Exotica april 2016

EXOTICA

RNI NO. DELENG/2006/18084 POSTAL REGN. NO. DL (C)-01/1151/2016-2018 Posted at NDPSO on 10th, 11th & 12th of same month Published on 30th of Advance Month

VOL 10 NO 6 APRIL 2016

Editor-in-Chief CHANDAN MITRA EDITORIAL BOARD Vice-chairman & Joint Managing Director Amit Goel Group President Aparna Sengupta 09958000128 Chief Executive Officer Abhishek Saxena EDITORIAL Editor-in-charge Rinku Ghosh Feature writers Priyanka Joshi & Devi Singh Chief Designer Anand Singh Rawat Senior Designer Santosh Kumar Yadav Pre-press Manager Syed Nawab Raza Staff photographer Pankaj Kumar SALES & MARKETING General Manager Kumar Gurudutta Jha Deputy General Manager Ravi Khatri Manager Bharat Singh Sajwan, Prabhakar Pathak GOVERNMENT & PSU General Manager Tapan Ghosh Assistant Manager Neeta Rai Media Coordinator Neelu Sharma MUMBAI OFFICE General Manager Devendra Adhikari 09867575933 KOLKATA OFFICE Vice President Suzanna Roy 09830197332 General Manager (Circulation) Rajeev Gautam Printed and published by Chandan Mitra for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd, printed at Lustra Print Process Pvt Ltd, Killa No. 51/21, Village: Rohad, District: Jhajjar, Bahadurgarh, Haryana and published at 2nd floor, Patriot House, 3, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110002.

Editor: Chandan Mitra. Entire Contents Copyright (C) 2006 CMYK Printech Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction or translation in any language in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

Requests for permission should be directed to CMYK Printech Ltd. Opinions carried in Exotica are the writers’ and not necessarily endorsed by CMYK Printech Ltd. The publisher assumes no responsibility for the return of unsolicited material or for material lost or damaged in transit. All correspondence should be addressed to CMYK Printech Ltd; 2nd Floor, Patriot House, 3, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002 Phone: 23718296/40754136 Fax: 23755275 Email: exoticapioneer2016@gmail.com

FROM THE EDITOR

HOW TOURISM CHANGED KERALA

I HAD

heard a lot about Kerala having changed unrecognisably over the last few years; of tourism having brought about a complete transformation to its society and economy. After my many visits, I can say that it has indeed metamorphosed into one of the world’s best tourist destinations.

Almost every hotel I’ve stayed in has been packed to capacity.

The state has hit upon a winning formula: sun, sea and ayurveda. There are many places in India that can offer the same formula or a modified version of that. But none has been enterprising enough. The real catalyst, I think, has been the selling of Kerala as a health and rejuvenation destination. Ayurvedic treatment, especially massages, has become household industry. You can’t drive more than 500 metres on any road big or small without noticing such an outlet. Every hotel has a well-equipped ayurvedic centre, complete with vaids and other medical as well as nutrition consultants. I found the majority of foreign tourists to be in the 60 plus age group and hoteliers told me that many of them come every year, spending up to three weeks undergoing therapy for common ailments like arthritis that become especially painful during European winters.

By comparison, Indians are yet to discover the rejuvenating qualities of their own traditional medicines. Kerala’s therapy boom has led to a corresponding spurt in ayurvedic studies with hundreds of young people opting for traditional medicine courses in the state’s colleges and universities.

Similarly, age-old industries have revived thanks to the surge in ethnic fashion in the burgeoning hotel industry. The manager of Spice Village, a resort in Thekkady on the outskirts of the Periyar Sanctuary, once pointed to the terracotta tiles on the floor to explain how that dying industry had been rescued from imminent collapse. He said the mosaic/marble craze of the 1980s had put terracotta tile factories on closure notice. But the Kerala-based Casino Group’s decision to use terracotta instead of marble caught on in a big way with hotels and then spread to individual houses. Today, these tile factories are working to full capacity and thousands of jobs have been saved.

Such instances can be multiplied many times over. What I found really impressive about the development of tourism in Kerala is the manner in which the local population has been consciously involved in its growth and concomitantly benefited economically from it. For instance, till some years ago, nobody had thought of the concept of backwater tourism. Today, it is a flourishing industry with local boatmen converting their crafts into luxurious houseboats that take tourists on an overnight journey through the backwaters around Alappuzha (Aleppey), anchoring somewhere in the vast expanse of the Vembanad Lake. Although most houseboats are motorised and glide effortlessly through the bottle-green waters, some boatmen have set up their own cooperatives to resist the onslaught of mechanisation. The Alleppey Tourism Development Cooperative, for instance, runs 18 such houseboats that are man-powered. But even the mechanised boats need service staff, and that has opened up a completely new employment arena for boatmen and other locals. At Spice Village, I found the hotel supporting local Eco-development Committees by purchasing elephant grass for thatching its luxuriant cottages.

In the past, the grass used to be annually burnt as it was considered of no economic value. Now, not only is it bought but villagers are also hired for the job of replacing layers of thatch every year, giving them a hitherto unexplored opportunity to earn a livelihood. In other words, at every stage of Kerala's tourism boom, the local population has derived some economic benefit and thereby acquired a stake in its growth. So, far from tourism alienating people, it has integrated them with it and that's a lesson many states need to learn.

[CHANDAN MITRA] Editor-in-Chief

[p34]

I N S I D E APRIL 2016 VOLUME 10 NO 6

[p8] Little Black Book [p8] Neil Bhoopalam: A quick peek into his style file Q&A [p20] No reservations: Alia Bhatt Heritage Loom [p26] The thread of our being: Time to revive our indigenous fabrics with a modern spin Wanderlust [p34] Lost and found: Jaisalmer [p20] Lit Feast [p44] No years of solitude: Thassarak village, which inspired the magic realism novel of OV Vijayan

[p98]

COVER PHOTO: JITENDRA SINGH/ DEBAN TRIBAL HUTS, NAMDAPHA

CONTRIBUTORS Kushan Mitra [p86] Hotwheels: Bigger and better Magandeep Singh [p98] The summer punch: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar [p100] Guruspeak: Set yourself free Bharat Thakur [p102] Fitness: Yoga for anxiety disorder Sanjay Jumaani [p104] Numbergame: Count your fate

Green miles [p56] Tarzan country: Namdapha Eat out [p66] Street banquet: Explore Khao San Road for its sumptuous offerings Skid row [p70] Tales from a ghetto: Survival instincts Wild card [p76] Enter the Dragon: The giant monitor lizards in Komodo islands

TOTAL NUMBER OF PAGES 108 INCLUDING COVER

OUR

PARTNER

HOTELS

Send us your feedback at exoticapioneer2016@gmail.com

[p26]

When it comes to sunglasses, I prefer sticking to Ray Ban, be it aviators or wayfarers.

FAVOURITE HAUNTS OF STYLISH PEOPLE

I always go for comfy shoes and not just the ones in vogue. Right now I’m in love with a blue pair of Clarks which I picked up three years ago in Singapore.

I’m rather a slow reader and currently I’m reading Mixtape by Kokaachi Studios which is an anthology of short comics.

NEIL BHOOPALAM is a VJ, theatre and film actor.

The multi-faceted artiste can currently be seen on Nat Geo’s show on life hacks and will be directed

by Kalki Koechlin for a play

I’m a beach boy, my idea of a perfect vacation is heading to somewhere quiet with sea and sun. I just loved exploring the quaint northern parts of Goa recently.

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I love warmer fragrances for winters and since it’s hot right now, I would go for something cooler like Coolwater by Davidoff.

Although I don’t really believe in the concept of stocking up on fashion brands, there are some classics I can’t do without. I focus more on quality, comfort and price. I have a pair of classic dark blue Calvin Klein jeans, which is my prized wardrobe possession.

EVENT CALENDAR

SPRINGFROLIC April is more than just Fools’ day.

Get your funny side up with more reasons to laugh 3RD APRIL [FIND A RAINBOW DAY]

4TH APRIL [READ A ROAD MAP DAY]

7TH APRIL [TELL A LIE DAY]

People enjoy cooking colourful foods on this day; jello and cookies being some of the most common items. So it appears that there are indeed times when a bit of rain is not necessarily a bad thing!

On this day, it’s time to bust out an old paper map. It doesn’t even have to be a recent one and you can recreate the romance of experiential travel.

Dishonesty is an art form that is prevalent in every day of our lives, with the media selling us the various versions of events. This is a day to let all of that pass.

16TH APRIL [WEAR YOUR PAJAMAS TO WORK DAY]

10TH APRIL

13TH APRIL

[SIBLING DAY]

[BOOKMOBILE DAY]

The bond between siblings is extra-special, even more so if one of them has a life-long illness or a disability.

In the 1920s, Sarah Byrd Askew, a New Jersey librarian, thought that reading and literacy are so important that she delivered books to rural readers in her own Ford Model T.

19TH APRIL [HANGING OUT DAY]

23RD APRIL [ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAY]

This day is celebrated by people hanging their laundry outside their homes in the open, using the natural energy of the sun and wind to dry their clothes.

The English language with its cultural influences from all over the globe has a huge vocabulary, one which is full of odd rules.

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Don’t worry about knotting a tie, don’t confine your feet in high heels. Enjoy the luxurious freedom of lounging while earning your pay cheque.

25TH APRIL [HUG A PLUMBER DAY] The day encourages us to recognise the ingenuity, hard work and skills of plumbers everywhere – because who knows when you’ll spring a leak.

TA S T E B U D S

BLUEBERRY ETON o 250 g blueberries o 1 tbsp lemon juice o 300 ml cream o 1 tbsp icing sugar o 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste o Place the blueberries, lemon juice, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves and the blueberries begin to break down. Set aside to cool completely. o Whisk the cream, icing sugar and vanilla paste in a bowl until soft peaks form. o Spoon some of the cream mixture into serving glasses. Top with some of the blueberry mixture.

Continue layering with remaining cream and blueberry mixture. Serve immediately.

PLATE IT QUICK! Calm your hunger pangs in a jiffy with these easy to make under 10-minute recipes GREEK HOT ROAST CHICKEN WRAPS o Hot Roast Chicken, skin removed o 170 g Olives o 80 g Feta, crumbled o 1 medium ripe tomato, cored and cut o 384 g wraps o 200 g Tzatziki dip o 75 g Lettuce o Combine the olives, feta and tomato in a bowl. o Heat wraps evenly. Spread dip over each wrap, top with some lettuce mix, chicken and olives.

LAMB FILO CIGARS o 2 tsp olive oil o 1 brown onion, finely chopped o Lamb Mince o 1 tbsp Moroccan spice mix o 100 g feta, crumbled o 2 tbsp toasted slivered almonds o 15 sheets filo pastry, halved lengthways o 50 g butter, melted o Preheat oven to 200째C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. o Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook onion for 5 minutes. Add the mince and cook and spice mix. Set aside to cool. o Add feta, almonds and mint to the mince mixture and toss to combine. o Place a filo sheet on a clean work surface. Brush with melted butter. Fold in half crossways. Spoon the mince mixture onto 1 short end of the filo. Roll up to enclose filling and create a cigar shape. Brush rolls with butter.

Bake until lightly golden. Serve with tzatziki.

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TRAVEL NEWS

WOMEN MAKE THE MOVES 69 per cent of Indian women contribute financially while 75 per cent are an equal partner in co-planning and booking with their companion, according to a recent travel survey. TripAdvisor unveiled findings highlighting how women across Asia plan their holidays, the factors that guide them and the influence they have over decisionmaking. The findings, launched in conjunction with International Women’s Day, are based on responses

ABOUT

from over 2,800 female travellers across seven Asian countries — India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Japan. Overall 68 per cent Asian and 63 per cent Indian women say their travels have helped them learn more about the world. Only 32 per cent Indian women travellers make all the decisions themselves but they are increasingly voicing their opinion with 75 per cent taking equal ownership of planning the trip.

DISNEY CRUISE EXPANDS ITS FLEET Walt Disney Company announced plans to build two additional cruise ships showcasing its unparalleled service.

The company has entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany. The schedule calls for the new ships to be completed in 2021 and 2023. “The expansion of our Disney fleet will allow us to create even more magical memories for families at sea and incredible cruise destinations around the world,“ said Robert A Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company. Each ship will be approximately 135,000 gross tons — slightly larger than the newest Disney Cruise Line ships, the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy — and each is currently planned to include about 1,250 guest state rooms.

THE

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THE BEACH IS CALLING Oberoi group is planning to build a luxury resort in the Maldives with the Subramanya Construction and Development Company Limited (SCDCL). The investment for acquisition and development of the resort will be undertaken by SCDCL, a Bangalore-based real estate development company. Commenting on the partnership, Mr KN Balasubramanyam, Chairman and MD, SCDCL said, “We look forward to working with The Oberoi Group to create more luxurious offerings globally and would like to say that this extraordinary project will make a major contribution to our long-term partnership.” After signing the MoU, Moosa Zameer, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maldives, said, “With growing demand of luxury hospitality services in Maldives, it is imperative to bring in the best in the industry and our partnership with The Oberoi Group will be a testament to this.”

THE

BARRAGE OF VISITORS travel search engine recorded a 25 per cent increase in searches for first-time World T20 championship host country, India. Over the years, we have seen a rise in sports tourism with fans travelling across continents rooting for their favourite teams. This growth has been accelerated with favourable initiatives by the government, including the introduction of the e-Visa facility being available to countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Netherlands, Oman and the United Kingdom. While Australia overshadows other participating cricket countries with a 107 percent YoY increase in flight searches, it’s encouraging to see supporters of debut team Oman in the running with a 30 percent YoY increase," said Ravish Doctor, Manager, Growth Strategy, Skyscanner India.

A LEADING

HONEYMOONING IN STYLE Internet-accustomed couples, who have decisive tastes, are opting for unique ways to spend their time together. They want more than just run of the mill defined itinerary for them.

These interesting facts led TravelTriangle, India’s first holiday marketplace, to come up with a research on the kinds of honeymoon couples. They were found to be of seven type of couples —the nature lovers, the crazy adventure junkies, the hopeless romantics, the luxurious and exotic types, the white mountain types, the beachy babies, and lastly the couples who prefer fairy tale destinations.

The survey revealed that couples prefer an international destination over an Indian one. They also want their trip to be customised exclusively for them with unique experiences and itineraries.

THE

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TOP HILL DESTINATIONS DARJEELING [WEST BENGAL] Surrounded by infinite slopes of emerald-green tea plantations and set against a backdrop of jagged white Himalayan peaks, Darjeeling is nestled in the northern regions of West Bengal.

SHILLONG [MEGHALAYA] The capital city of Meghalaya, Shillong sits amidst the Khasi Hills. One of the most charming hill stations of India, it is famous for receiving the highest rainfall in the world.

COORG [KARNATAKA] Spread out on the Western Ghats, the misty valley of Coorg is enveloped in emerald landscapes and acres

of coffee, tea and spice plantations. Coorg is a major centre for spice and coffee production. So, just sitback and watch the fog roll by.

OOTY [TAMIL NADU] Established as a summer retreat by the British and nicknamed “Snooty Ooty”,this is a visual delight filled with pretty cottages, gardens, thatched-roof churches and terraced botanical gardens.

MCLEODGANJ [HIMACHAL PRADESH] Mcleodganj, the home of Dalai Lama, is the destination for many travellers visiting Dharamshala.

Walk along the Temple Road and get amazing insights of the streets.

THE COMFORT FLIGHT -four per cent of travellers will pay for added comfort on a short haul flight but this jumps to 89 per cent on long or extra-long haul flights. India leads in playing games on a phone or mobile device while flying.

“For 84 per cent Indians, comfort is more important than style while travelling by air,” said Manmeet Ahluwalia, Marketing Head, Expedia India. Indians also lead globally in paying extra for a window seat with 34 per cent or an aisle seat being booked by 10 per cent of travellers. While 44 per cent Indians feel a meal to be important, 21 per cent prefer healthy snacks.

Expedia released the results of the Expedia Passenger Preferences Index, which includes amenities for which customers would prioritise on flights of different duration.

SEVENTY

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So the movie is about a dysfunctional family and its struggle. Do you feel there are any similarities between other dysfunctional scripts we have seen? The themes of love and sibling rivalry remain the same in any family drama.

How different is the movie from the rest along the same lines?

I wouldn’t use the word dysfunctional as I would never want to describe a family like that. The movie is not what you perceive it to be. It’s not at all what it looks like. It’s not even a love story. I think as filmmakers, we always try to confuse the audience a bit; it’s for you to find out what the story is about. It’s a reunion of sorts with plenty of drama. The film is all about different perspectives each character has for another.

I think what sets the movie apart is the soul of the film; people related to it pretty well. I think each of us experienced the same dilemmas and conflicts at some point in our relationships. There are moments in the film where you will feel you are getting a peek into your own family. We all have our parts to play in life as we did in the ensemble cast; I play the girl next door.

Despite the cracks, grandpa Rishi Kapoor wants his family to feel normal and happy for the last family photograph.

With a stepping stone as big as Dharma Productions, ALIA BHATT went on to make waves in Bollywood by impressing her critics with a stellar performance of an abduction victim with a Stockholm syndrome. Only five-year-old in the industry, Bhatt has had a lot on her platter already with all the big banners, filmmakers and advertisement brands chasing her. Here’s a candid chat with the ‘it girl’ of the industry on growing too fast and still being an old soul while she promotes her latest movie Kapoor & Sons. By DEVI SINGH

EXOTICA [20] APRIL 2016

PHOTOS: PANKAJ KUMAR

Q&A

How was it working with two stunning actors? Who’s better between the two? You play someone who intensifies the conflict between them as both brothers seem to be attracted to you in different ways.

I think working with two stunning actors was definitely a stunning experience. Besides we had a very stunning ensemble cast, including the likes of Rishi Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah and Rajat Kapoor. It was the easiest, lovely and simple experience I’ve had making a film so far. It was like working with your own family.

It’s always tough to get the right cast for an ensemble film. I don’t believe in choosing a person. He/she is not a food item that I will choose. Each has his own strength.

Undoubtedly both of them are very hot. All the women who know me used to tell me how lucky I am to be working with such good- looking men. We had a great time working together. Fawad is a great actor; he’s very giving and intense.

Now I know why women love him, it’s because of his expressive eyes.

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I CAN’T REALLY CHOOSE BETWEEN SID AND FAWAD. UNDOUBTEDLY BOTH OF THEM ARE VERY HOT. ALL THE WOMEN WHO KNOW ME USED TO TELL ME HOW LUCKY I AM TO BE WORKING WITH SUCH GOOD LOOKING MEN

Siddharth Malhotra and you have done love stories which were more of a love triangle. When would you do a love story which consists of only you two?

We are not trying to project the film as a love triangle. Even the trailers show the fears and entangled emotions between a family; it’s about love, loss and relationships.

Coincidentally, whenever I have romanced Sid, it has happened that there was another guy involved. But yes we are looking for a script and it will happen soon. I think we want to open up in instalments (laughs) and make people crave and ask for it. We want the audience to want to see us both as an exclusive pair onscreen, so they finally go like oh, thankfully now they are together.

WHENEVER I HAVE ROMANCED SID IT HAS HAPPENED THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER GUY INVOLVED. BUT YES WE ARE LOOKING FOR A SCRIPT AND IT WILL HAPPEN SOON

You have done a variety of roles early in your career and each had its spunk.

Do you think Alia Bhatt is now seen as the first choice when it comes to ’vivacious’ characters?

I feel I’m growing too fast. But then there is this childlike side to me, which will always be there and I feel that it’s important as well. Still I think I’m mostly an old soul. I don’t consciously pick up roles; I just want to do a variety of roles, whatever falls in my kitty.

What was it like to get launched by a big banner like Dharma Productions? Do you feel the kind of starry launch you got has given you an edge? In what capacity has it helped your career?

It feels great. I remember watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai with my sister and I asked her, does Karan launch new-comers and she said no, he only works with stars. I never thought

EXOTICA [23] APRIL 2016

I HAD GONE TO HIS HOUSE WITH MY FATHER. SOME OF MY RELATIVES FROM PAKISTAN HAD COME OVER AND THEY WANTED TO MEET SHAHRUKH, THE SUPER STAR. SO HE OBLIGED US, KIND AND POLITE AS USUAL. HE INVITED US OVER AND WAS A LOVELY HOST Dharma would treat me with so much love and care. It’s one of the finest production houses in the industry. Karan has given me the platform to express myself. I owe it to him. I will forever be grateful to him.

Tell us something about your project with SRK. We heard you are a fan. What are your earliest memories with him?

Well I can’t reveal much as of now but yes, being paired opposite SRK will be a dream come true, not only for me but for any actress in the industry.

I still remember meeting him as a child once when I had gone to his house with my father. Some of my relatives from Pakistan had come over and they wanted to meet Shahrukh, the super star. So he obliged us, kind and polite as usual. He invited us over and was a lovely host.

How confident are you at this stage of your career about your craft? At 22 you have gained a lot, what is next for you? Is there any lure of the West?

I really wish I was doing a Hollywood film. As of now, there is no such project lined up. It’s extremely inspiring to see some of my colleagues going to Hollywood and getting accepted well. I’m very fond of Priyanka and Deepika as both have been great examples for us in Bollywood. They have both stepped out of their comfort zones and broadened their horizons. Both are very strong women, who have always believed in chasing their dreams and I think they do give hope to people like me that maybe someday, even I can touch those shores. They have set a trend which has opened up windows for us so that we can branch out and spread cinema all over. There’s definitely more acceptance now for Indian actors in the West.

EXOTICA [24] APRIL 2016

SPARKLING GLORY

Renowned for their striking colour, emeralds have been a subject of fascination since antiquity.

Here’s a quick collector’s guide by specialist CHARLOTTE PEEL ahead of the upcoming Christie’s Jewels online auction

Consider colour: The most coveted stones possess both a verdant green hue and a high degree of transparency. For a gem to be considered an emerald, it must be medium to dark in tone — with lightertoned gems known instead by the species name green beryl. A high saturation of green is also highly desirable.

Expect inclusions: It is natural for emeralds to feature inclusions and surface breaking fissures — indeed, it’s so common for emeralds to be flawed that a “clean” stone is said to be virtually unknown. Jewellers call these inclusions jardin, or garden, as they resemble mossy wilderness, “growing” within the stone.

Treatment is normal: In order to fill surface-reaching cracks, and improve clarity and stability, the most common treatments are oils and polymers. But treatments can reduce value: oil — treated emeralds are worth much less than untreated emeralds of similar appearance.

Consider cut: Emeralds can be cut in a variety of ways, the most popular of which is the rectangular step-cut, commonly named the “Emerald” cut. Beads and cabochon cuts are also popular. Cabochons are gemstones that have been shaped and polished in a rounded shape with a flat reverse.

Increasingly coveted: If history has demonstrated emerald’s enduring popularity, today’s market shows a growing appreciation for the gem. Market prices in recent years have been high with buyers demonstrating an increased interest in emeralds. One thing is clear — emeralds are hot right now!

EXOTICA [25] APRIL 2016

H E R I TA G E L O O M

the thread of o

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fo our being Like a legacy bestowed upon us, we have treasured it for the most part. These threads have tales of culture written all over our identity, reminding us of a different era. Lately there has been a renewed appreciation of homegrown weaves and a sudden awakening within for our indigenous fabrics.

Whether it’s a new age bride going for refurbishment of heirloom as her choice for trousseau or an idiosyncratic fashionista impressing everyone with his earthy chic look, ethnic is the new speak of the town, an extension to explore and connect to the roots we once lost. It’s time to revive these fabrics, celebrating the nostalgia with a modern spin. By DEVI SINGH

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Rimzim Dadu did the unexpected on the ramp of the just-concluded fashion week, where you expect swishy models to rustle past, hushing your senses. She let her karigars loose on the runway, letting them interact with the audience, sitting down with their sewing machines. “The idea was to showcase how we make clothes. I wanted to shift the focus from the final product and get into the intricacies of the process of cloth-making from scratch. We need to respect our craftsmanship and ingenuity. Fashion is so glamour-driven that people only focus on the glossy end products. I wanted to educate them and take pride in the amount of hard work that goes into making them. I wanted people to see, touch and talk to the people who actually make us sizzle. I wanted to make the show interactive, educational and valued,” she told us. There were six craftsmen on stage while the rest were scattered among the audience with their work stations.

They say the thread of identity is unbroken, no matter how much you stretch and stress it. It cannot snap for it binds generations, and their palpable stories of how they perceived their world, together. Be it of the old tribal, using a simple needle and thread to express her philosophy of life or the wicker chairgrandma, spooling out memories that will shape the future. The thread, therefore, is epic in its appeal. The story of Indian textiles and fashion is much like a family tree; it branches out in different directions, probing, testing, stretching, bending, breaking and flying away. Then growing strong again. We were born with the weaves, wrapped them up in comfort. Growing up, we became rebels, gave in to the hyper rush of the stylised West. Till we were saturated and returned to our roots, finally being at ease with who we were. If the ethno chic revolution is sweeping the country, it is because Indian fashion has stepped out of its teenage years into adulthood. Designers and consumers have realised that tradition is the pillar which radiates our energy instead of borrowed concepts and helps us expand and define our modernity.

We have re-awakened to our handloom heritage, which we have been taking for granted until now. Designers are ploughing through our deeply-rooted fabrics, techniques, prints and embroidery and reinterpreting them for our contemporary sensibilities. The discerning Indian consumers love the sense of familiarity and its adaptability with Western cuts. They are giving themselves a proud makeover which sure won’t die down like it did in the late 80s. Be it Ahir embroidery from Gujarat, ikat from Karnataka and Hyderabad, gotta patti from Rajasthan, the weaves of Banaras, the intricate Warli and hand-block prints of our primal past, everything is a badge of honour.

DESIGNER

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THE ETHNIC STITCH among saree-proud women and introduced to the finest textiles from an early age, designer duo Swati and Sunaina followed an impulsive trip to Banaras with a few names scribbled on a piece of paper and a blind visit to the weavers’ service centre. They started with designs on paper and production with a few weavers ready to amend a few sensibilities here and there.

“To win their confidence was the actual exercise.

Gradually, they began to trust us and enjoy the challenge our designs provided. And seeing people wear these reinventions brought a smile on their faces. Since then, the journey has been extremely steady,” says Swati Agarwal.

Another renowned name in the industry who has been working closely with weavers for a long time is Rajesh Pratap Singh. With two of his facilities in Varanasi and Neemrana in Rajasthan, Pratap has had a 15-year long association with home-grown weaves. Even the collection he showcased at the recently wrapped up fashion week — where he played Midas turning everything into gold — was an ode to the weavers of Varanasi. “We worked with the golden yarn which we developed in that old city and let it spin its magic,” he tells us.

A few years ago designer Wendell Rodricks fell back on his roots to give a fresh lease of life to the Kunbi saree, which was once looked down upon as plebeian and confined to machine-made largesse.

This traditional fabric was worn by the Goan Kunbi tribal women before the advent of the Portuguese in the 16th century. A cotton-chequered red-and-white saree with a sturdy weave, it was worn short above ankles with a knot over the shoulder for women working in the farmlands. Rodricks modified it and made it his signature style. And though he battled logistics early on, there is a niche market for his kind of retro chic.

And while most designers are now piggy-backing the Varanasi sari for lending sheen to the government’s “Make in India” campaign, designers elewhere are building their appeal on the three “R”s — rescue, revive and reinvent.

BORN

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THE WEAVER GETS HIS DUE extraction of silk filaments from home- grown cocoons, after which the yarns are further interlaced on handlooms using ageold processes, is an arduous task.

So do these nameless weavers get their worth? Despite abundant schemes and subsidies, they are not yet empowered socially and economically. Some designers have made the trickle-down effect their mission. Spurred by his desire to help the weavers of his hometown, Udyan Singh, the founder of Banka Silk, resolved to support them financially.

“Silk-weaving has always been the strength of Banka but these weavers were earning a measly ` 30 a day.

Initially, I adopted 100 weaver families.

We did our first fashion show in Banka.

It wasn’t a hit but they earned more and we didn’t stop,” says Singh. Banka won over new patrons and today the brand retails silk, linen, khadi and variations of tussar silk sarees and dupattas online.

The benefit of working under an

THE

established designer or label is that a weaver gets assured employment as the quantum of production is large. But Swati and Sunaina are not content with monetary gratification. They eulogise their weavers and craftsmen. “As an ode to the weaver, we present the customer with a detailed certificate, providing all details of the saree and the name of its creator. This is very important in building the weaverpatron relationship,” says Agarwal.

David Abraham of A&T, who has been working with weavers for the last 20 years, however, feels that the relationship should be one of healthy equals and balance. “I think the benefit goes both ways. Designers have access to high craftsmanship and the weavers’ design vocabulary while the latter get to interact with contemporary designers who help them find new markets.” The equation is not win-win but it is slowly getting there as the mass market, too, is awakening to the virtues of wearing ethnicity on its sleeves.

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IS BANARAS LIMITING OR LIBERATING? there seems to be a renewed interest in home-grown weaves courtesy the Fashion Design Council of India’s (FDCI) “Make in India” focus on Banaras, the moot question is if the pilot project is widening or limiting the scope of other traditional fabrics. Chanderi is the other fabric which seems to be doing well. Be it drapes or opulent brocades, luxury and elegance, Banarasi weaves match up to modern as well as traditional fashion sensibilities. However, designers like Rajesh Pratap have endorsed the “Make in India” initiative passionately and believe that though Banaras may be a more acceptable and recognisable starter, there is a spillover effect on our overall textile tradition. “As designers we have to use local resources, be it the humble khadi or silk. Not just Varanasi but other parts of the country will also get promoted. The consumer will get exposed to what is possible in India,” says he.

Counters Abraham, “I think designers were always working along these spaces before the whole ‘Make in India’ initiative took off. You can say the prospects are better now with FDCI bringing some attention in an organised manner. Banaras is incidental. We have been working with weavers from as far as Pochampalli and Mangalgiri in Andhra Pradesh, Shantipur and Phuliya in West Bengal, Maheshwari and Chanderi of Madhya Pradesh. Varanasi now has a VIP value, which works as an accelerator.”

Samant Chauhan, who became a designer only to keep the Bhagalpur silk alive, believes it’s all about powerful communication. “We have gotten round to strengthening our craft, which was something of a rarity a few years ago. There was a lack of communication and although designers picked up their fabrics and roots in their individual capacities, the media didn’t have a saleable pitch.

‘Make in India’ has given them the pitch and Banaras has fascinated all kinds of artists since ages. Even John Galliano’s favourite destination is Varanasi.”

THOUGH

AS DESIGNERS WE HAVE TO USE LOCAL RESOURCES, BE IT THE HUMBLE KHADI OR SILK. NOT JUST VARANASI BUT OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY WILL ALSO GET PROMOTED. THE CONSUMER WILL GET EXPOSED TO WHAT IS POSSIBLE IN INDIA — RAJESH PRATAP SINGH

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WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH WEAVERS FROM AS FAR AS POCHAMPALLI AND MANGALGIRI IN ANDHRA PRADESH, SHANTIPUR AND PHULIYA IN WEST BENGAL, MAHESHWARI AND CHANDERI OF MADHYA PRADESH — DAVID ABRAHAM

HOPE AND A LITTLE SPIRIT

young brigade is working closely with the weavers in the country based on a sound business model. Hailing from Bhagalpur with humble roots, Chauhan surprised the fraternity with his distinctive take on weaves from his village. “Our generation has seen the change; we have been exposed to the significance of our handlooms.

And it’s time to explore and remarket it. I’ve been making everything that is produced from the weaves in my hometown and although I know if I mix my fabric, I can multiply my order, I want to stay loyal to

THE

my roots and where I come from. As designers, our biggest role is to make people aware that a certain fabric is coming from a particular region in the country and that’s how it will achieve credence,” says he.

Known for her love for mixing handloom with western silhouettes, designer Aneeth Arora is giving urban Indian a new style definition altogether with her label Pero. “We have started looking back at our own textiles. The thing with India is we value our own textiles and crafts only when the West

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GLOBAL OUTREACH demand and interest in Indian textiles is most definitely on the rise, within and outside India. “Indian weaves are revered on a global platform. The most incredible appreciation for this art comes from Indians who live outside India.

It’s like a certain connect with their land.

They make sure to introduce their children to it. That’s legacy,” argues Agarwal.

But Abraham is cautious. “The interest of international buyers fluctuates a lot. It varies from season to season, culture to culture; it peaks and then fades away. The handloom market in India will only survive if there is a strong domestic market. We need to make the local consumer stronger rather than depending on something that is valued as exotic,” says he.

Certainly the aesthetic hawks are riding high on the ethnic chic wave for now, if not totally besotted with it. The trend is not dying anytime soon for the displays of tradition will be made in every fashion bacchanal in the country, be it the glamorous Lakme Fashion Week or the more consequential India Fashion Week along with a plethora of perpetual fashion fiestas that go on in the country. The ethnic agenda will be pushed as long as the media blitz doesn’t exhaust.

It’s almost in vogue now to work with traditional fabrics, wearing or even carrying one. You definitely have arrived, if you can pull ethnic chic with panache. What with the number of fashion portals selling ethnicity with a modern twist to the new Indian, even hipsters have turned into ethnic lovers. The same websites are attracting foreign lands as well with the lure of exotic.

Indian weaves will continue to rule the roost with their peculiar blend of faiths, symbols, myths and lores. The dynamism of these threads will produce a generation of individuals with their unique streak, style and sensibility.

THE

WE HAVE STARTED LOOKING BACK AT OUR OWN TEXTILES. THE THING WITH INDIA IS WE VALUE OUR OWN TEXTILES AND CRAFTS ONLY WHEN THE WEST REFERENCES AND USES IT. WE DO NOT NEED BACK-HANDED COMPLIMENTS — ANEETH ARORA

OUR GENERATION HAS SEEN THE CHANGE; WE HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF OUR HANDLOOMS — SAMANT CHAUHAN

references and uses it. We do not need back-handed compliments,” says Arora who is famed for bringing her “hand maidens,” (a group of traditional women weavers) to her fashion shows each season as a token of gratitude. These 20-odd women from across the country do the hand work on the clothes she designs.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be fashion. It can be home furnishings, accessories, the whole works. We need a generational change in mindset. The FDCI or the designers can’t do it alone. But yes there’s a talking point now,” she adds.

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WANDERLUST

Much has been written, filmed and shot about Jaisalmer, its golden fort and sands. But hidden within and around it are deeper and more earthy secrets, not of grandeur but of living.

PRIYANKA JOSHI makes some rare finds while PANKAJ KUMAR records them

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View of Ranau village

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hardly expected to find the Saraswati river flowing under a deserted village of around 400 people in Jaisalmer. But then it is true as I am drawn to the little clay huts on the sand. Up, close and personal, the villagers show me how they mix clay dug up from the cavernous depths around a tubewell and mix it with dung and acacia branches to lay the flat foundations of their home. Upon which they have their thatched dome roofs. One of them, Ratiram Yadav, tells me, “Twenty years ago, a scientist came to the village and found evidence of the extinct Saraswati flowing underneath this village. So we have sunk a deep tube well to the water table which never runs dry and around which we found desert clay.” He also offers me a glass of water for proof; it is not saline unlike what I have tasted in and around Jaisalmer. Ranau village sits 60 km from the Indo-Pakistan border and is very close to the 1971 battle site of Longewala. But it is the water which sustains people on both sides.

Mythical accounts as well as scientists have often indicated the Saraswati’s presence in the northwestern frontier of India. Myth has it that Saraswati ducked Lord Brahma’s attention by going underground now and then while science has it that the river dried up on the surface because of silting and got reduced by sandy marshes. Looking at the oasis around me and having

I HAD

A woman coating her house with cow dung and mud; women carry water pots at Ranau village

tasted the sweet water, I believe the Vedic river does course beneath my feet. And if not for anything, one look at the friendly people, their resilience, the completeness of their fragile homes in the face of gusty desert winds and their constant evolution and rebuilding are enough to convince me that life is a lesson being taught by no less than the goddess of learning. That works for me.

A family owns four such huts. One of them is a kotha or granary. There’s a separate kitchen and cattle shed that can, in time of need, be converted into a guest house. Yadav explains why the huts are disproportionately conical at the top. “That is to keep the insides cool in the summer.� These mud-walled houses are planned around a mud-floored courtyard and kept immaculately clean, their walls outlined in white with traditional patterns. Usually, the women of the house decorate the small windows and shelves. I love the modest beauty and simplicity of the design, its natural symmetry combined with the soft, irregular lines of hand and features like the giant pot, left above for drying grains, silhouetted against the dark interior of a thatched shed. Outside the courtyard is a wash area with overlapping walls that lend privacy without a door.

Simplicity and simultaneity of flux....a clay hut in a windy desert. I take the road instead of falling for the must-dos of Jaisalmer.

THE ARMOUR OF THE GODDESS and desolate ride later, punctuated by an occasional camel foraging among the shrubs, I reach the Tanot Mata temple, nurtured lovingly by BSF jawans. This place was once the citadel of the Bhati Rajput king Tanu Rao who installed the idol at the shrine in 847 AD. Later the kings moved to Jaisalmer but the temple remained.

Our driver Asalam says that the temple miraculously survived the heavy shelling of the 1965 Indo-Pak war. “None of the bombs which fell near the temple exploded. Such is the goddess’ divine powers.” The BSF has even stored these duds in a makeshift museum.

We catch the first signs of civilisation with the huge windmills framing our windscreen view. We chance upon the predominantly Muslim village of Guriya, another cluster of mud houses. But recent prosperity has meant that the villagers now also own permanent cemented houses for the extreme and windy winter. Yet uncorrupted, tradition and soul are to be found in the embroidery of Ratika, a 45-year-old mother of six, wearing heavy silver nose pin and a neckpiece. Says she, “Women

A DUSTY

(Above) Tanot Mata temple. (Below & right) women working on intricate embroidery (mukka work) at Guriya village

have been stitching their own garments, decorating them with threadwork for centuries and have mastered the skills of colour and composition. The art is passed down generation to generation with a stress on technique. The motifs are always original, nobody copies another or follows a template. It is all in the mind.” Proof lies in the patches done by her daughters which are as different as chalk and cheese.

Their work is called mukka and pakko.

The former involves golden threads being coiled together to make circular designs.

Pakko is a dense variation of a two-sided button-hole stitch which gives the embroidery a 3D effect. Mirrors are used frequently along with the bakhiya – a detailed stitch which looks like ants walking in a row. The daana stitch can appear anywhere on the design just like grains thrown on a map. “The original design is drawn free-hand and then transferred to the cloth by a stencil,” says Ratika. An embroidered patch takes about three months to be completed.

ARTISTS’ VILLAGE do we realise that the variety and vibrancy of the women merge into a beautiful symphony. Dhoba village sputters to life with grazing goats, spotted deer and a flock of eagles flickering in the blue sky. The villagers here are better placed than those at Ranau. Yet their houses seem hastily assimilated with dried tree branches on stones. Perhaps life is meant to be of contrasts.

A village of the powerful Sodha Rajputs, they continue to be the patrons of traditional potters and musician artisans. One of them, the resourceful Hameer Singh, has set up plush desert camps on the rippling dunes and got the tourist economy going. He introduces us to 40 families of the Manganiyar bards, some of whom are international artistes. Shehnai and flute maestro Melu Khan tells us how he comes from a renowned family of folk musicians. “Our songs are passed on from generation to generation as a form of oral history of the desert. We sing songs about Alexander the Great, the local Maharajas and past battles in the region.” The traditional jajman (patrons) of the Manganiyar are the locally dominant Rajput community while the Langas have a similar relationship with the Sindhi-Sipahi, a community of Muslim Rajputs.

The air resonates with the sound of their music and dissolves every barrier. The ragas come alive with the beat of the khartal, the khamaicha and the dholak.

We are drawn though by the rather unfamiliar sight of

LITTLE

EXOTICA [40] APRIL 2016

Members of the Manganiyar community, known for its musical ballads, perform at Dhoba Village and a potter at work

Sumani Khan, who has been baking pots for the last 40 years and has set an example with her tool of empowerment. Running a solo enterprise from her yard, she has not given up though her son is in the Army and she can afford the good life. Ably assisted by her husband, she mixes the sand and clay with much love before moulding and shaping the dough flawlessly on the wheel and then baking and glazing it in dung-wood fire to a rounded perfection. She lets us in on a secret. “You have to fire the vessels for at least 15-20 hours at 800-900 degrees before it is ready for painting. And you have to chant a special mantra.”

Why? Don’t we love stories? And she gives a beautiful one to us. “There was a woman potter called Shriya Devi who would bake clay vessels in a mud oven overnight. One day, a cat had given birth inside two pots which she mistakenly put inside.

While adjusting the pots with a tong, she saw the kittens and tried to take them out of the fire. But it was too late. Helpless, she prayed to God who was pleased by her sincere efforts to save them. He promised her that the kittens would survive and gave her a mantra to chant. She did so and the kittens walked out alive. Since then, not a single pot has been baked without uttering a prayer.” Then she goes back to doing what she does best, colouring her pots with geru (red soil) yellow (mud) and black (crushed stones). Her pots are in demand during weddings and festivals. I am amazed at their factory-made uniformity and perfection though each piece is hand-made.

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Bada bagh— is a cluster of cenotaphs for the royals View of the interiors of Bada bagh

THE GARDEN OF CENOTAPHS are speeding towards the golden city of Jaisalmer down the barren brown stretches when a pretty patch of dense green draws us. This is the Bada Bagh or the big garden, which was curated by Maharawal Jait Singh in 1585 around a water reservoir and dam, meant to preserve and harvest rain water for long, dry spells. The garden is actually a recreated oasis meant to house royal cenotaphs. And in order to emphasise the continuity and regeneration of life, fruits and flowers began to be grown here. The garden and pavilions were completed by Jait Singh’s son Maharawal Loonkaran. The dam, made of solid black stone, is about 1200 ft long and 350 ft wide. The underground drainage system is a marvel of homegrown engineering, the five-tiered, split channel system ensuring no flooding took place. Such was the water conservation skills of the people that they could even cultivate wheat in the desert.

The cenotaphs themselves traverse history, the sharp angular spires of the Hindu era making way for the arches of the Islamic style. Each is of a different size according to the title holder’s rank and hierarchy in the court. Most of the cenotaphs are from the 16th century. Apparently, construction was stopped by Maharawal Jawahar Singh, who lost his son Girdhar Singh a year after India’s independence. He felt it was a omen of sorts and shifted the royal memorial from the hills to Paliwal.

Each cenotaph has an inscribed tablet with a statue and details of the personality it is commemorating.

Kings are identified by their horses while queens stand regal in their finery, even in death. If both are together on a tablet, it means the Rani immolated herself on her husband’s pyre according to the prevalent sati tradition.

You would often find a separate tablet dedicated to a woman near the king’s tablet. That status, local historians say, was for the king’s concubines. It’s amazing how stones can present soul-stirring stories.

But as the sun sets on the horizon, blazing the fort which now shimmers ahead of us, the canopies cast an intricate web of shadows amid the fiery glow of a day bursting forth its last ounce of energy. Life and death, a study in contrasts, yet lending perspective to each other.

WE

Vyas Chhatri, an assemblage of golden sandstone chhatris, is an old Brahmin cemetery on a rise on the northwestern edge of town that forms a popular sunset point

LIT FEAST

Once upon a time the tapper used to keep toddy for the snake gods to propitiate them. He would offer flowers beneath the palmyra tree (Karimpana) before climbing it. He would appeal to his forefathers and his lord, the Sheikh, for his safety because climbing up the tree was as uncertain a task as going up to the skies with nothing to clutch on to.

Besides, the fronds would catch the lightning and storm, scorpions lived among the sharp scales of the leaf stalks and the tapper’s chest and hands would continuously graze against them. The women of Khasak knew their men by the touch of those hardened scars. When their husbands went to the palmyra forest to collect toddy, the women would set out to collect dried leaves for fuel.

They would extract jaggery out of the toddy by burning them.

They never feared the poisonous snakes hidden in the layers of fallen leaves, so chaste were they. And if they slipped once in a while, they would offer a tulsi leaf as a mark of repentance at the snake idols before going to collect the dried leaves.

There was a time when the toddy tapper did not have to climb the trees to collect the sap. The palmyras would bend down to him. The trees stopped bending down after his woman cheated on him…

— KHASAKINTE ITHIHASAM

THASSARAK VILLAGE, WHICH INSPIRED THE MAGIC REALISM NOVEL OF OV VIJAYAN, IS SLOWLY BECOMING KERALA’S ONLY CENTRE OF LITERARY PILGRIMAGE WITH FANS TRICKLING IN FROM ACROSS THE WORLD AS THEY LOOK FOR PLACES WHICH INSPIRED THE STORYTELLER TO PICK UP CHARACTERS AND EPISODES. BY VR JAYARAJ

No years of solitude

is just one of the many myths Malayalam novelist-philosophercartoonist OV Vijayan (1930-2005) wove around Khasak, the imaginary village that is distantly equivalent to Macondo created by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Khasak, with its palmyra trees, witnessed everything that happened on earth, its men and women, who sought the essence of life through the experiences of privation, love and hate, whose history was

THIS

steeped in the idiocy of politics that was entirely external to it and where protagonist Ravi, teacher of a primary school, was caught in the middle.

Vijayan’s absolutely surreal village, which struggles to open its eyes to the madness of development and is unwilling to consume the socio-cultural poison of hypocritical modernity, is inspired by Thassarak.

Keralites have not yet learnt to be comfortable with the term literary pilgrimage but Vijayan has drawn them to Thassarak for generations.

Gateway to Thassarak

Needless to say I got drawn to the place in the footsteps of the wanderers, the typical intellectuals of the 1970s and 1980s, who still find solace here.

Almost a quarter century ago, I remember calling on the author on a freezing winter morning at his residence in Chanakyapuri, Delhi, fighting the debilitating Parkinson’s. “Khasak would not have happened if there was no Thassarak,” he had told me. Through my life I have identified with its

protagonist Ravi, carrying a bundle of sins accumulated from unbearable guilt of carnal betrayals and seeking pardon from his “father of stories and evening walks”, through space, time, perversities and realities. Those were the times when Kafka, Camus and Sartre became subjects of discussion at the village culvert.

Thassarak gave free rein to the author. The palmyra trees that saw everything, the wind that

EXOTICA [46] APRIL 2016

Njattupura house

swept over, the slow journey of time, the Arabikkulam (Arab’s Pond) where Mymuna, the ultimate feminine form in Khasak, would take a bath the Njattupura, the house for keeping paddy plants where Ravi taught kids and knew women, the mosque of Khaliar where Ravi’s alter-ego Nysamali would fight with him over his post-small pox adventures with Mymuna… almost all these elements have withstood the test of time.

Vijayan came to Thassarak after his sister was appointed as the teacher of the local school in 1956.

He was out of job at the time and had ample time to wander around, learn history, philosophy, astrophysics and Upanishads. “Destiny had been readying me for Khasak,” he wrote once.

The protagonist himself became the teacher and the myths, stories and histories that remained shrouded in the writer’s memories became the encounters with the gods, men and women of the agrarian village. Sivaraman Nair’s Njattupura became the centre of the world and all of Thassarak was the laboratory of life for the protagonist who was fleeing from himself, his soul overburdened with sins and lust.

Most of the characters in the novel were modelled on real-life characters. However, the present inhabitants of Thassarak are not much aware of how real and truthful the stories of Vijayan were and how he drew on its myths, gods, stories and milestones. Hameed, the caretaker at the local mosque, would hardly know that it figured as the famed Khaliyar Palli around which life revolved in Khasak. The Arabikkulam, the large pond where murdered men’s heads swam at high noon and where Mymuna bathed whenever she felt the heat, is now a distant resemblance of what the writer depicted in the novel. It fills up in the rain but at other times remains hidden under a carpet of African weeds.

Ask them about Pulimkombathe Pothi (Bhagavati), the goddess who lives on a gigantic tamarind tree, whose branches are covered with snake-ants that bite to death any man climbing it if his woman has committed adultery, and they will tell you they are not sure about her. So many

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BOOK EXTRACT upon a time, even before the garden lizards and dinosaurs were born, two dots of life went out for an evening walk. They reached a valley that stood bathed in the twilight of the dusk. “Don’t you want to see the other side of this?” the small dot asked the large one. “Green valley,” said the elder sister. “Let me stay here.”

“I must go,” said the younger one. She looked at the endless pathways lying in front of her. “Will you forget me?” the elder sister asked.

“I won’t,” the other one replied. “You will forget,” said the elder sister. “This is the loveless story of the series of generations. There are only departures and grief in this.” The younger sister walked away. The elder one stood there alone in that valley of dusk. She grew out from the mossy tininess. She became bigger. Roots penetrated into the bed-chambers of the fathers. Branches grew thicker, drinking the breast-milk of death. A girl with suruma in her eyes and anklet on the legs came to pluck the flowers. She broke a twig and plucked a flower from the Chembaka tree that stood there alone. The Chembaka said: “Oh, sister, you forgot me, didn’t you?”

That is how Ravi, the protagonist of OV Vijayan’s novel Khasakinte Ithihasam (Legends of Khasak), sought to merge his philosophy of the Being with the stories, myths, archetypes and geography of a tiny, sleepy village in the middle of a vast paddy field in Kerala’srustic Palakkad district.

ONCE

things described in detail in the novel are missing in Khasak but that is artistic licence.

However, the palmyra trees, rising to the heavens, are still around. As for them refusing to bend down following adulterous dalliances, a villager says, “That is one thing I don’t want to be associated with Thassarak. It is as though almost every woman — young, middle-aged or widowed — has been waiting for Ravi’s arrival to dedicate herself to him.

Our women have never been like that.”

But the Njattupura, still standing on the border of the village and sitting on a wide embankment in the middle of the paddy field, nullifies the distance between fact and fiction.

A rest there for the reader is like an intoxicated tour of the Tughlaqabad fort in which one sees the old city of purdah-clad women searching for bangles coming alive. I sat there on the small verandah for a very long time “listening” to the soft voice with which Ravi used to tell Kunhamina, Chanthumuthu, Kunjunooru and even Appukkili — all characters — stories of evolution. I could see Sivaraman Nair sitting angry at his wife Narayani — who would walk the length of that verandah with her half-naked body

Thassarak mosque and palmyras

covered in sandal paste — for her adventure tours during which she gave a match to Kuppu, the toddy-tapper, to light his beedi. I could see in front of my eyes Chanthumma, still in her plum youth, sitting on Ravi’s cot in sweat after telling him the story of the astrologer’s daughter who was gang-raped and murdered by the White army. I am not yet sure whether it was mere hallucination that made me see Maimuna, the Yagashwa of Khasak, bringing beedis that according to her were the firewood for the pyre, to Ravi. The Njattupura, in that sense, was the essence of Vijayan’s Khasak, so based in reality that it continues to keep the visitor enwrapped in the magic of literary creation.

Thassarak’s importance in the history of Malayalam literature is tremendous. Time, as we see and use it today, is separated into two historical zones — BC and AD — because of Jesus Christ. Vijayan’s Khasak, based on Thassarak and its life, separated the history of literature in Kerala into BK and AK — Before Khasak and After Khasak. Published first in 1969, Khasakinte Ithihasam has had over 50 reprints in the past 44 years, making it the widest read Malayalam novel. Khasak is seen as the harbinger of modernity into Malayalam literature, though that was a time when writing in Kerala would have found it difficult to resist the literary and philosophical revolutions that were taking place everywhere in the world, especially Europe and Latin America, as it struggled to get back to its feet after the throes of wars. Vijayan’s novel, which he took 12 years to write in its final form, thus became the essence of that transformation.

If Thassarak, despite its tangibility, can give birth to Khasak, it shines as an example of why places with great cultural backgrounds should become centres of pilgrimage.

History does not progress through wars and revolutions alone.

EXPLORE JHARKHAND

New SUCHITRA SINHA, Director, Tourism of Jharkhand talks about a new bouquet of services Tell us about the new tourism policy. What new places are you planning to develop?

A state fair and festival mannual is part of our new tourism policy which will fuel growth in footfalls. In terms of development of new tourist destinations, we are going to concentrate on Deoghar, Naikdham, Mahrinath Dham, Godda and Shiva Dham at Vasta hills. We also plan to renovate Dombariburu and Ulihatu. Renovation of Vishwakarma temple, Hazaribagh will start soon.

Do you also plan to include dams and closed mines as tourist spots?

I think there are several dams in Jharkhand which already attract tourists. Dams like Hatia, Kanke, Patratu, Dhurwa have always mesmerised people with their natural beauty. Construction of restaurants, tourist complex and tourist

information centre is proposed at Dimna lake, Chandil, Tilaiya, Tenughat and Maithon dam.

The Jharkhand government is also planning to transform several abandoned mines of the state as a tourist destination. That could be a different experience for the visitors and tourists who visit Jharkhand.

Please tell us about the important steps taken to develop Ranchi as a tourist spot.

To develop Ranchi as a tourist destination, the government has approved many policies.

Sound show will be launched at Kanke Dam park campus for tourists. The development work of Rajrappa temple complex will start soon. The DPR for hanging bridge has been made for the Bhairavi River. The security in the state capital as well as around tourism and information centre is being improved.

THE EXOTIC LAND AMAR KUMAR BAURI, Tourism Minister and AVINASH KUMAR, Tourism Secretary of Jharkhand, share their strategies and initiatives on broadening the scope of the sector in the state

AMAR KUMAR BAURI Tourism Minister of Jharkhand

AVINASH KUMAR Tourism Secretary of Jharkhand

Mention a few unique features of Jharkhand Tourism which would lure tourists as compared to other states?

Jharkhand is endowed with a rich cultural heritage and is bestowed liberally with bounties of nature.

The state is a kaleidoscope of past splendour and present glory. It's a fascinating state with forests, captivating wildlife, enthralling waterfalls, exquisite handicrafts, sprawling water bodies, enchanting classical and folk dances and music and, above all, hospitable and peace-loving people.

What steps have been taken by the Jharkhand government to promote tribes and their art and craft?

Jharkhand has 32 tribal groups like Santhal, Munda, Oraon and Ho. Out of them, eight fall in the Primitive Tribal Group (PTG). They eke out their livelihood from nature — streams, trees, plants, animals. The state is trying to uplift them through various schemes such as housing and bringing them under the public distribution network. We are making every possible effort to bring them into the mainstream and promote their talent at various platforms.

How is your government planning to bring in temple and mining tourism to the forefront?

The government is working for the renovation of Deoghar basukinath, Parasnath hill temple, Rajrappa Jagannathpur temple, Sun Temple, Maluti and Bhairavsthan. Besides several guest houses and tourist complexes are being constructed near all religious tourist destinations.

Where is Jharkhand placed on the tourist map of India?

Jharkhand is moving rapidly in the tourism sector.

At the time of formation of the state we recorded only 23,991 tourists with just 172 foreigners. But in 2015 the figures jumped to 33,179,530 domestic visitors with 1,67,855 foreign tourists. Jharkhand ranks ninth in the country when it comes to number of tourists visiting a state in 2014 and we are committed to making it the highest visited state this financial year.

There are some important projects that the government has initiated for Deogarh. Tell us something about them.

Deaogarh has always been on the global tourism map even before the formation of Jharkhand.

Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) is committed towards developing Deogarh as a tourist hub. We recently started a Light and Sound show to attract tourists. Besides the construction of Q - complex is in process.

The second tourist complex is being constructed at Ajay karaj Sitakiya in Nayakdhaam and Sarath Block.

Given the state's rich wildlife reserve, how do you plan to promote wildlife tourism in the state?

National parks like Dalma and Betla are quite popular and well-known but lack proper infrastructure. So we are planning to give the best of infrastructure to promote wildlife tourism. The promotion of these destinations would be done through marketing and sustainable infrastructure.

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The

Netarhat

Covered with thick emerald forests, lush hillocks and barren rocks, Netarhat, known as ‘Queen of Chhotanagpur’, is the most beautiful weekend getaway in Jharkhand

NETARHAT, an Indian corruption of nature's heart, was a moniker given by homesick British soldiers of the Raj who were sent here to tame tribal uprisings.

With the nearest railway station and the only link to the whole wide world 155 km away, the dense wooded hills, the lush green valley, the sun rising from the Chhotanagpur plateau and exploding in flames down the Vindhya-Satpura range make one feel like an ascetic.

The upper Ghaghri Falls have milky treacles, running between bushes and rocks. Fifty feet down, the roar and tussle mellow down to a placid pool, now a popular picnic spot. Trek down 7 km further, through solitary pine and sal forests — so deep that even the sun has trouble streaming in through the canopy — and you will chance upon the lower Ghaghri Falls, a hush of silk under green carpet.

Closer to Netarhat and behind the rows of pear gardens, you have the Koel viewpoint from where you can watch the river meander quietly 2,000 ft below, a serpentine glitter tearing the rain-fed mesh of forests. Apparently the river glistens like silver in full moon and blinds you like molten gold in the sun.

Lodh Falls, about 60 km away, is the highest in Jharkhand, cascading down majestically with its multiple cataracts and roaring all the way through its 469-ft fall. A drive to Rajrappa past Ranchi, boasts of several raging waterfalls: Hundru, Jona, Sita, Dasam and Hirni. September is the best time to chase waterfalls —rain-fed, swollen and frothy.

For long Hazaribagh, which is 80 km away, has been a sanatorium for reviving fallen spirits. The descendants of local kings, however, correlate Hazaribagh with the thousands of tigers that once roamed the area before being hunted down by their forefathers.

one Gto sparkle Many crave the sound of water splashing on the rocks and a cool sprinkle hitting their bare skin. We recommend a quick getaway to Jharkhand's numerous spectacular waterfalls HUNDRU FALLS About 45 km from Ranchi, the Hundru Falls is one spectacular site to escape to. It is also the 34th highest waterfall in India that is created on the course of the Subarnarekha River which falls from a great height of 322 ft. A sight to behold, the base serves as a pool where you may take a dip to beat the heat.

JONHA FALLS Also known as Gautamdhara falls, it has been rightfully named after Lord Gautam Buddha as the sight brings within you a sense of tranquility.

Falling from the Raru River, the water cascades from a height of 141 ft and is located 40 km from Ranchi. There is a tourist rest house which encloses a shrine with a deity of Lord Buddha.

DASSAM FALLS Earlier known as Da:song, which in Mundari language referred to the act of pouring water, the waterfall does resemble an individual pouring water. Pristine swathes drop from a height of 144 ft with the sound echoing a sense of serenity. It is a natural cascade across the Kanchi River.

HIRNI FALLS Surrounded by a thick cover of forest are the Hirni Falls located in the eponymous village of West

Hundru Falls

Jonha Falls

Singhbum. A tower located nearby can provide the tourists a visual treat comprising the waterfall and the dense greenery. It falls from a height of 121 ft. There are various caves nearby that are home to wildlife.

WILD SIDE OF JHARKHAND BETLA NATIONAL PARK Wild elephants freely roam the virgin forests of this lovely, rarely visited national park, spread over the hilly landscape of picturesque Palamau district, 140km west of Ranchi. Tiger sightings are rare but a trip to this primeval region of Jharkhand offers a glimpse into the rich tribal heritage of the state. The park covers around 1026 sq km, about 232 sq km of which was declared as Betla National Park in 1989.

Hiding behind stands of sal forest, rich evergreens, teak trees and bamboo thickets are some 17 tigers, 52 leopards, 216 elephants and four lonely nilgais (antelopes).

The park is open year-round but the best time to visit is November to April. If you can stand the heat, May is prime time for tiger spotting as forest cover is reduced and animals venture out in search of waterholes.

Jeep safaris and elephant safaris can be arranged privately at the park gate. Jeep safaris can be taken either during the park's morning or afternoon session but elephant safaris can only be taken in the morning.

Dassam Falls

Hirni Falls

Building the

future Ranchi has grown up to be a different city over the last five years with many private and government projects coming up with better infrastructure growing urban needs, the lifestyle of people in Ranchi has also improved. There are several educational institutions, parks, shopping malls, hotels with better facilities that have come up in the recent past. The state government sanctioned Rs 6.76 crore to Doranda College, a constituent unit under Ranchi University, for its infrastructure boost.

The fund will be used to construct an additional building on campus to accommodate the 17,000-plus students studying in the college. The existing building is fighting for space as it has only 30 classrooms to accommodate 12,000 undergraduate and 5,000 intermediate students in two shifts.

WITH

The new building, which will be constructed near the old building, will have 30 classrooms, a library and reading room equipped with modern facilities. The library will be constructed on the ground floor of the new building, with separate counters for boys and girls. It will have Wi-Fi facility, while also allowing students access to e-books. The reading room will be constructed on the first floor with separate sections for girls and boys.

A team from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) is likely to visit the college by mid-May for inspection.

The capital city of the state in the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) premises started construction work of the boundary of the core area for the city housing assembly, secretariat and other offices and residences. The government purchased land from the public sector giant HEC for construction of an Assembly enclave. Within a year, the Greater Ranchi Development Agency (GRDA), the nodal agency for the project, was set up exclusively for building the new capital on about 30,000 acres of land. The Greater Ranchi is likely to boast the Assembly, state secretariat, High Court, residential complexes and social and financial institutions. Apart from this, Ranchi Industrial Area Development Authority also has plans, projects, and schemes in the city.

In the real estate sector, private companies have diverse projects of commercial complexes, shopping malls, integrated township and group housing. Most of the companies are aimed at providing the finest urban living to its customers.

KITCHEN PROPS

Aqua Owl Jar: Keep your sugar and tea fresh with this adorable jar! You can trust this owl to keep it safe.

Soap dispenser: Give your kitchen a chic look with a pint jar wide mouth sponge holder.

Hand-painted Tuscan Rooster Cookie Jar: Earthenware cookie jar shaped like a black copper rooster with a remoable head for placing your sweet treats inside.

Give your worktops an interesting uplift with these cutesy kicthen accessories Cow tea pot: Make your mornings special by pouring tea from this cow print tea pot.

Wood and Metal: Mackenzie Rolling Cart, to keep your veggies fresh.

Paper Towel Holder: The playful cat and bird metal is a fun addition to your kitchen. Central rod holds your paper towel roll. Both animals have an aged patina finish for that whimsical feel.

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GREEN MILES

TARZAN COUNTRY Trek through the rainforest at Namdapha in Arunachal Pradesh, meet the ancient Lisu tribe, believed to be survivors of a great flood, get cured by rare medicinal herbs and, of course, capture a variety of wildlife

what do you do when you’re walking the forest with an unpractised but cavalier ease and have grazed yourself against a wayward branch? Yes, you bleed, just like I am now and wishing that civilisation was just an arm’s length, not a long march, away. But my friend Benay Wangso uses his traditional wisdom and turns miracle healer. He quickly snaps out a bamboo cane and with his machete peels off its outer layer to extract its fibrous core. He then daubs it on my wound. “It stops the blood flow, just like Band-Aid,” he grins. Further, he plucks out a leaf from the surrounding bushes, warms it over twig fire to extract a blackish liquid and balms it over.

“It does the same job,” he adds. It’s a simple cure, unpatented, unbranded, undiscovered and, therefore, divine. Its potential is Himalayan. You would find it east by Northeast, in the hills and forests of Arunachal Pradesh.

The sun-kissed Himalayas dazzle me through the aircraft’s windows all the way from Delhi as I fly to Dibrugarh in Assam. Only once do I look down, to see the mighty Brahmaputra bend and curl like an over-fed python, its waters somewhat languid, tired of stretching out at the seams all through the rains. On terra firma, the human order prevails as I drive through neatly manicured tea estates, zipping past very proper and

NOW

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stiffened English names like Digboi, Margherita and Ledo in upper Assam. So I am hardly prepared for the crossover to the very catty Miao in Arunachal Pradesh. By the time I reach its roadhead and Circuit House, it’s 7 pm and Miao has been transformed into a ghost town, completely dark and forlorn. In these parts of our country, it gets dark by 4.30 pm, a good two hours ahead of what I am used to in Delhi. On the map (longitude wise), I am closer to the Indonesian standard time rather than the Indian, even ahead of neighbouring Bangladesh. But what’s a little time lag to remind you how vast your country really is?

Miao sits on the fringes of Namdapha, an impenetrable, pristine and virgin tropical rain forest spread out over 1,985.23 sq km in Arunachal’s Changlang district and running along the international border between India and

Myanmar. And if this sounds too much like encyclopedia speak, get this: It’s the only national park in the world that’s home to four species of big cats, namely the tiger (Panthera Tigris), leopard (Panthera Pardus), snow leopard (Panthera Uncia) and clouded leopard (Neofelis Nebulosa). The last even has a spiritual significance. The Rukai people of Taiwan consider the clouded leopard to be their ancestor who led them to their homeland. The forests have the rarest pines, a unique orchid like the Blue Vanda and the ape men-like Hoolock Gibbons. And then there are the birds, flitting past in a chimera of colours and their heartfelt songs of joy.

Curiosity gets the better of me, so I decide to bypass Miao and head to a forest rest house at Deban, 25 km away, with a forest official for company. My jeep shoots like an arrow into the heart of darkness, dislodging the eeriness by

The river seems calm but try crossing it on a boat or an elephant and you would feel the power of its tug

tearing through the undergrowth, prying open bamboo groves, tossing away wild bananas and scattering wild moths with its high beams. It’s all a tousled mess, the creepers and boughs, locking their limbs and tendrils to shut out human kind.

For a moment, I feel like a desperate general battling a green army, they clustering their resources, me dispersing their efforts. Up above, a star-spangled sky stands witness, peeking at the man versus nature duel through gaps in the tree tops. Finally, the forest spirits take over and we get a flat tyre in the middle of nowhere. It’s expected that I be afraid but the forest is generous and rewards me for my genuine intentions. I spot the nocturnal and arboreal Namdapha flying squirrel.

There are four of them on a tall branch, happily feeding themselves, their eyes glinting in our torchlight. We catch a glimpse of their white underbellies, their busy, long tails and furry bat-

like membrane that helps them glide from one tree to the other. Seems their limbs are tied to a parachute and they use them mid-air to negotiate jumps and touchdowns. Much like astronauts on jet packs. We leave them to their dinner and fix the tyres. There’s a low rumble in the distance. In the wild, clouded leopards use elevated areas to deliver a long moaning call that travels well. Perhaps, it is a mating call, perhaps it is a territorial call, warning other cats to stay away. We speed on.

A power cut does not stop this group of boys from having fun while their mothers go about doing their daily chores

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT weeks, my vaid has been trying to convince me of the importance of Brahmamuhurtam or waking up at 4.30 am and finishing all morning rituals, including breakfast, by 7 am. Now I know it’s possible. For I jump out of bed with the ringing of a temple bell. Must be some tribal ritual in the forest but the caretaker Gopal dispels all such notions. Serving me a cup of tea that steams up with the morning mist, he tells me it’s just the buzz of a strange insect.

Tin-tin-tin, it goes. The insect in question is hardly seen, even by the locals. But its sound reverberates through the jungle all the time. Then I look at Namdapha, largely emerald and blue with many colours sprinkled in between.

Ahead of me flows the turquoise Noa Dihing river, polishing up the stones which have been glistening all night under a starry sky. The river appears deceptively calm while walking along its banks but try crossing it on a boat or elephant and you would feel the power of its tug. It hardly seems furious from the banks, what with the waters retreating after the monsoon. Deban may be back of beyond with no mobile network or electricity but is in no short supply of admirers. Counting me, the rest house is full of visitors and is sold out for the next three months or so. Camaraderie happens on its well-manicured lawns where I meet Bappu Desmukh and Rishi, adventure lovers from Pondicherry, bureaucrat Dilip Pandit and friend Shiva Kumar, passionate birdwatchers, Indophiles John and Susan, a 65-year-old couple from Wales.

They did not want to do the usual tourist circuit and landed here instead. John was born in Mumbai where his father was posted in the colonial service but moved backed to the UK when he was just three-months-old. Susan’s father was a missionary in Burma not far from where we are sitting.

Working towards a common goal usually yields much better results so we share notes and decide to match steps in our pursuit of Arcadia.

As breakfast gets ready, we go for a leisurely walk along the dried up river bed, precariously

FOR

balancing over loose stones and boulders.

Brushing past the tall elephant grass, we find wagtails, stonechats, bushchats and rockchats slurping off insects among the reed and earth.

These aren’t too choosy, more the camp-out kind, making do with grasslands, not flying high, nesting in a hole and generally not too picky and very uncomplaining. The cormorants make an early morning fly-past while kingfishers hover over the little rapids in search of a good perch and catch. The Conservator of Forests and Field Director has assigned two of his best men to guide us through the enchanting forest, K Pungjung and Nokpan, both dangling machetes from their waist.

More than a weapon that does come in handy loping away branches and ferns, the machete is almost a clothing accessory for these tribals. From here there are no jeepable roads and one has to trek and camp to explore the rest of the vast wilderness. We discuss our plans over the rough

map of the forest, the areas to be covered, ration, tents, equipment and most importantly, porters.

Our tribal guides get on with the preparations while we spend the rest of the day birding in and around Deban and even go rafting on the Noa Dihing with a boatman. Bobbing up and down, I can imagine the gusher it becomes after the rains.

In the rainforest, laid out in canopy over canopy of leaves held together by branches and vines, we spot all kinds of colourful birds, some flitting over the tall canopy or hiding under the thick undergrowth. I have not seen them. Which means they are all “lifers,” a term used for bird species seen for the very first time. I consider myself lucky to be part of a moment of truth; truth that God reveals himself in many ways and we haven’t yet sensed the whole of creation.

We tread on the Miao-Gandhigram-Vijoynagar dirt track, the link to the Indo-Myanmar border and more so to the Lisu settlements there. The

(Left) Crossing a river can be challenging but you need to balance over boulders and prepare for the dense forests.

(Right) Lisu girls

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Butterflies, a kaleidoscope of colours in all shapes and sizes, flutter past our eyes

heavy breakfast keeps us going and we skip lunch to explore the path further. The forest is dense with hardly a metre of visibility as the trees tower over us and shut out the sun. Small brooks and rivulets keep gurgling beneath our feet as we cross casually strewn about wooden logs. Leaves of various shapes and colours hang silently, some perforated by millions of insects that thrive on them and the sun slipping through. The light that filters down to the leaf litter is dim and makes the insects, flowers and fruits on the forest floor literally glow — like the red flowers of Sapria Himalayana, which appear to burn in the backdrop of dark brown and green. These root parasites are pollinated by carrion flies and exude a horrible stench to attract them. You will also find fruits of the rudraksha trees littered alongside. There is no habitation inside, so the feeling of immense solitude is overpowering. But soon we come across a clearing and a local trekking party comprising men, women and children.

They are the Lisu and have been trekking for the last five days from Vijoynagar and are headed to the weekly market at Miao to load up on their monthly supplies. The Lisu are said to have descended from a man and woman who survived a great flood of sorts, much like Biblical proportions.

And they still consider it a blessing to be alive, asking permission from the spirits of the land, the pathways, the forests and the mountains before they go out on a hunt. They have a funny way of propitiating the spirits though, rolling tobacco in a leaf and lighting a herbal cigarette of sorts. This is accompanied by incense sticks and placed in the house to burn, pointing to the forest where the person will be hunting or sleeping.

In the past, the forests surrounding the villages were thick with vegetation and, once inside, it was often impossible to see a way out. The Lisu believe that if you are lost in the forest and can’t find your way home you should take off your shirt, turn it inside out, put it back on again; you can then map your return. Of course, it’s better if you can remember the path you came on, leaving markers along the way.

This group has been sleeping on wild banana leaves, neatly cutting and arranging them on the ground like a mattress by the wood fire which keeps them warm and boils their food. Simple and utilitarian, their business of staying alive with the elements. After this encounter, we turn back for Deban where Nokpan and Punjung have made the necessary arrangements for our trek. We are to leave at 6 am.

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Do not miss out on the flora. If you stare hard, you may find a camouflaged grasshopper and the stick insect

THE SWINGING SUPERSTAR the crack of dawn, Gopal wakes me up with morning tea and some bad tidings. “There is no water,” he says most regretfully. It seems Vanraj, the young camp elephant, had managed to cut himself loose last night and played truant with all the water pipes in the vicinity, cutting supplies to the rest house. Apparently, he has been doing this for quite sometime, much to the discomfort of guests. Perhaps, this is Vanraj’s way of staving off intruders. Anyway, there’s no way we can start early though our two guides are all strapped up. The porters seem to have got wind of Vanraj’s activities and are catching some extra hours of sleep. They are nowhere to be seen. I end up admiring the gigantic ficus tree standing at one end of the tourist complex. It is the strangest ficus I have seen, its two trunks going up and joining together like an inverted “V.” Finally, we get going at 8 am. Our boatman ferries the entire party across the Noa Dihing. But we have to cross the Deban Nala that trickles into the Noa Dihing barefoot. Precariously balancing ourselves, we take one step at a time, keeping one foot firmly anchored in the biting cold water and steadying the other on a submerged rock. We make it safely to the other side and I am particularly relieved to keep my torso dry. We are helped a great deal

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The Hoolock Gibbon and the Himalayan giant squirrel, both experts at camouflage, can be spotted if you have a sharp eye

by remnants of a huge tree trunk that roll over the stream bed. From here, we begin a gentle trek into the forest.

This is absolute Tarzan country, climbers spiralling down from great heights. Aptly it is the home of the Hoolock Gibbon or the rare ape that swings from tree to tree. It prefers the upper canopy of the forest, eats fruits, flowers and insects and sleeps on leaves and branches, that too sitting up. Gibbons have no tail but extremely long arms and legs. The hands are also elongated and hook-shaped which helps them suspend their bodies. They usually swing below branches but on the odd chance that they have to walk on them or on the ground, they do so on two legs. We see a black male with white brows dangling side to side and singing a song, probably to woo a mate nearby. Nokpan listens carefully and interprets the sounds using his traditional wisdom. “This is a duet, the female must be around. Solo songs sound different,� he says. Hoolocks are largely territorial and fiercely monogamous. There has been only one instance of a male staying with two females, probably sisters. But then one of the women reportedly walked out of the brood. Infidelity, a strict nono. We are no tree people but certainly fall short of the Hoolock in the test of character.

With the sun shafts creating myriad spotlights on the forest floor, Namdapha is a paradise for any butterfly and insect lover. A kaleidoscope of colours in all shapes and sizes flutters past our eyes as we keep twisting and turning to absorb the visual splendour around us. Birdsong abounds as mushrooms spring up from the moss-coated logs on the forest floor and orange-bellied squirrels run amuck on the branches above. Orchids drop down like chandeliers all along the corridor to usher us deeper into the woods. The path itself is wellmatted and cushioned by fallen leaves, lichens and ferns. On them, ants have heaped their mud nests and bees their hives. It is that time of the year when the honey bee migrates and we can hear the hum of the swarm moving over our heads. Dragontails congregate to drink near a stream. My guides show me wild bananas and mangoes, succulent and warm, even in the cold.

Sometimes, I feel that Nokpan’s eyes are better than my binoculars, spotting birds as small as a few inches through three layers of foliage. The haunting call of the Hoolock reverberates in the forest for miles but can’t tell from exactly where.

Except the squirrels, we’ve hardly seen any other mammals and given the nature of the terrain, I am not very much optimistic.

E AT O U T

Street banquet It’s a way of life for locals in Thailand. It’s how they eat. For these lanes are where some of the best Thai culinary traditions come from. NEHARICA GUPTA hits the streets of Bangkok savouring some of these flavours intending to come back to one in particular —Khao San Road. It makes for a quintessential street food experience with its overwhelming choices

I SIP

my Thai lager and watch people dancing on the road at what can only be called a pop-up party. Makeshift speakers blare out as the crowd moves along to beats by Drake. This backpacker’s haven in Bangkok is a much-needed break for my hippie heart. A young ponytailed Thai chap walks up to me and asks if I want a bucket of alcohol. I decline but I make do with a couple of Singhas. I do need them. I am sitting on the side of the road while a chubby Thai lady, who is wearing a psychedelic t-shirt and polka-dotted trousers,

braids my hair. This could take a while.

Khao San Road, in the heart of Bangkok, greets you like any other night market with its standard Bob Marley themed shops. Opposite graffitied tattoo parlours, the road begins, and you venture into a facet of Bangkok the usual tourist has never seen before. Pubs line both sides of the road, along with clothes shops to buy from and to sell to.

Massage parlours slowly encroach upon the road but it doesn’t really matter as there are no cars here, just walking traffic of the bohemian type.

Young Thai kids, barely out of school, mingle with

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SPOILT FOR CHOICE SOM TUM OR GREEN PAPAYA SALAD Arguably the healthiest of all street food, this is just a starting point for the various salads like green mango, seafood or meat. Many ingredients like fish sauce, red eye chillies, peanuts, garlic, palm sugar, dried shrimp, lime and papaya create a flavour like no other.

HOY TOD OR OYSTER OMELETTE The only serious competitor to the Pad Thai, this dish is a fried omelette with beansprouts, topped with oysters or mussels. With a fried and nonfried version, the crispy oyster omelette is the current rage in the street food world.

PAD THAI Traditionally served with shrimps, this is one of the most well-known Thai dishes internationally, along with the papaya salad and Tom Yum soup of course. Pad Thai noodles are rice noodles stirfried with your meat of choice and full of delectable flavour.

MU PING OR PORK SKEWERS With the usual appetising mix of Thai ingredients, pork skewers are grilled on satay grills, which are incidentally available to order online.

STICKY RICE WITH MANGO Rice in sweet coconut milk with mango, all in a bite, makes up the essence of this dessert.

A childhood favourite, this recipe is one of the Thai family gems, rich in tradition and sweetness.

the tourists here who are from everywhere, except India it seems.

I’m absorbed in a projection screen playing Braveheart on top of a shop, distracting myself from the strands of my hair being pulled and prodded. I smell something burn and suddenly notice the bigbuxomed Thai lady is holding a lighter to my head, but it turns out to be the way she fixes a feather to the braid. Hair-raising or hair-burning rather, this is better than traversing from one mall to another,

accumulating shopping bags and kilos to my luggage.An American guy next to me asks if I think he should get dreadlocks or braids. A German couple begins to chat with us, slurping their red alcohol buckets through straws. It is an impossibility not to be entertained on this street and two hours of sitting upright on a little stool seem too less to experience the Khao San aura.

Standing up after having my hair twisted into more than 50 braids, I realise the need for a

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massage. I join my compadres for a quick shoulder and back rub. It doesn’t take long, hungry that we are. It’s now midnight, on these streets, we are perfectly in time for dinner. Pushing through dancing people with selfie sticks and past fried insects, we move towards the conglomerate of aromas coming from the row of woks.

I am spoilt for choice —I can try the chicken, pork or beef skewers or choose from the various types of noodles which a withering old lady will make into Pad Thai, right before me. I go in for the chicken Pad Thai noodles. The cook breaks an egg onto already boiled chicken pieces, in simmering oil. Next, in go the bean sprouts, one of the main ingredients of street food in Thailand, followed by fish sauce, noodles, chilli flakes, garlic and crushed peanuts. With a practised hand, she gives it a good beating.

Ready and plated in two minutes, I finally let go of my hard feelings towards Maggi noodles which have never been ready in less than 10 minutes. The chicken Pad Thai passes the tasting test and turns me off restaurant food in Bangkok forever. The pale noodles and white sprouts have come together to create a delectable palatepleasing and sweat-inducing addiction. Never have I tasted something as divine. I am reluctant to share it.

Culturally, Thai people would cook at home, or eat out on the street; the restaurant culture is new to them, says acclaimed Thai food chef David

Thompson in his book. There are street food guides on Google maps to navigate Bangkok with and apps for iOS and Android. Google Thai food blogs before you step out on the streets of Bangkok on an empty stomach. And remember, some food vendors will be cleaner than others. Some will have longer queues. And some will be downright greasy.

But you will not be lost for choice.

After another plate of the Pad Thai, my buddies and I decide to hit the bar. Avoiding the local Mekhong whisky, we drink suspicious-smelling rums from Bacardi bottles on alcohol carts and walk through the shops. After some wandering through unnamed toy stalls, the hunger pangs strike again.

This time, we decide to try something new and go for the chicken pancakes. This is boiled chicken dipped in egg and flour, fried and mixed up with crunchy sprouts. We decide to go for another round of Pad Thai noodles sealed inside an omelette. By this point, I have forgotten Soi 11 (street food hub). An entire universe of pleasures is opening up to me.

I think of previous trips where I would hop from one restaurant to another, red curry to green curry, Central World to Central Chidlom and my experimentation would be restricted to food courts. My gastronomic happy ending has been met on the streets of Bangkok. Khao San has a repeat customer.

SKID ROW

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CHITVAN GILL captures India at the cusp of an urban churn, what with ‘smart’ cities fuelling dreams. Here thousands of families leave the destitution of their homes in far off villages and decaying mofussil towns to become part of the great city rush. She finds gritty survivors at Buland Masjid

Masjid and the bowl of land — the putrefying remains of a landfill — that abuts it are home to thousands of migrants who have poured into India’s capital city in search of life, of survival. It is just one of the more than 1,639 “unauthorised colonies” in Delhi, which account for an overwhelming proportion of urbanisation in the city. Thousands of families leave the destitution of their homes in far off villages and decaying mofussil towns to become part of the great urban dream.

I have been fascinated by the extreme contradictions inherent in the Indian idea of the city, the clash of chaos and order. I came upon Buland Masjid by pure chance while working on my documentary film on the Yamuna in Delhi, Take me to the River. I

BULAND

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had often driven past this area. The main road was lined with little butcher shops and the general tendency was to drive past hurriedly.

From the car itself, I began taking photographs as we drove past. Going through the results, a new world revealed itself: there was a visible sense of energy, of life bursting out into the streets; children laughing and playing, and the complete banality of the butchers’ work. I began to see Buland Masjid in a new light. On further exploration, I discovered slums, shanties, landfills and precarious tenements rising unsteadily towards the sky, and within it all, life in all its rawness. first and overpowering impression is, of course, of squalor and filth.

These are the entrails of India’s capital, where people have created, out of a bleak wasteland, a place they call home. Everywhere in Buland

THE

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Masjid, as in its numberless clones across urban India, are images of poverty, but also of aspiration and of the efforts to transcend the limitations of a degraded environment.

The older generation has seen great privation and struggle but over the decades has wrested municipal amenities and services — water, electricity, roads, a school, a graveyard — from a reluctant and neglectful administration.

Mohammad Maqsood, a Class III dropout, who has earned the sobriquet “Allama” for his tireless efforts, has been the driving spirit whose guts and determination saw the establishment of Buland Masjid from its raw inception to its final avatar as an “unauthorised

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colony” earmarked for “regularisation.” Under his guidance, a voters’ list was drawn up in 1981 — more than 20 years after the colony was established on 8.5 acres bought from farmers.

There are astonishing stories of struggle and success in Buland Masjid, and Krishna Devi, one of the very few Hindus in the colony, is one of them.

You would never notice her tucked away in her

little corner tea shop. My curiosity was piqued by the discovery of a tiny temple, which I learnt, belonged to her. She speaks of her journey from Gorakhpur nearly 40 years ago: “Khane kamane aaye the (We came to earn, to eat).” With her husband, she took a pledge to make a temple if they were able to build a house and have children. After her husband’s death, she has supported three sons on

her meagre earnings. In another miracle of effort, her eldest son — Kanhaiya — is now doing his PhD in environmental sciences.

Young boys today spill out into the streets of Buland Masjid, their hair styled into vivid displays of imaginative fervour, their clothes a testament to originality and a tribute to their hero Salman Khan; tweaked, primped, trussed, plucked, their cheeks buffed to a glistening sheen, they come and go driving motorcycles, bursting pods of energy, enjoying the fruits of the labour of their fathers, and their fathers before. This is a new generation, dreaming of escaping the confines of the ghetto, the first to move out of abject poverty; still poorly educated, but on bikes, with cell phones, plugged into music, finding their idols on TV and in films. recent exhibition, No Grass in the Ghetto, organised by the India International Centre, was intended to bring a focus on these wider struggles and processes through the example of this one colony. The title, to my mind, was a metaphor that aptly expressed the lives of people and specially children, who have to endure and survive in these ghettoised slum environment. I have visited the interior areas and lanes of Buland Masjid repeatedly over the past three years, come to know many of its people and photographed various aspects of their lives in multiple shoots over this extended period of time. I still consider this a work in progress, and will be complementing the photographs with a documentary film, for which I am also shooting.

This is the great “urban century.” The complex bind of distress migration and urbanisation is an unfolding drama. These colonies are a curious phenomenon, so at odds with the great idea of urban India, and of the “smart cities” so meticulously being planned for this great urban age. What vision of justice can reconcile with the reality and degradation of the thousands of Buland Masjids across India?

MY

WILD CARD

DESH DEEPAK MISRA documents the giant monitor lizards in the Komodo islands of Indonesia and finds that untamed Nature and its law has helped them survive the odds seemed straight out of Jurassic Park. A gigantic monitor lizard with a licking, forked tongue, thumping its way ahead and rearing its head in a mad swing. Not VFX against a green screen but a real giant against the dense forest on Indonesia’s Komodo Island.

And then there were more Komodo dragons as they are popularly known. Within minutes. Near the forest officers’ kitchen, we encountered a family lying low together. Our guide Rehman told us that the predatory dragons are attracted by the aroma of food traipsing out of the kitchen though they are not into cooked food. But during the rainy season, they find it difficult to hunt in the dense forest and so look for an easy meal. The creature is real smart too. We saw a Komodo dragon digging a scrubfowl’s nest to steal its eggs. But the scrubfowl was smarter, throwing back earth into the dragon’s eyes, stunning him completely!

THIS

UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY an opportunity to shoot the monstrous dragons [Varanus komodoensis] in December 2012. We landed in Malaysia, took the Star Cruise to Thailand and followed it up with a five-night trip to Bali in Indonesia. From Bali, I planned to proceed solo to Komodo Island. This option was softer on the budget than an African safari.

A website survey in India had shown overnight trips to Komodo Island priced around $300 a person. But once in Bali, we found that seat reservation involved a different dynamic. The travel agent argued that in the absence of group economics, my Komodo National Park (KNP) trip was to be tailor-made, costing three times the website price point. Left with no choice, I made the down payment for the to-and-fro airfare, full boat charges in “cabin class” and an English translator.

I GOT

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PHOTO COURTESY: RICHARD SUSANTO/ NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

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The next day we reached the Denpasar airport in southern Bali at 8 am. Our destination was Labuan Bajo, located at the tip of the picturesque Flores island. It is a fishing-town-turned-tourist spot and the launch point for Komodo island.

There is a perennial uncertainty around flights taking off for Labuan Bajo as it has a single narrow airstrip with bay waters all around. The longer the delay, the slimmer are your chances of entering KNP the same day as night falls early there. After a distressing wait in the sultry 30 degree heat, the boarding was announced with a one-hour delay and the small aircraft took off. At last, my dream of “hunting dragons with the camera� was taking off.

Throughout the one-hour 45-minute flight, I planned my moves and intended shoot schedules

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considering the next day would only allow me a two-hour window. In that time, I would have to take the boat back to board the return flight to Bali. I snapped out of my thoughts as the aircraft circled the narrow airstrip at Labuan Bajo, enabling us to catch a glimpse of the breath-taking landscape of the Flores island, reminiscent of India’s Western Ghats, overlooking the Arabian Sea. My English translator and guide Hendrikus Nastari Gur (alias Richie) hurriedly escorted me into a taxi which rushed us to the jetty 15 minutes away. It was crowded with boats and we got into the one named “Capung.” With only two of us and the captain, Ardini, his two assistants Zulkifly (Zolo) and Mursidik (Bolo), the two-cabin boat was disproportionately spacious.

Komodo National Park comprises the three main islands of Komodo, Padar and Rinca.

We sped towards Rinca and were fortunate enough to get Richi’s favourite Ranger Rehman at the jetty itself. He was about to return to the park office after seeing off his last tourist and we were clearly in luck to keep our date with the dragon, a living legend of the animal world.

After paying the park entry, camera and guide fees, the ranger suggested a medium trek given the fact that we would have to wind up by sunset. And it was here, near the forest officers’ kitchen, that we found the family stacked together, wondering whether human food was better than going out on a hunt that hot summer day.

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DRAGON FIRE learnt that the Komodo dragons are the top carnivores in the park’s eco system. They occasionally capture live prey by lying in ambush. They have good vision and adequate hearing but rely mostly on their acute sense of smell to detect potential prey. Their saliva has 40 different bacteria (pathogens) and an anticoagulant in it. These bacteria cause septicaemia in their victim.

The Komodo dragon bites its prey. The prey runs away but continues to bleed because of the anti-coagulant. Once the septic pathogens enter the blood stream of the prey, the latter slowly succumbs to the bite. Capable of brief sprints (up to 20 km per hour and diving up to 15 feet), the Komodo dragon continuously tracks down the affected animal with its acute sense of smell and then feeds on it. Like many other reptiles, it uses its tongue for both taste and smell; it can detect a dead or dying animal from a distance of 9.5 kilometres, as told to us by the ranger.

From the forest officers’ kitchen, we moved on to look for nesting sites. These dragons mate in

WE

July-August. By September, the female digs up an egg chamber (or more often, uses abandoned nests of orange-footed scrubfowls) in which she lays up to 30 eggs. She covers the eggs with leaves and lies over them. She zealously protects her nest during incubation and Rehman suitable advised us to photograph would-be mums from a safe distance.

The eggs hatch after about eight months. Orangefooted scrub fowls also lay their eggs in September in mounds of vegetation. But as the hatching times are different, the dragons often use the fowls’ abandoned mounds as their nesting sites.

We were fascinated by the way the unarmed guide could protect himself and the park tourists against the giant lizard (an adult dragon measures over 8 feet in length and weighs more than 75 kg; the largest wild specimen was 10.3 feet long and weighed 166 kg) with only a long stick forking out to a “V” at one end. Under Indonesian law, local guides and rangers can carry only forked sticks for defence. No fire arms are permitted. There have been instances of dragons attacking human beings in the park and in the villages on the periphery but they are quite likely the result of some provocation.

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THE OTHER CREATURES task would be incomplete if we could not find the animals in the dragons’ food chain. They usually feed on water buffaloes, Sunda deer and wild boars. We were lucky to come across at least two buffaloes wallowing in the mud and a young deer camouflaged in the bushes. Along the trek route, the park authorities had also displayed skulls of water buffaloes and deer which had fallen prey to the dragons, who are such efficient predators that almost nothing is wasted. All that remains of the prey are powdered bones with a strong pungent smelling liquid.

The Komodo dragon is a vulnerable species, red-listed in IUCN. Recent research suggests that Komodo dragons may have mutated from a relict population of very large varanid lizards that once lived across Indonesia and Australia, most of which, along with other megafauna, died out after the Pleistocene epoch. The Komodo National Park was founded in 1980 to protect the dragons on the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Padar and Gili Motang. Today, they number around 5,000. The Komodo Range has around 1,700. The Rinca Range has another 1,300, out of which Loh Buaya alone has 50-60 dragons. Flores, too, has large count (perhaps around 2,000). Gili Motang has another 150. Since they are protected

OUR

in the park, their number is increasing but a limited number of breeding females slows down the birth rate.

The next day, I got up early at 5.30 am. Two more boats were docked by the side of our boat at the Loh Buaya jetty. Ours bobbed smoothly on the calm and blue-green sea, the only disturbance being a family of three Macaque monkeys, the parents along with their new-born rampaging on the wooden flats. This species is found in the mangrove forest near the entrance to the Loh Buaya area.

The park opens at 7 am but we reached there by 6.45 am to get Rehman, the guide, to accompany us on that day too. He waited for us near the souvenir shop. The evening before I had bought a male Komodo figurine. So I completed the pair by adding a female to my kitty. While most of the locals in and around the Komodo National Park (around 3,300 people live in the park and another 16,000+ live around it) make their living out of fishing, some earn extra income by carving wooden Komodo dragons for tourists.

Rehman was more geared up than me. He chose the longest route, which rounds off at the Range office area via the highest point of the park, taking around three hours. He had clearly set up an ambitious target for the morning trek. I had to be at Labuan Bajo airport by 12 noon, which included the trek back and a minimum two-hour boat ride. I had thought if I could finish the trek in one-and-a-half hours on the way back, I could also visit the Rinca village for half-an-hour.

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This time on, we found out that a few more dragons had joined the group resting near the stilted kitchen. We then moved on to locate some more wildlife in the forest. A group of buffaloes was wallowing in a muddy pool. Usually, humans do not approach the pool. Hence they ambled their way back to the woods as they heard us approach.

What surprised us was how a particularly bolder one, while conscious of our intrusion, stayed put in the pool and continued to give us dirty looks, till we moved out of his range.

We encountered more and more dragons during this leg of our walk. We spotted one resting on a rock under the shade. Seeing us, it leisurely climbed down the rock, giving us a photo opportunity. Two more Komodo dragons were resting just next to a rivulet. Rehman showed us how a recent BBC crew had shot a film by suspending cameras in a series on a rope along the river to capture the entire episode of dragons attacking their prey.

As I was way over my time limit, I decided to abandon my plan to visit the Rinca village and concentrate on the dragons. And just as we were ending the trip, two events took us by surprise and

made for a lifetime of memories. One was of Rehman almost stepping on a spitting cobra while trying to locate baby dragons on the trees.

Fortunately, the cobra, in a defensive reaction, slithered away without displaying any aggression.

Second, we spotted a dragon digging an orangefooted scrub fowl’s nest for its eggs, thinking it was abandoned. But the fowl was not ready to give up its home, empty or not. And that little creature successfully dissuaded the huge dragon by throwing back earth into the latter’s eyes. It was a pleasure witnessing the duel of wits. Clearly, size doesn’t matter all the time.

On our way back to the jetty, we came via the mangroves during low tide. Here, we encountered two baby dragons looking out for hermit crabs, padding their way on slushy mud. The young dragons are vulnerable to attacks by their own adults, birds, and mammals. For this reason, the young climb up trees where an arboreal lifestyle gives them refuge till they are large enough to defend themselves. The adults, though good swimmers, cannot claw their way up the branches as they mature in bulk and heft.

I realised that Nature’s laws have more perfection and balance built in them than any man-made system. Benchmarking Nature’s rules would be the best recipe for human sustainability on this blue planet.

— The author and photographer is DD Misra, Director (HR), ONGC

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T E C H TA L K Here are five women-friendly apps that are sure to help you navigate through in tough times

GOT YOUR BACK GO IBIBO: India’s leading online travel aggregator enables users to buy air tickets, bus tickets, book holidays and car rentals. It also has an app available across mobile operating systems such as iOS, Android and Windows.

MYLES: A selfdriven car rental company with a fleet of 1,000 cars, it is currently clocking between 10,00012,000 car rentals per month, and has a presence in about 22 cities across the country. Get a self-driven car to explore anything in the world a click away from your smartphone.

JUGNOO: A mobile app offering one of the largest networks of auto-rickshaws in India. It has more than 5,000 autos empanelled under the brand at present. It is targeting students, working professionals and masses that are dependent on public transport for their daily conveyance.

REVV: Revv is the easiest and most convenient option for all the ladies out there who want to get back home from office or vice-versa without keeping their safety at stake. To top it all, Revv also offers hourly rentals with unlimited kilometres.

ECORENTACAR: If you are a solo traveller and looking for chauffeur driven car, then ECO Rent a car would be perfect. A professional car rental and ground transportation company, it has offices in nine cities. The company functions with a whopping 2,500 vehicles across all categories.

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ISL AND TOWN

Little

paradise Often considered the counterpart of the Great Andaman island group, Little Andaman has an appealing sequestered feel with its gorgeous bunch of mangroves, jungle and teal, ringed by virgin beaches

SITUATED

120 km south of Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Little Andaman is the fourth largest of the archipelago with an area of 734 sq km. It rates highly as a traveller’s favourite spot. Badly hit by the 2004 tsunami, Little Andaman has slowly rebuilt itself.

The main settlement here is Hut Bay, a pleasant

small town that primarily is home to smiling Bengalis and Tamils. Hut Bay wharf, a deep water wharf that can be approached through a gap in the coral reef on the east coast of the island, is the entry point of Little Andaman Island.

The island has been a tribal reserve since 1957 and is home to the Onge aboriginal tribe.

The low-lying island has widespread rainforest and

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HOW TO GET THERE IT TAKES ABOUT 10 HOURS TO COMMUTE FROM PORT BLAIR THROUGH SHIP. ADDITIONALLY, THERE IS A SEA PLANE CONNECTION BETWEEN PORT BLAIR AND HUT BAY. THE FLIGHT TIME BY HELICOPTER OR SEA PLANE IS APPROXIMATELY 40 MINUTES

several rare species of marine turtles. Skirted by white sandy beaches and interspersed by gushing waterfall, it offers surfing, boating through the creeks, exciting elephant safari, elephant lumbering and elephant calves training.

A government organisation, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Forest Plantation Development Corporation Limited (ANIFPDCL), conducts a package tour from Port Blair to the Little Andaman Island. There are more than 30 elephants on the island and elephant safari happens in the jungle near the White Surf waterfall. ANIFPDCL has built a guest house and tourist huts on the beach.

Boating facility is available in the creek near the Butler Bay beach resort. The northern side of the Butler Bay is a popular surfing site.

WHITE SURF WATERFALL 7 km away from Hut Bay, the waterfall is big and true to its name —White Surf. The sight of foamy water streaming down a small hill covered with lush green forests is mesmerising. You hardly find tourists around and that is primarily because the place is a little far off from Port Blair and the only mode of commute (apart from seaplane) is boat that takes around six to eight hours one way. You may also trek to the top of the waterfall surrounded by small creeks.

Locals say that these inlets were initially inhabited by crocodiles and snakes.

SITUATED

it can be reached after a 40 Minute bumpy ride through the wild and a 4 km trek on foot. Whisper Waves waterfall exists in two levels, the first being broad with calm green waters. There have been sightings of saltwater crocodiles here. The second level is safer with a fresh water pool. The path itself is not too challenging. It’s the heat and humidity that makes the trek difficult. Although the waters are low, there are not many snakes or insects. But with rains, insects and leeches crawl up on the surface.

KALAPATHAR BEACH rocky limestone formations are dotted all along this sandy beach, making it different from other islands. Blocks of high rocks on one side form a circular pool that is filled with water at high tide and allows calm baths in the warm sea.

However proper swimming or snorkelling is not possible in Kalapathar due to sharp rocks and strong currents. If you climb the rocks and manage to squeeze yourself trough a small path, you can enjoy the glimpse of the neighbouring Butler Bay.

BLACK

WHISPER WAVE WATERFALLS is hidden in the middle of the evergreen rainforests, 6.5 km from the Hut Bay Jetty. Tucked away in the jungle,

THIS

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HOTWHEELS Kushan Mitra Auto & tech expert

Ford’s secondgeneration Endeavour has taken its time to come onto the market. The question is was the wait worth it and does Ford have a vehicle that can beat the market leader Toyota Fortuner?

Ford Endeavour was the first international large Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) to come to India over a decade ago. I remember test-driving that car down the nicer parts of Mathura Road in Delhi and being stopped a fair number of times by other road users, obviously impressed by this huge, new car. A decade and cargeneration later, the new Ford Endeavour also brought traffic around me to a standstill, and questions such as “Kitne ki hai?” (how much is it?) and “Kaise hai?” were asked at least a dozen times every day. Unfortunately, while I could answer the former, I could not answer the latter until I had spent some time with the vehicle.

Well, I can happily state that now I can answer that very important question. And the short answer is that it is fairly impressive. And given that it will stand up to the runaway success story that is the Toyota Fortuner, Ford gets the basic stuff right.

Most importantly, the Endeavour looks big. Ford

THE

has avoided going down the Hyundai route with the Santa Fe, and has avoided angular lines, great on a hatchback and sedan, not necessarily a good idea on what is basically a small bus.

But most importantly, not only does the car look big, it is big. It is positively vast inside, so vast that one time while sitting in the back and trying to operate the the very nice multimedia system, I could do so while comfortably on my knees without interfering with either the driver or the front passenger. The third row is more than just functional, it is quite comfortable actually, but like all three-row cars,

using the third row compromises storage space.

That said, it only compromises storage space and doesn’t make it vanish, so you could carry a large suitcase. Not two suitcases, but that said, both the second and third rows fold fully flat at the lift of a lever, so really that is not a big deal.

On to the actual driving of the car. The car that Ford provided was equipped with the smaller 2.2litre engine and lacked four-wheel drive, yet this “Titanium�-spec car came with a six-speed automatic gearbox. The smaller engine has just 158 horsepower and 385 Newton-Meters of torque.

The Endeavour is not going to win any races off a red light. If street racing is your thing, then Ford India does intend to get the Mustang here later this year.

This version of the car is perfectly

adapted for a city full of traffic jams. Your fellow road users will not like you but given that their heads are at the same level as your gluteal muscles, you will never notice. Not that the bigger engine is that much more powerful but the additional torque would be help in fording (see what I did there?) the occasional stream and climbing the occasional mountain trail.

That said, once you build up speed, this car can really get going. And it is not the acceleration or the power the car can generate on rougher roads that impresses you while driving. This is like driving a cruise ship through a crowd of pleasure boats, but unlike a cruise ship, this can stop very quickly indeed. While many people rave about absolute speed, and while speed is scary because one mistake and you will likely die a horrible death, the really remarkable facet of modern automotive engineering is braking. Getting a massive two-and-a-half tonne beast to stop quickly to avoid making human pancakes is quite an achievement, albeit one has to be either a state transport driver or crazy to be in front of one of these cars. This car commands the road, important given that many of the people who will buy this car will want a “commanding” car.

Back to the script and onto the Endeavour experience, so to speak. First things first. Ford like many other car makers has dispensed with an analog display and has fitted a screen instead. This allows you to change the display on the side to show either the temperature gauge or distance to

empty or something else. However, there is no navigation, at least in this version. And while the digital screen looks very cool and all, after driving a car with Audi’s Virtual Cockpit, your first impression is that Ford India could have done more. Then again, you only get the Virtual Cockpit on the new TT and Q7, both of which cost a lot more than the Endeavour.

And then there is the infotainment system, again very nice, much better than what the competition gives as a standard. Decent audio, fairly easy to hook up and so on and so forth.

Personally, the most disappointing part of the interiors were that the plastics on the door could have felt nicer. While we are not suggesting they feel cheap and given that Ford does give a hell of a lot for the price, this is a very minor quibble.

The driving on the other hand is a bit more

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challenging. Given that this is India and the very notion of traffic segregation is an alien one, driving something so big is not easy. Indeed, it can be very stressful because you are larger than most other traffic. But Ford impresses here with a very decent handling. You cannot forget that you are in a Leviathan, although the Endeavour is smaller than Ford’s best-selling F-150 “truck,” yet you can take corners with a level of surety. Again, this does not mean you “attack a corner” but you can rest assured that the Endeavour will not roll heavily if you drive decently and yes, you can take corners a bit faster than you would in competing cars because there is a level of confidence you have in the grip and the brakes.

Well, with the 4x2 version, there is immediately that slight lack of confidence in taking it to the really rough stuff. The 4x4 model is equipped with

a terrain response button and the ability to shift to low-range on the fly. Yet, the suspension does cushion the ride fairly well even on a rutted road and definitely better than any of the vehicles the Endeavour is up against. Actually, it is unlikely that most Endeavours will ever leave the confines of a road, and the 4x2 model is more than enough to deal with the worst roads. The `3 lakh saved over and above the `26 lakh this model costs is money well saved.

There is one minor issue with the Endeavour though. It can’t currently be sold in Delhi due to the ban on large-capacity diesel engine cars in the National Capital Region. However, if you don’t live in the NCR and are looking for a very capable bruiser and want to stand out from the maddening crowd of white Toyota Fortuners, the Ford Endeavour is the car for you.

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ART BOUND

SMOOTH

FLOW

ARTIST AARTI ZAVERI has tried to represent all the five elements of life through a river. She tells Arjita Mishra that she believes water carries all other elements with it artists get their inspiration from their travel diaries and Aarti Zaveri is no exception. She got inspired by her visit to Haridwar, Varanasi and Gangasagar. “My artwork is a representation of what I perceived while being at these places,� she says.

Zaveri has been fascinated with nature and its elements for a long time and has found ways to communicate through different media. She has attempted to take their sentient being to people

MOST

and have enabled them to see things in a different perspective. The changing times have made it pertinent for artists to find new ways to express themselves and comment on the situation they deeply care about.

The artist, in her first series Elements of Life, supported by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, explored nature and its elements from different perspectives and created artwork (installations, sculptures, paintings and mixed media) which reflect the deep

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churning process that she has gone through — both externally and internally. These works are an external manifestation of subjects that have been close to her — philosophically and spiritually.

In one of the installations, she created spirals by using wood cuttings twisted to depict the flow of a river. To its left, the artist created the bank with sand. There were few bricks placed beside the sand, denoting the ghats. On the other side of the installation, there were foot prints which showed the journey of life.

This installation addressed the subject of elements at different levels — from the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual and yet all were related to the supreme being.

For her, the river Ganges and its journey from the Himalayas has been a major source of inspiration.

“Our life has pauses, some good, some bad, some meaningful and meaningless. So this installation shows us the river flowing from the mountains and you can see a wood coming through, which also shows the flow of the river,” she explains.

Speaking about her artwork, Zaveri says, “My work comprises different forms of art depicting the five elements that I have come to learn about during this process. Water, fire, earth, air and ether — also termed as Panch Maha Bhuta — are a

universally accepted major philosophical tradition across the world.”

According to her, “The journey of Elements of Being begins with this simple hypothesis that all of us grow in different ways but at the end we all converge in the idea of unity.”

One of the most important aspects of the exhibition was that it was very organic. “In terms of installation, we tend to use a lot of chemicals, steels and metals. But we have tried to be very minimalistic here. I have used materials that are mostly organic (sand, soil, wood cuttings, water, jute and scrap),” she points out.

Another installation in the continuation of the river was of fire, surrounded by several cages made from woods. Inside the cages there were shells, a nest, flowers, et al, to denote habitation near the river bank.

“Over the years, these structures will not be in use. New architectural structures will replace them. Soon, that too will collapse and will merge into the river and again a new structure will come in its place. And this will continue forever,” Zaveri points out.

Sharing about her experience, Zaveri tells us, “My experience was exciting but made me introspect — crowd and chaos, the mandir and bells, the purity and filth, both organic and manmade. I worked on simple visuals but with a deep sense of despondency.”

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F LY H I G H

AAI 21

celebrates

st

anniversary

Airports Authority of India (AAI), tasked for providing state-of-the-art passenger facilities and air navigation services at all the airports in the country, celebrated its 21st Annual Day recently at Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi.

The Minister of state for Civil Aviation, Dr Mahesh Sharma, was the Chief Guest and the Civil Aviation secretary RN Choubey, was the Guest of Honour at the function.

Before the cultural programme, the AAI achievers in their respective fields were felicitated for their commendable contribution, key awardees being Airport Director, Jaipur, Lucknow, Goa, Trivandrum and Srinagar for the best ASQ Rating by Airports Council International for their terminals. The awards were given by the Civil Aviation Minister in the presence of other dignitaries.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sharma, asserted, “The Indian aviation sector has seen a phenomenal growth over the last two years which is going to improve its global ranking from 9 to 3 by 2020.” He also congratulated the entire AAI family for the commendable achievements in the recent past in the field of development of airports infrastructure, air-navigation services and corporate social responsibilities.

“The celebration is intended to catch up with the past and to explore the new vistas for success in the aviation sector in the future.

Thus, like the previous events, we shall take this opportunity to recognise those who have toiled hard to keep the AAI's flag flying high.

This is an occasion to meet and interact with each other with renewed warmth, and above all love and affection and further ahead with renewed vigour and camaraderie for the overall development of the aviation sector in the country,” said Sudhir Raheja, chairman, Airports Authority of India.

“AAI takes pride to inform that under the aegis of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, two key airport development projects namely Chandigarh and Tirupati airport, were dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister of India. In addition airport development projects at Kadapa

THE

Minister of State for Civil Aviation applauds Airports Authority of India for four of its airports making it to the list of top five airports in the world in the category of 2-5 million passengers per annum

Minister of State, Civil Aviation Dr Mahesh Sharma lighting the lamp in presence of RN Chaubey, secretary Civil Aviation and Sudhir Raheja, Chairman, AAI and board members

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(Left to right) Sudhir Raheja, Chairman, AAI, addresses the gathering; Sugandha Mishra and Rekha Bharadwaj perform at the event and Khajuraho were dedicated to the nation by Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju during the year gone by,” said Raheja.

He further affirmed that AAI has also drawn up a roadmap for generation of non-traffic revenue, marketing strategy, making available the airport infrastructure in every nook and corner of the country, training and re-training the human resources, making them capable of taking up challenges, undertaking the CSR responsibilities and above all promotion of Regional Connectivity scheme, a important feature of MoCA's Civil Aviation Policy 2015.

AAI's 11 airports are rated above the world average at 4.13 on a scale of 5 on ACI's ASQ survey which clearly demonstrates the zeal and commitment to achieve excellence. The various accolades won by AAI in the last year, include “Golden Peacock Award” for innovative product or service, “Public Sector Undertaking for Excellence in Innovation in R&D award” for upper area

harmonisation in Kolkata and “Best Improved Airport” in Asia Pacific Region by ACI for 2014ASQ Survey bagged by the Kolkata Airport.

AAI is both a technology-driven and serviceoriented organisation as issues in the areas of operations, cargo, airlines, concessionaires and passengers are addressed through transparent means such as collaborative meetings with various stakeholders via task forces or committees. During the year, meetings were conducted with the trade representatives, cargo operatives, airline operators, stakeholders, officials of various government departments for overall ease of doing business in general and the flexible use of airspace at metro cities in particular. AAI is at the forefront of addressing public grievances, vigilance and ethics at work place, operational efficiency, safety and security at airports and continuing with green and sustainability endeavours.

“On the front of global laurels, not only for AAI, rather for the nation, our venture GAGAN has been

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certified for APV1.0 operations. Continuing with the improvement in PAX friendly facilities at AAI Airports, free Wi-Fi Services have been introduced at selected airports,” Raheja said. Night parking policy for aircraft has been approved and implemented. “E-Tourist” visa scheme of the government of India was also implemented at many AAI airports along with five other joint ventures and private airports. A Common User Domestic Cargo Terminal (CUDT) has been commissioned at Chennai airport. AAI also provided consultancy services to Sharjah for RNP AR procedure.

To further enhance operational efficiency at AAI airports, an MoU has been signed between AAI and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise. “AAI contributed towards the relief material and extended waiver of charges for different airline operators during the Nepal earthquake. Even Chennai airport was badly affected and restoration of the same was undertaken in a record time in a

commendable manner,” added Raheja.

A dedicated Department of marketing and business development has been set up within AAI, as part of the mandated responsibility of development of airports in Tier-II and Tier-III cities under the goverment’s regional connectivity scheme. AAI has developed more than 60 airports in metro and non-metro cities in the recent past.

Choubey reaffirmed his confidence on the services provided by AAI towards fulfilling the government’s aviation goals. He congratulated the entire AAI family for its achievements during the past year and also acknowledged its persistent efforts to improve the services and passenger facilities at its airports placing it amongst the best service provider in the world.

The Annual Day programme concluded with a fun-filled musical evening “Swar Sandya” presented by renowned artists like Rekha Bhardwaj and Sugandha Mishra leaving the audience spellbound.

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A R T A F FA I R

DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

Aboriginal artist REKO RENNIE painted a wall in Delhi’s Lodhi Colony in the hues of his graffiti-inspired shades and blended his community’s traditional geometric patterns. enhance creativity and achieve mental balance, one would often turn to recommended methodologies where you might be required to be seated in a meditative position or escape to a picturesque location which would guarantee an almost nirvana-like experience. It doesn’t take much time for ennui to take over and thus, more techniques come into existence and the gullibility in us takes us on a different journey.

TO

Art, on the other hand, has healed. Undeniably, there have been moments where you would pause to appreciate a work of art even in the unlikeliest of places. The colours beguile and the patterns intrigue.

Art is meant to be within your reach and not be confined within the sophisticated structure of a museum. Our sentiments are echoed with Aboriginal artist Reko Rennie saying, “It is very important for it to be out in public domain. It’s all very well to have it in an institution and be collected but then, not

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everyone gets to see it. It’s only for a select clientele and has a bourgeoisie element to it. When it’s out there, it’s free for everyone. You also have more power to give out a message.”

The Melbourne-based indigenous contemporary artist transformed the bland walls of Lodhi Colony into a vibrant canvas as part of the St+Art India project. Their aim is to turn the colony into India’s first public art district. spot a few men at work in front of a concrete wall splashed in hues of bright pink, black and turquoise blue. The immaculate diamond geometric patterns are Rennie’s Kamilaroi community’s “coat of arms.”

“The motif is a symbolic representation of my community much like one’s surname. I brought something from home with me and leaving a little mark here,” the artist explains.

His idea was to breakaway from the stereotypical view that Aboriginal art is only about ochres and dot paintings. It was “intentional” to use bright colours and plus there was the graffiti influence which began in mid-80s when he got his hands on a book called Subway Art by Martha Cooper and Hanry Chalfant which documented the graffiti movement in New York since the early 70s to early 80s. “By mid-80s, when I was about 11 or 12, breakdancing and hip-hop were also getting popular and I was into it. I started using spray paint to make words. Later on, I did that illegally for a while and then wanted to do explore more aspects of art,” Rennie shares.

He then went back to school to study journalism and entered art shows. “In 2007-08, I won an award and commercial galleries were asking to represent me. I also started looking at my family history and realised that through art I had a voice and could also raise certain awareness issues. I found it exciting to used the skills I acquired from the streets and sort of blended it with the traditional art.”

Aboriginal art convey sacred stories of the communities but according to Rennie, who has extensively showcased his work even at prestigious platforms such as the Venice Biennale, says that people have been only exposed to one portion of aboriginal art.

YOU

“It’s like how art is in India. There are so many forms. The dot painting would only represent a couple of communities. In south-east Australia, there are different patterns and styles such as diamonds, cross-hatching, rock paintings and engravings. The problem is that the art is only being perpetuated as one when in reality, it is not and we are diverse,” Rennie tells us.

He, along with other contemporary artists, is on a mission to raise awareness about certain issue related to Aboriginal communities . He calls himself “fortunate” since he can use his art as a voice. what our generation is doing because it was our parents’ and grandparents’ generations that were victimised for their identity and were persecuted. Colonialism has had a major impact. A few Government policies of removing children from their families also led to a catastrophic affect on the culture and the community’s placement and disposition,” Rennie expresses adding their is still a long way to go.

“We still need access to health, education and rights, especially rights to land. Graffiti gave me a voice and an opportunity to freedom of expression.

We don’t have to worry about being persecuted by the government. It is a powerful time for voice and rights,” he signs off.

“IT’S

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BLITHESPIRIT Magandeep Singh Sommelier

THE SUMMER PUNCH The word today is used to describe all forms of concoctions that can be churned up, professionally or at a home bar, using all and any ingredients that happen to be available.

In that way a Punch can either be a planned or an unplanned effort

now enough has been circulated on how that notoriously deadly of concoctions, the Punch, the one that seems to be smooth and gentle like a lilting lullaby but then brings on the high hard like an Oet concert and then the attached hangover, as if Thor were hammering away at your skull while chiding you with motherly, “I told you so” admonitions.

Wow! quite a picture, that.

But yes that same punch is the one that has an Indian connection. A very major one at that and no I don’t mean how almost every patriotic (or even not exactly very patriotic) Indian manages to find no more than a degree of separation between anything famous, spectacular, or important and its alleged Indian-ness. I am talking about all the theories about how everyone and everything — from Jesus Christ to Shakespeare, from the internal combustion engine to toasted bread and butter — is all somehow distilled down to being quintessentially Indian.

No, the Punch isn’t contrived Indian like that. It is Indian like Brahma, or bribery. Maybe shouldn’t have put them in the same sentence. But yes, punch is

BY

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Indian. Even the word, punch, derives from the word, Paanch, meaning five, which was the number of ingredients in the original recipe: water, honey, lemon juice, spices and some of the good brew and I don’t mean just tea. Well, there were versions without alcohol which just included some fruit juice but lacked the quality as compared to one containing alcohol. what does a punch need? Well the alcohol provides the punchiness and you can spike it as you like. But more than the headiness, the base alcohol, unless you use vodka, will also impart the primary flavour to the mix.

Dark rum is popular but you could easily substitute with a whisky or a flavoured white spirit like say Tequila or Pisco. Then you need sweetening and this would come from any of the possible sources — jaggery, honey, fruit juices.

Anything else you choose to add here on will be

SO

considered embellishments and signature styling.

Of course, the choice of alcohol initially and the fruit juice after would have already set a tactile course to the final blend but the options are still fairly limitless. At this point, I often use a liqueur, like say a bitter-almond flavoured or similar, and then a tinge of some bitters to finish it all off.

Spices are a great idea too and cinnamon is a common one that turns up. get too carried away, what works in a short cocktail may not always work as a punch unless the alcohol content is considerably brought down.

Final tip, make sure it’s well chilled. The big bowl is not conducive to temperature control so you will needs plenty of ice. And finally, find an ornate ladle with some nice cups to pass around.

Now you have all the ingredients for a perfect punchy summer sundowner.

DON’T

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GURUSPEAK

Start identifying with patterns that you are latching on to, bundle them up and throw them into the ocean! Disown your pent-up emotions and discover a more peaceful you

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Spiritual Guru

we have grown older physically, we do not grow up emotionally. It feels as though you are a victim of your own emotions. “Oh! I feel like this! I feel like that! What to do?� But what is the big deal about your feelings? They were there yesterday and it came in your space, again. So what? Sometimes you see dark clouds in the sky but the space does not own them. It just allows them to come and pass away. Similarly, these emotions come, sometimes pleasant, unpleasant. You should disown them. That is the first step. Let them come and go.

All emotions are linked with people, objects and events. Catching on to objects, people or relationships hinders freedom, liberation. Just examine why your spirits go down? More often than not, it is because somebody said something nasty to you. Because they had some garbage and they needed to throw it out; and you were there, ready to catch it. And once you have caught it,

ALTHOUGH

SET YOURSELF FREE

you hold on to it so passionately! Wake up! Don’t let your smile be snatched away by anybody.

Nobody can feel bad or good all the time; the good and bad feelings come like waves. But we make it such a big issue and it keeps bombarding our minds. This emotional garbage is so useless; it’s also a sign of emotional immaturity.

One should learn how to handle one self. When your emotions are positive, you become more sensitive to the truth. But the same emotions, when they are rough, ruin your mind and body.

Emotion is your enemy and at the same time is your friend as well. The emotion which makes you so soft inside is your friend and the one that makes you rough, is your enemy. If you have no emotions, then you are like a dead rag and the Divine Love cannot flower in you.

The awareness of how and what things are can make a big difference. The same mind can bring forth positive thoughts and vibrations and the same can birth negative thoughts. Awareness is being generated about keeping our environment unpolluted. But what about the emotional impurity which we create around us and the vibrations which we create that harbour negativity in us?

We don’t use the detergent of knowledge to our mind and purify it, and that’s when the polluted mind goes on creating more pollution. If a person is agitated, the anger does not stay limited to that person but rubs off on to all those who he comes in contact with. These negative vibrations, once compounded, give rise to unrest in society.

Negative feelings of hatred, anger, jealousy are the root cause of all disasters and misery in the world, whether they are economical, political or social in nature.

We need to attend to the human psyche which causes pollution, whether physical or emotional. It’s natural for a mind to become unhappy or to get negative thoughts. We only have to learn to clear them away quickly and become free of them faster. And come back to the harmony immediately. That is why practices like meditation, yoga and breathing techniques are there. Through them you can cause positive, harmonious and joyful vibrations within you and around you. www.artofliving.org

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FITNESS

YOGA Bharat Thakur is a yoga guru and founder of Artistic Yoga

Cure your deep-rooted fears the natural way through yoga and discover a new you

FOR ANXIETY DISORDER today’s world, it would be rare to find someone who has never worried or been anxious. A certain amount of worrying or anxiety is normal but there’s a great deal of difference between worry and anxiety, the latter being a more severe reaction, even if the trigger is something simple or little or nothing at all. The reactions can be so strong that they affect you mentally, emotionally and physically.

The most common physical symptoms can be heart palpitations, tightness in the chest and shortness of breath. There is also muscle tension leading to headaches, back pain, tiredness with gastro-intestinal symptoms including diarrhoea, nausea, dryness in the mouth, difficulty in swallowing. Mental and emotional symptoms include fear, fear of losing control, racing thoughts and restlessness, inability to relax, sleeplessness.

Recent studies show that people with higher levels of certain neurotransmitters in the brain tend to get more bouts of anxiety.

Conventional treatment involves medication, including antidepressants, inducing dependency. On the other hand, the ancient science of yoga is an ideal and powerful tool to counteract anxiety.

The simplest way to ease anxiety is to breathe deeply and here is where yoga works effectively. The various breathing techniques used in yoga can be used anytime and anywhere to help calm yourself in a difficult situation. Yogic exercises also help in loosening up blockages in the system caused by anxiety through releasing stress build-up.

Yoga aims at transformation of the individual at every level. Yogic relaxation (yoga nidra, shavasana) and meditation techniques help not just to calm the mind but to connect with a deeper level of your being from which you can handle your anxiety levels better and change how you react and cope with the overwhelming fears, frustrations and challenges of everyday life. Regular yoga class will help you reduce your anxiety levels and you will live a fuller, happier life. In the meantime, here are a few exercises to get you started.

IN

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SURYA NAMASKAR o Stand straight, feet together, palms joined in front. Slowly inhale, keep palms together and slowly bend back, stretch your arms over your head. o Exhale and slowly bend forward from the hip. o Keep the knees straight and place your palms on the floor and head as close to the knees as possible. Hold for 10 seconds. o Slowly inhale as you come up, palms together, and slowly bend backwards.

BENEFITS: o Stretches the spine and opens up the lungs. o Improves blood circulation and digestion.

SHEETKARI PRANAYAMA o Make a square shape with your lips, showing your teeth. Slowly inhale to a count of five through your mouth with teeth clenched. o Exhale slowly through your nose. o Repeat 10 times.

BENEFITS: Reduces stress.

BHUJANGASANA o Lie on your stomach, chin on ground, legs together, toes pointed out. o Place palms beside shoulders, elbows tucked in. o Inhale as you slowly raise your head and upper body, keeping elbows bent.

PAVANMUKTASANA o Lie on your back with arms by your side. Inhale as you raise your right leg. o Bend right knee breathing out as you clasp with both hands and draw towards the chest. o Hold position for 10-30 seconds, breathing normally.

Inhale and exhale as you straighten the right leg. o Repeat with left leg and then with both the legs.

BENEFITS: o Removes stiffness from lower back. Improves flexibility of the hip and knee joint. o Reduces flatulence.

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o Hold 10-30 seconds, breathing normally. Exhale as you slowly return to the start position.

BENEFITS: o Stretches the spine and torso improving circulation in the back. o Tones abdominal organs.

NUMBERGAME Sanjay Jumaani Numerologist

COUNT YOUR FATE

NUMBER 1 (Ruled by Sun, people born on the 1st, 10th, 19th and 28th) The first fortnight might not be so favourable, so try not to break any new deals or build any new associations. You might find your personal life dictating the professional life. Things might take a completely different turn by the time you sort out personal issues and you see the results coming in.

NUMBER 4 (Ruled by Uranus, people born on the 4th, 13th, 22nd and 31st) There might be things you probably know and things you are not aware of. However, this might give you an insight into the possibilities that you might have in future. Loved ones might prove to be the strength that you need right now at this important juncture of change in your life.

NUMBER 7 (Ruled by Neptune, people born on the 7th, 16th and 25th) You might be a team player and a tolerant leader.

However, you need to understand the fact that for a team’s success certain decisions need to be taken and implemented with immediate effect. Financial concerns might get resolved by the end of the month.

NUMBER 2 (Ruled by Moon, people born on the 2nd, 11th, 20th and 29th) You won’t be in the mood to listen to advice offered by your loved ones. This might shut you off from everyone. Avoid being too critical about your comments and employ your patience.

Relationships might be on priority which will lend you the confidence required to achieve success.

NUMBER 5 (Ruled by Mercury, people born on the 5th, 14th and 23rd) Concentrate on your professional life. You will be appreciated. However do not get carried away by the tide and be careful. Seniors might give you additional responsibilities that might help you to fulfill your want to learn and grow. A pleasure trip might also be around the corner.

NUMBER 8 (Ruled by Saturn, people born on the 8th, 17th and 26th) There might be people trying to pull you down at work but they will not succeed with their intentions. On the contrary it might make you feel more relaxed and act to your advantage. Ponder a bit about relationships in your life and analyse your involvement with loved ones around you.

NUMBER 3 (Ruled by Jupiter, people born on the 3rd, 12th, 21st and 30th) Take things in hand carefully.

Avoid taking people for granted and listen to what they are saying which will turn out to be helpful. You might have to rethink about your expectations.

Work will go smoothly, allowing you the opportunity to take things to the next level at work.

NUMBER 6 (Ruled by Venus, people born on the 6th, 15th and 24th) Avoid getting into intricacies of things and plan your next move quickly. You might sometimes feel restricted by some people but take a stand and do what you think is best. There will be some money matters that might need attention. Don’t let your restlessness beat you down.

NUMBER 9 (Ruled by Mars, people born on the 9th, 18th and 27th) Your selflessness in trying to accommodate people and help them in their endeavours might finally get noticed by your seniors. Avoid letting your imagination go too far. Do not rush into things when it concerns with finances. Be careful with your confidence.

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AT L E I S U R E

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n contrast to many of Kerala’s temple festivals, where the focus is on elephants, the Attuvela Mahotsavam is a delightful water carnival. There is a procession of illuminated canoes which carry huge temple replicas making for a spectacular photo op on April 8.

I

odungalloor Bharani festival is something you won’t forget in a hurry. Thousands of sword wielding oracles, both male and female, swarm the temple premises. The oracles run around in a trance and proclaim their communion with the Mother Goddess. Meanwhile devotees strike the temple rafters with sticks and hurl offerings over the roof and on to the quadrangle.

On April 9.

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nce deadly headhunters, the fascinating Konyak tribals now live peacefully, spending most of their time practising agriculture, drinking local alcohol, smoking opium (and occasionally hunting). After completing the sowing of seeds each year, the tribe celebrates their most important festival, the Aoling Festival, which is held from April 1 to 6.

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aisakhi is the celebration of Punjabi New Year and commemoration of the founding of Khalsa (Sikh brotherhood) all rolled into one occasion. It’s celebrated on April 13 with a great deal of feasting, dancing, folk music, fairs and street processions. Major celebrations are organised at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, creating a carnival-like vibe. Bengal and Assam welcome the New Year with a lot of feasting.

B

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By RINKU GHOSH

CAFE CONVOS

W

hoever thought that a spring in my step at a casual dinner outing in Delhi would open up my eyes to the beautiful concept of shared conversations, not particularly associated with the ruthless and coldblooded power capital? But turns out there is more excitement to be had while dining solo than with a group of friends. For you attract other souls who make for pleasurable company. And engaging chatter. Indeed there is spring in the air.

I chance upon Dipali Bhasin, a trunk show exhibitor, who happens to be grabbing a bite in between wrapping up her wares in The LaliT. She has been showing in Delhi for quite a few seasons now and has shaped the fashion preferences of its “value for money” women at a more relatable and affordable level.

A former fashion stylist in Mumbai, she rolled out two days of retail therapy in the arcade under the label “My Best Friend and Me.” The “best friend” happens to be husband Anubhav, Dipali’s co-curator and organiser.

They brought chic brands from everywhere but what was noteworthy was how two of Dipali’s key sections were dedicated to causes she supports, with NGOs being given the space free of cost. Charity begins at home and Dipali would do that rather quietly.

“I have analysed the buying pattern of Delhi women who are sensible in their pick-ups even if they have the money. Apparel is their top choice, followed by kids’ goodies, home furnishings, accessories (which are better in Bombay and I source it from there) and then, almost as an afterthought, something for the spouse/partner.” Her keen understanding of preferences, tapping into the right comfort zone and a price range swinging from `5,000 to 15,000 have made her a popular exhibitor in the larger business of fashion. “What began as a home-based trunk show has now grown into a two-day affair, first annually, then biannually and this year, maybe a third special edition but with a unique touch.” She will be curating the “grassroots” of Indian culture in terms of fabrics, designs and crafts.

A no-frills woman herself, Dipali thinks functional and is a perfect answer to upwardly mobile women of Delhi who make brainy choices and don’t go for

discounted stuff just for the heck of it. So what is my takeaway? Dipali hints that “costume jewellery” is back in a big, big way and how Ludhiana and Jalandhar are her barometers for buying behaviour in this country.

Soon after this interaction, I cross paths with chef Manu Mohindra and wife Sonia. Now sought after food consultants, they have helped set up over 600 restaurants, guided more than 90 hotels and a luxury train. A back-to-the basics man, Mohindra resents that we call our food “ethnic” while we define other foods by their country of origin. Truth lies in the flavours we are born of. He also has a word of caution on how you should dine at a restaurant using liquid nitrogen to make instant ice cream on the table. “Please ensure that all the liquid has evaporated and fog dissipated before eating. Else it could burn your tract inside and cause a gas overload.”

And finally, there are two elderly NRI couples from Nigeria who are celebrating the birthday of their spouses in a corner. They share their cake with me, saying since their children were settled elsewhere, I could just be their child for an instant and get a big bear bite of chocolatey affection. True. Spring is in the air.

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EXOTICA

RNI NO. DELENG/2006/18084 POSTAL REGN. NO. DL (C)-01/1151/2016-2018 Posted at NDPSO on 10th, 11th & 12th of same month Published on 30th of Advance Month

VOL 10 NO 6 APRIL 2016