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Healthy muffins for you

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The craze for cupcakes as a party snack may be starting to fizzle out slowly. But its distant cousin, the muffin, continues to be a tea-time favourite. And you don't have to worry about muffins giving way to the dreaded muffin tops. For here are some nutritious muffin recipes that can be made at home in under 40 minutes.

Pumpkin apple muffins

Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, ½ tsp nutmeg powder, 1⁄8 tsp clove powder, 1 avocado (peeled, pitted & mashed), 1 banana (mashed), 1 cup pumpkin puree, 2 eggs, ¾ cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 apple (peeled & chopped), 10 cashew nuts (chopped).

Method:
Preheat oven to 175/180 °C. Place 16 muffin wrappers in muffin trays or grease them. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. In another bowl, mix the avocado, banana, pumpkin, eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Gently fold in the apple. Fill ¾ of muffin cups, sprinkle with cashews. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Apple & banana oat muffins


Ingredients: 2 cups oats, ½ cup walnuts (chopped), 2 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp baking soda, 2 tbsp chia seeds, 2 eggs (lightly beaten), 1 egg white, ¼ cup yogurt, ½ cup apple juice, 4 tbsp coconut oil, 1½ tsp ground cinnamon, ½ tsp vanilla, ¼ cup honey, 2 large apples, chopped, 2 ripe bananas (mashed).

Method: Preheat the oven to 175/180°C. Grease a muffin tray or your muffin cups. Grind the oats in a food processor till it turns into flour. Add the walnuts and grind. Mix the ground oats and walnuts, baking powder, baking soda, and chia seeds. Lightly beat the eggs and egg white. Mix in the yogurt and apple juice. In a pan, mix the coconut oil, cinnamon, vanilla and honey. Heat it over low flame until it turns syrupy. Let it cool slightly and mix with egg mixture. Mix together wet and dry ingredients until well combined. Now, slowly fold in apples and bananas. Fill muffin tray or cups (only upto ¾ of the cup). Bake for 40 minutes or check if a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins cool slightly on the wire rack. Serve warm.

Banana spinach smoothie muffins


Ingredients: 3 ripe bananas, 2 cups (packaged) baby spinach, 8 strawberries, 1½ cups whole wheat flour, ¾ cup sugar, 1 egg, ¼ cup canola oil, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1⁄8 tsp salt.

Method: Preheat oven to 175/180 °C. Grease a muffin tray or use muffin cups/ wrappers. In a blender, puree the bananas, spinach, and strawberries. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Lightly beat oil and eggs. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the smoothie mixture and mix well. Spoon the batter in the muffin cups only till ¾ full. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool on a rack and enjoy!

(The author is chef, The Baking Company)

Super fruits for great health

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Fruits have always had a health benefit, irrespective of how tasty they can be. Here are five 'super' power-packed fruits that you can eat raw and benefit from:

Kiwi: The Chinese-origin fruit has more Vitamin C than an orange. Kiwi is a strong fighter of high-blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Kiwi is also enriched with folic acid and Vitamin E that keep skin supple, glowing and acne free.

Mango: Rich in Vitamins A, C, B6 and E, beta-carotene, copper and fibre, the tropical fruit is a strong fighter against high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity. Mangoes can also be used to control acne and enlarged pores on the skin.

Lychee: Rich in Vitamin B complex, folates, thiamin and niacin, lychees are strong fighters against flu, early ageing and help in metabolic functions. A polyphenol called oligonol is found in abundance in lychee that helps to protect against harmful UV rays, cancers and overall blood flow.

Pomegranate: This fruit is tangy and rich in many antioxidants that not only promote wellbeing, but also boost immunity. This super fruit has been extensively studied and it shows that it can aggressively fight heart diseases, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Cranberry: An excellent fruit to eat on a daily basis, cranberry fights heart diseases by lowering bad cholesterol and preventing the formation of fatty layer in the arterial walls. Not only are cranberries useful for weight loss, but they also increase metabolism and smooth out a bad digestive system. They are also beneficial for people with kidney stones and can even prevent multiplication of breast cancer cells. The antioxidants present in cranberries reduce the process of ageing and bring a radiant sheen to the skin.

(The author is director, Vedic Line)

Take a deep breath

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While the average person breathes in and out more than 23,000 times a day, the majority of those breaths (especially when you're awake) are short, shallow ones that just reach the chest. "Or what I call 'stress breaths'," says Rebecca Dennis from the Breathing Tree, a self-help course and series of workshops and retreats that teaches better breathing for the stressed-out and beehive-brained among us.

"Everyone makes themselves so stressed out by trying to do everything and be perfect," says Rebecca. "But if we just breathe better, everything else will fall into place. And what's great about proper, deep breathing is that it's free, easy, you can do it anywhere and it improves everything from your stress levels to your heart health and digestion. Plus, it makes you more energised and productive — and it's anti-ageing, too."

Lack of mindfulness


But can all these benefits really come from something we do instinctively anyway? "I can always tell where a client is in the world by the way they breathe," says Rebecca. "We're born with the ability to breathe properly. If you look at babies, they take big, beautiful, connective breaths that fill their bellies with air causing it to expand, and then flatten when they breathe out. Children breathe this way too. But by adulthood, we become too busy to breathe properly — we take short, shallow breaths that fill our chests but not our bellies.
Often, this is down to stress. We spend so much time in our heads and not in our bodies, that breathing slips down our list of priorities during a busy day, and we get by on half-breaths." Rebecca says the effects of all these half-breaths include raised heart rate, tension in the shoulders and jaw, digestive problems, anxiety, as well as higher levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, which can lead to sleep problems and exhaustion.

One recent study from Los Angeles Loyola Marymount University found that yoga breathing exercises improved lung function and eased allergies and asthma symptoms in the study participants. And the benefits of breathing may even extend to giving you younger-looking skin.

London-based holistic facialist Annee de Mamiel, who uses bespoke oils during treatments, says "A lot of my clients just don't take the time to breathe properly. So I tell them, slow down, press pause for a while and breathe. Do this several times a day and not only will you notice a difference in your stress levels, but your skin too — it'll become smoother, fresher and less tired-looking."

Annee says she can always tell by a client's face whether they breathe properly or not. "When you 'panic breathe', often, your cells don't get the oxygen they need to function properly. Toxins build up and the skin on the face begins to age prematurely, in the form of fine lines, darkness under the eyes, puffiness in the face and a look of tiredness."

Pushing for perfectionism

"Cultural stress is a term I came up with to describe this epidemic of everyday stress," explains Dr Howard Murad, the US dermatologist, dubbed the Father of internal skincare, thanks to his inside-out approach in his book called Conquering Cultural Stress: The Ultimate Guide to Anti-Aging and Happiness. "There are far too many expectations on us: we need to look perfect, as do our homes. Our boss wants us to reply to his emails all evening. There's more pressure for our children to do well at school. These stresses are ever-present. They're not going away and you can't 'cure' or avoid cultural stress. All you can do is change the way you handle it. If you don't, you'll find your sleep, happiness and health will suffer and you may even burn out. So, firstly, I'd say you have to ignore this pushing for perfectionism and give yourself permission to be happy, not perfect, in 2016. Stop trying to achieve and just take a breath instead."

There is now a machine designed to help you breathe better. Named Freespira, it is being used in America to train patients with panic disorder to breathe slowly. The device measures respiration rate and carbon dioxide levels in exhaled breath, and uses verbal and visual prompts to adjust your breathing pattern to an optimal rate. A small study found that 68 per cent of patients were panic-free after using it regularly. This is because breathing too quickly causes an imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood, which creates panic-like symptoms. Breathing more slowly and deeply helps control blood pressure and anxiety.

So, how can we improve our breathing the lo-tech way? To take a proper (and free) breath, Annee says you should place your hand on your abdomen and breathe in deeply through your nose — not your mouth — so your abdomen expands and rises. "Hold for a few seconds and then release the breath, breathing out through your nose or mouth until your abdomen flattens once more. Do this once or twice, or as many times as you need to feel calm. Then return to whatever you were doing. It takes seconds," says Annee.

"I also tell clients to have 'breath triggers'. For example, if you get stressed on your train ride to work, take a deep breath every time the door opens at a new station. If you drive, take a deep breath every time you stop at a red light. It goes against what you usually do — that is, clam up, get stressed and start shallow breathing, but that won't change the light from red to green or get you to work quicker. It will just pump cortisol round your body, which will make you feel worse. Taking a proper breath will refocus your mind and you'll become more productive, rather than run ragged on adrenaline."

Rebecca also advises you check your breath when you're stressed or busy. "When you feel frenetic, think about what your breath is expanding — is it your belly, or just your chest? If it's the latter, press pause and breathe." Annee says you should also take a few deep breaths at times when you're not stressed, like after you've brushed your teeth, while you're doing your makeup or making dinner. "Set up small triggers throughout your day and, eventually, it'll just become a habit. And don't worry if you forget — the key is to not make proper breathing a huge deal or another thing for your to-do list. Just sprinkle it throughout your day and I promise you'll feel so much happier."

The Telegraph

Know your cells

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It's often said that the bacteria and other microbes in our body outnumber our own cells by about 10 to 1. That's a myth that should be forgotten, say researchers in Israel and Canada. The ratio between resident microbes and human cells is more likely to be one-to-one, they calculate.

A "reference man" (one who is 70 kilograms, or about 154 pounds, 20-30 years old and 1.7 metres, or about 5 feet 7 inches tall) contains on average about 30 trillion human cells and 39 trillion bacteria, say Ron Milo and Ron Sender at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and Shai Fuchs at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada.
Those numbers are approximate — another person might have half as many or twice as many bacteria, for example — but far from the 10:1 ratio commonly assumed. "The numbers are similar enough that each defecation event may flip the ratio to favour human cells over bacteria," they delicately conclude in a manuscript posted to the preprint server bioRxiv.

The 10:1 myth persisted from a 1972 estimate by microbiologist Thomas Luckey, which was "elegantly performed, yet was probably never meant to be widely quoted decades later," say the paper's authors. In 2014, molecular biologist Judah Rosner at the US National Institutes of Health at Bethesda, expressed his doubts about the 10:1 claim, noting that there were very few good estimates for the numbers of human and microbial cells in the body.

Researchers decided to re-estimate the number by reviewing a wide range of recent experimental data in the literature, including DNA analyses to calculate cell number and magnetic-resonance imaging to calculate organ volume. The vast majority of human cells are red blood cells, they note.


NYT

Managing high-risk pregnancies

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Motherhood is one of the most beautiful experiences in a woman's life. The health of both the mother and the foetus is of paramount importance and regular checkups and good prenatal care can ensure a safe and healthy delivery without complications.

However, a preexisting disease or unforeseen illness can complicate the pregnancy, which can put the mother or the child at risk. A pregnancy is considered to be of high risk when there are potential complications that could hamper the health of the mother, the baby or both. Here are certain common factors:

Advanced maternal age: In the last decades, there has been a trend towards deferred childbearing. It is important to understand that the pregnancy risks are higher for mothers aged 35 and older.

Lifestyle choices: Smoking, alcohol and using illegal drugs can put a pregnancy at risk.

Medical history: A prior C-section, low birth weight baby or preterm birth (birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy) might increase the risk in subsequent pregnancies. Other risk factors include a family history of genetic conditions, a history of pregnancy loss or the death of a baby shortly after birth.

Underlying conditions: Chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, thyroid disease, autoimmune disease and epilepsy increase pregnancy risks. A blood condition, such as anaemia, an infection or an underlying mental health condition can also increase pregnancy risks.

Pregnancy-related issues: Issues that arise during pregnancy itself, irrespective of the mother's health, could often lead to complications. These include premature labour, multiple pregnancies and placenta previa.

So, here is what you can do to promote a healthy pregnancy:

Eat a healthy diet: During pregnancy, the mother needs more folic acid, calcium, iron and other essential nutrients. A daily prenatal vitamin can help fill any gaps.

Gain weight wisely: Gaining the right amount of weight supports the baby's health and makes it easier to shed the extra pounds after delivery.

Avoid risky substances: It is advisable to quit smoking and reduce alcohol consumption.

(The author is consultant gynaecologist, Fortis Hospital, Bengaluru)

The microcephaly connection

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Health officials battling the Zika virus in Brazil say as many as 1,00,000 people could have been infected in one city alone. The virus, which has no symptoms 80 per cent of the time, is blamed for causing stunted brain development in babies. About 3,500 cases of microcephaly have been identified in Brazil so far.

And medical staff in Recife, a state capital in north-east Brazil, say they are struggling to cope with at least 240 cases of microcephaly in children. The city's health secretary, Jailson Correia, a specialist in tropical diseases, told the BBC he and others needed "to fight very hard". "This is a major public health challenge, probably the most serious we have had to face in recent Brazilian history — and already it's become a globalised issue," he said, speaking in a situation room, where a large map of Recife shows where mosquitoes are most prevalent — and many areas are peppered with small pins to mark microcephaly cases. The connection between Zika and microcephaly has not yet been definitely established — but there is growing evidence, with traces of the virus having been found in affected babies, their mothers and their umbilical cords.

Jailson said a spike in infections by another mosquito-borne disease, dengue fever, in the first part of last year may in fact have included cases of Zika, which would explain the spike in microcephaly cases later in the year, with a peak last November.

"We may be talking about Recife having 50,000 to 1,00,000 people exposed to Zika in the first semester of 2015," he said, "and we are now seeing a secondary wave of cases with microcephaly."

NYT

Rearrange your mind

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Yes, you can choose the best; and at the same time, know that you can let the best choose you. Once you know this, an extra spring comes to your step, strength suffuses your spirit and resilience enters your body.

A 92-year-old man who is full dressed by 8 am each morning, hair combed, perfectly shaved, though legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife, 70, recently passed away, making the move rather necessary.

After several hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he manoeuvred his walker to the elevator, he was provided with a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window. "I love it," he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mr Jones, you haven't seen the room, just wait," said the lady.

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," he replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged. It's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do."

Jones continued, "Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day, all the happy memories I've stored away. Just like we clean out a shelf, throw out the clutter and replace the remaining stuff neatly, we need to dust our mind, rid it off garbage and rearrange our thoughts as well. It's about not quitting on yourself. It's all about cheering yourself on. About practising positivity tirelessly and allowing the best to choose you."

Words of wisdom

As Fritz Keisler, the renowned violinist, put it, "If I don't practise for a month, the audience can tell the difference. If I don't practise for a week, my wife can tell the difference. If I don't practise for a day, I can tell the difference."

Ergo, when I practise everyday, I greatly enjoy the difference. I see the world in all its splendour from eyes made joyous. I don't engage with life and always find that life engages with me because I've shed the heavy load of expectations. As does a body need a bath, so does a mind need a daily wash to keep it fresh.

Colour a few pages of a child's 'Jumbo Activity Book'. It's amazing how the simple act resolves little disharmonies — perhaps it's in watching a black and white sketch transform into a living coordinated scene of contrasting colours.

As does a body need exercise to give it strength and flexibility, so does a mind need exercise to give it stability and resilience. Give it good thoughts to workout on. Let it bend and stretch over a puzzle. Let it regain its balance on the broad platform of acceptance. You've nothing to lose except negativity, rigidity and cynicism. And as does a body need rest to repair and rebuild itself, so does a mind need patience and peace to heal and expand. Forgive, cease being hostile, desire nothing. And bask in purity, clarity, wideness and calm. Why waste so much energy trying to rearrange everybody and everything around us, when all we have to do is rearrange our minds and watch the world come lovingly, luminously alive exactly as it is meant to?

For the body, mind & soul

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With yoga studios mushrooming in almost every part of the world, there is a problem of plenty. Wondering which style will work best for you? Pragya Bhatt offers to help.

Are you looking to lose weight? Perhaps, improving your immunity? How about lowering blood pressure? Or fighting chronic pain? No matter what your reason for embarking on the path of yoga, it's important you choose the right style (one that works best for you) and a competent teacher. Here's looking at some of the most popular schools of yoga:

Pursuit of perfection


A traditional style taught in the guru-shishya parampara, Ashtanga yoga consists of different levels of classes. Practitioners have to start at level one even if they've been long-time yoga practitioners in some other styles. The home of Ashtanga happens to be Mysuru and the tradition was started by Shri K Pattabhi Jois. Every year thousands of practitioners from around the world come to Mysuru to learn under the tutelage of the best
Ashtanga teachers in the world.

Each level has a set sequence of asanas and practitioners must master an asana before moving on to the next one in the sequence. Needless to say, mastery of this style can take years. But if you are looking for a physically challenging style, this one is for you. Expect to sweat a lot in each session (students carry along a change of clothing and towels). Also, being certified and authorised to teach this style is a long and arduous process. So, if you are a student looking to learn this style, do ask your teacher about his/her certification.

Slow and steady

Named after Shri BKS Iyengar, the pace of Iyengar yoga is slower than that of most other styles. It is heavily alignment-based and extremely therapeutic. Various props such as bolsters, wooden blocks, blankets, ropes, belts, chairs etc are used in the classes to ensure that all levels of practitioners are able to practise the poses. Often, classes consist of a limited number of asanas practised in detail.

This style is more of a study of the asanas and practitioners are expected to be very precise in their movements. You may not sweat a lot, but the intense stretches will leave you feeling light and easy after the class. As with Ashtanga yoga, becoming certified to teach in this style is a long process and it may take several years for a teacher to become certified. So, before joining a class, check out the credentials of your teacher.

Best of both worlds

Baptiste yoga was started by Baron Baptiste after he spent time in India learning under the guidance of BKS Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois. Therefore, a Baptiste yoga class is a combination of these styles. There is no specific sequence of asanas to be followed and classes are conducted in a heated room.

As in Iyengar yoga, Baptiste yoga also aims to make yogasanas accessible to all ages and capabilities. Although not very popular in India, Baptiste yoga had a good run in the US. It's on the decline now, though, after newer styles have emerged.

Feel the heat


Bikram yoga combines a hot room of about 40 degree Celsius with a sequence of 26 postures. Because of the elevated temperatures, some believe that the joints become loose and it becomes easier to practise this style. However, from personal experience I would say that relatively simple poses become difficult to perform in the heat.

Bikram Choudhury and his fleet of luxury cars (totalling about 100) have come under a lot of criticism, even before the sexual harassment cases came to light. While Bikram yoga is really popular in the West, there are not many takers in India.

Hot favourite

Hot yoga evolved out of the Baptiste and Bikram styles of yoga where the room was artificially heated to facilitate sweating, loosening up of the body and (it is believed) the release of toxins. These classes do not follow any specific asana sequence. Teachers customise and modify sequences for their classes. But one needs to get comfortable with the elevated temperatures.

Smooth moves

'Vinyasa' basically refers to the coordination of movement with breath. Vinyasa yoga classes also work up a good sweat because the movements are constant, smooth and continuous.

Have the power

Power yoga is a dynamic class where yoga sequence is done in a flow. These may
include repetitive movements designed to increase your heart rate. Expect to sweat a lot during these sessions. Whether you're looking for weight loss, improved flexibility or increase in stamina, you'll get it all from a power yoga class.

The right balance

It's a comparatively slower form of yoga, Yin yoga focuses more on holding asanas for longer periods of time. Started by a martial artist called Paulie Zink, who was inspired by both his Kung Fu and yoga practice, the full name for this style is Yin and Yang yoga as it works on balancing the Yin (slow) and the Yang (dynamic) components of a human being. This style of yoga aims at increasing flexibility.

Healing touch

Restorative yoga is a term used for yoga classes for the infirm or the injured. This style borrows heavily from the Iyengar school to heal and restore the body. Popular amongst athletes since it helps in undoing damage brought about by heavy physical exercise, this can also be used in conjunction with physiotherapy.

Restorative yoga classes make heavy use of props. Although asanas are held for a long time, instead of being strenuous, restorative yoga poses are relaxing. These classes work on the principle of getting you back into alignment, centredness and focus by keeping the pace of the classes slow and restful. Great for those who lead frazzled work and personal lives.

In the right spirit

The precursor to all forms of yoga, the asanas and philosophies comprising Hatha yoga have evolved into the different styles that we see today. This style was defined by Swatmarama in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a text published in the 15th century.

Hatha yoga focuses on the eight limbs of yoga, taking this style beyond just the practice of the physical asanas on to the idea of cultivating the mind and the intellect and the spirit. It lays great emphasis on how we conduct ourselves and treat others.

God of all things

'Bhakti' means devotion, and Bhakti yoga focuses on complete devotion to God. Different sects have different deities but on the whole, the principle of Bhakti yoga is the union of the 'soul' with the 'supersoul' (God).

Unlike other practices, this form doesn't focus on asanas. The cornerstone of this yoga is on cultivating devotion and meditating upon God. Practitioners remember and pay homage to God before any action and attribute all their success to the supreme one. Every action is a tribute to God.

Matter of karma

'Karma' means action, and Karma yoga focuses on actions as a means to achieve liberation. It focuses on selfless action and duty above all. Proponents of Karma yoga practise becoming unattached to the fruits of their actions. This helps in maintaining
utter equanimity and detachment to the earthly life.

Of five principles

Founded by Swami Sivananda, Sivananda yoga comprises 12 postures practised by members every day. It also comprises the philosophy of traditional Hatha yoga. The aim is to keep the practitioner physically and emotionally healthy by following five principles —
proper exercise (asanas), proper breathing (pranayama), proper relaxation (savasana), proper diet (consuming vegetarian food) and good thoughts (dhyana).

Alignment and attitude

Started by John Friend, an erstwhile Iyengar practitioner, Anusara yoga derives its philosophies from Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagvad Gita. The cornerstones of this style of yoga are attitude towards the asana and then towards life; alignment of the asanas and how it integrates the mind and body; and action, which will naturally flow from a sense of alignment and attitude to bring more stability and freedom.

In 2012, though, this style was mired in controversy following allegations of sexual harassment, which finally led to the founder resigning from the board of directors.

Go with the flow


Flow yoga refers to any yoga class which combines breath and movement in a flow, with relaxation also incorporated in between the flow. The relaxation and the movement are coordinated and timed, with the main relaxation usually happening towards the end of the class. Expect to get your heart rate up and get all sweaty. It's a great way to torch calories and build muscle.

(The author is a Bengaluru-based yoga instructor)

A city on its feet

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As Hong Kong celebrated the Chinese New Year, Anupama Ramakrishnan explored the city draped in festivities, binging on local delicacies and indulging in New Year rituals.

I had never been so overwhelmed to see so many sneakers on the road. Moments after arriving in Hong Kong, it dawned on me that here is a city that loves to walk. And it was only wise that I join the trail.

Some journeys are destinations in themselves. As I sunk into the black leather seats on Tigerair, which was to take me to Singapore, and eventually to Hong Kong, I was assured of a comfortable passage. The pre-booked hot meals, that came as part of TigerPlus services, were a world away from the cold cuts one is sometimes left to deal with. And there was more in the offing.

The agony of killing time during transit nullifies as you step into the SATS Premier Lounge in Singapore's Changi Airport Terminal 2 — quite a bonus for TigerPlus passengers. At the lounge, there is plenty of room to rest and relax.

Before long, I was ready for my second leg of the tour — from Singapore to Hong Kong. There had already been much food for thought, but when my platter came, hot and piping, it was more than welcome. Although this was no culinary expedition, I found it well-orchestrated — nasi lemak, Devil's curry chicken, Hawaiian tomato pesto pasta, vegetarian tomato koora and more. I had picked the latter and was content.

A walk around the block

A splendid time to be in Hong Kong, people say, is during the Chinese New Year. It's hard to disagree. Notwithstanding the nip in the air, families were out dressed in their best, kids in tow. Even the prams were living it up and the adorable canine friends were wrapped in traditional silk and fur jackets.

It was Chinese New Year's Eve and the flower markets at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay were pulsating with energy. Si (market in Cantonese), I was told, was an essential part of daily life there, as indeed they are in many parts of the world.

My meanderings led me to discover the city's fetish for flowers, fashion and fish, not necessarily in that order. The Mandarin oranges, I heard over and over again, brought good fortune. The golden fruits were carried home like trophies. It was a portal to a culture. In an essentially westernised life, this was a time when tradition returns.

I tried the red sweet-on-a-stick bingtanghulu, and soaked in the sights. The fair got heavier by night and traditional greetings rented the air. For the people there though, the night was still young. But I had had a long day and retiring seemed to be a good option.
The Luxe Manor, the boutique hotel, where I was to spend the next five nights, was a world of surrealism. The throne-like couch in the reception was the highlight in a lobby inspired by Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi. The centrepiece, an old Master Q chair, held the pride of place clearly. Art was beating, everywhere.

As dawn broke on the 'Well-Wishing Day', the entire city seemed to have converged at the Lam Tsuen 'Wishing Trees' for a rendezvous with tradition. A banyan tree was decked with paper streamers tied to oranges. Zelo Dai, who works with Hong Kong Tourism Board, narrated it all — you write a wish on a piece of paper, tie it to the citrus fruit, and throw it into the tree. Lady luck will favour you if your fruit gets lodged in the branches.

The New Year's Day lunch was a revelation. Food in Hong Kong, though basically Cantonese, is as international as it can get. While I had dim sums in mind, I soon realised the platter had more than that at the Hyatt in Tsim Sha Tsui. There seems to be a mindfulness in everything done in the City, and the cuisines as well.

I had my share of fai chun, the traditional decoration, that evening. Fai chun contains blessings and prayers. The calligraphy artist took great pains in helping the visitors dabble with Chinese calligraphy. Although it left an indelible impression on me, my attempt at the art was less than satisfactory.

As dusk fell, at the Victoria Harbor, one could feel the anticipation. The stage was set for one of the finest displays in the world — the Cathay Pacific New Year Night Parade. Living up to the theme 'Playground of the World — Party of the Year', floats after floats and exceptional talents from different countries moved past. There were lion dances, percussion bands, ballets, samba dancers and what not! The freezing hands notwithstanding, the air held a warmth of joie-di-vivre.

The highest point in this trip, to me, was taking the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak. Asia's oldest funicular, the tram carries you vertically to the Peak. From the Sky Terrace 428 on the Peak, I could see the sea surrounded by skyscrapers, the harbour, the green hills and the Lugard Road curling the Peak and nesting bungalows. In the world beneath, I could spot the joggers. This was heights of a picturesque bounty. Talking of heights, I took a ride in the 60-metre-high Hong Kong Observation Wheel that evening. The 360-degree-view of the skylines and the Harbour cannot but be fathomed only by the senses. The dinner that evening at 'Jamie's Italian', was quite an Italian affair.

Nightlife

As night fell, the fireworks display began. The Hong Kong Island skyline lit up the evening for a good 23 minutes as nostalgic golden oldies played in the background. Paens have been sung about the fireworks, but that evening, that part of the world had came to a standstill!

By now, I was getting accustomed to the rather cold weather, but not the sneakers!

The next day was called Chec Hao, and according to Chinese tradition, not a good one for getting into a spat. My destination was Ngong Ping 360. The cable car ride from Tung Chung was something I was looking forward to. With its glass bottom, the crystal cabin offered a feast to the eyes.

Ngong Ping is the site of the Buddha statue and the Po Lin Monastery. Through the glass panes, I saw the walking trails over Lantau. Slowly, the Tian Tan Buddha appeared. Seated 34 metres high on the top of a lotus, it brings in tourists and believers alike. Climbing the stairs was no trivial task, but for the many who converged there, it seemed like a meditative experience. Fortunately, no spat happened!

I was glad the next day was spent in The Ocean Park in Aberdeen. The park has well 70 attractions and I was quite at sea admiring the marvels of the ocean. Next to the grand aquarium, I could admire fishes like the manta ray, hammerhead sharks, tunas, Napoleon wrasse, and of course, the sea lion, at close quarters.

As I walked through The Times Square that evening, the city unravelled its conventional and unconventional side and the fact that how two worlds can co-exist as one. Journeys often lead to secret destinations and revelations. I had mine — of trivias in street corners, of cuisines beyond dim sums, and how it is time to get a new pair of sneakers!

How to get there:


Tiger Air operates seven weekly flights on Bengaluru-Singapore route and from there to Hong Kong. With Tiger Plus, travellers can enjoy privileges such as access to SATS Premier Lounge at Changi Airport, Singapore, and priority boarding. One can also have a hassle-free transit experience at Changi Airport with Tiger Connect. There is no need to pass through immigration or collect checked-in baggage for onward flight. For details, log in to www.tigerair.com

Where to stay:

The Luxe Manor at Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. For details, log on to www.theluxemanor.com.
For more information, visit the Hong Kong Tourism Board's website: www.discoverhongkong.com

Mountain mystique

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Late monsoon did not deter our spirit of catching a glimpse of the crowning glory of the nation, Mt Khangchendzonga. A good seven-hour drive from Bagdogra to Yuksom in Western Sikkim through patches of bad roads, cascading waterfalls flowing onto the road, lush green forest cover and misty hills, all added to the scenic beauty that Sikkim is known for.

Yuksom (means the meeting place of three Lamas), the old capital of Sikkim, is the gateway to one of the most popular and beautiful treks in Sikkim — the Yuksom-Dzongri-GoechaLa Trek. Yuksom is all of two roads, with a beautiful large monastery and stupas, home stays and a few hotels that play host to travellers. A bright day would mean a good view of Mount Kabru. With almost 24 hours electricity, clean environment, fresh water and enterprising people, Yuksom is indeed a dreamland.

Rare sights


Our trek to GoechaLa, started from the small lanes of Yuksom leading to the entrance of Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP). Unlike the other Himalayan range, northeast Himalayas have a blanket of green cover, rich evergreen forests and huge trees embracing the hills, with bright white patches of waterfalls. Sound of the gushing water and the wind overpowered the rains, as we trekked on a fairly well carved path.

With lashing rains and leeches around, we decided against camping in tents. A small trekkers' lodge was our home. Even as my team decided to sleep in the lodge, I happily opted to sleep outside with just a roof on top. Surprisingly, it was not cold enough to send me back into the lodge.

Day two was going to be a long trek, gaining altitude to our next destination Tshoka, with the trail going up and down all through the forest. The gloomy weather with occasional showers did not help either. Even a few kilometres in high altitudes can be gruelling, more so with unfavourable weather. We finally reached Tshoka at about 3 pm, fully drenched, just in time for some hot noodle soup and tea.

Tshoka is a larger town with better trekkers' lodges. However, we were indeed disappointed to meet fellow trekkers who were returning from Dzongri due to bad weather. We were hoping for the weather to change soon. As I woke up, weather that seemed fine was a complete whiteout in a few minutes, but that did not deter us from hitting the trail to Dzongri at 7.30 am. Dzongri was a long slippery trail, but we had the company of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute trainees heading to their basecamp via Dzongri carrying their 20-25 kg backpack.

Waiting for clear weather, we stayed for another day in Dzongri, with very little hope of proceeding further. Next day, with the weather not giving much hope, and given the fact that we had to cover two days of trek in a day, we had to take a sad and hard decision to trek back to Tshoka, and to Yuksom, the following day.

A trek to remember

On the last day of the trek, as we headed back, the weather got better. Birds, butterflies and insects were out in the mild sun making merry. Flowers bloomed and the marshy rocky walls of the trail turned brighter and greener as the sun cleared the mist. Seemed like the trail turned into paradise on earth overnight. Every waterfall offered us our water and photo break, while crossing the bridges with gushing crystal clear water underneath proved to be fun.

As we exited the KNP, the forest department was getting ready to receive a UN delegation. I wished the forest staff good luck and hoped to trek in the region again next year. This region has a UNESCO Heritage tag, which it truly deserves.

Back in Yuksom, a hot shower and a strong cup of masala tea rejuvenated me. Having binged on yummy aloo parathas and a few more cups of masala tea, we left Yuksom with pleasant memories, with a promise to return next year.

Behind the wheels

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Two museums in Goa celebrate one of the greatest inventions: wheels. Preeti Verma Lal finds out more about their driving forces.

Decades have flitted past, but Goa's vintage car collector Pradeep V Naik has not forgotten that rosy day in 1970s when his uncle drove home in a new Mercedes Benz. Price, Rs 5,000. Naik looked at it and flinched. "Such a waste of money," he blurted. Soon, when his uncle bought the wooden-bodied Portuguese Carrera, Naik coaxed him to scrimp. "Why waste money?" he asked. But Naik's car-hate story turned upside down when he was bewitched by a 1931 black Peugeot 311. He hurriedly signed a cheque for Rs 3,000, paid Rs 8,000 as RTO tax, and brought the black beauty home. That day, Naik got hooked to cars.

In the collection

Today, 16 vintage cars are displayed in Nuvem's Ashvek Vintage World, the only vintage car museum in Goa. He also owns every Mercedes model made between 1939 and 2012. Add to that the 12 Morris Minors, a 1945 Austin Ruby, a 1929 Ford A, a 1928 Essex, the 938 Mercedes 170 that Roger Moore drove for the 1980 war-film The Sea Wolves and a World War II Vidal Tempo (Wehrmacht) made for the German military and later owned by the Maharaja of Sawantwadi.

He owns a 1956 DKW Wunga, a four-wheel jeep with three cylinders and a two-stroke engine, and a white stretch Beetle on which Naik got Mario Miranda's iconic caricatures painted.

Other than the cars stacked in the Ashvek gallery, Naik has an enviable collection of miniature cars — Mercedes convertibles in one locked closet, and miniatures of all Beetle models ever made by Volkswagen — countless key rings, belt buckles, archaic ceramic signages of tyre companies that are no longer used, an old Vijay super scooter, and a Rajdoot motorcycle.

In his workshop in Madgaon, Naik is refurbishing an Austin FX4 (London taxi) — one inch, one nut, one headlight at a time. A labour of love that will take at least six months to return it to its original grandeur. A Beetle is being painted white and a dilapidated Morris is now shining bright red.

Naik drives around in a black Mercedes C Class and chuckles about that rosy day in the 1970s when he subsisted on the frugal thought that buying expensive cars was a "criminal waste of money." Now, Naik walks around with a cheque book, ready to buy a vintage car, however dented, broken or without paint it is.}

Carriage Museum

As if I have not seen enough wheels, from Nuvem I drive to Benaulim to visit the country's only Carriage Museum. There are no signages. The streets bend at corners and I ask every stranger the road to Goa Chitra, which also houses the Carriage Museum. A faint-hearted person would have given up, but I must visit the museum, which is graded as a 'must-see' by Time magazine, as 'hidden gem' by National Geographic, and one of India's 'Top Choices' by Lonely Planet.

The car screeches in front of a 30-acre complex that houses the Ethnographic Museum, and the Carriage Museum. I amble through the tiled pathway with ponytailed Victor Hugo Gomes, a National-award-winning artiste and the brain behind the two museums.

Antique wall clocks stare from a white wall that leads into a huge hall that houses 68 carriages (the largest such collection in India) and wheels of all kinds — from those used to dehusk paddy and pound rice to wheels of the spinning wheel.

Carriage Museum traces the evolution of the wheel — the pristine one-block cart wheels without spokes; roughly-hewn, small wooden wheels for carts pulled by donkeys; larger wheels with rubber rims pulled by horses; wheels for human-pulled carts and rickshaws; blackbuck-pulled carts, gypsy carts with metal embellishments and hidden nooks to keep precious things during journeys; funeral carts with the mandatory cross; damne, a traditional Belagavi cart for school children; palanquins for brides; palkis and lalkis (kinds of palanquins) for religious purposes; rare Kutch carts. Gomes, also the curator of the Christian Art Museum in Goa, did criss-cross the country in search of carriages and wheels. Gomes ensures that the artefact is truthfully restored.

In Goa Chitra, Gomes has more than 4,000 artefacts that depict the material culture of Goa before the arrival of electricity. It includes exhibits associated with rural trade and skills, agrarian and storage implements, grain and liquid measures, and various scales and weights. At Goa Chitra, the wheel of life spins incessantly.

Without a squeak

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Imagine we survive the Holocaust, Third World War, pestilence, our politics and such like. Imagine we also survive road accidents, or whatever your current favourite hate. Imagine, in short, we enter 2030. Who should we thank? Persistence, for one. Chance, for another. Why not your local hakim and your neighbourhood druggist?

No matter how hard you think of things or circumstances to thank for your sheer lively progress, you will miss one humble thing. Mouse. Not a word of praise, not a hint of acclaim, not a murmur of applause will go out to the teams of mice that are part of any medical breakthrough. When Dr Jonas Salk called for volunteers to test a serum that would snuff out polio, who came scampering to his side? Not your dog, man's best friend. He was too busy playing fetch or bringing you your newspaper. Not your reclusive cat, which had curled up in the corner. But mice.

That mice have stumbled upon this humble business of prolonging human life is an interesting one, but it's purely accidental.

Ever since the clever Pied Piper whisked away all the mice from a sleepy peasant town, mice have been feeling terribly unwanted. Time was when they had to reconcile to their destiny. But then, this was their moment of reckoning. Something had to be done. At first they tried to ingratiate themselves. Play kind. In one instance, a mouse pulled out a thorn from a lion's paw. This act earned him some regard, but the 'mousekind' wasted away. A turning point was when cats were sent to exterminate them. Incensed, they planned a revolt. They began a squealing campaign, causing terrified women to jump up on furniture. They were thrilled when Little Tommy Thin put one of his cats in the well.

The mice then gnawed at a ship to make it sink, and as the crew went down, the mice gleefully deserted. Despite their valour, mice remained in limbo. But they got a lucky break. It reads like a fairy tale...

There was a pretty girl named Cinderella. She was ragged and dirty from the menial work her evil stepsisters enjoined her to do. While they made merry in the razzle-dazzle society, Cinderella slogged. Eventually, a kind fairy enabled her to go the Prince's ball by bedecking her in a fabulous gown and sandals of glass, and turned a pumpkin into a splendid coach. Who do you think drew the coach? A team of six mice, that's who!

Oh, what a furore the mice created, prancing their way to the palace! The simple folk in town had seen fabulous coaches and girls in fabulous gowns, but a team of mice in resplendent white? It was worthy of Disney. But their joy was shortlived. At midnight, the coach turned back into a pumpkin and the mice had to retreat into oblivion. And they thought, "Where is he who sees with a fair eye... a hero perish, or a sparrow fall...

Now you know who our true friends are — toiling and slogging in the labs just so that we can reach 2030, which is more than what a nuclear scientist can promise.

Shashi Tharoor

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Born on March 9, 1956 in London to Lily and Chandran Tharoor of Palakkad, Kerala, Shashi Tharoor graduated in History from St Stephen's College, Delhi, and pursued his higher studies at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Tufts University, United States.

He holds the distinction of having completed his PhD at the age of 22. Tharoor served the United Nations in various prestigious diplomatic positions for 29 years, before coming back to India and entering politics. A globally-recognised speaker and a prolific writer, he has authored over 15 books, in both fiction and non-fiction genres, the latest one being India Shastra: Reflections on the Nation in our Time, as also written several articles and columns for both newspapers and magazines in India and abroad.

Where do you write best?

At my study, on my desktop computer.

What inspires you to write?

The world around me.

What is the last thing you read that made you laugh out loud?


The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Stepped out of His Window and Disappeared by Jonas
Jonasson.

What are you scared of?

Misunderstanding.

Your pet peeves...


Injustice, distortions, lies.

Your favourite topic of discussion...

Cricket.

Your favourite food...

Idlis, ideally with a chutney of onions and red chillies.

Who would you most like to sit next to at a dinner party?

Jawaharlal Nehru. What an extraordinary mind!

Which sport do you like best?

Cricket. Nothing comes close to the pleasure cricket gives.

Do you like music? If so, which genre?


Yes, without being a connoisseur. I love Western classical, but my favourite music to listen to is Bollywood film songs of the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.

What keeps you awake at night?

Pending emails!

What would you change about yourself?

My inability to say no, which sends me hurtling around the country delivering too many speeches and sleeping too little.

What book do you wish you had written?

Any one of P G Wodehouse's many masterpieces.

Who is your perfect reader?

Someone like myself — an urban, cosmopolitan, English-educated Indian with a comparable frame of cultural and political reference.

Do you have a writing routine?

No, sadly. Political life doesn't permit it.

How do you relax?

I haven't yet learned to relax!

If you could own any painting, what would it be?

One of Warwick Goble's lovely watercolours on classical Indian themes from the Ramayana and other legends. As a fan of his work, I wonder about his influence on Raja Ravi Varma, or was it the other way around?

Any superstitious beliefs?

If I accidentally place my foot on the printed word, even if it's a discarded newspaper, I instantly touch it with my hand and raise my hand to my forehead, to beg Saraswati's divine forgiveness.

Your favourite holiday destination...

Haven't had a real holiday in a long time! Any place where I can spend time with family.

You are currently reading...


The Case for India by Will Durant (1931).

Time to introspect

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In the light of the recent debates on intolerance in the country, Romila Thapar's 'The Public Intellectual in India' is relevant. Sudhirendar Sharma reviews the book.

In an era when noise is favoured over discussions, and shallow comments over deep conversations, consent is being engineered on the foundation of subjectivity. Dissent, the fundamental act of faith in democracy, has become a bad word. As things stand today, not only are conclusions drawn in a jiffy, opinions quashed in limited characters are posted for public consumption. On top of it all, space for those who could influence public opinion has shrunk, and scope for engaging people in dialogue on the kind of society they wish to construct has narrowed.

Noted historian Romila Thapar takes an autonomous stance on the growing inability to publicly debate liberal views in a politically-vitiated environment with an aim to resurrect the pubic intellectual who could think independently on behalf of the voiceless and the compromised. It is not as if public intellectuals are absent in our society, they never were, as human society has subconsciously nurtured them through the ages. From Socrates to Gandhi, to name a few, public intellectuals have always challenged entrenched notions and questioned identity politics with an unwritten premise to promote secular thoughts and actions.

Thapar is convinced that in a successful democratic society, citizens should have equal social and economic rights irrespective of their religion, and even ideological positions. Drawing inferences from the rich tapestry of history, philosophy, science and politics enshrined in the rich Indian tradition, Thapar presents secularism as a 'process' and not as a 'position', upon which a democratic-liberal nation gets built. Secularism is a euphemism for plurality, a celebration of diversity in letter and spirit.

Based on a lecture the lead author delivered in 2014, The Public Intellectual in India shows us why it is important for objective, fearless and constructive voices to take charge to shape public discourses on issues affecting the society and the country at large. Five noted scholars offer their commentaries on the issue flagged by the lead author. Dissecting the identity of a public intellectual, philosopher Sundar Sarukkai argues that the real essence of a public intellectual is to create a 'public' in which his/her role becomes redundant and unnecessary. Social scientist Dhruv Raina stresses the need for fearless independence in the quest for progress.

The book is all about exploring reasons behind the rather erring silence of the public intellectual on the face of the so-called majoritarian politics. Why has the public intellectual exercised self-censorship in speaking up? Why is there a growing public culture against dissent? Why we only communicate with people with whom we agree? And, why are there angry mobs ready to lynch any divergent viewpoint?

Exploring six vantage points from which public intellectuals must speak, political theorist Peter Desouza wonders if the likes of Shah Bano (who challenged the patriarchy within communities) and Anita Narre (who refused to return to her marital home because there was no toilet) were not the intellectuals who challenged the old order with their deeds. If a public intellectual is perceived as one who speaks up against the present order, then there are growing numbers of people in everyday life who are unwilling to be guided by the past. Not only do we need to locate them, but nurture them organically, too!

While agreeing that any attempt at being silenced must be resisted, historian Neeladri Bhattacharya wonders if the present picture is as dismal as the lead author may have painted. Isn't silence a virtue, with an immense power of communicating more than words? Depending on how it is perceived, silence can turn out to be an active state of being. The presence of small dissenting voices exists in our society, and such voices do matter in history. Journalist Jawed Naqwi views the entire issue from the perspective of religious revivalism and the social identity of intellectuals. What has the public intellectual contributed to addressing the deep-seated social malaise?

In all, there is no denying the fact that the society needs to host intelligent, civil conversations about controversial and often heated issues, with the aim of widening them both in scope and participation. The ultimate aim, argues Thapar, is not only to engage the public in thinking what they are going through, but where they are heading. To this end, the role of dissenting voices, small or big, is to open individual's understanding and individual's choice of making an impact on decisions on their lives, and the lives of those to come after us.

The book could not have come out at a better time. Whichever side of the 'tolerance-intolerance' debate one might be, one cannot be indifferent to the change that is being thrust upon us.

The Public Intellectual in India
Romila Thapar
Aleph
2015, pp 170, Rs. 499

Teen troubles

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American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers
Nancy Jo Sales
Knopf
2016, pp 404, $26.95


The murder last month of a 13-year-old Virginia girl — who had communicated with one of her suspected killers through Kik, the popular messaging app that offers its users anonymity — has reignited worries about teenagers' use of social media. It is only the latest in a wave of stories that underscore the hazards facing young people in cyberspace.

In her discursive new book, American Girls, journalist Nancy Jo Sales examines the effects that growing up in the turbulent seas of social media are having on American girls. It looks not only at high-profile cases of predatory assault and cyberbullying, but also at how day-to-day life inside an online bubble can narrow one's view of the world and warp relationships and self-esteem.

She writes about 13-year-old girls being asked for nude photos by male acquaintances, being slut-shamed by classmates, and using a special app to edit photos of their backsides. She writes about 16-year-old girls meeting strangers on Tinder and middle schoolers sexting in class.
This book does an unnerving job of depicting the highly-sexualised environment teenagers inhabit today on the Web and the social anxiety created by spending hours a day online. But American Girls is hardly groundbreaking in its revelations. Many of its findings were chronicled more succinctly in Anderson Cooper's 2015 CNN special "#Being13: Inside the Secret World of Teens," most notably the stress caused by the minute-by-minute monitoring of one's status and popularity, the bullying and harassment that take place routinely online, and exposure of younger and younger children to overtly sexual content on the Web.
Sales explored many of these issues in a 2013 Vanity Fair article that was a kind of precursor to this book. Unfortunately, she has not amplified her findings much here, only padded them with additional examples. For that matter, Sales has failed to find an architecture that can successfully sustain a book-length narrative. American Girls too often devolves into generalised observations, illustrated with anecdotes drawn from the more than 200 interviews she conducted. These interviews with teenage girls can be insightful, disturbing and revealing, but they are also repetitious and in dire need of editing.
"One of the things that continually struck me over the course of my reporting," Sales writes, "was the similarity of girls' experiences on social media regardless of their race or background. The homogeneity of the technology and widespread use of the same apps seem to be creating, again, a certain culture. And a lot of what girls had to say about this culture involved an experience of what can only be described as sexism."
Sales tries hard in these pages to situate girls' current experiences with social media in context with changing attitudes toward feminism — from the "girl power" movement in the '90s to the emergence of "princess culture" in the 2000s to a growing awareness today that there is "inequality in the lives of women and girls that needed to be addressed."
Not only is it alarming that children are increasingly exposed to pornography online, but Sales also notes that much of the sexual material they see "is characterised by what looks like violence against women" — violence "in which men dominate and control women, insult them, and sometimes hurt them physically."
She argues that hit movies like American Pie (1999), in which teenage boys use a webcam to spy on an unsuspecting girl, "set a normalising tone" for how many Americans would view teenage cybersex in the years to come: "boys will be boys — even when doing something unethical and creepy — and girls just laugh along with it." She also points to the fallout that the Kardashian sisters' fame and relentless self-promotion on social media has had on girls — encouraging them to create airbrushed, sexualised online selves and to covet popularity measured in clicks and bling.
"The constant seeking of likes and attention on social media," she observes, "seems for many girls to feel like being a contestant in a never-ending beauty pageant in which they're forever performing to please the judges." Sadly, many of Sales' common-sense observations are undermined by her lapses into psychobabble: "What's not often talked about in discussions about the hypersexualisation of girls," she writes, "is how this trend has been concurrent with the hypermasculinisation of boys." Also counterproductive is her alarmist tendency to exaggerate the social acceptance of odious behaviour. For instance, she asserts that graphic crotch pictures have become such "a fact of life for both adults and teens" that Rep Anthony D Weiner's sending of an explicit photo of himself to a college student over Twitter — which led to his disgrace and resignation in June 2011 — might now "be viewed as no big thing."

The New York Times

Life less ordinary

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The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
Mitch Albom
Sphere
2015, pp 489, Rs. 499

This is a turbulent yet soulful love story of a talented musician and the love of his life, who nurtures his inspiration to create life-changing music. Frankie Presto's unique talent in singing as well as guitar-playing takes him through the universe of Western music. Frankie earns dazzling mastery over classical music as well as contemporary jazz and rock and roll.

Music leads him from friendless penury to a place among stars like Duke Ellington, Hank Williams, Carole King and even KISS. As a member of Elvis Presley's troupe, Frankie becomes the first successful Elvis impersonator. Frankie is blessed with dashing looks and a magnetic stage presence, as well as a sonorous voice and mastery of the guitar. He becomes a pop star himself, with runaway hits and adoring fans. He gives a brilliant performance at Woodstock, but incognito. He meets and impresses The Beatles, Rolling Stones and more. Contemporary western music buffs will love these threads woven into the story. Readers unfamiliar with western music will also enjoy being carried along by the Frankie Presto wave. Number one New York Times bestselling author Mitch Albom has deftly woven music into a fast-paced plot, enriching an exciting story that tugs at the reader's heartstrings.

Orphaned at birth, Frankie spends his early childhood in revolution-churned Spain. His mother dies immediately after his birth, in a church attacked by revolutionaries. A nun promises the dying mother to look after the orphaned newborn. Cruelly abandoned by this first guardian, the infant Frankie is rescued by Baffa, the middle-aged bachelor owner of a sardine factory. Baffa and his hairless pet dog give Frankie affection and a stable home. Baffa takes him for music lessons to El Maestro, a talented but moody and alcoholic blind musician.

This peaceful life of home, school and music lessons is short-lived. Nine-year-old Frankie meets, and instantly falls in love with, Aurora York, a British girl, who is drawn to his guitar-playing. Their innocent first meeting is violently interrupted. They watch horror-struck as Spanish soldiers execute civilian prisoners and bury them in a mass grave. Aurora urges Frankie to play "something that says we won't forget them." That defining moment "was the first time Frankie Presto attempted to give his music to someone else." This enduring passion for music defines Frankie's character and endears him to readers.

On that same fateful day, Frankie learns that Baffa has been arrested by the soldiers, and that he himself is being hunted down. With Baffa's instructions and the help of El Maestro, Frankie is sent to America hidden in the bottom of a boat, with the hope that he will find shelter in the home of Baffa's sister in Detroit. Betrayed and robbed by those in whose care he was entrusted, all Frankie has left are his guitar, and six strings gifted by El Maestro. He soon realises that these precious strings have magical powers. Frankie's music can change people's lives. It doesn't happen because Frankie wills it that way. And when a life is altered, one of the magical strings turns bright blue.

In America at last, little Frankie accompanies musician Django, and learns the gypsy guitar technique. From the wings of the stage in Cleveland Music Hall, he experiences the first blasts from an orchestra. "The elegant twirling of clarinets and saxophones... even the look of the band... handsomely dressed in dark tuxedos... And the crowd! Nearly two thousand people!" Frankie realises that he wants this applause for himself. His struggles slowly bear fruit, and Frankie progresses from the sidelines to centre-stage.

Stardom, name and fame come, yet Frankie remains unfulfilled. He seeks Aurora, for she alone can give him soul-satisfying inspiration. An inner restlessness grips this "most purely musical guitarist", who rebels against the commerce-driven music business. At the height of fame and popularity, Frankie vanishes far from the intrusive eyes of the world.

Encouraged by Aurora, he plays freely again: "better, richer, because his music now was passionate, more thoughtful... the way a great painter chooses not just a colour but the perfect shade." He reappears decades later to give one last life-changing performance.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable read. The passionate rapport between Frankie and Aurora is convincing. But the strings of coincidences holding the story together seem far-fetched. True, an explanation is given at the end, but it fails to satisfy. The device of using the muse Music to narrate Frankie's story and linking tributes from musical celebrities, enriches the story with insights. However, shifting timelines can be confusing at times. Overall, this is a first-class entertainer, which could make a great movie.

Book Rack

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The Holy Sail

Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud, translated by Karim Traboulsi


Bloomsbury, 2016, pp 432, Rs. 499
Oblivious to the invasions, massacres and religious fanaticism that characterise the 15th century, a young girl falls in love with a noble Arabian tribal leader. But all eyes are on the Portuguese fleets in the Arabian Gulf, intent on securing the profitable spice trade.

A fly In the Curry

K P Jayasankar, Anjali Monteiro


Sage, 2015, pp 276, Rs. 795
This book looks at how independent Indian documentary films rework the relationship between film-makers, their narratives, their subjects and their audience, challenging the dominant idea of a documentary as a discourse of the real.

Bicycle Dreaming

Mridula Koshy


Speaking Tiger, 2016, pp 231, Rs. 350

From one birthday to the next, 13-year-old Noor watches as her family comes apart. Her father, Mohammad Saidullah, loses his job. Noor's brother, Talib, works in a call centre; his aspirations for a better life are a constant source of friction. Noor dreams of riding a bicycle, but won't allow herself to learn. Not until Noor falls for Ajith, a Dalit boy.

Sentiment, Politics, Censorship: The tate Of Hurt

Edited by Rina Ramdev, Sandhya Devesan Nambiar & Debaditya Bhattacharya


Sage, 2015, pp 324, Rs. 895

The currency of "hurt" as a claim to, and pretext for, political correctionism — and often taking recourse to the logic of the anti-popular as anti-State — has erected a machinery of censorship governed by the economies. This volume seeks to map this ready vocabulary of a potential victimhood.

Charlotte's End

Veena S Rao


Vitastaa, 2016, pp 224, Rs. 295

Raymond de Villiers is a wealthy English aristocrat with a young adoring wife. His first wife, the beautiful captivating Charlotte, died under mysterious circumstances. Their old historic country house, Lanverndel on the Devon coast, is suddenly destroyed by fire.

State and Civil Society Under Siege

P M Joshy & K M Seethi


Sage, 2015, pp 262, Rs. 750

In this book, the authors show how the Hindu Right uses security, both external and internal, as a strategy for political mobilisation and eventual electoral success. It further explains the organisational and ideological penetration of the Sangh Parivar into the civil domain through strategies of securitisation.

Girl In Glass

Deanna Fei


Bloomsbury, 2015, pp 313, Rs. 499

Deanna Fei was just five-and-a-half months pregnant when she inexplicably went into labour. Minutes later, she met her tiny baby who clung to life support inside a glass box. Fei was forced to confront terrifying questions: How to be the mother of a child she could lose any moment? Whether her daughter would survive another day, and whether she should...

Steps in self-exploration

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Dancer and choreographer Diya Naidu sees a performance as a combination of self-expression and messages carrying universal appeal. Juanita Kakoty in conversation with the young artiste...

Award-winning choreographer Diya Naidu defines her work as "movement and dance-based contemporary performance", which, at the moment, might seem to take a socio-political turn, but has, and always will, she emphasises, "be layered by spiritual and existential questions, and research."

Although she has been dancing ever since she was a little girl, Diya thinks "finding contemporary dance was for me the beginning of really becoming a movement artiste. I loved training in jazz and kathak, but there was something about martial arts that always attracted me. I found the diploma at Attakkalari Repertory Company and auditioned mainly to train consistently in kalaripayattu. Here is where my body found the vocabulary it needed to truly express itself, with all the nuances and layers that make up contemporary existence today."

Keeping at it

Reflecting on how dance makes her find herself, Diya says, "My first solo choreography was perhaps when I was eight or nine years old on a captive crew — my little sister and cousins — whom I bullied into performing in my homemade production. This was followed by many pieces over the years on school and college teams. But my first piece as a contemporary choreographer was a 20-minute solo called Nadir. This was made under the auspices of The Robert Bosch Award for Young Choreographers."

She tells me that Nadir was based on the idea of 'aloneness' in the urban context and the schizophrenic experience of being 'isolated' in the existential sense and yet being surrounded by noise, chaos and the stimulus of the urban jungle. "It uses movement, dance as well as film. This piece was a collaborative experience for me. I worked intensely with filmmaker Nimish Jain, with Shymon Chelad for music and light design, with Elan studio for costume, and with the Teichmann brothers from Germany for sound. This was my first work which let me explore who I was — not just as a dancer, but as a choreographer, too. It was the seed that shaped the existential, spiritual and socio-political space I am seeking to investigate today as an artiste. It made me a better performer, taught me to conceptualise, and forced me to articulate, research and hold more conviction in my ideas. It was cathartic for me in an emotional sense as it allowed me to creatively resolve and navigate certain questions and issues of my own. It made me address many bad habits as a thinker and creator of work, and insecurities as a performer."

Her other works like Bardo Beings and Red Dress Waali Ladki have been equally well-received. Diya points out how she draws from diverse realms. Trained in bharatnatyam, jazz, ballet, kathak, physical theatre and kalaripayattu, Diya had worked with the Attakkalari Repertory Company for seven years, where, she says, she trained in the contemporary South-Asian vocabulary that is unique to Attakkalari and its director, Jayachandran Palazhy. Diya has also trained in yoga, put herself into as many workshops as she could, including mime, training for actors, contemporary, modern and somatic practices, and biodynamic craniosacral therapy.

Talking of her technique, she says, "Earlier, my process was much more physical with a focus on dramatic presence, movement quality and physical stamina and rhythm. At the moment, though these are still important to me, I have begun to seek a more integrated performance approach involving equal engagement with voice and acting skills. This means that I am grappling with ways to accommodate all these aspects into my being with harmony, ease and consistency."

Diya is working on Rehem, a duet between two women that addresses their impulse of just being who they are as human beings and alive, not reacting to historical and current baggage of who and how a woman should be. There are other pieces of work in progress — Labour of Love: around the idea that love and hate come from essentially the same space, and Today, Don't Insist On Leaving, a duet created with an older actor around the theme of ageing and the elderly.

Ways are many

And there is so much poetry in the way she explains how she conceives her work. "Sometimes a piece makes itself — motifs appear in dreams, a dancer/actor catches your fancy as muse, a book transports itself to the movement realm during a daydream on a train, a suggestion takes flight in one's mind, a theme is proposed as commissioned work and yet becomes one's own. There are many ways to dream, write, paint and dance. What seems essential is to find a personal resonance and yet tell a universal story; to be specific and yet somehow open a window to something beyond that minuscule implication. And, above all, to try and play, explore and keep at it till something makes sense in the way the artist dreamt it into being."

The reader in novelist Umberto Eco

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It was odd, I thought, that the death of Harper Lee didn't make headlines in The New York Times. The passing away of the author of a beloved book is exactly the kind of thing that makes top news, and yet the focus of the NYT front page that morning was the death of Umberto Eco, with a good-sized photo.

And on the same page, but much below, almost as an inset, was notice of Harper Lee dying at 89. The reason, I think, for muting the notice (there was a substantial obit later) was the publicity storm unleashed by the publication of her second book, Go Set a Watchman, a year before. For nearly eight months it took up space in the media daily. Its publication was surrounded by controversy, speculation, high excitement and skepticism.

The news that there was such a manuscript from the reclusive Lee who was not meant to have written anything else after To Kill a Mockingbird became a talking point in the media to focus on her life and legacy. And, over the course of a year, too many profiles, stories, and critical appraisals flooded newspapers, magazines and blogs. Resulting, of course, in overkill; and her death now is not the significant event it would have normally been. And so that morning, Umberto Eco's death seemed more noteworthy to headline.

Eco has gone without giving us a sequel (or a prequel) to The Name of the Rose. Though many of his later novels are admired, he never attempted another populist thriller like his medieval detective story. He stopped himself from entertaining us in this way, with a ripping, intellectual murder mystery. After Rose, my favourite Eco novel is The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. Yambo, the antiquarian book dealer, wakes up from a coma and remembers only the books he has read. Not his name, not his job, not his wife. Just whole chunks from books. This is the mischievous premise of the strange book. From page one, Eco delights us with planting pop culture references without telling us from which book or movie or comic book they come from, so that we can have fun spotting them for ourselves.

Even if you don't get around to reading all of the book, just the illustrations will keep you amused. Black and white and colour pictures from highbrow and popular culture — of Flash Gordon, Phantom, Mandrake, Fantômas, Verne, Wells, Dumas. Lovely volumes with an ancient air, cigarette boxes with exotic foreign-sounding names (including Gold Flake!), postage stamps and the original drawings that accompanied the Sherlock Holmes stories in The Strand.

I was lucky enough to find a signed first edition (it was not as expensive as it could have been, the true first being the Italian edition) of The Mysterious Flame of Queen Leona in the rare books floor at the Strand, New York, in May 2007. Now, admittedly, the truly great find would have been a signed edition of The Name of the Rose. But considering any signed copy of an Eco book is precious, especially now that he is no more, it was a nice little thing to run into. And its provenance? Eco had visited Strand and they had got him to sign as many copies as they could.

The illustrations and plates in this book, so rich and magical and nostalgic, alone are worth the price of the book, but, happily, even the text is a joy. This is the book Eco has been reaching to write all along: a story with words and pictures. Yambo, the rare Milanese book-dealer hero of the book (a fictitious version of Eco himself?), can only recall words, not images! Each antiquarian book in Yambo's collection (numbering more than 5,000) is 500 years old and more expensive than a Porsche. His wife calls him a "tireless reader" with an "iron memory."

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana goes on a bit too long, and the brisk pacing, the buoyant comic tone and the pop-culture-loaded first part of the book gives way to (meandering, and slowly-paced) history, romance and a detailed description of Eco's childhood reading. Is Eco, the sly entertainer, hinting that readers invent the books they read and even their own characters?

Reading this odd and beguiling ode to childhood reading, all book lovers will recognise some part of themselves in Yambo, the tireless reader who loves even the sound and feel of the thumb flipping the pages of a book in reverse. This is the reader as hero, the reader as character, and the reader who becomes the book.

I always thought it was a great pity Eco did not return to tell us more of the exploits of William of Baskerville, his Franciscan Sherlock Holmes and book-loving monk with formidable detective powers. The Name of the Rose kicked off a new genre: the erudite medieval mystery, but none of its imitators could do what Eco had managed so expertly and stylishly: mixing low and highbrow plots and themes with such jolly and startling scholarship.

Of energy & empathy

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The outstanding and outspoken Bengali artist Sunil Das allowed his canvas to embrace many themes, writes Giridhar Khasnis.

Five years ago, in early 2011, veteran artist Sunil Das held a month-long exhibition titled Beware - Be Aware in Gallery Kolkata. The uniqueness of the show was that the artist displayed a set of his original paintings along with fake ones!

"I have been all over the world with my paintings," he explained. "But never have I come across a painter whose works have been copied as many times as mine!" He estimated that over 2,000 of his artworks had been copied. He was fed up receiving images of his paintings seeking authentication — most of them being fakes.

"Previously, I did not care about fake art doing the rounds because I have seen works of some greatest masters, such as Jamini Roy and Hemen Majumdar, being copied and sold. But, over the years, this menace has spread like wildfire. I therefore decided that as a painter, it is my duty to create awareness about this issue amongst art lovers and patrons. There is a huge fake-art industry that's operating in the country. And it needs to be stopped."

Das's show Beware - Be Aware expectedly raised a storm in the art circles of Kolkata and elsewhere. Even earlier, he had hit the headlines. While inaugurating a group show in 2010, he was shocked to see some of the paintings on display bearing his signature, all of them fakes. Enraged, he had taken off the paintings, scribbled the word 'fake' in bold letters on them, before putting them back on display!

Das always bemoaned the absence of institutional mechanism to address the issue of fake art in the country. He was also pained that art galleries by and large lacked the expertise or education to differentiate an original and its copy. "Museums and galleries abroad have their own research centres to verify and analyse artworks with scientific precision. Such an infrastructure and facilities, along with qualified people, are required in our country too."

Sunil Das, who passed away last August in Kolkata, aged 76, was both an outstanding and outspoken artist. In a distinguished career spanning over five decades, he produced works that amazed both the critic and the connoisseur with their diversity. He worked in many mediums like charcoal, water colour, oil, collaged-drawings, and in later years, even sculpture. "Trying my hand at any new medium has never been a matter of debate for me. Picasso, who worked in many mediums, has always inspired me."

A prolific painter whose work has always been in demand, Das hailed from a middle-class Bengali business family. As a young boy, he had decided to pursue art despite hardships and familial resistance. His innate ability, skill and hard work had eventually yielded good dividends by fetching awards and scholarships. He not only gained direct entry into the second year of Government College of Arts, but also went on to win a National Award even when he was still a student. Later, a French government scholarship took him to the prestigious art school, Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, in Paris.

A frequent exhibitor in the country and outside, his works were included in the Biennales of Paris, Dacca and Tokyo. He served as commissioner to the São Paulo Biennial and was a member of the jury of the Prix des Étrangers, Paris. In 2014, he was awarded the Padma Shri. All the fame and glory did not erase the memory of his early days of struggle. In his twilight years, he was known to set aside a sizeable part of his savings to support financially weak artists and art students.

Bulls & horses

Das was particularly popular for his brilliant rendering of horses and bulls. In his younger days, he would spend days and nights at the stable of Mounted Police, studying the details and body contours of horses. "I must have done 7,000 horses between 1950 and 1960. I like things which have a lot of rhythm and energy." As for the bull, he was mesmerised watching the raging animal in bullfights in Spain in 1962. "I was tantalised by the passion of the bulls in the fighting arena; their body movement, their power — all of it was so overwhelming that I spent hours trying to capture them and thus started the bull series."

Besides the bulls and horses, Das also embraced many other themes. From the burning ghats to the flowing rivers, from the gaiety of the Parisian boulevards to the violence of the Gulf War, from the vibrancy of Kolkata streets to the plight of prostitutes and slum dwellers — he took them all on his canvas. "I feel I am a member of the community of the world — East or West does not matter to me. I'm a human being and I love other human beings."

She inspires...

Das's rendering of the mysterious feminine form was unique. "Women have inspired some of my most significant works," he would admit. "The curves, the cleavage, the concaves and the convexes, the narrowings and the broadenings, the projections and the recessions of the female anatomy have increasingly made me curious about the unseen and therefore mysterious aspects of womanhood. The prostitutes who inhabit the dingy gullies of Kalighat have inspired some of my most powerful strokes."

Das was associated with the Indian Weaver's Service Council for decades and retired as its director in 1997. He always loved to travel and interact with various weaver communities. "It was while staying with the weavers that I observed the various sights and sounds of rural Bengal," he once poetically described his experiences. "I have realised that days and nights are completely different in the villages. The trees looked exotic with the myriad hues of multicoloured strings tied around them, and various objects like lamps and vermillion strewn around them as an offering to the deities. These emblems created an illusion of mystery and at night I found it to be a completely mystifying scene. It was almost surreal, the way the little pieces glimmered at night."
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