Sunday, December 8, 2024

backpage INSIDE LITERARY REVIEW

Iconic Indian trees, ‘I’m ratting on myself’: Al
Jaipur’s newest art space including a lonely sequoia Pacino in his autobiography
is inside the City Palace
GO TO » PAGE 8 GO TO » PAGE 5 GO TO » PAGE 3
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X

CO-LIVING:
Modern family Moulshree Mittal (in
Seema Chowdhry white), Sandeep Agarwal (in green),
Amit Batra (in yellow) and Swarandeep

F
our months ago, when Singh (in blue) with other Buzz buddies

A HIT WITH
Amit Batra, 46, head of on a trip to the Nagarjunasagar-
operations at a renewable Srisailam Tiger reserve; and (below)
energy company, left his residents at a Buzz Quarter in
family behind in Gurugram to take Hyderabad. (SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT &
up a job in Hyderabad, he knew NAGARA GOPAL)
renting an apartment wasn’t worth

GEN X-Y-Z
the hassle. Shibani Marathe, a
28-year-old data analyst at Deloitte,
was moving from London to
Hyderabad and sought a vibrant now, with many companies in
community in a new city. Vineet hybrid or back-to-office mode,
Arora, 39, a Navy veteran and Hyderabad has seen a steady influx
technical manager at Salesforce,
lived in a hotel for three months Amid rising rentals and busy lifestyles, more and more of tech professionals from other
parts of the country. The demand is
when he moved to Hyderabad and
struggled to get homely meals.
Indian professionals across age groups and backgrounds on an upswing and we are gearing
up to open more co-living spaces.”
All three urban migrants found
the answer to their homing needs in
are opting for the ease of co-living facilities, a According to a 2024 report by
Indeed, job postings in IT have
co-living spaces — modern,
hassle-free homes that are
modern-day solution to the loneliness epidemic increased in Hyderabad by 41.5%
and 24.3% in Bengaluru. This means
becoming a surprising hit with more urban migrants are on the
professionals of all ages. I should modern habitats redefine urban move to these cities resulting in an
know because I am one of them. living for professional migrants. increase in housing demand. Babu
Six months ago, when I moved “I believe co-living spaces adds that Hyderabad is seeing an
from Delhi to Hyderabad, I looked epitomise modern, urban, single influx and demand rise because of
for apartments close to my living. Busy professionals want a many higher education facilities,
workplace but skyrocketing rents functional lifestyle with access to too.
and my frequent travels to Delhi activities and common areas to meet
often made renting seem like a folly. and mingle, to ward off loneliness Bending biases
That’s when I heard about a and the loss of home and family. One of the common issues migrants
co-living space through my Co-living somewhat fills that face when they move to a new city
college-going daughter’s friend. Her vacuum,” explains Sandeep Agarwal, sans family is finding the right house
father, Ashish Lal, 48, associate 51, head of design, GMR Group, who to suit their needs. Sometimes, it is
director of process excellence at has lived in Buzz Quarter, a co-living the distance from the workplace;
Novartis, managed his hybrid work space in Hyderabad, for over three other times, the high rent or not
situation by renting a co-living space years. Agarwal could have stayed in belonging to the right community
and referred me to Buzz Quarter. a company-provided shared flat become deterrents.
For my single room and attached when he moved from Bengaluru to In a country where it can still be
bath, I paid a negligible security Hyderabad. But, “it was just too challenging to rent homes as a single
deposit, half of what I would have lonely”, he says. woman, co-living spaces offer a
shelled out as rent elsewhere, and According to a 2021 Statista feasible alternative, especially for
got facilities such as Wi-Fi and report, 43% of adults in India often opened when a friend’s son, a of Skep Co-living in Bengaluru, While a 2020 report by Cushman female tenants. “I did not want
housekeeping in the deal — urbane or always feel lonely. In 2023, the student intern at Google the where he runs four co-living centres. and Wakefield India anticipated the landlords to tell me who I could
living without the attendant WHO declared loneliness a ‘global previous year, told Singh and his Nehru Babu, CEO and co-founder co-living market in India to grow 17% bring over, what I could eat, or ask
headaches. public health concern’. Co-living wife about Boston Co-Living. “We of Atnest, runs around 15 co-living from 2020 to 2025, reaching a value which community I belonged to. I
spaces, rooted in the idea of looked up a few places online, saw facilities (2,000 beds) across of $40 billion, the pandemic put a did not want to provide a male
Hostel or not community via shared spaces and the videos, and made calls. I have Hyderabad, and believes spanner in the works, according to guarantor in the rent agreement.
Co-living spaces are different from activities, are thus increasingly been living here at Buzz for over a affordability and no-responsibility Syed Moonis Ali, founder of Buzz Why should I? Thank god my friend
hostels or shared apartments. Often becoming sought after. year,” he says. make co-living attractive. “I am 45 Quarter and three other co-living introduced me to a co-living space. I
considered a new-age facility for “Co-living offers a more holistic now but as a young man I lived in spaces in Hyderabad. “There was a share a room, that helps with the
Gen Z or young millennials, these Epicentre Hyderabad lifestyle than a hostel, serviced shared apartments and it was tough. time when there were many rent, and can come and go as I
spaces are now finding takers across Swarandeep Singh, 45, an NOC apartment or paying guest Weekends were full of household international players in the field, but please,” says Masooma, a software
a more diverse crowd. From delivery lead for Bank of America in accommodation. It is like living in an chores and we were forever chasing things slowed down during the architect.
20-somethings navigating their first Hyderabad, had never heard of apartment community without the the press-wala, grocery delivery guy, pandemic and right after. The
jobs to seasoned professionals co-living spaces when he moved responsibility of managing a home,” maids, and so on. Co-living frees you business experienced shifts in CONTINUED ON
embracing career pivots, these from Bengaluru in 2023. The option explains Srini Moramchetty, founder from these responsibilities.” demand due to remote work, but » PAGE 4
CM
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 THE HINDU
02 literaryreview magazine
Sunday, December 8, 2024

X
Love all A participant at Namma
GETTY IMAGES Pride 2024 solidarity march in
as a delectable surprise. Considerably Bengaluru last month; and (bottom)
so, as, his ardent followers would Hoshang Merchant.
agree, the despondent veil of not

THE
(AFP, GETTY IMAGES)
being able to ‘equal or improve on
your last book’ has lifted — and, oh Virodhi Andolan around 1989.
boy, with such a dazzling comeback. There’s Pawan Dhall, a queer
Grief occupies centrestage again, activist from the early 90s, who

CHANGING
which, if we were to think of Philip had co-organised a Friendship
Larkin’s The Trees, makes sense. This Walk march on July 2, 1999, now
greenness of grief — its ever-returning dubbed South Asia’s first Pride
nature — remains one of the most Walk. Sudarshan Chakravorty of

NATURE
haunting expressions. However, Sapphire Creations Dance

Missing voices
Thayil’s articulation has become more Company staged The Alien
outwardly, immediate, and Flower, India’s first
politically-themed. queer-themed dance production

OF GRIEF
Sample these: in 1996. He continues to organise
The climate is in crisis, to breathe is international dance fests. And
to ache in India. Hoshang Merchant’s two new works — of there is young performance
Too cold or too hot, we freeze and artist Debashish Paul and
bake in India. prose and poetry — are self-indulgent designers Nil and Kallol Dutta,
They police our thoughts, our posts, both of whom have high
our clothes, our food. visibility. The bibliography in the
Despite recurring themes, Jeet The news, and the government, is Soumitra Das Rainbow last pages can be of use.
fake in India. Warriors of
Thayil’s new poems present a shift in
S
(February 2020) ocial media has spawned a India Lalon by chance
Or: class of so-called Hoshang The problem is that famous
their articulation of loss, to Children crawl backward like crabs influencers who make it a Merchant, writers and artists are, in
to the cradle, no light, no progress, point to visit every art gallery, general, treated with a
encompass larger political ideas only a cleansing of the unclean. fair and museum here and
Akshay K.
Rath reverential awe, and their work
(‘Wapsi’) abroad, and thereafter very HM Books automatically becomes immune
generously share their ₹450 to criticism. Merchant “is the
Symbols of imagination experience of viewing the latest author of 25 books of poetry. He
The sudden unmooring effect on a exhibitions with “friends”. was awarded a Lifetime
poet, who has a clutch of words and However, there is a catch. The Achievement award at Queer Lit
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f1ccf833-44c4-4575-b5cd-33fe76bd21c0
some rules of meter and rhyme to influencers in their glad rags Fest in 2023”.
make sense of a nation’s decline into invariably pose in front of the The reader should judge
intellectual depravity, censorship, works of art on display, partially Lalon’s Merchant’s verse, in his new
xenophobia, and ecological gas eclipsing the exhibit. Art plays Book collection Lalon’s Book, for her/
chamber, remains the central theme second fiddle to the influencer’s Hoshang himself. Here is an entire poem
of the book. [W]e sick bitches lick/ our ego. Merchant titled ‘Epilogue’: I traced a whole
wounds and try to recuperate,/ cow The same can be said about HM Books alphabet/ Finger on thigh/ I
logic, cowed rhetoric, cowardly Hoshang Merchant, who, ₹149 created a continent/ That slipped
assassinations replicate — Thayil Wikipedia says, is a “preeminent without a sigh. No invocation of
pointedly locates the political symbol voice of gay liberation in India”, Kali, Ginsberg or Lalon Fakir,
that has gripped popular imagination. and is “best known for his Bengal’s celebrated philosopher
The wordplay of ‘cow’, becoming anthology on gay writing titled and mystic poet, can redeem
‘cowed’, and finally turning ‘cowardly’ Yaarana”. this.
highlight the country’s newfound When I took up his new book, sleeve all the time. Must And now a couplet that is no
obsession as well as the violence such Rainbow Warriors of India, Merchant be reminded that better than the others: No man
an innocuous symbol is capable of co-authored with Akshay K. activism and creativity aren’t nor maid be dry/ Lalon has
unleashing. Rath, I expected it to be a always on the same page? grown up/ Lalon cries…
In ‘The Ghost of Mr. Greatsoul’, a collection of short biographical It’s a pity Merchant never There are certain lucid
speculative poem where Mahatma sketches of 22 “extraordinary mentions some of the other interludes — I divided my heart/
Gandhi reappears as a talkative, still individuals from India’s queer significant rainbow warriors of Into man and woman/ To keep my
slender house gecko, Thayil bitterly community. These gay icons India. I shall confine myself to sanity/ To heal my heart — but
remarks: The carving knife you used/ have navigated adversity to claim Kolkata where I grew up. these are few and far between.
like some tiny god/ still drips blood/ on their rightful place in society” — Krishnagopal Mallick, a The cover of Lalon’s Book is a
the old floorboard... The carving knife to quote the blurb. Any effort at journalist, wrote about Kolkata’s painting, presumably of
is the knife of Partition, causing the documenting the pride gay scene in the 1940s in his Merchant’s profile, his locks
family to sit down for dinner in India movement in India should be fiction which is available in worn in a top knot. Poor Lalon in
and get up in Pakistan. lauded. English translation. The late reality was a scrawny old man.
While the politics in the above verse However, it turned out to be Siddharth Gautam, one of India’s His only surviving portrait was
might feel less nuanced, that’s exactly an outpouring of Merchant’s first LGBTQIA+ activists, had sketched by Jyotirindranath
the point of Thayil’s poems. Quite a self-indulgent and rambling co-founded AIDS Bhedbhav Tagore, Rabindranath’s elder
few of them, in his usual ruminations on the life and times brother. Merchant appears again
tongue-in-cheek style, turn debates of of these “stately homos”, to on the cover of Rainbow
appropriation and political pinch a truly quotable quote Warriors in a black-and-white
correctness on their heads: Why cancel from that truly great gay icon, photograph. This does not
my own pleasure/ and half my Quentin Crisp, author of the become one who has named a
bookshelf for good measure/ when all famous work, The Naked Civil book of poems after a
I’m doing in truth/ is shooting myself in Servant (1968). Merchant can’t bard-philosopher about whom
the foot? look beyond himself. One of the few biographical details are
The personal elegiac poems, most ‘rainbow warriors’, R. Raj Rao, is available. The portrait is there
of them compiled in the third section, a gadfly. How I wish Merchant only by pure chance.
that try to grasp the changing nature was blessed with Rao’s infectious
of grief with respect to time, move the and irreverent sense of humour.
reader the most. These don’t have the The reviewer is interested in
puerile urgency of a ‘small child’, as Mumbai representation Kolkata’s vanishing heritage
Kinshuk Gupta Joan Didion describes in her 2005 Most of the notable queers he and culture.
memoir The Year of Magical Thinking, mentions are from Mumbai

J
eet Thayil’s necro-poems in but what the American poet Jane although he makes exceptions of
These Errors are Correct I’ll Have It Mayhall calls this complex, heartbreak filmmakers Rituparno Ghosh
(2008) that lament the Here survival. and Onir, both from Kolkata.
premature passing of his wife Jeet Thayil It is harrowing to see a clever poet Quite justifiably, the likes of
Shakti Bhatt, and which later went on
to win the Sahitya Akademi Award,
Fourth Estate
₹599
being outsmarted by grief’s perpetual
presence. How it wrecks him (Time
Ashok Row Kavi and Gita
Thadani, who were on the
July’s perimenopause fiction
introduced us to a poet nursing his moves like a broken mind) and, in frontline of gay activism in the
intimate wounds. That was supposed doing so, wrenches out a new human 70s, are there. From the cultural In All Fours, filmmaker and middle-aged, long-partnered
to be his last book. (opened my eyes/ to the man I am, still field there are artist Bhupen author Miranda July presents women, with whom it struck
But a few years later, a hardbound alive,/ all matter, never mind) remain Khakhar, poet Adil Jussawalla, a 45-year-old writer who, a chord, not for advocating
edition of his new and selected poems the most illuminating parts. photographer Sunil Gupta, after receiving an escape but for redefining
with a cover in dulcet brown and Errors…] “is the last full-length playwright Mahesh Dattani and unexpected $20,000 from a intimacy. Such was the book’s
striking red and yellow became a collection of poems I intend to dancers Ram Gopal and Navtej licensing deal, decides to influence, The New York
sensation. In its preface, however, publish”. The reviewer is the author of the Hindi Singh Johar, not to forget treat herself to a trip to New Times reported, that these
Thayil proclaimed with his Thus, the publication of I’ll Have It short story collection Yeh Dil Hai Ki Merchant himself. Quite York City. Instead of women began having
characteristic flamboyance that [These Here, his new poetry collection, comes Chor Darwaja (2023). expectedly, the writer devotes continuing to New York, conversations about sexual
one whole chapter to himself, however, she decides to stay freedom on Instagram DMs
tellingly titled, ‘Mourning at a motel just outside her and even in book clubs.
Became Meena Kumari’. Sadly, hometown Los Angeles, and Scan the QR code to
such posturing is just transforms her room into a read the full review online.
exasperating. personal sanctuary with the
3 book review platforms to track What is worse, Merchant
never stops bickering about
bonus money. As the days
pass, she finds herself
— Pranavi Sharma

novelist and poet Vikram Seth rediscovering a zest for life

Engage with the book community, and it While it looks like Amazon’s and playwright Dattani, because, and a renewed sense of self
won’t be long before you stumble upon Goodreads, despite last year’s review he feels, they never came out while maintaining the facade
readers expressing their preference for bombing controversies, is here to stay, early enough, or never at all. of her original plan to her
an up-and-coming app named The we might be at the threshold of a slow Seth’s early masterpiece, The family.
StoryGraph, the cataloging platform but steady market shift. Golden Gate (1986), made his Soon after its release, All
called Library Thing or even Bookly, Scan the QR code to read more. preferences clear enough. There Fours found its way to
which offers readers ambient sounds of was a certain ambiguity, but it is nightstands across the U.S.,
a flowing river or fireplace. — Vidhya Anand foolish to expect everyone to especially among
wear one’s sexuality on one’s

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based on a case that took place in themes of identity and living up offering a vivid glimpse of life in the years and the confidences they
Delhi nearly 20 years ago. to society’s expectations. classical ancient India. shared over coffee.

CM
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 THE HINDU
magazine
Sunday, December 8, 2024
literaryreview 03
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INTERVIEW

A LOYALTY TEST
With years of research and ground reporting, Rahul Bhatia There’s a bit of real-life
unravels the minority experience in contemporary India Michael Corleone in him, as
Pacino writes in a raw and
Ziya Us Salam untethered autobiography
[email protected]

W
riter-journalist Rahul
Bhatia’s The Identity
Project: The
AND
JUSTICE
Unmaking of a
Democracy is an investigative
memoir, in which he attempts to find
the roots of Hindutva. It is an honest

FOR AL
yet disturbing account of
contemporary India, as he takes
readers through the protests around
the Citizenship (Amendment) Act,
the 2020 Delhi riots, and the
aftermath. Excerpts from an
interview.

Question: This appears to be the age of

X
triumphal majoritarianism. What were
Seeking justice A protest against the
the early signs that Indian society was
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f1ccf833-44c4-4575-b5cd-33fe76bd21c0
Citizenship (Amendment) Act, at Shaheen
changing?
Bagh, in New Delhi; and (below) Rahul
Answer: It was the instances of
Bhatia. (SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA AND
people being beaten into standing Pacino. His mother’s father accomplished something
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT) Raja Sen
up for the national anthem in actually came from the Sicilian special, and they treat you that
cinemas about 20 years ago. The town of Corleone. While the way, for about a week.”

A
weaponisation of the anthem and its because they also see the more l Pacino’s autobiography, underworld “was there for my Names are, invariably,
introduction in unexpected contexts humanitarian side of the Sonny Boy, is not a grandfather and easy to access,” dropped. He shared a flat with
largely went unquestioned. The organisation. That’s one part of it. well-crafted book. The the man instead became an Martin Sheen where a young
dissent to the coercion in it was The other is that people see bigotry actor, 84, seems aware. While exemplary plasterer. One Joan Baez would play guitar
somehow seen as traitorous. People as just one of those things, a quirk, describing an artless biography afternoon his granddad, hearing cross-legged, acted with his idol
were genuinely offended by rather than something that needs he once read, he critiques his that Al had tattled on a Marlon Brando, and fell in love
theatregoers who did not stand correction. I don’t know if the own: “Let me tell you, it read classmate, said “So you’re a rat, with Diane Keaton — “We go
when it played. I don’t think they percolation of a negative opinion is like this: He does this. Then he huh?” so matter of factly that the together like two straws and a
considered that the dissent was not the issue here. It’s more like, why are does that. Then he goes here. actor never ratted on anybody Coke,” he writes, sweetly. The
against the anthem, but against its people okay with this behaviour at Then he goes there. Like the again. “Although right now as I most mentions are saved for
The Identity Project:
very political imposition. I could see all? book I’m writing now... It’s like write this, I’m ratting on myself.” Chekhov, and Pacino seems
The Unmaking of a Democracy
the manipulation of public emotion saying, Hamlet comes home. There is a surprising lack of fundamentally shaped by the
Rahul Bhatia
clearly. The fealty to authority, the Q: You talk of CAA protests and the Then he sees his father. Then he bluster. Pacino presents his life pocket-sized literature he
Context/Westland Books
unwillingness to question, and the violence in northeast Delhi. Wasn’t the goes to his mother.” as a series of fortunate carried around in his youth.
₹899
submission to force and public police violence to control the mob a Mercifully, Pacino’s life vaults accidents, sidestepping the
pressure have existed for a long manifestation of state power against over stubby sentences and credit. He is sheepish about his Uneven filmography
time, but in crucial moments like the country to share what he knew dissenters? inconsistent syntax. The only Oscar-winning role in Scent “I’m a man who has more
this one you see these societal about the organisation, how it A: I have reported these events by clunkiness only makes the voice Of A Woman — “I did go Golden Raspberry nominations
qualities surface all at once, and recruits people, how it wins trust recreating how the protests and the more authentic, as if readers are overboard sometimes… I would than Oscars.” There are
when matters cool, society is within communities and families. In violence unfolded. I interviewed sharing a beer with Pacino while get too out of control. I could do masterpieces — The Godfather,
transformed in some way. In this our interviews he wanted me to dozens of victims and other he’s saying “Actors, man. it better now” — and describes Dog Day Afternoon, Glengarry
case, it was a loyalty test that know how betrayed he felt by the participants, and by following a There’s nothing like actors,” or the Oscar as something that Glen Ross, Heat, Scarface, And
became a part of everyday life. abandonment of his father, an RSS witness as his case wound through labelling himself “as dumb as a shifts perception, but only just: Justice For All — and unbearable
Nationhood is now wound up in an loyalist. Partha came away court. The people felt the police donut.” Most of the book feels “People know that you’ve clunkers like S1m0ne and Gigli.
everyday activity. convinced that it abandoned people could have done much, much more. Has any iconic actor done as
once they had fulfilled their But I wanted to go beyond the many awful films? Pacino,
Q: Hindus comprise about 80% of the purpose. But there’s an element of moment, because CAA did not X unfortunately, kept going broke.
population. Yet the BJP and the RSS luck in this reflection. He had a happen in a vacuum. I Sicilian roots A still “I’ll never learn, and that’s my
have instilled a feeling of insecurity in a sceptical parent, and her wanted to study from The Godfather; problem,” he writes. “Or my
large section of the community. Can influence allowed him to walk the atmosphere (above) Al Pacino in gift.”
you expend on the tools used for it? away. of India itself. New York. (AP) More than anything, Pacino
A: It’s a question I grappled with loves the stage, romanticising its
while reporting the book. What Q: Why has the RSS leadership’s transcendent, transient glories.
made people so eager to believe divisive politics not percolated “In movie acting, the high wire
conspiracies, especially when enough to the common man? is on the floor. Stage acting is up
conspiracies had a political aspect? A: There’s quite a bit to thirty feet in the air.” He calls
After hundreds of interviews and unpack here. Not everyone playwrights prophets,
archival work, I was able to sees it as bigotry and divisive rhapsodises over performances
construct a rough framework about politics. It provides services he’s witnessed, and describes
the methods and approaches. One and community, it takes up shouting iambic pentameter
method was to blur the line between local grievances, it builds a sense into the night, as he would
what is real and what is not by of pride in local history, and there “walk the streets of Manhattan,
flooding the public sphere with is genuinely a sense of family, bellowing out monologues.”
misinformation; this has the effect of especially among the Actors, man.
tiring people out and making them rank and file. If I It was his mother who called
closed to the truth. I recognised a had to hazard a raw and untethered — like some him ‘Sonny Boy.’ Pacino calls
pattern of communication to the guess based on of Pacino’s early masterpieces — her “a Tennessee Williams
larger public that did not state things the assumption and I came away from Sonny Boy character,” and feels the reason
clearly. It was suggestive, implying that people feeling like I had been on a he never got married may have
something about a person or a group are okay with bender with the great been to counterbalance his
of people, attributing some moral divisiveness, performer. father’s five marriages. His tone
failing or sinister design to them. By I think it’s Greatness, of course, takes is of childish curiosity — as if
not naming that group, the receiver time. Pacino started out on he’s wondering if he’ll ever
of the communication was left to infinitely small stages — “as I was finish talking, or if we’re still
take that last step of making the smoking, in character, a woman listening. Sometimes he repeats
connection. That gives the from the audience reached in himself, dismisses a film too
suggestion of power because making and gave me an ashtray” — and swiftly, veers into nostalgic
a connection is a proactive act; it climbed to Broadway, where cliché. In the end, Pacino
comes from you. And if it comes Jackie Kennedy came backstage acquaints us with the kid inside
from you, you tend to believe it. to applaud his Richard III. “After him, excited and
performing one of the greatest impressionable and romantic.
Q: What lessons does Partha Banerjee’s plays of all time, you’re liable to This book lets us say hello to his
RSS experience hold for a foot soldier? do anything.” In that little friend.
A: Partha is one of the most post-performance delirium, the
important people in the book. He actor, slumped in his chair, put Sonny Boy
grew up within the RSS, and then out his hand for Kennedy to kiss. Al Pacino The reviewer is a film critic,
became deeply sceptical of its Century/PRH columnist and screenwriter. He
methods. He found it incredibly hard Sniffing a rat ₹1,399 is currently creating an absurd
to break away, and now that he has, Michael Corleone is part of comedy series.
he sees them with immense clarity.
When I met him, he was travelling

Architect of change
labour unrest at group
Ratan Tata: companies, and allegations of
A Life in unfair treatment of tribal
Innovation populations and the
and environment. But in the final
Looking back at the life and work of Ratan Tata Enterprise assessment, R.N.T. emerged as
The Hindu an astute businessman, who
Group prioritised ethics, and
Ratan Tata: A Life in Innovation from rare photographs from ₹191 long-held company values over
Kunal Shankar and Enterprise, published by The Hindu’s archives. X strategic decisions to maximise
[email protected] The Hindu Group Publishing R.N.T., as Ratan Tata was profits.
Ratan Tata GETTY
Pvt. Ltd., assesses his life and fondly called by his colleagues IMAGES

R
atan Naval Tata work with essays led by friend and peers, was a highly steered the group ably in his
(December 28, 1937 – and colleague Arun Maira. unlikely contender to head the two decades at the helm,
Download
October 9, 2024) is group after Jehangir Ratanji turning it into a multinational,
the e-book
considered to be the chief Rare photographs Dadabhoy Tata, or J.R.D., fell ill though, along the way, there
here, or
architect of the Tata Group’s We also have essays by and stepped down, appointing were several fits and starts, hits
get it on
rise to a global salt-to-software Businessline’s Janaki Krishnan his nephew Ratan, in his place. and misses.
Amazon.
conglomerate, valued at more and P.T. Jyothi Datta, and The But R.N.T., with his There were some messy
than $400 billion. An e-book, Hindu’s D. Suresh Kumar, aside background in architecture, boardroom and legal battles,

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YK
 THE HINDU
04 | 05 coverstory magazine
Sunday, December 8, 2024

Never a dull moment

● From musical nights to treks, going to the Gurdwara or just eating at
the newest place, a buddy is always available to hang out, say

75 SILENT SENTINELS
residents of Buzz Quarter’s co-living spaces. “I have formed walking

CO-LIVING: groups. I get to play badminton regularly here with Buzz buddies, and I
even found mates who attended the Diljit Dosanjh concert in
Hyderabad with me,” says Swarandeep Singh.

A HIT WITH ● At Atnest, musical evenings, stand-up shows and festival

celebrations are organised at regular intervals.
● Most co-living spaces have table tennis, foosball tables and carrom
From India’s loneliest tree, a giant sequoia in Jammu, to a 600-year-old champaka tree sacred to Karnataka’s
Soliga tribe, S. Natesh makes a case for elevating these iconic trees to national consciousness
GEN X-Y-Z boards. Some organise movie nights or special dinners during
festivals, others plan emcee-led interactive games as ice-breakers
every few months.
Harini Nagendra
X
Roots and leaves Sagar Bhowmick’s
illustrations in S. Natesh’s book Iconic
Everyone must
have a favourite tree
It is very likely that we have a large
CONTINUED FROM

S
I am never excluded if I want to join For Singh, living like this has omewhere between 359 Trees of India. number of trees in India that are
» PAGE 1 a badminton game or a movie helped him realise that there is a and 385 million years ago, hundreds, perhaps even thousands
session, or frowned upon if I choose way to connect with people outside our world witnessed the of years old. We do not search for
“It’s been two years, and I don’t to sit out a music show. There are a defined social circle. “We all have birth of the first tree: them or record and document
want an apartment any more,” adds groups of close buddies but no family, two-three friends groups, Archaeopteris (not to be confused their existence — they fail to
the 37-year-old, who lives in cliques. and a few colleagues, and we tend to with the similarly-named receive our attention or protection.
Bengaluru at a Skep Co-living be restricted within that community. Archaeopteryx, a feathered bird-like This book is a true passion project,
property. Although the rents and The growth factor At Buzz, I have met people with dinosaur). From this modest based on extensive research and
services offered vary, these spaces For Shibani Marathe, a co-living whom I would never have had a beginning, trees have witnessed an field travel conducted by the
can cost anywhere between ₹10,000 place was a stop-gap arrangement to chance to interact or engage, let evolutionary explosion in diversity author, who spent seven years
and ₹25,000 on an average per begin with. “I first booked Buzz alone be friendly. It’s been a positive and distribution. Scientists now travelling thousands of kilometres
month. A two-bedroom flat in co-living for a few weeks because a growth for me at this age and it has estimate that there are over 73,000 across India, after retiring at the
Hyderabad’s Gachibowli area can friend had stayed there. I thought it influenced my thinking.” tree species across the world, of age of 65. Natesh’s dedication and
cost as much as ₹50,000 a month. would be just college-goers or very Batra agrees, and adds that three which at least 3,708 can be found in attention to detail shines through
At its core, the co-living young people, but the variety in age, months of meeting and interacting India. on every page.
philosophy is about giving experience and backgrounds is with people not in the same line of Trees are living sentinels of When I read these stories, I
professionals a hospitable amazing. I find myself relating to work as him or having the same history, witnesses to dramatic cannot help but think of my
environment without the X people 20 years older than me. Now experiences or age as him has made transformations of the earth’s favourite tree, a giant banyan that
discrimination or biases that Shibani Marathe (centre) celebrating her birthday with Buzz buddies in Hyderabad; and I think, why struggle with landlords him realise he has grown. “I never landscape. Trees are also the way local residents believe to be at least
landlords can sometimes bring. (left) a foosball session at Buzz Quarter, Hyderabad. (SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT & NAGARA GOPAL) or live in a shared apartment with thought that at this stage of my life I many of us instinctively connect to 300 years old, just off the highway
“Aside from facilities such as just two other people when I can be would have to leave home or stay nature first — as I do, for instance. that connects the towns of
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furniture, Wi-Fi, television, and around 50 people?” she says. alone. But living here has given me My childhood memories of Sarjapura and Attibele near
cleaning services that any serviced booked herself into a co-living apartment complexes have families, one-suitcase guy who could come Mittal also shares the same opportunities for peer-to-peer climbing trees, playing games with Bengaluru. Despite the noisy traffic
apartment can provide, co-living space. “I went to see two co-living and as a ‘single’ man, it was hard to and go with ease. I did not want to experience. “The three generations, learning and networking. I listen to flowers and seeds, and writing on the adjacent highway, when you
spaces take it up a notch by focusing places but did not like their vibe. I find people who could be away from cook, clean, manage a house, maids, Gen X, Y and Z, have formed a these young people, interact with fantasy stories inspired by my tree under which the primeval walk into the inviting canopy of this
on creating a readymade social liked the third space,” she recalls. “I their families on weekends for or pay bills. And wherever I stayed, I community here. I can learn from them, and always find something favourite tree giants drew me to Naga mother rested. Evocative tree, it seems magical,
community for like-minded people. was not just looking for the right activities. I used to be bored and had wanted North Indian food, mainly them and share my ideas over chai at new. Living here has been about urban ecology as an adult. sketches by Sagar Bhowmick bring other-worldly — reminding us that
For example, at Buzz, we seldom furniture or location; I wanted to be to look for company outside.” roti. Buzz gives me all of that.” the canteen or at the after-dinner stepping out of my comfort zone, And thus it was with especial the text to life. there is a greater purpose to our
take in students unless they come around good people in a safe space.” For Batra, whose children and Unlike Arora, who dislikes cooking, adda almost every night. There are making me relate better to my pleasure that I read S. Natesh’s existence than the mechanics of
with a reference. We also look wife are not at a point where they one of the pitfalls of the co-living always plans for the weekend. I join children back home.” Iconic Trees of India (Roli Books). In Observing generations everyday living.
through LinkedIn profiles to ensure Home and hearth can be uprooted, living at Buzz is space where I live is not having a what I like and skip what I don’t, and About a year-and-a-half ago, Lal these pages are stories of flow past I’m sure each of us knows at least
diversity in our resident pool,” says With migration comes the search for working out. It’s been four months common pantry to cook, especially there is no judgement,” she adds. had not planned on living in a remarkable trees from across the As Natesh points out, many one iconic tree with which we have
Ali, who experienced difficulty while home, a space where you recreate now, and he has no intention of when I want to focus on specific co-living space as he was unfamiliar country — Rajasthan to Manipur, countries have documented their a personal affinity. The importance
trying to rent an apartment in the life you left behind or build a leaving because, simply put, this dietary options. with the concept. Now, he is among Jammu and Kashmir to Kerala, even iconic trees, elevating them to of individual relationships of this
Mumbai when he lived there as a new lifestyle you always dreamed co-living arrangement caters to all Arora adds that at Buzz, there is its top referrers. “Initially, it’s tough covering the Andaman and Nicobar national consciousness, part of the kind cannot be emphasised enough
young professional 8-10 years ago. about. Essentially, it has to be a his needs: food, social life and no never an evening when he feels to explain to family and friends back Islands. Each of the 75 individual identity of the place. A clonal — for they rekindle the love for
“If I had found a co-living option space that gives comfort, enables house management responsibilities. alone or a weekend when he has I wanted to be a home how this concept works, but trees covered in this book are colony of quaking aspen trees from nature in us. In this, books like
back then, I may have had a social interactions, and provides “I am just too busy to run a house nothing to do. “I have formed they have seen that it makes me special in some way. Most are very Utah, U.S., with 43,000 stems Iconic Trees of India play an
different career today. I want to financial respite. Ashish Lal, who with all the travel I have to do,” he walking groups. I get to play
one-suitcase guy who could happier and keeps me tension-free. old — such as the Dodda Sampige covering 43 hectares, is estimated important role, inspiring us to
provide spaces where urban youth works from the Hyderabad office for says. It’s a sentiment that Arora badminton regularly here, and I come and go with ease. I did not Co-living can be a good option for Mara, a 600-year-old champaka to be an astounding 80,000 years reconnect to nature. Even in the
can be themselves and belong,” he two weeks and from home in Delhi echoes. even found mates who attended the want to cook, clean, manage a people who cannot move to new tree from Karnataka’s B.R. Hills, old. The oldest individual tree is an dysfunctional world in which we
says. for two weeks, says, “When hybrid As a veteran, he and his family Diljit Dosanjh show in Hyderabad house, maids, or pay bills. And jobs with families or have a hybrid sacred to the Soliga tribe. alerce in Chile’s Alerce Costero find ourselves today, it is possible to
Used to living in dorms in the work came into practice, renting an were used to moving around, but with me,” adds Singh. This wherever I stayed, I wanted work.” Then there is India’s loneliest National Park — 5,400 years old. find alternate ways of living in
U.S., sustainability consultant apartment no longer made financial now his wife, a dentist, has camaraderie and openness to join North Indian food, mainly roti. tree, a giant sequoia imported from As Natesh poetically describes, important gap both in popular and reminds us in his insightful misguided approaches to which humans co-exist with nature,
Moulshree Mittal, 30, had sense. I had lived in a two-bedroom established her career in Delhi. whatever activity that suits you Buzz gives me all of that the Sierra Nevada mountains in the these trees “stand on the sands of scientific literature. introduction, the ecological crisis development, that believe that it is thriving together. This is an
experienced co-living before, and flat in Hyderabad before COVID-19, When Arora decided to take on his without any pressure has been one The writer is a senior professional U.S. and stranded in Jammu — time and observe hundreds of When we are faced with daily that grips us is a crisis of possible to cut down century-old imagination we need to recover.
when she moved from Ghaziabad to and it was just too much work and current role in Hyderabad a of the most significant plus points who moved from Delhi to Hyderabad surrounded by strangers, unable to generations flow past them like reports of tens of thousands of trees imagination. We lump trees into an banyan trees on India’s highways
VINEET ARORA
Hyderabad, instead of looking for expensive too, since I hardly used year-and-a-half ago, he was clear for me. Moving to a new city was Navy veteran and technical manager at and has lived in a co-living space for reproduce, because it is the only water”. Unfortunately, thus far, being cut down for mining, road amorphous collective, implicitly and replace them with saplings, or
apartments or sharing a flat, she the second bedroom. Besides, about three things: “I wanted to be a lonely and it’s hard to make friends. Salesforce seven months. one of its kind in the region. And little attention has been paid to expansion, industrial parks and assuming that one tree is the same decimate forest land and The writer is Director, School of
the pilkhan tree in Makhel, historic or iconic trees in India. In ports — why should we care about as another. This is the fundamental ‘compensate’ by afforestation in Climate Change and Sustainability,
Manipur, sacred to the Nagas as the doing so, this book fills an 75 individual trees? As Natesh misconception that is behind another location. Azim Premji University.

ARE YOU
Krishen says. This led to him why we see the konna blooming in
Aisiri Amin
GREEN HUMOUR publishing his book, Trees of Delhi:
A Field Guide, in 2006.
the colder months,” she says.
In the process of promoting

I
apa, I want a puppy.” minority. It was now me versus

P
Rohan Chakravarty ILLUSTRATION: n 2019, the viral #50trees on “Learning about trees is like trees, these content creators have

‘TREE-BLIND’?
“Nope. SREEJITH R. KUMAR mother and son. I had no option but to Twitter (now X) got people doing giant jigsaw puzzles, you also noticed a lack of flora diversity
“Why not?” compromise and seek a negotiated across India to begin never know what surprising in our cities. “We have neglected
“You’re too small to take charge of settlement. documenting trees in their information you might come across. native trees and I wanted to bring
another life form.” So I sat Katta down — making sure cities. Among them was a I saw a tree in Delhi’s Sunder focus to it through the page,” says
“Yesterday you said I am a big boy.” to first get him a Harry Potter-wala Delhi-based law officer, Chandan Nursery that no one around me Onkar. Nagendra has mixed feelings
“That was in another context.” Kinder Joy — and made a PowerPoint Tiwary, who until then had been
How Chandan Tiwary in Delhi, Ashwathi could identify and I finally found it about this. For instance, she points
“I want a puppy.” presentation. I explained to him that a “tree-blind”. The then 40-year-old Jerome in Kochi and others are harnessing the in Sydney, Australia. It turned out to out that many of the exotic species
“But you are afraid to even pat our puppy is too dramatic a leap for a quickly realised there was a lack of be a carrotwood (Cupaniopsis in Bengaluru have been around for
neighbour’s dog.” no-pet household and too big a information on trees in Delhi.
power of social media to build bridges between anacardioides), endemic to New more than 150 or 200 years, so the
“That’s a very big dog.” commitment for a little child with no “Trees can teach so much about a people and urban biodiversity South Wales,” Krishen recalls. fauna and the ecosystem have
“What will you do when your puppy experience in the matter. He would be city’s cultural history. I felt this gap For 29-year-old Akshay Onkar, adapted to them. “If we go back to
grows into a very big dog?” better off testing the waters with had to be addressed,” he says. And who holds a master’s in completely native trees in this city,
“I. WANT. A. PUPPY.” something smaller, where the stakes — so, Tiwary started an Instagram environmental science, starting the which is a semi-arid area, there
This demand, much like the and expenses — are lower. Once he page, @delhitrees, to build bridges Instagram page @trees_ofIndia in would be dry, barren areas with
Opposition’s demand for a debate on demonstrates the capabilities and between people and trees. Today it August 2023 was a way of putting very few trees, and they will be
Adani, had disrupted normal maturity level needed for pet care, we has become a community of almost out the right information about deciduous, thorny ones with very
proceedings in our house. One of 5,000 people. trees. “I have seen how low canopy,” she says.
Katta’s playmates has adopted a stray Down south, digital marketing misinformation about trees and Krishen also says that while it is
pup. So he wants to even things out. consultant Ashwathi Jerome, who their cultivation has made its way to good to see social media being used
But I don’t relish the added was back in her hometown, Kochi, social media. I wanted to use my to promote awareness about trees,
responsibility. Besides, ours is not a in 2020, was always interested in knowledge in the field to talk about
pet-friendly household. By studying the intersections between the scientific importance of trees,
‘household’, I mean Wife, who cannot cultural history and ecology, and where they should be planted, and I saw a tree in Delhi’s
tolerate any animal, with the possible using trees to learn about the city’s can be preserved,” says Onkar, who Sunder Nursery that no
exception of Ranbir Kapoor. history. She noticed a similar gap as lives in Amravati, Maharashtra. one around me could
“Ask your mother for permission,” I could gradually move up the food Tiwary. “It was surprising to know Onkar decided to use his
said. “If she agrees, you can have a chain until we reach the dog.
identify... It turned out to
that there are no comprehensive teaching and travel experience to
puppy.” ALLEGEDLY “I don’t understand what you are books covering the nature of Kochi talk about trees found across India. be a carrotwood, endemic
Katta went bounding up the stairs to saying,” he said. as a whole,” she says. During the Whenever he travels, he documents to New South Wales
the terrace where Wife was finishing “Do you like fish?” lockdown, she started the the trees he comes across. From
the laundry. Her favourite hobby in
winter is to take out various garments
from the washing machine and
My family and “Yes.”
“You like gold?”
“You mean like treasure?”
Instagram page @treesofcochin to
build a knowledge base for
interested people.
finding a khejri (Prosopis cineraria)
native to Rajasthan in Delhi’s
Sunder Nursery to stumbling upon
PRADIP KRISHEN
Author and filmmaker

lovingly spread them out on the

clothesline so they get a nice coating of
the finest particulate matter Delhi can
offer.
other animals “Hmm… yeah.”
“Yes.”
“How about I get you a pet that
combines both these things you like —
For more than a decade, social
media has been used to raise voices
against legal and illegal
construction projects that harm
a red sandalwood, which is
endemic to the Eastern Ghats, in
Lodhi Gardens, he uses his
Instagram page to share these
he worries about misinformation.
“Planting trees has also become a
fad in some ways. The harm is that
when you try to replace open
He was back in two seconds, huffing Katta’s puppy demand, much like the Opposition’s a goldfish!” urban biodiversity. Now, there is an discoveries. “I try to make people natural ecosystems [ONEs] with
and puffing. “Mommy has said okay. “A goldfish?” interesting shift, with people understand why they are native to woodlands, you can harm the
Let’s go get a puppy.” demand for a debate on Adani, had disrupted I didn’t give him time to think. I turning to social media to talk about certain cities. For instance, the ecosystem, so such issues must also
“She agreed? Impossible!” normal proceedings in our house went online and quickly ordered two the flora and fauna around them. “I khejri tree helps in soil conservation be talked about.”
goldfish, along with the weird stuff have noticed that since COVID-19, in semi-arid and arid areas such as An important way of harnessing
Dogs are animals, too they eat. They were delivered two days more people have been using social Rajasthan,” he says. social media in conservation efforts
I don’t enter the terrace — for which I patronising?” she said. “I am aware a pet!” I wailed. “It’ll basically come later. media to mobilise citizen awareness is in the education space, Nagendra
continue to pay 13 units of my blood as that dogs are animals. I’m just telling down to you and me. Will you take the Katta has grown attached to them about urban biodiversity. During Climate change indicators emphasises. “It helps in increasing
EMI — as I have this rabid prejudice you what I actually said — I said puppy out for a walk two times a day already, wanting to feed them every 10 the lockdown, learning about Jerome and Tiwary, who are not the number of people observing
against polluted air. So I pick up the ‘animals’, not ‘dogs’.” in 999 AQI? You won’t, and I can’t, and minutes, checking to see if they’re nature provided mental relief and trained in ecology, put in extensive and reading about trees, which is
phone and call her. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll make sure to the puppy will end up doing potty on growing bigger after every meal. The that trend seems to have hours to learn about trees. “When important now more than ever,”
“Katta is claiming you have given incorporate this important correction the dining table.” puppy demand had been successfully continued,” says researcher and spaces. Social media has a very The documenters you observe trees closely, you she says. The content creators seem
permission for a dog?” in the minutes of the conversation we “Calm down,” Wife said. “You are deflected, for now. author Harini Nagendra, who leads positive amplifying effect, which The lack of familiarity is also what recognise the changes they are to agree. “When you learn about
“Yeah, poor child, he is alone when had 75 years ago. Now can we please catastrophising.” “Well played,” Wife said. “You Azim Premji University’s Centre for can be useful,” Nagendra adds. drove author and filmmaker Pradip undergoing because of the rising trees, you get protective of them.
we are at work. A pet will give him address Katta’s puppy tantrum?” “I am not catastrophising, you are should join politics.” Climate Change and Sustainability. For people such as Tiwary and Krishen to dive deep into trees and effects of climate change,” says Sustained interest in trees can bring
some companionship.” “Look,” she said, “I personally don’t therapeusing.” “I would,” I said, “if voters behaved She feels that when people Jerome, it’s not just about sharing a related ecology. A few years ago, he Jerome. She mentions the konna about awareness about climate
“But you told me before we got want another dog in the house —” like easily distracted, emotionally engage with public parks and picture or two online but about realised he had no idea about the tree (Cassia fistula) that usually change and preservation,”
married that you hate dogs!” “Excuse me? Did you say ‘another Being minority high-strung eight-year-olds.” biodiversity, either through book equipping people with a “tree tree standing by the gate of his blooms during the festival of Vishu, concludes Jerome.
“I never said that,” she said. “I said I dog’?” I felt betrayed. She knew I would clubs, nature walks or social media, lens”. People pass by trees every house in Delhi. It had been there for X around April. However, in the last
hate animals, not dogs.” “— but this is not about you and me. never agree, and cynically used it becomes difficult to use the space day without a second glance. By about 30 years. “This sudden (Clockwise from above) Chandan Tiwary’s two or three years, Jerome has
“Have you gone crazy? Dogs are It’s about him and what he wants. Let’s this knowledge to put me in the G. Sampath, the author of for infrastructure projects or land sharing information, these creators realisation sparked a curiosity to photo of a ghost tree in Delhi; Akshay noticed it flowering in November The independent journalist
animals! Ask anyone!” give it a shot.” most unpopular position in the this satire, is Social Affairs capture. “Policymakers also hope to build familiarity through learn not just about that particular Onkar; Tiwary; and a mahua tree shot by and December. “Kochi has become specialises in gender, culture, and
“Can you stop being so “But he himself is hardly more than country today — that of a Editor, The Hindu. appreciate the importance of green awareness. tree but the trees all over Delhi,” Onkar. (SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT) hotter now, and that’s probably social justice.

CM CM
YK YK
 THE HINDU
06 wideangle magazine
Sunday, December 8, 2024

X late Gogi Saroj Pal, who brought life

Ritika Kochhar Art through the ages (Clockwise from to her folk-style narratives. But as a
far left) Jamini Roy’s Boating; the book writer, I could debate the exclusion

T
he first time I heard of cover; and the author. (SPECIAL of certain artists such as Shilo Shiv
Bina Sarkar Ellias was in ARRANGEMENT, RAFEEQ ELLIAS) Suleman, Rithika Merchant and
2017, while writing an Pritika Chowdhry, for example.
article on her daughter It’s been especially gratifying that Suleman’s Fearless Collective with its
Yuki Ellias’ play. I was introduced to readers have been reaching out to 400-odd artists, uses art to protest
International Gallerie, a global arts express their joy.” against gender violence across the
and ideas journal that Bina, a poet A sizeable portion is ‘The Art world; Chowdry creates
and curator, founded in 1997. Landscape Post Independence’, anti-memorials to traumatic
Her new work, The Big Book of which contains entries about geopolitical events, such as
Indian Art: An Illustrated History of 200-odd contemporary painters, partitions and terrorist attacks; and
Indian Art from Its Origins to the sculptors, illustrators, printmakers, Merchant explores comparative
Present Day (Aleph Book Company), multimedia artists, lithographers, mythology as well as science and
though is very different in its and muralists. The names include speculative fiction. Each is an
concept. It’s a 688-page some of India’s best-known example of what Indian artists are
encyclopaedic look at more than contemporary artists, from Atul doing worldwide.
300 Indian artists. While it devotes Dodiya and Subodh Gupta, to Jayasri Equally, I miss contemporary
22 pages to art from 20,000 BC till Burman, Rekha Rodwittiya, and indigenous and traditional artists.
1854 — when, after the Great notes at the end reveal that many of Ranbir Kaleka. It’s a joy to be For instance, besides folk art, murals
Exhibition in London, the School of READY RECKONER TO the details come from conversations introduced to artists such as and street art have gathered

INDIAN ART
Industrial Art was set up by the she had had with the artists. She has Theodore Matiano Mesquita, who momentum. But Bina says that it’s
British in Kolkata to help train Indian kept hand-written notes in her old helped found the Goan Art Forum, impossible to include every art form.
artists to learn craft skills — the story, diaries from her approximately 45 and Ganesh Gohain, a sculptor who There is a notes section at the
as it were, really starts from 1896 years of engagement with has been collected internationally. I very end that gives a bibliography so
when art historian E.B. Havell and exceptional artists, many of whom didn’t know Indrapramit Roy has detailed that it’s probably worth
artist Abanindranath Tagore
introduced Oriental art and founded Bina Sarkar Ellias’ new book on Indian are no more.
“I’m not an art historian or an
illustrated for Tara Publications, or
that British-Indian sculptor Anish
buying the book, just to get an idea
of published books, articles and
the Bengal School of Art.
From there, the book is divided
artists is a must-read this season, for its academic, and my vocabulary is
devoid of art theory. My love for art
Kapoor moved to Israel in 1971 to live
in a kibbutz.
catalogue on each artist. The index
of artists can, in a pinch, also stand
into eight sections, six of which
cover artists who were part of a
curation and little known facts and literature is organic,” she says.
“Art history studies, by and Where are the traditional
in for the table of contents, which is
missing at the beginning of the book.
landmark art movement or a school large, are inclined towards artists? One downside is the absence of artist
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of Indian art. The Bombay School, arts,” Bina says. “I do believe that art exhibitions. You can see Bina’s style not just historical The Big Book of Indian Art portraits. The other is the poor
for instance, looks at seven artists, and culture humanises. In this in many of the entries, her voice documentation and also acts as a corrective by quality of publishing, which does
including Pestonji Bomanji, M.V. fractured world, I hope to foster emerging like a football forward iconographic readings, but including a large number not do justice to the luxuriousness of
Dhurandhar, and S. Haldankar. unity in diversity. Therefore, this waiting for a chance to share some also interpretations with a of women artists, the concept. The paper and the
While the Calcutta Group, Chennai’s book is inclusive. It’s connecting personal details and unknown facts certain stylistic analysis, especially modernists reproduction quality of the
Progressive Painters’ Association and with those outside the sanctum of about the artists. which many lay people such as Madhvi Parekh, photographs are quite low.
Cholamandal Artists’ Village, the the art community. For example, Indian-American cannot comprehend. whose work shows an Bina’s research on the over 300
Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, artist and printmaker Zarina My joy is in intuitive connection artists is painstaking and thorough.
and the Baroda Group look at Research across 45 years Hashmi’s favourite work, Letters knowing that the to her Now, I’ll wait for her work on
around nine artists each. The book is a visual encyclopedia of from Home (2004), is based on book offers a surroundings, contemporary traditional artists, if
“The intent was to reach out to the artists of India. Each entry is letters from her sister. Or that rudimentary vocalist Shobha and when she decides to write it.
the larger public, including the accompanied by an artwork, its painter Sunil Das won a National education to Broota, who
uninitiated; to open doors to a provenance, and details of the Award while still an undergraduate. people outside infuses rhythm
galaxy of experience that would artists, including their birth and It took her more than two years to the art into her abstract The writer is an expert on South
nudge them to appreciate the visual background, style, awards and write the book, and the immaculate community. works, and the Asian art and culture.

GOREN BRIDGE led a diamond to his queen.

Bob Jones West won and cashed five

Down three is T
more spade tricks for down
oday’s deal is from a three. Minus 300 looked to
recent team match in be an ugly result.
Australia. At this At the other table, West

good bridge table, West threw in a

cocktail-hour preempt.
North had an easy bid and
did not bid and the same
contract was reached. West
led the nine of spades,
played low and dummy’s ace
won the trick. A diamond to
impossible discarding
problems. The end result
the normal contract was denying the 10, and dummy’s the queen lost and West led a was 11 tricks for the defense.
North-South vulnerable, reached. South played queen lost to the king. East spade, clearing the suit. In Down seven for 700 points to
dummy’s queen on the knew that South had the 10 dummy for the last time and East-West! NorthSouth at the
South deals opening spade lead and lost of spades and thought it still needing tricks, South led first table were seen in the
to East’s king. East led back a would hold up as a second a heart to his queen, losing bar after the game, bragging
spade, clearing the suit. stopper, so East shifted to the to the king. West cashed five about holding this deal to
South won in dummy and 10 of clubs. South and West spades and South had down three.

QUIZ line on this route till it was THE SUNDAY CROSSWORD NO. 3335
stopped in 2019. The 500 km.
stretch took about 12 hours to

Easy like Sunday morning finish with its many security

checks. Starting in Delhi, in which
city did the journey end?

The train is a small world moving through a larger world: Elisha Cooper The Empire State Express
9 was a passenger train that ran
between New York City and
Detroit via southern Ontario. The
Berty Ashley train was then renamed after a
famous tourist spot, which was on

1herBorn on December 8 in 1944,

actor Sharmila Tagore made
debut at the age of 14 in a
the way. The name also included a
colourful natural phenomenon
that is usually seen at the tourist
Satyajit Ray film. One of her iconic spot. What was the train’s name
scenes is from the song ‘Mere changed to?
Sapno ki Rani’. Her part in the
scene, in which she is seen The A.R. Rahman song
reading an Alistair MacLean book
onboard a train, was shot at a
10 ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’ from the
film Dil Se became a global
studio in Mumbai. Known as DHR, success and was in the ‘top 10
which train is this, that became a most popular songs of all time’
UNESCO World Heritage site in BBC poll in 2002. The song has an
1999? iconic video in which Shah Rukh
Khan and Malaika Arora dance
In 1882, Georges atop a moving train that later Across that’s caught? (7)
2 Nagelmackers invited guests
to a railway trip of 2,000 k.m. on
became a UNESCO World Heritage
Site in 2005. Known as NMR,
1 When sent to Coventry, one that’s barely
seen? (4,6)
5 Seen as very absurd, runs off (7)
7 King overcome by slithering odious boa in
6 Train line almost flipped over vehicle (4) stories that aren’t to be read (10)
his Train Eclair de luxe (lightning which train is this? 9 I miss place in resort: it’s a field (10) 8 Entered private property: lock abruptly
luxury train), which went from 10 Growing border husband removed ‘died’ (10)
Paris to Vienna and back. It had remains a border (4) 11 R&B musician’s somewhat unchaste view
fancy sleeping coaches and A molecular biologist from 12 Liquid lunch with plenty of character? on derrières (6,6)
five-star food made by X Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys (8,4) 13 Assuming the worst oddly timesaving
international chefs. Its success led The interiors of the ‘world’s most luxurious train’. Which is it? (GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK) trivia and music and is working on 15 Side in blue seeing confused voter taken (10)
to the formation of a series of a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a in by English Nationalist … (7) 14 Primarily, what encompasses Senegal,
luxury trains that travelled across named after a mountain flower, through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. 16 … English Nationalist against adopting Togo alongside fourteen republics (Ivory
Europe, reaching as far as which is the national symbol of Zambia, and Tanzania. Its name, a @bertyashley promise to be green … (7) Coast, also)? (4,6)
Istanbul. By what name were many countries in the region. By reference to its luxurious nature, 17 … ignoring some, scan ten Nationalists’ 18 Sloppily traced over ‘20s design (3,4)
these trains known, which is also what name is the train known that could also refer to a group of lions kit receiving signals (7) 19 Cars that are often seen in Westerns (7)
part of a murder mystery lore? should remind you of the movie you might see while on the train. 19 Deer eating mushroom recoiled, showing 21 Record changing dash for cash? (4)
The Sound of Music? By what name is the train known? blotch (7) 22 Praiseful verse addressing Archbishop
The Bandhan Express is an 20 Activated in potion, life that’s everlasting! Tutu? (4)
3 international train that
connects the cities of Kolkata and 5 This private train is a
hotel-on-wheels that runs 7 The longest railway line in the
world runs 9289 km. from
(8,4)
23 Flower girl that may be Hazel (4) SOLUTION NO. 3334
Khulna. Unlike usual trains, a from Budapest to Istanbul with Moscow in the west to Vladivostok 10. Nilgiri Mountain Railway 24 Not the lead horn player getting renewed
valid visa and passport are visits to Slovakia, Bulgaria, in the east of Russia. It spans eight 9. Niagara Rainbow energy (6,4)
25 A day after Everyman’s age-old booze (4)
required to purchase the ticket. In Slovenia, Austria, and the Czech time zones and takes eight days to 8. Lahore in Pakistan
26 University becoming independent, raises
which country is Khulna? Republic. The service is aptly complete the journey. By what 7. Trans-Siberian Railway
limits (10)
named after a famous geographic name is this line known, a 6. The Pride of Africa
This international express entity that connects all these cities reference to the vast geographical
4
5. Danube Express
Down
train linked the Netherlands as well. What is the name of this region that covers most of 4. Edelweiss
1 Reason Titanic captain might think the
with Switzerland through Belgium train service? northern Asia? 3. Bangladesh
unthinkable? (4)
and France. Twisting its way 2. The Orient Express
2 Thawed, 99 disappearing – a performance
through the Alpine mountain Rovos Rail runs a train that is The Samjhauta Express was a
6 8 (4)
1. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
region, the route is one of the billed as the ‘world’s most twice-weekly train that was, Answers 3 Such a reduction applied to (s) quires? (12)
most scenic ones. The train is luxurious train’ and travels at that time, the only active train 4 Aquatic being, part of Little Mermaid toy

CM
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 THE HINDU
magazine
Sunday, December 8, 2024
openpage 07
articles and letters from readers

Buddies in
the barracks
and beyond
Recollecting the

Illustration: Sreejith R. Kumar

brotherhood in an Army
camp in Manipur, and the
spirit of sacrifice that
prevailed in a prosthetics
camp for people in Kuki
and Meitei villages and ethos of my parent battalion, 27 Punjab, which
was the pilot project for a mixed battalion of Sikhs,
Back to the artificial limb camp. Despite catering
for some reserve limbs on the last day, we were left
FEEDBACK
Letters to the Magazine can be e-mailed separately
Dogras and the Other Indian Classes. with just six artificial limbs while we had 12
to [email protected] by Tuesday 3 p.m.
As a Commander, I was determined to break the beneficiaries — six Kukis and six Meiteis — still on
Advitya Madan ice between Kukis and Meiteis. I decided to the waiting list. My staff was in a quandary with
[email protected] implement the time-tested standing operating anxiety writ large on their faces for fear of favouring 쑽 anti-caste perspective.
procedure of the buddy system, though a hybrid a particular community. I advised them to keep a Cover story Despite our progress over
he other day, I got a monthly call from one — the buddy pair to have one Kuki and one cool head and just identify the most needy three the years, Indians are

T my two civil friends from Manipur, a Kuki

and a Meitei. They had struck an
emotional chord with me during my
Meitei each.
Just to set an example, I set the ball rolling with
my Commander’s secretariat. I selected a Kuki as
Kukis and three Meiteis.
The next morning, we tried to identify the six
most deserving cases. Suddenly, I saw an aged Kuki
Thanks to art galleries,
Indian artists are being
recognised and rewarded
unable to come to terms
with the prevalent reality
of religious
f1ccf833-44c4-4575-b5cd-33fe76bd21c0

f1ccf833-44c4-4575-b5cd-33fe76bd21c0
two-year command of the Churachandpur-based 27 my PA and a Meitei as my radio operator. I walk up to us with a pensive look. “Sir, let all these for pursuing their passions fundamentalism and fight
Sector of the Assam Rifles in the capacity of Deputy organised all the soldiers of the Sector HQ into six Meitei people take the ‘Jaipur foot’ as they are with missionary zeal. it. The efforts of the
Inspector-General from 2013. Both had been hybrid buddy pairs. Every soldier is supposed to quite young. We have already lived our lives,” the (‘Mumbai’s 2025 art publishing house must
beneficiaries of the artificial limb, widely known as remain with his buddy 24x7 whether during septuagenarian sporting an off-kilter hat said in a face-off’; Dec. 1) With the not go in vain.
the “Jaipur foot”. After a brief tete-a-tete with them, operations or having food. Within a week, I could gravelly voice. His words had tugged at my rapid increase in Vijay Singh Adhikari
a wave of nostalgia washed over me recollecting a sense the bonds strengthening between both heartstrings which left me utterly dumbfounded. high-wealth individuals in
free artificial limb camp organised in collaboration communities. Witnessing the success of this pilot Meiteis who were overhearing politely declined. our country, the future of 쑽
with Shree Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata project at the Sector HQ, I enforced the same SOP in I immediately dialled the top man of the Jaipur Indian artists looks bright, It is interesting to know
Samiti, Jaipur. all the six battalions under my command. I recount samiti and made a frantic request for an additional if our rich can transform about the origin of
I vividly recall my first day in office when my staff how in one deadly ambush, a Kuki scout was six prosthetic limbs. Thankfully, he sent them on into collectors. Navayana publishing
took me around the Sector headquarters premises. instrumental in saving the life of his Meitei buddy the flight the next day. Finally, all the 12 Sri Vrinda N. house, and the recent
Though there is no discrimination based on scout by charging at the militants while firing a beneficiaries left the camp happily walking prize for its publication
community in the Army or Assam Rifles, I found the fusillade from his AK-47. confidently on their own. 쑽 authored by Ashok Gopal
bonhomie between Kuki and Meitei soldiers not up This inflection point snowballed into conviviality The unwavering spirit of both communities to A vast country like ours is a clear recognition of
to the desired level. I found one barracks between the Kuki and Meitei villages. The festivals sacrifice for each other remains etched in my mind. needs art fairs in various the exemplary
Kuki-dominated, while the other was largely of of Kukis and Meiteis were jointly celebrated with Against the backdrop of the now strife-torn places, and not just in the contribution of its
Meiteis. It somehow did not gel with my grooming equal gusto and fervour. Manipur, I pray for those times to come back. metros. These should be founders. Having achieved
organised at regular their original objective, it
intervals to foster a sense is time for these
of artistry in people. publishers to widen their
M.N. Saraswathi Devi canvas to include
numerous subjects to
쑽 provide a suitable

Blinkered views
Never say die
When youngsters opinions are freely shared.
Food, a source of joy and
deeply rooted issue in
Tamil culture. Growing up, In this digital era, when
launching pad for new
and budding authors.
connection, often I was frequently reminded even large publishing
migrate abroad Prejudices about
becomes a site of to avoid the sun to “stay houses are facing
Satvik V.M.

쑽
judgment instead. Even at fair”. For many women enormous challenges, the
family gatherings, the and girls in India, the fear courage and commitment Art above politics
skin tone and amount of food on your of spending time in the of small publishers is It is very strange that the
Rinu George
[email protected]
weight can leave plate can invite unwanted sun is not about getting laudable. (‘The joy and film From Ground Zero
commentary. If you serve sunburned, it’s about pain of being small’; Dec. was denied screening at
many traumatised yourself generously, getting darker. Fairness 1) It needs passion, hard the Dharmshala
arge sections of the someone might warn you creams or homemade work, and a never-say-die International Film Festival.

L once-authoritative Indian
parents of the 1980s and
1990s who were fiercely dedicated
Shrinidhi Mahadevan
[email protected]
about gaining weight. If
you take less, questions
such as “Are you trying to
remedies are heavily
promoted in society as if
lighter skin is the ultimate
attitude to be a small
publisher and survive
against all odds. The small
(‘Nobody can occupy the
dreams of people’; Dec. 1)
Where is independent
to raising children with strict lose weight?” are key to success. The publishers in the U.K., for cinema? Why do we not
discipline and traditional values rowing up as a inevitable. It’s a no-win message is clear: lighter instance, have become have the courage for films
now have professional home nurses
to take care of them. Children move
overseas, leaving ageing parents to
G dark-skinned
Tamil girl, I
quickly learned that
ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES

They think it’s just brutal

situation. This fixation on
weight is not limited to
family conversations.
skin is better.
For young Tamil
women, seeing themselves
the “beating heart” of its
publishing industry, with
many of their books
that depict ground
realities and the struggles
of people? Art should be
negotiate old age without their comments about honesty, but I honestly Societal pressures to judged against these winning prestigious prizes. kept above politics.
support. appearance were an think it’s brutal. conform to beauty unrealistic standards can I hope the Indian Navin Katyal
Deep-rooted cultural values inevitable part of life. At The truth is they reflect standards are deeply deepen feelings of independent publishers
shaped Indian parenting in the weddings, family a broader cultural pattern ingrained, and research inadequacy and exclusion. will also scale new heights 쑽
1980s and 1990s. The children were gatherings, or even casual that many Tamil women confirms their harmful The emotional toll of these with their tenacious Cinema screens will
taught responsibility, respect for meet-ups, someone always experience, with their effects. A study conducted comments, whether about efforts and enterprising depict social reality,
elders, and social conventions. had something to say. bodies and appearances by the National Institute of weight or skin tone, is outlook. whether liked or disliked
Parents who prioritised discipline “You’ve gained weight, subjected to relentless Mental Health and significant. Often Kosaraju Chandramouli by society. We must
led their children to choose secure, what happened?” “Stay scrutiny. The excuses Neurosciences found that dismissed as harmless, encourage such
respected occupations, believing it out of the sun; you’ll get often given, such as 47% of Indian women in such remarks can erode 쑽 anthologies that highlight
would lead to better futures for their darker.” And the one that “That’s just how we were the 18-to-35 age group confidence and lead to Showing the way global issues.
family. stuck with me the most: raised”, do little to experience body image long-term mental health Thanks to our politicians, Kirti Wadhawan
Thus, children from these “You’re pretty for a dark mitigate the lasting impact issues, with societal challenges. Studies by the the caste system
families excelled academically and girl.” Though such of these words. For those expectations playing a World Health Organization continues to flourish 쑽
earned opportunities in remarks were sometimes on the receiving end, the significant role. These reveal that over 25% of through vote-mongering Stories of the sufferings of
engineering, medicine, and framed as compliments, damage to self-esteem and pressures are particularly women in India report politics. (‘Navayana is a Palestinians must be told.
technology, which allowed them to they often left me feeling self-worth is real. pronounced for young anxiety or depression tied necessary mistake’; Dec. Cinema is larger than us
study or work overseas. Parents anything but In Tamil households, women in Tamil to body image concerns. 1) Navayana is doing a and it should serve as a
viewed migration as a sign of social complimented. For those discussions about weight communities, where For Tamil women, who commendable job by reminder of the times.
advancement and felt joy in their who might say them, these are almost unavoidable. criticism around weight is often face these pressures publishing books from an Rohith Varon S.S.
children’s achievement. Pride is comments might seem like From “Are you eating normalised and pervasive. within their families and
often tempered by the fact that harmless observations or enough?” to “You’ve been Alongside weight, elsewhere, the effects are 쏋
쑽
elderly parents must adjust to a new even “helpful advice”. eating too much”, colourism remains a even more pronounced.
caring system based on professional
nurses after their children move MORE ON THE WEB
abroad.
www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page
Separation from children hits
many parents emotionally.
Members of Indian families have
The word of the year dictionaries and
organisations, including
Oxford, Merriam-Webster,
쑽
Motherhood and manuscripts
traditionally lived together or close Cambridge, and For many mothers, books reflect their own experiences,
struggles, and hopes
by. Children are the family’s Logophiles can Cambridge has named Macquarie, as well as
Sandra Joseph
emotional centre and caregivers for “manifest” as its selection national institutions in
their parents in old age. However, add ‘brain rot’ from among brat, countries such as
Drowning in words
the migration of children has altered and ‘manifest’ to ecotarian and resilience, Australia, Japan, and
There is verbosity on social media, in the news, in
this expectation. and Collins chose “brat” Austria, have joined the
As their children succeed far their armoury from among brain rot, era, tradition. Each brings its
speeches, and in policies
Aakshansh Vimal
away, parents frequently feel lonely looksmaxxing, own criteria and
and abandoned. Distance from anti-tourism, raw dogging, perspective, reflecting Hot potatoes
everyday encounters and infrequent Ved Vriti delulu, romantasy, local cultures, global Price rise pushes even common vegetables beyond the
video chats cannot totally bridge the [email protected] supermajority and issues, or even the quirks reach of the common man
emotional gap. Children can send yapping. of online communities. Tejaswini Sugumaran
money or hire home nurses for their s the calendar flips Usually every year, From the playful to the
elderly parents, but the emotional
emptiness is hard to fill. With
children overseas, home nurses are
A toward the end of
2024, the buzz
surrounding the Oxford
various organisations
across the globe delve into
the lexicon of the public
GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK

unique insights into the

profound, these words do
more than mirror
linguistic trends. They
Non-stop cacophony
Jam-packed apartments provide no aural relief
C. Deepalakshmi
a sensible choice for many elderly Word of the Year has sphere to select the Word cultural and linguistic reveal our collective
parents who require support with ended with “brain rot” of the Year (WOTY). This zeitgeist of various priorities, fears, humour, Contributions of up to a length of 700 words may be
health, everyday tasks, and personal making the cut. This tradition identifies the nations. and resilience. Whether e-mailed to: [email protected] Please provide the
care. This provides a much-needed annual tradition has term or phrase that best The American Dialect chosen for their postal address and a brief background of the writer. The
safety net, especially for people become more than a mere captures the essence of Society initiated the first emergence in discourse or mail must certify that it is original writing, exclusive to this
page. The Hindu views plagiarism as a serious offence. Given
with chronic illnesses or mobility linguistic exercise — it societal preoccupations, English-language version for embodying pivotal the large volume of submissions, we regret that we are
limitations, but it also presents serves as a cultural trends, or events for a of WOTY in 1990, setting moments, these words unable to acknowledge receipt or entertain queries about
emotional challenges. barometer, reflecting the specific year. Originating itself apart by relying on spark debates and submissions. If a piece is not published for eight weeks
Previous independence and collective ethos, moods, in Germany with the Wort independent linguists’ discussions, reminding us please consider that it is not being used. The publication of
control over family affairs have been and preoccupations of des Jahres in 1971, the votes and eschewing of the power and fluidity a piece on this page is not to be considered an endorsement
replaced with a loss of dignity and society at a specific practice has expanded commercial influence. of language in framing our by The Hindu of the views contained therein.
privacy for many parents. moment in time. worldwide, offering Over time, other world.

CM
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 THE HINDU
08 backpage magazine
Sunday, December 8, 2024

X
Adding more colour to the
Aastha D. Pink City (Clockwise from left) Art at
JCA; (left to right) artist Shilo Shiv

T
he City Palace is a Suleman, designer Neha Luthra, and
sprawling complex of jeweller Siddharth Kasliwal; author
grand courtyards, domed William Dalrymple, and artist and
pavilions, and intricately wife Olivia Fraser; artwork by Ayesha
designed facades crafted from pink Singh; and Noelle Kadar with Sawai
sandstone and marble. Built in 1727, Padmanabh Singh. (LODOVICO COLLI DI
when Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II FELIZZANO, GOURAB GANGULY)
created Jaipur as the capital of his
kingdom, it has of late been
shedding its image as a tourist time and space drawing you in.”
attraction and reclaiming its A spirit of collaboration also runs
practice of patronage. through how JCA came about, after
Much of it is thanks to Sawai years of talking about art with Singh
Padmanabh Singh, 26, the titular — a project that bridges Singh’s more
maharaja of Jaipur, who has been traditional arts background and her
on a mission to revitalise its spirit. own contemporary one.
The latest addition is the Jaipur Why was Jaipur, a city of craft,
Centre for Art ( JCA), a 2,600 sq. ft. chosen? “So many people come to
contemporary art institution, the city to take things back — rugs,
co-founded with friend and curator
Noelle Kadar, which opened last
Jaipur’s new art space is a nod to the global contemporary jewellery, textiles, craft,” Kadar
muses. “HH [one of Singh’s
month in the palace. It aims to add
another facet to the city’s historic
art world and royal patronage in the 21st century nicknames and short for His
Highness] and I thought about why
core and cultural legacy, which we are doing this. Why something so

ARTISTS IN THE
already boasts the successful Jaipur experimental should make sense in
Literature Festival, and the Jaipur Jaipur. Beyond the physical location,
Art Week started by art we hope that our exhibitions relate to
entrepreneur and executive director the land, the city and the history of

CITY PALACE
of Prestige Group, Sana Rezwan’s, Jaipur. A New Way of Seeing is based
Public Arts Trust of India. The on materiality, of the space as well as
black-tie launch was a veritable the streets of Jaipur in all their
f1ccf833-44c4-4575-b5cd-33fe76bd21c0

f1ccf833-44c4-4575-b5cd-33fe76bd21c0
who’s who of the art and culture contradictions and synchronies. [So]
world, with names such as author in some cases, this will be more
William Dalrymple, artists Shilo obvious, but we will make sure that
Shiv Sulemaan and Subodh Gupta, immediacy, while fully aware of its Nagy explains, “[The artists] think for their process-oriented approach thread runs through.”
and designer Thierry Journo. inevitable flux. It is this fluidity that about the way their worlds will be — crafted from pigments she makes Alongside exhibitions, JCA will
“Jaipur has always led in JCA embraces with its inaugural viewed by an audience, how they herself. The Botanicals series revisits also launch an artist residency
image-making, not just for itself but exhibition, A New Way of Seeing, can manipulate or subvert what the colonial herbarium illustrations, programme. Artists will live in the
for the subcontinent. It was once a curated by Peter Nagy of Nature viewer will encounter… through underscoring how art can palace complex, have access to the
melting pot of ideas, trade, shaping Morte, and Kadar. The show delivers abstraction, multiplication, reinterpret historical narratives. palace archives and the Pothi Khana,
global conversations on art, craft, on its title — provoking and reflection, and deception.” Anish Kapoor’s striking discs, the museum’s archives and library,
and leadership. In recent decades, promising a fresh perspective. First, This exploration is brought vividly Oriental Blue to Clear (2023) and and foster connections through their
while cities like Paris, New York, by positioning works by artists such to life in Hiroshi Sugimoto’s ongoing Magenta to Clear (2024), reflect and work with Jaipur’s vibrant heritage,
and London set the tone for as Anish Kapoor and Dayanita Singh, series, Theatres and Seascapes, dissolve everything that confronts materials, and local artisans.
contemporary thought, we have whose works are in stark contrast to which the Japanese photographer them. JCA, as Singh and Kadar put it,
been slow to participate,” says each other in terms of their began in 1978. Each black-and-white aspires to be more than a gallery. “It
Singh. “It took time and education mediums, styles, and ethos, in the photograph captures the “same” Spirit of collaboration will collaborate and engage with
[in heritage conservation and same room; it compels us to inhabit image — a horizon line splitting the Kadar describes her approach as similar institutes across the country
preservation from Italy] for me to their works in a radically different frame or a theatre’s vanishing point inherently collaborative. “Here, we and the world to reinvigorate and
truly understand the richness of manner. And second, by replacing — yet the illusion of sameness belies have placed artists from around the redefine contemporary art and
this land. Our goal at JCA is to the white cube with a space that the impossibility of repeating time world next to each other in a setting culture.” And, hark back to its origin
reconnect Jaipur with the global incorporates the palace’s mood, or space. Similarly, Dayanita Singh’s that is deeply historical. It made me days while rooting itself in the global
contemporary, creating a space with delicate arches and columns, stunning Time Measures (from 2016) think of them very differently even contemporary.
where local and international voices and panel moulding — creating its uses 34 colour prints of red muslin though I was familiar with their A New Way of Seeing is on till
can come together meaningfully.” own drama. bundles, their fading patterns work. For instance, you see March 16, 2025.
The exhibition showcases an shaped by sunlight, to evoke the Sugitomo’s Seascapes here in the
Matter of perspective eclectic mix of paintings, sculptures, distinctiveness of age and memory. middle of a desert, but it will make
To be contemporary is to tap into and photographs, each probing Among the large-scale works, complete sense — the endlessness of The essayist and designer writes on
the present’s pulse, feel its manners of perception. As Peter Tanya Goel’s abstractions stand out the horizon and its indifference to design and culture.

X
(Clockwise from left) Menezes
Bragança; Figueiredo; Ulka Chauhan;
D’Sa Condillac; and the book cover.

Inside six
Goan homes
Photo book The Memory Keepers amplifies the
stories of Goa’s heritage houses and its families
documenting Goa’s homes as part
Nolan Lewis of a photo series, Beyond The
Balcão, in 2021. And though it was

F
rom their patterned mosaic presented at the International
floors to carved porches, Photo Festival in Olten, Switzerland,
many weighty books have and featured in the Leica Fotografie
recorded Goa’s heritage homes over International journal, the stories of
the years. Yet, The Memory Keepers the houses kept pulling her back.
& Future Seekers: Portraits of “I visited these homes and
Heritage Homes in Goa by families several times over the last
photographer Ulka Chauhan and four years, capturing countless
art curator Samira Sheth offers a frames,” she says, adding that Sheth
new trajectory. often accompanied her. “Samira’s
The photo book’s unique quality words sparked ideas for my images,
is the architecture of the narrative — and vice versa. In that sense, our
a duologue that is both emotional process was completely
and informational. “If you were to collaborative.” family histories. “This tiny coastal
read it from front to back, there is a The duo decided to focus on six state was once the capital of the
strong emotive arc that flows houses whose foundations were laid Portuguese empire in the East, and
through the words and visuals, with as early as the 16th century. these homes hold the evidence of
the personal stories of the families Through conversations over lunch, those cosmopolitan, transcultural
and their fragments of memories, cups of coffee and glasses of wine, and transoceanic histories,” says
which reveal a deep sense of they pieced together memories and Sheth. Be it Vodlem Ghor and its
rootedness to their home and land,” underground escape routes and
says Chauhan. “However, if you bullet hole marks that are a record
were to read the book backwards, of Goa’s turbulent past, or the
beginning at the elaborate glossary sparkling Belgian glass chandeliers,
at the end, you will be informed of Ming dynasty wash basins and
the context — historical, cultural, other artefacts that speak to its once
social, political and religious flourishing trade, “there is much to
moments that were instrumental in appreciate and marvel at in these
the making and shaping of Goa and homes”, says Sheth.
the state’s quintessential homes.”

Six historical homes The Mumbai-based writer keeps

Chauhan, who is based between busy with late-night networking
Mumbai, Goa and Zürich, started events and crazy deadlines.

CM
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