always do, whenever I’ve written a great (non plagiarised) column :) 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 SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

indulge listen Electric Pipers eat | play |

download central

Sanjoy Narayan

| live

Can music made on a computer (look ma, no instruments!) ever be real music? Listen up. It might just be your thing

O

PHOTO: PATRICK JEFFORDS

JUST CHILLIN’ OUT Toro Y Moi, whose real name is Chazwick Bundick, produces music known as chillwave. It uses heavy processed effects, some sampling, synthesised, computerised sound and simple vocals

VER-PRODUCED music has never really caught my fancy. I’m referring to the kind of music that producers or DJs sitting in their bedrooms conjure up using nothing much more than a laptop or two. They either mix and match sound samples or “create” compositions using synthesised sound. I’m probably a bit orthodox when it comes to musicians – I prefer mine to actually pick up instruments and play them rather than use the keyboards of their computers to tweak and program software to produce their music. There are exceptions, though.

I liked what mash-up artists such as Girl Talk (real name: Greg Gillis) or Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) have produced. Danger Mouse’s controversial Grey Album project took The Beatles’ White Album and rapper Jay-Z’s Black Album and mashed them together to make a marvellous sounding record. Danger Mouse, of course, had other projects, including the band Gnarls Barkley, which he formed along with singer-songwriter Cee Lo Green.

Girl Talk, whose records are released by the ironically named label, Illegal Arts, also did a fabulous mash-up album titled Feed The Animals, which is composed entirely from samples taken from other musicians’ works.

Both, Girl Talk and Danger Mouse, are producers who have used little more than a laptop and samples of recorded music to produce full-length albums, although Danger Mouse has produced music for other great artists, including The Black Keys, The Gorillaz and Beck (and there’s a forthcoming production for U2 in the works as well). But there are others that are minimalists – who use little or no musical instruments to create original music. And several of them are in what you could call the electro-pop genre.

One such is Toro Y Moi whose real name is Chazwick Bundick.

All of 24, Bundick, an American like Girl Talk and Danger Mouse,

has two albums to his credit and his music is usually classified as chillwave. In the confusing world of musical genre names, this classification needs some clarification. Chillwave is a kind of music that comprises heavy use of processed effects, some sampling, synthesised, computerised sounds and simple melodic vocals that are looped in and out of the highly textured sounds. Bundick’s first album, Causers of This, came out early last year and received much critical acclaim. It has ambient, layered sounds and very melodic vocals that coo through the album’s 11 songs.

I don’t know about you, but usually I just cannot write when I’m listening to music. I know some people who can; but play a great album and ask me to write while I’m listening to it and I guarantee that I shall produce gibberish (not that I sometimes I don’t do that even without the music, but that is quite a different matter). What a surprise it was to find that Toro Y Moi’s albums appear to be exceptions. I ran his Causers album and it provided the right ambience for me to do anything that required concentration – read notes, write and even think up new ideas.

Causers of This is likely to have been made entirely in Toro Y Moi’s bedroom – as far as I could perceive, there is no live music input in it, just the laptop and the looped, soothing vocals.

There’s an imperfect wobbliness to the album that makes it all the more endearing. And by the time I re-heard the Causers, my preconceived ill-thoughts about electro-pop had all but evaporated.

Perhaps it had something to do with the lyrics, especially of the song, Blessa. For there’s a verse in the song that, I am quite sure, would resonate with every one of us at some point or the other: I found a job/I do it fine/Not what I want/But I still try.

It’s not the lyrics, though, that make Toro Y Moi’s work what it is. It’s the music. After getting hooked on the asymmetric sounds of Causers, last week I heard his latest (and second) full-length, Underneath the Pine. I was surprised to find that it was very different. Yes, he’s still making what the critics would call chillwave, but the sound on the new album is more evolved. There’s some live drumming (the earlier album had little or none of that), there’s a lot more pep (you could even be urged to dance to the music) and, most important, dollops of funk. I’m so glad this guy is so young. I’m looking forward to so much more from Toro Y Moi, which, incidentally, roughly, translates into “Bull and Me”.

PLAY A GREAT ALBUM AND ASK ME TO WRITE WHILE I’M LISTENING – I GUARANTEE I SHALL PRODUCE GIBBERISH

PHOTO: REUTERS

KEYBOARD CAPTAINS Danger Mouse (left) and Girl Talk (right) are artists who have used little more than a laptop and samples of recorded music to produce full-length albums

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

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

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eat | play | listen |

live

Makeover Mania BRAND NEW LOOK Shane Warne’s newly-minted metrosexual avatar is courtesy the new woman in his life: Liz Hurley

BEAUTY SECRETS According to Liz, Warne’s wrinklefree look is because he’s using Estee Lauder products (which, incidentally, she endorses)

PHOTOS: REUTERS

spectator

Seema Goswami

S

O, NOW for our question of this week: What exactly is up with Shane Warne? The laddish leg-spinner from Australia is doing such a good impersonation of a newly-minted metrosexual that it is hard to believe that this is the same guy who peroxide-tinted the ends of his hair and – judging by appearances – lived entirely on pork pies and beer.

The new, improved (well, okay, the jury is still out on that one) Warne is missing one beer gut, innumerable wrinkles on his forehead, laugh lines and dodgy hair cut. He now cuts an impeccably slim figure with a suspiciously smooth forehead, a sculpted chin and perfectly highlighted hair. Gone are the grungy track pants and baggy jeans and Tshirts that he lived in. This avatar of Warne wears designer togs to show off his new slim-line waist and toned butt.

So what lies behind Shane’s new look? Plastic surgery? Face lift?

Mid-life crisis? Perish the thought. Apparently the makeover is down to the new woman in his life: Liz Hurley. According to Liz, Shane’s new wrinkle-free look is entirely down to his using Estee Lauder skin care products – yes, the same brand that, by some remarkable coincidence, pays Hurley an obscene amount of money to flog their creams and lotions.

These must be magic potions of some potency because Shane Warne has been completely transformed after using them. Now, the man who used to drive his first wife, Simone, nuts with his unreconstructed male behaviour – sexting every second woman he met, for starters – is reduced to tweeting to Hurley’s parrot (yes, the bird has its own Twitter handle) to demonstrate his devotion to his lady love.

By now you’re probably muttering to yourself: what on earth is our Warnie thinking? The erstwhile Rajasthan Royals captain appears to have been reduced to nothing more than a pale – though very smoothskinned – shadow of his former self. So, why is he allowing his girlfriend to change him into something he is palpably not?

Well, I guess you could put it down to the throes of new love. Rare is the man who can resist the blandishments of his woman in the honeymoon phase of the relationship. And if she comes bearing Resilience Lift face and eye cream, well then, what better way to show your love than to slap it on with a trowel?

But my question is this: why is Liz Hurley falling into the oldest trap in the world? Why is she trying to change the man she fell in love with? Why is she intent on turning him into something that he is clearly not? And why on earth is she bent on recasting him in her own image, complete with dewy complexion, skin-tight jeans and blowdried hair?

18

Is it ever a good idea to try and change the man you love into the man of your dreams?

More to the point: how long does she think she can keep this up? And how far down the line will Shane protest at being treated like a work in progress rather than a red-blooded male with a mind and personality of his own?

And at the end of the day, when they are done with their His and Hers facials and spa treatments, when they have scoffed down their green salads (dressing on the side) with sparkling water, will Liz still fancy the man she fell in love with – even though she is hard put to recognise him as the same person? And will he still see her as an object of desire rather than a mistress of makeover?

But why blame Liz Hurley alone? She is merely following the pattern laid down by countless others. I’ve lost count of the number of women who get into relationships with clearly unsuitable men with the rallying cry of: “No problem, I can always change him.”

Well, maybe you can in the short run. You can prevail on him to throw out all those grungy clothes. You can buy him an entire new wardrobe.

You can tear him away from all his unsuitable friends. You can cut out red meat and beer from his diet. You can introduce him to the delights of a juicer. You can get him a trendy new haircut to go with the spanking new wardrobe. You can even get him to remember birthdays and anniversary – and get you flowers and chocolate.

Yes, you can train him to do the usual dog-and-pony tricks. But only up to a point. Sooner or later the worm will turn. He will begin to resent your overweening influence in every sphere of his life. He will begin to feel claustrophobic in the tightly-controlled world you have created for him. He will sneak out to meet his friends for a night out – and load up on all the forbidden food groups. He will announce his independence by letting his hair grow past his shoulders – and refusing to wash it even if you beg.

And sometimes even when he doesn’t chafe under the burden of your expectations, even when he continues to obey your every command, it still won’t work – because you have changed him so much that he is no longer the man you fell in love with.

Will Shane Warne and Liz Hurley go the same way? Well, let’s give it time. But all those ladies out there hoping to transform the men you love into the men of your dreams: consider yourself warned. You can never really change someone – no, not in the long run. seema_ht@rediffmail.com. Follow Seema on Twitter at twitter.com/seemagoswami

WARNE USED

TO DRIVE HIS FIRST WIFE, SIMONE, NUTS WITH HIS UNRECONSTRUCTED MALE BEHAVIOUR

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

Wellness

MIND BODY SOUL SHIKHA SHARMA

Keep your hair on

H

air fall is a huge source of anxiety for millions of people.

The treatment of hair fall depends on a correct diagnosis of the problem. So the first step is to correctly identify the root cause of your hair fall. These include nutritional deficiencies of protein and vitamins; deficiencies of essential minerals and salts; pH imbalance (acid-alkali imbalance); hormonal imbalance or changes; scalp problems, infections and infestations; medication consumed over a long time; ill health; and genetic predisposition – particularly in male pattern baldness.

Go Greek

DINNER TIME Souvlaki (Greekstyle kebabs) and a salad PHOTOS: MCT

Move over France! The traditional cuisine of Greece is the latest to be declared super-healthy

by Kavita Devgan

W

ONDERING HOW to keep yourself hooked to a healthy diet on a permanent basis?

You may want to look at other cuisines from time to time. They’re different, so you won’t feel that a healthy diet is essentially a diet of deprivation and they will keep your mind off the junk food you think you’d rather eat!

Modern research now champions traditional Greek cuisine as the heart-healthiest food in the world. In fact what the Greeks have intuitively known for centuries is now been linked to lot of positive scientific data.

After all, Greeks are amongst the first foodies of the world – the first ever cookbook was written by the Greek food gourmet, Archestratos way back in 330 BC! Here’s what makes the Greek diet so special.

WHAT DO THEY EAT?

Lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes like beans and peas, a significant amount of nuts, unrefined whole-grain foods and olive oil; moderate amounts of fish; a low to moderate amount of

dairy products such as fresh cheeses and yoghurt; and a moderate amount of wine, usually taken with meals. Herbs and spices such as garlic, oregano, bay leaves, cinnamon and cloves are used liberally. And the Greek diet contains very low amounts of meat, poultry and saturated fats.

Together, this means that you get immunity-boosting antioxidants, cancer-fighting compounds, healthful omega-3 fatty acids and colon-cleansing fibre in mega doses. And

THE DAILY DIET

■ Breakfast typically consists of a piece of

bread, goat’s milk and Turkish-style, thick, sweet coffee. A light lunch is usually eaten between 12 and 2 pm. Dinner is served around 8-9 pm and is the largest meal of the day.

■ Salads are usually eaten with the main course, which may be souvlaki (a sort of kebab with cubes of meat and vegetables) or stuffed brinjals or tomatoes. Pasta is also popular.

Fresh fruits conclude the dinner.

Greeks drink wine with meals and as an aperitif.

NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES

Nutritional deficiencies are rife in our urban lifestyles. For example, we may consume a lot of calories through simple carbohydrates and fats, but find ourselves deficient in proteins and vitaPHOTO: THINKSTOCK mins. Balanced proteins are very important for hair strength and thickness. Proteins should be consumed in just the right quantity because an overdose of proteins can also lead to a pH imbalance and therefore hair fall. Balanced proteins are mostly found in plant-based proteins like soya, tofu, sprouts and black channa.

Vitamins are very important for hair growth and regeneration. Vitamins essential for hair are vitamin A, B complex and E.

DEFICIENCIES OF ESSENTIAL MINERALS

Minerals are the base of hair health. Essential minerals for hair health are silica, ferrum, zinc, phosphorus and magnesium. Low haemoglobin is another major reason of hair fall, especially after childbirth. A zinc deficiency can also manifest itself as lowered skin healing, skin problems and lowered fertility. You can overcome a mineral deficiency naturally by eating cereals in their natural state, such as dalia, brown rice poha and dal with chilka.

Minerals are also found in nuts, seeds and vegetables.

Minerals can also be taken in the form of biochemic pills and salts which are available in homeopathic stores. Biochemic salts contain 12 base salts that cover the essential elements of the body. Biochemic salts can be given to everyone ranging from age 12 upwards.

Water, which has all the essential minerals, is also an important part of the diet. Water stripped of a majority of its minerals can be unhealthy. ask@drshikha.com

the key lies in the word together. Individual ingredients are meaningless. There is no one magical component in any meal. It’s the way all the components work together that makes the difference.

FEED FRESH!

At the heart of the Greek diet are fresh fruits and vegetables. Artichokes, asparagus, tomatoes, fennel, mushrooms and spinach are popular and there are lots of dark leafy greens.

Typically, people in Greece eat nearly half a kilo of vegetables a day! Plant foods (including cereals, legumes, nuts and potatoes, as well as veggies and fruit) make up 61 per cent of the total calorific intake. Foods of animal origin (meat, fish, eggs and even dairy products) make up just 7 per cent of the diet.

The Greek diet does include meat, but generally in small quantities and not often. Red meat is eaten sparingly and lamb is for special occasions; instead, the Greeks dine more often on fresh fish.

Olive oil is the principal fat medium. Olive oil is high in monounsaturated fats and raises the levels of HDL (good cholesterol) in our blood while lowering artery-clogging LDL (bad cholesterol). Many studies also indicate a positive link between olive oil consumption and a lower incidence of breast cancer and osteoporosis.

Last, but not least, in Greek cooking, they take a natural, fresh ingredient and do the least they can possibly do to it. Instead of fry-

STOCK THESE GREEK STAPLES LEMONS: Used in sauces, appetisers, entrées, salad dressings and the popular avgolemono – the classic Greek egg-lemon soup.

Good to know: Lemons are rich in antioxidants (bioflavonoids), which protect against free radicals, act as natural antibiotics and help prevent heart disease and cancer.

SPINACH: Who hasn’t heard of spanakopita, the Greek spinach pie? Spinach is also added to casseroles, side dishes, entrées, appetisers, soups and salads.

Good to know: Spinach contains 13 different flavonoid compounds that are potent antioxidants and are known to fight cancer.

ing, they prefer to lightly sauté foods with a bit of olive oil and fresh herbs. Fish too is almost always cooked simply with fresh ingredients to enhance its natural flavours. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

— The author is a Delhi-based nutritionist and writer.

[Sources: European Food Information Council (http://www.eufic.org); The Seven Countries Study by Professor Ancel Keys, director of the Laboratory of Physiological Hygiene at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition); The Lyon Diet Heart Study by Dr Michel De Lorgeril of the University of Saint-Etienne in France (The Lancet)]

BRINJALS: Many of Greece’s most famous dishes contain eggplant. It is also often served simply grilled or baked in slices, as well as in ratatouille-like casseroles.

Good to know: Eggplants contain chlorogenic acid, which is known to have anti-cancer, anti-microbial and anti-viral properties, as well as helping to lower LDL (bad cholesterol).

OLIVES: Olives are used for oil and also as appetisers and in stews, salads, condiments and sauces.

Good to know: Olives contain healthy monounsaturated fatty acids that have been found to increase HDL (good cholesterol) and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Try these Greek soups KAKAVIA: Cook fish and vegetables to create a stock, then strain the soup to serve as a clear broth with the fish and vegetables on a side plate.

AVGOLEMONO: Add egg and lemon, whisking Spanakopita, a continually, to a warm chicken stock on low heat spinach pie to create a creamy soup with the tang of citrus. (above) LENTIL SOUP: Boil lentils with garlic, chopped onions and crushed tomatoes till Avgolemono, tender. Serve hot with olives. Add a little vinegar an egg and if you like. lemon soup

PERSONAL AGENDA SINGER/ACTOR

LUCKY ALI

Known for his soulful but strikingly simple ballad-style singing and melodious voice, both as an independent pop singer and a playback singer, Lucky Ali is also an actor.

Few people know, however, that as a child, he’d dreamed of joining the armed forces.

While the album Sunoh launched Ali as a pop singer, films like Kaho Naa…Pyar Hai, Paathshaala and Anjaana Anjaani shaped his career as a playback singer. He has acted in films like Kaante and Sur-The Melody of Life. And now, Ali is back with a new album, Raasta-Man One word that describes you best?

Hmmm...

Which superhero would you like to be and why?

To be honest, I wouldn’t want to be like anybody. Though I must say that I really liked Will Smith as a superhero in Hancock.

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

Ask why he hauled me up.

Your first kiss was…

From my mum.

What makes you feel sexy?

That’s so unlike me.

You get high on…

Life.

The colour ‘pink’ for you is…

Gay.

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

I would like to be lost within myself.

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

The one I’m currently working on – it’s actually in my head right now.

What did you do with your first paycheque?

I gave half of it to my dad and the rest I blew up.

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

I wish I could travel anywhere, anytime without worrying about paperwork.

Choose: Air India or Indian Railways.

I actually like both though Indian Railways is always better as one can see so much and enjoy the journey.

The last time you rode on a bus?

About six months ago. I went to Chennai by bus with my band.

THE LAST MOVIE THAT MADE YOU CRY?

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

22

LIFE IN THE FAST FOOD LANE: CHOOSE YOUR MENU

I WOULD CHOOSE FRIED CHICKEN ANY DAY

HINDUSTAN TIMES WEEKLY MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 11, 2011

What is the weirdest thing that ever went into your mouth?

A fly in my soup.

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

You can download my songs from my website without paying anything.

You are late for work and all the roads are jammed. Choose a mode of transport: a cycle, a horse or a skateboard. Why?

Well, if the roads are so badly jammed, then perhaps I would just go back home!

Earth’s crowded and chock full of trash.

Choose another planet.

I would still prefer Earth.

If you could have had a star perform at your wedding, who would it have been and why?

I prefer weddings to be a quiet affair. But I would have liked to have had my father there. He was the biggest star for me.

If you could be born either rich or intelligent, which would you choose? You can't say ‘both’.

I wouldn’t choose either of them. Instead I would wish to have the faculties of a child.

That would make me intelligent and I’d use that to get rich.

What makes your day?

Getting up early.

What screws it up?

Waking up after sunrise.

Love is…

It runs far, yet retreats, it hides, it concedes the obvious, it defends, it protects and leaves itself open to the vicissitudes of time.

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

I wouldn’t want to be the last one!

— Interviewed by Veenu Singh

YOUR FAVOURITE FREEDOM FIGHTER?

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU AND GANDHI HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MY HEROES