Bollywood and the Business of Secularism Despite Its Amar Akbar Anthony Halo, the Ilm Industry’S Secular Credentials Appear Shaped More by Commerce Than Ideology

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BY SOHINI CHATTOPADHYAY romantic dream sequence or any objec- usually large batch of big-ticket films tionable romantic scene between Rani with Muslim protagonists. (Can you good line works on two levels, Padmavati and Alauddin Khilji.” think of the last time there were this sometimes more. The makers The statement makes no mention of many non-Hindu heroes?) of Raees use this line several how this might affect the director’s vis- Secularism, in the context of the In- A times in the film: “Ammi jaan ion. The message is direct: We have indian state, has a distinct connotation: it kehti thi kii koi kaam chhota nahin vested money here, we don’t want it to stands for religious plurality. (There- hota, aur dhande se bada koi dharam come to nothing. Nasty as the attack fore, we have an official Haj subsidy and nahin hota (My mother used to say no was, it is hard not to see this as a capitu- state funding for the Kumbh melas, work is too small to do, and no religion lation. Dhande se bada koi dharam among several other religious sub- is bigger than business.).” Shah Rukh nahin hota. sidies.) When we look at Bollywood Khan’s warm whisky voice says this over Bollywood has long carried a secular through this lens of plurality, things the opening visuals of freight vessels at halo, aided by Amar, Akbar, Anthony , don’t look good. It breaks my heart a bit sea in the trailer. The first meaning the terrific success of Muslim actors, the to say this because I love Bollywood. holds direct reference to the plot of industry’s general religious diversity, Sometimes, I feel I was brought up by course: Raees Alam, a young don-on- and the presence of Sufi and myriad in- the T.V. set in the drawing room. And in the-make, gets into a spectacular fight in fluences in its music. Is this enough to many ways, Bollywood is a wider win- a meat market over setting up a mutton call it secular? Or is this secularism just dow to life than my posh Calcutta stall and comes up against the big man school, where we were valued per cap- in the Mumbai underworld. Big don When we look at ita of elite privilege—what your parents tells Raees that dons don’t sell goat <> did, how many colonial clubs you were meat. Raees quotes his mother’s words. Bollywood through this members of, how talented you were at At another level, the line might be an lens of plurality, things piano or some Brahminical or high admonition to the ruling nationalist Western culture form. Compared to party. Don’t sell religion, give us the don’t look good. this, Bollywood felt truly inclusive. But promise of development; give us the then, Bollywood was also the reason I best possible conditions for business. a sensible sales pitch? In a multi-ethnic wondered why the four Muslim girls we Later in the film, when Raees murders box office like India, you want to sell as had in school weren’t scooping up the the big Bombay don for engineering many tickets as you can, you want to earth in salaam or becoming my best bomb blasts in a communally-charged make overtures of inclusion. friend after half a minute’s conversa- atmosphere, he inverts the original line. After Raees, there was Jolly LLB 2, tion. That’s what Muslim (or Sikh) “Main dharam ka dhanda nahin karta. (I which placed the Muslim question at friends in Bollywood are like—loyal, un- don’t trade in religion.)” the centre of the narrative. Sayani questioning and always available. There is a third possible interpreta- Gupta’s Heena is, in fact, the film’s con- Once we look past the family friends tion: could this be Bollywood confessing science, and her ghost cracks open and the qawwalis and the warm glow of that its fabled secularism is more about protagonist Jolly Mishra’s hard-boiled Amar Akbar Anthony , and look closer at sensible business than an ideological conscience as well. Then there was Ran- how Muslims (and minorities) are char- commitment? This reading resonates, goon, in many ways the opposite of acterised, it’s mostly stereotypes. particularly in the light of the depress- Raees: Shahid Kapur’s Nawab Malik did Muslims are either bad (meaning crim- ing developments around the films Pad- not wear kohl or pathani suits like Raees inal), or very good, either terrorists and mavati and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil . After Alam, but he is indisputably the heart of dons or impossibly good patriots. Padmavati director Sanjay Leela the film. Now, Naam Shabana and Be- Raees, Rangoon and Naam Shabana Bhansali was attacked on the film’s sets gum Jaan have hit the screens, and later play into this typology. It’s only Jolly by an outfit called Rajput Karni Sena this year, there is Haseena, the story of that gives us a Muslim who dreams of this February, his team quickly signed Mumbai don Dawood Ibrahim’s sister. love and marriage, who enjoys sex, who Typecast Muslims are either very bad or very good, either terrorists and dons or impossibly good patriots. an undertaking that read in part: “…this And, of course, Padmavati with Khilji. (clockwise from top) Stills from Amar Akbar Anthony , Rangoon and Raees is to specifically clarify that there is no By Bollywood standards, this is an un- Continued on page 2

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60 MINUTES: WITH PRIYADARSINI GOVIND

BY V.R. DEVIKA ence which would let me give something of value to the world.” Realising that her colleagues at Kalak- dhuvum solluvaal aval anaekam shetra were all artistes, she knew she solluvaal…. adiyae poedee. (She had to handle them carefully and with will say that, she will say many respect. “I began to talk constantly to A things… you go your own way.) the faculty to assess their I had seen this popular Bharatanatyam point of view. Nothing was padam being taught by the legendary too unimportant for me to í Kalanidhi Narayanan to a young Priy- learn. How many security Bharatanatyam has adarsini Govind in the late ’70s. I had people are there? What do been Govind's "ﬁrst also followed the ardour with which they need? What does the love" since she was six Govind had gone on to become an elec- hostel need? What can be í As a child, she trifying dancer producing some heart- done with the craft and trained under Kalanidhi stopping performances with the fluid weaving centre? What are Narayanan and geometry of her movements and her the schools about? What can Swamimalai skilled abhinaya. be done to enhance quality? K. Rajaratnam The philosophical shrug of the Who are the experts I can ap- í padam’s protagonist must have stood proach? These questions oc- She took over as the dancer in good stead when a steady cupied my mind constantly.” director of Kalakshetra campaign against her began, first after in 2013 her success as a dancer and then, when More than technique she was appointed the director of Kalak- In an attempt to build a shetra after the controversial exit of strong teaching faculty and Leela Samson. to strengthen pedagogy, Govind invited The dance world had shuddered at Kalakshetra’s early alumni to talk about her appointment. “All are aghast, dis- their experiences. mayed and downright angry at her ap- They gave insights and recalled Ruk- pointment,” said the editorial in a popu- mini Devi Arundale’s comments in order lar dance portal. While politically to share not just her technique but the Understanding the philosophy ‘I had come as an artiste but it did not mean I had to impose my artistic values on Kalakshetra,’ says Govind. C P Satyajit motivated untruths and half-truths had creative process involved. been gleefully thrown at Samson, some Their anecdotes and stories showed particularly vicious negativity was re- how every action of Arundale’s was de- served for Govind. termined and triggered by beauty. This When I meet Govind, even as her ten- oral history was documented for poster- ure at Kalakshetra draws to an end, ity. “My idea was for current and future ‘I am capable of blocking out none of this is evident. She looks calm students of Kalakshetra to understand and poised. It was her sister Vidya the philosophy of Kalakshetra. Kalaksh- Prasad who had suggested she apply for etra is not just about technique.” the post. “I was performing all over the “Instinctively, I felt there was no need world, in the best of theatres, some- for me to prove anything artistically times with 40 shows a month. As single- here. I had come in as an artiste but it things that are not pleasant’ mindedly as I had pursued it, I was now did not mean I had to impose my artistic ready to say enough.” values on Kalakshetra. I now had the Only two days were left for the last chance to see at close quarters the date of applying for the prestigious job. thought and artistry behind Rukmini De- As her Kalakshetra tenure draws to a close, the dancer will leave behind an Things moved fast, and soon the inter- vi’s choreography, the nuances she im- institution that is poised for tremendous growth and exciting collaborations view was over and Govind was told that bued every movement with, her use of she had been selected. “I remember the space, music and movement. I would moment I stood under the banyan tree use the word ‘poornam’ to describe the ical dyes were organised. “The enthusi- style? Facebook is on fire with protests repertory as an independent entity. have the interests of Kalakshetra at on my first day as director of Kalaksh- experiences she has created in asm that the weavers and the foreman and comments. The Culture Ministry is The paperwork for proposals to con- heart. I do hope the dance world will co- etra. It was August 5, 2013. I was not Kalakshetra.” displayed was amazing,” says Govind. getting a mini avalanche of mail, letters vert the diploma into a degree course, operate with the governing body and the nervous or scared.” I, on the other hand, As the dancer says, Kalakshetra de- “The fruits of that nurture you can see and vociferous responses from artistes for the reappraisal of recruitment rules, next director and see to it that the remember being in the audience and termines its own pace. And Govind kept today. We had three looms in total; now from all over.” and many other issues concerning ad- Koothambalam theatre is rebuilt. They feeling terrified for her! up. She started the Suvritti festival there are six looms for silk and eight for I ask Govind how she managed to stay ministration have been sent to the min- owe it not just to Kalakshetra and Chen- where dancers of her generation could cotton. There is a long list of pre-orders calm under this avalanche of criticism. istry for consideration. “Things have to nai but to the dance world,” says Govind The morning prayer perform and talk about their art so that for Kalakshetra saris.” “I am capable of blocking out things that be impacted from the bottom up. Unless with fire in her eyes. “It was the first time I was attending a Kalakshetra students could learn about It seems extraordinary that a person are not pleasant. I concentrate only on you can get the very last person with During the 60 minutes that we have Kalakshetra morning prayer,” says other styles. The Prasarana festival was transported into an environment so alien that which gives me comfort and happi- you, you cannot even take one step. It spent at the beautiful Padma Pushkarini Govind. “The singing and the solemnity begun to give the faculty a platform to to her own was able to stay so unaffected ness, things which help me function. I takes a long time; patience is required. tank in Kalakshetra, she has been play- of it all made me fall in love with Kalak- showcase the Kalakshetra style outside. by the harsh criticism. blocked out all those naïve comments,” Only then you will see some kind of ing with the many dogs frisking around shetra in that instance. I recognised this Outside of dance, Govind did some- And it was extremely harsh. Take just she says. movement and that is what you see in her as if the world was only full of love was something very special and that I thing vital. “I set up a committee of ex- one sample. When in August 2014, the Kalakshetra today,” says Govind. and trust. “I am not afraid at all, I know had been given the task of protecting it. perts to revive the weaving unit at Kalak- culture department proposed a revival of Ends and beginnings Three days after the sudden death of myself and my integrity,” she says as she Nothing else mattered after that.” shetra.” Gita Ram of Crafts Council of Festivals of India Abroad, Kalakshetra was The four years are over. And having had her husband and soon after the death of turns around to give me a dazzling People around her were horrified to India, one of the experts, talks of how notified as one of the bodies for the selec- her at the helm, Kalakshetra is poised her mother, two pillars of support in her smile. see her as director. They did not know Govind made the procedures and rules tion of performing groups. Instantly, for tremendous growth. There are pro- life, Govind was back at her desk. “Work The famous Begada padam about a her, her style of dance was at the other clear and then just went about imple- Govind came under personal attack. A posals for academic and artistic collab- is my balm,” she says simply. “Grieving totally unafraid woman runs in my end of their spectrum, and they knew menting what was advised as nearly as dance portal asked, “How can Priy- orations with universities and art institu- is a private affair.” mind. “Yarukkaaghilum bhayama… she had no experience in anything other possible. Design expert Ritu Kumar sug- adarsini Govind be the sole arbiter of tions abroad for exchanges on Through all this, the obstructionists summa sollattum… ” (Why should I be than dancing. But slowly they began to gested that better yarn could be pro- standards when she only knows one deputation and to professionalise the kept at it. “I was shocked that the people scared? Let them talk…) see that she had come into the job with cured from Bengaluru. Govind made the whose responsibility it was to protect 100% integrity of purpose. “They soon trip personally, asking Ram to accom- Kalakshetra were writing letters to the The writer learnt Bharatanatyam as an understood that I had no intention of pany her. “Such commitment is rare,” <> ‘We had three looms in total; now there are six ministry and making statements to the adult. Not having the discipline for the looking at it as a career move. I did not says Ram. looms for silk and eight for cotton. There is a long press creating a lot of confusion about rigour the art demanded, she uses it instead see my dancing or being the director of Several workshops on weaving, col- things that should have been discussed in her teaching. She believes in the live and Kalakshetra as a job, but as an experi- our matching, natural dyes and chem- list of pre-orders for Kalakshetra saris.’ at meetings. Obviously, they did not let live principle. Bollywood and the business of secularism Continued from page 1 She is a good daughter. She’s one tion: How long can you insist on secular- see pieces of meat sizzling on a tawa, fights for justice and gives up in despair. among only four people recruited for a ism when your own representations fail you see SRK digging in with his hands, Christians are drunks and promiscuous. super-elite security agency. She’s so the test of plurality? and there’s an unforgettable fight se- Sikhs protagonists didn’t exist till about good she is plucked out of basic training quence with a hunk of flesh in a meat 10 years ago. A statistical study of Hindi to take down a criminal who has es- Bania by instinct market. films found 82% of films released in caped the world’s top agencies for 10 I began the essay wondering if Raees ac- But when business is your main pri- 2013 and 88% released in 2014 featuring years. knowledges the truth that Bollywood’s ority, it makes you nervous about own- Hindu heroes. If we look at whose stor- It feels almost like an atonement for secularism is really more about sensible ing your choices. When journalist Rana ies get told and how, we distinctly see a the terrorist/ don trope. It sends out an dhanda or business rather than an ideo- Ayyub noted that Shah Rukh had es- cinema that is Hindu by habit, secular unfortunate message, however, that the logical commitment. The term the film sayed Muslim characters in three con- by assertion and bania by instinct. Muslim’s citizenship—in cinema, and by uses for businessman is ‘bania’. In the secutive releases (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil , I’ll unpack this, part by part. implication, in society—is conditional caste system, baniya is the generic Dear Zindagi, Raees) and praised him on excellence. descriptor for trading communities. In for not underplaying his religious iden- Hindu by habit Take My Name is Khan : Shah Rukh everyday usage, ‘bania’ has come to im- tity, the star gave an uncharacteristic- First things first. The three Khans Khan has Asperger’s Syndrome, he is a ply a mix of enterprising and hard- ally irritable response. “With due re- (there’s also Saif in the A-list): Aamir, genius, a devoted partner and father, headed. spect to my professionalism as an actor, Salman and Shah Rukh are indeed the works tirelessly to save lives when Hur- This let’s-get-things-done bania ethic I did not even know what my name was biggest stars, yet their filmography is al- ricane Katrina hits, he doesn’t give up has many merits. Take Raees, for ex- in… Ae Dil Hai Mushkil .” How depress- most entirely made up of Hindu heroes. until he meets the American president. ample: for a film that pointedly attacks ing that a man who makes a film as In an essay, Mukul Kesavan identified Does all this ring true? Can a person be the politicisation of religion, it ran political as Raees feels the need to dis- them as representing the “Hindu every- so perfect? Isn’t it tiresome? without hiccups in these overheated tance himself from a compliment on his man”. Salman Khan’s most enduring Think also of Shahid Kapur’s Nawab political times. The film takes a lovely, “Muslim” choices. screen name is Prem, and Shah Rukh is Malik in Rangoon: fiercely patriotic, un- flamboyant pride in meat-eating—you Even more depressing was Pad- identified with Rahul. Aamir has played blinking before death, respectful and mavati, whose makers signed away their a variety of characters in his career yet true to his lover, a man of revolution If we look at whose right to imagine a “romantic dream se- rarely a Muslim. I can recall only Deepa and dreams and love and loyalty. What <> quence” between the Rajput queen and Mehta’s Earth, and Fanaa, where he gives? This is not a man of flesh and stories get told and the Muslim invader. Yes, they signed played a terrorist. blood. This is a bore. how, we distinctly see away their right to imagine. Then there’s the issue of screen Warts and all The lonely, closeted Prof. Siras in Aligarh is among a handful of Muslim It is arguably as much a problematic Some months ago, director Karan Jo- names. For several years leading up to characters allowed to be lawed. (right) Vidya Balan in Begum Jaan stereotype when we construct Muslims a cinema that is har signed away the right to choose his Partition and after, Bollywod’s Muslim (or any minority identity) as impossibly Hindu by habit, artistes: he promised on video that he stars took on Hindu names. The most here. Habit is routine, it makes for re- serious stereotyping problem. The flawless patriots as when we frame would not work with Pakistani talent. famous of these are Dilip Kumar (Yusuf flexes. It may not be reflective of inten- Muslim protagonist is most often one of them in the terrorist/ criminal trope. secular by assertion And when you sign away the right to Khan), Madhubala (Mumtaz Jaan Deh- tionally ‘Hindu’ choices; nevertheless a stock set of figures, of which the ter- Isn’t it, after all, the most basic of hu- imagine, the right to choose your own lavi) and Meena Kumari (Mahjabeen habit does shape decision-making. rorist/ don would be the most promin- man rights to be forgiven for our faults? and bania by instinct. cast, what remains? Bano). ent today: Saif Ali Khan in Kurbaan, To be taken and loved as we are. Consider, on the other hand, Martin Others include Nimmi (Nawab Bano), Secular by assertion John Abraham in New York, Aamir Khan Only a handful of Muslim characters Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Ajit (Hamid Ali Khan) and Jagdeep (Syed The Hindi film industry’s secular cred in Fanaa, Hrithik Roshan in Fida and are like this: In 3 Idiots, Madhavan plays Christ, which imagines Jesus Christ as Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey). Waheeda Reh- owes chiefly to the outsize influence of Mission Kashmir , Ajay Devgn and Em- Farhan, an aspiring photographer afraid mortal with mortal frailties. The film man was asked to adopt a different Amar Akbar Anthony . In this delicious, raan Hashmi in Once Upon a Time in to stand up to his father. There’s the has a contentious dream sequence that name, but refused. At some point, the madcap film, the Muslim Akbar and the Mumbai, SRK in Raees. (Film scholar lonely, closeted Prof. Siras in Aligarh. I (fleetingly) shows Christ having sex with practice stopped. Amjad Khan used his Christian Anthony are far more tasty Rachel Dwyer has drawn up an excel- particularly enjoyed Aishwarya Rai’s Mary Magdalene. Christian groups real name, while his father had changed characters than the straitlaced Amar. In lent typology of Muslim tropes.) Saba in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil , a across the U.S. marched in protest be- his to Jayant. Can you think of any the book Amar Akbar Anthony: Bolly- Christians are invariably non-virginal less-than-successful poet who fore the film’s release. At least one na- Hindu star who had to take on a wood, Brotherhood and the Nation , the girls (the eponymous Julie and Bobby, is not embarrassed about en- tional cinema chain and some local “catchy” Muslim or Christian name? academics Elison, Novetzke and Rot- Rosie in Guide, Deepika Padukone’s joying sex. chains decided not to screen the film. Then, there are the screen rituals of man note that the original family to Veronica in Cocktail), drunks (Julie, I loved Pooja Bhatt in Zakhm, In response, Universal Pictures placed Bollywood—the weddings and the funer- which the three brothers belong is Bobby, Amar Akbar Anthony , David) the loving single mother who an ad in major American papers that als. The Hindu shaadi looms so large Hindu. The symbolism is obvious—the and smoky, smooth villains (Robert, hides her Muslim identity till she stated in part: “…the witness of history that we now have two sub-genres of family is the nation, hence India is Peter, and the varied bosses of ’70s is dying. Karisma Kapoor made a teaches the importance of standing up song sequences—the wedding song and Hindu. films). The Parsis are confirmed eccent- memorable Fiza, the girl who for freedom of conscience, even when the sangeet song. They also note how Akbar and An- rics and speakers of absurdly-accented didn’t hesitate to throw a the view being expressed may be There is the entire iconography of the thony’s identities are detailed with Hindi. glass of water at a sleazy in- unpopular.” mandap, sindoor, maang, saat phere. qawwalis and Easter-egg scenarios but In the past decade, there have been terviewer. There are a few The film clearly lost some screens True, we’ve have seen some nikaahs, in Amar, the Hindu, needs no such tex- several films where the Muslim is con- more. The point is, they are and revenues. But even money-minded Ishqiya and Zubeidaa, for instance, but ture. None of this takes away from the structed as the impossibly good hero the exceptions. Hollywood holds some values dearer how many? The defining image of death film’s secularism but reading the fine and patriot. Shahid Kapur in Rangoon, You could make the ar- than money. on the Hindi film screen is the chitaah print brings to light interesting Saif Ali Khan in Phantom, Shah Rukh gument that it is the mes- (funeral pyre). How many Christian or assumptions. Khan in Chak De! India and My Name is sage in many Bollywood The writer is an award-winning journalist Muslim burials can you remember? But it’s hard to see Bollywood cinema Khan, Shreyas Talpade in Iqbal, and films that urges secularism. based in Calcutta and writes on arts, politics I use the term ‘habit’ deliberately as a whole as secular when it has such a now Taapsee Pannu in Naam Shabana— This is precisely my ques- and public health

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FROM THE FIELD reach programme. The real challenges facing Hindus, he says, are love jihad, the radicalisation of Muslims, and the need for patriotism among Muslims. He suggests that extremism among Hindus is essentially a reaction to Muslim extremism. It is in this context that the al- leged hate speeches of his chief must be The cheetah and its seen, he explains. “A large number of Muslims are becoming extremists and that is something that worries Mahantji. He must have spoken against terrorists and those who don’t love Bharat Mata. Otherwise, peaceful new spots he loves Muslims as he does Hindus. He will treat them equally.”

Task ahead Thousands of people want to join the Hindu Yuva Vahini, HYV’s task now is to disburse new members across the region on marches the religious brigade that is rapidly expanding across U.P. where they will talk of how Hindus and Muslims are both sons of Ram and Krishna, and persuade Muslims to ac- MOHAMMED ALI cept that they are part of Hindutva. This <> In the breaks between features in all of Tomar’s speeches. n the dimly-lit drawing room of the Tomar’s speeches, his Rastogi sounds agitated as he asks, house in a middle-class colony in “Why don’t Muslims associate them- Saharanpur, there is little that is not cadre iddles with their selves with Ram and instead keep talk- I saffron. From the pictures to the smart phones. The ing about Babur and Taimur? Why do curtain prints to the tablecloth. In the they talk about Babri if they don’t feel spotlight is a 46-year-old man. He is unprecedented public close to Babur? Muslims should acknow- wearing a saffron shirt, a saffron shawl ledge their lineage with Ram.” and tight, neatly pressed, white cotton interest in their Vahini members constantly invoke trousers. organisation is the idea of the “good Muslims”—those He is Nagendra Singh Tomar, the who acknowledge their Hindu ancestry, chief of the western Uttar Pradesh keeping them busy. who don’t have the appearance of branch of the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), Muslims, who are not very religious, and this is his home-cum-headquarters. who love Bharat Mata and Gau Mata. The occasion is one of the first meetings become watchdogs. We have to ensure Meanwhile, several cases for rioting of the outfit after Yogi Adityanath’s pro- Ram Rajya comes into full force.” His and hate speech have been filed against motion to Chief Minister. Tomar is ex- phone rings. His Noida team is on the HYV. Also, All India Muslim Majlise- pected to spell out the HYV strategy, but other end, to say that the Ghaziabad po- Mushawarat, an umbrella body of over a surprise awaits the cadres when he lice has booked members for launching 30 Muslim groups in India, has filed a starts speaking. The Hindutva evangel- a bike rally without permission. fact-finding report about the atrocities ist sounds different. Tomar looks displeased. “We had de- the outfit committed on Muslims in east- “Pehle hum vipaksh me the” (earlier clared on posters that we would take ern UP such as abducting Muslim girls we were in Opposition), he says, “The out a bike rally. We organised a press and forcibly converting them to oppose governments of the past used to harass conference. Is that not enough for the ‘love jihad’. When asked about these us. Now the situation is in our favour. administration to find out,” he asks cases, Tomar calls them “one-sided and Our role is thus changed. We won’t in- angrily. biased” actions by the Samajwadi Party dulge in confrontation. Everything will and Bahujan Samaj Party governments. happen within the ambit of the Consti- Ram Rajya HYV itself has repeatedly laid claim tution.” The bunch of Hindutva foot sol- He turns back to me. “Ram Rajya is our to “ghar vapsi” or reconversion pro- diers in the room look more confused priority,” he says. But why does he call grammes, a goal that also features on its than convinced. it Ram Rajya and not Hindu Rashtra? website. “You won’t believe how these Safron trail The Hindu Yuva Vahini was largely seen as a collection of ragtag elements. Its members are seen here campaigning “You see, the term ‘Hindu’ was given to missionaries use duplicity to convert Adapting words in the recent U.P. elections, and (top) Nagendar Singh Tomar (centre) and his team in Saharanpur. Sandeep Saxena and Pervez Khan us by foreigners and Muslims. Ram Ra- people, especially in the poor areas,” Founded by Yogi Adityanath in Gorakh- jya, which is anyway a synonym of Tomar says. I tell him the Constitution pur in April 2002 as a cultural organisa- sters of its origins to slightly older (25 to April 12, for instance, residents of a aroused the envy of even RSS affiliates Hindu Rashtra, has a much wider con- guarantees all believers the right to tion that would work for intense Hindu 30 years) middle-class businessmen, Meerut locality called Vahini members such as Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu notation and implication,” he explains. practice and propagate their faith. He nationalism, HYV was largely seen as a shopkeepers, contractors and teachers. to complain that a man had brought his Parishad. Tomar gets up and walks to the adja- responds quickly that these are “forced” collection of ragtag, lumpen elements, I notice there are no women. “We have girlfriend home. Activists barged in and The spurt has indeed been remark- cent room that doubles up as his office. conversions. but it is now slowly adapting to the fact discussed this with Yogi maharaj, but he marched the couple to the cops. able. Till last month, HYV had barely Standing below the framed pictures of Cow protection is also high on the of its founder becoming the chief minis- said that we must first consolidate the hundred members, mostly in western Bal Thackeray and Shivaji, he explains Vahini’s agenda. Earlier, says Rastogi, ter of one of India’s most populous force we already have,” says Tomar, The big league UP. Now, it has several thousands. Mittal how unifying Hindu society and remov- cows were killed frequently in the inner states with a substantial Muslim who is also a lecturer in Commerce at In the breaks between Tomar’s says online applications have been ing caste is one of the crucial challenges ghettos of Quraishi dominated areas, population. the local Inter College. speeches, his cadre fiddles with their closed. “Mahant ji,” he says earnestly, before the Vahini. but the police didn’t prosecute or arrest “Hinduism teaches us to respect all The Yuva Vahini does not a fixed smart phones. The unprecedented pub- “has asked us to be strictly vigilant I ask about his surname ‘Tomar’. He anyone. “Sometimes they filed a com- faiths. We should respect the religious routine; members keep an eye open for lic interest in their organisation is keep- about new members, as there might be explains that he is a Thakur, a member plaint, but later they released the cul- symbols, sacred books and cultures of any perceived anti-Hindu activity and ing them busy. “We have had thousands people who join only to embarrass and of the warrior caste, and a Chandravan- prits. They used to treat us as nuis- each other.” Tomar rattles off the lines spring into action. of calls and messages from people want- defame him.” shi or descendant of the moon dynasty. ances. Not any more. They know that it with the felicity of a peacenik. This is a Members meet roughly twice a week, ing to join us,” says their Meerut city Gone are the days when the force He carefully takes out a book from the is Yogi-ji’s government. Now the police new language for an outfit that has not but remain constantly connected chief, Sachin Mittal, sitting next to To- used to prepare for ‘dharm yudh’. Now, dusty cupboard behind him to prove his takes our activism very seriously.” been famous so far for advocating re- through a robust and extraordinarily mar. The group, however, plans to they say, they are going to keep the or- descent from Arjun, also a It shows. The Vahini is now more as- straint to its impatient young followers. active Whatsapp group. Anoop Rastogi screen the 10,000-odd application der. The workers have strict instruc- Chandravanshi. sertive and vocal. The new body lan- Compared to the election speeches of shows me the group’s display picture of forms. tions not to take the law into their Tomar has now spent 12 years with guage is visible in the celebration rallies a month ago, the toned-down rhetoric a saffron flag on his phone. Mittal is a wheatish complexioned hands. “Earlier, the government did the Vahini and is making extensive in Saharanpur where members walk indicates that HYV is trying to morph A fair man with a red tilak, Rastogi is man of average height. On the wall be- nothing. Now we have a sincere chief plans for the outfit’s 15th foundation day with drawn swords and clarion calls for into a more tolerant avatar as it goes a garment shop owner in his late 30s. hind him is a larger-than-life poster of minister. There is no need for us to in- celebrations. The Vahini wants to real- Ram Rajya. One of their slogans is par- mainstream. He says, “We have members on the Yogi Adityanath. terfere with the administration’s work,” ise its potential now, he says. ticularly rousing: Yogi ji ke cheete hain, The membership profile is also chan- ground. Anything happens and we are Mittal’s face lights up when he talks says Mittal. Later that day, I join him as he walks apne bal pe jeete hain (We are Yogi’s ging gradually, from the rowdy young- there in no more than five minutes.” On about HYV’s expansion and how it has Tomar interjects, “Our job will be to the streets of Meerut as part of his out- cheetahs, we live off our strength.)

SOFT FOCUS CREDITS The artist and the art lover If people treated other illnesses like they treat An enterprise that depression 5 minutes seeks to make art All India Bakchod more accessible Rahul calls Nikhil to say he is booking movie tickets. But Nikhil passes “I think i have typhoid” he says. His in- BY VARGHESE K. GEORGE credulous friend launches into the phone: “Have you gone mad? Typhoid? There is no such thing. You just need to get out and have some fun,” he says. A couple of drinks, and wo decades ago, Santhana Krish- the bacteria will be all but gone, he says. “It’s just a phase.” nan, an emerging tech entrepren- May sound like voodoo, but this is what people with de- eur in Boston, Massachusetts, pression are often told. A new short from comedy collect- T made a promise to Mark Rathina- ive All India Bakchod ‘If people treated other illnesses like raj, an emerging artist, when their paths they treat depression,’ dispels myths and discusses the crossed in Chennai. Krishnan said he stigma around depression with their characteristic snark. would showcase Rathinaraj’s work in the U.S. some day. After setting up and selling Patrons and painters Santhana Krishna and artist B. Venkatesan at the Asian Art Gallery Shaju john two companies by 2013, Krishnan thought it was time he redeemed that promise. “I tion of Rathinaraj, where 90% of the pieces a different approach to the art market. Not AAG has now began offering limited edi- thought now I must use the artistic part of were sold. Chennai-based Rathinaraj’s and only in that it promotes lesser known tion prints of paintings too. Adimoolam’s my brain,” Krishnan says, reflecting on the Bangalore-based Subra’s (G. Subramanian) artists, but in that it wants to make art af- Maharajah that auctioned in Boston re- founding of the Asia Art Gallery (AAG) in paintings were seen by an American CEO fordable for a larger audience. “The buyer, cently was a 66” by 30” print of the 20” by 2013 that aims to connect lesser known of a $4 billion company at another Indian the artists and the charities that benefit, all 24” original. Digital reproduction of paint- artists to art lovers who want to buy at af- CEO’s house who had purchased them at feel the deal was good,” says Krishnan. ings allows various prints in any size fordable prices. In AAG’s social enterprise an AIF auction. The American CEO sub- Original works are sold in the range of without any impact on the quality. Mu- model, what does not go to the artiste is sequently commissioned works from both $1500 to $10,000. AAG also organises two seum quality printing and framing are all shared for charity and promotion of other the artists. “AAG provides them a launch- exhibitions in Boston every year. “Here done in Chennai, and the pieces are artists. pad that they may not have otherwise. And again, the idea is to make the interaction shipped to buyers in the U.S. “Framing it- Since then, AAG has signed up 35 artists they develop a following of their own,” between art lovers and emerging artists self is an art, a delicate one,” says Krish- The secret life of the zoo from India. Most of them are in their form- says Krishnan. less intimidating and less formal than the nan. ative years, but AAG has also brought museum environment,” he says. “We try to Krishnan plans to enhance the charity 46 minutes works of senior artists who have never had The one-third model strike a balance by not pricing it too high emphasis by innovations that will optimise Series Producer: Martin Hicks sufficient exposure to the American art The gallery has raised more than half a to be unaffordable or two low to be ex- the link between social organisations, The stars of this ‘observational documentary series’ market. When K. S. Adimoolam died in million dollars so far, paying $250,000 to ploitative for the artists. And we also keep artists and buyers. Limited prints will be aired on Channel4, are the 15,000 animals at Chester Zoo, 2008 at 70, he left a treasure of unseen the artists and $250,000 to various charit- the social purpose in mind.” one key focus in the coming days, he said. and their keepers. The latest episode, aired last week, fea- paintings behind. ies that raise money in the U.S. for their Thirty-three year old B. Venkatesan, “The idea is to have a few dozen prints, tures Mr. Parsons the chameleon who meets a new mate, Last month, a print of a piece from his activities in India. “Eventually, we will who grew up in a modest Chennai neigh- without losing the value,” he said. He also Daphne from Paris; a young giraffe, Murchison who faces Mahararja series was auctioned at a fun- move to a ‘one third for each’ model, bourhood, is one of the huge successes of plans to start online auctions for a specific the great outdoors for the first time; and jaguars Napo and draising event for the American India where one portion will go to supporting the AAG model. AAG bought all the paint- purpose—for instance, to raise funds for a Goshi who are being encouraged to mate (although Napo Foundation (AIF) in Boston for $5000. struggling artists in India,” says Krishnan. ings that Venkatesan did over the last three particular charity project run by a particu- doesn’t seem to be romantically inclined). In the previous “The value of art is often decided by where There are American galleries that show- years, and has committed to buying the art lar organisation. “There are hundreds of episodes, a young elephant Nandita isn’t happy when her it is seen,” Krishan says, explaining why case Indian art, but they work with estab- he produces in the next two years. extraordinary artists in India who have no half-sister is born; and rhino beetle, Sheldon, who has a some brilliant Indian artists never get the lished artists whose work sells for hun- He was an instant hit at the India Art access to the market. India has not done a damaged wing tries to impress female beetle Alice. attention they deserve. dreds of thousands of dollars. For them, Fair in New Delhi this February 2017, good job of it. We hope to fill that gap in a Being seen in the right place has opened selling a handful of pieces a year is suffi- where AAG showcased his work and way that benefits all,” says Krishnan. AAG A curation of some of the most interesting news lms and a new world of opportunities for many of cient to sustain a profitable business Krishan hopes to have an exhibition for also has plans to replicate the same model videos from around the world. these artists. AAG began with a solo exhibi- model. AAG’s social enterprise model has him in Boston soon. in Myanmar.

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SPOTLIGHT <> You commit to practising for BY RANJANA DAVE hours.You cannot few weeks ago, Bharatanatyam always expect an dancer Vaibhav Arekar took to audience or sponsors. social media to express his dis- A may at being priced out of Kan- We have to dance to divali, the northern Mumbai suburb where he rented studio space. The mod- blank walls. est, two-level structure where he de- vised work and conducted rehearsals for ted nature of artistic practice in the city his dance company, Sankhya, was no is exciting in its own way. Having studied longer available to him. He was now con- and practised dance as a middle-class sidering moving his work out of the city Mumbaikar, he is at peace with the re- he has always called home. In doing so, stricted experience of space that this up- Arekar is articulating a choice many ar- bringing has enabled. Despite the chal- tistes have made—to leave the cities in lenges of city life, he runs a company search of spaces that can sustain a con- with full-time dancers. “If you are a pro- sistent and rigorous artistic practice. fessional dancer, you have to commit to For many artistes, solitude has always practising for hours. There are no reas- been greatly alluring. As early as 1939, ons for practice. You cannot always ex- the choreographer Uday Shankar was pect an audience or sponsors. We have building an arts centre in Almora, while to dance to blank walls. My training sys- in the Western ghats his counterpart Ma- tem was dedicated to creating perform- dame Menaka was establishing a resid- ance opportunities for the next genera- ential dance school in Khandala. tion of dancers. But for that you need Solitude apart, rural or semi-urban en- space; 24/7 space,” he said. vironments have attracted artistes with clean air, inexpensive living and the pos- Mental space sibility of engaging with the local com- Arekar’s online post triggered an out- munity. But this also means building pouring of moral and logistical support workspaces from scratch and, most im- from the arts community, making him portantly, developing the patience to weigh his options. The city has made work in sync with the unhurried pace of him broad-minded, he feels. It made nature. It means planting trees that re- him recognise that his idiom of quire years of nurturing and dealing Bharatanatyam has to speak the lan- with failed crops and bad weather even guage of today. For these reasons, he is as one is immersed in artistic work. unwilling to sever his connections with the city. Also, he is wary about the cost It’s hard work and effort required to build and sustain a Few collectives succeed in weathering new space in a new environment. these challenges. Adishakti, the theatre Finding room to create His recent performances in two- and laboratory on the outskirts of Puduch- three-tier cities, however, have led him erry, has suffered at the hands of Tamil to consider smaller cities as options. He Nadu’s violent monsoons. Yet, the ar- said, “Moving out of Mumbai might give tistes who have lived there since 1993, As artists lee the cities in search of cheaper and calmer pastures, us mental space too. I don’t know if it is when Adishakti’s founder Veenapani financially viable to build my own space, Chawla moved from Mumbai to Puduch- a look at what this does for their practice because I am also focusing on my career erry, find immense gratification in what as a performer for the next decade. How- they do. ever, if I considered the outskirts of the Their work has a loyal fan following, city, where artistes might be able to and comes from a slow creative process travel to the space, or a city like Solapur, that can only function without dead- where I am reaching out to the same lines. This has afforded opportunities number of viewers for half the money, I for nuanced research about the connec- see an opportunity to explore classical tions between breath, expressivity and dance far beyond the realm of physical gesture, mooring their theatre in strong movement.” technical and psychophysical founda- That artistes independently set out to tions. Such work can’t be sustained in a establish new workspaces is emblematic city, they feel. of our arts ecology, where there is little Adishakti’s current artistic director institutional support extended to them, Vinay Kumar said, “Most artistes fear necessitating a reliance on personal and moving out of the city because they feel community networks for resources. they are cutting off the flow of opportun- The journey to becoming self-sustain- ities. There is a misconception that net- ing is an arduous one, yet communities working will lead to an acceleration of like Adishakti, The Company Theatre creative work. In the city, you can never and Nrityagram have managed that, gen- step back and look at your work critic- erating an income from a mix of work- Theatre lab Adishakti in Puducherry's outskirts has sufered from violent monsoons, but that doesn’t stop artistes from making it their home. T.Singaravelou ally. shops, performances and by building an The Company Theatre (right) has built an artistic community around its activities The city is harsh on people and you artistic community around themselves spend half your time surviving. assuring. Theatre director Atul Kumar of his Bengaluru-based collaborator, Delhi. We would meet for a few hours production of A Midsummer Night’s so that they are able to lease their arts in- Everything is a rat race. After a point, it The Company Theatre was excited by Nirmala Ravindran. Since then, The after work and with whatever space re- Dream made with contemporary dan- frastructure to other artists or projects. doesn’t offer anything you need to cre- the theatre of Adishakti, that of Habib Company Theatre has created and re- mained in our minds, we would make cers. During the tour, Kumar found him- Finally, no matter where they choose to ate a work. You have to think about how Tanvir in Chhattisgarh, and by dancer hearsed all its productions at the work- theatre. At the Kamshet workspace, we self meeting viewers who were inter- do it, making art is about simple eco- to make opportunities available to your- Protima Gauri’s Nrityagram on the out- space, besides inviting a host of other rehearse for eight hours but we spend all ested in contemporary dance but had nomics. As Adishakti’s Kumar puts it, self even in a remote place and be very skirts of Bengaluru. Fulfilling a huge de- theatre groups to use the space for their our time with each other. It has allowed never watched any of his earlier theat- “You need to do business, make money confident about the body of work you sire to be part of one of these collectives own work. us to question our work and not get com- rical work. The time and space to ex- and subsidise your art.” create or intend to create.” or start his own, in 2012 he set up a work- Kumar is emphatic about what this placent. It lets us focus on making work plore new dimensions of performance For artistes who have recently taken space in Kamshet, 110 km from Mumbai, has meant for his practice. “We never that is risky and challenging,” he said. has meant an influx of new audiences. The author is a dancer and writer. She loves the plunge, precedents can be deeply re- after a round of fund-raising managed by had an artistic practice in Mumbai or Kumar’s company recently toured a Meanwhile, for Arekar, the fragmen- socks, the more toes the better.

SCANNER ANDANTE

It’s playing again, Sam A new theatrical work in New York pays an unusual ‘making You can run but you can’t hide of’ tribute to the iconic Hollywood classic Casablanca. At Here, a Manhattan venue The hymn ‘Dies Irae’ makes many ilm appearances, from Citizen Kane to The Lion King for experimental theatre, CasablancaBox (running April hopeful prayer of a sinful man seeking 5-29) is a daring attempt to forgiveness, lest he be cursed into the present the backstage drama everlasting fire of hell. during the making of one of the world’s most popular films. Written by SUDIPTA BHATTACHARYA Sara Farrington and directed by her husband, Reid Farrington, a designs big data systems to earn money, This medieval hymn has found its way specialist in blending video with live performance, the new show writes to make sense, and plays the into many well-known western classical makes effective use of scrims on which scenes from Casablanca are classical guitar to escape drudgery compositions over the centuries: Moz- projected (the actors on stage recite their lines behind them) but most art’s ‘Requiem in D Minor’ composed in of the action takes place off-screen. The 90-minute performance reg’s face turned stony, his nos- 1791, and Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Messa da Re- alternates between high-tech and low-tech to transport audiences to trils flared ever so slightly, and quiem’ composed in 1869, being the two a bustling 1940s movie set. brown-red flakes appeared in most famous. In both these pieces, we G his grey-blue eyes. We had just encounter a different ‘Dies Irae’—one had a nice meal in Left Bank, a slightly that’s filled with the imminent fear of be- Form and function over-priced French brasserie located in ing cast into the everlasting fire and more Santana Row, one of the mixed-use devel- of a desperate cry than a gentle prayer for Two online auctions that bring opments bordering San Jose and Santa forgiveness. together old and new traditions Clara in Silicon Valley, California, after a of Indian art and design ‘The long day of business meetings. The two ‘Dies Irae’ goes to the movies Design Sale’ and ‘Living glasses of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that I A discussion of ‘Dies Irae’ will be incom- Traditions, Folk and Tribal Art’ had consumed were already relaxing the plete without mentioning its impressive will be held April 18-19 and taut muscles in my shoulders. I was ready film appearances ranging from Citizen 19-20 respectively in Mumbai, to indulge my sweet tooth. I asked Greg if Something borrowed John Lennon used the chords of Moonlight Sonata in reverse Kane and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Saffronart has announced. The he would mind sharing a crème brûlée in the Beatles classic ‘Because’ from Abbey Road. Barber of Fleet Street to Disney’s anim- sales present functional objects with me, and this question was the cul- ated epic, The Lion King. highlighting their prit that brought about Greg’s facial I admit, I wasn’t completely truthful turies after it was first heard in St. My favourite use of the chant in a craftsmanship, beauty and historical significance. About ‘Living transformation. He leaned across the there—John Lennon had actually used the Thomas’s Church in Leipzig, Germany,” I movie is in the opening credits of Stanley Traditions, Folk and Tribal Art’, Hugo Weihe, CEO of Saffronart said: table and hissed, “Sudi, I don’t share chords of Moonlight Sonata in reverse! triumphantly announced. He looked Kubrick’s The Shining (1980)—the long “Objects such as masks and breastplates form an important part of crème brûlées with men!” He then sat Greg had some difficulty accepting this crestfallen. aerial shot of the car driving towards rituals and ceremonies [and] continue to inspire modern and contemporary artists in India and around the world.” The Design Sale back on the hard, wooden chair, looking factoid since, as far as he was concerned, “Even your favourite country singer, Overlook Hotel with ‘Dies Irae’ in the includes a substantial collection of Art Deco furniture of the 1920s and very smug and pleased with himself. pop music was the music of the gritty, Mr. Denver, had to go out and borrow background, building an atmosphere of 30s first showcased in India by influential royal families, trade That’s Greg for you: a six-feet-tall, tough, and hard-working man; it could from the second movement of impending doom and hinting at the ter- merchants and well travelled entrepreneurs who had seen it in Europe. blonde-haired, blue-eyed hunk, one of not possibly have anything to do with Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony for the rible crisis awaiting at the end of the car my few fiercely loyal, dependable, to- classical music—the music of the latte- lovely ‘Annie’s Song’,” I said, offering yet ride. bacco-chewing, gun-toting, bear-hunting, drinking, New York Times reading another factoid. We hear Verdi’s version of ‘Dies Irae’, Winning angels Bush-loving, Obama-hating friends. He is liberals. The beginning of ‘Annie’s Song’ is al- and its urgent call for help in the face of the quintessential anti-intellectual, hos- most identical to the lyrical tune the horn inevitable destruction, in the famous The Pulitzer Prize in Music has tile to any serious discussion on art, Paul Simon copies Bach plays after the slow and brooding open- ‘death of Leonidas’ scene in the epic been awarded to 39-year-old philosophy, literature, and classical mu- I was on a cruel run that day. “Your pop ing of the second movement, but there is fantasy movie 300, where the Persian Chinese-born composer Du sic, and deeply distrustful of people who musicians had a difficult time keeping no proof that John Denver deliberately archers pick off the Spartan warriors one Yun for her opera ‘Angel’s engage in such ‘deplorable’ activities. He their hands off the gorgeous melodies used the melody in his song. Who cares? I by one. It is hard to think of any other Bone’. The single-act opera is so fond of classical music that, as he created by composers long dead, Greg. was on a roll and poor Greg looked like powerful piece of music equally at ease in follows the predicament of two winged angels discovered says, he is always prepared with a pair of Take Paul Simon’s ‘American Tune’ for he was ready to run away and hide in the a 13th century Benedictine monastery as on earth and forced into ear plugs in case it surreptitiously tries to example,” I said, “the one he sang soon caves of Tora Bora with the Taliban! it is in a 20th century Disney animation sexual slavery. The New York stream into his ‘macho’ ears. after the break up with Art Garfunkel.” What Greg refuses to accept is that film. Times described the opera as So you can probably imagine Greg’s re- “I like that song, man. What about it?” beautiful melodies, like great stories, are If Greg, all alone in the mountains of “an appallingly good work when you consider that it takes on the action when I, probably bitter from mul- he asked, half anticipating and half timeless and neutral to musical genres. Tora Bora but happy to have escaped the subject of child trafficking and mixes in elements of magic realism and tiple failed attempts at introducing him to dreading the answer. They appear and reappear in unexpected all-pervading intrusion of classical music a musical cocktail of Renaissance polyphony, electronica, Modernism, classical music, decided to burst his “That song, which reached No. 30 on places in a new garb, maybe with a twist, in his life, accidentally finds an old punk rock and cabaret.” In a Facebook post, Yun wrote: “It is ridiculous bubble. Just as he was tapping his feet in the Billboard Top 100, is a direct copy, almost escaping recognition before they Philips radio, tunes into a Hindi song I get this award…(Thank you for all your kind words, which I first the car to the Beatles classic ‘Because’ Greg; it’s a copy of a melody from none reveal themselves like a prankster friend. channel, and breaks into a happy dance thought were pranks.) To win the award with this piece means so much from the album Abbey Road, I mali- other than Johann Sebastian Bach’s St. Take the story of ‘Dies Irae’ (Day of listening to Salil Chowdhury’s ‘Itna Na for me. Let’s keep being part of the dialogue. Let art be that poetic ciously pointed out that the song he was Matthew Passion, a deeply sorrowful Wrath)—a centuries-old Gregorian chant Mujhse Tu Pyar Badha’, he will be dan- space where we can initiate such conversations.” enjoying so hugely was deeply influenced Western sacred arrangement that contin- of the dead and a part of the requiem cing to a melody from Mozart’s 40th Sym- by Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. ues to move audiences nearly three cen- mass. It captures the whole-hearted, phony. He can run, but he cannot hide!

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BIG SCREEN The Godfather’s wife Maia women may have begun reclaiming their turf in the gangster genre with matriarchs like Floyd Gerhardt

BY SUCHETA CHAKRABORTY Wives, children and the home help to put up a front, enable “wise guys” to t’s war,” declares Floyd Gerhardt hide in plain sight and lend a sense of le- walking out of her incapacitated gitimacy, all of which ultimately enable husband Otto’s room. Helping him the smooth running of the ‘other fam- I and the boys to tally accounts over ily’. Nowhere has this intricate balance the years, Floyd has always been more been more cleverly examined than in than just a mob boss’s wife. the television series The Sopranos. She has been involved, complicit. Al- In the Tamil gangster film Aaranya ways aware of the stakes, of the true Kaandam (2010), drug lord Singaperu- nature of the family business—gambling, mal (Jackie Shroff), now well past his drugs and whores. Growing up on the prime, imprisons the young Subbu (Yas- farm, amidst money, rifles and death, min Ponnappa) and abuses her at will, she has seen it all, never really separate eager as he is to prove his potency. Not from the boys. Not that she hasn’t been only is this a cause of shame among the reminded of her place. brotherhood, it also threatens the don’s But with Floyd, they ought to have image. But Subbu refuses to be the vic- known that it would have taken more, tim. In the film’s closing scenes, as she much more than that. Otto’s sudden ill- defiantly walks into freedom, we not ness, however, thrusts the Gerhardt em- only rejoice but also laugh with her at pire into chaos. There is so much to be the male presumptions and folly that done—accounts to be settled, threats to prevented the men from seeing her as a be made, people to be bumped off. All threat and lead to the ultimate destruc- this while her boys battle for the throne. tion of their world. Leaving it behind, At this critical juncture in her life, she declares: “The best thing about be- Floyd understands the role she needs to ing a woman is that it’s a man’s world.” play and becomes matriarch of Fargo’s Riding high on the success of the first most powerful, organised crime syndic- two seasons and with a third poised for ate. She bravely tells her granddaughter release this month, Noah Hawley’s in a later scene: “This is our time.” Fargo has broken new ground. Not only is it an elaborate homage to the cult Second fiddle 1996 Coen Brothers classic but by ex- Floyd Gerhardt ( Jean Smart) from the Maia matriarchs In Fargo, Floyd tells her granddaughter, “This is our time", and (right) Subbu refuses to be the victim in the brilliant Aaranya Kaandam tending the original story and building second season of FX’s Fargo has little in- on its principal themes, the also makes spiration to seek from her prede- cilian song, perhaps learnt as a young neglect ahead of her while Kay (Diane the testosterone world and does do- Narcos, on the life of Colombian drug its own significant offering to the gang- cessors—mafia women who, even when girl and sung secretly with friends years Keaton) gets left alone, literally shut out mestic duties—women have served as lord Pablo Escobar, fails to disrupt the ster genre. surrounded by the illusion of power, ago—one suspects that her screen time with the door closed on her, as her hus- mute witnesses and victims in a world categories the genre pushes women A figure like Floyd Gerhardt does could only play second fiddle to their is mainly a result of the actress’s (Mor- band, the new don, slowly disappears where men make the rules and are the into. much to ease the gender imbalance and husbands, lovers, brothers and sons. gana King) singing talents. into his new office—that sacred male key players. extend the genre’s scope. That old wo- In The Godfather (1972 and 1974), Similarly ill-fated is her long-suffering space where men gather to discuss busi- There are countless such examples The enablers men can head crime dynasties and dare Carmela Corleone lived and died in the daughter-in-law—Sonny’s wife (Julie ness and women have no place. across film and TV: Eastern Promises Codes of honour and shame, masculin- to declare war when their offers are re- shadow of her formidable husband. One Gregg), who finding some audience at (2007), David Cronenberg’s brilliant ity and power abound. And it is the fused and demands unmet holds great saw glimpses of her in the Corleones’ the same wedding, brags to them of her Molls and victims film where a teenage girl is raped and presence of women, however peri- promise for the future of mafia women early years in New York but it was Vito’s husband’s ample gift even while Sonny Gangster narratives have typically releg- forced into prostitution by the Russian pheral, that enables the playing out of in film and television. struggles, his choices and affiliations, ( James Caan) gets busy elsewhere dis- ated women to the margins. Present Mafia; or Mahesh Manjrekar’s Vaastav these codes. In Goodfellas, it is the and his phenomenal rise to power that playing its merits to some hapless wo- merely as types—the meek and obedient (1999) and Anurag Kashyap’s crime saga danger, risk and glamour of Henry’s Sucheta is a film writer who also works were always the focus. man. wife who learns to look the other way, Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), where wo- (Ray Liotta) life that attracts Karen (Lor- with Marg magazine in Mumbai, thus When Carmela sings at her daugh- Connie (Talia Shire), the cheery the abused sister who must be avenged, men are caught in the web of male egos. raine Bracco), which in turn adds to bringing together two favourite things: ter’s wedding early in Part 1—a bawdy Si- bride, too has a sad future of abuse and the “moll” who offers an escape from Even a show as recent as Netflix’s Henry’s own sense of his success. writing and cinema.

GANDHI CLASS THE PRACTICE Don’t miss the kiss God is in the rushes French kissing may soon have to give way to elaborate desi pecks Shooting is like shopping. The ilm actually gets made later, in the editing room

When Deepika kisses Ranbir in BY NAMRATA RAO Tamasha, it is as if they are watching the secret life of their neighbour’s truant hat is this editing?” My Sundar Sarukkai is a professor of philosophy at the daughter. mother asked me suspi- National Institute of Advanced Studies, ciously. “It is storytelling Bengaluru. Up close W with pictures and sounds Like everything else in cinema, there is Amma,” I had told her while packing ilms create magic but they can a good amount of make-believe to kiss- my bags for film school. “I have never also erase the magical when ing too. The aesthetic of showing it heard of it,” she said. Well, I didn’t say they convert imagination into needs technical innovation because it then, but neither had I. F brute perception. This is best ex- filming a kiss is not just a matter of I had been an avid Doordarshan film emplified by the act of kissing in films. showing two faces mashing each other. watcher all my life. The only English Much is invested in it, particularly in From a proper peck to a liplock, from film I had seen till I was around 16 was Hollywood films. Whether it’s a ro- a light brush to tongue wrestling, actors Jurassic Park. So when I sneaked into mance or an adventure or even a film have to do muscular contortions to an Akira Kurosawa retrospective in Del- about alien invasion, the film’s consum- make kissing look more appealing on hi’s Lodi Road to bunk college, I didn’t mation is often through a kissing scene. the screen. Because, face it, there is know my life was about to change What is this obsession about kissing in little that’s appealing in watching two forever. Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Cool cuts Still from Kurosawa’s Yojimbo; and (right) a ilm being edited the old-fashioned way in Gemini Studios, Chennai. popular Hollywood films? people kiss in front of your eyes. It is Yojimbo and Red Beard—these four THE HINDU ARCHIVES At least kissing is not alien to that boring, makes you worry about what films watched back to back, in a single audience. Kissing in public is a part of body fluids are getting transferred, day, altered some critical synapses in and talented crew. Words become visu- we observe our world and the corres- one shot (ending on the face of one their daily life. You see people taking a whether the braces will cut the part- my system. I felt o’verwhelmed. And als and audio. The editor then “cuts ponding story our mind makes of it. character instead of another). Some- quick moment to kiss as they exit the ner’s tongue, when the dental filling for reasons I couldn’t explain then, felt and joins” these visuals and audio to Somewhere this is also the job of edit- times, increasing the length of a scene movies. Or when they shop in the mall will fall off, or whether they have understood. create an engaging story as close to the ing—to translate this rhythm to the makes it more engaging. Therefore, it or stroll the streets, almost as if they brushed before the kiss. It is cinema From that day on, I became ob- director’s interpretation of the script as screen. feels shorter. Also, sometimes, not cut- have to constantly keep performing that makes kissing seem more exciting sessed with films. And after a long possible. In some cases, all these three Editing works at a visceral level—you ting is the best way to cut something. ‘this thing called love’. Some might and more close-up than it is in real life. drawn struggle with the self, parents, could be one person. Either way, the feel it in your body even if you can’t ar- Tiny editing decisions can have an even say that it seems like a desperate It is surprising that despite the and our neighbours (“Filmon ki bhi koi film keeps transforming into a new ‘be- ticulate it. Just like what happened to enormous impact on how the audience attempt to make sure their love is still rampant kissing in movies, it will still be padhai hoti hai? ” they had asked), I de- ing’ in all these three stages. The es- me that day in the Kurosawa retro- is taking in the story. That’s why it is an on track, afraid that if they didn’t kiss extremely difficult to have a live per- cided to apply to film school–SRFTI sence remains the same, but the details spective. invisible art. Its impact needs to be felt enough (or keep saying ‘I love you’), formance of a play or a dance in India (Satyajit Ray Film and Television Insti- change. Like if a shot starts with a flock of more than its presence. their love might just evaporate. tute) in Kolkata. Then the real problem As the late actor Philip Seymour birds flying away, it has a different im- Kissing for many cultures is not com- Filming a kiss is not came up. I had to choose a specialisa- Hoffman had said, “The film is made in pact than the same birds walking Magic intact pletely a private act. Rather, it is an ac- <> tion and had no idea what. My middle- the editing room. The shooting of the around, eating grain before flying. Or I read quite often that if a film was ceptable social act with many different about showing two class brain came up with Film Editing. I film is about shopping, almost. It’s like an actor blinking her eyes at the begin- “fast”, the editing was good or else it meanings. So perhaps Hollywood is ob- faces mashing each had just quit my IT career “to do some- going to get all the ingredients together, ning of a shot has a different meaning was bad. Sometimes people tell me sessed about kissing scenes because it thing creative,” and this ironically soun- and you’ve got to make sure before you from her blinking at the end of a shot. If “The film didn’t work for us but the continues onscreen an accepted public other. It needs ded like a “technical enough” type of leave the store that you got all the in- two characters are having a heated ar- cuts were quite good”. Or as Amma still cultural practice, thus establishing a technical innovation job. There would be machines, and in gredients. And then you take those in- gument, and we create a silence in says, “I know more about a secret connection with the audience. case I found nothing else, I could try to gredients, and you can make a good between during the edit, it may in- agent’s work than yours.” Honestly, I work in a studio, earn some salary and cake—or not.” love hearing these things. Just do it where there is onstage kissing. Why is it also put my knowledge of computers to An illusion of speed Not being fully aware of the nitty- But what about our country? How acceptable to promote kissing in films use. Like a mosaic <> gritty of editing and other background should we respond to kissing in movies but not on stage? It is almost as if it is A lot of people liken editing to cooking and time can be arts keeps the magic of cinema intact. given that kissing in public is an uncom- fine to have a cartoon version of kissing, Little dark room (and maybe that is what brings up the created. Drama and To be fully immersed in a film, one has mon sight? How should children reas in films, but not the real thing on In film school, apart from watching life- routine question—why are there more to believe that whatever is happening spond to seeing an onscreen kiss when stage or in the public domain. altering films and living away from women editors than men) but in my emotions can be on that screen is happening to they don’t see their parents even hold- Films have indeed saved the act of home, I discovered strange things, like head, it is like a mosaic. A mosaic cre- someone, somewhere and is not a ing hands in front of them? When the kissing and made it into an art of love. films are not shot in order of sequence ated with small, colourful pieces that withheld—all this, in a tailored piece put together by a lot of idea of the physical is so well hidden They have taken the private and made it or emotion. Instead, they are put to- need to come together in a way that little dark room. people. from them, how would we expect them into a reproducible public product. A gether later. On the editing table. Act- makes sense from up close as well as Editing for me is the most meditative to respond to these scenes in a movie? kiss is a wonderful thing to market be- ors don’t say all their lines together or from far—which means that each scene crease the tension. Or cutting from a of all film processes. It is a “karat People often say that the Indian audi- cause like all great products it only leads in one go. Instead, shots are taken over and performance needs to be compre- really small, dark prison cell of our vidya” (knowledge acquired by prac- ence is more comfortable watching kiss- to more desire. and over to get better performances hensible and also work emotionally. character to a wide-open field with tising regularly). A film may take any- ing in English movies. Perhaps this is Now that serious kissing is making a (‘takes’), and one can choose which And all the scenes put together need to grass swinging in the breeze can cause where from three months to a year to because they can then see it as a pack- more frequent appearance in Indian part of which ‘take’ to use, for greater work as an engaging story and also an relief as well as a desire for freedom, edit. So, one needs to be patient, per- age deal of something called Western films, it is only a matter of time before impact. On the editing table. An illu- emotional experience. The structure both for the character and the audi- sistent, watch the rushes many times, culture and continue to act as if it’s we see more public exhibitions of kiss- sion of speed and time can be created, matters, as does the texture. There is ence. We all understand these things, try different permutations, and be con- something they would never do. Re- ing. Perhaps this ‘revolution’ will finally maintained or broken. Drama and no right or wrong editing; it is either ef- maybe not obviously, but we all do and structive with the criticism and feed- member those films showing two birds overthrow the hegemony of the much- emotions can be withheld, manipu- fective or ineffective. perhaps it is this that makes cinema back. pecking at each other or two roses hyped French kissing and lead to new lated so on, so forth—all this, alone, in We see “cuts” around us all the time. universal. God is in the rushes, and my job is to slowly blooming in proximity as visual types of ‘Indian kissing’. Bisi bisi kiss this little dark room. I was awestruck. There’s an invisible rhythm to life. And because it’s so subconscious, find him. In that sense, it is also a lot metaphors for kissing? from Karnataka, machan kiss from Editing can do so much? I had entered Some images and sounds invoke cer- there is only one rule in editing—that like life—there are expectations, but no But things are changing. Although Tamil Nadu, Patiala-peg kiss from Pun- Wonderland, by chance. tain feelings in a certain rhythm. From there is no rule. Whatever works, rules. It is as random as it is mathemat- kissing has been part of Hindi films al- jab, and kem cho kiss from Gujarat. If A film is a story told three times over. how we look out of the window right in works. ical, and things may or may not work most from the beginning, it has been we run out of ideas, we can always go A writer thinks of a story out of thin air time to see the cat jump down the wall. Sometimes you can get away with a despite all your efforts. sporadic and news-grabbing. But kiss- back to the Kama Sutra which lists many and writes a script. The visuals, the Or how the person we are staring at in jarring discontinuity (actor smoking in ing is becoming more matter-of-fact and types of kisses such as the touching kiss, situations are in her head and so are the coffee shop realises something and one shot, not smoking in the next) if The National Award winner for Kahaani has mainstream today. When our actors do the pressing kiss, the exciting kiss, the the characters. The director interprets looks right back at us. Or how we peek the audience is emotionally absorbed edited 25 films, including Ishqiya and it, audiences look at the screen not just tight kiss, the moderate kiss, and so on. this script in her way, gives faces to the into the auto-rickshaw next to us right in a scene. And sometimes you can in- Detective Byomkesh Bakshy . She is very with curiosity but also with a little bit of Get ready, Hollywood, here we characters, context to the places, situ- when the couple in it starts to kiss. stil a certain feeling in your audience interested in knowing why people do what pride: “Haan ji, we can also do it.” come. ations with the help of a very creative There is a start and end point to how simply by changing the placement of they do and say what they say.

NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU MAGAZINE 6 ENVIRONMENT SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2017 CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

RED EARTH Sky islands under siege The fragile mountain-top habitats of the Western Ghats have never been more vulnerable

BY C.K. VISHNUDAS & V.V. ROBIN east-west axis, between areas like Kodaikanal and Munnar. Even the songs (comparable to human language) of the t was an early morning in May, 2015. Sholakili were different across this frag- The sun was yet to rise. A cold mented landscape, indicating cultural breeze from the south wafted over divergence, most likely driven by human I us. We were sitting on a giant rock activity. on one of the highest mountains of the Some small populations may well be Western Ghats—the Camel’s Hump heading towards extinction—the Nilgiri mountain—overlooking the dark valley pipit, for instance, in the grasslands of of Nilambur, waiting to catch the sun- Precarious perch Sky islands, such as the Palani Hills (top) harbour an extraordinary number of endemic species. Sholakili (left) and the Niligir tahr, grazing here amid Palani Hills. Landscape change—particu- rise. And as we gazed east, the rays kurinji shrubs, are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. Prasenjeet Yadav & K.K. Mustafah larly from plantations and invasive spe- emerged from behind the giant peaks. cies—has reduced the total available hab- The silence was suddenly broken by a isolation of these mountain tops. And so very distinct from all existing birds Apart from the lesser known moun- But these fragile mountain islands itat for this species (globally) to less than long musical call from a Sholakili from a what we have today is high endemism, today and so we reclassified them into tains, we also spent considerable time in contend with more than climate change 400 sq.km. And as climate change bush, and the fluttering of a flock of that is, a concentration of species—birds, two new genera with common names— the Nilgiris and the Palanis, the larger today. While large-scale deforestation is shrinks grasslands, these birds really are mountain babblers. A giant white cloud frogs, plants, and fish—that are found Sholakili and Chilappan—which together urbanised areas of the Western Ghats. not common in these parts of the West- getting a raw deal. appeared out of nowhere and gradually nowhere else in the world. contain seven species. Chilappans, pre- Finding suitable locations to study grass- ern Ghats, invasive species have im- Habitat loss threatens not just birds occupied the vacant valleys. Quite soon, To a scientist, mountain habitats are viously known as laughing thrushes, land birds was always difficult because pacted the landscape tremendously. The but all other ‘habitat specialists’ surviv- the entire valley became a white ocean. also natural laboratories where one can have radiated into four different species human impact had converted much of scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), a ing in the shola sky islands—the agamid Only a few mountain peaks emerged out study behavioural and evolutionary over four sky islands within a 500 km the natural grasslands. shrub native to western and central lizard Salea anamallayana , shield-tail of this vast swathe like islands, islands in changes in response to climatic and hu- span of the southern Western Ghats. Europe, is invading large parts of the Nil- snakes, kurinji plants, perhaps even the sky—the ‘sky islands’ of the Western man-made pressures. Some species—such as understorey Last vestiges giris grasslands, while the wattle (Acacia mammals (although to a lesser extent) Ghats—an extraordinary ecosystem that birds (birds that usually move only The Palanis on the other hand are al- sp.) is also transforming these grasslands such as the Nilgiri tahr and Nilgiri has always fascinated evolutionary Adapting to new ways where a forest cover exists)--are inflex- most entirely overrun by wattle and eu- into wooded areas. In the shola forests, marten. biologists. Life forms have adapted to these sky is- ibly adapted to their habitats, making calyptus, decreasing the densities of the Cestrum aurantiacum , a weed from As the sun moved up, various life Mountaintops separated from each lands much like they would to oceanic them very susceptible to habitat or land- many grassland bird species. Some na- South America, is invading the forms emerged from the shrubs and other by deep valleys are indeed much islands. Each sky island is home to dis- scape changes. tional parks such as Eravikulam, understorey. tree-tops, followed by a little chorus of like islands of the ocean in terms of evol- tinct species. Among birds, we see huge Between 2011 and 2014, we conduc- Grasshills, and Mukurthi have the last There is also an alarming level of frag- laughing calls, murmurs, and whispers utionary processes because of their isol- differences—morphological and acous- ted expeditions to several of these sky is- vestiges of the shola grasslands, and mentation—of both forest and grass- from the hiding life forms hiding under- ation. These mountains were formed tic—in these islands. lands: the Bababudan Hills, the Brahma- they harbour specialist birds. lands—from agriculture, timber planta- neath. A new day had begun for life on during the uplift of the Western Ghats, We recently uncovered two groups of giris, Banasura Hills, Camel’s Hump By examining bird diversity and dis- tions and commercial plantations, a these tiny sky islands, where adaptation starting around 150 million years ago, birds that arrived at the Western Ghats Mountains, Chembra Hills, the Nilgiris, tribution patterns using both ecological phenomenon that is affecting the large and evolution that began millions and where the high-elevation montane hab- from the Himalayan region about 11 mil- Anamalais (Eravikulam, Munnar, and and genetic data, we found that bird sky islands of the Nilgiris and Anamalai- millions of years ago must continue. itat, the shola (a mosaic of forest and lion years ago (probably some of the Meeshapuli mountains), the Palanis, the communities in the Western Ghats are Palani hills. And with this, bird popula- grasslands), evolved. In fact, they are earliest extant birds) got isolated here on High Wavies, Ponmudi and Ashambu shaped by both mountain structure and tions are getting split into smaller popu- C.K. Vishnudas is a biologist affiliated to cradles of evolution. The formation of different mountain-top sky islands, Hills. We camped for several weeks in ancient climate. This also implies that lations with reduced or no gene flow Hume’s Centre for Ecology and V.V. Robin species here occurred over millennia, forming different species starting about each of these areas, spending over 300 future climate change can further im- between them. We uncovered that the works on the ecology of birds on islands dictated by the geographic and climatic 4.5 million years ago. These groups are days examining birds. pact these habitats and birds. Sholakili had a reduced gene flow on an systems, and is based at IISER-Tirupati.

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE SCANNER The bear and the goatherd A mother defending her cubs can, if she wants, peel of a person’s face like a tangerine

with one. They implored the Forest De- partment staff to take the bear and her cubs away. The officials explained the JANAKI LENIN risks of trapping, tranquilising, and is not a conservationista but many creatures share her home for reasons moving a mother and her too-young she is yet to discover. @JanakiLenin cubs. Instead, they posted a sentry at the barn to make sure the bear posed he flock of goats returned by no danger to people. Barrier Reef hit again themselves to Khapra village, In addition, they set camera traps at Australia outside Balaram Wildlife Sanc- the front and rear doors and on the side Just as reports emerged that extensive tuary near Mount Abu, without of the building to record the bear’s bleaching is pushing the Great Barrier Reef T to its ‘terminal stage’, the reef was their goatherd. The man who had taken movements. As a backup, the depart- them into the forest went missing. The ment also created an ash trap, a spread battered again, this time by Cyclone next day, March 13, a team from the vil- of ash to record the animal’s spoor. This Debbie that hit Australia end of last lage in Banaskantha district discovered support helped the residents gain the month. The reef has also been inundated his body, but they ran afoul of a sloth confidence to live with the sloth bear in by the runoff pollution from the deluge. An associate professor at Griffith University Andrew Brooks, who flew over the bear that killed one of them. The others their midst. ocean, released pictures that showed sediment-laden flood waters from the rivers were lucky to escape with their lives. For more than a month, they took a Burdekin, Fitzroy and Gregory spreading into the sea. “We know sediment can harm They set the forest afire to stop the bear detour to visit their fields after dusk. coral and sea grass by restricting light. Now we’re learning that sediment from this and returned home to tell their tale. Walking on the main tarmac road would area also carries large loads of harmful nitrogen because it sticks to the sediment The Gujarat Forest Department staff take them past the barn and disturb the sourced from these same soils,” The Guardian quoted Brooks as saying. recovered the bodies, which had deep mother bear. Hatwar stocked cattle feed puncture wounds, and tried to put Bear facts A survey of three neighbouring districts revealed that bears attacked and firewood elsewhere so he didn’t down the blaze. The bear attacked them more people in Banaskantha. KALYAN VARMA have to use the building. The sub- Ridleys create a record and killed one. Two days later, a large sequent arrival of newspaper reporters Rushikulya, Odisha team of forest and police officials shot short-sighted squinting can make it look graze their animals. This degrades the who sang praises of the villagers’ mag- A month and a half after the annual the animal dead. Only then did they dis- rather endearing, a sloth bear can be forest and increases the likelihood of nanimity gave their resolve a boost. arribada, when olive ridleys swim en mass cover it was a nursing mother. It is likely dangerous. A startled bear or a mother running into sloth bears. But what if On hearing this unusual event, Man- to the shore to lay eggs, thousands of her cubs died since. This story is based defending cubs lashes out with long, bears seek out villages? Experts have no dar Sawant, a young wildlife photo- hatchlings have begun emerging from on many news reports. Even if some de- termite-hill-ripping claws, peeling a per- advice for such cases. grapher from Dombivli, near Mumbai, their nests at Rushikulya and Gahiramatha tails are inaccurate, most reports cor- son’s scalp or face like a tangerine. Of- One cool November evening in 2015, camped out at the village with the forest beaches in Odisha, the world’s largest roborate the main facts. ten the attack is so sudden there’s no Vasanta Hatwar, the middle-aged guard. He said the barn was a perfect rookery of ridleys. According to news According to the state’s estimate of time to defend oneself. Such defence deputy sarpanch of Aategaon village, location for the mother bear. reports, the number of nests this year was the highest in 16 years, as 3,85,000 the sloth bear population, Banaskantha earns them the respect of even tigers. near Nagpur, Maharashtra, visited his Within 100 metres stood eight Indian turtles made it to the shore to lay eggs. On average, a turtle lays around 100 eggs, but the mortality rate of hatchlings is high: a range of predators feast on them— district saw an increase from 90 in 2011 dilapidated barn to pick up firewood. jujube trees heavy with fruit. At mid- birds, dogs, crabs, and, in the ocean, fish. The biggest threat of course comes from The angry mother to 121 in 2016. Researchers from He heard soft cries of what sounded like night, soon after a camera flash alerted human activity, particularly from fishing nets that often entangle and drown them. Hemchandracharya North Gujarat Uni- Did the goatherd blunder into the de- puppies come from within the building. the guard and Sawant, they heard her versity, Patan, conducted a survey of fensive mother sloth bear? What ex- He peered inside with a torchlight, only chewing on fruits. After a quick snack, the area in 2008 and 2009. plains the deaths of the second villager to see an adult sloth bear charging at she drank from a nearby pond and re- Arctic, now more like the Atlantic Of three neighbouring districts sur- and the Forest Department staff? Did him. The bear stopped short and returned to her cubs. She spent no more The Arctic veyed in 2008, bears attacked more they venture too close to her den? Indi- turned to a corner. Hatwar realised she than half an hour away from them. Parts of the Arctic Ocean are beginning to people in Banaskantha. Professor Nis- viduals of a species can have different had given birth in the barn. Over time, she stayed away longer. In resemble the Atlantic, as climate change thith Dhariaya, who conducted the sur- temperaments. Did this bear have an es- The village is no stranger to wild an- the mornings, Sawant walked around to alters the environment, according to a vey, wrote that the indigenous com- pecially short fuse? It’s hard to draw any imals, as they walk in and out of the see where she had been the previous study. Ocean productivity and chemistry munities didn’t know much about sloth conclusions based on news reports. nearby Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary. night. Besides eating fruit, she dug for are changing and sea ice receding. The bears. Experts recommend villagers not Given the sloth bear’s reputation, none termites in the fields. study, published in Science says that One news report highlighted the villa- enter forest areas to collect firewood or of the alarmed residents wanted to live The villagers carried on with their warming air has a role to play but, but gers’ surprise and shock at the attacks. business although the bear was never there are changes occurring that are “Sloth bears often come to our village,” Forest oicials explained to the village the risks of far from their thoughts. None of them intrinsic to the ocean too. As the water gets warmer, the ice sheets are getting one villager told Indian Express , “but <> was bitten by the selfie affliction. One thinner and summers have become virtually ice-free. And these changes, which the reports of them attacking humans are trapping a mother and her young cubs. Instead, they morning, just as suddenly as she had paper terms as ‘atlantification’ of the Arctic, are bound to impact the entire Arctic unusual. They run away when shooed.” appeared, she was gone, taking her region—and the people, animals and plants that live here. Although its shambling walk and posted a sentry to ensure the bear posed no danger. cubs with her.

THE HINDU MAGAZINE NOIDA/DELHI SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2017 STORYBOARD 7 CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC My friendship with Fellini “Maybe I was Dante in my last life,” Fellini quipped when we commented on the many copies of The Divine Comedy he owned

BY MADHU JAIN satire on the vulgar excesses and brain- romantic lens through which he saw the deadening effect of television, the aged country. The painting of Radha and ederico Fellini, the Italian maes- dancers are just one among the many Krishna and the photograph of the Pon- tro, was notoriously famous for acts in this freak show: midget tango dicherry Mother in his office were not refusing interviews. I was dancers, a man responsible for edible, mere artefacts of interior design. “I will F warned about his aversion to the vitamin-enriched panties, look-alikes go there in my next incarnation,” he press—evident in his film La Dolce Vita for Rita Haworth, Marcel Proust and said more than once. His fear of flying in which the paparazzi are in for a Clark Gable. prevented him from leaving Europe. But grilling. Actually, the word owes its ori- Federico Fellini was most at home in perhaps he did not need to travel: his gin to the name of the pesky photo- Cinecitta studios because he was in total mind and feverish imagination trans- grapher in the film, Paparazzo (literally control here. He could create his own ported him wherever he wanted to go. a fat mosquito) who accompanies the world and move his actors around like There was another reason he seldom journalist played by Marcello Mastroi- puppets. Pointing to the darkening sky left his beloved Roma. There was ‘no anni. he explained, “I can play God here. If I room’ in his mind for new images and An Italian journalist told me that it don’t like the moon where it is, I can experiences. “I feel I am in a machine. would be futile to even try. “Try calling, move it a little to the left, and if I want My mind is always working, always mak- he won’t come to the phone. And if he the sun more to the right I can move it ing images. There is no room for more picks it up he will pretend to be the exactly where I want to.” images… So, I don’t need to travel.” All maid.” he had to do was to dig into his reposit- But then why admit defeat before For and farther ory of memories to pull out images and even trying. I wasn’t tilting at the wind- God, cardinals and Catholicism were al- characters, like rabbits out of a magi- mills. I had a card up my sleeve. An as- ways problematic in Fellini’s films. He cian’s inverted top hat. tropalmist whom I had interviewed for was drawn to religion and rituals. Yet, Would he ever, I asked, stop that ma- The Statesman (he had predicted the he wanted to distance himself from chine and look around him in the here birth of Bangladesh and the rise of both. The director’s trying and complic- and now for fresh images. Fellini didn’t Mujibur Rahman) offered to arrange a ated relationship with Catholicism, due think he needed to, yet. “I am in a hot meeting with Fellini in Rome. It wasn’t perhaps to his devout mother and up- air balloon which keeps rising. I fear an idle boast. The number he scribbled bringing, is evident in most of his films— that one day a beautiful woman in the on a note was bang on. The voice at the La Strada, Nights of Cabiria , La Dolce sky will prick the balloon and I will other end was of a man trying to sound Vita, 8½, and Amarcord, amongst oth- come crashing down to the ground.” like a woman, a maid in fact. ers. While Catholic imagery and sub- Several attempts later, it was always jects can be found in most of his films, ✤✤✤ the ‘maid’. Angry after the fifth attempt several were considered blasphemous. I mumbled “Forget it, I might as well go This contradiction spilled over to Postscript to the Vatican and seek an appointment Fellini’s life. The interview spread over Fellini died in 1993, in his beloved with god, who may be easier to meet…” three days, including lunch at one of his Roma. It wasn’t until after 2007 when I Just as I was about to hang up, the late favourite restaurants. He was talking came across the massive illustrated director found his own voice and asked about another subject dear to his heart: volume Federico Fellini The Book of me to come around to his office on via Italy. “Why do you think tourists come Dreams, published by Rizzoli, that I dis- Corso d’Italia. to Italy. It is not for pasta or for covered the source of many of his Michelangelo. Look behind us on the bizarre images and caricatures. The ma- Finally, it’s him wall, there is Christ on the Cross and on chine he kept referring to was a dream Fellini, accompanied by an interpreter, the table in front of us all this factory: his dreams. opened the door into a cavernous room food…They come for this sense of equi- An Italian psychoanalyst had sugges- with light streaming in from the French Playing god Federico Fellini was most at home in Cinecitta studios because he was in total control here. Wikimedia Commons libre, balance…We have communists ted in 1960 that he keep a notebook by windows. I stopped in my tracks as soon and those on the right—and they all exist his bed and write down his dreams. as we stepped over the threshold. On volved in what constituted life for him: side by side.” Fellini went further: he also drew the the wall by the door was a calendar art <> ‘I am in a hot air balloon which keeps rising. I fear that making a film in Cinecitta Studios in Jung, astrology, mysticism and the images that surfaced from his subcon- painting of Radha and Krishna. Next to one day a beautiful woman in the sky will prick the Rome. The maestro was getting his paranormal also attracted Fellini. Had it scious. In Technicolour. There it was a it was a photograph of the Pondicherry sweet revenge on that vexing little box. not been for the Indian astrologer he gigantic image of bosomy, blonde figure Mother. Further along the wall some balloon and I will come crashing down to the ground.’ The film was Ginger and Fred , with his consulted and gave a blank cheque to with enormous thighs floating upwards Jungian configurations. The office was wife the petite and talented Giulietta (according to the astropalmist), I may in the cloud-filled sky, with Fellini in a full of Buddha heads placed on small on the horizon, and no funding—just a the time… There are so many television Masani and the impossibly handsome have never met the maestro. He might hot air balloon looking up at her, just tables, books on Hindu philosophy and commercial for Campari, with the an- channels. They are flooding us with this Marcello Mastroianni. The two play has- even have half-believed in reincarna- below. He is being admonished by a car- mythology. And, several copies of drogynous British singer Boy George as garbage constantly. Television is chan- beens (Amelia and Pippo) reunited after tion. “Maybe I was Dante in my last life,” dinal-like figure because he was looking Dante’s The Divine Comedy . The inter- his star. His bugbear at the time was ging us. It is creating a new creature out 40 years to reprise their music hall act Fellini quipped when the photographer at her. preter didn’t get a chance to open her television. For much of the interview he of man.” emulating Ginger Rogers and Fred and I commented on the number of mouth. Fellini’s English was fine. vented his anger about the small screen: ✤✤✤ Astaire for a television variety show—We copies of The Divine Comedy in his of- The writer is Editor of The Indian Quarterly This was in September 1983. It was a “Television is like an open mouth which The next time we met, two years are Proud to Present . fice. It was only half a joke. and author of The Kapoors: The First Family despondent Fellini. There was no film vomits everything into your home, all later, Fellini was a changed man, in- In the flamboyant, well, Felliniesque, Fellini never visited India, despite the of Indian Cinema.

LETTER FROM A CONCERNED READER Plane Speaking Strawberry ields forever investigated so much. Dear Sir/Madam, But she persuaded me and I The Italian word fragola comes from the Latin fraga for fragrance, while the English proceeded to the departure hall. I write to you following a conver- There I approached a pleasant word ‘strawberry’ refers to the ‘straying’, erratic habits of the plant sation I have just had with one of young lady in a modest shop and my grandchildren. I call him purchased two vegetarian samo- BY VASUNDHARA CHAUHAN bowl whip cream until stiff. Stir in Arun. But his real name is some sas and two cups of tea. For this I vanilla. Split warm shortcake in half modern confusion that his par- paid so much money that I told oday I had to beg Nirmala and crosswise. Place bottom half, cut side ents found on the Internet. my wife that we will share one Maitrayee to help with my up, on serving platter. Spread with but- Aryamaan or Antenna or Aquar- samosa and keep the other one in blocked thought process. ter. Spoon on half the sliced berries. Top ium or something like that. I only bank locker in case of any family Nirmala said strawberries! It’s a with other half of shortcake, cut side call him Arun. Because at most I T emergency. Shameless few days to May 20, World Strawberry down. Spoon on rest of sliced berries have 10 good years left on this black-marketing. Day and I wonder how the mind works, and the whipped cream. Garnish with earth and I can’t waste 8 of those And finally I met the worst of because images of strawberries and whole berries. trying to address him or his sister the worst: other passengers. Sir/ memories of associations flashed in a Shamiana. madam never in my life have I second in my freshly unblocked imagina- So Arun came running a few met a group of people dedicated tion. minutes ago and showed me a to the act of doing the exact op- I remembered my mother’s beds of WhatsApp video of a passenger posite of what they are told. Ask net-covered strawberries, carefully pro- being dragged off a plane in the them to stand up and tected from marauding birds, plucked, United States. In the video they will sit down. hulled and served in a deep green pot- you can see that he has Ask them to sit tery bowl, with thick white cream and been hurt quite severely. down and they will sugar on the side. I remembered our first Poor fellow. stand up. Ask for day in Italy, at a highway ‘Autogrill’ that “Can you believe only families to was so big and so hi-tech that it crossed this?” Arun asked me. board, and every single the autostrada and boggled our Third “Keep quiet,” I told batchelor will run. Ask World sensibilities. My daughter and I getty images/istockphoto him, “and look at all them to keep boarding pecked at all the antipasti but jumped at the other passengers. pass ready and they will the risotto with strawberries and parmi- was worth the effort and the tartness. they were good not only for teatime but Look at how they hold in their hands every giano. And what a dish that was: pink, Decades later, strawberries were still for dessert. are sitting with so piece of paper from their creamy, buttery rice, salty with cheese; difficult to find in Delhi. Today, though, STRAWBERRY SHRIKHAND much discipline!” life including passport, the savouriness offset by the sweet and every roadside phal wala sells them, and SHORTCAKE Serves 8 Arun grabbed his ticket, PAN Card, sour juiciness of strawberries. I also re- fairly cheap, after some bargaining. But Serves 6 Yoghurt/dahi from 2½ litres phone and went away Aadhaar card, mar- member being advised to order less be- in the early 90s I travelled often on work 2¼ cups sifted cake flour full cream milk complaining that I lacked riage certificate, cause there would be a million oppor- to Bombay and each time, I’d try to man- 4 tsp baking powder 3 punnets fresh strawberries humanity for other people. Padayappa matinee tunities to sample Italian food. I’m glad age a drive to Linking Road or Crawford 2 tbsp sugar (about 250g each) As if he has been building ticket but not board- we did eat the risotto, though, because Market to pick up a few punnets for my ½ tsp salt 2-3 cups sugar, powdered free hospitals for the down- ing pass. we didn’t encounter a strawberry ver- daughter. The other day I watched a 1/3 cup shortening 1 bunch mint leaves for garnish trodden with his bare hands Things only got worse sion again on that trip—or ever again. video of a plastic drinking straw being in- 1 egg, slightly beaten Chill yoghurt. To drain out whey it’s since the age of 6. on the flight. One young serted at the bottom point of a straw- 2/3 cup milk useful to have a double-layered plastic Sir/madam if there is any couple sitting in front of Berry spotting berry and being pushed up to remove Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. fine meshed sieve which can be poised aspect of human life in me, perhaps on honey- It was June and Italian shops were spill- the calyx of leaves: hulling in one neat Lightly grease and flour an 8-inch round on a tall container. Else hang yoghurt in which I would sanction the moon, were behaving as ing over with all manner of fruit, fragola movement. layer-cake pan. In medium bowl, sift a muslin cloth. While waiting for the use of excessive force, it is if they are one of those included. The Latin name fraga refers to Apart from the risotto we had near flour with baking powder, sugar and salt. whey to be drained, prepare strawber- air travel. From the very mo- insects that come out in the fruit’s fragrance, while the English Padua, I can’t think of any savoury With two knives, lightly blend in short- ries. Wash gently and drain well. Hull all ment you step into an air- the rainy season and word ‘strawberry’ is on account of the dishes. Though I do make a salad dress- ening until mixture resembles coarse and reserve a few—about a dozen—for port you come face to face have only fifteen minutes ‘straying’ erratic habit of the plant. Frag- ing that uses strawberry purée instead of cornmeal. Make well in centre; add egg garnish. Slice this dozen and keep aside. with the very worst ex- deepak harichandan to produce children be- aria ananassa because the most popular vinegar; the rest is a basic vinaigrette of and milk, stirring quickly just until com- Roughly chop the rest and, in large jar of amples of humanity. fore dying. My wife spent variety has the flavour of pineapples. olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar, and it bined. Spread in prepared pan; bake 15 blender, purée to a smooth pulp. Make Some months ago I had the op- the entire flight reading the air Strawberry, the fruit of the plants of isn’t just pretty when red is poured on minutes or just until golden. Partially sure sugar is finely powdered and that portunity to take a short flight sickness bag. the genus Fragaria, “is a symbol of the green leaves, it has a consistency that cool, on wire rack. Serve warm, with there are no lumps. Stir sugar into straw- from Chennai to Bengaluru for a Finally when I reached Kochi Virgin Mary and also of summer and of coats a salad well. fruit filling: berry purée. family function. First I had to the airline informed me that my the delights of summer fruit. As Andrew But sweet confections there are When yoghurt solids are quite firm show my passport and ticket to bag was still in Chennai. It is ok, I Boorde (1542, also ed. Furnivall, 1870) plenty. I hear ‘strawberry’ and automat- STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE and all the whey has been drained out, enter the airport. Then I had to said, I will buy a whole new ward- put it: ‘raw crayme undecocted, eaten ically ‘shortcake’ fills in the implied Serves 6 transfer to a large mixing bowl and beat show my ticket but not passport robe after selling this samosa. with strawberys or hurtes (whortleberry, blank. Shortcake itself, delicate and 1 shortcake (see above) with a fork until smooth. Pour in straw- to stand in a line. At the end of the Sir/madam, therefore you will bilberry, etc.) is a rural man’s banket.’” tender, is delicious and heartwarming. 2 punnets fresh strawberries berry-sugar mixture and mix well with line a third fellow wanted to see understand why I am not entirely Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion With strawberries it’s food for the gods. (about 250g each) an electric hand mixer or a fork. Mixture my passport and ticket to give me against better discipline in the to Food. A couple of years ago, when I was 1 cup sugar will be thick. Pour into serving dish. Ar- a boarding pass. Then a fourth po- field of air travel. Of course there Wild strawberries, one of the prized shifting house and needed cake, friends ½ cup heavy cream range mint leaves and sliced strawber- liceman wanted to see boarding should be no violence or dragging ‘fruits de bois’, have a flavour even suggested I ask Charu Nanda. Her stuff is 1 tsp vanilla extract ries on top. Chill for a few hours before pass but not passport, and my or bleeding and all that. Maybe deeper than common or garden variety so good that now, being lazy and inept, I 2 tbsp soft butter or margarine serving. ticket he treated with contempt. just a little bit in case of and I recall childhood vacations in the often ask her for cake and dessert. Last While shortcake is baking, gently And then I told Mrs Mathru- emergency. Shimla hills, where the highlight would week, I got her strawberry mini-cakes. wash strawberries in cold water. Drain From the once-forbidden joy of eating eggs bootham that she can go to Kochi be a picnic and spotting strawberries in They were pale and light, stuffed with and hull. Keep aside six of the largest, to the pleasure of other people’s packed by herself, I am going back home Yours in exasperation, the undergrowth so tiny that collecting sliced red strawberries and topped with nicest looking berries. Slice the remain- “tiffin” for journeys to the ingratitude of because even Veerappan was not J Mathrubootham enough for even one mouthful was diffi- whipped cream and more strawberries. ing berries into a medium bowl and add dinner guests, the writer reflects about cult. And yet, the flavour they packed Light as air, weighted with juicy fruit, sugar. Stir gently and set aside. In small every association with food.

NOIDA/DELHI THE HINDU MAGAZINE 8 BACK PAGE SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2017 CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Easy like Sunday morning quiz Notes from Stuttgart

Don’t ask why, just turn your eyes to the sky BY PRATHAP NAIR naturally, wasn’t enough for the citizen groups that regularly parade the city’s ate last year when I packed my streets dressed in satanic black garbs BY BERTY ASHLEY This object is one of the most bags and belongings from Ban- and masks meant to represent the 10 photographed objects in the galore to move to Stuttgart, I black forces in the city administration Starting today (April 16) for the night sky. Named after a Greek L received several notable obser- (which is presided over by the environ- 1 next 10 nights we will be visited by hunter, it is actually a birthplace of vations from friends and acquaint- mentally friendly, green party). the Lyrids. The Lyrids are a beautiful, stars. 25 light years across, it is so ances. “I’m sure you’ll like it in Stut- Another group wants to improve the heavenly sight caused by dust being bright that even in cities with a little tgart,” one said in a tone I sensed was cycle tracks in the city and conducts a shed by a comet called ‘Thatcher’. light pollution you can spot it with brimming with underhand cynicism. monthly cycling event, a show of Technically called a ‘shower’, what your naked eye. What is the name of “But the city is closer to Blackforest strength of cyclists, called Critical are the Lyrids? this colourful celestial cradle? and Schwabian Alps,” said another. As Mass. Cycle routes in Stuttgart city are alluring as the prospects of visiting either non-existent or encroached This heavenly spectacle is caused A molecular biologist from Madurai, our either are, I received the subtle, unsaid upon by parked cars because space is a 2 due to charged ions in the atmo- quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is message—get out of Stuttgart as much premium and hard to find. Hence it’s a sphere. Named after the Roman god- working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is as you can. tussle between the bleeding heart en-

dess of the dawn, when it happens in a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. Stuttgart is the face of Germany’s vironmentalists and capitalist

the southern hemisphere it is suf- enjoy! and search automobile industry with the strong consumers. fixed by the name of the only contin- image Google a Do Nebula. Orion The 10. presence of manufacturing units of “People in Stuttgart are financially

Getty images/ istockphoto

ent completely in that hemisphere. head. your over go to about is ISS brands like Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, well-positioned. You can see restaur-

What is it known as? the time every you message will they and Daimler AG and the ubiquitous Bosch. ants doing brisk business and full even Depending on the time of the measured refraction index. If a ‘spotthestation.nasa.gov’ Visit eye. naked If you are a fan of those roughly on weekdays,” Alexander Maeder, an

‘Arcturus’ is the brightest star in 5 year, when you look up at the sky source of light was behind you and the with Earth from seen be can which square-shaped (quadrate, if you will) editor at a city based popular-science

3 the Northern sky, ‘Cassiopeia’ is a either after sunset or before dawn you stood at a 42-degree angle from Station Space International the On 9. Ritter-Sport chocolates, Stuttgart magazine told me over coffee one day. ‘W’ shaped constellation, ‘Cygnus’ is you might spot the ‘Evening star’ or your shadow and the aforemen- Comoros] Turkmenistan, makes them. There is no better way to

a cross shaped constellation which the ‘Morning star’. These are two ex- tioned refraction took place in front Uzbekistan, Singapore, Mauritania, trace the city’s economic growth than Incredible Inglish

has the largest star ever known, ‘Bel- tremely bright spots which stand out of you, what would you see? Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, a visit to the Porsche or Daimler mu- Thanks to these successful industries,

latrix’ is a massive star that is central but are not stars! So what are they Algeria, Tunisia, [Turkey, Star. and seum—for they show the influence of the city also plays host to a staggering

to the Orion constellation, ‘Pollux’ is An occultation is a term used in moon crescent the with Flags National 8. these companies on the city as they amount of migrant workers (60%, one and how do you differentiate them rainbow A 7.

the star by which all other stars are Astronomy to describe occasions both expand and complement each estimate suggests). On any given work- from actual stars? 8 song) Alphabet the and Sheep Black classified. Now finish this list with the when the Moon passes in front of a other in influential ways to date. ing day, on trains during office hours,

name of the brightest star in the sky In 1782 at the age of 25, Mozart star or planet during the course of its Baa Baa as tune (Same composed. Mozart Little Star” and we sing it in the tune which tune the in it sing we and Star” Little I’m only within the earshot of a Kan-

and tell me how bibliophile kids (and 6 composed a very melodious pi- orbital motion around the Earth. Twinkle ‘Twinkle wrote Taylor Jane 6. Cars and chocolate nada phrase or a Telugu phrase.

adults) better know this list. ano piece called ‘Twelve Variations This phenomenon is quite common twinkle. not does light their Over and above the cars and chocol- Sometimes I also hear Inglish and my

on Ah vous dirai-je, Maman ’ the astronomically but interestingly its stars unlike as diferent are They year). ates, if I were to be unkind, the most heart swells with indescribable pride.

The Advanced X-ray Astrophysics melody of which is renowned for be- depiction is also common in another the of time on (depending Mercury or exciting news coming out of the city I hear my people speak of Indian res-

4 Facility is a space observatory ing easily memorised. In 1806, at the context where uniqueness is re- Venus probably Most planets. are They 5. may perhaps be the predic- taurants, narrate difficulties in finding

launched by NASA in 1999. Earth’s at- age of 23, Jane Taylor wrote a poem quired. It exists in 12 of the 196 in ex- observatory X-ray Chandra The 4. tion of sun in the weather accommodation and ori-

mosphere absorbs almost all X-rays, for a book of nursery rhymes. Keep- istence. Where would you find these bit!) a up tear you made report. Or the air pollution entate a new colleague on

so a space-based telescope was re- ing in mind the theme of this weeks 12 depictions of an occultation? I if (Sorry Black. Sirius being descendent alert called ‘Feinstaubal- the best

quired to study deep space. It is quiz, put those facts together and male last the With universe. Potter Harry arm,’ when one possible

named to honour a Nobel Prize–win- give me the name of a song which has If I told you that I went around the from family Black the of members is allowed to route to

ning Indian-American astrophysicist been sung unchanged since then. the world once every 90 minutes, the are these And Star’. ‘Dog the Sirius 3. travel at half take to 9 Australis Aurora 2. and also a Hindu god who rides his saw 16 sunrises and sunsets in a 24- the ticket price work. I

chariot across the sky every night. Rain drops are perfectly spher- hour day and travelled 8 kilometres Meteors 1. on public Getty images/ istock photo overhear

What is this observatory known as? 7 ical. Because of this it has a very per second where would I be? Answers transportation—it’s mostly an unpro- them furtively and I hope they all eat ductive move aimed at reducing hamburgers without guilt of vehicular traffic inside the city. persecution. The image that an average Stut- When he joined work in Stuttgart, GOREN BRIDGE A-N-A-T-O-M-I-Z-E tgarter is a Porsche driving business- my partner was gifted a book called 101 man (or woman) in expensive business things to do in Stuttgart by his friendly suits who dine at the city’s only Mich- colleagues. Between enlisting strategic elin-starred-restaurant every weekday viewpoints, vineyards, statues and mu- Elegant solution is no longer true. Beyond all the prim- seums of the city, I saw something that ness and economic success of high fly- caught my interest—a museum dedic- Plastic chakna ing businesses, a grass roots move- ated to pigs. I have earmarked it to ment is taking shape. For a while it visit. Did I say Stuttgart was uninterest- looked like the city prioritised eco- ing before? Pardon me for that. BY RAUL DIAS nomic growth by successfully nudging One constant gripe that I hear about away concerns of environmental con- outsiders living in Stuttgart is that the sciousness. locals are hard to become friends with. Then, two citizens recently filed a I hear several variations of the same criminal complaint against the Mayor among people I meet: “It’s difficult to ■ Obulato transparent, for failing to curb the growing levels of break into their circles,” a Belgian-born edible Japanese rice air pollution in the city. Though, at Stuttgarter friend tells me. “They can paper sheet 300PPM, the air pollution is nothing appear unfriendly but they are ex- compared to Indian cities that tremely loyal people and once you routinely peak 1000PM. make friends, they stay friends for Their demands include banning life,” a girl from Cologne tells me on a ■ Crushed green pea vehicular traffic entirely into the city weekend hike. I don’t lose hope. In- wasabi adds a nuanced on days when air pollution is at its stead, I sign up on Couchsurfing meet- piquancy peak. But in a city that prides upon its ings to crack the code and get myself automobile industry, it’s anyone’s admitted into one of the ‘circles.’ I guess whether these measures will hope I succeed one day. I could do ■ A spot of coriander ever be implemented. The city council with a loyal friend for life. said the vehicular ban will bring bad and mint chutney publicity for brand Stuttgart. There is a The writer is happy on the road as much as marked improvement in its stand he is at home, tending to his houseplants now—it mulls on banning vehicular that often breed fruit flies. He lives in BY BOB JONES dummy’s ace of diamonds entry on air pollution alert days. That, Stuttgart, Germany. and played off his ace and ■ Soya crisps est cashed his king of spades, pleased when flavoured with spices two top hearts that suit split 2-2. Thinking it and chaat masala and shifted to was all over but the score-up, THE SUNDAY CROSSWORD NO. 2939 W the jack of dia- he cashed the ace of clubs monds. South gave no and was taken aback when thought to taking the dia- West discarded a heart. ■ Hand-pounded mond finesse. Should either At this point, the location roasted peanuts black suit be splitting 2-2, he of the king of diamonds had would be cold for 10 tricks, become very important to or so he thought. The posi- him—East had to have it! De- mbarrassment is writ large upon made from rice and potato starch are used tion of the king of diamonds clarer found a neat solution, my face as I attempt, rather unsuc- to create beautiful garnishes, such as tuiles was not important to him. but it required the king of cessfully, to prise open the tiny and in this case, edible sachets. Dissolving Declarer rose with diamonds to be with East. He E ‘plastic’ packet of nuts that’s dain- in the mouth almost instantly, it is this led a low club from his hand tily sitting on a plate in front of me. It’s ephemeral quality that’s so very appeal- to dummy’s nine, though any only when a server suggests I pop the ing! club from dummy would do whole packet into my mouth—covering et Meant to be eaten in one bite with one’s as well. al—do I finally realise the naughty little fingers—with a daub of coriander-mint This neatly end-played mind game molecular gastronomy is play- chutney—the dish is made up of hand- East, as he had to yield a ruff- ing on me. pounded roasted peanuts, crushed pi- sluff, lead away from his Taking the two very antipodal concepts quant wasabi peas and bits of soya crisps queen of clubs, or set up of a French amuse bouche and chakna— flavoured with spices and chaat masala, dummy’s queen of dia- the de facto Indian drinks’ accompani- which are then ensconced in a single, al- monds. East did his best by ment, and fusing them together in a de- most plastic-like circular cut obulato leading the king of dia- cidedly delicate, transparent Japanese rice sheet. monds, but South ruffed and paper called obulato is Chef Tejas Sovani. With the help of a special heat sealing used dummy’s eight of As the very first course in his degusta- machine, the edges of the mini parcel are spades as an entry to the dia- tion menu at Amaranta, The Oberoi Gur- fused together to form a half moon shaped mond queen. South dis- gaon’s modern Indian fine dining restaur- amuse bouche that’s full of flavour and carded his remaining low ant, Sovani sends off the brilliantly texture! club and claimed the bal- realised and constructed plastic chakna ance. Nicely played! Had East with a flourish. The Mumbai-based writer is passionate exited with a low diamond Named obulato in honour of oblaat, the about food, travel and luxury, not necessarily instead, South would have in that order. Dutch word for ‘wafer’, these shiny sheets Across discarded his low club. aviator, endlessly immaculate (8,7) 1 Scaremonger with anxious air almost 3 Officer warlike in speech (7) devoid of love (8) 4 Vapour from south side (5) 5 Colour created by revolutionary artist 5 Beasts attack in area, upset (7) receiving honour (5) 6 Drink in university with cross and ECOTISM BY ASHVINI MENON 9 Level about right for one making an ef- doubtful expression after class (6,9) fort (5) 7 Smell river with cry of surprise (4) 10 Get rid of alien, biting back after time 8 Left gold, last of collection, in reason- (9) able place in Switzerland (8) 11 Trust date chum arranged came up to 12 Rich source, rotter with editor (4-6) expectations (3,3,7) 14 Note support and stick up for Cana- 13 Container ship’s contents secured by dian region (8) mate (5) 16 Stare, bewildered about betrayal (7) 14 Painting wins top prize finally (9) 17 Don’t move prop and frame (4,3) 15 Tango one faced and accomplished for 19 Test muddled old argument (3-2) programme (9) 20 Search in company with doctor (4) 17 Signify magic formula (5) 18 Clubs with areas developed by resort Solution No. 2938 beside lake with super casino (7,6) 21 Pass finished film (9) 22 Clutch, for instance, ring inlaid with diamonds (5) 23 Number born after revolution in country (5) 24 Spent day wandering to ridge (3-5) Down 1 Expect quote about old man supporting opponent (10) 2 Adventure novelist’s ace tip followed by

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