Tog

Summer • 2012

M a g a z i n e

The fabric of our culture: vintage, avant garde & futuristic

the editor’s pen vast art treasures. Nothing less than the best was good enough for local princes and kings when it came to demonstrating their power, wisdom and artistic taste.

As is appropriate for an undertaking such as this, I’m staying at Jag Niwas, the former summer residence of the King of Udaipur.

The legendary luxury hotel floats swanlike atop the lake; the overall effect is mysterious, almost unreal. On the opposite shoreline rises Udaipur’s massive City Palace, an imposing agglomeration of high walls, turrets and domes. Udaipur, located in southern Rajasthan, is a twisting, labyrinthine city surrounded by barren mountains and erected next to ancient

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in the tracks of royalty Tourists staying in the former palaces of Rajasthan can enjoy the same luxury as their princely denizens once did.

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our glorious wealth Be it the wealthy corporates, big organisations, young artistes or renowned maestros; everyone is working towards the preservation of Indian culture

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the boy genius Rahul Bose has had a makeover: he is trimmer, busier and almost impossibly wittier, albeit of the dark kind

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man! I feel like a woman Luxury designer brands are leading the fashion pack when it comes to the ‘tux and tie’ revival in women’s clothing. We analyse the revolution called ‘androgynous fashion’.

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petal palette The blooming vogue: fresh aromas and vibrant hues of the flowers have found a place in pans and saucers

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This season, Dubai 1 1 Cabin of the future This is how Airbus envisions air travel in 2050: the envelope of the Concept Cabin is transparent, and instead of having fixed seats, the aircraft is divided into zones, like the Interactive Zone with a virtual golf course and the Vitalising Zone offering acupressure treatment. Sustainability is also the key – the movements of passengers are to be converted into electric current through energy recuperation systems.

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The 250 spacious rooms and suites feature floor to ceiling windows that bring a refreshing sense of height, light and space.

Opening third quarter - 2012 The Oberoi is located in the heart of Business Bay, Dubai’s new business district.

With views of Dubai Creek, the hotel is only a few minutes from the city centre.

The 250 spacious rooms and suites feature floor to ceiling windows that bring a refreshing sense of height, light and space.

Dining options include a multi cuisine

Vinyl amplifier English designer Paul Cocksedge usually spends his time making lamps – original creations like “Life 01”, which consists of a vase with a base that lights up when it comes into contact with a flower. But his latest project involves a brilliantly simple amplifier: a vinyl LP that has been heated and formed into a funnel shape. Put an MP3 player or smartphone inside, and the music is amplified like in an old gramophone player.

restaurant with an interactive show kitchen, a contemporary Pan-Asian restaurant and an Indian specialty restaurant. The roof top bar offers the perfect end to a Dubai day with a view that is best described as infinite.

The hotel combines contemporary design, luxurious interiors and Oberoi hotels’ legendary hospitality.

3 Playing with colour The watches of China’s Ziiiro brand prove that we need neither figures nor hands in order to tell the time. That’s because, after a brief acclimatisation phase, the human eye can cope extremely well with fluid forms. The “Gravity” watch simply has two rotating bars – the larger inner bar shows the hours, the narrower outer one the minutes. The wristbands of the brightly-coloured watches are interchangeable.

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in the tracks of royalty Words gero günther Photos peter neusser

Tourists staying in the former palaces of Rajasthan can enjoy the same luxury as their princely denizens once did.

Firecrackers pop and fireworks light up the sky, their brilliant traces reflecting off Lake Pichola.

The thud of loud drums echoes through the night air. On an adjacent island, all hell has broken loose. People are clapping, cheering, celebrating. I glance at the alarm clock next to my bed. 1 a.m. No chance of sleep tonight. Dance music drifts across the water’s surface into my rooms. Not too bad, that DJ. Wedding season has arrived in India, and over on the wedding island a few hundred yards from Udaipur’s famed Lake Palace Hotel, an intoxicating celebration is underway involving over a thousand guests in goldembellished saris, silken robes and customtailored suits.

Indian weddings are lavish affairs, sumptuous, large-scale events which happen to sync perfectly with the overall theme of my journey through Rajasthan. I am, after all, hot on the trail of opulence, in search of the magnificent traces left behind by the Rajputs and maharajas in the form of forts, palaces and

vast art treasures. Nothing less than the best was good enough for local princes and kings when it came to demonstrating their power, wisdom and artistic taste.

As is appropriate for an undertaking such as this, I’m staying at Jag Niwas, the former summer residence of the King of Udaipur.

The legendary luxury hotel floats swanlike atop the lake; the overall effect is mysterious, almost unreal. On the opposite shoreline rises Udaipur’s massive City Palace, an imposing agglomeration of high walls, turrets and domes. Udaipur, located in southern Rajasthan, is a twisting, labyrinthine city surrounded by barren mountains and erected next to ancient Udaipur in southern Rajasthan is famous for its nearly 500-year-old buildings

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untamed india Magnificent historical monuments, bustling cities and snarling big cats – India’s northwest has something to offer every type of traveler.

artificial lakes. Inside City Palace, feverish preparations have been underway for months for the wedding to end all weddings, a huge spectacle that will occur behind closed doors for the most part. In honor of the youngest princess’ betrothal, sections of the building are undergoing renovation, walls are being replastered, paintings touched up.

Rollicking wedding processions can be encountered everywhere on the subcontinent during the cool months between October and March. Just days earlier, at the outset of my trip, I stumbled into the middle of a wedding at Jaipur City Palace – one featuring colorfully painted elephants, carriages, bagpipes and a revolving stage, upon which the newlywed couple slowly rotated, lit up by spotlights.

The celebration had the atmosphere of a Bollywood production, complete with a

camera crane and a cannon for firing rose petals.

Jaipur, a city of four million located a few hours southwest of Delhi by car, is the capital of Rajasthan and the place where I, like most travelers, have chosen to begin my tour through the land of the Rajputs – the ancient ruling elite in northwestern India. The now familiar salvo of rose petals greets me upon my arrival at my hotel in Jaipur as well. Welcome to Rambagh Palace! Welcome to the extravagant fairytale castle of Jaipur’s maharajas. Yes, this luxurious accommodation also happens to be – you guessed it – a former palace. Before being converted into a hotel in 1957, Rambagh Palace was home to kings, chambermaids and the extraordinarily beautiful maharani, Gayatri Devi, who was friendly with Jacqueline Kennedy and numbered Queen Elizabeth,

Lord Mountbatten and glamour photographer Cecil Beaton among her visitors. “Her husband, Madho Singh II,” the palace historian hired exclusively by the hotel explains to me, “was an outstanding polo player and one of the most important reformers among Rajasthan’s powerful ruling elite.”

We’re sitting in the polo bar, sipping aromatic Nilgiri tea from the winter harvest and discussing the role of the maharajas after India’s independence. Although Indira Gandhi abolished all princely privileges in 1970, says my red-turbaned expert, the majority of the population continues to respect and admire them. Staying in a maharaja palace is not only luxurious, it also provides the loveliest sort of history lesson one could possibly imagine. A guest can dine off of venerable silver, lay his head to rest beneath a canopy and promenade through gardens filled with peacocks and birds. Pleasant fragrances are everywhere and the staff are attired like polo players in wide jodhpurs, white gloves and hand-embroidered jackets.

I start off my day with yoga in the garden, and end it in the same marble pool in which Gayatri Devi swam her daily laps. There was a royal wedding here a few months ago with dozens of elephants and hundreds of guests.

The general public was excluded, of course. I am permitted to leaf through the photo album and discover among the illustrious guests Bob Geldof and Sting, both appropriately attired in traditional Indian garments.

One morning I am introduced to the head of the household, the Prince of Jaipur.

Raj Kumar Vijit Singh is the embodiment of understatement: he’s an elegant man dressed in corduroy trousers who doesn’t place much stock in formalities. But appearances are deceiving: his family owns luxury hotels, an assortment of companies and large landholdings. Despite its rapid economic growth, he says, India still needs a lot of time.

He studied art at university, Singh explains, “not seriously enough”. Nevertheless, the knowledge he amassed comes in handy. The Rajputs, after all, have been collecting precious objects for ages, and even today the palaces can’t be altered without the prior permission of the royal family. “When we modernized the hotel following intensive archival studies,” explains the young architect Amit Gehlot, oberoihotels.com

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Early evening panorama over the rooftops of Jaipur

“we employed armies of highly specialized craftsmen.” Rambagh Palace became a vital economic mainstay for many of these master craftsmen, who supplied miniatures, gold leaf, sculptures and hand-embroidered curtains for years on end. Gehlot takes me to visit jewelers and miniature painters – men patiently plying their trade in cramped ateliers, crouching barefoot on the ground next to a glowing brazier of coals, behind them a safe for storing sapphires, rubies and diamonds.

India imports hundreds of tons of gold annually in order to satisfy its massive appetite for jewelry. More gold is processed and gifted on the subcontinent than anywhere else in the world. Such is the scale of the demand that the global market price for the precious metal always spikes just before wedding season.

Jaipur is a city of craftsmen and artists, a center of tourism and culture, and one of the noisiest cities in the world. Everywhere people shout, cough, spit and curse. Car horns, bicycle bells, music and engines are interwoven into a dense tapestry of noise. I’m constantly dodging, weaving and jumping out of the way: look out – cow! Monkey! Rickshaw! I smell grilled meat, patchouli and sewers. Everything all at once, jumbled together, up, down, all around. India is a wondrous affront to the senses.

But Rajasthan is famed above all for its historical monuments. Forts and palaces left behind by the maharajas are everywhere; the cool stone floors of countless temples and mosques silently await the tread of bare feet. There is so much to do and see. I decide to flee to the countryside. The prince wasn’t exaggerating when he waxed eloquent about the marvelous calm and isolation of his Ramgarh Lodge in northern Jaipur. The trip takes 1½ hours by car. The royal hunting estate, designed in the style of an Italian villa, was recently turned into a hotel – hunting has been outlawed in India since 1972.

Everybody’s getting married out here in the countryside too. On my first visit to the neighboring village, I am surrounded by a joyous throng, all encouraging me to join in the festivities. A sea of red and yellow saris engulfs me, teenagers bellow in my ears, a brass band blares music.

It’s early as I step onto Ramgarh Lodge’s manicured English lawn. oberoihotels.com

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our glorious wealth Words Shalini Chaturvedi

Be it the wealthy corporates, big organisations, young artistes or renowned maestros; everyone is working towards the preservation of Indian culture

They are rich, famous and falling in love with India all over again. The new Indian crème-de-la-crème is moving away from their avant-garde Western ways to soak up the traditional, erstwhile glorious India. Not so long ago, the wealthy considered it fashionable to embrace the ways of the West; they invested their time and money in foreign travel, fine wines, Italian designer labels and overseas markets. In a refreshing breeze of ‘swadeshi’, new money has found its way back to where it belongs - to be indulged, preserved, polished and deployed for the upliftment of Indian heritage and everything quintessentially Indian. Where earlier, the holistic disciplines of yoga and Ayurveda were accessible to the world over to adapt as their own, it is now being branded and protected by the Indian government as irrefutably India’s very own legacy.

Indians abroad are not far left behind; affluent patrons of Indian art are collaborating in an attempt to create the country’s most prestigious cultural society abroad that not only promotes the work of prolific Indian artists but also cashes in on the art investment boom in India. Truly, India is basking in its own glory.

Festive spirits The ripples of this determination to reawaken Indian culture and heritage can be seen across India and beyond its frontiers.

Among major Indian festivals such as Diwali, Christmas, Eid and Pongal, minor festivals have also found their ground. Large corporate sponsorships by bigwigs like Infosys, IBM and Asian Paints express an ardent spending in music and theatre events in order to clamour the forgotten cultural and religious significance of these festivals. Indeed, the drama and dazzle surrounding the celebration of every Indian festival, major or minor, induce millions to revel in the surreal joy of being in attendance.

The ripples of the determination to reawken Indian culture can be seen across India and beyond

A slice of India And here’s another food for thought – Indian cuisine now ranks fifth among world cuisines to entice and tantalise the global palate. Where a few decades ago, one had to hound the streets of New York and London to catch sight of an Indian eatery, Indian restaurants now dot the main streets of most important cities worldwide. Adding to this, the Times Foodie Awards instituted by The

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Holistic disciplines like yoga are now being branded and protected by the Indian government as irrefutably India’s very own legacy

Times of India felicitates and honours cafes and restaurants all over India. This has not only unearthed diverse preferences of Indians across states and communities, but has also marked a place for remote cities and obscure cafes on the nation-wide gastronomical map.

Feel the rhythm While dum biryani and dal makhani gratify culinary senses internationally, Indian classical music enthralls the soul. From the age of Mughals to today’s metropolitan Indians, the effervescence of Indian music has, in an egalitarian way, enchanted and soothed music lovers. Even today, royal families in Rajasthan promote folk music in a big-hearted fashion by organising music festivals, such as the Rajasthani International Folk Festival where the old and new burgeoning music genres mingle in a ‘jugalbandhi’ to captivate audiences from all over the world, leaving them spellbound. Several other music festivals such as the Ladakh Confluence 2010 and Madras Music Season attract top musicians from the country to preserve the cultural identity of various states and the nation as a whole. What is also noteworthy

that renowned organisations are stepping forward to demystify the overwhelming scope of Indian music by making it accessible to the public at large. The Sangeet Research Academy by ITC (Indian Tobacco Company) offers a residential learning centre for prospective students to learn from the maestros of Hindustani classical music. Ravi Mathur, an executive director at ITC, said, “ITC’s interest in Indian Classical Music goes back several decades. After our country’s Independence, the patronage, which musicians enjoyed in the courts of our landed gentry diminished; there was a real danger of losing the time-honoured ancient Guru Shishya Parampara. Armed with a mission to preserve and propagate the Hindustani classical music, ITC started the Sangeet Research Academy at Tollygunge, Kolkata.”

There are several such efforts in bringing the sitars and sarods to the world, including Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan’s music campuses spread across the globe. Now, prospective students can also register themselves online to learn music, which makes diverse styles of Indian music available in a simplified, structured format.

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the boy genius Words Jayita Bandyopadhyay Photos Tanvi Madkaiker

Men marry because they want to be a hero. Since the age of 18 I knew marriage was a bad idea. At 43, know exactly why it is so.

Rahul Bose has had a makeover: he is trimmer, busier and almost impossibly wittier, albeit of the dark kind

He has lost weight, sadly, some more hair too but has finally acquired the perfect lean and mean look. Perfect for his dream, Matrix-like superhero role that he promises one day he will be seen in; hanging from cliffs, breaking necks and dodging bullets in slow motion.

While Rahul Bose, the guest editor of our man-special issue, dissects the man and takes a rather depreciating view of his clan, we also get him talking about girlfriends, marriage, kids and even kissing another man.

Intelligent, successful but unmarried…

I don’t need marriage, I don’t believe in it. I think it will not add to my life at all.

Men marry because they want to be a hero.

They know they can come back home to their wife and be as weak as possible yet they will always treat them as their heroes. A man can show off his flabby stomach to his wife but she will still think he is fitter than Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. He can be weak yet strong.

But if you don’t need that kind of support, if you decide to become your own hero, you don’t need a wife.

Since the age of 18 I knew marriage was a bad idea. At 43, I know exactly why it is so.

Companionship…

As far as companionship in marriage is concerned, I get companionship from hiking, books, my movies, rugby, friends and family.

Also, you have to be your best companion; no woman can fill that gap.

The worst marriages are where the men are so needy and unevolved that they don’t respect themselves as companions. Unless you clean your emotional garage, you won’t be able to respect another companion. Love is available everywhere; why be fixated with one

love?

No marriage, no girlfriends?

I am single but I am not celibate.

My last girlfriend was Koel (Koel Purie) with whom I broke off about four years ago. I have had steady and meaningful relationships with women and all of them have lasted for three years or more. But now I don’t feel the need for another such relationship. I am at ease with myself.

Most men are commitment phobic. Are you too?

Yes I am, like most men. I fear commitments. But it is not only about committing to a woman. I don’t want to be tied down to anything: rugby, films, my NGO or

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even Mumbai. I should be able to do whatever I want to. I don’t want to make a compromise and a serious relationship or marriage is nothing but compromise.

Is this why marriages and separations are rising around us?

Not only me or men, even a lot of women today don’t want to compromise. A generation that has grown up with the thought that they will never compromise with anything, marriage is a tough choice. The number of urban separations is on the rise and we will soon see many married couples staying apart because they have stopped compromising with each other. They will not divorce each other, but they will live apart. Those figures will skyrocket in our cities in the next five years.

So, we will have more sex outside marriage?

If a marriage is not working, couples will walk away from it, but they will not have sex outside marriage.

Many men and women in this country have sex surreptitiously in the family or with prostitutes. But leaving those aside, people who have been living in unhappy marriages and are having sex outside marriage will just stop doing so and be happy.

How important is sex for you?

It’s the best, the most enjoyable and effective cardiovascular exercise! I can’t think of anything so effective.

Men are obsessed with sex. Or are they?

Men are wholly and solely obsessed with sex. But they are not to be blamed for it. It stems from a sense of insecurity, something that has been engineered into their DNA. A man’s entire life, success rate and manhood are judged by his sexual prowess and the size of his penis. But these are the prison bars.

Because when you actually have sex, you realise the woman doesn’t care about any of the above. She cares about completely different things on different days; one day it can be your attentiveness, or your crooked teeth, your cologne, or the way your sleep.

Men are left clueless.

You kissed a man Yes, I did and that’s why half the people think I am gay! In Onir’s upcoming film I am, I have done the longest ever gay kiss for any Indian film. But it was a beautiful shot.

Your ideal woman

My ideal woman would have Konkona Sen Sharma’s sense of humour, Arundhati Roy’s anger, Medha Patkar’s perseverance, Anna Hathway’s smile and Uma Thurman’s eyes. I am always fascinated with eyes; everything can be guessed by the eyes: if a woman is faking it or if she is sad inside. Sometimes on casual dates, I have looked at a girl when she thinks I am not looking and seen her real, ugly self. Sometimes, the tectonic plates shift and then the true self peeps out.

First girlfriend She was half-English and halfMaharashtrian and very pretty. I was 17 when I met her and I was obsessed with material success, brands, being famous in school, my badges, my medals and she wanted none of it.

She had an NGO soul. Today, however, I feel if we meet, it will be ironic.

The sexiest comment a woman has ever made about you.

(Silence. After about 20-and-a-half minute of hard persuasion he answers.) Someone once said I have a sexy butt! Though, I have received many unfavourable comments. Like ‘you are so small!’ or ‘you are shorter than what you look like on screen!’

Does your Bollywood status attract women to you?

No, never. My life is not Bollywood. It is rugby, tennis, books, my house in Kasauli, my house in Mumbai, my friends, my sister and her children. Cinema is completely separate.

Men want kids because they want to keep the woman…

Not always. A lot of men do want to have kids. And when a woman says ‘I want to have kids’ there are very few men who will yes if they don’t feel like it. The man has to be at least half way ready for fatherhood.

You and children...

I love children. But the children at my NGO fill up the kiddie need in my life.

If you had your life again…

I couldn’t have done anything much different. I have a pretty battered face: I have had 76 stitches and my nose broke for the fourth time and I need one more surgery to get back to regular. I regret having to do stuff like that because I am in the film industry. If I wouldn’t have been here, I wouldn’t have bothered to have face corrective surgeries.

Holistic disciplines like yoga are now being branded and protected by the Indian government as irrefutably India’s very own legacy

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man! I feel like a woman Words Meghna Sharma

Luxury designer brands are leading the fashion pack when it comes to the ‘tux and tie’ revival in women’s clothing.

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O n the streets of fashion capitals around the world a sexual revolution is emerging. But this modern movement has got nothing to do with free love, it’s about androgynous fashion. For years women have raided their man’s wardrobe and hell, they have worn it better, be it the boyfriend jeans and jackets, oxfords and brogues or man suits and bow ties. And the designers have loved the women in it as much as we have. But when they present to us models strutting down the runway wearing mannish attire, the question that crosses our mind is, how can a woman wear ‘man pants’ and still look so chic?

The tuxedo revolution in women’s clothing began over 70 years ago. Singer and actress Marlene Dietrich pushed the envelope of the fashion-world by pioneering an androgynous look that has transcended into today’s trends.

During her career, Dietrich was frequently seen incorporating menswear into her wardrobe with boxy sport coats and high-waisted trousers. Her look evoked a stark contrast to the gentile and feminine silhouettes that were popular during the 1930’s.

This look was then cemented as a fashion classic in 1966 by the iconic Le Smoking suit. Created by the famous couturier Yves Saint Laurent, the Le Smoking tuxedo suit for women was the first of its kind to earn attention in the fashion world and in popular culture. It pioneered long, minimalist, androgynous styles for women, as well as the use of power suits and the pant suit in modern-day society. Sequinned, cropped, belted, double-breasted, long, mini-dress-like, caped, draped, shaped and uncollared but always black, the Le Smoking was a perennial favourite of Saint Laurent with a new design practically every year. He’s famous for calling black a “refuge” and has described the Smoking as an “essential” because it makes a woman feel “constantly fashionable”. “It’s an item of clothing of style and not of fashion.

Fashions pass, style is eternal,” Saint Laurent had said in an interview. Pierre Berge, former chairman of the YSL couture house had remarked, “By appropriating male apparel and enabling women to wear it, Saint Laurent transferred the attributes of power from one sex to the other. For a woman, Le Smoking is an indispensable garment with which she finds herself continually in fashion, because it

is about style, not fashion. Fashions come and go, but style is forever.”

An alternative to the traditional LBDs or evening gown, the French designer took the Smoking and in 1968 teamed it with Bermuda shorts. In the mid-70s it became a jumpsuit, while in 1996, it had adopted a belted safari jacket look.

While Dietrich and YSL are instrumental in triggering androgyny in the world of fashion, many brands like Gucci, Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Abaete, Balmain, Hermes, Salvatore Ferragamo, etc, have joined the bandwagon. Priya Sachdev, COO and creative director, TSG International Marketing Pvt. Ltd, that represents a host of international brands like Stella McCartney, Dian Von Furtsenberg, etc, in India, says, “Androgynous fashion definitely kicked off with YSL and it’s still a big part of runways season after season. YSL and Stella McCartney tuxedo jackets and trousers make their women look strong, beautiful and chic in them.”

The very beating heart of fashion – as all style divas know so well – is change, a thirst for something new. While many would argue that the androgynous trend is anything but new, it has made a roaring comeback indeed.

Gucci’s women’s Autumn/Winter 2011-2012

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On the ramp one can witness the transfer of power from one sex to the other

The masculine side returns with extra-wide pants, in lightweight nabuk or in British melange fabrics

collection floats on the clouds of colourful fur, elusive transparency, masculine accents, and glimpses of patent leather. Talking about the androgynous touch in the collection, Frida Giannini, creative director, Gucci, says, “This is a contemporary female dandy who fuses glamour and seduction using the iconic codes of the House. She is a polished woman with a decisive personality, who is attentive to detail and willing to dare.” Giannini adds, “The season’s collection is influenced by a vision of the Forties. The line drops down to the knee and flares. Stoles emphasise shoulders, tight on small masculine jackets with striking lapels and on coats with military detailing and a synched waist. The masculine side returns with extrawide pants, in lightweight nabuk or in British mélange fabrics. And the pant-skirt becomes a signature, paired with a caban and over-theknee boots.”

Many who witnessed the Salvatore Ferragamo’s show at the Milan Fashion Week live, were pleasingly shocked!

Massimiliano Giornetti, creative director of the brand, designed sharp suits in pinstripes, houndstooth, and Prince of Wales check. Like so many other designers who participated in the event, Giornetti also played the masculine against the feminine. He then resurrected the Eighties, too. How did the designer make a pinstripe jumpsuit worn with matching blazer and trench as sexy as his second-skin knit dress in a patchwork of houndstooth and leopard print? In the end, it’s all down to the cut.

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petal palette Words Meghna Sharma

The blooming vogue: fresh aromas and vibrant hues of the flowers have found a place in pans and saucers

Flowers are once again being used to create heavenly delicacies

It’s a walk for our senses. The crimson of the roses in the jam add a dash of vibrancy.

Marigolds strewn on a bowl of custard sauce lend an orange spark. The whiff of jasmine spells a charm on the rice. Tea brewed with chrysanthemums wipes off the stress. Candied lavender look exotic on the three tier cake.

No, we are not enjoying a walk in a botanical garden; but we are comfortably seated in one of our favourite eateries. The table is adorned with jellies prepared with rose geraniums, apples served with lemon verbena, soups garnished with lily petals, chicken delicacies pepped with marigolds and a lot more. The spread is intoxicating. The preparations are enticing, healthy and need we add, tempting.

We are re-waking up to the blooming trend where fresh aromas and vibrant hues of the flowers are once again being used to create heavenly delicacies.

The culinary use of flowers dates back 1,000s of years with the first recorded mention being in 140 B.C. when many different cultures incorporated flowers into their traditional foods. Romans used to experiment with edible flowers like roses, mallows and violets.

Oriental dishes were made using daylily buds.

Italian and Hispanic cultures prepared stuffed squash blossoms and Asian Indians used rose petals in many recipes. The use of traditional flowers in cooking never stopped. In Bengali cuisine, Mochar Cutlet has always been used to prepare banana blossom. “Today, we are a part of the huge movement of going back to our roots and everything that is organic. In

the culinary world also, we’re moving towards a cleaner palette and gentler tastes. And, there can’t be a better choice than to taste undiluted flavours; using rose essence is very different from using actual rose petals,” says Marut Sikka, master chief and restauranter.

“Many restaurants have begun to grow flowers in-house too, to get the freshest results possible. Also, people have become more health conscious,” says Vijay Pandey, Executive Chef, Oakwood Premier, Mumbai. “The trend is being readopted by chefs all over the world because the people have begun to crave for a connection with natural foods,” adds Hitesh Gupta, Executive Chef, L’Angoor, Gurgaon.

And the reasons for the vogue are many.

The usage of edible flowers in dishes add a unique element to a particular dish, apart from the scent, flavour, medical benefits and the visual presentation. Flowers like the hibiscus have revitalising properties. Chamomile oberoihotels.com

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Flower petals make for luxurious additions to salads, lemonades, gins, tonics, et al

(either in tea or whole petals) reduce stress and boosts immunity. Begonias are thought to help eliminate toxins and cleanse the liver.

Chrysanthemums help cure colds and fevers.

Marigold has antiseptic properties. Saffron (stigma of a flower) makes the body hot during winter and enhances memory. Rose also has cooling properties and is good for eyes and skin. Over all, flowers have a very calming effect on the mind and body. “The prime reason for using the flowers in cooking is to enhance the visual appeal of the food. The edible flowers are very attractive, their hues and small size make the dishes tempting. And of course, different flowers have distinct tastes depending on their variety and origin,” says Tarun Kapoor, Executive Sous Chef, The Metropolitan Hotel, New Delhi. Carnations are used for steeping flavour in wine. Chervils are used for flavouring and garnishing salads. Borage bears lovely cornflower blue star-shaped flowers. “Flowers lend an extremely gentle flavour to a dish. For

me, flowers spell complete luxury because of their perishable quality,” says Marut. In a jasmine pulao you can taste the flavour of the flower, but it is very subtle. All the different teas like chrysanthemum, jasmine and rose are strong flavoured when left to brew a bit.

Lavender adds an unexpected exotic touch to tea, ice cream or salad. Sprinkling of edible flowers in a green salad makes a visual impact.

“Blossoms and leaves have a cool and faint cucumber taste. They make for wonderful additions in punches, lemonades, gins and tonics,” says Vijay.

There can be numerous ways of using flowers. “Like using raw flowers for decoration, coating with clear jelly for display, making natural flavourings, preserving the flowers in brine and reusing them, dehydrating the flowers to increase their shelf life for later use, making flower flavoured oils and vinegars to be used in salads, flavouring the hot beverages like tea and freezing them in ice cubes to use oberoihotels.com

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try the custard sauce, the rhubarb rosemary jam, tulip cupcake and more

in various drinks,” says Tarun. “We use hibiscus in preparing mocktails. Also, rose has a distinct flavour, I like to use it to make Gulab Phirni,” says Marut. At Oakwood, the chefs use rose in their chilled Rose Petal and Water Chestnut Kheer. “We prepare delicacies like Orange and Lavender salad, Chive flower omelette, Chicken with marigold and Rose Ice Cream,” shares Hitesh, adding, “Baby rose can be used for garnishing.” “Some of the more popular dishes using flowers are fried squash blossoms, frozen flower bowl with fruit salad, rhubarb rosemary jam, homemade rose water and rose oil and strawberry mousse with tulip cup,” says Tarun.

“Squashes and desserts are most common because of the synergy between certain common flowers and sugar,” adds Marut.

And can a person consuming a dish made using flowers know that it is real flowers he is in biting into? “It might be a little difficult to make out that you are eating food prepared with real flowers because these days one gets all the essences in the market, which have strong flavours,” says Hitesh. “Yet, the trend is definitely popular with the foodies. It is difficult to find out if flowers have been used in the dish or not as the flowers are very tender and

become a part of the dish being used with,” says Tarun.

Now, while flowers add a wow factor to the dish, they pose a threat too. Some precautions have to be exercised while using flowers in cooking. Always buy or procure the flowers from a reliable source only. Use the flowers immediately after procuring or plucking from the plant. Store them in ice cold water to increase their shelf life. Flowers purchased at florists should never be eaten.

Never used non edible flowers for garnishing.

Do not eat flowers, if you have any allergies or asthma. Too much usage of flowers in cooking can be bad. “Don’t fry or overboil flowers,” recommends Hitesh. “Add the flowers at the last stage of cooking. Preferably, use it in the cold dishes such as salads, desserts, etc. Try to choose young and fresh flowers as the flavour will be simpler as compared to a complex aroma and flavour of old and dried flowers,” adds Vijay. One should be clear on the distinction between edible flowers and non edible flowers. “Be sure the flavour of the flower compliments the dish. Certain flowers give a pungent flavour as well. As a rule, taste them first,” says Marut.

< resist < tempt < dream < spoilt

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In Indian culture red is the colour of purity, in mythology

it denotes strength & protection, and in a marriage it signifies wedded bliss.

Probably, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the reason indians celebrate red in each living moment.

Share your most cherished red moment with us. Was it at your wedding day? Or was it a mouthwatering Indian dessert that helped you live it up? Write to us.