Volume 1 | Issue 17 | December 6, 2012 | Rs 10
talk the intelligent bangalorean’s must-read weekly
LIFE OF PI Lots of animation, but little insight 20 SUICIDES The numbers are falling slowly and steadily 16
RAMESH HUNSUR
COOKING Vanilla recipes from chef Aditya Bal 19
LITTLE MASTER
With just his father as coach, Mysore boy Girish Koushik has pulled off upset wins against the world’s top chess players. The World No 2 (under-16) could be the next Viswanathan Anand, but is hobbled by a lack of funds, reports PRASHANTH G N 10-13
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team talk
Ayyotoons and the rising power of Satish Acharya I recently came across Ayootoons from a social media link. Satish Acharya's cartooning skills are commendable, and the rate at which he is capturing the national consciousness, I won't be surprised if he becomes the RK Laxman of the world wide web. I also congratulate his comrade-in-arms, SR Ramakrishna. The punning is unbelievable at times. I've noticed that your data is factually correct, so I was surprised to see ‘Vadera’ creeping in instead of ‘Vadra’ in Hot-Curry Gadkari (Issue 12). Also, is it really necessary to translate the Hindi quips? Does crowd the panel, sometimes. But that would be like complaining about flies in the Chardonnay! Well done, guys. Ramya by email (Thank you, thank you. The Vaderas anglicised their surname to become the Vadras.—Ed )
Blossoms story put me on alert The article The shelves have ears (Issue 15) by Prachi Sibal made for a good read. It was the kind of thing you don't get to read every day. The next time I visit Blossoms bookstore, I will keep my eyes and ears open, just in case—not to spy on others, but to check whether I’m being spied upon by Supreeth! Shaista Khatoon by email
I know this dabbawali! I liked the write-up on Bangalore's dabbawalas by Sandra Fernandes. I saw the picture of Poonam Mandal, co-founder of TS Home Food Services. I see her almost every day in Shantinagar riding a Scooty, but I didn’t know about her entrepreneurship. Thank you for telling us about her. Nyesahang Yangzom via Facebook
Not heavy, not light Talk magazine has substance—it is not very heavy and it isn't too light. The magazine has maintained a good balance. Even though some articles run to more than two pages, you are not put off. I do not find Talk unreadable. The Hanumanthraya column is very interesting for the unique experiences of the famous lawyer. Overall, its a neatly written magazine. Please keep up the good work. Here’s hoping you’ll only get better from here. Raghavan S Basaveshwaranagar More contests, please I saw a notice for the Talk Short Fiction Contest on the website of Asia Writes only recently. I missed the deadline, but I request you to hold more such contests that encourage writers. Amit Sahu by email What do you think of this edition? Write to letters@talkmag.in
EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE TEAM
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freedom essay
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editor talk
A government keen to apologise to anyone ‘offended’, as in the Ambedkar cartoons case. A government quick to arrest those who ‘offend’, as in the Facebook case. India’s intellectual spaces are shrinking, and a no-ideas zone is sneaking into existence
A sorry state hen Kapil Sibal apologised for i n c l u d i n g Shankar’s cartoon in a text-book produced by the NCERT and appointed a committee to snip off cartoons that were offensive, it seems to me he was acknowledging there were no intellectuals anymore in politics. What is worse, the many outpourings from the academics— about critical pedagogy, the accountability of academics, the offensive nature of the cartoon, and the Thorat committee being worse than any colonial committee because it didn’t include a dissent note in its report—showed that there are no intellectuals among academics, too. There is something common that underlies the moral policing in Mangalore, the Shiv Sena followers attacking the family of a girl who wondered why Mumbai should be shut down because a leader died of old age, and parliamentarians who wanted Shankar’s cartoon removed from a text-book. It is the creation of a zone that can be used to coerce people into silence and submission. Both the Left and the Right are complicit in exploiting such a zone. While it is regrettable that political groups are trying to place items in a moralised zone which effectively, if uneasily, removes
W
Vivek Dhareshwar Heads the Bangalore Human Sciences Initiative (BHSI) at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology
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them from inquiry, discussion and dom or freedom of expression or politics, the very existence of such a accountability of academics simply zone is what has remained uncon- distracts us from recognising what ceptualised. What is elusive about it we need to come to terms with in is that if a group sets out to create order to ensure that our political such a zone, it would surely fail. No and intellectual life is not endanone would take such a group or gered. Here is the issue as I see it: a community or individual seriously. zone has been created by contempoBut if everyone brings about rary politics such that any item this zone or is under its spell, as I placed in it is beyond the reach of think we all are, then some group or discussion, inquiry, and, in the end, the other will try to exploit it, as we politics. The puzzle is, no agency seems to be responwitnessed in a sible for the creridiculously specation of this zone, tacular way in Both the Left even though once Parliament. and the Right the zone has come Nobody even are complicit in into being many seemed to think it exploiting the agencies (groups, absurd that Kapil parties or even indiSibal was apologis‘no ideas’ zone viduals) exploit it ing on behalf of the for their own ends, government when it was far from clear whom he or the without actually realising the deep intellectual and political cost of government was apologising to. That there is such a zone their act. It is important not to miss makes us hesitate to debate certain this point for a proper appreciation issues. How it came about, how it of my argument. In an essential sense what hapstructures our social cognition, and what relation it bears to politics are pened in Parliament is no different all issues that social science cannot from what has happened so many avoid confronting, though at the times in the last few decades: the moment it does not seem to have right-wing forcing M F Husain into the resources to do so (in part exile for depicting Saraswati in a because it is busy replicating the certain way, films being forced off zone). What we can certainly recog- the screens, novels and plays being nise is the intellectual and political banned for offending this or that community… As long as the items cost of succumbing to that zone. The focus on academic free- mentioned above remain so-called
I agonise for hours, sometimes days, as I try to script Ayyotoons, the weekly cartoon strip Satish Acharya draws so brilliantly. Humour is difficult, but not because we are ever short of subjects. Every day, our politicians say or do something that lends itself readily to satire. But to string all the silliness together in a narrative—with dialogue that is witty and telling, and action that evokes laughter—is not easy. Clowning is fun, but Shakespeare creates fools who speak larger truths. Slapstick is relatively easy. Comedy serials on TV thrive on slapstick: two fat men trying to occupy the same chair, or a woman pouring salt instead of sugar into her coffee doesn’t call for too much thought. But to make those scenes say something significant (as in Chaplin’s Modern Times, for example) calls for an ability to use humour as a metaphor. South Indian films usually feature a comedy track that has nothing to do with the main characters, story, or plot. That is possibly because integrating humour into the main narrative calls for a comic vision that transcends mere joke-telling. Creating humour in a context calls for hard work, and some inspiration. For Ayyotoons, we began with public figures: Yeddyurappa, Ramdev, Manmohan Singh, Deve Gowda, Anna Hazare and so on. In the last two weeks, we have slightly changed the focus, and are looking at themes rather than individuals. Last week, in an episode titled Senti-mental India, we satirised the touchiness of groups like the Shiv Sena. When the powerful become literal-minded, the space for creativity shrinks. This time, we look at India’s economy, and obliquely, the FDI debate. Vivek Dhareshwar, known for his incisive writing, has contributed an essay on shrinking intellectual spaces. Happy reading! SR Ramakrishna ram@talkmag.in
freedom essay creative products—films, paintings, novels, plays—we tend to think of the problem as one of freedom of expression (since there is a pre-existing liberal rhetoric, it is also easy to be seen as an intellectual standing up for this highly cherished value). But what happens when the items include issues that need inquiry, debate and, as I say, politics? That is to say, what if the logic behind claiming that the cartoon is offensive extends to issues, whatever they may be (reservation, secularism, rights, the Constitution itself and so on)? I believe that is the real issue that has gone unnoticed. Consider the fact that a cartoon that no one with even a minimal knowledge of modern Indian history can consider offensive being used to coerce the government to apologise… to whom? If indeed the cartoon depicted Ambedkar in an offensive way, why apologise to anyone? Ambedkar, like Rajaji, INTOLERANCE The Mangalore ‘homestay Nehru, Gandhi and a whole lot of others, attacks’ (above) and the protests against painter was both an intellectual and a politician MF Hussain and the Ambedkar cartoons are all whose actions, views, and writings will symptoms of the same malaise always be discussed, criticised, lauded, ridiculed and so forth. The attempt to con- the social sciences. However, whatever one does with the strue a cartoon whose intent was clearly not to insult a person or a community as social sciences, it is unclear how the setting giving offence to Ambedkar’s memory and up of a centre under such a moralised “hurting the sentiments” of his followers is rubric can remedy the situation. Unless of really an attempt to place Ambedkar course the argument is that social reality beyond any discussion, inquiry and politics. must be replicated in the academic space! I think Ambedkar would have (So imagine the argument for the study of abhorred such an act as deeply reactionary, corruption, criminality, etc.) I doubt there both anti-political and anti-intellectual. In is a defensible argument for such centres fact, it is a tragedy that this kind of identi- (one understands there were plans for centy politics has prevented Ambedkar’s own tres for ‘humiliation studies’). If the social writing as an intellectual and politician sciences are in a bad shape the remedy canfrom receiving any critical scrutiny. If there not be centres that have as their object was genuine neglect of his work until nothing but moralised description. The more general and deeper problem recently (The Centre for Studies in Social Sciences in Kolkata did not possess any has to do with the social sciences themselves work by Ambedkar, let alone his collected and their still unthought commitment to works, when I was working there in the the terms and horizons provided by the 1990’s), now there is an attempt to shield Western descriptions of India. Thus it is not a question of asking how him and his work from any best to study a phenomecritical discussion. I don’t Social science is non called ‘the caste-sysknow which is a greater replicating the tem’ (study it as social disservice, not only to exclusion, through humiliAmbedkar but to our own zone when it ation narratives, and so intellectual health. should be on), but what kind of The academics, especonfronting it moralised black-boxing we cially the social scientists, have in ‘the caste system’. who have been protesting So the irony I was referring to above the removal of the text-book, are in a peculiarly ironic situation. They don’t quite lies here: by not looking into the process of realise that social science has been replicat- black-boxing, the social scientists have ing the zone rather than inquire into its unwittingly delivered it over to a zone that nature and source. The most blatant of repulses any questioning of the items such replication is the setting up of what placed therein. The protest against the carhas come to be called ‘centres for exclusion toon is in effect pre-empting any possible studies’ in many universities. This is a not- questioning of the block-box, because of so-subtle attempt at replicating social course the protesters associate Ambedkar interest and constituency in the university with issues and positions that presuppose space. For consider: if social sciences were the black-boxing. We are not to reopen not capable of tackling whatever phenom- them, presumably because there are enon that this new centre is set up to tack- canonical formulations of issues and posile, serious questions should be asked about tions that are beyond discussion. So not
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only obviously (and, as they see it, absurdly), fundamental questions about the caste system cannot be tolerated. How Ambedkar’s figure in the cartoon might cause the zone to be violated is anybody’s guess, but what is clear is that a warning has been sounded and possible transgressions pre-empted. Just imagine what response the Parliament and the government will be forced to give if the positions Ambedkar is supposed to embody are opened up for discussion and inquiry! Before concluding, let me reiterate once again that none of us are really aware of the phenomenon of the normative zone and its massively distorting effect on our relationships. Over the last decade or so, the language with which we express our practical relationships with one another has deteriorated so much it is increasingly becoming untenable to maintain that it is only the language that has deteriorated. Even our relationship or the matrices that express our relationship have sustained damages—whether irreparable or not we have no way of telling as yet. The disturbing aspect of the cartoon and other controversies is simply this: we cannot even raise questions that touch our
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ethical existence because we seem to have no intellectual resources left to make sense of our predicament. Indeed, for a long time, being an intellectual has meant holding forth on ‘violation of rights’, ‘the plague of communalism’, ‘the evils of the caste system’, and so forth. Today this sort of language and its deployment tends to completely supplant all the idioms for expressing the varied, layered and textured relationships we share. The resulting violence is already tearing us apart. And that violence is bound to intensify, unless we really try to find resources to redescribe ourselves in such a way that we can carry out actions that free us from the zone. But for that we will need genuine intellectuals, not ideologues and opportunists—from whichever community or political persuasion—who in the name of politics exploit the zone and unwittingly strengthen its hold on us. If it is an intellectual challenge to understand the nature of that zone, it is a political task to slowly remove items from that zone. Any attempt by anyone to place issues (also people and their work) in that zone should be resisted as deeply antiintellectual and anti-political.
fun lines
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healing touch A decline in the number of suicides over the last few years indicates that Bangaloreans may be getting better at handling the trauma of failed relationships
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To hell and back
Helpline, told Talk: “I would put the increase in number of calls to our centre at nearly 20 to 25 per cent.” She declined to provide more specific numbers. “The No 1 cause of stress in people’s lives today, across the board, is problems with relationships. Whether it’s between husband and wife, parents and children, siblings, boyfriend and girlfriend, or colMARIA LAVEENA leagues at work, it has always been maria.laveena@talkmag.in ‘relationships’ that cause the most problems,” she said. The fall in numbers is most angalore, like other major cities in India, marked between 2007, at the height continues to witness of the economic boom, when the City tragic cases of suicides, Crime Records Bureau (CCRB) and currently ranks sec- recorded 2430 suicides, and last year, ond in the country. But a downward 2011, when 1717 cases were recorded. trend in the numbers over the last The number in 2012 is expected to be few years, in spite of the growing comparable. Ali Khwaja, chairman and prinpopulation, has got experts wondering if some fundamental changes cipal faculty of Banjara Academy, a have taken place in the way people counselling centre, pointed to the transformed environment. “There respond to life’s challenges. Damaged relationships have has been a huge change in acceptance by families and socialways been the ety to love marriages, major reason for suiSuicide helplines divorces and other cides. But as lifestyles and social report increased situations. This wasn’t the case even a norms change, and number of calls few years ago.” with increasing Anita Gracias exposure in general, a failed relationship no longer seems also credited the willingness to obtain like the end of the world. In addition, professional help on the part of sufmore people are willing to seek help. ferers, and the presence of suicide For while there is some decline helplines like the one where she in the numbers (see box), many sui- works: “The decline can be attributed cide helplines in the city report to the suicide helplines, which have increased number of calls, further been getting more calls in the last few suggesting that with or without years. People have also learnt emocounseling, depressed people are tional skills and are not ashamed of indeed able to pull back from taking telling their problems to counsellors and seeking help from them, unlike the extreme step. But still, several hundred sui- before.” A 46-year-old lady who is concides a year is several hundred too tent with her second marriage told many. Anita Gracias, a senior counsel- Talk about how she experienced socilor of Sahai Suicide Prevention etal changes. “After leaving my hus-
B
K PONAPPA SUBBAIAH
Professional counsellors Ali Khwaja, Anita Gracias and Fr Divia Paul
band in 1992, I found love in my second husband. Those early years were really traumatic. I have seen people who would not pursue their love because they were frightened of society. There are many who have lost lives too. But I wasn’t ready to give up on my life as I had two children who were dependent on me.” She added: “These days I enjoy life and am not bothered about anyone. I live with my second husband without fear as the society is more cordial to change. The good thing is even children have started to give us room for our own likes and dislikes.” In the last five years, Bangalore has seen the rise of several helplines. Out of the many that exist, Talk found that the Sahai Suicide Prevention helpline, Sampurna Montfort 24×7 Distress helpline and Spandana Rehabilitation Centre were
the fastest to respond to the people who called them. Spandana also called back people who gave them a ‘missed call.’ Counsellors stressed that a suicide attempt is primarily a desperate cry for attention, needing kindness and support from society and those around the person. Fr Divia Paul, the head of Department of Counselling Pyschology at the Sampurna Montfort College, and the brain behind the Sampurna Montfort 24×7 Distress helpline, told Talk that counsellors are also much better trained and open minded now. “They are non-judgmental and give practical assistance,” he noted, adding that sufferers prefer helplines as they “assure anonymity.” “Counsellors need not necessarily “solve” problems but just have to
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be there and help the person in their This is the best I can do, to take real need and at the real time,” he revenge.” A similar case concerns Sreerag said. Talking about the right Subramanian. But while Malini let approach, Fr Paul says it is never a the world know why she was dying, bad idea to directly ask a person Sreerag did not do so. He in fact whether he/she is contemplating faked his suicide as a murder. Sreerag, a software engineer suicide. “It will actually allow one to with Hewlett Packard in Bangalore, go forth and help that individual.” Do not assure confidentiality, is assumed to have driven his car far he adds. “Considering that he/she is from home late in the night. After on the verge of committing suicide, which he is said to have taken 16 sleeping tablets and it would be best to then choked himself inform their family The number with layers of tape and friends’, keeping in mind the best interest of depression around his face and of the individual.” cases is at an hands. He also covered his head with three While some are all time high plastic covers. able to handle the All this because challenges, others go over the brink, like the recent cases he was rejected by a telemarketing of Malini Murmu and Sreerag girl with whom he fell in love with over the phone from the day she Subramanian. Malini’s suicide received great called him to sell him an insurance attention not because of the way she product. Though the girl was appardied but for the reason she wanted ently attracted to him and started to die. It was reported that the 23 being friendly, she never agreed to year old student of IIM Bangalore see him in person. Gender makes a difference, hung herself, simply because her boyfriend dumped her on a social though not in the way people might networking site (Facebook). She had expect. CCRB told Talk that until left a note saying, “He ditched me.
August this year, close to 1341 people committed suicide. The majority, 798, were male. Anita Gracias says that it is mostly the men who call their helpline to seek advice, as they can’t cry on just anyone’s shoulder like what most women do. “Honestly, men like the fact that they can be anonymous when they call us. Men don’t have the guts to say openly that they have failed in their marriage or love-life. People think it’s only men who cheat on their partners, it’s certainly not the case.” Anita says there are several cases where women cheat their husbands, whom their parents have selected in arranged marriages. Many such men end up depressed. While the number of suicide cases is going down, depression is a major problem. Fr Divia Paul in fact feels that in the current scenario, depression is at an all time high, especially among teens, even if it does not lead to suicide. Parental pressure with youngsters, and the pressure to succeed in life among adults, are the major factors, he says. Clearly, we have some way to go in ensuring general mental health.
Suicides in Bangalore* Year
Cases
2007
2,430
2008
2,396
2009
2,167
2010
1,778
2011
1,717
2012 (till August)
1,341
The majority of the suicides were committed by hanging, followed by poisoning and burning. Statistics also reveal that out of the 95 to 100 people who commit suicide every day worldwide, nearly 40 percent are in the adolescent age group. The suicide rate in India is the highest in
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the age group of 15-35 years. According the World Health Organisation, nearly one million people worldwide commit suicide each year, with anywhere from 10 to 20 million non-fatal suicide attempts annually. Suicide today is considered as the 8th largest leading cause of death in males and the 16th largest cause of death in females worldwide. In India, over 1.8 lakh people commit suicide every year. The four southern states i.e. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala are believed to be responsible for 42 per cent of suicide deaths in men and 40 per cent in women.
*City Crime Records Bureau statistics
political diary
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RAMESH HUNSUR
Biryani man’s JD(S) outing ried away and described the party as a "biryani without salt."
BASU MEGALKERI
Bharani has been cooking up quite a biriyani as far as his political career is concerned. After taking voluntary retirement Clearly, salted or otherwise, polia few years ago, he joined the BJP, and then shifted his affilia- tics has immense appeal.
basavaraju@talkmag.in When retired IPS officer Subhash Bharani joined the JD(S) recently, he got a little car-
Kumaraswamy with Subhash Bharani
"I will add salt to the party by bringing Dalits into the fold," he declared, raising bemused eyebrows. Party workers and his supporters are still trying to figure out the deep connection between salt and Dalits and the party and biryani.
Who moved my cash? State BJP President KS Eshwarappa has been using every trick in his book to ensure that no party minister or MLA sneaks out to attend the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) rally at Haveri next week. The KJP, BS Yeddyurappa's new party, is likely to lure CM Udasi, Shobha Karandlaje, Murugesh Nirani, Basavaraj Bommai, Renukacharya, V Somanna, Umesh Katti and BJ Puttaswamy, eight ministers who are known to be close to the former chief minister, removed after he was indicted by the Lokayukta in the mining scandal.
The Congress lacks winning candidates in three important assembly constituencies: Channapatna, Hoskote and Rajajinagar. The first two are within an hour's drive of Bangalore, while the third is the heart of the city. They are represented by Yogeeshwar, BN Bache Gowda and S Suresh Kumar respectively, and all three now serve as ministers in the crumbling BJP government. Suresh Kumar has an RSS background, and the other two are recent migrants to the BJP. As chances of BJP returning to power are bleak, Yogeeshwar and Bache Gowda have used the Vokkaliga card and met
Former Foreign Minister SM Krishna is now back in his home state of Karnataka. His supporters, to show how ardently they like him, are demanding that he make his elder daughter Shambhavi contest the Mandya Lok Sabha seat. They suggested her name at a recent public meeting. Although such sycophancy is not new, it has created insecurity and confusion among those eyeing the Mandya seat. And some of those are prominent names. Movie star Ambarish, for example, won the seat thrice and was also the minister of state for information and broadcasting before resigning in 2008 during an eruption of the Cauvery river waters dispute. In 2009, he lost to Cheluvarayaswamy of the JD(S).
Renukacharya remains unfazed, and has reportedly been siphoning off funds for the rally. Eshwarappa is all right with that: in fact, he is happy only one of eight ministers is stepping out of line. KS Eshwarappa
will be his main rival.
S Suresh Kumar
Congress bigwig S M Krishna, also from their caste. They are likely to migrate to the Congress soon. Tejaswini, the TV journalist who contested on a Congress ticket, vanquished HD Deve Gowda and became an MP, has been serving as an intermediary. In fact, Deve Gowda's JD(S) has almost finalised Anitha Kumaraswamy as its candidate from Channapatna. If Yogeeshwar gets the support of the Congress, he won’t find it impossible to defeat Anitha. As for Bache
Bharani isn't the first bureaucrat or IPS officer to join politics. Former police commissioners HT Sangliana (BJP), Kodandaramaiah and Revanasiddaiah, and former chief secretary J Alexander have been there before. More recently, former IT secretary Ashok Kumar Manoli and former Slum Development Board Commissioner S Puttaswamy have also joined the Congress.
Mandya masala
Eshwarappa is worried BJP funds may flow, through these ministers, to the KJP, and had asked the intelligence department to keep an eye on them. But his instructions also reached the ears of the eight ministers. Udasi, Bommai, Nirani and Karandlaje have taken due note, and are treading carefully.
Suresh Kumar vs Somanna?
tion to Mayavati's BSP.
Former top cop Subhash Bharani, still finding his political bearings, is promising to add flavour to Deve Gowda's party
There is strong resistance within the Congress to the reinduction of Somanna into the party. MLA ‘Layout’ Krishnappa of Vijayanagar is particularly opposed to the move. The Congress has proposed a simple formula to capture all three seats. It V Somanna plans to give Vijayanagar to Gowda, if he contests from the wealthy 'Layout' Hoskote on a Congress ticket, Krishnappa, and Govindaraja a victory looks fairly easy. Nagar to his son Priya Rajajinagar in Bangalore is Krishna, which leaves not so straightforward. Suresh Rajajinagar for Somanna. Kumar, an oldtimer here, will If the Congress’ strategy of contest again from the BJP. winning over other parties’ The BJP’s other potential candidates works in these candidate RV Hareesh is not in the same league as Suresh crucial constituencies, the Party can be Kumar, who enjoys a Mr Clean image. The expected to grapevine is that Suresh apply it Kumar's present colleague V throughout Somanna, for long associated the state. with the neighbouring constituency of Vijayanagar,
Cheluvarayaswamy, who was quite happy to be with the JD(S) until recently, is also secretly confabulating with Krishna. If he migrates to the Congress, he will want to contest the Mandya seat. Ambarish is a three-time MP, but isn't so sure about winning any more. After he resigned in 2008, Mandya did not exactly come out in his support. Now not only does he have to figure out which his constituency should be, but he also has to make up his mind whether to contest the assembly election or the Lok Sabha election.
Ambarish
chess prodigy
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MADHUSUDHAN SR
The boy who would be king In the cerebral world of international youth chess, Girish Koushik is a dark horse, someone who pulls off shocking upset wins over opponents ranked much higher. Recognising his talent, his father quit his job ten years ago to be his full-time coach. But today, despite many national and international titles under his belt, Girish’s career is in danger of being checkmated, for no other reason than a lack of funds
PRASHANTH GN prashanth.gn@talkmag.in
or a master of the ultimate mind game, Girish Koushik is surprisingly forthright in conversation. Take his frank admiration for Garry Kasparov (“Kasparov. Undoubtedly, Kasparov”). The Russian grandmaster may have disappeared from the limelight, but Girish idolises him over India’s own Vishwanathan Anand, the reigning world chess champion. Coming from a former under-10 world chess champ and current under-16 number two, that is not a statement you take lightly. No doubt, Kasparov, who became the youngest ever undisputed world champion in 1985, is considered by many to be the greatest of all chess players, but why exactly is this 15-yearold Mysorean singing paeans to him? “He is a dominator. His was fifteen years of complete domination. I like his very aggressive style of playing. It allows him to dominate.” Sure, but what about Anand and Kramnik, surely they too are worthy of inspiring youngsters like him? “They too are
F
greats. They are brilliant, no doubt. But only ed by the fact that it was none other than his Kasparov evokes the sense of domination. I’d idol Garry Kasparov who handed him the take speed from Anand and aggression from medal. As an ardent fan who has obsessively Kramnik. And going back in time, I’d go for read up Kasparov’s every move and watched Mikhail Tal. He was the most brilliant tacti- his matches online, Girish says he was shakcian of the century. For chess tacticals, its ing with excitement when it was his turn to receive the medal. On stage, he couldn’t help Tal for me.” That’s settled, then. But one cannot blurting out to Kasparov how much he help notice an out-of-the-ordinary aspect to admired him and how he took him for his role model, or asking him Koushik’s personality that is for his autograph. The legevident throughout the con‘Kasparov is a end smiled and replied, versation: every response “That’s great, kid. Keep it evokes the classic chess playdominator; I up.” That, and the autoer’s certainty of mind, which like his very graph, are things Girish considers all other possibiliaggressive style will cherish forever. ties before zeroing in on one. of playing’ Over the years, Girish It was eight years ago that has bagged a clutch of Girish A Koushik brought laurels to India by winning the under-10 cat- ‘lesser’ awards and trophies, which are nevegory at the prestigious World Youth chess ertheless worth listing: gold in the Asian championships held at Batumi, Georgia. Youth Under-8 in Delhi in 2005, silver in the Last week, he narrowly missed giving us a Asian Youth Under-10 at UAE in 2007, gold repeat performance, when he finished at the in the Asian Youth Under-12 at Tehran in podium, but with a silver medal in the 2008, gold in the Asian Youth Under-14 held under-16 open category of this year’s cham- at Subic City, Philippines, and in July this year, gold in the Asian Youth Under-16 in Sri pionship, held at Maribor, Slovenia. But for Girish, coming second place in Lanka. All this, apart from a clutch of the tournament was more than compensat- national trophies and international medals
chess prodigy
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collected as part of the Indian team. And all this without professional coaching, playing a game he picked up from his father as a child, and then went on master mostly by himself, with help from books and online tutorials. It’s worth recounting in full what he told The Times of India on his return from Philippines, which hints at the sheer single-mindedness that drives his prodigious talent. “I rate this as my best win for three reasons. First, the field was very tough. Second, I claimed the title though I was seeded second. Third, during the course of the championship, I could not eat properly because of the non-availability of vegetarian food. I have lost about 3-4 kilos because I chose to starve. On several occasions, I mixed rice with fruit juice and gulped it. Vegetarian food was a rarity in Subic City.”
Early bird
YOUNG MASTERS (Clockwise from above) A young Garry Kasparov. World under-10 champion Girish with his many trophies. Girish in an earlier game with Armenian grandmaster Robert Hovhannisyan, who won the gold at Slovenia.
Like with many chess talents, Girish started early on at the insistence of a family member who was passionate about the game. Vishwanathan Anand has often recalled in public how as a six-year-old he full-time coach. I decided to be one myself was taught the game by his mother because we cannot afford to hire an interSusheela, who ensured that nothing came national coach. We now support him with help from relatives and friends and the in the way of him and his game. Girish was only three-and-a-half years government,” says Kumar. Girish, a class 10 student at St Thomas old when his father Arun Kumar, then an engineer with Larsen & Toubro and a uni- School, Mysore, now spends less time on versity-level chess player, began to teach chess than in his younger days, according him his first moves. Says Kumar, “I picked to Kumar. It should have been the other up chess from my friends and neighbours, way round, since Girish has been winning and eventually became a university player, tournaments consistently. “That’s because though I did not play any championships. he has to concentrate on studies and get When I saw Girish take an interest in it, I good academic scores to get a good job started teaching him the game. As he grew later. I want to continue to encourage him older, I would explain to him the different in chess, but I also want to ensure that he moves and then demonstrate them on the has a stable career as a guarantee against chess board. I would also get him books on any risk. But luckily, he is talented enough to win tournaments even chess, and we would try without much practice out the moves together, to and with no coach other ensure he became good in ‘I couldn’t get than myself,” says Kumar. both theory and practice veg food in The family works as a of the game.” Philippines and team, even if there are Today, Kumar is Girish’s full-time coach, chose to starve. I only two who actually play the match. While Girish is given that they cannot lost 3-4 kilos’ focused entirely on his afford the services of a game, it’s his mother professional coach at the level the boy needs it. Kumar began teach- Lakshmi who handles all the “logistics” ing Girish chess when he was just three and when he’s preparing for a tournament. a half. He saw the boy grasping moves very “She also knows chess to some extent, and fast, and started spending more and more diligently follows every game that I play time training him. At one point, he recalls, and we talk about the games once I return. he used to spend as many as seven hours It’s she who keeps me focused and stable,” every day training with his son. Soon, he says. During the early years of his chess, his Girish’s victories at higher contests convinced Kumar that Girish was a champion school too was generous in letting him skip in the making, and would require all the classes for months together. “He would attention he could get. He assessed the sit- attend only from December to March and uation and decided to resign from his job, yet score high in exams. We are grateful to so he could be a full-time coach to Girish. them,” says Kumar. Girish has been doing “It has been ten years since I resigned. well in studies and is currently ranked I saw him win major tournaments, and number two in his class. “I score between realised that he would be a very good play- 85 and 90 out of 100 in maths and between er in the future if he got the attention of a 90 and 95 out of 100 in science. I am com-
fortable with both. My classmates always wonder how I score so high even though I don’t attend classes.” Though they have sacrificed much for Girish’s game, the family seems acutely aware of a harsh fact: they cannot put all their faith in chess when they have nothing else to fall back on.
Studies first So what’s the everyday life of a chess prodigy like? “I get up early, read, breakfast and then head to school. Back by evening, head to studies. This year study is crucial as it is tenth standard. Weekday evenings, I hang out with classmates and friends. Whenever I return from abroad, there is a sort of get together in the neighbourhood because they think I have lots of stories to tell. They are amazed by the people I meet and my achievements. Thanks to their goodwill, I am doing well.” But what about chess practice? “I don’t practice at all except for the games that I play on the computer. I keep track of moves made in the latest international competitions and analyse them at home. I spend two to three hours on chess
on my laptop at home on Sunday evenings. I also read books on chess.”
Sunday evenings The books, of course. Girish has some 600 of them - and that’s just on chess, in case you’re wondering. He says it’s very difficult for him to pick a favourite, “as each book has something to offer. But I’ve particularly liked Alexandar Kotov’s Think Like a Grandmaster.” Not that he’s a complete chess-nut when it comes to reading. As a kid, his father had introduced authors like Charles Dickens to him, but as Kumar puts it, “he now picks books from different genres and has gone much beyond what I’ve taught him. He has matured enough to make his own choices.” Girish loves music too, and his favourite band is the Beatles, whose music he likes to listen to when he trains, and while on flights or at airports on his way to a tournament. According to Kumar, he also loves Simon and Garfunkel, Led Zepplien, Santana, Doors and Pink Floyd, a list that suspiciously sounds like another set of influences the zealous father has passed on to his son.
chess prodigy When asked about his career plans, Girish says, “My father wants me to be an engineer. Perhaps he thinks job prospects would be bright. I am deeply interested in physics, astrophysics and space. This is a question I have to resolve later. But what is definite is I will need a job to support myself if I plan to be in chess.”
‘Telepathy’ at work Having played at the international level from a very young age, what does Girish see as his strengths in the game? “I believe I am good at all three positions— opening, middle game and end game, but some observers have told me that my middle-game is the best. Probably. I need to examine this more, though.” Which opening does he prefer? “The queen’s pawn, B4. It allows for gradual but dramatic development of your chess pieces. It is Kasparov’s favourite opening, that’s why, its mine too.” Girish is noted for his upset wins over opponents rated much higher than him, often keeping the audience spellbound with his unexpected moves. But these flashes of brilliance do not always translate into wins, which call for a greater degree of consistency. For instance, at the SDAT Ramco 50th World TEAM KOUSHIK Girish’s father Arun Kumar has been his mentor and full-time coach for the last ten Junior chess championships at Chennai years, while his mother Lakshmi handles the “logistics” before every tournament last year, Girish created a flutter with his shocking upset wins over five Grand from the one we had calculated earlier. Asian and World championships. He Masters from five different countries- This intuition has paid off several times. says this severely limits his exposure at a totally unexpected from a young player Often, our calculation that an opponent critical stage of his career. If he wins in a like him. But from the ninth round may actually play a different line from particular tournament, he is automationwards, his winning streak seemed to the one he is expected to, has come cally selected for it the next year, but participating in other tournaments is reverse, and he lost four games in a row, true.” Kumar is his full-time coach, but out of the question. thus slipping down in the final rankings. “I can’t afford to participate, for Girish says he hardly practiced for does he also get to play chess with the World Championship in Slovenia. “I neighbours, a local coach or other instance, in the grand master level, open was preparing for my mid-term exams champions? Girish’s answer is clear- tournaments mostly held in Europe, and had no time. In fact, I first opened eyed. “Since I am the world number two where you pay to play. But these tournamy laptop to practice some moves after in the under-16 category, there are not ments are precisely the ones that can many people I can play give me the necessary international I reached Slovenia, just with. There’s no one in exposure and help me expand my repera day before the tourna‘As world No 2 in my neighbourhood or toire. As of now I can only participate in ment started. And I still under-16, there in Mysore who can play tournaments where the organisers pay secured the silver at my level, so I don’t or the Central government helps. The medal. It’s only because are not many I am able to improvise people I can play get to practice,” he says. rest I can’t afford, so I will be playing only two tournaments a year, and and innovate directly with in Mysore’ maybe with some help, two more.” on the chess board durCheckmate? He says the support from the state ing a live game. If I Lack of funds. It’s a couldn’t do that, I wouldn’t win.” subject that kept popping up through- chess authories has been intermittent, Curiously, Girish says he enjoys an out the conversation, something that’s or subject to so many rules that getting almost telepathic connection with his clearly the biggest worry for the young even a small amount involves much father which helps him in tournaments champion right now, despite his latest running around. He has approached where Kumar has accompanied him. win. Because he lacks the funds, Girish several leading companies, including IT “My father and I share a certain intuitive is now able to participate only in two majors, for help, but to no avail. He is connection, and it has helped me on tournaments in a year—the Asian and also miffed that none of the state several occasions. For example, we World Youth Chess Championships, for authorities congratulated him on his would have prepared in a particular way which he gets Central government return from Slovenia, and that six for a particular opponent, but some- funds, which he is eligible for since the months after winning the gold in Sri where along the line we might get this time he won the World Under-8 Chess Lanka, the state’s official chess website, feeling that the opponent may play a Championship in Delhi in 2005. Until a Karnatakachess.com doesn’t even mendifferent line. So we prepare for a new few years ago, he would play around tion his victory. Fittingly perhaps for a largely selfline of strategy altogether, different eight tournaments a year, including the
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How to become a master
The World Chess Federation, FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs), awards several performance-based titles to chess players. Titles generally require a combination of Elo ratings (which calculates the relative skills of players) and norms (performance benchmarks in competitions including other titled players). Once awarded, FIDE titles are held for life. Chess ratings A chess rating system is a system used in chess to calculate an estimate of the strength of the player, based on his or her performance versus other players. They are used by organizations such as FIDE, the US Chess Federation (USCF), International Correspondence Chess Federation, and the English Chess Federation. The Elo rating system - a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games - is currently the most widely-used. To become International Master (IM) Normally three norms (qualifying standards) in international tournaments involving other IMs and Grandmasters are required before FIDE will confer the title on a player. IMs usually have an Elo rating between 2400 and 2500. Sometimes, though, there may be a very strong IM who has not yet become a Grandmaster but has a rating greater than 2500. The IM title can also be awarded for a few specific performances. For example, under current rules, the runner up at the World Junior Championship will be awarded the IM title if he or she does not already have it. After becoming an IM, most professional players set their next goal as becoming a Grandmaster. It is also possible to become a Grandmaster without ever having been an International Master. For example, former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia became Grandmaster without ever having been an IM. To become Grandmaster (GM) A player must have attained an Elo rating of at least 2500. At least two favorable results (called norms) from a total of at least 27 games in tournaments involving other Grandmasters, including some from countries other than the applicant's, are usually required before FIDE will confer the title on a player. There are other milestones a player can achieve to get the title, such as winning the Women's World Championship, the World Junior Championship, or the World Senior Championship. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life.
chess prodigy taught champion, he was honoured by the Karnataka government with the prestigious Ekalavya Award in 2008-09. But material support has not been forthcoming from the state, he says, especially in the last two years. His frustration is evident when he asks, “Why is chess not being taken seriously by the very country which invented and gifted it to the world and when Indians are doing well? Is it fair that all money goes only to cricket?” So what’s his most pressing need? “I need long-term financial support and sponsorship to be able to participate in high end grand master level tournaments in Europe and to hire an international coach to expand my repertoire,” he says. Girish’s repertoire in white, especially, has to improve, according to his father. “He has lost more games playing white. He has been doing well with black. This requires renewed focus and training on white. With high quality training, he can iron out his weaknesses quickly and move up.” But high quality chess coaches are expensive. According to Kumar, to have the very best international coaching, say by a Russian grandmaster training Girish in India, would approximately cost Rs 20,000 a day, all expenses included. He estimates that if Girish takes 100 days of coaching a year over two years, he will definitely make it to the next level of the game (see box).
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RAMESH HUNSUR
‘Leave the winning to me’
UNDER STUDY Girish is an avid reader, and has nearly 600 books on chess alone
Says Kumar, “Had he received Russian coaching early on, he would have turned grand master between 12 and 15.” But to arrange for even minimal levels of such coaching would mean Girish keeps winning tournaments and hope that the prize money will add up to something substantial. At the same time, he lacks the funds to even participate in an adequate number of tournaments. It’s a tricky situation to be in, one from which even this master of strategy sees no easy way out. It’s not something you ask someone in Girish’s position, but you do anyway since there’s no getting away from it: will he give
up chess if he doesn’t get the funds? “If no one comes forward to help, my only option will be to find a job and pay for the game from my salary. I will have to find a job to fund myself. What other option is available? Even then, I don’t know how practice, coaching and playing chess will work out in the near future when I don’t have the funds. I may not stop playing altogether— though this had crossed my mind two years back—but I will play only in a limited number of tournaments, where I am selected in advance for winning in the previous year. Open tournaments where I need to pay, I won’t.”
Girish’s toughest test will be when he plays tournaments where a large number of international players and grand masters are participating. So far, he has been doing well, but in his own age group, but winning in senior level tournaments is hardly the same thing. In them, Girish will be tested severely, and he can only get better by participating in more and more grand masterlevel tournaments nationally and internationally. Which brings him back to the same question of funds. “Help has to come from somewhere,” he says. “If I don’t win, let them (sponsors) withdraw. But shouldn’t they give me a try at least for the fact that I have some credible victories so far? If I lose six or seven tournaments in a stretch, then I would perfectly understand if sponsors withdraw. But I am confident that I won’t. If I get three years assistance, I will definitely get the grand master title. That’s a promise. But here is where I need to win to go beyond my age grouping.” For all his desperation,though, Girish is full of hope and bursting with confidence. And as if to make sure no one doubts it, he repeats his fervent plea, “Leave the winning to me. I will do whatever is required to win. That work and effort is mine. That I’ll do. But get me some help.”
The game of kings that became the king of games
Chess SAVIE KARNEL savie.karnel@talkmag.in
nce upon a time in ancient India, there was a king who was bored with himself. Like most such kings, this one too tried to solve his problem by offering a reward to anyone who could invent a game that would keep him entertained. Fortune hunters from every corner of the kingdom came to W his court to try their luck, but none of their inventions pleased him. One day, a poor man called Sessa showed up at the court. He had brought with him a large square board that had 64 tiny The Talk squares on it. column on word origins He said it was a game he
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had invented, and explained to the king its rules. The king was impressed with the possibilities in which the game could be played. Pleased with the new game, the jubilant king asked Sessa what he wanted in return. Sessa humbly replied he wanted just a grain of rice for a square, and then double that for subsequent squares. The king felt he was asking for too little and asked him to demand more. But Sessa stuck to his demand. The court accountant who did the calculations was astounded. Sessa’s demand was not as small as everyone had thought. At the rate of one grain of rice for the first square, two for the second, four for the third, and so on, the total came to such a large amount that, according to the legend, the king went broke after paying it. This story, like all such stories, is meant to be allegorical. But there’s no missing the hints about the sheer complexity of what at first seemed like a simple game.
K E Y
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LOST GAME In Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khilari, two chess-obsessed noblemen remain absorbed in their game even as their kingdom is taken over by the British
Originally carrying the Sanskrit name chaturanga, the game we now call chess originated in 6th century India, during the rule of the Gupta dynasty. The
word chaturanga means ‘having four parts.’ It refers to the four divisions in the armies of those days: elephants, chariots, horsemen and foot soldiers. Some scholars believe chaturanga was actually a battle simulation game, used by the army to strategise. Another legend about the origin of the game tells the tale of two princes, Gav and Talhand, who were at war with each other. Talhand dies in the battle, and their mother is distraught, thinking he has been killed by his own brother. Gav tells her he hasn’t killed Talhand, but the queen refuses to believe him. According to the story, the court ministers then invent the game to explain the war and the circumstances of Talhand’s death to convince his mother of Gav’s innocence. The game soon found its way to Persia, where an account of it is mentioned in the 11th century work Shahnameh by the poet Ferdowsi. He writes of an Indian ambassador who visited the court of Persian king Khosrow. After the exchange of courtesies, he pre-
sented gifts. Amongst them was a board with carved pieces of ebony and ivory. He then issued a challenge: “Oh great king, fetch your wise men and let them solve the mysteries of this game. If they succeed, my master the king of Hind will accept you as an overlord and pay tribute, but if they fail, it will be proof that the Persians are of lower intellect and we shall demand tribute from you.” Shahnameh says that after a day and night of deep thought, Bozorgmehr, one of Khosrow’s courtiers, solved the mystery. The Persians called the game shatrang. Ferdowsi’s poem uses the word, shah mat to depict the last move of the game, when the death of the king is inevitable. This phrase later became check mate. The game eventually reached the Arabs, who called it shatranj. When it reached Europe, the game got various names in the many European languages. The French called it esches, the term that later became chess in English.
box office
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FOOLED YA Vidya Balan in Kahaani, the unexpected super-hit of the year
Collections for 2012 show that low-budget films are increasingly proving a better bet for Bollywood
Small is bountiful BASU MEGALKERI basavaraju@talkmag.in
urely as an art form, the making of a Hindi film used to be a much simpler affair until recently. In fact, so simple that it did not even occur to producers to speak of it as an ‘art form.’ A welloiled machinery would efficiently keep churning out productions on a massive scale. The cast would be led by a middle-aged hero playing a (decidedly not angry) ‘young man’, though the heroine must necessarily
P Cost Paan Singh Tomar Kahaani Vicky Donor Ishaqzaade Shanghai Gangs of Wasseypur 1 Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi English Vinglish
India* Overseas
4.5 8 5 12.5 18 9.2
15.5 58 40 45 23 29
0.38 7.6 3.9 0.6 -
16 15
12 60
1.6 24
(*Box office collection in crores. Courtesy bollywoodtrade.com)
be as young as the character she plays, or preferably, younger. They would be surrounded by a crowd of relatives, friends and neighbours, all of them comfortably ensconced in an impossibly luxurious world. That formula, which served the Mumbai film industry well through all the artistically barren years that followed the golden age of Hindi cinema, now looks badly outdated. Going by box office statistics (see box) at least, 2012 has been the breakthrough year for films until now disparaged as ‘multiplex movies.’ Purely in terms of return on investment, the films that did best this year were all small-budget productions: Kahaani, Vicky Donor and Ishaqzaade. More importantly, these were also the films that won the audience’s hearts, the ones that made it into private conversations and media headlines alike. These films easily distinguish themselves from the rest with their humour, their portrayal of everyday reality and their lightness of touch. Though not as successful as the rest, Shirin Farhad Ki Tho Nikal Padi by debutant director Bela Bansali Sehgal (brother of Sanjay Leela Bhansali) is a typical example. The film created a lot of buzz for its choice of choreographer and director Farah Khan as the female lead. Though Khan is a familiar face on TV and elsewhere, it was seen as an unconventional casting
decision. As it turned out, it was also scale and had little or no star value: a smart choice, one that played a big Paan Singh Tomar (Irrfan Khan), Kahaani (Vidya Balan), Vicky Donor role in its success. The same logic seemed to work (debutant Ayushman Khurana), for debutant director Gauri Shinde, Ishaqzaade (debutant Arjun Kapoor who decided to cast yesteryears’ star and Parineeti Chopra), Shanghai Sridevi as the lead in her heartwarm- (Abhay Deol), Gangs of Wasseypur ing comedy English Vinglish, another (Manoj Bajpai), English Vinglish unexpected hit of the year. It is also (Sridevi) and Shirin Farhad Ki Toh quirky decisions like these—some- Nikal Padi (Farah Khan and Boman thing that only directors with smaller Irani). Perhaps the wild card entry of budgets (and equally smaller risks) the year was Supermen of Malegaon seem to be able to take—that sets this featuring a bunch of passionate new crop of films and filmmakers movie enthusiasts in Malegaon, Maharashtra, who thrive on making apart. Consider the list of the year’s big spoofs of Bollywood films which they budget flops. If anything, it reveals release locally. Originally made as a that almost all the big stars were documentary for a Singapore TV given a ‘dhulai’ at the box office this channel by Faiza Ahmed Khan, it was later released as a year. Among them movie. were Agent Vinod The small-budget The first set of (Saif Ali Khan), Tezz movies almost (Ajay Devgn), films were also entirely banked on Department (Amitabh the ones to win the traditional Bachchan and Sanjay hearts and make Bollywood ingrediDutt), Teri Meri headlines ents for box office Kahaani (Shahid success: star power Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra’s) and Heroine (Kareena and lavish production. The latter Kapoor). Their all-star casts and high- bunch though, focused on the script power publicity campaigns could not and the story-telling, and did not hesstop them from being pulled from itate to cast less-known or debutant theatres a week or so after they were actors. Much of the success of the released. On the other hand, this year saw small-budget ‘indie’ movies have been a slew of unexpected successes of attributed to the rise of the ‘multiplex productions that were far smaller in crowd,’ and their high-spending
box office patrons, along with a new generation of producers and distributors willing to back them. Perhaps the first such movie to break into the big league commercially was Vinay Pathak’s 2007 hit Bheja Fry, which cost less than a crore to make, but grossed Rs 18 crore worldwide, and also introduced a new crop of actors to Bollywood. Though it wasn’t exactly a low-budget production, the blockbuster success in 2011 of the Ekta Kapoor-produced The Dirty Picture (cost: Rs 18 crore) is widely seen as a breakthrough for ‘indie’ movies, given its bold cinematic choices. The film raked in as much as Rs 117 crore, and also won its heroine Vidya Balan a slew of honours, including the national Best Actress award. Of course, this does not spell the end of the traditional big fat Bollywood movie—the top four hits of the year Ek Tha Tiger, Agneepath, Housefull 2 and Rowdy Rathore—all of which crossed the Rs 100 crore mark in the domestic market alone, were firmly in the traditional mould and had budgets of Rs 50 crore and above. But what’s interesting is that unlike these heavyweights, only a fraction of the earning collected by ‘indie’ movies came from the overseas market (box). In comparison, the three top hits collected a minimum of one third of their total earnings
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UNLIKELY HERO (Above) Quirky projects like Supermen of Malegaon, a documentary about a bunch of film-crazy small-towners, won applause, even as formulaic big budget productions like Saif Ali Khan’s Agent Vinod bombed
from the NRI market, consisting mainly of the US, Canada, UK and Australia. For instance, the year’s biggest hit, the Salman Khan starring Ek Tha Tiger alone collected nearly Rs 125 crore abroad. Not surprisingly, given its NRI theme, the exception was English Vinglish, which collected nearly a
third of its Rs 85 crore earnings from abroad. The ‘indie’ productions have always won their share of critical acclaim. But now, they are also beginning to score over the traditional blockbuster financially as well. For instance, viewed in terms of suc-
cess rate or return on investment, the leanbudget movies consistently outperformed their bulkier counterparts through 2012. The sheer number of indie successes this year clearly indicates that they are no mere ‘trend,’ and that they are very much here to stay.
talk short fiction
T
he Cigarettewalla’s shack is strategically set up outside the entrance to the famed Kolkata U.P. Chats and Parantha Centre in Electronics City, Bangalore. Satiated patrons always stop for a taste of gutkha, paan, or the everfaithful Gold Flake on their way out and provide good business. It had recently been upgraded from a small wooden table with a multitude of drawers to a swanky cubicle-like structure, generously provided for by ITC, the Indian tobacco giant. The only catch was that it must exclusively be used to sell ITC products. It would seem that the newly found middle class prosperity has finally begun to trickle down the channels. However, one has to only scratch the surface to find out that old fears have simply assumed new forms In the white light of the environment friendly fluorescent lamp, the Cigarettewalla’s nearly bald head gleams invitingly while the silver and maroon colours of his little kingdom allay my fears concerning the much publicised and the little heeded - harmful effects of smoking. Had his wares not been displayed so conspicuously, I would have easily mistaken him for an insurance salesman. My Cigarettewalla has been in business for so many years now that he cannot remember when he started off. He had dropped out of school to provide for his family and things were never the same. People tell me he is pushing 60 though I could swear he looks older. A cheerful person who does not mind teaching me the Kannada numerals, the Cigarettewalla doesn’t hold a lot many grudges in life. He is one of the few people I know who have the knack of sounding educated without being literate. One fine afternoon, I was digging into a less than decent meal at the aforementioned Kolkata U.P. when I was accosted by him. “Should I buy Plasma TV or LCD TV? 70 inch is big enough, no?” he asked. I like to have my meals in silence and solitude, partly the reason why I chose to eat in a run-down diner where dal often competes with water for consistency. But when a 70 inch TV is being discussed with such earnestness, one is bound to take notice. So I stop eating, look at him politely, and convey my ineptitude in the matter through a handful of words. “Pata nahin (I don’t know) Uncle, I have never seen anything on either of them. I grew up watching Cartoon Network on an old fashioned TV. You know, the 21 inch kind. Even our new TV is old fashioned,” I smiled a little at my own smartness. But Uncle was not amused. “But you are educated and a student. You must know something about these things. You have to help me. I am going
The Cigaret
The wrinkled old man selling cigarettes would occasionally exp a 70-inch TV. In a rich man’s world, a poor man must
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ttewalla
press a strange ambition, like wanting to buy t be allowed his fantasies at least?
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Siddhartha Lal is a writer, a
quizzer, and a student, and someone whose solution to the entire world’s — and his own — problems is a cot, a mattress, a blanket, and silence. He moonlights as a contributing writer at HelterSkelter, an online journal focusing on independent and alternative culture in India.
SPEenCtIioAnL m
out today to buy a new TV and I want no expense spared.” “If you have the money, Uncle, I am sure the salesman will do his best to get you to buy the costliest one. Don’t get fooled though. Make sure the prices don’t vary across stores. Get the best deal possible, whatever kind you decide to buy. Why would you want to buy a 70 inch TV anyway?” “I want it for one of the walls in my house. One whole wall for the TV! Wife will like it. Besides, what am I going to do with all this money? I have no kids and it is not going to stay with me after I die. Spend it while you can, I say.” It was quite obvious that he was very excited and nothing that I could say would dissuade him from splurging on the electronic monstrosity. “You don’t have kids?” “No. It’s just me and wife. I have been thinking about selling the shop, you know, and then living on the money that I have saved. But you must help me. Plasma or LCD? Which one is better?” *** Ever since I had started taking my meals in the campus mess, my visits to the Cigarettewalla had dwindled to a bare minimum - another shack closer to the hostel provided for all my needs. Being a lazy lump of lard, I conveniently concluded that he wouldn’t mind and that all would be forgiven and forgotten. But when Gyaan, the chubby proprietor at Kolkata U.P., told me one day that he had not shown up for work for nearly a month, I thought it wise to enquire about this mysterious absence. Despite knowing better, I often humour such sentimental niceties. The Cigarettewalla is smoking a Kings and looks a tad upset. His forehead is lined with some new creases. Or maybe I am just imagining things. I walk up to the counter, smiling, and place my usual order. He smiles briefly at me and then hands me the cigarettes. There is a marked tension in his movements - he falters while making a paan for another customer. His half-smoked and completely forgotten cigarette is scarring the bright shiny counter. The bananas are too ripe and have begun to give off
a stench. I fumble around for words. “I haven’t seen you in a month, Uncle. What’s wrong?” “It’s the wife. She has been sick again. Her leg has swelled up and doctors can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong. They say it is some sort of bacterial infection.” “Swollen legs? Is she in a hospital?” “Obviously. She is being treated at St. John’s. She even had an operation where they removed a chunk of her leg the size of a melon.” “So she must be better now; an operation usually solves all problems.” “Nothing like that. The swelling is still there. Those idiots don’t seem to know what they’re doing. All they do is ask me to buy injections everyday. Honestly, I am quite tired of it. The money…. Well, I don’t care about the money. But she is not getting well either and the expenses are only mounting. One lakh rupees gone. Just like that. Everyday I have to take the bus to Madivala. The shop has been closed for a month now. There is nobody to watch it for me. No kids. You tell me, where am I going to find all this money?” “I am sure she will be alright soon. These things take time. The people treating her are not fools.” “I am not so sure anymore. This is the second time this is happening. She had a swelling earlier. They let her go then saying she was fine. And now this. Those injections are killing me. What is a poor uneducated man to make of all this? I have to do what they tell me. When I ask them what’s wrong, they just assume I won’t understand. I am not stupid. Only yesterday, there was this young doctor…” He drones on about a poor man’s woes in a rich man’s world. About bacterial infection and over-priced injections. Perhaps, he just needs a shoulder to cry on. After several minutes of being a Good Samaritan, I begin shuffling my feet and make a move to leave. But he starts talking again and I have to stop. I am feeling a little uncomfortable. I have just come to buy milk, after all, and the tragedy in his story is starting to get to me. I have to watch that movie. It’s getting late. I have become quite fidgety. What was its name now?
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Another breezy rom-com Yogaraj Bhat’s latest release Drama does not disappoint, but it hints at how much more its talented director could achieve
SR RAMAKRISHNA ram@talkmag.in
t a late night Monday show, when you would expect a less than average turn-out, the hall showing Drama at PVR Cinemas was almost full. The audience chuckled and laughed through the film, reinforcing director Yogaraj Bhat’s credentials as a storyteller who scores with his humour. Since his blockbuster hit Mungaaru Male (2006), Bhat has worked on romantic comedies, and Drama fits into the same genre. The humour in Bhat’s films comes more from the dialogue he crafts than from the situations he scripts. In Drama, the dialogue draws on the musicality of the Mandya dialect. In a TV interview, he said the dialect, even if it sounds wrong to purist ears, springs from a deep Kannada folk wisdom. The Dalit writer Devanoor Mahadeva is the unchallenged master of literary narratives that tap into to the experiences of the region, and the cadences of this dialect, a fact
A CANDY COLOURS Radhika Pandit, Yash, Satish and Sindhu Loknath in Drama
acknowledged by Bhat in his inter- into incomprehension. Nandini is the daughter of underworld don D’Souza view. Friends Venkatesa and Satisa (as who operates from Dubai, but visits they call themselves) have managed Mangalore on business. D’Souza kills to clear PUC after many attempts. the son of his guru, Anna (played by veteran theatre actor The boys keep getting into scraps the with their elders in the village Lohistashwa), because the boy is castbecause of their irreverence, their ing an eye on Nandini. To avenge that wild ways, and their desire to find death, Anna is out to kill Nandini. girlfriends. While Venkatesa’s mis- The heroine, by becoming a target in chief is tempered by his do-gooder this battle of vengeance, precipitates impulses, Satisa is more impulsive, the action in the second half of the and driven by sexual angst. Their film. Meanwhile, on the campus, to future is predicted by Bulbul, a fortune teller who roams the streets please Nandini, Venkatesa shaves off with a set of dolls. Bulbul is played by principal Shalivahana’s head. As things spin out of Ambarish, and his hand, the principal name in Drama is a ends up near the reference to his hit Bhat’s heroes are railway tracks, where film Nagarahaavu, vulnerable, but Anna’s men have in which, as the their turmoil is murdered D’Souza’s roadside ruffian, he obscured by his bald hitman. The teases the heroine hitman’s body is misby calling her comic effusion taken for ‘Bulbul’. Venkatesa Shalivahana’s, and (played by the hunky Yash, who hails from Mysore) that leads to another series of misadencounters a fiesty Nandini (Radhika ventures. The climax takes place at a Pandit) who challenges him to a kab- resort in Mangalore, with a shoot-out badi match, kisses him, and prompts between the gangs of D’Souza and him to leave Mandya and follow her Anna. Venkatesa and Nandini are caught in the crossfire, and it is an to Hassan. The college in Hassan, where ordeal that puts their love to the test. Bhat’s commercial success is Nandini studies, is run by the eccentric sure to receive all-round applause in an industry constantly Shalivahana (played by groaning under lossan earnest Suchindra es. But while his Prasad) who speaks a films keep the audiKannada that is so pure ence engrossed, his that it sometimes heroes are cast in leaves his students the same mould: stunned Ganesh in
Mungaaru Male and Gaalipata, Digant in Manasaare and Pancharangi, Puneet Rajkumar in Paramatma, and Yash in Drama could be the same person. Their one quality is that they are sharp at dialogue and repartee, and love to chatter away. Bhat’s films speak in a tone of warm humanism, and do not get too dark, although he does venture into the world of madness in Manasaare, and to a smaller extent in Drama, where Shalivahana, separated from his wife and child, gets hysterical every now and then. In Bhat’s ouevre, madness is caused by a lack of love, and love also holds the power to heal and restore sanity. His characters often display a raw vulnerability, but a lot of inner turmoil is obscured in his hurry to return to the comic mode. Bhat’s song scenes, with their use of abstract geometrical shapes as props, are clearly inspired by stage techniques. Satisa (played by Ninasam Satish) walks away with the acting honours, although the others are sprightly, too. The songs composed by V Harikrishna may not exactly be rip-offs, but they replicate the sounds of popular hip-hop bands. Bhat’s formidable strengths in the realm of the comic are circumscribed by the romantic formula he is forced to work with. His challenge might be to break out of that formula and produce cinema of greater resonance. Perhaps he is focused too hard on his fun-demanding audience to give true expression to his art.
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A lit fest of our own The first ever three-day Bangalore Literature Festival highlights Kannada writing alongside English
MARIA LAVEENA maria.laveena@talkmag.in
ppropriately enough, the Bangalore Literature Festival’s (BLF) logo features the twin-headed Gandabherunda, not only the state insignia of the government of Karnataka, but also a symbol long associated with the Mysore and Vijayanagar royalty. Traditionally, it also features in the Mysore Dasara. In this case, the mythical bird is mounted on a pen nib. The festival, to be held between December 7 and 9 at the Jayamahal Palace, is organised by a young group of writers and book-lovers from the city, led by writer Vikram Sampath, columnist Shinie Antony, publishing professional Anil Kumar, and social sector professional Srikrishna Ramamoorthy.
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HOME TEAM (From left) Vikram Sampath, Shashi Deshpande, Shinie Antony and Alaham Anil Kumar
Sampath, a Sahitya Academy Chandrashekara Kambara, Nisar Yuva Puraskar awardee, has written Ahmed, Shashi Deshpande, Bolwar three books in English, but is keen on Mahamad Kunhi, Kum Veerabhadrappa, Jayanth Kaikini and othshowcasing Kannada. “Having been part of other liter- ers. Prominent writers from other ature festivals in India, we realised that Kannada wasn’t being given states such as poet-lyricist Gulzar, much prominence. As we are organis- Pavan Varma, Tavleen Singh, and ing BLF for the first time, we thought Chetan Bhagat will be attending, as there was a moral obligation to large- will Sir Mark Tully. Gulzar and Javed ly feature Kannada,” Vikram told Akhtar will feature in a poetry session called ‘Nazm aur Talk. Tarkash’. Other Bangalore is highlights include a made up of multiple BLF concludes discussion on writcities, and many citiwith a screening ing in theatre with zens are not aware of of the Rajkumar Mahesh Dattani, the rich heritage of Ashish Sen and Kannada. However, hit Bangaarada Amish Tripathi, he said, the festival Manushya among others. will also focus on What will be other languages in even more appealthe coming years. Two prominent Bangalore writ- ing to Kannada audiences is that the ers, Girish Karnad and Ramachandra closing session of the festival is titled Guha, will not be attending. “We Bangaarada Manushya, BLF’s tribute reached out to them as early as April to the iconic Kannada actor Dr but they expressed their inability to Rajkumar, in the 100th year of Indian make it. Karnad said he would be cinema. The eponymous movie will away at Pune to receive an award and also be screened. The festival thought it was Ramachandra Guha had other prior commitments. We’ll save them for appropriate to pay tribute to Indian cinema, as there has always been a next year,” said Sampath. But the festival will feature stal- symbiotic relationship between warts like UR Ananthamurthy, books and films. “Dr Rajkumar is a
national hero and an icon and we really couldn’t think of anyone else apart from him,” said Sampath. Rajkumar’s sons have brought out a book called Appaji, and they will re-release it at BLF, so that it reaches out to many people. The thespian’s son and actor Puneet Rajkumar will discuss the actor’s life and legacy with filmmaker Maya Chandra. The festival will be inaugurated on December 7 at 4.30 pm at the Jayamahal Palace lawns. It opens at 9:30 am on 8 and 9. Entry is free but visitors should register online at www.bangaloreliteraturefestival.org, especially if they want to interact with authors.
Top guests U R Ananthamurthy Chandrashekhar Kambar Gulzar Mark Tully Chetan Bhagat Mahesh Dattani Ashish Sen Puneet Rajkumar
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APPLE PI A digital image that spoofs the inauthenticity of Life of Pi’s cheap ‘surrealism.’ Below, an original illustration for Alice in Wonderland
Lie of Pi
digital monster, she/he is really going through certain motions on her/his own—and the ‘monster’ only added later. The actor cannot help showing a lack of conviction that there is actually a monster. In effect, therefore, a rabid dog has a greater capacity for producing terror in cinema than a to life improbable happenings rather whole army of carnivorous dinosaurs than awaken the irrational impulse. —because the dog is flesh and blood The instant one hears what Life of Pi while a dinosaur is only an innocuous is about—a boy trapped on a boat on phantom. Since Life of Pi began life conthe high seas with a Bengal tiger— one understands that the novel (by ceived as a single arresting image, French-Canadian writer Yann Martel) much of the film is engaged in creatbegan life by being conceived as a ing the circumstances building up to film; or, rather, as a single image —a it. An ordinary boy cannot be expectboy alone on a boat with an adult ed to inhabit such an unlikely story tiger. One could therefore say that and Pi must be given a ‘surreal’ backthe novel had its origins in digital ani- ground with the tiger also intromation and that, when it was made duced. Giving Pi associations familiar into a film by Ang Lee, Life of Pi only to the author of the story would be prudent because the came full circle. author could then Coming to digiclaim the benefit of tal animation in cinDigital animation experiema, one cannot say has weakened our ‘personal ence’. It should be that its effects have capacity to be evident that the been beneficial. entire ‘Pi’ exercise is Earlier, cinema astonished a concoction which relied on suggestion began as a marketand obtained its effects largely through editing. ing impulse although culpability is Digital animation made it possible for not the author’s as much as that of any material event to be recreated on digital animation. In the story the adult Pi Patel the screen but this meant that our capacity to be astonished also weak- (Irrfan Khan), an immigrant from ened correspondingly. We cannot India, is living in Canada. He is therefore suppress our yawns when approached by a novelist (Rafe Spall) the planet is destroyed (2012), when a who has been referred to him by his prehistoric beast ravages a city uncle, who thinks that Pi’s life story (Jurassic Park: The Lost World) or when will make a great book. Pi relates his the gods intervene in our affairs (The story which takes the shape of a flashAvengers). Part of our distrust of digi- back: Pi (Suraj Sharma) was named tal animation may also owe to the ‘Piscine Molitor’ by his parents after a fact that when an actor ‘confronts’ a swimming pool in France. He
The real is under threat from the digitally manipulated image, and Life of Pi is typical of the genre, with plenty of colourful episodes but zero insight to offer, says MK Raghavendra
he advent of digital animation in cinema has perhaps transformed the nature of the human imagination. If one reflects on the best imaginative fiction of the past, say Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Kafka’s The Hunger Artist or Gogol’s The Nose, the fiction is hardly intended to make us to ‘picture’ something. One cannot imagine a story like The Nose (about a public servant’s severed nose attempting to outrank him in the bureaucracy) in terms of pictures; even illustrating a story by Lewis Caroll or Kafka is difficult. It is the irrational ‘logic’ of a Kafka or a Lewis Caroll which is fantastic and not the images that their fictions summon. But as people read the fiction of the past less and less but rely on cinema to stimulate their imagination, fantastic literature has tended to imitate cinema—bring
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changed his name to ‘Pi’ when he began secondary school, because he was tired of being called ‘Pissing Patel’. His family owned a local zoo, and Pi took a curious interest in the animals, especially a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. When he was 16 (and falling in love), his father decided to close the zoo and move to Canada due to political concerns in India (the Emergency). They therefore booked themselves and their animals on a Japanese freighter. The ship encountered a storm in the Pacific and began to sink. Pi tried to find his family but was thrown overboard with a lifeboat and watched helplessly as the ship sank, the only survivors being a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and the tiger Richard Parker, all of which found shelter on his lifeboat. It is difficult to manage a tale in which so many different creatures constantly interact with each other and the author therefore had Richard Parker kill the others. There little in Life of Pi which corresponds to ‘life’ as we understand the term, no memorable observations or asides; all it has are devices. Since it is afflicted by a desperate yearning after the ‘unimaginable’, i.e. a desire to give the public something they have not seen before, Life of Pi neglects to provide any insights— either philosophical or zoological. Perhaps as a hasty measure, the story brings in ‘secularism’ as an issue. Pi is made Hindu, Muslim and Christian concurrently and he also respects the Jewish religion because he teaches the Kabbalah in later life. Pi having a great mathematical ability - to compute the value of the irrational number ‘Pi’ to cover several blackboards -
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is a ruse evidently taken straight from the magical realist novel involving miraculous children (Gunter Grass’ The Tin Drum and Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children). As anecdote after colorful anecdote unfold on the screen, we are conscious that all this early life is simply (in Indian terms) ‘time-pass’—since it has nothing to do with the story of the Bengal tiger. When the boy and beast are finally brought together on the boat, the boy makes no effort to understand the animal—as man-and-beast narratives ranging from Jim Corbett to Jack London necessarily do. Since there is consequently so little drama to engage us, the film resorts to digital effects—whales coming up out of the ocean, a school of flying fish, a carnivorous island populated only by thousands of meerkats—a comical cousin of the mongoose which lives mainly in the Kalahari Desert and is given to standing erect on its hind legs. Life of Pi has been described as an adventure film and, if the film has no insights to offer, the reader will still wonder why it cannot be compared to a story from the Arabian Nights—pure fiction with no pretense at being insightful. The difference is that there is no worthwhile fiction in Life of Pi either. There is no love and there is no real terror. There are no
relationships and there are neither twists nor turns. If one were to look at sailors’ stories like those of Sinbad, there are crises —usually involving wicked men and beautiful women—and there are conspiracies and coincidences. Life of Pi has none of these and it tries to compensate by giving us digitalized spectacle and mild verbal amusement (e.g. ‘Richard Parker’ for tiger, ‘Piscine Molitor’ for man). The actors themselves have very little faith in the film’s fiction. The film takes the shape of a
story related by Pi but the actor listening to the story—Rafe Spall—is hardly able to conceal his disbelief at what he is hearing. Irrfan Khan, as the older Pi, tells his story indifferently, as though he was only going through the motions of narrating. Moreover, the actor narrating such a story should have a face which conveys belief in what he is narrating, something which can hardly be said about Irrfan Khan. The music of the film is by Mychael Danna best known for his great scores for Atom
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Egoyan’s films (Exotica) but the triteness of the script here defeats him. The film has been launched in India mainly at film festivals—as part of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign. Pondicherry looks lovely and it could draw tourists in— until they see (non-digital) Pondicherry and warn their friends against believing their eyes. But if Life of Pi also makes tourists wary of digital animation, it could still represent the last hope of the real against the manipulated image.
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Rewind The week that was Palestine status: The UN is voting to enhance Palestine’s status in the world body and offer it status close to that of an independent state. Egypt crisis: Egypt is set to plunge into crisis as people rally to oust Islamist president Mohammed Morsi who they say has accumulated undue powers. Editors arrested: A Delhi court has sent two Zee News journalists, news editor Sudhir Chaudhary and business editor Samir Ahluwalia to judicial custody over charges of extortion made by Congress MP Navin Jindal. FB arrest: After two girls were arrested over Facebook posts on the Mumbai bundh during Bal Thackeray’s funeral, a 19 year old boy was arrested over an alleged post on MNS leader Raj Thackeray. Kejriwal's Party: Politicianactivist Arvind Kejriwal launches new party, Aam Aadmi Party Vadra clean chit: The Prime Minister’s Office has given a clean chit to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra on real estate deals with DLF. Missile deal: Israel has pipped US in a billion-dollar missile deal with India after the US refused to transfer technological know-how. Jailed: In a first, the special Lokayukta court sent a corporator, L Govindaraju, to four years rigorous imprisonment for accepting a bribe from a builder. Polluted city: A study conducted by Tel Aviv University has identified Bangalore as one of the most heavily polluted cities in the world. LPG connections: Gas agencies have asked consumers to surrender additional gas connection, and retain only one.
Short films conference and awards The Conference on Film Finance (COFFI) organised by Six Sigma Films has invited entries for their Short Film Contest 2012. The contest is especially designed to provide a platform for debutant filmmakers to showcase their talent and connect with top filmmakers, producers, film investors and lenders. The short films of finalists will be screened at the COFFI conference and awards event to be held on December 18, 2012 at the JW Marriott in Mumbai.
Entries have been invited in three categories: Short Films, Animated Movies and Documentaries, within a running duration of up to 15 minutes. The winner(s) will be awarded a memento and a certificate at the conference by eminent filmmakers and a special screening of their films held at the Shamiana Club. A brief introduction of the film or filmmaker will be included in the booklet to be released as part of the conference. All entries that make it to the final round will be screened at the
conference, and the filmmakers given free delegate passes. The event is expected to bring together around 200 film producers, directors, investors, technology experts, television producers, management consultancies, research companies and film-making institutes. The last date for sending entries is November 27, after which entries will be accepted until December 3, with a late fee. The entry fee for students is Rs 1,000 and for others Rs 1,500. For more information and to download the contest form log on to www.sixsigmafilms.com/coffishorts.htm
Vive la différence! Awards for comics professionals Many gender boundaries were broken and social inhibitions shed at the recent Diversity Fair, held last week at Jaaga as a curtain raiser to the upcoming Fifth Annual Bangalore Queer Pride Celebrations. Organised by Queer Campus, Bangalore, the event saw a large turnout of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. The objective of fair was to provide a platform for people to loosen up and have some fun regardless of whether they are 'performers' or not. The venue was decked in rainbow colours, and there was music and food aplenty. There was also a flea market, which had sellers who had come all the way from Mumbai to display their creations. On sale was everything from books to jewellery to innerwear. Also spotted were coffee mugs bearing the 'No Discrimination' sign. Some people danced to fast Bollywood beats, while others decided to display their singing talents. There were also satirical monologues and magic shows to add to the variety. The dance performance by Christ College dance group Dritaksh proved a real crowd-puller. The last to perform was Adam Pasha, who cross dresses regularly as Zara, and one of the best-known faces in the community. His performance of How Do I Live by Leann Rimes met with ringing applause, and was a fitting finale to a memorable evening.
Comic Con India is seeking to establish itself as the premier event in India for the comics industry. The 2012 edition of the event was held in September at the Koramanagala indoor stadium in Bangalore, where it drew huge crowds. Comic Con India is now inviting applications for its 2013 Awards, as a way of "celebrating the love for comics and the passion of all comic book lovers by recognising the work of accomplished
professionals in the Indian comics industry." It aims to acknowledge the efforts of the writers, artists and publishers who create new work for all comic
fans out there. For information, visit www.comiconindia.com. The next edition of Comic Con India will be held from February 8 to 13, 2013, at Dilli Haat
Rockers and riders united When Harley Rock Riders Season III came to town last week, it saw a lineup of bands not just from Bangalore, but Chennai and Mumbai as well. The highlight of the show was Swedish Band The Wolf, who performed their original tracks. Bangalore's biker culture was on display in all its leather-and-metal style, with Harley Davidson boot camps, tattoo stations and so on. There was also plenty of rock music and
food for a leisurely Saturday afternoon. The Wolf was preceded by a clutch of Indian rock and metal acts such as Galeej Gurus, Solder, Albatross, Boomerang,
Kryptos and Frank's Got The Funk. But the riders clearly stole the thunder from the rockers, especially with a dramatic entry by a bunch of Harley bikers in the wild hog style. The crowds gravitated to the more than 50 Harley Davidson bikes brought in to the venue. The only drawback though, was the location of the venue (Clark’s Exotica, near the international airport), which was just too far away for most.
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Forward The week ahead
Helpline for mango people When activist turned politician, Arvind Kejrival formally launched his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on November 26, it evoked an enthusiastic response from citizens fed up with established parties and their politics. AAP has now set up a helpline centre in Delhi where people can call to find out how they can take that interest forward. Talk decided to call the number (+91-9718500606) to find out if it actually worked, and was impressed to find our 10 pm call attended to immediately. Amit Mishra, co-ordinator of the helpline centre, told us, "For the last three days, we have been getting around 5000 calls every day from all over India. We were also surprised to get calls from America and Australia."
Strawberry Fields on Palace Grounds The 16th edition of Strawberry Fields, the National Law School of India University's annual rock event, will be held at Palace Grounds from November 30 to December 2. Called the country's 'best grassroots rock music festival,' the event will showcase 50 bands over two days, with five finalists tearing up the third day. Rated as 'India's best college rock festival' by the Rock Street Journal, Strawberry Fields was initiated to promote original and talented amateur and semi-professional bands in India. The festival offers every band that registers a chance to play their own music in front of a crowd of thousands on a Reynolds (Bangalore) set up which is at par with international standards. Over the years, the show has served as a launch pad for some of India's finest rock bands, including Thermal and a Quarter, Motherjane, Bhayanak Maut, Kryptos, Demonic Resurrection and Galeej Gurus to name a few. The organisers pride themselves on their judging, which they say is done in a completely transparent and unbiased manner. They even post the original score-sheets of the results online for the fans as well as the bands to review. Entry is free. For more, log on to www.facebook.com/StrawberryFieldsNLS
Amit revealed to us that people from UP, Bihar and Karnataka are the most enthusiastic callers. The majority are youth aged between 25 and 35 years, keen on starting an AAP office in their cities. "The youngsters want to know about the membership process. Many of them ask to be connected to Kejriwal
Border talks: China and India are set to commence yet another round of border talks; China says compromises necessary to make progress. Mittal controversy: The French government and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal are on collision course as Mittal refuses to reopen a steel plant in northeastern France due to losses. to discuss about the growth of the party," Amit said. According to Amit, the helpline has received about 500 calls from Bangalore in three days. Bangalore will will have its own AAP office in about 20 days.
An ‘Indian edition’ for iPhone? The iPhone 5 has been a worldwide success, and in India too, the initial batch had sold out almost immediately. However, India is a tiny market for the Apple iPhone as it is priced considerably higher than its rivals. That might be about to change now, according to trade analyst Gene Munster, who claims that Apple will launch a cheaper handset to tackle markets like India and China where its user base is almost negligible. In the US, where the iPhone 5 costs nearly Rs 33,000, customers need to pay only one-third of the amount, as the rest of the cost is covered by the service provider who hopes to make the money on the data charges. In markets like India, where these subsidised plans are not in place, a consumer foots the entire cost of the device.
UK media: British media is on the edge as the report of an official enquiry into media ethics is set to recommend statutory regulation of media in the wake of the News of The World scandal.
Munster believes that Apple would not want to lose out on 3 billion potential smartphone buyers, and would launch a less expensive version of the iPhone, priced at around Rs 11,000, sometime in 2014. Apple does sell cheaper handsets than the iPhone 5 in India, but they are previous generation models and the price of the iPhone 4S is at par with flagship devices from other brands. If Apple does intend to stay competitive in the Indian market, the brand will need to launch a budget handset and not an older handset with a lower price tag. The catch is that Apple has a wellestablished reputation for not selling budget products and has never succumbed to the pressure of lowering its prices to match the competition. Meanwhile, Indian customers have no choice but to wait and watch.
Probe: The Indian Income Tax department is set to probe and act on account holders with substantial accounts in HSBC's Geneva branch. FDI vote: The UPA government is confident about winning the vote on FDI in the Lok Sabha, but not so much in the Rajya Sabha. IT Park: 27-lakh sq feet IT park in Chennai is all set to be sold off by Shapoorji Pallonji. The space is valued at Rs 450 crore. Diesel cars: Debate is set to intensify over additional taxes on diesel vehicles, particularly cars, in relation to their pollution emissions. Water release: Karnataka is expected to release water to Tamil Nadu from canals instead of reservoirs; which supposedly will not affect Cauvery basin farmers. Tennis: Youngsters from six countries will vie for honours in the Rs 5,50,000 ITF Davanagere open. Davis cupper Sanam Singh is the star attraction. Strike: BBMP sweepers have threatened to strike work over non-payment of wages and threat of losing their jobs in new contracts to handle Bangalore’s garbage. Blind cricket: T20 world cup for the Blind will commence at the Sree Kanteerava stadium.
L I S T I NGS
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concert Guns n Roses swirlicious and more. Donuts are priced at Rs 50 each and a box of six donuts is priced at Rs 250. Available at all Mad Over Donuts outlets, till December 5
For people with a sweet tooth: Gift your friends and family a box of surprise. Choose from desserts like mousse cake, tarts, macaroons, chocolate soufflé, croissants, pies and more. Pick up a box of these or taste individual pieces. Deli Counter, #66, Ground Floor, Residency Road, till November 30 66604545 Get a flavour of the South: Savour some south Indian delicacies such as meen pollichathu from Kerala, spicy pickles and chutneys from Andhra, sweet and tangy prawns from Mangalore, avial from Tamil Nadu, spicy Coorgi chicken and more. Saffron, Lobby level, Outer Ring Road, till December 1
Breakfast for your pets: Treat your pets to a doggie platter consisting of chicken dim sums, ragi balls, mince meat balls and biscuits while you enjoy a continental breakfast with them. Continental breakfast for owners is priced at Rs 250, while the doggie platter costs Rs 100. Under the Mango Tree, # 3, Laurel Lane,Richmond Town, December 2, 9 am to 11 am 9686601021
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Koftas galore: Vegetarians and non -vegetarians can treat themselves to koftas such as shikhampur handi koftay, koftay surkh (minced lamb koftay in gravy), mahee koftay (rohu cooked in mustard oil gravy), kamal kakadi ke koftay (lotus stem koftay) and arbi koftay. Dum Pukht Jolly Nabobs, Golf Course Road, till December 2 22269898
Mama Mia: Enjoy fresh strawberry sundae made with strawberry ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream. Also dig into fresh strawberry sundae with
Belgian chocolate ice cream, hot fudge and tangy strawberries at the Strawbery Festival. Available at Mama Mia outlets till November 30 Baking master class: Learn the tricks of the trade from Chef Girish Nayak this week. Learn to make desserts like Greek yoghurt vanilla panna cotta, eggless citrus cake, chocolate XS cake. The fee for the class is Rs 1000. 1 MG Mall, 1/2, Swami Vivekanand Road , Trinity Circle, MG Road, November 30 22086572 Learn to make Christmas treats: This week learn to make Christmas goodies like mince pie fruit cake , ginger bread cookies and more. Red Fork - Contemporary Cafe, 594, 12th Main , Indiranagar, HAL 2nd Stage, December 1 41154372
Craving for coffee? : All coffee lovers head to the coffee festival at Mad Over Donuts where you can have your caffeine fixation. Taste coffee flavoured donuts such as perk me up, white mocha madness, mochaccino crisp,
following. Catch them live in action, with Dizzy Reed on keyboards, Richard Fortus on guitar, Tommy Stinson on bass, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal on guitar, Frank Ferrer on drums and DJ Ashba on guitar perform in the city. Tickets are priced at Rs 1500, 3000 and 10,000. Bhartiya City, Thanisandra Road, December 7, 4 pm onwards 9916173613 for tickets log onto www.kyazoonga.com
music
retail
Rajeev Raja London Stores Add a dash of bling: Choose from earring, necklaces and bracelets this season and complete your look. Flaunt your look with danglers or loops, a chunky bracelet or a stone embedded neck piece. Available at all W outlets
Flea fair is back: Reserve your dates for this weekend as the Flea Fair market is back. Choose jewelled scarves, hand painted vases, door hangings, cloth bags. While at the market you can taste some cupcakes and pick some homemade non-vegetarian pickles. Accessory lovers can buy from neck pieces and earrings. There will be a Christmas based workshop for the kids where you can make your own Christmas greeting cards, lamps and cookie
Guns n Roses live: Hailed as one of the greatest rock bands of all time, Guns n Roses is finally here, but in their current avatar. Watch them perform some of their popular numbers such as Sweet Child of Mine, November Rain and Don't Cry. They have been nominated for the Grammy Awards thrice and have been included in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. They have performed across the world and have a huge fan
decorations. Forum Value Mall, Whitefield, December 1 and 2, 11 am 25043800 Men take note: Its time that you revamp your wardrobe this winter. Pepe Jeans introduces London's fashion to you in the form of knits, jackets, pants and more. The collection also includes cropped duffle jacket, cargo pants and gilet. Prices start at Rs 1499. Available at Pepe Jeans
Happy feet all the way: Shoes from Vans Inscribe are comfortable and stylish and complete your look. Available in black, orange, charcoal and light blue. The shoes are priced at Rs 5799. Available in Phoenix market City and Forum Mall Dresses for all the pretty ladies: At this dress festival you will be spoilt for choices as you choose from over 100 dresses available. Select from sequined dresses, classic black or emerald green and look ravishing. Dresses are priced at Rs 1999. Available at AND, Upper Ground, Mahadevpura and 1 MG Mall, MG Road, till December 2 31904043
A blend of Latin and Jazz : A fusion of jazz, Indian classical, Latin and world music is what you get when Rajeev Raja Combine performs. Watch Rajeev Raja on flute, Tara Faral on keyboard and saxophone, Adrian D'Souza on drums, Kenneth Rebello on bass, Hitesh Dhutia on guitars and Chandana Bala on vocals this weekend. Bflat #776, 2nd Floor, 100 ft Road Indiranagar, December 1, 8.30 pm 41739250 Cat is out of the bag: Watch the winners of Toto Funds the Arts Award 2012, Peter Cat Recording Company perform live in the city. Lend an ear to their quirky French Cabaret and Gypsy jazz this weekend. Bflat #776, 2nd Floor, 100 ft Road Indiranagar, November 30, 8.30 pm 41739250
Jugalbandi at its best: A marvel is expected when two maestros perform on stage live. Watch Padma Vibhushan Dr M. Balamuralikrishna and Ustad Zakir Hussain for the first time ever. Tickets start at Rs 1000, 1500 and 2000. Jnana Jyothi Auditorium, Centrel College Campus, Palace Road University City, December 4, 7 pm 9481457077 Retro is back: Are you a lover of old Hindi songs? Then head to the Sangeet ka Safar, a live concert dedicated to unforgettable retro hits. Songs of Mohammed Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhonsle will be sung by many artistes. Tickets are priced at Rs 300. Bhatriya Vidya Bhavan, Race Course Road, December 1, 5.30 pm 42064969
Strawberry Fields: Watch about 50 bands battle it out at the Strawberry Fields this year. The top five bands will perfrom on the last day. There will be special performance by bands like Parvaaz and Skyharbour on the final day of the festival. Palace Ground, Tripura Vasini, from Novenber 30 to December 2, 11 am 9620046687 Namma city's talent: Watch Bangalore based rock band Parvaaz, whose lyrics are mostly in Urdu and Kashmiri, perform this week. Watch Khalid Ahmed on vocals, Kashif Iqbal on lead guitar and vocals, Fidel Dsouza on bass and Sachin Banandur on drums and percussion. Counter Culture, 2D2, 4th Cross Dyavasandra Industrial Area, Whitefield, December 1, 8.30 pm 41400794
Peter Cat Recording Co.
L I S T I NGS
talk|6 dec 2012|talkmag.in
films
pride parade Talaash 12.50 pm, 3.40, 6.30, 9.20 INOX, Swagath Garuda Mall, Jayanagar10 am, 12.50 pm, 3.40, 6.30, 9.20 INOX, Mantri Square, Malleshwaram - 10 am, 12.50 pm, 3.40, 6.30, 9.20 Tribhuvan Digitak 2K Cinemas- 10.30 am, 1.15 pm, 4.15, 7.15, 9.30 Rex Theatre- 12.05 pm, 2.35, 7.25, 10
Talaash Hindi The film is set in the backdrop of Mumbai and exposes its other side to the audience. Directed by Reema Katgi, it is about an investigation officer, Inspector Shekhawat who receives a call about a death and an accident. What follows is a chase which eventually leads to the breakup of his marriage. During this investigation he meets a sex worker who adds mystery to his chase. The film stars Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee in the lead. What looks like a simple car
accident investigation turns into a haunting mystery. Fun Cinemas, Cunningham Road- 12.30 pm, 3.40, 6.50, 10 Cinemax, Total Mall, Outer Ring Road- 10 am, 11.30, 1 pm, 2, 3.15, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 Cinemax, Central Mall, Bellandur- 10 am, 10.45, 1 pm, 3.15, 4, 6.15, 7, 9.15, 10 INOX, Magrath Road, Garuda Mall- 10 am, 11.30, 12.50 pm, 2.30, 3.40, 5.30, 6.30, 8.30, 9.40 Q Cinemas, ITPL, Whitefield10 am, 12.40 pm, 3.20, 6.10, 7.20, 9, 10 Cinepolis, Bannerghatta Road- 11 am,
1.45 pm, 4.30, 7.15, 10 Fame Forum Value Mall, Whitefield- 10 am, 12.50 pm, 3.40, 6.30, 9.20 Fame Lido, MG Road- 10 am, 12.50 pm, 3.40, 6.30, 9.20 Gopalan Cinemas, Arch Mall, Mysore Road10 am, 1 pm, 4, 6.45, 10 Gopalan Cinemas, Bannerghatta Road- 10 am, 12,45 pm, 3.30, 6.15, 10 Gopalan Grand Mall, Old Madras Road- 10.15 am, 1 pm, 4, 7, 9.45 Gopalan Mall, Sirsi Circle- 10.15 am, 1 pm, 4, 7, 9.45 Innovative Multiplex Marathalli- 10.45 am, 1.30 pm, 4.15, 7, 10 INOX, JP Nagar- 10 am,
art and workshops Children learn to illustrate: At this workshop, learn to put your drawing skills into illustrations. German illustrator Nadia Budde teaches the kids drawings based on her comic stripes Urban Zoo and her book One two three me. This is for children of age group between 6-11 years. For older children between 12-18 years they develop their very own and personal graphic novel under the topic of childhood memories. CounterCulture, 2D2 , 4th cross, Dyavasandra Industrial Area, Whitefield, December 2 41400793 Small is beautiful: A group art show that brings several artists together such as Basuki Dasgupta, Subramanian, Doddamani, Appanna Pujari, Dhrubajyoti Baral, Krishnappa, Ramesh Gorjala, Nishant Dange and Dhananjaya, who will present their art form in
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small format. Kynkyny Art Gallery, 104 Embassy Square 148, Infantry Road, till December 5 4092620 Cartoon exhibition: Head to this cartoon and caricature exhibition by Kushal Bhattacharya. Enjoy over 50 cartoons and caricatures that revolve around the theme of politics and society.
Olavina Ole Kannada This movie is based on the issue of honour killings and was released in the presence of many progressive minded dignitaries. It carries a socially relevant idea that has a contemporary resonance, and is directed by Teshi Venkatesh. Neha Patil and Anekal Balraj play the lead role. Kapali- 10.30am, 1.30 pm, 4.30, 7.30 Hosa Prema Purana Kannada This romantic film stars newcomer Nitin Gowda, Shraddha Das and Radhika Gandhi in the lead roles. The film is directed by Shivakumar and the music is composed by Rajesh Ramanath. Santosh- 10.30am, 1.30 pm, 4.30, 7.30 Samsaradalli Golmaal Kannada This comedy stars Mohan, Anu
Queer Campus Bangalore
Prabhakar, Sihikahi Chandru, Thara, Umasri, Raju Thalikote, Tabla Nani, Lakshmisri, Sadhu Kokila Nayana Krishna in the lead roles. The film is directed by Om Saiprakash. Abhinay and Ullas10.30am, 1.30 pm, 4.30, 7.30 Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum Telugu This action drama is directed by Krish and has been made simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil. It stars Rana Daggubati and Nayantara in the lead roles. Music has been composed by Mani Sharma. Innovative Multiplex Marathalli- 11.15 am, 1.45 pm, 7.30, 10 Manasa Digital 2 K Cinemas- 1.45 pm, 4.30, 7, 9.45 Central Mall, Bellandur- 10 pm Cinemax, Total Mall, Outer Ring Road- 10 pm Fame Forum Value Mall, Whitefield- 9.10 pm Rockline Cinemas, Jalahalli- 9.30 pm Cinepolis, Bannerghatta Road- 10.40 am, 1.20 pm, 4, 6.40, 9.20 Gopalan Grand Mall, Old Madras Road- 10.30 am, 4.30, 9.45 INOX,JP Nagar, Central- 12.40 pm, 6.25 INOX, Malleshwaram, Mantri Square- 3.20 pm, 9.25 Fame Lido, off MG
Queer Pride Parade in the city: Bangalore is gearing up for the Queer Pride March this Sunday. After the success of the Queer Pride March in Delhi earlier this week, the city is already celebrating the Queer Pride week by organising many events. The Pride March will see sexuality minorities, including lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) as well as their supporters take out a rally from Tulsi Park to Town Hall. The Pride March, popularly known as the Bangalore Pride and Karnataka Queer Habba is organised to protest against discrimination faced by the community and to sensitise the general public regarding the same. Be there to witness a pool of people rejoicing in their sexuality; watch the roads sport the rainbow colours that day. Tulsi Park to Town Hall, December 2, 2 pm
theatre Cartoons such as a silent Manmohan Singh with the logo of Aamir Khan's TV show Satyamev Jayate changed to 'Mounameva Jayate' and many more are a part of the exhibition. Indian Cartoon Gallery, No.1, Midford House, Midford Garden, Off M.G.Road, near Big Kids Kemp, till December 1 9980091428
Five Point Someone
Between The Lines: Set in the backdrop of urban India, the play is about well educated affluent couples who are caught up between modernity and tradition. The play is about Maya and Shekhar, a lawyer couple who are married to each other for ten years. Shekhar is a high-profile criminal lawyer whereas Maya balances work and life, drafting routine contracts for a law firm. As fate would have it, they end up arguing on the opposite sides of the same case, which blurs their professional and personal life. Directed by Nandita Das, the play stars Nandita Das herself along with husband Subodh Maskara. MLR Convention Centre, Dyvasandra Industrial Layout, Mahadevapura ,
Whitefield, December 1, 7.30 pm 33151262 Corporate Theatre Festival: Head out this weekend to watch corporate theatre teams battle it out with each other. At this multilingual theatre festival, the plays will be judged both by audience votes as well as by esteemed people from theatre and corporates, who will be sitting anonymously in the audience. The finalists will perform before the judges, on December 2. Jagriti, Varthur Road, Ramagondana Halli, Whitefield, November 30 to December 2, 8 pm 41248298 Five Point Someone: Based on the best- selling novel by Chetan Bhagat,
the play is about the life of IIT students. The play is about Ryan, Alok and Hari who are hostel mates, department-mates and friends. They start their life at the IIT together but mess up their first quiz and from there on things go downhill. The play deals with their classroom antics, their love life, their future and their friendship. Directed by Sunil Vishnu K, the play stars Naveen Richard, Amrutha Varshini, Avinash Rajendran and others. Ranga Shankara, No.36/2, 8th Cross, 2nd Phase RV
Dental College ,JP Nagar, December 5 and 6, 7.30 pm 26493982 Theatre workshop: Hone your acting skills at this theatre workshop. This workshop culminates in an informal show by the participants. Once the workshop is over, the students join in as members and continue to perform and improve their acting skills. Yours Truly ALMA, No. 1, First Floor, 17th E Cross, CMH Road, December 1 and 2 9845243051
Between The Lines
memoir
talk|6 dec 2012|talkmag.in
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As the clamour for medical college licences rises, a lawyer-intermediary is tortured and killed by the police. The needle of suspicion points to Karnataka’s home minister
y 1987, just two years after it came to power, the Ramakrishna Hegde government had earned notoriety for corruption. The capitation fee racket was thriving. As a free-for-all prevailed in the Janata Party cabinet, Home Minister RL Jalappa had grown into a big force with the help of his Idiga (toddy-tapping) caste and the capitation fee
B VIVEK ARUN
mafia. Jalappa enjoyed a good rapport even with the opposition, and was friendly with B Janardana Poojary, a fellow Idiga and president of the Karnataka unit of the Congress. Jalappa had such strong caste feelings that he had transferred Assistant Commissioner of Police K Narayan, an Idiga, to Bangalore, posting him as Deputy Commissioner of Police (law and order). Narayan had already been accused of murdering Siddaramesh, editor of Kranti, a daily published from Gulbarga. Jalappa was planning to start a medical college in Kolar. On August 19, 1987, Manmohan, a notary and lawyer, came to me with three or four others, saying he had something important to share with me. Manmohan had good contacts in the Congress and aspired to be nominated as an MLC. Abdul Rashid, a lawyer from Kerala who had been fighting a case in
Bangalore, had been murdered. “The home minister is behind the murder and you have to take up the case,” Manmohan said. Just a day earlier, Rashid’s corpse had been found on the railway tracks near Dashishpet in Salem district of Tamil Nadu, and I had read about it. The men with Manmohan described how Rashid had been murdered. The story sounded straight out of a celluloid thriller. P Sadasivan, an entrepreneur from Kerala, had moved to Bangalore to start a medical college in Kolar. Internal bickering in his trust had led to a court case, and Rashid had come down to Bangalore to fight the case on behalf of Sadasivan. In fact, Sadasivan used Rashid as his agent to deal with every aspect of the case, including managing the police. Sadasivan was running the Rajiv Gandhi Education College under the Jawahar Bharati Education Trust.
crime folio
The chilling murder of lawyer Rashid Fabled ranconteur and Bangalore’s top-notch criminal lawyer brings you moving, sensational and bizarre stories from 40 years of his practice
CH HANUMANTHARAYA
Ratna was the principal of the B Ed College. Trust members Mariappa and KR Srinivasan had revolted against chairman Sadasivan. They had filed a case against him, following which he had sacked Ratna. Sadasivan didn’t like her because she had been appointed by trustees who were fighting him. Ratna questioned
memoir her dismissal in court. Meanwhile, Sadasivan started another trust, naming it after the great engineer Visveswaraya, and applied for permission to start a medical college in Kolar. This did not go down well with Jalappa, who was also seeking permission to start a medical college in Kolar. Rashid got an injunction in favour of Sadasivan in the case filed by Ratna. Mariappa and Srinavasan took Ratna to Jalappa. The home minister, seething against Sadasivan, decided to help her. He asked DCP Narayan to teach Rashid a lesson. Narayan in turn handed over the responsibility of controlling Rashid to SubInspector Uttappa. The police arrested Rashid when he was pressing Ratna to hand over charge to a new principal appointed by Sadasivan. They booked him on rape charges and tortured him at the High Grounds police station. When he was produced before a magistrate, Rashid broke down and described how he had been tortured by the police. Sadasivan managed to get bail for him, and Justice Gopala Gowda assured him of support. On August 16, 1987, policemen picked up Rashid from Sandhya Lodge, where he used to stay, and took him to Sathyaprakash Lodge near Swastik cinema.
talk|6 dec 2012|talkmag.in
Confining him in Room 11, they tortured Rashid in case they had detained him. The him to death. History-sheeters Govinda police submitted he was not in their cusPrasad, K Pandian, Shivakumar, and tody. That very day, the Bangalore Lawyers Ranganath had accompanied the police, Association came to know that Rashid’s and head constable M Nagaraj and consta- body had been found in Salem. Shocked bles Nagaraj and Mohan were also around lawyers suspected Rashid had been murdered. when he was murdered. A J Sadashiva was the president of the After midnight, they took Rashid’s Bangalore Lawyers body in a car and threw it Association. By the time on the tracks near They booked the general body met, I Danishpet. Salem railway had collected enough police found a visiting Rashid on rape information about card of Sathyaprakash charges and Rashid’s murder. After I Lodge from the trouser tortured him at spoke at the meeting, pocket of Rashid, and the High Gounds the lawyers entrusted that became the key clue the case to me. in the case. police station Sadashiva started The railway police telling reporters to took Rashid’s address from Sathyapraksh Lodge and went to speak to me when they asked him for Kerala. His brother Abdul Salim travelled details about the case. The lawyers were mad at the police. to Tamil Nadu to take the body. Around the time Rashid’s post-mortem was being An agitated Justice Gopala Gowda said, conducted in Salem, a judge in Bangalore “Rashid was apprehensive and had told me was hearing the rape case in which he was the police would kill him. I hadn’t imagined they would go so far. Now we must the accused. As Rashid didn’t turn up, the judge not keep quiet. If we don’t react the police issued an arrest warrant. However, his will eliminate the lawyer community.” He lawyer Venkatappa alleged the police had told me the case was not simple, and just illegally detained him, and pleaded for the submitting petitions to the government issue of a search warrant. The judge oblig- and issuing press statements would not do. ed, and directed the police to produce He asked lawyers to take to the streets and
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protest. All sorts of rumours started doing the rounds. Someone said Jalappa had personally instructed Narayan to eliminate Rashid, while others said Jalappa had been around when Rashid was murdered. I was angry at the government’s brutality. The case occupied my mind so much so that I sought adjournments of all the other cases I was handling. Jalappa was alarmed as the needle of suspicion started pointing towards him. He started a smear campaign against Sadasivan and planted stories against him in the media. He even tried to divide lawyers by using the Janata Party’s legal cell, but all this only strengthened public opinion against him. Before the murder, Rashid’s family had filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court. When they heard of his murder, they were distraught. I made his brother appeal to the government, and Chief Minister Hegde ordered that the killers be prosecuted. A special DIG was given the responsibility of fixing responsibility. Eager to safeguard Jalappa, the DIG submitted a report recommending the filing of a murder case against the High Grounds police. Next week: The death threats Translated by BV Shivashankar
food matters
talk|6 dec 2012|talkmag.in
‘Don’t eat cardboard food’ TV chef Aditya Bal says we are headed for disaster if we keep indulging in our obsession for fast food SANDRA M FERNANDES sandramarina.fernandes@talkmag.in
ditya Bal, best known as the chef-cum-presenter of the food show Chak le India, on NDTV Good Times, has been a Bangalore resident for some time now, which might come as a surprise to many of his viewers here. The model turned actor says he found his real calling five years ago, when he decided to try his hand at the art of cooking. Not many people know that he’s the nephew of celebrity fashion designer Rohit Bal, though he says he had to forge his career on his own. Bal comes across as an ardent champion of ‘real food’ and makes his opposition to fast food clear in no uncertain terms. His popular show started off very much on the lines of the tried-and-tested television cookery show, but has since ventured out of its comfort zone with a new season titled Kachcha Rastha, which explores the cuisine of rural India. Talk had a tete-atete with him at Food Hall at 1 MG Road Mall, where, during a live cooking demo to promote a brand of vanilla beans, he whipped up some really easy-to-make recipes using vanilla (see box).
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SLOW DOWN Aditya Bal says bad eating is making people chronically ill by the time they are 30
Did you always want to be a chef? No. I just started five years ago. I didn’t have the time to get an education. This is the kind of profession that people join when they are 14 or 15 year old. I started when I was 30. I worked in restaurants for about three and a half years. I’ve worked at the dishwashing, grilling and mashed potato stations and have also done prep cooking which includes cutting and chopping the vegetables. I knew there was no chance for me to go to a school and learn all this, so I taught myself. I’m cooking all the time when I’m at home. And
when I am not cooking, I’m cooking in my head. The good thing about cooking is that it’s around us all the time, so you’re able to learn just by observation. And because the results are immediate, it’s easy for you to improve. What is your favourite cuisine? I’m a little biased towards North Indian food. I like yellow dal and rice, which I can eat every day. I find myself cooking more of south Indian food though. My initial instinct would be to cook something Andhra or Mangalorean. When I go out, I regularly eat South Indian meals. In Bangalore, I like eating at Cunningham Road and Malleswaram. The new season of Chak Le explores food in rural areas. Why the shift? We realised that the big cities aren’t the best places to find authentic regional food. The cities have a more commercialised version of those dishes. We understood that if we have to taste authentic food, we have to travel to the rural parts of the country, the source of our culinary her-
itage. It’s fun also because I love old monuments and structures. Where do you think the Indian culinary scenario is heading? We have such a rich culinary heritage it would be a shame if we all started eating what I call ‘cardboard food.’ That must not happen, but sadly, it is happening. Someone has to get people out of the fast food joint. I don’t mean just the high-end fast food, but mass fast food as well. We don’t question what we are eating, what’s going into our bodies. By the time people are 30, they are chronically ill. We need to start a parallel movement that will take us back to the real thing. It will take time, but we need to do it. Who are your favourite chefs? I’m heavily influenced by Jamie Oliver. He’s a legend and a complete natural. Others include Marco Pierre White, one of the post modern chefs, and Bill Chang, one of the greatest chefs ever. Among Indian chefs, I like master chef Imtiaz Qureishi of Bukhara restaurant in Delhi.
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Aditya with vanilla Vanilla milkshake 500 ml milk (full cream preferred) 7-8 scoops of vanilla ice cream 5-6 teaspoons of honey 1 stalk of vanilla Method: Heat 250 ml of the milk in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Split the vanilla stalk and scrape out the vanilla beans. Add the vanilla beans along with the stalk to the milk in order to infuse the flavours. Bring it to a boil again and let it cool down. Once at room temperature, pour this vanilla infused milk in a blender. Add the remaining milk and honey as per your taste. Add the vanilla ice cream and blend. Pour in a glass. Vanilla French toast with blueberries 2 Fresh buns 2 eggs 1 glass of milk 1 cinnamon stick Blueberry syrup 1 vanilla stalk Method: Heat the milk in a pan. Bring it to a boil and add vanilla beans along with the stalk in order to infuse the flavours. Bring it to a boil and let it cool down. In a bowl break the eggs, add sugar and beat it nicely. Add the cool milk to the eggs and give it a quick whisk (if the milk is hot the eggs will start cooking). Slice the buns horizontally and place it in a plate. Add the egg and milk solution over the buns n let it soak for 2 minutes. Heat about 2 teaspoon of oil in a pan and fry the bun slices till golden brown on each side. Serve the French toast buns with blueberry syrup. Vanilla coconut laddus 1 cup Condensed milk 1 cup grated coconut 1 tsp Cardamom power 1 cinnamon stick ½ vanilla stalk 1 cup dessicated coconut Method: Add the grated coconut in a pan and roast it till the colour changes to light brown. Add the condensed milk and mix thoroughly. Add the cardamom powder and vanilla beans and stir. Grate a little cinnamon. Keep stirring till the consistency of the mix becomes thick. Let it cool for 2 minutes and take a small portion of the mix and roll it into a ball. Then roll this ball into dessicated coconut and serve.
martial arts
talk|6 dec 2012|talkmag.in
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DEMONSTRATED BY PRIYA CRASTA. PHOTOS BY RAMESH HUNSUR. TRANSCRIBED BY RADHIKA P
Quick exercises for good health rom this week, we begin a photo series on exercises that help you achieve good health. In budo, health covers everything, from our skill in sports and the arts to our ability to read, write and understand complex ideas. Health brings confidence, stamina and exuberance for life. It is important to understand health in its many facets. Body: This involves a perfect working of the million parts that constitute us-skin, bones, muscles, ligaments, organs and senses. Hence, body training involves exercising each of these parts. Training for one will not necessarily help the others-running is an excellent cardio exercise but it can wear out the knees. Health and wellness are about connectivity among these parts. Training opens up the pathways within us through which qi or prana moves. Mind: This comprises a sound, astute, perceptive and witty ability to respond to the world, and at a higher level, the
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Way of Budo 10 To define health only in terms of the body is to have an extremely narrow understanding of ourselves, says Sensei Avinash Subramanyam
ability to deploy intuition and clairvoyance. At the intellectual level, the mind makes us reason and discriminate. In budo, mind training is the capacity to understand, focus, remain calm, and discriminate between aggression and anger, friend and foe. The mind is nothing if it can’t help us understand courage, honour and dignity. Spirit: We are surrounded by a world that is mostly material. Spirituality helps us understand this world with detachment. It guides us to possess bodily and mental health but without vanity. Recognise that our success is not because of the ‘I’ but a higher power, which you might want to call God. Most importantly, know that the internal and external universe are one and the same. Health and wellness are essentially oneness with nature and the universe. We must connect not merely with the sun and trees but even with the universe that resides within us. It is easier to merge with nature outside than to connect within our-
selves, especially when we are changing every moment. Heraclitus said, we never step into the same river twice. When we step into a river a second time, we aren’t the same either. Awareness: Awareness is natural to all animals. Such an awareness is not built consciously, at least not entirely. Humans lack the awareness that animals possess. We have developed other skills—reading and writing—such that they seem natural to us, but we are not aware in a larger sense. Awareness, which is essential to budo, enriches life in manifold ways. Freedom: It is crucial to train to be free-in body, mind, and intellect. To have a block is ill health. Be non-judgmental even towards those who have done wrong. A rapist definitely needs severe punishment, but don’t forget to be compassionate. As Gandhiji said, hate the sin, not the sinner. Action: Do not endlessly ponder and plan, but act. In response to suffering, don’t just
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feel bad; in response to injustice, don’t just loathe: both are reactions. Act instead. It is all right to criticise, but do it politely. Criticise not on the basis of narrow opinion but from the vantage point of spiritual truth. Happiness: Live every day with the single most important thought of being physically, mentally and spiritually happy. You don’t need to possess the best brands to be happy. The simpler you live, the happier you are. Try this: Look into the mirror and smile. If your face is happy, the body feels happy. If you smile all the time you will end up being happy. Make up in relationships. Do not hold grudges thinking excessively about right and wrong. You have only one life and proving a point is not worth it. Be kind and generous. Sharing: Don’t be secretive with knowledge or goodness. Give and more will come your way. If you feel something helps a person, share it. But do not expect the person to listen to you; that’s your ego.
STRETCHING EXERCISE 1
2
Take your hands in a circle, again at shoulder line, until the hands are at the sides of the body. Ensure that the hands are in line with the body and not thrusting backward. As you begin circling the hands first look towards the left hand. 3
Starting posture: Stand upright with body, mind, breath and eyes relaxed. Feet shoulder-width apart and parallel to each other. Chin down. Lift hands forward in a relaxed manner to the shoulder line, initially with palms facing down. Then rotate your palms to face the sky.
Continuing to look at the left hand, draw the elbows inward with palms facing the sky and fingers pointing behind. Ensure that the palms face the sky (as though balancing a dew drop) and not face front.
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Lift the palms to the sky. Simultaneously turn your face away from the palm and look up. Keeping your elbows parallel and not turning them outward, stretch the hands as much as possible.
Bring elbows down to the front of the body and relax the palm.
Return to starting posture
Repeat the sequence again, looking now towards the right hand in Step 2. Perform both sequences 12 times.
T I M E P A SS
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Red alert These jokes were collected by students of St Andrews University, Scotland, for a course in modern history. * What was Adam and Eve’s nationality? Russian, of course. Why else would they think they're in paradise when they were homeless, naked and had just one apple between the two of them? * A Russian and an American die and they both go to hell. Satan asks them, “Which hell do you prefer, the Russian or American?” “What's the difference?” the Russian asks. “In the American hell, you will be forced to eat one bucket of waste every day; in the Russian, two,” Satan explains. The American decides to go to the American hell. The Russian, being a patriot, chooses the Russian hell. One year later the two men run into one another. “How's life?” the Russian asks. “Can't complain,” the American answers. “I eat one bucket of waste every morning, and then I'm free for the rest of the day. What about you?” “I coudn't be better!” the Russian explains. “Just like back on earth! They're either late with waste deliveries, or they're having bucket shortages.” Share the humour in your life, multiply the fun! Keep those anecdotes coming to: features@talkmag.in
T I M E P A SS 1st Cross
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a ____ dump (7) He recently praised the southern states for their credit recovery (11) Captain of our Ranji team (5,5) The former editor of this tabloid was recently murdered (4,9) Yeddyurappa's party launch will be on her birthday (5,6) DOWN The High Court has given the government __ months to set up segregation and wet waste centres (3) Chief secretary who wants the demarcation of the border between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh re-
Last week’s solution Across: 2 Avalahalli, 5 Sotheby's, 7 Savita, 9 Jeevaraj, 11 Footpath, 12 Deccan, 14 Suu Kyi, 17 Sakleshpur, 18 Raghu Dixit, 19 Melkote. Across College in Koramangala (5,5) Popular continental restaurant in Indiranagar (8) 7 Theatre on Brigade Road (3) 10 At a recent function in the city Girish Karnad claimed that "_ _ ____ 's music has stifled lyrics" (1,1,6)
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Talk’s weekly crossword for Bangaloreans who know their way about town 14
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The High Court has restricted the Navy from using these islands for target practice (8) 12 ___ Offishal: Hip-hop star who performed in the city on 30th November (8) 13 Kolar gold fields recently shut down in protests against reports of a proposal to turn its mines into
Down: 1 Pestilences, 3 Acharya, 4 Appam, 6 Sathyananda, 8 Anjan, 10 McDonald, 11 Forty, 13 Oakridge, 15 Kolar, 16 Cocaine.
examined (2,9) 5 Bear sanctuary near Bellary (6) 6 RTI activist who was arrested by the police in connection to a murder case (1,1,7) 8 Theatre at Banashankari (7) 9 A man from Anandanagar was recently convicted for demanding and accepting this (5) 14 Two of these were recently unearthed at a Metro site (7) 15 Government agency which is yet to recover rental dues amoutning to 15 crore rupees (3) 17 There are no takes for thousands of seats for this course in Karnataka (3)
Prof Good Sense I have just moved into Bangalore and live in an apartment close to my place of work. My schedules are erratic and I often work from home. I haven’t made many friends, but I have a few colleagues who visit me. My neighbour has been reacting curiously to their visits. Once, he even interrogated my colleague as she was coming up in the lift to my place. How should I confront this elderly gentleman? Vikas, Whitefield
For many, curiosity often takes an unhealthy turn. Why allow your neighbour to get away with his rudeness? Invite him over for a cup of coffee and talk. Tell him politely he is behaving in an unacceptable manner. But if you think it is not worth the trouble, let him continue with his fantasies, and just don’t let him bother you. Prof M Sreedhara Murthy teaches psychology at NMKRV First Grade College. He is also a well-known photographer. Mail queries to prof@talkmag.in
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Teenie desi weenies While it is strictly against our policy to bring you the bad news here, this we had to. Brace yourself fellas, for Indians are among those with the shortest penises in the world. We came in at the 110th position in a survey of penis lengths that covered 113 countries. And now for the heartbreaking figure: our equipment averages all of 10 cms. The list is dominated by African countries: the Republic of Congo got the top honours at 18 cm, while Ghana came in at number three at 17.2 cm. However, the Africans have, er, stiff competition from the South Americans,
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Burp ahead on the road to the new year with Ecuador coming in at second place (17.7) and Columbia in the fourth (17). They are followed by the Europeans and the Arabs, with the South Asians lumped together at the bottom of the list. The geography of it is painfully obvious, but citizens of superpower India may take heart in the fact that our rivals too don’t really measure up: the figure for the Chinese is 10.09 cm. The survey also seems to have accidentally contributed to world peace: both South and North Koreans shared the last place: 9.6 cms each. So, what were they fighting about, again?
The Bangalore traffic police have decided to “crack the whip” against those driving under the influence of alcohol in the coming feshtival sheeshun. Bleh. And you can say that again. Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MA Saleem was quoted in The New Indian Express as saying drunk driving cases in the city have increased, and therefore “the department will increase surveillance at all junctions in
December.” If that wasn’t enough to make you sober, the coppers also plan to ‘warn’ first-time offenders with a court notice and fine, and impound licenses of repeat offenders. Only (!) 48,826 cases of drunk driving were booked this year, compared to 61,923 last year. Which means our over-enthusiastic policemen have just a month to beat last year’s record, something they are sure to try to. In short, you better stock up, or it’s the lock up.
Da one pound fish man Muhammad Shahid Nazir, a young Pakistani who sells fish at an East London market, was told by his shop-owner to shout out his sales pitch. Nazir didn’t like to shout, so he decided to sing it instead. The combination of his sweet voice and no-brainer lyrics worked like magic with Londoners (Here’s a sample from One Pound Fish: “Come on ladies, come on ladies, have a, very cheap, one pound have a look, one pound fish.”) A YouTube video fish. Very very good, very featuring him went viral,
drawing 3.6 million views. Nazir has got so popular that pop star
Alesha Dixon even tried to corner some of his glory for herself by recording a version of his song. Nazir has now landed a lucrative record deal with Warner Music, which hopes to make him the next PSY (Gangnam Style fame). We leave you with the comment of a young woman who, according to the newspaper that quoted her, came all the way from Kent to hear him: “He smelt like fish but he was amazing.” Meen girl!