Salaam Bahrain April 2018

BD 1.500

April 2018 - VOLUME 11, ISSUE 4

we speak your language

A Chic Mall For All F1 WEEKEND EXCITEMENT

TRIBAL CUISINE

SUMMER MEN’S FASHION

cover story

we speak your language

Note from the Chairman

April 2018 - VOLUME 11, ISSUE 4

the editorial team P.O. Box 50650, Arad, Kingdom of Bahrain Licensed by the Ministry of Information Publication Licence no : GASB 740

Chairman and Managing Editor Mahmood Al Mahmood Managing Director P.K. Ravi Editor Meera Ravi Contributor • Maharaja Features Pvt. Ltd. • Hina Asar Photography • Jomon • Sajid Butt Marketing P.R.M. Marketing Consultancy w.l.l

Advertising Sales Contact: +973 3668 4011 advts.sb@gmail.com Published by Al Ayam Publishing Promoted by Ajyal Consultations w.l.l Advertising / Editorial / Circulation Enquiries +973 3668 4011 +973 1772 0797 e-mail: salaam.bahrain@gmail.com advts.sb@gmail.com

Copyright Reserved.

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.

The news that Cape Town, sitting on the shore of not one, but two mighty oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian, will officially run out of water by next year, was a shocker. It is the same in California where droughts blight the state, forest fires raise temperatures and all this in a state that runs alongside the Pacific Ocean. In Chennai, India, the rain water harvesting that brought a measure of succour from water shortages, has been all but scuppered by politicians, I believe, and its back to water lorries prowling the street for a hefty profit.

Did anybody say that the next wars would be about water? Well they are.

China and India are locked over sharing the Brahmaputra which runs through both countries. In the GCC, which is an arid desert zone, water had always been treated in the past with reverence.

With the arrival of bottled water and desalination plants, the mystique has worn off and we tend to treat water as if it will be around forever. Today, plastic bottles and broken glass water bottles litter our beaches and are heaped up in our garbage bins. We are wasting copious quantities of water and at the same time, turning every place we go to – whether the Himalayan slopes or the depths of our seas – into unsightly polluting plastic wastelands. Remember a plastic spoon takes 40 years to disintegrate. How much more time would bottles and bags take?

Summer is upon us. Soon we shall be badgered with hydration messages about drinking 8 glasses or 3 litres of water every day; about not wasting water. At the same time, the weather will call for swimming pools to be cleaned, emptied and re-filled; for frequent baths and huge loads of washing from all the sweat. By all means do all of the above. But balance it will better management of water.

Try to recycle air conditioner run-off, repair leaky garden pipes and taps, don’t hose down your car…let’s drink a cooling glass of H20 to that, shall we?

The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the views of the publisher and Editor.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, the publisher & editor cannot accept legal responsibility for any error, content or omissions.

Capt. Mahmood Al Mahmood

4

SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

Highlights April 2018

26 SPECIAL FEATURE

12 PERSONAL FINANCE

Discovering Galleria Mall

The bwallet wave

This boutique mall is two years young. With elegant open spaces and a fine collection of shops and restaurants, it is a chic retail experience!

The bwallet mobile spending option promises cashless spending ease. Find out how to make the most of it.

18 HAPPENINGS

38 FASHION

Formula One

Summer is here

There is so much to enjoy at the Bahrain Formula One on April 6-78 as the second Grand Prix of 2018 season revs up. The Big race and the other motorsports will keep you enthralled. Off- track families can enjoy headline-grabbing entertainment and extreme sports as well as breathtaking kids circus acts.

Catch the latest summer/ resort wear to grace catwalks in india and get an update on menswear trends too.

58 CUISINE

Tribal Taste

COLUMNS

• 22 Ayaz Memon • 43 Shobhaa De

P, SHU GUP D OO LYW BOL S IX U ..PL NE P SCE Y T PAR

Indian tribals have retained much of their original diet and ended up healthier than indigenous people elsewhere. We track the revival of interest in tribal food.

follow and like us on /SalaamBahrain 6

SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

salaam society

ArtBAB success spotlight

Bahrain’s foremost international art fair, Art Bahrain Across Borders (ArtBAB 2018), achieved sales of BD236,135 in its third edition Of that amount BD147,900 was generated by sales of work by Bahraini artists.

Held under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, wife of His Majesty King Hamad and President of the Supreme Council for Women, ArtBAB was inaugurated by HRH the Crown Prince & Firsat Deputy Premier, Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

8

SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

Conversations@ArtBAB was a programme of stimulating discussions and talks by artists and art consultants, aimed to educate the collector and artist alike.

It hosted 15 galleries and 13 independent artists from 11 countries, and showcased 35 Bahraini artists and more than 100 of their artworks alongside globally renowned names.

“We are proud that not only were visitor figures so encouragingly high, but we also saw excellent sales,” said fair and programme director Kanika Subberwal.

A stunning graffiti wall of paintings by the Dirty Hands crew was a special delight.

The ArtBAB event began with a glamorous signature sit-down dinner in the picturesque and sophisticated Arcapita Building waterfront lobby.

An ‘installation dance’ was the cultural highlight.

9

SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

accolade

Mehra wins first ICAI Global Ambassador Award 2018 Bahrain-based CFO of Jasmi’s Corporation, Mahendra Mehra, has been awarded the first ICAI Global Ambassador Award 2018. He received the award in New Delhi from India’s Vice-President Venkiah Naidu, in the presence of P P Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Law & Justice, CMA Sanjay Gupta, President of the Institute and CMA Padmanabhan, Vice President of the Institute at the inauguration session of the 58th National Cost Convention 2018 at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.

The Convention was also attended by Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Railways & Coal, P P Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for Law & Justice and Corporate Affairs and Injeti Srinivas, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Over 1500 delegates attended the convention.

CMA Sanjay Gupta, President of the Institute and the ICAI Professional body, has for the first time instituted the Global Ambassador Award.

He mentioned that the award is to recognize the contribution of professional expertise, commitment and ethical values of CMAs to the organisations and the society they serve.

CMA Mahendra Mehra is the Founder President of The Bahrain Overseas Centre of ICAI (BOCICAI) which was formed in 2010. It is affiliated to the Bahrain Accountants Association. The Bahrain Chapter

organises several programmes including the GCC CMA Summits with representatives from Ministries, government departments, senior representatives from spectrum of industries, corporates, consulting firms, academicians and the members of the professional bodies. The current President of the Bahrain Chapter is CMA Dattatraya Ghadge.

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI), a statutory body set up under an Act of Parliament of Government of India, is celebrating its 75th year of inception. The Institute is the second largest management accounting body in the world and the largest in Asia with over 70,000 members and 500,000 students all over the world.

BCICAI honours women

The Bahrain Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (BCICAI), celebrated International Women’s Day on March 10 at the Diplomat Radisson BLU with an eclectic mix of activities – there was a guided meditation session led by UAE based Holistic Wellness Consultant, Anuradha Kamath and talks by three leading women speakers - Sangeeta Shankaran Sumesh, Executive Director & CFO of India-based Dun & Bradstreet Technologies, Dana Buheji, Chief Human

Resources Officer of National Bank of Bahrain and Zahra’a Taher, Managing Director of FinMark Communications.

CA Uday Shanbag the Chairperson and his executive committee ably supported their women colleagues in BCICAI, led by Shubhashree Sundaram.

10 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

I N S P IRING LIV E S, E N S U RING HA P PI N E SS UNIQUE PLA NS TA I LO RED FOR E V E RY N E E D Indian expatriates and other nationals across the GCC in Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, and Oman can choose from our wide range of USD policies, tailored to meet their every need. Be it life cover, attractive returns, or liquidity for contingencies, we have a product for every milestone in life that not just insures, but ensures happiness too.

• TRUSTED FOR OVER 27 YEARS • UNIQUE & INNOVATIVE RANGE OF PRODUCTS • ALL POLICIES IN USD

Call +973 39936618 or log on to www.licinternational.com

A company incorporated in the Kingdom of Bahrain (C.R. No. - 21606) and licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain as a Life Insurance Company with paid-up capital of BD 20,000,000.

personal finance

bwallet promises New Age cashless payment ease

Batelco and Arab Financial Services officials and guests at the launch of bwallet

Is there any limit to what your smartphone can do? Now with bwallet, you can use your mobile to pay for services and purchases from your favourite High Street shops, catch a Thai dinner or order a pizza take out. Play a round of golf at the Royal Golf Club and pay using bwallet – even a medical check-up can be managed at the Royal Bahrain Hospital!

AFS CEO B Chandrasekhar

In fact, bwallet covers many day to day transactions with numerous recognised merchants already accepting this easyto-manage cashless payment method. “bwallet is the first product in Bahrain that offers easy and convenient P2P (person to person) money transfers in addition to offering an easy way to pay at merchant locations using Quick Response (QR) code technology – the transaction time is just 10 seconds,” explained a spokesperson for the product, “It is also the first product to offer a unique KYC feature for registering customers – eliminating the need for customers to personally submit physical documents.” bwallet brings a complete cloud-based new digital payment solution with 2% cashback (still on) and BD3 for the first 10,000 sign-ups which have already been oversubscribed to this new product.

The app was jointly created by AFS and Batelco. While AFS provides end to end payment solutions for its banks, financial institutions, telco and retailers in over 20 countries in the Middle East, Batelco, of course, is the national telecom company 12 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

with a mammoth network. The expertise that each organisation brought to the project made this a marriage made in e-heaven!

“Our vision is to be the partner of choice for payments and be the leading FinTech enabler for our customers,” said AFS CEO B Chandrasekhar, “The truth is that cash is increasingly becoming an unwieldy transaction method and is not preferred by the younger generation which depends on smartphone and online transactions. Bahrain has started well since the CBB has approved the FinTech sandbox and is encouraging the creation of an ecosystem – from Central Bank to local banks to telcos, money transfer entities and merchants all the way to consumers.”

QR codes and NFC stickers have made FinTech solutions easy to apply, said Chandrasekhar and accessible even to the large worker population. This is a good sign for a digitized economy which seeks to be all-inclusive. bwallet has the first-mover advantage in a market that is being shaped by young

The Governor Central Bank Bahrain, Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Batelco Chairman,Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and the Chairman, AFS and Deputy Group CEO Bank ABC, Sael Al Waary at the bwallet launch event

people with disposable income. It is also pretty streamlined and easy to download and use from one’s smartphone. What’s more, it is accessible to any telco subscriber.

The benefits to individuals is that there is no need to use physical cash or for users to swipe a card at merchant locations, customers can pay conveniently by simply using their mobile phones. There are several offers at merchant locations (visit @bwalletbh on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter to find the latest offers) which also adds value to the product. bwallet has amazing offers with “Buy one Get one free on movie tickets” at Dana cinema, “Buy a movie ticket get a regular soft drink or popcorn free*” at Cineco and “Get 5BD cashback on your monthly spend of BD30 & above” at Sharaf DG. At Grub Shack and El Gringo – bwallet users get different promotions every day of the week (except Wednesdays and Thursdays), combined – that’s 10 different offers giving customers 15% off various items each day!

For the merchant this removes the need to store physical cash and solves reconciliation problems. The cost of carrying physical cash is a huge burden on most businesses and bwallet eliminates this cost.

Chandrasekhar pointed out that that the two drawbacks in cash transactions are the cost of printing currency notes and the inefficient delivery system that involves queues and carrying cash which circulates right back to the bank.

“With Bahrain planning to make digital salary payments mandatory across all levels, we are confident that we shall see even larger numbers of people adopting cashless payment tools such as bwallet,” he said, “We are dealing with a new generation of customers who are quick to embrace new methods and with FinTech ramping up changes so quickly, we cannot afford to ignore these new customers and new technology.”

He added, “In the future we will enable overseas money transfers to other overseas wallets and introduce more merchant offers and discounts to make bwallet the best way to pay.

With cinema ticket deals (Mukta A2 Cinema & Dana Cinema) bwallet opens doors to great lifestyle choices.

We have had a fantastic response to our launch and we expect this to increase further as customers and merchants realise the benefits of using bwallet.”

13 SALAAM BAHRAIN

MONEY IN YOUR MOBILE You will now be able to make Peerto-Peer money transfer, make cashless payments quickly to merchants, request money from other bwallet users, send money easily and securely using your smartphone. It is much simpler than using a physical card, and more secure too.

Simply, search for (bwallet) on the App Store or Google Play to download the app. Start sending and receiving money from your mobile. Both Batelco and non Batelco customers will be able to download it today

BENEFITS • Convenience Send and receive money from any bwallet user in Bahrain by simply using their Mobile number • Speed Pay instantly at many merchants and save your time at the cashier • Security Ensure the security of your personal details and track your shopping history APRIL

2018

personal finance How to Use:

How to pay a merchant?

1. Download (bwallet) App from App Store or Google Play 2. Click on “Register” and follow the registration steps to register to the service 3. Once your account is verified via phone call, you can enter your Debit Card details and add Money on your bwallet account 4. Start sending, receiving and requesting money using your smartphone various merchants around Bahrain

Pay to Merchant using your bwallet Account • By Selecting the Pay to merchant option from the menu, you can simply scan the Dynamic QR code that will be created by the Merchant App to complete your payment.

• You can also pay to merchant by entering the merchant mobile number and amount from the customers end, that option will be useful for home businesses and home delivery merchants.

How to add money to your bwallet account?

The Process of loading Money into your bwallet Account: • Select the Add money option from the menu • Enter the required amount (Maximum BD 200 can be loaded the account in a given time) • App will redirect the customer to the payment gateway to add the debit card details • Confirm the amount and debit card details to proceed with loading the money • Amount will be funded into your bwallet account

How to send money?

Send Money from your bwallet Account to another Mobile User • Select the Send Money Option from the menu customers will be able to transfer money from his/her bwallet account to any mobile user wither he is a registered customer or not.

• Customer should enter Mobile Number he/she wished to send the money for with the required amount and click submit.

• If the receiver is a registered customer with bwallet then his account will immediately funded.

• If the receiver is not a registered customer to bwallet a SMS notification will be sent to the customer to download the bwallet App and register, so he/she be able to receive the amount. The amount will be kept on hold for 5 days and in case the receiver didn’t register to bwallet, the amount will be returned to the sender.

How to request money?

Request Money between bwallet Account • By selecting the Request money option from the menu, customers will be able to request an amount of money from another bwallet registered customer.

• The requester should enter the mobile number of the another bwallet customer with the required amount and submit the request.

• A request will be sent to the sender to either accept or reject the request for money transaction.

• Once the action is taken, the requester will receive a notification with the approval or rejection.

salaam society

Ramee Grand shines light on climate

​ n World Earth Day (March 24), the Ramee Grand Hotel & Spa beautifully shone the light on urgent matters of climate change O and the need to conserve energy by going ‘dark’ ​for an hour in the evening. Guests were invited by ​Resident/Hotel Manager, Kumar Ashwani to light candles to form the R of the Ramee logo and served a candlelit dinner of selected food and beverages.

14 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

FAST, SAFE AND SECURE ONLINE MONEY TRANSFER BFC SMART MONEY IS NOW AVAILABLE ON THE BFC APP. Download the app via the App Store or on Google Play today and start sending money online now! For more information, call us on 1722 8888 or visit bfcsmartmoney.com

/BFCBahrain /BFCBahrain www.bfcsmartmoney.com Tel: 1722 8888 | www.bfc.com.bh

salaam society

Bahrain’s cultural unity hailed Ba hrain’s celebrated harmony among communities was the focus of the annual ‘Bahrain For All’ festival that took place in the last Friday of March.

Ov er 45 embassies, social clubs and co mmunity associations participated in the event along with more than 55,000 Ba hrainis, residents, civil society or ganisations, women associations, sp ecial needs societies and support gr oups and 16 departments from the Ministry of Interior.

Th e festival saw the display of the pr oducts in the field of clothing, food, cr afts, pottery, and the other related it ems by Bahraini productive families.

Th ere were culinary treats from the participating countries as well.

16 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

gold glitter

Dream gold offers luxury car prize You have the luxury of owning a BMW car for just BD 50. How? Head to Dream Gol d and Diamonds that is offering exc iting offers from April 18 (Akshaya Tri thiya) and throughout summer till Aug ust 31. Additionally, you will get a fre e 2-gram gold coin on the purchase of BD 500 diamond jewellery, 1-gram gol d coin on the purchase of BD 300 diamond jewellery, 0.200 gm gold coin on every purchase of BD 200 gold jewellery.

Abd ul Latheef, the Chairman of the Gro up says, “As a part of the longsta nding custom, women consider it

aus picious to buy gold and diamond jewelry on Akshaya Tritiya. These exciting off ers will give customers not only a cha nce to own exquisite gold and dia mond jewellery, at the best possible pri ces but also win raffle prizes. Apart from discounts, customers can also take adv antage of our zero making charges on 8 Gm gold coins, zero per cent ded uction on the gold exchange on 22k t, 50% discount on diamonds and unc ut diamonds, customer can protect gold rate of their jewellery by paying 5% of total gold rate, these exciting offers hel p our customers bring home

prosperity as per tradition and also give the m an opportunity to buy pure gold and diamond jewelry at affordable prices.”

Amateur music group Kalaalaya sings for Valentine’s Day Wit h tremendous enthusiasm and romance, amateur music group Kal aalaya celebrated Valentine’s Day with ‘Heart & Harmonies’, a pro gramme at which the singers reg aled the audience with some tim eless Tamil romantic hits.

Org anised with the support of POORNA Corp., a special highlight was that every VIP couple was treated to a song dedication and a lovely red rose was offered to them as a symbol of eternal love special song dedication for each and every VIP ’s present there with a surprise bou quet. It was a romantic treat for all the audience. There was als o a special guest, Padmalatha Ramanand, a playback singer from the Tamil and Telugu film industry in India.

Special compliments to Kalaalaya founders Satyan and Vidya for this ini tiative. Watch out for the next event in May. 17 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

happenings

It’s the F1 week-end!!!

Deep breaths…its not only cars that will be racing on April 6-7-8, our hearts will be too! Bahrain shot to international sporting reckoning in 2004 when H.R.H. the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa put his support behind the move to bring the Formula One Grand Prix race to Bahrain. And its been up, up and away ever since.

Over the years, the Bahrain Grand Prix has won a reputation for what motor sports enthusiasts call “one of the best tracks for overtaking on the F1 calendar” which means that there should be plenty of duels throughout the field; to add a touch of danger, experts say that the first turn of Bahrain’s Formula One circuit has always been prone to incidents that are part and parcel of the element of risk that motor sports represent. Although the 2017 Grand Prix didn’t have any sort of explosive flip such as Esteban Gutierrez’s flip in 2014, it did involve altercations between Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz that forced them both out of the race.

Vettel winning last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix which was also the third round of 2017.

The finale will be the 57-lap night race on Sunday, April 8.

Night & Day The nature of the race in Bahrain means the qualifying and the race take place at night while all three practice sessions are in the day - drastically changing track and tyre temperatures.

Previewing this weekend’s trip to Bahrain, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo told reporters, “Bahrain is great. The weather is warm, the paddock is modern, the hotel is amazing and it’s a really nice week that I enjoy after such a busy home race in Australia. It’s actually quite a tricky event as the practice sessions are in the heat of the day.

“But the important sessions, qualifying and the race, are in the evening when the track cools so you have to be very adaptive with the set-up. Normally if you’re quick

Goosebumps The circuit in Bahrain does have a few places for overtaking, and in recent years, even in an era where it is hard to follow cars, we have seen great battles take place here. F1 fans still get goosebumps when they recall the end-moments of the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix when Lewis Hamilton & Nico Rosberg battled it out for victory in what is lovingly known as the ‘Duel In The Desert.’ This year, fans are expecting a similar clash between Ricciardo and Verstappen, two racing stars who often find themselves near the same position on the grid.

Bahrain is one of those circuits where the fastest car doesn’t always have its way as demonstrated last year. So, although Mercedes are the favourite in every race, there is the thrill of uncertainty – will it be Vettel or Hamilton? Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton traded wins during the first few races of last season, with

you don’t want to touch the car but in Bahrain you are forced to as the conditions change so much in the evenings. The track is one that I’ve always done well on so let’s hope it continues to be good to me.”

Watch out Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas did not have the best start to the season as a crash in Q3, sent him all the way to P15 on the grid.

With the pressure of performing well looming over his head, Bottas needs to prove himself as a Championship worthy talent. Where better to find his stride for this season, than in Bahrain. The very place where he took his first pole position in Formula One last year. Bottas had that race in his hands last year if it wasn’t for a time-

temperature problem that allowed Vettel and Hamilton to overtake him.Whether something similar happens this year isn’t visible yet, but if Bottas manages to keep his Mercedes on the road in Bahrain, it isn’t out of the question to see the Finn on pole ahead of his teammate and both Ferraris.

Support Races Aside from Formula 1, there will also be plenty of racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East.

The championship battle in the 2017/2018 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East has gone down to the last roun d, setting the stage for an epic season-finale support race support of the Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Porsche GT3 is the biggest and most popular one-make motor racing cham pionship in the entire region. It has been the number one choice of the Arab world’s most promising circuit racing drivers to broaden their racing experience in a professionally run series.

A highly competitive grid of 16 drivers from all around the world has been confirmed for the year’s last two races. The field of participants will be competing in three different classes this coming round.

There will be two races in the meeting.

In the Gold class, there will be four part icipants including Glynn Geddie of Great Britain, Al Faisal Al Zubair of Oman, Charlie Frijns of the Netherlands and Daniel Lu of China.

In the Silver category, Team Bahrain’s His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdulla Al Khal ifa and Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa are set to fly the Kingdom of Bahrain’s flag in their home event.

Joining them in class will six others, including Khalid Al Wahaibi of Oman, Magn us Oehman and Christoffer Bergstroem of Sweden; Carsten Tilke of Germany, Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer of France and Saul Hack of South Africa.

Finally, the Bronze category will feature four drivers, including Ron Frijns the Neth erlands, Mark Radcliffe of Great Britain, Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and Michael Knutzon of Sweden.

FIA Formula 2 The other support race is the equally exciting FIA Formula 2 series. The series has completed its final pre-season tests at BIC, and all systems are go for the new campaign.

Action in the first meeting of the season will be spread out over three days. It will include one 45-minute practice session and one half-hour qualifying session followed by two races. The qualifying session is a straight fight for fastest lap time, and it determines the order of the grid for Race One, which is known as the weekend’s Feature Race. Four points are awarded for pole position.

The Feature, usually held on the Saturday of the race weekend, is run over 170km or 60 minutes, and each driver must complete one compulsory pit stop and must use at least one set of each specification of dry-weather tyres.

The top 10 drivers score points (25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1) with two points being awarded to the driver who set the fastest lap of the race.

The grid for Race Two, or the Sprint Race which takes place on the Sunday

happenings of the event, is determined by the finishing order of the first race, with the top eight positions reversed. The Sprint is run over 120km or 45 minutes, with no pit stop allowed.

The top eight finishers score points (15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1) and the driver who sets the fastest lap scores two points.

There will be 20 cars on the grid representing 10 teams, including ART Grand Prix, Russian Time, Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing, DAMS, MP Motorsport, Trident, BWT Arden, Campos Vexatec Racing, Carlin and Charouz Racing System. Of the 10 teams, two are new for 2018. They are Carlin from the UK and Czech outfit Charouz Racing System.

Enhanced experiences

Fooled ya – NOT! UK’s Sunday Express tried – but did not entirely succeed – in pulling an April Fool Day prank on F1 fans. In a carefully coded news item, the newspaper broke the news that Lewis Hamilton would be skipping the Bahrain F1 to attend the World Fashion Festival Awards 2018 in Dubai instead. Although Hamilton is a much-admired fashion icon, fans weren’t biting the bait – and all was revealed in the last paragraph which asked readers to join the first letter of each paragraph – which spelt April Fools Day..

This year, twenty lucky Formula 1 fans will have a chance to take part in a pair of all-new experiences during the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.

BIC has put together an exciting “F1 Added Value” raffle, exclusive to Main Grandstand and Turn One Grandstand ticket holders, in which winners will have the unique opportunity to be a part of the Formula 1 Truck Tour and Paddock Tour. Both are taking place for the first time ever at the Bahrain Grand Prix spectacle, scheduled for April 6 to 8 in Sakhir.

The Formula 1 Truck Tour will be taking place on the Thursday of the Grand Prix weekend, while the Paddock Tour will be held on the Friday. The Formula 1 Truck Tour and Paddock Tour are a part of new initiatives that aim to bring fans closer to the sport through a series of unforgettable experiences. The Truck Tour offers a parade around the circuit in open-top buses while the Paddock Tour brings fans into the heart of the venue during the race weekend.

Legendary musician Carlos Santana, singer-songwriter Benjamin Booker and popular electronic dance music duo Disclosure are set to headline all the family entertainment.

Off the track, race-goers will have a trio of extreme rides to choose from, including a Reverse Bungee, a SCAD (Suspended Catch Air Device) Freefall and a Sky Coaster. Further entertainment will be seen at the Circus Stage, and from the Roaming Acts and Street Musicians and Dancers.

One of Africa’s most notable acrobatic circus acts will be taking to the stage at the Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix. “Cirque Africa: Hakuna Matata” is an amazing extravaganza of music, dance, comedy and acrobatic skill celebrating the strength, flexibility and agility of human bodies at their best.

It will be part of the many stage shows entertaining fans at the Formula 1 Village vending area during the three-day Grand Prix spectacle, taking place April 6 to 8 at BIC in Sakhir.

Colourful African costumes, catchy music and dance routines along with gravity-defying skills make Cirque Africa a first-rate show packed with fun and high energy, surely delighting the whole family.

The cast of 33 performing artists from six African countries includes dancers, musicians, acrobats and contortionists.

They perform jaw-dropping twists and turns, spin things with their feet, hang off bars, build human pyramids and even do flying stunts that will leave the audience in disbelief.

Young children will be able to enjoy a wide selection of engaging activities, all within a massive tent erected in BIC’s Formula 1 Village. Within this marquee, BIC has created four zones allocated for Circus Shows, Theatre Shows, a Candyland Interactive Zone and a Play Ground.

salaam society

Amit Kumar dazzles in Pancham sur!

Randhir speaks about Pancham

Lighting the lamp of old memories

The Juzers, Chandrasekhars, Meera and Dr. Ram Vatwani

A bouquet of fragrances from Jawad Al Hawaj

Amit Kumar - what a voice!

Anisa & Mohammed Dadabhai, Dr. Tariq and his wife Roohi

Jaya and Mohammed Zaki

The Mansour family and friends

Singer Amit Kumar brought alive the musical genius of his father Kishore Kumar and composer R.D. Burman at Dr. Ram Vatwani’s Tribute concert. Chief guest was yesteryear superstar (some would say grand-father to the most watched star-baby Taimur!), Randhir Kapoor. Amit Kumar dazzled with his energetic stage presence and magnificent voice.

25 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

retail therapy

Galleria – A Chic Mall for All Two is a great number – especially when that’s the anniversary of a young and cool mall in Bahrain, the Galleria Mall. Set cosily yet stylishly in an open plan architecture that welcomes shoppers to explore the different retail and dining experiences. Galleria Mall is a family destination that offers a well-curated

mix of cafes, restaurants, hypermarket, spa and wellness, and soon-to-open a family adventure zone. Spread over 30,000 square metres, Galleria Mall boasts a total built-up area of over 40,000+ square metres. This includes the massive 12,800 square metre Lulu hypermarket, extending over two floors. In addition, visitors also have at their disposal, 3 dedicated floors of parking for over 600 cars, as well as several convenient front of the shop outdoor parking spaces.

The mall was designed primarily so that it can offer a holistic experience to the shoppers.

The idea of an open-plan mall in Bahrain is

26 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

relatively new but the the mall ensures that the architecture captures the all-important contemporary vibe so that every visitor finds a niche that frames his or her interests, no matter the age.

Galleria Mall hosts outdoor events that include kids activities, performances, raffle draws and other engaging programmes for the shoppers. On a recent weekend, the mall celebrated Spring Festival, marking the end of Spring and the onset of Summer. The lanes in the mall were packed and stores were offering great savings. Talented local bands, a magic show and DJ kept the shoppers and their families entertained.

On weekends the mall has an excellent footfall of over 7000 visitors – families hang out over leisurely meals and the youngsters are seen shopping away at their favorite stores. The mini play-park set near the row of coffee shops and eating outlets let the parents have their me-time while the kids can be happily engaged.

These past months have been busy for Galleria Mall as it prepares to unveil a super attraction for children – the soon-to-open Adventure Hub for kids and teens and young adults. Specially designed for Galleria Mall by a Bulgarian and UAE based company, the

Adventure Hub features a series of activity areas that stretch the imagination as well as the muscles of young visitors. There are rock climbing walls, fun walls, cave tunnels, challenging obstacle rope courses and a toddler play area that give children the ultimate fun workout.

The aim of setting up a space like Adventure Hub is to focus on giving children a physical outlet for their energy and imagination.

Instead of installing a games arcade, the creators are happy that the mall decided to highlight the need of physical activities for the kids in a time of digital-entertainment.

The professionally-designed Adventure Hub is spread over 800 square metres and two floors. The designers have removed the ceiling between floors and used the vertical space to create a delightful play area that will have you wishing you were a kid again. While the adventure spaces are carefully planned, every safety measure is also in place so that the area offers a physical experience of pushing the limits without any endangering the children.

Galleria Mall houses a great spread of fashion stores from High Street brands like Splash and Shoexpress to the high end and stylish Affinity by Batool which brings curated collections from some of the finest designers in the sub-continent and Bahrain.

Browse through the imaginative Saudi design house Arabian Designs for some unique home décor – filigreed steel camels, heritage revival wall carpets, framed Bedouin necklaces with huge chunks of amber and silver and furniture that has been designed using modern ergonomic ideas and paired beautifully with rustic Saudi weaves. The shop is beautifully decorated, adding to the feeling of a pleasant Arabian suq store. For more contemporary home décor, head to Lifestyle, Bahrain’s popular brand, where you can pick up lovely utilitarian items as well as decorative pieces. The store offers gift items, home décor, home furnishings, fashion accessories, home fragrances and spa products.

In fact, Galleria Mall has retail and dining experiences for every hour of the day. Let’s start at the top – there have a wide range of cafes that serve amazing, tasty breakfast in a relaxing yet upbeat themed – Crust & Crema, Marzipan, Macchiato and MIAM. The café game is amped up at Innovation Themes that stocks quirky interior décor bric-a-brac and has a quirky café upstairs. Of course, these cafes are so on-trend and serve the unique Bahrain preference for stylish comfort ambience and food throughout the day – so they are open for scrumptious high tea, lunch and supper as well.

Popular waffle and pancake chain, Wafflemeister hits the spot

if you want a quick sweet or savoury snack.

Healthy, light and bursting with flavour, the South East Asian food at Wok Station is great for meals – the ambience is casual and modern and the street-food cred of the place is accented by the sophistication of the offerings.

If Arabic is your preference, head to Mashawi

by Al Abraaj. There are coffee shops for students to work and meet friends in – including the famous Canadian chain Tim Hortons (which serves a fine double filter coffee and a super falafel sandwich btw). YaSalam is a youthful and buzzy eatery that puts a modern twist in Arabic food while YAS serves delicate and exotic flavours of Iranian food.

Want to update your sports gear? The Skechers and Olympia stores offer the latest sportswear. Sometimes though, the blind urge to just buy some stylish shoes strikes you – head to Shoexpress then and choose from a huge range of affordable and up-to-date shoes to give yourself happy feet.

If you are the type who indulges in retail therapy only with a higher purpose, combine your visit with your family’s grocery and daily needs shopping at Lulu Hypermarket. The

two-floor shopping centre offers everything from everyday fruit, meat and veg to High Street fashion and garden furniture. Having earned your brownie points, why not relax and get a rejuvenating massage at Sparadise? The spa offers a lovely mix of massages and beauty therapy in calming and beautifully-maintained surroundings.

The latest jewel in Galleria’s crown is undoubtedly the royal Rajasthani themed Mewar restaurant. Sumptuously decorated to reflect the richness and luxury of regal Rajasthan, the restaurant offers gourmet fine dining with superb presentation and taste.

The Galleria Mall ticks the boxes for service too with the well-stocked Maskati Pharmacy, the Ruyan Beauty Store, Al Baraka Bank and ATMs of Ahli United too and Delmon Opticians.

The distinctive modern architecture, expansive glass facades, finely manicured landscapes, elegant tree-lined walkways and tranquil water features, harmoniously combine to bring alive a destination that sublimely merges the charm of the outdoors with elegant designs that can be experienced indoors. Never before

retail therapy

has Bahrain had a shopping experience where multiple stores open on to wide open spaces for families to gather, while also offering kids a dedicated play area to frolic in. A thoughtfully curated mix of shopping and dining options, with a conscious focus on affordability and accessibility, Galleria Mall is leading the list today with discerning shoppers looking for the intimate informality of a boutique mall instead of the anonymity of large and faceless ones. Visit Galleria Mall and get bowled over by its charm and the variety of shopping and F&B choices that will pamper you.

29 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

salaam society

Manama Temple Holi welcomes all

30 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

Srinkhala challenges culture-vultures

Nivedita and Madhab lead the trekkers

Vijay, Sajni, Bharti, Jyothi & Bahvna

A treat for the mind and ...muscles?

The Srinathji Temple in Manama Suq is believed to be the oldest in the GCC and its Holi festival has grown into a unifying coming together of all communities.

This year, Indian Ambassador Alok Kumar Sinha, British Ambassador Simon Martin and wife Sophie and Nepalese Ambassador Padam Sundas joined tourists and revellers of all nationalities and faiths to mark the Festival of Spring.

Take two inspired ladies – Rekha Utham and Usha Ramesh. Add a huge dash of culture and a bursting sack of imagination. And you get Srinkhala, an online community that emerges regularly into the real world to take art-lovers, culture-vultures and simply adventurous life-fans on “experiential trips across lands, languages, gender and race.”

Srinkhala has curated talks with writer and theatre-artist Jaya Menon, with musician and founder of the Indian Institute of Performing Arts, Dr. Ambilikuttan, a heritage walk through Muharraq with ‘guide’ Ajay Jaiswal, an Open Mic night that was a total hit.

Srinkhala’s most recent immersive lifeexperience sampling was a trek near Riffa Fort with Nivedita Dutta, who recently 31 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

celebrated turning 50 by training and completing the Dalai Lama Trek in the Himalayas followed by a trek to Jebel Shams in Oman.

“We were expecting twenty or thirty guests but almost 70 turned up,” laughed Rekha, “One participant even recommended that we give out chest numbers like the Bahrain Marathon!”

The guests walked along the ridges near Riffa fort climbing hillocks and learning the history and geography of the terrain. They ended the evening spotting Venus on the horizon, relishing a splendid vegetarian barbeque prepared by Srinkhala Chef Eddin of Eddymades.

If you want to participate in Srinkhala’s buzzy culture adventures, check their Facebook page and leave a message there.

community

Colourful Pakistan N-Day Celebrations in Pakistan School

Pakistan National Day was celebrated with full zeal and fervour in the Jinnah Hall of the School in Isa Town . The occasion was also used to affirm the Pakistani community ‘s solidarity and unflinching support to the Royal leadership and the people of Bahrain.

salaam society

Patriotic celebration at Pak Club The Pakistan Club, one of the oldest thriving community platforms since 1948 celebrated Pakistan Resolution Day (Yaum-e-Pakistan) with patriotism and cultural events. More than 500 prominent community members, businessmen, senior officials and students attended the club’s celebrations which began with the hoisting of the flag by Murad Al Wazir, Pakistani Acting Ambassador. There was a tableau by students of the Pakistan School and singing of national songs. A special poetry session was also held to show solidarity with the people and nation.

32 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

Pakistan School – serving the community

School board members present memento to outgoing ambassador Javed Malik

The genesis of Pakistan School goes back to the 60s when the leading visionary members of the community realized the need for a schooling system for their children, leading to the establishment of a small primary school in 1968 in a rented building in Fariq Fadil area of Manama.

After a few years the school was upgraded to secondary level education following affiliation with the Federal Board, Islamabad, Pakistan.

In 1984, the new campus of the Pakistan School was constructed in Isa town, which was inaugurated by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier.

Two new blocks, Jinnah Block and Sir Sayyed Block were constructed in the Isa town campus, between 1994-95. Today Pakistan school has two wings, one in Manama (Primary) and the main campus Isa Town.

Besides Pakistanis, the school is delivering education to more than 2600 students from 14 different countries.

Pakistan School has laid down a welldefined and practical network of extra and co-curricular activities for the personality and the character building of students.

Students performing on March 23

Chairman Sami Ur Rahman

These activities are conducted on interclass, inter-house and inter-school levels.

Pakistani students have been performing tremendously in the Bahrain level sports, academic and cultural activities. Under the able leadership of Chairman Sami Ur Rahman, the Board of Directors and Principal Atiq Ur Rahman, Pakistan school has set many historic academic and administrative benchmarks over the past years.

Pakistan School’s Federal Board results have shown consistent and impressive improvements over the last two years and the school financial status is now reliable and stable.

33 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

The school transport system has been re-organized and improved to ensure smooth and safe travelling for students and the tally integrated web school system has been introduced to enhance performance in the spheres of academics, administration and student data compilation.

An internal educational quality assurance system has been introduced to ensure dynamic and resourceful classroom teaching, in line with BQA (Bahrain Quality Assurance Authority) requirements.

Solid academic planning and performance have led to an increase in admissions resulting in the construction of eight new academic class rooms.

Pakistan School has earned a name for its own for participation in the national, cultural and social festivals to strengthen the bond of its deep love and affiliation with Bahrain. Students who excel in the Board exams are awarded scholarships, while the school spends thousands of Bahraini dinars for fee concession to support the most deserving students.

The sole aim of Pakistan school is to create a new generation inculcating in them qualities needed to be visionaries to lead their country in the future.

art&culture

Of love, loss — and enormous talent Anupam Kinger’s Main Noor Bano proved to be a stellar amateur effort

Pin-drop silence at a cultural show is a rare thing these days, whether in the London Opera or at a club event in Bahrain.

But in a rare accolade to the story telling of Anupam Kinger and the powerhouse acting of her all-amateur cast, the hall in Bapco Club – which was packed wall-towall – was so focused on the unfolding of Noor Bano’s story on stage that even mobile phones were ignored!

The story was as simple as it was complex – in a village in present-day Pakistan, pretty Noor Bano and the scion of the village ‘big house’ fall in love. The Partition tears the lovers asunder and the man, Mitthu leaves for India, promising to return. Of course, that never happens and Noor turns mad and is incarcerated in a room in the family

home, where her brother and family give her and her aged mother shelter.

Anupam has cleverly used the device of a letter from Mitthu to reawaken Noor Bano’s memories and tell us what happened after her life was shattered. The revelations come thick and fast in the end, turning a tale of tragic lost love into one of human endurance and hope.

Anupam turned in a polished script, with powerful language that was at once moving and completely understandable to even the most basic Hindi-Urdu speaker.

She also directed the play and with the support of a technical team’s good eye for detail; everything on the sets added to the mood. The narrow Bapco stage was used to great effect. If there was any flaw to 34 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

tweak, it would be that the background music could have been limited to certain scenes and moments instead of continuing throughout – it swallowed the effect of the beautiful words!

Every member of the cast was a key to furthering the story but special mention must be made of Karthikey Mehta as the resentful brother who wants to live his own life unencumbered by a sister gone mad and Nisha Ranga who put in a good turn as the troublemaker bhabhi.

The mother’s role was neatly executed by Monica Ravi and gave valuable background information to the main story.

The evening star who shone brightest was Ishita Bishnoi Khanna who took the role of Noor Bano and simply owned it.

The love, the longing, the grief, the flailing against fate and the final denouement were handled with such an outpouring of emotion that it was hard to believe she could smile so cheerily when taking the bow!

salaam society

Urdu poetry tribute The Majlise Fakhre Bahrain group, which is doing yeoman service in promoting an appreciation of Urdu’s mellifluous beauty, conducted a much-appreciated “Aalami Mushaira” - a gathering of poets. Held in memory of Pandit Brij Narayan Chakbast, an early 20th century poet, the mushaira was attended by some of the finest poets of the sub-continent: Anwer Shaoor, Tahir Fraz, Popular Meruthi, Iqbal Ashhar, Aleena Itrat, Shahid Zaki, Abul Rehman Momin, Aalok Shrivastav and leading local poets.

The evening celebrated the Urdu language, its quintessential spirit, inclusive ethos, creative richness and linguistic heritage. Chakbast was an Urdu poet, critic, editor, researcher and a prominent lawyer. He was one of the greatest writers of Urdu poetry. His ghazals and nazm, including “Khaak-E-Hind,” “Ramayan Ka Aik Scene,” and “Gulzaar-E-Naseem,”

This is the first production of Anupam’s informal yet deadly serious art group ‘Khwabgah’ which plans to encourage all forms of art among enthusiasts in Bahrain. A special word for the excellent organisation by Ramesh Kinger – from to the collecting of database for Khwabgah’s future productions to the chai and pakora in the end, the well-executed plan gave us all the time to watch and absorb the play and then stay back and discuss and dissect it in the best playhouse tradition.

continue to influence the writers and poets of India.

Majlise Fakhre Bahrain also presented the works of one of the great great Urdu poets, Shaharyar,Raghupati Sahai Firaq Gorakhpuri, Irfan Siddiqi, Anand Narayan Mulla and Khaleel-Ur-Rehman Azmi The sixth book “The Poetic Diction and 35 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

Personality of Brij Narayan Chakbast” was launched in this event. Poet Shakeel Ahmed Sabrahadi commenced the event with the lighting of the lamp for unity in presence of several eminent guests.

Iqbal Ashhar started the program with beautiful poetry and Aalok Shrivastav hosted the Mushaira.

salaam society

MGD praises women achievers

May Al Haji

Harsha Bhatia

The people at Malabar Gold & Diamonds sure know how to treat ladies with respect and warmth. For International Women’s Day this year, the well-known jeweller chose four women of diverse achievements to showcase the role they play in our society and how Bahrain’s cosmopolitan community gives them the room to thrive. The ladies honoured were Harsha Bhatia, Indian businesswoman, Bahraini triathlete May Al Haji, Nomi Rajan, an acclaimed glass artist from Pakistan and photographer Beverley West from South Africa.

MGD shot a beautiful video of the four ladies which explained their lifephilosophy and achievements. They were welcomed to the MGD showroom on Government Avenue and received a basket of goodies and the video was shared with an audience of cheering

family and friends.

Kudos to the two gentlemen of MGD - Muhammad Isak whose idea this was and to Mohammed Rafik who helped realise this lovely celebration. At Salaam Bahrain, we are delighted to hear that the whole concept was sparked off by our January Cover Story of women in banking and finance!

36 SALAAM BAHRAIN

Nomi Rajan

APRIL

2018

Beverley West

Couture moments at AWFE 2018

The third edition of the ‘Arabian Women Fashion Expo 2018’ was inaugurated under the patronage of the CEO of Injaz Bahrain, Her Highness Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, by Her Highness Shaikha Noora bint Abdulla Al Khalifa.

The event was organised by Touches Events and supported

by Tamkeen. It showcased the innovation and designer savvy of local fashion entrepreneurs and saw footfall by key female figures from Bahrain and across the GCC. Around 40 leading designers from the GCC and the Middle East had been selected to take part in the exhibition to showcase the latest trends in fashion, jewelry and home accessories, further positioning the expo as one of the leading fashion exhibitions in the region.

37 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

fashion

LFW 2018: Falguni Shane Peacock Debut Menswear With a Twist Karan Johar, Sonakshi Sinha Up The Style Quotient While Sonakshi Sinha opened the show in a black embroidered jacket with, Karan Johar walked, sporting two jackets one after the other, and completed his look with silver hair.

fashion After years of glamorous women's wear, designer duo Falguni Shane Peacock decided to debut their menswear collection at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week Summer/ Resort 2018. But with a twist. The men-fashion oriented show was opened by actress Sonakshi Sinha.”The show had to start with a woman and she had to wear a suit,” says Shane of the designer duo. But after that, it was menswear all the way, stylish, luxe and blingy…yes, even office wear.

Shane shares that while the planning to design a menswear collection has been underway for years, things actually panned out only in the last two weeks. “Before we could decide on a collection and what the look is going to be, we had decided it was only Karan Johar. I said let's pitch to Karan, if he says no, we'd change the line,” he adds while speaking about the actual show-stopper of the night.

While Sonakshi opened the show in a black embroidered jacket, Karan walked, sporting two jackets one after the other, and completed his look with silver hair. Titled Louche, the collection was inspired by the shiny era of 70s and constituted a colour palette of grey, blingy black and dark blue and ranged from sequined jackets, embellishments on the bombers and 3-piece suits.

KJo, who sported silver hair and strutted with sheer aplomb, said that the show felt like a 10-minute party. “When the ramp is converted into a party zone, that's when you enjoy the show even more. I'm half Sindhi, so bling goes with my territory. Men should never shy away from shining, because it's there way of expressing their innocent soul.”

“About 5 years back, men did not want to experiment that much, everyone just wanted to wear a well-tailored suit and that's what it was,| Falguni explained, “But now, men are now upping their game, courtesy Bollywood. If you look at Ranveer Singh, I don't think anyone has dared to do that. Men today want more than a well-tailored suit. Which is what is exciting for us,” she said.

She added, “You can't expect a guy to wear women's clothes, but a girl can wear men's suits. So there's so much more you can do with women. But the whole feel around the world is such that men have started experimenting, starting putting patches on their clothes, they want to do kaftans, they want to do bombers, wear shorts. It's not just a plain suit anymore.”

Ritu Kumar’s Rock-Chic look Ritu Kumar’s street smart Hip Hop Baroque collection was such a dazzling departure from her usual traditional wear and bridal lehenga!

The fashion line at Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2018 was an amalgamation of street couture and rap culture. From metallic to velvet suits, Ritu Kumar’s latest collection is the perfect guidebook to ace the street style look. And didn’t we tell you belts are all the style rage this season? See how Ritu worked in the fanny packs and mid-waist belts. Whether it’s clipping it by your waist or on your shoulder, we now know that a fanny pack is one of the coolest fashion accessories of the season.

fashion

Said Ritu Kumar, “We wanted our collection to be reflective of a young culture with hip hop blended into it and that’s how it came about.”

There were colours and prints mixed in vibrant hues and patterns and there were 90s DIY punk directions that will appeal to the young swinging dressers. ‘I think when you own your style, it becomes fashion. Fashion is not something that overpowers your personality. I think it should gel with your personality so well that your personality shines out of it,’ she said.

Fashion graffiti Along with belts, quirky bags are rocking summer fashion trends in the 2018 scene. And Bobo Calcutta, a label by Ayushman Mitra is ruling it with a mix of his artwork and graphic motifs, which he sprinkled with hand embroidered sequins and threads.

In his Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2018 collection, Ayushman brought alive the catwalk with op-art visuals on the maxis dresses, boiler suits, tiered maxis, floppy tops and kaftans had a mix of abstract and wild imagery with vibrant striking facial studies and giant visuals of lips and eyes. The prints developed from graphics and paintings spoke of a unique sexuality of love.

Loose silhouettes in white, orange, rust were the perfect canvas for the bold splashes of red, green and black abstract art.

Ayushman has earlier designed outfits for the film NH7 and for popular pop band Ganesh Talkies.

100 Gold Bars as prizes in MGD Malabar Gold & Diamonds (MGD) has unfolded the details of its much awaited promotion, ‘The Great Gold Rush’ to celebrate this festive season.

This promotion will run at all Malabar Gold & Diamonds outlets in the Middle East & Far East.

In Bahrain the offer will run from 28 March to 21 April, 2018. The customers get unparalleled opportunities to win a total of 100 gold bars across their showrooms in GCC & Far East. A true shopper’s delight, MGD will captivate the customers with eye-catching designs in gold, diamonds, platinum and precious gems from different parts of the world.

In Bahrain, with every purchase of diamond jewellery worth BHD 50, customers will get 2 raffle coupons and with every gold jewellery purchase worth BHD 50 will get 1 raffle coupon that will entitle them to enter in a raffle draw to get a chance to win 100 gram gold bars. In Bahrain a total of 5 lucky winners will walk away with 100 gram gold bars each. Adding to the above, customers also get two gram gold coin on diamond jewellery purchase of BHD 500 and a one gram gold coin on purchase of diamond jewellery worth BHD 300.

Customers will have a great opportunity to get the gold rate protection by just paying 10% of the entire amount on the selected gold jewellery to get protected from the increasing gold rate - this offer is until 18 April only.

The customers also get a fabulous

chance to buy 8gm (22K) gold coins without paying the making charges during this period. Furthermore, customers can avail the zero deduction offer on 22K (GCC) gold jewellery exchange as well. All the above offers are valid at their outlets in Bahrain until 21 April 2018.

To add more sparkle to this season, they have also revealed their latest collection 45 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

gold glitter

of jewellery in gold, diamonds and precious gems as a part of various brands presented at Malabar Gold & Diamonds’ namely Ethnix - Handcrafted Designer Jewellery, Era - Uncut Diamond Jewellery, Mine - Diamonds Unlimited, Divine- Indian Heritage Jewellery, Precia - Gem Jewellery and Starlet – Kids jewellery.

health

N TO Z OF WOMEN’S HEALTH Here is Part Two of our special on women’s health issues, presented alphabet-wise from N to Z. To make it easier, we have also added links for you to follow to get additional information. And yes, there are no issues under the letters Q and X!

By KASHMEERA SAMBAMOORTHY

NUTRITION:

OSTEOPOROSIS:

Unlike men, whose nutritional needs don’t fluctuate too much, women need a completely different nutritional template at different stages of their life – whether entering puberty, at womanhood, during pregnancy, after delivery and nursing or after menopause. Pregnant and lactating mothers need higher calorie intake and richer nutrition.

Some of the common problems that women need to overcome with nutrition are anaemia and calcium deficiency. Women also need to focus on eating the right kind of carbs so that their daily routine, which involves more physical work at home than men, can be efficiently managed with plenty of energy and no extra calorie hangover. To avoid anaemia, for example eating just two ripe dates every day will fix the iron in the blood.

These days there are many nutrition apps that can be used to plan a daily diet full of goodness. In addition, hospitals and medical centres too have qualified dietitians who can advise on women’s nutritional needs.

Our bones are literally the frame on which our muscles and skin rest and they are what make movement possible. Joint and bone disease can limit movement and be painful. Among women, osteoporosis is a disease which weakens the bones, and causes them to break easily. Women are more susceptible mainly because after menopause, when estrogen is reduced in the body, bone calcium is leached and the bones literally get powdery inside. A hunched posture, shrinking of the skeletal height, back-pain, sloping shoulders and curvature of spine are all indicators of osteoporosis.

Ways to avoid or limit osteoporosis is to avoid smoking and alcohol use, eating plant calcium in sesame seeds and greens and Vitamin D consumption as medical supplements or by exposure to the sun. In addition, do

46 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

get a bone density test done.

For more information, refer to, https:// www.iofbonehealth.org/bahrainosteoporosis-society

POLYCYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS, is one of the most common problems faced by women – in fact one in 10 women of child-bearing age suffer from it. It is caused by an imbalance of reproductive organs and affects the ovaries. Luckily it is easily treatable. Symptoms are experienced range from irregular menstrual cycle to acne on the face, chest, upper back; hirsutism (excessive hair like a man on face, chin, and other parts of the body); weight gain; darkening of the skin; thinning of the hair; and skin tags found in the arm pit, and neck.

For further information, refer to https:// jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/pcos

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: Arthritis is a very common phenomenon, which attacks many joints in the hands, wrist and knee, at once. It results in damage to the tissue, causes chronic pain, unsteadiness, and misshapenness.

If one experiences stiffness or pain in more than one joint, weight loss, fatigue, fever, tenderness and swelling in joints, then, these are the symptoms of rheumatism.

Rhumatoid arthritis normally affects adults, who have crossed their sixties, who are smokers, who are obese and genetically inclined towards rheumatism.

The best way to prevent or reduce its effect is to indulge in non-jarring physical activity such as aqua aerobics or gentle yoga, quit smoking, eat a healthy diet, and join a self-management class, that will give you confidence in managing the issue.

For more information, refer to, https:// www.womenshealth.gov/heartdisease-and-stroke/stroke/strokeprevention

STROKE: Stroke is a medical emergency, which can lead to brain damage, long lasting disability and even death. Stroke is more dangerous than breast cancer, because it kills twice as many women. The negative effects of stroke increases when one ages, but women between the age group of 45-54 are at a higher risk.

Early signs of stroke can include numbness of the arm, face, leg or just one side of the body or disorientation, confusion or trouble in speaking and understanding, severe headache without any reason, vision problems in one or both eyes.

The quicker a stroke victim seeks medical help, the better are chances of recovery.

It is imperative to maintain ideal weight, exercise and reduce consumption of fatty foods that may raise cholesterol levels.

For more information, refer to http:// www.stroke.org/understand-stroke/ impact-stroke/women-and-stroke

THYROID DISEASE: Our thyroid gland produces thyroid hormone, which controls many activities in the body. This important gland is based below the Adam’s apple area and is shaped like a small butterfly. Women are more susceptible to thyroid problems –

The best way to prevent or reduce its effect is to indulge in non-jarring physical activity such as aqua aerobics 47 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

hyperthyoroid in which too much hormone is produced or hypothyroidism in which too little thyroid hormone is produced.

Thyroid disease affects menstrual cycle and also affects ovulation, thus limiting the chances of becoming pregnant.

Thyroid also causes problems during pregnancy, which is likely to result in health complications to both mother and the baby. A thyroid test is today part of the arsenal of tests that women take to prepare for any irregularities For more information, refer to http:// www.stroke.org/understand-stroke/ impact-stroke/women-and-stroke

URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS: Women are more susceptible to UTI as their urinary tracts are much shorter than men’s and infection travels rapidly from one area to the inner parts. Causes can range from diabetes and kidney stone to lack of a good hydration habit and also can be spread during intercourse.

Symptoms include a pain or burning sensation while urinating, pressure in the lower abdomen, the urge to pee often without any result, bad-smelling urine which may have a cloudy appearance and presence of blood in the urine.

UTIs are easily treated with antibiotics but frequent attacks may signal an

underlying kidney issue and need checking up.

For further information, refer to https://www. womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/urinary-tractinfections

VARICOSE VEINS: Varicose veins occur in the back of the legs and look like twisted cords that bulge. They can be blue, red or flesh colored. Spider veins are like varicose veins but are smaller in size. Varicose veins and spider veins cause tremendous pain due to the pressure of body weight, force of gravity, etc. They are treatable when one is in their 20s, but, after one crosses the 30s, treating varicose veins becomes nearly impossible.

An important treatment method involves allocating proper time for standing and sitting – too much of both is bad. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, taking medications on time both go a long way in preventing the emergence of varicose and spider veins.

For more information, refer to https://www. medicinenet.com/varicose_veins/article. htm#varicose_veins_and_spider_veins_facts

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: Since women are more susceptible to pressure from society to maintain what is seen as ‘ideal weight’ and also since their child-bearing makes them more prone to putting on weight, it is inevitable that all over the world, more women suffer from eating disorders than men. Anorexia, in which patients push themselves psychologically and physically to eat the bare minimum and do not recognise their dangerous weight loss is a common ailment and needs careful treatment through closely monitored meals and behavioral therapy.

Similarly, bulimia, in which the sufferer often binge-eats and then forces herself to vomit out the meal is equally dangerous. The regurgitated stomach acids eat away teeth enamel and the food pipe lining when vomiting becomes frequent.

Teenagers are especially prone to eating disorders, although it is not uncommon even among pre-teens. It is vital for parents to encourage healthy self-image among children and inculcate a family schedule of ‘together time’ for exercising so that children learn to associate exercise with affection and good feelings. For children and adults (of both genders), watch for gradual weight loss that quickly tips into the danger zone; habits such as pushing food around the plate to give the impression of eating, wearing loose clothes to avoid weight loss being noticed and even too many layered clothes when the weather does not warrant it.

Whether a loved one is the sufferer or you yourself are showing these symptoms, seek urgent help because this seemingly innocuous-sounding illness can lead to death or irreversible organ damage.

For further information, refer to http://groomandstyle.com/naturalweight-loss-for-women/

YEAST INFECTIONS: Vaginal yeast infection is a common problem for women. Symptoms include itching and brining of the vulva and groin area. It can also cause pain during intercourse or when urinating and soreness in the vaginal area.

While impaired immune systems because of conditions like diabetes can lead to recurrent vaginal yeast infections, very tight clothing that restricts blood flow to the groin can also lead to a flare-up. Keeping blood sugar under control, changing wet clothes, maintaining menstrual hygiene with regular changes of sanitary pads and tampons (don’t believe the 12-hour advertisements) are some of the ways than can prevent or lower the risk of vaginal infection.

For more information, refer to https://www.healthline.com/health/ vaginal-yeast-infection

A melodious earful from Usha Uthup

The ticket launch by music fan and sponsor Team Brand Box with Usha Uthup Mohammed Zaki

salaam society

Vinny M. gets recognition for her magic with the make-up

Time and age have not dimmed the love fans have for Indian pop queen Usha Uthup. She was in Bahrain once again for a BrandBox concert and put some much-needed melody into our hearts!

48 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

salaam society

Malaysia Week focus on cuisine,

The Ambassador with guests

Guests at the party

Ahmed Jawahery, Ambassador Yosufm and guest. Colourful costumes make the day

Dr. Hala Jamal and Wani

Colourful traditional attire

Nasi Goreng the most popular Malaysian food

Rashida Tadayon and Henny Dawani

They don’t call it Truly Asia for nothing – Malaysia, with its Indian, Chinese and other Asian-origin people merging seamlessly with indigenous Malaysians has always been an example of the exotic modern life. The Malaysian embassy organised the first Malaysia Week in Bahrain with food festivals, High-Tea at Rumah Malaysia, residence of Ambassador Agus Salim Yusof and wife Wani as well as a showcase of Malaysian products at Lulu Hypermarket and Al Jazira Supermarket. The Food Bazaar that was held at the Chancery building in Seef, was attended by 200 people, where many came from the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

There were food festivals at Wyndham Garden Hotel and Swiss Belhotel and a premium property show hosted by property developers Reconsult PLT, Ireka, Guocoland, and Astaka Padu, at Ritz Carlton Hotel 50 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

culture, investment

A traditional dance by the ladies

Musicians from Malaysia render a melodious treat

A stall of Malaysian goodies

Wani, Praharaj, Ambassador Yusof, Rumaihi of PM's Court & Dato Sayed Taha

The Malaysian Food Festival at Wyndham Garden was a big hit with live cookery demo and a packed VIP guest list 51 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

salaam society

Ruby wedding for Dinesh-Bhavna

Three gens of the Shah family

Say 40 with cake

Bhavna with friends

'Sha-shaying'down the happiness road with friends

With Jasbir Singh & family - friend of 40 years A painterly gift from the Duttas

Dinesh and Bhavna Shah’s large circle of friends joined their children and grand-children from North America to celebrate the couple’s 40th wedding anniversary in style. There was plenty of music and the little girls, Aariya and Aashna (our Bahrain girl Reema and husband Amit’s twins) certainly stole our hearts with their energetic dancing.

The icing on the cake was when son Dhaval announced his much-awaited engagement to the lovely Layla.

Dheeptha’s fabulous b’day bash From superfeast to takeaway box: the journey of the Chinese gourmet

Sweet beginnings -Dheeptha with her parents and brother

The band plays Dheeptha's song

Never too busy for that selfie!

Dheeptha Shetty is best-known for her stylish birthday parties – she used to ‘design’ them even as a kid! For her seventeenth, parents Asha and Shantharam and loving brother Ashish, threw her a made-to-order birthday lunch party at the Art Rotana. Dressed in their early-summer best, the young ‘uns certainly put a spark in our hearts!

That's what besties are for!

52 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

New ILA team walks to success

Ladies in pink led from the front

Excellent community participation at the Sneha Walkathon

Outgoing committee head Shamima pins Thanuja Anil as President for 2018

Wha a melodious evening it was at the Annual Day!

The new team at the helm of the Indian Ladies Association ensured that the oldest expat women’s group in the GCC was in the pink of health when they invited the community to a balmy walk at the beautiful Water Garden City in Seef. More than 300 enthusiastic​​ friends of ILA and their Sneha Recreation Centre for children with special needs turned up wearing pink tees to celebrate the spirit of Sneha.

There was an energetic Zumba session led by Raka Mukhopadhyay and food stalls selling tasty goodies.

Great going Thanu and team! We’re all rooting for ya!

Earlier the association also held an annual day to bid adieu to the committee of 2017 and welcome the new team with a musical evening.

The outgoing (front) and incoming ILA committees 53 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

in the news

Bright 2017 heralds excellent future for LIC (Intn’l) LIC (International) announced that it had recorded a growth rate of 34 per cent in first premium income and 8pc in number of policies, thus achieving its new business targets for the year 2017.

The company, during its 101st Board Meeting held in March 2018, said it has written a first premium income of US$385 million, which is the highest till date.

The meeting was held in the presence of Usha Sangwan, Managing Director, LIC of India, Abdulrahman Ali Alwazzan, Director, Intercol and Rajesh Kandwal, CEO & Managing Director, LIC (International) The Company achieved its New Business targets for the year 2017 showing a growth rate of 34% in first premium income and 8% in number of policies.

The company has written a first premium income of USD 385 million which is the highest till date. The total net premium revenue reported growth of 34 percent to USD 534 million in 2017 as against USD 400 million in 2016. The total revenue

of the Company was USD 631 million as compared to USD 493 million last year showing growth of about 28 percent.

The investment income of the Company increased to USD 98 million from that of USD 82 million in 2016 showing growth of 20 percent.

A detailed review of the New Business Performance, financials and also investments for the year 2017 was made in the Meeting.

An amount of USD 198.16 million was paid to policyholders by way of claims and other payments against USD 173.00

Colour-fun with SGS

Shree Gujarati Samaj Bahrain organised a Family Holi in the Lost Paradise of Dilmun water park. More than 600 people attended the festival and people enjoyed the newly renovated water park facilities. There was a DJ to play Holi tunes, people danced, and enjoyed the wave pool.

54 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

million of 2016.

The total assets of the Company increased to USD 2.2 billion in 2017 from USD 1.8 billion in 2016, showing a growth of 24%. The Company earned a profit of USD 16.74 million for the year 2017.

In order to cater to the pressing need especially of NRIs, the company is in the process of bringing a very attractive new term assurance product with heath-related riders and also a new single premium conventional saving-cum-protection product with money back at specified duration.

salaam society

Hempel’s brilliant new paint

The happening Hempel launch had Kuwaiti social media influencer Noha Nabil in the lead

Hempel, the leading global coating company, launched Topaz Brilliance, a new and revolutionary one-coat interior paint.

The new environmentally friendly product includes a palette of 56 colours inspired by countries from around the world as well as 7 shades of white, all of

which come in two different sheens. It also offers the added value of a guaranteed one-coat hide.

The paint range was launched at an exclusive event at The Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, which was attended

by VIP guests, including major clients from across the Middle East and the

55 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

local media. Hempel regional and group management were also present on the occasion along with Kuwaiti social media influencer Noha Nabil.

More than 250 retail outlets have already placed orders to make this product available for their customers with many more set to be onboard soon.

health

A GENE-IOUS WAY TO STAY HEALTHY PGA is cutting-edge medical biotechnology that helps to safeguard against certain conditions. It is now available in Bahrain.

By HINA ASAR

including carbohydrates, fats, proteins and vitamins. Understanding the genetics of these metabolic processes gives us better understanding of the true nutritional requirements of our body.

Thyrocare Gulf, which has achieved global accreditation of ISO 15189 and CAP, has tied up with Datar Cancer Genetics Limited for their oncology based genomic solutions. This report provides individuals with a comprehensive insight into their genome. Jain revealed, “Late detection is the primary cause of death due to cancer. The PGA provides an early warning system for those who have a family history. The forewarning gives an individual an earlier opportunity to manage the disease than if it is caught accidentally or at a later stage.

Early warning Ever wondered why just glancing at a burger adds inches to your waistline while your friend can hog a whole meal without showing any traces of it? No, it’s not incidental, and neither is it a figment of your imagination. There is a science behind it….the science of the genes you have inherited from your parents.

Confused already? Allow me to explain.

Genes are the building blocks of life and every individual is born with a unique set of genes. No two siblings have the same set, unless they are identical twins.

This explains why even children of the same parents differ in their aptitude, temperament and hobbies. By analyzing the genes, we can know a lot about how a person digests and utilizes food, how he is susceptible to certain diseases, and how he responds to medicines. This report on the genetic make-up of an individual is called Personal Genome Analysis (PGA).

Disease detective Akshay Jain, the Managing Director of Thyrocare Gulf Laboratories, explained how a Personal Genome Analysis can guide the individual by making him or her aware of particular risk factors and facilitating timely detection.

“Early preventive or medical intervention is a key aspect of disease management.

Please note that the PGA gives the individual a statistical probability of him getting the disease,” he says, “It is not a diagnosis and it does not mean that he will definitely get it. However, once the risk factors are known, introducing some precautionary measures and changing lifestyle goes a long way in keeping the person healthy. As they say, prevention is better than cure.”

The report also reveals the metabolic response of an individual to various components of food that we consume 56 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

“For example, if a lady has a family history of cancer, we do a multi-gene analysis instead of doing only BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes. This simultaneous analysis of multiple predisposition genes has a greater likelihood of identifying a hereditary cause for cancer. These samples are then sent to India and if the screening confirms the presence of any gene mutation associated with hereditary cancer, measures to prevent or delay the onset can be taken. Earlier the detection, the more treatable it is. The cost maybe marginally higher but the tests are much more comprehensive.”

He added, “Since we are only a diagnostic facility, we don’t dispense treatments. To facilitate that we have tied up with hospitals in the region. In Bahrain, we are partnered presently with the Royal Bahrain Hospital. When we speak to oncologists here, they are surprised that a company from India has this cutting edge technology. In fact, samples from

Western countries also come to our labs for testing.”

Another aspect of disease management where PGA plays a helpful role is Pharmacogenomics. It involves testing the known drugs for a particular ailment and identifying which of these would have the best outcome based on the genetic makeup of the individual. Let’s say someone is suffering from a headache and has a choice of taking Panadol, Paracetamol, Crocin or Adol. Which of these would work to the optimum? PGA can provide answers based on the genetic framework of the individual. This aspect can be very helpful in extreme cases where doctors do not have the luxury to experiment.

Time-saver “A disease like cancer is not a one day or T20 match where there are quick solutions. Even if the first therapy is successful there is no guarantee that the disease won’t recur. In other cases when the first line of treatment is not successful, oncologists struggle to find which drug can lead to the best outcome for the

particular patient. It is in such cases that Pharmacogenomics can come to their aid by discovering through scientific tests that which drug will be the most effective and at what dosage. Right now, we are in the process of creating awareness in the medical fraternity that there are tools available to aid them. After all, we all have a common goal – to ensure a healthy outcome for all patients.”

Jain shared the details of a case in India where the doctors did all they could but finally asked the family to take the patient home so that she could spend the last few months with her family. Before discharging her, they did a pharmacogenomics test and prescribed medications based on that test. That was one and a half years ago and the patient is still leading a fairly healthy life. In cancers of the brain or lungs, where it is difficult to get tissue for analysis, blood based biopsies are done which give equivalent results.

“The FDA has started using these just six months ago but we have been doing them in our laboratories in India for more than a year. Regionally too, many diagnostic

centers do just a single gene analysis without looking at a broad spectrum. The primary goal of Thyrocare is to prevent the disease from manifesting itself. If a person has awareness of his vulnerability to certain diseases, he can do a lot of lifestyle corrections and remain healthy.

What differentiates us is the technology we use and the number of mutations we look at. Additionally we are affordable for all sections of society. We aim to provide quality at the right price in order to create a healthier society.”

You can book your PGA Test through Thyrocare in Bahrain or through the Royal Bahrain Hospital. Jain emphasises that the test is only an assessment tool and not a diagnosis and Thyrocare does not provide diagnosis.

“That is the expertise of a doctor and RBH doctors can analyse your PGA result and tell you what your risks are and advise how to minimise them. However, a PGA analysis is only an assessment and not a diagnosis – it certainly does not mean you will 100% fall ill to the disease in question.”

salaam society

Optica opens store in Busaiteen The Kingdom’s leading advanced eyewear boutique, Optica launched its latest store in Busaiteen opposite the King Hamad Hospital.

Optica’s Director, Mahmood Al Hasan said, “The new store is the 15th Optica outlet in Bahrain and is equipped as a full state-of-the art optical solutions outlet. We are pleased to offer our vision expertise to raise the awareness for eye health among local residents.”

Whether customers are looking for a particular need or to update their current look, Optica offers a consultative process of guiding them to select eyewear that compliments not only their facial features and personal style but most importantly, suit their eyewear needs. After a thorough assessment of their personal lifestyle, preferences and eye care needs, customers will be advised on the most suitable choice of frame material, shape, colour and design for them to bring together fashion, functionality and comfort.

57 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

foodie musing

Going tribal in the kitchen Tribals’ indigenous diet shows how we can align our good health objectives with natural foods.

BY K.R.N. SWAMY

With inputs by Kashmeera S.

Indian tribals live close to nature and every food source is used. From insect larvae to roots, medicinal herbs and plants and

Just wrap your head around this: there are 645 tribal districts as recognised by the Government of India. As per the 2011 census, tribals make up 8.6% of India’s population – that’s nearly 11 crore people.

In the North-east alone, there are a fascinating 200 different tribes!

With such diversity, it is little wonder that the culture and cuisine of Indian tribals are so distinctive. Isn’t it surprising though, that little is known about Indian tribal food customs? Spread across the length and breadth of India, Indian tribal food is distinctive and shaped by the lifestyle of the tribes – whether they are forest dwellers, nomadic or settlers.

Adventure gastro The popular belief that tribal food is exotic and weird is not always correct –

there are dishes that can fit on any urban dining table. For instance, did you know that the perennial French gastronomic delight, frog legs, is a seasonal delight among the Lepcha community in Sikkim, which swears by their medicinal quality to cure various stomach ailments?

Then again, there are food specialities that are certainly not easily replicated in your urban kitchen. The Dhuruva tribe in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, serves a chutney with a real ‘bite’ – red-hot red-ant chutney! The ants are dried and then crushed with salt, sweeteners and spices.

It is so sharp and spicy that it can set your tongue on fire. The ants contain formic acid which is believed to have medicinal qualities.

In Kohima, Nagaland, street-food can mean a plate-full of snail stew, steamed 58 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

hornet larvae and silkworm curry. The state is home to more than 15 tribes, each with its distinctive style of cooking.

Most of the tribes in Meghalaya – the Khasi, Garo and Jaintia – list rice and pork as their food staples. The popular Doh Khleh is an extreme recipe for sure – a salad of steamed pig’s brain and raw onion. One popular Meghalayan tribal food that has been adapted as city street food is the steamed momo – meat or minced vegetables wrapped in rice flour dough bundles and steamed.

A key difference between what people see as ‘mainstream’ Indian cuisine and tribal food is that the ingredients of tribal recipes are either fresh-off-the-field/tree or processed naturally – either dried or preserved. Moreover, tribal gastronomic traditions underscore the medicinal aspect

of ingredients, especially herbs. Even flavour enhancers such as honey are not chemically processed but collected raw and stored for use.

Besides seasonality, tribal food also emphasises regional availability. Unlike mainstream cooking that will experiment with fusion of ingredients from the global marketplace, tribal recipes will strictly follow what is available in the season and the tribe’s surroundings.

A chicken dish in Andhra Pradesh will use only the chillies specific to the state while the chicken recipe of the Khasi tribe of the North East will use only the small, round chillies of that area.

One of the most important reasons why we need to listen to tribal experts and record their culinary history is because they hold the key to India’s bio-diversity and grain heritage. Although India is known for its plant species, only about 20 or so varieties are cultivated and used for food. But the story is different among tribes. The Pahariya tribe of Giridih district alone grows around 20 different types of pulses. Similarly, people from Uttrakhand produce over 200 varieties of rajma (kidney beans) and conserve traditional rice varieties also.

Inroads Owing to easier access, some pockets of tribal culinary experience have made their way into the commercial platform, especially in South India and in tourist hot-spots such as Bhubaneshwar.

In the South, some food enthusiasts have codified tribal recipes and serve them in a restaurant setting for those who wish to try it. You can enjoy the authentic dishes of the tribal belts of Araku at Vihar restaurant near Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. These include bamboo chicken, bamboo vegetables and ‘potlan’ chicken, prepared with fresh herbs brought from the Eastern Ghats.

wild game, the tribal diet is healthy and rich

Unprocessed The incredible feature of tribal gastr-onomy is that it it is as yet untouched by that scourge of modern diet, excessive oil use and frying. Tribal food does not use any kind of oil or packaged commercial spices. Herbs are used not only for the taste but also for their medicinal properties and indigenous fresh spices are sourced from the area in which the tribes live. In fact, in Manipur, it is a practice in tribal homes to have kitchen gardens and even rear fish in small ponds around the house. The food is not spicy and is cooked in such a way that the nutritive value is retained.

Since most of the ingredients are harvested, no part of the food chain goes unused. Villagers of Ganjam district in Odisha, for instance, consume dried seeds of mango and jack fruit. There is also no sentimentality attached to food sources. While fish and wild game such as duck, pigeon etc. are very popular, Naga tribes also eat dogs, cats, fish, spiders, birds, crabs - in fact almost any living thing that they can lay their hands on.

Wild game is hunted but many Naga tribals also eat cats and dogs

59 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

foodie musing At the Ethnic Food Corner, at the foothills of the Ambukuthy hills near the Edakkal caves in Kerala, this pop-up weekend restaurant offers genuine tribal cuisine prepared under the watchful eye of N. Vellan, a tribal chieftain of the Nellarachal Kuruma Colony.

“We prepare nearly 17 varieties of food items of the Kuruma tribe here like boiled wild tubers with honey, bamboo rice payasam, grilled chicken, fried rock crabs, fried mushroom, ‘muddha ada’, ‘muddha vada’, ‘karakkundappam’,’ kallu puttu’, coconut rice, ‘pollayappam’ and so on,” Mr. Vellan reels out, “For preparing grilled chicken, we follow the traditional way and the condiments used are entirely different from the modern style of cooking. The rock crabs are usually collected from the cracks of rocks in the nearby rivers and we use only ‘Gandhakasala’ rice, a scented rice of Wayanad for coconut rice and out ethnic

Kurumba tribesmen of Tamil Nadu

food such as kalluputtu, pollayappam and Karakkundappam.”

A survey titled Role of Ethnic and Indigenous People of India and their Culture in the Conservation of Biodiversity, authored by Rajiv Rai and Vijendara Nath, says about 3,900 plant species are used by tribals as food (out of which 145 species comprise root and tubers, 521 species of leafy vegetables, 101 species of bulbs and flowers and 647 species of fruits). A total of 525 species are used for fibre, 400 species as fodder, 300 species in preparation and extraction of chemicals, which are used as naturally-occurring insecticides and pesticides and 300 species for extraction of gum, resins, dyes and perfumes. So let’s start learning from our tribal families and get back in touch with good health.

A tasty launch by The Culinary Co. The Culinary Company, a newly launched catering company hosted an exclusive launch event on Monday 19 th of March. The event was attended by members of the media, social media and key individuals from the industry.

“The idea behind The Culinary Company is to offer a new standard of catering in the Kingdom of Bahrain by providing unique and creative solutions to all catering requirements from weddings to corporate events,” commented the Managing Director of The Culinary Company, Fatima Fuad.

“The food industry specifically, and the overall hospitality industry in Bahrain, has witnessed a great change both on the consumer level and supplier end. The requirements and demands are changing and it is vital that catering companies evolve to better suit the requirements of

the customers by creating adaptable services,” added Fatima.

The Culinary Company originated from a previous company called ‘Foods Limited’ which started off as a corporate lunch box delivery service back in 2010. Backed by eight years of experience, the company has offered its services to a range of 60 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

corporate and individual clients in Bahrain.

The Culinary Company specializes in catering and creating specialty culinary ventures aimed at redefine traditional catering in Bahrain. The company offers catering services for private, corporate and special events along with canteen management services.

Thanks our sponsors, music-lovers and supporters for making the TM KRISHNA concert come true Our Presenting Sponsor

Powered by

Co-Sponsors

Hospitality Partner

Travel Partner

Supported by

Date: Friday, April 6, 2018 Time: 7.00 p.m. (doors open: 6.30 p.m.)

Venue: Abdul Rahman Kanoo International School, Salmabad Co- Musicians:

Violin: R.K. Shriramkumar Mridangam: B. Sivaraman Ghatam: Chandrasekara Sharma G.

gold glitter

Joyalukkas raffle of 200 gold bars Joyalukkas, the world’s favourite jeweler will celebrate the gold spree ofAkshaya Tritiya with a limited edition collection, special gifts and a grand prize giveaway. For Akshaya Tritiya 2018, Joyalukkas has announced a very attractive prize of 200 gold bars.

In over 140 showrooms in 11 countries, customers will be spoilt for choice in diamond and polki jewellery specially created for the Akshaya Tritiya celebration. And for a minimum purchase of gold or diamond jewellery, shoppers enter a raffle draw for a chance to win up to 200 gold bars.

Aside from special rates on jewellery sets, patrons also enjoy 1 gram gold coins free on purchase of Diamond and Polki Jewellery, as well as 0% deduction on gold exchange. Even more exciting is the gold rate protection guarantee on offer for the duration of the promotion. By just paying 10% advance, customers are assured of getting their gold at the lowest rate till April 18, 2018.

“Akshaya Tritiya is a festival with a beautiful message about acting now, doing good now to reap

an abundance of rewards in the future,” says Joy Alukkas, Chairman & MD, Joyalukkas Group. “This resonates with the journey of Joyalukkas and each year we celebrate Akshaya Tritiya grandly. This year we are offering fabulous gifts and up to 200 gold bars as a thank you to our loyal customers, whose support has driven the tremendous growth of the brand and made the success we enjoy as a household name in jewellery retail worldwide possible.”

AWA Holi

Led by their imaginative photography group Shutterflies, the American Women's Association (AWA) members celebrated Holi, the Indian festival of colours, at Bahrain Beach Resort in Zallaq.

The event featured traditional dhol, Bollywood dancing, rain dancing and kite flying, among other activities.

62 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

youngistan

KG grads at NMS- DPS

New Millennium School – DPS celebrated the Graduation Ceremony themed ‘Bachpan’, felicitating 193 tiny tots of the Kindergarten who will now move to Class 1. It was heald In the presence of Managing Director Geetha Pillai of the Knowledge Management Group, which runs the school, the top 97 academic achievers of KG I and the students with 100% attendance were felicitated.

Of debatable tall tales Imagine having the luxury of spinning tall tales and winning a prize for it.

“Not that we encourage exaggeration, mind you, but our Tall tales and debates contest held recently certainly kept our speech craft skills sharp,” said Toastmaster Shubhashree of Area 1 Toastmasters which conducted the event along with the Annual Speech Contest.

Area 1 is also planning on an open house on May 3, to showcase the skills that can be developed by joining toastmasters.

Participants at the Area 1 Annual Speech Contest with the Area Director & Chairman of the event – Rashid Maymoon

Participants at the Area 1 Tall Tales & Debate Showcase with the Event Chairwoman – Shubhashree 63 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

SAKS FIFTH AVENUE BAHRAIN’S SPRING/SUMMER 2018 FASHION SHOW Tropical prints and fresh summer vibes conquered the runway on March 14th as Saks Fifth Avenue Bahrain presented their Spring Summer 2018 collection at the Middle East flagship store in City Centre Bahrain. With over 280 guests, the area was completely transformed from one of the most prestigious, luxury department stores into a fashion catwalk, setting the tone for this season’s hottest trends.

Fashion lovers, VIPs, trend seekers, and style influencers sat front row to catch

the latest looks from some of the world’s most sought-after brands.

While tropical prints, logomania and embellishments dominated the runway it also showcased everything from resort to colors of the season like khaki and army green to evening wear. Fashion lovers feasted their eyes on various trends such as flowy dresses, trench coats, transparent materials and colorful hues, featuring an exciting range of styles to admire.

The show presented over 20 64 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

cuisine

international designers such as Balenciaga, Chloe, Saint Laurent Paris, Lanvin, Moschino and Stella McCartney to name a few.

Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent and Giorgio Armani makeup artists worked their magic on the models leaving them fresh faced, with dewy skin, sun kissed cheeks and soft pink lips. Showcasing a strong menswear collection, the show displayed a variety of eye catching looks featuring designers such as Givenchy, Christian Dior, Philipp Plein, Kenzo, and Z Zegna. All models wore none other than Christian Louboutin to walk down the runway.

The iconic “Saks” logo gave way to the creative design for the backdrop set-up, with a mix of tropical colors and beating music for entertainment, making this show one of the most sought after fashion events of the season. The affair did not stop there, with an after-party hosted at the Westin Hotel for an unforgettable night celebrating fashion.

65 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

celeb chakkar

Quote of the Month For the Indian audience, watching a film is just about spending two hours... laugh, giggle, eat popcorn and come out... That’s it. It’s not beyond that. It’s a culture we need to develop -- how to see a film, what kind of approach to have while seeing a film.

- National Award-winning Assamese film-maker Jahnu Barua The film-maker who believes that the power of cinema should be used to change minds and society, says Indians have not realised the value of the medium. Barua said the approach should be almost like wanting to read a book -- “to gain something, not just to be entertained”.

The director says Bollywood is a difficult place for a film-maker like him.

He has completed shooting for Priyanka

Chopra’s maiden Assamese production Bhoga Khirikee (Broken Window) about a young village woman in a socio-politically volatile situation. Does he feel it might get wider visibility with a name like Priyanka backing it?

“It has nothing to do with banners or with whom you make a film,” he bristles, “It’s about the subject and issue you deal with, and how you represent it, because each and every social problem has a...

universality. So, I feel like my earlier films , this will also be accepted everywhere,” said Barua, who believes that content creators, filmmakers and artistes, as responsible citizens, should not detach themselves from the country’s issues.

The director helmed the 2005 Hindi film Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara, after which he was working on Preity Zintastarrer Har Pal, the production of which was halted.

Naraaz over Naragasooran

There’s a storm brewing over a promising Tamil film and veteran director-producer Gautham Vasudev Menon is in the eye of it. Apparently, Menon, the vice president of the Tamil Film Producers’ Council, has a mountain of debts hanging over his head and this has affected Karthick Naren’s Naragasooran, which he had underwritten.

Karthick accused Menon of delaying his film by not meeting commitments;

Menon, in turn, accused lead actor Arvind Swami of delaying the dubbing because he had not been paid. He wrote a letter on Twitter to Karthick explaining that he was emotionally invested in releasing the film and apologised for any ‘miscommunication’.

However, things took an ugly turn when Arvind Swami took a dig on Twitter at Menon, without naming him. He tweeted, “Yes we all can grow a few things, a pair of eyes that sees what we do to others , a pair of ears to hear the truth, a conscience to tell us when we are wrong and a pair of whatever to accept our mistakes and apologise...instead we grow our list of commitments that we can’t keep.”

Karthick Naren then jumped to Arvind Swami’s defence, telling reporters that, “Gautham sir has quoted that Arvind Swami was not ready to dub for the film until he was paid, in reality though if it were not for him, this film would have 66 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

been dropped. He was supposed to be paid an amount before the shoot began, but that did not happen. My entire team was in Ooty preparing for a shoot and he called me to tell me that the payment had not come across. But he said he would come for the shoot and we could figure it out later.”

The young director says that his team were left to fend for themselves and put in their money to complete the project. “I used the money that we got from Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru to complete this project,” he said.

Speaking about Gautham Menon’s statement, Karthick said, “It is great that he apologised and I also did the same from my side if what I said was wrong.

However, I wouldn’t agree with everything that he has mentioned in the statement.

Especially the fact that he did not invest in the project (because I have papers to prove that he did).”

Arya is ‘outed’ in marriage Hazel denies TV show shaaditrouble Marriage is a touchy subject in India, where even today newspapers publish special supplements stuffed with matrimonial ads and there are online matrimonial sites for different communities and even castes! Yes, most marriages are arranged by families even today.

Into this strange melee, we have seen a new entrant: television matrimonial shows! The latest to search for a life partner before millions of TV viewers, is Tamil hero Arya. The show Enga Veetu Mappilai (Our Son-In-Law) sees Arya choosing from 16 coy girls who vie for his attention and approval.

But it is not this regressive behaviour that has caused a stir. Instead, the outing of Arya’s religious affiliation – he is Muslim and his real name is Jamshad Cethirakath – has the Tamil nadu BJP in a froth. Show anchor Varalakshmi asked the participants if they would be willing to convert to

Islam to marry him. That was mischievous, considering Arya did not lay any such condition. But it was a perfect handle for BJP in the state to cry foul!

From the first Rakhi Ka Swayamvar (2009) and Rahul (Mahajan) Dulhaniya Le Jayega (2010) and Mere Khayalon Ki Mallika (2013), featuring Mallika Sherawat, these choose-your-spouse reality shows are great in raising TRPs but the happily-ever-after eludes the actors.

Apparently there is a one-year cooling-off written into the contract, which producers call the ‘get to know each other’ time.

But the celebs and their chosen spouses end up drifting apart. Rakhi Sawant got engaged to Canadian-Indian businessman Elesh Punjwani but broke the engagement.

Rahul Mahajan and Dimpy Ganguly got married but the couple divorced amidst bitter accusations of physical abuse from Dimpy, who is now happily married to Rohit Roy. In Season 3 (2011), TV queen Ratan Rajpoot chose software engineer Abhinav Sharma on her show but the couple’s relationship came to naught once the arc-lights switched off.

Mallika and her chosen beau, toyboy Vijay Singh broke up, mainly because he could not relocate to Los Angeles where she was at that time; Will Arya have better luck? Time will tell.

Rakhi and her suitors

67 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

Reports have been doing the rounds that all is not well between Yuvraj Singh and Hazel Keech. And it looks like the rumours of trouble in paradise are bothering Hazel.

The Bodyguard actress went into overdrive on Monday, sharing pictures of “quality family time” spent with her hubby Yuvraj, his brother Zoravar and mother Shabnam.

The couple, who married two years ago, first met at a mutual friend’s birthday in 2011, but it was only in 2014 that they became friends. After much persuasion, Hazel agreed to go on a date with Yuvraj, and soon, they fell head over heels in love with each other.

From Baahubali to RSS for Vijayendra

Did you know that ace story writer, Vijayendra Prasad who penned Baahu-

bali, was the father of SS Rajamouli, the movie’s director? The 75-year old writer has been a success for many decades now but found the Big Bullseye after Baahubali.

Here’s another link you probably didn’t know: Vijayendra Prasad was also the story-writer behind all-time Salman Khan hit Bajrangi Bhaijaan and won Filmfare’s Best Story Award for it. And of course, he was the writer behind actor Vijay’s recent superhit, Mersal.

Vijay has just finished working on the script of the Kangana Ranaut starrer, Manikarnika, a film about Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi.

With such powerful credentials, it was probably inevitable that India’s biggest

and most effective PR machine would recruit him sooner or later. Rumours are rife that Prasad has been approached to lend his magic touch to a Hindi movie which will glorify the birth, rise and achievements of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Sources say that the film may be bankrolled by the BJP and Prasad is said to have met the party’s national leader, Amit Shah for certain key discussions about the script. Top stars and well-known technicians from the Bollywood industry would be roped into the prestigious project.

Is this a campaign movie for 2019?

Maybe not because Prasad’s vast canvas action-driven stories take over two years to make.

Equal opportunity questions for KJo

When heroines have babies – which itself is a new phenomenon in B-Town – they are bombarded with questions about how they will manage motherhood and a glam cinema career. Well, the bending of gender roles have led to men also being asked these questions. Karan Johar has been batting off rumours that he has taken a sabbatical from films to be a hands-on parent to twins Yash and Roohi.

Luckily, as with heroines, the rumours are apparently not true. According to reports, Karan has clarified that he will not take a break from work and that he has all the time in the world for his babies.

However, he allegedly added that his work in the film industry is also a big part of his life so he won’t be going away from that anytime soon.

Hmm…the world is changing one question at a time!

68 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

celeb chakkar

Aasiya’s new avatar Best remembered as Ganga from Balika Vadhu, 26-year-old Aasiya Kazi is now back on Indian television after a sabbatical of 2 years.

In her brand new show titled Mere Papa Hero Hiralaal, she’s seen in a brand new avatar. And most importantly, she looks fitter than ever. The actress has lost oodles of weight (10 kgs to be precise) and is playing a character with shades of grey for the very first time.

Talking about her weight loss journey, she says: “I believe I’ve utilized my sabbatical of sorts to the maximum. I practically worked continuously for the last many years. I didn’t care about being in the best of shape, I’m not obsessed with weight loss either. I’m a foodie and will not starve and lose my sleep over a few kilos. I just had more free time during my break and I would workout often. I didn’t do it because I didn’t like something about my body, I lost weight because I did an activity I didn’t regularly do earlier. I’ve been receiving compliments and I feel better inside out. It is a part of my lifestyle now.”

Farhan adds insult to fB blow Ouch! Farhan Akhtar is the latest celebrity to join the gang of famous people deleting their Facebook accounts and adding insult to injury. The actor-musician has informed fans that while his personal Facebook page will be deleted, he is keeping his ‘business’ page FarhanAkhtarLive active.

That means celebs are setting the trend of going offline personally and staying online only for official work. If that isn’t the Kiss of Death for Facebook what is?

You wouldn’t want to be a lame LinkedIn, right?

While he hasn’t mentioned the reason for why he quit the social media platform, Farhan tweeted out the news himself, informing all his followers he was deleting his Facebook account.

With his action coming right after business and science mogul, Elon Musk deleting SpaceX and Tesla pages amidst Facebook’s privacy concern controversy; it’s safe to say that he’s probably the first Indian celebrity to join in on the #DeleteFacebook movement to protest the data breaches on the website.

69 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018

editor's view

Barely had the ink dried on our Chairman’s Salaam Bahrain column last month on the terrifying hold that exams have on our lives, when a storm broke out in India over the leaking of question papers for the CBSE Math paper for Class X and the Economics exam paper for Class XII. Now question papers being shown to students before the exam is no new phenomenon. The co-opting of teachers and exam invigilators to allow open cheating in exam halls so that results are terribly skewed, is not new. In the process, we have not only been setting loose incompetent engineers, accountants and doctors to serve our loved ones in the future – we were also compromising the moral underpinning of our lives.

But what makes it more toxic these days is that social media forwards stain the whole process, making it necessary for thousands of students to re-sit the exam for no fault of theirs. And then, when people in positions of immense power turn out to have no moral compass, we are taken by surprise.

I personally found it dismaying that the main culprits in the subversion of the exam process were teachers and instructors who run coaching centres and who were supposed to uphold the sanctity of the system. But are parents far behind? Here are adults who guide youth in their quest for knowledge but together they have proved sadly lacking in moral spine. Parents were obviously willing to pay upto Rs. 2500 for the exam paper, thus signalling to their children that it was okay to cheat. The teachers not only released the question paper in advance but also arranged for an extra fee to have the answers written on chits of paper and given to the students during washroom breaks when the exam was going on.

And who were the whistle-blowers? Students who spoke up to the authorities.

They are now being questioned by police and reviled by their peers for revealing the secret.

All this is wrong at so many levels. As adults, are we leading by example?

‘Fraid not. We are complicit in confusing our children by not giving them moral lessons and examples to look up to and also actually instigating acts of dishonesty.

We forget that we are already the past and the future belongs to our youth.

How dare we destroy that time and space by planting the poisonous weeds of deceit with our acts? Encouraging our children to believe that winning is all that matters and that the way we reach our goals is inconsequential is like carrying a time-bomb into the future.

Intolerance is a terrible word. But I do believe that this namby-pamby attitude of forgiving deception because “people make mistakes” will result in terrible consequences. Mistakes are born of ignorance and incompetence. Dishonesty is a wilful subversion of our morality and must not be tolerated. The sooner we learn the difference the better.

70 SALAAM BAHRAIN

APRIL

2018