INDIA VOL 26 NO. 3 JUNE 2012
PERSPECTIVES
INSIDE
COVER STORY One Century, A Million Milestones
LEGACY A Toast to Indian Parliament
VERBATIM Ritu Dalmia
INDIA THIS MONTH
JUNE 2012
June 21
RATH YATRA Lord Jagannath and his siblings, Subhadra and Balabhadra, are taken out in a procession riding in 14-metre-high chariots. The chariots that are built anew every year are pulled by thousands of devotees. Where: Puri, Orissa
June 4
June 1-3
SINDHU DARSHAN Held on a full moon, the festival celebrates the river Sindhu or Indus from which India takes its name. A great time to see the culture of the region. Where: Leh, Ladakh
URS AJMER SHARIF The largest Muslim fair in India, it is held on the death anniversary of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at the place where he is buried. Night-long qawwali sessions are a major attraction. Where: Ajmer, Rajasthan
June 16-17
YURU KABGYAT During this annual festival, Buddhist monks, wearing masks portraying guardian divinities, dance to the music of drums, cymbals and long pipes. Where: Lamayaru Monastery, Ladakh June 29
FEAST OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL A celebration by Goa’s fishing community is marked by a pageant, dances and dramas held on a stage made by tying boats together. Where: Goa
June 8-10
June All weekends
MANALI SUMMER SUNDOWNERS The music and arts festival will feature classical, sufi, jazz, rock and pop music. Enjoy documentary screenings, art and photography and motorcycling tours on the sidelines. Where: Ram Bagh amphitheatre, Manali
INTERNATIONAL DANCE FESTIVAL Enthusiasts can interact with trained and reputed artists from India and abroad across various genres during the threeday event. Workshops, performances and competitions have been lined up. Where: Hinjewadi, Pune
June 21-29
KANG CHINGBA FESTIVAL This is the chariot festival of Manipur. In Manipuri, kang means chariot. Lord Jagannath and his siblings are taken out in a procession during the celebrations. Where: Imphal
editorial note ne can imagine the anticipation and excitement of the people who crowded Coronation Cinema in Mumbai on May 3, 1913. They were there for a big-ticket event: the first commercial screening of the first full-length Indian feature film, Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra. The 40-minute silent film told the story of a king who gives up his kingdom, his wife and his son to honour a promise to a sage. However, he is returned to his former glory by the gods, who are pleased with his high morals. The Bombay Chronicle, while reviewing the film in its issue of Monday, May 5, 1913, said, “the film was witnessed by a large crowd on Saturday night on whom it evidently made a great impression and we have no doubt that the Coronation will have crowded houses throughout the week. One can freely praise the beauty and ingenuity with which he (Phalke) has succeeded in presenting effectively the most difficult scenes.” Since then, a 100 years have passed, thousands of film have been made and billions of tickets sold, but the love for movies continues to grow among audiences across the length and breadth of the country. This is borne out by the fact that our country makes the largest number of films in the world, over a 1,000 annually, followed by the US and China. Also, the number of tickets sold surpasses any other country; some estimates put the number at 3.3 billion a year compared to about a billion a year in the US. Business analysts and pundits predict that by 2014, the Indian film industry will be worth USD 5 billion — no wonder Indian producers are being wooed by the world. To mark the centenary of Indian cinema, the cover story this month looks at our films and focuses on what makes them so endearing and entertaining. It is a proud moment for us that in a globalising world, our films are holding their own against the Hollywood juggernaut and finding new toeholds across the globe. Also, in this issue noted writer on strategic issues, C. Raja Mohan, takes a look at IndiaMyanmar relations, which are important and relevant in today’s world as Myanmar undergoes an internal political transformation. Last month Prime Minister travelled to Naypyitaw, the first visit by an Indian PM in 25 years, to reiterate India’s support for our important neighbour and lay the foundation for an enduring economic, political and security partnership. As always, any feedback is deeply appreciated.
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Navdeep Suri
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INDIA
PERSPECTIVES June 2012 VOL 26 No. 3/2012
Editor: Navdeep Suri Assistant Editor: Abhay Kumar MEDIA TRANSASIA TEAM Editor-in-Chief: Maneesha Dube Creative Director: Bipin Kumar Desk: Urmila Marak Editorial Coordinator: Kanchan Rana Design: Ajay Kumar (Sr. Designer), Sujit Singh Production: Sunil Dubey (DGM), Ritesh Roy (Sr. Manager) Brijesh K. Juyal (Pre-Press Operator) Chairman: J.S. Uberoi President: Xavier Collaco Financial Controller: Puneet Nanda Send editorial contributions and letters to Media Transasia India Ltd. 323, Udyog Vihar, Phase IV, Gurgaon 122016 Haryana, India E-mail: feedback.indiaperspectives@mtil.biz Telephone: 91-124-4759500 Fax: 91-124-4759550
India Perspectives is published every month in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Sinhala, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese. Views expressed in the articles are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Ministry of External Affairs. This edition is published for the Ministry of External Affairs by Navdeep Suri, Joint Secretary, Public Diplomacy Division, New Delhi, 140 ‘A’ Wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001. Telephones: 91-11-23389471, 91-11-23388873, Fax: 91-11-23385549 Website: http://www.indiandiplomacy.in Text may be reproduced with an acknowledgement to India Perspectives For a copy of India Perspectives contact the nearest Indian diplomatic mission.
6
JUNE 2012
6 COVER STORY:
ONE CENTURY, A MILLION MILESTONES India marks the 100th year since the release of the country’s first full-length feature film
India This Month
20
2
Global Perspectives: India-Myanmar Ties
20
Partnerships: Rebuilding Bonds
26
Travel: The Garden City
30
Legacy: A Toast to Indian Parliament
36
Book Extract: Srimanta Sankaradeva
40
REVIEWS:
30
46
Film: More Stories to Tell
44
Book: A Towering Genius
45
Verbatim: Ritu Dalmia
46
COVER PHOTO: BOLLYWOOD ACTOR MADHUBALA COVER DESIGN: BIPIN KUMAR
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(Clockwise from above) Amitabh Bachchan in a poster from Sholay; Dilip Kumar in Mughal-e-Azam; Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan; and actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
COVER STORY
One
Century, A Million
Milestones INDIA MARKS THE 100TH YEAR SINCE THE RELEASE OF THE COUNTRY’S FIRST FULL-LENGTH FEATURE FILM
AFP
TEXT: ANNA M.M. VETTICAD
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Byari: An Indian language that even most Indians have not heard of. Byari: The title of the Best Feature Film at this year’s National Awards. or a foreigner, there is no better showcase of Indian heterogeneity than Indian cinema. And to understand India’s wildly diverse cinema in the 100th year since the release of the country’s first feature film, Raja Harishchandra, there are few commentaries more educative than the National Film Awards that were given away last month. For most of the world, Indian cinema is synonymous with Bollywood song and dance, but neither Byari nor Deool – joint winners of the Best Feature Film Award – would fall into that slot. For one, they are not in Hindi. Byari is made in a little-known dialect spoken by a Muslim community inhabiting the country’s south-western coastline, and highlights the impact on women of stringent religious and social codes. Deool, a Marathi film, is about socio-political games that are played when a poor man in a remote village claims to have sighted God. Hindi mainstream cinema with all its colour and odes to commerce has been acknowledged with the Best Actress Award for Vidya Balan’s no-holds-barred sexual portrayal of the late film star Silk Smitha in the musical The Dirty Picture. The Best Hindi Film Award, though, went to director Onir’s unusually themed I Am – with its focus on women’s reproductive rights, the vexed issue of Hindu-Muslim relations in Kashmir, child sexual abuse and gay rights. The film that perhaps best illustrates the global and pan-Indian influences on the country’s cinema is a Tamil film that bagged the year’s Best Debut Film Award. Aaranya Kaandam is the story of an ageing, impotent don, his conniving mistress and rebellious cohorts. With its street lingo and smell of the soil, the film is rooted in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, but its elderly hero Jackie Shroff calls Mumbai his home; and his filmography is dominated by Hindi, a language spoken in the north. To watch this man play a gangster in a deeply south Indian-yet-global film is to catch a truly illuminating glimpse of what Indian cinema in 2012 is. While these films celebrate their victory, there is another cause for celebration as we
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(Anti-clockwise from above) Shah Rukh Khan and Madhuri Dixit in a still from Devdas, ranked eighth among the ten greatest movies of the millennium; Telugu actor N.T. Rama Rao; and Devika Rani, the first recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1969
(Clockwise from above) A still from Three Idiots (2009), which has had worldwide net collections of over ` 2.02 billion so far; actor Vyjayanthimala; and a scene from the Tamil film Aaranya Kaandam, which bagged the year’s Best Debut Film Award
mark 100 years of Indian cinema: that while other film industries worldwide have succumbed to the Hollywood juggernaut, Indian cinema in multiple languages does not just survive, it thrives.
BIG MONEY, BIG FILMS: The motion picture travelled to India almost as soon as it was born. Within months of holding their first public show in Paris in December 1895, the Lumiere Brothers arrived in India to show off the new invention. In the decade-plus that followed, many Indian short films were released. Though there is some debate over which was the first truly Indian full-length feature film, that honour is usually conferred on Raja Harishchandra made by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke. It was a silent film based on the legend of a king who would not lie. Its release led to the birth of the Indian film industry that is now widely considered one of the largest producers, if not the largest producer, of films in the world. In terms of revenue, Hollywood remains unrivalled on the international cinemascape. But in terms of the number of films released (approximately 1,000 a year), India appears to have no match. The uniqueness of the nation’s cinema lies in the existence of not one but several highly successful film industries within one country. The wealthiest among them in terms of budgets and earnings are the Hindi, Tamil and Telugu language industries also popularly known as Bollywood, Kollywood and Tollywood respectively. There are, however, smaller production centres churning out films in Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Bhojpuri, Punjabi and many other languages. It was evident from the early days that Indians would not be satisfied with films in just one language. The country’s first talkie – Alam Ara in Hindi released in 1931 – was quickly followed by the Telugu talkie Bhakta Prahlada and Kalidas in Tamil in the same year. Alam Ara featured seven songs. Kalidas had not one, not two, not seven, but 50 songs! These of course were the starting blocks for the country’s unique cinematic tradition weighted heavily towards the musical genre. The refusal to be swayed by world trends is perhaps the reason why Indian cinema has not lost its domestic audience to Hollywood, unlike most other countries. Europe may struggle to preserve its cinema in the face of the American industry’s marketing might, but the Indian masses will have none of that. India, it is often said, has two state religions: films and cricket. Alongside the larger-than-life, colourful, fantastical melodramas that the world equates with Indian cinema, low-cost offbeat realistic films are witnessing a minor renaissance now as the number of multiplexes in the country increases. Even calling Hollywood the world’s highest revenue earner is somewhat deceptive unless matters are put in perspective. Here’s why. Tamil megastar Rajinikanth’s rumoured pay packet of ` 350 million per film is said to be the highest in India. That may seem small in
comparison with the approximately ` 1.04 billion-plus (at current exchange rates) that Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp take home per film, but let’s look at these figures in the context of the vastly lower cost of living in India and the comparatively minuscule budgets at which films are made here. According to the trade website boxofficeindia.com, the most successful Hindi film till date as per available figures is the 2009 Aamir KhanKareena Kapoor-starrer Three Idiots with worldwide net collections of over ` 2.02 billion. This amount is dwarfed by the worldwide earnings of the multi-superhero Hollywood film The Avengers which crossed ` 52 billion according to boxofficemojo.com in just 19 days. There is a catch though. Three Idiots was made on a reported budget of a mere ` 350 million, small change in comparison with The Avengers’ budget which clocks in at a reported ` 11.44 billion. Now consider the number of rupees spent per rupee earned!
STARS, SUPERSTARS AND MEGASTARS: So powerful is the influence of Indian cinema on the masses that Indian movie stars have often made political careers for themselves…some without ever having involved themselves with social and charitable causes before they stood for elections. Among the members of the current Indian Parliament are Hindi film star Shatrughan Sinha and Telugu-Hindi actress Jaya Prada. The current Tamil Nadu chief minister is former Tamil actress J. Jayalalithaa. Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi is a member of the Legislative Assembly in his home state Andhra Pradesh. Few, however, could rival the mania unleashed on the political stage by the late M.G. Ramachandran in Tamil Nadu. MGR — who vanquished tigers with his bare hands on screen — built on the invincibility of his screen characters to carve a political career for himself, ultimately becoming the Tamil Nadu chief minister in 1977. The late N.T. Rama Rao who dominated the Telugu industry for over three decades drew on his performances as various Hindu deities to achieve the stature of a ‘living god’ among fans. The public adulation culminated in a successful political career during which he served as Andhra’s CM for three terms. The hysteria generated by these men is replicated today in the worshipful response to Rajinikanth, known to Tamil fans simply as The Boss. Rajini has determinedly stayed away from a political career despite the mass adoration he attracts. Giant cut-outs of The Boss being bathed in milk are a common sight in Tamil Nadu especially in the run-up to the release of his films. The passion of south Indian film fans would overshadow north Indian fans’ enthusiasm, but don’t underestimate the adulation that comes the way of Bollywood’s big names. Amitabh Bachchan, who was labelled the Angry Young Man of Hindi cinema through the 1970s and ’80s, stood for elections and won decisively from his home state in 1984. He soon quit politics. Now touching 70, Bachchan remains one of India’s biggest stars, almost single-handedly altering the course of Indian television when he re-invented himself in 2000 to appear as the host of the Hindi version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
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(Anti-clockwise from above) Superstar of Tamil cinema Rajinikanth in Sivaji; Kamal Haasan in a scene from Dasavathaaram; and Tamil actors M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa went on to become successful politicians
(Clockwise from above) Ranbir Kapoor in Rockstar; Ranbir’s grandfather Raj Kapoor in a still from Awara; Rekha in Umrao Jaan; and Sridevi, who blazed a trail through Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam cinema
NO BORDERS FOR THESE WOMEN: The rise of Bachchan in the ’70s coincided with the diminishing position of women in Hindi cinema. Now though, Vidya Balan’s successive successes with The Dirty Picture (2011) and Kahaani (2012) holds out the hope of a return to an earlier era when women mattered as much as men. Among the country’s earliest superstars were the silent era’s Sulochana and Patience Cooper who went on to achieve success in talkies too. Devika Rani was the winner of the first Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest honour for a film personality. In contrast to their reduced stature in Hindi films today, women were extremely influential at least until the 1960s. If Suraiya was an acting-singing colossus in the 1940s and ’50s, Nargis is legendary both for her beauty and her histrionics which distinguished her from the more mannered style of previous years. In the decades since, men have ruled the box office. Unlike the men in every industry though, women have been able to build careers across languages. South India has routinely exported actresses – already successful stars in their home states – to the north. Vyjayanthimala was a dancing sensation in both Tamil and Hindi cinema. Hema Malini was a Tamilian who dominated Hindi cinema throughout the 1970s and ’80s, confining her career to a language far removed from her mother tongue. However, it is Sridevi who remains the most phenomenal pan-India star till date, blazing a trail through Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam cinema throughout the 1980s and part of the 1990s with her potent combination of beauty, acting skills and dancing prowess.
CHILDREN OF A GREATER GOD – THE FILM FAMILY: Considering Indian society’s weakness for lineage, film dynasties are an inevitability. In terms of longevity and the number of major stars in a single family, the Kapoors of Bollywood arguably have no parallel worldwide. Cousins Kareena and Ranbir – two of Hindi cinema’s most popular young stars – are the great grandchildren of the iconic Prithviraj Kapoor, star of silent films and talkies. Prithviraj’s sons were the great actorproducer-director Raj Kapoor and his actor brothers Shammi and Shashi, each a star in his own right. Raj launched all his three sons as actors, but it was Rishi who became a star from the moment the teen romance Bobby was released in 1973. Shammi was married to the eminent actress Geeta Bali, Shashi’s wife was actress Jennifer Kendal, Rishi married his co-star of many films Neetu Singh and his elder brother Randhir married actress Babita with whom he had two children:
Kareena and Karisma, the first Kapoor daughters to act in films. Prithviraj and Raj both won Dadasaheb Phalke Awards. In an ode perhaps to the inseparability of the Kapoors and Bollywood, in 1971 Raj produced a film in which he starred with his father and Randhir playing three generations of the same family struggling to cope with changing values. It was aptly titled Kal Aaj aur Kal (Yesterday Today and Tomorrow).
GOING PARALLEL, GOING GLOBAL: Despite the combined size of the country’s film industries, Indian cinema has got surprisingly little recognition on the global stage over the decades – at the international boxoffice, awards functions and film festivals. Some of this has to do with the comparatively minimal marketing budgets available to Indian film producers, which puts them at a disadvantage in the competition with Hollywood beyond their home turf. It is also possible that a large mass of Indian films are deemed too over-the-top for the palate of followers of the more offbeat films emerging from countries like Sweden, France and Italy. Still, it’s not that India is entirely missing from global platforms. In 1946, Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar – a film about the exploitation of peasants by a cruel landlord – won the Grand Prix at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France. The seeds of the ‘Indian New Wave’ were sown in the 1950s, widely considered the Golden Age of Asian Cinema, when India was a dominant global force. Satyajit Ray’s The Apu Trilogy in Bengali had a profound influence on international cinema. Aparajito from the triad won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Along with Ray’s works, films by Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor continue to be saluted worldwide for their artistic merit. From the 1960s, the country witnessed a parallel cinema movement led by the likes of Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and G. Aravindan. Unlike their mainstream counterparts, these directors made films steeped in reality, reflecting the socio-political dilemmas of the time. They achieved critical acclaim at home and abroad. Though many of them enjoyed box-office success, a large number did not and by the 1990s the movement had fizzled out for its failure to recognise that cinema is both an art and a business. While Indian cinema continues to overshadow Hollywood here at home, there are those who criticise the country’s many industries for being inward looking instead of exploring markets worldwide. But such critics of the domestic industries must answer some counter questions: Should Indians transform their movie-making sensibilities to suit an international audience, at the risk of alienating loyal domestic movie-goers? Should we sacrifice our national pre-occupation with romance, the length of our films or the dominance of music in them to go along with global tastes? It can equally be asked if the world has not embarrassed itself by failing to acknowledge the incredible appeal of Indian cinema that continues to lure Indian audiences to the exclusion
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(Anti-clockwise from above) A still from director Satyajit Ray’s Aparajito, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1957; Malayalam actor Mammootty; Shabana Azmi and Anant Nag in Shyam Benegal’s film Ankur
(Clockwise from above) Aamir Khan and Gracy Singh in Lagaan (2001), which earned an Oscar nomination in the Best Foreign Language Film category; Manoj Bajpai in Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), which was part of the Director’s Fortnight that runs parallel to Cannes; and a still from Mother India
of all else; if international festivals aren’t dismissing Indian fantasia as exotica while also refusing to accept quality films on wealthy and middle-class Indians, instead gladly lapping up the downside of Indian society as depicted in so-called art films. It’s almost as if films from a Third World country not focused on its less fortunate citizens strike a discordant note with international audiences. Only three Indian films have so far earned Oscar nominations in the Best Foreign Language Film category: Mother India (1957), Salaam Bombay (1988), Lagaan (2001). Salaam Bombay also won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Not surprisingly, all three films were set among India’s poor. While all three were lovely, the common thread that ran through them is an indicator of what the Oscars consider acceptable from India. Satyajit Ray himself has been criticised by some for ‘exporting Indian poverty’ abroad. Yet, even his Lifetime Achievement Oscar was handed to him almost as an afterthought, quite literally on his deathbed. It’s possible that rising marketing budgets for mainstream Indian films could alter the situation. Though Indian cinema’s overseas audiences primarily comprise expatriates, non-Indians are increasingly being drawn to them which is evident from the gradually rising global collections for Indian films. Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan is a leading beneficiary of this trend, as is clear not just from his films’ worldwide box-office earnings but also the non-Indian crowds that gather for a glimpse of him wherever he goes … from the Berlin Film Festival 2010 where My Name Is Khan was presented to Yale University where he recently addressed students. What appears to be the gradual emergence of another Indian New Wave may also lead to new beginnings on the international festival circuit. After years of snubbing India, Cannes 2012’s official selections included Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely, Vasan Bala’s Peddlers and Uday Shankar’s 1948 film Kalpana restored by the World Cinema Foundation, while Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur was part of the Director’s Fortnight that runs parallel to Cannes. These are issues for film journalists, film makers and film scholars. But, like Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind, a large majority of Indians would, frankly, not “give a damn” whether or not the world nods in our direction. For us, Indian films continue to be among the most enduring images from our past, unrivalled founts of entertainment, chroniclers of our history and constant companions to our everyday lives. (The writer is a Delhi-based journalist. She is on Twitter as @annavetticad)
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AFP
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES
Special Neighbours,
Unique Partners Prime Minister Manmohan’s Singh’s visit to Myanmar helped launch the construction of an enduring economic and political relationship between the two nations TEXT: C. RAJA MOHAN
rime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Naypyitaw last month came at a defining moment in the political evolution of Myanmar. After decades of political isolation — both self-imposed and forced upon it by the international community — Myanmar is now reordering its internal political structures and reclaiming its rightful place in Asia and the world. The last prime ministerial travel from Delhi to Myanmar was by Rajiv Gandhi in 1987. Much water has flown down the Irrawaddy since then. If Rajiv Gandhi’s visit was an exploratory one, Singh’s sojourn in Myanmar helped launch the construction of an enduring economic, political and security partnership between the two nations. The principal objectives of Prime Minister Singh’s visit were to extend the support of the Indian government and people to Myanmar’s unfolding internal political transformation, deepen bilateral engagement, and develop political cooperation on regional and other issues of mutual interest. As neighbours that share not only a land frontier but also a maritime boundary, the relations between India and Myanmar have been shaped by historical inheritance, geographic interdependence and a shared cultural tradition. At the dawn of the 20th century, the Indian national movement objected to the British Raj’s imperial wars against what was then called Burma and its annexation with India. The solidarity between the two national movements translated into deep bonds between the top leaders of the two countries. After meeting Dr Singh, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has led the struggle for the democratisation of Myanmar during the last quarter of a century with great courage and fortitude, reminded the world of the close relationship her parents and Jawaharlal Nehru had. Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San was the founder of modern Myanmar and her mother served as ambassador to India. Nehru and U Nu, the first prime minister of Myanmar signed a treaty of peace and friendship between the two countries in July 1951. As two leading voices in emerging Asia, India and Myanmar kept in close touch. They also led the efforts to build a new Asian identity and develop Afro-Asian solidarity. From the 1960s, however, India and Myanmar drifted apart for a number of reasons. The peace and
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Myanmar President Thein Sein in Naypyitaw
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friendship treaty remained a piece of paper. As both nations adopted inwardoriented economic strategies from the late 1960s, the historic economic relationship atrophied. As Myanmar withdrew into a political shell, all avenues of normal bilateral engagement, then, were virtually shut down for an extended period. After Rajiv Gandhi’s visit there was brief moment of hope for Myanmar as Aung San Suu Kyi led a hugely popular movement for restoring democracy in the nation. But the army’s crackdown on the movement crushed those hopes. On its part, India was torn between two competing impulses. On the one hand was its empathy for Suu Kyi, who had spent her youth studying in Delhi, and her struggle for political values that were central to nation building in modern India. On the other was the recognition of the importance of engaging the neighbours, irrespective of their internal orientation. After its support to the democratic aspirations for the people of Myanmar until the early 1990s, India adopted a policy of constructive engagement with the military government without endorsing in any way the nature of its internal rule. Not surprisingly, India’s adoption of a ‘middle path’ disappointed the democratic movement led by Suu Kyi and invited much criticism from the Western nations. The recent changes in Myanmar have helped reframe the terms of local, regional and international debate on how to deal with the military led regime in this very important nation. For one, Myanmar’s military establishment is presiding over what is possibly the most exciting democratic transition in Asia and the world today. Second, Suu Kyi herself has taken a practical approach of engaging the military government. Instead of adopting an ‘all-or-nothing’ stance, she has chosen to enter the present parliament, engage the military-backed government, and contribute positively to the democratic transition. In his talks with the President of Myanmar Thein Sein and Suu Kyi, Dr Singh expressed strong support to the process of democratisation and national reconciliation initiated by the two leaders. The Western nations have begun to lift the economic sanctions against Myanmar, and the Southeast Asian nations have voiced their confidence in Naypyitaw by offering it the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the East Asia Summit in 2014. This transformation of the political context has created a very positive moment
The relations between India and Myanmar have been shaped by historical inheritance, geographic interdependence and a shared cultural tradition.
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AFP
(Above) Manmohan Singh with Aung San Suu Kyi at Yangon; and (left) External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna (left) with Myanmar Minister for Construction Khin Muang Myint in New Delhi
AFP
Prime Minister of Burma (now Myanmar) U Nu and his wife being welcomed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his visit to New Delhi, 1960; (below) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh writes in the visitors book at Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar
Relationship between the two countries acquired both breadth and depth during India’s constructive engagement with Myanmar during the last two decades
for the rapid acceleration of Delhi’s bilateral relationship with Naypyitaw. Last October, Singh and Myanmar’s President Thein Sein declared their commitment to strengthen and broaden “the multifaceted relationship based on shared history, civilisational ties and close religious, linguistic and cultural affinities”. The determination of the two leaders to elevate their bilateral partnership echoed the 1951 treaty that proclaimed ‘everlasting peace and unalterable friendship’ between the two countries. If circumstances prevented the realisation of the objectives of the treaty signed by Nehru and U Nu, Dr Singh and his interlocutors have outlined an ambitious agenda for bilateral cooperation. Four broad themes emerged from Dr Singh’s talks in Naypyitaw. One is the transformation of the long land boundary into a zone of trade and security cooperation that will stabilise the restive regions on both sides of their frontier. A second theme is connectivity — overland and across the seas. For India, Myanmar is a bridge to its own remote northeast, China and to Southeast Asia. The development of transport corridors within and across the national boundaries is now high on the agenda. Third, while India has an interest in accessing Myanmar’s natural resources, Delhi has rightly emphasised the importance of capacity building in the country and helping people help themselves. In the middle of the last century, Myanmar was one of the more advanced countries in Asia and it is determined to make up for the lost decades; India is in a good position to contribute to that process. During Dr Singh’s visit, India signed an MoU for a credit line of Rs 27.8 billion. These funds will be utilised in the infrastructure development projects, including in the fields of agriculture, irrigation, rail transportation, and electric power development in Myanmar. India also plans to undertake a large number of small development projects in Myanmar. The Indian business delegation that traveled with the prime minister met Thein Sein separately and explored the opportunities for the private sector participation in Myanmar’s economic transformation. India and Myanmar, acting together, are now well positioned to reclaim their past leadership role in shaping Asia’s future. At the end of their talks Dr Singh and Thein Sein agreed to step up bilateral consultations on various international issues and coordinate their approaches for much-needed regional development. — C. Raja Mohan heads the strategic studies programme at the Observer Research Foundation, Delhi
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PARTNERSHIPS
Rebuilding
Bonds India is playing a good neighbour to Sri Lanka by helping the nation get back on its feet after a three-decade long Civil War TEXT: ISHANI DUTTA
rishnan Yogeshwaran, a skilled fish trader from a village near Jaffna in Northern Province of Sri Lanka, had given up hope of ever leading a normal life. After losing a leg in a landmine blast, life seemed bleak. But despair gave way to hope when he heard of a limb-refitting camp. “I was working in my village when I lost my leg, and my life was disrupted. But things changed when I heard that the Jaipur Limb Organisation with the Government of India’s help was running a camp in Jaffna. I went there and got a new prosthetic leg. Now, I am very happy,” he says. Yogeshwaran wasn’t alone. Nearly 1,400 people benefitted from the monthlong camp held last September. Jaipur Foot has become a household name as thousands of war victims benefitted from it. Today, most of them have gone back to their work and are leading a normal life. Similarly, Alimuthu Rajeshwari had lost all hope of ever getting a roof over her head after her home in Kilinochchi in Northern Province of Sri Lanka was destroyed in the war. Today, she proudly shows off her home and animatedly talks of her children going to school. Says she: “The Indian Government constructed a good house for us, provided electricity and also built a school for our children. We thank the Indian Government for giving us all these facilities.” India is building 1,000 houses in the area as a pilot project to bring back the internally displaced families. These measures are part of India’s efforts to strengthen developmental
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Krishnan Yogeshwaran with his new prosthetic leg
AFTER THE END OF THE ARMED CONFLICT IN THE ISLAND NATION, INDIA ANNOUNCED A RELIEF, REHABILITATION, AND RECONSTRUCTION PACKAGE WORTH ` 5,000 MILLION
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DURING PRESIDENT MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA’S VISIT TO NEW DELHI IN JUNE 2010, INDIA PROMISED TO CONSTRUCT 50,000 HOUSES FOR THE DISPLACED PEOPLE IN SRI LANKA
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Alimuthu Rajeshwari in her new home
co-operation between both the nations. India is helping Sri Lanka get back on its feet after a three-decade long civil war. For the two nations which share a strong historical connection, believed to date back to the beginning of human settlement in the region, it’s only natural that they would come to each other’s aid whenever the situation demands. After the end of the armed conflict in the island nation, India announced a relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction package worth ` 5,000 million. Also, during President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi in June 2010, India promised to construct 50,000 houses for the displaced people in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. These new initiatives complement a host of other ongoing efforts to strengthen developmental co-operation between the two nations and to aid in Lanka’s inclusive growth. De-mining is one such important task that is being carried out with India’s help. The Indian government has deployed seven de-mining teams in Lanka, which have successfully cleared large areas with help from India’s indigenous demining system, Arjun, and made them habitable once again. In healthcare, India has supplied equipment for upgrading facilities at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. Simultaneously, work is on to improve the heath infrastructure of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu General Hospitals. It is imperative to first build a strong system of learning in the field of education. It has been at the apex of development cooperation programmes of India in the island nation. With Lankan authorities’ help, India is now identifying schools that need to be re-equipped and renovated to resume their normal functioning. Various vocational training centres for computer training, tailoring, mechanical repairs, masonry have been set up. Most importantly, what the nation needs is a good transport system. The existing one is in a shambles. India is lending a helping hand in restoring the devastated transport system. To reconstruct the Southern Railway Corridor hit by the tsunami in December 2004, a programme under a line of credit of ` 9.1 billion has been implemented. India has also committed a line of credit of ` 43.7 billion for reconstruction of the entire railway infrastructure in Northern Sri Lanka. A unique rail bus service, which runs on rails, has improved the connectivity between Batticaloa and Trincomalee. In addition, India is also helping in the rehabilitation of major ports like the Kankesanthurai Harbour and Palaly Airport at Jaffna. In all respects, India is willing to be a good neighbour.
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TRAVEL
The Garden City Bengaluru is like a sorbet — a delicious blend of colour, flavour, and freshness TEXT: MARIELLEN WARD
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PHOTOS: INDIA PICTURE
(Facing page) The Vidhan Soudha, Karnataka’s legislature, is the most visited landmark in the city; (above) flower sellers at the Malleshwaram market
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engaluru, Bangalore, Garden City, Silicon Valley of India. By any of its names, it is a city of amiable contrasts — greens abut concrete, traditional bungalows share a boundary wall with plush residential complexes, and simple coffee bars brush shoulders with jazzy coffee lounges. It was called Bengaluru as far back as the ninth century, but when the English made the town their regional administrative base in 1831, they anglicised the name to Bangalore. In November 2006, Bengaluru got back its old name at the behest of noted writer U.R. Ananthamurthy. Bengaluru is one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. Its economic boom is not restricted to IT: it includes the aerospace, aviation and automotive industries, the biotechnology sector, rose exports and silk manufacture. I spent a week exploring, eating, shopping, meeting people and trying to sense the essence of Bengaluru. One morning, I got up before dawn and took an auto rickshaw to Malleshwaram, a flower and vegetable market in one of the oldest parts of the city. I arrived when the night was just about to give way to day. The stalls were just opening for business, the colourful produce piled on simple tables. The atmosphere was unhurried and friendly. From here I visit the century-old City Market, also known as K.R. Market, in central Bengaluru. Here mounds of cilantro, coils of flowers, pyramids of coconuts and other fresh produce spill out of a Victorian building. After walking the market, I have worked up an appetite and head for, where else but, Brahmins’ Coffee Bar. Little more than a hole in the wall it is an
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(Clockwise from above) The 65-foot tall Shiva temple; Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens; people enjoying at a lakeside
Part of the Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens is the Glass House, which is patterned on London’s Crystal Palace. An annual flower show held here is a big draw.
PHOTO: INDIA PICTURE
PHOTO: INDIA PICTURE
MURALIDHARAN ALAGAR
(Facing page) A street-side eatery; (above) a painter outside the Chitrakala Parishath
NAVIGATOR By Air: It is linked to all major Indian and International cities. By Rail: Southern Railway network is well connected to the metros and major cities in Karnataka. By Road: Buses ply between Bengaluru and Mysore (139 km), Chennai (334 km) and Mumbai (1,033 km). Inter-state buses are operated by state as well as private operators.
institution in the city. It has only five items on the menu: idli (steamed rice cakes), vada (fried lentil cakes), kharabhath (a dish made with vegetables and semolina), kesaribhath (a sweet made with saffron and semolina) and coffee and is always crowded. Over the course of my stay in the city, I also have breakfast at the legendary Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR), started in 1924, and lunch at Koshy’s Restaurant, which was established sometime in the 1950s. Wood panels and line drawings on the walls gives the place an old-world charm. The Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens is, perhaps, an important reason why Bengaluru is known as the garden city. It sits imperiously in the centre of Bengaluru like a queen. Spread over 240 acres, it started out in 1760 as a private garden of the then ruler of the region, Hyder Ali. Part of the sprawling complex is the Glass House, modelled on London’s Crystal Palace, where a flower show is held every year. Another attraction is the Lal Bagh Rock, one of the oldest rock formations in the world that dates back 3,000 million years. Yes 3,000 million years. Next, stop is the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Heritage Centre and Aerospace Museum, one of India’s few public museums on aviation. Set up in 2001, the museum’s biggest attraction is its aircraft collection exhibited outdoors, designed, developed and built by HAL. It gives a glimpse of how the Indian aviation industry has grown. As I make my way around Bengaluru, I feel a sense of fluidity and change, and I am able to get glimpses of the old city, of the way things used to be when it was still a small town. I also glimpse the exotic that exists along with the modern, and the old sitting pretty with the new.
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LEGACY
A TOAST TO
INDIAN
PARLIAMENT
AFP
India, the largest democracy in the world, celebrated 60 years of the first sitting of the country’s supreme legislative body on May 13, 1952
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PHOTO DIVISION/MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
(Facing page) India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in Parliament House, New Delhi, on August 15, 1947; Dr Rajendra Prasad, first president of India, riding in a carriage to Parliament House
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HOUSE HISTORY
Indian Parliament comprises President of India and two houses, Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States). There are 790 Members of Parliament (MPs), representing the largest democratic electorate in the world (714 million eligible voters in 2009). Parliament is housed in Sansad Bhavan, the foundation stone of which was laid on February 12, 1921. It was completed in six years at a cost of ` 8.3 million. Circular in design, it has 144 pillars and 560 feet diameter and covers nearly six acres. Parliament’s first sitting was on May 13, 1952. The Indian Parliament holds three sessions in a year: The Budget Session (February-May); Monsoon Session (July-August); and the Winter Session (November-December). The first Lok Sabha had 22 women among its 499 members. The 15th Lok Sabha has a record 59. The percentage of graduate MPs has increased from 58 per cent in 1952 to 79 per cent in 2009. At present, more MPs have post-graduate degrees than in 1952, an increase from 18 per cent to 29 per cent. A meeting in progress at the Central Hall of Parliament
At 29, Hamidullah Sayeed is the youngest member of the 15th Lok Sabha. There are 30 MPs below the age of 35 in this Parliament; another 30 MPs are between the age of 36 and 39. Six under-35 MPs are women. Rishang Keishing (92) is the oldest parliamentarian who got elected to the first 1952-57 Lok Sabha. India became a Republic on November 26, 1949. But the first general elections were held in 1951-52. Constituted on April 17, 1952, the Lok Sabha held its first session a month later, starting May 13. One of the first things Parliament acted on was how to give land to the landless through Land reforms act. Bhagwati Devi, a stone quarry worker from Gaya, and Phoolan Devi, a former dacoit from Chambal, were among the elected members of the house. Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha met at quarter to eleven in the morning on the first day of the first session of the first Parliament of India. President Pratibha Patil released coins of ` 5 and ` 10 denomination to mark 60 years of Parliament along with a special stamp.
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BOOK EXTRACT
Indelible
Legacy
BO PHOTO: SAMIRAN
RUAH
More than four hundred years after it was created, Srimanta Sankaradeva’s Vrindavani Vastra continues to weave its magic. A selection of photographs taken from Srimanta Sankaradeva: Vaishnava Saint of Assam
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Extracted from:
SRIMANTA SANKARADEVA: VAISHNAVA SAINT OF ASSAM by Dr Bimal Phukan Publisher: Kaziranga Books Price: ` 480 Pages: 171
rimanta Sankaradeva, the 15th century poet-saint from Assam, is better known as a Vaishnava (follower of Lord Vishnu) reformer. His key literary texts are a part of every Assamese household and his dance form, Xatriya, is today part of the classical canon. Sankaradeva embodied creativity. His literary and artistic activities are not ends in themselves; but they are consciously oriented towards the sharing of his creed. Museums in London and New York, who know not of his verses, marvel at his creativity in a completely different sphere.
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VRINDAVANI VASTRA Vrindavani Vastra or cloth of Vrindavan brings into focus the range of Sankaradeva’s creative genius. Katha Guru Charita, a chronicle of events during the saint’s lifetime, gives the genesis of Vrindavani Vastra: During his visits to the Koch Behar royal court, Sankaradeva often regaled prince Chilarai with descriptions of the fun-filled childhood days of young Krishna in Vrindavan. The prince was enthralled, and wished he could partake of the experience… Sankaradeva had the narrative inscribed on cloth in a graphic form for the prince. He engaged weavers of Tantikuchi, near Barpeta, to weave a forty-yard-long panel of tapestry depicting
(Facing page) Vrindavani Vastra, a part of Musee Guimet’s collection in Paris (above) in British Museum, London
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We
ela and chadar, aving a silk mekh
a traditional dress
men of Assamese wo
Vrindavani Vastra or cloth of Vrindavan brings into focus the range of Sankaradeva’s creative genius Krishna’s early life in Vrindavan. Sankaradeva provided the designs to be woven, chose the various colours of the threads to be used, and personally supervised the weaving. It took about a year to complete and, deriving its name from its theme, came to be known as the Vrindavani Vastra. When first unveiled for viewing, people were astounded to see the true-to-life depictions of Krishna’s activities in Vrindavan… A little before Sankaradeva’s death in 1568, he is said to have presented it to Chilarai and his brother Naranarayana who were both overwhelmed with the result. How and when it disappeared from Koch Behar is not known and, with that, a valuable piece of history was lost. It would be another 400 years before one hears of Vrindavani Vastra again. In 1904, Francis Younghusband, a British Army Officer serving in India, led an expedition to Tibet. Among the artifacts he took back to Britain were a few exquisitely woven ‘figured silk textiles’ from Tibetan monasteries. These silk tapestries were donated to museums in Britain in 1905 and for the next 85 years remained catalogued as ‘Tibetan Silk Lampas,’ as Tibet was their last known place of origin. Only in 1992, a British scholar would identify the ‘Tibetan Silk Lampas’ as Vrindavani Vastra. Krishna Riboud was born Krishna Roy in 1927, in Dhaka. She went to America on a scholarship to study in Wellesley College where she met and married Jean Riboud, a French aristocrat. Together they travelled the world and amassed a vast collection of paintings and objects d’art, Krishna Riboud’s special interest being in oriental textiles. In 1979, she founded the Association for the Study and Documentation of Asian Textiles, in Paris, to catalogue her collection. It had some 16,000 items of Indian textiles, dating from the end of the 15th century to the present era. In 1990, she offered 148 items out of her collection to Musee Guimet in Paris. They are housed in a special gallery
in the museum as the Jean and Krishna Riboud Collection. Two of the exhibits of figured silk depict various avatars of Vishnu, and Krishna’s activities in his childhood. Scholars have now determined them to be Vrindavani Vastra. As the images of the Riboud collection gained currency in the art circles, it alerted Rosemary Crill, Curator of the Indian Department at London’s Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum, to two exhibits of ‘Tibetan Silk Lampas’ in the possession of the V&A. By 1992, altogether 15 different specimens of tapestries of the same types, described as ‘strikingly beautiful figured silk textiles’, had been located in museums around the world: in the UK, the USA, France, Italy, and in India’s Calico Museum in Ahmedabad. The term Vrindavani Vastra is used to describe these tapestries. Further research on art of Medieval Assam revealed that during the 1560s, Sankaradeva had offered Prince Chilarai to oversee the weaving of a great silk scroll, depicting the early life of Krishna. A cloth named Vrindavani Vastra is described there as woven with a large variety of colourful threads like red, white, black, yellow and green with inwoven captions; this descriptions matched the designs in the exhibits of ‘Tibetan Silk Lampas’ in V&A Museum. Rosemary Crill surmised that these ‘figured silk textiles’ must represent a direct continuation of design, and some may even be part of the original vastra itself. Another piece housed in the Museum of Mankind, British Museum, London, revealed a song from Sankaradeva’s drama Kaliya Daman. Popular belief in Assam has it that the tapestry now housed in the British Museum, London, is the or at least a part of the original Vrindavani Vastra presented by Sankaradeva to Chilarai in 1567-68. The innate quality of these tapestries is evident, as on March 25, 2004, Christie’s of New York, the auctioneers, put on sale a piece of ‘figured silk from Assam’ at a reserve price of USD 1,20,000.
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REVIEWS
FILM
More stories to Tell Tracing the journey of Indian writing in English in the new era
MAGIC REALISM & AFTER Genre: Documentary Director: Suresh Kohli Producer: Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs
(From left) Aravind Adiga, Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth and Kiran Desai
uresh Kohli’s Magic Realism & After, is a brilliant pot-pourri of writers, publishers, and organisers of literary festivals speaking on current Indian writing in English. The director’s vision is of freshness and change witnessed in the last decades. When exactly did the new era start? Most feel it began with the publication of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children in April 1981. Author Shashi Tharoor feels that Rushdie forced the West to take the unfolding narrative of the book as a new way of recording history. British publishers and academics interviewed tend to focus on Rushdie’s inheritance from the European tradition, drawing links between the 18th century picaresque novel, and, inevitably, making comparisons between Charles Dickens and Rushdie. However, not all agree that 1981 was, indeed, the watershed, with Professor Dieter Riemenschneider claiming for Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things, the privileged position of an Indian writer writing from within the country. French publisher Marc Parrent sees that the gap
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created by the declining interest in the European novel after WWII has been amply filled by literature emerging in a European language out of India, a country which has a 5,000-year tradition of narrative. Acclaimed writer Vikram Seth puts it in reverse; not that India has become more cosmopolitan, but that the world has, and that Europe is no longer regarded as the centre of the literary world. The film also addresses the commercial side of book publication, especially the importance accorded to book launches and literary festivals today. The organisers of the Jaipur Literary Festival, Sureena Nirula and Sanjay Roy, point out the advantages of such a festival, particularly to the less known or first time aspirants to the literary world. What the film brings out very clearly is that Indian writing in English is economically and academically viable today. Clearly, the country has new stories to be told in new ways, and the world seems to have tuned in as never before. —Jayanti Naju Seth YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9um2AGYM_60
BOOK
A Towering Genius A tribute to Rabindranath Tagore as part of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations RABINDRANATH TAGORE: A COMMEMORATIVE VOLUME Published By: Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India Pages: 244
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RABINDRANATH TAGORE: AN INTERPRETATION By Sabyasachi Bhattacharya Published by: Penguin Pages: 320 Price: ` 499
abindranath Tagore: A Commemorative Volume and Rabindranath Tagore: An Interpretation have been released to mark Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary. The first Asian Noble Laureate and the only Indian Noble Laureate for Literature, he composed the national anthems for both India and Bangladesh. He wrote poetry, novels, essays, plays and short stories and was a painter. In Bengali, his collected writings fill 31 volumes . Comparisons are often drawn between him and Irish nationalist and cultural revivalist W.B. Yeats, who introduced Tagore’s works in English to the West. Both resonate of the Romantics. Tagore’s mystical symbolism is compared with English poet-painter William Blake. Some of his paintings compare with Blake’s, although he was more than just a mystic. It was Tagore who named Gandhi ‘Mahatma’. That is not to say that the two agreed on everything. Whilst Tagore placed emphasis on the village and traditional Indian civilisation, he also placed faith in science and the scientific method, talking with Einstein and Heisenberg. His knowledge of villages came from his time as a manager for his family estates in what is now Bangladesh. A school he established in Santiniketan exists to this day (Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was a student). He pioneered co-educational teaching and was more progressive on gender issues than others at that time and place. An avid traveller, Tagore visited Japan, South America, Europe, the former USSR, China and the Middle East. He also visited Italy at Mussolini’s invitation, but later denounced the dictator. He intervened in public debates against the British Raj on a range of issues. In 1919, he renounced his knighthood in protest against the Jalianwalla Bagh Massacre. Tagore was attracted to the concept of unity in diversity. He was 80 years old when he died in Kolkata (then Calcutta) on August 7, 1941.
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—Paul Lynch is an Australian politician
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VERBATIM
“INDIANS ARE TRAVELLING MORE AND EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT CUISINES” ery few women in the world have made a mark for themselves as professional chefs. Restaurant kitchens are still a male bastion. But with sheer passion and determination Ritu Dalmia has stormed this world and built a culinary empire. Already, she runs five restaurants. That is not all, the restaurateur who has been awarded the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy by the Italian government has her plates full with cookery shows on national television and a catering service that she started recently. Besides all this she has authored cookbooks, among them Italian Khana and Travelling Diva. She spoke to Urmila Marak about her enterprises and her passion for feeding people. Excerpts
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You are a chef, a restaurateur, an author and also a TV host. What excites you most about being in the food business? I am a chef and nothing gives me more pleasure than feeding people. The television show and the book have been great fun but being a chef is what defines me. How has the Indian palate changed in the last few years? There has been a gastronomical explosion in the last few years. Indians are more adventurous with food now and are willing to spend money at stand-alone restaurants. They are also travelling and eating out and experimenting with different cuisines.
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What is the reason that woman like you have been able to break the glass-ceiling in the restaurant business which is largely dominated by men? I was very lucky, as I never had any glass-ceiling to face. At 21, I knew I wanted to open a restaurant. I went ahead and did it without thinking of the consequences. And as I said I was lucky, I never faced any problems. All your restaurants are in Delhi. Do you have plans to open outlets any where else? I don’t think I will ever spread out of Delhi. I like to micro manage all my restaurants, which is not possible when they are not within driving distance. Tell us about your latest book and TV series Travelling Diva. Travelling Diva is my own personal notebook with all my favourite recipes, my food memories, my foodie friends, my favourite restaurants and markets. All these put together turned into a book called Travelling Diva. In some ways it is a tribute to all my friends who have fed me, shared recipes and jokes. Besides food, what are your other passions? I love to travel. I read a lot. In fact, when I was young I wanted to open a book shop because I thought I will get so many free books to read. Also, I love music and I make all the playlists for my restaurants.
PHOTO: ANSHIKA VERMA
OSAKABE YASUO
... ARTISTIC
Every year in Bikaner, camels get pampered and groomed — their coats shaved, trimmed, dyed and styled to feature beautiful designer ‘tattoos’ at the Camel Festival
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