Hindustantimes Brunch 27 may 2012

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, MAY 27, 2012 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

Paramjeet Samota, boxer Manoj Kumar Rajound, boxer

Geeta Phogat, wrestler

Won R1.25 crore in cash rewards and an SX4 car

Anisa Sayyed Khan, shooting champ

Gurjinder Singh, hockey player

Acquired a doublestoreyed house from the R1.25 crore that she won after her triumph

Awarded R1.25 crore in cash and a job as deputy superintendent of police Made R1.12 crore at the World Series Hockey championship

Bought a car and a home from the R1 crore that he won after the Commonwealth Games

What happens when sporting triumphs are followed by financial windfalls? Meet the athletes whose lives have changed after they shone on the international stage

indulge

VIR SANGHVI

Science of food

RAJIV MAKHNI

Zuckerberg goes public

SANJOY NARAYAN Listening in live

SEEMA GOSWAMI

Aishwarya, fat and fiction

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There’s more than just fashion...

■ 12 pages of snippets – quick celeb chats and startling facts ■ Columns by Vir Sanghvi, Shashi Tharoor and Seema Goswami ■ Farhan Akhtar and Sonam Kapoor on the cover 8

What? Is That Fashion?

Drama On The Ramp

Runway To The Retail Store

Lady Gaga’s meat dress, genderless models and more... yep, it’s fashion

‘Tramp’ collection, headbands as knickers, PVC corsets and more

Designers Priya Kishore, Arjun Saluja, Shilpa Chavan, Anand Kabra and Kallol Datta

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LETTER OF THE WEEK!

Outstanding issue

I WANT to compliment you and your team for making Brunch a must read. Today’s issue was outstanding in terms of content and presentation. After reading Brunch today, I wanted to ‘roll on the floor laughing’, but my age (I’m 74+) doesn’t allow it. Thanks again for making Sundays memorable.

— SURINDER KALIA, via email Surinder wins a shopping voucher worth ` 2,500. Congrats!

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

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

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From humble backgrounds, these champions turned their fortunes around

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Mango mania

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Personal Agenda

LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch Kshitiz Sajwan I think Samsung S3 is best phone till date. If one can spend above 20,000 then he/she would not mind to spend more. The S3 has the best specifications.

Shibu Sweta Neeti Palta rightly indicates our obsession with the ‘Celebrity Fame’ theory. Be it any reality show, we never miss a chance to grab some fame!!

Cover Story

Choosing from over 400 varieties, our food connoisseurs reveal their favourites

Michelin starred chef/author Vikas Khanna thinks every man must know how to boil eggs

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RUDE FOOD A fascinating look at the science of cooking

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16 TECHILICIOUS Could the Facebook IPO be the beginning of its end?

@AbhinavCJ Loved the ROFL Issue of @HTBrunch. The one about the Ra.Onegers really got me ROFL.

17 DOWNLOAD CENTRAL Why watching a band’s live gigs can make all the difference

@YogiTheGeek Your stuff is as interesting as the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Not a single page is boring.

Glued to it while reading. All hail Brunch! @NiharikaKohli1 @RajivMakhni @HTBrunch No doubt it’s Samsung S3 all the way! Awesome battery life and priced within the common man’s budget. Brilliant!

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Sport me some more

There’s something about happy endings that makes the world a happier place. This issue’s cover story is about the happiest endings at the Commonwealth Games, of the people whose hard work paid off. We couldn’t carry all their pictures in print, so log on now for some inspiration!

18 SPECTATOR What’s the big deal about Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s baby fat?

Cover Design: PRASHANT CHAUDHARY

Rest of the best Monday night comedy with Gursimran Khamba. On Tuesday, Rajneesh Kapoor’s comic strip Rezi Vastav. The Fake Jhunjhunwala on Wednesday, Judy Balan on Thursday and Gautam Chintamani’s Split-Screen on Friday. Read ’em all!

Brunch Blogs Read Of Caking Up And No Cakes by Veenu Singh. A mix of wellness and beauty

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Out Of The Archives

BLASTS FROM THE PAST

A new generation of viewers rediscovers classics of arthouse cinema, on DVD

by Aasheesh Sharma

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UPESH JAIN, 43, a lawyer with the Delhi High Court, is unusually upbeat these days.

It isn’t that the genial advocate has suddenly got new clients.

Jain leaves his chambers early most evenings to relive the wonder years.

“We grew up watching cinema that was entertaining yet not banal. Last week, when I chanced upon a digitally restored version of Ek Doctor Ki Maut at Connaught Place’s Gramophone House, all those memories came flooding back.”

Across the country, at a suburb in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, the Mahajans

NEW WAVE RETAKE India’s New Cinema movement of realistic films that began in the late ’60s and the 1970s flourished through the 1980s. The pioneers of the parallel genre included Shyam Benegal, Kundan Shah, Saeed Mirza and Ketan Mehta. They were high on talent but low on resources. But they could make the kind of movies they wanted with help from the film finance corporation. It is movies of that vintage which are the most sought after in the Cinemas of India series.

are settling down after dinner into their favourite nooks on the couch in their living room as Prashant Mahajan takes his family on a trip down nostalgia lane with a director’s cut of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. “It was as if baba had directed the film,” says his 13-yearold daughter Nidhi. “He remembered all the punchlines and even the exact frame where Bhakti Barve would slap Ravi Baswani.” The 40year-old Department of Posts employee has a collection of more than 5,000 DVDS. But none of them come close to providing the laugh-a-minute entertainment that Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro does. “The Cinemas of India series

by Shemaroo and NFDC features such eclectic films as Shyam Benegal’s Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda and Sandeep Sawant’s Shwaas in Marathi, which went to the Oscars. I intend to pick up a few more titles.”

The National Film Development Corporation of India has restored 63 classics. These include: ■ Mirch Masala (1987) A British era subedar lusts after a spirited beauty in a Saurashtra village.

She and her supporters hit back with a ferocity that leaves him reeling.

Directed by Ketan Mehta. Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah in important roles.

■ Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989) What happens when Salim, who stays in a poor Muslim neighbourhood stumbles into organised crime?

Some of the titles restored in the project include Ketan Mehta’s Mirch Masala, Tapan Sinha’s Ek Doctor Ki Maut and Saeed Mirza’s Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro. Filmmaker Kundan Shah, 64, the director of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, which has provided such undiluted joy to cinegoers like Mahajan since its release in 1983, isn’t surprised with the cult status that the black comedy has acquired. “Although most of the bouquet of films being released in the series is interesting, comedy titles are bound to do better. If you look at re-runs of movies such as Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi or Padosan or even Buster Keaton flicks, comedies command a larger repeat audience.”

Films such as Party represent an attitude towards filmmaking

LAUGH RIOT

The satirical Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is among the most popular DVDS

AUTEURS ON A SHOESTRING

Another film that was sought after by connoisseurs and is now available on DVD in the series is Govind Nihalani’s Party, that ridicules the urban elite, especially those with artistic inclinaICONS

Smita Patil in Mirch Masala (left); Party had an ensemble cast including Deepa Sahi, Amrish Puri and Om Puri

Directed by Saeed Mirza, with Pavan Malhotra as the protagonist.

■ Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1991) Discovering a vaccine for leprosy brings a doctor fame and jealousy. The last straw is American doctors getting the credit. Directed by Tapan Sinha.

Featuring Pankaj Kapoor ■ Uski Roti (1970) A woman goes to deliver a meal to a driver on a desolate highway. She is late trying to save her sister from being seduced by the village rake.

Directed by Mani Kaul.

tions. Its director Nihalani, 71, who did back-stage lighting for theatre legend Satyadev Dubey, says films such as Party represent an attitude towards filmmaking. That is why it was worth the effort sitting at the archives for restoration. “Those filmmakers plied their trade oblivious to the demands of the box office. We only thought of the film. There was no pressure to put in saleable actors, or songs, or for that matter, item numbers. The mandate of the Film Finance Corporation (that is what the NFDC was called then) was to encourage experimental cinema and they did it well,” says the thespian.

The series isn’t just introducing another generation of viewers to his oeuvre, says Shah. It is the body of work of directors who gave primacy to their craft before anything else.

“Most of these were made on shoestring budgets of two to five lakhs. If you pool in the budget of films made

by NFDC, it would still be less than that of a flop multi-starrer like Salaam-e-Ishq,” he says. Even when the parallel cinema wave was riding a crest, many films which would go on to attain cult status, such as Sazaaye Maut featuring Naseeruddin Shah, had difficulty finding financiers. It is here that the government helped filmmakers who had talent but were short on resources, says Hiren Gada, director, Shemaroo Entertainment.

“The NFDC took a risk with me.

My CV before Jaane Bhi Do… was zero. We featured talented actors from the film institute and the National School of Drama stable such as Naseer, Om Puri, Neena Gupta and Ravi Baswani. When it was released, the film was received very differently. It became a cult 8 years after its release,” says Shah.

As they say, may the cult grow. aasheesh.sharma@hindustantimes.com

“I’ve often said the only thing standing between me and greatness is me” – Woody Allen MAY 27, 2012

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C OV E R STO RY

CHAMPS TO RICHES These athletes come from modest backgrounds, but their talent and hard work helped them win big (and earn bigger) on the sports stage. A look at how that prize money changed their lives

by Saurabh Duggal

T

HEY MIGHT come from different faiths, but all the men and women featured here share a common destiny.

They’ve risen out of modest backgrounds, battled tremendous odds, and made India proud with wins at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in 2010 and in this year’s inaugural edition of the World Series Hockey tournament. And unusually for people in sports, they’ve also made a fortune from their achievements.

The cash prizes that have followed transformed life for them and their families and have infused future sports enthusiasts with the hope that a metallic medal isn’t the only material marker of success.

Today, as they’ve traded humble homes for roomier lodgings and rickety bus commutes for smooth rides in luxury cars, much seems to have changed for our champions.

But as Anisa Sayyed, Manoj Kumar, sisters Geeta and Babita, Paramjeet Samota and Gurjinder Singh show you: when it comes to what really matters everything’s still the same.

KAITHAL’S KILLER PUNCH Manoj Kumar Rajound, boxer Bought a Maruti Swift and built a house (both in this picture) with the R1 crore he won in cash awards after the Commonwealth Games

‘I never knew that my punches could take me so far’

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anoj Kumar Rajound’s father didn’t rest after he retired from the army. He couldn’t.

His pension simply wasn’t enough to raise a family of five.

The hardships that followed were fresh in Manoj’s mind as he stood on the podium after winning a boxing gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. And the first thing he did with his cash award was renovate his house in his native village of Rajound in Kaithal, Haryana. “There is a time when you need the support of your family, and then comes a time when your family needs your support,” says Manoj. “For me, that time has come.”

Not only has Manoj made his family proud, he has also become a star of sorts within the sporting fraterni-

ty and outside of it. His successes in the ring led to him sharing the dais with Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan on Kaun Banega Crorepati and Total Wipeout, respectively. “I never knew my punches could take me so far. Thanks to boxing, I was able to rub shoulders with Bollywood stars as well as Sachin Tendulkar,” Manoj says.

“But what I love most about boxing is that it gave me a chance to help my family.”

We want to buy a plot next. In our village, land is equated with honour

MAY 27, 2012

MONEY MATTERS

The Haryana government’s cash award made Manoj richer by R20 lakh and money from the central government and Indian Railways, his employers, apart from TV appearances, helped his bank balance touch the one-crore mark.

The newly acquired riches have

helped Manoj not only renovate his existing house, but also buy a new one for his parents in Kurukshetra, complete with the latest in luxury electronics, including an LCD TV and a split AC. “I bought it so that my parents can live in comfort,” beams Manoj. “They want to spend more time in the village, but I keep telling them that they will live longer if they shift to the city.”

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‘Now we are the most respected family in the village’

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ometime in 2009, even as her father waited for her at Charkhi Dadri, near their village of Balali in Haryana’s Bhiwani district, Babita boarded a bus from Patiala – venue of the women’s national camp – and headed in the opposite direction. Her father had to call a relative in Yamunanagar to intercept Babita and accompany her back home.

Now, of course, there’s no chance of any such confusion. Success at the Commonwealth Games has ensured that Babita and her sister Geeta need not travel by public transport. The girls now have their own cars.

“The biggest change in our lives has to be the cars,” says Geeta, a wrestler who struck gold in the 55kg class. In April this year, she created history by becoming the first and, to date, the only Indian woman wrestler to qualify for the Olympics.

Earlier, their father Mahavir Singh would worry about how society viewed his daughters. But after the win, and its associated fame and prizes, it appears that the same villagers who were upset over the girls

grappling in the mud are basking in the sisters’ triumphs.

MONEY MATTERS

The sum of the sisters’ winning booty at the Games (Geeta bagged gold and Babita, silver), stood at R1.25 crore. They handed over the entire amount to their father, who had quit his government job to train them.

The family then invested around R12 lakh building a proper wrestling hall in the courtyard of their home.

“Earlier, we had an open wrestling arena. We could not afford our own personal wrestling mats and had to make do with mats provided to us by our college,” recalls Babita.

Their lifestyles have also changed dramatically. Mall crawling is no longer a distant dream. Babita, who is fond of music, is the proud owner of an iPod. And, after a Santro and an SX4, the girls have their eyes set on an SUV. “I saw it at a mall in Gurgaon,” said Geeta. “It costs around R35 lakh, so if I win a medal at the Olympics, it will be my first acquisition.”

Photos: RAJNISH KATYAL

After a Santro and an SX4, the girls now want to buy an SUV

Apart from the house, Manoj has also bought his family its first car (the diesel variant of Maruti Swift), and a small shop. What he’s still looking to acquire, however is a plot of agricultural land. “It’s for my father, as in the village, land is equated with honour,” he explains.

And now, finally, he’s been treating himself too. “I’ve always liked to dress stylishly,” says the pugilist, who had a fascination for clothes all through his growing years. He now splurges on clothes from Diesel, Adidas, Wrangler and Spykar.

THEN AND NOW

Earlier, travelling meant braving a crowded bus. Now, Manoj drives his car. “Recently, during a 10-day break from a national camp, I was training in Kurukshetra with my brother, Rajesh, when I was called back for a dope test. He dropped me there by car. Having personal conveyance helped us plan our trip and not depend on bus timings,” says Manoj.

THEN AND NOW

With no girls around to practise with, Geeta and Babita had to wrestle with their male cousins, and they defeated the boys regularly.

“Our father was the target of sarcastic remarks,” says Geeta. But as the medals started pouring in, the villagers’ scorn turned to pride.

“Around 100 villagers drove down to Delhi (around 120 km from Bhiwani) to watch us compete,” says Babita.

Now they are one of the most respected families in the village.

And powerful, too – their mother has been elected the village sarpanch.

HARYANA’S GRAPPLER SISTERS Geeta and Babita, wrestlers Got an SX4 (in picture) after the CWG. Built a wrestling hall from the R1.25 crore they won as prize money

“When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope?” – Lance Armstrong MAY 27, 2012

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‘There was a time I couldn’t even afford ammunition’ marriage. But the boundaries of conservatism couldn’t prevent her from winning two medals (the individual and team gold in the 25m sports pistol) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and, in the process, giving her family a fillip.

“Shooting is an expensive sport.

Due to a technicality, Indian Railways didn’t release my salary in 2009-10.

So I was totally dependent on my husband. At that time, it was really difficult for us to shell out even R6,000 a month. But the Games changed everything.

Now, not only do we have a house of our own, young athletes look up to me in a neighbourhood where girls have very little freedom,” says Anisa.

clothes for my husband. So, not having to look at price tags gives me a sense of satisfaction.”

THEN AND NOW

Economically, things were never too rosy for Anisa. When she was growing up, owning a house in her early 30s was something she could not have imagined even in her wildest dreams. “I hail from a very modest background. My parents still live in a rented house back in Pune,” said Anisha. “It was the support of retired police officer Gani Shaikh that helped me make it big in an expensive sport like shooting.”

Anisa had to work hard to become the toast of the nation.

“There was a time when I couldn’t afford ammunition and did dry practice for months. In Pune, I had to change two buses and walk two kilometres to reach the range. One day, after reaching the range, I had to make two local calls to enquire whether the coach was on his way. After paying the bill at the PCO, I was left with no money to pay the bus fare back home, and had to walk around 10 km that day.”

No wonder, her Maruti Dzire is one of her proudest possessions.

Anisa enjoys not having to look at the price tag while shopping

MONEY MATTERS

The medals fetched Anisa cash awards worth R1.25 crore. “I spent a lion’s share of that amount on the house, gave some money to my parents and in-laws and bought a piece of land in my village with the rest,” says Anisa.

Life after the wins has changed beyond recognition for Anisa. There was a time when shopping meant first checking the price tag, but not any more. “I am not brand-conscious, but love to buy branded

BOXING’S DABANGG COP Paramjeet Samota, Heavyweight boxer Bought a Toyota Fortuner (this picture) with some of the R1.25 crore he won in cash awards

‘We are leading comfortable lives today’

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GOLDFINGER Anisa Sayyed Khan, shooter Bought a double-storeyed house in Faridabad (seen in picture) and a plot of land with the R1.25 crore she won in cash rewards after CWG

MAY 27, 2012

Photo: RAJ K RAJ

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ack in 2009, Anisa Sayyed Khan and her husband, Mubarak Husain, were finding it tough to pay the monthly rent of R6,000 for their two-room house in Faridabad’s Sector 46. It took an understanding landlord, who reduced the rent to R4,000, for the couple to stay put and for Anisa to resume her focus on shooting. But by the end of 2010, Anisa had made enough money to buy a two-storey house in the same locality where, exactly a year earlier, she couldn’t afford to pay the rent.

Born into a lower-middle class Muslim family in Pune, Anisa, the youngest of five siblings, moved to Mewat, a socio-economically backward Muslim-majority region on the Haryana-Rajasthan border after

n the fall of 2010, two landmark events took place in India. First, a film called Dabangg opened to an earth-shattering response from audiences across the country.

Second, the Commonwealth Games helped one boy from Dinod village in Haryana’s Bhiwani district punch his way to wealth. In Indian boxing circles, they call Paramjeet Samota dabangg (spunky).

Thanks to Delhi 2010, Paramjeet now has everything that Chulbul ‘Robin Hood’ Pandey (the cop portrayed by Salman Khan in that box office hit) has: an off-road vehicle, the love of his life, as well as the style and swagger that accompany the men in khaki.

With the cash won at the CWG as well as the Asian Games the following month (where he won a bronze), one of his first acquisitions was the sports utility vehicle Toyota Fortuner. This January, he got married, and in April, the 24-year-old was appointed a deputy superintendent of police under the sports quota. “When I started boxing, apart from donning the tricolour, a job in the Indian Railways (IR) was all I hoped for.

Today, thanks to the sport, I have got

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‘I still stay in a small house’

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central governments, and the Indian Railways, his employers at the time.

Once his total earnings touched R1.25 crore, the first thing he did was to renovate his village house and add more rooms to it. Then came the electronic gadgets, other luxury items and an SUV. “I handed over the balance to my father, and he has invested it in property,” says Samota. “Thanks to the Almighty, we are leading very comfortable lives today.”

THEN AND NOW

name, fame and money. I never knew that boxing could be so rewarding,” says Paramjeet.

He admits that his newfound riches, his new life is a little surreal – even for him. “My father is an ex-serviceman. Apart from his pension, the only source of income we had was a small tract of agricultural land. But, today, our fortunes have changed, and how!”

The wheels of mobility are turning for the Samota household after his successes in the ring. “Earlier, commuting from Bhiwani to the national camp in Patiala meant taking a crowded Haryana Roadways bus. Today I have a car and the money to foot the petrol bill,” he says proudly. “Other than that, life is more or less the same for a lot of us, except maybe for one other thing.

Earlier, we used to kill time watching TV in the common room. But now, since most of us have laptops, Facebook has taken over almost all our spare time!”

The first thing he did was renovate his house.

Then came the gadgets

MONEY MATTERS

Paramjeet’s medals at the CWG and the Asian Games also earned him cash awards from the Haryana and

ike most other boys his age, Gurjinder Singh, too, dreamt of zipping along the national highway riding a flashy bike. But, since he couldn’t afford to buy a motorcycle on his own, he pitched in money with two other friends to acquire a Splendor. Since he contributed onefifth of the total amount, it meant he could lay his hands on the machine only twice a week.

Now, Gurjinder has earned enough to make a cash down payment for a four-wheeler all by himself. His newly acquired financial status is the reward for playing one hard month of hockey at the highest level.

The inaugural World Series Hockey, a franchise hockey league that concluded in April, not only earned him the moniker of ‘Rockstar’, it also made him a crorepati. Plus, being the tournament’s joint highest scorer meant he earned another R12.5 lakh in addition to his regular fee. “In 2009, I got a scholarship of R10,000 for winning gold at the under-17 nationals.

Back then, it seemed like a very big amount, enough to take care of all my expenses,” says the 18-yearold son of a small farmer. “Today, I have more than R1 crore!”

MONEY MATTERS

DRAG FLICK DEVIL Gurjinder Singh, hockey player

Plans to buy a house and the family’s first car with the R1.12 crore he won in the World Series Hockey passion for hockey. “Once my cheques get encashed, I’ll give the entire amount to my father. We plan to invest a chunk of it in a house – the one we stay in is quite small and dilapidated – and some agricultural land,” says the native of Sangatpur village in Punjab’s Batala district. “With the rest, we’ll buy our family’s first car.”

Despite knowing that participating in the World Series Hockey might jeopardise his chances of representing the country, Gurjinder went for it, as the incentive was, in his mind, bigger than the risk.

“Five lakhs (the compensation for playing in the rebel league) is a big amount for someone from my background. So I went ahead and decided to participate,” says Gurjinder.

With money in the bank and a bit more trickling in every month (he has been contracted by Indian Oil for a three-year period), the hockey rockstar now dreams of donning India colours. “Even as I took part in the WSH, I kept believing that if I’m really that good, I’ll definitely get a chance to represent the country. I hope I get that chance soon.”

Participating in the World Series was a risk that Gurjinder had to take

keeping his humble roots in mind, Gurjinder plans to use his prize money to extend some of life’s luxuries to his parents, who cut corners in order to help him pursue his

saurabh.duggal@hindustantimes.com

“To make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline and effort” – Jesse Owens MAY 27, 2012

B R U N C H D AT E

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‘I Have No Caste, I Am An Indian’

THE BOOKS Ashok Banker’s books have sold over a million copies in 56 countries and 12 languages. The mythological books he’s best known for today: ■ The Ramayana series An eight-part

series which was sold to an international publisher as epic fantasy fiction.

■ The Krishna Coriolis series The incredible story of Krishna, with all the stories and legends ■ The Mahabharata series This is probably Banker’s most ambitious project. The first volume, Forest of Stories, was released recently

Ashok Banker, synonymous with the retelling of the epics, recounts how it all began – and how difficult it was to get his first mythology series (the Ramayana) published

into Rama’s arrows and Ravana’s misdeeds. Eventually, the story has to transcend the teller. It had been there long before me. I finally wrote from love, not anger.

by Poonam Saxena

Which characters do you love the most in the epics?

Photo: JASJEET PLAHA, Location: HYATT REGENCY, NEW DELHI

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BOUT 10 years ago, a reasonably well-known writer suddenly became a very wellknown writer. Ashok Banker, till then associated with crime novels like The Iron Bra and semi-autobiographical books like Byculla Boy, broke new ground with a modern, Star Wars-type retelling of the Ramayana. Banker followed it up with his Krishna series and most recently, the Mahabharata series.

We caught up with India’s Mythology Man for mid-morning fruit juice (and strawberry pastry!) at the Delhi Hyatt’s serene Polo Lounge.

Excerpts from the conversation:

Does your interest in mythology go back to your childhood?

Actually I grew up with no exposure to Hindu mythology. I’m an AngloIndian. My maternal grandmother was British. She was a nurse in

Chennai, then she moved to Mumbai and married a Goan Portuguese.

When my mother was 16, she met an NRI – they met in February, married in April and separated in June. I had a Hindu father but he wasn’t a good man, he didn’t want to support me after the divorce. Those days the fastest way to get divorced was to convert to Islam. So that’s what my mother did. To reconcile the Catholic, Hindu, Islamic aspects of her life, she became a follower of the Shirdi Sai Baba. This is the kind of background I was raised in. I was given the freedom to choose.

I was cosmopolitan. When people asked me my caste, I would say ‘Indian’. Meanwhile, my mother married again, a Sindhi. By then, she had

turned into an alcoholic and the marriage was very volatile. My stepfather became abusive but my mother was a strong woman. She hit back. She wasn’t a victim but she was victimised.

By then I was reading Amar Chitra Katha, Chandamama. I realised I wanted to know more.

I read the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Quran, the scriptures. I started discussing and writing about religion. I also related powerfully to the Ramayana… the banishment of Rama was a bit like my father banishing me. I related to Rama banishing Sita, it’s what happened to my mother. There was some amount of anger that spurred me to write the Ramayana series but the anger went

The banishment of Rama was a bit like my father banishing me

Eklavya was treated so unfairly and all because of his caste. When I was a 10-year-old in boarding school, I was almost raped and beaten up, because when I was asked about my caste by someone, I punched him in the jaw.

But whether we like it or not, that is the society we live in. My child is still asked about caste, even in a cosmopolitan place like Xavier’s in Mumbai.

Was it easy to get your Ramayana series published?

No. Nobody would even read the manuscripts. David (Davidar) said ‘I put it in the dustbin.’ He called me certifiably insane. Remember, this was the late Nineties. It was the height of Hindutva. All the publishers returned it unread. They refused to touch it. It’s what I call “secular insecurity” or “liberal guilt.” Also, there’s a lot of snobbish elitism about publishing writers like Amitav Ghosh or Vikram Seth. There’s no elitism, no aesthetic value to be gained from publishing the Ramayana. I’m neither as brilliant as Amitav Ghosh but you know, I’m not as bad as Ravinder Singh either (he said he’s read only five books in his life).

I told a British friend of mine about the Ramayana books, she said it sounded like an epic fantasy and why didn’t I send it to an agent? So I did.

The agent read it like a fantasy series and sold it like a fantasy series.

Ironically, the Indian publishing partner was Penguin! Here in India, the books took off even though Penguin didn’t promote my books at all. poonamsaxena@hindustantimes.com

“Anything in creation can be found in the Mahabharata, but if it’s not in the Mahabharata, then it doesn’t exist” MAY 27, 2012

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IT’S THE SCIENCE OF COOKING… W

Photos: THINKSTOCK

…That has helped chefs understand how flavours are created, textures manipulated and how heat affects ingredients

HEN IT comes to molecular gastronomy, I am an agnostic. I tire easily of rabbits that are made to look like chickens with the assistance of technology. I am weary of ‘airs’ and foams that claim to capture the essence of coq au vin or peach melba or whatever. And I worry that technology is the last refuge of the buffoon – or the untalented chef.

On the other hand, it would be foolish to deny that cooking has a lot to do with science. And research has helped chefs understand how flavours are created, how textures can be manipulated and how heat affects ingredients.

Even home cooks can benefit from some understanding of the science of cooking. All too often we do things in the kitchen without understanding why we’re doing them. And frequently, we are wrong. Here’s a list of some of the things that science can help us accomplish when we cook.

which a little vinegar had been added. The second contained pure distilled water. The third contained water with a little sodium bicarbonate.

The scientists found that after boiling, the lentils in pure distilled water were just about cooked. The ones in vinegared water were hard as pebbles. The ones cooked in water with soda added, in contrast, were so tender that they were falling apart.

So, the acidity in water (and much of our water in India is hard and acidic) can be a problem that cooks don’t always take into account. Alkaline water is nearly always better for making dal. Sodium bicarbonate is easy enough to find in the shops. It will make your dal-cooking quicker and easier and you may end up with better dal!

Vir Sanghvi

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS: Chefs tell you that once you blanch vegetables you should quickly plunge them into icecold water to preserve their colour. This does work but what do you do with vegetables and fruits – apples, pears, avocados, mushrooms etc – that turn brown as soon as you chop them?

Science has demonstrated that one ancient bit of culinary wisdom is valid.

You can fight brownness by sprinkling the fruits and vegetables with a few drops of lemon juice. The scientific explanation is long and tedious (the darkening is caused by enzymes called polyphenol oxidases which are neutralised by lemon juice) but remember that vinegar will not work (the phenomenon has nothing to do with alkaline/acid balance). You must use a citric juice.

rude food

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WATER: All professional chefs know that the taste of the water used in cooking can be crucial to the flavour of the dish. One reason why ITC’s Dal Bukhara tastes the same no matter where you order it – Bombay, Bangalore, Calcutta, Madras or at Delhi’s original Bukhara restaurant – is because ITC has realised that the only way to standardise the taste is to use the same mineral water everywhere.

Otherwise, variations in local water play havoc with the taste of the dal.

So, how much difference does water make to dal? We know intuitively that the taste of the water can affect the flavour but scientists have found that it goes beyond that. The acidity of the water also plays a major role in texture and cooking time.

Scientists boiled lentils in three separate pots of water.

One pot contained water to

PASTA: All recipe books tell you that the best way to prevent pasta from sticking together in the pot is to add a little olive oil to the cooking water.

The scientific reality is a little more complicated.

The key to preventing pasta from sticking together is its protein content. That’s why fresh pastas (which are rich in egg) stick together less. Scientists tried increasing the fat content of the water (by adding olive oil, butter etc) and found it made no difference at all. So ignore that bit about adding olive oil in all the recipe books.

But there is a trick you can use. Add a tablespoon full of vinegar to the water and the pasta will not stick.

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hindustantimes.com/brunch

WINE GLASSES: Does the taste of wine change depending on which glass you drink it in? There are three answers. The first is the one that most of us would give, which is: “Don’t be so silly. Of course it doesn’t.”

The second is the one that emerges from tastings conducted by such glass-makers as Riedel who found that different wines tasted better in different glasses and then created special glasses for white Burgundy, red Bordeaux etc. These findings were based on tastings by wine experts.

Now there is a third answer. Scientists at the University of Neustadt in Germany measured aromas, molecules etc to arrive at scientific conclusions. They found that (a) the intensity of how a wine is perceived to taste does change depending on the glass; (b) the higher the bowl of the wine glass and the higher the ratio between the diameter of the rim and the centre of the bowl, the better the wine tasted. And (c) the standard French red wine glass (a bowl that is twice as high as it is wide) called the 1SO glass worked best for both red and white wine. There is no need to buy different glasses for different wines. Just buy the basic ISO glass and you’ll save some money. (But of course, the glassmakers disagree!)

TEA PLAQUE: We have all noticed this: Drink tea for long enough from a pot or a cup and a patina-like stain will come to reside on the surface of the cup or pot. Most of us are used to stains inside our teapots but we have no idea what causes them.

Can science tell us how to stop it?

The answer appears to be: No. The plaque comes from the reaction caused when tea meets hot water and increases greatly when

milk is added. The lowest level of plaque, by the way, is caused by tea with lemon (not milk) because the acidity works against the calcium ions. But if you’re used to milky tea, get used to stained teapots.

SEASONING STEAK: I wrote a couple of weeks ago about a controversy at the Singapore Gourmet Festival over how meat is best seasoned. Should you salt a steak for half an hour or so before you cook it?

The British chef Marco Pierre White argued that salting a steak dried it out and made it lose its juices. Another chef Ian Curley disputed this and said that the salt penetrated the steak making it juicier while seasoning it.

Research suggests that the reality is more complicated. Scientists salted steak and chicken for 30 minutes. The chicken lost one per cent of its weight because of lost juices. On the other hand, the steak weighed exactly the same. It had not lost any of its juices or dried out.

But it is not clear that the salt actually seasoned the whole steak either – it may have just remained on the surface.

French scientists used an electron microscope to look for sodium and chlorine inside the meat that had been marinated in salt.

They found virtually none. So if the salt had penetrated the steak at all, it had actually passed out of the meat during cooking, making little difference to the flavour. Science is not on the side of either chef: Marco or Curley.

BOILING EGGS: This should be easy. Recipe books give us precise cooking times for every kind of boiled egg and 10 minutes is the standard time for hard-boiled.

But research has shown that when an egg is cooked in boiling water (100°C) for 10 minutes, it loses mass and its protein coagulates. That’s why so many hard-boiled eggs are dry and tough with sandy yolks.

The best way to boil an egg, say scientists, is at a lower temperature: 62°C gives you a liquid yolk while 68°C gives you a hard-boiled egg. But this varies from egg to egg. So the best thing to do – in a home kitchen – is to lower the water temperature below boiling point, keep the egg in the pot for longer and decide, through trial and error, what the right cooking time for your egg is. Professional chefs have thermometers to do this for them.

But we can use approximations at home.

(I’ve quoted extensively from Molecular Gastronomy by Hervé This, a scientist who is one of the founders of molecular gastronomy. His views are unconventional but backed up by lab research.)

Photos: REUTERS

POTATOES AND MILK: French chefs will cook their mashed potatoes in milk even though cooks elsewhere may use water. We think that the French are simply trying to boost the flavour of potato with the taste of dairy.

Perhaps they are. But scientists have proved that cooking in milk will result in mashed potatoes with a better texture. The science is (once again) a little tiresome. When you cook potatoes, the starch granules inside them do not fully expand because of a paucity of inter-cellular water. When you mash the potatoes with a little cooking water, the starch granules will expand but they will do so in a way that yields a sticky mess.

But if you mash the potatoes with milk, the casein in the milk limits the swelling of the starch granules and yields a smoother mashed potato.

So, obviously Joël Robuchon knew a thing or two about science when he perfected his famous dairy-rich mashed potato. (As a general rule, potatoes and milk have many scientific affinities which is why dishes that combine those ingredients tend to work well.)

IN THE KNOW

Joël Robuchon obviously knew a thing or two about science when he perfected his famous dairy-rich mashed potato

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I’ve quoted extensively from Molecular Gastronomy by Hervé This. His views are unconventional but backed up by lab research

SALT TO TASTE?

British chef Marco Pierre White argued that salting a steak dried it out and made it lose its juices

indulge

SAVING FACE The world’s biggest social network just went public.

Is this the beginning of the end for Facebook?

Photo: REUTERS

I

T’S NOT every day that a man takes his company public, gets a valuation of a $104 billion, pockets about $22 billion for himself and also gets married. It’s also not every day that a company loses its ‘too big to fail’ status, has its stock prices tank within hours and suddenly has the world predict the beginning of its end. And all of this happens within one week. Welcome to the world of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook.

IT’S A BIGGIE

Rajiv Makhni

techilicious

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The Facebook IPO was a momentous occasion. It was proof once again about how bulletproof the online world was and the confidence investors had in ‘new age’ business. The Facebook IPO was all about big numbers: the company valuation made it 10 times bigger than Google and even bigger than Disney, Amazon and McDonald’s. It made Zuckerberg one of the richest men on earth and every person who has a Facebook account (you) was personally valued at around $110 each. Those were the good parts. The not so good are equally exciting. In 2011, Facebook’s net income was only about $1 billion and some change. When that number gets thrown in, it makes it equivalent to over 100 times the net earnings. That’s historic.

Compare that to Apple Inc. (14 times) and Google Inc. (19 times), and it’s a disaster waiting to happen.

LinkedIn, Groupon and Zynga – all of them suffered after an IPO. But that pales in comparison to what could happen here.

Facebook could take some brutal hits, resulting in the stock price going down to half or even one third in less than 18 months. It can also have a ripple effect on its users. Could this IPO be the start of the downfall of Facebook?

JUST ONE?

There is no denying the fact that the biggest problem is the overvaluation. Facebook as a company just isn’t worth $100 billion.

This is turning out to be a typical story of greed as well as impossible-to-manage expectations. To justify that kind of pricing, Facebook will have to perform out of the box – and it just hasn’t shown any proof until now that it can. Yes, it has 900 million users and growing. Yes, it has some pretty good (as well as some pretty sneaky) ways of earning revenue. It has been aggressive, has always been trying new things, doesn’t give two hoots about your privacy and has made strategic acquisitions (some at silly pricing). But put all this together and it has still made just $1 billion. That is a problem. A huge one.

PESKY STUFF

TECTONIC CHANGE

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg took his company public (above) and got married to girlfriend Priscilla Chan (top right), all within a week

Many believe that the best from Facebook is still to come. That it can mine data better, create more personalised advertisements and outgun Google. Hogwash. Advertisements on Facebook are very different. When Google pops up a targeted ad, it’s because you are actively searching for something and it gives you relevant ads in sync with your activity. But on Facebook, your primary purpose is to put up updates about yourself and comment on someone’s new pictures. That’s it. Advertisements here are taken to be pesky, random and unsolicited.

13 AND COUNTING

A critical surge for Facebook must come with an even bigger MAY 27, 2012

number of users. While Facebook is losing momentum in some countries, it is still growing in most but not at the same pace. Many users are already feeling Facebook fatigue and don’t use their accounts as much as they used to. The new, aggressive publicly held Facebook will need to turn this slight slowdown around in a big way. One of the controversial ways it may do it is to relax the minimum age down from 13 (denied by Facebook), thus fuelling in millions of new young users. I find that almost comical. Millions of users are already under 13. If you are under 13 and really want to be on Facebook, there isn’t much to stop you from just lying and getting on with your business. The deluge won’t come from here – but it must come from somewhere.

ON THE GO

Another huge source of income can come from Facebook on mobile phones. More people own mobile phones than computers and people prefer to check into their accounts on the go. As a whole new generation of mobile users come in, Facebook could get some serious numbers. Unfortunately this will remain a pipe dream. The mobile phone screen isn’t very conducive to all this activity. Between all the updates, pictures and streams, there is hardly any space to throw in advertising and other revenue earners. In fact, the backlash to a cluttered small screen has already been felt by Facebook. So while it may grow its user base on the mobile, it may not be able to make much of it.

DEAR MARK...

Congratulations on the wedding and the IPO. It must be quite a feeling to have pulled off both with varying degrees of success. I know that a mix of greed and bad advice led you to upping the stock price days before the IPO. There’s nothing seriously wrong with that – after all, it increased the money in your personal pocket by a few billion dollars. But now it’s time to forget about what’s been done and move to the next level. A level where you show the people who had faith in you, investors who put in their hard-earned money and savings into your stocks, and the people who still believe in you why you think your company is worth a freaking $100 billion! Forget all those who say $104 billion isn’t bad for a stolen idea or even that this is the beginning of the end for you. It’s time to put those naysayers in their place. Maybe you have plans that nobody knows about, radical ways of justifying this kind of valuation, revolutionary ways of earning 10 times what you do today. Buddy, I sure hope you do – otherwise 900 million people are going to feel cheated and let down. You’ve been poked – now it’s time to sit up and pull off the greatest miracle in the history of the world.

Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3. Follow Rajiv on Twitter at twitter.com/RajivMakhni

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facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch

Jam on earphones and catch them on the Web – you’ll discover some great gigs

S

NOW HEAR THIS

I listened to a Jimi Hendrix Experience gig on my live music quest

FLAMBOYANT FUN

Of Montreal have fused genres as widely disparate as indie pop, glam rock, experimental and psychedelic rock and deeply brooding lo-fi music

Sanjoy Narayan

download central

LIVE ACTION HEROES ONLINE

OME BANDS you can only enjoy listening to live. I’ve been listening to albums by the Athens (Georgia) based American band, Of Montreal, for a while now. They have been around since the late 1990s and have nearly a dozen studio albums out. Their music is difficult to classify – and driven by frontman, singer and guitarist Kevin Barnes, they have fused and hopped genres as widely disparate as catchy indie pop, glam rock, experimental and psychedelic rock and deeply brooding lo-fi music. That last kind of music was what characterised Of Montreal’s 2007 album, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, a dark and very personal kind of work. I don’t know whether I was fortunate or otherwise that Hissing Fauna was the first album by the band that came my way.

I liked it but not enough to become a fan of the band. I tried another, earlier album by the band, Sunlandic Twins – a synthesiser and percussion extravaganza – it was a work that appeared to make psychedelic music appealing to more people. All of the tracks were brilliant – at once theatrical as they were melodic and catchy. Yet, it didn’t make me a great fan of Of Montreal.

Till last week, when I saw them live. Um, well, not exactly saw them live but saw the video of an entire gig that they did in April in Washington DC. The gig, part of a tour to mark the release of their latest album, Paralytic Stalks, available in its entirety on the Web, is around an hour-and-a-half long and is enough to make you a fan of the band. Of Montreal’s gigs are flamboyant affairs: Band members turn up in striking costumes, the lighting is hypnotic and there is synchronised choreography and special effects (for instance, it is common to see a dozen projection screens with abstract forms on them). Watching the gig on my laptop screen with headphones jammed on my ears, I was both, transported and transfixed, and wondered how it would be to actually be part of the audience.

After watching the video, an Of Montreal gig has found its way on my to-do list (or should I call it my wishful thinking list?). Set off by their gig, I spent much of last week catching up on live music. I heard a recent live recording of the trance-rock (or should I say space-rock?) band, Spiritualized, and although I’m no great fan of

RARE TREAT

The Wolfgang’s Vault website features a 1966 gig by Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore Auditorium

trance music, I quite liked it. Was it because it was live? To get an answer, I went over to a treasure trove of live gigs on the Web called Wolfgang’s Vault.

If you haven’t heard or been to Wolfgang’s Vault, you’re missing something big because I have not come across a better strong-room full of live recordings – video and audio – of some of the best bands in rock’s history.

On my most recent visit to the site, I chose to listen to a Fleetwood Mac concert, dating back to the summer of 1968, when the band played a gig at the now-no-longer-in-existence Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco. It’s from an era when Fleetwood Mac was still a blues rock band and the set they played is fascinating. You get to hear Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer on blues standards by greats such as Elmore James and Freddy King. There are searing solos and relaxed riffs that showcase the talent of the band.

On my live music quest, I then explored a Miles Davis concert from 1970 followed by a Jimi Hendrix Experience gig at Winterland in 1968 and a rare 1966 gig by Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore Auditorium. There are thousands of shows by hundreds of bands to explore over at Wolfgang’s Vault – enough to lose oneself there.

After delving in the past for a bit, I fast-forwarded into the here and now, and by May 17, I got treated to a unique experience. Sigur Rós (the Icelandic band that I recently raved about) did something quite out of the ordinary. On that date, they decided to give their fans a free streaming listen to their new album, Valtari. By the time you read this, that album will be out, but if you’re a fan you must’ve heard that eight-song album as it was streamed on May 17 at 7 pm regardless of which time zone around the world you were in.

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

MAY 27, 2012

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indulge DO I LOOK FAT IN THIS BABY ?

FAT FIGURES

A YouTube video showing before and after pictures of Aishwarya is the most popular link on Google

U

NLESS YOU have been living on another planet you will probably know that Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan became proud parents to a baby girl about six months ago. And many congratulations to them.

This is a deliriously happy time in any couple’s life, and why should the Rai-Bachchans be any different? This was their time to bond with their firstborn, memorise her every expression as she falls asleep, light up at her first smile, snuggle deep into her neck to get their fill of that delicious baby smell, kiss her pudgy little toes and marvel at how fast her nails grow.

Right? Well, I would certainly think so.

But no, there seems to be a section of an increasingly misogynistic media which believes that Aishwarya has it completely wrong. Bonding with her baby? Staying at home to spend time with the little one? Focussing only on her daughter to the exclusion of all else? Enjoying motherhood without even a nod to personal vanity?

What was she thinking? She should be at the gym, working out twice a day to drop all that weight that she had piled on during her pregnancy. She should have consulted with a dietician to starve herself down to supermodel proportions even before she had weaned the wee mite.

After all, that’s what superstars are supposed to do. That’s how celebrity mothers are expected to behave. Because if they don’t collapse back into their pre-pregnancy shape in a matter of weeks, then how can they make the rest of us feel bad about ourselves? If they don’t make it out of the maternity ward in skinny jeans, then who on earth will take on the task of destroying our self-esteem (not to mention our self-image)?

Cue: obligatory mentions of such celebrities as Victoria Beckham and Angelina Jolie, who miraculously – or rather, mysteriously – seem to snap back into shape an hour or so after popping one (or two, in Jolie’s case) out.

In fact, such is the obsession with Aishwarya’s post-baby weight gain that if you type these magic words into the Google search engine, no less than 377,000 results pop up. The most popular of these links is a video which has been uploaded on YouTube showing before and after pictures of Aishwarya, who, we are told, has ‘shockingly’ put on five to six kilos (Oh! The horror; the horror!). And in case you still didn’t get how awful this development is, the ‘fat’ images of Aishwarya are accompanied with the noise of an elephant trumpeting while a female voice-over asks in hectoring tones: “Isn’t it time she hired a trainer to sweat it out in a gym?” She has an obligation to her fans to look good, you know.

What complete and utter tosh!

spectator

It’s time we laid off Aishwarya Rai for not losing those postpregnancy pounds – it’s her body; and it’s her business

Seema Goswami

Photos: REUTERS

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MAY 27, 2012

BACK IN SHAPE

Celebrities such as Victoria Beckham (above right) and Angelina Jolie seem to snap back into shape an hour or so after popping one (or two, in Jolie’s case) out

The only obligation Aishwarya Rai has at the moment is to be a good and attentive mother to her baby girl. The only obligation she has is to remain healthy enough so that she can nurse her newborn.

The only obligation she has is to spend time with her daughter to enjoy the joys of new motherhood.

Her body, her weight, her BMI, her diet, her exercise regime – how she deals with it, or even how she feels about it, is no concern of ours. Her body is her own; her shape is her own business; and we need to lay off her and mind our own business (and our own bodies).

And yet, the commentary just goes on and on. Even the British tabloid, the Daily Mail, which generally restricts itself to keeping a strict watch on the cellulite count of international stars, was concerned enough to run a long article on Aishwarya’s weight gain, which it claimed had ‘sparked outrage’ in India. The headline said it all: Aishwarya Rai “accused of betraying her country for failing to lose weight”.

Yeah, right. That’s what millions of Indians were outraged about. That’s why they felt betrayed. Because Aishwarya Rai was still carrying a few post-baby pounds on her frame. Honestly, you couldn’t make this stuff up!

Well, so far, so sexist. But then, nobody expects much better from the Daily Mail, which has made a fetish out of focussing on the wobbly bits of celebrities.

But there is something seriously wrong with the world when even an otherwise ‘worthy’ newspaper like The Guardian jumps into the fray with an article titled “Aishwarya Rai’s post-baby body forces India to confront its attitude to women”, faithfully rehashing all the commentary on Aishwarya’s weight gain, albeit in a suitably po-faced manner. Well played, indeed.

I don’t know about you, but I find it vastly depressing to see how even pregnancy and early motherhood are now discussed and dissected through the prism of weight gain. It’s like we have a new variation on “Does my bum look big in this?” Now it’s all about “Do I look fat in this baby?”

So, full marks to Aishwarya Rai for refusing to give in to this body fascism. She’s a new mother; she’s put on a few pounds; and she refuses to shed them according to some media-mandated timetable. More power to her. May her tribe increase – and not just figuratively. seema_ht@rediffmail.com. Follow Seema on Twitter at twitter.com/seemagoswami

T R AV E L

hindustantimes.com/brunch SHOPPING MAZE

Auckland's malls are great places to lose yourself in

GETTING THERE

Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Visas: www.immigration.govt.nz/ migrant/stream/visit/visitors/ default.htm Flights: There are no direct flights.

You’ll have to transit via Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok.

Some flights may involve two stopovers.

Shop Like A Kiwi Stuff you can’t resist, from brands you’ve never heard of – New Zealand is definitely the place to answer the call of the mall

by Shweta Mehta

I

T’S ALWAYS hard to zero in on your next travel destination.

Especially with a family in which each member seeks different kinds of fulfilment. Some want to relax, or to learn about local history, others want to sample the cuisine.

I’m one of those whose perfect holiday includes all the above, and another major criteria: Shopping!

New Zealand then was several notches lower on my radar. That is, of course, till I was proved wrong.

I’m one of the rare few who’ve been there three times – and while the spots visited and dishes experimented with changed on each visit, the loaded, brightly coloured bags remained a constant.

WOMEN’S WEAR

There’s no Mango, Zara, Topshop or Forever 21 here. Standing in Auckland’s biggest mall, I can identify all of three brands.

Kookai and Max stock affordable clothing, while accessories giant Diva stocks little trinkets.

Move on to Jay Jays for TV show/rock band/cartoon character-inspired tees and accessories, PACK IT UP

Fill your bags (left to right) with Whitaker’s chocolates, Glassons outfits and Diva’s accessories

Valley Girl for boho chic; Glassons for glamour; Pagani for smart casuals; and Dotti and Supre for vests and jackets.

LINGERIE

OVERSIZE WEAR

The awkwardly sized needn’t worry.

Practically every store stocks abundant options for them. Auckland even has a massive store – Big and Tall – that caters exclusively to men that fit either category. Sizes go up as high as size 16 for shoes and 8XL for tees. Brands in stock include Pierre Cardin and Savile Row.

DEPARTMENT STORES

Farmers is quite like Pantaloons, while Warehouse lives up to its name. Everything here is reasonable – clothes, homeware, food and stationery. Local designers like Karen Walker, Pandora, Sabatini and Muse are sought-after names.

The accessories giant Diva is great for little trinkets

Bendon, available only in the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, sells comfortable lingerie. Prices are just as high or low as La Senza or Triumph.

WINTER WEAR

Ezibuy, a homegrown company, sells durable winter wear in countless styles and colours. For those willing to shell out more, Kathmandu has travel and winter wear.

POINTS OF SALE ■ A huge draw in New Zealand is the quality of everything. The outerwear from Ezibuy is sure to last a couple of decades at least.

■ Cadbury’s fans, rejoice! The country’s supermarkets stock a mind-boggling variety of the brand’s chocolates.

■ Another reason to smile, their discounts are really deep. Prices see a genuine drop from reasonable to more than reasonable.

■ Since their seasons are opposite to ours, you can find summer wear in December.

SUPERMARKETS

The discount food outlets of Pak’nSave sell groceries, chocolates and cheese. Foodtown, recently rebranded Countdown, is another popular chain. I’ve never seen so many varieties of Cadbury’s chocolate at a single store. Whittaker’s is New Zealand’s second biggest chocolate brand, and their bars are exported to Australia, Singapore and the UK.

GADGETS

Gadgets are priced virtually on par with the most reasonable rates you’d find across the world.

Dicksmith is among the popular chains for all kinds of gizmos.

So, plan your trip around June or at the end of the year and you won’t be disappointed. Christmas is beautiful, and the sales will save you a lot more than the budget you’d allocate for shopping on a vacation anywhere in the world. I was in for a surprise on my first visit. I’m sure you will be too. shweta.mehta@hindustantimes.com

“Hanging onto a bad buy will not redeem the purchase” – UK designer Sir Terence Conran MAY 27, 2012

19

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WELLNESS Photo: THINKSTOCK

AAM AWAY

Will The Real King Of Fruits Please Stand Up?

Popular varieties of mangoes across the world include:

■ Cogshall, Dot, Duncan, Glenn, Haden, Kent, Torbert, Valencia Pride, Van Dyke, Zill, Bailey’s Marvel, Beverly from USA ■

Brahm Kai Meu, Choc Anon, Fralan, Nam Doc Mai, Okrung, Pim Seng Mun from Thailand

Everybody has their favourite mango (and will shoot anyone who disagrees)

■ Fairchild, ■ Graham,

by Shreya Sethuraman

VICKY RATNANI

A

Chef consultant, gourmand and food connoisseur My favourite is Hapus, (also and/or chicken. known as the Alphonso) since it is Totapuri is another the king of mangoes. It has a rich, favourite. It has luscious flavour. great flavour, it’s Apart from eatcheaper and as a ing it just as a result, more ecofruit, it tastes nomical to use. The best part is great in a salad you don’t have to wait for the or as a puree Totapuri to ripen. I love to use it in with seafood a mango crumble pie or sorbet.

FACEBOOK discussion (no, read: Debate; on second thought, read: War) about which is India’s best mango sparked off this little survey. We took our own opinion poll in the office and just about prevented homicidal violence. Shouts of “Alphonso!” “No, Langda!” “Rubbish, Daseri!” “Are you mad? Of course it’s the Alphonso!” “You’re crazy! How can it not be the Chausa?” etc filled the air.

We finally struck an uneasy peace (“Oh all right, each to his own”) but the delicate matter of which is India’s best mango remains. So we asked a smattering of foodies and mango lovers to pick a favourite from over 400 varieties available in India.

Here’s what they said:

VIR SANGHVI Do we really need to introduce him?

My favourite mango is the Hapus from Mumbai. But only if you call it Hapus. I am not prepared to gush over some Portuguese Alphonso.

The best way to enjoy any mango (other than in its natural form) is to make a mango Bellini: 30 per cent mango pulp and 70 per cent Prosecco (Italian white wine) or any other sparkling wine.

It is a summer drink that allows you to enjoy the best of India in an international manner.

I also like the raw mangoes that they use in Kerala as a souring agent in their food. But I fear that the rest of us do not do mangoes enough justice as cooking ingredients.

TOTAPURI

■ Jakarta ■ Maha

Julie from Jamaica

Ice Cream from Trinidad

from Java and Singapore

Chinook from Singapore

■ Irwin from Mexico, Ecuador and Peru ■ Keitt,

Manilita from Mexico

■ Kensington ■ Lancetilla ■ Madame

from Honduras

Francis from Haiti

RITU DALMIA

RACHEL DWYER

Chef, cookbook author and restaurateur

Professor of Indian Cultures and Cinema, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

I love Alphonso but I also love Chausa and Kaeri.

There is only one way to enjoy mangoes, just suck the flesh out!

KAERI

PUSHPESH PANT Author of India: The Cookbook and Gourmet Journeys in India My favourite mango is the Daseri because I acquired the taste as a child. The Malihabadi Daseri is superior to any Hapus. The Daseri is aromatic, fleshy and has a thin skin. No Alphonso matches the Daseri.

Also the Hapus is very expensive and overrated.

The Langda from Benares is another favourite. Mangoes rule our hearts and we can eat them in many forms, right from aam panna to aam ka achaar. The joy of eating a mango cannot be fathomed. Whether it’s chutney or aam papad, mangoes can be enjoyed in every form.

DASERI

HAPUS

MAY 27, 2012

The first ‘mango’ I had was in Sharwood’s mango chutney. My mother used to make me cheese and chutney sandwiches when I was a kid.

My first real mango was at university and it was love at first bite.

I love Hapus mangoes.

The aroma is the first assault on the senses. The plump and distinctive shape is that of the paisley while the bright orange colour is joyful. I love the smooth and slightly oily texture.

PANNA

MANISH MEHROTRA Executive chef, Indian Accent, The Manor, New Delhi My favourite is the Malda from Bihar. It's very fleshy and pulpy and gives you that satisfaction of eating a mango. Its seed is not very big and the skin is perfectly green.

The best way to have the Malda is to eat it just like that.

There's no need to cut it either.

Peel it, eat it and enjoy!

MALDA

from Australia

I do have a second favourite though.

This is the Kachi Kaeri or green mango, which I like in fresh pickle, dal, panna, any which way actually.

However, I’ve never met an Indian who didn’t prefer mangoes from the region where they grew up. I would like to go to the equivalent of a wine tasting to be able to compare mangoes one day.

SAM MILLER Writer and journalist I am not dogmatic on the subject. I like lots of different kinds of mangoes – depending on the season, and where I am in the world.

It’s war! Tell us about your favourite mango. Share your adventures and escapades about this luscious fruit on brunchletters@hindustantimes.com or at facebook.com/ hindustantimesbrunch

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MIND BODY SOUL

Make the best of the golden fruit...

SHIKHA SHARMA

SO UTTERLY DELICIOUS

S

UMMER IS here with its sweltering heat, dry wind and dehydration. But nature provides its own cure to counter it. The fruits of this season help nourish our bodies.

Mango is popularly known as the king of fruits and has many nourishing qualities. Out of the many varieties, sweet and ripe mango balances the vata and pitta of the body and increases kapha as well. It also balances the three doshas and gives energy to the body.

Ripe mangoes can be eaten with grains or with milk as a tonic for the body.

Photo: THINKSTOCK

Green and unripe mango is frequently used in cooking. You can grate it and add to pulses and vegetables, or make mango chutney and pickles. The green mango is known for being sour, astringent and cooling. Do not eat raw mangoes in large quantities because they can aggravate the pitta dosha. However, if prepared in combination with spices, they help in digestion and improve the flavour of food.

Mango is rich in antioxidants, such as beta-carotene and vitamin C, which play an important role in the prevention of cancer and heart diseases. It has an alkaline effect on the body. However, because it is high in sugar content, people with diabetes and those trying to lose weight should consume mangoes in moderation. Mango also contains potassium, which is an essential mineral for the proper functioning of cells, tissues and organs. It is rich in insoluble fibre which prevents constipation.

Unripe mango protects you from the adverse effects of heat and is an effective remedy for heat exhaustion and stroke. It is also beneficial in the treatment of digestive disorders like indigestion and acidity.

Eat unripe mango to counter vitamin C deficiencies like low immunity and skin problems.

Mango is great as a snack or dessert.

Mango lassi is extremely refreshing and goes with any meal of the day. Mango milk shake is an ideal breakfast drink and even kids love it. It can be added to salads, puddings, or fruit desserts. Use fresh mangoes instead of canned mango puree since it may contain added sugar and preservatives.

ask@drshikha.com

MANGO LASSI

1/2 cup yoghurt 1 1/2 cup water Peel the mango and transfer the flesh into a blender. Add enough water to cover the mango and puree until smooth. Add yogurt and the rest of the water and blend again.

MILK-MANGO SHAKE

2 cups toned or double toned milk 1 mango Boil milk and let it cool to room temperature. Peel the mango and add the flesh into a blender. Add enough milk to mango and puree until smooth. Add the rest of the milk and blend for 15 seconds.

MANGO - RICE SALAD

1 cup brown rice 2 cups water 1/4 tsp salt 1 mango 1/2 radish 1/4 cup almonds roasted 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds roasted Dressing: 2 tsp turmeric 1 lime or half a lemon 2 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro Salt & freshly ground black pepper 1. Wash rice and place in a mediumsize pot with water and salt. Bring to a boil, cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes, until the rice absorbs all the water.

2. Peel the mango, carefully cut its flesh into medium-sized cubes and place in a large bowl.

3. Peel the radish, quarter it length-

wise and slice thinly. Add to mango along with almonds and pumpkin seeds.

4. For the dressing, heat oil in a small pan and fry the condiments.

Let it cool. Grate the peel of the lime or lemon, and squeeze the juice. Mix it with the spices. Whisk in the olive oil, chopped cilantro, salt & pepper 5. Add the cooled rice to the mango mixture, pour the dressing over the salad, and toss until combined.

LETTUCE WITH MANGO AND AVOCADO

Lettuce 1 mango 1 avocado 2 teaspoons ginger paste 3 tablespoon olive oil Juice of 1/2 lime, salt & pepper 1. Wash and cut lettuce into small pieces. Cube mango and avocado and mix with lettuce.

2. Mix the other ingredients. Pour dressing over salad and toss gently.

AAM RAS 2 mangoes

Oil, 2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp coriander seeds 1 tsp turmeric, 2 cups water Salt & sugar to taste Method: 1. Boil mangoes, cool, and take out the pulp.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin and coriander and turmeric. Add mango pulp, water, sugar & salt.

3. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, let simmer. Serve with rice.

“Mango is like a drug. You must have more and more of the mango until there is no mango left. Not even for mango!” – Anonymous

PERSONAL AGENDA

facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch

Celebrity chef/author

Vikas Khanna if i could...

I WOULD BE ABLE TO FLY A PLANE PERFECTLY

I’m currently learning to fly

SPEND MY WHOLE LIFE IN AMRITSAR

FEED THE WHOLE WORLD

SUN SIGN Scorpio

BIRTHDAY

November 14

SCHOOL/COLLEGE

I graduated from the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, Manipal

HOMETOWN PLACE OF BIRTH New York

Amritsar

FIRST BREAK

Opened Lawrence Gardens Banquets when I was 17

When I felt confident to cook for my grandmother

felt I was at the bottom of the line and wasn’t sure whether I would even get a job as a dishwasher

If you weren’t a chef, you would have ever long the night is, it is been... always followed by the day.

A farmer.

What would we find in your fridge One aspect about your body you right now? dislike?

Soy milk and eggs I feel my nose is too for sure.

CHICKEN TIKKA long while my legs The song that always OR CHOLE are too thin! lifts your spirits?

Your greatest Chinna Chinna Aasai BHATURE? extravagance?

(Dil Hai Chota Sa from the film Roja). I Flying to Kerala or can sing in Tamil.

Morocco to get If you were an ice spices. cream, what flavour The one thing you love would you be? about Indian food?

Saffron and Indian food has a lot cardamom – truly of emotions in it.

Indian at heart.

There is a strong One thing about you that sense of connection, isn’t generally known? which the rest of the I’m a very shy person. world misses out on.

The dish you can never cook?

Your strategy in a crisis?

Methi aloo.

To always remember that how-

Definitely chole bhature

Photos: THINKSTOCK

HIGH POINT LOW POINT OF YOUR LIFE OF YOUR When I reached America, I CURENTLY DOING LIFE

Just released Flavors First, my sixth book and the first one in India by OM Books International

Photo: AJAY AGGARWAL; LOCATION COURTESY: THE LEELA PALACE, NEW DELHI

22

MAY 27, 2012

Have you got lucky with women because of your skills in the kitchen?

Women love it when men cook.

They feel secure when they know that a man can cook.

One recipe every man must know?

How to boil an egg – they can do so much with it.

The day you realised you loved being in the kitchen?

When I was about 10, I decided to make dinner for everyone.

Your favourite book?

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

by Richard Bach.

The last line of your autobiography would read… ...peace of bread.

One thing you can never eat.

Endangered species.

You de-stress with?

Meditation and music.

— Interviewed by Veenu Singh