MARCH 2020 `150
THE BIG SUMMER SPECIAL KARTIK AARYAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY MANASI SAWANT
KARTIK AARYAN
Cruise Control
NEW DELHI, MUMBAI, BANGALORE, HYDERABAD, KOLKATA, CHENNAI
DELOREANÂŽ and related marks, trade dress, and logos are intellectual property of DeLorean Motor Company and are used under license.
New Delhi: The Emporio. Mumbai: Taj Hotel Colaba. dior.com
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Contents
MARCH 2020 `150
THE BIG SUMMER SPECIAL
KARTIK AARYAN
Cruise Control
INSIDE OUT
PHOTO: MANASI SAWANT
Meet the star next door, Kartik Aaryan. By Arun Janardhan JACKET, T-SHIRT, VISOR, BELT, NECKCHAINS, SUNGLASSES; ALL BY SABYASACHI X H&M SUIT BY PAUL SMITH. KURTA BY TISA STUDIO. RING BY SABYASACHI X H&M
MARCH 2020
— 9
Exclusively @ STANLEY STORES
Contents
36 Editor’s Letter 38 Contributors 44 GQ Access
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80
189 Where to Buy 194 Humour
Double Take Like night and day: This new Delhi restaurant has a dual personality you can’t miss.
GQ Taste Pg. 76
Liquid Gold Pg. 84
Rad Rap P. 56 Everything you should be eating and drinking this month.
The Masterstroke Pg. 72
Into the world of Speyside whisky at The Glenlivet distillery.
The Original Wall
Sri Lankan artist Shan Vincent de Paul on being a Mrithangam rapper.
Between The Lines Pg. 66
Queer, brown men take centre stage in Salman Toor’s brushstrokes.
The Great Madurai Food Trail
Dilip “Colonel” Vengsarkar talks about the 1983 World Cup, cricket and cricketers today.
An illegal migrant’s dilemma forms Aravind Adiga’s latest, Amnesty.
No Filter Pg. 70
Pg. 140
This temple town is a culinary adventure in its own right.
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MARCH 2020
How an Instagrammer is putting the spotlight on South Asians and their history.
PHOTO: VIVEK MUTHURAMALINGAM (MADURAI), IMAGE: MAD DOG JONES (SVDP)
Pg. 88
Big Time
hype THE
Pg. 99
Trend alert: Dior X Rimowa is the only collab that matters right now.
The best of Spring/ Summer 2020.
Let’s Get This Party Started
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122
Pg. 108 & Pg. 118
Torani, Spring/ Summer 2020
On The Roster Fresh picks this season: Sneakers and graphic bags you need to get with.
GQ Eye
On The Prowl
ICYMI, Sabyasachi is now on the global high street. Louis Vuitton, Spring/Summer 2020
Pg. 100
Pg. 112 Homegrown labels that are raising the bar.
Shifting Gears Pg. 106
A nostalgia trip for the 1990s kid courtesy of Bhaane’s Nimish Shah.
GQ Home: On The Radar
GQ Fitness: Two To Tango
Pg. 86
Pg. 92
The best in the design world right now.
20 —
MARCH 2020
Cardboard at BKC, Mumbai
Looking to get fit? Partner up!
IMAGE: MRIGANK SHARMA (STUDIO NUDES /CARDBOARD)
From Selected Homme’s sustainable line to Birkin’s oversized bag, the latest from the fashion world.
BOSS.COM
Contents
Royal Affair Pg. 120
The market’s crowded with vintage pieces, but there arenʼt many like Jaipur Watch Company.
Pg.
178 The Future Is Now
High-quality tailoring to flaunt your personal style.
Fashion’s Genderless Revolution Pg. 164
Becoming Billy Pg. 158
Clean Slate Pg. 146
How We Eat Now Pg. 168
Global celebrities share how they found their best diet, and how you can too.
Billy Porter’s individuality shines through his fashion choices.
Pg.
138 Cooper Trooper
The hottest hatchback: Mini Cooper JCW is the real McCoy.
White doesn’t have to be boring. Top designers show you how.
Hit Single Pg. 110
Montblanc finds inspiration in Minerva timepieces.
124 Pixel Power Keep it classy with Fossil’s Gen 5 smartwatches.
Shift Of Power
Water Buddies
Pg. 134
Pg. 156
Mercedes-Benz enters India’s virgin luxury EV territory.
Dress watches that are also good for diving days.
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MARCH 2020
PHOTO: BIKRAMJIT BOSE (CLEAN SLATE)
Gucci’s Alessandro Michele is redefining masculinity and how.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
MANAGING EDITOR Maniza ART DIRECTOR Mihir
SENIOR ADVERTISING MANAGERS Dipti Uchil, Dipti Dani,
Sameer Contractor, James Williams
Cordo
ADVERTISING MANAGERS Shubham Chauhan, Ankita Saxena (New Delhi) ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER Ria Doshi ADVERTISING SALES COORDINATORS Nishant Santosh Shetty,
Shikha Sethi
CULTURE EDITOR Nidhi STYLE DIRECTOR
Charu Adajania, Sneha Mahant Mehta
Shah
DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Vivek
Vriti Malhotra (New Delhi)
Surve
ITALY SALES REPRESENTATIVE Angelo Carredu US ADVERTISING MANAGER Alessandro Cremona
Gupta
SENIOR COPY EDITOR
SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER Pooja Jaggi MARKETING MANAGER Christel Anthony SENIOR MARKETING EXECUTIVE Ankita Rajurkar
Rahul Vijay
LIFESTYLE EDITOR Saumyaa
Vohra
HEAD – ADMINISTRATION Boniface D’Souza
Gopa Pincha
COPY EDITOR Anamica COPY EDITOR Janice
HEAD – EVENTS Fritz Fernandes SENIOR MANAGER – EVENTS Khushnaz Daruwala MANAGER – EVENTS Vania Scott PROJECT & MARKETING MANAGER Olinda Rodrigues
Fernandes
FASHION BOOKINGS EDITOR
Channa
CREATIVE DIRECTOR – PROMOTIONS & CREATIVE SOLUTIONS Dipti Soonderji Mongia ASSOCIATE PROMOTIONS EDITOR Sneha Mahadevan PROMOTIONS WRITER Tina Jimmy Dastur SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Varun Patil, Atul Hirijagner
Megha Mehta
JUNIOR FASHION STYLIST Shaeroy
Chinoy
JUNIOR FASHION STYLIST Selman PHOTO ASSISTANT Nidhi
Fazil
MANAGER – CIRCULATION OPERATIONS Jeeson Kollannur CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Amrit Bardhan FINANCIAL CONTROLLER Rakesh Shetty SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Dattaprasanna Bhagwat ACCOUNTANTS Anthony Paulose, Nitin Chavan DIRECTOR – VIDEO COMMERCIAL Harmit Singh Sehmi ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR – VIDEO COMMERCIALS Kaustubh Belur SENIOR MANAGER – PROCUREMENT Rahul Mulekar ASSISTANT MANAGER – PROCUREMENT Anubhuti Sharma
Marwah
SYNDICATIONS MANAGER Michelle SYNDICATIONS COORDINATOR
PR DIRECTOR Swati Katakam Samant SENIOR PR EXECUTIVE Waheeda Abdul Jabbar Machiwala
Nair
FASHION EDITOR (LONDON) Ravneet
Pereira
Shobhana Parmar
CO-DIGITAL EDITOR & MANAGING EDITOR Shabdita CO-DIGITAL EDITOR & FASHION EDITOR Aarthi SENIOR DIGITAL WRITER Vrutika DIGITAL WRITERS
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR – DIGITAL SALES Pavneet Singh (New Delhi) MANAGERS – DIGITAL SALES Peeyush Lakhotia, Afzal Khan (New Delhi)
Shivangi Lolayekar
SENIOR FASHION EDITOR
Pareek
Baliga
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR – COMMERCIAL PLANNING Alisha Goriawala DIRECTOR – HUMAN RESOURCES Coralie Ansari ASSISTANT MANAGERS – HR Ria Ganguly, Neha Pednekar
Shah
Shikha Talwar, Yash Bharati,
Aastika Marwaha SENIOR DIGITAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER Anita PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Sunil
Mehra
PUBLISHER Almona Bhatia ADVERTISING DIRECTORS Kapil Kapoor (New Delhi),
Bharucha
PHOTO DIRECTOR Gizelle DEPUTY EDITOR
CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER Arjun
Che Kurrien
Dake
Nayak
DIRECTOR – DIGITAL SALES & BRANDED CONTENT Shreyas Rao DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR Kiran Suryanarayana HEAD – AD OPERATIONS Sachin Pujari SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER – DIGITAL Dipak Raghuwansi DIGITAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER Deep Shikha MANAGER – TECH PROJECT Vishal Ingale AD OPERATIONS MANAGERS Vinayak Mehra, Reshma Nilankar AD OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE Akanksha Malik
Pawar
DIGITAL DIRECTOR Saurabh Garg MANAGER – DATA & GROWTH Tanvi Randhar SENIOR MANAGER – DIGITAL MARKETING & SUBSCRIPTIONS V. Satyavagheeswaran MANAGERS – DIGITAL MARKETING Akansha Naik, Priyanka Shivdasani SENIOR EXECUTIVE – EMAIL MARKETING Tanya Chhateja EXECUTIVE DIGITAL COPYWRITER Pranjali Jakatdar
Abhishek Bali, Abhishek Mande Bhot, Adil Hasan, Anish
DIRECTOR – DIGITAL BRAND SOLUTIONS Salil Inamdar ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR – CLIENT SERVICING & PROJECT MANAGEMENT Neha Dhanani MANAGING EDITOR – NATIVE STORIES Shivani Krishan MANAGER – INFLUENCER MANAGEMENT Insiya Bagasrawala COPY EDITOR – BRAND SOLUTIONS Tanuj Kumar (New Delhi) SENIOR MANAGER – BRAND SOLUTIONS Shweta Mehta Sen SENIOR MANAGER – DIGITAL BRAND SOLUTIONS Ankita Bhushan (New Delhi) CREATIVE STRATEGIST Karan Kaul CREATIVE PRODUCER – CONDE NAST CREATIVE STUDIO Mandira Sharma GRAPHIC DESIGNER (NATIVE) Ayushi Teotia
SENIOR MANAGER – COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION Sudeep PRODUCTION MANAGER
Mangesh Pawar
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS & PHOTOGRAPHERS
Trivedi, Annie Zaidi, Arun Janardhan, Bhanuj Kappal, Bikramjit Bose, Errikos Andreou, Jignesh Jhaveri, Kerry Harwin, Lindsay Pereira, Manasi Sawant, Manish Mansinh, Max Vadukul, Parth Charan, Phyllida Jay, Prakash Amritraj, Prasad Naik, Rahul Bose, R Burman, Sameer Kulavoor, Tarun Khiwal, Tarun Vishwa, Uday Benegal, Vikram Raizada
MANAGING DIRECTOR Alex
DIRECTOR – VIDEO Anita Horam SENIOR CREATIVE PRODUCER – VIDEO Preshita Saha ASSISTANT CREATIVE PRODUCER Aditya Sinha EA TO MANAGING DIRECTOR Karen Contractor Avari
Kuruvilla
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28 —
MARCH 2020
Scan the QR code below to get the digital edition
Published By Condé Nast
Chief Executive Officer Roger Lynch Chief Operating Officer & President, International Wolfgang Blau Global Chief Revenue Officer & President, U.S. Revenue Pamela Drucker Mann U.S. Artistic Director and Global Content Advisor Anna Wintour Chief Financial Officer Mike Goss Chief Marketing Officer Deirdre Findlay Chief People Officer Stan Duncan Chief of Staff Samantha Morgan Chief Data Officer Karthic Bala Chief Client Officer Jamie Jouning
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Worldwide Editions
MARCH 2020 `150
THE BIG SUMMER SPECIAL KARTIK AARYAN PHOTOGRAPHED BY MANASI SAWANT
KARTIK AARYAN
Cruise Control
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Editor's Letter
Tiger
Burning Bright
@chekurriengq
36 —
MARCH 2020
PHOTO:MAX HERMANS/THOMPSON PHOTO IMAGERY (CHE). IMAGE: CHE KURRIEN (SABYASACHI)
E
xactly a year ago, Sabyasachi Mukherjee hosted a brunch at his Alipore mansion for a group of editors to commemorate his label’s 20th anniversary. We arrived the night before, and after a languid breakfast at the Taj Bengal, headed to the designer’s sumptuous home. Sabya greeted us warmly at the entrance, and showed us around, then watched us marvel at the decadence of his digs. As the winter sun streamed over the lawn, I sipped an ice-laden tumbler of Monkey 47, while a trio of young musicians played a dreamy set from The Darjeeling Limited. After an old-world Calcutta lunch, Sabya led us in a game of housie. It was all so precise, so personal – with a dash of Wes Anderson quirk. While leaving, he handed me a vintage book of photographs, essays and poems. On the first page was a thoughtfully inscribed, personal note. It was a masterclass in hosting. A few months later, at the peak of the sweltering summer, in the dark, cavernous ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Mumbai, Sabya put on the show of the year. The mega collection, Kashgaar Bazaar, was a whimsical, provocative reinterpretation of some of his most iconic pieces over the years – an ode to gypsies, nomads, misfits and outliers. It also had elements of Woodstock, androgyny, the ancient Silk Route and the intellectual Bengal of Sabyasachi’s childhood. This vibe did not square with the Indian bridal aesthetic on which he’s built a fashion empire. “This was the most honest collection I’ve done because I didn’t do what was necessary to make money; I did what was necessary from an aesthetic point of view,” said Sabyasachi at the time. This 20th anniversary collection was never retailed; but for those of us who were bowled over, the designer has distilled down key elements of it for his new global collab with H&M, which drops in April. This also means that the designer will be suddenly accessible to a vast pool of consumers, who are drawn to his aesthetic. So whether on a beach in Marrakech, a mountain lodge in Tasmania, or a forest in Uttarakhand, there’s a good chance this summer is going to be about Sabya.
Contributors
A song or film you can’t get enough of?
Anil Thakraney Bikramjit Bose “ʻYOU MAKE MY DREAMS’ BY HALL AND OATES.” WHO: Mumbai-based photographer who once used to play the drums (and thinks might still be able to). Instagram @thebadlydrawnboy WHAT: “Clean Slate”, page 146 Shoot Life: “Comfort is key on set. So, a good pair of sneakers as one spends a lot of time on their feet.”
“ALL THOSE RAMSAY BROTHERS’ HORROR MOVIES. THEY STILL SCARE THE HELL OUT OF ME.” WHO: Writer living in dystopia, who is usually found near his refrigerator – unsuccessfully looking for beer. Tweets @anilthakraney WHAT: “The Original Wall”, page 88 1983 World Cup Moments: “As a broke junior college student, I had to treat my friends to masala dosa because I had betted against India winning. That hurt. Badly.”
Samar Halarnkar Vivek
Muthuramalingam “DANCING TO ʻCRAZY’ BY GNARLS BARKLEY.” WHO: Photographer and artist based out of Bengaluru who scouts the city streets for stories. Instagram @drvivekm WHAT: “The Great Madurai Food Trail”, page 140 Work Trips be Like: “I recently trekked in a forest on the banks of River Aghanashini in Karnataka with a flute maker to gather a variety of bamboo for making flutes. We had to get on all fours to reach the particular spot where that specific bamboo thrives.”
“ʻRIPPLE’ BY THE GRATEFUL DEAD FOR ITS SHEER POETRY, THE WARNINGS OF DARKNESS AND THE NEED TO WALK ALONE WHEN TIMES ARE HARD – LIKE THEY CURRENTLY ARE.” WHO: Writer who lives under the last remaining rain trees in Bengaluru and cooks for his family every day. Twitter @samar11 WHAT: “The Great Madurai Food Trail”, page 140 The Taste of Home: “My favourite food memory is being fed paaya, or trotter soup, by my mother whenever I fell ill.”
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MARCH 2020
Contributors
A song or film you can’t get enough of? Prakash Amritraj Dmitry Zhuravlev “RELATOS SALVAJES BY DAMIÁN SZIFRON BECAUSE I LOVE THAT KIND OF HUMOUR. ALSO, THE VERY SAME MUNCHHAUSEN – BUT I’M NOT SURE IF IT’LL BE AS GOOD WHEN TRANSLATED.” WHO: Russian photographer who turned his hobby into his profession and still loves it after 18 years. WHAT: “Water Buddies”, page 156
WHO: Actor, film producer and sports presenter whose favourite hobbies are poker and golf. Twitter & Instagram @prakashamritraj WHAT: “Two To Tango”, page 92 Social Media Workout Inspo: “No one better on Instagram than Dwayne Johnson. From the 3am workouts to massive cheat meals – The Rock is a daily reminder to constantly chase your greatness.”
Arun Janardhan “ʻTHE MAN’S TOO STRONGʼ BY DIRE STRAITS; THE GUITAR SOUND IS SENSATIONAL. THE BOURNE TRILOGY, TOO, FOR ITS EXCEPTIONAL ACTION SEQUENCES.” WHO: Mumbai-based
writer-editor who tweets @iArunJ, but is mostly too lazy to do it.
WHAT: “Inside Out”, page 126 First Take: “Kartik’s laughter – it’s booming, frequent and natural.”
Megha Mehta “IF A SHOW COULD QUALIFY, IT HAS TO BE GAME OF THRONES.” WHO: Fashion Bookings Editor at GQ by day, G&T enthusiast by night. In her spare time, she’s often spotted making out-of-the-ordinary travel plans and hunting local food spots. Instagram @MagzMehta Down Memory Lane: “It’s hard to pick just one that stands out, but it would probably have to be Tiger Shroff’s May 2017 cover shoot in Maldives. The island worked as a gorgeous backdrop.”
IMAGE: MATT SAYLES (PRAKASH)
Arm Candy: “The Axcent Frost watch by No Picnic. I just love its minimalistic design.”
“1990S POP! GIVE ME A LITTLE ALL-4-ONE OR BACKSTREET BOYS. ALSO, EVERY CHRISTMAS, I HAVE THE NEED TO THROW ON GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST AND LOVE ACTUALLY.”
40 —
MARCH 2020
GQ ACCESS
Sanjay Bahl, Alex Kuruvilla & Gautam Hari Singhania Arjun Khanna, Nawaz Singhania & Arjun Mehra
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Aparshakti Khurana Almona Bhatia, Priti & Gaurav Mahajan
Atul Kasbekar
Rohit Khandelwal, Karan Tacker, Armaan Malik & Karan Wahi
Diva Dhawan
Raymond x GQ Co-Lab Launch
WHERE: The Raymond Atelier, JK House, Mumbai It may just be Mumbai’s best kept fashion secret: A tony, private gentlemen’s sanctum retailing every menswear silhouette imaginable that can be custom-made to perfection. The lush space proved to be the appropriate setting for the launch of India’s biggest menswear initiative, the Raymond x GQ Co-Lab, which saw big ticket industrialists, entrepreneurs, socialites, designers and cultural heroes congregate to celebrate the first of a yearlong partnership to give men’s fashion absolute place and prominence in the country.
Aashna Shroff
Sameer Dattani & Ashiesh Shah
Tanvi Shah, Mandira Bedi & Aarti Surendranath
Shan Vincent de Paul, Che Kurrien & Yanchan
Namita Kuruvilla & Divia Thani
Kanishtha Dhankhar
Akshay Chudasama & Alysha Vazirally
Madhu S Dutta & Ujjawal Dubey
Madame Gandhi
Gautam Kalra
Theron Carmine de Sousa Angana & Sujal Shroff
AD & Sabina Singh Parthiv Kilachand
Shinjini Kumar
Bardeep Dhiman, Robbie Mairh, Apurav Nautiyal, Danish Qayoum, Dr Manu Bora & Nayan Chaudhary
Rizwan Bachav
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THE POWERHOUSE OF PERFORMANCE
Global technology brand OnePlus celebrates six glorious years since its inception by cementing its position as the market leader in the Indian premium smartphone segment
Last year was the year of technological innovation. Several smartphones were launched, each promising exceptional design, advanced operating systems, easy user interfaces and a host of other features. However, one brand that stood out in sharp contrast was Chinese technology giant OnePlus. Six years after its launch in the country in 2014, OnePlus registered record shipments in 2019, becoming the first-ever premium smartphone brand to surpass two million shipments in India, in a year. With its strengthened market leadership in 2019, the brand witnessed its OnePlus 7 device emerge as the number one premium smartphone model in 2019, thereby growing the OnePlus portfolio by a whopping 25% in 2019, from only 2% in 2018. Effective pricing strategy, product innovation and an extension of its premium brand experience to customers through OnePlus Experience Centers have played a crucial role in the brand’s growth story in India. Speaking about the brand’s achievement, Pete Lau, Founder and CEO, OnePlus, shared, “2019 has been a remarkable year for us at OnePlus. Every milestone we have achieved has strengthened our pursuit of excellence in technology. With continuing our focus on building product innovation and community, we will remain dedicated towards creating burdenless and best-in-class user experience. This latest development is a testament that our approach is resonating well with our community in India. As we step into the new decade, we are excited to explore new tech innovations and redefine the user experience for our community”.
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E THE ONEPLUS GROWTH STORY When OnePlus started out in 2014 as a small team, the Indian market was heavily cluttered and intensely competitive. However, driven by their ‘Never Settle’ spirit, OnePlus carved out their own unconventional path. With the launch of their very first smartphone, the OnePlus One, the brand became known as the “Flagship Killer”; and since then, with each iteration, OnePlus has strived to outdo itself. The launch of the OnePlus 3 was another key highlight in their journey and helped consolidate their position as a unique global brand in the premium segment. They achieved yet another landmark when their OnePlus 5 model touched a million hearts and witnessed incredible market performance by carving a niche position in the premium segment market. Similarly, the OnePlus 6 sold over a million units worldwide within 22 days of its launch. In its fourth year, OnePlus expanded its partnerships with carriers (T-Mobile) and e-commerce platforms (Souq.com) in global markets and also ventured into offline retail through their flagship experience stores in top cities in India. Some unique partnerships included Marvel, Star Wars and McLaren. In early 2019, the company adopted a new strategy and introduced two phones for the premium and ultrapremium segment – the OnePlus 7 series. Propelled by the success of their latest launches, the OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro, OnePlus has emerged as one of the fastestgrowing brands in India, with Q3 witnessing the highest-ever recorded shipment for the brand in the last three years as well as for the overall premium smartphone market. OnePlus continued its leadership in the Indian premium smartphone segment with a remarkable market share of 35% in Q3 2019 for a second consecutive quarter (as per the latest Q3 report by Counterpoint Market Monitor Service). The brand further established its market dominance with 95% YoY (Year-over-year) growth in Q3 2019. Today, India is the largest market for OnePlus, contributing 33% of global revenues, followed by China, Europe, and the US.
THE ONEPLUS PHILOSOPHY The rise of OnePlus is the culmination of meticulous planning and the ability to constantly stay tuned to the pulse of its users. Their challenge has always been to create the best Android smartphone in the world, and to this day, the brand aims to remain true to this commitment against all odds. OnePlus does not believe in blindly following trends; instead, they believe in constant engagement with their community, gradually getting people to realise and relate with their vision of building a socially engaged and user-first technology company. Their burdenless user experience philosophy is evident in the industrial design, which is refined on a daily basis. The vision for OnePlus is to set the global industry benchmark in terms of building innovative technology with a consumer-first approach.
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
ONEPLUS’ INDIA STORY The reason for India being a key market stems from the response OnePlus has seen in the country after the launch of every new product. The Indian market relates to the OnePlus brand and philosophy, and the company is now translating the same connection that it has made with Indian users into their business modules and applying it to other markets globally. And now, OnePlus is looking at a sustainable long-term growth here, with India-first products. The smartphone brand emerged as the leader in the premium smartphone segment with an overall share of 35% in Q3 2019 (Source: Counterpoint). Infact, OnePlus is the only smartphone brand gaining an incredible YoY growth of 95% during the quarter (Source: Counterpoint). In India, a large scale Experience Store in Bengaluru as well as an additional offline touchpoint for customers to engage with the brand has been set up. Following its exponential success, the brand is now setting up new offline touchpoints for customers in key markets across the country. OnePlus is currently available at over 2,000 retail stores, including Experience Stores and renowned large format retailers. OnePlus is also operating nearly 70 service centers and is in the process of setting up large format, state-of-the-art service centres. The brand also plans to have 5,000+ offline stores across India in 2020 and 100 new experience centers by 2020 in top 50 cities, with a first-of-its-kind experience center spanning 16,000sq ft slated to open soon in Hyderabad.
For more information, email indiaprteam@oneplus.com
GQ ACCESS
Rajesh Pratap Singh & Che Kurrien
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Rahul Khanna
Jacqueline Fernandez Manika Batra
Ritesh Agarwal & Franz Reiner
Martin Schwenk & Matthias Luehrs
GQ x MercedesBenz: Restless For Tomorrow
WHERE: Roseate House, New Delhi Some of the capital’s most stylish personalities gathered at the Roseate House ballroom to get a glimpse of the future of luxury mobility and celebrate a handful of overachievers from the world of sport, cinema, fashion and business. Giving the awardees company was the MercedesBenz EQC 1886 – the brand’s first allelectric offering, bringing with it the trappings of modern luxury along with the promise of sustainability.
Dildeep Kalra
Meghana & Ashish Kapur
Kalyani Chawla, Parag Gupta & Prateek Jain
Toll Free 1-800-102-0419 | www.rathore.com
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Divya Jain
Santosh Iyer & Arjun Mehra
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Jaffna-born, Toronto-based rapper Shan Vincent de Paul talks hip-hop, fatherhood, the call of the homeland and representing the Tamil diaspora
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oronto’s hip-hop scene, according to Shan Vincent de Paul, is “the hottest in North America right now – along with Atlanta, LA or New York.” “TiKA, Haviah Mighty, Junia-T, Desiire, Swaggerite, Wild Black, FUCTAPE, Roveena, SAFE,” he rattles off a list of names from the local scene who are making the right moves. More importantly, he is convinced that there’s a “brown artist renaissance” afoot. “Apart from my own crew, which includes La+ch, Coleman Hell, Mad Dog Jones,” SVDP writes to us, “I think Yanchan and Navz-47 are killing it.” He’s only recently picked up on the booming Punjabi rap scene growing there – “I love what Fateh is doing, also got to rock with Noyz a few weeks back, he’s dope, great dude” – and considers himself a huge fan of Raja Kumari, Anik Khan, Priya Ragu, Sid Sriram, S.A.M, Rebelle Perle, Pritt and Two’s A Company. “Our experiences are so similar. To pull inspiration from an entirely different scene in the South Asian community would be a lot of fun.”
WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: MAD DOG JONES (PORTRAIT)
BLOCK PARTY
SVDP is of Sri-Lankan origin, and has been around as a rapper for long enough to knowingly separate wheat from chaff. He’s two albums, several EPs and viral singles-old – including a Trump diss track called “Bitch Go” and his breakthrough song from 2016, “Die Iconic”. From hiphop, he counts everyone from OutKast to Jay-Z, DMX to Pharoahe Monch, Hieroglyphics to Nas – “that era of artists” – among his influences. It shows: Across his discography, there’s evidence of witty lyricism, a rare gift for delivery and an ear for production. But SVDP believes he is a “world creator, not just a musician”, inspired as much by Paul Thomas Anderson and Gaspar Noé as by Björk and Tyler, The Creator, “those that take their artistry beyond music.” He has built himself a distinct visual language, expressed in his personal style (indie brands like NorBlackNorWhite, Emmy Kasbit and HENDRIXROE get his vote) as in the keen attention he’s paid to the art of the music video (check out the whimsical “Zen”, or the saccharine “Light”, featuring his daughter Remedios X). Sitting this side of the Indian Ocean, though, you probably encountered SVDP very recently, on a YouTube video christened Mrithangam Raps, specifically the third episode, in which he flexes for the title of “best brown rapper”. It went viral, and not just because it’s an effortless collision of two worlds that do not often meet. “A lot of Carnatic music purists don’t view rap as a respectable art form: the language is not to be mixed with the ‘divine’ instrument,” he says. “Most of the criticism has come because of the swear words. I’m not bothered in the slightest. I mean, if you’re easily offended by vulgarity, you probably shouldn’t be listening to rap.” But also, the series has worked “because Yanchan is a master of fusing various South Asian sounds with the larger hip-hop/RnB context that we’ve grown up on.” Their collaborative streak began in 2017, when they worked together on a song called “Slow Love”, and has now borne an album, IYAAA, out this month. The first single off this album, “Best Friend”, arrived in January. Underlined by a sample from the AR Rahman track “Mustafa, Mustafa” from the 1996 classic Kadhal Desam – starring Vineeth, Abbas and an oh-so-young Tabu – he tells me that the song is about “challenging society’s ideas of masculinity, especially in the South Asian community.” “A commonly overlooked conversation is how men treat each other and behave in front of each other, and how that affects the way we treat the women in our community,” SVDP says. “Homophobia and domestic violence are normalised. We have to start
being comfortable with showing love for each other first and foremost.” “When you look at that ‘Mustafa’ video, it was way ahead of its time. Rahman has been a beacon of light to so many brown artists, including us. Not only with the music, but how far you can take your art form. He let our community know that there really is no limit.” On IYAAA, SVDP says that there’s “definitely a more uplifting and inspirational vibe, especially since so much of my own music is heavy-hearted and takes on more serious subjects.” He is reserving the hard truths for his third solo album, expected this summer. “Made in Jaffna is my most autobiographical work to date,” he says. “The first album, Saviors, was a conversation with God. The second, Trigger Happy Heartbreak, was a conversation with my lover. Made in Jaffna is for my community, my Tamil community, my South Asian community.” Three years in the making, Made in Jaffna will address that part of SVDP’s identity that he hasn’t dwelled on much yet: being an immigrant. “My family left Jaffna in 1986 [as the civil war took root], and went to Montréal,” he recalls. “I was six, so I have faint memories of Jaffna. We fled to Canada as refugees and moved around a bunch of places in Toronto, eventually settling in Brampton.” “A lot of the stories my parents share about Jaffna were of how the community would collectively raise us,” SVDP continues. “The most compelling stories were the ones about their journey to come to Canada. The underground network of people involved to get papers and passports to get us all to Canada, the risks they had to take, and manoeuvring through those channels. A lot of it sounds unbelievable, but it is such a common experience for so many immigrants.” He visited Jaffna in 2018, and took his daughter along. “She was two years old at the time. It was the first time in my life that I didn’t feel like an outsider.” But it has all helped him see his “purpose more clearly”: the stories he heard on that trip; the stories he was told by listeners sliding into his DMs when he put out the track “Walk on Water”; the response to when he performed “Die Iconic 2” while headlining Kothu Fest in downtown Toronto in the same year. While he doesn’t want to give away too much yet, he does say that, on Made in Jaffna, “I touch on how white supremacy and religion affected me as a child and my upbringing; the negative perception of Eelam Tamils that so many people still have; and, of course, war and accountability.” “I might end up losing some fans when I release it,” he smirks, “but the message is bigger than me, bigger than music.” MARCH 2020
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WE ARE THE
Graphic novels that speak truth to power W R I T T E N B Y L I N D S AY P E R E I R A
o be alive is to resist. I think of that deceptively nihilistic idea more often than I used to, possibly because of how the world of my youth seems like a dream that has slowly given way to a nightmare. Governments everywhere prompted millions of citizens to take to the streets in 2019, making some refer to it as the 62 —
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Year Of The Protest. Which is why I thought it made sense to look at how artists and writers approach the concept of resistance. Graphic novels lend themselves to this particularly well, and the work of Joe Sacco is a great example. Sacco occupies a rare position at the intersection of cartooning and journalism, allowing him to explore some of the world’s most troubled areas with nuances
that simply aren’t available to those restricted by words alone. In 2012, he partnered with American journalist Christopher Hedges on Days Of Destruction, Days Of Revolt, a powerful work of non-fiction that documents how people cope with poverty in one of the world’s most advanced countries. There is anger in these pages, at unabashed corporate greed and its repercussions on those struggling to survive in the underbelly. There are lessons too, for people outside the United States, on how global capitalism and patterns of consumption can have far-reaching consequences. Resistance of another kind comes into play in This Woman’s Work by Canadian illustrator and cartoonist Julie Delporte. Translated from French, the memoir takes a long, hard look at the limits society places on women. What it ends up doing is using the personal to critique the political. By describing her own story, Delporte lays bare what she calls “the story of all women”. She does this cleverly, with help from childlike drawings and seemingly simplistic talk balloons. Then, as she talks about her childhood, she blindsides the reader with words like these: “I often look at my family tree and wonder: which of these women were raped?” Sexual assault is a theme here, along with the gendered nature of language. This is also a profound meditation on the nature of art, specifically on how women have been excluded from what we consider vital for centuries. When she writes about struggling to draw her own vagina because she has had no access to an image of one, it suddenly puts the whole Western canon into perspective. By making us consider these questions, then watching us fail
(Top) Bhimayana: Experiences Of Untouchability; Durgabai Vyam and Subhash Vyam’s depiction of the Mahad Satyagraha speech delivered by Dr Ambedkar in 1927
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GQ TALK
IMAGE: ©NAVAYANA PUBLISHING PVT LTD (BHIMAYANA)
DELPORTE USES THE PERSONAL TO CRITIQUE THE POLITICAL CLEVERLY. SHE TALKS ABOUT HER CHILDHOOD, THEN SHE BLINDSIDES THE READER
to find answers that are satisfactory, Delporte’s work becomes an act of resistance. Questions about sexuality are also being raised by more and more young artists. Like Tillie Walden, who uses science fiction in On A Sunbeam to talk about queer love. This is a tale about a girl called Mia and her travels through outer space. It is also about her love for a girl named Grace, the reasons for their separation, and what lies between them and a reunion. On the surface, it follows a fairly archetypal template for the genre. Subsequent readings, however, reveal the subtlety with which Walden critiques capitalism as well as the patriarchy, generating compelling arguments for why one should resist the notion of profit as the ultimate aim of existence. It is telling that Walden ensured the book would be published as a free webcomic alongside a print edition. It continues to be available online. Then there is the English writer and illustrator Nick Hayes, who turns to an epic poem by Coleridge in order to make a pertinent comment on our world of environmental crises. His version of The Rime Of The Modern Mariner takes an extremely well-known staple of romantic literature and turns it into a warning about the dangers of unregulated economics. This is a mariner stranded in a whirlpool of plastic waste, his albatross strangled by a nylon fishing net. Coleridge’s parting words, “He prayeth best, who loveth best/ All things both great and small” are resurrected by an older and wiser seaman who has seen the effects of human greed, and warns us to stop before the point of no return. As an echo of what climate change scientists have been saying for years, this is a work of protest, couched in drawings of startling originality. In recent years, there have been a number of writers and illustrators who have grappled
GQ TALK
with life in the Middle East, attempting to shed some light on centuries of state-sponsored darkness. From Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Craig Thompson’s Habibi to Rutu Modan’s Exit Wounds and Guy Delisle’s Jerusalem, they have attempted to make sense of societies and cultures cocooned in what sometimes seems like an alternative reality.
NICK HAYES TURNS TO AN EPIC POEM BY COLERIDGE IN ORDER TO MAKE A PERTINENT COMMENT ON OUR WORLD OF ENVIRONMENTAL CRISES
mong the most powerful of those narratives is The Arab Of The Future by FrenchSyrian writer and cartoonist Riad Sattouf. Translated from French and published in three parts, this memoir is written from a child’s perspective. Like Satrapi, it allows Sattouf to make insightful comments on life in that troubled region, its treatment of gender and race, and the overwhelming influence and conflicted approaches to religion that continue to shape its interactions with those who reside within it. The result is often unsettling but always captivating. Closer home, Bhimayana: Experiences Of Untouchability by Durgabai Vyam, Subhash Vyam, Srividya Natarajan and S Anand uses Pardhan Gond art to create a graphic biography of the life and struggles of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. It’s deeply troubling that so much of what Dr Ambedkar fought against continues to occupy public discourse. His arguments against the oppression of Dalits and women, beginning in the late 1920s, still appear on placards held by youth across India. Untouchability continues to be practised, a scourge that refuses to go away. The book
almost functions like an exposé, juxtaposing Ambedkar’s story with contemporary prejudices that still run deep. Even its title becomes an act of subversion, raising a Dalit to the stature of mythical Lord Ram and his Ramayana. There are hundreds of exciting graphic novels in multiple languages, all engaging with pertinent issues and giving new shape to the literature of protest. Our time of resistance is far from over, given how easily we ignore lessons from history and throw open our arms to divisive forces. As long as we have access to art though, we may dare to also have hope.
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Lindsay Pereira is based in Mumbai and writes about the arts.
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Between The Lines
Aravind Adiga takes us through the making of his latest novel, Amnesty
A
ravind Adiga’s been travelling to Nepal a lot lately. “I’ve enjoyed crashing literary parties in Kathmandu’s lively arts scene,” says the author, “and everyone’s far too polite to ask me to leave.” After his newest novel, Amnesty, released last month, Adiga presumably has a lot more time on his hands. He has a reputation for building his fiction upon heavy research, peddling the streets hard and matching journalistic rigour with his direct, evocative prose. It’s probably going to get busy later in the year, as the screen adaptation of his Man Booker-winning novel The White Tiger readies for a Netflix release. But for now, Adiga is chiming in to the global preoccupation with borders and displacement. “About a decade ago,” Adiga says of the kernel of this novel, “the press was suddenly full of stories about Indian students being attacked in Australia. One day, I read Rajdeep Sardesai on Twitter stating his scepticism about these stories, and that’s the moment Amnesty was born. Even though Australia is never going to have a shortage
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of racists, why on earth would they pick on Indians alone – why not on Pakistanis or Bangladeshis too?” To find answers, Adiga took trips to Malaysia and Sri Lanka, and undertook two years worth of travel in Australia, where he once lived during the 1990s. On this trip, he found “most Indians in Australia were coming in as foreign students,” he recalls. “Some of them were violating the terms of their visa and working illegally in 24-hour grocery stores. Late at night, some were being robbed, and since they were scared to go to the police, they were vulnerable to repeat attacks. Most South Asians in Sydney are legal and thriving; but I became interested, as I usually am, in the losers – those brown men and women who had become illegal and were trapped in a twilight existence in Sydney.” That’s the space that Danny, or Dhananjay, Amnesty’s protagonist, occupies: He moved from Sri Lanka and overstayed his visa by 28 days. Years later, he’s a “legendary cleaner” who has just got gold highlights in his hair, detests broccoli and is dating a Vietnamese girl – inching ever closer to “normal life”. Since he suspects that he possesses “neither the prodigies of effort nor of luck” to become legal, he must stay invisible. But things become difficult for Danny when an Indian lady he knows intimately is murdered. Our boy thinks he knows the killer: But should he stay quiet and continue with his under-the-radar life or speak up and risk being deported? Amnesty would not have been possible, says Adiga, without Jonny Steinberg’s A Man of Good Hope. “A gifted South African journalist,” Steinberg tells the story of “a Somali refugee who comes to South Africa to start a new life, and reminds us that the majority of human migrations are happening within Asia, Latin America and Africa.” For those interested in the subject of immigration, he also recommends Tash Aw’s We, The Survivors, which tells the story of a Chinese-Malaysian who murders a Bangladeshi, a guest worker to his nation. What’s Adiga excited to read this year? “There’s a lot of fine non-fiction coming out. I’m looking forward to new books from Taran Khan, Aniruddha Bahal and Salil Tripathi. David Davidar tells me he will be publishing a blockbuster in April, and I’m curious to know what that is.” But also, “there is a new generation of Nepali poets and novelists like Prawin Adhikari and Rabi Thapa. Manjushree Thapa and Samrat Upadhyay may be known to Indian readers,” he says, “but I wish some publisher would raise [the new writers’] profile in India, the way Chiki Sarkar did with Pakistani novelists a few years ago.”
WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (ARAVIND)
ON THE BOOKSHELF
No Filter The Instagram account Brown History may have been born in Canada, but it speaks for a community of people with roots halfway around the world: right here in South Asia
I (Top) Umaid Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur, with his sons and entourage at Croydon aerodrome, 1932; (Inset) Ahsun Zafar
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n March last year, Ahsun Zafar posted a sepia-tinted photo of a middle-aged couple on his Instagram account: The woman in a baby pink sari, the man in a tan suit, both sitting side by side on a leather couch, holding dinner plates. “I love this photo of my parents at likely their first Christmas party because of my mom rocking her sari in 1977 St. Louis, MO and my dad in his fly tie,” reads the caption, credited to one Ayesha Ali, whose Instagram account reveals she’s an advocate and “policy wonk”, but also “American, Muslim, proud”. “...They never let me know that when we first tried to move into our childhood home, the neighbors tried to stop us from moving in,” the post goes on. “Those neighbors are gone. My parents are still there, and there are at least 5 mosques in the area.” “That was the first submission I got,” says Zafar. Brown History, his Instagram
account, has, over 30 months of activity, acquired nearly three lakh followers; with a definite spurt in numbers once he began soliciting family photos for #BrownHistoryPhotoAlbum. Raised in Montreal, and now living in Toronto as an electrical engineer by day, Zafar started the account as a personal project to satisfy his curiosity and “actively learn, create things and implement what I’m learning”. “At first, I just wanted to showcase tidbits that I found interesting,” he says. “But now, it’s completely evolved into something else. Eventually, I want Brown History to be a community that runs on its own – a place where people can share their stories. It is through stories that we come to know of each other’s humanity.” Brown History is actually a pretty fun compendium of crowdsourced stories about the lives of those who migrated from South
THE ARCHIVE
WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (MAHARAJA OF JODHPUR), COURTESY OF BROWN HISTORY
Asia in decades past, told through scanned images with personal memories as captions, but also material borrowed from media libraries and museum archives. Of course, there are posts around the apartheid years in South Africa, the Windrush scandal in the UK, the Grunwick strike led by “strikers in saris” in 1978. But Zafar balances the political education with interesting profiles and trivia: You learn of Peter Singh, the London restaurateur who’d moonlight as an Elvis Presley impersonator in the 1970s; about Kuldip Rae Singh, a 21-year-old Kashmiri medical student at UCLA in the 1950s who, after an appearance on Groucho Marx’s You Bet Your Life, could’ve become a huge singing sensation. About Minnette de Silva, a Sri Lankan-origin architect, among the most famous in the world during the 1940s. Arundhati Roy turns up every now and then; Amrita Sher-Gil does too. (From a post about her father, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil, you glean where her fondness for self-portraiture stems from.) There are monochrome portraits of Indian royalty aplenty; Indrani Rahman, the first beauty pageant contestant from the Subcontinent; Shakuntala Devi, the genius mathematician who also advocated for gay rights.
And there are family histories: A grandfather who owned a Jawa motorbike even before the British left India; a mother who almost made the national cricket team in the 1980s; a father who played chauffeur to The Beatles on their big India trip (his favourite was Ringo), but chose to immigrate to Alaska during the 1984 turmoil.
I Submitted images from #BrownHistoryPhotoAlbum
f you’re curious about these things, spending time on Brown History can feel like climbing down a rabbit hole. A post about British band Alien Kulture took me to an article by the author Sarfraz Manzoor (whose book was adapted by Gurinder Chadha into a blockbuster last year) with the eminently quotable line, “Protest has not worked, so what is left? Punk, that’s what.” Soon enough, I’ve got multiple browser tabs open, on everything from Taqwacore to ADF to Riz Ahmed to The Buddha of Suburbia. There are delightful connections to be found in a space like this. A post about someone’s grandfather travelling to Nairobi from Jaipur every summer, during the 1950s and 1960s, to compete in a “multi-day race around the East African country” in their Beetle, reminds several viewers of Joginder Singh, the unbeatable rally driver of that time, dubbed “the flying Sikh”. “There is this great lecture by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,” Zafar says, by way of explaining his purpose in keeping at this project night and day. “She explains how people, events and communities are reduced to a single story, which leads to stereotypes and incomplete narratives. I want to ultimately end the curse of the single story that has been with us since colonial times.” Zafar says he’s been surprised by how “badly people wanted their stories told, how hungry they were for knowledge, truth and representation.” It’s perhaps a clue to the growing popularity enjoyed by accounts like Brown History. And there are several: The world got woke, and helping second- and third-generation kids flex for brownness are social media-based projects like Gulf South Asia, The Citizens’ Archive of India, Uncolonial History, who all have their audiences, often intersecting across racial and gender lines. For his part, Zafar says that he eventually hopes to incorporate more contemporary art into Brown History’s feed, but it’s going to be an open playing field, where he’ll continue to post whatever catches his fancy. “It could be a photo, a cartoon or even a quote. There are no rules,” he says. “I don’t want to be trapped in a box, or get tunnel vision.” MARCH 2020
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The Masterstroke Pakistani-origin, New York-based artist Salman Toor wants to paint a world where the East and West harmonise
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Brooklyn, for Salman Toor, “is a community of conscientious small businesses, flourishing among graffitied industrial spaces, where people dress eccentrically and growing up is optional.” The NYC borough is also home to Toor’s studio: A cramped loft where a wall is studded with his paintings, both finished and in progress; and a makeshift shelf in a corner is piled high with paints and brushes, books and trophies, an opened bottle of champagne and paper. This is where Toor, a 30-something, Lahoreborn artist who resides in the East Village, spends most of his day working alone – “until I miss my friends. Then I hang out at local dive bars with them, babbling away over drinks about our weekend woes, despairing over Trump’s latest tweet and the effect of living between cultures on our weirdly jeopardised and liberated inner selves.” That in-betweener aura bleeds through Toor’s figurative paintings too. From a distance, his paintings – small scale and mostly done in oil on canvas – look like they belong to a long gone era, evoking the air-brushed detailing of Rubens or Vermeer. Look closer and you see his preoccupations are very much of our zeitgeist. “In the past, my paintings were more about life in South Asia, the anxiety around class and caste,” says the Pratt Institute alumnus, who left Pakistan in the early 2000s to study art at Ohio Wesleyan. Now, he seeks to offer an intimate view into the lives of queer, brown men living in the US and South Asia. This painting to the left, for instance, is called Lunch: A tondo panel featuring three friends, their skin and hair colour as individual as their fashion choices, draped in long snaky limbs and clergyman’s hats, feasting on coffee and pasta, and peering into a smartphone. When Toor put it up on his Instagram, he added hashtags like #feather, #queer and #reverie. Another painting, called Mehfil/Party depicts a house party that could be a scene out of a Sofar Sounds concert. Young men play the harmonium and sitar in a corner, another in a rapper’s hat appears to be singing a ghazal. Their audience sit, stand, lie scattered all over the room, in twos and threes. It went up on Instagram filed under #safespace, #matinee and #culturevulture. In these rooms, bars and streets, against broad brushed-backgrounds, straggly men dance, lounge, kiss, laugh, talk, dress up, eat, stream and exist at peace in their environments. For the most part, there are no victims here.
What draws you to painting at a time when mixed media is all over the place? I am lucky to be painting at a time when figurative painting has taken on new cultural value when associated with women and people of colour. There seems to be a collective attempt to revise and revitalise the history of figurative painting and sculpture in the West. Your show at Whitney is called How Will I Know – what’s the story behind the title? “How Will I Know” is a Whitney Houston song title from her 1985 eponymous album. In a few of my paintings I had envisioned people dancing to something like a 1980s Whitney song. One of the paintings is also titled Dancing to Whitney. So when Ambika Trasi and Christopher Lew, both curators from the Whitney, decided to give me a show, we thought the title should be a Whitney Houston song.
IN THE GALLERY
INTERVIEW: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: COURTESY OF SALMAN TOOR
B
Nor are these tableaux of a gentle urban life staged or modelled for: Toor says he paints from memory and imagination. In all of the artist’s work, currency and nostalgia, belonging and alienation coexist: And it’s perhaps that paradoxical quality that’s earned him a growing base of followers everywhere, from NYC to Lahore to Delhi. Toor remembers receiving a “ton of love” for his show at Nature Morte in Delhi, in January, titled I Know A Place. From Instagram stories, he gleaned that “a lot of people who went to see it were going straight from the protests” and found that heartening. This month, as he gets set for his first solo museum exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, he talks to GQ about his extraordinary life and where he’s finding inspiration these days.
Do you remember your first drawing? Not the very first, but some of my earliest drawings were of beautiful women. With arched eyebrows and very long hair, flying in the wind. I also liked to draw high heels.
Salman Toor at his studio; (Opposite) Lunch (2019)
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“I ’m interested in
The Green Room (2019)
You also lived in a hippie commune during this time? Yes, my favourite memory is dancing with tambourines and incense to a mad beating of drums around a fire. Living in the commune was a good way for me to enter American culture. The aesthetic was a marriage between the pastoral ideals in the paintings I was learning about and American trucker music. The Grateful Dead were played a lot. Is music an important part of your creative process? I listen to movie soundtracks a lot while working. My latest favourite is the theme music from The Shining. It’s creepy and sounds like a Bach organ symphony. Other favourites have been old Farida Khanum ghazals and the Sense And Sensibility OST. Cheesy, cosy, classical homemaking music is fun during work. What were your early influences and how did this change while at art school? In high school [while in Pakistan], I looked at local painters like Sadequain and Allah Bux. I related to figures and paintings from Amrita Sher-Gil the most. Her emancipated sense of self, glamour and power was fascinating for me. 74 —
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At college, I haunted museums and tried to paint like the European Old Masters, particularly from the Baroque and Rococo movements. These lessons paid off when I decided to leave behind the academic practice and go for quick, imaginary paintings of things that were closer to my actual day-to-day concerns and amusements. I’d say my style has evolved from the language of academic realism into the language of subjectivity. What, if any, alternate notion of masculinity do you offer in your work? I actually think of my work as feminine. I like frills and prettiness, but I’m also interested in brown bodies, their place in the history of European painting, their encounters with the Western imagination. I’m interested in showing brown bodies in settings they are not traditionally shown in, bourgeois and bohemian settings, comfortable and secure. There’s a certain vulnerability about these characters, especially in paintings like Man with Tote Bag and Laptop, or Immigration Men, or indeed the nudes like Lavender Boy. Is this deliberate? I like for the characters in my painting to move between vulnerability and empowerment. I like foolish, marionette-like figures that evoke empathy as immigrants crossing borders, but they also have agency and dignity: things that have not been traditionally associated with our faces and bodies in painting. How Will I Know is at the Whitney Museum of American Art from March 20 to July 5
INTERVIEW: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: COURTESY OF SALMAN TOOR
IN THE GALLERY
How were you drawn to art? I was always making images from a young age. At school, other boys laughed at me for drawing “foxy ladies” all the time instead of playing cricket. My family home was always full of my drawings. By the time I was graduating from Ohio Wesleyan in 2006, my family had let me totally follow my calling.
brown bodies, their place in the history of European painting, their encounters with the Western imagination”
Taste IN F O OD . DR
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THE RESTAURANT
WORDS: SAUMYAA VOHRA
MAI BAO | DELHI
Bringing the streets of Singapore to a sit-down setting is Mai Bao, the newest restaurant that will join the ranks at the freshly relaunched DLF Avenue, Saket (formerly DLF Place). The 50-cover casual dining space opened doors last month, creating buzz, in particular, for its authentic renditions of Singaporean street food and beverages. With chef Jeremy Nguee at the helm (of Singapore-based Preparazzi and Bazuka Yakibuta fame), thoroughfare classics like Cendol, Nasi Lemak and Pie Tee are as purely translated as they come. The powder-blue and coral aesthetic, rife with planters and bamboo blinds, suits a low-key meal with friends rather than an intimate evening – unless your date prefers Instagrammable to idyllic. @mymaibao
THE TAP ROOM
BREWDOG | MUMBAI
Scottish craft brewers BrewDog opened its first taproom in India last month, with a dozen more expected by 2021. The beer cicerones are serving 22 taps at its midtown Mumbai outlet, including house brews (both core and small-batch), local edits from indie, regional breweries and its European bestseller, the fruity-caramel Punk IPA. Wild Card Wheat, a light, floral, 5.6 per cent ABV, crafted specially for India, also features. The 220-seater space has two indoor levels, bleacher seating outdoors and a performance space, with comfort food like pizza, wings, tacos and drinking-adjacent plates in that vein. If you’re a sucker for logo-emblazoned merch, you might want to pick up some of the barware and T-shirts on your way out – unless, you’d rather stop for a selfie beside the dramatic Craig Fisher murals, instead. @brewdogmumbai
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he Jekyll and Hyde paradigm never gets old. From screwball comedies like The Nutty Professor to campy horrors like Mary Reilly, the idea of a total 180 holds a certain fascination – though it is rarely seen in forms beyond cinema. But Delhi’s hottest new restaurant, brought to its South-Central address by Navneet and Randeep Bajaj (of Town Hall, Public Affair), gets hipster rights on putting the allegory into effect. A European bistro by day, Nege & Ju metamorphoses into an Asian bar by night. Two personalities so distinct, they have nothing but the address – 9/10, Lodhi Colony – in common.
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WORDS: SAUMYAA VOHRA
WITH THE CURRENT
lit personality to its sp
(From top) Chef Ravi Kant Shukla; Ham and Melon Carpaccio; Nege & Ju by night
Well, that and chef Ravi Kant Shukla with his two menus: Nege (9 in Afrikaans), set to recreate a lazy brunch in Montparnasse; while Ju (10 in Japanese), to move you to a modish, Oriental lounge with zestier flavours. “My years with the Oberoi have prepared me for European, but the Asian menu took a lot of research. Both menus will be dynamic – we’ll put out a completely new one every season,” says Shukla. Plates from the Nege menu start arriving, a mix of prosciutto, truffles and tagliatelle. The healthier side of the spectrum has basil-dusted carpaccios and meaty grills with seasonal veggies, while the more indulgent end sees carbonaras, tortellinis and paper-thin pizzas. The Smoked Duck Risotto (with home-made duck pancetta, red cabbage sauerkraut, barley and sorghum) is by far the star, characteristic of several crossovers on the menu that marry hearty and healthy dexterously. As the sun starts to set, the staff bursts into a flurry of activity. The panels on the wall with vibrant murals flip over to sleeker ones, rife 82 —
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he cocktails, too, go from brunchy coupes to broodier snifters. “The idea was to create day drinks you could comfortably have, so you’ll find lower ABV spirits – think citrus beers or a rosemary bianco,” house mixologist Kshitij Goel, tells us. At night, the palate gets heavier, more potent. “You’ll see a lot more soju, bitters and bourbon infused with olives, mushrooms and burnt cassia bark,” he adds. As I tuck into some date taffy with kaffir lime ice cream for dessert (luckily, garlicfree), it seems outlandish that this glossy lounge is the same spirited trattoria where I’d earlier had a carbonara lunch. In Delhi’s plethora of concept restaurants, none have ever been two things at a time – and executed the flip so coherently. Nege & Ju may transition from head to toe with the changing light, but its air of cool is constant, making it an instant cult favourite.
WORDS: SAUMYAA VOHRA
WITH THE CURRENT
(From top) Sangria Capriccio; Grilled Lobster; Nege & Ju by day
with ochres and merlot reds. The furniture is stripped of its light, cheery linens to reveal cognac leather couches. The lighting turns moodier, while the music flows from bluesyslash-Sinatra into uptempo-slash-Lizzo. The tabletops, too, change from easy and wood-panelled to chic and mirrored – as does the spread atop it. Sushi, temaki and grills now take over. The mix runs from familiars done well (the Ebi Tempura sushi, for instance) to originals with interesting accents, à la the Lamb Shanks (with soy lamb ragu and kaffir lime bread) or Miso Marinated Chilean Sea Bass. “I’d happily do a dessert with onions or garlic, if it worked,” says Shukla. “It felt crucial to me to experiment, to do a risotto without rice, or New Zealand Lamb Chops with a Sichuan pepper update. I rarely exceed three to four ingredients per dish – it keeps things clean.”
Liquid
Gold
A pilgrimage to the spiritual home of Speyside whisky
t had rained the night before, rendering the Highlands wet and slushy. We could have quit, and called it a day, but decided to press on. We climbed aboard the 8-wheel Agrocat – a cross between a tank and a lunar buggy – and braced ourselves. The first phase was relatively simple, a gentle climb over the rolling Scottish Highlands. Then, suddenly, the ascent got steep, and the wind blew hard. A sharp chill hit my face, rendering it numb. The driver, sensing my discomfort, reached for 84 —
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a huge set of gloves, and handed them over. I gratefully accepted. An enormous, wild hare stared straight at me from the brambles, then bolted past in a flash. The Agrocat ploughed on like a stealthy beast, overwhelming the tall grass in its path. A few twists and turns later, the climb eased off, and then suddenly, we were at the summit. From this magnificent vantage point, we witnessed history, heather hilltops and stark wilderness. In the 18th and 19th centuries, this remote glen was the illicit whisky distilling capital of the world. It was from
(Opposite) The Speyside summit; (Below from left) The Glenlivet’s distinctive copper pot stills; The cellar filled with liquid gold
the barley, water, copper and oak, discovering how each material influences the spirit. Also on view are some truly unique copper pot stills. Their distinctive lantern shape has remained unchanged for generations, and you’ll only find them at this particular site. These stills are also incredibly tall, ensuring only the lightest vapours reach the top, resulting in a particularly delicate but complex Speyside spirit. The slender width of their necks encourages maximum contact with the purifying copper for the perfect balance of flavour. The cherry on top comes at the end of the tour, a tutored tasting of The Glenlivet New Make and a selection of single cask expressions. These whiskies, all cask strength and non-chill filtered, offer guests the chance to examine different flavour profiles and truly understand the art of maturation. From its humble origins nearly 200 years ago, The Glenlivet whisky now cuts a towering figure in the world of spirits – with millions of discerning fans across the world, from America to Asia. Yet, alongside the air of refined elegance lies a rugged and iconoclastic side, that is equally part of the history and core characteristic of this sumptuous liquid. And to that we say, Slàinte!
WORDS AND IMAGE: CHE KURRIEN. IMAGE: COURTESY THE GLENLIVET (BOTTLE)
this perch that the owners of the land could spot customs and tax inspectors from afar, with time enough to make the necessary adjustments. It’s here that the enterprising Scot, George Smith, the first individual to acquire a legal licence to operate such a facility, founded The Glenlivet distillery in 1824. There are few better places on the planet today to savour a dram of The Glenlivet than this summit overlooking the distillery. “It’s always 2 or 3 degrees colder up here,” the Agrocat driver said to me. “Drink this and you’ll be all warmed up,” he added, handing me a glass of liquid gold. Needless to say, the journey down the hill was a whole lot more pleasurable. Today, The Glenlivet distillery is one of the biggest single malt production facilities in the world, producing 21 million litres of spirit each year. It is also recognised as the definitive Speyside whisky, deeply imbued with the region’s characteristic delicacy and softness. Once inside the sprawling facility, we took the classic tour – which is bookable for about £30. This tour offers an introduction to the process of whisky-making, as well as a guided walk through the production areas, including a visit to one of the traditional warehouses. Guests also get hands-on with
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Our spotlight’s on the greats blending the past, the present and the future
Climate change, sustainability and responsible social impact have been buzzwords these past couple of years. But only a few are actively doing something about it. Like Nuru Karim and his studio, Nudes: An architectural firm that’s striving to create a conscious world with every project. Who else would’ve thought of a café made out of cardboard (walls, tables, chairs et al) or creating an outdoor library with recycled
plywood? Exhibited first at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, the Bookworm Pavilion (pictured above) is going to tour across rural and urban India with the message of empowerment through education. Hit it up when it’s in your town next for some inspiring future India vibes. Also in the pipeline are nu‐r/Mosque of Light in the UAE, and Forest, an educational institute in Pune. All in all, it’s about innovations, experiments and theoretical designs to be tested in the real world. Get with it. Cardboard at BKC, Mumbai WORDS: JANICE FERNANDES. IMAGE: MRIGANK SHARMA (CARDBOARD), SAMEER CHAWDA (BOOKWORM)
The World to Come
AS ROYALS DO
History lovers, here’s your chance to feel like a maharaja in your own casa. The OBEETEE x Raghavendra Rathore Proud To Be Indian series is everything you’re looking for. With embroidery, colours, insignias and mirror-work, each handwoven carpet has a story and character of its own, much like the state of Rajasthan where it draws inspiration from. The result of Rathore’s royal connection and OBEETEE’s exquisite craftsmanship (a collab five years in the making) brings that old-world luxury to spaces. A carpet like this is sure to give you legit bragging rights.
One For All Whoever came up with the concept of shopping and dining all under one roof sure had the mother of all ideas. Taking this experience to a whole new, boutique-style level is Beyond Designs Home & Bistro. At the Delhi Design District, shop for your next signature décor piece, and when hunger strikes, there’s that dining option too. The Frenchstyle bistro is open for breakfast, lunch and high tea, serving modern European cuisine along with Asian fare – all surrounded by antique and handcrafted products, of course. The perfect opportunity to turn a simple day out into a blowout, we say.
A fusion of styles will give your space an experimental yet classy look.
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THE INTERVIEW
Dilip Vengsarkar INTERVIEWED BY ANIL THAKRANEY
PHOTOGRAPHED BY MANISH MANSINH
THE OR GINAL WALL
B Vengsarkar in action in the fifth Test during the England tour of India at Kanpur, 1985
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Before Rahul Dravid came along, Dilip Vengsarkar was the bulwark around which the rest of the Indian team batted in the 1970s and 1980s. True to his nickname “Colonel”, he would stand resolute at the crease, quietly amassing runs at the No 3 or No 4 positions in his no-nonsense, methodical style. Best known for his flowing drive, Vengsarkar’s dependability allowed the more celebrated players like Gundappa Viswanath, Mohinder Amarnath and Kapil Dev to freely play their strokes. He played 116 Test matches and scored nearly 7,000 runs with 17 centuries, six of which came against the lethal fast bowling attack of the West Indies team.
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (MATCH)
Vengsarkar at the Mumbai Cricket Association in Bandra-Kurla Complex
Then there’s his love affair with the Lord’s cricket ground, where he scored three consecutive Test centuries – a feat no visiting player to England has achieved, not even Sir Don Bradman. An unfortunate injury during the early stages of the 1983 World Cup ruled him out of the rest of the tournament. Sipping coffee on the verandah overlooking the Mumbai Cricket Association’s maidan in BandraKurla Complex, keeping a sharp eye on young cricketers honing their skills, Vengsarkar shares rare memories from that World Cup, and speaks passionately about his cricket academies and the upcoming Hindi film ’83, scheduled for release in April this year.
Are you excited about ’83? Your character is a part of the film. Yes. Adinath Kothare [the Marathi actor who plays the role of Vengsarkar] had come to see me a few times, he wanted to know about my injury, the expectations before the tournament and how we won. Tell us about the injury. During the league match at the Oval against the West Indies, we were chasing a score of 280 plus. I was playing really well, Mohinder Amarnath and I were building a partnership and we thought we could chase down the target. I tried to glide one ball from Malcolm MARCH 2020
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Marshall through the slips and got hit in the face. After that, we all got out soon and lost the match. Must have hurt deeply not to play in the final, especially since you had recovered by then. Yes, I was disappointed about not playing. I was fit to play before the final, I’d even practised. But I’d not played a match in two weeks, and the team was in a good nick, they’d won matches against Australia and England and so they wanted to play the winning combination. I remember, one hour after the final started, Man Singh, the then team manager, said to me, “I know Dilip you are feeling bad about it, but that’s the way it goes. The team is in good form.” Later that year, the West Indies team came to India for a Test series and I knew I would score a lot of runs against them, and I did! [Laughs]
“THE BCCI COULDN’T EVEN AFFORD A PHYSIO IN THOSE DAYS. WE WOULD HIRE ONE IF SOMEBODY GOT INJURED. THERE WAS JUST A TEAM MANAGER AND NO ONE ELSE”
Did the team believe before the start of the 1983 World Cup final that the mighty West Indies could be beaten? The West Indies team was a powerful side in those days, but we had toured that country just before the World Cup and we had beaten them in one match. In fact, in that match played at Berbice, I hit Andy Roberts for a six straight over the sightscreen! So there was a feeling at the back of our minds that this team could be beaten. Again, during our first league match against the West Indies during the 1983 World Cup at Old Trafford in Manchester [India won that match], we realised that with the West Indies, if you could bat first and score runs, their team could be put under pressure, and under pressure, that team was suspect. What exactly made you think that? For that, you have to understand the West Indies lifestyle; it is a completely stress-free one. For example, if you visit a local market or any of the islands, and if you see a long line of cars waiting in a queue because two guys are talking to each other on the street, you will find no one honking. Everyone will simply wait till they finish talking! Their lifestyle is so chilled out. You were no-hopers at the start of the tournament. What was the turning point, the one event that inspired tremendous self-belief? Fact is, we lost the first two friendly games we played when we landed in England; in fact, one was against a minor county team. Although we had some good all-rounders in the team, nobody could think of us winning the World Cup, we had 500 to 1 odds. I was playing for pride, I wanted to play a certain level of cricket and if that helped the team, then good! That was the general thinking. The turning point was Kapil Dev’s 175 in the league match against 90 —
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Vengsarkar in 1986
Zimbabwe. The match wasn’t being covered on television and I was listening to radio commentary in my hospital room in London; the team was 19 for 5 at one stage, and I was wondering what’s happening out there! I must say, Kapil was outstanding throughout the tournament; he deserves the lion’s share for our victory.
And the team had no fancy coach, no support staff, no professional training… The BCCI couldn’t even afford a physio in those days. We would hire one if somebody got injured. There was just a team manager and no one else. At team meetings, we would sit and talk about the match, and how we should go about things, but it was not necessary that we would implement what was discussed! [Smiles] But it was fun. The big change that’s happened today is the huge amount of money in the game. When I played for Bombay for the first time – that was in 1974-’75 – we used to earn `25 per day. For the first series I played for India, in New Zealand and West Indies, for the four-month tour, we earned `5,000 each. When we won the World Cup, NKP Salve, who was the then president of the BCCI, announced a reward of `25,000 per player and we were so happy! When Lata Mangeshkar heard about it, she organised a special music programme for us in Delhi, where she sang and each one of us got a cheque of one lakh rupees. That was the first time in my life I saw a cheque of one lakh rupees! [Smiles]
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
You have a special relationship with Lord’s. Thing is, you get a positive vibe when you enter a certain cricket ground, and Lord’s has such a rich history and tradition. When it’s a full house, the atmosphere is really electrifying. You do feel a little nervous when you are in the dressing room, but when you are on the field, you want to perform. It’s actually the temperament you develop in Mumbai cricket, right from school to college to the club level, you play against the top players when you are young. But things have changed now because there is so much international cricket, the top Test players don’t have the time to play club cricket, so younger cricketers don’t get a chance to play with them and improve their game. Maybe that’s why you chose to run cricket academies even though the real money is in television commentary. Everyone chooses their own line, and I wanted to give something back to cricket after my retirement. For the academies I run, I want to create the best infrastructure for kids. The training is provided free of cost; many of the players come from a humble background. Today, I run three cricket academies – two in Mumbai and one in Pune. In fact, I will be starting my fourth academy on the outskirts of Mumbai
very soon. That keeps me busy as well as happy. I take my academy teams to England every year to play matches there. There is a kid who is playing in the under-19 team for the World Cup, his name is Yashasvi Jaiswal. About four years ago, I heard about this lad, that he was good, so I called him to my academy. He used to stay in a tent at Azad Maidan in Mumbai, along with gardeners, and would sell pani puris for a living. I took him to England to play; he scored runs in every game, and now he is playing for India. Cricketers from the current team that excite you. I would travel miles to watch Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli bat, both are fantastic. Do you wish you were playing today? Of course, I do! The bats are so good these days. Think India will win the T20 World Cup this year? In the T20 format, you cannot stick your neck out and say that India will win the Cup. It’s a strong team, they are the favourites, but in this format even weaker teams can beat strong teams. In a 20 overs game, you don’t get a chance to come back into the game. One life regret... I never worked hard on my physical fitness; there was no culture of keeping fit when I started playing. We used to just pad up, go to the nets and bat or field or bowl. Nowadays, the boys know so much about physical fitness, they work hard on it. In hindsight, I think I must have got out 60 per cent of the time because I was tired, I did not have the physical strength to continue playing for two or three days. Your illustrious colleagues like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev were idolised and worshipped. Somehow you always remained in the shadows. For a captain, if the team is winning it helps a lot, and I got captaincy a bit late. Also, if you lead the side for a long time – like Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Azharuddin did – then you get a lot of hype, you are in the news all the time. But no problem, I get worshipped now! [Laughs] MARCH 2020
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WHAT’S YOUR CODE
I once heard you’re the average of the five people you hang out with the most… So choose wisely. I’ve found this to be true not only in my life, but in the lives of others, too. We absorb both the good and bad traits of the people we’re surrounded by. The best change I’ve made to my circle is to remove all negativity, and fill it with positivity and belief. Anyone who physically trains – whether it’s doing a Pilates class, going to the park, or throwing around some iron in the gym – can benefit from this lesson. When you decide to train or work out, you’ve made a conscious decision to improve yourself. It’s a time when you’re trying to present challenges to yourself, forming new habits, including the setting of goals (to lift a certain weight or drop a certain number of kilos). Making the decision to have a training partner and who you choose, may be much more important than you think.
Two to
Tango The benefits of working out with a gym partner WRITTEN BY PRAKASH AMRITRAJ
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A training partner can help hold you accountable for all of the above. Find someone who wants to push themselves, and who in turn will push you, too. Imagine: It’s 6am on a Saturday and you only have a couple hours to yourself before you get to your commitments for the rest of the day. Your first thought may be to skip your planned workout and sleep in. We’ve all been there. But then, maybe, you get a text from your training partner saying, “Hey, I know you have a busy day ahead, but I’ll see you at the gym! No ifs or buts! I know how much you want to lose that weight!” Little pushes like these go a long way and add up to several sessions that wouldn’t have otherwise taken place. Or perhaps, you’re used to doing the same 40-minute workout a few times a week. You’re
IMAGE: MATT SAYLES (WORKOUT)
THE MENTAL ASPECT
GQ PROMOTION
A TASTE OF THE TROPICS
Palate-pleasing culinary treats that borrow flavours from countries falling along a particular longitude. If that sounds like a novel concept, it is! And you have spanking new dining space 73° Bar & Bistro in Mumbai’s Bandra suburb to thank for it There’s much to love about the City of Dreams. The nightlife, the art and culture scene, the shopping and, most of all, the food! If there’s one city suburb that lets you experience the spirit of Mumbai at its vibrant best, it’s Bandra. From hip clubs and busy thrift shops to the most swanky eateries, Bandra has it all! And adding yet another fabulous feather to the neighbourhood’s cap is an exciting new dining space – 73° Bar & Bistro. Now, if you’re thinking what we’re thinking, 73 is an odd number...and not just literally. On closer inspection, you’ll realise that the reasoning behind it is actually pretty cool. The dining space’s intriguing name comes from the longitude line that passes through
the east of Mumbai. That said, the flavours on the menu are not just local. Expect exotic flavours from a host of other countries that also happen to pass through the same longitude. Think spices, herbs and sauces from countries ranging from Maldives, India, Pakistan, Russia and Canada to Peru, Brazil, Haiti, Colombia, Argentina, the Bahamas, Chile and more. Vegetarians will love the Kale Beetroot Nacho Chips and Stuffed Zucchini Rolls while non-vegetarians can pig out on Casabella Chicken, Fish Cake, Coconut Crunchy Fish and Pot Prawns. To wash it all down, opt for refreshing cocktails such as the Cucumburst, Pulp Fiction, Indian
Summer, Early Martini, Dragontini, San Junipero, Paradise Passion and Sacred Mojito. To keep things exciting, 73° Bar & Bistro also has cool happy hours offers and fun happenings taking place through the week. There’s a ‘buy one get one’ offer on Indian Made Foreign Liquors (IMFL) every day of the week and a ‘2 plus 1’ on IMFL from 7pm until closing from Monday through Thursday and on Sunday. That’s not all. To liven up the mood, they also organise lazy Sunday comedy brunches as well as live music nights and fun DJ sessions on Fridays and Saturdays. So, the next time you’re sauntering down Bandra with your friends and family, make a day of it by dropping in to 73° Bar & Bistro.
Nityanand Road, HIG Colony, Nityanand Nagar, ONGC Colony, Reclamation, Bandra West, Mumbai. For reservations, call 9892537222
WHAT’S YOUR CODE
(From left) With athlete and trainer Terron Beckham; and with Alex Wilright, WBFF Pro
not thrilled with your progress, but you leave it at that. Imagine a training partner who encourages you to commit to a longer session, or to upping the ante to five workouts a week, or trying a more hard-hitting workout. Sometimes you need that nudge to keep expanding your goals and go beyond your self-imposed limits. When you keep receiving encouragement from a partner, you realise how good being pushed can feel, and you’ll end up doing it for your partner as well, which, in turn, will make you feel even better. It’s a virtuous cycle of positivity and progress. Do look for a training partner who’ll push you in a manner that you’re ready for though. Someone who wants to go from not exercising at all to lightly incorporating it into their schedule shouldn’t train with a professional athlete. But when matched correctly, it will do wonders for your growth – and your training partner’s.
THE PHYSICAL ASPECT
There are also several physical benefits of having a training partner. They can help you with your form. You may feel you’re doing one thing, but you’re actually doing another. Or consider a situation where you’ve completed seven reps with a certain weight, and feel you just can’t squeeze out reps 8, 9 and 10. Your gym partner can inspire you to find that last burst of energy to complete your set. These little things add up over the long run when you’re trying to physically develop your body. All throughout this process, the right training partner will say, “Yes you can,” at that supremely testing moment in a workout when your inner voice is screaming, “There is no way I can do this!” There are exercises you can do to push each other further than if you were alone. My favourite is something I like to call “Partner Biceps Burn 1 to 10 and Back to 1”. You 94
Imagine a training partner who encourages you to commit to a longer session, or to upping the ante on your workout grab a medium-weighted EZ curl bar. You stand facing your partner and do one standing biceps curl, hand it to your partner, they do 1, they hand it back to you and you do 2, hand it back to them and they do 2. You progress all the way up until you’ve both done 10, then both of you go all the way back down – 9-9, 8-8 and so on. Two or three sets of this at the end of a workout will have those biceps on fire – and produce serious results. It’s also something you just can’t do alone. You can do this with other exercises too, like lunges. You and your partner stand side by side, and do your lunges in unison with each other. Whoever does more gets lunch from the other post the session! A little competition always helps to bring out the best in one. So, while it may not seem like a big deal either way, in fact, finding one, or multiple training partners, could be the key to stay committed to your fitness goals, and to challenge yourself. In 2020, leverage the power of two to strengthen your Code and take your training regimen to the next level.
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
With the upswing of diverse, top-quality menswear that suits every personality and mood, you have no reason to look anything less than your absolute best (even on a bad day). Here, we cut through all the noise and give you an edge into what you should be wearing (and carrying, and moving about in) this season, starting with the big daddy of all collabs – the Dior x Rimowa hard case. It is most definitely set to become an extension of your arm. MARCH 2020
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(From top) Musician Dev Hynes; Footballer Héctor Bellerín
LOUIS VUITTON’S HEROES When designers moonlight as global celebrities, it’s only fair that they indulge their famous friends for a top modelling gig. For the Louis Vuitton show, which saw Paris’ Place Dauphine converted into an LV funfair (park benches and a massive moon bounce included), Virgil Abloh called on the likes of Arsenal footballer Héctor Bellerín, musician Dev Hynes, skater/ photographer Evan Mock and K-pop star Mino to walk the runway. Besides unequivocally establishing that diversity is the name of Abloh’s game, each celebrity-turned-model for the evening donned pink, pastel and oversized clothes with plenty of floral accents thrown in for a fresh take on hypermasculinity.
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By now, the word sustainability shouldn’t just be a conversation starter for you to impress the good-looker at the bar, it should be deep-rooted in your daily existence. And Selected Homme is making damn sure you have no excuse. The Danish powerbrand has introduced a 100 per cent sustainable line with every component – including the fabric, lining, cuffs, threads and buttons – made using eco-friendly methods. The shirts, trousers, belts, outerwear and shoes remain luxe, dapper, long-lasting and, inarguably, guilt-free: reaffirming that sustainable living begins with you.
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. IMAGE: COURTESY OF GUCCI (SUNGLASSES), DAN LECCA (GUCCI RAMP)
SELECTED HOMME’S WALKING THE TALK
p h e THE GUCCI BLITZKRIEG It’s no secret that Alessandro Michele has a proclivity for the mystical and uncommon, spinning his wizardry at Gucci in a way that you can’t help but buy into his world of evil eye motifs, hulking glasses with hardware chains, glittering brooches and severely pointed cowboy boots. If the overall vibe is too maximal for you, invest in the one piece that will instantly boost your individuality and fun quotient from mediocre to noticeable.
THE BIRKIN GOT BIGGER AND BADASS The most iconic bag in the world just manned up in the most virile fashion: Hermès menswear queen Véronique Nichanian put out the Birkin and multiple holdalls in slick, oversized silhouettes to fit your entire life in. Then came chunky sandals and colour-blocked sneakers with relaxed, breezy clothes bearing the Hermès name (an unusual move from the otherwise subtle French heritage house) to ensure everyone knows who you’re wearing while holidaying on a superyacht in Capri.
SMART SNEAKERS OUT OF TOD’S We’re all about hybridisation in fashion and no one represented it better this season than Tod’s with its No_Code X kicks. The easy-to-glide-into pair blends the iconic Italian house’s codes of tailoring and painstaking craftsmanship with the informal sneaker for a versatile result. Basically, shoes you can wear day and night for that careerdefining meeting and no-holds-barred night out. Just don’t wear them to bed.
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ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA BALANCES STYLE AND SUBSTANCE
Assamese model Kangkan Rabha representing
ELECTRIC FEELS AT PAUL SMITH The next time you hit up a Tame Impala or Infected Mushroom gig, this is the stuff you should be wearing to match your LSD-happy mood. The earl of quirky suits is bringing the same neon, trippy vibe to shirts and tees with energiser bunny and insect prints in blinding, bright colours to wipe out the words stress and anxiety from your vocabulary.
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
Not many luxury players are pushing as hard for intelligent clothing as Zegna’s Alessandro Sartori. For a few seasons now, the Italian maestro’s been using upcycled nylon and wool from existing Zegna waste for rich menswear that gives old is gold a substantial new meaning. That the show was held in a rubble-heavy, fumeblown, Mad Max-like Falck iron mill on the outskirts of Milan was hugely symbolic. The space was once the factory hub for providing raw materials to flourishing companies, but has since been cleaned of long-seeping toxic chemicals to soon make way for cancer and neurological hospitals.
JUST ENJOY THE RIDE
GQ PROMOTION
From cruising down winding roads from one castle to the next to exploring the glacier valley of the Savinja River, Slovenia has endless surprises that are waiting to be discovered. So, ditch the regular sight-seeing tours across Europe and hop onto your Harley for the adventure of a lifetime
Adriatic Moto Tours based out of Slovenia offers luxury motorcycle tours and their packages are inclusive of motorcycles, luxury accommodation, mechanical and backup support and tour guides. We list eight reasons to go on a guided motorcycle tour of Eastern Slovenia.
see the important cultural, historical and natural sights in the area. Also expect curated experiences like a wine tour or a local meal at a typical food and drinks joint with local wine or beer.
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Bus journeys can get tiresome and boring. A rented car might be a better option, but nothing beats the thrill of hopping onto a motorcycle and taking in the sights and sounds of a new place. Expect scenic routes, beautiful views and an adventure of a lifetime.
Even though Slovenia is a small country, bikers will love how diverse the landscape is and how accessible the country is. Ride an hour towards the north and you’re in the heart of the Alps while an hour towards the south is Adriatic Sea. And, forests, meadows and vineyards will keep you company down the East.
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Each morning, the guide will explain the recommended routes, point out sights along the way and suggest the best spots to take a coffee or lunch break. A GPS device with preloaded tracks is available, so you can choose to take a short route or a detour before you arrive at your destination. Whether you want to ride on your own or join your guide throughout the trip is entirely up to you.
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When was the last time you spent a night in a castle on an island? If the answer is never, you’ve got to sign up for this tour. Though you will spend a major portion of your day on the bike, rest assured, you will also get to experience the country in all its natural glory. Along the way, The Adriatic Moto Tours team will ensure you get to
Bike tours are all about travelling light. But not this one. A second guide on the tour will be driving the support van, making sure your luggage is waiting in your room before you retire for the day. Not just that, your bike will be cleaned and checked before you start rolling the next morning.
Any visit to a new country entails research on the sights to see, things to do and places to eat at. But on this trip, you just have to get to Ljubljana and leave everything else to the team of professionals.
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Sometimes, travelling in a group can prove to be inconvenient, especially if the people involved in the activity don’t have similar interests. But the Adriatic Moto Tours team has a rule that no more than 10 bikes will be a part of a single tour.
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In 16 years, Adriatic Moto Tours grew from having two to 150 motorcycles in their garage. What’s even more reassuring is that most of their clients are returning after their first trip. For more information, visit adriaticmototours.com/harley-tours
A TOUR TO REMEMBER
In its landmark 15th year, Blenders Pride Fashion Tour finale celebrated fashion on a grand scale and unveiled a breathtakingly new face of fashion, themed on ‘The Pride of India’, with global superstar Priyanka Chopra Jonas lending the affair that extra bit of glitz and glamour After months of gripping fashion tours and headhunting for the most promising new names in the fashion industry, the 15th edition of Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2019-20 culminated late last month with a larger-than-life fi nale in Mumbai. Going beyond the conventional fashion shows, Blenders Pride Fashion Tour’s pathbreaking format took the form of a spectacular fashion extravaganza themed ‘The Pride of India’. This year’s milestone 15th edition presented festivals of fashion and created a universe centred on ‘pride’ through three themes – Craft, Blend and Identity. While ‘pride’ as a meaningful expression of success and individuality took centre-stage, it was India, with its indigenous ‘craft’, its ‘blend’ of diverse influences and its distinctive ‘identity’, that became the canvas of expression. Further pushing convention, this year’s format saw designer Ashish Soni serve as curator-in-chief and also saw an exclusive collaboration with industry thought leader, Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI). Through its four chapters, which started in Kolkata and moved to Hyderabad and Delhi before culminating in Mumbai, the tour celebrated fashion on a grand scale. Anamika Khanna kick-started the tour in Kolkata with her showcase of ‘My Craft, My Pride’, with Arjun Kapoor
GQ PROMOTION
and Janhvi Kapoor, followed by Manish Malhotra’s showcase of ‘My Identity, My Pride’ with Kareena Kapoor Khan in Hyderabad, and Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla’s showcase of ‘My Blend, My Pride’ with Sara Ali Khan in New Delhi. The fi nale in Mumbai was a larger-thanlife affair, with Bollywood icon and brand ambassador of Blenders Pride Fashion Tour, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, setting the ramp afi re in a bold black ensemble as she showcased ‘The Pride of India’. Adding more star power to the grand fi nale were 15 illustrious Indian designers, including Abraham and Thakore, Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, Anamika Khanna, Anju Modi, Ashish Soni, Gaurav Gupta, JJ Valaya, Manish Malhotra, Monisha Jaising, Namrata Joshipura, Raghavendra Rathore, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna, Suneet Varma and the late Wendell Rodricks. The defi ning 15th edition of Blenders Pride Fashion Tour celebrated fashion like never before, with unique festivals of fashion that included segments such as The Collection Gallery, The Showcase and Style Forum, each of which celebrated a different facet of fashion. The Collection Gallery kicked off in Kolkata, with an artistic display of 58 pieces, including 40 famed designers such as Dev R Nil and Paromita Banerjee. For the Hyderabad chapter, The Collection Gallery had a display of 58 iconic pieces, including 45 famed designers of the likes of Abraham and Thakore and JJ Valaya. At the New Delhi chapter, The Collection Gallery’s artistic display comprised 82 iconic pieces, including a whopping
80 designers such as Shantanu & Nikhil and Shahab Durazi. And, at the fi nale in Mumbai, The Collection Gallery flaunted a display of 82 iconic pieces, including 78 illustrious designers who included Rahul Mishra and Pankaj & Nidhi. Then, there was the Style Forum, which saw intellectual exchanges of ideas amongst industry stalwarts such as Che Kurrien, Anushka Menon, Antonio Maurizio, Shantanu & Nikhil, Kalyani Chawla and Anaita Shroff Adajania on game-changing influences in the fashion arena across all chapters. But that wasn’t all. For their landmark 15th edition, Blenders Pride Fashion Tour also launched The Showcase – a unique platform that offered aspiring fashion designers and models a golden opportunity to be mentored by industry experts and display their talent on the big stage – which presented the work of winning designers like Stanzin Palmo (Zilzom) in Kolkata, Sushant Abrol (Countrymade) in Hyderabad and Ikshit Pande (Quod) in New Delhi and winning models like Ritu Chauhan, Poojan Solanki and Preethy Karan, all of whom came together for the fi nale. Speaking on the occasion, Kartik Mohindra, Chief Marketing Officer, Pernod Ricard India, stated, “In its 15th year of spearheading fashion in India, Blenders Pride Fashion Tour has moved beyond conventional shows to become a celebration of all things fashion, with a new vision. With its path-breaking format, the milestone edition of the tour enhanced the appeal for the youth and set the tone for innovation in the years to come.”
SHIFTING
Gears Is Bhaane the coolest indie label right now?
h
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
Nimish Shah
U
ntil 2018, Nimish Shah was best recognised as a talented designer who’d done fine work for his label Shift that was neither too big nor too small in the Indian milieu. It prided itself on providing a daily, sustainable wardrobe for women and men, long before sustainability became a fashion buzzword. Shah wasn’t your typical scenester, even though he fell squarely within hipster designer territory, and he didn’t make a lot of noise when, in 2018, he was named the creative director of Anand Ahuja’s homegrown label Bhaane. Then Shah dropped his last collection, carrying the mother of all cult products: a flaming red jumper with the words “Toilet Soap” and an all-too-familiar Godrej logo splashed across it, making every 1990s kid nostalgic of a simpler, cooler time. In fact, Shah was inspired by the 1990s in general, drawing on pop culture references like university sweatshirts, tickets, memorabilia, Nivea cream tins and what young’uns would wear to sneak out and party all night. It was a successful recipe of culture, nostalgia, fashion and slickness, propelling Bhaane (around since 2011) from being one of the many alternative brands to India’s coolest menswear outlet for dailywear. One that made you the on-point guy at work and the insider at an antiSOCIAL gig.
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GQ PROMOTION
BE STYLISH, NATURALLY
A summer guide to DNA of menswear trends
In an age of constantly-evolving menswear fashion trends, summer is the perfect time to experiment and break the rules. But if there is one trend that is here to stay, it’s fashion that is environment friendly. Update your wardrobe with garments made from TENCEL™ fibers that are derived from sustainable wood sources and are certified bio-degradable, making them one of the world’s most ecological ingredients. These fibers form the core of some of the most amazing outfits for summer. Clothes having TENCEL™ fibers become perfect for summers with their moisture-absorbing capabilities, exquisite softness on the skin and high aesthetic appeal. We recommend investing in a few garments made from TENCEL™ fibers to breeze your way through the heat, to look stylish while being sustainable. And the universe of TENCEL™ fibers is quite immense. A CASUAL AFFAIR Pairing a white shirt with denim is a fail-safe combination. TENCEL™ denim is tailored to provide natural comfort and smoothness. Brands like H&M and Levis have great options for denim wear. ADD AN ETHNIC TWIST To give your outfit an ethnic spin, try layering a white bandhgala over a
kurta to lend it an element of quirk. Renowned designers, Anita Dongre and Rajesh Pratap Singh have regularly been offering outfits with TENCEL™ fibers making it perfect for a luxury resort holiday or destination summer weddings. OFFICE READY For the trendy dresser, a crisp shirt or a blazer is a perfect addition to your wardrobe. Raymonds, Zara and H&M are some of the key labels that have a selected range of formal outfits and fabrics made from TENCEL™ fibers that fit well and are comfortable for daily wear, making you ready for a board meeting or an office party.
innerwear that offers breathability, is super soft and provides an unfavorable environment for bacterial growth, ensuring better hygiene. Take your pick from popular brands like Marks & Spencer and Jockey, as well as young labels like Tailor & Circus and XYXX Crew.
COMFORT WEAR When lounging around at home, a fuss-free t-shirt is usually what everyone reaches out for first. Pick t-shirts made from TENCEL™ fibers of botanic origin that promise to keep your body cool and dry with their natural comfort and light weight. TENCEL™ also has been powering some of the most comfortable WHY TENCEL™ MATTERS!
• Perfect blend of performance, aesthetics and sustainability. • Guilt free, tailored-for-summer fashion. • Long lasting comfort.
For more information, visit tencel.com or follow @tencel_india on Instagram
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N OUTI B U O NL ISTIA CHR rthy
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WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. IMAGE: © STUDIO DES FLEURS (HERMÈS)
DIO RX
t i e H gl n i S In an era of haptic feedback and button-free devices, Montblanc has kept its Heritage collection equally hassle-free to use PHOTOGR A PHED BY JIGNE SH JHAVERI
Nicolas Baretzki, CEO, Montblanc
When considering a monopusher chronograph, Montblanc should be on the top of your list, as it’s the technical USP of Minerva
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MARCH 2020
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN. IMAGE: COURTESY MONTBLANC (BARETZKI)
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t’s been over a decade since Montblanc acquired Minerva – the 160-year-old marque that specialised in making highly accurate and ergonomic pocket watches and chronographs. An acquisition that’s been an unmitigated success by all accounts, especially if you consider Montblanc CEO Nicolas Baretzki’s glowing endorsement. “Minerva is the source of inspiration for all our watches,” he confesses, implying that the acquisition has had an overarching effect on the brand’s entire horological aesthetic, and not just its vintage inspired Heritage timepieces. Like the latest Heritage Monopusher Chronograph, which takes more than a few design cues from its mid-century progenitors. To begin with, there’s that monopusher – the one-press-solution built directly into the crown, keeping things simple and streamlined. The overall look is just as classic and clean-cut; a 30-minute totaliser at 3 o’clock, a running seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock. It’s been subjected to Montblanc’s hardcore “Laboratory Test 500” (involving some gruelling temperature, wear and tear and pressure-based tests), so it’s a fairly durable timepiece striking a sharp balance between vintage and modern. “Vintage goes back to where people have a feeling that it was a happier time. But I believe that when done right, they can also be very modern and contemporary,” says Baretzki, who has led the brand since 2016. The view of the Minerva manufacture embossed on the caseback is telling of the fact that the brand benefits, not only from the patina of a storied brand like Minerva, but also from its R&D expertise. Although arguments over the efficacy of monopusher designs (more prevalent in pocket watches) have caused polarising debates in the watchmaking community, with some arguing that a dual-pusher function allows one the ability to reset it quicker, there’s no arguing that the monopusher is a cleaner look. There’s a certain singularity of purpose that continues to be appealing, not to mention the fact that in case of watches like the Heritage Monopusher, they enhance its dress watch quotient considerably.
GQ PROMOTION
STYLE MEETS SUBSTANCE
style of the audience and defining it, understanding it and then projecting and portraying that aspect is what I find most interesting and challenging. Sometimes, making the simple awesomely simple is what I enjoy most. What are a few exciting design trends you foresee for Spring/Summer 2020? I’m excited to see a fusion of vintage, artsy and sophisticated yet casual. Tell us about your clientele. Whom have you enjoyed styling the most, and why? I love creating illusions for the misfits. To reinvent the way of living for every client is different. It’s a very tangible experience, and there’s a sense of empowerment to it. Who is your fashion icon, and why? Somewhere at the top of the pantheon of exemplary personalities is Paul Newman. He was highly original. He was a cut above the rest and the epitome of cool. And the other individual I’m inspired by is Christopher Hyland, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing. His cool and nonchalant way of creative life always surprises me.
Stylist, trendsetter and founder of architectural firm Skaid Designs, Kish Dusharla can easily be defined as a creative genius, with a hint of crazy. His aesthetic sense is all about the bold, expressive and exotic and he is a huge proponent of out-of-the-box thinking. In an exclusive interview with GQ, he shares his thoughts on style and fashion trends and reveals how he manages to always keep his creative juices flowing
What does style mean to you? And how would you best describe your aesthetic sense? Style, for me, could be a strong concoction of memories, nostalgia and emotions that evolve over time. In a way, my style juxtaposes raw with refined. My aesthetic sense combines pragmatic and bold expression, no matter what the style. What about being a stylist do you enjoy the most? That would be the art of conversation. The study of exploring the personal
As a creative personality, how do you constantly stay inspired to keep your creative juices flowing? When you want to raise your level of creativity and innovation, you need to go beyond your medium. Being an artist in today’s culture is influenced by changing opinions, instilling values and translating experiences across space and time. Travelling always causes an uptick in my mind’s ability to be a more inspired version of myself. Creative funk cannot be acquired by vegetating in a corner. I always immerse myself in the culture and surroundings of the place I’m visiting. Having been in the design community for so many years, how do you stay up-to-date at a time when trends are fleeting? A challenge in the current design community is to stay up-to-date with fast fashion and decide which trends are worthwhile and which are fleeting. I let the news find me. Today’s technology brings information to us. I research a lot on fashion, trends, design and art... and it always finds a way to thrust itself back. That said, I often wonder if we live in a society that is losing control over reinventing invention.
ON THE
Roster
p hy e THE
The new guard of menswear labels
CAPSUL
Karan Torani
The ladies behind Capsul intended to run an e-store, selling the coolest, underthe-radar labels from across the world. But they did much more. By giving India a taste of brands such as Chinatown Market, Carhartt, Stüssy (started in the early 1980s by skateboarder Shawn Stussy, who just collaborated with Dior), it meant hipsters and scenesters didn’t have to run to the West for stylish affordable streetwear to stand out.
There was a time when accessible Indianwear stores were full of basic kurtachuridars, not holy temples of botanical-printed chintz and silks, rooted in heritage weaves. Karan Torani’s not only changing the way we look at our homegrown costume, but he’s making sure you look hella good in it, whenever and wherever you wear his wares.
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Bhavisha Dave
Meenakshi Singh
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
TORANI
GQ PROMOTION
ADDING OOMPH TO
ETHNICITY An essence rooted in tradition, with eyes set firmly on the future – that’s what Indian ethnic wear label ‘Varsha’ is all about. Founded by Sri Gopal Bhaiya and helmed by his sons Yashraj and Rahul, Varsha offers the woman of today timeless traditional styles infused with a hint of contemporary elements When you think of women’s fashion, it’s a natural extension to assume that women are the faces behind the label. And this is fair, given that women, after all, understand their bodies best and know what flatters which body shape and type. But offering a refreshing take on Indian womenswear is fashion label Varsha. Founded as a distributor of shirting fabrics in Chennai in the early nineties by textile businessman, Sri Gopal Bhaiya, Varsha has evolved under the able watch of his two sons, Yashraj and Rahul, who have, together, moulded the label into one that spells grandeur and elegance in equal measure. At a time when the market is increasingly looking to the West for fashion inspiration, Varsha has made the bold decision to steer the other way, focusing entirely on ethnic Indianwear, giving it a contemporary spin and transforming it into a chic style statement. Shedding light on his plans for Varsha’s future, Yashraj Bhaiya reveals, “The success I envision for Varsha Fashion is a path filled with collaborative creativeness and great minds coming together to create something distinctive and awe-inspiring.”
Oozing elegance whilst maintaining versatile appeal, traditional Indianwear has a lot to offer the modern Indian woman...and Yashraj and Rahul were quick to recognise this. Thanks to their know-hows in age-old design techniques and keen insights into the latest technological developments in the fashion industry, the label has evolved to carve a niche for itself in the Indian fashion industry by offering apparel that showcases the best of creativity and innovation. Cutting-edge designs and expert craftsmanship at economical rates are mainstays of Varsha’s outfits, which offer the discerning wearer a different kind of modern luxury interwoven with familiar comfort. Under the expert guidance of his father and older brother, today, Yashraj sits at the helm of Varsha. Always on top of the hottest style trends – not to mention, the latest in digital tech – Varsha is the fashion label for the woman of today, who enjoys making a style statement that’s all her own, without compromising on comfort. Looking at Varsha’s beautifully crafted offerings, it is apparent that the three men behind the success of the brand have a complete understanding of both the Indian fashion market and the Indian woman...something that reflects in their label’s apparel.
“BUILD YOUR LEGACY & WATCH IT FLOURISH.” – SRI GOPAL BHAIYA
“USE YOUR VISIONARY COMPASS TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS.” – YASHRAJ BHAIYA
For more information, follow
/varshafashion
hyp THE
URBAN MONKEY Neon fanny packs, mini pouches and the coolest sunglasses to come out of India since Zeenat Aman’s iconic translucent heroes. There was a massive gap for a good and stylish accessories player in the local game, and Urban Monkey’s come all guns blazing to ensure you don’t have to look anywhere else.
Yash Gangwal
COUNTRYMADE There are many reasons to check out Sushant Abrol’s Countrymade – like the neutral Sushant Abrol menswear made using natural materials such as linen, khadi, cotton and silk blends. Then there’s the impeccable finish that makes casual clothes so refined you can wear them out, and formals so comfortable they feel casual. Or that every collection is driven by a story – his first one, Beyond The Clouds, inspired by a poem in memory of his late brother, Indian Air Force pilot Samir Abrol.
JODI MAN
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MARCH 2020
Karuna Laungani
Gauri Verma
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
Taking the indigenous hand-block print and translating it into the brightest, happiest shirt, bundi or kurta, Karuna Laungani and Gauri Verma are bringing a megawatt smile to your wardrobe. Think the clothing equivalent of an addictive upper – a pineapple, swan or blooming lotus to wear to work, or the next summer wedding you just RSVP’d.
ALMOST GODS There’s a fine line between wearing a tacky print and a statement maker – lest the former makes you look like an extra on the set of a 1990s Bollywood film. Luckily, Almost Gods gives you a range of sexy streetwear with tigers and punching gloves stamped on hoodies and shirts to add a little zing to your life.
Dhruv Khurana
hype THE
SON OF A NOBLE
We’ve been privy to the Nicobar world that throws up a relaxed vibe (you probably already own an antique tray or flamingo-printed pillow) to make you feel like you’re on a perennial holiday. Now with the introduction of menswear, the chill factor follows you round the clock with sunshine yellow florals for a constant Goa state of mind. 116 —
MARCH 2020
Simran Lal
Raul Rai
Mani Shanker Singh
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
NICOBAR
When summer hits hard and you squirm at the thought of wearing even one layer, think of Son Of A Noble as your saviour. The lightest shirts and draped menswear that would make you break into song and dance bang smack in the middle of a scorching afternoon.
CI GUC
hype THE
TOD’S
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MARCH 2020
n O BERLUTI
DI FEN
ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
There’s no argument that all your beloved belongings need room to be stored neatly in a bag and not spilling out of pockets – whether you’re out and about, running errands or on a two-night trip. But, as we head into Spring/ Summer, what does that bag look like right now? It could be a woman’s purse, a beastly backpack or even a nifty pouch in hues that move from rich chocolate brown to a glowy tan.
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This Jaipur-based WATCH manufacturer is the country’s first bespoke watchmaker, according to brand founder Gaurav Mehta.
120 000 —
FEBRUARY 2019
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN
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Sabyasachi on the global high street. That’s a bold new move. Weirdly enough, I started with ready-towear, which only later morphed into couture. Then, people kept telling me that we love your clothes but can’t afford them. So when H&M approached me, it allowed me to correct price points and go back to doing prêt, which I always wanted to do. Now, I can connect with a global audience, over and above my existing fan base. What was your mood board? It started with an honest approach to what’s affected me culturally. Fleetwood Mac. Woodstock. Glastonbury. The 1970s. Kolkata, where I grew up. Safaris. Robert Redford. Simple, classic but with a sprinkling of bohemian. The collection has many personalities and moods while being genderfluid – I didn’t want to limit the wearer or blindly follow a Western dialogue. If you see the jewellery and accessories, you can’t pin them to one gender, because it’s about your personality and individuality. But you do have a few menswear pieces. I prefer menswear that’s pared down. White, indigo and khaki are my go-to colours. My love for a white Henley shirt is unmatched. I like fluid clothes that you can interpret and wear however you want. That’s what you’ll see in the collection and I do think women could wear it as much as men. When you first came into fashion, you did a lot of menswear. Is that coming back for your label? Yes, in a big way and going forward with menswear, I’m going to keep it quite elastic, like a plain bandhgala but with provocative details and neon hints. Tailoring and simplicity are of prime importance; classic silhouettes that will last a lifetime. Is sustainability a big talking point for you? I don’t like buying clothes for the heck of it and believe that one should invest smartly and use and reuse clothes. As much as sustainability starts with a designer, the onus is also on consumers for how and where they shop.
Which designers do you follow? Dries van Noten, he’s a poet and culturally forward. Kim Jones is another new favourite who has a modern eye and is aggressively putting out very intelligent menswear. In India, Anamika Khanna’s clothes are very Anamika and the person that she is. I like that and am trying to follow that mindset. What’s your personal style? Comfortable athleisure. I am a relaxed person and this collection was an insight into that. I’m a huge fan of Birkenstocks and sneakers. Take the pleated, oversized khaki trousers from the collection. I asked all the models who worked on the campaign to pick out their favourite piece and all 20 chose the khaki pair.
(From left) Sabyasachi behind the scenes watching the finishing touches on a visor/ bandana hybrid; Jewellery for one and all
What’s 2020 looking like for Sabyasachi? We’ll be opening a store in New York in September. It will stock beautiful, nomadic modern menswear that’s both culturally and sexually provocative for the global consumer. My anniversary collection, which I showcased in 2019 to celebrate 20 years of the brand, is a good benchmark for what the clothes will look like. I want to create footprints in a lot of markets and find ways to expand the business. I’m also keen on doing men’s fashion week abroad and expanding my bridal collection globally. Today, I have a lot of confidence in how to function. What’s the recipe for being a successful designer? Hard work, art, commercial proficiency and communication are interlinked, and they all need to be equally strong. It’s what modern businesses are built on. MARCH 2020
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SKAGEN
2020 FALSTER 3 SMARTWATCH
Skagen’s looks, as always, ensure that your piece of wearable tech has broad spectrum sartorial compatibility. Which means you can still monitor your calorie-burn count, do a few laps in the pool, cycle through your playlist, while continuing to wear something more understated and traditional than the rest of the smartwatches out there. It’s still got the chops to record the various metrics that hold your life together, but as far as its cleancut, rawhide leather or steel mesh strap-equipped looks are concerned, it doesn’t like to shout it out much.
h
Pi el Power For a brand named after petrified, prehistoric remains, Fossil’s new range of smartwatches is at the bleeding edge of the future
W
ith global projections for the market size of smartwatches estimated to be upwards of $25 million by 2025, it isn’t a stretch to assume that wearable tech is on its way to conquer prime real estate: millennial wrists. They’ve got more gauges and monitors than a steampunk spaceship, so the illusion of control that comes from being over-informed, has never been stronger. Case in point: Fossil’s new Gen 5 smartwatches. They’ve gone bigger, thanks to a 1.28” AMOLED display, with a sharper resolution. They’ve also gotten much faster with a Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset, which makes the watches more economical with battery usage. Naturally, the upgrade makes its way to all the Fossil brands, so you have plenty to pick from, depending on the aesthetic you prefer.
Who says three buttons are no longer fashionable? The Garrett’s chunky exterior is interrupted by a threebutton format. The one in the middle serves as a rotating crown, while the two flanking it serve as customisable “shortcuts” taking you straight to the Fossil app or the category section of the watch, should you choose to configure it that way. The matte gold and black versions stand out from the pack, though the latest additions also offer dive-watch inspired straps and looks.
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MARCH 2020
DIESEL
2020 DIESEL FADELITE
If the standard smartwatch look is too clinical and sober for your taste, take a gander at Diesel’s Cyberpunk Fadelite series. Featuring a smaller (43mm) case size, a translucent, hard-shell nylon case in four colours and some funky animations such as weather effects and rotating planets to play around with should your PubG marathons kill your phone’s battery. WORDS: PARTH CHARAN
FOSSIL
2020 GEN 5 GARRETT
POWERPLAY
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O OUU INSIDE
He may not fit the stereotype of a Bollywood leading man,
but Kartik Aaryan is proving to be a formidable force in the Hindi film industry. Arun Janardhan meets the ambitious, affable actor and discovers his secret sauce for success
PHOTOGRAPHED BY MANASI SAWANT STYLED BY RAHUL VIJAY
126
COAT BY COUNTRYMADE. T SHIRT BY PÉRO. NECKCHAIN BY SABYASACHI X H&M
COAT BY YAVI. SHIRT BY RAJESH PRATAP SINGH. JEANS BY SABYASACHI X H&M. WATCH BY ARMANI EXCHANGE
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K
K Kartik Aaryan’s booming laughter fills the vanity van. It’s the kind of laughter that comes from deep within, without the trappings of starry artificiality or polite subtlety. His whole body shakes when he cracks up, easily, frequently. It’s a significant gift to have, to be able to laugh at your own statements, to find joy in silliness and everyday occurrences like he does. Seated on a narrow chair next to the mirror, he shifts continuously and seems uncomfortable, unable to be still. Maybe it’s the smallness of the seat or that he just can’t wait to get out of this situation – of being interrogated. Aaryan dips into his packet of crisps occasionally, because he has not eaten in a while. If his laughter is stripped clean of pretence, so is his manner of speaking – a mix of Hindi, English, slang and familiarity. There is no overbearing staff carrying a bowl of home-made salad or a box of nuts like any selfrespecting six-packed star would have. Dressed in a white T-shirt, denims and sneakers, Aaryan could very well be the everyday John Doe, but his is the story of the boy next door who became a movie star by playing the boy next door. The 29-year-old has a fairytale story. Starstruck at an early age, the son of Gwalior-based doctors dreamed of becoming an actor, but was too afraid to talk about it. When Kartik Aaryan Tiwari was old enough to get to college, he went through the rigours of entrance exams, like a regular middle-class Indian teenager, with the intention of becoming an engineer or doctor. But, there was an additional target – to get into a college in Mumbai, one step closer to the world of cinema.
Having cracked the selections at DY Patil University in Navi Mumbai, Aaryan arrived for his B.Tech in biotechnology, but remained absent from college. Instead, his days were spent travelling from one audition to another, from one rejection to the next, from Belapur to Andheri, Santacruz and Bandra. He couldn’t get an expensive portfolio shot, so he used pictures taken on cell phones, cropping out his friends from them even if an occasional hand or head would slip in. By the second year of college, some stray advertising gigs came his way, with the first one earning him a cheque of `13,000 – after TDS deductions, he remembers. He relied on modern tools, Facebook and Google, to look for keywords such as “actor required”, “casting calls” and “auditions”. One of them was Luv Ranjan’s project Pyaar Ka Punchnama for which Aaryan auditioned for about six months, he claims, before he landed the part. His final audition, done in one shot, was a five-and-a-half page monologue, a five-minute on-screen vent, which is part-hilarious and part-misogynist, but made him fully famous. The Punchnama contract also gave him the courage to call home and admit that college was a smokescreen to get into the movies. Both he and his mother got emotional when he called her from Andheri station, because she realised then her son was not going to be an engineer. “It was the most awkward and honest conversation I had with her. She started crying and I started crying, it was very filmy,” he says. “She thought it was a gamble, which it was. I never had a Plan B. I had to drop out of college, which was a big deal. Then the Main Hoon Na thing happened, where I decided to go back to college to complete my studies.”
AARYAN COULD VERY WELL BE THE EVERYDAY JOHN DOE, BUT HIS IS THE STORY OF THE BOY NEXT DOOR WHO BECAME A MOVIE STAR BY PLAYING THE BOY NEXT DOOR
AARYAN HAS A BUCKET LIST THAT KEEPS GROWING, THE NUMBER OF MAGAZINE COVERS HE WANTS TO BE ON, THE PRODUCTS HE WANTS TO ENDORSE, THE KIND OF FILMS HE WANTS TO DO
JACKET, TROUSERS, SNEAKERS; ALL BY DIOR MEN. SHIRT BY NICOBAR. RINGS BY INOX JEWELRY
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Ironically, the return to academics happened when shooting Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 about three years later. “I didn’t go to the convocation, but I am now a padha likha [educated] B.Tech,” Aaryan says, guffawing.
I
f Raayo Bakhirta as the brooding, chain-smoking Choudhary, and Divyendu Sharma as the gullible, short-tempered Liquid, stole the show in Punchnama, it was Aaryan who went the distance. After a series of unremarkable films, which included Akaash Vani and Kaanchi, the 2018 hit Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety propelled the actor to stardom. Luka Chuppi and Pati Patni Aur Woh followed, making him the template for the middle class, small-town character in boyish comedies, or “urban [characters] with desi tadka,” as he likes to call them. More monologues followed, like in Pati Patni Aur Woh, in which he rants about marriage with the kind of lines that would make for ideal WhatsApp forwards – besides the controversial line on marital rape, which was removed. Earlier this year, he felt he had arrived, as an Imtiaz Ali hero in Love Aaj Kal, which, however, met with a tepid response. Further ahead are Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and Dostana 2, with the only exception in his resume being an action film with Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior director Om Raut. “I don’t stick to a genre,” Aaryan says of his ten-film career. “If I get a good script [in a particular genre], like four thrillers in a row, I’d do them. The conscious decision is to do content mixed with commercial [fare] that’s relatable.” What makes Aaryan such an attractive proposition that big name film-makers like Ali, Karan Johar and Anees Bazmee would want to work with him? How can someone who does not meet the stereotype of a Bollywood star – he is 5’8”, slim and does not have familial connections in the industry – be the leading man to pedigreed Sara Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor? What makes teenage girls and middle-aged women swoon for the man with impeccably coiffed hair and a toothy grin? “My relatability is the reason for my success, I think,” he says gently. “What works for me is that I’m also the audience,” he adds, trying to summarise a contorted thought. “I’m in the age bracket that watches the kind of films I make. I don’t know what’ll happen after 5-7 years. I hope I don’t lose that touch and continue to speak their language.”
JACKET, T SHIRT; BOTH BY ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA. SUNGLASSES BY GIORGIO ARMANI AVAILABLE AT SUNGLASS HUT
SUIT BY PAUL SMITH. KURTA BY TISA STUDIO. SNEAKERS BY DIOR MEN. RING BY SABYASACHI X H&M. RING BY INOX JEWELRY. SUNGLASSES BY GIORGIO ARMANI AVAILABLE AT SUNGLASS HUT HAIR: MILAN THAPA MAKE-UP: VICKY SALVI ASSISTANT STYLISTS: SELMAN FAZIL, SHAEROY CHINOY PRODUCTION: MEGHA MEHTA, ANOMALY PRODUCTION LOCATION: ROYAL WESTERN INDIA TURF CLUB
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A
A ,, EVEN AARYAN HASN'T REALISED HIS POTENTIAL AS AN ACTOR,,, SAYS AZIZ. ,, A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK HE HAS ARRIVED, BUT HE ,, IS JUST BEGINNING “In a world where actors beef up and come out of gyms, project a style personality, Kartik is devoid of that pretence,” says Mudassar Aziz, who directed him in last year’s Pati Patni Aur Woh. “The audience thinks he is one of us. He is not ashamed to show his flaws.” One of Aaryan’s strengths lies in an abundance of self-confidence, the actor believes. When he was auditioning for roles, he would write to casting directors saying he was the man they were looking for. If he didn’t get a part, he would convince himself that it was their loss, not his. Aaryan felt the validation of his fame when Luka Chuppi was being shot a couple of years ago in Gwalior, his place of birth, and he was advised against staying at home for fear of getting mobbed. He had another surreal moment when he was invited by his school to hoist the national flag, watched by his father and sister.
“I love it [the attention],” says the actor. “I want it to continue, and to be permanent, but it’s temporary. I’d feel sad if this stops suddenly. I’ve been a people’s hero and I am their person. The unconditional love comes from there. When people ask for selfies, for example, I think, take as many pictures as you want, frame my picture. I like that. People are interested in my personal life and I thank them. Otherwise, I would be worried.” He does not believe fame has changed him – it may have altered the way people around him perceive him. The moment Aaryan was able to afford a place in Mumbai last year, he moved his parents here, while his sister joined later after finishing her MBBS. Unlike many other young men itching to get out of parental control, Aaryan was only too happy to have mum around. “Once in a while, I keep running away. But I really like them,” he says, cracking up for a few seconds before calming down. “I love them, in fact. I can’t stay without them. They give me stability. My grounding is because of my parents – they scold me for the smallest of things.” He hasn’t been sleeping much recently, he admits, though it does not show except for a feeble attempt to postpone this interview. He believes his insomnia is because he thinks about work all the time. “Even when I’m eating these chips, I’m thinking if I can endorse this,” he says, almost choking on it with laughter. “For this interview, I want to give you a line that will, you know... That thought never goes away... Previously, 24 minutes used to feel like too much, now 24 hours are not enough.” Aaryan has a bucket list that keeps growing, the number of magazine covers he wants to be on, the products he wants to endorse, the kind of films he wants to do, including working with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, among others. “I keep filling up my bucket list, adding to it, It’s endless. Otherwise, it’s no fun, if I’m satisfied with one hit or two. That’s boring.” “Two things I loved about him,” adds Aziz, “is that he keeps the atmosphere on set extremely light, like we’re not doing anything serious. He strides in with an element of ‘let’s enjoy the day’. Secondly, even Kartik has not realised his potential as an actor. At this point, his understanding of commercial comedy is as good as any other actor. A lot of people think he has arrived, but he is just beginning.” Aaryan himself is “not capable” of thinking too far ahead, but there is one thing his confidence allows him to believe about the future. “I will be at the top,” he says. He pauses just a moment for that to sink in and then bursts out laughing, wholeheartedly, infectiously.
Power
Mercedes-Benz is ready to claim virgin territory with its first, premium, all-electric car sub-brand in India 134 —
MARCH 2020
The EQSʼ design is still in conceptual stages
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN
Phase II of the governmentʼs Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) has `1,000 crore earmarked for setting up electric charging stations in the country by 2022. Fiscal support in the form of discounts will be provided on the basis of battery size.
WHIZZ KID
The electric revolution has permeated pretty much every corner of the developed world – it’s a revolution you couldn’t have missed, even if you were in cryosleep for the last decade (but in case you did, wake up and sniff the fast-dissipating petrol!) EV sales across the globe have steadily been on the rise, with the total passenger EV count exceeding five million in 2018. While the US, Europe and China have witnessed widespread adoption of the technology, the Indian car market has remained resolutely unconducive to change. Despite detailed floor plans and schemes drafted by the government, including a National Electric Mobility Mission Plan drafted in 2013 (that aimed to sell 15 million EVs by 2020), it would appear that customer sentiment towards electric cars is yet to thaw out. The reasons are manifold – a patchwork (read: barely existing) electric-car infrastructure, cost of batteries and the lack of a figurehead or a halo brand to enhance the allure of something that runs on the
same power source as your iPad. The first two issues are entirely dependent on policy implementation and heavy investment by the government (with a required `10,000 crore expenditure budget detailed out by FAME India’s Phase II Scheme). The third problem is being looked at by Mercedes-Benz – first movers in India’s luxury car game, and now the first luxury car brand to bring an all-electric sub-brand to the country. Merc has chosen to call it “EQ” signifying “electric intelligence” and it has made its debut at a time when the fuel-powered automobile appears increasingly at odds with the world around it. With all global car manufacturers being hauled over coals, so to speak, for their alleged role in making planet Earth a wheezing asthmatic, there’s been a tectonic shift of focus, with more R&D being pumped into electric technology. However, instead of populating the brood with a gradually increasing number of electric cars, the brand has chosen to carve out a separate division, which, according to Mercedes-Benz India MD Martin Schwenk, will account for 50 per cent of the brand’s lineup by 2030. The claim happens to be backed by some pretty solid statistics – at present Mercedes-Benz cars are 85 per cent recyclable and 45 per cent of Merc India’s energy needs will be met through renewable resources, courtesy the 4,000-odd solar panels it has installed at its plant.
EQ DISSECTED
The EQ brand essentially has three segments, looking at everything from purely electric, battery-driven cars (EQ) to hybrid-electrics (EQ Power) and mild-hybrids (EQ Boost) – the latter being something of a misnomer given MARCH 2020
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While most luxury car manufacturers are yet to officially launch an electric product in the country, Mercedes has one bullet in the chamber, ready to be fired
THE EQC 4MATIC
Despite its large grille and tapering eyes, the EQC isn’t out of place in Merc’s existing SUV fleet
136 —
While most luxury car manufacturers are yet to officially launch an electric product in the country, Mercedes has one bullet in the chamber, ready to be fired. It’s called the EQC – a crossover SUV, powered by an 80kW lithium-ion battery (with a quick charge option) powering two electric motors whose combined power output adds up to an AMG-rivalling 408bhp along with peak torque of 760Nm – eat your heart out Teslas of the world. Built on a scalable platform designed specifically for EVs, the EQC carries a reasonably large footprint, but the car, which is due for an Indian launch in April, has a claimed range of upto 471km. With the EQC as a sort of gateway drug to the wonderfully hassle-free world of electric mobility, Merc has chosen to give it a familiar face, with exterior features that can immediately be linked to its fossilfuel powered counterparts. It’s much the same on the inside, with the cabin bearing a striking similarity to the likes of the E-Class. Not exactly an assault of neon glare, sparsely buttoned dashboards with holograms. It might be an electric car, but
MARCH 2020
what the brand aims to convey is that it’s still, very much a Mercedes.
THE FUTURE OF THE FUTURE
Mercedes-Benz India has announced that its follow-up act to the EQC will be a van, dubbed the EQV, essentially the electric counterpart to the V-Class. Following this, the brand has confirmed it will be launching ten electric models globally, although just which ones are coming to India, remain unconfirmed. The most arresting visual to come out of EQ’s promotional catalogues is undoubtedly that of what Merc has dubbed the EQS – the car that will eventually succeed the formidable S-Class. With the underlying EQ architecture being similar for all their upcoming products, it can be tweaked to suit pretty much any genre, be it sedan, SUVs, coupes or convertibles. The EQS, is still, very much a concept, and so it possesses a slick, crease-free exterior, and the perfectly glossy interior that spells paradise for acute germophobes and technophiles alike. Electric mobility still has a long way to go in India. Customers aren’t exactly queueing up outside showrooms for fear that they might soon be queueing up near charging stations. Intra-city travel still remains an anxiety-ridden endeavour, even for those with the luxury of a designated car park with its own charging station. However, big moves by big brands go a long way as a show of faith, that electric mobility is no longer on the fringe of mainstream transportation. Once the initial teething troubles are sorted out, it’s going to make things a lot simpler and a lot quieter.
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN
WHIZZ KID
to vehicles equipped with a 48-volt electric battery usually tending to start-stop duties upon ignition. Given that the jury’s still out on electric being a long-term solution, all future fuel-cell powered projects will also fall squarely under EQ’s territory. The electric powertrains will be tweaked to serve individual models and customer needs.
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R E P O CO
R E P 0 0 R T
RETRO MOBILE
ne he redli t o t y a pops aw d n a s e l k ps, crac a n s a i d In back in h c t a h t tes The hot
138 —
MARCH 2020
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN
t’s always good to return to a Mini Cooper’s cabin, not because of the glowing Union Jack on the glove box (it’s a British icon, we get it!), but because of its optimum use of simple geometric shapes punctuated by retro flourishes. Those upright A-pillars offer a cockpit-like view and despite having grown considerably in size, the formerly diminutive Mini Cooper has a way of shrinking around you – the hallmark of even the warmest of hatchbacks. There’s a big, round centre console with neon swirls of colours setting the mood while suggesting that this is a hip car that doesn’t like to take itself too seriously. It’s an antidote to the more clinical, no-nonsense forms of performance luxury that continue to set the aesthetic norm. Sure, the screen is now touch-enabled, there’s a wireless charging dock (which, annoyingly enough, doesn’t accommodate full-sized phones) and a slick new gear lever, but it’s still got those chrome toggle switches, swathes of red and round-edged bits that appear to be thoroughly baby-proofed. Then there’s the presence of that small but highly significant “JCW” badge. That’s because this Cooper is the “John Cooper Works” edition – a balls-to-the-wall hot hatch displaying the name of the man who transformed the Morris Mini into the icon we know and love – along with a sizeable dollop of extra power. Which means it’s not just a special edition, or a variant with a JCW exhaust, this is the real McCoy. Packing 231bhp (a considerable increment over the 189bhp-powered Cooper S), this is a rorty little hellraiser, now equipped with an eight-speed automatic with a torque converter to help manage the 40Nm of extra torque this thing makes.
The formerly diminutive Mini Cooper has a way of shrinking around you – the hallmark of even the warmest of hatchbacks
The Mini Cooper JCW, with all its accoutrements, will set you back a cool `43.5 lakh (ex-showroom)
So, how does that extra power convert into real-world performance? Like all Minis, the JCW continues to be tuned for proper performance, occasionally at the expense of everyday comfort. The suspension is still on the stiffer side, even in Mid mode or Comfort setting. The gear shifts don’t seem quite as seamless as with the dual-clutch unit until you slot it into Sport where things go temporarily red and the Cooper, in this JCW trademark shade of green, downshifts into “leprechaun from hell” mode. Power delivery isn’t frantic or unmanageable but still quite explosive. It is suffice to say that every bit of it feels useable as the car darts in and out of empty stretches of tarmac in the city. Despite being front-wheel-driven, the JCW feels highly tractable and light-footed, egging you to be as playful with the throttle and steering input as possible. And because it’s front-wheel-driven, it rarely runs the risk of spiralling out of control. Straight off the bat, the extra power makes its presence apparent, particularly when you shift using paddles to consistently stay in the meat of the powerband. Certainly, paying `9.43 lakh extra for the added power, is quite the premium. But performance has never been cheap and the Cooper JCW benefits from BMW’s immaculate engineering. It remains a truly fun driving instrument, reminding you once again why hot hatches exude performance with the charm and a sense of abandon that even the most superlative of performance cars do not. Despite its bells and whistles, despite being festooned with Union Jacks, the Mini Cooper JCW manages to bring – and I’m loathe to use this term here – an almost go-kart like approach to driving, proving the “little car, big power” is still the way to go – be it on road or track. MARCH 2020
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THE GREAT MADURAI
TRAIL ...
Samar Halarnkar digs into the culinary delights of an ancient town P H O T O G R A P H E D
B Y
V I V E K
M U T H U R A M A L I N G A M
I
t is 9am on a balmy Sunday morning, and the worn, marble counter-tops of two gloomy dining rooms in Amsavalli Bhavan are beginning to fill up again. The 7am sitting for breakfast is over, and the cooks are preparing for the second. John Brito, a mathematics teacher, waits patiently – as he does every Sunday – for uthappam and aatu (goat) kidney curry. “It’s very medicinal, very good for health,” says Brito, a genial man in a plain bush shirt and neat moustache. “And it’s very tasty.” In time, as the kidney and uthappam start to make their appearance, the restaurant starts to fill with women in silk sarees and men in lungis, their foreheads adorned with tripundra, three lines of holy ash. There is little conversation, as the faithful tear off large chunks of uthappam and soak it in a dark, thick curry made from coriander, cumin and hand-ground masalas. Outside, on the dusty streets of Madurai – made dustier by chaotic excavation work for “smart city” projects – people wait in queues at the doors of what appear like ration shops for subsidised grain. I soon realise these are mutton shops, where every part of the goat is on sale, including the kidneys, liver, blood, spleen, brain, small intestines, testicles and penis. These traditions are not unfamiliar to me, brought up as I was in a family that is willing to eat any of god’s creatures. Trotter soup, leftover keema, fish or mutton curry with dosa or bread
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were staple breakfasts for years. But I could not recall kidney curry for breakfast, brain and meat balls for lunch and intestine for dinner, which is what I had on just my first day in Madurai, not forgetting the side dishes of mutton biryani, quail and some chicken. At Amsavalli Bhavan, the wait for kidneys can be long, and the servings are limited because, well, a goat has only two. Regulars book kidneys in advance. When kidneys run out, and the second sitting ends, Amsavalli gears for its next offering, kozhi chillarai kozhambu, a soup made from the chicken’s “inferior parts”, such as the feet, neck and wings. “If I get a cold, I don’t take medicine,” says Shrikumar Arjunan, a local writer who loves his town and takes a morning off to guide me. “I come here and have the soup.” By 10am, the load men come in, those who heft sacks in the nearby onion market. The protein-rich soup, at `100 a pop, gives them energy for the day ahead. By lunch time, tourists flock to Amsavalli for its most famous offering – a fragrant mutton biryani. So it is all over Madurai, where myriad kinds of people pack the messes, bhavans and restaurants to eat more than I have seen other Indians eat. An entire economy has developed around food: a sprawling spice market, the largest meat market in the southern districts and employment for thousands as waiters, cooks, butchers, traders and farmers. Men dominate these jobs, but in most eateries, the women in the family supervise the roasting, mixing and grinding of spices, or make the basic curries. The city has a tradition of eating that goes back, locals say, more than 2,000 years, steeped in culture, tradition and the pure joy of eating heartily. People eat all the time, even at 2am, when you might find them enjoying their blood roast – a bit like dark, scrambled eggs. This, after all, is thoonganagaram, the city that never sleeps. The meat-eating tradition even spills over into Diwali – indeed, it peaks, with markets open all night. “Diwali morning breakfast is to die for,” says Praveena Mukunthan, who, along with her husband S Mukunthan, their friend Athideerapandian P and others, runs Foodies Day Out, which customises food tours in Madurai. All three are engineers, founts of knowledge and enthusiastic proponents of their native food. Keema, liver fry and mutton chukka (sukka) with idlis and dosas are Diwali specialities, and no Diwali is complete without idli and mutton curry. Religion plays a strong part in the endurance of Madurai’s meat-eating tradition. Animal sacrifice is common, especially at the temples of Aiyanar, a guardian deity who guards the outskirts of villages. At one such temple, a priest shows me the blood-flecked stone where goat and chicken are sacrificed. White rice and kari kozhambu, or mutton gravy, is famous at the temple, Madurai Pandi Muneeswaran Kovil. One of the biggest local festivals is the Meenakshi Thirukalyanam, a 10-day celebration of the celestial wedding ceremony of the city’s patron goddess Meenakshi (a form of Parvati) and Sundareswarar or Sundaresan (Shiva). Lakhs pour into Madurai, many 142
of them meat-eating pilgrims, appropriate for a meateating goddess. To those from the north and west of India, Madurai’s meat-eating customs can be a bit of a shock. They come here primarily for religious purposes, for blessings from Meenakshi Amman, whose temple is arguably the most famous one in the South. “Eating [meat] is a very deeprooted culture,” says T Saravanan, an editor with the Daily Thanthi newspaper. “A practice nearly 3,000 years old.” Here in Tamil Nadu, where 97.5 per cent of the population is non-vegetarian, according to government data, there is no contradiction between being religious and eating animals. Of those animals, the most preferred is the goat, and here in Madurai, they have elevated that preference to culinary art, religious practice, health benefit and refined conversation about goats and spices.
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t is past noon, and the conversation in the six-seater “A/C room” at Sri Janakiram hotel does not appear particularly refined. A group of swarthy men are talking loudly and laughing uproariously, as they await their Sunday feast. Next to them, a man and woman – apparently fresh from a temple visit – and their two pre-teens are quietly wolfing down mutton biryani, mutton kola urundai or keema balls and suvarotti gravy or goat spleen. I have the same, but with the spleen replaced by a curry of ayrameen (a tiny mud-dwelling creature that has been declared the state fish, washed in milk while alive, so the mud is drawn out). The light fish is a welcome accompaniment to the biryani and the deepfried keema balls, which are made from soft, pounded meat. Nothing is too spicy. The pre-meal process at Janakiram is the same as at every eating house in Madurai, whether humble or higher. There are no plates anywhere. All food is served on a banana leaf. Sprinkle water on the leaf, wash it gently and set the leaf back. When you finish, simply close the leaf. It is an eating culture that reflects a closeness to the land. Janakiram is situated in the middle of a heaving scrap market, which springs up every weekend, offering everything from obsolete CDs, broken fans to mobile phone covers. Madurai eateries coexist with diverse surroundings, the contrast between bedlam on the street and the sublime food, striking. Down another anarchy-ridden street, the Mukunthans, Athideerapandian, Vivek Muthuramalingam (the photographer) and I push our way into the Anbagam Mess. There are no tables available, and so we go somewhat upmarket to the half-century old Hotel Rajeswari, with noticeably more spit and polish than the “messes”. Our second lunch
(Clockwise from right) J Malaiarasan, 45, chief chef of the Arumugam mess prepares for the lunch crowd. He’s studied up to fifth standard but has an innate feel for fresh spices and ingredients; At the 57-year-old Chandran Mess, the meats and curries to be served with “meals” are set in motion at 8am every day by the owner’s wife; As the night wears on, the parotta masters up their game at the Madurai Bun Parotta Kadai, a street stall that makes an airy, parotta, their own invention; Urundai kozhambu, meatball curry, at Hotel Rajeswari, started half a century ago as a small mess outside the district court
PEOPLE EAT ALL THE TIME, EVEN AT 2AM, WHEN YOU MIGHT FIND THEM ENJOYING THEIR BLOOD ROAST – A BIT LIKE DARK, SCRAMBLED EGGS. THIS, AFTER ALL, IS THOONGANAGARAM, THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS
soon unfolds: Urundai kozhambu, or keema ball gravy, fried country chicken curry, a bit – no more than a spoonful – of beans and brain curry, washed down with a thin post-meal buttermilk, characteristic of Madurai. Rajeswari’s manager wears a tucked-in, monogrammed shirt – rare in Madurai – and says he came here about 15 years ago after working with the Taj group. “You see, this is a hi-fi hotel,” says Kathirkamavel, 63. But beyond his suave manners, the steel tables and uniformed waiters, Rajeswari follows Madurai tradition. There is no deep freezer at Rajeswari, the meat is bought fresh every day, the spices are selected, roasted and ground daily on a grinding stone, supervised by the owner’s elder sister. He speaks evocatively about the mundu chilly that they use – grown in the black soil of Ramnad district (now Ramanathapuram) without chemicals – of natamali, the coriander seed from Kovilpatti district. At the entrance, I meet Sunder Rajan, 70, the owner, a genial man with a white beard. He’s here every day at about 6am and leaves about midnight, standing below a line of gods and goddesses, garlanded with marigolds, greeting every customer who walks in. “You are the owner,” he says. “I am only labour.” JANUARY 2020
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Owners are deeply involved with Madurai’s food business because most of them started on roadsides, under trees or from push carts. They stay close, stay involved, are proud of what they have created and are mindful of their reputation. So, you can be assured of minimum standards of quality and taste wherever you go. However, innovation has crept into these fiercely guarded traditions. Some have added on “Chinese”, and others have created entirely new dishes.
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young man with muscular arms kneads a pile of refined white flour, adding oil and pummelling and pushing it until it is a smooth pile of dough. A colleague helps him break out fist-sized balls, which they expertly flatten with their palms, pushing it in different directions. Then, in the blink of an eye, they flip the extensions in, sealing in an air pocket. The resulting “bun” is fried in oil on a large griddle, flipped over and is ready for an ever-growing line of customers. It is 8pm, and, as evening traffic flows beside us, we settle in on the roadside steel benches of Madurai Bun Parotta Kadai. Near us, owner K Karuppanan, 54, oversees his now-iconic eatery from a wooden table and chair, open to the sky. Thirty years ago, this was a tea stall that morphed into a parotta stall. Ten years ago, says Karupannan, one of his “parotta masters”
suggested “we knead the dough and make it like a bun”. We eat the bun parotta with quail, mutton chukka and a kothu parotta – minced on a griddle extravagantly with eggs, meat, curry leaves and onion. Our second dinner is down the road at Konar Kadai in Simmakkal, a restaurant famous for its mutton egg dosa, another Madurai invention. An egg is broken atop a fat, round dosa, quickly scrambled, layered with spiced keema and flipped, liberally sprinkled with oil as it cooks. We eat it accompanied with rib-meat stock, brain stock and stir-fried small intestine. Do not expect chutney or sambar here. The owners of Konar Kadai began as butchers. They come from a pastoral, cattle-raising caste called the Konars, who run many “Konar messes” in Madurai. Konar Kadai started, like many of Madurai’s iconic eateries, in the 1960s and has since expanded to three branches and a larger menu, which includes nenju (rib) gravy, paya (trotters) roast and spleen roast. The kitchen is spare, with just one cooking counter, since the gravies have been pre-made by the ladies of the family at home. As always, the entrance of Konar Kadai is graced with a pantheon of Hindu gods, who also occupy pride of place at the eatery where I have my best meal the next day. Under the watchful and welcoming eye of M Ramachandran, 68, a grave – I find out later he is worried about an ailing grandson – but solicitous man, we have the ubiquitous but always superlative mutton biryani, marrow-bone curry, the softest meat balls and a crab meat and curry leaf omelette. We are at the Chandran
PM Mohan, 59, the spice king of Madurai, the man with the big moustache, made his fortune selling spices that go into the food that feeds the ravenous city. He says he supplies 300kg of chillies to the city’s eateries. He began with a push cart. Today he has 15 stores. Large gold rings adorn his fingers and a heavy gold watch, his wrist
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WHERE TO GET YOUR FIX IN MADURAI FOODIES DAY OUT 82206 05069; foodiesdayout.com; booking@foodiesdayout.com AMSAVALLI BHAVAN 42, East Veli Street, Periyar, Madurai. 045-2262 1196 ANBAGAM MESS 36, E Veli St, Nelpettai, Nell Pattai. 94434 56458 ARUMUGAM MESS 72, 69, State Highway, 130, Alagar Kovil Main Rd, Mellur, Chinna Chokikulam 98421 02777
CHANDRAN MESS No.79-A, Alagar Kovil Main Rd, Mellur, Tallakulam 98421 09900 HOTEL RAJESHWARI 1, Subburaman Street, Gandhi Nagar, Near Anna Bus Stand 045-2252 8882 AMMA MESS 136, Alagar Kovil Main Rd, Mellur, Tallakulam 98421 45900 SRI JANAKIRAM HOTEL No 99/49, Tamil Sangam Road, Madurai Ho 98652 42744 MADURAI BUN PAROTTA KADAI Avin Signal, Managiri, KK Nagar 95663 65165
Mess, which started life in 1963 as a canteen for college students (`32 a month, for three meals a day) after Ramachandran’s father was thrown out of Burma when the sun set on the British Empire. His wife comes in at 8am daily and organises the crucial sorting and grinding of masalas. Ramachandran rises at 4:30am every day, so he can buy fresh seafood by 6:30am. The crab for the omelette must be fresh. Madurai’s omelettes are showcases of culinary innovation, with one of the most famous of them all, Amma Mess, offering a version stuffed with bone marrow. When we visit, Amma Mess is closed, as many eateries are after Pongal, during which time staff return to their villages for the annual harvest. What is the secret to Madurai’s mutton? Some say it’s the goats. Some say, it’s the carefully sourced and combined spices. Others say it’s the water of Vaigai river, which bisects Madurai, but is now rarely more than a trickle after it was dammed. “Madurai water, Number 1, best,” says Suresh Kumar, 45, son of the owner of the Arumugam Mess, which began under a tree, its clientele hard-drinking men. Kumar typifies the second generation of eatery owners. He has an MA in Public Administration – although he confesses he got it “just for the degree” – but like his father, he is at the market by 7am, picking the best mutton. “Madurai goats have unique taste,” says Kumar, who points to their softer, fatter mutton. Many in Madurai talk at length about the varieties of goats the town consumes: white goats of Thirumangalam or the small, tender ones of Rajasthan. Madurai does not care for sheep, says Mukunthan, the Foodies guide, because sheep eat only grass, goats eat everything, lending more taste and texture to their flesh. Arumugam’s chief cook, J Malairasan, 45, believes the secret lies in rejecting modern cooking aids. A fifthstandard pass who has been cooking for a quarter of a century in a narrow, soot-blackened kitchen, Malairasan points to a bucket-sized mortar and wooden pestle, filled
with masses of tomato, hand-pounded every day. “Mixies generate heat and increase the chances of spoiling and souring tomatoes,” he says, explaining the importance of customer satisfaction. “Feeding people gives me immense pleasure. When they say, your food is good, that is what we work for.”
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here is no shortage of explanations for why meat made the traditional way is so popular in Madurai. I think it’s about a loyalty to, and hunger for, fresh traditional food, the ability to make or wait for it, the mass rejection of fast food, marketing and an abiding belief in health benefits. Indeed, anyone I speak to, from semi-literate cook to writer to butcher, explains how various offal are good for health. One morning at the meat market – open seven days a week – I meet Syed Mohammed, 55, after he has slaughtered 35 goats. “The siluppikadal (the small intestine) is very good for people with ulcers and acidity,” he says. With such justification and demand for spare parts, prices tend to be high. Spleen is expensive, up to `1,800 per kg (compared to `800 for mutton). Madurai’s thriving food economy eventually flourishes because of the city’s storied culinary traditions and as the epicentre of Sangam literature, which emerged from three literary academies in the city. This literature is some of the oldest in the Subcontinent, tracing its origins to about six centuries before Christ. These works, only some of which survive, appear to tell us that present-day Madurai is more culinarily conservative than it used to be. In his seminal 1994 book on the culinary history of India, Indian Food, the late food historian KT Achaya notes that Kapilar, a famous Brahmin poet-priest of the Sangam epoch, speaks “with relish” about drinking and eating meat. There were four names for beef, 15 for the domestic pig, and among the animals consumed were porcupine and iguana. Writers discussed in detail how meat could be cooked, and poets waxed lyrical on the pleasures of animal flesh. In the Purananuru, among the most important of Sangam-era poems, there is, as Achaya reminds us, this verse celebrating the basting of a roast: Like drops of rain that fall in the full lake: Drips down the fat from the meat served up. As night falls on modern Madurai, the fat is served up on large oil-laden griddles. At the spice market, a series of street stalls offer blood roast, spleen and other wonders. Exhaust fans strung from poles alongside the griddles, suck up the oil spray and fling it onto unsuspecting consumers. No one seems to mind. The moon is above, and god – clearly – is in his heaven.
SHIRT, TROUSERS; BOTH BY CHOLA. SHOES BY SALVATORE FERRAGAMO. SUNGLASSES BY LOUIS VUITTON
CLEAN S L ATE The evolution of the humble white shirt reaches its peak with edgy, avant-garde iterations put out by India’s creative heroes
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SHIRT BY LOVEBIRDS (OPPOSITE) SHIRT BY RISHTA BY ARJUN SALUJA. SHOES BY SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
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SHIRT, TROUSERS, MASK; ALL BY RAJESH PRATAP SINGH. BOOTS BY CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN (OPPOSITE) SHIRT BY CHOLA. SUNGLASSES BY LOUIS VUITTON HAIR & MAKE-UP: AKGUN MANISALI/ INEGA ASSISTANT STYLISTS: SELMAN FAZIL, SHAEROY CHINOY MODELS: ABHAY RAWAT, PEKA FANAI/ ANIMA CREATIVE MANAGEMENT PRODUCTION: MEGHA MEHTA 155
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PHOTO: DARIO CALMESE. STYLIST: ANATOLLI SMITH. GROOMING: MELISSA DEZARATE. SET DESIGN: GIO MJAVANADZE
Y L L I B BECOMING
Billy Porter, fashion trailblazer, activist and fierce performer, who is only one letter away from EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) status, has a lot to say about how he got here and how much further he will go WRITTEN BY ASHLEY C FORD
“Its ’ insideofyour
authenticity. Theverything ’ thateverybodys tellingyou iswrong Isexactlywhat youhavetobe”
IMAGE: SHAVONNE WONG
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he day of our interview, Manhattan danced into her finest season – autumn, no question – and it was lovely enough to wear a cool-weather coat over warm-weather clothes. We were already running a few minutes behind when Billy Porter breezed into the Soho House New York lobby, draped in various neutral shades, earphones still attached to his smartphone, and all eyes moved toward him. If he noticed, he didn’t stop to acknowledge the scrutiny beyond a beaming apologetic smile. He kissed both my cheeks, requested three minutes to finish his conversation, and blew back out onto the street. For weeks, I’d been reading, watching and listening to any and every interview he’d ever done. Somewhere along that road, I’d gotten the distinct impression that anything could happen when you’re meeting Billy Porter. I’d cleared my day for this interview and made an offering to the gods of adventure. Just in case. Approximately three minutes after his exit, Porter re-entered to greet me again, a family reunion in one glowing man. We moved through the crowd toward the elevators and up to the hotel restaurant to claim our brunch reservation. Our waiter walked us to a corner table where the constant hum of dining room chatter calmed a bit. After settling in, Porter explained that he’d just come from an appointment with designer Thom Browne that ran a little late. He smiled and thanked the waiter for his iced latte, then leaned in toward me. In a tone heavy with excitement and a hint of exhaustion, he went on. “You know, when I get off airplanes now, sometimes TMZ is waiting in LA. I’m going to be dripping in Thom Browne, walking through the airport.” He sat back in his seat but kept talking with his hands. “I’m not hiding. Not going to be in a baseball hat. I’m not doing that. I’m going to be proud of what I fucking worked for. I’m here; I’m not hiding in anybody’s corner. Yes, it’s me; I’m not taking no pictures; God bless you.” My first engagement with the work of Billy Porter came via one of my closest friends, the founder of Broadway Black, Andrew Shade. We were both in that murky period between making art in college and figuring out what being an artist post-college even means, when he’d encouraged me to check out the music for a show called Kinky Boots. Soon the soundtrack was in regular rotation on my daily playlist. In 2014, most of my friends who were also in their mid-20s were simultaneously mid-crisis. The fantasy of the lives we had assumed we’d been working toward collided with the reality of student loans, failed relationships, climbing rents, falling salaries and being openly mocked for our failure to launch. Kinky Boots offered a safe space to a sad, effectively unempowered bitch just looking for a good time, and Billy Porter’s voice offered the most useful kind of shelter. The strong kind.
For his performance as Lola in the show, Porter was awarded a Tony for best leading actor in a musical in 2013, and then a Grammy for the cast soundtrack in 2014. Since that time, he’s written a play, directed another play and continued to act. In 2019, his turn as the character Pray Tell on the critically acclaimed ballroom-culture drama, Pose, from FX, earned him an Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a drama series. Soon audiences can catch him in a supporting role in the movie Like a Boss, starring Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne. He told attendees at the New Yorker Festival last fall that he’ll be playing the fairy godmother in a new live-action adaptation of Cinderella alongside Camila Cabello and Idina Menzel. At 50, he never seems to stop, and he has no plans to try. With all of Porter’s visibility these days, they all want pictures. Paparazzi, fashion photographers and fans alike. Everyone wants to know what Billy Porter wore yesterday, and what he’s going to wear tomorrow. Who could blame us? He wore a Randi Rahm embroidered and pink-lined cape on the Golden Globes red carpet so well that it almost feels more accurate to say he displayed it to us. Then he slid through the Academy Awards in a fitted tuxedo gown designed by Christian Siriano, and was the picture of poise and regality. The gold catsuit he wore to the campthemed Met Gala last year, designed by the Blonds, keeps me up at night. In a good way. Porter has said he wanted to be “walking art” and every red carpet is an opportunity to rise to that occasion. Since he’s a reliable source of a Fashion Moment, I asked if he’s always loved clothes this much, and with this clarity of vision. He took a moment to think. “It was always an expression for me. I always wanted to do something different. I always wanted to express myself in my clothes differently. And I always had great taste. And expensive taste.” He laughed to himself, a memory coming through the fog. “When I was 10, I could walk into a store for my Easter suit and scan the suits [he mimics pointing to one], and it would inevitably be the most expensive suit in the store.” His family insisted he had “champagne taste on a beer budget” and informed him that he would have to get a job. A young Billy Porter accepted this wholly: “I understood they couldn’t give me the shit I wanted.” As he understood it then, the only thing that could get him closer to what he wanted was being close to the people who already had it. And those people were most likely not like him. “I’m the kid who wanted to go to private school and couldn’t get in because I wasn’t smart enough to get the full scholarship. I could only get a partial one. I wanted to go to private school because that’s where the white people went, and white people were successful. That’s all I understood. I need to be with the white folks because they’re successful. I need to align myself with the white people and the black 161
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illy Porter wanted to sing. He wanted to be known as the “male Whitney Houston”, but after recording music for a few years, he felt he had been rejected by the music industry due to a perceived lack of masculinity. “In the music business in particular, I failed as somebody else. There’s nothing worse. I didn’t know that that’s what I was doing. I wasn’t intentionally doing that. But at the end of this really long, arduous journey inside of the 1990s R&B music world, I ended up with nothing and had failed doing what they told me to do.” The costume had gotten his foot through many doors, but it would not see him into the next phase of his dream. Porter sees his newfound mainstream fame as an opportunity to try again. Without the costume. “I have been blessed to have a second chance.” A second chance to make art as himself. All of himself. “Flamboyance was a silencing mechanism for a long time with me. Flamboyant was code for ‘You’re a faggot, and we don’t want you.’ Flamboyant was a word that was used to marginalise me and pigeonhole me and keep me in a box. You get in the room, you give them flamboyant and then they come back to you with, ‘He’s too flamboyant.’ And that’s when I started to want to murder people.” One day, while watching an Oprah TV special featuring Maya Angelou and Iyanla Vanzant, he heard one of them mention the importance of shifting
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your mindset toward service to others. Then, one of the three claimed, the rest will work itself out. Something in that thought clicked for Porter. From across the table, his eyes grew wide with mock realisation: “It’s inside of your authenticity. The very thing that everybody’s telling you is wrong is exactly what you have to be.” Porter is not a “social media person” and he’s hired a 29-year-old to help him manage his profiles on various platforms, but every once in a while, he still reads the comments. Not all of them are supportive of his brand of authentic art, but he sees those kinds of critiques as proof of his power, and the power of us all when we make art from the centre of ourselves. After his red carpet photos from the 2019 Academy Awards flooded social media, some commenters referred to him as the singular cause of emasculation among black cis-het men. Porter rolled his eyes and recalled his response. “I said, ‘First of all, if your masculinity is that weak, it should be attacked. Secondly, I didn’t know I had that much power. But now that I do, you can expect I’ll be wielding it every fucking chance I get. Every chance. It’s a calling, it’s a ministry, it’s intentional. I know exactly what I’m here for. And that is power.’” Power is what Porter believes far too many artists don’t understand. “We are the arbiters. We’re the ones that create change because it’s creative in how we talk about it. We open hearts and minds in a different way. It’s not didactic, it’s not finger waving. Whether it’s visual art, whether it’s music, whether it’s storytelling in a book, whether it’s storytelling on film and screen – why do you think we’re attacked first by tyrannical governments? Why do you think that that’s the shit that’s cut first? They know.” This could be why the American government allowed the AIDS epidemic to run rampant through artistic communities in the 1980s and 1990s. This is also what fuels Porter to make art in an industry that still seems to overvalue everything but the authentic artist. “We lost an entire generation. But for me, I like to live in the present and in the positive. And what it’s left inside of me is the fire to tell the story and to fill the void. That’s why it’s taken me so long. I was at the tail end of those artists. I was a young’un, learning from those people who died. And I’ve had all of this time to take” – he held his thumb and pointer finger less than half an inch apart – “the morsel of what I had learned and let it gestate, and grow, and grow, and gestate and grow, and gestate and grow. And it’s our turn. It’s time. I’m a part of the first generation of gay men, ever, who get to be out loud and proud in the world. My generation is the first. Bitches are scared. And they should be.” By the time we finished brunch, Porter was ready to be off to the next event. We made plans to visit the Apple store (a new iPad for writing his memoir while travelling), then end our day at Native Ken Eyewear + Opticians for an appointment. Afterward, when he hugged me goodbye, he added, “Go love yourself today.” I’m happy to report I took his advice. All of me.
IMAGE: SHAVONNE WONG
people who understand that. And before I became artsyfartsy bohemian in my style, around senior year, I wore a tie and a blazer to school every day and made public school my own private school.” You could say he learned the value of a costume, and how it could serve him in the pursuit of his dreams, early on. It would be a long time before he learned the value of the person beneath the suit. The path to learning his value was in no way smooth. “The heteronormative construct that masculinity is better silenced me for many years. It was like my masculinity was in question before I could even comprehend thought. I was sent to a psychologist at five-years-old because I was a sissy and my family was afraid. I love them. They didn’t know. It was a different time.” Did he remember those meetings with the psychologist? He nodded. “I was in kindergarten, being taken to this white man in this big building to just talk to him for an hour every Wednesday after school.” He stopped and took another sip of the latte. “That’s one of the first memories I have as a child, that something’s wrong with you and you need to be fixed based on ‘You’re not masculine enough’. I carried that with me for my whole life until, like, two and a half minutes ago. You know?”
HOW GUCCI DE SIGNER ALE SSANDRO MICHELE KICK-STARTED FA SHION’S
ENDERLESS R E V O L U T I O N Reshaping our vision of masculinity – babushkas, baubles, evening gowns and all – is a lot easier with friends like Harry Styles and A$AP Rocky
THANK ALESSANDRO MICHELE FOR ONE OF THE GREATEST STYLING CUES OF 2019 – A$AP ROCKY’S MONARCHIST SILK BABUSHKAS. THE 48-YEAR-OLD CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF GUCCI INTRODUCED A SIMILAR STYLE AT HIS 2017 WOMEN’S CRUISE SHOW, HELD IN THE CHAPEL OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY, AS A STRAIGHTUP HOMAGE TO THE STAID SCARVES OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II HERSELF. MICHELE IS ALSO THE SOURCE OF RYAN GOSLING’S 1950S PROM SHIRT AT THE 2017 ACADEMY AWARDS, DONALD GLOVER’S GROOVY VELVET SUITS, AND THE ONGOING JARED LETO-SAINCE THAT HAS TURNED THE MUSICIAN-ACTOR AWAY FROM OFF-DUTYANGELENO STYLE AND INTO A GENTLEMAN OF THE CANYON, KAFTANS AND ALL.
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WRITTEN BY STEFF YOTKA
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he list of men who flock to Michele for suiting, loafers, baubles and kerchiefs seems endless and on it are names as diverse as Swiss tennis star Roger Federer and Harlem designer and hip-hop world legend Dapper Dan. What’s more, many of these men are equally as likely to sport a Gucci dress as they are a Gucci loafer. At the 2019 Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala, Leto showed up wearing a Michele-designed red evening gown and carrying a model of his own head as an accessory. Michele’s version of masculinity has become fashion’s predominant one: an idea not just of men in skirts but of men embracing loveliness, textural richness and glamour – things that in the 20th century were reserved largely for women. Gucci’s celebrity friends and collaborators are helping to popularise this aesthetic in the mainstream and, as a result, allowing the designer to push himself further and further in restyling the modern man. Michele lets out a big, bright laugh at the recollection of Leto’s Met Gala look. He has just returned from summer holiday and is gazing down past his chestnut locks into the FaceTime screen, tapping his bulky rings on the table in Gucci’s Rome design offices for effect. “Jared is a person who loves to experiment,” Michele says. “When I saw him with the evening dress, I thought that it was so unbelievably beautiful. At the end of two days of big conversations – on the phone, in his room, during dinner – I said, ‘Choose the red dress with the head. You will be like a Shakespearean character.’ ” The Bard is an apt reference for a designer who stages his runways more like theatrical events than typical catwalk fodder. It’s a precedent set by his debut collection, for Fall 2015. At that time, Michele was acting as an interim creative director, given just five days to make something
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1. A$AP Rocky’s babushka is equal parts rap legend and Queen Elizabeth II. 2. Elton John is more than just a Gucci muse – he lent one of his album covers to the brand for a 2018 collab. 3. Tom Hiddleston does tradition with a twist in Gucci’s Cruise 2017 tailoring campaign. 4. Soko proves a wide lapel works on ladies too. 5. Alessandro Michele and Jared Leto see eye to eye on menswear. 6. Harry Styles channels the New Romantics at the 2019 Met Gala. 7. Omari Hardwick, Dapper Dan and 21 Savage in
custom Gucci x Dapper Dan looks at the 2019 Met Gala. 8. Styles and a farm friend model Gucci’s advanced menswear. 9. Donald Glover in caramel-hued Gucci at the Solo: A Star Wars Story NYC premiere. 10. This toile suit was one of Styles’ earliest Gucci flexes, from all the way back in 2015. 11. Jared Leto at the 2019 Met Gala. 12. Hugo Goldhoorn debuted Michele’s vision to the world for Fall 2015. 13. Ryan Gosling in a 1950s prom shirt at the 2017 Academy Awards.
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IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (A$AP ROCKY, ELTON, SOKO, HARRY, OMARI, DAPPER DAN, 21 SAVAGE, DONALD, JARED, RYAN), COURTESY OF GUCCI (TOM, ALESSANDRO, JARED, HARRY, HUGO)
to present on the brand’s Milan runway after the unceremonious departure of Gucci’s then creative team. What he dreamed up was nothing short of revelatory. The flaxen-haired model Hugo Goldhoorn opened the show in a red silk pussy-bow blouse and pooling lank trousers. Bracelet-sleeved suits in deep emerald, Young Turk velvet-trimmed coats and a new iteration of Gucci’s banker-bro loafers, stripped of their backs and lined with Einsteinian tufts of kangaroo fur, followed. Less than five days later, Michele (and that pussy-bow blouse) was officially appointed the creative director of Gucci. Five years later, the shift in menswear started by Michele is seismic, with that first eerily pretty ensemble predicting a half-decade of luxurious revolt. Michele designs both the menswear and womenswear collections simultaneously, pulling ideas from one to the other. “It’s more interesting, sometimes, to work on menswear. You can really shout, because menswear is more rigid,” he says. “When you try to manipulate the codes of a man’s wardrobe, you can do something really new. It’s pretty interesting. I started thinking about an idea of beauty that, for me, it doesn’t belong to men or women. It’s almost the same; that’s why I put a few men’s looks on women and the reverse. You can be more masculine showing your femininity.” In the five years since the fateful show that ordained Michele as one of fashion’s utmost provocateurs, he has staged an overthrow of power in the world of menswear by fashioning new male identities. Michele’s conquest occurs with a stitch in place of a sword. That stitch can hold a hem flared out, so when Donald Glover slinks across a stage, he does so with a glamazon kick. It can hold the shoulder of a jacket tight and high, to relay a schoolboyish charm, or it can secure a button on a silk blouse – even if it looks best undone. All together, these are luxuriously made garments that allow guys to liberate themselves from antiquated codes. No longer must you choose between powerful and cool. Michele’s work allows for the conveyance of a full range of characteristics: sensual, coy, intellectual, menacing. It’s a sharp pivot from Gucci’s last heyday, in the 1990s, when Tom Ford popularised hot-bod hedonism with bare chests and tight trousers. But to call Michele’s fey fashion radical in the year 2019 is to misunderstand the designer’s mission. The clothes beloved by both Sir Elton John and Snoop Dogg are, even at their wildest, classically minded. “I understood,” Michele says, thinking back to his first show, “that there is nothing more new than an old beautiful code.” He continues: “Dress codes belong to politics; society pushes people to obey the rules – it’s easier. I think that we must completely break from that. Sometimes people feel more comfortable in other types of dress, in other lives. A pop star or an actor, they can be a guide for other people if they show something different.” No one is a better embodiment of the Michele method of masculinity than Harry Styles, the British capital-P, capital-S Pop Star with a voice and a visage that can launch a thousand shrill screams wherever he goes. “I think Harry is the perfect expression of masculinity,” Michele says of his friend and collaborator. “He is so relaxed in his body, and completely open to listening to himself. He likes to play with dress, with hair. I think
” THE ERA OF BEING MASCULINE ONLY IF YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC SUIT – IT’S OVER. ALSO, WOMEN NEED MEN WHO ARE MORE CONNECTED WITH A WOMAN’S WORLD“ that he is really the incarnation of a pop icon of the next generation. He’s the only one on the market, I think, that is really in contact with his feminine part. He’s sexy and he’s handsome.” For the same Met Gala that Leto attended dressed as an Elizabethan diva, Styles wore a sheer black pussy-bow blouse with high-waisted trousers, as an homage to the New Romantics of the 1980s, part-David Sylvian and part-David Bowie. “The friends that I choose in my career, they really reflect my idea of beauty, so I think that they are really connected with their feminine part,” says Michele. “For me, it’s more masculine. A man is really attractive when he listens to his feminine part.” From the cult of Aphroditus to Jimi Hendrix, men in skirts or ivory poet tops were never out of style, really. But the magic of Michele’s reappropriation of history is that he does it not verbatim, but with the hazy, almost-rightness of a dream, styling togas over classic grey wool suits or 1980s track pants with swaggy 1970s blouses. As such, Michele’s Gucci promises that to lace up a pair of Ultrapace sneakers or step into its monogram slides is never a sacrifice of self in the name of style. The mash-up of references, the diversity of products, allows for everyone from Offset to Bradley Cooper to find a Gucci piece to love. “It’s not that I want to see all men in a gown. That’s not what I think,” Michele explains. “It’s just that I love the idea that I can be surprised by the personality of someone else. It’s nice to play with your life, to play with codes. I think that the era of being masculine only if you have a specific suit – it’s over. Completely over. Also, women need men who are more connected with a woman’s world.” It’s this openness to explore every corner of the fashion world that has made Michele’s tenure at Gucci so exciting to watch. Over the first five years of his leadership, Gucci’s business was a fast-growing juggernaut. “I think the more [the garments and accessories] are special, the more they will be saleable,” he says. “When I talk about the collection and I show it to the merchandising department, they understand that fashion must be something unique. The era that you just want to buy a black pair of trousers without reason is over. Fashion can really talk to you. It’s not just buying something, it’s connecting to a strong image that suggests something to you. I know that is very complicated.” Michele laughs. “And it’s not always easy to explain in English, but I always try to be sincere with my position.” The image Gucci champions, in the end, isn’t one image at all. Michele has held a mirror up to our world, reflecting the tension, the sexuality, the fragility of being a man in modern times back at us with passion, rigour, symbolism and love. As you move, the Gucci reflection of you moves too. As the world changes, Michele adapts. 167
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Having a highly specific diet has gone from dinner party faux pas to fully common sense.
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So we talked to some of our favourite wellnessminded people about how they feed themselves – and how it makes them feel.
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Brunello Cucinelli The Fashion Designer Who Believes Simple, Communal Meals Feed the Soul Today, if you visit Brunello Cucinelli’s company headquarters in the medieval Italian village of Solomeo, you won’t see any of his employees hunched over salads or fastcasual bowls on their desks at lunchtime. At 1pm, everyone takes a 90-minute lunch break at the brand’s cafeteria, where they commune over wine and a threecourse meal typically of pasta, grilled meat, fish or eggs and fruit prepared by local cooks with ingredients grown on his land. Cucinelli didn’t have much growing up. On his family’s farm in Umbria, breakfast consisted of bread and milk straight from the cow, lunch was tomato sauce with homemade pasta (they couldn’t afford to buy spaghetti) and for dinner, game that they had hunted. In his family of 13, food and company held equal importance. “There was a great respect for eating,” he recalls. “It was a rite. We would all sit around the same table, and everybody would tell a story.” Now the founder and CEO is a billionaire, thanks to his namesake company built on ultra-luxurious cashmere sweaters and sprezzy Italian suits, yet he still has an
almost religious reverence for the Umbrian way of eating from his youth: humble meals with family. “It was really very, very simple food, but still, I have it in my heart, in my mind, in my soul,” he says. Cucinelli follows the advice of the Benedictines, some of whom lived in Umbria centuries ago. “In the Benedictine culture of this Umbrian region, the recommendation is not to eat too much in the evening,” he says. It’s a piece of wisdom modern eaters are just starting to catch up to. Cucinelli’s meals, while uncomplicated, are made with premium fresh produce from local gardens around Solomeo. “It has always been said that in Italian cuisine, every dish must contain not more than three ingredients or flavours,” he says of his devotion to simplicity. “Today, we grow our fruits, our vegetables, the way we did 50 years ago. We do it according to nature. We don’t add anything chemical. Everything happens with respect and harmony with creation.” Even on workweek days, he takes a short nap after lunch and encourages his employees to do the same. To Cucinelli, meals aren’t just fuel but sacred rituals, places where great questions are debated and stories are shared. “Our soul needs to be fed on a daily basis too,” he says, “as much as the body and the mind.” —SAMUEL HINE
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES (BRUNELLO, JEAN-GEORGES). IMAGE: EVAN SUNG (DAVID)
It was just a few years ago that you might have felt sheepish about warning the host of a dinner party that you are a pescatarian or asking a server whether a dish was, say, gluten- or dairy-free. Now, finally, the culture has changed. We are all free to let our freaky food flag fly. You have celiac? Tell us more! You’re vegan? How long and how do you feel? Dietary restrictions and food philosophies that used to garner eye rolls are now conversation starters. Today, more than ever, if you have the means, a vast array of choices – healthy ones – are on offer. You can pick from shelves of adaptogens, fermented foods and probiotics at your local grocery store. Eat a diet specified according to your dominant dosha. Or chow down on a vegan Beyond Meat patty at any number of fastfood chains when you’re on holiday abroad. We all have different needs. So we all eat different – and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just a matter of figuring out what’s right for you now. In the spirit of today’s eat-my-way ethos, we asked a spectrum of conscientious eaters how they feed themselves, and others, now. —MARI UYEHARA
Jean-Georges Vongerichten The Michelin-Starred French Chef With A Vegetarian Tasting Menu
David Zilber
The New York City-based, Alsatian-born Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who operates more than 30 restaurants around the world, has long been a sovereign of fine dining. Now, he’s pivoting towards a new role – as a champion for plant-based eating. When I was growing up in France, the meals my family made were 65 per cent vegetables – a small roast pork to feed the entire family, vegetables from our garden and some grain. So when I opened Jean-Georges, in 1997, I wanted to do composed dishes – not just with meat and fish but with a lot of vegetables too. But back then, the availability of varied, fresh vegetables in New York was not that much. As time went by, though, more people were asking for a vegetarian menu, so we would create one à la minute using what we had in the kitchen. The availability at the Union Square farmers’ market was [also] improving – six different colours of carrots, five colours of beets. People wanted to eat more vegetables for their health and also for the sake of preserving nature. It takes two weeks to grow a radish, but two years to grow a steak. I opened ABC Kitchen in 2010, and abcV in 2017, because people were saying, “You are doing such a good job with cooking vegetables, why don’t you open a vegetable restaurant?” And in September [2019], I added a vegetable tasting menu to Jean-Georges. When you consider the array of vegetables and herbs and spices, there is no limit. You can be more creative. They make you think outside of the box, be more experimental and feel better about the future of the planet. It is more gratifying. And nobody needs to eat a three-pound steak. We are going back to what we are supposed to eat. I want to be a part of that future. —AS TOLD TO PRIYA KRISHNA
FITNESS & PROTEIN MORNING SHAKE At Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s extremely fashionable plant-based restaurant, abcV, the old bodybuilding protein shake gets a chef-y update. It uses a luxe mixture of six nut and seed butters (pecan, hemp, chia, poppy, almond and macadamia). But almond butter is a great substitute.
Noma’s Director of Fermentation Wants You to Ferment Everything Along with chef René Redzepi, Zilber co-wrote The Noma Guide to Fermentation, bringing cutting-edge R&D lessons from the worldrenowned Denmark restaurant to the masses.
It seems like more and more people are getting into fermenting at home. What’s going on there? People get really fucking fired up by the fact that there’s that holy-shit moment: “Wow, it’s not just sauerkraut, it’s not just kimchi, it’s not just pickles. It’s everything. I can make meat taste different if I want to. I can make fruit taste different if I want to. I can enter this pact with nature and interact with the food that I produce and eat.”
1 medium frozen banana ¼ cup plus 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk ½ cup frozen blueberries 1 tbsp nut butter 1 tbsp brown rice protein 1 tbsp hemp protein ½ tsp vanilla extract 1½ small dates Purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth. —MARI UYEHARA
You say fermented foods not only taste good but also feel good to eat. Why is that? You end up tasting the molecules responsible for satiety in a higher quantity than you would in a traditional meal. By outsourcing that act of digestion, your body assimilates them at a much higher rate. Meals at Noma always leave you feeling full but never bloated. [At] Noma, vegetables, because of fermentation, can be as delicious as any steak.
Fermentation has been around forever, but it seems like the world’s started talking about it more recently. The reason why it’s exciting is because things go wrong on occasion – the splendour of the natural world is the diversity and uncontrollability of fermentation writ large. When you understand that, it lets you ferment better and lets you move through the world more at peace, with more understanding, with more appreciation for the natural world, and that is a really fucking powerful thought. —CAM WOLF
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The Grill-Master Actor Who Became A Hardcore Vegan
Stand-up comedian and Curb Your Enthusiasm star JB Smoove used to joke that he was a “parttime vegan, full-time carnivore.” Two years ago, he went all in and hasn’t looked back since. My wife and I have been together for 18 years, married 15. She hasn’t had meat in over 27 years, I think. I’d be on that grill all day making food. People would come to my house for Thanksgiving dinner just because
I made deep-fried turkey. I called myself part-time vegan, full-time carnivore: Whenever she cooked, or if she wanted to go to a vegan restaurant, that’s what I ate. But when I was travelling on the road, I was on my normal country boy diet. New Year’s of 2018, I went full-time vegan. I knew it would make my wife so happy, because she’s been trying to convert me for years. For me it was like, “You know, I’m going to give it a try. Let me see how long I can go before my country boy kicks back in.” Then I realised how long I had actually been vegan, and I said, “You know what? I don’t think I got to go back.” I do it for diet. I do it for health reasons. I do it for animals, for the planet. For me, it’s a wide spectrum. I’ve always been tall and lanky. But I was at 93kg when I went vegan, and my body immediately dropped down to
Alexis Ohanian
The Steak-Eating Entrepreneur Who Switched to a Plant-Based Diet Before his daughter, Olympia, was born, Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and venture capital firm Initialized Capital, took a hard look at his health and began investing figuratively and literally in the plant-based movement, while taking notes from his wife, Serena Williams (also known as the greatest tennis player ever).
like 80kg out of nowhere. I’ve evened out, so right now I carry my body weight at 84kg. I’m comfortable at 84. That’s my body weight that I love, because I don’t get the little muffin top, you know? I look good in my damn suit. My buddies ride me. They’ll tease me while I’m on the road. We’ll go to a restaurant after-hours, and so they’ll say, “Come on, man, just one Buffalo wing, man. We won’t tell Shah” – my wife’s name – “we won’t tell her, man. Just take a nice bite, man. You can order the chicken and waffles, man. We won’t say anything.” But I will say this: They all are saying they’ve been going to the doctor or they want to lose some weight and want to get healthy. They all say, “You know what, man? I’m thinking about doing it for three days a week or trying it for a month or two and seeing how it works out.” —AS TOLD TO GABRIELLA PAIELLA
What about the birth of your daughter motivated you to re-examine your diet? My first come-to-Jesus moment was when we found out that Serena was pregnant. That’s when it really hit me. I don’t want to be an unhealthy, lethargic dad when Olympia wants to practise soccer in the backyard. I spent all of my 20s focused single-mindedly on my work – I made sacrifices to myself physically and mentally in the pursuit of that. Previously, there were weeks where I’d order a tonne of steaks on Instacart and put some spinach leaves on the side as my “side salad.” I’d eat that three, four, five times a week. Easy.
How did your diet change? Things really changed when I watched this early cut of The Game Changers to see if I wanted to get involved [as an executive producer]. In the film, a bunch of guys who look like me — big dudes — made a great scientific and athletic case for eating plants. Around the same time, I tried the Impossible Burger, and I was like, “Damn! This is good!” It wasn’t long after that I invested in it. Now I’m wholehog, so to speak, on the plant-based revolution.
Have you been able to take any pointers from how Serena eats? She’s on a whole different level when it comes to what she eats and how she exercises. But I’m always bugging her to drink more water, actually. For years, going back to when we were dating, I’d watch her go work out in the morning without eating food. It didn’t really hit me until I fell down some rabbit hole on YouTube and saw this video saying it’s actually better to run on empty. I looked over at Serena like, “Goddamn, you’ve been doing this the entire time and I’ve totally missed it. Do you ever eat before practice?” She was like, “No, never.” From that moment on, when I do show up in the gym, it’s on an empty stomach. For her, that’s business as usual. For me, it was an epiphany. —ALEX SHULTZ
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PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES (JB SMOOVE). IMAGE: CHRIS KEENEY (SATCHIDANANDA), RUSS ROE (ALEXIS)
JB Smoove
Satchidananda Panda
What are the benefits of time-restricted eating? Every organ has its own clock: There’s a time of peak performance, and there’s a time when they repair and rejuvenate. For example, every day we damage up to one tenth of our gut lining. (The pH of our gut is 1.5, so it’s very acidic. If you put that on paper, that paper will disappear in a couple of days.) So each night, our gut replaces somewhere between 7 to 10 per cent of its lining. And just as you cannot repair a highway when traffic is flowing, you cannot repair gut lining very well if there is food in the system.
The Scientist Researching Time-Restricted Eating (aka Intermittent Fasting)
These days, it seems like almost every other person – Jimmy Kimmel! Chris Hemsworth! Jack Dorsey! – is singing the gospel of intermittent fasting. But Satchidananda Panda, a professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of circadian rhythms, actually studies it on a scientific level, shaping how the public approaches intermittent fasting now and in years to come.
What are some of the misconceptions? You usually see people eating for eight hours and fasting for 16. But our studies on mice have shown that eating within a 10-hour window is very similar to an 8-hour window. In fact, 11and 12-hour windows will also give you a benefit – but not as much. Every nutritionist will come up with his or her own modification: “Skip breakfast.” “Skip dinner.” “Eight hours is the magic number.” But no long-term studies have been done on humans. We think ten hours is a sweet spot. Your last calorie of the day should be at least two to three hours before going to bed. When we eat, blood circulation goes to our stomach to absorb all the nutrients. That raises our core body temperature, which makes it difficult to fall asleep. And two to three hours before going to bed, our melatonin levels rise. That makes our brain sleep, but it also makes our pancreas [which produces insulin to help the body process carbohydrates into energy] go to sleep. There’s not enough insulin to absorb glucose when we eat late at night.
Has your own diet changed over the course of your research? Two things have changed for me since I started time-restricted eating myself. My food-anddrink preferences have changed. I used to love gin and tonics and rum and Cokes. Now I can’t drink hard liquor. And my salt threshold has changed, so I can’t eat pizza from certain shops I won’t name. Also, since I’m going through 14 hours of fasting, my breakfasts are bigger. And because of that, I almost never snack between breakfast and lunch. We see that in all of our studies on time-restricted eating: Many people eat fewer snacks. —clay skipper
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The Gluten-Intolerant Chef Who Welcomes Wellness Retreaters to the Great Smoky Mountains, US As the executive chef of renowned restaurant The Barn at Blackberry Farm, a 4,200-acre estate in the Great Smoky Mountains, Cassidee Dabney put the tiny Tennessee town of Walland on the culinary map with her elevated Appalachian tasting menus. But when she recently developed a gluten intolerance, she started to rethink how to manage the growing list of guests’ dietary restrictions without compromising the dining experience.
In the past, chefs have had the reputation of not accommodating dietary restrictions. But now chefs themselves seem to be more conscious about their diets. Last August, I was trying to lose weight for a television thing, so I went on a low-calorie diet, and I kept not eating gluten. When I tried to reintroduce it, my body was like, “No, you cannot have that.” Also, every January, the cooks pick a dietary restriction and live that way for a month. It is eyeopening. Two years ago, I went vegan. I was craving a burger and I realised that most veggie burgers have gluten in them. It sucks to go to a restaurant and have only four things on the menu that you can eat. I know how good it feels to be taken care of.
A$AP Ferg
The Touring Rapper on a No-Carb Diet We caught up with A$AP Ferg while on the road touring for his latest album, Floor Seats, where his daily routine revolves around performing high-energy shows and trying to kick his carb habit. I’ve been on a no-carb diet since I started my tour in early November 2019. When you’ve got two months on a bus, you can kind of contain everything. Your schedule is the same every day. So I like doing challenges when I’m on the road. This tour, I’m trying to reach a weight goal that I’m going to keep to myself. It’s been about a month, and I’ve already lost nearly 6kg. I’m 31 now. As you get older, you take more notice of the changes that are happening in your body and how it breaks down food differently. I’m into fashion, so I want to be able to fit into certain things. You can’t be jiggy in your clothes if you’re not looking and feeling right. 174
When did you start hearing about food sensitivities as a chef? I started working at Blackberry Farm in 2005, and very rarely did you hear about gluten intolerance. The change happened very slowly, but it felt like the next thing you know, you wake up and are like, “Oh, my God – no one can eat anything.”
Is that particular to Blackberry Farm? We are a resort, and we have lots of people coming in for different reasons. We normally have a vegetarian, a vegan and a regular menu. And we always call guests to ask if there are dietary preferences or allergies. If we have a kosher guest, we will get kosher proteins. If there is a latex allergy, we buy things that have never seen latex.
That seems like a lot of work. Accommodating all these restrictions usually adds about two hours to our work each night. But it’s good that people are more aware of what they are putting into their bodies and their reactions to it. And chefs are finally feeling empathy towards them. —PRIYA KRISHNA
Also, I want to be light on my feet when I’m performing. I’m onstage for four hours every night – for two months. I want more energy. My father died of kidney failure, so I’ve always been conscious of working out and what I put in my body to live longer and feel good. And everyone who’s a little stocky and naturally built like me has to watch what they eat. Sugar sticks to all the people in my family. I love candy. I love cookies. I love potato chips. I love all the bullshit food. But a lot of those carbs don’t do anything for your body, so it makes no sense to eat them. I have a chef that’s with me on tour, so I don’t have to think about where I’m going to get my next meal from. I usually do breakfast of an egg-white omelette with turkey bacon. Then I’ll have a protein shake after my workout. I will try to do fish or chicken with vegetables or a salad before my performance. And then after I perform, I’ll have dinner, which is another plate of protein and vegetables. I’ve also learned you gotta take your vitamins every day: fish oil, C-1000 antioxidant protection, vitamin D3 and omega 3–6-9 [a blend of the healthy omega-3, -6 and -9 fatty acids]. If I cheat, then the next day my trainer makes my workout that much more gruesome. You have to work it out. But I haven’t cheated yet. This is the best I’ve ever felt in my life. — AS TOLD TO CLAY SKIPPER
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES (A$AP FERG)
Cassidee Dabney
Jason Widener
The Erewhon VP Who Knows All the Next-Level Groceries for “Radiant Living”
4. Flora Pumpkin Seed Oil “When I get off my oils, I can feel it. Pumpkin seed oil is great for your prostate because it’s so high in minerals. There’s a consensus [that] there are parasites in your body. This oil is antiparasitic – it’s going to help get rid of that.”
LA’s cult health-food mini chain Erewhon has been the bleeding edge of wellness, drawing fit celebrities like Jake Gyllenhaal and the Goop queen herself, Gwyneth Paltrow. So we asked VP Jason Widener, who started out as a tonic-bar barista, about what we should be stuffing into our eco-friendly totes. —AS TOLD TO MARI UYEHARA
5. E3Live Blue-Green Algae “Your body detoxes naturally, but because of pollution and food today, our livers are overtaxed, our kidneys are overtaxed, our blood needs cleansing. That’s why you want blue-green algae.”
3. Pitaya (Dragon Fruit) “It’s a prebiotic. People use it in smoothies, and it feeds good bacteria and the body’s microbiome.”
6. Quintessential Quinton “Phytoplankton bloom is a pure source of food for whales. It’s highly nutritious and detoxifying.”
7. Maui Nui Venison “This is invasive deer – wild Hawaiian venison. It’s sustainable. It’s clean meat. Anything wild that’s foraging on Hawaiian foliage is going to be really good.”
2. Jing Herbs Cordyceps “It’s amazing for energy. It helps you absorb more oxygen. Athletes use it. It’s great for the immune system. With different types of mushrooms, you [get] a compounding effect.”
8. HealthForce Spirulina “Almost a complete food that’s alkalising, liver detoxifying and blood building. It has chlorophyll, the blood of the plant, which gives you energy – micronutrient energy.”
1. Jing Herbs Reishi “A medicinal mushroom that’s been used for thousands of years, it’s revered. It’s very calming but [also] raises consciousness and cognitive functioning.”
9. Medicinal Foods Chocolate-Covered Sprouted Almonds With Maca, Chlorella and Ashwagandha “A raw nut is much harder for your body to digest. After sprouting, it becomes more enzyme-rich and bioavailable.”
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Designer of the Year (Bridal) Sabyasachi Mukherjee
Condé Nast’s Alex and Namita Kuruvilla
Nykaa Fashion’s Adwaita Nayar Gupta and Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar
Disruptor of the Year Hrithik Roshan for HRX
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POWER LIST
Emerging Fashion Star (Female) Janhvi Kapoor
2019
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Nykaa’s Anchit Nayar
The stage was set, the guests seated, the evening ready for kick off. Vogue India was hosting its first ever fashion awards, co-created with Nykaa Fashion. The night had all the ingredients for an evening to remember, and it definitely delivered. Members from the fashion and film fraternity flew down from all over the country to be a part of Vogue x Nykaa Fashion The Power List 2019 — an evening dedicated to the Indian fashion industry. From the couturiers who have dressed the brides of the country, to the red-carpet mavericks and even the next generation of fashion breakout stars, prominent names were accoladed for their contribution to the growing industry. Held at The St. Regis Mumbai, the night was a meeting of minds between Vogue India, the last word in fashion, and Nykaa Fashion, the future of fashion. The concept, The Blend by Chivas, our associate partners for the evening came through as the India Modern theme. This was encapsulated perfectly in a pre-event fashion show by Global Indian designer Ashish Gupta. Guests, too, blended it into their dress code, resulting in various versions of the six yard staple and floor-grazing gowns with traditional embroideries and flourishes. Here’s a lowdown on everything that went down at the inaugural Vogue x Nykaa Fashion The Power List 2019.
e of the Year Most Stylish Coupl kh Khan Gauri and Shah Ru
Style Icon of the Year (Female) Anushka Sharma
Patron of Crafts of the Year Manish Malhotra for Mijwan
Designer of the Year (Menswear) Gaurav Gupta
Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Style Influencer of the Year Karan Johar
The stage all set
Style Icon of the Year (Male) Akshay Kumar Katrina Kaif
The Chivas bar
Vogue’s Priya Tanna
Stylist of the Decade Anaita Shroff Adajania Revivalist of the Year Sanjay Garg
Designer of the Year (Evening Wear) Shane and Falguni Peacock
Diva Dhawan and Rohan Joshi
Aditi Rao Hydari
Rising Stars of Fashion from left Kriti Kharbanda and Priyanka Bose present the award to Kunal Rawal (Menswear), Jayanti Reddy (Bridal Wear), Deepa Gurnani and Jay Lakhani (Accessories)
Mira Rajput Kapoor Designer of the Year (Resort Wear) Payal Singhal
Designer of the Year (Womenswear) Dhruv Kapoor with Neha Dhupia
Pernod Ricard’s Pulki th Modi, Vogue’s Dilshad Aro ra and Condé Nast’s Arjun Mehra
Vogue x Nykaa Fashion Sustainability Award Anita Dongre
e show with The models from th ta sh designer A ish Gup
Trailblazer of the Year Rahul Mishra
Couturiers of the Year Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla
Natasha Poonawalla Fashion Entrepreneur of the Year Masaba Gupta
Minimalist Designer of the Year Rina Singh for Ekà
Model of the Year Saffron Vadher
International Designer Maximalist Designer of of the Decade the Year Amit Aggarwal Mary Katrantzou
Fashion Legend Tarun Tahiliani
THE
As we roll into a new season of high luxe gear, designers across mega houses are reminding you that individuality is of primo importance and clothes are an extension of your unique personality
IS ON LEFT: PARKA, TROUSERS, BRACELETS, SLING BAG; ALL BY GIVENCHY ON RIGHT: JACKET, TROUSERS; BOTH BY BALLY
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FUTURE
IMAGE: DUMMY CREDITS
PHOTOGRAPHED BY PHILIP GAY
STYLED BY NIK PIRAS
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SUIT, POLO; BOTH BY EMPORIO ARMANI (OPPOSITE) COAT, SHIRT, TROUSERS, TIE, GLOVES, SOCKS, SANDALS; ALL BY GUCCI
FEBRUARY 2019
181 — 000
PARKA, POLO, TROUSERS, SNEAKERS; ALL BY BURBERRY (OPPOSITE) ON LEFT: JACKET, SHIRT, SCARF; ALL BY HERMÈS ON RIGHT: COAT, CARDIGAN, SCARF; ALL BY HERMÈS
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FEBRUARY 2019
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ON LEFT: JACKET, HAT; BOTH BY DIOR MEN ON RIGHT: VEST, CAP; BOTH BY 1017 ALYX 9SM (OPPOSITE) SUIT, SHIRT; BOTH BY PAUL SMITH GROOMING: TERRY SAXON/ARTISTS UNIT ASSISTANT STYLIST:KATHARINA KUEHNHOLZ MODELS: DYLAN ROQUES/16MEN, THOMAS RIQUELLE/SUCCESS MODELS, ETIENNE DE TESTA/MARILYN AGENCY FASHION EDITOR: NICOLÃ’ ANDREONI FASHION MARKET EDITOR: MICHELE VIOLA
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MILES AHEAD Travel and lifestyle programme InterMiles had an exciting launch at an event curated by CNT Hot Tables at Trèsind in Mumbai. The senior leadership and closest partners of InterMiles came together with Mumbai’s food and travel connoisseurs, including AD Singh, Rahul Bose, Maria Goretti and Shenaz Treasury, to relish a specially curated seven-course meal by Chef Himanshu Saini. The dishes were inspired by the brand philosophy of InterMiles and the chef’s extensive travel experiences. The gourmet affair ended on a high with some delectable guava chaat and strawberry chilli chaat masala. Trèsind Chef Himanshu Saini, CNT’s Divia Thani & Manish Dureja of InterMiles
Zameer Kochar of InterMiles
Prashant Hingorani & Riaan George
Rumana Hamied Deepti Kat
Sumitra Daswani
Anurita Ghoshal
AD Singh & Rahul Bose
Shenaz Treasury
The table set-up at Trèsind Kalyan Karmakar.
Vikas Chandak, RV Bhat, Susanne Steidl & Etihad’s Gavin Halliday
Maria Goretti
Roxanne Bamboat with Shipra Baranwal & Ajay Awtaney
Subrat Kar
Divyakshi Gupta, Karan Batra, Chrisanne Chandy & Beverly Avalani
Piyush Khandelwal
Farshid & Aarti Cooper
Ananda Biswas Shirish Bhandari & Kusal Roy
Rajeev Kumar
Amitabh Tewary
Gaurav & Ritu Taneja
Ashish Mishra & Ameya Kapnadak Kaushal Satam with Anil Prabhu of InterMiles
Pankaj Gupta
Trèsind’s special Maharashtrian thali served with lehsuni gosht, pandhra rassa & maska pav Shivani Jadhav
Janice Alphonso, Amol Date, Nayela Mulla & Subhajit Chatterjee
Rajeev Ahuja, Sanjay Sinha & Vikas Chandak
Nirav Vira, Vivian Chandru J & Parool Seth
Rizwan Bachav & Basant Tahiliani
Team InterMiles
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Where To Buy The products featured editorially have been ordered from the following stores. Prices and availability were checked at the time of going to press 0-9 1017 ALYX 9SM alyxstudio.com A Arjun Saluja rishtaarjun@gmail.com Alexander McQueen alexandermcqueen.com B Bally Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4053 4149 Berluti Delhi, DLF Emporio, 78761 23123 Beyond Designs beyonddesigns.in Bhaane Delhi, 88009 40700 Bloni Delhi, 78384 10413 Burberry Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4080 1994; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4652 9850; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4173 8825 C Capsul shopcapsul.com Christian Louboutin Mumbai, 022-4347 1787; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4101 7111 Chola cholathelabel.com Clarks Mumbai, 0222648 4550; Delhi, DLF Promenade, 011-4650 8023; Bengaluru, Phoenix Marketcity, 080-6726 6052 Countrymade studio@countrymade.in
PHOTO: BIKRAMJIT BOSE
D Diesel Mumbai, Helios Watch Store, 022-4941 9307; Delhi, Helios Watch Store, 011-4761 9480; Bengaluru, Helios Watch Store, 080-2556 7589 Dior Men Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4600 5900 E Emporio Armani Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4347 3211; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4604 0783; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4146 9333 Ermenegildo Zegna Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4347 1261; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4606 0999 F Fendi Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4604 0777 Fossil Mumbai, 022-4005 0207; Delhi, 011-4166
4016; Bengaluru, Phoenix Marketcity, 080-6726 6060 G Giorgio Armani Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4102 7122 Givenchy givenchy.com Gucci Mumbai, 0226747 7060; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4647 1111 H H&M Mumbai, Phoenix Marketcity, 022-3095 2103; Delhi, Select Citywalk, 011-4601 5381 Hermès Mumbai, 022-2271 7400; Delhi, 011-2688 5501 I Infinite Luxury Delhi, 011-4698 0000 Inox Jewelry Mumbai, 77388 59137 J Jaipur Watch Company Mumbai, 022-6632 5757; Delhi, 020-2605 9393
Jimmy Choo Mumbai, Palladium, 022-3027 7070; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4660 9069; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4173 8404 L Longines Mumbai, 022-6743 9853; Delhi, 011-4359 2848; Bengaluru, 080-4098 2109 Lovebirds Delhi, 011-4611 3980 Louis Vuitton Mumbai, 022-6664 4134; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4669 0000; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4246 0000 M Manish Arora Mumbai, 022-6723 1691; Delhi, 011-4107 6666; Bengaluru, 080-2556 6818 Mercedes-Benz Mumbai, MB Auto Hangar, 022-6612 3800; Delhi, T&T Motors, 011-4005 8300; Bengaluru, Sundaram Motors, 080-2207 0700 Mini Mumbai, Infinity Cars, 022-6714 5100; Delhi,
Deutsche Cars Pvt Ltd, 011-4726 0000; Bengaluru, Navnit Motors, 080-2234 1661 N Naushad Ali naushadali.in Nicobar Mumbai, 84480 95484; Delhi, 044-3008 3088; Bengaluru, 84480 95479 Nike Mumbai, 022-2646 1696; Delhi, 011-4150 2012; Bengaluru, 080-6726 6080 O OBEETEE obeetee.com Omega Mumbai, 022-6655 0351; Delhi, 011-4151 3255; Bengaluru, 080-4098 2106 Oris Available at ethoswatches.com P Paul Smith Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4006 5089; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 0114604 0734; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4173 8882 Pero Delhi, 011-4755 3290
R Rimowa rimowa.com Rajesh Pratap Singh Mumbai, 022-6638 5480; Delhi, 011-2463 8788 Rolex Mumbai, DiA, 0222204 2299; Delhi, Kapoor Watch Co., 011-4134 5678; Bengaluru, 0802211 3976 S Sabyasachi Mumbai, 022-2204 4774; Delhi, 011-2664 4352; Bengaluru, 080-4112 1088 Sabyasachi X H&M Mumbai, Phoenix Marketcity, 022-3095 2103; Delhi, Select Citywalk, 011-4601 5381 Salvatore Ferragamo Mumbai, 022-3062 1018; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 0114660 9084; Bengaluru, UB City, 080-4302 0456 Selected Homme Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4333 9994 Shahab Durazi Mumbai, 022-6529 589 Skagen Mumbai, Helios Watch Store, 022-4941 9307; Delhi, Helios Watch Store, 011-4761 9480; Bengaluru, Helios Watch Store, 080-2556 7589 Son Of A Noble sonofanoble.com Suket Dhir Delhi, 84476 56660 T Tag Heuer Mumbai, 0223060 2001; Delhi, 0114609 8205; Bengaluru, 080-6726 6201 Tisa Studio Mumbai, 98216 46161 Tod’s Mumbai, Palladium, 022-4242 1818; Delhi, DLF Emporio, 011-4666 2700 Torani New Delhi, 87009 69159 U Urban Monkey urbanmonkey.com V Versace Available at Infinite Luxury Y Yavi Delhi, 98112 42178
Top Restaurant Awards stage decor by Casa Fleur
Hosts Riyaaz Amlani of Impresario & First Fiddle’s Priyank Sukhija
David Lim of Singapore Airlines
The country’s F&B industry turned up in full force for the third edition of the Condé Nast Traveller and Himalayan India’s Top Restaurant Awards. Co-hosted by restaurateurs Riyaaz Amlani and Priyank Sukhija at the Hyatt Regency Delhi, the awards were supported by luxury partner Johnnie Walker - The Journey and associate partners Singapore Airlines and Zomato. Voted for by more than 100 tastemakers, Delhi’s Indian Accent claimed the top spot, followed by The Bombay Canteen and IZUMI, Mumbai. ASSOCIATE PARTNERS
LUXURY PARTNER
NourishCo Beverages’ Meghna Nanda and Kuttiah KS with CNT’s Armaity Amaria
Rashmi Uday Singh
HOSPITALITY PARTNER
Mayur Sharma & Zeba Kohli
CNT’s Divia Thani
Zomato’s Durga Raghunath with Excellence Award winner Saee Koranne-Khandekar
NourishCo Beverages’ Kuttiah KS with Himalayan Raw & Fine Chef of the Year Amninder Sandhu
Diageo’s Shweta Jain with The Singleton Unconventional Chef of the Year Rahul Gomes Pereira
Indian Accent’s Manish Mehrotra
Masque’s Prateek Sadhu, also the Singapore Airlines India— Sky Epicurean Award winner
Toast & Tonic, Bengaluru’s Tushar Sood & Manu Chandra
Kelvin Cheung & Andrea Michele with their son Bodhi Rye
Team Hyatt for The China Kitchen
Aneesh Bhasin & Ishita Thakur
Sukhneet Wadhwa
Gusto Wines’ Kadambari Kapoor & Ashish Agarwal
The Black Sheep Bistro’s Sabreen & Prahlad Sukhtankar
RAW & FINE TOP 10
Rasna Bhasin
The Table’s Gauri Devidayal & Jay Yousuf Best New Restaurant Award winner Qualia’s Rahul Akerkar & Zomato’s Gaurav Verma
Jury member Neha Prasada Jury member Kalyani Chawla
Guests enjoyed Himalayan water
Casa Fleur’s Gaurav Makhija
Pass Code Hospitality’s Eeshan Kashyap & Rakshay Dhariwal
The Himalayan Top 10 Raw & Fine list celebrates restaurants that differentiate themselves from the rest with their naturally sourced ingredients, which play a central role in providing a superior “raw and fine” experience—similar to Himalayan Natural Mineral Water, which draws its uniqueness entirely from nature.
1 EDO Restaurant & Bar, ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru 2 The Table, Mumbai 3 Yauatcha, Mumbai 4 Wasabi By Morimoto, The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai 5 Masque, Mumbai 6 Gunpowder, Goa 7 Indian Accent, The Lodhi, New Delhi 8 Adaa, Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad 9 Toast & Tonic, Bengaluru 10 Dakshin, Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park
LUXURY, FASHION, TRAVEL AND GROOMING IN STANDOUT STYLE
Luxe Living, Redefined
At the heart of Kolkata’s Alipore neighbourhood rises 88 East – a swanky property flaunting world-class amenities and unparalleled luxuries. A joint venture between Tata Housing Development Company Limited and Keventer Projects Limited, 88 East boasts a staggering 43 floors, making it one of the tallest addresses in Alipore. The best part? The tower’s easy connectivity to the city’s hottest hubs!
The Mountains Are Calling
On your next escape to Shimla, consider booking a stay at one of Oberoi Hotels & Resorts’ two striking properties – Wildflower Hall and The Oberoi Cecil. The former offers unbridled views of snow-capped peaks and verdant valleys while the latter is a charming colonial property nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. Expect exciting offers like special room rates, delectable breakfast spreads and savings on spa treatments, topped off with Oberoi’s signature warm hospitality. The offer is valid for stays until April 15, 2020. For more information, visit oberoihotels.com/ special-offers/himalayan-vacations or call 011-23904474
For more information, visit 88east.co.in or contact the sales team at Premises No. 34, Diamond Harbour Road, PS. Alipore, Kolkata 700027
A Sporting Sensation
The Tissot SuperSport Chrono is a tribute to the physicality associated with the sport of rugby. The wristwatch flaunts an imposing 45.5mm body that is shaped out of steel, with colour options that range from black to rose gold via PVD technology. Available in a variety of bracelets and straps, it also features a fixed glass engraved with a tachymetric scale gradated up to 400km/hr, 12 easily legible indexes coated with Super-LumiNova® technology and a crown that boasts considerable diameter for easy gripping. `27,000. Available across all Tissot boutiques in India
Dine In Style
For an extravagant dining experience, head to The Sahib Room at The St. Regis Mumbai. Inspired by the vintage decadence of the colonial era, the menu is replete with classic Indian favourites that merge tradition with a hint of modernity. For a post-meal tipple, stop by Kipling Bar, which leads into the restaurant. Named after prolific writer Rudyard Kipling, the space oozes European formality. Watch in awe as the mixologists showcase the craft of fusing classic libations with Indian spices. For reservations, visit stregis.com/mumbai or call +022-6162 8299 192 —
MARCH 2020
The Scent Of Success
Crafted by master perfumer Annick Menardo, Hugo Boss’ latest eau de parfum, BOSS Bottled Infinite, opens with top notes of mandarin and apple, spiced with a hint of cinnamon and sage, while the heart reveals the aromatic notes of patchouli, rosemary and lavender, all giving way to a base of rich olivewood and sandalwood. The best part? This EDP is the first fine fragrance to use “diamond technology”, which enables the top and heart notes to linger longer on the skin. `6,200 (100ml). Available at Parcos and select
department stores
FORM IV (See Rule 8) Statement about ownership and other particulars about newspaper GQ (English) as required to be published in the first issue every year after the last day of February. 1. Place of Publication
Conde Nast (India) Private Limited 2nd Floor, Darabshaw House Shoorji Vallabhdas Marg Ballard Estate, Mumbai 400 001
2. Periodicity of its Publication
Monthly
3. Printer’s Name
Almona Bhatia for Conde Nast (India) Private Limited
Nationality
Canadian (overseas citizen of India)
Whether a citizen of India?
Yes
Address:
21, Prem Court, Jamshedji Tata Road, Churchgate Mumbai 400 020
Designed To Delight
Constantly striving to “Never Settle”, OnePlus’ latest smartphone, the OnePlus 7T Pro, is yet another feather in the tech giant’s cap. Powered by the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Plus and running on the OxygenOS 10.0 software, the smartphone boasts the best in innovation along with a host of exciting features. A 90 Hz Fluid Display, with QHD+ resolution, makes for a seamless viewing experience while a powerful triple camera system lets you take your Insta game up a notch. Other defining features include 15 per cent faster graphics rendering, lightning-fast UFS 3.0 storage and powerful Warp Charge 30T for super-fast charging. `53,999 (8GB). Available on amazon.in and all OnePlus exclusive online and
offline channels
4. Publisher’s Name
Nationality
Canadian (overseas citizen of India)
Whether a citizen of India?
Yes
Address:
21, Prem Court, Jamshedji Tata Road, Churchgate Mumbai 400 020
5. Editor’s Name
CJ Kurrien
Nationality
Indian
Whether a citizen of India?
Yes
Address:
35 A Usha Sadan SB Singh Road Mumbai 400 005
6. Names and addresses of individuals who own the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding more than one per cent of the total capital
Tailored To Perfection
Indian fashion label Sarah & Sandeep’s latest Summer Festive 2020 collection revolves around the “NeotericMan” – he who doesn’t let stereotypes define him.The collection, curated specially for Indian grooms, comprises festive attire that represents the progress towards contemporary cultures through the use of new-age designs in a palette flaunting hues like sage green, rose gold, lavender and royal blue. Highlights include impeccably-crafted couture sherwanis that have been hand-embellished with beads, pintucked bandhgalas with mock flaps and bandi sets made using intricate fabric manipulation.
Almona Bhatia for Conde Nast (India) Private Limited
1. Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. One World Trade Centre, 43rd Floor, New York, NY 10007-0090 2. Conde Nast Asia/Pacific Inc. One World Trade Centre, 43rd Floor, New York, NY 10007-0090
I, Almona Bhatia, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Sd/Signature of Publisher Date: March 1, 2020
`85,000 onwards. Available at Sarah & Sandeep, Sura Mansion, SV Road, Khar West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400052 and on sarahsandeep.com
MARCH 2020
— 193
HUMOUR
n o s r e P e For th Fixing Who’s top My Lap
H
WORDS: LUCAS GARDNER. IMAGE: AFP (MOVIE STILL)
ello and welcome! Thank you in advance for fixing my computer. I expect that you’re probably going to be tempted to snoop around my laptop to see if I have anything embarrassing on there. I have no way to stop you from doing this, so I’ve decided to get ahead of it and write you this comprehensive guide. I keep all my pornography in the folder “C: > Program Files (x86) > Internet Explorer > en-Us > files > real folder” – but I’ve gone ahead and moved it all to the desktop for you, for ease of access. Normally, I don’t really organise it, but I took the liberty of separating it into different folders, labelled by category, for you. I also have some old-fashioned print pornography that I have gone ahead and enclosed in the laptop case. In my Documents folder, you will find some of my writing. Much of it is bad and sure to give you and the gang over there a good laugh. I would recommend checking out “A Mirthless Summer in Coonoor”, an unfinished novel I tried to write about a forbidden romance between a wealthy socialite and – I don’t even remember, a gardener or some shit. I went ahead and bolded all the worst parts, so you can just skim it for the greatest hits. But, if you have time to read the whole thing, it’s all bad.
Other than the writing, you’ll find spreadsheets of my finances and some old tax documents. Nothing interesting there, unless you actually dive in and crunch the numbers, in which case you’ll uncover an absolutely earth-shattering case of unemployment fraud. Please do not tell!!! I’ll save you some time and let you know that there’s nothing embarrassing in the Pictures folder. No nudes or anything like that. I have some of those on a separate hard drive though, so I’ll swing by and drop that off tomorrow after my doctor’s appointment, which is regarding sex problems. You’ll find that I cleared my Google search history before bringing the laptop in. Sorry about that, it was an accident. Here are some searches that you would have found: •“How to make friends as an adult” •“Pro-bono fraud defense attorney Mumbai” •“Joker ending explained” I’ll let you know if I remember other ones. I didn’t log out of any of my social-media accounts, so I guess you’re free to dive in. You’ll see that I’ve sent some messages that are pretty humiliating. For the record, I would just like to state that when I wrote them I was a hundred-per-cent, stone-cold sober. Also, don’t forget to check the time stamps, which will show that they were written in broad daylight. You probably wouldn’t even think to check my calendar for anything shameful. Do not make this mistake! There’s some stuff on there that really sucks for me – I don’t even want to spoil it for you. Feel free to call me afterward and let me know what you think. While I’m making no attempt to stop you from snooping around my business, I do ask that you please do not mess with my friends and family. Many of them have enough problems already and don’t need anyone prying into their business. My friend Akshay Kapoor, for example, is going through a divorce, and he does not want anyone to know. My password for everything is my Aadhaar number (4240 3103 XXXX). Full disclosure, there were a few things on the laptop that I was too embarrassed by and made sure to delete ahead of time. They are in the Trash folder, which I don’t know how to empty. Please do that for me while you are fixing the laptop.
194 —
JANUARY 2020