Brunch 28 12 2014

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WEEKLY WEEKLY MAGAZINE, MAGAZINE, DECEMBER CEMBER JUNE 22, 28, 2014 201 Free with your copy off Hindustan Times imes

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BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

To read Brunch stories (and more) online, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch. To discuss the stories (or give feedback), follow @HTBrunch on Twitter. For everything cool on the Internet, like Hindustan Times Brunch on Facebook. And for videos, check out our channel (youtube.com/HindustanTimesBrunch).

HT BRUNCH PRESENTS

READERS’ SPECIAL

366 DAYS OF READING

3RD EDITION

I

Photo: SHUTTERSTOCK

t was the end of 2013. I was making a list of books I wanted to read in 2014 and thinking about New Year resolutions I wanted to take. The two things melted in my brain (because clearly, I cannot multitask) and the #BrunchBookChallenge was born. All you had to do was read at least 24 books in 2014 – an easy feat because it boiled down to a book every two weeks – and tweet to @HTBrunch about it.

We didn’t think anyone was actually going to take the Challenge though, because really, who can commit to something for one whole year? And if a few thousand copies sold are all it takes to make a book a bestseller in India, do people really want to read? The #BrunchBookChallenge trended on that first Sunday of the year – and hundreds of people read through 2014. And they tweeted to us diligently, marking their progress. Nearly 50 completed the Challenge, some thrice over, many months before the year ended.

And suddenly Twitter started to feel like an obscure bookstore. We recommended books, sent out the ones we thought you’d like and we read more than ever!

So thank you for taking the Challenge – it was our favourite thing about 2014. See you next year!

– Saudamini Jain

THE 24 LUCKY S WINNER

@Kritika_n_books @ksouvik @Mehak_Sareen @MinimallyMeh @MiteshJo @nehadivekar @Oxymoron_in @raghavmodi

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS

LOVE IT n This year in Brunch. We trended so many times on

Twitter, we’ve lost count. Excuse us while we get drunk and be merry. Happy New Yeaaaaar! n Popular culture quizzes n That for the first time in years, nobody I know seems to be watching Bigg Boss. #MovingUpInLife n The Hawaizaada trailer. Oh, what a beauty! n Talking in memes

@remotelygirlish @ShagunGogia @shubham757575 @SKisCalvin @subhashkatoch @TariqJR @tmehta16 @vishaldtu

Cover illustrations: SHUTTERSTOCK Cover imaging:

MONICA GUPTA

by Saudamini Jain

n #People #who #type #like #this. #SoAnnoying n The PK controversy n Bedtime reading on tablets. (Plus, research says, it could be bad for you too.) Get an e-book reader! n If you hate summer and winter both n That laziness can leave your bones brittle

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Rachel Lopez, Aastha Atray Banan, Veenu Singh, Satarupa Paul, Saudamini Jain, Asad Ali, Nihit Bhave, Atisha Jain

DECEMBER 28, 2014

What makes you extraordinary? It could be the story of your life (like going from rags to riches). You could have done something out of the ordinary (like taking an unconventional decision that took the world on). Or something ordinary but heartwarming (like falling in love for the first time at 55). It could be a quirky hobby (like collecting matchboxes), a curious habit (like learning a new language every year). It could even be some great advice (like making a fully functional robot).

Send us a little note (not more than 250 words) about an extraordinary something in your life.

The best entries will be verified and then, we’ll call you – and interview you

THE RULES OF THE GAME

SPECIAL THANKS TO: HarperCollins India, Bloomsbury India, Rupa Publications, Aleph Book Company, Westland, Pan Macmillan India, Penguin Books India and Random House India for the big, fat cartons of books they sent us!

On The Brunch Radar

We’ve been writing about famous people and not-famous-but-interesting people. But it’s time we celebrated the ones who matter most: you, our readers.

So we invite you to be our celebrities for one issue, to be featured in Brunch

ry Extraordina (adj) al or Very unusuble a rk a m re

Of all the people who completed the Challenge, we picked 24 through a draw of lots. Then, we asked publishing houses to send us some books and added more from the Brunch bookshelves. We also got a few other reading-related things and packed BUMPER BOOK HAMPERS for you guys. Congratulations! For those who didn’t win, we’ll keep sending you books anyway, we promise. We hope to see you on the #BrunchBookChallenge again in 2015. Watch this space for an update next week. We have exciting plans! @aastha_jain08 @abhinavcj @amanhimself @Anusha14Dsouza @AyeNuMe @bhatiapragya @ChitraAhanthem @Kits

THE EXTRAORDINARY LIVES OF ORDINARY PEOPLE STARRING YOU!

SHOVE IT

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

1. It has to be something that has not been written about previously.

If it has been featured in any publication before, your entry will be disqualified.

2. Send your entries to brunchletters@hindustantimes. com with the subject: Brunch Readers’ Special

3. It must include your name, age, photo, occupation, address and phone number 4. There must not be any ongoing legal dispute regarding the incident you’re writing to us about.

5. Deadline: You must email us on or before January 4 (Sunday).

Stuff That Happened Last Sunday Fabulous job,, Aastha Atray Banan! Interviewing viewing Love the ersatile like a man so versatile #ChristmasReads THE Karan Johar ar is recommended in obviouslyy a tough job. today’s Brunch -@Anusha14Dsouza ed.

Very nicely presented.

– Rohan Sharma

What an am azing insight into th the #worldsg e life of Love David reatestDJ. G HT Brunch! uetta, love - Abhinav A rora

We’ve got tons of entries for the third ed Readers’ Spe ition of our but that shouldcial (look up!) on ry fro fr m sending n’t stop you sto r ve co Lovely yo most his of e On hesitate. Writ urs. Don’t ... r ha @karanjo e to us! iews! erv int ing az am & honest is d rey “G ote qu the Loved rikadatta reality” - @sagga Find Hindustan Times Brunch on eet Facebook or tweet to @HTBrunch or

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

har’s’s attitudde towards life, and his hardks anJoohar Love @KaranJ Than nal. ome phen ly simp is age this at working instinct for the great read - @DigitalSumit

FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT National – Sanchita Tyagi: sanchita.tyagi@hindustantimes.com North – Siddarth Chopra: siddarth.chopra@hindustantimes.com North – Shaila Thakur: shaila.thakur@hindustantimes.com West – Karishma Makhija: karishma.makhija@hindustantimes.com South – Sharbani Ghosh: sharbani.ghosh@hindustantimes.com

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The best part about doing an end-year recap on cinema is not always about revisiting the whole movie. A particular comic scene may have cracked us up, a rather corny line might have stuck on long after credits rolled, or a ‘party-type’ song may have been all the rage.

Here’s a dekko at what made news with films by Asad Ali

MOMENTS

Each year some films give us ‘side-dish’ memories, even if we forget ‘that actor’ who was awesome in ‘that 2014 movie.’

Here’s a likely list for this year

ADAPTATIONS

The transition from book to film is always tricky. Here are some of the most talked-about ones

Dedh Ishqiya: The Abhishek Chaubey film taught audiences about Ismat Chughtai and the ‘gay scene’ she wrote in her short story, Lihaaf. Why? Because the talented and gorgeous duo of Begum Para (Madhuri DixitNene) and Muniya (Huma Qureshi) shared an intimate scene even as the other irrepressible pair of Khalujan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) pulled a ‘lihaaf’ over their eyes.

Haider: Apart from a daring attempt at making a perspectiveoriented film on Kashmir, we have to thank Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider for giving us the word ‘chutzpah’ (which sounds similar to AFSPA).

Mary Kom: Should a pretty Punjabi kudi play the role of a five-time boxing champ from Manipur? That was the raging debate around this biopic directed by Omung Kumar.

Bang Bang: Hrithik Roshan used the hashtag #bangbangdare to challenge fellow actors in the industry to do stunts. From Ranveer Singh doing a patent Roshan dance move in a Krrish costume to Shraddha Kapoor singing “Bang Bang,” the stunts went viral, and so did the buzz around the movie.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge: The 1995 Hindi romance written and directed by Aditya Chopra, which changed the way an entire generation looked at romance and marriage, completed a mindboggling 1,000 weeks at the Maratha Mandir, Mumbai in December!

Liar’s Dice: Directed by Geetu Mohandas, this road drama created the perfect buzz in film festivals abroad, even becoming India’s official

Oscar entry for 2015.

Bombay Velvet: Anurag Kashyap fans rejoice! The director will look to draw in the crowds with this film about a Mumbai streetfighter. And a stellar cast (Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar)

Two States: Another gem from Chetan Bhagat’s repertoire was converted into a Bollywood film this year. Alia Bhatt playing the female lead helped, of course.

The Fault in Our Stars: John Green’s 2012 novel was adapted for the big screen by an American director Josh Boon.

Gone Girl: David Fincher came out with his 2014 film based on Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name.

This Ben Affleck-starring thriller pulled in the crowds successfully.

Fifty Shades of Grey: The ‘sex book’ that sold millions of copies is being made into a movie. Trailers were out this year showcasing female lead Dakota Johnson sighing deeply! Jamie Dornan will be playing Christian Grey and the film will be out on 14 February, 2015.

ALPHA FEMALES!

If there ever was a time to say “more power to women,” at least in the context of Bollywood cinema, it would probably be 2014!

Highway [February]: Directed

by Imtiaz Ali, this Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda starrer was another road movie to hit theatres. It got Bhatt loads of acclaim and truly brought her into the limelight. A bold role to choose for Bhatt and it did wonders for her career!

Queen [March]: The Vikas Bahldirected venture had the lead character of Rani - who goes off on her honeymoon alone after her husband ditches her - was exceptionally well played by Kangana Ranaut.

Gulaab Gang [March]: Jog your memory to remember the last time Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla shared screen space together in a film. Well, they didn’t. Until March

FINAL GOODBYES

A number of eminent people from the world of cinema, both India and abroad, passed away this year, leaving behind a rich legacy, and incredible standards for the present generation to live up to.

Some of the names: Zohra Sehgal, Richard Attenborough, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Deven Varma, Suchitra Sen and Robin Williams.

KHAN-DAAN

Let’s face it. There are three clearly divided camps even amongst Khan fans, at least most of the time. But thankfully Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir ensure their fans get a yearly fill of the Khan mania.

Salman Khan retained his glory with Kick. He played Devi, a smart, invincible guy who seeks the ‘kick’ in most things in life.

Audience whistle point: “Dil mein aata hoon, samajh mein nahin.” Right!

Shah Rukh Khan gifted his fans Happy New Year around Diwali. He played Charlie, a smart street fighter out to avenge his father’s death. He gathers a group of men and the leggy Mohini (Deepika

1,000 WEEKS

DECEMBER 28, 2014

2014 when both featured in a crimedrama film Gulaab Gang. Dixit plays Rajjo, a vigilante group leader, and Chawla plays Sumitra, a sly politician. Safe to say that sparks flew both on and off screen.

Bobby Jasoos [July]: A female detective in Indian cinema? Enter Bobby Jasoos! Vidya Balan in the role of Bobby dresses up as a beggar, peon, astrologer etc. all in the course of solving ‘cases.’ Refreshing departure from the trend of onlymales-can-be-smartass-sleuths.

Mardani [August]: This Pradeep Sarkar-directed film saw Rani Mukerji play the role of tough cop Shivani who beats up goons and sprays expletives generously.

INTERSTELLAR

One of Hollywood’s biggest names right now, Christopher Nolan, gave the world and his fans Interstellar. Suddenly everyone online and offline, was reading about wormholes, theories of relativity and the extrainverse-flexivity of space (just made up the last bit). We thank Nolan for making a grand space film. Not so much for the physics though.

should help.

Star Wars Episode VII - The Force Awakens: The epic George Lucaspenned space saga will hit theatres in late 2015.

Directed by JJ Abrams, the story will be set approximately 30 years

after the events of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. May the force be with all the fans out there!

Padukone) and goes about robbing a bank. Audience whistle point: Deepika Padukone singing ‘Main lovely ho gayi yaar.’

Aamir Khan’s annual attempt at intelligent cinema came with the much-hyped PK. Directed

by Rajkumar Hirani, the film will definitely be remembered for Aamir’s rather risque poster, if not for anything else. Audience whistle point: Refer to above (an unclothed Aamir with a transistor placed strategically on his body).

Bajirao Mastani: Sanjay Leela Bhansali will look to weave magic with this 2015 multi-starrer (Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, and Priyanka Chopra) based on the life of Maratha general Baji Rao I.

twitter.com/HTBrunch

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The saas-bahus took a backseat. Indian television was starstruck instead – literally. We binged on American shows, bid a sad farewell to some, and got hooked on to new finds... because there’s no such thing as “too much TV”

by Satarupa Paul

HIT THE RATINGS

Comedy Nights with Kapil first aired in June 2013. In just over a year, the comedy show became the biggest non-fiction programme on Indian TV. And in just over a year, its host Kapil Sharma, who had had to make three attempts to win The Great Indian Laughter Challenge a few years

MOST TALKED ABOUT TV SHOW

Matthew McConaughey is hot! But McConaughey as a brooding, depressed detective solving gory murders in bleak, eerie Louisiana? Outstanding.

Add a terrific complex storyline, throw in goosebumpinducing cinematography and you have the most talked about TV show of the year – True Detective.

TOP RUNNERS

ago, became the highest paid TV artist in the country. (He’s also supposed to have become very very difficult to deal with).

• Sharma reportedly charges `10 lakh for each episode. Rumour has it that the figure is actually `50 lakh.

His team refuses to comment.

• He demanded `1.25 crore for hosting the extra innings of Celebrity Cricket League.

• Eighty films have been promoted on his show so far.

• Sharma will make his film debut in Abbas-Mustan’s next. He was set to debut in Yash Raj Films’ Bank Chor, but the film and his three- movie deal with YRF fell through.

GOODBYE

We loved How I Met Your Mother, and we were sad when it came to an end in March this year.

It was one of the most popular American sitcoms after F.R.I.E.N.D.S. But after nine seasons and 208 episodes of being with Ted and his friends, we were left highly disappointed with the finale.

It didn’t have to be so morose and we definitely wanted more of our favourite character Barney doing his “Legen-wait-for-it-dary” stuff one last time.

AXN: Sherlock, 24 - Live Another Day, Blue Bloods HBO Defined: Game of Thrones, The Newsroom, Silicon Valley Star World Premiere: Homeland, Downton Abbey, The Blacklist FX: Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, American Horror Story Comedy Central: The Graham Norton Show, Anger Management, Suits

TURNING TIDES

After years of soppy, over-the-top saas-bahu sagas, our TV sets saw a refreshing change in June this year when a new channel called Zindagi launched. It brought several beautifully made shows from Pakistan, with limited episodes, high production values, and a bevy of good looking actors – what’s not to love!

(Except that the themes continued to revolve around the family).

Also, India’s first genre-specific Hindi channel, Epic, launched in November. With shows like Dharamkshetra, Dariba Diaries, Ekaant and others, it intends to celebrate the country’s heritage, mythology and history.

OVERHEARD OVER COFFEE

All that made headlines on Koffee With Karan: Anushka Sharma’s ‘duck’ lips, Sonam Kapoor’s “You know what I mean”, Nargis Fakhri and Freida Pinto pushed to the late-night slot because of “mature content.”

ANTICS AT THE AWARDS

The awards ceremonies were in a race to outdo each other on funny, witty, embarrassing and memorable moments that sent social media into overdrive.

• Setting the trend was Ellen Degeneres at the 86th annual Academy Awards when she ordered pizzas for the audience. Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Brangelina, among others were spotted grabbing a slice.

• Our desi Oscar, the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) made headlines across the world too, when the two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey draped a lungi over his tux and joined Deepika Padukone in an impromptu Lungi Dance.

John Travolta showed off dance moves too with Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra.

• Hollywood star Johnny Depp rounded off the antics at the awards with his drunken speech at the Hollywood Film Awards in Los Angeles.

The End of Mad Men Our favourite Madison Avenue folks from the 1960s will return to our living rooms one last time next year. The last seven episodes of the final season of Mad Men will be aired in April, 2015. Let’s get those glasses of Old Fashioned ready, and hope the makers, as Don Draper says, “Make it simple but significant.”

Better Call Saul We loved Breaking Bad and we rejoiced as the cast and crew of the crime drama series came together at the Emmys this year (where they bagged awards in almost all the major categories), after the show ended last year. And now, we are more than excited for the spin-off Better Call Saul, which is set to premiere in early 2015.

Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat

BIG DEBUTS AND BIGGER DUDS Amitabh Bachchan in Yudh, “the most expensive fiction show on Indian television.” Expectations were huge, the excitement was palpable but Yudh simply bombed!

Supposedly a “psychological thriller miniseries,” it hardly challenged you psychologically, except to make you wonder why the Big B was always sweating so profusely. Too sombre, with a dragging pace, it didn’t end up as the thriller it was meant to be.

Ashutosh Gowariker and AR Rahman in Everest, “the most ambitious project on Indian television.” One famous filmmaker, one Oscar-winning music director, one great mountain… formula for a clear win? Not quite. The telenovella (of an ordinary girl trying to do extraordinary things – like climbing Everest) is disappointing.

DECEMBER 28, 2014

History seems to be the flavour of the season and riding on the success of shows like Jodha Akbar, Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap, and Buddha, author Ashok Banker (of Prince of Ayodhya fame) is adapting the epic story of India’s greatest king for TV. The trailer looks super slick; we only hope that the show (on Colors) will be as exciting.

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LOOKING BACK

We spent more time on the Internet this year than ever.

We also featured incredible gadgets, apps and other technology week after week. Lots happened on social

THE BEST MOM IN THE WORLD!

Yep, that’s right. With the spacecraft MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) or Mangalyaan, India became the first nation in the world to reach the Mars Orbit on the very first attempt. And the official Twitter handle for MOM gained lakhs of followers with its entertaining tweets. Sample this gem: “What is red, is a planet and is the focus of my orbit?” It was among the first tweets sent out and was instantly retweeted thousands of times.

media too – a lot of it was very, very funny. And some, super cool. Take a look at what made the most buzz

by Asad Ali and Saudamini Jain

A FOR APPLE

SELFIE LOVE

The art of taking your own photograph with your phone made much progress and news in 2014 Can a monkey assert copyright? Wikimedia definitely thinks so. British nature photographer David Slater, while on a trip to Indonesia, was trying to get a picture of a crested black macaque, when the monkey snatched his camera and well, took a selfie. It became popular online instantly. Wikimedia added the photograph to its list of royalty-free images, since it wasn’t Slater but the monkey that pressed the shutter button. The courts are yet to decide on who really owns the photo!

The selfie stick is born! Yes, it’s an actual device which helps to put the phone at a range beyond your arms to take the perfect selfie!

The world went crazy. Again. It was the year when the next version of hallowed Apple products – iPhones 6, 6 plus & Apple Watch – were launched and consumers were expectedly delirious with joy

In other news, Ellen DeGeneres, who hosted the Oscars this year got Bradley Cooper to click a selfie with a group of celebs. Then tweeted it.

Here’s what happened next: 1. It was forwarded on Twitter more than two million times by the time the Oscar ceremony was done, crashing Twitter briefly.

2. Samsung had sponsored the event. (Reportedly they paid $20 million). A Samsung phone was used to click the selfie. For weeks, everybody debated whether it was a plug or just coincidence.

3. Lupita Nyong’o’s brother Peter photobombed it.

The thing that was supposed to break the Internet, but didn’t.

Kim Kadarshian posed nude for CENSORED Paper magazine.

At first you saw her well-oiled bottom. And then full frontal. The Internet survived. Our eyes will never be the same again.

The thing that wasn’t supposed to break the Internet, but did: Remember Psy? That super K-pop sensation whose moves you tried to copy all through 2012 and a better part of 2013?

His Gangnam Style was viewed so many

millions times that, two years later, YouTube could no longer continue counting. And as a result, it had to upgrade its tally tool, so that it can accommodate videos with more than 2.147 billion views.

When the Internet broke a celebrity: Priyanka Chopra decided to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) – where people directly ask celebrities whatever they want – with her fans on Reddit.

They asked her about that road renamed in Andheri after Chopra’s father; her endorsement of fairness products and the importance of auto-tune in her singing career.

She did not answer most questions. D’oh!

Sarthak Agarwal, who topped the CBSE Class XII Boards with 99.6 per cent became a meme

Virtual wallets: The trend of paying via your mobile phone looks set to keep growing.

Apple already did it with Apple Pay but e-wallets may redefine the way we pay in future.

Streaming services: HBO has announced a standalone streaming service independent of a cable or satellite subscription in 2015. If other production houses follow suit, it’s bad news for local cable companies, especially in India!

3D printing: The technology isn’t new, but the applications have been significant in 2014.

Bengaluru-based Altem Technologies made headlines this year with their 3D-printed Ganesha idols on Ganesh Chaturthi!

Mamta Memes: Alok Nath memes stormed social media in 2013 – and continued in 2014. In 2015, we’d like to throw the spotlight to curvy Mamta Kulkarni. She’s got a good resume – a topless photoshoot, item num-

DECEMBER 28, 2014

ROFL-TYPE VIDEOS

1. Bollywood Aam Aadmi Party: Arnab’s Qitiyapa by The Viral Fever.

A spoof news debate where Arnab tries to investigate a new production house which claims to change Indian cinema forever 2. All India Bakchod’s (AIB) Nayak 2: The Common Man Rises where fake Arvind Kejriwal met real Alok Nath. #YoKejriwalSoHonest 3. Alia Bhatt: The Koffee With Karan clip where she says “Prithvi Raj Chauhan” was the president of the country and then the AIB mockumentary starring her

THE INTERVIEW THAT WENT WRONG

n #100DaysOfHappiness

What it was: The idea was to post photos of things that make you happy for 100 days in the year, using the hashtag #100DaysOfHappiness.

Great start-of-the-year thing, we saw puppies and steaming mugs of coffee and gorgeous hardcover books and screenshots of emails and text messages.

When it got annoying: In a week.

Around the time when you posted your seventh glass of wine. Happy people don’t drink so much. n 10 Books That Stayed With You What it was: This had been around for about a year but went viral only this year. The idea was to list your ten favourite books.

When it got annoying: When people faked their way through it – we find it hard to believe that so many people read and love Murakami. And it was depressing to see lists full of Chetan Bhagat, Ravinder Singh and Durjoy Dutta. n Ice Bucket Challenge What it was: Somebody took water, often full of ice cubes and dumped it over their heads. They then nominated people they knew to do the same. Celebrities did it, regular people did it – Justin Bieber got about one million “likes” for it. And it was all for a good cause: to raise money and awareness for the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association.

When it got annoying: When we realised that nobody we knew actually donated any money.

Selfitis: The need to take selfies. The term was classified as a mental disorder by The American Psychiatric Association, reported a Website. The news was shared by many media outlets. As it turns out, it was a hoax!

BREAKING BAD – AND HOW BAD

2014 WAS A CHALLENGING YEAR

The Seth Rogen-Evan Goldberg directed parody film The Interview (a comedy about an assassination attempt on Kim Jong-un) was slated to release in late 2014 but earned the wrath of Kim Jong-un loyalists. Allegedly North Korean cyber-terrorists hacked the servers of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and managed to stop the film’s release.

It does save the audience from cringe-inducing acting by Rogen and James Franco, but dents the concept of creative expression.

(At the time of going to press, there were reports that Sony gave the go ahead to screen the film at select US theatres on Christmas day).

IT’S TIME

Soon, when someone asks “Can I have the time?” (and you happen to own a smartwatch), you can offer much more than that – at least if the plethora of wearable accessories this year gains enough market traction!

Health advice, electronic payment, or phone calls, the age of the smartwatch truly seems upon us. bers, re-emergence as a yogini. And her alleged arrest on charges of drug trafficking. Plus, there’s news of a film based on her life by Jayesh Seth.

But can Miss Kulkarni shake up social media as much as Babuji?!

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LOOKING BACK

With the football World Cup, Asian Games, Olympics and Commonwealth Games, 2014 was packed with bigticket sporting action. We bring you the brightest stars...

ROHIT’S DOUBLE BLAST

173 balls, 264 runs, 33 fours, 9 sixes Borivali Bomber Rohit Sharma’s explosive knock helped him create a world record for the highest One Day International score against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens.

Interestingly, all four double tons in ODIs have been made by Indian batsmen.

The Two Tonners Sachin Tendulkar: 200 not out against South Africa at Gwalior, 2010 Virender Sehwag: 219 against West Indies at Indore, 2011 Rohit Sharma: 209 against Australia at Bangalore, 2013

KABADDI, KABADDI, KABADDI....

The Indian kabaddi team has for long been considered the most successful in the world. But 2014 brought these home-grown heroes into our drawing rooms. Over the five weeks that it was held, the Pro Kabaddi League was viewed by 435 million viewers in India. This made it the second-most viewed tournament in the country after the IPL, which was viewed by 552 million cricket fans this year. On August 31, one out of every four television viewers in the country was watching the Pro Kabaddi final-day coverage.

ACE VENTURA

NOT QUITE CRICKET

Two tennis icons catalysed the entry of big-ticket tennis leagues into India in 2014. The Champions Tennis League promoted by Vijay Amritraj featured five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis, current World No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska and former Wimbledon champ Pat Cash among others.

And the International Premier Tennis League backed by Mahesh Bhupathi boasted tennis legend Roger Federer amongst 20 other Grand Slam champions.

On November 25, during a domestic match between New South Wales and South Australia, a bouncer by Sean Abbott hit Phillip Hughes on the back of his head. Tragically, Hughes never regained consciousness. Bouncers have bloodied the 22-yard pitch a number of times: l In 1962, Indian captain Nari Contractor was hit by a menacing Charlie Griffith delivery. He lost consciousness for six days and underwent a number of surgeries to save his life. But his career was cut short and he never played another Test match. l In 1975, Kiwi Ewen Chatfield nearly lost his life after a snorter from English bowler Peter Laver hit him. Chatfield swallowed his tongue and could survive only after an English physio resuscitated him.

Shuttle from India: The All England Open Badminton Championships in March are where Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal might want to emulate her former coach Pullela Gopichand. If the performances of Common-

wealth gold winner P Kashyap, China Open champions Kidambi Srikanth and PV Sindhu are any indication, 2015 might see fans smiling year to year.

The Defenders: After tasting defeat at

DECEMBER 28, 2014

In the world of literature, a glut of biographies from actors, politicians and sportsmen ensured non-fiction ruled the bestselling charts by Aasheesh Sharma & Saudamini Jain

HOW INCHEON WAS WON When the men’s kabaddi team beat Iran in the final, India’s Asian Games contingent in Incheon, South Korea, completed a medal haul of 57 medals. But more than the numbers, the manner in which a few of India’s women athletes made headlines during the games – for reasons good and bad – was interesting. l MC Mary Kom punched her way to strike gold at the age of 31. The mother of three also inspired a Bollywood biopic featuring Priyanka Chopra in the lead. She was the subject of a Brunch cover

THE DESI KICK

More than a million fans visited stadia across the country to watch the inaugural Hero Indian Super League. In the final on December 20, Atletico de Kolkata beat Kerala Blasters, thanks to a goal

by Mohammad Rafique in the dying minutes.

English pace bowler Bob Willis stuck Australia’s Rick Darling during the Adelaide Test in 1978. Darling’s chewing gum became lodged in his throat and he nearly choked to death. l Phil Simmons was struck in the head by a David Lawrence delivery and underwent brain surgery in 1988. He recovered and resumed his international career next year. l Former Indian opener Raman Lamba lost his life when he was hit on the head while fielding at forward short leg during a club match in Bangladesh in 1998. l

Adelaide and Brisbane in the Test series, defending champions India may find it tough doing an encore at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, being co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia in February and March.

Can Shikhar, Virat

story in our September 19 issue. l Middle distance runner Tintu Luka, the daughter of a mason from Kerala, left her poor childhood behind when she found a mentor in Olympic legend PT Usha and silenced her critics by winning the 800 metres silver. l With the world watching, boxer Laishram Sarita Devi refused to receive her bronze at the medals ceremony to protest against ‘biased umpiring.’

The boxing administrators punched back, by handing her a one-year ban.

BRAZIL MEMORIES Even if you disregard Luis Suarez’s vampire-like exploits, there were quite a few other eye-popping moments in the World Cup Football tournament held in Brazil this year. Read on: l James Rodriguez’s masterpiece of a strike against Uruguay at the Maracana that stunned the opposition and created a stir at the World Cup. l Robin van Persie’s spectacular diving header that drew comparisons with Superman, against Spain l Brazil’s 1-7 mauling in the semifinal against Germany l Neymar’s unforeseen injury.

The brilliant Brazilian fractured a vertebra in the host’s victory over Colombia and the Beautiful Game lost some of its lustre at its highest stage.

and Umesh do a Sachin, Gambhir and Praveen?

Save the date: India versus Pakistan at Adelaide on February 15.

Watch out for: Hockey wizard and three-time Olympic champion Dhyan Chand finally getting his due with a Khel Ratna.

CHETAN BHAGAT IS HAUNTED BY JHA Madhav Jha, the protagonist of Bhagat’s “blockbuster” Half Girlfriend is jinxed. Not only does he say ‘Deti hai to de varna kat le,’ he has other problems too. The erstwhile royal family of Dumraon sent a legal notice to Bhagat and the publisher, Rupa, for being portrayed as a family full of “alcoholics” and “gamblers”.

They want an apology, a recall of all uncirculated copies and the removal of their name and references from future copies. Bhagat indignantly declared, “...I have made Dumraon famous.”

Plus, Dr Birbal Jha, a Patna academic, claims that Bhagat got the plot from his play Englishia Boli.

He said Bhagat met him earlier in the year, and Jha (who shares a last name with Bhagat’s hero) showed him a copy of the play, which is also about a Patna boy falling in love with a Delhi girl.

BOOKSHOPPING LIST

l Family

Life by Akhil Sharma: It starts off as a sweet immigrant novel and turns into a harrowing tale of what happens to a family when one child suffers a terrible accident l No Country by Kalyan Ray: Spread across two continents over two centuries – potato fields in Ireland, mangrove forests in Bengal, an iceberg in the Atlantic, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Partition – there is murder and love and a search for identity l The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee: A big, maladjusted Bengali family – with drama, bitchiness and some sweet moments. And a dark account of Naxalism l Being Mortal by Atul Gawande: About life and the end of life, this moving book on medicine was on US President Obama’s reading list l The Way Things Were by Aatish Taseer: The story of a broken family, which will also take you through the Emergency, the Sikh riots and the demolition of Babri Masjid right up to the present, and the rise of the Right. l A Clutch of Indian Masterpieces, edited by David Davidar: Hands down the most beautiful book of the year – and one you must own.

twitter.com/HTBrunch

IT BEGAN WITH A PENGUIN & ENDED WITH A TIGER

February: Penguin India, in an out-of-court settlement, agreed to withdraw Wendy Doniger’s acclaimed book The Hindus, and pulp its remaining copies.

Right-wing Hindu group Shiksha Bachao Andolan had filed a lawsuit against Doniger for “hurt[ing] the religious feelings of millions of Hindus” – a violation of the Indian Penal Code.

Apparently, a notice was also served to Aleph Book Company, the publisher of Doniger’s previous book On Hinduism, demanding that it be withdrawn too. It is over this controversy, it was reported, that co-publisher Ravi Singh resigned, because he was “uncomfortable” with the way it was being handled. In June, however, Aleph reprinted On Hinduism.

And by September, Singh started a new publishing house, Speaking Tiger.

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IN THE ABSENCE OF GOOD FILM JOURNALISM, THERE ARE BOOKS l Dilip Kumar: The Sub-

stance And The Shadow: An Autobiography (written with Udayatara Nayar) Find out why Dilip Kumar and Madhubala never married (because her father wanted to turn the marriage into a “business venture”) l Conversations with Waheeda Rehman by Nasreen Munni Kabir: The first book about one of Bollywood’s most beautiful actresses ever. It’s very charming l And Then One Day by Naseeruddin Shah: Naseer’s life is very inspiring. The memoir makes him sound like a difficult man though. Perhaps to offset that, the man who rarely gives interviews was all over the press

l Two books on Rajesh Khanna: Gautam Chintamani’s Dark Star is more about Rajesh Khanna and his films – with an introduction from Sharmila Tagore. Yasser Usman’s The Untold Story of India’s First Superstar is more about his life with inputs from several people who knew Kaka well – with an introduction from Salim Khan. But really, if you like Rajesh Khanna, just get both the books. (There’s also a third in the pipeline, we hear)

THE BIG YAWN

Playing It My Way by Sachin Tendulkar and Boria Majumdar: An autobiography which broke all records even in pre-subscription (1,50,000 copies had been ordered before the book was released) said NOTHING new and turned out to be such a dud. Still, it’s Sachin.

LOK SABHA ELECTIONS = POLITICAL BOOKS = MASS INDIGNATION l The Accidental Prime Minister

by Sanjaya Baru: About Manmohan Singh by his then media advisor.

Lines: I once jokingly remarked to Dr Singh that in Vajpayee’s time the principal secretary functioned as if he were the PM, while in his case it was being said that the PM functioned like a principal secretary. l One Life is Not Enough by Natwar Singh: The autobiography of former External Affairs minister.

(But, really, it’s more of an “insider’s account” of the Gandhi family) Lines: Rahul said that he was prepared to take any possible step to

prevent his mother from taking up the prime ministership. l The Election That Changed India

by Rajdeep Sardesai: Anecdotes from the 2014 elections – politicians and newsrooms by a TV journalist.

Highlight: How and why the Rahul Gandhi TV interview went wrong l NaMo books: Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times by Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay was critical and hence, an ‘authorised-turned-unauthorised’ biography. The NAMO story by Kingshuk Nag had interesting bits about the 2002 Gujarat riots. More are set for 2015.

In My Defence by A Raja: Self-explanatory.

The 2G scam is back.

Sophia: Princess, Suffragette, Revolutionary by Anita Anand: Biography of an Indian princess and goddaughter of Queen Victoria who turned from a scruffy little child (of a family in disgrace) to a socialite to a suffragette.

RIP: Ravan and Eddie

by Kiran Nagarkar: The last in the trilogy.

If you love Mumbai, read the first two.

Gunahon Ka Devta by Dharamvir Bharati (tr.

Poonam Saxena): The best love story ever, translated from Hindi by the editor of your favourite magazine.

Aarushi: Anatomy of a Murder by Avirook Sen: A journalist’s account of the Aarushi Talwar murder case – and its aftermath.

Flood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh: It’s Opium time with the final book of the Ibis trilogy.

The Patna Manual of Style: Stories by Siddharth Chowdhury: He doesn’t write as often as he should!

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LOOKING BACK

Some awed us, some plain confused us. Some styles and people were conspicuous by their absence. Trendspotting was incredibly fun this year by Satarupa Paul

STUNNER OF THE YEAR

BUZZWORD

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in a gold Roberto Cavalli fishtail gown at Cannes 2014 (this was her 12th appearance at the festival).

We think it’s her best Cannes appearance ever. Also, Ash in another sizzling silver Roberto Cavalli number at the Miss World 2014 pageant – such fab! Apparently, her Cannes gown was worn once before at the Oscars this year by American singer Kristin Chenoweth.

Nobody remembers, nobody cares.

Normcore, defined as “a trend in which ordinary, unfashionable clothing is worn as a deliberate fashion statement” was shortlisted for Oxford’s Word of the Year for 2014.

From Milan to Paris to New York, it was one of the biggest fashion trends on the ramps.

Word has it that President Obama, often derided for his lack of sartorial acumen, also found fashion refuge in this trend.

BIG FAT NUMBERS

`40 crore

The amount that Nita Ambani draped on herself in the form of a sari. It featured reproductions of 11 paintings by Raja Ravi Verma and entered the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s costliest sari.

£45,000

The amount Romeo Beckham, David Beckham’s 12-year-old son, cashed in for one day’s work as a model for high-end fashion brand Burberry, making him one of the world’s highest-earning models.

WE DO GIVE A ‘F’

WHEN THE FLOWERS BLOOMED

Calvin Klein, in their new underwear campaign, featured a US size 10 model. Although it ignited a lot of social media ire (“If she’s plus size, I must be extra plus plus”) the model technically falls into the plus size.

Victoria’s Secret was mired in controversy when they featured their angels with the slogan “The Perfect ‘Body’”. Critics called it “offensive and damaging to women.”

The slogan was promptly replaced with, “A Body for Every Body.”

American Vogue featured a beautiful lingerie shoot with five ‘body positive’ models and a headline that went, “Give me a D! Give me a F! Because gorgeous bras come in all shapes and sizes.”

2014 definitely was the year when we embraced the plus size.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee is known to make brides glimmer and grooms gleam. This year, the master of Indian couture made them bloom. His collection of floral sherwanis was baroque, tipsy, and as some thought, almost overwhelming. Depends on how you see it, they were either outright outrageous or oh-so-much-fun! To love it or to hate it? The verdict at Brunch was divided. Either way, it was definitely the standout look of the year.

Denim We ignored it the last few seasons, but it will be back in a big way in 2015 with sequins, floral prints et al.

Androgyny Men, take the backseat. Because this new year, trouser suits, boyfriendjeans and power dressing are all for the girls.

DECEMBER 28, 2014

Lady Gaga We missed her this year.

We hope the style icon will be back in her quirky avatars in 2015.

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LOOKING BACK

Maybe you made reservations, maybe you didn’t, maybe you ate at the chef’s table, maybe you turned chef yourself. It’s been a full plate for diners this year by Rachel Lopez

DRINKS

Microbreweries Matured: Mumbai’s The White Owl, The Barking Deer and others poured their first craft beers this year. In Gurgaon, Pint Room, Vapour et al kept the good times going.

Cheers To Tea: Tea lounges opened, tastings got popular. Imported teas came home. Even Lipton and Tata launched new ranges.

Wine List: Raise your flutes to a new-found confidence among winemakers after years of grappling with the economy, bad crop and terror attacks. New wines, new collaborations and labels and lots of new imports to toast to.

SMALL BITES

Science Served Up: Spice Klub in Mumbai and Indian Food Lab in Delhi served Indian takes on molecular cuisine: Coriander foam, deconstructed vada pao and pav bhaji fondue!

Cheese Platter: In Delhi, Elefheria, in Mumbai, Spotted Cow Fromagerie. Both offered handcrafted, gourmet cheese. We will not say ‘artisanal’.

Limited Edition: Delhi’s Guppy by ai and Diva did a pop up in Mumbai, art galleries and home stores got converted into short-term restaurants. Delhi even had a secret pop-up dessert tasting for sweet-toothed priviliged people.

GETTING GRILLED NEW ADDITIONS

Grease Please: Chefs and experts predicted 2014 to be the year of health food.

Instead, food just got more indulgent with bigger servings and dessert mash-ups, like, eww, cronuts.

Basa Be Gone: 2013’s buttery discovery became 2014’s most overused fish.

Foreign Flop: The FSSAI’s new labelling requirements for imported food held up consignments worth `25,000 crore at ports. One bitter result? Lindt pulled out of India.

Chef’s Special: Finally, chefs took on bloggers and critics on social media, pointing out how little their diners knew (and who the freeloaders were) – just like Chef, the movie.

Thoda Specific: Multicuisine is so over.

Regional cuisines, both Indian and foreign, may just make it to regular menus. And may we dare hope for North-Eastern food in Mumbai?

Munching In Mumbai: Burma Burma for vegetarian Burmese, Heng Bok for Korean cuisine, Sai Zen and Yukka for Japanese, Byblos for Greek and Terttulia if you miss Pune.

Dining in Delhi: Two new places for Parsi delicacies, an Indigo Deli (at last), a Pizza Express, Royce, Natural’s Ice Cream. Plus a Fatburger, and two Mexican restaurants.

Oh, and Cyberhub gave Gurgaon a place to chill.

Work and Play: Social opened in Mumbai and Delhi, offering a place for long chats, freelancers and work meetings. Yes, yes, the public calls it ‘Sho-Shull’ in both cities.

WE RECOMMEND

Going Off the Menu: Restaurants and food enterprises sent chefs to cook in home kitchens, organised chef’s tables, let you eat at a stranger’s home, orchestrated cook-and eat classes, food hunts, meat marathons and gourmet food fairs.

Food for Thought: At least 25 food-themed (non-cookbook) books came out this year. When are you writing yours?

Note: All items can be made veg on request; even Masterchef India. In Ahmedabad, a 21-course meal launched this year, all veg.

Light Bites: Look out for modern versions of cuisines. Think Asianinspired salads (not som tam), flavoured rice (not kadhi-chawal), and stir-fries without goopy schezwan sauce.

Paisa-Vasool Plonk: Drinking places are getting cheaper and cheaper (and funner).

There’s no reason they’ll stop in 2015. Isn’t that good news?

Cheers!

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Music hit new notes this year, both high and low. While Salman Khan songs and Honey Singh remixes ruled the charts, music festivals like Supersonic and Magnetic Fields kept the indie fever going. Here’s singing 2014 out in style by Aastha Atray Banan and Nihit Bhave

HONEY, I BLEW UP THE CHARTS

DANCE CENTRAL

Yo Yo gave us a weather update (Aaj Blue Hai Paani Paani Paani Paani Paani Paani, Aur Din Bhi Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny Sunny), drunken confessions (Chaar Botal Vodka, Kaam Mera Roz Ka) and a rant-on-loop (Aata Majhi Satalki, Aata Majhi Satakli). He even collaborated with Gulzar (!) on the Dedh Ishqiya song Horn Ok Please.

The man is unstoppable. We can’t even...

You secretly, publicly, drunkenly, unabashedly danced to these throughout the year, EDM be damned: n Bappi Lahiri’s Tune Maari

Entriyaan from Gunday, with those jhakaas Anil Kapoor-style steps. n You channeled your inner Duracell bunny and danced toTera Hero Idhar Hai from Main Tera Hero just like Varun Dhawan did. n You became Kangana Ranaut and danced to London Thumakda from Queen at ALL the summer weddings this year. n Saturday Saturday

MOST WTF LYRICS

n Photo Nathi Toh

AND THE GAME CHANGER WAS…

End Is In The Well from the song Nonsense Ki Raat from Happy New Year n Haan Main Alcoholic Hoon from The Shaukeens (given the box-office collections of your films, Akshay, we guessed as much).

Photocopy Pan Chalse from Jai Ho (Refer to Gujarati dictionary, please) n Hangover[rrrr] Teri Baa[aaaa]ton Ka from Kick (Tried eating some bread, Salman?) n All Is In The Well, When

from Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania where Varun Dhawan was yet again seen jumping and thumping. (Somebody take the Red Bull away from him, please). n Bang Bang title track (though you might not have danced to it, as much as you watched it. And by ‘it’, we mean Hrithik.)

MTV Indies. The launch of the TV channel that promises to only play nonBollywood music turned out to be a boon for indie musicians. We watched in awe as we discovered a world beyond item numbers. It also marked the return of the music video. Our favourite videos on the channel this year included Fuzzy Logic by Guerilla Monsoon and Ready Set Go by The Vinyl Records.

THE FESTIVALS THAT GOT YOU DANCING ALL YEAR If the NH7s, Sunburns and Supersonics weren’t enough for music festival lovers, this year saw the second edition of The Journey, best for the discerning music listener. The festival brought down artists like Bonobo and Snarky Puppy. Year-old entrants like the Enchanted Valley Carnival at Aambey Valley had a line-up of EDM favourites like Chicane and Indian favourites

Jagga Jasoos The big album to look for in 2015.

Apparently, the Ranbir and Katrina starrer has a total of 39 tracks! Dialogues will be sung, which will hopefully save us the dreadful Katrina Kaif style of dialogue-delivery.

Anurag Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet

like Shaa’ir and Func. Then there was the Magnetic Fields Festival, which was held in the beautiful Alsisar Mahal in Rajasthan and featured acts like Midival Punditz (we

and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani. The former promises some kickass jazz tracks, and the latter some nice raag-based classical songs.

Non-Bollywood music The indie party isn’t stopping just yet. American indie band Young the

DECEMBER 28, 2014

still remember their brilliant soundtrack from Monsoon Wedding) and Peter Cat Recording Co. All was good until NH7 set indie lovers hopping mad when they chose to bring down Bollywood music ace Amit Trivedi as their closing act for NH7 Pune. Was India’s most indie festival selling out, or was it a well thought-out strategy? Only time will tell.

Giant, is headlining the Sula Wine Festival this year; the Mahindra Blues line-up includes the legendary Buddy Guy once again, and British death metallers Carcass will be in Mumbai.

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WELLNESS

MIND BODY SOUL SHIKHA SHARMA

For any worries related to unplanned pregnancy:

CAUTION: THE ACID IN YOUR DIET IS DANGEROUS

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

PART-I

A

S AWARENESS grows about naturopathy, the concept of non-invasive, holistic medicine, its practitioners have come to understand that many ailments can be cured simply by changing our diets in a certain way. Some foods and drinks, they realised, create an acidic response in our bodies, whereas other foods create an alkaline response that is known as the alkali effect. Our bodies function best at a pH (measure of acidity) level of 7.4. A pH level higher than this figure makes our bodies alkaline, and lower than this makes it acidic.

Changes in the pH balance can lead to health conditions that range from minor to major.

An acidic pH can lead to the health conditions listed below.

1. HEART BLOCKAGES: Cholesterol weakens and erodes the artery walls. To counter this, fighter and repair cells collect in the arteries. Too many of these cells can form a block, which lead to heart attacks.

3. Dear Doctor, I am 43 years old and had unprotected th intercourse on the 14 day of my cycle. Fearing pregnancy I took an emergency contraceptive pill for the first time ever within 8 hours. As I have not faced any side effect as such, I want to know whether it will cause any problem for me in future.

Emergency contraceptive pills are generally considered safe for most women of all menstruating ages. Therefore, please do not think that at your age you may have some menstrual problems due to these pills. Also, it is considered normal if a woman does not feel any side effects of these pills. If you are still menstruating regularly then I recommend you use regular contraception and avoid unprotected intercourse until you attain complete menopause. You should keep an emergency contraceptive pill as a back-up option, in case regular contraception was missed or failed.

2. INFLAMMATION AND RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: This kind of arthritis affects young people (osteoarthritis affects older people). It is caused by a diet high in acidic fluids.

3. HAIR AND SKIN PROBLEMS: Acne, pigmentation, skin eruptions, rapidly aging skin, early greying, hair fall and dandruff.

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:

4. URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS AND STONES: Urine is WATCH OUT

Too much non-vegetarian food can raise the acid levels in your body

acidic, and the kidneys flush it out. But the kidneys can’t cope with very high levels of it.

5. THE SPREAD OF CANCER: Naturopaths postulate that cancer spreads rapidly in an acidic body. They do not know, however, whether cancer creates an acidic environment or whether an acidic environment creates cancer.

Today our food environment is such that we are prone to rising acidic levels in our bodies. Here’s what can raise your acidity levels if eaten in large amounts: n More than three cups of tea or coffee a day. Tea or coffee on an empty stomach first thing in the morning can be acidic. n High content of non-vegetarian food and fried food. n Pickles, sauces, processed jams and packaged ketchups. n Sugary and refined food. n Milk, paneer and cheese. n Tobacco and pan masala. n Being on an empty stomach for a long time. n Not enough water. n Too much medication, such as painkillers. ask@drshikha.com (To be continued)

MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Dr Shikha Sharma and other wellness stories, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch DECEMBER 28, 2014

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK

2. Dear Doctor, my husband does not like to use condoms and he insists we have unprotected sex. We both are ok to have a baby now but my worry is for the future. What contraception I can use to avoid pregnancy after I have 2 babies.

You must know that unprotected intercourse anytime during the cycle can lead to pregnancy.

However, since you mentioned that you and your husband are ok with it for the time being, you need to be more careful in the future. For future contraceptive

We talk about what creates acidity in your body and what it can lead to

methods, you can consult your gynaecologist to understand about various options that are available including intra-uterine devices or permanent contraception.

MediaMedic ICH/Q&A/1204

1. Dear Doctor, due to a tear in condom I had consumed an emergency contraceptive pill but unfortunately, I still conceived. Now my husband and I are still deciding whether to go ahead with this pregnancy or not. Could you please tell me is there any harm for the baby if we decide to continue the pregnancy.

Firstly I would like to tell you that no form of contraception is 100% effective. There is always a rare chance of conception even after using protection correctly.

Emergency contraceptive pills do not have any harmful effect on the body once pregnancy establishes. Since these pills contain hormones similar to natural hormones present in the female body, they are not known to cause any harm to the foetus.

My suggestion would be that you can safely continue with this pregnancy. It would be better still if you also consult a local gynaecologist for a second opinion.

The Banning game The ban on OnePlus One phones seems to have started a long-overdue tech war

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

J

UST AS consumers were digesting the news of Xiaomi phones being banned in India, along came shocker number two: OnePlus One phones were also banned in the country. While the Xiaomi-Ericsson patent problem seems to be getting sorted out; the OnePlus One-Cyanogen-Micromax three-way war is just about starting. And it’s going to be a bloody one, with far-reaching ramifications worldwide.

THE BACKGROUND STORY

OnePlus One is a phone with the Cyanogen version of Android. The company has worldwide rights for the CyanogenMod except for use in China. The much awaited OnePlus One phone (it’s got some of the best hardware on a phone and is priced at half of any competitor’s flagship product) finally launched in India in early December.

Soon after, the murmurs started that Micromax has exclusive Cyanogen rights in India for its new online brand, Yu, and its Cyanogen-based phone, Yureka, and thus would ask for a ban on OnePlus One’s sales in the country. Turns out that the murmurs were right. OnePlus One’s sale was banned in India, however, they were allowed to clear stock with Amazon. They were also banned from importing any phone with the Cyanogen branding or OS on it.

Rajiv Makhni

techilicious

THE CYANOGEN TALE

A NEW REVOLUTION

The CyanogenMod-enabled Yu Yureka empowers young techies by giving them complete control over the hardware

indulge MAKE YOUR OWN PHONES

Cyanogen allows a ton of customisation and adds features that Android can’t touch and named it Cyanogen Inc. As of now, these new moves have led to a lot of controversy within the open-source community and this new ban on OnePlus One has added great fuel to the fire.

THE MICROMAX FABLE

Micromax entered the picture a while back as co-founder Rahul Sharma wanted to take it onto a new journey and make smartphones less of a commodity and more a personal device. Thus was born the idea of Yu, an online-only brand. The idea was to empower the advanced user and the young techies of the country with a product line that wasn’t just about hardware but also gave them complete control over the most important technology in their hand.

And to get that journey started, Yu needed a phone that could literally be customised in a million ways. Enter CyanogenMod and the Yureka phone. This very, very aggressively priced phone (at ` 8,999) is a 5.5-inch 720p screen device with a Gorilla Glass 3, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera.

It’s a nice, thin and light phone that is mostly plastic but feels good to hold and runs on Cyanogen OS 11. The big revolution is that Yu will honour the warranty despite encouraging people to hack into the phone, and that the service and repairs will be done at your home itself.

THE BANNING CHRONICLE So what is Cyanogen and why is it in such So, the Yu Yureka seems great and may start a BOUNCING BACK demand? The non-geeky explanation is that new revolution but is this entire back-to-back it is an alternate operating system that is based OnePlus will launch an banning controversy showcasing India in a bad on Android but allows a ton of customisation and alternate OS to Cyanolight across the world? Is Cyanogen backtrackadds features that Android can’t touch right now. gen to combat the ban ing after giving OnePlus worldwide rights? Will It’s also becoming a favourite amongst more ad- of its phone in India Micromax get bad press and a consumer backvanced users and is a true wet dream for nerds lash as it has taken away the potential of people buying a and techies. The customisation and feature set is truly imbrand like OnePlus in India? pressive as you can pretty much control everything. You Well, despite the rest of the analysts all seeming to think can set a theme that will have a native effect across that the answer to all the above is Yes, I have very different the entire OS, including fonts and colours, FLAC thoughts. India is a market on fire and thus everyone wants audio support, App Privacy Guard (which means a piece of the pie. So many brands are slugging it out and you can set individual application permissions and that’s always good. OnePlus will come out with stock Andeny an app access to, say, your contacts or photos), droid phones in India for the time being plus their own OS each app can be password protected, and there is alternative to Cyanogen very soon. Cyanogen needs to do complete hardware control, including CPU overbig deals and become a mainstream player as we do need clocking. It also lets you designate any hardware solid alternatives to Google Android and some terrible skinbutton to do any duty as well as double duty, gesning down by other companies! And Micromax pulled off a ture and draw controls to launch apps or a feature major coup here as the phone they’ve come out with as their even when the phone is locked and the screen is off CyanogenMod device is a killer product. At the end of it and just about a million other things. all, we the consumers win on all fronts. Great phones, great Cyanogen started off as a totally free openprices, great features! How can that ever be a bad thing? source project in which a whole community helped Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of take things forward. In 2013, project founder Steve Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3 Kondik converted it into a commercial enterprise DECEMBER 28, 2014

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Photos: GETTY IMAGES

The Year ThaT Was ...was also a year that is best forgotten

T

HIS COLUMN will appear on the last Sunday of 2014. And as I sit down to write it, I can’t help but think back on the year gone by. But hard as I try to look for something positive, all the images that flash before my eyes are of violence and grief; sadness and despair.

I guess that is only to be expected. The aftershocks of the ghastly Taliban attack on a Peshawar school still have me shaking with sadness, anger, and the realisation of our impotence in the face of crazed madmen who subscribe to a murderous ideology. Those gory pictures of bullet-ridden children and a blood-soaked school auditorium will live with me forever, no matter how much I try and erase them from my memory. And maybe that’s how it should be. None of us should ever forget the evil that monsters inflict upon us – and more tragically, on our children.

But even when I look beyond the horror of Peshawar, the theme of violence and grief refuses to recede. The riot victims of Muzaffarnagar continue to live in makeshift

Seema Goswami

spectator

ATTACK OF THE LOONIES

BJP minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti had to retract her controversial statement after a public outcry

homes a year later, looking for justice that seems forever out of reach. Communal riots in the Trilokpuri area of Delhi have revived the traumatic memories of the 1984 pogrom against the Sikhs. And in Uttar Pradesh, communal clashes have become so common that they barely merit mention in the national papers. And yet, every such incident leaves indelible scars in its wake.

More significantly, what every such clash represents is an attack on the idea of India itself. That idea – of a secular, inclusive, tolerant India that treats every citizen equally, no matter what his or her religion – has increasingly come under attack as the lunatics scramble to take over the asylum. The first weapon deployed in that fight was the idea of ‘love jihad’: a ‘jihad’ in which Muslim men were apparently targeting Hindu girls and marrying them after converting them to Islam. Thankfully that campaign was junked after it didn’t get much traction in the UP polls.

Ever since then, though, we have had a long line of loonies jostling one another in the competition to be most outrageous. First off the mark was Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, a BJP minister, who announced that the people of Delhi needed to decide if they wanted to be ruled by ‘Ramzadas’ (children of Ram) or ‘H****zadas’ (bastards). Next up was BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj, who claimed that Nathuram Godse was as much a ‘deshbhakt’ (patriot) as Mahatma Gandhi.

Both of them retracted these statements after a public outcry (and presumably, a private bollocking from saner elements in the government).

But despite their climbdown, Godse, the killer of Gandhiji, continues to be the flavour of the season with various offshoots of the Sangh Parivar. Some fringe outfits in Mumbai celebrated November 15, the day when Godse

DECEMBER 28, 2014

INDIA AGAINST INDIA?

The idea of ‘love jihad’, where Muslim men apparently convert Hindu girls before marrying them, was an attack on the idea of India itself was hanged in 1949, as Shourya Divas. The Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha asked the government to install busts of Godse in public places across the country. And the same outfit is now threatening to release a film, Desh Bhakht Nathuram Godse, on 30 January, the same day on which Godse gunned down the Mahatma in 1948.

Ironic, isn’t it, that an organisation that styles itself as the ‘Hindu’ Mahasabha is attacking what is best about Hinduism – its values of tolerance, brotherhood, and universal peace – by glorifying an assassin who killed a man we venerate as a Mahatma? This really is violence of the worst kind; violence that tries to destroy the very values that make Hinduism the great religion that it is.

And that’s before we even start on the biggest controversy of our day: conversions. If there is any one thing that characterises Hinduism it is its nonproselytising nature. You have to be born a Hindu; you cannot become one by conversion. That is one of the essential differences between Hinduism and both Islam and Christianity. Hindus don’t believe in converting others to their faith. And you can’t really be a Hindu if you do that.

Ah, but the right-wing crazies have a way out of that.

They are not converting anyone, they say, they are just welcoming them back into the Hindu fold. It is not ‘conversion’ when Indian Muslims and Christians become Hindus, they explain, it is merely a ‘gharwapasi’ (homecoming). Never mind that the ‘home-comers’ are complaining on national television that they were misled/bribed/terrorised into giving up their faith.

All this banging on about religion; glorifying murderers and assassins: where have we seen all this before? Ah yes, in Pakistan, where that same sorry journey to religious extremism and militancy led to the massacre of 132 innocent children in Peshawar this month. There, but for the grace of Indian secularism, go we…

It is for all these reasons that I, for one, will not be at all sad to see 2014 go. Maybe we’ll have a better time of it in 2015. With that wish – and a prayer – I wish all of you a very Happy New Year.

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

20 24

indulge

The BesT For The LasT Two weeks of restaurant hopping across four cities threw up some great surprises, and then some

O

VER THE last fortnight, I’ve been pretty much constantly on the road. Unlike many people I actually like travelling (though I hate the packing/unpacking and the hanging around at airports) and one of the big attractions of visiting new places for me has always been the opportunity to eat the food. Sometimes it can be disappointing. But if you choose well, it can be an adventure in itself.

We’ll start with Bombay where I had two of the most amazing Indian meals in recent times. Both were at the ITC Grand Central in Parel, not a hotel usually known for its cuisine, even within its parent ITC chain. But The Grand Central boasts of two outstanding cooks. One of them, Haji Mohammad Farooqui is the hidden gem of the group with a

Vir Sanghvi

rude food completely different style of cooking from the much-hyped Qureshis. I asked Kuldeep Bhartee, the Grand Central’s general manager, to let Farooqui design a menu for me and the food was astonishing.

The star of the show was his trademark dal kuska with chulao rice, a dish that is so wonderful (and vegetarian) that I usually end up eating the rice on its own. The following day chef M Rajan of the Hornby’s Pavilion restaurant, whose South Indian vegetarian food is legendary, pulled a surprise by producing a keema-rice, made South Indian style, which was so delicious that I forgot to ask for the Grand Central’s famous Bohra biryani.

I next went to the Maldives and you probably read about the Velaa private island last week. But there was one other meal. When I got to the airport I found my flight was late so rather than stick around at the airport, I took a speedboat to the nearby Taj Exotica where chef Sheroy Kermani (who featured in the last season of Custom Made) is an old pal. I sat next to the small

STREET FLAVOURS

Lahori Gate (left) prides itself on serving the food of old Delhi, like shami kebabs (top left) in a slightly more refined form DECEMBER 28, 2014

strip of beach overlooking the lagoon and Sheroy fed me lightly-seared local tuna and then, unleashed his background as an Oriental chef with a killer Nasi goreng. It was the perfect meal at the perfect location and reminded me of the great strength of the best Taj hotels (now sadly, fading quickly): regulars are always greeted with so much warmth that they feel completely at home.

From the Maldives I flew to Bangalore where my friends Ally and Rahul Mathan had fixed for us to dine at the Chef ’s Table at Olive Beach. I’ve always heard good things about Manu Chandra but never had the opportunity to try the food. So I was thrilled to discover that a) Manu would be cooking himself and b) he was using only local ingredients.

I pretty much live tweeted the meal and I still remember the flavours. The standout dish for me was a single Cochin oyster (how Manu manages to source such good oysters from Cochin is a mystery; the ones I’ve tried all taste like gobs of snot) with shreds of Goan sausage. Sausages and oysters are a classic pairing but I’ve rarely seen it done as well as Manu did that evening.

There were many other wonderful dishes: a deconstructed egg and chips, a rabbit confit samosa in chicken skin, fish and rice in a gassi-inspired sauce and finally an apple and truffle tarte tatin with dahi sorbet. People rate Manu so highly because of such successes as the Monkey Bar. But I think we sometimes forget that when he cooks with his hands, he is a chef of genius.

And then back to Bombay and The Table where I arrived late after a delayed flight, dragged there by my son Raaj who had eaten the truffle menu a few days before and thought I should try it. Because we got there so late, Alex Sanchez, the star of the kitchen, had left but he is obviously such a good chef that his brigade had been taught how to maintain the standards he is famous for.

We started with scrambled eggs on toast, a dish that sounds deceptively simple but was quite complex: a slice of very good bread, cooked on an open fire, perfectly scrambled eggs, which combined extra yolks and a little emulsified butter into the mixture, and slices of white truffle on top. Then came a delicate agnolotti (with more truffles), tuna tartare, given an extra crunch with shards of deepfried nadru (lotus root) and a roast chicken stuffed with black truffles. The kitchen assured me they were using a

25 21

TAILOR-MADE PERFECTION

At Olive Beach, Bangalore (above) chef Manu Chandra’s (right) customised spread at the Chef’s Table was nothing short of genius

broiler not a fancy bird; in which case the dish was an absolute triumph: moist, flavourful and juicy.

I’ll go back when Alex is there but for my money this is the best European food in South Bombay, far better than any fancy, five-star hotel restaurant.

A brief stop in Delhi led me to revisit Lahori Gate, a new restaurant in the recently gentrified Mehar Chand Market area. I’d been there before for an opening party (full disclosure: the owners are good friends of mine) but decided to sneak in unannounced one quiet winter night. (I was recognised halfway through the meal but by then the food had arrived so I’m guessing I got the same meal as the average guest.)

Lahori Gate prides itself on serving the food of old Delhi in a slightly more refined form and judging by my two meals there, the kitchen is in top form. I ate a closeto-authentic street-style dahi balla, a wonderful shami kebab, so-so Amritsari chhole (I don’t think the chef has been to Amritsar; he should stick to old Delhi), a simple Delhi biryani with tender, succulent meat, great lachha parathas and two truly great dishes: a dal meat that was addictive and a weird and wonderful chicken keema. Weird because chicken keema sounds odd in theory; wonderful because it was so good. The secret is that it’s not really a keema. When the order comes in, the chef roughly chops up the chicken and cooks it a la minute.

Lahori Gate was quiet (as was the rest of its locality) on the night I went. It deserves to do better and I’m guessing

the home delivery service will soon pick up.

And so back to the other end of Bombay from The Table. If I were to ask any foodie, which hotel has the best Avadhi food in Bombay, the best tapas, and outstanding Malvani food, my guess is that nobody would know the answer.

Even I was shocked to discover that the JW Marriott in Juhu has emerged as the city’s top foodie hotel. Oh yes, there’s still the huge coffee shop and the Bombay Bakery Company (or whatever it’s called) but the real surprise comes when you go beyond the obvious.

I had no great expectations from Saffron, the Indian restaurant, so I was startled by how good the food was: great shami and galouti kababs; amazing nihari, good dal, an authentic Lucknavi pulao and the best keema I have had in months. For dessert, there was the authentic Shahi Tukda, made not like some cake in a milky syrup, but properly crisp at one end and melt-in-the-mouth juicy at the other.

The next day, I had Malvani food from room service.

This was not crab-and-lobster Malvani like they serve in Bombay’s coastal restaurants but home-style food. The star of the show was a tender sukka mutton but there was much more: a simple fish curry, amti, great gobi sabzi, prawns cooked with drumsticks and so much more.

For my final dinner, I went back to my favourite restaurant in North Bombay: the Marriott’s Arola. Most people now go for the drinks (they have India’s best collection of artisanal gins) but I just love the food. I had all the greatest hits: Sergi Arola’s famous patatas bravas and his lobster rice, for instance. Arola’s chef, Manuel Oliveira, has not just learned English since the last time I was there; he has also created his own dishes, the best of which was an EasternEuropean melange consisting of eggplant wonton in a light consomme and an airy take on the Baked Alaska.

So the JW Marriott is Bombay’s foodie hotel? Who would have thought it? The credit goes to the executive chef Himanshu Taneja who has gathered the best chefs around him. He found Shahnawaz Qureshi in Lucknow and brought him to Bombay while the Malvani cuisine is the food that chef Mandar Madav’s mother made for him at home.

They say that travel broadens the mind. In my case, it certainly broadens the waistline.

BETTER THAN THE BEST

The Table (top) has the best European food (left) in South Bombay and the star behind its success is chef Alex Sanchez (above)

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

26

LOOKING AHEAD

twitter.com/HTBrunch

For New Year’s Eve, one dreams up ideal parties with close friends, good-looking strangers and great food/liquour. But fate may have other plans in store. Play this game to find out where you may land up as the clock rings in the new year...

DECEMBER 28, 2014