THE GIRL BEHIND THE SLOGAN Despite the protests over the rape and mysterious death of Delta Meghwal, the accused are out on bail and the case is going nowhere p2 saturday, may 21, 2016
shanker chakravarty
A bit of a stretch
Narendra Modi’s two years in office have irrevocably altered the social landscape. But will development indicators improve enough to help him achieve his longterm goal of being the best PM the country has seen? p9
THE HUNT IS ON More tigers have been poached in the first five months of the year than in all of 2015 p5
WONTON PLEASURES A taste of all things Chinese at Kolkata’s lesser-known Chinatown p20
know takeaway
BL BL 222
saturday, may 21, 21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
All in a summer day Where to sit, see and be seen at in Goa this season erator, for instance. The rooms include a nursery with a collection of charming toys from a bygone era. The old kitchen is stacked with utensils, crockery, cane baskets, earthen containers, much like a museum of archaic cooking methods. Chill out with a book, and breakfast at The Whispering Café, Ucassaim This place is great for unwinding — located in the balcony of a beautiful Portuguese house, which is nestled among trees on the top of a hill in the village of Ucassaim. You can hear the wind blowing through the trees here, hence the name. Must-have: banoffee pie. Lunch at Black Sheep Bistro, Panjim At Whispering Cafe, a new café in Ucassaim village images anuradha sengupta
Prahlad and Sabreen Sukhtankar of Panjim’s Black Sheep Bistro are using local ingredients to great effect in their menus. Try their revamped chorizo pão — served on toasted hunks of homemade whole-wheat poi with shavings of dark chocolate. They use local fish and bread for their fish cakes served with a plate of buttery-garlicky pois.
Sacha’s Shop, Panjim
Pick up leather puppets at Sacha’s Shop, Panjim
Beti, interrupted Urban Cafe in Panjim
Young designer Syne Coutinho’s boutique is housed in her father’s ancestral home near shutterstock the Boca da Vaca spring. It may look like a hotchpotch collection of things but the clothes, jewellery and bric-a-brac like paper animals and leather puppets are items she has chosen carefully. Buy your Goa gifts at Velha Goa Galleria, Fontainhas
The mystery shrouding the death of aSheep minor at a residential institute as a chilling Fish cakes and butter-garlic pois at Black Bistro, Panjim The storeserves has an exquisite range of ceramics, crystal and glassware from Portugal. The best reminder of all that is wrong in a State that is loudly promoting pick girls’ education here would be one of their gorgeous ceTake a tour of the grande dames This is the best way to begin your holiday in n March 28, at the end Holi holiGoa. Drive down to Loutolim, via of some days, 17-year-old Delta Meghwal scenic landscapes along River was on dropped Mandovi. Here, a tour off of by her father at the residential the old mansions of Goa youAdarsh Jain Teacher’s find Training Institute in Nokha, Bikaner (Rawill stories from anothjasthan). Her two-year course er era. The Figueiredo Housewas ending and herLoutolim exam results were expected in is highly recom- the next day. The daughter of is a Dalit schoolteacher in Barmmended, for it perhaps the er, around 400 km away, shedewas the first in grande dame of these. Maria her familyFigueiredo to study beyond school. Her proud Lourdes de Albufather, Mahendra Ji Panwar, held her up as an querque, the 80-something example hishouse, students. owner oftothe will welcome you Onthe March 29, she was foundwooden drowned from bougainvillea-laden ve-in the water tank theto hostel building. randah. Youbehind will have call ahead to Her fateful walk towards the her. water hadn’t book a personal tour with Buttank don’t goneit,unnoticed. At—7both am, the father of the inmiss it’s worth it for the stitute’sand owner hadcolourful seen her during his mornhouse the ing walk. Herporcelain hostel-mate, owner. With skintoo, saw her leaving the dorm. Yet, it was only around midday that and wavy cream-and-beige the police called hair, it is were difficult to in be-to trace the missing girl. The owner, lieve thatinstitute’s she is in her 80s.Ishwar Chand Vaid, failed to inform family about her “Liberation was a Delta’s botheradeath.she loves to say as she tion,” Theyou teenager takes aroundhad her gone familymissing from her dormitory thewas night before home, which opened to as well. Around midnight, the hostelingirls had raised an the public one as aofmuseum alarm after failing findXaDelta in her bed. A collaboration withtothe search partyof ledHistorical by hostel Rewarden Priya Shukla vier Centre and theGoa. guard Akram Singh search, The house wasscanned the campus. She wasphases finally found in the PT teacher Vibuilt in two — the ol-
O
ND-X _ A
der part was built 407 years ago. The left wing ramic boxes. Or their famed azulejos, painted was built two centuries later. It has an im- and glazed ceramic tiles used in Spanish and intermittently by brush and in bushes. buildings. Thesetrees are made their jendrapressive Singh’scollection room, according to porcepolice Portuguese of furniture, Hardly a soul crosses your the onein Margao and way the on artists are testimonies by thesilk hostelembroidered warden and workshop lain, given Chinese hour journey, and from therePortugal. is not a single brightby experts other hostel residents. Post-mortem reports trained garments, and costumes and dresses, have since confirmed as sets a minor, is ly-coloured dupatta of a local woman in sight 20th centuryrape; dinner fromDelta PortuCatch up on your e-mail at Urban Café, Panjim to break the monotony of men out and about below the gal, age of consent. 17th century china. Maria’s stoon the onestreets. boldly declares on a huge poster that In a strange turnthe of most events, the schoolpart au- This ries are fascinating The police Nokha is a nondescript beach is station boring”.inThe two-floor cosy place thorities had, intour the —middle of about the night, of the she talks how “The building, single-storey brickQuarter construction located ain Panjim’s Latin and isina forced the several minor Delta and the have PT teacher to is governments tried to side of a dusty courtyard. One police jeep and the Old Quarter hostel, where you cana sign a document apologising for having take over the property, and ‘conhow part few whitein cars are parked inside, dorms and rooms. sensual sex’. The hostel wardenthe Victoria & find accommodation museums (including heating in the summer and a up collection of books sun; and had informed PT teacher’s Albert the Museum in London) have They have wi-fi, there’swith a heat wavecoffee on. and outa cold wife about the incident, butmany Del- antiques, in- magazines. Browse wanted to buy the in the station house offisizedtocookies, orI wait a glass of milk served with a ta’s parents remained in the cluding an old chest. “Prince Albert’s It is not easy cer’s building, chocolate block on(SHO) a wooden spoon.which, undark. “Even point, the she control not at mythis father-in-law,” sniffs. people’s like the sparse police station, has school did notshould inform theanything par“Why I give to V&A?”behaviour. I sexual Dine at the Hotel Venite, Fontainhas a split air-conditioner. The desk is ents,” says Satya Prakash SharLoutolim’s Casa Araujo Al- to start a didn’t want Oodles of charm every corner The piledpervade with files and the of empty ma, a Jaipur High vares isCourt another must-vishostel, but where Hospedaria Venite, locatedit in Panjim’s chair behind waits for its Latin occuadvocate and the public it. It isprosesituated opposite would these girls 200-year-old building. You will It is 11 am. The constable on cutor in Delta’s case.the highly avoidable and ifQuarter have gone I hadn’t?in a pant. entrance the duty offers me a glass and of water The Bikaner policetouristy had arrestBig Foot and its love the shell-encrusted withsuggests graffiti. IItcall used be a Pooja lodgthetoSHO, ed the principal, Vijay Shukla, sidekick Ancestral Goa. walls coveredand Goasounds was under Yadavhouse — she,when in turn, irrihis wife and hostelThe warden, Pri- was owned ing and boarding mansion best yaar, tablesI are onback the tated,The “Arrey, went ya, and PT teacher Singh, who isand is now a Portuguese rule. by a lawyer with atolovely of home at 4 am,balconies and calls begin come view in from the prime accused, museum right afterpacked the incident. with all overhanging paved below. Order a bottle of their 6 am. It isstreet impossible to have a moment of The principal and his of wifememorabilia have since rekinds — the wine, rum bananas. peace in this with line ofcaramelised work, madam.” ceived bail. family possessions bought house yum. Finally, the IPS officer — a woman in her 20s over many generations. Absolutely t’s a lonely ride toSome Nokha Bikaner’s old- — marches in, shod in polished oxfords, cap on of from the stuff reminds sengupta is aleft Kolkata-based world streets. The landscape, head, a lathi under her arm, andfreelance smelling youharsh of olddesert auction houses anuradha sandy soil and the white-hot horizon is broken of freshly applied lacto calamine. — the kerosene-fired refrig- journalist
Q R
I
3
BL
know
saturday, may 21, 2016
Under the scanner Delta Meghwal was a student of Adarsh Jain Teacher’s Training Institute in Nokha, Bikaner payel majumdar
A queue of people has formed outside. A man walks in and informs the officer: “Dahi aapke liye fridge me rakh diya hai, khatta ho jaayega (I have kept the yoghurt in the fridge, lest it goes sour).” “There’s another case going on right now, a gangster is on the run,” Yadav cancels an offending party’s gun licence even as she talks to me. “See, the day the incident happened, I wasn’t around. I had gone to Nagaur, and the second-in-command was looking after the case. Unfortunately, he is on leave right now.” She gives me an unofficial lowdown on the case, as it stands, ‘woman-to-woman’; for the official version I will have to go to Bikaner’s Additional SP Satnam Singh. Why was the water tank found covered with a lid if Delta had indeed committed suicide and was not murdered? Why is there no official police record of the body being brought from the site? Why was the death reported much after the body had been discovered at 10 am? No one from the police has answers to any of these questions. To add insult to injury, the body was transferred in a municipal garbage van. Ramkesh Singh Meena, the investigating officer, says, “We don’t have a dedicated vehicle in Nokha for such uses, so we decided to use the municipal garbage dumpster.” Jain Adarsh Senior Secondary School is located a little away from Nokha. The owner, Vaid, also runs a hospital nearby. The large grounds of the school are unusually quiet, as the students have back-to-back holidays — Ambedkar Jayanti, Ram Navami and Mahavir Jayanti. It’s been three weeks since Delta’s death; the gatekeeper tells me that no girls are at the hostel now. I ask to see the school, and the caretaker Pankaj and gatekeeper Akram Singh initially appear hesitant but agree eventually. A posse of men follow me around as I take pictures of the school and its grounds. Where is the hostel she lived in, I enquire. There’s more hesitation, and finally the guard points towards an extreme corner of the school. This long, one storey building is bookended by one-room quarters, painted in the bright pink-and-magenta colours of the main school building. The ground separating the school from the hostel area is barren and unkempt. I ask where her body was found. “She was found behind
counters, before adding, “It is not easy to control people’s sexual behaviour. I didn’t want to start a hostel, but where would these girls have gone if I hadn’t?” Asked about the culpability of his school staff in Delta’s death, either through callousness or abetment, he says, he case has shuttled between police sta- “You’ll find everything in the bail report. We tions, and there have been disagreements have all given testimonies to the police and over its jurisdiction. It has finally been trans- they [accused] have already got bail. That is all ferred to the CBI, which however, hasn’t made I have to say on the matter.” any investigations yet. While the Sessions Mystery shrouds the events of the night Court had thrice rejected the bail appeals of that snuffed out a young life. All that’s left is a the principal, warden and the teacher, the father trying to get justice for his daughter, Jodhpur High Court granted bail to the first and blocked by bureaucracy every step of the two. Sharma, the public prosecutor in the way. Briefly the story of Delta’s death made nacase, is clearly displeased. tional headlines when, at a protest march in “It is disturbing that they have been grant- Delhi, JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar proed bail, while investigations are still on. My jected the case as another institutional murhope for the case is that the CBI takes it up der of a Dalit student, a la Rohith Vemula. soon,” he says. There were protests in Bengaluru The police investigations have as well, but these did not result in been marked by several irregumuch headway in the case. larities. Initial reports in the lo“My daughter was exceptional. I would hesitate cal editions of Hindi I named her Delta after the enbefore sending newspapers, such as Januday, riched soil at the mouth of the another daughter hinted that Delta Meghwal was river. Why did the school not away to study… it is targeted because she was a Dalit think it important to tell me she better to have her girl. Under the headline “Brahwas no more? When I called the alive than educated min aurat ne karwaya Dalit chhaschool’s owner he told me not to tra Delta ka balatkar aur hatya call him again and again, since (Brahmin woman gets Dalit girl he was busy outside. What is Delta raped and murdered)”, more urgent than a death?” Delone report suggests that Delta was sent to ta’s father doesn’t mince words about the clean the PT teacher’s room by the hostel war- school’s shoddy handling of the case. den around 8 pm, before she was found dead The apathetic treatment that a trust-run the following morning. This contradicts the school has meted out to its student is especialwarden’s testimony. ly worrying in a State that is loudly promoting Delta’s father sounds dejected over the girls’ education with its Beti Bachao Beti Padphone, as he recounts the events surrounding hao campaign. There are no regulations from his daughter’s tragic end. “I do not have much the Human Resource Development ministry hope from the way things are going. They have regarding how hostels are to be run in private been charged under Section 306, which is institutions — no mandatory health checks or abetment of suicide. Even the public prosecu- security guidelines either. When contacted, tor said in court that it looks like suicide. The Rajasthan Minister for higher education Kali witnesses, the three girls who used to stay Charan Saraf remained unavailable for comwith her, have turned hostile in favour of the ment. Delta’s father leaves us with several disschool. It looks to me like another case where turbing questions: “Will parents be fine with the administration tries to collectively silence sending their daughters away to study after justice, in this case, for my beti. My only hope Delta? I am a teacher myself, and was so proud now is that the CBI will begin investigations as of my daughter. Yet, I would hesitate before soon as it can.” sending another daughter away to study… it Vaid, the school owner, is taken by surprise is better to have her alive than educated.” when I call him for this story. “They [the accused] have already got bail, haven’t they?” he payel majumdar the mess of the hostel, in the water tank,” comes a curt reply. The gatekeeper and caretaker trail me around as I take more photographs. Everyone seems glad when I finally decide to leave.
T
Q R
know takeaway
BL BL 204
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
Beneath the fissures The agitations in Tawang are not merely a tussle between pro- and anti-dam campaigners. A closer look reveals a power play in the monastery
TUMMY TRAVELS
Brewing discontent? The large presence of Gelukpa monks during the emotive yet unruly protest on May 2 could be construed as a rebellion within Tawang monastery ritu raj konwar
ND-X _ A
vourable verdict from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal had on April 7 suspended the environment clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest for the Nyamjang Chhu hydropower project in Tawang’s Zemingthang area. There are allegations that the trio had instigated the nonbailable arrests of Lobsang. Another version doing the rounds is that Guru Rinpoche, during a courtesy call on new chief minister Kalikho Pul on March 11, had agreed to support pro-dam activities. This, in turn, had angered Lama Lobsang and he released an audio clip questioning the Rinpoche’s nationality. This version however has been challenged by both factions. Supporters claim the Rinpoche never gave his assent when Pul the matter Wontons at sought had raisedMeat the of subject; rather, he had Sunshine, Chinese monastery joint at Tangra, aid to protect the aTawang against Kolkata images: zac o’yeah the recurring landslides. Lobsang, on the other hand, said the audio clip was from 2012 when Guru Rinpoche had given a clarion call to monks to stay away from political activities related to the anti-dam movement. The Panchayati Raj elections in 2013 and the Assembly elections in 2014 were contested on the ‘anti-dam movement’ plank in the Monyal region, comprising Tawang and West Kament the Gaden Namgyal Lhatsen or Tawang mon- districts. The much-venerated monk Tsona astery, as it is popularly known. The seat of the Gontse Rinpoche (TGR), who dabbled in elec‘abbot of Gaden Namgyal Lhatsen’ is highly re- toral politics, was then attempting a comevered. The life of the Monpas, the most pop- back after the death of former chief minister ulous tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, is delicately Dorjee Khandu, the man who had reduced interwoven with religion, with the abbot ex- TGR to a political non-entity. TGR took the antierting a pervasive influence on their socio-cul- dam posture and several monks were reporttural life and, hence, a political influence too. edly sourced from the Sera Jey Monastic Unipainted redhullabaloo, ahead of some festival. Amid the wordChinese is out that three versity As I get for lunch, a mom-andat ready Mysore in theI pass build-up to the Next the temple, I at chance upon one of the of theto five secretaries Tawang monastery are pop-style eatery simply (47 anti-dam agitations. It wascalled allegedChung that Lama few early-riser eateries — aptly seeking the ouster of Guru Rin- named Sun- South Tangra), where Chinese sitatstuffLobsang, who hadladies studied this shine where thewho breakfast menu consists of ing crab claws. poche;— the two support I order some, am informed institute, playedbut an instrumental singara chow Ngawang (Chinese Tsering samosas?) and won- that the crabsrole him are Lama arein being cooked specially for a this mobilisation. Though ton. I pick Dorjee the latter and get a huge plate of get-together. public and Lama Namgey. It is Instead, I’m given generous sentiment wasaagainst the Why were the meaty fiery sauce—and a bowl of plate of prawn allegeddumplings, that the rebel monks chow at ₹130. A radio plays disdams and the political hegemostudents of Tawang steaming egg drop broth. Lama Lama Lobsang Phuntsok, torted Chinese Soon the Chinese arnypop. of the Khandu family,clan TGR’s monastery supporting Totally stuffed, my exploration rives to feast,team Lobsang ThapkeyI continue and Lama fillingfailed two round banquet tables to dent the family’s Lobsang after he was and of been Chinese paper lanterns — a loaded with off-menu Sangfind Letaa seller — have aiding are visitpolitical specials. fortunes.Some Today, this accused of insulting young lad — campaign and a soy sauce factory ing from Canada, Lama Bengali Lobsang’s bringing fancy gifts like family is led by a political greenGuru Rinpoche? founded in 1954, apparently the against the political and reliiPhones; the Canadian kids eldest horse horn, Pema Khandu, the oldest in India and still using gious establishments. about doing cartwheels while son of the late Dorjee Khandu. traditional slow fermentation The large presence of Gelukupdating Facebook pages. A coupletheir of months after the methods. to my GPS, pa monksAccording in that emotive, yet Their Indian cousins areTGR silent in elections, 47-year-old died One of the there’s a Lao-tzu temple in be oneconstrued unruly May 2 protest could as a big-eyed wonderment. under mysterious circumstances in New Delrestaurants worth of the winding alleys, but I don’t as also rebellion within the monastery, an atTwothat of the so restaurants hi. It was he 40 hadorcommitted “sutrying in Tangra is reported find can buythe economytemptit.toOne undermine Dalai Lama,Beijing; as the ab-evenicide in Tangra worth tryingfan are Kimfa by hanging from a ceiling at his Amitav size of MSG — that essential bot bags is directly appointed by him. Such South Tangra), joint popular Vasant Kunj,a South Delhi”. Ghosha hassisters’ been house(9 in ingredient Chinese food —given in the threat construct isinnot unfounded, with locals hearty Chinese Thereafter, the mantle fell for upon Lama Lobsang spotted here every corner there’s perception to store, the lifebut of Guru Rinpoche, who to continue the fare,struggle. and Beijing ChristophApart(77/1 from the mulunfortunately not a single Sensing shoe danger, he tiple versionserand is camping at Dharamsala. Road), whoseafine is all realities, newdining conspiracy shop in sight. had earlier moved out of Tawang monastery theory doingthe with is Bengalis the therage rounds that of(even possible once army had guesthouse. Chinese involvement to Apparently take shelterKolkata at an Indian author Amitav Ghoshthe has been in derailing Tawang aA Chinese large enough tolocal merit a spotted day later,population he left for Bomdila but the adhere). Apart from anaunusually extenhydro projects, which have cumulative polocally printed Chinese newspaper. chap I sive ministration expressed its inability One to provide vegetarian selection, Beijing offers a hightential of generating 2,792 MW once commischat withGuru estimates that later todaytendered there arehis only security. Rinpoche re- ly Indianised duck ₹655: sioned. Thisversion theoryof Peking assumes anforadded 200 families left.Dalai ManyLama of the mi- “Pieces, signation to the onyouth May 6have but susmedium gravy,” the waiter for inimportance givenspicy the in Dragon’s penchant grated to Canada andremains. I spot about a dozen el- forms pense over its status Matheswartala Road, an unpaved Tawangme. as an integral part of Southern Tibet’s derly Chinese myofwalk. aunties, Ahead of theduring incidents May Two 2, there were tannery lane, history. is lined with otherevolving well-known geo-political In this diswho look like be atroika hundred years eateries rumours that they the might powerful of Pema Shunvs Li your and Sin Fa. undeniacourse ofsuch “myasviews views”, old, are delightfully in flowery silk pyja- bleAfter Khandu, his brother clad Tsering Tashi and cousin few to beers, Tangra this withnew its angle. oozing is theaneed investigate mas of aTashi kindwho thatrepresent must havethe been very fash- black gutters looks decidedly less grimy, so I Jambey three legislajarpum gamlin is the founding editor Eastern ionable in mainland China before district the 1949 tive assembly segments in Tawang — summon the courage to knock on of the gates of an Englishtannery, daily published fromhides Itanagar communist were miffedrevolution. with the SMRF after it won a fa- aSentinel, fortress-like where are still
Two for the price of one
T W
awang, the normally placid town better known for its spiritual heritage, natural beauty and strategic importance, suddenly found itself at the centre of a bloody incident a few days ago. What appears on the surface to be a “prodam versus anti-dam” tussle reveals disturbing undercurrents on close examination. orking my way through Lama Nima Wangde, a student at the the Tashopping list,ofI’ve wang monastery, fell to one the already several Market to buyalso vahundred bulletsbeen firedtobyNew policemen that fudge Nahoum’s killed one othernilla person andfrom injured at least Jewish bakery. Johnson’s cheese shop I proeight on May 2,At 2016. The cops had opened fire cured a bagful of Bandel cheesesan — these tradiwithout warning and without official ortional Portuguese-type smoked cheese der. The district administration erred byballs deare still made a village of the same name on taining the in monk-turned-activist Lama the outskirts of general town. Preparing leaveMon the Lobsang Gyatso, secretary to of Save next morning, alreadyunder miss the cosmopoliRegion Forum I(SMRF) a non-bailable tan Kolkata. section for the second time within 48 hours. I getarrested a brainwave: Kolkata HeThen was first on April 26 onsupposedly the charge has the only Chinatown in India and I vaguely of leading a protest at Gongkhar village, know it is. I haven’tMukto really Shakangchu breakfasted wherewhere the six-megawatt yet, soproject why not go Chinese? Maybe up a hydel is coming up, and againpick on April pair ofdefaming handmade boots, too,Rinpoche, because rumour 28 for Guru Tulku the abhas it that there are excellent shoemakers in bot of Tawang monastery. Chinatown. into a cab.on flimsy grounds His jailingI hop for 72 hours an hour get off in Christopher ledHalf hundreds of later, angryI supporters to troop inRoad, main street inand Tangra. Not much a to thethe prison complex culminated in of the street, moreofof a meandering lane lined with tragic turn events. Despite having four days’ tanneries and Chineseinputs, eating-houses. Many time and intelligence the administraare this early andappropriately. it turns out —Why a bunch torsshut failed to respond were of into tell me so — that they are thestudents studentsI run of Tawang monastery supporting primarily known as dirt cheapof bars, only open Lobsang after he was accused insulting Guat (6-10pm). Some showcase crooners, ru night Rinpoche? Is there a design to undermine but don’t Lama’s expect Shanghai-style here: the the Dalai authority over jazz Tawang monmusical fare isreports more Tollywood. Until about astery? Media may have simplistically 1950, thethis area was infamous forattempt its opium reduced conflagration to an “to dens. dens were but all there shut isdown silence These anti-dam protesters”, more post-independence. to it. As walk around, I discover a Chinese cemeTo Ibetter understand this, one must first be tery dating to 1900, a who Formosa for familiar withback the characters haveInn locked those wish toplay staywithin overnight, and a Chihorns who in a power and outside the nese Kalimandir, which Buddhist is getting its gates second-oldest Mahayana monastery,
The search for a hearty Chinese breakfast in Kolkata leads to the discovery of a second, notso-famous Chinatown
zac o’yeah
Q
R Q R
5
BL
know
saturday, may 21, 2016
Organised crime against tigers Amid the euphoria over rising numbers in the wild, the year has started on a bloody note for the national animal, with 30 succumbing to poachers’ bullets
Watchword Forest officials — the first line of defence for the tiger against poachers — are understaffed, underpaid and under-equipped for the task kr deepak
2012-14, while other countries lost fewer than 10 each during the same period. “It is very difficult to manage a tiger reserve with the number of staff currently available,” says Tito Joseph, programme manager with WPSI. Eleven years after the Tiger Task Force (set up to glean lessons from Sariska, where tiger numbers plummeted from 16 to zero in 2005) reported that nearly 20 per cent of forest staff posts remained vacant, the problem has only grown in magnitude. “There are more than 40 per cent of the posts vacant right now,” Agile does it There is a crying need for younger forest staff for more says Sen. Another problem flagged effective patrols m sathyamoorthy; (inset) file picture of weapons surrendered by by the Tiger Task Force was the high poachers in Assam ritu raj konwar average age of the personnel — 42 for forest guards and 46 for foresters and n May 16, four men were arrested “We are seeing these [spurt in] rangers. Younger staff was seen necessary for in Raiwala, near Dehradun, with a deaths because of inadequate anti-poaching more effective patrols. tiger skin and 25 kg of bones. Elev- staff and not enough intelligence on the “All vacancies should be filled and the effort en feet long and five feet wide, the poaching networks,” says PK Sen, the former by front-level staff should be recognised. A seized skin became exhibit no. 30 in the list of director of Project Tiger. The success, however special force needs to be set up in every tiger poached tigers so far this year. limited, of the tiger project could be the very reserve,” Joseph recommends. Barely a month ago, animal lovers had cele- reason for the animal’s current plight. “A The extremely low conviction rates for wildbrated an increase in the number of wild ti- number of tigers are grown-up in Corbett, life offences add to the staff’s woes, as that furgers for the first time in a century. There are Ranthambhore and Kanha and now need new ther emboldens poachers. To date, the WPSI now 3,890 tigers in the world, up from 3,200 territory; with not enough vegetation cover has recorded only 61 convictions for killing a six years ago. India is home to 2,500 of them, available and a decreased prey density, tigers tiger or trading in tiger parts. “Poachers are a witnessing a steady rise in number over the need to move further,” Sen explains. As the step ahead of us, they have their networks, past decade. Alongside the successes of tiger grown animals move out of the they constantly test the system, conservation projects, however, the poach- core reserve areas into the lessand when the enforcement beings and killings continue unabated. protected buffer zones, they becomes better at one reserve, they The number of dead tigers, from various come vulnerable. Most of the ti- The number of forest change sites,” says Bishal Singh natural and unnatural causes, has already tou- ger reserves have a poor, officials killed on duty Bonal, head of National Tiger ched 62 this year, according to the Wildlife degraded forest cover outside is higher in India than Conservation Authority. Protection Society of India (WPSI). The grisly the core zone, with scattered huIn Corbett, it is a new gang of in any other country haul of seized skin, bones and body parts man settlements. “If people Bawarias, a nomadic tribe from points to rampant poaching. In comparison, don’t co-operate, the forest deRajasthan who were earlier 25 tigers were illegally killed in all of 2015. The partment is not strong enough blamed for emptying out the Sadeaths have been reported across 11 tiger re- to stand up to them; we need the riska reserve. Some poachers serves countrywide, including five (or six, ac- help of the rural development departments,” have been active for generations and know the cording to various reports) deaths at Corbett, Sen adds. Man-animal conflicts have become jungle all too well. Effective intelligence is India’s premier reserve for the big cat. more frequent near tiger reserves, as also in needed to foil these multifarious threats. “We “The one conclusion I can draw is an in- the buffer areas. At the Dudhwa National Park are fighting with organised crime groups, we crease in demand from China,” says Belinda in Uttar Pradesh, four people were killed by ti- need a specialised effort to track these gangs, Wright, director of WPSI. That demand has gers in March-April. monitor repeat offenders; we should take the long driven tiger poaching in India. In OctoForest officials — the first line of defence for assistance of state police to monitor people,” ber 2003, customs officers in Tibet had cap- the tiger against poachers — are understaffed, Bonal says. tured a truck transporting the skin of 31 tigers, underpaid and under-equipped for the task After a worryingly high-fatal year so far, 581 leopards and 778 otters, a copy of the Delhi and, hence, unmotivated. Additionally, the more threats loom ahead with the approach edition of an English daily stuck to the bundle number of officials killed on duty is higher in of monsoon — the peak season for poaching. like a calling card. Enforcement authorities India than in any other country. The non-prof- The claws are out… of the human kind. have for decades struggled to break the supply it International Ranger Federation (IRF) noted link to the Chinese market for wildlife parts. that 72 forest rangers were killed in India from saurabh yadav
O
Q R
read talk
BL BL 186
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
The tyranny Death byworship injustice of hero
another case would be that of Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi. She was turned into a goddess UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY figure, whereas she was this really interesting, eccentric ruler. By turning her into a goddess, we deny everything remarkable about her. I’m from Ranchi, where Birsa Munda (one of the 50 profiles in your book) is ubiquitous: the airport, the secretariat, prominent crossings and so on. And yet, knowledge of his deeds and his history is quite superficial. How do you explain these parallel processes of veneration and effacing history? I think that was one of the things that struck me about these people: we know their names, and we know some very basic story about them, but we don’t actually know who they were, we don’t know why they did what they did, we don’t know the kind of world they were struggling with. There are a number of reasons: we don’t teach our history very well in schools and colleges, for one. These figures are seized by political parties and then they become symbols. Birsa Munda did not live to turn 30, and yet he led this explosive life. He was a hero, a poet, a mobiliser. A remarkable man, and yet the history gets airbrushed. There aren’t that many images of him; the most used one is the one the British took, with him in handcuffs. If you go to the Lok Sabha and look at his portrait, it’s the same old British one, only the handcuffs have been Story is in the airbrushed. numbers Public debate A lot of stories and accounts about and India’s the “glorious past” revolvediscussion around aon perceived death penalty is about loss of credit, like the whole business largely centred the so-called Vedic mathematics. We believe around cases like the we should get credit forexecution quadratic equations, of Afzal modern surgery, robotics and Guru andgod Rajivknows Gandhi’s what else. How do we get out ofassassins. this loop? Seen hereI isdo a protest It’s a good question (pauses). think that against the death claims there are a lot of over-exaggerated penalty in Bengaluru about the people I discuss in the ap/gautam singhbook. It is essential that we stay objective if we are to engage with our history meaningfully. We need couple of weeks ago, I found myself criminal justice system — as shown by the find- dispense to have a kind of fine-grained discrimination justice when it comes to death penalon stage with the eminent Supreme ings of the project — is underperforming, if ties. rather saying, ‘There used to be golden That is than a fairly terrible indictment of aone Court (SC) lawyer, Nitya Ramakrish- not broken. Part of the reason behind this is of the era and of now have squandered it all’. I’m pillars thewe state. nan, and one of the sitting SC justic- found in the report itself. As part of the docunot looking put forward a progressive I asked JusticetoLokur about where we go hises, Madan Lokur. We were discussing the death mentation on socio-economic profiles of the fromtory ofHis India; I’m not that we have here. response issaying worth reflecting up-once penalty — to be more precise, the contents of a prisoners, it was found that 74 per cent of the on, not again made everything I’mSCactually merely because he isbetter. a sitting judge, saypainstaking report brought out by the project prisoners are economically disadvantaged. but because ing that of there are many things that weofhaven’t its importance to the idea a Deconstructing Historian andUniauthor Sunil to cent ‘de-mythologise’ some of the on the death penaltythe atpopular the National Law MoreKhilnani than wants 85 per had not finished sec- Republic resolved: women’s rights, individual exbuiltcaste, on logical argument. k murali kumar most important Indian figures thethe agesfew versity, Delhi (NLUD). India is down one of ondary school. Surendranath added that the pression. you werehe ansaid, Ethiopian looking to “I remain anIfoptimist,” and pointed countries in the world that still retains the SC confirmed only 4.5 per cent of the sentenc- out that makesuch a career inisIndia, in that manychange ways you a study the way death penalty, and although there is debate on es awarded by district courts. In at least 30 per happens. wouldNothing be better in the 16th century canofftransform without re-than the to BBC 4 radio the issue — whether ithen relates people likeseries Af- Inin was order to humanise the 21st.search, without data or discuscent mythologise of the cases thethem, prisoner carnations: in—50 zal Guru or the assassins of Rajiv India Gandhi ve- Lives them. But at the acquitted, while thesame resttime, wereI didn’t want to be In the chapter sion. about Research by universities, Dhirubhai Ambani, you wasdetails released 2015,who the mery few of us have actual onin those gratuitously iconoclastic because that’s also a mentionNGOs commuted. and other institutions have that he said: “People who distrust imposed prisoners brevity on au- Astendency end up on death row. dium The “celebrity” we have. Especially these statistics make clear, it in terms of peo- the creators brought theseareissues to tolight. of wealth destined live in thor anda representative historian Sunil though are not sample,Khilnani’s even is theple likeand Jinnah and Gandhi, quite an in- Court poor uneducated — un-that’s “You more poverty.” Youhave followa itfew up with ansuch reThe Supreme biographical The book version was if they are what wesketches. talk about. thing that —we do: either they’re able teresting to defend themselves who ports,” he how said,Indians “and you’ll see about no longer confirmed only observation, 4.5 released in years February, and it moves a fair clip, It took three to complete the at report. heroes orto everything about terrible. are sentenced death. Justice Lo-them isper howexcess thingsand correct themselves.” mistrusted inequality after that cent of the all 636 pages. Particularly impressive are the The research was conducted by NLUD students kur mentioned how, often, Too many us believe that an moment. Haven’t we of always been okay with Another piece of quite popular wisdomsentences about Indiaawarded frequent passages whereSurendranath, Khilnani deftly under the guidance of Dr Anup suchisdefendants to underthose things, as a people, all the way institutional democracy — back one to by district that we tendfail to speak no evil of the dead. Incourts works in current-day politics andWhen socialI realAshoka? director of the death penalty project. standthe the case being presented where an individual is allowed to case of someone like Amrita revealing, among other There things,is that meanities, research, I mean “search”. no the against them,our and cannot even I wonder, vote freely andactually. fairly — Iisthink goodthere in is Sher-Gil, cognisance of her suppressing of histories by no prisonmeans a recentralised database on deathispenalty give extraordinary correct answers. also off bedifference: even Ashokaiswas itself.a It is not. Democracy a veworkIttook cent ers. As theyphenomenon. are housed inHero-worshipping state prisons, the mycameonly clear thather many of the lawry toconcerned about means a good, and that providing good after death: do you If you were thologies thrivesdoesn’t while humanising accounts Central government have up-to-date yers think representing the prisoners for ifhis subjects.isPlanting this is a recurring pattern did not can onlyan be achieved democracy informedtrees, tend to on getwho buried along jail, the what way. conExcerpts information is in which withthe us,case that to wethe tendclient to ‘correct’ explain or provideEthiopian up- by looking providing for travellers, facts, bytoresearch, and bywater options. Our re- semake public a career in us the byother punctuating from conversation with dition theyaare in, the status of Khilnani: their appeals, if datesour on narratives the same. In words, the governcurity, and I to think thatbut was a gives framework debate, many with death? any, or even if they are dead or alive. Consider- mentthem routinely sentences people to death,India, and inwe leadership ethic in India. mustways fill it withstrong the data necessary to move Whatare was the385 starting pointon fordeath this book you’d beforward, better off in much I thinkand there’s elementamong of them ing there only prisoners row the poorest most an vulnerable Butofletthat me data skip ahead and will betoofJamsetji in(and the earlier radio series), this exploration the 16th century than that. It’s a bit like our — something the project discovered — this disproportionately pay thefascination heaviest price. Tata, who was also a founding justices. It is only by uncovering them, discuss- figof figures who,difficult in someacases, were with artists or musicians should not be that number to as track. Fundamentally, a system that who punishes the the ure of sorts. What’s ing21st them, and finding solutions to theminteresting that a influential as, say, Gandhi, but not The fact their early But we do not do this. Though the deathnearly penal-as poordie for young. being poor is anofunjust system. From democracy becomes withvaluable, him is his ability to otherwise wecomwell-known? deathsthat somehow dominates ty is supposed to be used in the “rarest of rare” the details emerge from theour report — in- can reduce the Parliament bine short-term to anprivate arena interest for very interested even in the figures understanding of them and cases,I was we seem to care little about what hap- that cluding that of custodial torture on a wide shouting matcheswith interest, full oflong-term sound andpublic fury signinotionally familiar, like Ashoka, like the work.that I don’t know if I’d sayhas docu- fying nothing. and that’s something that charpensare to them. scale,their a topic Ramakrishnan Gandhi, at Jinnah and so on. I wanted to thatinwe (Indians) speak no evil, some- acterises the empire he built. That’s not a spirIn Buddha, his presentation the launch, Surendramented her book — it is clear that because the crimit@OmairTAhmad themterms, for us,said to show times we speak aoflotIndia of evildoes about thereally dead. But it we find today. nath,de-familiarise in no uncertain that that our the nal justice system not standard view that we have about them is not we refuse to see them as human beings. And necessarily the human view. I wanted to de- perhaps it happens more often with women: aditya mani jha
The poor and vulnerable form 74 per cent of the total number of death row convicts in India Sunil Khilnani’s Incarnations is a collection of 50 short profiles that seeks to free its subjects from India’s obsession with personality cults
A
W
Q
R Q
Incarnations Sunil Khilnani Penguin Non-fiction ₹999
Omair Ahmad is the Asia Editor for The ND-X _ A
Third Pole, reporting on water issues in the Himalayas
R
7
BL
talk
saturday, may 21, 2016
COSMOPOLIS
Song of a people Set far away from Georgia, a 12th-century epic poem about an Indian prince and a brawny Arab remains the consummate Georgian saga till date More than most places, Rustaveli’s Georgia was a crossroads. His poem demonstrates the breadth of his erudition and the wide frame of reference that Georgians inhabited at the time. He invokes classical Greek and Christian Neo-Platonist ideas coming out of Byzantium to the west just as he evinces knowledge of chivalric Arabic poetry. There was no clean line here between East and West, Asia and Europe, or even Christendom and Islam. We often associate ancient texts with a particular religious outlook, but ‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’ omnivorously refers to the holiness of the Koran, the Christian god, and the pantheon of planetary deities like Venus and Mercury. The influence of Persian looms large over ‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’ and all of medieval Georgian literature. Rustaveli was schooled in Persian classics like Ferdousi’s ‘Shahnameh’ and Gorgani’s ‘Vis and Ramin’ (he was also a contemporary of the great Nizami Ganjavi, whose famous ‘Khamsa’ would be Identity politics Since Georgia emerged as an independent state, the epic has begun to shoulder even more of rewritten in Delhi by the 13th century poet the symbolic weight of the nation. An illustration of ‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’ in Georgia shutterstock Amir Khusrau.) Like their Persian counterparts, the heroes of the Georgian epic compare beauty to the aising the red and black ban- largely on familiar soil, a mythical geography slender form of the cypress tree, they love ner, the royal standard of In- that Indian readers can map onto the real metaphors about lions and goats, they faint at dia…the Indian armies world. Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ endowed Rome with a the merest mention of the name of their beassembled, countless as stars in glorious pre-history. The Persian ‘Shahnameh’ loved, and they cry so often that the reader is the heavens,” recounts Tariel, one of the two connects its readers to the legendary heroes of drowned in descriptions of tears. heroes of the medieval epic ‘The Knight in the their land. Composed at a time when the kingRustaveli and his Georgian contemporaries Panther’s Skin.’ Tariel, an Indian prince, leads doms of France and Spain were taking shape, probably never travelled to India, but India this force to attack ‘Khataeti’ or Cathay, what the French ‘The Song of Roland’ and Spanish held meaning for them in this broad cultural we would call China. In keeping with the ‘The Song of My Cid’ depict warriors defending landscape. Along with classical Athens and the prowess of heroic warriors, Tariel single-hand- their homeland from rapacious enemies. The deserts of Arabia, India was an integral part of edly pummels the Chinese army. “Man after 16th century Portuguese poem ‘The Lusiads’ their imaginative world. man was smitten to earth by the force of my chronicled the conquests that made Portugal And why not? Amitav Ghosh in In An Antique onslaught.” Triumphant, he returns to India a maritime empire. Land observes how in our modernity of nawith the captured Chinese king and many Unlike these famous tales, ‘The Knight in the tion-states, our vision of the world can shrink camel-loads and bullock-carts of booty. Panther’s Skin’ has nothing and older connections (between So goes an episode of a celebrated epic po- overtly to do with the country India and the Arab world, in the em composed in the 12th century. It was writ- where it was written. Its titular case of his book) be forgotten. ten far away from India, China, and Arabia (the hero Tariel, who drapes himself ‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’ The poem other arena of its action), in what is now the in the spotted skin of a panther, is a paradoxical reminder of how omnivorously refers nation-state of Georgia, a small country of is an Indian noble. Avtandil, the supra-national supposedly nato the holiness of the about four million people on the eastern rim other brawny and gallant protional epics can be. Koran, the Christian of the Black Sea. tagonist, is Arab. The main dra- god, and the pantheon It only became an emblem of At no point do the events of ‘The Knight in ma of the plot centres about Georgia in the 18th and 19th cenof planetary deities the Panther’s Skin’ come anywhere close to the their quest to rescue Tariel’s betury, when peoples everywhere hills and plains that make up modern-day Ge- loved, an Indian princess called began turning to nationalism orgia. Nor do they involve Georgian charac- Nestan-Darejan, from the capand searching for an authentic viters. And yet the epic is the consummate tivity of demons. sion of themselves in the past. Georgian saga, so knitted into the fabric of soHow did a fable of Indo-Arab bravery and Since Georgia emerged as an independent ciety that well into the 20th century every chivalric love become the iconic text of Geor- state from the ruin of the Soviet Union, the epwedding dowry included a copy of ‘The Knight gian literature? Part of the reason for the po- ic has begun to shoulder even more of the in the Panther’s Skin.’ Shota Rustaveli, the po- em’s abiding popularity is Rustaveli’s rich symbolic weight of the nation. A boutique luxem’s author, is memorialised in the names of language and metrical innovations (which ury hotel themed after the poem is scheduled streets, plazas, and academic institutions. have yet to be well translated into English). to open in the capital Tblisi later this year. Growing up in the Georgian town of Gori, a But beyond aesthetics, the poem reminds Ge‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’ can be young Stalin memorised ‘The Knight in the orgians of the era of its composition, the sup- read as an example of medieval Georgian acPanther’s Skin’ by heart. posed ‘Golden Age’ of Georgia. Rustaveli was a complishment. But the poem’s real power lies Most ‘national epics’ achieve that status by courtier to Georgia’s powerful female ruler, in its openness to the wider world to which it representing the nation in some way. Though Queen Tamar, who presided for nearly 40 belongs. the Mahabharata and the Ramayana evoke an- years over a confident and expansive Christian t@kanishktharoor cient times, the events of the stories take place kingdom in the late 12th century.
“R
Q R
Kanishk Tharoor is the author of Swimmer Among the Stars: Stories, a collection of short fiction
know watch
BL BL 16 8
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
Culling them softly The diary of a frustrated Indian film buff FILM FATALE
Declaring open season on animals is easy enough, but making it worth their while to stay in forests has been historically more difficult week. No one dares do anything radical (translocating them simply transfers the problem and the monkeys often take the first train back!) so they’re swarming all over the place, entering homes, raiding fridges and demanding hummus. In Shimla we have finally declared war on the monkeys, and let’s see how far thatcrore gets us. But it is all so typical of us: first ₹500 domestic gross collections, the we ignoreever a festering andfilm when(source: it goes highest for anissue, Indian critical, like a runaway fast-breeder reactor, forbes.com). flap around like headless chickensmass-oriseeking That said, Bahubali was inherently radical solutions. It’soflike ignoringniche the early ented. Many makers low-budget, and/ stages of cancer when disease to is or indie projectsand saythen, crowds arethe unlikely rampant and the versions patient’s of terminal, tryingand to flock to dubbed their films, nuke their it. natural viewers tend to prefer subtitles That’s why we need to be very wary of this over dubbing anyway. culling businessthen andsubtitle. why it can prove dangerFair enough, And if you do, let ous. We are expert drafting fine laws, and the world know youathave! absolutely when it comes implementMay 16: zero Exasperated by thistolong-running ing them,Ior monitoring adherence. Oh problem, phone Maarantheir to vent some steam. yes, even withtothis culling are My questions him apply decree, equally there to Tamil, conditions in and place, but,smaller seriously, who the Hindi, Telugu India’s industries. hell is going to consider them? We can’t even First, is subtitling expensive? Answer: the obey basicaverage traffic rules effectivecost or of implement subtitling the Tamil film is ly (or ₹50,000. we wouldn’t have 1.5 lakh people about mashed up on the roads To you tell Not a forbidding figure,every whichyear.) makes people at not will subtitled is akin to wonderthey whycan all shoot Indiananimals films are putting AK-47s in the hands of The toddlers high outside their home territories. clichéd reon sugar andproducers telling them to have fun in the sponse from is that collections beGrim picture A tale of police torture, Visaaranai just picked up the National Award for Best Tamil Film the hindu nursery. might argue, ah, audience but there are yond a One film’s traditional plenty of nilgai and wild boar around, so minuscule. what’s problem,lack butthe then theretowere also Mostthe producers vision see that his is not so much a column as it is April 30: I am moved by Sairat’s inter-caste millions millions of passenger subtitlingand makes their films accessiblepigeons to nonthe diary of a frustrated, furious In- romance with its remarkably light touch de- around untilaudiences, the last one died in the Cincinnatraditional which could translate dian film buff. spite the grim subject. I recall the previous ti zootheir not stars so long ago. These needed into becoming morebirds familiar and March 2016: I note that Marathi day’s casual multiplex employee and wonder, large tracts of forest and country to prosusthus more attractive to wild audiences and director Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat will be in the- for the nth time in my life, why it takes such an tain themselves, and once these were invaded ducers outside their home turf over time, atres in April. The wait for his second film be- effort to be a committed viewer of films across and developed, the birds became such a nuiwhich in turn would lead to more inter-regan the day his first — the much-acclaimed Indian languages. sance threat tooffarmers that open season gionaland exchanges acting talent, more paninter-caste relationship saga, Fandry — was reRewind to February: Tamil director Vetri was on for them. 30 years, Indiadeclared audiences all In Indian filmsthey andwere ultileased in 2014. Maaran’s Visaaranai is out. I’m still drowning shot to extinction. mately, a better spread of all languages The final29: solution? tell people can shoot animals at akin for to putting the hands of April Sairat isTohere and asthey usual, booking inwill myislove KaakaAK-47s Muttai,inthe film about two outside Here, states if you in getwhich rid ofthey too many wild boar are usually spov sudershan slum dwellers that he produced toddlers high onnewspaper sugar and telling them do to have in the nursery websites and listings not fun specilittle Chennai and simplyout encourage their ken.nilgai, Unlessyou’ll you reach to others, howpredwill fy whether it has subtitles. I do what most last year, and I have been looking forward to ators (leopards you reach them?and tigers) to come sniffing very time I notice that there are who pea- this viewers clearly cannot — I phone Manjule, Ofone. course, no one really bothers to inquire Again, no mention of subtitles any- forAs livestock around villages. are alpuzzling as those who(Leopards do not subtitle inEnglish the garden, go rushing out, confirms fowl it has subsIeverywhere out- why these have stepped out of their where. I amanimals swamped with work so I avoid the ready acquiring a taste for Subways McDotheir films are those who do. If youand made the waving my arms and yelling. Nation- forests, side Maharashtra. and enter and the fields in the nald’s.) Also, effort, rigmarole of dared calls toto Maaran today you it may nilgai and wild are be obviously interestbird or not, with first April 29alevening: I amthey at aare PVRruthless for another place. The answer of course, is that there’s boar, tomorrow so on. blackbuck andthen chied itincould newbe markets. Why seedlings and saplings. growing nasturtifilm, so I decide to book (Try a ticket for Sairat. I am nothing forathem left to May 8:much I catch subtitled Vi-eat in the for- tal and elephant be stripped of wouldwhich you may not let the public ums onceasthe peafowl attemptcautious always sinceknow there you’re have been occa- ests — andatthe fieldsHabitat present Film much richer picksaaranai Delhi’s their protected status and declared ‘vermin’. know your film is subtitled? Is subtitling ing towhen and see how far youbyget!) And ifand it’ssea ings. sions I was informed directors AndI am why is there Festival. floored by nothing this gutSo the way out? “It what’s is a simple matter of Theocomexpensive? Answer: band of ruffianchain rhesus (whothat recently nior multiplex staffers a filmcoldwas left in the forests? our wrenching story Because of police retically it’s simple: make it more munication,” says Maaran, “but the cost of subtitling bloodedly murdered innocent, pa- vast subtitled, only to find an no subs whenyoung I watched population of skeletal cattle torture. It has just won the Naworth the while (theatre of these owners) animals most exhibitors the average Tamil paya while attempting ravagecounter the ba- roam it. So Itree double check with theto booking will for (and intional at Award Bestillegally) Tamil Film. to remain forests rather don’t do it in andtheir distributors don’t film about ₹50,000. Weisare experts at nana trees)Sairat I often I had something like a side executive. is wish not subtitled, he replies. them Best andFilm. have cleaned It deserved Sadly, most drafting than venture into potato or push them since they are targetNot a forbidding fine laws and Gatlin AK-47, thesetold hoodlums I tellgun himorwhat thebecause filmmaker me. No them alldoes up. not Census of India knowfigures that. of fields. Any Ensure that ing the diaspora. non-diasfigure absolutely zero when groundnut are just ruthless andhe indiscriminate. subs, heas insists. Could ask a senior? Please? wildlife vs livestock Over population a decade since Hollythey all they need to eat pora get audience that comes in isina it comes to From one just has to extrapolate None is here, available, he says, adding that iftoa in many sanctuaries in India will wood made it standard practice their — byproducers discouraging bonus.forests What can do?” implementing them fields burgeoning withonpotatoes or gram he or often show of the film were at that moment, lookHindi, like this: chital: 250, to release Tamil and Teluinterlopers At least talkthere. to them, please. maize or whatever, over would have dashed inlovingly to verifycultivated this himself. Bi- sambar: 100, nilgai of 400, wild gu dubbed versions all their Perhaps andthat trenchIt is hardfencing to believe dismonths, think what sounder of wild boar: zarre. Heand should notofhave toado that, I say. 300; domestic livestock big-budget, sci-fi/fantasy action adventures tributors have ingtocan be improved made move mountainsand or spend boar (jungli ortomorrow, a herd of nilgai, or black Could yousooar) return he asks? No, I and thrillers goats: 50,000 animals; with or the English millions to high-tech simultaneously that they are unable convince so exhibitors, e-booking buck forspend that matter, can hour do in aon single nightday of something cannot an entire another to thatindustries effect. So are youstill know who’s to originals, India’s waffling access fields. sites and the listings collators to merely mention hard partying. Andhere we’reand notback, talking or- eating driving all the way forabout informaandtohow much, and why the wild in theirwhat efforts reach out to audiences out- that Asafor me, I know that best way to disfilm is subtitled. It isthe hard to fathom unnamental gardensbehere, but computer someone’sright life- animals tion that should on his helping themselves to our crops. side theirare home states. courage garden marauders — every simian or not — enterprising exhibitors, since ticket sold work and daily now. Time is notbread. a joke.Naturally, farmers want In the cities it goes a step further, dif- is Bahubali’s well-strategised pursuitifofinaapanto acquire a dog in the past), but benefits them. And(it it worked is hard for a tormented to declare season on these creatures, I ask foropen a phone number I can later call.and He ferent way. On the Northern Ridge inSSDelhi India viewership in 2015 was unusual. Raja- since that’s practicalwhy right now, I’llsense just film buff to not understand common now the government has allowed them tothat do (and manages to locate a senior and confirms as in many cities in India), theTamil, pop- have mouli’s film wasother made in Telugu and to keep running out, waving my arms does not prevail. so, in specific, affected areas of Mahathisthey hallsay, is indeed showing a subtitled Sairat. ulation macaques hasand gone through and yelling! dubbedof inrhesus multiple languages aggressiverashtra Bihar, places where the depredaWhew! Iand book, after 30 minutes wasted over the roof — simply because people throw them ly marketed across the country, not just in anna mm vetticad is the author of The Adventures t@annavetticad Of An Intrepid Film Criticand lal is an author environmentalist tions are greatest.inefficiency. this inexplicable papaya and parantha least twice a ranjit southern India or to buffets Telugu at expats. Result:
Hollywood has tapped India’s non-English viewers for years, but domestic industries remain half-hearted in their bid to reach viewers outside their home states
anna mm vetticad
T
E
Q Q R R
ND-X _ A
9
BL
cover
saturday, may 21, 2016
Two years on…
Bettering the record of any Prime Minister India has ever had is what Narendra Modi set out to achieve. That goal has proven elusive so far, raising questions on if he — handicapped by a drought of talent among his ministers — has the wherewithal to accomplish it
On his mark Modi has been steadfast in his dedication to the Sangh parivar’s agenda of cultural nationalism k murali kumar
cover watch
saturday, may 21, 2016
BL
T Captain Nemo and the lone rangers o assess the Narendra Modi government’s two years in office, you cannot just look at how India is doing on the economic front, at how his ministries have been functioning, at how India has been interacting with the world at large, and at how adept his government has been at day-to-day political management; you must also look at his broader goals. Modi’s two goals will contextualise what he’s been able to do, and where he comes up short: One, resolutely dedicated to the Sangh parivar’s Hindutva project of cultural nationalism, Modi wants to change India irreversibly. He has already achieved this. There’s no going back on the polarisation that has taken place. Expect more in his remaining three years — and possibly beyond. Two, Modi has aimed at not just bettering the record of his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, but that of any PM India has ever had. This goal has proven elusive during the past two years. You may wonder if he has the wherewithal to accomplish this. For most governments in the world, what each sets out to do or accomplishes in its first six months defines that government for the remainder of its tenure. If so, don’t expect change in Modi’s broad achievements.
14 10
was the time to do something path-breaking,” The “enablers” here mean “Make in India” and says a former home ministry official. And we programmes for skill development, to enable all know what fellow Sangh traveller (though the large-scale industrialisation that will no longer a BJP member) Shourie said (who hopefully create jobs. It’s an indirect aphas an old rivalry with Finance Minister Arun proach. His supporters prefer direct action. Jaitley): that for Modi’s government, manag- Jobs are what win you elections; its promise ing the economy meant “managing the has brought Donald Trump a step closer to the headlines”. US Presidency. Take Jaitley’s budgets: all have just been arithmetic exercises focused on standardising Government taxes and subsidies and improving efficien- Undoubtedly, corruption has plummeted in cies. “The inordinate focus on GST (Goods and the last two years. “Middlemen used to be Services Tax) shows the bankruptcy in think- hanging around in every ministry,” says the ing,” says the technocrat. “Both the US and home official. “They have all disappeared.” A China have differentiated tax systems, yet they far cry from UPA-2 when the government remain the largest economies in the world.” seemed geared towards skimming funds. Ironically, Modi’s first choice for finance was Some claim that one of Modi’s major achieveShourie. Of the four men running the party — ments has been to clean up the UPA-2’s legacy Modi, Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh issues, markedly improving India’s Governand Minister for Road Transport and High- ance Index. ways Nitin Gadkari — the PM-elect found him“Whether or not it is fear of Modi, ministers self outvoted on inducting Shourie. Now, after conduct themselves with integrity,” says a butwo publicly-made sharp criticisms, Shourie reaucrat in an infrastructure ministry. “The stands no chance of coming in most corrupt minister in any and challenging the conventiongovernment is usually the roads al thinking in North Block. minister. There are untold road Which is why some in the govscams from UPA-2. But Gadkari Modi tries to be ernment want Reserve Bank of has managed to reduce the cost “hands-on” as much India (RBI) Governor Raghuram of roads from every ₹100 that as possible, though Rajan to be a future finance minused to be spent to ₹70.” Such this has led to Economy ister, despite his recent “onegraft-reduction leads to efficiencriticism of India’s economy had bottomed out post-2010. eyed king” remark about India’s cy and savings, which mean overcentralisation IMF calculated GDP growth at 4.5 per cent in relatively better performance in more bang for the buck. No won2012, 5.6 per cent in 2014 and 7.3 per cent in a dismal world economy. After der Dr Panagariya speaks of new 2016; it forecasts the world’s highest large- all, the burden of reviving the roads coming at a clip of 18 km/ economy growth for India in 2017 at 7.5 per economy — through lower interday, and commissioning of new cent. Things can only get better from hereon. est rates, to clean up corporate balance sheets rail track at 7 km/day. Driving this is the performance of some min- and help the dormant realty sector — was laid Yet, as Prasad Koparkar, senior director of istries, as we’ll see in the next section. at his doorstep. industry research at Crisil points out, the gov“Although ‘Big Bang’ reforms are missing, Another idea limping along is the Niti ernment has had to do the heavy lifting in inAgainst thegovernment grain ‘The Blacksmith’ anda ‘The Musician’ woodcuts Mawlang courtesy vadehra art gallery the Modi initiated number of (right), Aayog. “WhatbyisTreibor it exactly?” theimages home ministry frastructure spending, given the steep decline steps to improve the business climate, reform official asks. (NITI = National Institution for in private-sector spending. “For a sustainable the power and banking sectors and leverage Transforming India; it replaced the Planning pick-up in investments, reviving private-seche study offor semiotics is marked by a vering above, men with rotor-laden digital technology financial inclusion,” also finds in ischildren’s passionKoparkar. for huts Commission.) People have stoppedcostumes listening one tor participation a must,” asserts curiousJoshi, behavioural oscillation. caught and restrained falling Icarus. and says Dharmakirti chief economist at Cri- have tents: encloseofoneself and to settle, to Aayog vice-chairman andthe top NRI import “Given the to quantum infrastructure fundthe most superficial of signs reveals that theseKant men,apparbusy such sil, India’sWhen top credit rating agency. “With ris- Closer is the existential of childhood and Arvindinspection Panagariya. CEO Amitabh ing requirement — ₹31dream lakh crore over the next reveal themselves, there’s bees all, aretime pouring out of on theTwitter. Nauti- of ing global headwinds, India had the to thrill look worker correctly notestothat the ently has sufficient to quibble fiveVerne.” years —Barthes more needs to be done encourof applying acquired knowledge. When cigar-shaped advanced men inwards fornewly growth. The gradual uptick has lus,If Captain ensconced in the savings Nautilusinto are ultimately you wereNemo’s to listen to Modi’s staunchest age flow of long-term infrastructhe mechanism signs is monetary analysed, submarine from Jules Verne’s novel 20,000 not come at the of costthese of fiscal and escapees from their inner selves: supporters on social media, then Modi’s “big lone ture rangers, projects including tweaking of when one witnesses diddling of off-guard Leagues Under Sea. prudence, hence it isthe sustainable.” look out at thefor world through the submaidea” ought tothe have been setting a jobs target. they regulatory norms active participation by brains, there’s a quiet contemplation of huTowards right of centre-frame floats emSig- rine’s All this, however, can’t hide the fact that on Even windows, “and thusand define, in a single Crisil’sthe Joshi points to “kick-starting pension/insurance funds conducive reguman nature. And when you contemplate en- mund Freud, from one of famous im- act, the economy, the government lacks a big idea. theand inside by means of its opposite”. ployment generation” as his onemost of the challenglatory taxation framework for new structire machineries of manipulation, like ages, cigar in right hand, looking straight at tures “This was required if India is to take advantage Quite a few of the other in the exhibies facing Modi. The PM appears to fear making and instruments likeworks InvITs.” modern-day or organised reli- the camera. He “He has has the been torso focused of a fishonorena tion of the currentadvertising flux in the world economy,” says are instructive a semiological point specific targets. Modi’s leadershipfrom enables such infrastrucgion, you pause your reading ministry. to weep. Turns aquatic reptile. His technocrat. famous re- of a technocrat in an economic “Now mythological view. The visual idiom ofa Bakula Nayak’s ablers for employment,” says the ture delivery: he provides clear centre of out, there are things you are happier not mark (that now appears to have been apocry- works by illustrations in children’s gravityistoinspired the government. In contrast, in the knowing, at least in the short term. phal) — “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar” — is literature, with their bright cartoony UPA-2, every minister “was colours, on his own trip”. During the 20 or so minutes I spent staring turned on its head by the Nautilus and its ne- figures and languid, other-worldly Modi keenly listens to experts; heaesthetidoesn’t at Shrimanti Saha’s ‘The Spine Collectors’, a farious, relentless warriors, bent on destroy- cism. the despite real-world symbols like postchangeBut course setbacks like Bihar elecmassive (58” x 104”) mixed media work ing mythological structures. cards and currency tions; and because he vintage meets the powernotes and (graphite, colour pencils, water colour, casein Freud is either observing or cho(objects that it the in roads ministries so often is artist their found) problems and collage on paper), I found myself wonder- reographing this mayhem theout works is a strategic interventhat are sorted fastest. ing whether the artist, too, had been through (there is, after all, such a thing as tion: it tempers intoto a Modiinis apparently an agilenostalgia PM; he tries The men esconced this cycle. ‘The Spine Collectors’ is part of the analysing a concept to death). Eimore mature and holistic acceptbe “hands on” as much as possible, though the Nautilus are group show At the turn of a Page, curated by ther way, the destruction of myance of theofpast. Renuka Rajiv’s this has led to criticism overcentralisation. ultimately escapees Shivangi Singh for Delhi’s Vadehra Art Gallery: thologies will make us more a series of family is surely‘Family due to aJams’, drought of talent. “The from theirThis inner Apart from Saha’s creation, there are works by alone, not less. portraits, has an elegiac feel tothe it Modi government has strangely ignored selves Renuka Rajiv, Paul Barritt, Bakula Nayak and Roland Barthes, another man (coffee used as almost colour wealth of talent thatstains it has are access to in Treibor Mawlang. often photographed with cigars, places). The words that pepper all spheres ofinpublic policy,” says Nitin Pai, di‘The Spine Collectors’ is a mash-up of myths was aware of this phenomenon paintings provide fodder for rector of thethe Bengaluru-based Takshashila Infrom around the globe, with a simple catch: when he wrote Mythologies three-dimensional appraisal of stitution, a athink-tank on strategic affairs. they are all in a state of suspended animation, (1957). In the essay ‘The Nautilus and the these figures: the no captions form a narrative Administratively, minister is better than as if the creatures making up the myth were Drunken Boat’, Barthes says: “Verne has built a with theAB viewer in onwho priModi.continuity, Compare letting that with Vajpayee, caught mid-gesture, trapped. Towards the cen- kind of self-sufficient cosmogony, which has vate jokes and catch than phrases. had people smarter him — from his printre of the canvas, we see the sabotaged churn- its own categories, its own time, space, fulfil- cipal Individual pages fromMishra Paul Barritt’s Ten Leisecretary Brajesh to colleagues ing of the Ocean of Milk. Mount Mandara, the ment and even existential principle. This prin- sure a book ofand sketches, are also on like Machines, Pramod Mahajan Yashwant Sinha. churning rod, lies restrained by a criss-cross- ciple, it seems to me, is the ceaseless action of display. In one of theseno drawings, we see a man Modi’s cabinet shows such promise. ing lever system. Scuba divers have whisked secluding oneself. Imagination about travel and a woman in identical, maWater resources ministerbarrel-shaped Uma Bharti is danaway Vishnu’s turtle avatar, on whose back corresponds in Verne to an exploration of clo- chines marked ‘Love’.given Both the havegravity unremarkagerously nonchalant of the Mount Mandara was resting. Meanwhile, the sure, and the compatibility between Verne ble hair but thoughts of a Her swankier hairdo looming water problem. response to divine gifts are being fished out like bodies at and childhood does not stem from a banal preoccupy: wigs are above them, even questions about thefloating acute drought in various aGlobal crime them Airavata, mystique of adventure, on the Wembley contrary as their are hidden thethat barrels. Who parts of bodies the country was toinsay it was an iconscene: A 2015 among photo of pedestrians sportingthe Modi masks at a community receptionbut in London’s white elephant whothe actsfirst as Indian Indra’s vehicle. Ho-in almost froma decade a common in the finite, which knows dawson Stadium. Modi became Prime Minister to visit delight the UK bloomberg/simon event forwhat whichnew, it was hybrid pointlessforms to planmight in ad-
A new group show in Delhi reminds us of the consequences of obliterating mythologies
Q R
T
Q R
ND-X _ A
BL
cover watch
saturday, may 21, 2016
“Sooner or later you have to talk to the Hurriyat,” says former spy chief AS Dulat. “But the longer this drags on, the more redundant the Hurriyat will gradually become. And in this, Pakistan sits pretty.” Even the initiatives that the home ministry is belatedly taking up are tired and old. For instance, the establishment of a National Counter-Terrrorism Centre (NCTC) that was proposed after the 2008 Mumbai attacks and which Chidambaram had championed. Or the revival of NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid), an organisation set up to provide readily-accessible database to 11 organisations for fighting terrorism, also proposed after 26/11. The first NATGRID CEO, P Raghu Raman, was let go after his contract ended two years ago (he proposed a ₹10,000 crore expenditure over four phases, and, bureaucrats say, was difficult to work with); Modi has been sitting on a shortlist of replacements since the beginning of 2016.
Let worlds collapse ‘The Spine Collectors’ by Shrimanti Saha
The great divide With relentless polarisation — fuelled by incidents such as the Dadri lynching and the JNU fracas — Modi’s rule may go down in history for having changed the social landscape irreversibly. In this picture, a man is seen in prayer at a mosque on the outskirts of Dadri bloomberg/prashanth vishwanathan
World
Invisible threads ‘Sew On & Sew Forth’, a mixed
“Modi has shown media work by Bakulasparks Nayak of imagination in relation to Pakistan,” says Dulat. By inviting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his inauguravance. While Modi seems on track with his tion, or with his surprise Lahore visit last “Electricity for all by 2019”, no improvement is Christmas, Modi deployed game-changers. foreseeable for per capita water consumption. But he got bogged down by patriotic twitteraSimilarly, for the promised Ganga river ti, which gives him less manoeuvring space. clean-up, Modi had last year invited the Ger“He’s had to balance hardline baggage with mans for a presentation; they told him they the necessity of working with Pakistan, so he took 20 years to clean up the Rhine. Out of the narrowed his focus to terrorism,” says the question. Now, Modi’s thinking of emulating home ministry official. “It’s not been that the New Suez Canal that cost $20 billion, but successful.” took a year — with people’s participation. He Had Modi gone the UPA way he would have needs a better minister. had to deplete his political capital on Pakistan. Health minister JP Nadda has done nothing He didn’t, which in a way is a blessing: with to target infant mortality rate, a key human the SAARC summit postponed from Septemdevelopment index. Agriculture minister Radber to November, Modi has time and political ha Mohan Singh has provided no ideas on capital to use his imagination to spring anothtackling the drought that has hit a third of Iner surprise before he is in Islamabad this year. Soul sister A watercolour from Renuka Rajiv’s series dia’s arable land, the farmer suicides, which‘Family Jams’ Otherwise, Modi prefers trade to drive his have become an epidemic in Punjab this year, foreign policy. That’s how he sorted out the or the global crash in prices of tomatoes and nuclear deal with the US in January 2015, emerge?which Reality muster afterLike Ward and Masereel, Mawlang’s work is which had been left hanging for several years onions, haswon’t drivenpass the agrarian comwards. The fantasies, aided and abetteddouble by the also informed by Expressionism, placing the over company liability. That’s why his governmunity to despair. If farmers’ incomes love machines, shall reignof supreme. The inter- subjectivity of human experience above all ment withdrew e-visas to three Chinese disby 2021, it will be because inflation. Textiles play of the textualGangwar (the hand-painted ‘LOVE’ Dry else,spell relying on angovernment allegorical sym- sidents who were to attend a pro-democracy minister Santosh seems to forget The NaMo hasstyle drawnand flak for resources minister Uma is Bharti’s incompetence sign)India and the visual (the machine, its power bolism. ‘The Blacksmith’ captured mid-ges- meeting in Dharamsala last month — India’s that is the world’s largest cotton pro- water handling statesSpine like Maharashtra source,while the discreet little plug) is used to unture (as the in drought Saha’s in‘The Collectors’), economy is $2 trillion, while China’s is $10 trilducer Bangladesh exports twice as in bloomberg/dhiraj singh Fruits“The of labour ‘It’s Always Sunday’ byrelationship Bakula Nayak derlinecotton a popular myth: love will somemany products asthat us. There is no rea- hammer aloft, poised to strike the hot iron. In lion. Chinese see our trade howwemake you lover) a more son should sell(and all ouryour cotton to China, but the background, we can see the assorted par- not like US-Canada but like US-Mexico,” says ‘beautiful’ person, on the outside andMinister inside. aphernalia of his work, the painstaking proc- the technocrat. “So we have to be realistic in ideas are scarce. Urban Development Instead, the intolerance debate has spun lingeredNaidu the appears most, however, over the out essesofthat he goes through every timeand he our dealings.” And in the neighbourhood, M IVenkaiah not to have heard control; intemperance over food woodcuts of Treibor Mawlang, a young artist dressing creates. The figures ‘TheofPatient’ the whether Modi’s promise of housing for all by 2022. These woodcuts, then, are representative of a habits is theoforder the day;and polariit is Myanmar, Bhutan or Nepal, India from Meghalaya. Mostfrom of these black-andwomanhas bywidened. his bedside suggest kind of quiet is Much was expected Nirmala Sithara- sation recurring figure in Khasi mythology: the There is no aaccountability letting trade in hydrocarbons drive the relawhitewho works feature portraits of men in resistance against fate: large, overbearing, steadfast, back-against-the-wall man handles the iconic Department of Industriheropolitics strugthis free-for-all. Thethe student tionship; whatever their and women in what defines them, of- community starkly detailed hospital bed, the serpentine gling againstwith al Policy andengaged Promotion (DIPP). Despite Modi’s natural and man-made — the first-time votNew Delhi, geographyobstacomten againstofallincreased odds, including the possibility IV lines andor the claustrophobic promises manufacturing, the ers “I have been of 2014 2019 — is sulking nature of the cles (especially pels the themformer). to trade with India. of natural Mawlang,cohesive who studroomthe suggest end is nigh. And yet, we engaged in drawings DIPP is stillcatastrophes. missing a large-scale, in- over much morecould than woodway that the the government Focusing on trade prove Intemperance over ied at Kala Bhavana, know thatthe the fallout two of them — the patient and cuts,” dustrialisation effortSantiniketan like China’s.from Plus,2006she managed Mawlang said. “Butconsidering the graphic quality of Rohith worthwhile India’s food 2012,little toldhelp me about his discovery of theIndusmedi- Vemula’s the woman attending to him — will wake upand to dressing gets from Anant Geete (Heavy is very strongeconomy in this medium (woodcut). You suicide, or the aggresis poised for revival. habits is the order of um inand an online interview. stareagainst down another tries) Kalraj Mishra (Micro, Small and Me- sion can feel its depth.” campuschallenging activities at Modi could have driven the upthe day “It was during my Perhaps first year Modi in Santiniketan day. ‘The Hearth’ shows aand womdium Enterprises). needs to JNU, I found Mawlang’s andbut Saha’s Jadavpur University Alswing faster and better, he (2006) that five I was introduced thethem woodcut an cooking with a wooden stove cherry-pick industries andtogive the lahabad works to be conduits, inwith terms of University. had little talent to work and for the very time. I use a wooden an open flame: the firewhich curls attention hefirst gives power and roads. plank as over relationship symbols. It has affected Kashmir, atheir big mess to cleanwith up first. And Like Frans Masereel, the“Some surface work on. I apply a little extravagantly, the smoke threatof to the foremost experts on black publicink fi- may The rangers of the Nautilus see a terrible summer of as is lone the nature of reform, the few Mawlang’s work is crew arewho scared what symbols on the surface to differentiate between theand cut mass ens torebellion. obscure the nance, macroeconomics, public health Thepainting PDP-BJP altogovpeople loseofbig will make also informed bynoise, since will force them who to confront, and uncut portions. Asto of the now,Modi I onlycampaign use black ernment, gether and yet, is theremote-controlled woman is education were close which by the much the majority gain will Expressionism while ‘The Patient’ is the triumph for printing.” spoke aboutinhis admi- home tendingministry, to the has hearth with a to alleviate but somehowMawlang didn’t find a place governdone zilch do so incrementally. of faith notice ration for Frans the Flemish painter practiced, supremely unperment,” says Pai. Masereel, “Going forward the PM must deep-rooted Kashmiri fears that Hindutva Yet for reform to through endure, symbols; Modi needs to how the patient is positioned as a andsquander graphic this artistresource: who pioneered a moveturbedto hand. not he must get them wants alter the demographics of the Mus- hang around. With relentless polarisation, sort of deity, thethat woman sitting mentthe of cabinet, wordless novels with his lim-majority Mawlang said: “ThePolitically, patient is the govern- however, it sometimes into in graphic ministries and executive Valley. seems longevity is his feet. These book Passionate Journey (1919), a collection of ment’s my uncle,hardline the artist isstance my friend, agencies.” on engaging sacrificed forrespectfully short-term atcultural victories. 167 woodcuts. Inspired by Masereel, the Amer- separatists characters’ histories, or the possible the homemaker is my friend, thejunior woman in Modi has backfired with the extermay forever alter socialtrajectories landscape, Nation ican artist Lynd Ward would go on to publish nal of the same, themselves the hearth is my mom so on. affairs minister, VKand Singh, lastI don’t weekknow mut- but at the costsuggest of undermining hissubtly, goal ofand beGod’s Man in 1929, the first six graphic that is their greatest strength. whether I am the subjects in their coming Rajnath Singh is another keyofminister whonovhas tering that theobserving All Parties Hurriyat Conference India’s greatest PM ever. els hestruggling created entirely in woodcuts. years were (At the turn of a Page is on view at Vadehra own engagements or I see—athis reflection in them. been to handle day-to-dayFor political free to meet anyone after India had sinha is a Delhi journalist writer. He has Art Gallery, New tilland May 31, 11am-7pm) now, Mawlang has working on apolitical graphic stopped Each onetalking is attentively engaged in their own aditya management. Evenbeen if it’s the BJP’s to Pakistan in 2014 because Khasi Folktales, pages he from which novel called duties. TheyHigh are all doing their duties. They are contributed a short story to the just-published anthology agenda of cultural nationalism, isn’t ab- the latter’s Commissioner met the Hurriof a Page. adityaSpirit: maniDrinking jha in India have been used for At the turn all trapped butinitiative they don’t seem seems to givetardy. up.” House solved of his responsibility as home minister. yat. Now each by Modi
Q Q R R
ND-X _ A
11 15
shoot
saturday, may 21, 2016
BL
12
Hole truth A broken plaque welcomes you to the once prosperous Lankapara Tea Estate
Small change Wood collected from the closed estate brings some money to the worker families
Rough cut Miscreants target the big trees within the estate for timber
Zero vision Saraswati Lakra, a former Lankapara employee, at her roadside shop
Bare essentials Children of workers at Bandapani, another tea estate in the region, play with construction material
BL
shoot
saturday, may 21, 2016
Running on empty Some workers have turned to stone collecting from the Bangri riverbed for a living
Lull in the teacup Shut down last year, Lankapara Tea Estate in North Bengal waits for a miracle Hard times A picture of despondence at a worker’s home
Duty bound Thuiya Oraon (left) and Kishore Singh, guards of the tea factory at Lankapara, haven’t abandoned their post
T
he spring of 2015 brought unhappy tidings for the residents of Lankapara, a tea estate in North Bengal. Bordering the hills of Bhutan, it became one of the 12 tea gardens that Duncan Industries shut down last year. The decision to close the estates came 10 years after the group’s flagship company, once a major player in the state’s tea industry, was declared sick. While it was no surprise, the workers — both permanent and casual — were hoping against hope for a miracle. Lankapara was one of the first to get the news of the shutdown. Though incidents of unrest and violent protests by workers have been reported from some other parts, Lankapara seems resigned to its fate. The future of the employees and their families hangs in the balance. While some have turned to stone collecting and construction work for income, others continue to live in the hope that the Tea Board will come to their rescue. On January 28, the Tea Board decided to take over the management control of six Duncan gardens. Lankapara is one of those. This will not be smooth, however, as the company has taken the matter to court.
ashoke chakrabarty
ND-X _ A
13
cover watch
saturday, may 21, 2016
BL
T Captain Nemo and the lone rangers o assess the Narendra Modi government’s two years in office, you cannot just look at how India is doing on the economic front, at how his ministries have been functioning, at how India has been interacting with the world at large, and at how adept his government has been at day-to-day political management; you must also look at his broader goals. Modi’s two goals will contextualise what he’s been able to do, and where he comes up short: One, resolutely dedicated to the Sangh parivar’s Hindutva project of cultural nationalism, Modi wants to change India irreversibly. He has already achieved this. There’s no going back on the polarisation that has taken place. Expect more in his remaining three years — and possibly beyond. Two, Modi has aimed at not just bettering the record of his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, but that of any PM India has ever had. This goal has proven elusive during the past two years. You may wonder if he has the wherewithal to accomplish this. For most governments in the world, what each sets out to do or accomplishes in its first six months defines that government for the remainder of its tenure. If so, don’t expect change in Modi’s broad achievements.
14 10
was the time to do something path-breaking,” The “enablers” here mean “Make in India” and says a former home ministry official. And we programmes for skill development, to enable all know what fellow Sangh traveller (though the large-scale industrialisation that will no longer a BJP member) Shourie said (who hopefully create jobs. It’s an indirect aphas an old rivalry with Finance Minister Arun proach. His supporters prefer direct action. Jaitley): that for Modi’s government, manag- Jobs are what win you elections; its promise ing the economy meant “managing the has brought Donald Trump a step closer to the headlines”. US Presidency. Take Jaitley’s budgets: all have just been arithmetic exercises focused on standardising Government taxes and subsidies and improving efficien- Undoubtedly, corruption has plummeted in cies. “The inordinate focus on GST (Goods and the last two years. “Middlemen used to be Services Tax) shows the bankruptcy in think- hanging around in every ministry,” says the ing,” says the technocrat. “Both the US and home official. “They have all disappeared.” A China have differentiated tax systems, yet they far cry from UPA-2 when the government remain the largest economies in the world.” seemed geared towards skimming funds. Ironically, Modi’s first choice for finance was Some claim that one of Modi’s major achieveShourie. Of the four men running the party — ments has been to clean up the UPA-2’s legacy Modi, Jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh issues, markedly improving India’s Governand Minister for Road Transport and High- ance Index. ways Nitin Gadkari — the PM-elect found him“Whether or not it is fear of Modi, ministers self outvoted on inducting Shourie. Now, after conduct themselves with integrity,” says a butwo publicly-made sharp criticisms, Shourie reaucrat in an infrastructure ministry. “The stands no chance of coming in most corrupt minister in any and challenging the conventiongovernment is usually the roads al thinking in North Block. minister. There are untold road Which is why some in the govscams from UPA-2. But Gadkari Modi tries to be ernment want Reserve Bank of has managed to reduce the cost “hands-on” as much India (RBI) Governor Raghuram of roads from every ₹100 that as possible, though Rajan to be a future finance minused to be spent to ₹70.” Such this has led to Economy ister, despite his recent “onegraft-reduction leads to efficiencriticism of India’s economy had bottomed out post-2010. eyed king” remark about India’s cy and savings, which mean overcentralisation IMF calculated GDP growth at 4.5 per cent in relatively better performance in more bang for the buck. No won2012, 5.6 per cent in 2014 and 7.3 per cent in a dismal world economy. After der Dr Panagariya speaks of new 2016; it forecasts the world’s highest large- all, the burden of reviving the roads coming at a clip of 18 km/ economy growth for India in 2017 at 7.5 per economy — through lower interday, and commissioning of new cent. Things can only get better from hereon. est rates, to clean up corporate balance sheets rail track at 7 km/day. Driving this is the performance of some min- and help the dormant realty sector — was laid Yet, as Prasad Koparkar, senior director of istries, as we’ll see in the next section. at his doorstep. industry research at Crisil points out, the gov“Although ‘Big Bang’ reforms are missing, Another idea limping along is the Niti ernment has had to do the heavy lifting in inAgainst thegovernment grain ‘The Blacksmith’ anda ‘The Musician’ woodcuts Mawlang courtesy vadehra art gallery the Modi initiated number of (right), Aayog. “WhatbyisTreibor it exactly?” theimages home ministry frastructure spending, given the steep decline steps to improve the business climate, reform official asks. (NITI = National Institution for in private-sector spending. “For a sustainable the power and banking sectors and leverage Transforming India; it replaced the Planning pick-up in investments, reviving private-seche study offor semiotics is marked by a vering above, men with rotor-laden digital technology financial inclusion,” also finds in ischildren’s passionKoparkar. for huts Commission.) People have stopped costumes listening one tor participation a must,” asserts curiousJoshi, behavioural oscillation. caught and restrained Icarus. and says Dharmakirti chief economist at Cri- have tents: encloseofoneself and to settle, to Aayog vice-chairman andthe topfalling NRI import “Given the to quantum infrastructure fundthe most superficial of signs reveals that theseKant men, busy such sil, India’sWhen top credit rating agency. “With ris- Closer is the existential of childhood and Arvindinspection Panagariya. CEO Amitabh apparing requirement — ₹31dream lakh crore over the next themselves, there’s bees all, aretime pouring out ofon theTwitter. Nauti- of ing globalreveal headwinds, India had the to thrill look worker correctly notestothat the ently has sufficient to quibble fiveVerne.” years — Barthes more needs to be done encourof applying acquired knowledge. When cigar-shaped advanced men inwards fornewly growth. The gradual uptick has lus,If Captain ensconced in thesavings Nautilusinto are infrastrucultimately you wereNemo’s to listen to Modi’s staunchest age flow of long-term the mechanism of these signs is monetary analysed, submarine from Jules Verne’s 20,000 not come at the cost of fiscal and escapees from their inner selves: supporters on social media, thennovel Modi’s “big lone ture rangers, projects including tweaking of when one witnesses diddling of off-guard Leagues Under Sea. prudence, hence it isthe sustainable.” look out at thefor world through the submaidea” ought tothe have been setting a jobs target. they regulatory norms active participation by brains, there’s a quiet of huTowards right of centre-frame floats emSig- rine’s All this, however, can’tcontemplation hide the fact that on Even windows, “and thus define, in a single Crisil’sthe Joshi points to “kick-starting pension/insurance funds and conducive reguman nature. And when you contemplate en- mund Freud, from one as of his famous im- act, the economy, the government lacks a big idea. theand inside by means of its opposite”. ployment generation” onemost of the challenglatory taxation framework for new structire machineries of manipulation, like ages, cigar in right hand, looking straight at tures “This was required if India is to take advantage Quite of the other in the exhibies facing Modi. The PM appears to fear making anda few instruments likeworks InvITs.” modern-day or organised reli- the camera. He “He has has the been torsofocused of a fish of the currentadvertising flux in the world economy,” says are instructive a semiological point specific targets. onoren-a tion Modi’s leadershipfrom enables such infrastrucgion, you pause your reading ministry. to weep. Turns aquatic reptile. His technocrat. famous re- of a technocrat in an economic “Now mythological view. The visual idiom ofa clear Bakulacentre Nayak’s ablers for employment,” says the ture delivery: he provides of out, there are things you are happier not mark (that now appears to have been apocry- works by illustrations in children’s gravityistoinspired the government. In contrast, in the knowing, at least in the short term. phal) — “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar” — is literature, with their bright colours, cartoony UPA-2, every minister “was on his own trip”. During the 20 or so minutes I spent staring turned on its head by the Nautilus and its ne- figures and languid, other-worldly Modi keenly listens to experts; heaesthetidoesn’t at Shrimanti Saha’s ‘The Spine Collectors’, a farious, relentless warriors, bent on destroy- cism. the despite real-world symbols like postchangeBut course setbacks like Bihar elecmassive (58” x 104”) mixed media work ing mythological structures. cards and currency tions; and because he vintage meets the powernotes and (graphite, colour pencils, water colour, casein Freud is either observing or cho(objects that it the found) in roads ministries so often is artist their problems and collage on paper), I found myself wonder- reographing this mayhem theout works is a strategic interventhat are sorted fastest. ing whether the artist, too, had been through (there is, after all, such a thing as tion: it tempers intotoa Modiinis apparently an agilenostalgia PM; he tries The men esconced this cycle. ‘The Spine Collectors’ is part of the analysing a concept to death). Eimore mature and holistic acceptbe “hands on” as much as possible, though the Nautilus are group show At the turn of a Page, curated by ther way, the destruction of myance of theofpast. Renuka Rajiv’s this has led to criticism overcentralisation. ultimately escapees Shivangi Singh for Delhi’s Vadehra Art Gallery: thologies will make us more a series of family is surely‘Family due to aJams’, drought of talent. “The from theirThis inner Apart from Saha’s creation, there are works by alone, not less. portraits, has an elegiac feel to it Modi government has strangely ignored the selves Renuka Rajiv, Paul Barritt, Bakula Nayak and Roland Barthes, another man (coffee are used as almost colour wealth of talent thatstains it has access to in Treibor Mawlang. often photographed with cigars, places). The words that pepper all spheres ofinpublic policy,” says Nitin Pai, di‘The Spine Collectors’ is a mash-up of myths was aware of this phenomenon paintings provide fodder for rector of the the Bengaluru-based Takshashila Infrom around the globe, with a simple catch: when he wrote Mythologies three-dimensional appraisal of stitution, a athink-tank on strategic affairs. they are all in a state of suspended animation, (1957). In the essay ‘The Nautilus and the these figures: theno captions form a narrative Administratively, minister is better than as if the creatures making up the myth were Drunken Boat’, Barthes says: “Verne has built a with letting theAB viewer in onwho priModi.continuity, Compare that with Vajpayee, caught mid-gesture, trapped. Towards the cen- kind of self-sufficient cosmogony, which has vate jokes and catchthan phrases. had people smarter him — from his printre of the canvas, we see the sabotaged churn- its own categories, its own time, space, fulfil- cipal Individual pages fromMishra Paul Barritt’s Ten Leisecretary Brajesh to colleagues ing of the Ocean of Milk. Mount Mandara, the ment and even existential principle. This prin- sure a book ofand sketches, are also on like Machines, Pramod Mahajan Yashwant Sinha. churning rod, lies restrained by a criss-cross- ciple, it seems to me, is the ceaseless action of display. In one of theseno drawings, we see a man Modi’s cabinet shows such promise. ing lever system. Scuba divers have whisked secluding oneself. Imagination about travel and a woman in identical, maWater resources minister barrel-shaped Uma Bharti is danaway Vishnu’s turtle avatar, on whose back corresponds in Verne to an exploration of clo- chines marked ‘Love’.given Both the havegravity unremarkagerously nonchalant of the Mount Mandara was resting. Meanwhile, the sure, and the compatibility between Verne ble hair but thoughts of aHer swankier hairdo looming water problem. response to divine gifts are being fished out like bodies at and childhood does not stem from a banal preoccupy: wigs are above them, even questions about thefloating acute drought in various aGlobal crime them Airavata, mystique of adventure, on the Wembley contrary as their are hidden thethat barrels. Who parts of bodies the country was toinsay it was an iconscene: A 2015 among photo of pedestrians sportingthe Modi masks at a community receptionbut in London’s white elephant whothe acts asIndian Indra’s vehicle. Ho-in almost froma decade a common in the finite, which knows dawson Stadium. Modi became first Prime Minister to visit delight the UK bloomberg/simon event forwhat which new, it was hybrid pointlessforms to planmight in ad-
A new group show in Delhi reminds us of the consequences of obliterating mythologies
Q R
T
Q R
ND-X _ A
BL
cover watch
saturday, may 21, 2016
“Sooner or later you have to talk to the Hurriyat,” says former spy chief AS Dulat. “But the longer this drags on, the more redundant the Hurriyat will gradually become. And in this, Pakistan sits pretty.” Even the initiatives that the home ministry is belatedly taking up are tired and old. For instance, the establishment of a National Counter-Terrrorism Centre (NCTC) that was proposed after the 2008 Mumbai attacks and which Chidambaram had championed. Or the revival of NATGRID (National Intelligence Grid), an organisation set up to provide readily-accessible database to 11 organisations for fighting terrorism, also proposed after 26/11. The first NATGRID CEO, P Raghu Raman, was let go after his contract ended two years ago (he proposed a ₹10,000 crore expenditure over four phases, and, bureaucrats say, was difficult to work with); Modi has been sitting on a shortlist of replacements since the beginning of 2016.
Let worlds collapse ‘The Spine Collectors’ by Shrimanti Saha
The great divide With relentless polarisation — fuelled by incidents such as the Dadri lynching and the JNU fracas — Modi’s rule may go down in history for having changed the social landscape irreversibly. In this picture, a man is seen in prayer at a mosque on the outskirts of Dadri bloomberg/prashanth vishwanathan
World
Invisible threads ‘Sew On & Sew Forth’, a mixed
“Modi has shown media work by Bakulasparks Nayak of imagination in relation to Pakistan,” says Dulat. By inviting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his inauguravance. While Modi seems on track with his tion, or with his surprise Lahore visit last “Electricity for all by 2019”, no improvement is Christmas, Modi deployed game-changers. foreseeable for per capita water consumption. But he got bogged down by patriotic twitteraSimilarly, for the promised Ganga river ti, which gives him less manoeuvring space. clean-up, Modi had last year invited the Ger“He’s had to balance hardline baggage with mans for a presentation; they told him they the necessity of working with Pakistan, so he took 20 years to clean up the Rhine. Out of the narrowed his focus to terrorism,” says the question. Now, Modi’s thinking of emulating home ministry official. “It’s not been that the New Suez Canal that cost $20 billion, but successful.” took a year — with people’s participation. He Had Modi gone the UPA way he would have needs a better minister. had to deplete his political capital on Pakistan. Health minister JP Nadda has done nothing He didn’t, which in a way is a blessing: with to target infant mortality rate, a key human the SAARC summit postponed from Septemdevelopment index. Agriculture minister Radber to November, Modi has time and political ha Mohan Singh has provided no ideas on capital to use his imagination to spring anothtackling the drought that has hit a third of Iner surprise before he is in Islamabad this year. Soul sister A watercolour from Renuka Rajiv’s series dia’s arable land, the farmer suicides, which‘Family Jams’ Otherwise, Modi prefers trade to drive his have become an epidemic in Punjab this year, foreign policy. That’s how he sorted out the or the global crash in prices of tomatoes and nuclear deal with the US in January 2015, emerge?which Reality muster afterLike Ward and Masereel, Mawlang’s work is which had been left hanging for several years onions, haswon’t drivenpass the agrarian comwards. The fantasies, aided and abetteddouble by the also informed by Expressionism, placing the over company liability. That’s why his governmunity to despair. If farmers’ incomes love machines, shall reignof supreme. The inter- subjectivity of human experience above all ment withdrew e-visas to three Chinese disby 2021, it will be because inflation. Textiles play of the textualGangwar (the hand-painted ‘LOVE’ Dry else,spell relying on angovernment allegorical minister Santosh seems to forget The NaMo hasstyle drawnand flak symfor sidents who were to attend a pro-democracy resources minister Umais Bharti’s incompetence sign)India and the visual (the machine, its power bolism. ‘The Blacksmith’ captured mid-ges- meeting in Dharamsala last month — India’s that is the world’s largest cotton pro- water handling statesSpine like Maharashtra source, while the discreet little plug) is used to unture (as the in drought Saha’s in‘The Collectors’), economy is $2 trillion, while China’s is $10 trilducer Bangladesh exports twice as in bloomberg/dhiraj singh Fruits“The of labour ‘It’s Always Sunday’ by relationship Bakula Nayak derlinecotton a popular myth:asthat love will somemany products us. There is no rea- hammer aloft, poised to strike the hot iron. In lion. Chinese see our trade howwemake you lover) a more son should sell(and all ouryour cotton to China, but the background, we can see the assorted par- not like US-Canada but like US-Mexico,” says ‘beautiful’ person, on the outside andMinister inside. aphernalia of his work, the painstaking ideas are scarce. Urban Development Instead, the intolerance debate has procspun the technocrat. “So we have to be realistic in lingeredNaidu the most, over the out essesofthat he goes through every timeand he our dealings.” And in the neighbourhood, M IVenkaiah appearshowever, not to have heard control; intemperance over food woodcuts of Treibor Mawlang, a young artist dressing creates. The figures ‘TheofPatient’ the whether Modi’s promise of housing for all by 2022. These woodcuts, then, are representative of a habits is theoforder the day;and polariit is Myanmar, Bhutan or Nepal, India from Meghalaya. Mostfrom of these black-andwomanhas bywidened. his bedside suggest kind of quiet is Much was expected Nirmala Sithara- sation recurring figure in Khasi mythology: the There is no aaccountability letting trade in hydrocarbons drive the relawhitewho works feature portraits of men in resistance against fate: large, overbearing, steadfast, back-against-the-wall man handles theiconic Department of Industriheropolitics strugthis free-for-all. Thethe student tionship; whatever their and women in what defines them, of- community starkly detailed hospital bed, the serpentine gling againstwith al Policy andengaged Promotion (DIPP). Despite Modi’s natural — the first-time votNew and Delhi,man-made geographyobstacomten againstofallincreased odds, including the possibility IV lines andor the2019 claustrophobic promises manufacturing, the ers “I have been of 2014 — is sulking nature of the cles (especially pels the themformer). to trade with India. of natural Mawlang,cohesive who studroomthe suggest end is nigh. And yet, we engaged in drawings DIPP is stillcatastrophes. missing a large-scale, in- over much morecould than woodway that the the government Focusing on trade prove Intemperance over ied at Kala Bhavana, know thatthe the fallout two of them — the patient and cuts,” dustrialisation effortSantiniketan like China’s.from Plus,2006she managed Mawlang said. “But considering the graphic quality of Rohith worthwhile India’s food 2012,little told help me about his discovery of theIndusmedi- Vemula’s the woman attending to him — will wake upand to dressing gets from Anant Geete (Heavy is very strongeconomy in this medium (woodcut). You suicide, or the aggresis poised for revival. habits is the order of um inand an online stareagainst down another tries) Kalraj interview. Mishra (Micro, Small and Me- sion can feel its depth.” campuschallenging activities at Modi could have driven the upthe day “It was during my Perhaps first year Modi in Santiniketan day. ‘The Hearth’ shows aand womdium Enterprises). needs to JNU, I found Mawlang’s andbut Saha’s Jadavpur University Alswing faster and better, he (2006) that five I was introduced the them woodcut an cooking with a wooden stove cherry-pick industries andtogive the lahabad works to be conduits, inwith terms of University. had little talent to work and for the very time. I use a wooden an open flame: the firewhich curls attention hefirst gives power and roads. plank as over their symbols. It has affected Kashmir, a big relationship mess to cleanwith up first. And Like Frans Masereel, the“Some surface work on. I apply a little extravagantly, the smoke threatofto the foremost experts on black publicink fi- may The rangers of the Nautilus see a terrible summer of as is lone the nature of reform, the few Mawlang’s work is crew arewho scared what symbols on the surface to differentiate between theand cut mass ens torebellion. obscure the nance, macroeconomics, public health Thepainting PDP-BJP altogovpeople loseofbig will make also informed bynoise, will them who to confront, and uncut portions. Asto of the now,Modi I onlycampaign use black ernment, gether and yet, is theremote-controlled woman is education were close which by the much since force the majority gain will Expressionism while ‘The Patient’ is the triumph for printing.” spoke aboutinhis admi- home tendingministry, to the has hearth with a to alleviate but somehowMawlang didn’t find a place governdone zilch do so incrementally. of faith notice ration for Frans the Flemish painter practiced, supremely unperment,” says Pai. Masereel, “Going forward the PM must deep-rooted Kashmiri fears that Hindutva Yet for reform to through endure, symbols; Modi needs to how the patient is positioned as a andsquander graphic artist who pioneered a moveturbedto hand. not this resource: he must get them wants alter the demographics of the Mus- hang around. With relentless polarisation, sort of deity, thethat woman sitting mentthe of cabinet, wordless novels with his lim-majority Mawlang said: “ThePolitically, patient is the govern- however, it sometimes into in graphic ministries and executive Valley. seems longevity is his feet. These book Passionate Journey (1919), a collection of ment’s my uncle,hardline the artist isstance my friend, agencies.” on engaging sacrificed forrespectfully short-term atcultural victories. 167 woodcuts. Inspired by Masereel, the Amer- separatists characters’ histories, or the possible the homemaker is my friend, thejunior woman in Modi has backfired with the extermay forever alter socialtrajectories landscape, Nation ican artist Lynd Ward would go on to publish nal of the same, themselves the hearth is my mom so on. I don’t affairs minister, VKand Singh, last weekknow mut- but at the costsuggest of undermining hissubtly, goal ofand beGod’s Man in 1929, the first six graphic that is their greatest strength. whether I am subjects in their coming Rajnath Singh is another keyofminister whonovhas tering that theobserving All Parties the Hurriyat Conference India’s greatest PM ever. els hestruggling created entirely in woodcuts. years were (At the turn of a Page is on view at Vadehra own engagements or I see—athis reflection in them. been to handle day-to-dayFor political free to meet anyone after India had sinha is a Delhi journalist writer. He has Art Gallery, New tilland May 31, 11am-7pm) now, Mawlang has working on apolitical graphic stopped Each onetalking is attentively engaged in their own aditya management. Evenbeen if it’s the BJP’s to Pakistan in 2014 because Khasi Folktales, pages he from which novel called duties. TheyHigh are all doing their duties. They are contributed a short story to the just-published anthology agenda of cultural nationalism, isn’t ab- the latter’s Commissioner met the Hurriof a Page. adityaSpirit: maniDrinking jha in India have been used for At the turn all trapped butinitiative they don’t seem seems to givetardy. up.” House solved of his responsibility as home minister. yat. Now each by Modi
Q Q R R
ND-X _ A
11 15
know watch
BL BL 168
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
Culling them softly The diary of a frustrated Indian film buff FILM FATALE
Declaring open season on animals is easy enough, but making it worth their while to stay in forests has been historically more difficult
week. No one dares do anything radical (translocating them simply transfers the problem and the monkeys often take the first train back!) so they’re swarming all over the place, entering homes, raiding fridges and demanding hummus. In Shimla we have finally declared war on the monkeys, and let’s see how far thatcrore gets us. But it is all so typical of us: first ₹500 domestic gross collections, the we ignoreever a festering andfilm when(source: it goes highest for anissue, Indian critical, like a runaway fast-breeder reactor, forbes.com). flap around like headless chickensmass-oriseeking That said, Bahubali was inherently radicalMany solutions. It’soflike ignoringniche the early ented. makers low-budget, and/ stages of projects cancer and when diseaseto is or indie saythen, crowds arethe unlikely rampant and the versions patient’s of terminal, trying to flock to dubbed their films, and nuke it. their natural viewers tend to prefer subtitles That’s why we need to be very wary of this over dubbing anyway. culling businessthen andsubtitle. why it can prove dangerFair enough, And if you do, let ous.world We are expert drafting fine laws, and the know youat have! absolutely when it by comes implementMay 16: zero Exasperated thistolong-running ing them,Ior monitoring adherence. Oh problem, phone Maaran their to vent some steam. yes, questions even withtothis are My himculling apply decree, equally there to Tamil, conditions inand place, but,smaller seriously, who the Hindi, Telugu India’s industries. hell is going to consider them? We can’t even First, is subtitling expensive? Answer: the obey of or implement basicaverage traffic rules cost subtitling the Tamileffectivefilm is ly (or ₹50,000. we wouldn’t have 1.5 lakh people about mashed up on the roads To you tell Not a forbidding figure,every whichyear.) makes people they at not will subtitled is akin to wonder whycan all shoot Indiananimals films are putting their AK-47s in the hands ofThe toddlers high outside home territories. clichéd reon sugar andproducers telling them to have fun in the sponse from is that collections beGrim picture A tale of police torture, Visaaranai just picked up the National Award for Best Tamil Film the hindu nursery.a One might argue, ah,audience but there are yond film’s traditional plenty of nilgai and wild boar around, so minuscule. what’s problem,lack butthe then theretowere also Mostthe producers vision see that his is not so much a column as it is April 30: I am moved by Sairat’s inter-caste subtitling millions and millions of passenger makes their films accessiblepigeons to nonthe diary of a frustrated, furious In- romance with its remarkably light touch de- traditional around untilaudiences, the last one died in the Cincinnawhich could translate dian film buff. spite the grim subject. I recall the previous into ti zoo notstars so long ago. These needed their becoming morebirds familiar and March 2016: I note that Marathi day’s casual multiplex employee and wonder, thus large more tracts attractive of forest and country to prosusto wild audiences and director Nagraj Manjule’s Sairat will be in the- for the nth time in my life, why it takes such an ducers tain themselves, and once these were invaded outside their home turf over time, atres in April. The wait for his second film be- effort to be a committed viewer of films across which and developed, the birds became such a nuiin turn would lead to more inter-regan the day his first — the much-acclaimed Indian languages. sance and threat to that open season gional exchanges offarmers acting talent, more paninter-caste relationship saga, Fandry — was reRewind to February: Tamil director Vetri India was declared on for them. 30 years, audiences all In Indian filmsthey andwere ultileased in 2014. Maaran’s Visaaranai is out. I’m still drowning mately, shot to extinction. a better spread of all languages The final29: solution? tell people can shoot animals in at will akin for to putting the film handsabout of April Sairat isTohere and asthey usual, booking myislove KaakaAK-47s Muttai,inthe two outside Here, states if you in getwhich rid ofthey too many wild boar are usually spov sudershan slum dwellers that he produced toddlers high onnewspaper sugar and telling them do to have in the nursery websites and listings not fun specilittle Chennai and nilgai, simply encourage their ken. Unlessyou’ll you reach out to others, howpredwill fy whether it has subtitles. I do what most last year, and I have been looking forward to you atorsreach (leopards them?and tigers) to come sniffing very time I notice that there are who pea- this viewers clearly cannot — I phone Manjule, Ofone. course, no one really bothers to inquire Again, no mention of subtitles any- forAs livestock around villages. are alpuzzling as those who (Leopards do not subtitle the garden, go rushing outout, where. confirms fowl it hasinEnglish subs Ieverywhere why these have stepped of their I amanimals swamped with work soout I avoid the their readyfilms acquiring a taste for do. Subways McDoare those who If youand made the waving my arms and yelling. Nation- rigmarole side Maharashtra. forests, and enter and the fields in the nald’s.) Also, effort, of dared calls toto Maaran today you it may nilgai and wild are be obviously interestbird or not, with so April 29alevening: I amthey at aare PVRruthless for another first place. The answer of course, is that there’s boar, tomorrow on. blackbuck andthen chied itincould new be markets. Why seedlings and saplings. growing nasturtifilm, so I decide to book (Try a ticket for Sairat. I am nothing forathem left to May 8:much I catch subtitled Vi-eat in the for- tal and elephant be stripped of wouldwhich you may not let the public ums onceasthe peafowl attemptcautious always sinceknow there you’re have been occa- saaranai ests — andatthe fieldsHabitat presentFilm much richer IpickDelhi’s their protected status and declared ‘vermin’. know your film is subtitled? s subtitling ing towhen and see far youbyget!) And if it’sse-a Festival. sions I washow informed directors and ings. And why is there nothing I am floored by this gutSo is what’s the way out? “It a simple matter of Theocomexpensive? Answer: bandmultiplex of ruffianchain rhesus (whothat recently nior staffers a filmcoldwas wrenching left in the forests? our story Because of police retically it’s simple: make it more munication,” says Maaran, “but the cost of subtitling bloodedlyonly murdered innocent, pa- torture. subtitled, to find an no subs whenyoung I watched vast population of skeletal cattle It has just won the Naworthexhibitors the while (theatre of these owners) animals most the average Tamil paya while attempting ravagecounter the ba- tional it. So Itree double check with the to booking roam Award at will for (and inBestillegally) Tamil Film. to remain in their forests rather don’t do it and distributors don’t film about ₹50,000. Weisare experts at nana trees)Sairat I often I had something like a It executive. is wish not subtitled, he replies. side them Best andFilm. have cleaned deserved Sadly, most drafting than venture into potato or push them since they are targetNot a forbidding fine laws and Gatlin AK-47, thesetold hoodlums I tellgun himorwhat thebecause filmmaker me. No of them alldoes up. not Census India knowfigures that. of groundnut fields. Any Ensure that the diaspora. non-diasfigure absolutely zero when ing are just ruthless andhe indiscriminate. subs, heas insists. Could ask a senior? Please? wildlife vs livestock Over population a decade since Hollythey audience get all they need to eat pora that comes in isina it comes to From one just has to extrapolate None is here, available, he says, adding that iftoa wood in many sanctuaries in India will made it standard practice their forests — byproducers discouraging bonus. What can do?” implementing them fields of burgeoning withonpotatoes or gram he or to show the film were at that moment, often lookHindi, like this: chital: 250, release Tamil and Teluinterlopers At least talk there. to them, please. maize have or whatever, over would dashed inlovingly to verify cultivated this himself. Bi- gu sambar: 100, nilgai of 400, wild dubbed versions all their Perhaps andthat trenchIt is hardfencing to believe dismonths, think what sounder of wild big-budget, zarre. He and should notofhave toado that, I say. boar: 300; domestic livestock sci-fi/fantasy action adventures tributors have ingtocan be mountains improved and made move or spend boar (jungli ortomorrow, a herd of nilgai, or black Could yousooar) return he asks? No, I and thrillers goats: 50,000 animals; with or the English millions to high-tech simultaneously that they are unable convince so exhibitors, e-booking buck forspend that matter, can hour do in aon single night of originals, cannot an entire another day somethingIndia’s to thatindustries effect. So are youstill know who’s sites waffling to access fields. and the listings collators to merely mention hard partying. Andhere we’reand notback, talking or- in driving all the way for about informaeating andtohow much, and why the wild theirwhat efforts reach out to audiences out- that Asafor me, I know that best way to disfilm is subtitled. It isthe hard to fathom unnamental gardensbehere, but computer someone’sright life- side tion that should on his animals helping themselves to our crops. theirare home states. courage garden marauders — every simian or not — enterprising exhibitors, since ticket sold workTime and daily now. is notbread. a joke.Naturally, farmers want In the cities it goes a step further, dif- benefits Bahubali’s well-strategised pursuitifofinaapanis to acquire a dog in the past), but them. And(it it worked is hard for a tormented to Ideclare season on these creatures, ask foropen a phone number I can later call.and He India ferentviewership way. On the Northern Ridge inSSDelhi in 2015 was unusual. Raja- film sincebuff that’s practicalwhy right now, I’llsense just to not understand common now the government has allowed them tothat do mouli’s manages to locate a senior and confirms (and as in many cities in India), theTamil, pop- does film wasother made in Telugu and have not to keep running out, waving my arms prevail. so, they in specific, affected areas of Mahathis hallsay, is indeed showing a subtitled Sairat. dubbed ulation of macaques hasand gone through and yelling! inrhesus multiple languages aggressiverashtra Iand Bihar, places where the depredaWhew! book, after 30 minutes wasted over ly themarketed roof — simply because people throw them across the country, not just in anna mm vetticad is the author of The Adventures t@annavetticad An Intrepid Film Criticand ranjit lal is an author environmentalist tionsinexplicable are greatest.inefficiency. this papaya and parantha least twice southern India or to buffets Telugu at expats. Result:a Of
Hollywood has tapped India’s non-English viewers for years, but domestic industries remain half-hearted in their bid to reach viewers outside their home states
anna mm vetticad
T E
Q Q R R
ND-X _ A
cover read
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
Two years on… All the best reasons
The music of words “I find playing the guitar physically strenuous in a way completely different to writing: my shoulders ache, and my fingertips are tender, waiting to turn calloused. Sometimes, the joy of playing a verse correctly is equivalent to writing a few lines I don’t entirely loathe” ap photo/
michael flotron
PAPERWALLAH
Bettering Prime and contradictory Why do we write?the The record answers of canany be transient
janice pariat
Minister India has ever had is what ften, I’m asked why I write. set out doubt the admirably singular devotion Narendra Modi toI have achieve. That And I’m never quite sure how to shown by my (far more talented) thespian answer.has I’m tired of dull elusive hack- friends auditions, rehearsals, workshops. goal proven soforfar, raising neyed phrases about “expressing Musically, there’s more promise. My family, questions on ifor he — handicapped byis peppered a oneself”, “reimagining the world”, “telling immediate and extended, with the stories only I can tell”. Lines repeated so of- singers and musicians. My maternal granddrought of talent among ministers — filled the ten, at interviews and readings and literary mother,his whose strong soprano voice festivals, that they’re emptied and bereft of churches of my childhood, would make reaccomplish meaning.has the wherewithal to cordings at All India Radio.it An aunt or two are
O
Sometimes, I say I write because I’m not really skilled at anything else. Or at least none of the other “arts”. I cannot paint. Even though I try, and I enjoy it — the silent company of brush, paint, water — I’m no artist. My pelicans have been ruminatingly called “slightly daft looking birds”, and someone asked, in all earnestness, if my (recent) seascape acrylic of Santorini was a “school project I was particularly attached to.” It’s the same with dancing. Apart from some basic Bharatanatyam in kindergarten, I remain pristinely untrained in any dance form, classical or otherwise. Now, I fear, it might be slightly too late to make a career out of it, so I will keep to jiving with my father, and stealthily skittering across the floor at the odd “dance party”. Something tells me, though, given my tacit aversion to most forms of rigorous physical exertion (which also explains my compliant absence in any field of sporting activity), that I may not have quite made the graceful leap to prima ballerina even if I’d tried. Admittedly, I might be slightly better at dramatics. Through school and college, and even after, I played a role here and there, Cecily in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Cynthia in Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound, Laura Lee in Ted Mosel’s Impromptu, and a few others in original works by the theatre troupes I was part of in Delhi. But with writing and working, theatre fell behind, and I
So, why then do I write? Perhaps key to understanding this is realising the answer will constantly change. Or that it is often many reasons all at once. I write because it’s entertaining. Because death scares me and I wish to leave something tangible behind. I want to be known. I write because I read. I write to see my name in print. And my words on paper. I write because I’d like to win splendid at the piano, forming the centre of prizes. Because I don’t care about prizes. Beraucously tipsy clusters at parties, lustily belt- cause stories stick in my head like limpets. Being out “Oh when the saints go marchin’ in”. cause there is a restlessness in what some Most of my uncles play guitar. A couple are people call the soul. Because I like bookshops. skilled classical musicians, a few boast past I like seeing my books in a bookshop. Because membership in short-and not-so-short-lived friends sometimes send pictures of my books bands. My father usually carts his guitar to that they spot in faraway bookshops. Writing, evening gatherings around Shillong, a happi- in the parlance of our times, is cool. It is also ly dedicated wandering minthe only way I know how to regisstrel. My musical aspirations, ter protest. Because it is a form of however, have repeatedly been memory. So I will remember. So I thwarted. I began learning the will forget. Because I have loved I write because I’d piano, weekend lessons at Kong and lost. And loved, against all like to win prizes. Mabel’s home, but then was hope, against all reason, again. I Because I don’t packed off to a newly opened write to hold on. To let go. I write care about prizes boarding school with empty because I like being alone. Bemusic rooms. Any attempts at cause language thrills me. And playing guitar fizzled after colfails me. I write because my lege. Recently, though, I’ve acgrandfather was a poet. To make quired a jubilantly purple my parents proud. Because my acoustic instrument, on which I haltingly childhood was filled with aloneness and strum Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’. (It’s al- books. Because I like to listen. Because it is a most 10 minutes long, and I figure that’s the form of empathy. Because there’s wine at book equivalent of learning three songs.) I find it launches. I write because nothing else brings physically strenuous in a way completely dif- me as much joy. Or exasperation. Because I like ferent to writing: my shoulders ache, and my music, and there is music in words. When I’m fingertips are tender, waiting to turn cal- asked why I write, there is no time for all this. loused. Sometimes, the joy of playing a verse So I sometimes say that which is most convehis mark has correctly is equivalent to writing a few lines I Onnient, andModi constant, if not truest. Because I been steadfast don’t entirely loathe. can’t not. in his Yet would music ever take the place of dedication to the Sangh parivar’s agenda of janice pariat is the author of Seahorse; writing? cultural nationalism k murali kumar t@janicepariat I think not.
Q R
ND-X _ A
9 17BL BL
read talk
BL BL 186
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
The tyranny Death byworship injustice of hero
another case would be that of Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi. She was turned into a goddess UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY figure, whereas she was this really interesting, eccentric ruler. By turning her into a goddess, we deny everything remarkable about her. I’m from Ranchi, where Birsa Munda (one of the 50 profiles in your book) is ubiquitous: the airport, the secretariat, prominent crossings and so on. And yet, knowledge of his deeds and his history is quite superficial. How do you explain these parallel processes of veneration and effacing history? I think that was one of the things that struck me about these people: we know their names, and we know some very basic story about them, but we don’t actually know who they were, we don’t know why they did what they did, we don’t know the kind of world they were struggling with. There are a number of reasons: we don’t teach our history very well in schools and colleges, for one. These figures are seized by political parties and then they become symbols. Birsa Munda did not live to turn 30, and yet he led this explosive life. He was a hero, a poet, a mobiliser. A remarkable man, and yet the history gets airbrushed. There aren’t that many images of him; the most used one is the one the British took, with him in handcuffs. If you go to the Lok Sabha and look at his portrait, it’s the same old British one, only the handcuffs have been Story is in the airbrushed. numbers Public debate A lot of stories and accounts about and India’s the “glorious past” revolvediscussion around aon perceived death penalty is about loss of credit, like the whole business largely centred the so-called Vedic mathematics. We believe around cases like the we should get credit forexecution quadratic equations, of Afzal modern surgery, robotics and Guru andgod Rajivknows Gandhi’s what else. How do we get out ofassassins. this loop? Seen hereI isdo a protest It’s a good question (pauses). think that against the death claims there are a lot of over-exaggerated penalty in Bengaluru about the people I discuss in the ap/gautam singhbook. It is essential that we stay objective if we are to engage with our history meaningfully. We need couple of weeks ago, I found myself criminal justice system — as shown by the find- dispense to have a kind of it fine-grained discrimination justice when comes to death penalon stage with the eminent Supreme ings of the project — is underperforming, if ties. That rather saying, ‘There used to be golden is than a fairly terrible indictment of aone Court (SC) lawyer, Nitya Ramakrish- not broken. Part of the reason behind this is of the era and of now have squandered it all’. I’m pillars thewe state. nan, and one of the sitting SC justic- found in the report itself. As part of the docunot looking put forward a progressive I asked JusticetoLokur about where we go hises, Madan Lokur. We were discussing the death mentation on socio-economic profiles of the fromtory India; I’m not that we have here.ofHis response is saying worth reflecting up-once penalty — to be more precise, the contents of a prisoners, it was found that 74 per cent of the on, not again made everything I’m merely because he is better. a sitting SCactually judge, saypainstaking report brought out by the project prisoners are economically disadvantaged. but because ing that of there are many things that weofhaven’t its importance to the idea a Deconstructing Historian andUniauthor More Sunil Khilnani ‘de-mythologise’ some of the on the death penaltythe atpopular the National Law than wants 85 perto cent had not finished sec- Republic resolved: women’s rights, individual exbuiltcaste, on logical argument. k murali kumar most important Indian figures thethe agesfew versity, Delhi (NLUD). India is down one of ondary school. Surendranath added that the pression. you werehe ansaid, Ethiopian looking to “I remain anIfoptimist,” and pointed countries in the world that still retains the SC confirmed only 4.5 per cent of the sentenc- out that make a career in that manychange ways you such a studyinisIndia, the way death penalty, and although there is debate on es awarded by district courts. In at least 30 per happens. would be better in the 16th century Nothing canofftransform without re-than the to BBC 4 radio the issue — whether ithen relates people likeseries Af- Inmythologise in was order to humanise the 21st.search, without data or discuscent of the cases thethem, prisoner carnations: India in—50 zal Guru or the assassins of Rajiv Gandhi ve- Lives them. But at the acquitted, while thesame resttime, wereI didn’t want to be In the chapter sion. Research by universities, about Dhirubhai Ambani, you wasdetails released 2015,who the mery few of us have actual onin those gratuitously iconoclastic because that’s also a mentionNGOs commuted. and other institutions have that he said: “People who distrust imposed prisoners brevity on au- As tendency end up on death row. dium The “celebrity” we have. Especially these statistics make clear, it in terms of peo- the creators brought theseareissues to to light. of wealth destined live in thor anda representative historian Sunil though are not sample,Khilnani’s even is theple likeand Jinnah and Gandhi, quite an in- Court poor uneducated — un-that’s “You moreansuch repoverty.” Youhave followa itfew up with The Supreme biographical The book version was if they are what wesketches. talk about. teresting thing that —we do: either they’re able to defend themselves who ports,” he how said,Indians “and you’ll see about no longer confirmed only observation, 4.5 released in years February, and it moves a fair clip, It took three to complete the at report. heroes orto everything about terrible. are sentenced death. Justice Lo-them isper howexcess thingsand correct themselves.” mistrusted inequality after that cent of the all 636 pages. Particularly impressive are the The research was conducted by NLUD students kur mentioned how, often, Too many us believe that an moment. Haven’t we of always been okay with Another piece of quite popular wisdomsentences about Indiaawarded frequent passages whereSurendranath, Khilnani deftly under the guidance of Dr Anup suchisdefendants to underthose things, as a people, all the way institutional democracy — back one to by district that we tendfail to speak no evil of the dead. Incourts works in current-day politics andWhen socialI realAshoka? director of the death penalty project. standthe the case being presented where an individual is allowed to case of someone like Amrita revealing, among otherThere things,is that meanities, research, I mean “search”. no the against them,our and cannot even I wonder, I think vote freely andactually. fairly — is goodthere in is Sher-Gil, cognisance of her suppressing of histories by no prisonmeans a recentralised database on deathispenalty give extraordinary correct answers. It took also off bedifference: even Ashokaiswas itself.a It is not. Democracy a vework cent ers. As theyphenomenon. are housed inHero-worshipping state prisons, the mycameonly clear thather many of the lawry toconcerned about means a good, and that providing good after death: do you If you were thologies thrivesdoesn’t while humanising accounts Central government have up-to-date yers think representing the prisoners for ifhis subjects.isPlanting this is a recurring pattern did not can onlyan be achieved democracy informedtrees, tend to on getwho buried along jail, the what way. conExcerpts information is in which withthe us,case that to wethe tendclient to ‘correct’ explain or provideEthiopian up- by looking providing for travellers, facts, byto research, and bywater options. Our re- semake public a career in us the byother punctuating from conversation with Khilnani: dition theyaare in, the status of their appeals, if datesour on narratives the same. In words, the governcurity, and I to think thatbut was a gives framework debate, many with death? any, or even if they are dead or alive. Consider- mentthem routinely sentences people to death,India, and inwe leadership ethic in India. mustways fill it withstrong the data necessary to move Whatare was the385 starting pointon fordeath this book you’d beforward, better off inmuch I thinkand there’s an elementamong of them ing there only prisoners row the poorest most vulnerable Butofletthat medata skip will ahead and beto ofJamsetji in(and the earlier radio series), this exploration the 16th century than that. It’s a bit like our — something the project discovered — this disproportionately pay thefascination heaviest price. Tata, who was also a founding justices. It is only by uncovering them, discuss- figof not figures who,difficult in someacases, were as with artists or musicians should be that number to track. Fundamentally, a system that who punishes the the ure of sorts. What’s ing21st them, and finding solutions to theminteresting that a influential as, say, Gandhi, but not nearly The fact their early But we do not do this. Though the death penal-as poordie for young. being poor is anofunjust system. From democracy becomes withvaluable, him is his ability to otherwise wecomwell-known? deathsthat somehow dominates ty is supposed to be used in the “rarest of rare” the details emerge from the our report — in- can reduce the Parliament bine short-term to anprivate arena interest for very interested even in the figures understanding of them and cases,I was we seem to care little about what hap- that cluding that of custodial torture on a wide shouting matcheswith interest, full oflong-term sound andpublic fury signinotionally familiar, like Ashoka, like the work.that I don’t know if I’d say pens are to them. scale,their a topic Ramakrishnan has docu- fying nothing. and that’s something that charBuddha, Gandhi, at Jinnah and so on. I wanted to thatinwe (Indians) speak no that evil, because some- acterises the empire he built. That’s not a spirIn his presentation the launch, Surendramented her book — it is clear the crimit@OmairTAhmad themterms, for us,said to show that the times we speak aoflotIndia of evildoes about thereally dead. But it we find today. nath,de-familiarise in no uncertain that our nal justice system not standard view that we have about them is not we refuse to see them as human beings. And necessarily the human view. I wanted to de- perhaps it happens more often with women: aditya mani jha
The poor and vulnerable form 74 per cent of the total number of death row convicts in India Sunil Khilnani’s Incarnations is a collection of 50 short profiles that seeks to free its subjects from India’s obsession with personality cults
A
W
Q
R Q
Incarnations Sunil Khilnani Penguin Non-fiction ₹999
Omair Ahmad is the Asia Editor for The ND-X _ A
Third Pole, reporting on water issues in the Himalayas
R
talk takeaway
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
The home products Song of a people COSMOPOLIS
Zakopane, a charming town in southern Poland, relies on traditional recipes, local produce andaway a lotfrom of cheese Set far Georgia, a 12th-century epic poem about an Indian prince and a brawny Arab remains the consummate Georgian saga till date
rough animal fur rugs are thrown across the chairs. The staff is dressed in patterned white trousers — a typical highlander costume — and More thanfolk most places, Rustaveli’s Georgia a local tune plays. Here, I dine on great was aportions crossroads. His poem demonstrates the of meat accompanied by cabbage breadth his erudition the wideand frame andof pierogi (a sort ofand dumpling) sipofMiodreference that Georgians thegold ula, a honey vodka thatinhabited looks like at liquid time.and He invokes classical Greekme. and The Christian burns right through spirit folNeo-Platonist ideasthat’s coming outcenturies of Byzantium lows a recipe seven old and is to the west just asoak he for evinces knowledge of aged in Polish almost a year. chivalric Arabic poetry. There was no clean line Zakopane is traditional, using centuries-old here recipes, betweenliving East and Asia and Europe, off West, local produce, inviting visor even Christendom Islam. We often assoitors to chat withand cheesemongers, and lingerciateing ancient texts with a particular religious over honey vodka. outlook, ‘The Knight in the next Panther’s Inbut striking contrast, day isSkin’ all about omnivorously refers to technology. the holinessAoffunicular the Ko- despeed, thrills, and ran, posits the Christian god, and the pantheon us on Mount Gubałówka, which of is covplanetary like Venus andcrunchy Mercury.snow and ered deities in a thick layer of The influence of Persian looms large engulfed in swirling fog. Suiting up over in heavy ‘The jackets, Knight in the Panther’s Skin’ and all ofon to snowshoes and pants, we hop medieval literature. These Rustaveli was brightGeorgian red snowmobiles. ultramodern schooled Persian classics like Ferdousi’s 600cc,in90hp mean machines, weighing 200 ‘Shahnameh’ andour Gorgani’s kg each, are rides for‘Vis theand day.Ramin’ We rumble (he was alsothe a contemporary the great Nizaacross rough terrain,ofguns blazing at first, mi Ganjavi, whose famous ‘Khamsa’ would be isn’t but soon realise turning the heavy beast Identity politics Since Georgia emerged as an independent state, the epic has begun to shoulder even more of rewritten by the 13th acentury as easyinasDelhi it seems. There’s tumble poet here and the symbolic weight of the nation. An illustration of ‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’ in Georgia shutterstock Amirthere, Khusrau.) but it’s all part of the thrill, with the Like their Persian counterparts, snow significantly cushioning the the heroes fall and the of the Georgian compare beauty the At a guides fromepic Snowdoo at hand to to help. Say... All along Krupówki Street, cheesemongers vie for our attention,aising carving the off slivers cheese andbanbeckoning us withon their knives malavika red of and black largely familiar soil, abhattacharya mythical geography slender form we of have the cypress loveberry meadow, a quick tree, breakthey for hot ner, the royal standard of In- that Indian readers can map onto the real metaphors lions and they faint at tea andabout fat chunks of goats, oscypek toasted over a dia…the Indian armies world. Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’ endowed Rome with a the merest mention of the name of settles their befire. During our return, the mist low on he Tatra mountains assembled, countlessin assouthern stars in Poginger, swathes The of coloured wool, heavy furs glorious pre-history. Persian ‘Shahnameh’ loved, and they cry reader is oththe ground andso weoften soonthat lose the sight of each land form a natural the heavens,” recounts Tariel, one ofboundary the two beand leather products. The furs onheroes display connects its readers to the legendary ofhave drowned descriptions of tears. er in in this endless expanse of white, navigating tween Slovakia Poland. In the heroes of the medieval epic ‘Theand Knight in the coatsthe and scarves, Rustaveli theirbeen land.fashioned Composedinto at ashaggy time when kingour wayand by his the Georgian tracks in contemporaries the snow. It’s almost of these craggy giants Panther’s Skin.’lower Tariel,reaches an Indian prince, leads asSpain is — pristine ivory shape, sheepskins domsbut of many Franceare and were taking probably never travelled to India, but moon-like India otherworldly, this isolated, misty, is a to little town called or Zakopane. It’s prothis force attack ‘Khataeti’ Cathay, what and much patterned varieties that unthe French ‘Thelarger, Song of Roland’ and Spanish held vastness. meaningZakopane for them in thisto broad cultural tends feel like that — of nounced with certain we would call ‘Zah-ko-pah-nay’, China. In keeping witha the doubtedly belong to warriors larger game. All along, ‘The Song of My Cid’ depict defending landscape. Along with classical another world and anotherAthens time. and the flourish, and warriors, not ‘Za-ko-pain’, like I’d been sayprowess of heroic Tariel single-handfor our attention, carving theircheesemongers homeland fromvie rapacious enemies. The deserts of Arabia, India was an integral part of bhattacharya is a Delhi-based freelance in my head. As you army. drive in fromafter Krakow, edly ing pummels the Chinese “Man sliversPortuguese of cheese poem and beckoning us with 16th off century ‘The Lusiads’ theirmalavika imaginative world. travel journalist 100 km the north, town unfolds man around was smitten to to earth by the the force of my their knives. chronicled the conquests that made Portugal And why not? Amitav Ghosh in In An Antique like a postcard. A tumble of gabled onslaught.” Triumphant, he returns totimber India chaIntricately patterned oscypek is all around. Land A a maritime empire. observes how in our modernity of naslopingChinese slate roofs on and the hillside; with lets thewith captured king many the Unlike traditional Polish mountain delicacy these famous tales, ‘The Knight innative the to tion-states, our vision of the world can shrink pointy and topsbullock-carts of coniferousoftrees camel-loads booty.poke out bethe Tatras, made with salted sheep’s milk, Panther’s Skin’it is has nothing and older connections (between framed by purple-hued snowy So tween goes anthem, episode of a celebrated epic pofollows ancient recipe, and each houseovertly to doan with the country India and the Arab world, in the peaks in the background. em composed in the 12th century. It was writ- where hold’s variety hasIts mild differences in flavour. I it was written. titular case of his book) be forgotten. A jumping off point forand skiers in the winter ten far away from India, China, Arabia (the towards friendly womanThe named hero wander Tariel, who drapesahimself ‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’ poem hikers in action), the summer, Zakootherand arena of its in what is now the in the spotted skinAgata, who carves off great refers of a panther, is a paradoxical reminder of how omnivorously pane is the typical mountain renation-state of Georgia, a small country of is an Indian noble.chunks Getting there supposedly nafrom wheels for Avtandil, thedifferent supra-national to the holiness of the town. people Rentalon holiday aboutsort four million the eastern rim other brawny andme to taste. It’s tough, chewy gallant proFly to Krakow via Berlin or Vienna tional epics can be. Koran, theand Christian and 19th century woodof thecottages Black Sea. has main the distinct flavour of tagonist, is Arab. The dra- smoky It only became an emblem ofan and then drive approximately Each household’s god, and the pantheon At en novillas pointline do the winding events ofstreets. ‘The Knight in for meat. I about try varieties, withdeities maoscypek, of the plot Georgia in theto 18th and 19th cenhour south Zakopane. recipe a centres of mixed planetary The mainSkin’ pedestrianised market the Panther’s come anywhere close to the cow’s milkbeand goat’s milk, and their quest to rescue Tariel’s tury, when peoples everywhere smoked mountain Do stretch, Street, is hills and plainsKrupówki that make up modern-day Gefinally purchase a little ear of loved, Indian princess called began turning to nationalism cheese, hasan mild Go snowmobiling with Snowdoo of stores selling sport- characorgia.chockfull Nor do they involve Georgian salty, the smoky oscypek for one zloty. Nestan-Darejan, capand searching for an authentic vidifferences in flavour from (www.snowdoo.pl) — a reliable and snowboards, ters. ing Andgear. yet Skis the epic is the consummate tivity of demons. The Tatras are part of the sion of themselves in the past. operator that’s great for hiking shoes and snow jackets — of soGeorgian saga, so knitted into the fabric Carpathian range. How did a fablelarger of Indo-Arab bravery andAs is Since Georgia emerged as an independent beginners preparing ciety outdoor that wellenthusiasts into the 20th century every chivalric love become true the of iconic most mountainous text of Geor- restate from the ruin of the Soviet Union, the epfor their adventures of Knight gian literature? Part wedding dowry included aspill copyout of ‘The gions, a distinct of the reason culture for the prevails po- ic has begun to shoulder even more of the Stay shops and into the cafes on the upper in thethe Panther’s Skin.’ Shota Rustaveli, the po- levthese parts. The Highlanders haverich unique em’s inabiding popularity is Rustaveli’s symbolic weight of the nation. A boutique luxThe region around Zakopane is for apple strudel and in coffee a view. em’s els, author, is memorialised the with names of language folk traditions and customs, a distinct and metrical innovations (whicharchiury hotel themed the poem is scheduled richafter in thermal pools. Stay at a the northern end of Krupówki Street ishave a tectural streets, Atplazas, and academic institutions. style, speak a different dialect. to open in the capital yet to be welland translated into English). Tblisi later this year. spa such as Termy Bukovina largeup square an open-air market, Growing in thewith Georgian town of Gori, aalong Lunch is at a typical highlander restaurant But beyond aesthetics, the poem reminds Ge‘The Knight (www.bukovina.pl) in the Panther’s Skin’ can be in and indulge theStalin routememorised to the funicular stationin forthe Mount young ‘The Knight — Bakowo Zohylina Wyznio — where acuteorgians of the era of its composition, theI’m supread as an example of medieval Georgian acmineral-rich, hot pools. Gubałówka. the bustle of Krupówki, with Panther’s Skin’ byAfter heart. aware of many pairs of eyes posedly‘Golden Age’the of Georgia. Rustaveli wasona me. complishment. But the poem’s real power lies Tip its ‘national glass-fronted thethat market a step Most epics’shops, achieve statusisby Heads deer and elk are female mounted on the courtier to of Georgia’s powerful ruler, in its openness to the wider world to which it Stock up on oscypek, sold in little back in time. Little in wooden stalls are spread representing the nation some way. Though walls, theirwho antlers intricate rambling. Queen Tamar, presided for and nearly 40 belongs. pushcarts along Krupówki Street. across the cobbled manned the Mahabharata and thesquare, Ramayana evokeby an-locals of wood serve as tables and the inteyearsThick over alogs confident and expansive Christian The hard cheese tastes best when Kanishk Tharoor is the author t@kanishktharoor apronsof around their cientwith times,frilly the events the stories takewaists. place The riors in arethe dimly Bearskins kingdom latelit. 12th century. and all manner of grilled: the insides melt, turning of Swimmer Among the Stars: Stories, market is awash with local offerings: wheels of taxidermy creatures — foxes, owls and the like a collection of short fiction warm and gooey. cheese, jars of pickled mushrooms and fresh — make up the décor. To keep the seats warm,
“R T
Q R
Q R
Travel log
ND-X _ A
7 19BL BL
know takeaway
BL BL 20 4
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
Beneath the fissures The agitations in Tawang are not merely a tussle between pro- and anti-dam campaigners. A closer look reveals a power play in the monastery
TUMMY TRAVELS
Brewing discontent? The large presence of Gelukpa monks during the emotive yet unruly protest on May 2 could be construed as a rebellion within Tawang monastery ritu raj konwar
ND-X _ A
vourable verdict from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal had on April 7 suspended the environment clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest for the Nyamjang Chhu hydropower project in Tawang’s Zemingthang area. There are allegations that the trio had instigated the nonbailable arrests of Lobsang. Another version doing the rounds is that Guru Rinpoche, during a courtesy call on new chief minister Kalikho Pul on March 11, had agreed to support pro-dam activities. This, in turn, had angered Lama Lobsang and he released an audio clip questioning the Rinpoche’s nationality. This version however has been challenged by both factions. Supporters claim the Rinpoche never gave his assent when Pul the matter Wontons at sought had raisedMeat the of subject; rather, he had Sunshine, Chinese monastery joint at Tangra, aid to protect the aTawang against Kolkata images: zac o’yeah the recurring landslides. Lobsang, on the other hand, said the audio clip was from 2012 when Guru Rinpoche had given a clarion call to monks to stay away from political activities related to the anti-dam movement. The Panchayati Raj elections in 2013 and the Assembly elections in 2014 were contested on the ‘anti-dam movement’ plank in the Monyal region, comprising Tawang and West Kament the Gaden Namgyal Lhatsen or Tawang mon- districts. The much-venerated monk Tsona astery, as it is popularly known. The seat of the Gontse Rinpoche (TGR), who dabbled in elec‘abbot of Gaden Namgyal Lhatsen’ is highly re- toral politics, was then attempting a comevered. The life of the Monpas, the most pop- back after the death of former chief minister ulous tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, is delicately Dorjee Khandu, the man who had reduced interwoven with religion, with the abbot ex- TGR to a political non-entity. TGR took the antierting a pervasive influence on their socio-cul- dam posture and several monks were reporttural life and, hence, a political influence too. edly sourced from the Sera Jey Monastic Unipainted redhullabaloo, ahead of some festival. Amid the wordChinese is out that three versity As I get for lunch, a mom-andat ready Mysore in theI pass build-up to the Next the temple, I at chance upon one of the of theto five secretaries Tawang monastery are anti-dam pop-style agitations. eatery simply (47 It wascalled allegedChung that Lama few early-riser eateries — aptly seeking the ouster of Guru Rin- named Sun- South Tangra), where who Chinese sitatstuffLobsang, hadladies studied this shine — the where thewho breakfast menu consists of ing crab claws. poche; two support I order some, am informed institute, playedbut an instrumental singara chowNgawang (Chinese Tsering samosas?) and won- that the crabsrole him are Lama arein being cooked specially for a this mobilisation. Though ton. Lama I pick Dorjee the latter and get and Namgey. It isa huge plate of get-together. public Instead, I’m given generous sentiment wasaagainst the Why were the meaty dumplings, fiery sauce— and a bowl of plate of prawn alleged that the rebel monks chow at ₹130. A radio plays disdams and the political hegemostudents of Tawang steaming egg drop broth. Lama Lama Lobsang Phuntsok, torted Chinese Soon the Chinese arnypop. of the Khandu family,clan TGR’s monastery supporting Totally stuffed, my exploration rives to feast,team Lobsang ThapkeyI continue and Lama fillingfailed two round banquet tables to dent the family’s Lobsang after he was and find of been Chinese paper lanterns — a loaded with off-menu Sang Letaa seller — have aiding are visitpolitical specials. fortunes.Some Today, this accused of insulting young Bengali lad — campaign and a soy sauce factory ing from Canada, Lama Lobsang’s bringing fancy gifts like family is led by a political greenGuru Rinpoche? foundedthe in 1954, apparently the against political and reliiPhones; the Canadian kidseldest horse horn, Pema Khandu, the oldestestablishments. in India and still using gious about doing cartwheels while son of the late Dorjee Khandu. traditional slow fermentation The large presence of Gelukupdating Facebook pages. A coupletheir of months after the methods. to my GPS, pa monksAccording in that emotive, yet Their Indian cousins areTGR silent in elections, 47-year-old died One of the there’s May a Lao-tzu temple in be oneconstrued unruly 2 protest could as a big-eyed wonderment. under mysterious circumstances in New Delrestaurants worth of the winding alleys, but I don’t as also rebellion within the monastery, an atTwothat of the so restaurants hi. It was he 40 hadorcommitted “sutrying in Tangra is reported find it.toOne can buythe economytempt undermine Dalai Lama, Beijing; as the ab-evenicide in Tangra worth tryingfan are at Kimfa by hanging from a ceiling his Amitav size bags of MSG appointed — that essential bot is directly by him. Such South Tangra), joint popular Vasant Kunj,a South Delhi”. Ghosha hassisters’ been house(9in ingredientisinnot Chinese food —given in the threat construct unfounded, with locals for hearty Chinese the mantle fell upon Lama Lobsang spotted Thereafter, here every corner there’s perception to store, the lifebut of Guru Rinpoche, who to continue the fare, and Beijing Christophstruggle. Apart(77/1 from the mulunfortunately not a single Sensing shoe danger, he tiple versionserand is camping at Dharamsala. Road), whosea fine is all realities, newdining conspiracy shopearlier in sight. had moved out of Tawang monastery theory doingthe with is Bengalis the therage rounds that of(even possible once army had guesthouse. Chinese involvement to Apparently take shelterKolkata at an Indian author Amitav Ghoshthe has been in derailing Tawang a Chinese large enough tolocal merit A day later,population he left for Bomdila but the ad-a hydro spottedprojects, here). Apart from anaunusually extenwhich have cumulative polocally printed Chinese newspaper. chap I tential ministration expressed its inability One to provide sive vegetarian selection, Beijing offers a highof generating 2,792 MW once commischat withGuru estimates that later todaytendered there arehis only security. Rinpoche re- sioned. ly Indianised duck ₹655: Thisversion theoryof Peking assumes anforadded 200 families left.Dalai ManyLama of the mi- importance signation to the onyouth May 6have but sus“Pieces, medium gravy,” the waiter for ingivenspicy the in Dragon’s penchant gratedover to Canada andremains. I spot about a dozen el- Tawang pense its status forms me. Matheswartala Road, an unpaved as an integral part of Southern Tibet’s derly Chinese myofwalk. Two aunties, Ahead of theduring incidents May 2, there were geo-political tannery lane, history. is lined with other well-known In this evolving diswho look that like they be atroika hundred years course rumours the might powerful of Pema eateriesofsuch Shunvs Li your and Sin Fa. undenia“myasviews views”, old, are delightfully in flowery silk pyja- bleAfter Khandu, his brother clad Tsering Tashi and cousin few to beers, Tangra this with itsangle. oozing is theaneed investigate new mas of aTashi kindwho thatrepresent must havethe been very fash- black gutters looks decidedly less grimy, so I Jambey three legislais the founding editor Eastern ionable in mainland China before district the 1949 tive assembly segments in Tawang — jarpum summongamlin the courage to knock on of the gates of an Englishtannery, daily published fromhides Itanagar communist were miffedrevolution. with the SMRF after it won a fa- Sentinel, a fortress-like where are still
Two for the price of one
T W
awang, the normally placid town better known for its spiritual heritage, natural beauty and strategic importance, suddenly found itself at the centre of a bloody incident a few days ago. What appears on the surface to be a “prodam versus anti-dam” tussle reveals disturbing undercurrents on close examination. orking my way through Lama Nima Wangde, a student at the the Tashopping list,ofI’ve wang monastery, fell to one the already several Market to buyalso vahundred bulletsbeen firedto byNew policemen that fudge Nahoum’s killed one othernilla person andfrom injured at least Jewishon bakery. Johnson’s cheese shop I proeight May 2,At 2016. The cops had opened fire cured a bagful of Bandel cheesesan — these tradiwithout warning and without official ortional smoked erred cheesebyballs der. ThePortuguese-type district administration deare still made a village of the same name on taining the in monk-turned-activist Lama the outskirts of general town. Preparing leaveMon the Lobsang Gyatso, secretary to of Save next morning, alreadyunder miss the cosmopoliRegion Forum I(SMRF) a non-bailable tan Kolkata. section for the second time within 48 hours. I getarrested a brainwave: Kolkata HeThen was first on April 26 onsupposedly the charge hasleading the only aChinatown in India and I vaguely of protest at Gongkhar village, know where it is. I haven’t reallyShakangchu breakfasted where the six-megawatt Mukto yet, soproject why not go Chinese? Maybe up a hydel is coming up, and againpick on April pair handmade boots, too,Rinpoche, because rumour 28 forofdefaming Guru Tulku the abhas of it that there are excellent shoemakers in bot Tawang monastery. Chinatown. into a cab.on flimsy grounds His jailingI hop for 72 hours an hour get off in Christopher ledHalf hundreds of later, angryI supporters to troop inRoad, main street inand Tangra. Not much to thethe prison complex culminated in of thea street,turn moreofof a meandering lane lined with tragic events. Despite having four days’ tanneries and Chinese eating-houses. Many time and intelligence inputs, the administraare shut early andappropriately. it turns out —Why a bunch tors failedthis to respond were of students run into tell me so — that they are the studentsI of Tawang monastery supporting primarilyafter known as dirt cheapof bars, only open Lobsang he was accused insulting Guat night (6-10pm). Some showcase crooners, ru Rinpoche? Is there a design to undermine but Dalai don’t Lama’s expect authority Shanghai-style jazz here: the the over Tawang monmusicalMedia fare isreports more may Tollywood. Until about astery? have simplistically 1950, thethis area was infamous forattempt its opium reduced conflagration to an “to dens. anti-dam These dens were but all there shut isdown silence protesters”, more post-independence. to it. As better I walk around, I discover a Chinese cemeTo understand this, one must first be tery dating to 1900, a who Formosa for familiar withback the characters haveInn locked those who wish toplay staywithin overnight, and a Chihorns in a power and outside the nese Kalimandir, which Buddhist is getting its gates second-oldest Mahayana monastery,
The search for a hearty Chinese breakfast in Kolkata leads to the discovery of a second, notso-famous Chinatown
zac o’yeah
Q
R Q R
takeaway know
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
Organised crime against tigers Amid the euphoria over rising numbers in the wild, the year has started on a bloody note for the national animal, with 30 succumbing to poachers’ bullets
The right tools A good Chinese meal needs just the right sauces, like the ones made at Kolkata’s Sing Cheung sauce factory
Watchword Forest officials — the first line of defence for the tiger against poachers — are understaffed, and shop under-equipped the Happy feet Aunderpaid Chinese shoe at Bentinck for Street task kr deepak
2012-14, while other countries lost fewer than tanned in the old way — in soaking pits. A po- group from the Canton-area). 10 each during the same period. “It is very diffilite lady informs me that they make no shoes. Worried that I’ll find no shoes there either, I cult to manage a tiger reserve with the num“You must go to Pen Ching Street. All shoe stop the taxi outside Chung Wah on 13A, CR ber of staff currently available,” says Tito shops are there.” Avenue, around the corner from Bentinck Joseph, programme manager with WPSI. It sounds like she’s telling me to cross the Street. Foodies tipped me off about it. The allEleven years after the Tiger Task Sunshine border to China itself, so I get her to spell it red interiors with many private booths are Force (set up to glean lessons from Breakfast, wontons, Christopher Road, out: “Bentinck.” Aha! That’s the street east of popular with secret lovers having tiffs over Sariska, where tiger numbers Tangra Dalhousie Square (BBD Bagh) where the Chi- tumblers of Old Monk, and it retains an effortplummeted from 16 to zero in Chung nese originally set up shop in the mid-1800s, lessly retro feel. Started by Mr Wah himself 2005) reported that nearly 20 Prawn chow, when they arrived in the wake of the British some 140 years ago, I’m told by the bartender per cent of forest staff posts recrab claws, mained vacant, the problem has sea trade with the port-city of Canton. The area (who is probably just making this up to make 47 South only grown in magnitude. even has an Old China Bazaar, said to date back me happy), it is no longer Chinese-run. FurTangra to 1757, where Chinaware was sold. This con- thermore it has turned into a somewhat shady “There are more than 40 per cent nection is also reflected in the fact that much drinking den. The man at the next table of the posts vacant right now,” Kimfa Agile does it There is a crying need for younger forest staff for more of the food one gets here is ostensibly Canto- doesn’t even remove his motorcycle helmet says Sen. Another problem flagged Chinese food, m sathyamoorthy; (inset) file picture of weapons surrendered by effective patrols nese (sometimes on menus as while downing seven pegs. the Tiger Task Force was the high 9 SouthbyTangra raj konwar poachers in Assam rituabbreviated ‘Can’) or Hakka (the name of a Chinese ethnic The menu, DTP printouts in plastic pockets, average age of the personnel — 42 for Beijing in case one’s Daredevil beer spills, offers Indoforest guards and 46 for foresters and Fine dining, Chinese food, 77/1 n May 16, four men were arrested Chinese hybrid as in] fried chilli pa- rangers. Younger staff was seen necessary for “We are seeingitems thesesuch [spurt Christopher Road, Tangra in Raiwala, near Dehradun, with a neer, chilli, Chung special more effective patrols. deathschicken becausetandoori of inadequate anti-poaching Chung Wah should be filled and the effort tiger skin and 25 kg of bones. Elev- fish and enough fish Manchurian. staffmasala and not intelligence on the “All vacancies hybrid food, be 13A, CR en feet long and five feet wide, the poaching The chilli-garlicky Manchurian of byIndo-Chinese networks,” says PK Sen, thestyle former front-level staff should recognised. A Avenue seized skin became exhibit no. 30 in the list of cooking to have been Kolka- special director is ofsaid Project Tiger. Theinvented success, in however force needs to be set up in every tiger poached tigers so far this year. ta itself to Indian palates limited, of please the tiger project couldand be is thesomevery reserve,” Joseph recommends. Tung Nam Eating House Barely a month ago, animal lovers had cele- times Nelson Wang, celebrity reasonattributed for the to animal’s currenttheplight. “A The conviction rates for wildPorkextremely in hamei low sauce, 24 Chatawala Gully brated an increase in the number of wild ti- chef bornoffrom Chinese parents here 1950. number tigers are grown-up in in Corbett, life offences add to the staff’s woes, as that furgers for the first time in a century. There are Ranthambhore Fortified, I walk upstreet KC Das’s and Kanha from and now needrosonew ther emboldens poachers. To date, the WPSI now 3,890 tigers in the world, up from 3,200 golla shopwith andnot findenough that Bentinck Street in- has recorded only 61 convictions for killing a territory; vegetation cover tables where people area six years ago. India is home to 2,500 of them, deed has and about a dozen Chinese shoe shops. available a decreased prey density, tigers eight tiger or trading in Chinese-looking tiger parts. “Poachers are and the menu witnessing a steady rise in number over the Some aremove run byfurther,” dignifiedSen oldexplains. Chinese gentleneed to As the dining step ahead of us, theyfeels havetotally their authentic. networks, eateries for in past decade. Alongside the successes of tiger men after shopping around grownand animals move out of the I find nice It’s like the simple they constantly testlocal the folks system, low stools that many can conservation projects, however, the poach- boots — they’re a real at ₹1,200. Many China today, with core reserve areas into steal the lessand when the so enforcement bea table.better It even mandatoings and killings continue unabated. shoe shopsbuffer later,zones, I reach Tiretta protected they be- Bazaar and squeeze in atcomes athas onethe reserve, they off evil at the Pork The number of dead tigers, from various take right turnMost intoofSun Yat Sen comeavulnerable. the tichange sites,” saysentrance. Bishal Singh TheStreet, number ry of screen forest to ward hamei sets me backofbyNational ₹150. natural and unnatural causes, has already tou- named in honour of theafather modern ger reserves have poor,of the Bonal, head Tiger officials killedinon dutysauce Other similar eating-houses include D’Lay, ched 62 this year, according to the Wildlife Chinese find outside more Chinese food. degradednation, forestand cover Conservation Authority. is higher in India than Pou andit Eau Chewgang — the Protection Society of India (WPSI). The grisly theTocore begin with, zone, withTangra’s scatteredSing huIn Hing, Corbett, is a new of in any other country latter opened in the 1920s is haul of seized skin, bones and body parts Cheung sauce factory“Ifturns out man settlements. people Bawarias, a nomadic tribeand from thereby the who oldest were Chinese fampoints to rampant poaching. In comparison, to haveco-operate, an outlet on parallel don’t thethe forest deRajasthan earlier ily-run in India.out This 25 tigers were illegally killed in all of 2015. The P-12 New CIT also known as partment is Road, not strong enough blamedeatery for emptying thearea SaThe chilli-garlicky is also famous its early morndeaths have been reported across 11 tiger re- Lu Shun up Sarani afterwe China’s to stand to them; need celthe riska reserve. for Some poachers Manchurian cooking ing for Chinese breakfasts and one serves countrywide, including five (or six, ac- ebrated novelist. The secret ofdepartments,” help of the rural development been active generations and know the style is saidhave to have canwell. apparently for less than cording to various reports) deaths at Corbett, cooking grubconflicts is the have become Sen adds. Chinese Man-animal jungle Effectiveeatintelligence is been invented in all too from makeshiftthreats. food stalls India’s premier reserve for the big cat. right Herenear the tiger selection is more sauce. frequent reserves, as also Kolkata in needed to foil₹30 these multifarious “We that organised wrap up business after the “The one conclusion I can draw is an in- magnificent, ranging stir-National Park are fighting with the buffer areas. At thefrom Dudhwa crime groups, we sun rises. crease in demand from China,” says Belinda fry and Pradesh, momo four sauces to Szein Uttar people were killed by ti- need a specialised effort to track these gangs, time, Iwe think to myself as I Wright, director of WPSI. That demand has chuan hot sauce in anything gers in March-April. monitor repeatNext offenders; should take the the metro at Central to go long driven tiger poaching in India. In Octo- from 210 officials ml bottles (₹100) 2.5of defence for assistance of board Forest — the firstto line state police to monitor people,” my hotel to look for antacids, happy to ber 2003, customs officers in Tibet had cap- kg I gopoachers slightly berserk and fill my back thejerry tigercans. against — are understaffed, Bonaltosays. with oyster sauce, wasabi and shi- have discovered that Kolkata has not tured a truck transporting the skin of 31 tigers, jhola underpaid and under-equipped fordried the task After a worryingly high-fatal yearone so but far, at affordable rates. 581 leopards and 778 otters, a copy of the Delhi take and, mushrooms hence, unmotivated. Additionally, the two moreChinatowns! threats loom ahead with the approach Around cornerkilled is an on oldduty Chinese church, edition of an English daily stuck to the bundle number ofthe officials is higher in of monsoon — the peak season for poaching. is aout… part-time writer and part-time Sea Ip, which 1905The and is quite zac like a calling card. Enforcement authorities the India than in any dates other from country. non-profThe o’yeah claws are of travel the human kind. I end the day in Tung Nam have for decades struggled to break the supply picturesque. it International Ranger Federation (IRF)eating noted detective novelist based in Bengaluru. His latest novel is A Hero for Hire saurabh yadav house Chatawala Gully), a canteen with Hari: link to the Chinese market for wildlife parts. that 72 (24 forest rangers were killed in India from
The Chinatown food trail
O
Q Q R R
ND-X _ A
5 BL 21 BL
know takeaway
BL BL 222
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
All in a summer day Where to sit, see and be seen at in Goa this season erator, for instance. The rooms include a nursery with a collection of charming toys from a bygone era. The old kitchen is stacked with utensils, crockery, cane baskets, earthen containers, much like a museum of archaic cooking methods. Chill out with a book, and breakfast at The Whispering Café, Ucassaim This place is great for unwinding — located in the balcony of a beautiful Portuguese house, which is nestled among trees on the top of a hill in the village of Ucassaim. You can hear the wind blowing through the trees here, hence the name. Must-have: banoffee pie. Lunch at Black Sheep Bistro, Panjim At Whispering Cafe, a new café in Ucassaim village images anuradha sengupta
Prahlad and Sabreen Sukhtankar of Panjim’s Black Sheep Bistro are using local ingredients to great effect in their menus. Try their revamped chorizo pão — served on toasted hunks of homemade whole-wheat poi with shavings of dark chocolate. They use local fish and bread for their fish cakes served with a plate of buttery-garlicky pois.
Sacha’s Shop, Panjim
Pick up leather puppets at Sacha’s Shop, Panjim
Beti, interrupted Urban Cafe in Panjim
Young designer Syne Coutinho’s boutique is housed in her father’s ancestral home near shutterstock the Boca da Vaca spring. It may look like a hotchpotch collection of things but the clothes, jewellery and bric-a-brac like paper animals and leather puppets are items she has chosen carefully. Buy your Goa gifts at Velha Goa Galleria, Fontainhas
The mystery shrouding the death minor at a residential institute as a chilling Fish cakes and butter-garlic pois at of BlackaSheep Bistro, Panjim The storeserves has an exquisite range of ceramics, crystal and glassware from Portugal. The best reminder of all that is wrong in a State that is loudly promoting girls’ education pick here would be one of their gorgeous ceTake a tour of the grande dames This is the best way to begin your holiday in n March at the end Holi holiGoa. Drive down to 28, Loutolim, via of some days, 17-year-old Delta Meghwal scenic landscapes along River was on dropped Mandovi. Here, a tour off of by her father at the residential the old mansions of Goa youAdarsh Jain Teacher’s Training Institute in Nokha, Bikaner (Rawill find stories from anothjasthan). HerFigueiredo two-year course er era. The Housewas ending and herLoutolim exam results were expected in is highly recom- the next day. The daughter schoolteacher in Barmmended, for of it aisDalit perhaps the er, around 400 away, shedewas the first in grande dame of km these. Maria her familyFigueiredo to study beyond school. Her proud Lourdes de Albufather, Mahendra Ji Panwar, held her up as an querque, the 80-something example hishouse, students. owner oftothe will welcome you On the March 29, she was foundwooden drowned from bougainvillea-laden ve-in the water tank the to hostel building. randah. Youbehind will have call ahead to Her fatefula personal walk towards the water tank hadn’t book tour with her. But don’t goneit, unnoticed. am, the father of the inmiss it’s worth At it —7 both for the stitute’sand ownerthe hadcolourful seen her during his mornhouse ing walk. Herporcelain hostel-mate, owner. With skintoo, saw her leaving the dorm. Yet, it was only around midday that and wavy cream-and-beige the police called hair, it is were difficult to in be-to trace the missing girl. The lieve thatinstitute’s she is in owner, her 80s.Ishwar Chand Vaid, failed to inform family about her “Liberation was a Delta’s botheradeath.she loves to say as she tion,” Theyou teenager missing from her takes aroundhad hergone family dormitory thewas night before home, which opened to as well. Around midnight, the hostelin girls had raised an the publicone as aofmuseum alarm after failing findXaDelta in her bed. A collaboration withtothe search partyof ledHistorical by hostel warden Priya Shukla vier Centre Reand the Goa. guardThe Akram Singh search, house wasscanned the campus. She was phases finally found built in two — the in ol-the PT teacher Vi-
O
ND-X _ A
der part was built 407 years ago. The left wing ramic boxes. Or their famed azulejos, painted was built two centuries later. It has an im- and glazed ceramic tiles used in Spanish and intermittently by brush trees and bushes. buildings. These are made in their jendrapressive Singh’scollection room, according to porcepolice Portuguese of furniture, Hardly a soul the onein crosses Margao your and way the on artists are testimonies by the silk hostelembroidered warden and workshop lain, given Chinese hour journey, and there is not a single brightby experts from Portugal. other hostel residents. Post-mortem reports trained garments, and costumes and dresses, have since20th confirmed as asets minor, is ly-coloured dupatta of a local woman in sight centuryrape; dinner fromDelta PortuCatch up on your e-mail at Urban Café, Panjim below the age consent. gal, of 17th century china. Maria’s sto- to break the monotony of men out and about on the streets. one boldly declares on a huge poster that In a strange of most events,fascinating the schoolpart au- This ries turn are the Thebeach police inThe Nokha is a nondescript isstation boring”. two-floor cosy place thorities had, in tour the —middle of about the night, of the she talks how “The building, single-storey brickQuarter construction locatedain Panjim’s Latin and isin-a forced the several minor Delta and the PT teacher governments have tried to is side aofdusty courtyard. police jeep and the Old Quarter One hostel, where you cana sign a document apologising for having take over the property, and ‘conhow part few white in cars are parked inside, dorms and rooms. sensual sex’. The hostel wardenthe Victoria & find accommodation museums (including heating in the summer and aup collection of books sun; and had informed PT teacher’s Albert the Museum in London) have They have wi-fi, there’swith a heat wavecoffee on. and outa cold wife about the incident, butmany Del- antiques, in- magazines. Browse wanted to buy the I wait in the station house offi-a sized a glass of milk served with ta’s parents remained in the cluding an old chest. “Prince Albert’s It is not easy tocookies, or cer’s building, which, unchocolate block on(SHO) a wooden spoon. dark. “Even point, the she control not atmythis father-in-law,” sniffs. people’s like the sparse police station, has school did notshould informI give the anything par“Why to V&A?” sexual behaviour. Dine at Ithe Hotel Venite, Fontainhas a split air-conditioner. The desk is ents,” says Satya Prakash SharLoutolim’s Casa Araujo Al- to start a didn’t want Oodles of charm every corner of The piledpervade with files and the empty ma, a Jaipur High Court vares is another must-vishostel, but where Hospedaria Venite, locatedit in Panjim’s Latin chair behind waits for its occuadvocate and the public it. It isprosesituated opposite would these girls 200-year-old You will It is 11 am.building. The constable on cutor in Delta’s case. the highly avoidable and if Quarter have gone I hadn’t?in apant. entrance andwater the duty offers me a glass of The Bikaner policetouristy had arrestBig Foot and its love the shell-encrusted with graffiti.IItcall used be aPooja lodgsuggests thetoSHO, ed the principal, Vijay Shukla, sidekick Ancestral Goa. walls coveredand Goasounds was under Yadavhouse — she,when in turn, irrihis wife and hostel The warden, Pri- was owned ing and boarding mansion best yaar, tablesI are the tated,The “Arrey, wentonback ya, and PT teacher Singh, who isand is now a Portuguese rule. by a lawyer with atolovely view of home at 4 am,balconies and calls begin come in from the prime accused, museum right afterpacked the incident. with all overhanging paved below. Order a bottle of their 6 am. It isstreet impossible to have a moment of The principal and his wife have since rekinds of memorabilia — the wine, withofcaramelised rum bananas. peace in this line work, madam.” ceived bail. family possessions bought house yum. Finally, the IPS officer — a woman in her 20s over many generations. Absolutely t’s a lonely ride toSome Nokha Bikaner’s old- — marches in, shod in polished oxfords, cap on offrom the stuff reminds sengupta is aleft Kolkata-based world streets. The desert landscape, head, a lathi under her arm, andfreelance smelling youharsh of old auction houses anuradha sandy soil and the white-hot horizon is broken of freshly applied lacto calamine. — the kerosene-fired refrig- journalist
Q R
I
scan know
saturday, may 21,21, 2016 saturday, may 2016
Chew on this Government offices to be free of gutka stains
T
hinking of a government office but cannot imagine one without the gutka stained walls? The babus’ lair may soon be getting a swanky makeover. The Government of India has issued a notice revising the standard operation procedures (SOPs) for government buildings stating that office walls be cleaned of paan and gutka stains every week. The SOPs are a part of the Swachh Office Drive launched by the urban Under the scanner development ministry and is going to last Delta Meghwal the next fortnight. The notice also talkswas a student of Adarsh about dustbin placements, and disinfecJain Teacher’s tants to be used on a regular basis. Training Institute in Nokha, Bikaner payel majumdar
A queue of people has formed outside. A the mess of the hostel, in the water tank,” counters, before adding, “It is not easy to conman walks in and informs the officer: “Dahi comes a curt reply. The gatekeeper and care- trol people’s sexual behaviour. I didn’t want to aapke liye fridge me rakh diya hai, khatta ho taker trail me around as I take more photo- start a hostel, but where would these girls jaayega (I have kept the yoghurt in the fridge, graphs. Everyone seems glad when I finally have gone if I hadn’t?” Asked about the culpalest it goes sour).” bility of his school staff in Delta’s death, either decide to leave. “There’s another case going on right now, a through callousness or abetment, he says, he case has shuttled between police sta- “You’ll find everything in the bail report. We gangster is on the run,” Yadav cancels an oftions, and there have been disagreements have all given testimonies to the police and fending party’s gun licence even as she talks to me. “See, the day the incident happened, I over its jurisdiction. It has finally been trans- they [accused] have already got bail. That is all wasn’t around. I had gone to Nagaur, and the ferred to the CBI, which however, hasn’t made I have to say on the matter.” second-in-command was looking after the any investigations yet. While the Sessions Mystery shrouds the events of the night case. Unfortunately, he is on leave right now.” Court had thrice rejected the bail appeals of that snuffed out a young life. All that’s left is a She gives me an unofficial lowdown on the the principal, warden and the teacher, the father trying to get justice for his daughter, case, as it stands, ‘woman-to-woman’; for the Jodhpur High Court granted bail to the first and blocked by bureaucracy every step of the official version will have go to Bikaner’s Ad- two. Sharma, the public prosecutor in the way. Briefly the story of Delta’s death made naudweiser has Idecided totoapcase, is clearly displeased. ditional Satnampatriotism Singh. tional headlines when, at a protest march in peal to SP American “It is disturbing that they have been grant- Delhi, JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar proWhy wasits the water found covered with by changing name totank ‘Ameria lid Delta had indeed committed suicide ed bail, while investigations are still on. My jected the case as another institutional murca’. In if what seems like a lasthope for the case is that the CBI takes it up der of a Dalit student, a la Rohith Vemula. and attempt was not murdered? ditch to get attention, Why is no official police record of the soon,” he says. There were protests in Bengaluru it wants tothere remind the public The police investigations have body being brought as well, but these did not result in that once upon a timefrom ago, the to site? Why was the death American reported much much headway in the case. be an average meantafter to the body had been marked by several irregudating site hasInitial promised to help Americans conlarities. reports in the lobeen discovered at 10 am?has “My daughter was exceptional. guzzle Budweiser. The mood I would hesitate sidering the country becal fleeing editions of if Donald Hindi Trumpbefore No to one from the police I named her Delta after the ensince shifted posh options suchhas as answers to any sending comes president. Maple Match said it would such as Januday, ofand these questions. To add insult to injury, the thenewspapers, riched soil at the mouth of the craft beer wine. Budweiser wants another daughter make it easy for Americans to find their perfect Canatransferred in a municipal garbage hinted that Delta Meghwal was river. Why did the school not to changebody thatwas before next Memorial away to study… it is dian match and help themshe escape horror of a targeted because was athe Dalit van. and Ramkesh Singh think it important to tell me she Day weekend, even has the Meena, first linethe investigating better to have her Trump Maple Match also hinted at the girl. Under the headline “Brahofficer, says, “We don’t have vehi- presidency. was no more? When I called the of the American national anthem in-a dedicated alive than educated possibility of help inne obtaining aurat karwayaCanadian Dalit chha-citizenship cleitsinnewly Nokhadesigned for such uses, to min school’s owner he told me not to scribed on bottle.so we decided applicants. to ahatya statement by Delta kaAccording balatkar aur useitthe garbage call him again and again, since Think about themunicipal next desi dry day! dumpster.” for these tra 10,000 Americans and 2,500 woman gets Dalit girlCanadians Jain Adarsh Senior Secondary Schooltheir is lo-CEO,(Brahmin he was busy outside. What is have already signed up since Match’s announDelta raped and Maple murdered)”, cated a little away from Nokha. The owner, more urgent than a death?” DelVaid, also runs a hospital nearby. Thecement. large one report suggests that Delta was sent to ta’s father doesn’t mince words about the grounds of the school are unusually quiet, as clean the PT teacher’s room by the hostel war- school’s shoddy handling of the case. the students have back-to-back holidays — Am- den around 8 pm, before she was found dead The apathetic treatment that a trust-run bedkar Jayanti, Ram Navami and Mahavir the following morning. This contradicts the school has meted out to its student is especialwarden’s testimony. Jayanti. ly worrying in a State that is loudly promoting Delta’s father sounds dejected over the girls’ education It’s been three weeks since Delta’s death; the with its BetiListen Bachao cared of the dentist? to Beti this.Padgatekeeper tells me that no girls are at the hos- phone, as he recounts the events surrounding hao campaign. Therebeen are no regulations Charges have pressed againstfrom tel now. I ask to see the school, and the caretak- his daughter’s tragic end. “I do not have much theaHuman Resource Development French dentist from the town of ministry Chahusband was left clutching his wife’s purse outside and gatekeeper Akram Singh hope from the way things are going. They have regarding er Pankaj how hostels are to be run in private teau-Chinon for deliberately ruining the Indira Gandhi International Airport initially in Delhi appear last hesitant but agree eventually. been charged under Section 306, which is institutions no mandatory checks or jaws and—mouths, giving health his patients week, when his wife disappeared from one ofAthe airport posse of men follow me around as I take pic- abetment of suicide. Even the public prosecu- security guidelines either.out When contacted, abscesses, ripping perfectly washrooms. tor said in court that it looks like suicide. The Rajasthan tures of the school and its grounds. forbreaking higher education healthyMinister teeth and their jaws. Kali The Lucknow-based newly-wed couple was returning Where is the hostel she lived in, I enquire. witnesses, the three girls who used to stay Charan Saraf remained The court has issuedunavailable a lifetime for bancomfrom their honeymoon in the Himalayas. The husband There’s more hesitation, and finally the guard with her, have turned hostile in favour of the ment. Delta’s father leaves with several apart from fining himus€10,500. The disraised an alarm and reported the wife missing after waitpoints towards an extreme corner of the school. It looks to me like another case where turbing questions: “Will parents be fine dentist was accused of mutilating atwith ing for half an hour outside the washroom. Upon checkschool. This long, one storey building is book- the administration tries to collectively silence sending theirpatients daughters away study after least 100 during histolife-span ing CCTV footage, the sari-clad wife walked in and a ended by one-room quarters, painted in the justice, in this case, for my beti. My only hope Delta? am a teacher myself,were and was so proud as aI dentist. The victims sedated, burqa-clad woman was found leaving the washroom to bright pink-and-magenta colours of the main now is that the CBI will begin investigations as of my daughter. Yet, I would hesitate before and they woke up to find their teeth meet a person in the VIP parking, with whom she drove soon as it can.” school building. sending another daughter study… it ripped out, and, in someaway cases,to“pieces off. The husband confirmed that the height andThe build of separating the school from the Vaid, the school owner, is taken by surprise is better ground to hanging have her everywhere.” alive than educated.” of flesh the woman matched those of his wife’s. hostel area is barren and unkempt. I ask where when I call him for this story. “They [the acher body was found. “She was found behind cused] have already got bail, haven’t they?” he payel majumdar
Here’s to Uncle Sam!
Finding Canucks
Dating site promises Canadian lovers to fleeing Americans
T
An American makeover for beer brand
B
A
Q
RSweeney Todd
Runaway bride
Newly-wed elopes from airport
A
Dentist fined for ruining teeth and jaws
S
ND-X _ A
3 23BL BL
hang
saturday, may 21, 2016
BL
24
in-faq by joy bhattacharjya
I
t’s the 100th birth anniversary of one of the most popular writers of the 20th century. In his four-decade writing career, Harold Robbins sold more than 750 million copies. This quiz is dedicated to him and other ‘page turners’.
here,there & elsewhere
Lovely uglies
Page turners
1 2
The Elvis Presley film King Creole was an adaptation of which bestselling Harold Robbins novel? She was the first author to have three consecutive Number 1 titles on The New York Times bestseller list. Her second and third books were Love Machine, and Once is Not Enough. Name the first, which is still one of the largest selling books of all time.
3
Jin Yong is the pen name of Zha Liangyong, who has sold more than a hundred million copies. In which specific genre is Jin regarded as the greatest living author?
4
Bestselling American legal thriller writer John Grisham’s first major hit was The Firm. But which was his first published novel, written when he was serving in the Mississippi House of Representatives between 1984 and 1990?
5
This prolific author actually moved to fulltime writing only after retiring from the ad firm J Walter Thompson. His first novel was The Thomas Berryman Number, but his real success came with his stories involving a former forensic psychologist with the Washington DC Metropolitan Police. Identify this prolific author.
6 7
In the 2000s, which bestselling author wrote a popular work with three parts, Belmarsh, Wayland and North Sea Camp?
This Harvard graduate’s first academic book was the inspiration for a Broadway hit A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. His real blockbuster came with a story about two college students (one from his alma mater) in 1970. Name the first book or the author.
8
This insurance agency owner originally sold a script to the Naval Institute Press for $5,000 in 1982. Within a year the book made even US President Ronald Reagan’s understandably meagre reading list. What was the name of this 1982 bestseller that kick-started a career in military thrillers for the author?
ins is determined to interest me in a book called A Beastly Menagerie: Sir B Pilkington-Smythe’s Marvellous Collection of STRANGE and UNUSUAL Creatures. The author’s real name is Danny Beck, says Bins, “but he pretends he’s an eccentric old man.” “No wonder you like him,” I say, “being an eccentric old man yourself.” Bins narrows his eyes at me. “You wouldn’t smile if you had a tongueeating louse in your mouth!” he says. It’s a nasty little crustacean that crawls up inside a fish and effectively replaces the creature’s tongue with itself. “Or what about the bone eating snot-flower? It lives off the skeletons of dead whales.” I say that I don’t see the point of knowing about such creatures. “Human politicians are worse than any cookie-cutter shark or deathstalker,” I remark, while reading the contents list. “I try very hard not to know anything more about predators and parasites than I need to. So why should I bother, just because these are the animal versions?” “Because of the way the author writes,” says Bins. “He presents true facts as if they are jokes. For example, what’s funny about mating Leopard Slugs? Nothing! But this is how he describes them: ‘... suspended in mid-air and spinning around, a huge penis comes out of each of their heads and
each of these tangles around the other. The penises fan out into a rather smashing flower-like structure, at which point they exchange sperm. Sometimes the penises will become so entangled that things really do get to the worst possible scenario — one will chew off the other’s penis ...’ You see? He makes zoology seem like a porn film made by clowns!” Bins looks up, expecting to see me writhing on the floor with laughter. Instead I have wrinkled my nose to resemble a star-nosed mole (also in the book). “Yuck!” I say, “that’s beyond disgusting! Isn’t there anything in there that’s cute or pretty?” I grab the book away from him. Sure enough, from the Texas horned lizard which squirts blood
from its eyes to the frightful blobfish which looks exactly like a giant glob of mucus, most of the creatures in the book are gold medallists in the ugliness Olympics. But Bins disagrees. “If a creature is able to reproduce, it means that somewhere, somehow, he has a sweetheart who thinks he is beautiful. Even the camel spider, the aye-aye, the naked mole rat ... each one has found a lover to mate with in order to produce little ones. It is your eyes which are blind to Nature’s beauties! Your mind which has narrow standards!” I leaf slowly through the whole book. “Well,” I say, pointing to the picture of the turbellaria, “this one’s quite pretty with its fluorescent green back and graceful frills. And the civet cat has a sweet little face. But the gelada monkey with that bright red patch on the chest? Supposedly imitating female genital parts? And the hooded seal with the red balloon in its nose? Eeeesh and double eeeesh.” When I finally look up I see Bins grinning like the Cheshire cat (not in the book). “You did read my book after all!” he exults. And enjoyed it too. manjula padmanabhan, author and artist, writes of her life in the fictional town of Elsewhere, US in this weekly column
cornerstone
9
If the Ballantyne series and the Old Egypt series are the second and third most popular series of a particular author, which particular family is the subject of his most popular series?
10
Gentleman thief Lester Leith and crusading lawyer Ken Corning are just some of the other characters created by this best-selling novelist. Who was the most famous creation of this author, who sometimes wrote using the pseudonym AA Fair?
Answers 1. A Stone For Danny Fisher, the story of a boxer in America during the Great Depression 2. Valley of the Dolls, authored by Jacqeline Susann 3. Wuxia, a genre dealing with martial arts and chivalry 4. A Time to Kill, published in 1989 5. James Patterson. More than 300 million books sold worldwide to date 6. Jeffrey Archer. He spent two years in prison for perjury between 2001 and 2003. The diaries chronicled his three prisons 7. Love Story, by Erich Segal, also the basis for a famous film of the same name 8. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy 9. The Courtney series by Wilbur Smith 10. Perry Mason, created by Erle Stanley Gardner
ND-X _ A
joy bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup t@joybhattacharj
Reach us at blink@thehindu.co.in. Follow us: t@Ink_BL f facebook.com/hbl.blink
www.businessline.in/blink