A NEW LEASE OF LIFE A clinic of lawyers in Delhi pulls out all the stops for the rights of death row convicts p4 saturday, july 11, 2015
partha pratim sharma
With a whisky that’s toasted by connoisseurs, homegrown distiller Amrut scouts for a Himalayan high p10
Single shot success
HOME TRUTHS A photo essay on Mizoram’s Bru tribals languishing in refugee camps in Tripura p12
AUTHOR & HIS MUSE Self-confessed Fedophile, William Skidelsky’s book is fanciful and melancholy p16
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Belle of the ball After a series of trials, the pink ball will come into play at the first international day-night test in November. But will it have the swing or seam? getty/tom shaw
BEYOND THE FIELD
Test by day-night As administrators toy with newer forms, it’s important that they look to preserve test cricket for its own sake, in terms that transcend the purely commercial
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n sangeeta November year, when Australia Piece by piece Baskari, a Newari village, is limping back to normal barooah this pisharoty suhrith parthasarathy
plays New Zealand, the Adelaide Oval will also play host to cricket’s newest innovation: the day-night test match. The ball, specially designed by Kookaburra, will be pink. The clothing will remain white, but at least half the day’s play will take place under artificial lights. The event would represent a culmination of a series of trials carried out with the pink ball both at the Sheffield Shield, Australia’s premier domestic competition, and the hallowed Marylebone Cricket Club, owner of the Lord’s cricket ground. But are day-night test matches a necessary development? Does cricket’s longer form need this kind of rejuvenation? fine June morning dawns. The scent For us fans, the summer unique rhythms test of fresh blossomsofwafts cricket, which we so the relish, have as much do through Kathmandu air, to forewith its quirky structure, which telling a beautiful day.allows a game played over five full daysafter to end inmajor a draw,earthas its However, in Nepal, two daily timetable. The thought watching test quakes in as many months, of beautiful mornmatches under lights, ings areplayed overshadowed bytherefore, anxieties.repreThe sents an abomination. our is minds, the puripossibility of ‘a biggerInone’ ever looming. ty of more test cricket derives from its sense of With than 250 aftershocks recorded aftraditionalism. The start oftemblors, play in the middle ter the April 25 and May 12 which reof the morning, break for lunch, a lazythree secportedly shifted aKathmandu by about ond session, followed by a halt for tea, and metres, the fear is justified. then, under creeping finalthe foray. Even as life goes on,shadows, you canaspot shadto these ritualsand of owToofthose fear —unaccustomed on the faces, in conversations, test cricket, thewhere form tents, will almost in the markets, torchescertainly and porseem to the rapidity of table an gasarchaism, cylindersunsuited are still the most wanted modern-day But, much likeis people who merchandise.life. Feeding the fear the sight of view matches as a of mere vestige ofand the nearpast, fallentest houses in parts Kathmandu even those ofand us Patan who are continuously beby Bhaktapur — the half-broken herguiled by its infinite dynamics have, at some itage buildings balanced precariously, while point or warning the other,onlookers worried about demise. silently not toitscome too After Kerry of Packer’s World Series close,all, andduring the dozens tents still crowding revolution late 1970s, valley. manyTelevifans open spacesinin the Kathmandu thought the death knell had already sounded sion cameras have transmitted the fear to varifor matches. But here we are, four oustest parts of the world, drying up nearly the flow of decades later, notatonly over the tourists to Nepal, leastruminating for now.
same concerns but also contemplating chang- in a Sheffield Shield day-night trial match, says es that might alter the core of the game, as we the pink ball “doesn’t react anything like the know it. red ball, in terms of swing.” It also, according That the present apprehensions are more to him, goes soft pretty quickly. “I didn’t see a real than before doesn’t have much to do with huge amount of reverse swing in that game,” test cricket itself, or its ability to survive on its he said, “and I don’t think it swung from memown. It concerns, rather, the shifting atten- ory too much until the artificial light took tions of the game’s administrators. The ad- over.” Kiwi seamer Trent Boult has similar convent of Twenty-20 cricket, and its ability to cerns. “You’re not sure if [the pink ball] swings produce raw and unbridled entertainment, if or if it seams,” he said. “I can’t really see a pink not always sport, has meant that cricket’s gov- ball shining up too well, as well. There are just erning bodies now have a veritable cash cow too many unknowns, from my point of view.” to help fill their coffers. We may not want to To organise play under lights would be tanbegrudge them that opportunity. But our tamount to nothing more than an unwarrantproblems begin when they view ed jazzing up of the format; it clothesonly andadd utensils, the men is natural for for friends testItcricket as a then product sale. and family to en washing would a perceived alraise eyebrow at my travel plans to Nepal, away in the corn andcricket childrencertainly getting Thean decision to introduce daylure fields, that test The goats pigs have been to embark a trek inwould the Kathmandu valley. ready for school. night test on matches be doesn’t need. and As Samir Chopra let out grass. A out calm,inself-absorbed vilMy route:if Dhulikhel to Nagarkot, a popular welcome it had something to pointed his excellent The decision to on the lage scene. hiking in goodthe times. do withtrail improving quality of book, Brave New Pitch: The Evoluintroduce day-night Nagarkot is upam warned. “Bemaking careful, theI sport, in terms of it tionDhulikhel of ModerntoCricket, it’s importest matches seems there has been riveting, extensiveensurdamhill. It should take us about six fairer, or more tant that administrators look to to have almost hours, says Hefor listsitssixown vilage in Kavre valley,” ing, forthe instance, a moresays bal-a preserve testNima. cricket nothing to do “Some of the tin lages,“not none with motorable Nepal-based anced battlereporter betweenwho thehas bata sake, just as a means to the with sport sheets haveand been roads, that we will pass through finger onball. the pulse of the place. and the But the move is end of the more profitable televieverything given to usto bydo a before hitting the highway that Two aftershocks the previous clearly aimed predominantly at sion deal.” with business German NGO day certainly the paranoia. connects Nagarkot. capturing thefuel prime-time televiTest cricket has to be seen in and the rest we The that Kavretranscend valley is scenic, until But the fresh morning sion market. It seems to have air alterms the purely retrieved from the reality hits. It The spurs nothing me on. I reach mouth most to dothe with the commercial. hassheer to be devastaseen as broken house” tion left behind by the of Dhulikhel, 32km from thewith city sport, and everything to do worthy of conservation, as aearthpurquakes in frontitsofpracour and the As starting point of my business. the New Zealand Herald reported, suit whose appeal liesunfolds in its customs, trek. guide for the is the and a seven- tices, and itseyes. In Baskari, Newari village, it tookMy prize money of day $1 million structure. The apurpose of test mud and stone amiable Nima, a Sherpaatfrom year deal that guarantees least 10 tests and cricket is notmany entertainment. If wedwellings were to haveitbeen flattened. “Nothan human death was reNepal’s Lobuche region.New Zealand and Aus- view 28 one-dayers between as nothing more amusement and ported inwe’d our village, but many of usthe lostkind our After hearty breakfast at a highway tralia toaconvince the former’s cricket restauboard fun, then be wreaking precisely domestic somebringing on April 25, some on rant, we our climb with my camera, hik- of about thebegin desirability of the proposal. damageanimals, that those in the dayMay 12,” says Ram Srestha, a village elder. the His ing stick, more, chocolate barsfrom and neither a waterteam bottleare in night What’s players matches claim to be saving us from: houseof is cricket gone. He tow. The sun rises the veryprospect early in Nepal. So 7am is death convinced about of playing test atis itsliving finest.next to the ruins, in alreadyunder a couple of hours morning a haphazardly done tin shed that villagers cricket lights. Therepast haveearly already been parthasarathy helped him erect. “Someisofa Chennai-based the tin sheetslawyer have here. InofBaskari, the first village fromThe Dhulikplenty quibbles over the pink ball. Aus- suhrith writer tsuhrith been given to us by a German NGO and the rest hel, I see smoke snaking outStarc, of kitchens, wom- and tralian fast bowler Mitchell who played
Fear has an address
The trail of destruction along a popular trekking route reveals how relief and rehabilitation have bypassed earthquake victims outside Kathmandu
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Back to books Children in Karki are lucky to have a school to go back to sangeeta barooah pisharoty
we retrieved from the broken house,” he says. No government aid has come his way yet. Village after village, the sights remain unchanged, the stories similar. From Baskari, we walk through Karki Gaon, Oopi Gaon, the Buddhist villages of Kashi Bhanjyang, Nala and Bhanjyang. In Karki Gaon, some villagers received tarpaulin sheets from the government on April 24. “We have not seen them again since,” says Raju, a resident. Oopi onwards, no NGO or government agencies seem to have reached out to help. In Oopi, a villager comes forward on seeing me clicking photos of debris, which once was his house. He asks if I am from the government or any NGO. His sister-in-law died in that house; his brother, as well as his wife and two daughters were trapped and badly injured. Two of his animals perished. “Since my wife and daughters can’t walk much, I have to go down to the well a kilometre away to fetch water every day and cook for the family. My corn crops are standing on the field, it is difficult to manage all the work myself. Also, I am getting a little worried that no one has come yet to give us any compensation for the house we lost and for the treatment of the injured. It’s been more than a month already,” he says. On learning that the government is giving 14,000 Nepali rupees to each of the injured, he is keen to know where he can claim it. His only mode of transport is to hitch a ride on a local youth’s motorbike. Similar is the story with Pema in Kashi Bhanjyang. Her house is gone. Her sister-inlaw dead. Son Yonten, a waiter at a restaurant in Boudha in Kathmandu, arrived a month
ago to help her build a shed after retrieving 10 days since the school reopened. For a tins, doors and windows from the broken change, smiles, and not fear, are reflected on house. He knows about the compensation his their faces. injured mother can claim and plans to visit Signalling me to resume walking, Nima the village head soon for help. says that one more mountain ridge has to be Like Pema’s son, many youth from these vil- climbed before we touch Nagarkot. The steep lages have small jobs in Kathmandu but they Kashi Bhanjyang hill is the final frontier behave returned home to be with their families tween Nagarkot and Dhulikhel. The mountain in this time of distress, to rebuild the houses ridge has stone steps, which call for slow, calafter waiting in vain for help for nearly two culated climbing. He points to a patch of junmonths. In Oopi, I see a doublegle saying, “We will walk through room concrete house being that forest now.” He calculates built with an iron mesh reinforcthat we should be in Nagarkot ing the walls. “People have realfor a 1pm lunch. “No one has come ised that the walls will hold on But we miss the cut that leads yet to give us any better this way,” says Nima. to Nagarkot and end up on ancompensation for the At Kashi Bhanjyang, beside Peother mountain ridge. Nima fihouse we lost” ma’s razed house, we rest awhile nally finds the right trail. By then before negotiating the tough aswe not only miss the lunch hour cent. It offers a breathtaking but also run out of drinking waview of the Himalayas. Munchter. The strong sun begins to dry ing on a chocolate bar, I notice rows of tin my throat. Nima suggests that I could search roofs shining in the bright sunshine on the for wild berries to wet the throat. mountainside, signalling the loss of home We do so. He helps me identify the edible and hearth for so many in the Kavre valley. Al- berries and I have several helpings of juicy so, the fact that those in Kathmandu are privi- kimbus (mulberry) and a variety of aiselus leged to get facilities like foreign-made tents (raspberries) every now and then. At half past three — two-and-a-half hours beand medical help. Perhaps aid will never reach these areas. But hind schedule — we enter Nagarkot market. what is impressive is the resilience of these vil- We have a meal of rice accompanied by a lagers, their attempt to pick up whatever is left range of curries and greens. A typical Nepali of their lives and carry on. In Karki, I come daal-bhaat fare. But after trudging 12.7 km across groups of children walking to school, along the valley rim, it seems like the best 2km away from the village. Almost everyone meal I have ever had. has lost their dwelling, and some have managed to retrieve their school bags and uni- sangeeta barooah pisharoty is a Delhi-based forms from under the debris. It has been just freelance writer
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and haute cuisine on our plates. We took a peek into the country’s history at Ohlange High School, where Nelson Mandela cast his vote in the first democratic elections in 1994, and the Phoenix settlement, where Mahatma Gandhi planted the seeds of the passive resistance movement. Meanwhile, history was repeating itself in the city as it recovered from the latest bout of xenophobia. There was work — pressers and meetings to attend, and pleasure — entertainment shows and stand-up comedy nights. We had arrived as a group of strangers, we left as friends. The mystery of the warthog Three hours from Durban, at one end of the KwaZulu-Natal province, is the Phinda Private Game Reserve. One of the best known private reserves in the country, it is spread over 170 sq km and seven biomes, including sand forests, savannas and wetlands. It is also home to the Big Five — the African lion, African elephant, the cape buffalo, African leopard and the white and black rhinos, and thousands of mammal species and 434 species of birds. Over three days, we climbed onto ranger Divan Kamffer’s trusty open-top safari jeep, hot on the trail of the Big Five. Mlusi the spotter sat still on the hood of the vehicle, his hawk eyes scanning farther than ours. We couldn’t tell where one biome ended and the next began, but Kamffer expertly made his way toward giraffes, nyalas, impalas and wildebeest. On one safari, the radio cranked up and a murpoptika/shutterstock mur of voices informed us that a lion had been spotted. Maybe even two. At a speed that is characteristic of Indian safaris that have been alerted to the presence of the tiger, we set off towards the spot. Two other vans were already in position. High-definition lenses found aim, binoculars came out, so did the smartphones. I’ve spent days and nights in the forests of Ranthambore, Gir and the Terai, but this was a sight I’d never beheld: Two young lion cubs trailing their mother and lose to noon on May 20 this year, Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court. The grandmother. Twenty feet away. death penalty in the abstract, the group wantLubhyathi Rangarajan and Nishant case was listed two days later, and the court edThe cubs were not more than year old. The to analyse it from within thea criminal jusGokhale, associates and lawyers at quashed the warrants, citing the death-row mother raised Yes/No, her tail and they followed tice system. For/Against were her no the Death Penalty Litigation Clinic convict’s fundamental right to life. A review and grandma into a thicket. our longer the questions; insteadWeit moved was ‘How.’ (DPLC), waited in Agra Central Jail for a meet- petition has now been filed in Saleem’s case in vans to you the go other waiting for criminal them to “Unless intoside, the details of the ing with Saleem. Five days earlier, the Su- the Supreme Court. emerge. Out ofand our what sight itforhas less thantoabring minjustice system used preme Court had confirmed the death For the barely year-old DPLC, getting the ute, of theyou bush holding a waruponthey thecame deathout penalty, cannot do the desentences of Saleem and Shabnam, convicted warrant quashed was a small but significant thog their mouths. How did the warthog bate,”in says Surendranath. Golden mileseven A viewmembers of the Durban fromfamthe 19thmilestone. floor of the Elangeni priyanka kotamraju for killing of coastline Shabnam’s Part of Delhi’s National Law Univer- getFirst, there? Was it already We pondered they needed datadead? — accurate and upily, including a 10-month-old infant, in 2008. sity (NLU), the clinic aims to provide ‘compe- the mystery of the warthog the cubs triedon to to-date. Information on theasexact number Rangarajan and Gokhale spoke with Saleem tent and effective legal representation’ free of tear it open. Theoften lioness looked on In trifle irritadeath row was unavailable. 2013, the for nearly two hours and conveyed the Delhi- cost to indigent prisoners on death row, and is ted and handed out a few pointers. Unmoved university collaborated with the National Lebased clinic’s desire to help him. The duo went a one-of-its-kind resource linked to a universi- by presence, the cubs the animal galour Services Authority andattacked researchers visited through the case records with Saleem, took ty in India. For a team that tracks death sen- from both Onethe of country them, positioned at central jailsends. around that housed him through the evidence and testimony, and tence cases countrywide, it is a the rear, momentarily lost balance. death-row prisoners. TheySlowly, interhe in turn gave his inputs and insights. small one. Apart from Rangarathey ripped into the carcass, pulling out itsand enviewed prisoners in Jorhat “Strangely, no one had asked him these details jan and Gokhale, it has Shreya trails. In large mouthfuls, theNagpur. hungryOfcubs Jammu, Tihar and the earlier,” says Gokhale. The trial court proceed- Rastogi and Maitreyi Misra; swallowed their 385 not-so-hard-earned prisoners on deathmeal. rowPretill In the process they ings were still fresh in Saleem’s mind. As the Anup Surendranath, an assistviously stuff June of TV2014, awe,the seen only on NatGeo, researchers includrealised if there was case went through High Court and Supreme ant professor at NLU, is the direcwe were watching the first lessons of states hunted 373live in their study. “Some an outsider in this Court, he had often banked on newspaper re- tor. Through advocates on ing and eating prey.easier than others. Some were system it was the ports to know the progress. record, the clinic currently repThe next day of particularly safari proveddifficult, as eventful, were like prisoner The morning after their meeting at the Agra resents around 35 death-row when we metMaharashtra, a majestic cheetah-duo. where it We’re took inus jail, Rangarajan, Gokhale and Saleem learnt — prisoners, mainly in the Suformed that nine it hasmonths been four since justdays to get thetheir peragain from newspapers — about the death preme Court. last meal; it will soon be to hunt. Instead mission to time interview. They did warrants issued for Shabnam and Saleem by of giving us anot suspenseful the cheetah allow us tochase, interview prisonthe Sessions Judge of Amroha. “He had abso- Story behind the sentence brothers flopped us the frostyers sentenced to down deathand for gave terrorist attacks,” lutely no idea and it was a coincidence that we The clinic did not figure initially in their plan, nosed stare as we turned our vehicle left and says Surendranath. was the a harsh the North Pole star is invisible, seasons weretthere thebeginning day before.ofWe were summer shocked — which had been about research, the largely car- right to take selfies with the felines. In the process they realised if there was an when aback we leftby Delhi May. By the time we are wrong, and the flush of theon toilet moves and taken the in hastiness,” says Rangriedall out by university students, the lack of outsider in this system it was the prisoner. landed in Durban, weresix at the of right, not left. thedeath equator it goesinstraight arajan. The warrant hadwecome daysend after empirical data(Aton penalty India. Into wildthat stood out was how all of this “Onethe thing the season andofatdeath the start of winter. I had down. is the Coriolis effect,often try it!) the confirmation sentence, bypassWhile This mainstream narratives focus on By thehave end of three safaris, had seen few could been carried outwe without theaprisWe were a groupwhen of seven Indians Durban big not yet found occasion to be in the southern ing the mandatory 30-day period available to death sentences there are inSupreme andallsmall cats, met oner… of it is based ontemperamental documentation,Afrithe hemisphere, so I spent an entire, rather circuiAfrica’s biggest tourism event 2015 can convicts to explore all legal options. Silent on for Court decisions or executions, theINDABA researchers elephants teenaged and malethe bulls that police produce —documents defence tous flightand glued to the a at the invitation of South As were the date time, thewindow, warrantwaiting merelyforinand students looked for theAfrica storiesTourism. behind the dismissed fromdocuments. their herdsNobody — and seen lawyers rely on these had glimpse the imaginary as that sounds, the in Durban structed of a swift execution, but says magnificent Rangarajan. dreary sentences — the profile ofweek prisoners, theirwas ex- white rhinosto and lone blackWe rhino. ever spoken thea prisoner. wereWe thespotfirst that. was a pleasant equator, along where for 4,000-odd km, anything “Usually, which there isruns a hearing the accused periences but with theThere police, the evidencechill the ted bushbabies and in thehenight, to talk to them and get servals their version,” says. the air, saltyon spray our eyes and aand spring passing through six countries onNone the African is produced and given a lawyer. of this in courts relied for in the sentencing so watched the Nile crocodiles and hippos relax The prisoner profile was often all-too-simicontinent. Things are weird on the other side in our They step. There werethe safaris the African had happened,” she adds. forth. recreated legalinto processes that in Weeconomically witnessed a hilarious speclarwaterholes. — socially and backward; deof Gokhale the equator; constellations dotathe sky wild, languorous strolls along the than Golden Mile tacle andalien she immediately filed Public preceded the conviction. Rather debate ofofa sound haremlegal of zebras (that’sinwhat a zebra prived assistance the lengthy
Life by life
The Death Penalty Litigation Clinic fights for the death-row convict’s fundamental right to life
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This side of paradise
A week on the other side of the equator in South Africa leads to encounters with lion cubs on their first hunt, selfies with cheetahs and a night of stand-up humour
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the way these cases were carried out. A basic level of legal representation would have averted the death penalty,” he says. During the research, one query they refrained from asking prisoners was — ‘Did you do it?’ At that point, they say, it was irrelevant. The back story of crime was often gruesome; sordid details frequently played out in the media. “You learn to slowly not obsess with ‘Did they or did they not do it’ and it’s the most difficult thing to do. We learn and teach at the law school that even if a person has committed the most horrific crime, there is a process by which they have to be sentenced…You may not be able to tune yourself completely out of it, but that is the challenge,” he adds. It is a challenge the DPLC members face not only when they meet prisoners. Their work is at times not endorsed by others, including family and friends. For instance, when the India’s Daughter controversy raged, the team was at the receiving end of taunts. ‘Now, you would want to defend them too. Look what they think’, was a refrain they heard often. Rastogi knows she is working in an area that polarises opinion. A layperson may not be willing to comprehend or acknowledge the fundamental rights of a prisoner convicted of multiple murders or respect the legal processes he/she is entitled to. Rastogi, who quit her corporate job for the clinic, says what often works is the general prisoner profile. “Like, why persons of a certain economic and social background often end up getting these punishments.” Constant interactions with the prisoners have shown her that despite their lives hanging in limbo for years, most of them have tried to move beyond the crime, however tough that may be. “There are so many prisoners we meet who tell us ‘Yes, I did that’. But they tell the story around it. They do not want to be locked in that period of time,” she adds. Beyond the crime Saleem, for instance, was a school dropout at the time of arrest. The DPLC members say he now has a diploma in agricultural science and Slogan to spare The Death Penalty Litigation Clinic is handling cases where convicts are running out of legal options. Here, in Bengaluru, a candlelight vigil against death penalty v sreenivasa murthy human rights and is doing his final year bachelor’s degree. “He corresponds with us. And all these prisoners, whenever they write, are profusely apologetic for taking our time. On the other hand, it is their time that is precious,” says Rastogi. Misra believes the change in narrative should begin by giving As researchers the prisoner his/her identity. discovered blank, “We do not even see them as a dark holes in the legal person. He/she is defined by processes followed in their crime,” she says. Mainthese cases, the stream narratives should move project evolved to towards ensuring that the state include intervention and courts fulfil their responsibilities in this process, she adds. Though the clinic currently deals with cases that are at an advanced stage, where time is rapidly running out for the prisoner, (From left) Anup Surendranath, Lubhyathi Rangarajan, Nishant Gokhale, Shreya Rastogi and Surendranath says that ideally any intervenMaitreyi Misra of the DPLC tion should take place at the base, where foolproof legal representation will negate the and complicated processes involved. To com- overwhelming. “Dealing with their expecta- possibility of a death sentence. plete their narratives, the researchers went tions was tough. We were doing interview afThe clinic is handling cases where the memlooking for the families and met with mixed ter interview. We were using them and not bers know they might exhaust legal options results. They came across hostile families that offering anything in return,” he says. soon. Once the President rejects a mercy pethad snapped all ties, moved villages and wantThe university was clear this was an aca- ition, they explore possibilities like a writ peted nothing to do with the prisoner. On the oth- demic project, not an intervention. Despite ition, a second mercy petition or a review er hand, they also met resilient and being constantly reminded that the inter- petition, if it has not been filed. “The game is supportive ones, eager to talk and help de- views did not mean legal assistance, it did not never really over. But in some cases we pretty spite their poverty. stop the prisoners from hoping. “They much have the last option,” says SurendraGiven an opportunity to talk, the crime was thought we had access to things that they did nath. He adds, “Taking life must be difficult; it often what the convicts talked about — of be- not. They thought we were a medium to get has to be made as difficult as possible. A. You ing trapped, about why they did it or why their stories out,” adds Surendranath. be goddamn sure. B. The person should be givAs researchers uncovered gaping holes in en all opportunity to represent their case.” their reasons never came out in court. Surendranath says, the hope they gave the prison- the legal processes, the project evolved to iners after a series of interviews was clude intervention. “In the end, it was merely p anima
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The undisputed queen Whispers in the wind ON THE SHELF
Lalitgate is too minor an offensive to breach Vasundhara Raje’s fortress in Rajasthan WP Hodgkinson’s The Eloquent Silence is a series of hymns to the spiritual embodied in the physical world t a meeting of the BJP’s national ex- ers to go on for hours.)” She coolly continued sive attitude. anita roy
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And so in the run-up to assembly elections for another half-hour, wound up and descendin 2008, rebellion erupted with powerful mined with queenly hauteur. As she or told me a few years in her sur- ate isters such—as KiroriasLal Meena anda Devi Singh distance, catching sight of alater majestic rowan name comes a revelation, miracle. prisingly husky, attractive voice,He it isdescribes not easy Bhati resigning the state cabinet toinfight crowned with scarlet berries.” What Edmundfrom de Waal does for touch The as rebels theEyes, BJP’s official candidates. for aflight woman to negotiate power structures in Hare the of birds and identifies their songs with against the Amber Hodgkinson does, 65 The big Thakurs — Bhairon Shekhawat, the BJP its patriarchal, often sexist with thewith practised ease of someone whoinstihas years earlier, for hearing. HeSingh describes listenJaswant Singh,the Rajnath — tutional spent longsub-culture. hours doing “You nothing but being ing to the wind, his garden hub ofSingh a giant can’t imagine the extentwith to ears and eyes invisible wheel: formed a pressure group at the outside in the countryside “Down [the] spokes travel whichopen. some of these people pushinRaje wide many voicesCentre that I tohear thearound. winds; True and can go,” she confided in naturalists what I her from spirit,the thewoods, queenfragrant fought Hodgkinson, like all — and all whether theytocome Shekhawat struggled get thoughtfor was a rare moment of andWith writers, that matter — is first foremost with pine andback. primrose, or whether theyto blow 160 legislators tickets allotted to hisweeping cronies and feminine complicity. an observer. He paints his subject with few but blustering and on firmly by herfrom side, Amberley, it I could evocated imagine, lines, giveninthe His son-in-law brilliantly a serieswas of sharp, the way, always relatives. sure of a message: for they understood thatI am close glee sketches. with which her for example, Narpat Singh deft TheMPs piedfrom wagtail, is Raje never come without news.”Rajvi was kept waitdislodging from own party little handed out copies ing till the last minute he “a dapper gentleman and Over and above the before rich lyriRajasthan will be was allocated the party ticket. it of the personal walks in ascurrilous dignified but most efficism of his visual descriptions, difficult, if not did notwhich stop charges against herupon in the cient manner even wetdiand isThe this infighting faculty of hearing impossible vorce petition filed by her eseven after thethe BJP book. lost the elecslippery slates or tiles.” illuminates “SomeHe paints his subject tions. andat Jaswant tranged Hemant But it ishusband his intention not to times IShekhawat stand and look the tree with few but Singh. From theor dizzy heights Singh the back. pot So boiling merely describe identify but to and thekept tree looks that I brilliantly evocated through the rebellious Ghanof beyond. victory in 2003 taken assembly go “I have many say, in spite of myself, ‘Be still my lines,in in a series polls which sawlocal Raje inhabitants being crowned queen shyamof Tiwari,heart, Gulab Singh others. liberties with these Kataria great and trees are deft sketches To make matters worse, Rajnath Singh, who the desert state, circumstances vastly aland the local geography, believ-had sharp, prayers.’ It is then that I know at the in time, tered byitthe end her Allegations of was BJP president ing that is not myofjob toterm. record, my place theappointed universe;Arun and corruption, and the rising clout of Chaturvedi, asuddenly relativelyI feel inexperienced party but rather tonepotism invest with mystery so small that alpresident wishes. upstarts likeI see; Lalitnot Modi the things tosurfaced describeregularly. Par- worker, as BJPmost I denyagainst myself,Raje’s and become, ty workers and thebut RSStosatraps suchbut heights in the state the commonplace, robe constantly Factionalism reached not a being, a breath of wind unit thatover Rajnath Singh asked Raje to resign complained and dismisthe ordinary of in her the inaccessibility splendid vestments of the passing into space.” the Leader Opposition’s post. She first unusual.” The Eloquent Silence is less a guide- from In some ways, of Hodgkinson is the forefather refused to comply and when she it was book than a missal, a series of hymns to the of the modern nature-writing bratdid, packers — with the same spirit of defiance. Raje William came to spiritual embodied in the physical world, the Roger Deakins, Robert Macfarlane, Delhi andHelen submitted her resignation to Advaphysical as it mirrors the soul. Fiennes, Macdonald, John Lewis-Stemni, refusing to acknowledge One of the most powerful passages for me pel and the like. Yet in otherRajnath ways heSingh. has, perBut she survived, gettingtore-elected as Leadwas his description of a typical English No- haps, a closer affinity earlier writers, er of Opposition in 2013, just a few months bevember day — “a wash, a waste, a weariness of mystics and thinkers. At times he comes fore the assembly elections were due. Her damp, fog and cold… Everything seemed to across asnext a sort of English Chief Seattle, an ecodetractors had been weakened mirror the greyness of my mood — from the logical visionary with significantly china cups and scones by tea then. Shekhawat had passed away, Jaswant sad, slow heave of the ploughed fields to the at time. Or perhaps his lineage can be Singh’sback popularity ongreat the wane and and Rajweary gesticulations of the waving larches.” traced to that was other madman nath William Singh was distracted by the developChancing upon a late wood anemone — a poet, Blake. They do seem to be on the mentsquest: at the national Andofso in and the windflower, to give it its common, affection- same To see a worldlevel. in a grain sand assembly in December Raje heaven in aelections wild flower/Hold infinity in2013, the palms consolidated and secured position. She of your hand and eternity in anher hour. ensured her wanting loyalists to were majority I foundthat myself findinout more when tickets were distributed andfrustrated. swept the about this author — and being polls with a staggering outon of the total 200 There is nothing about160 him Net, and seats in the assembly. In the subsequent Lok the Facebook page for The Eloquent Silence has Sabha polls, Rajasthan was the big no photo, no text and ‘0 people likesecond this topic.’ Gujarat where thetriangulate BJP secured all Istate haveafter no references to help him, theplace 25 parliamentary seats. or him in context: who he was, where he From this vantage point, difficult to excame from, who read him.it is The only other pect Raje’s toThe be breached byaaGarden minor book of hisfortress is called Kingdom is offensive her to Lalit Modi’s (1948), andbased I haveonyet tosupport track down a copy. immigration Neither isoverload, the fact But in thisapplication. age of information that Lalit Modi bought shares in her rare son there’s something quite 10 delicious, quite Dushyant Singh’s for aofwhopping and precious aboutcompany this paucity hyperlin₹96,000 each going tothe shake her back stronghold kage. It returns you to words, to the over theand state. simple theEven real.before the scandalous Vyapam Scam and theas spate of alleged murders in So I’ll leave you, he leaves the reader at the its wake diverted attention, the BJPofbrass end of the book their and at the dimming the knew“Half whereathey with Raje. day: milestood down the valley a door WithI 160 legislators her latch; side, it closed. knew the soundfirmly of thatbydoor was understood that dislodging Raje from Ratold me that Mrs Ramble had shut out the jasthan will difficult, if not impossible. If darkness andbegone indoors. A spark of light she could take onher Advani forShe favourglimmered from frontpublicly window. was ing Modi,her it islamp, not hard imagineabsurdly what Raje is lighting and to it looked like of telling PMI stood or his to lieutenant, acapable fallen star. Once the more meditate,the to BJP president Amit Shah, inscene’s private.tranquilliThe men drink a final draught of the from be ruling Delhi. But in like the ty andGujarat to let itsmay stillness wash over my soul of Rajputs, thea daughter of Rajmata Vijayaland green wave over quiet shore.” raje Scindia is the undisputed queen. anita roy is a writer, editor and publisher Autumnal hues Hodgkinson’s radiant with his negotiated love of the her countryside. Thethe colour of autumn woods — Firmly in her fort Vasundharatext Rajeishas combatively way through power structures in the beeches resplendent in amber often and red gold, rowan crowned with scarlet berries — all have his heart shutterstock www.anitaroy.net poornima joshi BJP, known for its patriarchal, sexist institutional sub-culture ecutive way back in 2005, LK Advani chaired a routine session on ‘state andering around a secondreporting’, which essentially rebookshop in Taunton requires BJP chief hand ministers to speak about polistumbledsituation on an unascy, programmescently, and Ipolitical in little book tucked their respectivesuming states. Narendra Modi, the away in theminister gardening section was between then chief of Gujarat, still aThe faRoyal Horticultural Plant Finder Advani and a vourite with Advani.Society So when he spoke, biography Sackville-West. heard with of raptVita attention, allowing The him cloth to go hardback binding scuffedtime and limit. faded, showon way beyond theisallotted ingBythrough ripped dust jacket likeminisa tatthe timethe it was the Rajasthan chief tered petticoat. I decided to buy it, were morerestfor ter’s turn to speak, the participants the woodcut inside less. gorgeous So was Advani, who illustrations typically wrung his than text. I showed nice lady at the till handsthe a couple of times,the glanced at the watch the scribbled onthe thetime flyleaf in pencil: two andprice warned: ‘Keep to limit.’ Not many shillings andconsidered sixpence. Well, that was We would have flouting such1946. a warnagreed on a fiver in today’s and Iconleft ing publicly; the veteran hadmoney, not yet been the shopto contented. signed the Margdarshak Mandal and What Iconsiderable expected from The Eloquent Silence wielded influence in the partyby at WP Hodgkinson was the Raje slightly the time. But Vasundhara is notpompous just anymusings a village vicar. Whatwith it turned out one. The of diminutive princess her soft, to be was something quite different — ashe little small hands packs quite a punch. That is forgotten gemofofthe a book about naturaland world the daughter veteran Jan Sangh RSS and ourVijayraje inner landscape andadds howto the repatron Scindia only hertwo regal, flect, affect persona. and nourish each other. combative Accordingly, she peered at In 18 short author seeks to capAdvani over chapters, the rim the of her spectacles and ture describe one small ofAur England flungand back: “Advaniji, this iscorner not fair. logon somewhere Riverallowed valley near ko to ghantonalong bolnethe diyaSevern apne (You othMalvern in Worcestershire. Here he ‘first heard the cuckoo from my push-chair,’ and he lived there still in a 350-year-old cottage that ‘might be called a calendar artist’s dream complete with porch and hollyhocks.’ Hodgkinson’s text is radiant with his love of the countryside: ‘What a variety of colour there is in an autumn wood!’ he enthuses. “I am not sure which tree is the loveliest. I have seen gigantic beeches, resplendent in amber and red gold, which have almost decided me in their favour — that is, until seeing the delicate larch fronds hanging against a slate-blue
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Cut up A naysayer outside parliament building during an anti-austerity rally in Athens, Greece reuters/yannis behrakis
STATES OF MATTER
How to say ‘no’ in Greek Double standards are evident in the imposition of austerity in Greece while purse strings are loosened for other countries in the European continent
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ife with a known devil is often preferable to a future of unknowns. With their banks shuttered and an economy on the verge of seizure, Greek voters on July 5 turned that wisdom on its head. Whatever uncertainties the future held, the punishing economic austerity endured for five years was no option. The leftwing coalition Syriza won January’s general elections in Greece with the promise of ending years of austere living. It was a precarious triumph fashioned out of the hostility against the established left and right, which had both meekly submitted to the diktat of the banks since the magnitude of Greek debt was revealed in 2009. Since taking office, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his finance minister Yanis Varoufakis bargained hard with the troika — the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Commission (EC) — tasked with bringing order to Greece’s accounts. Their point was simple. For all its drama and pretended magnanimity, the bailout dangled since 2010 had done little for the cause of economic recovery. It kept banks in the pink, but the consequences of unending austerity were reaching a political tipping point, potentially endangering democracy itself. Creditors evidently thought compromise rather futile. As deadlock loomed, the Greek government played its final card: a referendum that would put the proposed deal to the test of public opinion. As creditors fumed and warned that all offers were off the table, Greek officials — in what was either political naïveté or artful affectation — underlined that the referendum would be part of the negotiations, rather than a substitute for it. Global high finance never keeps a place at the table for the articulation of democratic voices. Socialist George Papandreou had as Prime Minister in October 2011, mooted the idea of a referendum on the adjustment packages being forced on Greece. He was forced into a humiliating retreat after public rebukes
from Germany and France. the US rather well since its 2008 meltdown. As a senior adviser to the PM in January Reserve Bank of India chief Raghuram Ra2010, Varoufakis argued that debt default on a jan, who earned fame for predicting the credit moderate scale was the best course till Greece meltdown way back in 2004, is clearly unimthought through all options. He was shouted pressed. The rapid spread of QE, he said recentdown for spreading ‘treasonous’ ideas. ly, was like producing growth out of nowhere, All the years since should be counted as “shifting growth from each other, rather than time wasted. On June 30, the Greek govern- creating growth”. It was the manner of beggar ment declared it would not meet a loan repay- thy neighbour policy that the world last saw ment of $1.7 billion that was due to the IMF. during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Just days later, a referendum turned in a ‘no’ In his acclaimed 2010 book Fault Lines, Rajan vote on austerity, all the more resounding for argued that the credit binge of the first decade being delayed four years. of the century was a deliberate political strateWhat else changed in these years? For one gy to evade the consequences of widening inthing, the consequences of austerity were no equality. If decent wages were unattainable longer a future prospect but a lived reality for for the vast majority caught in the iron grip of the Greek people. Nobel laureate neoliberal economics, working economist Paul Krugman did a people were enjoined to ‘eat few simple calculations and concredit’ to improve living stancluded that the “attempt to redards. A strategy that worked its duce debt by slashing spending The consequences of remorseless logic through the actually raises the ratio of debt sub-prime mortgage boom in austerity were no to GDP, not just in the short run, the US, fetching up with disaslonger a future but indefinitely”. Any likelihood trous consequences in 2008. prospect but a lived of austerity reducing the debt Conspicuously escaping acreality for the Greek ratio would be “in the very long countability through all this people run — think decades, not years”. have been the banks which proFellow economics laureate Jomoted the myth of credit as enseph Stiglitz turned in a more gine of endless growth. And the forthright and robust judgreasons are not far to seek. ment: the troika bore ‘criminal responsibility’ Growth in the world economy hinges increasfor forcing Greece into a course of action that ingly on the wealth effect created through aswas condemned to failure. set price inflation. From stocks to property to Meanwhile, the benign patrician among ec- commodities, the bubble economy has, by onomics laureates, Amartya Sen, spoke of ex- rapid turns, afflicted every market. After every panding economic horizons through growth bubble bust, those driving the speculation as the best remedy, rather than persisting run away with the spoils, while those on the with the despair of austerity. downside are left to pick up the pieces. Double standards are evident in the imposiAfter the rebellion of the ‘occupy movetion of austerity in Greece while purse strings ments’ which followed the 2008 financial are loosened for other countries in the conti- meltdown, the Greek referendum is another nent. In January, the ECB announced a policy effort to turn back the disastrous tide. The sovof ‘quantitative easing’ (QE), putting more ereign masters of finance, though, seem not money into European bank treasuries, to stim- to be listening. ulate credit and growth. After years when it has fallen behind, Europe has evidently sukumar muralidharan is an independent writer bought into the magic of QE, which has served and researcher based in Gurgaon and Shimla
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Fatal attraction An implausible book, this is an arrestingly unhinged account of life as a self-proclaimed Roger Federer fan dipankar
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he silliest thing I have read so far this Federer enters Skidelsky’s life at a stable year, or for many a year, is the suggesti- point. Skidelsky had fallen out of love with tenon that Roger Federer, very probably nis as it turned into a serving contest in the ’90s, the greatest tennis player in the titans hurling boulders at each other until Samsport’s short open era history, is an underachiev- pras won. Skidelsky had been a player of moderer. It is journalist and self-proclaimed Fedophile ate promise as a boy but had given up the game William Skidelsky’s contention, deep into his in a pique, angered at being patronised as the memoir of sporting obsession, Federer and Me, “sporty” one in an intellectual family. Years of that Federer, like the cricketer Graeme Hick and therapy, a job as a junior literary editor at an ausnooker player Jimmy White (Skidelsky’s ridicu- gust weekly magazine, and a steady relationship lous examples not mine), “when the really big help him relax enough to pick up tennis again as tests came, failed to live up to expectations.” an adult. Inspired by victories over flabby, uncoWhat tests? Whose expectations? My use of ordinated writers and publishers, he joins a ten‘open era’, when describing Federer as the great- nis club, starts to watch the game and est tennis player in history, is arguably too cau- rediscovers Roger Federer. tious. Only in 1968 did tennis become ‘open’, Skidelsky only begins watching Federer in that is permit professionals to compete along- earnest in late 2006, on a trip to visit his brother side amateurs for the most prestigious titles in in Shanghai. “I remember leaping off the sofa, the sport, the championships in Melbourne, Pa- dancing with joy,” writes Skidelsky, “my exclaris, London and New York. Since then, no player mations mingling with the utterances of the SHOVON CHOWDHURY is what Federer and Me has been as successful as Federer. Perhaps, only Chinese commentators.” He was having William Skidelsky chief Truthdigger and author Rod Laver — whose feat of winning the Grand David Foster Wallace famously called a “Federer Yellow Jersey Press of The Competent Authority ₹946 Slam (all four majors in a single calendar year) moment”. Skidelsky owes a lot to ‘Roger Federer twice, in 1962 before the open era, and in 1969, is as Religious Experience’, Foster Wallace’s 2006 with a thorough of the IndiRates will as vary Hindu Business Line considers corruption tounparalleled — has asunderstanding strong an argument as Fe- spontaneous profile for thecombustion. New York Times. It was, the title whether an youexercise order ininaecstatic peak apbe a heinous offence, second only to thederer. an Still, Penalout Code. represents a huge market depending onsuggests, of It respect for the state.Federer MP andwas UP are consumption of non-veg. After a while, heachievements opportunity. is India’s biggest prob- state or an off-peak of What the likes of Panpreciation. not the such cases, wepiece would today?and What is threatening stops swivelling. He picks up the currencycho lem Gonzales Lew Hoad, Bill law and or- peak states. Insubject of the sorecommuch as its our premium witness ser- Walder,and without which there can be no society? mend going for notes and places them in a neat stack on hisTilden Donald Budge, I prefer object, “a creature”, as Foster The silliest thing to is an Iraq A shortage table. Despite easy availability, his respectto use ‘open era’ofaswitnesses. a qualifier.At witness.com we vice, where each lace witness wrote, “whose bodywar is both read this year is a bazooka and light.” a per- The provide youthough, with reliable, dura- veteran equipped for money remains high. He offers me a There iswill little doubt, fleshwith and, somehow, Skidelsky’s bundle. “Would you like some invest- that Federerble, high-quality exactly sonal assault vehicle. additional is the open era’s witnesses, most chapterFor on beauty andsecurisport is Skicontention that system paraphrase tracks all and police as per your All wit- ty, our GPS delsky’s ment?” he says. “Maybe you distinguished player: herequirement. has won gloss of Federer is an come the witness to avoid could start a news portal? more thannesses Borg, will Nadal and with Sam- a three-year personnel, enabling Foster Wallace’s argument. underachiever sudden death, someEveryone else is.” I smile which can be ex- them. This prevents pras; he has beenwarranty, more consistent Very little in Federer and Me, retended for a nominal thing which occurs regularly the and decline. We do not than Lendl; he has been the longest leasedvery in the UK last when month, in fact, witnesses. this trust the internet. It Each witness police interact serving number one; he sum. has played is with original. Even Why the insightful mystery. Scientists suspect comes with a security happens is a point could be a fad. “Tell me with more imagination and touch, about Federer’s forehand a food taster some of virus. Untileastern, the mystery about witness.com.” creativity and brilliance,guard, for more sustained grip, aform so-called modified being ison the a matter of policy, we at witness“It’s an idea whose andIfa he fireisextinguishspells than John McEnroe. an under- solved, cusp ofas tradition and modernity, is gleaned keeping our farthat awaySkideltime has come,” says achiever, even accounting er, for in theorder scaletoofprehis .com fromare elsewhere. Thiswitnesses is not toassay police as possible. Plus currently Shivram. “It combines gifts, what does that make the vent rest of shooting, us? Those from sky’s the observations are without interest. He is are running one-plus-one offer.” between or we the best features of Uber of us sitting on sofas watching,poisoning mouths stupidly good on the aRomantic distinction open, as he hits a lob between his legs over a six- beauty and the sublime, the former’s cosy order and-a-half-foot giant. At nearly 34, when most and the latter’s capacity to evoke awe and terror. tennis players are either retired or nominal Federer’s game, Skidelsky accurately observes, is presences, Federer is still the second best player both beautiful and sublime. There is also a fine in the world and, at the time of writing, in the passage about a drop volley: “Such dramatic desemifinals at Wimbledon. celeration, apart from anything else, seemed to But none of this, not the 17 majors, not the 302 contravene the first law of thermodynamics about the future.” “What does it look like?”weeks at number 1 (237 of them consecutive) not (the one about energy never being created or deI ask. She pauses briefly to sniff my note-the 25 major finals (10 of them consecutive), is stroyed but merely changing). What had Federgrowwith yourall food requirements in yourtouch s theascompetition in India’s book. I push her head away. “It looks veryenough. Skidelsky, becomes evident overgrothe will er done that power?” Federer’s or on your balcony. is Inanything case youbut do as he cery segment intensifies, vir- garden, bad,” she says. “In some Haryana villages,course of this arrestingly unhinged book,the needs may be delicate, Skidelsky’s tuousascycle of innovation hasa not havethat a balcony, will construct the male-female ratio for newborns is 10:5.to think of Federer a failure, needs to find credits volley we with helping himone recover you, funds acquired from invesbegun. Amongst unconfirmed This means two boys for every girl. Everway to associate Federer with “pathos”. Skidel- for from theusing sadness of an abortion: “I was returned speedybazar.com will notchildonly tors eager to Indian eco-To assince the news began to spread, young mensky, rumours despite athat cosseted home counties to myself, toparticipate my life, to in mythe girlfriend...” miracle. Within minutes of isyou your groceries, also feed have been eyeing us thoughtfully. The at-hood,deliver is unhappy, unable tobut reconcile histhem love nomic cribe such powers to Federer’s game not just order, our delivery boy, who is to you, several players launched a newa placing mosphere was becoming tense. Chickensfor sport with his desire tohave impress his father, fancifulyour but disturbing. scheme,academic which could way we already under yourthis dining will har-age as are naturally nervous, and theyprominent andtransform life peer.theHowever I wanted to like book.table, I’m the same the produce, bag it in special vegetables. were becoming jumpy. Evenhardconsume William works to win a scholarship to Eton, vest Skidelsky; I was a literary editor at atamperweekly mag“We want to provide consumers proof, ultra-hygienic and de-or six the cows began to worry.be admitted to Oxford, get aour respectable job, he azine; I play tennis forpackaging, 90 minutes five liver itatoweek yourand kitchen. return for a backthe in full experience,” saysshadow. a None of us belong to Azamfeels with trapped hissabzi father’s admonitory mornings have In a one-handed of personal privacy, has younothsabziwala.com, a re- too hand;small Khan, so we knewWhatrepresentative a consolation of then that Roger Federer I’m a loss Federer fan. But Skidelsky willto seesay. a massive increase in serviceabout cent entrant. “Ourfail algorithm will the police wouldshould struggle, should to solve the problem ing new He shows no curiosity levels. As this is a new concept, we track your It’s consumption, not help us. Weposed by Nadal. implausible,assisted but a plangent Federer’s game beyond his own overwrought by aof small observer stationed under will do Skidelsky concept-selling. Please stay had no choice.” A sin-account life as a Federer fan makes for an im- impressions. is enamoured of “the tuned for upcoming ad be your book. dining table. Once we gle tear trickles down her cheek. “Myplausible idea of something lost,our an idyll that cannot superhave analysed your consumpfamily has lived peacefully in Haryaretrieved”. Hecampaign, picked thefeaturing wrong player to supstar being Aamir as in the tion patterns, our specially na for generations. But it was time port. If any human stillKhan gambols paradismallFederer. observer.” trained horticulturalists for us to leave.” se, it is surely Roger Champion moment Roger Federer has spent 302
TECH GURU TO LAUNCH WITNESS.COM! “I
ndia needs durable witnesses,” says Shivram, visionary and tech guru. “Technology can provide the answer.” His head is shaven, his goatee neatly trimmed. His desk is covered in money. “People are constantly coming and throwing money at me,” he explains. “I’ve given strict instructions to my receptionist, but sometimes they overpower her and get through. I don’t really blame them. India is hot. Everyone wants a piece of the action. For someone like me, with a proven track record, it’s raining money. Literally. See?” He presses a button, and large denomination currency notes pour down on his head from a vent in the ceiling. “Whee!” he says, swivelling in his swivel chair, as the cash rains down. I curb the impulse to pick up a note or two. The
LIVESTOCK FLEE HARYANA!
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n news that has been condemned by PETA, Amnesty International and the RSS, domestic animals have begun to flee Haryana in large numbers. This has led to a drop in the supply of both milk and eggs, and is causing widespread depression across the state. According to sources, a better understanding of statistical data has triggered this exodus. “Statisticians have revealed that the male-female ratio in Haryana has come down to 10:8,” says Basanti, a middle-aged goat from Sonepat, who has recently crossed the border. “But that figure is for all women and all men. Looking at it this way shows a very poor understanding of data analytics. We need to look at the ratio amongst newborns in the last 12 months. This will give us an idea
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GROCERY APPS TO ENTER AGRICULTURE SEGMENT!
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weeks at number one, won 17 majors and been in 25 afp/justin tallis major finals The Investigator is a monthy round-up of all things droll and newsy. All views are personal. Really personal t@shovonc
shougat dasgupta is a freelance journalist
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THE CRITICAL ISSUE
Picture imperfect The #selfiewithdaughter campaign shows that India’s sense of commitment towards its women is only photo-deep
No light matter Vituperative attacks on social media have revealed the deepseated misogyny among people from various backgrounds k murali kumar
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Urvashi Butalia is an editor, publisher and director of Zubaan
ne way or another, the question of sexual violence has refused to go off the agenda in India in the last few years. Much of this is due to the relentless pressure from women’s groups to keep the issue alive — now that it is being talked about, now that the silence is broken, it must not be allowed to disappear. But it is equally due also to the deep-seated anger and misogyny that fills the minds and hearts of so many of our people. Take the case of the most recent Narendra Modi campaign of #selfiewithdaughter. Hundreds of fathers (interesting that the Prime Minister did not think of selfies with mothers) sent in their pictures. But when feminists raised questions about the campaign itself (as activist Kavita Krishnan did), they faced abuse and venomous attacks, many of them carrying thinlyveiled sexual innuendo. One of the offenders was the benign and benevolent looking ‘father figure’ of Star Plus serials, Alok Nath. Clearly, looks can be very deceptive — as the experience of so many women shows: much can be hidden behind the benevolence that we may not even dream of until confronted by it. Alok Nath, and many others who attacked Kavita Krishnan in the abusive way they did, did not stop to ask themselves: how could they express such verbal violence towards a woman while at the same time claim to be proud fathers of daughters? Surely there is a connection somewhere that they are missing? Indeed, although many fathers were quick to send in their pictures, not one of them raised the question: Where will change and improvement in women’s lives actually come from? It’s unlikely that a photo on social
media will help — although it may not be en- ing evidence that over 90 per cent of the sextirely without the potential to add some kind ual violence women (and some men) face is of awareness — but there is no doubt that in- from known people and much of it within creases in the health and education budgets, families and the home. coupled with campaigns to create more safety It also comes from another strong principle and security for girls and women will. that those opposing the recognition of mariBut this is what is not happening. Health tal rape as a crime refuse to accept: that womand education budgets have been slashed, the en are equal citizens of India and therefore number of rape crisis centres is down to less individuals who have rights, just like their than a tenth of what was promised. Clearly the male counterparts do, to feel and be safe in all commitment is only photo-deep, a very thin environments, whether private or public, in layer indeed. which they function. And that includes the Selfies are not the only issue. Another ques- right not to be violated physically or mentally, tion that’s been hotly debated is anywhere, at any time, in any cirthat of marital rape and whethcumstance. Just because marital er or not it should have been inrape takes place within the insticluded in the new (2013) law on tution of marriage, supposedly Health and education sexual assault and rape. Predictsomething sacrosanct, does not budgets have been ably, the arguments have been mean it is not a crime. slashed, the number fierce, mostly on the part of poliTake a different, but parallel arof rape crisis centres ticians, that law should not be algument. Murder is a crime. Anyis down to less than lowed inside the bedroom, that where it takes place, whether at a tenth of what marriage is a sacrament, that rehome or outside. Now imagine a was promised lations between husbands and scenario where a man forces his wives are a ‘private affair’. wife to have sex with him and if Whether or not the State, in she refuses, he flies into a rage terms of its institutional arms, and kills her. Will we say that the in this case the law, has a place in the private first act, which led to the second, is not a lives of people, or inside the bedroom and the crime, but the second one, inextricably confamily, is something that has long been a sub- nected to the first, is? Surely even the most voject of discussion among feminist groups and ciferous defenders of the sanctity of marriage activists. It was after considerable thought will see the irrationality of such arguments. and debate on this that women’s groups Nearly 70 years into our life as an independfought for the law on domestic violence, ent nation, it’s time we recognised women as which, very firmly, brings the long arm of the citizens of this country. Perhaps it’s time to law into people’s private lives. stop taking selfies with them and defending Their continuing demand that marital rape their rights instead? be recognised as the crime that it is, comes out blink@thehindu.co.in of the same thinking and out of overwhelm-
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Maximum A case ofmelody
reverse snobbery
A recent exhibition in Mumbai connected the dots between the neighbourhood of Girgaum and the evolution of Hindustani classical music
As connoisseurs toast a made-in-India single malt that first found fame in whisky heartland Scotland, Bengaluru-based Amrut Distilleries tastes success in a maturing home market
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lease maintain silence, whisky is into a wine glass. Meyyappan covers the glass That is why you need to swirl a single malt sleeping.’ with his palm and swirls it. After the whisky whisky around your tongue.” To that MeyyapThe signage outside a warehouse has washed the inside of the glass, the senior pan adds, “A single malt whisky should be saof Amrut Distilleries, an hour’s executive smells it before taking a sip. Closing voured. You should take about half an hour to sip 30ml.” drive from Bengaluru, catches one off-guard. his eyes, he raises his chin just a Decidedly not the drink for Inside it is dark and quiet, as if to make doubly bit, as if waiting for the spirit to bingeing. The single malt whisky sure that the whisky in the barrels — over a hit his senses. Seconds later he reis elitist — few can afford it. While thousand of them — enjoy undisturbed sleep. opens his eyes and smiles. Handbraggarts flaunt it, only a conMade of oak and imported from the US, the ing over the glass, he instructs, A single malt whisky noisseur can savour and exbarrels are stacked on giant wooden shelves. A “Sip a little and swirl it around should be savoured. You should take pound on its tones and the note nailed to a shelf declares the room tem- your tongue to discover the flaintricacies of the barrel in which perature is 28°C and the humidity, 64 per cent. vours. Do you get an oaky vanilla about half an hour to sip 30ml it matured. “The higher the humidity and the lower the tone? That comes from the bartemperature, the less will the whisky matur- rel. And smokiness? That is the In a market like India, where few whiskies will actually qualify ing in the barrels evaporate,” informs M Mey- peat barley from Scotland.” Down memory laneTechnical. A road in Girgaum named after and colleague composer Bhaskarbua K Prakash,Bakhale generas ‘whisky’ owing to unchecked yappan, Director In Scotland, suchvocalistHis use of artificial flavours and inwhisky lost to evaporation is called angel’s al manager of production and he entrance to Kitab Mahal was began share, he adds. qualityto assurance, how theintaste buds sufficient maturation, single malt is rarer still. establishexplains its stronghold Mumbai age and He callsmusty over anwith attendant, whoconstruction uses a long- and, work.more “The specifically, back of theGirgaum tongue isassensitive to The premium spirit makes up just five per it was the dust.toI draw madeout mysome way up a creaky bitter tastes, thetrade sidesin tothe sourness andcentury. the tip cent of the Indian whisky market, the largest handled mug alcohol that centre of native mid-19th wooden staircase girded bypours an anof the tongue comes alive to anything sweet. has been ‘sleeping’ for four years and it This was also the period when kingdoms and in the world at 1.5 billion litres a year. cient banister and a wall full of exposed wir- principalities crumbled, and musicians lost ing. However, the fourth-floor gallery that was both their benefactors and performance Studio X was an entirely different space — spaces. Mumbai transformed into a place with modern, well-lit and resonating with the a host of opportunities amid its new economy sound of music. It is the perfect juxtaposition and thriving theatre scene, and attracted miof spaces for a show titled ‘Making Music, Mak- grants with varied skills. “New listening expeing Space’. It was just after closing hours and riences were enabled in a proliferation of new Thank you for the music (top) A young yet I was allowed to look around. A large public spaces — Parsi theatre, Marathi sangeet Gangubai Hangal by special arrangement; Ustad Alla sprawling flex on the wall announced the idea natak, the music club, the music school, the Rakha and Pandit Ravi Shankar were regular behind this aural and visual installation — an baithak in a wealthy patron’s home, the music performers at concerts in Girgaum amalgam of urban topography with cultural ‘conference’, and the concert stage in places the ravi shankar foundation practice and history. And underlike Laxmi Baug, Brahman Sabha lying it all was a love for Hindusor Jinnah Hall,” said Niranjana. spaces that witnessed some of the best baithtani classical music and its The exhibition unfolded aks of its time. The music in Girgaum was a enduring relationships with through different media — rare mix of styles, indigenous gharanas and tradiAn interview with neighbourhoods and communiphotographs, postcards, concert tions unusual in its aspect as it occupied a very Gangubai Hangal ties. A quote sprawled across the posters and handbills, 3D maps native space in an overwhelmingly colonial led to the birth of flex — ‘Yeh nagari mein lakh daras well as unheard-of recordings metropolis. Across the room, a video projecthis venture waaza’ (there are a lakh doors in and architectural details of the- tion by Surabhi Sharma took us inside several this city) is evocative for a newatres and concert halls. While Girgaum buildings. comer to Mumbai like me. many of these structures are in ‘Making Music, Making Space’ ruins, some have been torn down Play by the ear — an intersection of music, urban history, or repurposed. The exhibition chronicled a history which was film, photography and interviews — was curatMusic thrived within their walls with stal- as much about the practitioners as it was ed by cultural theorist Tejaswini Niranjana warts like Sawai Gandharva, Ustad Ali Akbar about the listeners. From the chaiwallahs and along with filmmaker Surabhi Sharma, archi- Khan, Ustad Alla Rakha, Pandit Ravi Shankar, instrument makers to doctors, lawyers and tectural theorist Kaiwan Mehta, architect So- Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Gangubai Han- housewives, the audience played an active nal Sundararajan and designer Farzan Dalal. gal and Bhaskarbua Bakhale on stage. A series part in the process. Rather than being the preThe project, which was three years in the mak- of interviews chronicled the memories of for- serve of the privileged few, as in the courtly ing, enjoyed support from the Mumbai Metro- gotten names like Dhondutai Kulkarni of the tradition, Hindustani classical music became politan Region-Heritage Conservation Society Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, who trained under Ke- a mohalla activity. The large number of musi(MMR-HCS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences sarbai Kerkar. cians who performed at the Ganeshotsav to and India Foundation for the Arts (IFA). An inpacked audiences bore testament to this popterview with the legendary Gangubai Hangal Neighbourhood strains ularity. The presence of women in the field — led to the birth of this venture. Niranjana attri- A large map of Girgaum spanned the entire as artistes, patrons, teachers and students — butes it to one particular statement: “Gangu- length of a wall and acted as visual metaphor was also illustrated with the help of photobai said that a performance in Bombay would of the centrality of this neighbourhood in the graphs, recordings and interviews. earn them ₹125, five times more than what a musical evolution. Specific roads and bylanes One of the best things to come out of this exconcert in Hubli would get them. That got me on the map had little pop-up cards with pic- hibition was a very real interaction with muthinking about the importance of the city in tures of buildings where the musicians lived, sic and spaces. After a gap of nearly 30 years, the development of Hindustani classical mu- schools where they would teach, small instru- live concerts were held in Laxmi Baug, one of sic at the turn of the century.” ment shops where they would congregate, the the fulcrums of the Girgaum musicophilia. The history pieced together was an inter- theatres and local clubs where they would perdiya kohli is a Mumbai-based New high Amrut Distilleries on Mysore Road, near Bengaluru, was for decades manufacturing and whisky brandsform, that were Army canteens before to premium single maltfreelance writer pretive pastiche. Hindustani rum classical music as popular well asin private homes andit turned publicits attention
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Indian-made premier liquor Road. Just a day earlier, Swedish connoisseurs was the first brand in the Indian market that Neelakanta Rao Jagdale is unfazed by the mar- had come calling. Meyyappan, who joined the didn’t use artificial flavours. Royal Stag’s runket (or lack of it). He has good reasons to be. company in 1972, the same year as Jagdale, is away success made a dent on Amrut’s bestsellThe second-generation promoter of Amrut also one of its two master blenders. He and er Prestige Blended Malt Whisky. “We had to Distilleries has tasted success where no other Prakash accompany visitors on their tour of reinvent. Single malt whisky was unknown,” liquor entrepreneur in India has managed to. the distillery, patiently explaining how barley recounts Jagdale. As the matured spirit piled Eleven years ago, he and his son Rakshit is converted into malt, which is ground, up in the warehouse, Jagdale decided to experlaunched the Amrut brand in the very home brewed, fermented, distilled and transferred iment with single malt whisky. “It was an inevof single malt — Scotland. In 2010, one of its to the barrels for maturing. The tour ends on a itable need to continue in the business,” he variants, Amrut Fusion, was ranked the third high note — a tasting of the single malts. adds. Today, in a corner of the distillery lies a finest whisky in the world by Jim Murray in his “Amrut is a genuine product story. It is the small mash tun (a vessel for mashing malt in Whisky Bible. first of its kind from the Indian market to do hot water) that was used by Jagdale in the iniThe high praise from Murray helped Jagdale well overseas,” says Santosh Kanekar, former tial days to test single malt, a long way before break into the domestic market. This year he marketing head of the Indian arm of multina- Amrut was introduced in Scotland. hopes to sell 20 per cent more than the 15,000 tional Diageo and a liquor industry consultThat happened when Rakshit was doing a cases of single malt he sold in 2014. Half of ant. “In India, people mostly buy single malt project for his management course in the UK’s them were bought in India and the rest in the for two reasons — as a status symbol or for the Newcastle University in 2001. Jagdale, eager to 38 countries the company is present in. love of it. With Amrut, there is a case test the single malt he had brewed, Amrut’s single malt variants are priced of reverse snobbery, of drinkasked his son to supply a samfrom ₹3,000 to over ₹7,000 (750ml bottle) in ing an Indian single malt ple to the local pub. “It was India. Two years ago, the company came out that first became popular in Pot Still, a 145-year-old with a special variant — Amrut 10 Year Old in Scotland.” pub in Glasgow, that we Greedy Angels — for Jagdale’s 60th birthday; first tested Amrut sinthe limited edition of 320 bottles cost over Driven by necessity gle malt whisky. ₹60,000 each. They sold out in two days. Jagdale’s corporate Those who blind“The whisky market in India may have office in Bengalutasted it compared shrunk a little this year. But the single malt ru’s Rajajinagar is the whisky to the segment is still growing, albeit slowly. nondescript. But(who it should be accorded far more attention and regard than comes his best found in ScotLeft out Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan (left) is theWe reigning shehnai maestro way); hope toShankar sell 20,000 casesShankar this year,” Jagkumaran pushpakar Ashwani and Sanjeev form asays robust duo shiv has important land,” recounts dale. Apart from selling more, the 62-year-old legacy. It was once Rakshit. Three years wants to familiarise his customers with the owned by Nobel laulater, Jagdale launched ‘single malt culture.’ reate CV Raman. In the his brand at an Indian MANJH KHAMAJ The company website prominently displays conference room is a citarestaurant called Café Inan invitation to visit its distillery on Mysore tion from a senior Army offidia in Glasgow. cer thanking the company for sending 600 cases of free Single malt from the rum to soldiers fighting in Himalayas the Kargil War with PakisJagdale is now sitting pretty. Each place has tan. Close by is a framed Amrut Distilleries clocked its own flavour. A malt newspaper clipping of an in₹272 crore last year, selling whisky from the Himalayas terview with Jim Murray 5.2 million cases. Back in would be interesting… we praising Amrut Fusion. 1972, when Jagdale joined his can develop single malts Jagdale’s personal office father’s business, the compafrom different parts of the in the building was earlier ny had sold 80,000 cases. “It country, including the used by Raman. A table on is not a dramatic increase. north-east one side displays Amrut SinBut we are fine with it,” says ditya Vikram Sengupta’s recently re- gle nent andAhis sons and Ashwani Shan- connoisseurs of the Malt. shelf onSanjeev the other Hindustani music. This and was man, whose interest leased film Asha Jaoar Majhe (Labour side kar holds form books, a robust duo; Pandit Rajendra not the case withpromotion miniature the shehnai perhaps beof —swimming is of Love) has inspired a spate of re- idols Prasanna, though a much superior flautist, is cause it did not have of gods and goddesses, someone in likeBengaluru. Chaurasia. well-known views and commentary, not to men- and also bottles formidable on theThere shehnai. The distance He took the baton of whisky. from Ghosh and through Rakshit represented the tion impassioned discussions on social media. is between and labelled Ustad Bismillah Khan is his virtuosity andcountry also a them tiny box innovation to say nothing in —the Asian Age I won’t comment on the film because Sengup- BeeKwick. considerable — to though I have often that Group “It is treat deficiency of felt vitamin of his Championships charm — made in it more 1989. popular than ta and I have been friends since we were seven. B12. Ustad Aliproduce Ahmed Hussain ratherfoundaclose — Ghosh We it undercomes our family could imagined. Jagdale is thehave president of theSignificantly, BengaluruIt is impossible for me to view the film objec- tion,” but that should not be a reason for the decline based says Jagdale. Chaurasia developedAquatic a playing style athat was Basavanagudi Centre, publictively. However, it would perhaps not be im- of The the instrument. interest in pharmaceuticals is not inci- private markedly different from of Ghosh. eninitiative that hasthat trained moreHe than proper to mention a specific aspect of the dental. UstadJagdale’s Bismillah KhanJN established the shehfather, Radhakrishna, who one sured thatyoungsters. there was aWell-known ‘Pannalal style’ and a lakh swimmers film: the use of Ustad Bismillah Khan’s sheh- founded nai as a Hindustani instrument. The shehnai the company in 1948, was “70 per such ‘Chaurasia style’. On the Nisha shehnai, there as Arjuna Awardees Millet andwas Renai in the opening and closing sequences. Al- cent was originally a folk instrument — some say han chemist and 30 per cent distiller.” Jagdale only Poncha the ‘Bismillah style’. Khan’s successors have fine-tuned their strokes most every discussion on the film mentions was that24 it when formed part of military ensembles — here. Radhakrishna passed away, forchad immense talent, but they did not have The Jagdale family’s foundation also the shehnai piece — a composition in Raga Ti- ing but the musicians with royal patronage youngster to take charge. It was develwhile builds Chaurasia’s innovative swimming pools.vision, or the stardom lak Kamod set to Jhaptaal. I am heartened by spearheading oped it in the context Hindus- Rewdale Prea groupof company, that necessary to propel a Meanwhile at the is distillery, the experiments this not because of the praise heaped on Sen- cision tani music. was a tradition Tools,There a joint venture with a Swiss firm, never stop. Thelesser-practised instrument. latest is a rye whisky popular gupta’s choice of track and its transcendental that of Hindustani classical Jagdale realised theshehnaiimportance of a good in the US and Canada. The association thewill shehThe facility of itself be effect in the film, but because after a long time product, playing before Khan, but hegeography. gave irrespective of its “There nai with weddings has not expanded. Jagdale owns a four-acre plot next It is often argued that people are talking about the shehnai. it a permanent among was no problemplace in selling anexIndianafter product helped the instrument’s a new distillery and warehousescause. will Ustad door; Bismillah The instrument has all but disappeared in isting Hindustani Europe as long as instruments it was of good quality and Its overuse at weddings as backcome up to cater to the increasing demand for Khan’s death in 2006, from major Hindustani music festivals; it was like according the sitar and thespecifications sarod. His the to the of the cliground music somewhat diAmrut single malt whisky. “We just need to instrument has not barely succeeds in getting an annual slot. The ent,” debutherecital in Calcutta in 1937 reasons. its stature as a he serious keep sure the quality never dips,” says. had an ambassador ofthat lutes Dover Lane Music Conference, after many at Years the Alllater, IndiainMusic Conference the late 1990s, an opportunity classical Traditionnow isinstrument. to broaden the single great calibre.Jagdale’s This is focus years, had a shehnai recital this year. The Ra- arose was a watershed listento test thatmoment: belief. The family had gone North Indianwants weddings malt portfolio.ally, The entrepreneur to sell not true makrishna Mission Institute of Culture in Kol- through ers werea forced to acceptafter thatthe demise of more but is constrained ‘reorganisation’ had a shehnai performby theplayer limited capacikata, to the best of my knowledge, still has Jagdale’s the shehnai did hold possimother. The the pharmaceuticals busi- ty of the Mysore ing live facility. to welcome guests. Road Last year, heThat was place for a shehnai recital at their annual mu- ness bilities of full-fledged exposition went to his brother (that company, Jag- scouting for a location is different from Pradesh playing toa in Himachal sic festival. The Sawai Gandharva festival (now dale of Hindustani Industries,music. was in the news last year for build a new distillery ‘Shhadi in ki the Shehnai’ CD Himawhile lap of the renamed the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Ma- selling It is unfortunate that after Khan, the instruits popular brand ORS-L to Johnson & layas. guests“Each eat. place has its own flavour. A malt hotsav) used to reserve one slot for the sheh- Johnson ment didfor not grow₹700 in popularity, as itthe should nearly crore), while pre- whisky Of late, the shehnai has would made be aninterestappearfrom the Himalayas nai, but they dispensed with that in their 2015 cision have. The bansuri shares similar history, tools business wasamanaged by his but sis- ing,” ance says in popular music, most notably inDirecYe Jo the Chairman and Managing itinerary. has found greater popularity than was the tor, ter’s family.much Although Amrut Distilleries Des who Hai likes Tera (Swades) The day Dichotomy of to round and off each with two Many believe that after Ustad Bismillah doing shehnai. Pandit it pegs well withPannalal its mass Ghosh brandsintroduced in rum and Fameof (Rockstar). Nothing beout better than single malt. “I keepcould trying different Khan’s death in 2006, the instrument has not whisky, in the Hindustani in in the ’30s; by 1967, which were foray popular the Army’s Can- single if Khan’s TilakEveryone Kamod inlikes Labour helpsI malts. to ofdoLove that… had an ambassador of great calibre. This is not teen whenStores Pandit Hariprasada Chaurasia recorded Department, problem was never- think bring we back shehnai into conversations canthe develop single malts from differtrue. Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan is the theless Call of the Valley with Pandit Shiv Kumar Shar- ent brewing. and ultimately parts of to thefestivals. country, including the reigning maestro (who should be accorded far maMultinational (santoor) andSeagrams Pandit Brijhad Bhushan Kabra north-east.” introduced more attention and regard than comes his Royal (slide Stag, guitar), thethat bansuri had ofalready a whisky had a blend Indian arunabha deb is a Kolkata-based lawyer and music thomas shubhodeb@hotmail.com writer mathews way); Pandit Daya Shankar is a superb expo- grain achieved acceptance amongst listeners and spirits and imported Scotch malts. It prince
Let’s talk about theQshehnai
It is unfortunate that after Ustad Bismillah Khan, the shehnai did not grow in popularity, as it should have. But even today there are superb exponents of the instrument
arunabha deb
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Raising the bar Neelakanta Rao Jagdale, chairman and managing director of Amrut Distilleries, wants to familiarise his customers with the ‘single malt culture’ grn somashekar
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The nowhere people The ďŹ nal attempt at repatriation of the internally displaced Bru tribals of Mizoram has begun, but will they opt for it?
Camping out A view of the Naisingpaa
E
ighteen years ago, in O over to Tripura in the w ter in six relief camps i ities for demanding a r refugees still languish in the maa repatriat Since 2009, plans to repatriat limited success. In the six phasee Joint Committee of Brus (ANJC) of the Brus. The demands includ d ing of villages for their safety. O attempt at reintegration. The f which the names of those who tions will dry up and the relief c community live? At the camp, refugees continu u run rife, as families struggle witt government, under the Suprem m as no Bru tribal turns up for verr woman turned up last week, maa
ritu raj konwar Ferrying around Diagnosed with malaria, a Bru child rests in a makeshift cot at Naisingpara relief camp. She will be carried to the nearest hospital in the cradle
Right to vote Last year, voters in the camp used postal ballots. Seen here is a Bru couple who will lose their franchise if they don’t return to Mizoram by September
Pipe dream A Reang (Bru) man enjoys a smoke on his maktuk (pipe)
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Bear on Bru men from the Naisingpara camp carry a woman and her children
aara Bru refugee shelter, in northern Tripura, one of the six relief camps in the state
O October 1997, thousands of Bru tribals fled villages in Mizoram and crossed wake w of ethnic violence. Nearly 35,000 left their homes to seek temporary sheliin north Tripura. A minorty, the Brus alleged that they were subjected to atrocregional r council to preserve their rights and identity in Mizoram. Over 11,000 aakeshift camps in Kanchanpur sub-division, north of Agartala. atte t the Bru tribals, or the Reang, as they are known in Tripura, have met with es e of repatriation so far, fewer than 700 families have returned. The All NGOs has claimed that the Mizoram government has not accepted a single demand de d larger compensation packages, land for every family, free ration and groupO On June 2 this year, the ministry of home affairs began what might be the last ffamilies have been given a six-month deadline to return to Mizoram, after o have refused will be struck off the state’s voter list. The Centre-provided raccamps will also be shut down. Homeless and landless, where will this agrarian
ue u to live in deplorable conditions. Malnutrition, malaria and gastroenteritis tth poverty and illiteracy. Potable water is also in short supply. As the Mizoram me m Court’s watch, marches from relief camp to relief camp, counters sit empty rrification and repatriation. At Hamsapura, the third of the six camps, a lone aaking Porati the only Bru to have accepted the repatriation package so far.
No farewell to arms A Bru boy holds the barrel of the gun of a security personnel. Malnutrition, among other diseases, is widespread at the camps
No solution, no repatriation Protests at the Naisingpara camp. After six phases, this may be the home ministry and the Mizoram government’s final attempt at repatriation
Is anyone listening? Women hold banners at the Naisingpara camp, protesting the home ministry-led repatriation process
Safety patrol Security personnel keep vigil at the relief camps in Tripura, where over 11,000 refugees continue to reside
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Maximum A case ofmelody
reverse snobbery
A recent exhibition in Mumbai connected the dots between the neighbourhood of Girgaum and the evolution of Hindustani classical music
As connoisseurs toast a made-in-India single malt that first found fame in whisky heartland Scotland, Bengaluru-based Amrut Distilleries tastes success in a maturing home market
‘P
lease maintain silence, whisky is into a wine glass. Meyyappan covers the glass That is why you need to swirl a single malt sleeping.’ with his palm and swirls it. After the whisky whisky around your tongue.” To that MeyyapThe signage outside a warehouse has washed the inside of the glass, the senior pan adds, “A single malt whisky should be saof Amrut Distilleries, an hour’s executive smells it before taking a sip. Closing voured. You should take about half an hour to sip 30ml.” drive from Bengaluru, catches one off-guard. his eyes, he raises his chin just a Decidedly not the drink for Inside it is dark and quiet, as if to make doubly bit, as if waiting for the spirit to bingeing. The single malt whisky sure that the whisky in the barrels — over a hit his senses. Seconds later he reis elitist — few can afford it. While thousand of them — enjoy undisturbed sleep. opens his eyes and smiles. Handbraggarts flaunt it, only a conMade of oak and imported from the US, the ing over the glass, he instructs, A single malt whisky noisseur can savour and exbarrels are stacked on giant wooden shelves. A “Sip a little and swirl it around should be savoured. You should take pound on its tones and the note nailed to a shelf declares the room tem- your tongue to discover the flaintricacies of the barrel in which perature is 28°C and the humidity, 64 per cent. vours. Do you get an oaky vanilla about half an hour to sip 30ml it matured. “The higher the humidity and the lower the tone? That comes from the bartemperature, the less will the whisky matur- rel. And smokiness? That is the In a market like India, where few whiskies will actually qualify ing in the barrels evaporate,” informs M Mey- peat barley from Scotland.” Down memory laneTechnical. A road in Girgaum named after and colleague composer Bhaskarbua K Prakash,Bakhale generas ‘whisky’ owing to unchecked yappan, Director In Scotland, suchvocalistHis use of artificial flavours and inwhisky lost to evaporation is called angel’s al manager of production and he entrance to Kitab Mahal was began share, he adds. qualityto assurance, how theintaste buds sufficient maturation, single malt is rarer still. establishexplains its stronghold Mumbai age and He callsmusty over anwith attendant, whoconstruction uses a long- and, work.more “The specifically, back of the Girgaum tongue isassensitive to The premium spirit makes up just five per it was the dust.toI draw madeout mysome way up a creaky bitter tastes, thetrade sidesin tothe sourness andcentury. the tip cent of the Indian whisky market, the largest handled mug alcohol that centre of native mid-19th wooden staircase girded bypours an anof the tongue comes alive to anything sweet. has been ‘sleeping’ for four years and it This was also the period when kingdoms and in the world at 1.5 billion litres a year. cient banister and a wall full of exposed wir- principalities crumbled, and musicians lost ing. However, the fourth-floor gallery that was both their benefactors and performance Studio X was an entirely different space — spaces. Mumbai transformed into a place with modern, well-lit and resonating with the a host of opportunities amid its new economy sound of music. It is the perfect juxtaposition and thriving theatre scene, and attracted miof spaces for a show titled ‘Making Music, Mak- grants with varied skills. “New listening expeing Space’. It was just after closing hours and riences were enabled in a proliferation of new Thank you for the music (top) A young yet I was allowed to look around. A large public spaces — Parsi theatre, Marathi sangeet Gangubai Hangal by special arrangement; Ustad Alla sprawling flex on the wall announced the idea natak, the music club, the music school, the Rakha and Pandit Ravi Shankar were regular behind this aural and visual installation — an baithak in a wealthy patron’s home, the music performers at concerts in Girgaum amalgam of urban topography with cultural ‘conference’, and the concert stage in places the ravi shankar foundation practice and history. And underlike Laxmi Baug, Brahman Sabha lying it all was a love for Hindusor Jinnah Hall,” said Niranjana. spaces that witnessed some of the best baithtani classical music and its The exhibition unfolded aks of its time. The music in Girgaum was a enduring relationships with through different media — rare mix of styles, indigenous gharanas and tradiAn interview with neighbourhoods and communiphotographs, postcards, concert tions unusual in its aspect as it occupied a very Gangubai Hangal ties. A quote sprawled across the posters and handbills, 3D maps native space in an overwhelmingly colonial led to the birth of flex — ‘Yeh nagari mein lakh daras well as unheard-of recordings metropolis. Across the room, a video projecthis venture waaza’ (there are a lakh doors in and architectural details of the- tion by Surabhi Sharma took us inside several this city) is evocative for a newatres and concert halls. While Girgaum buildings. comer to Mumbai like me. many of these structures are in ‘Making Music, Making Space’ ruins, some have been torn down Play by the ear — an intersection of music, urban history, or repurposed. The exhibition chronicled a history which was film, photography and interviews — was curatMusic thrived within their walls with stal- as much about the practitioners as it was ed by cultural theorist Tejaswini Niranjana warts like Sawai Gandharva, Ustad Ali Akbar about the listeners. From the chaiwallahs and along with filmmaker Surabhi Sharma, archi- Khan, Ustad Alla Rakha, Pandit Ravi Shankar, instrument makers to doctors, lawyers and tectural theorist Kaiwan Mehta, architect So- Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Gangubai Han- housewives, the audience played an active nal Sundararajan and designer Farzan Dalal. gal and Bhaskarbua Bakhale on stage. A series part in the process. Rather than being the preThe project, which was three years in the mak- of interviews chronicled the memories of for- serve of the privileged few, as in the courtly ing, enjoyed support from the Mumbai Metro- gotten names like Dhondutai Kulkarni of the tradition, Hindustani classical music became politan Region-Heritage Conservation Society Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, who trained under Ke- a mohalla activity. The large number of musi(MMR-HCS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences sarbai Kerkar. cians who performed at the Ganeshotsav to and India Foundation for the Arts (IFA). An inpacked audiences bore testament to this popterview with the legendary Gangubai Hangal Neighbourhood strains ularity. The presence of women in the field — led to the birth of this venture. Niranjana attri- A large map of Girgaum spanned the entire as artistes, patrons, teachers and students — butes it to one particular statement: “Gangu- length of a wall and acted as visual metaphor was also illustrated with the help of photobai said that a performance in Bombay would of the centrality of this neighbourhood in the graphs, recordings and interviews. earn them ₹125, five times more than what a musical evolution. Specific roads and bylanes One of the best things to come out of this exconcert in Hubli would get them. That got me on the map had little pop-up cards with pic- hibition was a very real interaction with muthinking about the importance of the city in tures of buildings where the musicians lived, sic and spaces. After a gap of nearly 30 years, the development of Hindustani classical mu- schools where they would teach, small instru- live concerts were held in Laxmi Baug, one of sic at the turn of the century.” ment shops where they would congregate, the the fulcrums of the Girgaum musicophilia. The history pieced together was an inter- theatres and local clubs where they would perdiya kohli is a Mumbai-based New high Amrut Distilleries on Mysore Road, near Bengaluru, was for decades manufacturing and whisky brandsform, that were Army canteens before to premium single maltfreelance writer pretive pastiche. Hindustani rum classical music as popular well asin private homes andit turned publicits attention
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Indian-made premier liquor Road. Just a day earlier, Swedish connoisseurs was the first brand in the Indian market that Neelakanta Rao Jagdale is unfazed by the mar- had come calling. Meyyappan, who joined the didn’t use artificial flavours. Royal Stag’s runket (or lack of it). He has good reasons to be. company in 1972, the same year as Jagdale, is away success made a dent on Amrut’s bestsellThe second-generation promoter of Amrut also one of its two master blenders. He and er Prestige Blended Malt Whisky. “We had to Distilleries has tasted success where no other Prakash accompany visitors on their tour of reinvent. Single malt whisky was unknown,” liquor entrepreneur in India has managed to. the distillery, patiently explaining how barley recounts Jagdale. As the matured spirit piled Eleven years ago, he and his son Rakshit is converted into malt, which is ground, up in the warehouse, Jagdale decided to experlaunched the Amrut brand in the very home brewed, fermented, distilled and transferred iment with single malt whisky. “It was an inevof single malt — Scotland. In 2010, one of its to the barrels for maturing. The tour ends on a itable need to continue in the business,” he variants, Amrut Fusion, was ranked the third high note — a tasting of the single malts. adds. Today, in a corner of the distillery lies a finest whisky in the world by Jim Murray in his “Amrut is a genuine product story. It is the small mash tun (a vessel for mashing malt in Whisky Bible. first of its kind from the Indian market to do hot water) that was used by Jagdale in the iniThe high praise from Murray helped Jagdale well overseas,” says Santosh Kanekar, former tial days to test single malt, a long way before break into the domestic market. This year he marketing head of the Indian arm of multina- Amrut was introduced in Scotland. hopes to sell 20 per cent more than the 15,000 tional Diageo and a liquor industry consultThat happened when Rakshit was doing a cases of single malt he sold in 2014. Half of ant. “In India, people mostly buy single malt project for his management course in the UK’s them were bought in India and the rest in the for two reasons — as a status symbol or for the Newcastle University in 2001. Jagdale, eager to 38 countries the company is present in. love of it. With Amrut, there is a case test the single malt he had brewed, Amrut’s single malt variants are priced of reverse snobbery, of drinkasked his son to supply a samfrom ₹3,000 to over ₹7,000 (750ml bottle) in ing an Indian single malt ple to the local pub. “It was India. Two years ago, the company came out that first became popular in Pot Still, a 145-year-old with a special variant — Amrut 10 Year Old in Scotland.” pub in Glasgow, that we Greedy Angels — for Jagdale’s 60th birthday; first tested Amrut sinthe limited edition of 320 bottles cost over Driven by necessity gle malt whisky. ₹60,000 each. They sold out in two days. Jagdale’s corporate Those who blind“The whisky market in India may have office in Bengalutasted it compared shrunk a little this year. But the single malt ru’s Rajajinagar is the whisky to the segment is still growing, slowly. nondescript. But it should be accorded far more attention and regard than comes his best found in ScotLeft out Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussainalbeit Khan (left) is theWe reigning shehnai maestro (who way); hope toShankar sell 20,000 casesShankar this year,” Jagkumaran pushpakar Ashwani and Sanjeev form asays robust duo shiv has important land,” recounts dale. Apart from selling more, the 62-year-old legacy. It was once Rakshit. Three years wants to familiarise his customers with the owned by Nobel laulater, Jagdale launched ‘single malt culture.’ reate CV Raman. In the his brand at an Indian MANJH KHAMAJ The company website prominently displays conference room is a citarestaurant called Café Inan invitation to visit its distillery on Mysore tion from a senior Army offidia in Glasgow. cer thanking the company for sending 600 cases of free Single malt from the rum to soldiers fighting in Himalayas the Kargil War with PakisJagdale is now sitting pretty. Each place has tan. Close by is a framed Amrut Distilleries clocked its own flavour. A malt newspaper clipping of an in₹272 crore last year, selling whisky from the Himalayas terview with Jim Murray 5.2 million cases. Back in would be interesting… we praising Amrut Fusion. 1972, when Jagdale joined his can develop single malts Jagdale’s personal office father’s business, the compafrom different parts of the in the building was earlier ny had sold 80,000 cases. “It country, including the used by Raman. A table on is not a dramatic increase. north-east one side displays Amrut SinBut we are fine with it,” says ditya Vikram Sengupta’s recently re- gle nent andAhis sons and Ashwani Shan- connoisseurs of Hindustani Malt. shelf onSanjeev the other music. This and was the man, whose interest leased film Asha Jaoar Majhe (Labour side kar holds form books, a robust duo; Pandit Rajendra not the case withpromotion miniature the shehnai perhaps beof —swimming is of Love) has inspired a spate of re- idols Prasanna, though a much superior flautist, is cause it did not have of gods and goddesses, someone in likeBengaluru. Chaurasia. well-known views and commentary, not to men- and also bottles formidable on theThere shehnai. The distance He took the baton of whisky. from Ghosh and through Rakshit represented the tion impassioned discussions on social media. is between and labelled Ustad Bismillah Khan is his virtuosity andcountry also a them tiny box innovation to say nothing in —the Asian Age I won’t comment on the film because Sengup- BeeKwick. considerable — to though I have often that Group “It is treat deficiency of felt vitamin of his Championships charm — made in it more 1989. popular than ta and I have been friends since we were seven. B12. Ustad Aliproduce Ahmed Hussain ratherfoundaclose — Ghosh We it undercomes our family could imagined. Jagdale is thehave president of theSignificantly, BengaluruIt is impossible for me to view the film objec- tion,” but that should not be a reason for the decline based says Jagdale. Chaurasia developedAquatic a playing style athat was Basavanagudi Centre, publictively. However, it would perhaps not be im- of The the instrument. interest in pharmaceuticals is not inci- private markedly different from of Ghosh. eninitiative that hasthat trained moreHe than proper to mention a specific aspect of the dental. UstadJagdale’s Bismillah KhanJN established the shehfather, Radhakrishna, who one suredlakh thatyoungsters. there was aWell-known ‘Pannalal style’ and a swimmers film: the use of Ustad Bismillah Khan’s sheh- founded nai as a Hindustani instrument. The shehnai the company in 1948, was “70 per such ‘Chaurasia style’. On the Nisha shehnai, there as Arjuna Awardees Millet andwas Renai in the opening and closing sequences. Al- cent was originally a folk instrument — some say han chemist and 30 per cent distiller.” Jagdale only Poncha the ‘Bismillah style’. Khan’s successors have fine-tuned their strokes most every discussion on the film mentions was that 24 it when formed part of military ensembles — here. Radhakrishna passed away, forchad immense talent, but they did not have The Jagdale family’s foundation also the shehnai piece — a composition in Raga Ti- ing but the musicians with royal patronage youngster to take charge. It was develwhile builds Chaurasia’s innovative swimming pools.vision, or the stardom lak Kamod set to Jhaptaal. I am heartened by spearheading oped it in the context Hindus- Rewdale Prea groupofcompany, that necessary to propel a Meanwhile at the is distillery, the experiments this not because of the praise heaped on Sen- cision tani music. was a tradition Tools,There a joint venture with a Swiss firm, never stop. Thelesser-practised instrument. latest is a rye whisky popular gupta’s choice of track and its transcendental that of Hindustani classical Jagdale realised theshehnaiimportance of a good in the US and Canada. The association thewill shehThe facility of itself be effect in the film, but because after a long time product, playing before Khan, but hegeography. gave irrespective of its “There nai with weddings has not expanded. Jagdale owns a four-acre plot next It is often argued that people are talking about the shehnai. it a permanent among was no problemplace in selling anexIndianafter product helped the instrument’s cause. a new distillery and warehouses will Ustad door; Bismillah The instrument has all but disappeared in isting Hindustani Europe as long as instruments it was of good quality and Its overuse at weddings as backcome up to cater to the increasing demand for Khan’s death in 2006, from major Hindustani music festivals; it was like the sitar and the specifications sarod. His the according to the of the cliground music somewhat diAmrut single malt whisky. “We just need to instrument has not barely succeeds in getting an annual slot. The ent,” debutherecital in Calcutta in 1937 reasons. its stature as a he serious keep sure the quality never dips,” says. had an ambassador ofthatlutes Dover Lane Music Conference, after many at Years the Alllater, IndiainMusic Conference the late 1990s, an opportunity classical Traditionnow isinstrument. to broaden the single great calibre.Jagdale’s This is focus years, had a shehnai recital this year. The Ra- arose was a watershed listento test thatmoment: belief. The family had gone North Indianwants weddings malt portfolio.ally, The entrepreneur to sell not true makrishna Mission Institute of Culture in Kol- through ers wereaforced to acceptafter thatthe demise of more but is constrained ‘reorganisation’ had a shehnai performby theplayer limited capacikata, to the best of my knowledge, still has Jagdale’s the shehnai did hold possimother. The the pharmaceuticals busi- ty of the Mysore ing live facility. to welcome Road Last guests. year, heThat was place for a shehnai recital at their annual mu- ness bilities of full-fledged exposition went to his brother (that company, Jag- scouting for a location is different from playing in Himachal Pradesh toa sic festival. The Sawai Gandharva festival (now dale of Hindustani music. Industries, was in the news last year for build a new distillery ‘Shhadi in ki the Shehnai’ CD Himawhile lap of the renamed the Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Ma- selling It is unfortunate after Khan, the instruits popular that brand ORS-L to Johnson & layas. guests“Each eat. place has its own flavour. A malt hotsav) used to reserve one slot for the sheh- Johnson ment didfor notnearly grow₹700 in popularity, as itthe should crore), while pre- whisky Of late, thethe shehnai has would made be aninterestappearfrom Himalayas nai, but they dispensed with that in their 2015 cision have. The bansuri shares similar history, tools business wasamanaged by his but sis- ing,” ance says in popular music, most notably inDirecYe Jo the Chairman and Managing itinerary. has found greater popularity than was the tor, ter’s family.much Although Amrut Distilleries Des who Hai Tera The day Dichotomy of likes (Swades) to round and off each with two Many believe that after Ustad Bismillah doing shehnai. Pandit it pegs well withPannalal its massGhosh brandsintroduced in rum and Fameof (Rockstar). Nothing beout better than single malt. “I keepcould trying different Khan’s death in 2006, the instrument has not whisky, in the Hindustani in in the ’30s; by 1967, which were foray popular the Army’s Can- single if Khan’s Tilak Everyone Kamod inlikes Labour helpsI malts. to ofdoLove that… had an ambassador of great calibre. This is not teen whenStores Pandit HariprasadaChaurasia recorded Department, problem was never- think bring we back shehnai into conversations canthe develop single malts from differtrue. Ustad Ali Ahmed Hussain Khan is the theless Call of the Valley with Pandit Shiv Kumar Shar- ent brewing. and ultimately festivals. parts of to the country, including the reigning maestro (who should be accorded far maMultinational (santoor) andSeagrams Pandit Brijhad Bhushan Kabra north-east.” introduced more attention and regard than comes his Royal (slide Stag, guitar), thethat bansuri had ofalready a whisky had a blend Indian arunabha deb is a Kolkata-based lawyer and music thomas shubhodeb@hotmail.com writer mathews way); Pandit Daya Shankar is a superb expo- grain achieved acceptance amongst listeners and spirits and imported Scotch malts. It prince
Let’s talk about theQshehnai
It is unfortunate that after Ustad Bismillah Khan, the shehnai did not grow in popularity, as it should have. But even today there are superb exponents of the instrument
arunabha deb
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Raising the bar Neelakanta Rao Jagdale, chairman and managing director of Amrut Distilleries, wants to familiarise his customers with the ‘single malt culture’ grn somashekar
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Fatal attraction An implausible book, this is an arrestingly unhinged account of life as a self-proclaimed Roger Federer fan dipankar
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he silliest thing I have read so far this Federer enters Skidelsky’s life at a stable year, or for many a year, is the suggesti- point. Skidelsky had fallen out of love with tenon that Roger Federer, very probably nis as it turned into a serving contest in the ’90s, the greatest tennis player in the titans hurling boulders at each other until Samsport’s short open era history, is an underachiev- pras won. Skidelsky had been a player of moderer. It is journalist and self-proclaimed Fedophile ate promise as a boy but had given up the game William Skidelsky’s contention, deep into his in a pique, angered at being patronised as the memoir of sporting obsession, Federer and Me, “sporty” one in an intellectual family. Years of that Federer, like the cricketer Graeme Hick and therapy, a job as a junior literary editor at an ausnooker player Jimmy White (Skidelsky’s ridicu- gust weekly magazine, and a steady relationship lous examples not mine), “when the really big help him relax enough to pick up tennis again as tests came, failed to live up to expectations.” an adult. Inspired by victories over flabby, uncoWhat tests? Whose expectations? My use of ordinated writers and publishers, he joins a ten‘open era’, when describing Federer as the great- nis club, starts to watch the game and est tennis player in history, is arguably too cau- rediscovers Roger Federer. tious. Only in 1968 did tennis become ‘open’, Skidelsky only begins watching Federer in that is permit professionals to compete along- earnest in late 2006, on a trip to visit his brother side amateurs for the most prestigious titles in in Shanghai. “I remember leaping off the sofa, the sport, the championships in Melbourne, Pa- dancing with joy,” writes Skidelsky, “my exclaris, London and New York. Since then, no player mations mingling with the utterances of the SHOVON CHOWDHURY is what Federer and Me has been as successful as Federer. Perhaps, only Chinese commentators.” He was having William Skidelsky chief Truthdigger and author Rod Laver — whose feat of winning the Grand David Foster Wallace famously called a “Federer Yellow Jersey Press of The Competent Authority ₹946 Slam (all four majors in a single calendar year) moment”. Skidelsky owes a lot to ‘Roger Federer twice, in 1962 before the open era, and in 1969, is as Religious Experience’, Foster Wallace’s 2006 with a thorough of the IndiRates willas vary Hindu Business Line considers corruption tounparalleled — has asunderstanding strong an argument as Fe- spontaneous profile for thecombustion. New York Times. It was, the title whether an youexercise order in peak apbe a heinous offence, second only to thederer. an Still, Penalout Code. represents a huge market depending onsuggests, of It respect for the inaecstatic state.Federer MP andwas UP are consumption of non-veg. After a while, heachievements opportunity. is India’s of What the likes of Pan-biggest prob- state or an off-peak preciation. not the such cases, wepiece would today?and What is threatening stops swivelling. He picks up the currencycho lem Gonzales Lew Hoad, Bill law and or- peak states. Insubject of the sorecommuch as its our premium witness ser- Walder,and without which there can be no society? mend going for notes and places them in a neat stack on hisTilden Donald Budge, I prefer object, “a creature”, as Foster The silliest thing to is an Iraq A shortage table. Despite easy availability, his respectto use ‘open era’ofaswitnesses. a qualifier.At witness.com we vice, where each lace witness wrote, “whose bodywar is both read this year is a bazooka andlight.” a per- The provide youthough, with reliable, dura- veteran equipped for money remains high. He offers me a There iswill little doubt, fleshwith and, somehow, Skidelsky’s bundle. “Would you like some invest- that Federerble, high-quality exactly sonal assault vehicle. additional is the open era’s witnesses, most chapterFor on beauty andsecurisport is Skicontention that system paraphrase tracks all and police as player: per your All wit- ty, our GPS delsky’s ment?” he says. “Maybe you distinguished he requirement. has won gloss of Federer is an will come the witness to avoid could start a news portal? more thannesses Borg, Nadal and with Sam- a three-year personnel, enabling Foster Wallace’s argument. underachiever sudden death, someEveryone else is.” I smile which can be ex- them. This prevents pras; he has beenwarranty, more consistent Very little in Federer and Me, retended for a nominal thing which occurs regularly the and decline. We do not than Lendl; he has been the longest leasedvery in the UK last when month, in fact, witnesses. this trust the internet. It sum.played Each witness police interact serving number one; he has is with original. Even Why the insightful mystery. Scientists suspect comes with a security happens is apoint could be a fad. “Tell me with more imagination and touch, about Federer’s forehand a food taster some of virus. Untileastern, the mystery about witness.com.” creativity and brilliance,guard, for more sustained grip, aform so-called modified being is on the a matter of policy, we at witness“It’s an idea whose andIfa he fireisextinguishspells than John McEnroe. an under- solved, cusp ofas tradition and modernity, is gleaned keeping our farthat away time has come,” says achiever, even accounting er, for in theorder scaletoofprehis .com fromare elsewhere. Thiswitnesses is not toas say Skidelpolice as possible. Plus currently Shivram. “It combines gifts, what does that make the vent rest of shooting, us? Those from sky’s the observations are without interest. He is are running one-plus-one offer.” between or we the best features of Uber of us sitting on sofas watching,poisoning mouths stupidly good on the aRomantic distinction open, as he hits a lob between his legs over a six- beauty and the sublime, the former’s cosy order and-a-half-foot giant. At nearly 34, when most and the latter’s capacity to evoke awe and terror. tennis players are either retired or nominal Federer’s game, Skidelsky accurately observes, is presences, Federer is still the second best player both beautiful and sublime. There is also a fine in the world and, at the time of writing, in the passage about a drop volley: “Such dramatic desemifinals at Wimbledon. celeration, apart from anything else, seemed to But none of this, not the 17 majors, not the 302 contravene the first law of thermodynamics about the future.” “What does it look like?”weeks at number 1 (237 of them consecutive) not (the one about energy never being created or deI ask. She pauses briefly to sniff my note-the 25 major finals (10 of them consecutive), is stroyed but merely changing). What had Federgrowwith yourall food requirements in yourtouch s theascompetition in India’s book. I push her head away. “It looks veryenough. Skidelsky, becomes evident overgrothe will er done that power?” Federer’s or on your balcony.isInanything case youbut do as he cery segment intensifies, vir- garden, bad,” she says. “In some Haryana villages,course of this arrestingly unhinged book,the needs may be delicate, Skidelsky’s tuousascycle of innovation hasa not havethat a balcony, will construct the male-female ratio for newborns is 10:5.to think of Federer a failure, needs to find credits volley we with helping himone recover you, funds from invesbegun. Amongst unconfirmed This means two boys for every girl. Everway to associate Federer with “pathos”. Skidel- for from theusing sadness of anacquired abortion: “I was returned rumoursathat speedybazar.com will notchildonly tors eager to Indian eco-To assince the news began to spread, young mensky, despite cosseted home counties to myself, toparticipate my life, to in mythe girlfriend...” miracle. Within minutes of isyou your groceries, also feed have been eyeing us thoughtfully. The at-hood,deliver is unhappy, unable tobut reconcile histhem love nomic cribe such powers to Federer’s game not just order, our delivery boy, who is to you, several players launched a newa placing mosphere was becoming tense. Chickensfor sport with his desire tohave impress his father, fancifulyour but disturbing. scheme,academic which could way we already under your dining will har-age as are naturally nervous, and theyprominent andtransform life peer.theHowever I wanted to like this book.table, I’m the same the produce, bag it in special vegetables. were becoming jumpy. Evenhardconsume William works to win a scholarship to Eton, vest Skidelsky; I was a literary editor at atamperweekly mag“We want to provide consumers proof, ultra-hygienic and de-or six the cows began to worry.be admitted to Oxford, get aour respectable job, he azine; I play tennis forpackaging, 90 minutes five liver itatoweek yourand kitchen. return for a backthein full experience,” saysshadow. a None of us belong to Azamfeels with trapped hissabzi father’s admonitory mornings have In a one-handed of personal privacy, has younothsabziwala.com, a re- too hand;small Khan, so we knewWhatrepresentative a consolation of then that Roger Federer I’m a loss Federer fan. But Skidelsky willto seesay. a massive increase in serviceabout cent entrant. “Ourfail algorithm will the police wouldshould struggle, should to solve the problem ing new He shows no curiosity levels. As this is a new concept, we track your It’s consumption, not help us. Weposed by Nadal. implausible,assisted but a plangent Federer’s game beyond his own overwrought by aof small observer stationed under will do Skidelsky concept-selling. Please stay had no choice.” A sin-account life as a Federer fan makes for an im- impressions. is enamoured of “the tuned for upcoming ad be your book. dining table. Once we gle tear trickles down her cheek. “Myplausible idea of something lost,our an idyll that cannot superhave analysed your consumpfamily has lived peacefully in Haryaretrieved”. Hecampaign, picked thefeaturing wrong player to supstar being Aamir as in the tion patterns, our specially na for generations. But it was time port. If any human stillKhan gambols paradismallFederer. observer.” trained horticulturalists for us to leave.” se, it is surely Roger Champion moment Roger Federer has spent 302
TECH GURU TO LAUNCH WITNESS.COM! “I
ndia needs durable witnesses,” says Shivram, visionary and tech guru. “Technology can provide the answer.” His head is shaven, his goatee neatly trimmed. His desk is covered in money. “People are constantly coming and throwing money at me,” he explains. “I’ve given strict instructions to my receptionist, but sometimes they overpower her and get through. I don’t really blame them. India is hot. Everyone wants a piece of the action. For someone like me, with a proven track record, it’s raining money. Literally. See?” He presses a button, and large denomination currency notes pour down on his head from a vent in the ceiling. “Whee!” he says, swivelling in his swivel chair, as the cash rains down. I curb the impulse to pick up a note or two. The
LIVESTOCK FLEE HARYANA!
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n news that has been condemned by PETA, Amnesty International and the RSS, domestic animals have begun to flee Haryana in large numbers. This has led to a drop in the supply of both milk and eggs, and is causing widespread depression across the state. According to sources, a better understanding of statistical data has triggered this exodus. “Statisticians have revealed that the male-female ratio in Haryana has come down to 10:8,” says Basanti, a middle-aged goat from Sonepat, who has recently crossed the border. “But that figure is for all women and all men. Looking at it this way shows a very poor understanding of data analytics. We need to look at the ratio amongst newborns in the last 12 months. This will give us an idea
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GROCERY APPS TO ENTER AGRICULTURE SEGMENT!
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weeks at number one, won 17 majors and been in 25 afp/justin tallis major finals The Investigator is a monthy round-up of all things droll and newsy. All views are personal. Really personal t@shovonc
shougat dasgupta is a freelance journalist
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Doubly unsure Picture imperfect THE CRITICAL ISSUE
The book may not have all the answers about the biggest double-murder mystery in contemporary India, but the questions it raises about the trial are too important to ignore The #selfiewithdaughter campaign shows that India’s sense of commitment towards its women is only photo-deep
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Aarushi Avirook Sen Penguin Non-fiction ₹299
Urvashi Butalia is an editor, publisher and director of Zubaan
Travesty of fate Nupur and Rajesh Talwar arrive at the special CBI court in Ghaziabad to hear the verdict in the twin murder case of their daughter Aarushi and No light matter domestic help Hemraj Vituperative attacks pti on social media have revealed the deepdence), and emails to the Talwars seated misogynysent from an email account named afterpeople Hemraj, among fromSen amply various proves that even though it backgrounds is unclear if the par-
outed as one of the biggest double- comes alive. That the investigation was bunmurder mysteries in India, is the gled from the beginning is well-known, not story of 13-year-old Aarushi Talwar only from the fact that nobody even bothered k murali kumar and her family’s domestic help, to check Hemraj’s room when he was a sus- ents were the killers, the CBI at least was simHemraj. These are the facts, as we know them. pect on the first day, but also that famous ply out to get them. way or another, thehelp question When ne temporary domestic BhartiofManmedia willconference help — although it may not be Gurdaren- ing evidence press at which UP Police’s over 90 perthe cent of the run sex- into In thethat third section, Talwars sexual violence has refused go the dal came to work on Friday, May 16,to 2008, tirelyshan without thepuzzlingly potential to addtantalisingly some kind deSingh and ual violence women (and someTheir men)case facelands is in further fortuitous trouble. theTalwar agenda in India in the last house off of the dentist-couple was locked of awareness — but is no doubt that in- and scribed to thethere country that Aarushi fromthe known and much it within courtpeople of judge Shyamof Lal, popularly few years. Much ofwife, this threw is duethe to keys from outside. Nupur, the creases in thewere health and in education budgets, but Hemraj found an ‘objectionable families andas the home. known Sazaa Lal. He was a hard worker, his the relentless pressure from women’s down to her from the balcony, andgroups Mandal on coupled campaigns to create more not with compromising position’. Thesafety case was It also comes from work anotherwhen strongothers’ principleoften court would to keep the issue alive —saw now it is being entering the house thethat daughter, Aarushi, and security for girls andtowomen will. then handed over the CBI, where further that wouldn’t; those opposing the recognition mariif the stenographer didof not turn up, talked about, now silence is broken, it lying dead inthat her the blood-splattered bedroom, Butdiscrepancies this is whatarose. is notSen happening. Health looks quite closely intal rape a crime refuse to accept: that womLal as would take down testimonies by hand. musther notthroat be allowed to disappear. slit; Hemraj was missing. and education have been the to to the timebudgets AGL Kaul of the CBIslashed, was assigned en are equal of India about and therefore “But therecitizens was something the AarushiBut itThe is equally due also to thebecame deep-seated case immediately breaking number rape crisis centres is down to less in headofthe investigation. While not everyone individuals havemade rights, just Lal likework theirjust a Hemraj who trial that Shyam angernews. and misogyny that fills minds The headlines werethe about theand danger than the a tenth what wasof promised. ClearlyKaul the was CBIofapproved his methods, malelittle counterparts do, reason to feel and safeobvious in all — harder. The wasbe fairly hearts of so many of our people. Take the case commitment ‘servants’ posed to their wealthy employers. a very thin environments, whether known asisa only manphoto-deep, who could get private public,case in he this was the or biggest of theThe most recent Narendra campaign next morning, after Modi Aarushi was crematlayerthe indeed. job done at a cost, Sen rewhich they function. And that includes themost would adjudicate, India’s of #selfiewithdaughter. of fathers ed, a retired policeHundreds officer noticed drops of Selfies are notalso the had onlyaissue. Another ques- right not to be violated ports. Kaul preference physically or mentally, anticipated murder trial in re(interesting that Prime and Minister blood on thethe staircase; whendid thenot door to tion that’s been hotly debated is for prurience. anywhere, at any time, any circent memory. Andinwhen it comUnder no thinkthe of selfies sent in their pic-partly terracewith wasmothers) forced open, Hemraj’s that of “Kaul marital rape and(a whethand Dahiya deputy dicumstance. Just marital menced, thebecause judge knew he had circumstances would tures.decomposed But when feminists questions body was raised discovered. This had er orrector not it at should have been in- labthe forensic science rape just takesunder place awithin the instiyear and a half to Lal allow the case to aboutthe the campaign itself (as activist Kavita cluded nation in a tizzy. in theinnew (2013) law on oratory Gandhinagar, whose tution of itmarriage, wrap up. He wassupposedly due to retire in Healthgo and education beyond his last Krishnan did), abusethe and venomOver thethey nextfaced few years, case remained sexual assault rape. Predicthelp Kaul and requested for the case) something sacrosanct, does not OfNovember 2013,” Sen writes. budgetsworking have been day ous attacks, many of some them sensational carrying thinlyin the news with discovery ably, set theout arguments have two beentasks: to accomplish meanten, it isthe notTalwars a crime.weren’t allowed slashed, the number veiledreported sexual innuendo. every few months. The Talwars were fierce, mostly the part of polisettle on on a new murder weapon Take different,evidence but parallel ar- it to aintroduce because of rape crisis centres One of the offenders was we theread, benign and be- and part of an orgy circle, or Aarushi ticians, that law should notout, be al— the khukri was now since a gument. Murder is athe crime. Anywould lengthen proceedings, is down to less than nevolent looking figure’ of Star Plus and se- the Hemraj were‘father in a sexual relationship lowed inside the bedroom,had thatto be surgical instrument where it takes place, at and under no whether circumstances a tenth of what rials, father Alok killed Nath. them Clearly, can be very in alooks bout of honour rage. marriage is a sacrament, re- could be the sus- would Lal the weapon, so that athat doctor home orthe outside. imaginehis a last allow case toNow go beyond was promised deceptive as the experience of been so many Like—most of you, I too have following lations between and pect (even ifhusbands he was a dentist, not a surgeon workingscenario wheresuggests. a man forces his day, the book Sen’s descripwomen cancase be hidden behind the shows: Aarushimuch murder with great interest. wivesand are so a ‘private affair’. were the suspects associated with it); tion of what wife happens to have sex him and if in awith courtroom crawling the benevolence we may not even enough dream evi- Whether Even thoughthat I knew there wasn’t or not the State, — inhere they had Gur- with gun-toting and to establish a motive she refuses, he flies intoand a rage security guards lawyers of until confronted by it.to believe the version that dence, I preferred termsdarshan of its institutional Singh’s earlierarms, statements to fall back who frequently and killscome her. Will we say that theother to blows with each Alok Nath, many others whoI attacked held the and parents responsible. would much in this law,would has a place in the private and on.case Butthe this require leavening first is act, which to ledread. to the second, is not a shocking Kavita Krishnan the abusive way rather makeinpeace with the factthey thatdid, a crazy lives kneading of people,the or inside bedroom and the doughthe again. The central theme crime, If but secondinone, thethe account the inextricably book is true,conand Sen did not stop ask themselves: could they kind oftofather did this inhow a moment of rage family, something that hasheavily long been a subin is the new theory relied on the personnected to the first,convincing is? Surely even the most makes many arguments, it vois clear, express such verbal violence towards wom- to than believe that it is possible forasomeone ject of among feminist and lifealdiscussion details of the Talwars; theirgroups profession, ciferous of the of marriage evendefenders to someone whosanctity preferred to believe the an while at into the same time claim to be proud fa- the come the house and kill a child while activists. wasrelationship after considerable thought style,Ittheir with their daughter — will see the irrationality of such arguments. parents guilty, that the Talwars have faced not thersparents of daughters? Surely is room. a and and slept through it inthere the next debate on this women’swith groups crucially, her that relationships boys. To Nearly years into our lifebut as an independjust a70travesty of justice, also a travesty of connection somewhere that they arebook missing? Therefore, when Avirook Sen’s on the infought for the this, law Kaul on domestic accomplish turned hisviolence, attention to, ent nation, it’s time wenot recognised women as one fate. Aarushi does have all the answers Indeed, although quick vestigation andmany trial, fathers Aarushi,were landed on my which, very firmly, long arm of put the this, and there isn’tbrings a morethe delicate way to citizens of this country. time hopes it does aboutPerhaps the case.it’s But it istoto its to send their pictures,aside not one of themright desk,inI set everything and jumped law into people’s private lives. Aarushi’s vagina,” Sen writes. stop credit takingthat selfies withseveral them and it raises new defending and important raisedinto theit.question: Where will change and TheirThrough continuing demand that marital rape that a series of events, golf clubs theirquestions. rights instead? For followers of the biggest doubleimprovement in women’s actually come Although Sen’s booklives starts off with the murbe recognised as the crime that it is, comes go missing and then found again,out blood- murder mystery in contemporary India, this from?der, It’sit is unlikely that aand photo social— the in the second thirdon sections of the same thinking and out of overwhelmstained pillow covers which are ignored at one is a must-read. blink@thehindu.co.in investigation and the trial of the Talwars in first and then incorrectly tagged and named the Ghaziabad district court — that it truly (and thereby rendered inadmissible as evi- veena venugopal
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The undisputed queen Whispers in the wind ON THE SHELF
Lalitgate is too minor an offensive to breach Vasundhara Raje’s fortress in Rajasthan WP Hodgkinson’s The Eloquent Silence is a series of hymns to the spiritual embodied in the physical world t a meeting of the BJP’s national ex- ers to go on for hours.)” She coolly continued sive attitude. anita roy
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And so in the run-up to assembly elections for another half-hour, wound up and descendin 2008, rebellion erupted with powerful mined with queenly hauteur. As she or told me a few years in her sur- ate isters such—as KiroriasLal Meena andaDevi Singh distance, catching sight of alater majestic rowan name comes a revelation, miracle. prisingly husky, attractive voice,He it isdescribes not easy Bhati resigning the state toin fight crowned with scarlet berries.” What Edmundfrom de Waal does cabinet for touch The as rebels theEyes, BJP’s official candidates. for aflight woman negotiate power structures in Hare the of to birds and identifies their songs with against the Amber Hodgkinson does, 65 The big Thakurs Bhairon Shekhawat, the BJP its patriarchal, often sexist with thewith practised ease of someone whoinstihas years earlier, for — hearing. HeSingh describes listenJaswant Singh,the Rajnath — tutional spent longsub-culture. hours doing “You nothing but being ing to the wind, his garden hub ofSingh a giant can’t imagine the extent with to ears and eyes invisible wheel: formed a pressure group at the outside in the countryside “Down [the] spokes travel whichopen. some of these people pushinRaje wide many voicesCentre that Itohear thearound. winds; True and can go,” she confided in naturalists what I her from spirit,the thewoods, queenfragrant fought Hodgkinson, like all — and all whether theytocome Shekhawat struggled get thoughtfor wasthat a rare moment of andWith writers, matter — is first foremost with pine andback. primrose, or whether theyto blow 160 legislators tickets allotted to hisweeping cronies and feminine complicity. an observer. He paints his subject with few but blustering and on firmly by herfrom side, Amberley, it I could evocated imagine, lines, giveninthe His son-in-law brilliantly a serieswas of sharp, the way, alwaysrelatives. sure of a message: for they understood that I am close glee sketches. with which her for example, Narpat Singh deft TheMPs piedfrom wagtail, is Raje never come without news.”Rajvi was kept waitdislodging from own party little handed out copies ing till the last minute he “a dapper gentleman and Over and above thebefore rich lyriRajasthan will be was allocated the party ticket. it of the personal walks in ascurrilous dignified but most efficism of his visual descriptions, difficult, if not did notwhich stop charges against herupon in the cient manner even wetdiand isThe this infighting faculty of hearing impossible vorce petition filed by her eseven after thethe BJP book. lost the elecslippery slates or tiles.” illuminates “SomeHe paints his subject tions. andat Jaswant tranged Hemant But it ishusband his intention not to times IShekhawat stand and look the tree with few but Singh. From theor dizzy heights Singh the back. pot So boiling merely describe identify but to and thekept tree looks that I brilliantly evocated through theof myself, rebellious Ghanof victory assembly go beyond. in “I 2003 have taken many say, in spite ‘Be still my lines,in in a series polls which sawlocal Raje being crowned queen shyamof Tiwari,heart, Gulab Singh others. liberties with inhabitants these Kataria great and trees are sharp,aldeft To sketches make matters worse, Rajnath Singh, who the desert state, circumstances and the local geography, believ-had vastly prayers.’ It is then that I know at the time, tered byitthe end hertoterm. Allegations of was BJP president ing that is not myofjob record, my place in theappointed universe;Arun and corruption, and the rising clout of Chaturvedi, asuddenly relativelyI feel inexperienced party but rather tonepotism invest with mystery so small that alpresident wishes. upstarts likeI Lalit Moditosurfaced the things see; not describeregularly. Par- worker, as BJPmost I denyagainst myself,Raje’s and become, ty workers and thebut RSStosatraps suchbut heights in the state the commonplace, robe constantly Factionalism reached not a being, a breath of wind unit thatover Rajnath Singh asked Raje to resign complained and dismisthe ordinaryof inher the inaccessibility splendid vestments of the passing into space.” the Leader Opposition’s post. She first unusual.” The Eloquent Silence is less a guide- from In some ways, of Hodgkinson is the forefather refused to comply and when she it was book than a missal, a series of hymns to the of the modern nature-writing bratdid, packers — with the same spirit of defiance. Raje William came to spiritual embodied in the physical world, the Roger Deakins, Robert Macfarlane, Delhi andHelen submitted her resignation to Advaphysical as it mirrors the soul. Fiennes, Macdonald, John Lewis-Stemni, refusing to acknowledge One of the most powerful passages for me pel and the like. Yet in otherRajnath ways heSingh. has, perBut she survived, gettingtore-elected Leadwas his description of a typical English No- haps, a closer affinity earlier as writers, er of Opposition in 2013, just a few months bevember day — “a wash, a waste, a weariness of mystics and thinkers. At times he comes fore theasnext assembly elections were due. Her damp, fog and cold… Everything seemed to across a sort of English Chief Seattle, an ecodetractors had been weakened mirror the greyness of my mood — from the logical visionary withsignificantly china cups and scones by then. Shekhawat had passed away, Jaswant sad, slow heave of the ploughed fields to the at tea time. Or perhaps his lineage can be Singh’sback popularity ongreat the wane and and Rajweary gesticulations of the waving larches.” traced to that was other madman nath William Singh was distracted by the developChancing upon a late wood anemone — a poet, Blake. They do seem to be on the mentsquest: at the national Andofsosand in and the windflower, to give it its common, affection- same To see a worldlevel. in a grain assembly in December Raje heaven in aelections wild flower/Hold infinity in2013, the palms consolidated and secured position. She of your hand and eternity in anher hour. ensured her wanting loyalists to were majority I foundthat myself findinout more when tickets were distributed andfrustrated. swept the about this author — and being polls with a staggering outon of the total There is nothing about160 him Net, 200 and seatsFacebook in the assembly. In the subsequent the page for The Eloquent Silence Lok has Sabha polls, Rajasthan was the big no photo, no text and ‘0 people likesecond this topic.’ Gujarat where thetriangulate BJP secured all Istate haveafter no references to help him, theplace 25 parliamentary seats. or him in context: who he was, where he From this vantage point, it is difficult to excame from, who read him. The only other pect Raje’s toThe be breached byaaGarden minor book of hisfortress is called Kingdom is offensive based onyet her to Lalit Modi’s (1948), and I have tosupport track down a copy. immigration Neither isoverload, the fact But in thisapplication. age of information that Lalit Modi bought shares in her rare son there’s something quite 10 delicious, quite Dushyant Singh’s for aofwhopping and precious aboutcompany this paucity hyperlin₹96,000 each going tothe shake her back stronghold kage. It returns you to words, to the over theand state. simple theEven real.before the scandalous Vyapam and theas spate of alleged murders in So Scam I’ll leave you, he leaves the reader at the its wake diverted attention, the BJPofbrass end of the book their and at the dimming the knew“Half whereathey stood with Raje. day: mile down the valley a door With I 160 legislators her latch; side, it closed. knew the soundfirmly of thatbydoor was understood that dislodging Ratold me that Mrs Ramble had Raje shut from out the jasthan will difficult, if not impossible. If darkness andbegone indoors. A spark of light she could take onher Advani forShe favourglimmered from frontpublicly window. was ing Modi,her it islamp, not hard imagineabsurdly what Raje is lighting andto it looked like of telling PMI stood or his lieutenant, acapable fallen star. Once the more to meditate,the to BJP president Amit Shah, inscene’s private.tranquilliThe men drink a final draught of the from be ruling But in like the ty andGujarat to let itsmay stillness wash Delhi. over my soul of Rajputs, thea daughter of Rajmata Vijayaland green wave over quiet shore.” raje Scindia is the undisputed queen. anita roy is a writer, editor and publisher Autumnal hues Hodgkinson’s radiant with hisnegotiated love of the her countryside. Thethe colour of autumn woods — Firmly in her fort Vasundhara text Rajeishas combatively way through power structures in the beeches resplendent in amberoften and red gold, rowan crowned with scarlet berries — all have his heart shutterstock www.anitaroy.net poornima joshi BJP, known for its patriarchal, sexist institutional sub-culture ecutive way back in 2005, LK Advani chaired a routine session on ‘state andering around a secondreporting’, which essentially rebookshop in Taunton requires BJP chief hand ministers to speak about polistumbledsituation on an unascy, programmescently, and Ipolitical in little book tucked their respectivesuming states. Narendra Modi, the away in theminister gardening section was between then chief of Gujarat, still aThe faRoyal Plant FinderAdvani and a vouriteHorticultural with Advani.Society So when he spoke, biography of Vita Sackville-West. heard with rapt attention, allowing The him cloth to go hardback binding scuffedtime and limit. faded, showon way beyond theisallotted ingBythrough ripped dust jacket likeminisa tatthe timethe it was the Rajasthan chief tered petticoat. I decided to buy it,were morerestfor ter’s turn to speak, the participants the woodcut inside less. gorgeous So was Advani, who illustrations typically wrung his than text. I showed nice lady at the till handsthe a couple of times,the glanced at the watch the scribbled onthe thetime flyleaf in pencil: two andprice warned: ‘Keep to limit.’ Not many shillings andconsidered sixpence. Well, that such was 1946. We would have flouting a warnagreed on a fiver in today’s and Iconleft ing publicly; the veteran hadmoney, not yet been the shopto contented. signed the Margdarshak Mandal and What Iconsiderable expected from The Eloquent Silence wielded influence in the partyby at WP Hodgkinson was theRaje slightly the time. But Vasundhara is notpompous just anymusings a village vicar. Whatwith it turned out one. The of diminutive princess her soft, to be was something quite different — ashe little small hands packs quite a punch. That is forgotten gemofofthe a book about natural world the daughter veteran Jan Sangh and RSS and ourVijayraje inner landscape andadds howtothe repatron Scindia only hertwo regal, flect, affect persona. and nourish each other. combative Accordingly, she peered at In 18 short author seeks to capAdvani over chapters, the rim the of her spectacles and ture describe one this small ofAur England flungand back: “Advaniji, iscorner not fair. logon somewhere Riverallowed valley near ko to ghantonalong bolnethe diyaSevern apne (You othMalvern in Worcestershire. Here he ‘first heard the cuckoo from my push-chair,’ and he lived there still in a 350-year-old cottage that ‘might be called a calendar artist’s dream complete with porch and hollyhocks.’ Hodgkinson’s text is radiant with his love of the countryside: ‘What a variety of colour there is in an autumn wood!’ he enthuses. “I am not sure which tree is the loveliest. I have seen gigantic beeches, resplendent in amber and red gold, which have almost decided me in their favour — that is, until seeing the delicate larch fronds hanging against a slate-blue
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Season’s eatings Snapshots of fried chicken, eager diners and a colourful kettle at Adaaminte Adhbudha Nombuthora aysha tanya
Cut up A naysayer outside parliament building during an anti-austerity rally in Athens, Greece reuters/yannis behrakis
STATES OF MATTER
The fast and‘no’ in Greek How to say the curious
Double standards are evident in the imposition of austerity in Greece while purse strings are loosened for other countries in the European continent
sukumar muralidharan
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popular regional movie where a Malayali prethe USto rather since its 2008 meltdown. tends speakwell Arabic. Another interesting varReserve Banktea of with Indiaghee chiefand Raghuram Raiation is black condensed jan, fame predicting for thehours. credit milkwho thatearned simmers on for a back-burner moderate scale was the best course till Greece meltdown way back in 2004,ofisAdam’s clearly ancesunimLocated in the front-yard thought through all options. He was shouted pressed. Thethe rapid spread of QE, saidteapots recenttral home, decor is lively — he kitsch down spreadingMalayali ‘treasonous’ with afor distinctive twist.ideas. Traditional ly, was like producing ofthe nowhere, and lanterns are hunggrowth all over,out and veranAll the years since should besatay, counted as “shifting Kerala spices transform chicken the Mafrom each other, rather than dah, withgrowth three tables and benches on either time wasted. June 30,chicken, the Greek governlaysian classic.On Rotisserie called nara- creating growth”. It was the manner of beggar side, is the cosy seating area. Although most ment declared it would meet a translating loan repay- thy ga kozhi in these partsnot (roughly neighbour policy that the customers prefer to parcel theworld food,last we saw see ment of $1.7 billion that was to the IMF. during into ‘hell’s chicken’), is sold asdue swargathile the Great the 1930s. families walkDepression in close toofsunset, choose Just later, afrom referendum turned in a ‘no’ kozhi,days (chicken the heavens) In his acclaimed book from the2010 items onFault saleLines, and Rajan make vote austerity, all the after on Adam’s touch. A more wholeresounding for argued that the credit binge the first themselves atof home on decade the vebeing delayed fourwith years.eggs chicken stuffed of the century was a deliberate political randah. Glasses filledstratewith What changed in these years? For one gy to evade the consequences and dryelse fruits, basted in of widening inpistachio sherbet and platthing, spices the andconsequences slow-cooked toof austerity were no equality. If decent ters wages were dates unattainable of juicy — both longer a future perfection. The prospect dishes atbut a lived reality for for the vast majoritystarters caught in grip of inthe theiron iftar lexithe Greek people. Nobel laureate Adaaminte Chayakada neoliberal con economics, — are placed working on every economist Krugman did a have wittyPaul Malayalam people table. were Next, enjoined to trays ‘eat rattan few simple calculations and connames, and although credit’ to improve living leaves stanlined with banana cluded that their the “attempt they lose charm to redards. Aarrive strategy that with worked its laden food. duce by slashing whendebt translated, theyspending allogic through The anticipation in thethe air The consequences of remorseless actually raises the ratio of debt ways draw a chuckle from sub-prime mortgage boom sigin is palpable. As someone austerity were no to not just in thenaming short run, theGDP, customers. The the nals US, fetching upthe with disas-a the call of azaan, longer a future but indefinitely”. Anyimportant likelihood of the dishes , an trous 2008. hushconsequences descends overin the teashop prospect but a lived of reducing the debta partausterity of the brand image, plays escaping acas Conspicuously everyone tucks into the food. reality for the Greek ratio would thewhole very long pivotal role be in“in the act. countability all this Everything through tastes amazing, people run — think decades, not years”. Adam hits upon a name, and have been the banks which probut my favourite is the ‘nameFellow laureate Jothen sets economics about to create a dish moted the myth credit as enless’ chicken andofthe parcels of Besides chicken, the seph Stiglitz turned in up a more that fits it. “I have come with gine endlessingrowth. And and the beef of cooked tomatoes pop-up on Convent forthright and robust judgalmost 90 names,” he says. At reasons are not farlooks to excitseek. green chillies. Adam Road has Malabari ment: the new troikaitem boreis‘criminal least one added toresponsibility’ Growth hinges increasas heeconomy shares his plans of exiftar staples like in theedworld for into aThe course that andingly the forcing pop-up Greece menu daily. newof action on the wealth effect through aspanding thecreated business to West samosas stuffed was entrycondemned on the dayto wefailure. visit is ‘the set price inflation. From stocks to to Asia. In the middle of property the converplantains Meanwhile, benign one without athe name’ — patrician a ske- among ec- commodities,sation, the bubble by he slipseconomy away forhas, a few onomics laureates, Amartya Sen, spoke of ex- rapid turns, afflicted wered keema kebab of sorts, market. After every minutesevery to return with a paper panding economic horizons through growth bubble bust,cup. batter-fried. those driving the speculation Drink this, he tells me. I take as Adam’s the bestenthusiasm remedy, rather than persisting run away with is infectheofspoils, the a sip what while seemsthose to be on waterwith of austerity. tious,the anddespair his battalion of 12 cooks and serving downside arespiked left to pick the pieces. melon juice with up green chillies and a Double are evident the imposistaff seemstandards as passionate aboutinfeeding the hint After the rebellion of put the my ‘occupy of something I can’t fingermoveon. I tion of austerity Greecechicken, while purse strings ments’ hungry as he is. in Besides the pop-up which the politely 2008 financial love it, I tell him.followed Adam, while refusing are loosened Road for other thestaples conti- meltdown, on Convent has countries Malabari in iftar thesecret Greekspice referendum is another to divulge the in the drink, shakes nent. In January, the plantains, ECB announced a policy like samosas, stuffed mutta maala (a effort to turn back the disastrous tide. The sovhis head and mutters, “Not enough chilli”. of ‘quantitative (QE), putting dessert made witheasing’ eggs and sugar syrup),more and ereign masters of finance, We spend at least an hourthough, lingeringseem over not the money European bank treasuries, stimcutlets.into But what gets me most excitedto are the to be listening. food, giving up only when the stomach proulate credit growth. yearsiswhen it tested. It was worth the three-hour drive. five types of and tea. The mostAfter popular a tradihas behind, Europe has and evidently tionalfallen infusion of black tea, lime mint, sukumar muralidharan is an independent writer researcher in Gurgaon and aysha tanyabased is a Kannur-based foodShimla writer bought into the magic of QE, which served called kimothi albani, a playful nod tohas a line in a and
ife with a known is often preferfrom Germany and France. Kozhikode’s firstdevil Ramzan pop-up dishes out a delicious iftar able to a future of unknowns. With As a senior adviser to the PM in January spread partial to fried their banks shuttered andchicken an econo- 2010, Varoufakis argued that debt default on a
my on the verge of seizure, Greek voters on July 5 turned that wisdom on its head. Whatever ozhikode uncertainties the future held, as thea has long been hailed punishingfoodie economic endured for town.austerity The culture in Mappila five years was no option. Muslim homes is food-centric, and The leftwing coalition Syriza and won attention January’s oodles of thought general elections in Greece withofthe promise goes into every meal. Outside a Malabari of ending years of austere living. Bombay It was a prehome, restaurants like Paragon, Hocarious out of the hostility tel andtriumph Rehmatfashioned Hotel, which have been against thedecades, established left right, which around for serve upand some of Kerala’s had both Therefore, meekly submitted to little the diktat of best food. it comes as surprise the sinceisthe debt thatbanks Kozhikode themagnitude birthplace of Greek Adaaminte was revealed in 2009.Teashop). Its present avaChayakada (Adaam’s taking office, Prime Minister Alexis tarSince is Adaaminte Adhbudha Nombuthora Tsipras andincredible his finance minister Yanis that Varoufa(Adaam’s iftar), a pop-up has kis bargained hard withofthe troika — on the social Interbeen garnering a lot attention national Monetary Fundthe (IMF), European media platforms within firstthe week of operCentral Bank (ECB) Com-I ation. Curious to seeand whatthe theEuropean fuss is about, mission — taskeddrive withto bringing order to make the(EC) three-hour Kozhikode with Greece’s accounts. Their point was simple. For two hungry relatives in tow. allThe its drama and pretended the first thing that strikemagnanimity, us is how aware bailout dangled 2010 had done little for people are of thesince five-day-old pop-up — everythe economic recovery. It kept points banks onecause on theofstreets we ask for directions in pink, but theif consequences of unendthethe right way. And that isn’t a sure-enough ing were a political tipping sign,austerity the aroma of reaching something delicious being point, potentially endangering democracy deep-fried that tickles our nostrils even before itself. we enter the gates seals the deal. Adaaminte Creditorsisevidently thought compromise Chayakada the brainchild of Aneez Adam, a rather As of deadlock loomed, the Greek Londonfutile. School Economics graduate who government played its final card: a referenquit investment banking in the pursuit of his dum thatfood. would proposed the passion, Hisput firstthe pop-up was atdeal the to Mathtest of public opinion. creditors fumed and rubhumi Malabar FoodAs Festival in January this warned that all offers were off scene the table, Greek year. A newcomer to the food in Kerala, officials — ingrabbed what was either political Adam’s stall eyeballs and wonnaïveté several or artful This affectation underlined that the refawards. was a —major turning point for erendum part of the negotiations, Adam, andwould led tobethe creation of the brand rather than Chayakada, a substitute after for it.which there has Adaaminte Global high finance been no looking back. never keeps a place at theThe table for the articulation of democratic concept is simple. Chicken cooked evvoices. Socialist George had as ery which way you can Papandreou think of — shallowPrime in October mootedslowthe fried, Minister deep-fried, steamed,2011, grilled, idea of aFood referendum on encounters the adjustment packcooked. that Adam along the ages being Greece.the Heprototype was forcedand inway on his forced travels on becomes to a humiliating retreat after public rebukes inspiration at Adaaminte Chayakada, albeit
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and haute cuisine on our plates. We took a peek into the country’s history at Ohlange High School, where Nelson Mandela cast his vote in the first democratic elections in 1994, and the Phoenix settlement, where Mahatma Gandhi planted the seeds of the passive resistance movement. Meanwhile, history was repeating itself in the city as it recovered from the latest bout of xenophobia. There was work — pressers and meetings to attend, and pleasure — entertainment shows and stand-up comedy nights. We had arrived as a group of strangers, we left as friends. The mystery of the warthog Three hours from Durban, at one end of the KwaZulu-Natal province, is the Phinda Private Game Reserve. One of the best known private reserves in the country, it is spread over 170 sq km and seven biomes, including sand forests, savannas and wetlands. It is also home to the Big Five — the African lion, African elephant, the cape buffalo, African leopard and the white and black rhinos, and thousands of mammal species and 434 species of birds. Over three days, we climbed onto ranger Divan Kamffer’s trusty open-top safari jeep, hot on the trail of the Big Five. Mlusi the spotter sat still on the hood of the vehicle, his hawk eyes scanning farther than ours. We couldn’t tell where one biome ended and the next began, but Kamffer expertly made his way toward giraffes, nyalas, impalas and wildebeest. On one safari, the radio cranked up and a murpoptika/shutterstock mur of voices informed us that a lion had been spotted. Maybe even two. At a speed that is characteristic of Indian safaris that have been alerted to the presence of the tiger, we set off towards the spot. Two other vans were already in position. High-definition lenses found aim, binoculars came out, so did the smartphones. I’ve spent days and nights in the forests of Ranthambore, Gir and the Terai, but this was a sight I’d never beheld: Two young lion cubs trailing their mother and lose to noon on May 20 this year, Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court. The death grandmother. Twenty feet away. penalty in the abstract, the group wantLubhyathi Rangarajan and Nishant case was listed two days later, and the court edThe cubs were not more than year old. The to analyse it from within thea criminal jusGokhale, associates and lawyers at quashed the warrants, citing the death-row tice mother raised Yes/No, her tail and they followed system. For/Against were her no the Death Penalty Litigation Clinic convict’s fundamental right to life. A review longer and grandma into a thicket. our the questions; insteadWe it moved was ‘How.’ (DPLC), waited in Agra Central Jail for a meet- petition has now been filed in Saleem’s case in “Unless vans to you the go other waiting for criminal them to intoside, the details of the ing with Saleem. Five days earlier, the Su- the Supreme Court. emerge.system Out ofand our what sight itfor less than minjustice has used toabring preme Court had confirmed the death For the barely year-old DPLC, getting the upon ute, they of theyou bush holding a warthe came deathout penalty, cannot do the desentences of Saleem and Shabnam, convicted warrant quashed was a small but significant bate,” thog in their mouths. How did the warthog says Surendranath. Golden mileseven A viewmembers of the Durban coastline fromfamthe 19thmilestone. floor of the Elangeni priyanka kotamraju for killing of Shabnam’s Part of Delhi’s National Law Univer- getFirst, there? Was it already We pondered they needed datadead? — accurate and upily, including a 10-month-old infant, in 2008. sity (NLU), the clinic aims to provide ‘compe- to-date. the mystery of the warthog the cubs triedon to Information on theasexact number Rangarajan and Gokhale spoke with Saleem tent and effective legal representation’ free of death tear it row open.was Theoften lioness looked onIn trifle irritaunavailable. 2013, the for nearly two hours and conveyed the Delhi- cost to indigent prisoners on death row, and is university ted and handed out a few pointers. Unmoved collaborated with the National Lebased clinic’s desire to help him. The duo went a one-of-its-kind resource linked to a universi- gal by our presence, the cubs the animal Services Authority andattacked researchers visited through the case records with Saleem, took ty in India. For a team that tracks death sen- central from both Onethe of country them, positioned at jailsends. around that housed him through the evidence and testimony, and tence cases countrywide, it is a the rear, momentarily lost balance. death-row prisoners. TheySlowly, interhe in turn gave his inputs and insights. small one. Apart from Rangarathey ripped into the carcass, pulling out itsand enviewed prisoners in Jorhat “Strangely, no one had asked him these details jan and Gokhale, it has Shreya trails. In large mouthfuls, theNagpur. hungryOfcubs Jammu, Tihar and the earlier,” says Gokhale. The trial court proceed- Rastogi and Maitreyi Misra; swallowed their 385 not-so-hard-earned prisoners on deathmeal. rowPretill In the process they ings were still fresh in Saleem’s mind. As the Anup Surendranath, an assistviously stuff June of TV2014, awe,the seen only on NatGeo, researchers includrealised if there was case went through High Court and Supreme ant professor at NLU, is the direcwe were watching the first lessons ofstates hunted 373live in their study. “Some an outsider in this Court, he had often banked on newspaper re- tor. Through advocates on ing and eating prey.easier than others. Some were system it was the ports to know the progress. record, the clinic currently repThe next day safari proveddifficult, as eventful, wereof particularly like prisoner The morning after their meeting at the Agra resents around 35 death-row when we metMaharashtra, a majestic cheetah-duo. where it We’re took inus jail, Rangarajan, Gokhale and Saleem learnt — prisoners, mainly in the Suformed that nine it hasmonths been four since justdays to get thetheir peragain from newspapers — about the death preme Court. last meal; it will soon be to hunt. Instead mission to time interview. They did warrants issued for Shabnam and Saleem by of giving us anot suspenseful the cheetah allow us tochase, interview prisonthe Sessions Judge of Amroha. “He had abso- Story behind the sentence brothers flopped us the frostyers sentenced to down death and for gave terrorist attacks,” lutely no idea and it was a coincidence that we The clinic did not figure initially in their plan, says nosed stare as we turned our vehicle left and Surendranath. was the a harsh — the North Pole about star is invisible, seasons weretthere thebeginning day before.ofWe were summer shocked which had been research, the largely car- right to take selfies with the felines. In the process they realised if there was an whenaback we leftby Delhi May. By the time we ried are all wrong, and the flush of theontoilet moves and taken the in hastiness,” says Rangout by university students, the lack of outsider in this system it was the prisoner. landed in Durban, weresix at the of empirical right, not left. thedeath equator it goesinstraight arajan. The warrant hadwecome daysend after data(Aton penalty India. “One Into the wildthat stood out was how all of this thing the season and the start of winter. I had While down. mainstream This is the Coriolis effect,often try it!) the confirmation ofatdeath sentence, bypassnarratives focus on could By thehave end of three safaris, had seen few been carried outwe without theaprisWe were a groupwhen of seven Indians Durban oner… not the yet found occasion to be in the southern ing mandatory 30-day period available to death sentences there are inSupreme big andallsmall met of it iscats, based ontemperamental documentation,Afrithe hemisphere, so I spent an entire, rather circuifor Africa’s biggest tourism event 2015 police convicts to explore all legal options. Silent on Court decisions or executions, theINDABA researchers can elephants teenaged and malethe bulls that produce —documents defence tousdate flightand glued to the at the invitation of South As lawyers the time, thewindow, warrantwaiting merelyforin-a and students looked for theAfrica storiesTourism. behind the were dismissed fromdocuments. their herdsNobody — and seen rely on these had glimpse of the imaginary but magnificent dreary as that sounds, the in Durban structed a swift execution, says Rangarajan. sentences — the profile ofweek prisoners, theirwas ex- ever whitespoken rhinosto and lone black rhino. theaprisoner. We wereWe thespotfirst anything but that. was a pleasant equator, which along where for 4,000-odd km, periences “Usually, there isruns a hearing the accused with theThere police, the evidencechill the to tedtalk bushbabies and in thehenight, to them and get servals their version,” says. in the air, saltyon spray our eyes and aand spring passing through six countries the African is produced and given a lawyer.onNone of this courts relied for in the sentencing so watched the Nile crocodiles and hippos relax The prisoner profile was often all-too-simicontinent. Things are weird on the other side forth. in our They step. recreated There werethe safaris the African had happened,” she adds. legalinto processes that lar in waterholes. Weeconomically witnessed a hilarious spec— socially and backward; deof Gokhale the equator; constellations dotathe sky preceded wild, languorous strolls along the than Golden Mile prived andalien she immediately filed Public the conviction. Rather debate tacle ofofa sound haremlegal of zebras (that’sinwhat a zebra assistance the lengthy
Life by life
The Death Penalty Litigation Clinic fights for the death-row convict’s fundamental right to life
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This side of paradise
A week on the other side of the equator in South Africa leads to encounters with lion cubs on their first hunt, selfies with cheetahs and a night of stand-up humour
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Travel log
the way these cases were carried out. A basic level of legal representation would have averted the deathGetting penalty,” he says. there During the research, onetoquery No direct flights South they Africa.refrained from asking prisoners was — ‘Did you Fly Emirates via Dubai. do it?’ At that point, they say, it was irrelevant. The back story Stayof crime was often gruesome; sordid details played out in the For frequently safari holiday, Phinda media. “YouMountain learn to Lodge slowlyornot obsess with Rock Lodge, ‘Did they orElangeni did they not do it’best andbeach it’s theview, most for the difficult thing do. WeHotel learnfor anda teach CitytoLodge stay inat the law school that even if a person has committhe city. ted the most horrific crime, there is a process by which they have What to to dobe sentenced…You may not be able There to tuneare yourself out of severalcompletely history walks it, but that is challenge,” adds. — tothe choose from inheDurban It is a challenge DPLC members Madibathe trail, Gandhi trail orface thenot only when they prisoners. worka is food meet trail. You could Their also take at times not endorsed bythe others, guided tour of city. including family and friends. For instance, when the InTips controversy raged, the team dia’s Daughter If you’re keen ontaunts. wildlife,‘Now, you you was at the receiving end of would wantcould to defend them Lookinwhat volunteer as too. a ranger a they think’,private was a refrain they heard often. reserve. Rastogi knows sheSegway is working in an area Take the for a breezy that polarises opinion. A layperson may not be ride along the golden mile. You willing to comprehend or acknowledge the will be trained and only then fundamental rights of a prisoner convicted of unleashed on the streets. multiple murders or respect the legal processa show at theirwho bestquit her es he/she isCatch entitled to. Rastogi, comedy club ‘Amsterdam’. corporate job for the clinic, says what often works is the general prisoner profile. “Like, why persons of a certain economic and social background often end up getting these punishments.” Constant interactions with the prisoners have shown her that despite their lives hanging in limbo for years, most of them have tried to move beyond the crime, however tough that may be. “There are so many prisoners we meet who tell us ‘Yes, I did that’. But they tell the story around it. They do not want to be locked in that period of time,” she adds. Beyond the crime Saleem, for instance, was a school dropout at the time of arrest. The DPLC members say he now has a diploma in agricultural science and Slogan to spare The Death Penalty Litigation Clinic is handling cases where convicts are running out of legal options. Here, in Bengaluru, a candlelight vigil against death penalty v sreenivasa murthy human rights and is doing his final year bachelor’s degree. “He corresponds with us. And all these prisoners, whenever they write, are profusely apologetic for taking our time. On the other hand, it is their time that is precious,” says Rastogi. Misra believes the change in narrative should begin by giving As researchers Postcards from Durban (From the top) The cheetah poses for shutterbugs; a sunny day in the Phoenix settlement, where Mahatmathe Gandhi and his followers home; prisoner his/hermade identity. discovered shutterstock blank, at a Madame Zingara performance in Durban priyanka kotamraju; the lionness at Phinda Private Game Reserve “We do not even see them as a dark holes in the legal person. He/she is defined by processes in theirand collection is called) scratching together on an trip came to an end, preparations were crime,” she Mainon for followed on Zulu headgear stocking up says. on ‘motherthese thehell fire’ acacia tree. We saw the red-billed oxpecker a couple whose wedding was to take place stream narratives should on acases, in-law spices, we sink our teethmove and project picking out ticks from wildebeests (a parasitic hill, the black rhino in sight and the forest towards be- evolved fingerstointo the bunny.ensuring that the state relationship) and heard the cisticolas cry hind. In 2011, it also played host to include courts fulfil their responsiba cricketintervention On the last and night, our newest friend and fel‘weep-weep-weep’. We swapped man-eater match, where a tiny airstrip served as the low journalistilities inpromises this process, sheus adds. Carvin to take to an tales and listened closely to accounts of Rhino pitch. On our safaris, we broke for high tea in evening of stand-up Though the clinic comedy. Like currently in India, without Borders, the Cheetah reintroduction the midst of the jungle, to have deals with an adstand-up is cases all thethat rageare inat Durban and the Leopard projects. vanced stage, where time rapthe Mlusi special (coffee, chocoand we go to Fat Baz cafe to is watch The African safari experience is different late, amarula and hot water) and idly running for Uprising the prisoner, artistsout of The Comedy (From Anup Lubhyathiparks. Rangarajan, Gokhale, Rastogi and to from left) what we Surendranath, see at our national OnlyNishant Surendranathperform. says thatAideally any intervenmunch on Shreya cookies. Attractive popular stand-up Maitreyi Misrathe of the DPLC one-third size of Jim Corbett National the luxury traveller, but this is tion should take place at the base, where foolcomic himself, Carvin is easily An accidental Park, Phinda had packed in more wildlife the wild, isn’t it? proof legal the representation will negate the best act of the night. Stalkers invention, the bunny and complicated processes involved. To com- overwhelming. “Dealing with their expectasightings than any Indian sanctuary. Private possibility of a death sentence. lurk for his autograph, fans ask chow came about tions wasnights tough. WeCarvin were doing interview plete their narratives, researchers went Comedy players operate reservesthe alongside the governclinic isfor handling cases where the memwith photographs. Part-Zulu, partwhen aafladle ofThe curry ter interview. Wewe were using lookingtake for up theconservation families and projects met withand mixed ment, are Back mightpart-African-American, exhaust legal options in Durban, head to Drthem and Indian, fellnot into abers bunknow they results. They hostile families that Yusuf offering anything in in return,” involved withcame localacross communities. The rangers soon. Once the President rejects a mercy petDadoo Street, searchhe ofsays. with even traces of Jewish blood, had snapped all ties, moved villagesMuch and wantuniversity clear this was an aca- ition, they explore are well-trained and informed. like theThe possibilities likeOverweight a writ petmost authenticwas bunny chow. he spares no one. ed nothing to do with theto prisoner. themilioth- A demic project, an intervention. Despite ition, a second young Israelis who head the hillsOn after mercy petition or a review heavy meal not disguised as a youth, feminists, ‘coloured’ peobeing it’s constantly reminded that the inter- petition, if itple, er hand, metwomen resilient and snack, tary service, they youngalso men and of South has not been filed. “The is as Durban as it is IndiZimbabweans and game Indians views not mean legal assistance, did not supportive talk Kamffer, and help de- an. Africa seem ones, to takeeager to thetobush. a law never over. in some weIndians pretty Andid accidental invention, it cameitabout in are all really butts of hisBut sharp jokes. cases We the spite theirispoverty. stopmid-20th the prisoners hoping.lanes “They graduate, in his third year at Phinda. Train- the much haveend thethe last option,” says Surendracentury infrom the crowded of in Durban night at a desolate Banglaan opportunity to talk, the crime was Victoria thoughtmarket we had when accessato things that they did deshi ingGiven is arduous. For weeks, trainee-rangers, nath. He adds, “Taking life must be difficult; it ladle of curry fell into diner, eavesdropping on Pakistanis disoften what convicts about —and of beThey thought we were a medium to get cussing armed withthe field guides,talked walkie-talkies ri- anot. has to bebusiness made asdeals, difficult as possible. A. You bun. At Victory Lounge, Bollywood numbers laughing hysterically. their the stories ing trapped, about why they did getting it or why write rsure. was in at the invitation of fles, wander the biomes on foot, to from goddamn B.Durban The person should be giv’90sout,” playadds softlySurendranath. as owner Tibby Mood- be(The researchers uncovered holes in South their reasons never out in court. Sure- ley,Aswhose Africa Tourism.) know the terrain andcame the animals. en all opportunity to represent their case.” grandfather came gaping to Durban from ndranath says, the hope like theyPhinda gave the prisonthe legal processes, the takes project evolved to inLuxury safari reserves also orga- Tamil Nadu in the ’40s, orders. Tired afp anima kotamraju ers parties after and a series of ininterviews clude intervention. the end,market, it was merely nise weddings the wild. As was our ter a shopping spree“In at Victoria trying priyanka
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Belle of the ball After a series of trials, the pink ball will come into play at the first international day-night test in November. But will it have the swing or seam? getty/tom shaw
BEYOND THE FIELD
Test by day-night As administrators toy with newer forms, it’s important that they look to preserve test cricket for its own sake, in terms that transcend the purely commercial
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n sangeeta November this year, when Australia Piece by piece Baskari, a Newari village, is limping back to normal barooah pisharoty suhrith parthasarathy
plays New Zealand, the Adelaide Oval will also play host to cricket’s newest innovation: the day-night test match. The ball, specially designed by Kookaburra, will be pink. The clothing will remain white, but at least half the day’s play will take place under artificial lights. The event would represent a culmination of a series of trials carried out with the pink ball both at the Sheffield Shield, Australia’s premier domestic competition, and the hallowed Marylebone Cricket Club, owner of the Lord’s cricket ground. But are day-night test matches a necessary development? Does cricket’s longer form need kind of rejuvenation? finethis June morning dawns. The scent For us of fans, the summer unique rhythms test fresh blossomsofwafts cricket, which we sothe relish, have as much do through Kathmandu air, to forewith its quirky structure, which telling a beautiful day.allows a game played over five full days to end a draw,earthas its However, in Nepal, after twoinmajor daily timetable. The months, thought of watching test quakes in as many beautiful mornmatches under lights, ings areplayed overshadowed bytherefore, anxieties.repreThe sents an abomination. ourisminds, the puripossibility of ‘a biggerInone’ ever looming. ty of more test cricket derives from its sense afof With than 250 aftershocks recorded traditionalism. The May start12oftemblors, play in the middle ter the April 25 and which reof the morning, break for lunch, a lazythree secportedly shifted aKathmandu by about ond session, followed by a halt for tea, and metres, the fear is justified. then, under creeping finalthe foray. Even as life goes on,shadows, you can aspot shadto these ritualsand of owTo ofthose fear —unaccustomed on the faces, in conversations, test cricket, thewhere form tents, will almost in the markets, torches certainly and porseem to the rapidity of table an gasarchaism, cylindersunsuited are still the most wanted modern-day But, much like who merchandise.life. Feeding the fear is people the sight of view matches as aof mere vestige ofand thenearpast, fallentest houses in parts Kathmandu even those ofand us Patan who — are beby Bhaktapur thecontinuously half-broken herguiled by its infinite dynamics have, at while some itage buildings balanced precariously, point orwarning the other, worried about demise. silently onlookers not toits come too After KerryofPacker’s World Series close, all, andduring the dozens tents still crowding revolution the Kathmandu late 1970s, valley. manyTelevifans open spacesin in the thought the death knell had already sounded sion cameras have transmitted the fear to varifor matches. But here we are, four oustest parts of the world, drying up nearly the flow of decades later, notatonly over the tourists to Nepal, leastruminating for now.
same concerns but also contemplating chang- in a Sheffield Shield day-night trial match, says es that might alter the core of the game, as we the pink ball “doesn’t react anything like the know it. red ball, in terms of swing.” It also, according That the present apprehensions are more to him, goes soft pretty quickly. “I didn’t see a real than before doesn’t have much to do with huge amount of reverse swing in that game,” test cricket itself, or its ability to survive on its he said, “and I don’t think it swung from memown. It concerns, rather, the shifting atten- ory too much until the artificial light took tions of the game’s administrators. The ad- over.” Kiwi seamer Trent Boult has similar convent of Twenty-20 cricket, and its ability to cerns. “You’re not sure if [the pink ball] swings produce raw and unbridled entertainment, if or if it seams,” he said. “I can’t really see a pink not always sport, has meant that cricket’s gov- ball shining up too well, as well. There are just erning bodies now have a veritable cash cow too many unknowns, from my point of view.” to help fill their coffers. We may not want to To organise play under lights would be tanbegrudge them that opportunity. But our tamount to nothing more than an unwarrantproblems begin when they view ed jazzing up of the format; it clothesonly andadd utensils, the men It cricket is natural for friends test as athen product for sale.and family to en washing would a perceived alraise eyebrow at my travel plans to Nepal, away in the corn and cricket childrencertainly getting Thean decision to introduce daylure fields, that test The goats have been to embark a trek inwould the Kathmandu valley. ready for school. night test on matches be doesn’t need.and As pigs Samir Chopra let out grass. A out calm,in self-absorbed vilMy route:ifDhulikhel to Nagarkot, welcome it had something to a popular his excellent The decision to on thepointed lage scene. hiking in goodthe times. do withtrail improving quality of book, Brave New Pitch: The Evoluintroduce day-night Dhulikhel Nagarkot is upam warned. “Bemaking careful, theI sport, in terms of it tion of ModerntoCricket, it’s importest matches seems there has been riveting, extensiveensurdamhill. It should take us about six fairer, or more tant that administrators look to to have almost hours, says Nima. He for listsitssixown vilage in Kavre valley,” says ing, forthe instance, a more bal-a preserve test cricket nothing to do “Some of the tin lages,“not none with motorable Nepal-based anced battlereporter betweenwho thehas bata sake, just as a means to the with sport sheets have and been roads, that we will pass through fingerthe on ball. the pulse of the place. and But the move is end of the more profitable televieverything given to usto bydo a before hitting the highway that Two aftershocks the previous clearly aimed predominantly at sion deal.” with business German NGO day certainly the paranoia. connects Nagarkot. capturing thefuel prime-time televiTest cricket has to be seen in and the rest we The Kavre valley is scenic, until Butmarket. the fresh morning sion It seems to have air alterms that transcend the purely retrieved from the reality hits. The spurs me on. I reach mouth most nothing to dothe with the commercial. It hassheer to bedevastaseen as broken house” tion leftof behind by the of Dhulikhel, 32km from thewith city sport, and everything to do worthy conservation, as eartha purquakes in frontits ofpracour and the starting point of my business. As the New Zealand Herald reported, suit whose appeal liesunfolds in its customs, trek. Myprize guide for the is the and a seven- tices, and itseyes. In Baskari, Newari village, it took money of day $1 million structure. The apurpose of test mud and stone amiable a Sherpa atfrom year deal Nima, that guarantees least 10 tests and cricket is notmany entertainment. If wedwellings were to have it been flattened. “Nothan human death wasand reNepal’s Lobuche region.New Zealand and Aus- view 28 one-dayers between as nothing more amusement ported in we’d our village, but many of usthe lostkind our Aftertoa convince hearty breakfast at a highway tralia the former’s cricketrestauboard fun, then be wreaking precisely domestic animals, somebringing on April 25, on rant, we begin our climb withproposal. my camera, hik- of about the desirability of the damage that those in some the dayMay 12,” says Ram Srestha, a village His ingWhat’s stick, more, chocolate barsfrom and neither a water team bottleare in night players matches claim to be saving us elder. from: the house of is gone. next to the ruins, in tow. The sun rises very early in Nepal. So 7am is death convinced about the prospect of playing test cricketHe atisitsliving finest. alreadyunder a couple of hours morning cricket lights. Therepast haveearly already been a haphazardly done tin shed that villagers parthasarathy Chennai-based helped him erect. “Some isofa the tin sheetslawyer have here. InofBaskari, the firstthe village fromThe Dhulikplenty quibbles over pink ball. Aus- suhrith writer tsuhrith been given to us by a German NGO and the rest hel, I seefast smoke snaking out Starc, of kitchens, wom- and tralian bowler Mitchell who played
Fear has an address
The trail of destruction along a popular trekking route reveals how relief and rehabilitation have bypassed earthquake victims outside Kathmandu
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Let’s get pizza Move over Humans of Delhi, I’m meeting Hilary Duff tonight
A dose of metal you need Metalheads are happier than all other music fans
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hat do you think of when you think Metal? Heavy, death, thrash, doom. Their songs too often veer on the dark side — remember Fear of the dark, Master of puppets, Creeping death…You get the picture. But it seems that underneath all that tough armour is a fluffy, joyful heart. A new study has found that metalheads, unlike other groupies, “were significantly happier and better adjusted.” Fans of flower power and psychedelic music may have had a rocky time dealing with life, but metalheads seem to have found a balance. All that booze, sex and drugs have been replaced with yoga, yogurt and therapy. But hey, don’t mess with the music.
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ired of swiping left on people who have suddenly discovered the word ‘sapiosexual’, the gym bodies, or the selfies with pooches? If you’re still looking for Mr Darcys or Elizabeth Bennets (or celebrities who play them), don’t leave Tinder just yet. The dating app has rolled out a few ‘verified’ celebrity profiles, no photo lifted from a website, just the real deal. A handful of celebrities have already taken to Tinder — Hilary Duff (Let’s get pizza), Katy Perry (I’m really deep on Tinder) and Britney Spears, for whom Jimmy Fallon has put a helpful FAQ, ‘Pros and cons of dating Britney Spears’. Step one: Get on Tinder. Step two: Move to New York.
Clean sweep Madhya Pradesh in the Guinness Book for hand-washing
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hen 35,985 yoga-devouts stretched themselves into the Guinness records on Rajpath recently, school children in Madhya Pradesh felt a pang. After all, 12,76,425 of them had vigorously scrubbed and cleaned their hands simultaneously in October last year in the hope of a Guinness record. All that scrubbing and wringing apparently have not gone waste. Though a tad late, officials at the Guinness Book of World Records have finally watched the hand-washing videos and acknowledged that the children’s Back to books Children in Karki are lucky to have a school to go back to was sangeeta barooah pisharotythan what 7,40,870 people of Argentina, Peru hand-washing effort much bigger and Mexico did in 2011. we retrieved from the broken house,” he says. No government aid has come his way yet. Village after village, the sights remain unchanged, the stories similar. From Baskari, we walk through Karki Gaon, Oopi Gaon, the Buddhist villages of Kashi Bhanjyang, Nala and Bhanjyang. In Karki Gaon, some villagers received tarpaulin sheets from the government on April 24. “We have not seen them again since,” says Raju, a resident. Oopi onwards, no isNGO oryet government tarved of contributor funds and MPs in the Parliament, the Congress facing another agencies seem to have reached outoftoanhelp. PR disaster. The face of secular politics is seeing more embarrassment as details un- In Oopi, a villager comes forwardhosted on seeing paid bill for an iftar party surface. In 2012, Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s government a lav-me clicking photos debris, once was his ish iftar party with an approved budget of ₹40 lakh. It seems thatofthe affairwhich got out of hand, house. asks expenditure if I am from the government and file notings show the state government incurred anHe excess of ₹21 lakh. Per- or NGO.from His Hyderabad sister-in-lawand died in that house; haps the kebabs came all the way from Lucknow, any biryani fried chicken his brother, as well as his wife and two daughfrom Kerala. ters were trapped and badly injured. Two of his animals perished. “Since my wife and daughters can’t walk much, I have to go down to the well a kilometre away to fetch water every day and cook for the family. My corn crops are standing on the field, it is difficult to manage all the work myself. Also, I am getting a little worried that no one has come yet to give us any compensaumbh Mela is meant to be a logistical nightmare. tion forOffithe house we lost and for the treatcials on mela duty begin twisting and turning mentinofbed the injured. It’s been more than a weeks ahead of the event. Now they have company in Mahmonth already,” he says. On learning that the arashtra State Aids Control Society officials. With nearly a is giving 14,000 Nepali rupees to government crore people expected to descend on Nashik, officials say,injured, he is keen to know where each of the they are woefully short of, wait for it, condoms.he Thecan district claim it. His only mode of transport is has a monthly requirement of 1.5-2 lakh condoms and athe to hitch ride on a local youth’s motorbike. society has only 50,000 in stock. Last heard, the society hadis the story with Pema in Kashi Similar managed to despatch 5.4 lakh condoms a weekBhanjyang. before the Her house is gone. Her sister-inmela. What about piety and penance? Tsk, tsk. law dead. Son Yonten, a waiter at a restaurant in Boudha in Kathmandu, arrived a month
The bill, please
The Congress eats, enjoys and leaves iftar parties without paying up
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Condom crunch
Nashik gets more condoms ahead of Kumbh Mela
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ago to help her build a shed after retrieving 10 days since the school reopened. For a tins, doors and windows from the broken change, smiles, and not fear, are reflected on house. He knows about the compensation his their faces. injured mother can claim and plans to visit Signalling me to resume walking, Nima the village head soon for help. says that one more mountain ridge has to be Like Pema’s son, many youth from these vil- climbed before we touch Nagarkot. The steep lages have small jobs in Kathmandu but they Kashi Bhanjyang hill is the final frontier behave returned home to be with their families tween Nagarkot and Dhulikhel. The mountain in this time of distress, to rebuild the houses ridge has stone steps, which call for slow, calafter waiting in vain for help for nearly two culated climbing. He points to a patch of junmonths. In Oopi, I see a doublegle saying, “We will walk through room concrete house being that forest now.” He calculates built with an iron mesh reinforcthat we should be in Nagarkot ing the walls. “People have realfor a 1pm lunch. “No one has come ised that the walls will hold on But we miss the cut that leads yet to give us any better this way,” says Nima. to Nagarkot and end up on ancompensation for the At Kashi Bhanjyang, beside Peother mountain ridge. Nima fihouse we lost” ma’s razed house, we rest awhile nally finds the right trail. By then before negotiating the tough aswe not only miss the lunch hour cent. It offers a breathtaking but also run out of drinking waview of the Himalayas. Munchter. The strong sun begins to dry ing on a chocolate bar, I notice rows of tin my throat. Nima suggests that I could search roofs shining in the bright sunshine on the for wild berries to wet the throat. mountainside, signalling the loss of home We do so. He helps me identify the edible and hearth for so many in the Kavre valley. Al- berries and I have several helpings of juicy so, the fact that those in Kathmandu are privi- kimbus (mulberry) and a variety of aiselus leged to get facilities like foreign-made tents (raspberries) every now and then. At half past three — two-and-a-half hours beand medical help. Perhaps aid will never reach these areas. But hind schedule — we enter Nagarkot market. what is impressive is the resilience of these vil- We have a meal of rice accompanied by a lagers, their attempt to pick up whatever is left range of curries and greens. A typical Nepali of their lives and carry on. In Karki, I come daal-bhaat fare. But after trudging 12.7 km across groups of children walking to school, along the valley rim, it seems like the best 2km away from the village. Almost everyone meal I have ever had. has lost their dwelling, and some have managed to retrieve their school bags and uni- sangeeta barooah pisharoty is a Delhi-based forms from under the debris. It has been just freelance writer
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saturday, july 11, 2015
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in-faq by joy bhattacharjya
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n July 11, 1906, Grace Brown was murdered by Chester Gillette, an incident that was the inspiration for Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy. This week’s quiz is about the well-known crimes in history.
here,there & elsewhere
Grilled stars H
aving a car in the US, even a hearse, is the same as having legs in any other part of the world: that is ‘normal.’ Bins replaces the little frilly maroon curtains from the long back windows with shade film. He removes the railings, straps and other paraphernalia related to keeping a heavy coffin from shooting out the back door. But he refuses to repaint the car. “It will take too long,” he says. So the blue skies and clouds remain in place though he removes the funeral parlour’s name from the sides. The day of our inaugural ride happens to be July 4, US Independence Day. In the car with us is one of Bins’ new friends, a pleasant-faced giant of a man called Birk. “Viking ancestors,” he says squeezing into the front, “with a touch of baobab tree!” His right arm branches out of the window and he sits with his knees tucked under his chin. There are no seats in the back, so I’m reclining on cushions and a mattress spread on the floor. Beside me is a picnic basket full of sandwiches, homemade burgers, potato salad, tortilla chips and cookies. There’s a cooler full of ice and Cokes. I’ve decided to lie back and enjoy this odd vehicle now that it’s inevitable. It’s like being driven around in a metal version of a flying
cornerstone
carpet, complete with air-conditioning and stereo. We join the solid column of cars heading out to the local beachfronts. It’s late in the morning and all the best spots are taken, of course. So we head to a sand-less beach strewn with jagged black rocks. All water and frothing surf. There are picnickers there too, but like us, they represent the ‘Other’ spectrum of society — a little more brown, a lot more grey, a scattering of baobabs. No kiddies, no fluffy dogs, no bikinis. “Mellowed in the oaken casks of Time,” says Birk, looking around and grinning
Crime and punishment
shyly. “Pah,” says Bins. “Scorched on ze Grrrrill of Destiny!” I say, “Who has the mustard?” For some reason this makes the other two chuckle. When I tap my head and say, “These men are crazy?!” they roar with laughter, falling off the rocks they’re perched on. We guzzle our soft drinks, eat our cookies and they smoke their pot. As the tide goes out, the wind sharpens its claws. It completely turns the feathers of a poor seagull standing nearby inside out. For a moment he looks like a poodle with a beak. The three of us cackle so much at the sight that the bird gets offended and takes wing. “You can laugh,” he says, “but I can fly.” We head back. Another endless column of traffic. It’s dusk by the time we’re home. Some distance away, along the water’s edge, fireworks start to go off. From where we are, we can see the brilliant sparkling lights rise and fall, crackling and whistling against the night sky. The air smells of barbecue pits, gunpowder, seagulls and sun-block lotion. We give thanks for the many different flavours of Independence. manjula padmanabhan, author and artist, writes of her life in the fictional town of Elsewhere, US, in this weekly column
1
In 1961, in a case that was followed by media around the world, for what crime was Ricardo Klement, department head of MercedesBenz in Buenos Aires, tried?
2
Bruce Reynolds, Charlie Wilson, Buster Edwards, Roger Cordrey and another associate became famous for something that happened on August 9, 1963. Who was the fifth and what did they do?
3
In 1877, which British citizen was tried for ‘fostering immoral attitudes’ when she wrote a tract on family planning? She was acquitted of the charges.
4
In August 2001, he went to jail for four months for perjury and perverting the course of justice in a case that was tried in 1987. He represented England in international athletics, but is known for an activity he started in 1974 in a bid to make some quick money and avoid bankruptcy. Identify him.
5
If Oscar Wilde was prisoner C.3.3 at Reading Gaol, who was prisoner 2917 on the Brixton Prison Register, spending six months there in 1918 because of his anti-war views?
6
According to the Jains, this ruler had imprisoned his father and the father committed suicide fearing for his life. The Buddhists maintain he tried to starve his father to death and then finally had him brutally killed. Name the son and the father.
7
On April 26, 1864, a certain Samuel was arrested for treating a patient 12 days before. He was imprisoned, but finally pardoned four years later and may have inspired a phrase. What was his surname and his crime?
8
Which film gets its two-word title from a phrase in a letter sent to George Lusk, head for the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, in 1888?
9
In February 1958, which high-profile sportsman was kidnapped by Fidel Castro’s 26th of July movement before finally being released 29 hours later? The perpetrators were never captured.
10
Which multiple Oscar-winning film ends with the murder of Lester Burnham by a certain Colonel Frank Fitts? Answers
1. War crimes, crimes against humanity and 13 other charges. Klement was the name taken by SS Colonel Adolf Eichmann after evading Allied capture after World War II 2. Ronald Biggs. They were the perpetrators of the Great Train Robbery on the weekend train from Glasgow to London, stealing over five million pounds 3. Annie Besant, who later moved to India and became a leading light of the Theosophical Society 4. Jeffrey Archer 5. Lord Bertrand Russell 6. Ajatshatru and his father Bimbisara of the Maghadha dynasty 7. Samuel Mudd, accused of treating Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth. The phrase is, ‘Your name is mud’ 8. From Hell. The note is supposedly written by Jack the Ripper 9. Racing legend Juan Manuel Fangio 10. American Beauty, which won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and also the Best Male Actor in 2000
joy bhattacharjya is a quiz master and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup t@joybhattacharj
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