Brunch 30 11 2014

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER 30, 2014 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

A blanket that fights mosquitoes, a washing machine that fits in a bucket, a fridge that needs no electricity.

Take a peek at Indian innovations that may just change your world

Mumbai girls Kasturi (right) and Shreya Poddar with their invention, Mos-Quit-O, a blanket that repels mosquitoes

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BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

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Brunch Opinion

by Aastha Atray Banan

These IDEAS Will Change YOU

make our cities more liveable. They wanted to do something “that will change the world”, as the inventor of the mosquito repellent blanket Kasturi Poddar said.

But we knew we would need expert help to pick the ones doing truly good work. And that’s why we got author and motivational speaker Rashmi Bansal on board to curate our list. Along with giving her stamp of approval, she offered advice on how to make the ideas sustainable.

Because that’s what will make them truly successful. Get ready to get inspired.

by Saudamini Jain

LOVE IT

n The HT Leadership Summit n This exchange. Reporter: Are you considering leaving chess?

Viswanathan Anand: No n Word of the day: Exaholic (being addicted to your ex) n That press photographers lifted the ban on Salman Khan only after he invited them to his sister’s reception n The Affair, a fab new American TV show not aired here yet

n Some astrologer says Smriti Irani will become President. This makes headlines n If you think Secret Santa is childish n Facebook comments longer than five sentences n Single smoke ban n Speculating over celebrity divorces

SHOVE IT

Wishful Thinking

by Nihit Bhave

App-solutely Urgent

Indians are inventing all sorts of stuff – as our cover story shows. When will someone invent these apps?

to go out for AUTO SNITCH: lunch, instead.

Autowallah refusing TBH short-distance fares?

SLANG Scan his face and IDK Auto Snitch will SMH SLAYER: SMH, TBH, spill secrets IDK, TMI… It will read about him, out your teenager’s threatening him messages decoding the to comply! slang and the acronyms.

TIPSY TEXT: #TAGGAG: Won’t let It’ll block all you use more than two messaging apps when hashtags at a you’re drunk. go. #So #that #this #won’t TINDA: #happen.

Connecting people who SELFIE have weird STOPPER: veggies in their Every time dabbas and want

you try to take a selfie, it’ll go, “The Internet Disapproves”.

FRIENDZONE FINDER: Will tell you when you’re being friendzoned, by showing you the people your beloved has chatted up.

BHAI BLOCK: Will show all the Bhaitards (Salman fans) in your area, so you can avoid them.

MORAL MAPPER: It’ll ‘orange-flag’ areas sensitive to PDA.

Stuff You Said Last Sunday

Endless River in Read your review of um. It takes me alb ul erf W nd Brunch. Wo I picked up back to 1973, when Side of rk Amazing Da sed ea Decoding the just rel read about to ep writing the good Ke ! on #DanBrown isn’t an Mo the ok to !I n Dan Brown! easy task. But stuff! – Vikram Moha ls only after reading nove de! Thhaannkkss @SaudaminiJain i Co The Da Vinc ing my day, Hats OFF! Done an mak Brunch for Awesome Job. Luv #SpeedReadingForSunday :) as on every – @DigitalSumit Beginners. Good to see u it nk Va V k he – Abhis ouraging reading so ppl to Kim Kardashian The frontbencher’s guide ning. Just can’t mor my e mad absolutely elygirlish mot @re – ! stop laughing

enc can talk smthing other than bollywood, cricket n politics – @SmitaSingla

Find Hindustan Times Brunch on Facebook or tweet to @HTBrunch or

Cover design: PAYAL DIGHE KARKHANIS Cover image: KUNAL PATIL

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

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

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

Ab Tak Aapne (Nahin) Dekha

by Aparna Sundaresan

Faceless But Famous

Pop culture is full of people who keep their identities secret so the focus is on their work. Who might they be?

BIGG BOSS WHO: The puppet master behind Bigg Boss.

ACTUALLY...

Just a not-sofamous actor in a studio.

WE WISH: He was that “Main Samay Hoon” guy from the old Mahabharat, who knew more. And had a sexier voice.

ANONYMOUS WHO: Ethical hackers who launch cyber attacks on websites of the organisations that piss them off. They wear Guy Fawkes masks in public.

ACTUALLY...

They could be anybody, the teenager next door, the colleague who likes puppies, even the shifty milkman.

WE WISH: They’d be a little more Robin Hood – breaking into billionaires’ accounts and distributing the money among us.

BANKSY WHO: A graffiti artist whose works cast attention on world affairs.

ACTUALLY... A British tabloid reveals he’s a man called Robin Gunningham. Others think he’s actually a woman or a seven-member team of artists.

WE WISH: He wasn’t such a sell-out, considering he did an exhibition of his works and ‘toured’ the US.

online than you have downloaded.

ACTUALLY... Probably two guys who had excellent contacts in Hollywood. And a lot of guts.

WE WISH: There was honour among thieves. So many pirates who have poor quality prints impersonate these two online.

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK, THINKSTOCK

It’s a very different India we live in today – one that sorely needs creative minds to give it that extra push towards tomorrow. We have always had engineers and doctors but it’s time we had a bunch of out-of-thebox thinkers who can create and innovate to build a world that’s different. We were struck by how all the inventors and innovators we spoke to, young and old, were not doing this to make a quick buck, but to just

On The Brunch Radar

SATOSHI NAKAMOTO WHO: The founder of the Internet currency, Bitcoin.

ACTUALLY... Not a Japanese man because his English is too British, and not one person, because the coding is too extensive and perfect for one programmer.

WE WISH: We could understand Bitcoin, frankly.

GUERRILLA GIRLS WHO: Gorilla maskwearing women in NYC who protest sexist norms and under-representation of women in the art world.

ACTUALLY... Originally seven female artists, but now a much larger group of women.

WE WISH: There wasn’t a need for them in the first place.

AXXO AND YIFY WHO: Two people who have leaked more movies CORRECTION: In last week’s piece about short films, Abhay Kumar was incorrectly referred to as the director of Sagar Setu. The short film has been directed by Archana Phadke. The error is regretted.

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

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WELLNESS

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MIND BODY SOUL SHIKHA SHARMA

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

Dried figs, apricots and other dry fruits are a powerhouse of nutrients. Make sure they are part of your diet

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N THE days before refrigeration, people of all civilisations developed ingenious techniques to store surplus seasonal foods for future use.

These techniques included salting, candying, making jams and drying, and are in use today.

Fruits in particular were dried in the sun and stored for use later. We all know they’re tasty. Here is why dry fruits are healthy.

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK, THINKSTOCK

FIGS Figs have a high concentration of minerals that makes them alkaline. This alkaline property helps the body fight disorders connected to the blood and acid-base balance.

Figs are recommended for those with skin disorders and also inflammatory arthritis.

It is high in fibre, so good for digestive disorders too.

good for skin elasticity.

BLACK CURRANTS AND RAISINS Both are rich in potassium, manganese, non-heme iron and vitamin C. These qualities make them good for people with blood pressure problems and asthma.

DRIED APPLES Apples contain minerals and antioxidants.

CANDIED FRUITS Candied papaya, banana, amla and mango make for good substitutes for the sweets that growing children love. However, they are not advisable if you have diabetes.

HOW TO ADD DRY FRUITS TO YOUR DIET n Add them to your breakfast cereal in place of sugar.

APRICOTS AND PRUNES n Make a trail mix, which is a Both contain antioxidants. healthy snack for mid-mornings They are also rich in carotenes, and afternoons, especially which are good for the skin when you’re travelling. A trail and hair. Apricots and prunes mix contains dry fruits with contain non-heme iron (iron roasted peanuts, and found in plants) which, almonds. It is a powerif taken with vitamin C DRY DELIGHTS house of nutrition, and (citrus fruits), increases Add dry fruits to very satiating. your breakfast for a the oxygen carrying healthy start n Eat it with your morncapacity of blood. ing vegetable juice. A handful of mixed TOMATOES dry fruits with Tomatoes are actually your veggie a fruit, not a vegetajuice is a comble. Dried, they taste plete breakfast great in salads. Toin itself. matoes are rich in lycopene, ask@drshikha.com

MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Dr Shikha Sharma and other wellness stories, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Emergency contraceptive pill contain high doses of hormones hence it may cause some interference with the normal menstrual cycle.

Irregular bleeding in between periods is observed by many women and it is a temporary effect. This should resolve by the time you have your next monthly period. In case the bleeding continues kindly get in touch with a Gynaecologist.

2. Dear Doctor, we are planning for a baby and I am charting my fertile dates.

Due to some reasons we could not get intimate everyday but had just once during my fertile days. Is it enough to get pregnant?

It is always recommended to have intercourse every other day during fertile days, when a couple is trying to get pregnant. Since the sperms stay alive in the female reproductive tract for 3-5 days, there is a chance that you may conceive.

However, if you do not conceive then please don’t be

disheartened and keep trying next month. You can also use an ovulation strip to keep a track of those 2 days when you need to have intercourse.

3. Dear Doctor, recently I was diagnosed with genital herpes and the doctor said it happens due to unprotected intercourse. But I had consumed the emergency contraceptive pill well in time then why did this happen to me?

Emergency contraceptive pills if consumed within 72 hours avoid an unintended pregnancy from occurring after an act of unprotected intercourse. They do not protect from any kind of sexually transmitted diseases such as genital herpes etc.

I recommend that you use a condom from next time around as it protects from both unintended pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted diseases.

MediaMedic ICH/Q&A/1105

THE DRY-FRUIT ADVANTAGE

1. Dear Doctor, is it normal to get bleeding twice a month after consuming emergency contraceptive pills?

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:

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COVER STORY

Awesome Ne Better T Photo: ANIRUDDHA CHOWDHURY

Life-saving gadgets, safer ways to travel, solutions for sanitation and cost-effective answers to everyday problems… India has a host of good ideas just waiting to explode.

See what’s bubbling under

by Aastha Atray Banan

E

An IIT graduate who abandoned the rat race to launch a youth magazine, Rashmi Bansal has also written six bestsellers about self-made Indian entrepreneurs and is a motivational speaker. Her venture bloodygoodbook. com aims to publish budding authors. Who better to judge a good idea, right?

VEN AS you’re reading this, winds of change are blowing across India. From places as busy as Mumbai, as faraway as Erode and as troubled as Kashmir, great new ideas are sprouting, promising a better tomorrow, making us proud. Our nation of jugaad is taking a giant leap forward – inventing, adapting and creating bold new ways to make your everyday life easier.

We scouted the length and breadth of the country to find the brightest innovations, and roped in author and entrepreneur Rashmi Bansal to pick the ones with the most promise. This is a list that is as diverse as it’s ingenious.

They’ve already inspired us to dream big – in fullHD, actually! Now it’s your turn…

With inputs by Junisha Dama aastha.banan@hindustantimes.com Follow @aastha82 on Twitter

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

w IDEAS F r A morrow Tools That Compost Your Trash At Home

IDEA: Daily Dump BRAINCHILD OF: Poonam Bir Kasturi

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ompost is not sexy.

Rich socialites don’t throw charity dinners to Save The Earthworms and waste management is not the stuff of Miss World speeches.

That’s why Poonam Bir Kasturi is important.

The NID graduate gave up a career in marketing and designing industrial products to start Daily Dump in 2006.

The enterprise makes simple products that can turn your garbage into compost, reducing landfills, easing the load on municipal agencies and helping your backyard or balcony get a lot greener in the process.

It’s not rocket science.

Use their three-tier Kambha in a corner of your verandah.

Dump kitchen waste (potato peels, leftovers, apple cores) plus their compost mixer in the top vessel until full. Swap the first and second vessel and dump anew as the matter in the first vessel decomposes.

After a while (14 days for a household-sized unit) the stuff in your first vessel will have shrunk by half and be ready for the bottom pot, where it can start turning into manure for your garden.

No stink, no flies, no additional

costs, no sweat. “It’s very easy to use, convenient and everyone in the family, including your kids can use it,” says Kasturi proudly.

Daily Dump does in your home what communities and governments across the world are struggling to do with the large volumes of waste they are, well, “dumped” with.

Kasturi and her team have created their entire range of products from scratch and also have models for groups and neighbourhoods.

RASHMI’S TAKE:

If every urban home were to adopt this idea, the volume of garbage we export out of our homes would fall drastically. The question is, are we ready to do it?

STATUS:

Daily Dump products are already available on dailydump.org, which has comprehensive instructions and tips for composting.

Products are priced starting `700. The latest invention is called the Aaga, a huge pot, meant for hotels, schools and offices. Available online from January 2015.

A Ride-sharing App That’s Actually Safe

IDEA: Let’s Ride BRAINCHILD OF: Rajkumar Mundel, Praveen Mane and Averi Pal Choudhuri

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magine you woke up one hour before an important meeting and missed your bus. Here’s an option that will be like hitching a ride with a friend, perhaps a new one.

Let’s Ride, a free web app, is a platform for people to connect so they can carpool their way to work or college.

Log on to the Website (letsride.in), fill in your daily commute details and mention if you are a car owner and how many passengers you are ready to take on and the price you wish to charge. If you are a passenger, it will connect you with people going to your destination.

Launched in 2013 by three Pune engineers, Let’s Ride is different mainly because it taps into your existing social circles. It lets you share rides with people who have similar interests, are from your locality or work in the same office area. There is a chat option for you to connect with the person offering you the ride.

“Our site also links you to the social profiles of

RASHMI’S TAKE:

If we can get even five per cent of the cars off the road at peak time, our cities will be more liveable!

the users so that you can look them up and be sure of your safety,” says founder Rajkumar Mundel.

STATUS:

The site has more than 11,000 participants in Pune and 6,000 users in other cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. The fare for the ride is directly given to the car owner by passengers.

IN OTHER CITIES

SmartMumbaikar: Ten minutes before you need a ride, give a missed call to the number the site provides. The site connects you to other users on the same route so you can carpool. It will soon be available as an app.

RidingO: In Bangalore, sign up on this application with your corporate email ID or use your Linkedin. com profile and share rides with people who live and work in the same locality as you.

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

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COVER STORY

A Washing Machine That Fits In Your Bucket IDEA: Econowash BRAINCHILD OF: Piyush Agarwalla

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ashing machines are bulky and expensive. That’s why this one, which clamps on to your bucket, plugs in, and gets to work for just `2,499, is a good idea. It works much like an oversized blender, recreating in your bucket the same effect as a larger, more conventional washer. You save water, electricity, money and space – and God knows those resources are precious.

Mumbai resident Piyush Agarwalla studied engineering in the US, and has always had an entrepreneurial streak. The idea for a bucket-fitted laundry device came to him when he saw a 40-year-old photo showing something similar,

Photo: SANJEEV VERMA

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IDEA: The Banka Bioloo BRAINCHILD OF: Namita Banka

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ID graduate Namita Banka, 41, had been working with the Indian Railways to solve its sanitation problems on trains when she came across the bioloo technology on India’s Defence Research & Development Organisation web site. “I was organising a women’s fair in Hydera-

bad and we wanted an organic toilet, but every company who makes it, sells it for `4 lakhs a unit. There was a need for an affordable one.” So she adapted the DRDO technology and now makes bioloos from recast concrete cement which cost only `25,000.

This is how it works: the bathrooms are fitted with a bio tank, which collects the waste and treats it with bacteria so it’s converted into biogas (which can be used as fuel) and water (which can

In the long run, this could be mass manufactured and be useful for the poor and those in cities like Mumbai, who don’t have space.

but bigger, from Bulgaria, on the Web. He made it more compact and easy to use.

He says bachelors and campers are the ones most interested in the Econowash, but he hopes to manufacture it primarily for the poor.

STATUS:

Available on eBay India. The Econowash is crowdfunded but Agarwalla is being approached by investors interested in mass production. “If we produce it in lakhs, it will cost `1,500,” he says. “It’s one thing to make money. But as my mother said, ‘It’s better to make money and help people along the way’.”

RASHMI’S TAKE:

The current system of dropping human waste onto tracks results in contamination of ground water. Bioloos will improve human health.

be recycled or discarded). This means no clogging, and no waste on railway tracks, which, reports say, was corroding the rails. Banka also installs loos at construction sites, schools and colleges.

STATUS:

The Banka Bioloo is already installed on some Indian trains.

If you travel from Lucknow to Delhi on the Gomti Express, you’ll know that it’s doing its bit for nature. By 2022, the Indian Railways aims to install the bioloo on all trains.

IDEA: Controlling Stampede Using Image Analysis Technology BRAINCHILD OF: Pavin Kumar, S Vidyasagar, A Ramesh and KT Venkateshan

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f you are scared of crowds, you will love what these four students of Kongu Engineering College in Erode, Tamil Nadu, have devised. Their programme can sense crowd density by analysing images from a security camera. “It then tells us which parts of a place (like temples or big festivals like the Kumbh) are likely to get more crowded and prone to stampedes,” says S Vidyasagar. “This makes it easier for the police to control the crowd and prevent them.” A computer fed with the software and linked to the CCTVs lights up the areas that are prone to more footfall per square foot on its screen. So the officials manning the computer know where to direct help. “We aim to have the programme send a direct signal to the walkie-talkie of the officials manning the ground.” Imagine how much safer we would be if they used this programme at a music festival or the Pride parade.

STATUS:

The boys are seeking funding for further testing, and conducting practical experiments. “If we get it up and running, it can really make a difference,” says Vidyasagar.

RASHMI’S TAKE:

This is a tool which can help the police, but they will need to be trained in how to use it. Just having the technology isn’t enough.

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK

A Toilet That Needs No Plumbing

RASHMI’S TAKE:

Software That Prevents Stampedes

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COVER STORY

Photo: KUNAL PATIL

A Blanket That Fights Mosquitoes IDEA: Mos-Quit-O BRAINCHILD OF: Shreya and Kasturi Poddar

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magine a mosquito flying towards you as you get ready for a nap. It’s dengue season and none of those coils, creams and vapourisers have worked. You need better weaponry.

How about some killer technology from the US and German army? A blanket treated with a chemical that paralyses and kills any mosquito foolish enough to come close. And no, it doesn’t smell, cause a reaction or harm the user. It just soldiers on as you sleep.

That’s what Mumbai sisters Kasturi and Shreya Poddar developed in 2014.

Textile design student Kasturi was working at her father’s home-furnishings firm when she discovered that army uniforms in the West were being treated with mosquito repellents.

“I was shocked nobody was using it anywhere,” she says. She teamed up with her sister, Shreya (a marriage counsellor) to develop a blanket that could be

IDEA: A restaurant menu that reads itself out to those who have problems with their sight BRAINCHILD OF: The Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC)

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irst off, it’s written in Braille. But if that’s still a challenge for a diner, that’s no problem. The menu is also audio-labelled, which means a stylus-like device reads out the text when it touches the menu. Don’t want to trouble fellow diners? Just use the headphones that come with it. “It’s

all about promoting accessibility,” says Dr Sam Taraporevala the director of XRCVC. All a restaurant needs to do is adapt their own menus to this format so visually challenged diners (even weak-eyed grandparents) have less trouble ordering. Of course there’s a bonus for you too: you’ll finally know how to

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

This could be a gamechanging idea but needs wide-scale marketing, publicity and distribution to reach the masses. A tie-up with an existing consumer products company could be the way to achieve that.

treated with the same chemical and Mos-Quit-O was born.

The Poddar girls have run safety tests at WHO-certified labs to ensure their blanket won’t trigger allergies. “A young mother just bought it for her child,” says Shreya.

“It’s safe for everyone.”

STATUS:

Mos-Quit-O is available across India, including Amarsons in Mumbai and Premsons in Delhi, and Amazon and eBay. It lasts 50 washes and costs between `999 and `1,999. The sisters are working on a cheaper version and also a range of mosquito repellent nightwear.

pronounce ratatouille (rat-ahtoo-ee), gnocchi (noh-kee) and quesadilla (key-suh-dee-uh)!

STATUS:

Right now, only Mumbai restaurant chain Bombay Blue uses the technology. But XRCVC plans to make sure other restaurants follow suit soon. They are also going to use the software to make books, maps and diagrams more accessible.

RASHMI’S TAKE:

This technology can have other uses, such as audio study material for blind students. But I wonder how many establishments will make the effort to adopt it.

Courtesy: XRCVC

A Menu For The Visually Impaired

RASHMI’S TAKE:

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Photo: MANPREET ROMANA

A Fridge That Doesn’t Need Electricity IDEA: Mitticool Fridge BRAINCHILD OF: Mansukh Prajapati

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he Mitticool Fridge doesn’t need electricity. Instead it runs on a simple principle – when clay comes in contact with water, it drops 10 degrees in temperature. Potter Mansukh Prajapati’s invention uses 10 litres of water to cool down its terracotta clay body to keep a steady temperature of 10 to 15 degrees. This makes it ideal to store fruits and vegetables for five to eight days. Milk products can last up to 24 hours in the fridge and it doesn’t need a replacement for 10 years.

Prajapati’s idea for Mitticool came out of a tragedy.

In the aftermath of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, the Rajkot resident saw a picture of his pots, now broken, in a local newspaper with a caption that read: “Broken fridge of the poor”. Since he used to sell clay tawas and water coolers in his village of Wankaner, he started thinking that if a clay pot could work as a

RASHMI’S TAKE:

A great example of modernising indigenous technology for Indian needs. But to compete against conventional fridges, Mitticool needs proper marketing and distribution. A large manufacturer should consider licensing the product.

cooler, maybe a fridge based on the same principle could work too. He took a loan of `3 lakh, and after a lot of research, the Mitticool was born. It has since won him a National Award.

STATUS:

It’s available in Gujarat for `3,400 and in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad for `4,000. You can get in touch with Prajapati through his website Mitticool.in.

Prajapati is now working on the idea of a Mitticool house, which won’t require electricity for cooling.

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COVER STORY

A Directory For Kashmir In One App IDEA: Dial Kashmir BRAINCHILD OF: Mehvish Mushtaq Hakak

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he is the first Kashmiri to develop an Android application, and that too one that the Valley really needs.

Mehvish Mushtaq Hakak’s

It’s good to see an initiative from a female Kashmiri entrepreneur. More power to Mehvish, who is braving the odds and is working to bring about change and development in the Valley.

and prayer timings.

The daughter of a forest officer and a homemaker, Hakak always dreamed of using technology for the greater good.

She recounts recent feedback from a customer, who spotted an animal carcass floating down the Jhelum, got on the a app, f and found the number of Srina the Srinagar Municipal Council. T The result: the carcass was c cleaned up by the officials speedil speedily. “In Kashmir finding contacts Kashmir, is not an easy task as the official sites ma may not be wo working,” she says.

Dial Kashmir sounds lik a model for the rest like of India.

STATUS:

Hakak sa says that Dial Kashmir is her onl only priority and she will k keep improving the application and adding information to it. It’s available for free download on Google Play, and has more than 25,000 downloads.

A Wheelchair That Can Climb Stairs

foot: heel first, then toe. “I watched how a child climbed stairs by hauling himself up and down. A lever drags the wheel in the same way,” she says. Sharma received funding from the Indian government’s Department of Science and Technology and has now designed another wheelchair that can run on the ground as well as climb stairs.

IDEA: Vardaan BRAINCHILD OF: Shanu Sharma

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hen she designed a school that would give physically challenged kids the same access as others for her final-year Architecture project, Shanu Sharma realised there was a need for a product that helped a disabled person feel included in all environments. Sharma, now studying industrial design at IIT Kanpur, designed the Vardaan, a wheelchair that can climb stairs. Its three-pronged wheels work on the same principle as the human

RASHMI’S TAKE:

This could be a gamechanging idea but needs wide-scale marketing, publicity and distribution to reach the masses.

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

STATUS:

The chair has been tested by the disabled on the IIT campus. She hopes she will soon get funding to mass produce it. “Right now, I need a collaboration with an R&D firm that can help me improve this design, which has its flaws (it needs a disabled person with good upper-body strength to operate it).

Once it’s foolproof, I want to make sure it doesn’t cost more than `20,000.”

LOCAL GENIUSES Rashmi Bansal loved these ideas too

The solar powered backpack: Lumos is a backpack that will charge your phone, your iPod and all your gadgets on the go. Gandharv and Lavina Bakshi’s company, Lumos, creates backpacks that are fitted with an in-built battery that can store solar energy and in turn charge any USB-based device. It’s also water-resistant, and impact and shock-proof.

Affordable sanitary napkins: Arunachalam Muruganantham’s company provides affordable sanitary napkins to Indian women who can’t afford the big brands. He built his own machine, which now produces 1,000 pads sold at `2 a piece. The machines have been bought by NGOs who distribute the product to rural women through a “resident dealer” who is a woman who educates them about feminine hygiene products.

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK

Dial Kashmir contains over 500 contacts of government departments and numbers of private hospitals, fire brigades and all essential and non-essential services.

The 24-year-old inventor has described the application as “a virtual Yellow Pages”, and hers is perhaps the only state that has an application like this. In 2013, Hakak took a course on Android application development and created Dial Kashmir as a part of the course. To make it user friendly, the directory is divided into two categories – essential and commercial, with sections such as education, fire services, gas agencies, government offices, hospitals, electronics, NGOs and so on. It also lets you find pincodes, railway timings, public holidays

RASHMI’S TAKE:

Is There A FInAl TwIsT In The TAle?

Don’t write off Nokia just yet, the once-popular phone brand is bracing for a comeback

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

indulge REDEMPTION STRATEGY

Could a Macbook Air-like Nokia laptop be around the corner too?

I

T DOMINATED the world to the point that almost deal for mobile devices). Thus it seems that the speculaeveryone’s first phone was a Nokia; it then staged the tion that has been boiling that Nokia may stage a huge greatest and most spectacular debacle as a brand and a comeback with smartphones in early 2016, may well be company to the point that almost no one owns a Nokia correct too. phone today!

THE CHURNING OF THE NEW NOKIA MIND Microsoft bought Nokia as well as its Lumia, Asha and That might not be easy as almost everyone that mattered in X series brands for a sensationally undervalued deal. After Nokia’s smartphone division has moved to Microsoft. But having paid all that money to buy the brands, Microsoft in a world of contract manufacturing (even Apple’s iPhone killed off the iconic Asha and bludgeoned the X series to and other products are more or less contract manufactured death right away! in China), this new Nokia may well be leaner, meaner and Nokia sold off its name and its brands for Microsoft to smarter. Let us take a quick look at the Nokia N1 tablet (conuse for a certain period of time; Microsoft dropped the Notract manufactured by Foxconn in China) to see what’s tickkia name even though it could have used it for a long time ing inside Nokia’s brain right now. and rechristened this division as Microsoft Lumia!

Nokia, the brand, is effectively dead; Nokia announces THE NEW NOKIA N1 its brand new tablet and calls it the Nokia N1!

Nokia started the tease with a hashtag #thinkingahead and Confused? Well, join the queue! For a company that has then revealed the tablet with a surprisingly candid combeen known to be the most rock-steady in approach and manment: “The world doesn’t need yet another tablet, but the N1 ner, Nokia’s last few months have been the most turbulent, is for anyone who hasn’t found the right Android baffling and perplexing of all compatablet yet”. The N1 is remarkably like the iPad nies in the tech field. Let’s see if we can GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY Mini but even thinner at 6.9mm, all-aluminum deep-dive in here and try and get some The Nokia N1 is specced heavy and high and still the product is single frame, 2,048x1,536 7.9 inch display screen, perspective. priced low and easy at $250 8-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel on the front, 2GB RAM, 32GB of storage, a USB C Type port which basically is a reversible USB slot, a Rajiv Makhni 2.4GHz Intel Atom 64 bit processor, runs the latest Lollipop edition of the Android OS with Nokia’s own Z1 launcher home screen that learns from your usage pattern and customises the look and feel. It is specced heavy and high and the product is priced low and easy at $250. That would translate to about `15,000 or so in India. That’s a fantastic product at a fantastic price and does beat the competition fair and square.

techilicious

A STUDY IN HOW NOT TO DO THINGS

Nokia’s move to the Windows OS, its dizzying loss of market share in smartphones, its steady deterioration to becoming a fringe player in the mobile business, its shocking sale to Microsoft – all of these are subject to a great amount of speculative analysis and will go down in the annals of history as how to run an iconic brand to the ground. But it is what happened after the sale to Microsoft that is by far the most perplexing.

THE FINE PRINT

The brand sale deal with Microsoft is a little ambiguous, but in essence it boils down to something like this.

For smartphones and for the Lumia series, Microsoft can use the Nokia brand for marketing till December 31, 2015 and for feature phones they can use the Nokia brand for 10 years. Thus dropping Nokia off the Lumia series this quickly did come as a bit of a surprise, but what has been even more amazing has been the swiftness shown on the part of Nokia to announce their own tablet (surprisingly not covered under the branding

LEAN IS IN

The Nokia N1 is remarkably like the iPad Mini but is even thinner with a 6.9mm, all-aluminium single frame

IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME

But this is a tablet. A low number game now in a very cut -throat business. Yet, the swift move by Nokia to get this to the market fast shows that Nokia is all set to make a counter move and wants to make sure that its brand and product range is right there in front of consumers and isn’t forgotten in the next one year. Nokia could even come out with a Macbook Air-like laptop with a 4G LTE built-in slot (it did have a really good one at one time called the Nokia Booklet 3G) and a few other products just to keep the brand momentum going. And then, in early 2016, come out with a range of three smartphones that blow the whole mobile world to small bits. Imagine a phone with Nokia-level hardware and optics, its meticulous attention to design, the power of its still very recognisable brand, an ambitious new partnership with Android and a price point that makes all others look bad... really bad! That could be a true comeback.

At the launch of the N1, Nokia’s head of devices, Sebastian Nystrom, in an emotional moment commented “They said Nokia is dead, I say, they couldn’t be more wrong.” He just may well be right. That could be the real Nokia that stands up to be counted.

Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

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indulge

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The Social conTracT L

Is it better to embarrass people in the moment or let them be mortified later on?

AST NIGHT I was at a very fancy sit-down dinner hosted by some extremely fancy people. Ours was a round table of 12 and seated directly across me was an elegant woman of a certain age, positively gleaming with discreet jewellery. Her make up was perfect, her manners were divine, and her conversation sparkling.

But I couldn’t really focus on any of this. My attention was riveted on her mouth, which revealed a substantial piece of spinach stuck between her teeth every time she spoke.

It was too large for anyone to miss, and not small enough to ignore in the hope that it would dislodge on its own. And yet everyone on the table, including me, acted as if it wasn’t there. To be perfectly honest, I did wrestle with the issue in my mind: should I draw her attention to it and risk embarrassing her in front of everyone? Or should I just ignore it and let her discover it when she was back home, in front of the bathroom mirror, getting ready to brush her teeth? Gosh, how mortified she would be to discover that she had gone through the whole evening flashing a spinach-

Seema Goswami

spectator DILEMMA AT DINNER

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK, THINKSTOCK

Last night, I was at a very fancy sit-down dinner hosted by some extremely fancy people. But my internal dialogue put me off dinner

enhanced smile at all and sundry! What was better: embarrassing her now or allowing her to feel mortified later?

I must confess that this internal dialogue quite put me off my dinner. The risotto turned to ashes in my mouth and even the finest Burgundy didn’t make the slightest impact on my palate. I could have been drinking dish-washing liquid for all the pleasure I got out of it.

So, how do you think it ended? Yes, you’re quite right.

I funked it. I pretended to be oblivious to the spectacle of spinach teeth, following the example of everyone else. But later that night, I was consumed with regret. I’ll tell you why.

A few years ago, when I worked for a Calcutta-based newspaper group, our office was an old-style office off Parliament Street, where there was a communal ladies loo in the corridor leading to the balcony.

One day, as I emerged from the loo, animatedly talking on my cell phone, I heard a female voice calling after me. I turned around a little irritably, wondering why she was interrupting my conversation. “I’m sorry ma’am,” she said, “But your skirt…”

I turned around and blushed: the hem of my crinkled Anokhi skirt had gotten bunched up in my underwear. And if I had walked into my office like that, I would have had a ‘Rachel moment’ (for those freaks who

SIMPLE RULE

A lift check consists of baring my fangs at my husband in an unspoken query: Do I have lipstick on my teeth? never got into Friends, I am talking of the time Rachel is a bridesmaid at her ex-boyfriend’s wedding and walks down the aisle with her pouffy pink skirt bunched up in the underwear at the back, with her ass hanging all the way out) of my own. And then, there would have been no recourse except to quit the job and move town.

The same thing happened more recently at an airport.

This time a kindly airport ground staff pulled me aside as I exited the loo to tell me that my kurta was wedged in my tights (Yes, now that you say so, I can see a pattern here.

Note to self: check self in full-length mirror, both back and front, before exiting any loo in the future.) On both occasions, my gratitude to these kind ladies was boundless.

Which is why I was consumed with guilt about not having summoned up the courage to tell the truth to Spinach Lady (as she will always be to me from now on).

But sometimes the reason we don’t point out something is because of people’s fragile egos. Recently, I was having coffee with two of my female friends when a celebrity (of sorts) whom we all knew vaguely came by to say hello. He sat down to have a chat. But no real conversation was possible because all three of us were fixated on a piece of food stuck to his luxuriant moustache. None of us had the guts to say anything – though we did give each other significant glances – and the poor sod probably went through the whole day with his facial hair doubling up as a food-catching device.

Speaking for myself, I have one simple rule when I go out. I call it the lift check. This consists of baring my fangs at my bemused husband and raising my eyebrows in an unspoken query: do I have lipstick on my teeth?

Yes, sometimes he messes with me by saying that I do even when I don’t, but still, it is well worth the aggravation to prevent any embarrassment later in the evening.

But what of those who don’t have spouses, friends and families to point such stuff out.

They need all our help, don’t they? For my part, I have sworn to myself that the next time I have an elegant spinach-laden lady sitting in front of me at dinner, I will bite the bullet and break the news to her.

Maybe a small scribbled note sent across via the waiter will do the trick.

On the whole, however, it is not a good idea to trust in the goodwill of people like me. Instead, try this. The next time you exit the house or the bathroom, make sure the skirt/kurta is where it is supposed to be. And when you’re at the table, use the reflective surfaces of a knife or fork to make sure your teeth/moustache/chin is food free. You can always thank me later.

My attention was riveted on her mouth, which revealed a piece of spinach stuck between her teeth

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

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

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indulge

The TasTe Of Music T In India, we’ve always believed that food and music do mix.

But is the golden age of live music at restaurants over?

HERE ARE few countries in the world in which it is acceptable to play live music during dinner at a serious restaurant. In France, most Michelin-starred chefs would shoot any musician who dared perform while guests were enjoying dinner. At the Paul Bocuse restaurant in Lyon, a guy used to come and play the accordion at the end of the dinner service – and even this became a source of controversy.

In India, however, we have always taken the line that food and music do mix. In the Bombay of my childhood, nearly every restaurant had a band, usually of Goan or Anglo-Indian origin (Sweet Lorraine at the microphone) and the fancy hotels splashed out on mini-orchestras led by the likes of legendary bandleader, Goody Seervai. The Indian food was nearly always accompanied by (depending on how pretentious the restaurant was), classical dance, ghazals or film songs.

Vir Sanghvi

rude music A SOLO SHOW

The singers at The Orient Express tend be of variable quality but the sound is held together by pianist Lawrence Ireland

By the Seventies as chefs came of age, they began to resent the musicians. When the Bombay Taj re-opened the legendary Rendezvous French (well, kind of French) restaurant on the roof of its new Tower Wing in 1973, it included a stage so that bands could perform. Not all of these bands played the bland muzak you might expect.

I remember Nandu Bhende singing Riders On The Storm as waiters rushed around with plates of Lobster

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

Thermidor. Eventually, the chefs had their way and the band was exiled. But sales dropped so drastically that they had to recall the musicians. (One popular band of that era was called The Phantom Revival. When its music proved indispensable, the kitchen took to snidely referring to it as The Frantic Survival).

And often the music was very good. The best singer in Bombay (and, I imagine, Calcutta, where she moved) was Usha Uthup who showed up the Lorraines in their slinky dresses by wearing South Indian saris on stage and belting out Santana songs with great abandon. (Evil Ways was one early favourite). I never lived in Calcutta in the Seventies but even when I got there in the Eighties, long after Park Street had ceased to rock, everyone still raved about Pam Crain and Braz Gonsalves.

One reason why people liked to go to restaurants with live music was that, in the old days, a night out was relatively rare and so couples wanted a bit of everything: eating, drinking, singing-along and dancing. The big hotels had rooftop nightclubs (Café Chinois at the Delhi Oberoi and The Supper Club at the Bombay Oberoi) where well-known singers (Sharon Prabhakar, for instance) and secondrate foreign imports like Freddie Tira and Penny Lane would perform even as guests squirted the garlic butter from their Chicken Kievs on to their shirts.

In Delhi, Bali Hi was a legend. Mike Fay ran the city’s best known group and among the musicians who played in the restaurant was the great Loy Mendonsa, now of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Brian Silas played Hindi film songs on the piano, downstairs at Mayur, and also had a dedicated following.

These days, some restaurants follow the Western principle of restricting live music to the bars – you will hardly ever find a band at a fancy Oberoi or Taj restaurant. But some chains, such as ITC, keep the music coming, providing employment to musicians and singers at all their hotels.

I can understand why haute cuisine and live music do not necessarily mix. But I do love listening to a good singer. For instance, the main reason I go to West View at the Maurya is to hear Peter Mehta sing. Peter has been doing this for a long time, first as part of a band and then as a solo guitar-playing singer. He has one of those versatile voices that can switch from Neil Diamond to Don Henley in a beat and now, as guests want funkier music, he plays an electronic keyboard and rocks the place most nights.

Some experiences call for a gentler sound. The Taj Palace’s formula for The Orient Express has always been to allow a (usually white) female singer and a (usually brown) pianist to play in the bar so that while guests in the restaurant cannot always see the musicians they can hear the music. The singers tend to be of variable quality but the sound is held together by pianist Lawrence Ireland. And often, I actually prefer it when the singer takes a break and Lawrence plays alone.

Guys like Peter and Lawrence do this because of their love of music. They don’t necessarily make a great living out of it. Peter used to take music lessons as a way of supplementing his earnings and Lawrence says that only after Taljinder Singh took over as general manager and

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BLUE WILD ANGELS

Valentina Gangte (above) has a great blues voice, which she honed in a church choir in Manipur; Angpache (right) grew up on a diet of Janis Joplin and Carole King; Peter Mehta (left) has a versatile voice and can switch from Neil Diamond to Don Henley in a beat raised his payment can he make ends meets.

But how satisfying can it be to sing in a restaurant where many of the guests pay no attention to your performance at all? The truth is that Indians are the most graceless listeners. We ignore the musicians. We rarely applaud, even when they’ve sung particularly well. We shout and talk loudly when they are performing. And few of us ever bother to do what would be considered entirely natural in the West: buy the singer a drink if we’ve liked the performance.

Understandably most musicians are reluctant to say anything that might be interpreted as being rude about the guests. But you can tell that, at some deep level, they are hurt by our insensitivity and indifference.

They rationalise it to themselves. One musician told me he thought of his restaurant performances as practice sessions. Lawrence says he loves the piano so much (he is classically trained) that the music keeps him going. And Peter is much too tactful to say very much on the subject.

But my guess is that the guys have it easier than the girls. As you have probably noticed, many (if not most) of the female singers in Delhi are from the North East and they have learnt how to live with the boorishness of the national mainstream. They are used to being called ‘Chinks’ or worse and are often just glad for the opportunity to perform.

I asked Valentina Gangte, who has a great blues voice, how she learned to sing. The answer was that as a Mizo who was partly brought up in Manipur, she took her religion seriously and joined the church choir. Once her voice was trained, it was easy to move on to other kinds of music.

Angpache (yes, I know; they call her Rini) comes from a family of Mizo preachers and she too perfected her skills in church. But because her parents were hooked on to the music of the Sixties and the Seventies, she grew up on a diet of Janis Joplin, Carole King and Carly Simon.

That is still the music she loves but she is professional enough to give her audiences whatever they want to hear when she performs at Delhi’s Le Meridien.

And what do people want to hear? All singers are agreed that cable TV and the Internet have created a new generation of well-informed and savvy listeners who want to hear the latest songs. No longer can you get away with endless repeats of I Will Survive (just as well; it is my least favourite song in the world) or play Tequila Sunrise and Ain’t No Sunshine for middle-aged bores like me. You need to play what’s popular and current.

And yet, though the North-East sends us more good pop singers each week than the rest of India throws up all year, I do believe that the golden age of live music is behind us. Strange laws make it difficult for singers to perform in many cities (Bombay, for instance) and audiences are unwilling to pay even a little more for dinner to accommodate the cost of a live band.

We are happy to hear live music but we won’t pay for it or give the musicians the respect they deserve.

So all of the North Easterners who sing are very young (Rini started when she was 18) and will drift into other better-paid professions when they can. And we’ll be left with the likes of Lawrence and Peter who do it for the sake of the music. When they retire, the era will come to a complete end. And sadly, it’s piped muzak that will take over.

I remember Nandu Bhende singing Riders On The Storm as waiters rushed about with Lobster Thermidor

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

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

24

PEOPLE

e s a e l P k c a B Be

, Arnold k a O n ia t the r The Aust egger, talk s abou he w en Schwarz resilience, and ho is m roots of h e American drea aj th jKR oto by Ra achieved i Jain; ph aud text by S

amin

T

HE FIRST thing you notice about Arnold Schwarzenegger is his size. You expect it of course, but it still disarms you. The man is 67 – how can he possibly look like this? But he does.

The second thing you notice is that he’s nice. He smiles a lot, and looks happy to be here. Here being the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi.

“It’s his method,” an article in Esquire magazine noted, “He tries to give each of them [everyone who meets him] what they came for, the Arnold experience. Of course, to some extent he gives them the Arnold experience the instant he walks in the room or opens his mouth – his face and his body and his voice are that recognizable.”

In his session at the Summit, Schwarzenegger spoke about his journey from Austria to America. He talked about growing up (his family wanted to be like the Von Trapps from The Sound of Music and had no interest in bodybuilding), being the youngest to win the Mr Universe title at 20 (“Every weight I lifted, gave me joy and got me closer to the title”), entering Hollywood (“The

leading sex symbols were guys like Dustin Hoffman and Woody Allen. ‘They’re 150 pounds and you’re 250! You cannot possibly get any roles!’ they said, but I did.”), making it big in Hollywood despite obstacles (he got Conan the Barbarian because he looked the part, and The Terminator because he sounded like the part) and becoming the governor of California (“People said I didn’t have a chance. California was 60 per cent Democrat and 40 per cent Republican, and I was a Republican.”)

We spoke to him after the session, so you could meet him too.

You met Aamir Khan yesterday. Did you like him?

Yes, very much so. I think he’s a very talented guy. He’s proven that he can do both – win a lot of awards and also make a lot of money. And be very successful financially at the box office. He was also a very likeable man.

Do you know much about Bollywood?

Not as much as you probably do.

What is your workout routine now?

I still work out 45 minutes a day in the morning and 45 minutes at night. I do my cardiovascular training in the morning and in the evening, I do my weight training.

It’s kind of like eating and sleeping, you don’t think much

LIFE LESSONS FROM SCHWARZENEGGER Have a very clear vision, a very clear goal of where you want to go. Only then will you get there.

You can have the best ship in the world but if the captain doesn’t know where to go he will just drift around. The key thing is to know where you’re going and be very passionate about that. You have to see your goal in front of you.

Shoot for the top. You have to have big goals and think big because then you’re going to get big, then

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

you’re going to achieve big things.

We don’t achieve big things by accident, so shoot for the sky, shoot for the stars.

Work your butt off. If you think you’re going to go and accomplish something really special and be the best at that thing in the world, and you think you can do it without working, you’re making a big mistake. No matter what I did – whether it was bodybuilding, or acting, or in the political arena

25

about it, right? You get out of bed, and just do it. It’s the same before I have dinner, I just do it.

You’re definitely not going back to politics? (He was in office till 2011)

No. Well, I work within politics because our institute, the Schwarzenegger Institute at the University of Southern California, deals with issues and policy, specifically for the environment, stem-cell research, good government practice and public reform.

But I think I can have more effect from the outside (through the institute) than inside politics. I’m trying to improve the situation all over the world. You don’t have to be a politician to do that.

America is such a multicultural society, with so many first-generation immigrants. Does it seem silly that you can’t run for President?

There is a reason the Constitution is written the way it is written.

And I think America just didn’t want, when it became independent, to have the Brits come over and start running for President.

Now I think the law is a little bit outdated. But the reason you never hear me complaining about it is because I feel like I have achieved everything in America because of America. If this is the only thing that first-generation immigrants can’t do, why complain?

But one should make an effort to change the law, so that a foreignborn can also run for President.

For someone who’s achieved so much already, what next?

Well, what I’m doing right now: fighting to create a clean environment. We have the responsibility to hand our land over to the next generation in better shape than when we inherited it. And right now, that’s not what we are doing.

I would do everything

– it always took a lot, a lot of work.

You gotta make a lot of sacrifices.

If you’re not willing to work hard, forget about it.

There’s another rule that is very important. Don’t be afraid to fail. If you’re afraid to fail, you’re always holding yourself back. In weightlifting, we learnt it very quickly: the only way you could break a record is if you’re willing to fail. That’s when you put on more weight, you try, sometimes maybe you will not be able to lift it (which has happened to me many

NOVEMBER 30, 2014

I can in my power to travel around the world, through our organisation to promote the idea of sub-national governance in cities, states and provinces, in individuals and companies and financial institutions and academic institutions, everyone working together to create a cleaner environment – to stop using fossil fuels, to build more renewable energy.

George Clooney is apparently planning to run for Governor.

I think that anyone should give it a shot. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s an actor or if it is a... coal miner, or an athlete, or a journalist.

It’s a very interesting arena to be in, a lot of hard work, but fun.

Did you try hard to lose the accent?

I never learnt or tried very hard to lose it. I always felt like the most important thing is that you’re understandable. I worked on it, sometimes, to have different accents – depending on what the movie was, but not to lose it now. I know it’s part of the Austrian charm.

You were advised to change your last name when you began acting.

Well, it was difficult. I remember when I did the first movie, Hercules, in New York, they changed the name to Arnold Strong. And I didn’t even have a choice. I saw it in the poster, “Arnold Strong”.

But then when I got further down the line in the movie business, I made it clear contractually that I wanted to keep my name Arnold Schwarzenegger.

And I felt that if people could remember Gina Lollobrigida and names like that, then they will also remember Schwarzenegger.

And the other idea was that if it’s hard for you to remember a name, it’s also hard for you to forget a name. saudamini.jain@hindustantimes.com Follow @SaudaminiJain on Twitter

times) but eventually, when you train hard enough, you will lift it.

So don’t be afraid to fail. I mean, how far can you fall? There’s the ground – that’s how far you can fall.

Winners dust themselves off and move on.

Another thing that I always tell people is, don’t listen to the naysayers. There’ll always be people out there who’ll tell you that you will not be able to do it, forget it, it’s a stupid dream you have, a crazy vision. Don’t listen to them.

26

PERSONAL AGENDA

twitter.com/HTBrunch

Wicketkeeper/ Batsman

Dinesh Karthik

BIRTHDAY SUN SIGN June 1

HOMETOWN

Gemini

SCHOOL/COLLEGE

Chennai

FIRST BREAK

St Bede’s Anglo Indian Higher My India debut in 2004 Secondary School, Chennai

HIGH POINT OF LOW POINT OF YOUR LIFE YOUR LIFE Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Winning the England series in 2007

Every time I get dropped from the national team

CURRENTLY I AM...

Playing for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL and celebrating the Platinum Day of Love

FAVOURITE PEOPLE IN BOLLYWOOD?

Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor

tiful ground to play on.

What is your personal style like?

Whatever I am comfortable in. As far as my playing style is concerned, it’s about playing the sport in the right spirit. I love making friends after the game is over.

What would you be most embarrassed to reveal: your Facebook account, Twitter posts or WhatsApp? My Facebook account – I’m very bad with it. And I hardly use it.

What are you most comfortable wearing?

A pair of shorts.

After a long day, what do you love to gorge on?

Anything. I know that I have good metabolism, so I can easily eat anything.

What is the best thing about your fiancée Dipika Pallikal?

She is very simple and elegant.

And we complement and understand each other very well.

The most expensive thing that you’ve bought for Dipika.

I just bought her a love band.

Three grooming products you can’t do without.

Hair styling wax that I always

carry with me. My cologne and also my facewash, as I am very particular about hygiene and cleanliness.

The craziest thing that you’ve done.

I want to do a few crazy things like skydiving and bungee jumping. I am quite an adventure junkie.

One thing that you can never eat.

I can eat a variety of meats but I won’t have dog meat.

Three things you would want if you were stranded on an island.

Someone to talk to, probably Dipika, some food and a blanket.

A body part you would want to get insured.

My arm. I have already got injured once and would definitely want to safeguard it.

A piece of advice you wish someone had given you 10 years ago.

To be grateful. Sometimes you are so busy you forget to appreciate what you have.

Your fitness fundas.

I work out only with my trainer.

And I make sure to do a lot of power training. For me, fitness is more about being on the ground

rather than being in a gym.

How do you destress?

By spending time at home.

— Interviewed by Veenu Singh

A FILM YOU’VE SEEN MORE THAN FIVE TIMES

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

MOST PAISA VASOOL FILM

Dhoom 2 (2006)

A MOVIE THAT WAS PART OF YOUR CHILDHOOD

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) FIRST MOVIE YOU SAW ON THE BIG SCREEN

Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!

(1994) with my family

my movies

If you weren’t a cricketer you would have been...

A run-of-the-mill engineer.

What has been the biggest inspiration for you to play the sport?

I wanted to play for the country at least once.

Any other sport you love to play or watch?

Tennis. I quite enjoy playing that.

Your favourite cricket ground.

Lord’s. I love playing there. It’s the home of cricket and a beau-