PUNE, SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 | www.thegoldensparrow.com
Following in the footsteps of their parents Few young adults today actually join the family business. But those that do so willingly, bring to the table a flavour of their own
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TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
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An instrument of beauty
STAGE Madhya Pradesh musician Naviin Gandharv comes to Pune to introduce a oneof-its-kind instrument: the Belabaharr, that combines the tonal effects of the Sarangi with the convenience of the Violin By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab
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nder The Tree, a fusion music concert presented by We the Artists India, is all set to feature Naviin Gandharv with his unique instrument, the Belabaharr. The instrument, designed by his father Pandit Babulal Gandharv, is a unique combination of the Violin and the Sarangi. It is believed to give more scope to an artist than any other bow instrument. Naviin is a versatile musician who also plays the tabla. Born in the heart of Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, he started learning music at the age of 16 from Pt. Vishwanath Mishra and the great legendary tabla maestro, Ustad Allarakha Khan. As a young artist, Naviin leads a busy life. During his childhood, like in most musical families, he had tabla at By Gulal Salil @gulalsalil
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ring Your Own Headphones, or ‘BYOH’ is a live recording session open to an audience, held in Pune every month at Gray Spark Audio, an online mastering and mixing studio. The idea is to create a low-cost, intimate and interactive platform for independent musicians. Indie bands are signed on to play and paid through registration fees, and a makeshift seating area holds the small audience. Once listeners are seated around the musicians with their headphones plugged in, the record button is pressed while the outfit plays live. This translates to the artists bouncing their recording session off a live audience. It is a throwback to the music making profession and a treat for those interested in seeing what behind the scenes actually means. Gray Spark is a team of six: partners Ronak Runwal and Harshad Mehta, their assistant music engineers - Tushar Verma, Kartikey Dixit and Ashwin Naidu who are also a part of Pune’s four-piece indie instrumental outfit, Celestial Teapot, and there is Nikita Borges, artist and studio manager. While a modest Ronak denies that BYOH was his brainchild, the rest of the team quietly acknowledges their contribution to this unusual platform. One day, in a random discussion around half a year ago, a team brainstorming session conceived the idea, and everyone ran with it. Nikita tried to get the artists, Ashwin helped with the design and virtual resources, and with the limited manpower, all management tasks were taken care of internally. The idea of capturing the indie space is
home. He loved entertaining people with his skills, and this gradually became his passion along with cricket and football. “These games were a matter of worry for my parents. They thought my interest was diverting from music to sports. So they started taking me to concerts, and I fell in love with music again,” he adds. Just like the uniqueness of the Belabaharrr, Naviin has developed a very different style of playing it, with vocal highlights
intermingling with instrumental music. He emphasises more on raag, sur and taal. “I was initially interested in playing the tabla. But I was constantly hammered by people who told my father, “you have made such a nice instrument, but who is going to play it besides you? Your elder son plays the keyboard and your younger son plays the tabla.” So eventually I started learning the Belabaharr. It was difficult to pick up this instrument, and really painful on the body.
But over time I could see I am getting better. Once I took it seriously, I was ready to play concerts in two years,” he says. Babulal, his father, learned the sarangi and vocals from his father Pt.Kashiram Gandharv, and later developed a fondness for the Violin. After practising the instrument for years, he missed the resonating sound of the tarabs, which were a part of Sarangi. After years of research, he came up with a design that looked and played like a Violin but also blended sympathetic strings. He carved a 200-year-old piece of teak and created the instrument. “Those days, our financial conditions were not stable. We lived in a hut at a slum pocket. So he bought a second-hand instrument and innovated it into the Belabaharr,” he shares. Naviin recently formed his band Anuraaj, which is a product of his journey through the Belabaharr and Tabla. His songs are a blend of nuances of ragas and interesting taal. Anuraaj is a platform for highly talented youngsters in Indian classical music with a vision to take Indian music to the highest level in the world. When: September 26, 6 to 9.30 pm Where: Aksharnandan School ground, Behind JW Marriott hotel, Senapati Bapat Road zainab. kantawala@ goldensparrow.com
Reinventing live
Imagine attending a gig inside a recording studio and listening to artists play live through your headphones
not rare, as Ronak mentions how he liked that there was an alternative to the mainstream which was not just about catering to the market. Harshad has worked in Bollywood and Gray Spark continues to take up such projects as they come along. “I don’t have anything against the mainstream and that is what largely pays our bills,” he adds. Sarthak Karkare, vocalist in Mumbai-
based indie band Unohu, describes a personal experience with the audience: “This one guy very perceptively pointed out that a particular transition we had worked out in a song was very apt and well structured. All three of us in the band instantly smiled because we knew just how much we had struggled to write a good part to the song. I think that guy in the audience figured that out. It was quite
memorable.” The first BYOH Live session was on the 20th of May, this year with alternative rock band Unohu. Approximately 55 music enthusiasts showed up, which is not a large number as far as gigs go. For Ronak though, the idea was never to make it into a huge event. It is just for those who are really interested in knowing where the music essentially comes from. While the first session was completely acoustic, the second session swam in the electronic space with a sophisticated visual panel setup. Their third session will indulge in the more bluesy spectrum with The Family Cheese performing. The vision of these live recording events is to come up with a volume of 12 songs at the end of the year. This master mix will then be released, tentatively titled BYOH Live Volume 1. The first video titled BYOH Live Featuring Unohu is out and has already gathered twelve-thousand views. When: September 18 Where: Kalamkar Paradise, Baner gulal.salil@goldensparrow.com
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‘BOLLYWOOD IS NOT A PART OF MY PLAN’
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
ENTERTAINMENT
Known for his role in Balika Vadhu, Shashank Vyas is more than excited about playing Ravish on Jaana Na Dil Se Door, where he is seen after his year long break By Salonee Mistry @SaloneeMistry
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t did not take Shashank Vyas long to conquer hearts as he played Jagya in the popular daily soap Balika Vadhu. With his boy-next-door looks, he is thrilled about playing an army officer in Jaana Na Dil Se Door. He plays the role of Ravish Vashisht, a straight-forward guy, for whom loyalty to the nation stands above everything else. At a time when several television shows have women characters as protagonists, he is happy that this show offers him enough space to explore and discover a whole new side of himself. It is not a typical saasbahu drama, and so is challenging on many levels, he believes. He jumped at the opportunity after hearing the script, and is glad that he did. Shashank moved to Mumbai in 2009 having given up on innumerable MBA entrance exams. There was something about acting that kept calling out to him, and it was something that he had enjoyed since his school days. He decided to give himself two years to struggle and get his foot in the industry, he recalls. “I was chasing something that wasn’t my passion and that was probably where I was going wrong. It was quite late that I realised that I did not want to be a part of the herd, rather I would like to stand out from it. However when I did realise this, there was no stopping me,” he says. Fun, admittedly, is this young boys mantra. Without it, everything is a burden. Ask him if he finds anything challenging about being an actor and he explains, that since he loves what he does, even if something is difficult he doesn’t realise it. For him, getting work and doing it to the best of
his ability is all that matters. Patience and the quality to be accommodating is what he feels makes or breaks an actor. If one cannot adjust to the demands of the script or the change in attitude that every character demands, then growth as an actor becomes a problem, he adds. Currently, Shashank is completelyswamped with shooting for Jaana Na Dil Se Door. Ask him where he sees himself a few years down the line and he says, “I believe in living in the moment and as long as I am working it does not matter what
medium I work in. Bollywood is not a part of my plan. To be very honest, I do not have a plan at all. I will take up anything interesting that is offered to me.” When people recognise me and love my character, I know that I am headed down the right road and this keeps me going. The television is as big a medium as any other and so even the work you do here counts,” he adds. Jaana Na Dil Se Door airs on Star Plus, from Monday to Friday at 5:30 pm and 10:30 pm. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com
‘Working with Rahman was enlightening’ Singer Shashwat Singh walks us through his musical journey and shares his experience working with the legendary musiciam By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab
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he melodious number from the film Mohenjo Daro, Sarsariya is topping the charts and the voice behind the romantic number, Shashwat Singh is on a musical high. The singer, who made inroads into playback singing with the song Wat Wat Wat from Imtiaz Ali’s Tamasha is loving his tryst with Bollywood and wishes to work with top-notch composers. He was in the city recently for Asia’s largest music festival, Bollywood Music Project voice hunt. A philosophical Shashwat believes his opportunities to work with established industry names came about because they had to. “I want to work with everyone who makes good music, like Vishal Bhardwaj, Amit Trivedi, Shankar Ehsan Loy and many more. They all have a spiritual side to their music, and that’s what every artist strives to achieve,” he says. He considers himself lucky for having got an opportunity to work with AR Rahman, who was the music composer for the film. It left him awestruck and overwhelmed. Beyond singing for the world-famous composer, it was also a learning experience, he says. “Since it’s an era-based movie, my inhibitions were dealing with the notes and expressions. But all this
became easy because Rahman sir was around. Working with him was an enlightenment, you learn so much. Everything that he does is so magnificent, the way he infuses soul into a song,” he shares. Shashwat believes that each song has its own destiny, but he always expects the best. He came to Chennai from Allahabad with hopes of a career in singing. He had no formal training, and took up a six-month course in Western Classical Piano, becoming part of NAFS, Rahman’s band. “As a kid I wanted to join the army. My mother was a singer, so the atmosphere at home was always musical. Eventually, the army didn’t work out for me. But I am glad I took up music,” he adds. His journey in the industry was not an easy one, and he had his fair share of ups and downs. “The song from the film Tamasha was surely the turning point. But five years ago, I got my first break with a Tamil film. Unfortunately, before the film could be completed, the actress passed away, and the project got canned. After that, getting back on track took a lot of time,” he explains. He also continues to work on his independent songs. He has earlier sung songs like Bas Tanha, Bavala, and Jaane Kaise. His last song was a collaboration with Shankar Tucker. He is now busy working on his YouTube channel and has some collaborations in the pipeline. zainab.kantawala@goldensparrow.com
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TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
STAGE By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab
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angalore’s beloved comedy experience, The Improv is all set to perform in Pune for the first time and introduce the audience to the concept of improvisational comedy. It is a first-of-its-kind interactive comic act in India were the audience are involved with comedians through 60 minutes of the show. The act is produced by Centerstage, has hilarious novel rounds, crazy actors, and universal comedic moments that are created live and on the spot. They’ve performed over 100 shows across Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Dubai and most recently became the only Indian team to be invited to the Sweden International Improv Festival. The Improv is hosted by filmmaker Saad Khan, who apart from being a funny man is known for making Bangalore’s first Hindi feature film Station. The show amalgamates acting, spontaneity, interactive banter, and most importantly audience involvement. With a larger than life appeal in its production value, it’s like watching a fun movie that has all genres in its screenplay and something for everyone. “We have the audience giving us
ACTING FUNNY
The Improv is all set to tickle the Pune audience with improvisational comedy performances and a pinch of craziness situations and then we perform the scenes on the spot. The situations can be as simple as an argument between a traffic policeman and a drunk driver, or as complicated as a couple falling in love on the moon,” explains Saad. Performing comedy on stage without a script is by no means easy, but The Improv actors Danish Sait, Darius Sunawala, Abel
Mathews and Tim Schultz make it seem like a walk in the park. Being a TV presenter, the mascot of the Royal Challengers Bangalore at IPL, RJ and a prankster with over 22 million hits on Soundcloud, Danish is an adept voice actor and mimic. Darius, known as the Don of the Radio in Bangalore brings “off the cuff” acting to The Improv. Stand-
“MURALS ARE AN EASY WAY TO SEND A MASS MESSAGE”
up comedian and actor Abel brings in his repertoire of accents as well as sketches of various personalities to the show while Tim is an American stand-up comedian who is a mature improviser when it comes to acting and mime. “The challenge here is being ready for the impromptu situations. We also try and bring out the suggestions from the audience,” adds Saad. The Improv, though similar in its genre as the popular show Whose Line is it Anyway, is quite unique, believes Saad. “The only common ground is improvisation. For example, Love Actually or Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge are both romantic films, but they have very different story lines,” he says. The act has six rounds, with the show lasting for 90 minutes or more depending on the audience. When: September 18, 2016 Where: Liberty Square, Phoenix Marketcity, Viman Nagar zainab.kantawala@goldensparrow.com
A two-day workshop in the city by Tribeni Devi will teach you everything you need to know about mural art
By Salonee Mistry @SaloneeMistry
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orn in Assam, Tribeni Devi studied in Kala Bhavana, Shantiniketan for seven years, which is where she was introduced to mural making. She also studied printmaking here and participated in a number of national and international workshops and exhibitions while she was still studying. She has been an art teacher for a few years now, and is extremely passionate about spreading the power of the medium to everyone she can. She is currently teaching art at MIT Gurukul in Loni, Pune. At the workshop that she will be conducting this weekend, she will be teaching the basics of how to make murals using whatever material is available to you. Tribeni has been experimenting with alternative materials such as cow dung, mud and hayfor a number of years now. “Murals, pretty much like everything else, help one discover their creative side and this is exactly what the workshop is aimed at. Once I teach the basic geometric shapes and designs, I would love for everyone to create
what they feel like, as trial and error is the one way to learn and get better,” she says. Hailing from a business family, she is grateful that her father allowed her to pursue her passion. He pushed her to chase her dreams and this continues to motivate and inspire her. A graphic artist and teacher by profession,Tribeni is clearly a nature lover which is reflected in her eco-
friendly methods. She jumps at the opportunity for learning and experience, as it helps her discover and explore her own limitations, she believes. Apart from her father, the environment around her, personal experiences and the people that she meets because of her work all inspire her creations. Of murals, she tells us that even before you begin making one, having a clear idea of the concept is imperative. The key to making your mural stand out from the rest is to use the space available as smartly as possible. “Murals are an easy way to send a mass message and it is important to remember this. Since it can be seen by all, any and every mural is capable of and in fact should be used to spread social messages. The use of colours and designs will determine how the message is accepted and perceived,” Tribeni explains. When someone looks at a mural, it must evoke the feeling that the artist intended, otherwise the purpose of the message is lost, she adds. When: September 16 & 17, 4 pm to 7 pm Where: Gyaan Adab Centre, Kalyani Nagar salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com
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TGS LIFE
BATTLE IT OUT
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
FEATURES
Here are some bands that stole the show with their stellar performance and paved their way to the Grand Finale of the Battle of the Bands By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab
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fter weeks of massive hard work, excitement and loads of music, it’s time to witness the explosive grand finale of the Vodafone Battle of the Bands. The bands that will clash at the finale are MH43 from Sanpada College, Mumbai, Into Bracket from FTII, After Acoustics from Pune University, Skrimish from AIISMS, Tashkar from Modern College and Richman & Co from SIIB. The competition reached out to more than 100 colleges in Maharashtra and Goa, and is a one-of-its-
kind platform for young bands to showcase their talent. The idea of Battle of the Bands is to give all amateur music groups a platform other than a college fest to show their mettle. “This is an opportunity for our young patrons to create a lifetime worth of memories with their friends. As a part of this campaign, we visited 100 leading colleges across the state. We aim at giving these budding musicians a vibrant platform to showcase their talent,” says Ashish Chandra, Business Head, Vodafone India. Here are some bands giving us an insight into their music.
RICHMAN & CO This in-house SIIB band has been a major crowd-puller. Their style is soft rock that fuses old and new instruments. After having won the Deloitte, Maverick War of Bands, the group has managed to create a niche for themselves. The band comprises Aniket Jadhav and Shashwat Mittra on vocals, Shashank More on flute and keyboard, Gautam Zaveri on bass, Kushal Tipree on lead guitar and Vishnu Modi on drums. The band plays diverse classic MH43 As the name suggest, the band members belong to the MH43 RTO area, which is Navi Mumbai. Having performed at more than 80 events in less than two years, they met each other in college. This four-member band comprises Kamal Soni on bass, Soham Basu on guitar, Kunal Singh on the drums and Keyoor Karadkhedkar on vocals. “In today’s world when everyone’s trying to impose their music on the crowd, we believe in playing for the crowd. We make music which appeals to them, which connects them to us,” says Keyoor. This college band is already going places, with a loyal fan base. They believe strongly in not uploading AFTER ACOUSTICS If you’re looking for a truly fresh sound, then you must checkout After Acoustics, a Pune based folk rock and country music band. Their original, peppy country songs get the audience going. What sets the band apart is that they have no drummer. The role is fulfilled by multi-instrumentalist Anurag Kumar. Bass, drum, acoustic guitar and vocals are handled by him, simultaneously. “We believe in creating something different and making sure that people trip on it. Our songs are mostly about life’s journey, love and human emotions,” says Anurag.
videos and recordings on YouTube, because they prefer to play live and surprise the audience each time. “We mostly play punky originals and various Bollywood covers. Retro and dance music is our speciality. We have a setlist of more than 50 songs which include melodies as well as heavy beats songs,” adds Keyoor. They choose the songs depending on the crowd and their response. Nineteen months on, they’ve already won more than 40 competitions. “Amidst hectic college schedules, exams and committed work, we are planning to set a record with our number of stage performances,” he adds.
Apart from Anurag, the band comprises Gaurav Wavhal on keyboards, Akarsh Shetty on vocals and Mihir Samak on mandolin. In their early days, they won the national Channel [V] Launchpad 2015, which they count as a great success. Their debut song, Meethi Chori won the Songdew Awards 2015 from among 200 entries from all over the country. The band is soon to release their fifth album. “Our main focus and priority stands to be not just playing music but enjoying and living every part of it,” he adds.
“Our main focus is enjoying music and living every part of it”
rock covers;songs from Roja to Om Shanti Om, along with their wide variety of original compositions. “We put our own spice to the songs. Besides this, we play jazz and blues too,” says Shashwat Mittra. Their recent single Dunyadari talks about the materialistic side of the world. “We want to make our voices heard through our songs. We don’t just plan a subject for the song. We make sure each and every member of the band contributes in the songwriting. It’s a collective effort,” he shares.
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
INDULGE
A GLASSFUL OF HEALTH
Load up on fruits and vegetables with a nutritious blended drink every morning By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab
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et’s face it; smoothies are super healthy and yummy too. They’re nutritious, delicious, thick, fruity and the perfect food for every mood. All you need is throw in all or any fruit or veggie together and the result will always be amazing. Here are some chefs who have shared with us their secret smoothie recipes.
BANANA AND BERRY SMOOTHIE This smoothie is nice and refreshing which can take care of your diet plan as well hunger at same time. While banana on one side is a quick source of instant energy and is good for the skin as well, it also helps curing ulcers and improves digestion. On other hand berries are also packed with antioxidants, and are great source of fiber which helps in digestion. Ingredients Banana 1 Frozen mix berries ½ cup Low fat milk ½ cup Low fat strawberry yoghurt ½ cup 2 tea spoon honey 2 table spoon Method Mix all ingredients in a high speed blender and serve fresh and cold. Recipe by Chef Ritesh Negi, Executive Chef, Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre APPLE SMOOTHIE Ingredients Non fat plain greek yogurt 1/2 cup Fresh spinach 1/2 cup Granny smith apple, cored and sliced 1 Honey 1 tablespoon
CHOCOLATE CHIA SMOOTHIE Ingredients Banana, peeled 1 fresh spinach 1 cup Ice 1 cup Milk or almond milk 1 cup Chia seeds 3 tablespoon
Cooking oats 1/2 cup Apple pie spice 1 tablespoon Crushed ice 1 cup Method Blend all the ingredients together. If you prefer a sweeter pie smoothie, simply add more honey.
Unsweetened cocoa powder 2 tablespoon Vanilla extract 1/2 tea spoon. Method Add all ingredients to a blender and pulse until smooth. Serve with some chocolate sprinkles and slices of banana.
KIWI BANANA SMOOTHIE WITH A TWIST Ingredients Kiwis, sliced and frozen 5-6 Bananas, sliced and frozen 2 Handful of fresh spinach Greek yogurt 1 cup (240 g) Milk ½ cup (120 ml) Method Blend all the ingredients together and serve cold. Freeze the fruits rather than adding ice cubes, the smoothies are better and more filling this way.
Chef Ajmer Singh from Marriott Suites has curated these recipes. Each recipe is different and yet it shares something common. The uniqueness of these smoothies is that they all are induced with spinach which makes it even healthier. As he says “Popeye always used to be strong and fit because of Spinach. All the three recipes are induced with spinach in such a way, that they taste heavenly but give you all the essential vitamins and proteins for battling the diseases of the season. So get your blender in place and start smoothing it up for the season.”
AROMATIC PUMPKIN SMOOTHIE Ingredients Soya milk 1 glass Pumpkin 1 cup (roasted) Banana 1 Dates (soaked in water) 4 Ginger ¼ tsp. Cinnamon powder ¼ tsp. Nutmeg powder a pinch Honey 3tsp. Method Mix all ingredients and puree it. Serve cold.
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016
MELON VEGETABLE SMOOTHIE Ingredients Beetroot 10gms Cucumber 40gms (de-skinned, de-seeded) Muskmelon 30gms Carrot 10gms Watermelon 40gms Celery 5gms Spinach 5gms Black salt a pinch Honey 3 tbsp. Method Mix all ingredients and puree it. Serve cold. Chef Anita Gawas, Junior Sous Chef at Four Points by Sheraton Pune, says “The Aromatic Pumpkin Smoothie is creamy and light and is idea for an afternoon drink. It is also truly an indulgence for all your sugar cravings. It is also an apt winter drink, very much comforting due to the variety of spices used. Its healthy contents brim with nutritious richness make it a complete diet”. The Melon Vegetable Smoothie is filled with goodness of vegetables and fruits making it a super nutritious beverage. It’s especially high in iron and carotene content. STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE Ingredients Chopped fresh strawberries 1 cup Milk 2 cups Honey 1tablespoon Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon Method In a blender, combine milk, honey, vanilla and frozen strawberries. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.
BANANA SMOOTHIE Ingredients Banana 1 Cold milk 1 cup Squeeze some honey Method Peel the banana and cut it into pieces and at it to the blender. Top it with milk and a good squeeze of honey. Whiz the blender until the banana is smooth and the shake is frothy. Pour into a glass.
Jomy Abraham, Director Food & Beverage, JW Marriott says, “Smoothies make for the best healthy indulgence and are very easy to make. Loaded with fruits, skimmed milk and honey, this is the ideal nutritious drink to start your day with.”
MANGO SMOOTHIE Ingredients Chopped ripe mango 1cup Low-fat milk 1/2cup Plain low-fat yogurt 1/4cup Honey 1tablespoon Method Place the mango, milk, ice, yogurt, and honey in a blender. Blend until smooth and frothy.
POWER GREEN SMOOTHIE Ingredients Spinach 4-5 leaves Pear 1 no Coconut milk 1/2 cup Oats 1 tbsp Chia seeds (soaked for 15 mins in water) 1 tbsp Water 1 cup Ice cubes Method Blend all the ingredients except for chia seeds. Pour in a tall glass topped with chia seeds soaked overnight in water. Breakfast smoothie by expert nutritionist Avanti Deshpande
PUNE
INDULGE
"MY PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE IS PRETTY MUCH INTERTWINED"
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
The fact that her son understands everything that she has to say even before she has finished her sentence is the biggest boon for her, she believes. Raajkumarri Mutha set up Tulips, which is a furnishing business in Pune, with just three other employees. Today, not only has the company expanded in the country but has also found a footing internationally. Working with his mother since 2009, Sidarrth joined to help with the branding and marketing strategy of the venture. He came to the family business after a stint in Microsoft. Both of them have their duties and responsibilities defined, and this helps in the smooth functioning of the business. “Of course my mother and I have had our set of disagreements when it comes to certain decisions that needed to be taken for the company. But nothing that a little discussion can’t solve. My personal and professional life is pretty much intertwined since I work with mom. It is quite difficult to switch off when we get home; we are always talking about work,” explains Sidarrth. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, being related and this is extremely helpful in the office space since we then know what the other person will be able to manage without help, he adds. His mother absolutely loves the fact that other than being able to teach him, she too is learning so much from him. She is thrilled at the fact that her son is passionate about the business and is not just in it out of familial obligation. The fact that the two of them work together so well is why the company has been able to progress as it has, she believes.
FEATURES
FOLLOWIN IN THE FOOTSTEPS THEIR PARE
Few young adults today actually join the family business. But those that do so willingly, bring to the table a flavour of their own By Salonee Mistry @SaloneeMistry
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ave you ever wondered what it would be like if your mother or father had to be your boss? If you have a family business, you likely already know, and if not then popular culture and conversationmust have given you an
idea. As with every situatio On one hand there is the a and knowing how to beha share a lifelong history. But expectations and the possibi TGS talks to a five famil dynamics of working with t your employees and a paren with us what they have le parents and having them as the advantages of having the on to find out what they had
"MY FATHER BECAME MY INSPIRATION" Born and brought up in Bahrain, Faeza Ammar helped her father, Zoheb Saheeb set up the business that both of them run today. Moving it to Pune in 2004, the business slowly started growing and went from a team comprising just the two of them to a much larger organisation. Since this was her first job, Faeza too was still learning how things worked and her father was her guru in every way. “My father became my inspiration for whatever task it was that I had to get done with. There were days when we would walk kilometres to get to our
office and in the most horrible weather conditions, but he never complained or gave up. He showed me what determination was and that is a quality that helps me even today,” she says. A lot of what he taught me while on the job was applicable in real life, and this correlation was probably possible since I was his daughter too. They found a way to work together and manage any disagreements that came along the way. With the two of them, their biggest challenge is finding a middle ground when it comes to things like style of working or customer service.
‘BEING MY DAD’S EMPLOYEE IS BOTH FUN AND STRESSFUL’ When Aviva Pundole started helping her father Cawas in their family-run shop CT Pundole & Sons, on MG Road, it was meant to be a part-time thing. A media and communications graduate, she hoped to use her academic skills to grow her father’s business and then move on to a job of her own. Eventually, she landed up joining him and working fulltime. While working in a family business gives her the liberty to take leave when
she wants and has even helped strengthen her bond with her father, there are a lot of challenges to deal with too, she tells us. “Being my dad’s employee can be both fun and stressful. We are invariably always working, whether we are at home or in office. We are always together and this, in many ways, is both good and bad,” Aviva says. Ask her what is the one thing that she would like to learn from her father and while the list is big, his negotiation skills are right at the top.
C to hav workin better becaus passio the co up wi believe them a flavou never h
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TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23 , 2016 PUNE
FEATURES
S OF ENTS
on, there's a good side and a bad. advantage of having shared values ave around your boss, since you t, there is also the burden of high lity of work being brought home. lies from the city to understand the the family, having your children as nt as your boss. The children share earned while working with their s bosses, while the parents explain eir kin work in the same office. Read d to say.
Cawas feels that it is a good thing ve the next generation in line and ng in the family business. It is even when your children are not just in it se they can’t do anything else, but are onate about the work and are taking ompany to greater heights. Keeping ith the kin is quite the task, he es, but also an important one. Giving a little freedom to bring in their own ur while they keep the tradition going hurt anyone, he adds.
"WORKING WITH MY PARENT’S HAS MADE ME TOUGH" Ira Ghosh has been working with her parents for about nine years now. While her father Robbin Ghosh is the founder of Victorious Kidss Educares in Kharadi, her mother Saarada Ghosh is the principal there, and she a teacher. What started off as an internship in-between college semesters turned out to be her true calling, and she is happy that she decided to walk down this path. Other than the constant opportunities to learn from her parents, the best part of this arrangement for her is that they all
share the same passion. Ira has no regrets in choosing this path. Discussing how their day went when back at home is a fun exercise for her. Ask her to pick a few reasons why she loves working with her parents and she says, “Working with my parent’s has made m tough. I started at level one just like everyone else and am never treated differently. My father getsas mad at me if I am tardy as he does with his other employees, and my mother makes sure that I keep all deadlines,” she says. The one thing that she
does find difficult if anything is the extremely high level of expectations that comes with working for your parents. This too, she feels, only helps her grow. For Robbin, the best part about having his daughter on board is that it is easier for him to communicate to her exactly what he needs. Having the same set of values makes it easier for them to work together, and he knows that her belief in the foundation is just as deep-rooted and strong as his is.
"WE DID NOT GET ANY PRIVILEGES EVEN THOUGH WE WERE THE OWNER’S DAUGHTERS" Working with her father, MA Tejani since 2008, Samana has grown up learning about the work that goes on in his office. Before joining him full-time, she interned at the office for a while to learn how things function. There are both positives and negatives to working with a parent, she tells us. There was constant mentoring for her and her younger sister Aasiya, and their father was more than happy to hand over the reins to them giving them ample room to explore. “Our dad is an extremely patient person and receptive, as long as you make valid points. There is so much to learn working with him. We did not get any privileges because we were the owners daughter’s, and had to start at the bottom. We have worked our way to the top and that is what has made us who we are,” says Aasiya. Samana adds, “The only flipside of having your father as your boss is that when there is any disagreement, you can’t lose your temper. There is not much room for argument and this can get challenging at times.” The fact that work goes with them wherever they go is also something that they wish they could avoid. Samana now heads the operations department at Gits Food Products Pvt. Ltd while her sister is the director of finance. When we spoke to their father, M.A Tejani he tells us how he is always trying to keep up with his daughters. Both of them were academically trained to do what they do, and so he always knew that they would eventually step into his shoes. “Most of their thoughts are extremely similar to mine given that they are my children, and this is something that helps keep conflicts at bay. They love taking risks, while I am the more cautious one. Being their boss and their father, it is my job to show them the right path to ensure that they don’t make the same mistakes that I made,” he explains. It is, however, a great experience for him to be working with his daughters and he wouldn’t have it any other way. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
THRILL OF DRIVING
MAHINDRA LAUNCHES COMPACT BOLERO POWER+
Finally, there’s a mini, updated version of the best-selling SUV
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hen Mahindra launched the TUV300 some years back, rumours suggested that this was, in fact, their awaited compact version of the Bolero. Despite being a relatively basic vehicle, the Bolero has been a best-seller for Mahindra and a class-leader in SUV sales. It’s simple, rugged, works well in the rural market and holds value amazingly well. If this isn’t India’s Hilux, we don’t know what is. The TUV300 didn’t turn out to be the small Bolero we expected, and nor did the NuvoSport. But clearly, Mahindra was mighty interested in the sub-4m space. Th is theme carries on with the Bolero Power+, which comes in at 3995mm and uses the recent 1.5-litre mHawkD70 engine. Thanks to the lower tax bracket, the Power+ comes in at an attractive price starting at Rs 6.59 lac ex-
showroom, Navi Mumbai. The updated three-cylinder motor is BS4-compliant, which means you can register this rough-and-ready SUV in the metros. Mahindra claims that the Bolero Power+ retains the same interior space as the previous model, continuing to seat 7, but with better comfort. Power and efficiency are up. The new engine delivers 70bhp and 195Nm of torque and an ARAI-certified 16.5kmpl. We’ve sampled this workhorse in the original TUV as well as the updated 100bhp version in the more recent NuvoSport, and come away impressed by its refinement. Some gadgets have been borrowed from more upscale stablemates, including a digital instrument cluster, Micro Hybird (Mahindra’s start-stop tech), a voice messaging system and an engine immobiliser.
Ducati launches XDiavel in India A shot across Harley’s bow with attractive pricing
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here’s no sugar-coating this. Ducati India is going to make some sales to the cruiser faithful with the new XDiavel. The feet-forward, beltdriven power cruiser may be bling in a way we haven’t seen before from the Italian motorcycle manufacturer, but it may well be just right for those who’d otherwise be riding more chrome than a monsoon wedding orchestra. Starting at Rs 15,87,000 for the standard model in matte black and going up to Rs 18,47,000 (ex-showroom, Delhi) for the fancier S in gloss black, there’s a lot of value to be had for those in the market for an overt sort of bike. We’ve spoken to a few Harley-Davidson fans and apparently, the feet-forward riding position and belt drive are clinchers for many cruiser afficionados. The ‘standard’ Diavel is a brilliant, genre-busting
Ravi Avalur, Managing Director, Ducati India and Yogesh Phogat, Director of Operations, Ducati India
motorcycle, but it just wasn’t ‘cruiser’ enough for many. Ducati has addressed these concerns with the XDiavel. They’re claiming “sixty ergonomic configurations” and a three-way adjustable footpeg position. There’s a vast array of electronics on offer as well including cornering ABS, cruise control, traction control and launch control. A colour TFT info screen is present and the S model adds Bluetooth so you can see who’s calling. But don’t, please. The Testastretta DVT 1262 engine generates 156hp and max torque comes in at a relatievly low 5000rpm. A 6-speed gearbox delivers power via a wet clutch with a slipper function. Ride-by-wire throttle enables riding modes and ensures you can pull off your hooliganism in relative safety. But don’t, please.
‘Time management was the toughest part’ City girl Solonie Singh Pathania becomes the third woman in the country to finish the Ironman race held in Sweden recently By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab
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magine yourself in the middle of an endurance sport, and all that’s running through your mind is how to overcome terrible menstrual cramps. And all you have with you is water for your parched throat, an energy bar to keep you going and a GPS navigator device to show the way. This is the story of Solonie Singh Pathania, 30, who not only finished the most difficult triathlon, but also surprised herself with her timing. She was 50km into the run, when the menstrual cramps kicked in and she was in agonising pain. Her speed dropped to 23 kmph in the cycling leg, but she was determined to keep going. She is now India’s third woman to complete the full Ironman race, recently held at Kalmar, Sweden. An Ironman Triathlon, organised by the World Triathlon Corporation, is one of the world’s toughest races comprising a 3.86 km swim, a 180.25 km bicycle ride and a 42.2 km marathon run without a break. Solonie managed to cross the finish line in 13 hours. She found the weather conditions in
Sweden vastly different from what she was used to when training in Pune. She trained under 15-time Ironman finisher Kaustubh Radkar, who prepared her to fight the windy conditions and 13 degrees in the water. She arrived a week in advance to get accustomed to the new climate, alongside 3,000 athletes from across the globe. “I followed a strict regime with at least three
“I love to challenge myself, and this time want to get better with my timing” hours of workout, which was extended to five to six hours on weekends. My diet comprised fruits, green leafy vegetables, and limited carbohydrates. I avoided sugar completely,” she explains.
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
FEATURES
A Pune-based marketing executive, Solonie started running in June 2013 to get fit. Her first novice triathlon was in December 2013 and that is all it took to get her hooked to the format. “My father is an army officer, and he would wake up early for his morning walks. I joined him, and fell in love with running. Gradually, I started with triathlons and loved the exhilaration and the adrenaline rush I experienced while finishing,” she adds. With a full-time job, she was on a very tight schedule. No two days would be the same in a week; on some days she would work on speed, on others distance and some days would just be for active recovery. “Time management was the toughest part. It was difficult at times, as it drained me out. I was sleep deprived at times too. But the passion for crossing the finish line was what kept me going,” she says. Solonie wants to create awareness of fitness among the youth of our country. She hopes that more youngsters get inspired to pursue their fitness goals and objectives. Next on her list is running the half marathon in Pune and the upcoming Pune triathlon. “I am also preparing for the Ironman race again next year. I love to challenge myself, and this time want to get better with my timing,” she adds. zainab.kantawala@goldensparrow.com
Fancy a pair of unique custom shoes? From doodling on the back of her notebook to painting shoes for television personalities like Dharmesh Yelande and Shweta Gulati, Pune-based artist Shweta Singh has come a long way By Salonee Mistry @SaloneeMistry
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iseno Studio owner, Shweta Singh in an artist with a penchant for colour, fun and adventure. Meeting new people and turning their stories into her inspiration for the doodles she makes, she turned her passion into a profession when she started the studio. Life for her she tells us is a blank canvas, ready to be coloured with one’s own choices. An avid traveller, she often loves taking the road less travelled and exploring every inch of the space while she does so. It was during her summer vacations when in engineering college that she saw her mother giving away her old white shoes to the maid, and decided to paint them. Splashing colours on it like it was canvas, she was thrilled to see how beautifully they turned out and Diseno Studio was born. Interested in painting since a very young age, starting up the studio was not very difficult. She understood the fundamentals of
art and the properties of different materials. She customises a variety of items such as shoes, headphones, t-shirts, bags, keychain and glasses. There was quite a bit of research involved too. Her greatest challenge is dealing with different kind of customers and urgent
orders. Every client is important to her and the idea is to try and not disappoint any of them. Product quality is given the highest priority, and this is where it gets tricky, she explains. Ask her about her inspiration for the work that she creates and she says, “Doodling is
something that is constantly on my mind. Irrespective of what my routine is, I am always inspired by people, their stories and the things around me. Also when a theme is given to me by the client I try to understand their personality and see what he/she likes the most, so I can incorporate it in the design.” By degree, Shweta is an engineer and has even worked in a manufacturing firm for four years. She is now a full-time doodle artist at Diseno Studio and also takes Zumba classes in her vicinity to keep herself fit and inspire others to live a healthy life. Originally from Gwalior, she has been brought up in Pune. No matter what the workload, this artist loves her tasks so much that she almost never gets tired. She can work all day and night on orders without getting bored or complaining. Since every order is new and unique, the anticipation of the final product always keeps her excited. “It was while I was working at the manufacturing firm that I took up orders on a part-time basis to help save enough money to start the studio. When I felt that I had enough, I quit the monotonous job and focused on Diseno,” she tells us. Clearly, Shweta is good at what she does, evident in the number of orders that keep pouring in. So the next time you want to gift someone something unique, this talented young artist is your go-to person. Not only are her products easy on the pocket, they are by design one-of-a-kind. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
FEATURES Belonging to an army family, painter Tenaz Rao often had to move from one country to another and this reflected in her art By Salonee Mistry @SaloneeMistry
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rt, specially painting, is something that started off simply as a hobby for Tenaz Rao. Her parents enrolled her in classes as a child and for a long time, she never even realised that she wanted to make a career of it. It was in 1978 that she began pursuing painting professionally, and has only grown as an artist since. She got a diploma in commercial art from Abhinav Kala Vidyalaya, Pune and started working as a freelance artist taking up projects that interested her. For a week starting today, she will be exhibiting a few of her paintings at the Gyaan Adab Centre in Kalyani Nagar. Living in the Cantonment area in Pune, a lot of her work reflects the lush green environment
The environment inspires her paintings that she is surrounded by. Just as she gets ready for her exhibition, TGS speaks to her about what inspires her work and the challenges that she faces. The exhibition is going to
be a collection of abstract and semi-realistic work in acrylic. It explores the world of abandoned buildings and the power that nature around us emits. The use of colour throughout the series is
striking, while it reveals powerful visual narratives too. “My work has always been inspired by the area or city that I have lived in. If I am able to capture this in my work, it means I will be grab the attention of the
people living there,” she explains. When she was in Tejpur, she did an entire series on landscapes and scenery because that is what she was surrounded by. When in Muscat, a lot of her paintings were about birds, rendered in pen and ink. The surroundings tell you a lot about the people and what they like, she feels. When Tenaz started painting commercially, she did a lot of realistic work and started with watercolours. She then moved to poster colours and eventually to oil paints. Because oil paints took a long time to dry, she moved to acrylic and has been using them as a medium ever since. This way, she is able to churn our paintings and work out faster, she explains. Moving from doing realistic work to abstract was an extremely challenging task, she tells us. There is a lot that is left to the imagination of the onlooker when the work is abstract, and this is something she took time getting used to. “Nature and the outdoors are my strength when it comes to painting. I am not very good at human forms, and so never even opted for it in college. I love using a lot of colours in my work to help highlight what I feel is important in the image,” she says. The fact that she can work at her own pace and doesn’t have to work with anyone else is a huge plus for her. Tenaz also holds classes and in the future wants to find a way to do social work through her profession, and what she knows best: painting. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com
Outliving life: The story of an 81-year-old painter Positioned in a small house which was once his wada, lives Srinivas Vaidya, a painter completely unknown By Gulal Salil @gulalsalil
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ong before the modern-day Amar Chitra Kathas, there was the art of painting religious figures for book covers and the illustrations within. Artists painted religious figures out of devotion, or as commissions from wealthy patrons or royalty. With digital art, the profession of a painter itself has morphed into design and illustration. The skill of painting every fold and wrinkle of skin by hand on a canvas continues to become a rarity. There is one such painter who lives in the crumbling space of Shaniwarpeth, perhaps as one of the last symbols of an almost faded Indian renaissance epoch. His name is Srinivas Vaidya. Srinivas is the oldest living member of the Vaidya lineage. At 81, this man still paints in his small workshop in his backyard. His room is mostly scattered with pencil sketches and half-done paintings of his spiritual gurus sitting cross-legged. This space is where he spends most of his time now. Finding Srinivas Vaidya was an element of fluke rather than a tip off. An electrician working outside this particular home told us about him. As we were welcomed inside his home by his wife
and grandchildren, back to his workshop, he naturally felt a little unsettled by the sudden crowd. Eventually, the man narrated his story, in an English rich with vocabulary, something rarely experienced in these days of clipped communication. A former government servant, he painted as a hobbyist, having spent almost all his weekends with brushes. “I used to have Saturdays off, which allowed me two days of useful indulgence,” he mentions. He has painted religious figures almost all his life, but has never accepted money for any of them. “I have 250 book covers to my name, but I
don’t take commissioned work”, he says. He describes the reason why most of his work remains either unpublished or lost, “Most of it got destroyed in the floods of 1961. We had a big wada and over 70 families used to live here. The house was half-submerged and everyone left except us, since we thought we would rebuild this place.” In light humour he indicates the level at which the water was, saying “I am short so don’t measure it by my height.” Srinivas seems like a man who doesn’t regret much. While the house is in the middle of a disputed plot, he only mentions it very casually, “yes, something is going on, I
wouldn’t worry too much about it.” “I follow Shri Narasimha Saraswati, who is the avatar of Dattatreya, and this painting,” he points to a huge oil on canvas, “is Shri Mahadev Akkal Goswami.” Most of his personal paintings are various acrylic renditions of the two figures, but the one which he points to is an oil on canvas, his first-ever attempt at oil painting. He talks about it with pride. “I was asked by a friend to paint this on the condition that I do it using oil paint. It was a challenge”, he smiles. The portrait is overwhelming, with its multiple folds and impossibly small details. He calls it his best work. From a distance, it looks like a digitally filtered photograph. As he gives us a tour of his workshop he tells us, “I used to work in the room on the first floor before, but now I can’t climb the stairs because of my health, so I shifted my work here.” He talks about his health and old age with practicality and a certain comfort with the idea of mortality. When asked about his family members and whether they have any interest in painting, he mentions, “ Well, none of my children paint and apart from my father who was a painter too, no one in my family does this.” He then calls his youngest grandson, pats his back and says in a tone pregnant with significance, “he paints.” gulal.salil@goldensparrow.com
Set for the win Aarushi Sharma exudes confidence about her upcoming pageant. A powerhouse of a woman, she is indeed a combination of beauty and brains By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab
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he former Miss Diva finalist Aarushi Sharma was recently crowned Senorita Miss Intercontinental India 2016. She will now represent India at the Miss Intercontinental 2016 pageant, to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka next month. An ideal combination of beauty and brains, the pretty lass remains committed to her ongoing education, and believes she has the intelligence, poise and willingness to learn to win the crown. “I am excited, confident and nervous all the same time. I have worked really hard for this pageant, and my parents have been my support system throughout. I want to win this crown for them,” she says. A positive attitude and patience is what is helping her power through the pressure. Her journey as a model has been an adventurous one. “I have had to work on myself a lot. I had to correct my body posture, clothes, makeup etc. I had to follow a strict diet regime, and today I feel proud to see the transformation in my overall personality,” she adds. On being asked to describe her journey, the confident lady says that she has always
DESK TO DESK
Chronicling her personal experience while looking for Mr Right, author Rashmi Kumar takes you on a journey of what it is like to be 30 and unmarried By Salonee Mistry @SaloneeMistry
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eing unconventional can actually go against you if you don’t find someone just as non-conforming as yourself, she believes. So while each and every person in her family had married out of love, she was the only one to have an arranged marriage. The journey to finding Mr Right was so interesting and intense, that Rashmi Kumar simply had to write about it. Thus came about Hooked, Lined and Single. With a pinch of subjectivity and oodles of fiction, the book holds your attention while you try to figure out one from the other. Rashmi always knew that she had to do something related to writing. It only took her some time to figure out exactly what. In the time before her first book, Stilettos in the Newsroom, she was dating somebody who literally forced her to write one page each day. She didn’t understand the purpose of this exercise back then, and yet half-heartedly went about doing as compelled. Bit by bit it actually took shape as a novel, much to her surprise. Feeling that it was too unprofessional and amateurish for publication, she never actually handed it in. “It took me several years to realise that that mundane exercise of writing and reading out each page everyday paved a way for me to be a writer. It built a certain confidence in me and gave me hope that I could write. That little boost in confidence went
a long way for me to start writing professionally,” she says. A journalist before Rashmi moved to Canada and became an author, she has often been on the copy desk since the very beginning of her career. So there were always loads of copies to edit, rewrite and rework. That, and having to work toward tight deadlines have left her in good stead as an editor, which has helped in her new career. It has, in turn, made the job of her editor easier. “I have noticed that way too many people want to write today to gain fame and popularity. Due to this attitude, writing is getting more and more commercialised and less creative and deep. I truly wish that if one aspires to write, they must do it, because it’s the only thing they can do passionately,” she says as token advice to amateur authors. Advaita Kala was a huge name when Rashmi was starting out, and her book Almost Single was a source of inspiration for her. Rashmi is also deeply influenced and inspired by the writings of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. When she moved to Canada, she was chosen as Writer-inExile in 2013 and got the opportunity to showcase her literary work to a Canadian audience. She is currently pursuing a postgraduation in Radio & Television from Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Canada. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
FEATURES been fascinated by the pageant world and had wanted to be a part of it since a young age. “I always aspired to be Miss India, and I am working hard to get there one day. Modelling is something that I always wanted to pursue. I auditioned for pageants in college and luckily managed to get selected everytime,” says Aarushi. With contestants from all across India are competing for the grand title, she appears non-plussed. “I had always thought of representing India at an international level, and this is like a dream come true. I am prepared for the win,” she says. This pageant, organised by Facepick, has opened up a lot of avenues for her, and she is happy to represent India, a country that has immense talent and opportunities. She was not just judged for her beauty, but also for her intelligence. “Training, waking up early to follow a fitness session, question and answer classes have become a part of my routine. Simple things like holding the mic right, standing in a good posture matters a lot,” she adds. She aspires to achieve great heights such as Aishwarya Rai has, some day. While nervous and excited to the upcoming pageant, Aarushi remains confident. “I believe in myself and have faith in myself, and that’s what matters,” she adds. zainab.kantawala@goldensparrow.com
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TGS LIFE
WHEN COMFORT MEETS STYLE
SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
SHOPPING
Solid stripes
Simple yet sophisticated is what defines her style. Hridaya Ruparel, a mass communication student and an aspiring model, 18, believes in the concept of effortless dressing. She picks out five best outfits from her wardrobe
You can pair this skirt with any solid coloured top. Avoid going over board with the accessories. Plain stud earrings and a small neck piece would do just fine with the attire. Skirt: Forever 21, Rs 500 Top: Splush for Rs 800
Ă€ la Party mode
This jumpsuit is all you need to be in vogue for the next party you attend. Team it with black heels and minimal gold accessories and you are ready to make heads turn. Jumpsuit: Mango, Rs 2,300
For a fun day out
This is an idea outfit for your next outing with friends. With its graceful drapes and neat folds, this makes for a more mature look. Black bellies, push back stud earrings and a small satchel completes the look. Skirt: Rs 300 Top: Zara, Rs 600
All set for a date
This is the perfect dress for a date night. You can team it either with pump heels or moccasins. For a casual outing, white sneakers would do just fine. Dress: Mango, Rs 1,200
For a formal evening
This attire would make a statement at your office gatherings or corporate dinners. It works the best with black ballerinas, heels or wedges, pearl earrings and a neat black leather wrist watch. Top: Star Bazaar, Rs 600 Skirt: Zara, Rs 800
— Compiled by Gulal Salil
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
FEATURES
The tale of a shoemaker I kram Gudakuwala is not your ordinary shoe-seller. The adversities that he has been through have made him who he is today. Losing his parents at an early age, his three brothers and he were rendered penniless and had to fend for themselves. The only thing that they had was a roof on their heads. His father was a tobacco seller for
hookahs. The business never really had a great return and the memory of their mother is very hazy. “Our father earned just enough to feed us and himself, he nonchalantly says as he recalls his childhood. His family never had a house to call theirs as they used to live as tenants. Their father had also set up a shop in the same space. After their father
passed away, the four brothers had practically nowhere to go. Their meals were taken care of by their cousin sisters but that is the only help they got. “We started a cycle repair shop as children trying to earn money for bread and rent. We used to repair punctures for Rs. 1 and oil the whole cycle for Rs. 20”, Ikram
City celeb chat
Name: Neelam Virwani Profession: Model Three words to describe me: Emotional, Fun, Misunderstood I love my job because: It doesn’t feel like work Best advice I’ve received: “I am mine first” When buying something, the first thing that catches my eye is: Colour What’s your inner animal? A dog The first thing you notice about an attractive person: If they can hold a conversation The perfect start to a day is: A heavy breakfast Your current fourwheeler: I’m a rickshaw person Your fitness regimen: Too lazy to workout Your food indulgence: Cake with ice cream and crumbled Nutella cookies Books by your bedside: Marilyn Monroe and The Thorn Birds The first site you visit when you fire up your comp: Youtube Your favourite city: Vizag Ideal holiday: Locked in a hotel room with alot of comfort food
(As told to Salonee Mistry)
says. This however did not last long as the four of them shifted to the grocery and goods selling business a couple of months later. When he had the opportunity he immediately bought the house that they were living in as tenants with whatever little he had saved. Once the Kolsa Galli flat was theirs, the brothers shifted from selling groceries to selling shoes. They would order ready-made, artificial and real leather shoes and sell them at attractive prices. Their shoe shop gained popularity and with time, all their problems were solved. “The shoe business did us good,” he says with a smile. Ikram is 67 today and sits in the same place that his father sat, albeit now more successful. The brothers have bought the entire complex solely on the money earned through selling shoes. The four brothers have shops adjacent to each other and all under one name - New Shoe Point. It is only when you talk to them will you know of their troubled pasr; the peaceful and humorous face shows no sign of it however. (As told to Gulal Salil)
DO YOUR MAKE-UP RIGHT
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hile each and every one · Concealers: Another product which is beautiful in their own we all often go wrong is with concealers. way, a This must always be one or two shades little bit of makelighter than your foundation colour. up never hurt Ensure that your concealer is not turning anyone. One your under eye area grey and is only must however helping you brighten it. get the basics · Primer: Before you start with your eyeright to ensure makeup. Check if you have darker lids. that you don’t Using eye primers or simply going with go overboard. Priyanka Negi your concealer over your eyelid will cover M a k e - u p the discoloration of your eyelids. professional Priyanka Negi gives you · Lipsticks: Even if you don’t use some do’s and dont’s that you need lipstick regularly adding a colour to to stick to while doing makeup. your lips can actually brighten · Know Your Skin: Before your face. Go bold with STYLE you go shopping for your red, pinks or go subtle makeup products, you must with nudes and brown the GURU know your skin type. Know choice is yours. Let your lips your skin type, which colours suits tell your mood. you, what kind of range is available · Eyebrows : Ensure that you are not and in what brand. overdoing the eyebrows. Brows that · Moisturize: Never ever forget to are overdrawn or too harsh or too dark mositurize your skin. Before you go with can make one look over age. Just filling that base application moisturize your your eyebrows with black or brown matt face, neck and lips well. powder is one of the best way to make · Right foundation: Never choose a your eyebrows. foundation lighter or darker than your · Eyelash: One of the most ignored part original skin tone. The right way to check of your face are your lashes. Mascara the foundation is not on just cheeks or helps in opening up your eyes and hands but you must blend and check it on making them look bigger. your cheeks, neck and forehead area too. (As told to Salonee Mistry)
TGS LIFE SEPTEMBER 17-23, 2016 PUNE
BUZZ
SUMEET TO STAR OPPOSITE KALKI IN HIS BOLLYWOOD DEBUT By Salonee Mistry @SaloneeMistry
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laying the lead role in the popular web-series Permanent Roomates by TVF, he found himself a loyal fan base. Starting of with theatre, he'sbeen growing steadily and now Sumeet Vyas will be seen in the lead opposite Kalki Koechlin in an upcoming Bollywood film, Ribbon. He was super-impressed by the body of work that the director of the film, Rakhee Sandilya, has behind her and so decided to take up the project. The film portrays a five year journey of a married couple that is drowning in the pressures of urban life, he explains. In an candid conversation with TGS, he tells us about what he believes was the turning point of his
I find it intrusive when people ask my baby's gender: Kareena
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ctress Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is expecting her first child with husband Saif Ali Khan, says she doesn't like when she is asked if it's going to be a boy or a girl. "It's very intrusive when people ask me if it's a boy or a girl. I am a girl and I would love to have a girl," the actress said at the launch of Global Citizen India initiative here. The 35-year-old actress said she finds it upsetting when people ask her if she is going to work post motherhood. "We are still in a nation, where we are asked, 'Oh!
You are getting married, are you still going to work? Oh! You're pregnant, are you still going to work? These questions upset me." Kareena said she decided to be a part of the Global Citizen Initiative as among many social causes, it also promotes gender equality. "When the organisers contacted me and asked if I would like to be a part of this initiative, my reaction was that as an expecting mother, nothing would make me happier than to participate in an initiative which promotes gender equality."
'I was called too fat to be a model'
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he has become the fi rst Bollywood actress to walk the ramp at New York Fashion Week, but Sunny Leone reveals in the initial stage of her career, she was called "too fat" to be a model. For the Mastizaade star, walking the ramp was a moment of getting back at her detractors, who never thought she could make it as a model. "It was such an amazing feeling. Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a model and when I turned 18, I I tried. I was told I was too short, too fat, too commercial or they were just not interested," Leone said. "Th is is my big 'screw the negative people' moment because this too short, too fat, too commercial girl got to walk at New York Fashion Week," she said. The 35-year-old actress opened the show for Archana Kochhar with much applause but admitted that she was scared of tripping on the ramp. "I was so nervous about tripping and falling. Also, this has been a dream for so long, I didn't believe it was happening." She feels fashion is subjective and is very happy with her style on a personal level.
career, why he loves his job and what inspired him to take up acting. Absorbed in writing a script along with a friend of his for an upcoming film, shooting for Permanent Roomates and attending workshops for Ribbon is keeping him extremely occupied, and he is loving every moment of it. “The biggest asset of an actor is the kind of life that he has the opportunity to live. There is so much to experience and feel that more often than not you can discover a whole new side of yourself, a side you did not know existed,” he says. This is also what must be used as inspiration to keep going, he adds. Sumeet caught the acting bug when he saw his father act in a musical. There was something very beautiful about how everything and everyone looked on stage that immediately
appealed to him, he recalls. He was 17 years old back then, and decided that this is what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Permanent Roomates was definitely something that turned his life around and he could not be more grateful for the project. “Believing in yourself and accepting the fact that your journey as an actor will have a lot of good and bad phases is important to succeed. I have gone from making short films to make ends meet to now doing a film, and hardwork paired with patience and faith is all that has got me here,” he tells us. An actor for almost 15 years now, Sumeet believes his journeyhas been an incredible one, full of experiences that have helped him grow into the actor and person that he is today. salonee.mistry@goldensparrow.com
CHOTE USTAAD, BADI USTAADI By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab
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akansha Sharma is basking in glory after singing hit numbers Mein Adhoora from the recent film Beiiman Love, and Hairat-e-aashiqui from the film Ye Toh Two Much Ho Gayaa. Her tracks vary between loud beats and soothing rhythms, demonstrating versatility for this young artist. Being a trained singer, she is comfortable singing all genres from the latest Bollywood dance numbers to the old classics sung by Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar. He was in the city recently for Asia’s largest music festival’s, Bollywood Music Project voice hunt. She gained popularity after participating in two reality shows on the Star Plus TV channel. She is the winner of Amul Star Voice of India Chote Ustad, and also the finalist of Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar, where her competitors were singers like Sreeram and Mohammed Irfan. “I come from a nonmusic background and I am a self-taught musician. But I am very fortunate that opportunities came my way. I have not had to struggle at all; instead I found the industry very welcoming,” she says. Over time, she has become proficient in various genres at a young age, and believes it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of her parents. “After my stint in reality shows, my father wanted me take up something that was more stable and secure. He was skeptical about my decision to join the music industry. But my mother supported me, and now both of them feel proud,” she adds. Her personal playlist includes romantic songs and ballads. She believes in going with the flow and not planning too much for the future. “I planned a lot in 2014, but nothing happened, and when I didn’t plan anything, everything fell in place. Now, I believe that God has plans for us and we should just follow,” says the singer who has an item number and a few more Bollywood songs in the pipeline. zainab.kantawala@goldensparrow.com