TALK NOVEMBER 15,2012

Volume 1 | Issue 14 | November 15, 2012 | Rs 10

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SHOPPING Cracker reckoner and discounts on cars 6-7 ACHIEVEMENT The Bangalore girl who scaled Mt Everest 16

the intelligent bangalorean’s must-read weekly

SKYFALL James Bond is not afraid of ageing 19

Just in time for Diwali, a noisy spat has broken out between cultural icon Girish Karnad and supporters of Nobel laureate VS Naipaul 8-14  Naipaul is tone deaf: Full text of Karnad’s speech  Sir Vidia’s Euro goggles: N Manu Chakravarthy  Karnad is bang on: Bangalore literary voices  Why did Karnad shout me down? Anil Dharker  I’m more secular than Karnad: Farrukh Dhondy

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team talk

mail

Thank you for a well-produced magazine Talk is pleasant on the eye because you have used good quality newsprint. The font sizes are good.

The printing and the presentation are neat, and the colour photos and advertisements add to the effect. In terms of content, how about including articles on health and hygiene, environment (pollution and how to control it), manufacturing industries, and so on?

BS Jayaprakash Chavan by email Two sides to the story Your cover story on Indian dogs (NRI Dogs, Issue 12) offered a good perspective.

However, there are two sides to this story. While there are many foreigners taking Indian dogs back with them, there are an equal number who adopt them only to leave them behind. The story is repeated day after day on social media, with ads seeking “urgent adoption for expat dog.” I’m not being critical though—only trying to

add to your perspective.

Rakesh Shukla via Facebook Best pets ever Two decades ago, living with my uncle in Delhi, I had the pleasure of playing with his pedigreed dachshund. I then thought such dogs make great pets. It is interesting that Indian dogs have found takers abroad. Hope you keep coming up with stories not published in the dailies.

Balaji Narasimhan by email Great fun reading Talk I was very sceptical about Talk when it was launched but I have been reading it week after week and my fondness for it only grows.

Keep up the wonderful work.

Vikhar Ahmed Sayeed by email Admirable traits of ‘mongrels’ I cannot thank you enough for your

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They call these numbers Abhay: 95388 92618 Aman: 88844 11718 Mithun: 88844 11720

warm coverage of Indian dogs.

These are often contemptuously called mongrels and pariahs, but Savie Karnel has brought out their noble traits in her article. I am not surprised families abroad are so keen to adopt them. In my house, I have a dog called Papa. I also feed several dogs in the vicinity, all of which have individual names. My daugher Amay is fond of strays (I enclose a picture of her with a pup she picked up from a drain).

Babli Arun Kumar JP Nagar What do you think of this edition?

Write to letters@talkmag.in

EDITORIAL

EXECUTIVE TEAM

S R Ramakrishna Editor Sridhar Chari Consulting Editor Prashanth G N Senior Editor Sajai Jose Chief Copy Editor Savie Karnel Principal Correspondent Basu Megalkeri Principal Correspondent Bhanu Prakash E S Senior Reporter Prachi Sibal Senior Features Writer Sandra Fernandes and Maria Laveena Reporters and Copy Editors Anand Kumar K Chief of Design Shridhar G Kulkarni Graphic Designer Ramesh Hunsur Senior Photographer Vivek Arun Graphics Artist

Sumith Kombra Founder, CEO and Publisher Ralph Fernandez Manager - Marketing Aaron Jones Asst Manager - Marketing Abhay Sebastian Asst Manager - Sales Aman Preet Singh Asst Manager - Sales Mithun Sudhakar Asst Manager - Sales Kishore Kumar N Head - Circulation Vinayadathan K V Area Manager - Trade Yadhu Kalyani Sr Executive - Corporate Sales Lokesh K N Sr Executive - Subscriptions Prabhavathi Executive - Circulation Sowmya Kombra Asst Process Manager

Printed and published by Sumith Kombra on behalf of Shakthi Media Ventures India Pvt Ltd - FF70, Gold Towers, Residency Road, Bangalore -560025 and printed at Lavanya Mudranalaya, Chamarajpet, Bangalore-560018.

Editor: SR Ramakrishna. Editorial Office: FF70, Gold Towers, Residency Road, Bangalore -560025 Email: info@talkmag.in Phone: 08049332100, 08040926658. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited.

Goodbye, Bhanu On Tuesday, as we sat worrying about stories that remained half done, we saw a story by Senior Reporter Bhanu Prakash E S that showed sharp observation, and much potential. An enthusiastic Bhanu said he would file all details by morning, and left. It was 10.45 pm. Around 4 am, just a few minutes in bed, I woke up to the dreadful news that he had died.

Bhanu was just 31. I first saw him when he came to Mid Day, after completing his education in Shimoga, looking for a job. He began his career in that paper as a film journalist. He worked under Kavya Christopher, and later under Kavitha K, both of whom liked him. Bhanu wrote some daring stories in Mid Day, meeting important people and asking them

uncomfortable questions. A scoop that got the tabloid excited: He found that the movie star Darshan was driving around in a Hummer that didn’t even have a registration number. His story made it to the cover, and the RTO officials promptly followed up on it.

Bhanu later switched from entertainment to news.

Between Mid Day and Talk, he had worked for Deccan Chronicle and a hospitality magazine. A motorcycle accident had slowed him down a bit. But he came back, determined to do big stories. The second issue of Talk ran a cover story he had written. It was about a convict who had served his full term but was still in jail, a good five years after he was due for release, because the government and the Governor couldn’t agree on a formality. With perseverance, Bhanu tracked down the victim’s family to a slum in Jayanagar. His story again had impact, with legal activists going to court and seeking redressal for Rajendran, the convict still in jail.

In Talk, Bhanu did several stories that won him the readers’ appreciation. He had interviewed ‘Encounter specialist’ Daya Nayak just two weeks ago. On the day he died, he had gone on a motorbike trip to Hosur with Ramesh Hunsur, for a story on how Bangaloreans take off on cracker-shopping excursions to the Tamil Nadu border.

Gentleness and a ready smile defined Bhanu. His colleagues liked his company, although he had his brooding moments. It’s hard to believe that Bhanu is now just a memory. His parents live near Chitradurga in central Karnataka, and will need great strength to bear the loss.

The youngest members of our editorial team, Sandra and Maria, had known him just for a couple of months. He was always helpful when they needed quotes and contacts. They remember him with affection, like the rest of us who knew him longer. Bhanu, we miss you.

Ram, on behalf of the Talk team

political diary

talk|15 nov 2012|talkmag.in RAMESH HUNSUR

OPEN AND SHUT Chief minister Jagadish Shettar lends a careful ear to wife Shilpa

Shettar’s home minister A pussyfooting chief minister takes a startlingly firm decision BASU MEGALKERI basavaraju@talkmag.in

S Yeddyurappa was the chief guest at an event in his constituency Shikaripura. Chief minister Jagadish Shettar, also

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invited, skipped it. That didn’t go down well with Yeddyurappa, who said: “Shettar is now a puppet of K S Eshwarappa.” As state BJP president, Eshwarappa is struggling with a wildly rebellious Yeddyurappa.

At the inauguration of Gandhi Park in Shimoga, Shettar was absent again. Eshwarappa stepped in as chief guest and remarked, “Shettar is now Yeddyurappa’s puppet.”

With the BJP government all set to close down Kannada-medium schools, many writers and artistes met Shettar and advised him against the decision. Shettar offered biscuits and coffee to the delegation and kept mum. Kannada intellectuals then said, “Shettar is a puppet of English-medium school managements.”

But then, on Rajyotsava day, Shettar made a surprise announce-

editor talk When I read V S Naipaul’s A House for Mr Biswas 25 years ago, I was astonished at how accurately he had captured the subtle dynamics of a joint family. Having lived in one, experiencing its joys, its daily discomforts and its modest aspirations, I was convinced he was a great writer who wrote from true experience. Strangely, his first two non-fiction books on India, An Area of Darkness and India: A Wounded Civilisation, left me equally exhilarated, although many of my friends were angry that he was so bitter and cutting about India. I believed a misplaced sense of patriotism was bothering them. To me, here was a writer observing and commenting on the hard realities of our life. By the time I read his third book, A Million Mutinies Now, I had become aware of his many polemical generalisations. Was he a provocateur? Why was a Westworshipping writer with no stated sympathy for anything Hindu, Muslim or Indian (in one of his books, he ridicules Gandhi on many counts, including his vegetarianism) suddenly looking like a mentor to the Hindutva-fuelled BJP? The Kannada cultural icon Girish Karnad has suddenly addressed some of those questions. When he describes Naipaul as ‘tone deaf,’ his music metaphor is particularly telling.

Naipaul is selective when he builds an argument — and he has every right to be — but his India can’t be an insider’s India. As for Karnad, his love of music is perhaps at the heart of his outrage, and that’s a lovely reason to be outraged. As we were preparing for a Deepavali week edition, we were distracted by the fury of this literary fight. But then, we realised, the fireworks had begun. May the lamps burn bright!

S R Ramakrishna ram@talkmag.in

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political diary Siddaramaiah knows Krishna is back with a mission.

Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are keen on Krishna leading the party in Karnataka.

So where was S i d d a r a m a i a h , Siddaramaiah potential chief minister? In distant Davanagere, actually.

When reporters asked him: “What changes will Krishna bring in the party?”

Siddaramaiah retorted, “What do you mean by changes?”

Clearly, he isn’t happy with Krishna’s Krishna won’t arrival, and fears the Rebel Siddu senior Congressman When news came that S M call all the shots, might upset his chief Krishna was returning to Siddaramaiah is ministerial chances.

Bangalore from Delhi, his already hinting “Our party believes in supporters got busy collective leadership,” he putting up cut-outs and banners along the road the road to the air- said.

The day Krishna landed in Bangalore, port. The external affairs minister would Siddaramaiah was sending him signals that now oversee party affairs in Karnataka.

Everyone who is a somebody in the he won’t be calling all the shots. Looks like Congress was at the airport, dressed in the Congress has inhouse gravediggers! their crispest khadi. But one big leader was Siddaramaiah later visited Krishna for a ‘courtesy’ call. missing: Siddaramaiah. But why? ment: “We won’t close Kannada schools.”

Nobody had imagined he would take such a firm decision. How did he change overnight?

Veteran journalist Patil Puttappa had been urging the state government to keep Kannada schools going. In his now famous style, Shettar had visited his house in Hubli and garlanded him, but made no commitment.

A frustrated Puttappa then invited Shettar’s wife Shilpa to his house and explained the problem to her. “I studied in a Kannada school. I will speak to him,” she is said to have responded.

Now everyone knows who Shettar really listens to.

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King Khan Hubli is going to hold centre stage as it is represented by Chief Minister Shettar.

Jabbar Khan Honnali, who lost on a Congress ticket in the last elections, is going to play an important role this time.

Yeddyurappa recently visited Anjuman-aIslam, a Muslim organisation, and had breakfast with its office-bearers. He also visited former MLA Jabbar Khan’s house in Idgah Layout and put his arms around his shoulders. Not stopping at that, he said Jabbar Khan would be the best candidate to take on Shettar in the upcoming elections.

Jabbar Khan’s Jabbar Khan Honnali chances of getting a Congress ticket are slim, and he must have thought friendship with Yeddyurappa could get him a ticket from the yet-to-be-launched KJP. Even the JD(S) is eyeing this seat. H D Deve Gowda had played a big role in resolving a dispute there. Locals respect him. Gowda has also reportedly offered Jabbar Khan a ticket. With both Yeddyurappa and Gowda wooing him,

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Jabbar Khan is a happy man.

‘Loose’ parties Varthur Prakash, independent MLA from Kolar, is a member of Shettar’s cabinet.

Last week, he said, “Being a minister, I have no power. If this is my fate, imagine the fate of poor people!”

Since his victory as an independent candidate, Prakash has done some serious freewheeling, changing loyalties from one leader to another, and negotiating Varthur Prakash good deals for himself. He is no longer interested in the BJP, and is gravitating towards Sriramulu’s BSR Congress.

H S Shankarlinge Gowda, BJP legislator from Chamaraja constituency, is also like Prakash. He has been saying nasty things about his leaders all through these four and a half years. “I will stand on a JD(S) ticket,” he said recently. Only problem is, Deve Gowda hasn’t said a word about giving him a ticket. These legislators are truly on the loose!

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A risky game that now describes possible harm

Hazard SAVIE KARNEL savie.karnel@talkmag.in

f you look up the origin of the word ‘hazard,’ you may not be surprised.

For hazard was originally the name of a dice game in medieval Europe. The players put in high stakes and gambled away their wealth. Perhaps, the aftereffects of the game gave hazard its current meaning of risk or danger.

The game of hazard is said to have got its name from the Arabic word for dice, alzahr. For many years, the theory of its Arabic origin was questioned, since the word was not found in any ancient Arabic text. The idea has no support from history except the fact that the Spanish language had taken in many Arabic words in the 12th century. In the early 19th century, French linguist Ellious Bocthor found it The Talk in an Egyptian oral column on word origins dialect, where it meant

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“the dice.”

In his book Word Origins, John Ayto accepts the word’s Arabic origin and tracks its evolution in stages: “The word hazard was introduced to English as the name for a game played with dice. It was borrowed from Old French hasard, which came via Spanish azar from Arabic azzahr, earlier alzahr ‘luck, chance’.”

Some scholars say hazard came from the name of a castle in Palestine, called Hazarth or Asart. The story goes back to the 12th century when the Christian crusaders captured the castle. The Archbishop of Tyre William W II, who invented the game, is said to have named it after the castle.

Whatever the story behind the name, we cannot deny that gambling can be hazardous. Geoffrey Chaucer frequently mentions the game of hazard in the Canterbury Tales, which he wrote in the 14th century.

Luxurious gambling houses in 17th century England hosted hazard games where huge fortunes were lost.

The main plot of the epic Mahabharata is based on a game of dice.

Knowing that it was impossible to defeat the skilled Pandavas on the battlefield, the

Kauravas invite them to a game of dice.

The eldest of the Pandavas, Yudhisthira, loses all his wealth, his kingdom, his brothers, himself and also his wife Draupadi. The Kauravas insult the Pandavas and try to disrobe Draupadi before sending the losers of the game into exile. This episode triggers a chain of events that eventually led to the war of Kurukshetra, where thousands were killed.

The earliest use of hazard, with the modern meaning of risk, was in the 1540s. Perhaps the people of the era had witnessed so much damage caused by gambling that they could easily relate to the new meaning of hazard, and the word gained popularity. Over the centuries, the game disappeared from Europe, though a similar game called craps is played in North America now.

Though the game is no longer around, the new meaning that hazard acquired has become common parlance. The term hazard is attached to most kinds of dangers and disasters—hence we have natural hazards, biological hazards, physical hazards, environmental hazards, and chemical hazards.

The most familiar for a majority of us

K E Y

O R D S

HAZAAR DANGERS From traffic to fire to radiation, hazards come in many forms

is occupational hazard, which refers to the risks that are a part of our jobs. The degree of hazard varies. If you are a miner, occupational hazard could mean a whole mountain falling on your head. If you’re a politician, it could take the form of a few million dollars in a numbered account in a Swiss bank that might suddenly get frozen!

festive shopping

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RAMESH HUNSUR

Pataaki reckoner they know where to go and how to haggle.

“The discounts depend on the brands. For lesser known brands, you get up to 90 per cent off, while for Standard, we never cross 75 per cent,” said a salesman at Sivakasi Cracker Bazaar, Yelahanka.

Buyers who go to Hosur, 35 km MARIA LAVEENA from JP Nagar and 45 km from maria.laveena@talkmag.in Vidhana Soudha, are lured by the discounts.

“I have been going to Hosur for his year, 12 playgrounds have been designated by the past five years. With a budget of the BBMP for sale of Rs 5,000, I get home loads of fireworks,” said Devaiah, an ecstatic crackers in Bangalore. shopper.

Hosur has about 350 shops and You have other options as well: thousands of make a trip to Bangaloreans throng Hosur and pick up Sales have been the small town across your crackers cheap. falling over the the Tamil Nadu border Or buy online. last three years near Electronics City, Cracker prices to stock up on crackare typically marked up sky high. Discounts on the MRP ers.

Pioneer Agencies, which has start at 65-70 per cent, and at outlets in Hosur and Attibele, go all the way been putting up a stall for the past 20 upto 90 per cent. A box of crackers years, is among the better-known priced at Rs 5,000, for example, could shops in Hosur.

Ananda Prabhu, manager, says, actually be sold for just Rs 500.

In old Bangalore, Sultanpet and “We deal only in Standard. Towards Mamulpet are the areas where whole- the end of festive season, we may go salers do business. But then, even up to 85 per cent, but never more retail buyers get huge discounts if than that.”

How you can go about your cracker purchases this year

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OUTINGS Shoppers at a stall in Hosur, about an hour’s drive from Jayanagar, and (right) some locations in Bangalore designated for cracker sales

Sales have been falling over the last three years, according to Prabhu.

Prices have gone up this year by about 30 per cent, and that is a matter for worry both to buyers and sellers.

Online sales haven’t caught on in a big way because couriers don’t deliver crackers (it is illegal to courier anything explosive). However, agen-

cies with their own delivery services are doing brisk business.

Peacock Crackers (www.peacockcrackers.com), which deals in Standard fireworks, runs a neat website where you can place your orders. It expects a minimum order of Rs 5,000, and delivers crackers at your doorstep within three days of ordering.

festive shopping

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Drive home a flurry of offers After two months of dull sales, car showrooms are suddenly alight with Diwali discounts

PRACHI SIBAL prachi.sibal@talkmag.in

ar sales across the country declined for two consecutive months in August and September, before bouncing back in October, and companies and dealers are hoping the momentum will continue, thanks to their Diwali season discounts and offers.

Despite the October rebound, sales might still track the revised projection made by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in early October, when it lowered its full-year growth forecast to 1-3 per cent from the 9-11 per cent indicted in the middle of the year.

In Bangalore, there is a veritable war of discounts, with dealers rolling out heavy, and often similar, discounts and deals. Dealers say the discounts and deals are far more attractive than they were last Diwali.

With free insurance, accessories, TVs and straight-forward cash discounts, new car buyers have it good.

Hyundai, for example, is keeping its focus on its hatchback i10 and giving away LED TVs worth Rs 40,000 with every sale. Ajay Singh, director, sales and marketing, Advaith Hyundai, says the offers are limited to petrol cars. Chevrolet, though, is offering free insurance and accessories on both its petrol and diesel variants.

Singh says the momentum has picked up. “While the car market has been slow for the past few months, the offers have helped produce the desired response in customers.

We have managed to get 150 car bookings in the first five days while the numbers were about

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TILL STOCKS LAST The heavy discounts and offers on cars are driven by the reduced growth forecast for the industry

50-60 during the same time last year.

And this is just the beginning, the offers will last the month through.”

Dasharath, sales consultant, Chevrolet, reports more walk-ins into the showroom after the announcement of the offers. “They want to sell more. If the market is going slow, we end up giving up more margins on the car,” he says Companies like Hyundai and Chevrolet are keeping most of the attractive offers focused on the hatchback segment with only a few offers on sedans and SUVs. Toyota, on the other hand, has some exciting schemes for sedans but keeps cars like Innova and Fortuner out of the bracket.

Ganesh Kumar, chief marketing officer, Viva Toyota , told Talk, “The scenario this time is in complete contrast to that of last year. There was a shortage of cars last year and greater demand. This year, there has been a slump in sales, mainly due to higher interest rates and government policies making prospective buyers postpone decisions. The Diwali offers though have come at the right time. Bookings have gone up to 15-20 a day in comparison with only 5-10 a day last year.”

Toyota offers free insurance or an

interest rate of 7.99 per cent on its model Corolla Altis.

Fairly new on the block, Renault is keeping pace with massive cash discounts on its SUVs Fluence and Scala. “For our high-end SUV model Koleos, we have dropped prices from Rs 25 lakh (ex-showroom) to Rs 23.3 lakh. This is a special anniversary edition price which came in time for the festival,” says Vijay Singh, marketing head, Renault Bangalore.

Besides the war of offers, this season seems to have a lot in store in terms of ‘loyalty exchanges’ as well. Exchange of cars from the same brand could get you more benefits than the current market value of the car, claim sales executives. While Hyundai flaunts exchange offers worth Rs 25,000 on i10 and Eon, Toyota promises more than the market value on used cars without mentioning amounts.

Pankaj Jaiswal, general manager at Bimal Maruti, says Maruti too is offering exchange bonuses ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000, and cash discounts going up to Rs 30,000 on certain models. “These are much higher than what we were offering last Diwali.” Again, no offers on diesel variants.

Toyota Corolla Free insurance or reduced rate of interest at 7.99 per cent Etios and Liva Benefits of up to Rs 35,000 in the form of accessories

Hyundai i10 Samsung LED TV worth Rs 40,000, exchange loyalty bonus of Rs 25,000 Eon Free insurance and exchange loyalty bonus of Rs 20,000 i20 petrol Free insurance and exchange loyalty bonus of Rs 20,000 Sonata Cash discount of Rs 50,000 Santa Fe Cash discount of Rs 1 lakh

Chevrolet Beat Diesel Free insurance Beat Petrol Free insurance and accessories Spark Rs 45,000 cash back Optra 2.0 litre Rs 2 lakh cash discount

Renault Fluence petrol Up to Rs 1 lakh off Fluence Diesel E4 Discount of Rs 1.2 lakh Scala Free accessories worth Rs 20,000 Koleos Special price of Rs 23.32 lakh

Maruti Alto K10 Rs 25,000 cash discount A Star Rs 30,000 cash discount Wagon R(petrol and LPG) Rs 30,000 cash discount Zen Estillo Rs 30,000 cash discount Ritz Petrol and Ritz Minor Petrol Rs 25,000 cash discount SX4 Petrol Rs 30,000 cash discount Omni Rs 15,000 cash discount

reading india

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‘Naipaul is tone deaf...’

RAMESH HUNSUR

...when it comes to Indian music, but equally, about Islam and Muslims in India.

That was the thrust of a scathing critique of the Nobel-laureate by acclaimed playwright Girish Karnad, made at a Mumbai lit-fest recently. Here is the text of Karnad’s speech, which he called a rebuttal to Naipaul, ‘bottled up for 10 years’

t the Mumbai Literature Festival this year, Landmark and Tata Literature Live! have jointly given the Lifetime’s Achievement Award to Sir Vidia Naipaul.

The award ceremony held on the 31st of October at the National Centre of the Performing Arts coyly failed to mention that Naipaul was not an Indian and has never claimed to be one. But at no point was the question raised, and the words Shashi Deshpande, the novelist, had used to describe the Neemrana Festival conducted by the ICCR in 2002 perfectly fitted the present event: ‘it was a celebration of a Nobel Laureate …whom India, hopefully, even sycophantically, considered an Indian.’

Apart from his novels, only two of which take place in India and are abysmal, Naipaul has written three books on India and the books are brilliantly written--he is certainly among

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the great English writers of our gen- it in the streets, in the restaurants and eration. They have been hailed as a so on... you would expect an explocontinued exploration of India’s jour- ration of India to comment on that. ney into modernity, but what strikes Now Mr Naipaul has written three one from the very first book—A books on India, three very big books...

Wounded Civilisation—is their rabid and not one of them contains any refantipathy to the Indian Muslim. The erence to music. He has gone through ‘wound’ in the title is the one inflict- the whole of India without responded on India by Babar’s invasion. Since ing to Indian music.

Now I think this then, Naipaul has only means that he is never missed a If you don’t tone-deaf. That’s my chance to weigh in respond to reading of the situaagainst the ‘invaders’, accusing them of music, then you tion but then there’s reason why he having savaged India can’t respond to no shouldn’t be tonefor five centuries, of Indian history deaf. It is a constituhaving brought, tional right we all among other dreadhave. But what hapful things, poverty into it and destroyed the glorious pens is that if you don’t understand music, if you don’t respond to music, ancient Hindu culture.

A point that strikes one immedi- then you can’t respond to Indian hisately about these books is that there tory because the real development of is not a single word in any of them on Indian culture has been through Indian music. Given that music music.

This is one problem with Mr defines our daily existence... you find

Naipaul’s analysis of Indian culture.

He has no music and therefore no conception of what the Muslims contributed to our history. His concept of what the Muslims did in Indian history clearly shows that he has no idea of what at least the music did.

Now, not having music — not having an ear for music deprives him of another chapter in his book really, if I might put it that way.

This explains his insensitivity to the intricate interweaving of Hindu and Muslim creativities, through the Bhakti and Sufi movements, that gave us this extraordinary heritage, alive in the heart of every Indian home.

What Naipaul’s virulence against Indian Islam conceals is that he has borrowed his model of the history of Indian culture from the British musicologists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, like William Jones.

These scholars were acquainted with many other ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptian, the Greek and the

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talks to and of the places he visits. in the conflict is irrelevant to him.

What begins to bother one after a Now again, what he says is predictable, which is that the Muslims while however, is that he invariably seems destroyed Indian architecture, that every- to meet brilliant interviewees whose thing went to pot. They were the raiders, answers to his questions are expressed they were the destroyers, and you have to with a wit and elegance that match his look at any building to see what happened own mastery of the language. Even halfliterate interviewees suffer from no diffiduring the Muslim regime.

And here is what he said about the dence in their expression.

How reliable are the conversations Taj when people argued with him: “The Taj is so wasteful, so decadent and in the he records?

In a well-known essay Naipaul end so cruel that I found it painful to be there for very long. This is an extrava- describes his visit to the National Institute gance that speaks about the blood of the of Design, Ahmedabad, where he stayed with his friend, Ashoke Chatterjee, the people.”

None of us, if we were at the Taj, Director of the Institute.

In a recent email to me, Mr would think of the extravagance that speaks about the blood of the people! Chatterjee said, that Naipaul’s essay was “a That’s why you get a Nobel Prize, you scenario that could have been, but was not what he actually saw. Fragments of reality, know.

He brushes off historian Romila selected and put together, into a collage of Thapar’s argument that the Mughal era pure fantasy.”

Chatterjee’s friendsaw a rich efflorescence ship with Naipaul came of the mixture of Hindu To Naipaul, to an abrupt end when and Muslim styles, by Chatterjee told Naipaul attributing her judgment the Indian that his book, A to her Marxist bias and Muslim remains Wounded Civilisation, says, ‘The correct truth is an invader should be classified as the way the invaders look forever, forever fiction. at their actions. They In a recent book, were conquering. They condemned to be Naipaul takes up for were subjugating.’ condemned examination the autobiTo Naipaul, the ography of Munshi Indian Muslim remains an invader forever, forever condemned to Rahman Khan, who emigrated to be condemned, because some of them had Suriname at the end of the nineteenth invaders as their ancestors. It is a usage century, and contrasts it with Gandhi’s.

Sanjay Subrahmanyam, the historiwhich would yield some strange results if an, has reviewed the essay in the London applied to the USA. As for Naipaul’s journalistic explo- Review of Books and it doesn’t take him ration of modern India, mainly in the much effort to establish that Naipaul form of a series of interviews conducted could only have read a third-hand, trunwith Indians right across the board, one cated translation of the text: “It is as if a must confess they are supremely well reader in Gorakhpur was reading Naipaul written and that he is a master in drawing in Maithili after the text had passed sharp and precise visuals of the people he through a Japanese translation.”

That doesn’t prevent Naipaul from commenting even on the style and linguistic usage of Rahman Khan.

The question surely is by giving him the Lifetime Achievement Award, what statement is being made by the awardgivers?

As a journalist what he writes about India is his business. No one can question his right to be ignorant or to prevaricate.

But the Nobel Prize has given him a sudden authority and his use of it needs to be looked at.

One of the first things Naipaul did on receiving the Nobel Prize was to visit the office of the BJP in Delhi. He who had earlier declared that he was not political, “that to have a political view is to be programmed”, now declared that he was happy to be politically “appropriated”.

It was then that he made his most infamous remark: “Ayodhya”, he said, “is a sort of passion. Any passion is creative.

Passion leads to creativity.”

HOLD IT Lit fest director Anil Dharker conferring the Lifetime Achievement Award on VS Naipaul Roman. But they were mystified by the fact that while the musical traditions of these civilizations were entirely lost, the Indian musical tradition was alive and thriving.

They decided that this once pureand-glorious music must have been, at some point during the course of its long history, corrupted and mauled-and they found the villain in the invading Muslim.

So, according to them, once upon a time there was a pristine Indian musical culture, which the Muslims had disfigured.

They therefore ignored the music that was being performed around them and went in search of the true Hindu music.

The foreigners come, they look at Indian culture, they see pristine Hindu culture, they see that it’s corrupted and it’s corrupted by Muslims. So you see, anyone who has read Naipaul’s book will immediately recognise this matrix, which actually he claims that he arrived at through himself but it is already there in any Indological study long before.

In his analysis of Indian culture Naipaul simply borrows this line of argument and reemploys it—as his original perception. And not for the first time.

Naipaul accuses RK Narayan of being indifferent to the destruction and death symbolised by the ruins of Vijayanagar, which to him was a bastion of Hindu culture destroyed by the marauding Muslims.

But again he gets this interpretation of the history of Vijayanagar readymade from a 1900 book by Robert Sewell called A Forgotten Empire.

Naipaul, as always in awe of his colonial sources, simply accepts this picture as the unadorned truth and recycles it wholesale as his own. That historians and archaeologists working on the site during the last century have proved the situation to be much more complex and have shown that religion had little role to play

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Girish Karnad’s speech was a perfectly valid expression. Naipaul has in some sense set himself up as a commentator on India. He holds a position of eminence the world over, and particularly in the Western media.

His words have impact. So an established commentator’s views on India cannot go unchallenged, especially if they are problematic.

Karnad must have felt Naipaul has gone uncontested and unchallenged over his views of India and Islam.

Ramadas Rao Former professor of English, Bangalore University

It’s very courageous of Girish to be outspoken. Most Indians are sychophantic, which I dislike.

When Naipaul made very rude remarks about India when he was in Bangalore, not a single writer stood up to him. It was left to a very young writer to disagree with Naipaul. That incident still stays with me. I am uncomfortable with the undue importance and attention given to Naipaul. Has he ever said anything good about India? It is good to have writers come out with criticism of other writers as long as it is constructive.

Shashi Deshpande Writer

Girish’s comments are not about Naipaul, but his views on India and Islam. I appreciate Girish for such a frank opinion as we don’t come across such public criticism often. There are no holy cows in intellectual discourse.

Chiranjiv Singh Scholar and former Indian ambassador to UNESCO

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INFAMY Visiting the BJP office soon after he won the Nobel Prize, Naipaul reportedly remarked, ‘Ayodhya is a passion. Any passion is creative.’

Salman Rushdie’s response was that Naipaul was behaving like “a fellow-traveller of Fascism and (that he) disgraces the Noble Prize.”

In the wake of Ayodhya close to 1500 Muslims were slaughtered in the streets of Bombay alone. I was attending a Film Festival in New Delhi when the riots broke out and received anguished calls from my friends in Bombay to say Muslims were being pulled out of their homes or stopped in the streets to be

were shot down by the police as troublemakers.

Seven years later, in cold blood, Naipaul was glamorising these events as “passion,” as “a creative act.”

It is significant that this part of Naipaul’s sociologising was not mentioned in the citation of the Award, or by Farrukh Dhondy, who while interviewing him, mentioned the book, Among the Believers and then quickly moved to a long-winded account of how he had helped Sir Vidia adopt a cat which thirteen years later was put to sleep lying on his lap—giving Naipaul another chance to burst into sentimental tears.

Presumably Dhondy was trying to prove how ‘human’ Naipaul was.

But Landmark and Literature Alive who have announced this Award have a responsibility to explain to us where exactly they stand with regard to these remarks by Naipaul.

Naipaul is a foreigner and can make pronouncements as he wishes. But do they mean to valorise Naipaul’s stand that Indian Muslims are raiders and marauders? Are they supporting his continued insistence on Muslim buildings in India being monuments to rape and loot? Or are they by their silence suggesting that these views do not matter?

The Award givers have much to answer for.

killed.

I rang my Muslim editor to say he and his family could use my flat, in a predominantly Parsi building, until the situation became safe.

The great Marathi actress, Fayyaz, whom I finally located after a week in a corner in Pune where she had fled in distress from Mumbai, described how Shiv With permission from Girish Karnad.

Sainiks had thrown fire bombs into Muslim slums and how, when the inmates This is an edited version of the address he of the houses rushed out in terror, they gave at Tata Literature Live!

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Karnad has got it bang-on. What’s passionate and creative about the Ram Janambhoomi movement—as Naipaul described it—that left thousands dead? The destruction of the Babri Masjid is really the wound in India’s secular fabric and civilisational ethos, so in this sense India is a wounded civilisation.

Naipaul’s views are not only oversimplified, but deeply offensive.

Arvind Narrain Writer and advocate, Alternative Law Forum

Karnad is not afraid to say what he wants.

Generally there is a tendency to iconise people and accept their words as shibboleths, and icons, typically, are not contested. Karnad’s criticism is correct precisely because criticism is integral to the literary world.

Gautam Raja Playwright

And in Kannada, there’s Bhyrappa N

aipaul has an ideological parallel in SL Bhyrappa, the Mysorean philosophy professor who writes bestselling Kannada fiction, and takes a dim view of Islam in India.

Born into a poor family, Bhyrappa lost his mother at an early age. His father was of little help, and sympathetic villagers took care of him. He was studious.

He won a gold medal from Mysore University when he did a master’s course in Philosophy. As a lecturer, he was popular. Since 1961, Bhyrappa has written 21 novels, and his work has been translated into many languages around the world.

His novels Vamshavruksha, Tabbaliyu Neenaade Magane and Matadaana have been turned into feature films in Kannada. Girish Karnad was an admirer of the first two, although in more recent years, he has said he regrets directing them.

Bhyrappa’s first novel Bheemakaaya (1961) met with success because of his contemporary storytelling ability. All the way till Anveshana (1976), he was success-

COURTESY: UDAY SHANKAR

P Lankesh and Karnad have criticised Bhyrappa sharply, but he continues to hold views that veer right. For some months, Aavarana was being published in a new edition every single day.

Aavarana describes the impact of Muslim rule on India as destructive. In 2007, journalist and film director NS Shankar brought out a 30-page booklet countering Bhyrappa’s views in Aavarana.

Karnad and Bhyrappa have often crossed swords. While Karnad has written a laudatory play about Tipu Sultan, Bhyrappa cites pages from other sources to describe him as a tormentor of nonMuslims.

Bhyrappa’s more recent novel Kavalu has infuriated women writers. (Naipaul also invited scorn from women after he described Jane Austen and other women writers as inferior to himself). Popular ful in winning a broad, admiring reader- novelist Sara Aboobakkar said recently, at ship. But later novels, such as Parva (1979) a public event, “Nobody should read and Bhitti (2011) have been accused of Kavalu.” prejudice, bigotry, and misogyny.

Writers such as U R Ananthamurthy, BASU MEGALKERI

What is instructive is that Karnad said publicly he doesn’t regret the criticism.

Many times, writers retract their comments, which makes their criticism farcical. Karnad is indicating that he is serious, and the discourse is serious.

Swar T Writer and playwright

I am not for public criticism of writers unless a situation warrants it. In this case, I don’t know the facts of the case. I don’t know what caused the criticism.

Anita Nair Novelist

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COURTESY: JONATHAN PLAYER

DEFIANT A 1987 photograph of V S Naipaul

Girish Karnad’s attack against the Nobel laureate should be seen in its context: Sir Vidia just can’t understand that India preserves its secularism through its profound religious traditions

The hopelessly Western worldview of VS Naipaul T

N Manu Chakravarthy is a professor of English at NMKRV College and a literary critic

ruly serious debates about individuals, societies, cultures and civilisations, as they emerge through biographies, autobiographies, and political and cultural narratives, go beyond individual opinions and personal prejudices.

A debate that does not transcend the limitations of the personal self cannot be considered of great consequence in cultural and intellectual terms. The controversy generated by Girish Karnad’s remarks on VS Naipaul needs to be contextualised properly and ought not to be seen as a vicious attack by one writer on another. Otherwise, the acrimony can only produce sound and fury and no intellectual substance.

It is absolutely necessary to trace the origins of Karnad’s attack against Naipaul and locate it in a historical context before pronouncing judgments on the legitimacy or illegitimacy of his remarks. The origins of the recent controversy have two primary

sources – among several others – and other positions of his that emerge in need to be examined in some detail. his works on India - India: A Wounded In a fairly long comment pub- Civilisation, An Area of Darkness and lished on the editorial page of a lead- India: A Million Mutinies Now. There ing Indian newspaper on the demoli- is a great need to do so if only to come tion of the Babri Masjid, Naipaul to terms fully with Naipaul’s ideologremarked unambiguously that it ical and political concerns, values and marked the resurgence of a vibrant perspectives on all civilisational issues. It is only by Hindu nationalist this method that spirit.

Naipaul’s underHe also said ‘safThe problem standing of Islam fron’ symbolically with Naipaul and Muslims, and represents the vibranis not his acidic Karnad’s rather vitcy of Hindu nationalstyle but his riolic attack on him, ism and does not sugcan be intellectually gest any element of banality and explained to avoid communalism. superficiality taking up simplistic Naipaul’s explanation judgmental posiwas neither an interpretation nor a genuine misreading tions about them.

India: a Wounded Civilisation and of the historical moment. It was a strong ideologically determined An Area of Darkness are not works that political statement and Naipaul was merely project Naipaul’s dismissive remarks about Indian culture, indeed candid about his position.

Today there is a great need to bureaucracy and socio-cultural prac“read” Naipaul’s statement on the tices. In fact, behind the two works is demolition, correlating it with several an orientation shaped by a Western

sensibility that has clear ideas about the features of a civil society.

Naipaul’s several problems with India come from a Western notion of governance and administration, and related concepts of efficiency and order. It is through Western eyes that Naipaul is appalled by the corruption, inefficiency and disorder of Indian socio-political life. Moreover, there is in Naipaul’s works a clear understanding of humanism that is grounded in Western Enlightenment.

Naipaul’s attitudes are, without any doubt, secular and rational, and, more importantly, controlled by a notion of universalism that is unmistakably Eurocentric. This is one of the reasons why Naipaul cannot accommodate contradictions, dualities, paradoxes and irrationalities in individual and public realms. Naipaul’s concern is with efficiency and transparency and India most clearly lacks these in its public spaces. India: A Wounded Civilisation and An Area of Darkness fully reflect these societal

reading india concerns of Naipaul. In other words, Naipaul’s notions of civil society are shaped by the clinical efficiency of a thoroughly well-oiled capitalist machine that cannot tolerate deviations that affect its performance.

The capitalist economic consciousness that defines individual and social behaviour and values is the determining base of Naipaul’s comments on India.

Naipaul is so totally immersed in capitalist notions of civil society that not for a moment does he, in any of his works, interrogate the models of governance and efficiency that he has inherited from the dominant West.

Naipaul is so uncritical of the West in his observations on India that he does not estimate the massive damage that ideas of development, growth, and progress, presented in the context of a strong centralised nation-state, have wreaked on communities living on the fringes of mainstream society-tribals, fisherfolk, farmers, artisans and such others.

Naipaul is blissfully unaware of the ethnocide committed by the dominant West. Even when he deals with the million mutinies of India, his preoccupation is with the urban and the metropolitan areas, which is why environmentalists and other activists who oppose Western models do not alter his scheme of understanding – had he listened to the alternative voices of India, his own writings would have undergone a transformation.

India: A Wounded Civilisation and An Area of Darkness are also quite disparaging about Indian notions of religiousness, tradition and culture. For Naipaul, India is absolutely decadent in cultural terms, for it cannot emerge from the bigotry and obscurantism of a Brahminical order.

All the structures of modern India are deeply embedded in a dark, superstitious past, and hence, India as a civilisation is an anachronism, a blemish in a rational, scientific, progressive world.

For Naipaul, with his linear notion of history shaped by the modern West, India is stuck in a static, unhistorical, stagnant past, and is, therefore, a site of all kinds of oddities and perversities.

Naipaul is certainly not a Leftist, let alone a Marxist. But in his sense of under-

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PLURAL HISTORY Naipaul would have done better had he considered heterodox visionaries such as Dara Shikoh, Mirza Ghalib and Alladiya Khan

(The tremendous negative impact the standing of history and civilisation he carries all the traces of Western ideas of histo- misrepresentations of Islam by the ry—strangely enough, they include even Western media has had on all kinds of peothe ideas of history and civilisation of peo- ple living in the West can be clearly underple like Hegel and Marx—that can only stood by a reading of Edward Said’s regard non-Western conceptions of social Covering Islam).

None can overlook the fact that life as primitive and barbaric.

(It is not out of place to invoke Hegel Naipaul’s attitude towards Muslims and and Marx here, for in their essays on Africa Islam is dominated by Western cultural and India respectively, they justified slav- prejudices and political distortions. ery, violence, and destruction of native Naipaul’s sweeping negative remarks about societies as historically inevitable processes India certainly carry the load of Western and believed that uncivilised areas like misrepresentations about Islam and Africa and India, basically centres of despo- Muslims, in great particularity. Naipaul cannot dissociate Islam tism and feudal tyranny, and Muslims from India’s needed to be pushed into misfortunes and miseries. the modern world through With his linear Even when he attacks the violent interventions of notion of decadence of a traditional the West). history, Naipaul belief system, the referFor Naipaul, India is believes India ences to Muslims figure in wounded from within and different ways. (One can without. A decadent is stuck in a see it even in his India: a Brahminical past coupled stagnant past Million Mutinies Now, supwith onslaughts from outposed to reflect his ‘symsiders who invaded and looted India has damaged it extensively, pathetic’ understanding of India and and modern India is, consequently, left Indians).

It is not strange or surprising that the with deep wounds and a split consciousness. India is a world of hybridity and can- future of India, for Naipaul, is in its vibrant not resolve its contradictions. Along with spirit of nationalism that the demolition of these perspectives, Naipaul is, in his intel- the Babri masjid symbolises. Naipaul is a lectual orientation and ethical sensibility, child of the ideas of nationalism and truly a product of the West and, conse- nation-state engendered by the West. His quently, allows all the representations of remarks on Muslims are built on the edithe Western media of non-Western soci- fice provided by Western nationalism.

A close reading of Naipaul’s works eties, especially of Islam as a religion and Muslims as a people, to shape his imagina- clearly shows that he is not at all aware of tion and conscious attitudes towards reli- the dissenting cultural traditions of India that go back to the pre-Christian era. gion and society.

Naipaul has no awareness of how India has always been a heterogeneous society and has always had many conflicting traditions and belief systems. The idea of plurality does not even creep into Naipaul’s schemes for it is a homogenising Western epistemology – mainly shaped by its socio-political and economic theories – that underlines his conceptions and attitudes.

It does not even occur to Naipaul— given his emotional and intellectual conditioning—that the demolition of the Babri masjid was a constitutional and legal violation at the very outset, even if one were to disregard its barbaric and monstrous antiOLD WORLD Naipaul’s belief in Western superiority has much in common with Hegel and Marx

civilisational tendencies. The fact that the kind of Hindu nationalism Naipaul endorsed drew its inspiration from the decadent civilisation that he had peremptorily brushed aside in his earlier work does not bother him in any way. This is precisely because of his West-generated cultural prejudice and idea of nationalism.

Because of his utter alienness as regards Indian civilisation, Naipaul cannot perceive the manner in which India, for centuries, has retained its plurality – in spite of all its great shortcomings and inadequacies. In spite of colossal tragedies and heartbreaking disasters, India, as a society and a culture (and certainly not as a nationstate) has protected its “secular outlook” without discarding its religious traditions.

Those who have dealt with this both epistemologically and experientially know too well that secularism in India has been promoted by its profound religious traditions. The stories of religiousness and secularism in India are radically different from those of the West that have nurtured Naipaul’s ideas. Naipaul would have done much better than he has in his writings if only he had turned to narratives on a few of these figures: heterodox visionaries and poets such as Amir Khusrau, Dara Shikoh and Mirza Ghalib, and musicians such as Alladiya Khan, Faiyaz Khan, Vilayat Khan, Amir Khan, Ali Akbar Khan and Sheikh Chinna Moulana (to name just a few).

Naipaul’s Western roots prevent him from gaining even a fragmentary understanding of India’s very complex philosophical, religious and cultural debates and conflicts.

The problem with Naipaul’s views on India does not come from his acidic remarks, but from his banalities and superficialities. The strange irony is that Naipaul’s characterisation of India as an area of darkness and a wounded civilisation coincide with the ideas of people like Savarkar who hated the Indian cultural past but shaped their modern nationalist perspectives by drawing from the very same source. This is the modern rational/secular bigotry and intolerance that Naipaul shares with all Hindu fanatics who do not see their own fanaticism. The irony of this conjunction would be too hard for Naipaul himself to digest.

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In defence of Naipaul When writer Farrukh Dhondy stood up to challenge Karnad on his views about VS Naipaul after the former's speech at the Mumbai literature festival on October 31, he was summarily dismissed by Karnad, according to festival director Anil Dharkar (see next page).

Dhondy was present at the meeting Naipaul had at the BJP office which Karnad also refers to, and responding to an article by British historian William Dalrymple in Outlook magazine, he wrote in Naipaul's defence in Tehelka about what actually transpired.

Excerpts, reprinted courtesy Tehelka: he article (in Outlook by Dalrymple) begins with: “There was some surprise when Sir Vidia and Lady Naipaul turned up at the BJP office last week and gave what many in the press took to be a preelection endorsement not just of the curious writer. I don’t think he was party but the entire Sangh Parivar unaware that the press was treating his presence as considerably more programme.”

He doesn’t say who was sur- than that, but an endorsement is perprised. I wasn’t. I was at the meeting haps not only too strong, it’s quite as a reporter. “The many in the press” mistaken.

The meeting was entirely given weren’t present as one of the conditions of the meeting was that the over to VS asking the questions, receiving various answers and makpress be excluded.

I wrote about the meeting ing some singular points himself. between VS and the ‘cultural wing’ Some of the comments from the floor (sic) of the BJP at length in Mumbai’s were interesting and informative, others went off the rails and were Mid-Day. VS Naipaul made no endorse- treated by VS with the contempt they ment of the BJP, or of any article of, deserved. A fellow stood up and, unbidden, proleave aside ‘the entire’ posed that the programme of, the It was Naipaul’s Koran be revised, Sangh Parivar. To say that the parts so is either nasty conview that the which can be interjecture, bad secondBJP ought to preted as inspiring hand reportage, or a keep passion in hatred be mischievous lie. its place and do expunged. VS said The exclusion of he had nothing to the press must some hard say about that. account for thinking When he was Dalrymple’s conjecasked for his opintures about what was said. Hence the lack of a single accu- ion of the BJP’s progress, he repeatedrate quotation and the reliance on ly said that to him the party seemed ‘few’s, ‘many’s and ‘allegedly’s. The to be the political expression of a new article goes on to state Dalrymple’s and welcome passion and confidence own historical points which need to in sections of the population which be addressed but it begins with the were beginning to democratically presumption the meeting was a ‘pre- express themselves.

It was his view that the party election endorsement’.

For the record, Naipaul did say ought to keep passion in its place and to reporters outside the meeting that do some hard thinking. It was up to he would accept any invitation from the party now to generate and field the Congress party to exchange views informed ideas and guide the moveif he was invited. He was there as a ment with programmes and policies

’Naipaul is making a historical argument’ Farrukh Dhondy responds to Talk’s questions in an e-mail interview:

T

for the development of India, its culture, its wealth and its civilised progress. Naipaul specifically said that as far as he was concerned, “religion ought to be kept out of politics.”

NAIPAUL’S HISTORY Dalrymple then slides from the imagined content of this meeting to VS Naipaul’s general historical views, which he sees as his duty to challenge.

He quotes Naipaul’s statement that the Mughal invasions of India, by Zahir-ud-din Shah Babur in the 16th century “left a deep wound.”

There follow other quotations from Naipaul’s writings and interviews: “I think when you see so many Hindu temples of the 10th century or earlier disfigured, defaced, you realise that something terrible happened. I feel the civilisation of that closed world was mortally wounded by those invasions… the old world is destroyed.

That has to be understood. Ancient Hindu India was destroyed.”

A glance at the quotations and a smattering of Indian history should indicate that Naipaul is not saying that Babur single-handedly destroyed Hindu civilisation. The destruction went on over centuries with invasions of Muslim raiders from Arabia in Sindh, from Muslim Persia into the whole Indo-Gangetic plain, from Afghanistan and Central Asia — wave upon wave of conquerors, raiders, marauders, killers, looters, destroyers of temples and pilers-up of mountains of skulls to spread terror and to

What is your main objection to Girish Karnad’s criticism of VS Naipaul?

Karnad’s main criticism is that VS Naipaul is ‘against Muslims’ and even in favour of their slaughter.

This is a lie and a very serious libel. Naipaul has in his work attempted to apply a corrective to the Nationalist view of history which tries to gloss over or sweep under the carpet the atrocities committed by Muslim conquerors and raiders on the Hindu body politic. He is making a historical argument, and not trying to say that Muslims in India or anywhere should be persecuted.

You have examined Naipaul’s writings on Islam in relation to India before deciding to award him. What in your opinion has Naipaul said about Muslims and Islam?

I acknowledge that Naipaul sees what other people don’t and has said so. The Girish-Pritish (Nandy) axis of Indian nationalism persists in victimising VS so that they can assert their fervent secularism. I am even more fervent and secularist than them, being a Parsi.

PRASHANTH G N warn the infidels.

What Naipaul did say about these 16th century invasions, at the misreported meeting and elsewhere, was that Babur knew very well what Ayodhya meant to the Hindus. In an act of hubris and religious vandalism, he built a mosque on the spot where the population had pitched a legend.

Did Naipaul believe that a temple lay underneath? No, he didn’t have an opinion on any such thing and he wasn’t interested in speculating about it. He was asked whether he supported the demolition of the Babri mosque and the building of a Ram temple in its place and he said he had nothing to say about that.

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‘Karnad was intemperate and shouted me down’ secured the conviction of 100 people involved in killings of Muslims. Are we anti-Muslim?

Anil Dharker, director of Tata Literature Live!, tells Talk the theatre icon ‘abused’ the literary platform to attack Naipaul

What in your opinion has Naipaul said about Muslims and Islam in India that could be considered objectionable?

It’s not that I don’t recognise what happened in history. I’ve read Naipaul’s books and he has mentioned the word marauders and I think invaders. Even if there is some dispute about this, isn’t it a fact of history? Karnad is supposed to have said the damage was only in North India, not in the south. But isn’t it true that damage was extensive anyway? That a lot of culture was destroyed? Secularists today don’t want to speak about that because they fear the fundamentalists would use the historical argument against Muslims today.

Today’s Muslims are not responsible for what the invaders did in the past, which doesn’t mean that things did not happen in the past. Naipaul has every right to say what he wants to, it is for the historian to correct him if there are inaccuracies in what he says. Holding such a view of India and Muslims doesn’t make him antiMuslim.

PRASHANTH G N prashanth.gn@talkmag.in

UPSET Why would people come to listen to Karnad on Naipaul, fumes Anil Dharker.

(Below) Dharker conferring last year’s Lifetime Achievement Award to Bengali writer Mahasweta Devi

What is your principal objection to Girish Karnad’s criticism of VS Naipaul?

Karnad was supposed to speak on theatre and the audience was expecting that, as he has a good theatre following. We had even arranged for a staging of his play Hayavadana after his talk. I’ve known Karnad for years and I have great regard for him, but what he did surreptitiously was not good.

Karnad shouldn’t have abused the platform he was given. Some people in the audience were upset with him. Why would people come to listen to Karnad on Naipaul? If everybody comes to speak on a subject other than what they are supposed to speak on, there would be chaos. We had planned every subject of the lit fest after careful thought and we expect participants to follow the plans and norms. If a participant felt something was not interesting to him, that he would like to speak on a different subject, it could have been communicated to us and we would have made some arrangement.

Karnad’s speech was intemper-

produce bile and ill-will. It’s ridiculous to say Naipaul was anti-Muslim. But had you examined Naipaul’s Karnad has based himself on hearsay, writings on Muslims and Islam especially with regard to the quote on before deciding to give him the Babri Masjid. Farrukh Dhondy was Lifetime Achievement Award? with Naipaul when they went to the We had taken into account his entire BJP office and he has vouched, being body of work, not just one or two the only witness, that Naipaul did not works. Does that mean we have to agree with everything say what Karnad he has written? Last alleged Naipaul said ‘It’s ridiculous year we awarded about the Ayodhya to say that Mahasweta Devi. Does movement being a creit mean we agree with ative passion. And on Naipaul is everything she says TV, Karnad used anti-Muslim’ and writes? Look, I phrases like Naipual is don’t have to agree “supposed to have said”, “reported to have said” etc... so with Naipaul at all to give him the award. There are things in his writis he sure of what Naipaul had said?

He also made remarks against ings which I have not liked. When I our committee that it may have been was young I was livid with anger at Do you agree with the content of Karnad’s criticism of Naipaul’s writ- anti-Muslim. I have been part of the some of his views on India that Citizens for Democracy headed by should not appear in print, but then I ings on India and Muslims in India?

No. Karnad says he had bottled up his Teesta Setalvad. We have personally realised there are insights too and elefeelings for 10 years. When feelings fought 200 cases in Gujarat in the vating thoughts. I admire Naipaul, are bottled up that long, they only aftermath of the riots and we have but I need not like all his views. ate and irrational. I was in the audience, and as festival director, I had every right to ask Karnad to stop, but I didn’t exercise that right in the interest of free speech and expression. After Karnad’s remarks, I got up when he was referring to the committee, but he shouted me down. When Farrukh got up to speak, Karnad said, Farrukh, I don’t want to listen to you.

When you speak of free speech, it should be a dialogue, not a diatribe, that too against a person who was not present. Karnad’s actions were a travesty of free speech. Karnad is perfectly entitled to his views and may well be right in some regards, but this is not the way to do it.

himalayan diary

The Bangalore girl who conquered the Everest Capt Smitha on her journey with the Indian Army Women's Expedition to scale the world's highest mountain, and among other things, taste the joy of eating hot Maggi noodles at 20,000 ft above sea level

MARIA LAVEENA

maria.laveena@talkmag.in

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ou can still sense the exhilaration in her voice. Capt Smitha Lakshmana, the 25year-old Bangalorean who recently climbed Mt Everest, is the first woman from Karnataka to achieve the daring feat. Currently posted with the Western Army Command in Amritsar, Smitha told Talk over the phone: “Reaching the peak was an unbelievable experience. I could see mountains all over the place and it was exceptionally beautiful and serene. I hardly spent 15 to 20 minutes at the top, but it was well worth it.”

Smitha was among the 22 army officers selected from 59 applicants for the Indian Army Women’s Everest Expedition in May 2012. The celebrations started as soon as they got back to base camp. “We were all craving for some chicken and pizza when we got back, but

were delighted to find that our cook had baked a cake especially for us. And it was a different feeling to drink a beer brought all the way up there on a yak for the occasion,” she says.

A former student of Dayanand College of Engineering, Bangalore, Smitha told Talk she was very keen on pursuing sports, but had to give it up since her family put pressure on her to concentrate on her studies. But when she joined the Indian Army, she had resolved to revisit her adventurous side.

“My parents are always cautious about my pursuits. Even with this trip, I didn’t tell them anything much beforehand. I only told them I was going on an expedition with the army team. They knew the government would keep us safe, so they weren’t worried. But, later, when they saw my pictures from the summit, they were furious. They never knew it was something so dangerous and death-defying,” she says, adding gleefully that she has only just started.

Being physically fit, Smitha cleared all the selection rounds without a hitch, and was confident because she found the

basic mountaineering experience easy. doctors, cooks and sherpas (loca But the actually climbing of Mt Everest tain guides) to assist them. “Anyo turned out to be a different thing alto- was unwell or needed rest could gether, she recalls. “The climb was risky go to the base camp and seek as we had adjust to the weather there. As effect, it was our home on the we climbed higher and higher, the oxy- tain,” Smitha says.

They the gen levels dropped.” She ceeded to set u also encountered some camps at d health problems during ‘It was scary heights as the her 45-day expedition. to see bodies progress. They During a practice of climbers four camps, at climb, she developed a 21,000, 23,00 chest infection and sufwho had 26,000 feet. Aft fered high temperature, perished on camp was set u and was asked to return the way,’ says members had to to camp by the team’s Smitha them, stay doctor. “We had comovernight and pleted almost half way return to base c of the trek when I was forced to return. While my team mem- next day. A 10-day rest period wo bers went ahead, I had to return to camp low each climb, to allow their b to rest. It was the most disheartening recuperate. This continued till th moment for me in the whole journey,” camp, preparing them to climb summit at one go. she recalls.

After reaching each camp The team had set up their base camp at 17,000 feet where all basic fully, they would remove their amenities were stocked and medical utensils and get down to c facilities were available. The camp had Smitha recalls. Their biggest

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o t

PEAK COURAGE (Left) Captain Smitha at base camp and at the Mt Everest summit (bottom left). (Above) The Indian Army Women’s Everest Expedition making its way to the summit across a knife-edge ridge.

(Below) 1. A team member surrounded by a wall of ice. 2. The team’s camp at night. 3. Melting ice to make water for cooking at a high-altitude camp.

al mounone who anytime help. In e moun-

en proup small different ey made y set up t 19,000, 00 and ter each up, team o trek to there d then camp the ould folbodies to he fourth b to the

successportable cooking, saviours

were Maggi noodles and readymade soups. They would get huge chunks of ice which they would melt into water. At the base camp, though, they were served all kinds of Indian food, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. “Through it all, I would never fail to gorge on the food because the body deteriorates completely after each trek at that height, and one has to eat well to regain one’s energy,” says Smitha.

One of the more sobering experiences for her came when they had to pass

the bodies of climbers who had perished on their way to the summit. Often, the bodies could not be retrieved because they lay in places nearly impossible to reach, and also because it was expensive to get there. “People here charge around Rs 2 to 3 lakh to bring a body down.

That, too, after dragging the body along the ice,” she said.

Around the time Smitha and her team scaled the mountain, there were 40 other teams from across the world waiting to attempt the feat.

While her team deferred the climb because of extreme weather, some of the others chose to go ahead and lost some of their team members. “We got news that six people gad died and several were missing from the other teams. Only after the weather improved did our team leader give us the signal to start our journey. Though we were thrilled initially, it was scary and intimidating to see the bodies along the way. With only a tiny head lamp to guide you after dark, I honestly felt it could be my turn next and

that I should be prepared for it,” says Smitha.

Smitha says that an Everest expedition usually costs anywhere between Rs 25 to 30 lakh, but since she was part of the Indian Army team, she didn’t have to spend on anything.

So how exactly did she spend her 15 minutes of fame atop the world’s highest mountains?

“Actually, I spent most of my time clicking pictures, to show my family and friends,” she chuckles.

concert notes

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Fare from Pakistan Zeb and Haniya are more artistically ambitious than their compatriots Adnan Sami and Nazia Hasan S R RAMAKRISHNA ram@talkmag.in

howdaiah Hall was full on Sunday when Zeb and Haniya performed at the third November Fest hosted by The Hindu.

Their show, called Lahori Blues, lasted an hour and a half.

In some ways, the girl band's music was reminiscent of Nazia Hasan, the 1980s disco sensation, and Adnan Sami Khan, who began his career as a pianist and then switched to singing Indian-style pop and film songs. All of them are Pakistani, and have lived in the West. But Zeb and Haniya have carved out an identity more artistically ambitious than Nazia Hasan’s or Adnan Sami’s.

Among non-classical musicians, Mehdi Hassan and Ghulam Ali are popular in India. They are rooted in raagdari (raga-based) music, and their ghazals draw heavily from the phraseology of time-honoured ragas, even though, with Mehdi Hassan and more with Ghulam Ali, listeners also expect daring creative departures.

C MANY FLAVOURS Zeb (centre) and Haniya at their November 4 show in Bangalore. They sing mostly in Urdu, but also borrow songs from Pashto and Turkish

Their explorations of obscure path- Western genres, besides Hindi film ways between ragas and their sponta- songs and classical and folk music, neous fusing of dissimilar melodic and do not stick to one genre to the streams make their music thrilling for exclusion of others. Their music is audiences familiar with older conven- described as art folk, ethnic blues and Sufi rock, but they are careful not to tions of listenership.

Zebunnissa Bangash and Haniya take these labels too seriously, and are Aslam are cousins. They hail from happy to collaborate with high-caliLahore, and began making music bre musicians from across genres.

Of the two, Zeb is the lead together when they went to the US to study. Their songs are mostly in singer, and she does most of the talkUrdu. Zeb and Haniya, as a musical ing, too. At the Bangalore show, her duo, is about 10 years old. They write voice was smooth and clear, and the their own songs in Urdu, and also numbers were practised and delivborrow songs from other languages ered with ease, although there were in their region, such as Pashto and moments when you longed for more Turkish. They shot to international of the lower register, especially when fame after they were featured in Coke the mid and high-octave flourishes sounded saturating.

Studio, a slick series that The band comencourages collaboraThey don’t take prised Muhammad tions among musicians Akmal on the flute, from diverse genres. In the labels put Kamran Paul and fact, Paimana, one of on their music Agha Ibrahim on their early songs that too seriously drums and additionthe Bangalore audience al percussion. The was familiar with, was in the Farsi language and in a seven- accompanists were consistently good, beat groove. The simple melody, with showing versatility of style and high an almost lullaby-like lilt, was technical virtuosity. Haniya played brought out in Zeb’s nasal overtones, the rhythm guitar, and was supported similar to Nazia Hasan’s. (Listeners of stylishly by the Bangalorean bass guifilm music are familiar with Nazia tarist Prakash, whom Zeb, in good Hasan’s Aap jaisa koi from Qurbani humour, referred to as a musician who had come down “all the way and her album Disco Deewane).

But then, Zeb and Haniya have a from Pakistan.”

On their first visit to Bangalore, stylistic range far wider than Nazia Hasan’s, or for that matter, Adnan Zeb and Haniya performed to an Sami’s. They are inspired by several enthusiastic and appreciative audi-

ence. Their interaction was easy: most in the crowd had heard their songs, and knew what kind of music to expect, although a few songs the band presented were new. As the concert progressed, Zeb had a word of appreciation for south Indian audiences: when they clap, she said, they clap in time, and follow even the uneven beats of five and seven without going off. (Four is the most common beat in the world).

The initial numbers were slow, almost soporific. But the tempo picked up with songs like Chup (from their 2008 debut album) and Le li jaan. The overall sophistication of the band showed in the superbly executed stops and codas. The tempo in the concluding Bibi sanam janem was a bit too fast for the words. The love song, based on raga Sindhu Bhairavi (often called just Bhairavi in Hindustani music), has a pulsating rhythm that works well in their Coke Studio video, but that seemed hurried in the show.

Zeb and Haniya gave opportunities for instrumental solos, and flute player Muhammad Akmal and the drummers excelled with quick improvisations. If Nazia Hasan stuck to disco and Adnan Sami abandoned his self-taught classicism for a more populist style, Zeb and Haniya are pitching themselves suavely at an audience that is as comfortable with jazz and blues as with Bollywood.

now showing

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Licence to mature Surprisingly for a thriller, Skyfall deals with the sombre themes of ageing and death, and its sentimental overtones may not appeal to young-demographics countries like India

SRIDHAR K CHARI sridhar.chari@talkmag.in

GOOD OLD BOND Skyfall has no problems showing off Craig with a silver stubble. Facing page: Craig with Naomie Harris

Is it the best Bond film ever? Actually, yes. But never mind.

Now that we have got the isSkyfall-the-best-bond-film-ever question out of the way, we can consider just what makes this film work so well, and its intriguing stylistic features, including an ageing theme that just might prevent it from winning fans in young-demography countries

like India. If you haven’t seen the film in Skyfall’s case, his ….boss. The hero usually succeeds, of course, but more yet, read on, there are no spoilers.

Skyfall, the 23rd Bond film, importantly, he does everything in opened in Bangalore last week, superlative style.

But good style is substance, and including, for the first time, in an Imax theatre. The Imax experience is there is intelligence and excellence of everything one might expect—truly execution in everything about the immersive with stunning sound and film—Adele’s theme song, Sam Mendes’s direction, jaw-dropping visuals.

Daniel Craig’s very Skyfall was not Good style is physical Bond, shot using Imax camsubstance, and Javier Bardem’s eras, but it has been very original bad upscaled using Imax’s excellence of guy, and Berenice proprietary technoloexecution is in Lim Marlohe as a gy, and the result is a evidence all creepily sexy Bond treat. With feedback through the film girl, with raw fear integrated into the and seduction seats, when the screen explodes with walls caving in intermingling in her haunted eyes.

Halfway through the film, the and trains falling, you will be more film’s baddie, Bardem’s Mr Silva, an than stirred and shaken.

Skyfall is a masterful essay in MI6 operative who has gone bad, what is best described as the ‘style-is- stage manages his capture, only to substance,’ genre, where the action escape and go after his real objective hero goes about saving the world, or Bond’s boss, and his own former boss the country, or the city, or his girl, or, ‘M’ played by Judi Dench, against

whom he has a grudge.

After thwarting the attempt, in typical Craig style now so familiar after Casino Royale, Bond whisks her away to Skyfall, the Gothic setting of his orphan childhood deep in Scotland, where the climax plays out.

Skyfall, not surprisingly for a 50 year-old franchise, is also about age and change, the classic and the new, and how good style is always timeless.

In one scene, Bond wants to have a shave, and unlike say Pierce Brosnan in Die Another Day, he does it not with an electric shaver, or even readymade foam and twin-blade disposable, but with an old-fashioned shaving round and a badger hair shaving brush. Sometimes the old ways are the best, he says, brandishing his ‘cut throat razor’ (think barber shopstyle straight razor).

Websites are already reporting several fold increases in sales of these razors, though they require quite a bit of practice to use. There has always

now showing been a large ecosystem of shaving aficionados on the web, which attest to the superior shave from a razor and brushed-in lather, as against ready-made foam and multiblade systems.

The gadgetry is pretty minimal too, a handgun biometrically coded to Bond’s palm and a simple SOS radio beeper. To Bond’s feigned disappointment, a geeky ‘Q’ (Ben Whishaw) quips, “You were not expecting an exploding pen, were you? We don’t really go for that any more.”

In any case, Craig’s Bond is the least dependent on gadgetry to get him out of a tough situation, and when young Q essays another barb, saying “Age is no guarantee of efficiency,” Bond hits back with “Youth is no guarantee of innovation!”

The film flaunts experience and age.

Craig has no problem showing off what looks like a grey and white stubble, though along with a considerable pack of muscle.

Perhaps that makes perfect demographic sense from an audience perspective as the West after all has a large older population.

But in India, with the under-40 population soon to be the largest demographic segment, small wonder that no hero will dare do that here—he has to have his beard dyed.

Like Christopher Nolan’s The Dark

Knight Rises, Skyfall is also a movie of the times. Nods to the power of individual effort and personal will to triumph against all odds, resonate well in a world of both economic stress and security threats.

“Hire me or fire me,” says Bond to the chairman of the Security Committee, dis-

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tion of his Batman trilogy.

The third act reprises the finale of Peter Weir’s classic Witness, where the protagonists hunker down in a remote location waiting for the bad guys to come and get them. It works well, except that the actual climax is less than fully satisfying.

But surprisingly, it doesn’t seem to matter—the persona of both the Bond character and Skyfall itself as a film, is writ so much larger than life, and yet so successful in its nods to timeless themes of age, change, and human will and purpose, that any ending might have been a letdown. So dock a few marks for the climax, but only a few.

For after all, there are two ways to create ‘epic’ finales. One is the obvious, with the whole world, or the universe, or something at that scale, at stake, with thousands if not millions of lives hanging in the balance. Or reduce it all to the ultimate microcosm, just one precious life at stake, and who is to say that that is not just as playing the harried employee angst that meaningful, just as portentous? most will relate to.

Skyfall is showing in Imax at PVR, The comparison to Nolan’s film is not unconsidered—there is something about Koramangala, and other cinemas in the film’s sweep and treatment, including Bangalore. Review aggregator site Rotten the longish length, that makes it of a piece Tomatoes gives it a 94 per cent rating based with Nolan’s hugely successful third edi- on 81 top reviews around the world.

back stage

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Wife, mother, whore, lover baby and a sick brother-in-law who lives with them—her life is no different from that of any other housewife, ordinary but complete. The phone rings frequently, the brotherin-law calls out for meals and the baby cries occasionally. The monologue, which begins with a peppy tone, moves slowly but effortlessly to darker details.

The second story is about an older woman, a mother, played by Arundhati Raja. At the beginning of the monologue, we see she is being PRACHI SIBAL pursued by the police. Trying to prachi.sibal@talkmag.in escape, she enters a church, where she takes refuge in the confessional. t’s a title guaranteed to pro- It is here that the story pours out of duce a reaction—shock, her. She was once fired up by the curiosity, or a muffled laugh. Communist ideology, and someOrgasmo Adulto Escapes the where in the background is a family Zoo, which played last in left behind for reasons unknown.

Bangalore in 1998, is back with a She speaks of her politics and her brand new line-up, some humour son with both fondness and despair. and a lot of sex. The last in line in She dramatises many incidents of Jagriti Theatre’s Season Twenty her life and her interactions with Twelve, Orgasmo brings on stage the priest are laced with humour.

The third four stories by story is of a prosItalian writers Dario The performance titute, surprisingFo and Franca Rame. ly played by a deals with Directed by Kirtana male actor, Fizz.

Kumar, it features issues, usually Set in an asylum monologues by four taboo on-stage, for the mentally women representing in an in-yourill, it has the actor four female archein a puppet-like face manner types — wife, mothstate, clad in a er, whore and lover.

The first story, played by Anuja hospital gown with electrodes Ghosalkar, is of a housewife who is attached to ‘her’ hands.

She is speaking to her psychiaseen doing chores like ironing, with the radio blaring away in the back- trist, who is supposed to be sitting ground. Seemingly happy with her in a closed elevated box ahead. The life, she talks contentedly about her most disturbing of the stories, she refrigerator and mixer to a neigh- talks of her experiences, of being bour who has just moved in across raped and assaulted several times. the road, even doing a jig or two The storytelling is matter-of-fact, while she’s at it. With a husband, a even when she recounts gory

Orgasmo Adulto Escapes from the Zoo explores womanhood through a series of intimate monologues of four feminine archetypes. As the taboo-busting play returns to town, Talk sits in on a rehearsal

I

FREE PLAY Orgasmo was written by Nobelwinning Italian writer Dario Fo and wife Franca Rame, and has a strong political sub-text

details, lending the piece an eerie feel. To add to this, whenever she refuses to speak, the psychiatrist gives her an electric shock to prod her. With Fizz’s strong portrayal of the character and skilled intonation, this may well be the most powerful performance in the lot.

The fourth story, performed by Kirtana herself, is easily one of the boldest performances to have been staged in the city recently. The piece opens with a lovemaking scene, where all you can see in the faint light is the actor’s legs. Wait a while and your eyes fall on the newspaper she holds evidently to keep herself entertained through the otherwise mechanical act.

Kirtana is effortless and uninhibited through the repeated solo lovemaking scenes and brings out the character’s alternating feelings of detachment and exhilaration with ease. The performance deals with issues that are normally taboo on-stage—contraception, abortion and pregnancy—and does it in an in-your-face manner. The lack of forced subtlety works to the extent where you could lose your own inhibitions and see the humour beyond.

The sets, which look simple at first glance, have been thoughtfully devised to enable precise changes in between performances. The actors move between two elevated platforms and add some much needed physicality, without which the monologues would have been bare.

Overall, Orgasmo seems set to bring some much-needed zest to the Bangalore stage.

You can catch Orgasmo Adulto Escapes the Zoo at Jagriti Theatre till November 18

‘I want to push boundaries’ Director Kirtana Kumar speaks to Talk about Orgasmo, inhibitions and truthtelling in a quick interview between rehearsals.

Why get a man to play the prostitute?

I had no intentions of casting a man as it was a woman’s role. I had asked Fizz not to audition but he fought himself into the audition. He was the best of the people I auditioned, so I cast him. When he began rehearsing, I realised he broke barriers and broadened the concept of femininity. It is not something that should be restricted to women. The gender is not important, the journey and the character are.

How challenging was it to do explicit scenes on stage?

I have no inhibitions with such scenes. I wanted to completely push my boundaries. We are all adults, we should really provoke ourselves.

During rehearsals, I had no issues as people did nothing but laugh during the scenes.

Are you worried about how the audience will react to the explicit scenes?

Ultimately, I have to direct my own vision. It shouldn’t be a problem unless people in Bangalore have turned conservative suddenly. When I did this play 20 years ago, nobody batted an eyelid. One of the performances we did back then was for a Marwari Women’s Association with housewives. They could identify.

They are my ideal audience.

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Rewind The week that was  Obama wins: US president Barack Obama was reelected for a second fouryear term after he defeated rival Mitt Romney.

Fiction writing programme

 China meet: The Communist Party of China met at Beijing for its 18th Congress to elect new leaders. The party has a membership of 82.6 million.

The University of East Anglia (UK) has invited applications for its first international writing programme in India.

The programme, intended for students who wish to develop as writers of prose fiction, will be taught through intensive workshops, tutorials and lectures led by award-winning author Amit Chaudhuri and distinguished novelist Romesh Gunesekara. Chaudhuri, who currently teaches Creative Writing at UEA, will be the director of the India programme.

Gunesekera is an acclaimed British author with a Sri Lankan background.

NOVEL GURUS Amit Chaudhuri and Romesh Gunesekara teach the course

Twenty-four places are available at the eight-day course, which begins on March 25, 2013 in Kolkata. The deadline for applications is January 30, 2013. The course fee is Rs 25,000, excluding accommodation. A limited number of bursaries are available to appropriately

qualified applicants to help meet the costs of participating. Applicants should send a 2000-word sample of their writing, with their CV and a reference to the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom. Successful

 Visa rules: Immigration officials have asked IT companies to tighten internal visa processes and bring them on a par with those of the US consulate to reduce rejections.  Sachin honoured: The Australian government honoured Sachin Tendulkar with the Order of Australia.

Mother Teresa and Soli Sorabjee have earlier been conferred the honour.  Terror funds: Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has asked Interpol to stop terror funds in stock markets through internet intervention.  Gadkari survives: BJP president Nitin Gadkari has survived challenge to his position after top leaders came out in support of him despite Ram Jethmalani's opposition.  NRN clarifies: Infosys founder R Narayana Murthy has said he has not funded the political activities of Aravind Kejriwal and would not do so.  Top cop: Lalrokhuma Pachau has been appointed director-general and inspector-general of police in Karnataka. Pachau is the first officer from the northeast to occupy the top post in the state.  Snake complaints: BBMP says it is receiving three complaints a day on presence of snakes in residential areas of Bangalore owing to the accumulation of garbage.  Americans vote: American citizens studying and working in Bangalore voted online to elect the US president.

Citizens’ awards In its fourth year now, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation Awards is open for nominations.

You can send in your vote to who you think deserves to be honoured with this award. The aim of the foundation is to recognise common people who have done extraordinary service.

A panel of judges will scrutinise nominations in multiple categories. The panel includes prominent names like H S Balram, journalist and trustee of Namma

Bengaluru Foundation, freelance media specialist Vasanthi Hariprakash, poet Dr Siddaligaiah, R K Misra, member of ABIDe Task Force, actors Ramesh Arvind and Ramya Suresh, and retired civil servant K Jairaj, among others.

The last date to file nominations is December 15. Forms can be picked up at Cafe Coffee Day and C Krishnaiah Chetty and Sons branches.

For more, log on to www.nammabengaluruawards.org

Get philosophical Our lives are filled with ethical dilemmas: Should I tell a lie to a friend to make her happy? Is it okay to accept a bribe? Am I responsible for my neighbour’s safety? In the first Jaaga U Philosophical Investigations course, particpants explore questions about our ethical lives.

Guided by Oxford University’s A Romp Through Ethics for Complete Beginners, the course will survey the foundations of ethical thought,

investigating what it means for an action to be right or wrong, whether we can have moral knowledge, if ethics requires freedom, and the ethical relation between the individual and society.

Course facilitators are Dr Alan Van Wyk, Claremont Graduate University (California, USA), Dr Rajesh Kasturirangan of the National institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, Amy Watson, and Athena Kashyap.

Date and time: Saturday, November 10, 11am - 2pm. Venue: Jaaga, Shanthinagar. For more information, visit www.jaaga.in

applicants will also be offered guidance in applying for scholarship funding to undertake the MA in Creative Writing at UEA. For more information, log on to www.uea.ac.uk/creativewriting/news

LGBT radio channel Radiowalla.in, which calls itself India’s first multi-channel internet radio platform, has announced that it will host a radio channel especially for the Gay and Lesbian (LGBT) Community. The channel will be available 24x7 via any broadband connected device and mobile phones through mobile apps. According to the company, the channel would cater to special interests of the community that are not being adequately addressed by the mainstream media. They have invited the Indian and South Asian LGBT community, including those that are dispersed around the world, to contribute, participate and also to add their own content to the channel. A press release from Radiowalla says that the channel content will include “the eclectic musical taste of the community from around the world.” It will also have live-talk format call-in shows on fashion, lifestyle and social issues, part from interviews with “prominent leaders of the community.

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Forward The week ahead

Poetic twins India’s leading English publishers, Penguin and HarperCollins have recently come out with their poetry anthologies. The Penguin book is pitched as “the ultimate anthology of Indian poetry from the Vedas to the present in all the major Indian languages,” and is edited by poet Eunice De Souza and publishing professional Melanie Silgardo. Its strength is variety, as it includes folk songs, tribal epics, and classical Sanskrit and Tamil verse, alongside contemporary poems from our regional languages.

On the other hand, The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry, edited by poet Sudeep Sen, focuses on poetry from recent years. It calls itself as “a major landmark international book that reflects the vibrant contemporary poetry culture of India and the broader Indian diaspora,” The publishers claim that over 90 per cent of the poems in the anthology are new and unpublished in individual author volumes.

Be a Mo Bro!

Painting course in a serene setting This one’s for you if think they have an artist in you but lack the skills and confidence to actually try your hand at painting. The Bhoomi Centre For Art Studies is holding a series of painting workshops titled Kala Sanskar 2012—A Visual Art Journey.

The three-day workshop, led by well-known artist Dr M S Murthy, seeks to provide theoretical knowledge in visual art along with practical experience of drawing, water colour painting, and composition.

The workshops are so structured that participants get time to reflect on the concepts and try them out practically.

The organisation holds five such workshops in a year, starting November. Works produced by participants will be showcased at a group exhibition.

These My Words: The Penguin Book of Indian Poetry Edited by Eunice De Souza & Melanie Silgardo Rs 499

The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry Edited by Sudeep Sen Rs 599

Bhoomi is situated in over an acre of land at Thalaghattapura, off Kanakapura Road, in a serene and natural atmosphere suited well for creative pursuits. The workshop is open to all.

For details, contact Murthy on 98441 57982, or write to: lebhoomi@gmail.com

If you spot an unnatural number of moustachioed men around, don't dismiss it as fashion. They are the Mo Bros, part of Movember, a month-long moustache growing event. Men from around the world grow mustaches during the month to increase awareness of prostate cancer, early cancer detection and treatment. The movement began in 1999 in Adelaide where the term

Workshop 5: August 3rd Week, 2013 Retrospective Session: November, 2013

For more, log onto www.movember.com

Workshop 2: February 3rd Week, 2013 Workshop 3: April 3rd Week, 2013 Workshop 4: June 3rd Week, 2013

Wine does go with Indian food Wine-lovers often turn up their noses when the question comes up, but when Talk asked Annie Lundin, winemaker and sommelier what she thinks about pairing wine with Indian food, she said: “People need to perceive that wine can go with Indian food. I have had my wine often with your food and it goes amazingly well. The flavour for pairing any wine with food comes from the sauce, and the vegetarian dishes and curries you have here are incredible that way. It’s just that people don't take it seriously. When I come back here, I want to do an Indian wine dinner.”

Lundin was recently in the city to promote some acclaimed wines from Yering Station, a winemaker from Australia’s Yarra Valley, one of the world's leading wine-producing areas.

 US budget: After Obama’s victory, US is about to witness a Democrat-Republican clash over budget formulations.  Apple fined: Apple has been told to pay USD 364.2 million as compensation to VirnetX after a jury found that its Face Time video chat app's software infringed on the firm's patents.  Virgin TV: Virgin is launching TV Anywhere, a service which will allow its subscribers to watch programmes via their PCs, tablets and smartphones.

‘Movember’ was first used.

Movember Foundation now runs the moustache-forcharity event every year. It isn't as simple as it seems; there are rules. Mo Bros start clean shaven at the beginning of the month and cannot pass off a beard or a goatee joining a mustache as an authentic one. Cricketer Andrew Symonds and footballer Ryan Fitzgerald are among celebrities known to have been Mo Bros.

Workshop 1: November 3rd Week, 2012

 Greek austerity: Greece’s prime minister pleads with politicians to back a fresh round of austerity measures amid massive public protests.

 Salaries: Air India employees to get their September and October salaries before Diwali, according to civil aviation minister Ajit Singh.  Dengue scare: Civil authorities have warned citizens to take precautions against the Dengue epidemic, especially in Maharashtra, Bihar and Delhi.  BJP drama: BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani, who has demanded the resignation of Nitin Gadkari over “dubious” funding of his company has said he will carry on his fight against the BJP President but will not quit the party.  Cricket: England and India are set to faceoff with India preparing turning tracks to crush the English side, Yuvraj Singh expected to make a good comeback.  State BJP: BJP in Karnataka is tense as former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa is expected to announce a new party and wean away some MLAs.  Landfills: State government is expected to identify five landfills in five areas of Bangalore for BBMP to make alternative arrangements for garbage disposal, following a Karnataka HC order.

L I S T I NGS performance

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diwali  Sweets galore: This Diwali gift your friends and relatives sweets such as badaam katlis, rasmadhuris, coconut barfis, saffron soaked jalebis, chocolate pedas and kick start your celebrations on a sweet note.

Deli Counter, No. 66, Ground Floor, Residency Road, till November 15 66604545

 Don’t wait for an extraordinary night. Make one: Celebrate Diwali in style with Above & Beyond, one of the world’s finest electronic dance music acts. This trio of British trance musicians has been described by DJ Magazine as “the biggest DJ/production collective the UK has ever produced.” Above & Beyond will celebrate the 450th episode of their legendary radio show, Trance Around the World in Bangalore. The live concert experience will feature performances by renowned international DJs, headlined by Above & Beyond themselves.

In every year since 2008, Above & Beyond has been voted one of the top-five most popular dance music acts in the world. Each episode of Trance Around the World attracts a global audience of 32 million listeners. Previous TATW celebrations, episode #400 broadcast live from Beirut and episode #350 broadcast live from Los Angeles, were the #1 trending topics on Twitter.

 Sweets with a twist: Pick unique flavoured cupcakes and cookies to gift this Diwali season. Cupcakes with an Indian twist include flavours like chocolate paan, gajar halwa with elaichi shrikhand and pista and gulab. Cookies are available in flavours of saffron raisin cookies, masala chilli

cookies and more. Place you customised order.

Sinamon, to order call 77603490 or mail at contact@sinamon.in  Brag about your home: This Diwali give a makeover to your abode by using aromatic oils and candles, tea holder, candle stand, Moroccan lamp and more. Prices start at Rs 849.

Log onto www.buynbrag.com  Brighten up your Diwali : Light your house with hand painted clay diyas, bejewelled tea-lights, bells, lamps and more.

Idols of Lakshmi and Ganesha will also be available along with incense, decorated pooja thalis and torans.

Eka, #19 Gangadhar Chetty Road, near Ulsoor Lake and

Jayamahal Palace, November 10, 2 pm onwards

food

15 per cent on all accessories.

Devs Jewellery, No.204, 2nd Floor, Garuda Mall ,Magrath Road, till November 15 66641021

 Fill up your shopping bags: Avail up to 80 per cent off on selected items this season.

Choose from paper, jewellery making supplies, clay modelling items, general craft items, scrapbooking material, card making kits and a whole lot more.

Itsy Bitsy, Shop No 77, 21st Main 2nd Stage,Banashankari, till November 15 42124379

 Diamonds for your loved ones: Surprise your dear one by gifting her diamond jewellery this Diwali season. Avail a discount of upto 15 per cent on diamond jewelry purchase and flat 25 per cent off on making charges on a purchase of gold jewellery.

Available at all Gitanjali outlets  Celebrate Diwali in style: This Diwali choose from home decor products such as aromatic candles in various, beautiful diyas, artistically crafted lamps, picture frames, crockery, paintings, glassware, curtains, bed & bath linen and more.

Available at @home showroom

music  Dig into some parathas: Are you a paratha fan? Well you can choose from aloo paratha, gobi paratha, egg paratha and paratha meal.

You can enjoy your paratha with curd, pickle, dal makhani or Punjabi chhole.

Prices start at Rs 65.

Available at all Kaati Zone outlets

 Café makeover : After undergoing a revamp, Barista now has several additions to its menu. Some of the newly added coffees are Vivacious Spicy Caffé, Vintage Butter Rum Caffé, Haute Hazelnut Caffé and

House of Eka, #523 New Diagonal Road, 3rd Block Jayanagar, till November 12 25544371

 Jewellery for this Diwali: Want that perfect set of earrings or bracelet? Choose from a wide variety of jewellery such as earrings, bracelets, lariats, rings and charms in bright colours. Also avail a discount of

39895050

 Indian khana at its best: This Sunday feast on a delicious spread of kebabs, curries, biryani and Indian breads. You can end this feast by indulging in delicious desserts. Apart from this you can also enjoy white or red wine and Indian secco Champagne.

Priced at Rs 650 plus tax.

Umerkot, No.30, 80 Feet Road, 4th Block, Koramangala, November 11 25500426

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more. You can choose from their breakfast options like Quaker oats home style masala, porridge and more.

Garlic bread is available in four flavours - Plain, Cottage cheese, Cheese and Chicken.

Available at all Barista Lavazza outlets  Diwali extravaganza: This Diwali you can gorge on Mast Kalandar's special thalis that include kadhai paneer, dal tadka, two vegetable preparations, masala pooris, pulav, biryani, raita, salad and chaas. The thali is priced at Rs 175.

Available at all Mast Kalandar outlets till mid November

 Get a flavour from the Turks: A treat for the non vegetarians, you can choose from dishes like chicken salad, chicken shish tawook, chicken doner, lamb kebabs, lamb doner, chicken, hummus and more.

Combos are priced at Rs 180 onwards.

Istanbul Doner and Turkish Grill, #27, 7th Cross, Off 2nd Main HAL 1st Stage, Indiranagar, till November 15 40932542  Post hangover brunch: After a night of partying hard, give yourself the perfect cure for a hangover- a deliciously heavy breakfast.

Iindulge in a spread consisting of omelettes, bakes, pancakes and more. Head out feeling full and refreshed.

The Biere Club, 20/2, Vittal Mallya Road, November 11 9845574576

 Aurora Jane and Picture the Ocean live: Watch Aurora Jane perform with Canadian band Picture the Ocean live this weekend. Their genre of music involves funk, rock and soulful groove. Watch Aurora Jane on Guitar and Vocals, Jesse Dee on Bass, Jacquie B on Keys and Backing Vocals, and Matt Blackie on Drums.

Opus, #4, Chakravarthy Layout, Sankey Road, November 10, 9 pm 23442580  Namma city’s talent: Bangalore’s very own Swarathma is all set to rock the city this weekend. Their brand of Indian folk-rock has found many takers in the city and outside. Watch them as they perform their original and songs from their recent album Topiwalleh.

CounterCulture, 2D2 , 4th cross, Dyavasandra Industrial Area ,Whitefield, November 10 41400793  Showcase your talent here: Have you got what it takes to be a band? If yes, then participate in The Converse Original Band Hunt.

The grand finale will be held in Mumbai and will be judged by Parikrama.

To participate submit entries on entries@converseoriginalband.com along with the band profile, band picture and one original composition

by November 8, 2012. Log onto www. http://facebook.com/

Allegro Fudge

converseindia1.com for more information.  Get ready to head bang: Local rock band Allergo Fudge will be performing live in the city. Their music crosses the lines of blues, pop, country, jazz, Celtic and classical. Watch Saahas Patil on vocals, Shalini Mohan on bass, Anish Nadh on guitar, Jason Zachariah on piano and Shreyas Dipali on drums. bFlat, 100 Feet Road, Above ING Bank, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar, November 10, 8.30 pm 41739250

L I S T I NGS

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concert

theatre  Rabdi: Directed by Nithish S, this Kannada plays delves into motherhood, love and society. It follows the story of Saavantri, her dreams of a bright future for her mentally challenged child, and her offer to be a surrogate mother for an IT couple in order to get her child into school.

K H Kala Soudha, Hanumanthanagar, November 11, 7.30 pm 42064969  Devara Hena: This romping Kannada play written by Veerabhadrappa and directed by Sandeep Joshi follows the story of Tonni, who scavenges on dead animals for a living.

Gowda, who doesn't care for Tonni’s dietary practices finds that his ox has been eaten. Comedy, irony and farce ensues.

Seva Sadan, Malleshwaram, November 11, 7 pm 42064969  Chapter 2: This Indian adaptation of Neil Simon’s classic play of drama and comedy follows the life of Aditya Kumar

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and his brother Nikhil.

After Aditya’s beloved wife dies of cancer, Nikhil attempts to set him up on dates which turn out to be disasters. Aditya finally strikes gold with Raaga Ramdas but he’s torn between his late wife's memories and Raaga. In the meanwhile, Nikhil is trying to have an affair with Raaga’s best friend Lavanya, but that too doesn’t turn out as expected.

Ranga Shankara, #36/2, 8TH Cross, 2nd phase, JP Nagar, November 13 and 14, 7.30pm 26592777

camera classes and discussions of scenes from famous sitcoms and will culminate in an exclusive theatre performance by the actors and a performance in front of the camera that the actors can later use as a part of their showreels. Further, selected participants will be eligible to audition for Cult Entertainment’s ad films, short films and theatre productions.

The Golden Bead School, No. 157, Richmond Road (Behind Big Kids Kemp, M G Road), November 10 and 11, 3 pm. 9986984878

 An Evening With Anton Chekhov: Catch master playwright Chekhov, often described as “the dramatist, not of action, but of inaction,” at his best with four dramatic pieces by Bangalore troupe Rafiki and Toto Funds the Arts. Ranging from uproariously funny to bitter-sweet comedies, all of them feature male characters occupying centre stage, raving and ranting about their wretched lives, firmly believing, and wanting us

 Basic Theatre & Acting Weekend Workshop: Yours Truly Theatre is conducting a series of theatre workshops over a period of three weekends, starting this weekend. This workshop culminates in an informal show after which participants are given the opportunity to continue training and working with the company.

No 1, 17th E Main road , CMH Road, November 10 and 11, 2 pm 9845243051

to believe, that domineering, deceitful or manipulative women are at the root cause of the unhappy circumstances in which they find themselves. Dramatic inaction and delightful misogyny follows.

Ranga Shankara, , #36/2, 8TH Cross, 2nd phase, JP Nagar, November 15 and 16, 7.30pm 26592777

 Acting Workshop for Theatre, TV and Films: Cult Entertainment presents an acting workshop for theatre, tv and films. The workshop, comprising exercises and activities, promises both fun and learning. The workshop will cover methods of acting, body and voice, stage basics,

 Abhijeet live: Watch Abhijeet Bhatacharrya perform live in the city with Aurko. He has also lent his voice for films like Yeh Dillagi, Anjaam, Raja Babu, Main Khiladi Tu Anari and many more. He has albums like Main Deewana Hoon, Tapori No.1, Tere Bina and Lamhe to his credit. He has done many live shows with the Orchestra group ‘Melody Makers.’ Head out to listen to him croon to some good old Bollywood numbers. Tickets are priced at Rs 200. He has also donned the hat of a judge for reality shows like Voice of India and Ek se bhadkar ek and has been into controversy for the same.

Phoenix Market City, 40/41, KR Puram, Mahadevpura, November 10, 8 pm 9986984878

L I S T I NGS

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retail therapy

film  Jab Tak Hai Jaan Hindi: Yet another one from the Yash Raj banner, this film is directed by the late Yash Chopra. The movie stars Shahrukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in the lead. The story is about Samar, who is a musician in London and falls in love with Khushi. In the second part he, now an army officer, falls in love with Akira, who is an aspiring documentary filmmaker.

Innovative Multiplex, Marathalli- 11.30 am, 2.45 pm, 4.15, 6.15, 9.30 Urvashi Digital, 4K cinemas- 10.45 am, 2.30 pm, 6, 9.30 Tribhuvan Theatre, Gandhinagar- 9.45 pm  Son of Sadar Hindi: Directed by Ashwani Dhir, the movie is about two Sardar families who have locked horns with each other for many years. The movie stars Ajay Devgn, Sonakshi Sinha, Sanjay Dutt, Juhi Chawla and Arjan Bajwa in the lead roles. The movie is a remake of Telugu film Maryada Ramanna.

Tribhuvan Digital, 2K- 10.30 am, 1.30 pm, 4.30, 7.30

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 Stolen English: Directed by Simon West, the movie is about a thief Will Montgomery, who has been in jail for the past eight years. Post his release, he puts his past behind him and wants to start afresh. He wants to rebuild his relationship with

estranged daughter, Alison Loeb. In the mean time, his former partner wants the loot back. In order to do that he kidnaps Will’s daughter and demands a ransom. The spin in the story is that Will does not have that loot with him. Will he be able to save his

daughter?

Q Cinemas, ITPL, Whiltefield - 10.30 am, 3.30 pm, 10 Cinepolis, Bannerghatta Road- 2.50 pm, 9.55 Gopalan Cinemas, Bannerghatta Road- 10 pm INOX, Mantri Square, Malleshwaram- 10 am, 9.55 pm  Super Shastri Kannada: Directed by Raviraj, this romantic comedy stars Prajwal Devraj and Haripriya in the lead roles.

The film is a remake of the Telugu comedy Seema Shastri and also stars Rangayana Raghu, Umashree, Bullet Prakash and Rekha Kumar.

Kapali- 10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm, Veeresh- 10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm, Uma 10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm, Siddeshwara- 10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm  I Kannada: This romantic comedy is directed by VV Vardhan and stars Shekar, Sushma and Naveen in the lead roles.

The music is composed by MS Mithun.

Menaka- 10.30 am, 1.30, 4.30, 7.30 pm

 Traditional wear for all occasion: Designers Anju Modi and Karuna Khaitan will display their creations this weekend.

Choose from a collection of chic ethnic wear and light lehengas that have embroidery, inset lace and delicate fringes.

Mogra, Leela Galleria, The Leela Palace Hotel, Airport Road, till November 15 41152457  Fashion at its best: Hidesign brings to you its latest offering-Alberto Ciaschini, handcrafted bags consists of modern designs, exquisite embroidery work on lamb and calf leather. You can also get a Hidesign Bag worth Rs 5,000 for free on a purchase of Alberto Ciaschini.

1 MG Mall, 1/2, Swami Vivekanand Road Trinity Circle, MG Road, till November 15 22086570  Lights with a twist: This Diwali throw away your old ones and bring new lights like thali

lights, flower cutwork votive lamps, swan candle stands, floral fairy lights and thoran lights from The Purple Turtles.

The Purple Turtles, #128, 1st main road, Domlur 2nd stage , Indiranagar,HAL 2nd Stage, till mid November 41528039  Healthy breakfast: MTR has introduced four more items to its list of food products.

Multigrain dosa, oats idly, ragi dosa and ragi rava idly are priced at Rs 40 for 200 gm and Rs 80 for a 500 gm pack.

Available at leading retail stores

concert notes

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A problem of plenty?

The fourth in a line of international acts saw a diminished crowd. Are Bangaloreans getting an overdose of big concerts?

SANDRA M FERNANDES sandramarina.ferandes@talkmag.in

ast Sunday, reggae artiste Sean Paul came to town, bringing to a close four tireless weeks of international acts. While the performance, with some of his wellknown numbers such as She Doesn’t Mind, Temperature and Gotta Love You, gave his fans little to complain about, there were other things amiss.

For one, a 20-minute interval between the opening and main act left the stage empty and fans grumbling. They also gawked in embarrassment when Sean Paul decided to mock-spank one of his background dancers.

On his first India tour, what seemed most surprising though was the sparse crowd that turned up to greet him. The organisers put the numbers at 4,000, though it looked a lot smaller. But even accepting that figure, the concert has fared poorly in comparison to recent big acts: Carlos Santana got 12,000 people, Enrique Iglesias 6,500 and Slayer 8,000. So, what exactly went wrong with the Sean Paul show? The answer easily lies in one or all of the following—an overdose of international acts, far-

L

HELLO, INDIA? The Sean Paul show (top), despite the publicity, didn’t get the expected numbers

flung venues, and high ticket prices.

Ratish Kumar, proprietor of Events India 24 who organised the Sean Paul show, agrees there has been a surfeit. “We had expected a crowd of 3,000 at the very least and we surpassed that. Another reason for the poor turnout could be that it is not feasible economically for music lovers. They cannot afford to spend about Rs 2,000 on each concert even if they are big fans,” he says.

An official linked to the Sean Paul concert agrees “too many shows” is the reason for dwindling crowds.

“People are tired of watching such concerts one after the other. If there were less international acts in the past month, Sean Paul could have possibly witnessed a larger audience,” he said.

However, Neysa Mendes, proprietor of Mumbai-based artiste management firm Little Big Noise, which organised the recent Enrique Iglesias tour, says this was the first time she witnessed such a close line-up of performances. She disagrees there is a music glut in Bangalore.

“This is the season when you can expect the maximum number of acts, but as an individual you must choose which act you would like to go for,” she says. If she had to choose between Santana and Sean Paul, she says she would have chosen Santana because he is unlikely to perform in this city

again. “On the other hand, Sean Paul Grounds as a venue worked perfectly and other alternatives have problems may come back,” she reasons.

Arpan Peter, who calls himself a of access. “The transport system in promoter of international music in Bangalore is pathetic, compared to India, thinks differently. “It is good what we have in cities like Delhi and for Bangalore to host so many inter- Mumbai. Here, if we attend a concert national acts. If you can spend Rs at a faraway venue, getting there and 2,000 every weekend on drinks, a bet- back is a huge problem,” says Arpan.

Sneha says the turnout at the ter way would be to spend it on a concert,” he says. As for the Sean Paul David Guetta concert she attended at Palace Grounds was show, he blames the clearly bigger. poor publicity. “A Ever since Palace “Palace Grounds is concert like Slayer Grounds shut its inside the city and will surely see more could accommodate crowds because rock gates to rock music has more of an shows, there has more people,” she explains. audience in been a scramble It appears audiBangalore while Sean for venues ences are willing to Paul has a smaller folgo looking for the lowing.”

Another factor affecting shows venue when someone as big as is the inaccessibility of venues. Ever Santana performs, but aren’t ready to since Palace Grounds, the city’s pre- put in the same effort for less famous ferred venue, shut its doors to rock artistes such as Sean Paul. It all boils shows, there has been a scramble for down to a simple question: “Is it venues, and most are a minimum of worth the trouble?”

But the other question remains: 15 km away from the city’s central Do too many shows spoil the fun? business district.

Sneha Shyam, PR exceutive, who How many can we take in a month? was spotted at the Sean Paul show, Neysa believes it is good to have varisays locating the venue was a task in ety in the line-up of shows, which, itself. “I was unaware of the location she believes, shows India is opening and called Just Dial for help, but they up to more musical possibilities. The turned me away saying that they did- key thing, she says, is that “the venue n’t have it listed in their directory,” should be chosen with a lot of consideration and the publicity done way in she says.

Arpan agrees that Palace advance.”

martial arts

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DEMONSTRATED BY PRIYA CRASTA AND VINAY KUMAR. PHOTOS BY RAMESH HUNSUR. TRANSCRIBED BY RADHIKA P

Intelligent body and soul care Way of Budo 7 Start training, even if in a small way, advises Sensei Avinash Subramanyam

ind a method of body and soul training best suited to you: set yourself a reminder on your desktop, tablet or mobile, and practise. Train for 15 minutes every morning and evening for three months without fail. You can train even while watching your favourite TV show, but don’t miss a single day.

The fundamental problem is our resistance to change. Why is it that we are unable to devote even those 15 minutes when we know they can transform our lives and give us true joy? We have a starting problem. We have enough reasons, and mind you, good reasons, to postpone the beginning of training. But why wait for a Monday or Tuesday to be happy? Start now.

Learn to live with all five senses. See, hear, smell, touch and feel good. It is we who teach the senses negativity. Notice that children are not repelled by their saliva, urine or poop: they in fact play with them. It is only with time that we teach our senses to make distinctions between good and bad. Of course, hygiene is important but take the negative in a positive way; it cleanses you inside. Don’t parents clean their

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child’s poop without turning up their nose? When we are ill, or after eating certain foods, we don’t look or smell good. And people bear with us. Remember such times. Think and feel beautiful when you see or smell something you don’t like. Beauty is what lies inside you.

Distinguish between the three spaces you inhabit in a day: home, workplace and street.

Home is where you aspire for love, belonging and permanence.

So, make efforts to shape it that way; never take it for granted.

Curiously, we beautify our home and buy the best TV and car, but often neglect the love that gives meaning to it all. Some people are at their best at work and their worst at home. Don’t make that mistake.

The workplace is a space not for emotion but professionalism.

Many mistakenly identify themselves through their jobs.

Recognise that your job is only a temporary contract. Of course, treat it with integrity, but know that your life and identity stretch beyond your immediate role at work.

Train your mind not to over-react to situations at work.

If your boss is angry, understand

why he is angry and win him over. If it’s because you’re late on a deadline, ask yourself why you got late. If the time allotted was inadequate, explain it to the boss, and if it’s because you were unable to spend time or effort on it, be honest and apologise. If you are truly secure internally, you will never shy away from accepting your own limitations; you will know your real worth.

It is possible that for some, especially women, the home is a restrictive space while the workplace is liberating—financially, intellectually and mentally. It is important that you then carry back the strength into the home to shape your life differently.

Ultimately, you need to live a full and meaningful life.

The street, or any public place, belongs to all: the friendly and the riff-raff. So, do not expect harmony or etiquette.

Recollect the times on the road that you have lost your temper or broken the rules. Why then expect others to be courteous and strictly law-abiding? There could be a million reasons why they are angry. Keep that in mind and stay out of their way. Be cautious, tolerant and careful. Turn a disadvantage to your benefit: if

travelling to work involves an hour’s drive, transform that stressful experience into something beautiful. Practise meditation, listen to lovely music, smile when someone crosses your path.

Practise joy rather than anger; more of it will come your way.

It is important to switch into the appropriate attitude to suit the place you inhabit—work, home, and street. Wear different shoes in different contexts.

Literally, when you transit from home to office or vice versa, take a shower, change, and leave behind the past. Practise this for three months and see yourself emerging fresh in body, mind and soul.

In Ninjutsu, a good ninja is one who is not only adept at sword-fighting but also at carpentry, gardening and socialising.

This is not just because of the need for a ninja to merge with society; it arises from an understanding that training in one sphere complements training in others. In The Karate Kid, we see Miyagi, a martial arts and maintenance man, tending to bonsai plants. Being multi-faceted brings about harmony in life, and an amazing synergy of body, mind, spirit and soul.

SELF-DEFENCE FOR WOMEN What to do when a man attempts to snatch your chain

Mugger reaches for your chain

Drag him down by pulling on the wrist

Pull out a pen (or key) you are carrying

Grab his right fist with your left hand. Use pen as a stiff weapon, and lock his wrist

Kick him in the ribs. Keep your balance after you deliver the kick

Tightly press acupuncture point on the wrist

Once he is on the ground, escape to safety

memoir

Ex-CM's grandson turns bank robber Kengal Hanumanthaiah built the Vidhana Soudha. His smart, talented grandson took to a life of crime

engal Hanumanthaiah is remembered for building the graceful Vidhana Soudha. He was among a small number of chief ministers admired for their administrative acumen. He had a slogan inscribed at the main entrance of the secretariat: ‘Sarkarada kelasa devara kelasa’ (Government’s work is God’s work).

Hanumanthaiah had two daughters. One was married to Shivalingaiah, a senior officer at Indian Oil Corporation. Their son Sunil Sandeep was intelligent. After studying at St Joseph’s High School in Bangalore, he went to Hyderabad for his pre-university course. He then joined the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering in Bangalore to do a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. He always scored above 95 per cent, but was not a bookworm. He had many interests, and

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VIVEK ARUN

had represented the university in athletics. He was good at swimming and horse riding, too.

This is the story of how he turned into a spoilt, reckless brat. It all happened in 1981-82. One of Sunil’s uncles lived in the US. On a visit to Bangalore, he took Sunil out.

Accustomed to American culture, the uncle treated his nephew as a friend, taking him to pubs and shops, and buying him whatever he desired.

Attracted by his uncle’s lifestyle, Sunil asked if he could go with him to America. His uncle encouraged him, saying, “An intelligent boy like you must study there. There’s no value for your talent in India.” This was enough for Sunil to decide to head for America.

His father was not so encouraging, though. “What is lacking here?

Why do you want to go there?” he said in anger.

“Is this any house?” Sunil shot back.

“Do what you please. This house has no place for you,” his father said.

“I don’t expect a paisa from you.

Uncle will look after me. Once I get to the US, I will achieve more than what you have in your entire lifetime.

When I come back, I won’t stay in your house either. I will build a bun-

galow bigger than yours,” Sunil challenged his father.

His uncle welcomed the idea.

But his wife was not amused.

When Sunil landed in the States, his uncle came to the airport to receive him, but looked dull.

“What’s the matter, uncle? Didn’t aunt and the children come along?”

Sunil asked.

“No, they were busy. Let’s go,” he said, in a lifeless tone.

The happiness Sunil had seen on his uncle’s face in Bangalore had vanished in the US. The uncle sat quiet all through the drive. His aunt didn’t welcome him warmly either.

She just said, with an artificial smile, “You have grown tall.”

It didn’t take much time for Sunil to get disillusioned in America.

In Dallas, where his uncle stayed, he could not get a seat in any college.

They said they could not consider him for that academic year. Sunil felt insulted.

Things got suffocating in the house. His aunt was strict. She used to cut the maid’s salary if she accidentally damaged any vessels. She believed children had to be trained to earn and understand the value of money, and had fixed a salary for her son for domestic chores such as polishing shoes, cleaning the fridge,

crime folio

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Fabled ranconteur and Bangalore’s top-notch criminal lawyer brings you moving, sensational and bizarre stories from 40 years of his practice

C H HANUMANTHARAYA

ironing clothes, and babysitting her younger child. If a toy was damaged, he had to take a pay cut. The system had seeped into him, and he had started earning extra income by babysitting their neighbour’s child.

The aunt often snubbed Sunil as he wasn’t earning a cent. She started treating him like a servant. His parents didn’t bother to call him, and that made him even more livid. He vowed he would teach them a lesson by becoming wealthier than they were.

One day, Sunil’s uncle suggested he return to Bangalore as he still had six months to go before the academic year began. Feeling humiliated, Sunil left the house, but didn’t know where to go. He felt orphaned, and seethed against his parents.

Finally, he went to meet George, an employee at a rifle training centre he had befriended in the US. Sunil liked George’s company as he used to entertain him over a drink with thrilling crime and adventure stories.

Sunil thought a drink and a smoke with George would make him feel better. George was sympathetic, as expected, and offered him shelter.

Sunil thanked George and asked if he would train him in shooting. His purpose of coming to America had changed: initially, he had wanted to be an engineer, but now he only wanted to scare people at gun point.

Sunil started arms training. He learnt to shoot and repair rifles, revolvers and pistols. In due course, as he focused on his training, he turned into an excellent shot, and won the admiration of his trainer.

In George’s company, Sunil watched innumerable crime films.

The friends soon started stealing cars to drive around for fun. Sunil became an expert in picking car locks: he could break into any model. The two friends were caught by the police many times, but wouldn’t give up stealing cars.

Next week: The bank robbery Translated by B V Shivashankar

T I M E P A SS 1st Cross

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17 18

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mous with what you are solving (4) Popular pub in Indira Nagar (4) Restaurant on M G Road renowned for its deep fried Bhindi (6) The election commission is unlikely to give this symbol to BS Yeddyurappa's new party (5) ____ Convention Ground: Where 7 down will be performing (6) Theme park located on the Place Grounds (3,5) DOWN Country which has shown interest in Bangalore's Sakala scheme (10)

Last week’s solution Across: 1 Rajyotsava, 5 VTU, 7 Rajendra, 9 Karwar, 12 Skyfall, 13 S A Ramdas, 16 CounterCulture, 17 Hesaraghatta, 18 Bijapur.

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3 4

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Talk’s weekly crossword for Bangaloreans who know their way about town 14 15

Across Nearly 7000 people are expected to turn up this weekend at Ulsoor lake to form a human chain to spread awareness about this disease (6,6) City art gallery which has around 600 paintings (10) Bangalore recently felt the effects

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5

8 9 11

of this cyclone (5) Congress will hope to benefit from his return to state level politics (1,1,7) State in the news on account of the Cauvery water crisis (5,4) ___ Market: Market In Shivajinagar (7) Pub on Residency Road synony-

Down: 2 Thermal, 3 Guns N Roses, 4 Everest, 6 Gokarna, 8 Magod, 10 Four thousand, 11 Jamavar, 14 MasterChef, 15 Kannada, 16 Cohiba.

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The High Court recently asked the government what it was doing to protect these animals (9) 6 One of Bangalore's oldest temples (4) 7 Reggae artist performing in the city this weekend (4,4) 8 Saurabh ____ : Batsman in our IPL side (6) 10 Number of Kannada Rajyotsava awardees this year (5,4) 12 Cinema at Konanakunte (6) 13 Government body which has advised a reduction in cracker noise level this Diwali (5)

Prof Good Sense  I have a 16 year old daughter who is keen on going abroad for studies. I'm a single parent and not in contact with my husband. As a government employee, I can't afford to send her to a school abroad unless she gets a scholarship. I have advised her to complete her undergraduation here first. But she doesn't understand my position. What should I do?

Gowri, BSK II Stage

I suggest you treat your daughter like an adult and not a child. Convince her that you can't afford to send her because you don’t have that kind of money. Sit with her and browse through the profiles of various foreign schools/universities. Tell her that she can apply to scholarships once she is ready. Make her realise that you want her to do well but your hands are tied right now.

Prof M Sreedhara Murthy teaches psychology at NMKRV First Grade College. He is also a well-known photographer.

Mail queries to prof@talkmag.in

T I M E P A SS

talk|15 nov 2012|talkmag.in

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Broken hearts clubbed I used to work for a ‘content management’ company, back in the days when just about every one in town seemed to work for one. Our work involved writing and editing, but all of it was weighed down by the ‘process-driven’ operating style of our US-based organisation. What we dreaded most was the weekly review over Skype with our boss who worked from Silicon Valley.

Each member of the team was called to Skype prior to the annual appraisals. When my turn came, I nervously sat at the computer, and boss flooded me with questions.

I answered them modestly, referring to the team more often than to myself. When I said ‘I want a file with comments from the appraiser (u).’, I saw, to my horror, the ‘(u)’s turning into little broken hearts trickling down my chat window. It was then that I realised ‘(u)’ on Skype was a shortcut to the broken hearts emoticon! I apologised profusely, explaining that it was all a mistake, but he was convinced I was trying to flirt with him and get a good appraisal. To this day, I dread Skype’s shortcuts.

Barsha Content writer Share the humour in your life, multiply the fun! Keep those anecdotes coming to: features@talkmag.in

talk|15 nov 2012|talkmag.in

Top Kat no more?

B*tch on wheels The news has been doing the rounds and it is out in the open now. SRK has taken it upon himself to promote Yash-Raj’s beloved Anushka Sharma. But, at the cost of his other co-star Katrina Kaif?

Apparently. He was seen sharing his birthday cake with Anushka, with Kat nowhere in the picture. On another occasion, when he was asked to talk about his two leading ladies from JTHJ (Jab Tak Hai Jaan, silly!) he spoke at length about Anushka and neglected Kat. When reporters persisted, he spoke a mere line about her hair and her nose! We aren’t blaming him, though.

After all, what besides her looks can one say about Kat? But a little birdie told us a Katfight is at the bottom of it all.

It was the last thing anyone wanted, but someone actually managed to come up with TOMO, a ‘smart’ interface that allows cars to, well, express themselves. It uses Artificial Intelligence and suchlike to enable your car to reciprocate your emotions, and even show some of its own. A dashboard with five different facial expressions will let you know what exactly your car thinks of you. Much like a pet, it can now frown when it’s hungry, and smile back at you when fuelled and happy. Somehow, we are not all that thrilled by the prospect of getting nagged by our cars as well.

Womb of UK calls it quits Carole Horlock, UK-based surrogate mother who is expecting her 13th surrogate child, has decided to call it quits immediately after. At the age of 46, having made nine couples happy through surrogacy, she has been called the world’s most

prolific surrogate mother. She brought into the world twins and triplets on one occasion each, taking the number of children to 13 from nine pregnancies. She claims she did it to make couples happy, kept away from payment, and would continue getting pregnant if health and age permitted. Horlock is known not to cuddle babies she has birthed, which, among surrogate mothers, is a much sought-after virtue, it seems.

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