Editor-in-Chief CHANDAN MITRA EDITORIAL BOARD Vice-Chairman & Joint Managing Director Amit Goel Chief Executive Officer Abhishek Saxena 09818600128 EDITORIAL Editor-in-Charge Rinku Ghosh Feature Writers Devi Singh & Priyanka Joshi 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 Senior Managers Madhukar Saxena & Sofiqul Islam Managers Bharat Singh Sajwan & Prabhakar Pathak Senior Marketing Executive Komal Sharma Media Coordinator Anil Kumar 09871379898 GOVERNMENT & PSU General Manager Tapan Ghosh Assistant General Manager Neeta Rai MUMBAI OFFICE General Manager Devendra Adhikari KOLKATA OFFICE Vice President Suzanna Roy General Manager (Circulation) Rajeev Gautam Printed and published by Chandan Mitra for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd, printed at JK Offset Graphics (P) Ltd, B-278, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-1, New Delhi-110020 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
HEALTH AND PROSPERITY
THERE
are two things I try my best to avoid, or at least defer as long as possible — a haircut and a medical check-up. Ever since I left school, where regular haircuts were mandatory and teachers inspected our attire, polish on shoes and length of hair at the pre-assembly line-up each morning, I have tried my best to delay getting my hair trimmed as long as possible. Now, as a public person, especially one who appears regularly on TV, it is difficult to push this back indefinitely. Still I try avoiding a visit to the barber till people start commenting on the length and unruly nature of my hair. I don’t know why I hate submitting myself to a barber’s instrument for just about 30 minutes. But the fact is that I do. I am sure many share my aversion of visiting a doctor’s clinic. The worst part is waiting to be called in, a process that can sometimes take over an hour. Arguably, if you enjoy VIP status, this does get cut down but invariably one gets dirty looks from those still in the queue when the doctor’s assistant escorts you past the milling crowds. Once at the perpetually-overcrowded AIIMS in Delhi, I was pushed in through a hidden backdoor because at least 200 patients were waiting outside and my turn may not have come at all that afternoon. Apart from the annoyance that builds up while waiting for the doctor to see you, I also dread the possible results of a check-up. Irrespective of the outcome of the multitude of tests one is subjected to, doctors, in my opinion, are mostly spoilsports constantly advising you to give up things you like the most. A few paint such a horrific scare scenario that you start worrying that you may drop dead in the next 15 minutes! But then there are doctors and doctors as I have discovered over the years. They treat you more as friends than patients and advise you with patience, consideration and persuasion. A few years ago, I had volunteered to get myself checked at the new super-speciality Medanta medi-city at Gurgaon. Medanta has emerged as one of the best institutions of recent times — a huge tribute to the capacity and goodwill of its creator, the inimitable Dr Naresh Trehan. Almost single-handedly he has built this sprawling complex in record time, assembled a phenomenal team of top experts in every department of medicine including non-allopathic disciplines. Two days spent at Medanta were a pleasant experience, and that’s saying a lot about a hospital. There are other great medical institutions in Delhi, especially the much-maligned AIIMS, which boasts some of the best doctors in the world. But it’s amazing how Medanta, too, has climbed up the ladder to the upper reaches of the league. As I gazed out of the glass windows of the 15-storey hospital, sometimes I could not believe I was in India. As far as the eye could see there were huge skyscrapers, cars whizzed along on the busy Expressway and crowds thronged the unending row of offices belonging mostly to thriving software companies. Gurgaon in itself is a spectacular story, like Medanta. I still remember going for drives down NH 8, leading to Jaipur and eventually Mumbai, when it was a languid two-track road cutting through miles of agricultural fields. It’s been an amazing transformation and the way it’s still growing I think we ain’t seen nothin’ yet as Americans say. I returned from a short stay at Medanta, but probably since everything turned out fine for me medically, I got back with happy memories — impressed both with Dr Trehan’s remarkable achievement as well as Gurgaon’s growth. Now there are more facilities emerging. I have no doubt that we are well on the way to becoming a medical super power as well as an entrepreneurial giant.
[CHANDAN MITRA] Editor-in-Chief
slurry of refined flour. Once the balls are ready, we stuff them with prunes, walnuts and eggs. No tomatoes, spices or condiments. In Tabriz, ours came as big as a tennis ball, a complete meal in itself. Here we have manageable morsels.” The yellow cooked yolk surrounded by a ring of white and layered over with nutty mince enhances the natural flavours of the chicken without making it taste game-like given the simple poaching technique. In fact, the chef stayed longer at Tabriz than Tehran to perfect the meatball in its native simplicity and honesty. “We toured the villages and found out that the taste was enhanced there because they cooked on wood,” he tells us. The rustic straightforwardness is also the hallmark of Iranian haleem, a thick, pasty wheat porridge that combines the heartiness of grains with meat proteins or vegetables. Traditionalists still believe in cooking and stirring the wheat mix all night long so that it could be ladled out in its most nourishing avatar as a breakfast food. A complex variant uses more barley and five lentils along with the meat.
WE
just wipe it clean with the Babri naan, the dough rising turgid, having been fermented with milk, sugar, salt and topped with the crunch of black onion and sesame seeds. Emperor Babar loved his breads and pomegranates. And gazing through the arches at the silhouetted ramparts under a starry sky, it’s a moment of magic realism indeed. With the glow of faux flaming torches and the night crawling up the ramparts, this is as desert-wild as it can get. Chef Deepak is against any form of tweaking and keeps to the grammar in his kebabs. These apparently involve a few basic ingredients — olive oil, garlic, black pepper, salt, and a relish of saffron.
TABRIZ KOFTAS OR MEAT BALLS RELY ON PICKING ACCENTS FROM AN ONION TOMATO GRAVY OR A MINCED MUTTON CURRY. BUT THE MEATBALL FROM THE TOWN OF TABRIZ USES ONLY CHICKEN MINCE AND ITS STOCK FOR RICH FLAVOURS, MAKING IT GRANULAR AND CHUNKY
GAME ON
Mission mode
Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs VIJAY GOEL is making Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call of Khelo India a part of national culture and has a direct interface with every sportsperson
SELDOM
has sports been considered a part of nation-building or as a healthy pursuit for citizens of all ages. And it is this aspect that Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Vijay Goel is keen on developing as a culture of everyday life. The will-do Minister, who has himself been a national level kho kho player, a college-level basketball player and a tennis aficionado, has broadbased sporting disciplines, streamlined sports administration and infrastructure, made the federations more accountable, identified and groomed talent scientifically and is pushing for excellence and performance enhancement in a graded manner. The Sports Ministry is, these days, buzzing with a new sense of purpose. And the man behind it all chooses to share some ideas with Exotica The availability of training facilities for sports has always been a matter of concern. How do yo ou plan to address this as part of the “Khelo India” campaign? Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new slogan of “Khelo India” is a positive move for fitness, health and developing skills. In our childhood, our mothers would ask us, “When will you come back home from the playground?” Today’s mothers ask their children, “When will you go out to play?” We work on two aspects — one is to broadbase major sports and the other is to chase excellence. Since sports is a state subject, we need the state governments to develop major disciplines. We will support them for their respective initiatives, particularly working in the rural and tribal areas where private initiatives are almost absent. We have a special package for J&K. We have set up a national talent search portal where any aspirant upward of eight years can upload their video and demonstrate their skill set. We will select from them and if they have the capability, we will spend `5 lakh over eight years on each child. We will be awarding 1,000 scholarships for such young and talented children. We have a refined sports laboratory in the Indian Institute of Sports Science and Research. We are already planning for the “effective participation” of Indian sportspersons in the next three Olympics — 2020, 2024 and 2028. For the Rio Olympics, we had a large contingent of 120 but we won just two medals. We need to push that up though we are qualifying in many disciplines. Our performance in hockey, football and boxing have improved. We will bring all the stakeholders like the sports federations, Indian Olympic Association, Sports Ministry and the State Governments on one platform. Is there going to be a regulattory mechanism to iron out differences or infighting among stakeholders? We have implemented the Sports Code for this. More than 90 per cent of the organisations are following this and all
federations are realising their accountability and responsibility, something which was never done before. There was no review or streamlining of operations. As of now, the federation selects the team and the sport and organises the training programme while we provide the entire funding. We want to make the federations more responsible and will be tracking their graphs. I am taking a personal interest in resolving the issues in federations. I am available 24X7 for sportspersons, coaches or anyone who has a problem. They can contact me directly. We are working for the maximum utilisation of stadia, so that more people can use them. I am touring the country to assess the facilities and infrastructure in various states. Are you providing basiic facilities to underdeveloped disciplines? What about an impetus to our traditional sports? Kho-kho, kabaddi and wrestling are being encouraged and today they have professional leagues and have turned into spectator sports. Our intention is that the entire country should participate in one discipline or the other. We are supporting marathon in a big way for all ages. We will identify 15,000 schools for football talent and train the children as part of the Mission 11 million campaign, targetting boys and girls between 10 and 18 years. Coaches for the same will also be provided in these schools. We have involved MPs too and have requested them to start new football clubs and organise tournaments. India will host the FIFA under-17 World Cup in October. Whaat programmes have you initiated to encourage sportswomen? Women are forging ahead in all sports and they are bringing home the honour, be it in mainstream Olympics or Paralympics. A committee is being constituted for the safety of sportswomen. Any sportswoman who is facing any problem with regard to her hostel or otherwise can approach the committee for instant redress. Have you provided any rehabilitative facilities to sportspersons? There will not be even one sportsperson who will complain that they have not been provided with adequate facilities. This will be our biggest achievement. Medallists’ pension has been increased, the awards are healthy and medical help is prompt. We rectify wrong-doings immediately.
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TRIBAL TOUR
out Out of
Africa
PHOTO: NEELIMA VALLANGI
The Siddis of Western Ghats are mainstreaming themselves through a game of football. ANURADHA SHANKAR travels to their village at the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary
IT
appears to be just another village. Located deep inside the forest, the only means of public transport is a rickety state bus which passes a road junction, a kilometre away, thrice a day. And we would have dismissed the anxious crowd, desperate to get a toehold, had it not been for their distinctive appearance, dark-skinned, curly hair and pronounced lips. These are the Siddis, descendants of Africans who were brought to India hundreds of years ago. Their story is a poignant one, even after all these years. Their ancestors were slaves, brought mostly by the Portuguese to their Indian colonies. With the advent of the British, as the Portuguese weakened, some of these slaves managed to escape
and find refuge in the thick forests. Blending into the jungle was their only means of survival, and they soon grew to be experts at hunting, as well as evading the authorities, for, even during British rule, if captured, they could be sent back into slavery. Years of hiding inured them to the perils of the forest and today they can be counted among the tribes most in sync with the jungles they live in. Over the centuries, they have adapted to the changing times, first, through agriculture, and now, through sports and education. The village we visited lies deep inside the Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and goes by the name of Gadgera. All the men were at work, in the nearby cities, and the women were more than
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happy to welcome us into their homes and their lives. Communication turned out to be surprisingly easy, for they spoke a mixture of Marathi and Konkani and some even spoke English. Shyness and isolation are not something which holds them back any more, for they were just as curious about us, as we were about them. In fact, I think my son was more reticent and kept himself busy chasing chickens until some of the kids caught up with him and began interviewing him about life in Mumbai.
THE
conversations revolved around their memories, though it was evident they knew little about their ancestors. After all, centuries have passed and generations have come and gone since then. Interestingly, the only memory that has survived are their names — most still use the names of their grandparents, which are
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THE THREAD OF THE ANCESTORS one factor which binds the Siddis, irrespective of their religion, is the Hiriyaru or ancestor worship. The dead are believed to be nearby, in the form of spirits. They are regarded as witnesses to be consulted by a family in all its concerns. On occasions like births, marriages and deaths, the ancestors are invoked. The home is organised around Hiriyaru, the spirits of departed parents. It signifies a remembrance of the parents, thanking them for their care over several years and also entreating them to keep a vigil over the family in future. It is obligatory for all relatives to attend the function, thus renewing kinship. Hiriyaru worship may be performed twice a year by the karta or the head of the family. It is normally held during the Navaratri festival in the first week of November. If this is not possible, it may also be performed in April-May. These obviously are not meant to coincide with the dates of the parents’ deaths as the Siddis only observe the first death anniversary. Hindu Siddis usually have elaborate functions to mark the event but not the Christian and Muslim Siddis.
THE
the names traditionally used for generations, and it is no surprise that these names are constantly repeated. All the more so, since most of them have had multiple marriages and a vast number of children! In that small village tucked away inside the jungle, names such as Caetan and Celeste, Juje and Lorens sound exotic and take you back centuries. However, that seems to change too, with people taking on more normal-sounding, Indian names, simply to blend into society. Today, that is the unenviable task they face — to blend into society and yet hold on to their traditions and customs and be seen for who they are. Needless to say, it poses a bigger challenge than what their ancestors faced. For years, they have married within the community. Yet till a few decades back, they weren’t even aware of others of their community
living outside their area. It was only in the late 80s that they even became aware that there were Siddis living as far away as Gujarat. Incidentally, I had only heard of the Siddis of Gujarat and was surprised to learn that there are hundreds of Siddi villages spread across the Western Ghats and the Yellapur region itself has more than 50 of them. Each village has about a hundred inhabitants, which makes their population quite a sizeable one for a single tribe. And yet, they are all but invisible, aren’t they? The first hint of hope and change seems to have come, interestingly, through the field of sports. The Special Area Games, started in 1985, brought out their talents in various disciplines, chiefly among them, football. That they excelled in the sport probably was as much a surprise to them as to the authorities, and some of them have gone on
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GETTING THERE
BY AIR: The nearest airport is Goa which is 150 km away BY TRAIN: The nearest railway stations are Alnavar which is 32 km, Londa 48 kms, Dharwad 57 km and Hubli which is 75 km BY ROAD: Dandeli is well-connected to Bengaluru, Mumbai, Belgaum, Goa, Karwar and Hubli with regular bus service
GET A GLIMPSE
o The Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary is home to a variety of birds and animals, including the elusive Black Panther, Malabar Giant Squirrel and Hornbills. Stay at one of the many jungle camps or resorts. o The resorts arrange for a visit to the Siddi villages, as well as villagers of other resident communities. It is advisable not to venture into the forest on your own in search for these villages since the routes are not marked. Besides, it is always better to inform them in advance rather than surprise them and disturb their regular life.
to gain name and fame in the field. For example, Juje Siddi, who played for the Indian National football, team hails from this region. Education seems to have come late to these villages though it is now slowly catching up. All the children here go to school now — the smaller ones to the local anganwadis while the older ones to the nearest town, Haliyal, and after that, to Belgaum for further studies.
IF
education holds out hope for success, it is sports which provides the encouragement. We just happened to be visiting around the same time that an NGO had organised a special five-day football camp — not to create champion footballers but to create coaches, who would then train local kids to become champions. Seeing boys and girls enthusiastically kick the ball, and follow the orders of the British coach, I couldn’t help but smile at the full cycle these people had come — from escaping from their foreign masters and hiding in jungles, to coming out of hiding and learning survival tactics for the new age from foreign coaches. There is a long way for them to go but there is one thing which is clear — they are adept at the art of moulting for survival.
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SIGN-OFF
By RINKU GHOSH
J
JAIPUR DIARY
ust when you take familiarity for granted, it surprises you by the bend. Or that’s what happened during a short trip to Jaipur recently. A perennial favourite of the international traveller, a must-do pitstop on the famed Golden Triangle, a mosaic of forts, palaces, destination weddings, the historic aura and the congested stereotype of Pink City, the folk arts and their artistes... the image of historicity and romanticism has been so rich and paying that seldom have we bothered to look over the shoulder. But truth be told, a silent revolution and a smart city have been taking shape just in the backyard of the Amer fort, 10 km to be precise, along a new highway that bypasses the chaos of the city centre and is an easy cruise from Delhi. A sprawling industrial enclave, Kukas is today Jaipur Reloaded, more in sync with the world, yet born out of the elements of tradition that still work as a tokenism of Rajputana. It is also fronted by the protected and reserved forest areas and the virgin Aravallis that have been denuded elsewhere with quarried patches. Developed as part of a RIICO industrial park, Kukas took no time to emerge as a business hub. Tech companies rule, the resulting spinoff fuelling a growth of new hotel chains and a flurry of training institutes and colleges. Before anybody could sense it, Kukas had become a satellite town where the young and the restless could close deals, celebrate and hang out at hip joints, drive out for a weekend or just savour a spa at the transcreated palace hotels that reinterpret the luxurious munificence of royalty with an array of pampers and services. The roads are wide, the gardens trimmed and the spaces sprawling amid cascading greens. And given its sanitised environs, this is considered a safe haven for both solo travellers, tourists and locals. Its skyline is undeniably defined by the new breed of hotels, some franchised and some newcomers, which has
had a clutter-breaking impact on the local hospitality economy. While the Rambaghs and Vanyavilases have their committed clientele, Kukas has created its new set of millennial loyalists who are looking for a wide array of experientials rather than just a boutique tag. One of the self-starters in developing Kukas has been Ratan Sharma, who is now managing both the Le Meridien and Fairmont properties, with a massive bouquet of rooms. Hiring international architects like Clive Gray, he has managed to lend a quiet grandeur to his modern fort palaces, complete with mud-washed exteriors, stone-rammed ramparts, chausar-patterned swimming pools, period pergolas, gazebos and vaunted interiors. With a design discipline that draws on tradition as a link to the past, his rooms luxuriate in modern convenience, size and numbers. The hotels have some of the biggest venues for destination weddings and MICE events, something which keeps the saturation heavy even during low demand phases. But it is the personal love for detail that works, be it the themed restaurants, the Burma teak and mahogany furniture, the personal hamam in rooms and some of the finest world cuisine, some reinvented, others fusion. The Kukas hotels are not just showy but have taken care of upmarket elegance and carriage, devising experientials that have hitherto not been touched upon. So if heritage is about dining with the royals, at Kukas one of the hotels offers you dining with the elephants. There are ridge walks, treks, bird-watching, day spends at the local village, teaching at a local school and learning pottery and arts at the village haat. In short, it is about connecting with people and finding a soul beyond established constructs. As Sharma says, the essence will be extracted from the city centre and live on in a smartened avatar. For the record, Jaipur is still short of hotels.
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