Brew October 2018

VOL-3 ISSUE-04 `100 I OCTOBER 2018

THINK. CREATE. LIVE

36

The Silk Route Going Back To The Roots of Their Craft

E I G H T H ANNIVERSARY

EDITION BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

1

CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. RAJESH JEGANATHAN

& ADVISORY BOARD

CONTRIBUTORS

A young and dynamic medico. He runs RAJESH JEGANATHAN the Dr. prestigious Billroth Hospitals based in Chennai.

CONTRIBUTORS & ADVISORY BOARD

& ADVISORY BOARD THOTA THARRANI

A young and dynamic medico. He runs the prestigious Billroth Hospitals based in Chennai.

This yearTHOTA we enterTHARRANI a bigger dimension, planning across a wider reader base with Thota tharrani a big step forward, this was ignited with a This by yearthe we enter a bigger dimension, planning logo designed and Thota This year we one enter a only bigger dimension, acrossLifestyle a across wider reader base abase big step Tharrani. planning Brew awith heartaextends wider reader with forward, this ignited logolegend designed warming athank you notewith to big was step forward, thisathe was ignited withbya the one designed the one Brew and only Thota and only Thotaby Tharrani.

Lifestyle extends a himself forlogo his incessant contributions.

Tharrani.

Brew thank Lifestyle a heartheartwarming you extends role to the legend warming thank you note to the legend for his incessant contributions. himself for his incessant contributions.

VEEJAY Veejay Sai SAI

An award-winning writer, editor, and a culture critic.

He has written and published extensively on Indian SAI writer, editor and a An VEEJAY award-winning classical music, fashion, theatre, food and art.

himself

culture critic. He has written and published extensively on Indian classical music, An award-winning writer, fashion, theatre, food and art. editor and a

ASHOK VERGHESE

culture critic. He has written and published extensively on Indian classical music, fashion, theatre, food and art.

ASHOK VERGHESE

He is the Ashok directorVerghese of Hindustan group of institutions, the pioneering He is one the of director of Hindustan group of educational groups in the country.

He educational is group groups He is the director of Hindustan instituions,one of the pioneering a big supporter and cause for promoting ofin the institutions, one pioneering country. He is aofbig the supporter and cause for young talent in art andgroups music.in the country. He is educational

Vita Dani

Passionate about grassroots development of sport in India.

She co-owns VITA DANIChennayin FC, Chennai’s football team in the ISL and Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), VITA DANI India’s first-ever professional table tennis league.

Passionate about grassroots development

promoting young talent in art and music.

a big supporter and cause for promoting young talent in art and music.

of sport in India. She co-owns Chennayin grassroots development FC, Passionate Chennai’s about football team in the ISL and of sport in India.

She(UTT), co-owns Chennayin Ultimate Table Tennis India’s firstG ever Venket Ram football FC, Chennai’s teamleague. in the ISL and professional table tennis

Anil Jain ANIL JAIN

Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), India’s A leading Indian fashion photographer whofirsthas ever professional table tennis shot principle photography stills for league. several notable firms. He quit his engineering studies to work with cinematographers for a while, after which he joined G VENKET RAM a course in visual communicationa at Loyola College.

He then with photographer Sharada Haskar G worked VENKET RAM A in leading Indian his fashion photographer who and 1993, started own studio.

An intensive design to succeed and redefine the

ANIL JAIN parameters of success. Anil Jain was always cut to be

andesire Entrepreneur takingand an active interest in Business An Intensive to succeed redefine the parameters of success, Anil was right from andesire early to age.

HeJain is the promoter An Intensive succeed and redefine of Refex always cutthe outparameters to be Ltd; an Entrepreneur, taking industries Refex Trading(s) Pvt.Jain Ltd, was and Anil Jain of success, Anil an active always interest right from taking cut in outBusiness to be an Entrepreneur, investments. an early age.

He is interest the promoter or Refex an active in Business right from industries anLtd; Refex Trading(s) Pvt. Ltd, early age. He is the promoter or Refex and Anil Jain Investments. industries Ltd; Refex Trading(s) Pvt. Ltd,

has Ashot principle photography stills who for leading Indian fashion photographer several films. He quit his engineering has notable shot principle photography stills for several films.cinematographers He quit his engineering studies to notable work with for Aruna Sairam studies to work with cinematographers for a while, after which hePadma joinedShri a course in A winner of the prestigious award.

She a while, after which he a course in visual communications at joined Loyola College. is the vice-chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi visualworked communications at Loyola College.

He then with photographer Sharad which is then India’s premier national institution for He with photographer Sharad Haskar and worked in 1993, started his own studio.

and Anil Jain Investments.

Neeru Nanda

A graduate of Delhi university and a passionate NEERU writer.

NANDA She was a free-lanced feature writer for NEERU NANDA ten years before switching to publishing. Author of a collection of short stories titled ‘IF,’ she has also A graduate of Delhi University and a . on novels and short stories for childreen Aworked graduate of Delhi University and a

and in 1993, started hisof own studio. music Haskar and dance.

Ms. Sairam is one India’s most renowned ambassdor’s for music successfully taking ARUNA Indian music to SAIRAM theSAIRAM International arena.

ARUNA

passionate writer. She was a free-lanced passionate writer. She was a free-lanced feature writer forwriter ten years before feature for ten yearsswitching before switching to publishing.

Author ofAuthor a collection of shortof short to publishing. of a collection stories titled “IF”, she has also worked on stories titled “IF”, she has also worked on novels andnovels shortand stories children. shortfor stories for children.

A winner of of thetheprestigious A winner prestigiousPadma Padma Shri Shri award.

SheShe is isthethevice-chairman award. vice-chairman of of the the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademiwhich which isis India’s India’s premier premiernational nationalinstitution institution for for music music dance.

Ms.Ms. Sairam and dance.

Sairamis isone one ofof India’s India’s Dr.and Rajesh Jeganathan most renowned ambassador’s for music, most renowned ambassador’s for music, A young and dynamic medico.

He runs the prestigious successfully takingIndian Indianmusic music to to the the successfully taking Billroth Hospitals based in Chennai. international arena. international arena.

INTERNAL TEAM INTERNAL TEAM TEAM INTERNAL INTERNAL TEAM INTERNAL TEAM

EDITORIAL TEAM EDITORIAL TEAM EDITORIAL TEAM EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITOR & CEO EDITOR & CEO EDITOR & CEO EDITOR & CEO PUBLISHER & CEO Sameer Bharat Sameer Bharat RamRam Sameer Bharat Ram Sameer Bharat Sameer Bharat RamRam Sameer Bharat Ram Sameer Bharat Ram

SUB Editor DESIGNERS Akshaya G Aishwarya Sridharan Akshaya G Aishwarya Sridharan Yoheswari Devaraj Akshaya G Aishwarya Sridharan Nanditha Vijayaraghavan Sheeba Grace Devaraj Akshaya GVijayaraghavan Aishwarya Sridharan Yoheswari Nanditha Sheeba Grace Babu Aishwarya Sridharan Dhinesh S John Paul S FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

DESIGNER DESIGNER DESIGNERS

CIRCULATION CIRCULATIONCIRCULATION CIRCULATION CIRCULATION Nanditha Vijayaraghavan Janani SuriGanesh Aishwarya Nanditha Vijayaraghavan Janani Suri Vidhya Anand Sanjana NandithaKanchi Vijayaraghavan Dhinesh Babu S S Dhinesh Babu Nanditha Vijayaraghavan Suri Aishwarya Kanchi Nanditha Vidhya Akshay Sunanda Nanditha Nagaraj D Nanditha Vijayaraghavan Janani Suri Sugendran AnandRamesh Janani Sanjana Ganesh Vijayaraghavan Dhinesh Babu S Vijayaraghavan Dhinesh Babu S Elumalai V V Elumalai Sadakshi Kalyanraman Karthik Keramalu Akila Sridhar Aishwarya Kanchi Sadakshi Kalyanaraman Aishwarya Kanchi Aarathi Arun Veejay Sai Silambarasan Silambarasan Sudipta Dey Roshan Siddharth Sadakshi Kalyanraman Elumalai V Elumalai V Sadakshi Kalyanraman Karthik Keramalu Akila Sridhar Aishwarya Kanchi Sadakshi Kalyanaraman Aishwarya Kanchi Aarathi Arun Veejay Sai Silambarasan Silambarasan John Paul S S John Paul Arathi Arun Gayathri Krishnaraj Padma Darshini Ramana Aarathi Arun Murugahappun Pavithra Babu Akshay Ramesh Aarti Aney Aasha Sriram Vilani Senthamil FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS DESIGNER FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS DESIGNER FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS DESIGNERS

John PaulPaul S S John

SS TT RR AA TT EE GG YY

Aarathi Arun Pavithra Babu Aarti Aney && DD EE SS I I GG NN

Padma Murugahappun Akshay Ramesh Aasha Sriram

Vilani Senthamil

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Date of Publication: 15th of every month

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ISSUE-04

CONTENTS

08

THINK

08 14 18

22

How Hard is it to Stay Sane

Queen of Chess - Harika Dronavalli A Laughing Rao It The Breath and the life of Dhananjayans

COVER STORY

36

44

Golu Galatta

CREATE

22 26 30

36

Rare Musical Instruments

The Silk Route

LIVE

44 48 52

The Tickle Truck Cajoled by a Caravanan Cinema talkies reminiscing the classics

THINKLIVE CREATE FROM THE ARCHIVES WHATS BREWING

65 61

BREW LIFESTYLE

JANUARY 2018

5

BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

BREW BREW LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLEAUGUST JULY 2017 2017

5

ELEGANT CREATIONS FOR THE MARVELLOUS YOU.

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THINK

8

BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

Sudipta Dey

Often directors coalesce with musicians to create short films or music videos but seldom we find a director collaborate with a music composer to generate insightful perception on musical instruments. “Harmony with AR Rahman” brings out this notion in the form of documentary which was released on August 15th. The five-part documentary series, directed by Sruti Harihara Subramanian highlights the nuances and facets of rare musical instruments and traditions in India.

A graduate in Visual Communications, Sruti won the title of Miss.Chennai, runner up along with the titles of Ms.Talent and Ms. Cyber princess in 2002. Since then she has modelled for over 100 brands. She has debuted as an actor with veteran director K.Balachander’s music based TV serial Sahana. She enacted a character specially created and curated by the legendary director.

BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

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Sruti has worked as an assistant to actor/director Revathy in the tele film ‘Verrukku Neer’. She later assisted director Vikram K Kumar on the bilingual feature film Yaavarum Nalam (Tamil) and 13B (Hindi). She assisted director Vishnu Vardhan on a Telugu film ‘Panjaa’. She was the assistant director for British pop icon MIA’s music video ‘Bird flu’ and in Yuvan Shankar Raja’s music video ‘I’ll be there for you’.

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The web-series “Harmony with AR Rahman” has been produced by K. Balachander’s legendary Kavithalaya productions and released in Amazon Prime. Sruti Harihara Subramanian who has great penchant for music and collaborated with musicians in past also, spoke to the Chennai Chronicle at her sumptuous and serene Ashvita Bistro campus about her endeavour and her association with the legendary musician A.R Rahman . Very calm and poised in nature the director gave a comprehensive description about her non-fiction project and her research work that led to this unprecedented genre of harmony and aesthetic piece of creativity.

“My first project was a 73-minute documentary called ‘A Far Afternoon’ on eminent painter Krishen Khanna and it won 2 awards at the 63rd National awards, Best Art and Culture Film and best music for non-feature film”, she said. Previously Sruti Harihara has also worked on a music video that is based on a poem by Rabindranath Tagore ‘Matrimondir Punya Angan’, with hindi lyrics by Javed Akhtar and sang by Kailash Kher.

In a candid conversation the director says, “the producers Kavithalayaa approached me with an idea to do a non-fiction web series on rare musical instruments. Then we started doing research to identify these

rare musical instruments. We had a research team led by art researcher Vaishnavi Ramanathan. We started with a set of interesting instruments, we were looking for one voice, a wind instrument, percussion and a string instrument. It’s after that, that we found the musicians, each with a wonderful story to them. It’s only after a lot of meetings that we picked the final four. With this fact–finding we approached Rahman sir, who was impressed with the research work and agreed to be a part of the project.

It is a five episode documentary series. The response to the video has been very positive and would’nt have been possible without support of Mr Rahman”.

BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

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Sruti Harihara further says geography was another factor because we wanted to make it as diverse as possible. Jamming sessions was another aspect. “When we started shooting in Mumbai with Dagar sir and rudra veena, we had already discussed a format. That’s when Rahman sir said he would get his Continuum fingerboard for the jamming session. The Continuum was an obvious choice because it could match the gamakam of the rudra veena. And by the third and fourth episode, we wanted to stick to this format, where a new instrument would balance an old one. It gave it a new dimension.” she added. The video was shot at the most beautiful places across the country. The background music was bit more dramatic than the usual documentaries. “We could have used the music from the instruments we were featuring for each episode, but I realized the audiences are used to cinematic scores and we needed that to trigger emotions. We treated an instrument like it’s a person, a character, like they are just listening to what we were talking about.

It took eight months for the team to research the instruments. Sruti says that she knew quite a bit about Rahman sir even before starting. He was like a subject in school. “As a fangirl, I wanted to show Rahman in a new manner. Once you get to know him, he is hilarious and there’s a child-like fascination to him. When he is with a music instrument, it’s like he is in a toy store. I wanted to capture that side of him. In fact, he suggested that he could cycle around in one of the episodes. I wanted fans like me to see this whole new side to him, a side I was getting to see because I got the chance to make Harmony”.

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JANUARY 2018

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BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

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THINK

GOLU GALATTA 14 BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

Sadakshi Kalyanraman

The festival of colours, music, dance, devotion and veneration, Navratri is spread over 9 nights and 10 days. It celebrates the different forms of Goddess Durga. Navratri is a festival that upholds feminism.

The victory of Goddess Durga, over the evil Mahishasura is the essence of this carnival. Mahishasura, who underestimated the true power of female form, underwent a penance to remain immortal. To stop him, Goddess Shakti took a very beautiful form of Durga and told him that she would marry him if he defeats her in a battle. The legend has it that they battled for 9 days, and on the 10th day, Durga killed Mahishasura making the 10th day Vijayadashmi, day of the victory.

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Navratri is celebrated in different ways around the country. It is called as Durga Puja in the east of India, Dandiya in the west of our country and Ramlila and Golu in the north and south respectively.

During the period of 9 days, different of Durga, called nav-durga, are worshipped. Her first form, Shailaputri, is the primal energy of the trident Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. She then takes her form as Bhrahmacharini, a beautiful representation of penance and austerity. Chandraghanta, represented as a 10-armed mother riding a lion, is the slayer of evil forces, Kushmanda, literally meaning “little warmth cosmic egg�, she is the creator of the universe. She then becomes Skandamata, the mother of Skanda, or Karthikeya. The next form is Katyayani, the daughter of sage Katyayan and a fierce form of Durga. The seventh form of Durga is Kaalratri. She is represented as death of Kaal (time) and she showcases the other side of life - death. She is and ruthless form of Goddess Durga. She then transforms into Maha Gauri who represents calmness and grants wisdom to her devotees. Finally on the tenth day, she evolves into Siddhidatri, the fulfiller of all the wishes and giver of boons.

In the Southern part of the country, especially in Tamil Nadu, people decorate flight of stairs with beautiful dolls representing their cultural heritage. The idols and dolls are arranged in wood or steel stairs built particularly for this purpose. The themes usually talk about mythology and ancient stories and livelihood of ancestors. As Golu time nears, families make it a ritual to climb and search their lofts. Although these dolls are passed from one generation to the next, it is customary to buy at least one new doll each year. It is also believed that the first three days are dedicated to Goddess Durga, the next three for Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi and the last three for Goddess Saraswati.

This tradition has also become modern and inclusive with the introduction of different varieties of new dolls. There has been a splurge of thematic Golu in the past 10 to 12 years leading to an explosion of revived interest in this tradition. Families have started to place dolls like Ganapati playing cricket, Santa Claus, Virgin Mary, and also of famous personalities like Ms Jayalalitha and Dr MGR. This year, the markets also see the sale of Kumbkaran idol, the brother of Raavan. The festival has gone beyond religion and beliefs and today, it is more of showcasing of creativity and talent. The best part about Golu, is visiting other houses and getting treated by them. It could be called the Indian-version of Halloween but without the scary element.

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Clay or mud ‘bommais’ have been the traditional setup of most families. These intricate dolls are moulded to perfection, baked in the kiln and are carefully hand painted.

The most difficult part about making these dolls is drawing the eyes and giving life to them. Slowly people started buying Plaster-of-Paris dolls and Plastic dolls that took away the rustic beauty of the dolls.

With increasing awareness about sustainable development and using eco-friendly products, Golu-fans have started to make better choices. People have started buying clay dolls and figurines made out of paper mesh. They are easily disposable and are not detrimental to environment.

Instead of giving out plastic bags and boxes, paper bags and boxes are handcrafted and handed put to guests who visit the Golu. The actual stands or stairs are also evolving eco-friendly with the introduction of ‘Eco-friendly Golu Padi’ made out of bamboo or other types of wood. The common return gifts like accessories, clothes and dolls are slowly vanishing and are replaced by small plants to bring out a fragrance of love and happiness when gifted.

The best part about this toy-festival would be visiting friends and family and learning new stories behind their golu theme. It is one easy way to learn mythology and culture. It would be unfair to not mention the array of delicious dishes served during the span of nine days.

Starting from sweets like payasam, kesari to savoury sundals of different varieties, so many eatables are offered to the guests. Navratri Golu is a sure treat both to the eyes and to the appetite.

BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

17

THINK

HOW HARD IS IT TO STAY SANE?

18 BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

Aarathi Arun

What a wonderful season this has been, especially the month of October, seeing the misty monsoons set it setting up a magical canvas, gearing up for the festive season with trip-worthy sales in most of the retail brands.

People are happy and in hope, expecting the turn of the season to bring in good luck, and making their future predictably better.

But is it true and can we accredit the fact undeniably that all people hope for a better life for not only themselves but for those around them as well? It is quite the catch when questioned like that. We were all born the same. FACT! Those tiny little babies with cute little hands and feet and a heart that beats. But as we grow up, each and every single baby that was born every single second from around the world is raised differently and grows up to be the unique person that he/she is. And by unique I not only generalise the physical attributes but the mental and emotional ones to be specific.

We all have a mind of our own and that tries to work in one but many ways, sometimes even against the will of the person who owns it. Nothing is consistent and this unruly mind that once worked in disagreement will come back toits sane self, much unexpectedly. We would have definitely wondered from time to time as to why we said or did certain things that we probably didn’t want to or didn’t plan to do; to which we may never find the answers to. This is the complexity of the single human mind and its unmatched and yet undiscovered darkest secrets that even the most renowned scientists could not decipher. While this is the case, we as normal and simple human beings should start practicing the art of STAYING SANE irrespective of the multiple situations that we come face to face with on a day to day basis.

Every person has a unique and individual way of dealing with things and situations that they are aware of. And another one that only their sub conscious mind knows of. This sub conscious mind that we all know extensively about and even talk about so diligently is something that carries memories that we may have or have not remembered and those that had deeply affected and impacted our lives. They maybe from the recent past that we did not pay attention to in the real world, or from long gone years that we tried to forget, by choice.

The kind of person that we are, starts getting classified based on what we see as an infant, hear as a child and are taught as a teen. Visual medium of communication is the best when it comes to making people remember better when compared to the rest. So, it starts from what we start seeing as a kid in our homes. The kind of environment that we grow up in, the family scenario, the relationship and behaviour amongst family members, all play a major part in the shaping of the individual’ s character.

Most of us, in general, are taught good behaviour, given the right education and shown examples of people who made the right choices in life to make it big and successful. But how many of us are taught what is bad and what not to do?

Were we taught that causing pain to another fellow human being is as bad as causing harm to one self? Were we taught that there is no gender discrimination amongst siblings?

Were we told that not only books and printed knowledge is sufficient to make this world a better place? I wonder!

However hard parenting might have become in these days, I find it rational to say that the kids of the current generation have much more worldly knowledge when compared to their parents, who primarily grew up as per the parentchild manual from a couple of decades ago. Their exposure to everything from what’s happening next door to what might happen in the next galaxy is simply mind blowing and appreciable. Kids use this to their advantage and at times against too, unknowingly. The juvenile terror attacks, both the recent ones and those that have been happening for many years is a topic that is quite far out of my intellectual reach. I tried quite a number of times to justify those horrific acts but ended up in a dark alley. Nothing that any sane mind could think of, will be able to explain the extent of harm these kids committed, guilt-free!

What would they have thought when they picked up that rifle and decided to open random fire on innocent people? My heart froze when those horrific videos were being shown from the children’s mobiles when caught inside the school while the attack took place. What could have been going on in their minds when the children decide to give up their lives in the name of jihad? How will they explain this act of destruction to their family? What about youngsters joining antisocial and extremists’ groups in the name of religion and cultural guardians? Do they pause for a minute to rethink and realise that they are none to judge and condemn another human being, irrespective of caste, creed or religion?

This is not what is taught in the Quran or the Bible or the Gita. All the religions preach equality and humanity. It is the wrong-minded people who started using this cover in turning the world’s attention away from them. To make people not discover the reality in crimes such as these and the real perpetrators behind them.

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We as people should be taught to live in harmony, respect and safeguard one another from the common enemy instead of trying to protect ourselves from each other. The world that we live in is an excellent example for compatible living. We all share the earth, the land the water and all. Our planet would not be the same if it was all land or all water. The true joy of living exists in empathetical existence.

If that much is there to be talked about the children of today, leading a sane adult life is no less hard. Take an averagefairly well-educated individual for example, who leads a life in a metro with responsibilities of a spouse, parent, etc to start with.

Given the worldly exposure and self-right and conscious mind that does not allow oneself to contemplate and disrespect the law of one’s land, he/she finds it terribly hard to cope with those who are nothing close to what was mentioned above.

Patience is a virtue that seems to have been lost today among many. This, which is considered as one of the best virtues if lost, is surely a solid reason for the mind to turn insane. Ever wondered as to why we are not able to find and follow that? We

20 BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

have all learnt to play one game in this wild run.

And mark my words, we have learnt to play it well and mastered it too. The Blame Game. We have aced this one and found it much to our convenience.

This has become the backdoor entry to throw away our responsibilities and act selfishly. In this over-exposed and highly competitive world, each man tries his best to beat the rest in the imaginary race. Result: hatred, vengeance, enmity, etc. People today have forgotten to share and care. Various reasons can be cited to this disappointing change but only we are responsible for it too. The blame cannot be laid on the unknown.

So, whose fault is it then? Why are people so indifferent? Who is to be held responsible for the status of people’s behavioural attitude in general today? Why has it come to this? When and where did the change come about? And how do we correct it?

Too many questions that boggle our minds and very less resources to find their answers from. This is the condition of our lives currently. We must teach ourselves as adults, to walk around the problem that is bigger than our existential phenomenon and try to find the solution by looking outside the box. No, this is not running away. This is to try and focus. If each individual start correcting their wrongs and start turning them into rights, a positive change is sure to come. All that positivity will channel itself together and probably make the world a better place to live in.

I was a fighter, I still am. I argue when it comes to being questioned for trying to lead a righteous life. But I do not deter from my decisions. I stick to them and try my best to spread that thought around. It is quite a task to do that without being bullied. But, we must derive at a plan to carry on whilst riding alongside the thought line of those ignoramus. This is the only way one can stay sane amidst the not-so-sane world that we get to share today. We have a beautiful world that we are blessed with. We get

to help those when in need and inculcate love, truth, compassion and conduct. There are plenty of people who still are unaware of the fact that they live in a planet with other technologically advanced clans and that life is so

much more easier for the rest.

Let us learn to appreciate the goodness around us. Let us start neglecting the negativity. We are all one, after all!

BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

21

CREATE

Queen of Chess Harika Dronavalli

22 BREW LIFESTYLE I October 2018

Sunanda Sugendran

“When you are lonely, when you feel yourself an alien in the world, play Chess.

This will raise your spirits and be your counsellor in war” – Aristotle

Chess is perceived as a game loved by tedious geeks. But Harika stands out of the crowd. Eloquent, vibrant, and elegant, Harika Dronavalli comes through as somebody who is thoughtful about her career, and also knows how to have fun.

Unlike cricket, football, or athletics, chess is professed as a boring game by many. However, besides with keenness of mind, chess is also a sport that demands physical fitness, continuous training and perseverance.

An aficionada of Hungary’s legendary Judith Polgar, Harika started playing the game since her childhood. Growing up in Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur, she started playing chess for fun which soon turned out into a passion. In 2016, she won the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix event at Chengdu, China and she moved ahead in the ranking from number 11 to number 5 in FIDE women’s ranking and the only woman after Koneru Humpy to make it to the top 10.

At the age of 17 she was honoured with the Arjuna award for the year 2007 – 08 and became a Grandmaster in 2011.

Harika won the bronze medal in the World Chess Championship in Tehran in 2017, which was by the way her third bronze at the World Championships.

“Nothing is impossible. If u believe you can achieve” is her success mantra. She continues to make all the right moves on the black and white board to make her dream of becoming World No 1 a reality.

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Rendezvous with the Queen of Chess Harika Dronavalli…

Q. Is it necessary to have a higher IQ to be a chess player?

Q. What do you when you are not playing chess?

Q. When did the love for Chess started for you?

Not at all. Little hard work would do.

I watch movies, listen to music, read books and cook.

I started playing chess unknowingly and I played it as my profession. But actually I started loving chess recently.

Q. Was becoming a chess player your childhood dream?

Nope. Chess happened to me accidentally.

Q. How is the support for the sport (chess) in the country?

Support is decent but still a lot more is needed. Specially for chess, we do get lot of respect for the game but as not many people can understand the game well, it becomes difficult for many to connect with the games and follow. So the value of our hard work and achievements are little lowered.

Q. If not a chess player what would have you been?

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Q. Your inspiration?

I do believe that you can get inspiration from many things and people around us. If I have to pick a person from chess then it would be Judith Polgar from Hungary.

Q. Life motto?

Nothing is impossible. If u believe you can achieve.

Q. Any memorable moment in your sporting career?

When I received the Arjuna award at the age of 17.

Q. How do you handle win and loss?

I just try to concentrate on preparing for my next games and try not to think about the completed ones. But still it’s pretty hard to handle losses.

Q. You started playing chess in 1998 from then till now how things have changed, has chess been well received in India?

In general people’s perspective towards sports has changed in all these years. They do consider it as a very serious profession nowadays compared to earlier times.

Q. What’s the craziest thing you do while you travel, heard you used to carry a cooker during your initial stages of travelling?

Yes I do carry my electric cooker with me and I cook my own food in the hotel rooms without their knowledge...

Q. Describe Harika in one word?

Ambitious

Q. You spend almost half the year travelling, when do you get to spend time with your family?

I don’t get much time. In fact I am trained in such a way since childhood to invest as much time as possible on chess so even at home I don’t get to spend much time. You do need to do certain sacrifices to achieve something big. Definitely I lost my social life to an extent.

Q. Your word of advice to all the kids who are aspiring to be a chess player?

Believe in yourself, work hard and aim high.

Q. What’s in store for your fans in future?

Suspense

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CREATE

A Laughing Rao-it?

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Gayathri Krishnaraj

Born in Hyderabad, brought up in Chennai, Arnav is now a Bangalore based comic who shot up tp fame as a contestant in the Amazon Prime Original, Comicstaan. A childhood that was one filled with laughter with his father and uncles getting together with the whole purpose of to try and make everyone laugh. That's how Arnav discussed politics, religion and even death, with laughter.

His father has been buying him uncensored stand up DVDs since he was 14 years old. Arnav grew up watching the stand-up comedy scene shape up over the formative years.

Believing that he lacked any singing or dancing ability, when asked to perform at gatherings of friends and family, He’d do stand up.

“My first open mic was Friday the 13th, May 2016 and it was truly an ominous start! Ever since that day I knew what I was going to do with the rest of my life.” Reminisces Arnav Speaking to Arnav further about Comedy and Comicstaan, here is what an exhilarated Arnav has to say: What do you think is special about you when it comes to comedy?

I think that I’ve been fortunate to have been exposed to stand up very early on and with my mother being a travel writer, I had the opportunity to travel the world (albeit as excess baggage).

The exposure that I have received has made me a comedy audience since the age of 14 and I think that allows me to approach my premises with varied perspectives. I’ve had the privilege of thinking global from a very young age and I think it’s why I try to write jokes that are universal and in English so the joke can also travel.

How would you analyse the different audiences of the cities you have performed for?

For the large part, I believe that there isn’t much difference in terms of the kind of material that works. However, certain cities are still nascent in terms of the audience understanding stand up conceptually while some others have had a thriving scene for longer and therefore this art form works better or is more viable.

Give us a brief about your experience at Comicstaan Comicstaan was essentially an artist’s retreat with a busy schedule.

The format pushed us to write new jokes in short spans and as a writing exercise it really made me a better comic. The great advantage was that all of us contestants are very different comedians in terms of style and substance so everybody was helping everybody put out a great show.

Who is your favourite mentor and why?

It’s hard to pick one because they all were very warm and encouraging not to mention the fact that they were treating us like colleagues more than mentor-mentee. But the ones who stood out for me were Biswa, Naveen and Kaneez. Having never done Improv before, Kaneez’s workshop was simply awesome and loads of fun. Naveen’s mentoring for sketch was very real, his feedback was always on point, personally it could have seemed harsh but that was neither his intention nor was he ever wrong. I’ll never be able to forget the way Biswa defended me in Episode 2, it was great fun just hanging out with him and riffing.

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Who was your favourite competitor and why?

Again, hard to pick one, but Shunky and Rahul were simply awesome. On stage the level of destruction was jealousy inducing and off stage they’re amongst the nicest people you’ll ever meet that you feel bad for internally cursing how good they are.

What do you think is your biggest take away from the comicstaan experience?

I have all the judges phone numbers.

What do you think was your biggest barrier in the comedy scene?

I think right now there is a real battle for stage time. There are loads of comedians and the scene is growing and you have to hustle if you need to get stage time. I feel that now things are slightly better placed for me personally, but you have to hustle for stage time because there are so many deserving people and the only thing that makes you a better comic is stage time.

What is your advice to budding comics?

Stage time!!! Relentlessly get on stage as often as you can and self-edit, that’s the only way to improve as a comic. Also, never ask for advice from comedians, they’re figuring it out for themselves too!

Arnav has been a full-time comedian since September 2016. He is currently working on an one hour special. His focus is now is getting the special tighter and better. There are a few big projects that are coming his way in terms of writing and acting, but the nature of the game means they are progressing slowly and Arnav has his fingers crossed.

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CREATE

The Breath & The Life of The Dhananjayans

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Akshay Ramesh

Dance.

Be it a function, a festival, an event or a gathering or some kind, from the historic era to the modern era, there has never been one without dance. If someone asked you to list down some of the famous dancers from India, you would come up with names like Rukmini Devi Arundale, Shovana Narayan, Mallika Sarabhai etc., But if someone asked you to name a famous couple that dances together you would probably come up with only one name.

The Dhananjayans.

V.P. Dhananjayan and Shanta Dhananjayan are the legendary dancing couple from India who have made their mark way before in the 80s to 90s time itself.

V.P Dhananjayan is from Kerala and his father went to his Guru in Kalakshetra and asked him to take any of his sons as his disciple. The Guru, a Kathakali Master named “Chandu Panicker� purely on instinct chose him and his brother and took them both to Kalakshetra.

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Shanta Dhananjayan, on the other hand, started to learn dance from the age of 3 and by then her parents had decided to make her join in Kalakshetra. Hailing from Malaysia, she was transported to an all-new place at the age of eight. V.P. Dhananjayan studied there on a scholarship whereas Shanta Dhananjayan did not.

In 1960, V.P. Dhananjayan left Kalakshetra to set a mark for himself in the then outside world, at a time when only the wealthy people would spend money doing dance shows around in Chennai. When he first came out to the real world, he felt as if he was let out into a dark forest with his eyes blindfolded. Everyone he met told him that for a male dancer to survive in the then current scenario was very difficult. The biggest question mark that existed for him was that “How was he going to get a stage to perform and how were the people going to acknowledge his dancing?�

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At this point, Shanta was still in Kalakshetra, studying and honing in on her skills. Meanwhile, V.P. Dhananjayan started working in a corporate company while personally teaching dance in his free time. No one knew about this and soon this became difficult to manage, both of them at the same time. He started to look out for places to perform more vigorously. Sabhas at that time were seldom functioning and they rarely encouraged male dancers, sometimes commenting in a sarcastic tone as to who will watch a guy dance. They would say that he could come and perform for free but Mr Dhananjayan chose not to.

He was very stubborn in his principles and would therefore only perform if he was given the diligent cost for it. When called as a person who is being Money Minded, he rebutted by saying that his dance is his career, his job etc. and that he would not dance without getting the money for it.

In 1968, he started his famous school “Bharata Kalanjali”. Even though the idea originated from Mr Dhananayan himself, his wife, even though she was still in Kalakshetra supported her to the maximum effort possible. They had only one student at that time, a girl student who was the daughter of their close friend.

Mr Dhananjayan used to come home from the office and then take classes from 6-8 pm. But the main reason as to why people started joining was because at that time they had a freshness to the way they approached dance.

At that time, Kalakshetra did not have many foreign students under them that they were teaching. Even if the students came, they had a very short course in Kalakshetra. This was not satisfactory enough for the foreign students. When they heard about this school and also about the fact that the teachers themselves were from Kalakshetra, the students after finishing their short course would come and directly join here. This let them enhance their abilities in dancing and also let them gain new ideas and different ways of imagination.

the teacher became the teacher, parent and Guru at the same time. Also, if there was only a male teacher, the parents would have been hesitating to leave their kids with him. But since both the Dhananjayans were there, the parents did not hesitate to let the kids study under them. The sense of security was accomplished when both of them were present there. This made the kids also trust the teachers like their own parents. Even though they were strict when it comes to studies, they still made sure the students got a lot of love and freedom from the teachers.

Another reason why students joined their school was that they felt that they could learn more than they learnt in Kalakshetra, while also having a more understanding teacher whose presence was comforting.

They were liberal about their teaching methods and the knowledge was not restricted or short. They were taught with a syllabus that was neither defined but also was very flexible. But the one problem that any classroom would encounter was the lack of one-to-one interaction that the teachers have with students. Normally in a classroom, the interaction would be restricted and therefore the knowledge too.

They became so close to the Dhananjayans that they sometimes would handle the student’s personal problems, problems that arose due to the student passing through their teen years. Some students would be a rebel at home and the parents would come and tell them that their child is not behaving properly. In turn, the Dhananjayans would teach the student, lovingly and in their own manner as to what is right and what is wrong. The Mother’s love came from Mrs Dhananjayan and the strictness of a Father came from Mr Dhananjayan. This developed a strong bond between the student and the teacher which lead to the school developing even more.

But that was not the case here. They focused more on the one-to-one interaction rather than as a class. This led to a much further evolution of the students and let them bloom properly with age. The teachers were like parents here. It was like

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The biggest thing about the school was there was no discrimination between what caste the student was.

Creed, caste, religion and origin was not looked at and all types of students were taken in. Sometimes the parents would come to them saying, that my child is not good in studies so teach him to dance. What the parents thought that there was nothing to learn in dance, but actually there was.

They managed to change the thinking of the parents and also made the students good at dance and studying.

By the time the school was developing, the couple also started to do dance programs. One such combination was folk dance and classical. They chose folk as the folk dance was very colourful. So they got everything together and made a show called "Aikkiya Bharatam". It roughly translates to "United India'.

The program was a huge success and people that this was a very good program. They started to perform the show in Marriages and Kutcheris.

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When asked what Dance is to them both, they replied in Unison saying "My word, my breath, my life is Dance." People used to tell them that keep art as art, don't make it a profession. But they rebutted by saying that I have made it as my profession and therefore I will ask payment for it. When asked about what they teach in dance, they said that they teach the basics that are required for dancing. But after teaching the basics, they taught the students as to how to enhance these techniques by drawing in inspirations from other kinds of dance.

They taught how to be creative, how to be flexible in their dance while maintaining the value of your own dancing.

They started making dance programming with different themes such as The Jungle Book, Mahabharata, Environmental Issues, Smoking, drug-related issues. Through their dance, they showed to the public the cause and effects of such issues and also portrayed other issues in a different manner.

One thing that everyone forgets is how tough it is to stage a program, especially a dance program. The backstage preparation for the dance program was as important as the dance itself. In the backstage, there was a lot of mental pressure that accompanied with the preparation for the dance program itself. No matter how many times you go on the stage, no matter how many times you perform the same dance, there will always be the same level of excitement mixed with nervousness.

The reason for this is that they will always have to select the right kind of item for the dance. They had to read scriptures from other languages, translate it, teach it to themselves, practice a lot. Not only did they do that, but they also made the musicians get accustomed to their dancing and their rhythm. The musicians would stay with them till the practice used to get over.

Except for Kalakshetra, outside it, they had no proper lighting and types of equipment required for a programme. They also applied make-up for their own students and also taught the students how to apply it for themselves. When it came to applying make-up for themselves, they did not hire anyone else but rather just looked at the mirror and did it themselves. They started to use new ideas and new costumes that were specialized for that particular dance.

Seeing us do it, lots of other people also inspired from us and started to do the same.

The school completed 50 years as of October 2018. When asked about it they still were not able to believe as to how far the school has come. From having just one student to have a lot of students now, it all just looked so nostalgic to them. They did so many programmes that they were called as trendsetters and were almost competing with the alma maters Kalakshetra. This was due to the different themes they took via Mahabharatam, Political drama etc.

They credit their success to Kalakshetra as the school was the reason for their rocksolid base in dancing.

Coming into the modern era, we recently saw them in the infamous Vodafone Ad as a couple called "Asha and Bala" who go to Goa for the first time. When asked about how this came into play, it was a momentous decision, where their son got a call asking his parents to act in an Ad for Vodafone. The Dhananjayans agreed thinking that they would just hold up a product and advertise it, but what happened was the complete opposite. The reason they accepted so graciously was that just a week before they got the call, they had been talking about going to Goa as they hadn't visited it yet.

When Prakash Verma heard that the company was going to book the Dhananjayans, he got excited and told the company to book them immediately, without any questions. A guy from Bombay immediately came and got the approval by the same night. The feeling of going from the director to being directed by someone else was something that was very exhilarating. The first scene at the train station was very confusing, as they were clueless as to what they were going to do.

They got the freedom they needed as the director was very open. They just give a situation and also a few dialogues and were told to just act naturally in ways that only they wanted to. There was no voice-over and no rehearsals. They just had to do the take on the spot. Even though the costumes differed to what they wore usually, they were told to adapt to the role of Asha and Bala. They did not want the ad to become a typical celebrity endorsed advertisement.

When they pulled it off in one go, the whole acting crew was very surprised.

The Ad went on to become a huge hit and even after it, the Dhananjayans still continue their work in art and dance. They are still going well beyond their limits.

They currently reside in their own house in Adyar, Chennai.

Teaching, giving out love and making young students blossom into mature adults.

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COVER

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The

Silk Route

Going Back To The Roots of Their Craft

Nanditha Vijayaraghavan

Someone wise once said, often it’s impossible to know where you are headed without reflecting on where you came from. In that respect, understanding your heritage, your roots and your ancestry forms an integral part of carving out your future.

That, is a far-sighted sentient process, at the core of which the heritage-creativity interplay is strategic. It operates at all levels and involves all components of the value chain, integrating creation, design, production and communication.

It works by creating an artistic synergy and sparkles the sartorial imagination to write new stories and visions.

Faulkner was evoking the American South when he said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” But the same could be said for this moment in visual arts globally, particularly in India. This emerging fascination with history may have a lot to do with our current moment — the past has so much to offer in uncertain times. When we connect to the work that came before ours, we gather clues about how we arrived here; we glimpse the arc of history, and we can imagine where it might be curving.

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Photo Credits : Sumanthkumar

“The idea was to revive the 500 year-old richness and sheen of Kanchivaram silk and weave it into the perfect ensemble for today’s modern, confident woman!

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I wanted the images to speak of a place that we have all been to at some time in our lives. That place we return to more and more frequently with the passing of time. A place we call ‘nostalgia�, says Venket.

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And the Fashion industry is currently one of the forerunners in this transformative revolution of going back to its roots. Select designers from across the globe are reinventing their brands’ sartorial archetypes along with their aesthetic canons, values, and imaginaries, by rethinking them in a current, modern, and blended way. They are proposing new visions and meanings, experiencing original processes and approaches, putting social and cultural issues into design’s philosophy, injecting new savoir-faire into design process, or even bringing creativity and youthful culture into the brand’s legacy. In doing so, they reinvent heritage as modern design.

Fashion in India, in its look and feel, continues to be a part of the cultural fabric of the country today away from the uniformly prescribed code of global fashion. Free from the burden of fashion history, new age designers in India are building successful partnerships with artisans where the artisans become true beneficiaries in the business.

Meaning and value in the creation is being drawn from the collective strength of skill, technique, and resources along with experiences.

One such forward-thinking designer is internationally-acclaimed, Chennai-based designer, Chaitanya Rao, who plays a key role in a growing breed of evangelists using their collections to promote Indian techniques, materials and weaving. His attempt is not only to contribute to the livelihood of local weavers but to also reinvent the wheel on fashion that takes him back to his roots in Tamil nadu. Growing up in the city of Chennai, Chaitanya draws heavy inspiration from the rich history and foundation of Tamil culture.

While looking into the future, he aims to turn this cultural heritage (archives, ateliers, savoir-faire, values and imaginaries) into a competitive tool for brand identity, a cultural capital to spend into the highly competitive context of the global fashion and luxury industry.

“The idea was to revive the 500 year-old richness and sheen of Kanchivaram silk and weave it into the perfect ensemble for today’s modern, confident woman! If it is Benarasi silk in the North, then it is Kanchivaram silk in the South. Like everything else from antiquity, the Kanchivaram silk too has a legend woven around it and so it’s time to bring a much-deserved spotlight onto our Kanchi fashion roots”, asserts Chaitanya.

And who better to bring his newfound fancy for silk to life than his muse, the young, beautiful, Chennai-based model and Miss Diva 2017 pageant winner, Shraddha Shashidhar. Hailing from a disciplined army background, Shraddha always dreamt of winning the crown and making her country and family proud. Apart from her scholastic achievements, the 22-year-old is a sprinter, national and state-level basketball player, trained classical dancer and travel enthusiast.

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“

As a strong advocate of conscious clothing and natural sustainable fabrics, Chaitanya believes that design and styling are an important part of the visual storytelling process today. Having organized and led several award-winning fashion shows and styled mainstream actors from the Tamil film industry, he is currently focusing his creative energies towards a new line of Kanchipuram silk based collection that balances the traditional and modern facets of styling magically perfect.

“Growing up in a humble army household, I held a massive ambition of representing India at a global platform someday. I believe it was my sheer conviction, belief in my own self and persistent hard-work that helped me reach where I’m today. I feel extremely humbled with the immense support I’ve received not only from peers but also from established artists who are helping me carve a niche towards a career in the entertainment industry”, says Shraddha.

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Shraddha is particularly excited about Chaitanya’s new line of silk because it resonates deeply with her own individual sense of connectivity to her South Indian culture and heritage. She proudly attributes her naturally evolved creative instincts and bent of mind to her family where she was blessed to be raised amongst a generation of creative artists, philosophers, writers and journalists. She is currently being mentored by some of the big-wigs of the film fraternity in Mumbai to groom and prepare her for bigger challenges and opportunities in the performing arts, specifically cinema and television.

“The shoot spot was handpicked to align with the concept of conscious clothing, theme of traditional silk with a modern twist and subtlety of colours and shades. I wanted the images to speak of a place that we have all been to at some time in our lives. That place we return to more and more frequently with the passing of time. A place we call ‘nostalgia”, says Venket.

“

“

To complete this triangle of perfection came in award-winning Chennai-based artist and photographer, Venket Ram, for who understanding the potentiality of a creativityheritage interplay is not new. An acute and passionate observer of fashion and lifestyles of youth cultures, he has time and again documented through photography what is happening all around him with a real ethnographic sensitivity. His work is constantly inspired by what is about to come. To bring alive Chaitanya’s designs and Shraddha’s elegance, Venket simply went back to the basics with his compelling imagery and diverse sense of light.

The final images of this choreographed creativity speak of a thousand things. They speak to the viewer about a shared condition, a state of mind, an inner feeling. A recognisable feeling. They ignite the human subconscious need for nostalgia. The comfort of nostalgia. The spiritual affirmation of nostalgia. The safety of nostalgia. Like they say, sometimes you have to restart, sometimes you just need to track back your steps to identify the moments in time when you felt satisfied with what you were doing. They have all been fascinated by the transformation of human beings as such, self-acceptance and personal will for change and regeneration. What widely influences the three of them every single of their busy lives is then reflected in their creative output and workflow: “It is important to know yourself, to know what you want in life and what forms you as a person, to understand your roots. Simultaneously, it is necessary to look around without being limited. And work hard!”, they say in unison.

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LIVE

the tickle truck Besant Nagar Dharshini Ramana

As the name says the truck has also a little funky style. If you venture out to the Besant Nagar beach for a walk in the evening or a casual meet-up with friends, you cannot miss this, little ice cream truck parked near the promenade. This colourful truck attracts a lot of crowds.

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As you walk a little ahead of the Mash café, it is lodged at the intersection and has been getting a massive footfall over the last few months, since the time it launched. The Tickle Truck is for all those who love popsicles and ice-creams. It is an initiative by Barath Jaiyanth who worked as an Assistant Director in the movie Imaika Nodigal along with his

friends Jesvin Prabu and Shanmuga Pandiyan and the ice-creams are created by chef Koushik who are also in the cine field as editor and colourist.

“It was totally a different ice-cream experience. Their cool and funky setup made me want to taste their popsicles and I was not at all disappointed. They have too, many flavors to temp us and each favor is a bomb. After a hectic day, Bessy’s breeze and tickle truck’s ice can be the best solution”, says Anandi.

Special about Tickle Truck? “I wanted to sell something unique. Something that is different from other ice cream outlets. So, then I decided to go with popsicles, nitrogen ice creams, ice cream soda and sundaes and next month we are going to launch the long-awaited Ticklewiches (ice cream sandwiches)”, said Barath.

Barath explained “From childhood I was attracted by the concept of ice cream trucks. From then I wanted to start one”.

He also added, the responses from the people are very good. Chennai people are new to this ice cream truck concept. People are interested to buy something from this truck the moment they see it. Attracted by the colorful design and unique menu people are really appreciating it.

As the sun sets on Besant Nagar beach, crowds flock to the truck to watch ice-cream being made.

We watch liquid nitrogen being blended into vanilla-flavored milk and Aavin pal khoa: a delicious mass of Therattipal - flavored ice-cream emerges in minutes. There are currently 10 flavors available, with plans to launch a gulab jamunflavored one soon.

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You can see both young and old walk around licking their bright sticks; the flavors include mojito, buttermilk, pomegranate, mango, and jamun, among others. In the evening we can find the truck with all the fairy lights which basically attracts the kids and teenagers.

“An innovative venture with different flavours drifting from the stereotypical taste, tickling as well. Connoisseurs would definitely find this amazing”, says Joshina Rozario Why the name Tickle the theme? “Our unique and unusual flavors are sure to tickle your taste buds and moreover, the idea of

popsicles brings a smile on everyone’s face.

So, we chose this name”, says Prabu.

“I wanted something magical, a surreal world made of all the things we sell. So, we came up with tickle travelling I a frozen wonderland”, explains Barath.

The price rate ranges from Rs.30 – 150.

Commuters feel that the price to be very reasonable. The Tickle Truck is stationed at the 32nd cross street, Besant Nagar (close to Spaces), from 5 pm to 11 pm on all days except Mondays.

The price rate ranges from Rs.30 – 150.

Commuters feel that the price to be very reasonable. The Tickle Truck is stationed at the 32nd cross street, Besant Nagar (close to Spaces), from 5 pm to 11 pm on all days except Mondays.

The savory ice cream of Australia and America makes its appearance in India now.

The venturesome trio is trying to sell savory flavored ice creams with a pinch of salt and spice to them. The people who have been to this tickle truck says that the varieties of ice creams here tickles your taste buds. Ice creams are made with the natural products, fruits for ice creams and popsicles.

Unique flavors: Savoury popsicles with masala sprinkled on it.

Spicy buttermilk popsicle.

Mojito pops with masala sprinkled on it.

Enigmatic charcoal is a one of a kind flavors and the coconut shaving on the top made the popsicle a favorite.

The Phenomenal pomegranate feels like biting the fruit.

Tall blue Ice cream sodas are yet another unique flavor.

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LIVE

Cajoled by a Caravan Roshan Siddharth

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The story of a startup that’s changing what travel meant There was a recent surge on Facebook of photos almost half a century old. It let us insight into a past where people were just living.

And by living, it means living. They just didn’t care about what the world, as dictated by society, was around them. In fact their biggest request to the world was peace. The regular world, or society, saw them as a threat, as they challenged the status quo of life. They took to christening this group of carefree, living the life youths the ‘Hippies’. The photos were from a music and arts festival called Woodstock.

One common recurrence in those photos was the Volkswagen type 2, or the VW Camper. The vehicle was a popular icon of the time. And has since been a representation of hippies since. For example, the van from Scooby Doo (yes shaggy was a hippie that spoke to a great dane). The hippies loved this for its convenience. They turned this into a house on wheels with whatever they needed to live. The camper became a symbol of freedom. The photos from Woodstock have left us yearning to just take a van ang hit the tarmac and stop when the fuel gets over. It was all a distant dream. Until, now.

Here is the story of 2 young, vibrant travelers, who lived, dreamt and followed their hearts. Meet Sanjana and Vathasala, the founders of ‘Trippy Wheels’, the nation’s first Caravan rental service. Yes, driving down to Goa in a caravan is a reality. ‘Trippy Wheels’ was started in 2018 by the traveler-entrepreneur duo after looking for and realizing what wanderlust in India needed.

Since its beginning the service has been trending on social media and people from all over the country have been making enquiries, requests and booking from across the country.

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The idea came from one trip while in Europe that sparked a love for the caravan.

Sanjana, who was doing her masters and decided to attend the Urkult festival.

“With no plans or transport to get back, I decided to hitchhike my way back to Stockholm. To my luck a woman, and her toddler, on a caravan gave me a ride. I was amazed to see a woman with a toddler on a caravan living the high life. The caravan had everything they needed: beds, closets, a kitchenette and radio. It was the perfect commemoration of everyone’s wishful thought: to live, as they travel” she narrates.

After that ride, she repeatedly had trysts with caravans. When a friend bought

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a caravan- a classic ’69 Mercedes, she helped him fix it. The caravans look, needs and fitment were the brainchild of Sanjana.

This was followed by more trips on the caravan. Later that year, Vathsala did a 10 Euro trip. Her entire trip was done in a caravan. Sanjana joined her on the trip and they girls braved it out on a caravan living the Woodstock dream. They stayed at trailer/caravan parks, met different people and had an enriching experience.

When Sanjana came back, she discussed the idea with Vathsala and they both mulled over it. But for a dream to come true, all it takes is a leap of faith. They took the plunge. And they took it deftly. “Initially, I thought India already had a caravan rental

service. And to my surprise there wasn’t any. That’s was all we needed to start. We did our groundwork and research over six months before we set up. We had to look into the right vehicles to remodel and test for feasibility. Both of us hunted for parts and spares in all of Bangalores auto markets. All the men looked at us like we are aliens” she laughs. “After the vehicle and documentation was perfect, when we were confident to hit the road. And it was expensive” she adds.

Trippy Wheels now has a fleet of 2 Tata Wingers, remodeled for the perfect getaway. And they have successfully completed over 25 bookings with great response. “Our first customers were friends

and family. It may seem like they were our guinea pigs, but we need their confidence and support to go public�. They are now in expansion mode. They will be adding over 6 vehicles to their fleet and are slowly looking to expand trips to places like Rajasthan, Himachal and Delhi. But for now their focus lay on the south. And yes, they are hunting for the VW camper.

Tripping has just got a whole new identity in india, and this is a great start. India has many lovely places to visit not as tourists, but as travelers. And this idea has just paved the way, for us urban hippies who are almost always lost in dreams induced by wanderlust. The next time you think a short weekend getaway and want a caravan, you know its possible to get one.

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LIVE

Cinema Talkies Reminiscing the classics Gayathri Krishnaraj

As much as nothing can match to the experience of premier theatres like INOX, PVR, with every chennaite having Sathyam in their hearts, true spirit of Cinema stems from the spirit of the people that come from the theatres. The joy, the whistles, the room filled with the aroma of popcorn and puffs from the near by stall. The local experience of watching cinema is unmatched. This was how cinema was celebrated by the generations when cinema came into place. While some have gone out of business, some made landmarks, some still thrive to keep that spirit of cinema still alive in the hearts of cinema lovers till date.

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Devi theatre: Founded in 1970, the Theatre is has very large screens and seating capacity over 1000s at a time! Considered one of the golden places to be at for young college adults back then, romance movies were a huge hit amongst them. Recently renovated, Devi theatre still enthrals its audience with good movies and decent services

Minerva theatre: Popularly known as the Batcha theatre, was more than just that. Go to your grandparents, and they will definitely have stories to reminisce over the theatre that started to entertain people with cinema, from a century ago. It re runs old tamil films, with the same kind of chairs from the yester years that is bound to take you to re live the golden era of our Chennai’s Broadway. It was also one of the first theatres to be air conditioned

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Kamala Cinemas: Kamala Theatre, which successfully underwent a metamorphosis and became Kamala Cinemas with two screens, offers everything that a multiplex has now, but started off with the similar charms of the olden days. Re opened after a halt, it was welcomed with such open arms saving the theatre from being converted into a mall tells a story as such of how it was more than just theatre to its customers.

Gaeity Theatre: The first Cinema theatre, every true movie buff must experience watching a movie here. Started by Mrs.Klug, who regularly screened a lot of silent films after each show. When people used to gather to look at animation in museum theatre or at the Victoria Public hall, Mrs, Kluggs, Gaeity always seemed to manage a permanent seating with its customers. It was closed within a few months, re-instated and ended again.

But now the faรงade of cinema on the walls of Gaeity is still reserved.

Rajakumari Theatre: Another favorite of the golden year college boys, a ride through to catch up with the latest Hollywood and Tamil movies was what a typical day would entail. Still keeping the charm going, Rajakumari theatre functions. In Pondy Bazar near Holy Angels Convent, yesteryears famous actress T.R. Rajakumari built a theatre in her name. Night shows were predominantly priced for Hindi movies.

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Even though that we still go for plush seats, great butter pop corn and snacks, large screens and what not, cinema viewing experience would not be the same like it were when it started, and some few theatres like above still faithfully try to keep the spirit of movie watching go forward.

As much as we may believe that these theatres might not get the attention like that of INOX, PVR, or SPI, the actual problem arises when the seating capacity is 1000 seats and unless it’s a big blockbuster release, not many come forward for movie watching experience like that.

If you really want to reel in the cinema watching experience, from sight to sense to smell, go on a cinema hopping to these wonderful theatres and get dwelt in their magic.

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Venue Partner

MOMENTS

When we start talking about the love for Thalaivar Superstar Rajinikanth, we can start to write a big book about him on why is he so loved by everyone. Is it because he is charming, his persona, his style or what not? He is loved for each and every bit of him by so many people all around the world. As a tribute to this phenomenon person, Team Brew has sat down for months to bring out the book ‘ Rajinism 2.0’ to all of you. The book consists of interesting articles about our thalaivar. Many of us know him very well as an on screen personality. But little do we know about him as an off screen personality. As described by the ones who has closely worked with him or known him, he is the simplest human being despite his fame. Each and every article is either written by a die-hard fan or a family member. The most interesting article is written by Japanese who has his own ‘Thalaivar auto’ which he started driving since the movie ‘Baasha’. Another added bonus are the pictures, very rare pictures of Rajinikanth are added to the book. The colours to the book are the sketches of our Thalaiva by the Art Director Thotta Tharrani. This book is all you need to have if you want to showcase every bit of your inner fandom for your beloved Thalaivar Superstar Rajinikanth. The book was launched on July 25th 2018. The event took place at the Crowne Plaza, Adyar, Chennai. The event was a massive success; the notable chief guests attending the event are Mr.SP Muthuraman, Mr.Y Gee mahendran and Mr. Karunakaran.

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Reader's Column To how it all began

I am not sure how it started, but it has become an important festival in our family that each one of us are eagerly waiting for.I had so much of interest in visiting houses and seeing Golu at different houses. Since my in-law’s house had that practice, I requested them to make it a big occasion every year. And that is when the journey started and it had been 8 years now.

Every year, the season starts with the same excitement that thrive me to do something new in the place allocated for me at home.Every-time I will try to arrange the Golu based on some theme. I have got 5 steps that will have dolls arranged in the traditional Format. Top most step with Kalasam, then other steps with Gods, Goddesses. The fifth step ends with sages,marapachi dolls,thalaiyati dolls etc.

This Year , the theme is ‘Sarvam Sivamayam’. There are many stories that depict the Greatness of Lord Shiva. One of the main concept that was highlighted this year was ‘Pancha Sthalams’, ‘Pancha Utsavs’ , ‘Story Of a Nayanmar’, ‘ Story of Ganga’ and ‘Mount Kailash’.

To start with ‘Pancha Sthlams’, Five Sthalams which symbolises Five forms Of God. Earth - Kanchipuram , Water - Thiruvanakaval, Fire - Thiruvanamalai, Air - kalahasthi, Sky - Chidambaram. All these are displayed in Golu with respective temples and stories for each sthalam.

Next comes ‘Pancha Utsavs’. Five important festivals of Lord Shiva are Pradhosham, Maha Shivaratri, Thiruvanamali Deepam, Annabhishekam and Aarudhra Dharisanam.

There are 63 Nayanmars. Tale of One important Nayanmar is Karaikal Ammaiyar which is displayed in our Golu.Then the Story Of Ganga as ‘Bagirathi’ , how she reached Earth with Shiva’s help is all put to display in our Golu.

Also the Prototype of Mount Kailash with shiva in his Meditation Pose brings in the mood of Lord Shiva’s theme. Golu brings oneness and family time where each one of them wishes to contribute their effort towards the final output.

Golu without Sundal and Gifts .. No way.. Festive foods, Gifts , laughter , songs and pics brings in the perfect festive season of the year.

Regards, Vanitha

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