The Beat, March 2014 by The Beat

The Beat

March 2014

Bangalore

Change: The only constant March 2014 | The Beat

1 An IIJNM publication

March 2014 | The Beat

CONTENTS Interview:

Sparking curiosity through science

Politics:

Ukraine a scapegoat in the cold war between the West and Russia

Sports:

Will RCB break its jinx?

Lost and gained Cover Story:

Photo Feature: A forgotten history

Lakes back from brink of disaster

Bangalore has changedâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; but for better or worse?

March 2014 | The Beat

Business:

Rupee’s fall plunged India into chaos

Commentary:

Bangalore isn’t Bangalore anymore

Art and culture:

Stand-up comedy tickle’s Bangalore’s funny bone

We review

Art Exhibits:

Movies:

•Timeless saints • The Monu•A peek into the ments Men mind of a child •Highway

Books:

•Perpetual City •The Scatter Here Is Too Great

Restaurants:

•Melt your taste buds at Rockstone •Delicious meal@ 1947

Cover photos: Pratyush Pushkar and Girish Ch. Rath Inside back cover: Mark Austin, Nitin Kumar, Kamran Ahmed and Shrikant

The Beat is a publication by magazine students of Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media. All rights are reserved by IIJNM. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted, in any form or any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published.

March 2014 | The Beat

The Beat Editor Bhavika Bhuwalka

Content editors Sneha Bengani Aurosmita Acharya

Designers Nibedita Mohanta Shivpriya Jodha Sneha Ghosh Suchitra Sharma Tulana Nayak Vaishnavi J. Desai

Letter from the editor Indians love to boast of their cities. We have left behind the is-Delhi-or-Mumbaibetter debate and have moved on to tout the virtues of cities like Pune, Indore and Jaipur. Bangalore is no different. It has good reason to boast about its cosmopolitan character, its youth full of vigor and its tech-savvy environment. Such affection is inevitable, but is it right? Does it prevent us from looking beyond the obvious? Talking to a variety of people helped us understand that not everything is as rosy. Locals described how they feel about their city, which is undergoing massive and sometimes painful transformation. Most of them are still in awe of it, and with others, the excitement has started to wear off. They have lived the changes and developed a love-hate relationship with the place. It seems as if the city will never cease advancing. People now want it to pause and breathe. Also, in this issue, we have tried to broaden our panorama. From the emerging Bangalore Football Club to UPA’s prospects in the upcoming elections to how Raghuram Rajan has swept the country off its feet, we give you a ready reference point to what’s happening around. We also traverse through themes like lakes, music, stand-up comedy and pencil and drumjamming. Panning out, with the Ukraine agitation happening in real time, we felt it is important to look at what has caused the unwarranted loss of so many innocent lives. Closer home, it is Odisha that has similarly lost lives in a boat mishap.

Content adviser Mark Austin

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In the end, like always, you get a peek into what’s happening in the city this month. We intend to give you an idea of how the city has changed; what it has gained and what it has lost in the process of being found. The issue draws no conclusions. We love Namma Bengaluru with all our hearts. I hope you enjoy the amalgamation of what’s hot and what’s not and develop a perspective about where the city is heading. Ignorance is not so much of a bliss after all!

magazinestudents@iijnm.org Bhavika Bhuwalka March 2014 | The Beat

INTERVIEW

Sparking curiosity through science

By Tulana Nayak SPREAD ACROSS 13 states through its various programs including Science Mobile Labs, Science Centers and Lab in a Box, Agastya Foundation is run by Ramji Raghavan, the founder and chairman of the foundation. The foundation aims to instill and propagate curiosity and creativity through experimental learning and educating teachers through a hands-on experience. Other programs of the foundation include innovative fairs, a young instructor program, teacher training and so on, that keep coming up every year. Tech la Bikes, a proposed program that won the Google Impact Award for spreading science in rural areas some months back, has recently been added to their list. “He is very passionate towards whatever he does. He is a visionary and the personality he has is very infectious”, said Janani Subhramanya, senior project officer at the Agastya Foundation, speaking about Raghavan. Raghavan’s idea initially was to start a school that would nurture creative leaders.

children and teachers to be curious to be better human beings using it a medium.”

you cannot go back and teach,” Janani added.

Curiosity is the spark that children need today. Children today, are weak and bored of their studies, as there is nothing to catch their interest. To rejuvenate that interest, we try to make learning for them.

Janani said the whole concept of realizing that there is a world around us and there is so much one can learn is dead among children.

Tech la bikes a new initiative Janani, who led the Tech la Bike program, said the idea behind the program was to educate teachers. She said: “We thought that one thing that the teachers in the under privileged areas lack today, is digital literacy. Schools have computers, but no electricity, and some of them don’t know how to use computers. At such an age they are hesitant to say this, and unless you go to them and initiate teaching they won’t tell anybody. This is where we aim to help.” “We are planning to make web portal for teachers. Ours is different because we send an instructor who teaches them how to use it. Every two weeks, the instructor keeps going back to teacher. It is like a year program, rather than a 10-day program where

“We started a low-cost model making which doesn’t require a lot. If it rains you just have to think, why is it raining, how does it affect my life?” “Our aim is to transform lives, converting a yes to a why, passive to active, textbook to hands-on, fear to confidence and following to leadership.” Raghavan’s life is a bunch of experiences, which includes him being one of the members in the working group of the Prime Minister’s Knowledge Commission (2007-08), a member of the Karnataka State Innovative Council (KSIC) and executive member of Vishwesharya Industrial and Technological Museum. Raghavan told The Beat that while in the Knowledge Commission he came across challenges from all over India, the KSIC gave him a statewide overview, he said.

“I was influenced by J. Krishnamurthy and always wanted to build a school in a valley, like his school, Rishi Valley. I had envisioned it would grow as a school for schools,” he said. But with the passage of time, the idea molded itself to fit rural children’s needs. Janani said Raghavan has an inspiring personality. “He is good at taking criticism, he is OK with people coming to him and telling that this won’t work. He then encourages us to initiate fixing it. He considers opinions from everyone – it’s not like I am younger than him so he won’t listen to my ideas. Raghavan believes science is important for curiosity and creativity. “We teach a lot of science but to stimulate

Students are given hands-on experience through programs. March 2014 | The Beat

POLITICS

UPA—down and out?

Photo: Al Jazeera English

By Saikat Ghosh

MARCH IS APPROACHING, and the countdown to the general election has begun. The soaring heat will see democracy dance at its very best in the coming days. The political spectrum is abuzz with Narendra Modi and new entrant to politics Arvind Kejriwal, but one can’t overlook the ruling Congress. So the question remains—will Congress repeat the result of 2004 and 2009 and score a hat trick? The current on-ground situation of the UPA implies a huge negative. The party is handicapped by policy paralysis, Telangana Crisis and lack of allies. It has not only lost its credibility in the last decade but allies too. On one hand the principal opposition party is riding high on the Modi wave and on the other, Congress think tank faces a lot of issues for its annual think fest. Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) chief Vaiko’s decision to form a coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party has made situation worse for the Congressmen in Tamil Nadu. The party desperately needs an ally in the land of Dravidian politics, where it once ruled the roost. In Kerala, the Congress led United DemoMarch 2014 | The Beat

cratic Front is on a back foot, chief minister Ommen Chandy is one of the accused in the solar scam, and the opposition is leaving no stone unturned to make him feel embarrassed. Congress might claim victory in Karnataka, but not good governance. One cannot overlook the blunder committed by the state government wherein it sent its legislatures to a “study” tour to Amazon rain forest, resulting in public outrage. The party is facing a crisis in the distribution of tickets in the state and it is only a matter of time that infighting will be triggered. Maharashtra, where Congress has fought anti-incumbency twice, may be heading for a roller-coaster ride with the Nationalist Congress Party head Sharad Pawar hinting that he might support the Bharatiya Janata Party. Already running short of allies, the birth of the fifth Dravidian state has desperation written all over it. Telangana shall send 17 elected representatives to the parliament. Congress’ weakness has been exploited well by Narendra Modi. Enemy within its own camp, Kiran Kumar Reddy’s offensive strategy has hurt the party members which hasn’t left it in a position to win as many seats. YSR Congress’ Jagan Mohan Reddy, the lead player

in Seemandhra region, has advocated the united Andhra sentiments time and again. The party will draw a blank here, political pundits have foreseen. In a major political shakeup recently, Congress lost three states to BJP and could not keep New Delhi away from the year-old Aam Aadmi Party. The episode speaks volumes about the inefficiency among the top members. Party’s operation in Bengal and neighboring Bihar and Jharkhand is in tatters with it being out of power for more than a decade now. Rahul Gandhi who is touted to be the prime minister, lacks a clear vision. His act of tearing up an ordinance to allow convicted politicians to contest elections increased a lot of expectations among the party workers, but unfortunately the Congress scion just failed to carry forward the momentum. His silence and absenteeism in the parliament can’t be ignored, and his recent television interview hasn’t made things any better either. As of now, the party think tank is busy diffusing the Telangana crisis, but it is high time that they addressed the key issues and manage work things out, which is a trademark of their style of politics under Sonia Gandhi and stop the “saffron bandwagon” from reaching New Delhi.

POLITICS

Ukraine a scapegoat in the cold w By Chitharth Mathivanan

THE WORST VIOLENCE in post-Soviet history has left hundreds of innocent people injured in clashes in Ukraine. Ukraine is important for Russia, which is slowly losing its influence in the country due to Western intervention.

Russia. After her release, she gave a speech in front of 50,000 antigovernment supporters who had gathered at Independence Square.

the president for misusing his powers. A total of 328 members favored the decision out of 447 deputies.

According to an Al Jazeera report, she said: “You are the heroes. In no case do you have

On Feb. 23, the Parliament temporarily handed the president’s power to the speaker,

In Ukraine, the supporters of the opposition party are fighting against the government led by President Viktor Yanukovych since November. According to the local media reports, Yanukovych has left Kiev. “I am not leaving the country for anywhere. I do not intend to resign. I am the legitimately elected president,” Yanukovich told local television station. Two groups of people, one favoring the European Union and the other, Russia, have been fighting each other for months in the streets of Ukraine. The former Soviet state faces a political crisis. The group supporting the government claims that the Ukraine government should enter a free trade agreement with Russian, while the other wants an FTA with the European Union. The opposition party is playing major role in protests; it is backed by Britain and the United States. Washington said it is ready to give financial support to address the crisis that Ukraine is facing if the opposition comes to power. The United States is backing the protests and giving financial support to the protesters on the streets. This shows that Western countries are eager to undermine Russian support for Ukraine in order to establish themselves. This is has resulted in an open battle between the Western countries and Russia. Among all this, innocent people living in Ukraine have become scapegoats. So far, at least 82 people have been killed in clashes, and thousands including police officers and journalists have suffered injuries. The opposition took over Kiev on Feb. 22 and entered the Yanukovych compound. They did not find him. They then freed the jailed opposition leader, Yulia Tymoshenko. She was released from jail after 2½ years. She was serving a seven-year jail sentence for misusing power in connection with a gas deal with

Antigovernment supporters in Ukraine protesting in the streets, deman the right to leave the Maidan [Independence Square] until you have concluded everything that you planned to do.” The Parliament, which Yanukovych controlled on Feb. 22, voted for his removal as

Oleksander Turchinov. The legislature is expected to appoint new ministers and deputies. A presidential election is planned in early May. The former world boxing champion Vitali March 2014 | The Beat

war between the West and Russia Klitschko, who leads the Ukranian Democratic Alliance, likely to run for the country’s top post in upcoming elections. He announced his intention to contest in the election even though he is politically inexperienced.

Russia put a $15 billion gas deal on hold until the political situation stabilizes.

Trade deal Russia warned Ukraine not to sign an FTA

Photo: Mstyslav Chernov

his government would go with the European Union, but suddenly it changed. The tremendous pressure on Ukraine put by Russian President Vladimir Putin prevented the government from signing the deal. Free trade between the European Union and Russia would help Ukraine overcome the economic crisis. But Russia fears that its economy would suffer if Ukraine signed a free trade deal with EU. It fears its agriculture, car and aviation industries would be damaged and there would be a jump in unemployment if the deal is signed. According to a BBC report, the Russian president said, “We are not ready to open our gates for European trade.” The presidents of both Ukraine and Russia agreed on a $15 billion deal for Russia to buy Ukrainian debt and slash the price of natural gas. It prompted the opposition party supporters to take to the streets and protest against the government as the present government rejected the trade deal with European Union and signed up instead with the Russian government. Putin condemns the involvement of the United States in backing the supporters of the opposition party. Western countries are said to be covertly funding the opposition. The Ukrainian Parliament has passed a law providing amnesty to protesters detained during recent unrest. This was opposed by the protesters and the opposition leaders. Most of the people of Ukraine believe that European Union will save their future, not Russia.

European sanctions on Ukraine European Union has put various sanctions on Ukraine. Ruling party leaders of Ukraine are subject to visa restrictions—they cannot travel in EU member countries. Ukrainian leaders who have assets in the EU countries cannot use them.

nding that their country should go with the EU free trade deal He said to Al Jazeera: “I will run for president because I am convinced that in Ukraine we need to change the rules completely. I know for sure that we can do this,”

with the European Union and said that if it signed the deal then it could forget about an FTA with Russia.

Ukraine faces bankruptcy mainly because

For years, Yanukovych promised people that

March 2014 | The Beat

U.S. involvement in Ukraine The involvement of the United States in the Ukraine issue is unnecessary. This trade deal is the problem between the European Union, Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine is not the first victim. Syria, Iran and Egypt are a few examples of Washington’s unnecessary and unsolicited interference.

SPORTS

Football fever in Bangalore Photo: Bangalore FC

By Sakshi Gupta

I AM A new resident of Bangalore, but my connection with the city is very old. As one part of my family lives here, I have visited it very often. And moreover, since I liked the Bangalore-based Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) more than the Deccan Chargers, the team of my own city, Hyderabad (since renamed Sunrisers Hyderabad), supporting Bangalore in any sport had begun long back. I shifted to the “IT hub” in 2013 to pursue my postgraduation, and the same year India’s only football league, the I-league, had a new entry in the form of this city’s football club, Bangalore FC. Being a journalism student, and a football lover, it was very exciting to watch the rare football fever in the city. Previously, Chinnaswamy Stadium was the only attraction among the stadiums. Now the Bangalore Football Stadium is in the list as well. With the craziness of the European football league, Spanish La Liga, and the English Premier League (EPL) among the youth, the young boys these days dream of becoming Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, so this new football

club brought a sense of positivity in terms of football in Bangalore, thereby surpassing the thinking over cricket. Bangalore FC came as a huge surprise in the ongoing season of I-League—they have been the table-toppers almost throughout their debut season, which is very special. The JSW Group-owned team made very smart picks and managed to get Indian National football team’s best footballers to play for them, Indian skipper Sunil Chhetri and forward Robin Singh. Their head coach is even more experienced, former EPL player, Ashley Westwood, who has successfully helped his team to perform to the fullest of their capability. The sight of a lot many people wearing the blue-white-red jersey and heading towards the heart of the city, where the football stadium is located, is amazing. From kids to adults, Bangalore FC has made a huge fan following in their first season itself. It would be great when our young budding footballers make Chhetri or Singh their idols. This would take India to a different height in the world of soccer. Westwood told The SoftCopy, sister publication of The Beat, before the 2013 I-

League kicked off: “The club owners are very sporty and have vision which made me accept their offer to become the club’s manager.” The vision seems to be working. India needs dedicated professionals like him to mold Indian football. We are not even in the league with other countries when this sport is concerned, so his work generates hopes in us that we might watch India someday fighting the best teams in the world for the World Cup. The blend of Indian, Australian and English football has created a balance in the team that is the major reason behind the success of the club. John Johnson and Sean Rooney add flavor to the sport along with the Indian players. The team has played 16 matches, until now, winning 10, losing three and drew four. By leading in the I-League, it has qualified for the 2015 Asian Football Confederation Cup, which is played between the clubs of developing countries of Asia. This opportunity for the youth would be proved to be a boon for them in terms of international experience and exposure. March 2014 | The Beat

Will RCB break its jinx?

By Raju Peethala

HAVING LOST TWICE in the Indian Premier League finals, Royal Challengers Bangalore is yet to win its first title. With players like Yuvraj, Gayle and Kohli, the team is hoping to change its fortunes in the upcoming IPL. RCB is considered the choker of the IPL. Royal Challengers Bangalore hit the headlines for buying the most valuable player of the season, Yuvraj Singh, for Rs.140 million. The team looked well balanced after the two-day conclusion of IPL auction, which was held in Bangalore. Vijay Mallya along with head coach Daniel Vettori has brought in 18 new players to the team hoping for a change of luck in this season. Let us have an overview of the team and its players: Yuvraj Singh: The most expensive player of the season. He is an added advantage to the team which consists of Gayle, De Vil-

March 2014 | The Beat

liers and Kohli. He is a clean hitter of the cricket ball and can contribute with the ball if needed. He holds the record of two hat-tricks in the IPL. Chris Gayle: Explosive opener. When he is on song the balls jump out of the stadiums and he has proved to be a lucky charm for the team from the past two years. Virat Kohli: Skipper of the side and a man who doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need any introduction. He has the ability to handle pressure at any given situation, is an outstanding batsman and is an amazing fielder too. AB de Villiers: He can bat in any given position and holds the record of pulling victories from nowhere. Has the ability to change the pace of the game with his tremendous batting and fielding skills. Albie Morkel: A valuable all-rounder to the team. His ability to pick wickets and maintain a good economy rate is his strength. Muralitharan: The most experienced campaigner of the team. He can be handy on

turning tracks and has the ability to provide crucial breakthroughs. The bowling lineup seems to be a comparatively weak leg for the team. Even though it has got Muralitharan, Ravi Rampaul, Mitchell Starc and Ashok Dinda, it clearly shows that all of them are frontline bowlers and death bowling would be a real challenge for the bowlers. RCB is considered one of the favorites of this season. In a survey by ESPN Cricinfo, the most viewed cricket website, RCB has been voted as the second best team, with Kings XI Punjab leading the table by a slight margin. With under-19 skipper Vijay Zol, Varun Aaron and Abu Nechim, the bench strength seems to be strong as all of them have had the experience of performing internationally. Kenyan player born in India, Tanmay Mishra was a surprise buy by the RCB as he was nowhere in the picture of favorites. He played for Deccan Chargers in 2012 season.

CHANGE

Cover Story

Bangalore has changed— By Bhavika Bhuwalka

CHANGE IS THE only constant. Nothing describes Bangalore better than this. In the past two decades, with the boom in the IT sector, much has changed in the city. Once a calm and sleepy place, it is now the hub of activity with people from all over the nation wanting to settle here in the hope of a stable life thereafter. People throng the city as if an unseen charm is luring them to it. There is no denying that the weather here is fantastic. The youth loves the feel of the emerging city life—though occasionally complaining about the early curfew hours—and the old find it just right for spending the rest of their relaxed lives. A perfect blend. It is an interesting amalgamation, whichever way you think of the city, it fits. Is the place just too good to be true? From Bangalore to Bengaluru, it is amusing how graciously the people have accepted these changes. Or have they? While it looks like most of them were almost eager to get rid of the old Bangalore, there are people who have been less than excited with how their favourite place has turned up to be.

The bad Shanta, a 32-year-old resident of Malleshwaram (one of the oldest societies in Bangalore), said: “Look here! The place was once full of gardens. I am not saying there shouldn’t be any change, but what good is it if all the originality is gone?” A lot of others think on the same lines. The migrants want the city to become as per their wishes. Whoever finds the “IT hub” better than the “Garden City” is not a true Bangalorean. It seems like all the socalled development has in fact taken a toll on the residents. They are tired of the fast-paced changes and now really want the frenzy to cool down.

Mohan, a businessman of Basavanagudi, said: “The boost in the economy has not changed everybody’s lives. Some of us have suffered as well. The inflow of wealth is more now, but issues such as environment, road widening, metro and lake rejuvenation are sidetracked. It is only now that one keeps meeting an activist who is set on reviving a lost heritage. Why did we have to stoop this low in the first place?” Shikha, a student of Christ College, said: “The autos charge like crazy. I don’t get it, how do they think it is OK to quote whatever price that crosses their head. For a Rs.40 distance, they will ask for Rs.250. It is laughable.” The metro is quite unanimously a tourist spot rather than a solution to the worsening traffic. It has replaced lakes and old structures and yet remains an incomplete project. Another resident of Gandhinagar complained: “There is no authenticity left. Streets are full of CCDs and McDs—where is the traditional Kannada cuisine?” Though most of the people don’t mind these food chains, the place is no longer a pensioner’s paradise. In 1985, there were almost 60 good lakes in the city as opposed to the current 15. Dharmanbudhi Lake has been converted into the huge Majestic Bus Station, and Siddikate Lake has now become K.R. Market. This rapid encroachment has led migratory birds (quite a few rare species at that) to fly away. Areas like Gandhinagar, Shankarapuram and Mavalli regularly saw the likes of loras, garblers and the stone curlew attracted to their mango groves. The great Indian bustard and black bucks were regular visitors in Malleshwaram. Being home to at least 123 bird species was phenomenal. Now the condition is just sad.

The good In the wake of globalization, Bangalore has changed many faces. Everybody—from businesspeople to bus conductors—can speak English March 2014 | The Beat

—but for better or worse? here. Given how it is sustaining the varied population, it serves as a perfect example of “see how much we have developed.” There are regular book readings and stagings of plays. People flock to flea markets like the one in Commercial Street for affordable goods, and Church Street is a haven for bookworms. Along with all the “hip” activities that the city offers now—paintball, bowling, laser tag—it is also sensitive to social issues that regularly plague a cosmopolitan in India. Several social workers work toward issues such as gender empowerment and aim to create educational awareness of the same. The amount of expanding businesses in the city is mind-boggling. Topmost software companies reside along with small start-ups. Bangalore is a hot spot for entrepreneurs. Ashutosh, who works in a phone-recharging start-up called Freecharge, said: “People are open to out-of-box ideas. Ideas are worth billions—capital can be provided by anyone. It boosts your confidence and there is less fear of being mocked at.” This mentality has only recently developed. In fact, if a person is “Bangalored,” it means they have lost their job to an innovative Indian! According to a street vendor in Shivajinagar, “Women are treated at par with men here. I don’t think this happens in any other place in India.”

And the unchanged The city has lost some and gained some. Then there are things that haven’t changed and most likely never will. The generosity of the people here is well known. Whoever comes to the city can’t resist turning into a civil citizen who respects public spaces for all. Shikha, who is from Delhi, said: “Bangaloreans are helpful and polite. The bus network is very good. One can see female passengers even well above 9 p.m.” March 2014 | The Beat

The North-South divide is another thing that remains unchanged. People still check you from the corner of their eye and mildly click their tongues. Mohan, the businessman, said: “Contrary to popular belief, we are not hostile to North-Indians. We accept people from everywhere, even though they would often like to have a laugh about our skin tone or hair. Even the northeasterners here feel safe.” A lot of South Indians have stopped caring. They feel that North Indians can’t help, but be rude and loud. They have to make their presence felt. The weather has become less than agreeable for the people here, but for outsiders, it is still very pleasant. Environmentalist Naveen K.S. said, “It will not change drastically too soon, but because of the increasing population density, it is moving away from being moderate.” The paradise is turning imperfect. There is a constant tension prevalent in Bangalore. The ancient is mixing with the modern. People are resisting and yet they can’t. Sangeetha from Banashankari said: “It’s a good thing the government isn’t allowing a very liberal nightlife. I don’t want the city to turn into Delhi.” Her husband said, “We are suffering because of lack of planning. I bet soon Cubbon Park will be dead, too.” From a small village in the princely state of Mysore, the Silicon Valley of India has come a long way. The beauty of Lalbagh has been replaced by the glitz of UB City. It is becoming a place of fond memories. Its population has doubled and between 1995 and 2005, more than five multinational companies made their way into the city every month. A sense of multiculturalism is well established and in a strange way, Bangalore has still not let go of its past. The “swalpa adjust maadi” (make room) culture is overlapping with the “what’s up bro” culture. And as of now, the juxtaposition of these layers in Namma Bengaluru is here to stay.

Photos: Mark Austin & Girish Rath

CHANGE

Technology

Cloud computing helping textile industry sew up profits By Aurosmita Acharya

THE LABOR-INTENSIVE textile industry is struggling to transform itself to meet the demands of a hyperconnected world.

The provision for antivirus and firewall protection is also avoided. This reduces the cost of operation significantly.

Lately it has started deploying cloud computing to expand globally. “Cloud” is a synonym for “internet.”

The textile industry requires a variety of complicated computing processes during the various steps of planning, such as the complex cut order planning, deciding on the quality of fabric to be used, and the grouping of fabric with roll allocation. Now, all of this can be automated through cloud computing.

The internet has been a handy tool for the retail industry, but its application in the complicated process of computing in the textile companies is relatively new. Cloud computing has many advantages compared with the traditional method of operation followed in the textile industry. If you use the cloud, you don’t have to buy software licenses, nor do you have to allocate a big chunk of your computer’s hard drive to operate textile-monitoring systems. This saves the retailer money and also the cost of maintaining and networking computers.

This enables quicker and affordable solutions to a larger client base. And the automation process enables better administration and management of databases, particularly for activities which are of a repetitive nature. Small and medium enterprises struggle to manage information. They usually jot down information in large files that are manually handled. Compiling and han-

dling these papers makes the process of operation complicated and costly. More so if the entries in the ledgers are incorrect. Many a time, data gets lost in the hustle and bustle of shop-floor activities. This can be easily avoided with the implementation of cloud computing. In cloud computing, the retailer entrusts the data of his company to a third party. The company’s information resides in a far-off data center and can be accessed through the internet. It simplifies the complex process that the industries have to deal with and in turn reduces the difficulty of managing multiple computers and servers, while still benefiting from what technology can offer. In addition to entering and tracking customer orders and requests, cloud technology also helps to store documents, perform accounting, and run all the software

Cloud computing involves a large number of computers connected through a network.

March 2014 | The Beat

needed for this kind of automation. Thus it also enhances the pace of growth of the business. Very few textile companies have managed to introduce the technology and yet there are few software companies who are accessible to the growing number of textile companies. In Bangalore the Threadsol Softwares Pvt. Ltd has been the only company to come up with software that would help the multi-faceted process of textile making. The software is titled intelloCut. Mausmi Ambastha and her team of four members devised the software, which works on the cloud-computing model and helps reduce the wastage of material. She won the Women Entrepreneur Quest 2013 for developing the software. Her company also won the national award in Microsoft Bizspark India Startup Challenge last year. She told The Beat that she came up with the idea for intelloCut during an evening get-together with her friends in January 2011. Her dream of intelloCut as a revolutionary software was developed under the ambit of Threadsol Softwares Pvt. Ltd. Mausmi, who was a student of fashion technology and had worked for fashion consultancy firms, enriched the spirit of the team with her knowledge and experience. “My four-member team equally contributed in the success of the software by contributing their share of experience for various aspects of a business,” she said. The objective was to boost the sewn-products industry, by saving fabric, labor and time in an efficient and smart way. The intention was to develop a comprehensive solution to all problems faced by the garment industry during the manual operations, which would bring productivity, profitability and contribute to a greener environment. “The software in its present form enables material planning and optimization with the use of technology for all sorts of sewn products like apparel, leather, inflatable, upholstery, footwear, home furnishing manufacturers and technical textile,” Mausmi said. The software works by replacing all inefficient manual decision making processes by automating the complex cut order planning, fabric grouping, roll allocation March 2014 | The Beat

problems and thereby maximizes savings. According to Mausmi, “intelloCut not only saves material, time and labor, but contributes hugely towards greener environment. It makes the industry greener, cleaner, leaner, and sustainable by saving material by 10 percent, improving cutting room productivity by 30 percent and reducing end bits by 70 percent.” IntelloCut works through a process snapping. It snaps into the various processes of buying, cutting and using material of the manufacturing units and improves utilization, accuracy of estimation, reduces wastage and increases productivity. The software thus helps in cost cutting by helping the buyer buy the exact amount required and hence saves the buyer the cost of bearing the expenses of wasted material and use of labor. Since the software is deployed on the cloud, it is “highly available and extremely reliable.” They have also devised a mobile application to increase the availability of the software to the small and medium enterprises. The software-as-a-service (SaaS) version of intelloCut helps small and medium enterprises who are given a level playing field with that of the larger enterprisers. Before getting into developing the software, Mausmi and her team did extensive market research for almost two years and reached a conclusion that “the Indian textile and garment industry is a key player in the national economy and contributes 4 percent to the total GDP.” The textile industry is the second-largest employer after agriculture. It is estimated that one out of every six households in the country depends on this sector either directly or indirectly for its livelihood. Her team of experts took into consideration the recent fashion and lifestyle trend in India which is booming with the organized retail trade growing at a rate of 30 percent per annum. According to Mausmi, the growth of the Indian apparel industry is pegged at nearly 13 percent per annum. Madhumita Phukan, one of Mausmi’s team members said India has more than 30,000 factories producing exports worth $30 billion and domestic garments worth $60 billion. It is expected to grow to $220 billion overall by 2020. Saving 1 percent10 percent of fabric has a huge effect in the overall profitability of the company.

Mausmi Ambastha Mausmi acknowledges and thanks her “awesome team of four”: Manasij Ganguli, Abhishek Srivastava, Bratish Goswami, and Madhumita Phukan at intelloCut for being relentless in their efforts in every step throughout. With offices in Bangalore and Delhi, intelloCut has recently raised $200,000 in seed investment from Blume Ventures and Angel Investors. This will further their ambition of expanding globally. “The award has reinforced my belief that nothing is impossible for a willing heart,” Mausmi said. “We just need to have determination, perseverance and will to work relentlessly.”

Challenges of cloud computing Quality of service guarantees Logging Data ownership Threat of hackers Security of operating systems used Insecure interfaces Cyber security Legal implications of relationship shared in between the subscriber and service provider 15

CHANGE

Law

Eateries flout

By Sneha Bengani

The Karanataka High Court recently set a ruling that requires that all the hotels and eateries of the state be registered under the Food Safety and Standards Act by Feb. 4. The act replaced the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act and came into force on Aug. 5, 2011. It aims at improving the quality of food served outside home and emphasizes on limiting the use of additives, pesticide residues and heavy metals in food items served in eateries all over the country. The act has brought all hotels directly under the scanner of the central government. Not just hotels, but canteens, caterers, snack bars and even food services at religious places have come under the law and can be inspected at any time for the quality of food they serve and for the maintenance of hygiene.

pointers that are expected to be followed by every big and small place that cooks food and sells it. Among the long list, the following stand out for the simple mockery they make of those hundreds of filthy, dingy places that are home to a sizeable population of flies in our country and blatant ignorance of the fact that not every eatery is a fancy restaurant or a five-star hotel:

1. The fridge should be cleaned at least once a week. 2. The workers should wear gloves. 3. No scratching of body parts and hair during han-dling food processes.

4. All eateries should have a well-equipped lab within The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was set their premises for testing food materials for physical, up with the enforcement of the act in 2011. It prescribes a minimum microbiological and chemical analysis. imprisonment of seven years, which could extend up to life imprisonment, in case a law violation results in the death of a consumer. It is also the governing body responsible for making sure that all the eateries are registered and follow the guidelines as set by it.

The guidelines

5. Everyone working with food products should have a medical certificate. 6. Surplus and unused thawed food must be discarded. 7. Separate utensils should be used for meat products.

Every registered food-selling place is expected to follow the guidelines issued by the FSSAI. If a restaurant is not registered or is found flouting any of the guidelines, it can be taken to the court or be penalized. Other than the regular stressing on cleanliness and hygiene, the guidelines have some amusing

March 2014 | The Beat

t loony rules Implementation One of the guidelines makes it mandatory for all the restaurants to have a well-equipped lab within their premises. As of now, the entire state has only five food labs where samples can be tested for adulteration, two which are in Bangalore. One must not forget that Karnataka has more than five places where people go to eat. Mysore Road is line with small shanty outlets that sell meat. A section of society eats at places like these where the ones who framed the above mentioned guidelines would be able to stand there for more than a minute. Can a place with shaky walls, filthy poultry squeaking all over, and a cook/owner dressed in tattered grubby clothing, follow any of these ambitious standards? Karnataka has more of these places that food officers would want to believe. Jenu Café in Kumbalgodu, which opened seven moths ago, has the registration certificate placed behind the counter. The place is like any other regular modest café that are found in abundance in our country. The 38-year-old owner, Shesha, told The Beat the café follows all the rules. Right opposite the entrance is the kitchen toward the back where you can see workers in action. Their hands? Uncovered. Sriranga Palace, an eating place designed in cheap resort style, located next to Jenu Café has a grimy kitchen that has walls painted with soot and uses utensils permanently stained. According to Neelakantha, the manager of Kadamba Restaurant at Kengeri Bus Stand, “Although we have not received any documents from the government stating the guidelines so far, but the health inspector comes every 10-15 days for inspection.” Located at one of city, the restauold. “The main problem is

March 2014 | The Beat

the busiest bus stands of the rant is 14 months

that the cost of maintenance increases with the improvement in services, but the price of food remains the same,” the 51-year-old said. He believes there should be certain standards to check hygiene and cleanliness at places that sell food. “We follow 80 percent of the norms. It is impossible for anyone to follow them 100 percent,” he said. “We train our staff, but it keeps on changing at short intervals. Nothing stays for a long time in the hospitality sector. It is therefore very difficult to keep up. Not everyone can do it,” he said.

Reality check According to a factsheet put up online by the FSSAI, of all the food business units in the state, only 37,358 are registered. The annual food testing report of 2012-13 states that of 3,118 food samples analyzed, 186 were found adulterated and misbranded. Even then, there were no civil or criminal cases launched, nor were there any convictions and penalties. According to the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, the public is not authorized to directly file a case against food adulterers. They will have to approach a food security officer who takes samples and sends them for tests, and only a designed officer or commissioner of food security can file a case. Karnataka does not have a food safety commissioner at present. V.B. Patil, who held the post earlier, was transferred to Belgaum as the regional commissioner for the region on Feb. 5. Suresh K. Muhammad, the managing director of National Rural Health Mission, is currently serving as the proxy of a food safety commissioner. After repeatedly trying to talk to him about how he is planning to implement the revised guidelines, he said: “I am a very busy man. I work till nine in the night,” and disconnected the call.

CHANGE

Sports

Adventure sports— for a weekend getaway By Sneha Bengani

THE BUSINESS OF XtremeZone, an adventure-sports company based in the city, has grown 10-fold in the last 10 years, its founder claims. “We have experienced upward growth every year,” says Praveen Krishnaiah, who founded XtremeZone in 2003. People today want a lot more than just predictable luxurious holidays. Adventure sports like rappelling, kayaking, trekking, camping, rowing and parasailing have become a popular attraction in Bangalore in recent years. “There must be about 200 adventure sports companies in Bangalore alone,” says 35-year-old Vamsidhar Kothala, the founder of Freakouts, another company based in the city that offers family adventure weekends.

March 2014 | The Beat

Kothala has always had an adventurous streak. While working with an IT company, he did an outbound training from Singapore and did kayaking and sailing in Indonesia. He then realized that the companies that offered adventurous activities in India were neither professional nor confirmed to internationally accepted standards. He realized that our country needed an adventure-sports provider that could maintain global standards and give world-class services to Indians looking for some unusual and exotic way of having a good time. Hence was born Freakouts in 2007. Initially conceived as a weekend getaway, it has partnered with Andhra Pradesh tourism to provide consultation and related services for setting up theme parks and to make a rock-climbing training center. “There is such a huge market for adventure sports waiting to be tapped, that anyone, with a little technical know-how makes a company and starts giving substandard services,” Kothala said. “But it is the vision and the ability to sustain that works in the long run. “The equipment used costs between 50 to 5,000 rupees. The way it is used makes all the difference. A rope needs to be changed after every 60-80 jumps, but it is usually used till the very last, increasing the risk factor.” The fact that there is no governing authority looking into the safety involved in adventure sports is also a major concern.

Cost of the services provided by the 2 companies (per person) Includes everything

Name of company

Amount (1 day) Amount (2 days)

Freakouts XtremeZone

Rs.900 Rs.1,400 + taxes

“It lets a number of companies provide substandard services,” Kothala says. “People were apprehensive before. Now they have started challenging themselves. It is the sudden adrenaline rush that gives them the requited kick. Adventure sport is an exciting alternative to an otherwise boring holiday,” says 39-year-old Krishnaiah. Navya Saboo, a 13-year old student of Bishop Cottons Girls School, says: “I love paint ball. I played it with my friends on my birthday and all of us really enjoyed. The bullets hurt, though.” She said she likes to play adventure sports once a month. Technology has helped these companies reach a wider market. “If you look up adventure sports on Google, you would find XtremeZone among the first few names. More than 1,000 people participate in our activities every month,” says Krishnaiah.

Rs.2,500 Rs.3,000 + taxes

According to Kothala, Karnataka stands second in adventure sports after Maharashtra. “We are at a stage where we are about to reach the peak of this trade in a few years,” he says. Aayush Salampuria, a 23-year-old businessman who has participated in several kinds of adventurous sports, says: “It is good fun but gets exhausting after a while. I would not want to spend on it repeatedly.” These companies that have newly sprung up on the map of Bangalore sell a dream— that which is away from the monotony of the everyday life. It promises thrill, adventure, rawness, a reason to bond in unusual settings and lots of memories. As XtremeZone puts it, it takes more than just money to have a memorable experience.

Freakouts, an adventure-sport company in Bangalore, provides exciting weekend getaways. March 2014 | The Beat

CHANGE

Education

Bangalore becoming an education mecca By Vaishnavi J. Desai

THE FIRST PRIME Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru declared Bangalore as the “intellectual capital of the country.” Time and again the city has proved its status of having one of the best education systems. Recent research conducted by Global Urban Youth Research Network under the umbrella of UN-Habitat indicates Karnataka has the highest educational migration with 186,000 students coming to the city to pursue their education in the last decade. A lot of students both from across the country and state find their way to the Garden City for higher education. It could be true of the city, which has nearly 75 engineering colleges, a prestigious Indian Institute of Management and the world-class Indian Institute of Science, to name a few. Manasa B.S, a postgraduate student in real-time embedded systems at M.S. Ramaiah School of Advanced Studies, came to Bangalore from a remote district of Karnataka. She told The Beat: “As we all know Bangalore is a place where most of the IT industries dwell. This makes the students—and especially engineers like me—get various job opportunities relevant to their respective job profiles.” Anima Mishra, a speech language pathologist, pursued her masters in audiology and speech language pathology in Ban-

galore. She said Dr. S.R.Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing, where she studied, “is one of the best in India” for her field of expertise. That is one of the reasons that motivated her to make the journey from Odisha to Bangalore for her higher studies. Bangalore is home to many institutions that have carved a niche for themselves by being one of their kind. From aeronautics to zoology, be it agriculture, law, science or arts, you name it, the city has it. Vishweswaraya Technological University, the first in the country, with a unique concept to include all engineering colleges in Karnataka under one umbrella for the sake of equal opportunity, is renowned. St. Johns Medical College, National Law School, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, University of Agriculture Science, which is the only one in the state—the list is endless.

‘The city can get me a job’ Gaurav Samuel, from Odisha said: “The career opportunities are excellent. Bangalore being the IT hub, the opportunities are immense. It has better exposure as compared to other cities in India.” Gaurav is currently studying electronics and communications engineering at M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology and is happy to see many students like him, who have come from far off places to Bangalore. For Manasa, it had to be Bangalore, as no

other city has as much scope as the city. She said: “There are more companies here which work on embedded systems. This would help me get a job that I desire.” Anima is of the opinion that the competitive environment and plenty of opportunities makes Bangalore as one of the hottest educational destinations. She said: “Multiple course options as compared to small Indian cities and heterogeneous population makes it more student friendly.”

Handy tips for future entrants With so many colleges and innumerable course options present, students are bound to get confused about what to choose. So, how does one resolve and opt for the right thing? Manasa said her senior’s advice worked for her: “Choose the course according to your interest, keeping the future development of individual and the field as well. There are many courses are taking birth every day, and Bangalore is city where you can find those courses.” Gaurav said it is easy to apply in colleges in Bangalore. “Just make sure you go through the rules in the website,” he said. “Accommodation won’t be a problem because most of the colleges provide hostel facilities to students. Also, there are PGs available near college campuses.”

Photo: Deb Ghosh

March 2014 | The Beat

Recreation

CHANGE

Jamming: A new mode of artistic expression

By Sneha Bengani

Art is like the wilderness. Both grow uncontrollably when given an unrestricted environment. Bangalore, being the contemporary melting pot of several art forms, has seen one such practice, jamming, grow over the years from a recreational activity to an organized community endeavor. Jamming is an informal way of an artistic discourse. Any group of individuals sharing a common interest for an art from and rehearsing it together—be it for a performance, personal amusement or simply for fun–can be termed as jammers. Jam tools these days are as varied as the people who use it. They can be anything from tangible objects like musical instruments and stationary to abstract talents like public speaking and acting. The boundaries that defined a “jam session” have significantly blurred with time owing to the evolution of the various modes of expression in a country abundant with young talent. Vasundhara Das, a singer-actress who heads Drum Circle Movement across India with Roberto Narain, a drummer extraordinaire, believes that a “drumjam” constitutes “a group of people sitting in a circle, each with a drum or percussion instrument in hand, playing a rhythm, listening to each other, feeling the pulse of the entire community, communicating without speaking and living in the moment.” March 2014 | The Beat

Since 2006, Drumjam, their company, has been working on community building through its sessions which are held all over the country. According to Das, a drumjam is a very powerful tool of wordless communication. “It is about connecting on a level playing field with other human beings, irrespective of their language, socioeconomic status, religion, caste, gender, race or corporate hierarchy,” she says. The company strives to build a feeling of togetherness using rhythm and drumming as a medium in a world where real conversations are getting endangered. Smitha Shivaswamy, who founded Penciljam with George Supreeth in Bangalore four years ago, started the club with the idea of documenting Bangalore through drawings. Most pencil jammers are not professional artists. They are enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds who are bound together by a common thread—an interest in visual arts. “Our youngest member is around 6 years old,” said Shivaswamy who is trained as a graphic designer. Their virtual community has touched as many as 3,000 people. Parks, museums, heritage buildings, busy markets and zoos are the usual venues where the sessions are held. Ten to fifteen members get together every week to let their passion breathe and grow. The

club eventually has expanded from Bangalore to other cities like Delhi, Chennai and Pune. “Everyone likes a good picnic,” Shivaswamy says. Based in Frazer Town, the group is selforganizing, and thematically flexible. The online community of pencil fanatics has become a vast reservoir of images, videos, tutorials and other related content contributed by the members over the last four years. “We invite senior artists to conduct workshops on a wide range of subjects. We have created a system that aims at encouraging children to visual arts from an early age,” she said. You need not pay any monetary fee to become a Penciljammer. “We do this because we love drawing, and meeting other drawers. You bring along your own art material, and if we do a road-trip you share the cost of travel,” says the founder. However, they do charge for the various workshops they organize. Shivaswamy is proud of the fact that Penciljam has put “communal drawing” on the map of Bangalore. She intends to spread it among a larger group of people. Vasundhara Das wishes to “keep drumming and involving as many people as possible to experience Drumjams.” With a number of such clubs and companies opening up, Bangalore is steadily transforming into an urban space promoting unbridled artistic experience.

CHANGE

Monuments

A forgotten

Built as an alternative residence to house the glorious sultan of Mysore during the hot summer months, Tipu Sultanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Summer Palace bathed in royal glory once upon a time. Today, just like the many old relics of this fast-changing city, it humbly stands abandoned and conveniently forgotten.

Its construction was started by Hyder Ali and was finished by his eldest son, Tipu Sultan in 1971. After Sultanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death, it was used as the Secretariat of the British government until 1867. Today, it is a relic of Indian history caged in the middle of a city desperately running towards the future.

Open to public for six days a week (except on Sundays), from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., it takes Rs.5 for an Indian and Rs.100 for a foreigner to visit the once temporary home to one of the most glorious kings of southern India. Entry of children below 16 years is free.

The interior of the palace is made of teak. Numerous archways, pillars and balconies beautify the inside which is designed in Indo-Islamic style. The ground floor has been converted into a museum to throw light on to the times of Tipu Sultan.

March 2014 | The Beat

n history Photos: Sneha Ghosh Text: Sneha Bengani

Popularly known as the Tiger of Mysore, Tipuâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s palace has a replica of his tiger. The original is currently displayed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Located in the heart of one of the busiest markets in the city, K.R. Market, the ornamental palace stands shamefully as a stark contrast. According to the conservation assistant of the palace, only visitors come to see it every now and then. Bangaloreans have dumped it in the trash bin along with their leftover food and moved ahead.

The walls and ceilings were painted while its clay was still wet at the time when they were being made. As a result, the water-colored patterns look intricately mixed with the color of the walls.

March 2014 | The Beat

CHANGE

Music

Kryptos. From left: Rohit Chaturvedi, Nolan Lewis, Jayawanth Tewari and Ryan Colaco.

The beat goes on in Bangalore By Aditi Iyer

KRYPTOS, A BANGALORE-based heavy metal band, begun its 15th anniversary tour last week from the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad. Their head-banging music, beats and rhythm can make everybody’s head spin. India, like the West, has many hard rock and metal bands. The bands mostly comprise professionals who work part-time and devote the rest of the time to their bands. A major chunk of them come from Bangalore. The ’90s was a whirlwind decade for Bangalore. The city emerged as the Silicon Valley of India, expats began pouring in, and the “pub culture” emerged. Bangalore soon became the rock music capital of India. The impact of global bands like Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd and The Doors was immensely felt here—20 years after they made their names in the West. A cultural revolution took place. Bangalore, which was the center for carnatic music, began to explore this new field. You could spot

people thronging in flocks in open-air festivals held in Palace Grounds to listen to some head-banging music. Philipe, the lead vocalist of Ministry of Blues, a native hard-rock band recollects, “We loved performing at the Palace Grounds—it was like the mecca of rock shows. It was a must for every inspiring band to play gigs of pink Floyd and The Doors. Black Sabbath was our Bible—we so wanted to become like them.” It seemed like rock ruled the city. Carnatic music, on the other hand, faced a slump as many began to prefer hard rock and metal over it. Abhilash, a carnatic singer, told The Beat: “Carnatic music was very confined to South India then and the gurus never approved of any other form of music. It was extremely hard to learn the octaves in carnatic, so when rock music entered people found it easier to pick up as it didn’t require any formal training. It was new and could be self-taught.” Kryptos has a huge fan base in Germany. So is the case with Thermal and A Quarter, it is the first band in Asia to make its music available to creative commons. And they were all self-taught!

The era of ‘experiment’ But with the new genre came reproof. Parents were hesitant to let their children form rock bands or listen to hard music fearing the cult it had become by then. Jitesh, a 23-year-old architecture student, has his own band called The Astronauts. He said: “We are into grunge music and when we told about our interest to our parents they scorned at us and were upset. They felt that we would get into drugs and alcoholism.” The era we are currently in is the “experiment” or the “fusion” era. Carnatic music made a second coming, but this time with western fusion. For instance, a carnatic band called Amrythm began to incorporate blues and jazz in their music and it came out pretty well, too. Everybody began to experiment with their music and created a fusion. They evolved with time. When cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi were coming up with bands of their own, Bangalore’s bands had already begun leaving their marks everywhere. From carnatic to hard rock and now fusion, Bangalore definitely has a lot to boast about. March 2014 | The Beat

Art

CHANGE

Art a reflection of time?

Mahua Art Gallery on Old Airport Road reflects the current art scene of Bangalore. By Shivpriya Jodha

Standing in a luminous, white, empty art gallery, the one question that crossed my mind was: Does Bangalore have a vibrant art culture in this technological era, and do people take out time to appreciate art in their fast-paced lives? The multicultural, third-largest city of India has many art galleries spread across the city, yet footfall and business in these galleries is dipping. In earlier times, art used to be a way of life and not an escape from hectic schedules of daily life. The manager of the Crimson Art Gallery, Parimala, taking his eyes off his computer screen for a moment, told The Beat: “Bangalore had an art culture some years back, but now it is losing it. The recession has affected us badly—in a day we have one or two customers.” The internet plays a bigger role in online advertising of talents. Being in the internet age, people prefer to look at art that is available online rather than dedicating few minutes of their day to appreciate it as an onlooker, an admirer and a connoisseur. Bangalore used to be a city of retired people who took joy in appreciating art in the galleries. The admiration is now lost to the skyscrapers and IT industries. Life for Bangaloreans at present is dedicated to making more and more money so they can have a pleasant and easygoing life. March 2014 | The Beat

Art has changed in tandem with modernization. With modernization, the medium of viewing art has changed. The manager of the Time and Space art gallery, who asked not to be named, told The Beat: “Mostly people who are in their 40s and above have the taste for art because when they were in their 20s that is when the art culture boomed in the city— they acquired a taste. “But youngsters do not really appreciate art and think it is a waste of time and money.” She said just three to four people visit the gallery each day. Rhea Sharma, an engineering student, told The Beat as we were traveling by bus to her college, “I have no life apart from my books as the course is extremely demanding, which leaves visiting an art gallery out of question.” Rhea’s friend, who was on the same bus said she thought there were better sources of entertainment than wasting time visiting an art gallery, such as going to a concert. One might wonder what steps these art galleries in Bangalore are taking to make the viewers aware, excited and interested about the art exhibits. Walking out of her white, bright, office, the owner of the Suha House art gallery, who also did not want to be named, told The Beat the gallery has a Facebook page which is updated to promote new exhibitions. The gallery also has a website with

detailed information about the artworks in the art gallery and the artists. “There are websites such as Burrp and buzzintown.com that help us advertise the art events displayed at the gallery,” she said. “These are the sites that help attracting the younger generation of audiences.” Srinivasan Reddy, an elderly man who was pushing his shopping cart around a supermarket in the city told The Beat: “My friends and I have been visiting art galleries regularly for a many years now. Art adds to one’s life in so many ways.” V. G. Narendra, managing trustee of the Indian Cartoon Gallery in Bangalore expressed his concerned over how busy people have got in their everyday lives, which leaves them with no time to spare for enjoying art at the galleries, directly affecting the businesses of all the art houses in the garden city. He added that the number of options and variety available in the hyperactive, hyper-connected world today has made the younger generations detached from the art and culture of their cities. Earlier, art and culture used to be one of the fewer sources of entertainment for amusementhungry people, but now there are different forms and kinds to choose from, which is why art galleries have very few audiences amongst the younger generation. For art to continue to exist in the galleries, it needs to be admired and appreciated by the viewer. It is our crucial responsibility to help the significant art to survive with the worth that it deserves.

CHANGE

Cinema

Multiplexes pushing single-screen cinemas into the dark By Nibedita Mohanta

BAGALORE’S SINGLE - SCREEN theaters are losing out to the increasing number of multiplexes. According to the Karnataka Film Chamber Of Commerce (KFCC), Bangalore had 200 single theaters five years back, but now number only about 70. According to a survey conducted by the KFCC, Bangalore at present has 40 multiplexes with at least six screens each.

Gone are the days of hooting The people who had experienced the thrill of watching their favorite stars on single screens are disheartened with the diminishing number of single-screen theaters. They enjoyed whistling, clapping, hooting and throwing coins at the screen if they particularly liked a film. Mr. Lobo, an ardent film lover and a city shopkeeper, told The Beat, “Gone are the days when the tickets were cheap and we could hoot at the scene where the actor hits the villain hard in his face.” Earning only a few hundred rupees a week has never stopped Lobo from watching his favorite stars in hall. “I remember when I was in school along with my friends we used to carry our own

seats and run for the movies, which ran on a single screen at our locality,” he said. “We used to sit on the back row and clap, howl and sing along on the songs played on the screen.” Prior to the single-screen theaters, India had a film culture in which films were shown on a white screen with the help of projec-

tors, in various small localities. “In those days the excitement was different as we had to wait for a week to see a new movie to be run on the single screen but these days in multiplexes we have got options to watch any movie any time that the excitement of waiting is gone,” Lobo

March 2014 | The Beat

said. Ashok, another film lover, told The Beat: “After working for the whole day we prefer watching a movie in the evening hours, for refreshment.” “The ticket at a single-screen theater is cheap—40 to 100 rupees, but in multiplexes the ticket ranges from 150 to 500 rupees, which is quite expensive for us,” he said. For the class of people who are habituated with single-screen theaters find the multiplexes confusing. “The hall arrangements are confusing as there are a multiple screens. By the time we find the respective screen, we miss the first scenes,” said Ashok. “We feel more comfortable in single screen theaters as we can converse in the local language but in multiplexes, they talk in English, which embarrasses us.” The single screen theaters, the only source of entertainment for the middle-class and lower middle-class people, in particular for auto drivers and shopkeepers. Varun, a student, who regularly visits the theaters, told The Beat: “The food items sold in multiplexes are quite expensive in comparison with the single-screen theaters.”

friends theaters,” Varun said.

“My father is an auto driver and so my pocket money is less. I cannot afford to go to multiplexes. So my and I prefer to go to single screen

Security, safety guaranteed at multiplexes Multiplexes provide an amazing ambience, high-definition picture quality and sound boosters. This translates into higher ticket prices, which range from Rs.150 to Rs.500.

“As a girl the first thing I prefer is my safety, so for me the multiplexes are better than the single screens.” said Urmi, a college student. “In the single-screen theaters low-class people watch movies. They keep hooting at any scene, which makes me feel uncomfortable. So paying extra bucks for my safety is worth it,” she said. The multiplexes are becoming the favorite spot of leisure for the present generation who want to have all the fun to be available under one roof—shopping, food courts, movies and games. “In multiplexes there are a lot of options like a Hollywood, Bollywood or Sandalwood movie which the single screen theaters lack,” said Karthik, a business administration student. “There is also flexibility of timing in multiplex. The old singlescreen theaters have fixed timings for the movies,” he said. People who are unaware of the experience in single-screens have a fixed imagination of the scene there. They feel it is safe and comfortable in multiple screen theaters. Anindya, an electrical engineer, told The Beat: “According to me only porn and cheap type movies are played in the single-screen theaters, watched by cheap people. “I have never visited such theaters, but it’s my observation and also people there are irritating. Mothers with little babies can take their kids to a special room meant for them at a multiplex. But there isn’t any such facility in a single-screen theater. The kids wail, creating disturbances.” Gurpreet, a housewife and film lover told The Beat: “For me, hygiene is important, which is maintained in multiplexes and not in small theaters. Also there is a provision for watching 3-D movies wearing the glasses in an A/C room and sharing spaces with sophisticated people rather than auto drivers and roadside loafers.” Single-screen theaters which appealed to film lovers till the late ’90s are fading away from the Indian scene. It is now rare to find a theater with the standards and ambience of a multiplex, with the exception of the venerable Rex Theatre on Brigade Road. At Rex, one can still find people dancing and singing at their favorite stars’ movies.

Photo : Pratyush Pushkar & Peter Grendle March 2014 | The Beat

CHANGE

Lakes

Lakes back from By Suchitra Sharma

BANGALORE HAS BEEN a city of experimentation, which has led to various new beginnings. In this way, the city has found a lot. On the other hand the city has lost a lot of originality, too. And the first thing that comes to a person’s mind when the words “Bangalore” and “lost” are put together, are the lakes. Bangalore, once upon a time, had as many as many as 280 lakes, a number that had fallen to less than 80 in the late ’90s. Bangalore now has only 17 freshwater lakes. Unfortunately for us, we have polluted even those 17 and are now facing acute water crisis all over the city. Bore wells have been dug as an alternative and water has to be pumped from great depths to supply the all-increasing demand.

it decided to launch a campaign to revive the lakes. “We realized that not one citizen knows that the only solution to the water crisis in the city are the lakes,” Nair said. A Wake the Lake campaign was started three years ago. UWB began with creating awareness with the local communities around these lakes. The group created checklists for government bodies to follow. With the help of the local communities they kept a check on these government bodies. A plan that was beneficial to the lakes, government bodies, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike and the people living there was designed. Fortunately for Nair, the communities they worked with have been extremely involved in the cause. Some have been

knowledgeable about the entire process and yet others have been willing to learn by trial and error. A Wake the Lake score board was introduced, wherein each lake taken up for revival was rated out of 100 points. “If a lake has been rated 40 out of 100, then we would decide as to how to make the points 100,” Nair said. “Every lake takes at least two to three years to revive,” he said. So which lake has best recovered? He was quick to answer, “Kaikondrahalli,” priding on the fact that falcons have returned to this lake after many years. According to Nair, encroachment and sewage dumping are the two biggest problems ailing Bangalore’s lakes. Stop destroying, he says, nature will come back. For

We have polluted them and now we are suffering. We have encroached upon them and now we are suffering from not having enough water to drink. A few NGOs have realized the menace and have taken up the task of cleaning these water bodies that seem to have died due to human intrusion. The Beat spoke to one such organization, United Way of Bengaluru, which told us the story behind this disappearing act. UWB, also responsible for Wake the Lake campaign, has been working towards the cause of cleaning up these water bodies for many years now. Suresh Nair, executive director of UWB, says: “Five years ago, bore wells dug here were 150 to 200 feet in depth. Now they are 800 feet deep.” It was when UWB realized that Bangalore was staring at a water disaster that

March 2014 | The Beat

brink of disaster that’s basically what this organization did. Stopped the illegal activities going around these lakes and waited patiently for a couple of years. “Nature always has a way of coming back. That’s the beauty of it,” he says. Bangalore has always heard a lot about children enthusiasts, doing their little bit for the environment. How did they respond to Wake the Lake campaign? “Children are the most easily nurtured. They don’t have any extra baggage with them such as the land rate or social stigma,” Nair said. Little Lake Keepers had been initiated for the children where 500 kids participated in painting and other educational programs. A treasure hunt was planned for the children, in and around the lakes,

which would enable them to get used to the lakes and in turn start caring for it. UWB has treated several water bodies, including those in Kaikondrahalli, Chinnappanahalli, Uttarahalli, Yelahanka and Agara. “We aim to create communities around these lakes and then help them,” Nair said. Rajamani, a resident of Rajajinagar said: “We know about the Ulsoor Lake and its revamp. Earlier it was completely congested and dirty. But now all that has been cleared and it looks nice.” He went on to explain that builders target lakes that have gone dry and reclaim those lands, and that is how lakes in Bangalore are encroached upon. It’s the local communities that maintain

the lakes once they are revived and ready to use. Rajamani said there have been many instances when the government has cleaned lakes, but due to ill maintenance those lakes have gone back to their previous avatars. Lakes in Bangalore, the most tormented parts of the ecosystem, can now finally heave a sigh of relief. With organizations such as UWB, the local communities and the BBMP, these water bodies, or if you want to put it accurately, man-made water tanks, can now hope for some redevelopment and understanding on the part of humans. They had been lost for a while but now are being found again.

Photo: Suresh Nair & Saswata Debadutta

Left, a view of Kaikondrehalli Lake before renovation and right after it was renovated by UWB NGO

March 2014 | The Beat

CHANGE

Streets

Bangalore’s future lies in its rugged streets

This process of coming close to form one specialized market is called Nash Equilibrium, and it gives businessmen two benefits. One, they get popular for a selling a particular type of good and therefore get consumers from everywhere. Two, it helps them keep an eye on their competitors. For instance, the place where electronics sellers grouped is today called S.P. Road. Enter local streets. The interesting aspect about them is they are tailor-made for the people: Walk out of home, and get anything you need. Anything. For the businessmen, however, there is no room to flourish as of now.

There is a huge variety of shops in Manjunathnagar. By Anand Jain

There is something unusual about Magadi Road that a passerby is likely to miss if he strolls by casually—a massive decentralized mall selling a million objects and services. And it came up only two months ago. No, it is not an upmarket street like Brigade Road, or a tech-hub like Electronic City. It is different from what Bangalore is perceived as. It is an extremely different and potentially better part of Bangalore about which not everybody knows—the Bangalore of Streets. A street in Manjunathnagar, Magadi Road is a poorly built lane. The shops are as narrow as an escalator in Orion Mall, the ambience is old-style, it is spartanly designed and filled with lower-middle class people. If you go to Magadi Road directly after having been to M.G. Road, you would feel you have traveled back in time, almost 20 years. What makes this substandard street different is the astounding variety it houses. Within a stretch of about 500 steps there are 136 differently sized shops, doing 26 types of businesses: everything from bakeries to gold showrooms to television stores; from slippers to bangles to saris— everything is here. There are doctors, me-

chanics, and lawyers. There are hotels, ice-cream shops, juice centers and chaat centers. “There is nothing you cannot get on this street, I think, apart from alcohol. And that is because people will never allow that,” says Sampath, who has owned a shop on Magadi Road for the past 24 years.

Dr. Aveela, who has been running a dental clinic at Magadi Road for the last four years, says: “All this time, I haven’t seen great profits here. It’s not the way I expected. People here don’t want to spend money on more than what is required. They spend less than Rs.500 on themselves if they earn Rs.5,000. That’s why I don’t even charge consultation fee most of the times.” Ramesh, a trader in metal utensils, who shifted here from central Bangalore says: “There, I used to spend 100 bucks and earn 50. Now, I spend 50 and earn 25. The profit sort of tallies. If you don’t have a good amount for initial investment, this is a great place.

When Bangalore was being formed, people who wanted CLINICS to sell phones and 3% FANCY STORE computers started 3% DESKTOP PUBLISHING GOLD AND to open shops as 7% SILVER 7% convenient to them. But they did not get TEXTILE STORE 13% customers from other parts of the city—only MOBILE 9% near and dear ones bought BAKERY their products. 9% So, they began HOTELS to move toward ATMs 8% 3%

T.V. SHOWROOM 1%

OPTICAL STORE 1%

t h e center of the city, hoping to get more customers. Hence, all computer sellers came close to each other.

AQUARIUM 1%

More than a dozen shops and three ATMs were recently inaugurated on the street in place of others that shut down. They are significantly better in design and quality of service, although they might not last due to lesser room for profits.

EVENT MANAGEMENT 4%

TAILORS 15%

ENTERPRISES 10%

Selling style in businesses has shifted STATIONERY from “This is 2% COSMETICS what I need,” 2% to “What do you want?”

PARLOR 4%

Business on streets such as Magadi Road, therefore, will tend to be at a better position in the far future, if not near. March 2014 | The Beat

BUSINESS

Rupee’s fall plunged India into chaos By Vaishnavi J. Desai

to reduce the burden on themselves as well as their parents to pay fees n loans.”

AKSHARITA, A 22-YEAR-OLD Indian girl, had channeled all her thoughts on pursuing higher education abroad until the rupee crashed. Overnight, her biggest worry was the fall in rupee. Her university fee, she told The Beat, is really high.

The imports of the country were another major issue. Importers were very much affected by the fall in the rupee. The weakening rupee made crude oil, fertilizers, medicines and iron ore, imported by India in huge quantities, considerably more expensive.

“I had to take a bank loan to pay the fee, but the increasing rate of interests was also an issue,” she said.

With the rise in fuel prices, the prices of goods that are transported from one part of the country to another are bound to rise, too.

She is one of those many students whose dreams were on the verge of being trampled by the fall of the rupee. But that was just the beginning. The rupee fell to its lowest at 63 versus the dollar in November, pushing the economy into inflation. Profits fell, and so did imports. Experts predicted that Indian economy, termed as one of the fastest-growing economies, would tumble. The stagnant stock market was another problem. A weaker currency, a falling economy and a sluggish stock market had people fearing the worst. Aksharitha is presently pursuing her master’s in mechanical engineering in University of Illinois in Chicago. She said: “My each semester fee is around $15,000. Apart from the fee I have living expenses, which come to $700 per month.” She added that it is really difficult to find a job in Chicago while studying since there are many rules to follow. For two months, she had to do a lot of research to choose a university which would suit her budget in fee structure, quality and so on, but the lastminute hitch made her compromise. She isn’t the only one to be swept by this wave. She said: “All the students here think in the same direction since their main aim is

Sitaram Bhuwalka, an import-export businessman from Delhi, largely imports nonferrous metals, including lead. Asked how his business had been doing in the past six months, he said: “There is slowdown in the industry because of the bad season of 2013 for the battery market. All importers had to lose money due to steep fall in rupee.” Bhuwalka added that at the time of ordering the rupee per dollar rate was low, but by the time the consignments reached the importers had to pay more for the same cargo. The solution has to come in the form of measures from the Reserve Bank of India, Bhuwalka said. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan announced that the government would reduce spending to control the deficit in the economy. Presently, Indian economy faces a current account deficit, I which expenditure exceeds revenue. The solution also lies in the payment of outstanding taxes, due thanks to the chronic tax evaders who push the economy towards a higher fiscal deficit. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram recently announced the Voluntary Compliance Scheme, in which all the estimated 1 million service tax evaders were given a last chance to come clean and pay taxes without being penalized. At the press conference held to promote the scheme, Chidambaram said: “No government could be more generous and fairer.” Maybe this money will fill the gap—if it materializes. Meanwhile, Indian students studying abroad are anticipating that the value of rupee will rise and hope that it goes higher up every day. Tourism abroad has also become expensive, which will let Indians refrain from holiday trips. The flip side is brighter: nonresident Indians who are sending money back home, enjoy greater value, benefits and higher interest rates.

Photo: Deb Ghosh March 2014 | The Beat

BUSINESS

Rajan to the rescue By Tulana Nayak

DEGREES FROM THE Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Management, a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, winner of the Fischer Black Prize for Best Economist under 40, youngest-ever chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, and the list goes on. There are a million hopes pinned to this erudite personality, Raghuram Rajan.

posed of 10 equally weighted indicators for monthly per capita consumption expenditure, education, health, household amenities, poverty rate, female literacy, the percentage of the scheduled caste/scheduled tribe population, urbanization rate, financial inclusion and physical connectivity. The 10 states that score above 0.6 out of 1 on the composite index have been classified as “least developed,” the 11 states that scored from 0.4 to 0.6 are “less developed” and the seven states that scored less than

Rajan, the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India, has been much hyped and talked about throughout India and abroad as well. Many people believe he can fix the Indian economy.

Photo:

Verma claims that one of the main reasons for the downfall of the rupee against the dollar is the reduced inflow of dollars into the country. Through the policy of allowing foreign lenders to enter India and letting them take over domestic lenders, we can expect more foreign currency inflows and the situation will improve. “He thinks about the future. One cannot see the immediate effect but I am sure his policies will bring about drastic changes in the future,” he added. Rajan’s current plan which was a multidimensional index of backwardness took into account 10 indicators and has revealed some surprising results. The committee has proposed an index of backwardness com-

The solution has to come in the form of measures initiated by him that the government would reduce spending to manage the deficit. Today, Indian economy faces a current account deficit, in which expenditure exceeds revenue. This crisis can be solved by the payment of taxes which are a contribution from the huge number of tax evaders reIMF sulting in fiscal deficit. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, recently announced the Voluntary Compliance Scheme in which all service tax evaders were given a last chance to pay taxes without being penalized.

He has made promises that have instilled faith in the government of India and its people. He recently said, “The RBI will soon come out with major reforms in the banking sector that will allow foreign banks to enter India in a big way and even take over domestic lenders.” Speaking about this, Anand Verma, a chartered accountant at Canara Bank, said: “He has eased a lot of norms for foreign direct investment. Earlier there was a lot of political pressure to reduce the CRR (cash reserve ratio) and the SLR (statutory liquidity ratio).”

sis of 2008. He said it eventually led to an overheated economy, high inflation and uncomfortable fiscal and current account deficits.

He also increased the repo rate by 0.25 percent. The repo rate is the rate at which the RBI lends money to other banks. Ravi Chandar, senior branch manager at ICICI Bank at Corporation Circle, Bangalore said that ICICI bank had not been affected because the bank gets 40 percent from current account and savings account. 0.4 are “relatively developed.” Gujarat was perceived as a state that was prospering after Narendra Modi’s term started, but this was disproved by Rajan’s report. People were shocked to see Gujarat in the “less developed” states. There were many who praised him for a different approach that he chose for looking at the country’s development. But ironically, there were some critics as well who said that the index was a confusing one. Bibek Debroy, consulting editor of ET Now, said the index was confusing because it does not specify whether it looks at absolute development or an increment in development. According to a report by the Economic Times, Rajan has attributed the current economic woes to stimulus provided by the government to tide over the global cri-

“A huge amount of funding comes from the current and savings account so the repo rate increase didn’t change much,” he said. Rajan has promised to carry out a “dramatic remaking” of the country’s banking sector as he seeks to introduce a new era of competition in Asia’s third-largest economy. His confidence is that of a leader who has complete trust in his government; who is willing to change the present state of our country through strong measures. His goals are strong and his vision foresighted. He says India needs two transformations: “More investment and less consumption. Looking at the pace at which he is improving the economic condition one can believe that he has come to our rescue when we need him the most. He has taken charge at a time when Indian economy is in a huge crisis and we can trust that he saves the rupee and our expectations from falling. March 2014 | The Beat

COMMENTARY

Blasphemy or bigotry? By Sneha Ghosh

RELIGION IS AN interesting concept, one that dates back to the birth of mankind and continues to be one of the most significant driving forces of the masses around the globe. One that guides the lifestyles, outlooks and perspective of billions of people, with believers looking for answers regarding questions and truths about their journeys. It often amazes me how possessive people can be about their religion, how easy it is to incite violence by manipulating their emotions. But what is becoming an increasing crisis is how effortless it is to interpret religion according to one’s own ideas and convenience and oppose those who don’t conform to it.

such intolerance also hurts sentiments of millions of other art lovers who want to appreciate a book, a movie or a painting for its creative merit and not unwanted sensationalism. But for a country that ranked 140 out of 179 in Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index this year, it is not surprising that an eminent author like Salman Rushdie was not allowed to attend a literary festival in Kolkata to promote a movie based on his book Midnight’s Children last year. Similarly, in 2012 leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party who are based in Jaipur felt no qualms at all as they demanded Pakistani writers be banned from

A society is an association of people belonging to the different hues of the spectrum, a fusion of their myriad beliefs, religious-political-social standpoints. Each individual has the right to choose their own perspective and mutual respect and harmony is how they can all coexist. But a crisis that has forever invaded our society, one that is becoming increasingly alarming in the present day, is the lack of this patience and the will to understand an opinion different from ours. And especially when it comes to religion, people don’t just choose to sit on fences with views they are uncomfortable with but go to the extreme extents of forbidding the society to indulge in it as well. Artistes all over the world are suffering from this harassment, their works being banned as they are considered to be ‘blasphemous’. The most recent addition to this list is Wendy Doniger whose book The Hindus: An Alternative History drew a lot of criticism. In the words of Prakash Sharma, spokesperson of the Hindu right-wing organisation Vishwa Hindu Wendy Doniger Parishad, it was “insulting the tradition and culture” of Hindus. After a civil suit was filed by a retired school headmaster Dinanath Batra in 2011, Penguin Books participating in India’s most celebrated literature festival, which India decided to give in and remove all existing copies of the is held in Jaipur every year. book and not publish it further. But what may have been the most startling example of this ragSo what exactly is blasphemy? The Merriam-Webster dictionary ing bigotism was the singular all-girl rock band in Kashmir being defines it as “the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of forced to quit after a fatwa was issued against them that claimed reverence for God”. So where does that leave creative freedom? singing to be un-Islamic by a local cleric Grand Mufti BashirudShouldn’t an artist have the liberty to portray his inspiration in din Ahmad. the way he deems best or appropriate? The government of most countries, particularly India, often plays Maybe it is time we stop mindlessly following directions served it safe, either being a mute spectator of such preposterous claims to us and pause for a moment to think about what exactly we are or simply bans books that they feel may hurt the religious senti- opposing. Maybe it is time to take a stand and protest against such prejudice and intolerance that restrict the creativity of arments of the millions. tistes. An aware and educated mind that offers criticism is better What they fail to notice or are too indifferent to consider, is that than one is ignorant and clouded by bias. March 2014 | The Beat

COMMENTARY

‘Bangalore isn’t Bangalore anymore’ AS I AM writing this, the weather outside is beautiful. A light breeze, temperature about 25 degrees, neither too hot nor too cold, exactly the way weather in Bangalore is. I could stand on the terrace and keep looking at the lush green fields that surround our hostel all day. It reminds me of my childhood, when we never appreciated good weather, because we never knew what bad weather was. By Rashmi Ramesh

In the 21 years that I’ve lived here, I’ve grown up hearing that a woman’s mood and Bangalore’s weather are very unpredictable. We’d be pleasantly surprised with cloudy days and light rains in the summer, called summer showers, and with warm days during winters.

The road was a beauty in itself! On either side of the road were cemented sidewalks that were lined with multicolored flowers, with a canopy overhead formed by trees with tree trucks as thick as an elephant’s belly. There used to be benches to sit on and talk while munching on the street vendor’s roasted groundnuts. Now all we have is big, ugly, concrete buildings with not a green leaf in sight.

Photo: Nitin Kumar

Joseph, an employee at Lakeview Milkbar, an 84-year-old eatery in the city, pointed out during one of my regular visits there, that both the people and the city have become cold and unfeeling over the years. “There used to be a certain friendly air when I came here 40 years ago,” he said. “The people were nice, friendly, and welcoming. Whoever came to the city became a part of the city. The city made them its own. Everyone was happy. “Today, however, no one has time for anything but their work. For work, not even for themselves. Everyone is involved in a rat race to get ahead, so much so that they don’t think twice before trampling all over other people to reach where they want to.” Peter John, who works at Indian Coffee House, possibly the oldest coffee shop in Bangalore, said the difference that he has noticed while serving people for the last 30 years is that Bangaloreans today have become money-minded. “There used to be a time, when the pay was much lesser, about 30 years ago, when I began working in Bangalore,” he said. “Agreed, the cost of living was lower too, but people always seemed satisfied with what they had. Now, no matter how much a person earns, there is always a yearning for more. “Earlier, Bangaloreans lived. Today, they just exist.” Not only have the people and the climate changed, the way Bangalore looks has changed too. I remember spending numerous weekends shopping with my mother on M.G. Road.

March 2014 | The Beat

Brunda Anjan Kumar, 47, who was born in the city and has lived here since, said although she misses almost everything about the old Bangalore, the one thing she misses the most is spending some relaxing time at the Lakeview Milk Bar on M.G. Road.

of its revival. But if we Bangaloreans do nothing about it, there isn’t much time before we lose our beloved city forever.

“We would park the car in a side street and head out to Lakeview, where we’d wait for the friendly old man to take our orders,” she said. “I’d always order the enormous black forest sundae, which I’d gobble up in minutes because it used to be so tasty!” Mekhri Circle and the whole stretch around Palace Grounds, too, used to be lined with huge trees, which provided shade to the entire street. Deepa Anjan, great-granddaughter of R. Subbanna, the city’s first mayor, said it used to be a pleasure driving through these lanes. “Now it’s just disgustingly hot and dusty,” she said. “One ironic thing that I notice around Mekri Circle is the statue of a tree around which there are children whose hands are linked around its truck as if to protect it. That tree is made of concrete,” she added. There also used to be a number of places where children could play and their parents could relax on a weekend. “I remember going to Kids Kemp, a clothing store on M.G. Road, with my parents,” Deepa said. “Goofy and Pluto—the cartoon characters—would stand outside and greet everyone. It used to be so much fun! Now it’s just a lame sari shop that no one really visits.” As Brunda pointed out during our conversation, Bangalore was laid back, but it still had all the comforts of a city. It was the ideal city to live in. Vinod Hiremath, a regular customer at Veena Stores, which has been serving mouth-watering idli-vada and chutney since 1977 in Malleshwaram, said Malleshwaram is probably one of those places which, to some extent, have retained the old charm. “Malleshwaram was the center of the city earlier,” he said. “It was what Koramangala is now. But the city cannot regain what it has lost over the years in the name of growth and development. Bangalore was paradise. Bangalore is just not Bangalore anymore,” she said. But not all is lost. Maybe it isn’t as clean as it was earlier. Maybe it’s not the Garden City anymore. Maybe the people don’t have time for anyone anymore. But it’s still one of the best cities to live in. The weather is the best, even now, when compared to other cities in the country. When people have the time, they still try and make you feel at home. Yes, auto-wallahs try to overcharge you. But unlike places such as Chennai, at least they try and understand your language and have a conversation, even when they do not know your language. As Tilak Pattnaik, an Orissa-born, Mumbai-bred Bangalorean points, there still are streets which have a boulevard-like feel to them. “There are streets with flowering trees and concrete sidewalks,” he said. “Walking underneath those trees filled with yellow-orange flowers, some of which are carelessly strewn on the sidewalk, gives me the feeling of being in a different country altogether! You won’t find that in any other city.” We have not lost Bangalore completely. There is still some hope March 2014 | The Beat

ARTS & CULTURE

Theater loses talents to movies

Theater has explored and shaped many talents among the young and the old.

THEATER HAS LONG been known for giving a platform to talented actors, but of late it has started to lose its charm, with these actors shifting to movies and serials.

are trained until they become experts. But when the next batch comes the experienced ones don’t stay back to stand by and help them learn. The themes are sometimes abstract and not everybody understands them. Plays should be made simpler so as to reach out to the layman, he said.

Yogesh Master, author of Dhundi, who is also a theater artist, said that people interested in acting join theater groups thinking that theatrical experience can be used as a stepping stone for getting into movies. He heads a theater group, Rajamarga, and has seen many young talents leaving the group to join the industry.

He also said that whenever there are new people coming they are trained until they become experts. But when the next batch comes the experienced ones don’t stay back to stand by and help them learn. The themes are sometimes abstract and not everybody understands them. Plays should be made simpler so as to reach out to the layman, he said.

By Tulana Nayak

“When they have got enough experience they leave the theater and go into movies, never to come back,” he said. He also said that whenever there are new people coming they

“I have myself seen people who waste their time in trying to get into movies whereas they are better as theater artists,” Yogesh said. March 2014 | The Beat

Manoj started his theatrical career with the National School of Drama. Manoj Mishra, a movie actor, is originally an Odia artist who has worked in Kannada, Tamil and Hindi movies. Years back, his passion for acting got him into the National School of Drama in Delhi. He believes that this happens more in cities where there is an established movie industry because then people get more attracted towards movies. He said, “Actors think that if they join the theater, getting into a movie won’t be difficult for them.” Looking back, he recollects and admits that he had himself taken up theater to get into movies.

‘Lack of funds’ a major issue

members’ money especially when it’s not a well-off theater or one with just a few actors. “Even if we want to get it sponsored by someone it isn’t easy. Sponsorship involves a lot of conditions which makes the process tiresome,” he said. Yogesh said not everyone is interested in plays because many of them have abstract themes. There is just a particular section of society that has genuine interest or those who have theatrical knowledge. “If people could give theater as much importance as movies, funding would never be a problem,” he added.

Manjula, 30, who has been devoted to theater since she was 14, said it was her passion and interest for acting that got her into the profession despite the opposition from her parents. She agrees that people have been getting into the profession only to make way for movies and serials. “They get into theater to score points so that when they approach movie directors they can add this experience to their profile. Actors say that having worked for theater they have attained better knowledge of acting.” Contrary to this situation, in a gathering when an actor introduces himself/herself as a theater actor people hardly give them any importance. She has seen many actors from her theater group who went on to join movies and serials who “never returned.” Gagan R. Godgal, 21, who joined a theater group some years back, admits that although in the beginning he had no such plans but gradually he tried his hand in serials. Another problem that haunts the theater today is lack of funding. Manjula said that it’s difficult to put up a show through the March 2014 | The Beat

Yogesh started his career as a theater actor.

ARTS & CULTURE

Stand-up comics tickle Bangalore’s funny bone

By Suchitra Sharma Bangalore until three years back was ignorant of stand-up comics as a form of art. But the restaurants here now opt for it as a crowd puller. Take 5 in Koramanagala and Urban Solace in Ulsoor are some of the restaurants that make use of open mic nights and stand-up comics to attract customers. Sunny, manages Take 5, and is closely involved with the open mic nights and the stand-up comedians, who perform every Monday night at the restaurant, sometimes to repeated customers, and sometimes to new ones.

Praveen Kumar have seen the Polished Bottoms as an infant and now its growth.

“push strategy,” commonly used in marketing to promote products.

Recounting his early days in the city, Sanjay told The Beat: “It’s strange how we have grown. We did have our hard moments, we too picked fights, had our dues, there were times when only four people would turn up for our show.”

They started doing professional shows on the second and fourth Sundays of every month. They would visit various restaurants and pubs, and perform by themselves. “Slowly we started getting calls from pubs to perform,” Praveen said.

“We would still perform because we are passionate about it. And that’s what makes things easier for us—our passion,” Sanjay said. He is from California and shifted to Bangalore three years back. He worked in the IT sector for a while before he got “bored of the job” and decided to become a full-time stand-up comedian.

“There were a few shows happening before we started, but they weren’t many and they often took breaks,” Praveen said.

The Polished Bottoms is the only group performing stand-up comedy in the city. There were three of them when they started off in 2010, and performed to an audience who had hardly witnessed any standup comedy in Bangalore.

This is when he met Sundeep Rao and Praveen during the open mic nights at Take 5 restaurant. Together they decided to form the Polished Bottoms.

Sanjay Manaktala, Sundeep Rao and

Praveen explained how they utilized the

“Sanjay came up with this name,” Praveen said.

Sanjay said there were a few comedians in Hindi, but 90 percent of the promotion was done by them. Talking about the scenario in Bangalore, the city has seen very little stand-up comedy.Sundeep told The Beat: “I wasn’t aware of any stand-up comedy scenario in the city before we started off. There was no exposure, and no option of comedy.” Praveen also wonders why the city never had any budding comedians.

March 2014 | The Beat

“I don’t know where the void is,” he said Three years since they started as full-time comedians, the momentum has picked up. People have started noticing and recognizing their form of art, instead of only going to the movies or pubs. “Although the market is very young,” said Sundeep, “the scene has still developed. We say what the audience likes to hear. The level is still at preferred jokes, but it is still improving.” There are no fixed requirements to be a part of Polished Bottoms, Praveen said. “They need to be really good and experienced.” He went to say that they shouldn’t lose heart if the first performance isn’t up to the mark. “Kenneth Sebastian and Kannan Gill are the best examples,” he said. Kannan who joined the group in January 2013, has already become a crowd favorite. Talking about the scenario he said, “There is lot of room for it to grow as there is availability now.” Kannan used to perform with a band called Nyeh before he started performing at the open mic nights and before he became a part of Polished Bottoms. “I used to write music, funny music,” he said with a laugh. People would ask him to do stand-up comedy, though he never took them seriously.

March 2014 | The Beat

When asked about family reactions to their chosen vacation each one had a different story to say.

little apprehensive at first but when he said that they will do it free of cost, he readily agreed.

Sanjay confessed that his mother was a little worried about his choice of profession, especially since it involved quitting an IT job and getting into a completely creative field.

“I didn’t have any money to pay them. Business was at a loss,” he said.

Sundeep calmly said his family was completely fine with the move. Kannan with a hint of humor in his voice said his family always knew that he was “weird,” and so such a decision didn’t come as a shock to them. Prakash Sodha, aka Sunny Sodha as he is more commonly known, said the country as a whole requires= such kind of entertainment. “It releases all your day’s tension and leads you to a relaxed evening with good laughter,” he said. Sunny, the restaurant manager is happy with the comedians as they have helped boost his restaurant business. “Business was dipping to 20-30 percent,” he said. That’s when the comedians entered the scene and business rose like never before he said. It was Ahmed Sharif, another comedian in the city, who approached Sunny for comedy nights at the restaurant. Sunny was a

That’s when Sunny saw some repeated customers on Monday nights and decided to continue with the show. His customers would come up to him later and say, “Sunny you should have done this long ago!” Sunny said these comedians are so good that he makes it a point to never miss a single show. Talking about personal favorites he was quick to respond “Sanjay—his accent says it all.” Sanjay is an experienced, mind-blowing comedian said Sunny, praising his host. Open mic nights at Take 5 are hosted by either Sanjay or Sundeep. However, people have their favorites. A regular at Take 5, Ishita Gandhi said that her favorites are Sundeep and Kenneth. Dave Attell, an American stand-up comic, once said: “Anything else I do besides that is a plus, but stand-up comedy is what I do, it’s what I’ve been doing and it’s what I’m going to keep doing.” The Polished Bottoms seem to follow this principle to a T.

VARIETY

Aftermath of a nightmare

By Tulana Nayak

They had set upon a journey of enjoyment and thrill, but little did they know that their trip would become a nightmare. The moment I read, “13 dead as boat capsizes in Odisha’s Hirakud reservoir” in the newspapers I was shocked. They were members of the Lions Club of Sambalpur, a social service organization. It is a sister club of Lions Club of Rourkela, of which my parents are a part. The newspapers reported 11 and some others 20, but in reality 30 people died that day. I could have spoken directly to the family of the deceased, or the ones who had witnessed it but all of them are still struggling to come out of the misery, and it would have been very inhumane to question them at this moment. This is actually a narration of events that my father told me after he visited them and got to know of their misfortune. Even this wasn’t easy—they could hardly speak, and the ones who conversed, recounted their stories with difficulty. It all started with a plan of a picnic and the members of Lions club of Sambalpur, Odisha at Marang Dungri near Hirakud Reservoir. As soon as they got onto the boat they noticed motorbikes loaded in the boat. They were worried, but the boat man pacified them saying it happens on a regular basis and there has never been a problem. Soon water started getting in the boat and everyone panicked. The boatman said: “We deal with this all the time. Have patience, we will pump the water out.” The people calmed down, but the fear still remained. But fate had other plans—suddenly the engine stopped working. In not less than 20 minutes the boat was half underwater, people screamed, shouted and yelled for help. The ones, who couldn’t swim, struggled their way through, to save themselves. They pushed each other to come out of the water but very few made it. A few could swim and took up the task of saviors.

tion. But if one gets to know the condition of these families after the accident, compensation and enquiry serves no purpose. They can no more be called families—children have been orphaned and parents have lost their children. A conversation with the victims made my parents realize the suffering. They spoke to a 12-year-old who lost her parents and is now under the care of her grandparents. The girl’s custody is in question now— whether she would stay with her maternal relatives or paternal. But the catastrophe has hit them so hard that when the paternal grandparents were asked about the girl’s custody, the grandfather said: “We have no hopes left in our lives. We have lost our son and daughter-in-law. We don’t want to restrict her in any way. It is her wish, wherever she wants to go, she can.” Although the mishap has ended but the pain of the misfortune still remains in their hearts.

Photo: Saswata Debadutta

Rajendra Sharma, Sampat Saraf, Rajesh Agarwal, and Dinesh Tiwary rescued many. One of them died after saving 14 people, just after saving a child. While putting the children and women onto the shore, all of them either slipped or couldn’t make it till the end. The ones who saved others couldn’t save their own lives! While they were rescuing them, one of the swimmers was searching for his wife. When he could see nobody, he tried poking a wooden pole into the water. Out of the ones who had submerged in the water, some were still alive and cried for help. Their helplessness of not being heard in water made their situation worse, but finally they were rescued.

March 2014 | The Beat

Child marriages shame emerging India INDIA IS A developing nation that boasts of a rich heritage of ethnicity and tradition. The recently launched satellite to Mars or the cultural prowess in literature and performing arts might be an aspect of “shining India.” But the patriarchal makeup of the society promoting conservatism and gender discrimination due to which medieval practices like child marriage are rampant in the country is another ugly, naked truth that one cannot escape. The calendar reads 2014. But statistics proving the widespread existence of child marriage in India easily transports it back to the dark ages. By Sneha Ghosh

According to a UNICEF publication, 23 million girls in India are subjected to this inhumanity and the rate is decreasing at less than 1 percent a year. Lack of awareness, illiteracy, downright poverty are some of the major factors that force most parents in the rural areas of the country to get their minors, particularly daughters married at a very early age. Left to their fate of starting a family that they are not prepared to have either physically or mentally, these children often never get a chance to complete their education or secure their finan-

cial independence. What is worse they are exposed to the dangers of HIV infection or sexual violence. But what is even more startling amidst all the bleakness was India’s refusal to sign the first ever resolution initiated by the United Nations to prevent forced early marriages globally in October, a campaign that was supported by 107 countries with high incidences of child marriage. The numbers of minor girls married in states including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar is frightening. The picture is not so bright in the Ramanagara district of Karnataka, either. According to the District Child Protection Committee, there were 31 cases of child marriages from August 2012 till December in Ramanagara. In Bangalore too, the number has doubled in the last four years. Child development protection officer, Shakuntala, said, “The problem of child marriage is prevalent throughout the state but most cases are glistered in Ramnagara. The parents don’t understand the seriousness of the act—they feel the girls are burden to them. Last year we found two cases of child sexual abuse whose mothers worked in factories. They got pregnant and their children were put up for adoption. After that the girls have been sent back to school. That is why they marry their girl children early.” Radha, a child development protection officer, said: “The problem is that even if we stop the marriage here they will go to somewhere else and get their children married. Only we are working against child marriage although according to the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, headmasters, revenue inspectors and village accountants should all act as prohibition officers to stop child marriage.” The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, states that any marriage solemnized of a female of less than 18 years with a male of less than 21 years of age would not be a void marriage, but an avoidable one, but if no steps are taken to stop them then it becomes a valid marriage. To stop such rushed and forced marriages is often not an easy job to perform. “There is a tremendous lack of awareness among the villagers. We have to work at our education system to empower the children,” said Tajuddin Khan, protection officer at district child protection unit in Ramanagara. He added: “The girl child has to be educated. Then at least she can tell her parents that what they are doing is wrong.”

Ambika with her daughter. She was married when she was 16. March 2014 | The Beat

But in a country where every new day brings forth tens of cases of violence against women, that day might be a distant future.

Photo: Nirupa Sathya Sree

VARIETY

In tune with life In a world that is sinking deeper in the trap of materialism with each day, there still are people who honor family tradition and chose passion over convenience. Sneha Bengani talks to Muhammad Khaleel—a man who has spent his life with pianos and tuned Oscar-winning A. R. Rahman’s piano once early in his life. MUHAMMAD KHALEEL IS a 61-yearold man who has been living in Lingarajapuram in his shop-cum-residence for the last 35 years. Having been educated till grade 10, he started working in 1980 in Chennai at his father-in-law’s workshop. The old man taught young Khaleel all that he knew about mending pianos of all kinds. Having trained, Khaleel started traveling around, looking for potential customers. He initially came to the Garden City to meet some music teachers. As the number of his trips increased, he slowly started developing a customer base here. He finally moved to Bangalore in the late 1980s and established a modest space of his own, where he could earn a living by putting to use all that he had learnt over the years. Jalal Musicals was born. The shop is known by the name it does not profess. There is no board outside or around it to landmark Jalal Musicals, “but people know it. You ask anyone and they would show you the way to my doorstep,” Khaleel said. The self-trained pianist has built his life gradually, brick by brick, solely by repairing and tuning pianos. There never has been any other source of income. He earns Rs.1,000 for tuning every upright piano. Repairing and tuning a grand piano fetch-

es him somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 bucks.

is a school dropout. He did not study after 10th, just like his father.

It takes a minimum of 60 to 90 minutes to repair one, he informs. The demand is never regular. “There are times when you get 10 orders in a month, but it does not

“He is currently working as an apprentice to me, learning the nuances of the business,” Khaleel said. How does he plan to take forward his work and strengthen his customer base? “We have been here for years. People know us. Nothing works better than the word of mouth,” the old man said. Of the many pianos that he has mended and tuned in his lifetime, one belonged to the Oscar-winning music maestro A.R. Rahman.

stay that ways always. Sometimes a few more come in. On other days there is nothing to do at all,” he said. Asked if being a doctor to sick piano keys suffices monetarily, he smiles weakly and said, “It does, most days.” He went on to explain that the mechanism and tuning is different in both kinds of pianos—upright and grand. Both therefore require individual treatment and take their own time to heal. Khaleel is a father of two. His daughter, a married woman, lives in Saudi Arabia. His 24-year-old son, Muhammad Sohail,

“He was about 15 years old then. He had come to our shop at Mount Road in Chennai to get his instrument repaired,” Khaleel said. Khaleel had made the delivery of the tuned piano to Rahman’s house himself. “He used to live in a rented house in those days and was called by another name, Dileep Kumar,” he said. This piano tuner is one of those very few people in the city who have stayed faithful to their family businesses and is content with whatever he gets out of mending melodies in people’s lives.

Photo: Tbilisisportali March 2014 | The Beat

REVIEW

Timeless saints

paint ings draw their source from personal and cultural experiences. His work is almost lyrical, describing the philosophies and beliefs of saint-poets in the form of images as well as inscriptions.

By Bhavika Bhuwalka

Being awarded with the first-of-its-kind solo exhibition in the National Gallery of Modern Arts, V. Ramesh with his Remembrances of Voices Past, has aimed at evoking a sense of forgotten lineage. The exhibition is engaging and deals with kinetic states of transcendence and transgression. Inspired by the Bhakti poets, it is evident through his work that he is mystified by their preachings and that he holds their writings in high regard. Some of his paintings include the likes of Manikkavachakar, Akkamahadevi and Andal. All of them were saints who have great historical stories attached with them. He revers them to an extent that they “almost turn into his muse through the artwork.” His forte is oil painted on huge canvases and freehand strokes with multiple layers of colors. This gives an affect of blurred boundaries and acquaints the viewer mildly with his subject. He adds a minimum of three layers to each painting, which, ac-

A R T

cording to him, “adds depth to the work.” It is left to the viewers to interpret and decide which layer dominates. Along with his frequent visits to ashrams situated in South India, he is highly inspired by the Mahabharata. He said: “They work as a catalyst. I am able to explore a new kind of reality.” Currently working as an arts teacher in Vishakhapatnam, Ramesh enjoys teaching fine art as much as he loves practising it. His work spans the last decade, and the

The use of organic colors and shifting textures is remarkable. His paintings emanate a delicate essence that fades away into a fine screen. His strong cultural hold brings out the mysteriousness of the low-resolution images. “A written word can open up so many new things,” Ramesh said. “But to achieve the same kind of meaning in a painting, which has a different grammar altogether, is more difficult.” The exhibition runs through March 25. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. National Gallery of Modern Art 49 Palace Road, High Grounds

A peek into the mind of a child By Bhavika Bhuwalka

There could not have been a title more apt for Srinivasa Parasad’s recent work. Deep Sleep actually took me so far down the memory lane that when I finally left the exhibition, the reality hit me like I had been rudely woken up from a deep slumber. Prasad’s artworks revolve entirely around childhood memories—but not in an ordinary way. Almost all his paintings include what goes through the mind of a child, which never surfaces in reality. This weird inclusion of the sub conscious surprises the viewer. One gets reminded of his childhood in a metaphysical space. Another peculiar aspect is March 2014 | The Beat

that Prasad uses the most mundane things to showcase a spectacular work of art. His work cuts artistic boundaries and travels through sculptures, paintings and videos. This variety provides a peek into how he plans his exhibitions. One outstanding of such displays is the black tent which is constructed out of mosquito nets and

hangs low from the ceiling by glue that stands melted in midair. It is intriguing how Prasad captures the most absurd imagery—like that of a mummy in a pyramid—that reflects the situations a child can imagine himself in. The output therefore is playful and has happy connotations all along. It is like seeing through a wandering mind of a child. Prasad is able to captivate his audience by providing both 2- and 3-dimensional forms of art. The exhibition runs through March 29. Open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Galleryske 2 Berlie Street, Langford Town, Langford Road

REVIEW M O V I E S

Imtiaz makes it worth riding on this Highway! By Sneha Ghosh

Cast: Randeep Hooda, Alia Bhatt Director: Imtiaz Ali Genre: Drama Runtime: 134 minutes And he is back. The director who has a very contemporary yet unique take on romance and relationships, Imtiaz Ali is here with his latest work, Highway. Like his previous movies Socha Na Tha, Jab We Met, Rockstar and Love Aaj Kal, the journey motif has yet again been employed (in this case quite literally) during the course of which, the lead pair uncover the truth about life and themselves. However, unlike his earlier works, Highway has less laughter, fun and Bollywood clichés—it is darker and more unconventional. Veera Tripathi (Alia Bhatt), the daughter of a powerful and affluent industrialist, steals away from her lavish wedding preparations with her fiancé one night. She reaches a gas station to catch a break only to miss a bullet and get kidnapped by a group of local criminals who were incidentally robbing the gas station. What she hoped would be

a breather from the claustrophobic ostentatiousness all around her turns out to be a life-threatening and changing experience. Gagged, tied up, physically and almost sexually abused, she is confined by the leader of the group, Mahabir Bhatia (Randeep Hooda). Thus meet the two protagonists of Ali’s story—both belonging to two opposite ends of the societal spectrum with only one thing in common—a damaged soul. Initially frightened out of her wits on having been kidnapped, Veera slowly eases out of her mental turmoil and much to her own amazement starts to enjoy this new road trip she has been led on. She befriends the goonda, sharing her darkest secret and wordlessly soothes his demons and pains. Gradually an understanding and dependence is born out of their mutual desire to help and heal each other that is stripped off all fleshly desires. And just when she feels she has finally found stability in this whirlwind of a ride, there is gunfire yet again. The first one changed her life, the second one changes her. Forever. Highway, undoubtedly has reintroduced Alia Bhatt as an actor capable of serious, power-packed performances much unlike

her debut in Student of the Year. She commands her presence both as the vulnerable runaway bride, the nomad embracing life and most importantly in her monologues where painfully she lays her heart bare or renounces her elite family. Randeep Hooda is perfect as the desi, taciturn, aloof brute who is keen to seek revenge upon the rich as he nurses the wounds of his painful childhood, but is strangely aware of his sins and surrendered conscience. Anil Mehta’s cinematography is breathtaking as we tour the terrains of Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh as are A.R. Rahman’s compositions Patakha Guddi and Maahi Ve. Imitiaz Ali does not disappoint and neither does his expedition— Highway!

The Monuments Men—the story of unsung heroes By Shivpriya Jodha

The Monuments Men is a large scale war film based on a real-life event that took place during World War II. It is a beautiful adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Robert M. Edse. George Clooney effortlessly multitasked as director and actor. He also wrote and produced the movie with the assistance of Grant Heslov. Fred Stokes, played by Clooney, believes there is an urgent need to protect European art, so he gets approval from U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt to form a crew of seven men called The Monuments Men.

Director: George Clooney Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville and Cate Blanchett Run time: 118 minutes

All the actors have done a great job. Clooney’s character begins with his eight-month journey with six other men to protect and reinstate all the famous masterpieces of art to their original habitats. This was highly risky as they went into Europe at the time when the war was coming to an end and all the nations involved wanted those art masterpieces in their hands. Cate Blanchett’s character, Claire Simone, plays an important role in the story as she

is a curator in Paris with a lot of valuable information, but she is reluctant to help James Granger (Matt Damon). So does Claire help the Monuments Men? You will have to catch a show in your nearest theater to know. The sharp editing and cinematography enhance the visual experience of the viewer. In the beginning, Stokes has a policy that no piece of art is worth a man’s life, but within the course of those eight months, which are filled with life-threatening events, high drama, emotion and tragedy, his outlook changes—he starts to feel that art is mankind’s history, which should not be stolen or destroyed by Adolf Hitler or anyone else, but should be held up high to be admired— and so should these brave men. Michelangelo’s Madonna sculpture holds an emotional significance to Clooney’s character: Do these seven brave men succeed in saving Europe’s artistic heritage and make it back home safely? You can get all the answers by watching this great work of cinema. March 2014 | The Beat

REVIEW

Melt your taste buds at Rockstone

Delicious meal @ 1947

By Vaishnavi J. Desai

If you are an ice cream lover and your heart beats fast at the very mention of it, then Rockstone Ice Cream Factory is the place for you to visit.

By Aurosmita Acharya

A more than welcoming ambience greets you at 1947, a vegetarian restaurant located at 15th Main Cross on Margosa Road. 1947 offers a combination of Indian, Chinese and sizzlers that will attract food lovers instantly. It has six varieties of soups to offer, of which the tomato and cheese soup is especially yummy. The list of starters runs for two pages ranging from kebabs to manchurians and tikkas. It treats a food lover like never before. Every bit of it is to be relished.

Rockstone offers a range of never before combinations of ice creams. It mixes two flavors and the taste complements well. Malai Kulfi (an Indian flavor ice cream made of cream) and Jamaican Chocolate proved to be an unusual delight. Many such refreshing flavors are available at Rockstone. The major attraction of the outlet is their special ice cream cake. The six-layered pastry topped with a delicious scoop of ice cream and a fruit is to die for. Butterscotch pastry layered with strawberry ice cream is a hit with the visitors. Black forest cake with chocolate ice cream is another fast-selling item. There are some regular flavors available too for creatures of habit,

It offers a wide rangeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;45 varieties of vegetable curry. The waiters, dressed traditionally, do their best to pamper and serve you. The bhindi do pyaza (stewed okra and onion), jaffrani kofta (potato and cheese balls) and Awadhi veg (mixed vegetables) taste amazing. The names given to the dishes are interesting, like: mushroom taka tin, chilli-milli subzi, veg angara, miloni tarkari and dingri mutter hara pyaz. A variety of dishes made in mushroom and paneer would allure any vegetarian food lover. The only disappointment on the menu was the sizzler, which did not match up to expectations. For rice lovers, 1947 provides a variety of fried rice: Szechuan, onion, corn and more. It has a range of noodles to choose from: American chop suey, American corn noodles, Szechuan noodles, mushroom chilly noodles and stew noodles. There was a sumptuous buffet on offer for both lunch and dinner for Rs.247 per person. On offer were a variety of ice creams, milk shakes and fresh juices. In addition to that there were traditional deserts: rabdi, gulab jamoon, and kulfi. Apart from the food, the most interesting is the 25-page menu, which displays every detail of the ingredients used in the food item. That makes it easier not only for a food lover, but also for those who are choosy in their food habits.

but topped with a bit of twist of course. Oreo cookies with vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream topped with Ferrero Rocher chocolate amuse your taste buds. The ambience of the place is good. It is cool and ongoing with the trend of the present generation. The colorful walls are decorated with vibrant stick notes containing praises for the parlor by customers. The service is quick and too good. The place is a little expensive, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a bad idea to indulge yourself with a buddy.

1947 is a clean place with more than decent food for vegetarians. 1947, #47, 3rd Main, 15th Main Cross, Margosa Road, Malleshwaram, Bangalore 080 41314321

2nd floor, Mantri Square, Malleshwaram, Bangalore 9972823017

Charm point: Hospitality and timely service.

Charm point: The ice creams are excellent, with never-before-seen combinations.

***1/2

***

March 2014 | The Beat

R E S T A U R A N T S

REVIEW

B O O K S

Perpetual city By Sneha Bengani

Malvika Singh Aleph Book Company Rs.295 128pp

THE HISTORIAN WILLIAM Dalrymple has described the book as “A heartfelt love letter to Delhi that is part history, part family memoir and part indignant call to arms,” and rightly so. The author, Malvika Singh, moved from Bombay into the capital city as a young girl with her parents, Romesh and Raj Thapar. She later got married to Tejbir Singh, the grandson of Sir Sobha Singh, one of the principal architects who laid the foundation of New Delhi. This is how she made this “ancient modern metropolis” her permanent home. Born to liberal radicals who were a part of the social elite, Malvika Singh was exposed to influential names and great minds since her childhood. Her memoir of Delhi therefore is studded with illustrious names and events that have changed the course of the history of our nation. Hers is a personal account of Delhi, “this city of my heart,” as she puts it, colored by various incidents that have marked her life and

have had an impact on the city in some way or the other. She traces the evolution of Delhi from a time when it was ruled by the kings to it becoming the national capital that it is today, bursting with ideas and vivacity. In her time travel from the past to the present, she notes various incidents that have been responsible in changing the face of this burgeoning metropolis. Dilli, as Malvika Singh calls it even now, has always been the epicenter of all that has shook the country time and again. From Edwin Lutyens’ city to being the metro capital, Singh expresses her opinion on every change that Delhi has suffered over time, however major or minor. She frowns upon some while affectionately embraces others. She fondly recalls all that the city has lost over the years, the spaces she used to relish in her “young carefree days” and in the process gives the readers all that they need to know about the city – an introduction to places that make Delhi what it is.

The scatter is indeed too great

By Aurosmita Acharya

Bilal Tanweer Random House Rs.350 214pp

The author is observant. He manages to present minute details of the appearances of people and scenes. The presentation is picturesque and helps the readers visualize the characters vividly.

BILAL TANWEER, IN his debut book, paints us a picture of Karachi, the way he sees it, initially with the help of an invisible blackboard and then as a cartoonist.

Every section of the book has a interesting story to tell about the life of people in Karachi. It begins with the story of his father, shifting to Comrade Sukhansaz, who recites poems in a bus, admired by some and mocked by a few.

The story is set against the backdrop of violence in Pakistan’s largest city. The author has managed to gather the scattered pieces from his memory and set them down accurately. The first negative image that is put forth by the author is that of the scattered pieces of a windscreen shattered by a bullet. Tanweer notes down: “That’s the metaphor for my world, this city: broken, beautiful, and born of tremendous violence.” The book begins with subtle narrations of instances from his childhood, the bond he shares with his family and in particular with his father. His emotional connect with his father is deep and is sensitively portrayed through sketches of camels, beaches, clouds and dark nights drawn on the blackboard through the imagination of the father-son duo.

Tanweer’s writing style has brought to life three characters in particular—Comrade Sukhansaz, a communist poet; Sadeq, who retrieves cars from those who fail to pay back their loans; and the writer’s father, who has been a storyteller himself and introduces to the author the concept of drawing on an invisible blackboard.

He presents the everyday urban life experience in a dramatic way. Tanweer manages to congregate the scattered pieces from his memory with those elements of his life that are now lost to the rising violence in Karachi. In the backdrop of a blast he brings forth the existing disharmony through the voices and sounds heard in the vicinity of the city. There is a constant shift of setting from the past to the present and vice versa, which helps the reader look into the Karachi of the past, which is lost in today’s chaos.

Then a woman who narrates magical tales to his little brother in the chapter Turning into Stones, in which she suggests the transformation of people into statues for failing the test of love. It is followed by another visually strong scene of an ambulance driver trying to help the injured after the blast that follows the gunshot. The losses narrated are irreversible and heart-wrenching. The book puts forth an altogether different shade of life in front of us—one that we would never wish to go through in our worst nightmares. In a bigger and broader sense, the scene though set in Karachi reflects the violent global environment in which we all live. March 2014 | The Beat

March 2014 | The Beat