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GRIT ON THE
TENNIS COURT
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8 2025 Most Indian women tennis
players are fighting for
survival, without resources
or much support. Plus, the
lack of a grassroots pro-
gramme is telling. Despite
the odds , the women players
impressed at Mumbai Open
this week. SEE PAGE 7

RBI TRIMS REPO BY 25 BPS; SEES TRADE, WEATHER RISKS PAGE 18

DON’T MIND
THE GAP INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDSHIPS
CAN BE AN ANTIDOTE TO GROWING
SOCIAL ISOLATION AND LONELINESS.
LOUNGE TAKES A PEEK INTO A BEAUTIFUL
WORLD OF COMPANIONSHIP THAT
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THINK
The inconvenient ‘public
women’ of history
TASTE
Bringing flavour
to an art show
PAUSE
Anuja Dasgupta’s
cameraless photography
BUSINESS LOUNGE
Meet Razorpay’s
Harshil Mathur
02 SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI FIRST

NEW ON SCREENS
PLAN THE WEEK
AHEAD
India and Pakistan’s cricketing history, how to elect a Pope,
and other titles to watch this weekend
CONCLAVE THE ÅRE MURDERS
In this film by Edward Berger, the College of Car- A Stockholm police officer (Amalia Holm) recov-
dinals, led by Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), ering in the Swedish ski resort of Åre gets caught
must elect a new Pope. As Lawrence looks into up in the disappearance of a local teenage girl.
his options, secrets and scandals emerge. The This mystery series is directed by Alain Darborg
film, which also features Stanley Tucci, John and Joakim Eliasson, and is based on books by
Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto and Isabella Rossel- Swedish author Viveca Sten. (Netflix)
lini, is up for eight Oscars this year. (In theatres) CREATING PURE ART

allery Art Positive in

G Delhi is presenting An
Abstract Pause, a group
show curated by Georgina
Maddox. Featuring works by
artists such as Bose
Krishnamachari, Manish
Pushkale, Shobha Broota and
Sujata Bajaj, An Abstract Pause
looks at ways in which
abstraction lets artists “discover
an alternative principle, that
allows artists to escape from the
narratives of our collective and
individual existence to create
pure art”. Interestingly, the
exhibition also explores the idea
of the “multiverse” in art, and
MRS. the multiplicities of our lives,
A Hindi remake of the acclaimed 2021 Malaya- extending to both the virtual
lam film The Great Indian Kitchen. This one stars and the real.
Sanya Malhotra as the new bride who At Gallery Art Positive, Delhi,
finds her life become a stressful routine of till 28 February, 11am-6pm
servitude in her husband’s home. Directed by (closed on Sundays).
Arati Kadav. (Zee5)

THE MEHTA BOYS

Boman Irani makes his directorial debut with
this intimate family drama. He and Avinash
Tiwary (Laila Majnu) play father and son who
can’t see eye to eye but are forced together after
his wife’s death. Also featuring Shreya Chaudhry
and Puja Sarup. (Amazon Prime)

INTERSTELLAR
Christopher Nolan’s 2014 sci-fi film returns to theatres in IMAX. Matthew McConaughey and Anne
Hathaway play astronauts who go on a mission looking for a new home for mankind. There’s a deep
cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon and Michael Caine, and a celebrated SUFI MYSTICISM
score by Hans Zimmer. (In theatres)
he National Centre for the

THE GREATEST RIVALRY:

INDIA VS PAKISTAN
T Performing Arts is holding
its annual Sufi music festi-
val, Sama’a. The opening day on
This docu-series looks at the Friday featured a talk by Prof.
cricketing rivalry of India and Naman Ahuja on the epic of
Pakistan. Players from both Chandayan, which was first
nations, including Sourav written down in Awadhi by
Ganguly, Shoaib Akhtar, Maulana Da’ud in 1379. The sub-
Virender Sehwag and Inzamam- sequent days will feature per-
ul-Haq, recall their biggest formances by Nizami Bandhu,
battles. Whether the series from the Sikandra gharana of
addresses the fact that this rivalry Uttar Pradesh, and Rekha and
barely exists today outside of ICC Vishal Bhardwaj. Nizami Ban-
tournaments remains to be seen. dhu’s ancestors were part of the
The directors are Chandradev legendary Qawwal Bachhe
Bhagat and Stewart Sugg. The group. Vishal and Rekha Bhard-
executive producer is Payal waj will connect the ancient
Mathur Bhagat, who also with the contemporary with
produced the cricket-themed compositions such as Naina
series Mid Wicket Tales with Thag Lenge.
Naseeruddin Shah. (Netflix) At Tata Theatre, NCPA, Mum-
bai, 8-9 February, 6.30pm.
Compiled by Uday Bhatia. —Compiled by Avantika Bhuyan

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ON THE COVER: PHOTOGRAPH BY PRADEEP GAUR

 FIRST SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI 03

Netflix can’t steal the master’s thunder

envision a writer’s work, you effectively In 1965, two years before One Hundred
RE READINGS relinquish the right of the deceased writer Years of Solitude was published, when
to protect the sanctity of their imagina- writers Luis Harss and Barbara Dohmann
A monthly column on backlisted tion. Loyal readers, who have cherished went to interview Gabo, they were spell-
books that have much to offer in putting faces to the names of the charac- bound by the writer’s life story as told to
contemporary times ters in their mind’s eye, are suddenly con- them by the man himself. When they read
fronted with flesh and blood people who the novel in 1967, they realised the writer
represent them. The illusion of exclusiv- had essentially told them the whole story
The breathless pace ity, whether in the mind of the writer or of the book in the course of that meeting—
reader, is shattered—a double tragedy. So, all of it had lived inside his mind, roiling
of Garcia Marquez’s now it’s difficult to see Colonel Aureliano and gestating for years on end.
‘One Hundred Years Buendía as anyone other than the Colom-
bian actor, Claudio Cataño.
Even more curiously, although “magic
realism” has become the buzzword asso-
of Solitude’ is lost All this isn’t to dismiss the exquisite ciated with One Hundred Years of Soli-
craft and respect with which the TV adap- tude since its publication—in fact, with
in translation from tation has been conceptualised by direct- all of Garcia Marquez’s
ors Alex García López oeuvre—the truth is that
book to screen and Laura Mora. The he spent years collect-
entire series was shot in ing information and
Colombia and in Span- lore from family and
Somak Ghoshal ish in accordance with friends that eventually
[email protected] Gabo’s wishes, if such a got distilled into the
screen adaptation were pages of his master-

I
finally bit the bullet and watched to ever happen. With piece.
One Hundred Years of Solitude, each episode running “All my books are
which dropped on Netflix in for roughly an hour, the journalistic books,
December. Based on the Colom- length of the series does even if not many peo-
bian master Gabriel Garcia Mar- justice to the writer’s ple see them as such,”
quez’s 1967 novel, the series is divided into demand for it to take its Gabo once said. “But
two parts, eight episodes each. The second own sweet time and not these books involve a
part is due later this year. be scrunched into a cou- ton of research,
I first read the book one summer vaca- ple of hours for the bene- checking of data, his-
tion as a teenager, and a prissy one if I say fit of cinema-goers. If torical strictness, and
so myself, ears turning red at the raunchi- nothing else, you have to dedication to the
ness with which the members of the to see it all play out on screen, by flesh and The show conveys a fake jungle.’” Gabo ended his impas- give credit to the stellar facts, which in
Buendía family indulge their sexual appe- blood characters is quite another. Espe- the wonder but not sioned outburst with the words, “Ni cinematography by Paulo essence makes them fictionalised or
tite. No other classic in my memory has as cially since Garcia Marquez had vehemen- the pace of the book. muerto!”—over my dead body. That dire Pérez and María Sarasvati. The journey fantasized works of reportage.”
much sex on its pages—consensual or oth- tly opposed every proposal to turn his pronouncement, alas, has come to pass Jose Arcadio Buendía and his tribe under- It was Garcia Marquez’s unique gift that
erwise—with both the men and the book into a movie during his lifetime. since his death in 2014. take through the swamps to reach empowered him to transform hard reality
women consumed by it. Critic Ariel Dorfman remembered Last year, his family published Until Macondo is one of the most arresting into the stuff of dreams—and erase the
The Buendía men are creatures of lust hearing an unequivocal no in 1974, when August, an unfinished novella he had sequences in any TV series for sure. boundary that divide the two in the pro-
and instinct, not governed by any taboo. Gabo, as Garcia Marquez was lovingly urged them to destroy. In that instance, But visual triumph, conveying the sense cess. One of the most powerful sections of
Jose Arcadio, the patriarch, marries his called by friends and admirers, was asked though, the decision was well-received. of danger and adventure, is just one part of One Hundred Years of Solitude chronicles
cousin Ursula, their elder son marries his by Brazilian film director Glauber Rocha, Almost every reader and critic loved the the appeal of the story. As Dorfman put it, the onset and spread of the insomnia
adopted sister Rebeca, the younger son if he would ever allow such a project. book, even though Gabo, who was suffer- “the novel is above all a feat of language.” plague, which, in the screen version is ably
falls for Remedios, an underage girl, and In an article for the online platform ing from dementia when he wrote it, had It’s Gabo’s storyteller’s voice that holds portrayed as a period of terror, chaos and
later marries her. Ursula’s best friend Pilar Literary Hub published last month, Dorf- worried about its quality. the reader in a spell from start to finish. mayhem. But the on-screen visuals, Dorf-
gives birth to two of the Buendía grand- man recalled Gabo’s reaction: “‘Never!’ So even though moves like these may Columbian writer Carolina Sanin called man reminds us again, come nowhere
sons, one of whom tries to sleep with her, Gabo exclaimed. ‘To synthesize that seem questionable, posthumous publica- him the “Latin American Homer.” As she close to the subtle menace of Gabo’s mas-
unaware that she is his biological mother, story of seven generations of Buendías, tions have given us some of the greatest said, he “wrote an epic about the birth and terful description: “In that state of lucid
and the other attempts to seduce his aunt the whole history of my country and all of By giving another creator the works of literature—almost all of Franz rebirth of civilisation, written from the hallucination, they did not only see the
Amaranta. In both cases, thankfully, the Latin America, really of humanity, Kafka’s body of writing would have been other side of the world.” Although the images of their own dreams but could see
men are jilted, and incest is narrowly impossible. Only the gringos have the right to envision a writer’s unknown to the world if not for his close series conveys this sense of wonder, it fails the images dreamt by others.”
averted. resources for that sort of film. I’ve already work, you effectively friend and literary executor Max Brod’s to capture the breathless pace of storytel- Even the most gifted filmmaker in the
It’s one thing to imagine all this orgy received offers: they propose an epic, two relinquish the right of the decision to disregard Kafka’s injunction to ling that readers associate with the book, world, equipped with the best tech and
being enacted in Garcia Marquez’s dulcet hours, three hours long. And in English! burn all his papers. Screen adaptations, which is somewhat tragic as Gabo’s loqua- special effects, cannot capture that chill-
prose—soaring to poetic heights one Imagine Charlton Heston pretending
deceased writer to protect however, are another matter. ciousness, even in his daily life, was the ing sense of the uncanny packed into one
moment, droll and deadpan the next. But he’s an unknown, mythical Colombian in their imagination By giving another creator the right to stuff of legends. tremendous sentence.

Medium Talk More than small talk

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Works by J. Sultan Ali (left), and Devayani Krishna. PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY DAG

The Indian touch to cubism

A new exhibition throws nath Tagore to first explore cubism in his from myths and legends.
work. He inserted it within the complex According to Anand, for most part,
light on the distinctive watercolour wash style, which was itself “Indian cubism” sets itself apart with its Actual Shots from Delight Studio – Hyderabad, Chennai & Bangalore

style Indian artists influenced by Japanese wash paintings. lyrical, flowing lines as opposed to being
This gave it a distinctive language in Ben- jagged and sharp as seen in the West. It
brought to cubism gal,” he elaborates. addresses issues of Indian aesthetics
in the 20th century Abanindranath Tagore too followed in
Gaganendranath’s footsteps in the explo-
within the trope of modernism.
“From A.A. Raiba’s surrealistic twists to
ration of cubism and soon after, others Avinash Chandra’s patterned landscapes,
Avantika Bhuyan
OPENitement
such as Prosanto Roy and Asit Kumar Hal- there’s much here to surprise us by way of

Exc
[email protected] dar adapted it within their practice. Over art that developed through a process of
time, it came to be accepted across the addition and elimination, something
Aman Poddar Pawan Poddar TOMORROW

I
n J. Sultan Ali’s Milkmaid, you can see country’s growing thrust towards a mod- which has been a characteristic trait of
a vibrant folk idiom come together ernist quest in art. Indian modernism,” he adds. Someday all doors will be made this way
with the cubist style. A new exhibition Deconstructed Realms has four seg- DAG is simultaneously hosting Bana- Through our 4 decade long journey as entrepreneurs,
ISO ISO ISO
at DAG, Deconstructed Realms: India’s ments—the cross cultural exchange that ras: Imagined Landscape, which looks at CERTIFIED
9001
CERTIFIED
14001
CERTIFIED
45001
we have stayed in step with the dreams of Bharat. As
Tryst with Cubism, features over a hun- informed the cubist awakening in India, how the ancient city has been visualised founders of Ashirvad Pipes, we disrupted the water
dred such works by 40 artists, including fragmented forms and kaleidoscopic by travelling artists and photographers management sector. After having scouted the world,
INDIA’S MOST 200,000 sq. ft 50,000 + 49+ years we proudly bring another disruptive idea,
Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal compositions as seen from the 1920s as well as by Indian painters and sculp- MODERN & LARGEST Manufacturing SKUs of Collective the Wesmarc Megafactory - India’s most modern &
Bose, George Keyt and Biren De who onwards, practices in the post-independ- tors. The works on display interpret DOOR & FRAME MANUFACTURING Space Experience largest door & frame manufacuring facility
innovated with this largely Western ence era, and finally, abstracted realities. Banaras (now Varanasi) as a physical and
construct in an Indian context in the It’s interesting to see departures in prac- spiritual realm. Curator Gayatri Sinha
20th century. tice by Chittaprosad, who looked at land- says the idea was to “...show the way in Seeing is believing Visit our Delight Studios at
It’s interesting to see how the art move- scapes and figures through geometric which Banaras has been addressed by Write to us at BLR: Bommasandra & Indiranagar 100 Ft Rd
ment made its way from Europe to India, planes and vibrant hues. colonial artists, bazaar art, and the mod- [email protected] or call us at HYD: Banjara Hills, Rd #12
CHE: Pantheon, Egmore
planting its roots first in Bengal, with Some artists ventured beyond painting ern Indian artist.” The show also fea- 9880-918-981 to tour our Mega Factory or
Gaganendranath Tagore being at the fore- to include materials such as metal, wood, tures texts by scholars who have visit any of our delight studio INDIA’S #1 ST AND ONLY
German inspired Full Wall Wrap
front of this journey. lacquer and cement. Significant in this addressed the interpretation of the city Trade enquiries solicited Rebated Door Adjustable Frame
According to Ashish Anand, CEO and regard are sculptures by Dhanraj Bhagat as well as the newer accretions to its system (F.W.W.A.F) system
managing director, DAG, it all started and Ramkinkar Baij. Then there are ghats. “So in a sense, literature and 75+ channel partners with product displays across Bharat Crafted for with WES.Flex TM
Comfort & Technology
when artists from Bengal experienced the abstracts by G.R. Santosh, Amit Ambalal poetry, architecture and belief systems, KK: Bengaluru, Mysuru,Raichur TS: Hyderabad
well-being Crafted for
Hubli & Mangalore (soon) MH: Pune
Bauhaus exhibition in Kolkata in 1922, and V. Viswanadhan, which align with iconography and ritual all inform the KL: Kannur, Kochi (soon) CH : Raipur effortless wall
organised by art historian Stella Kram- the Western concept of “analytical cub- exhibition,” adds Sinha. TN: Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruppur PB: Mohali, Amritsar flexibility
Pollachi ,Salem, Trichy (soon) Chandigarh,Ludhiana
risch. Works by Western artists were ism” (in which an image is broken into PY: Pondicherry (soon) BR: Patna
shown alongside those of a few Indians. fragments and multiple viewpoints), and On view at DAG, Delhi, from 8 February AP: Tirupati, Vijayawada UP : Kanpur (soon) wesmarcdoors.com
“That became a trigger for Gaganendra- George Keyt’s paintings that borrow to 5 April.
04 SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
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HEART
FOR ART
LOVE I
Vibrantly Luca Guadagnino’s (left) ‘Queer’, starring Daniel Craig, is a languid dream.
coloured glass
and metal wall
uca Guadagnino’s Queer is a wisp of smoke curling in the humid air, a film

L
sculpture
from Karo that aches with forbidden longing. Streaming on MUBI, the film is a lan-
Studios pays guid dream, saturated with the yearning of a man who dares to desire—
homage to yet barely allows himself to reach. This is Daniel Craig, his face weathered yet
love. Available vulnerably luminous, his performance the hush of a confession.
on Karostu- As Lee, Craig is hesitant but hopeful, out of place in his own skin, his body
dios.com; moving through the world as though apologising for its own needs. His gaze is
Price on heartbreakingly adolescent—furtive, searching, afraid of being caught yet
request. desperate to be seen. This is not Bond, the steely, assured figure of Craig’s
past; this is something braver: a man allowing himself to want.
Guadagnino lets the camera linger and the atmosphere swallow us. The
SILVER CHARM sweat, the neon-drenched nights, the sunburnt loneliness of a foreign land—
Jimmy Choo Faceted Heart Clutch it seeps into the frame, enveloping us in Lee’s muted agony. Over a video call,
Silver-toned clutch with faceted I spoke briefly with Guadagnino and Craig about Queer.
finish featuring crystal embellish- While being set in Mexico City, ‘Queer’ almost feels like it could be
PRETTY PRINT ments and knot detailing, Available on shot on a soundstage. Everything is inside. Were you going for a lit-
Gauri & Nainika Pink Rose Print Farfetch.com; ₹2.63 lakh. eral interiority of character as well as location?
Mikado Midi Dress Guadagnino: Thank you for the question. It’s very inspiring. I think the book
Midi dress, made from Mikado fab- led us through the development of the story through the visuals, I would say.
ric, with rose creeper print and rose The first part of the book (by the great William Burroughs) is set in Mexico
detail on the bust, Available on CRYSTAL GAZE City. Then Lee convinces Allerton (his lover, played by Drew Starkey) to
Ensembleindia.com; ₹68,000. Mini Rose Crystal-Embellished embark on a sort of picaresque quest through South America in search for aya-
Drop Earrings huasca. Then they finally bump into this doctor, into this jungle in the heart,
Black rose earrings with crystal only to come back at the end in the epilogue in Mexico City. So I think that the
droplet detail. Available on structure came from the book and the texture of it came from the book.
Magdabutrym.com; ₹41,843. Craig: And it is all shot on a soundstage.
Guadagnino: Everything, including the jungle.
Luca, you’ve adapted ‘Call Me By Your Name’, ‘Bones And All’ and
now ‘Queer’. What is it about these books that called out to you?
SATIN SPIN Guadagnino: It’s unconscious, but eventually you realise that they all have
this kind of common thread that unifies them. And I wasn’t searching for it.
‘Keira’ Sandals with But you always have this characters that are somehow on the margin, that
Rose Embellishment they are not fitting. They are somehow repressed. And they have to survive in
Strappy satin stilettos a world of normativity, probably. But that’s always, again, unconscious. I don’t
appliquéd at the back look for it.
with a long-stem rose. One of the most mesmerising things about the film is Lee’s body lan-
Available on Dolcegab- guage, the way he moves, not just to
bana.com; ₹1.31 lakh. Nirvana’s ‘Come As You Are’, but
Compiled by
also when wearing his hat. He
Mahalakshmi Prabhakaran
has this odd grace, like an
out-of-work magician. How STREAMING TIP
much did you both work
on that body language?
OF THE WEEK
And what was the brief Luca Guadagnino’s films streaming
that you shared? in India now include Challengers

LOUNGE LOVES Craig: Well, we didn’t,

there was no brief. I mean,
we worked very closely with
(Amazon Prime Video), Call Me By
Your Name (available to rent on
Apple and Amazon), Bones and All
(Amazon Rental), Suspiria
two amazing choreogra-
phers, Sol Léon and Paul (Amazon Prime Video) and A
Things to watch, read, hear, do—and other curated experiences from the team Lightfoot, primarily just to Bigger Splash (MUBI).
COURTESY INSTAGRAM REUTERS/MIKE BLAKE work on the ayahuasca sequence. Dive in.
THREE SUNS That was a choreographed piece of
res Soles, Spanish for three suns, is the work. But I think it would be right to say

T title of a painting by Santiago Giralda.

The oil on linen work is lush, fantastical
and will make one dream—my favourite kind
that all of that work paid into the physicality. It’s
just the way I work. I mean, I pretended to be James Bond for a number of
years. The way he walked was not the way I walk. And anybody would tell you
of artwork. His work is rich in flora and fauna, that if you knew.
drenched in tropical hues and sunset colours. Guadagnino: But you know, the miracle of cinema is, speaking of the Nir-
It’s the kind of work that unveils something vana sequence, how the cameraman and the key-grip started to get the riff of
new every time you look at it. They have the movement, so that the travelling shot and your walk, they become this
glaciers, waterfalls and plants framing rocky beautiful conversation.
mountains and stairways. Humans are Daniel, a lot of your romantic connection in the film is about saying
missing from these paintings, which is a volumes without saying anything. There’s a lot of yearning between
signature touch. Currently, he is showcasing your characters. How did you see that?
at Gallery Isa in Mumbai till 22 February. To a Craig: I think Mexico City in the 1950s was one of those places where people
WHEN ROOTS RUN DEEP certain extent, his practice studies how nature WHO RUN THE WORLD came looking for whatever, love, drugs, whatever, I don’t know, freedom. And
f you have been watching the ongo- coexists with urban landscapes. I would like his year’s Grammys were finally so their connections with each other (Lee and Allerton’s) are out of sync.

I ing Pakistani drama Qarz-e-Jaan,

then you know who the guy playing
the badass role of Bade Abbu to Nishu
to imagine they are the painting equivalent of
Japanese zen gardens. —Jahnabee Borah T something to write home about.
Above the outfits, diss tracks and
all else, it was the women artists who
They’re just not on the same wavelength. They’re not on the same frequency.
And it doesn’t mean they don’t both want to fall in love with each other, or
that they don’t desire each other. They both have really very strong feelings
(Yumna Zaidi) is. One of Pakistan’s shone, and also gave some epic per- with each other. They’re just not able to communicate. And a lot of Lee’s jour-
leading fashion designers who has GOSSIP GIRLS formances. Doechii, only the third ney is finding that ability to communicate, to talk to you without speaking,
been in the industry for three decades, recently asked for podcast reccos on social woman to win Best Rap Album, told telepathy, all of those things.
Deepak Perwani caused a kerfuffle
recently when in an interview he said
life in India was better, and women
I media and at least three people suggested
Normal Gossip, dedicated to everyone’s
favourite past-time: talking about the weird
little girls in her acceptance speech
not to let anyone tell them they’re not
enough, too dramatic or too loud.
When you see Lee looking at Allerton and the way he’s longing for
him… In a way, more than a romantic partner, he seems to have fallen
in love with youth itself. Is that part of the aching that you’ve put in
had more freedom. I have watched a stuff people do. Naturally, I had to dive in, and “You’re exactly who you need to be.” the film, both of you?
few of his interviews and am always one season into this 7-season plus show, I am Her perfectly choreographed per- Guadagnino: I think youth is overvalued.
surprised at his candidness and ability hooked. The host discusses reader-submitted formance was part of a Best New Artist Craig: Hmm. So do I. (Laughs)
to speak on a range of issues, espe- funny gossip about “a friend of a friend” with medley that also included British art- Guadagnino: And we’re not bitter 50-somethings. It’s just that it’s very over-
cially politics, notwithstanding that he guests, usually comedians or other podcast ist Raye belting out Oscar Winning valued. It’s not youth per se that counts. It’s the eyes in the other or the mirror
belongs to a minority community in hosts, diving into bizarre stories about other Tears, which is on repeat on my Spo- that they reflect, what they reflect. You know, psychoanalytically, you
that country. Perhaps his privileged people and reinforcing the belief that gossip is tify. But the biggest surprise for me become whole in the gaze of the other. It has nothing to do with youth. It’s a
background makes it easier for him. good and, well, normal. The very first episode, was how much I enjoyed Chappell beautiful, crazy misconception.
With tongue in cheek, he likes saying about a young woman who starts dating a guy Roan, who was the talk of the music ~
he’s not a migrant, and that he can who seems to be hoarding weird secrets about fests last year. Her Pink Pony Club was And then, like old lovers who share an inside joke, these two collaborators
trace back his ancestry in Mirpur Khas his family, is enough to draw you in, and so infectious and fun, and I can’t help collapse into giggles. What could be more appropriate?
in Sindh to 700 years and more. Hav- though this is no true crime, it does teach you but be glad that queer kids can grow
ing deep roots helps you stand your a lot about what detective Miss Marple calls up watching her. Raja Sen is a screenwriter and critic. He has co-written Chup, a film about
ground. —Nipa Charagi human nature. —Shrabonti Bagchi —Dakshayani Kumaramangalam killing critics, and is now creating an absurd comedy series. He posts @rajasen.
 THINK SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI 05

The inconvenient ‘public women’ of history

selves, for instance, who branded an quarrels with Pandita Ramabai, a glimpse in history of domesticated
ageing Jaipur maharajah’s reign “randi Christian convert and evangelist, could women who look upon the courtesan
PAST ka raj” (“harlot’s rule”) on account of
the sway of a royal concubine.
not help but suggest that she style her-
self reveranda—a play on “reverend”
and devadasi with envy, romanticising
the latter’s freedom from drudgery and
PARTICIPLE In historical narratives, the “public that also punned crudely in Marathi on wifely burdens.
woman” often seesaws between randa or prostitute. As the poetry of the 14th century
MANU S wicked designs and remorse for har- But what did women themselves Maharashtrian Bhakti saint Janabai
PILLAI bouring such designs. One 19th cen- make of the idea of the “slut”? Many, it has it (in Vilas Sarang’s translation),
tury story features the Arya Samaj must be said, deployed it to put down “Cast off all shame, and sell yourself in
founder, Dayananda Saraswati. Envi- other women. In a Victorian-era suc- the marketplace. Then alone can you
n 1809, a British official took great ous of this celibate’s growing reputa- cession dispute in Ramnad, thus, one hope to reach the lord.” Janabai was a

I umbrage at the conduct of an Indian

prince. The ruler of Gwalior, the
man reported, had “bestowed his
tion and anxious to destroy it, his rivals
hire a woman to seduce him. But when
the lady arrives, she sees a “mystic
lady sought to strengthen her claim by
attacking a rival—born to a devadasi—
as the daughter of a “notorious
maid, trapped forever in the kitchen
and in a life of service. Duty and
respectability kept her there; in these
affections” on a woman called Rus light” all around her target; instead of whore”. The devadasi tradition itself verses she yearns to lose her shackles,
Kufoor. It was bad enough that the disrobing, she sheds “tears of peni- was savaged by reformist women who pick up musical instruments and wan-
rajah had taken up with this “common tence”. Yet for every “reformed” vamp, equated Devadasis with sex workers. der. Society will, she knows, call her a
prostitute”, but what was worse was there remained treacherous ones men Devadasis resisted: “We are,” one 1929 “slut” but at least, she seems to say, she
his largesse. He had, allegedly, given were told to beware. Indeed, Daya- memorandum declares, women who will be free.
the lady a vast landed estate; a palace nanda’s own death is ascribed to poi- “possess…all the privileges of the Of course, the fact is that nobody in
“furnished in the most costly and mag- soning by the Jodhpur maharajah’s males in regard to property, special life is entirely free. But there are
nificent manner”; elephants and cam- mistress, who apparently feared she laws of inheritance”, etc. “Noisy”, self- degrees of freedom, and some can
els, not to speak of an army of human would be jettisoned by her patron righteous calls to disempower them assert their agency, while others must
servitors; and, worst of all, he was seen under the guru’s advice. into meek housewives would be “dis- subdue it. The “whore”— a spectrum
publicly riding with her, occasionally None of this should surprise us. In a astrous”—they stood to lose rather from the “public woman” to the mar-
even fanning her. In no “European patriarchal world, from the male gaze than gain. ried, educated female who refuses to
state”, the white man declared, would the “right” kind of woman was either While not all devadasis lived such conform—has greater agency in some
such indecency be tolerated. Why, if a wife, mother or widow—and all of confident lives and many did indeed respects. And it might appear in the
Western prince behaved this way, he them submissive. The sexually unfet- face pressure to commit to a form of smallest of ways. In 1902, for instance,
would be thrown into “a mad house”. tered “public woman” challenged this sex work, the memorandum was not the brother of the artist Ravi Varma
Our man was wrong, of course, for social ideal. Indeed, branding incon- terribly off the mark. Even in the north, complained about difficulties finding a
history has no shortage of European venient women “sluts”, even when there was a courtesan culture that model for a painting. They assumed
lords getting mixed up with the married, was a standard instrument to could not be reduced to merely sexual local sex workers would skip along for
“wrong” sort of women. At the very cut them down to size. elements. These were women who a fee but were disappointed. “These
moment he was writing, for example, In the early 19th century, for identified as artists and poets; indeed, prostitutes readily come if called for
the future William IV of Britain had instance, there was an anti-British they possessed vast resources, which is immoral purposes,” the man com-
spent nearly two decades with an Irish rebellion in Travancore. Aiding it was why during events such as the 1857 plained, “but when required for posing
actress. No, the real problem was the the rajah’s wife. When the revolt Mughal era ‘tawaif’ or courtesan, possibly a 20th century reproduction of an 18th rebellion, many courtesans were able they raise great objections.”
discomfort of a certain type of man failed, the lady was cut off from her century painting, Lucknow. GETTY IMAGES to aid the Indian fighters (and were That perhaps is exactly the point—
with the “whore”—or more precisely, husband upon whom a pro-British punished for it by the British with the the “whore” was a tag that came with a
women whose influence stemmed group tried to foist a new wife. But who have confronted the charge of struggled to obtain medical training, confiscation of their property). In an price. But all the same, in some
from unpoliced sexual access to other, what is telling is how she was discred- being harlots though. The writer Kavi- faced racism as well as sexism, bal- earlier period, a tawaif-turned-prin- respects she also had a strange, distinct
more powerful males. ited. Even as the rajah petitioned to be tha Rao in her book Lady Doctors anced what she saw as her wifely duties cess like Begum Samru led armies and form of choice.
While in this case an element of reunited with her, in colonial papers (2021) tells how Kadambini Ganguly, with her career and yet ended up being won titles from the Mughal emperor,
racism was in play, brown men also, to his spouse became a mere “favourite among the earliest Indian women to attacked—because an educated, finan- holding her own for decades as a single Manu S. Pillai is a historian and
be clear, shared such feelings. Over a girl”. qualify as a doctor, was slandered in cially autonomous woman was a threat. woman in a world of men. author, most recently, of Gods, Guns
century later, it was Indians them- It was not just women seeking power the Bengali press as a “whore”. She had Even a leader like B.G. Tilak, in his This may be why we do find the odd and Missionaries.

The amateur
as a radical
rule-breaker
Saikat Majumdar’s Trump, who has branded himself as an
amateur politician. Finally, the amateur
new book explores also represents a radical possibility. Citing
Palestinian-American philosopher
colonial literary Edward Said, Majumdar writes: “Ama-
teurism implies disaffiliation with inter-
history to understand ests, lobbies, and institutions of power
the evolution of the that seek to co-opt intellectuals to the
hegemony of state and capital”.
figure of the amateur Developments in the world of acade-
mia, especially the humanities, has
informed much of Majumdar’s previous
Uttaran Das Gupta work—both fiction and non-fiction. His
last three novels, The Scent of God (2019),

I
n his 1929 essay, Wordsworth in The Middle Finger (2022) and The Remains
the Tropics, English writer Aldous of the Body (2024), are all set on campuses
Huxley ridiculed 19th-century The Amateur: Self- or feature students and academics. While
British romantic poet William making and the the first one is on a school campus on the
Wordsworth and his followers for Humanities in the outskirts of Calcutta (now Kolkata), the
waxing eloquent about the uplifting Postcolony: By Saikat second is on the campus of a private uni-
potential of nature. Huxley argued that in Majumdar, Bloomsbury versity similar to Ashoka University in
the temperate weather of Europe, experi- 218 pages, ₹799. Haryana, where Majumdar himself
encing nature might inspire delicate teaches. The Remains of the Body is not set
poetry, but that is hardly how people in project, what has often been overlooked on a campus, but one of its key characters,
other parts of the world encounter it. by academic or non-academic researchers Kaustav, is a postdoctoral scholar.
“Nature, under a vertical sun, and nour- is the student who rebelled against this In his non-fiction work, too, Majumdar
ished by the equatorial rains, is not at all education system. In his new book, novel- has focused on higher education in India,
like that chaste, mild deity who presides ist and academic Saikat Majumdar traces literary criticism and post-coloniality. In
over… the prettiness, the cozy sublimities the genealogy of the students in the colo- Prose of the World: Modernism and the
of the Lake District,” he wrote. “A few nies and post-colonial nations who rebel Banality of Empire (2013), he explored
weeks in Malay or Borneo would have against this system of education. how 20th-century modernist literature Painting of a Muslim scholar Majumdar’s central arguments home was readers and writers who found Word-
undeceived him (Wordsworth).” “My dream in this book has been to was a product of social boredom. He fol- reading a book, 19th century. Trinidadian-Canadian poet Dionne sworth’s Daffodils alienating, but did not
Though literary scholars have since show that a certain kind of reader was lowed it up in 2018 with College: Pathways WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Brand’s description of discovering The reject it outright. The strange flower
challenged Huxley’s appraisal of Word- inspired to seek their own eclectic, often of Possibility that explored and analysed Black Napoleon, a book on the 18th-cen- served as a symbol of the more cosmopoli-
sworth’s relationship to nature, almost confused and misdirected adventures recent developments in higher education tury Haitian slave revolution. Devoid of tan cross-current of intellectual stimula-
every school student in the former British with books—particularly books from the in India. Majumdar writes on both litera- the cultural and historical context of the tion to which these amateurs were
colonies forced to read The Daffodils metropolitan west that were divorced ture and higher education in The Tele- book, Brand reads it from a purely sub- deprived any access because of institu-
(sometimes called I Wander Lonely As a from their own immediate reality,” he graph and The Times Higher Education, jective perspective, leading to an intel- tional or circumstantial reasons.
Cloud) in English literature classes is writes in the introductory chapter. He among others. Along with US-based aca- lectual awakening that challenged her So will the amateur and the professional
aware of the irony of doing so. describes such readers, who develop their demic Aarthi Vadde, he is also the co-edi- colonial education. Such an accidental sheath their daggers and join ranks? It
For most of them, sweating under the own pedagogy, as a result of choice or cir- tor of the academic anthology, The Critic moment of discovery, Majumdar argues, remains to be seen. However, Majumdar
slowly rotating fans in stuffy schoolrooms cumstance, as the amateur. as Amateur (2019). results in the self-making of a poet whose does make a compelling case for both
of tropical Asia, Africa or the Caribbean, There are several reasons for Majum- Thus, in many ways, The Amateur is a own work “burn the skin and wake read- sides to acknowledge each other. It is, in
summer hardly evokes images of pleasant dar’s interest in this figure. First, the crystallisation of many of Majumdar’s ers to the world they had not known they fact, not only in this book that he does so.
excursions into meadows. Yet, reading increasing recognition within profes- intellectual concerns over the years. In its inhabited”. Majumdar compares this His entire writing practice seems to sub-
Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Dickens, sional and academic circles of the periph- thematically arranged chapters, he traces, incident from Brand’s life to Indian stantiate such a possibility.
Shakespeare and other British literary eral amateur as central to literary criti- through archival research, the lives and writer Pankaj Mishra’s reading of a criti- This is important in our contemporary
giants was essential for the colonial sub- cism. In many ways, the amateur provides careers of intellectuals in India, South cal text on French writer Gustave Flau- world, where, on the one hand, new cul-
ject in the 19th and 20th centuries. It was a subjective perspective on the vast canon Africa and the Caribbean, all former colo- bert, which opens up affective insights tures of digitally consuming text are con-
the key tool for acquiring “white masks” , forged through forces of imperialism. nies of the UK. He interrogates what the into caste and discrimination in rural stantly challenging traditional reading
to borrow a term from French Afro-Carib- Drawing upon the works of Paolo Freire, books that are defined as classics or as part Uttar Pradesh. practices. On the other hand, there is
bean philosopher Franz Fanon, that was bell hooks and Gayatri Chakravarty Spi- of the canon by the Empire mean to these Such a reading, Majumdar argues, is growing suspicion of the professional
the primary aim of a colonial education vak, Majumdar asks: “What happens when readers on the margins. Why is reading Majumdar interrogates what completely an antithesis of professional critic, even a rejection of their expertise, in
system. Fanon uses the metaphor of those who are variously oppressed or fetishised by those denied the opportunity literary criticism, which places a text in its the creative industries. This book is not
“white masks” to describe Black people or excluded seek out texts to read, primarily to read? Why is education prioritised by books that are defined as historical and cultural context. However, only an investigation into the past of the
people of colour adopting the behaviour from Western humanities?” communities that are “most sharply classics or as part of instead of rejecting such a reading—as, practices of non-professional literary crit-
and culture of white people in a racist soci- Majumdar also addresses the growing deprived of it”? And finally, what does it the canon by the Empire perhaps, many professionals would do— icism—it’s a vision of an exciting, albeit
ety to gain more acceptance. popularity of amateurs and distrust of pro- mean to read from the margins? he makes a radical argument for “the two uncertain, future.
While there is a vast and growing body fessionals, possibly best characterised by While the book narrates many remark-
mean to these readers to meet”. Majumdar celebrates and cham- Uttaran Das Gupta is an independent
of literature on the colonial education the re-election of US President Donald able stories, one that really drives on the margins. pions the generation of post-colonial writer and journalist.
06 SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI TASTE

Enhancing the flavour Art meets food in

thematic sit-down
dinners, pretty plates
and grazing tables at

of an art show opening elaborate show

openings in galleries

Jahnabee Borah
[email protected]
DINING IN

T
he work of great artists has
often inspired chefs, with
parallels drawn between
GALLERIES
the creativity of both. But — Cafe Green Lane, National
food can also serve as a Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi
bridge between artist and viewer, and gal- (clockwise, from left) ‘Journey through Bengal’ by Pranay Baidya; dinner curated by Eeshaan Kashyap for the show ‘Memory Keepers’; and Ranbir Kaleka’s ‘Knowledge and nature’,
lerists, as enthusiastic hosts, curate special — Ingri, Museo Camera, which inspired the dish Rhubarb, Asparagus & Lychee by Sage & Saffron.
menus inspired by the artist and the art to Gurugram
enhance a show opening. Sit-down dinners are the norm for She recalls the menu at a 2023 retro-
“Food adds that extra something to go — David Hall Gallery & Cafe, many show openings and artist or show- spective of print master Devraj Dakoji that
beyond just seeing what’s on display,” says Kochi themed menus take on several interesting Exhibit 320 hosted. As Dakoji was born in
Akshat Agarwal, head chef and business forms. Eeshaan Kashyap, a Delhi-based Hyderabad and moved to New York,
head of the boutique catering company — Cumulus by Smoor, Museum food and drinks curator, has carved a Kajaria wanted the food to reflect both cit-
Sage & Saffron in Mumbai. The company of Art & Photography, niche for himself with imaginative culi- ies. She served wild mushroom galouti
has curated menus for galleries in the city Bengaluru nary concepts. In 2021, for the show Mem- with Hyderabadi biscuit roti and creme
as well as for events like the street art festi- ory Keepers by Vadehra Art gallery, his cheese, mirchi ka salaan goat cheese frit-
val St+art India in 2023. He recalls one of — Museum Cafe & Shop, Bhau menu was inspired by food nostalgia of the ters and meal in a bowl with Hyderabad
the earliest art shows they catered—multi- Daji Lad, Mumbai featured artists: Atul Dodiya, B.V. Doshi, quinoa pulao accompanied by bhurani
disciplinary artist Subodh Gupta’s exhibi- Arpita Singh, Arpita Sen and Shilpa Gupta. raita.
tion at Famous Studios in Mumbai by — NMACC Arts Cafe, Nita “The list of artists was like a dream for me. Galleries pay homage to their neigh-
Nature Morte in 2016. To reflect the feel of Mukesh Ambani Cultural The idea of memory—whether this food bourhood too. Mumbai’s 47 A, located in
Gupta’s art and the oversized metal Centre, Mumbai has been part of their artwork or mem- the East Indian hub of Khotachiwadi, cele-
kitchen utensils he is known for, Agarwal ory—infused each dish,” says Kashyap. brates local flavours and home chefs. “We
contacted their utensil supplier for mini Singh told him about a ber (winter jujube) look at our art show openings as a way of
metal plates and bowls for serving, and is a big part of the Val- chutney that was sold outside her school. engaging deeper with the community.
spoke to Gupta about his beloved flavours. labhacharya tradition He served a similar chutney with snacks. The food is kept simple with everything
Finally, they served Mysore masala buck- and pichvais are Dodiya grew up in a tight-knit Hindu area sourced from the area. Our cakes are by a
wheat dosa, tofu Chettinand, tacos stuffed depicted around in Mumbai that scoffed at non-vegetarian neighbourhood baker Merita D’Souza
with pork chilli, cheddar kulchas and ras- that. At the chappan food. He would crave mutton and had to Phillips; biscuits, cookies, cheese sticks
malai ice cream with saffron milk and pis- bhog, 56 kinds of make do with jackfruit. So Kashyap served and khari come from the age-old Irani
tachio to finish the meal. food are offered to jackfruit cutlets. bakery Yazdani; and the drinks like kom-
Depending on the gallery space and the Shrinathji,” she While menu curators like Kashyap, buchas and Christmas punch are made by
show’s theme, the menu is curated in dif- explains. “The worship the artist’s Bengali Baidya and Sage & Saffron play an integral Lucano Alvares who lives right around the
ferent formats but fuss-free pass-arounds, of Shrinathji combines origins. role, gallery owners are central to the ele- corner,” says gallery director Aashini
sit-down dinners and grazing tables are raag (music), bhog (food) For the table, Baidya vated culinary experience too. Rasika Shah.
the most popular. Caterers, gallery owners and shringar (beauty).” So dal turned to Maity’s older Kajaria, founder of Delhi’s Exhibit 320, is Kashyap planned the decor and food for
and food curators work together to cap- baati churma got a twist with water-colour works dominated particular about her menus. “For me, food the Asia Arts Game Changer Awards at
ture the essence of the show and the pref- cheese toppings and ker sangri with puri by dark hues of red and blue. He sourced at previews is all about enhancing the Hyatt Regency in Delhi on 7 February,
erence of the artists in meals. was served as delicate rolls. Bengali gamchas in those colours and atmosphere and creating a deeper con- exploring the theme “Share”. The event
There’s a ready synergy between food Tablescapes too can be inspired by art- stitched them to create a large table cloth. While menu curators like nection between the art and the guests. I brought together artists who have shaped
and art when both come from the same ists. Delhi-based fashion designer Pranay For napkins, he got large batik handker- like the food stations to be a space where modern art in Asia so the food spotlighted
place. Pooja Singhal, the Delhi-based Baidya curates elaborate Bengali meals for chiefs from Santiniketan. The meal fea- Kashyap, Baidya and Sage & the audience may bond over the artworks. culinary diversity in the subcontinent
revivalist of the Rajasthani form of pichvai, friends, family and events. In 2022, he tured celebratory Bengali dishes like chin- Saffron play an integral role, Sometimes, I serve thematic dishes that with dishes such as Nepali chukauni
says food plays a lead role in her exhibits. crafted the dining experience for artist gri macher bora (prawn fritters), narkel gallery owners are central to directly tie into the exhibition. This way, (mashed potatoes) with bread, Sri Lankan
In 2019, her show at Bikaner House Paresh Maity’s retrospective Infinite Light diye cholar dal (channa dal with coconut) the food becomes an extension of the art, fish curry and south Indian pepper mut-
opened with a sit-down dinner themed on at Bikaner House by gallery Art Alive. The and basonti pulao (sweet pulao coloured
the elevated culinary adding another layer to the sensory expe- ton. It is a merging of food and art where
chappan bhog with a modern take. “Bhog menu, Journey through Bengal, honoured with saffron). experience too rience,” she says. one elevates the other.

Final exam mutton fry and other challenges

ISTOCKPHOTO SAMAR HALARNKAR

both parents and child. 2 tsp coriander powder 4 tsp olive oil
OUR The teen knows this well and her 4 tsp vegetable oil Salt to taste
D A I LY demands for “exciting” food have risen
exponentially. She knows, you see, that
Salt to taste
Method
BREAD we will likely say yes—food-wise—to Method Use a rolling pin to coarsely smash the
things to which we may normally say In a pressure cooker, heat oil gently. zucchini into medium-sized pieces or
SAMAR no. Usually, she is hungry every two Drop in the dried red chilli, pepper- smaller (watch for flying seeds!).
HALARNKAR hours. During exams it appears to be corns, cinnamon, star anise, cloves and Sprinkle with salt. Place in a colander
every hour. While we scramble to pro- curry leaves, until they start to pop and and press down with a napkin to
vide her with fruits, fried stuff, sweet splutter. Add onion and saute until absorb the water over 20 minutes.

T
oday, the daughter came back rav- stuff and juices, I know that the main lightly brown. Add ginger-garlic paste After the water is removed, marinate
enous from her geography exam course sets the tone. and saute for a minute. Add Kashmiri with 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, the
and said she craved beef chilli fry. A good lunch or dinner is also the best chilli powder, tomatoes and saute, until chipotle power and set aside for 10
I didn’t have beef. “So, make mutton insurance against endless junk. So, I it begins to stick. Add the mutton, salt minutes. Pour 3 tsp olive oil and roast
chilli fry like beef,” she demanded and made—among other things—fish curry, and mix all spices well. Add red chilli the smashed zucchini in the oven for
flounced off. It’s exam time. I had prom- prawn pasta, roast chicken, Greek-style and coriander powders and mix thor- 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius,
ised to make her whatever she wanted burger, roast pork. I had little choice. oughly. Add half a cup of water and stepping up to 200 degrees for the last
for the duration, so I had little choice. She did not forget my promise to make pressure cook on medium to high for 10 minutes. You can also grill on a pan
Final exams have always been a trying her whatever she sought. three whistles. Switch off the gas and let until it begins to char.
time—for me at least. When that geography exam was the pressure dissipate. Open and cook Roast chickpeas in a pan or in the
When I was a high school student, my done, I asked injudiciously, “Will you Mutton fry is comfort food; and (right) smashed zucchini, chickpeas and avocado salad. until the water dries up, stirring fre- oven for 10 minutes with half tsp Kash-
attention span was short, my exam plan- get 70%?” She glared at me and then quently. Adjust salt if needed. miri chilli powder and 1 tsp olive oil.
ning was non-existent, and I believed I made that demand for chilli beef or isn’t important to her, but it is. I am not FINAL EXAM MUTTON FRY Now, assemble. Toss avocado, zuc-
would somehow pass. I blundered mutton. allowed to make north Indian vegetar- Serves 4 SMASHED ZUCCHINI, CHICKPEAS chini and chickpeas, red onion, lemon
along. Mostly I passed, not with any dis- This was not an easy demand because ian for her—dal, paneer and that sort of AND AVOCADO SALAD juice, parsley and basil. Adjust salt and
tinction, often barely, and, sometimes, I she does not care much for chilli. Mut- thing, her comfort food—but she is Ingredients Serves 4 lemon juice if required.
failed. In the event, I cannot thank the ton chilli fry without chilli? Through happy to try my versions of lunch and Half kg goat mutton, small pieces You can serve the salad warm or
great examiner in the sky enough that experimentation, I’ve learnt how to pro- dinner from the Mediterranean and the 1 dried chilli Ingredients refrigerated.
those days are gone, never to return. duce the flavour of chillies without Maghreb. 6 peppercorns 1 large zucchini (This is a version of a recipe from
The dread of finals is back now in using too many of them. As you see from The complement to the mutton fry Half-inch piece cinnamon 1 avocado, small pieces @starinfinitefood (Caitlin Latessa-
some fashion because the teen’s ninth- the recipe below, it’s possible to use less. was my version of a smashed zucchini Leaf of a star anise 1 cup cooked chickpeas Greene) from Massachusetts, US.)
standard endgame is nigh. She studies I must also remember that clove and salad that I saw on Instagram. I rather 2 cloves 1 small onion, chopped
better than I ever did, and while she’s no cardamom are her sworn enemies for enjoyed smashing the zucchini and 20 curry leaves Juice of half a lemon Our Daily Bread is a column on easy,
bookworm, she wants to do reasonably some unfathomable reason, so I take watching the seeds fly, and I enjoyed One-and-a-half onion chopped One-and-a-half tsp Kashmiri chilli pow- inventive cooking. Samar Halarnkar is
well. Her mother and I want that too, care to banish them from my kitchen. watching the wife’s eyes widen in 1 tomato, chopped der the author of The Married Man’s Guide
but only by using positive reinforce- Making food for the little girl is all approval. The mutton fry, too, I am glad 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste Half tsp chipotle powder To Creative Cooking—And Other Dubi-
ment, which, in this family means food. very well, but I also have the big girl, the to report, was a hit. She better deliver 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder 2 tbsp chopped parsley ous Adventures. He posts @samar11 on
Good food has a calming influence on picky vegetarian wife. She may say food that 70%. Half tsp red chilli powder Half a cup chopped basil Twitter.
 SPORTS SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI 07

Venkatesh Iyer
says his focus
is on his task
KKR’s Venkatesh Iyer on managing expectations
that come with the high valuation

Women’s tennis sees Venkatesh Iyer playing at the IPL last year in April

Arun Janardhan
GETTY IMAGES

a glimmer of hope
enkatesh Iyer remembers a conversation he had with his Kolkata Knight

V Riders (KKR) teammate Mitchell Starc last season. The Indian Premier
League side had bid a record ₹24.75 crore for the Australian cricketer
ahead of the 2024 season, raising the inevitable doubts over how the fast bowler
would justify that price tag.
“He said that ‘the only thing I know is to bowl. I’ve been paid for that. So, I’m
going to do that’,” Iyer remembers Starc as saying, recollecting the Australian’s
words as he finds himself in a similar predicament.
The players still day, travelling to and from her coaching Ahead of the 2025 season of the IPL, KKR bid ₹23.75 crore for Iyer, the third
and fitness venues. It is mainly individual highest price paid in these auctions after Rishabh Pant’s ₹27 crore (by Lucknow
struggle with funding ingenuity like this that has women’s ten- Super Giants) and ₹26.75 crore by Punjab Kings for Shreyas Iyer.
nis in India going. “We are all humans, live in a world where social media is predominant. I will
and long-term There are only a handful of state tennis have to learn to just deal with it,” says Venkatesh about the expectations that come
associations—namely Maharashtra, Kar- with the high valuation.
support. Despite the nataka and Tamil Nadu—working at the “The simplest thing to do is to focus on my task. Once the tournament starts,
odds, they impressed grassroot level and giving their players
more opportunities. Over the last two
it really won’t matter how much I’ve been paid. People, the social media will talk
about you. That’s not under your control. The only thing in your control is to
at Mumbai Open months, India has hosted five big inter- deliver for your side,” says the 30-year-old.
national events—the WTA 50 Navi While Venkatesh had made it clear to the KKR management that he wanted to
Mumbai, the WTA 50 New Delhi, W100 stay in the side—he has played for the team since his IPL debut in 2021—he also
Deepti Patwardhan Bengaluru, W75 Pune and the WTA 125 understood why KKR could not retain him before the auctions held in November
in Mumbai. because of certain restrictions in the retention rules. KKR’s bidding war with

F
ive minutes before she This not only helps players cut the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the all-rounder in the auctions was unex-
walked on to the court for travel costs but gives them a sustained run pected, even while considering that Venkatesh has a respectable average of more
her first WTA Tour main in home conditions to earn valuable rank- than 30 and a strike rate of nearly 140 over four seasons with the same team.
draw match, Maaya Rajesh- ing points. These ranking points, in turn, He realised that going back to a known franchise, where he knew his role in the
waran Revathi learnt about determine their world ranking and level of team, would work to his advantage. “I was, at a point (during the auctions), not sure
the change of opponents. Rather than tournaments they play—the higher the what exactly was going on,” he says over a call. “But it goes to show how much KKR
UK’s Yuriko Miyazaki, who pulled out due level of tournaments, the greater chance value their players.
to illness, she would be playing Iryna Shy- they have at earning ranking points and
manovich of Belarus. It was just one of the money. Tennis’ unforgiving structure is THE IPL BOUNTY
surprises thrown at the Indian player this what makes it one of the most fascinating KKR first picked Venkatesh, a clean striker of the ball and useful bowler for Mad-
week. And she took it in her stride like she sports. But it puts some serious pressure hya Pradesh in domestic cricket, for ₹20 lakh in 2021. His valuation in four seasons
had everything else. on the players and the resources. increased by nearly 1,000%, one of those inexplicable calculations that the IPL
“It didn’t matter,” says the 15-year-old. “We are now getting a lot more oppor- periodically throws up. The oddity of that assessment is not lost on the cricketer,
“I was only focused on my game.” tunities at bigger tournaments,” says who has an MBA in finance and is pondering a doctorate from DAV, Indore, where
When she entered the WTA 125K L&T Raina, who reached a career high of 160 in he lives.
Mumbai Open, the biggest women’s ten- May 2020. “But it is nothing compared to “It goes to show that my entire IPL career, whatever it is till now, has been some
nis event in India, Revathi was best known what the US, Europe or Australia has. I roller-coaster. I tasted a lot of success back in 2021 (370 runs at an average of over
as the player who, in December, was (from top) Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, Sahaja Yamalapalli and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty have seen some players who play mostly in 40). Then 2022 (182 runs in 12 matches) gave me a reality check. But you just learn
selected to train at the Rafael Nadal Acad- during Mumbai Open. PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY MSLTA Australia and still have a good enough to adapt with different phases of your career,” he says.
emy in Mallorca for a year. Over the course ranking to make the Grand Slams.” For “But yeah, when it comes to the financials, it’s a big jump. I mean, it is huge. If
of the week, she showed why. It’s not just and Anand), Leander Paes and Mahesh at 325 and Vaidehi Chaudhari at 400. example, US’s Ben Shelton broke into the you’re paid a certain amount, I feel you’ve done something to deserve it.”
how hard she hits the ball, but the intent Bhupathi dazzling on the international One of the coaches at the event was men’s top 100 without once leaving Amer- While the bounties of the IPL empower young cricketers, there is a school of
with which she does it. She’s aggressive stage. In the last decade, Yuki Bhambri, quick to point out, “Whenever I travel ica—his first trip abroad was to compete at thought that believes these riches erode the desire to play for the country. Ven-
but not reckless. Her clarity of vision and Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sumit Nagal abroad with players, the first question the 2023 Australian Open and the warm katesh, who played two One Day Internationals for India against South Africa in
point construction seem mature beyond have broken into the top 100 and have people ask me, ‘Where is India’s tennis up events ahead of it. 2022, disagrees, saying that the emotion of playing for the country remains
her years. Though Revathi predominantly represented India at the Grand Slams. programme?’” It’s a question that hasn’t Indian players have to travel to the US, unmatched.
plays on the junior tour and is currently However, Sania Mirza remains the face been answered yet. Europe and Australia to compete in tour- “Just talking about it is giving me goosebumps now,” the left-handed batter
ranked No.56 in the world, she looked like of women’s tennis. Mirza, whose best India’s lack of a grassroot programme is naments. It takes upwards of ₹50 lakh just says. “The moment you step on the field in an Indian jersey representing 1.4 billion
she belonged on the big stage. Grand Slam singles performance was a telling—the current India No.1, Yamala- for players to stay on tour. Adding a coach people, that feeling is unmatchable. Till the time you are playing cricket, that hun-
Given a wild card to the qualifiers, the fourth-round finish at the 2005 US Open, palli, had her first proper coaching stint at or fitness trainer is a cost most Indians ger has to be there.”
Indian pounced on the opportunity, win- is the first and only Indian to break into the age of 14. Born in a middle-class family, can’t afford. He says that having once been in the national team, the craving for a comeback
ning the two matches to advance to the the top 100 in singles. Mirza’s Australian Yamalapalli started playing tennis with Additionally, the WTA coaching rules grows further. Sunil Gavaskar has suggested that Venkatesh be considered for
main draw. In the first round, she out- Open appearance in 2012 was the last time second-hand rackets and without a certi- changed last year, allowing coaches to India’s forthcoming tour of England in the summer, though Nitish Kumar Reddy’s
played 27-year-old Shymanovic 6-1, 6-4 in an Indian woman competed in the main fied coach. pass on instructions to their wards during success in Australia earlier in the year makes the middle-order slot less available.
an hour and 15 minutes to register her first draw of a Grand Slam event in singles. “I took up tennis when I was 10,” the the match. This has further deepened the “I’m a big admirer of Nitish,” admits Venkatesh. “I really like what he brings to
WTA victory. The points she has earned If anything, tennis has become more Hyderabad girl recalls. “All I could afford chasm between the haves and the have the table. To see your colleagues getting back into the team, motivates us to brush
from the Mumbai Open will be enough to competitive and physical since Mirza left was to pay for tennis courts, which was nots. “When your opponent has someone our skills further,” he adds, citing the example of Hardik Pandya. “If a certain indi-
get her a ranking on the women’s tour. the stage. And most of the Indian players ₹1,000 for a month. One of the markers in the coach’s chair, and you don’t, it feels vidual can do it, then I can do it too.”
Revathi’s arrival may well shift the focus are fighting for survival, without many would feed me balls and that was it.” She like its one versus two, not one versus one
back on women’s tennis in the country. resources or much support. According to learnt to grip the racket, the wrong way, on the tennis court,” adds Raina. OVERS AND PERCENTAGES
India has some pedigree in men’s tennis, the latest rankings, India has four players from YouTube tutorials. Only once she While the Indian women are out on Venkatesh joined English county club Lancashire for the One Day Cup and two
with the Krishnans (Ramanathan and son in the top 400—Sahaja Yamalapalli at 291, was 14, she started working at the Sinnet tour, most of them are exhausting their rounds of County Championship matches last August, relearning to contribute
Ramesh), the Amritrajs (brothers Vijay Ankita Raina at 297, Shrivalli Bhamidipaty Tennis Academy in Secunderabad. Yama- physical, emotional and financial reserves with the ball as well. An ankle injury in 2022-23 had set his bowling back by a bit
lapalli, 24, had her first taste of an orga- just to stay afloat. and he has barely bowled in last two seasons of the IPL. But Venkatesh realises
nised tennis programme when she earned “To be honest, there’s nobody who has that he needs to be able to bowl his full quota in white ball cricket and 12-15 overs
a scholarship to the Sam Houston State created a top 100 player in India,” says in a day in the longer format.
University and started playing on the US Rutuja Bhosale, who took the US-college To that affect he is working on his fitness, with nutritionist Suraj Thakuria, and
college circuit. route to the pro tour. “We need the facili- trainer Mayank Agrawal. “It’s important for players to have value addition to their
Meanwhile, Bhamidipaty’s family have ties. Also, having the right kind of support skills every day, be it 0.01%, be it with the bat or ball. After a period of time, you
invested everything they have in her ten- at the right time is very important. I think will have a set of skills that will give you confidence to be a match-winner.”
nis. They have even turned their car, a it’s great that at 15 Maaya is already train- Venkatesh would have had to deal with different kinds of figures and percenta-
Toyota Innova, into a mobile home since ing in Europe; getting that first jump is ges had he chosen another career—with the accounting firm Deloitte, which was
she spends, on an average, six hours every crucial.” a possibility before he decided to focus fully on cricket in 2018. It’s a decision he
Despite the odds, Indians made a dent does not regret.
at this week’s Mumbai Open. Two Indians “Life in a cubicle or cabin would have been so much different,” he says, laughing
—Bhamidipaty and Revathi—made it to at over the call. “Sitting in the AC, wearing formals… I see a lot of people doing that.
least the quarter-finals of a WTA event for It looks like a lot of mental fatigue there. But I have no regrets. Whatever decision
the very first time. More importantly, the I make, I will back it to the core.”
present breed of Indian players doesn’t It was also a decision that went against the ethos of an orthodox south Indian
Indian players have to travel seem to play with the same kind of inhibi- family, in which academics was always a priority. But he sees the value of educa-
tions. They don’t hang back and let the tion for every sportsperson—beyond excellence in academics.
to the US, Europe and opponents call the shots. “It (studying) gives me a switch off from the game,” he says. “We play under a
Australia to compete in In the last 15 years or so, women’s tennis lot of stressful circumstances. When you come back home, if you have something
tournaments. It takes in India has seen many false dawns. But productive to do, I think mentally you’ll be free.”
times like these inspire a glimmer of hope.
upwards of ₹50 lakh just for Deepti Patwardhan is a sportswriter Arun Janardhan is a Mumbai-based journalist who covers sports, business leaders
players to stay on tour based in Mumbai. and lifestyle. He posts @iArunJ.
08 SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI COVER

THE
COMFORT
OF AGE-GAP
FRIENDSHIPS Intergenerational friendships can be an
antidote to growing social isolation and
loneliness, especially among younger people
who are more active online than in real life.
Lounge takes a peek into a beautiful world of
companionship that breaks stereotypes

Reem Khokhar we don’t realise is that we can have multiple deep

friendships—with peers, where we learn how to nav-

A
few months ago, my friend Nilanjana igate life together, and with those older or younger
Paul asked me to help her buy some to get a new perspective on life,” says Bengaluru-
make-up for a flashmob in which we based Arouba Kabir, an emotional and mental health
were both performing. I confessed to professional, friendship coach and the founder of
my scanty knowledge of potions and mental health company Enso Wellness.
lotions, but accompanied her to the store where my “Having friends from different generations could
only contribution was convincing her to buy a red be one of the big answers to the growing loneliness
lipstick. “All women should have one. It suits every- around us.”
one and makes you feel like a million bucks,” I said. One of the easiest places to mingle with different
She baulked at the idea, but finally selected a warm age groups is the workplace. Architect and interior
shade. Now, among the things she credits me with is designer Suhela Verma, 29, works at Gurugram-
getting her to buy red lipstick, convincing “old fos- based Homework Design Studio run by Shagun
sils to dance,” and to think about writing again. Singh, 46. Their professional relationship paved the
Nilanjana, 61, and I, 44, have been friends for sev- way for a close friendship over the last two years.
eral years now. We met through the choir in which “Suhela and I got along from the very first project,
we both sing and have grown closer over time, chat- when we looked at each other in reaction to some-
ting almost every day. Beyond music, we talk about thing the client said and knew we were thinking the
our pets, families, personalities, interests, travels, same thing. Our post-work balcony sessions over a
challenges. I admire her confidence, her rational drink at my house built our friendship organically,”
approach to everything, and her willingness to try says Singh. It makes being the boss tough at times,
anything. I have often thought “I want to be like Nilu says Singh, but they have found their balance.
when I am that age”. Scratch that: I want to be like Verma credits Singh with drawing her out of her
Nilu now. shell. “I was shy and under-confident when we first
I have a few other friends separated from me in met, but seeing Shagun’s professionalism helped me
age by 15 years or more. In these intergenerational imbibe some of that confidence.” Their opinions and
friendships, I have found great humour, sensitivity, approach to life are distinct. “But I think hearing my
wisdom and energy. In turn, I believe they enjoy my views on, say, her college-going son helps her see
carefree attitude, treating them like any other friend things differently and calms her,” says Verma.
with whom I can share life’s ups and downs. Beyond work, hobby groups are a great place for
Intergenerational friendships, by definition, are age-diverse connections. Tilottama Shome, 53, and
friendships between people who belong to different Jonathan Marques, 38, met at a music group in
generations—with at least a 15-year difference. In Delhi a decade ago. “Art is a great catalyst for close
essence though, these are fuelled by the same things friendships,” says Shome, an architect-turned- tions. Hyderabad-based counsellor Chhandita IT’S COMPLICATED
that establish peer-age friendships: reciprocity and brand management professional. “We joined a few Chakravarty, 45, connected with Dr Altamash Alam, Intergenerational friendships come with their own
shared interests. Its hallmark is the exchange of per- people on early morning walks around monu- 27, on Facebook a decade ago. After discovering a share of conflicts and complexities, polarising view-
spectives and life experiences. It can prove to be an ments,” says Marques. During a visit to the Qutub Humans of New York Facebook post about someone points and misunderstandings. It can be frustrating
antidote to the growing social isolation and loneli- Minar complex, with others, they spoke at length struggling to fit in, Alam decided to form “The when a friend does not always comprehend your life
ness we see all around us, especially among younger about history, music, food, travel and their per- Socially Awkward Conversationalist Club” Face- stage. “Altamash does not, obviously, understand
people who are more active online than in real life, sonal lives. Their close friendship has continued book group in 2015. Chakravarty, who was going my world fully. Some things people need to experi-
and among the elderly whose social circles tend to despite Marques, an avid permaculture gardener through a rough patch, joined the group. “Altamash ence to understand. I also do not and cannot take the
shrink over time. Studies show that social interac- and musician, moving from Delhi to Goa in 2019. was a young student in Kota, rigorously preparing place of his same-age peers,” says Chakravarty. For
tions between younger and older adults are benefi- They speak at least once a month, regularly text, for his medical entrance exams. Despite the age dif- instance, being a mother is something Alam does not
cial as both experience better physical, cognitive, and meet every few months in Goa. “From enjoying ference, a deep and unexpected friendship blos- understand, she says, or the fact that she is physically
emotional and psychosocial-mental health, and the local alcohol (Marques makes his own urak and somed between us,” she recalls. Alam’s cheerleading unable to do some activities, like skydiving, because
younger adults display more positive attitudes feni) to bonding over food, it’s always an enjoyable and belief in her, particularly in convincing her to she has tachycardia (a faster than usual heart rate).
towards ageing. time together,” says Shome. study law and psychology after marriage and kids, “But he keeps encouraging me and gets frustrated
A 2016 Stanford University, US, report titled How For Marques, being at different life stages makes helped her pursue degrees and become a counsellor. when I don’t try.” She appreciates his youthful opti-
Intergenerational Relationships can Transform our their connection eye-opening. “It’s refreshing to “Thanks to his encouragement I’ve tried several mism and support, but feels his “positive thoughts
Future sums up the importance of such relation- discuss something different than I would with things like scuba diving and trekking.” can overcome anything” has its limitations.
ships: they help ensure that the young “receive the friends my age.” Shome treasures Marques’ open- Their connection has endured despite living in Not spending time with one’s peers can also leave
kind of attention and mentoring they often lack.... ness: “I find it special that he has that comfort to different cities and Alam, who is now based in Gir- one out of touch with the reality of one’s life stage, be
These relationships also offer older adults opportu- share things about his life that he may find difficult idih, Jharkhand, no longer being active on social it career, earning potential or relationships. Kabir
nities to learn about new technology and trends, and talking to other people about.” media. They speak, text and meet. Alam believes that shares an example of a client in her 20s who spent so
experience the excitement of seeing the world Marques and Shome’s friendship demonstrates a intergenerational bonds offer perspectives you much time with three friends in their late 30s that
through a younger perspective.” In other words, key aspect of social connection—finding a sense of might miss within your peer group. “It’s like getting she felt “there was no excitement in life. They would
younger friends rely on older pals for guidance, and purpose. “You’re not just receiving from a friend, but a glimpse of life through a more experienced lens, pay for her drinks and food, and tell her “break-ups
vice-versa. A two-way street where vibes match. also giving. This sense of being needed, and to be which helps you navigate your own journey with don’t matter”. In such cases, two things can happen:
able to give to another impacts well-being and men- more insight and understanding,” Alam says. “With either you get inspired and aspire to live an inde-
BREAKING STEREOTYPES tal health,” says Sachdeva. Chhandita, I learnt to understand emotions and feel- pendent happy life, or you have no motivation
While it is common to have acquaintances who are Verma’s friendship with Singh helps her imagine ings in a deeper way, developing an empathy for because you start feeling that everything is taken
considerably older or younger, it is less frequent to what life could look like over the next few decades. people that I’m not sure I would have grasped with- care of, there’s no FOMO, and you lose your sense of
find a certain equality in a relationship between “As I move forward, there are many learnings I want out this friendship…. We might not always fully competitiveness.
those separated significantly by age. Research shows to incorporate from Shagun’s experiences, and some understand each other’s world, but that doesn’t An intergenerational friendship can also be com-
that we tend to flock together with those similar to things I wouldn’t.” It’s helped change her perception change the essence of the friendship.” plicated in the way society views it. “These bonds
us, also known as the homophily principle. “People of ageing. “Just because Shagun is older, she doesn’t Manjari Chaturvedi, CEO of Healthy Ageing India can be misconstrued,” says Delhi-based Arjun Har-
usually get segregated on the basis of their age. It is think she knows more or knows enough. She always (HAI), a non-profit promoting dignified and active das, 52, who works as a consultant in the advocacy
tough to break that barrier and meet and connect wants to know what is happening, whether how to ageing for the elderly, has observed that attitudes sector. Among his friends is a 27-year-old he met a
with people of different generations,” says Delhi- use a new software or sign up for chair dancing towards ageing in India are shaped by traditional press conference and with whom he formed a bond
based clinical psychologist and psychotherapist classes with me.” social norms that people should “take rest” after the based on mentorship and a love of pop culture. “If
Nisha Sachdeva. This can limit our attitudes, inter- This is what makes intergenerational friendships age of 60. “There is a social mindset that it is accepta- two people go out for dinner, someone young and
actions and experiences, whereas more diverse con- beneficial, says Sachdeva. “As one ages, one may feel ble to see this decline in activity, physical health, and someone old from different genders, people start
nections help broaden our views. disconnected from what’s going on externally, and productivity,” says Chaturvedi. One often assumes asking what they are doing together,” says Hardas.
“We give too much importance to age in our soci- a younger friend could be that bridge to the outside that people are a product of their times, their per- “What they forget is that there’s a world she’s grown
ety; anybody who’s even 10 or 15 years older auto- world. For the younger person, an older friend could spectives and preferences predictably coloured by up in that’s completely different from the one I have
matically becomes a didi, an aunty or an uncle. be a role model perhaps, learning from their experi- their background, upbringing and age, a stereotype lived through—there’s so much we can learn from
That’s one of the reasons you don’t see too many ences and mistakes.” that cross-generational friendships can break. In each other, something you won’t find in books, films
intergenerational friendships. Parents stop kids Social media often cocoons people in their own other words, learn that the old are not always sedate or anywhere else.”
from having friends outside their peer group. What worlds, but it also connects people across genera- and the young not always immature. Growing up, Meenakshi Menon’s mother would
R STORY SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI 09
PRADEEP GAUR

FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY; ISTOCKPHOTO

much life throws at you.”

“I attract several younger friends, who are
intrigued by my life’s journey and that I am ‘living
the dream’ here in the mountains. They don’t neces-
sarily see what it took to get here,” says Dr Srikanth.
It hasn’t made her cynical at all, she says, explaining
that one of her closest friends is nearly two decades
younger—Parul Kaushik, 44, with whom she shares
a love of knitting, and who has opened her up to an
appreciation of many new things, including chil-
dren’s illustrated books and varied cuisines. “(Hav-
ing younger friends) allows me to be a lot more like
my younger self without reminding me of my age. I
think what has helped me make friends with differ-
ent age groups is not being inquisitive or throwing
my experience at them but letting friends open up
when they want to.”

HEALTHY AGEING
We often underestimate the value of platonic, high-
quality friendships, especially as we age. For long,
studies have demonstrated that good adult friend-
ships are predictors of well-being, can protect
against depression and anxiety, and that regular and
healthy socialising can help prevent conditions such
as dementia and Alzheimer’s. “With ageing there is
often a loss of purpose and a decline in physical,
functional and mental health, including cognition
(memory) and mood,” says Prasun Chatterjee, geria-
trician and longevity physician at the All India Insti-
tute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. “Depression,
dementia and other conditions increase in the aged
because of the loss of identity, financial stress or
health issues but all these can be improved with
socialising and having a purpose in life.” While all
social activity is beneficial, intergenerational inter-
action and learning has an important role to play in
healthy ageing.
Among HAI’s activities is an intergenerational
learning initiative launched in 2017, where 30 class
VI students at a Noida government school were
taught by four elderly educators or “grand mentors”
(above) Suhela Verma and tell her to make two types of friends—one two years who were retired professionals. As both parties
Shagun Singh (in striped shirt); younger and one 20 years older. “She was one of seemed to benefit, the programme was extended
and (right) Claudio Conti with those few parents who believed a 20-year gap over one-and-a-half years, during which time 100
Meenakshi Menon. helped bridge several generations permanently,” students spent time with 30 “grand mentors”. The
says Mumbai-based Menon, 65, the founder of findings were captured in a 2022 research paper
GenS, a tech platform for improving the life of those Impact of Intergenerational Learning on the Wellbe-
over 60. She counts two people, one in her 30s and ing of Young and Old: A Qualitative Study by Dr Chat-
the other in his 80s, among her closest friends. terjee. Student grades improved between 20-40%,
“They helped me get through my divorce. Friend- and the students reported more confidence, a better
ships with contemporaries, though important, can ability to handle peer pressure, and a more respect-
be linear... same concerns, similar experiences, they ful attitude towards the elderly. The older educators
don’t give you wider sense of the world. The older found purpose, joy, satisfaction and a regained sense
people hold up a mirror to life, they teach you of youth. This programme was replicated since 2018
acceptance. The younger hold out hope, they tell in 28 schools and community centres in Noida,
you that something better is in store.” Greater Noida, Delhi, Ranchi and Dhanbad, reach-
The large age gap can sometimes lead to the older ing approximately 8,000 students and over 120 edu-
friend sliding into the role of a parent, or the younger cators. The plan is to add 10 more schools in Dhan-
unconsciously behaving as a child, which can be bad by 2026.
good or bad. Singh often displays a maternal side “Interactions between the elderly and younger
with Verma, checking if her younger friend has regardless of the age gap. She recalls the time when antries while passing in the corridors. Then Prasad people are different from interactions between peo-
reached home safely, asking if she has taken her two younger women she considered close friends invited her to a small party at home for Diwali 2022. ple at similar ages,” says Chaturvedi. “At an old-age
medicines or sending food over when she is sick. turned out to value her more as a “provider of home This time, their conversation was longer—how her home run by HAI, we have observed the elderly
“These gestures tend to feel more parental when comforts.” “When that hit me, I did feel bad, but I long-distance romance was falling apart, how an lighting up when college or school children enter.
there is a large age gap, probably because friends my wouldn’t hold it against them. They needed that undetected cancer took away his wife, how many The energy and change in behaviour are incredible.
own age may not be as expressive in their care. They comfort at the time and I was able to provide it.” daily Suryanamaskars were enough, what’s the con- It is not the same as when they interact with other
might check in, but that’s about it,” says Verma. Uncertainty about how the older or younger per- venient mode of transportation to Gurugram, their elderly people, which they do all day.”
Milan-based Claudio Conti, 86, who first met son would react to overtures of friendship or the fear mutual love for jazz and Enid Blyton. Dr Srikanth agrees that interactions in intergen-
Menon on a bus trip in Portugal in 1997, believes of being used is quite natural but can be overcome in Soon, the duo were going for after-dinner walks, erational friendships differ from those with her age-
intergenerational friendship “lies in the capacity for time. It took Rajiv Prasad, 65, and Tanya Kaushal, 24, buying groceries together and discussing podcasts. peers, the latter believing that she should be “sitting
integration, in the ability to accept one another months to dissolve such barriers. The two met when It was a relationship built on mutual respect, under- quietly and reading magazines.” With Kaushik and
despite differences (of age, physical condition, sta- Kaushal was trying to parallel park her car in her standing and learning—the basis of any relationship. other younger friends there are new things to talk
tus) and to engage with these differences so that both apartment complex in north Delhi, her many futile Work has since taken Kaushal to Mumbai but they about, beyond reminiscing about college or medi-
We give too much may benefit from the exchange.” attempts delaying Prasad. “Why do people get a car make it a point to talk at least once a week. “Finding cine. What is evident from these experiences is the
importance to age in our He explains the larger social idea of parent-child when they don’t know how to drive?” Prasad mut- people who listen to you, cheer for you, understand importance of being open to having a diverse group
society. Having friends from bond can limit friendships: “In many instances, chil- tered then. your fears, people you can be raw with, is so rare. of friends and continuing to develop these connec-
dren are desired (by parents)—as objects might be— The next afternoon, Kaushal appeared at Prasad’s Rajiv allows me to be that, and I believe I do the same tions and make new ones throughout adulthood.
different generations could without serious reflection on their true needs. This door with homemade laddoos. “I asked the guard for him—the 40-year difference has hardly ever While age may seem irrelevant to these sets of
be one of the answers to the often has slow but devastating effects, preventing where you lived,” Kaushal told him. “I’m on the sec- been on the table,” she says. friends, it is undeniable that the generational gap
growing loneliness around us this crucial form of intergenerational relationship— ond floor; I moved in a month ago.” Kaushal had A fear that can loom over a friendship with an lends a unique dimension to these connections and
so vital to humanity’s destiny—from ever taking the moved from Chandigarh to start a career as a soft- older person is that of death. Kaushal often talks strengthens the bond.
AROUBA KABIR shape of genuine friendship.” ware engineer at a multinational in 2022. about it, especially when she visits Delhi but is not “While Parul and my friendship is not defined by
EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL Mala Srikanth, 65, an Armed Forces doctor who “Honestly, I was a bit suspicious... after the pan- able to make time for Prasad. “That constant threat age, I will reiterate that everyone should be open to
HEALTH PROFESSIONAL worked around the world before moving to Rani- demic, meeting people, especially strangers, had is always there; that’s what makes it more precious. having friends from different generations.” says Dr
khet, Uttarakhand, has experienced being the older become so alien,” laughs Prasad, a retired banker Having someone older to you as a friend who’s not Srikanth. “These friendships have been the silver
friend, and has also had older friends. She believes and a widower. immediate family is actually an incredible way to lining in my life.”
friendships that are transactional tend to fade away, Over the next few months, they exchanged pleas- give back to yourself; it helps see you through so Pooja Singh contributed to this story.
10 SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI PAUSE

Nature as a whimsical, Emerging artist Anuja

Dasgupta speaks about
her process of making
‘cameraless photography’

seasonal co-creator
Somak Ghoshal
and Ladakh being central
to her visual story

[email protected]

A
nuja Dasgupta, 28, was
born in Patna, but has spent
the last few years immersed
in Ladakh, far from the
madding crowd, perfecting
an art form she calls “anthotypes”. Leaves,
flowers, fruits, berries, air, water, sunlight,
birds and animals are the raw materials of
her work and active collaborators, too.
Dasgupta describes the outcome of these
adventures as “cameraless photography”,
where each piece emerges as a thing of
beauty, born on the cusp of uncertainty,
entirely subject to the whims of nature
and the elements. my practice becomes seasonal. I’d say the
Underneath the delicate dance of col- most complicated is my long-term series,
ours in these abstract forms, there is an Elemental Whispers, where I work with
engaged political sensibility. Dasgupta’s rivers and expose anthotypes over days
dialogue with colonial depictions of and weeks. With unpredictable ripples
Ladakh, especially with the work of driven by the wind, sun and snow, I have
archaeologist Alexander Cunningham, not only damaged but lost several of my
has led to a set of profoundly meaningful works—to mud, cattle, birds, and even the
photo-books. Despite being a self-taught river itself. So yes, it is a serious test of
photographer, she has won awards and patience. But it is also rewarding. Collabo-
fellowships, including the Portrait Prize at rating with nature from start to finish for
the Indian Photo Festival (2017), the this project teaches me to embrace slow-
Prince Claus Seed Award (2021) and a Pro ness as awareness.
Helvetia residency (2024). Your work stands out for its deep con-
In an email interview, Dasgupta spoke nection with the climate crisis and
about her evolution as “an accidental art- politics of the margins. Where do you
ist”, finding new ways of innovation and see yourself vis-a-vis the world of
discovery, and carving her niche in the mainstream of art and commerce?
creative ecosystem. Edited excerpts. Living in Ladakh has had a profound
instantly squished between my fingers. What have you learned from the impact on me, which has largely enabled
What drew you to Ladakh as the start- And that’s when I had a light-bulb forms you inhabit and move between my understanding of the world as one that
ing point for your work? moment, wondering if I can test this as an artist—photography, antho- is dependent on causes and conditions. I
Some of my fondest memories are from orange pigment’s photo-sensitivity. I types, bookmaking? want my art practice to reflect this, so phy-
a family trip to Ladakh in 2011, which was went back home, made a seabuckthorn I am an accidental artist. I say that not togeography became a creative method
my first photographic expedition as we emulsion, and coated it on a sheet of only because of my lack of formal training, for it. I believe plants are nature’s silent
had just bought a Canon compact camera. paper. After three sunny days, my test but also because each of the forms you stewards, and two things bother me: the
My move to Ladakh happened because of prints were a success—I had a crisp cam- mention came to me almost as a serendipi- lack of discourse around trans-Himalayan
my independent coursework on Archival era-less photograph made by seabuck- tous accident. Bookmaking is a form with flora and the anatomical, frozen, impas-
Explorations during my MA in 2018. I thorn berries! which I have the most fun. The tactility of sive manner of plant documentation
started reading Alexander Cunningham’s Describe the process of making an stitching images and words together is which is the only known language for
Ladák: Physical, Statistical, and Historical anthotype, its joys and challenges. something I have enjoyed since making reading plants. So I try to push that lan-
(1854), one of the most revered historical If you’ve ever placed a fresh leaf or journals and family albums—a responsi- guage by embracing the ephemeral
archives on the region, in tandem with my flower in between the pages of your note- bility which somehow always fell upon rhythms of nature.
personal archives from 2011. book, you’d know that plants leave pig- me. Another sudden responsibility was a My anthotype prints are actually works
I wanted to contest Cunningham’s mented impressions on paper which then family photo I took as a child. The flash I in-progress as they continue to change
claim of giving a “full and accurate fade over time. fired off my mother’s 35mm is still fresh in colour and fade. Now I understand that
account of Ladák” in his literature. So, I For an anthotype, it is that anthocyanin my mind, and I was in awe seeing the these may not be the most desirable works
began a series of workshops at Lamdon pigment which is used as a photo-emul- printed photographs which came from of art in an ecosystem where one does
School, Leh, where students responded to sion. Anthocyacins respond to light, the lab a week later. I wanted to learn the incline towards flawlessness. But at the
different sections of the book in their own which visually means they change colour. wonders of light and how it captures same time, I do sense a shift towards
ways. I juxtaposed their texts, drawings Say I want to make an anthotype of a but- moments. The camera taught me, and appreciating imperfections, and I am
and paintings (2018) with my own photo- ton. I make an emulsion by crushing some now I continue to learn with sunlight. The grateful for the opportunities that come
graphs and parts of my travelogue (2011), plant matter (petals, leaves, etc.), coat it on anthotype has been the most challenging my way. I have a long way to go, and I am
along with sections from Cunningham’s some thick paper and let it dry. Then I (clockwise, from top) ‘How does a river breathe?’ (2024); anthotypes made with medium for me, as working with sunlight excited to witness this shift.
book (1854). The result was a hand-bound place the button on it (like composing a seabuckthorn; and black goji berry. PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY ANUJA DASGUPTA for camera-less photography is a lesson in What are you working on now?
artist’s book series titled Four Full and photograph) and leave the paper under impermanence. I am working on a book of anthotypes,
Accurate Accounts of Ladák (2018). the sun. camera-less photograph of the button. laborious and not using additives makes it Would it be right to think of nature as punctuated with narratives around trans-
How did you arrive at the cameraless With time, my paper will change colour Now as a photographic process, one can even slower and more unpredictable. So your collaborator in your work? Your Himalayan flora. This is being supported
anthotypes as a format? as the plant chemicals react to sunlight, use additives like alcohol etc., to the emul- the joy and challenge are one: I never process is slow, uncertain and com- by the Generator co-operative fund
Because I wanted a snack! I was walking but the portion of the paper covered sion to catalyse the exposure process or know what will become of my photograph plicated by layers of friction. Does it awarded by Experimenter gallery. I am
by the Indus near Leh one afternoon and underneath the button is blocked, so that sharpen the photograph, which I person- simply because I have negligible control feel like a test of patience ever? looking forward to making this as a phyto-
plucked some fresh seabuckthorn berries. doesn’t change as it is not exposed to the ally stray from. over the makers of the photograph, which Absolutely, nature is a co-creator in my photo documentation of Ladakh—an all-
They turned out to be overripe and sun. And there you have an anthotype—a As you can imagine, this process itself is are plant matter and sunlight. works. As I forage blooms and blossoms, in-one diary, guide, and archive.

Artists defy convention and contest theories

39 artists come together guided by the ideals of Senegalese histo- VISUAL NARRATIVES
rian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Borphukon notes that Panorama Beyond
in the exhibition, ‘The Diop, and B.R. Ambedkar. the Colour Line has an interesting curato-
Panorama Beyond the Curated by Kamble, Shamooda Amre- rial thread as it celebrates the ongoing
lia, and George Varley—all of them art- connection between India and Africa, par-
Colour Line’, to look ists, curators, and culture activists in ticularly artists of Indian origin living in
at representation their own right—the exhibition becomes
a way of looking at a range of representa-
Africa. Strangers House Gallery invited
Zambia-based Everyday Lusaka Gallery to
tion in India. help with the curation of artists from the
Abhilasha Ojha For Amrelia, the curation focuses on Indian diaspora in Africa. So there are
artists, their stories, and the materials that contemporary artists such as Daudi M.

M
umbai-based artist and curator they bring to the fore. In her view, materi- Yves paying homage to his Congolese
Prabhakar Kamble’s Broken ality is an important focal point to under- roots through bedsheets and reed mats to
Foot, a sculpture in wood, makes stand personal histories, social inclu- reflect on stories of identity, displace-
viewers stop in their tracks. With its deep sions—and exclusions—besides societal ment, and migration.
gash, the artwork is a reminder of how prejudices. That being said, the exhibition Maingaila Muvundika, Lusaka-based
the foot, in “Varnashram”—an ancient goes beyond mere identity politics, pre- conceptual artist, uses photography, digi-
system of social organisation—was used ferring to initiate dialogue that stir the tal collage, and printmaking to explore
to represent Dalit and Shudra communi- viewers’ imagination. Zambia’s diversity as a people. Lawrence
ties and also women. “If the majority of According to Sharma, the exhibition Chikwa, a senior artist from Zambia, inter-
our population won’t be active partici- represents the vision of Strangers House weaves sculpture, found objects, and
pants, then the society is bound to be Gallery in reimagining how art is viewed, script to look closely at the balance of tra-
broken. If your foot is broken, you cannot produced, and exhibited. To that end, the doors of the fort at Fatehpur Sikri. It is a dition and modernity in Africa.
stand up,” says Sumesh Manoj Sharma, space works with the artistic community commentary on an architectural heritage Others such as Kalinosi Mutale and
artistic director, Strangers House Gal- spread across Vadodara, Surat, Nagpur, that’s increasingly seen as foreign and Sana Ginwalla look at their own personal
lery. Utarand, another work by Kamble, Kolhapur, Goa, Fort Kochi, Ukhrul, Guw- Islamic in recent times. histories through their respective works
an assemblage of sorts using terracotta ahati, Patna, Banares, Delhi, among other According to Wribhu Borphukon, who with Ginwalla, in fact, turning the artist’s
pots, nylon ropes, ceramic, metal, and places. “Through these networks, we is curating the Young Collectors’ Pro- lens to family photo archives, cuisine, lan-
indigo, is the artist’s way of rejecting build exhibition programmes that are Pankaj Vishwakarma’s installation of carton boxes creates conversations around gramme for the second time in a row, the guage, and personal histories of women in
caste. Here, diverse media come together sociopolitically and aesthetically experi- factory workers in Ankleshwar; and (right) Sabiha Dohadwala’s works in handwoven platform supports and encourages inno- her family.
to create a vertical installation that’s a mental and radical,” he says. jacquard, cotton, and acrylic yarn. vative creative practices by artists from The works seen in the exhibition defy
representation of various communities. diverse backgrounds and various political convention and contest theories that have
Installations, sculptures, and paintings MATERIALS, ARTISTS, kinetic sound sculptures. Similarly, Sagar thingla Ruivah, having shown her Naga and sociological contexts. been forced on us. Viewing the works,
in mixed media by 39 artists, including EXPERIMENTS Kamble’s decoupage drawings, using his shawl-inspired works at various art festi- For the first time, the programme has then, becomes an experience in engaging
Kamble, from the Mumbai-based con- The curatorial notes by Sharma and Var- mother’s and grandmother’s old saris, are vals around the world, offers a contempo- moved into the realms of architecture, with freedom and a sense of liberation.
temporary art space are on display at the ley detail how materiality shapes the a homage to the struggles faced by Dalit rary take on folk motifs that women in var- films, and fashion, with shows such as the
India Art Fair’s Young Collectors Pro- visual narratives. London-based artist agrarian workers, particularly women, in ious communities of the region use in light sculptural installation, Blooming in At Young Collectors Hub at STIR Gallery,
gramme. Titled The Panorama Beyond Imon Phukan, originally from Guwahati, bringing up their children. shawls. Then there’s Sabiha Dohadwala, a the Wind, by artist Ansh Kumar and 2 North Drive, DLF Chattarpur Farms,
the Colour Line, the exhibition seeks uses residual strips of cloth and paint, Dhiraj Rabha, an artist from Santini- young weaver who stresses “interactive another one by Mini Tamang titled Evoca- Delhi, till 9 February
“universalism” in art, and initiates per- fashioning them into sculptures while ketan, born in a camp of surrendered materiality” wherein she encourages the tive Waves. The latter is a a yarn-crocheted
spectives on alternate art history, and the Mumbai-based Bhushan Bhombale uses ULFA revolutionaries, creates works that audience to weave her ongoing tapestries, installation inspired by the artist’s child- Abhilasha Ojha is a Delhi-based art and
Black Consciousness Movement. It is scrap metal from Mumbai’s shipyards in are deeply personal. Manipur’s Zam- using a jacquard loom to re-imagine the hood memories. culture writer.
 CULTURE SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI 11

LOW
FIDELITY
BHANUJ
K A P PA L

A sonic ode to
dance floor
transcendence

(from above) ‘Meeraas’ (on the wall) and the installation ‘Qayaam-gah’; a detail from ‘Dastgiir’; and ‘Rehnuma’; and (inset) Veer Munshi. PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY VEER MUNSHI AND AICON

Building a language
of beauty and conflict
Veer Munshi on his houses are not there now.” FKA Twigs’ ‘Eusexua’ is mostly extroverted and outward-looking.
Munshi says he’s been propagating for
first solo in the US a museum, a Kashmir cultural resource

I
centre. “We archive so that the material is n the summer of 2022, musician, dancer and actor FKA Twigs found tran-
and why his practice read, discovered or researched for what scendence on a Prague dance floor. Twigs—born Tahliah Debrett Bar-
is built on Kashmir, happened in this period. Your third gen-
eration might ask you who you are, where
nett—was in the Czech capital to film for a remake of 1994 cult superhero
film The Crow. But when she wasn’t on set, the avant-pop starlet took
both in terms of are we from? The museum will have some
of the answers. So, these motifs in my
advantage of the relative anonymity of Prague to explore the city’s under-
ground techno scene. She spent her weekends at raves and free parties in
subject and belonging work, like a battein (Kashmiri Pandit old Eastern bloc warehouses, marvelling at the communal alchemy of a
woman) becomes research material: Who room full of sweaty bodies moving in time. In a toilet stall on one of those
is this woman, why is she dressed like club nights, she scrawled a line on the back of her hand: “This room of fools,
Nipa Charagi that? One thing leads to another to under- we make something together.”
[email protected] stand where is this work coming from. Twigs would coin a new word to describe that certain “something”—
And that’s why you produce art. If there’s eusexua, a portmanteau of “sex” and “euphoria”. More than just a feeling,

A
t a lecture at Stanford Uni- no reference, you will not research.” eusexua is a philosophy, a practice, a state of being and a movement all rolled
versity, US, during India At the same time, he rues that we don’t into one. In one interview, she described it as the joy you feel when “you’re
Dialog 2024, Veer Munshi have a culture of museums. “We under- kissing a stranger, or you’re just about to have an orgasm, or you’re just on the
said, “I identify as a Kash- stand ashrams, temples, not museums. precipice of a brilliant idea.” In other words, it’s pre-nut clarity—the sudden,
miri artist in India... As But even if one has to build a temple, then stark awareness of impending bliss.
much as my art has explored pain and one needs to build it with thought. At least Twigs chases that taste of the ineffable all over Eusexua, her third-full
violence because of my own displace- the structure/architecture should talk length album. Working with primary co-producer Koreless and a small group
ment, it also explores the value and about our history,” he reasons. of collaborators, she channels the club’s communal energy into a distinctive
strength of art as a collective sphere.” sound that’s meant to be a “love letter to how dance music makes me feel.”
Munshi is holding his first solo show, A RETURN TO ROOTS Techno, garage, 1990s electro and drum-and-bass all provide the raw materi-
Healing Wounds, in the US at Aicon Gal- Munshi’s initial paintings in the early als that Twigs re-assembles into a synth-pop wonderland of pleasure, desire
lery in New York. “I call it Healing Wounds 1990s after leaving Kashmir were unset- and dance-floor spirituality.
because it is in continuation of what I have tling, portraying violence and pain, a reac- Twigs isn’t the first pop musician to pivot to the club in recent years—
been doing with reference to Kashmir: tion to the upheaval in Kashmir. Take, for Beyonce famously did it on 2022’s Renaissance, and Charli XCX’s Summer-
political migration, displacement, archiv- instance, the painting Terrorist on the 2024-defining Brat also borrows heavily from the sound and aesthetics of
ing the material time and again. What is Floating Land, which shows a hairy man, 1990s rave. Artists like Arca (and the late SOPHIE) have also found incredible
new is the materials. This particular body head and face bandaged, holding an success by mining the connections between the body, pleasure, spirituality
of work has come from my Shrapnel series AK-47, with a blood-red Dal Lake in the and a four-to-the-floor beat, crafting trans-human anthems that throb with
(2010). Those were the fragments which I background. A visit to Jammu, where a futuristic desires. But perhaps the closest analogue to Eusexua is Madonna’s
have seen and experienced on visits to majority of Kashmiri Pandits fled, resulted 1998 album Ray of Light, another album by a pop star reaching for dance
Kashmir: the debris that is in Hope against Hope (1991), which shows a music as a vehicle for a new-age spiritual-philosophical manifesto.
strewn after stone-pelting or group of people, perhaps waiting for relief, You can even hear the influence of William Orbit—who produced all but
a bomb blast, and which the women in traditional attire no longer one song on Ray of Light—in the celestial guitar and pulsing synths of Girl
changes the landscape,” worn today. “Yes, I have also matured in Feels Good. “A girl feels good / and the world goes round,” Twigs sings in a
says the artist, who stud- my ways, understand technicalities and breathy croon over the Big Beat indebted production, positing female pleas-
ied fine arts from M.S. been around the world. You have to move ure as the secret to world peace. Single Perfect Stranger is an ode to the ran-
University Baroda. ahead and push things beyond what you dom hookup that would fit seamlessly into a mid-1990s 2-step garage set.
Munshi’s work is think can happen and make statements.” The stuttering, chopped-up Drums of Death, meanwhile, sounds grittier
moored culturally, emo- have gaps. “The tapestry including videos and photographs. “I like Interestingly, his Zodiac series of 12 and more contemporary, owing more to the scene around hedonistic Berlin
tionally and geographi- is fractured because our the scale of installations. I want to enter paintings in early 2000s was not related to techno club Berghain, where the track was mixed. “Crash the system, diva doll
cally in Kashmir, “subject identity is fractured,” says into a space where there are two or three Kashmir. Combining portraiture with cal- / Serve cunt / Serve violence,” Twigs directs at the end of the song, a raving
wise and belonging wise”. the 69-year-old artist, who dimensions.” endar art, he paid tribute to people he has prophet of the techno-apocalypse.
If Shrapnel conveyed pain, like most Kashmiri Pandits was He is also restaging We’re Inside the Fire, been inspired by, like Van Gogh, Picasso Twigs gives her experimental tendencies free reign on tracks like the
anguish, destruction, in Healing forced to leave the Valley in 1990. Looking for the Dark (2017), which pays and M.K. Gandhi. He narrates that he then Aphex-Twin-adjacent 24Hr Dog, her otherworldly falsetto floating over
Wounds he has brought together the Forced displacement has escalated the tribute to Kashmir’s famous poets, from went to Kashmir, witnessed something, warbling ambient synth as she sings a hymn to the pleasures of submission.
shrapnel pieces, hand-painted on wood in world over in recent times, but this is a the 14th century to the present times: Lal and returned to his original subject. “I “Opening me feels like a striptease,” she sings on Striptease—at once vulnera-
kari-e-kalamkari and papier mâché tech- subject that has consumed Munshi for Ded, Ghulam Ahmad Mahjoor, Allama thought I am meant to do this. That’s how ble and seductive—over sensual r&b that escalates into full-on drum-and-
niques, to create Kashmiri “carpets”, lush, over three decades. “Naturally, you are an Iqbal, Saadat Hasan Manto, Dinanath my journey has been—I go to the Valley bass freakout.
blooming like Srinagar’s famed Mughal artist, you have an expression, you have to Nadim and Agha Shahid Ali. The title of and something emerges out of it.”
gardens and rich in motifs. respond. And when it’s personal, it the installation is a line from Shahid Ali’s How does he juxtapose pain and MOMENTS OF REFLECTION
That Munshi prefers large dimensions becomes much more important. That’s poem A Country without Post Office. It fea- beauty? People, he says, come to Kashmir Though Eusexua is mostly an extroverted, outward-looking album, there are
is evident from the size of the carpets, why I don’t do what happens in other pla- tures six skulls in papier mâché painted on for its beauty, but post-1990 one cannot some moments of introspection and reflection. “I’m tired of messing up my life
which are evocatively titled: Jannate-be- ces. My main journey is what my personal resin. Accompanying the skulls are head- overlook the conflict. “That is the struggle with / Overcomplicated moments and sticky situations,” she sings on the piano-
Nazir (matchless place; 89x94 inches); experience is. I like to be engaged with phones playing their poems—for instance, of an artist, how do you build this language and-handclaps ballad Sticky. “And at best I live alone in disarray,” goes the first
Dastgiir (protector; 94x46 inches); Meer- the problem. I do what happens in Kash- art critic Ranjit Hoskote has given voice to where both will co-exist, have rele- verse on Keep It, Hold It. “I read a million people gotta feel this way.”
aas (inheritance; 94x94 inches). mir.” Agha Shahid’s poem and historian Sohail vance...because there is no roadmap for it. Taken together, these songs chart the emotional peaks and flows of a
Take Dastgiir, for instance. At the heart Hashmi is reading Manto. I don’t know how successful I have been, proper night out, a volatile and unpredictable mix of hormones and chemi-
of the work is the 19th century shrine of MEMORY MAP Munshi says the sor- but I am trying to go even deeper...creat- cals that can change direction at the flick of a switch. The rush, the comedown
Dastgeer Sahib, symbolic of the Valley’s The centrepiece of the row of Kashmir is the ing a layer of archiving material, what we and the afterglow all bleed into each other, a continuous spectrum of emo-
Sufi tradition, revered by people of all show is the installation cultural loss, which he have lost (or are losing) in 35 years: Our tions and experiences. The club becomes a space for finding oneself—all
faiths. It was damaged in a fire in 2012 and Qayaam-gah (resting documents through his tradition, art, heritage, cultural aspects, extraneous pretensions and self-delusion stripped away in the heat and fric-
subsequently rebuilt. It is also a showcase place), which replicates a work. He gives the iconography.” tion of the dance floor.
of Kashmir’s rich handicrafts; the ceiling Kashmiri dargah or Sufi example of his photo- Munshi, who visits Kashmir often and Eusexua may not be the first pop album to make a case for pleasure and
is in khatamband style, and the walls in shrine with its lattice graphic archive of works with local artists and craftsmen, hedonism as a tool of emancipation, but it’s a compelling addition to the
papier mâché, crafts which Munshi work, and builds on his abandoned Kashmiri says he gets his oxygen from there. “Not canon—cohesive, beautifully produced, and thrillingly effective in its attempt
employs and spotlights in his works. You earlier work at the Pandit houses with their from the scenic place... but by talking to to capture that experience of dance-floor catharsis. And though it’s evangeli-
will also identify a hangul (Kashmir stag), Kochi Biennale 2018. distinct architecture people, walking in the downtown, trying cal about the magic of the club, it’s also aware that even the alchemy of dance
endemic to Kashmir and classified as criti- “There’s a door (to the and woodwork. “This to understand conflict differently. I like has its limits. The album ends with the comedown gut-punch Wanderlust, the
cally endangered, being chased by a tiger, shrine) but it’s shut, so project was also a reac- the inclusiveness of other people. I real- pleasure-seeking weekend receding in the dawn sunlight as more prosaic
perhaps indicating that danger is always you go around it like a tion. I was looking for my ised there’s no point sitting in the studio. reality comes crashing in.
looming large. Each carpet tells a story. parikrama (paying house (in 2008), which I have to go more to where the subject is, “I get violent in a rage when I’m sat alone,” she sings, a sharp stab of self-
Similarly, in Meeraas, one can see the obeisance) and peep had been burnt down. I or, rather, be part of it. I don’t want to be a aware loneliness that punctures the euphoria, recalling the struggles that
ruins of the ancient temple of Awantipora, inside and see some- didn’t know how to deal reporter, I want to be a researcher. How we’re all trying to escape from. It’s a reminder that transcendence can only be
Sufi shrines, and the Shankaracharya tem- thing mysterious. There with it. I thought paint- you can position yourself, and contribute temporary, that one still needs to return to the mundanity of everyday life and
ple that towers over Srinagar. There are are caskets inside and ing them would be an towards something. That is healing.” the imperfection of human reality. If you chase the dragon for too long, to the
the famed houseboats on Dal Lake, and skeletons painted in overreaction. So I photo- exclusion of everything else, you risk getting “lost in the pure wanderlust.”
tongas, once a popular mode of transport. papier mâché,” says Munshi, graphed the houses. I Healing Wounds is on till 30 March at
But these carpets are not whole, they who uses a range of mediums, think many of those Aicon Gallery, New York. Bhanuj Kappal is a Mumbai-based writer.
12 SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI BUSINESS LOUNGE

Harshil Mathur
ON THE EDGE
Razorpay co-founder and CEO Harshil Mathur talks about the company’s 10-year journey,
the upcoming IPO and buying his first suit at the advice of Sam Altman
Illustration by Priya Kuriyan
Shrabonti Bagchi and Priyamvada C

S
o when we realised it has been
10 years, it came as a bit of a
surprise, ‘Hey, has it really
been that long?’” says Harshil
Mathur, CEO and co-founder
at Razorpay, widely considered India’s top
online payment gateway, a digital service
that lets businesses accept and process
In the finance space,
payments online, acting as a secure link
between the buyer and the seller’s banks.
Founded in 2014, Razorpay is so widely
used and so intricately involved in India’s
you want to create a
e-commerce and payment ecosystem that
you might be mistaken for believing it has
always existed, but it’s journey started
sense of trust and
only a decade ago.
For Mathur, 33, looking back at this
journey is a bit like watching a time-lapse
video—everything moving at a crazy
responsibility, and I
speed, the shifting so subtle that you don’t
notice when everything is different. It is
reflected in the way he talks—at a rapid
think oversharing
clip, his words tripping over each other. It
made transcribing this interview hard, but
listening to it, you get the sense of a
fiercely motivated team that refuses to
(one’s) personal
slow down—even when Indian banks and
regulators force them to, as has happened
a few times with Razorpay.
When we meet in early January, it’s just
life somewhere
over a year since the embargo on
onboarding new merchants imposed on
the company by RBI in December 2022
dilutes that.
(linked to licensing issues in a fast-chang-
ing financial environment where prod-
ucts often precede laws) was lifted. In the
calendar year following that, the company
grew at an unprecedented pace, says Mat-
hur. “Typically, we onboard 100,000-
200,000 merchants in a year. Once the
moratorium was lifted, within a period of
two months, we onboarded 150,000 mer-
chants because almost 80% of the busi-
nesses that had signed up before it was
imposed came back and started using
Razorpay again,” says Mathur.
It is great validation for the company—

With nearly a 5x increase

in its net profit to ₹34
crore in the last financial
year, the company also
has plans to launch
operations in Singapore

after all, even though complexity and a

tough regulatory environment make digi-
tal payments a less competitive space
than, say, e-commerce, Razorpay has sev-
eral top-tier competitors, among them
PayU, CC Avenue, Cashfree, Paytm and
Stripe. “There is this famous quote that
one of the best ways to know if your
startup is important is that if you vanish
tomorrow, how many customers will miss
you? And I think this made it very clear for
us. These were customers who had gone
live with other companies in this space but
when we were live again, they wanted to
switch back to us,” recalls Mathur.
With 5 million-plus customers, among of trust and responsibility, and I think building Razorpay remotely in their spare “We were telling Sam that we were thing not many people know. “We would
them high-profile companies like IDFC oversharing (one’s) personal life some- time while working their day jobs—Mat- Something you finding it difficult to get banks and VCs to do hiring interviews in that house and
First bank, Zomato, Swiggy, Westside, where dilutes that,” says Mathur. hur in Dubai at Schlumberger, and Kumar do well take us seriously. We looked too young, people who had heard about us and knew
Cognizant Technologies and BookMy- It’s not an act—“both me and Shashank in the US with Microsoft. “We didn’t have I have a black belt in karate and we looked like techies. So he said ‘if the that we were a well-funded company
Show; 3,300 employees; and an annual- are naturally very private people,” says a lot of hobbies and we loved to code” is was a national-level silver problem is you look young, why don’t you would wonder if we were actually legit or
ised total payment volume (the amount of Mathur—but it is a persona they had to how Mathur explains it. medallist try looking old? Why are you going a fly-by-night operation.”
money it processes as payments) of $180 deliberately cultivate when they were just Initially, the two were working on a side around in T-shirts? You should wear a At the moment, the company is in the
billion, Razorpay could well rest on its lau- starting Razorpay as fresh-faced techies in project in social crowdfunding and Your last vacation suit, you should dress up. You should look process of “reverse flipping”—relocating
rels. But even during the 10 months or so their early 20s. “Payments is a compli- wanted to accept payments, which is To Dubai with my family during like bankers if you want to interact with its headquarters from the US to India, a
that it took the company to start acquiring cated business, and both Shashank and I when they discovered how difficult it was New Year bankers.’ It really shifted our mindset,” complex manoeuvre involving potentially
new clients again, it didn’t remain stag- were techies in our first jobs when we for a small startup or SME to set up an says Mathur. large tax implications, approvals from RBI
nant. It launched over 50 new products started building Razorpay. We didn’t online payments system. At that time, Something you They got their first suits and started and the National Company Law Tribunal
for existing clients and diversified its busi- come from finance industries, so we didn’t e-commerce in India was taking off, but going for bank meetings dressed formally. (NCLT), and US regulators. This is all by
ness into areas such as offline payments, really have a lot of connects in the ecosys- payments remained a big issue for all but
watched recently The advice seems to have worked, way of heading towards an IPO. “We are
‘Succession’
its neo-banking arm Razorpay X, and tem,” recalls Mathur. Payments is also a the biggest merchants as the digital pay- because soon, Razorpay had landed a still waiting for the approvals to happen so
international markets—they launched a business where you can’t build in a silo— ments infrastructure was geared towards partnership with HDFC Bank. it should take anywhere between three-
payment gateway in Malaysia. Valued at “you can’t just write code, deploy a web- large enterprises and transactions. Razorpay, though incorporated in the six months from now. After we flip, we
$7.5 billion in its last funding round in site and start operating”. “We spoke to a lot of startups and asked US as many companies were at the time— need at least six-eight quarters of clean
December 2021, the company has had one They needed banks and other financial them how do you solve for payments and being funded by YC was a factor—actually financials before we go public, so I’d say
of the fastest growth trajectories among institutions to partner with them, and they all said they’re facing this issue. Many started life in Jaipur, where Mathur grew that we are at least two years from an IPO,”
Indian unicorns. were laughed out of many meetings when were doing only cash transactions because up with his father, who worked at a bank, says Mathur. With nearly a 5x increase in
At the Razorpay office in Bengaluru’s they said that they didn’t need help setting of this and that didn’t make any sense. The his mother, who ran a beauty parlour, and its net profit to ₹34 crore in the last finan-
Koramangala, the post-new year rush is up a payment gateway for their product, technology was also subpar because it was a brother. “The easiest way is to start in cial year, the company also has plans to
visible on the day we visit. The colourful but were building a brand new one. built for very large enterprises, which your parents’ house because you don’t launch operations in Singapore and other
office is almost full, with employees work- “In the first year, I personally would’ve would optimise multiple things on their have an operating cost,” says Mathur. South-East Asian markets. It already has
ing out of cubicles, on couches and bean met a hundred-ish bankers to get an side. So it took three to six months for a Along with himself and Shashank, most of an international presence with operations
bags and from the many meeting rooms approval,” recalls Mathur. “There were startup to do the payments integration the founding team of Razorpay were col- in UAE and Malaysia. It expects each verti-
named after famous inventors. We meet moments when we wondered—is this and start operating,” says Mathur. lege friends from IIT Roorkee. cal—offline and neo-banking busi-
Mathur in “Guglielmo Marconi”, named the right space to build in? Because we The day Razorpay launched, it had The two founders returned from the US nesses—to break-even and eventually
after the inventor of the wireless radio tel- could do something like e-commerce brought this timeline down to a week— with Series A funding from Y Combinator become profitable by FY26 before it lists
egraph system. Though Mathur and his where we would be in control of our des- today it takes less than a day. in their kitty. “That’s when we decided to in the bourses; the core online payments
co-founder Shashank Kumar don’t do too tiny and not have to depend on getting The two got their first big break when move our base to Bengaluru. We were just business is already profitable.
many interviews, as the company turns 10, approvals or a partnership. It took a lot of they applied for a spot on Y Combinator a 12-15 people team and we had got $11.5 His banker father still doesn’t quite
there has been a decided push to be more time, but the only thing that kept us (YC), one of the biggest startup incuba- million in capital. We knew we had to understand how startups and their fund-
visible. “Some founders spend a lot of time going was the fact that our customers tors and accelerators in the world based expand rapidly and it was not possible in ing ecosystem work, reveals Mathur. “The
building personal brands, and I under- kept telling us that they needed this in Silicon Valley, US, and were accepted. Jaipur, so 10 of us moved into a four-bed- first time we raised money, he was like
stand that it is probably useful if you’re problem to be solved.” It was during their time at YC that they room apartment in Koramangala. We ‘how will you pay it back?’ Now with the
building in the consumer space, but it Around 2013, the two co-founders, who learnt a lesson about crafting an image, lived and worked out of it for years,” IPO coming, he gets it better, but I think
doesn’t offer a significant advantage to us were friends from IIT Roorkee, where and it was then YC president Sam Alt- remembers Mathur. In fact, he lived in all of us are a bit amazed at how big this has
and can in fact become a distraction. In the Mathur studied mechanical engineering man, now famous as the CEO of OpenAI, that flat with Shashank and another friend become.”
finance space, you want to create a sense and Kumar computer science, started who delivered it. till last year, he reveals, grinning—some- [email protected]
LIVEMINT.COM
SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI 13

NOTICE INVITING TENDER

(OPEN DOMESTIC COMPETITIVE BIDDING)
GAIL (India) Limited invites bids from Eligible Bidders for Appointment of
Consignment Stockists at Baddi, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurugram,
Guwahati, Mumbai and Panipat for Polymer Products Produced and/or
Marketed by GAIL (India) Ltd. as per details given below:
Tender Document Date of Pre Last date & time for
Tender No. available on website from Bid Meeting submission of Bid
GAIL/Noida 18.02.2025 10.03.2025 at
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Appointment Hours (IST)
/Phase
VII/2024-25
For further details, please visit our Tender website (www.gailtenders.in) and
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14 SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI NEWS LIVEMINT.COM

Tech giants double down on U.S. to dial back crackdown on

foreign corruption, Russian
their massive AI spending oligarchs to fight cartels
Richard Vanderford Bondi’s order does say FCPA
[email protected] investigations involving cartels
and criminal organizations can
Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta pour billions into AI, undeterred by DeepSeek’s rise
T
he U.S. Justice Depart- be conducted by Justice
ment will shift its resour- Department offices through-
ces away from fighting out the country, instead of
Nate Rattner & Jason Dean expenditures this year to about $75 bil- traditional corporate corrup- solely by specialized lawyers in
lion, from $52.5 billion in 2024. The tion and Russian oligarchs Washington, D.C., which was

T
ech giants projected tens of spending will go to infrastructure both toward the battle against drug the previous practice.
billions of dollars in for Google’s own use and for cloud- cartels, new Attorney General The changes are currently
increased investment this computing clients. Pam Bondi said. effective for 90 days and can
year and sent a stark message “I think part of the reason we are so Bondi, who was sworn in be reviewed or made perma-
about their plans for AI: excited about the AI opportunity is we Wednesday, announced nent afterward, Bondi said.
We’re just getting started. know we can drive extraordinary use changes to the approach to U.S. Attorney General Pam undefined undefined The
The four biggest spenders on the cases because the cost of actually using foreign corruption prosecu- Bondi. REUTERS memo represents a shift in
data centers that power artificial-in- it is going to keep coming down,” said tions in one of a series of focus, but companies should
telligence systems all said in recent CEO Sundar Pichai . memos that outlined sweeping stateside, designating them as remain vigilant since the Jus-
days that they would jack up invest- AI is “as big as it comes, and that’s overhauls to the Justice terrorist organizations. tice Department and other
ments further in 2025 after record why you’re seeing us invest to meet that Department’s strategy. The FCPA allows prosecutors agencies could still bring cor-
outlays last year. Microsoft, Google moment,” he said. The department will give pri- to pursue U.S. corporations, ruption cases, said Alexander
and Meta Platforms have projected Microsoft has said it plans to spend ority to Foreign Corrupt Prac- along with foreign companies Kramer, a former assistant
combined capital expenditures of at $80 billion on AI data centers in the fis- tices Act investigations touch- that trade on U.S. stock chief of the department’s
least $215 billion for their current fis- cal year ending in June, and that spend- ing on cartels and transnational exchanges, that bribe or offer FCPA unit who is now a part-
cal years, an annual increase of more ing would grow fur- c r i m i n a l things of value to foreign offi- ner at the law firm Crowell &
than 45%. ther next year , albeit organiza- cials. The law, a key tool in the Moring. undefined undefined
Amazon.com didn’t provide a full- at a slower pace. tions, and U.S. arsenal against white-collar “We are certainly seeing a shift
year estimate but indicated on Thurs- Chief Executive shift its crime, has enabled federal pros- in focus away from white collar
day that total capex across its busi- Satya Nadella said AI will become much focus away from other types of ecutors to secure multibillion- enforcement towards violent
nesses is on course to grow to more more extensively used , which he said is FCPA probes, Bondi said in her dollar fines and, in some instan- and drug-related cases, but
than $100 billion, and said most of the good news. “As AI becomes more effi- memo. ces, prison time for executives. that doesn’t mean white collar
increase will be for AI. Amazon indicated on Thursday that total capex across its businesses is on course to cient and accessible, we will see expo- Task Force KleptoCapture Last year, for example, pros- and anti-corruption cases will
Their comments in recent quarterly grow to more than $100 billion, and said most of the increase will be for AI. REUTERS nentially more demand,” Nadella said. created under the Biden admin- ecutors took action under the disappear,” Kramer said.
earnings reports showed the AI arms Growth for Microsoft’s cloud-com- istration to law against con- The KleptoCapture task
race is still gaining momentum despite Thursday’s earnings call. expectations. Its shares slid about 4% in puting business in the latest quarter enforce U.S. sanc- The shift is a sulting firm force Bondi disbanded was cre-
investor anxiety over the impact of Here is a breakdown of each com- after-hours trading Thursday. The also disappointed investors, leaving its tions on Russian departure to the McKinsey , a unit ated to focus on financial insti-
China’s DeepSeek and whether these pany’s plans: stock rose more than 40% in 2024 and stock down about 6% since its earnings oligarchs will be approach of past of defense con- tutions and other entities that
big U.S. companies will sufficiently Amazon said a measure of its capex was up nearly 9% this year before its report last week. disbanded, she administrations tractor RTX , and have helped Russian oligarchs
profit from their unprecedented that includes leased equipment rose to earnings report. Meta, too, outlined a sizable said, along with software com- evade U.S. sanctions . Those
and by Trump
spending spree. a record of about $26 billion in the final Jassy said AI has the potential to pro- increase in its investments driven by some other klep- pany SAP, the lat- sanctions remain in place.
Investors have been especially quarter of 2024 , driven pel historic change and AI, including $60 billion to $65 billion tocracy-related during his ter paying more Eliminating the KleptoCap-
shaken that DeepSeek replicated much by spending in its cloud- Microsoft, that Amazon wants to be a in planned capital expenditures this initiatives. first term $220 million to ture task force will hurt the
of the capability of leading American AI computing division on Google and Meta leader of that progress. year, roughly 70% higher than ana- Resources end bribery ability of the U.S. to fight trans-
systems despite spending less money equipment for data cen- have projected a “AI represents for sure lysts had projected. Shares in Meta are devoted to those probes. national corruption threaten-
and using fewer and less-powerful ters that host AI applica- combined capex the biggest opportunity up about 5% since its earnings report efforts will go to the fight against The FCPA was passed to ing U.S. security, and scaling
chips, according to its Chinese devel- tions. Executives projec-
of at least $215 bn since cloud and probably last week. cartels and TCOs, Bondi said. prohibit large companies from back FCPA prosecutions could
oper. Leaders of the U.S. companies ted it would maintain the the biggest technology CEO Mark Zuckerberg said invest- The shift, which comes as using their heft to corrupt for- allow corruption abroad to
were unbowed , touting advances in fourth-quarter spending for their current shift and opportunity in ing vast sums will enable it to adjust the President Trump mounts a eign governments, rather than flourish, said Gary Kalman,
their own technology and arguing that volume in 2025, meaning fiscal years business since the inter- technology as AI advances. campaign to remake much of to fight criminal organiza- executive director of Trans-
lower costs will make AI more afforda- an annual total of more net,” Jassy said. “That’s generally an advantage that the executive branch, is a tions, and it is unclear how the parency International U.S., an
ble and grow the demand for their than $100 billion by that Google shares are down we’re now going to be able to provide a major departure to the corpo- shift Bondi has ordered might anticorruption advocacy
cloud computing services, which AI measure. about 7% since its earnings report higher quality of service than others rate corruption approach of play out. The Securities and group.
needs to operate. The company—which gets most of Tuesday, which showed disappointing who don’t necessarily have the busi- past administrations and by Exchange Commission also A Justice Department
“We think virtually every application its revenue from e-commerce and most growth in its cloud-computing busi- ness model to support it on a sustaina- Trump during his first term. enforces the FCPA, and the spokesman didn’t respond to a
that we know of today is going to be of its profit from cloud computing— ness. Still, parent-company Alphabet ble basis,” he said. He has previously announced Commodity Futures Trading request for comment on the
reinvented with AI inside of it,” Ama- also projected overall sales for the cur- said it is accelerating investments in AI ©2025 DOW JONES & CO. INC. tough action against Mexican Commission has brought cases changes.
zon Chief Executive Andy Jassy said on rent quarter that missed analysts’ data centers as part of a surge in capital [email protected] cartels that smuggle drugs over foreign bribery. ©2025 DOW JONES & CO. INC.

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LIVEMINT.COM NEWS SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI 15

m MINT SHORTS Microbial testing Internship scheme gets

Kia contests India tax demand for must for disposables
wrongly using treaty exemptions
New Delhi: Kia on Friday said it is contesting an Indian tax
demand of $14 million for wrongly using free trade agreements
to claim lower tariffs on some electronic car part imports, the lat-
Dhirendra Kumar
[email protected]
NEW DELHI
a sharp increase in FY26
est tax tussle between the South Korean automaker and New

T
Delhi. Kia is separately fighting a $155 million tax evasion notice, aking a leaf out of
and Volkswagen has sued New Delhi against a record $1.4 billion China’s book on stan-
demand it calls “impossibly enormous.” REUTERS dards for agro-based dis- Govt has allocated ₹10,831 crore, more than 27 times the sum for this fiscal
posable utensils, the govern-
ment has decided to tighten
LIC’s December quarter profit regulations for food-serving Gireesh Chandra Prasad
utensils made from agricul- [email protected]
rises on lower employee costs tural by-products by making NEW DELHI
MINT
microbial safety testing man-

T
datory for manufacturers, two he government seeks to expand
people aware of the matter Demand for disposable the coverage of the PM intern-
said. utensils at social gatherings ship scheme for FY26 by sharply
The move assumes signifi- has been growing. MINT increasing the budget allocation
cance as demand for disposa- for the ministry of corporate
ble food-serving utensils at food, ensuring hygiene and affairs that administers the programme,
social gatherings has been safety through microbiologi- aimed at boosting skills and employability
growing amid environmental cal examination and quality of the country’s youth.
concerns sparked by the wide- control. These microorga- For the scheme, the government has
spread use of non-biodegrada- nisms, which include bacteria allocated ₹10,831 crore for FY26, more than
ble polythene-based products. and fungi, grow in moderate 27 times the funds earmarked for this fiscal
The standards have been pre- temperatures and are com- year, budget documents showed, indicat-
Bengaluru: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the pared by the Bureau of Indian monly used as indicators of ing that the government is aiming to
country’s biggest insurer, reported a 17% rise in quarterly Standards (BIS), which works hygiene and safety in food finance 1.8 million interns next year.
profit on Friday helped by a fall in employee-related under the ministry of con- products. The scheme entails an annual govern- The scheme entails an annual government spending of ₹60,000 on each of the
expenses, but the expected profit from new premiums sumer affairs. Agricultural by-products ment spending of ₹60,000 on each of the candidates who takes up internship. MINT
declined. State-run LIC posted a profit after tax of ₹11,056 The new regulations will used for making biodegrada- candidates who takes up internship. To
crore for the quarter ended 31 December. Employee com- apply to both locally-manufac- ble utensils include sugarcane meet the five-year target of offering 10 mil- been released as one-time grant to 7,304 employability, said Sumit Kumar, chief
pensation and welfare expenses dropped by nearly a third tured products and imported bagasse, wheat bran, rice husk, lion internships in the largest 500 firms, candidates who have joined so far. strategy officer at TeamLease Degree
to ₹6,691 crore. REUTERS consumer goods. The move areca leaves, palm leaves, the government needs to facilitate intern- Experts pointed out that new schemes Apprenticeship.
comes amid industry reports cornstarch, bamboo fiber, and ship opportunities to about two million sometimes take time before they reach all “However, creating more opportunities
suggesting that nearly a third coconut coir. every year. The funds earmarked for next potential beneficiaries, and awareness requires active participation from employ-
Markets regulator proposes to of consumer products in the “There is a rise in the use of fiscal are broadly in line ers, who must step forward to offer
relax AIF debt investment norms market are spurious, as disposable items. Regulating with the annual target. SKILL SET internships under the scheme.
reported by Mint. their standards as per global In the first phase of the Additionally, from a policy per-
New Delhi: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Under the new standards, best practices is essential to scheme rolled out last IN the first phase of THE government TO meet the target spective, internships that are an
on Friday proposed to ease investment norms for Category II manufacturers must comply address food safety concerns October, 127,000 intern- the scheme rolled
out last October,
aims to offer 10
million internships in
the Centre needs to
facilitate internships
integral part of undergraduate pro-
Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), allowing them to invest in with IS 5402 (Part 1) of BIS to associated with biodegradable ship opportunities were 127,000 internships the largest 500 firms to about two million grams should also be recognized
listed debt securities with a credit rating of ‘A’ or below. The pro- test for microbial presence in utensils,” said the first person. on the table. Companies were on the table in the next five-year every year within the scheme to ensure
posal follows the possible shrinking of the universe of investment these agro-based disposable The tolerance limits for offered over 82,000 posi- broader inclusion and impact,”
opportunities in unlisted debt securities after amendment to the utensils, they said, requesting utensil dimensions have also tions to over 60,800 can- said Kumar.
Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements recently. PTI not to be identified. been redefined and catego- didates, out of which over 28,000 candi- campaigns can help expand the adoption of The scheme seeks to make the youth
IS 5402 (Part 1) under BIS rised based on size, this person dates accepted the offers, minister of state such programmes. more employable as having the right skills
refers to methods for detecting said, explaining that they for corporate affairs Harsh Malhotra told The higher budget allocation for next fis- needed in the industry has become crucial
India in talks with EU to resolve and enumerating aerobic mes- define acceptable variations to the Lok Sabha on 3 February. Against those cal aligns with the overarching goal of since work is getting reshaped by technol-
ophilic microorganisms in ensure consistency and safety. who accepted the offer, ₹4.38 crore has enhancing and strengthening youth ogy and increasing capital to labour ratio.
trade regulation issues: Goyal
REUTERS

SBI asset quality improves SC asks Gaekwad to What

FROM PAGE 18
deposit ₹600 crore Zomato’s
capex growth. Notably, the
bank is maintaining a disci- FROM PAGE 18
renaming
plined approach, avoiding
aggressive lending or deposit the Burman acquisition. Rel- means for
mobilization at unfavourable igare has been locked in acri-
New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal
on Friday said India is in talks with the European Union (EU)
rates.
The most reassuring aspect
mony with the Burmans since
their offer in September 2023
business
to resolve issues related to the 27-nation bloc’s new trade of the results is that asset qual- to buy 26% of shares from
regulations. The government is having discussions on issues ity continues to be robust. public investors at ₹235 ea. FROM PAGE 18
like the deforestation Act, he said, adding, “we will have to While fresh slippages declined Senior advocate Mukul
engage with them and find mutual resolution to make the both q-o-q and y-o-y, SBI’s Rohatgi, appearing for Gae- paradigms within which we
process simple and ensure it does not hurt our industry.” PTI credit cost remained low at kwad, vehemently opposed operate. One such paradigm,
0.24%, with the management this argument, asserting often overlooked in shaping a
attributing it to a favourable that Gaekwad filed his coun- company’s future, is its name,”
Jupiter, Poland’s PFR ready offers credit cycle. Looking ahead, SBI’s credit cost remained low at 0.24%. MINT teroffer within the required Goyal said.
they expressed confidence in time. Rohatgi specified that Zomato also plans to change
for Spanish train maker Talgo maintaining credit costs below Microfinance loans, which raise capital. The bank’s target Gaekwad wrote to Sebi chair its stock ticker from Zomato to
Madrid: Indian train maker Jupiter Wagons and Poland’s state- 0.5% across cycles. have been a problem for the is to maintain sustainable RoE Madhabi Puri Buch on 24 Rashmi Saluja, chairperson, Eternal after receiving
owned investment PFR are readying two separate offers for SBI’s unsecured personal banking system as a whole, is of 15%. January for permission to Religare. RASHMI SALUJA/LINKEDIN approval from shareholders,
Spanish train maker Talgo, news website El Confidencial loan portfolio, branded as also not a big concern for the Given the lack of positive launch an open offer for 26% he added.
reported on Friday, citing unidentified sources with knowledge Xpress Credit, has not posed bank as the loan book size is surprises, the Street greeted in Religare and revised his ary after Burmans’ offer had On Friday, Zomato shares
of the matter. Both companies are readying public tender offers any unexpected non-perform- small at ₹12,000 SBI’s Q3FY25 offer to at least 55% on 26 opened. gained 1.89% on NSE to end at
for all the shares of Talgo, El Confidencial reported. The two bids ing assets (NPA) shocks, crore. SBI plans to grow results with sub- January. This was a week The court noted that the ₹233.37 apiece, while the
would rival the offer filed on Thursday by a Basque consortium accounting for less than 10% of As far as capital unsecured loans dued reaction. after 18 January, when the key issue for the regulator to benchmark Nifty 50 closed
comprising shareholders of steelmaker Sidenor, together with total loans. raising plan is in double digits The stock fell Burmans made their open consider and decide upon was nearly unchanged following
the regional government and local bank Kutxabank. REUTERS While the segment appears concerned, the now as its more than 1% in offer public on the the date of the public the Reserve Bank of India’s
to have the highest GNPA bank maintained early trade on Fri- exchanges, he said. announcement of the open first rate cut in nearly five
competitors are
ratio, this is largely due to a that they will day, taking the Solicitor general Tushar offer. The bench questioned years.
Oil India’s profit misses estimates denominator effect, as the continue to have looking to go slow loss so far in 2025 Mehta, appearing for the why Gaekwad’s application Zomato was included in the
bank temporarily slowed lend- accretion to their on the category to around 6%. regulator, informed the had not been decided, espe- 30-stock benchmark index
as low prices outweigh demand ing to focus on system equity part of With deposit court that Gaekwad’s letter cially if his offer provided a Sensex in December and is
State-run explorer Oil India Ltd reported a third-quarter profit upgrades. capital adequacy pressure easing had been returned to him as better share price. “As a mar- expected to debut on the Nifty
that missed analysts’ estimates on Friday, as lower selling prices In fact, the bank plans to ratio (common equity tier 1 or out in the banking system, it was non-compliant with ket regulator, you are looking 50 as well.
outweighed buoyant demand in the world’s third-biggest oil con- grow unsecured loans in dou- CET 1) as long as return on there is renewed interest in the regulator’s procedure. after the shareholders’ inter- According to JMJA’s Sax-
sumer. The company’s standalone net profit, which excludes ble digits now at a time when equity (RoE) exceeds credit private banks that could limit He further submitted that ests,” the bench said, adding, ena, Zomato’s rebranding will
earnings from its joint ventures and overseas operations, its competitors are looking to growth rate. Consequently, gains in SBI stock in the near Gaekwad’s follow-up appli- “Sebi should have decided, give investors better insights
decreased 22.9% to ₹1,222 crore in the quarter. REUTERS go slow on the category. there is no pressing need to future. cation was made on 1 Febru- not shied away.” into the performance of each
unit instead of having to view
the business as a single, con-
solidated entity. This will also

India turns No.1 for Drug industry is having its own DeepSeek moment help investors identify profita-
bility, losses, and growth
trends for each individual

Rado as spends rise FROM PAGE 18 obesity drug market, it makes

sense for some large pharma
while the S&P 500 has surged into life sciences.
48%. Summit’s partnership with
business, improving decision-
making for shareholders, she
said. From a regulatory point
hubs such as Boston-Cam- companies to skip over trying “It’s unquestionable that Akeso didn’t go unnoticed by of view, the reclassification
FROM PAGE 18 trade agreements between bridge and the San Francisco to develop an injection and try this has been a big negative for Merck. Just months after Sum- will help reduce business con-
Switzerland and India are Bay Area, fueled by talent instead to make a more conve- the U.S. biotech ecosystem,” mit’s clinical-trial results, centration risk, Saxena added,
include the Captain Cook and agreed on. At present, Swiss streaming from top academic nient pill. said Tim Opler, a managing Merck said it had licensed pointing out that if one seg-
Centrix Diamond collections, watches imported into India centers like Massachusetts Merck and AstraZeneca are director of investment bank- another promising cancer ment faced regulatory or com-
which are priced at ₹3-4.12 lakh are taxed at about 22%. But as Institute of Technology and two pharma companies look- ing at Stifel. “The real question drug that essentially followed petitive challenges, investors
per watch. These compete with part of the India-European Stanford University. Those ing for a way in, and both now is how to adapt. How do the Summit-Akeso approach could still see value in other
brands such as Omega, Tag Free Trade Association agree- biotech companies have an turned to China for earlier you maintain of a dual-target growing segments.
Heuer, and Rolex. ment signed in March last year, insatiable client in Big stage orals under develop- leadership in Chinese antibody that hits However, such transpar-
Prices of high- Swiss watch prices Pharma, which is willing to pay ment. In late 2024, after scour- innovation while innovation is both PD-1, an ency will depend on how
end and luxury Bosshard expects could fall over the top dollar for new drugs to ing the market for obesity improving cost steadily improving immune check- Zomato’s management struc-
Swiss watches in Swiss watches to next few years. replace those going off-patent. assets—presumably eyeing Merck signed a $112 mn deal for efficiency and and is disrupting point that cancers tures its disclosures and gov-
India have become more “India’s luxury While that isn’t going away, U.S. companies like Viking an oral GLP-1 drug from China’s speed?” exploit to hide ernance practices. “A detailed
the U.S. drug-
increased signifi- affordable in India watch market is at chief executives of large phar- Therapeutics, which trades at Hansoh Pharma. BLOOMBERG From a from the immune segment-wise reporting and
cantly the last two development
once Switzerland the cusp of a trans- maceutical companies are a market value of around $3.7 patient’s per-
ecosystem
system, and clear allocation of resources
years as the Swiss formational shift, broadening their horizons. billion—Merck chose to great for Big Pharma. But for spective, the VEGF, a protein will lead to not only better
franc (CHF) has and India are driven by rising Why spend $10 billion acquir- license an oral GLP-1 drug U.S. biotech companies—and growing global that helps tumors transparency but also confi-
strengthened agreed on FTAs disposable ing a U.S. biotech with a mid- from China’s Hansoh Pharma. their venture-capital back- competition is a grow new blood dence of the stakeholders,”
against global incomes, a grow- stage drug when a similar mol- The deal: $112 million upfront, ers—they are creating real win. People with cancer prob- vessels. And where did Merck Saxena said.
currencies and ing base of ultra- ecule can be licensed from with potential milestone pay- challenges. Investors increas- ably don’t care which country find this drug? At a private bio- “Generally, separating the
because of India’s declining high-net-worth individuals, China for a fraction of the ments of up to $1.9 billion. A ingly struggle to value early- a drug was developed in. What tech company, LaNova Medi- parent company from its core
rupee. and an increasing appreciation price? year earlier, AstraZeneca stage biotechs because it is dif- matters is that it works. But for cines, based in Shanghai. brand is seen as an option for
The rupee fell to an all-time for fine craftsmanship among The red-hot obesity-drug made a similar move, paying ficult to predict what competi- policymakers focused on “If you’re looking for inno- better corporate structure and
low of 87.5825 against the US young collectors,” said Abhay market offers one example. Eli $185 million upfront with tion might emerge from maintaining America’s com- vation,” Duggan, Summit’s bil- diversification,” she added.
dollar earlier this week. Gupta, a Delhi-based luxury Lilly and Novo Nordisk are the future milestones totaling China. That is at least part of petitive edge, China’s biotech lionaire leader said in a recent “This is a common factor
Bosshard expects Swiss consultant. dominant players with GLP-1 nearly $1.83 billion in a deal the reason why the S&P Bio- surge is a wake-up call. The interview, “that’s the logical between Google and Zomato.”
watches to become more For an extended version of drugs such as Wegovy and with China’s Eccogene. tech ETF has been basically innovation race isn’t limited to place to go.” For an extended version of
affordable in India once free this story, go to livemint.com Zepbound. At this stage in the These “bargain” deals are flat over the past two years, AI or crypto—it extends deep ©2025DOW JONES & CO. INC. this story, go to livemint.com
16 SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI NEWS LIVEMINT.COM

EXPERT
VIEW
RBI rate cut: What it means RBI cuts
repo rate,
Respond to this column at
[email protected]
A N U R AG M I T TA L
for retail borrowers, banks notes global
volatility
MPC’S RATE CUT: A Borrowers to see lower EMIs as RBI trims rates to 6.25%, but banks may take a hit on margins
FROM PAGE 18

to 4.2% next year.

MEASURED DEBUT Shayan Ghosh

While noting a significant
softening in food inflation
going forward due to good
Rate, set, go
AMID UNCERTAINTY [email protected]
MUMBAI Over the years, loans under the
external benchmark regime have
kharif, or monsoon crop, pro-
duction, the MPC expects core
inflation to rise, albeit moder-

T
surpassed those under MCLR.
he Reserve Bank of India’s ately. It also noted rising uncer-

T
he Reserve Ban of India’s (RBI) monetary policy commit- (RBI) monetary policy com- Share of outstanding floating rate loans of tainty in global financial mar-
banks on various benchmarks (in %)
tee (MPC) on Friday unanimously voted in favour of cut- mittee on Friday delivered a kets, continuing volatility in
Base Rate MCLR EBLR Others
ting the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%, the first rate much-anticipated rate cut energy prices, and adverse
cut since May 2020. The monetary policy stance remains of 25 basis points, taking the 90 weather events as posing risks
unchanged at “neutral”. policy repo rate to 6.25%. to India’s inflation trajectory.
75
The RBI also introduced forward contracts in government This is the first rate cut in five years “The MPC noted that infla-
securities, allowing long-term investors such as insurance com- and comes amid slowing credit growth tion has declined. Supported by
60
panies to manage their interest rate risk. The RBI also allowed and easing inflation. a favourable outlook on food
non-bank brokers registered with the Securities and Exchange The decision of the Monetary Policy and continuing transmission of
45
Board of India (Sebi) to access the RBI electronic trading plat- Committee (MPC) is expected to lead past monetary policy actions, it
form for secondary market transactions. to lower equated monthly instalments 30
is expected to further moderate
The monetary policy was set against an interesting backdrop. (EMIs) for retail borrowers by an in 2025-26, gradually aligning
The new US tariff policies have raised global trade tensions equivalent amount, provided their 15
with the target,” said Malhotra.
while the momentum of domestic growth has slowed. Urban borrowing rates are linked to an exter- RBI had previously cut its
consumption, the mainstay of private sector demand, has mod- nal benchmark, especially the repo. 0 benchmark repo rate by 40
erated due to the exhaustion of excess savings from the pan- The repo rate is the interest rate at Sep 2019 Sep 2024 basis points to 4% in May 2020.
demic and tightening prudential norms for consumption- which commercial banks borrow from Note: MCLR is marginal cost of funds-based Subsequently, it raised the
lending rate, EBLR is external benchmark based
driven retail credit. the RBI. Given that a majority of float- lending rate interest rate seven times, tak-
Along with other emerging markets, the Indian economy ing rate loans are linked to external Source: Reserve Bank of India
ing it to 6.50%, which remained
faces the challenges of a depreciating currency. The RBI’s benchmarks, the impact of the repo Reserve Bank of India governor Sanjay Malhotra PTI unchanged since February
record $100 billion-plus forex intervention (spot plus forward) rate cut is expected to be far-reaching. SATISH KUMAR/MINT
2023 until now.
has led the banking system's liquidity into deficit from surplus, Mint takes a look at what this means What will happen to monthly India, non-food credit growth stood at lending rate at least once in three Economists and traders
leading to call rates going 30-40 basis points above the policy for thousands of retail borrowers as repayments for retail borrowers? 11.4% in January. Non-food credit is months. This would mean that bor- expect another rate cut in April.
rate, leading to higher deposit costs. well as lenders. Meant to induce seamless transmis- bank credit after adjusting for loans rowers will be able to get the benefit of The Street, however, is divided
While the central bank had cut the cash reserve ratio (CRR) How will the central bank's rate sion of rate changes by the central given to the Food Corporation of India lower interest rate once the lender over the extent of rate cuts
by 50 basis points in its December policy, which had released cut lead to changes in the interest bank to bank lending rates, external (FCI). A cautionary stance and a resets the benchmark rate. required in the next fiscal year.
₹1.16 trillion of liquidity, it was insufficient. rates for borrowers? benchmarks have in the past allowed clampdown on unsecured loans has Will the central bank’s decision “Going ahead, we expect the
Removing disarray At present, retail and small business retail borrowers to benefit when RBI meant that banks have also gone slow to cut rates impact lenders? rate cut cycle to remain shal-
Since December, the regulator has been working to remove loans are linked to external bench- was on a rate-cutting spree after the on lending without collateral. Experts believe that the rate cut low, with another 25-50 bps
currency and banking system liquidity disarray. The RBI has marks, and corporate loans are still on covid-19 pandemic. In fact, the aggregate growth of may hit banks' net interest margin, rate cuts likely as we see down-
become judicious in forex intervention, letting the rupee find the marginal cost of fund-based lend- This is going to be repeated this retail loans—home loans, credit card which is a key indicator of profitabil- side risks to RBI’s GDP growth
its equilibrium. ing rate or MCLR. time round as well. outstanding, educa- ity. Estimates by rating agency Icra of 6.7% in FY2026,” said
While the rupee has depreciated by 3% since December, it EBLR refers to external bench- Retail borrowers who E X P LmA I N E R tion loan, and vehicle showed that on an aggregate level Upasna Bhardwaj, chief econo-
has largely been catching up as it did not depreciate along with mark-based lending rate, which, as the have taken floating loans, among others— bank margins will contract by 15 basis mist, Kotak Mahindra Bank.
other emerging market currencies during the phase of October- name suggests, is linked to bench- rate loans will see slowed down to 12% points (bps). “The timing and magnitude
November 2024. The RBI also announced multiple liquidity marks like the central bank’s repo rate their EMIs shrink as banks pass on the y-o-y in December 2024, as compared Sachin Sachdeva, vice-president, of rate cuts will depend on
measures, injecting more than ₹1.5 and is used to price loans. benefit of lower repo rate to end con- to 28.4% in the same period last year, sector head, financial sector ratings, uncertainties related to US
Some expected trillion of liquidity, which helped As of September 2024, over 59% of sumers. Borrowers would also have as per RBI data. Other personal loans Icra said the impact on private lenders administration’s economic and
steeper rate cut, bring call rates close to the repo rate. all floating rate loans were linked to an the option to keep their EMIs constant (consumption loans) witnessed a is expected to be higher at 21 bps of net trade policies, higher-for-
Hence, given the fiscally prudent external benchmark, while 37% were while reducing their tenure over growth of 9.2% in December 2024, as interest margin. For public sector longer rates in the US, and
more aggressive budget and the change in RBI leader- linked to MCLR. which they need to repay the loan. against 23.2% in December 2023. banks, the margins are expected to domestic inflation risks,”
liquidity actions ship, there was a slew of expectations The change in the repo rate, there- How does this help credit growth? How long will it take for banks to contract 11 bps. The impact will be Bhardwaj added.
from RBI in this from this MPC policy. fore, will translate into an equivalent A repo rate cut is also expected to pass on the rate cut to borrowers? higher for private banks because of [email protected]
policy update Some participants expected the change in the external benchmark lead to higher credit growth. As per Under RBI norms, lenders need to their higher share of EBLR loans than For an extended version of
central bank to signal steeper rate rates of banks. latest data from the Reserve Bank of reset their external benchmark based public sector banks, said Sachdeva. this story, go to livemint.com
cuts or announce aggressive liquidi-
ty-easing measures in the policy.
However, the monetary policy reflects a steady state of think-
ing at RBI. The rate cut continued the MPC pivot to the “neu-
tral” stance in October and the CRR cut in December.
Slowdown in FY26?
Banks breathe easy as key norms deferred RBI’s new weapon
The key consideration for Friday's rate cut was the expected
slowdown in FY26 compared to the RBI’s earlier forecasts, not
just meaningful comfort on inflation. The central bank did not
Shayan Ghosh
[email protected]
against inflation would have witnessed in 2023
there was a run on some US
announce any new liquidity measures but indicated that they MUMBAI banks because they do not
would remain proactive in ensuring adequate liquidity in the have such regulations.” Anshika Kayastha been lower post the introduc-

T
banking system. he Reserve Bank of India LCR norms require banks to [email protected] tion of FIT. Moreover, CPI
The growth and inflation forecasts of 6.7% and 4.2%, respec- (RBI) has decided to maintain a stock of high-qual- MUMBAI (consumer price index) infla-
tively, for FY26 were largely in line with market estimates. The defer certain regulations ity liquid assets (HQLA), pri- tion has mostly stayed aligned

T
retention of a “neutral” stance also reflects the need to retain for banks, with governor San- marily government securities, he Reserve Bank of India with the target, barring a few
flexibility to slow down in case of a rise in global volatility. jay Malhotra saying that the to tide over a hypothetical sit- (RBI) will work on refin- occasions of breaching the
The major change that could meaningfully relieve the bank- regulator will give enough uation of stress for 30 days in ing and strengthening upper tolerance band since its
ing sector could be the deferment of macroprudential guide- time and that it does not want which deposits are withdrawn. its inflation targeting frame- inception,” he said. RBI will
lines on liquidity coverage ratio and higher provisioning norms to cause any disruption. In July 2024, the proposed work (FIT) to improve macro- improve macroeconomic out-
for infrastructure projects. This should support the banks' near- The decision is expected to guidelines mandated banks to economic outcomes, governor comes in the best interest of
term profitability. come as a relief to bankers, keep higher liquidity for Sanjay Malhotra said on Friday the economy using the flexi-
While FY26 growth may still print below the RBI’s forecast who said that it would push A clutch of RBI key regulations were to come into force in the deposits made through digital while announcing the Mone- bility embedded in the frame-
of 6.7% due to global headwinds, it is expected to remain at a credit growth. next few months. AP channels, as they tend to be tary Policy Committee's rate work while responding to
healthy 6% plus. Given the limited upside from further disinfla- A clutch of key regulations withdrawn quickly. “We will decisions. evolving growth-inflation
tion, we expect a shallow monetary easing cycle of 50-75 basis were to come into force in the ratio (LCR) norms were sup- March 2026,” said Malhotra, give timeframes as to when In his first address after dynamics, he added.
points, including Friday’s rate cut. next few months. These posed to take effect on 1 April, who took over as in December. one can expect LCR. Similarly, assuming office Before this rate
However, a lot is already priced in at the longer end of the include asking banks to set the guidelines on project He said that the draft regu- for the other guidelines, we on 11 December RBI retained its cut of 25 basis
yield curve. The 10-year yield has rallied from 7.15% last year to aside a higher stock of liquid finance were supposed to take lations were circulated, and will also give sufficient timef- Malhotra said, CPI inflation points, it had
6.70% in anticipation of the rate cuts, whereas the short to assets to meet a contingency effect a day earlier. the regulator has received rames. You can rest assured “We will strive to forecast at 4.8% maintained a sta-
medium end of the yield curve has largely remained flat due to like a potential bank run and a “I want to also clarify…we comments, which it is examin- that they will certainly not be further refine the for FY25, with Q4 tus quo on rates
limited near-term triggers. framework for lenders in did make a mention that we ing. The governor reiterated implemented as quickly as building blocks of for the last 11 MPC
at 4.4%, and
Once the rate cut cycle starts, this segment can benefit greatly project finance with a phased will give sufficient time. I do that liquidity is important for 31.3.2025 because that will this framework meets amid per-
from the possible mark-to-market gains, given the attractive increase in standard asset pro- not think 31 March 2025 is giv- everyone, but the regulations certainly not be sufficient by making advan- projected 4.2% sistent inflation-
spread over policy rates. visioning to 1-5% of loans from ing sufficient time. So, cer- around LCR were proposed to time,” said Malhotra. ces in the use of for FY26 ary pressure. FIT
Anurag Mittal is the head of fixed income at UTI Asset Manage- 0.4% on project loans. tainly, they will not be imple- be tightened to prevent any For an extended version of data, improving targets CPI-based
ment Co. Ltd. While the liquidity coverage mented at least before 31 run on banks in India. “You this story, go to livemint.com nowcasting and inflation rate of
forecasting of key macroeco- 4% within a tolerance band of
nomic variables and develop- 2-6%. In October, retail infla-
ing more robust models.” tion, based on CPI, surged to a

Cabinet okays bill to replace I-T Act, likely to be tabled soon Malhotra said flexible infla- 14-month high of 6.21%, driven
tion targeting framework that by a sharp rise in food prices.
was introduced in 2016 and RBI retained its CPI inflation
reviewed in 2021, has served forecast at 4.8% for FY25, with
Subhash Narayan & The new Income Tax Bill is a half of the present law, in ing provisions, but is meant to mechanism is also likely to be India’s economy well, includ- Q4 at 4.4%, and projected 4.2%
Gireesh Chandra Prasad key element of the regulatory terms of both chapters and make the law simpler and easy overhauled to make it exclu- ing the challenging period for FY26.
reforms announced by finance words, the minister had said in to comply, reinforcing cer- sively for major defaults, he said. since the pandemic. For an extended version of
NEW DELHI minister Nirmala Sitharaman her speech, assuring that it will tainty, Amit Maheshwari, tax The revised law is expected “The average inflation has the story go to livemint.com
in her budget speech on 1 Feb- be simple to understand for partner at AKM to be clear, con-

T
he Union cabinet on Fri- ruary, which outlined reforms taxpayers and the tax adminis- Global, said Experts said cise, consistent, CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
day approved a bill to meant to add momentum to tration, leading to tax certainty “Changes like they are looking supplemented
replace the more than India’s economic develop- and reduced litigation. deletion of out- forward to a more with examples to Mint welcomes comments, suggestions or complaints about errors.
six-decade-old Income Tax ment. There was, however, no Queries sent to the finance dated sections, concise tax law aid understand-
Act, 1961, with a new, simpler official word on this decision. ministry and to CBDT did not lack of cross-ref- ing and interpre- Readers can alert the newsroom to any errors in the paper by
that is bereft emailing us, with your full name and address to
and easy-to-understand law, The cabinet also decided to elicit a response till press time. erencing of the tation by all stake-
as part of the government's restructure the Union govern- Experts said they are look- Act and rule lesser of redundant holders, Sandeep
[email protected].

regulatory reforms. ment's Skill India programme ing forward to a more concise number of provi- provisions Chaufla, partner, It is our policy to promptly respond to all complaints. Readers
The Income Tax Bill is likely and continue it till 2026 with The cabinet also decided to tax law bereft of redundant sos and clauses are Price Waterhouse dissatisfied with the response or concerned about Mint’s journalistic
to be tabled in Parliament an outlay of ₹8,800 crore, rail- restructure Skill India. BLOOMBERG provisions. Based on Sithara- highly expected. & Co., said. integrity may write directly to the editor by sending an email to
shortly, and may be referred to way, IT, and Information & man’s budget speech, it is Also, compliance and assess- subhash.narayan@live- [email protected]
a parliamentary committee for Broadcasting minister Ash- cabinet decisions. likely that the new Income Tax ment procedures are expected mint.com
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further discussions, according wini Vaishnaw said while The new tax bill will be clear Bill will not have substantial to be technology-driven,” said For an extended version of available at www.livemint.com
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LIVEMINT.COM NEWS SATURDAY, 8 FEBRUARY 2025
NEW DELHI 17

Alkem
Mahindra shrugs off muted Need to sell 50,000
Laboratories EVs per month to be
makes twin
acquisitions
festive sales, rides SUV wave profitable: Ola CEO
Shouvik Das
Ranjani Raghavan [email protected]
[email protected] New Delhi
Mumbai Thar and XUV 700 SUV maker offered smaller discounts than its peers during the festivals
H
omegrown electric

A
lkem Laboratories Ltd two-wheeler maker
has announced the Nehal Chaliawala M&M shares closed 1.7% higher at Ola Electric will need
acquisition of Adroit [email protected] ₹3,193 on the National Stock Exchange to consistently sell 50,000
Biomed, a dermatology and Mumbai on Friday, compared to a 0.2% dip in units every month in order to
cosmetology-focused com- the benchmark index Nifty 50. The achieve profitability, its

M
pany, and Bombay Ortho ahindra & Mahindra’s earnings were disclosed during trading founder and chief executive
Industries, a medical technol- (M&M) bet on premium hours. officer (CEO) Bhavish Aggar-
ogy firm, in two separate deals. sport utility vehicles At ₹23,391 crore, the automotive wal said on Friday.
The acquisitions will (SUVs) and the high department accounted for nearly Speaking at an analyst call
strengthen Alkem’s presence demand for its SUVs three-fifths of the company’s consoli- after the company’s December
in high-growth therapeutic helped it better negotiate the margin dated revenue. The farm equipment quarter earnings, Aggarwal Ola Electric CEO Bhavish
segments and enhance its man- squeeze that its peers faced during the business brought in ₹9,537 crore in said that Ola Electric sold Aggarwal BLOOMBERG
ufacturing capabilities in the October-December quarter. revenues. The rest came from other 25,000 units in January, with
orthopedic implant space. The Thar and XUV 700 SUV maker services businesses, including listed which he claimed that the December quarter, “was due to
Alkem will acquire Adroit gave smaller discounts than its peers companies Tech Mahindra and Mahin- company had recaptured its our investment in service cen-
Biomed for ₹140 crore, payable during the festival period around dra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. market leadership in terms of tre and dealership experiences,
in two tranches, with the trans- November, which usually sees the The company reported a consoli- volumes. as well as one-time investing in
action expected to close by 1 highest automotive sales in India, its dated top line of ₹41,470 crore, which Responding to queries from a no-questions-asked warranty
April. Adroit, which reported a top management told media on Friday. was 17% more year-on-year. Consoli- analysts, Aggarwal said, “We availability scheme we offered
turnover of ₹53.55 crore in The company also hiked prices for two dated profit grew by a fifth to ₹3,181 are looking at a monthly sales our customers to build market
FY24, will help Alkem expand of its popular models—XUV 3X0 and crore. figure of 50,000 units in order goodwill.”
its dermatology and cosmetol- XUV 700—at the beginning of the Jejurikar said the company has a to break even in terms of To be sure, Ola Electric has
ogy portfolio, market reach, quarter, further securing its margins. long waiting period for its five-door Ebitda (earnings before inter- faced considerable criticism
and omnichannel presence. “We did not have to discount too Thar and XUV 3X0 models, adding that est, taxes, depreciation and due to widespread customer
The amount of ₹140 will be much through the festival season and they were working on increasing the amortization) from our auto complaints about poor service
paid in “two tranches, subject post that, as well, because a large part of production of these vehicles. The XUV sales. To do this, we are diver- centre experience. In Septem-
to adjustment on account of our portfolio is on a very strong 3X0 has also found consumer accept- sifying our portfolio by simul- ber last year, Mint reported
debt & debt like items and demand pipeline,” said Rajesh Jejuri- M&M hiked prices for the XUV 3X0 and XUV 700 at the beginning of the quarter. MINT ance in South Africa, where about 700 taneously selling that Ola’s service
change in normalized working kar, executive director & CEO (Auto units are sold every month, accounting two generations Ola Electric’s centre backlogs
capital as on closing date and and Farm Sector), M&M Ltd. on-year. One basis point is 0.01%. vehicles, including SUVs, trucks and for half of M&M’s total sales volume in of our EV scooters stock price lost had risen to
other appropriate closing M&M reported a 15.4% Ebitda mar- Market leaders Maruti Suzuki and three-wheelers, and 120,000 tractors the country. to grow margin about 2% on 80,000 customer
adjustments,” Alkem said in a gin during the quarter on a standalone Hyundai Motor India reported Q3 during the quarter, both numbers The company sits in a sweet spot and volume. We Friday to settle at complaints per
statement accompanying its basis, which includes its core automo- Ebitda margins of 11.6% and 11.3%, nearly a fifth more year-on-year. where it can benefit from several mar- are also expecting
December quarter earnings.
₹70 apiece on the month.
tive and farm equipment business. The respectively, which were 10 and 130 “Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. ket trends. These include the ever- the battery cell On Friday, Ola
Alkem will also acquire Bom- company reported an Ebitda margin of basis points lower on-year. reported strong financial results for the strong consumer preference for SUVs manufacturing BSE—only 8% off Electric’s shares
bay Ortho Industries for ₹147 14.2% in the corresponding quarter last M&M’s standalone revenue grew quarter, with profitability metrics sur- and added consumer spending as the division to start its all-time low lost about 2% to
crore, payable in four tranches, year and 18.2% during the prece- government rationalizes direct tax reaping us bene- settle at ₹70
with the deal set to be com- ding quarter. Ebitda is a popular GRIP & GROWTH for the salaried class from April. fits in terms of apiece on the
pleted by 30 June. Established performance metric that stands for StoxBox's Shetty said the rural expanding our operating mar- BSE—only 8% off its all-time
in 2021, Bombay Ortho special- earnings before interest, tax, THE company MAHINDRA sold IN Q3, carmakers’ M&M shares closed demand for farm equipment was gin, and finally, the motorbike low. The company has been
izes in hip and knee implants, a depreciation and amortization. reported a 15.4% over 245,000 margins suffered 1.7% higher at ₹3,193 also optimistic, and demand is category will expand in terms under pressure due to service
Ebitda margin during vehicles and due to slowing on the NSE on Friday
key segment in India's growing Carmakers’ margins suffered the quarter on a 120,000 tractors demand, pile-up of while benchmark expected to pick up as the sowing of sales through this calendar centre issues. Last August, Ola
medical device industry. during the third fiscal quarter end- standalone basis during the quarter cars at showrooms Nifty 50 fell 0.2% season draws to a close. year. Overall, we expect this to Electric debuted on the stock
For the December quarter, ing 31 December due to slowing "As Mahindra & Mahindra lever- help our gross margin expand, exchanges on par with its issue
Alkem reported a 6% year-on- demand and a pile-up of cars at ages these trends and capitalizes on and maintain our market lead- price of ₹76, before more than
year increase in net profit to showrooms, forcing them to offer dis- 20% year-on-year to ₹30,964 crore passing market expectations,” said the growing interest in sustainable ership despite the competitive doubling to a high of ₹157.53
₹641 crore, though profit counts. during the period under review. Profit Sagar Shetty, research analyst at Stox- vehicles, it is poised to drive revenue industry right now.” per share within a month. Its
declined 9% sequentially. Rev- Tata Motors reported an Ebitda mar- rose 19% to ₹2,964 crore. Ebitda, at Box. “Margins were healthy, boosted by growth and maintain profitability in He also said that expanding stock price has since declined
enue stood at ₹3,467 crore, up gin of 13.7% for its consolidated busi- ₹4,810 crore, was 32% more year-on- the farm equipment segment and the coming quarters,” he said. additional expenditure, which significantly.
1.4% year-on-year but down ness during the period under review, year. strong demand for the XUV 3X0 and For an extended version of this story, contributed to the company’s For an extended version of
2.3% quarter-on-quarter. which was 60 basis points lower year- The company sold over 245,000 five-door Thar.” go tolivemint,com. sequentially higher losses in the this story, go to livemint,com.

Britannia kicks off more price hikes

Suneera Tandon quarter of FY5. In percentage largest importer of palm oil.
[email protected] terms, it will be about 2%, but The rise in import duty
New Delhi by the end of the fiscal year, we impacted makers of packaged
will be at 4-4.5% price hike.” foods as well as soaps. “There

B
iscuits and snacks maker “In Q3, we've already taken was a feeling that palm oil
Britannia Industries Ltd a 2% hike; in Q4, it is going to import duty hike will be tem-
has started increasing be another 2.5%. Then, in Q1 of porary; now we know it's not
prices to counter the surge in next fiscal, it'will be another going away,” he added.
the cost of key ingredients like 1.5%. Cumulatively, it will be a The move follows other
palm oil and cocoa. The indus- 6-6.5% price packaged con-
try was experiencing inflation- increase," he said. The company’s sumer goods
deflation, said Varun Berry, Various raw consolidated makers warning
vice chairman and managing materials used by net profit rose of another round
director, Britannia, during the the company are 4.8% sequentially of price hikes
December quarter earnings Britannia expects a cumulative far costlier than a across products
to ₹582 crore
call on Friday. 6-6.5% price hike till the June year ago. For such as soaps,
"Towards the beginning of quarter of FY26. MINT instance, palm oil in the December body wash and
the year, it seemed the envi- prices have quarter tea, following vol-
ronment will not be inflation- solidated net profit to ₹582 increased 43%, atility in com-
ary, and we had taken pretty crore on a 6.5% rise in consoli- flour prices are up modity prices,
steep price increases towards dated sales to ₹4,463 crore. 4% and cocoa prices are up by especially crude palm oil.
last year. So, we started to cor- The firm increased prices by a massive 103% year-on-year. Hindustan Unilever Ltd
rect that, and as we were doing 2% in the quarter and expects a In September, India raised raised prices in the December
that, there was a huge inflation cumulative 6-6.5% price hike import duty on refined palm quarter, with the management
that came at us. We have now till the June quarter of FY26 as oil and crude by 20 percentage warning of more price
started to take price increases." cost of key input materials, points. Effective duty, includ- increases. Similarly, Nestlé
On Thursday, the Good Day wheat, palm oil and cocoa, ing additional cess, now stand India too warned of pricing
and Tiger biscuits producer remain high. at 27.5% for crude palm oil and actions within its coffee port-
reported 4.8% sequential jump “So, our total price increase for refined oil it is at folio following high inflation
in its December-quarter con- is about ₹100 crore in the third 35.75%. India is the world’s on the commodity.

Airtel to steer clear of GPU-as-a-service

Gulveen Aulakh taining own GPUs. The service
[email protected] is being provided by rival Jio
New Delhi Platforms and other telcs like
Tata Communications Ltd,

I
ndia's second-largest telco besides data centre companies
Bharti Airtel will steer clear such as E2E Networks, Ctrls
of offering graphics pro- Datacenters and Yotta Data
cessing unit or GPU-as-a-ser- Services.
vice in near term and, instead, According to Vittal, Airtel is
look at scaling up its data cen- set to launch pan-India fixed
tres, vice-chairman and man- wireless access (FWA) service
aging director Gopal Vittal on standalone technology or
said during the third-quarter high-speed internet, but will
earnings call on Friday. do so when needed. “We have
“The GPU-as-a-service, we tested the standalone solution
have currently decided to park Airtel is all set to launch pan-India FWA service on standalone for FWA fully. We have proven
that because things are chang- technology or high-speed internet, says MD Gopal Vittal. it. We are fully ready to launch.
ing very fast in that space, the We can do it tomorrow morn-
cost of the quality of the chips well, and we've decided that cloud computing services that ing if we want to... but will do it
and the efficiency of the chips. we'll not be an early mover in give access to GPU on demand at the point that we need to.”
Also, the money that you make GPU-as-a-service, but AI data for workloads such as machine Over the past two quarters,
on GPU-as-a-service, a lot of it centres. The data centre busi- learning, deep learning, gam- it has improved FWA availabil-
is dependent on sophisticated ness remains a focus for us. We ing, video editing and high- ity, expanding it to cover over
work around how you manage are trying to see how we can performance computing. 2,000 cities. About 1.9 million
those workloads," Vittal said, expand it.” Airtel’s data centre Users can rent GPUs from a fiber-to-home or home passes
giving the rationale behind the business runs under Nxtra cloud provider, and use them are added each quarter, bring-
company’s decision. Data Ltd, which is among the to accelerate their workloads, ing total home pass count to 35
“We've done multiple work- leading Indian players. that can be more cost-effective million. Jio is also aggressively
shops to understand the space GPU-as-a-service refers to than purchasing and main- pushing its FWA service.
 New Delhi, MUMBAI, BENGALURU, KOLKATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE*, LUCKNOW* VOL. 19 NO. 35 Rs. 10.00 . Price with Hindustan Times Rs. 15.50 18 PAGES

Saturday, February 8, 2025

Ola needs to sell 50,000 units a Lower festival demand fails to

livemint.com month to be profitable uP17 slow Mahindra in Q3 uP17

SENSEX 77,860.19 197.97 NIFTY 23,559.95 43.40 DOLLAR ₹87.43 ₹0.15 EURO ₹90.85 ₹0.13 OIL $75.28 $0.54 POUND ₹108.93 ₹0.11

RBI trims repo by 25 bps; Gaekwad gets a

chance, Burmans’
DON’T MISS
HT

sees trade, weather risks offer stays open

Growth-inflation dynamics open up policy space for MPC to support growth: RBI Neha Joshi
[email protected]
MUMBAI Cabinet okays bill to replace I-T
Gopika Gopakumar & from 6.6%, pointing to potential Act, likely to be tabled soon
first cut
T
Jocelyn Fernandes risks from geopolitical tensions, he Supreme Court on The Union cabinet on Friday approved
protectionist trade policies, volatil- Friday asked Florida- a bill to replace the more than six-
MUMBAI RBI last cut repo by 40 bps to 4% in May 2020. Then, it raised the rate ity in international commodity pri- based Digvijay “Danny” decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961, with a
seven times, taking it to 6.50%, where it has stayed since Feb 2023 ces, and financial market uncer- Gaekwad to deposit ₹600 new, simpler and easy-to-understand law,

N
early five years since Repo rate (in %) Year-on-year consumer price inflation (in %) tainties. In 2025-26, it expects crore by 12 February to prove as part of the government's regulatory
the last cut in the mid- India’s economic growth to mar- his bona fides regarding his reforms. >P16
7 8
dle of a pandemic 7.59 ginally improve to 6.7%. planned counter-offer for
lockdown, the central “The MPC also noted that though Religare Enterprises Ltd.
bank on Friday low- 6
7 growth is expected to recover from The apex court also Britannia kicks off another
6.25
ered the benchmark repo rate, tak- 5.22 the low of Q2 of 2024-25, it is much directed keeping the Burman round of price hikes
ing advantage of easing inflation to 5.15 6 below that of last year. These family’s ongoing offer for Rel- SC has directed to keep Britannia Industries Ltd has started increasing
spur economic growth. The 5 growth-inflation dynamics open up igare open until the with the Burmans’ offer for Religare prices to counter the surge in the cost of key
Reserve Bank of India’s six-mem- 5
policy space for the MPC to support Securities and Exchange open until Sebi’s decision. MINT ingredients like palm oil and cocoa. The
ber monetary policy committee growth, while remaining focussed Board of India (Sebi) decides industry was experiencing shifts between
(MPC) voted unanimously to cut on aligning inflation with the tar- on Gaekwad’s plan. A two- halt the Burman family’s open deflation and inflation, said Varun Berry, vice
4
the repo rate by 25 basis points 4 get,” said Malhotra. judge bench led by Chief Jus- offer and instead consider chairman and managing director. >P17
(bps) to 6.25% and maintain the While inflation has been a major tice Sanjiv Khanna said if Gae- Gaekwad's competing plan.
policy stance at ‘neutral’. 3 3 concern affecting India’s growth kwad does not deposit the They asked for Burmans’ offer
In a relief for lenders, the central 1 Jan 2020 7 Feb 2025 Jan 2020 Dec 2024 prospects, chiefly because of rising said amount, the order will to remain open so that com- Alkem Laboratories acquires
bank deferred two key regulations Source: Bloomberg food prices, it has been moderating automatically be set aside, peting offers could be consid- Adroit Biomed, Bombay Ortho
by a year—one asking banks to set recently, finally making room for a and Burman’s open offer will ered. If the open offer closes, Alkem Laboratories Ltd has announced the
aside more of liquid assets to meet MONEY MATTERS rate cut. India’s retail inflation close. The Burmans' offer for competing offers cannot be acquisition of Adroit Biomed, a
contingencies; and a draft rules on global financial Fy25 growth forecast rbi has deferred cooled to a four-month low of Religare was scheduled to end made. dermatology and cosmetology-focused
project finance. However, there market volatility can cut to 6.4% on trade, project finance, LCR 5.22% in December driven by eas- on Friday. Appearing for the Burman company, and Bombay Ortho Industries, a
were no fresh measures to augment hit growth, inflation global tensions norms by a year ing food prices. The government In an open offer, the acquir- family entities, senior advo- medical technology firm, in two separate
liquidity, disappointing a section of expects the economy to expand ing company gives existing cates Abhishek Manu Singhvi deals. >P17
market participants. SATISH KUMAR/MINT
6.4% in FY25, the lowest in four shareholders the option to and Mahesh Jethmalani
“Considering the existing Sanjay Malhotra told reporters December, governor Malhotra said years. sell their shares and exit the argued that Gaekwad’s coun-
growth-inflation dynamics, the after announcing the rate decision. the MPC will continue to remain The rate-setting committee company if they do not want teroffer came after a delay of Airtel to scale up data centre
MPC, while continuing with the The rupee strengthened by 15 watchful, given the excessive vola- maintained its inflation forecast at to remain invested under the 18 months. They claimed that biz, skip GPU-as-a-service
neutral stance, felt that a less paise to 87.43 against the dollar, tility in global financial markets, 4.8% for this financial year, easing new ownership. the two petitions were filed at
India's second-largest telco Bharti Airtel will
restrictive monetary policy is more while the yield on 10-year govern- uncertainties around global trade Sapna Govind Rao, a Relig- the behest of Rashmi Saluja steer clear of offering graphics processing
appropriate at the current juncture. ment bonds rose 5 bps, and the policies, and adverse weather TURN TO PAGE 16 are shareholder based in Bang- who did not want to be unit or GPU-as-a-service in near term and,
The MPC will take a decision in Sensex closed nearly 200 points events, which pose risks to growth kok, and Gaekwad, had sepa- removed as Religare chair- instead, look at scaling up its data centres,
each of its future meetings based on down. and inflation outlook. What the rate cut means for
rately approached the top person, and was trying to stall vice-chairman and MD Gopal Vittal said
a fresh assessment of the macroe- In his first monetary policy The MPC also lowered the banks, borrowers >P15
court against a Delhi High during the Q3 earnings call on Friday. >P17
conomic outlook,” RBI governor review since taking charge in growth forecast for FY25 to 6.4% Court order which refused to TURN TO PAGE 15

SBI sees margin squeeze, but Love for luxury turns India
there’s solace in asset quality into Rado’s biggest market
Manish Joshi Though core fee income Varuni Khosla growth in business from those
[email protected] showed a healthy growth of [email protected] countries as well,” he told Mint.
16% y-o-y to ₹7,267 crore, its NEW DELHI Rado’s ambitions in India are

I
ndia’s largest lender, State contribution to core net reflective of the country’s

S
Bank of India (SBI), contin- income, i.e. net interest wiss luxury watchmaker growing individual
ues to grapple with narrow- income and fee income, Rado is targeting double- wealth. India’s count of billion-
ing margins as the rising cost remains low at 15%. Excluding digit growth in India with aires rose to 185 in 2024,
of deposits takes a toll. the provision for employee the country emerging as its No. according to the latest Billion-
The rebranding aligns with the company’s growing focus on Investors who hoped for sta- costs, core pre-provisioning 1 market by value, as well- aire Ambitions Report of UBS,
quick commerce, restaurant supplies and events platform bilization in SBI’s net interest operating profit (PPoP) fell 5% heeled consumers in a nation making the country home to
margin (NIM) in the December y-o-y to ₹23,449 crore. reputed for its thrift no longer the third-largest group of indi-

What Zomato‘s quarter (Q3FY25) have been

disappointed. The bank’s NIM
fell 21 basis points (bps) year- SBI’s net interest margin fell
Advance and deposit
growth for the bank stood at
13.5% and 9.8% y-o-y. The
shy away from indulging them-
selves.
India’s overall consumption Adrian Bosshard, global chief
viduals with over $1 billion in
assets.
“Why I say the (Indian) mar-

renaming means
on-year (y-o-y) and 13 bps 21 bps year-on-year in the bank is not concerned about growth has slowed due to stub- executive, Rado. ket is growing is because we are
quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to December quarter. MINT the gap between advance born inflation, prompting the not only selling entry price pie-
3.01% on a standalone basis. growth rate and deposit government to put more ble-digit growth here this year ces but also very premium pie-
It essentially reflects the The Reserve Bank of India has growth rate as it is comfortably money in the hands of common as India is now our number one ces in India,” Bosshard said.

for biz, investors pressure on deposit costs. cut the repo rate by 25 bps on
Term deposits were up 13.5% Friday. At SBI’s Q3 analysts
y-o-y to ₹30.5 trillion, but meet held on Thursday, there
placed in terms of credit-de-
posit ratio at 78% at Q3-end.
SBI’s management high-
citizens by easing taxes. But
affluent Indians have been
splurging on high-end luxury,
country by value even though
at the industry-wide global
level, India is about 21,” said
“High-end pieces with full
ceramics, diamonds, etc., are
also being heavily appreciated
Sowmya Ramasubramanian business,” said Anupriya Sax- CASA was up by only 4.5% as were queries posed on the lighted a strong pipeline of including on fashion, cars Adrian Bosshard, Rado’s global in (India). There is promising
[email protected] ena, partner at JMJA & Associ- customers impact of poten- corporate loan approvals and real estate. chief executive, who is visiting growth in this market, and we
BENGALURU ates Llp. a corporate consult- shifted saving m Mark to tial rate cuts on worth ₹4.8 trillion, with the For Rado, owned by The India this week. see purchases up to $5,000 a
ancy. account balan- M a r k e t SBI’s NIM. majority earmarked for fresh Swatch Group, India’s rise as a “Our brand has had a unique watch as well in India.”

Z
omato Ltd’s decision to Zomato will now be free to ces to fixed The manage- capital expenditure. priority market also coincides presence for the last 60-70 Rado watches cost between
carve out a distinct dabble in experimental pro- deposits to take advantage of ment expects a 25 bps cut in This is a crucial macroeco- with the slowdown in China’s years in India, which we have $1,000 and $5,000
identity for its parent jects under its different busi- higher interest rates. repo rate to cause a fall of just 3 nomic development, address- luxury market. been able to grow beyond the (₹90,000-₹4.4 lakh) in India
entity will allow it greater free- nesses without risky bets in The bank’s endeavour is to bps in their NIM as repo rate ing concerns over sluggish “The journey of the Indian industry figures. Also, when Its main watches in India
dom in exploring its ambitions one brand impacting another, maintain net interest margin linked loans stand at 28% of market has been good for our Indian travellers travel interna-
without putting all its eggs in as well as gain more flexibility at 3% on a sustainable basis. SBI’s loan portfolio. TURN TO PAGE 15 brand. We are targeting a dou- tionally, we are seeing good TURN TO PAGE 15
one basket, while providing in managing intellectual prop-
investors more granular erty and future acquisitions,
insights into the company, say experts said.
industry experts.
Four years after Facebook
rebranded as Meta Platforms
“Operating multiple busi-
nesses under one umbrella will
help in streamlining various
The drug industry is having its own DeepSeek moment
Inc. and a decade after Goo- business models as also to
gle’s parent became Alphabet open other vistas for the com- David Wainer remarkable: Summit had cases, China has moved up the can conduct clinical trials at a
Inc., Zomato on Thursday pany to explore,” said Shiv [email protected] licensed the drug just two value chain, from manufactur- fraction of what they would
announced that its board had Sapra, partner at corporate law years earlier from a little ing goods to becoming a more cost in the U.S., while recent

T
approved the renaming of its firm Kochhar & Co. “This can he biotech industry’s known Chinese biotech called sophisticated hub for innova- changes in the Chinese regula-
corporate identity as Eternal aid in a diversified portfolio DeepSeek moment Akeso. tion, competing in industries tory system have streamlined
Ltd. It now needs shareholder through expansions into other came last fall. The news added billions of once dominated by the U.S. and accelerated the approval
approval for the name-change. product lines.” That is when Summit Ther- dollars to Summit’s market There are several reasons for process to get a study started.
Zomato’s rebranding aligns In a letter to shareholders, apeutics, backed by billionaire capitalization, catapulting it the industry’s growth. For one, For now, much of China’s
with the food-delivery giant’s Zomato chief executive officer Bob Duggan, announced that into biotech’s upper ranks many top scientists trained in biotech innovation is incre-
growing focus on its quick- Deepinder Goyal said the deci- its drug had outperformed despite having no approved the U.S. have returned to mental rather than ground-
commerce brand Blinkit, res- sion stemmed from the com- Merck’s drug. While China over the past decade, breaking. Many companies
taurant supplies business pany’s broader vision of build- block- Summit’s fueling the emergence of bio- focus on improving existing
Hyperpure, and events plat- ing an “enduring institution” buster drug still tech hubs around Shanghai. drugs—tweaking the chemis-
form District, reflecting a that lasts beyond its current therapy h a s n ’ t And just as DeepSeek built a try, enhancing efficacy or dif-
broader vision for long-term leadership. Keytruda in a head-to-head received U.S. regulatory A decade from now, many drugs hitting the U.S. market will have formidable chatbot—allegedly ferentiating them in key ways.
growth, industry executives “We shape our institutions, lung-cancer trial. Keytruda, a approval, the results were a originated in Chinese labs. AFP on a lean budget with limited But Chinese innovation is
said. and then they shape us. But $30 billion-a-year immuno- watershed moment for the access to semiconductors— steadily improving and is
“While the Zomato app and institutions are not just legal therapy juggernaut, is the industry, underscoring the In 2020, less than 5% of large DealForma. A decade from Chinese biotech companies already starting to disrupt the
brand remain unchanged, the entities, groups of people, or bestselling drug in the pharma competitive threat emanating pharmaceutical transactions now, many drugs hitting the are also scrappier, capitalizing U.S. drug-development eco-
new name at the company physical structures; they are industry and has long domi- from China. worth $50 million or more U.S. market will have origi- on a highly skilled, lower-cost system. For decades, the U.S.
level indicates diversification also the mental models and nated the market. So the pros- China’s rise in biotech has upfront involved China. By nated in Chinese labs. workforce that can move biotech industry has thrived in
and possibly future expan- pect of a superior competitor been years in the making, but 2024, that number had surged China’s biotech boom mir- faster.
sions beyond its core food TURN TO PAGE 15 was seismic. Even more it is now impossible to ignore. to nearly 30%, according to rors its rise in tech. In both Additionally, companies TURN TO PAGE 15