Reader's Digest Redesign

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NOVEMBER 2015

5- Split Second Lifesavers PAGE 86

Amartya Sen On India’s PAGE 124

Granny’s Lost Gold PAGE 120

The Extraordinary Power of Food

It forges friendships, keeps communities close and sparks celebrations . . . . . . . . . 64

When Eating Divides . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

What Your Feet Say About Your Health PAGE 108

8 Ways To Travel Smart PAGE 108

For Sale In India And Nepal Only

Outrageous: Heartless Hospitals . . . . 160

Enrich Your Word Power . . . . . . . . . . . 161

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LAUGHTER, READER’S DIGEST.CO.IN THE BEST MEDICINE

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Cover Story

How Food Brings Us Together

It’s not just sustenance - it’s a source of solidarity. Shabnam

Health

RD Guide

Watch for these warning signs.

Minwala and Snigdha Hasan . . . .

How To Get The Best Out Of Travel

What Your Feet Say About Your Health Lisa Fields and Mamta Sharma . . . .

Eight tips to make your journey hassle free. Kalyani Parsher . . . . . .

Culture

Survival

Seperating truth from legend.

Smart Move!

Quick thinking saves the day.

36 Favourite Facts That Are False David McCandless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Brandon Specktor . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My Story

First Person

We crossed the border to revisit her past- during the 1965 war.

The Taste Of My Childhood

Granny’s Lost Gold

Food and memories make our festivals delightful. Ira Pande . . . . .

Ajit Kamal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Drama in Real Life

The First Boy Syndrome

Alone. Injured.

Almost Dead

A mountaineer fights for his life.

Kenneth Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Living Language

Why We Make And Miss Typos The science behind slip ups.

Donyale Harrison . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

National Interest

Our obsession with a select few leaves millions behind.

Amartya Sen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The World

Touch The Sky

Breathtaking views from lofty heights. Cornelia Kumfert . . . . . . . . .

Classic Book Bonus

Unforgettable Dewitt Wallace The incredible story of the man behind the Reader’s Digest.

Charles W. Ferguson . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Editor’s Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

VOICES AND VIEWS In My Opinion

When Food Is A Weapon Dont let it divide us.

Shiv Vishwanathan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

26

Good Books

Let The Kids Be

Here’s how to hook a reluctant reader.

Page 40

Sayoni Basu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

28

Finish This Sentence

READER FAVOURITES Laughter The Best Medicine . . . .

Points To Ponder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

All In A Day’s Work . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The World Of Medicine . . . . . . . . .

Humor In Uniform . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Life’s Like That . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Quotable Quotes . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Who Made That? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

That’s Outrageous . . . . . . . . . . . .

Word Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Brain Teasers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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My Best Festive Memory Is . . 34 You Be The Judge

The Case Of The Alleged Autobiography

Can the state halt the release of a book it deems deflamatory?

Deven Kanal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

38

Choice words

Paul McCartney

The legend sounds off.

A compilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

40

Department Of Wit

Notes From Gary’s Mom

A parent never stops worrying.

Courtney Zoffness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Vol. 56 No. 11

Page 156

ART OF LIVING

WHO KNEW?

What, Me Worry?

13 Things You Should Know About Eating In Restaurants

Andre Mayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Technology

Useful Travel Apps

Katherine Cole and Snigdha Hasasn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Home

Boost The Beauty Of Any Room

Amelia Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Part Of The Art

.............

Toys ThatWere’nt Meant To Be Toys

Brandon Specktor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kelsey Kloss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Career

Ask For A Raise And Get It

I. Landau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Health

Diabetes Diet Tips

Samantha Rideout . . . . . . . . . . . .

Herbs That Heal

Elisa Kosonen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Cover Design: Mrunmayee G. Shreni Dand

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LAUGHTER, THE BEST MEDICINE

Laughter THE BEST MEDICINE

What do you call an alligator in a vest?

An Investigator

WHEN I SEE lover’s names carved

in a tree. I don’t think it’s sweet. I just think it’s scary how many people bring knives on dates.

Source: the internet

I WAS DRIVING along in my car and

my boss rang up and said, “You’ve been promoted.” I swerved. Then he rang a second time and said, “ You’ve been promoted again.” And I swerved again. He rang up a third time and said, “You’re managing director.” and I went into a tree. A policeman came up 9

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and said, “What happened to to you?”

I said, “I careered off the road.”

Source: Tim Vine, Comedian

A MAN GOES out with his friends,

before he leaves, he tells his wife, “I promise I’ll be home by midnight.”

Midnight comes and goes. He finally arrives home at about 3am.

As he walks in, he realizes the cuckoo clock is about to go off. As it starts, he has a flash of genius and decides to coo another nine times. He sneaks into bed satisfied with himself.

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LAUGHTER, THE BEST MEDICINE

The next morning he wakes up and his wife is making breakfastShe doesn’t seem to be angry. Satisfied with himself, he asks her, “Didi you sleep okay last night?”

“Yes,” she replies. “But we need a new cuckoo clock.”

He asks her why and she tells him, “Last night it cooed three times. Then it shouted, ‘Blast!’ It cooed another six times and giggled a little bit. Finally it cooed three more times, belched and tripped on the carpet.”

Source: the internet

A CHILD ASKED his mother, “How

were people born?” So his mother said, “Adam and Eve made babies, then their babies became adults and made babies, and so on.”

The child then went to his father and asked him the same question.

His father explained, “We were monkeys, then we evolved to become like we are now.”

The child ran back to his mother and said, “You lied to me!”

His mother replied, “No, your dad was talking about his side of the family.”

it through customs for me? Hide it under your robes, perhaps?”

“I would love to help you dear, but I must warn you, I will not lie.”

“With your honest face, Father, no one will question you.” When they got to customs she let the priest go first. The official asked, “Father, do you have anything to declare?”

“From the top of my head down to my waist, I have nothing to declare.”

The official thought this answer strange so he asked, “And what do you have to declare from your waist to the floor?

“I have a marvellous instrument designed to be used on a woman, but which is to date, unused.

Roaring with laughter, the official said, “Go ahead, Father. Next please!”

Source: Bill Boyle

EVERYBODY IS CORRUPTED by

hotel rooms. You can’t help it. it’s the only place in the world where you walk in and the first thing you do is steal everything before you take your coat off.

Source: Dylan Moran, comedian

Source: laughfactory.com

A YOUNG WOMAN on a flight from

Ireland asked the priest beside her, “Father, will you do me a favour?”

“Of course,child. What may I do for you?” “Well, I bought my mother an expensive hairdryer for her birthday.

It’s unopened but well over the customs limits, and I am afraid they will confisacate it. Could you carry 11

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TWO ARIELS MET on a roof. They fell

in love and got married. The cermony was rubbish - but the reception was brilliant.

Source: Idependant.co.uk

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CHOICE WORDS

Paul McCartney The Beatles bass man sounds off LIFE IS QUITE mysterious

and quite miraculous.Every time I come to write a song, there’s this magic little thing where I go, ‘‘Ooh, ooh, it’s happening again.’’ I just sit down at the piano and go, ‘‘Oh my God, I dont know this one,’’ and suddenly there’s a song.

Source: Reader’s Digest OVER THE YEARS,

people have said, ‘‘Aw, he sings love songs’’.. Well, I know what they mean, but people have been doing love songs forever. I like ‘em, other people like ‘em, and there’s a lot of people I love.

Source: Billboard

[my ambition] was to get a car... And I got one. We used to always say it when we were kids: Get a guitar, a car, and a house. That was the height of our ambition... It wasn’t to rule the world.

IN THE ‘60S,

Source: Sunday Telegraph (UK)

in us to stop the terrible fleetings of time. Music.

Paintings. It’s the same with Linda’s [his late wife] photos... The night we blew the candles out on a birthday with the kids. Capture it, please.

THERE’S AN URGE

Source: New Statesman

after a jog, and I’d thought of a couple of lines of poetry, and I’d tell them to Linda... She often said, “What a mind.” ... Your little heart just goes boom, boom.

I’D COME BACK

Source: Hamilton Spectator THE LAST TIME I

[saw George Harrison], he was very sick, and I held his hand for four hours. As I was doing it, I was thinking, I’ve never held his hand before, ever.This is not what two Liverpool fellas do... he just stroked my hand with his thumb, and I thought, Ah, this is okay; this is life.

It’s tough, but its lovely.

Source: The Daily Mirror (UK)

every night to put [our children] to bed,there in the mornings to wake them up. So even though we were some famous couple, to them we’re just Mom and Dad. I think that’s what’s important and it worked.

WE WERE THERE

Source: USA Weekend

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any people more soulfull, more intelligent, more kind, more filled with common sense than the people I came from in Liverpool...

They’re not important or famous. But they are smart... people who can just I’VE NEVER MET

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cut through problems like a hot knife through butter.

Source: Playboy

able to look at my accolades and go, “Come on, Paul.

That’s enough.” But there’s still this voice... that goes, “No, no, no. You could do better. This person here is excelling. Try harder.”

I SHOULD BE

Source: All Things Considered

that was something metaphysical.

Something alchemic. Something that must be thought of as magic.

Source: Sunday Times (UK) I AM THE eternal

optimist. No matter how tough it gets, there’s always light somewhere. The rest of the sky may be cloudy, but that little bit of blue draws me on.

Source: Rolling Stone

LIFE IS AN energy

field, a bunch of molecules. And these particular molecules formed to make these four guys, [the Beatles]... I have to think

“

We played... “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah,” and [my father] said, “Oh, thats very good, son. But there’s just one thing. Could’nt you sing, She loves you, yes, yes, yes?”

Source: NPR’s Fresh Air

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COVER STORY

How Food Brings Us Together

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When we open our table we build relationships, love and trust.

The extraodinary ways in which food can unite us.

BY SHABNAM MINWALA WIYH SNIGDHA HASAN

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HOW FOOD BRINGS US TOGETHER

Twenty-Two years ago, when Pritha Sen moved to Delhi from Kolkata, she knew almost nobody. She was single and older than her colleagues in the spiffy media organization she had joined. She felt alone and terrified: “I was convinced that I could never make new friends,” she recalls about those strangely uncertain days.

Sen would often work late, as journalists do, and found herself asking a colleague or a photographer who would come to drop her to stay back for dinner. As the acquaintances sat by her table, Sen cooked the pure Bengali food of her childhoodand when she stirred the fish curry in her wok and tempered it with traditional spices, the aromas wove their enchantment. “Slowly, more and more people came to eat at my table,” says Sen. “They collected around it, laughing, talking, singing, playing the guitar, getting to know each other-becoming friends. That’s when I understood that when we open our table to others, we build relationships, love and trust.”

As her circle grew, Sen never let herself forget what it’s like to be a stranger in a city. In fact, she went out of her way to help the newcomers she came across feel at home. One Christmas eve, she invited a young Malayali colleague, who had come to work in the capital from Kerala, for dinner. “She was staying in a hostel and I knew how terrible it felt to be alone during festivals, so I insisted,” recalls Sen. “We had a lovely time together!”

The tale of Sen and her magic wokthat banished her loneliness forever-is 16

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about the extraordinary power of food.

To forge friendships. To hold families together. To keep communities close.

And to spark celebrations.

This is especially apparent in India during this time of the year when Ganpati is propitiated with plump steamed modaks, fluffy luchis are fried for Durga Puja and glitzy boxes of mithai crisscross the country in readiness for Diwali.

“I think it’s easy and natural to connect both with others and with your own past through food,” says Rhea MitraDalal, a food consultant, caterer and member of innumerable online food groups.

Almost anyone you know in India will have stories about elaborate Onam Sadyas, Navroze or Eid repasts, where we routinely open the door to find a plate of goodies sent by a kindly neighbour. Somehow, even now, a lone diner hunched over a restaurant table or in front of the television, evokes a tinge of sadness.

Yet, in an age when for many of us life is divided between our hometown and the city we work or study in, it’s not always possible to be part of the traditional festivities with the family. Those away from the warmth

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of homemade food and others who are determined food enthusiasts have found new ways to connect with people who share their delight in food.

Indeed, suddenly there seem to be foodie outings and encounters to suit every diet and demand. Many newcomers to Bengaluru, for instance, take organized tours that introduce them to historic places with an initiation into authentic Kannada cuisine and trips to interesting food joints woven in. Says Mansoor Ali, cofounder of one such initiative called Bengaluru By Foot, “Many people who join these food walks are also fed up of mall hopping and restaurants. They want to try something different and this is a great way to get to know the city.”

The extraordinary power of food. To forge friendships.

To hold families together. To keep communities close. And to spark celebrations.

Groups like the Delhi Gourmet Club and Hyderabad Foodies, too, organize group trips to restaurants, which often help find better prices than those an individual would pay. Other enthusiasts wend their hungry way to cooking classes and lectures. Or sign up for home-dining experiences where they end up ripping into a succulent raan with a complete stranger.

A French family takes a heritage and cullinary our organised by Bengaluru By Foot

WE VISIT The Bohri Kitchen, where we find 12 people gathered around a thaal [the traditional Bohri way of feasting, where several members of a family eat from a huge shared platter] on the second floor of an atmospheric, old Mumbai building. “It’s one-and-ahalf hours of pure eating experience,” says 26-year-old Munaf Kapadia, who began experimenting with the home-dining concept early this year, and today hosts two meals a weekend for a wide-eyed bunch of food lovers.

Adds his mother Nafisa, 57, the main chef, “It’s only natural that people get talking and make friends here. After all, the thaal is about people sitting, eating together and bonding.”

On Bakri Eid, just as the lunch spread was laid out before his guests, Munaf got a call. “Sorry I didn’t book a spot earlier, but my friend is all alone for the first time on his favourite festival, can I bring him along, please?” said a frantic voice at the other end. “Of READER’S DIGEST NOVEMBER 2015

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HOW FOOD BRINGS US TOGETHER

course, we said yes!” grins Munaf.

When Ankita Srivastav, 31, walked in with her friend Amyn, from Kolkata, he was overwhelmed. “I could have taken him to a restaurant that serves Mughlai cuisine,” explains Ankita.

“But where else could he get such a warm, home-like atmosphere on a day when he needed it so much?”

While Indians like Amyn move out of their homes to work in other metros, a sizeable number also go abroad every year to study or work. And though many of us are more open to trying new cuisines today, the idea of a desi meal in a foreign land is still a cure for homesickness.

When 26-year-old Prerna Lalwani went to the Toulouse Business School in France, on an exchange program from IIM Lucknow, she would go backpacking in neighbouring countries with her batchmates. “One

of my most memorable stays was in Zurich. I did not know my hosts-they were friends of a friend and postgraduate students from India-and we reached their place at about 10:30pm,” recalls Prerna. “When we had settled in, I started heating a pan for a readyto-eat meal and applying Nutella on slices of bread, our staple diet. ‘How can you eat this when we have all that pulao in the cooker?’ our hosts-whose means, like ours, were limited-scolded us. Speakers were brought into the kitchen. We devoured the pulao, while they sat around chatting and getting to know us.”

Back in India and in a corporate career now, Prerna still keeps in touch with her Zurich hosts and is waiting eagerly to keep the chain of hospitality alive when one of them visits her this month. Even though eating alone is not a taboo among urban Westerners, the Indian penchant for treating food

A French family takes a heritage and cullinary our organised by Bengaluru By Foot

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as a communal activity has found takers among some of them. Maria Davydenko, 26, moved to Mumbai from Washington, DC, for work last year. She explored the city’s myriad varieties of food on her own until she heard about an unusual group from a friend.

We are all fortunate to have been the recipient of somebody’s love in the form of food. But how many times do we actually thank that person?

Pet Pujaris was started four years ago when two foodie buddies got fed up of making plans with their own friends, just to have them fall through.

Co-founder Kumar Jhuremalani, 28, explains that the not-for-profit, open community usually organizes three events a month-a pricey meal in a restaurant, an inexpensive street food outing, and a breakfast. “We have people of every description-from students to CEOs. Close-knit friend circles have formed after they met at our events,” he says. “Two of our members are about to get married!”

“I’d been to Mumbai’s famous Mohammed Ali Road earlier,” says Maria. “But going there during Ramzan with people who know all the secret places tucked away in the bylanes was wholly new and much more exciting.” On another such outing, Maria met people who shared her love

for cycling. She now goes for early morning rides across the city with her new friends, sampling food en route.

While most groups connect strangers over food, one particularly heartwarming initiative connects people with their past. “It all started after I wrote a cookbook called A Pinch of This, A Handful of That after learning about our food secrets from all the elders in my family,” says 40-year-old Rushina MunshawGhildiyal. “After the book was launched, many people reached out to say that they werereminded of their own mother or grandmother.”

THIS WAS the seed that grew into The Pinch and Handful Memory Project.

“We are all fortunate to have been the recipient of somebody’s love in the form of food. But how many times do we actually thank that person?” says Munshaw-Ghildiyal, who set up stalls at various festivals and encouraged visitors to send postcards to all those who’ve given them wonderful culinary memories. “I remember one woman even addressed a postcard to her late mother and thanked her for all the wonderful meals.”

Meanwhile, Pritha Sen had taken her career in a new direction when she took up documentation and research work in 2000. “My job as a researcher took me into remote areas and I realized that the more polished and urban we get, the greater the distance between us and the soil,” she says.

“I started examining my food more READER’S DIGEST NOVEMBER 2015

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HOW FOOD BRINGS US TOGETHER

Pritha Sen

closely and feeling that Bengali cuisine is not just Kolkata, there’s much more to it.” When Sen organized her first food pop-up in Gurgaon, she planned the event around the cuisine of the legendary Goalondo steamer that was once a symbol of a great culinary heritage.

The Goalondo steamer plied the Padma river and carried tea planters,

British officials, workers, settlers and students between West and East Bengal during the Raj. Over the years it developed a distinct style of cooking that drew from the varied people in the area-Khasi tribals, Muslim boatmen, and sahibs amongst them.

Sen decided to serve a representative meal at the event: the guests were seated community-style along long tables, coaxed to try all the dishes and regaled with the stories behind the food.

She recreated this in cities like Hyderabad, where one such evening proved to be a cathartic trip down memory lane for 83-year-old Tulsi Prasad Lahiri. Hailing from Pabna in erstwhile East Bengal, Lahiri was studying in Kolkata when his family was wrenched from their roots during Partition and had to move to Sheoraphuli in West Bengal.

The Golaondo steamer

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The famous Goalondo curry

“I can never forget the look on Mr Lahiri’s face when he said, ‘You have recreated a wonderful atmosphere for me here today. You’ve given me back a part of my childhood’,” says Sen. “As we both stood looking at each other, our eyes welling up, he told me how the Goalondo steamer had ferried him innumerable times. He remembered the fare served on it, including the Goalondo fowl curry, and rattled off the names of all the stops on his daily route.”

It is incredible how food becomes so much more than a means to satiate hunger. Volunteers at a gurdwara langar or those serving at a Durga Puja bhog would vouch for it-feeding the hungry is deeply soul-quenching.

Aromas can evoke unbridled nostalgia, making you recall images

you never knew resided in the recesses of the mind.

A plate of simple travel food extended by a co-passenger transcends unfamiliarity, making train journeys what they are. Even on the jam-packed Mumbai locals, ‘train friends’ organize potlucks and bowls are then passed around the entire coach-all this as the train rocks along. Perhaps it is their way of infusing togetherness into an otherwise inhuman but inescapable mode of travel.

Even as divisiveness raises its head from time to time and food becomes a handy tool for hate-mongers, these old and new ways of sharing lives over a meal will make food what it was always meant to be-not just a nourisher, but a uniter of hearts.

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RD GUIDE

PLANNING YOUR NEXT BREAK? Here are 8 ways to have a more fulfilling, better organised and cheaper holidays

How to get the

best out of

TRAVEL

BY KALYANI PRASHER Having been a travel writer and editor, I have journeyed a fair bit and realized that there’s no education like experiencing different cultures and seeing new worlds. There are people for whom soup is the last course, and people who add salt to their tea. Some nod sideways when saying yes, others enjoy going to the beach in an abaya.

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Innocents abroad can encounter funny situations too. French art curator Jerome Sans once told me of the first time he was in Japan, and people kept calling him “San-san.” He had to keep correcting them, “No, just San.” He soon learnt that the Japanese attach “-san” to names for respect, much like our “-ji” in India.

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Some things about travel never change: the great cities of the world retain their very special identities. And, everywhere, the lakes, mountains and beaches are always just as beautiful. But the development of the internet is radically changing the ways in which we travel. So here are eight tips for any Indian traveller, based on old principles and new facilities alike.

FIT IN WITH THE LOCALS “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Considerate travellers respect the laws and customs of the countries they visit. So, before travelling, I suggest you read up a little. For example, it’s illegal to feed pigeons in Venice or to buy or sell cigarettes in Bhutan. In Thailand, you do not point your feet at anyone, so be careful when you are seated. In Vienna, talking loudly on a mobile phone or eating smelly food on public transport could mean a very heavy fine.

Most foreigners you meet, especially if you’re not in Asia, tend to be more formal in interaction, so avoid enquiring about their religion or marital status. In South Africa, I once had this male guide, thirtyish, very friendly, and good-looking. There was, in our group, an elderly woman from Hyderabad, who, after minutes of being with the guide, promptly asked him, “Are you married?” The man laughed nervously and said no.

“Why?” she asked, leaving the poor chap mortified. He mumbled something about not finding the right

person. While this can lead to such embarrassing situations in the West, if you are alone in Korea, you could be asked whether you are married, and maybe why not, just by way of small talk.

Another time, I was the culprit. I was having a friendly chat with a Canadian trekker in the Rockies. He was very knowledgeable about the mountains and was warming up to the subject when I interrupted him by asking a question that occurred to me as he was speaking. Abruptly, he stopped talking and became disinterested in our conversation, which petered out. I realized, later, that he was not used to someone talking over him and must have found that very rude.

Yet, formal as they are, most Westerners also tend to be easygoing, and you will often find people greeting you with smiles inside elevators or buses. If you return their warmth and keep the conversation impersonal, you’re sorted.

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HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF TRAVEL

TRVAEL LIGHT Several airlines abroad charge to put luggage in the hold, and there are increasing restrictions on the size, weight and number of carry-on bags.

Your flight from India often allows you 30 kilos of checked-in baggage, but if you’re taking domestic flights abroad, make sure you travel light. If it’s winter, wear as many layers as you can, as woollens take up a lot of baggage space. Carry your heaviest woollens in the flight. Roll your clothes to pack in more into a suitcase (this way they also crease less than if you folded them).

And thanks to interesting innovations

like the “Rufus Roo” jacket (www.rufusroo. co.uk), you can take extra kilos of baggage onto the plane, and there’s not much an airline can do to stop you. The Roo (short for ‘kangaroo’) is a sleeveless jacket fitted with a number of pockets, some large enough to take a laptop or lady’s handbag, as well as clothes, shoes and toiletries. Stuffa and Bagket are other brands to choose from.

BETTER JOURNEYS : Quick, handy to-dos • Fly mid-week. It is usually cheaper than on a Friday or a Sunday.

• Book domestic flights locally or ask friends/family in the destination to book them for you in advance: offers for local residents are different and the websites can track where you're booking from.

Compare rates. Though online booking is cheaper, I find Indian travel agents can still manage better rates sometimes.

• Use a local number on a long trip.

Keep the data on your mobile off and use WiFi when available. Apps like Viber and WhatsApp allow you to make free calls using WiFi across the world.

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• If hiring a car, make sure you read all the policies carefully-don't hire a car from an unknown agency.

• Take photos of your travel documents on your smartphone or scan them to keep soft copies before you leave. Make sure you carry the right adapter and converter for charging your devices.

• While on a cross-country road trip, check that you have the required visa for each country.

• If on a hopping flight, always pack a set of clothes in the cabin bag in case the baggage gets lost in transit.

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OPT FOR RAIL OR ROAD A Eurail pass (buy it online at www. eurail.com or www.raileurope.co.in) will allow you to travel right across a single country, or most of Europe, for the cost of a single payment: from 88 euros [`6600] for three days’ travel within a month in Slovenia up to 1592 euros [`119,400] for three months of unlimited first-class travel across 28 European nations. Train journeys are a great way to meet people and see the passing landscape. And if you travel by night, you save on the cost of hotel accommodation.

If you like the road, then in many countries, driving a hired car yourself is often a good, more affordable option.

Check licence rules with embassies or their websites before you leave: Some countries allow your Indian driving licence alone while others may also require a valid international driving permit (get it from your local RTO after showing them your visa). You may hire a car from an airport or city and drop it off at another airport or city across the country, even across Europe. Opt for better-known car rentals such as Hertz, Avis, Europcar, Enterprise or Sixt and read the instructions on their websites meticulously. I love driving holidays, and among the most memorable I have enjoyed is

a weekend trip with friends across Australia’s Great Ocean Road-always within touching distance of the sea.

No flight will give you that.

EXPLORE NON-HOTEL STAY Many people like to know that there’s someone looking after their house when they’re away, particularly if they have pets who need caring for. So they’ll let you stay for free, in exchange for a few basic daily duties. There are several house-sitting websites (try www.housesitworld.com), or keep it within your circle of friends with a Facebook post asking if they know anyone looking for house-sitters. My friend Payal Puri owns a house in Goa she hardly uses and has listed it on Home Exchange (www.homeexchange. com), where you can swap the use of your house with someone else’s. It means a free stay, and you can find some houses in fabulous locations worldwide. There’s fierce competition for the best homes, so move fast.

House-sitting and house-swapping may last from a few days to several months, and frees up your budget to explore the area better. But it’s essential to have good references to show that you’re trustworthy, and can be relied upon. In Mumbai last year, I house-sat for a friend’s aunt, who was away and uncomfortable about leaving her flat locked. After a month’s stay, I READER’S DIGEST NOVEMBER 2015

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left a little gift and a thank you note for that free stay in a city I love.

Websites such as Airbnb and VacationRentals offer the chance to rent rooms in private homes for far less than the cost of a hotel room. Sign up to sites such as www.couchsurfing. org and you’re in a position not only to find spare beds and sofas all over the world, but also to offer to fellow couch surfers when they come to your town.

The aim is to create a community, bringing people together in a spirit of peace and good fellowship. Of course, not every couch is comfortable, nor is every host charming, so pick only the highly recommended ones.

service in return for accommodation, meals and the chance to make friends, get to know a different culture, even learn a new language. Websites such as Workaway (www.workaway.info) and VolunTourism (www.voluntourism. org) match volunteers to hosts globally. Several beautifully located schools, for instance, employ volunteer teachers for a fixed period, when you can also explore the region.

So, I recently put two of my friends in touch.

Mandavi Mehta runs a school in Shimla and Tamara D’Mello, who publishes learning books in Melbourne and was itching to get away for a bit. Tamara will be teaching in Shimla for three months this year, filling in for a teacher on maternity leave. Good for both my friends!

GO DIGITAL TRY VOLUNTEERING Worldwide, volunteer tourism is a big trend. Most of us have a skill, be it technical, professional or creative.

And whatever it is, there’s someone, somewhere who can use your ability, or just needs someone willing to work hard. That’s the principle behind skills exchanges: the volunteer extends 26

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The smartphone has revolutionized the way we travel. Maps, guidebooks, and even novels, are now available as downloads and apps (see page 48).

Tablets such as the iPad, Samsung Galaxy or Kindle Fire have become as essential on any trip as sunscreen and mosquito repellent. They not just save space but travel apps such as Yelp in the USA help you find a good

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restaurant wherever you are using crowdsourcing recommendations.

More functional apps, like the National Rail Enquiries one, will let you plan your onward rail journey while you are on the go in the UK.

You can use these gadgets to make travel arrangements and bookings, store the music you listen to on your travels, take photographs and communicate on social media.When I travel, I take down notes for my travelogues on the iPhone Notes app, as it automatically gets backed up on my iPad. It’s so much more convenient than trying to fish for pen and paper when an idea strikes you that I wonder how I ever managed without it.

European Union survey, 38 percent of all non-British or Irish Europeans speak English well enough to hold a conversation. So the Italian ticket collector I met on a train one day was clearly part of the other 62 percent.

On a train from Milan to Florence, an Italian came and gestured that I was on her seat, the TC too kept gesturing wildly at me but I kept waving my ticket at them. This went on for five minutes until he said a loud “Ooof!” and gave me another seat. Turns out, I’d got the seat number right in the wrong coach! But why blame me-the ticket was printed in Italian.

So now I know that biglietto is not a sandwich but the Italian word for ticket. And that arigato is thank you in Japanese. Knowing a few key words and phrases is essential for getting by in a land that uses little English.

Plus, you also please the people of the country you visit by speaking the odd local word, just as I smile when a foreigner says namaste to me.

GET FAMILIAR WITH THE LANGUAGE Travel is far easier and more enjoyable if you can converse with the people around you. According to a 2012 READER’S DIGEST NOVEMBER 2015

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WHEN IN INDIA

Useful advice for domestic travel

• Time:

Even though we have a standard time system in India, there is a significant difference in daylight hours between, say, Kohima and Mumbai. It gets dark much faster in some regions than the others. So while you can plan a day that ends at 7pm in Rajasthan, you’ll have to pack up around 6pm in Arunachal Pradesh. Make note while planning, especially for a driving trip.

• Climate:

The climate and topography also change drastically across India. If you’re used to the plains, you might find winding hill roads a problem; consult your doctor before travelling. If you are used to dry Delhi, then sea-side cities like Chennai can get chokingly humid. In Ladakh, you need to spend at least two to three days getting used to the thin, high-altitude air.

• Customs:

The diversity of India defines it-keep

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in mind that everything changes as you leave your state, from food habits to dress code. Research the state you are visiting. Though Hindi is widely spoken across the country, it may help to familiarize yourself with the local language for basic phrases. Pork is a staple in the North-East, beef is eaten commonly in Kerala, so do check what meat you are eating.

• Courtesy:

Do not jump queues, speak loudly or push when getting off or on a train or a bus. If you extend the politeness, you are likely to get it in return.

• New experiences:

In the last few years, a lot of experiences that were only available abroad have come to India. Be it skydiving in Deesa, Gujarat; or zip-lining in Kikar, Punjab; there are loads of new things to do beyond the usual touristy activities. Try something new to make your trip more memorable.

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FOOD AND OTHER ADVENTURES Many of us Indians are either vegetarian or don’t eat anything “non-veg” apart from chicken or fish.

While this is largely known now, do remember to specify-especially in South East Asia-that vegetarian means no fish and no egg as well. I strongly recommend that once in a new place, you try the local cuisine. This does not mean that you have to eat horse meat in Switzerland but, if you eat seafood, try the fried octopus in Japan. I used to feel icky about trying new tastes too but then I told myself that if a whole community eats something regularly, how bad can it taste?

That said, I was humbled on my recent trip to Taiwan, when, in an effort to

clear the impression that all Indians are vegetarian, I told my guide that I eat everything. “Oh!” said the guide, surprised, and asked, “Snake? Pork blood soup?” I had to eat my words, and say no, thank you to both.

“Ah, not everything then.” With those words he had changed my selfimage from this food adventurer to that of a safe eater. But then you get a new perspective on everything, including yourself as well.

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Quotable Quotes Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.

Anne Lamott, writer

Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.

Jawaharlal Nehru

When you focus on the goodness, you create more of it.

It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?

Henry Thoreau, writer

Oprah Winfrey, TV personality

Make more time for yourself: simplify, unplug and really focus on living in the present.

Karen Kain, ballet dancer

Adults are just obolete children, and the hell with them.

Theodor Geisel, humorist

Fear is a pair of handcuffs on your soul.

A year from now, you’ll wish you had started today.

Anonymous

Faye Dunaway, actress

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WHO KNEW?

Play-Doh was originally a wallpaper cleaner.

Joseph McViker, head of Kutol Products Company in Cinnnati, USA, heard from a local teacher that students were struggling to use stiff modelling clay in the classroom. He realized Kutol’s wallpaper cleaning putty made a squishy substitute and shipped some to schools in 1955.

Within a year, McVicker and his uncle founded Rainbow Crafts Company to sell the newly named Play-Doh in just over half half a kilo chunks of off-white. Soon the putty was old in primary colours, too, building it into a crafting staple.

Slinky was inspired by a battleship spring.

In 1943, naval engineer Richard James attempted to design a spring for stabilizing sensitive equipment aboard ships in rough water. Accidentally knocking one off the shelf he watched the spring “walk” down a stack of books and table before standing in a coil on the floor. James shared the trick with his wife, Betty, who scoured the dictionary for a name, settling on Slinky for the spring’s sleek, sinuous gait.

With a $500 loan, the Jameses had 400 Slinkys made and in 1945 gave thier first department store demo. They sold their entire supply in 90 minutes.

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Frisbees started as pie plates.

The Frisbie Pie Company, founded in 1871, was known as much for its pie tins as for the tasty pastries they carried. The game of tossing empty Frisbie tins through the air quickly spread from schoolyards near the Connecticut factory to college campuses like Yale University’s, until they became so synonymous with flying disks the Wham-O toys introduced its own plastic Frisbee in 1957.

Silly Putty was meant to be a rubber substitute.

In the early 1940s. Japan’s invasion of rubber- producing Asian countires sent American scientists scrambling to devise a replacement. Engineer James Wright’s combination of boric acid and silicone oil proved too weak as a rubber but could bounce higher and stretch further. Wright sent samples to scientists around the world in hopes that one could fint a practical use for his “nutty putty”. None could. But in 1949, marketing consultant Peter Hodgson did. He bought production rights, renamed it Silly Putty, and stretched this wartime curio into the history of toys.

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