Affinity Magazine - a street culture magazine.

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ISSUE 90

A confluence of culture with tradition.

AUGUST 2018

affinity

PRINTED & PUBLISHED IN INDIA

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WELCOME

affinity Welcome to

Running a magazine can be an incredibly rewarding experience. I’m proud of our team, wowed by our products, inspired by our contributors, and in love with our readers.

I started affinity because I believe magazines are the best way to capture a perspective on the world, and Makeshift has achieved that for the thousands of makers whose stories we’ve told. While this piece outlines many challenges of running a print magazine, I have no intention of scaring you. I simply wish to equip you better than I was when I began my journey. But what I lacked in expertise I made up for in fearlessness.

Take up the challenge and start making.

While you may need to invest in multiple social channels, double down on a particular channel that you think works best to your advantage.

Linus Sebastian CEO, Black Box Studios.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

EDITOR’S LETTER Let me introduce myself: I am Jules Ostin new Editor in Chief. And beginning with the September issue—redesigned and reimagined—we will learn from one another what a magazine is, and what it can be, in our always changing new world.

To start, let me say that I am a magazine enthusiast, a junkie who from my earliest school days has been obsessed with flipping though the pages of magazines, first absorbed in their images and stories, later assigning and editing my own. I really believe that no matter whether a magazine is delivered to your doorstep or to your computer, printed on glossy stock or on cheap tabloid paper, appearing on your iPad or your cellphone screen, it is still and foremost the work of an editorial team for a discerning audience, a beautiful and meaningful— we hope—package of ideas, words and images that a group of experts prepares for its readers.

Jules Ostin

Editor-in-Chief, affinity.

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BEHIND THE MAGAZINE

MEET THE

TEAM

Jason DeVine

Matt Holm

Becky Scott

Creative Director

Art Director

Creative Designer

@theinternjason

@theinternben

@theinternben

Justin Wolff

Patty Lavin

Ben Whittaker

Senior Designer

Junior Designer

Production Manager

@theinternben

@theinternben

@theinternben

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

CONTENTS ISSUE #90 | AUGUST 2018

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Inside the Market.

Corporation about two years ago to evict the encroaching traders from the Sunday Market.

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Glass Bangles.

Bangles are part of traditional Indian jewellery, are usually worn in pairs by women, one or more on each arm.

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The Forgotten Game.

It is believed to be the origin of Western games such as cricket, baseball and softball.

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Cheerful Environment.

The team has a well-trained artists, having more than 10+ years of experience.

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Fruits that Amaze.

With a climate that ranges from Himalayan to tropical, India has much to offer in terms of fruit diversity.

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28

ne to ne.

O

CONTENTS

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o

12

Love for a

King.

08

Delicious Street.

Flowers

Fragrance.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

Fragrance Life around Article: Margaret Tate Photography: Bob Spaulding

Jaadhi, malli, arali, marugu, javandhi, my life revolves around fragrant flowers and leaves. For 45 of my 70 years, I have been selling flowers.

Jaadhi, malli, arali, marugu, javandhi, my life revolves around fragrant flowers and leaves. For 45 of my 70 years, I have been selling flowers. My late husband taught me everything I know about the business. We would go to the flower market every day, bargain, buy flowers and bring them home by bus.

Then, I would sit with my neighbours, and tie flowers as we chatted. Once a week, I would buy vaazhai mattai, soak it 8

in water, and separate it with a safety pin to get fine silky strands. When tied with this naaru, the flowers smell good and stay fresh longer. Sadly, today, we use white cotton thread or coloured thread.

These days, I get up at 4.30 a.m. and leave home at about 5. I come to my ‘spot’ near Pazhamudir Nilayam on Government Arts College Road by 6.

I have a tea and bun and am ready to face the day. For the first hour, I mostly

STREET VENDORS

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

sell saami poo. Morning walkers and the local shops buy kadhambam from me. Once, I sell all my flowers, I go to the flower market and buy udhiri poo (jaadhi, malli). Some women there tie it for a fee. I board a bus back to my stand — it’s just a stool and a koodai, but it is all mine! I keep shifting around so that I get to sit in the shade of the puliyamaram above me. Most days, I pick up small quantities of arali, thulasi, sampangi, thamarai, marugu and javandhi.

This, I tie myself. I like to sell kadhambam that has been tied, nerukama. I love choosing the colour combinations. It reminds me of my husband and our days together. I bring old rice from home for lunch. One of the hotels nearby gives me some sambar to eat it with. They also provide water. At about five p.m., some people from a temple nearby give us pavement sellers a packet of food. Either sambar saadham Flower market in Coimbatore Public or puli saadham. That takes Market & Sandhya care of dinner. Once I pack is selling flowers up, I go home. On rainy days, to her customers.

I make no money. On a good day, I make enough to eat and pay the local moneylender. The interest is steep, but where else can we go? What makes me happiest is when people keep returning to me to buy flowers. I once sold flowers to little girls.

Today, they come with their grandchildren and buy flowers from me! And, everyone calls me paati.

They are my family. I’ve led a fulfilled life. I lost my husband some years ago and my son lives elsewhere. I would like to work till I can. My only addiction is vethala paaku. There’s a reason for it, you know? When you bend constantly to tie flowers, your eyes water. Vethalai takes care of that watering. Years ago, I used to pluck flowers for a living. We would go to a big bungalow and pluck jasmine flowers from the kodi. That was the first time I saw a lady tying flowers. I used to stand in a corner and watch her fingers as they deftly moved, fusing the flowers and naaru into a seamless whole. Who knew then

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that the same flowers would be my lifelong companion? Years ago, I used to pluck flowers for a living. We would go to a big bungalow and pluck jasmine flowers from the kodi.

That was the first time I saw a lady tying flowers. I used to stand in a corner and watch her fingers as they deftly moved, fusing the flowers and naaru into a seamless whole. Who knew then that the same flowers would be my lifelong companion?

AFFINITY MAGAZINE

War

on the

Streets.

Article: Margaret Tate Photography: Bob Spaulding

Kothu Parotta is the most delicious street food Item to Try in Tamil Nadu. But as people as Masala Dosa is favorite food by World Health Origination.

There's a clanging you will hear in some of Madurai's streets once the sun goes down. Parotta 'Masters' use this sound to draw customers to their stalls as they furiously craft Kothu Parotta (translates to minced parotta) by blending the ingredients with a long iron spatula on a hot iron griddle. Madurai is probably one of my favourite food cities in India. The flavours are authentic and street stalls have been a part of the local landscape way before Street food became cool.

Madurai's location as a trading hub in Southern Tamil Nadu has always meant that large numbers of people pass through this city. Traders, farmers and even commuters who use Madurai 12

as a pit-stop as they head to their towns further south. The streets around the city centre are a beehive of activity much after sunset and a long list of restaurants and street stalls stay open till very late to cater to this large floating population. Locals believe that Kothu Parotta was invented here. It's one of the most delicious street food items you can sample - piping hot, bursting with flavours (often fiery) and a meal by itself with bread, eggs and meat thrown in.

Perfect for a quick 'grab and go' meal.

The Kothu Parotta is essentially a flaky maida parotta that's shredded, literally beaten out of shape and then tossed on a cast iron griddle with an assortment of ingredients. You can do a

STREET VENDORS

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

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STREET VENDORS

kothu masala dosai

"

meat-free, Muttai (Egg) Kothu Parotta or a chicken or mutton Kothu Parotta that also feature tiny egg bits and an assortment of spices. This spicy dish is usually served with salna or meat gravy in most parts of Tamil Nadu. Over the years, some of Chennai's vegetarian restaurants like Saravana Bhavan have transformed this quintessential meat dish into a vegetarian dish with onions, capsicum and assorted vegetables that sort of make up for the lack of meat.

There are also innovative versions that use Chinese (or Indian-Chinese if you like) flavours. Aside from a vegetable gravy, it's quite common to see these served with an onion pachadi (raitha). In fact, many restaurants call their version chilli parotta and add green chilies along with capsicum in the mix.

While Madurai might be the 'go to' city for the Kothu Parotta, there's Tuticorin in Southern Tamil Nadu that has acquired quite a reputation for its version of the Kothu Parotta.

I arrived at one of the city's most famous eateries that lives up to its name - 'Famous Nightclub'. A nightclub usually means the same thing across the world; except Tuticorin.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

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STREET VENDORS

Inside the

Market.

Article: Graham Hawtrey Image Credits: Nick Campbell

Encroachment on the narrow Kripananda Variar Road in Vellore by traders selling used tools and electrical appliances, buckets, plastic items, new electronic devices, kitchen accessories, old books and sundry items on Sundays continues to cause traffic problems.

On Sundays, every little space in front of the closed shops is occupied by traders selling their wares from the Anna Bazaar junction to the bamboo market junction. If the number of wares is more, the display of wares encroaches upon the road, causing obstruction even to pedestrians.

With a dozen customers standing in front of each of nearly 300 shops and bargaining with traders, the entire road is converted into a sea of humanity. On Sundays, the road transforms into a proverbial market place, and has, therefore, acquired the name, ‘Sunday Market.'

It would be a nightmarish experience for a two-wheeler rider a bicycle rider to meander through the surging crowds of customers at the Sunday Market. Though most shops on Kripananda Variar Road are closed on Sundays, a few shops remain open, and shoppers and those wanting to buy vegetables or groceries

from the nearby Nethaji Market use the road to visit the shops. The fact lies that there is a clientele for the Sunday Market.

Many customers visit the Sunday Market to buy sundry items . As a result, traders make good business in the market.

There was a move by the Vellore Corporation about two years ago to evict the encroaching traders from the Sunday Market, but the move was kept in abeyance till alternative arrangements were made for them, following objections from the traders.

Traders of Long Bazaar feel that Kripananda Variar Road has to be re-laid in view of the damage that has been done to the road by the digging of trenches to lay pipelines for the underground drainage scheme (UGS) and haphazard closing of trenches.

Besides, Long Bazaar also lacks infrastructure such as toilets and drainage facilities. The public feel that the immediate task of the Vellore Corporation would be to re-lay the road which had been dug up for the laying of pipelines for the UGS. Trenches on Kripananda Variar Road and Anna Bazaar were only temporarily closed with mud, and the undulated nature of the roads.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Glass

Gadgets Article: Graham Hawtrey Image Credits: Nick Campbell

Bangles are rigid bracelets, usually from metal, wood, glass or plastic.

They are traditional ornaments worn mostly by South Asian women in India, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

It is common to see a new bride wearing glass bangles at her wedding, the traditional view is that the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks.

Bangles also have a very traditional value in Hinduism and it is considered inauspicious to be bare armed for a married woman. Some men and women wear a single bangle on the arm or wrist called kada or kara. In Sikhism, the father of a Sikh bride will give the groom a gold ring, a kara (steel or iron bangle), and a mohra.

Chooda is a kind of bangle that is worn

by Punjabi women on her wedding day. It is a set of white and red bangles with stone work. According to tradition, a woman is not supposed to buy the bangles she will wear. Bangles are circular in shape, and, unlike bracelets, are not flexible. The word is derived from Hindi bungri (glass).

They are made of numerous precious as well as non-precious materials such as gold, silver, platinum, glass, wood, ferrous metals, plastic, etc. Bangles made from sea shell, which are white colour, are worn by married Bengali and Oriya Hindu women. A special type of bangle is worn by women and girls, 18

especially in the Bengal area, commonly known as a "Bengali bangle", which is used as a substitute for a costly gold bangle, and is produced by fixing a thin gold strip (weighing between 1–3 g) is thermo-mechanically fused onto a bronze bangle, followed by manual crafting on that fused gold strip.

Bangles are part of traditional Indian jewellery. They are usually worn in pairs by women, one or more on each arm. Most Indian women prefer wearing either gold or glass bangles or combination of both. Inexpensive bangles made from plastic are slowly replacing those made by glass, but the ones made of glass are still preferred at traditional occasions such as marriages and on festivals.

AFFINITY MAGAZINE

For the Love of

a King.

Article: Rahul Ramachandran Photography: Sasidha Ramanathan

Terukkuttu is a Tamil street theatre form practised in Tamil Nadu state of India and Tamil speaking regions of Sri Lanka. Terukuttu is a form of entertainment, a ritual, and a medium of social instruction.

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EDITOR'S CHOICE

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Ov N Perf

The king as the facing the enemy to look around the people who are watching the show.

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Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

vernight, Narrative, formances.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

"

Terukkuttu is a Tamil street theatre form practised in Tamil Nadu state of India and Tamil speaking regions of Sri Lanka.

Terukuttu is a form of entertainment, a ritual, and a medium of social instruction.

The terukkuttu plays various themes. One theme is from the Tamil language versions of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, focusing on the character Draupadi. The terms Terukkuttu and Kattaikkuttu are often used interchangeably in the modern times; however, historically the two terms appear to have distinguished, at least in certain villages, between two different kinds of performance: while Terukkuttu referred to mobile performances in a procession, Kattaikkuttu denotes overnight, narrative performances at a fixed performance space.

The term “terukkuttu” is derived from the Tamil words Teru (“street”) and Kuttu (“theatre”).

The word “Kattaikkuttu” is derived from the name of special ornaments known as kattai (or kattai camankal). The writer M. Shanmugam

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Pillai has compared terukkuttu to the Tamil epic Silappatikaram, calling Silappatikaram a proto-form of terukkuttu.

The Silappatikaram story is still performed by the terukkuttu actors, the terukkuttu drama commences and ends in a manner similar to the commencement and end of each canto in the epic, and the actors sing and converse in verse interspersed with prose, the prose coming after the verse as its explanation. Both Silappatikaram and terukkuttu are centered around the chastity and moral power of women as cherished values.

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

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However, historically, the terukkuttu is not more than two to three centuries old. The researcher Richard A. Frasca wrote that certain of his performer-informants believed that the terukkuttu originally emanated from the Gingee area. It spread from South India to Sri Lanka, and became popular in Jaffna and Batticaloa.

The early Sinhala Nadagam (open-air drama) closely followed Terukuttu plays in presentation and in style. The Jesuit priests in Jaffna also presented Catholic plays from the Portuguese tradition in Terukuttu style.

EDITOR'S CHOICE

The king as the facing the enemy to look around the people who are watching the show.

Many scholars note the similarity between terukkuttu and other neighbouring regional drama forms, such as Yakshagana and Kathakali.However, unlike Kathakali, terukkuttu is less codified, and is generally considered a folk art rather than a classical art form.

In recent times, some terukkuttu groups have also started operating as professional troupes.

Many terukuttu performances center around the enactment of Mahabharata story, with emphasis on the role of Draupadi. Terukkuttu

plays on Ramayana are performed at Mariyamman festivals, and some of the plays also involve local deities.

Many terukuttu performances center around the enactment of Mahabharata story, with emphasis on the role of Draupadi. Terukkuttu plays on Ramayana are performed at Mariyamman festivals, and some of the plays also involve local deities.

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SPORTS

the forgotten

Game .

Gilli Danda is an amateur sport played in the rural areas and small towns all over Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as Cambodia, Turkey, South Africa and Italy.

The game is played with two sticks: a large one called a danda, which is used to hit a smaller one, the gilli.Gilli Danda is an ancient sport of India, possibly with origins over 2500 years ago. It is believed to be the origin of Western games such as cricket, baseball and softball.

Gilli Danda is derived from ghaikgh a+ka], literally "tip-cat". An explanatory definition is given in the commentary as, ghaik is "a game played using two sticks: one long and the other short. It is played by hitting the shorter stick with the longer one." Ghaik is still known to South Asian countries, like Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka etc. In Bangladesh it is known as guli khel.

The longer stick in a guli khel, should be

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

about 1 1â „2 ft (0.46 m) and the shorter stick about 6 in (150 mm) There are certain rules for preparing the sticks and playing the game with them.

As an amateur youth sport, Gilli Danda has many regional variations. In some versions, the number of points a striker scores depends on the distance the gilli falls from the striking point.

The distance is measured in terms of the length of the danda, or in some cases the length of the gilli. Scoring also depends on how many times the gilli was hit in the air in one strike. If it travels a certain distance with two midair strikes, the total points are doubled.

If the gilli is not struck far enough the player has to pick it up and try again.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Knockout Marbles. with

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SPORTS

A kids was aiming to knockout his friend on the game with marbles and other watching it.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Blast From The Past: Marbles, or better known as Goli, came in different forms and colors. Its aesthetic appeal also led many to collect and trade marbles.

Article: Margaret Tate Photography: Bob Spaulding

Lakhoti is one of the most important traditional game which is played all over India.

It is also known by Kancha, Golli, Goti and Marbles (English). This game is considered as one of the street games and this game increases the aiming and concentration skills. People have been playing marbles and marble like games for thousands of years. It is thovught that marble started with the cave people playing with small pebbles or balls of natural clay.

Clay balls have been found in the tomb of Egypt, they have also been found in Native American burial grounds. They have also been discovered in pyramids. It is also said that marbles might have originated in Harappan Civilization in Pakistan near the river Indus. A lot of different marbles were found on excavation near Mohenjo-daro. They were commonly made of clay, stone or glass. Ceramic marbles entered inexpensive mass production in the 1870s.

In 1846 a German glass blower invented the marble scissors (a mold to make marbles) that revolutionized the process of making marbles.

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Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

SPORTS

The king as the facing the enemy to look around the people who are watching the show.

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

In 1890, the first machine that made marbles were made in Germany and later that year in the U.S. In 1950, several types of marbles were invented and experimented. First, in Japan the cat’s eye type marble was created by injecting colored glasses into the normal marble. Then in U.S people found out that if you bake your marbles before they cool you will get crackled effect. Perhaps the biggest event took place when in 1960 Neil Armstrong (the first man on the moon) describes the earth as a big blue marble. These days marbles are made of all sort of materials.Glass is very popular. Clay marbles are also made but are not

so accurate as compared to glass marbles. Almost all marbles are machine made. Glass marbles are made by melting glass in a furnace and poured into the molds, then colored glasses are injected into the molten marbles by creating design like cat eyes. For thousands of years marbles have proved to be the most interesting and popular Indian traditional game which is also played all over the wold.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Article: Margaret Tate Photography: Bob Spaulding

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

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LIFESTYLE The king as the facing the enemy to look around the people who are watching the show.

WHAT MAKES AN IMPRESSIVE ENVIRONMENT TO STAY CHEERFULLY?

Chennai wall painting dedicated to transforming the living environments through art and wall painting. It is one of the Businesses of its kind established in the year 2013. The team has a welltrained artists, having more than 10+ years of experience. Our hand painted quality custom wall murals work is characterized by creative artistic vision.

We bring our customers the best of Indian murals traditions and styles and dramatically transform the atmosphere of the indoor or outdoor living environments and give an ecstatic feeling when you enter there.

Again I post another some of from my chennai wall painting collection...for your cool vision. Whenever I have time I enjoy to take these valuable paintings and save to my collection album and maximum I want to see them often and refresh my mind and my art level..and I am very happy to share

these colorful paintings to you and as an artist I am very proud to post this.

And always I write this to our people... to help to save those from dust...and other damages,pollutions...,and Our corporation also should be care about it...and avoid from paste the poster,banner,cut-outs,hoardings etc. Thanks a lot for your great help for Colorful Chennai...and this helps a lot of artists earn money and show their talent through their imaginary artworks.

And above all More people sent emails to me and appreciate my posts and I really want to say thanks and I will post again and again...Don't worry.

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AFFINITY MAGAZINE

Fruits that

Amaze.

Article: Margaret Tate Photography: Bob Spaulding

Did you know that India holds the distinction of being the world’s second largest producer of fruits?

With a climate that ranges from Himalayan to tropical, India has much to offer in terms of fruit diversity. While major fruits like mango, banana and citrus varieties are grown in abundance in many parts of the country, there are several unique and increasingly rare minor fruits that are collected from the wild and eaten mostly by the locals. It is only during the searing summers and cold winters of the subcontinent that some of these fruits appear on the rickety carts of street hawkers in Indian towns.

A reminder of changing seasons and childhood summers, here are 15 little known fruits from India that can open up an entirely new world to you. So go on, take a look, and be sure to comment below with your experiences, favorite fruits, and any others that we’ve missed!

The spiralling green-pink pods of jungli jalebi (or kodukkapuli) contain about 6-10 shining black seeds enveloped in a thick sweet edible pulp.

While the pulp can be eaten raw or made into a drink similar to lemonade, 34

the tangy seeds are used in curries.

It is due to the fruit’s resemblance to the Indian sweet jalebi that the plant has been given the name jungli jalebi.

Carambola is a fruit with a waxy skin and a green to golden yellow color.

The ripe fruit has a distinctly yellow colour, with slightly brown ribs, and it makes a great preserve or pickle.

Dancers performing the art of terukuttu, which is viewed by many peoples around the village in Coimbatore.

Designed by

Black Box Studios Bangalore, India.

Printed at

Hi-tech Printers Coimbatore, India.