Girgaum's century-old landmark up for sale

Girgaum's century-old landmark Gai Wadi, one of the last surviving traditional cluster housing complexes, is now up for sale. Officials of the Bombay Panjrapole Trust, which owns Gai Wadi, confirmed that they had invited tenders from builders to redevelop the complex.


PRIME PROPERTY Tenders for Gai Wadi, spread across 6 acres, will be opened on September 17 ( )
Most people want redevelopment so they can start living in decent apartments instead of crumbling and dilapidated chawls.
A B H AY G AW D E , owns an office at Gai Wadi
: Amidst new redevelopment projects in every lane in Girgaum, another century-old landmark, Gai Wadi, is now up for sale. Officials of the Bombay Panjrapole Trust, which owns Gai Wadi, one of Girgaum's last surviving traditional cluster housing complexes, confirmed that the trust has invited tenders from developers to redevelop the complex. The tenders will be opened on September 17.
The wadi, comprising five residential buildings, garages and metal workshops, is spread across 18,634 sqm or nearly six acres. The annual rent collected from 176 tenants and 18 lease holders adds to a mere Rs 4 lakh owing to the rent freeze under the rent control law.
The prime property situated off Jagannath Shankarseth Road is expected to fetch more than Rs450 crore, said market analysts. The area has a floor space index of 1.33 to 2.
“We have been incurring losses for several years now,“ a trust official said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
“People sublet and make thousands of rupees but we get few hundred rupees. There is no way of sustaining this anymore.“
However, the handover may not be smooth. Several legal issues, including more than 20 pending cases between the owners and alleged illegal tenants and lease holders, will have to be ironed out.
“The Trust had been depending on donations to maintain the premises. We wish to use the money received from the sale of the land for better upkeep of the panjrapole or infirmary near Bhuleshwar, where more than 300 cattle and poultry are looked after,“ said Adim Mogradia, secretary of the Trust.

`ANNE' BOOSTS CANADIAN ISLAND

A fictional character becomes a tourism boon for Prince Edward Island
A more th nne of Green Gables, the Canadian novel by author Lucy Maud Montgomery, has sold an 50 million copies more than 50 million copies worldwide since it was published in 1908. Over the years, the heroine Anne has been brought to life in musicals, museums and street theatre on eastern Prince Edward Island, which provides the backdrop for the adventures of the young chatterbox. Now, the sites mentioned in the book have become a major tourist draw, pumping millions of dollars into the island's struggling economy. The recent visitor was Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, Catherine, who visited the island with her husband Prince William in July.
Montgomery is said to have drawn on Anne's childhood experiences in the smallest of the Canadian provinces to describe her life after she is adopted from an orphanage in Nova Scotia to help on a Prince Edward farm. One in four visitors to Prince Edward Island takes in at least one Anne attraction, such as the recreated fictional town of Avonlea, the site of Montgomery's childhood home or the Anne of Green Gables gift shop on the main street of the provincial capital Charlottetown. Prince Edward Island still echoes the charms of early 20th century Canada depicted in the books when villagers travelled in horse-drawn carts, wrote long letters, wore long dresses, and where a cow running amok in the garden accounted for action. “Many people think Anne was a real person,“ said Chantelle Macdonald, who once played Anne in shows on the island. “It's difficult to tell them this person did not really exist. They sometimes confuse Anne with the author.“ Japanese Anne fan clubs Anne is so popular worldwide that the staff at the Cavendish National Historic Site, which includes Montgomery's cousin's farmhouse, have a hard time convincing visitors that she is a fictional character.
And in Japan, where Anne of Green Gables has been on the school curriculum since 1952, the heroine is widely adored. There are Japanese Anne fan clubs, an Anne academy and even a nursing school named after her.
Japanese are the third largest contingent of visitors here, after Canadians and Americans, and some even travel to PEI to get married at Green Gables.
Macdonald suggests their enthusiasm for all things Anne may have helped propel her popularity elsewhere.
“In Italy, only five of the books were translated. But in the 1980s, everyone watched the Japanese animated version of `Anne of Green Gables' on television,“ said Rosanna Gatti, who was visiting from Italy with her family.

movie soundtracks. Wild Target, however, was something else

I'm not a fan of movie soundtracks. Wild Target, however, was something else



I'm not a fan of movie soundtracks. Wild Target, however, was something else
IKNOW IT'S not a brand new film but have you seen Wild Target? It's a British `action-comedy', starring Bill Nighy and Emily Blunt. It also has Rupert Grint (he of the Harry Potter series fame) and Rupert Everett. In the film, Nighy is a paid assassin in keeping with his family business (his father was one and his mother wants him to be as good if not better). Blunt is a target that he is assigned to kill but that assignment goes awry and it all roller-coasters into an eccentric, action-filled 98 minutes, which if it were not for the excellent acting by Nighy and Blunt, could have gone steadily downhill because of tired gags and a completely absurd plot. Although it was released last year, I watched Wild Target off a DVD only last week and it wasn't just the stellar performances by Nighy and the greatly talented Blunt that kept my finger off the remote's stop button. It was also the music. I'm not hugely into movie soundtracks and I especially detest the ones that are “composed“ in entirety by some big name or the other. But on Wild Target that was not the case. The film was so well held together by around 15 tracks (many of them by musicians or bands that were new to me) that I seriously considered getting the soundtrack album or, at least, exploring the music a bit more.
The first band on Wild Target that made me sit up and listen closely was Fishtank Ensemble whose song was called Mehum Mato. Fishtank Ensemble are an American band but with heavy eastern European influences.
Their songs, like the one I heard, often have lyrics that are in languages such as Serbian and their music is multicultural ­ flamenco, Roma (gypsy) and even Japanese folk. Their music is fiery and high-energy although they use mainly acoustic instruments ­ violin, banjolele, flamenco guitar, double bass and a saw (yes, a saw!).
Fishtank Ensemble are based in California but their music has been described as “cross-pollinated gypsy music“. I'm not a great fan of world music but the multi-ethnic, genre-straddling nature of Fishtank's sound led me to search for something more by them. I found Woman in Sin, their third full-length album, and was floored by it. It is an eclectic bunch of 12 songs, which demonstrate the band members' diverse backgrounds: vocalist Ursula Knudsen is a former opera singer; guitarist Doug Smolens' journey into flamenco territory was via a stint in punk and hard rock; and bass player Djordje Stijepovic played with gypsy bands in Eastern Europe in his teens before moving to rock bands. Thanks to Wild Target, I'd discovered a great band.
And it wasn't the only one. There were other gems. Of course, there were musicians that we've heard before. Such as the Russian-born but New York-based singer-songwriter Regina Spektor whose catchy Hotel Song (“Come in, come in/ Come into my world/ I've got to show/ Show show you/ Come into my bed/ I've got to know/ Know know you“) is on the soundtrack. As is American dream pop duo Beach House's lovely song, Wedding Bell (“Humming/you're humming tomorrow's nursery rhyme/ but you're singing the only words you know/ would you cry if I lie 'til the day...“). But it was the musicians that I hadn't heard before that made Wild Target's soundtrack such a great aid to discovering new music. I'd never heard Imelda May ­ she's an Irish singer whose featured song, Johnny Got a Boom Boom, can make you an instant fan. It's funny and is replete with double entendres.
Besides, May has a great voice.
Sadly, I've still not been able to lay my hands on any of her albums but I shall keep trying.
Women aren't the only singers featured on the Wild Target soundtrack but it was yet another woman singersongwriter, Yael Naim, who impressed me.
Naim is Israeli but born in Paris and her fea tured song New Soul was used by Apple for its MacBook Air ad campaign. But Naim (one critic described her as having a voice “as rich as molten chocolate“), as I discovered, is multi-lingual and sings in French, Hebrew and English I tried looking for her last year's album She Was A Boy but couldn't get it. I found her eponymous second album, which has 13 songs, many of them in English, including (surprise!) a cover of Britney Spears' Toxic.
Wild Target isn't a film that you ought to take seriously. After all, it is about the middle-aged scion of a family whose business is professional assassination and his target-turned-lover is an attractive audacious thief. It is, as what we would call in Bombay, a “pure time-pass“ film as most films in the action-comedy genre usually are. But the bonus clearly is the soundtrack, which led me to discover some fine new musicians.

Is it necessary for restaurants and hotels to have a back story?

Is it necessary for restaurants and hotels to have a back story?
Wouldn't that make for places that were more interesting and different from each other?
ABACK STORY is an essentially cinematic concept. What it means is that the events you see on screen have a background, a story that explains their provenance, even if we don't have to confront that back story in the actual plot. Let's take an example. Alfred, the butler, is an important part of the Batman legend. In the comics, Alfred Pennyworth has an extensive back story developed over years of Batman and Detective comics. But on the screen, Alfred is a minor character. In the Batman TV show, we did not really care where Alfred came from or what his motivation was.
In the first few Batman movies (the franchise developed by Tim Burton and wrecked by his successor), Alfred was just a butler. But then, Christopher Nolan took over the task of re-booting the Batman franchise and cast Michael Caine as Alfred in Batman Begins. Caine ­ who is a multiple Oscar winner ­ was not content with playing a butler with no background. So, he created a back story for himself. In his portrayal, Alfred is a former British army soldier from the SAS (an elite commando wing) who took up cooking during difficult postings and who went to work for Dr Thomas Wayne when he retired.
So not only does he understand Bruce Wayne's motivation, but he also understands the world of violence that Bruce plunges himself into when he decides to become Batman after Thomas Wayne is murdered by a robber. Moreover, because of his SAS background, he can actually help Batman as he goes about his task of fighting crime.
Judging by the interviews Caine gave in the run-up to the release of Batman Begins (there has since been the more successful Dark Knight sequel) nobody, including the director Christopher Nolan, told him to find a back story for his character. He just made it up because he reckoned that nothing made sense without a back story.
I had no idea that the same principles applied to hotels and restaurants till I interviewed Jeremy King a month ago. Jeremy was here for the huge Diageo drinks spectacular that involved journos, restaurateurs, barmen and the like from all over the world but which, curiously, seems to have made little impression on our domestic media even though it has been written about extensively by the international press.
If you are an average reader of Rude Food and have never heard of Jeremy King, then don't worry, he is not quite Michael Caine yet.
But if you are in the hotel/restaurant business, then you should have some idea of who he is and what he does.
Along with his partner Chris Corbin, Jeremy has created the greatest English restaurants of the last 30 years: The Ivy, Le Caprice, J Sheekey and The Wolseley. Many years ago, Chris Corbin and he sold Le Caprice, the Ivy and J Sheekey to pizza entrepreneur Luke Johnson who sold them to Richard Caring, a sharply-dressed, ragtrade tycoon who added Mark Birley's operations (Annabel's, George, Harry's Bar etc.) to his empire, and then added some of his own (the revamped Scotts of Mayfair) to create the UK's largest chain of upmarket restaurants. Though Jeremy's former restaurants are the jewels in Caring's crown, I don't think that either Jeremy or Chris Corbin really approve of what Caring is doing to the brands they created. They

are horrified by Caring's attempts to turn their exrestaurants into global franchises (“the New York Caprice is a disaster,“ said Jeremy of the restaurant that Caring runs in partnership with the Taj at the Pierre Hotel) and are horrified by the thought of the Dubai Ivy, the first of many global Ivys. Though I have been a fan of Jeremy's restaurants ever since my friend Willy Landels first took me to Le Caprice in the 1980s, I believe that the Wolseley, which he now runs (post the sale of his other restaurants) is far better than any of Caring's restaurants.
Though the Wolseley remains among London's most fashionable restaurants and is a celebrity dining room, it is distinguished by excellent service.
At any given time, nearly 30 per cent of the tables cannot be booked in advance and if you turn up as a walk-in, you have a good chance of getting in. (The other 70 per cent are booked weeks ahead.)
I asked Jeremy what his principles were.
Being English, he was deliberately vague, but here's what I could gather.
There will always be gastronomic restaurants that do excellent food (Alain Ducasse etc.) at fabulous prices. Remember that you (a restaurateur) are not competing with them. Instead, you are offering really good food that is not necessarily Michelin-starred.
According to Jeremy, this means great dishes with top-quality ingredients and total consistency of food. If you serve fish and chips for instance, it must be made with the freshest fish, the frying must be perfect and the chips should be made with the right potatoes, they should be hand-cut, they must be fried to the right level of crispness and the tartare sauce should be better than any commercial variety.
Service should be warm and regular. Even if you run the Ivy or Caprice which have a celebrity clientele (the first time I went to the Caprice, David Bowie was at the next table) you must treat every guest as a VIP. Nobody should feel like a spectator. “Restaurants are not theatre,“ he says, “There are no actors and no audience. Everybody is on par. Everybody gets the same food and same service.“ Every restaurant must have a back story. If you are, say, Ferran Adria opening in London then that's fine: your food speaks for itself. But unless you are a triple Michelin-starred chef who is sure that people will come for the food, you must create a restaurant with a back story.
Of all of the things that Jeremy said, this was the one that intrigued me the most. What did he mean? He gave me the examples of his own restaurants. Most had a back story of their own anyway. The Caprice was a glamorous cafe society place in the early 20th century. When Chris and Jeremy revived it, all they had to do was to plug into the history, to update the menu and cast it as a modern version of the old cafe society Caprice.
When they bought the Ivy, it was a great theatre-district standby gone to seed.
Jeremy's job was only to revive the quality of the food and service and to recast it as a modern theatrical restaurant. (I guess it helped that he was once manager of Joe Allen's, a theatrical restaurant.)
J Sheekey was more complicated. It was an old fish restaurant at the edge of the theatre district that had fallen on bad days. The Corbin and King solution was to revive the sea-food theme (no meat, only the freshest fish) and to emphasise the origins of the restaurant. Nobody who eats at Sheekey today will realise that there were many years when the restaurant was dead. It seems like a buzzing theatrical place that has been around for decades.
Jeremy is currently working on two places. The first is a deli-style restaurant in Aldwych. He has a back story ready. The place was created by East European Jews escaping persecution.
It started out as a cold meat and sandwich place and then became a full-scale restaurant.
None of this is true, of course, so I asked Jeremy why he bothered. His answer was that unless a restaurant had a convincing back story, it failed in the long run.
This was as true of hotels, he said. Chris Corbin and he have just partnered with the Grosvenor estate to open a new hotel (their first) just off London's Oxford Street. The building used to house the offices of Avis, the car rental company, so the conversion was a challenge. But rather than just build a modern hotel, Corbin and King created a back story.
The hotel was built in the 1920s by a rich American who loved London. It was the toast of the town. Then, the American owner went back to the States and the hotel fell on bad times and was sold to a modern chain which destroyed its character. Now, Corbin and King are renovating it to recover its lost lustre.
This is all made up, of course, and the back story (like Alfred's army origins in Batman Begins) will not necessarily be shared with guests. So why bother with a back story?
Because, says Jeremy, it gives the new owners, the architect, the designer, the management and the staff an idea of what the hotel should be. They don't just say, “Let's convert this office block into a hotel.“ They say “What would the hotel have looked like at its peak in the 1920s?“ And, while designing the rooms, they ask themselves, “What would a luxury hotel built in the Jazz Age have offered its guests?“ The back story serves as a reference point for everybody in the same way that Alfred's back story told Michael Caine how Alfred would react to any given situation.
Jeremy has been to India before and though I tried to get him

THE ORIENTAL IN BANGKOK SELLS ITSELF TO EVERYBODY AS A LEGENDARY OLD WORLD ESTABLISH- MENT
to open up on the subject of our restaurants, he was discreet. But he did say that he found most Indian hotel restaurants swish and soulless. The night before we met, somebody had taken him to Bukhara and he thought that was the one exception: a restaurant in a five-star hotel with soul. I told him that many Indians thought it was old hat and overpriced but he was not convinced. He had no idea that Bukhara had been around since 1978 with roughly the same menu and décor but he thought that fitted in with what he liked about the place when I filled him in on its history. There had to be a back story, he said, in a restaurant that kept packing guests in night after night even though they had to eat on stools and pay high prices.
I thought of Jeremy's insistence on back stories and it struck me that many hotels did have back stories even if they were largely made up. The Oriental in Bangkok consists of two modern buildings and one tiny period structure (rebuilt in the 1960s anyway after a fire). But because it sells itself to everybody ­ guests, staff management etc. ­ as a legendary old world establishment dating back generations, it occupies a special slot. So it is (to a lesser extent, admittedly) with Singapore's Raffles, which is essentially a shopping mall with a small (largely new) hotel attached. But because it believes in its back story, it seems different from other Singapore hotels (it even has an official historian on its staff).
Indian hotels do not consciously use their back stories. The Grand in Calcutta has a terrific history but it seems largely forgotten. Only now has Bangalore's magnificent West End woken up to rediscovering its heritage. The Taj Group spent a lot of money in the 1980s and 1990s destroying the great heritage of Madras's Connemara.
On the other hand, there are successful hotels with made-up back stories. The story of the Vilas properties is ­ or so I would imagine ­ that if a modern Maharaja had lots of money and wanted to build a tasteful 21st century palace, he would build a Vilas.
The Oberois sell that back story so convincingly to staff, media and guests that the Vilas hotels have managed to do what nobody ever thought possible: they have taken on such genuine historical places as the Rambagh and the Lake Palace. And because the back story is so well fleshed into the concept, you know what kind of experience you will get at every Vilas even before you get there.
Should Indian hoteliers and restaurateurs think of a back story before they open new properties? It is an interesting idea. Unless a hotel already has a back story (such as Hyderabad's Falaknuma Palace, for instance), Indian hoteliers are content to focus on the fittings (five feature bathrooms, marble in the lobby, large guest rooms, etc.) and not on the soul. Suppose instead that they gave each hotel a back story before they started building it, wouldn't that make for hotels that were more interesting and ­ at the very least ­ different from each other?
Even existing hotels seem to be crying out for back stories. The ITC Windsor in Bangalore is a 1980s building but it seems to me to be crying out for an Oriental back story that slots the property and motivates the staff. (The Viceroy's Bangalore residence with rooms for his guests and entourage, perhaps?)
It is an interesting thought. Certainly it has worked for Jeremy.
At his establishments, everything is good but that's not why people keep coming back.

IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM The Happy Travellers

`WHEREVER WE GO, INDIA IS ENCHANTING.
AN INVISIBLE THREAD RUNS FROM ONE CORNER TO THE OTHER KRISHNA MOHAN & MEERA KRISHNA BUSINESS PEOPLE, KERALA
THEY LIVE IN A STATE (Kerala) that almost all Indians dream of visiting. But for Thiruvananthapuram residents Krishna Mohan (30) and Meera Krishna (25), nothing beats the joys of travelling the length and breadth of the country they live in. “Wherever we go, we find our country most beautiful and enchanting ­ an invisible thread runs through from one corner to the other and that is the beauty of this great country,“ they say. But it isn't all play and no work for this couple, who love to call themselves backpackers. Hailing from a business family, Krishna Mohan's first love was jurisprudence. After taking his law degree from Ambedkar Law College, Chennai, he even practised five years at the Madras High Court. But the call of duty forced the eldest of five siblings to don an entrepreneur's role two years ago ­ he now runs a sprawling car showroom.
Married to Meera four years ago, the couple has a three-year-old daughter, Shivani.
A BBA from American University in Dubai, Meera also has a business background. She currently helps her father in his realty business and is also one of the directors of a construction firm in Thiruvananthapuram.
No matter how busy their days are, the Krishnas always make time to travel, and to read Paul Theroux, a favourite contemporary travel writer. Besides crisscrossing the country, they have also visited more than a dozen countries.
“To savour different foods, cultures, absorb different styles of architecture and languages, it is something great. It allows you to experiment with something new, meet people and helps you learn more about yourself,“ explains Krishna.
But India still holds a special charm for them. “Our country offers the most varied cuisines of any place on the planet, but many are not exposed to its wide varieties and sadly stick to the same dishes,“ complains Meera, who is a culinary expert.
She talks about some of her favourites ­ the Indian Chinese food at Zen in Rajiv Chowk, Delhi, or the yummy seafood on offer at Mahesh Lunch Home in Juhu, Mumbai.
And the foodie couple relish their culinary experiences ­ whether it is a starred hotel in Europe or a dhaba in Karol Bagh, they both try to experiment with cuisines, besides enjoying their favourite dishes of seafood and kebabs. Unlike many people their age, who often show scant respect for the voting process, the Krishnas are ardent fans of democracy.
“They don't know the value of freedom and free expression, that is why some young people turn their back on it,“ they explain.
Krishna has exercised his franchise in all elections. He adds that politics is not a bad word and that it is unfair to place all the blame for all the country's ills at the doors of politicians. “We have to empower our democracy. It is the duty of every citizen of the country to ensure it,“ he says.
Both Krishna and Meera feel the induction of young blood into politics will not solve the nagging problems of the country, instead they favour a proper blend of experience and youth.
“More than age, experience and vision matter,“ says Krishna, a fan of former president APJ Abdul Kalam. Whenever he notices an article or report on Kalam, he reads it with the enthusiasm of a 10-year-old, he admits with a chuckle. “I'm really amazed at the way in which he influences youngsters and inspires them,“ explains Krishna.
Though the couple does not subscribe to a timeline for the country to become a superpower, they are sure it is inching towards the goal.
“Our population and natural resources are our strength and our economic fundamentals are strong. No doubt the 21st century belongs to us. But of course everyone has to chip in for this,“ say the Krishnas.

IN SRINAGAR The Committed Indians

`WE WILL CELEBRATE INDEPENDENCE DAY WITH A HOLIDAY AND AN INTER- FAMILY T20 MATCH' MOHAMMED & RABIA ALTAF (WITH THEIR SONS MOHAMMAD SUHAIB AND MOHD ILYAS) BUSINESSMAN AND NGO LEADER, JAMMU & KASHMIR
IN A STATE WHERE INDEPendence Day for over 20 years has meant empty roads, closed shops and barbed wire, getting people to speak about their love for the country was a Herculean task. But a quiet couple living in the bylanes of downtown Srinagar have no qualms in stating that `a secure future lies with a stable, progressive India'. That's how Mohammad Altaf, a small-time handicraft entrepreneur, feels.
“India is developing in a way that even America is looking at. Obviously we would want our children to grow up in a place where we feel their future is secure,“ says the 41-year-old.
The family is proud to be both Kashmiri and Indian. “The special status of the state is what connects the state more to the rest of the country,“ says Altaf's wife, Rabia. “The solution to the problem has to be found within the Constitution, but if Kashmiri aspirations like restoring the 1953 position are considered, it will bring back everybody's faith in the greatness of Indian democracy.“
Rabia is also proud that her family are true practising Muslims. While Altaf sports a well-trimmed beard, Rabia doesn't forget her veil even while making halwa and wadas in the Kashmiri summers of 30° C. Though these are not traditional iftar snacks, they are what the couple and their two sons, Mohammad Suhaib (12) and Mohd Ilyas (5), break the Ramzan fast with.
The boys, besides liking traditional nonvegetarian Kashmiri dishes, love aloo parathas and chola bhature. “My sons are very Punjabi in their tastes,“ says 43-yearold Rabia.
Perhaps that's because Rabia was a different person before marriage. She was born and bought up in Delhi as Nirupama before converting to Islam in 1989. Rabia's Kashmiri Pandit family left Kashmir in 1947. “My grandfather, Pandit Parmanand, was the last accountant general of Jammu and Kashmir.
My father was just three when we left Kashmir,“ she says.
Rabia came looking for her roots in 1989 as a Youth Congress leader and ended up taking up Islam as a faith. “I didn't convert at the time of my marriage. I converted long before that,“ she explains.
The couple met in Delhi in 1997, fell in love and got married. “I am a businessman and was running my handicraft business in Delhi when we met,“ says Altaf. They shifted to Srinagar in 2004. “We wanted to help our community, which we felt was under a lot of stress,“ explains Altaf.
Rabia set up the NGO All India Centre for Rural and Urban Development, and started working with Kashmiri youth. Altaf meanwhile still runs his ancestral business. “He earns money, I spend it in social work,“ grins Rabia. “I work with politicians, separatists, and common people, and am producing a document with the help of civil society which we will submit to the government,“ she explains.
When the couple is not working, their sons keep them busy. “The older one loves cricket and will soon be participating in the under 14 KPL starting in Kashmir soon,“ says the proud father. The younger son however doesn't care about cricket; he is happy spending hours watching his favourite cartoons ­ Ben 10 and Chota Bheem.
Meanwhile the family's connection with the world beyond the PirPanjal range remains strong. In the holidays, the boys will be heading to Delhi to be with their maternal grandparents. “My parents were shocked first by my conversion and then marriage, but they have come around,“ says Rabia.
However, the family might not be lucky enough to witness a normal Independence Day for some time. The day will again be marked by a shutdown, curfew, protests, statements, counter-statements and a lot of politics. “We will celebrate with a holiday and an inter-family T20 and cheer for the family's budding Zaheer Khan,“ quips Rabia.

IN DIU The Contented Official

`I WAS VERY PROUD WHEN PRESIDENT PRATIBHA PATIL PRAISED MY COMPERING ON HER LAST VISIT HERE' ANIL & SUSHMITA KAUSHIK (WITH SON KULSOBHAN) BUREAUCRAT, UNION TERRITORY OF DIU
HE DID A PH.D IN HINDI literature from Punjab University, Chandigarh, and always aspired to teach Hindi poetry in the interiors of Himachal. But fate decided otherwise. Dr Anil Kaushik now finds himself in the former Portuguese colony of Diu, as an assistant director (official language) in the collectorate. Anil attributes this change in his life to fate: “Every moment is pre-decided, so I accept everything that life offers,“ he says. Standing in the magnificent 16th century Diu fort, the 38-year-old native of Haryana explains that his job requires him to train government employees in developing their Hindi language skills. Anil moved to Diu in 1996, when he joined government service, and admits he would never have thought of settling in this former Portuguese colony otherwise. His wife Sushmita is a teacher in a private school, and their only son, nineyear-old Kulshobhan, studies in class 4.
Anil, an avid reader of writers like Premchand, Dinkar and Nirala, feels that Hindi literature is a mirror that reflects Indian life as it is, which no other literary works and certainly not anything in English, do. “True India, its people and its life, are reflected in our literature, so I wanted to teach it,“ he explains. “I still dream of teaching the novels of Premchand, and the poetry of Dinkar and Nirala in the US if I get a chance.“
However, Diu is not really second-best.
Sipping coffee in his sea-facing government residence, Anil says: “I am thankful to this job which brought me here. Walking in the morning along the serene coastline is an immense pleasure one would never get elsewhere.“
Anil and Sushmita were married in 2000, without meeting each other even once. “He didn't come to see me as our engagement was decided by our families,“ explains Sushmita. “However, after marriage we realised that we share good chemistry. We are content with whatever God has given us,“ she adds.
The Kaushiks have not really savoured the joys of travelling to all parts of India, primarily because, come vacations, they return to their hometown every year. “Anil has not taken us to many places,“ explains Sushmita.
“But I want to go to Kerala, because I read that it's one of the 50 most beautiful places in the world.“ About Diu, she says it's a wonderful place though a little far-flung and isolated. “I also miss north Indian sweets and sarson da saag, because I grew up eating those in Pinjore,“ says Sushmita. However, the Kaushiks make the most of their location when it comes to food. “We eat many different types of vegetables, sugar-laden Gujarati food, and even north Indian sabzis,“ says Anil.
Despite being in such an `isolated' place, the couple once had a chance to be upfront in a Bollywood movie. “During the shooting of the movie Aakrosh in Diu, we were asked to sit with actress Bipasha Basu in an icecream parlour,“ recalls Sushmita. “But Anil refused because he is very camera shy.“ She sighs. “I very much wanted to feature in the shooting but we missed an opportunity to be seen in the film.“
However, there have been other times when the couple has been in the limelight.
Anil is a regular compere at official events like Independence Day, Republic Day or during the visit of state dignitaries. “It was a proud moment for me when President Pratibha Patil praised my compering during her last visit to the union territory last January,“ says Anil.
But no matter where they live, the Kaushiks stay positive about India's future.
“The country has made progress in the last few years but without corruption, the benefits of development will not reach the farflung interiors,“ they say.

IN BHOPAL The Modern Day Royals

`MADHYA PRADESH IS LIKE AN INDIA WITHIN INDIA.
PEOPLE FROM OTHER STATES ARE ALWAYS ACCEPTED' ARUNESHWAR AND SAPNA SINGHDEO BUSINESSMAN, MADHYA PRADESH
INDEPENDENCE DAY HOLDS A special meaning for someone belonging o the erstwhile royal families of India.
That's because while most people were gaining a nation, they were losing theirs. However, Aruneshwar Saran Singhdeo, who hails from the erstwhile ruling family of Surguja in modern-day Chattisgarh, has a different take on the transition. “It is true that at a personal level, the princes lost a lot in terms of wealth and power at the time of independence,“ says the 46-year-old. “But some princes also played a role in fostering democracy, and many of them ended up as political or administrative leaders.“
Since independence, it has been a continuing process of integration for the erstwhile princes. For Arun, his marriage to Sapna, a year younger than him and in some senses his childhood sweetheart, also signified integration. “I come from a Punjabi business family while Arun hails from a princely background. So there was a lot of resistance to our marriage,“ explains Sapna.
Arun and Sapna were in the same class at Bhopal's St Joseph's Convent for a few years before Arun joined the all-boys Campion School. Later, she was sent to Simla to do a BA at St Beed's, while Arun pursued an MA in Economics at the Bhopal School of Social Sciences. They got married in 1988, and have two kids, Aaditeshwar, 21, who is studying engineering in Delhi, and Aishwarya, 17, who is in class 11.
While Surguja smoothly integrated with the Indian Union, Arun's father took his process of integration into independent India a step further. The late MS Singhdeo was a 1954 batch IAS officer and a former chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh. “He studied at Allahabad University and took the exam after being influenced by his father-in-law, Raja Digvijaya Singh of Jubbal, an ICS officer of the 1942 batch,“ says Arun.
Arun is keen to dispel any notion that he was brought up with a sense of entitlement.
“My upbringing was more like a civil servant's child,“ he explains. He's also proud to point out that, “Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh are like an India within India ­ there are numerous stories of integration. People who've come from other states have always been accepted.“ Arun's ancestors too, came from Palamu in modern day Jharkhand in 902 AD and set up Surguja state.
Arun and Sapna are a regular couple. They love holidaying together, even if, like many couples, they disagree about the choice of destination. “My ideal holiday would be a wildlife lodge in Africa, but we haven't been able to do it,“ says Arun ruefully. The `compromise' destination is either the beaches of South East Asia or an urban setting in the US or Europe, he explains.
Within India, the family is much-travelled, having covered almost the entire country except the North East. Their favourite destinations are wildlife reserves, as Arun, besides having a stake in the housing sector, has also diversified in jungle lodges at Kanha and Bandhavgarh. “Himachal and Kashmir are our favourite destinations, and we would like to visit the North East now,“ says Arun.
“Though we both love food, cuisine is a major point of disagreement,“ says Sapna.
While Arun likes to cook and relishes Indian food, followed only by Chinese, Sapna is fond of eating out and loves seafood. “My favourite restaurant is China Kitchen at the Hyatt, while Arun loves Karim's at Nizamuddin,“ she says.
But the couple have much in common, just like the country they live in. “Both of us like meeting new people,“ says Sapna. They also share similar views about the India of the future.
“I think my generation let down the country in some ways. If you speak to old people in the villages ­ in spite of the apparent prosperity that's come about in the last few years, people are not happy,“ says Arun. “Our next hope is the youth, our children's generation as they are truly global and independent thinking and will earn India her rightful place.“

The Japanese Wife

Ours is a huge country.
Almost a continent in itself.
Filled with so many cultures.
But as five families, one each from the north, south, east, west and centre, testify, it's all India. All oursOURS IS A HUGE country. Almost a continent in itself.
Filled with so many cultures. But as five families, one each from the north, south, east, west and centre, testify, it's all India. All ours IN SHILLONG The Japanese Wife KENNETH PALA & CAROLINE MUKHIM (WITH DAUGHTER ALETHEA AND SON BRENDON) UN OFFICIAL AND DOCTOR, MEGHALAYA `THAT WE LIVE IN THE MOST DIVERSE COUNTRY ON EARTH MAKES OUR EXISTENCE ALL THE MORE MEANINGFUL'
IF YOU SNIFF GUJARATI VAGHAAR at 4,900 ft, it is likely wafting in from quarter number L10 in Shillong's North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) complex. And it will be 39-year-old Caroline Mukhim preparing panchkutiya shaak (fivevegetable curry) to go with khatta-meetha bhaat (sour-sweet rice). Caroline agrees that Gujarati khana needs a lot of getting used to. The three years she spent in Ahmedabad when her husband Kenneth Pala was transferred there in 1998 made her so accustomed to the cuisine that she often gives her family a Gujarati break from jadoh, a pilaf-like Khasi staple, and dohkhleh (pork) or dohsiar (chicken).
Kenneth, 41, prefers Maharashtrian cuisine; he developed the taste via his local guardians during an earlier stint in Ahmedabad. But food should be relished, not fought over. So the couple and their daughter Alethea, 9, and son Brendon, 8, discovered a `middle path' ­ south Indian food ­ thanks to their Tamil neighbour.
Caroline, a doctor in NEHU, and Kenneth, a Shillong-based monitoring and evaluation manager at the UN-affiliated International Fund for Agriculture Development, encountered the indigestible while adapting to `mainland' fare. In Gujarat, people would often confuse Shillong with Ceylon. The height was when a nationalised bank manager turned down their home loan application because he thought Caroline was Japanese. “I took a long time convincing him we were as Indian as he was, but I couldn't buy a flat in Ahmedabad,“ says Kenneth. “But there are no hard feelings; as much as other Indians need to be more sensitive about the country's fringes, the onus is on us to sensitise them.“
The couple attribute their adaptability to their schooling and their liberalism to their families. “Most schools in Shillong don't allow you to mingle with your own kind during breaks,“ says Caroline. Their children have Hindi as their second language and not Khasi because `Hindi offers more opportunities'.
Caroline is good in Hindi English, Khasi and Assamese; Kenneth's Hindi is kaam-chalau and his Gujarati has suffered in 10 years away from the state.
Plus, adds Caroline, “We socialise a lot, visiting kin, friends and acquaintances.“ Socialising adds `a bit of music' to the rhythm of their life.
“Shillong offers that extra bit beyond responsibilities. We drive to Mawphlang (a nature trail in a sacred grove 30 km from Shillong or Umiam (a lake 20 km from Shillong) occasionally. And we make it a point to go on a long vacation at least once a year,“ says Kenneth.
Their last trip was to Kerala. “We have gone everywhere except Kashmir and Haryana, but we prefer southern India because the people there are nicer and we freak out on south Indian food,“ says Caroline. On a trip to Kolkata, Kenneth was indoctrinated to the world of Hindi films. The family watched 3 Idiots, their first Hindi film together. “We like Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor,“ she says.
Caroline and Kenneth are proud to be Khasis as well as Indians. They feel their uniqueness as a matrilineal community enriches India's multi-ethnic tapestry. “That we live in the most diverse country on earth makes our existence all the more meaningful,“ says Kenneth.
Of course Meghalaya has long experienced rebel-imposed boycotts on Independence Day. “But things are changing; a local organisation has been promoting intra-state tourism on that day,“ says Kenneth. India has changed too in the last couple of decades.
“Blame it on communication and the change in mindset of the younger generation exposed to globalisation,“ he adds.

Singham girl takes a break

After working non-stop for over a year, Kajal Aggarwal take off to Paris for holiday
er recent film in Bollywood turned out to be quite a Hblockbuster. And that's probably why newbie Kajal Aggarwal decided to take a breather. Post the success of the Ajay Devgn-starrer, Singham, Kajal has gifted herself a vacation after a long time. The actor was initially busy shooting back-toback for her Tamil and Telugu projects for a year and then came along her debut in Bollywood. So even as makers rake in the moolah back in Mumbai, Kajal has made her way to Paris and Nice in France along with her friends. And she's excited because Kajal has wanted to visit Paris ever since she was a child.

“I took a break because I was working round-theclock for almost a year,“ she says. “I seriously needed to rejuvenate. It's a fabulous holiday and I feel recharged to start work again.“
Born and brought up in Mumbai, Kajal has shot for over 21 films in a span of four-odd years.
She made her film debut in the 2004 Hindi movie, Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na before entering the Telugu film industry with Lakshmi Kalyanam (2007). She has also been part of several successful films like Magadheera (2009), Darling (2010), Brindaavanam (2010) and Mr Perfect (2011) apart from others.
Ask Kajal if her break is special in many ways since Singham has become the latest blockbuster and she says with a smile, “Of course it is. One always feels deserving after their hard work is appreciated.
And with Singham being such a huge success, I felt my vacation was totally worth it. I've been delighted throughout my travel!“ Though currently, Kajal is yet to sign the dotted line for any other Hindi project, she has reportedly been signed on for The Business Man, an upcoming Telugu film, which will be directed by Puri Jagannadh.
The film stars south India star Mahesh Babu.
The actor returns to India early next week.

Q&A inbox - Your kids will love Corbett

Q I want to take my kids to Corbett. Is it an enjoyable place for kids? Will they have fun over there? After visiting the national park, are there places around to visit? Where else can I take them? Vaibhav Corbett is an excellent A choice of destination to take your kids to, since they will love the open forest and may even be lucky to spot some wildlife, which could be a once-in-alifetime experience for some.
However, right now it is not a good time, as the monsoon season has started. You won't be able to access a large part of the forest. The interesting parts of the forest are closed at this point anyway and will be open only from November.
I suggest that you plan a trip to Corbett either in November or between February and March. Also, after Corbett, you could take the kids to Nainital for a couple of days. It is a beautiful hill station with many tals (lakes) around, for the kids to enjoy.
Also, there is quite a lot for kids to enjoy in Nainital itself like a boat ride, a sail boat, cable car, the mall, horse riding etc.
Enjoy! Q Which are the places to visit in Puri apart from the beach? Where can I head next, after the enjoyment at the beach?
Bhargav Puri is a great place to A explore. There are many attractive places you should visit. The most famous is Lord Jagannath Temple. It is a great place to spend four-five hours.
You will enjoy the entire temple and find many interesting features and story about the temple.
You can take an autorickshaw from your hotel to reach the temple.
The next place to visit is the Konarak Temple. This is one of the most beautiful temples in India. You can reach by a car or you can go by a tourist bus.
You can also see Nandan Kanan along with the Konarak Temple. The Konarak Temple is dedicated to Lord Surya and offers glimpses of Indian history. Nandan Kanan is a zoo, where you can spot wild animals. These two places will take you a day to explore.

MOTORCYCLE DIARIES

Mumbai youth start travel company, take people to lesser-known destinations along Konkan route
I f Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara has you convinced that a road trip with pals is a must-do event, then there is a cheaper, more convenient option available than Spain. Two Mumbai-based youth have started a travel company that specialises in tours of the Konkan region, that too on motorcycles.
Called Konkan Moto Travels, the tours organised by this company focus on the natural beauty, culture and history of the lesserknown areas of this coastal region of India.“We are into riding and started taking trips to these areas about two years ago. The Konkan region is an upcoming market and offers rich culture, beautiful places to explore and virgin beaches. And we also realised that no one was operating motorcycle tours in this region,“ says Abhishek Kadam, a passionate biker, who started the company with friend and partner Pratish Ambekar six months ago.
Konkan Moto Tours offers customised and scheduled tours. Anyone with a 150 cc bike and above can participate. “Those who do not have bikes can rent one from us. We have several options, including Royal Enfield and Avengers. We also have a mechanic who comes along on scheduled tours to take care of minor problems that may crop up along the way,“ says Kadam, who adds that they wanted to break the myth that only those with Royal Enfields could go on “cool road trips“.
The prices of the tours differ according to the number of days and the package you opt for. Also, considering the logistics involved, the group size is restricted to only 20-25 people. Customised car tours are available too for those interested, but Kadam insists that their “focus is on the motorcycle tours“.
Up next is the Tour of Ecstasy of Raigad on August 27 and 28 that offers adventure along with a glimpse of the local culture of the Konkan. To be a part of their tours, i call 9167143439 or you could also email them at konkanmototours@gmail.com

Honeymoon travels Actor Shruti Seth shares memories from her honeymoon trip to NYC, Miami and Orlando

Honeymoon travels

Actor Shruti Seth shares memories from her honeymoon trip to NYC, Miami and Orlando



Actor Shruti Seth recently went for a lavish three-week long honeymoon, with hubby Danish, to New York, Miami and Orlando. A hardcore U2 fan, Shruti even saw them perform for the first time. "It was like fulfilling a lifelong dream of watching our favourite band U2 play live in Miami," says Shruti.

The couple got married in October last year. However the honeymoon was put on hold as both Shruti and Danish were tied up with work. "But it was blessing in disguise. It gave us the opportunity to do what we'd always planned on doing to celebrate our wedding — watch our absolute favourite band in the world (U2) play live, which they happened to be doing in America."

"New York was all about walking, eating awesome food (Brazilian, Argentinian, French, Korean, the list goes on), walking, movies, Cirque du Soliel and did I mention, walking? I think we wore out two pairs of shoes each in two weeks, but if there's any way to explore New York, it's on foot," says Shruti. The couple stayed at a friend's place in New York before they moved on to their next stop — Miami. "Compared to NYC, Miami was a lot more laid back. It's a lot warmer too." This leg consisted mainly partying in the famous Miami club, getting tanned on Hollywood Beach and some sumptuous food from all over the world. "The selection of cuisine plays a very important part in all our holidays."
Next in line was Orlando, the theme park capital of the world. "We spent the first day in Disney World and the next in the new Universal Park named Islands of Adventure. It was a complete blast, to put it mildly," she recalls.

The high point of Shruti's trip was marked by New York, Disney World, the Islands of Adventure in Orlando and of course U2. "Watching U2 in Miami was amazing! Euphemistically speaking, this was probably the single-most spiritual experience of our collective lives. Seeing 75,000 people sing in one voice and jump as one person tends to do that to you."
Though the honeymoon was long overdue (it was almost a year after they got married), neither Shruti nor Danish have any regrets about it. Afterall, they had the time of their life as they shopped, walked, enjoyed thre local flavour and of course, watched U2 play. Exhausted, exhilarated and elevated, the couple returned to Mumbai, bringing with them memories to cherish forever.