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 FROM THE

www.indiatoday.in EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aroon Purie

O
GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Raj Chengappa
EDITOR: Ajit Kumar Jha (Research)
n February 2, 1983, India woke
GROUP CREATIVE EDITOR: Nilanjan Das; GROUP PHOTO EDITOR: Bandeep Singh up to the horror of Nellie, a tiny
MANAGING EDITORS: Kai Jabir Friese, Rajesh Jha
EXECUTIVE EDITORS: Damayanti Datta, S. Sahaya Ranjit,
village in Assam’s Morigaon dis-
Sandeep Unnithan
trict. Assamese tribals surround-
DEPUTY EDITORS: Prachi Bhuchar, Uday Mahurkar, Manisha Saroop
Mumbai: M.G. Arun Hyderabad: Amarnath K. Menon Chandigarh: Asit Jolly ed three villages populated by Bangla- Our March 15, 1983, cover
SENIOR EDITORS: Shweta Punj, Sasi Nair, Alokparna Das
Jaipur: Rohit Parihar deshi migrants and, in the course of just
SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Kaushik Deka, Ashish Mukherjee
Mumbai: Suhani Singh, Kiran Dinkar Tare; patna: Amitabh Srivastava
one night, hacked over 2,000 men, women as voting, property ownership, identity
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Shougat Dasgupta, Chinki Sinha and children to death. Nellie, by now syn- documents, employment, education
Kolkata: Romita Sengupta; Bhopal: Rahul Noronha;
Thiruvananthapuram: Jeemon Jacob; BeiJing: Ananth Krishnan onymous with extreme xenophobia, was a and health services. In 1982, new laws
ASSISTANT EDITOR: pune: Aditi S. Pai
PHOTO DEPARTMENT: Vikram Sharma (Deputy Photo Editor),
story india today broke in its March 15, in Burma (now Myanmar) stripped an
Rajwant Singh Rawat (Principal Photographer), 1983 issue. It remains one of independent estimated one million Rohingya of citi-
Chandra Deep Kumar (Senior Photographer); Mumbai: Mandar Suresh
Deodhar (Chief Photographer), Danesh Adil Jassawala (Photographer); India’s most horrific pogroms, revealing zenship, provoking a refugee crisis that
Kolkata: Subir Halder (Principal Photographer);
Chennai: N.G. Jaison (Senior Photographer) the darkness that lives in the hearts of men continues to this day.
PHOTO RESEARCHERS: Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher),
Saloni Vaid (Principal Photo Researcher), and how seemingly peaceful agitations Fortunately, we also have examples
Shubhrojit Brahma (Photo Researcher)
CHIEF OF GRAPHICS: Tanmoy Chakraborty
can explode into savage bloodfests. where large protracted situations of
ART DEPARTMENT: Sanjay Piplani (Senior Art Director); Thirty-five years later, Nellie still statelessness have been resolved. Some
Vikas Verma (Associate Art Director);
Bhoomesh Dutt Sharma (Senior Designer) haunts us. More so as the government 300,000 Urdu speakers, also called ‘Bi-
Siddhant Jumde (Senior Illustrator)
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT: Harish Agarwal (Chief of Production),
of Assam, a state of 30 million people, haris’, were left stateless with the birth of
Naveen Gupta (Chief Coordinator),
Vijay Kumar Sharma (Senior Coordinator)
completes a Supreme Court-monitored Bangladesh in 1971. In 2008, the Bangla-
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Manoj Sharma
National Register of Citizenship (NRC). desh High Court gave citizenship to those
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Anil Fernandes (Impact) By all accounts, it is not who the NRC born after 1971. More recently, in August
IMPACT TEAM
Senior General Manager: Jitender Lad (West)
includes but who it excludes that will be 2015, India and Bangladesh ended a 300-
General Manager: Mayur Rastogi (North),
Upendra Singh (Bangalore),
keenly watched. Our sources estimate that year territorial anomaly of enclaves, by
Kaushiky Gangulie (East) at least 2 million people—more than the swapping land and people. Over 14,000
GROUP CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER: Vivek Malhotra
Assistant General Manager: Garima Prashar (Marketing) population of Goa—are likely to be left residents remained in India and became
SALES AND OPERATIONS: D.V.S. Rama Rao, Chief General Manager
Deepak Bhatt, General Manager (National Sales)
out of this citizenship verification and, Indian citizens and over 37,000 residents
Vipin Bagga, Deputy General Manager (Operations)
Rajeev Gandhi, Regional Sales Manager (North)
consequently, declared stateless. Our cover became Bangladeshi citizens. The Union
story, reported by Senior Associate Editor government is believed to be considering
Kaushik Deka, reveals the fear and uncer- proposals for long-term ‘biometric work
tainty among them. Worryingly, he dis- permits’ for stateless people but without
covers, Assam’s NRC could have a ripple voting rights or the right to buy immov-
effect on other parts of India. A majority able property. The question then arises,
of these stateless people are likely to be what becomes of the property already ac-
Volume XLIII Number 32; For the week quired by stateless persons? Will the state
Muslim, and a communal narrative is al-
July 31-August 6, 2018, published on every Friday
ready being prepared—from propagating then take away such properties? This is a
l Editorial/Corporate Office Living Media India Ltd., India Today Group Mediaplex,
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Hyderabad-500082; Phone: 23401657, 23400479, 23410100, 23402481,
23410982, 23411498; Fax: 23403484 l 39/1045, Karakkatt Road, Kochi 682016; that illegal Bangladeshis dominated 15 out
Phones: 2377057, 2377058 ; Fax: 2377059 l 2/C, “Suryarath Bldg”, 2nd Floor,
Behind White House, Panchwati, Office C.G. Road, Ahmedabad-380006; Phone: of Assam’s 33 districts and are ‘threaten- This is not a regional issue, but a national
26560393, 26560929; Fax: 26565293 l Copyright Living Media India Ltd. All
rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited. ing the indigenous people of Assam’. one. India can ill afford another Nellie.
Printed and published by Manoj Sharma on behalf of Living Media
India Limited. Printed at Thomson Press India Limited, The United Nations High Commissi- Not now and not ever.
18-35 Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad-121007, (Haryana)
and at A-9, Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar, District
oner for Refugees (UNHCR) defines a
Kancheepuram-603209, (Tamil Nadu). Published at K-9, Connaught
Circus, New Delhi-110001. Editor: Raj Chengappa.
stateless person as ‘someone who is not
l india today does not take the responsibility for returning unsolicited
publication material.
considered as a national by any state
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of under the operation of its law’. Stateless
competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only
persons are denied a range of rights, such (Aroon Purie)

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 1

 INSIDE
UPFRONT LEISURE
WELCOME TO DEBUTANT DIRECTOR
LYNCHISTAN PG 4 ANEESH CHAGANTYPG 60

POV: THE FLIGHT Q&A: JANHVI

OF CAPITAL KAPOOR
PG 14 PG 68

S AV E T H E TA J C A M PA I G N

36 FUMES
OF DEATH
Ash-spewing crematoriums in
the Taj Mahal’s backyard are
hastening its demise

AY U S H M A N B H A R AT

22
C OV E R S T O RY

47
The soon-to-be-published
THE NOWHERE National Register of Citizenship PUTTING A PRICE
will determine the fate of some ON HEALTH
PEOPLE two million people in Assam
The government’s mega health plan seems
to be having starting trouble as private
hospitals find treatment rates unviable

BUR A R I SUICIDES
DEFENCE

42
A DEADLY LEAP
32 THE RAFALE
DOGFIGHT
Sifting fact from insinuation in the
OF FAITH NDA’s biggest defence purchase—the
€7.8 billion deal for 36 Rafales
Many Indian families are
vulnerable to the psychotic
disorder that triggered the
Burari mass suicide Cover by NILANJAN DAS

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2 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 GROUND ZERO

With a Hug and a Wink

Narendra Modi won the trust vote decisively but ceded the stage
to Rahul Gandhi to make his pitch for 2019 as the Great Unifier
RAJ CHENGAPPA

I
n politics, there are defining moments that can RSS for making him wiser about his religion. And then he
change the fortunes of a leader, a nation and even the stumped everyone by walking across the aisle and giving
course of history. Few expected the no-confidence the nonplussed Modi a huge hug. The impish wink to fellow
motion against the NDA government in the Lok Sab- Congressmen came a few minutes later and almost undid
ha on July 20 to be one such. After all, the outcome his command performance. But both actions served to
seemed predictable and underwhelming: despite allies emphasise that he was now marching to his own drumbeat.
like the TDP fleeing the NDA and the Shiv Sena abstain- The more important message was that Rahul was portray-
ing from voting, it was a given that the NDA would cruise ing himself as a unifier in contrast to what he called BJP’s
to a comfortable victory. The final tally was indicative of divisive and hate-filled politics. If Rahul had not attacked
that: 325 for the NDA and 126 for the combined Op- the RSS as aggressively as he did the BJP and Modi, his
position. Yet it was not so much the outcome but the newfound Hinduness would have endeared him to those in
proceedings that set the stage for Battle 2019 between the Sangh who are chafing at the perceived arrogance and
the two prime contenders: BJP’s Narendra Modi, who political dominance of the Modi-Amit Shah duo.
has emerged as one of the country’s most powerful prime The final moment came when Modi delivered a
ministers in recent times, and Congress president Rahul compelling defence that was designed to achieve three
Gandhi, who despite being made the leader of the Grand things: knock the credibility of the Congress party and
Old Party and being 14 years in politics, is all too often its leaders, mock the plans of the Opposition to present
regarded as a political novice. a united front and use the occa-
For those who had the privilege sion to list his government’s major
of witnessing the debate live (this achievements and his promise of a
writer was among them), there new India—officially launching his
were three moments that stood campaign for 2019. Modi’s oratory
out. When Rahul delivered his ad- did have shades of the brilliance
dress, he surprised his opponents that he is known for but he seemed
and even many of his own support- to be on the defensive over his gov-
ers in the House by taking on Modi ernment’s economic performance
directly, hitting out hard on what and uncharacteristically referred
he called his ‘ jumla strikes’—in- frequently to a thick bound volume
cluding the lack of jobs. He then as he quoted figures highlighting
created an uproar in the treasury the work his government had done.
benches by questioning the prime In the end it was even stevens, but
minister and the defence minis- by belittling Rahul’s efforts to hug
ter’s integrity over the deal to buy him, the prime minister seemed
Rafale fighter jets from France. In to have missed a trick. Modi could
doing so, Rahul signalled that he By belittling have used the occasion to build a
was no more the ‘Pappu’ that Modi
had painted him as. He was clearly
Rahul’s hug, PM new consensus across the country
and demand greater cooperation
positioning himself as Modi’s Modi lost the from Opposition parties—as part of
challenger for the prime ministe- chance to build a ‘Team India’. And that in the issues
rial stakes and used telling barbs
to hold him accountable for his
consensus across that really mattered, they should
set aside their differences and work
government’s missteps. the country towards the greater good of the
The other moment was when and include the country. Modi could have assumed
Rahul emphasised his Hinduness
and message of spreading love,
Opposition in the mantle of the Great Unifier.
Instead he has given Rahul the
even thanking both the BJP and Team India chance to seize it. n

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 3

 UPFRONT
INDIA’S BRI BET A TRASH CAN FOR
PAYS OFF BIG BAD LOANS
PG 6 PG 9

LIFE IN THE POV: THE FLIGHT

MEGHALAYAN AGE OF CAPITAL
PG 13 PG 1 4

PER SPEC T I V E

WELCOME TO LYNCHISTAN
By Asit Jolly

W
atching the abject horror of kidnap and kill children. Sixteen such All of this happened within a week
28-year-old Rakbar Khan’s instances have been reported since May. after a three-judge bench of the Supreme
murder unfold in Rajasthan’s And these do not include the Court spelt out its disgust at the “hor-
Alwar district, a year after a murder- unfortunate Rakbar, who was beaten rendous acts of mobocracy” and cited
ous mob of cow vigilantes bludgeoned to death in the wee hours of July 21 the “recurrent pattern of violence” that
Pehlu Khan to death, many would find as he and a friend, Aslam Khan, were was in danger of becoming “the new
it disconcerting and disheartening that herding two cows from Alwar town to normal”. The bench, comprising Chief
it was left to the Supreme Court to point their home in Lalwandi village. A day Justice Dipak Mishra and Justices A.M.
to the culture of violent intolerance that earlier, villagers in Madhya Pradesh’s Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud,
is rapidly enveloping India’s hinterland. Singrauli district had beaten a mentally asked Parliament to create a separate
The past three years have witnessed challenged woman to death because penal category for the offence of lynch-
the murders of 50 people—mostly of the they suspected she was a child-lifter. ing with deterrent penalties that would
minority and weaker sections—in the And on July 22, a mob in West Bengal’s “instil a sense of fear for law amongst the
name of gau raksha (cow protection) or Jalpaiguri district beat up and stripped people who involve themselves in such
by mobs driven by rumours purveyed on four women who were going door-to- activities”. The judges spelt out preven-
social media that the victims were out to door selling clothes. tive, remedial and punitive measures

4 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

UPFRONT

to tackle the menace, asking state governments to ap-

point nodal police officers in every district to identify I N D I A- C H I N A
vulnerable areas; collect intelligence on individuals or

INDIA’S
groups indulging in hate speeches and take steps to
prevent the dissemination of rumours through social
media. The SC directed the Centre and states to report
compliance of its directions within four weeks.
Although the government has responded by con- BRI BET
PAYS
stituting a Group of Ministers, headed by Union home
minister Rajnath Singh, which will make recommen-
dations on a new law against lynching based on a draft

OFF
prepared by a committee under the home secretary,
the ensuing debate in Parliament is distressing.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on the morning, a com- AFP
bined opposition brought a no-trust motion against
the government, Singh chided Congress leaders for

W
using ‘Hindu Taliban’ and ‘mini Pakistan’ to describe hen India, in May to a Chinese company on a
the growing intolerance in the country. He went on to last year, became the 99-year lease. In Myanmar, the
declare that “the biggest only major absen- government has said it would
incident of mob-lynching tee at Chinese President Xi review the terms of Chinese
The SC happened during 1984… Jinping’s inaugural Belt and projects, while in Malaysia,
wants and a big leader (Rajiv Road Forum in Beijing—held Prime Minister Mahathir Mo-
Parliament Gandhi) said when a big to champion his pet mega hamad has expressed concerns
to create tree falls, the earth shakes. infrastructure project—New on repaying Chinese loans and
a separate And they (Congress) are Delhi was widely warned of its suspended a $20 billion high
offence for trying to give us lessons in impending isolation. speed rail project.
lynching mob lynching!” “When we came out with Even in “all-weather ally”
with Back at Alwar, BJP our concerns last year,” recalls Pakistan, criticism over the
deterrent MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja
insisted that Rakbar and
former envoy to China Ashok
Kantha, “the feeling in some
terms of the China Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC)
penalties Aslam were “gau taskar quarters, including people in has grown louder. During the
(cow smugglers)” and the India, was we are getting iso- poll campaign, Imran Khan of
victim was beaten to death by the police, not by gau lated and run the risk of being the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
rakshaks. Notably, Aslam, the only known eyewit- an outlier in this global project criticised the outgoing govern-
ness to the lynching, told police that the five attackers backed by 60 countries.” ment over the lack of transpar-
had blatantly boasted they were Ahuja’s men. The A year since the Beijing ency in many CPEC projects
absurdity doesn’t end there. A day after the killing, forum, India’s stand on China’s and alleged corruption. A Wall
Indresh Kumar, a senior RSS functionary, was quoted Belt and Road Initiative Street Journal report on July
as saying this in Ranchi: “Mob lynching cannot be (BRI) appears increasingly 22 revealed that Chinese power
welcomed. [But] if the practice of eating cow meat vindicated, and the concerns companies had been given a
is stopped, many such crimes of the Satan could be articulated in New Delhi’s guarantee of 34 per cent annu-
stopped.” His ‘wisdom’ was echoed by BJP leader Vi- statement last May on the lack al return on their investments
nay Katiyar, who counselled Muslims to refrain from of transparency and financial from CPEC projects, to be paid
touching cows and provoking Hindus. In Delhi, Union sustainability in the mega by the Pakistan government in
minister Jayant Sinha regretted garlanding eight men project are, as Kantha notes, dollars. This, even as Pakistan’s
convicted for lynching a cattle trader, Alimuddin An- “being reflected in so many finances have teetered on the
sari, in Jharkhand in 2017. Interestingly, the minister other quarters now”. brink of a crisis, with sugges-
said he was doing so only because it gave his rivals “an Sri Lanka, one of the early tions that the new government
opportunity to say I was condoning [cow] vigilan- backers of the BRI, now owes will be forced to seek an IMF
tism”. Meanwhile Rajasthan home minister Gulab China more than $8 billion. bailout (which could bring a
Chand Kataria announced an inquiry into the July 21 Unable to repay Chinese stop to new CPEC projects).
lynching. This was a day after the SC agreed to hear loans—some of which the These developments have
petitions seeking contempt proceedings against the previous government agreed reinforced India’s initial scepti-
state government for failing to adhere to the court’s to at a 6.4 per cent interest cism towards the BRI. Kantha,
directions against mob lynching. n rate—Colombo has transferred who was the envoy in China
—with Rohit Parihar control of its Hambantota port until January 2016 (Beijing

16 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 INDEX

The World Is Not Enough

By August 1 this year, we will have consumed an entire year’s
worth of ecological resources. This dubious record is the
catalyst for ‘Earth Overshoot Day’, which, according to the
international think tank that calculates it, “marks the date
when we (all of humanity) have used more from nature than our
planet can renew in the entire year”. UN data since 1961, when
the numbers first began to be available, shows that we crossed
into ‘overshoot’ territory by the 1970s, argues Global Footprint
Network, as the human population and human consumption
mushroomed. About 30 or so years ago, overshoot day was on
October 15, and while there has been a slowing of the pace at
which the date has moved up the calendar, our use of earth’s
Modi and Xi Jinping at East Lake, Wuhan
renewable resources continues to be unsustainable

first approached India to

formally join the BRI in
Beijing went out of its way to
address the concerns of In- 212 1.7
2015), said India’s main con- dia and other countries and Days to use 365 days Earths required to
worth of renewable feed the current
cern then was “a lack of clar- ensure a structure where resources. In 1970, it global appetite. By
ity”. “It was clear to us that it Beijing doesn’t have a veto took us till December 29, 2030 we will need
was a Chinese initiative—not despite being the biggest 5 years ago ‘overshoot’ the biocapacity of
a multilateral one—and we shareholder. India ended moved up the calendar 2 Earths to keep up
by 3 days every year, with demand
were not given an in-depth up as the second-biggest now it is less than 1
briefing on it for quite some shareholder.
time.” External affairs min- This multilateral ap-
ister Sushma Swaraj in 2015
conveyed to her counterpart
proach hasn’t been seen in
the BRI. At the same time, 0.7 40
Days to use a full
Wang Yi that India had seri- China has appeared to reluc- Earths required if the
year of the Earth’s
world’s population
ous reservations on the plan, tantly accept India’s stand, lived like Indians.
biocapacity, that is
but would be willing to work and said after the Wuhan by Feb. 9, if the world
5 if we all lived like
lived like they do in
with China if it saw interests summit it was open to work- Americans, 3 if we
Qatar. If global demand
lived like Germans,
converging. This was why ing with Delhi on “China- matched Canada’s, it
and 2.2 if we lived like
India didn’t hesitate to join India-Plus One” multilateral would be March 18
the Chinese
the China-backed Asian projects. As India’s concerns
Infrastructure Investment remain on the strategic am-
Bank the following year.
While Beijing first pitched
bitions that underpin BRI,
officials say it will proceed
2.5 5
Indias required to meet our Days by which the
it as a BRI-linked project, carefully, even as it watches current needs, based on overshoot date needs
India made clear to bank China’s flagship project run 2014 data. Compared to to be pushed back
8.5 South Koreas to meet every year in order to
president Jin Liqun that it into choppy waters around use the resources of
South Korean needs, and 4.0
would only join if it was a its neighbourhood. n Britains to provide for British less than one planet
truly multilateral project. —Ananth Krishnan in Beijing consumption by 2050

The cowering applicant in question is

PU LLQUOTE MEHUL CHOKSI, absconding since he and
nephew Nirav Modi were accused of defrauding
“As it became impossible for the applicant’s the PNB of around Rs 14,000 crore. No doubt
company to function and the employees were not with the plight of the likes of Choksi in mind,
paid their salaries and debtors did not get their appalled by hordes of unpaid employees
money back, all these persons have become agitated... taking to the streets with murder on their
There have been various cases of mob lynching in minds, the Supreme Court recommended that
India. This recent trend of mob lynching and general
Parliament “create a separate offence” for such
public giving justice on the road is growing. Even the
“horrendous acts of mobocracy”. Choksi took
applicant faces a similar threat as there are several
his own preventive measures, finding a crore or
persons who have grievances
and anger against him” two down the back of a sofa to reportedly buy
Antiguan citizenship so that he can hide from
the mobs on a beach in the West Indies.
 GL ASSHOUSE

SOPATHON
T
he sop struggle in Uttar Pradesh has taken an interesting
turn. Last year, the Yogi Adityanath government scrapped
predecessor Akhilesh Yadav’s scheme to distribute free
laptops to all class 12 students who pass the final examination.
Ergo, this year, Akhilesh launched a micro version—free laptops
to meritorious students of classes 10 and 12. In response to
which Chief Minister Adityanath announced a project to build
roads in the villages of the toppers of classes 10 and 12. The
roads will be included in the PWD’s state highway plan and the
funds will come from the finance department. Over to Akhilesh.

Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE

RALLYING CALL Foreign
I t’s rare for political rallies to be announced
six months in advance. But with the poll
Returns
P
bugle already sounding for the May 2019 inarayi Vijayan hasn’t
elections, it shouldn’t be a surprise. West taken kindly to Prime Mini­
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has ster Narendra Modi’s lame dig
announced a rally on January 19 next year—a at his US trip when the Kerala
planned show of opposition unity at Kolkata’s chief minister called on him in Delhi recently. He has decided to intensify his
Brigade Parade ground. Prime Minister Na- efforts to attract global firms and is sending a team of technocrats to meet
rendra Modi is to hold a counter-rally at the global IT CEOs. Last month, automaker Nissan signed an MoU with the state
same venue, four days later, says BJP leader government to set up its digital hub in Thiruvananthapuram. Talks are also
Rahul Sinha. The stage is set. on with Amazon and Airbus. “Modi trots the globe, but I went to the US for
Kerala. I won’t be trolled by him. I only want results,” Vijayan told a meeting of
state CPI(M) leaders.

HOME SWEET HOMES

A Pradesh government cancelled the allotment of
cting on a high court order, the Madhya

government bungalows to four former chief minis-

ters—Uma Bharti, Digvijaya Singh, Babulal Gaur
and Kailash Joshi. The focus has now shifted to a
house in Bhopal’s 74 Bungalows area—allotted to
Shivraj Singh Chouhan when he was Vidisha MP
by then CM Digvijaya Singh. Chouhan retained
the bungalow even after becoming CM in 2005 for
reasons unknown. Lucky charm or backup plan?

SUBIR HALDER —Sandeep Unnithan with Ashish Misra, Rahul Noronha, Romita Datta, Jeemon Jacob
—
UPFRONT

AJAY THAKURI
recovery and resolution. In the interim,
several ideas such as that of a bad bank
and a centralised Public Sector Asset
Rehabilitation Agency, something out-
going chief economic advisor Arvind
Subramanian vociferously supported,
were mooted. Sashakt seems to be a
happy concoction of all these.
Policy experts are doubtful about
how effective an AMC will be in ad-
dressing the problem. D.K. Srivastava,
policy advisor, EY India, explains:
“There already are a number of AMCs
which have shown limited progress. All
these cases will require the involvement
of a large number of stakeholders, which
will mean slow progress and limited
impact.” Ajit Ranade, chief economist of
the Aditya Birla Group, argues that de-
void of external funding, the NPA crisis
B A N K N PA s
cannot be solved. “We should avoid this

A Trash Can for

kind of circular trajectory…banks need
capital to rescue themselves.” Experts
also question the need for a new frame-

Big Bad Loans

work when the IBC is already there. “It
seems as though no one wants to take
responsibility to clean up the bad loans,”
says Madan Sabnavis, chief economist
By Shweta Punj with CARE Ratings.
“IBC is a lot more strict and inde-
pendent, and maybe that’s why some

S
ashakt, a new scheme management companies (AMCs) banks are looking at an alternative,”
announced to clean up the for assets worth over Rs 500 crore, he adds. There are other uncertainties,
balance sheets of banks and an inter-creditor agreement (ICA) too. Under the present norms, even the
free up credit is a new weapon framework to speed up the resolution existing ARCs have not come forward
in the government’s armoury of stressed assets under Rs 500 crore, to buy distressed assets because they
to fight the menace of bad loans, but and for loans under Rs 50 crore, arrive don’t see value in them. “If AMCs have
experts are wary of its success amid at a resolution plan within 90 days of a to be profit-driven, what is the guaran-
a maze of existing norms. The gross bank detecting stress. tee that they will buy those assets?
non-performing assets (NPAs) of The initial steps in the battle And at what price?” asks a Mumbai-
Indian banks stood at Rs 10.25 lakh against bad loans were targeted at based economist.
crore in March this year. Eleven banks recognising them, getting banks to The government has time till Aug-
are already under the Prompt Correc- come clean on bad loans, followed by ust 31 to frame the structure of this
tive Action (PCA) framework of the the institution of IBC, which prodded scheme, after which it threatens to be
Reserve Bank of India (where the latter banks to push companies to default redundant. The RBI had in a February
intervenes if the financial position of into a process that would expedite 12 circular mandated that if a borrower
the banks deteriorates) and six more delays payment by even a day, it should
are on the verge of being sent to the be declared a stressed account, and in-
PCA. This makes it 17 of a total of 21 Experts question solvency resolution should be initiated
public sector banks, which control the need for a under IBC if a borrower fails to pay at
nearly 90 per cent of the country’s total new framework the end of 180 days of first default. The
lending. After a slew of initiatives, in- when you already government and the banks have been
cluding the Insolvency and Bankruptcy have the IBC vehemently opposing the circular, and
Code (IBC), the new Sashakt scheme at least some see Sashakt as a reaction
aims to create one or multiple asset to that. n

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 9

UPFRONT

BOOKS

THE
CHINA
DOSSIER
By Shivshankar Menon

INDIA-CHINA RELATIONS
1947-2000:: A Documentary
Study, Vols I-V
Edited by A.S. BHASIN
Geethika Publishers
`15,000; 5,318 pages

T
his is a monumental work in interested in the subject, and enables a accept it as such.
every sense of the word. Physi- better understanding of India’s policies It is sometimes argued in govern-
cally, it consists of five large by our own people—something that is ment that we should not reveal our
volumes, 2,523 documents, essential in a democracy like ours. That thinking when China does not do so,
5,318 pages! Besides, in terms in itself is enough of a reason to encour- and that it will somehow weaken our
of sheer mastery over material, this is age and support such work, and to open case to show the amount of consider-
remarkable work and is a worthy follow- our archives and to follow the 30-year ation that goes into it. This is a false
on to A.S. Bhasin’s earlier works, making rule that is on our books, but is followed argument. Bhasin has produced similar
the archives on India’s relations with her more in the breach than in practice on documents on other sensitive relation-
neighbours accessible to scholars and important relationships like China. ships, like his 10-volume study on Paki-
the public. And it is monumental in the But there is another, equally impor- stan, and the skies have not fallen.
detailed introduction that Bhasin, the tant reason why such work has value. As for the substance of what the
former director of the Ministry of Exter- If we do not release our documents, documents reveal, this is a treasure
nal Affairs’ (MEA) Historical Division, we leave the field to others’ narratives, trove that we will be dipping into
has written for these volumes. He has based on imagination, whimsy and, for many years to come. I would
so far produced documentary studies of in some cases, malice. We cannot then recommend starting with the intro-
India’s relations with Nepal, Sri Lanka, blame others or our own people for duction, all 86 pages of it, to see the
Bangladesh, Pakistan (in 10 volumes), their lack of understanding of the big conclusions that Bhasin has come to
and now with China. For this dedication foreign policy issues that India faces. I after his great labours.
and productivity, he deserves our thanks. find it amazing that a former Sunday Let me try and summarise what I
There is considerable value to this Times correspondent could peddle a found of particular interest:
work that Bhasin has undertaken in narrative combining New Delhi dinner l The centrality of Tibet to the relation-

his retirement, which should, in my party gossip, a one-sided version of his- ship in the fifties and sixties comes
opinion, be a function of a working and tory, and unqualified admiration for through very clearly. India and China
well-supported Historical Division in an unknown and closed China as an became neighbours with physical
the MEA itself. It is valuable because it authoritative version of the 1962 war, congruity for the first time in history
helps scholars and the public, who are and that there are those in India who in 1950 when the People’s Liberation

10 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6, 2018

 both complicates the relationship and ‘offer’ to G. Parthasarathi of a package
gives policymakers on both sides more settlement, making clear the limited
to work with. and hedged nature of what was said.
l The world has always impinged on the Bhasin’s broader conclusion after
India-China relationship, and the Chi- reviewing the entire available docu-
nese have been acutely conscious of this mentation till 2000 is that a boundary
fact; India less so, judging by Indian settlement is probably ‘impossible’
reporting and Chinese actions, which (pp. 86, Introduction). I am not so
may, perhaps, be an unfair comparison. sure. Nothing is impossible in politics.
The original impact of the Cold War What is impossible is a settlement on
world on India-China relations was the terms the Chinese have announced
not benign—it made China suspicious, in public, which include Tawang and
maybe paranoid. The end of the Cold significant Indian concessions in the
War was probably the most propitious eastern sector in Arunachal. But as the
international climate for India and history of the last 69 years of India’s
China to deal with the relationship on relations with the PRC show, nothing
their own terms, without looking over should be assumed to be set in stone.
their shoulders at the rest of the world. The book is also fascinating for what
Now again, the international situation it reveals of China’s behaviour and pro-
Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE is complicating India-China relations. pensity to take risks. Under internal and
China’s drive for primacy and conten- external pressure in 1962, Mao opts for
tion with the US make life harder for war against India, dealing with internal
others, who are asked by both China and external enemies simultaneously at
Army (PLA) marched into Tibet. and the US to choose one or the other. one stroke, forcing the Soviets to stand
Throughout the fifties, India underesti- Between themselves, China and the US with China when preoccupied with
mated the importance of this factor and are both contending and co-dependent the Cuban missile crisis, and eliminat-
failed to draw the necessary conclu- and they reserve the right to work ing Wang Jiaxiang and others to gain
sions from it. Incidentally, the People’s together and cooperate with each other control of China’s foreign policy at the
Republic of China (PRC) chose to ‘liber- while denying it to others. September 1962 Lushan plenum. Today
ate’ Tibet and postpone the invasion of l There are fascinating documents here again, when China is under internal and
Taiwan, even though US Secretary of about India-China triangles with our international pressure, she has opted
State Dean Acheson had withdrawn the other neighbours, such as Nepal and for an assertive policy in her periph-
military umbrella from both Taiwan Burma/ Myanmar. ery. This makes one wonder about the
and South Korea. Kim Il-sung seized As for a boundary settlement, motivations behind China’s assertion
his opportunity, Mao didn’t in Taiwan. which will possibly get the most public of her global ambitions and regional
Besides, Tibet was also the only part attention, Bhasin sets the record pre-eminence since 2012, and what they
of China with which they signed a straight about some wilder public al- reflect of Chinese leaders’ sense of their
separate agreement about ‘liberation’, legations about Deng Xiaoping’s 1982 own vulnerability.
the 17-point Agreement of May 1951, All in all, this is a book that will
thus acknowledging implicitly Tibet’s repay detailed study, an invaluable re-
unique status among all the territories Nothing is source which is unlikely to be bettered
claimed by the PRC. These also show impossible in as a reflection of official Indian think-
how important Tibet was to China.
l As the story proceeds, however, the
politics. What is ing on China during a critical period. If
only one could get a similar insight into
salience of Tibet in the India-China impossible is a Chinese consideration of the India-
relationship diminishes. Both coun- settlement on terms China relationship. n
tries grow, so does their self-perception the Chinese have
of their interests, which now involve announced in public The author is a former foreign
multiple points of contact and interac- secretary and National
tion between India and China. This Security Advisor

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 11

 UPFRONT

PER SPECT I V E/ T R A I VS A PPL E

HOW NOT TO ENFORCE

SRINIVAS KODALI
SPAM CONTROL

T
he ultimatum issued by the Telecom Regulatory happens through standards, which are usually defined by
Authority of India (TRAI) to Apple Inc. insisting private firms or a consortium like the W3C. If the TRAI
that the US tech giant allow the regulator’s wants to ensure its DND application is available to every
Do Not Disturb (DND) 2.0 app on its handsets is phone user, it should define interoperable standards for
serious—and the row has reached snapping point. manufacturers to follow. Technical development through
The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer rules is not how this should happen.
Preference Regulations, 2018, specifically target Apple, The amount of information the TRAI intends to
though TRAI chairman R.S. Sharma denies this. It’s collect is high, but it cannot yet be termed ‘surveillance’
not even the first time phone manufacturers have as the regulator is not forcing individuals, and besides
been threatened with rules in India: the DoT’s 2016 it can also make telcos share the same information,
Rules mandating ‘Panic Button and GPS if required. But the larger concerns
facility’ for emergency situations in all of privacy remain as the TRAI is
mobile handsets was another such move. recommending the institution of a data
Even then, Apple was forced to fall in fiduciary, allowing third parties to use
line or face a ban on phone imports. But telecom data to build credit profiles. The
regulatory overreach of this sort has wider privacy recommendations made by the
implications. TRAI are commendable, but the strong-
Spam control, which is the purported arm approach manifest in the insistence
intention of the DND 2.0 app, is important on DND 2.0 is by no means ‘Privacy by
and the TRAI’s DND registry, with its rules Design’, as its chairman proudly claims.
for telemarketers, is definitely needed. When the FBI approached courts in
But instead of penalising telemarketers the US to force Apple to unlock the San
and promoting user awareness, the TRAI Bernardino terrorist’s phone, the agency
is trying to collect a humongous stash did not disclose all the facts to the general
of information from a specific group of public and was likely trying to set a judicial
smartphone users. It’s hard to understand precedent for future-use cases. The TRAI-
the regulator’s motivations in going after Apple dispute is not strictly comparable,
smartphone makers over a spam reporting but if the regulator prevails in this instance,
functionality. it may set a precedent for other agencies
The TRAI’s DND 2.0 Android in the country, including the police, to
application collects a lot of personal similarly force Apple’s hand in future. One
information, including all call logs, cannot rule out the possibility of, say, the
SMSes and contact details. Android by UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of
design allows any application to access a lot of personal India) forcing Apple to integrate Aadhaar with iPhone’s
information; iOS does not. In the first version of the biometric sensors just because the regulator wants wider
DND application, all the information was being collected access to the platform for so-called innovation.
using unsecured protocols, but the latest version is a TRAI chairman Sharma, who has accused Apple of
significant improvement from a security point of view. colonising data, may be looking at regulating internet
The TRAI wants all the information so collected to be giants on this pretext. After successfully upholding net
stored in a blockchain and to use machine learning to neutrality, the TRAI is perhaps preparing for the next
stop spam calls. big battle. What is clear is that the TRAI is pushing for
Apple is not against the concept of reporting spam greater powers to regulate technology firms, by even
calls and has even provided new APIs in iOS version 12. exceeding the powers currently vested in it. n
But the TRAI requirements are not compatible with
Apple’s rigid privacy policy, which the device maker Srinivas Kodali is an independent researcher
wants to protect at any cost. Technology development working on data and the internet

12 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018 Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

 UPFRONT
C H AT T E R

The week in social media INDEX

@ShougatDasgupta

Maids Have
Life in the Meghalayan Age
Rights? Earlier this month, the youngest subdivision of the Holocene Epoch
was named. The International Commission on Stratigraphy had
On Instagram, Sondos Al
agreed that the Holocene, which began nearly 12,000 years ago,
Qattan is a star, with an
could be marked out in three distinct phases, the latest of which, the
astonishing 2.3 million
followers turning to
Meghalayan, taking in a little over 4,000 years up to 1950, began with
her for beauty tips and a drought that devastated civilisations, including the Indus Valley,
make-up advice. As Egypt, the Yangtze Valley, Mesopotamia and Greece. Analysis of a
a social media ‘influencer’, she also enjoyed deals stalagmite in the Mawmluh Cave in Cherrapunji showed evidence of a
with leading multinational brands like Max Factor and 20-30 per cent decrease in monsoon rainfall, giving this most recent
Shiseido. It’s nice work, if you can get it. And Qattan slice of geological time its Indian-inflected name. Some scientists
had it, until she decided to express her outrage at have described the carving up of the Holocene into its formal ages
her country Kuwait being forced to put new laws as too hasty. Particularly since there is an ongoing discussion on
in place requiring employers to treat their Filipino the Anthropocene, an acknowledgement of the human impact on
domestic workers with a modicum of decency. A the planet’s geology. The consensus appears to be leaning towards
temporary ban on Filipino domestic workers was the Anthropocene taking over from the Holocene at around 1950,
lifted in May after Kuwait agreed to institute reforms, explaining the careful dating of the Meghalayan period up to that year.
such as making it illegal for employers to confiscate
their maids’ passports and cellphones. For Qattan, it
was unfathomable that she could not keep her maids’
passports. “What if they run away to their own coun-
3 11,700
try? Who will refund me,” she asked, not pausing to Ages into which the Years in the current
wonder if free people “run away” from their place Holocene epoch is Holocene epoch.
of employment. And do maids need a day off every subdivided—Greenlandian, Together with
week? The backlash to her retrograde worldview
Northgrippian, and the Pleistocene
has left her perplexed. Lots of Kuwaitis agree with
Meghalayan epoch, they make
her, she insists, and other rich morons in the Gulf.
up the Quarternary
Sadly, in India too. When are we going to insist that
period, spanning
the labourers and low-wage domestic workers we
export be treated like people, not things? n 4,200 about the last 2.6
million years
Years up to 1950, part
of the Meghalayan age.
Mesut Has Will the years after
1950 be part of a new 4.6 BILLION
Rights? Anthropocene epoch?
The major fallout Years since the
from Germany’s lame formation of Earth,
defence of the World 26 88% of which is
Cup, which foundered represented in
in the group stages Of the 38 members of the the 3 aeons of
(its worst result at any International the Precambrian:
World Cup finals), was Anthropocene Working Hadean, Archean,
the shock ‘retirement’ Group published a paper Proterozoic
from international arguing for the first
football of playmaker nuclear test in July 1945
Mesut Özil. Before the
World Cup, Özil, who is of Turkish descent, posed
as start of the new epoch
541 BILLION
for a photograph with Recep Erdogan. The criticism
of Özil for supposedly betraying German ‘values’ 18 Years in the
Phanerozoic
cascaded into racial abuse. Özil said he had not
intended any political statement. “I have two hearts,” Years since Nobel- aeon, taking in
he wrote, “one German and one Turkish.” Politicians winning atmospheric the beginnings of
around the world, including the West, seek to twist chemist Paul animal and plant life.
sporting triumph into a bid for personal glory. Why Crutzen popularised Divided into 3 eras,
should Özil be held responsible? He deserved better ‘anthropocene’ to and 12 periods. Our
from Germany and it’s good to see that he knows it. n argue that human era is the Cenozoic,
influence represents representing the last
a new geological epoch 66 million years
 UPFRONT

POINT OF V IEW

The Flight of Capital

By Ashok V. Desai

A
lmost perfect timing. Foreign will shrink. More important, everyone had
exchange reserves were just under assumed that Narendra Modi would steer
$300 billion at the end of 2014. the national economy with skill as prime
Then they started rising. They minister, since Gujarat had flourished under
crossed $420 billion in March this his chief ministership. That expectation
year. Just as the new financial year began, has been belied; on the contrary, there has
they ended their dizzying rise. At the end of been widespread suffering on account of
July, just as the chief economic advisor flew demonetisation, and persistent hiccups in the
off to Cambridge, Massachusetts, they were introduction of the Goods and Services Tax.
within kissing distance of $400 billion (no Despite his call to make in India, industrial
connection is implied). What is behind the growth has been negligible. Politicians do not
shrinking reserves? Has the relentless rise steer economies; they get bureaucrats and
come to an end? Is India losing its shine? advisors to do it for them. Modi was lucky in
India has traditionally run a deficit on his choice of them in Gujarat, and unlucky in
trade, but it is not worsening, and is not behind Delhi. It does not matter to the voter why the
the fall in reserves. We have figures of trade prime minister lost his way; she would look
till May: imports continue to stumble along for someone who would not give her shocks.
between $35 billion and $45 billion a month, There is none on the horizon. The sun of
while exports wander between $25 billion and Rahul Gandhi is rising; he is also learning the
$35 billion a month. Outward remittances political game. But his economic ideas do not
are pretty stable around $1 billion a month. go beyond naïve socialism.
Residents are not spending more money on Neither the BJP nor the Congress has
travel, studies abroad or help to relatives. Net economic expertise that would impress the
foreign direct investment also continues to foreign investor. Neither of them might
flow in at about $4 billion a month. win; the next government may be formed
It is foreign portfolio investment that has by a sleeper like Deve Gowda or dresser like
been leaving India: $8 billion came in April- Mayawati. They may not err on a Modivian
May 2017, while $7 billion went out in April- scale, but they cannot be expected to run the
May 2018. It is not being influenced by a pull economy with competence.
factor: the major world financial markets are The economy is not doing badly; by our
not attracting funds at present. American historical standards, it can even be said to
investors had great hopes of Donald Trump be doing well. And since most of the other
when he became president; the NYSE index economies are not doing too well, India
was pointing upwards for the first few months cannot help looking good. But that is not
of his reign. But they soon had enough of his enough to attract the foreign investor. He
The factors dramatic missteps. By the beginning of 2018, looks ahead. He wonders what Trump will
behind the the index had lost its buoyancy. It has been hit in his next tantrum—it might be H1B
withdrawal pretty flat since; investors see no reason to visas. The best he can expect is that India
of foreign believe that Trump will learn or be restrained. may continue to do not too badly, but the
portfolio capital The factors behind the withdrawal of uncertainty introduced by the impending
foreign portfolio capital lie within India. elections and the political landscape is
lie within There is political uncertainty. Elections are inescapable. That is why foreign capital is
India. There barely 10 months away. Given the BJP’s escaping while it can. n
is political enormous lead in the last general election,
uncertainty its return in the next is still likely, but state The author is a leading economist and
elections and bypolls suggest that its majority former chief consultant, finance ministry

Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

 STATES
TAMIL NADU: HARYANA: A NEW
CHENNAI EXPRESS LEARNING CURVE
PG 1 8 PG 1 9

KERALA: PUNJAB: GOLDEN

SCHOOL’S IN TEMPLE GLITTERS
PG 2 0 PG 2 1

SHILLONG

RISING STAR
Meghalaya chief
minister Conrad
Sangma

NORTHEAST

‘OUR AGENDA
IS TO BE
A VOICE
FOR THE
CHANDRADEEP KUMAR

NORTHEAST’
The National People’s Party is part of coalition gov- Q. You are in government in three states, do you see
ernments in three Northeastern states—Meghalaya, the NPP emerging as a pan-Northeast party? It’s a
Manipur and Nagaland. A part of the BJP-led National Christian-dominated party and Christianity dominates
Democratic Alliance, its rapid expansion—in just a in most Northeast states.
year—is said to be making even BJP chief Amit Shah The NPP’s agenda is to be a voice for the Northeast
a trifle wary. NPP president and new Meghalaya chief and take up the issues of tribals and minorities. People
minister CONRAD SANGMA spoke to KAUSHIK are now accepting the platform that our party pro-
DEKA on his first four months in the job and the road vides. Politics is about timing and we are there to fill
ahead for his party. Excerpts: the [political] vacuum that exists. People here have
experienced the disconnect of the national parties with
Q. How is your government different from the previous regional issues. Maybe the Christian factor does play a
ones? What has changed? role to some extent.
Meghalaya is known for its horticulture. So can you
believe we never had a food processing directorate? We Q. It’s being said the BJP is worried over your growing
created one and sanctioned Rs 80 crore for our first proximity to Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh CM)?
project—the Jackfruit Mission. We have also created an There is nothing like that. Pema has always been a fam-
integrated call centre for smooth networking between ily friend, and right now, politically, he is committed to
sellers, buyers and transporters. This what he has been doing.
has helped us create a database, track
demand and supply trends to for- Q. Will the NPP contest the assembly
mulate better policies. We have also “The region polls in Mizoram later this year?
launched Mission Lakadong (a variety
of turmeric high in curcumin) to
already has a lot We are trying our best to move in
there. We have got some positive
increase production and organise the of issues, let us response of late, let’s see.
supply chain. I have restructured some not bring
departments to create synergy. religion into Q. What are you doing to stop the

Q. You spoke of sector-specific policies

this problem recurrence of communal incidents
after the violence in Shillong in
for economic development. (citizenship bill)” May/June?
We have created task forces for formu- It was not communal violence as
lating policies on education, telecom, projected. It was a conflict over a
youth and sports. I want to frame poli- piece of land. I’m very proud of my
cies taking into account the concerns police force, they ensured that there
of all stakeholders. We will revisit the tourism and in- was no violence. A high-powered committee headed by
dustrial policies. Like in other states, we are also putting the deputy chief minister is now examining the dispute
together a policy to provide free medicines to people. over the land.

Q. Despite being in the NDA, you have objected to the Q. Incidents like the Shillong riots are triggered and
Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016. amplified by social media. How can you counter this?
Our decisions are guided by Meghalaya’s interests. We We need a balanced approach. I understand regulation
felt that the spirit of the bill was not correct and this of social media may infringe on rights of individuals,
could have an adverse affect on the demography of the but for public safety, certain restrictions are required.
Northeast. I’m not blaming anyone, but we don’t know Once people know that mischief on social media will be
the hidden things behind this bill. The entire region is strongly dealt with, they will exercise restraint. After the
already facing a lot of issues because of illegal immigra- Shillong incident, we arrested a couple of individuals
tion and we must not bring religion into this problem. who allegedly had a role in instigating people through
I would like to see it as a conflict between citizens and social media.
non-citizens.
Q. Meghalaya now has a Ranji team and you are presi-
Q. Did the BJP ask you to review your decision? dent of the state cricket association. What’s next?
The BJP did ask us about the reason for our opposition. The first task is to get some land and create the required
But there was no pressure to review the decision. They infrastructure. The second task is to build a team. It is a
understood our stand and respected it. long journey. n

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 17

STATES

CHENNAI

TA M I L N A D U

CHENNAI
EXPRESS
The emergence of Sasikala’s
nephew Dhinakaran as a
possible alternative further
roils the AIADMK
By Amarnath K. Menon

O
n July 20, the ruling AIADMK urged the amidst AIADMK leaders at the support Dhinakaran has
Election Commission of India to set aside the got. Presenting himself as Jayalalithaa’s true political heir,
breakaway Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazha- he is confident the Madras High Court will set aside the
gam (AMMK) founder T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s disqualification of the 18 AIADMK MLAs who pledged
victory in the RK Nagar assembly bypoll. The their loyalty to him. “This government will fall and we
party alleged that he had bribed voters to win the con- will win at least 200 of the 234 assembly seats,” he told
stituency, which was earlier represented by the late chief supporters at a July 8 rally in Coimbatore, chief minister
minister J. Jayalalithaa. E.K. Palaniswami’s stronghold.
The AIADMK’s official mouthpiece, Namadhu Amma, With the rally outside the region where his own Thevar
even claimed that voters had targeted community is dominant, Dhinakaran
Dhinakaran’s convoy because he had seems to have established his credentials
failed to hand out the money he had A SECTION OF and ambition as a statewide political
promised as ‘token’ during electioneer- figure. It’s a troubling prospect for the
ing. Indeed, in RK Nagar to distrib- VOTERS SEES chief minister. Especially when the
ute sewing machines on July 18, the DHINAKARAN AS AIADMK’s membership has dwindled
AMMK leader’s vehicles were stoned, from 15 million under Jayalalithaa’s
forcing the police to intervene. The SOMEONE WHO leadership, to just 8 million now.
leader, though, insists the protesters STANDS UP “Dhinakaran is now a frontrunner,”
were supporters of losing candidate, says ex-MLA C. Gnanasekharan, who is
the AIADMK presidium chairman TO THE CENTRE now with him. “That he is able to draw
and former minister Madhusudanan.
There is some consternation
AND THE BJP big crowds in the western belt proves
that the AIADMK cadre are behind

18 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 JAISON G
H A RYA N A

A Fresh
Learning Curve
Jhajjar shows off its learning outcomes
as proof of concept
By Asit Jolly

S
onal Goel, the deputy commissioner in Jhajjar,
not only drops in personally to observe the
teaching in government schools in her district
almost every day, she also holds fortnightly
meetings to review the progress of Saksham—an
initiative of the Manohar Lal Khattar government to
improve the quality of school education in the state.
Launched 18 months ago, with partial funding
from the Boston Consulting Group and the Michael
and Susan Dell Foundation, and supervised from the
CMO in Chandigarh, the programme, says Khattar’s
additional principal secretary Rakesh Gupta, “seeks to
achieve grade-level competency for at least 80 per cent
of schoolgoing children in Haryana”. This means they
BIG SURGE
should know and understand everything they are ex-
Dhinakaran at the Amma Makkal Munnetra
pected to at their level. Saksham is looking to achieve
Kazhagam meeting in Coimbatore
competencies in Hindi and Mathematics.
Given the under 40 per cent grade-level competen-
cies in Haryana’s schools, it was an ambitious target.
him. He is the future star of Tamil Nadu politics.” But some 600 schools in the state’s most education-
Analysts say that besides the AIADMK cadre, who ally backward districts have shown it can be done.
were looking for a “political toughie” after Jayalalithaa’s Seven of Haryana’s 119 education blocks were declared
death, a section of non-committed voters also see Dhi- “saksham” this May after a rigorous assessment by
nakaran as someone who’ll stand up to the Centre and Gray Matters India (GMI), a private monitoring and
the BJP. Despite being under scrutiny by the income tax
YASIR IQBAL

department, Enforcement Directorate and CBI, he has

continued to speak out against the Modi government.
“His organisational skills and willingness to take
risks if pushed to the wall, like Jayalalithaa and his
aunt Sasikala, are a reflection of his confidence,” says
political analyst N. Sathiya Moorthy. “The AIADMK is
now afraid that he may engulf them in the next election
if his growth is not checked.”
The next assembly elections will be critical for
the AIADMK, both in terms of its own survival and
growth. The verdict is also expected to settle the ques-
tion of the party’s leadership between Palaniswami
and his current deputy O. Paneerselvam. Now it looks
like there will be a third player in the game. Can
Dhinakaran iron out the issues in the AIADMK, and
SMART LEARNING A government school in Sanwar
make it his own? n

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 19

STATES

evaluation agency in Hyderabad. tion department is supporting the train others in framing lessons and
Anish Choudhury, an associate from programme by hiring more teachers, worksheets. “Teachers are trained to
the HRD ministry’s Samagra Shiksha including contractual staff to meet the frame lessons based on reasoning and
programme working out of the CMO in required student-teacher ratio. For the understanding,” Punia says.
Chandigarh, says it includes learning first time in years, he says, “Haryana’s Both Gupta and Choudhury say
enhancement programmes (LEPs). Re- students are now receiving textbooks the robust review and monitoring
medial programmes, including a ‘zero well before the academic session starts.” system—from the Saksham cell in
period’, are held to help weaker students Sudarshan Punia, the nodal officer the CMO down to the 119 education
catch up. Saksham has also introduced for the programme in Jhajjar district, blocks—has been key to the success of
a number of innovations in communi- says the success of the seven blocks in the programme. As many as 23 more
cation: teacher training modules are achieving Saksham status has sparked blocks (roughly 23,000 students) have
shared on Whatsapp, and progress a competition in the rest of the state. nominated themselves for assessment
reports are put out on Google forums. Jhajjar has also identified “star” teach- by GMI on August 1, another 40 are
Choudhury says the state educa- ers, who are encouraged to go out and slated for evaluation on September 1. n

KERALA

SCHOOL’S IN
Smart classrooms,
digitisation have given
a new life to government
schools in the state
By Jeemon Jacob

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

PLUGGED IN ‘Little Kites’ members at

an electronics workshop

K
erala’s state-run schools had been going through schools, focusing specifically on senior—Class 8 to 12—stu-
a bad phase since the 1990s. Indeed, things had dents. Today, 40,083 classrooms across 3,676 state schools
become so bad that even teachers in government have gone ‘digital’. Besides the mandatory computers,
schools preferred to send their own wards to private, English printers and projectors, these schools also have television
medium schools. With the falling numbers, several govern- and tele-conferencing access.
ment and aided schools in the state had also shut shop. But “Enrolment is up by four per cent,” says the minister,
happily, all that has changed in the past few years, especially adding that the eventual aim is to equip Kerala’s schoolchil-
after the Left Front government came to power. dren with the latest ICT (information & communications
After launching the General Education Rejuvenation technology) tools so that they can “compete globally”.
Mission in 2017, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan exhorted The state education department is now looking at set-
his MLAs to enrol their children in state schools. It made a ting up digital classrooms in the lower primary and upper
world of difference in how the schools were perceived, what primary schools too. The government has allocated an ad-
education minister C. Ravindranath describes as “a silent ditional Rs 300 crore for the purpose in the current budget.
revolution that’s changing the destiny of [Kerala’s] poor”. The Kerala Infrastructure & Technology for Education
The state government has to date spent Rs 450 crore (KITE), a state government establishment set up to foster,
on ‘smart classrooms’ and other infrastructure in these promote and implement the modernisation of educational

20 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

STATES

institutions, monitors and trains

teachers as well as students to
maximise the utilisation of the
new resources and facilities.
An e-portal, Samagra Res-
ource, has been introduced to

PRABHJOT GILL
achieve subject benchmarks for
each class. Around 123,000 teach-
ers have registered as members
on the portal so far (it had over 36
RISE ’N SHINE
million page views in the month Craftsmen fitting gold-plated pataras
of June alone). Using the portal, PU NJA B (sheets) on the dome of a deodi (entrance)
KITE has imparted specific ICT

All That Glitter

training to 74,668 teachers so far.
“Our attempt is to provide
a mega canvas for children to
AMRITSAR

Is More Gold
explore and excel. The smart
classrooms and ICT tools make
education much more interesting
and innovative,” says K. Anwar The Golden Temple’s pravesh dvars
Sadath, vice-chairman of KITE.
In a way, the seed for the pro-
are to get a golden cladding as well
ject was laid by a CPI(M) legislator
By Asit Jolly

T
USING THE he Golden Temple, Sikhism’s historic central shrine in Amritsar is, well,
getting more golden. An estimated 160 kilos of gold will now cover the
E-PORTAL, THE main domes of its four pravesh dvars (entrances), much like the shining
STATE HAS GIVEN canopy of the metal that covers Harmandir Sahib, the sanctum sanc-
torum. Paid for entirely through contributions of cash and gold ornaments by
ICT TRAINING TO devotees, the gilding of the domes is expected to cost more than Rs 50 crore.
74,668 TEACHERS Daljit Singh Bedi, a spokesman of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak
Committee (SGPC), which manages most Sikh shrines and institutions, says, “The
SO FAR work was commissioned in April on the request of Baba Kashmir Singh Bhuri-
wale,” the head of a kar seva (religious service) organisation. A team of dedicated
artisans from Bhuriwale’s group is executing the intricate process of laying mul-
from Kozhikode in north Kerala, tiple layers of 24-carat gold leaf over copper panels that will clad the domes.
A. Pradeepkumar. In 2013, he Interestingly, when first completed in 1604 under Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth
introduced international school guru of the Sikhs, Harmandir Sahib was a simple structure of brick-and-mortar
standards at the Nadakavu with no gold covering. Repeatedly desecrated by invading armies from the west as
Government School, creating well as the Mughal rulers of the time, the temple was first given its golden cladding
top-class infrastructure through a by the Sikh emperor, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, at a cost of Rs 64 lakh, in 1830. This,
Rs 14 crore project. With funding after it was rebuilt with white marble from Makrana in Rajasthan.
from Dubai’s KEF Holdings and The Golden Temple received its most recent renovation between 1995 and
a little hand-holding from IIM 1999, when two Birmingham-based Sikh organisations undertook the complete
Kozhikode, the MLA transformed re-gilding of the sanctum sanctorum. Sikh devotees contributed generously
the lowly government school into to what they viewed as a reaffirmation of their faith in the wake of Operation
Kerala’s best. Bluestar. The present work to cover the entrance domes in gold is significant, and
Pradeepkumar’s efforts be- according to Bedi, a celebration of a unique aspect of the Golden Temple. Unlike
came the building blocks for the most other shrines of the time, its four entrances signify the egalitarianism and
present state government. “Invest- inclusiveness preached by the gurus. They symbolise an open place of worship for
ing in [school] education is the people from all walks and faiths.
best way forward for Kerala,” the Bedi says that if the artisans maintain their current pace, the work will be
MLA says. It is the unfolding of a complete in time for the birth anniversary of Guru Ram Dass, the fourth Guru
whole new revolution. n who led the excavation of the Golden Temple’s sarovar in 1577. n

26 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 ASSAM
COVER STORY

THE
NOWHERE
PEOPLE
Assam’s National Register of Citizenship,
out on July 30, will strip 2 million or more of
their basic rights—to vote, to property, to
state benefits. The state is a tinderbox
By Kaushik Deka

Photographs by Vikram Sharma

28 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018
 MOINA JAAN NESA, 67
A widow, she has been declared an
outsider by a foreigners’ tribunal but
Moina claims it was because her name
was wrongly entered in the electoral
rolls as Halima Khatun. Two touts told
her they could get her legal help. She
sold her two kathas of land in Morigaon
district’s Borthol Doloigaon village to
pay them. The old lady has no children
and now fears she may have to spend
the rest of her life in a detention camp
AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 29
 ASSAM
COVER STORY
WHY IS ASSAM
COUNTING ITS
CITIZENS?

A
1951
The first National
narrow, muddy Register of Citizenship
lane in South is prepared in Assam
to distinguish Indian
Tokrer Chora vil- citizens from illegal
lage in Assam’s
19
immigrants from 5
Bangladesh, then

1
westernmost
East Pakistan
district, Dhubri,
bordering Bangladesh, leading to a rail-
way overbridge, the other end of which
opens into a local market. Standing on the
bridge, one can see the Indo-Bangladesh
border fencing, just over a kilometre away.
36%

1961
Assam’s
Close by, on the ground, staring at the set- population
growth 1951-1961
ting sun behind his bamboo hut overlook-
ing a paddy field, Mohammad Hajer Ali, a The state’s population
69-year-old farmer, ignores the pestering leapt by 36 per cent
(1951-61) and by 35 per
of his grandchildren to take them to the cent in the next decade
market. His mind is full of thoughts of when national decadal
that border fence. Will he be forced across growth was 22 and 25

19
1

7
per cent respectively;
it after July 30? He doesn’t know anyone influx from East
on the other side. What will he do there? Pakistan blamed
1978
Ali says he was born in 1950 in India and
has documentary evidence to support his
claim. Yet he is a suspected Bangladeshi,
or D-voter (doubtful voter), according to
the electoral rolls.
35%Assam’s 50 % Surge in voter
numbers from
1971-1978
population
Around 10 kilometres away, in Sona- growth Seven years after the 1971 Indo-
khuli district, Kabita Roy, 35, is increasin- 1961-1971 Pak war, total number of voters in
Assam grew by 50 per cent; nearly
gly losing patience with her husband, as- 50,000 illegal voters detected in
sistant sub-inspector Ramesh Chandra Mangoldoi LS constituency alone
Roy, 43. For the past 15 years, the mother Graphics by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

of two has been barred from voting be-

cause she is a suspected foreigner. The WHAT THE SUPREME COURT SAYS
anger and frustration is writ large on her
face—her husband is in the police force and The presence of such a large number
she belongs to the Koch Rajboghshi com- of illegal migrants from Bangladesh,
munity, a people indigenous to the region. which runs into millions, is in fact an
Yet she has to live in constant fear of being aggression on the state of Assam and has
also contributed significantly in causing
declared a foreigner and jailed or, heaven
serious internal disturbances in the shape
forbid, even deported to Bangladesh. of insurgency of alarming proportions.”
A three-judge bench consisting of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti,
Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan, striking
24 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018 down the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal ) Act in 2005
 Importance A Demographic Shift?
of 1971 14 of the 27 districts in Assam show higher
population growth than the state’s average growth
Between 1971 and 1991, Assam of 17%. Muslims are a majority in nine of them
saw a sudden surge in the
number of voters, indicating Barpeta Lakhimpur
inclusion of illegal immigrants 21.43% 17.22%
Bongaigaon Darrang Nagaon
89% 20.59% 22.19% 22%
1971-1991

Dhemaji
19.97%
Karbi Anglong
17.58%
51 % 53%
1991-2011 Goalpara Cachar
1951-1971
22.64 % 20.19%
Dhubri Hailakandi
24.44 % 21.45%
Kamrup (M) Morigaon Karimganj
18.34% 23.34% 21.9%

Muslim majority districts High population growth

2 0 15

NRC work begins in Estimate of Illegals

2015 as Supreme Various numbers have been floated since
Court starts
the Assam agitation in the 1980s
monitoring the
process following a
85
19 PIL filed in 2009

3
MILLION
10
MILLION
5
MILLION
4.1
MILLION
Assam agitation
starts in 1979 against
illegal influx; ends in
On April 10, 1992, Union Quoted by NGO
1985 after signing of
then Assam chief On May 6, 1997, then home Assam Public
the Assam Accord; a
minister Hiteshwar home minister Indrajit ministry’s Works, in its
key agreement was to
Saikia put out this Gupta cited this figure in PIL in the apex
update 1951 NRC; 1971
figure. Two days number in Parliament 2004 for court in 2009;
decided as cut-off
later, he retracted for illegal immigrants Assam EC did not
year for illegal
immigrants his statement in India contest it

Source: Election Commission and Census reports

AUGUST
J U LY 2 63 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 31
 ASSAM
COVER STORY
OUTSIDERS OUT
AASU activists
Far in the east, around 400 km away, protest the Citizenship
(Amendment) Bill, 2016, in
in middle Assam’s Moirabari, a Muslim Guwahati on June 29
majority village in Morigaon district,
50-year-old Durga Prasad Kanu, a daily
wage earner, received a notice from the
local police on June 7, asking his en-
tire family to submit their citizenship
records. Kanu claims his grandfather
Dinanath Kanu had migrated to Assam
from Uttar Pradesh in the 1950s. He
owns a valid voter card and land records
from UP, but the fear of a legal battle
and the possibility of being declared a
foreigner is giving Kanu sleepless nights.

li, Roy and Kanu could be

A
among the more than two
million people likely to be
declared stateless in Assam
on July 30, the day the Na-
tional Register of Citizenship (NRC)—a
document that registers the names of all
Indian citizens living within the geo-
graphic boundaries of Assam—will be
published in the state. The implication of
this register could have a ripple effect in BIJU BORO/ GETTY IMAGES

other parts of the country too. As a major-

ity of these stateless people are likely to be
Muslims, a communal narrative is al-
ready taking hold. From spreading false
till now it has been effectively tackled.
This episode has the potential to turn Bangla
information—that seven million Muslims
will be stripped of citizenship—to direct
into India’s own Rohingya crisis with
millions of people left with nowhere to Ballyhoo
threats of violence, there are already ex- go. It’s no surprise then that West Ben- ‘Native’ Assamese are alarmed at the
plicit attempts to convert Assam’s battle gal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has changing language, demographic mix
against illegal immigrants into a religious already instructed three border district
conflict across India. It’s an explosive administrations to take measures to pre-
situation, which can take the state back vent the entry of people whose names are
to the days of the Assam agitation be- excluded from the NRC.
tween 1979 and 1985. While 855 people, Adding to the confusion is the lack 1991 2011 48
22 58
taking part in that agitation against il- of clarity as to what will happen to the 30
legal immigration, lost their lives, the big- people whose names are missing from
gest flashpoint was the Nellie massacre the NRC. Union home minister Rajnath
in 1983 where over 2,000 Muslim im- Singh, in an attempt to assuage fears, has Assamese speakers %
migrants were killed by tribals in central said that the ‘missing’ people will not be Bengali speakers %
Assam’s Morigaon district. kept in detention. They will get a chance
The chief of the Jamait Ulema-e- to prove their citizenship before the final GROWTH OF MUSLIM
Hind, Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, NRC is released at the end of the year. POPULATION %
has already said that Assam will burn “Everyone with documents can apply India Assam
if 5 million Muslims are left out of the for inclusion between August 1 and Sep-
Source: Census reports

updated NRC. According to Assam po- tember 28,” says Prateek Hajela, the state 30.9 34.2
lice sources, extremist outfits such as the coordinator preparing the NRC. The
Popular Front of India (PFI) are work- July 30 NRC will be the second and final 13.4 14.2
ing overtime to penetrate the Muslim- draft. The first draft, which included 19
dominated areas of lower Assam, though million of the 32 million people of Assam, 2001 2011 2001 2011

26 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 RAJU
MANDAL, 25
He and his sisters, Pinki
and Ruma, stare at an
uncertain future. Their
father Jiban Mandal,
54, a small-time farmer
from Moirabari village in
Morigaon district, was
declared a foreigner by
a foreigners’ tribunal in
2017. The names of the
entire Mandal family will
now be put on hold in
the NRC until cleared by
the tribunal. Raju says
the family had all the
records to prove Indian
citizenship but lost the
case in the final hearing

was published on December 31, 2017. from the NRC will not automatically be- of his political career. Sonowal, whose
According to sources, the Centre has come foreigners. “They have to be so de- political journey began with the All As-
been considering a proposal to provide clared by a tribunal, before any proceed- sam Students’ Union (AASU), the organ-
long-term ‘biometric work permits’ to all ings can be initiated. If, say, 2 million isation at the forefront of Assam’s fight
those who may be eventually declared are excluded, there’ll be 2 million cases against the illegal influx, is hailed as As-
foreigners. These people would not have before 100 tribunals. It will take years to sam’s hero for single-handedly getting
any political or land rights (there is no dispose of them with further appeals to the Illegal Migrants (Determination by
clarity on what will happen to those who the high court and Supreme Court,” he Tribunal ) or IMDT Act repealed in Su-
have already bought property in Assam). says. In some cases, the Gauhati High preme Court in 2005. The act was seen
What can make matters explosive is that Court has directed authorities to acquire as a big obstacle in the detection of illegal
a substantial section to be excluded will land owned by individuals declared for- immigrants. Sonowal is aware that the
be those who own farmland. eigner by tribunals. NRC could bring the state to a boil and
According to Supreme Court lawyer For Assam chief minister Sarbanan- has already requested the Centre for more
Upamanyu Hazarika, those excluded da Sonowal, this is the biggest challenge forces. Not taking any chances, the state

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 33

 ASSAM
COVER STORY

police force has stepped up its vigil across

the state, and in the virtual world too.
The NRC is the second such exercise
in the state, necessitated by widespread
allegations of massive, unabated illegal
immigration from Bangladesh. The first
NRC was published in 1951 by recording
particulars of all the persons enumerated
during that year’s census and was unique
to the state of Assam.

here is hardly any precedent

T
anywhere in the world for a
legal exercise that will strip
such a massive population of
citizenship in a single day. Of KHALEDA BEGUM, 28
course, the complexity of the issue of il- Khaleda with her son and daughter in
legal immigration in Assam—estimates Gauripur, Dhuburi district. Husband
of illegal foreigners range from 4 million Kitfur, a daily wage earner, had gone
looking for work in Moran in Shivsagar
to 10 million—provoked this unique ‘solu- district when he was detained by
tion’. Just one statistic—voter numbers in the police for not having documents,
Assam grew by more than 50 per cent in declared an illegal immigrant and sent
to the Jorhat detention centre. Kitfur’s
less than a decade, from 5,701,805 in brother Lutfur, who works for a local
1970 to 8,537,493 in 1979—triggered a Assamese paper, has written accounts
six-year-long agitation against illegal in- of his uncle’s part in the freedom struggle
filtrators. This sudden surge was also a
consequence of the 1971 war which forced
massive influx from East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh) to various parts of India, filed by a Guwahati-based NGO, Assam declared stateless has engulfed a large
mainly Assam. Public Works (APW), which claimed section of Bengali-speaking inhabit-
In 2005, while striking down the that 4.1 million illegal Bangladeshis had ants who are often suspected of having
IMDT Act, a three-judge bench com- found their way into Assam’s voter list. sneaked into Assam after 1971. Accord-
prising Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, “Look at how national landmarks such ing to the Assam accord, 1971 was fixed
Justice G.P. Mathur and Justice P.K. as the Kaziranga national park, birth- as the cut-off year for immigrants.
Balasubramanyan, said, reflecting the place of the Vaishnavite saint Srimanta The focus of the government post-
sentiment of Assam: “The presence of Sankardeva have been encroached by NRC is likely to be protecting the land
such a large number of illegal migrants illegal immigrants. We can’t turn a blind rights of indigenous people. Assam,
from Bangladesh, which runs into mil- eye to these,” says Abhijeet Sarma, head which ranks 17th among Indian states
lions, is in fact an aggression on the of APW. The decision to update the 1951 with a GDP of Rs 3.3 lakh crore, is pri-
state of Assam and has also contributed NRC was taken in the historic Assam marily driven by agriculture. In most of
significantly in causing serious internal Accord of 1985, but work started only Lower Assam, immigrants of Banglade-
disturbances in the shape of insurgency after 2015 when the apex court started shi origin are mainly engaged in agricul-
of alarming proportions.” monitoring the process. ture and other manual labour. Primarily
The current process of updating the While the indigenous people have landless, their hunger for land of their
NRC is the consequence of a 2009 PIL celebrated the process, the fear of being own has often resulted in ethnic conflicts,

Foreigners’ tribunals have declared more than 92,000

people foreigners between 1985 and 2017

28 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 25, 1971, as the cut-off date would ensure

There is no clarity
that millions of foreigners, who entered
Assam between 1951 and March 1971,

on what will happen

will get citizenship, threatening the ex-
istence of indigenous people. Between

to the property and

1951 and 1961, the state’s population
leapt by 36 per cent, and by 35 per cent

land of those excluded

in the next decade as against national
decadal growth of 22 and 25 per cent re-

from the final NRC

spectively. The Supreme Court will form
a constitution bench in the first week of
August and start hearings on the ASM’s
plea. If Rahman’s plea is accepted, it will
throw the entire NRC process out of gear.
preme Court in 2015 to prepare a report
on the various issues related to illegal im- owever, the NRC will have

H
migrants in Assam. equal impact on both Hindu
The fears of the indigenous people got and Muslim immigrants as
official validation in the Brahma report is evident from the protests
which commented that illegal Bangla- against the process emanat-
deshis descend on the land like ‘an army ing from the Barak river valley, domi-
of marauding invaders armed with dan- nated by Hindu Bengalis of Bangladeshi
gerous weapons, set up illegal villages, origin. The recent decision to put on hold
mostly on the char lands overnight, in the in the NRC the names of family members
full view and with the tacit, if not active, of those declared ‘foreigners’ by the For-
connivance and encouragement of the eigners’ Tribunal has created a lot of app-
corrupt government officers as also with rehension in both the Barak and (the As-
abetment of communal political leaders’. samese dominated) Brahmaputra valleys.
like the 2012 violence in Kokrajhar. Meanwhile, even as the process Foreigners’ tribunals (FT) adjudicate
In 2017, the interim report of a six- to update the NRC, taking March 25, on cases referred to them by the local
member committee for protection of land 1971, as the cut-off date, nears comple- Foreigner Regional Registration Office,
rights of indigenous people of Assam, tion, another legal battle in the Supreme which itself works on the recommendat-
headed by former chief election com- Court, slated for the first week of August, ions of the Assam Border Police Organ-
missioner H.S. Brahma said that illegal threatens to nullify the entire process. isation. The FTs, set up in 1964, and the
Bangladeshis dominated in as many as In 2012, Motiur Rahman, working border police, set up in 1962, have been
15 of the 33 districts of Assam. “Illegal president of the Asom Sanmilita Ma- active even before the Assam agitation
migration is driven by the need for land hasangha (ASM), an umbrella body of started. Governed by the Foreigners Act,
and work. The only way to tackle this is- different ethnic and indigenous organ- 1946, there are currently 100 FTs in As-
sue is by denying Bangladeshis any stake isations, filed a petition in the Supreme sam, up from 36 till 2015. Since 1985,
in resources,” says lawyer Upamanyu Court against making 1971 the cut-off FTs have declared more than 92,000 in-
Hazarika, who was appointed by the Su- year. The ASM claims that using March dividuals foreigners.

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 35

 ASSAM
COVER STORY

TOLLI PART 1
Residents of the mostly
Muslim village, ‘Tolli Part 1’
near Agomoni in Dhuburi
district, gather at dusk to
discuss their future ahead
of the July 30 deadline.
Villagers say they have
been put on alert over
allowing miscreants to take
advantage of the tensions
over the NRC

However, there have been some enough to fight her legal battle. In May,
embarrassing lapses too. In October marginal farmer Gopal Das, 62, of
last year, the FT served notice to Mo- Nichlamari in Udalguri district com-
hammad Azmal Haque, a retired ju- WHAT THE NRC SAYS mitted suicide after being unable to
nior commissioned officer of the Indian bear the financial burden of getting the
army, asking him to prove his Indian
citizenship. In March 2017, 11 descen-
32.9
MILLION
19
MILLION*
D-voter tag removed from his name.
Critics have complained of ran-
dants of the first deputy speaker of As- Total population are legal citizens
domness in tagging D-voters. In 1997,
sam, Moulavi Amiruddin, were served of Assam after first NRC draft Shah Alom Bhuyan, who later served
notice by an FT. as a security officer in chief minister
*Names of 150,000 people deleted from this
Another contentious issue has been list after further verifications
Sonowal’s residence, was marked a D-
the exclusion of D-voters from the voter. In Tezpur, retired nayak subedar
NRC. A category in Assam’s electoral Dilip Dutta got tagged as a D-voter. A
rolls since 1997, their “names and that senior official from the border police
of their descendants would not be in- offered an explanation on why several
cluded in the draft NRC”, says Hajela.
“Inclusion of D-voters would be subject
244,144 D-voters individuals from the police and armed
forces got tagged as D-voters: “If a per-
to the decision of the FTs.”
The D-voter tag, however, has al-
have been referred son doesn’t vote in several elections, he
is likely to get a D-tag. Policemen and
ready taken several lives in the state. In
June, a 40-year-old daily wage earner,
to the foreigners’ soldiers rarely get a chance to vote.”
Amid these lapses and startling
Abola Roy, committed suicide in Dhu-
bri’s Hakakura area following a quarrel
tribunals numbers, the perception game has
added to the xenophobia in the state.
with his wife, Saharibala, who has been The difference in dialect and attire of
marked a D-voter. Saharibala blamed the Muslims of Bangladeshi origin—
her husband for not being able to earn even if they crossed the border before

30 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 Even as the NRC is being updated with 1971 as the cut-off
year, the SC is hearing a plea to shift the year to 1951

1971—has resulted in lesser acceptance of people speaking Assamese decreased gladesh and Pakistan. Though the bill
for them among the indigenous popu- from 58 per cent in 1991 to 48 per cent in covers refugees from three nations, it was
lation. Take the paradoxical story of a 2011 while Bengali speakers in the state primarily aimed at protecting the Ben-
32-year-old lawyer in the Gauhati High went up from 22 to 30 per cent in the gali Hindu migrants from Bangladesh.
Court. Dressed in Fabindia kurtas and same period. In several Muslim-domi- The BJP tried to hardsell the bill in
clean-shaven, he speaks fluent English nated areas such as Kalgachia, Baghbor, Assam, projecting it as a strategy to pro-
and Assamese. His great-grandfather Chenga, Morigaon and Dhubri, Bengali tect the Hindu identity of Assam against
came from what was then East Bengal speaking people are a big majority. “To the influx of Muslims from Bangladesh
and settled in Assam before Indepen- think that the illegal migrants will accept but failed to take into account the fear
dence. He is well accepted as an As- Assamese culture is just naive. Once they among the Assamese of the cultural he-
samese, but his 27-year-old cousin, a reach significant numbers, they’ll dump gemony of the Hindu Bengalis.
rickshaw puller in Guwahati’s Hatigaon the Assamese language as the Bengalis in The BJP had come to power in As-
area, is routinely regarded as Bangla- Barak valley have done,” says Hazarika. sam after an election campaign promis-
deshi. “Attire does make a difference. ing to protect the state’s mati, bheti and
The emergence of Badruddin Ajmal (of espite Muslim immigrants jaati (land, home and community) from

D
the All India United Democratic Front) being the crux of the foreign- illegal settlers. The ploy to offer citizen-
and his Muslim politics mixed with the ers’ issue in Assam, the ship to the Hindu immigrants was seen
Hindutva chauvinism of the BJP has state’s crusade against illegal as a betrayal of that electoral promise.
poisoned the well further. The perceived infiltrators did not have a “Our position is very clear. Those who
existential threat to the natives has only clear communal distinction till the Nar- have come to Assam after 1971 cannot be
hardened,” says the lawyer. endra Modi-led BJP introduced a bill in Indian citizens. It doesn’t matter wheth-
The recently released linguistic data Parliament in 2016 to amend the Citizen- er they are Hindus or Muslims,” says
of Census 2011 has also widened the ship Act, 1955, to provide citizenship to Samujjal Bhattacharya, AASU patron
already existing faultlines between the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and a close friend of chief minister So-
Assamese and Bengalis. The percentage and Christians from Afghanistan, Ban- nowal. Sensing trouble, the Union gov-
ernment has put the bill in cold storage,
at least till the 2019 general elections.
With religion temporarily taken out
of the picture, Assam is now waiting for
“I submitted in the SC that 4.1 million a logical conclusion to the four-decade-
illegal immigrants had found their way long struggle to protect its land, resourc-
es and demography. It has been a battle
into the electoral rolls. Hopefully, with between citizens and non-citizens and
that’s how the people of Assam expect
the NRC, we can rid Assam of them” the rest of the world to see it. For better
ABHIJEET SARMA or worse, Ali, Roy and Kanu will have to
President, Assam Public Works stage a legal battle where their ethnicity
will be of little help. n

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 37

 THE BIG
STORY
R A FA L E

THE RAFALE
DOGFIGHT
SIFTING FACT FROM INSINUATION IN THE
NDA’S BIGGEST DEFENCE PURCHASE—
THE €7.8 BILLION DEAL FOR 36 RAFALES
By Sandeep Unnithan

ND
UL A
ON Y JE
NTH
I R /A
AA
IRP
©S

he NDA government’s 2016 prise by announcing it during a state visit to France in April
purchase of 36 Rafale fighter 2015. The MoU signed by Prime Minister Modi and then

T
aircraft has turned into a politi- French president Francois Hollande in 2015 referred to the
cal controversy and generated MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) contract
sound and fury in the monsoon initiated by the Manmohan Singh government in 2004,
session of Parliament, with the by agreeing to conclude an inter-governmental agreement
Congress questioning the price (IGA) for ‘supply of aircraft on terms that would be better
of the aircraft and alleging crony than conveyed by Dassault Aviation as part of a separate
capitalism. The government has process underway’.
refused to disclose the price of The UPA did not reveal the price quoted by Dassault
the deal, citing a confidentiality clause with France and Aviation in 2011 due to which the French warplane maker
reasons of national security. The impasse continues. The made it as L-1 or lowest bidder in January 2012. The deal
full facts of the case should be known when the Comptroller was subsequently logjammed for over two years because
and Auditor General of India (CAG) tables its report before the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Dassault Aviation
Parliament sometime this year. Until then, here are the big could not decide on who would take responsibility for the
questions raised about the deal and the answers, based on 108 Rafales that would be manufactured under licence in
the best obtainable version of the truth. India—HAL or Dassault.
The mammoth price tag possibly also induced a certain
NDA paid higher price for Rafale, UPA’s Rafale amount of purchase anxiety. When the Cabinet Committee
was cheaper on Security (CCS) had approved the deal in 2007, the MoD
The crux of the entire controversy are allegations that the envisaged an outgo of $10 billion (Rs 39,000 crore) for
Narendra Modi government paid a higher price for the 36 the 126 aircraft. This figure was clearly unrealistic as the
Rafale fighter jets than what the UPA had agreed to pay for contract progressed.
126 Rafales in 2012. Defence analyst Nitin Gokhale’s book Securing India
The comparison is unfounded because while the NDA the Modi Way mentions that the MoD had, in 2011, bench-
actually signed the deal, the UPA hadn’t. What doesn’t help marked the total cost of acquisition at Rs 163,403 crore (ap-
is the fact that neither government has released the exact proximately €23 billion—the MoD’s entire defence budget
cost break-ups of both deals so far. The NDA hinted it had for that year).
got a better deal when Prime Minister Modi sprung a sur- Going by this figure, the 126 Rafales would have a flya-

32 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 A TALE OF TWO DEALS

MMRCA, UPA (2007-2014)

l August 2007 (MoD) begins commercial
Announces global tender negotiations. MoD bench-
for 126 fighter aircraft—18 to marks total cost of acquisi-
be bought off-the-shelf, 108 tion at Rs 1.63 lakh crore
to be assembled by (approx. $30 billion)
Hindustan Aeronautics l July 2012 The Cost
(HAL). Contenders include Negotiations Committee
MiG-29, Saab Gripen, F-18, sets up four panels to
F-16, Dassault Rafale and negotiate the deal with
EADS’s Eurofighter Dassault
l May 2010 Field trials of l May 2014 The MMRCA
all aircraft completed. deal remains deadlocked
Rafale and Eurofighter over several issues, primar-
shortlisted by IAF ily the licence-production
l January 2012 Rafale of 108 aircraft by HAL. The
bid-
emerges L1 or lowest bid contract is not inked
der, edging out Eurofighter. when the government
The Ministry of Defence changes in 2014

RAFALE, NDA (2014-2018)

l April 10, 2015 Prime lion (Rs 58,000 crore).

Minister Narendra Modi vis- Deliveries to begin by 2019,
its France, announces deal to be completed by 2022
way cost of Rs 1,296 crore per aircraft. But this total cost
to purchase 36 Rafale jets l November 17, 2017
of acquisition, as Gokhale adds, ‘was different from the directly from the French Defence minister Nirmala
total cost of deliverables in the 126 MMRCA contract, government. Price to be Sitharaman tells media she
which was benchmarked by the MoD at Rs 69,456 crore, worked out later will reveal price later
excluding the offset loading cost, estimated to be any- l July 2015 MoD formally l February 5, 2018
where between Rs 2,530 crore and Rs 5,060 crore.’ scraps MMRCA acquisition. Sitharaman cites confiden-
The HAL-MoD-Dassault impasse continued even as Signs MoU with France on tiality clause with France,
the NDA assumed office in 2014. In 2015, the govern- Jan 26, 2016, for 36 Rafale. national security to say
CCS approval on August 24, price cannot be revealed
ment decided to scrap the deal and go for a fresh govern-
2016
ment-to-government or G2G deal, opting for a smaller l July 20, 2018 No confi-
l September 23, 2016 dence debate in Parliament.
number of aircraft because of budgetary reasons. “We
India and France sign inter- Rahul Gandhi hints at cor-
asked the IAF what was the minimum number of Ra- governmental agreement to ruption and crony capital-
fales they needed to meet their combat requirement; 36 purchase 36 Rafale. Price ism in the Rafale deal.
is the number they came back to us with,” says a senior not revealed, but mentioned Moves privilege motion
government official. The Modi government went in for off the record as €7.85 bil- against PM and Sitharaman
a G2G deal as an emergency procurement. G2G deals
are inherently favoured for a variety of reasons because

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 39

 THE BIG
STORY
R A FA L E

they shorten procurement cycles and cement strategic

partnerships. The NDA-1 government signed the mas-
sive Su-30MKI deal to import and licence-produce 140
Su-30MKIs from Russia for Rs 22,000 crore in 2000. The
UPA signed G2G deals worth over $10 billion with the US
for maritime patrol aircraft and heavy lift aircraft between
2006 and 2012.
Off-the-record briefings by the MoD soon after the
contract for 36 Rafales was inked in 2016 indicated that a
price of €7.8 billion (Rs 59,000 crore) was agreed upon for
the 36 aircraft—€5 billion for the aircraft and €2.85 billion
for its weapons and certain India-specific enhancements.

he weapons included Meteor air-to-air

T
missiles and SCALP air-to-ground cruise
missiles worth €700 million that were not
part of the original MMRCA contract. These
India-specific enhancements, one senior
government official said in another off-the-record briefing,
came at the request of the IAF and were meant to ensure
optimal utilisation of a lesser number of Rafales. They
included spare parts and ‘performance-based logistics’
under which the Original Equipment Manufacturer OFF-THE-RECORD BRIEFINGS
(OEM) would ensure that the aircraft would be available BY THE DEFENCE MINISTRY
75 per cent of the time, and hence able to generate more
sorties. It would mean the two Rafale squadrons would be
AFTER THE RAFALE DEAL WAS
equal to 3.5 squadrons of the IAF’s current mainstay, the INKED IN 2016 INDICATED
Su-30MKIs (which have an availability of only 55 per THAT A PRICE OF €7.8 BILLION
cent). On March 12 this year, minister of state for defence
Subhash Bhamre mentioned a ballpark figure of Rs 670 WAS AGREED UPON
crore for each Rafale minus the ‘associated equipment,
weapons, India-specific enhancements, maintenance
support and services’. The full facts would be revealed only
in the CAG report.
foreign ministry, drawing attention to the 2008 security
Confidentiality clause prevents disclosure of agreement ‘which legally binds the two states to protect
price of the aircraft deal the classified information provided by the partner, that
At a press conference on November 17 last year, defence could impact security and operational capabilities of the
minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the price negoti- defence equipment of India or France’, the ministry said.
ated by the NDA was ‘much lower’ than the price negoti- The deal has two aspects, commercial and technical—the
ated by the UPA when Rafale was found to be L-1. She said weapons and the capabilities of the aircraft and what it
that her office would reveal the price later. cost the nation. While technical capabilities of the aircraft
But in March, Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha that could be deemed classified from the point of national
“as per Article 10 of the IGA between the Government security , there is nothing that prevents the government
of India and Government of France on the purchase of from disclosing the commercial aspects of the contract to
Rafale aircraft, the protection of the classified information Parliament. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on
and material exchanged under IGA is governed by the pro- Defence, which comprises representatives of all political
visions of the security agreement signed between the two parties, routinely receives briefings on sensitive matters
nations in 2008”. On July 20, Congress president Rahul of national security from the armed forces, government
Gandhi alleged that Sitharaman had lied to Parliament agencies and the defence ministry. This, in fact, was hinted
at PM Modi’s behest and that the president of France had at by French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview
told him there was no secrecy pact with France. to india today on March 7, 2018. “There are some discus-
His statement drew an unusual response from France’s sions to be organised by the Indian government and they

34 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 & Toubro and Tata Advanced Systems.
On October 27, 2017, Anil Ambani and Dassault CEO
Eric Trappier laid the foundation stone for a new facility to
produce parts of the Falcon business jets under Dassault
Reliance Aerospace Limited (DRAL), a 51:49 joint venture
between Dassault and Reliance Defence. The facility
started commercial production of Dassault’s Falcon busi-
ness jet cockpits in April this year.
The MoD’s Defence Procurement Policy leaves the
choice of offset partner to the OEM. No offset agreements
in the Rafale deal have so far been communicated to the
MoD. This is not unusual because under the offset policy,
vendors or OEMs are permitted to provide details of their
Indian Offset Partners (IOP) “either at the time of seeking
offset credits or one year prior to discharge of offset obliga-
tions”, Bhamre told Parliament in March this year.

Procedures bypassed, CCS approval not taken

The Defence Procurement Procedure, which governs all
HOUSE ON FIRE
MoD capital acquisitions, mandates that all deals over
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Rahul Gandhi during
Rs 3,000 crore be approved by the CCS. The CCS is chaired
the no-confidence motion debate in Lok Sabha on July 20
by the prime minister and includes the cabinet ministers
for home, defence, finance and external affairs. It is India’s
topmost decision-making body for national security. In the
will have to consider which details they will want to be re- case of the 36 Rafales, the deal was announced by Prime
vealed to the opposition and to the Parliament,” he said. In Minister Modi in France and inked in an MoU in April
other words, it was up to the Indian government to decide 2015. CCS approval for the deal came only on August 24,
what it wanted to discuss with Parliament. 2016, or 16 months after the MoU in Paris and exactly a
month before the deal was finally signed by French defence
Reliance got to make the aircraft instead of minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his counterpart Manohar
public sector HAL Parrikar in New Delhi on September 23, 2016.
In his statement in the Lok Sabha on July 20, Congress However, Paragraph 71 of the DPP, which covers IGAs,
president Rahul Gandhi said that “the Rafale deal has been mentions ‘occasions when procurements would have to
taken away from HAL and given to a businessman who be done from friendly foreign countries, which may be
has benefitted Rs 45,000 crore. The gentleman has never necessitated due to geostrategic advantages that are likely
built an aeroplane in his whole life”. There is no proposal to accrue to our country. Such procurements would not
for Rafale to build the aircraft locally as these are being classically follow the Standard Procurement Procedure
procured off-the-shelf. What the Congress president was and the Standard Contract Document, but would be based
referring to is the offset plan under which Dassault Avia- on mutually agreed provisions by the governments of both
tion is to partner with Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence to the countries. Such procurements will be done based on an
reinvest 50 per cent of the 36 Rafale deal from partners in IGA after clearance from the CFA (Competent Financial
Indian industry. Authority). The CFA in this case is the CCS. But here again,
Introduced in 2007, defence offsets are where an OEM the government seems to be in the clear.
has to source between 30 and 50 per cent of the value of “What was announced in April 2015 was only an intent
a defence contract from the Indian market. In the case of to buy an aircraft. Intentions to buy do not require a for-
the 36 Rafales, Dassault Aviation has to procure nearly mal clearance by the CCS. It is only an IGA, which needs to
Rs 30,000 crore worth of components and services from be cleared and in this case, it was approved a month before
Indian industry. the deal was signed in September 2016,” says Amit Cowsh-
Documents provided by Dassault Aviation indicate the ish, former financial advisor (acquisitions) in the MoD. For
Dassault-Reliance JV is one of the 72 partnerships Das- how much, we don’t know for yet. With the government
sault has forged with Indian industry. Others on the list now hardening its stance and dogged about not revealing
include Snecma-HAL Aerospace for engine components, this price, it is left to the CAG to reveal the truth about the
Samtel for multi-function cockpit displays, Godrej, Larsen Rafale deal. n

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 35

100 METRES
IS THE DISTANCE
FROM THE TAJ TO THE
TAJ GANJ SHAMSHAN

THE FUMES
OF DEATH
 I t’s a great ugly thing: large
as a dinosaur and twice as
ungainly, with massive metal
chimneys and a tangle of
ducts, pipes and valves. Out of place
in this factory-like spectacle is the
background: a river bank entombed
in garbage and dank vegetation, the
silhouette of a temple, the searing
blaze of funeral pyres, the hiss of
burning bodies, and rows of biers
shrouded in white. Even more out of
place is the gleam of a marbled dome
rising out of columns of dense smoke
and looking death straight
in the eye.
The Taj Mahal is just 100 metres east from the Taj
Ganj Shamshan, or Moksh Dham, Agra’s preferred
crematorium. A sadhu or two sit here and there,
young men in loincloth flex muscles. A scrawny old
man moves around, picking up charred human debris
off the ugly apparatus. A man in a bulldozer starts
breaking down a wall, radio blaring, “to make way for
a garden”. They boast about the never-ending queue of
bodies every day, of foreigners coming to watch Hindu
death rituals, the honour of being cremated here, and
the new ‘green’ bhatti set up by the Agra adminis-
tration. Ask them if they feel bad about the fumes
that can harm the Taj and pat comes the reply: “Why
should we care when the government doesn’t?”

A CONSTANT REFRAIN
Not quite true. It has been a constant refrain in the
past two decades, with files circulating from the
marbled labyrinth of the Supreme Court, to ministe-
rial chambers, parliamentary committees and up
and down the bureaucratic machinery. If in 1994 the
Varadarajan committee suggested shifting the crema-
CONTINUING OUR ‘SAVE THE TAJ’ tion ground, the apex court asked the Centre, the UP
CAMPAIGN, THIS WEEK WE LOOK government and the Agra administration to shift the
crematorium—in 1998, 2006 and again from 2015 on.
AT THE CREMATORIUMS IN THE
The momentum picked up in July 2015, when a
VICINITY, A MAJOR SOURCE OF parliamentary standing committee on science and
POLLUTION CLOUDING THE technology, environment and forests, in a report
MARBLE MONUMENT IN A HAZE titled ‘Effects of Pollution on Taj’, emphasised how
‘the authorities have quietly permitted the burning
By Damayanti Datta of wood in the immediate vicinity of the Taj’ despite
Photographs by Yasir Iqbal constant Supreme Court directives. A few months

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 37

 later, in September 2015, Supreme Court judge Kurian Jo-
seph wrote to the Chief Justice of India to save the Taj from
the crematorium’s black fumes. But it has been mission
impossible every time, provoking fierce resentment from
the locals. In 2016, the apex court asked the Agra adminis-
tration to find alternative ‘green’ arrangements and ensure
zero carbon emission.

GOING GREEN
Sanjay Singh used to work in a printing press. Today he is
the proud operator of the massive new incinerator, with wet
scrubber chimneys at Moksh Dham. “It takes half-an-hour
for one body,” he says, expertly manoeuvring switches and
fuses mounted on a board. That’s less than the 45 minutes
the electric crematorium takes and much less than the
4-5 hours of the traditional wood pyres. But
what are those square concrete wells, filled to
Yamuna
the brim with mucky black liquid? That’s the Taj Mahal
system’s outflow, containing all the pollution. 100 m
Moksh
Where will it be dumped? The Agra munici- Dham
pality vans cart the water away. Where is it
discharged? Through sewers, drains and into
the Yamuna.
It’s a technology where the cremation gases
are funnelled into wet scrubbers, to further red- service to the people of Agra.
uce the emissions into the atmosphere. Hence, “After 133 years, with 133 lakh
even if smoke blows at the Taj, it won’t harm the bodies cremated, Agra’s Moksh
marble. The idea for the ‘green’ crematorium Dham is now seen as something
came to Agra commissioner Pradeep Bhatnagar nobody has seen before,” says
from a Delhi NGO, Mokshda Green Cremation System Sunil Vikal, the president. “Here everything is under one
(MGCS). “It is expected to reduce wood requirements for a umbrella, all classes and castes come, and we provide
cremation to nearly a quarter of the present,” he says. “The a complete death service at a no-profit, no-loss basis.
wood will burn completely and emit much less smoke and Kshetra means locality in Sanskrit and Bajaja is clothing
the pollution would be kept to a minimum.” merchants in Urdu. Nobody but a clothes trader can be a
In the US, where a growing movement to make deaths member of the KBS even today.”
ecologically less harmful has taken root, it has been docu- A national body now, the members came forward to
mented that even the wet scrubber methods of filtration spruce up the Taj Ganj Shamshan in 1985. A mud dump on
cannot eliminate the key emissions from the incineration the bank of the Yamuna, it had no electricity and people car-
of a human body, namely, carbon monoxide, soot and ried the dead on their shoulders. His father, Satya Prakash
other particulate matter. These are also believed to be Vikal, a minister with seven portfolios under the first BJP
the determinant agents of marble deterioration. But the government, was an influential man, with powerful friends
Agra Development Authority (ADA) has got four massive and deep connections in the RSS-Jan Sangh. At the time the
chimneys installed, each at about Rs 38 lakh, although just Supreme Court was trying to close or relocate the cremato-
one is functional now. Four more have been commissioned rium, the KBS was busy making their service more efficient
to Usher Agro Ltd, an agri-food processing company, with and accessible: fleets of hearses, fibreglass coffins with
a ‘corporate insolvency resolution process initiated’ tag. The freezers, opening their own mortuary, preserving the bones
ADA has missed deadlines in installing the green chimneys of unclaimed bodies for kin, arranging spiritual processions
many times over. Will it manage to deliver? and congregations, inviting people to spend a day. “There is
nothing to fear in a shamshan,” he says.
THE DO-GOODERS Vikal insists the government has not done anything to
Since 1885, an obscure consortium of cloth merchants, help the people in conducting the last rites of their loved
the Kshetra Bajaja Samiti, has been delivering a vital ones. “We have beautified the place with gardens,” says Vi-

38 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 WHAT GOES
UP WITH
THE SMOKE
A 2010 STUDY OFFERS INSIGHTS
INTO THE POLLUTION RISK
FROM AGRA’S MOKSH DHAM IN
THE LAP OF THE TAJ

THE FORMULA
How the emission is estimated:
Number of bodies burnt / year x wood
required per body (kg) x emission factor
Number of bodies burnt / year x fuel used
(in litres) x emission factor (in tonnes)

(Source: Air Quality Assessment, Emission

Inventory & Source Apportionment Study for
Mumbai City, 2010, by the Central Pollution Control
Board and NEERI)
Emission factor is the ratio of pollution generated to
raw material processed; Source: EPA)

THE ASSUMPTION

20
bodies a day on
Emission
factor for
average at Moksh wood burning
kal. “It was in such a terrible state earlier. Why couldn’t the gov- Dham (or 7,300 a year) (kg/ tonne)
ernment do it?” Everything has been done by the Kshetra Bajaja
PM10 (17.3), SO2
Samiti. “We haven’t taken one rupee from the government but

300 kg
(0.2), NOx (1.3),
done their job. And now the ADA is taking over.” Vikal does CO (126.3); HC
not sound happy about the future. But he insists that whether (114.5)
Moksh Dham goes or stays will depend on “public will”. Going wood needed to
by history, he is not too wrong. In 1999, when the apex court burn a body Emission
factor for
directed the ADA and the Agra Nagar Nigam (ANN) to relocate
kerosene
the crematorium, activists, protesters as well as religious groups

3 litres
(kg/ tonne)
had come out in support. The same happened in 2015; when the
PM10 (0.61), SO2
Agra administration started talking about shifting it, Hindutva (4), NOx (2.5), CO
youths staged street battles over several days. kerosene needed (62), HC (19)
per body (or 21,900
CREMATION POLLUTION litres/ year)
Of the various things Kshetra Bajaja members have thought
of telling the Supreme Court in their defence, a key point is: THE THREAT
“How do you know whether we are harming the Taj Mahal? Has n Crematoriums contribute a heavy load
anyone proved how much pollution we create?” It is true that of CO into the air, much less than vehicular
no scientist from IIT Kanpur has spent time here, as they have emission but closer to open trash burning
in the Taj. No NEERI (National Environmental Engineering
n They are serious emitters of
Research Institute, Nagpur) report has been filed, documenting
hydrocarbons, more than in open burning
the exact level of pollution they are throwing up towards the Taj.
The Supreme Court will have to answer that. n They had significant, but more localised,
There are, however, studies done on air pollution levels impact on PM levels in the atmosphere
from crematoriums in other parts of the country. And they
offer some clues. An extensive study—Air Quality Assessment, * Does not include emission estimations for
bodies and for electric cremation
Emission Inventory & Source Apportionment Study for Mum-
** Hindu cremation processes vary substantially
bai City, 2010—conducted jointly by the Central Pollution due to the quantity and type of wood used, fuel
used and type of pyres prepared
 BURNING Control Board, New Delhi, and NEERI on the emission load on
Mumbai from all sources throws some light. Major pollutants

AWAY in crematoriums were found to be particle pollution (PM10), car-

bon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), sulphur dioxide (SO2),
and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
SEVERAL ATTEMPTS WERE MADE
Of the various sources studied, crematoriums seemed to con-
TO GET THE CREMATORIUMS
SHIFTED, WITH LIMITED SUCCESS tribute a heavy load of CO into the air, much less than vehicular
emission but closer to open trash burning. They were serious
emitters of HCs, more than in open burning. And they also had
1994 significant, but more localised, impact on PM levels in the atmo-
Varadarajan sphere. The study suggested ‘increased use of electric crematoria,
1998
committee SC asks the state efficient pyres and chimneys for release of emissions, exploring
suggests shifting government and Agra the possible use of LPG burners in a closed furnace, like electrical
cremation ground; administration to crematoria, installing efficient PM control measures (such as bag
but no action consider shifting filters or cyclones) for emissions related to bodies. Global studies
is taken crematorium; but show crematoria are sources of various organic environmental
they take no action
pollutants, as well as of mercury. In fact, mercury emissions from
1999
Political parties
crematoria should not be underrated’.
and religious 2003
groups protest, Shamshan gets STIFF EXIT
saying a new name, There are about five shamshans in Agra city, all within a 10 km
crematorium Moksh Dham radius of the Taj. Moksh Dham is so close that periodically the
should not be Taj gets blanketed by haze. The rest—Poiya, Balkeshwar, Kailash
relocated
2005 and Malik Chautra—are wood-based. There are two electric
Agra administration crematoriums at Bateshwar, which is in the Moksh Dham com-
2006 starts talking about a pound. In Agra, private, religious or charitable agencies at vari-
SC rules that ‘green’ crematorium ous shamshans do the work of the government, although except
crematoriums at Moksh Dham
for Moksh Dham no other ‘certificate of cremation’ is accepted by
near the Taj the ANN for the purposes of preparing death certificates. Aver-
must be
age wood requirement for burning the dead bodies, on the basis
removed 2015
of a primary survey and consultation with crematorium officials,
Taj Trapezium Zone
informs shift is a
is about 300 kg per body and 3 litres (2.43 kg) of kerosene.
2015 challenge, as it has Based on consultation and visits, it appears that about 12 to
Parliamentary been there for 25 bodies are burnt in Moksh Dham each day, almost all in the
standing hundreds of years traditional pyres; 2-3 (especially unclaimed bodies) go to the
committee wants electric crematorium. The people of Agra mostly prefer using
to know about
wood-based cremation, though the electric version is free. Most
steps taken to shift 2015
cremation ground
places do not maintain records of the bodies they receive per
Supreme Court judge
Kurian Joseph petitions day, except Moksh Dham.
CJI to ‘Save Taj from
2016 cremation fumes’ CONTRARY CLAIMS
SC says: relocate
Conservationists see danger in the smoke rising from the
or build wet
scrubbers; make
cremation ground that hits the Taj Mahal. However, the groups
service free 2016 supporting the Moksh Dham ghat insist that the cremation
ASI raises objection ground has no role in contributing to the air pollution. Some
over chimneys at of them even believe that the ghee, camphor, sandalwood paste
Moksh Dham; tussle and the cow dung cakes or the firewood used only help enrich
starts with ADA
2017
and purify the environment.
Tender and Contrary claims of questionable authenticity also do the
budget floated for 2018 rounds. Moksh Dham members claim that the crematorium is
wet scrubbers, One chimney scrubber older than the Taj. Just a small question begs to be asked: would
but Agra starts functioning in any emperor anywhere have allowed the grime and squalor of a
Development June; built by Usher burning ghat to thrive in his backyard? That, too, the backyard
Authority misses Agro Ltd, agri- of the Taj Mahal? n
deadline business firm
— with Siraj Qureshi in Agra

40 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 FEEDBACK

‘We must preserve this jewel’

1. THE COMPREHENSIVE report tory, except for commemorating Shah

registered No. dl(Nd)-11/6068/2018-20; U(c)-88/2018-20; FAridABAd/05/2017-19 liceNsed to post withoUt prepAymeNt

oc
special campaign
on the Taj was a compelling read. I www.indiatoday.in july 30, 2018 `60 Jahan’s love for Mumtaz Mahal. Have
was aghast to learn the neglect and 9 7 7 0 2 5 4 8 3 9 9 0 9
you heard of Alhambra and Alcazar
apathy that we, as Indians, have in Spain? They make visitors book
shown towards one of the wonders expensive tickets days in advance for
of the world. A monumental pity. It is a visit. There is nothing great inside
a welcome gesture on the part of india these museums except some history
today to open a weekly forum for read- and beautiful gardens. But it creates a
ers to come out with their views/ ideas huge suspense for the first-timer. Why
on how to redeem this lovely piece of not create a theme and save the Taj?
architecture. The governments, both An inverted reflection
—Nalin Chaudhury
at the state and Centre, should wake
of the Taj in the
polluted Yamuna

up to the impending disaster and make

immediate, long-term efforts to save it. save 7. THE SAVE THE TAJ campaign
rNi No. 28587/75

The world will never forgive us if we fail the ta j!

Government apathy and short-sighted development
needs to be taken up in all earnest-
to preserve this jewel of our country. priorities are destroying India’s most iconic monument.
What we can do to rescue our national treasure ness and without politics. We need to
—Yasin Syed learn from Europe on how to preserve
monuments. A few suggestions: Agra,
heritage and culture, then it should within a radius to be determined by
2. IT’S A PITY TO SEE the Taj get- also do the same for sites like Konark experts, should not have any polluting
ting spoilt. While the grime is being and Hampi so that the history of Hindu industry. Measures should be taken
removed by various methods, is it not kings is also preserved. to save the Yamuna from the point it
possible to apply lacquer in multiple —Murty enters the plains in Uttarakhand. Free
layers, like on cars and wooden Agra of coal/ firewood by encouraging
instruments? This can particularly the Ujjwala scheme and incentivise the
be applied in the high contact areas 5. GOVERNMENT APATHY towards use of PNG/ LPG. Cremation grounds
so that human touch does not cause India’s cultural heritage is well-known. near the Taj should be relocated
further damage. Let us take the challenge to reverse without hurting religious sentiments.
—Ramachandran it. The Taj belongs not just to India Polluting vehicles should be barred
but to the whole world. A worldwide within a specified radius of the Taj.
movement should be launched for its —Ravindra Kapoor
3. GREAT INITIATIVE, india today... preservation. If a global public fund is
Best wishes and all success to you... created, I will contribute to it.
The Taj is one of the reasons that make —Anbas 8. IT IS painful to see that neither the
our country proud. state government nor the Centre is
—Rafeeq remotely bothered about the Taj. No
6. THE TAJ is a theme-less monum- wonder the Supreme Court had to step
ent visited by millions on the basis of in. The government should hand over
4. IF INDIA TODAY is going to save historical stories and books. It has no the Taj’s maintenance to the Tatas.
the Taj by educating people about our significance in the making of our his- —Samba Siva

The India Today Group has launched a ‘Save the Taj’ campaign across all its platforms. The magazine will
feature each of the problems the Taj faces and possible solutions in the coming issues. Join our campaign
and send in your ideas of what can be done to restore our most precious inheritance.
Write to us at: [email protected]
 SOCIETY

A DEADLY
LEAP OF FAITHThe collective
suicide in Burari
was a case of a
shared psychotic
disorder. Experts
warn that many
Indian families
are susceptible
to such stress
By Damayanti Datta
 HOUSE OF
HORROR
The Chundawat
residence in Burari

Y
ellow. Orange. Pink. Beige. Yards of drapes descended from the
iron mesh ceiling of the hallway, like an elaborate stage setting.
From every loop dangled a human body, a choreography of
puppets on strings. The nation watched in horror and stunned
disbelief, as 11 members of a very normal family in a very nor-
mal neighbourhood of north Delhi committed mass suicide, for
little-understood reasons, on July 1.
Weeks later, there is an increasing sense that the story of
the Burari family could be the story of many families in India.
The Burari tragedy has been followed by a raft of similar cases
across the country, the latest being the death of six members of
a family on July 14 in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh, unable to cope
with the terminal illness of the only breadwinner of the fam-
ily and the consequent burden of debt. Police files show, even
before Burari, at least 10 such tragedies have occurred this year. Are suicides by family
members, with premeditation and in cooperation, gaining ground?

TRAGEDY WITH NO NAME

Until July 1, few Indians—in fact, few Delhiites—had ever heard of Burari, a northern
constituency of the National Capital Territory. In the earliest hours of that morning, a
Sunday, not a soul heard the noise of human drama—between illusion and reality, mad-
ness and sanity—that snuffed out the lives of seven women, two men and two minors of
the Chundawat-Bhatia family: Narayani Devi (77), her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit
(45), daughter Pratibha (57), daughters-in-law Savita (48) and Teena (42) and grandchil-
dren Priyanka (33), Nitu (25), Monu (23), Dhruv (15) and Shivam (15).
Was it murder, suicide or something else? If every murder has a motive and every
suicide a secret grievance, real or imaginary, the Burari
deaths appear motiveless, especially to the relatives of the
deceased. From June 11, the Bhatia-Chundawat house-
hold had been jam-packed. The family was gearing up
for Priyanka’s upcoming wedding, the first among the
grandchildren, renovating their home and hosting guests
for the engagement on June 17. The children were already
in touch over a WhatsApp group, discussing the food,
the trousseau, the hairstyles and more. The day before,
the family visited temples and in the evening they played
music and danced late into the night. The last of the guests
left on June 23. “They were financially sound and happy.
A wedding was coming up. We can’t believe that they com-
mitted suicide,” says Pravin Nagpal, son-in-law of Devi
and a businessman in Panipat. To the extended family, the
Burari incident could not be anything but murder.

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 QAMAR

INDIASIBTAIN/MAIL
TODAY 51
TODAY
 N OT E S F RO M T H E
SOCIETY

OTHER WORtrLayD signs

Diary entries be
ychotic dominant
But the autopsy reports are now of a shared ps Lalit was the
in La lit ’s family the family,
out. “According to the board of doctors, disorder personality in
listened to
they all died of ante­mortem injuries, used to being
indicating death due to suicide,” says en sorder,
a small stick. Th Delusional di
Alok Kumar, joint commissioner of “Lalit will show m ou th with comm on in a type of
ver your l illness
police (crime). Although the police had all of you will co pa tt i” serious men ta
osis” in
ctor ki ch
a wet cloth or a do calle d a “p sy
registered a murder case, the investiga­ cannot tell
rs on
tion found no signs of strangulation, ne 28, 2018 which a pe
Road to God, Ju om what is
what is real fr
scuffle or injury. Footage from four of ten has
ake, there will imagined. An d
CCTVs in the area show no outsider “T he earth will sh sky, but don’t delusions of gr
andeur
e
entering the house that night. Rs 1.5 be thunder in th ve you. You will
be af raid. I will sa
lakh, along with gold jewellery, lay ething greater”
untouched in the family cupboard. accomplish som lusions from
Transfer of de
According to doctors, most of them June 30, 2017 to another, or
one person
next , making
died of “partial hanging”, where the
able to celebrate several others
the final rite
body does not hang free but touches “Lalit will not be ore any warnings them read y fo r
n
the ground, typical of suicide. CCTV Diwali. Do not ig e on yourselves”
cl ose ey
grabs, too, show two women of the and keep a Signs of an ‘e
nmeshed
yc hological
family bringing in stools on June 28, June 30, 2017 family’. A ps
to de sc rib e unusual
confirmed by Saini Furniture House term
t w een
e, don’t talk abou
t
closeness be
in nearby Sant Nagar market, and “R est once I leav l. I will come to family m em be rs and
two boys bringing up wires from their (this). Be watchfu mix-ups” limited soci al in te raction.
of
plywood shop—all in preparation. illuminate you Typically, secr
ets take
fa milies: to
“Although no suicide note was
May 2013 hold in such
pe sc ru tin y or to
found, the body status were found esca
m ily member
as protect a fa
exactly as described in the final entries g to Haridwar w
of the diary, June 26–28,” says Ku­ “You think goin am still lost and
I
everything? But ons” Browbeating
possible
mar: nine people to hang from iron
so are my co mpani in to submission.
doubters
mesh ceiling of the hallway, daughter ow that Lalit
The notes sh
Pratibha from the window near the July 9, 2015 th e family for
censured
m (“Copy ki
home temple and the grandmother in not trusting hi
kar karo. Achha d blamed
“Apni galti swee hai”
her bedroom. The diaries mention 1 am baat su no ”), an
in the family”
as the time for the final act. The autopsy samay dur nah “someone in
ou bts”
for thei r “d
confirms that. Although it was earlier
March 27, 2013
suspected that the grandmother had
died of strangulation, forensic experts
have now announced that she, too, died
of “partial hanging”. A belt was found
on the handle of an almirah near her SHARING DEATH IN COMMON Dr Praveenlal Kuttichira, professor of
body. She was possibly the last to die. The idea might seem macabre in a psychiatry and principal of Jubilee Mis­
What if a family member had modern context, but sharing death in sion Medical College & Research Insti­
drugged or poisoned the others, then common has deep cultural roots. In tute in Thrissur, Kerala. “The incidents
hanged them? “Homicide by hanging is ancient India, dying together often had were so rare we decided to study them,
extremely rare,” says Kumar. “Unless the sacrificial motives, to save or benefit in order to develop an intervention pro­
victim is an infant or incapacitated, or others, or for honour. “Great love stories gramme,” he says. From 1998, the Na­
unless there are several assailants, it is often end with lovers dying together. tional Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
difficult to accomplish.” There is no sign Great friendship stories similarly,” wri­ started documenting such deaths in its
of drugs or poison in the house or in the tes Ruth Vanita, scholar of South Asian annual Accidental Deaths & Suicides in
bodies. “We are waiting for the viscera studies in Love’s Rites. In modern times, India series, with 336 such deaths that
report to confirm that,” he says. “The a “family suicide” is defined as an act year. Over the years, ‘family suicide’ has
easiest in that case would have been of ending life involving more than one crystallised as a category, accounting for
putting poison or drugs in the food, person in a family, where at least one 2.5 per cent of the suicides in the coun­
but that night they did not cook. The person drives the impulse for suicide. try, though a large number of states and
kitchen is totally clean. They called for “Family suicides started emerging UTs don’t furnish details. And no data
20 rotis from a nearby shop instead.” as a new trend from the late ’90s,” says has been published since 2016.

44 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

THE GHOST WHO SPEAKS Curiously, none of the neighbours had were other principal causes. “But that
The Burari case is a good example of ever been inside the Chundawat home. trend has shifted towards psychological
collective psychosis in a family. “Lalit “A typical enmeshed family,” says Dr issues,” he explains. The Burari deaths are
will show a small stick. Then all of you Rajat Mitra, clinical psychologist and a clear case of a family suicide associated
will cover your mouth with a wet cloth or director at the Swanchetan Society for with mental illness, experts say.
doctor ki patti,” reads the last entry in the Mental Health in Delhi. Enmeshment is
Burari diaries, on June 28. Going by it, a psychological term to describe close­ CLASSIC SIGNS OF PSYCHOSIS
Lalit Singh Chundawat, 45, the youngest ness between people, typically family To psychiatrists, Lalit exhibited typical
son of Narayani Devi, coordinated every members, leading to lack of autonomy symptoms of psychotic disorder. “Here
movement of death. “Set all air coolers and dysfunction, and limited social was a man who was mentally unwell, who
and fans whirring, get bigger stools with interaction. And it is not unusual for required and deserved treatment,” says
room to tie your feet, don’t allow anyone secrets to take hold in such families: to psychiatrist Dr Nimesh Desai, chief of
home, sip water, think positive, utter the create boundaries, to escape scrutiny and the Institute of Human Behaviour and
divine name, tie your own hands indivi­ perhaps to protect a member. By all ac­ Allied Sciences in Delhi. In psychosis, a
dually and willingly, act with conviction counts, Lalit had a special position in the person loses touch with reality. Typical
and unity.” “Ghabrao mat (don’t panic),” Chundawat home. They never thought of symptoms can be hallucinations—hear­
he said as he urged them to take the final seeking psychiatric help. Or perhaps they ing, seeing or smelling things not there.
leap of faith towards death with him. did not wish to face the truth? Or delusions: thinking one has special
Lalit seems to have convinced his abilities or that people are after them.
family that he was in fact transmitting THE SAD TRUTH Psychosis can stem from trauma such
the spirit voice of his father, the late Bho­ In Indian families, mental illness hides in as bereavement, mental illnesses such as
pal Singh. No one knows exactly when plain sight. The National Mental Health schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, organic
Bhopal Singh died, perhaps sometime in brain disorders or genetic irregularity.
2007, but according to the police, Lalit Though no documents on his mental
took it upon himself to ‘discipline’ the
family after his death. He would make
‘Family suicide’ has health have been found, Lalit was known
to be very close to his father. He also had
them pray together three times a day and
stand in line every morning, to enhance
now crystallised as history of traumatic injury from a near­
fatal accident. Long­time neighbours
mental strength. It is also not clear when
Lalit started talking about his commu­
a distinct category, say huge slabs of plywood had fallen on
him at a shop he used to work in; some
nion with his father’s spirit, though the
Chundawats started writing down his
accounting for 2.5% relatives say he was attacked by ruffians
and left to die in a plywood shop. No one
extraordinary trance­like pronounce­
ments, ‘Road to God’, from July 8, 2007.
of the total suicides recalls the extent of his injury, but say he
was hospitalised for weeks and could not
Over the years, the diaries talk increas­
ingly about unrealised, wandering souls
in the country speak for three years. Could that have
affected him? “It’s hard to say without the
(“atripta atmas”), not just of his father medical records,” says Dr S.S. Kale, chief
but of four more relatives, who wanted of neurosurgery at AIIMS, “but we do see
the family to perform certain rites so that Survey, 2016, conducted by the National a lot of road accident and assault patients
they could be set free. Institute of Mental Health and Neuro­ with head and neck injuries losing their
Sciences (NIMHANS), estimates that voice.” The initiation of speech is in the
SECRET LIFE OF A FAMILY 13.7 per cent of Indians above age 18 need brain and post­traumatic stress injuries
The Chundawat family was well­liked active treatment, compared to just three often cause hallucinations or delusions.
in the neighbourhood. No one had ever per cent in 1990. And the rise in mental
heard them fight, yell or offend anyone, illness is changing the dynamics behind MADNESS BY CONTAGION
says Vimla Soni, owner of a dyeing store. family suicides, say forensic scientists. How did Lalit convince the other mem­
They were polite and hard­working, says In the West, the presence of psychiat­ bers of his family? Kumar says the VIM­
Amrik Singh, who lives across the lane. ric syndromes in suicides has been talked HANS psychiatrists whom the crime
Lalit ran a plywood shop below the house, about. Indian doctors cited “adjustment branch consulted hold that the family
next to his brother Bhavnesh’s grocery disorders” as the most common cause was suffering from Shared Psychotic
store. A reserved man, the neighbours did of family suicides. “Such cases were Disorder (SPD). A rare phenomenon in
not see him every day, but he was known invariably seen in families where poverty, clinical settings, delusions are transferred
to be kind. “Among the last people to insecurity and hopelessness affected from one person to another, or others in
speak to him was a local handyman ask­ mental health,” says Kuttichira. Illness close association. “Typically, the person
ing for a loan,” says a senior police officer. of a member or marriage­related issues initially developing the delusion is the

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 45

SOCIETY

PUPPETS ON A STRING
The role other memebers of Lait’s family played, as analysed by psychologists

Narayani Devi
The Late Bhopal Singh
Lait’s mother, who shared
The original patriarch, the
his convictions and hid
so-called spirit who spoke
them from children who
through Lalit
lived far

Priyanka
Sister Pratibha’s daughter. She
may have been the first to get
influenced, as it was she who
started jotting down Lalit’s trance-
like comments from 2008

Teena
Lalit’s wife, and was
among the early
family members to get
convinced, as she told Youngest
her parental family in son, Lalit
2010-12

Pratibha Savita Nitu

Lalit’s sister Bhavnesh’s wife Bhavnesh’s daughter
Sister
Brother
Sujata
Dinesh Nagpal and
and family family in
in Kota Panipat

Disbelievers Bhavnesh
Those who did not believe Elder brother of Lalit, and among Dhruv Shivam Menka
typically lived in different the doubters. The diary constantly Bhavnesh’s son Lalit’s son Bhavnesh’s daughter
cities. The Chundawats hid talks about punishing him. Finally Other members, including children, who accepted
their “secret” from them succumbed to pressure Lalit’s leadership

more dominant member of the fam- other-worldly musings. THE FRAGILE FAMILY
ily,” says Desai. Lalit, because of his How did Lalit deal with the doubt- “Medications, usually antipsychotics,
imagined links with the late patriarch ers? His sister Sujata Nagpal’s family apart from psychotherapy and counsel-
of the family, is likely to have played that did not believe him. Sujata’s husband, ling, could have saved the entire family,”
role. The dominant personality, in turn, Pravin, a businessman in Panipat, recalls says Desai. “The point is to sensitise
influences the weaker, less intelligent rubbishing Lalit’s claims. The conversa- everybody, from the neighbourhood
or more suggestible members, explains tion went underground, as the Chun- watchdogs to social workers to beat
Mitra, who then either succumb under dawat family, probably under Lalit’s di- constables about signs of families being
pressure, accept, support and share his rections, decided to guard its secret. Even at risk,” says Kuttichira. Mitra blames
delusional beliefs. “It is possible that Lalit in her frequent conversations with her the law, saying unlike in the UK or US,
influenced one or two members of the mother, Sujata did not hear enough to get our laws do not allow anyone, be it the
family, who in turn convinced the others suspicious. Brother Dinesh in Kota or his police or mental health workers, to
over time, until everyone ended up shar- family, also had no clue. The doubters he ‘rescue’ people, unless they seek help.
ing a belief system,” he adds. Two names could not avoid, Lalit probably browbeat “In the course of my work with the Delhi
Lalit would invoke were of two deceased into submission. His brother Bhavnesh, police,” he says, “I have come across
relatives—his wife Tina’s father and his for instance. The notes show that Lalit families that live in barricaded confine-
niece Priyanka’s father. A crime branch censured the family for not trusting him ment, out of unresolved and untreated
team found that Tina had approached (“Copy ki baat suno”) and blamed “some- psychological issues.” The Burari deaths
her parental family, offering to perform one in the family” for their “doubts”. The are a warning to Indian society that
rites for them. And since 2008 Priyanka June 26 entry mentions it was a “testing such illnesses need to be heeded to avoid
was the main scribe recording Lalit’s time” for Bhavnesh. more such self-inflicted tragedies. n

46 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 CARE IN SIGHT
Dr R.D. Ravindran, chairman
JAISON G of the Madurai-based
Aravind Eye Care System,
examines a patient
NATION | AYUSHMAN BHARAT MISSION

PUTTING A PRICE
ON HEALTH
Modi’s ambitious health insurance scheme may be a non-starter with private
hospitals finding treatment rates unviable and several states reluctant to enlist

By Asit Jolly and Shubham Shankhdhar

W
his prayers. The 62-year-old Bareilly 30 beds and only some 3,000 of them
resident hasn’t been able to walk for have 100 or more beds. India has just
some months now. He needs knee two million hospital beds, which is
replacement surgery immediately, merely one per 625 people.
but he’s way down in the long queue The Ayushman Bharat scheme
of patients in government hospitals. rather loftily promises to bridge this
Chandra cannot afford the surgery in gap by ensuring healthcare for 100
a private hospital. million of India’s poorest families.
When Naresh Chandra first heard The World Bank says rising expen- The Union health ministry claims
about the Narendra Modi govern- diture on private healthcare is keeping the scheme has been drafted after
ment’s ambitious plan to roll out the millions of Indians in poverty. State- studying health schemes being run in
Ayushman Bharat National Health run health services have not kept pace states and by the Centre. Funded by
Protection Mission—touted as the with the population. Sixty per cent of the central and state governments on
world’s biggest health insurance the 60,000-70,000 public/ private a 60:40 ratio (Jammu and Kashmir,
scheme—it sounded like the answer to hospitals in the country have less than northeastern and other hill states and

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 47

NATION | AYUSHMAN BHARAT MISSION
WHAT AILS OUR
HEALTHCARE?
Delhi will contribute 90 per cent), the scheme’s success hinges on making the
scheme aims to provide a Rs 5 lakh primary health infrastructure more
health insurance cover free of cost to robust and ensuring the participation India’s spending on public health is
an estimated 500 million people. of private hospitals as they cater to 80 abysmally low—among neighbours
higher only than Pakistan’s. In terms
Some 150,000 health and wellness per cent of the healthcare needs. of access to healthcare, it ranks 154
centres are envisaged, on a budgetary There is another hurdle. Ayush- out of 195 countries
outlay of Rs 1,200 crore, to cater to mi- man Bharat cannot be implemented
nor ailments. The insurance will cover without all the states coming on board.
in-patient costs for 1,350 diseases Thus far, only 24 states have signed the GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON
and medical procedures, including agreement. Of the remaining states, HEALTH PER CAPITA
medicine expenses. Both private and Odisha has opted out while the others
state-run hospitals are expected to have expressed reservations. INDIA
participate, with the money earned by Union health minister J.P. Nadda
government hospitals being used to is nonetheless confident. “MoUs have $
17
$
69 $
58
strengthen their infrastructure. been signed with 24 states. We are 1995 2013 2017
confident all the [other] states will be
linked with the scheme,” he said, as-

N
ITI Aayog member suring adequate funding. Malaysia $418
Vinod K. Paul, who In Delhi’s case, the biggest problem
helped draft the pro- would be reaching a consensus with China $322
gramme, says, “The private healthcare providers on the
government’s emphasis rates approved for treatment. Girdhar J. Thailand $247
will be to develop a basic infrastruc- Gyani, director general of the Associa-
Philippines $115
ture while providing insurance to a tion of Healthcare Providers, calls the
large number of people.” But it’s rates fixed by the central government Indonesia $108
evidently not going to be easy. The as presumptive and unrealistic. “The
government faces the huge challenge of government is under an illusion that Sri Lanka $88
keeping the treatment costs down treatment is possible at these rates,” he
Pakistan $34
while convincing private hospitals to says, cautioning that few private hospi-
participate in the scheme. Compound- tals are likely to show interest.
Source: World Bank, WHO Global Health Expenditure Atlas
ing the problem is the abysmal Ramneek Singh Bedi, former
state-run health infrastructure and national vice-president of the Indian
the demand-supply gap for qualified Medical Association (IMA), who runs
doctors, nurses and paramedics. a paediatrics hospital in Chandigarh,
Under the scheme, both private says Ayushman Bharat is likely to
and state-run insurance companies “compromise the quality of healthcare
will be given contracts after a state- to citizens”. He, too, questions the rates AYUSHMAN
wise bidding process. Insurance stipulated for various procedures. “The BHARAT MISSION
premiums will be fixed according to rate for delivery by caesarean section is CEO INDU
the number of eligible beneficiaries just Rs 9,000, including a five-day stay BHUSHAN SAYS
in each state. Bhaskar Nerukar, who in hospital, medicines, consumables,
heads the health administration doctors’ and nurses’ fees and food for
THE TREATMENT
team at Bharat Allianz, is upbeat. He the patient,” he says. There’s no provi- RATES HAVE BEEN
says the company’s experience with sion for emergency procedures or com- DECIDED BY THE
similar state-run schemes in Gujarat, plications arising during child birth. GOVERNMENT
Mizoram and Uttarakhand have been Cost studies by the IMA in Tamil Nadu,
ON THE BASIS OF
“positive”. Kapil Mehta, founder and in contrast, put the cost of a caesarean
CEO of insurance brokerage firm procedure at over Rs 57,000. A MEDIAN AND
Secure Now, feels Ayushman Bharat T. Narsinga Reddy, IMA president STATES HAVE
will spur major growth in the insur- for Telangana, says government hospi- BEEN GIVEN
ance sector. He adds a caveat, though. tal rates have been used to fix the treat- FLEXIBILITY TO
“Treating so many people with the ment costs under the scheme. Bedi says
existing infrastructure will be a chal- the rates should be realistic and factor
MAKE CHANGES
lenge,” says Mehta, adding that the in expenses such as infrastructure,

48 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 0.6
GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON
HEALTH (% of GDP)

INDIA
DOCTOR PER 1,000 providers are routinely kept pending
PEOPLE; SHOULD for over six months. In May, over
BE 1: 1,000 Rs 200 crore was pending to hospitals
4.06 3.97 1.15
under Aarogyasri. Bedi says while
1995 2013 2017

0.7
the bigger private hospitals somehow
tide over the delayed payments, the
smaller (under 50 beds) hospitals face
the brunt.
Philippines

Indonesia

Sri Lanka HOSPITAL BEDS PER

Malaysia

Pakistan
Thailand

Oxfam India’s Shamaila Khalil

1,000 PEOPLE (IDEAL
China

argues that the Ayushman scheme will

RATIO 1: 1,000) further weaken the state-run health
infrastructure, forcing people to seek

472
private treatment even for minor ail-
ments. Some experts feel the Rs 1,200
crore budget for 150,000 health and
wellness centres is grossly inadequate.
MEDICAL COLLEGES
AND CLOSE TO Kumar and his colleagues at the
40% SHORTAGE OF IMA also fear an escalation in violence
MEDICAL TEACHERS against doctors. “There would be a
huge gap in the expectations of poor
patients and the services available,

1 NURSE
FOR EVERY 2,500
especially services that need to be
outsourced,” says Bedi. Since 2001,
the Medicos Legal Action Group, a
trust managed by doctors from across
2.6
2.8 3.5 RESIDENTS, the country, has documented several
4.2 4.1 COMPARED WITH hundred instances of patients’ relatives
4.7
6 1 FOR EVERY assaulting doctors on duty.
150-200 IN RICH IMA functionaries warn that, in
COUNTRIES its present form, the Ayushman Bharat
scheme could serve as the proverbial
last nail in the coffin for smaller and
Graphics by ASIT ROY
medium-scale private hospitals, which
are already feeling the heat from
equipment, import duties on equip- been fixed as per the existing rates skewed laws, such as the Clinical Es-
ment and even water and electricity under the Central Government Health tablishments (Registration & Regula-
charges, which private hospitals pay at Scheme (CGHS) and after discussions tion) Act, 2010. The act was brought in
commercial rates. with a group of experts and some to create a database of medical estab-
Ayushman Bharat Mission CEO 60-70 hospitals. “Private hospitals lishments in the country, but Kumar
Indu Bhushan rejects the criticism. should proceed with these rates for one says “it’s becoming a tool for harassing
“The government has decided the rates year,” he suggests, following which the [smaller] hospitals”.
on the basis of a median. Every state government could review them. Although the IMA did sign a ‘part-
has a different cost structure, which is Even if the government were to nership agreement’ with the govern-
why no particular rate for any disease rationalise the costing, doctors say the ment in July, its national president,
can have fixed across the country. We insurance model proposed has pitfalls. Ravi Wankhedkar, has said that “the
have given flexibility to the states to The IMA’s Chandigarh president, differences over [medical] package
make necessary changes,” she says. Niraj Kumar, points out that a Rs 5 rates remain”. Prime Minister Modi is
IMA representatives, however, say lakh insurance cover to a family for a stated to be keen to make Ayushman
the 10 per cent flexibility allowed to premium of just Rs 1,250 cannot work. Bharat his big-ticket announcement
states is inadequate. Gyani says some The payouts record of existing govern- this Independence Day. However, with
2,500 super-specialty hospitals across ment health schemes, such as CGHS some states yet to come on board and
the country have already refused to and Aarogyasri (Telangana), aren’t many private hospitals developing cold
participate in the programme. encouraging either. feet, a formal launch, say sources, may
Paul says the treatment costs have CGHS payments to healthcare be deferred to October. n

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 49

NEIGHBOURS: CHINA

WATERWAYS
AFP

OF THE FUTURE
INLAND WATERWAYS ARE TRANSFORMING CHINA’S
HINTERLAND. THE NEXT STEP—A MEGA PORT LINKING THE
THREE GORGES DAM TO EUROPE AND THE INDIAN OCEAN

Ananth Krishnan in Chongqing

 WESTWARD HO The Gaoyuan port on the Yangtze in
Chongqing is 4 sq. km, the world’s biggest inland port

and to the Bay of Bengal port the river as a freight chan-

of Kyaukpyu in Myanmar nel. Today, close to 200 ships
in the west, with the hope of pass through the two locks
transforming landlocked in- daily. “Before the shiplifts,”
terior China into an unlikely says Wang Chan Ge of the
centre for regional trade. Three Gorges Corporation,
The Three Gorges Dam “this was not a viable trad-
at Yichang and the upstream ing channel.” Now, instead
port at Chongqing are at the of sailing a circuitous route
heart of China’s plan to revive around the dam, the lifts have
its inland waterways. China reduced sailing time by six
already leads the world in hours and the cost of freight
water freight traffic, which to Chongqing by one-third.
accounts for 8.7 per cent of to-
tal freight compared with 0.5 MOVING INLAND
per cent in India, according
to a 2017 World Bank report. China’s use of its inland
Traffic volumes are now set to waterways has a long history.
grow even further. Until a few The famous Grand Canal,
years ago, the shallow upper which links Hangzhou and
reaches of the Yangtze were Beijing, was constructed as
out of bounds for freighters, early as the 2nd century BC
FREIGHT MOVEMENT until the completion of the and completed by the 5th cen-
ON WATERWAYS construction of the mam- tury Sui dynasty. Legend has
moth Three Gorges Dam. it that the emperor in Beijing

8.7 % 0.5%
CHINA INDIA
The hugely controver-
sial project—up to a million
people were displaced—
would have silk from Hang-
zhou and Suzhou, and women
from the two towns who were
was conceived largely for famed for their beauty, sent to
Source: World Bank hydropower generation. The the imperial capital on ships.
dam has a capacity of 22.5 “Throughout history, inland
GW—roughly half of India’s water transport has boosted
total hydropower capacity. the economy,” says Wang
The costs of the dam—from Zhiqiang, deputy director of

ON
as the freighters slowly displacement and reloca- the Chongqing government’s
defied gravity and rose out tion of entire towns to the Development and Reform
of the water on a massive environmental impact—are Commission. “Today, we are
shiplift. Within an hour, still a matter of heated debate seeing the same. For Chongq-
A RECENT MISTY the ships from Shanghai in China. To make their case, ing, the freight route through
MORNING, a long line of scaled the heights of the advocates of the dam are the Yangtze has hugely helped
freighters carrying automo- Three Gorges Dam, and today citing what was largely transport costs.” As he points
biles and heavy machinery continued onward up the an unintended benefit—the out, the cost of shipping one
slowly snaked their way Yangtze to a sprawling port dam’s opening up of China’s tonne per km on the Yangtze
along a bend of the Yangtze in Chongqing, the biggest interiors to major shipping by river is 3 cents (30 paise),
river in southwestern China. port in China’s heartland. increasing the depths of the compared to rail (20 cents
Out of the fog, a towering From Chongqing, the goods Yangtze’s upper reaches. or Rs 2 per km) and road (50
185 metre concrete edifice— are offloaded onto trains The shiplift was in the cents or Rs 5 per km).
the world’s largest dam that run to Germany and to initial plan for the dam, but In 2016, President Xi
at the Three Gorges—ap- trucks that travel a highway was abandoned. New tech- Jinping visited Chongqing
peared to block their path. south to Kunming. Plans nological advancements have and toured the city’s Gaoyuan
Then, the magic happened: are underfoot to link Kun- made the operation of dual port, which he decided would
a gush of water followed ming by expressway and rail shiplifts possible since 2015, play a key connecting role in
by a slow, cranking sound, to Singapore in the south which has changed the fate of his pet Belt and Road Initia-

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 51

NEIGHBOURS: CHINA
HAVE WATER, WILL SAIL Tianjin
440
China leads the world in inland water
traffic, India lags far behind
tive (BRI). Under BRI, Xi Qingdao
launched new freight trains 476
that run from Chongqing
across Central Asia to Duis-
burg in Germany, carrying
Wuhan Nantong
machinery, vehicles (home to
Varanasi 40 200
General Motors and home- Ningbo
grown Chongqing Lifan) and 1.2 Chongqing
889
30
laptops (the city manu- Farakka
factures one-fourth of the 0.3
world’s laptops). The railway CHINA
runs right up to Gaoyuan
Kandla Guangzhou Shanghai
port, which enables seamless INDIA 475 646
87
connectivity. The Yangtze
route now links Chongqing Mumbai Haldia
to Shanghai, one of China’s 59 6
busiest international ports, Nava Sheva
and paves the way for interior 62 Inland ports
provinces to more cheaply Coastal ports
Visakhapatnam Paradip
access the Central Asian and 58 68 Port capacity in million tonnes
European markets.
“This port will be at
the centre of five interna- berths that handle 2 million The Rs 11,000 cr revive India’s languishing
tional routes,” explains Fang containers, three berths for 9 port in Chongqing waterways. By December
Liang, from the Chongqing million tonnes of cargo, and 2018, said Union minister
is the biggest in
port container company. three berths dedicated to 1 for road transport, highways
To the west, it will connect million vehicles, produced by
China, underlining and shipping Nitin Gadkari,
to Europe by rail. To the a local General Motors plant the focus on 10 out of 111 national water-
northeast, the rail runs to and Chongqing Lifan, which inland waterways ways will be revitalised.
Inner Mongolia and onward makes cars, buses and trucks But the central fund of Rs
to Russia. To the east, it and is targeting South and 2,000 crore may hardly be
connects with Shanghai via Central Asia. sufficient. There is much
the Yangtze. Two new routes China may lead the combination of channel sense in countries like China
are being envisaged: to world in inland water freight dredging, upgraded and and India investing in water
Singapore in the south once traffic, but its planners say new locks (many combined transport, the ADB report
the Kunming-Thailand- it has only begun to scratch with hydropower generation said. In both countries,
Singapore rail is completed, the surface. A National Plan facilities), shiplifts, and new logistics costs are high,
and from Kunming also by for Inland Waterways and and upgraded terminals for and so is traffic congestion.
rail to the Bay of Bengal port Ports is on the anvil. As a bulk and container traffic.’ ‘Waterways transport is a
of Kyaukpyu in Myanmar. 2016 Asian Development Following Chongqing’s low-cost, low-pollution, and
Bank (ADB) report noted, expansion, its capacity will low-carbon mass transport
INDIA TRAILS CHINA under the plan, all the main double to 60 million tonnes mode,’ the ADB said.
inland water systems are after the next phase. But it Both countries have long
The port is now in the midst being upgraded, including would also put Chongqing, coastlines and long rivers,
of a major expansion, says the Yangtze river, Pearl river, despite being an inland port, ideally suited to open up
Peng Bing, its general man- Grand Canal and Huaihe on a par with India’s second- their interiors. China has
ager. The first phase covering river, Heilongjiang and Song- biggest coastal port at gone far ahead in utilising
4 sq. km. was finished in Liao rivers, and the Minjiang Paradip. India’s biggest port, its rivers—its inland water
2015, costing 10.5 billion river. The Yangtze-Chongq- Kandla, handles around freight volume is the highest
yuan (around Rs 11,000 ing project is just the start. 88 million tonnes—merely in the world. Water transport
crore). “In terms of area and ‘In each case,’ the report one-tenth of China’s biggest in China accounts for 8.7 per
investment,” he says, “it’s the said, ‘it is taking a network Ningbo, underlining how far cent of freight movement. In
biggest in China.” It current- approach of creating inter- India trails in port capacity. India, the figure is 0.5 per
ly handles 30 million tonnes linked, high-standard routes. The Narendra Modi cent. Change cannot come
a year through 16 berths: 10 The improvements include a government has pledged to soon enough. n

52 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018 Graphic by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

WHEN THE
GOING IS TOUGH...
GO ON
DO NOT LOSE SIGHT OF
YOUR INVESTMENTS EVEN
IF THE MARKET IS IN A
STATE OF FLUX

l BALANCED FUNDS
l HOME LOANS
l MOTOR INSURANCE

Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE

SMART MONEY BALANCED FUNDS

�� DDT ON EQUITY
Budget 2018 introduced
DDT at 10 per cent (11.648
per cent if you include the
12 per cent surcharge and 4
per cent cess) on equity and
equity-related instruments.
Given their structure, bal-
anced funds too fall under
equity. As such, they attract
DDT, which translates into
lesser money in the hands of
investors. So, if your scheme
declares a dividend of Rs 100,
what you get in hand now
is Rs 88.35. “Lower returns

CAUGHT OFF BALANCE

from market coupled with
dividend distribution tax are
taking away the shine from
Market volatility and the dividend distribution tax have made balanced funds,” says Suresh
Sadagopan, founder, Ladder
balanced funds less lucrative as an investment option
7 Financial Advisories. Gau-
tam echoes the observation:

I
n the world of investment, their money in balanced past hit the performance of “Applicability of DDT on
a favourite of investors funds. The better a scheme’s most equity-oriented funds, equity funds, as announced
today may not remain dividend track record, the including balanced funds. in the recent budget, has dis-
popular tomorrow. A similar more the funds that flow By design, the net asset couraged monthly dividend-
fate has befallen balanced into it. Most fund houses value (NAV) of the schemes seeking investors from opting
funds. Shrinking inflows that were declaring dividend typically fall to the extent for balanced funds.”
into this category of mutual on a yearly or half-yearly of the dividend declared.
funds is evidence of this: it basis started doing so on a “Lower equity returns have �� THE WAY AHEAD
stood at Rs 1,482 crore in monthly basis on the back accentuated the fall in NAV Balanced funds work well
June 2018 compared with of a favourable market. The in the past few months, thus for investors with a moder-
Rs 7,458 crore the same lower returns from fixed affecting investor sentiment ate risk appetite as they are
month last year, according income investment instru- for balanced funds,” says less volatile than pure equity
to Association of Mutual ments also helped. Anjaneya Gautam, senior VP funds. “While it is appropri-
Funds in India (AMFI) data. However, the volatile & national head of mutual ate to consider balanced
The decline had begun from equity market in the recent funds at Bajaj Capital. funds as comparatively
April when the dividend dis- conservative equity-oriented

A STEEP FALL
tribution tax, or DDT, came funds, this category is no
into effect. DDT, coupled replacement for regular
with low returns in the im- Inflow in balanced funds has reduced income for an investor,” says
mediate past due to market significantly in the past three months Gautam. His advice to those
uncertainty, has negatively 12,000 who want to benefit from
affected investments in bal- (in Rs crore) equity markets in the long
10,000
anced funds. What should run but do not have the need
investors do in this scenario? 8,000 for regular income is to go
6,000 for the balanced advantage
�� VOLATILE MARKET and equity hybrid categories
4,000
AND LOW RETURNS with growth option. n
The ‘continuity of monthly 2,000
dividends’ has always been 0 Kundan Kishore is a Mum-
a lure for investors to park June 2017 June 2018 bai-based freelance writer

54 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018 Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE

SMART MONEY HOME LOAN

HOW TO
LIGHTEN
YOUR HOME
LOAN LOAD
Part pre-payment,
increasing EMI/ tenure or
switching lenders… which
is your best bet in a rising
interest rate scenario?

A
fter a downward
spiral of four-and-
a-half years, the
Reserve Bank of India
increased the repo rate—the
rate at which banks bor-
row—last month by 25 basis
points (bps) or 0.25 per
cent. The banks were quick
SHUTTERSTOCK
to react with an increase of
5-10 bps in their marginal
cost-based lending rate �� IMPACT OF AN of Rs 8.73 lakh (Rs 79.51 the EMI or tenure of the
(MCLR). Some leading INTEREST RATE RISE lakh instead of the original loan provided their income
lenders had anticipated the Typically, when lenders Rs 70.78 lakh),” says Vipul levels allow them to do so.
hike well in advance and increase interest rates, they Patel, managing director & They should have sufficient
raised their rates prior to prefer to increase the loan founder of independent loan savings to comfortably
the RBI move. Unfortu- tenure of the borrower in- advisory, Mortgage World. pay the enhanced EMIs.
nately, this may not be the stead of the equated month- One can also approach the
end of the interest rate hike. ly instalment. Though the �� INCREASE EMI lender for increasing the
Given the rising inflation borrower is relieved that OR TENURE? tenure subject to certain
and international crude oil he doesn’t have to alter his Most experts advise going conditions.” The lender will
prices hovering stubbornly monthly budget to meet the in for an increased EMI not allow the loan tenure to
at a high level along with increase in EMI, length- than increased tenure. If stretch beyond the bor-
the government hiking the ening the tenure actually the bank is increasing the rower’s retirement age as
minimum support price for hurts his finances because tenure and you want to save any pause in regular income
many crops, retail inflation of the increase in overall on paying extra interest, may adversely affect loan
is likely to remain elevated, interest payment. “If the you can request the bank repayment capacity.
which may result in interest interest on a Rs 50 lakh or finance institution to However, think care-
rates going further up in home loan for 300 months increase your EMI without fully before you opt for an
the coming months. And increases from 8.5% to stretching your finances increase in EMI, as any
though a 25 bps hike may 8.75% in the 12th month, beyond control. Renu default in payment can
seem minor, it has a major your balance loan tenure Sud Karnad, managing mar the credit history of an
impact on your loan repay- gets extended by 10 months. director, HDFC, explains, individual and therefore his
ment, especially long-term You end up effectively pay- “A borrower can approach eligibility to borrow sub-
ones like a home loan. ing an additional interest the lender for increasing sequently. “An increase in

66 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

SMART MONEY HOME LOAN

EMI is justified in case you INITIAL HOME LOAN 74 months, from 300 to 226
have additional income or months. For an additional
Total sum `50 lakh
you have had an increase in pre-payment of merely Rs
income and want to pay less Rate of interest 8.5% 9.29 lakh, the overall inter-
interest on the loan or retire Total tenure 300 months est payable on the original
it early,” Patel says. loan will come down by Rs
EMI `40,261
21.16 lakh from Rs 73.32
�� HOW TO BRING Total interest payable 70,78,406 lakh to Rs 52.16 lakh (see
DOWN INTEREST accompanying chart).
RATE? AFTER 6 MONTHS
While enhancing EMIs is IMPACT WHEN INTEREST RATE RISES BY 0.25% �� SWITCHING LOANS?
one alternative, you can also Switching a loan makes
Principal outstanding `49.7 lakh
negotiate a rate cut with the sense only if the tenure
bank or financing institu- New rate of interest 8.75% pending is long and the
tion. A borrower paying Increased balance tenure 317.18 months difference in interest rate is
higher rates as compared to significant. “We recommend
Interest payable in remaining tenure `77.99 lakh
the prevailing lower rates switching the mortgage or
can pay a conversion fee and Extra interest burden `9.33 lakh loan only when all options of
switch to the existing rate. negotiating with the current
However, Patel suggests OPTION 1: MAKING PARTIAL PREPAYMENT lender have failed and the
that one must try to avoid Amount prepaid `2.5 lakh gap between the current
paying the fee. “Borrowers rate and the one being of-
New principal outstanding `47.2 lakh
need to insist on not paying fered by another bank is at
additional fees for the rate Interest payable in remaining tenure `59.77 lakh least 0.25%, more so in an
reduction, considering that Reduced balance tenure 265.7 months increasing rate scenario,”
switching banks helps them says Patel. One should also
save at least 9/12 EMIs,” Interest saved `18.23 lakh factor in the additional costs
says Patel. involve in switching loans,
OPTION 2: REFINANCING OR SWITCHING* such as the processing fee,
�� WHEN TO MAKE A Principal outstanding Rs 49.7 lakh documentation charges etc,
PART PAYMENT? Reduced rate of interest 8.5%
which could add up to Rs
If the increase in rate hike 11,000-Rs 17,000 depend-
and the resultant increase in New balance tenure 294 months ing on the lender and the
tenure are hurting you, you Interest payable in remaining tenure Rs 70.78 lakh loan outstanding.
can consider part prepay- One should also consider
Interest saved Rs 9.33 lakh
ment of the loan. As RBI some of the benefits associ-
has removed any penalty on EMI remains constant in all cases; interest saving computed as difference ated with home loans. Hous-
from hiked rate scenario *You may incur a cost typically around Rs 11,000
prepayment of floating rate to Rs 17,000 in refinancing or switching ing loans have great tax
home loans and since most benefits, which makes the
of the home loans are taken effective interest rate lower,”
on floating interest rate, the duration of the tenure. and interest payable.” says Karnad. A customer
partial prepayment helps you “Part prepaying at should also examine high-
save on interest outgo with- regular intervals is highly �� REGULAR PART cost loans versus low-cost
out pinching you. If a person recommended,” advises PRE-PAYMENT ones. “It is advisable that the
with an initial home loan of Patel. “And the earlier you One can even consider regu- customer evaluates all the
Rs 50 lakh for 25 years faces start prepaying, the lower lar part-prepayment of the loans and decides to repay
a hike in interest rate from the overall interest charged loan. For instance, the EMI the loan based on its cost
8.5 per cent to 8.75 per cent on your home loan will be. on a Rs 50 lakh loan for 25 and impact on cash flows,”
after six months of beginning Prepaying your home loan years at 8.75 per cent inter- adds Karnad. n
the loan and if he prepays Rs in the initial years is highly est is Rs 41,107. If you part
2.5 lakh without changing advisable. A small prepay- pre-pay 10 per cent of the Khyati Dharamsi is
EMI, then he can save Rs ment has an exponential EMI on a monthly basis, the a Mumbai-based
18.22 lakh in interest for the impact on the overall tenure tenure will come down by freelance journalist

56 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

SMART MONEY MOTOR INSURANCE

GAINS FROM
A SPOTLESS
DRIVING
RECORD

SHUTTERSTOCK
Have a no-claim bonus for your
old car insurance? Bring down the
premium for your new one

E
very year when you �� TRANSFER ONLY IN from your existing vehicle Ownership of a Motor
renew the car insur- SIMILAR CLASS OF insurer. As Easwara Naray- Vehicle’.
ance policy without VEHICLE anan, COO, Future Generali
having made any claim in You can transfer your NCB India Insurance, explains, �� NCB VALIDITY
the previous year, you get a only to a similar class of “NCB Reserving Letter is a Once you submit proof of
no claim bonus (NCB) from vehicle, that is car to car, proof of the NCB percentage sale, the insurance company
the insurance company. bike to bike, truck to truck. earned by the policyholder issues the NCB Reserving
This helps you lower the What you can do, though, is over the years, and becomes Letter. This is what you need
premium when you renew transfer NCB to a different useful when a customer to show when purchasing in-
the insurance policy. As category of car in the same sells his vehicle and does not surance for your new car. The
Puneet Sahni, head, product class, that is from a sedan to buy another immediately.” transfer of NCB from the old
development, SBI General SUV. What you cannot do To get the NCB Reserving car to a new car does not take
Insurance, explains, “If you is transfer the NCB earned Letter , you need to submit much time. “You can carry
have held the policy for a on a two-wheeler to a car, or to your existing insurer a forward your NCB even if you
whole year and not made vice versa. transferred RC copy, De- change insurers. You need to
any claims against it, you livery Note (duly filled and apply for the NCB retention
become eligible for NCB on �� DOCUMENTS signed) and Form 28 & 29. letter within 90 days of the
the ‘own damage’ portion REQUIRED The first is an application for date of sale. The retention let-
of the premium for the next The first thing you need to granting of ‘No Objection ter, however, is valid for three
year. One can get NCB ben- initiate the NCB transfer Certificate’, while the second years,” says Navin Chandani,
efit in the range of 20-50% is an NCB reserving letter is a ‘Notice of Transfer of CBDO, BankBazaar.
depending on the number of Chandani however,
claim-free years.” strikes a note of caution.
However, very few people THINGS TO KNOW “Do not attempt to save
know that you can get this ABOUT NCB on premium by faking the
benefit transferred to the NCB while moving to a new
new vehicle should you up- insurer; else you may face
grade. For, NCB is attached l Can be trans- l You can buy problems while filing a genu-
to the policyholder, not the ferred to similar insurance for ine claim. Insurers share
class of vehicle the new vehicle
vehicle. So, when you sell a data, and it is easy to get
(car to car, bike to from a different
car, you have the option to bike, etc.) insurer caught. Even if this may not
retain the NCB benefit and happen during underwrit-
cut down on the insurance ing, it can happen during the
l Category within l You cannot
cost when buying a new car. claims process,” he says. n
same class can transfer NCB
However, you need to keep be different, say earned on a two
a few things in mind while from old sedan to wheeler to a car Amit Sethi is a
choosing to do so. new SUV or vice versa freelance writer
 CINEMA | DULQUER SALMAAN

A HARD
ACT TO
FOLLOW
Malayalam cinema star Dulquer
Salmaan makes his Bollywood debut.
Can he live up to expectations?

By Suhani Singh

D ulquer Salmaan is wearing a plain

white T-shirt with a stain in the
middle, but the female reporter before us only
has eyes on the Malayali heart-throb’s face.
She tells him how he has a legion of female
admirers in her office since his 2015 Mani
Ratnam-directed Tamil film OK Kanmani.
The 31-year-old actor, son of Malayalam su-
perstar Mammootty, blushes, but downplays
his appeal. In Mumbai for 10 days to promote
his Hindi film debut, Karwaan, he is learning
the ropes of promotions in Bollywood.
In Kerala, says Salmaan, he barely does
any. But with Karwaan’s lead, Irrfan, away in
London for cancer treatment, he is left to do
multiple interviews and talk about the road trip
comedy in which, he has no qualms admitting,
he plays “second fiddle” to Irrfan. “Besides those
who have seen OK Kanmani, I don’t know how
HIT MACHINE
many people in the markets up north know
who I am,” he says. “Having Irrfan in the film USTAD BANGALORE CHARLIE OK KAN-
HOTEL (2012) DAYS (2014) (2015) MANI (2015)
is helping me being seen. (Later) I have enough
Salmaan made In this coming- Salmaan won Added to his
coming my way that’s about me.”
a formidable of-age drama, the Kerala State female fan
Salmaan is gradually making a case for impression as Salmaan plays an Film Award following with
himself as the first multi-lingual star since Ka- a young chef avid biker whose for best actor his act in Mani
mal Haasan, Rajinikanth and the late Sridevi whose grand- relationship with for essaying a Ratnam’s love
forayed into Hindi cinema from the South. father teaches a paraplegic RJ free-spirited story that
Since his debut with the Malayalam film him to appreci- gives him new man searching looks at live-in
Second Show (2012), he has done several Tamil ate tradition lessons in life for his destiny relationships

58 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 MAKING WAVES
Dulquer Salmaan

and Telugu movies, with this year’s Mahanati, in Salmaan has already signed his next Hindi
which he plays legendary actor Gemini Ganesan, film, The Zoya Factor, an adaptation of Anuja
being his biggest hit to date. So what took him Chauhan’s novel, with Sonam Kapoor as the lead-
so long to enter Bollywood? “It’s not something I ing lady. The shooting begins in September. But
have actively pursued,” says Salmaan. “I am pretty he has no plans to stay put in Mumbai. “Malay-
bad at creating projects. I literally handle my own alam cinema is still number one as it has given
work.” While he wanted to “push original con- me everything,” he says. “The geographical lines
tent”, what until now came his way were remakes have blurred. Thanks to Netflix and Amazon, now
of his popular Malayalam films, Ustad Hotel everybody watches everything.”
(2012) and Bangalore Days (2014). Born in Kochi, Salmaan was raised in Chen-
Yet, he has carved a niche with a host of nai where he learnt Tamil and Hindi in school.
unconventional, independent films. Second Show From an early age, he was conscious of the burden
was hardly a ‘loud film’ or fit the description of his of legacy. “Even if I didn’t get into movies, I had
‘launch vehicle’. Even in his Tamil debut, Vaayai to make something of myself,” he says. “I couldn’t
Moodi Pesavum (2014), the second half was com- be a failure or just disappear.” Growing up in
pletely silent. In a TV interview, Mani Ratnam, the 1990s, he wasn’t particularly enamoured of
who worked with Mammootty in Thalapathi, said, Malayalam cinema and recalls being struck by
“He (Salmaan) is right opposite Mammootty. It’s Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai (2001). “I re-
amazing to watch a young man who has grown alised we can make interesting cinema just telling
under such a huge giant not have shades of him at our own stories,” he says.
all. To be completely independent, Salmaan studied business man-
to be unique and still be such a agement at Purdue University in
good talent.” the US and still dabbles in seed and
In Karwaan, Salmaan plays “It’s not venture capital funding. “It gives me
a young man who embarks on the freedom to do the films I want,”
a journey to recover his father’s
something I he says. The actor belongs to a small
body that has got exchanged with have actively group of second-generation film
another. “Earlier, we wanted to pursued,” says industry kids, including Sukuma-
be like the superheroes on screen. Salmaan of ran, Fahadh Faasil and Vineeth
Now, as actors, we want to be like his Bollywood Sreenivasan, who have succeeded
the audience, connect easily,” he foray in their cinematic endeavours. “I
says. “Karwaan has a lot of heart.” understand it is important for any
Salmaan isn’t the first actor actor to have his own identity.” Even
from the Malayalam film industry with over 21 Malayalam films under
to try his hand at Bollywood. The past decade has his belt in six years, he admits uncertainty still
seen Asin (Ghajini) and Prithviraj Sukumaran nags him. “The average Malayalam moviegoer
(Aiyyaa, Aurangzeb) and, more recently, Parvathy has very high expectations of me. I can’t do a bad
(Qarib Qarib Singlle) make an impression. Mam- movie. I don’t know if I am ever good enough.”
mootty’s own dalliance with Bollywood was a Last year, Malayalam cinema was under the
failure and superstar Mohanlal has been missing spotlight for the wrong reasons after popular
in action since Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag. The actor Dileep was accused of involvement in the
MANDAR DEODHAR only one to have gained acclaim is Revathy, who abduction and sexual assault of an actress. While
has not only acted (Love, Raat, 2 States) in Bolly- Salmaan is reluctant to comment on Dileep’s
wood but even directed Hindi films (Phir Milenge reinstatement in AMMA (Association of Malay-
and Mitr, My Friend). alam Movie Artists) even when the courts haven’t
MAHANATI “You can’t keep good talent down for too long,” cleared him, he maintains that Malayalam cinema
(2018)
says filmmaker Bejoy Nambiar, who directed needs to do more for its actresses. “The writing of
A star turn as
Salmaan in the Malayalam film Solo (2017). “He cinema was reflective of those times and people
Gemini Ganesan
goes all out to support your vision. He is very self- didn’t have awareness,” he says. “The #MeToo
in this biopic
that examines assured and secure as an actor.” It perhaps explains movement took off now because people are speak-
actress Savitri’s why Salmaan wouldn’t hesitate to do a biopic on ing up and awareness will increase. If something
complex relati- Savitri in Mahanati. Nambiar adds, “The industry becomes taboo or discussed, it will affect how
onship with the is now more accepting and he will find his way, everybody thinks. Nobody will write those kinds
Tamil cinema icon irrespective of Karwaan.” of films now. I feel the change will happen.” n

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 59

 LEISURE
MISTERS NONA,
ANOMALY TRUE LIE
PG 63 PG 6 4

SUNNY LEONE: UNKNOWN Q&A WITH

UNKNOWNS JANHVI KAPOOR
PG 6 6 PG 6 8

CINEMA

Screen
Time
Aneesh Chaganty was eight when he first saw
M. Night Shyamalan’s photo in India West,
a popular magazine among Indians living in
the United States. Born and brought up in
San Jose, California, to serial entrepreneur
parents, Chaganty used to dash to the movie
theatre after school on Fridays to watch flicks
like Harry Potter and Mission Impossible
with his mother and younger brother. When
he finally saw Shyamalan’s first big film, The
Sixth Sense, it was an epiphany.

ector
e b u tant dir
D SH
ANEE TY’s
G A N
CH A ching,
riller, ar ly on
S e
th e
s entir
unfold er screens
ut
comp

TOMMASO BODDI / GETTY IMAGES

LEISURE

“If anything
“I can do that. He looks like me,” he recalls what I hope our fears of living in a world of surveillance
thinking. “Of all the filmmakers in my life, he people get from and no privacy.
has been the biggest inspiration and influence.” this movie is Chaganty says Searching is not “an indict-
Like Shyamalan, who stormed into Hol- that there are ment of technology”. Instead, he sees the film
lywood two years older, 27-year-old Chaganty
negative trying “to give it a more holistic perspective
hopes to make a similar splash with his feature that hasn’t been done before”. “If anything,
debut, Searching, a detective thriller starring
aspects to what I hope people get from this movie is that
John Cho and Debra Messing that releases in technology but there are negative aspects to technology but
the US and India simultaneously in August. there’s a lot there’s a lot more good it can achieve,” he said
A film with a familiar premise, Searching more good it at a recent MAMI screening in Mumbai.
builds on a parent’s worst nightmare. A single can achieve” That shouldn’t come as a surprise, consid-
parent, Cho learns that his 16-year-old daugh- ering that technology is the reason Chaganty
ter has disappeared. When he tries to track her is in show business in the first place. When he
down, breaking into her social media accounts and USC School of Cinematic Arts batchmate
to scroll through her posts and scan her friends’ Sev Ohanian realised that Google hadn’t made
profiles, he realises that he never knew her at all. While a TV ad for Google Glass nearly a year after its launch in 2013,
Cho’s character searches online, Messing’s character is the Chaganty decided to make one himself. He bought a ticket to
detective who knocks on doors and interviews witnesses India, documented his journey from California to India using
and suspects. the Glass and created a 2 minute, 29 second short titled Seeds.
What makes Searching different is that the story It swiftly went viral after he uploaded it on May 14, 2014, and
unfolds entirely on computer screens—an innovation that a few months later he landed a job at the Google Creative Lab
earned Chaganty a great deal of buzz, as well as an Alfred in New York, where he wrote, developed and directed com-
P. Sloan Feature Film Prize and Audience NEXT award at mercials from 2014-16. “I learned how to emote on a computer
the Sundance Film Festival this year. screen,” said Chaganty about the experience.
The film’s conversations take place over FaceTime and After Google, he moved back to California, this time to
via iMessages. Scenes are presented from the point of view Los Angeles, to try to break into the movie business. Over
of the characters’ laptop cameras, CCTV feeds and online the course of a year, he and Ohanian wrote what they call
television news clips. Emotions and plot points are estab- a ‘scriptment’—script plus treatment—for Searching on a
lished through their posts, likes and comments. The conceit Google document. “It looked like a novel with chapter head-
helps emphasise the film’s concerns about the changing dy- ings, with texts, even deleted ones, and dialogues,” he says.
namics of the parent-child relationship—where the mobile One of the joys of Searching is to see how the backspace key
phone has replaced in person conversation—and heightens gives an insight into a character’s innermost feelings. “In a
great scene, there’s always subtext,” he says. “You know the
character is feeling something but saying something else. We
learned how to create subtext on text. The cool thing about
this movie was that so much of it was changeable.”
The story went from Google doc to reality when Chaganty
met Cho—best known for Harold & Kumar and Star Trek—
in a bar. With what he calls the best pitch he had ever made,
the would-be filmmaker convinced the actor to join the
project. After five people devoted two years editing the film
on two iMac computers, Searching was finished last year.
His mother, Subha, who visits Hyderabad every month in
the course of her regular job, has been his manager and stylist
during the India promotions for the film. And he credits his
parents for encouraging him to pursue his passion, even as
they insisted he focus on academics. “I am fuelled by the exact
same engine which drove them,” says Chaganty, who is putting
the finishing touches on another thriller, Run, which he’ll also
direct. “I have seen them take risks, try to figure something
out and start something from scratch and own something.”
That’s the American dream. And the Indian one. n
—Suhani Singh
 RAJWANT RAWAT

that generates fantastic art-

work and singular live shows
with theatrical elements, and
the result is a music and art
collective as lush and verdant
as a tropical rainforest.
Suryakant Sawhney, the
band’s front man, trained in
filmmaking in San Francisco.
His crooning is reminiscent of
Scott Walker and early Jarvis
Cocker. The vocal delivery is
more British than American,
even as Sawhney references
Kishore Kumar, Hemant Ku-
mar and Mohd Rafi.
He has the browser’s
approach of the international-
ist Indian, where influences
can come from wherever.
The cosmopolitan catholic
spirit is more important than
locational identity. The myste-
rious lyrics of the songs hold
back as much as they reveal:
CAT
PETER G CO “So bring me that payasam/
R D IN
RECO a base of Bring me that wine/ And show
t
has buil fans and
rd co re me the license/ That let’s you
ha act
a contr
scored French decide/ So bring me the vio-
with a bel
music la lence/ Bring me that lie/ And all
through this silence/ I let you
drive.” (‘Copulations’).
M USIC Sawhney has his own side
project Lifafa, while Kartik Pil-

MISTERS ANOMALY
lai (guitars and trumpet) and
Karan Singh perform with Be-
gum. The July 27 show prom-
ises a reunited PCRC in all its
glory at New Delhi’s Oddbird

P
eter Cat Recording accepted thing to bump into compilation of handpicked Theatre, before they leave
Co arrived on the other fans at a PCRC gig like tracks recorded between for Berlin. They will be joined
scene five years the one at Delhi’s Oddbird 2010 and 2016. More recent by two new band members,
ago, tailed by a Theatre on July 27 and shake music, most of it recorded in Dhruv Bhola on bass (who
massive underground buzz. one’s head in the Indian af- Paris, will get an international replaces longstanding legend/
“Listen to this,” said everyone firmative: ‘Next level, man, LP release later this year. bassist, Rohan Kulshrestha)
to everyone. Soon Delhi’s next level.’ PCRC’s music has an and Rohit on trumpet and
insular, sometimes sappingly This year, PCRC has been enticing quality, drawing the keys. Karan, their drummer,
cynical, music scene had in the news for being that rare listener into a potent mix of promises: “This won’t be just
a consensus: ‘These guys Indian band to have landed swirling organ notes, chunky another band-in a-bar kind
are on a different level.’ No a contract with a French piano and melancholic of gig. Expect something
one really articulated what label, Panache. Released on sardonic crooning. Add their different.” n
this level was. But it was an vinyl, Portrait of a Time is a loyal creative support system -Palash Krishna Mehrotra

AUGUST 6 , 2 018 INDIA TODAY 63

 T H E AT R E

TRUE LIE
J
ino Joseph, who at 32 already has two Mahindra
Excellence in Theatre Award(META)-winning plays
to his credit, makes his Mumbai debut this week with
his latest winner, Nona.
A socio-political satire, the Malayalam play won the
writer-director four accolades from META last year, in-
cluding best play and director for its sharp look at the rise
of pseudo-nationalism in India. It will be performed (with
English subtitles) at the National Centre for Performing
Arts on July 28.
Joseph is an anomaly in the theatre scene in that he
doesn’t have a repertory of his own yet. Instead, he lives
in a remote small town, Edoor, in the Kannur district of
Kerala, and travels to collaborate with groups across the
state, many of them like him with no academic training in
theatre. He has also worked with Malayali associations in
Gulf countries to stage plays with them. “It’s
interesting because they don’t have biases
and prejudices, and it is very easily to eph’s
Jino Jos ning
mould them in any form,” says Joseph, - w in
award litical
o
who was a college lecturer before taking socio-p ONA,
N
up theatre full-time two years ago. “I satire, Mumbai
ake s its
like to take their contributions, observe
m is week
debut th
their mannerisms and dialogue-rendering
capacity, and develop the script during the
process.” He worked with non-professional
actors of Black Theatre in Koduvally in Kozhikode district
for over two months to devise Nona, which means lie.
Tension mounts in Nona when a character named
Prasanth seeks the help of villagers to make a map of India
only to sow seeds of division when he disallows a few on
grounds of their caste after its completion. “Rural people
think that these problems happen far somewhere and it’s
not directly related to them,” says Joseph. “But it’s every-
where even at grassroots level. I wanted to bring it from
that faraway place to the courtyard.”
The socio-political perspective is an integral part of
Joseph’s work so far. “I consider theatre as the best medium
to protest and communicate issues which are sidelined and
need consideration,” he says. But he emphasises he doesn’t
affiliate with any political party. “I am for the propaganda
of theatre itself,” he says. “First it has to attract people and
constantly entertain them. Only then can we discuss issues
and thoughts can be spread.” n

—Suhani Singh
 LEISURE
BOOKS

The Doctor Is On
understated but elegant writing.
Consider, for example, “Scalp: Of
Horns, Terror and Glory”. In a scant
nine pages, he evokes Michelangelo’s
statue of Moses, in which the prophet
is portrayed with twin horns, a sym-
bol of power and transformation
that he points out likely stems from a
mistranslation confusing the Hebrew
words “kaeran” (shining) and “karan”
(horned). He explains the remarkable
“Marie Antoinette syndrome” in which
SHAPESHIFTERS:
On Medicine & a person’s hair turns white virtually
Human Change overnight due to an emotional shock,
by Gavin Francis noting that Shah Jahan experienced
HACHETTE the phenomenon after the death of
` 599, 282 pages Mumtaz. He revises Sigmund Freud’s
explication of Michelangelo’s Moses
in a few lines of remarkable art criti-

S
cottish physician Gavin cism. And, of course, he narrates the
Francis, whose book charming story of a patient who asks
Adventures in Being was an to postpone the removal of a two-inch
international bestseller, once horn because, she says, “I’ve a cos-
again illustrates his remarkable capac- tume party next week—I was thinking
ity for combining scholarship, mythol- of going as a unicorn.”
ogy and empathy with his medical The same skill in drawing unex-
insights in his new collection of medi- pected connections applies to less
tations on the nature of our bodies. arcane transformations—puberty,
Titled Shapeshifters: On Medicine anorexia nervosa, body modifica-
& Human Change, it’s a discursive tion (by tattooing and bodybuilding)
work, covering everything from a and pregnancy. One often suspects
real-life werewolf to a woman with a one’s physician of being rather fed up
unicorn’s horn (she’s not too bugged with the miracle of life and all that. But
about it). But what makes it brilliant is Francis succeeds not only in showing
Francis’s encyclopaedic knowledge, he retains the amazement of a first-
his ability to draw together dispa- year resident, but in inspiring the same
rate sources and observations to sense of wonder in his readers. n
generate surprising insights, and his —Jason Overdorf

SUPERHUMAN
Our fascination with extraordinary abilities has endured from the myths of Samson and
Hercules to the Hollywood treatments of Thor and the Hulk. In his latest book, however,
evolutionary biologist and New Scientist managing editor Rowan Hooper examines more
abstract superpowers: the bravery of the soldier in a bomb disposal unit who knows
there’s a one in six chance he’ll come home without his legs, if he comes home at all; the
remarkable longevity of people, who live long past 100
years of age; the prodigious memories of those afflicted
(or gifted) with a strange combination of autism and
synaesthesia. Endlessly intriguing.

SUPERHUMAN: LIFE AT THE EXTREMES OF MENTAL

AND PHYSICAL ABILITY
by Rowan Hooper
Hachette ` 599, 344 pages
LEISURE

SUNN Y LEONE

WHAT YOU
DON’T KNOW
ALREADY

L
est you accuse Karen-
jit Kaur: The Untold
Story of Sunny Leone
of false advertising, we
compiled a list of the
“untold” things revealed in Zee5’s new
web series.

Ê Sunny Leone is a pensive adult star.

Judging by how many times film-
maker Aditya Datt zooms in on her
face to show a woman guilt-ridden
and troubled during her shoots,
he wants you to never forget that
Karenjit Kaur Vohra went into porn
to solve her family’s financial prob-
lems and that it was a tough choice.
Ë She hasn’t gotten over her interview
with CNN-IBN anchor Bhupendra
Chaubey—whose misogynistic Sunny Leone wasn’t fluent and rapidfire Punjabi.
questions and judgemental remarks good at anything else. Î Sunny Leone wasn’t good at any-
caused her much distress. Here he’s thing else. Whether it is being
Whether it was as a
called “Anupam Chaubey”. With a staffer in a supermarket or a
him, the show gets its main antago-
supermarket staffer receptionist at a tax firm, Leone
nist and Leone her revenge. or a receptionist at a faced the brunt from her bosses.
¸ Her brother, Sundeep, is a drama tax firm, she took heat Ï She got her first taste of soft porn
queen. Throughout the show, the from her bosses courtesy her parents. Leone and
younger sibling (Karamvir Lamba) her friend discover a VHS tape
bemoans how poor he is and how titled Secret Temptation in her
LA makes him feel like a “deprived parents’ cupboard. The school-
third world nation” as people hook going Kaur is repulsed and seeks
up and make out freely. But nothing forgiveness from Guru Nanak
in the show makes you empathise for accidentally watching it.
with him. Ð What’s Sunny’s real age? Wiki-
¹ Mommy is the best. Actress Grusha pedia tells us she was born in
Kapoor makes the most of playing 1981. But episode nine shows her
the mother who hits the bottle to that year as a three- to four-year-
cope with her family woes—most of old girl who asks her father to
which come courtesy her daugh- remove his turban and show him
ter and her sister-in-law. Kapoor his hair. Perhaps season two will
provides the sole source of enter- shed some light. n
tainment with her jibes delivered in —Suhani Singh

66 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 6 , 2 018

 LEISURE
WAT C H L I S T

T V SER IES

T he
HOT MIC
early 20 years after he created getup of Ali G, called the former secretary

N
the fictitious rapper Ali G for general of the United Nations Boutros
Britain’s Channel 4, Sacha Baron Boutros Boutros Ghali more than a dozen
Cohen is back with a new “sting years ago. And what passes for humour
comedy” series billed as an here is more specific and overtly political
investigation of the great divide between than the potty talk of Borat—which could GOOD GIRL
America’s coastal liberals and heartland also be uncomfortable to watch. “Thelma and Louise meets Breaking
Trump supporters. However, its saving grace is not, as Bad” runs the elevator pitch for
Two decades is an eternity in The Economist would have it, the scru- this middling dramedy that couldn’t
quite make it on US broadcast TV.
comedy—where edgy becomes boring pulous manners of the butt of the jokes (a
It binges better without commer-
(Jerry Seinfeld), shrill (John Stewart) or hopelessly bourgeois Republican couple
cials—and there’s always Christina
offensive (Eddie Murphy) overnight. And Cohen visits in the guise of a “hetero-
Hendricks (Mad Men’s Joan).
the response to Cohen’s Who Is America, sexual cisgender man” who works for the
streaming on Hotstar in India, has been comically leftie-serious National Public Netflix
decidedly tepid so far. Radio, for instance).
“Too scary to be funny,” opined one What makes the show (almost)
reviewer, while The Economist declared recapture Cohen’s circa-2000 bril-
for the victims of Cohen’s stings, whom liance in post-truth 2018—when the US
the magazine described as “gra- president saying “p***y” over a hot
cious and hospitable” in the face mic is old news—is the fact that he
of Cohen’s ridiculous behav- sees the absurdity of both left and
iour. (Posing as an ex-convict- right. It’s not as funny as Borat
turned-“genius” artist, he so far. But with Trent Lott and a
dashes off a sketch of a gush- host of Republican Congressmen
ing art gallery proprietor shilling for a programme to put MATA HARI
using what he claims is guns in the hands of toddlers The world’s most famous spy
his own excrement, for to stop school shootings and story gets a sudsy treatment
instance.) the like—“Kinderguardians”, in this 12-episode Russian-
Portuguese production. With
It’s true that this the programme is called—as
Christopher Lambert (Highlander)
Cohen is meaner sting journalism it’s pretty darn
and Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner)
than the one who, compelling. n
in cameos, it’s exponentially Six
in the ridiculous —Jason Overdorf Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
Hotstar

AMERICAN WOMAN
Alicia Silverstone (remember
Clueless?) “stars in another let’s
make money from this feminism
thing”. It’s based on the childhood
of one of the stars of The Real
Housewives of Beverly Hills. So,
yeah, that’s what we’ve come to.
AUGUST 6 , 2 018
Video 81
INDIA TODAY
Amazon Prime
Q A
FROM THE
HEART
Janhvi Kapoor, actor, on
(not) watching Sridevi
movies and the anxiety
of influence

Q. How are you dealing with the

pressure of being compared to
your mother?
I am not thinking about it at all. I
neither followed her acting style
nor tried to stay away from it in my
Dhadak. Frankly, I have seen only
five of my mother’s films.

Q. Were you worried about

remaking a critically acclaimed
Marathi movie (Sairat) in your
debut?
Sairat is wonderful film, which has
done well across the country. I saw
it with my mother and wanted to be
part of such a solid script for my
debut. Dhadak’s director Shashank
Khaitan has not attempted to ‘imp­
rove’ upon the original film but has
interpreted it in a different milieu.

Q. What kind of roles are you

looking for in your next project?
I don’t think I am at a stage where I
can pick and choose. Let’s see the
kind of scripts that come to me. Of
course, I’d love to play characters
that challenge me as an actor. In
fact, my mother always used to
say, it’s not about the characters
one plays, but how they are played.

Q. You studied acting at the

renowned Lee Strasberg Thea­
tre and Film School in Los
Angeles. Did the training help in
Dhadak?
Not at all. Whatever I learnt was on
the sets and from Shashank and
accompanying my parents.

—with Sukant Deepak

SANDEEP SAHDEV

68 Volume XLIII Number 32; For the week July 31-August 6, 2018, published on every Friday Total number of pages 84 (including cover pages)
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Creative
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 Editor-in-Chief
Aroon Purie
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Making a difference

Contents
Group Photo Editor Cover Story
Bandeep Singh
Group Creative Editor
FIGHTING FIT
Nilanjan Das Ten women on how to eat
Deputy Editor
right, stay healthy and
Prachi Bhuchar
remain stress-free
Senior Editor
Shelly Anand

Photo Department
Vikram Sharma, Yasbant Negi, Rajwant Namrata
Rawat, Chandradeep Kumar Purohit,
Photo Researchers
Pilates expert
Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher),
Saloni Vaid (Principal Photo Researcher),
Shubhrojit Brahma (Assistant Photo
Researcher)

Associate Art Director

Anuranjan Bhatia

MANDAR DEODHAR
Assistant Art Director
Rajesh Angira

Production
Harish Aggarwal (Chief of Production), 8
Naveen Gupta, Vijay Sharma

26
Publishing Director
Manoj Sharma
Associate Publisher
Anil Fernandes (Impact)
24
Time to Act
IMPACT TEAM
Senior General Manager:
Natural
Sexual Route
Jitendra Lad ( West) harassment
General Managers: at workplace Four beauty
Upendra Singh (Bangalore) needs to be brands who stick
Kaushiky Gangulie (East) investigated to fresh and
Group Chief Marketing Officer properly pure ingredients
Vivek Malhotra

4 NEWS WRAP 6 WOMEN FOR WOMEN

Vol. 11 Number 6; July 2018

Copyright Living Media India Ltd. All rights
reserved throughout the world.
30
Food for
Moment
36
of Truth
Reproduction in any manner is prohibited.
Printed and published by Manoj Sharma Thought To stop rape,
on behalf of Living Media India Limited.
Know how to dish it is essential
Printed at Thomson Press India Limited, 18-35
up nutritious that we raise
Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road,
quinoa recipes our boys right
Faridabad-121007, (Haryana) and at A-9,
Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar, District
Kancheepuram-603209,(Tamil Nadu).
Published at K-9, Connaught Circus, Illustrations SIDDHANT JUMDE
New Delhi-110001. Editorial/Corporate Office
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 Letters
It hinges on editing
YES Not only social media but its
various extensions, such as print

Does social media media, advertising and audio-visual

media, are indicators of an unrealistic

portray an unreal body

body image. They try to showcase the
‘ideal’ image of a woman with the help
of different editing software to give out

image for women? a ‘flawless’ image. Editing a model’s

body to increase the saleability of a
particular product is made ‘natural’.
Women shouldn’t change their bodies
on the basis of these images but pay
attention to their personal, physical
well-being and mental health.
Pearl Pandya, Delhi

It devalues self-love
YES Compelling women to put their
best face forward, photographs
are now judged by their ‘Instagram
worthiness’. People want the perfect
face and body to show to the world
because everyone is doing that. This too
encourages mobile phone companies to
advertise their smartphones with the
best ‘selfie’ camera. The image one
portrays to followers on Instagram has
become important than who they really
are. The same applies to body types.
Promoting conventional ideas of beauty,
be it runway models, magazine covers
Illustration SIDDHANT JUMDE

or actors promoting shampoo brands,

we only see size zero women. All this
makes it harder for us to accept and
love ourselves.
Radhika Bansal, Delhi

It makes one feel inadequate

YES Social media is a powerful tool for
spreading information and
inevitably asserts the cultural exercise of
patriarchal control over women’s bodies.
This is reflected in constructing
unrealistic body image standards which
seem fit for the male gaze. Feeding into
age old prejudices, heavy bodies are
constantly ridiculed and are considered
unattractive, leading to a person’s
unhappiness. Therefore, several young
women feel physically inadequate and
undergo rigorous, taxing diet and
Ten winning letters from the India Today exercise routines, while constantly being
Woman online poll will receive L’Oreal Paris under pressure to upload “perfect”
flat-bellied, thin-limbed photographs.
products. Winners will be notified by email.
It is also interesting to see a
Letters may be edited for space and clarity. counter-culture which emphasises on
health, happiness and unconditional
TO WIN MORE EXCITING PRIZES CHECK OUT satisfaction in one’s own body instead
OUR NEXT QUESTION OF THE MONTH of this constant, unhealthy, striving for
AT WWW.INDIATODAY.IN/SUPPLEMENTS/WOMAN a toned body.
Medhavi Dhyani, Mumbai
 NewsWrap WHAT’S TRENDING THIS MONTH

“Cooking was a creative helped me in creating this space.

For me, learning to cook with spice

way to slow down”

through Ammi’s recipes gave me
space to be curious. I was always keen
to cook. But at the beginning, I was
all over the place—too spicy, too salty,
too much acid or bitterness. Cooking
Author Sarina Kamini writes a story revolving was a creative way to slow down and
to tune in to what I was feeling and
around family, food and faith in her book thinking, to breathe and relax. When
you make cooking a creative process,
BY SHELLY ANAND it becomes intuitive. I hadn’t listened
to myself for a really long time. I
think that was how I became so
confused about my life and my grief.
But learning to listen to myself and
my intuition at the stove top was the
beginning of something bigger.

F
Can women personalise
amilies often use different tradition and spirituality through
ways to communicate and spice?
create bonds and they often Everything in life is a construct
find connectivity through and a story. The trick is in
food. With this as the central theme knowing how to find yourself
of her book, Sarina Kamini, 41, in the messages one is given and
pens down how she taught herself to the cultural rules one grow up
personalise tradition and spirituality around. I suggest starting small.
through spices and how she came Pick one rite or one belief that you
to terms with her mother’s Parkinson’s feel is embedded, and play with it in
diagnosis in Spirits in a Spice Jar. the kitchen in a way that gives you
An Anglo-Indian author, living in strength. For me, I started by adding
a town in western Australia, she turmeric to my chai. I didn’t grow
Westland Publications
tells us how her story unfodled Pages 326 up drinking it like that, and even
through writing. Price Rs 499 through the rounds of edits on Spirits
in a Spice Jar, one of the editors
Do you feel that yours is a commented that turmeric in chai
unique story? wasn’t traditional at all. But it was
Families are so complex. We all have good for me.
them. We all struggle with them in mum and her disease. It has made me an It was a very small rebellion.
varying degrees. Disease doesn’t have infinitely kinder, empathetic, joyful and But that small rebellion grew into
to be physical like Parkinson’s. Disease loving person. I love my life. I’m so much bigger rebellions. Don’t do what’s
can be mental, financial, alcoholism, or more open. Being vulnerable always been done in your family for
depression. How families connect and has made me stronger. that reason alone. Question things.
communicate around the difficulties Change recipes. Experiment with
they face is interesting to me, and Do you think food and cooking can unknown tastes. Find out what you
reading the stories of others can help be the recipe for healing? taste like. I don’t even know if my
us understand how we might make Healing happened for me through sabzis are traditionally Kashmiri
different choices in our own lives. learning to find a unique perspective anymore, but they are fundamentally
that helped in self-assessment. The thing me. Finding out what you taste like
How has writing this book about perspective is that I can only find in the kitchen by being curious and
changed you? it if I can create some distance between experimental may seem a small thing,
I’ve found a way to forgive myself for myself and the story of my emotion but it gave me the courage to find out
the resentment and anger I felt towards and experience. The process of cooking who I am.
 NewsWrap WHAT’S TRENDING THIS MONTH

Empowerment

DRIVEN TOWARDS CHANGE

Lifting the age-old ban on

women drivers in Saudi
Arabia, the Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman has
taken an important step
towards women’s liberation.
More than 1.2 lakh women
reportedly applied for a driv-
er’s licence on June 24, the
Offbeat day of the ban lift, according
THE ‘MAI’ OF MANY to Senior Ministry of Interior
and Traffic Directorate officials. As unchanged. However, putting the
‘The Mother whatever she hiring women is an important part right to drive into practical usage,
of Orphans’, received through of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plan to especially in Riyadh and Jidda, is a
Sindhutai Sapkal begging, and overhaul its economy in Vision 2030, challenge as the lower strata cannot
has adopted thus fed the several restrictions such as right afford the price of the liberation.
more than a 1,000 abandoned and to marry, work or travel, remains
children in her orphaned. Over
life. Honouring the last 50 years,
her extraordi- she has trans-
nary social work formed the lives
and devotion, of over 1,400 Society
President Ram orphans, many of on their outward
ALL-EMBRACING
Nath Kovind felici- whom are now BEAUTY physical appear-
tated the 69-year- doctors, academi- ance,” said Carlson
old with the Naari cians and lawyers. The Miss America on ABC’s Good
Shakti Award, the Today, she has Organization, headed Morning America,
highest civilian 282 sons-in-law, by Gretchen Carlson, altering the
award for women. 48 daughters- has announced a land- 97-year-old compe-
After being kicked in-law, and over mark change in the his- tition. Redefining the
out of her hus- 300 grandchil- tory of beauty pageants. competition to stress
band’s house, dren, along with Dropping the swimsuit upon a woman’s intellect
pregnant with five homes for competition due to its and overall personality, contestants
her fourth child orphans and aban- misogynistic tradition, the event now no longer need to parade in
at 20 in 1973, she doned widows in now seeks inclusion. “We will swimsuits at these competitions.
started by sharing Maharashtra. no longer judge our candidates Compiled by Mrini Devnani

Books

The Forgotten Cities Aparna Jain in Like A What happens when

of Delhi by author and Girl:Real Stories For Tough a young, urban couple
historian Rana Safvi is Kids has come up with with high-flying careers
an attempt to bring the stories of 56 women who discover that they are
attention once again to the decided to chase their expecting? Richa S
forgotten but historically dreams. Read about the Mukherjee’s I Didn’t Expect
rich monuments, sites and stories of Homi Vyarawalla, To Be Expecting is the
tombs that the Capital is Indira Gandhi and Kalpana couple’s humorous journey
home to. Chawla to name a few. to parenthood.
Harper Collins India Westland Publications Harper Collins India
322 pages 197 pages 331 pages
Rs 799 Rs 799 Rs 299
 Women For Women

Carve
your own Path
TWO SOCIAL ACTIVISTS AND AN ENTREPRENEUR ON WHY
WOMEN NEED TO BE EMPOWERED TO INITIATE CHANGE

SHAILI CHOPRA, 37
ON WHY WOMEN NEED TO TAKE RISKS Founder, SheThePeople.TV,
WHILE RUNNING A BUSINESS Digital platform for empowering women, Delhi

# Be disruptive
To break new ground, you have got to
take risks. I did that when I decided to
leave mainstream television to embrace
digital and bring in SheThePeople. It was
easy to sit back and lead news, but I
wanted to experience and break through
with a women’s-only digital platform.

# Taking risks is a sign of confidence

It means that you can do something on
your own and have the capacity to pull
it through. In the real world, it’s not just
about taking the risk, but how you turn
it into an opportunity.

# Be fearless and fierce

Speak your mind and stick to your
stand. It’s important to put your opinions
out there. Don’t let anything stop
you from pursuing what you
passionately believe in.

# Everyday new, everyday creative

Find creativity in small things as that
brings newness to what we do on an
everyday basis. There is always a better
and a new way of doing everything
and it’s for us to find it.

# Stay motivated
It is the key to taking risks and being
driven to experiment with newer stuff.
It doesn’t matter how slowly you go,
just don’t stop.

Photograph by NILADRI DAS

6 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 PUJA MARWAHA, 52 ON WHY GENDER INEQUALITY
CEO, Child Rights and You, NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED
Non-profit organisation, Bengaluru
# To create strong comes to gender issues.
women of the future There is an urgent need
Our women are fighting a to change this story and
tougher battle for the it can only happen
same opportunities in life through affirmative
as their counterparts, and policies, proper
very often, just to get a political representation
chance to live. We owe it and asset ownership.
to our girls—the unborn,
the infant, the teenager # Because every
and the woman to be. person counts
Photograph by LANTERN CAMERA

Half the battle is won

# For the patriarchal when we become
attitude to change inclusive in our approach.
The country is divided in When it comes to the
terms of caste and socio- women of tomorrow, the
economic differences and boys today or the men of
that gives rise to tomorrow and their
complications in the education and attitude
social ladder when it is the key.

ON HIGHLIGHTING PERSONAL HYGIENE

NEEDS FOR WOMEN

ROSHINI NATH, 34
Governing board member, Khushii,
Non-profit organisation, Delhi
# Give them power to communicate even with
to speak up doctors on personal hygiene.
Women in India have stigma Even today, 80 per cent of
attached to their needs and women in rural and urban
don’t speak openly about slums use newspaper
menstrual hygiene, rape, and cloth instead of
pregnancy or using local sanitary napkins due to
forest as toilets. So, they need lack of awareness.
to be encouraged to speak
their minds. They should be # Instil confidence in them
enrolled in adult literacy to take decisions
classes, made to be aware of We need to train women
their fundamental rights, and so that they can be
should ensure that their independent and don’t rely
children are tuned in. on men to support them
and take care of them. They
# Educate them should be strong and mature
Women’s education was in taking their own decisions.
not given a priority in our Also, it is common knowledge
country for long and their that women need healthcare
awareness levels in matters of facilities more and they
public health and self care are access the healthcare system
negligible. Many are ashamed better than men do.

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 9

 FIT
Cover Story

&
FANTASTIC IF SHWETA RATHORE, A FITNESS PHYSIQUE
ATHLETE IS FIGHTING STEREOTYPES TO SHOW
OTHERS HOW TO BE COMFORTABLE IN THEIR SKIN,
AYESHA GREWAL, FOUNDER OF THE ALTITUDE
STORE, IS TELLING THEM HOW TO EAT RIGHT.
10 WOMEN WHO ARE REDEFINING WELLNESS.

hweta Rathore has a thing for Seated at a cafe in Mumbai where she is
milestones. She is the first Indian relishing poha laden with green chillies—
female fitness physique athlete to they’re good for burning fat she says—and
win a medal (bronze in 2014) at the chilli chicken, Rathore exudes positivity. She
World Championship. She is also the first sports a toned, lean figure, not too muscular
Indian woman to finish on the podium but plenty of strength. Tattoos make it stand
(second) at the Asian Championship in the out furthermore. Under her arms, the kamala
discipline in 2015. Back in India, her mandala, on her wrists the symbol of wisdom
competitors have accepted she is in a league of and on her hips black rose. “A good number of
her own after she completed a hat trick of Miss people still call me a bodybuilder,” she says. But
India titles in 2017. The Jaipur-born, Delhi- Rathore intends to build awareness about her
bred and Mumbai-based Rathore has only pursuit through endorsements, appearances
more goals in sight. Next stop—expand her and talks.
company, Fitness Forever, to include apparel, What’s the price for a 24-inch waistline with
accessories and nutritional supplement and defined abs that can make men insecure? “It’s
venture into Bollywood. an expensive profession,” she says. “You are not

10 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 I WANT TO
BE THE
CHANGE

Photograph by Mandar Deodhar

Clothes and shoes Reebok India
Make-up and hair Payal Kurani
Location courtesy Reebok CrossFit Hub, Mumbai

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 11

 Cover Story

allowed to have pakoda or ice cream was particular that I don’t want to be a
and late nights. You are basically not bodybuilder. I decided to be a fitness
allowed to be an ordinary person, you icon. I’m not inspired by anyone. I want
have to be extraordinary. You have to to be the change.”
be disciplined in your thoughts too.” Even a busy athlete like Rathore
Instead Rathore’s daily life includes a admits that one needs a backup
diet of supplements and nutritional profession. In Rathore’s case, she puts
food and sweating it out in the gym. her engineering degree from IP
Winning competitions is not enough to IN GOOD SHAPE University, Delhi, to use by running an
sustain the lifestyle, she adds, with electrical engineering firm, SR
athletes expected to fund their own ➽ Train hard Enterprises, along with her brother-
travel and stay for participating in I train four to five manager Saurabh. Prior to that, there
international ones. High costs include hours during was a stint in corporate marketing. Five
customising bejewelled bikini for competition, years ago, she fully embraced the world
competitions that can cost anywhere otherwise two of fitness physique, learning gymnastics
between `1 lakh and `1.5 lakh, hiring hours daily to improve her flexibility, one of the
choreographers to put together criteria on which fitness physique
90 second routines and hair and ➽ Mix your athletes are judged along with stamina,
make-up professionals. workout strength and poses.
If not weight
OUTMUSCLING THE DETRACTORS training or Crossfit, TREAT HER LIKE A LADY
Rathore’s interest in fitness emerged then swimming, Being a woman in what’s still seen as a
from a need to counter bullies back in running and male-dominated domain means that
martial art are my Rathore has her work cut out. The
go-to activities disconcerting gaze her outfits merit
RATHORE’S ➽ Mental fitness
don’t bother her. “I am never distracted
by negative or positive comments,” she
INTEREST It is as important as
physical. I practice
says. “I am very comfortable in my skin,
with my profession and my vision. Once
IN FITNESS yoga for the same. you value yourself, they will value you.”

EMERGED ➽ Eat well

She is from a Rajput background and
believes that a change in outlook is the
FROM A NEED A diet of complex
carbohydrates,
need of the hour. “It’s not about sports
or body,” she says. “Women always have
TO COUNTER fluids that include
lemon water, a cup
to prove themselves. They are seen as
weaker. Perception is that they need to
BULLIES IN of green tea and be feminine or be dependent on male.”

SCHOOL plenty of water

either with slices
Through her work, Rathore intends to
bust these stereotypes.
of cucumber, With many medals in her kitty,
pineapple or mint, Rathore now aims to create stars in the
Kendra Vidyalaya in Delhi who’d taunt and fibre. My small world of fitness physique. “I have
her about her broad frame. At 14, she favourite foods are proven myself,” she says. She also runs a
signed up for a gym, hiding her green vegetables, non-profit, God’s Beautiful Child, for
workout clothes in the school bag so as broccoli, tofu, underprivileged children and burn
to not anger her father who felt it would mushroom, chicken, victims. She judges fitness competitions.
result in too masculine a physique. “I fish and prawns. She poses for selfies with her fans. She
wouldn’t eat outside food,” she says. “I makes inspirational speeches espousing
have been sugar free since then.” She fitness to youngsters. And she launches
still sticks to the diet so as to be an gyms. From a girl whose body was a
inspiration for her 200k plus followers source of const-ernation, she is today a
on Instagram. Only in her early 20s did woman who has made it a cause of
Rathore become aware of the possibility celebration and inspiration.
of a profession in fitness. She says, “I By Suhani Singh

10 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 Cover Story

n 2013, Antidote co-founders Carol because this stuff makes you feel
and Nadia Singh were leading good,” she adds. Carol and Nadia
typical urban lives chasing deadlines, are firm about the fact that they
following erratic schedules and
following poor eating habits. “When
WELLNESS aren’t health warriors. “We’re not
about preaching veganism or any
I quit my job as a fashion writer, I IS A other lifestyle. Travelling, eating out
had a series of health setbacks. I
suffered from stomach issues, skin SENSORY and social drinking are the truths of

issues and auto-immune disorders,”

says Carol Singh. “I tried traditional
PROCESS FAVOURITE SUPERFOODS
medication and ended up pumping
my body with steroids and immune ➽ Wheatgrass, because
suppressants. Eventually, I turned to it works like a miracle
alternative solutions and tried a juice for those suffering from
therapy which ended up working gut-related ailments
wonderfully for me,” says Carol. Carol Singh, 30
Back in 2013, cold pressing was a and Nadia Singh Bahl, 32 ➽ Ashwagandha is a
very new technique which only two co - fo unders , antidote , great supplement for
companies—based out of San delhi anyone who’s working
Francisco and New York—were antidote.co.in erratic hours
doing. “We bought a cold press
machine and started Antidote with ➽ Noni because it is a
an initial investment of `40 tropical berry with
lakh. We spend more than abundant antioxidants
18 months doing our and vitamin C
research on food
combinations and blends ➽ Spirulina is one of
in tandem with my the best sources of
mother, who is a plant protein and
nutritionist and vetted vitamin B. Everyone
them by health experts,” should consume it,
she says. especially vegetarians.
The Antidote juice
blends are created with
exact science and
can’t be found off the times we live
the shelf. “The in and our juices
USP of Antidote are the antidote
is that these to the fallouts of
aren’t just cold an urban living,”
pressed juices, says Carol. The
they are founders are also
detoxification very clear about the
cleansers. The juices fact that their
Photograph by CHANDRADEEP KUMAR

bring you the concoctions need to

goodness of fruit,” says taste good. They use
Nadia. “We never a lot of super food
jumped on the fad extracts blended
bandwagon. Our juices with fruits,
had less to do with vegetables and
what was trending greens and
Food Heroes
and focus on wellness. (from left to right) Nadia naturally
We have a 76 per cent and Carol are giving enough reason to people occurring herbs.
return rate and this is to shift to fruit-packed cold pressed juices By Jahnavi Chakravarty
 Cover Story

Ayesha Grewal, 44
founder ,
the altitude store , delhi
hat she is passionate about what she is thealtitudestore.com
doing and has innumerable ideas
about hoe to make healthy eating the
way of life for everyone is evident
after meeting Ayesha Grewal. Founder WATCH WHAT YOU EAT
of The Altitude Store, an organic and
natural store, which she started in ➽ Try to understand
2010 with only 350 items today stocks the certification
over 3,000 products, and she is process. Know what
working tirelessly to add more to the you are buying as you
kitty. With a background in finance— are putting food inside
she studied and worked in the US— your body.
Grewal left her consultancy job in
2000 and came back to India, as she ➽ Food and food
wanted to do something of her own. security is the future

➽ Organic is
expensive but go only
for fresh fruits and
vegetables as they

I AM A FANATIC carry the maximum

amount of toxins
WHEN IT COMES
TO ORGANIC
Store as an idea grew out of that.
In 2010, it started as on online
store with about 118 products such
SEED OF AN IDEA as grains, rice and pulses, but only
“I always wanted to work in the rural as a division of her consultancy
development sector but that was my company. “We wanted to first see
retirement plan. So, on my return, I how viable the experiment and the
started working with an NGO looking idea was,” she says. The rest as they
after their finances. I soon realised that say is history and soon the first
I wanted something more satisfying store was opened in Shanti Niketan.
than that,” she says. That’s when her “We had to move out from there as
entrepreneurial journey started and it was a very tiny store and we
Environment Energy and Enterprise opened a relatively bigger outlet in
Ventures, a consultancy firm, was set up Meherchand Market, Lodhi Colony,
Photograph by CHANDRADEEP KUMAR

along with two partners in 2002. It was in 2014. The Altitude Cafe followed
while working on the renewable energy soon in 2016,” she says. The one-
resource projects in Uttarakhand, the stop shop where you can buy
fruit growing belt, that she got bitten by organic food, the store stocks grain,
the organic bug. Kurmanchal Organic snacks, meat, dairy, flour, jams,
Ventures, which works in the field of juices, cheeses, herbs, salads and
processing organic fruits, came into bakery products from 25 states.
being in 2005, and she began with only
apples and continued adding other WORKING WITH NATURE
fruits as she went along. The Altitude Grewal, who started functioning out

12 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 of her father’s 40-acre
farm in Alwar district,
Rajasthan, has now
expanded the produce
and grows wheat, sarson,
bajra and fruits as well.
The same is retailed
through her store. All her
products are PEDA
certified (Punjab Energy
Development Agency)
come with clear
description and
certifications. “As a
retailer, there is heavy
burden on me. We
randomly check our
vegetables and every
single vegetable is tested
at least once a year,”
says Grewal.
With produce coming
from farmers from across
India, The Altitude Store
buys and sells a tonne of
fresh fruits and vegetables
every day. “We order the
quantity we know we can
sell. Why consume
something which is three
days old?,” she says. In
favour of diversification
and experimentation
when it comes to organic
farming methods, Grewal
also grows a lot of plants
that attract good bugs.
For that, she reads, talks
to experts and has devised
her own way of farming.
“Inter cropping and crop
rotation is very
Going Organic important,” she says.
Grewal feels food While the retail demand
is about nourishment
comes largely from Delhi
and should not have
harmful chemicals and NCR, the store also
and pesticides has customers ordering
in from Lucknow,
Hyderabad and Nagaland.
By Shelly Anand

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 13

 Cover Story
Brimming With Ideas
Bhansali is setting a
precedent for people
to eat green

Shraddha Bhansali, 25
fo u n d e r ,
candy and gr e e n , m u mbai
candyandgreen.com

he rooftop at Candy and Green

hosts a pretty garden with leafy
vegetables, herbs and micro
greens in full bloom.
Restaurateur Shraddha Bhansali
and her kitchen team tend to
this 750-sq ft garden that
emphasises the concept of
“healthy and clean eating”. The
vegetables go into the food such
as the pesto made with fresh

LET THE
INGREDIENTS
SPEAK FOR
THEMSELVES

basil, garlic and dill dip and

dishes garnished with micro
greens. The herbs are used to
spice drinks such as the bell
pepper and basil martini at her
year-old restaurant at Breach
Candy. The food at Candy and
Green is freshly made with

14 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 WHAT’S ON THE PLATE
locally sourced seasonal restaurant, she says, has been
➽ Get a hydroponic ingredients. All vegetables, milk self sustaining. Except for
set and build your and cheese are sourced from matcha powder, all other
own kitchen garden to farmer markets ingredients in Bhansali’s kitchen
get fresh herbs or and producers in the city and come from around the
leafy vegetables the menu is devoid of meat, eggs city to avoid carbon footprint
and saturated animal fats. and ensure food that’s been
➽ Shop from farmer’s “Healthy is a subjective term minimally treated.
markets that have so my concept revolves around
organic produce clean food,” she says. A SEASON’S FLAVOURS
hospitality and business The menu also keeps up with
➽ The traditional graduate from Boston dietary trends and preferences
Indian meal is University, US, Bhansali honed such as a keto, vegan or Jain
Photograph by MANDAR DEODHAR

very balanced her skills at the Taj Vivanta, diet. Already on the fifth
so ensure to have at Cuffe Parade, Mumbai, and change in her menu within a
least one such meal Palladium Hotel, also in year to bring in seasonal foods,
Mumbai, before launching her Bhansali has introduced
➽ Eat a rainbow diet 110-seater restaurant in March superfood chaats which give
and have different 2017 with an investment of `1.5 healthy nachni and bajra puffs
coloured foods on crore. The concept of fresh a street chaat-like touch.
your plate seasonal food caught on and the By Aditi Pai
 Cover Story

Vandana Rao, 46
and Hema Iyengar, 39
co - founders , cen te r fo r a rts
and w e l ln e ss , u s
centerforartsandwellness.com

The Changemakers (left to right) Iyengar and

ealising that adults were often missing Rao are using art as a medium for wellness
out on yoga and other wellness
activities because of their tight
schedules tied around their children, have classes divided into arts and
two friends, Vandana Rao, trained in wellness. Under the arts track, there
Hindustani classical music, and Hema are dance classes ranging from Indian
Iyengar, a Bharatanatyam dancer, set classical dance and Western dance
up the Center for Arts and Wellness in FOLLOW THESE forms besides music sessions including
Massachusetts, US, in 2016. The vocals and instruments. The wellness
institute creates a fitness regimen ➽ Find some time for track, on the other hand, includes
which is a unique blend of fun, yourself and stay natural approaches as well as popular
learning and exercise. committed to that fitness classes. So, there are classes in
meditation, reiki, yoga, Ayurvedic
➽ Spending time doing massage and facials and fitness classes
any type of workout, in Bolly-aerobics, Zumba, and HIIT
whether it is yoga, HIIT training. Our vision is reflected in the
ART IS A FORM (high-intensity interval workshops we curate that address an

OF MEDITATION training), aerobics,

Zumba or dance, will
individual’s health through a holistic
approach and blends nutrition, yoga,
open the way to meditation and exercise.
incredible results in the
long-term WHAT WERE THE INITIAL
WHAT ARE THE TECHNIQUES CHALLENGES?
FOLLOWED BY THE CENTER FOR ➽ Reconnect with the Hema Iyengar (HI) As a small start-up
ARTS AND WELLNESS? passion that you had as a business by first-time entrepreneurs
Vandana Rao (VR) The town where we child but gave up while with $25,000 as investment from
are located, in Westborough, in the growing up. Be it our personal savings, a key
metro-west region of Massachusetts sketching, singing or challenge we faced was in gaining
provides the perfect platform for a dancing—find a place visibility in the community as we
business like ours to flourish since it is and time for it in your relied mainly on publicity through
a melting pot of various cultures. life again. word-of-mouth, network of friends
Spread over 2,700 sq ft of space on and town media. Another major
two floors, there are rooms of various ➽ A healthy lifestyle not challenge was finding well-trained
sizes with hardwood floors for dance only changes your body and equally committed practitioners
and fitness related activities and rooms but also your mind, who would help us grow our expertise
with carpet for music classes, wellness attitude and mood and offerings.
sessions and workshops. We broadly By Jagriti Sharma

16 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 Aastha Gulati, 31
director , dhurii ,
bengaluru

FIGHTING FIT

➽ Complete acceptance is
the key to good health

➽ Don’t start your

mornings with the phone.
Observe your breath for five
minutes and follow it up
with a glass of warm water.

➽ Understanding your
cravings go a long way in
curbing them

➽ Find a nice balance of a

cardio, strength and
conditioning workout. Fuel
your body, don’t just tear it
apart with cardio.

who went on to train in the rare

technique in Amsterdam.
Photograph by LANTERN CAMERA

A resistance-based workout,
BungFly involves being suspended
Balancing Act from the abdomen using equipment
Gulati plans to commonly associated with bungee
integrate the jumping. With your core at work
workout form through the session, the workout helps
into dance and tone your oblique and transverse
choreography
muscles while also giving you a lower
body workout. “Unlike other on-the-
floor workouts, you move up and down
ontemporary dancer and movement besides forward and back. Both stretch
therapist Aastha Gulati has and cardio classes can be conducted
experimented with many forms over using this,” she says.Among other
the past 13 years including Kathak and
wellness techniques such as chakra
LEARN TO benefits, BungFly also helps align your
body and brings awareness to it. Gulati
healing. A certified Zumba and yoga RESPECT YOUR now travels across the country to train
instructor, it was in 2017 that Gulati
opened her own movement studio, ANATOMY. instructors in BungFly, popularising
the technique, one batch at a time.
Dhurii, which now caters to everyone
looking for a moment of quiet through
FITNESS IS NOT “The sessions are meant for nearly
everybody except very heavy people.
dance, meditation and wellness classes.
It was in the same year that she
ABOUT WINNING The big challenge is harnesses and
equipment which are used for
introduced BungFly in the country for A RACE. adventure sports and mountaineering
the first time. “It was something I saw and are available in standard sizes
in a viral video from Bangkok on social only,” she says.
media and was intrigued,” says Gulati By Prachi Sibal

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 17

 Cover Story
Cooking Up A Storm
Shah’s secret is to
use ingredients that
are easy to find

Anjali Shah, 34
founder , the p i c ky e at e r ,
and health b lo g g e r , u s
pickyeaterblog.com

‘whole wheat’ woman marrying a

‘white-bread’ man, Anjali Shah was
raised in a healthy-eating, organic-
obsessed culture in San Francisco,
US. As her childhood was filled
with fruits, vegetables and home-
cooked meals, she was raised to be
“picky” about what to consume.
However, there lay in store for her
a future husband in the deep-dish
pizza-loving suburbs of Chicago, for
whom ice cream and French fries
were a way of life.

FOR A HEALTHY LIVING

➽ Read the ingredient labels

➽ Stay away from sugar
➽ Exercise every day
➽ Eat veggies with every meal

INDULGE IN
ALL OUT EFFORT
Realising that the only way to bridge FOOD BUT IN Accredited by the American
Association of Drugless Practitioners,
the gap was to cook healthy versions
of foods he enjoyed, Shah taught
MODERATION Shah is a certified health coach and
has authored A Guide To Your Baby’s
herself how to cook at 24. “Slowly, First Year in 2017 and Super Easy Baby
my husband started identifying Food, which came out early this year.
different flavours such as cumin,
ginger and garlic in his food, and GETTING ON WITH IT
started asking for vegetables in his she could help thousands of people “The challenge for me is trying to
dishes, acknowledging that healthy become healthy eaters through her balance being a blogger, nutritionist, a
food could taste good,” she says. recipes, advice and the ‘picky-eater mom and a wife alongside a full-time
Succeeding in making swaps in her philosophy’. Shah, who has a holistic job,” says Shah, who is currently
husband’s diet, she started with her health coaching degree from the working as an Analytical Leader at
blog, The Picky Eater, in 2010, to Institute of Integrative Nutrition, Google. Through her recipes she
chronicle her adventures which New York, provides meal plans, rejects ‘bland-tasting’ healthy foods as
led to the transformation of her child-friendly recipes, grocery she blends healthy with delicious.
husband. However, she realised that guides and healthy living tips. By Mrini Devnani

18 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 A Holistic Outlook
Wadera custom orders
for everything from
breads to cakes

Tarangini Wadera, 20
c eo , orphic art i sa n ba k e ry ,
delhi
orphicartisanbakery.com

he intoxicating aroma of a traditional

French village bakery wafts through the
air and you can hear the sound of
cheese sizzling inside the wood-fired
oven. A long queue waits patiently for
their turn. Such is the scene every
Sunday morning at the farmer’s market
in Asiad Games Village, Siri Fort, Delhi,
where a young chef and entrepreneur,
Tarangini Wadera’s Orphic Artisan
Bakery has got a lot of attention. The
pizzas aren’t the only reason people are
drawn to her table. Honey-flavoured
rose-scented pomegranate yoghurt,
coffee honey ice cream, snow cones
flavoured with organic litchi and mango
syrup, wheat doughnuts, and basil
pesto are her
speciality. “I
started a year ago
when I observed
that most
bakeries and
NATURAL FOOD
eateries use TASTES THE
cheese made
from calf rennet BEST, AVOID
(a derivative of
calf intestines),
ADDITIVES HEALTH COMES FIRST
cream in cakes
that contain cow Photograph by NILADRI DAS ➽ Eat food that is non-
fat, olives that are toxic and preservative free
not farm fresh and gelatine and flavourings. For smoking flavour into
seasonings derived from non-vegetarian products, say a lemon tart, you need ➽ If you are eating non-
sources such as pigs and cows,” says to use parts of the lemon tree in such a vegetarian then ensure it is
Wadera, who studied at Le Cordon way that the flavour goes deep even into from organic sources
Bleu in Melbourne, Australia and the dough,” says Wadera, who uses
worked at Park Hyatt, Melbourne and herbal seasoning, Australian woods, and ➽ Sweets should be
at Phillippa’s Bakery, a traditional avoid chemical preservatives or non- primarily sugar free.
Australian bakery in Melbourne to vegetarian and toxic additives. To Jaggery-based sweets are a
polish her skills. maintain quality, she has imported all safer and better option.
her equipment from overseas, uses
NATURE’S SPLENDOUR organic ingredients and what she can’t ➽ Olive oil should be pure
“The depth of flavour can only come source from India, she gets from as certain brands that write
when it’s traditionally prepared without France and Australia. extra virgin adulterate it
any chemicals, acids or synthetic By Ridhi Kale

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 19

 Cover Story

Arushi Dixit, 25
and Srishti Sharma, 22
co - founders , fur ba l l sto ry ,
g u r g ao n
furballstory.com

riven by their collective passion,

Arushi Dixit and Srishti Sharma,
Co-founders, Fur Ball Story,
clicked instantaneously with the
idea of canine-human interaction,
introduced to them by a mutual
friend in 2016. Concerned with
the rising stress among corporates
and their inability to deal with
competitive environment, these
two women were looking to help
them de-stress. After extensive
research, they officially launched
Fur Ball Story at Pet Fed, India’s
biggest pet festival. Bootstrapped
with an initial investment of `3
lakh, the start-up provides pet-
therapy services.

BOOST YOUR HAPPINESS

Focussing on uplifting the
mood, making someone feel
lighter and happier by just petting
a dog, Fur Ball Story aims to
sensitise people, changing the
mindset that dogs are inherently
dangerous. Also allowing for a Photograph by RAJWANT RAWAT
perspective to look at canines as
being helpful than just home pets,
the start-up conducts sessions at
schools, colleges and NGOs in
Delhi. The team operates in hands on healthcare spaces, to her law degree. “My family’s
corporate and residential sectors, having worked in old age homes idea of a successful person was
offering therapy dogs for stress and with differently-abled having a 9 to 5 job,” she says, as
reduction activities. They initially children,” says Dixit who holds a she marks that not all dreams fit
faced challenges as many people degree in textile designing from into this bracket.
could not relate to the concept, Pearl Academy of Fashion, Delhi,
but the company started getting and left her job at Surendri by THE FURRY WAY
support from a number of multi- Yogesh Chaudhary, a design label, Offering a pet-friendly café in
nationals and media houses such identifying the potential of this Gurgaon, with a dog pool and
as Homegrown and ScoopWhoop. ‘out-of-the-box’ initiative. Coming menu, Fur Ball Story also provides
from a conservative family, Sharma friendly ‘doggo’ interactions at the
ON A MISSION on the other hand, signed up for café, having more than 50
“We are currently trying to get our something absolutely unrelated corporate offices, on its client list

20 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 Dog Talk
(left to right)
Sharma and Dixit
offer therapy dogs
in their cafe to help
people de-stress

STAYING
STRESS FREE

➽ Never think
ill for anybody

➽ Have as
many dogs as
you can

➽ Do what
really drives
your soul

➽ Love with all

your heart

➽ Be the
person your
dog thinks
you are

including MakeMyTrip, Cars24 and

Viacom 18 along with 500
residences. The charges for pet-
WELLNESS IS assisted activities for two hours in a
residence can range anywhere
ALL ABOUT between `2,000 and `4,000 while

STAYING HAPPY, those in companies for three to

four hours are between `4,000 and
WITHIN AND WITHOUT `10,000. The nominal entry charge
in Fur Ball Story Cafe is `50 per
person and `150 for the ‘doggo’
wishing to tag along.
By Mrini Devnani

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 21

 Cover Story

A Fine Balance
Purohit has
trained several
celebs and actors

Namrata Purohit, 24
founder , the pi lat es st u d i o ,
m u mbai made her discover pilates, and
pilatesaltitude.com within four days, she was “pain
free” and went on to play at
the national squash tour-
nament a few months later. A
rom featuring in Nike’s popular masters degree holder in
‘Unstoppable Women’ campaign sports management from
along with Deepika Padukone to Loughborough University, UK,
being the go-to person for pilates Purohit started teaching pilates
for actors, Namrata Purohit is the in 2009 from a small corner in
best-known trainer of this fitness Gold’s Gym at Nepean Sea
form that was developed sometime
in the early 20th century. A sports
enthusiast since childhood,
Purohit played national level
squash, state level football, did
100 metres sprinting and danced
the salsa, bachata and BEING FIT
contemporary jazz. “I was an
active child who loved being MEANS BEING
outdoors so fitness has been with
me since I was very young,” she HEALTHY
says. A severe knee injury at 15 MENTALLY AND
PHYSICALLY
FITNESS FIRST

➽ Pilates can
cater to any Road and then converted her
age group father’s back office into her
studio. Today, The Pilates
➽ Play outdoors, Studio has 10 centres across
even simple India with students ranging
games such as from 10 to 80 going to her.
hide and seek There is an increasing
while you have consciousness about healthy
opportunities living and pilates has seen a
in childhood “tremendous increase” in the
past few years. “It gets you
Photographs by MANDAR DEODHAR

➽ People must strong, increases flexibility,

work out at least stability and balance, is safe
three times in a with no impact on joints and
week to be fit can be customised,” she says.
Her love for dance saw her
fuse music with traditional
pilates routines turning it into
an enjoyable workout.
By Aditi Pai

22 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 Essay

LOOKING BEYOND THE LAW

How to encourage sexual harassment victims at
the workplace to speak out without fear

Sonal Mattoo
Advocate,
Delhi

Y
ou walk into the manager’s
room after returning from
your honeymoon and he
greets you with, “marriage
suits you, you have filled up in all the
right places”. You walk up to the
Illustration: SIDDHANT JUMDE

human resource in disbelief and share

what’s happened. You are asked for
proof, reprimanded because you
extended your leave without intimation,
and informed that the human resource
department has never received a
complaint against the manager.

24 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

BURDEN OF PROOF # The law mandates putting up posters technical hurdles such as asking for
It’s not always easy to produce evidence in conspicuous places. Try putting six copies of the complaint.
in cases of sexual harassment. However, posters in washrooms. Complainants
lack of evidence does not make the are most comfortable noting down the # Several complaints of sexual
complaint false and mala fide. A well- IC contact details in privacy, without harassment and inappropriate
trained and sensitised Internal the fear of someone looking into their behaviour escalate during company
Committee (IC) will be able to systems as they search for information. offsites. Educate employees about
effectively resolve such cases. That’s the Put up posters in regional languages responsible drinking during company
reason why companies should invest in for the benefit of support staff such sponsored social events.
training and sensitisation. It’s a as housekeeping, security, pantry staff
necessity. Don’t only look at it as a ‘tick and drivers. # Watch what you share on a team
in the box’ to comply with statutory Whataspp group. Inappropriate
provisions. Much has been spoken and # Pick up the phone and call the pictures will get you into trouble as
written about prevention of sexual complainant immediately. Don’t get will risqué jokes.
harassment yet the complaints keep bogged down with email protocol.
coming; many genuine and some false. Documentation is important, # Speak up, don’t stay silent. Ignoring
reassurance even more. is often misconstrued as consent. Save
TIME FOR CHANGE messages and email snapshots of chats if
While most companies have policies # Schedule meetings outside the you wish to delete the messages
and ICs set up, cases are handled office and be sensitive to the comfort on your phone.
poorly. If companies want to do right by and reputation of both parties.
their employees, they need to go # Be careful with your language.
beyond the letter of the law. The only # Share all details with the respondent The law is based on perception of
way to make this work is to look at the as she has the right to know the exact the complainant, not intention of
spirit of the law and not just the letter. allegations. Offer to mask names of the respondent.
witnesses if they fear retaliation, but do
share evidence, statements and findings # Don’t share details of an internal
with both parties. Be transparent and inquiry as part of the background
uphold principles of natural justice. verification process.

# Protect the complainant during an # Asking potential candidates personal

inquiry. Retaliation and breach of and inappropriate questions during an
IT’S NOT confidentiality are the primary reasons interview is not acceptable.
ALWAYS EASY people hesitate in complaining.
TO PRODUCE # Support women complainants. It
EVIDENCE IN # Empower your IC and give them takes guts and courage to speak up.
independence to do their job. Protect
CASES OF
them against wrongful suits and # If you wouldn’t do this with
SEXUAL police complaints. your child, don’t do it at work. It
HARASSMENT will get you into trouble.
# Separate behaviour from
performance and evaluate each # The law is based on respect for your
separately. A poor performer can be co-workers and common sense.
a genuine victim of sexually No matter how fancy your policy, if the
inappropriate behaviour. above two qualities are missing, a policy
will be ineffective.
# Caution employees against
misuse of the law. # Don’t be judgemental while
conducting an inquiry. Opinion is
# Go beyond the law. Make your policy an assumption, Observation is a fact.
gender neutral. Sexual harassment is Rely on the latter, keep the
not limited to women alone. former aside. People’s careers are
in your hand. Wear your responsibility
# Help and support. Don’t create with humility.

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 25

 Trend

New Face of Beauty

Organic is the way forward. Four beauty brands
who are changing the wellness game.

SWATI KAPOOR, 42
Founder, SoulTree,
Delhi
www.soultree.in

S
wati Kapoor and her husband,
Vishal started SoulTree, an organic
beauty brand, after sensing a lack
of genuine natural products in the market.
The idea was to offer products that were
free of chemicals and carcinogens with an
FACE IT
authentic third-party guarantee. Kapoor
Kapoor stresses the started the company with her own savings
need to be careful of and some from the family. The brand has
what to put on the skin
hair, skincare and make-up products
made from ingredients sourced from
Uttarakhand. Kapoor says, “Since we work
directly with farmers and NGOs, we know
the exact location where each ingredient is
coming from.” The ingredients are
processed in their factory on the outskirts
of Gurgaon. The production is in tandem
with the traditional processes prescribed in
Ayurveda for preparing herb extractions.
Kapoor believes that there are several
brands selling products only on the basis
of a few ingredients, leaving room for
loopholes. This points to the challenge of
being authentic and reliable and not being
seen as a quasi-organic brand. SoulTree
has the certificate from BDIH Germany
which assures that the entire product, and
not just the ingredients, are natural.

WHATS DIFFERENT The rose and

turmeric face wash is infused with aloe vera
Photograph by CHANDRADEEP KUMAR

and forest honey to provide a natural

glow. They follow an unaltered 3,000-year-
old traditional recipe using almond,
camphor and ghee for preparing kajal.

STICK TO THESE Kapoor believes that

having a healthy mind and soul is the
biggest skincare tip she can give. Keeping
the skin hydrated by cleaning, toning and
moisturising is important.
PRICE `350 to `650

By JAGRITI SHARMA
26 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018
 BUBBLES SINGH, 62
and SIMRITA SINGH, 35
TOASTING SUCCESS
Co-founders, Just B Au Naturel, (from left to right)
Delhi Simrita and Bubbles,
www.justbaunaturel.com mother-daughter duo
are making natural
ingredients popular

T
here could be many reasons that
make a business work but what
makes it special is when empathy
meets enterprise. And that’s precisely how
the business plan unfolded for natural
and organic skincare brand Just B Au
Naturel. Bubbles Singh, owner and
formulator, remembers how her mother
always made her own deodorants. “She
would make me try them and they were
all very effective. But she died young and
so I never knew any of her recipes. When
my friend got breast cancer, and couldn’t
use any product, I told her that I’d make
her a deodorant that would be effective,
all-natural without using toxic chemicals,”
she says. Needless to say, a friend in need
was the seed that grew into a business
that is today 100 per cent chemical free
from fillers, talc, sulphates, GMO
ingredients, parabens, mineral oils,
phthalates, and artificial colours or
synthetic fragrances. That was 20 years
ago, and the formulation was simplistic,
even though it delivered on its promise.
Since then, armed with a degree in

Photograph by VIKRAM SHARMA

skincare formulations from the UK in
addition to her pre-med, driven by a
passion for all things natural especially bach
flower remedies, Singh and the brand
have created their own niche, but their
probiotic natural deodorant still remains
their star product.

THE GROWTH With an initial investment

of `20 lakh followed by an injection of
another `25 lakh from friends and family
in the next three months, the mother-
daughter (Simrita) team launched in 2015 organic and sustainably harvested, FUTURE PERFECT For a boutique brand
and are currently cooking up a storm in sourcing remains one of their biggest that does not cash in on volumes, growth
their tiny office in Hauz Khas, Delhi, challenges. But they have identified some is slow but steady but it doesn’t bother the
retailing face, hair and bath and body certified organic farms in Haryana and dynamic duo. They believe that an honest
products. While Bubbles, as the Punjab from where they source, while the product riding clean values and ingre-
formulator, summons a studied and manufacturing is done from their factory dients will make a mark. The future seems
informed wisdom to the brand, Simrita in Chattarpur. Another problem is the to hark back to the kitchen for the brand
infuses her infectious energy and shelf life of their products. In order to as Bubbles hints at some confections of
effervescence to marketing this low- ensure that they remain fresh, they make strawberry Kombucha and coconut Keffir.
decibel but hyper efficient brand. With a small made to order batches (usually 30 PRICE `470 to `2,200
limited supply of botanicals, particularly to 50 units at a time). By CHUMKI BHARADWAJ

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 27

 Trend

RAJNI OHRI, 42

Photograph by DANESH JASSAWALA

Founder, Ohria,
GO TRADITIONAL
Gurgaon Ohri believes in
www.ohriaayurveda.com following anceint
Ayurveda practices
for beauty fixes

BRIGHT IDEA Walia is

showing others how to
be experimental when
it comes to beauty

A
self-made woman, Shabia Walia
SHABIA WALIA, 43 founded Wild Earth, a natural
Founder, Wild Earth, beauty brand, almost by
Mumbai accident. “My husband once got me a
www.wildearth.in body scrub from Fiji which I eventually
ran out of. After hunting a lot for
something similar, I came across one but
it was ridiculously expensive.” That
triggered Walia to create her own coco
self-funded, natural skincare brand almond body scrub using brown sugar,
earlier this year. “I kept on experimenting almond oil, coco powder and salt
and never put the books down. I would particles. “I made it and took it to my
read about natural products whenever I daughter’s school where it was bought by
got some free time. I began working on all the mothers in no time. That’s how
the Ohria range in 2016, and after two Wild Earth was born in 2016,” says Walia,
years of intensive research, managed to a mother of a nine-year old daughter. In
give my teacher’s formulations a no time, she started creating batches of
deliverable form,” she says. soaps, body butter, body scrubs, lip
balms and lip scrubs in her kitchen

A
s a child accompanying her IN SYNC WITH NATURE With using essential oils, beeswax and
parents every year to Rishikesh certification from the Ministry of Ayush, natural food colours. Without any
for their religious trips, Rajni Ohri the products are free from silicones, business background or seed funding,
would spend time learning Ayurveda sulphates, parabens, heavy metals, her homegrown brand entered the
from a teacher. The more she learnt from mineral oil, synthetic fragrances, colour market and in a year’s span, her
him, the more inquisitive she was to and pesticides. “The line contains company recorded an annual turnover
know more about this ancient science. It Ayurvedic herbs, essential oils and pure of `1.23 crore in 2017-2018. Wild Earth
was under his guidance that she learnt plant extracts which are super foods for is Walia’s attempt to provide products
how to prepare hair oils, butters and the skin and hair,” says Ohri. With the using ingredients such as exotic butters,
salves, pishti and bhasms. The training manufacturing plant in Delhi-NCR, all herbs, essential oils, plant derivatives,
stayed with her while growing up and botanical extracts, distillation, titration of sandalwood, turmeric, tulsi, honey and
inspired her to make her own cream at herbs and plants are made in-house in milk, sourced from local vendors or
12. “Back then, I had no idea that I would Ayurvedic tradition and mantras are imported from Brazil, Spain and Turkey.
utilise these experiments and chanted during the process.
knowledge, but I kept learning and THE BEST BET Wild Earth is for
made notes to save all that from fading BEAUTY FROM WITHIN Ohria suggests customers wanting to opt for natural,
from my memory,” says Ohri, who holds a that cosmetics take 26 seconds to go full clean and green products without
postgraduate degree in design from NIFT strength directly in the blood stream. So, creating a hole in their pocket.
Delhi and also learnt aromatherapy from think of beauty products not as
Penny Price, UK. It was this inclination to cosmetics but as food. PRICE `199 to `850; hampers between
natural ingredients and Ayurveda which PRICE `425 to `3,300 `750 and `5,000
inspired her to come up with Ohria, a By SHELLY ANAND By HARSHITA DAS

28 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

Guide To Better Living
PRODUCTS

MYGLAMM
POWDER MAGIC EYE
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LINER PRICE `995

BEAUTY
BONANZA
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these latest launches

KIEHL’S CACTUS
FLOWER
AND TIBETAN
GINSENG
HYDRATING MIST
PRICE `2,400

KIKO MILANO
GREEN ME
BB CREAM
PRICE `1,290
SHAHNAZ HUSAIN
SILVER SHEEN
SHAMPOO
PRICE `761 FOR 200 ML

SKINELLA
WATERMELON
SUNSCREEN
PRICE `230

THE BODY SHOP

FIRMING SHAPING
SERUM
PRICE `2,595

LOTUS MAKE-UP
ECOSTAY
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CONCEALER
PRICE `625

BIOTIQUE
PAPAYA VIS-
IBLE AGE-
LESS SCRUB
WASH
PRICE `60

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 29

 Guide To Better Living
FOOD

Super
The
Grain
Five easy ways to
cook with quinoa for
everyday health
Payal Kothari
Integrative nutritionist
and life coach,
Mumbai

Q
UINOA, THE SUPER GRAIN WITH ITS
POWERHOUSE NUTRITIONAL quotient of proteins,
amino acids, low glycemic index, low fat and plenty of
phytonutrients is fit for those who are gluten intolerant.
Both white and red quinoa are good alternatives to
bulgur, wheat, plain flour, couscous and rice. Pronounced keen-wa, the
grain can be easily sourced locally or internationally. Women need a
sufficient amount of protein, nutrients and energy to fulfill their daily
LEMON QUINOA
chores and to look and feel good. Protein rich meals can help achieve that
ENERGY SMOOTHIE
from inside-out by building and repairing muscles and helping
Calories 250
with weight management while keeping the skin and hair healthy. You
can rustle up these five recipes anytime for a yummy meal or snack. Ingredients
2 tbsp of quinoa soaked
for 10 minutes. Boil for
7 to 10 minutes till you see
the white tail or sprouts.
1 cup almond, regular
or rice milk
2 tbsp of lime juice
A few lemon zests
1 small banana/mango/
papaya/guava
Ice as needed
Method Add all ingredients
and blend at a high speed to
make it into a smoothie. Enjoy
it for breakfast or as an
evening energy drink pre or
post-workout. Add a scoop of
protein powder to make it a
power-packed smoothie.
This smoothie is a super
energy drink rich in
antioxidants, proteins,
vitamins and minerals.

30 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

YIN AND YANG IDLIS WITH A TWIST
QUINOA PANCAKES Calories 200 (for two idlis)
Calories 300
(for two pancakes) Ingredients
1 cup whole quinoa ½ cup urad dal
Ingredients 1 cup brown rice Salt as required
2 cups quinoa flour 1 cup of water ¼ tbsp of soda
¼ tsp baking powder Method Soak urad dal, brown rice and quinoa overnight. Grind the
Salt as needed mix—in a high speed grinder or idli grinder—into a paste keeping it
½ onion thick in consistency. Whip with water and soda to make it fluffy and add
1 tsp coriander salt. Pour the batter in a greased idli steamer to avoid sticking for 10 to
½ cup grated zucchini 15 minutes. Serve with coconut chutney, gun powder and sambhar.
½ cup chopped spinach These idlis are high in protein and low in glycemic index, great for
Green chilli paste breakfast or as a carry to work option.
as needed
100 ml butter milk
Olive oil as required WHITE OR RED
½ cup of water to make a QUINOA BURRITO QUINOA SPINACH
thick batter SALAD BOWL WRAPS
Method Calories 120 per wrap
Calories 250 (for one bowl)
For Savoury (Yin) Mix all
Ingredients
ingredients in a blender, Ingredients
1 cup white or red
pour out the batter in a 1 cup cooked
quinoa flour
bowl. Heat the pan and red quinoa
½ cup warm water
grease it with a little olive oil 1 cup mixed salad
½ tbsp ghee for the dough
and make a pancake. Serve (cucumber, tomato,
½ tbsp olive oil
it with mint coriander yellow corn, carrot,
for greasing
chutney or coconut chutney. iceberg lettuce,
Boiled spinach paste
spring onion)
For Sweet (Yang) Mix Salt as required
5 to 6 wedges of
quinoa flour, baking powder, Quinoa flour to dust the
ripe avocado
butter milk and salt making work surface
1 cup salsa (tomatoes, onions,
a batter mix. Pour the mix Method In a large mixing
jalapeno peppers, coriander, salt)
on a heated pan, using olive bowl, combine all ingredients,
½ cup hung yoghurt
oil to grease it. When add ghee and mix and knead
½ cup sautéed tofu
golden brown, serve with until the dough is smooth
Salt as required
and a little elastic. Equally
peanut butter and natural Method In a transparent wide bowl,
divide the dough into four
maple syrup. assemble the salad—red quinoa,
balls. Roll the balls on a flat
These pancakes are a salsa, hung yoghurt, salad, avocado
marble or wood surface.
good go-to breakfast, giving and the sautéed tofu. Sprinkle salt
Spread olive oil and semi
you a great start to the day. to taste. This satiating salad bowl
cook. Use the wrap for any
can be a great option for any meal.
filling of your choice—
Mexican, tandoor or stir fry.
 Guide To Better Living
MOTHERHOOD

Cecile Reinaud
Founder,
Seraphine, UK

Flaunt your Bump

Ten ideas on how to dress smart
for work when you’re expecting
Illustration SIDDHANT JUMDE

LOOK FOR THE PERFECT DENIM

If you work in a casual business setting,
finding the perfect pair of maternity
jeans is the key. The first decision to make
CREATE YOUR OWN STYLE EMPHASISE THE EMPIRE WAIST when choosing maternity jeans is whether
During pregnancy, when your body is As your bump grows, it is important to you want them to fit under or over the
changing so quickly, it is easy to feel a keep tabs on your changing silhouette. bump. After that, it’s all about finding
little lost when it comes to clothes. But The empire line (just under your bust) the fit and cut which you like best.
you have spent a lifetime building up an will become your new waist. Keeping
understanding of the colours and styles this in mind, anything you can do to INVEST IN WRAP DRESSES
that suit you, and all that still applies. If draw attention there is guaranteed to A wrap dress is another working
you love smart dresses, opt for a tailored flatter your figure. A well-positioned wardrobe essential. It is smart, flattering
A-line maternity dress or find your belt works wonders. and incredibly comfortable. The classic
perfect maternity jeans. wrap design is perfect for pregnancy as
ACCESSORISE YOUR LOOK it lets you adjust the fit as you grow.
CREATE A CAPSULE CLOSET Belts and accessories are a fantastic tool
A capsule working wardrobe for office is in your fashion repertoire and a great THE PERFECT UNDERPINNINGS
a good idea for any woman and during way to inject a pop of colour or pattern Buying a few specialist maternity bras
pregnancy, it is a must-have. Invest in into your professional style. A statement during pregnancy is an absolute must.
key pieces with complementary colours necklace or stylish printed scarf will These bras are soft and comfortable to
to mix and match and create different draw attention up towards your face wear and provide maximum support and
looks throughout the week. and away from the bump. flexibility of fit. They also come with
built-in breastfeeding access, if you need
INVEST IN MATERNITY-WEAR EARLY BUY A LITTLE BLACK DRESS it, once the baby is born.
Many women make the mistake of One cannot beat a classic, chic, little,
waiting until the last moment to buy black maternity dress. It is ideal for SWITCH TO FLATS
maternity clothes. Maternity clothes are office and can also be worn for an Get yourself a range of ballet pumps,
specifically tailored to fit and flatter your evening out. The little black dress which are ergonomically engineered to
curves at every stage of pregnancy. Not can suit every woman’s taste, from provide the perfect support for posture
only is it a relief to wear pieces that fitted bodycon to an easy A-line style during the pregnancy. They are smart for
actually fit properly but the sooner you which skims over curves. You work and alleviate back pain, heavy legs
invest, the more you will get out of can always find one which makes and muscle aches and are ideal for
your outfits. you feel comfortable. walking around in the office day-long.

32 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 Guide To Better Living
HEALTH

Idi Srinivas Murthy

CEO and Co-founder,
KarmaSpark
Yoga Health Centre,
Gurgaon

The
Natural Way
TO
Healing
Illustration SHUTTER STOCK

Why clinical yoga therapy is the answer

to curing polycystic ovarian syndrome

W
DOS AND DON’TS
ith the says, “In CYT, one background such as This is an important
increasing evaluates people’s ultrasound milestone since it
cases of health across body, and hormone blood Ensure you are doing signifies your body
CYT sessions under
PCOD mind, emotions and test reports. guidance of a qualified
is now able to
(polycystic ovarian environment and yoga therapist. operate without
disease) affecting a then design a perso- #2. Customised external crutches.
number of women nalised medical yoga programme Don’t be a YouTube-
during their lifetime, programme for the Ask the therapist warrior. Many YouTube #5. Symphony
the solution lies not targeted goal.” In for a tailor-made videos promote of fertility
in popping pills but India, the Clinical programme “Five magic asanas for Ask your therapist
looking at alternative Establishments Act consisting of PCOD”. These usually to focus the second
therapies. It’s here of 2010 recognised different asanas and help to prevent PCOD. menstrual cycle on
But once it has set in,
that clinical yoga yoga as an effective pranayama sessions. the answer lies in
cleansing the cysts
therapy (CYT) can system of medical For PCOD, the different types of out of the ovaries.
come in handy. treatment, separate sessions will target therapy sessions, This is important to
Before believing that from Allopathy the four hormone customised to the minimise recurrence.
you will have to live and Ayurveda. axes corresponding specific case. After the second
with PCOD for the to the four phases of cycle, it is good to
rest of your life, do YOU CAN FOLLOW the menstrual cycle. Don’t try to make get ultrasound and
check out what CYT CYT IN FIVE STEPS Diet should also be weight loss the focus of hormone blood tests
is, how to practice it, adjusted to match your CYT. Pay attention done. All your
to curing PCOD and
and how can it help #1. Medical history therapy sessions. weight loss will follow
symptoms should be
regenerate the PCOD is affecting automatically as your gone and if the
female body. one in four urban #3. Review and hormones balance out. diagnostic reports
young women and adjustments are also normal,
WHAT IS IT? the symptoms Ask for a weekly then you’ve won
Over a decade ago, include infertility, review. The therapist #4. Natural cycle freedom from
Dr Timothy McCall, acne, irregular or no will adjust the next After about four to PCOD. You will now
MD, became famous cycle and obesity. week’s session de- six weeks, you can also be in prime
in New York when he Because yoga works pending on your pro- expect to have a form to try for a
left Allopathy and on the entire system, gress. Expect to go off natural (no natural pregnancy
became a qualified tell the therapist your hormone medi- medications), smooth with higher chances
yoga therapist. He about your medical cations along the way. menstrual period. of success.

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 33

 Guide To Better Living
TRAVEL

Exploring the
Unexplored
Fashion designer
Pallavi Mohan
discovers a new WALK IN
world as she THE WILD
Mohan during
journeys across her adventurous
journey; the
Leh and Ladakh group trekking
the treacherous
paths (right)

T
ravelling is one thing that brings
peace to my being. I ensure we are
on a vacation with family and friends
at least a couple of times every year.
Sometimes it is important to take a
step back from the daily routine and think of
where one is headed. There is no better place
to do this than in the lap of nature. This
time around, I checked off one of the greatest
adventures off my bucket list, the snow
leopard trail.
About four months ago, in the beginning of
March, I embarked on one of the most exciting
adventures of my life—trekking in Leh and
Ladakh with Voygr Expedition and some
friends from Entrepreneurs’ Organization.
We took up the challenge of the snow leopard
expedition, keen to spot one. Despite them
being territorial and shy, and the area
being home to only nine of them, we were
hopeful and determined.
The trip had beautiful views, wonderful
paths and of course, a sighting of the elusive
snow leopard. In the beginning, I didn’t know
what signing up for this trip would entail, I did
not think about how extreme it would be. My
only motivation was that I wanted to push
myself to do something new. We caught the
morning flight to the trans-Himalayan town of
Leh. We spent the day at a pace that is slower
than normal to properly acclimatise to the high

34 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 A NEW HIGH
The breathtaking
Himalayan peaks

altitude. The first day was easy and

PLAN IT we were given much-needed
information on how the next few days
RIGHT would pan out. On day two, we
explored the beautiful monasteries of
Thiksey and Matho and visited the
1 2 days in Leh Don’t cut Siddhartha School in Stok. We set out
out these two days as they are for Hemis National Park with an
essential to get acclimatised to
The trip the environment.
hour-long drive to Zingchen on day
three. From there, the trek began
had beautiful with a walk to our camp, about an
2 Go with a guide If it’s the first hour-and-a-half away. We spent the
views, wonderful time you are trekking, travel
daylight hours searching for the
with people who know the
paths and of place and are familiar with the elusive ghost of the mountains and
surroundings. This ensures the evenings around the kitchen
course, a sighting you get the best sightings fire, tucked into our ultra-warm
and are safe. sleeping bags.
of the elusive Over the next few days, we
snow leopard 3 Check ahead for temperature explored Hemis National Park
and climate Be prepared with without expert spotters, on the
warm clothes. Carry plenty of lookout for wildlife such as the argali
thermals, innerwear and socks.
(great tibetan sheep), bharal (blue
sheep), shapu (ladakhi urial), and the
Trekking tools If you elusive snow leopard. Our camps
4 are embarking on a trek,
were moved depending on our
don’t forget to carry the
essentials—mountaineering spotting success and reports of snow
sunglasses, shoes, water pack leopard spotting around the valley.
and walking sticks. Each day we were trekking for a few
kilometres; as little as 2 km per day
Eat a balanced meal When you and as much as 8 km per day.
5 are trekking, your body needs It was finally on day four that we
extra nourishment to stay up spotted a snow leopard.
and at it. Eat healthy, nutritious The seventh day was the last of
food to keep yourself going.
this adventure, so after a trek to
Zingchen and a short drive to Leh,
6 Travel light Don’t carry too we had a day to rediscover the
much stuff. Call and check on all comforts of a hot shower. It was our
the items that will be provided free day to rest, relax, and explore
so you don’t carry extra things
EN ROUTE Leh before returning to Delhi,
unnecessarily.
They were greeted by a group of rejuvenated and humbled by the
mountain animals during one of the treks great outdoors.

JULY, 2018 ● INDIA TODAY WOMAN 35

 The Last Note

VASU
PRIMLANI
Comedian and
actor, Mumbai

HOW TO

STOP
RAPE
Raising boys right
is at the heart of the
rape debate as doesn’t even know how to blame the point is, doesn’t it seem like India
more and more perpetrator in the case of rape. protects its rapists more than its rape
people speak out They think the victim is to blame. victims?
about the abysmally They are busy educating the victim Unless we know why rape
aboyt how to prevent a crime from happens, one can’t prevent it. Until
low conviction rates happening to her. you know the cause of the disease,
There is only one way to be safe you can do all the song and dance
from rape. Raise your boys properly. you want around it, but you won’t be
As a somatic therapist who has worked able to cut it at its root. It’s like

T
with rape survivors, acid attack taking coconut water for pneumonia.
hey tell you that the best way survivors and rapists, it is my You can drown in it, it would make
to be safe is to walk outside at contention that rapists are raised by as much of difference as singing
a certain time, wear outfits the following kind of parents—those makes to a mosquito. And did you
prescribed by men (that they who physically or sexually abuse the know, boys in India are molested/
deem will protect you from boy, neglect him, or raise a boy with raped as much girls are?
rape), which buttons to press in a lift, male entitlement so he consequently Unfortunately, they often don’t talk
there is an entire list vetted by the grows up thinking he is god’s gift to about it. As a rape prevention and
ubiquitous panel of men. And how do mankind, and can have anything he rehabilitation expert, I can tell you
we make our baby girls safer? You wants, whenever he wants it. that abusive backgrounds breed
know the ones that cannot even crawl Let me ask you a question: do you potential criminals. These bombs can
yet? What clothes should they wear? personally know someone who has be diffused. It’s not easy, but I have
Should they say ‘help’ and ‘stop’ in been raped or do you know anyone done it with several boys and men in
a certain manner? who has raped? Chances are your the past. For you, the best thing you
My greatest frustration with the answer is in the affirmative in relation can do to safeguard yourself from
conversation in India around rape to the former and negative in the rape is—raise your sons, brothers
is—why is India telling the women latter. We all know someone who has and male friends properly. Teach
what to do? Do you tell the person been raped, but no one has ever seen them to take no for an answer
who was robbed “it was actually your or met a rapist. It stands to reason respectfully. But most of all, douse
fault”? Do you tell the person’s family that for every rape victim there is a the fire of rage inside them. Until
who was murdered that you should rapist. But India doesn’t have rapists, that happens, no amount of begging
have kept him at home? India apparently. We have ghost rapists. My or pleading will help.

36 INDIA TODAY WOMAN ● JULY, 2018

 DIGITAL EDITION

THANK YOU FOR READING REGISTERED NO. DL(ND)-11/6068/2018-20; U(C)-88/2018-20; FARIDABAD/05/2017-19 LICENSED TO POST WITHOUT PREPAYMENT

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THE SMOKE
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www.indiatoday.in AUGUST 6, 2018 `60

9 7 7 0 2 5 4 8 3 9 9 0 9

ASSAM’S 2,000,000
At least 2 million people

NOWHERE
are at risk of losing their
citizens’ rights: to vote, to
property, to state benefits.

PEOPLE
The situation in the border
state is highly inflammable
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PLEASE CONTINUE
TO YOUR FREE MAGAZINES

Chennai
JULY 2018
JULY 2018
AUGUST 2018

WELLNESS SPECIAL
EXCITING
THINGS TO DO AADI SPECIAL
AROUND TOWN OFFERS
A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE
A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE

Making a difference

5 WAYS TO
Mumbai, Delhi & NCR, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata.
“Supplement to India Today issue dated August 6, 2018

COOK WITH
Not for sale. To be circulated free with India Today in

QUINOA
DCP No.: F. 2. (I - 20) Press / 2007

10 FLATTERING
PREGNANCY
LOOKS

ROOM
FOR
CHANGE
EASY HOME MAKEOVERS
FOR THE SEASON

TESTING
LIMITS 10 women tell you how
to beat stress and be
fitter and stronger
than ever before

Creative
Shweta Rathore,
Fitness physique athlete
ARTIST AMALIN DATTA
WITH A SCULPTURE
TYPE
DESIGNER SHIVA
NALLAPERUMAL
Minds BEST OF DESIGN
AND FASHION IN THE CITY
DESIGNED BY HIM
 Chennai
JULY 2018

AADI SPECIAL
OFFERS
A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE

Creative
TYPE
DESIGNER SHIVA
NALLAPERUMAL
Minds BEST OF DESIGN
AND FASHION IN THE CITY
 12
Buzz
Into the City
Fun things to do
this season.

Ü
Editor-in-Chief
Aroon Purie
Group Editorial Director
Raj Chengappa
inside 4
Cover Story
Group Creative Editor
Nilanjan Das
Group Photo Editor
Bandeep Singh
Chic in the City
From the outfit you wear to work, to the new watering hole in
Deputy Editor your neighbourhood, we visit the city's most creative spaces
Prachi Bhuchar
Associate Editor
Cover photograph by DANESH JASSAWALA
Mohini Mehrotra
Editorial Consultant
Rewati Rau
Photo Department
Vikram Sharma OUR PICK of the month
Photo Researchers
Prabhakar Tiwari,
Water, Water,
Shubhrojit Brahma, Saloni Vaid Everywhere
Design It is that time of the year
Rajesh Angira
Production
again when all roads lead to
Harish Aggarwal (Chief of Kovalam. International surf
Production), Naveen Gupta, competitions, musicians from
Vijay Sharma, Prashant Verma
Layout Execution
around the world, yoga and
Ramesh Kumar Gusain alternate healing, a flea market
Pradeep Singh Bhandari and more await you for a
weekend of fun by the beach
Publishing Director with the Covelong Point Surf,
Manoj Sharma
Associate Publisher (Impact)
Music, Yoga Festival.
Anil Fernandes At Covelong Point Social Surf
School, Kovalam Village
Impact Team
Senior General Manager:
Details covelongpoint.
Jitendra Lad (West) com/2018
General Managers:
Upendra Singh (Bangalore);
Kaushiky Gangulie (East)

2 INDIA TODAY CHENNAI F JULY 2018

 SUMANTH KUMAR
Photograph by

Priyanjali Basu at Priyanjoli's

4 INDIA TODAY CHENNAI F JULY 2018
first store in Chennai
 cover story

Chic in the

CITY From the outfit you wear to work, to the new

watering hole in your neighbourhood, we visit the
city's most creative people and places.
PRACHI SIBAL

Talking Textile
Priyanjoli
ontemporary women want to contemporary brand Priyanjoli in 2012. The online

C dress up and wear good clothes but don’t

want to spend too much time doing it,”
store launched in 2014 focussing on textiles like
ikat, khun, jamdani and more that were turned into
says Priyanjoli Basu, 34, founder of the contemporary, chic, wearable silhouettes. “A lot of
city’s most interesting design label called Priyanjoli. research goes into the patterns and wearability of the
While she began her career in celebrity manage- garments but the focus is always on creating clothes
ment and styling in Mumbai, Basu realised early on that transform easily from work-wear to evening
that her true interest lay in textile and design. She wear,” she says.
also felt a strong need to archive and document Priyanjoli's range includes dresses, tops, skirts and
all that she discovered. After leaving Mumbai, she singlets in natural fabrics. The brand launches its
embarked on a nine-month-long journey through first brick-and-mortar store in Chennai this August
the villages of West Bengal, meeting weavers and dis- which will open up options of customisation. “We
covering textiles and processes. “This resulted in already do alterations will now be able to customise
a change in my lifestyle and choices. I started for size as well. No size chart is perfect after all and
archiving and documenting old textiles and wed- women’s bodies undergo constant change,” she says.
ding sarees,” she says. Her first project was focussed At No 9, 11th Cross Street, First Floor,
on reviving Benarasis for the Crafts Council of West Indira Nagar, Adyar
Bengal and was exhibited in Dhaka, Chennai and Website priyanjoli.com
Mumbai. These intial projects helped her create the Price Rs 2,800 onwards

JULY 2018 F INDIA TODAY CHENNAI 5

 cover story

The interiors
have been
designed
using a
stainless
steel wire
woven in
a Madras
checks
pattern

To Madras, with love

Wire Room Bar & Kitchen

his new bar in the city is a

T design marvel. If you are stopping
by for a quick beer, you are in for a
surprise and might spend more time
looking at the ceiling than savouring your cold
brew. Its design context rests quite literally on
a single element—a 20 km long stainless steel
wire coated with copper woven in a Madras
checks pattern suspended by counter weights.
“I was influenced by the traditional weaving pat-
terns in the area. To define different zones we
used plumb bobs, a beautiful traditional materi-
al that works as counter weights,” says architect
Pronit Nath about the design of the bar. illusion of depth using two reflective mirrors
The space has exposed beams, a red ceil- and a wooden arch.
ing, rustic grey terrazzo tiles that resemble a The local influences don’t stop with the
chocolate bar and antique mirrors for table design instead and find their way into the cock-
tops. Every corner here finds a connection to tail menu too. So there’s a Marina Mule to take
something quintessentially Chennai. The bar's on the original and a Magizhchi cocktail if a
backdrop is an installation that takes inspira- classic Margarita just won’t make the cut.
tion from the famed thousand pillar hall at the AT Phoenix Marketcity, Velachery
Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. It creates an Meal for two Rs 1,400 onwards

6 INDIA TODAY CHENNAI F JULY 2018

 cover story

t started off as a

I platform for artists and

designers much like
Mumbai’s Kulture Shop,
but The Postbox took on a life of its
own as the city’s most sought after
product design label. The Postbox,
which was launched in 2014, now has
an annual revenue upwards of
Rs 1.5 crore.
Founder Nikhil Joseph, 28 says it
is important to change how Indian
design is perceived and to also make
it affordable for everyone looking to
own a good functional product.
The brand focuses on travel and
leather goods with a small section of
handcrafted homeware items being
sold as well. Joseph had two things in
mind when he started The Postbox,
one was the use of Indian stuff like
cane, jute and terracotta and the
other was to scale up production to
aid accessibility and affordability.
“We tread the fine line between
popular and niche. Every product
here comes out of conversations in-
house, inspirations from design in
traditional contexts and gets proto-
typed a few times before production
JAISON G

takes place at an export house in the

city,” he explains. Besides quality, it is
Photograph by

the attention to detail that is behind

the steadily increasing customer base
of the design house. For instance, a
Functional laptop sleeve crafted using leather

Design
and ikat comes with a discreet,
detachable leather mouse pad.
A firm believer in brick-and-mortar
sales, the online only brand is looking
The Postbox to open up capsule stores soon. “Also
on the cards are new products like
passport holders and new materials
like the versatile nylon with a leather
Nikhil Joseph, Founder
displaying a typical prototype
base of course,” says Joseph.
of a new product AT thepostbox.in
Price Rs 500 onwards
 cover story

True to
Type
Shiva Nallaperumal,
Type designer and
art director

hiva Nallaperumal,

S 26, had no access to

sports and video games,
growing up, and would
spend hoursdrawing imitations
of his favourite characters from
Tintin instead. Graphic novels
were the natural progression
from here and a photographer
cousin introduced Nallaperumal
to inspirational art films. “My par-
ents wouldn’t let me touch a video Type designer Shiva Nallaperumal traces his
game but were willing to buy me inspirations back to Tintin and Thalapathy.
books no matter how expensive Photograph by DANESH JASSAWALA
they were. As a form of rebellion
I would demand the most expen-
sive ones,” he says. Nallaperumal took a type “It is like the mobile phone
“Typography was always a part design course at Maryland which was designed for a
of everything I interacted with. Institute College of Arts need but now we design
One of my earliest influences was (MICA) Baltimore and went our lives around it,” he says.
the Rajinikanth film Thalapathy. onto win several awards for Nallaperumal takes up proj-
The logo, with no graphic ele- design including The Society ects in graphic and publication
ment, managed to convey violence of Typographic Aficianados design with his partner
through the lettering. Later, when (SOTA) Catalyst Award in 2015. Juhi Vishnani and is currently
I went to design school it all made He is strongly influenced by working on a typeface for Indian
sense to me,” he says. “I went from culture around him and believes languages.
loving type to learning type to that design is an outcome of
making my own,” he adds. your immediate surroundings. AT shiva-n.com

18 INDIA TODAY CHENNAI F JULY 2018

 cover story

Book
Building
by Tara Books

his independent pub-

T lishing house has been

known for its handmade
books centred on art
since 1994. It is imperative then that
the space which houses it is
a reflection of its interdisciplinary
work and morphs with ease from
an office to a bookstore to a com-
munity space that hosts book
launches and events. It even has a
residential space to host
visiting artists.
The light-filled, multi-level build- Gita Wolf, Founder,
ing is a lesson in contemporary Tara Books and
space saving architecture. “I can architect Mahesh
imagine a book, not a space. It came Radhakrishnan at
Tara Books
alive only with a physical model,”
says Gita Wolf, 61, Founder, Tara Photograph by JAISON G

Books. “The building with its open-

ness reflects how we work and gives much like the books,” he says. second floor with a spiral cement
a view of what everybody is doing,” The building features large staircase leads to the office space
she adds. signature white metal grills on which is open and collaborative.
Designed by Mahesh both sides, giving it an illusion of “The space has six staircases and
Radhakrishnan, 41, principal space. These grills have a story each of them is different and non-
architect, The Madras Office for of their own to tell. “We docu- intrusive,” says Radhakrishnan,
Architects and Designers (MOAD), mented security grill patterns from who Wolf admits, has managed to
the building which draws from old Chennai and narrowed them play with psychological aspects of
the work by Tara Books has also down to 25 which could be fab- the space to make it seem larger
become the visual identity of the ricated and used,” he says. The than it is.
publishing house. “Much like their ground floor houses the bookstore AT 9, Kuppam Beach Road,
art, ut gets to the point and the cul- with a flight of stairs leading to an Thiruvanmiyur
tural experience is in the memory, open meeting / dining area. The Call 4260 1033
 cover story

JAISON G
Photograph by
Designing Luxury
Palladium Mall

hen the city’s from traditional kollam pat- the ceiling clean,” says Nath.

W first luxury mall

opened, it wasn’t
terns and the tufting from
Chanel bags for an amalga-
While artwork is curated
for the projective ceiling on
just the arrival of mation of local contexts with a periodic basis, the other
brands like Coach, Chanel, global luxury trends. kind- reflective ceiling takes
Kate Spade and more that The mall focuses on being inspiration from the Sheesh
had people talking. It was a space for art and design Mahal in Jaipur, created
also the design by Mumbai- while catering to brands for using mirrors in a penrose
based architect Pronit Nath, Chennai’s growing luxury pattern.
45, Partner, Urban Studio. market. Hence, the interiors The entrance to malls
Right from the exterior, double up as a floating gal- which usually features secu-
The
Palladium is an experience lery as does the ceiling with rity booths with discoloured
commercial
projector at of sorts. “We had to con- movement arts highlighted curtains also get a facelift
Palladium vey the aspirational value of through a projector. “In a here. “It is designed like a
that reflects luxury and hence chose zinc, mall space, a lot goes into the sculpture as are the passages
moving art a material that catches light ceiling. Here, we’ve tried to to the bathrooms and every-
onto the and ages well for the façade,” put everything into an eight thing else,” he says.
ceiling. says Nath. It takes inspiration inch strip, keeping the rest of AT 28, Velachery Road

10 INDIA TODAY CHENNAI F JULY 2018

city buzz l [ L I ST I N G S ] 3
things to look
forward to
1

Art with a cause

As part of AIM for Seva’s Annual Fundraiser
this year, watch two dance performances
– Nandalala and Jagat Pavani Ganga. While
Nandalala is by dancer Anita Guha’s school
Bharathanjali in the form of
a nritya natak, Jagat Pavani Ganga is a dance
theatre piece by Revathi Ramachandran’s
institute Kala Sadhanalaya.
AT The Music Academy, 168, TTK Road
Tickets on bookmyshow.com

COMEDY
EVENINGS
Here’s your chance to watch stand-
up comics Vipul Goyal and Kunal
Kamra live in the city with their own
brands of humour. While Goyal is an
actor and known for his popular web
series, Kamra’s style is observational
and laced with satire.
AT Kamarajar Arangam,
New no. 592, Anna Salai,
Teynampet
Tickets on bookmyshow.com
Dates August 16 and 17, 7 pm
2

IT’S RAINING OFFERS

Aadi sales are all around and it is time to get your
shopping bags ready for a steal like no other. It is
also when the Pothys’ annual Aadi sale, for a period
of 40 days, helps redo your entire wardrobe. On
offer are buy one get one free kurtis in cotton for
the summer, fast-selling silk and tanchoi sarees.
“We have no major discounts all year round, but
during Aadi, you will find new stocks on discount
too, ranging from five to 50 percent,” says Varun
Ramesh, 31, Partner, Pothy's
AT All Pothys’ stores Till August 15

12 INDIA TODAY CHENNAI F JULY 2018

 DIGITAL EDITION

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www.indiatoday.in AUGUST 6, 2018 `60

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ASSAM’S 2,000,000
At least 2 million people

NOWHERE
are at risk of losing their
citizens’ rights: to vote, to
property, to state benefits.

PEOPLE
The situation in the border
state is highly inflammable
RNI NO. 28587/75

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TO YOUR FREE MAGAZINES

Chennai
JULY 2018
JULY 2018
AUGUST 2018

WELLNESS SPECIAL
EXCITING
THINGS TO DO AADI SPECIAL
AROUND TOWN OFFERS
A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE
A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE

Making a difference

5 WAYS TO
Mumbai, Delhi & NCR, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata.
“Supplement to India Today issue dated August 6, 2018

COOK WITH
Not for sale. To be circulated free with India Today in

QUINOA
DCP No.: F. 2. (I - 20) Press / 2007

10 FLATTERING
PREGNANCY
LOOKS

ROOM
FOR
CHANGE
EASY HOME MAKEOVERS
FOR THE SEASON

TESTING
LIMITS 10 women tell you how
to beat stress and be
fitter and stronger
than ever before

Creative
Shweta Rathore,
Fitness physique athlete
ARTIST AMALIN DATTA
WITH A SCULPTURE
TYPE
DESIGNER SHIVA
NALLAPERUMAL
Minds BEST OF DESIGN
AND FASHION IN THE CITY
DESIGNED BY HIM
 AUGUST 2018

EXCITING
THINGS TO DO
AROUND TOWN

A MONTHLY CITY MAGAZINE

ROOM
FOR
CHANGE
EASY HOME MAKEOVERS
FOR THE SEASON

ARTIST AMALIN DATTA

WITH A SCULPTURE
DESIGNED BY HIM
 Editor-in-Chief
Aroon Purie
Group Editorial Director
Raj Chengappa
Group Creative Editor
4
Cover Story
Nilanjan Das
Group Photo Editor
House That
Bandeep Singh We tell you about the stores and people who
make your house a home.
Deputy Editor
Prachi Bhuchar
Associate Editor
Mohini Mehrotra
Special Correspondent Cover photograph by SUBIR HALDER
Malini Banerjee
Editorial Consultant
Rewati Rau
Photo Department
Vikram Sharma, Subir Halder
Photo Researchers
OUR PICK
Prabhakar Tiwari, Saloni Vaid,
Shubhrojit Brahma
of the month
Design Sunday Binge
Rajesh Angira
Production
Gorge on five different kinds of
Harish Aggarwal (Chief of dimsums, one main with steamed
Production), Naveen Gupta,
Vijay Sharma, Prashant Verma
jasmine rice and baby pakchoy, along
Layout Execution with a dessert and a drink at Yauatcha.
Ramesh Kumar Gusain Known for their beautifully crafted
Pradeep Singh Bhandari
dimsums like prawn shui mai, har gau
and spicy har gau, these are not only
Publishing Director
Manoj Sharma worth savouring but also make for
Associate Publisher (Impact) pretty pictures on your Instagram.
Anil Fernandes
Price Rs 1,588 plus taxes On Every
Impact Team
Sunday Time 12 noon to 4 pm
Senior General Manager: At Level 5, Quest Mall, 33, Syed
Jitendra Lad (West)
General Managers:
Amir Ali Avenue
Upendra Singh (Bangalore);
Kaushiky Gangulie (East)

2 INDIA TODAY KOLKATA F AUGUST 2018

 cover
story

House
That Bright artwork, thoughtful
designs and cosy cushions
—we tell you about the peo-
ple and places who make
your house a home

by Malini Banerjee

Art, her father-in-law-to-be asked

her to create an artwork for a long
extended ceiling at the entrance of
Kahm Towers in New Market. “My
first reaction was —I don’t know
ed

how to do this. Eventually it started

rke sion

making sense,” says Dalmia. The

Ma mis
t.

ceiling is a tribute to her husband’s

Ne t com

grandfather and showcases Kolkata's

er r firs
w

evolution. She commissioned artist

Tow h he
in

Suvra Chakraborty to do a Kolkata

it

based sketch for this. Her brand The

Ka ia w

Artemist was born soon after.

m
hm
rk Dal

Though the work was monumen-

wo na
at

ART tal, what made her name in the city

art dha
a

was the mural she did for the restau-

Ar

rant Monkey Bar when it opened in

2016. Featuring a sketch of Kolkata’s
skyline with Durga Puja, Howrah
Artistic Bridge and characters from Satyajit

License Ray’s film Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne,

it is one of the bar’s key features. She
The Artemist now leads a team of eight and juggles
close to 43 projects per month. She's
open to taking every kind of work

A
radhana Dalmia, 28, and commissions small A5 size water
had always known she colours on bulk for corporate gifts as
was artistically inclined well as art from legends like Paresh
and that her future Maity and Jogen Chowdhury.
lay in the arts. That it would be Best for Artwork of any budget
in the form of an art consultancy and style
is not something she had imag-
ined. As soon as she returned with Price Starts at Rs 10,000 for a
a Bachelor in Fine Arts (BFA) in portrait
2014 from Manchester School of details theartemist.in
Photograph by SUBIR HALDER

6 INDIA TODAY KOLKATA F AUGUST 2018

 Falguni Bhatt
Sanghvi's ceramic art

Anything else — fibre glass,

From cement, metal seemed much

the Earth too hard,” says Falguni Bhatta

Sanghvi, 42.
Falguni Bhatt Sanghvi “I love the textures that an
oxided or a carbonate colorant
including tableware, ashtrays plant-
takes on when baked,” says
ers and even basins. Planters are her
Sanghvi who set up her studio in
favourite — perhaps an echo of her
Kolkata in 2008. Bhatt prefers
love for nature. Her murals and art-
working with her hands instead
works are also showcased in some of

T
his ceramic artist fell of the potter’s wheel and has a
the city's restaurants including The
in love with clay while special love for hand pinched
Grid and Mio Amore in Mani Square.
pursuing her BFA in atypical moulds and shapes
Baroda School of Art in 1996. compared to the perfection of Best for Customised Ceramics
“To cast anything one must the wheel. Her studio has a mix price mugs start at rs 350 a piece and art
cast it in clay. This medium of her own ceramic art sculp- at rs 25,000
has a softness that drew me. tures as well as objects for home details falgunibhatt.com

Joy To The World

Joyeetajoyart

J
amini Roy meets Pablo a transformer box followed
Picaaso meets a little bit before they were commissioned
of Mario Miranda and is to draw on the wallas of the
topped with all things Kolkata. iconic ice cream parlour turned
This is what Joyeeta Bose, 26 café Scoop, New Market. Apart
and Prasenjit Ghosh’s art page from the walls and murals, the
Joyeetajoyart looks like. While duo also design paper cups,
Bose is a trained artist from bookmarks, notebooks, bags,
Government College Of Art brooches and bric a bac that
and Craft, her fiancé Ghosh can be commissioned or their
is a software-professional- Facebook page.
turned-artist who gave it all up Best for Quirky-Kolkata
to paint. proud-monochromatic
Prasenjit Ghosh and Joyeeta One of their first works that designs
Bose in front of their wall art rs 180 - 200 per sq ft for
at Scoop, New Market
garnered them a lot of social cost
walls and knick knacks start at
media attention was a wall in a rs 200.
café called Calcutta 64. More details facebook.com/pg/
cafes, private homes and even joyeetajoyart
Photograph by SUBIR HALDER

AUGUST 2018 F INDIA TODAY KOLKATA 5

 cover
story

Uncommon Threads
Cocoon Fine Rugs

T
his brand housing luxury collaborations with designers.
HOME carpets came to Kolkata in Tessellations—their collaboration
STORES 2015 and has since made with architect Rooshad Shroff,
a name for itself as the place to go paid homage to the flooring of
to for luxurious rugs and carpets. heritage Parsi bungalows. It won
What sets Cocoon Fine Rugs apart them a lot of recognition and
from other garden variety home awards including the Elle Decor
stores is the browsing experi- International design award for best
ence here. This 1700 sq ft store in flooring. Only one piece from the
Pretoria street is done up in a vin- collection remains in the Kolkata
tage-chic manner. Its high ceiling, store now.
exposed beams and dark iron stair- Cocoon can also customise
case are reminiscent of a gallery. rugs to your specification—not
Most of their pieces are unique just to specific sizes from existing
Model
and a work of art. “Our rugs are patterns but even weave a carpet
Mou Baidya
a labour of love, and are made by based on a painting of your choice.
against
Cocoon's
the most skilled craftsmen using Best for Customised rugs
carpet from the the finest materials, thereby mak-
SUBIR HALDER

at cocoon fine Rugs, aspiRations vintage,

Tessellations by ing them a class apart from what
12 pRetoRia stReet, gRound flooR
Rooshad Shroff is commercially available in the tel 22907390/91
collection; market,” says founder and creative price Rs 45,000 onwaRds foR 3 x 5
Photograph by

Make-up by director Ayush Choudhary. caRpets

details cocooncaRpets.com
Malay Roy Cocoon is also known for its

6 INDIA TODAY KOLKATA F AUGUST 2018

Handcrafted For Homes
Kopai Paar

K
olkata-based filmmaker, creations include the
Neha Rungta was always Upcycled animal “madur” placemats,
cushions from
“fascinated by indig- Kopai Paar
runners and floor rugs
enous crafts and the people who from Midnapore in
create them.” The core idea of Bengal, laundry and
her brand Kopai Paar stemmed utility baskets from
from one of her routine trips to Manipur, upcycled fabric
Shantiniketan for a shoot—Kopai animal cushions made in
being a river that runs by the Baruipur, upcycled fabric
university town. A big believer in totebags and rugs from
sustainable practices, all of Kopai Andhra Pradesh, and
Paar products are natural and ceramics from Delhi and
environment— friendly. “We Shantiniketan.
have also developed a line of stocks some of the prettiest upcy- Best For Fun animal
upcycled products which reduce cled products including kantha cushions that make for a great
waste, re-use materials and turn cushions and rugs to add a splash “huggie or lovey” for children.
them into beautiful things people of colour to your rooms. prices Rs 650 onwaRds
can use,” she says. Their website Some of their other fascinating details kopaipaaR.com

year," says Lall. Quite a few

Old World of its prints are almost signa-
ture now—Anokhi has been
Charm known for its paisley and tree
of life – which are still very
Anokhi popular as motifs that echo
in not just their curtains and
upholstery fabric but also
blinds and cushions.
but Kolkata on print. It was
founded by the late interior Best For Made-to-order
Entrepreneur
Pria Lall at designer Amita Basu when patchwork quilts. ‘Big ikkats’,
Anokhi she could not find the kind paisleys prints and abstracts
Photograph by SUBIR HALDER of prints she was looking marry well to form a beautiful
for to do up the homes she quilt that can work as a duvet
designed. Run by her daugh- cover too.

W
hile doing up your ter Pria Lall since 1985, the
home, if you want prices Rs 350 and above foR
store retains its charm. “All cushions Rs 550 peR metRe foR
something that is the fabrics in this home fur- fabRics
rooted in Kolkata, head to Anokhi. nishing store are designed best for india pRoud soft
This 46-year-old store in Russel and printed in Kolkata, in fuRnishings
details instagRam.com/
Street (not to be confused by the Ultadanga. We had the same Russell_stReet_anokhi
younger Jaipur-based brand) is master colourist for years at 6, Russell stReet paRk
not a mere old furnishing store until he passed away last stReet aRea

AUGUST 2018 F INDIA TODAY KOLKATA 7

 C OV E R S T O RY H O M E STO R E S

Pillow Talk
The Cushion Project

T
he Cushion expensive neighborhood
Project’s journey like South Kolkata may
is a classic “started have had its fair share of
from a garage story”, says sceptics but the store ran
MD Neha Jhunjhunwala, well till 2014.
36. It all started when Though Onset shut
Neha’s mother Kavita down, Jhunjhunwala car-
Jhunjhunwala started ried its goodwill forward
designing and selling and re-launched it in a
cushion covers and bed- more affordable avatar
covers from spare fabrics as The Cushion Project.
leftover from their family Neha's core beliefs lie
SUBIR HALDER

textile business. in using natural fabrics

Neha, who had just such as cotton and linen.
returned after graduat- The brand uses a smart
Neha Mody at
Photograph by

ing in textile design from mix of machine and hand

Aavenue 48
Philadelphia University, embroidery and hand-
joined her mother. The made embellishments
Shining Bright mother's experience and
the daughter's knowledge
on natural fabric to bet-
ter suit the internet home
Aavenue 48 gave birth to a luxury label shopper.
called Onset. in a three- Best for Home decoration

T
his 2000 sq ft their products.” storey store in Hindustan on a budget.
store that occu- In a studied con- Park in 2008. A stand-
pies the ground trast, Aavenue 48 alone store just dedicated price Rs 350 onwaRds
floor of an old Kolkata is spread across the to home furnishings in an details theCushionpRojeCt.Com

bungalow is a store- ground floor of a typi-

house for not just lights cal Kolkata bungalow. Photograph by SUBIR HALDER
but pretty artefacts Each section of the
like tray tables, nesting house highlights differ-
tables, vases, planters ent facets of lighting—
and more. Inside, one the corridors showcase
can find pendant lights, the wall lights and the
chandeliers or goofy bi- high ceilings drop
plane shaped lights or lights and chande-
imported light fixtures. liers. The duo not just
Interior designers imports lights but also
and owners Nikhil, 36 customise their lights
and Neha Mody, 34 to order.
founded this store in Best for Customised
2015 when Nikhil spot- Lights and exhibits
ted a “gap in the mar-
ket”. He felt that “the price Rs 5,000 and above
foR pendant lights.
light stores in Kolkata
at aavenue 48, 48/8C, puRna
did not put much das Road
Neha Jhunjhunwala with cushions from The
thought to showcasing tel 9831067474
Cushion Project; Make up by Vatsala Bhagat

18 INDIA TODAY KOLKATA F AUGUST 2018

 cover
story

Intelligent Design
Sharbari since 1991

N
ot many are aware
that Amalin Datta,
54, the man
behind the brand Sharbari
since 1991 is not just a fash-
ion designer but a ceramic
of all things design. The son of
artist, sculptor, painter,
design stalwart Sharbari Datta
muralist , interior designer
and artist Alokmoy Datta aka Alo,
and in general ‘visualiser’
he grew up seeing his father
dabble in all forms of art and
design. He is relaunching his own
brand Sharbari Since 1991 with
an art and fashion installation
exhibition Clad in Clay at the ITC
Sonar this month that showcases
clay figures sculpted in the form
of martial clothing.
If clothing can be art can it be
other things too, one wonders.
“Look at the way kantha is being
rehashed as upholstery and bed
DESIGN covers,” says Datta. His ideas?
“Texture your kantha upholstery
in a unique way, add cords or
interesting pigments and frame
it with machine embroidery. Do
a kantha panel on the pelmets,”
he says.
Amalin carved his own totem,
an ancient symbol used for pro-
tection. “But if you don’t have an
outdoor garden or space to place
it use it inside your own house as
a centre table’s legs or as the poles
of a railing around your staircase,”
says Datta.

Best for Creative solutions

to boring spaces

at sharbari since 1991, sharbari’s

studio, 40/1a broad street. entry by
Designer Amalin Datta of Sharbari appointment only
Since 1991 with his sculpture tel 9831038781
details sharbaristudio.com
Photograph by SUBIR HALDER

12 INDIA TODAY KOLKATA F AUGUST 2018

 C OV E R S T O RY DESIGN

Design Diva
Pooja Bihani, founder and architect
Spaces and Design

P
ooja Bihani is beind industry into the city could
many stunning and not have been easy but
swanky new houses their Bihani makes it sound like
Kolkata that wow you with its child’s play. One of her
clever touches. The gold medal- most favourite projects
list from SPSMBH's college of is the design of a pranic
architecture, Shivaji University, healing boutique called
Kolhapur, she started her career the Tree of Life. “I have
with Sunil Tainwala of Aarteg as a Pooja Bihani at designed it in such a way
designer in 2000 after moving to a Camac Street that there are no sharp
office that she
Kolkata from Mumbai after get- designed edges or corners any-
ting married. She established her SUBIR HALDER
Photograph by
where. This is why you
own firm Spaces and Design in feel so calm when you
2006. Accolades have been pour- of a private villa in Raichak. She enter this place,” she says.
ing in since. Last year she won also won the Decowood Design Best for Turnkey projects
the CWAB award for Noteworthy Diva 2017 award – in the retail price on request
tel 22824923
Projects in The Residential category. Not originally from
email [email protected]
Interiors category for her design Kolkata, breaking into the clique-y details spacesanddesign.com

a chair that literally envelops you.

Metaphorical This got him a special mention
in the international design com-
Leanings petition, Prix Emile Hermes Paris
in 2014. More awards followed
Spacetale Designs
as he won the Pepperfry Design
Democracy Award in 2015 and
The India Story Design Award in

A
rchitect Subi Suman
2016.
realised that furniture
His current work is inspired
design was his calling after
by nature. Flowers like lotus and
three years as a practicing architect.
the rose have been his design
“Nobody in Kolkata was designing
inspirations for the present col-
the kind of conceptual furniture
lection. A lotus bud rising up from
I wanted to make,” he says. After
the glass top centre table creates
a post graduate course in furni-
Spacetale's founder and a unique accent piece. The chair
ture and interior design at NID
furniture designer Subi paired with it uses the shape of
Ahmedabad, he started Spacetale
Suman with creative head the lotus leaf as a seat.
Designs in 2011. “All my furniture
Poulami Biswas Best for Customised furniture
tells a story instead of just filling
space,” he says.
cost Rs12000 onwaRds
His design identity is metaphor-
at68 pRagatipally, subhasgRam
ical in nature. Mola, the concept web spacetaledesigns.com
chair, stands for mothers lap and is email [email protected]

10 INDIA TODAY KOLKATA F AUGUST 2018