Page 1 : CHENNAI, , Sunday, January 23, 2022, , LITERARY REVIEW, It is high time, Ilango Adigal’s, Silappadikaram, was studied and, staged as a unique, epic drama p4, , WIDE ANGLE, Art restoration is, finally getting its, due, with new, courses on the, science and art, of conservation p6, , BOOKEND, All the guests in The, Indian Edit podcast, are women who, dabble in fields as, diverse as perfumery, and publishing p7, , BACK PAGE, I’m curious to see what might, come to be created, under the current, Taliban regime:, artist Amanullah, Mojadidi p8, , COVER, , Smell, the, , coffee, The Northeast, which has always, been synonymous with tea gardens, is now, seeing coffee quietly dig in its roots p3, , Cup of joy, Inside Été, Coffee, Roasters, in Kohima., Lichan Humtsoe, , IN THE NEWS, Lore of Collarwali, The tigress T-15, one of the stars of the BBC documentary Spy in the, Jungle, better known as ‘Collarwali’, as she was the first big cat to be, collared at Pench Tiger Reserve, died of old age. Collarwali, who gave, birth to 29 cubs in her lifetime, and was famously unfazed by tourist, jeeps as she strode on the kaccha roads, had so captured the imagination, of locals and forest officials that she was given a formal cremation, overseen by local tribal leader Shanta Bai. The tigress was last sighted at, a stream, weak and barely able to walk; she then lay down for a few, hours before being taken away by forest officials for treatment. She died, the next evening from multiple organ failure due to intestine blockage., Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tweeted, saying she had played an, important role in making Madhya Pradesh a ‘tiger State’., , Hark!, After the devastating bushfires of, 2019 and 2020, the forests of, Australia fell silent, as thousands of, birds and animals lost their habitat., The number of endangered bird, species increased by 25% after the, fires: one in six Australian birds is, now considered threatened. In the, face of impending loss, the songs of, 53 of Australia’s disappearing birds, have been recorded in an album,, which elbowed out regulars like, Taylor Swift in the Top Five of, Australia’s Aria music charts. Created, by BirdLife Australia, Songs of, Disappearance features “a chorus of, iconic cockatoos, the buzzing of, bowerbirds, a bizarre symphony of, seabirds, and the haunting call of, one of the last remaining night, parrots.” This is not the first time, that wildlife sounds have topped the, charts. Songs of the Humpback, Whale, an album featuring the, elaborate vocalisations of humpback, whales, sold over 100,000 copies, back in the 70s, fuelling the ‘Save the, Whales’ movement that led to a, 10-year global moratorium on, commercial whaling. Songs of, Disappearance hopes to have a, similar effect on conservation., , CM, YK, , Good froggy, A newly discovered species, of rainfrog from the, Panama jungle, with, unusually prominent black, eyes, has been named, Pristimantis, gretathunbergae after the, Swedish environmental, activist Greta Thunberg., The frog’s habitat is threatened by climate change and it risks extinction., This is not the first critter to be named after Thunberg: in 2019, the, National History Museum named a tiny new species of beetle after the, climate crusader. The tree frog joins a host of animals named after, celebrities: a tropical butterfly named Euptychia attenboroughi after, natural historian David Attenborough; a ‘flamboyant’ treehopper species, with a ‘wacky fashion sense’ named after singer Lady Gaga; a slime, beetle with a ‘broad, shiny, helmet-like head’ after Star Wars villain, Darth Vader; a giant cricket after New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda, Ardern; and a moth with ‘bright blonde scales and unique hairdo’ named, after former U.S. President Donald Trump., , Heavy meta, Last year, when Mark Zuckerberg, announced the rebranding of Facebook as, Meta Platforms, “to reflect the company’s, long-term focus of building the metaverse”,, it was seen as a glib marketing ploy to draw, focus away from the many controversies his, company faced. The idea of an online space, where people can come together to work,, shop, play is not new. Gaming platforms are, possibly the first examples of metaverse,, with a convergence of technologies and, social functions in a 3D set-up. Meta means, ‘beyond’ in Greek, and over the years, technocrats have advocated a larger, role for the metaverse, encompassing everyday life. Last week, a couple in, Tamil Nadu took this advice. They announced that they would host their, wedding reception in the metaverse. After tying the knot, the couple will log, in as their digital avatars into their Hogwarts-themed metaverse party, attended by friends and family. Reportedly, even the bride’s late father will, attend virtually, as an avatar created by the groom. A Hyderabad start-up, plans to host a Daler Mehndi Republic Day concert on metaverse, while Amar, Chitra Katha is set to drop NFTs (non-fungible tokens) of its popular comics, and characters as digital avatars. The possibilities are endless, and despite, concerns around privacy and misinformation, Big Tech has invested heavily in, the metaverse market, estimated to touch $800 billion by 2024., , CH-X

Page 2 : 02, , OPEN PAGE, , THE HINDU Magazine, Sunday, January 23, 2022, , CHENNAI, , *, , FEEDBACK, Letters to the Magazine can be e-mailed separately to, [email protected], , ILLUSTRATION:, J.A. PREMKUMAR, , Wardrobe function, A person’s apparel is part of non­verbal communication and has social significance, Himani Datar, , “A, , With every, change in, fashion, the, older, generation, wonders how, anyone can, like the, curent outfits, , ren’t you changing into, something better?” “A, kurta with jeans is not In­, dian ethnic!” “Why does, she dress like a 16 year old at 60?’, These are oft­heard exclamations in, many homes!, A person’s apparel is a part of, non­verbal communication and has, tremendous social significance. The, colours we choose to wear, the styles, we adopt, our make­up and accesso­, ries reflect our personality and, thought process. It forms a large part, of the “first impression’ that can, make or mar a person’s chances of, success. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet,, Polonius tells his son Laertes to, dress well because “apparel oft pro­, claims the man” or in other words,, “clothes maketh the man”., We create stereotypes based on a, person’s appearance. We have the, jhola variety — activist, academic or, intellectual — wearing khadi with, studied negligence. The mainstream, “filmi” type wears showy clothes, that scream for attention. The “MBA, kinds” look dapper in suits and rim­, less glasses, while the young “IT va­, riety” or techies, have “lost to the, world” looks, shabbier the better., , Shorts are becoming every country’s, national dress. especially if you are, young and cool! A bureaucrat, a, medical representative, an artiste or, a politician can be easily recognised, by their clothes., Clothes can be formal, casual or, functional. Hosts and/or invitations, request us to wear smart casuals,, formals, Indian ethnic or fusion, dressing depending on the purpose,, mood or occasion — a dance recital,, a picnic, a wedding, a meeting with, superiors or an outing with peers., The LBD stokes the heat of the Satur­, day night fever! A well­cut suit helps, you to walk tall in the precincts of, business centres of luxury hotels. If, there’s a wedding in the family, a, ghagra for the sangeet, chiffon for, the cocktails and a silk sari for the, wedding are safe outfits to wear!, Shorts and large floral prints are, staples if you are on a holiday in Ha­, waii! Lockdown or WFH dressing, has become a wardrobe by itself giv­, ing us many an opportunity for eith­, er mirth or embarrassment! “Un­, iform” dressing, which is a norm in, all schools, armed forces and some, corporate houses, brings in a sense, of unity and solidarity. Clubs, social, organisations and colleges have, mandatory dress codes which you, , may break at your own peril!, Toyota added pockets to their, workers’ overalls so that they could, carry all necessary tools on their, person — functionality at its best!, Changing norms, The norms of dressing have changed, over time. Jeans have replaced both, pavadais and ‘pajamas’. Clothes,, these days, range from microscopic, shorts for casual wear to elaborate, evening gowns for red carpet events!, Strappy or cold shoulder blouses for, women and girls and pink and lilac, shirts for the metrosexual man are, passé., Taboos have largely disappeared,, and conservative dressing has been, replaced by a casual show of skin., There is little difference in Bolly­, wood, between what yesteryear, vamps used to wear and what lead, actors wear these days. “Fashion,”, they say, “is like eating. You, shouldn’t stick to the same menu.”, It’s a dynamic, vibrant compo­, nent that adds joie de vivre to our, lives. Fads and fashions appear and, disappear in cycles. As ideas of com­, fort and style evolve, fashions, change from skin tight to flares, mi­, nis to maxis and changing colours, for the year or season. And with ev­, , ery change, the older, generation wonders how “anyone”, can like the kind of outfits that are, being currently worn!, Individuals vary tremendously in, their penchant for dressing up., Some like to dress up very enthusias­, tically, and follow the latest trends in, fashion, literally to their fingertips., Others dress down and wear grey, khadi and a bare visage, even for a, Deepavali get­together! Some cou­, ples like to dress with colour­coded, outfits. Theme parties are a huge, draw for people who love to dress., While some dress for the “shock and, awe” effect, yet another set of peo­, ple dress to show the world that they, believe in “simple living and high, thinking”. We dress to “keep up with, the Joneses” so that we feel that we, “belong”! Divas, all over the world,, dress to kill! If the attention to dress­, ing is plotted with age, we will surely, get a platykurtic curve which peaks, between the ages of 25 and 50!, Ralph Waldo Emerson had said, “, Being perfectly well­dressed gives, one a tranquillity that no religion, can bestow.” Looking good isn’t self, importance; it is self respect. It is al­, so believed that dressing well is an, expression of manners. Just as punc­, tuality is a way of respecting some­, one else’s time, being well dressed to, suit the occasion expresses your res­, pect for the sentiments of the people, around you., As a wise man has rightly said,, “Dress the way you want to be ad­, dressed.”, ........................................................................, [email protected], , Fable of Padayappa, , Rethinking resolutions, , A wild elephant that frequents Munnar, , New Year and new determinations do not often go as planned, , George N. Netto, , F, , ew in Munnar and its envi­, rons haven’t seen or heard, of Padayappa, the giant, wild tusker which roams the hill­, resort and its tea plantations. In, fact, tourists, keen on getting a, snapshot of him, often enquire, about his whereabouts. For his, reputation for reasonably good, behaviour precedes him wherev­, er he goes., The sight of Padayap­, pa, padding, down the road, will, make, even the stout­, hearted quail —, more so if one, runs into him on a, sharp curve. His appea­, rance is quite formidable., Standing nearly 10 feet tall,, his ragged ears flap, languidly, his mud­, caked flanks heave, visibly and his massive, tusks protrude menacingly., Yet, local people have faith in, Padayappa’s innate goodness., They believe he won’t harm, anyone if left untroubled and al­, lowed to eat what he wants. This, tolerance sometimes sees him, plunder fruit stalls and vegetable, gardens at will. When people try, to drive him away, he puts on a, façade of aggressiveness which, , he soon sheds, though., Padayappa once sociably, barged into a football game., Knowing his amiability, the, players stood their ground, albeit, cautiously, and after a while he, lumbered away, perhaps feeling, like an unwanted behemoth, among midgets. On another oc­, casion, he graciously accepted a, coconut, over a wall, from a dis­, creetly distanced well­wisher., These unbelievable images, can be viewed on the, Internet., Recently, while, driving to Munnar, at pre­dawn, we, noticed a line of, vehicles about, 50 metres away,, their headlights, inexplicably, switched off. A, closer look re­, vealed Pa­, dayappa, amiably am­, bling, along ahead of us,, hardly 15 metres away. Realising, that he was holding up traffic, he, soon considerately moved to the, very edge of the road. And as we, crept past him, I could’ve easily, reached out and patted him — he, was so near! Yet he showed no, signs of truculence., .................................................................., [email protected], , Divya Venkattu, , W, , hat is it about entering, a New Year and hav­, ing traditions around, it that irks so many of us?, First, each person goes, through the year in completely, different ways, and our expe­, riences are not the same. But, when the year ends, there is a, not­so­subtle pressure to cele­, brate and perk up., This goes for major festivals, too, when the air is so full of an­, ticipated joy that when the oc­, casion unfolds, something in­, side you deflates., , At variance, Second, a New Year and new, resolutions do not result in per­, fectly good circumstances., Even if you are steely about, your resolution, what about, those inconvenient circum­, stances that you find yourself, in? You could have resolved to, be “kind” to everyone, but, when an acquaintance gushes, about his new­found romance, for the 15th time in two days, or, when a friend relentlessly vents, about her boss, you can only, grit your teeth so tight., You realise that the thread, you are hanging by is actually, quite thin. After five minutes of, , keeping up your resolution,, you resemble the Ben Affleck, meme, in which the actor takes, an exasperated puff., Hence, it is quite understan­, dable that the New Year hulla­, baloo is met with as much cyn­, icism as it is with enthusiastic, celebrations. After all, you can, resolve to run several miles, each week, read more vora­, ciously or quit that pesky habit, of yours only a few years in a, row. It becomes clear a few, weeks or days into the brand, new year that your hands are, still going to reach for the extra, large fries, that random, end­, less reels of TikTok videos are, going to sneakily eat up the, time you had saved for reading,, that there is a new calendar, hanging on your wall, but it still, the same you from last year., That is when you finally, throw your hands up in the air, and decide that resolutions are, , a scam. Resolutions are tricky., They are complicated because, they begin with good inten­, tions. Admittedly, they are not, feel­good. They force you to, acknowledge your shortcom­, ings, and then present a chal­, lenge: to improve yourself. Ho­, wever, it is because we believe, we are capable of changing for, the better that we pick up any, resolution at all; we display au­, dacious self­belief and efferves­, cent hope simply by setting, ourselves goals. It can seem im­, possible to keep up our resolu­, tions once the frenzy dies; ho­, wever, all we need to do is try., The answer lies in the at­, tempt, not in perfect and con­, sistent execution or upholding, resolutions fervently because, we are human, and it is by fal­, tering that we learn anything., That said, if you are in the, team of “No resolutions!”,, know that you have plenty of, people joining the bandwagon., Ultimately, resolutions or, no resolutions, we only need to, cherish all that the upcoming, year brings us, keep our hearts, open and our minds free as we, wander, with feet firmly on the, ground, through the vast and, beautiful landscape of life., .............................................................., [email protected], , Cover story, The introduction, of African, cheetahs (‘The, tale of two cats’;, Jan. 16) must be, carried out, without, hindrance to the, translocation of, Asiatic lions from, Gujarat to Kuno, National Park., The latter has, greater, significance for, conservation and, should be given, prime focus. New, habitats may be, explored for the, cheetah., G. Ramasubramanyam, , ■ It seems there is more, , to it than meets the eye, in the hasty manner by, which the introduction, of African cheetahs has, been pushed through at, the cost of delaying, if, not stalling, the, translocation of Asiatic, lions from Gujarat to, Kuno. The ‘Green, Humour’ ( Jan. 16), cartoon by Rohan, Chakravarty also hit the, nail on the head., Ayyasseri Raveendranath, , ■ The cover story is well, , intentioned but perhaps, in the wrong place. The, author’s angst as a, stakeholder is, understandable. But he, should have focused, more on why it’s not, scientific to introduce, the African cheetah and, less on the minutiae of, bureaucratic wrangling., D. Gupta, , For the people, An author should never, write anything in order, to build his image or, earn rewards and money., (‘Books can talk for, the author’; Jan. 16) He, should see how he can, touch people’s hearts, and draw their attention, to new ideas and, movements. Money, and fame will, follow in time., , self­development and, self­love. It is okay to be, flawed, to be different, to, be who you are., Descendants of the Sun, made me a part of the, Hallyu wave. It’s been a, year and I cannot think, of watching any other, entertainment content., Shubhi Negi, , Childhood memories, Katta’s antics brought, vividly to mind the blues, that Swami had on, Monday mornings., (‘Cursive writing,, without curses’; Jan. 16), One could also relive, Railway Raju’s travails, with schooling or the, tantrums of enfant, terrible Balu. It was a, delectable piece,, with a lovely, accompanying image., Rajesh Sankaranarayanan, , True democrat, Nehru’s seminal, contribution, (‘Democratic despite the, hurdles’; Jan. 16) in, strengthening, democratic institutions, while displaying an, unflinching commitment, to inculcating a scientific, temperament in the, masses is perhaps one of, the major reasons for, India’s status as one of, the vibrant democracies, of the world., M. Jeyaram, , Muhammad Zakir Husain, , ■ Nehru’s vision for the, , Hallyu wave, Being an ardent fan of, K­drama, I felt very, excited to read the, article. (‘Into the, feminiverse’; Jan. 16), From what I’ve seen,, Koreans seem to be a, gentle people who prefer, happily­ever­after stories, to the aggressive shows, of the West. And now,, thanks to globalisation, and the Internet, Korean, productions, food and, beauty are making, inroads everywhere., V.S. Sindhuri, , ■ For a society founded, , on Confucianism and, strict social hierarchy,, K­dramas focus a lot on, , nation was not fully, understood by his, contemporaries or the, people. We owe him, much for the forethought, and planning he put into, laying a strong, foundation for the, country’s growth., G.V.N. Murthy, , ■ I believe Nehru was, , right to liken democracy, to dogmatic religion,, especially when it solely, depends on head count., Had he been around, today, he would have, called for some kind of, electoral reform, where, leaders may be elected, purely on merit., S.M. Mallick, , More on the Web, thehindu.com/opinion/open-page, , Learning agriculture, While we celebrate another rocket launch, let us not, forget to appreciate something as basic as food, Tanya Barpanda, , Days of the snake charmer, Sujith Sandur, , H, , e was tall and robust. He, would appear from, nowhere, one, fine, morning and squat somewhere, in the porch with his wife or so­, metimes his son and start play­, ing his familiar snake charm­, er’s flute — a Pungi or a Been., Hearing his folk music, we, children would rush out of the, house. He would continue play­, ing in anticipation of the elders, to appear. All in the family, would soon spread around the, settees to see his snake show., He possessed a vast know­, ledge about not only snakes but, most reptiles. His folklore re­, , CM, YK, , volved mainly around different, species of reptiles. He spoke a, tribal dialect but made sure, that everyone understood his, language and accent. He would, open the intricately woven box, made of palm leaves in which, the snake was kept., As soon as the lid was open,, a hissing snake would appear, with its hood. In case it was a, bit lazy, he would poke its hood, with the Been for it to show its, fangs. We children would shud­, der in fear. He would reassure, everyone and ask us to enjoy, the spectacle. His knowledge, and lecturing skills could chal­, lenge any herpetologist., It appeared as though he, , treated our house as a platform, to showcase his talent. Much to, his liking, everyone paid com­, plete attention. And to the, questions posed about snakes,, their habitat and prey­base, he, took pride in answering calmly., After the show, he would, hand in packets containing her­, bal antidotes to elders with in­, structions for emergency use., His wife and son were equal­, ly well poised and adept in han­, dling snakes., One other reason for this, childhood experience etched, vividly in my mind is the cos­, tumes the snake­charmer and, his family wore. A colourful tur­, ban­like head gear with com­, , plex art work, and multi­hued, clothing patterned and pinned, with hundreds of sequins gave, out an aura. Perhaps, the wo­, men in their community were, the creators of this unique de­, signer clothing., You would be surprised to, know what his expectations, were in return for his snake, show. He preferred our home­, , made masala and chutney, powders, pickles and other cu­, linary items to money. He, would rather demand these, things from my grandmother., He would create a loud scene, to impress upon her how much, he longed to take the masala, powders home to share them, with his relatives. Everyone at, home, despite yielding to his, unusual demand, used to find, his demanding and dramatic, quirks amusing., Before leaving, he would do, one routine check for traces of, snake movements in and, around the house. Almost ev­, ery one at home used to see, them off when he left with his, family; such was his charm., What a charming snake­man!, .............................................................., [email protected], , For the love of language, The school curriculum should be designed to revive, interest in languages, Balakrishnan Narayanan, , Living to learn, Life might be unfair, short, and cheap, but it can also, be hopeful, kind, and beautiful, Divya Grace Benjamin, , A testing experience, As long as students believe that grade matters more, than the learning, they will cheat in exams, Ramaswami S., , This page consists of reader submissions. Contributions of up to a, length of 700 words may be e-mailed to [email protected]., Please provide a postal address and a brief background of the writer., The mail must certify that it is original writing, exclusive to this page., The Hindu views plagiarism as a serious offence. Given the large, volume of submissions, we regret that we are unable to acknowledge, receipt or entertain queries about submissions. If a piece is not, published for eight weeks please consider that it is not being used., The publication of a piece on this page is not to be considered an, endorsement by The Hindu of the views contained therein., , CH-X

Page 3 : COVER STORY, , THE HINDU Magazine CHENNAI, Sunday, January 23, 2022, *, , 03, , Cherry to cup (Clockwise from left), Nibila Jidung of Barail Coffee at her, cafe in Haflong, Assam; a farmer dries, coffee beans in Meghalaya’s West, Khasi Hills; and Tiwa women tend to, coffee plants in Karbi Anglong., *, , SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT, ZIZIRA & RITU RAJ KONWAR, , NEW BREW, , Move, over chai,, coffee is, here, More than 180 years after the Northeast began its journey, to becoming synonymous with tea, coffee is demanding, space on those verdant hill slopes, Rahul Karmakar, , T, , The growing, demand is, making, smaller, farmers on, Assam’s hills, create space, for coffee in, their holdings, that grow, ginger, black, pepper, long, pepper and, broomstick, grass, , here’s an aroma of Brazil in, Haflong, Assam’s only hill station, 1,000 metres above sea level. It, has much to do with a café in a, two­storeyed cottage named after, soccer legend Pele., Nibila Jidung set up Pele Coffee Shop in, the town’s Gadain Raji locality in 2020. The, shop is named as much after the Brazilian, football star as Jidung’s deceased son, who, was born the day Pele landed in Kolkata in, September 1977 to play a friendly match for, New York Cosmos versus Mohun Bagan., And, as in Brazil, the coffee she serves is, home­grown., In just two years, the café has become a, popular hangout for the young in Haflong., Its success, however, began with a big, failure more than two decades ago., In the 1990s, the Assam Plantation Crops, Development Corporation Ltd had started a, coffee plantation on a large area leased, from Disagisim village near Haflong, and, then handed it back to the villagers to give, them a source of income. But the, plantation soon fell into disuse; the people, were not used to growing coffee as a staple., But when Jidung’s late husband Prahlad, Chandra Jidung retired, his family decided, to lease the plantation in 1999 and started, employing local hands. “This helped us, generate some income and provide, livelihood to the people of the village,” says, Jidung, 65. But the plantation area reduced, from 100 bighas to 25 over time, for several, reasons., First, of course, the Jidungs faced worker, shortage during a decade of extremism., Another problem was the loss of quality —, the delay in transporting the cherry to the, auction centre in Bengaluru resulted in a, lower price for their coffee beans. “The, Coffee Board would take the cherries from, , us, keep them in a warehouse in Haflong,, then transport them for auction in, Bengaluru.”, When Jidung’s son died in 2015, she, realised her coffee business was going, nowhere. “It was around that time that the, Coffee Board advised me to create my own, brand and open an outlet to promote local, consumption,” she says., Schooled for success, The board helped her procure the, equipment to process freshly­plucked, coffee: machinery to do everything from, removing the shell of the fruit, drying the, coffee bean, and hulling (crunching off the, parchment skin of the bean) to roasting and, grinding. The effort has been worth it;, people are developing a taste for her brand,, Barail Coffee, in two forms — filter coffee, and cold coffee. Her brand is a mix of the, Robusta she grows and Arabica from the, coffee garden of Sehahohen Eanlhou at, Changpijang village about 25 km away., , Jidung is one of a few people in the, Northeast who grows, roasts, grinds and, brews her own brand of coffee from an, annual yield of about 2,500 kg. Lichan, Humtsoe, her counterpart in Nagaland’s, capital Kohima, has taken a similar venture, to a different level. A fashion, photographer­turned­beverage, entrepreneur, Humtsoe is the founder of, Été Coffee. Été in the Lotha Naga dialect, means ‘us’ or ‘ours’ and the branding, he, says, reflects the diversity of the multi­tribe, Naga community as well as the multiple, flavours of the coffee sourced from different, districts of Nagaland., Été Coffee dabbles in everything but, farming. It has a full­fledged roastery and, production unit, retail line, two coffee, breweries, consultancy services, a coffee, school, three observation farms, two, nursery units, coffee laboratory services, and an upcoming e­commerce space.“We, established Été in 2016 as the first specialty, coffee roasting company in the Northeast. It, was around that time the third wave of the, coffee movement of the 1990s had created a, new focus on specialty coffees that were, offering a range of aromas and tastes. We, subsequently opened the first coffee school, in the region to provide eight courses on, coffee­related services,” he says. Thanks to, the school and consultancy services,, Humtsoe’s firm has been able to establish, more than 10 coffee shops across Nagaland, and train and deploy baristas in several, other cafes., Farmers and growers across Nagaland, are at the core of the Été Coffee enterprise., “Farmers form an integral part of the coffee, industry and deserve their share of the, benefits. Our EML (educate, motivate and, lead) network provides a safety net against, any form of exploitation and ensures that, the resources are optimised, not exploited,”, says Humtsoe. His venture coincided with, , The coffee grown here has a, ‘wild’ flavour, induced by the other, plants that are grown alongside, and, this gives it an edge over coffee, grown elsewhere, the revival of coffee farming in Nagaland., The Nagaland Plantation Crop Corporation, had also undertaken extensive coffee, plantations in the 1980s with inputs from, the Coffee Board, but the initiative could, not be sustained because of transportation, and marketing issues, and the corporation, was disbanded. In 2015­16, the State’s Land, Resource Department was given the, responsibility of bringing coffee back to the, table., Says the department’s director, Renben, Jami: “We studied the potential of coffee, afresh, and realised 10 lakh hectares can be, used for it across the State. But we are, focussing on 50,000 ha now, with, plantations currently covering 12,000 ha., “We are acting as a bridge between farmers, and buyers, who are lining up from abroad, and elsewhere in the country.” ., Single-estate varieties, The primary buyer of coffee grown in, Nagaland is Pieter Vermeulen based in, South Africa’s Cape Town. He exports the, Naga Coffee brand of several single­estate, varieties. He came to know about the coffee, in Nagaland after his farming venture in, Nepal met with a bovine end; cows that, roamed about the villages devoured most of, the 20,000 coffee shrubs he had planted., He signed an agreement with the Nagaland, government in 2015 to provide logistical, support, training and seedlings to, subsistence farmers, and helped them, market their coffee. “We were not able to, export for two years due to the COVID­19, restrictions but we expect our first harvest, of 40 metric tonnes this year,” he says., “The challenge now is to bring coffee in the, region at par with international standards,”, says Vermeulen., According to Humtsoe, the, organically­grown local coffee, with, research having gone into varietals and soil, quality, is on par with the best in the world., The coffee grown here has a ‘wild’ flavour,, induced by the other plants that are grown, alongside, and this gives it an edge over, coffee grown elsewhere, says Jubanylla G., Bang, product head of Zizira, a, farmer­driven company based in, , Naga flavours Kohima-based Lichan, Humtsoe (left), founder of Été Coffee,, and his staff and trainees at Été’s units., *, , CM, YK, , COURTESY LICHAN HUMTSOE, , Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong. The estate, sells ‘7000 Steps Coffee’, so named because, of the number of steps one has to climb to, reach Mynriah in the East Khasi Hills, district where some of the coffee is grown., Rashi Vaswani runs two Bread Café, outlets in Shillong. “We depended on coffee, imported from southern India when we, started out 12 years ago. About four years, ago, we switched to local varieties and they, have turned out to be just as good,” she, says. “Packaged smartly, the local coffee, flies off our shelves.” Her supplier is Smoky, Falls Coffee Tribe, the first coffee roaster of, Meghalaya., Arabica over Camellia?, A Sufi saint named Baba Budan is credited, with having brought coffee to India in the, 16th century. But the beverage actually, gained popularity in the 19th century in, colonial settlements, and the earliest, farming in the Northeast is mentioned in a, 1908 book titled Coffee Cultivation in Khasi, Hills (in Meghalaya, then a part of Assam)., This was about eight decades after the first, commercial tea plantation came up in, eastern Assam’s Chabua., Synonymous with tea, Assam today has, 3,37,690.35 ha under tea plantation with an, annual production of 626.23 million kilos., Tea is also grown in the other six, contiguous States of the Northeast,, together accounting for some 25 million, kilos more., Since the Coffee Board’s initiatives in the, 1980s, the total coffee planted area in the, Northeast is 4,618.26 ha, with 1,394.21 ha of, coffee­bearing area yielding an average, annual 150 metric tonnes of clean coffee., Bidyananda Borkakoty, advisor to the, North Eastern Tea Association, does not, think coffee can become a threat to tea., “About 70% of coffee in India is grown in, Karnataka, but many popular tea boutiques, or lounges have also come up in Bengaluru, in the last five years,” he points out. Coffee, Board officials say the push for coffee in, Assam since 1976 was never intended to, give tea competition: for one, coffee is, grown in areas above 500 metres altitude, while tea in Assam thrives below 100, metres; and two, coffee cultivation in the, Northeast is primarily pursued by tribal, people., Coffee Board’s joint director (extension), for the Northeast, Navin K.B. Ryntathiang,, says the board’s extension personnel collect, the coffee produced by the tribal growers, and take it for processing and auctioning., “Besides the decentralisation, we have, been providing subsidy and research, support to farmers and brewers to pursue, their own branding and marketing,” he, says. The support system includes coffee, processing and curing facilities and a 25 ha, regional coffee research station in Central, Assam’s Diphu., Officials involved in promoting coffee, in, fact, attribute their strategy to that adopted, by the tea industry. “Our department is, setting up coffee bars across Nagaland,, deviating from the earlier theory of growing, coffee for export alone. India has a huge, captive coffee market that needs tapping, into, and the tea industry has taught us how, this market can help us sustain,” says Jami., Humtsoe says the coffee culture is growing, exponentially in Nagaland and elsewhere in, the Northeast, but the supply from local, farms is way below the demand. “In 2021,, we ran out of the 15 tonnes we procured in, no time. We hope we get more than the 30, tonnes we expect to sell this year,” says, Zizira’s Bang., Equally, the growing demand is making, smaller farmers on Assam’s hills create, space for coffee in their holdings that grow, ginger, black pepper, long pepper and, broomstick grass. “I started growing coffee, on one bigha last year with seeds and, training provided by the Coffee Board. I am, prepared to wait three years for the shrubs, to yield fruit and five years for commercial, harvesting,” says Litha Kholar of Umswai in, central Assam’s West Karbi Anglong, district., CH-X

Page 4 : 04, , Literary Review, , THE HINDU Magazine, Sunday, January 23, 2022, , CHENNAI, , *, , ESSAY, , The Tamil epic-cum-play Silappadikaram, dating back to the Sangam era, still, awaits a production that can do justice to its extraordinary scope and power, , TRANSLATION, , Destiny’s child, , Rooted to the land, A very good translation, but it is still unable, to transplant Perumal Murugan’s fourth novel, into the soil of English, Nadika Nadja, , I, , n the introduction to his fourth no­, vel, Kanganam, Perumal Murugan, talks about the word kanganam, and what it means. It refers to the, ritual yellow thread that people, undertaking an important event, such, as wedding or temple feast, wear, around their wrist. Especially signifi­, cant for a groom, the kanganam signi­, fies that from that moment on, its wear­, er will bring all their focus and energies, only to the task on hand and not leave, the wedding hall or take on other res­, ponsibilities. Over time, the word came, to mean an absolute determination to, finish a task, a single­minded focus., But the English word, ‘resolve’, while, containing multiple meanings in itself,, becomes in the translation only a per­, son’s determination to finish a task., Gone are the layers — the idea of wed­, dings and rituals, the carefully con­, cealed social commentary on changing, mores. Marking time from when the, kanganam was a reminder to focus, to, stay true to the event, the house, the re­, lationship, to when the kanganam, merely became an ornament, a phrase., , Wrath The cover of Amar Chitra Katha’s Kannagi., , Indira Parthasarathy, , I, , recently read in an American journal, that Goethe’s Faust was produced as, a three­dimensional drama,, meaning that it was a three­in­one, literary, musical and dance theatre, staged in an off­Broadway open­air, theatre festival. This provoked me to, think about Silappadikaram, one of the, five Tamil epics known as Panja, Kaviyangal, written by non­Vedic poets. I, am not sure whether there is any work, dating from the early centuries of the, common era in any other regional Indian, language that has so much in common, with Sanskrit with regard to the theory, and practice of musical and theatrical, forms., Silappadikaram is written by Ilango, Adigal, a Jain monk. Storywise, it is, strikingly original, not outsourced from, Sanskrit, but the classical dance and, theatrical forms it makes use of have, close affinity with the regulations, stipulated in the Sanskrit theatre manual,, Natya Shastra, attributed to Bharata, Muni., , It might be an, interesting, speculation to, think of Ilango, and Bharata as, one and the, same person,, who not only, wrote a manual, but also, illustrated it, through fiction, in the form of, Silappadikaram, , Master of arts, We know very little about our ancient, authors, though myths about them are, plenty. It might be an interesting, speculation to think of Ilango and, Bharata as one and the same person,, who not only wrote a manual but also, illustrated it through fiction in the form, of Silappadikaram., According to Heinrich Zimmer, (1890­1943), Sanskrit being the common, language of communication among the, intellectuals of India in those days, many, of the metaphysical and theoretical, works in Sanskrit might have had South, Indian authorship. However, it is difficult, to date our authors and works according, to Western ideas of time as our concept, of history is cyclical, not linear., Is Silappadikaram a play or an epic? It, is both. It is this distinction that makes it, different from literary works in any, Indian language, including Sanskrit., Ilango, the consummate dramatist and, innovative literary master that he is,, initiates a new genre called Muththamizh, , *, , racters, but each with a full life behind, them., Underpinning this are the twin sys­, tems of caste and patriarchy. Murugan, explains a bit in his introduction, but it, comes through in greater detail in the, story. The desire for sons that has creat­, ed an unequal male­female ratio. The, pressure to be a conforming, fecund, member of society. The toll it takes on, women and men., On caste, Murugan presents his, commentary with no fanfare but it still, hits you with force. It explains Kuppan’s, ties to the family: Kuppan recalls, at the, very beginning, that the coconut palms, in Marimuthu’s farms were planted, when he, Kuppan, was but a boy and, had just begun working for the family., In all likelihood, Kuppan will die in bon­, dage to the family. There’s the subtle, Little touches, That loss in translation in the title is car­ difference in how Marimuthu and Ra­, ried through the entire book. This is not man — seen as friends — are treated by, to say that the translation is bad or in­ the village. Despite his promises to Ra­, man, Marimuthu has no, adequate. In fact, Anirudd­, qualms turning over land, han Vasudevan carries the, to his cousin, keeping, tone and import of the Tamil, property within the fami­, novel faithfully to the English Underpinning this, ly. Through the book,, version. The story’s slow are the twin, caste along with its hold, build­up, the layering of systems of caste, on people is presented as, events, the people, the set­ and patriarchy., is, with no heavy­handed, tings, and the little touches of Murugan explains, commentary — which, rural Tamil Nadu of the 80s, a bit in his, makes it all the more po­, and 90s — they’re all there., werful as you realise how, Resolve is the story of Ma­ introduction, but, ingrained it is., rimuthu, a farmer in his 30s. it comes through, Marimuthu yearns to be mar­ in greater detail in, ried, to feel the touch of the story, Final flavour, another human next to him,, Translations are always, to have someone to hold on, tricky. Especially bet­, to. He has felt this need from when he ween two languages that are as idiomat­, turned 18. However, circumstances and ic, with regional quirks and dialects, as, the actions of people around him have Tamil and English. The translator has to, denied him marriage. We come to Mari­ weigh the needs of the story, the style, muthu via Kuppan, an agricultural la­ and form in which it is presented, the li­, bourer bonded to Marimuthu’s family, mits of the source language, the capaci­, whose entire life has been spent in ser­ ty of the target language. Perhaps at, vice to the family. Through Kuppan and those points, the story and its overall, Marimuthu, we see and hear Marimuth­ arc will weigh more than the styling or, u’s family, Paati, Ammayi, each carrying the flavour., generations of resentment, grudges and, While I understood the compromise, anguish, and occasionally voicing them. in Resolve, I could not help feeling sad. A, In particular, Paati (Pooavatha) and Am­ bit like the death of a public figure you, mayi (Virumaka) are two old women admire; it’s not a direct personal loss,, who have lived through changing times, but it still hurts you. Would it have, served the men they married and the helped if one simply rewrote the entire, patriarchy they were wedded to, but thing in English, less of a translation and, still managed to hold on to will and more of a retelling?, agency., There is this term terroir, which de­, scribes the character a crop acquires, Toll of expectations, from its environment. The soil, water,, Then there’s Thanavadhi Thatha, a go­ air, they all impact the final flavour., between for anything from marriages to Change one, and the taste changes. Ta­, land deals to brokering peace between mil is like that, especially the Tamil Pe­, clans. Given Marimuthu’s one preoccu­ rumal Murugan employs. The language, pation, there are many marriage brok­ in Kanganam is like Marimuthu — deep­, ers, including the sharp­tongued Vee­ ly rooted to the land, deriving its nour­, duthi and the retired maths teacher. ishment from it, its accent and flavour., There’s Selvarasu, Marimuthu’s es­ Importing this into English would re­, tranged cousin, a man who knows what quire an equally flavourful dialect. Not a, he wants and how to get it, and who is faithful rendition of the word, but a jus­, prepared to let old grudges go. There’s tice to the spirit., It is thus a tad unfortunate that we, also Raman, Marimuthu’s friend, confi­, have a very good translation, but not a, dante and co­conspirator., Then there are the women — Rosa­ great retelling., mani, Vasanthi, Poovalayi and more, ................................................................................., who could have been Marimuthu’s The reviewer is a writer and, wives if things had gone well, but end researcher, with interests in history, up instead as the objects of his dreams and archaeology, gender, Internet, and, and nightmares. These are minor cha­ technology. @nadjanadika, , SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT, , viraviya pattudai ceyyul, a cultural, form integrating poetry, music and, drama. Like Shakespeare, he knows, that each word has two values,, dramatic and literary. Only in the, hands of a genius, words acquire their, appropriate literary or dramatic, identity depending on the context —, whether you read it as a poem or see it, as a play in your mind’s eye. In other, words, a ‘literary word’ acquires a new, incarnation as ‘dramatic word’ when it, is performed as a play on stage and one, can visually experience it., Anklet as metaphor, Shakespeare is lucky as he had good, directors and actors to project him on, stage as an unparalleled playwright, and also a large number of literary, critics to establish his credentials as a, poet extraordinaire. Ilango is, unfortunate in this regard since there, has been no analytical, in­depth study, of his work as a one­of­its­kind epic, drama. Even the dance dramas, attempted so far, supposedly based on, this work, have not done justice to its, vigour and multi­faceted brilliance., Silappadikaram means ‘The Story of, the Anklet’, silambu being the anklet, worn by young, unmarried Tamil girls, in ancient times that was removed on, their wedding day. So silambu is a, metaphor for virginity and innocence,, which later became the insignia of the, pathni cult (the worship of chastity)., Like Greek tragedy, The anklet of the title belongs to the, protagonist, Kannagi. It proves to be, the agent of destiny for her; the hero,, Kovalan (Kannagi’s husband); and the, Pandya king who unjustly has Kovalan, killed for a crime he has not, committed, then himself dies on, realising his blunder. The wrath of, Kannagi burns down the capital city of, the Pandyas. Later, the Chera king, invades the North and pelts rocks on, the heads of the defeated North Indian, kings for installing an icon and building, a temple to Kannagi. The anklet proves, pivotal in all of this: any stage, production of Silappadikaram should, , Resolve, Perumal Murugan,, trs Aniruddhan, Vasudevan, Penguin Hamish, Hamilton, ₹599, , have a surrealistically huge image of the, anklet as its backdrop. It represents, Destiny., Like Fate in Greek tragedies, Destiny, plays a significant role in Silappadikaram., As Ilango says, it announces itself in the, yaazh (harp) that Kovalan plays, leading, to his separation from Madhavi the, courtesan and his subsequent death in, Madurai, the Pandyan capital. Again, it is, Destiny that visits the tongue of the, Pandya king who, instead of saying ‘Bring, the culprit, inquire, and if he is the one, who stole the queen’s anklet, then kill, him,’ blabbers without thinking, ‘Kill him, if he has the anklet and bring it to me’., Matalan, a Brahmin and a friend of, Kovalan, functions like the chorus in, Greek tragedy. He appears in two cantos,, the Madurai Kantam and Vanchi Kantam,, and provides the link to all the events, that happen offstage. In Adaikalakathai, (chapter on refuge), we come to know of, all the noble qualities possessed by, Kovalan, courtesy Matalan. The dramatic, value of this scene lies in building up the, audience’s admiration for the hero so, that the shock is greater when he is, wrongfully killed in the very next scene., To enhance the tragic intensity, Ilango, brings Kovalan and Kannagi together in, the last scene before Kovalan’s death,, when Kannagi serves him the delicious, food she has cooked for him. They seem, to be enjoying the blessings of a happy, married life after a long gap, but Destiny, has the last laugh. The lunch proves to be, Kovalan’s last supper., As in Shakespeare’s plays, after an, emotionally charged scene, there is, dramatic relief in the form of comedy. A, pastoral dance (Aychiyar Kuravai), performed by cowherd girls to ward off, evil succeeds the death scene., Different classical and folk forms of, music and theatre found in three regions, of South India (Chola, Pandya and Chera), are beautifully documented in this, three­dimensional epic, which stills, awaits staging by a competent theatre, director., ..................................................................................., The writer, also known as Ee. Paa, is a, veteran Tamil littérateur and cultural, historian., *, , GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK, , BROWSER, The Twyford Code, Janice Hallett, Viper, ₹799, Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a, book by disgraced author Edith, Twyford, its margins full of strange, annotations. He took it to his teacher, Miss Iles, who was convinced that the, book was the key to solving a puzzle., Miss Iles disappeared. Decades later,, Steven investigates the mystery., , CM, YK, , Masala and Murder, Patrick Lyons, Niyogi Books, ₹450, Samson Ryder, a Melbourne-based, Anglo-Indian private investigator, is, guilt-ridden over the death of his sister., When an Indian industrialist engages, him to investigate how his daughter, died in Australia, Samson sees in it an, opportunity to get closure for himself, and the victim’s family., , Long Run - A Paradise Augmented, BookStreet Publications, T. Sathish, ₹250, Raghu was an investment manager., Glitz, romance, and success filled his, life, until the day his car overturned., His body was broken and he lost his, vision. Is his spirit strong enough to, overcome? Raghu narrates his life, story filled with challenges and, unanswered questions., , Gumshoe Mania, Manju Jaidka, Vishwakarma Publications, ₹250, A woman whose ambition was to, become a sleuth, finds the chance to, pursue the vocation in her middle years., The story cuts across geographical, boundaries, from the plains of north, India to the Hawaiian Islands, to present, different facets of human relationships, and individual choices., , CH-X

Page 5 : Literary Review, , THE HINDU Magazine CHENNAI, Sunday, January 23, 2022, *, , 05, , POLITICS, , FOCUS, , The rise to absolute power, , Here, there, and, everywhere, , On the road to becoming Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's political strategy was a ‘deadly mix’, of Hindutva and a neoliberal framework, claims a new book, , A biography of Indian Jews and, their past, present and future, , damental presupposition of the, organisation; that the individual, no, he objectives of the study matter how powerful he may be, is, on ‘How Modi’s hybrid re­ subordinate to the collective. He in­, gime model [is] reshaping formed senior leaders that he would, political narratives, eco­ always be there whenever they, systems and national called. There was no need to set up a, symbols’ are ambitious. The projects coordination committee to regulate, of the ruling party are certainly am­ the relationship between a future go­, bitious. It wishes to spatially and ide­ vernment and the RSS. In any case, ologically remake the country by re­ his Mission­272, that of securing a, constructing, Lutyen’s, majority in Parliament, was, Delhi, by building a temple, intended to reduce depen­, where once a grand mos­, dence on secular allies. He, que stood, by introducing a, would institutionalise Hin­, political language that cares, dutva so dear to the heart, two hoots for propriety,, of RSS leaders. They need, and by superciliously dis­, not worry., missing the contributions, Some leaders were ne­, of Jawaharlal Nehru to de­, vertheless wary of him. His, mocracy., commitment to liberalisa­, Has it succeeded? Per­, tion and to the corporatisa­, haps yes. Barely 10 years, tion of the economy went, Tryst with, ago scholars were writing, against Swadeshi so ardent­, Strong Leader, on multiculturalism, secula­, ly defended by the organi­, Populism, rism, and minority rights., sation. But he was backed, P. Raman, Today we are back to where, enthusiastically by RSS su­, Aakar Publications, modern political theory be­, premo Bhagwat. He was al­, ₹695, gan — the right to life and li­, so openly supported by top, berty in times of mob lynching and corporate leaders of initially Gujarat,, police atrocities. How did the politi­ and then from the rest of the coun­, cal mood turn around so quickly? P. try. The scene was set for “the rise of, Raman in this detailed exposition of a classical kind of authoritarian pol­, one man’s rise to absolute power itical boss... Like the elected dicta­, answers the question very well., tors the world over, he communicat­, ed directly to voters and party, ranks.” Modi’s political strategy was, Standing up to the RSS, The story begins on February 19, a ‘deadly mix of hard Hindutva and, 2013, when Mohan Bhagwat assured unadulterated neoliberal frame­, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh work’., Economic liberalisation was con­, (RSS) hierarchy’s full support to Mo­, di as the prime ministerial candi­ joined to political illiberalism. The, date. Very soon Modi defied the fun­ former was secured by corporates., , Neera Chandhoke, , T, , Indrani Dutta, , N, , ot many communities feel a sense of belong­, ing with two countries they view as their, own — the Jews call India their motherland,, and Israel, their fatherland. So says Ori Z., Soltes in a book he has edited on Bene Is­, rael, Baghdadi and Cochini Jews in India, their customs, and lives, Growing Up Jewish in India. Offering a histori­, cal account through several articles, the complexity of, the topic can be gauged from the fact that the preface, runs into 18 pages, followed by an introduction on Indian, Jews as a diverse diaspora which is almost as long., The arrival, The Bene Israel Jews are the largest Jewish Indian com­, munity and there are a number of theories regarding the, timing of their arrival on the western coast, some dating, back to the reign of King Solomon, 3,000 years ago., Another theory is that they were, part of the lost 10 tribes that disap­, peared from north Israel and from, history in the aftermath of the con­, quest of the Israelite kingdom by the, Neo­Assyrian Empire. And there are, other theories too, which Soltes, elaborates on to bring clarity to the, matter., The book comprises six chapters, including an epilogue aside from a, foreword by Ralphy Jhirad. There’s, Growing Up, a chapter on Kerala synagogues by, Jewish in India, Orna Eliyahu­Oron and Barbara C., Edited by Ori Z., Johnson; there’s another on the syn­, Soltes, agogues of Calcutta Baghdadi Jews, Niyogi Books, by Jael Silliman. Soltes writes on ‘Re­, focus and Return’, Siona Benjamin’s, ₹1,500, multi­layered art, which dots the, book; he also pens the epilogue on the community’s, past. Benjamin writes a memoir, ‘How I Turned Blue and, Other Stories I Remember Growing up Jewish in India.’, Silliman weaves her narrative around the three syn­, agogues of Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta, giving deep in­, sights into the lives of the city’s Jewish community, whose numbers have dwindled from 4,500­odd in the, mid­20th century to 700 or so in the 1970s and about 20, now., , Mega show, The venue of a, BJP election, campaign at, Bhawanipatna,, Odisha., *, , BISWARANJAN, , ROUT, , They placed their enormous funds,, their media houses, PR agents, digi­, tal engineers and survey agencies at, the feet of an incoming Modi regime., Political illiberalism was secured by, Hindutva that relentlessly subordi­, nates individual citizens to the na­, tion conceived of in purely majori­, tarian terms., Around the twin planks of his, ideology gathered WhatsApp admi­, nistrators, lynch mobs coordinators,, those who rallied audiences, cash, dispensers and alcohol distributors., Modi rallies have rewritten the gram­, mar of how elections are fought. His, image was projected on gigantic, screens, and cheer leaders outshout­, ed other BJP leaders. He was pre­, sented as India’s new messiah, the, conquering hero who would van­, quish the old elite., No visibility and voice, The BJP came to power in 2014 and, we witnessed the quick degenera­, tion of parliamentary democracy in­, to autocratic populism. Under the, Modi regime, elected ministers have, been reduced to nothing. They have, little visibility and even less voice., The PM chastises them as if they are, schoolboys. They are not invited to, meetings he holds with their bureau­, crats. Civil servants are responsible, directly to him. All decisions of mi­, nistries have to be cleared by the, Prime Minister’s Office. RSS leaders, monitored the government for the, first two years. With the appoint­, ment of Amit Shah as the party pre­, sident, the rules changed. The RSS, was pushed to the margins., , Centralised rule seldom makes, for good governance though. Badly, conceptualised policies of demone­, tisation and GST led to chaos and in­, tensified poverty. Schemes an­, nounced with much fanfare lapsed,, and the enthusiasm of the leader­, ship waned., As power came to be centralised, in the office of the prime minister,, organisations meant to share power, or check it, from the RBI to the CBI, were hijacked. Yet the Modi jugger­, naut continued to roll. The BJP se­, cured even more seats in the 2019, general election. This encouraged, the government to unfurl the full, agenda of Hindutva from Kashmir to, Ayodhya and beyond., Demise of institutions, In the last chapter, Raman surveys, the literature on authoritarian popu­, lism and concludes that the concept, is appropriate for India. The country, has seen the personalisation of pow­, er and the demise of institutions, ranging from Parliament to civil so­, ciety. Enthusiastically acclaimed by, a media that forgets that it is a part of, civil society which keeps watch on, the exercise of power, and not a PR, arm of the government, Modi has, succeeded in making people forget, the tragedies his misconceived poli­, cies have heaped on India. We are, left to ponder an unpalatable ques­, tion. Have Indians become apoliti­, cal, more attracted to strong leaders, rather than democratic ones?, ........................................................................, The reviewer is Distinguished, Fellow, Centre for Equity Studies., , Across the globe, Benjamin's piece gives a snapshot of the life of a diaspor­, ic Jew. She writes about her grandmother Elizabeth’s, long and interesting life journey. Born in Quetta in Pakis­, tan, Elizabeth’s family later migrated to India’s west, coast. Her children dispersed to Asia, Africa and North, America, perpetuating the idea of the diasporic Jew in a, personal way. The distance between the families seemed, to widen with her parents in India, most of the family in, Israel, a few relatives in the U.S. and Canada, and some in, Africa., She remembers that while in India, “I got called eve­, rything from a Parsi to Punjabi and even occasionally a, cocktail...” In America (she later settled in the U.S.), she, was often posed a similar question: ‘Where are you, from?’ “So not surprisingly, in my paintings, I also raise, the question about what and where is ‘home’ while evok­, ing issues about identity, immigration, motherhood and, the role of art in social change,” she writes., Soltes feels, and rightly so, that Benjamin's array of, work and her memoir illuminates and carries forward, the narrative of the three major Jewish communities in, and now outside India. The book is a must read for all as, it addresses a complex issue in a rich scholarly way while, making it eminently readable., ................................................................................................................, The reviewer is an independent journalist, based in Kolkata., , SOCIETY, , Living in quarantine under the shadow of COVID-19, An anthology of essays raises questions about the pandemic’s key issues from vaccines and inequality to authoritarianism, Sudipta Datta, , I, , n 2020, as COVID­19 became a, global experience, writers, from around the world res­, ponded to it, trying to make, sense of a 21st century pan­, demic and its aftermath. Edited by, Ilan Stavans, And We Came Outside, and Saw the Stars Again highlighted, the fact that a rampaging virus had, brought about “the collapse of a hie­, rarchy of principles” the world had, embraced till then. Though as Sta­, vans pointed out in the introduc­, tion, the misfortune arrived when, the essential tenets of globalisation, were already being questioned, with, “tariffs imposed, borders closed, im­, migrants seen with suspicion.”, While some writers saw it as a time, , Liberty after Freedom, Rohan J. Alva, HarperCollins, ₹599, This is an account of the evolution, of the right to life and personal, liberty as enshrined in Article 21 of, the Constitution. Alva says he, chose to write about Article 21 as, this is “one fundamental right, which impacts the life of every, single Indian.”, , CM, YK, , to recalibrate and start afresh, oth­, ers argued that paranoid dystopias, (of Franz Kafka, Aldous Huxley, Ge­, orge Orwell and Yevgeny Zamyatin), had become the “gross and brutal, reality” of our time., Reconfiguring boundaries, All of 2021 passed in a haze of lock­, downs, new deadlier variants, the, race for vaccines, hospitalisations, and deaths, and the new year, dawned with another highly conta­, gious, slightly milder variant on the, prowl, leading to case surges around, the world. The COVID Spectrum is an, anthology of essays from several, countries on a disease that has, plunged countries into an unprece­, dented crisis. In their introduction,, the editors, Kanchana Mahadevan,, , Satishchandra Kumar, Meher Bhoot, and Rajesh Kharat, all from the Un­, iversity of Mumbai, write that the es­, says “examine the possibilities of re­, configuring boundaries imposed by, symptoms such as the ‘infodemic’, and forced separation.” Some of the, ‘neo­normals’ that remain include, quarantine, virtual worlds, surveil­, lance, fragile health systems, while, questions have been raised about, “inequality, authoritarianism, wel­, fare, trauma and sustainability.”, In his foreword, the Slovenian, philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, contends, that today more than ever, egalitar­, ianism is not just a vague ideal but, an urgent necessity — vaccines for, all, universal healthcare, global, struggle against the global warming., He cites the example of Ugur Sahin,, , The Betrayal of Anne Frank, Rosemary Sullivan, HarperCollins, ₹483 (Kindle edition), The mystery of who betrayed Anne, Frank (The Diary of Anne Frank), looks to have been solved. Based on, a cold case probe into who led the, Nazis to an annex in Amsterdam on, August 4, 1944, Sullivan’s book, claims a Jewish notary may have, revealed the hiding place., , BioTech’s CEO, a Turk living in Ger­, many whose company invented one, of the early COVID­19 vaccines. In an, interview at the end of 2020, Sahin, said, “At the moment, it doesn’t look, good — a hole is appearing because, there’s a lack of other approved vac­, cines and we have to fill the gap with, our own vaccine.” Zizek says this, was a “wonderful moment when the, CEO of a company wanted his com­, petitors to get stronger because he, knows that only together can we win, the struggle against the pandemic.”, Theory and experience, The first part, ‘Theorising the Pan­, demic’, has articles on diverse issues, around COVID­19, from adapting to, the virus, conspiracy theories, fake, news, the fundamentals of care. In, , her essay, ‘The Limits of Responsible, Caring in the COVID­19 Pandemic’,, Joan Tronto, writing from America,, says given how unpredictably the vi­, rus affected people, humans could, not deny their mortality and the, sense of vulnerability this know­, ledge produced. Yet, she adds, that, from this vulnerability came anoth­, er revelation, i.e., “the profound, awareness of the fact that not all pe­, ople were equally vulnerable. Some, are at much greater risk.”, Narratives from Cuba (Vinay Lal),, Hong Kong (Ada Kot), Mauritius (Ba­, santsingh Deerpaul), Kathmandu, (Raji Manjari Pokhrel and Prathama, Raghavan) comprise the second, part, together with reflections on, lessons from COVID­19, how to keep, young children safe and dealing with, , The Rise of the BJP: The Making of, the World’s Largest Political Party, Bhupender Yadav, Ila Patnaik, Penguin/Viking, ₹699, A BJP minister and a leading economist, trace the BJP’s journey, from its roots, to winning 303 seats in the Lok Sabha, in 2019. They focus on economics and, the political story, and also relatively, smaller incidents, which brought the, BJP to where it stands now., , the aftermath. In his essay, ‘The, Great Reset?’, Zizek quotes the Ger­, man philosopher Jurgen Habermas, observing in April 2020 that “there, never was so much knowing about, our not­knowing and about the con­, straint to act and live in uncertainty.”, Zizek points out that Habermas is, right when he says that this “not­, knowing” does not concern only the, pandemic, but even more its eco­, nomic, social and psychic conse­, quences. Will the post­Corona un­, iverse be just another future or, something new ‘to come’? Accord­, ing to Zizek, in the midst of “existen­, tial uncertainties” we have to change, our economic life so that it will be, able to survive lockdowns and emer­, gencies that await us. “We need to, do what is impossible.”, , The COVID, Spectrum, Edited by, Kanchana, Mahadevan &, Others, Speaking Tiger, ₹799, , Sports Studies in India, Edited by Padma Prakash,, Meena Gopal, Oxford University Press, ₹1,895, This volume uses sport to explore, social relations. In India, there is, sporadic literature on the sociology of, sports, and a host of contributors try, to fill the gap. The essays show sport, as an activity with rules, but also as a, phenomenon that impacts society., , CH-X

Page 6 : 06, , WIDE ANGLE, , THE HINDU Magazine, Sunday, January 23, 2022, *, , CHENNAI, , eral other institutions in the U.K. to, train the VMH staff. The results, show in the restored Jaipur Procession, to cite just one example., The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum Art, Conservation Centre, Mumbai, is al­, so being acknowledged globally as, an upcoming premier facility for, heritage conservation, research, and training. It offers its services to, various museums, cultural institu­, tions and private collectors., , SPOTLIGHT, , Art restoration, a woefully neglected area in the, country, is now getting a leg-up with dedicated, training projects and centres coming up, , Repaired,, retouched,, reborn, A, Soumitra Das, , Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist, religious and, cultural, material has, survived for, ages because, there are, elaborate, instructions, on their, upkeep in, religious texts, , huge oil painting, said to, be the second largest in, the world, is currently on, display in the Royal Gal­, lery of Kolkata’s Victoria, Memorial Hall (VMH). Titled Jaipur, Procession, this painting from 1876, by Russian painter Vasily Vereshcha­, gin freezes a moment in the Prince, of Wales’ tour of the Indian subconti­, nent. The pomp of the royal visit —, the painting shows the prince seated, on a bedizened elephant, followed, by a large retinue — is as evident to­, day as it was when the canvas was, painted., And the credit for this goes to the, VMH staff, who have painstakingly, , restored the painting over months., In Kolkata, VMH is possibly the, only institution where one can learn, the ropes of art conservation and, restoration. Yet art restoration is in, vogue, with a high demand for ex­, perts. So, Anamika Kala Sangam, Trust (AKST) organised a three­, month training course on conserva­, tion of oil paintings at the Kolkata In­, stitute of Art Conservation (KIAC), from September to December 2021., Supported by the Tata Trusts Art, Conservation Initiative, the course, was mentored by Sanjay Dhar, a, leading art conservator­restorer., With the programme’s focus on cur­, rent thinking on conservation of, canvas paintings, the interns were, oriented with the science, art and, , ter shifting it to Dehradun and esta­, blishing other centres under archae­, ologist Brij Basi Lal., , Fixed (Clockwise from above) Visual reintegration being done on a, painting during the training course; and Jaipur Procession., *, , KOLKATA INSTITUTE OF ART CONSERVATION & VICTORIA MEMORIAL HALL, , ethics of conservation. The stress, was on “critical thinking, on pro­, blem­solving, on figuring out what, can be done safely given certain lim­, itations,” says Dhar., Innovative use, The trainees were encouraged to, look for answers in different places., Investigations don’t always require, heavy equipment or expenses, and a, lot of time was devoted to showing, how a microscope and ultraviolet or, infra red imaging can be just as help­, ful. Or how the expensive cold­lining, process can be replaced by innova­, tive use of easily available material., “Around the world, conservators, generally do the retouching. In In­, dia, artists do it. We taught the trai­, , nees various retouching techniques, such as chromatic selection, where, pure colours are applied in layers. In, this technique, colours remain, fresh,” says Dhar., In a paper on the history of con­, servation in the subcontinent, Dhar, writes that Hindu, Jain and Buddhist, religious and cultural material has, survived for ages because there are, elaborate instructions on their up­, keep in religious texts. The Archaeo­, logical Survey of India (ASI) and the, Public Works Department laid the, foundation of scientific conservation, in the 19th century, stressing the, need for a separate wing for the care, of monuments and antiquities. The, ASI set up its first chemical branch at, Kolkata’s Indian Museum in 1917, la­, , Inadequate outcome, After Independence, when the go­, vernment sought help from interna­, tional experts and UNESCO, the ASI, provided human resources and tech­, nical advice to the many museums, being built all over India. A conser­, vation laboratory under T.R. Gairola, was created by National Museum in, 1958. The first long­term course in, conservation was also introduced, around this time when the National, Gallery of Modern Art set up a labo­, ratory under conservator and pain­, ter Sukanta Basu., In 1985, Indian National Trust for, Art & Cultural Heritage (Intach) esta­, blished a conservation laboratory in, Delhi under Basu, who trained an, entire brigade of experts, including, Dhar. However, as Dhar points out,, in spite of the introduction of cours­, es all over the country, “the outcome, is inadequate and good conservation, is the exception rather than the, rule.”, Conservation began to be taken, seriously only when the Calcutta, Tercentenary Trust, created in 1989, and chaired by British high commis­, sioners in India, assembled a project, team of the best restorers from Vic­, toria & Albert Museum, British Mu­, seum, the National Gallery, and sev­, , GREEN HUMOUR BY ROHAN CHAKRAVARTY, , Explained lucidly, One of the most remarkable pro­, jects of successful restoration in re­, cent times is that of Zoffany’s Last, Supper (1787), which hangs in St., John’s Church, Kolkata. It was res­, tored in the church over five, months in 2010 by a team of conser­, vators from Intach headed by Re­, nate Kant, a Singapore­based Ger­, man conservator., Kant says the “vandalised”, painting was “hanging and sag­, ging”, with numerous gashes at the, bottom, when they started. But, now everything is “consolidated, and structurally stabilised” — the, restored painting is a treat for con­, servators and lay persons alike., The Tata Trusts Art Conserva­, tion Initiative proposes to establish,, develop and strengthen art conser­, vation centres across India, and to, create a cohort of trained art con­, servators. KIAC was selected as the, zonal centre of the eastern region, for the project, with an outreach in, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand,, Chhattisgarh and the Northeast., A small exhibition was held as, part of the training course. Conser­, vation work on oil paintings done, by five trainees — Kartik Kayal, Glen, Fernandes, Upasya Ghosh, Arpita, Das, and Shreya Chakraborty — was, presented for evaluation. It was in­, structive to look at the before­after, images, which came with detailed, texts and graphics. Kayal, Fer­, nandes and Ghosh, along with Su­, manta Biswas, laboratory techni­, cian at KIAC, explained the, complicated processes and tech­, niques in lucid, comprehensible, terms., The case studies were oil and, mixed­media paintings damaged in, different ways. The participants, were taught the processes of ex­, tending canvas edges by using suita­, ble material, mending tears and, holes, as well as filling, texturing, and visual reintegration., ......................................................................., The writer focuses on Kolkata’s, vanishing heritage and culture., , Harmonious A poster of, Blade of the Immortal., *, , SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT, , Netflix’s own earlier, live­action adaptation of the, anime Death Note failed because, of the exact opposite problem —, it focused too much on the plot, and too little on the distinctive, visual weirdness of its universe., Basically, it overcompensated, for the different visual grammar, and thus, very little in the, live­action version was instantly, recognisable to fans., , BINGE WATCH, , Bad, grammar, Cowboy Bebop falls prey to that, all-too-common mistake of anime adaptation,, the imbalance of form and content, , L, , ast month, Netflix, decided to pull the, plug on its, much­hyped, November release: the, live­action series adaptation of, Cowboy Bebop, the 90’s anime, classic often cited among the, greatest of its kind in animated, history. The series was, , CM, YK, , cancelled after just one season,, a disappointing end to a show, with such impeccable source, material and a very likeable lead, in John Cho., Cowboy Bebop follows a, bunch of bounty hunters across, their inter­galactic adventures, in the year 2071, and like, Serenity or Guardians of the, , Galaxy, this loose structure, allows the narrative to bring in, different sub­genres and visual, flavours to each episode:, Westerns, mafia stories, kung fu, movies and so on. The iconic, status of the anime was not just, because of the show’s visual, achievements, however: it was, also because of the relentlessly, crisp yet playful writing, which, complemented the ambitions of, the larger set­up., Too narrow definition, The show, however, just did, not... get it, I have to say. The, postmodern tonality of the, anime comes across as, Internet­era glibness here,, despite the earnest efforts of, Cho and his colleagues. There, are more than a few, cringe­inducing attempts at, recreating frames from the, anime. Cowboy Bebop’s failure is, yet another example of the, difficulties of adapting the visual, and stylistic signatures of anime, to the live­action format. The, Scarlett Johansson­led Ghost in, the Shell was a similar, disappointment, The Last, Airbender an even bigger one, , The postmodern tonality, of the anime comes across, as Internet-era glibness, in Netflix’s adaptation of, Cowboy Bebop, (Dev Patel playing Zuko is still, the stuff of snarky memes years, later)., What are the narratives, common to all these failures?, For one, I’d argue that a lot of, these projects relied on a, too­narrow definition of the, idea of ‘adaptation’ itself. There, is very little sense in recreating, the framing, lighting and/ or, costumes from an anime in, photographic detail (something, Cowboy Bebop tried to do, several times, with mixed, results). The thing about, animation is that, form­and­content boundaries, are even more blurry here than, with regular cinema. It’s both, vessel and wine, as far as anime, is concerned. Transposing that, grammar onto live­action, movies and hoping for the best, is just not good enough., , Purely visceral, Which isn’t to say that, harmonious anime­to­live, action adaptations cannot, happen. My personal favourite, is legendary director Takashi, Miike’s 100th film, Blade of the, Immortal (2017). This, blood­soaked, supernatural, samurai sword­fest is based on, the 2008 anime of the same, name and follows an ageless,, immortal ronin (a samurai sans, master) called Manji who comes, to care for an orphaned girl, looking for revenge., The film works at a purely, visceral, blow­by­blow level, of, course. But there’s all this, mythology which Miike rolls out, very efficiently indeed — we see, how the ronin came to be a, ronin, how he failed to protect, his sister’s life, how his, single­minded quest for revenge, sent literally hundreds of men, to shallow graves. Takuya, Kimura’s performance as Manji, is unforgettable: the excellent, martial arts scenes apart, he is, also superb at bringing out, Manji’s relentless humanity, the, heart that refuses to stop, beating, curse or not., Where Miike succeeded (and, where too many others have, failed in the recent past) is in, the filmmaking balance, between exposition and purely, visual communication. Getting, it right becomes all the more, difficult with anime adaptations, and, sadly, Cowboy Bebop is a, casualty of that dissonance., , Aditya Mani Jha is a, writer and journalist, working on his first, book of non­fiction., CH-X

Page 7 : BOOKEND, , THE HINDU Magazine CHENNAI, Sunday, January 23, 2022, *, , PEACE IN A POD, , LIFE HACKS FROM AGONY AKKA, , Conversation beyond performance, The conversational, podcast does, something different; it, invites the listener into, a closed room to hear, the wheels of two, minds as they turn, , Counting eggs, , present — perfumery, craft design,, children’s publishing, community, media, cuisine, among others — but, each has a story to tell and a per­, spective to share. Manchanda notes, on her website that as a podcast lis­, tener, she rarely came across shows, about the kind of people she wanted, to hear from, or hear about. In the, three years or so that the show has, run, she has sampled a wide range of, creators and risk­takers, each of, whom introduces you to the window, of opportunity that they pushed, open for themselves. Some conver­, sations do move into the rarefied, reaches of high­end fashion and, haute cuisine, but overall, there’s so­, mething there for those who find, themselves stuck, at any stage in life., , W, , hoever thought con­, versation could be, bottled, packaged, like perfume and, sold to those who, want to capture a sense, a feeling, an, idea. Rewind. Start over. Whoever, thought a conversation could be, boxed, and when opened, could, lead one into new worlds of know­, ledge and imagination. Whoever, thought conversation could become, a commodity?, The podcasting business thrives, on conversation — short takes, mid­, sized, and long, unfurling like the, mythical tail of Hanuman. These, must be distinguished from inter­, views, which have a discrete and, specific purpose, with a clear boun­, dary between seeker and giver of in­, formation and insight. Journalistic, interviews may serve the purposes, of extracting or confirming the news, of the day, or as a platform for por­, traiture, where we watch, listen or, read someone drawing out personal­, ity. But the conversational podcast, does something different; it invites, the listener into a closed room to, hear the wheels of two minds as they, turn., The best conversational podcasts, are those where there the host and, the guest meet on a level platform —, , Inspiring to eat Sarah Thomas’ adventurous enterprise., not so much in terms of domain ex­, pertise, but as two (or more) people, who share a curiosity that is jointly, explored as they speak. There is a, genuine sense of listening to ques­, tions and carefully crafted answers, that in turn generate more ques­, tions, both for those within the con­, versation and those listening to it., Even as the exchange is being re­, corded, the participants do not, seem performing. They are so deep­, ly involved in the interchange that, the sense of an audience is com­, pletely absent., There are any number of such, , podcasts, each of which gains its fla­, vour from the style of the host and, the scope that they set out., All women, One that I discovered a few weeks, ago was The Indian Edit, hosted by, Nitasha Manchanda, that features, conversations with “innovators in, design, culture and entrepreneur­, ship”. Manchanda’s guests are all, women with a connection, as she, says, to the Indian subcontinent., These are not women you would, have encountered unless you have a, special interest in the fields they re­, , Go with the flow, You can sample the episodes in any, order, but one I would recommend, features Sarah Thomas, founder of, Kalamata’s Kitchen, an enterprise, that aims to make adventurous and, compassionate eaters of children, as, also the episode where guest Aarti, Jaiman of community radio Gurgaon, ki Awaaz details her journey., The conversational podcast is, perhaps the simplest kind to record, and package; it calls for fairly basic, production and sound design skills., But it is not easy to sustain, and, those who have managed to run a, show for any length of time deserve, appreciation. And, like Manchanda,, if they’ve managed to package it, with character, even more so., Usha Raman,, Hyderabad­based, writer and academic, is, a neatnik fighting a, losing battle with the, clutter in her head., , GOREN BRIDGE, , Repeater, Both vulnerable, North deals, Bob Jones, , W, , e were not given the, auction for today’s, deal, just the final, contract and the, play. We offer the, auction above, which might be du­, plicated in any rubber bridge club, during their cocktail hour., South won the opening spade lead, with dummy’s ace and ran the 10 of, hearts, losing to West’s queen. The, , 07, , East would give South the rest of the, tricks. Beautifully played! This posi­, tion is known as a repeating triple, squeeze. It is quite rare and we hope, the readers enjoyed it., , spade continuation was won by, dummy’s king. South drew trumps, in three rounds, crossed to dummy, with the ace of diamonds, and ruffed, a spade. This was the position: [See, grid 2]., South cashed his last trump, dis­, carding a spade from dummy, and, East had no answer. A club discard, and all the clubs would run. East, chose to part with his spade, but, South led a club to the king and then, led the six of spades. Any discard by, , Dear Agony Akka,, , I, , am a young man from Tenkasi, in Tamil Nadu. Previously,, you have replied to a, successful woman in her 30s, who works from home and is, avoiding marriage proposals, arranged by parents and brother., You must see the dangers of the, advice you have given to a lady, whose ovum production and, quality must be already declining, in her 30s. If she get married now,, chances are still there for her to, have a baby but you advise against, it. This is the archetype of the ‘Last, Man’ or ‘Last Woman’ who don’t, have kids, are highly successful, urbanites, and travel worldwide to, have as much merry as possible, without having any heir. It’s the, end of their lineage. Becoming, mother is the greatest thing for a, lady. The parents and brother are, doing a favour to get her married, soon. You can merry endlessly and, retire at 40, but that is waste of, youth. You should have advised, her to get married., — Extremely galled guy, Dear EGG,, Your mail has burst in my inbox, like a chocolate bomb from your, neighbouring town of Sivakasi. And, with the same amount of noise and, smoke. I am coughing away. In, fact, I will need a Cofka lozenge to, calm down and respond to your, surreal fears about the future of, mankind., I am always pleasantly, amused that such, existential homilies are, never expressed by, well­meaning, men when there, is female, infanticide in, large numbers, which, you will, agree, takes away, the female’s ovum, production capacity, very early., In my housing, society also, there, was one such family., The brother was, always doing, favours for sister., Insisting she gets, married. Censoring, her phone calls. Slapping her, if she came, Illustration:, home late. All, Satheesh Vellinezhi, , for her well­being and ovum count., Then the girl found someone to, marry. Her senior in college who, loved her. But brother did not like, this boy. So he did biggest favour, and killed them both. As you can, imagine, nobody got a chance to, find out quality of the woman’s, ovum, but since she was in her, 20s, it must have been healthy., Just like you, I also get puzzled, that young women are not getting, excited about cooking husband’s, favourite dish and cleaning, children’s bums. It is so much, more fun than earning fat salaries, and travelling worldwide. But alas,, more and more young women are, saying, you have the motherhood,, we will have the merry. They are, clearly focussed too much on the, here and the now than on the heir, and the spare., Then there’s Meera, daughter of, the family in Flat 17C. Both parents, are working, brother is doing, engineering and Meera is doing, Computer Science. Naturally, busy, family means mother and Meera, have to do much cooking. I have, often found that Meera is so, focussed on making omelettes for, family that her own eggs are, getting totally bypassed. Will, brother finish breakfast and hunt, for husband or will he focus on his, boiled egg? We don’t know., Suspense is intense., Now with women getting more, interested in increasing salary than, decreasing ovum, maybe it’s, time for men to become, single mothers? Adopting,, surrogacy, so many, lineage options there, are these days., Meanwhile,, what is certainly, having merry is, India’s population, statistics. Last I, checked, it was 1.4, billion, roughly 17% of, all human beings in, the world. You need, not feel afraid of, Indian race coming, to an early end., There might not be, much air to breathe, but there are certainly, plenty of heirs going, around., — AA, [email protected], , THE SUNDAY CROSSWORD NO. 3186, , QUIZ, , Easy like Sunday morning, ‘Toys are children’s, words and play is, their language’, , model vehicles, and Hornby Rail­, ways, which make model train sets., The third is a brand of model con­, struction system, which contains, reusable metal strips, plates,, wheels, axles and gears, nuts and, bolts. This enables kids to build, working models and mechanical, devices. What is the name of this, company, which till date is a popular, birthday gift for young kids?, , Berty Ashley, , 1, , 2, , Shirley and Eddie Clarkson de­, signed the first Paddington Bear, toy in 1972 and gave it to their 11­, year­old son. The well­made toys re­, ceived several compliments, so they, began selling the bears in local, stores. Paddington Bear creator Mi­, chael Bond wanted to sue them both, for copyright infringement, but on, encountering them in a lift and rea­, lising how sweet they were, gave, them the license. This allowed them, both to earn well and send their son, to a good school. Who was the son, who now has multiple shows on OTT, on history, wars, guns, farming and, cars, and owes his life to this toy?, , 3, , This toy is a simple remote con­, trol­like device that has a button, and a photodiode. When you press, it, it causes the TV screen to com­, pletely black for one frame. The, diode samples the colour reading as, a reference and in the next frame, causes only the target area to be­, come white. If the game the toy is, connected to detects the shift from, black to white, you get points. What, CM, YK, , 9, , Light-headed These dolls, which received a GI tag in 2009, have a, history dating back to King Saboji’s rule. G. GNANAVELMURUGAN, *, , is the most famous game that used, this toy and involved a giggling dog?, , 4, , This American company was es­, tablished as an institute in 1928, by Lucille King. She developed woo­, den toys to use as teaching aids for, children in the classroom. Since, 1984 it has been owned by Hasbro, but still produces many lines of edu­, cational toys. What company is this, whose name was literally what they, used to do?, , 5, , One of the most popular toys the, world over is a puzzle game, created by Alexey Pajitnov in 1984., Its popularity led to an actual psych­, ological effect named after it. The ef­, fect is a creative urge to fit shapes to­, gether, to organise, to build, to make, deals, to fix, to fold sheets. What is, the name of this effect?, , 6, , The largest toy company in the, world started in 1932, in a work­, shop in Denmark, when Ole Kirk, Christiansen began making wooden, toys. He named the company after, the Danish phrase that means ‘play, well’. As of 2021 the company is va­, , lued at $6.5 billion and more than, 700 billion pieces of their iconic, bricks have been made. What com­, pany is this, which also has movies,, games and even amusement parks?, , 7, , Matchbox was a popular toy, brand which got its name be­, cause its toys were sold in boxes si­, milar to actual matchboxes. Their, biggest hits were small­scale models, of production cars. Elliot Handler, and his wife saw their son playing, with one of these and came up with, an idea. They would produce custo­, mised/ modified ‘hot rod’ versions, of these cars, eg. with bigger tyres,, hood blowers, flame stickers etc. It, became a huge hit and was bought, over by Mattel, eventually taking ov­, er Matchbox as well. By what name, do we know this company?, , 8, , Frank Hornby was an English in­, ventor who, though having no, formal training in engineering, was, responsible for the invention and, production of three of the most pop­, ular lines of toys based on engineer­, ing principles. Two of them are Din­, ky Toys that made die­cast scale, , A ‘Gyroscopic Effect’ is the ability, of a rotating body to maintain a, steady direction of its axis of rota­, tion. This combines the universal, laws of inertia (and momentum),, friction and gravity, and the transfer, of potential to kinetic energy. What, toy, which has been around for thou­, sands of years (earliest reference is, from 3500 BC), works purely on this, principle?, , 10, , These dolls, which received a, GI tag in 2009, have a history, dating back to King Saboji’s king­, dom. Known for their detailed,, painted exteriors and famous bob­, ble­head, and made from materials, such as papier mache, plaster of Pa­, ris, or very light wood, these dolls, have a very low centre of gravity that, allows them to have a continuous, dance­like movement. Named after, the city the GI tag attributes it to,, what is the name of these dolls?, ........................................................................, A molecular biologist from Madurai,, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and, music, and is working on a rock, ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi, is an Emotion’. @bertyashley, Answers, 1. Frisbee, 2. Jeremy Clarkson, 3. Duck Hunt Videogame, 4. Playskool, 5. The Tetris Effect, 6. LEGO, 7. Hot wheels, 8. Meccano, 9. Top, 10. Thanjavur Dolls, , On January 23, 1957, American in­, ventor Walter Frederick Morrison, sold the rights to his invention,, which he called the ‘Whirlo­Way’ to, the Wham­O toy company. He had, come up with the idea in 1937 when, he and his girlfriend were throwing a, popcorn lid and a cake pan around., Wham­O decided to sell the product, as 'Pluto Platter' but college students, had come up with another name for, it, based on a bakery whose pie tins, served the same purpose. How bet­, ter do we know this toy that even has, a sport based on it?, , Across, 1 Not just any flyer for a movie? (3,7), 6 Russian ruler ‘beats a retreat’ ... bottles it (4), 9 Employee appraisal at the House, of Lords? (4,6), 10 Repelled a raven, largely predatory, beast (4), 12 Deaf-ish nans treated, being well, looked after (2,4,5), 15 More sickly, kind of green, perhaps, slalomer’s heading off (7), 16 Morally improved duke earlier, becoming, exalted (7), 17 Artist’s empty landscapes’ sad lines (1,1,5), 19 Hates seeing sights with son not about (7), 20 A sad, a bleak king ordered pudding (5,6), 23 In France, one is where courses take a, long time to get through (4), 24 Hoping for an ‘h’ sound (10), 25 Made pencil portrait of Andy (4), 26 Brand new day, etc, for coward (7-3), , 7 Spirited grittiness, tough in the extreme (10), 8 To talk with enthusiasm in talk about hard, earth is exhausting at first (10), 11 This acid rain alarmed campaigners (9,3), 13 Mesmerized by Alexander Graham’s weight,, according to Spooner (10), 14 Arrangement of elements: potassium,, nickel, iron and silver, in part (5,5), 18 Membrane unusually scaly? OK ... (4-3), 19 File ‘requiring less effort’, fancifully? (7), 21 Realize, after losing six balls: it’s a record (4), 22 Commonly, Norseman underestimating, tides, primarily? (4), , Solution No. 3185, , Down, 1 Gratuities regularly shunned; at a push,, Everyman will chip in (4), 2 Days before, golfer becomes upset (4), 3 State broadcast assessed value of, Wimbledon champ (8,4), 4 Guide daughter to wear a sunblocker (7), 5 Lover Federer admits was excessively, giving? (7), CH-X

Page 8 : 08, , BACK PAGE, , THE HINDU Magazine, Sunday, January 23, 2022, , CHENNAI, , Illustration: R. Rajesh, , trafficked in the West, following the Taliban, takeover. Do you think there is, a real threat?, L I don’t think we will see the same, kind of attitude as earlier by the Ta­, liban towards Afghanistan’s cultu­, ral heritage. Just the other day, the, Taliban announced that all Afghan, cultural heritage, Islamic and pre­, Islamic, is important and must be, protected. Are these mere words, to appease the international com­, munity? Maybe. Only time will tell., , 60 MINUTES: WITH AMANULLAH MOJADIDI, , ‘When, governments, set restrictions, on creation,, guerrilla art, gets energised’, , The U.S. in particular, and, Western democracies in, general, showed incredible, pusillanimity by abruptly, withdrawing from, Afghanistan. There are even, reports that the U.S. is, working on a road map for, according recognition to the, Taliban government. There is, concern over possible, blowback. What’s your take?, L What I find interesting about the, world’s attitude towards the West,, and the U.S. in particular, in Af­, ghanistan is that everyone screams, murder when the U.S. invades the, country and then everyone, screams abandonment when they, leave. Could they have left diffe­, rently so the withdrawal impact, might have been more managea­, ble? Yes. But in my opinion, even if, they withdrew slowly five years, ago or five years from now, the re­, sult would have been the same., , The famous Afghan artist says the, world can well expect a different side to, Taliban 2.0, but only time will tell its, impact on the country’s cultural, heritage and its people, , ■ Grew up in Florida, U.S.,, and moved to, Afghanistan in 2003 to, work with an NGO, ■ Has exhibited in the, U.S., Germany, (dOCUMENTA-13),, India (Kochi-Muziris, Biennale), Paris,, Singapore, Hong Kong,, Cairo and Dubai, ■ Well-known for his, tongue-in-cheek works, ‘Jihadi Gangster’, a, combination of, American hip-hop, gangster and Afghan, mujahideen, and, ‘Conflict Chic’, clothing, fashion for suicide, bombers and soldiers, ■ His uncle Sibghatullah, Mojaddedi served, as acting President, of Afghanistan, in 1992, , Sudhir Kumar, , H, , e is heavily but aes­, thetically tattooed in, French, Sanskrit and, Japanese. But that is, only the exterior em­, bellishment to the demeanour of, prominent U.S.­born Afghan visual, artist Amanullah Mojadidi., The artist, who divides his time, between Paris and Kabul, is not ex­, actly a torn soul. On the one hand,, he is opposed to the “totalitarian­, ism of the Taliban”, which he de­, scribes as “an incredibly restrictive, movement.” On the other, he, shows measured pragmatism and, cautious optimism even as Taliban, 2.0 now appears to be firmly en­, sconced in the power apparatus., The 50­year­old with a brooding, persona, piercing eyes and flowing, beard has pilloried warlords, West­, ern militias and governments with, , his tongue­in­cheek yet overt art­, works. Credited with playing an, important role in the resurgence of, art in Afghanistan, he has worked, with young Afghans to promote, graffiti as art., Fresh from his return from Italy,, where he curated a major art exhi­, bition and public programme on, Afghanistan, Mojadidi takes time, off to talk about the situation in his, home country and how it impacts, him. Excerpts:, What do you think, Afghanistan will reverberate, with — the lilt of the rubab, (string instrument that is the, mainstay of Afghan classical, music), or the shrillness of a, fanatic regime? In its earlier, avatar, this regime had, dynamited out of existence, two 6th century statues of, Buddha and plundered the, national museum., , L I think it will settle into someth­, ing in between. The rush to con­, demn the Taliban is certainly not, without reason, but if we look at, other extremely Islamic states in, the world (such as Iran or Saudi, Arabia), we see places where art, and culture are heavily controlled, by the state, but nevertheless there, is artistic and cultural production, taking place. I think once the dust, settles, we will eventually see so­, mething similar in Afghanistan., What exactly it will look like re­, mains to be seen., , As an artist, how has it, impacted your creative pursuit, and worldview?, L I must admit that I find myself, thinking a lot about Nuristan, the, last province in Afghanistan to be, forcefully converted to Islam in, 1895. I’ve painted two works, (painting not being something I of­, , ten use or am very skilled at but it, feels right for these works) — one, called ‘Nuristani Tree Spirit #1’ and, another ‘Nuristani Dancing Man, #1’. These are simple paintings., ‘Tree Spirit’ is an abstract rendi­, tion of a white entity emerging, from between trunk and crown;, the animism speaking to an older, shamanism that pre­dates Islam in, the region. ‘Dancing Man’ is a very, tribal, almost cave painting rendi­, tion of a naked man dancing. I’m, now working on ‘Nuristani Danc­, ing Woman #1’. Their freedom to, be nude and dance speaks out to, the totalitarianism of the Taliban., In August last year, UNESCO, appealed for the protection of, Afghanistan’s cultural, heritage. In fact, 12 art trade, associations from the U.S. and, Europe have joined hands to, prevent Afghan art from being, , Afghanistan’s Ministry of, Education directed all, secondary schools to resume, classes from September 18, last year. However, it is, ominously silent on a return, date for girls, which is, contrary to the promises, made by the Taliban. Women, are being barred from going, to work, and they have, staged demonstrations to, seek employment and, education. What will, , ‘The Taliban just banned, forced marriage in the, country, and so this could be, a sign that they are not, going to work entirely, against the rights of women., But what they perceive as, the rights of women, and, whether education and, work are part of those, rights, remains to be seen’, , *, , happen, you think?, I think this is perhaps going to be, one of the issues that will need the, closest attention. The Taliban just, banned forced marriage in the, country, and so this could be a sign, that they are not going to work en­, tirely against the rights of women., But what they perceive as the, rights of women, and whether, education and work are part of, those rights, remains to be seen., , L, , Do you find any fundamental, difference between the Taliban, in 1995-2001 and its latest, incarnation? Ostensibly,, Taliban 2.0 is behaving more, responsibly. However, it may, be mere tokenism., L No doubt, there are differences., But they will certainly still remain, an incredibly restrictive move­, ment, and will no doubt limit and/, or turn back many things that have, taken place in the past 20 years., However, as I said earlier, I think, when the dust settles, there will be, something different. It may not be, what we want, but it won’t be what, we expect either., You have said earlier that, religion is losing its integrity,, becoming less pure. How far is, that relevant in the context of, Afghanistan?, L I don’t think less pure is really, accurate, but rather less than what, it was originally meant to be: each, person’s individual capacity to, communicate with a universal spi­, rit. I think the biggest problem, with Afghanistan and any other Is­, lamic state in the world is that they, are exactly that — Islamic states. As, far as I’m concerned, a govern­, ment should be secular, its people, should be whatever they want to, be religiously, and practise whatev­, er makes sense to them., Did you ever face a direct, threat from the Taliban? Have, you exhibited your work in, Afghanistan? You said you are, indulging in a sort of guerrilla, art. What does it mean?, L I never had threats from the Tali­, ban, but did have a small issue with, the government for which I had to, keep a low profile so they wouldn’t, find me until it passed. I think, when governments set restrictions, on creation, guerrilla art becomes, energised. For this reason, I am ac­, tually very curious to see what, might come to be created under, the current Taliban regime., ....................................................................., The writer is a Delhi-based, journalist and media consultant., , Sweet treats (From far left) A, snacks stall in Baramulla; and, sugar-coated basrak., Getty Images & Nandini Sen, , SUNDAY RECIPE, , Nandini Sen, , NOSHTALGIA, , Nadur monje, , S, , Kashmir’s wide variety of delicious street foods is, largely vegetarian and largely unknown, , Ingredients, 1/2 kg lotus stems, 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder, 250 gm rice flour, 2 cups of water, 2 tbsp cumin seeds (optional), 350 ml mustard oil for frying, Salt to taste, , ome time ago when filmmaker, Vivek Agnihotri wrote a, presumptuous tweet, proposing the idea of a, vegetarian ‘wazwan’ — the, traditional Kashmiri meat­based meal —, social media erupted in spontaneous, protests. What an oxymoron, people, said. The Twitter tempest petered out, in a day, but the idea that prompted the, tweet is an old and enduring one, and, deeply rooted in the country’s food, politics., The perception that the cuisine of, Muslim Kashmiris — the ultimate, embodiment of “the other” — is a, meaty monolith has been shaped, primarily by cultural conditioning on, both sides of the, socio­religious­culinary border. This is, not to imply that Kashmiri food is, predominantly vegetarian or that, wazwan is but the figment of a, carnivore’s imagination. The culinary, grandeur of wazwan must indeed be, experienced to be believed, but this, multi­course meal isn’t all there is to, the Valley’s culinary heritage., CM, YK, , The Valley beyond, , wazwan, Among the great surprises in the, region’s variegated gastronomic canvas, is the street food which, barring the, craft barbeque meats, is primarily, vegetarian, bordering on vegan. These, dishes have managed to hold their own, despite the ubiquity of momos,, golgappa and egg roll, and like native, street eats the world over, speak to the, region’s unique food heritage., From masala tsot, the ultimate, , Kashmiri grab ’n’ go meal that consists, of a lavasa bread stuffed with mashed, chickpeas generously slathered with a, spicy chutney, to nadur monje (lotus, stem fritters) or gaer monje (deep­fried, water chestnuts), and the jhal, muri­reminiscent masala wari muth, (wide variety of indigenous beans and, wheat berries boiled with salt and, spices and topped with fried onions), that’s served in paper cones, there is a, , Method, 1. Peel and wash the lotus stems., Chop the stems, slicing each into, 4 vertical pieces., 2. In a mixing bowl, add the salt,, Kashmiri red chili powder, cumin, seeds, and rice flour to the sliced, lotus stems., 3. Add water and mix till all the, stems are well coated with the, rice flour batter., 4. Heat the mustard oil in a, deep-frying pan., 5. Add the batter-coated lotus, stems and fry using a skimmer, ladle., 6. Take the fritters out once they, acquire a deep brownish-red, colour., 7. Serve hot with radish chutney., , plethora of snacks to choose from. And, just like anywhere else in the world,, these street food stalls are found in, plenty in the vicinity of schools,, colleges, offices and local shrines., For those with a sweet tooth, there is, indulgence in the form of the chewy, basrak, a kind of deep­fried hollow, pastry coated with sugar syrup; and, shangram, deep­fried nuggets of, maida, semolina, milk, sugar and ghee., While the latter is slightly lesser known, and typically enjoyed as a teatime, snack in homes, basrak is the, sweetmeat of choice for special, occasions and, in recent times, has, found iteration in plush bakeries, with, the addition of premium ingredients, such as khoya and nuts., Sense of pride, Today, many of these old­time, favourites evoke fond nostalgia in the, average Kashmiri. “Every day, while, returning from school, we would each, buy a fat masala tsot for ₹5 and saunter, along, taking bites off the wrap. Even, now, I find no snack quite as delicious,, healthy and easy to eat as masala tsot,”, says Bilal Ahmed Dar, a resident of, downtown Srinagar. “Dishes like, masala tsot and basrak evoke nostalgia, as well as a sense of pride in our, Kashmiri identity,” says the 35­year­old, businessman., Despite the wide range of local, snacks and their appeal among the, , Basrak is the sweetmeat of, choice for special occasions and,, in recent times, has found iteration, in plush bakeries, with the, addition of premium ingredients, such as khoya and nuts, , Valley’s residents, these foods are yet, to become mainstream à la bhelpuri or, aloo tikki. Kashmiris seldom wax, eloquent about their indigenous, cuisine save for the mutton­dominated, wazwan feast., “We are a society driven by classism, and nowhere is this more apparent, than in our attitude towards our street, foods,” says Owais Ashraf, a 27­year­old, law student and resident of Budgam., “Despite their popularity, these street, eats remain more or less confined to, bazaars next to shrines or busy, marketplaces. Eating these ‘cheap’, items is looked down upon. It is this, deep collective reluctance to own our, food heritage that has led to many, street foods languishing in anonymity,”, he says., Awareness needed, Though the government has in recent, times tried to promote Kashmiri street, food as part of its tourism initiatives,, residents say more proactive steps are, needed. “To begin with, street foods, can be included in the menu of, government­run restaurants, and food, kiosks can be set up at cultural, festivals. The government could also, invite food bloggers and influencers to, sample and promote Kashmir’s street, foods. Food writers and critics must, create literature on the Valley’s food, scene to help with awareness,” says, Mohd. Azhar Abbas, 29, a, Srinagar­based entrepreneur, associated with the hospitality and, tourism sector., Interestingly, large numbers of, domestic tourists who visit Kashmir, depend entirely on ‘Vaishno Dhabas’,, the Valley’s generic non­A/C, restaurants that serve all­vegetarian, North Indian fare. In doing so, they, miss out on local gastronomic, experiences that are an integral part of, travel. According to Abbas, private tour, operators and travel agencies can make, a difference by incorporating street, food tours in tourist itineraries., “Wazwan isn’t all we eat, and it, certainly isn’t all we have to be proud, of,” says Dar with half a smile and a, glint of pride in his eyes., ..............................................................................., The writer is a full-time ruminator and, part-time freelancer., CH-X