Brunch 20 04 2014 by Hindustan Times

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, APRIL 20, 2014 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

RAVISH GUPTA

RAMCHANDER

RANJANA VERMA

Left his marketing job to prepare for the exam. Has been in Delhi for the last two years

Two attempts old, she is the first in her family to prepare for the exam

In Delhi for the last four years, he is studying for the exam and also doing his MA

JITENDER PRATAP

A former lecturer from Lucknow, he plans to take all four attempts

PREM CHANDRA

He is in a longdistance marriage, and has a twoyear-old son back home

The IAS IAS-Wallahs

They spend their best years chasing the civil services dream. We bring you stories of grit and grime from Delhiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s IAS coaching ghettos

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

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Apples And Oranges

by Rachel Lopez

BASICALLY, HOW TO DRESS FOR THE DYSTOPIAS IN POP CULTURE In DIVERGENT In a post-war Chicago, a grey world where the costumes are less sexy than The Hunger Games, the city looks familiar, except for boxy trains. Heroines wear shapeless linens. But for combat training, the black ganjis and tight fits come out. In THE HUNGER GAMES In the Districts, it’s hard to care for fashion when you have to hunt squirrel for the family dinner. People seem to have shopped from the Schindler’s List cupboard. But in The Capitol, it’s Alice In Wonderland. Neons, fascinators and gowns that change colour. For the Games, wear black. And watch your back.

In BLADE RUNNER LA of November 2019 looks like Dubai, but with fewer malls and more shoulderpads. It’s probably freezing, seeing the furs around. But if you’re hunting humanoid robots, dress like an ’80s Humphrey Bogart, flapping trench and all. In SAMURAI JACK In the future, it helps if you’re angular, especially if you’re battling an enemy from your past. Tie up your hair, tie on your kimono and look angry. And hold on to daddysan’s magic sword! In HER People dress normally,

even a little retro, until they fall in love with an operating system. Wear anything, Scarlett Johanson won’t judge. In 1Q84 Murakami’s book is set in (and pays homage to) George Orwell’s 1984. It’s Japan. So Aomame is often in a dowdy ’80s green miniskirt suit and brown heels. Rihanna shows us that futuristic green suits should look like this. In MAD MAX It’s hard to tell if it’s hot or cold. Tina Turner wears chain mail, ventilated for the desert. But it must surely singe sensitive areas when the sun gets hot. Thankfully her shoulder pads offer shade to the shorter people around.

Depending on what you read or watch, we’re either headed for war, totalitarian statehood, devolution, revolution, drugs, monkeys or zombies. Come, see the sunniest visions of tomorrow and face them in style In AEON FLUX Stretchy leather, high wedges (that serve has chorkhanas for weapons) and short bob-cuts define the future. So make sure your body is perfect and fit. You’ll be flung around. A lot. In A CLOCKWORK ORANGE A night out with the ‘droogs’ eh? May we suggest all white, with suspenders, a cool black hat and some false lashes framing one eye. All violence is tolerable. Just don’t play the Ninth Symphony or someone will start to puke. In V FOR VENDETTA In the late 2020s, when fascists have taken over the UK, everyone who’s a little different (in colour, sexual preference and political leaning)

will be hunted. But shave your head, wear shapeless brown singlets and bring down the government, and you’ve got their vote. In CLOUD ATLAS If you can make sense of this movie, you can make sense of any future humans are heading towards. If not, put on your uniform, imbibe ‘soap’, pretend you have no feelings, and make sure the future ahead isn’t worse. In THE MATRIX If preparing for battle, rags and tatters. At battle, PVC suits, black shades, shiny boots and lots of hair gel. There is no other reality. Photos: THINKSTOCK, SHUTTERSTOCK

Ab Tak Aapne Dekha

YELL LLOW FEVER

by Amrah Ashraf

You’re not Loin, Bollywood’s ace smuggler, so don’t hide it in your shoe heel. It’s the most popular hiding spot. Gold teeth, gold bars under the plane toilet seat, 2.5kg in gold bangles disguised to look enamelled... Authorities have found them all.

On The Brunch Radar

Kahaani Poori Filmi Hai

LOVE IT

by Amrah Ashraf

We totally stand united against gold smuggling. But, recently r a man was arrested for hiding it in a flower pot. Seriously dude? Here are some other ways the gold bars will land you behind the bars yo

Just because you’re pregnant does not mean your belly is safe. A woman in Kerala thought strapping gold on her bump was a good plan. Customs didn’t stomach the idea.

More On The Web

Don’t hide it in your jacket, especially if you’re flying to a hot destination. You’ll get busted in no time, just like a woman got caught last year in Kochi. Gold staple pins on cardboard boxes, undies stuffed with coins, gold underwire bras, air conditioners gilded in gold, LED TVs with solid gold circuitry, gold batteries in kids’ toys and suitcases with gold trolleys. They’ll all land you in jail. Your rep, tarnished!

Photos: THINKSTOCK, SHUTTERSTOCK

FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT National — Sanchita Tyagi: sanchita.tyagi@hindustantimes.com North — Siddarth Chopra: siddarth.chopra@hindustantimes.com West — Karishma Makhija: karishma.makhija@hindustantimes.com South — TS Bharat: t.bharat@hindustantimes.com

APRIL 20, 2014

When in Andheri, You know a Bollywood struggler is near if you hear... n “Dyuude, let’s hang at sisidey (CCD), Lokhandwala mai. Casting ho sakti hai!” n “Bhai, audition sucked. Sutta pina hai? MHADA aaja” n “Yo braah, you wanna chill at Bru? Let’s discuss the script” n “I like ate so much for lunch – three carrots and a black coffee. God, I wish I don’t put on weight” n “Look pretty. We’re going to WTF! Sudhir [Mishra] sir might just spot us. Fingers crossed!” Lights, Camera, Andheri... Read the Mumbai cover story on hindustantimes.com/brunch

Cover image: RAJ K RAJ Cover design: MONICA GUPTA Location: MUKHERJEE NAGAR

by Saudamini Jain

n People who don’t vote

n Hanami (a picnic under cherry

blossom trees in Japan) n That Gisele Bundchen was audited by the IRS after making it to the Forbes Supermodel Rich List n Diving headlong into Pulitzer reading lists n Susheela Raman’s fantastic new album, Queen Between. (Favourite track: Sajana) n That we finally recognise the third gender

n That the Indian government made the highest requests to Facebook for restricting content between July and December 2013 n If the weather/ a puppy/ chocolate made it to more than one entry of your #100DaysOfHappy n That people are surprised by Sunny Leone’s acting abilities. “How can she be so good at acting yaar?” n Fake tattoos that almost look real

SHOVE IT

THE BRUNCH BOOK CHALLENGE HOW TO #BrunchBookChallenge READ 24 The Brunch Book Challenge is an @HTBrunch Th S K initiative to get readers to read at least 24 books in initiativ BOO ) E R 2014. Read anything you like, just keep us posted. 201 (OR MO Tweet your progress to @HTBrunch with the Tw IN ONE hashtag #BrunchBookChallenge YEAR

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Rachel Lopez, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna, Yashica Dutt, Amrah Ashraf, Saudamini Jain

DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor, Design), Monica Gupta, Swati Chakrabarti, Payal Dighe Karkhanis, Rakesh Kumar, Ajay Aggarwal

Drop us a line at: brunchletters@hindustantimes. com or to 18-20 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001

WELLNESS

MIND BODY SOUL SHIKHA SHARMA

For any worries related to unplanned pregnancy: Write to us at consumercare@piramal.com or call us at 1800-22-0502 (toll free) or sms ICAN to 56070 Website: www.i-canhelp.in

1. Dear Doctor, I have read on the internet that bleeding after a week of taking an emergency contraceptive pill is necessary. Since I have not had any such bleeding, what should I assume? Has the pill failed? The bleeding that many women observe after few days of consuming emergency contraceptive happens due to hormonal fluctuation in the body. Although, many women report it, there are quite a few women who do not experience any such bleeding. This is normal and nothing to worry about. Most importantly, this bleeding is not an indicator of the pill’s effectiveness.

2. Dear doctor, we are a working couple and not planning baby at least for 7 years. Since we reach home very late, we hardly get intimate 3-4 times a month. So is it ok if we have unprotected sex since frequency of intercourse is very less. A low frequency of unprotected intercourse does not negate the risk of pregnancy. For example, if the couple had unprotected intercourse just once a month, which accidently happened to be on the most fertile day, then the probability of conception is very high . Hence, please do not consider limited sex as a

contraceptive option by itself. If you are not planning for a baby, then you must use regular contraception like oral contraceptive pills or condom. Consult a local gynaecologist and discuss the various options that will be comfortable with both you and your husband.

3. Dear doctor, I belong to a very conservative and orthodox community where we are not allowed to kill even a mosquito. Therefore, will it be unethical for me if I consume an emergency contraceptive pill? Do these pills terminate pregnancy? Emergency contraceptive pills that contain only levonorgestrel does not terminate pregnancy. When such emergency contraceptive pills are consumed within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse, they avoid the fertilisation of the egg by either slowing down sperm movement or delaying ovulation. Please understand that these pills do not induce abortion but help prevent a woman from getting pregnant. Do remember that these pills are supposed to be used in case of emergency, as a back-up contraception option i.e. in event where regular contraception was missed or had failed and not to be consumed as a regular contraceptive pill.

GENE IN THE BOTTLE Not only does your DNA determine how you look and how you choose, it can also help in how you heal

UR GENETIC code runs the body and determines a part of our thinking process. Very few people understand that genes essentially determine who we are and how we function.

genetic structure has been decoded, scientists are working on trying to understand how genes can help improve our health. They believe that in the future, nutrition and medicine will be developed according to one’s genetic structure, and not remain generic, as it is today.

TOMORROW’S WORLD

It won’t be long before your medicine will get personalised to your genetic code. Picture CODE BREAKING this: You fall ill and go to Genes are a mix of a doctor. The doctor or human coding, which the hospital already we inherit from our has your genetic code parents. The reason in its database and we look like our according to your parents but are not ailment, will prescribe clones of them is medicine to suit your because of the difgenetic type. Taking ferent arrangement it a step further, how of the genes, which we about 3D printers printing get from both parents. your medicine at home? And Genes decide how we not just medicines, all the look, the colour of our hair vitamins and minerals will be and skin, the shape of our especially created for you. eyes, height and almost every It’s simple, doctors know feature. Apart from our physthat different people ical self, even our respond differently tendencies and AND IN THE to a particular medihabits are partly FUTURE... cine, and even the dictated by our Even in the ﬁeld of quantity varies from genetic structure. nutrition, diets will be person to person. The most fascinat- customised and the Think about it, how ing thing about our concept of ‘one diet ﬁts many times have you gene sequence is all’ will be junked. Since noticed that certain that it is absolutethe diet plan will be medicines suit you tailor-made according ly unique in every while others don’t; to the genetic individual, even disposition, not only will that a particular between twins. treatment suits you it work better, it will It’s our personal also prevent rebound but doesn’t suit your identity code. weight gain. sibling? Now that the

ask@drshikha.com

Queries answered by Dr Nirmala Rao MBBS, MD, DPM; a well known psychiatrist who heads Mumbai based Aavishkar - a multifaceted team of expert doctors and health professionals. Aavishkar has a comprehensive approach to mental and physical health, with an emphasis scan this QR code to visit website on counselling and psychotherapy. Supported by:

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK

MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Dr Shikha Sharma and other wellness stories, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch APRIL 20, 2014

COVER STORY

Delhi’s IAS Villages

Rajinder Nagar, Mukherjee Nagar... these urban ghettos are where thousands of starry-eyed IAS aspirants from all over India land feet first. Here, they spend most of their 20s pursuing the civil services dream. Meet some of Delhi’s diehard IAS-wallahs text by Yashica Dutt; photos Raj K Raj In the second week of April this year, Batra cinema in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar was running four shows of Main Tera Hero, starring Varun Dhawan, Ileana D’cruz and Nargis Fakhri every day. But there was no way of knowing that. Because the digitally printed mugshots of the stars were plastered over by blurry, poorlyscanned faces of sought-after lecturers and civil service success stories: the heroes of Mukherjee Nagar, the largest IAS ghetto in New Delhi. The civil service in India isn’t just a national obsession; it’s a rite of passage for most twenty-somethings, who at least once in their lifetimes consider sitting for the tough, threetier exam spaced out over 12 months. According to some estimates, around 5,36,506 candidates applied for the preliminary exam in 2012 alone. Most aspirants end up in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar, Rajinder Nagar or Jia Sarai – the famed IAS settlements of the city, known for their aggressive coaching institutes. With around 50,000 students in Mukherjee Nagar alone and more pouring in every year, this area of 398 acres (according to figures from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi) is where most aspirants land feet first from all across the country. With as many as 300 coaching institutes running classes for around 150 students each through the day, it is to the civil service exam what Kota’s coaching industry is to the IIT exam. Or that’s what Ashutosh Kumar (name changed on request) believed 12 years ago, when he came to Delhi from the small town of Purnia in Bihar, propelled by his family’s collective aspirations, along with his own desire for a challenging career. It took him two years to fully acclimatise himself to the dizzyingly competitive pace of Mukherjee Nagar. “I appeared for my first attempt without even realising how tough the exam was. It was only when I saw people around me studying for almost 18 hours every day, that I understood what it takes to clear it.” Seven failed attempts, a period of anxiety disorders and almost all of his twenties and early thirties later, he is now on his way to becoming a senior bank officer at the ripe age

APRIL 20, 2014

of 36. “I knew that this field takes its time. Once it’s done, life is made. Also, after so many attempts, I couldn’t have gone back to my family as a failure. It was about my ego too.”

THE BIG FAMILY DREAM

The Indian family has been choosing careers vicariously through its children for years, but nowhere is this more apparent than in the case of the civil service. Twenty two-year-old Shahid Aqubal’s gaze is fleeting but determined as he explains how his father wanted him to become an IAS officer close on the heels of his elder brother, 28-year-old Ali Aqubal. Ali is two attempts old and has been preparing for the examination for the last six years. He also helps in managing a popular coaching centre in Mukherjee Nagar called Prabha Coaching Academy. Known for its Pub Ad (Public Administration) classes, he thinks it’s necessary to get proper guidance to clear the exam. “You need to know what subjects to choose and how to study. Initially I was taking coaching from the academy; soon I got close to Lohia sir (Atul Lohia, the lecturer who runs the academy). I have a lot of respect for him. He is now like my elder brother,” he says while talking to two fresh-off-the-boat kids looking to join the classes from July. Recently back from a vacation in Mussoorie, where the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration is located, Ali wants to see himself there soon. “We don’t study all the time though. Some-

Seven failed attempts and almost all of his 20s and early 30s later, Ashutosh Kumar, who came from Bihar 12 years ago, is now on his way to becoming a bank officer at the age of 36

times we listen to FM channels on the radio, experiment with cooking different dishes and do Batrabazi.” (A term for the heady debates that happen in the block surrounding Batra cinema, where students meet after their evening classes). “Mukherjee Nagar has that atmosphere. You can study in groups, exchange notes and debate on any topic. Everyone is doing the same thing. That’s why students like staying at this place,” says Ali. With two other siblings waiting to join him here soon, he is confident of making it in this attempt. “After returning from Mussoorie, I went straight to Lohia sir and told him that that’s where I want to go. And he said he himself would come and drop me off.”

WHAT THE HEART WANTS

In the petri dish that is Mukherjee Nagar, romantic relationships thrive more vividly than elsewhere. Popular for its focus on Hindi language tutorials, it attracts the most number of residents from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. In this casually liberal milieu, very different from their home towns, most aspirants who live here maintain that no good comes out of a relationship at a time when all one is meant to do is study. But a cursory glance at a Facebook page called Mukherjee Nagar Confessions indicates otherwise. Goaded by competition and hormones, betrayals and manipulation form the basic tenets for many relationships in a place marked by its overall air of steely determination. While some horror stories include those of girl students initiating relationships with the sole intent of exam preparation, other popular warning tales are of girls who end up as substitute house help for their significant others, cooking, cleaning

CHANGE IN DESIGN Shreya Labhane, 23, in Rajinder

Nagar, was teaching underpriviledged kids while working as a communications designer when she decided that she had to be a civil servant to make a real difference

CLASS ACT Coaching classes can be exhausting, with

some that go on for six-eight hours (longer when the exam deadline appraoches). Seen here, students after a marathon six-hour session in Mukherjee Nagar

and washing clothes. More often than not, the boys, once they’ve cleared the exam, choose to milk the lucrative marriage market, where the going dowry for an IAS officer is a little more than a crore, a sum that beats returning to their still struggling girlfriends. Rajinder Nagar, in west Delhi, is known for its English language coaching in top institutes like Vajiram & Ravi and has students from South India, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and other parts of India. It is decidedly different from Mukherjee Nagar (the latter is often referred to as the provincial playground for preparation). Enquiries about romantic associations in Rajinder Nagar are met candidly as against the bashful diffidence in Mukherjee Nagar. “Your relationship status is no guarantee of your success in the exam. I have seen people in live-in relationships succeed together. It also happens that someone who is single doesn’t clear the exam,”says 30-year-old Abhimanyu from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, who has been both single and part of a couple in his five years at Rajinder Nagar. All the colonies, however, are unwavering about the intensity and hard work that is required for an exam that needs at least three attempts on an average before you can clear it. Colossal course material that now requires candidates to know about the details of the God Particle or India’s position in the Happiness Index, means that cramming 20 hours each day is not enough. Almost all students take time

off by either accessing social media in the evenings, catching up on the latest blockbusters, or hanging around the chai shops and rollwallahs. Some are even open to occasional partying when the pressure becomes too much.

NO DULL BOYS AND GIRLS

I met a bright and enthusiastic group of aspirants at the Sagar Ratna restaurant in Rajinder Nagar for dinner and most agreed that it wasn’t necessary to stay closed in a room for years to prepare. Nikita, 28, who is soon going to start teaching Psychology at Delhi University, is giving her final attempt at the exam inspired by her civil servant mother. This was the case with many students in Rajinder Nagar, who drew inspiration from their parents or relatives. Others like Abhishek, 29, from Bangalore, came disillusioned from the not-so-lucrative post-recession private sector. The innate desire to transform civil society, fuelled by the everyday discourse of revolution that is meted out in the classrooms, is what most of these glassyeyed students list as their reason to attempt the examination. After the recent revision in rules, aspirants appearing from the general category are allowed six attempts till they turn 32; those from OBC are allowed nine attempts till they turn 35, while, the SC/ST candidates have always had limitless attempts till the age of 37. This can often push aspirants into a vortex of chasing one attempt after another.. Shielded in a cocoon of synonymous goals, Mukherjee Nagar, more than any of the other IAS colonies, makes it easy for time to pass by without having to step down from the safe step between the university and the real world. This

STAY ORDER Upendra Dhawle, 26 was a lawyer in Mumbai before he decided to come to Rajinder Nagar to prepare for the IAS exam. This August will be his first attempt at the preliminary stage of the exacting exam

FAMILY MATTERS Ali Aqubal (28; right) and Shahid Aqubal (22; left) are brothers preparing for the civil service exam. They live in Mukherjee Nagar. Ali started receiving coaching in 2008 and Shahid joined him last year. Their two other sibilings will be joining soon APRIL 20, 2014

DUMMY

TEA TASTERS: Meeting for chai and rolls in Rajinder Nagar is a routine for most IAS aspirants after their evening classes. The tea stalls double as hotspots for discussions on course material and nation-building is a reality that hits most students only when all the attempts are exhausted, and too many years have gone by. The customary recourse for most aspirants then is to either try for the state services exams or bank exams, like Ashutosh, or start teaching in one of the several coaching institutes in the city. The more enterprising ones start their own institutes.

BEYOND THE ‘LIFE DREAM’

Amit Garg, who recently became the father to a boy and now teaches Reasoning and Data Interpretation at Vajiram & Ravi, went through a difficult phase when he realised that he had exhausted all his attempts. “It was my life’s goal to become a civil servant and I was heartbroken when it didn’t happen. Thankfully for me, I joined an NGO working with orphaned kids that made me aware of life beyond myself and soon I got a job as a lecturer. It’s important to know that there are many other career options left.” While it’s difficult to precisely point how these colonies came to be the ‘garh’ of IAS wallahs, it can be loosely attributed to the cluster of coaching centers that have spawned an ecosystem of their own in these settlements. Mukherjee Nagar is listed as a residential area, but is in fact a commercial space, with every second house used as PG digs for students, or as coaching centres. The monthly rents are anywhere between `10,000-15,000 in Mukherjee Nagar and even higher in Rajinder Nagar, where most students have no choice but to pay through their noses for shabby kitchens converted into rooms for three, sometimes four people. Jia Sarai remains the more affordable option. Rooms are available as cheap as `7,000. Vikas Sudan, who runs a bookstore in Rajinder Nagar, says that he has seen the place transform in the past ten years. “Rent is a good

APRIL 20, 2014

business for the locals. And a lot of food joints have come up too. Sometimes you can only see students cruising the streets till very late at night. It looks like a campus area,” he says. Mukherjee Nagar seems more radically transformed by this influx of mainly Hindispeaking students from UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan; it’s full of special food stalls offering litti-chokha (a typically Bihari dish). The BJP went as far as to get popular

“Many of my ex-colleagues are settled in the US. It can get frustrating. But I have to prove the naysayers wrong,” says Navneet Yadav, who quit Infosys to take the IAS exam

HIGH RISES: Rents in Rajinder Nagar can be steep, ranging from `10,000 to `21,000 for a single room Bhojpuri star, Manoj Tiwari to contest the elections from the seat. When the other Bhojpuri star, Dinesh Lal Yadav aka Nirahua came campaigning for the actor-turned-politician, he had batches of students dancing wildly to his rendition of the famous Lipistik number. I always felt my parents were trying to trick me into applying for the civil services by talking incessantly about Kiran Bedi. But meeting almost 50-60 aspirants over a week, seeing their dreams, watching them flounder, looking at the ‘middle-aged’ candidates (those above 32) talk passionately about the course material of each subject, and the revised 6th Pay Commission figures, genuinely made me reconsider the allure of the IAS. Yashica.Dutt@hindustantimes.com. Follow @YashicaDutt on Twitter

twitter.com/HTBrunch

NINE TO FIVE

A Fine Balance

Five simple tips that can help you strike that seemingly impossible balance between your work and your life by Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi

Stop prioritising only work

one

You can’t always choose work over personal matters or vice versa. “You may need to complete a presentation before you take your wife out shopping on a given day. But there could also be a day when her shopping could be more important. You needn’t stress about either the professional or the personal. Neither becomes less of a priority on a regular basis,” says lifestyle consultant Abhinandan Sharma. Sharma learnt this the hard way when his wife threatened to file for a divorce for regular neglect!

Be flexible with ways to unwind

three

two

Why wait for an entire week to chill with friends? Call them over on any given day. Perhaps on an easier day when you have left work early. Or just meet somewhere for a couple of happy hours. Chat, drink, destress. “You’ll be in a much nicer space to get home and take on the next day’s work. Also, meeting friends in the middle of the week, without any apparent planning, makes life seem rather simple and easy to deal with,” suggests corporate lawyer Joebin Devassy.

Prioritise your needs

In trying to be the supermen/superwomen the world expects us to be, we forget that we need to get a life. “It’s okay if you want to get out and watch a film if you aren’t doing much in office. You don’t need to sit around just because your boss prefers to just see you around! Stop feeling guilty of wanting to do what you wish to because your boss, husband, wife, child or parents may feel odd. They’ll respect you and your space more,” says corporate life guru Sudhanshu Mehra.

four

Take out one hour every day

This hour has to be just for yourself. Whether you want to spend it with yourself or someone else is your choice. Take a walk with your husband, wife, kid or partner, or just hit the gym alone, do yoga, read or enjoy whatever you wish to. “Get this hour once everyone is off to bed for the day or maybe early morning, but take it out nevertheless. It could turn out to be the most relaxing hour of the day. And perhaps the only hour where you could reach that semblance of balance,” says entrepreneur Anuradha Verma.

Stop stressing about every ‘crisis’

five

Treat deadlines, homework and exams just the way they are. Regular. Many of us believe that a new crisis will hit us every day. “That is life, you see,” says Sudhanshu Mehra. So don’t stress about every problem. “It’s all in the mindset,” says journalist Vandana Mehra. “Being exceptionally organised may be desirable but not achievable! So stop trying so hard. Do what you can to the best of your ability. Stretch a little but don’t always try to make a perfect statement,” she says. Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK; THINKSTOCK

APRIL 20, 2014

tavishi.rastogi@hindustantimes.com

SPOTLIGHT

Hit The Road Running

Two tough, experienced television journalists tell us what it takes to bring the elections to viewers (not from the studios) by Poonam Saxena

Ravish Kumar: ‘I travel 200 to 250 km a day”

hen NDTV India’s Ravish Kumar hits the road early morning to cover the elections, this is how it goes. He arrives at his destination, shoots from 8am to 1pm (so that his show can be on air by evening), and then leaves for another town. It’s a bit like a commando operation. He sets off with his cameraman Mohammed Mursalin, two assistants and the driver. Between 8am and 1pm, there is no time to eat or drink – not even a chai or biscuit. “Working with me is very difficult,”says Kumar. “When my cameraman gets out of the car, he has to be ready to shoot. If he says ‘Mujhe white balance dekhna hai’ I yell and say, ‘Do you think you’re Satyajit Ray?’ But Mohammed has worked with me for a long time now, and he’s always ready. We are perfectly in sync.” Kumar believes in zero preparation. He doesn’t Google anything, or line up any ‘characters.’ “If people know they’re going to be interviewed beforehand, you get ‘designed responses’,” he says. So Kumar lands up in a city and then goes seeking his story and characters. He’s not always lucky. “I went to Amrtisar recently and till 11am, I had nothing,” he recalls. “I was close to collapse. I called up my Delhi office and told them I had nothing. They said you

still have two hours. Time hai.” And then suddenly, everything fell into place. At Guru Nanak Dev University, he met a PhD scholar who had worked on MNREGA, a 23-year-old boy who turned out to be a sarpanch and a professor who pointed out that it was a crying shame that there was no Chair in the University named after Bhagat Singh (they were all named after religious leaders). Kumar got his story and his characters. It’s hard to imagine the rangy, seemingly mild Kumar as a relentless TV journalist. Like Bhupendra Chaubey (they are friends and worked together in the early years of their careers in NDTV), Kumar was also an outsider. He grew up in Patna, studied History in Delhi University and joined NDTV in 1986 “jab naukri ki zaroorat pad gayi” (he was the guy who sorted viewers’ letters). Being a Hindi-speaking journalist, Kumar is exasperated at the flight of English channel reporters to UP in this election. “I don’t go to south India to report, because I am Hindi-speaking,” he points out. “But why don’t the English reporters go there? Everyone is reporting from UP, everyone has become an

expert on UP!” But Kumar himself faces a backlash when he goes out reporting. The one complaint he hears constantly is this: TV journalists don’t bring the stories of the poor to their viewers. There’s no one to hear their point of view. “Even worse, what we come back with are predominantly male opinions,” says Kumar. “Wherever you go, it’s the men who surround you.” To break this loop, Kumar recently took off to a remote village with a poor Muslim population near Saharanpur. He interviewed a girl who walked 1.5 km every day to reach the bus stop, from where she travelled 15 km by bus to get to her school. “Our job as TV journalists in this election is not to worry about who will win, but to look at the issues. This is a third-class election, with no discussion on the manifestos. It’s a tamasha!” he fumes. Kumar’s angst, coupled with his punishing schedule, takes its toll. Often he comes back home so tired than all he can do is just collapse on his bed. “Itna tension hota hai ki kabhi kabhi lagta hai sar phat jayega,” he says. And yet… “Kya karen, it is a junoon.”

‘Our job in this election is not to worry about who will win, but to look at the issues’

Kumar in Gurgaon, ready to get on the road

Chaubey gets chatty with voters in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk

Bhupendra Chaube y

riving over 2,000 km to get a five-minute interview may seem crazy, but for a television journalist, it’s all in a day’s work – or rather, days’ work. This is what Bhupendra Chaubey, national affairs editor at CNN-IBN, did during the UP Legislative Assembly elections in 2012, to get the only interview Bahujan Samaj Party boss Mayawati gave that year. He drove from Lucknow to Gonda to Pratapgarh to Kanpur and finally caught her in Aligarh. “In our profession, it’s all about proving a point,” laughs Chaubey. “Subjects open up if you’re desperate. You call it persistence, I call it desperation.” Chaubey, who comes across as genial and easygoing (though he’s known for his tough interviews), is once again in the thick of an election. But this one is far bigger, more crucial, and, as he says, extraordinarily difficult to cover, because everyone believes the result is a foregone conclusion. Far away from the six-guestscreaming-match in air-conditioned studios that defines primetime news, is the real election reporting – in dusty towns and villages, on the road, in mohallas and chowks. And here’s where Chaubey is at a serious advantage. He grew up in Varanasi, studied in Delhi and Mumbai, and so, unlike most journalists in English news channels, is fluent in both English and Hindi. For this Lok Sabha election, he has already zigzagged over the north, hopping from Chandigarh to Varanasi to Mathura. At the end of the month, he will set off on a ten-

be y: “You just run on adrenaline” day Election Yatra to eastern UP. “I don’t go through local political representatives because they always take you to sympathisers,” he says. “Instead I try and speak to people involved in some way or the other in the local economy – whether it’s a ganne ka ras walla or a construction worker. These are the people who will give you the best indication of what’s happening. The idea is to listen, because these days TV is constantly talking, not listening.” It isn’t easy. It’s physically gruelling, mentally exhausting – but it’s a high. Chaubey travels light – usually with only his cameraman for company. He has to hunt for the location, find his story, locate people, work out the logistics (where should the OB van be parked, for instance?). “You have to be the manager, scriptwriter, anchor, everything,” he says. In order to sell his story to viewers, Chaubey looks for that one line or image or metaphor that will capture their imagination. When he went to Varanasi, this is how he pitched his story: Arvind Kejriwal is like Hanuman, trying to enter Lanka to burn it down. But there are too many Ravanas and Varanasi is no Lanka, though there is a place there called Lanka. Chaubey has also been doing the mandatory star candidate interviews (he found that Hema Ma-

lini was traumatised by Mathura’s ‘makhhis’ and ‘machchars’). But getting really big-ticket interviews has never been more difficult than it is in this election. Chaubey points out that today most top leaders only choose to deal with sympathetic media. They leave the party spokespersons to handle the hard questions. Chaubey himself has been trying for an interview with Narendra Modi’s close aide Amit Shah for at least three months. “I call him ten times every day,” he says with a cheerful grin. “But so far, I haven’t got anywhere.” (Chaubey had interviewed Shah in September last year, when he had asked the Gujarat leader some uncomfortable, newsy questions. “Amit Shah asked me then why the media asked only negative questions,” recalls Chaubey. “I told him I was just doing my job.”) Top leaders are willing to attend big media events – such as a Town Hall sort of event – because at such places, there are no follow-up questions, there is no grilling. Politicians can get away with the kind of answers journalists would not be satisfied with in a one-on-one. But in the end, there’s no option for a TV journalist except, as Chaubey says, “to pad up every day in the morning, perform and get back to work the next morning!”

‘In the field, you have to be the manager, scriptwriter, anchor, everything’

APRIL 20, 2014

poonamsaxena@hindustantimes.com

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Wishing You A Long (BAtterY) Life T The nightmare of a dead phone battery is soon going to be over

HE WORLD’S biggest phobia is now officially called ‘NoMo’. It’s the dreaded thought of facing a life in which you either lose you mobile phone or it gets stolen, and pretty much your entire life that exists within your phone is gone. The prospect of ‘No Mobile’ can lead to serious mental anguish and confusion. But another neurosis now catching up with ‘NoMo’ is the all-new (and quite nightmarish) ‘BAD’. This stands for the ‘Battery Almost Dead’, a state of mind in which your brain gets clouded, you become almost scared to touch your phone, a sense of doom and gloom takes over, palpitations start as you sweat profusely and a deep dark depression sets in. Why? Because you’ve just realised that your phone is once again about to die its premature daily death.

CELL PHONES AND THEIR HARD-CELL

Battery technology hasn’t kept up with mobile phone innovation. There was a time when we used our cellphones for voice calls only and easily got two to three days of actual

Rajiv Makhni

techilicious BOOSTER SHOT

The StoreDots’ charger will give 0-100 per cent battery in flat 30 seconds

use. Today the normal battery life you can expect from an active user (one who uses email, Twitter, Facebook, browsing, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS) is just about six hours. The greatest laggard in the world of technology has been battery life. While a lot has been promised, almost nothing new has really surfaced. That may be about to change in a hurry. Here’s a look at how smartphone technology’s Achilles’ heel is getting... a leg up, if you will.

QUICK CHARGE TO CHARGE AHEAD

MORE ON THE WEB For previous columns by Rajiv Makhni, log on to hindustantimes. com/brunch. Follow Rajiv on Twitter at twitter.com/RajivMakhni The views expressed by the columnist are personal

An Israeli company has demonstrated technology that will charge your dead phone to a nice, plump, juicy 100 per cent in just 30 seconds. And it’s not the battery that needs an overhaul, just the charger. While I won’t bore you with too much of technical gobbledygook, I will say that its bioorganic nanodot conductive crystals will help achieve this rapid charging magic. Of course, this won’t help prolong battery life, but at least you won’t be waiting around for your phone to spark back to life. Wherever you may be, a 30-second booster shot is all you’ll need to be fully charged. StoreDots’ charger is currently huge and unwieldy, but by 2016, it’ll be the size of your normal phone charger. I can foresee this built into charging stations at all public places, built into your car electric point, at every office, coffee shops and pretty much any place where you can spare 30 seconds.

CHARGE FROM YOUR SCREEN ITSELF

The greatest problem with solar charging is that photovoltaic cells have no place to actually absorb energy on a phone.

APRIL 20, 2014

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DON’T TURN OUT THE LIGHT

Within the next two years, indoor lighting as well as solar lighting will charge your phone with the help of WYSIPS The biggest surface of any phone is the back or the front. The back is convenient for the cells, but a terrible place to charge them – our phones face upwards even when we put them down on a table. The solution: photovoltaic cells built into the screen itself. ‘What You See is the Photovoltaic Surface’ (WYSIPS, in short. Yes, really!) will have silicon solar cells embedded into your super-large phone display. Indoor lighting and sunlight will both be able to offer 50 per cent more battery life through the day. The challenges lie in making sure these cells don’t dim the screen too much and don’t screw up the touchscreen part of the display. Expect to see this technology within two years.

POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME

Fuel cells have been the holy grail for battery tech for a long time. A battery unit that gives 10 times more power per square inch and can be recharged by just adding in a few drops of a fuel every few weeks. Imagine if that fuel was just sugar, the thing that fuels all living cells on Earth. Researchers at Virginia Tech have successfully created a sugar-powered fuel cell that uses 13 enzymes, plus air, to produce 10 times the energy density of the lithium-ion batteries in your mobile phone right now. Imagine getting about 10 to 15 days of battery life from your smartphone and then pouring in a solution of maltodextrin to get another 15 days. That battery is also environmentally friendly as it produces just water and electricity. Once again, this should be ready as a commercial product by 2016. There are a lot of other ways that battery life is being jumpstarted. From better chemistry inside the battery itself (like carbon nanotubes, graphene and even lithium mixing with outside air). One of the most promising is the use of silicon (the only problem is that silicon expands when charged and contracts when its out of battery life. Thus, imagine a phone that’s GIVE ME SOME SUGAR nice and fat when fully Researchers have successfully created charged and anorexic sugar-powered fuel cells that can when dead). Also on produce 10 times more energy than the cards are phones your current batteries do that harvest energy from the environment through kinetic energy or even radio and Wi-Fi signals. Thus your phone won’t just latch onto the signal, it’ll actually convert part of that into energy and power your battery. There is no doubt that current battery technology truly sucks! The good part is that the quest for real, practical, usable, ready for use has finally begun. Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3

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Phoning it in

Could you bear to switch off that smartphone; or are you too scared of missing out on that important work email?

AY WHAT you will about the French – admit it, the words ‘rude’ and ‘snobbish’ are hovering close to your lips – you have to admit that they have their life sorted. They eat loads of butter, cream and cheese, wash it down with red wine, smoke a cigarette afterwards, and still remain thin and healthy (the rates of heart attacks here are among the lowest; what the rest of the world calls the French paradox). They work the least number of hours in the week (35, since you ask) and yet have a standard of living that rivals the best in the world. And it is a country in which even a Monsieur Flanby (French for ‘wobbly cus-

Seema Goswami

IT’S A HAPPY STATE

In France, even a Monsieur Flanby (French for ‘wobbly custard’) like François Hollande (below) can have the most ravishing women fighting over him. What’s not to love, right? Photo: GETTY IMAGES

spectator tard’) like François Hollande can have the most ravishing women fighting over him. What’s not to love, right? And now, apparently, things are getting even better for les Français. News reports last week had it that their labour unions had negotiated a new deal with the employers’ associations, according to which employees would no longer be expected to answer or even look at work emails outside of office hours. So, while the rest of us wage slaves are anxiously peering at our smartphones just in case the boss has mailed us about (yet another) work emergency, the French are faffing off, sitting at a café, smoking a Gauloise, sipping an apéritif and wondering what to cook for supper. Well, okay, I exaggerate. Like all things French, there is a bit of hyperbole and myth-making going on here. (And yes, French women do get fat and their kids do throw food around.) It turns out that this ‘agreement’ only applies to people who don’t work the 35-hour week, and they are required to steer clear of work emails for 11 hours at least (the 6pm deadline beaten to death by the media was a figment of the over-active imaginations of some reporters and columnists). But all of this begs the question:

We have become attuned to clicking on to every email that pops into our inboxes, and typing out a reply right away APRIL 20, 2014

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK

TRY IT AND SEE!

Switch off your smartphones before dinner and switch it on only after breakfast the next day. If you still have a job by the end of a week, then you may be on to something!

if you were asked – indeed, required by law – to put away your smartphone for 11 hours and not even sneak a peek at it to check if something had gone catastrophically wrong at work, could you do that? Or would a part of you always be nervously wondering about what you were missing? What would be more stressful for you at the end of the day: staying connected with work or cutting yourself off completely for a period of time? Speaking for myself, I have to admit (a bit shame-facedly) that the first thing I do every morning, and indeed, last thing at night, is check my emails. And the very thought of being parted from my smartphone, even for a couple of hours, makes me panic just a little. And I suspect that it is much the same for most people in our hyper-connected generation. Staying in touch, staying connected, and remaining available for work throughout the day (and night) has become a part of life for us. And even if we resent the hold our workplaces have on us thanks to our smartphones, like Pavlov’s dogs, we have become attuned to clicking on to every email that pops into our inboxes, and typing out a reply right away. Anything less, and we feel that we are slacking off. There are those who maintain that being hyper-connected actually allows them to take more time off than they could in the pre-email and pre-smartphone era. Now at least it is possible to leave office early enough to take your kids for a game in the park and deal with out-of-workhour emergencies on the phone. It is easier to go off on holiday for a couple of weeks without worrying about what will happen in your absence, because you can always check in virtually every day. And working from home is now a genuine option in a way that it never was before. But in a world where work is only an email away, is there any way to genuinely switch off and relax? Is there any way to enjoy some real downtime without worrying about what’s going on at the office? Is it even possible to carve out some personal space when it is impossible to get away from the professional sphere? Well, there is only one way to find out. Switch your smartphones off before you start dinner with the family. And switch them on only after breakfast the next day. If you still have a job by the end of a week, then you may be on to something!

MORE ON THE WEB For more SPECTATOR columns by Seema Goswami, log on to hindustantimes.com/ brunch. Follow her on Twitter at twitter. com/seemagoswami. Write to her at seema_ ht@rediffmail.com The views expressed by the columnist are personal

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Hong Kong Diary

Vir Sanghvi

rude travel In the last few years, Hong Kong seems to have become sedate. Less flashy than Shanghai, not so designer-label conscious, it even has a vaguely tasteful, old-money air about it

SHOW OFF!

On the mainland, they spend lots of money on big name wines (Château Lafite is the Big One) without actually understanding wine

NLESS YOU are very young or have no interest at all in international affairs, you probably have some recollection of the Handover. This occurred in 1997, when the British finally returned Hong Kong to the Chinese at an elaborate function where the last colonial Governor (or “the Fat Imperial Oppressor” as the state-controlled Chinese media called him) Chris Patten said his formal goodbyes while his daughters wept and the royal yacht Britannia waited to take British officials home to their own country. All of us believed then that even though the Chinese had promised to respect Hong Kong’s special status, these promises would be forgotten in a decade or so, and the former Crown Territory would become just another Chinese city. Well, guess what? We were wrong. Against all expectations, the Chinese have kept their word. I go back to Hong Kong every couple of years or so to find out if things have changed. Well, they have. But not in the ways we had imagined. In 1997, nobody took Shanghai seriously. Hong Kong, with its glitz, glitter, ostentation and multi-coloured dragons, was seen as the epitome of Chinese-style conspicuous consumption. The people were brand-driven and designer-crazy, we said. They only drink XO Cognac because it is so expensive. They love showing off their wealth. And so on.

APRIL 20, 2014

Photo: THINKSTOCK

But now that Shanghai has blossomed, Hong Kong seems positively sedate. It is much less flashy than Shanghai, not so designer-label conscious and – who would have thought it? – even has a vaguely tasteful, old-money air about it. The Hong Kong Chinese are still aggressive, but they seem refined and restrained compared to the visitors from the Mainland who line up, shoving and pushing, outside the city’s designer boutiques. One thing that has not changed after the Handover is Hong Kong’s reputation for food. Foreign chefs have flocked to Shanghai but the best international food is still to be found in Hong Kong. Partly this is because taxes are low – it can be prohibitively expensive to source luxury items in China – and partly it is because old-money Hong Kong is a lot more sophisticated. On the mainland, they spend lots of money on bigname wines (Château Lafite is the Big One) without actually understanding wine. In Hong Kong, tastes are more sophisticated. The manager of a Michelin two-star restaurant told me that the biggest challenge was to surprise his wine-loving guests, many of whom had cellars at home which were more exhaustive than restaurant cellars. Of course, two Michelin stars in Hong Kong doesn’t necessarily mean very much. When the red guide first arrived in Hong Kong (after causing a splash in Japan and ignoring the rest of Asia), its arrival was greeted with much excitement. There was some controversy when both its three-star restaurants were at the same hotel (The Four Seasons). But now the guide provokes less comment, though I’m not sure it’s necessarily a reliable indicator of where to eat. I usually stay at the Mandarin in Hong Kong but this time I tried another hotel as well before moving to the Mandarin. There were no surprises at the Mandarin, which remains as reliable as ever, but I have to say that I thought the Island Shangri-La was the better property: large, comfortable, sun-filled rooms, efficient service, a Michelinstarred French restaurant and two Michelin stars for its famous Summer Palace Chinese restaurant. I managed to get a good rate (much less than the Mandarin cost) and the

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TWO CHEFS, TWO TASTES

Pierre (left), on the roof of the Mandarin, is the Hong Kong branch of the great French chef Pierre Gagnaire’s empire. It has two stars but was, I thought, vastly superior to Joel Robuchon’s (below) three-star L’Atelier (above)

A GOOD DEAL

The Island Shangri-La has large, comfortable, sun-filled rooms and efficient service. The overall experience was quite superior overall experience was far superior. Hong Kong is not unlike India in the sense that many of the best restaurants are at hotels. The Four Seasons still has three stars for the Chinese Lung King Heen (though the French Caprice has been knocked down to two). The Landmark shopping complex attached to the Landmark Mandarin Oriental is home to the Hong Kong outpost of Joel Robuchon’s L’Atelier which, bizarrely enough, also has three stars even though the Ateliers are to Robuchon what Emporio Armani is to the real thing. I had dinner there and though the old Robuchon standbys (the mashed potato, the black truffle tart etc.) are faithfully recreated, it struck me as being no better than any L’Atelier anywhere in the world (and the Monte Carlo version is far superior) so it is a mystery to me why Michelin gives it three stars. I have been to Bo Innovation, a gimmicky modern ohso-witty restaurant before. The last time around, I wrote that its single Michelin star seemed fair enough. Now, to my astonishment, even Bo Innovation has three stars. Either the restaurant has really upped its game or Michelin’s standards are slipping. The Mandarin has three Michelin-starred restaurants of which I tried two. The Grill has tried to go all fancy (it had a star even when it was simpler) with limited success. There were truffles everywhere: in the amuse-bouche, in the sauce for my steak (the beef itself was indifferently cooked, I thought) and even in the chocolate petits fours. The cooking was okay without being great, service not as personalised as it used to be and the soufflé tasted only of egg. I think they are lucky to hold on to their solitary star. Pierre, on the roof of the Mandarin, is the Hong Kong branch of the great French chef Pierre Gagnaire’s empire. It has two stars but was, I thought, vastly superior to Robuchon’s three star L’Atelier. Ingredients were treated with flair and respect: new season’s French asparagus,

delicately flavoured New Caledonian shrimp and a version of the classic Rum Baba that knocked Alain Ducasse’s more famous interpretation out of the window. But the best meal I had in Hong Kong was also the cheapest. Lei’s Bistro in the basement of the Times Square Mall is packed out with Chinese people (I was the only nonChinese there) and the staff struggles with English. It has lost its Michelin star, but the food is still amazing: crispy roast pork, chicken in a Hunan sauce, French beans with minced pork, braised spare ribs, shrimp in a sauce made from the yolk of duck egg, spicy cucumber and a whole aubergine in a minced pork sauce. All this for half the price of a starter at the Mandarin Grill. For the second part of my Hong Kong trip, I was the guest of the jeweller Nirav Modi who had invited me to the Sotheby’s jewellery auction. I’d made the same trip nearly four years ago with him for another auction so I had a rough idea of what to expect. If you’ve never been to a modern auction, it is a little like going to one of those auctions we see in the movies: auctioneer, gavel, and a room full of bidders. But modern auctions combine all this with a call centre. A huge bank of telephones is manned by Sotheby’s staff who take bids on the phone. All the big bidders only seem to bid by phone so we never actually get to see them. I was curious to see what had changed in the last four years. Actually, very little. The auction was as I remembered it but the only difference was the way Nirav was treated. The auctioneer read out Nirav’s name while describing the provenance of a necklace with the same awe he reserved for Cartier, Bulgari or Van Cleef & Arpels. The staff of Sotheby’s jewellery section fussed over Nirav like he was a VIP and after the necklace was snapped up for over `40 crore, Nirav and I went out for dinner. Four years ago, at a similar dinner, Nirav had told me that he wanted to emerge as a global jewellery brand of consequence. At that stage, he was not very well known in India so I listened politely. But in the intervening period, he has grown his brand spectacularly (a Delhi store opened a month ago) and is halfway to reaching his goal: a situation where people buy a Nirav Modi piece for the craftsmanship and brand value alone, not for the value of the gold and the diamonds. Globally, he has already made that jump. His necklace sold vastly in excess of the value of the metal and stones it contained because people wanted a Nirav Modi piece. Now Nirav is planning bigger things. Having triumphed at the Hong Kong auctions he wants to conquer the West. By early next year, he says, he wants to open stores on Old Bond Street in London and on Madison Avenue in New York. His aim is to become Asia’s first globally respected luxury jeweller. Can he do it? Judging by the manner in which the Sotheby’s team fussed over him in Hong Kong. I’d say he is on his way.

APRIL 20, 2014

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

GLITTERING ART

Nirav Modi’s (above) aim is to become Asia’s first globally respected luxury jeweller

MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Vir Sanghvi, log on to hindustantimes. com/brunch The views expressed by the columnist are personal

COUCH POTATO

Should You Trust Kingslayer. Killer. Rescuer. We asked Game of Thrones’ Nicolaj CosterWaldau to help us make up our minds about his character by Rachel Lopez

F YOU’VE been following the plot of TV show Game Of Thrones, you’ll know exactly who’s worth rooting for and who should be fed to the direwolves. But when it comes to Jaime Lannister, we’re all stumped

ON ONE HAND.... HE TRIED TO KILL AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD

Jaime, caught in a compromising position by little Bran, heartlessly shoves the boy out the high-tower window, down to possible death, with a smile and a quip. And that’s just episode one!

HE’S SLEEPING WITH HIS TWIN SISTER

They have three children, which they’re passing off as her husband’s. They’ve killed to protect their secret. “The emotional connection they have is so confusing and twisted,” says Coster-Waldau. “I think he’s always been the one wanting her and not being able to get her. Most men and women would recognise that in any relationship.”

HE’S DONE TERRIBLE THINGS

Jaime once attacked Ned Stark in the street, leaving him unconscious. “His whole life has been as a soldier and it’s a very hard, brutal, unsentimental world that he lives in,” the actor says of his character.

HE’S KILLED A KING

As the King’s sole guard, Jaime headed to the throne room, gutting a man en route. The king, soiling himself in fear, is said to have squealed like a pig as Jaime slit his throat in one smooth move. The king slayer then sat on the Iron Throne, waiting to see who would claim it.

HE’S DEFENDING A SADIST Jaime, now Lord Commander of the King’s Guard, protects petulant, cruel King Joffrey. Joffrey tortures women for sport. He executes pets. He beheads good guys and once stripped his ﬁancée in court. Tsk tsk!

(no pun intended – we’ve seen his severed hand). Here’s a guy who slayed the very king he was assigned to protect and who’s fathered all those kids his sister passes off as legitimately royal. And yet, he’s done honourable

things, things that have cost him his hand, his freedom and almost his life. Is his grey more black or white? We’ve got Nikolaj CosterWaldau himself (who plays Jaime) to present his case. rachel.lopez@hindustantimes.com

ON THE OTHER... HE SAVED A WOMAN WHEN HE DIDN’T HAVE TO

Jaime, free to head home in Season 3, turns back to rescue Brienne, a tall, manly knight who swore to return him home safely. Brienne has more muscle than charm. She should have been easy to ignore. “Meeting Brienne and encountering that kind of innocence if you will, but also her extreme belief in doing the right thing and being honourable, that has reminded him of what he was,” says the actor. “And maybe [it’s] what he still wants to be.”

HE’S A LOYAL LOVER

“I think there’s a very strong physical attraction, just a basic physical need that he has,” says Coster-Waldau of his character’s incestuous acts. “Listen, the guy has only ever been with this woman.” That’s a better track record than martyred good-guy Ned Stark, whose illegitimate son was raised alongside his other kids.

HE WAS PROTECTING HIS PEEPS

The Starks had captured Jaime’s brother Tyrion and he was the only family member who did anything about it. “All these [Lannister siblings] have been taught that no one, nothing, is more important than your family,” CosterWaldau says. “It means no one else really matters, unless you can use them.”

HIS INTENTIONS WERE GOOD

Jaime was asked to kill his own father, who was orchestrating a coup, to prove his loyalty. He also believed that the mad king was about to burn the city to the ground. “I think it was all there when he was young, but clearly he’s lost his innocence and has become very cynical,” he says.

HE’S MISSING ONE HAND

“Jaime is trying to kind of find his place,” says the actor. “He’s happy to be back, but he’s also been dropped into that Lannister family. Being Lord Commander demands respect, that you are the strongest. He isn’t. People don’t know how [being onehanded] will affect him. Can he fight with his left? You’ll find out.” Catch season 4 of Game of Thrones on HBO Defined on Sundays at 9pm

ART BEAT

The Scholar Gypsy Art historian Naman Ahuja, the man behind the spectacular show on the Body in Indian Art at the National Museum, is a nomad at heart by Aasheesh Sharma

N A LAZY Saturday afternoon, when close to 125 people are clinging on to every word he says, describing a Shunga period carving, or why putting together an art exhibition about the body should begin with the yoni, it’s difficult to imagine that nerdy, academiciancurator Naman Ahuja transforms into a party animal in the evening. That he discards his suit for kurtas and goes out dancing. To begin with, Ahuja, associate professor at JNU’s School of Arts and Aesthetics, curator of The Body in Art exhibition, on at the National Museum till June 7, is not as old as many academicians tend to be. Also, he wears his eligible bachelor status lightly. “Being single at 40 is a luxury,” Ahuja says. “My involvement in scholarship has become a vicious circle; the work keeps me single and because I am single I can do the work. In a way, I am incapable of settling down as I just get off on work! I am waiting to be shocked out of the scholar gypsy groove.” Ah, the scholar gypsy! One can almost visualise Ahuja on a field trip, camera slung on his shoulder as he deliberates over which hat he’d like to wear to the next exotic destination: art historian, teacher, amateur potter or curator. How does he manage to juggle so many balls at one time? “They complement each

other,” says Ahuja. “The pottery, which involves physically working with my hands in the studio, sensitises me to the processes of making. To know what it is actually like to make things with your hands makes you appreciate others who make with their hands.” He says that teaching forces him to develop a clarity of thought. “By the time you stand up and articulate something, it is no longer just an unformed feeling in your subconscious,” he explains. “You are talking to a group of young adults who are paying for your time and you have to respect that.” How about his avatars as curator and art historian? Ahuja insists he is not a linear thinker and this helps him forge connections. “Since I travel widely, I have a visual archive in my photographs and in my mind which is so large that I am able to make connections,” he says. “That is why as a curator, an art show allows me to communicate diverse ideas in an unconventional manner, unlike in a classroom.”

THE STORYTELLER

Nomads at heart, gypsies usually tend to have stories to tell, and as one settles down in his tastefullyappointed studio at Lado Sarai, that south Delhi urban village, one realises Ahuja is no different. “Give me the name of a region in India and I’d tell you a story about

APRIL 20, 2014

IN A HAPPY PLACE

Curator Naman Ahuja took 15 months to put together The Body in Art exhibition, but he is happy with the response what’s special about an exhibit acquired from the place and how I learnt about its importance.” The double-sided carved Ardhanarisvara relief from Kannauj, UP, for instance, isn’t just interesting because of its craftsmanship, he says. Acquiring it for the show has a last tonga twist to it. “I took a train to Kannauj from Kanpur. Once I alighted, I realised the only local transport was a tonga. That day the tongawallas happened to be on a strike. The guy who finally took me to the museum asked for double the fare. In the evening I took pictures using a light charged by a car battery. That is how I got this treasure for the exhibition’s archives,” says Ahuja. His missions to certain other parts of India were not as fruitful.

BODY OF ART The show Ahuja curated has more than 300 rare exhibits. A few of these include:

“The Ashutosh Museum in Calcutta University is legendary for being unhelpful. I arrived there to shoot an artefact but it wasn’t easy. Permission was granted to photograph only five objects. When I took out the tripod, they asked for a permission letter again and another one for using a light. I was so frustrated that I had to approach the Governor to intervene.”

THE IDEA OF INDIA

One of the challenges for art historians in the country is to rescue the idea of a museum, says Ahuja. “The museum is a Colonial construct. We are not a culture that collects art to decorate or spaces or go to museums to be suffused with a sense of aesthetic rapture. When museums was first constructed in India in the mid-19th century, they functioned fine for the first 100 years as they catered to a colonial audience. Independent India didn’t know what to do with this legacy

DOUBLE IMPACT

The 8th century AD carved relief from Kannauj in UP, has Ardhanarisvara on one side and Buddhist Tara on the other ANDE KA FUNDA

An untitled egg by Subodh Gupta, displayed in the Birth gallery, shows utensils from the family hearth, the sustainer of life

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Photo: SAUMYA KHANDELWAL

of the Raj. And the neglect has only grown.” That’s why shows such as Ahuja’s, which bring back the crowds to government museums, are so important. With more than 300 antiquities sourced from 44 collections, what is the common thread running through the sculptures, paintings, masks and jewellery on display? Ahuja says that the overarching idea is the idea of India, an assimilation of contradictory traditions. “Every gallery has many points of view on one subject. And there is an overarching opposite room, which is a completely parallel opinion and even within that parallel opinion, there are many voices. It’s a museum, damn it! Not a temple. Where are you leaving me room to look at history, in its many hues, in an interesting way? If we are going to be a multicultural society, we have to learn to live with our neighbour who is completely different from us. That’s why when on a Sunday, when I see a group of Army jawans bringing their wives into the gallery and discussing the art on their day off, I feel a sense of having achieved my objective of curating an exhibition not meant only for the urban intelligentsia.”

towards art and labour from him. He was a Gandhian who spent his life in an eternal dialogue with Marx and Tagore,” he adds. Most times, some of the greatest treasures of India’s cultural heritage stay buried in the shroud of neglect right in our backyard. The celebrated curator cites the example of the grave of a Mughal princess that was lying desecrated in the Red Fort since 1857, when the Lal Qila was sacked by the British. “It has never been put into the accession registers of the ASI. The wreckage of the Gadar was so bad, we’ll perhaps never find out who she was. But the curator was kind enough to accession that for me so that I could borrow it for the exhibition.” At a time when India is witnessing the largest urban migration in history, ever, says Ahuja, most of us are living in a Peepli Live bubble. “People like us are post-Nehruvian urban Indians. How much do we know about our cultural values, our ritual heritage and performance culture? That is the big question,” he says. As one is nearing the end of our conversation, one cannot but resist asking Ahuja how he reacts when journalists write that he has sexed up academics. “That’s fantastic!” he says. “If am coming across as somebody who has added sex appeal to academics, I take that as a compliment. But I don’t think one can tart scholarship up. I think people have forgotten how interesting visiting a museum can be. How interesting it can be to engage the mind. We’ve even forgotten the art of conversation. Just being with a bunch of friends since they are interesting company. That’s why I have people over and cook for them and party!”

If I come across as somebody who has sexed up academics, I take it as a compliment

THE CONTRARIAN

A History graduate from Delhi’s Venkateshwara College and a doctorate from London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, Ahuja has also curated the works of Delhi-based sculptor Devi Prasad and written extensively about his life. How did the late artist leave such an impression on him? “I was an apprentice at his studio. I was probably his dullest student, but I spent a long time with him learning about art and life,” Ahuja says. He remembers Prasad as a compassionate, deep-thinking person. “I learnt a lot of my values

FERTILE IMAGINATION

Hariti, figure in limestone, 4th century AD. Acquired from Guntur Museum

aasheesh.sharma@hindustantimes.com Follow @aasheesh74 on Twitter

AKBAR’S TALISMAN

The Tarjama-I Sirr almakhtum, dating back to the 1880s, commissioned by the Mughal emperor, was fuelled by his interest in astrology

PERSONAL AGENDA

Singer

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Abhijeet Bhattacharya

BIRTHDAY SUN SIGN PLACE OF HOMETOWN SCHOOL/COLLEGE BIRTH Mumbai Scorpio Ramakrishna Mission School,

October 30

FIRST BREAK

Kanpur

HIGH POINT OF YOUR LIFE

When I got to sing the Anand Aur Anand (1984) most number of songs for Yes Boss (1997)

Christ Church College, Kanpur

LOW POINT OF YOUR LIFE

CURRENTLY I...

Have just wrapped up a When I lost my mother new album that should three years ago be out soon

If you weren’t a singer what would you One song that currently defines your have been? state of mind. I have studied chartered Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jaate accountancy. And, if I wasn’t hain jo muqaam… I miss the a singer, I would have been a good old days of my childhood businessman. and also the time when we One song you love to sing over used to have proper recording and over again. studios. It’s not easy to choose, One singer you have really enjoyed but I guess Chand taare teaming up with. tode laun would defiNot only as a singer but nitely be one of them. also as a co-host on several An actor for whom you shows, my chemistry with have really enjoyed Alka Yagnik has been singing playback. quite good. All I can say is that How have talent shows I have been lucky changed from the time enough to be the you were a judge? voice of every BolEarlier, they used lywood superstar. YOUR FAVOURITE to be like a learnOne cherished memory of INTERNATIONAL ing process for the song Ole Ole. the participants, SINGER When I was called to because we used sing this song, I had to criticise each of no idea that many them constructively. other singers had Today, unfortunately, already been rejected you can only praise for it. So as soon as I the contestant and finished, I saw do nothing else. everyone clapping and saying Any style of songs you don’t feel which is awesome. What ruins it? “Ho gaya! Ho gaya!”. Then I was comfortable singing? The biggest risk you have taken? Not getting that cup of tea. told that I had saved the song Luckily, I haven’t been asked Coming to Mumbai to become You destress by... from being scrapped from the to sing any weird songs like the a singer and singing opposite Heading over to my farmhouse film. ones you get to hear nowadays. Kishore Kumar in my very first in Lavasa for a visit, where I not A classic Hindi film you would have I still remember when I sang film, Anand Aur Anand. only have lots of fruit trees, but I loved to sing for. Main Laila Laila chillaoonga, I What makes your day? have also kept a lot of birds in a I would have loved to sing all the thought it to be a bit vulgar. Drinking a cup of my favourite huge enclosure. songs in Amar Prem. Your favourite street food. Darjeeling black tea in the com— Interviewed by Veenu Singh Your biggest inspiration in terms of I really love Kanpur ki chaat, pany of my two pets. singing is... Kishore Kumar. ONE FILM YOU HAVE SEEN MORE THAN FIVE How has Bollywood changed? Unfortunately, today, more than TIMES the singer, bad lyrics and tracks THE FILM THAT WAS A PART OF YOUR dominate the industry. Earlier, GROWING UP YEARS the singer used to be THE MOST PAISA VASOOL FILM the biggest draw. Your all-time favourite music director. THE FIRST FILM YOU WATCHED ON THE BIG R D Burman, who was SCREEN way ahead of his times. Bollywood’s most romantic THE MOST OVERRATED FILM lead pair. For me, it’s Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.

I really like Elton John and also Elvis Presley.

Padosan [1968]

Deewaar [1975]. I thought a lot of my life was like the film’s story

Any of the Rajnikanth films

APRIL 20, 2014

Ek Duuje Ke Liye [1981]

I don’t remember the name, all I remember is that in the last scene there were lots of camels

my movies

are usually over-hyped