THE MASQUERADER Charlie Chaplin is one man’s obsession and an entire town’s indulgence in Adipur, a small town in Kutch p12 saturday, may 7, 2016
pius lee/shutterstock
A thousand girls bloom Haryana is infamous for its sex ratio. But one district is on a mission to save the unborn girl child. In Sirsa, the authorities are using unusual strategies to prevent female foeticide. And the numbers show they are working p9
MANIK DA’S FAN Nayak, the Ray classic that humanises a lonely matinee idol, turns 50 p15
THE LOTUS EATER Padma Lakshmi’s memoir is high on gossip but devoid of conscience p17
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THE COMPASS CHRONICLES
Theininvisible Fly the face Atlas of Bt cotton
Does geometry underlie strength and awareness in the universe? India grows 95 per cent of its cotton from genetically modified hybrid seeds, which have proved defenceless against pests and weather change, leading to devastating evolved to measurelosses this differential; it provided information not only about how far a vehicle had travelled, but also in which direction. otton has been cultivated for over India boasts one-fourth of the total cotton- Kranthi, director, Central Institute of Cotton The Chinese south-pointing chariot was a merohit gupta 5,000 years in India and traded for growing area worldwide but its yield per hec- Research (CICR). “Across thealways globe pointed people got chanical compass that south nearly as long. Today, more than 95 tare has remained 470-550kg for over a dec- rid on of bollworm by cultivating a flat surface — no mattershorter-durawhich way one per cent of the cotton grown in the ade, way below the world tion varieties, while turned the chariot. Since the India Earthmoved was not a country comes from a foreign stock — the ge- average of 786. China, growing to errors hybridinvarieties of would 180-240have flat surface, the chariot netically modified (GM) hybrids of Bt cotton, cotton in half the area that India givingshape. insectsAnd an even long- inhinted at days, a spherical this global which have proved defenceless against weath- does, is the world’s top proer window to attack the plants.” formation would be gained without any asThe people of India er change and insect attacks year after year. ducer. Indian growers have been The hybrids were cleared sistance from externalthat viewpoints, fromfor local have paid ₹270 crore Spurious insecticides have added to the culti- the worst hit by changing cultivation in India were not suitgeometry alone. and the company vator’s woes. weather and pests — they lost the longrealised term. CICR isin for particular, thathad a straight profited Sailors,ed Crop failures in the cotton-growing belt half their crop, while growers suedoceans warnings the past, but in line on the was in actually curved had, at the beginning of the year, provoked elsewhere lost only a quarter, acthese ignored. “Fortunately, space, and thatwere following a fixed compass dithe Union government to set price controls on cording to a 2009 research pathe bollworm the whitefly rection could send themand spiralling from pole Bt cotton seeds. This saw shares of Monsanto, per by IIM-Ahmedabad. have helped us out,” says Kranto pole (along loxodromes or ‘rhumb lines’). which sells patented GM cotton seeds, lose Experts blame the loss on a faulty decision thi, Unless with nothey trace of irony. sailed along the Equator, of course more than 20 per cent of their value. The com- to grow the wrong type of cotton, that too at — since ‘great circles’ are the equivalent of of loss pany threatened to leave India if prices were the wrong time. “India is cultivating a longer Timeline straight lines on a sphere. In 1919, the astronocapped, and Minister of State for Agriculture maturing variety (more than 180 days’ dura- In 2014, theEddington Bt cotton observed crop faileda in over mer after Arthur total solar Sanjiv Balyan was quoted as saying it was free tion), and this gives insects that turn up in No- 56,000 hectares inan seven districtstoofthe Karnataeclipse during expedition island of to go. vember a chance to attack the crop,” says KR ka, the state government blacklisted Principe, off the coast of westMonsanAfrica. He proved Einstein right by showing that light from the star cluster Pleiades curved as it passed near the Sun before reaching the Earth. In fact the light wasn’t bending at all — it was merely following a straight line (or geodesic) in a space-time fabric that itself was curved due to the Sun’s gravity. The idea that information about large-scale structure was embedded in local geometry was finally proved by Gauss in 1826, who called it his theorema egregium — or ‘remarkable theorem’. Gauss went further and defined ‘Gaussian curvature’ for all surfaces, a quantity which was always conserved like energy. If the surface was bent without stretching — such as a morsel of Indian bread (roti), leaves from a plant, or a piece of paper — a soft, flat surface would become stiff when pinched in one direction. A rolled newspaper is almost as hard as a stick, for example. Change of curvature in Floating in space Arthur Eddington showed that light from the star cluster Pleiades curved near the Sun. one direction is compensated in the other diPleiades by Max Ernst (above) seems to evoke the mythical Pleiades, the seven daughters of the titan Atlas rection, to keep the overall Gaussian constant. This phenomenon can be seen throughout nanaximander of Miletus had pro- tiny beings living on a giant spherical rock to ture, and seems to be the very basis of strucposed around 700 BC that the Earth discover its true shape without the help of any tural mechanics in the universe — including was a cylindrical drum that floated external vantage point? Perhaps on a planet the tactile sense of plants. all by itself in the infinite void. The- whose suns stay on the same side for millenIn the tradition of Anaximander, today we oretical physicist Carlo Rovelli calls him ‘the nia, never rising — casting upon its inhabit- think of the universe more like a drum than a first scientist’ because after Anaximander, ants an eternal night; or a planet cylinder. The dark circle of tu“...up and down become notions relative to like Pluto... so far away from its ning paste (syahi) applied on Inthe Earth.” Another writer, Dirk Couprie ob- parent star that sundials cast no dian percussion instruments served that “When Anaximander looked at the tell-tale shadows. such as the tabla and the mridanheaven, he imagined, for the first time in hisThe distance travelled on Sailors realised that a gam resembles a gravitationally straight line on the tory (…) space.” Earth was measured as far back dense black hole, whose vibraocean was actually Even though Eratosthenes measured the as Alexander by specially aptions send out waves into space. curved in space circumference of the Earth using sundials as pointed ‘bematists’ — soldiers The taut skin of a dead camel unfar back as 200 BC, it did not prove that the who counted their own steps dulates in response to these planet is a sphere. If the difference of solar (this method would see a revival messages, its own geometry beshadows had been measured on the curved in British India, when spies of ing the local awareness of someside of a cylinder instead, the result might the Great Trigonometrical Surthing beyond the ordinary have been the same — depending on the posi- vey, disguised as Buddhist monks — made for- senses of an animal. tion of the Sun. One might wonder if the bidden maps of Tibet). From the time of the One might even say that intelligence has shape and size of the Earth could have been Yellow Emperor Huangdi (2600 BC) to the po- less to do with life, and more to do with strucdiscovered at all without reference to an extra- lymath Zhang Heng (100 AD), Chinese legends ture. The intrinsic geometry of things, like an terrestrial entity. speak of mechanical ‘odometers’ invented to invisible Atlas, holding the world on its shoulAccording to the analytical geometry of Re- measure distance. ders for eternity. né Descartes, all points, lines, curves, surfaces A careful observer would notice that while and solids are measured against an origin at turning, the two wheels of a carriage traverse rohit gupta explores the history of science as Bitten and bruised Farmer Darshan Singh surveys his damaged Bt for cotton cropdimensions. on the outskirts ofpossible Bhatinda, for Punjab,different in 2015 — the year whitefly nearlyoftwo-thirds the cotton cropt@fadesingh statewide reuters/munish sharma (0, 0, 0) three Is it distances. A destroyed mechanism gears ofCompasswallah
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the pesticides used in the country ends up being sprayed on cotton crops. As for fertilisers, hybrids have always required more. “The volume of fertiliser use has increased; we are now using 1 kg/ hectare compared to .9 kg/hectare before 2002,” says Kavitha Kuruganti, convenor at ASHA Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. “Chemical fertiliser use has increased threefold in the last five years, and this will burden public finances as our fertilisers are subsidised,” she adds. Bt cotton had promised higher yield, low fertiliser use and tolerance to pests, but 15 years on, it has failed on all counts. As pests develop resistance, farmers are forced to increase pesticide use. Planting change
Mushrooming A file picture shows advertisements for the Bt cotton seed brands that have flooded the market in Adilabad, Andhra Pradesh photo: by arrangement
Agri activists point out that there is still time to turn the clock back and shift from Bt cotton to better-suited, diverse varieties. “If the government wants, it can give the seeds to farmers. We have 65 agricultural universities, 642 Krishi Vigyan Kendras and hundreds of other institutions which can contribute and give farmers the traditional varieties of seeds within a year,” says Mishra.
to. Ground visits by government agencies and Monsanto representatives pegged the loss at ₹235 cr. Monsanto offered the farmers a token compensation of ₹10 crore, which the state government rejected and instead gave ₹35 crore to the farmers on its own. “The people of India have paid ₹270 crore and the company profited,” says Mohini Mohan Mishra, secretary of the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS). In 2015, whitefly attacked and destroyed nearly two-thirds of the cotton crop in Punjab and Haryana even after the farmers sprayed pesticides repeatedly. “Four years ago it was the mealy bug, last year it was the whitefly which attacked,” says Mishra. Seeds of worry Within a decade, input costs have increased threefold as seeds become more expensive and farmers have had to use more fertilisers to increase yield while also spraying pesticides. In 2012, farmers spent ₹63,751 per hectare, compared to less than ₹30,000 in 2007, as the figures compiled by the Cotton Advisory
Market force Cotton cultivators line up to buy Bt cotton seeds in Mysore in 2011 ma sriram
Board of India show. An increase in the interCotton plants in India are grown at some of national price of cotton is the reason farmers the lowest densities per acre worldwide, and are still able to make some profit and contin- hybrid plants require more fertiliser to flourue growing the crop. ish. Each cotton plant is under pressure to proSeed prices make up a significant part of the duce at least 100 bolls (fluffy cotton fruit), input costs, as GM seeds are more expensive while the global average is seven bolls — this and cannot be reused — farmers means the plants need a longer buy them from seed companies time to mature and grow bushy. every year. For the first time, this The timing of the planting is imyear, a Central government comportant to ensure the plant is maGM seeds are more mittee capped seed prices at ture enough to deal with pests. ₹635 (450 g packet) for the BG-1 expensive and cannot The CICR has developed 10 new be reused — farmers hybrid and ₹800 for the BG-2 hyhybrid varieties that mature fashave to buy from brid. “The price of seeds has rister and are also more suitable for seed companies en uncontrollably; companies cultivation in rain-fed areas. “If every year are selling at their will and crops we plant cotton more densely, at are failing,” says Mishra. 40,000 plants per acre, sow early and use varieties that mature fasInput-output mismatch ter, it is a much better combinaThe country’s cotton production tion to tackle the problems faced has been falling yearly, even as pesticide use by cotton growers in the last few years,” exhas increased to the levels seen before Bt cot- plains Kranthi. ton was introduced. While it’s true that pestiWith the right kind of aid, the country’s cotcide use shrank initially, in the last three years, ton growers can once again capture the statuhowever, farmers have used 1 kg/hectare as re of top global producer. they scrambled to contain the bollworm and whitefly. It is estimated that over 50 per cent of saurabh yadav
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In the birdman’s lair Looking for the Ceylon frogmouth in Kerala’s Thattekad, a small patch of heaven that owes its existence to ornithologist Salim Ali
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hattekad ethi.” A murmur from the driver’s seat indicated that I was near my destination. From the confines of the car — steered by a soft-spoken Sabu — I scanned the dark surroundings with eyes heavy with sleep. Kochi’s noisy, unruly evening traffic was around 55 km behind us. I attributed my sluggishness to the near-silence that rules Thattekad, a bird sanctuary in the foothills of the Western Ghats in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. My eyes were half-closed as I entered my room at the homestay. The lone photograph in the room — that of three unattractive birds captioned as Ceylon frogmouth — did little to perk me up. I remained in this state until dinner summons. Frogmouth photos stared back from every wall in the house as I went through the meal in a haze. By the time I climbed into bed, I’d had an overdose of the nocturnal greybrown bird. Or so I thought. The morning arrived early. Girish, the guide, took our group of three (two birding fanatics from Bengaluru being my companions for the day) into the forest. Five minutes into the walk and I cursed myself for the ballerina I’d carried for the trip. Handicapped by the unwise footwear selection, I struggled to keep pace with the group as we walked under a canopy of teak, mahogany, eeta reeds and bamboo trees, at a rocky patch. Girish instructed us to look out for the black baza, a small bird of prey. The baza didn’t oblige but many others did. In a span of 30 minutes, we spotted the Asian brown flycatcher, the orange headed thrush, the Oriental honey buzzard and a va-
Spot the frogmouth Thattekad now has almost 50 pairs of the nocturnal bird shefiq basheer ahammed
riety of woodpeckers. The little black raptor 1983, when Kerala’s forest minister KP Noorudchose to stay elusive. In a desperate bid to di- din proposed a felicitation for Ali, the latter vert attention from the bird that remained in- chose to ask for the creation of a bird sanctuvisible, I voiced my ‘desire’ to see the unsightly ary. The task of finding a place fell on Sugathfrogmouth. We moved ahead in search of the an. Soon afterwards, Kerala’s first bird new target. But instead of the grey-brown sanctuary was born. shutterstock plumage of the peninsular bird, we were reThe frogmouth had been declared an enwarded with the eye-popping colours of the dangered species in 1983. Improving their Malabar trogon. Girish continued to tease me numbers proved difficult given that the bird for my paranoia of leeches, of which there lays only one egg on an average every year. In were aplenty. And before we knew it, the cano- 1992, when Sugathan took charge of the sancpy overhead had given way to the most spot- tuary he founded, he ensured habitat protecless blue sky. We reached a water body in the tion by preventing forest fires, planting of middle of the sanctuary. A handful of dead bamboo trees and weeding the forest of eeta. tree trunks jutted out of the water. It was the More than two decades on, the number of end of the walk and I was happy to just sit by frogmouths at Thattekad has climbed close to and absorb the stillness around. 50 pairs. That afternoon I met R Sugathan, renowned My quest for the bird I had begun to admire ornithologist and pupil of Salim Ali, at the continued over the next day. Instead of Girish, sanctuary office. He is the man who thrice it was his mother Sudha who led me to a tribal Mallyathe is certainly aloneof in the using a well- village and their attention is divided. Brands need to walked 1,600-kmnot stretch Western in Vellaramkutu. Over a breakfast of apknownin brand to raise New Delhi-based cut through Moreover, the cost of marGhats pursuit of money. the Ceylon frogmouth, pams and eggthis. curry at a roadside eatery, I imLT Foods also used its the Daawat a big broadbill roller and red-rice brand to keting is escalating pressedand on is her my consideration desire to spot raise debt back inKnown 2008-09. when introducing a new brand or extending faced malkoha. as Kerafrogmouths. We then drove tothings stand, companies saysPandapara, Shireesh Joshi, COO, la’sAsbirdman, Sugathan is theacross sectors an existing one,” wards where a stravisiare opting brand valuation tegic marketing group at Godrej. best person for to narrate the histobly excited Girish waited with By the time I climbed Brand to of meet objectives. valuation the comry thevarious sanctuary. In 1933, The the another group ofallows birders. into bed, I’d had an hospitalityofsector, including hopany assess the maharaja Travancore invited The tofrogmouth hadbrand’s been overdose of the grey- strength, tel chains and airlines, usingin it A bothtoqualitatively and Ali to conduct a bird is survey where we stood. brand is a bundle of sighted close brown bird to kingdom. improve customer connect quantitatively, by putting a scihis We waded through the kneepromises on the while engineering sector foence in turn, imThe theornithologist started deep behind waters it. of This, a stream before company’s part and cuses Marayur, on intangible value pacts the company’s strategic from followed the creOld we arrived at another rocky expectations on the ators Munnar like intellectual decisions including internationAluva Road andproperty reached patch. A few minutes later, Sudha consumer’s part (IP) and research developal forays to oraacquisitions. Thattekad late at and night. As Ali pointed tree to the left of the ment. The users,inhowevstepped outbiggest of his room a dak bungalow the trail we were on. There, in perfect camouflage Parts of a brand er, areday, theaFMCG and consumer next symphony of bird calls greeted with the dead leaves, sat a pair of frogmouths. durables firms, up which seek toa fortnight in If one of them Brands include names, him. He ended spending hadn’t blinked the I’d have asunlock their brandwhich portfolio optimise terms, signs, symbols and logos that identify Thattekad, during he and recorded the sumed those birds were stuffed! marketing sighting of investment. 164 bird species. It was nearly half goods, services and companies. But brand valis a freelancer based in today Ali have far in more choices ue is notsankari just a financial number. “ItPune is a meathe“Consumers number of species found the state. In rathina
On the shoulders of brands
Vijay Mallya is certainly not alone in using a well-known brand to raise money — companies across sectors use brand valuation to meet a range of business needs
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hen the 119-year-old Godrej group decided to go for an image makeover eight years ago, it roped in international advisory Interbrand for a valuation of its brand. The idea was to not just gauge the financial prowess of brand Godrej (valued at $3 billion by Interbrand in 2010) but also facilitate strategic decisions such as rejigging product portfolios and connecting more deeply with consumers. The valuation exercise and its diagnostics were a means to help grow the brand value. On the other hand, for industrialist Vijay Mallya, the valuation of ₹4,100 crore for the Kingfisher Airlines brand served another purpose. The brand became the single largest collateral for loans exceeding ₹9,000 crore. That valuation, carried out by Grant Thornton in 2011, is now under scrutiny.
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sure of several factors like loyalty of customers, the ability of a brand to keep offering newer products and technology, and the connect with consumers, who give it a premium,” says Ajimon Francis, India head and CEO for global brand consultancy Brand Finance. “A brand is an image, comprising a bundle of promises on the company’s part and expectations on the consumer’s part that have been met. If a customer perceives a higher value in a brand, she will be ready to pay a premium for it,” says Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of consultancy Third Eyesight. The UK’s Reckitt Benckiser knows this all too well. In 2010, it paid ₹3,260 crore to buy Ahmedabad-based Paras Pharmaceuticals, the maker of brands like D’Cold, Krack and Moov. The deal valuation was eight times Paras’s sales of ₹401.4 crore and largely attributed to the strength of the company’s key brands. Interbrand MD Ashish Mishra says brand is a key factor in calculating the premium pricing in M&As. “Often, it is the latent potential of the brand that is driving this premium, through its ability to enter new markets and extend into adjacent categories. A broad skill set — combining market research, brand, and business strategy with business case modelling — is required to quantify the latent financial potential of the target brand,” he says. Additionally, the brand valuation methodology can be used to complement the other processes involved in setting royalty rates. “By identifying the value created by a brand for its business, combined with an evaluation of the relative bargaining power of the parties involved, we can determine the proportion of brand value that should be paid out as a royalty rate in return for the right to exploit the brand,” he adds. A case in point is the Tata group. Brand Finance had valued the Tata brand at ₹1.3 lakh crore in 2015. While Tata Sons, the brand’s owner, has not valued it, group companies have to pay royalty for using it. Under a 1996 agreement, Tata Brand Equity and Business Promotion companies using the Tata name directly pay 0.25 per cent of the annual revenue or 5 per cent of the profit before tax, whichever is less, as royalty. Companies using the brand indirectly pay 0.15 per cent of the turnover. The overall annual payout has now been capped at ₹75 crore. Through thick and thin While Mallya may have made the cleverest use of brand valuation, the Godrej group used it to
the hilt to reposition itself and connect better with youth. It came up with the new proposition of ‘Brighter Living’ in 2008 and launched newer products like door cameras, air fresheners and personal repellents to target younger consumers. More importantly, the valuation exercise helped Godrej reinvent its design language. “For long, Godrej has been known to be a sturdy engineering brand and one of the important directions it needed to become much stronger was emotional attachment with its customer base,” says Joshi. Over the last few years it has greatly focused on design across its divisions and offerings, be it Godrej properties, furniture or consumer products. “Great design, in addition to great function, ends up creating a great bond with consumers. The valuation exercise added scientific support to what people had been feeling all along,” he adds. Take flight Vijay Mallya (inset) banked on the ₹4,100Not just in stepping up business, brand crore brand valuation for Kingfisher Airlines to drum comes into play equally in shutting down un- up loans above ₹9,000 crore afp/ sajjad hussain viable ones, as Raymond did with its Zapp! kidswear brand. Launched with much fanfare in 2006, the brand didn’t take off as the mar- as of now. ket was not ready to pay premium pricing “It is globally accepted by large valuation (starting at ₹2,000) for kidswear. firms as well as regulators and financial insti“Brand valuation helps the management tutions. But following it is a subjective matunderstand how a brand is movter,” says Francis. ing along with other brands and His firm, Brand Finance, folwhether it is able to keep pace. lows the Royalty Relief method, They can accordingly decide its Group companies pay which determines the value a future,” says Francis. company would be willing to pay royalty for using the to license its brand as if it did not Tata brand For a reliable yardstick own it. It involves estimating the Despite the growing need for future revenue attributable to a brand valuation, there is no brand and calculating a royalty standard methodology in use. rate that would be charged for The ISO 10668 standard specifies a frame- the use of the brand. work for brand valuation, including objecMishra points out that Interbrand’s valuatives, bases and methods of valuation besides tion model has three core components — an sourcing of data and assumptions. It also spec- analysis of the financial performance of the ifies methods for reporting the results of such branded products or services, the role the valuation. But it remains a voluntary standard brand plays in the purchase decision, and the competitive strength of the brand. “These are preceded by a decision on segmentation and, at the end of the process, are brought together to enable the calculation of a brand’s financial value,” he says. But what happens when a company that mortgaged its trademarks with financial institutions to raise funds goes bust? “This (Kingfisher case) is a unique situation… When a trademark is used as an asset for lending, one of the disciplines which global financial institutions follow is a rigorous tracking of the profit-and-loss account and cash flows of the company. If the business faces a setback, the value of the trademark falls drastically,” says Francis. It appears then that due care was not taken in the Kingfisher case. Whether banks will ever recover the money from Mallya is not known. But what is certain is that financial institutions will now be more careful in setting much store by mere brand power. After all, like any other power, this is liable to fluctuate too.
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Shape-shifting legacy The 119-year-old Godrej group used brand valuation to reposition itself and connect better with younger consumers by launching products geared to their preferences prashanth vishwanathan/bloomberg
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Making the State answer for its crimes The twin villages of Kunan Poshpora are fighting an uphill battle to get justice
Fire in the Valley
people of Kunan Poshpora were happy to know that for the first time, someone visiting them had done some concrete work that Uneasy liesand the head they were not being treated as mere subjects A masked protester peltseasy stones the the of research. It was, therefore, to at gain army during a violent trust of these people. demonstration in Srinagar over civilian What did your research reveal about the deaths in Handwara, probes ordered in the rape 80 incident soJ&K’s far, and km from ap/dar summer capital have they resulted in any prosecution? The yasin; (inset) Mehbooba book mentions that in the last 12 years (from Mufti, the state’s first 2002 to 2014), “there have been 173 probes woman chief minister nissar ahmad instituted which have not resulted in a single prosecution.” Mushtaq: The AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) and other draconian laws give perpetrators licence to kill, rape and abduct Kashmiri people in the name of nationalism. Rather: One of the tactics of the Indian state in dealing with cases related to army atrocities is ordering probes and setting up enquiry commissions. These probes and commissions are an eyewash. In many cases, the reports of the enquiry Mufti has failed the statebeen — she completed commissions have never made public ora month in office this week — Imran Nabi Dar, if they have, the facts are misrepresented. Not spokesperson for aprovincial single crime committedof byNC, the slams armedher forces her been absence day ofcourt the unrest. “Mehhas triedon inthe a civilian and no prosebooba should havemade. returned the same day… cutions have been and army to restrain firing. But Thedirected Indian the armed forces are protected by she AFSPA didn’t but and the we lost two more the next the judiciary and lives the adminissays Dar. The leader should have trationday,” are hand in glove with the perpetrasummoned tors. This happened in the theUnified KunanCommand Poshpora an umbrella bodyfalsified of security case, where the— enquiry reports the in Kashmir survivors’ claims agencies and accused them ofheaded acting CM — toThe a meeting at the “behest of by thethe militants”. Indian issued strict ordersdeto state and the armedand forces are in complete the forces, he adds. “What nial of this. happened in Handwara The case is now in theisSupreme Court, which It unfortunate. has stayed the proceedings after the Armyhapshouldn’t have objected to fresh investigation. Are you pened, but let Mehbooba hopeful that the victims will gether justice from understand responsibthe Supreme Court? ilities as a CM and behave
If morning shows the day, then Mehbooba Mufti’s stint as the J&K chief minister seems riddled with unrest and obstacles
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pril 12. Handwara, north Kashmir. A
India’s exit from the World T20 tournament in
alarm as they saw a man in army fatigues Mushtaq entering aand public toiletRather being amreena Natasha used byare a schoolgirl. As they rushed to grab the authors of the recentinbook Do the intruder, he, reportedly, ranPoshpora? to the safety You Remember Kunan In of a a bunker. The news ofwith the “controversial, yet conversation journalist Majid proven” molestation bid spread like wildfire, Maqbool, they speak about the experience of after whichthe hundreds of protesters reopening eponymous mass rape stormed case. the streets of the restive town. Anti-army, antiHow you come reopen the peltIndiadid slogans rent together the air astostones were Kunan Poshpora rape case? At what stage did ed at the forces. What happened next has mulyou the need toiswrite thein incident tiplefeel versions. One that about the men uniform in detail,fire in the form ofwarning, a book? killing on the opened without spot Iqbal On Faroor Pir (21)23,and Nayeem Qadir Mushtaq: February 2013, we started Bhat (22),about a budding who was reportthinking filingcricketer a PIL to reopen the case. edlydecided chosento forinvolve a national-level training We a large number of camp. womHandwara triggered protests in en.The Since the case deaths was against the State, womother partsreluctant of the Valley. in en were to And signthose theresulted petition. two more we deaths, including one in50 Kupwara. Somehow managed to convince women Matters worsened when hearings a video ofatthe to sign. After attending theminor high girl went online. In the video,Kashmir’s allegedly court andviral sessions court of north circulateddistrict, by the army, the school-goer exonKupwara we decided to document erated the soldiers of all accusations. She, inthis struggle beginning February 23, 1991. stead,people blamed the local for the ruckus. Most believe thatyouths the Kunan Poshpora The army has sincein denied its role the makcase was reopened 2013 and thatin the people ingKunan and/orPoshpora release of thesilent video.allBut theyears. damof were these age the wastruth doneisalready. Human rightsfighting groups But that they have been joined the protests, demanding strict action injustice since the incident took place. against those who compromised the HandwaHow didprivacy Zubaan,and an safety independent feminist ra girl’s by releasing the vidpublishing eo online. house based in Delhi, come on board to eventually publish the book? In less than 24 hours, the Handwara incident became challenge for Mehbooba Rather: Whilea major attending the court hearings Mufti, the to state’s woman minister, and trying learnfirst more about chief the case, we rewho’dthat assumed week ago. that alised thereoffice was aonly lot ofa information As a member of the Opposition, Mufti had needed to be organised and put in the public taken toWe thealso streets on that innumerable occadomain. realised there is a need sions. Armed with the green had to document the memory of PDP thisflag, case.she At this been the face ofamany protests against civilian point, Zubaan, leading feminist publishing killingswas in doing Kashmir. But the roles Violence have rehouse, a project on Sexual versed now. Already for with the stuand Impunity. They under got in fire touch us dents-police clash at NITand Srinagar, following through JKCCS (Jammu Kashmir Coali-
ra was the removal of army bunkers. But that isn’t of being relief enough from a tion Civilconsidered Society) and decided to publish politician whoasisa book. knownBoth for ofbeing vocal this document us took up against “erring” different aspectsforces. of the issue to research and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, who teaches law write about. And thus the book was written. and human rights at Kashmir’s Central Did the rape says survivors University, the feel newcomfortable chief sharing thetodetails two-decade-old ministerallhas walk of thethe extra incident with you, or were they sceptical of mile to deliver what others being treated as subjects of have failed to. “It is time yet another research a story? for her toorstand by what
The good fight Women of Kunan men Poshpora at thethe launch March, of Do You Remember Poshpora? hilalHandwaahmed group of young raised Mufti’s firstKunan healing touch for
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she promised delivMushtaq: Afterand filing the PIL, a group of peter what went she has always Poshpora to inform itioners to Kunan demanded the villagersfrom aboutothers. the case. At first, they were It’s time she proves her took us to the headreluctant to meet us. They pro-people stand.” man’s house in the village. They started the The Centre’s to many journalists, conversation bydecision saying that send 36 companies of para- had come to the activists and photographers militaryin forces to 22 the Valley like one,” says Dar. in the Suvillage the past years, but people made Mushtaq: Nothing has happened thwartsand Mufti’s endeavour to of her famoney fame out of their tragedy and left. preme Court tillSans now.the Weguidance don’t expect justice send a stern message the arther But and according mentor, Mufti’s When we met a masstorape survivor for the from the system. to us, adminit’s immy. This doubly embarrassing istrativetoskills called first time,isshe asked us to switch portant showhave thatbeen the system for aour party that isso in alliance with into question in justice the recent off mobiles that nobody supposed to provide is inIt is time for her to the BJP. are in constant weeks. The political wedlock the becould click“We any pictures. We have stead protecting deliver what she has touchclosely with the Centre with over the tween her party and the BJP has been involved perpetrators. demanded It’salways important to show brought her little solace as she violation of Standard Kunan Poshpora case Operating and have Rather: The case is in the Sufrom others that the system Procedure almost by the armed grapples withnow. the For NIT the andpast the attended every forces court preme Court supposed to provide in Handwara. We want assurHandwara crises. It’shas notfailed just her hearing. one year, the Court to justice is instead ance such things won’t hapfuturenotices as chief that deWethat have visited the twin vilissue to minister the parties in the protecting the pen inmany future,” says a PDP pendsThis on how she tides this lages times and hadleader many case. is indeed just over another perpetrators on condition of anonymity. trouble but also that oftactic her party, which is in informal conversations with vildelaying of the Indian Omar Abdullah, the BJP. “Thehistory Handwalage elders, youngformer peoplechief and minister and an uneasy alliance state. with Looking at the of National Conference criticised Mufti’s ra and the NIT issues haveinalready their survivors of mass leader, rape and prosecutions cases left of army absence from theshare scene aontrustthe day Handwara mark on theatrocities, Mehbooba government,” says torture. So we justice is not somewent up in flames. Mufti was in Delhi that day thing Hussain, she tackles it well it struggle could beisa based relationship. thatbut theifsurvivors expect. The toRather: discussIt the NIT fracas with thetalking Union minis“turning her career.It “If was definitely easier to the what we point” see as in significant. is aMehbooba struggle try. In hisBut tweet, Abdullah accused Mufti of go- against succeeds in punishing security personnel for women. since we were much younger giving up. We want to make the Indian ing on “self-promoting tour ofitDelhi” innocent killings,for those criticising her today than thea survivors, they did find a littlewhile awk- state accountable its crimes. peopletalking under about her rule fell Initially to bulletsthey firedwere “by will shower praises on her,” he adds. ward rape. security forces”. hesitant, but they opened up eventually, talk- majid maqbool is a Srinagar-based journalist and tawqeer hussain is a Delhi-based journalist t@MaqboolMajid to comment whether ingWhile aboutrefusing the happenings of thatonnight. The writer
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ever, he’s seen as a polarising figure. Dixit presents himself as a peace-loving cosmopolitan liberal, who opposes all forms of violence. This puts him at odds with the Maoists, who had waged a decade-long armed insurgency against the Nepali state. The fact that a Maoist is at the helm of the Home Ministry, which controls the police, perhaps explains the restrictions at Dixit’s hospital-prison. A rationalist, Dixit has championed human rights issues under the shadow of the insurgency. At Bir Hospital, Dixit found himself next to Ganga Maya Adhikari, a 55-year-old widow who is fighting for justice following the murder of her son by Maoists. Her husband, Nanda Prasad, died two years ago at the same hospital. Dixit had supported the couple’s campaign, visiting them in hospital and tweeting about their health. But not everyone had been supportive of Dixit’s activism. Pramod Mishra, a columnist for The Kathmandu Post, found his approach lacking nuance. “Condemning Maoist violence was fine but refusing to acknowledge Maoist contribution seemed to me one-sided and incomplete,” he said.
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t’s not easy to define Dixit, who wears many hats. Besides his journalism and activism, he is also an author of children’s books, an amateur historian, a conservationist, head of NGOs and a translator. He set up Film South Asia, the only documentary festival covering Lines of dissent Kanak Mani Dixit, editor and publisher of Himal Southasian, presents himself as a peace-loving cosmopolitan the region. He also established a hospital to liberal, which puts him at odds with the Maoists k pichumani treat spinal injuries after he miraculously survived a fall during a 2001 trek in the Annapurna region of western Nepal. Many of his former colleagues and friends interviewed for this article agreed that he is a quintessential South Asian public intellectual. Dixit comes from an elite Kathmandu family. “The kind of activism he did transcended Nepal,” said Hari Sharma, former chair of South Asia Trust, the publisher of Himal Southasian. “He has interests that range from music to public debate to culture to language.” Sharma recalled that Dixit once floated the idea of restoring the chautaro (resting platforms for travellers) that were rapidly disappearing from silver-haired man beamed from a challenged the CIAA move at the Supreme public spaces. poster at the red-brick building Court, arguing that it was illegal for the body Sharma and Mishra agreed that the arrest housing the intensive care unit of to seek property details without any accusa- was both a personal vendetta and an erosion Bir Hospital, Nepal’s largest, in tions against him. The CIAA, in turn, claimed of public institutions in Nepal. “But the latter Kathmandu. The hashtag #freekanak accom- Dixit was not cooperating in the investigation, has more serious consequences,” said Mishra, panied the smiling face. Inside the building, and hence the arrest. an associate professor at Lewish University in on a white board, scribbled among half a dozOn Monday, the Supreme Court of Nepal or- Illinois, US. “This is proof that Nepal society, en names was Kanak Mani Dixit, 60/M, Bed 16. dered that Dixit be released on bail. On May 5, which doesn’t appreciate critical thinking, is A police officer sat on a bench scanning the he was discharged from the hospital and in decay and will decline further,” said Sharday’s newspaper as his walkie talkie buzzed headed home. ma, political advisor to the late prime miniswith calls from colleagues. He turned down all ter Girija Prasad Koirala. decade ago, in 2005, Lok Man Singh Karki, requests to see Dixit, the journalist and huQuestions to Dixit himself had to be passed the current chief commissioner of CIAA, through his elder brother Kunda Dixit, the ediman rights activist who was admitted to the hospital following his arrest on April 22. The was the cabinet secretary under King Gyanen- tor and publisher of Nepali Times weekly. In cop cited ‘mathiko aadesh’ or orders from dra’s direct rule. Dixit and a emailed answers that his son Eeabove. Only family members and lawyers are handful of civil society activlum Dixit, a filmmaker, forwardallowed in, he said. After a night in decrepit, ists had fought against the aued, Dixit said: “My incarceration rule, which overcrowded police custody in the Gaushala thoritarian is symptomatic of the broader Condemning Maoist neighbourhood, Dixit had been hospitalised eventually led to a joint strugand deeper challenge facing Neviolence was fine but gle by the then insurgent after he showed symptoms of hypertension. pali society today… The lack of refusing to At the time of his arrest, Dixit was at a res- Maoists and parliamentary accountability for war crimes acknowledge Maoist taurant near the offices of Himal Southasian, a parties, bringing the monarhas left the conflict victims becontribution seemed quarterly magazine he edits and publishes. chy to an end in 2006. reft, before which my little trato me one-sided Again, in 2013, the activists The orders came from the Commission for the vails pale in comparison.” Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), a mounted protests against KarDenied access to phones or lapconstitutional anti-graft body with sweeping ki’s appointment to the CIAA tops, the veteran journalist turnpowers. In December last year, when Dixit was by an unelected government. ed to books during his arrest, about to board a flight to New Delhi, an em- They argued that Karki was unfit as he had devouring three, including Why Nations Fail. ployee of the CIAA had handed him a sum- been indicted by a commission for suppress- Perhaps the postcard one of his colleagues mons to furnish property details. Dixit was ing the popular protests of 2006. sent him sums him up best — Kanak Mani DixDixit is one of the few Nepali journalists it: Inspirer of people, Incubator of ideas, Instiaccused of ‘amassing disproportionate wealth’ as chair of Sajha Yatayat, a public with international exposure. A graduate of gator of action. transport cooperative that operates buses in journalism from Columbia University, his arrest made news around the world: the first call deepak adhikari is a freelance journalist based in Kathmandu valley. A law graduate from Delhi University, Dixit for his release came from India. In Nepal, how- Kathmandu
Caged instigator
The arrest of Kanak Mani Dixit — journalist, activist and quintessential South Asian public intellectual — is being seen as a direct attack on Nepal’s public institution
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The Hyderabad beatniks Families engaged for generations in making tablas now struggle to preserve their craft amid falling demand, cheaper industrial products and a disinterested GenNext says, making his voice heard above the ‘dha, dhin’ sounds of the newly made tablas. “The skills and marketing tactics have been passed down from my father to me and from me to my son,” Shoukath adds, pointing to his son, Mohammed Shahbaz. A graduate, Shahbaz is happy to work here as this is khandani karobaar (family business). “A steady job outside isn’t easy to come by, and my boss is my father,” he says. Divide and rule An important point needs to beBanerjee’s mentioned Mamata very of overt pandering here. Unlike, say, the veenas Bobbilli and resulted Nuziveedu in Andhra Pradesh, ininHyderabad consolidating Muslim the tablas are not made from scratch as the votes in Trinamool’s shells are sourced from outside city. Howsushanta favour the patronobish ever, the rest of the time-consuming work, which requires great skill, is done here. AGENDA Elsewhere in Hyderabad are the dholak makers. Migrants from Uttar Pradesh, they have been living here for the past few decades, though several of them still belong to itinerant groups. The volume of their work varies with the seasons. They get more orders just before Ganesh Chaturthi festival, a huge celebration in the twin cities and surrounding areas. “The dholaks are used for the dance and music at the pandals and during processions,” says Asmath Ali. The dholaks sell for ₹400-700 est Bengal finished its last resulted in a big seat swing, like in the 2011 As- Bengalis, in contrast, prefer their a piece. Sales also pick up during thepoliticians other fesphase of polling on Thursday, sembly elections. This time though, even if unglamorous TheJaatharas. BJP still tivals like the but Deviexperienced. Navaratris and sambuddha and the Tuner wait is on for the re- thethere is aa tabla swing away from the incumbent Tri- cannot of a state where socialDholaksfeel are the alsopulse purchased for weddings and Science complements art Mohd Nayeem of Akber Miya and Brothers uses a Metro (right) to measure pitch of while his nephew (left) works in the mitra mustafi store aruna chandaraju sults on May 19. If opinion/ex- namool Congress, the swing vote will get di- ism is still waybuy of life, where Hindu vegetarparties. “A afew them for decoration purit polls are right, Mamata Banerjee will be vided between the Congress-Left alliance and ianism poses,” is heunheard adds. of, and where north Indians a dimly lit,perhaps clutteredwith workback nina corner power of once again, a BJP, whothereby learnt tabla-making under have set areNayeem easing Banerjee’s wayhim to power. called “Hindustanis”, if Bengalis not. and Shoukathas are, however,are part of shop in a crowded lanebeinremarkable Hyderabad’s smaller majority. What will is upInshop across India. He died 1951. Muslim His son a dying hindsight, Banerjee’s veryinovert For the Congress and Left too be a breed. It is estimated thatthis thewill number AfzalTrinamool Gunj, Mohammed is bent that her Congress Nayeem will manage to pandering managed the business he died 40 yearstaclat- setback. seems like atill clever, calculated alliance makers lacked effective of musicThe instrument today is leaderhalf of a tabla. Heown taps — itssince smooth, circular retainover power on its former ally tic er. Now, his grandson Nayeem runs thecall show. to divide the opposition votes: let’s it a ship the 50 beginning, whatright it wasfrom around years ago;with thisBuddhain a city upper surface with forefinger, and listens Congress has tied uphis with the Left against her. red Nayeem is passionate work,love loves herring in deferenceabout for thehis Bengali of deb Bhattacharjee’s seeming too known for its qualitycampaign tablas. Many have even to Even the sound He then moves the tabla fish in its intently. heyday, Jyoti Basu’s Communist the instruments and business and communism. The redis fairly good. given up the aloof and sulky. The alliance nevbusiness altogether. Among around on its(Marxist) base, and repeats the process. Party of India won in coalition with a herring “We havebamboozled customers from over India, espe- those who have theallLeft, er offered alterstayed any on, ideological many undertake He is doing an intuitive check like of the bunch of smaller Leftist parties thesound Com- Congress cially the four statesgo, and Maharash- only repairs and and southern BJP at one native the Trinamool sales. to quality and munist Partypitch. of India, Forward Bloc and Revo- while tra, and consolidating NRIs too, especially from theShe US.”is now showing Muslim Congress: Banerjee had effectiveThere are many reasons for this. One is that After a minute, he rises to fetch a Metro Tun- votes lutionary Socialist Party. If the victory Nayeem and his brother us that in Trinamool’s favour.proudly tell ly hijacked their socialist agenda this is part of a larger Indian phenomenon the political acumen er. In thethe process has toBanerjee step over happens, cult ofhe Mamata canand lay theBeyond legendary Rakha had a tabla that Allah masterstroke, thebought in Nandigram-Singur, and wherein crafts are losing outthe to and canniness that handmade around piles ofsizing ropes, of black claim to finally upatofew the bowls cult of her orig- Banerjee made by their grandfather Akber and ap- associated government’s per- Miya still nursing its wounds competition Left fromischeaper factory-made prodwas once paste, ready-to-sell few old onespain formance inal bete noire, Jyotitablas Basu.and Theacommunist preciated it; and later,lacklustre, his son Zakir Hussain has been from that. fetch less income while with Jyotiucts. BasuAs handicrafts various stages ofinrepair. places thebeyond Metro but triarch’s 23 years powerHe may still be bought one from father. better than the their CPI(M)’s last For Bengal’s future, it willand be demanding years of training Tunerbut against tabla and repeats thewas proceher: Basu’sthe administrative record so government: “In recent times, well-known that seemed to be important whatlabour, lesson Banerjee hard physical often in dure to get a numerical for the pitch. His the shallow, particularly invalue his last three terms, musician Anindo Chatterjee has majority refrain when I visitdraws from the election dingy surroundings, the results. youngbrother and nephew are at work at the other ed that Banerjee can surpass him in effectiveness visited us frequently for tablas my home state in March. The If there is a small vote swing er and more educated members Like many traditional end of this small space, which functions as a polls with a stellar second term. and even played formood us. Another suggest that will be reflected in and away from her, shecraftsmen take it as a sign that the ofwill these families are Indian arts crafts, sales Sheoutlet-cum-workshop. is now showing the political acumen the famous has been it’s a family affair, ballot customer boxes. electorate faster change from her govtaking up more lucrative careers. the wants Nayeem is a third-generation worker atwith the Anandan and canniness that was once associated Sivamani. Heinvisited The BJP may do better Assam, butskills the voternment? she consider the victory as Nayeem is reconciled to the passed down Or will famous music instruments manufacturing Jyoti Basu. Around the Lok Sabha polls a cou- er ourfrom storeneighbouring twice, purchased ouris much Bengal more an unequivocal for her party, which factsupport that his children are not likefrom generation to company Akber and Brothers. They make ple of years ago,Miya many analysts thought that resistant tablas and praised their sound to their Hindutva cocktail. Roping in has hardly changed the socialist status“This quo in ly to continue his work: is generation and repairhad various kindsthe of leather percussion Banerjee overdone “Muslim appease- actress quality both his onstage Rupa for Ganguly to be perthe face of their the state? true for most people of this geninstruments — tablas, dholkis, and campaign ment” act, turning offdholaks, many Hindu voters. formancesshowed and filmdesperation, recordings. that they did If Banerjeeeration draws and the hence first lesson, will it is notshe easy to pakhawajs — used in Hindustani classical mu- not This had galvanised the weak local BJP unit, Sivamani also played the tabla have serious leadership talent in-house. It look to createfind moremany jobs in the state byfor easing youngsters this sic and north-Indian folk and Kolkata had seen BJPmusic. rallies of unprece- also for us, and chatted brieflylack while showed a complete of understand- business conditions, particularly land and talawork. Crafting and repairing Theirscale speciality, however, isheadlined the tabla.by Their dented and aggression, Na- ing having masala tea with us. Our are also bour of what Bengalis expect fromtablas their leaders: Sheand would look years to rein in blas isrestrictions. very hard work requires of infame for making and repairing rendra Modi and Amit Shah. Thehigh-quality feeling was mostly used in seasoned many famous Telugu TV music shows, bhadraloks, apart from Ba- rogue her party by whose “donatensivemembers training,of followed hours of tablas goes back nearly a hundred years. Some nerjee, that Banerjee was playing with fire, by allowlike Paduthaa Theeyaga ETV,her forchops example,” who also had toon earn over tion” demands push corporations to the backbreaking work in small, simple, old-fashof India’s best-known percussionists have two ing communal polarisation of the electorate saysdecades Nayeem.starting with student politics. brink. She would look to stop ioned workshops like this one.the Thebrain-drain new genershopped here. and giving the BJP a toehold in the state. It is a the similar scene at Ali Tabla Re- through With exception ofMahboob perhaps Saurav Ganpolicieshigher that herald opportunity. ation is getting salaries for jobs where Likein many crafts, But 2016,traditional BJP’s slightIndian rise inarts voteand share on- guly, pairernoincelebrity Ramkote.inHere, Mohammed ShouBengal has the kind of they More though, in shemodern, will drawair-condithe secsit likely, comfortably it’sseems a family affair,sealed the skills passed down from mass ly to have the election for Banerkath has been making tablas, following needed and to berepairing the leader of a ond lesson. tioned offices, in front of computers. Every onebygeneration to another. Akber Miya, party. jee, effectively splitting the anti-Trinamool dholaks, and pakhawajs forsouthern the past youngster wants an IT job!” Thisdholkis is very different from our Nayeem’s grandfather, was the founder this vote. Historically, whenever Bengal hasof had a states 50 years. Thepopular business is over 100into years old. sambuddha mitra mustafi is the editor of where actors move politiPolitical Indian t@some_buddha aruna chandaraju is a Hyderabad-based writer businesscontest, and renowned forswing his skill. bipolar a small vote eitherMany way cal “Mycareers father and was carry famous forfan hisbase deft with hands,” he The their them.
Red herring
Mamata Banerjee seems to have outfoxed the Left, Congress and BJP with a political masterstroke. But what lessons will she draw from the results?
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Getting home Sirsa has shown a slow yet determined effort to improve its child sex ratio in the past two decades ramesh sharma
Counting the girls In Sirsa, Haryana’s westernmost district, the fight to end female foeticide includes tip-offs, thrilling chases and decoys
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hhori hai ! Kal marna tha , aaj mar gayi” (It’s a girl! She’ll have to die tomorrow, she died today). Deputy civil surgeon Viresh Bhushan’s face twists into a grimace as he recalls the incident at Sirsa’s Civil Hospital four years ago. A grandmother in her fifties had strangled to death her newborn granddaughter and mumbled nonchalantly about the fate of a baby girl in Haryana. “I still re-
member the baby — a healthy, pink girl. She weighed 4 kg,” says Dr Bhushan. The grandmother had walked out of the ward with the newborn — the fourth girl in the family — strangled her and placed her back by the mother’s side. Bhushan hasn’t kept track of the case, but knows an FIR was registered and the grandmother arrested. It anguished him enough to write a one-act play, which is occasionally per-
formed across schools and colleges in Sirsa, as part of efforts to raise awareness about saving the girl child. But such efforts in Sirsa are mere tokens — an event in a school, an endowment for the village’s top-scoring girl or a poster with the latest female sex ratio. This westernmost district in Haryana, fenced by Punjab and Rajasthan, wasn’t part of the first phase of the much-touted Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) programme. However, if numbers are to be believed, the district has given the baby girl something to cheer about. According to health department and municipal corporation committee data, the district registered a sex ratio at birth of 1,007 girls to 1,000 boys in March 2016, crossing the 1000mark for the first time. In the 2011 census, Haryana registered a child sex ratio (CSR) of 834 girls to 1,000 boys, languishing at the bottom of the table. Sirsa’s CSR record has been one of slow, determined rise from the depths — from 816 in 2001 to 862 in 2011. Of late, the district has been skirting the 1,000-mark in the month-wise sex ratio recorded. In December 2015, it clocked 997 to 1,000. The New Year brought a dip, with January registering 965, which dropped to 935 in February. Since August the district’s monthly sex ratio hasn’t dropped below 900.
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rom Delhi, Sirsa is a straight drive on NH10 but with regular interruptions by ‘work in progress’. The district’s Delhi Public School
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De-glam politics Joe Naufahu (Khal Moro) (left) and Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) in a scene from the season six premiere of Game of Thrones macall b polay/ hbo via ap
The glamour of Westeros
Spirited cry Manpreet Kaur with her baby girl at the Civil Hospital, Sirsa
Lady Melisandre’s big reveal in the season six premiere of Game of Thrones reminded us of ramesh sharma the real meaning of the word ‘glamour’
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sits in the middle of a paddy field stacked with s is usualFatehabad, for Game ofthe Thrones, the golden harvests. mofussil most shocking of the seatown on the way, has itsmoment own Royal Enfield son six premiere was saved the showroom. There are empty fields onfor either very young end. Lady (Carice side, yet some menMelisandre prefer to do their van Houten), Red Woman, priestess sit-ups on thethe highway dividers.high Co-travellers of god, and ruthlessness onthe thefire road arewhose usuallymagic two-wheeler riders unhad madeby Stannis Baratheon serious contendeterred the mountain of aaluminium milk der the Iron to Throne, is alone in her cansforstrapped the bike. Trains of chamminibers. disrobes slowly; the last to go is the trucksShe with billowing harvests head towards necklace with a red stone that she is never the markets. seen as soon asisshe At without. the vast But complex that theremoves district the adnecklace, we headquarters, see her age instantaneously. Or ministrative everyday activities rather, we see her relentless as she actually hundreds are dulled by the Aprilis: sun. Sirsa is of years old (a facthence that the has sun been alluded to close to Rajasthan, is harsh. Nevmore thana once the books by George RR ertheless, small in group of protesters are getMartin), heavily wrinkled a ting readywith with their flags and postersskin, outside hunched back,office. sunken cheeks and barely a the tehsildar’s Inside, Sharandeep Kaur hair head.commissioner, is awaiting the Brar,on theher deputy The camera’s gaze the aged Melisandre health officers for the on weekly meeting. She has was every bit as lingering and — would identified three ‘black spots’ insome the district say — gratuitous as the scenes where we see where the sex ratio hasn’t shown improveher youthful self discussion. seducing men like Stannis ment and wants She isn’t swayed and Jon Snow.instead The only difference was by numbers, intends to keep upthat the now, we wereand looking at her minus her ‘glammomentum monitoring systematic. our’, the magic used by a witch to change her n a State singled out for its abysmal appearance, generally making her disrelook gard for the girl, Sirsaher appears deyounger andunborn enhancing sexual termined to crack down on Pre-Natal attractiveness. Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) violations. It is a fallacy to assume that aAct witch’s ‘glamIt’s among the few districts where the adminour’ is an amplified form of the more comistration, police, health to an monly employed usagedepartment of the word:and, a certain extent, the quality civil society are working intangible that makes Nicoletogether Kidman to Hugh clampJackman down on sexlike determination or look members of facilia difties. Satender poferent species; Kumar, shinier, superintendent spiffier, better. Inoffact, lice,converse says sinceisJanuary 2015, 15 cases have been the true. ‘Glamour’ originated in registeredinunder the PNDT, Medicaland TerminaScotland, the early 18th century, it was tion of (MTP) and others, Indian Medical used byPregnancy Walter Scott, among to indiCouncil (IMC) Acts. In the lasteyes. two years, three cate magic used to fool your specialist doctors have been arrestedalso in Sirsa, The Oxford English Dictionary acwhich included a senior doctor couple who knowledges its closeness to the word ‘gramhave which since been andwas their licence mar’, in theconvicted Middle Ages associated cancelled for of fivelearning, years. Unqualified men and with all kinds including the occult women whoAlan performed ultrasound tests in arts. Author Moore, creator of Watchmen mobile units, and racketeers who made cusand possessor of the most gorgeous Scottish tomerson cough up nearly ₹18,000 for an ultraaccent the planet, makes a similar point in sound report when didn’tofeven the documentary The they Mindscape Alan have Moore:a
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machine, are among the nabbed. On an aver- who become the decoys. Savita’s* (name age, says Dr Bhushan, determination test forced ‘grimmoire’, the worda sex used for a compendichanged) “Ram Ram” is heard before to flee from the land she ismuch still rightful costs and a₹40,000. um ofbetween magical ₹30,000 spells, is just fancy way of say- queen she makes an appearance. The constable’s of, is captured by the Dothraki, the gypthat saving the girl child is among the sy-like ing Now ‘grammar’. drivingrace skills, it a motorbike or jeep, come ofbe barbarians she married into. government’s flagship programmes, In Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman series officials of com- They in forstrip lengthy praise as she’s introduced. her of her finery (thus removingSaviher andLord activists in Sirsaaka have plunged headlong own ics, Morpheus, Dream (an anthropota and her pregnant colleagueand hadchain appersonal brand of glamour) into the task and have assiduously built a net- her morphic representation of the metaphysical proached a middleman posing as to-be to a horse. When the wife of the Dothraki work of informants. can’t stop apeople concept) is appeased “We by the fairies: fairy leader mothers seeking know gendershe of the baKhal Moroto looks at the Daenerys, warns from going to the sex is determination faciliprincess named Nuala offered to him as her by, and this led“All to an errantwith doctor in Moonak, husband: women blue eyes are ties,” says Kaur. Instead, they sought companion. Nuala is initially drawnpeople’s as the witches. Punjab. After becoming decoy ashe couple Cut her head offa before castsofa help in implementing the PNDT There’s a spell quintessential blonde waif, highAct. cheekbones times,on Savita now part ofthe theconjob. you.” In considers a couple it ofa lines, helpline tostrands share information on down offenders. and wispy of hair falling her fluence Madhavi*, five months’ pregnant an of magic, sexual power and and gender The caller’s is protected and forehead. Butidentity before he accepts her intoprize his politics ANM staffer, appears more at ease guiding you is established. money lakh rupees awaits leads. So to The life andof his₹1kingdom, Dream hassolid a very specifthe washroom and talking of pregnancy-rede-glamourisation of Cersei Lannister far,request. there have been“If two winners. ic He says: you are to remain here, (which lated discomforts. Butnaked this quiet in began with her “walkwoman of shame” On the thethe medical officers Nuala, youother must hand, remove glamour you in herthe early has been the decoy during a lastthirties season’s final episode) is complete have been working strengthwear. I mislike littletomagics in couple of raids in recentthat months. when she realises her en the network thea ground. this realm.” Andon with snap of A routine Myrcella day at work for her is daughter is dead. The At afingers, recent he meeting inher Kalanwahis disables glamrather eventless. Butactthere’s ruthless bitch queen is drop-a li, the Social our. TheAccredited sleek blonde hairHealth gives spurt in action and an element of ped and she confesses that creatThe administration, What power could a Activist way to a (ASHA) frumpierand Auxiliary brown, the risk awhen the ing pure she and accompanies kind person like police, health witch wield over a Nursingare Midwifery (ANM) workclothes crumpled and she reteam chasing lead.feel Dr “less Bhushan Myrcella madea her of a department and the mass-murdering ers were introduced a secret veals the pointed fairytoears that recalls the time was ill but acinmonster”. Aryashe Stark had civil society are Westeros king? ballot. workerswill at the vilfans ofThese The Tempest recogsisted that they should not call quired a glamour of fearlessness working together to lage instantly. level were wary of identifynise off abutchery plannedafter raidshe in Fatehabad and slaughterclamp down on sex ingThe offenders despite beingand in actions of Morpheus that day. Madhavi ed the paedophile Merynremains Trant in determination the know. Now, could anonMelisandre arethey emblematic of straight-faced as her The bossgruerethe previous season. facilities ymously put down what they the politics behind glamour. It is countsstabbing how shewent and a colleague some long way knew into chits of paper. “We important to remember thatgot we are talking in convincingposed as customers and were led viewers that she wasn’t a con13 slipsworlds with the same name on about where women’s disenfranchise- fused orphaninto a car for an ultrasound anymore. In this episode, wetest. see it,” says Drat Bhushan. “Action ment was a dizzying level. was Women were sys- her blinded, She peeked in and then hungry, disoriented and, moved finally, taken in two to three days. That enhances their stripped temically oppressed, pushed into a corner aside to throw for the of theup, onewhich thingwas she the hadcue going for confidence,” he adds. until they utilised what they felt was the only her: others close in on the offenders. hertofledgling prowess in combat. When The administration, police and the The Waif beats her black and blue with a stick, weapon they had: theirthe sexual desirability. utsidethe thedeparture Civil Hospital’s healthpower officials claim there is aafairy fear princess, of being we witness What could a fairy, even of heroperation glamour. theatre, women old, the young andofnot-socaughtover in Sirsa. Theofdistrict shares wield the lord dreams? Whatborders power One might think— that allure Meliyoung —has sit gone in a line, staring passers-by with Punjab andeven Rajasthan andcanny customers are sandre could a witch, one as as Melialong withather glamour,and in barely talking each other. It’s that rather in now increasingly ferried across the border for the sandre, assume over generations and generaeyes of theto(male) viewer, is.quiet But rethe maternity ward too, theissilence only rupsex determination tests.Westeros That, in kings, turn, has tions of bloodthirsty for member, glamour was and primarily a kind tured periodically by wailing infants. Twentycalled for greateriscoordination betweenThat the of whom genocide a matter of course? power accumulated by knowledge: the four-year-old Kaur has had her secdepartments cross-border assistance. Tip- knowledge she managed and to survive for hundreds of years of Manpreet old texts, the knowledge of illuond baby a day agoofand is exhausted offs have takenher them Moga Punjab and while keeping truetoage andin appearance a sion and girl knowledge human nature after that the accumulates caesarean delivery. Asexperience. her baby begins a Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, where aofdoctor secret is a testament to the efficacy Meli- one through spirited the by two grandmothers was arrested and a case registered. sandre’s glamour. And asbawl, we know now, experience issitting someon thethat adjacent bed, has get aplenty. up to take a look. The team that responds to these tip-offs is thing Take a good long look at the season six preMelisandre compact. it the are junior women Kaur’s three-and-a half-year-old older child is miere andGiving you’ll see theedge footprints of glamour mani jhagrandmother’s bed, while her sleeping on the staffers andDaenerys police departments all overfrom the health episode. Targaryen, aditya
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Larger than life? Stills from Nayak, whose story and screenplay were written by Satyajit Ray himself, with Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore in the lead roles
PICTURE THIS
Daughters all Manpreet Kaur’s second baby girl is under the safe watch of her grandmothers at the Civil Hospital in Sirsa. (Below) A poster on saving the girl child
The hero and the human
ramesh sharma
A Satyajit Ray classic that turned 50 this week, Nayak seems to come from a universe that is unrecognisably distant fromkithe one which creates films like Fan husband, a lineman, is at work. “Bhagwan
trisha gupta
dein hain (She’s god’s gift),” Kaur mumbles. “Padaoongi (I’ll send her to school),” says Kaur, Ray’s film who hasatyajit studied only upNayak to Std(The IX. Hero) turn50 yesterday. on May 6, At theed other end of the Released ward, a family from it wasover an unusual one newborn. for Ray in Lambi is1966, huddled Sharmila’s respects. oneathing, it was The babyseveral girl has followedFor a boy few years olonly“The his second film We script (although der. family original is complete. had told the he had to been directing for over says a decade by doctors perform sterilisation,” Sharmithen). For another, it featured the contempola’s father-in-law, Rajendra Kumar. rary Bengali idolatUttam Kumar, Mamta is thematinee staff nurse the maternity whomand Ray also had never worked with before, and ward its record-keeper. She makes who represented thethe sort of cinema which monthly reports on births at the of hospital. Ray registers quite clearly himself the antithesis. She the saw numbers onas paper, but a few But of course it made perfect sense — pragreactions she has witnessed after childbirth maticleft as well as cinematic — toher cast a superstar have a lasting imprint on mind. She rein thea role of athat superstar. on 24 calls family had its Nayak fourthcentres girl recently. hourswere in the lifeupset,” of Arindam “They surely MamtaMukherjee, makes a sym-a hugely popular film star who — sixth somewhat pathetic face. A family that hadisits girl a grudgingly — on his way from Calcutta Delwhile ago had preferred to give up thetochild hi to collect a National Award. What is remarkfor adoption. able and they risksare making the film unbelievable “At—least now letting them be born,” todayPrem — is that ArindamAmakes this journey by says Chowdhry. Haryana-born social train, andshe entirely without extensively an entourage. scientist, has written on the That this premiseinwas gender equations thea trifle State.contrived Of the 21even disin 1966 is made Sirsa clear ranked by thefourth film’s on initial tricts in Haryana, the scenes,of when the(862) star’sand agent-cum-secretary basis its CSR general sex ratio pointsaccording out that he’s left it too late to town get a seat (897), to Census 2011. The has on theunique plane, or a reserved on been since colonialprivate times.coupé “It was the train.byBut putting population the dapper,and jaded marked a shifting theArinvildam on a long train rideJats, allows Ray theJats perfect lages comprised Sikh Muslim and situation in which to combine his three stated Hindu Jats,” she says. The Partition reinforced objectives: scrutinising life of a filmas star, the complexity of the the border district it looking into the behaviour fans,brought and makbrought in refugees, who inofturn in ing a film aboutand a train journey. their relatives made Sirsa home. “It bekhap,” Right from the startunit though, it isthe clear that came a geographical without meantunrecognisably its diktats, like says Chowdhry. No khap we are in a universe almost no marriage from the neighbouring distant fromwithin the oneorwhich creates a film like village, haven’t held much sway in Sirsa, shea Fan. Arindam’s arrival on the train causes dictate adds. no khap tobut flutterWith of excitement, he is its notnotorious mobbed. preference sons, the societal a He shares afor compartment with adynamics family, sitsisin little different the dining carin bySirsa. himself, ruffles a little girl’s SabuTheM India George, a long-time hair. of 1966 containsadvocate neither against female foeticide, the hoopla swarming paparazzi nor views phone-flourishing over Sirsa’s new with scepticism. selfie-seekers. Thenumbers train’s upper-middle-class “There is certainly improvement over the last clientele does contain some Arindam fans — two yearsRay, in thewith State,seemingly after a decade of neglect though irrepressible
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snideness, makes clear that this is a part that Arindam grapples with his mentor Shankar can only be played by children or somewhat da’s resistance to the very idea of film acting. foolish women. These may make the occasion- The theatre, says Shankar da, is where an actor al autograph request, but on the whole the has a real audience; in a film, he is but a pupstar is left to conduct his business — under pet in the hands of the director. This notion of their curious gazes. the film star as a puppet appeared just a few The thing about Nayak that appears truly years later in another film made by a Bengali — unimaginable in 2016, however, is the number Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Guddi (1970). There, it of passengers who treat Arindam and his was Dharmendra who played himself, and Utworld with disdain. Their reasons for abjuring pal Dutt (as the film-struck Jaya Bhaduri’s psycinema combine the moral with the aesthetic. chologist uncle) who offered a long One doddering old gent, whom even the film exposition of how little the ‘hero’ actually parstar recognises from his name as “the one who ticipated in the heroics on screen. writes letters to The Statesman”, loses no opThe humanising of the hero — which is also portunity to lecture him on the immorality of part of the point of Guddi — is, in Nayak, both actors and alcohol (especially since they go to- more intimate and more brutal. It plays out, at is inlevel, the as works… everything is by the previous government,” gether). Another successful box- says George, when a raid one the classic romance “We work the on our leads alone,” who worked extensively in rural wallah type turns up his nose at Haryana in done quietly.narrative: emotionally reThehero superiors and finding other de-a the sort 1990s continues track the imple- says Dr Bhushan. of and person he mustto share pressed suddenly informed only on the day of suacmentation law against femaleThe foeticide. space withof—the admittedly, upon girl he can speak to freely. And film star,partments despite are tion. “Even the drivers are not given clear There been an news improving trend inhis Sirsa afhavinghas read the of Arinperimposing that narrative onto fame and riches, We fear losing a lead,” ter thegetting low 800 ratios in Census dam into a brawl at a adirections. star-journalist interaction is an recognises his he says.form of cinematic wish2001, adds. old “But thereminded assertion party.he (These men astute suspect status He and his colleague Dr Raj that normalcy restored late me of a story isabout my in Nana, fulfilment. Tagore’s character Kumar, who headed the PNDT 2015-16 is most unlikely. The overwho spent a whole plane ride in first buttonholes Arindam both The Partition cell ofpreviously, are for dismayed all in Haryanawhy andthe Sirsa is thetrend ’60s wondering genout curiosity and profesreinforced the that most arrested perreal, particularly But I tleman next tosince him2014. seemed sional gain.of Shethe runs a women’s complexity of the called sons Adhunika, are out on bail. ordinarily “We need doubt magnitude, since the him what he magazine miffed its when he cordially asked which border district tougher Dr Kumar. overall number of annual births, did. It was Rajendra Kumar.) doesn’t feature cinema,laws,” but ansays interview with medical specifically of boys, reduced Even without the has moral censure, there is a Arindam, sheThe knows, wouldofficers be a bigare hit. surBut prised by sees the changing profile sharply relative to Nayak the reported pervasive sense in that films — at least the more clearly she Arindam’s feet of of theisoffenders In their latest number of girl films births—from 2013 popular Indian are not art, not serious clay, the less she inclined too. to expose him. they nabbed an ASHA andaher to (800 versus 400!).” pursuits (According Civil or,2015 at any rate, not worthy forto the in- raid, Watching Nayak today, the worker film seems litwho were MTP for Registration System annual have telligent person. Anddata, the film star,births despite his husband, tle let down by its mostselling dramatic bitskits — Arinwitnessed a droprecognises of 1,204 from to 2015.) fame and riches, his2013 suspect status ₹30,000. dam’s dreams (or rather nightmares) are too Sirsaand hastoo plans. inThe asked modus for sex when foroperandi an interview bydetermination the non-gushi- literal stageyOfat getting the samesarpanchs time, and his in the process. Of getting offences largely takes one ofTagore, three forms. It volved ng Miss Sengupta (Sharmila her serirecounting of errors seems harshereach than pannecto display its monthly ratio. The could be performed by aher medical professional ousness signalled by spectacles), he is chayat essary. But it remains a strikingsex portrait. Not of the BBBP’s second phase. at a clinic or in mobile units or by non-doctors. quick to assume that she doesn’t enjoy Benga- district so muchisofpart the star or the fan, but of that hazy knowto that no real “The mobile theto non-doctors are the However, li films. And units she isand quick retort: “Bastabikafigure we stakeholders may have lost history: the change easiest nab,” says George. tar ektuto abhaab (A slight lack of reality).” Non-Fan.can come about unless the idea of It isn’t just realism, however, that can cure womanhood changes. And that’s a long haul. eanwhile, at ails thethem. PNDT cell ofinNayak’s Sirsa, trisha gupta is a writer and critic based in Delhi film actors of what In one anima are quiet.flashbacks, It’s no different even pt@chhotahazri ratherthings heavy-handed a youthful
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Charlie’s angels Why Adipur, a nondescript town in Kutch, is obsessed with Chaplin
Bedside humour Inside the home of Dr Ashok Sukhumal Aswani, the founder of Adipur’s Charlie Chaplin Club
Show time Aswani, dressed in Chaplin gear, teaches Adipur to mime like the legendary actor and filmmaker
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dipur, close to Gandhidham in Kutch, is a regular town with an unusual obsession: Charlie Chaplin. The story behind this obsession goes back to 1973, when Dr Ashok Sukhumal Aswani was cycling to work one morning. A poster of Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush deserves the credit for the moment that changed the young typist’s life. Minutes after his eyes fell on the scrawny actor with feet turned out and bent knees, Aswani parked his bicycle at the Oslo Traffic Circle to buy a ticket to the next show. Four back-to-back shows later, Aswani went home a changed man. Inspired by the silent-era masterpiece and its maker, Aswani joined a film school in Pune. His love for Chaplin didn’t fade even after he quit the course six months later. Although he switched to medicine — ayurveda — to earn a living, he also founded his hometown’s only
club dedicated to Chaplin. On April 16 (Chaplin’s birthday) every year, Aswani leads a group of Chaplin impersonators — all similarly decked in bowler hats, black coats and trousers — through the streets of Adipur. Camels join the festivities, carrying life-size Chaplin cut-outs. Amid peals of laughter and music — compiled from various Chaplin films — Adipur residents also cut birthday cakes for the screen legend. On this day, as well as on every other, Aswani hands out DVDs of Chaplin films to anyone who visits his clinic. He believes that laughter is the best medicine. Sharing space with Shirdi Sai Baba and Lord Vishnu at the humble altar in the Aswani residence, Chaplin continues to inspire the doctor, who also teaches Adipur youngsters the art of walking and miming. shantanu das is a Mumbai-based photojournalist
Selfie with the star Adipur residents with Aswani at Chaplin’s birth anniversary celebrations
Lights, camera, comedy Aswani and young members of his club kick-start Chaplin’s birthday festivities with a photo session at a local studio Tramping around Aswani shares a laugh with a fellow Adipur resident
Over to Charlie Chaplin impersonators prepare for the birthday walk led by Aswani
Mind the gait Young Chaplin Club members learn to walk like the man they worship
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De-glam politics Joe Naufahu (Khal Moro) (left) and Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) in a scene from the season six premiere of Game of Thrones macall b polay/ hbo via ap
The glamour of Westeros
Spirited cry Manpreet Kaur with her baby girl at the Civil Hospital, Sirsa
Lady Melisandre’s big reveal in the season six premiere of Game of Thrones reminded us of ramesh sharma the real meaning of the word ‘glamour’
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sits in the middle of a paddy field stacked with s is usualFatehabad, for Game ofthe Thrones, the golden harvests. mofussil most shocking of the seatown on the way, has itsmoment own Royal Enfield six premiere saved the showroom.son There are emptywas fields onfor either very young end. Lady (Carice side, yet some menMelisandre prefer to do their van Houten), Red Woman, priestess sit-ups on thethe highway dividers.high Co-travellers of god, and ruthlessness onthe thefire road arewhose usuallymagic two-wheeler riders unhad madeby Stannis Baratheon serious contendeterred the mountain of aaluminium milk der the Iron to Throne, is alone in her cansforstrapped the bike. Trains of chamminibers. disrobes slowly; the last to go is the trucksShe with billowing harvests head towards necklace with a red stone that she is never the markets. seen But as soon asisshe At without. the vast complex that theremoves district the adnecklace, weheadquarters, see her age instantaneously. Or ministrative everyday activities rather, we see her relentless as she actually hundreds are dulled by the Aprilis: sun. Sirsa is of years old (a facthence that the hassun been alluded to close to Rajasthan, is harsh. Nevmore thana small once in the of books by George RR ertheless, group protesters are getMartin), heavily wrinkled ting ready with with their flags and postersskin, outsidea hunched back,office. sunken cheeks and barely the tehsildar’s Inside, Sharandeep Kaura hair head.commissioner, is awaiting the Brar,on theher deputy The camera’s gaze the aged Melisandre health officers for the on weekly meeting. She has was every bit as lingering and in — some would identified three ‘black spots’ the district say — gratuitous as the scenes where we see where the sex ratio hasn’t shown improveher selfdiscussion. seducing men like Stannis mentyouthful and wants She isn’t swayed and Jon Snow.instead The only difference was by numbers, intends to keep upthat the now, we wereand looking at her minus her ‘glammomentum monitoring systematic. our’, the magic used by a witch to change her n a State singled out for its abysmal appearance, generally making her disrelook gard for the girl, Sirsaher appears deyounger andunborn enhancing sexual termined to crack down on Pre-Natal attractiveness. Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) violations. It is a fallacy to assume that aAct witch’s ‘glamIt’s among the few districts where the adminour’ is an amplified form of the more comistration, police, health to an monly employed usagedepartment of the word:and, a certain extent, the quality civil society are working intangible that makes Nicoletogether Kidman to Hugh clampJackman down onlook sexlike determination or members of facilia difties. Satender offact, poferent species; Kumar, shinier, superintendent spiffier, better. In lice,converse says sinceisJanuary 2015, 15 cases have been the true. ‘Glamour’ originated in registeredinunder the PNDT, Medicaland TerminaScotland, the early 18th century, it was tion of (MTP) and Indian used byPregnancy Walter Scott, among others, Medical to indiCouncil (IMC) Acts. In the lasteyes. two years, three cate magic used to fool your specialist doctors have been arrested also in Sirsa, The Oxford English Dictionary acwhich included a senior doctor couple who knowledges its closeness to the word ‘gramhave since andwas their licence mar’, whichbeen in theconvicted Middle Ages associated cancelled for five years. Unqualified men and with all kinds of learning, including the occult women whoAlan performed ultrasound tests in arts. Author Moore, creator of Watchmen mobile units, and racketeers who made cusand possessor of the most gorgeous Scottish tomerson cough up nearly ₹18,000 for an ultraaccent the planet, makes a similar point in sound report when didn’tofeven the documentary Thethey Mindscape Alan have Moore:a
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machine, are among the nabbed. On an aver- who become the decoys. Savita’s* (name age, says Dr Bhushan, determination test forced ‘grimmoire’, the worda sex used for a compendichanged) “Ram Ram” is heard before to flee from the land she ismuch still rightful costsofbetween and a₹40,000. um magical ₹30,000 spells, is just fancy way of say- queen she makes an appearance. The constable’s of, is captured by the Dothraki, the gypthat saving the girl child is among the sy-like ing Now ‘grammar’. drivingrace skills, it a motorbike or jeep, come ofbebarbarians she married into. government’s flagship programmes, In Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman seriesofficials of com- They in forstrip lengthy praise as she’s introduced. her of her finery (thus removingSaviher andLord activists in Sirsaaka have plunged headlong own ics, Morpheus, Dream (an anthropota and her pregnant colleagueand hadchain appersonal brand of glamour) into the task and have assiduously built a net- her morphic representation of the metaphysical proached a middleman posing as to-be to a horse. When the wife of the Dothraki work of informants. can’t stop people concept) is appeased “We by the fairies: a fairy leader mothers seeking know gendershe of the baKhal Moroto looks at the Daenerys, warns from going to the sex determination faciliprincess named Nuala is offered to him as her by, and this led“All to an errantwith doctor in Moonak, husband: women blue eyes are ties,” says Kaur. Instead, they sought companion. Nuala is initially drawnpeople’s as the witches. Punjab. After becoming couple Cut her head offa decoy before ashe castsofa help in implementing There’s a spell quintessential blonde the waif,PNDT highAct. cheekbones times,on Savita now part ofthe theconjob. you.” In considers a couple it ofa lines, helpline to strands share information on down offenders. and wispy of hair falling her fluence Madhavi*, five months’ pregnant an of magic, sexual power and and gender The caller’s is protected and prize forehead. Butidentity before he accepts her into his politics ANM staffer, appears more at ease guiding you is established. money lakh rupees awaits leads. So to The life andof his₹1kingdom, Dream hassolid a very specifthe washroom and talking of pregnancy-rede-glamourisation of Cersei Lannister far,request. there have been“If two winners. ic He says: you are to remain here, (which lated discomforts. Butnaked this quiet in began with her “walkwoman of shame” On the thethe medical officers Nuala, youother must hand, remove glamour you in herthe early has been the decoy during a lastthirties season’s final episode) is complete have been working strengthwear. I mislike littletomagics in couple of raids in recentthat months. when she realises her en the network thea ground. this realm.” Andon with snap of A routine Myrcella day at work for her is daughter is dead. The At afingers, recent he meeting in her Kalanwahis disables glamrather eventless. Butactthere’s ruthless bitch queen is drop-a li, the Accredited Social our. The sleek blonde hairHealth gives spurtand in action and an element of ped she confesses that creatThe administration, What power could a Activist way to a (ASHA) frumpierand Auxiliary brown, the risk awhen the ing pure she and accompanies kind person like police, health witch wield over a Nursingare Midwifery (ANM) workclothes crumpled and she reteam chasing lead.feel Dr “less Bhushan Myrcella madea her of a department and the mass-murdering ers were toears a secret veals the introduced pointed fairy that recalls the time was ill but acinmonster”. Aryashe Stark had civil society are Westeros king? ballot.ofThese workerswill at the vilfans The Tempest recogsisted that they should not call quired a glamour of fearlessness working together to lage instantly. level were wary of identifynise off abutchery plannedafter raid she in Fatehabad and slaughterclamp down on sex ingThe offenders despite beingand in actions of Morpheus that day. Madhavi ed the paedophile Merynremains Trant in determination the know. Now, could anonMelisandre arethey emblematic of straight-faced as her The bossgruerethe previous season. facilities ymously put downglamour. what they the politics behind It is countsstabbing how shewent and aa colleague some long way knew into chits of paper. “We important to remember thatgot we are talking in convincing posed as customers and were led viewers that she wasn’t a con13 slipsworlds with the same name on about where women’s disenfranchise- fused orphaninto a car for an ultrasound anymore. In this episode, wetest. see it,” says Drat Bhushan. “Action ment was a dizzying level. was Women were sys- her blinded, She peeked in and then hungry, disoriented and, moved finally, taken in two to three days. That enhances their stripped temically oppressed, pushed into a corner aside to throw for the of theup, onewhich thingwas shethe hadcue going for confidence,” he adds. until they utilised what they felt was the only her: others tofledgling close in on the offenders. her prowess in combat. When The administration, police and the The Waif beats her black and blue with a stick, weapon they had: theirthe sexual desirability. utside the thedeparture Civil Hospital’s healthpower officials claim there is aafairy fear princess, of being we witness What could a fairy, even of heroperation glamour. theatre, women old, the young andofnot-socaughtover in Sirsa. Theofdistrict shares wield the lord dreams? Whatborders power One might think— that allure Melisit gone in a line, staring passers-by with Punjab andeven Rajasthan andcanny customers are young could a witch, one as as Melisandre—has along withather glamour,and in talking each other. It’s that rather in now increasingly ferried across the border for barely sandre, assume over generations and generathe eyes of theto(male) viewer, is.quiet But rematernity wardwas too, theissilence only rupsex determination tests.Westeros That, in kings, turn, has tions of bloodthirsty for the member, glamour and primarily a kind periodically by wailing infants. Twentycalled for greateriscoordination betweenThat the tured whom genocide a matter of course? of power accumulated by knowledge: the Kaur has had her secdepartments cross-border assistance. Tip- four-year-old she managed and to survive for hundreds of years knowledge ofManpreet old texts, the knowledge of illua day agoofand is exhausted offs have takenher them Moga Punjab anda ond while keeping truetoage andinappearance sion baby and girl knowledge human nature after that delivery. Asexperience. her baby begins a Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, where aofdoctor secret is a testament to the efficacy Meli- the one caesarean accumulates through spirited the by two grandmothers was arrested and a case registered. sandre’s glamour. And asbawl, we know now, experience issitting somethethat adjacent bed, has get aplenty. up to take a look. The team that responds to these tip-offs is on Take a good long look at the season six prething Melisandre compact. it the are junior women Kaur’s three-and-a half-year-old older child is miere andGiving you’ll see theedge footprints of glamour aditya mani jhagrandmother’s bed, while her on the staffers andDaenerys police departments all overfrom the health episode. Targaryen, sleeping
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saturday, may 7, 2016
Larger than life? Stills from Nayak, whose story and screenplay were written by Satyajit Ray himself, with Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore in the lead roles
PICTURE THIS
Daughters all Manpreet Kaur’s second baby girl is under the safe watch of her grandmothers at the Civil Hospital in Sirsa. (Below) A poster on saving the girl child
The hero and the human
ramesh sharma
A Satyajit Ray classic that turned 50 this week, Nayak seems to come from a universe that is unrecognisably distant from kithe one which creates films like Fan husband, a lineman, is at work. “Bhagwan
trisha gupta
dein hain (She’s god’s gift),” Kaur mumbles. “Padaoongi (I’ll send her to school),” says Kaur, Ray’s film who hasatyajit studied only upNayak to Std(The IX. Hero) turn50 yesterday. on May 6, At theed other end of the Released ward, a family from it wasover an unusual one for Ray in Lambi is1966, huddled Sharmila’s newborn. respects. oneathing, it was The babyseveral girl has followedFor a boy few years olonly“The his second film script (although der. family original is complete. We had told the he had to been directing for over asays decade by doctors perform sterilisation,” Sharmithen). For another, it featured the contempola’s father-in-law, Rajendra Kumar. rary Bengali idolatUttam Kumar, Mamta is thematinee staff nurse the maternity whomand Ray had worked with before, and ward also never its record-keeper. She makes who represented thethe sort of cinema which monthly reports on births at the of hospital. Ray quite clearly himself the antithesis. She registers the saw numbers onas paper, but a few But of course it made perfect sense — pragreactions she has witnessed after childbirth maticleft as well as cinematic — toher cast a superstar have a lasting imprint on mind. She rein thea role of athat superstar. on 24 calls family had its Nayak fourthcentres girl recently. hourswere in the lifeupset,” of Arindam “They surely MamtaMukherjee, makes a sym-a hugely popular film star who — sixth somewhat pathetic face. A family that hadisits girl a grudgingly — on his way from Calcutta Delwhile ago had preferred to give up thetochild hi to collect a National Award. What is remarkfor adoption. able and they risksare making the film unbelievable “At—least now letting them be born,” todayPrem — is that ArindamAmakes this journey by says Chowdhry. Haryana-born social train, andshe entirely without extensively an entourage. scientist, has written on the That this premiseinwas gender equations thea trifle State.contrived Of the 21even disin 1966 is made Sirsa clear ranked by the fourth film’s on initial tricts in Haryana, the scenes,ofwhen the(862) star’sand agent-cum-secretary basis its CSR general sex ratio pointsaccording out that he’s left it too lateThe to get a seat (897), to Census 2011. town has on theunique plane, or a reserved on been since colonialprivate times.coupé “It was the train.byBut putting population the dapper, and jaded Arinmarked a shifting the vildam on a long train rideJats, allows Ray theJats perfect lages comprised Sikh Muslim and situation in which to combine his three stated Hindu Jats,” she says. The Partition reinforced objectives: scrutinising life of a film as star, the complexity of the the border district it looking into the behaviour fans,brought and makbrought in refugees, who inofturn in ing a film aboutand a train journey. their relatives made Sirsa home. “It bekhap,” Right from the startunit though, it isthe clear that came a geographical without meantunrecognisably its diktats, like says Chowdhry. No khap we are in a universe almost no marriage from the neighbouring distant fromwithin the oneorwhich creates a film like village, haven’t held much sway in Sirsa, shea Fan. Arindam’s arrival on the train causes dictate adds. With no khap tobut flutter of excitement, he is its notnotorious mobbed. preference sons, the societal He shares a for compartment with adynamics family, sitsisina little different the dining car in bySirsa. himself, ruffles a little girl’s Sabu George, a long-time hair. TheM India of 1966 contains advocate neither against female foeticide, the hoopla swarming paparazzi nor views phone-flourishing over Sirsa’s new with scepticism. selfie-seekers. The numbers train’s upper-middle-class “There is certainly improvement over the last clientele does contain some Arindam fans — two yearsRay, in thewith State,seemingly after a decade of neglect though irrepressible
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snideness, makes clear that this is a part that Arindam grapples with his mentor Shankar can only be played by children or somewhat da’s resistance to the very idea of film acting. foolish women. These may make the occasion- The theatre, says Shankar da, is where an actor al autograph request, but on the whole the has a real audience; in a film, he is but a pupstar is left to conduct his business — under pet in the hands of the director. This notion of their curious gazes. the film star as a puppet appeared just a few The thing about Nayak that appears truly years later in another film made by a Bengali — unimaginable in 2016, however, is the number Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Guddi (1970). There, it of passengers who treat Arindam and his was Dharmendra who played himself, and Utworld with disdain. Their reasons for abjuring pal Dutt (as the film-struck Jaya Bhaduri’s psycinema combine the moral with the aesthetic. chologist uncle) who offered a long One doddering old gent, whom even the film exposition of how little the ‘hero’ actually parstar recognises from his name as “the one who ticipated in the heroics on screen. writes letters to The Statesman”, loses no opThe humanising of the hero — which is also portunity to lecture him on the immorality of part of the point of Guddi — is, in Nayak, both actors and alcohol (especially since they go to- more intimate and more brutal. It plays out, at is inlevel, the as works… everything is by the previous government,” gether). Another successful box- says George, when a raid one the classic romance “We work the on our leads alone,” who worked extensively in rural wallah type turns up his nose at Haryana in done quietly.narrative: emotionally reThehero superiors and finding other de-a the sort 1990s continues track the imple- says Dr Bhushan. of and person he mustto share pressed suddenly informed only on the day of suacmentation law against femaleThe foeticide. space withof— the admittedly, upon girl he can speak to freely. And film star,partments despite are tion. “Even the drivers are not given clear There been annews improving trend in Sirsa afhavinghas read the of Arinperimposing that narrative onto his fame and riches, We fear losing a lead,” ter low 800 ratios in Census damthe getting into a brawl at a adirections. star-journalist interaction is an recognises his he says.form of cinematic wish2001, adds. old “But thereminded assertion party.he (These men astute suspect status He and his colleague Dr Raj that normalcy restored late me of a story is about my in Nana, fulfilment. Tagore’s character Kumar, who headed the PNDT 2015-16 is most unlikely. The overwho spent a whole plane ride in first buttonholes Arindam both The Partition cell ofpreviously, are for dismayed all in Haryanawhy andthe Sirsa is thetrend ’60s wondering genout curiosity and profesreinforced the that most arrested perreal, particularly But I tleman next tosince him2014. seemed sional gain. of Shethe runs a women’s complexity of the called sonsAdhunika, are out on bail. ordinarily “We need doubt magnitude, since the him what he magazine miffed its when he cordially asked which border district tougher Dr Kumar. overall number of annual births, did. It was Rajendra Kumar.) doesn’t feature cinema,laws,” but ansays interview with medical specifically of boys, reduced Even without the has moral censure, there is a Arindam, sheThe knows, wouldofficers be a bigare hit. surBut prised by sees the changing profile sharply to Nayak the reported pervasiverelative sense in that films — at least the more clearly she Arindam’s feet of theisoffenders too. In their latest number of girl films births—from 2013 popular Indian are not art, not serious clay, the less she inclined to expose him. they nabbed an ASHA andaher to (800 versus 400!).” pursuits (According Civil or,2015 at any rate, not worthy forto the in- raid, Watching Nayak today, the worker film seems litwere MTP for Registration System annual telligent person. Anddata, the film star,births despitehave his husband, tle let downwho by its mostselling dramatic bitskits — Arinwitnessed a droprecognises of 1,204 from to 2015.) fame and riches, his2013 suspect status ₹30,000. dam’s dreams (or rather nightmares) are too Sirsaand hastoo plans. inTheasked modus for sex when foroperandi an interview by determination the non-gushi- literal stageyOfat getting the samesarpanchs time, and his in the process. Of getting offences largely takes one ofTagore, three forms. It volved ng Miss Sengupta (Sharmila her serirecounting of errors seems harshereach than pannecto display its monthly ratio. Not The could be performed by her a medical professional ousness signalled by spectacles), he is chayat essary. But it remains a strikingsex portrait. of the BBBP’s second phase. at a clinic or in mobile units or by non-doctors. quick to assume that she doesn’t enjoy Benga- district so muchisofpart the star or the fan, but of that hazy know no real “The mobile theto non-doctors are the However, li films. And units she isand quick retort: “Bastabikafigure we stakeholders may have lost to that history: the change easiest nab,” (A says George. tar ektuto abhaab slight lack of reality).” Non-Fan.can come about unless the idea of It isn’t just realism, however, that can cure womanhood changes. And that’s a long haul. eanwhile, at ails thethem. PNDT cell ofinNayak’s Sirsa, trisha gupta is a writer and critic based in Delhi film actors of what In one t@chhotahazri anima are quiet.flashbacks, It’s no different even p ratherthings heavy-handed a youthful
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The Hyderabad beatniks Families engaged for generations in making tablas now struggle to preserve their craft amid falling demand, cheaper industrial products and a disinterested GenNext says, making his voice heard above the ‘dha, dhin’ sounds of the newly made tablas. “The skills and marketing tactics have been passed down from my father to me and from me to my son,” Shoukath adds, pointing to his son, Mohammed Shahbaz. A graduate, Shahbaz is happy to work here as this is khandani karobaar (family business). “A steady job outside isn’t easy to come by, and my boss is my father,” he says. Divide and rule An important point needs to beBanerjee’s mentioned Mamata veryof overt pandering here. Unlike, say, the veenas Bobbilli and resulted Nuziveedu in Andhra Pradesh, ininHyderabad consolidating Muslim the tablas are not made from scratch as the votes in Trinamool’s shells are sourced from outside city. Howsushanta favour the patronobish ever, the rest of the time-consuming work, which requires great skill, is done here. AGENDA Elsewhere in Hyderabad are the dholak makers. Migrants from Uttar Pradesh, they have been living here for the past few decades, though several of them still belong to itinerant groups. The volume of their work varies with the seasons. They get more orders just before Ganesh Chaturthi festival, a huge celebration in the twin cities and surrounding areas. “The dholaks are used for the dance and music at the pandals and during processions,” says Asmath Ali. The dholaks sell for ₹400-700 est Bengal finished its last resulted in a big seat swing, like in the 2011 As- aBengalis, in contrast, prefer their piece. Sales also pick up during thepoliticians other fesphase of polling on Thursday, sembly elections. This time though, even if tivals unglamorous TheJaatharas. BJP still like the but Devi experienced. Navaratris and sambuddha and the Tuner wait (right) is on for the re- thethere is aa tabla swing away from the incumbent Tri- Dholaks cannot feel of a state where socialare the alsopulse purchased for weddings and Science complements art Mohd Nayeem of Akber Miya and Brothers uses a Metro to measure pitch of while his nephew (left) works in the mitra mustafi store aruna chandaraju sults on May 19. If opinion/ex- namool Congress, the swing vote will get di- parties. ism is still waybuy of life, where Hindu vegetar“A afew them for decoration purit polls are right, Mamata Banerjee will be vided between the Congress-Left alliance and poses,” ianism is heunheard adds. of, and where north Indians a dimly lit,perhaps clutteredwith work-a who back nina corner power of once again, learnt tabla-making under have set areNayeem BJP, thereby easing Banerjee’s wayhim to power. called “Hindustanis”, if Bengalis not. and Shoukathas are, however,are part of shop in a crowded lanebeinremarkable Hyderabad’s smaller majority. What will is upInshop across India. He died 1951. Muslim His son a dying hindsight, Banerjee’s veryinovert For the Congress and Left too be a breed. It is estimated thatthis the will number AfzalTrinamool Gunj, Mohammed is bent that her Congress Nayeem will manage to managed business he died 40 yearstaclat- of panderingthe seems like atill clever, calculated setback. alliance makers lacked effective musicThe instrument today is leaderhalf of a tabla. Heown taps — itssince smooth, circular retainover power on its former ally er. his grandson Nayeem runs thecall show. tic Now, to divide the opposition votes: let’s it a what ship right the 50 beginning, it wasfrom around years ago;with thisBuddhain a city upper surface with forefinger, and listens Congress has tied uphis with the Left against her. Nayeem is passionate work,love loves red herring in deferenceabout for thehis Bengali of known deb Bhattacharjee’s seeming too for its qualitycampaign tablas. Many have even to Even the sound then moves the tabla the in itsintently. heyday, He Jyoti Basu’s Communist and business fish instruments and communism. The redis fairly good. given up the aloof and sulky. The alliance nevbusiness altogether. Among around on its(Marxist) base, and repeats the process. Party of India won in coalition with a “We havebamboozled customers from over India, espe- those who have herring theallLeft, er offered alterstayed any on, ideological many undertake He is doing an intuitive check like of the bunch of smaller Leftist parties thesound Com- cially the four statesgo, and Maharash- only repairs and Congress andsouthern BJP at one native the Trinamool sales. to quality munist and Partypitch. of India, Forward Bloc and Revo- tra, and consolidating NRIs too, especially from the She US.” is now showing while Muslim Congress: Banerjee had effectiveThere are many reasons for this. One is that After a minute, he rises to fetch a Metro Tun- votes lutionary Socialist Party. If the victory Nayeem and his brother us that in Trinamool’s favour.proudly tell ly hijacked their socialist agenda this is part of a larger Indian phenomenon the political acumen er. In thethe process has toBanerjee step over happens, cult ofhe Mamata canand lay theBeyond legendary Rakha had a tabla thatAllah masterstroke, thebought in Nandigram-Singur, wherein crafts are losingand outthe to and canniness that handmade around ropes, of black claim to piles finallyofsizing upatofew the bowls cult of her orig- made by their grandfather Akber and ap- associated Banerjee government’s per- Miya still nursing its wounds competition Left fromischeaper factory-made prodwas once paste, ready-to-sell few old onespain preciated inal bete noire, Jyotitablas Basu.and Theacommunist and later,lacklustre, his son Zakir Hussain formance it; has been from that. fetch less income while with Jyotiucts. BasuAs handicrafts various ofin repair. places thebeyond Metro bought triarch’sstages 23 years powerHe may still be one from father. but better than the their CPI(M)’s last For Bengal’s future, it willand be demanding years of training Tuner against tabla and repeats thewas proceher: but Basu’sthe administrative record so “In recent times, well-known government: that seemed to be important whatlabour, lesson Banerjee hard physical often in dure to get a numerical for the pitch. His musician shallow, particularly invalue his last three terms, Anindo Chatterjee has the majority refrain when I visitdraws surroundings, from the election dingy the results. youngbrother and nephew are at work at the other visited that Banerjee can surpass him in effectiveness us frequently for tablas ed my home state in March. The If there is a small vote swing er and more educated members Like many traditional end this small space, which functions as a and withof a stellar second term. played formood us. Another pollseven suggest that will be reflected in and away from her, shecraftsmen take it as a sign that the ofwill these families are Indian arts crafts, sales Sheoutlet-cum-workshop. is now showing the political acumen famous has been it’s a family affair, the ballot customer boxes. electorate faster change from her govtaking up more lucrative careers. the wants Nayeem is a third-generation worker atwith the Anandan and canniness that was once associated Sivamani. He invisited The BJP may do better Assam, butskills the voternment? she consider the victory as Nayeem is reconciled to the passed down Or will famous music instruments manufacturing Jyoti Basu. Around the Lok Sabha polls a cou- our storeneighbouring twice, purchased ouris much er from Bengal more an unequivocal for her party, which factsupport that his children are not likefrom generation to company Akber and Brothers. They make ple of years ago,Miya many analysts thought that tablas and their sound resistant to praised their Hindutva cocktail. Roping in has hardly changed the socialist status“This quo in ly to continue his work: is generation and repairhad various kindsthe of leather percussion Banerjee overdone “Muslim appease- quality his onstage actress both Rupafor Ganguly to beperthe face of their the state? true for most people of this geninstruments — tablas, dholkis, and formances ment” act, turning offdholaks, many Hindu voters. and filmdesperation, recordings. that they did campaign showed If Banerjeeeration draws and the hence first lesson, will it is notshe easy to pakhawajs — used in Hindustani classical mu- Sivamani This had galvanised the weak local BJP unit, also played the tabla not have serious leadership talent in-house. It look to createfind more jobs in the state byfor easing many youngsters this sic north-Indian folk andand Kolkata had seen BJPmusic. rallies of unprece- for and chatted brieflylack while alsous, showed a complete of understand- business conditions, particularly land and talawork. Crafting and repairing Theirscale speciality, however, isheadlined the tabla.by Their dented and aggression, Na- having masala tea with us. Our are also blas ing of what Bengalis expect fromtablas their leaders: bourisrestrictions. Sheand would look years to rein in very hard work requires of infame making and repairing rendrafor Modi and Amit Shah. Thehigh-quality feeling was used in seasoned many famous Telugu TVapart music shows, mostly bhadraloks, from Ba- tensive rogue members her party by whose “donatraining,of followed hours of tablas goes back nearly a hundred years. Some like that Banerjee was playing with fire, by allowPaduthaa Theeyaga ETV,her forchops example,” nerjee, who also had toon earn over backbreaking tion” demands push corporations to the work in small, simple, old-fashof best-known percussionists have says ing India’s communal polarisation of the electorate Nayeem.starting with student politics. two decades brink. workshops She would like lookthis to stop ioned one.the Thebrain-drain new genershopped here. and giving the BJP a toehold in the state. It is a similar scene atofMahboob Ali TablaGanRe- ation With the exception perhaps Saurav through policieshigher that herald opportunity. is getting salaries for jobs where Like many crafts, But in 2016,traditional BJP’s slightIndian rise inarts voteand share on- pairer incelebrity Ramkote.inHere, Mohammed Shouguly, no Bengal has the kind of they More though, in shemodern, will draw the secsit likely, comfortably air-condiit’s a family affair,sealed the skills from kath ly seems to have the passed electiondown for Banerbeen making tablas, mass has following needed and to berepairing the leader of a tioned ond lesson. offices, in front of computers. Every one to another. Akber Miya, dholaks, jee, bygeneration effectively splitting the anti-Trinamool pakhawajs forsouthern the past youngster wants an IT job!” party. Thisdholkis is very and different from our Nayeem’s grandfather, was the founder thisa 50 vote. Historically, whenever Bengal hasof had years. Thepopular businessactors is over 100into years old. sambuddha mitra mustafi is the editor of states where move politiThe Political Indian t@some_buddha chandaraju is a Hyderabad-based writer business and renowned forswing his skill. bipolar contest, a small vote eitherMany way “My father and was carry famous forfan hisbase deft with hands,” he aruna cal careers their them.
Red herring
Mamata Banerjee seems to have outfoxed the Left, Congress and BJP with a political masterstroke. But what lessons will she draw from the results?
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The problematic ingénue Padma Lakshmi’s memoir starts on a promising note, but its shocking lack of socio-political intelligence or conscience ensures its disintegration into a series of tabloid filler notes one, the narrative simply begins to bore. And then she chucks another jawdropper. The first non-breast milk meal Lakshmi gives her daughter are a few sips of beef broth at a hawker stall in Singapore. The result? Brahmin guilt. “I prided myself on how well one could eat following a Hindu Brahmin lactovegetarian diet. I had extolled its virtues on many occasions and truly believed in its merits. I know what had happened, while an accident, was also karmic retribution for all the bodies of animals I had consumed in my life and career in food.” Yes, really. Who would have known that the saffron brigade had an ally in the glamorous Lakshmi, who without irony refers to her ex-husband as a “fundamentalist atheist” and to herself, repeatedly, as a “secular Hindu”? After watching the author eat everything from live snails to her own placenta, it’s the reader who’s left with a bad taste in the mouth. Love, Loss, And What We Ate is really a book about men — a series of partners whose influence and guidance shaped Lakshmi’s life. She plays the ingénue often, and credits everything from her sartorial sense to her gastronomical savvy, and even this — her writing — to a lover. She does not memorably detail even a single non-related female friendship or mentorship. Most disappointingly of all, as cofounder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America, Lakshmi speaks only about her expeGetting home Sirsa has shown a slow yet determined effort to improve its child sex ratio in the past two decades ramesh sharma rience of the disease, not the work of the Foundation, or its impact. With the exception of A man’s world Love, Loss and What We Ate is really a book about men — a series of partners whose influence and guidance shaped Padma Lakshmi’s life the hindu archives her mother, she does not weave in other feformed across schools and colleges in Sirsa, as male narratives of struggle and success — be he muse writes back, and is far more we’re introduced to her second stepdad, Peter, part to raiseinawareness about saving they of onefforts the catwalk, the culinary world, or generous about the marriage than whom she hates. He is a “lower-caste” Fijian In- the girlofchild. in any the many spheres of her experience. the artist was. Maligned in ex-hus- dian, with a “crude, beast-like ignorance”. Her But such efforts in and Sirsaends are with merethe tokens — feminism begins desire band Salman Rushdie’s memoir Jo- What follows includes references to his an eventmore in a school, an man endowment vilto date than one at once for — athe desire seph Anton, model and culinary savant Padma “stench”, his “ugly” Hindi accent, and “some lage’s top-scoring girl or a poster with the she latshe quickly regrets once she realises Lakshmi tells her side of the story, along with a inferior poni grain” he eats instead of basma- est female sex who ratio.has fathered her child. doesn’t know handful of comfort food recipes. Love, Loss, ti. She wants her mother to be with someone This westernmost Haryana, But there is a singulardistrict feministin saving grace And What We Ate opens on a promising, often more “cultured”. fenced by Punjab and Rajasthan, wasn’t of in this memoir, and that is the other Ms part Lakshevocative, footing. of the much-touted Bachao This vitriol is reserved only for Peter, who is the mi —first herphase mother. Vijaya Lakshmi’s Beti journey is a She’s gracious through the recounting of still her mother’s partner, as well as her own Beti Padhao (BBBP) programme. However, if tale of its own, beginning with an arranged her high-profile marriage and divorce, com- daughter Krishna’s favourite grandparent. By numbers arewhich to bethe believed, the district marriage in groom cheats on herhas on pelling when talking about her early child- contrast, her mother’s second husband, given the baby day, girl something to cheer their wedding and a divorce after about. which hood and fiercely independent mother, and whom she divorces when he doesn’t believe According to ahealth department andfrom municishe endures two-year separation her canny in her self-deprecations (“silly little that a relative of his has molestpal corporation committee the child. Upon her data, arrival in district the US, cookbook”). Her descriptions of life within ed the young Padma, is merely registered a sex birth of 1,007 girlsastoa sheratio takesat her mother’s name her grandmother’s kitchen are charming and “pretty darn handsome”. The 1,000 boys insurname, March 2016, crossing the 1000abandons her limited familiar. Even a chutney of discarded citric casteism, classism and coloumark for the diet, first time. dates and falls in love, has Lakshmi’s feminism rinds as a metaphor for how her grandmother rism on display are guilelessly In the 2011thecensus, Haryana courage to leaveregistered marriages,a begins and ends dealt with the bitterness of marriage doesn’t entitled, with neither self-reflecchildwith sex ratio (CSR) ofwhat 834 girls 1,000has boys, explores the to world to the desire to date ring true. languishing at the and bottom the table. Sirsa’s tivity nor shame. offer, evenoftakes her daughman at has So when a shockingly problematic streak CSR record one ofbeach. slow, determined The author — well-travelled, more than one terbeen to a nudist None of this once shows up about a third of the way through the well-heeled, rise from theisdepths from in 2001 to and 862 well-connected, typical—for her816 generation, book, the reader who has rooted for her all speaker of half a dozen languagin 2011. in the Chennai they still call Love, Loss and What along stumbles. The first trace of trouble is es and self-proclaimed bookOf late, the district haseven beentypical skirting the home, it isn’t for her We Ate hhori hai her ! Kalexperience marna thaof, aaj member the baby — a healthy, pink girl. She when Lakshmi extends ra1,000-mark in the month-wise sex ratio reworm — has no excuse for her daughter’s. It is the story of this Padma Lakshmi mar gayi” (It’s a girl! She’ll have weighed 4 kg,” says Dr Bhushan. Theorgrandcial discrimination as an immigrant schoolIn nurse December 2015, it clocked to lack of socio-political intelligence con- corded. dedicated — who keeps fruits 997 in the Non-fiction Ecco to dieoftomorrow, she died to- mother walked out of the ward between with the 1,000. child to her country origin. For her to say New Year brought a dip, Januscience. had At the very least, somewhere fridge The for her terminal patients, andwith manages ₹699 day). Deputy civil surgeon Vi- newborn — the fourth in the family — ary that she is considered dark-skinned in Tamil registering 965, which money dropped 935her in her late partner Teddy girl Forstmann’s philansomehow to save enough toto give resh Bhushan’s face twiststointo grimace he strangled placedsheher backRushdie by the February. society is disingenuous, sayathe least.as And Since August the district’s monthly thropy andher the and Rousseau thanks daughter Indian vacations, skating rinks, and recalls thethis incident at Sirsa’s Civil Hospital side. she backs with this bombshell: “my ex- mother’s ratiopleasures hasn’t dropped 900. the mafor handing her in the acknowledgements, a sex myriad — that below is ultimately four years ago.urged A grandmother in her fifties Bhushan hasn’t kept trackher of well. the case, but verick one here. tended family me to avoid the sun… out little tact would have served rom Delhi, Sirsa is a straight drive on NH10 had strangled to death newborn an FIR was to registered and this the ethical grandof fear that my skin wouldher darken to thegrandshade knows Perhaps unable recoup after manivannan is a Chennai-based poet in but with regular interruptions by ‘work daughter and mumbled nonchalantly about mother It anguished him enough to sharanya of an Untouchable...” failure, arrested. or perhaps because Lakshmi’s early and writer t@ranyamanivannan The district’s Delhi Public School theWhile fate of a baby girl in Haryana. “I still re- write a one-act play, per- progress’. we’re still reeling at her word choice, style gradually giveswhich way toisaoccasionally tabloid-friendly
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In Sirsa, Haryana’s westernmost district, the fight to end female foeticide includes tip-offs, thrilling chases and decoys
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Making the State answer for its crimes The twin villages of Kunan Poshpora are fighting an uphill battle to get justice
Fire in the Valley
people of Kunan Poshpora were happy to know that for the first time, someone visiting them had done some concrete work that Uneasy liesand the head they were not being treated as mere subjects A masked protester peltseasy stones the the of research. It was, therefore, to at gain army during a violent trust of these people. demonstration in Srinagar over civilian What did your research reveal about the deaths in Handwara, probes ordered in the rape 80 incident far, and km fromsoJ&K’s ap/dar summer capital have they resulted in any prosecution? The yasin; (inset) Mehbooba book mentions that in the last 12 years (from Mufti, the state’s first 2002 to 2014), “there have been 173 probes woman chief minister nissar ahmadin a single instituted which have not resulted prosecution.” Mushtaq: The AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) and other draconian laws give perpetrators licence to kill, rape and abduct Kashmiri people in the name of nationalism. Rather: One of the tactics of the Indian state in dealing with cases related to army atrocities is ordering probes and setting up enquiry commissions. These probes and commissions are an eyewash. In many cases, the reports of the enquiry Mufti has failed the statebeen — she completed commissions have never made public ora month in office this week — Imran Nabi Dar, if they have, the facts are misrepresented. Not spokesperson for aprovincial single crime committedof byNC, theslams armedher forces her been absence day ofcourt the unrest. “Mehhas triedon inthe a civilian and no prosebooba should havemade. returned the same day… cutions have been and directed army to restrain firing. But The Indian the armed forces are protected by she didn’t we lost two more the next the AFSPA and but the judiciary and lives the adminissays Dar. The leader should have trationday,” are hand in glove with the perpetrasummoned tors. This happened inthe theUnified KunanCommand Poshpora an umbrella bodyfalsified of security case, where the— enquiry reports the in Kashmir survivors’ claimsagencies and accused them ofheaded acting CM — toThe a meeting at the “behest of by thethe militants”. Indian issued strict ordersdeto state and the armedand forces are in complete the forces, he adds. “What nial of this. happened in Handwara The case is now in theisSupreme Court, which It unfortunate. has stayed the proceedings after the Armyhapshouldn’t have objected to fresh investigation. Are you pened, but let Mehbooba hopeful that the victims will gether justice from understand responsibthe Supreme Court? ilities as a CM and behave
If morning shows the day, then Mehbooba Mufti’s stint as the J&K chief minister seems riddled with unrest and obstacles
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pril 12. Handwara, north Kashmir. A
India’s exit from the World T20 tournament in
alarm as they saw a man in army fatigues entering public toiletRather being amreena Mushtaqaand Natasha used by are a schoolgirl. As they rushed to grab the authors of the recentinbook Do the intruder, he, reportedly, ranPoshpora? to the safety You Remember Kunan In ofa a bunker. The news ofwith the “controversial, yet conversation journalist Majid proven” molestation bid spread like wildfire, Maqbool, they speak about the experience of after whichthe hundreds of protesters reopening eponymous mass rapestormed case. the streets of the restive town. Anti-army, antiHow you come reopen the peltIndiadid slogans rent together the air astostones were Kunan Poshpora rape case? At what stage did ed at the forces. What happened next has mulyou the need toiswrite thein incident tiplefeel versions. One that about the men uniform in detail,fire in the form ofwarning, a book? killing on the opened without spot Iqbal On Faroor Pir (21)23,and Nayeem Qadir Mushtaq: February 2013, we started Bhat (22),about a budding who was reportthinking filingcricketer a PIL to reopen the case. edlydecided chosento forinvolve a national-level training We a large number ofcamp. womHandwara triggered protests in en.The Since the case deaths was against the State, womother partsreluctant of the Valley. those in en were to And sign theresulted petition. two more we deaths, including one in50 Kupwara. Somehow managed to convince women Matters when hearings a video ofatthe to sign. worsened After attending theminor high girl went online. In the video,Kashmir’s allegedly court andviral sessions court of north circulateddistrict, by the army, the school-goer exonKupwara we decided to document erated the soldiers of all accusations. She, inthis struggle beginning February 23, 1991. stead,people blamed the local for the ruckus. Most believe thatyouths the Kunan Poshpora The army has sincein denied its role the makcase was reopened 2013 and thatin the people ingKunan and/orPoshpora release of thesilent video.all But theyears. damof were these age the wastruth done isalready. Human groups But that they have rights been fighting joined the protests, demanding strict action injustice since the incident took place. against those who compromised the HandwaHow didprivacy Zubaan,and an safety independent feminist ra girl’s by releasing the vidpublishing eo online. house based in Delhi, come on board to eventually publish the book? In less than 24 hours, the Handwara incident became challenge for Mehbooba Rather: Whilea major attending the court hearings Mufti, the state’s woman minister, and trying to learnfirst more about chief the case, we rewho’d that assumed ago. that alised thereoffice was aonly lot ofa week information As a member of the Opposition, Mufti had needed to be organised and put in the public taken to We thealso streets on that innumerable domain. realised there is a occaneed sions. Armed with the green to document the memory ofPDP thisflag, case.she At had this been the face ofamany protests against civilian point, Zubaan, leading feminist publishing killingswas in doing Kashmir. But the roles Violence have rehouse, a project on Sexual versed now. Already for with the stuand Impunity. They under got in fire touch us dents-police clash at NIT and Srinagar, following through JKCCS (Jammu Kashmir Coali-
ra was the removal of army bunkers. But that isn’t of being relief enough from a tion Civilconsidered Society) and decided to publish politician whoasisa book. knownBoth for ofbeing vocal this document us took up against “erring” different aspectsforces. of the issue to research and Sheikh Showkat Hussain, who teaches law write about. And thus the book was written. and human rights at Kashmir’s Central Did the rapesays survivors University, the feel newcomfortable chief sharing thetodetails of the two-decade-old ministerallhas walk the extra incident with you, or were they sceptical of mile to deliver what others being treated as subjects of have failed to. “It is time yet another research a story? for her toorstand by what
The good fight Women of Kunanmen Poshpora at thethe launch March, of Do You Remember Poshpora? hilalHandwaahmed group of young raised Mufti’s firstKunan healing touch for
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she promised delivMushtaq: Afterand filing the PIL, a group of peter what went she has always Poshpora to inform itioners to Kunan demanded the villagersfrom aboutothers. the case. At first, they were It’s time she proves her took us to the headreluctant to meet us. They pro-people stand.” man’s house in the village. They started the The Centre’s to many journalists, conversation bydecision saying that send 36 companies of para- had come to the activists and photographers militaryinforces to 22 the Valley like one,” says Dar. in the Suvillage the past years, but people made Mushtaq: Nothing has happened thwartsand Mufti’s endeavour to of her famoney fame out of their tragedy and left. preme Court tillSans now.the Weguidance don’t expect justice send a stern message torape the arther But and according mentor, Mufti’s When we met a mass survivor for the from the system. to us, adminit’s immy. This doubly embarrassing istrative to skills called first time,isshe asked us to switch portant showhave thatbeen the system for aour party that isso in alliance with into question in justice the recent off mobiles that nobody supposed to provide is inIt is time for her to the BJP. are in constant weeks. The political wedlock the becould click“We any pictures. We have stead protecting deliver what she has touchclosely with the Centre with over the tween her party and the BJP has been involved perpetrators. demanded It’salways important to show brought her little solace as she violation of Standard Kunan Poshpora caseOperating and have Rather: The case is in the Sufrom others that the system Procedure almost by the armed grapples withnow. the NIT and past the attended every forces court preme Court For the supposed to provide in Handwara. We want assurHandwara crises. It’shas notfailed just her hearing. one year, the Court to justice is instead ance such things won’t hapfuturenotices as chief that deWethat have visited the twin vilissue to minister the parties in the protecting the pen inmany future,” says a PDP pendsThis on how she tides this lages times and hadleader many case. is indeed justover another perpetrators on condition of anonymity. trouble but also that oftactic her party, which is in informal conversations with vildelaying of the Indian Omar Abdullah, the BJP. “Thehistory Handwalage elders, youngformer peoplechief and minister and an uneasy alliance state. with Looking at the of National Conference criticised Mufti’s ra and the NIT issues haveinalready their survivors of mass leader, rape and prosecutions cases left of army absence from theshare scene on the day Handwara mark on theatrocities, Mehbooba government,” says torture. So we a trustjustice is not somewent up in flames. Mufti was in Delhi that day thing Hussain, she tackles it well it struggle could beisa based relationship. thatbut theifsurvivors expect. The to Rather: discuss It the NIT fracas with thetalking Union minis“turning her career.It “If was definitely easier to the what we point” see as in significant. is Mehbooba a struggle try. In his But tweet, Abdullah accused Mufti of go- against succeeds in punishing security personnel for women. since we were much younger giving up. We want to make the Indian ing on a survivors, “self-promoting tour ofitDelhi” innocent killings, for those criticising her today than the they did find a littlewhile awk- state accountable its crimes. peopletalking under about her rule fell Initially to bulletsthey firedwere “by will shower praises on her,” he adds. ward rape. security forces”. hesitant, but they opened up eventually, talk- majid maqbool is a Srinagar-based journalist and tawqeer hussain is a Delhi-based journalist t@MaqboolMajid to comment whether ingWhile aboutrefusing the happenings of thatonnight. The writer
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meet takeaway
saturday, may 7, 2016 saturday, may 7, 2016
ever, he’s seen as a polarising figure. Dixit preMutton sents himselfpickle as a peace-loving cosmopolitan liberal, opposes all forms of violence. This 500gwho boneless mutton cut into small cubes putsSalt him odds with the Maoists, who had to at taste 1/2 tbsp turmeric powder waged a decade-long armed insurgency 2 tbsp paste against theginger-garlic Nepali state. The fact that a Maoist roast:of the Home Ministry, which is atFor thedryhelm 1/2 tspthe fenugreek controls police, seeds perhaps explains the re1/2 tsp cumin seeds strictions at Dixit’s hospital-prison. 1/2 tsp coriander seeds A Other rationalist, Dixit has championed human ingredients: rights issues the shadow of the insur2 tbsp red under chilli powder gency. 250AtmlBir oilHospital, Dixit found himself next 5-6 lemons to Ganga Maya Adhikari, a 55-year-old widow pods for justice following the murirst the statutory warning: this article Achaya, that marvellous food detective, de- who3 isgarlic fighting might prove injurious to your health. scribes a Kannada work from 1594 that lists 40 der of her roast son bythe Maoists. husband, 1 Dry methi Her seeds, cumin Nanda Or, at least, peace of mind. died two years agoOnce at thecool, samegrind hospivarieties of pickle — involving not just mango Prasad, seeds, coriander seeds. powder. Make paste withcamIt has certainly proved trouble- and limes but also brinjals, fish and pork. tal. them Dixit into hada supported thea couple’s thevisiting garlic. them in hospital and tweeting some to mine. As I revisit those wicked, That’s just the tip of the ‘spiceberg’. Each paign, 2 Wash the mutton, then marinatehad in been tongue-blistering concoctions that have sat at community has its quirky specialities. My Par- about their health. But not everyone salt, turmeric powder and ginger-garlic the table in tiny bowls along the years, I’m feel- si forefathers are best known for their rich, supportive of Dixit’s activism. Pramod Mishra, paste for about 10 minutes. Then roast ing more than ordinary nostalgia. I’m feeling carrot-based lagan nu achar, which, as its name a columnist for for The about Kathmandu Post, found the mixture 10 minutes until his downright desperation. “Condemning suggests, is a staple at wedding feasts. But the approach there is lacking no water nuance. remaining in it. There’s nothing quite as addictive as a good Parsis also make a stunning pickle with fish Maoist violence butheat refusing 3 Take a wok,was add fine oil and it. Putto acpickle. An oily, vinegary Goan prawn balchao, roe and the indispensable Navsari sugarcane knowledge Maoist contribution to me the roasted mutton into the seemed oil and fry till golden Add red chilli that manages to be sweet, sour and salty in a vinegar. While my Bohra grandmother cooked one-sided andreddish. incomplete,” he said. powder and mix well. Add roasted single mouthful. A bright, mustardy vegetable up massive pots of mithu ichar — a 10-minute andtomix. Then addwho garlicwears pastemany t’smasala not easy define Dixit, pickle packed with wholesome carrots, cauli- recipe involving dates, vinegar, jaggery, raiand mix thoroughly. hats. Besides his journalism and activism, flower and turnip. The tangy lime pickle that sins, zardalu and Kashmiri mirchi. Fabulous 4 Add plenty of lemon juice and then alsoonansimmer authortillofoilchildren’s slowly discovers its identity after sitting in the with rice and chicken curry, but equally good he is cook separates.books, Do an amateur historian, conservationist, head of sun for months on end. Or the killer creation as a topping for toast and scrambled eggs. not overcook asathe masala may stick NGOs a translator. He set up Film South served in the Northeast and made out of bhoot to and the base. Once it cools,festival store incovering a Asia, the only5documentary jolokia — chillies so fiery that if you unwittingjar and refrigerate Lines of dissent Manione, Dixit,you editor and you publisher Himal Southasian, presents himself as a peace-loving cosmopolitan the region. He alsoglass established a hospital to ly Kanak bite into wish wereofdead. pichumani liberal, which puts him with the aMaoists forheup to a month.surtreat spinal injuries after miraculously Thisatis,odds of course, great ktime of the year, to vived a fall during a 2001 trek in the Annapurbe pickle-hungry. For however much you love na region of western Nepal. your north Indian green chilli pickle and limMany of his former colleagues and friends bu chatpat from Bohra Mohalla, you have to adinterviewed for this article agreed that he is a mit that mango pickles pack a special punch. quintessential South Asian public intellectual. And even as I write this piece, tart green manDixit comes from an elite Kathmandu family. goes have started appearing everywhere. On “The kind of activism he did transcended Nethe branches outside my window. In tantalispal,” said Hari Sharma, former chair of South ing heaps in the bazaar. And, hopefully, in the Asia Trust, the publisher of Himal Southasian. kitchens of all those kind people who make “He has interests that range from music to countless jars of fresh pickle and then generpublic debate to culture to language.” Sharma ously send them to friends and neighbours. recalled that Dixit once floated the idea of resAll those aunties from Andhra Pradesh who toring the chautaro (resting platforms for travspend tedious hours, choosing the sourest, firellers) that were rapidly disappearing from mest mangoes, chopping them into equal silver-haired manseeds beamed pieces, sun-drying mustard andfrom chilli,a challenged the CIAA move at the Supreme public spaces. poster atthethe red-brick Sharma and Mishra agreed that the arrest and then creating perfect avakaibuilding pickle – Court, arguing that it was illegal for the body intensive but carewill unitstay of to seek property details without any accusa- was both a personal vendetta and an erosion one that ishousing not justthe spectacular, Nepal’sspoilt. largest, in tions against him. The CIAA, in turn, claimed of public institutions in Nepal. “But the latter the entire Bir yearHospital, without getting Or the Kathmandu. hashtag that #freekanak accom- Dixit was not cooperating in the investigation, has more serious consequences,” said Mishra, busy GujaratiThe households come together panied face. year, Inside an associate professor at Lewish University in to gratethe andsmiling giggle every as the theybuilding, turn out and hence the arrest. on a white board, scribbled among half atodozOn Monday, the Supreme Court of Nepal or- Illinois, US. “This is proof that Nepal society, endless barnis of sweet mango chhundo be en names was Kanak Dixit, months. 60/M, Bed 16. dered that Dixit be released on bail. On May 5, which doesn’t appreciate critical thinking, is consumed with theplaMani for many A police officer on awhen benchrare scanning This is the time sat of year bottlesthe of he was discharged from the hospital and in decay and will decline further,” said SharPick me up A display of fiery Andhra pickles at a food festival Visakhapatnam cv subrahmanyam day’s newspaper as his walkie talkie buzzed ma,inpolitical advisor to the late prime minishome. Parsi buffena — made from whole, ripe man- headed with calls HeStreet turned down ter Girija Prasad Koirala. goes — popfrom up incolleagues. the Princess shops foralla decade ago, in 2005, Lok Man Singh Karki, requests to see Dixit, journalist huQuestions to Dixit himself had to be passed brief period. When the the hordes descendand on Tahthe there current chiefwonderful commissioner CIAA, through man rightsinactivist who was to admitted tofirst the elder brother Kunda Dixit, the edieri Stores Bohra Mohalla, taste the Then is that northofIndian states arehis lined with tempting roadside shops cabinet secretary under King Gyanenhospital following his arrest on April 22.year. The was andmulti-coloured publisher of Nepali Times weekly. In gorkeri and spicy mango creations of the kala the nimbu ka achar that involves lime, masa- tor selling pickles. During a redirect and apatience. Whole cent trip to Meghalaya, cop ‘mathiko aadesh’ from dra’s emailed answers that son EeWhencited terraces in Tamil Naduor willorders be witnesslas, lots of sunrule. and Dixit even more I stocked uphis with glee, civilwith society activabove. Only family members lawyers are handful Dixit, a filmmaker, forwarding that unmatched magic and — the gradual limes areof mixed spices and left in the sun only to have lum my precious bottles confiscated fought againstThen the auallowed in, he said. a night decrepit, ed, Dixit said:So“My incarceration transformation fromAfter mangoes andinspices into ists for ahad couple of weeks. the bottle is shov- at the Guwahati airport. I feel entitled to rule, which overcrowded police custody the Gaushala is of the broader a mindboggling thokku that in elevates simple thoritarian ed to the very back of a dark cup- Condemning Maoist thissymptomatic splurge.) toAfter a joint strugneighbourhood, Dixit had even beenquick-fix hospitalised and deeper challenge dahi-rice into a feast. When fam- eventually board for aled year. which it is violence was fine but Then, while I’m at it,facing I find Neanby the then insurgent after he showed symptoms hypertension. pali today… The lackand of ilies like mine succumb toofthe mood, buy a gle retrieved. The blackened gunk is othersociety site called GoanPickles refusing to and parliamentary At the of his arrest, Dixit was at aacoures- Maoists accountability for war packet oftime Bedekar masala and fill at least tasted, and the salt and sugar is acknowledge behave badly again. And,crimes right Maoist This is the time of the itmonartaurant near the offices of Himal Southasian, a parties, has conflict ple of jam jars. adjusted.bringing After which returns contribution now,left I’mthe figuring outvictims how to beoryear whenseemed rare to an end in 2006. quarterly hepart edits publishes. reft, before my little traAfter all,magazine it’s fun to be of and a tradition that chy to the cupboard for a couple of ganise somewhich Tarapori patio made tobottles me one-sided of Parsi Again, in 2013, the activists The orders came from the Commission the years paleBombay in comparison.” seems to have begun more than 4,000for years at least. from dry ducks. And buffena pop up in the vails protests against KarInvestigation Abuse of Authority (CIAA), Denied access to phones or lapago. Before theofdays of refrigeration and can-a mounted Every region has its unique wondering if there’s anybody Princess Street shops appointment to the CIAA constitutional anti-graft bodyways withtosweeping tops, thepast veteran journalist turnning, it was essential to find preserve ki’s pickles. And most families seem driving Padma Guesthouse an unelected powers. December year,by when Dixit was by ed to books during his arrest, food. TheInproblem waslast solved drying fruits, to have their owngovernment. precious reciin Kolhapur, who might obligargued unfit as he had devouring three, about to board a flight to in New an emWhy Nations Fail. vegetables and even meats theDelhi, sun with salt They pes. For thosethat whoKarki don’t,was never inglyincluding get me a packet of mutton indicted by a commission ployee ofBythe had handed him a sumpostcard one of his colleagues or brine. 850CIAA BC, Aristotle was praising the been fear. You can follow my example. for suppress- Perhaps the lonchhe. the popular of 2006. mons topower furnish details. Dixit himwhich, sums him best — Kanak curative of property pickled cucumbers and,was lat- ing All morning I’ve protests been taking breaks from writ- sent After I willuphappily live onMani dal, Dixrice one oftothe few Nepali journalists accused of ‘amassing disproportionate Inspirer of people, of ideas, Instier, Roman emperors were feeding them to sol- ingDixit this is column fill virtual baskets. I’ve just it: and pickle for the nextIncubator three months. international exposure. A graduate of gator of action. wealth’ as chair of belief Sajhathat Yatayat, a public with diers in the peculiar they imparted discovered a site called the Thenortheaststorefrom Columbia his ar- shabnam minwalla is a journalist and the author of transport cooperative that operates in journalism special strength. Presumably, Indian buses philoso.com and have ordered one University, king chilli pickle, The Strange Haunting Model High School and The adhikari is aoffreelance journalist based in around the world: the first call deepak Kathmandu valley.were also fans of our very rest phers and kings one made bird’snews eye chilli pickle and one chicken Shy Supergirl his release came frominIndia. Nepal, how- Kathmandu A lawincredibly graduate from Delhi University, own, sophisticated pickles.Dixit KT for pickle. (The highways the In Northeastern
STREET, EAT, REPEAT
In a pickle
It’s a great time of the year to pay tribute to these wicked, tongue-blistering concoctions
shabnam minwalla
F
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Caged instigator
The arrest of Kanak Mani Dixit — journalist, activist and quintessential South Asian public intellectual — is being seen as a direct attack on Nepal’s public institution
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work takeaway
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In the birdman’s lair Looking for the Ceylon frogmouth in Kerala’s Thattekad, a small patch of heaven that owes its existence to ornithologist Salim Ali
“T
hattekad ethi.” A murmur from the driver’s seat indicated that I was near my destination. From the confines of the car — steered by a soft-spoken Sabu — I scanned the dark surroundings with eyes heavy with sleep. Kochi’s noisy, unruly evening traffic was around 55 km behind us. I attributed my sluggishness to the near-silence that rules Thattekad, a bird sanctuary in the foothills of the Western Ghats in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. My eyes were half-closed as I entered my room at the homestay. The lone photograph in the room — that of three unattractive birds captioned as Ceylon frogmouth — did little to perk me up. I remained in this state until dinner summons. Frogmouth photos stared back from every wall in the house as I went through the meal in a haze. By the time I climbed into bed, I’d had an overdose of the nocturnal greybrown bird. Or so I thought. The morning arrived early. Girish, the guide, took our group of three (two birding fanatics from Bengaluru being my companions for the day) into the forest. Five minutes into the walk and I cursed myself for the ballerina I’d carried for the trip. Handicapped by the unwise footwear selection, I struggled to keep pace with the group as we walked under a canopy of teak, mahogany, eeta reeds and bamboo trees, at a rocky patch. Girish instructed us to look out for the black baza, a small bird of prey. The baza didn’t oblige but many others did. In a span of 30 minutes, we spotted the Asian brown flycatcher, the orange headed thrush, the Oriental honey buzzard and a va-
Spot the frogmouth Thattekad now has almost 50 pairs of the nocturnal bird shefiq basheer ahammed
riety of woodpeckers. The little black raptor 1983, when Kerala’s forest minister KP Noorudchose to stay elusive. In a desperate bid to di- din proposed a felicitation for Ali, the latter vert attention from the bird that remained in- chose to ask for the creation of a bird sanctuvisible, I voiced my ‘desire’ to see the unsightly ary. The task of finding a place fell on Sugathfrogmouth. We moved ahead in search of the an. Soon afterwards, Kerala’s first bird new target. But instead of the grey-brown sanctuary was born. shutterstock plumage of the peninsular bird, we were reThe frogmouth had been declared an enwarded with the eye-popping colours of the dangered species in 1983. Improving their Malabar trogon. Girish continued to tease me numbers proved difficult given that the bird for my paranoia of leeches, of which there lays only one egg on an average every year. In were aplenty. And before we knew it, the cano- 1992, when Sugathan took charge of the sancpy overhead had given way to the most spot- tuary he founded, he ensured habitat protecless blue sky. We reached a water body in the tion by preventing forest fires, planting of middle of the sanctuary. A handful of dead bamboo trees and weeding the forest of eeta. tree trunks jutted out of the water. It was the More than two decades on, the number of end of the walk and I was happy to just sit by frogmouths at Thattekad has climbed close to and absorb the stillness around. 50 pairs. That afternoon I met R Sugathan, renowned My quest for the bird I had begun to admire ornithologist and pupil of Salim Ali, at the continued over the next day. Instead of Girish, sanctuary office. He is the man who thrice it was his mother Sudha who led me to a tribal Mallyathe is certainly aloneof in the using a well- and their attention is divided. Brands need to walked 1,600-kmnot stretch Western village in Vellaramkutu. Over a breakfast of apknown brand to raise New Delhi-based through Moreover, the cost of marGhats in pursuit of money. the Ceylon frogmouth, cut pams and eggthis. curry at a roadside eatery, I imLT Foods also used its Daawat a big broadbill roller and the red-rice brand to keting is escalating pressedand on is her myconsideration desire to spot raise back inKnown 2008-09. when introducing a new brand or extending faceddebt malkoha. as Kerafrogmouths. We then drove tothings stand, companies saysPandapara, Shireesh Joshi, COO, la’sAsbirdman, Sugathan is theacross sectors an existing one,” wards where a stravisiare brand valuation tegic marketing group at Godrej. bestopting personfor to narrate the histobly excited Girish waited with By the time I climbed Brand to meet objectives. valuation the comry of thevarious sanctuary. In 1933, The the another group ofallows birders. into bed, I’d had an hospitality including hopany assess the maharaja ofsector, Travancore invited The tofrogmouth hadbrand’s been of the grey- sighted close tel and airlines, using in it Aoverdose bothtoqualitatively and Ali chains to conduct a bird is survey where we stood. brand is a bundle of strength, brown bird to quantitatively, by putting a scihis improve kingdom.customer connect We waded through the kneepromises on the while engineering sector foence in turn, imThe theornithologist started deep behind waters it. of This, a stream before company’s part and cuses on intangible value pacts the company’s strategic from Marayur, followed the creOld we arrived at another rocky expectations on the ators like intellectual decisions including internationAluva Munnar Road andproperty reached patch. A few minutes later, Sudha consumer’s part (IP) and research developal forays to or aacquisitions. Thattekad late at and night. As Ali pointed tree to the left of the ment. The users,inhowevstepped outbiggest of his room a dak bungalow the trail we were on. There, in perfect camouflage Parts of a brand er, areday, the aFMCG and consumer next symphony of bird calls greeted with the dead leaves, sat a pair of frogmouths. durables firms, up which seek toa fortnight in If one of them Brands include names, him. He ended spending hadn’t blinkedthe I’d have asunlock theirduring brandwhich portfolio optimise symbols and logos that identify Thattekad, he and recorded the terms, sumed signs, those birds were stuffed! marketing sighting of investment. 164 bird species. It was nearly half goods, services and companies. But brand valrathina is a freelancer based in today Ali have far more choices is notsankari just a financial number. “ItPune is a meathe“Consumers number of species found in the state. In ue
On the shoulders of brands
Vijay Mallya is certainly not alone in using a well-known brand to raise money — companies across sectors use brand valuation to meet a range of business needs
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hen the 119-year-old Godrej group decided to go for an image makeover eight years ago, it roped in international advisory Interbrand for a valuation of its brand. The idea was to not just gauge the financial prowess of brand Godrej (valued at $3 billion by Interbrand in 2010) but also facilitate strategic decisions such as rejigging product portfolios and connecting more deeply with consumers. The valuation exercise and its diagnostics were a means to help grow the brand value. On the other hand, for industrialist Vijay Mallya, the valuation of ₹4,100 crore for the Kingfisher Airlines brand served another purpose. The brand became the single largest collateral for loans exceeding ₹9,000 crore. That valuation, carried out by Grant Thornton in 2011, is now under scrutiny.
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saturday, may 7, 2016 saturday, may 7, 2016
sure of several factors like loyalty of the hilt to reposition itself and connect better customers, the ability of a brand to keep offer- with youth. It came up with the new proposiing newer products and technology, and the tion of ‘Brighter Living’ in 2008 and launched connect with consumers, who give it a premi- newer products like door cameras, air freshenum,” says Ajimon Francis, India head and CEO ers and personal repellents to target younger for global brand consultancy Brand Finance. consumers. More importantly, the valuation “A brand is an image, comprising a bundle exercise helped Godrej reinof promises on the company’s part and expec- vent its design lantations on the consumer’s part that have been guage. “For long, met. If a customer perceives a higher value in a Godrej has been brand, she will be ready to pay a premium for known to be a it,” says Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of sturdy engiconsultancy Third Eyesight. neering brand The UK’s Reckitt Benckiser knows this all too and one of well. In 2010, it paid ₹3,260 crore to buy Ahme- the impordabad-based Paras Pharmaceuticals, the mak- tant direcer of brands like D’Cold, Krack and Moov. The tions it deal valuation was eight times Paras’s sales of needed to be₹401.4 crore and largely attributed to the come much strength of the company’s key brands. stronger was Interbrand MD Ashish Mishra says brand is emotional ata key factor in calculating the premium pric- tachment with ing in M&As. “Often, it is the latent potential of its customer base,” the brand that is driving this premium, says Joshi. through its ability to enter new markets and Over the last few extend into adjacent categories. A broad skill years it has greatly focused on set — combining market research, brand, and design across its divisions and offerings, be it business strategy with business case model- Godrej properties, furniture or consumer ling — is required to quantify the latent finan- products. “Great design, in addition to great cial potential of the target brand,” he says. function, ends up creating a great bond with Word-of-mouth cookiesvaluation is a favourite Macanese consumers. snack; (right) roadside vendors have sacks added brimming with dried mackerel, abalone, scallops, oysters, fish maw (air Additionally,Almond the brand methoThe valuation exercise sciprachi joshi bladder), sharkbe finused and more dology can to complement the other entific support to what people had been feelprocesses involved in setting royalty rates. “By ing all along,” he adds. Take flight Vijay Mallya (inset) banked on the ₹4,100identifying the value created by a brand for its Not just in stepping up business, brand crore brand valuation for Kingfisher Airlines to drum business, combined with an evaluation of the comes into play equally in shutting down un- up loans above ₹9,000 crore afp/ sajjad hussain relative bargaining power of the parties in- viable ones, as Raymond did with its Zapp! volved, we can determine the proportion of kidswear brand. Launched with much fanfare brand value that should be paid out as a royal- in 2006, the brand didn’t take off as the mar- as of now. ty rate in return for the right to exploit the ket was not ready to pay premium pricing “It is globally accepted by large valuation brand,” he adds. (starting at ₹2,000) for kidswear. firms as well as regulators and financial instiA case in point is the Tata group. Brand Fi“Brand valuation helps the management tutions. But following it is a subjective matnance had valued the Tata brand at ₹1.3 lakh understand how a brand is movter,” says Francis. crore in 2015. While Tata Sons, the brand’s ing along with other brands and His firm, Brand Finance, folowner, has not valued it, group companies whether it is able to keep pace. lows the Royalty Relief method, have to pay royalty for using it. Under a 1996 They can accordingly decide its Group companies pay which determines the value a you’reEquity going to Macau! You inside a bun. At Tai Lei Loi Kei, the chop (on the agreement, Tatah,Brand and Business influence offerings. I tryto these future,” says Francis. companyfood would be willing pay royalty for using the on Macau’s have tousing bet the 100 Tata (HK)name dollars Promotion companies di- bone) is so tender and flavourful, that I barely at various street shops, its butbrand the best arenot at to license as ifones it did Tata brand For a reliable yardstick oncent black 13 for me,”revenue said a pause between bites. The bun is soft and plia- Lord Stow’s Bakery rectly pay 0.25 per of the annual ininvolves Coloane,estimating a fishing the vilown it. It friend. “You must out ble, with the a slightly crunchy or 5 per cent of the profit before tax,check whichevlage (island) in Macau. Like itsattributable Portuguese couDespite growing needcrust. for future revenue to a the artificial at the Venetian,” I leavevaluation, Senado Square er isrealistic less, as royalty.sky Companies using said the brand nata, the version has a thereand is make no my way to sin pastel debrand and Macau calculating a royalty another. “There’spay a fantastic Fortune Ruinsmethodology of St Paul’s Cathedral brand indirectly 0.15 perDragon cent ofofthe turn- the shell,would whichbe encases a decstandard in use. via Rua de Sao light, flaky pastry rate that charged for show at the Wynn,” said apayout third. has now been Paulo. This10668 street standard is heavingspecifies with shops, sell- adent over. The overall annual custard, with a slightly caramelised The ISO a framethe useegg of the brand. My response to them was, respectively — ing food toincluding clothes, and be- top. capped at ₹75 crore. Another Portuguese-inspired dessert is workeverything for brandfrom valuation, objecMishra points out that Interbrand’s valua“what?”, “why?”, and “you mean like in Game yond. A makeshift shop is congee, or serradura, translates as sawdust.—The tives, bases and methods ofselling valuation besides tion modelwhich has three core components an Through thick andplayed thin the odd round of poof Thrones?” I have Chinese porridge. Several pots bubble may very appealing, but this sourcing rice of data and assumptions. It also spec- name analysis of not thebe financial performance of laythe ker with friends, gambling is of little interon the stoves and I watch two women While Mallya maybut have made the cleverest use away chilled pudding a treat. Sweet biscuits, ifies methods for reporting the as results of such ered, branded products orisservices, the role the est to me.valuation, And the gaudy, over-the-top casinos cook porridge, add of brand the Godrej group used it to rapidly and condensed valuation. Butthe it remains a voluntary standard brand plays incream the purchase decision, andmilk the of Macau leave me cold. What warms the cock- pieces of pork and meatballs, come together to make competitive strength of the brand. “Thesethis are les of my heart is the food — a curious combi- and serve bowls of the concocdessert, topped preceded by a semifreddo-like decision on segmentation and, nation of Portuguese and Chinese influences, tion to the long queue of hunwith finelyare powdered biscuits at the end of the process, brought together Like its Portuguese giving rise to an East-meets-West crossbreed. gry patrons. The porridge is (hence, sawdust). to enable the calculation of a brand’s financial cousin pastel de nata, Macau was under Portuguese rule for 400 piping hot and silky smooth, the Macau version value,”has he asays. As I wander through the maryears, until 1999 (when China assumed sover- with meat that is literally melt- light, flaky pastry kets in Macau, struck bythat the Butshell, what happens when I’m a company eignty of the region). The first Portuguese ing into the bowl. vast quantities and varieties of mortgaged its trademarks with financial instiwhich encases a traders settled here in the mid-16th century. There are rows of shops sellthat the Macatutions to raisedried fundsseafood goes bust? decadent egg custard That country’s imprint on Macau’s cultural ing varieties of dried meat — nese eat. Roadside vendorssituahave “This (Kingfisher case) is a unique identity is indelible. The old parts of Macau, spicy beef and wild boar jerky is brimming tion… When asacks trademark is usedwith as an dried asset with cobbled streets and colonial-era build- on display and attendants are mackerel, abalone,which scallops, for lending, one of the disciplines globings in soothing pastel hues, mirror the Eu- handing out samples to passersoysters, fishfollow maw (air al financial institutions is a bladder), rigorous ropean influence. The peninsula’s historic by. At Pastelaria Koi Kei I try several varieties, shark fin and more. tracking of the profit-and-loss account and centre is a Unesco World Heritage Site. Much some slightly sweet, some deliciously spicy, cash I also spotofbacalhau, which isIfdried and saltflows the company. the business like any European piazza, Senado Square (Ma- though I like the wild boar jerky best. ed cod fish, usedthe extensively in Portuguese faces a setback, value of the trademark cau’s paved town square) is the hub of local acKoi Kei is also known for another Macanese cooking. I try a version of this at Antonio, a resfalls drastically,” says Francis. tivity. Tiny alleys branch out in all directions, treat — almond cookies. I watch as a baker ex- taurant in Taipa Antonio’s bacalhau no It appears thenvillage. that due care was not taken and it’s here that you will find the places pertly mixes the almond powder, almond forno cebola ecase. batata assadabanks is shredded in thecom Kingfisher Whether will evwhere the locals shop and eat. pieces, lard, and sugar. He then presses the codfish baked a rich, creamy sauce, er recover thewith money from Mallya is and not The one adjacent to McDonald’s is called mixture into wooden moulds with a rolling served olivesisand crunchy onions on top. known.with But what certain is that financial inTravessa de Sao Domingos. Its hole-in-the-wall pin. The moulded cookies are transferred to a Add to thiswill thenow fadobe tunes byina setting guitarstitutions moreplayed careful restaurants is where I head for the best pork large bamboo basket, which is placed on an wielding Marcelino, you could easily be in much store by mere and brand power. chop bun. Tai Lei Loi Kei has been around since open charcoal oven to slow roast the cookies. some town in Portugal. After all, like any other power, this is liable 1968 and serves only pork chop buns in the af- The almond cookies have a crumbly texture, to fluctuate too. prachi joshi is a Mumbai-based food, travel and ternoon. One oflegacy Macau’s street foods, much likevaluation nankhatai, with a nutty flavour. Shape-shifting Thepopular 119-year-old Godrej group used brand to reposition itself and connect rashmiwriter pratap vishwanathan/bloomberg betterI look with younger launching products geared to their what for is a consumers seasoned by pork chop stuffed The egg preferences tart is the prashanth most noted Portuguese lifestyle
United flavours of Macau
Heavily inspired by colonisers, the peninsula’s local cuisine and its food markets are worth every minute spent outside its casinos
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THE COMPASS CHRONICLES
Theininvisible Fly the face Atlas of Bt cotton
Does geometry underlie strength and awareness in the universe? India grows 95 per cent of its cotton from genetically modified hybrid seeds, which have proved defenceless against pests and weather change, leading to devastating losses evolved to measure this differential; it provided information not only about how far a vehicle had travelled, but also in which direction. otton has been cultivated for over India boasts one-fourth of the total cotton- Kranthi, director,south-pointing Central Institute of Cotton The Chinese chariot was a merohit gupta 5,000 years in India and traded for growing area worldwide but its yield per hec- Research (CICR). “Across thealways globe people chanical compass that pointedgot south nearly as long. Today, more than 95 tare has remained 470-550kg for over a dec- rid of by cultivating on bollworm a flat surface — no mattershorter-durawhich way one per cent of the cotton grown in the ade, way below the world tion varieties, while turned the chariot. Since theIndia Earthmoved was not a country comes from a foreign stock — the ge- average of 786. China, growing to errors hybridinvarieties of would 180-240have flat surface, the chariot netically modified (GM) hybrids of Bt cotton, cotton in half the area that India givingshape. insectsAnd an even long- inhinted atdays, a spherical this global which have proved defenceless against weath- does, is the world’s top proer window to attack the plants.” formation would be gained without any asThe people of India er change and insect attacks year after year. ducer. Indian growers have been The hybrids that were cleared forlocal sistance from external viewpoints, from have paid ₹270 crore Spurious insecticides have added to the culti- the worst hit by changing cultivation in India were not suitgeometry alone. and the company vator’s woes. weather and pests — they lost the longrealised term. CICR isSailors,ed infor particular, thathad a straight profited Crop failures in the cotton-growing belt half their crop, while growers suedoceans warnings the past, but in line on the wasinactually curved had, at the beginning of the year, provoked elsewhere lost only a quarter, acthese ignored. “Fortunately, space, and thatwere following a fixed compass dithe Union government to set price controls on cording to a 2009 research pathe bollworm the whitefly rection could send themand spiralling from pole Bt cotton seeds. This saw shares of Monsanto, per by IIM-Ahmedabad. have helped us out,” says Kranto pole (along loxodromes or ‘rhumb lines’). which sells patented GM cotton seeds, lose Experts blame the loss on a faulty decision thi, with nothey trace of irony. Unless sailed along the Equator, of course more than 20 per cent of their value. The com- to grow the wrong type of cotton, that too at — since ‘great circles’ are the equivalent of of loss pany threatened to leave India if prices were the wrong time. “India is cultivating a longer Timeline straight lines on a sphere. In 1919, the astronocapped, and Minister of State for Agriculture maturing variety (more than 180 days’ dura- In 2014, theEddington Bt cotton crop faileda in oversolar mer after Arthur observed total Sanjiv Balyan was quoted as saying it was free tion), and this gives insects that turn up in No- 56,000 hectares in an seven districtsto ofthe Karnataeclipse during expedition island of to go. vember a chance to attack the crop,” says KR ka, the state government blacklisted Principe, off the coast of westMonsanAfrica. He proved Einstein right by showing that light from the star cluster Pleiades curved as it passed near the Sun before reaching the Earth. In fact the light wasn’t bending at all — it was merely following a straight line (or geodesic) in a space-time fabric that itself was curved due to the Sun’s gravity. The idea that information about large-scale structure was embedded in local geometry was finally proved by Gauss in 1826, who called it his theorema egregium — or ‘remarkable theorem’. Gauss went further and defined ‘Gaussian curvature’ for all surfaces, a quantity which was always conserved like energy. If the surface was bent without stretching — such as a morsel of Indian bread (roti), leaves from a plant, or a piece of paper — a soft, flat surface would become stiff when pinched in one direction. A rolled newspaper is almost as hard as a stick, for example. Change of curvature in Floating in space Arthur Eddington showed that light from the star cluster Pleiades curved near the Sun. one direction is compensated in the other diPleiades by Max Ernst (above) seems to evoke the mythical Pleiades, the seven daughters of the titan Atlas rection, to keep the overall Gaussian constant. This phenomenon can be seen throughout nanaximander of Miletus had pro- tiny beings living on a giant spherical rock to ture, and seems to be the very basis of strucposed around 700 BC that the Earth discover its true shape without the help of any tural mechanics in the universe — including was a cylindrical drum that floated external vantage point? Perhaps on a planet the tactile sense of plants. all by itself in the infinite void. The- whose suns stay on the same side for millenIn the tradition of Anaximander, today we oretical physicist Carlo Rovelli calls him ‘the nia, never rising — casting upon its inhabit- think of the universe more like a drum than a first scientist’ because after Anaximander, ants an eternal night; or a planet cylinder. The dark circle of tu“...up and down become notions relative to like Pluto... so far away from its ning paste (syahi) applied on Inthe Earth.” Another writer, Dirk Couprie ob- parent star that sundials cast no dian percussion instruments served that “When Anaximander looked at the tell-tale shadows. such as the tabla and the mridanheaven, he imagined, for the first time in hisThe distance travelled on Sailors realised that a gam resembles a gravitationally straight line on the tory (…) space.” Earth was measured as far back dense black hole, whose vibraocean was actually Even though Eratosthenes measured the as Alexander by specially aptions send out waves into space. curved in space circumference of the Earth using sundials as pointed ‘bematists’ — soldiers The taut skin of a dead camel unfar back as 200 BC, it did not prove that the who counted their own steps dulates in response to these planet is a sphere. If the difference of solar (this method would see a revival messages, its own geometry beshadows had been measured on the curved in British India, when spies of ing the local awareness of someside of a cylinder instead, the result might the Great Trigonometrical Surthing beyond the ordinary have been the same — depending on the posi- vey, disguised as Buddhist monks — made for- senses of an animal. tion of the Sun. One might wonder if the bidden maps of Tibet). From the time of the One might even say that intelligence has shape and size of the Earth could have been Yellow Emperor Huangdi (2600 BC) to the po- less to do with life, and more to do with strucdiscovered at all without reference to an extra- lymath Zhang Heng (100 AD), Chinese legends ture. The intrinsic geometry of things, like an terrestrial entity. speak of mechanical ‘odometers’ invented to invisible Atlas, holding the world on its shoulAccording to the analytical geometry of Re- measure distance. ders for eternity. né Descartes, all points, lines, curves, surfaces A careful observer would notice that while and solids are measured against an origin at turning, the two wheels of a carriage traverse rohit gupta explores the history of science as Bitten and bruised Farmer Darshan Singh surveys his damaged Bt cotton cropdimensions. on the outskirts of possible Bhatinda, Punjab, in 2015 — the year whitefly nearlyof two-thirds the cotton cropt@fadesingh statewide reuters/munish sharma (0, 0, 0) for three Is it for different distances. A destroyed mechanism gears of Compasswallah
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the pesticides used in the country ends up being sprayed on cotton crops. As for fertilisers, hybrids have always required more. “The volume of fertiliser use has increased; we are now using 1 kg/ hectare compared to .9 kg/hectare before 2002,” says Kavitha Kuruganti, convenor at ASHA Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture. “Chemical fertiliser use has increased threefold in the last five years, and this will burden public finances as our fertilisers are subsidised,” she adds. Bt cotton had promised higher yield, low fertiliser use and tolerance to pests, but 15 years on, it has failed on all counts. As pests develop resistance, farmers are forced to increase pesticide use.
Getting fishy Oz to combat carp with herpes virus
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ustralia plans to kill invasive carp by releasing the herpes virus into its rivers. The carp has decimated native fish and makes up 80 per cent of the population in some rivers. Scientists from Australia’s national research body spent seven years developing the virus and testing its effects. Results showed that the virus killed between 70 and 80 per cent of the carp population while leaving other fish unscathed. The government plans to release the virus into rivers in 2018.
Planting change
Agri activists point out that there instagram is still time to turn the clock back and shift from Bt cotton to better-suited, diverse varieties. “If the government wants, it can give the seeds to farmers. We have 65 agricultural universities, 642 Krishi Vigyan Kendras and hundreds of other institutions which can contribute and give farmers the traditional varieties of seeds withMushrooming A file picture shows advertisements for the Bt cotton seed brands that have flooded the Norwegian has become an online sensation in a year,” says Mishra. market in Adilabad, Andhra Pradesh photo: by arrangement after 100,000 fans shared his Instagram photos. Lasse Matberg, a 6 ft 6 inch tall, bearded lieuto. Ground visits by government agencies and tenant in the Norwegian navy, posted pictures of Monsanto representatives pegged the loss at himself chopping wood, posing in tight t-shirts, ₹235 cr. Monsanto offered the farmers a token and even cradling a puppy. A real-life Thor. compensation of ₹10 crore, which the state government rejected and instead gave ₹35 crore to the farmers on its own. “The people of India have paid ₹270 crore and the company profited,” says Mohini Mohan Mishra, secretary of the Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS). In 2015, whitefly attacked and destroyed antosh Yadav, a Gurgaon-based activist, nearly two-thirds of wants the cotton crop in Punjab the Supreme Court toand banHaryana WhatsApp. In his pet-the farmers sprayed even after ition, Yadav alleged that the 256-bit encryption pesticides repeatedly. that “Four years ago it was WhatsApp has enabled onthe all mealy accounts since bug, lastApril yearisit was the whitefly illegal. India allows for encryption up to 40says bitsMishra. and which attacked,” the secure encryption will take trillions of years to Seeds of worry break, the petition claims. But how will we stalk people after this? Within a decade, input costs have increased threefold as seeds become more expensive and farmers have had to use more fertilisers to increase yield while also spraying pesticides. In 2012, farmers spent ₹63,751 per hectare, compared to less than ₹30,000 in 2007, as the figures compiled by the Cotton Advisory Market force Cotton cultivators line up to buy Bt cotton seeds in Mysore in 2011 ma sriram
Viral Viking
Instagram swoons over Norwegian’s good looks
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WhatsApp in the dock
Vigilante wants app banned
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Board of India show. An increase in the interCotton plants in India are grown at some of national price of cotton is the reason farmers the lowest densities per acre worldwide, and are still able to make some profit and contin- hybrid plants require more fertiliser to flourue growing the crop. ish. Each cotton plant is under pressure to proSeed prices make up a significant part of the duce at least 100 bolls (fluffy cotton fruit), input costs, as GM seeds are more expensive while the global average is seven bolls — this and cannot be reused — farmers means the plants need a longer buy them from seed companies time to mature and grow bushy. every year. For the first time, this The timing of the planting is imyear, a Central government comportant to ensure the plant is maGM seeds are more mittee capped seed prices at ture enough to deal with pests. ₹635 (450 g packet) for the BG-1 expensive and cannot The CICR has developed 10 new be reused — farmers hybrid and ₹800 for the BG-2 hyhybrid varieties that mature fashave to buy from brid. “The price of seeds has rister and are also more suitable for seed companies en uncontrollably; companies cultivation in rain-fed areas. “If 10-year-old from Finland has been every year are selling at their$10,000 will andby crops we plant cotton more densely, at rewarded Facebook afareter failing,” says Mishra. 40,000 plants per acre, sow early he found a bug on the photo-sharand use varieties that mature fasing site Instagram. Jani, who cannot Input-output mismatch ter, it is a much better combinahave an account on Facebook until he The country’s cotton production tion to tackle the problems faced turns 13, found a flaw that allowed him has falling yearly,on even as pesticide tobeen delete comments posts. “I would use by cotton growers in the last few years,” exhas increased to the levels seen before Bt cot- plains Kranthi. have been able to remove anyone, even ton was introduced. While it’s true that With the right kind of aid, the country’s cotJustin Bieber,” he told Finnish newspa-pesticide shrankFor initially, last three years, ton growers can once again capture the statuperuse Iltalehti. now, in hethe has used the however, 1 kg/hectare money farmers to buy have a newused cycle, football as re of top global producer. they scrambled to contain the bollworm equipment and computers for his and whitefly. It is estimated that over 50 per cent of saurabh yadav brothers.
Little hands catch bug 10-year-old gets Facebook payout
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Getting cheeky Lalu lends face to Patanjali products
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aba Ramdev has an admirer in Lalu Prasad. During their recent meeting in Delhi, the yoga guru applied cream to the cheeks of the politician, who went on to praise Patanjali products in glowing terms. “I am a permanent brand ambassador of his products.” Now that’s some fodder for thought.
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in-faq by joy bhattacharjya
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t’s the 89th birth anniversary of novelist and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, best known for her long and successful collaboration with Merchant Ivory Productions. This quiz is all about legendary collaborations.
here,there & elsewhere
Private ladies
Famous partnerships
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Jhabvala is the only person to win both a Booker and an Oscar. For which of her novels did she win a Booker Prize in 1975?
he book arrives by mail, sealed within two sheets of extra-rugged T brown paper. It’s marked for Bins, but
In an interview of one member of a famous partnership, he mentioned that the two of them got together after Rajesh Khanna offered them onscreen credit and good money for working on a Hindi remake of a South Indian hit in the early ’70s. Name the film and the duo?
he’s not home and I’m curious about the packaging. Most books come in a standard carton or else a padded envelope but this one looks so odd that I open the package. The book is called Paying For It, a “comic-strip memoir about being a john” by graphic novelist Chester Brown. The cover is in two shades of dull red, with the titles in white. The inside pages are in stark black and white, laid out in a grid of eight small rectangles per page. Rather like a stamp album. Strangely enough, this is perfect for the book’s subject matter: the true and sober story of one Canadian man’s decision to visit prostitutes to satisfy his sexual needs. It is entirely explicit but in the way of a well-made documentary, with no attempt to add frills or thrills. Barely have I glanced inside but Bins walks in the door. “That’s MY book!” he roars. “I know,” I say, “stop shouting. I didn’t know you were interested in ladies of the night?” He tries to snatch it out of my hands, but fails. “It’s not for girls. You will not understand it,” he says, putting on his best Asterix the Gaul expression. “Oh pffff,” I say. “If you
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In Concert 1972 is a double live album released in 1973 on Apple Records. It was recorded at the Philharmonic Hall, New York City, in October 1972, and was a tribute to the recently deceased guru of the two main artists. It is regarded as the first album to popularise the concept of ‘jugalbandi’ in the West. Who were the two collaborators?
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Which prolific film-making team have made more than 15 films together, writing, directing and producing all of them, and have been nominated for 13 Oscars? They also edit their films, using the alias Rodrick Jaynes.
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Which other famous scientist, who also has a SI unit named after him, collaborated with Lord Kelvin on the formulation of the absolute scale of temperature?
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One Day International cricket records tend to be rewritten almost every decade, and partnership records are no exception. One partnership record though, for the 10th wicket (106 runs), has been standing since the mid-’80s. Who were the two batsmen involved?
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Which hugely successful partnership started between a certain Mr Cohen and a Mr Greenfield in 1978 with a $12,000 investment and an outlet in Burlington, Vermont?
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Cousins Frederic Dannay and Emanuel Benjamin Lepofsky from Brooklyn, New York, were prolific writers of detective fiction. Which pseudonym did they use for their writings?
want to order naughty books in the mail, then you’ve got to wait by the door to grab them before I do.” Just then Jiggs-the-Indian-Guy-Next-Door walks in to find out what all the shouting’s about. I hold up the book. “Bins bought a picture book about prostitutes in Canada!” I exclaim. Jiggs says “Haw!” in a shocked voice and Bins snatches the book out of my hand. After which we all have tea and talk about the craziness of the American election. But later, when both of us have read the book, I say to Bins, “So. What did you think of the author’s point of view?"
The book contains some very candid discussions about the murky politics of romantic love versus the simple transaction of paid sex and the respect or lack of it between consenting adults seeking sex. The author tells us that his purpose is to share the truth of paid sex in order to puncture some of the myths and fantasies surrounding the subject. At the end of the book there are several pages of notes and comments which take these discussions further. It’s impossible to feel neutral about the material. “He tells us there can be respect,” says Bins, “and I like it that he shows us his face and even his dangly bits — but not the ladies. He treats each woman as a person, with a story and a personality. Not just a body. Still ...” He shrugs. “I have never been to a shady lady. So maybe I can’t have an opinion.” I mention that I’ve known guys who have gone to prostitutes. “From their accounts,” I say, “it sounded to me a bit like going to a dentist, but more pleasurable.” And Bins says, with a perfectly deadpan expression: “Different cavities for different depravities.” manjula padmanabhan, author and artist, writes of her life in the fictional town of Elsewhere, US, in this weekly column
cornerstone
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Which legendary literary couple collaborated to start their own literary press, the Hogarth press, in 1917?
Which famous collaboration started with the film Flying Down to Rio in 1933 and ended with the Barkleys of Broadway in 1949?
Answers 1. Heat and Dust, which was made into a film in 1983 2. Salim and Javed, the partnership that wrote the likes of Deewaar, Sholay and Zanjeer. The original film was Haathi Mere Saathi 3. Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. It was recorded shortly after Ustad Allauddin Khan died 4. The Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan. Films include Fargo, Miller’s Crossing and Barton Fink. 5. James Prescott Joule, after whom the SI unit of heat is named 6. Viv Richards and Michael Holding. Viv scored 189, regarded as one of the greatest innings of all time. Holding got just 12 of those runs 7. Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. 8. Ellery Queen. Their main fictional character was also called Ellery Queen 9. Virginia and Leonard Woolf. The first UK book edition of The Wasteland was published by the press 10. Dance partners Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Their greatest hits included Top Hat and Swing Time
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joy bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup t@joybhattacharj
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