Blink issue 67 may09 2015

LOCK JAW Tata Steel’s UK unit is on the brink of a crippling strike as workers and management reach an impasse p2 saturday, may 9, 2015

AFP / LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI

Wind of change While uncertainties remain, Sri Lanka looks towards a more united future with new President Maithripala Sirisena at the helm p10

WHO IS YOUR JEREMY? The fear of facing our own inadequacies keeps so many books in our head p16

SOCIAL SKILL SET Mockingbirds and coots can remember faces and recognise their eggs p22

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CREATURE FEATURE

Know thy neighbours Recognition skills across species are not just a human forte. Mockingbirds and coots are excellent examples of how birds remember faces and also eggs

ambika kamath

Spanner in the works The Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot, UK; the company’s three British plants face what could be the most significant industrial action to hit the UK steel industry in more than three decades simon dawson/

Corroding morale of a steel workforce

bloomberg

Smart thinkers (left) The American coot johan enqvist;

(below) the northern

mockingbird and Tata Steel’s UK unit is on the brink of a crippling strike as the face-off between workers rachel moon a belt-tightening management hurtles towards a point of no negotiation ’ve always had a good memory for faces. would. I’d be hard-pressed to tell you how mockingbirds’ response to the second intrud-

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When I meet someone for the second time, I often need to pretend that I haven’t met before, avoid the cross thethem road from thetotrade union embarrassment recognition.

But officesofatone-sided Tata Steel’s strip products despite my uncannyin ability tell human division Port to Talbot, Wales, faces apart,stands I struggle to distinguish between the Cold Mill — an expansive non-human individuals. lizards, ingrey building with the Take words “Our for People stance.

MyDifference” current research depends Make the written in large,upon bolddislettinguishing lizards one ters across it.individual The Tata Group has from long made another.

I tell two lizards the same much ofCould its relationship with itsofworkforce; apart in the way I tell two forgingspecies a “caring, respectful andthat compassionapart? Absolutely not. Someate” bond people with colleagues and achieving “cotimesfeature an individual hesive” working among lizard its fivereally core stands its skin be values. However, at out Tata—Steel’s UKmight facilities moretoorange brown, such claims seem have athan hollow ring or as the the diamond on itssignifiback group faces what couldpatterns be the most maytobe well-decant industrial action hitunusually the UK steel indusfined.

But more often than try in more than three decades. not,of I need a littlethe help.

For To be clear: in terms numbers, strike my research this summer, won’t be on the scale of 1980 when 90,000 I’m Steel sewing different (the colworkers of the British Corporation oured beads intointo the Tata lizcompany that eventually morphed ards’ tails be able to Steel’s UK operations) went on to a 14-week strike distinguish the over pay and closure fears. Tataone Steelfrom employs other. recognising peo17,500 in the UK andIt’s thelike unions, which repreple 95 byper thecent jewellery wear, are insent around of the they workforce, ofthe their faces.of any strike action, yet to stead specify length Butgetasthe with many from sensory should they go-ahead the skills, ballot organisms are 29. vastly taking place other between May 6 and Butbetthe terdispute at across-species significance of the cannot beindividuunderesal Indeed, recognition we timated for Tata Steel. union than members humans are.

A striking point to a corrosive rift between management example of this skill is and workforce. northern “I’ve been here 30-34the years but havemocknever ingbird, a bird thata known morale to be this low,” Mark Davies, the same union member based atlives PortinTalbot, saidplace duras I currently do. Giving my recent visit. howSteel’s common they At immediate issue en is Tata proposal are in pension Gainesville, Florto close its defined benefit scheme, atwhich dates back to ida, Britishmockingbirds Steel Corporation tract asis still much of mya days. Though consultation underway, attention as orthis pigeons new scheme, announced incrows March year

many mockingbirds I’ve seen today, let alone er was similar to their first response to the first whether I’ve seen different individuals. But intruder, demonstrating that mockingbirds the been which ignoring have (see mockingbirds box), is set to beI’ve adopted, would be can only tell two humans approaching Lessnot room for negotiation quite possibly been watching me. less costly to the company and cut its risk ex- their nestsays apart but alsoviews distinguish Tata Steel employees’ would bethem conSome years ago, biologists thelonger University posure.

As retired employeesatlive and from thebefore hundreds others walking sidered any of final decision on past! shifting of Florida Gainesville decided to pay attenamid low in returns from financial markets, the them Birds’tosuperior identification skills don’t “a very competitive pension tion to costs the same mockingbirds that pension I barely stop rising of running final salary at recognising people, but extend into arrangement.” notice.

Specifically, researchers were inschemes have led these to substantial deficits.

In theRickhuss realm of contrasts objects asthe well.

These recognition style adopted by seterested in whether these birds, consequence, companies acrosswho the encounUK have skills come to the in fore the that American nior management thewhen past with of the ter thousands of humans everycontribution day on this coot, made a transition to defined little black-and-white waterbird, takmostarecent rounds of negotiations.

“Weishave busy college campus, cancase, distinguish per- ing schemes.

In Tata Steel’s however,one unions care ofgot thethe most importantthat objects its definitely impression the in manson from Atwould first, this seems an life argue thatanother. the move remove onelike of the — its eggs. agement team we were negotiating with had impossibly tough question for to answer — you main benefits of working the company, Coots live in a cut-throat world. On average, their hands tied.

They shrugged their shoulcan’t sit a mockingbird down toagreed ask who has half and they had in 2011 already toitmeain amake coot nest die of starvation. dersthe andchicks couldn’t any decisions.” met that But the researchers sures to day. reduce company’s risk exposure To guard against losing allsharptheir He views this as the latest stage in the found an elegantly simple soluto the longevity issue. offspring, often ly deteriorating relationsfemale over thecoots past couple tion to this by tapping Tata Steelproblem, maintains this agreement was of years. He sneak intomanner a neighbouring coot’s cites the in which Tata into theinmockingbirds’ materlimited scope, and didn’t relate to improve- handled the nest and anproducts egg or two.

After sale of itslay long division, nal instincts. ments in life expectancy preall, if you’re going to betoout-comlargely in Scunthorpe, GenevaOn each day, the The2012, researchers began loApril where most of by its liapeted for foodUntil by the a neighbour, based Klesch. day of the nesting mockingbird cating nests. For understandably grew you bilities mockingbird lay. might as well try the announcement lastto trick October, theWhen next four oneofofnegotiatwo rethisdays, round neighbour providing for even seniorinto union executives more and more wary searchers walkedin and reached tions began November, your offspring too.

But the comwithin the division had no inofThe themanagement approaching towards each first nest offered in turn,a atunions were repeting take thisorsubkling ofcoots the don’t negotiations, an team we were researcher tempting to convince the mockformed version of the scheme, lyingtodown.

They have opportunity propose alternanegotiating with had terfuge ingbird on her eggs that but theysitting say the proposals on evolved thefeel ability to distinguish tives. “We disappointed and their hands tied the researcher representedOne a the table were untenable. between their own and very let-down,” says eggs Rickhuss. credible Onall each day, the proposalthreat. required workers to their eggs.

Unfamil“Tata’sneighbour’s explanation about confinesting mockingbird understandably grew iar eggs are dentiality retire at 65.

Hitherto, employees unceremoniously ejected from didn’t cut any ice.

As more and more oftothe approaching re- the comfort ofleaders have been able towary apply retire the nest, the of thus tradeensuring unions, that we sign searcher she would attack moreoffrequently, five years—earlier in recognition the heavy algae and insects painstakingly are confidentiality agreements at allcollected levels.” Tata issue more alarm calls, physical demands of theand job.create more of a used to feed its own progeny. says the announcement was made early in the ruckus response human.

But the “We in have made to sothe many changes to mothe merger-and-acquisition Upon learning about coots’ precise egg recprocess, before due ment of truth day five, a second scheme overcame the on years, cut when benefits and ognition I tried to match my own object diligenceskills, had begun. researcher approached the nest.

Would costs… they’ve said it would safeguard thethe fu- identification against theirs, comand Alan Coombs,abilities chair of the multi-union mockingbird continue re- opened ture of the scheme,” says to Royescalate Rickhuss,her generupPort a carton eggs. mittee at Talbot,ofwho hasFaced beenwith withtwo the sponse to the approaching she al secretary of the Communityperson, Union — ifone of rows of seemingly identical ovoids, I threw my company since 1982, recalls a long period thinks that allrepresenting humans are the same and therefour unions Tata Steel’s work- hands both defeated and thoroughly imwhen up, relations were healthy, even during fore equally threatening?

Or would she recogforce.

“This time their refusal to negotiate in pressed, yet again,periods by the natural world.when a such challenging as 2008-09, nise this as a different person, a person whoa blast furnace on the site was mothballed. He any meaningful fashion tells me they had kamath studies and former evolutionary had not spent the last four days to vanpredetermined position and aretrying hell bent on ambika recalls the attitude oforganismic the plant’s Maat Harvard University dalise Time and time again, female biology closingher thenest? scheme.” naging Director Uday Chaturvedi. “It was a

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Differences to the fore A message that no longer rings true for the workforce at Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant in Wales; (below) union member Mark Davies says morale in the company has touched a 30-year low vidya ram

pleasure doing business with him,” says to work in less-taxing roles. For example, a Coombs, describing how unions and manage- worker with cancer was offered less physical ment worked together to avoid layoffs, put- jobs and the flexibility to work when health ting workers into training programmes, and permitted. This scheme, he said, engendered other roles. “You had the sense it was about great morale. However, in the last couple of looking after people and making them ready years, the scheme fell by the wayside. to go out again if things turned around.”

Another example several workers cited was Coombs also recalls a period when he was “the journey”, now discontinued, which gave involved in weekly management meetings, workers an opportunity to suggest improvebut that stopped in the past two years, during ments, often in small team settings. Coombs which the company has undertaken a crucial recalls one worker telling him it was the first review of the plant’s white- and time someone had asked his blue-collar workers. “Prior to opinion in 30 years. Others that I had a seat at the table, no pointed to changes such as a matter how uncomfortable the move from salary rises to bonusdiscussion,” he says. es; changes to the benefits linkPrior to that I had a ed with overtime; and an end to seat at the table, no Missing gestures Christmas family entertainment matter how Coombs says the lack of consulshows and the bottles of energisuncomfortable the tation has had knock-on effects ing squash that were once put in discussion on morale, leaving the plant untheir lockers. dermanned and piling pressure on the remaining experienced A Euro hangover workers in the form of overtime Interestingly, no one I spoke to and night shifts. One worker, who wished to thought the changes were a result of the remain anonymous, said he had little choice change in leadership at the top of Tata — a other than to go on 16 night-shifts in the past question I specifically asked. Workers and 17 days. “… running a blast furnace takes years union leaders instead linked them to a new of experience,” says Coombs. approach at the European level: a growing The workers I spoke to pointed to small but centralisation of activities. “I believe it’s HRtelling changes. Martin Waters, a staff union driven from the top of the European busirepresentative, was for a while running a ness,” says Coombs. “The one-company, onescheme that helped the long-term sick return HR approach.”

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Retiring hurt Tata took over the £13-14-billion British Steel Defined Pension Scheme, which based pensions on the salary close to retirement. In recent years it has begun to run at a deficit — currently estimated to be in the region of £2 billion, with increased life expectancy of an average of six years adding around £2.5 billion to liabilities in the past 25 years. Tata had initially proposed to make up half through modifications to the scheme, which has around 140,000 members including 17,000 current employees.

Tata Steel’s tough stance has however been welcomed by analysts. “Demand has collapsed, margins are wafer-thin, the Chinese are oversupplying the market so it’s a very challenging environment and Tata has been slow in taking actions to bring the company into profitability,” said one analyst on condition of anonymity.

The impact of any strike action on Tata Steel’s three British plants, with an annual capacity of 11 million tonnes (global capacity is 29 mt), would depend on how long it continues and the shape it takes. This is a company still in the tentative stages of recovery, as demand has begun to revive, and costs have fallen. According to the latest figures, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose to ₹1,308 crore in the quarter ending December — an over 50 per cent increase on the same period the year before.

In a statement, Tata said that a drive for competitiveness in the face of unprecedented economic and market headwinds had required lots of changes, and that unions “can and do have an influence on outcomes at Port Talbot as elsewhere.” Still, Rickhuss argues, it is time for Tata to acknowledge that it is “not living up to what it sets itself up to be as a good employer, exercising corporate responsibility for its workforce.”

“The pension thing is like the straw that broke the camel’s back,” observes Waters. “We have had enough of this. The boys don’t want to go out on strike but this is a protest. They have the feeling management isn’t listening to us anymore.” vidya ram

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Money down the drain The pursuit of happiness

A tale of two companies that are profiting from eco-friendly disposal of human waste A magical road trip through Bhutan translates into a grand feast for the senses

High and mighty Tiger’s Nest Monastery near Paro shutterstock

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he stone verandah outside the Kur- doesn’t take much of your time and energy. hang, a 15th-century monastery dedicated to jey Lhakhang in Bhutan’s Bum- Our Thimphu ‘sightseeing’ started with the the ‘divine madman’, Drukpa Kunley, who is thang Valley was cold. The National Textile Museum, where we admired responsible for the larger-than-life phallus monastery dedicated to Guru Rin- the rich traditional weaves that become the symbols that adorn the walls of many homes ponche was shut as theinmonks lunch,small hamra Odishawere is a at quaint, gho and kira — the national worn by with Bhu- uriconsumption patterndress beginning and buildings in the country.

The head monk cialise it (Zerodor),” he says. but I did not mind only townwaiting. on the The banks of sounds the riverI it is tanese mensays andUttam women.

Later we walkedand to CEO nals,” Banerjee, founder blessesNamita pilgrimsBanka by striking heads with ahardfacedtheir an even bigger could hear werenamed those of theItfluttering after. may haveprayer developed Trashi Dzong, the seat of the central woodship of Chhoe Ekam Eco Solutions. phallus. in her quest for eco-friendly human flags from the into courtyard tin- cena vital and portthe backdistant in the 15th government and also of the Je Khenpo, the The company’s waterless urinal, Zerodor, It took better part of the for us to sevwastea management, thenext pathday littered with klingtury, of a but wind chime.

The world was at peace lacked sanitation facilities even until chieffeatures abbot of Bhutan.

The massive a valve that allows urine towhitedrain out get to Bumthang, the spiritual heart of Bhueral failed projects and enterprises.

In 2008, and so wasHyderabad-based I. 2012.

Banka BioLoo introwashed and the odour-causing multi-tiered roof of the gas andwalls prevents ammonia tan. As drove aupcompany from Punakha, yaks and shewe started for recycling printer Myduced journey to Bhutan had started many its low-maintenance bio-toilets in this Trashi Chhoe is meant inspire awe. The unit can from returning totothe restroom. pine cartridges. trees became common.

Every “It failed but gave menow a lotand of ideas yearsregion ago. In college, I had stumbled and, soon, residents made aacross beeline for Bhutan’s dzongs most urinal, saving 1.5 about waste be fitted insideare an its existing then management terraced fieldsand made thetheir environsomethese photographs of that the hygienically Himalayan dispose king- of covered loos impressive structures, lakh litres of water alording year. appearance, across the gorge on was ment.” So in 2009, when Indian Railways dom human and fell waste instantly in love.

It took me over a or without need for septic tanks over theEach surrounding unit costslandscape ₹4,500, which includes in- experimenting the opposite slopes, and amidst forwith bio-loos a controlled decade to finally takeplants. that flight to Bagdogra fromstallation waste treatment strategic charges. points atop a hill conBanerjee ests speckled with red, pink discharged system, sheand took a and then taxi through villages and or attrasts In aasmall village intowns, Karnataka’s Chamarajathe mouth of a valley. this with otherThe hi-techThe chef’s skills put lavender flowers.from At the of dealership twohead companies fieldsnagar, to thethe Bhutan border. a grey April residents wereOn so thrilled on seeing dzongs, somethat dating to the urinals costback ₹20,000 for in- my fears about theseproviding terraces were solitary farm-“That these solutions. evening, mytoilets husband I crossed intomancovered — theand portable bio-toilets 17th century, out as for- for stallationstarted and about ₹8,000 houses steeply thatsanitaI wassomy first perched brush with excessive heatcan to be rest The unit fitted Phuentsholing and entered a different world. ufactured by Banka BioLoo — for the first time tresses and are maintenance. seats of the dis- “Weand ema datshi was annual worried residents might tion,”their she recalls. inside an existing Travel is onewith long that through they stoleBhutan them, along theroad ac- trict administration theengi-part of almost every thought of aand frugally roll down the bottom of the exAndtowhen the Railways urinal, saving 1.5 lakh journey, mostly ontanks. the highway that starts at monastic body. neered companying The first mechanical dzong valleyplored if theythe stumbled. idea of using the biomeal thereafter litres of water a year Phuentsholing and cuts through the country.

The IIM-Gandhinagar campus unon our agenda was the one at can Pu- last system that Suddenly we had snow-capped digestible toilets developed by in Bhutan The rain and mist kept us company almost nakha, a little more der construction on the banks of Sathandoes 70km long and not admountains companyand — they DefenceforResearch Developthe entire drive from Phuentsholing Thim- from Thimphu. versely impact the barmati river will install Ekam to Eco marched and menacing ment silent Organisation (DRDO), Banphu, Solutions’ the capital,waterless but it didurinals, not block out the which An early morning ecosystem.”drive beside till where we began our step de- lay. ka us knew her next stunning The save road to Thimphu of winds through Dochu LaTurning will views. annually thousands pass andthe over product into a com- She found scent then final-techoutinto thatTrongsa DRDO’sand bio-digester through and dark lush forests hug the some very bad roads litreshills, of water. gotventure us to thewas, picturesque mercial however, not ly to nology Bumthang. did And awaythen withappeared the needChhume, for clearing steep slopes.

In a country where 50 per cent of Meri Puensum Hotel, situated a hill slope an easy step. on Banerjee and his the prettiest village I have seen.Instead, Wooden-roofand transporting sewage. the bio-diResembling a small town rather the population defecates in thethan opena na- before Punakha,friends in timehad for aresearched lunch of ema ondatthe subed houses lined the straightest gester’s anaerobic bacteria500m brokestretch down the tion’sand capital to daily jaded Indians, Thimphu the rest flush gallons of wa- is shi, beans datshi, sticky Afject chilli while chicken studyingand at IIT-Delhi. of road in Bhutan; flowers dotted every apple waste into biogas. nevertheless modern town in Bhu- brown rice. ter downthe themost toilet, two companies ter graduation they joined the and peach tree; firewood lay neatly stacked betan. Like most towns in theto country, Thimphu are working overtime find cost-efThe dzong atcorporate Punakha is world. the mostBanerjee, beautiful who side the Thehouses. missing toilets sits infective a valley and its mainAlong streetthe is filled alternatives. way,with I have seen. Located at briefly the confluence of the had Jakar, worked with a start-up, a one-street town, the main settle“DRDO was focused on is high-altitude areas like tiny shops andbuilding hotels. An evening at The they are a successful busi-Zone, Pho Chhu (Father River)setand the Mo Chhu mentSiachen his heart on water conservation in the valley with JakarI began Dzong to keepand for thethe Army. explore a watering frequented by the city’s ness inhole environment-friendly dis- hip (Mother River), with a beautiful covered wood and sanitation.

The stuing watch from a hilltop above. for Monasteries the use of this technology civilians,” she and happening crowd, introduced me to ema cantilever bridge leading updent posal of human waste. to it, the dzong project could not and temples are with peppered across Bumthang says. Armed a licence from DRDO, she bedatshi, the national dish of chillies in cheese looks straight out of a dream. says ar- as beLegend commercialised and it is easy to walk between some of them. gan manufacturing bio-digester tanks for hugravy.Student The chef’s skills put wings my fears about ex- chitect Zowe Palep designedthe project takes it, inspired a That man patentby rested is what we did nextare morning after a the waste.

Thethe tanks fortified with cessive heat to rest and10-15 emalitres datshi part of vision of the palace of Guru Rinpoche.

“We realised that ofwas water with IIT-Delhi. “So we hearty breakfast at Jakar. in Wecow started with bacteria, cultivated dung, at Jamthe comalmost meal Bhutan. is every wasted perthereafter flush in in toilets and Later, a pleasant and floated easy walk throughsocial a for-profit pey Lhakhang, a temple builtplant in ADin 659, dedipany’s manufacturing Cherlapally, Thimphu very ineasy on its visitors. It fields and villages tookenterprise about 3-4islitres urinals.

We thought us to the and Chimi Lhak- has IIT-Delhi catedHyderabad. to the Buddha of the Future.

These tanks can be installed in it would be a good idea to change the water given us the licence to commer- new toilets or retrofitted to existing ones.

Micro-solution Hyderabad-based Banka BioLoo is licensed to manufacture bio-toilets, like this one in Dhamra (Odisha) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, which use bacteria to break down waste pti

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All-weather answer A bio-toilet under installation in the icy heights of Siachen courtesy: drdo; (right) a Banka bio-toilet connected to a bio-digester tank

by saving on water and fertiliser use.

Uttam Banerjee, founder-CEO of Ekam Eco Solutions

Namita Banka, founder of Banka BioLoo

Track change Bio-toilets on the Gwalior-Delhi Bundelkhand Express courtesy: drdo

And that’s precisely where her next problem lay. “We could not sell our tanks as people didn’t have toilets in the first place. Where would I install the tanks?”

According to Census 2011, 49.8 per cent in India defecates in the open. Around 67 per cent of rural India has no access to toilets and only 32.7 per cent has access to piped sewerage in urban areas.

“We had to re-think. So we slowed down a little and started developing a superstructure out of plastic and another modular structure of cement panel as toilet pans,” she says.

Today, Banka’s bio-toilets feature a superstructure connected to a bio-digester tank.

Her company also services the units.

Both Banka and Banerjee are well aware of

the need to manage waste without polluting the environment. The bacteria in the Banka bio-digester tanks break down the waste to release water, carbon dioxide and methane. Customers can either use the water for gardening or let it into the ground, says Banka. In larger projects, her company recycles the water by filtering it and reusing it for flushing.

Banerjee says his first priority is to conserve water and the second is to have systems that can reuse the urine. “Urine is a good fertiliser.

We destroy the pathogens and bacteria in urine. In a reactor, we add some chemicals through which the phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen in the urine are recovered,” he says. Nurseries near the urinals make use of this by-product through drip irrigation, there-

Big-time users Since he went commercial in October 2013, Banerjee has installed 5,000 Zerodor units, including 700 in IIT-Delhi and others at IITs, IIMs, schools and private colleges across India, as also companies like Google, Dell, Polaris, Maruti Suzuki, Essar Oil and Ambuja Cements.

“We are looking at around 15,000 installations this fiscal,” says Banerjee, whose enterprise is already profitable.

Banka’s client list is equally impressive and includes Indian Railways, Integral Coach Factory, Larsen & Toubro, International Paper and the Andhra Pradesh government, among others. Her other buyers are schools, villages, resorts, construction sites, factories and other places that lack sewerage lines or connection to the municipal sewerage systems. Revenues for Banka BioLoo increased by 70 per cent last fiscal. “This year, we are expecting exponential growth, about 300 per cent,” she says.

Alongside, both Banka and Ekam have ventured into a new but related line of service — annual maintenance contracts for toilets. Banka is already managing 2,000 toilets for Indian Railways while Banerjee is currently offering AMC services in the national capital region. “We are contacting local plumbers to implement the product. We are also appointing distributors to take care of services,” he says. Banerjee has outsourced the manufacture of Zerodor while his enterprise looks after the assembly and packaging. Banka’s superstructures, too, are manufactured at a village on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Both entrepreneurs want to do more. Banerjee is currently designing a women’s urinal, which will require minimal manual intervention and will be self-cleaning. “We are working on a pre-fabricated structure using a locally sustainable material like bamboo or pre-cast concrete sheet,” he says.

Ekam is also trying to create a network of local entrepreneurs for managing these toilets.

This is still at the conceptualisation stage and will be ready for launch by September-end. Also on the cards is a composting toilet, where waste can be treated at the source itself to produce fertiliser. “A family of four can easily generate its requirement of fertiliser using this technology,” he adds.

Banka’s eyes are on biogas, which can be produced from agricultural or municipal waste, manure, sewage or food waste. “Since we are very focused on sanitation, biogas is our area of interest, where we can manage other solid waste also,” she says. rashmi pratap

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Looks alike justice Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) corporations are engaged in a righteous battle to protect their brands and trademarks

Slice of a city In Tulsi Badrinath’s book, the city is portrayed the way it is experienced by the people living in it s vasanth Buck stops here Customers are shortchanged when they buy counterfeits, which are largely manufactured by small operators across the country kamal narang

Tales S a city tells

ince it doesn’t come with ribbons and greeting cards, not many would have known that World Intellectual Property Day just came and went. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the day is celebrated ‘to promote discussion of the role of intellectual property in encouraging innovation and creativity’.

This year’s theme was ‘Get Up, Stand Up. For Music’. Not surprising: the music industry make places, or places peocontinuesotopeople balance itself delicately between Badrinath’s were innovationple? andTulsi piracy.

However,parents the focus on from Uttar Pradesh,particularly but she was music reinforces the tendency, in “born in Madras four decpopular discourse, to relateand IPR some awareness preades later find myself a resident Chennai.” dominantly with the creative arts.ofI will do my Yet her growing years, shemore was always bit through for IPR Day by writing about humthe one considered “from elsewhere, drum matters: counterfeit soaps and differdeterent”. sheand went to Delhi for vacations at gents,When creams shampoos. herThe grandparents’, she is became “even an fake syndrome rampant in more the fastoutsider”. moving consumer goods (FMCG) market in Inincent general, rarely resolvdiaContradictions, — almost five per of allare FMCG products ed, would there be so many books on soldelse in why the country are counterfeit.

Industry the sameinsist place, sometimes on the insiders that in reality written the figures are heels of each other?

Rediscovered by more alarming.

This isMadras as raging an ‘IPR issue’ Madras/Chennai’s best-known S as any other, with legal teams ofchronicler, FMCG corpoMuthiah, is in its 7th or 8th edition.

NS Ramasrations fighting to protect their brands and wami’s Madras Diary in the Indian Express in trademarks. theThe 1970s had legions of fans, as doisVdriven Sriram’s counterfeit FMCG industry by columns in The across Hindu. the There’s KL Narasimsmall operators country.

The first han’s A Most History of 1968 task is Madras to locateCity: them. of the largervintage corpo(which cost engage ₹4 at the time!), KRAagencies Narasiah’s rations now investigating on Madras: Tracing of these the Cityoperations.

Since 1639, a full-time basisthe toGrowth unearth An Cityproduction edited by CS Lakshmi, TamaTheUnhurried counterfeit units are often no rind

by Bishwanath and Degree CofmoreCity than a 300 sq ftGhosh factory-cum-storagefee by the Yard by Nirmala Lakshman.in a small room tucked away in a basement Despite the plethora material about a town.

Discovering them of is the primary chalstrip sandcomes by the the Bay part of Bengal that grew to lenge.ofThen of bringing them become to task. the stronghold of the Portuguese and the‘Counterfeit’ British, where a White Town and Black in this context does nota mean Town transmogrified from Madraspatnam or ‘fake’ per se, but includes ‘lookalikes’.

‘Colgate’ Chennapatnam into Madras Chennai, Babecomes ‘Collegiate’, ‘Lakmé’and becomes ‘Likedrinath’s bookbecomes manages‘Cameo’. to be different foMe’, ‘Camay’ Add tobythis cusing on and people, their lives and that their packaging a colour combination is worldviews, and consequently experioften indistinguishable from their the original ence of the city‘deceived’ — in sharpinto focus or soft.that Reproduct.

Being believing counting the history of theis city is not you’re buying the ‘original’ one part of her the main concern; instead she weaves own problem; the more worrying aspect her is applyvoice in and outon of the narratives ing ‘Collegiate’ yoursubject’s teeth and ‘Like-Me’and on sometimes maps the distance between your skin. Majority of these lookalikes are her tarhome theirs with history, landmarks geted and at rural and semi-urban markets. and Stuanecdotes.

A combination listening sanddents of marketing find thisofpractice a fecund wiched between slices of telling evokes difield of study — how retailers are complicit in

this process and are therefore both customer defendants and takes symbolic possession and competitor for the brand; shelf-place- (making an inventory and keeping them ment of the lookalikes; negative (or positive?) aside) of the infringing goods or packets. The impact on brand innovation — but students of significance of the ex-parte aspect cannot be law have a single-point agenda: find the near- emphasised enough: if the defendant is put est IPR-friendly court and harangue it for an on notice, he usually has enough time to eiorder of injunction. ther remove the goods or, worse still, flood the The owner of a registered trademark has markets with the goods before the date of the option of seeking both civil and criminal hearing. Not getting an ex-parte order often remedies in cases of counterfeit products. It defeats the whole purpose; if the court officer verse of the city. So, action in thiswould casually wouldaspects seem that a criminal be on Edward Roadto(now Radhakrishnan reaches theElliots premises be welcomed by an structured manner, we a writer, more of a deterrent, butmeet that aispriest, not always the Salai) a comment onnothing the Rajaremains Rajeshemptyaffords storeroom, virtually acase. businessman, title-bearing prince, a sportsMore oftenathan not, people in the coun- wari door, onceofthe of theKalyana suit. As Mantapam of today, an next ex-parte order inman classical music, leader of the Anterfeitinto business know theaprecariousness of venue of all weddings. junction in apage civilthree-worthy suit is the most potent remeglo-Indian community, a naturalist and dyThe their business.

They establish a relationship seamless way incompanies; which information available to FMCG they are photographer, an entrepreneur who lived with the local police; this ensures thathas a raid is about city, its — manybefore unher-a foreverthe hoping tolandmarks find themselves the rags-to-riches an actor, a gynaecolooften preceded bystory, a cordial phone call. Even alded, evenisunknown — isto presented is appealcourt that sympathetic the ex-parte cause. gist, a building contractor, and an ITtogeek. otherwise, the police are hesitant takeThe ac- ingIf such because it is isunselfconscious and the an order passed, the defendant, allist yet representative. tionisifeclectic, the infringing product is writing cleanmost and always, upfront.agrees For instance, to settleBeathe Although Ifthe author a lookalike. it is not anherself out- sometimes trix D’Souza matter.

(Enriching anresurface.

MP who ButCultures), they often slips thethe subjects mostly spoke strongly rightinto fake,sentimentality, they usually ask behalf of the Anglo-Indians, A on proud counterfeiter once told reflect onmanufacturer their lives in the light and shadow of talks about how original to obtain dressed was a me she (when he’d when come she to sign ‘Counterfeit’ in this the hereorder and now and ponder the way ahead. teacher. “I wore a court — through a civil a dress in Pudukottai…

Dressdeed of settlement with a client) context does not Most themholds have the incredible stories to share, es were so much suit —ofthat lookalike part of our culture. folthat a“it is only natural to We follow mean ‘fake’ per se, quite belying the infringing popular view of product to be the lowed allHe said, the “IfEuropean the leader”. a compabut includes Chennai the city of last resort. original. asMost manufacturers fashions…” when obviously she movedI ny has foundBut success, ‘lookalikes’ K Seshadri, thecivil Ashtanow prefer priest to takeinthe acto the smaller Namakkal, it will sell my product in a similar lakshmi temple in Besantnagar, tion route. made more sensethat to wear saris.

It packet and hope people misShe weaves her own forThe instance, is also Act a karate black Trade Marks specificalwas my a huge cultural shift and take product for theirs.”

He belt holder.for His back story is a voice in and out of the added ly provides a method of seekironic inthat a way. author heWhile takestheexisting subject’s comment challenges of ing relief on in the cases of infringement of a narratives comments: “What was‘computer once the packets of reputed brands to local andtradesometimes maps balancing commitregistered professional trademark. For unregistered mark of to the ‘mixed westshops’ and gets them churn outcaste’, four or five the distance betweenoptions’ ments personalcan constraint. marks,with the plaintiff obtain a remedy un- ‘similar ern attire, has now been adopted for about ₹2,000.

Then he home and theirsthe one Krishnanlaw (the book is derMcommon against andediaction ofher ‘passing increasingly by the younger genchooses that appeals to him the most. with history, cated him andofhis wife Induoff’. Atoplethora judicial decisions govern eration in city”, After this narration, he the signed the D’Souza deed. I landmarks and if I have mathi) is an should iconicpass Madras when a court such an order — doubt makes a naughty observation: seen the last of him. personality. whena product his wife has to beanecdotes broadly, the Once, test is that ‘destars It is in this “Film context thatwearing the firstslinky draft dressof the “asked Krishnan hisoriginal, addressso an unwary National IPR Policy ceptively similar’ for to the es in the morningbymeant for the circulated the Ministry in Calcuttaofwhere he intelligence was going and imper- of Commercenight!” purchaser average and Industries might provide a to a considerable time”, The test is remedy beyondFor fectspend recollection would be deceived. the most part, the an injunction.

Thethough, section ‘Enthe naturalist-photographer renot to do a side-by-side comparison and spot forcement and author remains with the known, Adjudication’, among other sponded: “You can write to mebut at rather the cage the differences in packaging, to the familiar and the safe, in fact seldom straythings, mentions developing a list of known IP number zoo.” He has the distincstress on290, theCalcutta overall similarity (phonetic, vi- ing too farand from south closely Chennai.

She doesn’t offenders working with state govtion of otherwise) writing a column called Country Note- dig sual or between the two products. too deep uncover what liesofbeneath ernments fortothe establishment IP cells and book for 46almost years all continuously; However, such cases the turn last on that’s a pity. inclusion of IP crimes under their special laws. column dayishe died. to pass an This whetherappearing or not thethe court willing Even so, Madras, Chennai themention Self reveals is encouraging.

There and is also of But theorder detailed of the Krish- more interim of descriptions injunction. The plaintiff than it and that’sinitiatives a good integrating IP obscures with government nan residence, second makes it a pointwhich to go allwas outobviously for an ex-parte or- enough reason to read the book. the queslike ‘Make in India’.

Hopefully, theBut integration home towhere the author, don’t exactly rivet the tion der (one the defendant is not informed remains: Dokind people make places, or placis with the right of makers. reader, even if thattowas the author’s intention about or allowed contest the hearing) and es people? going by appointment the chapter title Thinnais Inner arunabha deb is a partner at Avijit Deb Partners LLP seek the of an officerand of court.

(The views rao expressed in the article are his own) Spaces.

However, thefactory/storerooms location of the residence The officer visits the of the sandhya

Tulsi Badrinath strings a narrative on Madras and Chennai through subjects like a karate black-belt temple priest, a title-bearing prince and a sportsman who is into classical music

D

Madras, Chennai and the Self: Conversations with the City Tulsi Badrinath Pan Macmillan Non-fiction ₹299

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STATES OF MATTER

Beneath layers of rhetoric If a gross disproportion is the story of agriculture within the larger economy, its origins may lie in the disposition of economic power

sukumar muralidharan

Never in the picture With the amendments to the law on land acquisition, the government seeks to take back the small voice given to farmers sushil kumar verma

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hatever potion Rahul Gandhi imbibed on his 56-day vacation from politics, its effect has been miraculous. His new bravura spirit has been a striking contrast to the diffidence the ruling party has suddenly been overwhelmed by.

The ‘maximum campaign’ the BJP ran to gain power was obviously not cost-free. But under the aura of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP may have chosen the wrong way of requiting its obligations to the lobbies that funded its campaign.

It was just 2013 that a law on land acquisition was adopted with cross-party support.

Yet, a sweeping amendment — indeed evisceration — of the law was among the Modi government’s first legislative priorities.

The amendments passed the Lok Sabha, but Rahul was quick to pounce at the first sign of the government floundering to overcome a numerical deficit in the Rajya Sabha. Facing the Lok Sabha the day after unfettering the spirit of combat at a farmers’ rally, Rahul berated Modi for aiming an axe blow at farm livelihoods and ignoring a sector that was the ‘foundation of the country’.

Rahul quoted a mountain of statistics. Ruling party spokespersons responded with equally robust figures: that agriculture’s share in total national income had shrunk so low that the limits of its viability had been reached. The Indian economy could not survive without a mass transfer of workers out of agriculture. All unexceptionable so far; but then, does either side have a strategy about how this is to be accomplished? Perhaps not.

The disproportion that is today the starkest feature of the Indian economy originated rather early. In 1979, the economist and early

pioneer of national accounts statistics, VKRV quence of development and achieve high livRao, drew attention to the increasing share of ing standards on the basis of services. Others industry and services in national income, con- have dismissed this as an idle reverie, since sistent with the derived template of modern- employment growth in services has never isation. Occupational change, though, had been near adequate. been ‘in the opposite direction’. This was a Indeed, for almost the entire decade since sign of ‘structural retrogression’, which con- liberalisation became an official policy in 1991, stituted both ‘the problem and the paradox of aggregate employment growth was dismal Indian economic development’. It had led to because agriculture simply failed to absorb ‘controversy about growth and employment’ any of the labour entering the market. and a degree of ‘disillusion with modern The following years brought about an imindustrialisation’. provement but the best performing category Close to a decade later, Ashok Mitra drew at- was ‘self-employment’, accounting for no less tention to a further accentuation of this struc- than 83 per cent of new jobs. This could be contural oddity. Underlying the curiosity of larger sidered as advertisement for the virtues of enshares of national income originating in ser- terprise, or as the last recourse of those vices while its contribution to without any other means. employment stagnated, was a Behind this pattern of emquirk in accounting convenployment and growth, there are tions. Output in industry and hidden layers of power and its For long years, agriculture was measured in distribution. The source of ineqagriculture was actual value. In services, the uity indeed, may lie in the eduregarded as a ‘bargain procedure was the obverse. Incation sector and perhaps sector’ where any come earned here was taken as much deeper. Amartya Sen, manner of decision additional output and regisamong others, has argued that could be imposed tered in national accounts staIndia’s priorities have extended tistics as such. undue privileges to education Some components of service at the higher level at the cost of sector growth were essential to the basic and secondary stages. support material production. In 1990, the The consequence was a vast disparity between economists BB Bhattacharya and Arup Mitra those who had access to the full spectrum of concluded that “income from (the) services education and those who could not cross even sector (was) growing much in excess of the de- the primary threshold. mand generated (for services) by the comIn a milieu where higher education is a privmodity sector”. Irrespective of causes, this ilege, there is a tendency for its beneficiaries disproportion embodied a likely risk of infla- to aggregate in services employment, which tion and balance of payments difficulties. enjoy higher cachet in terms of traditional There have been suggestions that this rath- caste values and offer moreover, significant er curious growth pattern afforded India the rent-seeking opportunities. Perhaps on this opportunity to ‘leapfrog’ one stage in the se- account, India’s services sector has attracted much of the limited pool of the country’s educational capital. Once aggregated in the organised sector of employment and particularly in government services, those endowed with educational capital have further skewed the balance of advantage in their favour.

Voice and agency are key. For long years, agriculture was regarded as a ‘bargain sector’ where any manner of decision could be imposed, since it was peopled by inert matter devoid of will. Terms such as ‘surplus labour’ and ‘disguised unemployment’, both of hoary vintage within the economics discipline, reinforced this mode of thought.

The law on land acquisition passed in 2013 was rich in symbolism, even if there has yet been no occasion to evaluate its substantive impact. From being passive recipients of ‘development’ as others chose to impose it, the farm sector was given the right of refusal, when it found these ambitions in conflict with its own.

Obsessively focused on shibboleths of modernity, the Modi government seems intent on reversing that minor concession. A quick retreat may be the prudent course in the weeks ahead, even if the consequence is a massive loss of face.

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sukumar muralidharan is a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla

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PRESENT IMPERFECT

Treats for charity Since when did a calamity become the ultimate marketing boon?

shutterstock

PAPERWALLAH

Book in the head

A bit rich When did cupcake baking become a way to help Nepal? thulasi kakkat

The ‘Jeremy’ for a writer is the single, flawless book that lives and thrives in the imagination

janice pariat

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n the same morning, people n Saturday evening, at thetwo local wasn’t quite he was extims of Evidently, the naturalitdisaster.

I couldwhat buy tickets possibilities.

It hasn’t written but itnite certainly had an impact onbeen brand reach and shared Jeremy with me. market nearthe my housestory (which, him what Ann Patchett for a pecting. stand-upI told act or even justauthor buy groceries hence can be written in a multitude of ways. and recall. link, I noticed, hadabeen sinceAnd it is the in Gurgaon, is largely mentions her essay writing and add 10 perincent to theonbill.

If allinof‘This thisis the There As Hanif Kureishi said atless thecontroversial Jaipur Literature are scores of other, running riot on theand internet a Story cluster of restaurants bou- for seemed of too a Happy like muchMarriage.’ effort to That dressit’s upsimilar and to Festival that earlier preservafund-raisers arethis still year, goingwriting on. Youiscould few days. all have vegetable our one Jeremy,” tiques and one“We overpriced shop), asome taking a beautiful butterfly, plastering it on take a an get out of home (and really, how lazy can some tion, an ride, exercise in settingand down occurrences Uber for example, contribute dramatically.

Or “Who is your lady proclaimed in a shiny top and salon-dried hair tot- Jerepage and it misfortune), with something people be in thebludgeoning light of others’ and emotions so theytickets won’tand be forgotten, to charity.

Or buy ₹2,000 be enter- but queried others.

‘Jeremy’, according teredmy?” up to us in her high heels and proffered a to I might have exaggerated then heavy.

I can Okay, simply get online and bid foraalittle. it’sbyalso an act ofPapa loss,CJbecause suddenlyIfwhat tained comedian for 90 minutes.

Jordana Narin’s Labels, grabbed No Drama, Right?’ tray of cupcakes.

My‘No daughter one.

She says it much more “Only painting or a sculpture, parteloquently: of the proceeds ofa few wasthe as wide itself becomes you are sort as tolife optimise on yourconfined charity, to a The York she Times is an archetype, a trope, “Thatfor will beNew ₹500,” smiled.

For one cupof will us are willing to break which begoing used to forbeearthquake relief.our So own set of ride words, lines, paragraphs.

It and, becomes you could to the show in an Uber lat- the nouninused by her friends to cake?an Sheall-purpose shook her head irritation. “₹500,” by trading the living beauty of imag- only way manyhearts options for fun in and frolic thetheexperience exists. at Everyer,that smoke cigar you bought talkagain. about “that guy”, the one who remains in she said for the stark disappointment of thing else and, ination what’s better, zero consuis discarded.

What remains a fund-raiser auction.

My pointisisa sinsome around netherworld I rustled in mybetween wallet tofriend see if I and had boywords.” merist guilt. It’s for Nepal, no? gle telling, reading. nota single to mock these efforts. Well, friend, often forayears.

The focus of her essay enough; “isn’t that bit much?”

I asked.

At is I have What triedquestion. to prepare onlyI one No, him for was loss, How then do we proceed? pluck not entirely anyway. To But I dothose on how contemporary relationships this, she crinkled her eyes, tilted her headspiral to ineven diminishment, the transference be-get‘Jeremy’ scratch that.

I have many in quesmanuscripts out of that our heads.

How is think it’s a bit sad we have When did we to a to inconsequence a fear one side, looked at me springing as thoughfrom people likeof lathought tions.tween But theintangible most pressing one to place where within possible, I oftenin think, comeitto a place where ordertotowrite bels the — what we people don’t like nameher(‘boyfriend’, me were reason were is this. penWhen and paper.

This is why we did this happen? at all?help Again, Ann Patchett genuinely someone in need, has minutes of a ‘girlfriend’, ‘partner’) becomes something forced to start cocktail hour at 6pm, sighed inmanuscripts in where our heads. spectacularly Whenkeep did we get to a place the answer.

Forgiveness. it needs to be presented to us as definable, intangible, and said, “Well, it’s for Nepal.”something that reWhere figments of ideas — un-devastating tragedy, within minutes of a spectacularShe calls forgiveness the key to something enticing to buy. What movesI the “What?” ask possibility of ends and closures. My confined bytragedy, font, ink, ly devastating weand aremar-we are running making well as very happened toart. just(Assending somepossiThe grief of into interest lies of elsewhere, in why “Part of thethough proceeds the cupcake salethese gin — into remain forever exquisite.our kitchens, running our kitchens, bly to theankey to finding any semaccredited organiconstantly having tomoney aprons ‘Jeremys’ persist in existing, andthe why we are so will be donated to the victims of earthIn on, ourfrosting heads, bags dialogue aprons ready?runs blance of happiness in life.) and keeping quiet about face down our own sation on, frosting captured by the things that never quakeoften in Nepal,” she said slowly, as though ex- hapand witty and the utterly Whensmooth did a calamity become “Every time,”medicines, she says, “Igroset out donating inadequacies bags ready? is whatit? Or pened, steeped in pasts that didn’t present plaining to aor toddler. convincing, descriptions ultimate marketing boon? It’s are totarpaulin translate the book (orelse story, or or whatever keeps people from ceries, themselves.

It’s simple something I had many questions.

Whatreally. part ofIfthe pro- not just moving, plot riveting. homethe bakers and localIt’s a hopelessly that is needed to an long NGO essay) working onexists writing place, it hasexactly the possibility ceedshasn’t wouldtaken go to Nepal?

How would it and literary project of cosmic bars that are advertising calami- proin such brilliant detail the big the field?

If you are the sorton who potential to was be perfect.

At track least in minds. get there?

Who keeping of our these portions, anit inspired coupling ty-linked events, is even multiscreen wants of my limbic system absolutely something inonto AndBut in athe writer’s life, that means every things? lady had trotted off to seeksingle of aesthete and craft. national companies.

Within an hour of the return, why not ajust piece of paper (which, send a cheque to let’s the face that he orvictims she doesn’t write but thinks otherbook unsuspecting to help the Nepal Megan McArdle is crisply can- to get Prime Minister’s Relief tremors, an online retailer managed it, wasFund once towering anda get the tax tree about victims, andoften.

I walked out of there feeling both thousands did about it in ‘Whyon Writers Are theasking Worst Proof retweets a message crowned withweleaves andsoa self-obsessed home to birds), I break?

When did become writer’s ‘Jeremy’ is the manuscript we nevcheatedAand uncharitable. crastinators’ Thelike Atlantic “As long as you people to “shake for it off the — earthquake” for my own lack of talent and intellithat grieve if we gave ₹5,000, we needed a ₹4,800 er really pen down never get over.

However, now that I wasand alerted toreally the possihave not written that article, speech, and avail its discount offer.

Sure,that most com- that gence.”shawl We berate ourselvesasrelentlessly. pashmina in exchange, well as theWere one that lies, at best, unfinished. bilityThe of eating a cupcake in order to help the mentary novel, could still be good.

Before you take to onitthe promotion was critical, but as we smarter, gifted, could pin by. down a bragging rights more to how the we shawl came literary festival last writer victimsAtofa the earthquake, allDecember, I seemed ato keys, you are andthe Oscar Wilde each the critic weighed in,Proust the more name of and closer facsimile wonders seevicin our “This?

Oh this was at of anthe exhibition forwe the non-fiction, keen to beginways his first bumpofinto were other interesting of be-novel, George Orwell all rolled up into one the company spread.

The following daydelicious the tims imaginations.

Forgiveness, is key. of Nepal, those poor dears.therefore, By the way, I “I asked for advice on writing fiction. ing charitable.

The nightclub across the Impatient road company package.”

Theanother fear is that by calling the timethe you’re put out tweet, book I want to money write,” and she coneven can’t bakedwrite somethe cupcakes to raise I am withwas questions like (as with fromas my house hosting a these rock band to artifinished, you’veanrealised you’re choice not. (Or of worse, original message “accidental tinues, “but I can and will book this one annoying woman, whowrite camethe with her I am titled, example, Gazillion raise cles money for for Nepal.

I could‘Seven reserve a table Tips she says, of those 1940’s pulp words”.

This that too you’re went “one around cyberspace, capable of all, writing. daughter, was ‘isn’t Again ₹500 and too again muchthroughfor for Young Writers’), brunch I tried toon beSunday helpful.or sincehacks”.) for a charity champagne Theof grief of constantly having to face the choice words could be described out the course of my I will forgive myself.” cupcake’.

Come on, it’s forlife Nepal, no?” always be a failure.” go to an“It’ll exhibition and buy pashmina shawls in alldown ownbut inadequacies what keeps kinds our of ways, accidental itiswasn’t.

I Say it. I will forgive myself. Repeat. t@veenavenugopal He blinked. and hand-crafted silver jewellery to aid the vic- am not people surefrom howwriting. much sales this generated, “Whatever idea you start out with, you’ll alA non-existent book can be always flawless janice pariat is the author of Seahorse ways end up with so much less.” and, more importantly, brimming with infi- t@janicepariat

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Veena Venugopal is editor BLink and author of The Mother-in-Law

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BAWDY LINE

Survival of the onanist How pornography inverts and contradicts a very basic and evolutionary behaviour in men

S

Ambarish Satwik is a Delhi-based vascular surgeon and writer

eminal ejaculate, reportedly, has a strange, shortlived umami flavour. Or so the bukkake stars tell us. Bukkake is a humiliation ritual in Japanese porn wherein a demure young woman kneels in the centre of a small room. She knows well the value of slobber and its application in oral servicing. There’s an assortment of unexceptional naked men surrounding her, about 50 or thereabouts, regular people, touching themselves (while they’re waiting), who will then proceed to throat-f*** her. Or if not that, ejaculate upon her, in a processional manner. At that point, she’s not exactly euphoric, but is eager to accommodate any and every sexual request. The activity is over and successful when the last man has spent himself.

The narrative conclusion of bukkake sexual action is the woman whimpering and wallowing in the many varietals of the batter. The amorphous glop streaks her hair, adheres to her face and breasts. The camera doesn’t court stylistic or thematic possibilities; it just stays on her face, as it expresses complete moral obscenity. It is the enactment of a state of abjectness in which the aesthetic and the ethical are one. There’s a lively variant of the whole thing called gokkun (gulp) where the men make their deposits in a container, and she’s required to ingest it. Due to the embargo on genitals and pubic hair in Japan, the male copulatory organ isn’t really seen in these films. The penis, in compliance with Article 175 of Japan’s rather vaguely worded obscenity laws, is digitally covered by a mosaic of obfuscating pixels.

Bukkake and gokkun, Japan’s cultural exports to the rest of the world, came about because of the ban on genital realism and the mandatory mosaic. Porn-makers had to find newer and alternative ways of providing satisfaction without violating Japanese law. So they brought about the education of the porn spectator on how to be a porn spectator. Japanese consumers of pornography (in the ’90s) started saying they preferred adult movies with the mosaic, because then it’s not just a set of genitals. The videos (they said) should be about the

lessness of the human neonate. Human neonates actually require an extra-uterine gestation. And paternal investment.

The sporty hand of Dame Natural Selection slipped another one on the male: concealed ovulation and the loss of estrus (aka evolutionary instruments to thwart polygyny). If women no longer signalled the time of ovulation, men didn’t have a clue about when they’re fertile. This led to a reordering of their mating tactics: rather than rutting multiple women in the hope that some of them might be fecund, it would make more sense to stick to one particular woman throughout her menstrual cycle (Alexander and Noonan 1979).

One wouldn’t be far out in saying that polyandry, for human females, is actually pernicious. It leads to preeclampsia in pregnancy.

Which can rather messily kill the foetus and the mother. Preeclampsia also manifests in females who have not sexually cohabited with their male partners for four to five months prishutterstock or to conception. It seems that the longer the entire person. A whole new succession of die- male has exchanged bodily fluids with the fegesis for the defilement of the flesh billowed male, thereby exposing her to his antigens, forth. Contemporary Japanese porn is not the lesser the chance for preeclampsia. There’s about anal reaming and spit and gape gonzo an evolutionary purpose to fidelity. action. It is the great Pavlovian trick. It conPornography creates a world of polygynous verts its viewers into twitchy, intra-diegetic (and polyandrous) fantasy. It provides the invoyeurs. It is the world of gameshow cuckol- citement to pleasure oneself without consedry, public transport frotteurism and omo- quences. Masturbation, to state the whole nub rashi (bladder desperation). of the thing, is the evolutionary answer to the The primary function of pornography is to query: how to satiate the polygynous wolf and serve as an abettor for masturbation. But, for protect the monogamous lamb. the most masturbatory species of them all Coming back to bukkake and the mosaic, (and perhaps the only one that masturbates to there’s another reason for the ventral-ventral orgasmic completion), what is the physiolog- position in humans — to develop a correlative ical (and evolutionary) function of masturba- set of affective pleasures between the male tion? Well, there’s a Divinity that and the female. It might even be shapes our ends. All human biosupposed that everything has logical affairs are governed by been quite satisfactorily arNatural Selection. There’s a rearanged particularly for the male.

The camera doesn’t son why breasts are binary The facial contortions and vocalicourt stylistic or (twice the normal litter size in sations of the f***** woman form thematic possibilities; humans), a reason for our vena performative response that is it just stays on her tral-ventral (face to face) copulaalmost never seen outside of sexface, as it expresses tory position (for accidental ual congress. It is the deliciously complete moral clitoral stimulation), a reason drawn out display of facial physiobscenity for scrotality — the external danognomy brought about by a gling of male gonads in a scrotal commingling of pain and pleasac (non-galloping mammals sure, shame and trauma, dehave intra-abdominal testes; galfiance and surrender. lopers, if they had them in the abdomen In sooth, the face of the f***** woman is the would’ve expressed their sperm into their pornographic stimulus. In pornography, what bladders with abdominal heave and exertion). supplies the frisson and the jouissance is what The masturbatory impulse is, I think, relat- is truly obscene — the violence, the inequality, ed to the human circumstance of being a per- the humiliation, the debasement, the intrumanently sexed species. The human male is a sion. And modern Japanese pornography desreluctant and facultative monogamist. Since a ignates the face as the privileged site of these male can hope for an offspring from every sex- readings. The culmination of most scenes in ual intercourse with a fertile female, he seems Japanese porn are close-up shots of the faces of biopsychologically programmed to be readily the female performers, smeared with urine, aroused whenever an opportunity presents it- semen, makeup and saliva. self. Females cannot profit from unthinking Pornography is myth-making, to invert and sexual promiscuity: a woman can bear no contradict a very basic and stable evolutionary more children if she mates with many males behaviour. Most men use masturbation as a than if she mates with one. So then, what’s the surrogate for what they’d actually want to do evolutionary purpose of monogamy? Pair to a woman. In Thomas Mann’s words, ‘a resistbonding to solicit paternal investment in the ed temptation is not a sin, but a test of virtue’. neonate. The investment of the female is par asatwik@gmail.com ticularly relentless because of the utter help-

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Something has begun The Maithripala Sirisena government in Sri Lanka wins appreciation in its initial months, but it’s not all smoothsailing just yet

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Chennai’s Barney Sunder Ramu marks each date with a photo and write-up on his Facebook page

was risking his and his family’s lives. He spent election night in hiding.

The gamble paid off. Sirisena garnered 51 per cent of the votes while his opponent slipped to 47 per cent. The victory was due, in no small measure, to the overwhelming support of Tamil and Muslim minorities, who had felt increasingly marginalised under the Rajapaksa regime. Mangala Samaraweera, the incoming foreign minister, called it Sri Lanka’s “rainbow revolution”.

The man with (365) dates

Seven-coloured future The colours of the rainbow continue to flutter at all public rallies that President Sirisena attends. They symbolise the multiethnic, multi-religious and diverse political platform on which he contested the election. His close aides maintain that he Sirisena pledged hennai-based Sunder Ramu’s Face- reconnect with friends, family, strangers, genuinely believes in equality and etc.inaugural with fresh fish and idlis.

We chatted like longin his book page would be the envy of a negotiated political settlement friends in between long bouts of comfortspeech thatlost ethnic many a man. When we last You let the women decide the venue, activity, Sriwe Lanka’s conflict. able silence,toas hungethnic out by the fishing and religious checked, he was on date 93 of 365. menu, etc. If you were to take someone “Maithripala has always been out, spot accompanied by a handsome Rottweiler reconciliation will The hero of Project365 has the rather simple — how would you spend the day? left of centre,” disclosed an SLFP and a bunch of strays. be his government’s if a tad arrogant — goal of going on 365 dates I would ideally love a long drive to a water activist, who could not be named top priority with women this year. The modus operandi of body with good music. A long uncluttered What happens dueifto workplace rules.

“And, like you don’t want a date to end? this photographer and actor is that the wom- drive always connects you because there is no Well, that’s the most left-leaning in case in most of politicians the dates. But en plot, plan and pay (when required) for the one else around and it is very relaxing. You can like a relationship, this country, believes equalia datehe ends wheninone perdate, and the money that he saves goes to char- chat, stare out of the window, sing along or son wants itty of has races andit, minorities.

He to or to end so I accept that ity. Trawling through his FB page, it is easy to have long stretches of comfortable silence be- and knows, as every far asmoment Tamils go, enjoy asthere muchisasaIproblem can. Persee why this idea has caught on. He has gone cause you are right next to each other but sonally, that cannot through terrorism I likebea dealt date with to end when you don’t on dates with his 105-year-old grandmother, don’t have to look at each other. or war.” want it to so you leave wanting more. he has shared a meal with the woman who colPresident Sirisena set the tone early. He It normally ends up being awkward if you lects garbage in his building, has eaten crab are facing each other in a restaurant and have If pledged in were his inaugural speech that ethnic a woman trying a similar project, of curry with politician Stalin’s wife. And of nothing to say. Then I would love to eat by a dating and religious reconciliation would be his gov365 men, how easy or difficult would it course, he has enjoyed many a meal, jog, run, sea, river, stream or a cliff overlooking the be ernment’s for her? top priority. He has only strengthdance, car drive, boat ride, with all too many a ocean. And the drive back is always a great Iened message since. Abekey development thinkthat it would definitely easier for her to nubile lady. We caught up with him online, to time to recap or connect before you drop her find was men a ‘Declaration ofBut Peace’ delivered in the saying ‘yes’. the interpretation or ask him what his deal really is. Edited excerpts: back. Somehow it also signifies country’s three main languages Sinhala, Tathe safety aspect of it— would be the Future tense The people of Sri Lanka have known ethnic strife for decades, but the new government promises to unite them reuters/ andrew harnik mil and English — on Independence Day in a journey so you feel like you’ve difference.

What is your definition of a date?

February. It was fulfilment of afrom recommenshared more than just one A the married woman Kerala A date for me is a one-on-one meeting to get to conversation. dation in the Learnt andme ReconciliagotLessons in touch and told that she A dateRajacan betion a meal, ri Lanka’sbetter. new leader Maithripala Siri- at the polls. It was a dangerous gamble. know someone A meal, a walk, a play, Commission, set up was inspired to by startthe herprevious version a walk, a play, paksa365 was daunting adversary who unapolsena election against all odds. Isn’t anything thatwon canan help you connect. administration in365 response to international tooa large a number? of the dates. She asked me the anything ogetically state He now seems determined to unite Isn’t calls for a war crimes investigation. there a abused chance that youpower. In 2010, same question.

I would say that if majority Sinhalese minority basking glow rather of a military victory, he You mention that you find theand present datingTa- are For the first the government regoingin tothe be jaded youtime, communicate yourpaid intenclinched a second term mils, whoflawed. have known decades of ethnic scenario Tell us more about that. ten- than all ethnicities and religions enriched at the endwith of 57 per cent of the spect to citizens tionsofclearly in the beginning you sion and war.flawed Many promises, wastoo to this? vote. He used that victory to consolidate his who had died More than I feel thatwhich thereheare in the and to might bethree-decade able to pull war it off and strength andeach did little bring aboutEspecially post-war that honour misconceptions in the first 100 days, made dur- I’ve many andwere expectations all victims violence since independence enjoyed day to individually. it will beofa very interesting journey. reconciliation. two-thirds in parlia- from colonial rule. In the past, greater emphaing thedating. presidential campaign. deadline about We have largely That moved away since it’s a freshA person andmajority a fresh conversapassed with most promises bybut theseem way- tion mentevery allowed to rush through confrom the arranged marriagefalling culture sis was placed ondates the loss of military lives and day.Rajapaksa It’s very liberating and I feel so Have any of your turned into stalkers? stitutional changes that madeisthe office ofeach the Or side it isn’tofeasy a is. minority govern- loved to be—unsure whatbeing dating on has victims of Tiger the way the and my faith in people restored anyone fallenterrorism. into fits ofBut jealousy? ment — only but be there was delivery onfish some executive presidency even more His Haha.

It can’t something you do to for passing Declaration of thankfully.

Peace was worded also covered day.

Having said that, thepowerful. day I feel jadNot yet, administration was riddled withor relatives and LTTE He has won admiration in ed, asubstantive spouse or aones. physical relationship or any othand Tamil civiliansand whonon-comperished I will step away for a while stop comIt’sfighters amazing how supportive cronies.regardless In November, henumber called anofearly presithebig West and even inWe India his less intransier expectations. arefor struggling to con- pletely, in military attacks. of the dates.

It’s petitive everyone has been. gent ways. been in the has president’s of- not dential andtoannounced hisguy. candidacy nect.

And Having the environment not been On May 1, addressing his first International fair election for any girl meet a jaded fice since January, his getting greatesttochallenge is to for an unprecedented third term. conducive or safe for know people Day rally as have president, Sirisena IWorkers’ am sure some dates proved to be again win the backing his own disunited party.not TellByuscontrast, Sirisena — despite being date. a veter- terribly face-to-face.

The ofopposite gender does preached unity todid theyou crowd. about your longest (eight-hour) dull.

How bail?“We must underan politician long-time member the Sri You Sirisena came to an power by defeating the That need to be met with agenda. stand socialwhen realities,” heare said, “The issues21are date wasand with a stranger calledofPreethi know, people condensing to Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) — was rarely visi- 105 country’s Mahinda So this iswar-winning my journey topresident, see if I can crack the Thomas. not years whether we experiences are people ofinto theaNorth, She planned a fabulous date that of life couplethe of Rajapaksa.

To contest, he defected from the ble at the forefront of SrioffLankan code.

For myself first and, in the process of started South,with the East, the new West,cuisines, Sinhalese, with us driving in thepolitics. night toHe a hours exciting it’s Muslim, very difwas from the countryside, spoke only Sinhala ficult government in which he health minister. sharing the experience onwas social media, may- fishing Tamil,toBuddhist, Catholic, Malay, Burgher or space on the outskirts of Chennai, feel bored.

An people array ofwill political groups, eager to see the close and did not court media Infishan- Hindu. We must give foremost place to be move away from having a relato Mahabalipuram.

Weattention. then learnt nair nouncing his candidacy, admitted that he nandini back of anwith authoritarian ruler, supported tionship their phones and learnhim to ing humanity.” and shooting and hadhe a great meal cooked

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ised general election is held.

A key problem is that Rajapaksa does not see himself as defeated — only edged out of power by minorities and Western-funded conspiracies. He publicly insists that “certain governments” pushed for regime change because he was a strong leader and they preferred a weak one. He is energised by hordes of people who stream to his home in the south, begging for him to return to politics. Some weep openly.

The former president is also cocooned by a group of loyalists who see no political future without him. They now campaign, often disruptively, for him to return to power through xactly 60 years ago, on May 10, 1955, parliament. Depending on how successfully the eighth Cannes Film Festival his party performs at the polls, he could be inawarded Best Director to Jules Dassin stalled as prime minister. For this to work, for the festival’s opening film Du Rififi however, Sirisena has to agree to nominate Chez les Hommes, known in English as simply him. He has shown no inclination to do so. In Rififi. Released in France in April 1955, Rififi had coming weeks — unless a “deal” is struck — already snagged Dassin a two-part interview there will be increased pressure on him by at the iconic magazine Cahiers du Cinema. The quarters backing Rajapaksa. interviewers were Francois Truffaut and There was evidence of this at the SLFP’s May Claude Chabrol, future giants of the French Day rally in Colombo. The working class was New Wave, both then in their early twenties. cast aside as the stage turned into a platform Truffaut,strokes then forging a reputation a notofor calls of party unity. The only trade unionist Different Maithripala Sirisena hailsas from the countryside, speaks only Sinhala and was rarely visible at kumar the forefront of politics before he became president riously unforgiving film critic, also gave Rififiap/sujeewa a among the speakers was quickly shooed off. rave review: “[O]ut of the worst crime novel I The others were ageing, sweaty party seniors Looking have everout read, Jules Dassin has made the best to the Constitution, of which India was the ar- who loudly advocated a Sirisena-Rajapaksa The stance has earned him kudos chitect. This did not happen. Neither was an al- partnership. That was the only way to defeat filmpresident’s noir I have ever seen.” from community.

DiploThe the novelinternational was by popular French writer Au- ternative offered to the imperfect the United National Party (UNP) — the counmats that an “heorphan does come across as very power-sharing arrangement the Amendment try’s other big political grouping — at the next gusteconfess le Breton, who frequented genuine”. hasand hadgambling no difficulty the low-lifeHe bars dens securing of Mont- had set up. election, they shouted. appointments from world leaders. setting.

If anymartre, that form Rififi’s atmospheric New Delhi was also alarmed over the RajaThis is the dilemma. As party chairman, Sirthing, have over themselves to paksa regime’s overpowering relationship isena knows a divided SLFP is a problem. But Dassinthey wasn’t a stumbled fan; among other things, he meet him.

He was especially pleaseddid to away have with Beijing. China loaned money for nearly he also owes his presidential triumph to the thought it was racist (his screenplay received a private audience withNorth Queen Eliza- all of Sri Lanka’s massive infrastructure pro- UNP. Without its assistance, and its traditional with the dark-skinned Arab and African beth II in London. rival gangsters).

But he would have been a fool jects — an airport, a port, railway lines, even a block vote, he would not have won.

West had ahaving particularly strained toThe refuse: despite tasted success inrelaHol- power station. Scores of expensive Chinese In the meantime, the UNP is pushing for a tionship withBrute the Force Rajapaksa TheCity US projects were being approved without open quick election. Sirisena’s victory has, ironicallywood with (1947),regime.

The Naked sponsored severalHighway resolutions at the Geneva(1948) and Thieves’ (1949), he had been tender. When the defence minly, invigorated his party’s traditionA resounding based UN Human on the govblacklisted by the Rights House Council of Un-American Ac- istry allowed a Chinese subal rival. Its May Day rally — usually comeback ernment’s worsening human rights record tivities (HUAC) while making Night and the City marine to dock at the just a straggle of bored people — Rififi and the Cannes crowds. and itsand failure to managed investigate (1950) hadn’t to war makecrimes a film alin Colombo port for the first drew large, enthusiastic recognition happened leged to have been committed at the end of time, New Delhi hit the ceiling. Sirisena is now hailed Parliament five years despite a move to France. must be dissolved imafter five filmless years as the only president theSowar. officeaward of thewasn’t UN High the The Cannes just Commisgood for Today, there is a palpable mediately, Wickramaratne, a for Eran Jules Dassin in Sri Lanka’s history the hindu archives sioner forcareer, Human Rights due toslap present a change in the demeanour of Dassin’s but also was a French in the party senior, now insists. The curto give away power report the Council injury March 2015. face of to Hollywood.

The that yearAfter had Sirifive foreign governments that rent one has no legitimacy and has sena’s victory,plus theone government a six- once Frenchmen, man eachearned from Spain, cold-shouldered his protege Jo, it comes asRajaa shock that it’s ac- riends andoutlived infantilise their wives. Tony’s vioits mandate. month on the that(no it paksa.

USA, UK,postponement Italy, Switzerland andpremise the USSR Their toneThe is friendlier, tually morning. casting is perfect: Jean lence towardsSirisena Mado isisextreme, another gang in no great rush.

He would a credible domestic to more women,create naturally), and despite his body FrenchServais,obliging. who playsThey Tony,appear has a pale, drawn face member Mario keeps shutting the parliament door on his has vowed to dissolve probe allegations.

Some rights groups were sounding name, Dassin was very much an willing to consider the comthat makes perfect sense when you learn that smiling partner, calling ‘pet’ and telling only after theher country’s electoral enraged. they scoffed.JewLit- plexities American,More borntime-buying, in Connecticut to Russian of the tasksalcoholic.

President Sirisena has at system he was a recovering her to ‘run along’ andThat go tocould bed, and film’s is changed. taketheseveral tle still known Interestingly, of the type ofDassin local mechaish isimmigrants. shared hand.

They accept all Sri Lankans have grievWhen Dassin’s characters aren’t huddled in- more denouement how the women weeks. Areiterates draft amendment is duesuffer to be nism envisaged; but officials claim theVasilyev, process ances his prize with Soviet director Sergei needbasement addressing. doors that in some or The bar, conversation they’re walk- presented the consequences of on something they hadhim no to cabinet May 13. This buys is ahead”. for“moving Heroes of Shipka, about the Russo-Turkish has Tamil-centric ing shifted the wetfrom Parisa streets.

The one — al- time to sort out partissues in planning. within the SLFP. His poThe is that Western administrations, though War oftruth 1877-1878. theneon-lit need for devolution and the litical skill and acumen occasional advertising The ubiquitous of are aboutmachismo to be strongand even New are more welcoming of unique I haven’t seenDelhi, Shipka, but I imagine it shares of minorities remain signifi- ly tested. is all forsituation liquor brands: Cognac this noirish world is also, to my the regime because they find itstylish more cant littleSirisena with Rififi, which is a supremely — to Haig a moreScotch broad-based one.

Martell, Whiskey, eyes,can undercut by the manner in The president still neutralise the worst Rififi is a superb flexible.

Rajapaksa repeatedly promised India Dubonnet. film about a gang of thieves. But then Cannes The US has been Only theparticularly final se- supportive.

Dassin presents the of Rajapaksa’s efforts to undermine himhalfby example of why films which awasn’t full implementation of the Amendment awarding Dassin for 13th subject; the cut- Washington dispatched top-level officials quence swaps shadowy two silences hour heist at the film’s centre. charging with progressive reform.

HisI noir are often the ahead ting edge of the French film establishment to the spacedrive of a month, forColombo a crazy, in careening be- including have rarely seen a group of men popularity soared after the 19th Amendment best city flicks: to was excited about a certain Expressionistical- John — the first US secretary state yond Kerry the city, brilliantly juxta- of on screen conduct in to thethe Constitution was passedthemselves on April 28. plan onin rupturing ly-lit, dark, urban cinema coming out of Holly- nearly Sri Lankaurban in an offiposingfour a decades man’s to visit desperate so wonderfully silent, unobtruAmong other things, it limits a president to order, you need wood, and this film was a sophisticated cial capacity. speeding with a child’s blithe a fashion, for that so long.

Wordtwo terms (meaning Rajapaksa to know it five-yearsive example of it — in French. A few months after enjoyment Recovering Kerry can of from it. conflict is never easy,inside-out less, invisibilised labour is no longer stand for that post) and obliges first Rififi, two French critics, Raymond Borde and admitted, a speech.example But under Rififi is in a superb of President Sir- the presidentsomething tradito consultthat thewomen prime are minister Etienne Chaumeton, came out with the first isena’s leadership, Sri Lanka’s why films noir are often the best traditions of on ministerial tionally socialised men, the onappointments.

It into; also curbs book-length attempt to define the style: A Pan- critical debate, free and independent president’s immunity city flicks: to plan onpress, rupturing ly if they are servantshim or slaves. by making liable to orama of American Film Noir, 1941-53. civil societyorder, were you returning. the urban need to“Your citizens fundamental rights Which leads us to the acts. last litigation on official The characteristics of noir remain legend- have asked to first. mourn the dead, knowbeen it inside-out Theallgang’s prepnot in- Sirisena thing that makes Rififi’s heist so president remarkable. is now hailed as the only in arily hard to agree upon, though critic Roger just those from one time part of the country one Sri volves noting what morning theorsalesTheLanka’s delicate, unspoken synchronisation history to give away power.

Ebert made a rather fun list of criteria in 1995, ethnicity oratone faith,” hethe added, to makes girl arrives work, when floristalluding makes his the heist performative, akin Tom to a However, muchfeel more needs to be done. including “#2 A movie which at no time mis- the Declaration of Peace. deliveries, when the policeman does his Malinowski, dance, or a circus act. But Secretary Dassin’s two aesthetUS Assistant of State for leads you into thinking there is going to be a rounds.

Internationally, then, scene, Sirisena’s administraIn one great Tony walks Jo Democracy, ic decisions,Human of silence andand of slowness, makRights Labour, said it happy ending” and “#4 Cigarettes. Everybody tion isthe doing everything right. along avenue on which their targeted jew- best ing it feel like real visit timeto(of course,“So it long isn’t during his April Sri Lanka: in film noir is always smoking, as if to say, ‘On ellery store stands — it’s Mappin & Webb — as really) changes keeps what we know forward, to be a theft, an the country moving it will top of everything else, I’ve been assigned to Bumps the road makinginhim recite the details of the shop have undeserving short-cut riches, intoand somethe support of the to United States the get through three packs today.’” Rififi certainly Back it’s without complicated. frontshome… they pass, looking up. thing profoundly like work.

Rififi was international community.

Nothing is banned settled. ticks those boxes. At the film’s nervous, throbThe biggest challenge is torules. rec- Something But president’s if this is noir, it subverts its own in many places the said was a has because begun in Sripolice Lanka, butit nothbing centre is a hood called Tony, whom we oncile a deepmay rift within thefemme SLFP, caused his ing The women look like fatalesby(one demonstration Butthat it is is settled. Ittoispotential very, verycriminals. heartening first meet losing the last of his money in a po- defection last year.

He took overwith the aparty of them, Mado, even gets involved rival something this that makes it truly subversive. has begun.” ker game, coughing as he lights yet another from the former president by hisbut ownthey adgangster while Tony is inbut, prison), a senior based in trisha wijedasa gupta is a iswriter andjournalist critic based in Delhi cigarette. The room is so dark that when Tony mission, is “not allowed to lead it”. ItThe is crucial aren’t scheming or duplicitous. men namini Sri Lanka t@chhotahazri makes a phone call and we cut to the home of that divisions before a promcomehe offheals muchthese worse.

They beat up their girlf- Colombo,

PICTURE THIS

Remembering Rififi

Jules Dassin’s Rififi (1955) might or might not be the best film noir I have ever seen, but it’s likely the most subversive

trisha gupta

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The city that never says die Death, disfigurement and destruction are part and parcel of life in post-9/11 Kabul, but that doesn’t stop its people from hoping for a better tomorrow

Stop me if you can Crippling injuries from frequent air raids and terror attacks are common, but that doesn’t deter this man from traversing the city

I

was introduced to Kabul, and Afghanistan, through one of Rabindranath Tagore’s most poignant short stories, Kabuliwala — about the unusual friendship between Mini, a small girl, and Abdur Rehman Khan, a dry-fruits seller-cum-moneylender, staged against the backdrop of Calcutta in the early 20th century. Like Mini, I stood on the balcony of my Calcutta house and watched these men in salwar kameez — tall, athletic and fair-skinned — go about their day’s work.

I would ask my mother and elder sister who they were and where they came from. In reply I was told that they should neither be discussed nor looked at. The Kabuliwala was rumoured to be the ruthless moneylender, capable of violence and murder. They were also portrayed as the chheledhora, the kidnapper of little boys. Such stories were meant to intimidate, but my curiosity refused to die.

One day, a cousin seemed depressed that a certain Abdul was leaving the city to return to his homeland. A Kabuliwala with a stylish Enfield, Abdul was headed home after his family was ambushed during a fight between two clans. He never returned. There were rumours that he had joined the Talibs, while some said he had fled to Russia.

The 9/11 attacks brought Kabul back to my life again. I watched in horror as America unleashed its ‘war on terror’. I searched for Abdul’s face in the images that flooded the newspapers and TV channels. Finally, I decided to visit the city whose proud and sturdy men always fascinated me. The Kabul I saw was trying to keep its spirits alive in the face of death and destruction. And that’s so much like its people I had seen in my own city — always hoping for a better tomorrow. shome basu is a Delhi-based photojournalist

On ground zero Your safety is in your own hands

Come rare s

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me clean A man without a beard is a ssight in Talibanised Afganistan

In search of greener pastures A long queue of Afghan men and children — and just one woman — at Kabul’s passport office

Meaty role Masum, a popular restaurant, keeps Kabul residents happy with its assortment of kebabs

Cover girl The hijab protects women from disfigurement at the hands of Taliban

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Something has begun The Maithripala Sirisena government in Sri Lanka wins appreciation in its initial months, but it’s not all smoothsailing just yet

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Chennai’s Barney Sunder Ramu marks each date with a photo and write-up on his Facebook page

was risking his and his family’s lives. He spent election night in hiding.

The gamble paid off. Sirisena garnered 51 per cent of the votes while his opponent slipped to 47 per cent. The victory was due, in no small measure, to the overwhelming support of Tamil and Muslim minorities, who had felt increasingly marginalised under the Rajapaksa regime. Mangala Samaraweera, the incoming foreign minister, called it Sri Lanka’s “rainbow revolution”.

The man with (365) dates

Seven-coloured future The colours of the rainbow continue to flutter at all public rallies that President Sirisena attends. They symbolise the multiethnic, multi-religious and diverse political platform on which he contested the election. His close aides maintain that he Sirisena pledged hennai-based Sunder Ramu’s Face- reconnect with friends, family, strangers, genuinely believes in equality and etc.inaugural with fresh fish and idlis.

We chatted like longin his book page would be the envy of a negotiated political settlement friends in between long bouts of comfortspeech that lost ethnic many a man. When we last You let the women decide the venue, activity, Sriwe Lanka’s conflict. able silence,toas hungethnic out by the fishing and religious checked, he was on date 93 of 365. menu, etc. If you were to take someone “Maithripala has always been out, spot accompanied by a handsome Rottweiler reconciliation will The hero of Project365 has the rather simple — how would you spend the day? left of centre,” disclosed an SLFP and a bunch of strays. be his government’s if a tad arrogant — goal of going on 365 dates I would ideally love a long drive to a water activist, who could not be named top priority with women this year. The modus operandi of body with good music. A long uncluttered What happens dueifto workplace rules.

“And, like you don’t want a date to end? this photographer and actor is that the wom- drive always connects you because there is no Well, that’s most left-leaning in the case in most of politicians the dates. But en plot, plan and pay (when required) for the one else around and it is very relaxing. You can like a relationship, this country, believes equalia datehe ends wheninone perdate, and the money that he saves goes to char- chat, stare out of the window, sing along or son wants itty of has races andit,minorities.

He to or to end so I accept that ity. Trawling through his FB page, it is easy to have long stretches of comfortable silence be- knows, as every far as moment Tamils go, and enjoy asthere muchisasaIproblem can. Persee why this idea has caught on. He has gone cause you are right next to each other but that cannot through terrorism sonally, I likebea dealt date with to end when you don’t on dates with his 105-year-old grandmother, don’t have to look at each other. or war.” want it to so you leave wanting more. he has shared a meal with the woman who colPresident Sirisena set the tone early. He It normally ends up being awkward if you lects garbage in his building, has eaten crab are facing each other in a restaurant and have pledged in were his inaugural speech that ethnic If a woman trying a similar project, of curry with politician Stalin’s wife. And of nothing to say. Then I would love to eat by a and religious reconciliation would bewould his govdating 365 men, how easy or difficult it course, he has enjoyed many a meal, jog, run, sea, river, stream or a cliff overlooking the ernment’s be for her? top priority. He has only strengthdance, car drive, boat ride, with all too many a ocean. And the drive back is always a great ened message since. Abekey development I thinkthat it would definitely easier for her to nubile lady. We caught up with him online, to time to recap or connect before you drop her was a ‘Declaration ofBut Peace’ delivered in the find men saying ‘yes’. the interpretation or ask him what his deal really is. Edited excerpts: back. Somehow it also signifies country’s three main languages Sinhala, Tathe safety aspect of it— would be the Future tense The people of Sri Lanka have known ethnic strife for decades, but the new government promises to unite them reuters/ andrew harnik mil and English — on Independence Day in a journey so you feel like you’ve difference.

What is your definition of a date?

February. It wasA the fulfilment of afrom recommenshared more than just one married woman Kerala A date for me is a one-on-one meeting to get to conversation. dation in the Learnt andme ReconciliagotLessons in touch and told that she A dateRajacan betion a meal, ri Lanka’sbetter. new leader Maithripala Siri- at the polls. It was a dangerous gamble. know someone A meal, a walk, a play, Commission, set up was inspired to by startthe herprevious version a walk, a play, was daunting adversary who unapolsena election against all odds. paksa anything thatwon canan help you connect. administration in365 response to international Isn’t 365 tooa large a number? of the dates. She asked me the anything state He now seems determined to unite ogetically calls for a war crimes investigation.

Isn’t there aabused chance that youpower. In 2010, same question.

I would say that if majority and minority glow rather of a military victory, he You mention that Sinhalese you find the present datingTa- basking For the first the government reare goingin tothe be jaded youtime, communicate yourpaid intena second term mils, whoflawed. have known decades of ethnic scenario Tell us more about that. ten- clinched all ethnicities and religions than enriched at the endwith of 57 per cent of the spect to citizens tionsofclearly in the beginning you sion and war.flawed Many promises, wastoo to vote.

More than I feel thatwhich thereheare in the and to this? He used that victory to consolidate his who had died might bethree-decade able to pullwar it off and andeach did little bring aboutEspecially post-war all honour misconceptions in the first 100 days, made dur- strength many andwere expectations violence since independence I’ve enjoyed day to individually. thatvictims it will beofa very interesting journey. two-thirds in parlia- from colonial rule. In the past, greater emphaing thedating. presidential campaign. deadline about We have largely That moved away reconciliation. since it’s a freshA person andmajority a fresh conversapassed with most promises bybut theseem way- ment allowed to rush through confrom the arranged marriagefalling culture was placed ondates the loss of military lives and tion every day.Rajapaksa It’s very liberating and I feel so sis Have any of your turned into stalkers? changes that madeisthe office ofeach the on side it isn’tofeasy a is. minority govern- stitutional to be—unsure whatbeing dating victims of Tiger the way the loved and my faith in people restored Or has anyone fallenterrorism. into fits ofBut jealousy? ment — only but be there was delivery onfish some presidency even more His Declaration It can’t something you do to for executive of thankfully.

Peace was worded also covered passing day.

Having said that, thepowerful. day I feel jadHaha. Not yet, was riddled with or relatives and LTTE He has won admiration in administration asubstantive spouse or aones. physical relationship or any othand Tamil civiliansand whonon-comperished ed, I will step away for a while stop comIt’sfighters amazing how supportive In November, he number called anofearly presithebig West and even inWe India his less intransier expectations. arefor struggling to con- cronies. military attacks.has been. pletely, regardless of the dates.

It’s in petitive everyone gent ways. been in the has president’s of- dential andtoannounced hisguy. candidacy nect.

And Having the environment not been On May 1, addressing his first International not fair election for any girl meet a jaded fice since January, his getting greatesttochallenge is to for an unprecedented third term. conducive or safe for know people Workers’ rally as president, Sirisena I am sure Day some dates have proved to be again win the backing his own disunited party.not TellByuscontrast, Sirisena — despite being adate. veter- preached face-to-face.

Theofopposite gender does unity todid theyou crowd. about your longest (eight-hour) terribly dull.

How bail?“We must underpolitician long-time member the Sri stand Sirisena came to an power by defeating the an need to be met with agenda. socialwhen realities,” heare said, “The issues21are That date wasand with a stranger calledofPreethi You know, people condensing to Freedom Party (SLFP) — was rarely visi- not country’s Mahinda So this iswar-winning my journey topresident, see if I can crack the Lanka whether we experiences are people ofinto theaNorth, Thomas.

She planned a fabulous date that 105 years of life couplethe of Rajapaksa.

To contest, he defected from the at the forefront of SrioffLankan code.

For myself first and, in the process of ble the East, the new West,cuisines, Sinhalese, started with us driving in thepolitics. night toHea South, hours with exciting it’s Muslim, very diffromspace the countryside, spoke only Sinhala Tamil, government in which heonwas health minister. sharing the experience social media, may- was Catholic, Malay, Burgher or fishing on the outskirts of Chennai, ficult toBuddhist, feel bored.

An people array ofwill political groups, eager to see the and not court media Infishan- Hindu. We must give foremost place to be move away from having a relaclosedid to Mahabalipuram.

Weattention. then learnt nair his candidacy, admitted he nandini back of anwith authoritarian ruler, supported tionship their phones and learnhim to nouncing humanity.” ing and shooting and hadhe a great meal that cooked

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Ever felt bad about your dating life? Sunder Ramu will make you feel worse

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saturday, may 9, 2015

ised general election is held.

A key problem is that Rajapaksa does not see himself as defeated — only edged out of power by minorities and Western-funded conspiracies. He publicly insists that “certain governments” pushed for regime change because he was a strong leader and they preferred a weak one. He is energised by hordes of people who stream to his home in the south, begging for him to return to politics. Some weep openly.

The former president is also cocooned by a group of loyalists who see no political future without him. They now campaign, often disruptively, for him to return to power through xactly 60 years ago, on May 10, 1955, parliament. Depending on how successfully the eighth Cannes Film Festival his party performs at the polls, he could be inawarded Best Director to Jules Dassin stalled as prime minister. For this to work, for the festival’s opening film Du Rififi however, Sirisena has to agree to nominate Chez les Hommes, known in English as simply him. He has shown no inclination to do so. In Rififi. Released in France in April 1955, Rififi had coming weeks — unless a “deal” is struck — already snagged Dassin a two-part interview there will be increased pressure on him by at the iconic magazine Cahiers du Cinema. The quarters backing Rajapaksa. interviewers were Francois Truffaut and There was evidence of this at the SLFP’s May Claude Chabrol, future giants of the French Day rally in Colombo. The working class was New Wave, both then in their early twenties. cast aside as the stage turned into a platform Truffaut,strokes then forging a reputation a notofor calls of party unity. The only trade unionist Different Maithripala Sirisena hailsasfrom the countryside, speaks only Sinhala and was rarely visible at kumar the forefront of politics before he became president riously unforgiving film critic, also gave Rififiap/sujeewa a among the speakers was quickly shooed off. rave review: “[O]ut of the worst crime novel I The others were ageing, sweaty party seniors Looking have everout read, Jules Dassin has made the best to the Constitution, of which India was the ar- who loudly advocated a Sirisena-Rajapaksa The stance has earned him kudos chitect. This did not happen. Neither was an al- partnership. That was the only way to defeat filmpresident’s noir I have ever seen.” from community.

DiploThe the novelinternational was by popular French writer Au- ternative offered to the imperfect the United National Party (UNP) — the counmats thatan “heorphan does come across as very power-sharing arrangement the Amendment try’s other big political grouping — at the next gusteconfess le Breton, who frequented genuine”. hasand had no difficulty the low-lifeHe bars gambling dens securing of Mont- had set up. election, they shouted. appointments from world leaders. setting.

If anymartre, that form Rififi’s atmospheric New Delhi was also alarmed over the RajaThis is the dilemma. As party chairman, Sirthing, have stumbled over themselves to paksa regime’s overpowering relationship isena knows a divided SLFP is a problem. But Dassinthey wasn’t a fan; among other things, he meet him.

He was especially pleaseddid to away have with Beijing. China loaned money for nearly he also owes his presidential triumph to the thought it was racist (his screenplay received a private audience withNorth Queen Eliza- all of Sri Lanka’s massive infrastructure pro- UNP. Without its assistance, and its traditional with the dark-skinned Arab and African beth II in London. rival gangsters).

But he would have been a fool jects — an airport, a port, railway lines, even a block vote, he would not have won.

West had ahaving particularly strained to The refuse: despite tasted success in relaHol- power station. Scores of expensive Chinese In the meantime, the UNP is pushing for a tionship withBrute the Force Rajapaksa TheCity US projects were being approved without open quick election. Sirisena’s victory has, ironicallywood with (1947),regime.

The Naked sponsored severalHighway resolutions at he thehad Geneva(1948) and Thieves’ (1949), been tender. When the defence minly, invigorated his party’s traditionA resounding based UN Human on the govblacklisted by the Rights House Council of Un-American Ac- istry allowed a Chinese subal rival. Its May Day rally — usually comeback ernment’s worsening human rights record tivities (HUAC) while making Night and the City marine to dock at the just a straggle of bored people — Rififi and the Cannes crowds. and itsand failure to managed investigate (1950) hadn’t to war makecrimes a film alin Colombo port for the first drew large, enthusiastic recognition happened leged to have been committed at the end of time, New Delhi hit the ceiling. Sirisena is now hailed Parliament five years despite a move to France. must be dissolved imafter five filmless years as the only president theSowar. office of the UN High the The Cannes award wasn’t just Commisgood for Today, there is a palpable mediately, EranDassin Wickramaratne, a for Jules in Sri Lanka’s history the hindu archives sioner forcareer, Human Rights due to present Dassin’s but also awas French slap in thea change in the demeanour of party senior, now insists. The curto give away power report the Council injury March 2015. face of to Hollywood.

The that yearAfter had Sirifive foreign governments that rent one has no legitimacy and has sena’s victory, theone government a six- once Frenchmen, plus man eachearned from Spain, cold-shouldered his protege Jo, it comes asRajaa shock that it’s ac- riends andoutlived infantilise their wives. Tony’s vioits mandate. month on the that it paksa.

USA, UK,postponement Italy, Switzerland andpremise the USSR (no Their toneThe is friendlier, tually morning. casting is perfect: Jean lence towardsSirisena Mado isisextreme, another gang in no great rush.

He would a credible domestic to more women,create naturally), and despite his body FrenchServais,obliging. who playsThey Tony,appear has a pale, drawn face member Mario keeps shutting the parliament door on his has vowed to dissolve probe allegations.

Some rights groups were sounding name, Dassin was very much an willing to consider the when com- you learn that smiling partner, that makes perfect sense calling ‘pet’ and telling only after theher country’s electoral enraged. they scoffed.JewLit- plexities American,More borntime-buying, in Connecticut to Russian of the tasksalcoholic.

President Sirisena has at system he was a recovering her to ‘run along’ andThat go tocould bed, and theseveral film’s is changed. take tle still knownInterestingly, of the type ofDassin local mechaish isimmigrants. shared hand.

They accept all Sri Lankans have grievWhen Dassin’s characters aren’t huddled in- more denouement how the women weeks. Areiterates draft amendment is duesuffer to be nism envisaged; but officials claim theVasilyev, process ances his prize with Soviet director Sergei needbasement addressing. doors that in some or The bar, conversation they’re walk- presented the consequences of on something they hadhim no to cabinet May 13. This buys is ahead”. for“moving Heroes of Shipka, about the Russo-Turkish has shifted Tamil-centric ing the wetfrom Paris astreets.

The one — al- time to sort out partissues in planning. within the SLFP. His poThe is that Western administrations, though War of truth 1877-1878. theneon-lit need for devolution and the litical skill and acumen occasional advertising The ubiquitous of are aboutmachismo to be strongand even New are more welcoming of unique I haven’t seenDelhi, Shipka, but I imagine it shares of minorities remain signifi- ly tested. is all forsituation liquor brands: Cognac this noirish world is also, to my the regime because they find itstylish more cant littleSirisena with Rififi, which is a supremely — to Haig a moreScotch broad-based one.

Martell, Whiskey, eyes,can undercut by the manner in The president still neutralise the worst Rififi is a superb flexible.

Rajapaksa repeatedly promised India Dubonnet. film about a gang of thieves. But then Cannes The US has been Only theparticularly final se- supportive.

Dassin presents the of Rajapaksa’s efforts to undermine himhalfby example of why films which awasn’t full implementation of the Amendment awarding Dassin for 13th subject; the cut- Washington dispatched two top-level noir officials quence swaps shadowy silences hour heist at the film’s centre. charging with progressive reform.

HisI are often the ahead ting edge of the French film establishment to the spacedrive of a month, including forColombo a crazy, in careening behave rarely seen19th a group of men popularity soared after the Amendment best city flicks: to was excited about a certain Expressionistical- John — the first US secretary state yond Kerry the city, brilliantly juxta- of on screen conduct in to thethe Constitution was passedthemselves on April 28. plan onin rupturing ly-lit, dark, urban cinema coming out of Holly- nearly Sri Lankaurban in an offiposingfour a decades man’s to visit desperate so wonderfully silent, unobtruAmong other things, it limits a president to order, you need wood, and this film was a sophisticated cial capacity. speeding with a child’s blithe a fashion, for that so long.

Wordtwo terms (meaning Rajapaksa to know it five-yearsive example of it — in French. A few months after enjoyment Recovering Kerry can of from it. conflict is never easy,inside-out less, invisibilised labour is no longer stand for that post) and obliges first Rififi, two French critics, Raymond Borde and admitted, a speech.

But under Rififi is in a superb example of President Sir- the presidentsomething tradito consultthat thewomen prime are minister Etienne Chaumeton, came out with the first isena’s leadership, Sri Lanka’s why films noir are often the best traditions of on ministerial tionally socialisedIt into; men, the onappointments. also curbs book-length attempt to define the style: A Pan- critical debate, free and independent president’s immunity city flicks: to plan onpress, rupturing ly if they are servantshim or slaves. by making liable to orama of American Film Noir, 1941-53. civil societyorder, were you returning. the urban need to“Your citizens fundamental rights Which leads us to the acts. last litigation on official The characteristics of noir remain legend- have asked to first. mourn the dead, knowbeen it inside-out Theallgang’s prepnot in- Sirisena thing that makes Rififi’s heist so president remarkable. is now hailed as the only in arily hard to agree upon, though critic Roger just those from onetime part of the country one Sri volves noting what morning theorsalesTheLanka’s delicate, unspoken synchronisation history to give away power.

Ebert made a rather fun list of criteria in 1995, ethnicity faith,” hethe added, to makes girl arrivesoratone work, when floristalluding makes his the heist performative, akin Tom to a However, muchfeel more needs to be done. including “#2 A movie which at no time mis- the Declaration of Peace. deliveries, when the policeman does his Malinowski, dance, or a circus act. But Secretary Dassin’s two aesthetUS Assistant of State for leads you into thinking there is going to be a rounds.

Internationally, then, scene, Sirisena’s administraIn one great Tony walks Jo Democracy, ic decisions,Human of silence andand of slowness, makRights Labour, said it happy ending” and “#4 Cigarettes. Everybody tion doing everything right. alongisthe avenue on which their targeted jew- best ing it feel like real visit timeto(of it long isn’t during his April Sri course, Lanka: “So in film noir is always smoking, as if to say, ‘On ellery store stands — it’s Mappin & Webb — as really) changes keeps what we know to be a theft, an the country moving forward, it will top of everything else, I’ve been assigned to Bumps the road makinginhim recite the details of the shop have undeserving short-cut riches, intoand somethe support of the to United States the get through three packs today.’” Rififi certainly Back it’s without complicated. frontshome… they pass, looking up. thing profoundly like work.Nothing Rififi was international community. is banned settled. ticks those boxes. At the film’s nervous, throbThe president’s biggest challenge is to rec- Something But if this is noir, it subverts its own rules. in many places the said it nothwas a hasbecause begun in Sripolice Lanka, but bing centre is a hood called Tony, whom we oncile a deepmay rift within thefemme SLFP, caused his ing The women look like fatalesby (one demonstration Butthat it is is settled. Ittoispotential very, verycriminals. heartening first meet losing the last of his money in a po- defection last year.

He took overwith the aparty of them, Mado, even gets involved rival something this that makes it truly subversive. has begun.” ker game, coughing as he lights yet another from the former president by hisbut ownthey adgangster while Tony is inbut, prison), is a senior based in trisha wijedasa gupta is a writer andjournalist critic based in Delhi cigarette. The room is so dark that when Tony mission, is “not allowed to lead it”. ItThe is crucial aren’t scheming or duplicitous. men namini Sri Lanka t@chhotahazri makes a phone call and we cut to the home of that divisions before a promcomehe offheals muchthese worse.

They beat up their girlf- Colombo,

PICTURE THIS

Remembering Rififi

Jules Dassin’s Rififi (1955) might or might not be the best film noir I have ever seen, but it’s likely the most subversive

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House guests John Kerry is the first US secretary of state in nearly four decades to visit Sri Lanka in an official capacity afp/andrew harnik

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PRESENT IMPERFECT

Treats for charity Since when did a calamity become the ultimate marketing boon?

shutterstock

PAPERWALLAH

Book in the head

A bit rich When did cupcake baking become a way to help Nepal? thulasi kakkat

The ‘Jeremy’ for a writer is the single, flawless book that lives and thrives in the imagination

janice pariat

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n the same morning, people n Saturday evening, at thetwo local wasn’t quite he was extims of Evidently, the naturalitdisaster.

I couldwhat buy tickets possibilities.

It hasn’tonbeen written but itnite certainly had an impact brand reach and shared Jeremy with me. market nearthemy housestory (which, him what author Ann Patchett for apecting. stand-upI told act or even just buy groceries hence can be written in a multitude of ways. and recall. link, I noticed, hadabeen sinceAnd it isthe in Gurgaon, is largely mentions her essay onbill. writing and add 10 perincent to the If allinof‘This thisis the There As Hanif Kureishi said atless thecontroversial Jaipur Literature are scores of other, running riot on theand internet a Story cluster of restaurants bou- for seemed of too a Happy like muchMarriage.’ effort to That dressit’s upsimilar and to Festival that earlier preservafund-raisers arethis still year, goingwriting on. Youiscould few days. all have vegetable our one Jeremy,” tiques and one“We overpriced shop), asome taking a beautiful butterfly, plastering it on take a an get out of home (and really, how lazy can some tion, an ride, exercise in settingand down occurrences Uber for example, contribute dramatically.

Or “Who is your lady proclaimed in a shiny top and salon-dried hair tot- Jerepage and it misfortune), with something people be in thebludgeoning light of others’ and emotions so theytickets won’tand be forgotten, to charity.

Or buy ₹2,000 be enter- but ‘Jeremy’, according teredmy?” up to queried us in her others. high heels and proffered a to I might have exaggerated then heavy.

I can Okay, simply get online and bid foraalittle. it’sby also an act ofPapa loss,CJbecause suddenlyIfwhat tained comedian for 90 minutes.

Jordana Narin’s Labels, grabbed No Drama, Right?’ tray of cupcakes.

My‘No daughter one.

She says it much more “Onlyofa few painting or a sculpture, parteloquently: of the proceeds wasthe as wide itself becomes you are sort as tolife optimise on yourconfined charity, to a ThebeNew York she Times is an archetype, a trope, “Thatfor will ₹500,” smiled.

For one cupof will us are willing to break which begoing used to forbeearthquake relief.our So own set of ride words, lines, paragraphs.

It becomes you could to the show in an Uber and, lat- the nouninused by her friends to cake?an Sheall-purpose shook her head irritation. “₹500,” by trading thefrolic living beauty of imag- only wayer,that manyhearts options for fun in and thethe experience exists. at Everysmoke cigar you bought talkagain. about “that guy”, the one who remains in she said for the stark disappointment of thing else and, ination what’s better, zero consuis discarded.

What remains a fund-raiser auction.

My pointisisa sinsome netherworld I rustled around in mybetween wallet tofriend see if I and had boywords.” merist guilt. It’s for Nepal, no? gle telling, reading. nota single to mock these efforts. Well, friend, often forayears.

The focus of her essay enough; “isn’t that bit much?”

I asked.

At is I have What triedquestion. to prepare onlyI one No,him for was loss, How then do we proceed? pluck not entirely anyway. To But I dothose contemporary relationships spiral this, on shehow crinkled her eyes, tilted her head to ineven diminishment, the transference be-get‘Jeremy’ scratch that.

I have many in quesmanuscripts out of that our heads.

How is think it’s a bit sad we have When did we to a to inconsequence a fear one side, looked at me springing as thoughfrom people likeof lathought tions.tween But theintangible most pressing one to place where within possible, I oftenin think, comeitto a place where ordertotowrite bels — we people don’t name (‘boyfriend’, me were thewhat reason like her were is this. penWhen and paper.

This is why we did this happen? at all?help Again, Ann Patchett genuinely someone in need, has minutes of a ‘girlfriend’, ‘partner’) becomes something forced to start cocktail hour at 6pm, sighed inmanuscripts in where our heads. spectacularly Whenkeep did we get to a place the answer.

Forgiveness. it needs to be presented to us as definable, intangible, and said, “Well, it’s for Nepal.”something that reWhere figments of ideas — un-devastating tragedy, within minutes of a spectacularShe calls forgiveness the key to something enticing to buy. What movesI the “What?” ask possibility of ends and closures. My confined bytragedy, font, ink, ly devastating weand aremar- we are running making (Assending well as very happened toart. just somepossiThe grief of into interest lies of elsewhere, in why “Part of thethough proceeds the cupcake salethese gin — into remainour forever exquisite.our kitchens, running kitchens, bly to theankey to finding any semaccredited organiconstantly having tomoney aprons ‘Jeremys’ persist in existing, andthe why we are so will be donated to the victims of earthIn on, ourfrosting heads, bags dialogue aprons ready?runs blance of happiness in life.) and keeping quiet about facefrosting down our own sation on, often captured things never quake in Nepal,” she by saidthe slowly, as that though ex- hapand witty and the utterly Whensmooth did a calamity become “Every time,”medicines, she says, “Igroset out donating inadequacies bags ready? is whatit? Or pened, steeped in pasts that didn’t present plaining to aor toddler. convincing, descriptions ultimate marketing boon? It’s are to tarpaulin translate the book (or else story, or or whatever keeps people from ceries, themselves.

It’s simple something I had many questions.

Whatreally. part ofIfthe pro- not just moving, plot riveting. homethe bakers and localIt’s a hopelessly thatonexists is needed to an long NGOessay) working writing place, it hasexactly the possibility ceedshasn’t wouldtaken go to Nepal?

How would it and of cosmic bars literary that are project advertising calami- proin such brilliant detail the big the field?

If you are the sorton who potential to was be perfect.

At track least in minds. get there?

Who keeping of our these portions, anit inspired coupling ty-linked events, is even multiscreen wants of my limbic system absolutely something inonto AndBut in athe writer’s life, that means every single things? lady had trotted off to seek of aesthete and craft. national companies.

Within an hour of the return, why not ajust piece of paper (which, send a cheque to let’s the face that he orvictims she doesn’t write but thinks otherbook unsuspecting to help the Nepal Megan McArdle is crisply can- to get Prime Minister’s Relief tremors, an online retailer managed it, wasFund once towering anda get the tax tree about victims, andoften.

I walked out of there feeling both thousands did about it in ‘Whyon Writers Are theasking Worst Proof retweets a message crowned withweleaves andsoa self-obsessed home to birds), I break?

When did become writer’s ‘Jeremy’ is the manuscript we nevcheatedAand uncharitable. crastinators’ Thelike Atlantic “As long as you people to “shake for it off the — earthquake” for my own lack of talent and intellithat grieve if we gave ₹5,000, we needed a ₹4,800 er really penthat down and nevertoreally get over.

However, now I was alerted the possihave not written that article, speech, and avail its discount offer.

Sure,that most com- that gence.”shawl We berate ourselvesasrelentlessly. pashmina in exchange, well as theWere one that lies, at best, unfinished. bilityThe of eating a cupcake in order to help the mentary novel, could still be good.

Before you onitthe promotion was critical, but take as to we smarter, gifted, could pin down bragging rights more to how the we shawl came by. a festival last writer victimsAtofa literary the earthquake, allDecember, I seemed ato keys, you are and the Oscar Wilde each the critic weighed in,Proust the more name of and closer facsimile wondersfor wethe seevicin our “This?

Oh this was at of anthe exhibition ofinto non-fiction, keen to beginways his first novel, bump were other interesting of beGeorge Orwell all rolled up into one the company spread.

The following daydelicious the tims imaginations.

Forgiveness, is key. of Nepal, those poor dears.therefore, By the way, I “I asked for advice on writing fiction. ing charitable.

The nightclub across theImpatient road company package.”

The another fear is that by the timethe you’re put out tweet, calling book I want to money write,” and she conevencan’t bakedwrite somethe cupcakes to raise I am withwas questions like (as with fromasmy house hosting a these rock band to artifinished, you’veanrealised you’re not.

(Or of worse, original message “accidental choice tinues, “but I can and will book this one annoying woman, whowrite camethe with her I am titled, example, Gazillion raise cles money for for Nepal.

I could‘Seven reserve a table Tips she says, of those 1940’s pulp words”.

This that too you’re went “one around cyberspace, capable of all, writing. daughter, was ‘isn’tAgain ₹500 and too again muchthroughfor for Young Writers’), Ibrunch tried toon beSunday helpful.or sincehacks”.) for a charity champagne Theof grief of constantly having to face the choice words could be described out the course I willno?” forgive myself.” cupcake’.

Come on, of it’smy forlife Nepal, always be a failure.” go to an“It’ll exhibition and buy pashmina shawls in alldown ownbut inadequacies what keeps kinds our of ways, accidental itiswasn’t.

I Say it. I will forgive myself. Repeat. t@veenavenugopal He blinked. and hand-crafted silver jewellery to aid the vic- am not people surefrom howwriting. much sales this generated, “Whatever idea you start out with, you’ll alA non-existent book can be always flawless janice pariat is the author of Seahorse ways end up with so much less.” and, more importantly, brimming with infi- t@janicepariat

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saturday, may 9, 9, 2015 saturday, may 2015

Time out of joint Survival of the onanist BAWDY LINE

A deeply tragic narrative of displacement and permanent exile that millions experienced with the partition of India How pornography inverts and contradicts a very basic and evolutionary behaviour in men lessness of the human neonate. Human neonates actually require an extra-uterine gestation. And paternal investment.

The sporty hand of Dame Natural Selection slipped another one on the male: concealed ovulation and the loss of estrus (aka evolutionary instruments to thwart polygyny). If women no longer signalled the time of ovulation, men didn’t have a clue about when they’re fertile. This led to a reordering of their mating tactics: rather than rutting multiple women in the hope that some of them might be fecund, it would make more sense to stick to one particular woman throughout her menstrual cycle (Alexander and Noonan 1979).

One wouldn’t be far out in saying that polyandry, for human females, is actually pernicious. It leads to preeclampsia in pregnancy.

Which can rather messily kill the foetus and the mother. Preeclampsia also manifests in females who haveTo not sexually cohabited with nowhere land Thefor form of the their male partners four to five months prishutterstock a longer the or to conception.passenger It seemstrain thatis the recurring image in eminal ejaculate, reportedly, has a entire person. A whole new succession of die- male has exchanged bodily fluids with the feRegret, and a strange, shortlived umami flavour. Or gesis for the defilement of the flesh billowed male, thereby exposing herof to his antigens, premonition times so the bukkake stars tell us. Bukkake is forth. Contemporary Japanese porn is not the lesser the chance for preeclampsia. There’s to come the hindu archives a humiliation ritual in Japanese porn about anal reaming and spit and gape gonzo an evolutionary purpose to fidelity. wherein a demure young woman kneels in the action. It is the great Pavlovian trick. It conPornography creates a world of polygynous centre of a small room. She knows well the val- verts its viewers into twitchy, intra-diegetic (and polyandrous) fantasy. It provides the inue of slobber and its application in to oral servic- the t’s never easy for an artist negotiate voyeurs.

It is the worldisof gameshowfrom cuckolour idea of home inextricable the mecitement to pleasure oneself without conseBut only a few years later, we are told, both Eshing. There’s an assortment of unexceptional whirlwind of history.

There are those dry, public frotteurism and omo- of mories transport of childhood.

The finest moments quences.

Masturbation, to state thethe whole nub exan and Saeed, separately, join necessary naked men about 50Austrian or rashiRegret whosurrounding were silencedher, by it, like the (bladder aredesperation). to be found in those first few pages of the thing, is the evolutionary answer to the odus to Lahore. thereabouts, regular people,said touching writer Karl Kraus, to havethembeen ren- Theofprimary of pornography is to — the bookfunction — belonging to the first novella query: how to satiateemphasis the polygynous and Ikramullah’s in bothwolf these novelselvesdered (whilespeechless they’re waiting), who willthose then who

by Hitler.

And servewhich as an Ikramullah abettor for devotes masturbation.

But, years for of to the early protect monogamous lamb.In Out of Sight, the las the is on marginal lives. proceed toon throat-f*** her. silence Or if nottothat, ejacuwent to prescribe others, like the the most masturbatory species them two friends.

The young boys of Ehsan andallSaeed Coming back topolitical bukkakestory andofthe more overtly themosaic, two, he exlate upon her, in Theodor a processional Atas he philosopher Adorno,manner. believing (and together perhaps the one masturbates canonly easily laythat claim to the titletoof litthere’s another reason thewhen ventral-ventral plores a cruel ironyfor of life a Muslim comthat point, she’s notcould exactly is eadid that there beeuphoric, no poetrybut after Auschorgasmic completion), is the physiolog- position erature’s youngest what flaneurs. in humans — to develop munity, after having escapeda correlative one oppressive ger towitz. accommodate anybloody and every sexualof re-histoFaced with the shakeups ical (and evolutionary) function of masturbaThe children spend their days occupied set ofmajority affective pleasures between in the male for in India, is persecuted Pakistan quest.ry,The activity when life each work is ofover art —and justsuccessful as every human tion?with Well,aimless there’s awandering Divinity that — they bunk school, belonging and might evenAhmed, be tothe thefemale.

AhmadiItsect.

Bashir the last man has himself. And so, the natu— begins to spent seem irrelevant. shapes ourthe ends.

All human walk streets of theirbiotown in Punjab, col- an Ahmadi supposed has of Muslim,that is theeverything other protagonist Theral narrative of is bukkake impulseconclusion of the artist to resistsexual direct enlogical governed by and watch the Out of Sight, lectaffairs emptyare cigarette packets, been satisfactorily andquite just before the mob of arrioters action is the woman and wallowgagement withwhimpering the impersonal forces that Natural Selection. a rea-Ehsan takes Saeed, reaches ranged passing trains.There’s At one point particularly for in the Sultanpur, male. the Ahmadi colony The camera doesn’t ing in the history. many varietals of the batter. The son who shape why is breasts narratingare thebinary story, to the ‘Cold Well’. Ahmed does The facial and vocaliwhatcontortions his friend Ismail did many court stylistic or amorphous glop streaks hair, adheres Ikramullah’s talesher of Partition are to emble(twice thehere, normal litter And for the firstsize timeinexplisations of the woman form years agof***** in August 1947 — and thematic possibilities; her face andofbreasts.

The camera doesn’t court matic that aesthetic aversion.

These are porhumans), reason for our citly, awe perceive thevenghastly a performative what Ehsanresponse and Saeedthat did is in the it just stays on her stylistic or thematic possibilities; it just stays trayals of lives which were fortunate enough tral-ventral to face) divide, copula-soon shadow(face of sectarian almost never seen outside of sex-— he preceding novella Regret face, as it expresses on her it expresses ob- tory toposition toface, haveasescaped the complete riptide ofmoral the bloodiest (for accidental turn violent.

The well “had ual congress. the deliciously flees theIt ishistorical moment, complete moral scenity.

It isin the enactment of Regret a stateisofaabjectevent Indian history. set of two clitoral stimulation), a middle reason by a been divided in the out display of facial bringing the book to aphysiclose.

Ehsan and Saeed drawn obscenity ness in which — the aesthetic theSight ethical are prenovellas Regret and and Out of — each for scrotality — the external danboard: one side reserved for the brought Writing thatabout movesbyusa also together can easily ognomy one. There’s variant the wholeofthing sentingaalively deeply tragicofnarrative displaceglingHindus of maleand gonads scrotalfrom, Sikhsintoa drink paintoand makes us of want seekpleaout the lay claim to the titlecommingling calledment gokkun (gulp) where men makein the and permanent exilethe that millions sac the (non-galloping mammals other for Muslims.”

This is a shame trauma, de-case, Butand in Ikramullah’s of literature’s sure,writer. theirIndian deposits in a container, and to she’s re- have brilliant subcontinent were fated experience intra-abdominal testes; gal-what metaphor for and surrender. this remains, at least for the readyoungest flaneurs fiance quired ingest it. Due to the embargo on gen- lopers, into the August of 1947. if they had “narcissism them in theofabdomen Freud called In sooth, the face the f*****an woman is in thefutilier of English, exercise itals and pubic hairhave in come Japan,and the male “Many Augusts gone, and on would’ve their sperm into their pornographic stimulus. smallexpressed differences” taken to abwhat ty. In In hispornography, introduction to the copulatory organ isn’t reallyI have seen seen in these each day of this month how the bladders abdominal heave and exertion). supplies the frisson surdwith lengths. and the jouissance isUmar what Mebook, Muhammad films.sun Theand penis, compliance with Article theinmonsoon moisture blend175 togeth- The masturbatory impulse is,see I think, In Regret, we also get to a relat- is truly obscene —mon, the violence, thewith inequality, who along Faruq Hasof Japan’s rather the vaguely obscenity er to produce sameworded fierce smells in the soil, ed torecurring the human circumstance of being a per- — the and implicit image of disaster a humiliation, the debasement, the intru-from san has produced this fine translation laws,the is digitally by a mosaic of obfuscrops, covered the houses, the trees and the manently sexed species. human male—is in a the premonition of theThe times to come sion.the Andoriginal modernUrdu, Japanese pornography des- “is writes that Ikramullah cating pixels.along the riverbank that I had come to growth reluctant facultative monogamist. formand of the passenger train. It wasSince onlyaa few ignates as the privileged site these thethe typeface of person who doesn’t goof after visibilBukkake and gokkun, Japan’s cultural know in August 1947.”

These lines are exuttered maleyears can hope for an every that sex- the before theoffspring Partitionfrom of India readings. culmination scenes ity or The publicity.”

There’sof notmost a trace of hisinlife or portsby toIsmail, the restone of the world, about be- ual intercourse of the two came principal characters with a fertileand female, seems train, in Nazi Germany the he whole of CenJapanese close-up shots ofinthe of Anworkporn to beare found anywhere thefaces online causeinofOut theofban realism and thebreak Sight.onHegenital flees just before riots biopsychologically programmed to be areadily tral and Eastern Europe, became symbol of the female performers, urine, glosphere.

Nominal smeared points of with curiosity are admandatory mosaic.

Porn-makers hadonly to find out in his hometown, and is the survivor aroused whenever an opportunity doom.

The Jewish American presents musicianit-Steve semen, makeup saliva. introduction. We now dressed by and Memon’s newer ways of across providing inand his alternative family to resettle the satisborder in self. Females cannot unthinking Reich called his profit string from quartet on the Holo- Pornography is myth-making, toMultan; invert and know that Ikramullah lives in that he faction without violating they and Sultanpur, Pakistan Japanese — wherelaw. theSocrops sexual promiscuity: a woman can bear caust ‘Different Trains’, in which the no instrucontradict a very basic and stable evolutionary has been writing prolifically since 1962; that brought the education of theinporn spectreesabout are all just as they were India, yet inefmorements children if she mates with many males of behaviour. recreate the resonant rhythms a his stories Mostgrapple men use masturbation as a of with complex themes tatorfably on how to be aThe porn spectator. different. water along Japanese the riverbank than moving if she mates with one. So then, what’s thebacktrain, providing an ominous surrogate for violence, what they’d actually want to do and political incest, homosexuality; consumers pornography the ’90s) starttoo is of just water, but (in Ismail knows that evolutionary it drop to the purpose of monogamy? Pair to a woman. overall sound.

Thomas words, ‘a resistthat hisInwork hasMann’s achieved critical acclaim ed saying theybelong preferred adult movies theto be doesn’t to the Beas whichwith “used bonding solicit paternal in the Atto the beginning of investment Regret, we hear young ed temptation is not a sin,censure. but a testWhat of virtue’. and suffered state we don’t mosaic, then it’s not just a set of geni- neonate. mybecause river in those days”.

The the female par- me know is whether this writer will get the readEhsan sayinvestment that “everyofpassing trainismakes asatwik@gmail.com tals. TheAvideos (they said) should about poet once said that in thebe first fewthe years of ticularly because of the help- far ership his work truly deserves. wantrelentless to hop on and ride off utter somewhere our lives, we have already felt everything away.” Reading this, we come to a pause, vainly worth feeling. That may be one reason why hoping that the child’s wish is not granted. vineet gill is a Delhi-based freelance writer

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Regret: Two Novellas Ikramullah Penguin Fiction ₹299

Ambarish Satwik is a Delhi-based vascular surgeon and writer

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Looks alike justice Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) corporations are engaged in a righteous battle to protect their brands and trademarks

Slice of a city In Tulsi Badrinath’s book, the city is portrayed the way it is experienced by the people living in it s vasanth Buck stops here Customers are shortchanged when they buy counterfeits, which are largely manufactured by small operators across the country kamal narang

Tales S a city tells

ince it doesn’t come with ribbons and greeting cards, not many would have known that World Intellectual Property Day just came and went. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the day is celebrated ‘to promote discussion of the role of intellectual property in encouraging innovation and creativity’.

This year’s theme was ‘Get Up, Stand Up. For Music’. Not surprising: the music industry make places, or places peocontinues otopeople balance itself delicately between Badrinath’s were innovationple? andTulsi piracy.

However,parents the focus on from Uttar Pradesh,particularly but she was music reinforces the tendency, in “born in to Madras some four decpopular discourse, relateand IPR awareness preades later find myself a resident Chennai.” dominantly with the creative arts.ofI will do my Yet her by growing years, shemore was always bit through for IPR Day writing about humthe one considered “from elsewhere, drum matters: counterfeit soaps and differdeterent”. sheand went to Delhi for vacations at gents,When creams shampoos. herThe grandparents’, she is became “even an fake syndrome rampant in more the fastoutsider”. moving consumer goods (FMCG) market in Inincent general, rarely resolvdiaContradictions, — almost five per of allare FMCG products ed, would there be so many books on soldelse in why the country are counterfeit.

Industry the sameinsist place, sometimes on the insiders that in reality written the figures are heels of each other?

Rediscovered by more alarming.

This isMadras as raging an ‘IPR issue’ Madras/Chennai’s best-known as any other, with legal teams of chronicler, FMCG corpo-S Muthiah, is in its to 7thprotect or 8th edition.

NS Ramasrations fighting their brands and wami’s Madras Diary in the Indian Express in trademarks. theThe 1970s had legions of fans, as doisVdriven Sriram’s counterfeit FMCG industry by columns in The across Hindu. the There’s KL Narasimsmall operators country.

The first han’s A Most History of 1968 task is Madras to locateCity: them. of the largervintage corpo(which cost engage ₹4 at the time!), KRAagencies Narasiah’s rations now investigating on Madras: Tracing of these the Cityoperations.

Since 1639, a full-time basisthe toGrowth unearth An Cityproduction edited by CS Lakshmi, TamaTheUnhurried counterfeit units are often no rind

by Bishwanath and Degree CofmoreCity than a 300 sq ftGhosh factory-cum-storagefee by the Yard by Nirmala Lakshman.in a small room tucked away in a basement Despite the plethora material about town.

Discovering them of is the primary chal-a strip sandcomes by the the Baypart of Bengal that grew to lenge.ofThen of bringing them become to task. the stronghold of the Portuguese and the‘Counterfeit’ British, where a White Town and Black in this context does nota mean Town transmogrified from Madraspatnam or ‘fake’ per se, but includes ‘lookalikes’.

‘Colgate’ Chennapatnam into Madras Chennai, Babecomes ‘Collegiate’, ‘Lakmé’and becomes ‘Likedrinath’s bookbecomes manages‘Cameo’. to be different foMe’, ‘Camay’ Add tobythis cusing on and people, their lives and that their packaging a colour combination is worldviews, and consequently experioften indistinguishable from their the original ence of the city‘deceived’ — in sharp focus or soft.that Reproduct.

Being into believing counting the history of theis city is not you’re buying the ‘original’ one part of her the main concern; instead she weaves own problem; the more worrying aspect her is applyvoice in and outon of the narratives ing ‘Collegiate’ yoursubject’s teeth and ‘Like-Me’and on sometimes maps the distance between your skin. Majority of these lookalikes are her tarhome theirs with history, landmarks geted and at rural and semi-urban markets. and Stuanecdotes.

A combination listening sanddents of marketing find thisofpractice a fecund wiched between slices of telling evokes difield of study — how retailers are complicit in

this process and are therefore both customer defendants and takes symbolic possession and competitor for the brand; shelf-place- (making an inventory and keeping them ment of the lookalikes; negative (or positive?) aside) of the infringing goods or packets. The impact on brand innovation — but students of significance of the ex-parte aspect cannot be law have a single-point agenda: find the near- emphasised enough: if the defendant is put est IPR-friendly court and harangue it for an on notice, he usually has enough time to eiorder of injunction. ther remove the goods or, worse still, flood the The owner of a registered trademark has markets with the goods before the date of the option of seeking both civil and criminal hearing. Not getting an ex-parte order often remedies in cases of counterfeit products. It defeats the whole purpose; if the court officer verse of the city. So,action in thiswould casually wouldaspects seem that a criminal be on Edward Roadto(now Radhakrishnan reaches theElliots premises be welcomed by an structured manner, we a writer, more of a deterrent, butmeet that aispriest, not always the Salai) a comment onnothing the Rajaremains Rajeshemptyaffords storeroom, virtually acase. businessman, title-bearing prince, a sportsMore oftenathan not, people in the coun- wari door, onceofthe of theKalyana suit. As Mantapam of today, an next ex-parte order inman classical music, leader of the Anterfeitinto business know theaprecariousness of venue of in allapage weddings. junction civil three-worthy suit is the most potent remeglo-Indian community, a naturalist and dyThe their business.

They establish a relationship seamless way incompanies; which information available to FMCG they are photographer, an entrepreneur lived with the local police; this ensureswho thathas a raid is about city, its — manybefore unher-a foreverthe hoping tolandmarks find themselves the rags-to-riches an actor, a gynaecolooften preceded bystory, a cordial phone call. Even alded, evenisunknown — isto presented is appealcourt that sympathetic the ex-parte cause. gist, a building contractor, and an ITtogeek. otherwise, the police are hesitant takeThe ac- ingIf such because it is isunselfconscious and the an order passed, the defendant, allist yet representative. tionisifeclectic, the infringing product is writing cleanmost and always, upfront.agrees For instance, to settleBeathe Although Ifthe author a lookalike. it is not anherself out- sometimes trix D’Souza matter.

(Enriching anresurface.

MP who ButCultures), they often slips thethe subjects mostly spoke strongly right into fake,sentimentality, they usually ask on behalf of the Anglo-Indians, A proud counterfeiter once told reflect onmanufacturer their lives in the light and shadow of talks about how original to obtain she dressed was a me (when he’d when come she to sign ‘Counterfeit’ in this the hereorder and now and ponder the way ahead. teacher. “I wore a court — through a civil a dress in Pudukottai…

Dressdeed of settlement with a client) context does not Most them have the incredible stories to share, es were so much suit —ofthat holds lookalike part of our culture. folthat a“it is only natural to We follow mean ‘fake’ per se, quite belying the infringing popular view of product to be the lowed allHe said, the “IfEuropean the leader”. a compabut includes Chennai the city of last resort. original. asMost manufacturers fashions…” when obviously she movedI ny has foundBut success, ‘lookalikes’ K Seshadri, priest thecivil Ashtanow prefer to takeinthe acto the smaller Namakkal, it will sell my product in a similar lakshmi temple in Besantnagar, tion route. made more sensethat to wear saris.

It packet and hope people misShe weaves her own take forThe instance, is alsoAct a karate black Trade Marks specificalwas my a huge cultural shift and product for theirs.”

He belt holder.for His back story is a voice in and out of the added ly provides a method of seekironic inthat a way. author heWhile takestheexisting subject’s comment challenges of ing relief on in the cases of infringement of a narratives comments: “What was‘computer once the packets of reputed brands to local andtradesometimes maps balancing professionalFor commitregistered trademark. unregistered mark of to the ‘mixed shops’ and gets them churn outcaste’, four orwestfive the distance between ments personalcan constraint. marks,with the plaintiff obtain a remedy un- ‘similar ern attire, has now been Then adopted options’ for about ₹2,000. he home and theirsthe one Krishnanlaw (the book an is dediderMcommon against action ofher ‘passing increasingly by the younger genchooses that appeals to him the most. with history, cated him andofhis wife Induoff’. A to plethora judicial decisions govern eration in city”, After this narration, he the signed the D’Souza deed. I landmarks and if I havemakes mathi) is anshould iconicpass Madras when a court such an order — doubt a naughty observation: seen the last of him. personality.

Once, when his wife has to be anecdotes broadly, the test is that a product ‘destars dressIt is in this “Film context thatwearing the firstslinky draft of the “asked Krishnan hisoriginal, addressso an unwary National IPR Policy ceptively similar’ for to the es in the morningbymeant for the circulated the Ministry in Calcuttaofwhere he intelligence was going and imper- of Commercenight!” purchaser average and Industries might provide a to a considerable time”, The test is remedy beyondFor fectspend recollection would be deceived. the most part, the an injunction.

Thethough, section ‘Enthe naturalist-photographer renot to do a side-by-side comparison and spot forcement and author remains with the known, Adjudication’, among other sponded: “You can write to me at rather the cage the differences in packaging, but to the familiar and the safe, in fact seldom straythings, mentions developing a list of known IP number zoo.” He has the distincstress on290, theCalcutta overall similarity (phonetic, vi- ing too farand from south closely Chennai.

She doesn’t offenders working with state govtion of otherwise) writing a column Country Note- dig sual or betweencalled the two products. too deep uncover what liesofbeneath ernments forto the establishment IP cells and book for 46almost years all continuously; However, such cases the turn last on that’s a pity. inclusion of IP crimes under their special laws. column dayishe died. to pass an This whetherappearing or not thethe court willing Even so, Madras, Chennai themention Self reveals is encouraging.

There and is also of But theorder detailed of the Krish- more interim of descriptions injunction. The plaintiff than IP it obscures and that’sinitiatives a good integrating with government nan residence, second makes it a point which to go allwas outobviously for an ex-parte or- enough reason to read the book. the queslike ‘Make in India’.

Hopefully, theBut integration home towhere the author, don’t exactly rivet the tion der (one the defendant is not informed remains: Dokind people make places, or placis with the right of makers. reader, even if thattowas the author’s intention about or allowed contest the hearing) and es people? going by appointment the chapter title Thinnais Inner arunabha deb is a partner at Avijit Deb Partners LLP seek the of an officer and of court. rao (The views expressed in the article are his own) Spaces.

However, thefactory/storerooms location of the residence The officer visits the of the sandhya

Tulsi Badrinath strings a narrative on Madras and Chennai through subjects like a karate black-belt temple priest, a title-bearing prince and a sportsman who is into classical music

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Madras, Chennai and the Self: Conversations with the City Tulsi Badrinath Pan Macmillan Non-fiction ₹299

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Black magic Beneath layers of rhetoric STATES OF MATTER

Tellicherry pepper didn’t just add punch to the food of Malabar. It brought the world to its doors anddisproportion made it one of wealthiestwithin regions If a gross is the country’s story of agriculture the larger economy, its origins may lie in the disposition of economic power

sukumar muralidharan

Erachi ishtu (mutton stew) hatever potion Rahul Gandhi pioneer of national accounts statistics, VKRV quence of development and achieve high livIngredients imbibed on his 56-day vaca- Rao, drew attention to the increasing share of ing standards on the basis of services. Others 1/2 kg mutton, cubed tion from politics, its effect industry and services in national income, con- have dismissed this as an idle reverie, since 3 large onions sliced has been miraculous. His new sistent with the derived template of modern- 2 employment growth has never medium potatoes, peeledin andservices quartered bravura spirit has been a striking contrast to isation. Occupational change, though, had 5-6been near adequate. green chillies, sliced the diffidence the ruling party has suddenly been ‘in the opposite direction’. This was a 1 1/2Indeed, almost the entire decade since cups hotfor water been overwhelmed by. sign of ‘structural retrogression’, which con- 1 liberalisation became an official policy in 1991, inch ginger, crushed tbsp ghee employment growth was dismal The ‘maximum campaign’ the BJP ran to stituted both ‘the problem and the paradox of 1 aggregate handful coriander leavessimply chopped gain power was obviously not cost-free. But Indian economic development’. It had led to A because agriculture failed to absorb tsp Tellicherry blackentering pepper, powdered under the aura of Prime Minister Narendra ‘controversy about growth and employment’ 1 any of the labour the market.

Modi, the BJP may have chosen the wrong way and a degree of ‘disillusion with modern Salt to Thetaste following years brought about an imSqueeze of lime juice of requiting its obligations to the lobbies that industrialisation’. provement but the best performing category funded its campaign.

Close to a decade later, Ashok Mitra drew at- Method was ‘self-employment’, accounting for no less It was just 2013 that a law on land acquisi- tention to a further accentuation of this struc- 1 than per cent of new jobs.

Thisflame, couldand be conHeat 83 a pressure cooker on low tion was adopted with cross-party support. tural oddity. Underlying the curiosity of larger add sidered as advertisement for the virtues of enthe ghee to it.

Yet, a sweeping amendment — indeed eviscer- shares of national income originating in ser- 2 terprise, or as the and lastsauté recourse Now add the onions until of those ation — of the law was among the Modi gov- vices while its contribution to without any other means. transparent.

3 Add green chilliesBehind and ginger continue ernment’s first legislative priorities. employment stagnated, was a this and pattern of emsautéing for 2-3 ployment minutes. and growth, there are The amendments passed the Lok Sabha, but quirk in accounting conven4 Add the mutton and a layers dash of and and mix its Rahul was quick to pounce at the first sign of tions. Output in industry and hidden of salt power For longwell. years, the government floundering to overcome a agriculture was measured in distribution. The source of ineqagriculture was3/4 cup of the hot water and place the 5 Pour numerical deficit in the Rajya Sabha. Facing actual value. In services, the uity indeed, may lie in the eduregarded aslida ‘bargain with the whistle on. the Lok Sabha the day after unfettering the procedure was the obverse. Inand perhaps After any one whistlecation (about sector a minute), reduce the sector’ where spirit of combat at a farmers’ rally, Rahul ber- come earned here was taken as much deeper.

Amartya and let it cook for 10 minutes. RemoveSen, manner ofheat decision ated Modi for aiming an axe blow at farm live- additional output and regisothers, argued carefully, and among gently mash thehas onions withthat could be lid imposed lihoods and ignoring a sector that was the tered in national accounts staIndia’s haverest extended the back of a ladle, add priorities the potatoes, of ‘foundation of the country’. tistics as such. undue to education the water and close the privileges pressure cooker once again for two whistles.

Rahul quoted a mountain of statistics. RulSome components of service at the higher level at the cost of 6 Take off the lidthe and, if you the stewstages. to ing party spokespersons responded with sector growth were essential to basic andlike secondary a little thicker, letwas it cook a few between equally robust figures: that agriculture’s support material production. In 1990, the beThe consequence a vastfor disparity with had the lid off. to the full spectrum of share in total national income had shrunk so economists BB Bhattacharya and Arup Mitra minutes those who access 7 Now add the Tellicherry black pepper, adjust low that the limits of its viability had been re- concluded that “income from (the) services education and those who could not cross even seasoning, and garnish with coriander. ached. The Indian economy could not survive sector (was) growing much in excess of the de- 8 the primary threshold.

Squeeze a little lime over it and serve hot. without a mass transfer of workers out of agri- mand generated (for services) by the comIn a milieu where higher education is a privWhole picture Among other spices peppermodity attractedsector”. explorers Irrespective from Rome, Arabia, China, this culture.

All unexceptionable sofrom far;Malabar, but then, of causes, ilege, there is a tendency for its beneficiaries Malaysia, Portugal, the Netherlands Greathow Britain does either side have a strategyand about thiskk mustafah disproportion embodied a likely risk of infla- to aggregate in services employment, which is to be accomplished? Perhaps not. tion and balance of payments difficulties. enjoy higher cachet in terms of traditional up in a town whose claim fame is areThere Thegrew disproportion that is today thetostarkest to behave found everywhere.

Forthat example, the caste been suggestions this raththe ishtu of the Syrian-Christian community in values and offer moreover, significant thatofthethe firstIndian cake ineconomy India wasoriginated baked in a er feature lexicon that borrows from afforded Arabic and Portucurious growth pattern India the rent-seeking south Kerala, opportunities. the Mappila ishtu does not use Perhaps on this small bakery here; first cricket rather early.

In 1979, thethe economist andmatch early opportunity guese, the famed Chinese one fishing nets to ‘leapfrog’ stage in of theFort se- account, coconut milk. gets its India’sInstead, servicesitsector hasearthiness attracted in India played in a stadium downtown; Kochi, the architecture which has seamlessly much and complexity solely from crushed Tellicherof the limited pool of the country’s eduand, lastly but most importantly, the town incorporated both Arab and Chinese elements cational ry black pepper. capital. Once aggregated in the orgathat lends its name to the famed Tellicherry to give mosques, temples and tharavaads (tra- nised It is sector fitting of then that when Iand started to develemployment particularly pepper. Coming from a family of avid bakers, I ditional homes) a distinct style and so on. in op government a taste for cooking, erachi ishtu was thewith first services, those endowed am less excited about our place in cricket his- However, the most telling details are found in educational traditional dish I learned make.skewed One night, capital have to further the tory than I am about our standing in the the food. The Mappilas, descendants of Arab balance my mother, my aunt Rafia andfavour.

I huddled over of advantage in their world of cakes. But in truth, it is the story of traders who married and had families in Kera- theVoice stoveand in her kitchen, of onagency are with key. the For smell long years, pepper that has shaped the lives of the people la, have a vibrant cuisine that works almost agriculture ions sautéing inregarded ghee filling air. With my was as athe ‘bargain sector’ of not just Tellicherry but much of Kerala. like a map disclosing the various invaders and where aunt and firing a millioncould instructions anymother manner of decision be imIt goes back to 1000 BC when King Solo- traders who came to Malabar in minute, lest bringmatter shamedeto posed, since itper was peopled byI inert mon’s fleet is said to have arrived at Beypore, search of pepper. the community by making an void of will. Terms such as ‘surplus labour’ and near Kozhikode, in search of spices including The most evident influence on ishtu that was anything less than ‘disguised unemployment’, both of hoary vinpepper. The Romans, Arabs, Chinese, Malay, Mappila food is Arab — the aleefuriously scribtage within outstanding, the economicsI discipline, reinPepper was used Portuguese, Dutch and, finally, the British sa, a wheat-and-meat dish slowbled of down every word they said. I forced this mode thought. extensively in landed on these shores, lured by the promise cooked with spices bears an unfar as sketching vesThe law onwent landas acquisition passedthe in 2013 wealthy Roman of exotic spices. Pepper was used extensively canny resemblance to the Arab sel it was cooked in there (just in case was rich in symbolism, even if has yetI households, in wealthy Roman households, and came to be and Persian dish harisa. Mutta forgottowhat a pressure cooker been no occasion evaluate its substantive and came to be considered as a kind of commodity money, maala, a dessert made by cookimpact. Fromlooked being like?). passive recipients of ‘deconsidered as a kind earning the moniker ‘black gold’. In return, ing thin strands of egg yolk in a If you chose are curious to try velopment’ as others to impose it, out the of commodity money the Malabar Coast prospered not just from the vat of boiling sugar syrup, is butright delicious dish, farm sector this was simple given the of refusal, money, but from the wealth of new ideas and reminiscent of fios de ovos, variaeffort to pleasure ratio is when it foundwhose these ambitions in conflict with traditions that the foreigners brought with tions of which are found in 1:10, I have included the recipe. its own. them. Islam, for example, reached Kerala with- many other former Portuguese it is not traditional to ObsessivelyAlthough focused on shibboleths of modin a generation of the Prophet’s death, centu- colonies around the world as well. The British ernity, make the ingovernment a pressure cooker, has been thestew Modi seemsitintent on ries before it arrived in Delhi. This provides stew indisputably inspired the erachi (mut- reversing grudginglythat accepted the matriarchs of the minorby concession.

A quick rebetter insight into why not just the first ton) ishtu that is dear to every Mappila heart. treat community more efficient easier almay beas thea prudent courseand in the weeks mosque, but also the first synagogue and Ironically, however, pepper is not much used ahead, ternative, without flavour. even if the compromising consequence ison a massive church in India were built in Kerala. in Mappila cuisine even if it brought the world loss If it of is good face. enough for aunt Rafia, it is good Kerala’s rich past is mostly hidden under to the coast where it grows. enough for me. layers of modernisation. But if you pay close The one exception is the erachi ishtu, which sukumar muralidharan is a fellow at the Indian of Advanced Study at Shimla aysha tanya is a Kannur-based food writer attention, vestiges of its cosmopolitan history uses pepper with a fairly heavy hand. Unlike Institute

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Never in the picture With the amendments to the law on land acquisition, the government seeks to take back the small voice given to farmers sushil kumar verma

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Money down the drain The pursuit of happiness

A tale of two companies that are profiting from eco-friendly disposal of human waste A magical road trip through Bhutan translates into a grand feast for the senses

High and mighty Tiger’s Nest Monastery near Paro shutterstock

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he stone verandah outside the Kur- doesn’t take much of your time and energy. hang, a 15th-century monastery dedicated to jey Lhakhang in Bhutan’s Bum- Our Thimphu ‘sightseeing’ started with the the ‘divine madman’, Drukpa Kunley, who is thang Valley was cold. The National Textile Museum, where we admired responsible for the larger-than-life phallus monastery dedicated to Guru Rin- the rich traditional weaves that become the symbols that adorn the walls of many homes ponche was shut as the lunch,small hamra inmonks Odishawere is a at quaint, gho and kira — the national worn bywith Bhu- uriconsumption patterndress beginning and buildings in the country.

The head monk cialise it (Zerodor),” he says. but I did not mind The only townwaiting. on the banks of sounds the riverI it is tanese mensays andUttam women.

Later we walkedand to CEO nals,” Banerjee, founder blessesNamita pilgrimsBanka by striking heads with ahardfacedtheir an even bigger could hear werenamed those after. of theItfluttering may haveprayer developed Trashi Dzong, the seat of the central woodship of Chhoe Ekam Eco Solutions. phallus. in her quest for eco-friendly human flags from the into courtyard tin- cena vital and port the backdistant in the 15th government and also of the Je Khenpo, the The company’s waterless urinal, Zerodor, It took better part of the for us to sevwastea management, thenext pathday littered with klingtury, of a but wind chime.

The world was at peace lacked sanitation facilities even until chieffeatures abbot of Bhutan.

The massive a valve that allows urine towhitedrain out get to Bumthang, the spiritual heart of Bhueral failed projects and enterprises.

In 2008, and so wasHyderabad-based I. 2012.

Banka BioLoo introwashed and the odour-causing multi-tiered roof of the gas andwalls prevents ammonia tan. As drove aup from Punakha, yaks and shewe started company for recycling printer Myduced journey to Bhutan had started many its low-maintenance bio-toilets in this Trashi Chhoe is meant inspire awe. The unit can from returning toto the restroom. pine cartridges. trees became common.

Every “It failed but gave menow a lotand of ideas yearsregion ago. In college, I had stumbled and, soon, residents made a across beeline for Bhutan’s dzongs most urinal, saving 1.5 about waste be fitted insideare an its existing then management terraced fieldsand made thetheir environsomethese photographs of that the hygienically Himalayan dispose king- of covered loos impressive structures, lakh litres of water alording year. appearance, across the gorge on was ment.” So in 2009, when Indian Railways domhuman and fellwaste instantly in love.

It took me over a or without need for septic tanks over the surrounding Each unit costslandscape ₹4,500, which includes in- experimenting the opposite slopes, and amidst forwith bio-loos a controlled decade to finally takeplants. that flight to Bagdogra fromstallation waste treatment strategic charges. points atop a hill conBanerjee ests speckled with red, pink discharged system, sheand took a and then taxi through villages and or attrasts In aasmall village intowns, Karnataka’s Chamarajathe mouth of a valley. this with otherThe hi-techThe chef’s skills put lavender flowers.

At the of dealership from twohead companies fieldsnagar, to thethe Bhutan border. a grey April residents wereOn so thrilled on seeing dzongs, some dating to the urinals that costback ₹20,000 for in- my fears about theseproviding terraces were solitary farm-“That these solutions. evening, mytoilets husband I crossed intomancovered — theand portable bio-toilets 17th stallation century, started out as for- for and about ₹8,000 houses steeply thatsanitaI wassomy first perched brush with excessive heat to be rest The unit can fitted Phuentsholing and entered a different world. ufactured by Banka BioLoo — for the first time tresses and are maintenance. seats of the dis- “Weand ema datshi was annual worried residents might tion,”their she recalls. inside an existing Travel is onewith long that through they stoleBhutan them, along theroad actrict administration theengi-part of almost every thought of aand frugally roll down the bottom of the exAndtowhen the Railways urinal, saving 1.5 lakh journey, mostly ontanks. the highway that starts at monastic body. neered companying The first mechanical dzong valleyplored if theythe stumbled. idea of using the biomeal thereafter litres of water a year Phuentsholing and cuts through the country.

The IIM-Gandhinagar campus unon our agenda was the one at can Pu- last system that Suddenly we had snow-capped digestible toilets developed by in Bhutan The rain and mist kept us company almost nakha, a little more der construction on the banks of Sathandoes 70km long and not admountains company — they DefenceforResearch and Developthe entire drive from Phuentsholing barmati river will install Ekam to EcoThim- from Thimphu. versely impact the marched and menacing ment silent Organisation (DRDO), Banphu, Solutions’ the capital,waterless but it didurinals, not block out the which An early morning ecosystem.”drive beside till where we began our step de- lay. ka us knew her next stunning The save road to Thimphu of winds through Dochu LaTurning will views. annually thousands pass andthe over product into a com- She found scent then final-techoutinto thatTrongsa DRDO’sand bio-digester through and dark lush forests hug the some very bad roads litreshills, of water. gotventure us to thewas, picturesque mercial however, not ly to nology Bumthang. did And awaythen withappeared the needChhume, for clearing steep slopes.

In a country where 50 per cent of Meri Puensum an Hotel, situated a hill slope easy step. on Banerjee and his the prettiest village I have seen.Instead, Wooden-roofand transporting sewage. the bio-diResembling a small town rather the population defecates in thethan opena na- before Punakha,friends in timehad for aresearched lunch of ema on datthe subed houses lined the straightest gester’s anaerobic bacteria500m brokestretch down the tion’sand capital todaily jaded Indians, Thimphu the rest flush gallons of wa- is shi, beans datshi, sticky Afject chilli while chicken studyingand at IIT-Delhi. of road in Bhutan; flowers dotted every apple waste into biogas. nevertheless modern town in Bhu- brown rice. ter downthe themost toilet, two companies ter graduation they joined the and peach tree; firewood lay neatly stacked betan. Like most towns in theto country, Thimphu are working overtime find cost-efThe dzong atcorporate Punakha is world. the mostBanerjee, beautiful who side the Thehouses. missing toilets sits in a valley and its main streetthe is filled fective alternatives.

Along way, with I have seen. Located at briefly the confluence of the had Jakar, worked with a start-up, a one-street town, the main settle“DRDO was focused on is high-altitude areas like tiny shops andbuilding hotels. An evening at busiThe Zone, Pho Chhu (Father they are a successful River) the Mo Chhu mentSiachen his heart setand on water conservation in the valley with JakarI began Dzong to keepand for thethe Army. explore a watering frequented by the city’s ness inhole environment-friendly dis- hip (Mother River), with a beautiful covered wood and sanitation.

The stuing watch from a hilltop above.for Monasteries the use of this technology civilians,” she and happening crowd, introduced me to ema cantilever bridge leading updent posal of human waste. to it, the dzong project could not and temples are with peppered across Bumthang says. Armed a licence from DRDO, she bedatshi, the national dish of chillies in cheese looks straight out of a dream. says ar- as beLegend commercialised and it is easy to walk between some of them. gan manufacturing bio-digester tanks for hugravy.Student The chef’s skills putwings my fears about ex- chitect Zowe Palep designedthe project takes it, inspired a That man patent by rested is what we did nextare morning after a the waste.

Thethe tanks fortified with cessive heat to rest and10-15 emalitres datshi part of vision of the palace of Guru Rinpoche.

“We realised that ofwas water with IIT-Delhi. “So we hearty breakfast at Jakar. in Wecow started with bacteria, cultivated dung, at Jamthe comalmost meal Bhutan. is every wasted perthereafter flush in in toilets and Later, a pleasant and floated easy walk throughsocial a for-profit pey Lhakhang, a temple builtplant in ADin 659, dedipany’s manufacturing Cherlapally, Thimphu veryineasy on We its thought visitors. It fields and villages tookenterprise about 3-4islitres urinals. us to the and Chimi Lhak- has IIT-Delhi catedHyderabad. to the Buddha of the Future.

These tanks can be installed in it would be a good idea to change the water given us the licence to commer- new toilets or retrofitted to existing ones.

Micro-solution Hyderabad-based Banka BioLoo is licensed to manufacture bio-toilets, like this one in Dhamra (Odisha) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, which use bacteria to break down waste pti

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We followed a slushy path between fields to It was with heavy hearts that we bid our the next monastery, whose roof we could see goodbyes to Bumthang and started for Paro. I from Jampey. The scene was bucolic in the ex- tried my best to extend the farewell — taking Getting there treme. The sky was a startling blue with fluffy time picking up pebbles from the bed of the Fly into Paro by Druk Air or white clouds, cows grazed in a meadow and a Chamkhar river and dilly-dallying as much as I Bhutan Airlines from Mumbai, couple of women worked in a faraway field. A could in pretty Chhume. A night halt at WangDelhi, Kolkata or Bagdogra. few houses, in the typical Bhutanese architec- di ensured that we were dewy fresh when we Alternatively you can cross over by ture of white walls, small windrove into Paro. land. The Jaigaon-Phuentsholing dows with colourful painted Like Thimphu, Paro town is border is the most convenient frames and sloping wood roofs, small and pretty. The dzong and point to cross into the country. stood here and there. the national museum, with its Permits We climbed up the boundary beautiful display of masks, are We followed a slushy Indians do not need a visa to wall of the Kurjey Lhakhang by the only true ‘sights’ to see in path between fields to enter Bhutan. Present your means of a short ladder and the town. But Paro is also the the next monastery, down another. As it was shut we starting point of the trek to passport to get a week’s permit at whose roof we could waited around. Then we chose Taktsang Lhakhang or the Tithe Paro airport or at the border. see from Jampey. The to walk to the new and colourful ger’s Nest monastery, located at This permit is only for Thimphu scene was bucolic in Zangto Pelri Lhakhang, a stone’s the edge of a cliff. and Paro. You can get a permit the extreme throw away. A solitary goat path I huffed and puffed my way for other towns at Thimphu. led us to a nameless restaurant up to Tiger’s Nest through the Getting around — just the front room ofAabio-toilet house under installation in the icy heights of pine forests.

Other and bio-toilet connected All-weather answer Siachen courtesy: drdo; tourists (right) a Banka to a bio-digester tank Taxis charge around ₹2,500 for — where the lady of the house guides shouted out words of enday trips between towns. Longer provided plate after plate of melt-in-the- couragement and somehow — it seemed like a trips,on likewater Thimphu-Bumthang, by saving and fertiliser use.will mouth potato momos with a fiery chilli sauce miracle — I was eye to eye with the otherworldcost more. and steamed rice and a plate of ema datshi. ly monastery. But I still had to climb down Big-time With full stomachs we made our way back to what seemed like an unending flight of steps Tip users SinceAt heBumthang, went commercial in October 2013, BaKurjey, picking up pinecones as we walked. and climb up another set to finally get to the buy Bhutanese nerjee has installed 5,000 Zerodor units, inThat day and the next, we visited more mon- monastery. Then, of course, we had to climb gouda and organic honey — the cluding 700 in IIT-Delhi and others at IITs, asteries, a monastic school, the Jakar Dzong all the way down. My lungs and legs are not golatter with a flavour of bananas (!).

IIMs, schools and private colleges across India, and even a holy pond. The ‘non-spiritual’ high- ing to forget Tiger’s Nest for sometime.

Bumthang is also where you must as also companies like Google, Dell, Polaris, lights of Bumthang were the visits to a tiny taste nakeyEssar or fern datshi.

Maruti Suzuki, Oil and Ambuja Cements. radhika p nair is a Bengaluru-based writer cheese factory and a brewery.

“We are looking at around 15,000 installations this fiscal,” says Banerjee, whose enterprise is already profitable.

Banka’s client list is equally impressive and includes Indian Railways, Integral Coach Factory, Larsen & Toubro, International Paper and the Andhra Pradesh government, among others. Her other buyers are schools, villages, resorts, construction sites, factories and other Uttam Banerjee, founder-CEO of Ekam Eco Solutions Namita Banka, founder of Banka BioLoo places that lack sewerage lines or connection to the municipal sewerage systems. Revenues for Banka BioLoo increased by 70 per cent last fiscal. “This year, we are expecting exponential growth, about 300 per cent,” she says.

Alongside, both Banka and Ekam have ventured into a new but related line of service — annual maintenance contracts for toilets. Banka is already managing 2,000 toilets for Indian Railways while Banerjee is currently offering AMC services in the national capital region. “We are contacting local plumbers to implement the product. We are also appointing distributors to take care of services,” he says. Banerjee has outsourced the manufacture of Zerodor while his enterprise looks after the assembly and packaging. Banka’s superstructures, too, are manufactured at a village on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Both entrepreneurs want to do more. Banerjee is currently designing a women’s urinal, which will require minimal manual intervenTrack change Bio-toilets on the Gwalior-Delhi Bundelkhand Express courtesy: drdo tion and will be self-cleaning. “We are working on a pre-fabricated structure using a locally sustainable material like bamboo or pre-cast concrete sheet,” he says.

And that’s precisely where her next prob- the need to manage waste without polluting Ekam is also trying to create a network of lolem lay. “We could not sell our tanks as people the environment. The bacteria in the Banka cal entrepreneurs for managing these toilets. didn’t have toilets in the first place. Where bio-digester tanks break down the waste to re- This is still at the conceptualisation stage and lease water, carbon dioxide and methane. Cus- will be ready for launch by September-end. Alwould I install the tanks?”

According to Census 2011, 49.8 per cent in tomers can either use the water for gardening so on the cards is a composting toilet, where India defecates in the open. Around 67 per or let it into the ground, says Banka. In larger waste can be treated at the source itself to procent of rural India has no access to toilets and projects, her company recycles the water by duce fertiliser. “A family of four can easily genonly 32.7 per cent has access to piped sewerage filtering it and reusing it for flushing. erate its requirement of fertiliser using this in urban areas.

Banerjee says his first priority is to conserve technology,” he adds.

“We had to re-think. So we slowed down a water and the second is to have systems that Banka’s eyes are on biogas, which can be little and started developing a superstructure can reuse the urine. “Urine is a good fertiliser. produced from agricultural or municipal out of plastic and another modular structure We destroy the pathogens and bacteria in uri- waste, manure, sewage or food waste. “Since of cement panel as toilet pans,” she says. ne. In a reactor, we add some chemicals we are very focused on sanitation, biogas is Today, Banka’s bio-toilets feature a super- through which the phosphorus, potassium our area of interest, where we can manage structure connected to a bio-digester tank. and nitrogen in the urine are recovered,” he other solid waste also,” she says.

Her company also services the units. says. Nurseries near the urinals make use of Both Banka and Banerjee are well aware of this by-product through drip irrigation, there- rashmi pratap

Travel log

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Gentle giant A colossal statue of the Buddha in Thimphu shutterstock

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CREATURE FEATURE

Know thy neighbours Recognition skills across species are not just a human forte. Mockingbirds and coots are excellent examples of how birds remember faces and also eggs

ambika kamath

Spanner in the works The Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot, UK; the company’s three British plants face what could be the most significant industrial action to hit the UK steel industry in more than three decades simon dawson/

Corroding morale of a steel workforce

bloomberg

Smart thinkers (left) The American coot johan enqvist;

(below) the northern

mockingbird and Tata Steel’s UK unit is on the brink of a crippling strike as the face-off between workers rachel moon a belt-tightening management hurtles towards a point of no negotiation ’ve always had a good memory for faces. would. I’d be hard-pressed to tell you how mockingbirds’ response to the second intrud-

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When I meet someone for the second time, I often need to pretend that I haven’t met before, avoid the cross thethem road from thetotrade union embarrassment recognition.

But officesof atone-sided Tata Steel’s strip products despite my uncanny tell human division in ability Port to Talbot, Wales, faces apart, I struggle to distinguish between stands the Cold Mill — an expansive non-human individuals. for ingrey building with the Take wordslizards, “Our People stance.

MyDifference” current research Make the writtendepends in large,upon bolddislettinguishing lizards frommade one ters across it. individual The Tata Group has long another.

I tell two lizards the same much of Could its relationship with itsofworkforce; apart in the way I tell two forgingspecies a “caring, respectful andthat compassionapart? Absolutely not. Someate” bond people with colleagues and achieving “cotimesfeature an individual hesive” working among lizard its fivereally core stands its skin be values. However, at out Tata —Steel’s UKmight facilities more brown, or the such claims seem toorange have a than hollow ring as diamond on its back group faces what could patterns be the most signifimaytobe cant industrial action hitunusually the UK steelwell-deindusfined.

But more often than try in more than three decades. not,of I need a littlethe help.

For To be clear: in terms numbers, strike my research this summer, won’t be on the scale of 1980 when 90,000 I’m Steel sewing different (the colworkers of the British Corporation oured morphed beads intointo theTata lizcompany that eventually ards’ tails be able to Steel’s UK operations) went on ato14-week strike distinguish the over pay and closure fears. Tataone Steelfrom employs other. recognising peo17,500 in the UK andIt’s thelike unions, which repreple95 byper thecent jewellery they wear, are insent around of the workforce, stead ofthe their faces.of any strike action, yet to specify length But with many from sensory skills, should they getasthe go-ahead the ballot organisms are29. vastly taking place other between May 6 and But betthe terdispute at across-species significance of the cannot beindividuunderesal Indeed, recognition than we timated for Tata Steel. union members humans are.

A striking point to a corrosive rift between management example of this skill is and workforce. northern “I’ve been here 30-34the years but have mocknever ingbird, a bird thata known morale to be this low,” Mark Davies, the same union member based atlives PortinTalbot, saidplace duras I currently do. Giving my recent visit. enTata howSteel’s common they At immediate issue is proposal are in pension Gainesville, Florto close its defined benefit scheme, atwhich dates back to ida, Britishmockingbirds Steel Corporation tract asis still much of mya days. Though consultation underway, attention as pigeons new scheme, announced incrows Marchorthis year

many mockingbirds I’ve seen today, let alone er was similar to their first response to the first whether I’ve seen different individuals. But intruder, demonstrating that mockingbirds the mockingbirds been which ignoring have (see box), is set to beI’ve adopted, would be can tell two humans approaching Less not roomonly for negotiation quite possibly been watching me. less costly to the company and cut its risk ex- their nestsays apart but alsoviews distinguish Tata Steel employees’ would bethem conSome As years ago, employees biologists atlive thelonger University posure. retired and from thebefore hundreds others walking sidered any of final decision on past! shifting of Florida in Gainesville decided markets, to pay attenamid low returns from financial the them Birds’tosuperior identification skills don’t “a very competitive pension tion the same mockingbirds that pension I barely stop risingtocosts of running final salary at recognising people, but extend into arrangement.” notice.

Specifically, these researchers were inschemes have led to substantial deficits.

In theRickhuss realm ofcontrasts objects asthe well.

These recognition style adopted by seterested in whether these across birds, who encounconsequence, companies the UK have skills come to theinfore the that American nior management the when past with of the ter thousands of humans everycontribution day on this coot, made a transition to defined little black-and-white waterbird, takmost arecent rounds of negotiations.

“Weishave busy college campus, can distinguish per- ing schemes.

In Tata Steel’s case, however,one unions care ofgot thethe most importantthat objects its definitely impression the in manson from first, this seems an life argue thatanother. the moveAtwould remove onelike of the — its eggs. agement team we were negotiating with had impossibly tough question for to answer — you their main benefits of working the company, Coots live in a cut-throat world. their On average, hands tied.

They shrugged shoulcan’t sit a mockingbird down to ask who has half and they had in 2011 already agreed to itmeain amake coot any nestdecisions.” die of starvation. ders the andchicks couldn’t met day. Butthe the company’s researchersrisk exposure suresthat to reduce To as guard against losing allsharptheir He views this the latest stage in the found an elegantly simple soluto the longevity issue. offspring, often ly deteriorating relationsfemale over thecoots past couple tion to this by tapping Tata Steelproblem, maintains this agreement was of years. He sneak intomanner a neighbouring cites the in whichcoot’s Tata into theinmockingbirds’ materlimited scope, and didn’t relate to improve- handled the sale nestof and anproducts egg or two.

After its lay long division, nal instincts. ments in life expectancy preall, if you’re going to betoout-comlargely in Scunthorpe, GenevaOn each day, the The2012, researchers began by lialoApril where most of its peted for food by the a neighbour, based Klesch.

Until day of the nesting mockingbird cating mockingbird nests. For understandably grew you bilities lay. might as well last try to trick the announcement October, theWhen next four one two rethis days, round ofofnegotianeighbour providing for even seniorinto union executives more and more wary searchers walked reached tions began in and November, your offspring too.

But the comwithin the division had no inThe of themanagement approaching towards each first nestoffered in turn,a reatunions were peting don’t take thisorsubkling ofcoots the negotiations, an team we were researcher tempting to convince mockformed version of thethe scheme, terfuge lyingtodown.

They have opportunity propose alternanegotiating with had ingbird on proposals her eggs that but theysitting say the on evolved thefeel ability to distinguish tives. “We disappointed and their hands tied the table researcher represented were untenable.

Onea between their own and very let-down,” says eggs Rickhuss. credible Onall each day, the proposalthreat. required workers to their Unfamil“Tata’sneighbour’s explanationeggs. about confinesting mockingbird understandably grew iar eggs are dentiality retire at 65.

Hitherto, employees unceremoniously ejected from didn’t cut any ice.

As more and able moretowary approaching re- the comfort of have been applyoftothe retire the nest, the leaders of thus tradeensuring unions, that we sign searcher she would attack more five years—earlier in recognition offrequently, the heavy algae and insects painstakingly are confidentiality agreements at allcollected levels.” Tata issue more alarm of calls, physical demands theand job. create more of a used to feed its own progeny. says the announcement was made early in the ruckus response human.

But the “We in have made to sothe many changes to mothe merger-and-acquisition Upon learning about coots’ precise egg due recprocess, before ment of truth day five, a second scheme over came the on years, cut when benefits and ognition I tried to match my own object diligenceskills, had begun. researcher approached the safeguard nest. Would costs… they’ve said it would thethe fu- identification against theirs, comand Alan Coombs,abilities chair of the multi-union mockingbird continue to escalate re- opened ture of the scheme,” says Roy Rickhuss,her genera carton eggs. mittee atupPort Talbot,ofwho hasFaced beenwith with two the sponse to the approaching if she al secretary of the Community person, Union — one of rows of seemingly identical ovoids, I threw my company since 1982, recalls a long period thinks that allrepresenting humans are the same and therefour unions Tata Steel’s work- hands both defeated and thoroughly imwhen up, relations were healthy, even during fore threatening?

Or would she recogforce.equally “This time their refusal to negotiate in pressed, yet again,periods by the natural world. such challenging as 2008-09, when a nise this as a different a person whoa blast furnace on the site was mothballed. He any meaningful fashionperson, tells me they had kamath studies andformer evolutionary had not spent the last four days to vanpredetermined position and aretrying hell bent on ambika recalls the attitude of organismic the plant’s MaHarvard University dalise Time and time again, female biology closingher thenest? scheme.” nagingat Director Uday Chaturvedi. “It was a

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Drink to that

Dolphin network

Now in space — freshly brewed coffee in a Zero-G cup

Friends and foes in the watery world

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cold shoulder, a warm hug or a plastic smile may not be just the human way of interacting with each other. Dolphins too have BFFs, frenemies and neighbours they dislike. Or so say surveys conducted over six years along the Indian River Lagoon by researchers at Florida Atlantic University. The social network of bottlenose dolphins was found to be particularly strong in narrow areas; where everyone appeared to know each other, says the study published in Marine Mammal Science journal.

W

hen you think of astronauts you might think of heroes and pioneers, Apollo 13 and Star Trek. Beyond the heroics, everyone is most intrigued by the logistics of an anti-gravity environment. How do they walk, eat, poop and, of course, to the drink? Well, nowDifferences there is some good foreThe A message that news for astronauts. first espresno longer so machine has just gonerings intotrue space for the workforce at and it’s little surprise that the Tata Steel’s Port Italians were behindTalbot the invention.

Italplant in Wales; ian astronaut Samantha (below) union Davies Cristoforetti sentmember down aMark selfie and a says “Coffee: morale in the the fintweet that declared, company hasdevised. touched est organic suspension ever a 30-year low vidya ram Fresh espresso in the new Zero-G cup! To boldly brew…”

pleasure doing business with him,” says to work in less-taxing roles. For example, a Coombs, describing how unions and manage- worker with cancer was offered less physical Retiring hurt ment worked together to avoid layoffs, put- jobs and the flexibility to work when health Tata took over the £13-14-billion British ting workers into training programmes, and permitted. This scheme, he said, engendered Steel Defined Pension Scheme, which other roles. “You had the sense it was about great morale. However, in the last couple of based pensions on the salary close to looking after people and making them ready years, the scheme fell by the wayside. retirement. In recent years it has begun to go out again if things turned around.”

Another example several workers cited was Coombs alsoell, recalls a period he was who or what iswhen ‘Eeshwar’?

All new ministers or “thelegislators, journey”, now discontinued, which gave to run at a deficit — currently estimated involved in weekly management meetings, constitutional functionaries take workers the oathan of opportunity office by mento suggest improveto be in the region of £2 billion, with but thattioning stoppedain the past two years, certain Eeshwar.

An during RTI filed by Shradhanand Yoga- team settings. Coombs ments, often in small increased life expectancy of an average which the company has undertaken a crucial the around popular£2.5 hostbillion of Top charya is asking the existential question:recalls ‘What one thatworker be?’ telling him it was the first eremy of sixClarkson, years adding to review of the plant’s whitewas fired by the BBC but is probably not The query, which didand its round of departments, fi- time someone had asked his Gear, liabilities in the past 25 years. Tata had blue-collar to Law Ministry. Officials to be unemployed long.

Arnallyworkers. reached a“Prior stumped opinion in 30 years. Othersgoinginitially proposed to for make up Russia’s half that I had a seat at the was table, has offered the opasserted there nonoconstitutional provipointed to changes such as amy channel, through Zvezda, modifications to thehim scheme, matter how uncomfortable thebut a dogged host a show, whichmembers will involve sion defining the term, move from salary rises to bonus-portunity whichtohas around 140,000 discussion,” he says. took his doubtPrior Shradhanand to to that I had a es; changes to the benefits link-reviewing tanks, aircraft carriers and other including 17,000 current employees. the Central Information Comed with overtime; and an end to“hardware”. Clarkson is no stranger to controseat at the table, no Missing mission, gestures where he was told the matter how Christmas family entertainmentversy. In India, he ridiculed the poor by driving Coombsanswer says thewas lacknot of consulin the records. shows and the bottles of energis-near slums in a Jaguar fitted with a toilet. But uncomfortable the tation has hadhe knock-on effects as they have warm meals ready for him Hence cannot have one. ing squash that were once put inas long Tata Steel’s tough stance has however been discussion on morale, leaving the plant un(thewelcomed lack of which to him beating up has a pro-coltheir lockers. by led analysts.

“Demand dermanned and piling pressure ducer and margins losing the gig) the the Russians lapsed, areBBC wafer-thin, Chinese on the remaining experienced should be ok.

A Euro hangover are oversupplying the market so it’s a very workers in the form of overtime Interestingly, no one I spoke to challenging environment and Tata has been and night shifts. One worker, who wished to thought the changes were a result of the slow in taking actions to bring the company remain anonymous, said he had little choice change in leadership at the top of Tata — a into profitability,” said one analyst on condiother than to go on 16 night-shifts in the past question I specifically asked. Workers and tion of anonymity.

17 days. “… running a blast furnace takes years union leaders instead linked them to a new The impact of any strike action on Tata of experience,” says Coombs. approach at the European level: a growing Steel’s three British plants, with an annual caThe workers I spoke to pointed to small but centralisation of activities. “I believe it’s HR- pacity of 11 million tonnes (global capacity is telling changes. Martin Waters, a staff union driven from the top of the European busi- 29 mt), would depend on how long it continrepresentative, was for a while running a ness,” says Coombs. “The one-company, one- ues and the shape it takes. This is a company dreams are expensive, especially for those planscheme that helped the ondon long-term sick return HR approach.” still in the tentative stages of recovery, as dening to buy a house there. A research by Shelter, a housing mand has begun to revive, and costs have fallcharity, shows that there are only 43 homes in London that en. According to the latest figures, earnings first-time buyers can afford. And who exactly did Shelter have before interest, taxes, depreciation and amorin mind when it said ‘first-time’ buyer? A young family of one tisation rose to ₹1,308 crore in the quarter part-time and full-time earner, aged anywhere between 23 ending December — an over 50 per cent inand 29, with one or two children. And the buycrease on the same period the year before. ing threshold was fixed based on the average In a statement, Tata said that a drive for income of young couples in a particular area competitiveness in the face of unprecedented and the amount they could borrow. economic and market headwinds had required lots of changes, and that unions “can and do have an influence on outcomes at Port Talbot as elsewhere.” Still, Rickhuss argues, it is time for Tata to acknowledge that it is “not living up to what it sets itself up to be as a good employer, exercising corporate responsibility for its workforce.”

“The pension thing is like the straw that broke the camel’s back,” observes Waters. “We have had enough of this. The boys don’t want to go out on strike but this is a protest. They have the feeling management isn’t listening to us anymore.”

Define ‘Eeshwar’

Whom are we swearing by?

W

Q

Next stop

A new job awaits the former Top Gear host

J

R

Handful of homes

London’s first-time home buyers don’t have much to choose from

L

vidya ram

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3 23BL BL

HANG

saturday, may 9, 2015

BL

24

in-faq by joy bhattacharjya Victories

I

n the early hours of the day, exactly 70 years ago, thousands in Moscow came out to celebrate the Soviet victory over Germany. This quiz is about a few famous victories in history.

here,there & elsewhere

Kookie capers B

ins is determined to keep Kookie, the baby raccoon. “I will never let him go! He is my sacred responsibility now!

The Universe led him to me! It would be perverse! Unkind!” Kookie is greyish brown, furry and rounded, with a bushy, striped tail. His head is large for the small body and has the characteristic black mask across his eyes that makes all raccoons look like cartoon bandits.

He is fast asleep in Bins’ arms, his little black paws folded neatly across his noticeably full, pink belly.

I shake my head wearily. We CAN’T keep him, I say. He’s considered a wild animal. We’d need a permit to keep a wild animal as a pet in the US. “Pooh!

This country has TOO MANY LAWS,” scoffs Bins. “In Pondicherry I had monkeys, squirrels, crows...” I remind him that we are not currently in Pondicherry. Then I tell him there’s secondary reason: pets and children are not allowed to live in this building.

It’s one of the conditions of my tenancy.

“Ah!” Bins looks triumphant. “He is NOT a pet! He’s a wild animal — you told me just now!” I assure him that this line of reasoning will not impress anyone. “I will take him to see Madame Rose, the landlady,” declares Bins, smiling down at his cuddly bundle with the expression of a besotted

cornerstone

Madonna. “One look at his liddle-widdle nose and she will melt!” And that’s another thing, I say. Adult raccoons are known to bite and scratch when they’re cornered. They’re completely unafraid of humans, they raid the garbage and are known to spread rabies. Most Americans hate ’em. If you take him to Mrs Rose she’ll have him exterminated at once.

“Ohh! Cruel, cruel humans!” says Bins hugging the furry critter to his breast.

Kookie utters a sleepy squeak before pooping generously all over Bins’ white tee-shirt. The poop is bright blue in colour. OH NO, I wail. He’s been eating

1 my paints! “Your fault for leaving the tubes open!” howls Bins. “You’re trying to poison my Kookie!” Just then there’s a knock on the door. It’s the landlady’s tall handsome Norse God son, whom I have nicknamed Thor. “Oh, hi,” he says, when I open the door. “The fire department guys are planning to install alarms. May we come in?” Of course, I say.

Two burly men and Thor troop inside.

Bins is standing at the far end of the main room covered in blue poop, with a backpack clutched to his chest. I make introductions in a loud, hearty voice, in order to mask the faint squeaks I can hear from the backpack. Fortunately, the fire department guys are only interested in finding a good place for their fire alarms. They notice neither the poop-smells nor the blue paw prints all over the studio, which is where they want to place the main alarm. They give me a date for the installation and leave.

“Foof!” sighs Bins in relief. Kookie tumbles out of the backpack, fully awake now. He’s covered in his own blue poop. “Yummy paint,” he squeaks. “Want more!” manjula padmanabhan, author and artist, writes about her life in the fictional town of Elsewhere, US, in this weekly column

The Winged Victory of Samothrace is a 2ndcentury BC sculpture believed to have been created by Pythokritos of Rhodes. Which god or goddess is depicted in the sculpture?

2

After 1.8 million successful trials involving more than 200,000 volunteers, which famous victory was made public in the US on April 12, 1955? Think laterally.

3 4

The 2003 webpage of French Military Victories was one of the first and most famous examples of what?

The topmost storey of this structure has an image of Jain goddess Padmavati, the third storey has Allah inscribed in Arabic nine times, and the rest feature countless examples of Hindu iconography. Identify this 15th-century monument.

5

In this famous tennis match, a teenaged 15th seed took on the World No 1 in a fourth round grand slam match. The underdog used ‘moon shots’ high in the air to slow the game and also an underhand serve, fought cramps, but won the match. Name the slam and the players involved.

6

Which famous sporting victory of the 1970s was described in a song by Johnny Wakelin and featured the name of a country that no longer exists?

7

Which specific group of warriors earned the freedom of the town of Llantrisant in a famous 15th-century victory? They are also believed to have started off a fairly insulting gesture in the same battle.

8

‘Yashwanti’ was a critical factor in the Marathas capturing the fort of Kondana from a strong garrison of Mughal and Rajput soldiers in 1670. Who or what was ‘Ya shwanti’?

9 10

Which term did the defeat of the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC contribute to the English language?

While Olympic athletes had been honoured before as a group, who was the first woman athlete to have a ticker tape parade organised solely for her in New York in 1957?

Answers

1. Nike, the Greek goddess of victory 2. The victory over polio using the vaccine developed

by Jonas Salk and his team 3. A Google bomb. Created by Steven Lerner — when the phrase was typed into Google — the first result or the ‘I’m feeling lucky’ option led to a webpage resembling a Google error message that read ‘Your search did not match any documents. Did you mean French military defeats’ 4. The ‘Vijay Stambha’ or Tower of Victory in Chittorgarh fort built to commemorate Rana Kumbha’s victory over the armies of Mahmud Khilji 5. Michael Chang and Ivan Lendl — 1989 French Open 6. Muhammad Ali’s victory over George Foreman in 1974. The song was In Zaire 7. The Welsh longbowmen at the battle of Agincourt.

The ‘finger’ gesture, the V sign with the palm facing inward, is believed to have originated here 8. A monitor lizard. Maratha general Tanaji scaled the sides of the fort with ropes tied to the lizard 9. Pyrrhic victories. King Pyrrhus of Epirus, who won the battles, suffered such heavy casualties that he claimed another such victory would undo him 10. Althea Gibson, the first African-American woman to win Wimbledon

joy bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup t@joybhattacharj

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