Hindustantimes Brunch 14 October 2012 by Hindustan Times

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 14, 2012 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

Anchors away Three TV hosts who broke out of the box

Eat all you can

Pile up your plate with the Breakfast of Champions

High notes

Shruti Haasan on the body part that she’ll get insured

indulge

VIR SANGHVI

Chennai’s new star

SANJOY NARAYAN Hear Mumford live

RAJIV MAKHNI

Japanese love affair

SEEMA GOSWAMI A matter of fat

B R E A K FA S T O F C H A M P I O N S

hindustantimes.com/brunch Photo: THINKSTOCK Brunch Opinion

YOU BETTER BE GLUED TO THE TV TOMORROW

EALLY, YOU don’t have to wait for inflation, fuel hikes and a bearish stock market to start looking at your bank balance as an endangered species. Smart shopping is just as easy when everything is going At Brunch, we’ve got all “Why don’t you do smoothly. types of spenders: the ones who Priyanka Chopra?” think and rethink every purchase (Louis Vuitton at 90 per cent off? Bah, I can find a better deal), the ones who live like Vegas high-rollers (I have five sheer skirts from Zara. But look, a sixth!) and the ones who see wealth as Smeagol’s Precious (admire only in secret). They could all do with a few tips on living easier without feeling the pinch. And with all the money they save, I do hope they buy me something nice – at a discount of course!

Photo: KALPAK PATHAK

Aamir Khan, Sunny Leone, Sushama Reddy, Sushant Singh, Monica Dogra... and we’ve only just begun. There’s much more in ON STANDS, BrunchQ, a fuller, jazzier GRAB YOUR COPY R100 ONLY! version of Brunch.

LETTER OF THE WEEK!

The step-by-step guide to...

A WONDERFUL WEEKEND (away)

‘THE BOOK THAT GOT ME DANCING’

YOUR NEW page Breakfast Of Champions is a small yet significant part of Brunch. My favourite is Things You Should Have Heard About where latest topics are covered. The Step-by-Step Guide to Gangnam Style (September 30) inspired a lot of my friends to try that dance. Grey’s Anatomy is on everyone’s TV sets right now and the Brunch team did a great job (The Anatomy Of Grey’s Anatomy, October 7). Kudos! I’m eagerly waiting for the next issue of Brunch and what’s on the Brunch radar! — ANIRUDH DEY, via email Anirudh wins a Flipkart voucher worth `2,500. Congrats!

The best letter gets a Flipkart voucher worth R2,500!! The shopping voucher will reach the winner within seven to 10 working days. In case of any delays, please contact chirag.sharma@hindustantimes.com

hindustantimes.com/brunch Cover Design: PRASHANT CHAUDHARY Cover Photo: THINKSTOCK

E! IV US CL EX

Actors Sidharth Malhotra (left) and Varun Dhawan are set to make their debut with Student of the Year. They’re totally hot, which is why we shot an exclusive photoshoot with them for our cover last week. For the other fabulous photos we couldn’t fit in the magazine, log on to

by Mignonne Dsouza

Something Starry

Small yet significant

MORE ON THE WEB

by Rachel Lopez

Photo: NATASHA HEMRAJANI

Rashmi Nigam, actress (plays a star wife in Heroine)

I grew up in a house where reading was very important. I started reading at a very young age, and very early on moved to reading novels like Ulysses and Gone With The Wind. But it was The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand that blew me away, especially the character of the architect Howard Roark. His passion for his work inspired me to seek out my passion: dance. It led me to create a world for myself where I was most happy when I was dancing, and I didn’t need anyone’s approval. I have not stopped dancing since! as told to Mignonne Dsouza

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Rachel Lopez, Mignonne Dsouza, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna Tewari, Yashica Dutt, Amrah Ashraf, Saudamini Jain, Shreya Sethuraman, Manit Moorjani

OCTOBER 14, 2012

How do you make a bad week instantly better? Plan a trip out of town. For a decade now, that’s been my fail-safe way to chase away workday blues. Here’s how I do it (so you can too) Pack your pillow: When packing for a weekend, take EVERYTHING you need to make it indulgent. For me, that means my own pillow and blanket. For real shuteye, carry an eye mask too. Carry your own ice: One of the joys of a weekend break is having a real sundowner. But very often, resorts fall short when it comes to supplying lots and lots of ice. My solution: carry at least 10 kg in an icebox. Works nicely for cold water too. Plan an activity: It’s nice to be lazy, but it’s even nicer to plan an active weekend. If the resort has no adventure facilities, go for a long walk. Take your music: You’d never set off on a long drive without the right music, so why stop once you get there? A two-in-one works fine, but we carry our Bose system and a stabiliser. An iPod’s fine too. Carry dessert: Not all resorts offer dessert. So carry your own – chocolate and mithai work fine.

LOVE IT

Fighting over fruits Sidhu in Bigg Boss 6. ■ SRK loyalty jab tak He’s the first to irk us, hai jaan. Once a fan, many others are quickly always a fan catching up s ■ Cadbury to stay Cadbury. Thing uld ■ Working weekends Kuch meetha ho jaaye? You Sho ard ■ Expired passports. ■ Sports, Gangnam style Have He Or worse, no passports u o b A inti Jain (some in the Brunch team ■ Broken English a la m a d u a by S English Vinglish are wallowing in self-pity) ■ Bond trailer, Adele’s theme song. ■ Men with dirty fingernails Let the skyfall, when it crumbles, we will stand tall, and face it all together ■

■

SHOVE IT

DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor, Design), Monica Gupta, Swati Chakrabarti, Rakesh Kumar, Ashish Singh, Shailendra Mirgal

Drop us a line at:

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

Photos: THINKSTOCK

...STAR WORLD AT 10AM ON OCTOBER 15

BUY ME SOMETHIN’ PRETTY

Why? Well, because the second edition of Brunch Dialogues – Conversations with Indian Cinema will be telecast on Star World. We got Kareena Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor, Sharmila Tagore, Madhur Bhandarkar, Rajkumar Gupta and Siddharth Roy Kapur to talk to Vir Sanghvi about the changing face of the heroine in Bollywood. Tune in to...

NOW

C O U C H P O TAT O

Out Of The (Idiot) Box

Three television anchors who dared to experiment – and survived to tell the tale by Kshama Rao

HEY ARE the coolest trio on the TV scene. Good looks, a generous dose of charm, a likeable personality and a sense of humour are a few of the qualities that characterise Hussain Kuwajerwala, Samir Kochhar and Manish Paul. Okay, the three may not have put in the same number of years into the industry but the reason we’ve clubbed them together – apart from the above-mentioned ones – is that each of them is doing something different than what they started out with. If Kuwajerwala after a decade in modelling, perfecting the art of playing the ideal TV beta and anchoring, has got into theatre with the extravagant Bollywood musical, Zangoora, Kochhar started with films, moved to IPL anchoring and is now playing the third angle to Ram Kapoor and Priya Sharma’s love story in Bade Achhe Lagte Hain (his first in fiction). This even as Paul, who began with waking up Mumbaikars with the ‘Kasa kaay Mumbai’ line on a radio channel, found his groove as an endearing host. He is spicing up the proceedings on India’s Got Talent. So over to the men!

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MANISH PAUL ENERGISER BUNNY

great support.” Perseverance and advice from the missus helped and after a string of fiction shows, Paul struck gold in DELHI BOY born into a family anchoring. “Wheel Ghar Ghar Mein of finance professionals and and Dance India Dance, both on Zee, number-crunchers, Paul knew were turning points. Jhalak Dikhhla his calling lay elsewhere. Jaa gave me a chance to do what I “Whenever a tape would get stuck, love the most.” my teachers would push me on Paul’s strength lies in thinking on stage and I would end up entertainhis feet. “My writers know that even ing the audience.” Soon enough, his if I fumble or if the prompter goes school principal realised his true blank, I would still carry on.” Shah Acting potential and convinced his parents Rukh Khan is his biggest inspiTip that their son had a talent for enterration, “My writer, Siddharth Read. Even taining people. A “good memory Dey who also writes for if you are saying a and great mugging up skills” helped Shah Rukh’s live shows, proverb, say it Paul sail through his studies. told me once that he wouldnaturally and not as He didn’t face much opposition Though in 2008, three n’t think twice before putif you’ve mugged from his family when he announced years after Paul had ting me on stage with SRK it up his decision to move to Mumbai. moved to Mumbai, life wasn’t and Amitabh Bachchan, a child“Unlike families who react strongly this good. He had to make do with hood hero.” So much so that when to moving to acting, my parents let little work, “A red carpet event he was younger he refused to go me go,” he says. here, an episode there. Frustration anywhere till his mother wrote M-AHe loves being had set in, and so had self-doubt,” R-D on his chest. busy. “I have taken says Paul. “I thought I was being About the highs and lows of work26 flights in 32 rigid and should accept whatever ing on TV, Paul says: “TV gives days.” comes my way. But my wife was a work to everyone. But the long working hours are killing. A sense of RAGINI KHANNA on Manish Paul humour and comic timing is something one is born with.” “I’ve known Manish since we acted in Radha Ki Finally, is the money good, considBetiyaan. And then I was pitted against him in Jhalak ering he doesn’t like to be not paid Dikhhla Jaa. He is quick-witted and I had to constantly for his work? He smiles and says, be on my toes. You can’t plan a reality show. The lines “People have told me that I deserve are impromptu and there is a lot of give and take. It’s what I get!” And we think he isn’t fun working with him.” joking this time.

HUSSAIN KUWAJERWALA ON A NEW STAGE

ORN INTO a middle-class family, Kuwajerwala lost his father early. His sister supported him in tiding over his grief and even as his elder brother moved into Direction, he began his long stint with the camera after studying commerce at Jai Hind College. “My father wished that one of his sons would become an actor,” he says. Modelling and acting soon followed. As the cliché goes, one thing led to another, and Kuwajerwala was introduced to TV viewers as the dutiful, ideal beta Sumeet Wadhwa in the long-running soap Kumkum. In 2006, his wife

Photo: PRASAD GORI

Tina and he walked away with the title in the dance show Nach Baliye. Kuwajerwala did some anchoring assignments till he found his groove in shows such as Shabaash India and Indian Idol. Acting In his third year with Indian Tip Idol, he has been a friend and Be big brother to the contestants, yourself. Don’t as they shared their bitterpretend to be what sweet memories with him. you are not. If you are “Idol is a great show. The confident, the rest timings suited me. I am still perwill follow forming two shows of Zangoora in Gurgaon, so I shuttle between Mumbai and Delhi every week.” For now, Kuwajerwala is happy with the money TV and theatre pay him, although he wants to do MINI MATHUR on Hussain Kuwajerwala films too. “I am waiting for the “It’s been three seasons of Indian Idol with Hussain. He’s relaxed, right one.” His family is proud of secure, laid-back and a happy person. I am the hyper one. Hussain his achievements. “If you can give knows the technicality of non-fiction shows. He knows how to make your parents a comfortable life, it’s it high-octane, when to pull it a bit and make it tight. He also a great feeling.” If nothing else, he understands crowds and live shows, knows when to throw his would definitely walk away with voice and keep the entertainment quotient going.” the Favourite Beta award.

“I never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television – Gore Vidal OCTOBER 14, 2012

C O U C H P O TAT O

twitter.com/HTBrunch

SAMIR KOCHHAR THE NEW ROMANTIC

E LOVES to talk. Ask him one question and he can finish the entire interview for you. Mention that to him, he laughs and continues to talk some more. The typically tall, dark and handsome Delhi boy, Samir Kochhar’s USP is, perhaps, his voice. Currently though, he’s in love with his employee, single mother Priya Sharma (Sakshi Tanwar) in Ekta Kapoor’s Bade Achhe Lagte Hain. He’s also in Once Upon a Time Again, the sequel of the gangster movie Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai. So what came first? The film or the show? “The show, because she [Kapoor] felt I could play the character of Rajat Kapur, the no-nonsense business guy in Bade Achhe Lagte Hain. I had watched a few episodes and thought it wasn’t the usual stuff you see on TV. My dadi and nani were jumping with joy when they got to know I was going to be part of it. Sakshi and Ram are cool people,” says Kochhar. His first big stint with TV that got him noticed was the Extraaa Innings T20 show during the IPL which he’s been hosting for five seasons now. Survivor India followed, but before that he had acted in about half a dozen films (including Zeher, Jannat, Chase, Hide and

SAKSHI TANWAR on Samir Kochhar “Affable and good humoured, Samir brings a lot of energy to the Bade Acche Lagte Hain set. He is a sincere actor.”

“Yes, there was a struggle, initially. This city [Mumbai] tests you. But I had it planned out.” Seek, Dangerous Ishq). If IPL brought him into focus, Bade Achche... is giving him a taste of fame and popularity that eluded him in films. “Films are part of my journey. Today, a film is all about that crucial Friday-SaturdaySunday. These three days determine your nine months of struggle in which you put the film together. Yes, they may not have necessarily worked for me but hey, I am only 32. There’s still a long, long way to go,” says Kochhar. So, what was the struggle like for this Jack-of-all-master-ofWork none? (After all, he’s juggled on yourself and voiceovers, theatre, modelyour voice. Stand in ling, basketball, football, front of the mirror, debates, and other competisay your lines, see tions). “Yes, there was a where your hands struggle initially. Mumbai is a are going city that tests you. But I had Acting Tip it all planned out. I would sit Of course, now with a with a directory of telephone daily soap, Kochhar has no time to numbers of producers and breathe. “I am very busy. Last directors, list 10 of them, call month, we finished the Dubai them, go to their offices, drop schedule of Bade Achhe... and being my pictures, my resume. This one of the key actors, I was shootwould go on for five days a week ing every day. It has been really and on the sixth day, I hectic, but I am loving it.” would wait for the Kochchar’s love of acting began phone to ring. after he acted in a Roshan Abbas Sometimes it did, play and the cast received a sometimes it didn’t. rousing applause from the audiAnd then I would ence. He immediately fell in love start the same rouwith that feeling and knew he was tine again.” meant for acting and acting only. Photo: SATISH BATE

Soon, Mumbai beckoned and his family supported him through the tough times. “I would feel homesick occasionally but my mother helped me settle down in Mumbai.” So, what are the ups and downs of being on TV? “The high is the instant feedback you get. Here, you shoot today and you are on air tomorrow. The downer has to be the long hours. I am still getting used to it.” Life is definitely looking up and as he says, he is just 32! brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

“Hating you is the most exhausting of all. And I don’t want to do it any more” – Meredith Grey in Grey’s Anatomy

Market tanking? Stocks nosediving? Can’t afford gold? Increment sucks? Fuel getting more and more expensive? Don’t let the bad times get the better of you. We’ll show you how to be a high roller in a down economy. You’re welcome!

Find a bank that partners with your favourite shops and get their credit card.

YOU’LL EARN

points quicker and get

FREE GIFTS

DO YOU SHOP WITH A CREDIT CARD? MAKE THE OCCASIONAL AIR TRIP? YOU COULD ACTUALLY BE BETTER OFF THAN YOU REALISED

FEW MONTHS ago, I parted with two years of credit card points to upgrade my Tata Sky subscription to HD. For free! If you use your credit card often, keep track of your points – they’ll give you free gifts. To get started, first pick the right card, says Shailesh Baidwan, country manager, and head of consumer cards at American Express Banking. Choose one “depending on what you want to redeem your points for – lifestyle items, airline miles, fuel, etc – and what kind of ‘earn’ the card is offering [essentially, how little you need to spend to earn one point].” Also check the extent of the card’s redemption categories, how soon points expire (later is better), and their bonus points programmes. “Once you pick a card, consolidate all your spending on that card

to add up points faster,” advises Baidwan. Use it for groceries and fuel. Shop at the places that provide bonus reward points. It saves trips to the ATM and helps accumulate points faster. And most importantly, adds Baidwan, “Pay your bill in full. Otherwise, the interest charges from a single month can wipe out the benefits of any rewards.” Sometimes, signing up for a loyalty card gives you other benefits, explains Rahul Rana, the chief operating officer of Payback, a multibrand loyalty programme. “These include separate queues at stores, customer lounges and free parking,” he adds. Several stores also offer an additional small discount at a sale, send you a voucher to redeem around your birthday and go the extra mile with home delivery of goods. Be shameless. Let friends

OCTOBER 14, 2012

and family carry your card when they shop so you can earn points. And every time you take a flight, make sure you sign up for the airline’s frequent flier programme. Even if you’re not a regular flier, there’s still free stuff to be had from even one flight to the US or Europe. For example, the one round-trip to Paris I made with Etihad, netted me a free sleeping bag once I redeemed my points from just that flight. The husband, who also flew Etihad back from London one way in addition to the Paris flight, walked away with a free Zippo lighter and a Swiss army knife respectively worth R1,000 and R5,000. There will soon be a time when even as little as 30 to 50 points can entitle you to a redemption, promises Rana. So start amassing those points today. – Mignonne Dsouza

Save all your points for when you have to buy a

BIRTHDAY GIFT for a fussy friend. Your gift certificates will then

COST NOTHING

Photo: THINKSTOCK

hindustantimes.com/brunch

LMOST EVERY shopping website offers free home delivery and cash on delivery. So why spend on parking and fuel? Let the mall come to you. Just ask for items to be delivered to your office if you’re never at home. Websites offer better discounts and have deals around the year. The Shoppers Stop website is still on ‘sale’ right now, with up to 51 per cent off on lots of stuff. Shopping online is faster, since you’re not trawling a crowded mall on a precious SHOP ONLINE. WHY BURN free weekend. Look for links FUEL DRIVING TO A STORE that say Sale, Offers, Value, WHEN EVERYTHING YOU Deals, etc, to find discounts. NEED CAN COME HOME FOR Flipkart always has a sale on; NOTHING? I’ve bulk bought of my favourite Khadi soaps when they went on sale, saving R10 on each. Several American department stores let you shop from India – prices appear in rupees, you can browse within your price bracket, calculate your exact ship-

Control Save

SO RIGHT NOW

Celeb stylist Tanya Ghavri (she’s worked on Ayesha and Thank You) predicts the styles that will last for the next several seasons

NUDE SHOES Pumps, flats, peep toes, heels, platforms – it doesn’t matter. They’ll always be trendy, plus you’ll look slimmer.

ping costs and discounts are deeper than similar Indian brands. On the Bloomingdales site, we noticed a discounted Michael Kors dress for under R4,000 and a frilly Nanette Lepore bikini that was just R1,500 with a measly $10 for express shipping. ASOS ships for free. Saks Fifth Avenue has Elie Tahari men’s jeans for under R3,000 and designer linen shirts for R2,500. Why look like a Zara clone now? Stuff that doesn’t need trial is the safest. Men don’t try on socks or belts before they buy. Books, groceries and handbags are one-size-fits-all. Choose from online avatars of traditional stores (Crossword, Big Bazaar, Fabindia, Croma, Hypercity, Cotton World), multibrand stores selling items at MRP (Jabong, Myntra), and websites dedicated to designer sales (Fashionandyou, 99labels, Brandsvillage, Strawberrynet, etc) or the Indian Amazon (Junglee). Like a particular brand? Do everything you can to make sure they know it. Sign up for email newsletters, put yourself on their text alerts list, like them on Facebook and follow their tweets.

Kin ad t in a our iP Inves app on y s free at k Kindle ad e-boo rg.org. e e and r ctGutenb e your Proje , evaluat iptions Then e subscr s you zin one maga ncel the s with a a s and c ad for le tion. e can r l subscrip digita

HUGE APPETITE to a dinner buffet or an unlimited thali. You both

WILL EAT WELL without going bankrupt

– Mignonne Dsouza

BOYFRIEND JACKET They’re not very expensive. Buy one now and you’ll be able to use it over time – eventually turning it into a vintage piece.

AL AL DE or an DIGIT dle ( )

Take a friend with a

Brands save their best rewards and freebies for regulars and fans, so you’ll get advance notice of sales, be allowed to browse the stuff a day in advance, get free shipping and be privy to their awesome one-day flash sales. On September 21-22, Facebook told me that Kiehls was offering a free lip balm with any purchase at their Khan Market, New Delhi store. The L’Occitane online store had a one-day sale recently that offered 50 per cent off on certain products. Beauty brands also throw in several free samples when you buy online. Full-price is for last minute shoppers and idiots. Want a weekend trip, spa sessions, lunch, brunch and high tea, or Superman boxer shorts? Check out Snapdeal, Dealsandyou and Crazeal for lower rates. I’ve enjoyed countless massages (R600), got my car shampooed and waxed at home (R600), and directed friends to a weekend break at a five star resort (R5,500 including all meals and one free massage). It’s a world wide web of possibilities – so move that mouse and get shopping.

AN EYE-CATCHING HANDBAG Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors have cool stuff that’s cheaper than Dior. Go for a bold style. They’ll set off your many neutrals.

CHEAP TRICKS

These painless switches will save your money but will not make you feel like you’re sacrificing too much Don’t cut short your telephone conversation. Find a cellular plan that gives you the lowest bill for your use. Or go back to pre-paid. Reliance offers joint billing for an entire family at subsidised call rates. Docomo has per-second billing for the Friends and Family plan. CHA-CHING: Get an extra credit of R200 on a Vodaphone recharge of R1,100. Don’t buy gifts, make them. Websites like honestlywtf. com teach you how to make body butter, home decor objects and jewellery. They make great presents. CHA-CHING: The Body Shop’s body butter costs between R600 – R1,000. Make yours at home for less than R250. Don’t sign up for the gym in January, do it in July instead. Gyms rely on newyear-resolution mania to fleece you in January, and post-festival weight gain to snare you in the winter.

Illustration: RAHUL OCTOBER 14, 2012

Membership rates are the cheapest in the monsoon. CHA-CHING: Save up to 50 per cent on gym fees. Don’t holiday in summer, go in the off season. Room rates are lower, restaurants are less crowded, flight tickets are more affordable and the souvenirs are cheaper. Plus, you’ll have the place to yourself. CHA-CHING: A shack in Gokarna is R1,200 in peak season. A luxe condo is less than R1,000 off season. Don’t buy petrol, buy CNG. Eco-friendly is the new cool. CHA-CHING: You will recover the cost of a CNG fitting (R60,000) in a few months. Don’t waste anything. If you have emergency funds, increase your deductibles – home, rent and insurance policies. You’ll have lower premiums. CHA-CHING: You’re using your money to make money. – Amrah Ashraf

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Illustration: RAHUL

Dine Like A King... ...PAY LIKE A SERF. SMART CHANGES THAT WILL ENSURE YOUR RESTAURANT BILLS ARE EASY TO DIGEST

LOOK FOR BIG PORTIONS: Seek out

terms like ‘hot-pot’, ‘meal in a bowl’ and ‘pot rice’ in the menu description. At south-east Asian restaurants, your best bet is spicy fried rice called nasi goreng. At a Continental place, it’s the sizzler. Royal China’s seafood platter beats most other Chinese offerings hollow. And the city’s biggest burger is at Hard Rock Café. Can’t finish? Doggy bag it for tomorrow – dinner just came with free lunch! TIME IT RIGHT: Great news for early birds: Breakfast and lunch deals are often cheaper than dinner. NYC at the Radisson Blu Plaza Delhi has an elaborate breakfast spread for R1,050 and the morning meal at the Radisson Blu Hotel New Delhi Paschim Vihar is a steal at R600. If you are not a breakfast person, look for intelligent lunch options like the one we discovered – a three-course meal at the Italia by The Park is for R399 (unbelievable). Breaking class barriers is a four-course meal (not just for the privileged) at the 19 Oriental Avenue at the Shangri-La’sEros, where a versatile vegetarian spread costs R1,000 (the carnivores will have to shell out R1,200). A set lunch at Varq at the Taj Mahal Hotel is R1,000. Those who want to ‘eat light’ should head to the Kylin Premier at Vasant Kunj for a quick lunch of soup, dimsum, salad and dessert for R499. And night birds shouldn’t fret, there’s a midnight buffet at the Sheraton New Delhi (R699) and at The Lalit (R950). DIG DEEPER: Many lunch deals are available for dinner, and weekday deals are often valid through the weekend. At Shiro, lunch or dinner (entire menu on offer) is R1,000. At Rajdhani, a weekday meal is R375 and on weekends it’s not more than R425. You could also head to

Smokehouse Grill, where the Eggs Benedict on the all-day breakfast menu is as delicious at 8.30 pm. PLAN IT WELL: Stuck treating a big gang? Head to the restaurant a day before and pre-order a selection that fits your budget. Demand a discount for pre-ordering and paying upfront. Print menus with guests’ names so they feel special.

Craving a large bowl of

THAI CURRY?

You don’t need a full Thai meal. Buy a ready paste, come home and

DO IT YOURSELF

BRING IT HOME: Restaurants often

offer discounts on home delivery and takeaway. Bag your meal and drive out spending 20 per cent less than dine-ins. And always make sure that the service charge has been taken off your bill. PICK WISELY: Hip restaurants last only a few years. When the buzz dies down (and the restaurant struggles to regain it), that’s when you’re likely to get better service, better deals and better value for money. KNOW WHEN TO DUCK: New menus mean the prices have been

OCTOBER 14, 2012

Photos: THINKSTOCK

hiked. Food festival? At least a 10 per cent higher bill. Daily specials on a chalkboard? You’re paying extra for novelty. Seafood As Per Size? That’s a byword for “more expensive than the other stuff”. Norwegian salmon, New Zealand chop, Iberian ham, Himalayan trout – don’t pay for an animal whose hometown you can’t prove. Stick to local produce – all the cool people in the West are doing it. BE NICE: Follow your favourite restaurant on Twitter, sign in with Foursquare, upload meal pics on Facebook and tag them. They’ll throw in a freebie in return. And if you get a feedback form with your bill, be specific (but not rude) in your response. Put down your contact details and anniversary (a fake one coming up next month!) and give them permission to call you for further feedback. They’ll reward you with discounts and freebies. SPLIT IT SMART: Big groups tend to split bills equally – making it cheaper for the steak eater, not the salad THE TRIMMINGS: Don’t order non essentials – they can drive your bill up by almost 50 per cent. And refuse restaurant dessert for ice cream down the road. Or if you still want to try out some nice five-star confectionery, then walk up to pastry shop of any hotel post 9 pm and get as much as 50 per cent off on the confectionery. Uno2GO at the Shangri-La’s-Eros’ goodie good offer is from 7.30 pm to-9 pm and Hilton Janakpuri’s starts after 8 pm. AND LASTLY: Take full and shameless advantage of Restaurant Week India. Set lunch and dinner at posh places at laughably low prices for one whole week – so long as you can grab a spot in advance. It happens twice a year and it’s awesome. – Veenu Singh

DRINK MERRY: For unlimited beverages (offer on select ones) at Agni at the Park (9pm onwards) on their “Wicked Fridays”, you will just have to shell out R1,000. And an upgrade to wines and sparkling wines costs R2,000. WOMEN GET LUCKY: Believe it or not (we didn’t for a minute), Sky Bar Kylin Premier offers free Cosmopolitans, foot massages, valet parking and even gift vouchers (the lucky ones can hope to win) every Thursday when they celebrate ‘Cosmopolitan Goddess night’. HAIL HEELS: Ladies, dig out your high heels and get a 10 per cent off on every inch you wear on Thursdays at the 24/7 bar at The Lalit. Besides this, they have happy hours everyday post midnight. THE GOOD OLD HAPPY HOUR: At Download the Blanco Drinks Meter Kitchen Bar and Card from Brown Terrace, these Paper Bag to know good hours last who serves your through the day. poison at the And they promise ‘cocktails and cheapest price. drinks of 2012 at bpbweekend. prices of 1984’. com We’re rubbing our eyes already! DAMN NEAT DEAL: Shroom (presumably one of the hottest nightspots in Delhi) has combos like cocktail pitcher plus any two snacks (veg and non-veg) for R1,399 or a sangria or margarita pitcher with two snacks at R1,599. So reserve your Mondays and Thursdays. GROUP DEALS: If drinking out buddies burn holes in your pocket, consider going to Shalom. They have a great scheme; the bottle rates of drinks is less than single drinks. This cuts down the total bill by 30-35 per cent.

indulge

THE HOTEL KING, MIND IT!

From now on modern city hotels will be classified as BC (before Chola) or AC (after Chola). That is how influential Chennai’s ITC Grand Chola will be

GRAND WELCOME

The mark of a successful palace, Jaipur’s Rambagh, for instance (above), is that the vastness is matched with warmth SOUTHERN COMFORT

ITC Grand Chola’s style is South Indian temple architecture with echoes of the Chola period from which the hotel gets its name

Vir Sanghvi

OMEHOW WHEN you think of state-ofthe-art deluxe hotels, you don’t think of Chennai. But these days Chennai is India’s most happening hotel city. There is a smart and much-praised Hilton. The Taj has a new hotel on Mount Road called Taj Club House to add to the Coromandel, the Connemara, and the wonderful Fisherman’s Cove. The shell that was supposed to be an Oberoi has finally opened as a Hyatt Regency and seems to be doing well. A new Westin is scheduled to open in December and given that its general manager is Shrikant Wakharkar, it should be an excellently-run property. A brand new Leela Palace, overlooking the bay, will open next month. There is talk of the imminent opening of yet another Hyatt. This is surprising enough. But what really astounds me is that India’s single best city hotel is not in Delhi or Bombay. It is in Chennai. For some weeks now, I’ve been dropping hints about how good the ITC Grand Chola is. But I’ve never written properly about the hotel because, even though the press previews started a couple of months ago, it has only just opened its doors to the public. And even now, it is not complete: some restaurants have still to open and only 260 of the 500-plus rooms are ready for occupancy. When I went last week, the hotel had still to get a liquor licence and the suites were not ready. In normal circumstances, I would say that it is unfair to judge a hotel till everything is open. But the Grand Chola is such a terrific property that it is already – even in this state – so much better than most hotels. What makes a city hotel great? There are various ways of looking at it. History is one obvious factor. (One reason why the Bombay Taj is such a legend). Grandeur and architecture are another. (The Gurgaon Oberoi looks amazing and that adds to the experience). The food can be crucial. (The Leela Palace in Delhi works because of the restaurants.) And so on. The Grand Chola has many of these factors going for it. For a start, there is the grandeur. It is huge: six hundred or so rooms and service apartments when it opens fully. The style is South Indian temple architecture, with echoes of the Chola period from which the hotel gets its name. When you drive into the hotel, and the driveway is arranged so that you take a round of the property, it is hard not to be impressed by the scale and ambition of the architecture. This is not a hotel that merges quietly into the

rude hotels

OCTOBER 14, 2012

FOR SPECIAL SERVICE

The Madras Pavilion (above) at ITC Grand Chola is designed to look like a specialty restaurant, with table cloths, proper service and a strong a la carte menu

environment. It is a property that announces itself. But it is the interiors that take your breath away. The first time I went there I thought I was floating in a sea of marble. I did some checking. Apparently, the hotel has over one million square feet of marble. ITC bought a whole marble quarry in Italy and shipped tonnes of the stone to Chennai to arrive at this striking effect. There is marble everywhere you look and the architectural theme is reinforced with 462 pillars, most of them with hand-carved design work. In purely architectural terms, there is a jaw-dropping wow factor at work. I can’t think of any contemporary hotel that is quite as grand. It has the scale and ambition of say, Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhawan with the marbled finesse of the Lake Palace. Both those buildings were constructed many years ago so it takes a certain kind of chutzpah to construct a modern palace on such a massive scale today. And yes, it is a palace. The hotel is so huge and vast that after three trips to the property, I still find myself getting lost. But there is lots of signage and scores of well-trained staff to direct you from place to place in the 1.6 million square feet of built-up area. The danger with vast marble palaces is that they can sometimes seem cold, impersonal and leave you feeling small and insignificant. The mark of a successful palace (Jaipur’s Rambagh, for instance) is that the vastness is matched with warmth: you enjoy the sense of discovery without being dwarfed by the grandeur. I don’t know how ITC have pulled it off, but the Grand Chola conveys the same sense of comfort. You savour the adventure without being alienated.

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built around an open kitchen, has a warm and convivial vibe and the food was much better last week than it was on my previous visit. As impressive as all this is, there are two things that make The Grand Chola the best modern city hotel in India. The first is the room. In a country where most five-star hotel rooms are 350 square feet, the smallest and cheapest room at the Grand Chola is 405 square feet. The medium-priced room, where I stayed, is a massive 615 square feet. (ITC One rooms and the suites have yet to open). To get a sense of how huge this is, consider that ITC One rooms in the special block at Delhi’s Maurya are 450 square feet and the largest hotel rooms in the premium category are usually no larger than 550 square feet (there are some exceptions like the Bombay Taj, the Gurgaon Oberoi, but these are rare). More important than the size is how well the space is used. The bathroom/dressing area is enormous: the size of an entire room at many five star hotels. It is so well designed that you never find yourself reaching for anything. The bedroom area is so comfortable that I was happier there than at the Presidential suites at two other deluxe hotels in Chennai. And then, there’s the technology: every room has its own iPad. You can do everything you need on this: order room service, adjust the room temperature, put off the lights, surf the Net, check who is outside your room by clicking on the door camera and then open the door without having to leave your bed. The room design is one of the Chola’s two great advantages. The other is Nakul Anand. The lowprofile, publicity-shy head of ITC Hotels is an obsessive details guy. And he seems to have distilled every single lesson he has learnt in his career into the design of this hotel. Every last detail has been worked out to its exact specifications to ensure comfort. Every cushion is just the right thickness. No flush is loud enough to be heard in the next room. The writing desk is exactly the correct height. The lighting is so perfect that the gloomy darkness we associate with hotel rooms is missing. And even the icecubes have been measured so they fit perfectly in your glass. Just as we will remember Ajit Kerkar for building the Taj Mansingh and changing the rules of the game or Biki Oberoi for building the Vilas properties and showing us what luxury was about or RK Krishnakumar for taking over the Pierre and demonstrating that Indians can run the world’s best hotels, we will remember Nakul Anand for teaching us how a city hotel should be built: grand on the outside and warm and comfortable on the inside. Chennai’s hotels will never be the same again. But more significantly, neither will be India’s hotel scene. From now on modern city hotels will be classified as BC (before Chola) or AC (after Chola). That is how influential this hotel will be.

At the Grand Chola every last detail has been worked out to its exact specifications to ensure comfort

Two other factors that go into the making of a great hotel are food and service. In terms of service, ITC is usually on strong ground. It has cheerfully grabbed the personalised service slot vacated by the Taj a decade or so ago and every regular guest is made to feel special and welcome again and again. All of the restaurants are not open yet. But the food is impressive. ITC has taken the unusual step of opening three different coffee shops, planned like Russian dolls, so that each sort of fits into the other. The smallest, Nutmeg, is like a deli; the Cafe Mercara is darker but larger, full of the scent of coffee and the sound of a cool juke box. The Madras Pavilion is designed to look like a specialty restaurant, with table cloths, proper service and a strong a la carte menu. When I went back last week, not only were people queuing up for tables at the coffee shops, but they were also taking photos of them with their camera-phones. (But then that is true of the whole hotel. It is so spectacular looking that people just come to gape and gawk). I ate also at the Peshawri, which was actually better than Delhi’s Bukhara. The Italian restaurant Ottimo is visually striking. It is PERIOD PIECE

What makes a city hotel great? History is one obvious factor. One reason why the Bombay Taj (below) is such a legend

OCTOBER 14, 2012

GOURMET PARADISE

Two factors that go into the making of a great hotel are food and service. The Leela Palace in Delhi works because of the restaurants

LOOKING GOOD

The Gurgaon Oberoi (above) looks amazing and that adds to the experience

MAHARAJA STYLE

The ITC Grand Chola has the scale and ambition of say, Jodhpur’s Umaid Bhawan (below)

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WOMEN, LIES, AND WEIGHT LOSS

NOW

MATTER OF FAT

THEN

Nigella made us feel good about having curves and wobbly bits. But now she has gone all low-fat and small-waisted

Photos: GETTY IMAGES

Christina Hendricks got offended when an Australian interviewer called her a ‘full-figured’ woman

E ALL love Nigella Lawson, don’t we? The food show hostess with the mostest. The home cook with the killer curves. The culinary queen with the majestic embonpoint. The domestic goddess with the décolletage to die for. Actually, make that to ‘diet’ for. Because that’s exactly what Nigella has been doing over the last year. And now, you can feast your eyes on a new, slim-line Nigella hosting her new food show, Nigellissima (that’s ‘Very Nigella’ to all us nonItalian speaking oiks) and showing off her size 12 frame on magazine covers and in newspaper supplements. Gone is the voluptuary who lived on bacon, red meat, bread, double cream, chocolate, and lashings of butter (not in the same recipe, of course). In her place, we have the ‘sensible’ eater who drinks wine only on Fridays and has discovered the joys of exercise in her 50s. And that sound you hear? It is the collective moan of disbelief from millions of women all across the world who can’t quite believe that the Patron Saint of Plump Pulchritude has let them down so devastatingly. And when they finally get their voices back you can be sure that they will be asking Nigella a few sharp questions. (So, Nigella, all these years when you were assuring us that you were happy in your buxomness, were you just lying to yourself? Or was that nothingtastes-as-good-as-gluttony spiel just one giant con perpetrated on the rest of us?) As someone who also loved the old, voluptuous, sometimes downright greedy Nigella, I can understand the sense of betrayal. This was a woman who made us feel good about having curves and wobbly bits; who told us to take pride in our bulges rather than wage war on them. And now that she has gone all low-fat and small-waisted, we can’t help feeling that she has let the side down. Not that Nigella ever set herself up as Poster Girl for big women but the sub-text of all the 3,000-calorie recipes was quite clear. As were those images of Nigella raiding the fridge late at night for some comfort food. Indulgence was good for you. You needed to feed your appetite. Life was too short to have low-fat ice-cream. Nothing tasted better than saturated fat. Well, some things haven’t changed. Nigella’s

spectator

As Nigella Lawson shows off her new, slim-line look, it’s time to ask: are full-figured women ever really happy with their bodies?

DON’T CALL ME THAT!

Seema Goswami

OCTOBER 14, 2012

recipes still pack in a few thousand calories. But the woman herself doesn’t seem to be eating any of her food. Instead, she’s all gussied up in her new size 12 wardrobe, making the rest of us feel hopelessly fat. But why blame Nigella alone? I have lost count of the number of full-figured celebrities who go red in the face telling us how happy they are to be big – right until the moment they pose for a photo-spread to show off their recent weight loss. Sophie Dahl was famously discovered as a fat teenager by the fashion stylist Isabella Blow, and created a sensation when she walked the ramp in all her bodacious glory. But just when you felt that the world of high fashion would at last begin to embrace what it likes to call the ‘plussize’ woman, Dahl resurfaced on the Opium billboard having lost two-thirds of her body weight and looking as waif-like as the next model. And then, there’s Dawn French. The humorist who spent her entire life telling us that she was happy to be humungous, has now lost 40-something kilos and is looking like a shadow of her former, frankly-fat self. She puts it down to having discovered exercise (there we go again) and cutting out on chips and chocolate. And, she adds, a tad defensively, that she still loves her ‘old body’. (Oh yes, she loves it so much that she’s got rid of half of it!) All of this begs the question. Were any of these women actually ‘happy’ being the size they were? Or were they just lying about it to make themselves feel better even as they tried every trick in the book to slim down? Well, your guess is as good as mine. That said, women, lies and weight-loss are inextricably linked. For every woman who claims that she is happy at her current size even as she diets and exercises in secret to slim down, there is another who puts her slimness down to good genes and swears that she eats everything and never works out, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. But now that Nigella and her famous curves have left the show kitchen, who will be flying the flag for buxom beauties everywhere? Well, there’s always Christina Hendricks, who plays the curvaceous Joan Harris in Mad Men. But given how offended she was when an Australian interviewer asked her about being an inspiration as a ‘full-figured’ woman (she refused to answer the question and said it was ‘rude’ to describe her in such terms), I’m guessing it’s only a matter of time before she goes all slim-line on us as well. Ah well, never mind! At least back here in India, we will still have Vidya Balan to reassure us that a little muffin top never hurt anyone (and nor did a muffin or three). But if she ever signs up to a diet regime or threatens to bring out a fitness video, we’ll know that the fat is truly in the fire. seema_ht@rediffmail.com. Follow Seema on Twitter at twitter.com/seemagoswami

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After their recent performance on SNL, I think that Mumford & Sons are better heard live than on albums

SITTING PRETTY

Seen on the cover of their latest album, Babel, Mumford & Sons are a good-looking, well-turned out lot

Sanjoy Narayan

download central

GOTTA SEE IT TO RELISH IT

THE JUKEBOX

N A recent episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the American actor whose role as the young policeman, John Blake, in The Dark Knight Rises I liked, the musical guests were Mumford & Sons, an English indie folk band. They played two songs live – I Will Wait and Below My Feet – both from their recently released new album, Babel. Both the performances were nice. And I thought to myself that Mumford & Sons were probably better heard live than on albums. I’ve had a copy of Sigh No More, their debut album, for a couple of years but I must admit that although I liked listening to it the first couple of times, it soon got a bit clichéd, repetitive and whiney. Live, they sounded better. It helps that Mumford & Sons (who are a quartet with just one Mumford, by the way, Marcus, who sings and plays guitar and drums, and has no sons in the band) are a very well-turned-out lot. GQ put them on its list of Best Dressed Men at the Grammys and it is true that the four – Marcus, Winston Marshall (vocals, banjo and dobro), Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboard) and Ted Dwane (vocals, bass) – dress well: tailored vests, suspenders, ties, and other accoutrements that are stylish but yet a bit hipsterishly rumpled. It also helps that all four are good-looking young men too. Watch both the videos of the two songs they performed on SNL as well as on a sketch during the show, where they played as a band (a spoof on The Beatles) called Hey Dude and covered You’ve Got To Hide Your

have two albums, both newish, on my playlist right now. The first is British band, The xx’s new album, Coexist. I like The xx’s brand of moody rock, a bit dark and minimalist. I enjoyed their eponymously titled first album, several of whose tracks got re-mixed and sampled by other musicians, and the new one – after a first listen – promises to be as good if not better. The second album on my list this week is the recently released Until The Quiet Comes from Flying Lotus whose birth name is Steven Ellison and who is the greatnephew of the late Alice Coltrane. Flying Lotus makes experimental electronic music (not jazz) and previews of his new album have got rave reviews. It came out on October 2 and I got a digital copy within days after that, courtesy my teenaged daughter whom I’ve refrained from asking where The xx’s she got it from.

Love Away, and you will see the passion and the crowd-pleasing aspect of Mumford & Sons who come across as a band of decent young blokes channelling country, folk and bluegrass quite well. Triggered by the SNL appearances, I turned again to their albums. I first heard Babel, the new one, followed by a re-hearing of Sigh No More, the first one. Mumford & Sons have been called English folk revivalists. The problem is they are a tad too nostalgic for me. Their songs, the lyrics especially, can sometimes seem very over-wrought and old-fashioned. Consider a couple of verses from The Cave: It’s empty in the valley of your heart/The sun, it rises slowly as you walk./ Away from all the fears/And all the faults you’ve left behind./ The harvest left no food for you to eat/You cannibal, you meat-eater, you see/ But I have seen the same/ I know the shame in your defeat. Or, from another song, Roll Away Your Stone: Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine/ Together we can see what we will find/ Don’t leave me alone at this time/ For I am afraid of what I will discover inside/ Cause you told me that I would find a hole/ Within the fragile substance of my soul/ And I have filled this void with things unreal/ And all the while my character it steals. Heavy stuff and kind of over-written for a folk song. At least, that’s what I thought. Like many bands with a cultish following, Mumford & Sons have some very loyal fans who simply love them even as some others don’t have too many good things to say about them. Their first album, Sigh No More, was given a paltry 2.1 out of a possible maximum of 10 by Pitchfork, an influential music blog and online magazine, but other critics rated it high. Such polarisation is common for bands in today’s long-tail world of music – where niche audiences lap up albums or music by bands that don’t have to go mainstream or mass to be successful. While critics such as Pitchfork are free to speak their minds about albums that they like or they don’t, I wouldn’t say Mumford & Sons makes music that is as bad as some make it out to be. All said, they have a nice old-fashioned charm. Folk revivalists they may be but their folkie-ness is never wimpish. Both Sigh No More and Babel are similar albums with the same blue-grassy, folk feel but they ooze passion and energy, attributes not always associated with folk music. And, as I said, they are way better when heard live. To give feedback, stream or download the music mentioned in this column, go to http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/download-central, follow argus48 on Twitter

OCTOBER 14, 2012

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IT’S EASY TO FALL IN L VE WITH JAPAN State-of-the-art technology, Manga, bullet trains and culture - why Japan overawed me

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Japan is fascinating, complex, intriguing and very, very mind-blowing

Rajiv Makhni

techilicious

OSHI MOSHI. Yes, that insufferably over-cute phrase was ringing all around me as I landed in Tokyo. I have to confess though, my expectations before I had even got to Japan were incredibly high. I’ve grown up hearing about the fascinating culture, the incredible innovation, the awesome use of technology, how most modern gadgets and devices were born here, how robots played a role in every aspect of daily life, how space was at a super premium, that hotel rooms were just squeeze-in boxes, how incredibly expensive it was, the faster-than-light bullet trains and the strict code of conduct when you meet someone local. My mind was reeling with information overload and I was actually fairly nervous as I got off the aircraft.

WHEN REALITY HITS

I almost expected a robot to greet me as I got out. Unfortunately, it was a real-life person who was bowing 30 degrees (see box) and calling me Lajiv San (pronounced Sun, and see sidebar for more on that too). Next was the car (pretty small car, but as I was to discover – small cars are the big thing in Japan) that took me to the hotel (nope – no capsule room and bed, they do have hotels with normal rooms in Japan). In the first 60 minutes, most of my homegrown fantasies about Japan came crashing down. While the room was great, it was just what you expect any room in a good hotel to be worldwide. I had expected a robot butler, a 300-inch full-wall TV, voice-activated lighting, a bathroom that swivelled out from within the floor, a shower and sink that could read my thoughts and needs, and a bed that was fully motorised and automated. Heck, even getting WiFi in the room needed you to call reception and get an access card! And this was one of the best hotels in the city.

SHINKANSEN: FASTER THAN FAST

Photo: THINKSTOCK

Trying to stem my disappointment, I readied myself to go down into the city when it hit me. Literally, hit me. One of Tokyo’s worst typhoons. Blinding rain and wind that lashed around like a Godzilla and made pretty circles on my hotel window. I ended day one in Japan in a disappointingly large, totally non-techie hotel room with a swirling typhoon around me. Not the greatest of starts. The next morning I was to leave for Morioka, a city almost 600 km away. I was all set for a quick flight when I found OCTOBER 14, 2012

LIVING IN A BOX

Unfortunately, I did not get to live in a capsule hotel (above), one of the many things Japan is known for

myself being driven by ‘Best Driver in Tokyo City San’ (see box again) to the railway station. It was Bullet Train time! The Shinkansen is one of the most fascinating transport systems in the world. Trains run at speeds of about 300km/h (tests are on to get them to 450 km/h), look very high tech and amazing (some do say the front looks very phallic), carry about 190 million passengers every year and have almost eradicated the need for airlines within the country. Zip, zap, zoom – one Japanese green tea and one hour and 57 minutes later I found myself in Morioka. Man, do we need these in India (Delhi-Mumbai in four hours!).

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE BEHIND

I may have been totally disappointed by technology and the fact that the Japanese as a people don’t like things that are in your face and hate flashy luxury. Except in one department. Their backside! Let me explain. I was in Japan for seven days and in this time I went through airports, railway stations, public areas, malls, streets, hotels and quite a few other places. And being on the move – I did get to use bathrooms everywhere. That’s where Japan really splurges. Not in the shower, not in the bathtub and not around the sinks. Just the WC. In there – all hell breaks loose. Each is a state-of-the-art machine that has settings for warming the seat to the level that it can fry your behind (as I did find out when I hit the wrong button), each has digital controls for the temperature of the spray, multiple angles you can choose for the spray to hit you, the intensity of the spray, the aroma of the water, the flushing mechanism – and half a dozen other settings. I don’t know why and I don’t understand the reason for it – but I can tell you one thing emphatically. The Japanese truly like state-of-the art technology and extreme luxury when they sit down in the morning to go about their business.

I MEET THE ASTRON

Things were definitely looking up. And they only got better. Next up was a factory visit to Seiko watches. The truth is, I’m not really a watch guy. I mean, I like my watches, I do stop and look at a magazine advertisement for a nice-looking ON MY WATCH

The Seiko Astron (left) may well be the next big thing in watch technology

LUXURY OF ANOTHER KIND

If nothing, Japanese bathrooms (above) will surely catch your fancy, with their state-of-the art technology and extreme luxury. The Shinkansen, the bullet train (right) runs at a speed of about 300km/h

watch and I own some. But I have no passion for them. I don’t really care what ticks inside and I don’t get how some people get all hot and flustered at the mechanism and the features. That was about to change in a hurry and all because of one watch. The Seiko Astron. This one little device has some serious technology built into it and may well be the next big thing in watch technology. In fact it almost pulls off the impossible. This is the world’s first analogue hand movement watch with a GPS built in. It recognises all 39 time zones on the planet, it works for six months on one shot of light (solar or artificial), it’s accurate to 1 second every 1,00,000 years and the calendar is correct on it anywhere in the world till Feb 2100. It does all this by dividing Earth into a million squares. As soon as you land in a new city, point your watch towards the sky, the GPS locks on and the hour and minute hands (as also the date) start to do a little dance and within a few seconds displays the local time, while another hand gives you home time. And if you keep the watch in a dark cupboard, it’ll conserve energy by not moving the hands but will immediately go to the right

time as soon as you take it out. Very cool. But even more cool was the fact that I came out from the factory totally fascinated by classic watches – specially mechanical. I’ve met a few watch fanatics in my life and was typically dismissive about them waxing eloquent about the handcrafting, the precision, the movement, the spring, the balance. It was all hogwash till I was subjected to it myself and I was hooked. A full-blown 101 on that coming up soon. There’s a lot more that I experienced in Japan that totally blew my mind. The fanaticism for cleanliness, the aversion to anything that can bring dust into a home, the over-the-top fashion that most teenagers there seem to love, the fact that almost anyone from the age of 12 to 19 has at least two streaks of colours in their hair, how Manga (a culture built around comic book characters) is a national obsession that consumes more adults (they wear Manga tee shirts under their suits!!) than children and a whole lot more. All of that coming up in another column soon. Till then, may I just close by saying that Japan the country is fascinating, complex, intriguing and very very mind-blowing. Yonde Kurete Arigatou (time for you to figure that one out). 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

JAPAN: HOW TO BLEND RIGHT IN It’s a fascinating culture with some amazing little idiosyncrasies. It’s also a culture miles apart from ours and makes us stick out like a sore thumb. Here’s a quick primer on how to blend right in from the minute you land. ■ The Japanese bow a lot and smile a lot and wave a lot. But there are degrees to it and there’s a technique. Straighten your legs and stiffen your upper body, now keep both arms on the side and bend straight from the spine. No slouching and keep that head in line with the spine. ■ If you are meeting friends you bow 15 degrees; if it’s a bit more formal hit 30 degrees. But if it’s somebody very important – hit the full 60 and remember – smile brightly all the way down and on the way up. ■ Name cards are like a religion in Japan. It’s very rude to not have one. And you don’t just fish one out of your pocket and hand it over. Hold it in both hands – almost like you are serving it. Now exchange (you have to sync it) at the same time as the person you are meeting but remember to try and keep your hands and card below the other person’s at the time of the handover as it shows respect. Yes, it can get

Photo: THINKSTOCK

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funny as both of you try and outdo each other in the ‘downmanship’ but do it anyway. Now hold the other person’s card in both your hands and read it – all of it. Make appropriate noises that show you are very impressed and keep ooohing and aaahing for a while. ■ The Japanese will come out to greet you when you arrive and come out to drop you off. And they’ll stay there till your car disappears over the horizon. Don’t just sit back in your car. Bow with your neck, smile a lot and wave and wave and wave. ■ The Japanese language is a tough one, but not if you can get a few things right. First of all master the word ‘Hai’ (Ha-Eee). This is the most versatile word in the world as it means – Yes, No and even Maybe. The secret lies in the smile at the time of delivery. Thus you can go Hai for anything and mean anything. Also, it’s said in a sharp straight tone. Say Hai as you expel your breath out almost in a gasp. Try it. There you go. You’re almost Japanese now. ■ A few other phrases that will always

help. Other than the nauseatingly cute moshi moshi (greeting someone, especially on the phone), here are a few phrases in English that you can learn by heart and have completely different meanings in Japanese. Start off with ‘Ohio’ (like the city) which is Good Morning. Follow up with ‘DoMo’ (like DoCoMo without the Co) which is Thank You. If you ‘really’ like someone there, you could try ‘I can see my shoe’ (ai kan shi ma shu, which means I Love You) – but don’t blame me if you get a tight ‘kette’ (am sure you can figure that one out). Just before a meal say ‘Eat a Darky Mouse’ which is like a goodwill prayer before you dig in. And of course, end the day with the famous ‘Sayonara’ – just try not to sing it like the song. ■ Whoever you meet is a San (pronounce it as Sun). You can take the first name and put a San at the back, you can take the last name and put a San behind or you can take what the person does and put a San on it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman – it’s all San. Thus if your bus driver’s name is Koji Tsukahara – he can be Koji San, Tsukahara San or even Best Bus Driver in Tokyo San. It’s all good. ■ Now bow 60 degrees towards me and say DoMo and I can see my shoe. It’s the least you can do after I’ve made you almost Japanese in a few seconds.

Photo: THINKSTOCK

OCTOBER 14, 2012

PERSONAL AGENDA

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Actress/singer

Shruti Haasan BIRTHDAY

HOMETOWN PLACE OF BIRTH SCHOOL/COLLEGE

January 28 (Aquarius) Chennai

HIGH POINT OF YOUR LIFE

Deciding to be an artist

Chennai

LOW POINT OF YOUR LIFE I don’t think of it

Sexiest actors in Bollywood? Hrithik Roshan and Irrfan Khan – too good. Singing or acting. What do you prefer? Both. One director you want to work with. The one that gets me, and gets the best out of me. Did your surname stress you out? Not really, no. Bollywood’s most romantic pair? Raj Kapoor and Nargis. What is your fondest memory? Trying a strawberry slushie for the first time. A rumour you’d like to start? That I can read minds. Which body part would you get insured?

ONE CLASSIC THAT YOU WOULD HAVE LOVED TO BE A PART OF?

Abacus, Chennai; Musicians Institute, California

FIRST BREAK

I was six when I sang for a film

CURRENTLY DOING Shooting for three films and a few songs

My vocal chords. Your last meal would be... Burger with sambhar and fries. The biggest risk you’ve ever taken? I can’t say. Three cosmetics you can’t do without. Lip balm, perfume and blush. The last line of your autobiography would read… Carpe diem. A dessert that describes you? Dark chocolate coffee cake with ancillary ice cream. What do you prefer – a little black dress or a black saree? Black saree. An item number you would love to do? Naku Mukka from The Dirty Picture. If you were the editor of a magazine for a day, who would you put on the cover? Cate Blanchett. The gadget you love to flaunt. Flaunt? My PS3 console maybe... Your dream destination. Hawaii. The last time you had a bad hair day? Yesterday. What makes your day? Kindness. What spoils it? Mean people. — Interviewed by Veenu Singh

my music

THE MOST EMBARRASSING SONG YOU’VE HEARD?

It was by David Banner. Horrid!

MUSIC ON YOUR PLAYLIST

For the gym: Heavy metal or Prodigy At night: Oren Lavie, Nick Drake On the road: Any kind of blues For winter: Yann Tiersen

Photo: THINKSTOCK

OCTOBER 14, 2012

MUSIC AS A PICK ME UP?

Anything by Madonna