Hum Magazine June, 2013

JUNE 2013

Growing Up Cordua

Family Values, Faith, Love

Talking with Anshu Gupta Dignity in a Piece of Cloth

Murals of Ramalinga Vilasam Extraordinary Story-telling

Looking up to Dad C

Photos: Krishna Giri

Houston 9889 Westheimer Road, 713.787.9494

FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK It is with a sense of unreality that my team and I realize it’s been a year

odds. We have no regrets. We’d like to believe that we made it thus far because reader. From your feedback, we know we’re doing something right. So here’s to us chugging along into the next year.

Stay safe. Enjoy the summer.

Warmly,

Kalyani Giri

Publisher

team HUM Publisher/Editor Kalyani Giri Art Director Saqib Rana Correspondents Dr. Arjune Rama Ken Chitwood Lisa Brooks Nalini Sadagopan Priya M. James Tajana Mesic Helen Buntting Langton Contributors

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Anna L. Dallapiccola Kanniks Kannikeswaran Loren Allardyce Mahendri Raidoo, Md Michael Demarse Nandini Bhattacharya P. G. Parameswaran, Md Pradeep Anand Rachel Dvoretzky Randall Goins

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JUNE 2013

CONTENTS What I Love About

06 HOUSTON PRADEEP ANAND

Family Values, Faith, Love

08 GROWING UP CORDUA KALYANI GIRI Father’s Day,

12

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE

14

YEP, I’M THE MOTHER OF THE BRIDE

LISA BROOKS

HELEN BUNTTING LANGTON

Full Throttle Ahead

16

JAGUAR UNLEASHES F-TYPE

18

DIGNITY IN A PIECE OF CLOTH

Talking with Anshu Gupta

KALYANI GIRI

HUM Magazine assumes no responsibility for the content of articles or advertisements, in that the views expressed views of the publisher or any magazine employee or contributor. This publication and all of its contents are copyrighted.

Growing Up Cordua

Family Values, Faith, Love

Talking with Anshu Gupta Dignity in a Piece of Cloth

Murals of Ramalinga Vilasam Extraordinary Story-telling

Looking up to Dad C Photos: Krishna Giri

Cover: Aashna, 14 months, daughter of Arpita and Amit Bhandari Photo: Krishna Giri

JUNE 2013 22

REKHA

Line in the Sands of Time NANDINI BHATTACHARYA

24 THE ART CAR PARADE RACHEL DVORETZKY

28

DEMYSTIFYING THE RAGA KANNIKS KANNIKESWARAN

Working with Part-time or Concurrent

30 H-1B EMPLOYMENT RANDALL GOINS 32 34

How To Stimulate Your Child, Fill Their Summer Days, And Keep The Peace

LOREN ALLARDYCE

STREETWEAR: 40 Dare to Denim PRIYA JAMES

42

ON HALLOWED GROUND… The Tirupati/Tirumala Experience MAHENDRI RAIDOO, MD

SUMMER HAUTE TIPS 45 Preventive steps for sun and chlorine damage to hair MICHAEL DEMARSE

In Support of the Houston Food Bank.

EMPTY BOWLS HOUSTON

Going Cheap June 14 46 FUKREY

The Extraordinary Story-telling

PLANET, PROFIT: 46 PEOPLE, Lessons Learned from Europe

MURALS OF RAMALINGA VILASAM PROFESSOR ANNA L. DALLAPICCOLA

37

38

IT’S SUMMER!

ONE MORNING I WOKE UP AND I WASN’T AN INTERN ANYMORE

ARJUNE RAMA, MD

TAJANA MESIC

Voice

What I Love About

Houston

BY PRADEEP ANAND

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prising cities in the world, with a “Can Do” attitude that will match, if not surpass, any place on this planet.

If you have big dreams, Houston is the city to achieve them. This city has a rich tradition of charting new paths, emulating the adventurous Allen Brothers, that is incessantly fed by the waters of dense network of bayous.

No surprise then that Houston is home to pioneers who seek and open new frontiers. Some reach out for the planets and stars. Others drill deep into the Earth’s crust, in the deepest waters, to feed humankind’s growing need for energy, fueling global economic growth. Other pioneers work deep in the human body, seeking the secrets of life and healthy living, while others seek to reinvent the world with nanoscale technologies.

If you can imagine it, Houston is the place to deliver it.

And that attitude of experimenting and learning permeates everything we do in this city, including our eating habits. This is a city of Epicureans, who are open Houston has a smorgasbord of global foods,

you that they don’t serve the dish.

Another Test: If the establishment has “Blackened” entrees, it is a faux Cajun place.

I love the wide, expansive skies of Houston and Texas. I never miss an opportunity to look skyward to see the Heavens and how it meets the Earth. I am always pleased by the spectacle that Mother Nature and Man create together. Each soul-stirring view is unique, driven by variances in time of the day, month of the year, the season, my location, and this area’s capricious Yes, sometimes the view can be kitschy but when I capture it, as if in a still photograph, its hidden beauty erupts out of it.

Beauty lies in the mind of the beholder.

I love Houston’s weather. It is temperate for almost ten months in a year, and hot and humid from July through September 23rd, when nature throws a switch and temperatures drop down to pleasant realms. oppressive. I was born and raised in Mumbai. When I relocated to Houston, I moved to a city whose latitude was about eleven degrees north of the city of my youth.

I had thrived in a coastal city, with balmy weather, and my cooler new home was not a challenge. In fact, I welcomed it.

They are sprinkled all over the city. You don’t have to go countries. Often, an ethnic gastronomic delight is available within a speedy, ten-minute car ride on the city’s network of broad freeways and streets.

While I enjoy foods from all over the world, I don’t remember ever turning down or even suggesting an alternative to an invitation to a Texas barbecue meal.

There are many barbecue pits in this town but I usually circle and land at that rustic barn on Kirby, where I top pie, and thank my lucky stars that I am in Texas. ones and the faux ones.

Courtbouillion (pronounced COO-bee-YON); it is rarely on the menu. The authentic ones’ waiters, unhesitatingly, will get you some from the kitchen; they always have some of that roux. The faux ones will politely tell

learned about this city’s weather. And now, throughout the year, I am undaunted by Houston’s unpredictable weather. I experience shades of seasonal serenity.

During the hottest months and during hurricanes, “This too shall pass” cools the body and calms the mind; during temperate months, “Carpe Diem” seizes my mind.

I enjoy sunlight and I also enjoy the rains. In India, Monsoons are welcomed and celebrated. Every year, Houston enjoys about 90 “clear” days, about 115 “Partly Cloudy” days and 65 days of thunderstorms. I am very comfortable in this weather amalgam.

No place is perfect but I’ll take the city that has good, friendly, enterprising people from around the world, great food and drink, wide open skies of freedom, and temperate weather to enjoy these, all year round.

www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

Michael and Lucia Cordua (third & fourth from left) with son David and daughters Michelle and Cristina with other daughter Elisa and her bridegroom Alexander Tavera

Family Values, Faith, Love Growing up Cordua

BY KALYANI GIRI David Cordua’s eyes twinkle with merriment as he recalls the imaginative and complex school lunches that his dad used to create for him and sisters Michelle, Elisa, and Cristina. Nothing pedestrian for the Cordua siblings; more often than not, those midday meals involved maple syrup and cream cheese and were so substantial, sophisticated and delicious that the other kids hankered for a taste. David’s mom Lucia gently nudges him.

“Tell her what you used to do, David,” she says cajolingly.

With a naughty grin, he confesses that he’d shared the food indeed… for a couple of dollars!

When your dad is culinary royalty in the exalted ilk of Nicaraguan-born Chef Michael Cordua, great food is a hallmark of the household. Michael, a legendary restaurateur of national acclaim, and the only Texas chef inducted into the Food and Wine Hall of Fame, is credited for introducing South American cuisine to culturally diverse palates in the US in the 1980s. He and David are partners/co-owners of Amazón Grill, Américas

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Post Oak, Américas Woodlands, Américas River Oaks, Artista, Churrascos River Oaks, and Churrascos Westchase. David serves as the Executive Chef of Development – Cordua Restaurants, and is a recipient of the Up-and-Coming Chef of the Year, My Table 2010 Houston Culinary Awards.

I’m visiting with the Corduas at their stunning Memorial that it’s a work in progress. At the heart of the home is a capacious atrium with a retractable skylight. A handcrafted hammock begs one to curl up with a good book. We’re talking about family, togetherness, faith, success, and about Michael – not in his avatar as a celebrated chef – but as a husband, father and grandfather, roles he revels in, cherishes. The family is “Michael is a gentleman, he’s old-fashioned, with a very attractive mind,” says Lucia. “He’s also a strong man with incredible willpower. I’m grateful that Michael was very involved as a father, especially for the girls who grew up with his sup-

“Parenting is more expansive than mentoring.

I combined both and today my son is my colleague and friend” —Michael Cordua

port, he’s very encouraging and loving,” she adds.

“I treat my daughters like goddesses, I spoil them with so much of love that they carry that love wherever they go,” Michael says. “David respects women because he sees how I am with his mother. Lucia has a third eye that sees into my soul.

She subsidizes my heart,” he adds with a smile.

Michael and Lucia are doting grandparents to daughter Michelle’s two little girls, Amelia, 2, and Annelisa, 5 months.

They Skype every day as Michelle and husband William Mirshak live in Chicago.

The couple’s two other daughters live in other cities too; Elisa and husband Alexander Tavera live in Minneapolis. Cristina resides in San Jose. All four children are well educated. The girls attended Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, and David went to Strake Jesuit College Preparatory. All four attended Santa Clara University, following in the footsteps of Lucia’s father, who graduated from that college. They also held jobs while at college, something their parents encouraged. David spent two years in France where he earned Grand Diplômes in both Cuisine and Pastry at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. The siblings

bined Michael’s passion for food and David’s passion for travel.

“Parenting is more expansive than mentoring. I combined both and today my son is my colleague and friend,” says Michael.

“A well educated child is more accepted, more social and polite,” says Lucia. “We treated the children with respect and taught them to respect each other. We also taught them not to lie. They are very close and they value and support each other,” she adds.

Growing up, the supper table was a sanctuary. Even if a child did something wrong, they were never reprimanded at the table. It was a time for the family to pray together and enjoy dinner quietly. Later as afterschool activities took up much of the evening, breakfast became the meal of togetherness.

Regardless of whether a child was hungry or not, they were expected to be present at breakfast.

“Michael would wake up early and cook breakfast and make the children’s lunches. I would create a pretty table,” says Lucia laughingly. Weekends, the children’s friends inundated the house and there was always plenty to eat and drink. It is still a fun household, says David. There’s a lot of laughter, dancing and singing when the family gets together.

of a labor of love, the book will be released in fall this year. David has generously shared two recipes with HUM Magazine’s readers.

Both Michael and Lucia hail from large families. Lucia is one of eleven siblings, and Michael one of seven. The couple

David’s hero is his father.

“The most fun thing about dad is his unpredictability.

He’s the least boring person I know, I love being surprised by it’s about getting to the destination, for dad, it’s the journey. It’s there in his approach to life,” he adds.

While other fathers and sons bonded over cars and sports, David and Michael bonded in the kitchen. Both are inordinately gifted at pairing together unexpected ingredients.

Father and son once made a memorable trip to Spain that com-

During his 30s, Michael gained 200 pounds. The next decade every morning he and Lucia go to the Houston Shaolin Temple where they practice Qi Gong, impact resistance training that strengthens the body and tendons.

“Our family is a gift to each other, I never take that for granted anymore,” adds Michael.

Michael is proud of David. He lauds his son’s accomplishments. In the 7th grade David apparently decided he wanted to with the whole class, which he did. He loves music and is a lyricist and singer/musician with a recorded track. He paints. He’s also a brilliant chef in his own right. David has compiled a book of the Cordua family’s best recipes and included several new ones; the Cordua Cookbook pays rich tribute to his father and

brother were best friends. In 1972 when a 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook Managua and left 5000 dead and thousands homeless, Lucia’s family relocated to Chinandega. The couple reconnected when she was studying medicine in Mexico and he was studying Economics and Finance at Texas A&M. She moved to Houston and enrolled at the University of St. Thomas and changed her major to psychology, because she believed that being a doctor would preclude her from raising a family.

Michael and Lucia married on December 26, 1980. Initially, Michael wasn’t eager to have children. That changed in 1982 when David was born.

“As Michael cradled the baby in his arms, his eyes just glowed with love. He wanted to raise David to be strong and independent,” says Lucia. All her pregnancies were tough, but even though Michael was busy establishing the new business, he would bring her lunch everyday.

How do Lucia and Michael keep the marriage strong and content?

“Like every other couple we may not always agree with each other but we stay with the issue and discuss only that,” says Lucia. “We’re also naturally romantic and unafraid of candles, and music kind of couple.”

www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

Chef David Cordua’s has generously shared with HUM Magazine, two recipes which appear in the Cordua Cookbook. The book will be released in the fall of this year.

CHICKEN ALBONDIGA SOUP Albondigas: 2 ¼ pounds ground chicken 2/3 cup chopped onion ½ cup chopped green pepper 1 teaspoon chopped garlic ½ cup chopped cilantro 1 egg 1 ½ teaspoon salt 1 ½ teaspoon Creole seasoning 1 pound boiled yucca

Soup: ¼ cup corn oil 2 ½ cup chopped onion 1 ½ teaspoon minced garlic 2 ½ cup diced tomatoes 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo, minced ½ cup white wine 1 gallon chicken stock 2 tablespoons lime juice 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon black pepper 4 avocados, diced Fried tortilla strips Chopped cilantro Cotija cheese

with the vegetables, egg and seasoning, processing until a thick, smooth dough develops. Add the yuca a little at a time, processing to thoroughly incorporate.

Use a scoop that produces small meatballs about 1 rounded teaspoon. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large pot and sauté the onion until starting to caramelize, minutes before adding the wine, stock, lime juice, salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes, then add the cooked meatballs. Serve in bowls. Top with diced avocado and garnish as desired with tortilla strips, cilantro and cotija. Serves 8-10.

STUFFED QUAIL TAQUITOS 8 quail breasts ¼ cup pineapple juice 1 tablespoon soy sauce 8 cremini mushrooms 3 tablespoons chimichurri (see recipe p. xx) ½ shallot, minced 1 teaspoon corn oil 2 tablespoons seeded and diced jalapeno 2 tablespoons diced red bell pepper

2 tablespoons cotija cheese 16 slices bacon Brown Butter Bearnaise (see recipe p. xx) Finely chopped romaine lettuce Cotija cheese Diced red bell pepper Finely chopped basil

Marinate the quail breasts 30 minutes in a bowl with the pineapple juice mushroom stems and make a duxelles by sautéing with the shallot in the shallot. Let cool. cap. Set 1 marinated quail breast on top of each mushroom and wrap each with 2 slices of bacon crossing each other. Set the quail packets seam-side down on a roasting pan and roast in oven for 18 minutes. Let cool enough to handle. packet into 4-5 slices. Spread each tortilla with some Brown Butter Bearnaise and set the quail slices on top. Garnish with chopped romaine and the same

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Photo: Krishna Giri

www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

Father’s Day,

From My Perspective

BY LISA BROOKS Father’s Day brings up a messy tangle of emotions for me. I’m not a father. I am a mother. I have four wonderful children. Some emotions I feel on Father’s Day include gratitude, sadness, regret, awe, empathy, and hope.

I’m forever grateful to my ex-husband for the children we had together. My children are the light of my life. The only thing I can ever remember really wanting to be when I grew up is to be a mother. No matter what has happened in my life, and a lot has happened, I am and will always be grateful for the gift of my children, a gift I would not have had without their father.

The bruised sentiments that Father’s Day conjures are overwhelming for me. I have a daughter who is adopted. I am sad that her birth father (and mother) will never know what an amazing young lady she has become. I empathize with children and their mothers who have lost their fathers and husbands. I’m sad for the children who never even knew their fathers. I am sad for the children, and adult their fathers. with pathos for my children, as their father has not maintained any semblance of a relationship with most of them. I am sad for the fact that he is missing the opportunity to know his children, and that he hears what is going on in their lives second hand. I feel helpless for my children who miss him, and also experience relationship has devolved.

I also regret that I had to make a choice to save my family, which meant having to end my marriage. The emotions wrapped up in this decision are so complicated, that I cannot share them with my children, so I also regret that there are many things they don’t understand about not having a father present.

The awe I experience around Father’s Day is at the people my children are growing istent relationship with their father. They are whole, sound, and in spite of all the typical teenage struggles, are happy and healthy.

I am in awe of, and profoundly grateful for the positive male role models who are present and generous in the lives of my children, including friends, teachers, mentors, coaches, and relatives. I honor each of these men on

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child for adoption? I’m sure that Father’s Day is full of not-sohappy emotions for the longing or loss that these men must feel. There are also fathers, who married women who had had children already. They became stepfathers, and often were But, if a marriage ended, then the relationship with those children was likely profoundly changed, if not eliminated entirely for these men, and the children involved.

However, all these musings would not be true to who I am as a person if I didn’t talk about hope. I’m an optimist.

My sense of optimism informs my mothering style, and my hope that as adults, my children can move past their hurts and disappointments and develop a relationship with their own father whatever form the relationship might take. I’m hopeful that my boys will grow up to be wonderful life partners, even though that has not been modeled for them in any traditional way. I hope they will grow up to be role models for other children in addition to their own. I hope that those thers learn to believe that they are great human beings with tremendous potential, even if they never felt they quite met expectations of others.

Humanity is messy sometimes. Fatherhood, motherhood, parenthood is messy almost all the time. And yet, people grow up, grow whole, and become successful individuals in spite of the mess. Messy keeps life interesting, and challenges us in many ways. I’m even grateful for the mess. So, I’m not going to wish people, with the exception of a few, a happy Father’s Day. Instead, I wish peace to all in their relationships with their fathers, as fathers, or those who are not the fathers they would like to be. Even though it is a messy business, people, especially children, are resilient. We are together in this mess, and there is always someone who has your back.

Lisa Brooks is the proud mother of four wonderful children, a Comparative Religion teacher at Congregation Emanu El. She also owns and operates a small home organizing business. Lisa enjoys writing, reading, and exploring both in Houston,

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Yep, I’m the Mother of the Bride

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doesn’t iron his clothes, preferring the wrinkled look the suit hire shop and got into quite a colourful argubecause pulling out my hair is becoming an increas-

ting there takes a lot of money and time, so I had to put all ideas of vicariously reliving my own wedding

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happening to someone else because our family was into the wedding via phone-calls and exchanging

want to be mistaken for a chicken murderer with the

wanted so I suggested she surf bridal magazines, and get ideas by looking through the modelled

big black hat took the sophistication of the black widow to another level and sapped the entire colour

herself by doing that and I can barely wait to see the Just recently, with six weeks to go, we suddenly realised that we had to get ourselves organised from ladies of the night wear with such panache in the able balancing my middle-aged spread on two tiny impressed by the well-dressed young men in their wears running shoes with a suit? New Zealanders but not least, very high heels will be rather unkind to sons and I attended a funeral I made them wear traipsed around in killer high heels I never dreamt it tickets have been bought and the bride is having So getting smarted up for their sister’s wedding Surprisingly, the youngest at 17 is quite prepared to tons his dress shirts right up to his neck and he irons

drome at the pass, calm the raging waters and turn

hand is a real headache when it comes to dressing

Helen Buntting Langton is a writer and a dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother residing in New Zealand. In a former life in her native South Africa, she worked as a teacher for 18 years.

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www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

C

Photos: Krishna Giri

Giving

Dignity in a Piece of Cloth Talking with Anshu Gupta

BY KALYANI GIRI As a journalist, Anshu Gupta walked the streets of New Delhi and told the stories of the voiceless and the socially invisible.

In 1998, he met an undertaker named Habib, a professional unclaimed human body collector. Habib told him that during the brutal winter months, the streets were littered with more dead bodies

Services, one of the support services for the Indian Army. They lived an honest and thus a challenging life and taught me to live cated housewife, to whom self respect and integrity meant a lot. with limited resources.

that something so basic as clothing was out of the reach of the poor, Gupta went home, hauled out 67 pieces of clothing from his own wardrobe, resigned from his job, and started Goonj (meaning echo) to lend the homeless and impoverished a small semblance

What was your area of study?

I did my schooling at various places as my father was in a engineers. I preferred the creative arts. I joined the Indian Institute

as a small initiative has since mushroomed into a mass movedriven, Goonj today distributes 2.2 million pounds of material to 21 states annually. Along with clothes, the collection includes shoes, toys, furniture, kitchen utensils, and urban waste, and repurposes

Did you grow up in a socially philanthropic household where giving was nurtured?

I grew up in a household where each and every resource was learnt while growing up was the importance of dignity and self-

to earn the clothes, by boring water wells, or repairing roads. Last year, Gupta, a multiple award-winning social activist, received the of the Year Award. NASA and the US State Department lauded Anshu Gupta was in Houston as a guest of local philanthrop-

Goonj has since become a household name in India. Are you glad of its trajectory?

Honestly, that is something that you see from the outside.

From the inside, Goonj, the entire team, and I are on a journey ment.

What is your vision of a perfect India? How can that be accomplished when there’s so much of corruption at the government

celebrate and share with the Houston community, the repurposI feel a perfect India will be one where each citizen plays an active and a responsible role in how the country runs. I believe but also helps maintain buildings and infrastructure, while reducthe audience both inspired and empowered to go out and make a

Tell me a little about your own background, about your family.

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It touches upon the common people and all stakeholders in the civic society. Unless the citizens, the basic building blocks of the society, move away from corruption, the country will not change.

And we all need to understand that by changing infrastructure you

People need to initiate and participate in the process of change.

Tell me about your daily life. Where do you live? What is a typical day like?

I live in Faridabad, a satellite city next to Delhi. I drive down to work. If I talk about a typical day, it is usually a mix of meeting with my team, usually do a round of the processing centers, and make a quick stop at the recycling products unit, which is one of my favorite places as that’s where the women team members, from nearby slums, and mostly illiterate, share with me their latest experiments with the waste material. We toss ideas back and forth and they create some really respond to emails and check in with the accounts and administrative department. Back at home I sit down for a cup of tea with my wife Meenakshi, while Urvi, my daughter tells me about her day at school. Late at night before I sleep, I catch up with Goonj team heads in other cities.

If not for Goonj, what were you planning on doing as a career?

I really haven’t thought about this. I guess I never did give myself any alternative. My journey anything else.

No I have been to the USA several times.

When do you think India will be less dependent on activists such as yourself to help clothe her I am hopeful that when Goonj’s work as an organization spreads nationally and internationally, cloth will come up on the development agenda. That in turn will bring it on the policy level, wherein a nationwide mechanism of collection and distribution with dignity will emerge. We are in the process of developing a prototype, a kind of a replication kit, with a title for others to copy our ideas. http://goonj.org/ www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

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Encore

REKHA Line in the Sands of Time

BY NANDINI BHATTACHARYA There is a piece of designer jewelry that is made and sold on amazon.com by a company called Evocateur. No, I am not their covert agent; nor am I on face of a beautiful woman on a partial colonial-style territorial map of India.

The whole thing is a fantasy, albeit a gorgeous and a colonial one. I clicked, I saw, and I was conquered.

A gorgeous fantasy is the phrase for its main visual draw, a woman’s face

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India. But I get ahead of myself.

So, the product description for EvoBracelet says: “features a woman’s face over the map of India and Swarovski crystals.” (incidentally) eagerly traipsing to the “add to cart” button. This is not just the face of any woman! This is the face of the incomparable Rekha, a phenomenon of India cinema! And now I can wear her, as a token of my adoration, almost if not quite on my sleeve!

Rekha Ganesan, one of Indian heroines before her couldn’t manage. to four things. First and foremost, I refer body and self-esteem that Rekha both inaugurated and publicized in the eighties. Of course, there had been many beautiful women in cinema before her, and some of them had even written advice columns for the star-struck and selfconscious middle-class Indian woman, but their image had mostly been that of

the knot with an Indian Midas or wealthy NRI (see Heroine,

the soft, ultra-feminine Indian beauty. the angel Gabriel of the new Indian woman, arrived to announce svelte outcome of yoga, aerobics, diet and a new self-esteem regime. Famous for her ability to rise phoenix-like from the ashes many times, she was multilingual, entrepreneurial, the winner of the National Award for Best Actress, and more. Girls of that time grew up inhaling tales of Rekha’s transformation from a pudgy plenty of curves and pitilessly plucked eyebrows. Drink honeyed lemon juice in the morning and do your exercises, they told each other. If chubby Rekha can do it, so can we.

This was the cusp of a revolution that has since culminated in India in a cult of the modern, self-reliant woman; a woman who takes her pleasure as well as pains in life. We think, often rightly, of the cult of beauty as the bane of the feminist. In Rekha’s case – and this is the second sense of Indian culture – her beauty, achieved and worked for, was the mark of character in a woman. It was a new ideal of womanliness without fragility. It took spunk, strength and persistence to become the new Rekha, to contour the new Indian woman, from the kittenish creature she had been at the start of her career. Rekha took charge of her shape and intake and the male gaze shifted; her spunky innovation of strength as womanly beauty was also the new outline of joie-de-vivre, savoir-faire, and a certain je ne sais quoi for Indian women.

In the third sense, if the career-span of the heroine in Heroine starring the not any longer size zero Kareena Kapoor suggests) is like sand under the harrowing winds of the passage of time, Rekha drew

rated the special appearance of actresses of yesteryears as a Parineeta (2005) as the gorgeous nightclub singer, but unlike her colleagues who wrote suitable beauty tips for fans in women’s journals, she did not grey gracefully. Little wonder that her face on the Mumbai Dreams bracelet – no longer available for sale, thank you, thus retaining an aura like Rekha herself in spite of being mass-produced – is the face of the immortal beloved, of Umrao Jaan nineteenth-century female entertainer who was also the bard of the indestructible spirit, an ageless chansonnier.

Hence, never mind that she never linked with several. What mattered about Rekha was precisely her upending of that older idea of Indian female beauty as an accessory (in several senses) to the captivation of a mate, an ideal husband and its replacement with the idea of the powerful and alluring woman as diva and divinity.

– meaning “the line” in various Indian languages – marks the phenomenal shift in the Indian woman’s cultural existence when physical dimension without being marked as a commodity or a vamp. I recently witnessed my seventy-two-year-old mother re-watching Khubsoorat after that. I will remember Rekha – “age cannot wither her, nor – as one of the few things that made my mother giggle in her last days, and as the charismatic face of “woman” on the Mumbai Dreams bracelet.

careers ending after thirty when they either unraveled or tied

Nandini Bhattacharya is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in English at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. She has written scholarly books and essays on colonial and postcolonial writing, and is recently the author of a book on Indian cinema (Hindi Cinema: Repeating the Subject [Routledge, 2012]). Being a lover of contemporary Indian English literature by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Amitav Ghosh, Arvind Adiga and Jhumpa Lahiri, she is turning her energies also to repeating her passion for writing in the creative genre. www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

Houston’s Magnificent Motorized Creations

BY RACHEL DVORETZKY

The Art Car Parade Houston has any number of springtime

heaters and bug zappers. of all is the annual Art Car Parade. Like its

look.

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Photographs: Wendy Tippens, David Garvin & Ron Pope www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

helped a friend with her art car. In our costumes we gathered beforehand, and unconsciously honoring the Orange Show which sponsors the Parade, ate slices of that sweet citrus to slake our thirst in the muggy afternoon heat. Clouds threatened but held their rain, the wrangler’s shout of “ROLLING!” carried over the rumbling engines like a muezzin’s call to prayer, and we were moving. We trotted in front of, alongside and eventually behind the car, raising hoopla among the spectators. Our artist-driver waved at the crowd like Queen Elizabeth acknowledging her subjects. Friends and strangers alike cheered from the roadside. En route, one of my own friends on the sidelines gave me a cold beer from his party’s stash – perfectly refreshing!

Our car was in front of a vehicle entered by a local literary maven of South Asian origin. This car was decorated with small framed images of assorted cultural revolutionaries, and with complex, shining medallions worthy of a Peshawar passenger bus. It was also equipped with a microphone, loudspeaker, and several passengers, who took turns reading very serious poetry in several languages. After a while the heat of the day and the automotive charge, so, with the inner strength of the marathoner I summoned my Art Car mojo and ran on ahead to catch up.

A spectator’s tale: A few years ago our family rode our

bicycles to the parade and set up our place on a grassy, shaded area beneath a freeway overpass. Next to us, a young Asian woman was taking notes in a journal. We adopted her for the afternoon. Her name was Eun, she was a Korean student traveling across the States and had heard that Houston was a good place to visit. After determining that she liked beer, I walked to the St. Arnold’s kiosk and brought back a cold one for her, to her delight and appreciation. Our older son went to check out someone promoting a political candidate and came back jewelry, which he shared with our visitor. Then the Parade came to our shady place. Eun’s eyes grew bigger and her smile grew broader with every passing contraption and every costumed rider, and she took countless photos. When all the vehicles had there was nothing like this in Korea.

The Art Car Parade is for everyone: every Houstonian and visitor, every newborn babe and silver-haired elder, every picnicking party group and lone traveler, every age and sex and color and nationality. Like Houston itself, the Parade attracts talent from across the continent and adds it to the electric mix of creativity that powers our city. Make a point to go, view, volunteer, and enjoy. And bring friends!

Rachel Dvoretzky is a native and longtime resident of Houston. Her background and interests include the improvement and growth of civic, cultural, and educational institutions, the remediation of problems in these areas, and the fundraising, as well as previous careers in art curatorship and music performance. Her other interests include food and foodways, humor and satire, and rearing her teenage sons into manhood.

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Demystifying the Raga

BY KANNIKS KANNIKESWARAN Every world culture chooses to deal with music on its own terms.

Just we have the multi-part harmonic/polyphonic approach to music in the western world, the maqams of middleeastern music, and the polyrhythms of African music, we have a uniquely Indian approach to music that is based on the concept of ragas.

The Indian way of life regards music as a means of spiritual liberation (moksha) and therefore grants an exalted status to this gandharva veda, or the art of the Gods. While western art music is all about the idea of functional harmony where much emphasis is placed on ensemble performances, Indian music is entirely about individual self expression. Over the centuries, western music has progressed in the direction of creating soundscapes blending the tone and timbre of a multitude of instruments playing their own parts in perfect synchronization under the baton of a conductor while Indian music has laid emphasis on exploring the depth of melodic intricacies at the microtonal level through the performance of ragas. Naturally, Indian music is independent of keys while western music alis to be played.

Raga based music is unique to India, as it represents the shared commonality between what we perceive as the two divergent Indian Art forms of Karnatic music and Hindustani music.

The word raga or ragam as it is known in South India takes on a multitude of meanings. In the most colloquial sense it just means a tune, or melody. When someone uses the term ‘nalla ragam’, they are complimenting a good tune. ‘Ragam’ in kucheris

‘Raga’ also refers to a unique melodic

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concept that distinguishes one form of melody from another.

Karnatic music kucheris feature anywhere from eight to khyal concerts feature detailed renditions of just a handful of ragas.

Dhrupad concerts sometimes feature as few as two ragas in a concert.

Ragas are not only a purely-musical concept. Ancient ragas have personalities of their own. Ragas are relatable to moods and expressions. Thus there are ragas that convey happiness as well as pathos and anything in between. There are ragas for the monsoon and other seasons. Ragas are associated with the time of the day. Thus there are morning ragas, afternoon ragas, sandhya ragas and even midnight ragas.

There are ragas that are even said to have the power to invoke the natural elements.

It takes years of training for one to become an exponent of ragas become a connoisseur of ragas. In this day and age, with widespread access to concerts and recordings it is only a matter of interest that transforms a general listener to a raga raga. spired by the archetypical melodic patterns. Take the raga Desh for example. The patriotic song Vande Mataram is composed in the raga Desh and is an archetypical Desh melody. So are the Tamil songs ‘Tunbam nergaiyil’ and Sindhu nadhiyin misai’.

Songs that bring you the fragrance of the Indian earth fresh Sarfarozi ki tamanna Bhagat Singh. What is common to these compositions? It is the similarity in melodies that is instantly recognizable as Desh.

Similarly the stamp of the raga Kedar is felt in the Vasant Desai melody ‘Hamko manki shakti’ or in the Surdas bhajan ‘Darshan do ghanshyam’. Or take the song ‘Yaar taruvaar inthe ariyasanam’ which screams ‘Athana’ in every phrase as does the classical composition ‘Anupama gunammbudi’. above is based empirically on the performance aspect or the lakshya and it is immediately relevant to older ragas such as Malhaar, Navroz, Kurinji, Khamboji, Mohana (Bhupali), Bhairav and others that have been around for centuries.

The 2nd half of the 2nd millennium CE saw a rise in attempt to classify and group ragas based on their lakshana or standing of the underlying framework of svaras or pitches.

The constant drone of the sruti that you hear in any concert marks the tonal center of a performance. We refer to this position as sa. svara from this position is referred to as the panchamam or the pa. An octave spanning sa to sa svaras, ri, ga, ma, dha and ni with svaras are collectively referred to as the saptasvaras.

The lakshana of a raga svaras used in the raga svaras used in the ‘arohanam’ as one descent or the ‘avarohanam’. The lakshana relative importance given to the various pitches. Thus, the raga used and their relationship to the tonal center ‘Sa’.

The theoretical developments of the 17th century gave rise to the development of newer ragas such as Vagadisvari, Hamsadhwani, Latangi, Sarasangi and many more. TheoretiMusic world however, we have several hundred ragas in which compositions are rendered. Though not every theoretical possibility realized is considered pleasing to the ear.

Ragas come to life in a Karnatic music setting through kritis written by composers, particularly by the triumvirate Tyagaraja, Dikshitar and Syama Sastri (1750 – 1850) collectively referred to as the trinity. They come to life in Hindustani

music through performances centered on khyals and gats (short compositions) in vocal and instrumental settings and through dhrupads.

Ragas exist in practice.

Theory helps understanding a raga. Theory paves way for the discovery of newer raga possibilities. New ragas have been brought forth in our lifetime by stalwarts such as Balamurali Krishna and the late sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and have gained acceptance even during their lifetime. The test of a raga is its ability to weather the passage of time.

The ragas based largely on ragas. Even later composers such as Naushad Oscar award-winning composer and musician A.R. Rahman, soundscapes, has incorporated Karnatic and Hindustani ragas in his musical framework.

So how does one get to appreciate ragas? incessant listening and relating to compositions that one develops an intimate relationship with ragas.

Certain myths about ragas.

Is every composition set to a raga?

No. You can sing a melody without conforming to any raga. You can compose a musical piece without adhering to ragas.

Does adherence to a raga make a melody superior?

Adherence to a raga just shows the composer’s awareness of the raga. The superiority of a melody has its ability to touch the listener.

Can one understand ragas by studying the theory behind them. intimate familiarity with ragas by expanding their listening horizons.

with several recordings, productions and scores to his credit. Often referred to as ‘The Magical Musician from Madras’ Kanniks’ skill lies in his ability to create captivating music easily accessible to a broad audience base, blending complex features of diverse World Music forms. All of Kanniks’ projects are consistent with his vision of building community through the celebration of threads of commonality between diverse peoples and cultures. www.kanniks.com - http://www.shantichoir.org

Working with Part-time or Concurrent H-1B Employment

BY RANDALL GOINS Under the H-1B regulations, an individual can work fulltime or part-time for one, two or more employers, so long as

show other sources of income, such as savings or spousal Part-time H-1B may have range of hours

No minimum number of hours There is no minimum number of weekly hours for an H-1B in the regulations; therefore it is possible to be an H-1B

order to accommodate this business reality, the H-1B can be With this option, H-1B status is maintained by working no

practice is common particularly in academia, where individuals may teach part-time, or where a single position may be obtain H-1B approval for just working a few hours per week, however will need to make a “livable wage� unless they can

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June 2013

Empty Bowls Houston 32

Photo credit Paula Murphy

The 9th Annual Empty Bowls Houston, held on May 18, 2013, was a huge success thanks to artists who made and donated bowls, event sponsors, volunteers and committee members, and all that came and bought bowls in support of the Houston Food Bank. This grassroots event brings together artists throughout the Houston area to raise awareness for those in our community that go without food on a daily basis. Artists and students designed and donated bowls to symbolize the empty bowls people face every day. For a $25 donation, patrons were able to select a hand crafted bowl and receive a simple meal of soup and bread provided by Whole Foods Market.

With over 1,800 bowls at the event, astounding $70,562 was raised which makes it possible for the Houston Food Bank to provide 211,686 meals to people in need in the community. This amount will increase slightly as additional funds from a special auction at Archway Gallery are collected.

The 10th annual Empty Bowls Houston is scheduled for Saturday, May 17, 2014. www.EmptyBowlsHouston.org www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

Traditions

The Extraordinary Story-telling Murals of Ramalinga Vilasam

BY PROFESSOR ANNA L. DALLAPICCOLA Ramanathapuram, formerly known as Ramnad, lies 117 km southeast of Madurai, on the road to Rameswaram. This town rose to prominence in the late 17th century as the capital of the Setupatis, also known as Ramnad rajas, who began their careers in the early 1600s as feudatories of the Madurai Nayakas.

They derived prestige and income from the control of the setu, the isthmus leading to Rameswaram island, hence the name Setupati, which means ‘the guardian of the isthmus’. During the course of the 18th century they were involved in the struggle against the British and the Nawabs of Arcot, but were defeated by the forces of the East India Company in 1772. Eventually, in 1792, Ramanathapuram surrendered, thereby bringing to an end the Setupati power.

The Setupati palace was established by Kilavan Setupati (1674-1710), though little of this period survives. The Ramalinga Vilasam, on the north side of the palace complex, is its most interesting feature. It was constructed around 1700 to serve

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generous size of the building, as well as in its lavishly decorated interior. On entering the Ramalinga Vilasam, the visitor is transported into a vibrant world of color; superb murals cover, from The majority of the paintings bear explanatory captions in the Tamil language, and occasionally in Telugu.

This extensive set of murals is of pivotal importance for the study of 18th century mural traditions and material culture in the extreme south of India. The artists had a keen eye for details of costumes, jewelry, headgears; they delighted in the representation of everyday objects such as bedsteads, vestextile patterns, which can be observed here bears testimony to the skill and inventiveness of the Indian weavers.

The creation of these paintings is connected with the rule of Muthu Vijaya Raghunatha Setupati (1710-1725) whose name appears in two of the murals. It is possible that some of the paintings were executed before his rule and some after

his death. It is known that they have been repainted at regular intervals, as recorded in the diary of George Patterson who visited the Ramalinga Vilasam in 1773. He writes: ‘while we were

ams, and by the second part of an extensive set of murals Govardhana to shelter the cowherds and the cattle, is laid out

voluptuous ornaments.’

Even today, water seepage during the monsoon is the main cause of damage; despite regular conservation work, especially during the past decade or so, some of the paintings have been irretrievably damaged if not totally lost. ate room, and the third, the audience hall, the smallest, located at the back. In the latter, a narrow staircase leads to the upper room’. From here, a staircase gives access to the roof terrace, rounding countryside.

In the front hall, measuring about 100 feet in length, 50 in width and 15 in height, the murals must be read from left to entrance, is of crucial importance for dating the murals. It is an

The walls of the audience hall, at the back of the building, are adorned with a detailed depiction of the Balakanda of the epic Ramayana. Here the artists found ample scope to dwell on tunately, here too, some of the scenes are either damaged or have totally disappeared, such as the weddings of the four princes and the large Ramapattabhisheka tableau at the centre of the west wall of the room.

Yet another set of paintings is found along the undersides of the arches, which spring between the hall’s sixteen columns.

A substantial number of the representations are inspired by the court life of the Setupati, such as the ruler receiving the scepter mances; amusing himself with the courtly ladies. One of these, unfortunately in a bad state of preservation, is of particular with gems (ratna pattabhisheka

easily recognizable by its size and dark skin, is shown in a courtly setting, granting audience to local and foreign visitors, possibly French or Dutch. The last portion of this wall shows a number of important Shaiva temples in the region, which the Setupati visited as devotee and patron. The north wall of the avataras of Vishnu, of a sizeable number of Vaishnava holy places, the divyasthan-

lishing thus that the paintings were executed around 1720. Yet another theme illustrated on the underside of the arches is the episode in which Krishna steals the parijata tree and brings it to earth to please Satyabhama, an episode very popular in eighteenth century dance and drama that oft appears in the present day repertoire.

www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

As already mentioned, a narrow staircase leads from the audience hall to what is commonly known as the ‘king’s this room in his diary as: ‘ornamented all round with numberless paintings on the walls, all of them representing amorous combats in a variety of most voluptuous attitudes…’ Needless to say, the British were particularly fascinated by it, because of the erot-

mounted on a horse, have the features of the Setupati and one in the role of Krishna stealing the clothes of the queens who

intended as a celebration of the power, wealth, and piety of above the stairs, the king enjoys a sumptuous meal served on a

impact on the very few and selected visitors to whom he granted audience such as ambassadors, local dignitaries, wealthy traders –

the king watching a music and dance performance, going hunting accompanied by courtly ladies, in the intimate company of one, or more, of his queens, and celebrating the Vasantotsava, the spring festival, one of the most important celebrations in Professor Anna L. Dallapiccola has a Ph.D in Indian Art History, a Habilitation (D.Litt.) from University of Heidelberg, Germany. A former Professor of Indian Art at the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University from 1971 to 1995, she was appointed Honorary Professor at Edinburgh University in 1991, and has regularly lectured at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. From 2000 to 2004 she was Visiting Professor at De Montfort University, Leicester. She, along with Drs. Michell and Fritz, participated in the Vijayanagara Research Project from 1984 to 2001 writing mainly on sculpture and iconography. Her Catalogue of South Indian Paintings in the collection of the British Museum has been published in May 2010 and the monograph The Great Platform at Vijayanagara in August 2010.

Her Indian Painting: The Lesser Known Traditions, proceedings of an international conference held in Houston in 2008, was published in April 2011. She resides in Edinburgh, Scotland.

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One Saturday morning at the Salt Lake

One Morning I Woke Up and I Wasn’t an Intern Anymore

BY ARJUNE RAMA, MD

system outside of our training session

Arjune Rama is a resident physician in psychiatry at Yale University You can follow him on twitter at @arjunerama

www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

Kids

How To Stimulate Your Child, Fill Their Summer Days, And Keep The Peace

BY LOREN ALLARDYCE It’s that time of year again – that beautiful time of year where you as parents get to spend a seemingly endless sum-

of quiet time for mom and dad? Jeez, you just might get a book read yourself!

school, and trying to limit their television viewing and tablet playing hours. It used to be that summer was for riding bikes,

from a very creative mom whom I greatly admire. We seem to associate bucket lists with individuals as they age or as an illness has set in. A bucket list is also suitable for children and is not only a way for the child to creatively and imaginatively think of activities that they would like to do over their summer break, but it also sets goals and promotes achievement. For example, one might create a bucket list such as this:

you built a boxcar with your friends, climbed a tree, and sipped on slushies at a local youth baseball game, but those simple days of country living don’t seem to exist anymore. What is out there to keep your children occupied, stimulate them, but won’t break the bank? I did some grass roots research with some clever moms and they gave me some amazing ideas!

Reading. Yep. The timeless activity of reading! As you read this magazine, what is being described to you is possibly information that you already know – reading improves your smarts.

But did you also know that reading reduces stress and gives one a greater sense of composure and tranquility? And along with those smarts is a more inquisitive and logical individual with a greater vocabulary. Reading for at least twenty minutes a day is the minimum that your child’s teacher will suggest ligence and a greater vocabulary – it also helps those kiddos prioritize their time, set goals and improve their writing skills.

Keep in mind that reading to your child does not have to stop once they learn how to read. Listening to another person read also improves one’s reading skills, at any age. It might just be a priority throughout summer. And imagine – twenty minutes

38

•Play golf •Tie-Dye T-shirts •Go on a hike •Bake cookies •Cook a full dinner for the family (with or without assistance) •Fly a kite •Discuss diversity with brown and white eggs – discuss how they are the same inside •Go camping •Call a friend for a play-date home •Go to the library and explore

•Get a haircut •Do a science experiment •Make rock candy •Make dinosaur fossils using play dough and dinosaur characters •Build a model train or car •Play a board game •Play a card game •Make a driveway mural with colored chalk •Complete a puzzle – this can last for weeks – do a little bit each day •Use glow sticks in the bathtub •Get a library card with the child’s name on it •Build a pretend business – make business cards, use monopoly money. Discuss development and hard work.

•Have a sleepover and let the child plan the activities and menu •Catch insects •Take a bike ride •Pick fruit at an orchard •Visit a farm Creating the child’s customized bucket list is a parentchild activity list that will last all summer – and the likelihood of completing your list is slim, therefore leaving some activities for next summer or for holiday breaks. The list is something to build together and it not only generates excitement, but a sense of accomplishment once completed.

Another way to present daily activities might come in the form of BINGO. Pre-make BINGO cards with a daily activity.

Daily activities might include: •Walking around your neighborhood and counting all of the animals that you hear and see.

•Count the windows in your house •Go to a museum •Build a sandcastle

•Write a short story •Take cookies to a neighbor •Write a note to grandma, grandpa or another family member, address it and send it in the mail BINGO prizes should be personal and include favorites for the child. Maybe the child gets to choose the restaurant where the family will dine or they get an extra half hour of free time and can choose what they would like to do with it.

Game charts can also include daily chores. Make a chore chart with daily responsibilities such as making the bed, putting the dishes away, taking out the trash, rinsing out the bathroom sink, and caring for a pet. The child should also take part in creating this card, which will in turn, give them a sense of ownership. The age old war of to reward or not to reward for chores will go on forever, but if this is a daily battle for you as a parent, making this a natural habit for the child. The rewards can be as simple as a token received for completion that the child saves prize, such as staying up late, going to a movie or having an extra hour watching television or playing a computer game.

Keep a schedule and a routine for the whole family. Routines and structure allow children to feel a sense of security and it teaches self-discipline. During these summer months, planning activities and keeping a routine will help your child stay focused, keep the enthusiasm, and stimulate those brain cells.

For the working parent, these ideas may seem out of reach. But, it is possible to accomplish something of this nature individualize it to meet your family’s schedule and needs. A daily activity may not be something that is feasible for your family, but you can always schedule activities for weekends or creative and complete tasks. It is amazing what results come when one actually is part of the creation process for activities, chores and goals. Your child might end up loving the activity they once despised.

Originally hailing from Indiana, Loren Allardyce has a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Ball State University and a Master of the Arts in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan. Since moving to Houston in tor of Operations. Loren is married and has two children, Aila (4), and James (2). lorenallardyce@gmail.com www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

Style

Priya James is a fashion stylist and owner of Priya James Fashion Consulting. She has a Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing from The Art Institute of Houston. Priya has styled and assisted in the production of fashion shows and photo shoots and has provided fashion consulting services to small businesses and start-ups in the fashion and retail industry. www.fashionmepretty.com www.facebook.com/PriyaMJamesFashionConsulting

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STREETWEAR:

Dare to Denim Denim is ingrained in American culture, and with images of denim shirts, vests, daisy dukes, and faded jeans. Daisy from the Dukes of Haz-

zard, Mariah Carey in her “Dream Lover� video, Zach Morris wearing a denim shirt while holding an oversized cell phone, TLC in denim overalls performing their hit song Creep, and even the

painful image of a young Britney Spears and denim together and create a cohesive look. you think about denim. It’s also time to chanpast, because the denim trends of the 80’s from head to toe is an option, although one ful shorts, or vice versa. Try a pair of denim denim. Try pairing a light colored denim shirt

touch of denim. Men can also add accessories such as sunglasses or a fedora or

accessories. For the more conservative in www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

On Hallowed Ground‌

The Tirupati/Tirumala Experience

BY MAHENDRI RAIDOO, MD Many years ago while visiting India and touring that vast country, my mother and I decided not go to Tirupati as we were exhausted from a surfeit of visits to temples and monuments.

My mother recalled being carried up the hill to Tirumala by her father when she was a child. When people talked about Tirupati, the curving road to the top, and the crowds up there, it fascinated me. So when the opportunity later came up for us to be in South India for a wedding, my husband and I decided this would be our time to visit and worship at the abode of Lord Venkateshwara, or Vishnu. I must add here that Hinduism is a monotheistic faith; the god we worship has many aspects, and Vishnu is one of them.

We researched Tirupati quite extensively, asking people about it, and of course scouring the internet. It was a very pleasant surprise to be able to reserve tickets online for Kalyanotsavam, the divine wedding ceremony. Acquiring the tickets involved uploading our recent passport photographs and our passport details. We were told that the paperwork had to be presented at the admission gate, and indeed this was required. took us up to Tirumala. The drive was on a well-constructed, wide one-way mountain road with exciting hairpin bends and beautiful scenery. Tirumala was abuzz with activity with crowds of devotees, sounds of chanting, and stores selling food and prayer items. We wandered around taking in the sights and sounds and the aromas. We came upon a stage with a trio of musicians playing some beautiful melodies, and sat awhile to listen.

As the sun went down, a large procession went by, people carrying an idol and with prayerful fervor called out Govinda, one of the many names of the resident god. The sparkling

42

multicolored lights surrounding the temple lent to the festive atmosphere, which was exhilarating.

Early the next morning, we were driven up the road to particular seva that there were so many people in the queue. We quickly decided that this was part of the pilgrimage and settled down to enjoy the anticipation of being on the brink of darshan, a view of Lord Vishnu.

The queues snaked around much like at Disneyworld. The crowd was diverse in behavior; there were those who would dash in front of you to unashamedly grab your place in the queue, and those who would explain things, answer your questions, and let you pass before them. We were very excited when after an hour we were led into several halls where we were seated. We thought that the ritual would be right there, but we were wrong, these were merely, for want of a better term, holding pens. After awhile, gates were opened and we were jostled out helter-skelter into a small passage and thereafter to larger passages, which led to a large hall where we were seated on the ground for the seva. My husband, wearing a dhoti time), and an upper cloth over his t-shirt, was asked to remove his t-shirt much to his chagrin and my amusement. We would have had a photograph souvenir of the event, but cameras are not allowed in the temple.

The Kalyanotsavam was a wondrous ceremony, colorful, melodious and uplifting. Blessings from the priest after the ceris a mammoth task, and we were expecting to be pushed and shoved some.

After the Kalyanotsavam we were taken in an orderly fashion to get a glimpse of Lord Venkateshwara. Walking up to the main altar was memorable, my eyes were ness.

The prasadam ings, we were given were the best we had ever tasted. The ladoos were Vadas When we returned to Tirupati ness… we hadn’t originally planned on walking up to Tirumala, and now the spur of the moment we resolved shall never regret. Thousands of people do it every day, and we were glad to be part of that tradition.

“Here…here…under bridge…you pointed the way and our journey

the walk began. There were many people walking up, mostly in groups of two to four, a few appeared to be walking alone, some appeared to be larger families. the absolute devotion of the young ing the laborious journey of faith and anointed every step with dots We met a young man who

www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

44

Summer Haute Tips

Preventive steps for sun and chlorine damage to hair

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BY MICHAEL DEMARSE Summer is here and the swimming and outdoor activities are great but hard on hair color and condition.

Here are a few tips and tricks I would love to share with you.

Chlorine is the one of the bighair color. Chlorine acts like glass when it attaches itself to the hair.

This glass like property explains the over shiny hair noticed with regular swimmers. You can actually hear it crunch when cutting with professional scissors. The tangles are almost impossible to remove. Careful examination shows most with a brassy tone due to color fading even from natural hair.

Sun strips hair color out of colored hair. Always cover your hair when outside with hat, scarves etc.

My new clear conditioning treatment helps reduce fading by

up to 50% and adds more body and Another trick I have used over the years is to apply conditioner to the hair before you go swimming and using a swimming cap too. The tendency is the chlorine will attach itself to the conditioner or at least be partially blocked from entering the hair. Most public pools use several times the recommended strength of chlorine to kill bacteria. Use a chlorine removing shampoo and conditioner is highly recommended.

Neutrogena is good for store bought brands; Aveda is great for salon version. Due to the amount of chlorine in public pools highlighted hair can turn to a greenish cast. To cover your hair as often as possible and soak with conditioner will help reduce sun damage, fading and chlorine buildup.

Always consult a professional.

Michael DeMarse has over 36 years experience as an image consultant.

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www.hummagazine.com

May 2013

FUKREY

Release Date: June 14 Producers: Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar Director: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal, Varun Sharma, Priya Anand, Vishakha Singh, Pankaj Tripathi, and Richa Chadda Punjabi Power will take over movie theaters this summer as the much-talked-about new comedy FUKREY hits the big screen on June 14 comes from the blockbuster producing duo of Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar who previously brought audiences groundbreaking hits like Dil Chahta Hai, Rock On!!, and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

SYNOPSIS: College. Three of the most important years of your life. Three years of studies (at times) and sheer indulgence. Indulgence in all the little isn’t always about ragging, fuchcha parties, college fests, raves and churning out ways to whack some extra pocket money from your parents. It’s sometimes hard, ugly and complicated. More so, when you really need to get admission in the coolest college in town and you know you don’t deserve it. And to top that, you get yourself involved in the most bizarre situations that could crack you into pieces before you could crack it. restless and hapless souls, running after their individual desires, brought together by one dream, which turns their not so simple life upside down. From breaking school walls, to cross dressing dancers at the Ram Lila; from a Jugaad papers; from a female pimp, who runs her drug cartel through Nigerian henchmen to visionary dreams. Can the four ‘Fukrey’, the four nobodies, twist their fate and dreams into reality or will they forever be lost in the obscurity that they come from?

46

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Green

German Cheese Cake

Tivoli Gardens

Swedish Smorgasbord

A Danish Design Doorknocker

Photos: Tajana Mesic

Lessons Learned from Europe

48

“The stupid people run, the smart wait, the wise garden.”

n

BY TAJANA MESIC Golden rays of the early morning sun are bathing the white crisp linens on my soft bed while the nightingale’s song is heard through the open terrace doors. Wind is rustling through the giant pine evergreens. The air is laden with the ers from the lush green garden below.

People are walking, dogs are barking.

It’s morning in the small town of Revnice in the Czech Republic, some 20 miles outside of Prague. And it is the middle of my European trip. Stop One was Stockholm, Sweden; the last stops will include Zagreb, Croatia. Stockholm, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Zagreb.

In May, I explored and shared best applied sustainability practices during my “Spring into Applicable Sustainability” journey through Europe. Five countries in three weeks. The question I sought to answer was what type of environmental impact did people make on their environment and their general attitude towards it. What processes do they use to minimize the impact? Since most of my work includes applicable sustainability, I needed to know the reason why and how sustainable solutions mattered to people in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic and Croatia.

Of course, I immersed myself in the culture fully by staying with locals, enjoying the architecture, culture, and local foods.

Shared are my impressions of three days spent in each country.

Stockholm and Gothenburg, Sweden precision, and measure. It’s also home of Albert Nobel, the founder of the Nobel

factory and was amazed by the cleanliness, automation, and attention to detail.

They are also testing 350 fully electric cars in collaboration with the Swedish government. Focus on zero emissions and safety is paramount and the people embrace it fully. Volvo evolved out of the concept of “Swedish cars for Swedish people”. It’s no wonder that forty percent of Swedes choose to drive a Volvo.

The station wagon is the most popular model.

Sweden shows great care for welfare of its people. New mothers and fathers can stay at home with their children for up to a year while receiving income. Streets and eco-parks were parents and children. Corporations give

Stockholm Prize. Stockholm is built on an archipelago of islands and so well engineered and orderly, precise and lovely in design.

Spring had just arrived after months and months of cold winter, so people basked in the sunshine, strolled along the coast, shops were packed during a workday.

Recycling is a culture in Sweden and a sources such as plastic, aluminum, and paper are recycled; the rest are burned in biogas factories either for heating or to power buses as biofuel. Food waste and human waste are converted into biogas.

Sweden is home of the Volvo, a safe and solid car. I visited the Volvo

to their employees.

Herring with potatoes and dill were a great local dish I tried in Stockholm, followed by lingberry jam and homemade multigrain bread. Licorice was another delicious treat in Sweden.

Copenhagen, Denmark Denmark struck me the most for its beautiful and functional Danish design and bicycling culture. It is a peaceful and unique country, steeped in the Scandinavian culture with colorful and precise architecture and clean cobblestone streets. Copenhagen is a port city, home to the Danish royal family and giant logistics company Maersk. It strives to become the Greenest City in Europe by 2016. Bicycles dot the streets and are the most common mode of transportation in Copenhagen. Most of them don’t have a lock, but are parked on the streets in an orderly fashion. www.hummagazine.com

June 2013

Danish dessert pastries and truf-

mark has a reciprocal agreement with Happy Danish children can be home moms and dads are strolling with their babies at all times of the day and

are planted as perennials to ensure that

Germany is a big country with

Bratwurst sausages and beer are

combining former Eastern and Western exploration of the European best pracdestroyed almost 40 percent of the

sustainable design in Germany as most

division between East and West is still visible and the remnants of The Wall still there as evidenced by architecture and

perspective from Scandinavia to SouthLooking at the forest-covered hills beyond the giant evergreens and hearing the rustling of wind while enjoying

nature and fresh air like I have enjoyed Will they have clean water and creeks

multicultural youth of Berlin were out Denmark is home to some of the brands I love to use where functional Danish design and attention of detail are

is much to learn about process improvement and maintaining the clean life from norm and each household has a bin for plastic bottles or aluminum cans on the

As President of GGG Sustainability Solutions, Tajana Mesic is a conservationist, speaker and a writer. GGG is

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