Blink issue 49 january03 2015

SHIFT IN GEARS Industry leader Rahul Bajaj is hopeful that once it hits its stride, the new government will get down to business p6 saturday, january 3, 2015

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It’s elementary Where is India’s scientific revolution? The space programme and nuclear science that the country has been in the news for do nothing to deepen our scientific culture. For that, we should give each child a sundial, not a laptop p10

NAPLES ON A PLATTER Breaking bread (and much more) in the city that invented pizza p19

OPEN FIELD After a difficult year, the churn in Indian cricket may be a reason to cheer p22

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Charge of the bold brigade Despite a string of failures overseas, as Indian cricket watches the old guard make way for a new, more aggressive side, there’s hope yet for 2015

League of gentle women Stationed in Jaipur, (from left) Sunita, Manoj, Nirma, Sita and Nirmala are among the 155 female firefighters recruited by the Rajasthan government last year wfs/abha sharma

Fire in her belly

New direction ‘Captain Cool’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni and ‘volatile’ Virat Kohli during the just-concluded India-Australia series afp/saeed khan

Drawn from small towns and villages, Rajasthan’s firewomen are a force to reckon with as they fight fires and prejudice on the street

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here was action aplenty for Indian cricket in what was clearly a year of reckoning. began on a sourisnote ousingIt hungry flames cerwith defeats in New Zealand tainly not easy.

It’s a early test in of the season, followed the midway surrender one’s by physical strength as well in England andas thecourage capitulation Australia and in agility.

But — if the complete with Mahendra Singh onerout is determined, one can overcome anyDhorisk, ni’s retirement from Testbe,” cricket thisKhatik, week. however daunting it may says Sita That also lost the Asiain Cup and the World a fireIndia department officer Rajasthan.

While T20 both in wasonce no surprise her final, namesake inBangladesh, the Ramayana undereither — playing out the(trial all-too-familiar drill of went an agnipareeksha by fire), firefightbeing roaring itchampions at home, yet er Sitathe undergoes every day. She is among timid overseas. the 155 female firefighters recruited by the Thein energy of cricket at home state Marchand lastvitality year and stationed in the was woefully every time the team travcapital Jaipurabsent with five others. elled.

The this lack she of sting its abowling Before was in with medicalline-up insurexposed, for instance, by the punishing ance company in a “nice and easy” jobblade that of New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, brought home askipper tidy salary.

However, her who smashed a staggering and in childhood dream had always224 been to 302 distinTests his team dominated.

Worse wasand in guishthat herself by doing something “brave store in England.

A draw was followed a courageous”.

Her marriage at an early agebyonrare win atto Lord’s.

Theher promise of redemption ly served deepen longing — her hus— a century

by Ajinkya Rahane and aand matchband was working in home guards civil winning

by Ishant Sharma — though,her. was defence, spell and his assignments fascinated soon quelled by defeats the next It was on an impulseinthat Sita,three who Tests. has a It was a phase of transition for science Indian crickpostgraduate degree in political and a et.

With the departure Sachin professional Bachelor of stalwarts Educationlike (BEd), deTendulkar, Virender VVS Laxman, cided to enrol for aSehwag, 48-day civil defence Anil dayKumble Harbhajan the cracks in training and course when herSingh, son was just 20 days the were show.was Theshocked young old.side While thebeginning rest of her to family brigade washer just about supported learning toher underand upset, husband comstand of playing overseas.

It pletely.the “Heintricacies even took leave from office to take was time everyone to introspect.

Butevery you careaof thefor baby.

It is said that behind don’t learn man, by clinging to athe past. You to successful there is woman.

Buthave in my accept follies, try toshe improve case, it the is the opposite,” says. your game and Dhoni routinely propagated It move wouldon, be as a few years more, however, bein theSita dressing fore could room. embark on the kind of career A heart lessonhankered at least for. one In player in thethe team her 2011, when Raseems have learnt well.

Unwilling take jasthantogovernment advertised for to female things asfor theythe came, he was inservices, a hurry toshe make recruits fire-tending apaplied statement, even ifAfter it meant to she agimmediately. beingresorting shortlisted,

gression and shocking the cricket fraternity at was in reference to Johnson. But it was certainlarge. In Virat Kohli, Indian cricket discovered ly no way to play a series seen as a tribute to the antithesis of the submissive “I Phil cleared a six-month Fireman amateur.

Elementary the 25-year-old succumbed withHughes practice(after we have learnt to handle it on believe giving it back,” saidSita Kohli in a conCourse in with flying colours. recalls the to a head our own.”injury sustained on the field). versation last year. variously as question during the Described interview stage that deThis wasproving not village cricket. was a contest Despite their mettleIton the job, the brash, a spoilt (remember on- involving cided her fate:brat, Whyvolatile had she opted for his a risky two of thestill besthad teams in the world female firefighters to overcome linfield altercation with Gautam durjob like fire fighting and was sheGambhir not afraid?

“I and thegender legendary Sunil“Our Gavaskar nofelt segering biases. chief made initially ing an IPL match?), the times simply told them, ifKohli I wassymbolises afraid, would I have cret his displeasure at Kohli’susoutburst.

“I quiteofhesitant about sending on assignwe liveapplied? in. There’sI ahave rush to grab space,toand the thought even this desire prove thehepress have ments. But must conference be credited should for giving us means end don’t matter. wrong to thethe people who think that women can’t been about cricket went on the opportunity to rather do our than duty what in some of the aggression that Kohli brings to the field the beThe firefighters.” field. field worst fireGenerally, incidentswhat in thehappens city. Nowon hethe is confiis India’s newfound The Ravindra Ja- stays Incidentally, mostmantra. of her female colleagues onour thecapabilities,” field. I am not tooone sure was the dent of says ofitthe womdeja-James Anderson spat inand En-villages of Ra- en. Their chief, hail from the small towns wisest thing He might get Ishwar Lalto Jat,do. is indeed proud gland world jasthan.took It hadthe notcricket been easy for them to storm of his new team fired members: up by all this score a “Theand female offiaback, not the team a male but bastion.

Yet, Indian not only were they able to cers are working 100, but affect the veryhow well.does Theyithave boldly management. backed his convince theirDhoni parents and, in many cases, in- and actively rest ofwith the team? trying dealt all theAre fireyou accidents player.

Kohli justified laws, but alsoprivately successfully clear the In tough to for.” suggest that the likes of Sachin they were sent ViratexKohli, Indian the even carried the attiamsact. andHe training.

There was,[Tendulkar], however, yet[Rahul] anotherDravid trial byand fire cricket discovered tude Under, spectators OutDown of more thanas1,000 appliVVS Laxman didn’twomen let off — steam. for these intrepid earnthe antithesis of the witnessed his qualified. run-ins Many with cants, just 155 They wereconfidence also very tough.” ing the of the men submissive amateur Mitchell lost out Johnson. early on because they Seasoned may and women commentators on the streets. They Of course was a precewere eitherthere underweight or not supported recallhave how initially many Kohli’s people dent in Sourav Ganguly. SunHis overweight.

Sita’s colleague his bold statements feared fororthe women’s safety Our chief initially felt brashness bare-chested ita Devi says,shirt-waving “Having the from right from capand Melbourne, demanded but thatformer the male quite hesitant about the balcony at Lord’s after India weight is important.

Many ap-beat England tainonGanguly firefighters viewed it differently.

“I like away Kohkeep them sending us in the NatWest Series in 2002, is a case in li’s passion. from plicants found thefinal physical You’vethe gotsite to have It of thepassion. accident. assignments point.

Slammed bybear. old-timers strain too much to It is im-but hailed by should meanOver something to you, any job you time, however, perceptions the younger — players portant to begeneration in top shape to do would take do. I like him,changed I like what I see.” dramatically. off their in neighbourhood what weshirts do. Our job is quite contests, a It should, however, be remembered In fact, during one of the that fires la Ganguly — the incident set the in motion an in- Kohli is now the risky.

For instance, during captain, a job that brings that completely gutted thewith beevitable Theout change was perceptible fire thatshift. broke at a chemical factoryand re- it responsibility and dignity. is for Kohli to longings of a household, theItpresence of the profound.

It us is awould different altogether cently, all of havematter been trapped had choose path andproved give the team direction. female his firefighters comforting to the that a mature commentator now, re- With thereGanguly, been a delay of even a few seconds.” themembers. nucleus of The a younger, dynamic family lady more of the house grets that episode.

Nirma, hailing from a village in interior Si- line-up, cricket could a great run hugged Indian one of them and criedhave uncontrollably.

But Kohli —adds, with“It scores of 115, 141,169 and 54 kar District, is absolutely essential to in thedid next years, it plays to itsthe strengths.

“We ourfew duty andifthen sat with woman in Australia — hasfit, nososuch qualms.

“They were It’s remain fighting daily exercise is a must. to ring in new and transfor time a while, sharing her measures pain. I realised then calling mebeen a spoilt brat.intensively I know youto guys We have trained usehate the form the male imageofficers of India whennever playing overthat our would have enme andhoses, I like carry that. Ithe don’t mindand having a chat water ladder, rescue and seas.

A World Cup atriumph in 2015 would be a countered such situation,” says a visibly on the field.

Argument on the field brings the evacuate people to safety from buildings un- good to start. proudplace Sunita. best out In of the me.beginning, Someone who doesn’t respect der fire. most of us found it Deputy Editor, Sports, The Hindu abha lokapally sharma © ,Women’s Feature Service me, I’ve got no reason to respect nozzle, him.” This difficult to hold the pressurised but vijay

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Go figure The wax statues at Kolkata’s new ‘Madame Tussauds’ are a dummies guide to local culture and history. But in the case of some, the purport is undeniably political and controversial

Stiff competition A visitor peers over Tagore’s frozen shoulders; and (right) Didi smiles beatifically shreevatsa nevatia

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ncient Egyptians shared their graves with the wax figures of their deities. During the Middle Ages, wax effigies were placed atop coffins at royal funerals. Mamata Banerjee was perhaps unaware of this arguably morbid history when she inaugurated the Mother’s Wax Museum in Kolkata recently. In a corner of the building, the West Bengal Chief Minister’s rather rotund wax sculpture can be seen reaching for a pen. Her detractors might justifiably claim that she used it to write herself a political obituary last year. With the fast unravelling Saradha chit fund scam, inexplicable blasts in Burdwan and the growing BJP footprint in the state, Didi’s 2014 diary was rather bleak. Her wide grin, though, doesn’t betray fears of a probing CBI rounding up the rank and file of her party.

Weeks before she became the Chief Minister in 2011, the mercurial leader had promised — “Kolkata ke London kore tulbo.” (I will turn Kolkata into London.) In May last year, Didi’s Facebook followers were unimpressed; they didn’t take kindly to her announcement that Kolkata would soon have a London Eye of its own. The comments left on Banerjee’s wall were acerbic — “Since all other problems of West Bengal have been solved, we have nothing better to do!” The people of her city were demanding bread, not scones.

But perhaps it takes more than snide socialnetworking sarcasm to break Didi’s indomitable spirit. Unaffected by criticism and mockery, the Chief Minister has ticked another box

left red faced by a public outcry and a strip of white tape was quickly used to correct this inaccuracy. Historical bloopers, though, haven’t been the museum’s only gaffe.

On its list of lapses are several errors of omission and commission. Mother Teresa might have given Kolkata’s ‘Madame Tussauds’ its name, but she is yet to find her rightful place in the museum’s galleries. Sourav Ganguly and Kapil Dev have been captured in cricketing whites and blues. Sachin Tendulkar has sadly been reduced to a mere illustration on the wall. Satyajit Ray’s absence is only too conspicuous. While a replica of yesteryear superstar Uttam Kumar may well be enough to set the hearts of grandmothers aflutter, wax sculptor Susanta Roy has inadvertently proved that the beauty of Suchitra Sen is impossible to duplicate. The actress’ sculpture looks wrinkled and far from captivating; she appears downright macabre.

The museum, which has been developed by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO), does admittedly have a few convincing experiences to offer. You can, for instance, seat yourself opposite Rabindranath Tagore in his makeshift salon. Immersed in a book, the writer will unfortunately ignore you. Seeing that he is holding aloft a copy of his own memoirs, you on her London must try hard not wish-list by giving to feel slighted by Kolkata its own ‘Madthis display of arroame Tussauds’. Togethgant vanity. er, the 19 wax figurines “Sure the museum has on display are the perfect its drawbacks, but it is a dummies’ guide to local culgood addition to an otherwise ture and history. But in the case lacklustre city,” says 23-year-old of some, the purport is undeniavisitor Parth Rastogi. “Tagore’s Banerjee flashes bly political. sculpture is great, but Didi looks a smile she only Having paid ₹150 as an entry funny. I can’t believe it’s her.” reserves for selfies fee, visitors are first greeted by In the museum’s last room, it with Shah Rukh Khan is glamour that serves as Didi’s the slow hum of Raghupati raghand inaugurations av raja ram. Mahatma Gandhi bridge over troubled water. with Amitabh can be seen marching on with a Flashing a smile she only reBachchan stern resilience. A patriotic few serves for selfies with Shah Rukh are overwhelmed and they bend Khan and inaugurations with to touch the statue’s feet. The Amitabh Bachchan, Banerjee’s Mahatma had left the world mirth now seems uncharacteriswith an inexhaustible set of inspirational tically perpetual. Wax statues of the two Bollymaxims, but the museum seems to have cho- wood biggies flank her own. Opposite sen for its walls a quote that suits its own Banerjee, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Mithun needs as also those of its government — “Free- Chakraborty wears his all-white disco dancer dom is not worth having if it does not include attire to accentuate the leader’s grin. Loyalist the freedom to make mistakes.”

Rahul Basu, 34, says he hasn’t seen the Chief In just the first fortnight of its opening in Minister this happy in a long time. “I am glad November, Mother’s Wax Museum found itself the museum has captured this expression. I courting controversy. Despite the fact that the hope it lasts her entire tenure.” While Basu date of Subhas Chandra Bose’s death has re- continues to wax eloquent, another visitor is mained a source of much debate for histori- heard complaining, “All the celebrities here ans, the museum was categorical in its look ever so old. This place is nothing like Tusdeclaration. According to a biographical note sauds. Didi can say what she wants, but Kolkanear the leader’s wax sculpture, Netaji had ta will never be London.” died on August 18, 1945. With only a Wikipedia entry to back their affirmation, officials were shreevatsa nevatia

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dipankar

Acts of departure Moving homes has been a journey of accumulation and deletion, of careful image-curation

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week ago, I sat on the floor of the could put in jars, an open bookcase (a terrible house I had just moved into and idea in dusty Delhi), giant floor cushions, ruspopped the last bubble on a small tic mats — and absolutely nothing for the piece of bubble wrap. I had just un- kitchen. (Understandably, I have no memory wrapped three tin mugs I had bought a dec- of what I ate over that year.) But I remember, in Crunching numbers ade ago from a junk shop near the the first week of the move, sitting by myself on Ram Sewak Sharma juggles his ship-breaking yard in Alang, Gujarat. They the sprawling terrace, popping open a beer bureacratic duties writing were the last items in the last box, which mostbottle andwith a new book, and thinking: “This is software code to improve the ly held “stuff I won’t need” — things with no life”. that is what I imagined a good efficiency of Because government apparent utility that I have dragged with mylife to be at the departments rv moorthy time. self wherever I have moved. Over the years, Next move: Out went the floor cushions, the these cups have patiently held nothing but mats — the low bohemian seating wasn’t for out-of-commission pens, bobby pins, half- me, I decided, because I needed my knees to be used candles and dust. And yet, here I was, at an ideal distance from my bum. In came a back in an empty room with three tin cups proper worktable, a Prussian blue futon that I from a 1960s’ Russian ship called Volgograd. thought looked arty but was extremely unThey could be radioactive for all I know. pleasant on the back, framed art prints, and My moves between houses have been pri- storage cabinets for notebooks. Needless to marily acts of departure. They’ve involved say, the futon was the first to go. more than just latched winMoving has been a journey of dows, emptied cupboards and accumulation and deletion, of doors shut one last time. They’ve careful image-curation, and of n 1985, there was no Microsoft or Apple inbeenful transformations, movetool for public accountability.

It“Two tracks, in numerous purges of serving of court summons, for lifestyles. filing public suitcases.

India. There was DCM-Tandy. Indigenousments propelled me of nearly realthat time,have the entry and exit 50,000 I’ve cut out a chronic host of grievances and tracking transfers of governIs this all there was?” computer manufacturer DCM and Tandyfromstaff oneinchapter to government the next, organisations; ment teachers, 150 central couchsurfers, a petulant houseto the attendance system he Computers, famous for its TRS-80, werecleaning messes, tying this up live attendance first introduced in theup next few months, mate, and an easilyand, excitable in Jharkhand of course, spearheading the personal computer revolu-loose ends, will pruning the useless. tracker be deployed in every central gov- the Aadhar home décor shopper, moving fisystem. tion alongside companies such as Apple.

Moving has given ernment officeme in the opporcountry. nally on to a person Authority who underThe Unique Identification of InThere was also Ram Sewak Sharma, then atunity to take stock of my life — sometimes stands need for a linen closet.

I’ve isalso dia the (UIDAI) project, of which Aadhar a part, 30-year-old bureaucrat stationed as the dis-requited, when I have split from a partner moved For theaslove of math up houses enough toDelhi. realise wasand whatset brought Sharma back to “Usutrict magistrate of Bihar’s crime-hotbed Be-or left college; sometimes not, as when “I have always been passionate about I’ve maths,thatally I will never achievea what consider you shiftquite and occupy chair Ithat someone gusarai. He was also a proud, and probablybeenespecially handed apure notice by the landlord. it my“optimum mathematics.

In fact,But I left good taste”. there That will be one else had.

In UIDAI, wasalways no chair.

In fact, one of the first few owners of a DCM-Tandy. has always me to stand akimbo and ask studiesforced in Allahabad to join IIT-Kanpur to dostepthere out of What we which consider “greatNilewasreach. only one room, Nandan “I have always combined my interest inmyself: “So here we are. What now?” research in mathematics,” says Sharma. taste” is more aboutI who wehim, want‘where to be than kani occupied. asked do I sit, computing with my work,” says Sharma, re- An old friend,up when she was leaving Growing in Hamirpura, Uttar India Pradesh,whoboss?’ we are. will ‘Why always be: we “In sit mytogether.’ next He Itsaid: don’t calling his early days in the civil service, whenfor good, called me in to say, Sharma, the son of atears farmer, cy- “I’m all house, I will…” I build box of desires — aabarEvenathough we were part of we meet at his plush office in Electronics Nike-packed I’mto sitting inevery this empty house. Ev- sati, a large oak dining cledand 10km school day. Afan urbanfor forest the table, government, theatfirst tan, one among the maze of central govern-erything fit into twoinsuitcases.

Two suitcases. I hand, the background ter graduating 1976, he cleared chatter of a loud few months we werefamily, a start-up ment offices in south-central Delhi. Now at thespent five years in this country.

Is this all there a personal balcony, the UPSC exam in his first attempt onetruest great sense.” electrician, an in the fag end of his career, as the Secretary of the De-was?” wasn’t, of course, to It join the civil service.but packing up evamaltas that bloomsFrom audaciously sum-went UIDAI, every Sharma Sharma helped partment of Electronics and Informationerything you’veofever is poa systemic innovate Secretary DeitYowned is the 31st mer — and somewhere is the promise back in to there Jharkhand and created Technology (DeitY), he is the man in charge ofshock, a break in inertia.

It bestows the audacsition he has taken up in his buof perfection. the attendance system. The sucattendance.gov.in, the ‘digital revolution’ that the new govern-ity toreaucratic discard, the bravado to make tough decicareer.

During his stint There’s one moment every morning in out cess of the system is borne sarkari workforce's ment wants to infuse into the State apparatus.sions, the chancehe toalways leave held behind. in Jharkhand, the Moving reality cutsby through of sleep. the factthe thathaze the government worstwhich nightmare Back in Begusarai, Sharma had — in thehelped me decide if I should invest in match- Depending on theagreed additional responsibility for inenormity of the circumto introduce a five-day company of his IIT-Kanpur batchmate, theing formation ceramic bowl and plate sets, if I had out- stance, I’ve foundworking technology.

He even that that moment can be effiweek as day-to-day then district superintendent of police —grown shoe racks, I should give overwhelming. The tookcane a mid-career break if to pursue day might involve a job inciency peaked. solved nearly two dozen cases involving sto-someone another chance (IScience did), orinnever go terview, a daunting time an MSc in Computer an unpleas- at Withata work, new government len firearms, within a month. Even the State’sbackCalifornia to another didn’t). in(I2000.

“I traded my Ambassadorant conversation, justsummoned plain discontent, but the Centre, heorwas to head DeitY Inspector General of Police was intrigued Though common sense, financial intellifor a cycle, took a backpack and attended class-the quickening of the pulse and the associated and has since successfully replicated the atenough to travel to the remote district to seegence, spam and25my mother all en-thanbreathlessness es. WhatsApp Everyone else was years younger have often convinceddomains, me to a tendance project.

The dot-Bharat for himself “how the hell we did it”. treatme, mebut to buy a house, theexperience,” one-sided, heshutsystem it was a greatI prefer learning my eyestoand go back to sleep. The firstand few the track paramilitary forces, “I basically used an Operating System calleduncommitted I have with rent-fromweeks says. Beforerelationships his deputation to the Centre house have a similar effect on sysuseinofa new Aadhar in the public distribution CP/M to input all data about lost firearmsed accommodation.

What I treasure most is inme, tem Jharkhand, he was transferred nine times but every passing is a calmer beare among themorning host of projects spearheadacross the state as well as recovered firearms,”howthe a memory house is a recall to the per- ginning. span of of sixayears. this has just begun, ed byEven him.though While he hashalt only a little time left in says Sharma. “After that, it was just a matter ofson I was at the time — to the objects I thought I know which Sharma part of is this house will move to his tenure, sure he will continue the algorithms matching those numbers, andreflected who I was, and what I thought a good withwork Coding success me on when leave: theeven three enormous dataI analytics after retirement. the results showed up instantaneously. It waslife “Wherever should look like to whoever walkedfor in.being I trees“There I went, I had a reputation that enfold living data roomcollected balcony,now, and but is a lotthe of digital a bigger task to explain how we did it than ac-can good pinpoint aspirations on my life chart at myprogramming,” says Sharma.thatnot willput eventually rootwe meneed to this house aand to any use… to create big datually solving the thefts.” almost in concurrence with in resiThroughout his career, hechanges has juggled his bu-the person I am within it. ta analytics framework.

The future lies in Another system Sharma helped innovate,dence.

When I moved a south Delhi barsareaucratic duties into to create programs to im- number crunching.” attendance.gov.in, is now the sarkari work-ti inprove my mid-20s, I rushed to buy fairy lights efficiency in every department heI haspadmaparna ghosh is a Delhi-based writer force’s worst nightmare and a potentially use- been in — from programs to automate the sibi arasu

Cracking the code

Meet the bureaucrat who is the face of the ‘digital revolution’ unfolding in the government

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Noteworthy business

Book profit With ad support, Adister notebooks sell well below the market price; (below) Shubham Agrawal, co-founder of the company

Taking a leaf out of the newspaper business, two IIT-ians are selling notebooks at prices subsidised by advertisements

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t was August 2010. Sitting in his hostel room at IIT-Roorkee, Shubham Agrawal was wondering that if a newspaper could be sold for ₹2 when its actual cost was ₹20, why couldn’t notebooks be subsidised.

He knew the answer too — advertisements. In newspapers, ads bring in far more revenue than what the circulation and cover price generate on their own.

Determined to extend this model to notebooks, Agrawal talked to manufacturers in Roorkee and learned that they charged ₹30 for a 120-page notebook. “After a couple of days, it occurred to me that there were a lot of paper mills in neighbouring Saharanpur. So the overall manufacturing costs would be less,” he recalls.

In Saharanpur, Agrawal found a manufac-

turer who could make a 120-page notebook for local manufacturers that sell under their ₹18. Then began his hunt for advertisements. brand name. Adister brings in ads and the Along with friend Anubhav Goyal, he spent manufacturer displays a ‘powered by Adister’ the next month-and-a-half trying to convince tag alongside the brand name. Agrawal enshopkeepers in the vicinity to advertise in the sures these notebooks have the high paper new notebooks. quality and rounded page corners that he conFabco, a local luggage-maker, was the first siders the hallmark of brand Adister. In Delhi, to agree followed by a garment store, a com- for instance, the company has tied up with puter stationery outlet and Café Norma. “We Aniket, and more tie-ups are expected. collected ads worth ₹22 per notebook. So, afAdister comes out with a new edition of ter paying ₹18 to the manufacturer, we still notebooks every month, featuring fresh ads. had money left for transportation and logis- Bewakoof.com, HCL Technologies, Oxigen, tics. We broke even in the first attempt itself.”

Money on Mobile, Voonik.com, Boxit restauThe duo placed the first order for 1,500 note- rant chain and a smoothies chain in Mumbai books in Saharanpur, brought them to Roor- are among the advertisers. “Our ad revenue kee, and distributed them free ranges from 30 paise to ₹2.5 per to poor students in the city as ad per notebook and this ad revewell as their college-mates. And nue is our profit,” says Agrawal. thus was born Adister — The monthly profit currently advertisements+register. hovers at around ₹3-4 lakh. “We Our ad revenue With two more college years are targeting ₹10 lakh per month ranges from 30 paise ahead of them, Agrawal and

by January,” he says. to ₹2.5 per ad per Goyal could not take up the busi- notebook, and this ad Thanks to the ads, Adister is ness full time. They manufacable to sell a 180-page notebook revenue is our profit tured about 5,000 notebooks for ₹35 when it costs about ₹55 during that period. “While in elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, Adiscollege, we used to go for busiter notebooks are the highestness competitions. The prize selling items in the books and money helped us sustain the business, which stationery section of online shopping site was very small at that time.” shopclues.com. “We sell through more than When they graduated in May 2013, Agrawal 200 retailers at the moment and will later exand Goyal had already generated profits and pand our online presence.” bootstrapped the business for the coming That’s not all. Adister has developed a moyear. In July 2014, Adister raised ₹25 lakh from bile app that can digitalise the notebooks. a Mumbai-based high networth individual. With the app, students can create a PDF (portaThe company has not looked back since. ble document format) file from their Adister Currently, it sells about one lakh notebooks notebooks that have four pointers on the cora month. “The number will go up to three lakh ners of each page. “Our partners’ notebooks from January,” says Agrawal. He is expanding are also compatible with this app” says Agrarapidly, thanks to his two-pronged business wal. The app will go live in January and is exmodel. One, Adister outsources manufactur- pected to further boost Adister’s sales. Time ing to notebook makers, gets ads and sells the for the business to turn a page again? books under its brand name.

The second part involves partnering with rashmi pratap

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Clear forecasts Corporate honcho and politician Rahul Bajaj is willing to give the new government time to find its feet before it gets down to business

Catch 22 In post-war Jaffna, even those who have relinquished their “past” live in its shadow ap/eranga jayawardena

Lion or tiger

Through the struggles of two women, and a son, the journalist-author puts together a vivid account of the country that famously won a war but lost peace

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The Seasons of Trouble Rohini Mohan ₹499 Non-fiction HarperCollins

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ri Lanka lives in its women. Whether mal lives. There is no telling how you will be tween the two stories to tell the whole, buildthey are sewing buttons on shirts in betrayed or who will betray you. Trapped in ing both towards a fast-paced denouement. garment export factories, trudging up this vortex, there is only one option left to Sar- But the book did not work for me in the way hill slopes with heavy sacks on their va. The force of his mother backing him, it is intended by the author. Once she had me backs to hold the two leaves-and-bud their fin- that option that Sarva will finally exercise. hooked to the Indira-Sarva story, I ditched the gers expertly pluck from the tea bushes in Mugil is an LTTE combatant who decides to carefully wrought but formulaic method, Nuwara Eliya, or cleaning the homes of oil- burn her uniform one day in October 2008, skipping alternate chapters to read that in its rich Arab families across West Asia and send- and go back to bringing up her sons. She had entirety first, and then separately the Mugil ing back their earnings as remittances, wom- become disillusioned with the Tigers. They one, joining the dots between the two as I en have been the economic pillars of Sri Lanka. were conscripting children who could barely went along.

They have also held together the broken spine hold their rifles, and had no commitment. She Graphic in its descriptions of people, places of the island’s nationhood, joined as they are could see where the war was heading. On the and their situations, including about what — despite their ethnic separation — in the way day she quit, she had seen five happens in the basement of the that the civil war left its imprint on them as teenaged girl combatants raped TID building in Colombo and to mothers, daughters and wives. and killed by soldiers. But life on women combatants of the LTTE So it had to be that two of the three protago- the other side of the lines in the when they come face to face with Women have held nists in Rohini Mohan’s The Seasons of Trouble, last few months of the war is terSri Lankan soldiers, Mohan’s together the broken a powerfully narrated tale of post-war Sri Lan- rifying, more than she imagwriting is unflinchingly precise spine of the two parts ka (but one that actually begins in mid-2008, ined. Joined by her husband and and non-sentimental in its depicof the island when it became apparent that the LTTE's de- brother, both LTTE fighters too, tion of the two tragedies, which feat was nigh), are women. Both are Tamil. one injured and the other sepaare really one. In each of the deThrough the struggles of these two women, rated from his unit, Mugil’s famtails, and the sum of them, the and the third protagonist, the son of one of ily flees the bombing of the stories are representative of the the women, Mohan, a journalist, puts togeth- Vanni by the Sri Lankan forces, moving from individual and combined experiences of every er a vivid account of the country that famous- their hometown Puthukudiyirrupu to any- Tamil who has lived through three decades of ly won the war but lost peace. where they could be safe, and eventually to the Sri Lanka’s brutal war. But as this is essentially Indira is the mother, born in Jaffna, married ‘no-fire zone’ beyond the Nandikadal lagoon a book of reportage, I would have also liked a to a plantation Tamil from the high country in in Mullaithivu, their dream of Eelam and their little more explanation about Mohan’s choice central Sri Lanka, whose son Sarvanathan or faith in the LTTE unravelling with every pain- of protagonists, other than the line offered at Sarva, is picked up by the Terrorists Investiga- ful step. As they struggle to cope, her husband the beginning that their articulation was the tion Department in 2008, a year before the and brother decide to take up the Sri Lankan most powerful among the several people she war ends, and detained under the draconian military’s offer to combatants: turn yourself interviewed.

Prevention of Terrorism Act. Driven by the fear in, we will treat you well. It ends a long inner There are no Sinhalese in this book except of never seeing her child alive again, Indira struggle for her husband. Her angry brother for soldiers, cops and government officials, throws herself into the task of saving him chooses to see his surrender as an act of de- and in telling us two powerful stories from from a system in which everything is black fiant heroism in abject defeat. Mugil buries one side of the ethnic divide, Mohan perhaps and white, Sinhala or Tamil, Lion or Tiger, with her affiliation to look after her children. ends up perpetuating the same lion-tiger parus or against us. She had once before moved Their separation as they get sent to different adigm to which her protagonists fall victim. heaven and earth to pull him back from the detention camps, their struggle to be re- Sarva’s brief interaction with a Sinhalese NGO brink of a different situation. Ten years later, leased, the coming together as a free family, activist is the only time the reader gets a hint she has to do it again. only to discover that their new situation re- of a world beyond this divide. Then again, as As the Sri Lankan military powers on to- mains as fragile, and in some ways, more so, the Sri Lankan State stubbornly refuses to see ward a victory over the LTTE, the battlefields leads them to the same conclusion as Indira beyond its triumphalism, these are perhaps are in the north, but the entire country has and Sarva: the state will not allow Tamils, espe- the only stories to tell. turned into a Tiger-hunting ground. Anyone cially those with a “past”, to lead normal lives nirupama subramanian is Senior Associate Editor, with the faintest whiff of LTTE in their past is in post-war Sri Lanka. vulnerable, even if they have moved on to setMohan uses the writing device now popular The Hindu, and author of Sri Lanka: Voices from a War Lanka correspondent (1996-2002).

She was a Sribloomberg/prashanth tle down, marry, raise and lead norwith the long-form be- Zone.policymaking Facing facts Bajajchildren Group chairman Rahul Bajaj blames Rajya Sabhajournalists, logjam for thealternating slow pace of pro-business vishwanathan

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How has the mood changed on ground for corporate India after the BJP government took over?

If you ask any industrialist or businessman, the answer is that the mood has changed for the better. The previous government was unable to do much, for various reasons. There were scams and there was no decision-making at least for the three years preceding May 2014.

Not much was achieved compared to what other countries in the world were doing. Now, we have Narendra Modi as our Prime Minister.

We all know how energetic and decisive he is; we have been impressed with his election campaigns. He gave people a lot of hopes and aspirations. The mood has changed not only among businessmen in India but also amongst foreign businessmen, and many foreign CEOs have met him in the last few months. He has made successful foreign trips and many leaders like the Chinese President and others have come to see him. All this is positive and, to that extent, the industry is positive too.

What do you think of the announcements made by this government? Has there been any tangible impact?

All the announcements are positive and good, whether it is Make in India or Swachh Bharat.

Yes, one could question what is happening on the ground. But if a power station has to come up, it takes 4-5 years; if roads have to be built,

Made for India Bajaj Auto Ltd’s plant in Chakan. Dependent mainly on the domestic market, motorcycle manufacturers are staring at single-digit growth in the absence of a good monsoon this year bloomberg/adeel halim

you have to see at what rate — how many kilometres a day — the roads are being built.

Whether the government is building them or a public-private partnership. Public-private partnership is the way to go, though there have been problems.

The GDP growth rate is going to be 5.5 per cent for FY 2015 and [Finance Minister] Arun Jaitley says it will be 6 per cent in FY 16. If someone wants it to be 7-8 per cent now, then he should become the Prime Minister and make it happen! It takes time.

This government has been lucky with reducing crude oil and commodity prices and, therefore, even consumer price inflation, which used to be high. GDP is rising and 7-8 per cent growth will happen at its own pace.

Infrastructure will take time to build. My friends Jayanthi Natarajan and Jairam Ramesh, who were my colleagues in the Rajya Sabha when I was a member, to justify clean environment, gave growth a complete go by.

Indian industry was angry and disturbed, and industrial development had received a big setback in the last three years of the UPA-II rule.

The new [environment] minister, Prakash Ja-

vadekar, has cleared a number of projects in smaller this year. The industry as a whole will the last six months. This is very comforting. grow in single digit, because two-wheelers are But the kind of investments needed from not exported much except by Bajaj Auto. domestic and foreign companies are not happening, and banks are not lending due to The Insurance Bill okays 49 per cent foreign NPAs [non-performing assets] and because direct investment in the sector. How does the some business groups have too much debt. Bajaj group plan to take advantage of it?

Banks don’t want further wilful defaulters.

There is no question of taking any advantage Land acquisition and labour laws are still a of that Bill. What one has to understand is the problem. I can’t blame this government as Ra- justification for the Bill. I am supportive of the jya Sabha won’t clear those Bills. Just as it did limit going up from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. not clear the Insurance Bill. I am neither a poli- For 10 years, it was stuck at 26 per cent. The sectician nor a BJP member or from the Opposi- tor was opened to private players in 2000. In tion. However, to be fair to the government, I both our companies, Bajaj Allianz Life and Bawould ask the critics what they want from jaj Allianz General Insurance, Bajaj Finserv has them. Everything is stuck in the 74 per cent equity. People say Rajya Sabha and we cannot their companies need funds and blame the government. If the Rapenetration rates need to imjya Sabha doesn’t function, it is prove. There are 20-odd private I think Modi would rather unfortunate. sector players each in the life and not want to spend too general insurance sectors, with a much political capital Is the decline in the Index of few present in both. The top few so soon in his tenure Industrial Production (IIP) a companies don’t need additional cause for worry? capital. We don’t need capital for I agree with the forecast of the the next couple of years. The olgovernment that GDP growth der and larger insurance comparate will be 5.5 per cent this fiscal and 6 per nies are doing well and making profits. But cent in the next. We cannot expect magic. I newer and smaller companies are making would go with the government figure. It losses and need money. The Indian partner shows improvement, and I think IIP and the may not be able to put in that money. manufacturing index would improve correThe ordinance has just been approved by spondingly. I don’t see them going down. I see the Union Cabinet. Lok Sabha and even the Rathem going up, except to the extent that while jya Sabha will pass it in the Budget Session as the Congress Party supports the Insurance Bill. The bill enables the foreign company to increase its equity to 49 per cent. It is for Allianz to decide whether it wants to raise its stake or not. They have a call option to do so.

We will have to see the final Act and talk to Allianz. Our relations with them are excellent.

Once both sides see the fine print of the ordinance, we will decide how to proceed.

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the US will do well and grow by 3 per cent, Japan and Europe will grow only by 1.2 per cent each in 2015. For those who are dependent largely on exports to these countries, there could be some suffering. They have to make up by either exploring other markets or selling more in India. This, however, is easier said than done.

Bajaj Auto exports a lot. We export about 60 per cent of our three-wheelers and 35 per cent of our motorcycles. Till today we are doing well, as we don’t export by and large to Japan, Europe and the US but to Asia, Africa and Latin America, basically emerging markets.

What is your outlook for the auto sector?

My elder son Rajiv knows much more about it.

But for two-wheelers, no matter what the growth rate will be in FY 15, the next year is likely to be better. First of all, this year, we have had a bad monsoon. Next year I am hoping and presuming that it will be better. Many motorcycles are sold in rural and semi-urban areas. Secondly, unlike three years ago, when the two-wheeler industry was growing by 20 per cent per annum, the growth will be much

The government has been talking of scaling up public investments to spur growth. Do you think this will increase the fiscal deficit?

I am not worried about increase in fiscal deficit within limits. The government has said it will maintain 4.1 per cent fiscal deficit, though this is difficult. I will compliment Arun Jaitley if he succeeds in maintaining it. Capital expenditure, by definition, should not be towards non-merit subsidies and projects like NREGA; it should be spent on capital account whether for roads or where the private sector is not coming in for whatever reasons. The government needs to spend money for creating assets. Let it not spend on salary increase or subsidies. Under BPL (below poverty line) schemes, only genuinely poor people should be helped.

The one criticism I have of this government is why it doesn’t go for more and faster disinvestment and raise money. I am not in favour of higher tax rates. Revenue expenditure should be reduced. They should raise money through more disinvestment. Make a target ₹1 lakh crore for disinvestment. The stock market is good.

I support privatisation. But I think Modi would not want to spend too much political capital so soon in his tenure. Moreover, all the unions will be up in arms and the Opposition will start shouting. Much as I would like at least some of the non-strategic public sector enterprises to be privatised, the government may not be able to do it right now. Maybe after a few years, this government will do that. For disinvestment, however, they should prepare an environment and build a consensus for it.

Labour unions have to be handled. If this government also gives this excuse to go slow on disinvestment, then I will be disappointed. rashmi pratap

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Stitching a shroud and a shirt dipankar

A historic tale backed by human stories that tells of the systemic exploitation of Bangladeshi garment workers over the decades Dust to dust The wretched conditions of the garment workers in Bangladesh came to global attention with the Rana Plaza building collapse reuters/andrew biraj

HEALTH MINISTRY ANNOUNCES 20 % MORE SLOGANS!

SHOVON CHOWDHURY is chief Truthdigger and author of The Competent Authority

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The official shifts in his “Why couldn’t you spend bank transfers on time?” I ask. “This is a very rickety chair, and shakes enough money by October?” simplistic view,” he says, “In any case, there his head. “Nothing like I ask. “You see, money is not is not enough infrastructure to spend monthat,” he says, “Genuine a simple concept. It comes ey on. Plus fiscal deficit is a matter of conhe horrific in be many forms. There is cern.

However, we will be the fact is that Health conditions Ministry in which Ban- that cannot easily replaced”. mates that around 10 compensating per cent of parliamengladesh’s garment of money through increase positive, could only spend 25 perworkers fulfil the money The book’s title comesthat fromfeatures a poem ofinthe lack tarians are factory owners andinmore than half demands There is money slogans improveindustry. the mo- Such cent of relentless allocated funds till of the global same name, byspeeches.

19th century British poet Tho- health-oriented have an interest in thetogarment industry became the focal mas Hood about October.fashion In January-March, that appears in balance ralefactors of thehave population.

Studies have shown a British seamstress. meant that the focus has been on point of global outrage last year when Rana high-quality slogans lead to increase in we can’t spend more than There is Men, money Oh, Men withsheets.

Sisters dear!/Oh, withthat Moth- that quelling dissent among workers (the creation Plaza, an eight-storey building is is mentioned in sanction let-out, oxytocin leading to better health.

Al-2010) 33 per cent. Since it’s not in Dhaka, col- ers and Wives!/It not linen you’re wearing of the levels, infamous enforcement police in lapsed killing The tragedy high- /But human creatures’ possible to 1,100 spendpeople. balance ters. Thenlives!/Stitch there is money in — so, rather by acting against activities kissing, — stitch than tackling abuselike (while garment lighted notcent onlyinthe rock-bottom wages in the stitch,/In poverty, Day, etc, sex thean country 40 per Novemberbanks.

Money in banks does hunger and dirt,/Sewing at once, Valentine’s workers in China are in paid averagewill of $1.66 industry, and the fact thathas deaths and injuries with a double thread,/A December, budget not appear justas like that.” leading riskinofIndia, HIV/AIDS. Rest estishroud well as a Shirt. reduce, an hour, andto 51less cents Seabrook were far reduced, from a rare occurrence, but also the “So your budget is beingrife assured, plan.

It is just that thisasislow as been leading to While Hood’s theme of the exploitation mates,we thehave ratesa in Bangladesh can be pressures on the workers as it emerged that in 19th century cut because greater financial efficiency.”

England you runscouldn’t throughdoSea- not18always cents).apparent.”

Cheap Clothes they continued to enter the building despite brook’s narrative, ‘song’ is an apt title for the Seabrook’s anger is palpable — whether exAcross Continents warnings of hazard, for fear of losing their book even beyond that: Seabrook’s rich, evocaploring how British imperialism robbed Banand Centuries jobs or docked wages. While the poor condi- tive prose often has a poetic gladesh of its wealth, or the Jeremy Seabrook Navayana tions of many employed in the long supply and rhythmic feel to it as he condescension with which garNon-fiction chain that forms the global fashion industry — draws you into the nightmarment workers are held by up₹495 whether in China, Sri Lanka or Cambodia — are ish world of garment workers. per-class Bangladeshi society, or well known, that conditions in Bangladesh ofSeabrook’s deep understandthe attempt by European fashSeabrook estimates ten fell below that shoddy average became all ing of both cultures and histo- that around 10 per cent ion houses to palm off respontoo clear. ries (he has spent time among of parliamentarians are sibility for atrocities on distant him, although there is. He studies n whatworkers was described as ‘a giant step for owners Jeremy Seabrook, a British journalist, re- garment in different supplynever chains. factory and theof film industry’ by the Congress Workmaps to an understand relativetale size searcher and the author of books about pover- parts Bangladesh since the The the historical is of backed more than half have that Gujarat not ing Committee, formerhim national Ra- countries, ty in Britain and South Asia (Pauperland: early 1990s) enables to scioninterest by personal stories.is Seabrook in the and learns he sculptor taps deliare 30,000-35,000 murders India.

Even if hul Gandhi has been chosenbeas the hero in bigger than the UK. he sleeps Poverty and the Poor in Britain, in and People Withpoint to startling parallels hasSometimes spoken to workers ininDhaka garment industry 1 per cent India’s of murderers the country get cately on the cheek of villages. and He is on parts a quest.

He is the forthcoming PKmeted 2, a heartout History: Muslim in Ghettos) has turned tween the treatment out other of Bangladesh statues, our industry will at a hecNathuram Godse. A row of searching his magic remote warming tale ofworkers a shy alien. his2-3attention to Bangladesh ingrow The Song of the to Bangladeshi today such for as Barisal to create a vivid, heads are passing by on a pace. Even morestudy so if the lawcountry’s and orAfter ancentury early England’s childhoodtexcontrol, which hishuman mummy re- of Shirt,tic a lyrical, historical of the and 19th and intensely portrait der situation We only slow-moving conveyor belt. cently misplaced.

Hethe searchspent his relationship with thedeteriorates. textile and garment in- tile andorbiting mining Jupiter, workers. the industry and pulls and “His face is very common,” that centuries. all candidates do es draw high people and low, whilethe an most pants with dustryrequest over several Onceshould a dynamic Thosestuffed looking for polisolutions may find Sea- pressures that despite properoffull-length photography first, says Mr Gokuldas of Gokuldas tics, our hero evil villain in a magenta global centre the weaving industry, serving brook’s bookyoung deflating: he is (perhaps unfair- wretched conditions. so that we get references.” and Sons, renowned statue manwaistcoat most abolishes holi-messachieves escape of velocithe Mughal Empire, as good well as the Dutch, Brit- ly) dismissive the many Bangladeshi Perhaps Seabrook’s important ufacturers of Varanasi. “But we I discover aand small hologram of ty, and arguing finds himself days across theviewpoint land, and — ofish, French, Portuguese Armenians, it lost unions, that factors such as corrup- age is his firm rejection of the Hitler up my It stands are still looking for reference makes children media write eson earth.

A friendly inhibit their ability to ten hinted at in its place to the climbing cotton mills of leg. northern En- tion and fragmentation the Western — that photographs of his lower half. knee empire and throws me a sa-its effect foreign says ison Madan that Mohan gland as on themy British tightened change. woman Other books, however, such as Bangladesh’s plight inevitable, the conlute.onMrthe Gokuldas smiles Once we find one, this batch Malviya.

Will thiswith story adopts him. HeStitched mysti- Up tell a rather differ- ditions the country stranglehold continent and fondly. forcibly Tansy Hoskins’ has to put up are part “We are constantly at inwill be complete.” have a happy ending?

Will and fiestale, everyone bytotalkshifted industry back to Britishlooking shores. But the ent pointing the momentum that the of its rite of passage to a world of “plenty Things are looking bright novations, mini-statues as ing about and Rana Plaza. But he contentment”.

Uncle Manny stop hiding tide turned yet again,such as theas20th century firmunions havebeehives gained since There are deliberate and very for the Indian statue indusdecoration, and elephants.

He confuses the remote?

Will theand remote ly placedgarden Bangladesh back at theself-replicatheart of the does very effectively point to the enormous human factors — both historic current — try, perhaps even better than inggarment holograms, whichand willits change locathem by referring to himcontrolfor prevail over the magenglobal industry demand for challenges: how can a country riddled with that account Bangladesh’s plight, Seation along with you, so they are never far the golden era of Mayawati. Orta waistcoat?

Andalldoes the crux and self in third person, “limitless cheap garments”. poverty and inhospitable geographic condi- brook argues.

And with its pressures away. In this way, wemoves will keep indusders for Godse are pouring in. empower global women, leading them toan be-industry that earns 70 per without a concerted Seabrook’s narrative backthe and forth, tions challenge effortorfor do change, “We are encouraged by the trend,” try onthe the growth between path, and ensure lieveof there is some- exchange, particularly as the wretched song women and across centuries, Britain and cent its foreign of theempower shirt is likelythe to echo good returns forbustling investors.” says Mr Gokuldas, “Every year, there crux?

Only time tell. oneprofits standing nearof those in power are inex- in Bangladesh for Bangladesh, from the backstreets of the of many many years to will come.

Dhaka to Manchester, which despite its vi- tricably linked to the industry’s selling point: brant continues to have an “emptiness its cheapness and pliability? Seabrook esti- vidya ram The Investigator is a fortnightly round-up of all things drollrevival and newsy.

All views are personal.

Really personal t@shovonc he Health Centre has no roof. The patients are on the floor. My cheeks are freezing in the cold winter air. “What do you do when it rains?” I ask. The officer pulls out an umbrella from behind his chair, and hands it over — “You keep it, I’ll manage.”

I am here to investigate the effect of the 20 per cent cut in the health budget recently announced by the government. The amount of reduction is ₹6,000 crore, the same amount assigned to the bullet train.

“This budget cut sounds like a disaster,” I say, “We spend just 1 per cent of our GDP on healthcare. TheThe Chinese Song of 3 per cent. The Shirt Americans 8 perthe cent.

Is this not a blunder?”

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FUTURE IS BRIGHT RAHUL GANDHI TO FOR STATUE Q2!

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LIGHTHOUSE

Some achhe din resolutions Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal tell us about their New Year resolutions Cross connections “I gotta hang up, there’s a herd of wild cows trying to break down my door. See you later” the hindu archives

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Amit Varma is a novelist. He blogs at indiauncut.com

am fascinated by New Year resolutions.

Everybody makes them, no one keeps them, but they’re still great fun because they give you a chance to laugh at others.

So every New Year, I call up everyone on my phone’s speed dial to find out what their resolutions are. (They never ask about mine, because everyone just loves talking about themselves.) This year, I started with our venerable prime minister, Narendra Modi.

“Modiji,” I said, in that deep baritone that women find irresistible, “Happy New Year. I’m calling to ask about your New Year resolution.

Is saal kya plan hai (what’s the plan this year)?”

“Amitbhai,” he said, “this year it’s proving to be a bit of a problem coming up with resolutions. See, last year my resolution was to become PM. Been there, done that, got the kurta.

Now, after that happens, what else is there?

Maybe I could try a medium-rare steak, as you keep urging me to do, but beyond that it’s getting hard to think of something.”

“What about fulfilling some of your promises to the people of India? Like, all that achhe din aayenge stuff.”

“Sigh. Amitbhai, aap toh poker khelte ho (you play poker), you know what a bluff is. See, when I said achhe din aayenge, I didn’t specify for whom. Everybody can’t have achhe din, that’s just not possible. I have lived up to my promise in the sense that these are achhe din for me. I became PM, I have travelled across the world, and I’m having an incredible amount of fun trolling people. Like, I trolled the nation by making a dropout the education minister.

Hahaha. You’re like my bahu, I told Smriti, LOL. I let the RSS and those other Hindutva nutjobs make whatever noises they wanted, which people actually think could become government policy. You see how worried the lefties are becoming, I’ve seen CCTV footage of Prakash Karat praying at a temple, finally made a believer out of him, haha. But I have the most fun trolling my chai-boy at the office.”

“Hmm, interesting. Best of luck. Anyway, why I called was to ask you, what’s your New Year resolution this year?”

“What new year? Oh. Um, I don’t know, I’ll have to ask Mummy. But there’s a slight problem with that.”

“What?”

“I’ve forgotten her phone number,” he admitted sheepishly.

The next person I called was Arvind Kejriwal. He has become a good friend over the years, and helps me file my income tax returns. He refuses to take any compensation for it, though I do fly him down to Mumbai in “Why, what do you do?” business class.

“Oh, I force him to make tea 40 times a day, “Hi Amit, such a pleasure to hear from you,” and keep pouring it down the sink and telling he said. “I heard the phone ring and thought, him, ‘There, this tea is over. Now make another dee yamm, it’s Anna again. He keeps calling cup. And don’t look so sad, you could be prime me and asking, ‘Which train are you on, Arminister one day. Look at me!’ Hahahahaha!” vind, which train are you on? I’m on a fast!’

“Erm, interesting. Modiji, I gotta hang up, WTF man, WTF, he’s trolling me.” there’s a herd of wild cows trying to break “Er, are you sure it’s him?” I asked. “Anyway, down my door. See you later.” the reason I called was, I’m writing a column “Bye, Amitbhai. Do come home one of these on the New Year resolutions of my friends. evenings, achha dine karenge.”

What’s yours?”

I hung up, went outside, chased the cows “You’ll have to file an RTI application to find away by throwing Amul cheeseballs at them, out. Haha, just kidding. My resolution this and then came back indoors. year is to look inwards, not outWho should I call next? Who else wards. The nation, I have realbut Rahul Gandhi. ised, doesn’t give a damn about “Hey Rahul, this is Amit,” I me, despite all my efforts to conNo more media said, in that deep baritone he vince them that I speak for the interviews for me. loves so much. (So much, in fact, common man. They’d rather lisMedia interviews are that some times he calls me in ten to that bloody chaiwallah. So like poverty, anyway, the middle of the night and anyway, I am moving from the they’re a state begs, “Say something, Amit. Anypolitical to the spiritual, in an efof mind thing. Just talk. Sigh.”) fort to cleanse myself.”

“Hi Amit, bro, what’s up?” he “That’s wonderful!” I said. “I’m said. “You called at a great time, so happy for you. So how are you I’m practising for an interview. starting?”

Ask me something, anything. Go ahead.”

“Well, first up, I will examine all the negative “Okay. What day of the week is it?” emotions inside me. Greed, jealousy, bitter“Well, um, it’s, ah, it’s the day to empower ness, a sense of entitlement and superiority, women. That day has come. We must empow- all of those. Sab mile hue hai (they all work er the women. And also the youth, so that they hand in glove). They are corrupting my perget the escape velocity of Jupiter.” sonality, and you know how I am against cor“Rahul WTF man,” I said. “Did I not tell you ruption. So one by one, I will take a stand specifically last year: No. More. Interviews. I against them and eliminate them.” even used my baritone, FFS, I would have “Fantastic. I’m so happy to hear that.” squeaked if I’d known you’d ignore me.”

“In fact, I want to throw a party to celebrate “No, no, you misunderstand,” he said. “This this new awakening of mine. I’m going to call is not a media interview I’m preparing for. No it the Aam Aadmi Party. You’re invited! It’s tomore media interviews for me. Media inter- day evening, please do come, you know how views are like poverty, anyway, they’re a state of the girls love your baritone.” mind. No, what I’m preparing for is an en“I’ll try and drop in,” I said, and made a resotrance exam interview. I’m planning to do a lution to go for his party. But then I didn’t. correspondence diploma course on how to t@amitvarma run a family business.”

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Can India Ihave a scientific revolution?Q Ready for the challenge

Indian-American actor Kal Penn on his love for dhoklas and struggles with Hindi

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The other Modi Kal Penn’s real name is Kalpen Modi, but he is no relative of the Prime Minister afp

t’s barely 4pm and Kal Penn can scarcely stay awake. His eyes have already taken on a suspicious shade of red. Before any conclusions are drawn, he clarifies jet lag has gotten the better of him. It had only been a couple of hours since the Indian-American actor had touched down in Mumbai to attend the premiere of his film Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain. He arrives at a city radio station for an interaction, but doubts he can survive till the screening that night. He politely pleads with the publicity team of the film to not make him sit through the entire event. “I’d really love to watch the film. I really would.

But I might not be able to stay awake,” he begs.

His wish is granted. But not before he’s made to give a tonne of back-to-back press interviews, most of which sound more like a verification process of his desi credentials. The actor, whose original name is Kalpen Modi, hits all the right notes. He dutifully throws in a few lines in Gujarati, expresses his love for dhoklas and Amitabh Bachchan, and laughs off questions on sharing his last name with Narendra Modi. “No

relation there,” he says with a grin. Finer de- not up to the challenge?’” he says. tails — such as the name of the Madhya PraIn the film, Penn manages a sincere perdesh Chief Minister — have been provided to formance, but he is without doubt an odd him on a piece of paper and the seasoned ac- choice for the role. Even the auto driver who tor reads them aloud with confidence. tricked him into a Mumbai darshan during his He does remarkably well, until he’s asked to last visit here knows that. “I think the Amerirecite his favourite Hindi film dialogue. See- can accent with which I speak Hindi was probing that his wit can’t bail him out of this one, ably why he took me for a ride,” he admits. he accepts defeat. His rehearsal Yet, within the limited roles offor Bhopal also began on a simifered to Indian-American actors lar note. “I got the script in Enin Hollywood — a cabbie, a freshglish. All my conversations with off-the-boat village bumpkin and I still get asked to the director (Ravi Kumar) were a geek — Penn pushed the boundaudition for things in English. There was nothing in aries. His most notable roles are that are ridiculous Hindi in the script. I had reGogol in Mira Nair’s The Nameand stereotypical about IE Irodov, whose hearsed on my own in Los Ansakethe andRussian Kumarphysicist in the stonerphysics problems were the holy grail engigeles before travelling to India. I comedy series Harold andfor Kumar. neering aspirants India.

The starred problems did the first scene and the direcMore across recently, he has in went somewhat like this: tor said ‘Abhi Hindi main’,” he reTV series like How I Met Your Moth“Imagine aershaft going allget theasked way through calls. While his Gujarati is fluent, and 24.

“I still to audithe Earth polethat to pole its rotation Penn doesn’t know Hindi. He can’t make it tion for from things are along ridiculous and axis.” through a Bollywood film without subtitles. stereotypical.

It’s a big thing there,” he says. machine gunBattle is shooting through a swiftHe enlisted the help of his cousins in India His“Anext TV show, Creek, made by the crely revolving airplane propeller.

It will is automatand a dialect coach to play the role of Motwa- ators of the hit show Breaking Bad, see him edly atimed to shoot between everyHe’s blade…” ni, a local reporter who witnessed the tragedy. play detective for the first time. looking “A steel ball new of diameter d=3.0mm starts There were, however, moments when he con- forward to this experiment.

As for Indian sinking with initialon velocity in olive templated taking the next flight home to Los films, they arezero nowhere the radar as of oil...” now.

Once I his entered Indian Institute of TechAngeles. “I wouldn’t call them fleeting mo- Perhaps trystthe with Hindi dialogues will nology, Kharagpur, my from. love for science subsidments. I would call them all-encompassing de- take a while to recover sires. But then the director said something ed for lack of passionate inspiration. Instead, chaudhuri my attention quickly trained itself towards litthat you should never tell an actor. ‘Are you mohini erature and the dramatic arts.

Many years later, over 30 years old with little to show for it, I was reading SC Coutinho’s The Mathematics of Ciphers In a sense, primes are the atoms and composites are on cryptography, the science of secrets and ciphers. Somemolecules in the world of where in the second chapter, it numbers. Nowhere in my said that all numbers can be entire institutional expressed as a unique product education was this of prime numbers. So 55 can profound fact made be expressed only as 5x11, known to me where both are prime numbers. Similarly, 174 is 2x3x29. hat goes on before a $10 Nowhere in my entire instituleather hide becomes a tional education, whether at $4,000 leather bag?” asks school or IIT, was this profound fact made John Thackara, the longknown to me by a teacher or textbook. In a time design innovator and co-creator of Kansense, primes are the atoms, and composites pur Design Innovation Lab (KDIL). are molecules in the world of numbers. Now I Thackara was addressing a gathering at Uncould think of mathematics in terms of chembox Festival 2014, the fourth edition of this anistry. Was there then something like Mendenual ‘out of the box’ interdisciplinary festival, leev’s periodic table of elements, but for in Delhi. One of the workshops had KDIL exnumbers? If I had known this as a teen, I ploring ways to redesign Kanpur’s leather facwould almost certainly have studied matheare found for common tories to promote eco-friendly leather goods Breaking out At Unbox, held in Delhi, innovative solutionsmatics from an earlyproblems age. Nonetheless, an enas well as direct linkages between producers counter with this theorem kicked off a and customers. ment opportunities as it remains a tier-2 city. A stresses the environmental quotient to help much-delayed scientific revolution in my life.

A diverse group made up of design school lab such as ours will hopefully generate op- project the industry a different light. Gupta Sixty-eight years inafter Independence — students from across the country, entrepre- portunities to benefit livelihoods, the environ- hopes translate some theseon ideas while atomanmade robot of tiptoes theinto red neurs from Pakistan, organic ment and the city itself,” she practice at the—factory is associated with sand of Mars we stillshe struggle with issues farmers from Bengaluru and says. KDIL emerged out of Gup- back such home. as food, security, injustice and religion. even a former Coca-Cola executa’s thesis work in New York How “Wecan willsuch collaborate designa and techa nationwith undergo scientific tive-turned-‘open innovator’ put where Thackara was her adviser. nical schools inlike Kanpur, IIT-Kanpur, revolution just I had,including I thought?

After five their heads together to redesign “I was working on bringing as wellofaswrestling leather industrialists,” she says. “We years with this idea, I maintain I was working on the industrial city’s ₹292-crore pride back into factories, and need projects to makeisuse the production that such a scenario notofonly easier than bringing pride back leather sector. ways to incorporate more mind- waste the factories.”

In the long peoplegenerated think, butat inevitable in the near future. into factories “Kanpur is where I grew up ful ways of making,” she says. term, sheto and Thackara hope the labeducation will help For this happen, however, our scientific had a at small chemistry device and where I yhave comeeducation back to as a teenag- switches, and soon Participants the workshop solutions just for the city’s leather must take on thenot urgency of war. er began sometime my asked room.to When I started pre- sector now,” says Mansi Gupta, KDIL co- in the ’80s in workbench in were recreate a leather alsophilosopher its traffic, sanitation garThe but social Herbert and Spencer Jaipur. It could entrance exams, thosemaxijuve- bage creator. She graduated fromhave the been the day paring for college eco-system that facilitates “Ourbe idea to help in the wrotemanagement. in 1861: “If there an is order in which myArts, father me an elec- mum nile projects would give way to martial School of Visual Newbought York, before returninteraction between consumers and city’s development,” Gupta says. its various the human race has mastered tronics hobby kit to play with. I enjoyed mak- producers. training in The solving problems. ing to her hometown.

“Despite being a large models they came up with in- kinds of knowledge, there will arise in every arasu ing radio town, transmitters sound-triggered In particular, wasand something poetic industrial Kanpurand often loses develop- cluded fair tradethere systems branding that sibi child an aptitude to acquire these kinds of

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Q city Polishing the leather

A workshop at the Unbox Festival in the Capital explored ways to make Kanpur’s leather sector eco-friendly and customer-centric

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Yes, if we return to the beginning. Instead of one laptop per child, perhaps we should consider giving one sundial per child

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knowledge in the same order.... Education is a repetition of civilization in little.”

Spencer’s model emphasises that historical order is the sequence in which knowledge ought to be taught. This process shows to the student the actual evolution of ideas, and does not create the misconception that what is written in a textbook is self-evident or incontrovertible. The history of science shows that no idea can be taken for granted, and great theories can collapse with more evidence to the contrary.

In some remote past, our long journey into enlightenment was put into motion by two primitive instruments — the sundial and the compass. The first helped us navigate time, and the second helped us navigate space. The sundial is a machine which uses the Sun as its only moving part, giving us a direct connection to a 4.5 billion–year-old alien star visible to everyone. The compass, on the other hand, was a way of seeing invisible magnetic currents that came from the interior of Earth. The knowledge that came from these two fountains was significant. More has been accomplished in the history of science by people with such primitive devices, than has been done with laptops and cell phones. Instead of one laptop per child, perhaps we should consider giving one sundial per child.

In an essay considering the sundial as a primitive computer, which uses sunlight as data, ‘writer, squatter’ and my friend Wilfried Hou Je Bek once wrote — “Time (and every device that sublimated it) is not the only abstraction of the sun that led to a wide range of applications. A similar story could be written for fire. Fire, once under human control, hirty years to the the brought the heat ofago thealmost sun into theday, night. biggest the Indian boxline office This power led tohit an at entire different of was progress, a low-budget horror film technological starting with theabout abilhairy monster, a scary curse,enerand ity to boil afood, and ending with nuclear an ancient In Purana Mandir, the Ramgy.

In thistemple. last line of development, solar say Brothers, Bombay’s pioneers cinematic power, and especially the rhetoricofbehind it, is horror, tell the tale of aoffamily by an interesting reminder the facthaunted that we are tragedy: every woman in thewith family dies after in the end, still struggling making the givingofbirth to her first child. This is not the most the Sun.” grisly stuff of which Indian popular cinema is made; mostalso movies usually end where babies Technology has its mythology begin. The Ramsays regularly plumbed folkNuclear science and the space programme are lore and to shatter the technicolour often seenmyths as major achievements of Indian fantasieseven of romance, family, and technical domestic science, though they are only bliss we commonly think of as that ‘Bollywood’. feats, or applications of science already But by showing us women serve dyingas painfully in existed.

Both programmes a demonemergency rooms, their bodies tornoutside apart stration of technical power to the from within, Purana Mandirscientific also becomes world, rather than to deepen culturea graphic of historical that has at home.record Historian of scienceviolence Rajesh Kochhar largely been forgotten. summarised our situation thus, “Independthe film, the young Suman (played Arti entInIndia’s attitude towards science hasbybeen Gupta) falls withexperience.

Sanjay (played by fashioned by in its love colonial Thus InMohnish Bahl).toSuman’s father,science the Thakur, dia has sought utilise applied in furfears forits herforeign life. First, he objects to Sanjay’s thering policy objectives.

Under lower-class origins; modern next, hescience sends was goons to the Indian auspices, Brahminised during the colonial period, and Kshatriya-ised after independence.”

Historian David Arnold also observes that: “Company rule in India was contemporane-

A full circle Purana Mandir was the greatest commercial success the Ramsays would ever see (below). Today, its meaningless gore returns audiences to a mythical past, and the very real present, of fatal family planning reuters/anindito mukherjee

A cinematic curse lives on

Basics are the best ‘The light of navigation’, 1608, from a Dutch sailing handbook shows the essentials of scientific discoveries — compass, an hourglass, sea astrolabe; (below) a photograph by Lala Deen Dayal of Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, one of the most important sundials wiki commons

Like Purana Mandir, which released 30 years ago, the Malthusian project of population control transforms women’s fertility into a source of terrifying and lethal violence

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ous with one of the most momentous phases landed probes on Mars. A very interesting of modern science, from the rise of Enlighten- study by Superflux — a design studio based in break natural them up.

Finally, the shock- Ahmedabad ment history to he thereveals eve of Darwinian with swollenand abdomens stitches.

There London —and created miniature ing secret: Suman will die in the that replicas biology.”

Many officers of the Eastinstant India Comwere whispers infections,Mars divine retribuof the of Mangalyaan Orbiter so she becomes a mother.

Centuriesscientists ago, a monpany who were not professional be- people tion, and sudden death.

TheseJain, whispers could play with it. Anab one ofhad the ster by the name of Saamri cursed their family founders, came hobbyists in geology, physics, mostly disappeared from public consciousrightly observed that, “there is aljust before hebiology was executed; not until his re- most astronomy, and chemistry.

Even ness until last month, when poorly no dichotomy between scienceexecuted and mymains are Sanjay and Suman be thology though thedestroyed Companycan never intended it, some laparoscopic tubectomies at camps in Chattisin the lived reality of the Indian together.

Learning curse, the lovers population.” of their projects hadof thethe effect of transferring garh killed more a politically dozen women, and Whilethan this is problemleave thescience city, drive into the hills, find the pura- atic, Western to India. sent scores into intensive care. Likea PuraIndianmore mythology does contain rich naThis mandir under which Saamri happened because prioris buried, burn na Mandir, thenetwork Malthusian project ofwhich populaof metaphors alhisthe body, and break the curse — all so that they tion control transforms to discovery of atomic physfertility into low us towomen’s articulate complex can most finallyinstruments consummate their ics, and de- love. Instead, a source of terrifying lethallanguage. violence. ideas inand everyday why didn’t theytheir just function buy condoms? vices betrayed by At least the We movie a happy saw has earlier how theending: prime If Sanjay and Suman Such had been the audi- the their outer appearance. an- inBy Saamri is destroyed, the curse is lifted, Suman numbers are metaphorically chasing illusion ence of Purana Mandir atmecha movie theatre in andedge’, tiquated and open analog Sanjay arethe married in the mandir, The End. same as atoms in chemistry. of the ‘cutting 1984, they might even have seen we a boring, anisms — microscopes, In drown Filmfare, critic Pritish Nandy complained The science of metaphors, also will merely black-and-white, telescopes, sextantsgovernmentand clocks more resources into an that the as monster looked like he known mathematics, undermandated about — are stilldocumentary popular today as was an ill-fitting lies “wearing all branches of sciencejute — infinite drain family planning.

Thirtytoyears ‘steampunk’, referring sciwig” and like its and in factthe maytemple be considered ago, inIndia’s Planning ence the AgeFamily of Steam.

In con“cardboard walls areThe falling off.” the purest science. practise By showing us campaign was entering a new trast, the digital technologies, Itofmattered little todoes fans:not Purana mathematics rewomen dying phase. Following of Indiwhich surround the usend today, atMandir was the greatest commerquire millions of dollars and expainfully in ra Gandhi’s tempt to conceal theEmergency inner science of atoms pensive equipment, cial success the Ramsays would making it the perfect emergency rooms, (1975–77), during which coercive from the end user.

And this is what makes ex- choice for a developing ever see. country Today, its thatseemingly desires a Purana Mandir vasectomies stokedtechnology fear in theseem like ad- scientific awakening. tremely ordinary meaningless gore — bloody cursbecomes a record of hearts science. and bodies of India’s vanced es, lead punished mothers, burning India cannot a scientific revolution by historical violence (mostly young, poor) The author Nickmostly Haraway makes this prob- looking intomonsters — returns to the answer sheets audiences of students that has largely been men,clearer, the Family Planning pro- laptops, even like the US oraChina. lem “ — cellular phones, mythical past, and the very real By chasing the illusion of forgotten gramme refocused on womradio andwas television — require an understand- the ‘cutting edge’ present, of fatal family planning. we will merely drown more en. In Films Division short, ing oraat1983 least an acceptance of objects we can resources into an Notably, does infinitePurana drain. Mandir The greatest moviegoers were shownnever a clinic apprehend di- advantage ofnot progress to its logical India’s population is itsconcluinnoin rural Punjab where new laparectly in any way. It’s cence towards sion: there no mind comforting science, likeis a fresh unenroscopic techniques of tubectomy not that were any being suffi- cumbered scene of mother and child together, alive and by the weight of knowledge.

In employed. “Because women are by nature ciently advanced tech- metaphors well. Instead, audiences of the again, we can walking think of out our collecshy,” intones the narrator, this minimally nology is magic,invait’s tive movie theatre were with thestretched news that anknowledge like hit a catapult back sive technique takes only and to thata few any seconds technology other been Purana Mandir its mother farthesthad limit.

Orkilled. as Professor Irodov can be performed through the woman’s stom- would taking place beyond had just been released Indira Gandhi have written — “A when smooth rubber cord ach. Accompanying visuals include shots of of the threshold of our waslength assassinated her front While Rajiv ‘l’ and in elasticity ‘k’lawn. is stretched bedoctors performing thesenses procedure is.” on smiling tween Gandhitwo was touching inofDelhi fixed points. Adown pebble massto ‘m’be is (or anesthetised?) women,This whomeans are laterthat transa placed sworn in as India’s Minister, Tulsi at the centrenew and Prime stretched back to its ported home in vans. lot of our technology limit.

Ramsay, the director Mandir,will toofall arCalculate how of farPurana the pebble When a journalist visited one such clinic at when is mythical, somerived in the Capital: “There was a hold on film released.” a government centre intimes early 1984, however, resulting in screenings. therevolution. film resumed.

India can But haveona Friday scientific ButBy if she encountered a terrifying sight infrastruc— an oper- we large-scale then the But I was ignorant, are tocity takewas theburning. great leap forward, we mustI ating room of primitive conditions un- return tural failures.and Entire was happy with my success.” to the beginning. sterilised equipment. airplanes Women continue transported to theeditor, history of scienceSouth as kartikgupta nair isexplores associate BioScope: from nearby villages and slums were being rohit go missing on a planet t@fadesingh Asian Screen Studies moved through the clinic at breakneck speed, Compasswallah that has successfully

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All eyes The magician or Mahabootham in Mayakkutirai (Magic Horse)

Old craft, new idioms Kattaikkuttu, a folk theatre form in Tamil Nadu, gains new ground, new spectators

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attaikkuttu, a form of high-energy folk theatre, is rooted in the vast oral performance tradition of rural Tamil Nadu. Its powerful, raw recitals invoke the mythical world of kings, gods and sages from the Mahabharata and other epics, keeping audiences in thrall from dusk to dawn.

A heady mix of music, dance, costumes, drama and ritual, Kattaikkuttu addresses its audience on many levels, playing out universal themes, dilemmas and dark violence, often combined with comedy. These ‘Shakespearean’ tales also draw from everyday life, politics, love, war and religion, allowing spectators to see something of themselves on stage.

Yet, like several traditional art forms, Kattaikkuttu faces an uncertain future, prompting organisations like Kattaikkuttu Sangam to step in and protect it, while creating sustainable livelihoods for its performers. Once a male stronghold, the Sangam also aims to make it more accessible to artists of both genders.

But perhaps, its greatest challenge yet is sustaining the interest of future generations. One that they seek to overcome at the Kattaikkuttu Gurukulam, a residential school near Kanchipuram. In turn, the Gurukulam’s theatre company, the Kattaikkuttu Young Professionals, nurtures and develops traditional, all-night performances. Led by director, actor and playwright Perungattur P Rajagopal, they also bring to life productions designed for urban audiences.

By bringing these ancient stories into the limelight, applying them to a contemporary context and giving the performers a new platform, champions of Kattaikkuttu are ensuring it regains lost ground.

Images by a pratap, a Chennai-based photographer. Text by enid still

Child’s play A young Eklavya in Vilaiyattin Vilaivu (War Games)

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Lessons of life A performance of Draupadi Kuravanchi, the story of Draupadi entering the court of the Kauravas disguised as a fortune-telling gypsy

Reected glory Dressing up for the role of a village woman in Tripurakkali, a Tamil adaptation of a play by Rabindranath Tagore

Blood red A joyous Surpanakha oblivious to her fate in Rama Ravana

Turn by turn Nakashatra Rai picks up the tempo in Tripurakkali

Holy triad Rama (right) anked by his brother Lakshmana (centre) and Anjaneyar or Hanuman (left) in Rama Ravana

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Can India Ihave a scientific revolution?Q Ready for the challenge

Indian-American actor Kal Penn on his love for dhoklas and struggles with Hindi

shutterstock

The other Modi Kal Penn’s real name is Kalpen Modi, but he is no relative of the Prime Minister afp

t’s barely 4pm and Kal Penn can scarcely stay awake. His eyes have already taken on a suspicious shade of red. Before any conclusions are drawn, he clarifies jet lag has gotten the better of him. It had only been a couple of hours since the Indian-American actor had touched down in Mumbai to attend the premiere of his film Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain. He arrives at a city radio station for an interaction, but doubts he can survive till the screening that night. He politely pleads with the publicity team of the film to not make him sit through the entire event. “I’d really love to watch the film. I really would.

But I might not be able to stay awake,” he begs.

His wish is granted. But not before he’s made to give a tonne of back-to-back press interviews, most of which sound more like a verification process of his desi credentials. The actor, whose original name is Kalpen Modi, hits all the right notes. He dutifully throws in a few lines in Gujarati, expresses his love for dhoklas and Amitabh Bachchan, and laughs off questions on sharing his last name with Narendra Modi. “No

relation there,” he says with a grin. Finer de- not up to the challenge?’” he says. tails — such as the name of the Madhya PraIn the film, Penn manages a sincere perdesh Chief Minister — have been provided to formance, but he is without doubt an odd him on a piece of paper and the seasoned ac- choice for the role. Even the auto driver who tor reads them aloud with confidence. tricked him into a Mumbai darshan during his He does remarkably well, until he’s asked to last visit here knows that. “I think the Amerirecite his favourite Hindi film dialogue. See- can accent with which I speak Hindi was probing that his wit can’t bail him out of this one, ably why he took me for a ride,” he admits. he accepts defeat. His rehearsal Yet, within the limited roles offor Bhopal also began on a simifered to Indian-American actors lar note. “I got the script in Enin Hollywood — a cabbie, a freshglish. All my conversations with off-the-boat village bumpkin and I still get asked to the director (Ravi Kumar) were a geek — Penn pushed the boundaudition for things in English. There was nothing in aries. His most notable roles are that are ridiculous Hindi in the script. I had reGogol in Mira Nair’s The Nameand stereotypical about IE Irodov, whose hearsed on my own in Los Ansakethe andRussian Kumarphysicist in the stonerphysics problems were the holy grail engigeles before travelling to India. I comedy series Harold andfor Kumar. neering aspirants India.

The starred problems did the first scene and the direcMore across recently, he has in went somewhat like this: tor said ‘Abhi Hindi main’,” he reTV series like How I Met Your Moth“Imagine aershaft going all get theasked way through calls. While his Gujarati is fluent, and 24.

“I still to audipolethat to pole its rotation Penn doesn’t know Hindi. He can’t make it the tionEarth for from things are along ridiculous and through a Bollywood film without subtitles. axis.” stereotypical. It’s a big thing there,” he says. machine gunBattle is shooting through a swiftHe enlisted the help of his cousins in India His“Anext TV show, Creek, made by the crerevolving airplane propeller.

It will is automatand a dialect coach to play the role of Motwa- ly ators of the hit show Breaking Bad, see him to shoot between everyHe’s blade…” ni, a local reporter who witnessed the tragedy. edly play timed a detective for the first time. looking “A steel ball new of diameter d=3.0mm starts There were, however, moments when he con- forward to this experiment.

As for Indian with initialon velocity in olive templated taking the next flight home to Los sinking films, they arezero nowhere the radar as ofoil...” now.

Once I his entered Indian Institute of TechAngeles. “I wouldn’t call them fleeting mo- Perhaps trystthe with Hindi dialogues will Kharagpur, my from. love for science subsidments. I would call them all-encompassing de- nology, take a while to recover sires. But then the director said something ed for lack of passionate inspiration. Instead, chaudhuri my attention quickly trained itself towards litthat you should never tell an actor. ‘Are you mohini erature and the dramatic arts.

Many years later, over 30 years old with little to show for it, I was reading SC Coutinho’s The Mathematics of Ciphers In a sense, primes are the atoms and composites are on cryptography, the science of secrets and ciphers. Somemolecules in the world of where in the second chapter, it numbers. Nowhere in my said that all numbers can be entire institutional expressed as a unique product education was this of prime numbers. So 55 can profound fact made be expressed only as 5x11, known to me where both are prime numbers. Similarly, 174 is 2x3x29. hat goes on before a $10 Nowhere in my entire instituleather hide becomes a tional education, whether at $4,000 leather bag?” asks school or IIT, was this profound fact made John Thackara, the longknown to me by a teacher or textbook. In a time design innovator and co-creator of Kansense, primes are the atoms, and composites pur Design Innovation Lab (KDIL). are molecules in the world of numbers. Now I Thackara was addressing a gathering at Uncould think of mathematics in terms of chembox Festival 2014, the fourth edition of this anistry. Was there then something like Mendenual ‘out of the box’ interdisciplinary festival, leev’s periodic table of elements, but for in Delhi. One of the workshops had KDIL exnumbers? If I had known this as a teen, I ploring ways to redesign Kanpur’s leather facwould almost certainly have studied matheare found for common tories to promote eco-friendly leather goods Breaking out At Unbox, held in Delhi, innovative solutionsmatics from an earlyproblems age. Nonetheless, an enas well as direct linkages between producers counter with this theorem kicked off a and customers. ment opportunities as it remains a tier-2 city. A stresses the environmental quotient to help much-delayed scientific revolution in my life.

A diverse group made up of design school lab such as ours will hopefully generate op- project the industry a different light. Gupta Sixty-eight years inafter Independence — students from across the country, entrepre- portunities to benefit livelihoods, the environ- hopes translate some theseon ideas while atomanmade robot of tiptoes the into red neurs from Pakistan, organic ment and the city itself,” she practice at the—factory is associated with sand of Mars we stillshe struggle with issues farmers from Bengaluru and says. KDIL emerged out of Gup- back such home. as food, security, injustice and religion. even a former Coca-Cola executa’s thesis work in New York How “Wecan willsuch collaborate designa and techa nationwith undergo scientific tive-turned-‘open innovator’ put where Thackara was her adviser. nical schools inlike Kanpur, IIT-Kanpur, revolution just I had,including I thought?

After five their heads together to redesign “I was working on bringing as wellofaswrestling leather industrialists,” she says. “We years with this idea, I maintain I was working on the industrial city’s ₹292-crore pride back into factories, and need projects to makeisuse the easier production that such a scenario notofonly than bringing pride back leather sector. ways to incorporate more mind- waste the factories.”

In the long peoplegenerated think, but at inevitable in the near future. into factories “Kanpur is where I grew up ful ways of making,” she says. term, shetoand Thackara hope the labeducation will help For this happen, however, our scientific had a at small and where I yhave comeeducation back to as a teenag- switches, and soon Participants the chemistry workshop device solutions just for the city’s leather must take on the not urgency of war. er began sometime my asked room. to When I started pre- sector now,” says Mansi Gupta, KDIL co- in the ’80s in workbench inwere recreate a leather alsophilosopher its traffic, sanitation garThe but social Herbert and Spencer Jaipur. It could entrance exams, thosemaxijuve- bage creator. She graduated fromhave the been the day paring for college eco-system that facilitates “Ourbeidea to help in the wrotemanagement. in 1861: “If there an is order in which myArts, father me an elec- mum nile projects would give way to martial School of Visual Newbought York, before returninteraction between consumers and city’s development,” Gupta says. its various the human race has mastered tronics hobby kit to play with. I enjoyed mak- producers. training in solving problems. ing to her hometown.

“Despite being a large The models they came up with in- kinds of knowledge, there will arise in every ing radio town, transmitters sound-triggered In particular, wasand something poetic industrial Kanpurand often loses develop- cluded fair tradethere systems branding that sibi childarasu an aptitude to acquire these kinds of

R

Q city Polishing the leather

A workshop at the Unbox Festival in the Capital explored ways to make Kanpur’s leather sector eco-friendly and customer-centric

R

“W

Q R

Yes, if we return to the beginning. Instead of one laptop per child, perhaps we should consider giving one sundial per child

ND-X _ A

M

BL

watch cover

saturday, january 3, 2015

knowledge in the same order.... Education is a repetition of civilization in little.”

Spencer’s model emphasises that historical order is the sequence in which knowledge ought to be taught. This process shows to the student the actual evolution of ideas, and does not create the misconception that what is written in a textbook is self-evident or incontrovertible. The history of science shows that no idea can be taken for granted, and great theories can collapse with more evidence to the contrary.

In some remote past, our long journey into enlightenment was put into motion by two primitive instruments — the sundial and the compass. The first helped us navigate time, and the second helped us navigate space. The sundial is a machine which uses the Sun as its only moving part, giving us a direct connection to a 4.5 billion–year-old alien star visible to everyone. The compass, on the other hand, was a way of seeing invisible magnetic currents that came from the interior of Earth. The knowledge that came from these two fountains was significant. More has been accomplished in the history of science by people with such primitive devices, than has been done with laptops and cell phones. Instead of one laptop per child, perhaps we should consider giving one sundial per child.

In an essay considering the sundial as a primitive computer, which uses sunlight as data, ‘writer, squatter’ and my friend Wilfried Hou Je Bek once wrote — “Time (and every device that sublimated it) is not the only abstraction of the sun that led to a wide range of applications. A similar story could be written for fire. Fire, once under human control, hirty years to the the brought the heat ofago thealmost sun into theday, night. biggest the Indian boxline office This power led tohit anat entire different of was aprogress, low-budget horror film technological starting with theabout abilhairy monster, scary curse,enerand ity to boil afood, and ending awith nuclear an ancient In Purana Mandir, the Ramgy.

In thistemple. last line of development, solar say Brothers, Bombay’s pioneers cinematic power, and especially the rhetoricofbehind it, is horror, tell thereminder tale of aoffamily by an interesting the facthaunted that we are tragedy: every woman in thewith family dies after in the end, still struggling making the givingofbirth to her first child. This is not the most the Sun.” grisly stuff of which Indian popular cinema is made; mostalso movies end where babies Technology has usually its mythology begin. The Ramsays regularly plumbed folkNuclear science and the space programme are lore and to shatter the technicolour often seenmyths as major achievements of Indian fantasieseven of romance, family, and domestic science, though they are only technical bliss we commonly think of as that ‘Bollywood’. feats, or applications of science already But by showing us women serve dyingas painfully in existed.

Both programmes a demonemergency bodies tornoutside apart stration of rooms, technicaltheir power to the from within, Purana Mandirscientific also becomes world, rather than to deepen culturea graphic of historical that has at home.record Historian of scienceviolence Rajesh Kochhar largely been forgotten. summarised our situation thus, “Independthe film, the young Suman (played Arti entInIndia’s attitude towards science hasbybeen Gupta) falls withexperience.

Sanjay (played by fashioned by in its love colonial Thus InMohnish Bahl).toSuman’s father,science the Thakur, dia has sought utilise applied in furfears for its herforeign life. First, he objects to Sanjay’s thering policy objectives.

Under lower-class origins; modern next, hescience sends was goons to the Indian auspices, Brahminised during the colonial period, and Kshatriya-ised after independence.”

Historian David Arnold also observes that: “Company rule in India was contemporane-

A full circle Purana Mandir was the greatest commercial success the Ramsays would ever see (below). Today, its meaningless gore returns audiences to a mythical past, and the very real present, of fatal family planning reuters/anindito mukherjee

A cinematic curse lives on

Basics are the best ‘The light of navigation’, 1608, from a Dutch sailing handbook shows the essentials of scientific discoveries — compass, an hourglass, sea astrolabe; (below) a photograph by Lala Deen Dayal of Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, one of the most important sundials wiki commons

Like Purana Mandir, which released 30 years ago, the Malthusian project of population control transforms women’s fertility into a source of terrifying and lethal violence

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ous with one of the most momentous phases landed probes on Mars. A very interesting of modern science, from the rise of Enlighten- study by Superflux — a design studio based in break natural them up.

Finally, the shock- Ahmedabad ment history to he thereveals eve of Darwinian with swollenand abdomens stitches.

There London —and created miniature ing secret:Many Suman will die in the that replicas biology.” officers of the Eastinstant India Comwere whispers infections,Mars divine retribuof the of Mangalyaan Orbiter so she becomes a mother.

Centuriesscientists ago, a monpany who were not professional be- people tion, and sudden death.

TheseJain, whispers could play with it. Anab one ofhad the ster by the name of Saamri cursed theirphysics, family founders, came hobbyists in geology, mostly disappeared from public consciousrightly observed that, “there is aljust before hebiology was executed; not until his re- most astronomy, and chemistry.

Even ness until last month, when poorly no dichotomy between scienceexecuted and mymains are Sanjay and Suman be thology though thedestroyed Companycan never intended it, some laparoscopic tubectomies at camps in Chattisin the lived reality of the Indian together.

Learning curse, the lovers population.” of their projects hadof thethe effect of transferring garh killed more women, and Whilethan this ais dozen politically problemleave thescience city, drive the hills, find the pura- atic, Western to into India. sent scores into intensive care. Likea PuraIndianmore mythology does contain rich naThis mandir under which Saamri happened because prioris buried, burn na Mandir, thenetwork Malthusian project ofwhich populaof metaphors alhisthe body, and break the curse — all so that they tion control transforms to discovery of atomic physfertility into low us towomen’s articulate complex can most finallyinstruments consummateand their ics, de-love. Instead, a source of terrifying lethallanguage. violence. ideas inand everyday why didn’t theytheir just buy condoms? vices betrayed function by At least the We movie a happy saw has earlier how theending: prime If Sanjay and Suman Such had been thechasing audi- the their outer appearance. an- inBy Saamri is destroyed, the curse lifted, Suman numbers are is metaphorically illusion ence of Purana Mandir at mecha movie theatre in andedge’, tiquated and open analog Sanjay arethe married mandir, The End. same in as the atoms in chemistry. of the ‘cutting 1984, they might even have seen we a boring, anisms — microscopes, In drown Filmfare, critic Pritish Nandy complained The science of metaphors, also will merely black-and-white, telescopes, sextantsgovernmentand clocks more resources into an that the as monster looked like he known mathematics, undermandated about — are stilldocumentary popular today as was an ill-fitting jute lies “wearing all branches of science — infinite drain family planning.

Thirtytoyears ‘steampunk’, referring sciwig” and like its and in factthe maytemple be considered ago, in India’s Planning ence the AgeFamily of Steam.

In con“cardboard areThe falling off.” the purest walls science. practise By showing us campaign was entering a new trast, the digital technologies, Itofmattered little todoes fans:not Purana mathematics rewomen dying phase. Following of Indiwhich surroundthe usend today, atMandir was the greatest commerquire millions of dollars and expainfully in ra Gandhi’s tempt to conceal theEmergency inner science of atoms pensive equipment, cial success the Ramsays would making it the perfect emergency rooms, (1975–77), during which coercive from the end user.

And this is what makes ex- choice for a developing ever see. Today, seemingly countryits that desires a Purana Mandir vasectomies stokedtechnology fear in theseem like ad- scientific awakening. tremely ordinary meaningless gore — bloody cursbecomes a record of hearts science. and bodies of India’s vanced es, lead punished mothers, burning India cannot a scientific revolution by historical violence (mostly young, poor) The author Nickmostly Haraway makes this prob- looking intomonsters — returns to the answer sheets audiences of students that has largely been men,clearer, the Family Planning pro- laptops, even like the US oraChina. lem “ — cellular phones, mythical past, and the very real By chasing the illusion of forgotten gramme refocused on womradio andwas television — require an understand- the ‘cutting edge’ present, of fatal family planning. we will merely drown more en. In Films Division short, ing oraat1983 least an acceptance of objects we can resources into an Notably, Purana does infinite drain. Mandir The greatest moviegoers were shownnever a clinic apprehend di- advantage ofnot progress to its logical India’s population is itsconcluinnoin rural Punjab where new laparectly in any way. It’s cence towards sion: there no mind comforting science, likeisa fresh unenroscopic techniques of tubectomy not that were any being suffi- cumbered scene of mother and child together, alive and by the weight of knowledge.

In employed. “Because women are by nature ciently advanced tech- metaphors well. Instead, audiences the again, we can walking think of out our of collecshy,” intones the narrator, this minimally nology is magic,invait’s tive movie theatre were with thestretched news thatback anknowledge like hit a catapult sive technique takes only and to thata few any seconds technology other been Purana Mandir its mother farthesthad limit.

Orkilled. as Professor Irodov can be performed through the woman’s stom- would taking place beyond had just been released Indira Gandhi have written — “Awhen smooth rubber cord ach. Accompanying visuals include shots of of the threshold of our waslength assassinated her front While Rajiv ‘l’ and in elasticity ‘k’lawn. is stretched bedoctors performing thesenses procedure is.” on smiling tween Gandhitwo was touching inofDelhi fixed points. Adown pebble massto ‘m’be is (or anesthetised?) women,This whomeans are laterthat trans-a placed sworn in Minister, Tulsi at as theIndia’s centrenew and Prime stretched back to its ported home in vans. lot of our technology limit.

Ramsay, the director Mandir,will toofall arCalculate howoffarPurana the pebble When a journalist visited one such clinic at when is mythical, somerived in the Capital: “There was a hold on film released.” a government centre intimes early 1984, however, resulting in screenings. ona Friday therevolution. film resumed.

India canBut have scientific ButBy if she encountered a terrifying sight infrastruc— an oper- we large-scale then the But I was ignorant, are tocity takewas theburning. great leap forward, we mustI ating room of primitive conditions un- return tural failures.and Entire was happy with my success.” to the beginning. sterilised equipment. airplanes Women continue transported to theeditor, history of scienceSouth as kartikgupta nair isexplores associate BioScope: from nearby villages and slums were being rohit go missing on a planet t@fadesingh Asian Screen Studies moved through the clinic at breakneck speed, Compasswallah that has successfully

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Stitching a shroud and a shirt dipankar

A historic tale backed by human stories that tells of the systemic exploitation of Bangladeshi garment workers over the decades Dust to dust The wretched conditions of the garment workers in Bangladesh came to global attention with the Rana Plaza building collapse reuters/andrew biraj

HEALTH MINISTRY ANNOUNCES 20 % MORE SLOGANS!

SHOVON CHOWDHURY is chief Truthdigger and author of The Competent Authority

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The official shifts in his “Why couldn’t you spend bank transfers on time?” I ask. “This is a very rickety chair, and shakes enough money by October?” simplistic view,” he says, “In any case, there his head. “Nothing like I ask. “You see, money is not is not enough infrastructure to spend monthat,” he says, “Genuine a simple concept. It comes ey on. Plus fiscal deficit is a matter of conhe horrific in be many forms. There is cern.

However, we will be the fact is that Health conditions Ministry in which Ban- that cannot easily replaced”. mates that around 10 compensating per cent of parliamengladesh’s garment of money through increase positive, could only spend 25 perworkers fulfil the money The book’s title comesthat fromfeatures a poem ofinthe lack tarians are factory owners andinmore than half demands There is money slogans improveindustry. the mo- Such cent of relentless allocated funds till of the global same name, byspeeches.

19th century British poet Tho- health-oriented have an interest in thetogarment industry became the focal mas Hood about October.fashion In January-March, that appears in balance ralefactors of thehave population.

Studies have has shown a British seamstress. meant that the focus been on point of global outrage last year when Rana high-quality slogans lead to increase in we can’t spend more than There is Men, money Oh, Men withsheets.

Sisters dear!/Oh, withthat Moth- that quelling dissent among workers (the creation Plaza, an eight-storey building is is mentioned in sanction let-out, oxytocin leading to better health.

Al-2010) 33 per cent. Since it’s not in Dhaka, col- ers and Wives!/It not linen you’re wearing of the levels, infamous enforcement police in lapsed killing The tragedy high- /But human creatures’ possible to 1,100 spendpeople. balance ters. Thenlives!/Stitch there is money in — so,rather by acting against activities kissing, — stitch than tackling abuse like (while garment lighted notcent onlyinthe rock-bottom wages in the stitch,/In poverty, Day, etc, sex thean country 40 per Novemberbanks.

Money in banks does hunger and dirt,/Sewing at once, Valentine’s workers in China are in paid averagewill of $1.66 industry, and the fact that has deaths and injuries with a double thread,/A December, budget not appear justas like that.” leading riskinofIndia, HIV/AIDS. Rest estishroud well as a Shirt. reduce, an hour, andto 51less cents Seabrook were far reduced, from a rare occurrence, but also the “So your budget is beingrife assured, plan.

It is just that this been leading to While Hood’s theme of the exploitation mates,we thehave ratesa in Bangladesh can be asislow as pressures on the workers as it emerged that in 19th century cut because greater financial efficiency.”

England you runscouldn’t throughdoSea- not18always cents).apparent.”

Cheap Clothes they continued to enter the building despite brook’s narrative, ‘song’ is an apt title for the Seabrook’s anger is palpable — whether exAcross Continents warnings of hazard, for fear of losing their book even beyond that: Seabrook’s rich, evocaploring how British imperialism robbed Banand Centuries jobs or docked wages. While the poor condi- tive prose often has a poetic gladesh of its wealth, or the Jeremy Seabrook Navayana tions of many employed in the long supply and rhythmic feel to it as he condescension with which garNon-fiction chain that forms the global fashion industry — draws you into the nightmarment workers are held by up₹495 whether in China, Sri Lanka or Cambodia — are ish world of garment workers. per-class Bangladeshi society, or well known, that conditions in Bangladesh ofSeabrook’s deep understandthe attempt by European fashSeabrook estimates ten fell below that shoddy average became all ing of both cultures and histo- that around 10 per cent ion houses to palm off respontoo clear. ries (he has spent time among of parliamentarians are sibility for atrocities on distant him, although there is. He studies n whatworkers was described as ‘a giant step for owners Jeremy Seabrook, a British journalist, re- garment in different supplynever chains. factory and theof film industry’ by the the Congress Workmaps to an understand relative size searcher and the author of books about pover- parts Bangladesh since The the historical tale is of backed more than half have that Gujarat not ing Committee, formerhim national Ra- countries, ty in Britain and South Asia (Pauperland: early 1990s) enables to scioninterest by personal stories.is Seabrook in the and learns he sculptor taps deliare 30,000-35,000 murders India.

Even if hul Gandhi has been chosenbeas the hero in bigger than the UK. he sleeps Poverty and the Poor in Britain, in and People Withpoint to startling parallels has Sometimes spoken to workers inin Dhaka garment industry centIndia’s of murderers in the country get cately on the cheek of villages. and He is on parts a quest.

He is the forthcoming PKmeted 2, a heartout1 per History: Muslim Ghettos) has turned tween the treatment out other of Bangladesh statues, our industry will at a hecNathuram Godse. A row of searching forBarisal his magic remote warming tale ofworkers a shy alien. his2-3attention to Bangladesh ingrow The Song of the to Bangladeshi today such as to create a vivid, heads are passing by on a pace. Even morestudy so if the lawcountry’s and orAfter ancentury early England’s childhoodtexcontrol, which hishuman mummy re- of Shirt,tic a lyrical, historical of the and 19th and intensely portrait der situation We only slow-moving conveyor belt. cently misplaced.

Hethe searchspent relationship with thedeteriorates. textile and garment in- tile andorbiting mining Jupiter, workers.his the industry and pulls and “His face is very common,” that centuries. all candidates do es draw high people and low, whilethe anmost pants with dustryrequest over several Onceshould a dynamic Thosestuffed looking for polisolutions may find Sea- pressures that despite properoffull-length photography first, says Mr Gokuldas of Gokuldas tics, our hero evil villain in a magenta global centre the weaving industry, serving brook’s bookyoung deflating: he is (perhaps unfair- wretched conditions. so that we get references.” and Sons, renowned statue manwaistcoat most abolishes holi-messachieves escapeof velocithe Mughal Empire, as good well as the Dutch, Brit- ly) dismissive the many Bangladeshi Perhaps Seabrook’s important ufacturers of Varanasi. “But we I discover aand small hologram of ty, and arguing finds himself days across theviewpoint land, and — ofish, French, Portuguese Armenians, it lost unions, that factors such as corrup- age is his firm rejection of the Hitler up my It stands are still looking for reference makes children media write eson and earth.

A friendly inhibit their ability to ten hinted at in its place to the climbing cotton mills of leg. northern En- tion fragmentation the Western — that photographs of his lower half. knee empire and throws me a saforeign says ison Madan that Mohan gland as on themy British tightened its effect change. woman Other books, however, such as Bangladesh’s plight inevitable, the conlute.onMr smiles Once we find one, this batch Malviya.

Will thiswith story adopts him. HeStitched mysti- Up tell a rather differ- ditions the country stranglehold theGokuldas continent and fondly. forcibly Tansy Hoskins’ has to put up are part “We are constantly at inwill be complete.” have a happy ending?

Will and fiestale, everyone bytotalkshifted industry back to Britishlooking shores. But the ent pointing the momentum that the of its rite of passage to a world of “plenty Things are looking bright novations, mini-statues as ing about and Rana Plaza. But he contentment”.

Uncle Manny stop hiding tide turned yet again,such as theas20th century firmunions havebeehives gained since There are deliberate and very for the Indian statue indusdecoration, and elephants.

He confuses the remote?

Will theand remote ly placedgarden Bangladesh back at theself-replicatheart of the does very effectively point to the enormous human factors — both historic current — try, perhaps even better than inggarment holograms, whichand willits change locathem by referring to himcontrol over the magenglobal industry demand for challenges: how can a country riddled with that account forprevail Bangladesh’s plight, Seation along with you, so they are never far the golden era of Mayawati. Orta waistcoat?

Andalldoes the crux and self in third person, “limitless cheap garments”. poverty and inhospitable geographic condi- brook argues.

And with its pressures away. In this way, wemoves will keep indusders for Godse are pouring in. empower global women, leading them toan be-industry that earns 70 per without a concerted Seabrook’s narrative backthe and forth, tions challenge effortor for do change, “We are encouraged by the trend,” try onthe the growth between path, and ensure lieveof there is some-exchange, particularly as the wretched song women and across centuries, Britain and cent its foreign of theempower shirt is likelythe to echo good returns investors.” says Mr Gokuldas, “Every year, there crux?

Only time will tell. oneprofits standing nearof those in power are inex- in Bangladesh for Bangladesh, from thefor bustling backstreets of the of many many years to come.

Dhaka to Manchester, which despite its vi- tricably linked to the industry’s selling point: brant continues to have an “emptiness its cheapness and pliability? Seabrook esti- vidya ram The Investigator is a fortnightly round-up of all things drollrevival and newsy.

All views are personal.

Really personal t@shovonc he Health Centre has no roof. The patients are on the floor. My cheeks are freezing in the cold winter air. “What do you do when it rains?” I ask. The officer pulls out an umbrella from behind his chair, and hands it over — “You keep it, I’ll manage.”

I am here to investigate the effect of the 20 per cent cut in the health budget recently announced by the government. The amount of reduction is ₹6,000 crore, the same amount assigned to the bullet train.

“This budget cut sounds like a disaster,” I say, “We spend just 1 per cent of our GDP on healthcare. TheThe Chinese Song of 3 per cent. The Shirt Americans 8 perthe cent.

Is this not a blunder?”

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FUTURE IS BRIGHT RAHUL GANDHI TO FOR STATUE Q2!

STAR IN PK INDUSTRY! I T

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Different kind of busy The local hospital in Ammathi sees all kinds of illnesses and injuries

LIGHTHOUSE

Some achhe din resolutions

sukalyan basu

Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal tell us about their New Year resolutions Cross connections “I gotta hang up, there’s a herd of wild cows trying to break down my door. See you later” the hindu archives

“Hmm, interesting. Best of luck. Anyway, why I called was to ask you, what’s your New Year resolution this year?”

“What new year? Oh. Um, I don’t know, I’ll HOME SPUN have to ask Mummy. But there’s a slight problem with that.”

“What?”

“I’ve forgotten her phone number,” he admitted sheepishly.

The next person I called was Arvind Kejriwal. He has become a good friend over the years, and helps me file my income tax returns. He refuses to take any compensation for t is 20 minutes since I got out of bed to they are dying of envy for us locals but hardly it, though fly him down to Mumbai duced Itodo a minority.

And that we do notinlike. am fascinated Yearcat resolutions. the alarm by bellNew of our wanting to go “Why, everwhat wishdo to you staydo?” longer than a weekend. business class.

But signs of affluence are everywhere. On Everybody makes keeps out. I’m seatedthem, beforeno myone laptop, with a “Oh, “How I forcedo him tospend make tea 40time times a day,we’re “Hithe you your here?”

Amit, such a pleasure to hear from you,” Ambusy streets, cars outnumber people. them,tumbler but they’re stillcoffee greatby fun of filter mybecause side. I listen and keep pouring it down theonsink and telling he said. asked.

“What do you do weekends?”

“I heard the18phone ring and thought, mathi boasts auto-rickshaws.

Most accithey youofawhich chancethere to laugh others. to thegive birds, are atatleast a dozen him, ‘There, this tea is over.

Now make another Weekend?

Mine is half a Sunday.

This week,dee I yamm, it’s take Anna again.

He keepsone calling dents that place here involve of these.

So every Newin Year, call upWhen everyone on my (a varieties ourIgarden. a two-wheeler cup. And look so could be prime and had don’t to forsake mysad, halfyou hour of television me andMy asking, ‘Which are when you on, Ar-hear patients are train puzzled they phone’s speed dial to find out what theiraresonurse’s husband leaving for work little beminister me!’ Hahahahaha!” trot one backday.

— Look on aatSunday evening — to the vind,that which traindoctoring, are you on?

I’m on a fast!’ besides I ‘write stories’.

Fellow lutions (They never ask about mine, be- be- “Erm, foreare.

7am) drones outside and my husband interesting.

Modiji, Igirl gotta up,injuwards: an eight-year-old withhang serious WTF man, WTF, me.”my profession. Rewriters feelhe’s the trolling same about causegins everyone just for loves talking to get restive his second cupabout of coffee,there’s I riesathat herdhappened of wild cows trying to break at home.

It might even be a “Er,cently are you it’s of him?”

I asked. thesure friend a friend who“Anyway, was holidaythemselves.)

This I started withhalf-hour our ven- is reswitch off theyear, laptop.

The next downpolice my door.

See you later.” case... the reason called was, column her ing inI Coorg withI’m herwriting familya brought erable primefor minister, Narendra Modi. doing noth- “Bye,To served sitting by the window, Amitbhai.

Do come home theseenjoy make a living doing whatone youofreally on the New Year resolutions of mythat friends. daughter to me with an abscess needed to “Modiji,” said, in eight, that deep that evenings, ing. By Ihalf-past I’m inbaritone the hospital. achha dine karenge.” is a blessing to be preserved at What’s yours?” be drained. She asked repeatedly womenAll find irresistible, Year. I’m sweetness and“Happy light? New No. Today, for in- I hung up, went chased any cost.

Once outside, a week we go tothe cows “You’ll have to file RTI application find and if itan was possible to doto it here calling to askinabout your New Year stance, the emergency wardresolution. there is a man awaythe

by Sunday throwing Amul to cheeseballs market buy vege- at them, out. Haha, just kidding.

My resolution thiswell, later when the girl was Is saalwho kya fell planwhile hai (what’s thepepper plan this year)?” plucking and broke his and tables, then came back indoors. although half of what we year came is to look inwards, not“We’re out- so to thank me.

Visitors always say wards.

“Amitbhai,” he said, “this yearmalaria, it’s proving to can back; a suspected cerebral which Who consume should I call next?from Whoour elseown comes Thethat nation, havehere,” real- she lucky you I are be a bit problem up with resolukillof in aquick time;coming an attempted suicide (using but Rahul Gandhi. garden and from my doctor they are dying of envy ised,gushed. doesn’t give damn about to “We awere planning for us locals but me, despite tions.pesticide) See, last year resolution was whose to be- wife “Hey and amy woebegone tribal Rahul, this is I Evfriends, nurses andAmit,” family. allour myholiday efforts and to concut short go back Nohardly more media ever wish to vincetothem cometried PM. Been there, that, got kurta. said, eryone hacking offdone his leg with anthe axe. in thatknows deep everyone baritone he else in that for I speak for the City Mumbai treatment.” interviews for me. stay longer than common Now, after that happens, else must is there?

A surgeon in a ruralwhat hospital treat evlovesour so much.

(So much, fact, community andin exchangman.

They’d rather lispeople always think that medical Media interviews are a weekend Maybe tryillness a medium-rare steak, you aneryI could type of that comes in: as broken that ing someproduce times he me inpracis calls common ten to thatinbloody chaiwallah.

So help rural areas will be non-exlike poverty, anyway, keep kles, urging me to ulcers, do, butscorpion beyond that get-bites, diabetic and it’s snake the middle of the tice. When we night drive, and we can anyway, I am moving from the istent or sub-standard. they’re a state ting hard to think of something.” hernias, tumours, lungs with tuberculosis, begs,sometimes “Say something, give aAmit. lift toAnya wompolitical to thedie spiritual, in an ef- got Habits hard and we’ve of mind “What aboutguts fulfilling some of your prombleeding and gangrenous limbs, suicide thing. talk. Sigh.”) anJust or children waiting for a bus fort to cleanse myself.” comfortably hooked to silence ises to the people India?quarrels Like, allending that achhe attempts andoffamily in men- “Hialong Amit,the bro,way, what’s up?” helong a custom “That’s wonderful!”

I said.

“I’m and slowness.

I like living in this din aayenge tal andstuff.” physical damage. I love the unpredictsaid. abandoned “You called at greaturban time, areas for under- place with in amost so happy for you. Sodevelopment, how are you eleits haphazard “Sigh.

Amitbhai, toh poker khelte hocoming (you at ability and theaap challenges that keep I’m practising for an interview. standable reasons. starting?” phants on the roads and the long journeys to play us. poker), youover, know whathome a bluff is. after See, half The day I come and, Ask meFresh something, anything.

Go ahead.” sardines from across the hills border- “Well, first up, I will examine thedays negative some urban paradise for all a few of ‘comwhenan I said achhe din aayenge, I didn’t Ispecify hour of watching television, am in the “Okay.

What day week is it?”if you are willing Kerala areof onthe sale in town; emotions Greed, bitterfort’. I inside want tome. be able to gojealousy, to the shop nearest for whom. can’t have achhethe din,quiet “Well, kitchenEverybody making tea, anticipating it’s, ah,init’s the daydeal, to empower ing um, to indulge a shady you can have ness,home a sense ofbuy entitlement superiority, and two eggs and for tonight’s dinner that’shours just not possible. have lived up to my women.

I have before Ibedtime.

That day has come.

Weormust empowvenison, partridge, rabbit wildfowl on your all ofand those. hai (they worksoon owe Sab ₹8 tomile the hue shopkeeper toall be paid promiseAmmathi in the sense achhe din is a that littlethese townare in south Kodagu er thedining women.

And also so that they and table.

All the thatyouth, enviable brawn handenough in glove).

They corrupting myanperwhen myare husband needs urgent for me.

I became PM, I have travelled acrossathe (Coorg), with two-and-a-half streets, post ofget the escapethat velocity Jupiter.” swagger youofsee in our Kodava men is sonality, you know I am againstbrings cor- his box and of matches, or how the shopkeeper world, and I’m having an incredible fice, a hospital, a convent and a amount government “Rahul WTF I said. “Did I notproperties tell you of thanks toman,” the muscle-building ruption. by one, I willache. take a stand childSo to one me with stomach of funschool, trolling people.outpost, Like, I trolled nation vena police bank,the vegetable specifically last no year: No.about More.it.Interviews. I againstWhen wild meat, doubt them Iand them.” voteeliminate in the next elections, I want to by making a dropout education dor, three liquor the shops, one of minister. which is also even used FFS, I would havechild- “Fantastic.

Our my townbaritone, has progressed from my so happy to tile-roofed hear that.” panchayat enter theI’m two-roomed, Hahaha. like my bahu, I told the You’re newsagent, a bakery andSmriti, othersLOL. that sell squeaked I’d known you’dand ignore me.” Years ago “Inoffice hoodifdays of oil lamps lanterns. fact, Iand wantstand to throw a party in line nextto tocelebrate friends, couI let the RSS and those Hindutva everything from other lipstick to cattlenutjobs feed. Many “No, no, you misunderstand,” he said.the “This came the outsiders who climbed hills of this new of gardener, mine. I’m plumber going to call sins,awakening patients, the and the makehouses whatever noises they wanted, whichwhile huddle alongside the shops, is notMalanad a media to interview I’m preparing for. NoThese sell sardines and bananas. it thered-eyed Aam Aadmi invited!

It’s tolocalParty. drunkYou’re and cast my ballot.

I hope people actually think could governlarger bungalows hide become inside coffee estates moreMaplahs media interviews inter- carsoon beganfor to me. tradeMedia in oranges, day evening, please come, how I will never havedo to face theyou joltknow of living in any mentthat policy.

Youin see worried the lefties stretch allhow directions beyond the town. viewsdamom are like and poverty, anyway, state ofbuilt pepper.

Theythey’re madeamoney, the girls love your baritone.” place that is bigger.

Smaller is all right. Very are becoming, I’ve seen of of Pra-doing Coorg offers easy,CCTV lazyfootage holidays mind.

No, what I’mmodest preparing is anthat en-were “I’llmuch homes (at first littlefor houses try and all drop right.in,” I said, and made a resokash nothing Karat praying at sighting a temple,elephants, finally made a trance besides enjoying exameither interview. planning do adown always pink I’m or green) andtoput lution to formonthly his party.

Butauthors then I didn’t.

(Ingo this series, chronicle the cibeliever of air him, But I haveorthe mostleft of the out silken of haha. my childhood, what’s correspondence course on how to cor- ties they call home.) roots. These diploma hard-brained Malayalis have t@amitvarma fun trolling my chai-boy at the office.” it, feasting on Kodava food like pandi curry run anered familymost business.” of the trade and help sustain the (pork curry), akki otti (rice roti), kadambutoo economy. With the recent flood of migrants kavery nambisan is a surgeon and the author of (rice dumplings) and crab. Visitors always say from the north, we Kodavas have been re- A Town Like Ours

A town like mine

Hooked to the silence, slowness and familiarity of Ammathi, this town in Coorg suits me fine

kavery nambisan

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Clear forecasts Corporate honcho and politician Rahul Bajaj is willing to give the new government time to find its feet before it gets down to business

Catch 22 In post-war Jaffna, even those who have relinquished their “past” live in its shadow ap/eranga jayawardena

Lion or tiger

Through the struggles of two women, and a son, the journalist-author puts together a vivid account of the country that famously won a war but lost peace

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The Seasons of Trouble Rohini Mohan ₹499 Non-fiction HarperCollins

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ri Lanka lives in its women. Whether mal lives. There is no telling how you will be tween the two stories to tell the whole, buildthey are sewing buttons on shirts in betrayed or who will betray you. Trapped in ing both towards a fast-paced denouement. garment export factories, trudging up this vortex, there is only one option left to Sar- But the book did not work for me in the way hill slopes with heavy sacks on their va. The force of his mother backing him, it is intended by the author. Once she had me backs to hold the two leaves-and-bud their fin- that option that Sarva will finally exercise. hooked to the Indira-Sarva story, I ditched the gers expertly pluck from the tea bushes in Mugil is an LTTE combatant who decides to carefully wrought but formulaic method, Nuwara Eliya, or cleaning the homes of oil- burn her uniform one day in October 2008, skipping alternate chapters to read that in its rich Arab families across West Asia and send- and go back to bringing up her sons. She had entirety first, and then separately the Mugil ing back their earnings as remittances, wom- become disillusioned with the Tigers. They one, joining the dots between the two as I en have been the economic pillars of Sri Lanka. were conscripting children who could barely went along.

They have also held together the broken spine hold their rifles, and had no commitment. She Graphic in its descriptions of people, places of the island’s nationhood, joined as they are could see where the war was heading. On the and their situations, including about what — despite their ethnic separation — in the way day she quit, she had seen five happens in the basement of the that the civil war left its imprint on them as teenaged girl combatants raped TID building in Colombo and to mothers, daughters and wives. and killed by soldiers. But life on women combatants of the LTTE So it had to be that two of the three protago- the other side of the lines in the when they come face to face with Women have held nists in Rohini Mohan’s The Seasons of Trouble, last few months of the war is terSri Lankan soldiers, Mohan’s together the broken a powerfully narrated tale of post-war Sri Lan- rifying, more than she imagwriting is unflinchingly precise spine of the two parts ka (but one that actually begins in mid-2008, ined. Joined by her husband and and non-sentimental in its depicof the island when it became apparent that the LTTE's de- brother, both LTTE fighters too, tion of the two tragedies, which feat was nigh), are women. Both are Tamil. one injured and the other sepaare really one. In each of the deThrough the struggles of these two women, rated from his unit, Mugil’s famtails, and the sum of them, the and the third protagonist, the son of one of ily flees the bombing of the stories are representative of the the women, Mohan, a journalist, puts togeth- Vanni by the Sri Lankan forces, moving from individual and combined experiences of every er a vivid account of the country that famous- their hometown Puthukudiyirrupu to any- Tamil who has lived through three decades of ly won the war but lost peace. where they could be safe, and eventually to the Sri Lanka’s brutal war. But as this is essentially Indira is the mother, born in Jaffna, married ‘no-fire zone’ beyond the Nandikadal lagoon a book of reportage, I would have also liked a to a plantation Tamil from the high country in in Mullaithivu, their dream of Eelam and their little more explanation about Mohan’s choice central Sri Lanka, whose son Sarvanathan or faith in the LTTE unravelling with every pain- of protagonists, other than the line offered at Sarva, is picked up by the Terrorists Investiga- ful step. As they struggle to cope, her husband the beginning that their articulation was the tion Department in 2008, a year before the and brother decide to take up the Sri Lankan most powerful among the several people she war ends, and detained under the draconian military’s offer to combatants: turn yourself interviewed.

Prevention of Terrorism Act. Driven by the fear in, we will treat you well. It ends a long inner There are no Sinhalese in this book except of never seeing her child alive again, Indira struggle for her husband. Her angry brother for soldiers, cops and government officials, throws herself into the task of saving him chooses to see his surrender as an act of de- and in telling us two powerful stories from from a system in which everything is black fiant heroism in abject defeat. Mugil buries one side of the ethnic divide, Mohan perhaps and white, Sinhala or Tamil, Lion or Tiger, with her affiliation to look after her children. ends up perpetuating the same lion-tiger parus or against us. She had once before moved Their separation as they get sent to different adigm to which her protagonists fall victim. heaven and earth to pull him back from the detention camps, their struggle to be re- Sarva’s brief interaction with a Sinhalese NGO brink of a different situation. Ten years later, leased, the coming together as a free family, activist is the only time the reader gets a hint she has to do it again. only to discover that their new situation re- of a world beyond this divide. Then again, as As the Sri Lankan military powers on to- mains as fragile, and in some ways, more so, the Sri Lankan State stubbornly refuses to see ward a victory over the LTTE, the battlefields leads them to the same conclusion as Indira beyond its triumphalism, these are perhaps are in the north, but the entire country has and Sarva: the state will not allow Tamils, espe- the only stories to tell. turned into a Tiger-hunting ground. Anyone cially those with a “past”, to lead normal lives nirupama subramanian is Senior Associate Editor, with the faintest whiff of LTTE in their past is in post-war Sri Lanka. vulnerable, even if they have moved on to setMohan uses the writing device now popular The Hindu, and author of Sri Lanka: Voices from a War Lanka correspondent (1996-2002).

She was a Sribloomberg/prashanth tle down, marry, raise and lead norwith the long-form be- Zone.policymaking Facing facts Bajajchildren Group chairman Rahul Bajaj blames Rajya Sabhajournalists, logjam for thealternating slow pace of pro-business vishwanathan

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Everything but pizza

How has the mood changed on ground for corporate India after the BJP government took over?

If you ask any industrialist or businessman, the answer is that the mood has changed for the better. The previous government was unable to do much, for various reasons. There were scams and there was no decision-making at least for the three years preceding May 2014.

Not much was achieved compared to what other countries in the world were doing. Now, we have Narendra Modi as our Prime Minister.

We all know how energetic and decisive he is; we have been impressed with his election campaigns. He gave people a lot of hopes and aspirations. The mood has changed not only among businessmen in India but also amongst foreign businessmen, and many foreign CEOs have met him in the last few months. He has made successful foreign trips and many leaders like the Chinese President and others have come to see him. All this is positive and, to that extent, the industry is positive too.

vadekar, has cleared a number of projects in smaller this year. The industry as a whole will the last six months. This is very comforting. grow in single digit, because two-wheelers are But the kind of investments needed from not exported much except by Bajaj Auto. domestic and foreign companies are not happening, and banks are not lending due to The Insurance Bill okays 49 per cent foreign NPAs [non-performing assets] and because direct investment in the sector. How does the some business groups have too much debt. Bajaj group plan to take advantage of it?

Banks don’t want further wilful defaulters.

There is no question of taking any advantage Land acquisition and labour laws are still a of that Bill. What one has to understand is the problem. I can’t blame this government as Ra- justification for the Bill. I am supportive of the jya Sabha won’t clear those Bills. Just as it did limit going up from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. not clear the Insurance Bill. I am neither a poli- For 10 years, it was stuck at 26 per cent. The sectician nor a BJP member or from the Opposi- tor was opened to private players in 2000. In tion. However, to be fair to the government, I both our companies, Bajaj Allianz Life and Bawould ask the critics what they want from jaj Allianz General Insurance, Bajaj Finserv has Get there them. Everything is stuck in the 74 per cent equity. People say Lufthansa, Air France, need KLM funds and Airand Rajya Sabha and we cannot their companies India, among others, offer one-stop blame the government. If the Rapenetration rates need to imflightsprove. to Rome from andprivate jya Sabha doesn’t function, it is There are Delhi 20-odd I think Modi would Mumbai. Hourly trains ply to Naples rather unfortunate. sector players each in the life and not want to spend too fromgeneral Rome’s insurance Termini station. sectors, with a much political capital Is the decline in the Index of few present in both. The top few so soon in his tenureStay Industrial Production (IIP) a companies don’t need additional Comfortable and clean, Hotel Il cause for worry? capital. We don’t need capital for Convento (hotelilconvento.it) set olI agree with the forecast of the the next couple of years.isThe withinder Quartieri Spagnoli.

Napolart government that GDP growth and larger insurance compa(napolart.com) offersprofits. airy, But rate will be 5.5 per cent this fiscal and 6 per nies areB&B doing well and making contemporary rooms in the cent in the next. We cannot expect magic. I newer and smaller companies arehistoric making centre, it’s hard to beat partner would go with the government figure. It losses and needwhile money.

The Indian Relais’ (partenoperelais.it/ shows improvement, and I think IIP and the may notPartenope be able to put in that money. en) gorgeous seafront manufacturing index would improve correThe ordinance has just beenlocation. approved by spondingly. I don’t see them going down. I see the Union Cabinet. Lok Sabha and even the RaEat them going up, except to the extent that while jya Sabha will pass it in the Budget Session as For seafood, head to Osteria il the Congress Party supports the Insurance Gobbetto on Vico Sergente Bill. The bill enables the foreign company to do’ Marenaro increaseMaggiore, its equity or to A 49Figlia per cent.

It is for Allion Via whether Foria, which is also to where and betassled fez. Living up to the city’s repu- anz to decide it wants raise its your fill of pizza to at do so. tation of friendliness, he takes us on a tour of stake or you not.can Theyget have a call option Lombardi Else, down to his spotless kitchen, overlooked by a photo- We will have to see1892. the final Actsettle and talk to Allihearty Neapolitan mealare at excellent.

Cibi graph of Papa Pasquale. “We leave it to you,” anz. Oura relations with them Cotti akasee Nonna Anna, in the we say, when he asks for our orders, and soon Once both sides the fine print of the ordiTorretta market, Osteria da our table groans under the weight of antipas- nance, we will decide howortoat proceed. ti. “We can’t eat this much,” we cry, and Vittorio. Save space for desserts at promptly demolish melanzane alla pullastiel- The government has been talking of scaling Antica Pasticceria Giovanni lo (breaded aubergines with a heart of provola up publicScaturchio investments to spurSan growth.

Do you in Piazza Domenico cheese) and scagniuzielli (fried polenta wedg- think thisMaggiore will increase deficit? or atthe Barfiscal Moccia on Via es). Just as quickly the paccheri fritti (paccheri I am notSan worried about increase in fiscal defiPasquale a Chiaia. pasta filled with ricotta) disappears. We tarry cit within limits. The government has said it Tip 4.1 per cent fiscal deficit, though over peperoncini verdi fritti al pomodoro will maintain Steer clear pizzerias that don’t (green peppers with tomatoes) and pizzelle di this is difficult.

I willofcompliment Arun Jaitley use a wood-fired oven. it. Capital exsciurilli (fried pumpkin flowers). Fortunately, if he succeeds in maintaining our primi plati are petite servings — a beauti- penditure, by definition, should not be tofully balanced linguine cozze e pecorino (lin- wards That non-merit evening, we broach the of like pizsubsidies andsubject projects guine, mussels and pecorino cheese), and NREGA; za. In a it place where the thing was invented, should be spent on capital account scialatielli zucca e vongole (scialatielli pasta whether the options overwhelming. crossed out forare roads or where theWe private sector with pumpkin and clams), its sea-saltiness is TripAdvisor favourites — Da Michele, featured not coming in for whatever reasons.

The tempered by delicate sweetness. I’d urge you government in Eat, Pray, Love; Il Pizzaiolo Presidente, visneeds to spenddel money for creatto skip the mille-feuille (custard pastry slice) ing itedassets.

by BillLet Clinton, Di Matteo and increase Sorbillo, it not spend on salary here, and wander through San Gregorio Arme- or hour-long queues and(below eventually settle on subsidies.

Under— BPL poverty line) no, US brimming withand artisans and their figuLombardionly 1892.genuinely We sit outside, bethe will do well grow by 3 per cent, Ja- schemes, poorsandwiched people should rine-filled shops, toward Piazza San be tween a giggly tween birthday party and a pan and Europe will grow only by 1.2 per cent helped.

Domenico.

There, the bafamily watching Napoli FC lose to each in 2015.

For permit those who are dependent The one criticism I have of this government bà (cakeon saturated Prague.

Wemore opt for straightlargely exports in to rum) theseand countries, there is why it doesn’t go for andthe faster disinsfogliatella (shell-shaped ricotPizza IGigi, topped with could be some suffering. They have to make up vestment andforward raise money. am not in favour ta-filled fromother Anticamarkets Pascherry buffalo by eitherpastry) exploring or selling of higher tax rates.tomatoes Revenue and expenditure In a place where the ticceriainGiovanni Scaturchio mozzarella, elaborate ‘Ripiemore India. This, however,tois easier said should be reduced.

They and should raise money pizza was invented, lull you into gentle post-prannodisinvestment.

Lombardi’ stuffed buffathan done. through more Makewith a target ₹1 the options are dial slumber. lodisinvestment. ricotta. The experimental Bajaj Auto exports a lot. We export about 60 lakh crore for The stock Pizza maroverwhelming ouroflast we head to the perOn cent ourday, three-wheelers and 35 per cent ket is good. Figone, with basil pesto and a coast, the splendour Piaz-we are doing of buffalo andModi parof ourpast motorcycles.

Till of today I support centre privatisation.

Butricotta I think za delasPlebiscito, towardbyChiaia, ma ham, and the simwell, we don’t export and large to Japan, would not want to spend toobeautifully much political a residential part theto city, hugpleinPizza Marinara with olive oil Europe and the USofbut Asia, Africa and Latin capital so soon his tenure.

Moreover, all the ging the curve of the bay. Themarkets. place we sought, unions and tomato.

The fresh, America, basically emerging will be uptoppings in arms are andstartlingly the Opposition the famed Cibi Cotti aka Nonna Anna in a tra- will but the — light,Much elastic convinces startbase shouting. as — I would like us at ditional covered market, was closed, but we least there’s no place in non-strategic the world to eat pizzasector apart What is your outlook for the auto sector? some of the public findelder the charming Osteriamuch da Vittorio instead. from Naples.to be privatised, the government My son Rajiv knows more about it. enterprises Our seafood cravings mollified, we choose an- may Wenot leave quite butnow. cheer ourselves But for two-wheelers, no matter what the be able to bereft, do it right Maybe after tipasti dirate terra (‘earth’ grilled zucwith ‘foody’ fromwill Attanasio, growth will be in starters) FY 15, the— next year is aupfew years, thissouvenirs government do that.conFor chini, to mozzarella andofripe tomatoes — have and disinvestment, veniently close however, to the station.

Hugging our likely be better. First all, this year, we they should prepare homely mains, a weighty pasta (pasta an pastiera (ricotta and cakebuild scented with orange had a bad monsoon.

Next yeare Ipatate am hoping environment a consensus for it. in a stock sauce that withitpotatoes and smoky blossom) and savarin with custard filland presuming will be better.

Many promo- Labour unions have to (babà be handled.

If this govvola) and are robust gnocchi in a fresh arto- ernment ing), we also headgives backthis to excuse Rome,toleaving, torcycles soldpotato in rural and semi-urban go slowlike on mato sauce. Dessert may be chanced uponthe at disinvestment, Goethe, our hearts eas.

Secondly, unlike three years ago, when thenbehind.

I will be disappointed.

Bar Moccia, orindustry at Red Wine Enoteca (try theper retwo-wheeler was growing by 20 pratapis the author of Seahorse janice pariat freshing Sorrento lemons). cent per granita annum,ofthe growth will be much rashmi

sailorr/shutterstock.com

A taste of fruits de mer (and some pizza) in Naples, where life spills onto the streets, children play tag, grandfathers watch the world go by and youngsters zip around on noisy scooters

What do you think of the announcements made by this government? Has there been any tangible impact?

All the announcements are positive and good, whether it is Make in India or Swachh Bharat.

Yes, one could question what is happening on the ground. But if a power station has to come up, it takes 4-5 years; if roads have to be built,

W

Made for India Bajaj Auto Ltd’s plant in Chakan. Dependent mainly on the Eye candy domestic market, Rum-soaked motorcycle babà and (top) manufacturers are a restaurant by staring at single-digit the bay growth in the absence shutterstock of a good monsoon this year bloomberg/adeel halim

hen we draw into Napoli Centrale, my thoughts are on pizza and Goethe. The first for obvious reasons. And the latter because I’ve spent the hour-long ride from Rome reading Italian Journey, a memoir of his travels from 1786–88. “I can forgive anyone for going off his head about Naples,” he wrote. I’m keen to see why. “The food,” says my Italian companion; I smile politely. Happy as I am to consume an occasional pizza, the prospect of eating nothing else for three days fills me with little joy.

“What else is there?”

“Pastries.”

I cheer up a little.

That evening, to my surprise, we avoid the million pizzerias dotting the city. I’m ushered down Via Foria, a bustling arterial road, and under the shiny white awning of A Figlia do’ Marenaro. “Seafood,” I exclaim. Our antipasti of octopus with lemon is dazzlingly fresh, while the zuppa di pesce (which sadly translateshave intoto—see drab — fishrate soup) is amany cauldron you at what — how kilodrawn straight ocean.

“One each,” metres a day —from the the roads are being built. we’d ordered, but our honest-as-daylight waitWhether the government is building them or that a single dish would be enough. aer warned public-private partnership.

Public-private It was, and more.

A mollusced of there muspartnership is the way to go,medley though sels,been clams, lobster, tuna, prawns, swimming have problems. delicately — which we TheinGDP growthtangy rate istomato going to be 5.5 per onto[Finance biscuit-brittle cent forscooped FY 2015 and Minister]bread Arun laced with oil.inBellies Jaitley says it will be 6olive per cent FY 16. Ifaching, somepush one wants we it tocould be 7-8barely per cent now,ourselves then he awaythe from the Minister table. and make should become Prime “Aretime. you sure that’s enough?” it happen! It takes asks ourhas waiter, This government beengrinning. lucky with reday, an eager ducing crude oilThe andnext commodity prices hunt and, for more fruits price de merinflation, takes us therefore, even consumer lively which used totobeQuartieri high. GDPSpagnoli, is rising aand 7-8 neighbourhood ofits labyrinthine per cent growth will happen at own pace. lined time with tostreet Infrastructurealleys will take build.stalls My selling Maradona T-shirts. friends Jayanthi Natarajan and JairamHere, Ralife spills onto the streets chilmesh, who were my colleagues in the—Rajya dren play tag, grandfathers Sabha when I was a member, to justifywatch clean the world go by,a complete youngsters environment, gave growth go zip by. around on Hiddenand in Indian industry wasnoisy angryscooters. and disturbed, Vico Sergente Maggiore, Osteriaa big il Gobindustrial development had received setbetto manned by the charming Pasquale, back in is the last three years of the UPA-II rule. resplendent in his parrot-green Turkish şalvar The new [environment] minister, Prakash Ja-

Travel Log

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dipankar

Acts of departure Moving homes has been a journey of accumulation and deletion, of careful image-curation

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week ago, I sat on the floor of the could put in jars, an open bookcase (a terrible house I had just moved into and idea in dusty Delhi), giant floor cushions, ruspopped the last bubble on a small tic mats — and absolutely nothing for the piece of bubble wrap. I had just un- kitchen. (Understandably, I have no memory wrapped three tin mugs I had bought a dec- of what I ate over that year.) But I remember, in Crunching numbers ade ago from a junk shop near the the first week of the move, sitting by myself on Ram Sewak Sharma juggles his ship-breaking yard in Alang, Gujarat. They the sprawling terrace, popping open a beer bureacratic duties writing were the last items in the last box, which mostbottle andwith a new book, and thinking: “This is software code to improve the ly held “stuff I won’t need” — things with no life”.

Because that is what I imagined a good efficiency of government apparent utility that I have dragged with mylife to bemoorthy at the time. departments rv self wherever I have moved. Over the years, Next move: Out went the floor cushions, the these cups have patiently held nothing but mats — the low bohemian seating wasn’t for out-of-commission pens, bobby pins, half- me, I decided, because I needed my knees to be used candles and dust. And yet, here I was, at an ideal distance from my bum. In came a back in an empty room with three tin cups proper worktable, a Prussian blue futon that I from a 1960s’ Russian ship called Volgograd. thought looked arty but was extremely unThey could be radioactive for all I know. pleasant on the back, framed art prints, and My moves between houses have been pri- storage cabinets for notebooks. Needless to marily acts of departure. They’ve involved say, the futon was the first to go. more than just latched winMoving has been a journey of dows, emptied cupboards and accumulation and deletion, of doors shut one last time. They’ve careful image-curation, and of n 1985, there was no Microsoft or Apple inbeenful transformations, movetool for public accountability.

It“Two tracks, in numerous purges for of lifestyles. serving of court summons, filing public suitcases.

India. There was DCM-Tandy. Indigenousments propelled me of nearly realthat time,have the entry and exit 50,000 I’ve cut out a chronic host of grievances and tracking transfers of governIs this all there was?” computer manufacturer DCM and Tandyfrom one to government the next, organisations; ment teachers, staff in chapter 150 central couchsurfers, a petulant houseto the attendance system he Computers, famous for its TRS-80, werecleaning tying this up live attendance first introduced in theup nextmesses, few months, mate, and an easilyand, excitable in Jharkhand of course, spearheading the personal computer revolu-loose ends, will pruning the useless. tracker be deployed in every central gov- the Aadhar home décor shopper, moving fisystem. tion alongside companies such as Apple.

Moving has given opporernment officeme in the country. nally on to a person Authority who underThe Unique Identification of InThere was also Ram Sewak Sharma, then atunity to take stock of my life — sometimes stands the need for a of linen closet.

I’ve isalso dia (UIDAI) project, which Aadhar a part, 30-year-old bureaucrat stationed as the dis-requited, when I have split from a partner moved For theaslove of math up houses enough toDelhi. realise was and whatset brought Sharma back to “Usutrict magistrate of Bihar’s crime-hotbed Be-or left college; sometimes not, as when “I have always been passionate about I’ve maths,thatally I will never achievea what consider you shiftquite and occupy chair Ithat someone gusarai. He was also a proud, and probablybeenespecially handed apure notice by the landlord. it my“optimum mathematics.

In fact,But I left good taste”.there That will be one else had.

In UIDAI, wasalways no chair.

In fact, one of the first few owners of a DCM-Tandy. has studies always forced me to stand akimbo and ask in Allahabad to join IIT-Kanpur to dostepthere out of What we which consider “greatNilewasreach. only one room, Nandan “I have always combined my interest inmyself: “So here we are. What now?” research in mathematics,” says Sharma. taste” is more aboutI who want‘where to be than kani occupied. askedwehim, do I sit, computing with my work,” says Sharma, re- An old friend,up when she was leaving Growing in Hamirpura, Uttar India Pradesh,whoboss?’ we are. will‘Why always be: we “In sit mytogether.’ next He Itsaid: don’t calling his early days in the civil service, whenfor Sharma, good, called me of in atears to say, the son farmer, cy- “I’m all house, I will…” I build box of desires — aabarEvenathough we were part of we meet at his plush office in Electronics Nike-packed I’mtositting inevery this empty house. Ev- sati, a large oak dining cledand 10km school day. Afan urbanfor forest the table, government, theatfirst tan, one among the maze of central govern-erything fit into two Two suitcases. I hand, the background ter graduating insuitcases.

1976, he cleared chatter of few months wea loud werefamily, a start-up ment offices in south-central Delhi. Now at thespent years in this country.

Is this all there a personal balcony, thefive UPSC exam in his first attempt onetruest great sense.” electrician, an in the fag end of his career, as the Secretary of the De-was?” wasn’t, of course, to It join the civil service. but packing up evamaltas that bloomsFrom audaciously sumUIDAI, every Sharma went Sharma helped partment of Electronics and Informationerything you’veofever is poa systemic innovate Secretary DeitYowned is the 31st mer — and somewhere is the promise back in to there Jharkhand and created Technology (DeitY), he is the man in charge ofshock, a break in inertia.

It bestows the audacsition he has taken up in his buof perfection. the attendance system. The sucattendance.gov.in, the ‘digital revolution’ that the new govern-ity to discard, the bravado to make tough decireaucratic career.

During his stint There’s one moment every morning in out cess of the system is borne sarkari workforce's ment wants to infuse into the State apparatus.sions, the chancehetoalways leave held behind. in Jharkhand, the Moving reality cutsby through of sleep. the factthe thathaze the government worstwhich nightmare Back in Begusarai, Sharma had — in thehelped me decide if I should invest in match- Depending on the additional responsibility for inenormity of the circumagreed to introduce a five-day company of his IIT-Kanpur batchmate, theing formation ceramic bowl and plate He sets,even if I had out- stance, I’ve foundworking technology. that that moment can beeffiweek as day-to-day then district superintendent of police —grown shoe racks, if pursue I should give overwhelming. The tookcane a mid-career break to day might involve a job inciency peaked. solved nearly two dozen cases involving sto-someone another chance (IScience did), orinnever go terview, a daunting time an MSc in Computer an unpleas- at With ata work, new government len firearms, within a month. Even the State’sbackCalifornia to another didn’t). in(I2000.

“I traded my Ambassadorant conversation, justsummoned plain discontent, but the Centre, heorwas to head DeitY Inspector General of Police was intrigued Though common sense, financial intellifor a cycle, took a backpack and attended class-the quickening of the pulse and the associated and has since successfully replicated the atenough to travel to the remote district to seegence, spam and25my mother all en-thanbreathlessness es. WhatsApp Everyone else was years younger have often convinceddomains, me to a tendance project.

The dot-Bharat for himself “how the hell we did it”. treatme, mebut to buy a house, theexperience,” one-sided, heshutsystem it was a greatI prefer learning my eyestoand go back to sleep. The firstand few the track paramilitary forces, “I basically used an Operating System calleduncommitted I have with rentsays. Beforerelationships his deputation to the Centre fromweeks new house have a similar effect on sysuseinofa Aadhar in the public distribution CP/M to input all data about lost firearmsed accommodation.

What I treasure most is inme, tem Jharkhand, he was transferred nine times but every passing is a calmer beare among themorning host of projects spearheadacross the state as well as recovered firearms,”howthe a memory house is a recall to the per- ginning. span of of sixayears. just time begun, ed byEven him.though While hethis hashalt onlyhas a little left in says Sharma. “After that, it was just a matter ofson I was at the time — to the objects I thought I know which Sharma part of is this house will move to his tenure, sure he will continue the algorithms matching those numbers, andreflected who I was, and what I thought a good withwork Coding success me on when leave: theeven three enormous dataI analytics after retirement. the results showed up instantaneously. It waslife “Wherever should look like to whoever walkedfor in.being I trees“There I went, I had a reputation that enfold living data roomcollected balcony,now, and but is a lotthe of digital a bigger task to explain how we did it than ac-can good pinpoint aspirations on my life chart at myprogramming,” says Sharma.thatnot willput eventually rootwe meneed to this houseaand to any use… to create big datually solving the thefts.” almost in concurrence with in resiThroughout his career, hechanges has juggled his bu-the person I am within it. ta analytics framework.

The future lies in Another system Sharma helped innovate,dence.

When I moved a south Delhi barsareaucratic duties into to create programs to im- number crunching.” attendance.gov.in, is now the sarkari work-ti inprove my mid-20s, I rushed to buy fairy lights efficiency in every department heI haspadmaparna ghosh is a Delhi-based writer force’s worst nightmare and a potentially use- been in — from programs to automate the sibi arasu

Cracking the code

Meet the bureaucrat who is the face of the ‘digital revolution’ unfolding in the government

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THE HUNGRY READER

Snozzcumber Sandwiches Adapted from a recipe by Roald Dahl

Meals from hell

2 cucumbers 1 tin tuna 1/2 a small onion, chopped 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1/2 tsp lime juice Salt Pepper

Amidst all the creamy mousses, hearty stews and freshly baked bread in literature, are also innumerable platters of the ‘umm, but no thank you’ offerings

1 Peel cucumbers and hollow them out.

Place them vertically in a glass so that the juices can drain away.

2 Meanwhile, drain the tuna in a strainer and mix with all the other ingredients (except cucumber).

3 Then stuff this into the hollowed cucumbers. Cut into three or four pieces, sushi-style and serve.

fan, was not a cheerful meal. They ate tinned beetroot and tinned corned beef, both shipprofitby With ad jelped out from England,Book followed a green support, notebooks ly which had not set and had toAdister be chased over sell well below the market the plate with a spoon.price; (below) Shubham When the Carters first cameco-founder from England Agrawal, of their servants had cooked the best dishes that the company were eaten in Brazil: freshly caught fish served in a saffron sauce, sweet peppers stuffed with raisins and rice, roasted sweetcorn and chunky soups.

But not for long.

‘Only British food will be served at my table,’ Mrs Carter had said.

So the servants had given up. They opened the tins that came from England; they poured boiling water onto whatever pudding powder Mrs Carter had put out for them…”

It is, of course, no coincidence that Maia finds adventure, luscious melons and plump t was August 2010. Sitting in his hostel turer who could make a 120-page notebook for pears local at manufacturers sellbefore undershetheir the same time.that But not sufroom at IIT-Roorkee, Shubham Agrawal ₹18. Then began his hunt for advertisements. fers brand name. Adister bringsand in ads and the innumerable cruelties servings of was wondering that if a newspaper could Along with friend Anubhav Goyal, he spent powdery manufacturer displays a ‘powered by Adister’ custard. be sold ₹2 when its actual was the next month-and-a-half trying to convince ancy for a spot of Klingon Gagh?cost Well, if growths and has a flavour somewhere be- tag alongside the brand name. Agrawal en₹20, whyyou couldn’t notebooks be subsidised. shopkeepers in the vicinity toand advertise the sures or these those notebooks particularly averse snot-texdo, you’re braver than me. For al- tween have the to high paper frog skin, cockroaches rottenin fish.

He knewthough the answer — advertisements.

In new notebooks. tured blancmanges, tails andhe“grey I’m too happy to join fictional and rounded pagelizard corners that conKlingon Gagh and Snozzcumbers are cer- quality newspapers, ads bring in far more revenueI tainly Fabco, a local luggage-maker, was fictional the first meatballs sitting inof a puddle of inertInbrown characters on most food adventures, siders the hallmark brand Adister.

Delhi, high on my list of disgusting to agree followed by not a garment store, a com- gravy”, than what the circulation and cover price genhere are some basic survival draw the line at live worms squirming and foods. for instance, the company has tiedstrategies: up with But they are the only imaginary puter stationery outlet and Caféthe Norma.

“We Aniket, erate on their own.my mouth.

1) Never down to aare meal with a Roald slithering around and sit more tie-ups expected. meals designed to give readers shudders.

Determined to extend thisfuzzy model to notecollected adsallworth ₹22 per mousses, notebook.hearty So, af- Dahl character, unless mind a bite of Gagh — for those who are about Star For Adister comes out you withdon’t a new edition amidst the creamy books, Agrawal talked torevolting manufacturers in stews ter paying ₹18 to the manufacturer, we still Snozzcumber.

Or the fact that Mrs Twit is quite Trek facts — is a famously dish made notebooks every month, featuring fresh ads. and freshly-baked bread in literature, Roorkee and learned theywith charged ₹30 are had also money left for transportation and‘umm, logis- capable of substituting spaghetti with Oxigen, worms. from serpent worms that served a blood Bewakoof.com, HCL Technologies, innumerable platters of the tics.no Wethank brokeyou’ evenstuff. in the first attempt itself.” for a 120-page notebook. a couple of but Or that on the Mobile, Centipede in James and Giant sauce.

Entire crates of these“After creatures are shipMoney Voonik.com, Boxittherestaudays,across it occurred to meFor that there were of The duo placedtothe first order 1,500 don’t note- Peach may serve some strange ped galaxies. although thea lot gagh rant chain and aup smoothies chainfare: in Mumbai This is partly ensure that for readers paper foul, millsfoodies in neighbouring So start booksripping in Saharanpur, to fits Roorjellied gnats and dandyprats eartastes adore the Saharanpur. peculiar sensaamong the advertisers.

“Our ad and revenue the pagesbrought of their them book in of areLike the overall manufacturing be food kee, and them slime,from 30 paise to ₹2.5 per tion that the dying wormscosts causewould in their ranges envy.distributed And partly to makefree sure that fiction wigs cooked in less,” heand recalls. to poor students resemble in the citysorry as reality. So And mice with ricethey’re really nice mouth stomach. ad per notebook and this ad revedoes sometimes Saharanpur, Agrawaloffound a manufacwell as their college-mates.

When roasted prime. says Agrawal.

In case you’re thinking ordering a fresh readers nuein is their our profit,” are often compelled And to join characters thus was on born Adister (But don’t The forgetmonthly to sprinkle themcurrently with just consignment from the Klingon profit the meal from—hell. And this advertisements+register. a pinch of grime.)

Empire, choose carefully. You hovers at around ₹3-4 lakh. “We column is dedicated to Our all the ad revenue With two more college years The fridges of murder victims aremonth not a could, perhaps, opt for Bithool are targeting ₹10 lakh per grossest, saddest foodsranges out there from 302)paise ahead of them, source by ofJanuary,” sustenance.

Somehow these Gagh, which come with scamperhe says. in theAgrawal realm ofand fiction. The direpergood to ₹2.5 ad per It is a sad Goyal fact ofcould not take upconsumed the busi- in doomed seem totolive scrapings ing feet or Torgud Gagh that tend theonads, Adister of is lunches institu- and notebook, this adsouls Thanks literatureness thatfull time.

They manufacmargarine, expired orange juice and beige to wiggle or even Meshta Gagh able to sell a 180-page notebook tional canteens smelling of over-is our revenue profit orphans eat awful tured about boiled 5,000 vegetables. notebooksThree-day-old meats of unknown provenance.

And, ₹55 of that jump during their death for ₹35 when it costs about food till they finally during that balti period.

“Whileforinbreakfast, be- course, the occasional of cocaine. None of throes in your stomach. elsewhere.bag Unsurprisingly, Adischicken stumble upon love college, we used tothe go bread for busihealth. are the highestOr, if you’d prefer something teryour notebooks cause has a pale green it very good for and golden puddings ness competitions.

3) Eat at police anditems hospital only if more terrestrial but equally selling in canteens the books and fuzz andThe the prize milk smells suspimoney helpedciously us sustain which are fondsection of the flavour of cardboard. wormy, you can perhaps sample stationery of online shopping And site sour.the Thebusiness, thin gruel that you was very smallOliver at that time.” your desserts topped with rubbery William Burrough’s hallucinatoshopclues.com.

“We sell through morejello. than Twist and the other fam- like When they ished graduated in May Agrawal 4)retailers If you risk a sci-fi meal, beware.

There ry delicacy from that cult classic at the moment and will later exorphans are 2013, forced to eat 200 and Goyal generated profits and could be the “pinkish-gray Naked Lunch: “In Egypt is a worm that gets into every pand our online presence.” stew” with a “sour singlehad day.already The “nauseous mess” of burnt bootstrapped business the coming “the appearance of vomit” your kidneys and grows to an enormous size. porridge That’s smell” not all.and Adister has developed a mothat athe starving Janefor Eyre must con- metallic year. InThe Julycabbage 2014, Adister ₹25islakh George writes about in 1984. Or Ultimately the kidney is just a thin shell sume. bile app thatOrwell can digitalise the notebooks. soup,raised which the from only that a Mumbai-based high networth could ‘Soylentcan Green’ — that inaround the worm. Intrepid gourmets esteem thing With the app,bestudents create a PDFmost (portathat the Buckets can affordindividual. in Charlie there The company hasFactory. not looked back since. famous food offormat) the future madeAdister out of the flesh of The Worm above all other delica- and ble document filethat fromis their the Chocolate Currently, it sells one lakh notebooks beings. cies. It is said to be unspeakably toothsome.” notebooks that have four pointers on the corIt is, indeed, a sadabout fact of literature that or- human a month. number will go up to three lakh ners Or,ofofeach course, there be live worms Too non-veg and graphic for your tastes? phans page.

“Ourcould partners’ notebooks eat“The awful food till they finally stumble from January,” Agrawal.

He isTake expanding scampering feetwith and this blood sauce.

Then maybe you want to sample a Snozzcum- upon are also compatible app” says Agralove and says golden puddings. for ex- with rapidly,that thanks his two-pronged business (This the last in the monthly series ber instead. This is the 12-foot-long vegetable ample Theis app willarticle go live in January and isthat exfirst,tolumpy meal that Maia eats wal. model.

Adister outsources manufacturtrail through fiction.) sales. Time that the Big Friendly Giant eats all the time in with pected atofood further boost Adister’s theOne, horrible Carters — her new and unlov- follows to notebook makers, getsreaches ads andthe sells the for the business to turn a page again?

Roald Dahl’s wonderful book. And, just so you ing family — when she finally Amabooks name. know what you’re getting into — this cucum- zon inunder Journeyitstobrand the River Sea: “Supper in the shabnam minwalla is a journalist and author of rashmi pratap of Dorabji Street Six Spellmakers The second part involves partnering with The ber-like creation is covered with warty dining room, under the whirr of a creaking

Noteworthy business

Taking a leaf out of the newspaper business, two IIT-ians are selling notebooks at prices subsidised by advertisements

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5 BL 21 BL

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Charge of the bold brigade Despite a string of failures overseas, as Indian cricket watches the old guard make way for a new, more aggressive side, there’s hope yet for 2015

League of gentle women Stationed in Jaipur, (from left) Sunita, Manoj, Nirma, Sita and Nirmala are among the 155 female firefighters recruited by the Rajasthan government last year wfs/abha sharma

Fire in her belly

New direction ‘Captain Cool’ Mahendra Singh Dhoni and ‘volatile’ Virat Kohli during the just-concluded India-Australia series afp/saeed khan

Drawn from small towns and villages, Rajasthan’s firewomen are a force to reckon with as they fight fires and prejudice on the street

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here was action aplenty for Indian cricket in what was clearly a year of reckoning. began on a souris note ousingIthungry flames cerwith tainly defeatsnot in New Zealand easy.

It’s a early test in of the season, followed the midway surrender one’s by physical strength as well in England andas thecourage capitulation in Australia and agility.

But — if the complete with Mahendra Singh onerout is determined, one can overcome anyDhorisk, ni’s retirement from Testbe,” cricket thisKhatik, week. however daunting it may says Sita That also lost officer the AsiainCup and the World a fireIndia department Rajasthan.

While T20 both in wasonce no surprise her final, namesake in Bangladesh, the Ramayana undereither — playing out the(trial all-too-familiar drill of went an agnipareeksha by fire), firefightbeing roaringitchampions at home, yet er Sita the undergoes every day. She is among timid overseas. the 155 female firefighters recruited by the Theinenergy of stationed cricket at in home state Marchand lastvitality year and the was woefully every time the team travcapital Jaipurabsent with five others. elled.

Thethis lackshe of sting in itsabowling Before was with medicalline-up insurexposed, for instance, by the punishing ance company in a “nice and easy” jobblade that of New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum, brought home askipper tidy salary.

However, her who smashed a staggering and in childhood dream had always224 been to 302 distinTests his by team dominated.

Worse wasand in guishthat herself doing something “brave store in England.

A draw was courageous”.

Her marriage at anfollowed early ageby on-a rare win attoLord’s.

Theher promise of redemption ly served deepen longing — her hus— a century

by Ajinkya Rahane and aand matchband was working in home guards civil winning spellhis by assignments Ishant Sharma — though,her. was defence, and fascinated soon quelled by defeats the next Tests.a It was on an impulseinthat Sita, three who has It was a phase of transition forscience Indian crickpostgraduate degree in political and a et.

With the departure Sachin professional Bachelor of stalwarts Educationlike (BEd), deTendulkar, Virender VVS Laxman, Anil cided to enrol for aSehwag, 48-day civil defence dayKumble and Harbhajan the cracks in training course when herSingh, son was just 20 days the were show.

The young old. side While the beginning rest of her to family was shocked brigade was about supported learning to and upset, herjust husband herundercomstand of playing overseas.

It pletely.the “Heintricacies even took leave from office to take was everyone to introspect.

But you careaoftime thefor baby.

It is said that behind every don’t learnman, by clinging toathe past. You to successful there is woman.

Buthave in my accept the try toshe improve case, it is thefollies, opposite,” says. your game and Dhoni routinely propagated It move wouldon, be as a few years more, however, bein theSita dressing fore could room. embark on the kind of career lessonhankered at least for. oneInplayer in thethe team herA heart 2011, when Raseems have learnt well.

Unwilling take jasthantogovernment advertised for to female things they came, he was inservices, a hurry to make recruitsasfor the fire-tending she apaplied statement, even ifAfter it meant to she agimmediately. beingresorting shortlisted,

gression and shocking the cricket fraternity at was in reference to Johnson. But it was certainlarge. In Virat Kohli, Indian cricket discovered ly no way to play a series seen as a tribute to the antithesis of the submissive amateur. “I Phil cleared a six-month Fireman Elementary the 25-year-old succumbed withHughes practice(after we have learnt to handle it on believe giving it back,” saidSita Kohli in a conCourse in with flying colours. recalls the to head injury sustained on the field). oura own.” versation last year.

Described stage variously as question during the interview that deThis wasproving not village cricket. was contest Despite their mettleIton thea job, the brash, a spoilt on- involving cided her fate:brat, Whyvolatile had she(remember opted for ahis risky two of thestill best teams in the world female firefighters had to overcome linfield altercation with Gautam durjob like fire fighting and was sheGambhir not afraid?

“I and thegender legendary Sunil Gavaskar made nofelt segering biases.

“Our chief initially ing an IPL match?), the Itimes simply told them, ifKohli I wassymbolises afraid, would have cret his displeasure at Kohli’s “I quiteofhesitant about sending usoutburst. on assignwe liveapplied? in. There’s rush this to grab space, the thought even I ahave desire toand prove the should have ments. But hepress must conference be credited for giving us means to the end don’t matter. wrong the people who think that women can’t been about cricket rather than in what went on the opportunity to do our duty some of the aggression that Kohli brings to the field the beThe firefighters.” field. field worst fireGenerally, incidents what in thehappens city. Nowon hethe is confiis India’s newfound The Ravindra Ja- stays Incidentally, most mantra. of her female colleagues onour thecapabilities,” field. I am not tooone sure was the dent of says of itthe womdeja-James Anderson spat in En-villages of Ra- en. Their chief, hail from the small towns and wisest thing He might get Ishwar Lal to Jat,do. is indeed proud gland world jasthan.took It hadthe not cricket been easy for them to storm of his new team fired members: up by all “The this and score female offi-a aback, not the a male but bastion.

Yet, Indian not onlyteam were they able to cers are working 100, but affect the very how well. does They ithave boldly management. backed convince their Dhoni parents and, inhis many cases, in- and actively rest the team? trying dealtofwith all theAre fireyou accidents player.

Kohli justified laws, but also privately successfully clear the tough tofor.” suggest that the likes of Sachin they were sent In Viratex-Kohli, Indian the even carried the attiamsact. andHe training.

There was,[Tendulkar], however, yet [Rahul] anotherDravid trial byand fire cricket discovered tude Under, spectators OutDown of more thanas1,000 appliVVS Laxman didn’twomen let off —steam. for these intrepid earnthe antithesis of the witnessed his qualified. run-ins Many with cants, just 155 They were also very tough.” ing the confidence of the men submissive amateur Mitchell lost out Johnson. early on because they Seasoned may and women commentators on the streets. They Of course was a precewere either there underweight or not supported Kohli’s recall have how initially many people dent in Sourav Ganguly. SunHis overweight.

Sita’s colleague his bold statements feared fororthe women’s safety Our chief initially felt brashness bare-chested from ita Devi says, shirt-waving “Having the right from Melbourne, but capand demanded thatformer the male quite hesitant about the balcony at Lord’s after India weight is important.

Many ap- beat England tain viewed it differently.

“I likeaway Kohkeep them sending us onGangulyfirefighters in the NatWest in 2002, is a case in li’s passion. from plicants foundSeries thefinal physical You’vethe gotsite to of have It thepassion. accident. assignments point.

Slammed bybear. old-timers strain too much to It is im-but hailed by should meanOver something to you, any job you time, however, perceptions the younger — players portant to begeneration in top shape to do would take do. I like him,changed I like what I see.” dramatically. off their in neighbourhood what weshirts do. Our job is quite contests, a It should, however, be remembered that In fact, during one of the fires la Ganguly — the incident setthe in motion an in- Kohli is now the risky.

For instance, during a job that brings thatcaptain, completely gutted thewith beevitable The change was perceptible fire thatshift. broke out at a chemical factoryand re- it responsibility and dignity. is for Kohli to longings of a household, the Itpresence of the profound. is would a different altogether cently, all ofIt us have matter been trapped had choose his path andproved give the team direction. female firefighters comforting to the that a mature commentator now, re- With thereGanguly, been a delay of even a few seconds.” nucleus of The a younger, more familythemembers. lady of thedynamic house grets that hailing episode.from a village in interior Si- line-up, Nirma, Indian cricket could a great run hugged one of them and criedhave uncontrollably.

Kohli — with“It scores of 115, 141,169 and 54 karBut District, adds, is absolutely essential to in the next years, it plays to itsthe strengths.

“We did ourfew duty and if then sat with woman in Australia — hasfit, nososuch were It’s remain fighting dailyqualms. exercise“They is a must. to ring in new and transfor atime while, sharing her measures pain. I realised then calling a spoilt brat.intensively I know youto guys We haveme been trained usehate the form the male imageofficers of India whennever playing that our would haveoverenme and I likecarry that. the I don’t mind having a chat water hoses, ladder, and rescue and seas.

A World Cupatriumph in 2015 be a countered such situation,” sayswould a visibly on the field.

Argument on from the field brings unthe good evacuate people to safety buildings to start. proudplace Sunita. best out In of the me.beginning, Someone who respect der fire. mostdoesn’t of us found it lokapally , Deputy Editor, Sports, The Hindu abha sharma © Women’s Feature Service me, I’ve got no reason to respectnozzle, him.” This difficult to hold the pressurised but vijay

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Go figure

Practise what you preach Look who’s talking about weight

D statues at Kolkata’s new ‘Madame Tussauds’ are a dummies guide to local culture The wax oling out health advice comes naturally to doctors and medical practitioners, but the numbers who heed it is directly proportional to the weight of the doctor dispensing the advice, says a new survey. The Royal Society for Public Health, which put its ‘weight’ behind a poll to find out just how many heed the doctors’ pearls of wisdom, found that a whopping 41 per cent would be less likely to take advice about

adopting a healthy diet, if it’s coming from someone who is carrying a few extra kilos. The poll also found that in the UK, dieting — quite the fad here — is hardly leading to any real loss of weight and causing more harm than good. The poll has even stirred a crisis for the country’s National Health Service (NHS), where more than half of their 1.3million strong workforce is either slightly overweight or obese.

and history. But in the case of some, the purport is undeniably political and controversial left red faced by a public outcry and a strip of white tape was quickly used to correct this inaccuracy. Historical bloopers, though, haven’t been the museum’s only gaffe.

On its list of lapses are several errors of omission and commission. Mother Teresa might have given Kolkata’s ‘Madame Tussauds’ its name, but she is yet to find her rightful place in the museum’s galleries. Sourav Ganguly and Kapil Dev have been captured in cricketing whites and blues. Sachin Tendulkar has sadly been reduced to a mere illustration on the wall. Satyajit Ray’s absence is only too conspicuous. While a replica of yesteryear superstar Uttam Kumar may well be enough to set the hearts of grandmothers aflutter, wax sculptor Susanta Roy has inadvertently proved that the beauty of Suchitra Sen is impossible to duplicate. The actress’ sculpture looks wrinkled and far from captivating; she appears downright macabre. t was a which story too be true. by The museum, hasgood beento developed ButHousing no, Argentina’s president nder Narendra Modi’s government, West Bengal Infrastructure Develophasn’t adopted a(WBHIDCO), Jewish child to administers and bureaucrats have had ment Corporation does stop him from have turning intoconvincing a wereto do away with the old, and ring in the mittedly a few wolf. In the last week, Argentina new. His ministers have acquired Twitter experiences to offer.

You can, succumbed for to instance, a surreal handles, email ids and followers. But, Akhiseatstory yourself woven together by tradition and lesh Yadav, the Chief Minister of Uttar Praopposite Rabindranath urban legend. Yes, Cristina Fernandesh, still swears by snail mail. Averaging 11 Tagore in his makeshdez de Kirchner became godmothletters a month, the UP CM has sent Modi ift salon.

Immersed er to the strappingin21-year-old 66 letters since the formation of the new a book, theIair writer Tawil, who is the first Jewish government. From funds for development willever unfortunately presidential godchild.

She was to love jihad, the CM has held forth on all isignore you. onSeeing ly following a 107-year-old sues bothering UP. “I am asking for develthat he istradiholding tion in which the seventh son (or opment and progress. They are sending aloft a copy of his daughter) of an Argentine family isyou riots, love jihad and conversions. Has UP own memoirs, eligible to become the godchild of not given 73 MPsLondon for this?” he wrote plaintively on her must try hard the president. Sotofar,feel Fernandez in one of by thegiving letters. Yadav’s correspondwish-list slighted by has played godmother to 700 chilence, much like‘Madunrequited love affairs, Kolkata its own this display of arrodren, includinggant the daughter is one-sided.

HeTogetheven wrote to the PM ame Tussauds’. vanity. of a lesbian couple.“Sure Somehow, this has from Chief Ministers’ coner, thethe 19 recent wax figurines the museum presidentialitscustom got muddled clave, whichare wasthe held in Delhi. Unsuron display perfect drawbacks, but it is a with thegood legend of thetolobizon — prisingly, got no dummies’heguide to reply. local Better cul- luck addition an otherwise equivalent of thecity,” werewolf, the locatching attention with hashtag. ture and his history.

But in theacase lacklustre says 23-year-old bizonvisitor is a mixParth of a pig and dog“Tagore’s and of some, the purport is undeniaRastogi.

Banerjee flashes transmits its curse notbut through bly political. sculpture is great, Didi looks a smile she only bite but

by Ipassing between the Having paid ₹150 as an entry funny. can’t believe it’s her.” reserves for selfieslegs of its victims.last It is room, said it fee, visitors are first greeted by Inhapless the museum’s with Shah Rukh Khan that the seventh son a seventh the slow hum of Raghupati raghis glamour that of serves as Didi’s and inaugurationsson falls prey over to thetroubled curse of the av raja ram. Mahatma Gandhi bridge water. with Amitabh dreaded lobizon. can be seen marching on with a Flashing a While smile no shecasualonly reBachchan ties were reported, the with curseShah seems stern resilience. A patriotic few serves for selfies Rukh to have affected the President.with are overwhelmed and they bend Khan andonly inaugurations to touch the statue’s feet. The Amitabh Bachchan, Banerjee’s Mahatma had left the world mirth now seems uncharacteriswith an inexhaustible set of inspirational tically perpetual. Wax statues of the two Bollymaxims, but the museum seems to have cho- wood biggies flank her own. Opposite sen for its walls a quote that suits its own Banerjee, Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Mithun needs as also those of its government — “Free- Chakraborty wears his all-white disco dancer dom is not worth having if it does not include attire to accentuate the leader’s grin. Loyalist the freedom to make mistakes.”

Rahul Basu, 34, says he hasn’t seen the Chief In just the first fortnight of its opening in Minister this happy in a long time. “I am glad November, Mother’s Wax Museum found itself the museum has captured this expression. I courting controversy. Despite the fact that the hope it lasts her entire tenure.” While Basu date of Subhas Chandra Bose’s death has re- continues to wax eloquent, another visitor is mained a source of much debate for histori- heard complaining, “All the celebrities here ans, the museum was categorical in its look ever so old. This place is nothing like Tusdeclaration. According to a biographical note sauds. Didi can say what she wants, but Kolkanear the leader’s wax sculpture, Netaji had ta will never be London.” died on August 18, 1945. With only a Wikipedia entry to back their affirmation, officials were shreevatsa nevatia

With love from Lucknow

Urban legends

A digital revolution is afoot at the Centre, but the UP CM sticks to snail mail

U Birdsong... hic Drunk birds sing like, who else, but drunks

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hen do you know that you’ve had a tipple too many? Obviously, when you start slurring through Katy Perry’s chart-topping Stiff competition A visitornumbers. peers over Recently, Christopher Oland his colleagues at Oregon Tagore’sson frozen shoulders; and (right) Health and Science University have Didi smiles beatificallythat it’s the same for discovered shreevatsa nevatia birds, especially zebra finches. The finches have long been used as a model to show how humans communicate. The team tricked the

finches, turning their virgin juice into alcohol-laced potions. “A lot of animals won’t touch the stuff. But they seem to be willing to consume it,” says Olson. The normal birdsong is a series of high-pitched squeals — ncient Egyptians shared their kwikakoo, kwikakoo. But, once graves with the wax figures of their drunk, the birds mumble, go quiedeities. During the Middle Ages, ter, and get “less organised in their wax effigies were placed atop cofsound production”. The things fins at royal funerals. Mamata Banerjee was birds have to do to help humans unperhaps unaware of this arguably morbid hisderstand themselves… tsk tsk. tory when she inaugurated the Mother’s Wax Museum in Kolkata recently. In a corner of the building, the West Bengal Chief Minister’s rather rotund wax sculpture can be seen reaching for a pen. Her detractors might justifiably claim that she used it to write herself a political obituary last year. With the fast unravelling Saradha chit fund scam, inexplicable blasts in Burdwan and the growing BJP footprint in the state, Didi’s 2014 diary was rather bleak. Her wide grin, though, doesn’t betray fears of awomen probing CBI rounding up the rank year, a total of 293 — nearand—file of her party.Even ly 94 per cent were caught.

Weeks before she became the Chief Minister in 2013, of the 466 pickpockets apin 2011, the leader had promised — prehended, 421mercurial were wom“Kolkata ke London kore tulbo.” (I will turn Kolen.

“It has been found kata London.)

IndeMay last year, Didi’s Facethatinto they (women) book followers unimpressed; they didn’t ploy a cleverwere modus takeoperandi kindly toof heraccomannouncement that Kolkata would soon have a London panying a child or Eye of its own. The comments on Banerjee’s wall were acerbic carryingleft a toddler,” a — “Since othertold problems of West Bengal senior all official a have been daily. solved,Itwe have nothing better to national also do!” Thethat people of her city were demanding appears the women bread, not scones. apprehended looked the But perhaps it takes more than snide social“least doubtful”.

So, the next time networking sarcasm to break Didi’s indomitayou ride the metro, watch out for ble spirit. Unaffected by criticism and mockthe ‘bag lady’. ery, the Chief Minister has ticked another box

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Who picked your pocket?

If you were in the Delhi Metro, it must’ve been a woman

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hen you think of a pickpocket, or a chain snatcher, do you think of a sly woman with an impressive sleight of hand? A study compiled by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is responsible for securing the 134 metro stations in the NCR, reveals a surprising statistic: Year after year, the overwhelming majority of pickpockets caught in the Delhi Metro are women.

While only 22 men were held last

Q R

One involves presidents, the other, werewolves

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3 23BL BL

HANG

saturday, january 3, 2015

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cornerstone in-faq by joy bhattacharjya Traitors

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n this day in 1946, William Joyce, better known as Lord Haw-Haw, who taunted the British on German radio throughout the second World War, was finally hanged by the British government. Reason enough for a quiz on traitors and famous betrayals.

1

Basketball star LeBron James’ move to the Miami Heat from the Cleveland Cavaliers was looked upon as a huge act of betrayal by Cavalier fans. Cavalier owner Dan Gilbert immediately cut the price of all LeBron memorabilia to $17.41.

Why did he choose that specific figure?

2

His parents had three sons and a daughter before him, with only the daughter surviving. So when he was born, he was raised and dressed as a girl for the first few years of his life, and even had his nose pierced. Identify this man, who all Indians remember by the nickname from his childhood? It would help to bear in mind the subject of the quiz.

3

He served his country as ‘Minister-President’ from 1942 to 1945, with the cabinet dominated by members of the ‘Nasjonal Samling’ party founded by him in 1933. His name is now in the dictionary?

4

The story of Samson’s betrayal by Delilah is told in the Hebrew Book of Judges. To whom did Delilah tell the secret of Samson’s strength?

It is also a word in the English dictionary.

the new york times crossword-0727

moving parts

5

John Cairncross is considered the most likely candidate, though some of the other suspects were Michael Whitney Straight, Victor Rothschild and Guy Liddell. Who were all these men accused of being?

6 7 8 9

In children’s fantasy fiction, who betrayed his siblings and friends for a helping of Turkish Delight candy?

In English law, what, specifically, is the difference between high treason and petty treason?

What name is given in the West for a trained goat that herds other goats and sheep to slaughter, while its own life is spared?

His side of the story is related by his court poet, Bhatta Kedae, and the poet Madhukar’s ‘Jaya Mayank Jas Chandrika’. However, we tend to remember his misdeeds from the epic poetry of Chand Bardai. Who is this much-reviled king in Indian history, killed in the battle of Chandawar in 1194AD?

133 Babble on 134 Cathedral area 135 Stay-at-home workers?

136 Tot-watched 137 Peevish state 138 Asparagus unit

10

Which famous British street is named after a 17th-century soldier and diplomat who betrayed his former royalist partners John Barkstead, Miles Corbet and John Okey, and who was described by diarist Samuel Pepys as ‘a most perfidious rogue’?

Answers

1. 1741 was the year America’s most detested traitor, Benedict Arnold, was born.

2. Ramachandra ‘Nathuram’ Godse — Nathuram literally means ‘Ram with a nose ring’.

3. Vidkun Quisling of Norway — ‘quisling’ is now a synonym for a traitor or turncoat 4. The Philistines 5. The 5th man in the Cambridge Five spy ring. The other four were Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt. They are still not sure of his identity.

6. Edmund in CS Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in The Chronicles of Narnia.

7. High treason is treason against the king or queen. All other betrayals are referred to as petty treason.

8. A Judas goat, named after the disciple believed to have betrayed Jesus.

9. Jai Chand of Kannauj, who betrayed his son-inlaw Prithviraj Chauhan to Mohammad Ghori 10. Ironically, London’s Downing Street, named after George Downing.

joy bhattacharjya is a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup t@joybhattacharj

The answer to each starred clue must have two consecutive letters removed before it is written into the grid. These letters will move to a pair of circles elsewhere in the puzzle. (In all cases, new words will be formed.)

The nine letter pairs, when properly arranged, will spell an appropriate answer at 72-Across.

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Across 1 Swaddles, e.g.

8 *Turn, as a wheel 12 Edible plant extract 19 Be too fearful to 20 Former Nebraska senator James 21 Burger go-with 22 Yolk surrounder 23 Bit of sweat 24 Most hip 25 Low numero 26 Cowboys’ activity 29 Cologne conjunction

30 Slushy drink 32 Kitten sounds 33 Detailed plans 35 Use a straw 39 Idea 41 Hides away 43 *Words of praise 44 Thingamajig 45 Strangle 47 Cartoon dog 49 Italian dish that needs much stirring 51 Openly defy 53 *Royal messenger 57 Tony-winning musical with the song “Find Your Grail” 60 Long March participant 61 Not ___ (none) 63 Raised transports 64 Unchanged 66 Classic muscle cars 67 Not just slow 69 Theater supporters 72 See instructions 78 Wise men 79 Is on the brink 81 Get rid of

85 ___ menu 86 Eagle’s org.

88 *Piddling 89 Smear 91 Locks up again 95 Painterish 96 Plain to see 98 Stir up 100 Trickster of American Indian mythology 101 Close overlap of fugue voices 104 Attack 109 K.C.-to-Detroit dir.

110 She rules 112 Indigenous 114 Caroled 116 “___ deal?”

117 Prix ___ 118 Sci-fi’s Hubbard 119 Appeared in print 121 Beast of burden 123 Young seal 124 Many ski lodges 128 Legitimate 129 Formed from a mold

Down 1 One of eight Eng. kings 2 Informal turndown 3 Email, say 4 Used tire 5 Pay to play 6 Glad-handing sort 7 Two-channel 8 *Upbraids 9 Field team 10 Mushroom 11 Reach, eventually 12 Cpl.’s inferior 13 Stir up 14 *Great in number 15 Card combinations 16 Low number 17 Checks at the door, say 18 WWII craft 27 Soccer blooper 28 Bother 30 Neither blue nor red?: Abbr.

31 Say sweet words 32 Some dresses 34 Saucier’s boss 36 In the mood 37 Tenor from Naples 38 Don of “The Andy Griffith Show” 40 Sticky stuff 41 Mex. miss

42 41-Down’s room 46 Convenience-store sights 48 Slow, hard progress 50 Stepped in for 52 French fine 53 Witch 54 “___ Enchanted” 55 Mideast currency 56 701, once 58 Bone: Prefix 59 Fictional estate 62 Chanteuse Eartha 65 State with the motto “Oro y plata” 68 Half sister of Ares 69 Greedy sort 70 Bird: Prefix 71 “Undo” mark 73 Overseas prince 74 Box office 75 ___ Plus 76 Actor Dullea 77 Latin “was to be” 80 Underhanded 81 Three-ingredient treats 82 World capital where Monopoly is banned 83 Football team 84 Terrible 86 *Old West robber 87 “Shaddup!”

90 *Not rough 92 Like the cry “Veni, vidi, vici”

93 Abbr. in some city names 94 Old West transport 97 Shortening in recipes?

99 Spanish “that” 102 Windy City paper, with “the” 103 Election-night data 105 One of the Windward Islands 106 Facility for small planes 107 Nobel-winning writer Andric 108 N.F.L. Hall-of-Famer Dawson 111 Former transportation secretary Norman 113 Large-scale evacuation 115 *Newton subject 117 Choice cut 120 Latin “you love” 122 Sitarist Shankar 123 Nickname for José 124 P.D. alert 125 Brother’s title 126 Poke fun at 127 Collection 130 Prankster 131 Bishop’s domain 132 Classic fantasy game co.

By Eric Berlin / Edited by Will Shortz

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