India Perspectives Nov.2011

INDIAVOL 25 NO. 8 NOVEMBER 2011

PERSPECTIVES

II NN SS II DD EE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVESIndia-Afghanistan Ties

TRIBUTERemembering Nehru

CULTUREWedding Bazaar

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India and Afghanistan have a shared history,so it is natural for the two countries to bepartners in development today. Visits byPrime Minister Manmohan Singh and

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai earlier this yearjust confirms how important Afghanistan is toIndia. One of the reasons for this importance isAfghanistan’s strategic geographical position onthe world map. Says Gautam Mukhopadhaya,India’s ambassador to Afghanistan: “A stableand economically robust Afghanistan is criticalfor the stability of the region.”

Dignitaries from Afghanistan came onreciprocal visits. President Hamid Karzai, whovisited earlier in February and later in October,was one of them. A historic agreement onstrategic partnership between Afghanistan andIndia – first agreement by the former with anycountry – was signed. The agreementreinforced the strong, vibrant and multi-faceted relations between the two countriesand formalised a framework for cooperationin various areas. They include political andsecurity cooperation, trade and economiccooperation, capacity development andeducation, and social, cultural, civil society andpeople-to-people relations.

During his visit this May, the Indian Prime Minister announced an increase of

` 24.5 million assistance in the present level of almost ` 73.5 billion. This is a significantcontribution and a result of India’s desire tosee peace and stability in Afghanistan.

As a result of Operation Enduring Freedom,Afghanistan saw the ouster of the Talibanregime and the extent to which the country hasbeen ravaged came to the fore. India was oneof the first countries to lend a helping hand torebuild the country. From roads, power stations,schools, hospitals to assistance in agriculture,education, and telecommunication, India hastaken up innumerable projects in various partsof the country. All the projects are undertakenin partnership with the Afghan government, intotal alignment with the Afghanistan NationalDevelopment Strategy and with focus on localownership of assets.

In 2009, India completed the Zaranj-Delaram highway, located near the Iranianborder. The 220-km-long road connects Zaranjto the Kandahar-Herat highway. The road willhelp regional cooperation by encouraging tradeand transit through the Iranian port ofChabahar. A mammoth project and a matter of pride, the highway involved over 330engineers and workers from India andAfghanistan. The road was built at a cost of ` 7.3 billion. Says Inder Pal Khosla, former

INDIA PERSPECTIVES � NOVEMBER 201136

India has played a major role in reconstructing Afghanistanand rehabilitating its citizens

TEXT: MEENAKSHI KUMAR

Being a Good

Friend

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GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

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The statistics are staggering. An estimated 20 million people — something like thecombined populations of New York, London and Paris — get married in India everyyear. With the country witnessing as many as 10 million marriages in any given 12months, it is no surprise that the industry which has sprung up around them is worth

an astounding `1.9 trillion. The annual sale of gold touches 40 tons, all because the preciousmetal is a traditional gift to Indian brides. Even the bridal henna market is worth ` 50 billion.Financial pundits estimate that on an average a person in India spends 20 per cent of his/herlife savings on a wedding, a number that spells money for apparel retailers, decorators, caterers,travel agents, event managers, wedding planners, not to speak of bangle sellers.

Rich or poor, Indians across faiths and regions pull out all the stops when it comes to awedding. The buzzwords are colour, tradition and enjoyment. Festivities involve the extendedfamily and carry on for several days. There is a ceremony that marks the applying of henna toa bride’s hands and feet, one that is devoted to the application of oil and turmeric paste to theface and hands of the bride as well as the groom, one that notes the setting out of thebridegroom’s procession and, of course, the ones that are part of the religious rituals.

All weddings in India — Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian or Parsi — have two aspects, culturaland religious. The cultural component is an example of unity in diversity. In Kerala, a Christianbride will marry in a church and a Hindu one in a temple, but both will receive a goldneckpiece, called a thaali, from the bridegroom. And henna nights are popular among Muslim,Sikh and Hindu brides. These are just examples that underscore the ties of food, music andsocial mores that bind people of different religions and regions in the country.

November 14 marks the birthday of India’s first prime minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Heleft an indelible imprint on India’s foreign policy and this is reflected in a special feature thatpays tribute to Panditji through images that capture some key moments in our history. Alsoenjoy our features on adventure tourism and Gujarati cuisine. As always we look forward toyour feedback; do keep writing in.

With this issue, India Perspectives also moves towards an e-magazine format that enablesus to enrich the content with music, photographs, video and additional resources. Since wecan’t keep up with the growing demand for the print edition of the magazine, we hope youwill tell your friends to take a look at the electronic version at www.indiaperspectives.in

Navdeep Suri

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EDITORIAL NOTE

NOVEMBER 2011 � INDIA PERSPECTIVES

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INDIA THIS MONTH NOVEMBER-DECEMBER

2011

December 9-16International FilmFestival KeralaIn its 16th year, thefestival has an exclusivecompetition sectionrestricted to filmsproduced or co-producedin Asia, Africa and Latin America.Where: Trivandrum,Kerala

December 15-January 9Chennai Dance andMusic Festival Two thousand Carnaticmusicians and dancerswill perform in over 300 concerts inauditoriums, temples and heritage buildings all over the city. Where: Chennai

November 23-December 3International FilmFestivalThis is one of the mostpopular film festivals inAsia, now in its 42ndyear. The best film will be awarded the GoldenPeacock and a cash prize of `4 million (USD 90,000).Where: Panjim, Goa

December 1-7Hornbill FestivalThe annual extravaganzais a tribute to the state’stribal heritage. Eveningsare enlivened by rockconcerts while folk dances and songsdominate the days. Where: Kohima, Nagaland

November 21-30Sangai FestivalHighlights are fashionand cultural shows, rockconcerts and a chance tosavour local cuisines.Where: Imphal, Manipur

December 9-12Tansen SamarohDedicated to classicalmusician Tansen, itcomprises night-longsessions of Indianclassical music. The venue is the place where the legendlies buried. Where: TansenMemorial, Gwalior

October 31-November 15Delhi International Arts FestivalThis year, the annual eventcelebrates the capital’scentenary. Artists from 28 countries will take partin the gala event. Theopening ceremony will bean international tribute toRabindranath Tagore at the Purana Quila.Where: Delhi

December 17-21Goa Arts and LiteraryFestivalThe second editioncoincides with the goldenjubilee of Goa’sindependence. The focus will be on Goaand its diaspora.Where: Panjim, Goa

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November 2011 � VOL 25 No. 8/2011

NOVEMBER 2011

COVER PHOTO: A HINDU WEDDING RITUALPHOTOGRAPH: IMAGESBAZAAR / COVER DESIGN: BIPIN KUMAR

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INDIAPERSPECTIVES

Culture: The Biggest Show on Earth 6

Profile: The Compassionate Campaigners 20

Art: Larger than Life 22

Photo Feature: Prime Portraits 26

Regional Relations: SAARC 32

Global Perspectives: Being a Good Friend 36

Cuisine: Balance of Flavours 40

Reviews:

Exhibition: Birdwatching on Canvas 44

Film: Path to Discovery 45

Verbatim: Nandita Das 46

EEddiittoorr:: Navdeep SuriAAssssiissttaanntt EEddiittoorr:: Abhay Kumar

MMEEDDIIAA TTRRAANNSSAASSIIAA TTEEAAMM

EEddiittoorr--iinn--CChhiieeff:: Maneesha Dube

CCrreeaattiivvee DDiirreeccttoorr:: Bipin Kumar

DDeesskk:: Urmila Marak, Swati Bhasin

EEddiittoorriiaall CCoooorrddiinnaattoorr:: Kanchan Rana

DDeessiiggnn:: Vikas Verma (Sr. Visualiser), Ajay Kumar (Sr. Designer), Sujit Singh

PPrroodduuccttiioonn:: Sunil Dubey (DGM), Ri tesh Roy (Sr. Manager)Brijesh K. Juyal (Pre-Press Operator)

CChhaaiirrmmaann:: J.S. Uberoi

PPrreessiiddeenntt:: Xavier Collaco

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India Perspectives is published every month in Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali,English, French, German, Hindi, Italian,Pashto, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Sinhala, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu andVietnamese. Views expressed in the articles are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Ministry of External Affairs.

This edition is published for the Ministry ofExternal Affairs by Navdeep Suri, Joint Secretary, Public Diplomacy Division,New Delhi, 140 ‘A’ Wing, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001.Telephones: 91-11-23389471, 91-11-23388873, Fax: 91-11-23385549

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THRILL TRAILIndia has many options — from scubadiving to wildlife safaris – for theadrenaline junkie

ADVENTURE

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The wedding season in India is in full swing and soonenough the newspapers will report – as they do everyyear – on the number of weddings scheduled for ‘themost auspicious day’. In a big city like Delhi, the

number on this particular day will cross 15,000. Like the capital,every city, town and corner of the country will have a shortageof venues, a huge demand for caterers, dizzying prices forflowers, a mad rush to book beauticians and hair stylists, last-minute changes and hysteria at the dressmakers, and – oh,definitely – traffic jams caused by the wedding processions.

Rich or poor, Indians across faiths and regions pull out allthe stops when it comes to a wedding. No part of India isimmune to the frenzy that weddings bring in their wake. Like amassive juggernaut, the single-largest social phenomenon andbehemoth industry, gets larger by the year, spawning morebusiness opportunities, more related functions, more style andeven more chutzpah. It’s the biggest, grandest show on earth.For the parents of the bride and the bridegroom, it is their socialouting – an event they will strive to accomplish to the best oftheir ability in their lifetime, and one that they will be known byfor the rest of their lives.

The Indian wedding has spawned television shows,magazines, matrimonial websites, wedding planners andenough people who claim expert knowledge because theIndian wedding is like no other. Rituals change not just amongpeople of different faiths or among various communities, butevery few hundred miles. A photographer working on a book onIndian weddings is at his wit’s end because some marriageshappen during the day, others in the middle of the night; atplaces, the bride walks behind the groom, in others, she has tobe carried (for a long, long haul) by her brothers; the Rajputceremony is an all-women’s affair; royal weddings have all therazzmatazz of exotic, medieval India caught in a time warp. But,increasingly, in large parts of the country, weddings areextended family events, with celebrations that go on for days.

It isn’t just the scale of the wedding bazaar – calculated atan insane `1.9 trillion (a sum that could well be a reasonable-sized country’s annual budget) and growing at 25 per centannually – that is a phenomenon but the manner of themarriage as well. In no other country, or culture, are weddings‘arranged’ the way they are in India. Until some decades ago,this was the task of persons whose sole purpose in life was to

There’s nothing like the Indian wedding – glamour, chaos and entertainment included

CULTURE

TEXT: KISHORE SINGH

ShowTHE BIGGEST

ON EARTH


Most Indian brides and grooms areweighed down by brocade and gold

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match alliances. There were no family secrets they didn’t know.Family incomes, an indiscreet liaison, illnesses, inheritances,they were complicit in everything, no wonder they unearthedalliances that stood the test of ties and time.

But with increased urbanisation and more nuclear families,these matchmakers have been replaced by matrimonialsupplements in newspapers – which are still going strong – and,more recently, websites. Now, families can find grooms andbrides to fit exact requirements: the right community, height,weight and six-figure salary, city, region, country, choice of cuisine(‘vegetarian, no-onions, no-garlic’), choice of employment(‘schoolteacher preferred’), down to second-time spouses (‘firstmarriage not consummated’).

Not so long ago even engaged couples could not meetwithout a chaperone, with urbanisation and more and morewomen joining the workforce the rules are being relaxed. A stepin the direction of giving people complete freedom to choosetheir mate is trendily referred to as dating-for-marriage. Oncethe families have agreed to the match (it would be deceiving toimply the ‘boy’ and the ‘girl’ have a say in this choice, the ‘yes,of course’ is a right reserved for the head of each family), it’stime to pull out all stops. While the engaged couple (theengagement itself is only a step lower than the wedding interms of its scope and scale) begin ‘dating’ each other throughemails, text messages and late-night phone calls, sometimeseven meeting (if they’re lucky or brave enough), the family getson with the preparations.

There’s the venue to select, traditionally, the groom’s partygoes to the bride’s home for the ceremony, but with housesnow too small for dazzling wedding ceremonies, the choicecould be a five-star hotel, a neutral destination suitable for bothfamilies, an overseas location, a suburban resort, even a palace

or fort in a remote corner of the country. The date of thewedding itself requires negotiations unparalleled among thecomity of nations. The grandfather’s knee surgery, the kidbrother’s board examinations, the army uncle’s annual leave,the paternal aunt’s return from her pilgrimage – everythingmust be taken into account. Moreover, it should fall on anauspicious day according to the priests. Next: how many guestswill each family invite? Hundreds, definitely, but sometimesthousands, yes: they must be catered for, made to feel special,served, entertained and their curiosity over what the bride woreand the car the groom came in, satisfied.

Provided, of course, the groom has come in a car, and noton a white mare (conventionally) or a caparisoned elephant(increasingly the preferred choice). Then there is the task ofsearching for the wedding dress. In north India, it is a lehnga (askirt worn with a short blouse and long scarf) for the bride andan achkan (a long coat worn with fitted pants) for the groom.In south India, the bride wears a sari and the bridegroom a dhoti(an unstitched cloth wrapped around the legs). Clothes arealso needed for the functions before and after the big event.

The Indian wedding includes ceremonies like the mehendiwhen henna is applied to the hands and feet of the bride andgroom, sangeet (an evening of music and dance bothtraditional and contemporary), a tilak ceremony (the day thebride’s family brings gifts for the groom), sehrabandi (when aveil of flowers is tied to the groom just before the weddingprocession leaves for the bride’s house), haldi (when turmericpaste and oil are applied to the bride and groom by relatives),and then the West-inspired customs of a bridal shower, a henparty and a bachelor night. Gifts are given and taken – piles ofelaborate costumes, jewellery, everything for a household fromtableware to satin slippers, carpets and furniture, a car and once

The weddingVENUE COULD BE A FIVE-STAR

HOTEL, A RESORT OVERSEAS, A PALACE OR EVEN A FORT.

Fancy venues, elaborate menus, richclothes and lots of music — the wedding

bazaar adds up to `1.9 trillion

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enough to occupy jaded Indian guests. Royal, Hawaiian, Retro,Bollywood – these themes are now passé. Event managers arenow looking for something that’s more startling than ever before– it could be the court of King Louis IV, or one in the Mughalempire or, as I saw on a designer’s computer monitor, sets fromthe blockbuster Avatar. Couples are no longer content to go toUdaipur for their dream wedding – the newer, more excitingchoice is Mauritius or South Africa. The guests are flown there inchartered aircraft, complete with container-loads of materials thatwill go into building a set for the perfect Indian wedding event.

As for the food, guests and hosts are not truly satisfied withjust a choice of fantastic Indian food, or even its regionalvariations. Two years ago I attended a city hotel wedding wheretwenty-eight cuisines were on offer for dinner: Italian pastas andFrench sauces, Burmese khaw-swey and Thai curries, and alsoseafood platters, exotic cheeses and fruits, biryani and salan,Japanese sushi, Cambodian and Mongolian dishes… and loadsand loads of other stuff we were happy to look at but toostuffed to eat, and this was before the desserts!

The Big Fat Indian wedding is a musical with an ensembleof hundreds that gets bigger every year. Take out your brocadetunic, polish your gold buttons, order this season’s trendiestaccessories, the pile of wedding invitations (with theiraccompanying boxes of sweets) must be attended to. �

Watch Bandhan, a film on Indian weddings, at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Woh-C5uWdKo&feature=channel_video_title

even a helicopter. It seems there’s no end to the extravaganzathat is the Indian wedding.

The big weddings of corporate honchos and businessmagnates are as excessively reported as the hype theygenerate: the Mittals (of Arcelor fame) booked Versailles Palacein France – a first – as the venue for their daughter’s weddingand the diamond merchants of Surat evidently send outdiamonds and sometimes luxury cars as gifts to their invitedguests. Reportedly, Lalit Tanwar and Yogita Jaunapuria’s weddingnear Delhi, cost upwards of `1 billion; over 1,000 workers took40 days to decorate the venue and around 20,000 gueststurned up to watch the nuptials and feast on 100 dishes onoffer. For most Indians it’s Bollywood actors that make thewedding a big-ticket event. Their presence adds stardust toevenings already drenched in brocade and gold jewellery.

And so, complete with band, baaja (musical instruments),baaraat (groom’s wedding procession), the groom sets outamidst a blaze of lights and fireworks. The band and baja playpopular tunes to which everyone from eight to eighty dances onthe streets. Even strangers on the road shower blessings on thegroom as he rides his mare to win his bride in a show ofgaudiness and glitz. The glamour is reflected in the attire of allthose present. India’s fashion industry revolves around just oneseason – the wedding season (October-November to June)!Top-notch fashion designers such as J.J. Valaya, Rohit Bal, RituKumar strut their stuff on ramps all over the world, but it is thewedding trousseau that keeps them in business. The Indianbride is, perhaps, the most resplendent of brides anywhere inthe world, weighed down as she is by brocade and gold. TheIndian groom is no less a peacock.

Every year, wedding planners vie with each other to get a pieceof the business. Even the most spectacular weddings are not

SPLURGE FACTOR

The big fat Indian wedding just got biggerand fatter. The Indian wedding industry is

estimated at `1.9 trillion and is growing at 25 per cent per annum. The averagewedding cost is around `1.5 million and canreach `15 million. According to estimates, 20 million weddings are held every year inIndia. A person in India spends one fifth of histotal wealth accumulated in a lifetime on awedding ceremony this means a tremendousopportunity for associated businesses.Numbers that are mind boggling to say in the

least. Weddings comprise a whole gamut ofbusinesses ranging from jewellery, eventplanning, flower retailing, cinematography,fashion designing, beauticians, clothes,destinations, food, decorations and gifts.

Big designer names like SabyasachiMukherjee, Tarun Tahiliani, Deepika Govind,Manish Malhotra, Satya Paul and Ritu Kumarshowcase their bridal lines which are lappedup. Destination weddings in Indonesia,Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Greece, Monaco, theFrench Riviera, Penang and Langkawi inMalaysia are popular, the cost of luxuryEuropean destination weddings can go upto

`60-70 million whereas in closer locations like Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia they can range from `7.5 million to `20 million.According to industry experts, the gold anddiamond jewellery market in India is worth`600 billion. “An average of 30 to 40 grams of gold is spent in every marriage across the country and the total consumption of gold touches about 400 tonnes annually. The apparel market for weddings stands at`100 billion and the pandal (marquee) andvenue decoration market is worth another `100 billion. The hotel and other wedding-related market has been pegged at

`50 billion while the wedding invitation cardmarket has been estimated at `100 billion.Even bridal mehendi (henna) is big business,worth `50 billion. The annual market ofwedding dhol (drums), bands, parades withelephants, horses and camels and lighting isput at around `50 billion. The wedding cardmarket in India for the 20 million marriagesheld annually is worth `80 billion to `100 billion,” says Murugavel Janakiraman,founder-CEO, BharatMatrimony. The weddingindustry is certainly recession-proof.

—Bindu Gopal Rao

INDIA PERSPECTIVES � NOVEMBER 201110 NOVEMBER 2011 � INDIA PERSPECTIVES 11

(clockwise from extreme left) A Hindu wedding ritual; a Muslim nikah; a church ceremony; and a traditional Sikh Anand Karaj

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ADVENTURE


ThrillTRAIL

GOADivers will be amazed to see similarmarine life here as in the Maldives.Also, of interest is the presence ofwrecks of Spanish and PortugueseWorld War II ships. Grande Island is amajor diving site and for interestingshallow diving check out Malvan Shoal.

LAKSHADWEEPLakshadweep offers a thousand optionsto water sport enthusiasts. Divers canenjoy breathtaking views of corals inislands like Agatti while charminglagoons and marine life wait to bediscovered in Kalpeni and Kavaratti.

HAVELOCK ISLANDSThe waters surrounding the Andamanand Nicobar Islands have one of the

richest coral reef eco-systems in theworld. The best season for scuba divingis from December to April.

DEVBAGH, KARWAR BEACHDevbagh near Karwar beach inKarnataka has eight dive sites on itsislands like Kumaragarh, Anjudeep andSanyasi. Here, advanced scuba divingcourses are run by qualified trainersaffiliated to Professional Association ofDiving Instructors, USA.

RAMESHWARAMThe best beach for scuba diving in Tamil Nadu is Rameshwaram. A medicalteam is on call at all times to make the activity safe for both amateurs and professionals.

—Prahlad Kakkar

SCUBA DIVING

Deep Discovery

E X P E R T A D V I C EIf you are above the age of 14, and do not have a historyof heart ailments, you can dive. You don’t need to knowhow to swim. As long as you are comfortable in thewater, you can become an excellent diver. Instructor tostudent ratio should be 1:4 or less.

India has many options from scuba diving towildlife safaris – for the adrenaline junkie

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E X P E R T A D V I C ESince bird activity is greatest in the morning, an earlystart is important. To blend with the surroundings avoidflashy clothes. Sounds will scare birds away so be asquiet as possible. Even if you cannot see the birds atfirst, learn to recognise them by their calls. Carrybinoculars, a notepad and a pencil to note the details.

KEOLADEO GHANA NATIONAL PARKWith lagoons, grasslands and woodlandareas, the park is the perfect winteringground for resident and migratory birds.Over 380 species of birds are found inthis 29 sq km stretch. Hire a bicycle or acycle-rickshaw to make your wayaround the park.

CHILIKA LAKENumerous islands dot this brackishwater lagoon. One of them, NalbanaIsland, is completely submerged duringthe monsoon. When the waters recede,hundreds of migratory waterfowlscongregate here. Migratory birds arrivein October from Siberia, Iran,Afghanistan and Iraq and stay until theend of March.

RANN OF KUTCHSituated in western India, it is the only

place in the country where flamingosbreed. The Rann’s connection to theGulf of Kutch makes it an ideal habitatfor birds. Over 200 species have beenspotted here, among them are thelesser florican and the Houbara bustard.

KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARKAlmost 500 species have beenrecorded here. Of these 100 aremigratory birds which come from asfaraway as Siberia. The avian creatureshave the same characteristics as Indo-Malayan species, and are typical to Northeast India.

KUMARAKOMLocated on Vembanad Lake, which is part of the backwater labyrinth of Kerala. A way to go bird watching here is a boat trip.

—Valerie Rodrigues

BIRD WATCHING

Telling Tails


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E X P E R T A D V I C EPlease follow the rules of the park — do not walk aloneif you are not permitted to do so. Wear clothes in shadesof brown and green to blend with the surroundings. Donot smoke in restricted areas. Don’t make a noise, playmusic or honk. Don’t leave behind any litter. Wearcomfortable clothes and in keeping with the season.

GIR NATIONAL PARKLocated in Gujarat, it is spread overnearly 1,500 km. It is the only placewhere one can see the Asiatic lion in thewild. It has about 300 of the species.The park’s steep rocky hillsides arecovered with mixed deciduous forests.The park also has leopards and chital(spotted deer), nilgai (Indian antelope),wild boar and marsh crocodiles.

SUNDERBANS NATIONAL PARKThe Park is located in the delta of theBrahmaputra and the Ganga Rivers andis largely an estuarine mangrove forest.It is the habitat of the Royal Bengal tiger.Traversing the mangroves by motorlaunch is quite an experience.

PERIYAR NATIONAL PARKSet high in the Western Ghats, in Kerala,the park has a picturesque lake at its

heart. Visitors can take a boat trip to seea herd of elephants bathing in thewaters of the lake. A rarely seeninhabitant is the Nilgiri Tahr.

KANHA NATIONAL PARKThis ‘tiger country’, located in MadhyaPradesh, is ideal for watching thepredator. The sal forest is interspersedwith meadows that are teeming with avariety of deer — barasingha ( twelve-horned deer), chital (spotted deer) andchousingha (four-horned deer) —besides the gaur or Indian bison.

RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARKEarlier the hunting preserve of theMaharajas of Jaipur, today it is one ofthe best places to see the tiger, India’snational animal. The mongoose andmonitor lizards are found in plenty.

—Smita Singh

WILDLIFE

Spotting Game


E X P E R T A D V I C EYou should be physically fit. Pay extra attention tostrengthening knee joints as injuries to the area arecommon. Specialised clothing, gloves and UV-resistantsunglasses are some of the must-haves. Regular intakeof fluids is mandatory to avoid getting dehydrated. Slapon sunscreen for a happy skiing photograph!

ROHTANGLand in Kullu and head to Rohtang La,situated at 14,000 ft. It is connected toManali, Himachal Pradesh, by thehighest motorable road in the world.Tour operators offer heli-skiing in thearea. Ski runs can be as complicated oras straightforward as you can handle.

YUMTHANGNorth of Sikkim at 11,800 ft, it is thelatest high ground for skiing in India.One needs an Inner Line Permit to zipdown the beautiful snow-cladmountains.

GULMARGThis was the first ski resort to beestablished in India. Set up by theBritish Army in 1927, it is located at analtitude of 8,955 ft. It is, also, the first

Asian destination to start heli-skiingfrom atop the Affarwat peak.

SOLANG NALLAHJust 12 km away from Manali, HimachalPradesh, it is a popular skiing destination.It has gentle slopes that are a goodlearning ground. It is one of the venuesfor the annual national ski championships.

AULIAround 298 km from Dehradun, Auli,according to some experts, is one of the best skiing destinations in theworld. It boasts of Asia’s largest cablecar and the highest man-made lake inthe world. The lake has beendeveloped to create artificial snow inthe event of low snowfall. December toMarch is the best time to visit.

—Gaurav Schimar

SKIING

Zig Zag Zoom

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Deep within the forests of central India, exists a worldthat is difficult to imagine for the urban planet. Secluded from the effects of globalisation, this universe is home to the Madia Gonds, a primitive

tribal group, and the nerve centre of the work carried out byPrakash and Mandakini Amte, recipients of the prestigiousRamon Magsaysay award.

The honour for the Amte family is not new. In 1985, Murlidhar Devidas Amte, better known as Baba Amte, Prakash’s father, was given the award for community service. The couplewas chosen for the award, often referred to as Asia’s version ofthe Nobel prize, in the community leadership category. According to the award citation, the Amtes were being honoured for their work in, “enhancing the capacity of the MadiaGonds to adapt positively in today’s India, through healing and teaching and other compassionate interventions.”

In 1973, disturbed by the obvious ill health and poverty ofthe Madia Gonds, Baba Amte, already working with leprosy- afflicted people in a relief and rehabilitation centre in Anandwan, Maharashtra, decided to stay in this inhospitable terrain to steer the locals towards development and the mainstream. The project was called Lok Biradari Prakalpa (LBP).

A year later, Prakash, cut short his postgraduate degree in general surgery, and along with his new bride Mandakini, an anaesthetist and lecturer, responded to his father’s request for help to work in the remote village ofHemalkasa in southeastern Maharashtra. With nothing but twodoorless huts to live in, the Amtes settled down and set to work.

Without electricity, telephones or privacy the young couple literally practised medicine on the roadside. It required time and utmost patience to win the trust of the Madias. To reduce barriers, the couple set about learning the local dialect. To accommodate the tribal way of life, hospital beds were placedunder open skies and sometimes under shady trees. Prakashtook to wearing an unassuming white singlet and shorts so asnot to identify himself with the ‘well-dressed’ urban outsiders.That sartorial decision was soon to become a recognisabletrademark uniform.

In the beginning, organisations like SWISSAID provided LBPfunds to build and equip a small hospital in Hemalkasa. Herepatients were treated for malaria, tuberculosis, burns and animal

bites. Later, other donors made it possible for the work to develop and continue on a more sustained basis.

Today, that rough and ready hospital has 50 beds, a staff offive full-time doctors and treats 40,000 patients a year comingfrom 1,000 villages from a radius of 150 km — all free of charge.The hospital also incorporates a regional centre for mother andchild welfare.

The Amtes, also, run a school which has residential facilitiesup to Class XII for boys and girls. It also has a training programme for barefoot doctors. The school has introduced theMadia Gonds to settled agriculture by providing an education ingrowing vegetable and fruits and encouraging them to conserveforest resources.

Over time the Madia Gonds are learning to look after theirown. Many graduates of the school are Madia Gond’s first generation doctors, lawyers and teachers as well as office workers and policemen.

The continuing involvement of the various branches of theAmte family tree bears witness to the compassion and sense ofservice that has become an enduring trait of the family. Elderbrother Vikas has moved on to a newer project. His son, Kaustubh, is handling the financial aspects while daughter,Sheetal, organises the archives. In Hemalkasa, Prakash’s andMandakini’s elder son Diganth and his wife, Anika, both doctors, are extending health services. His younger son, Aniket,a civil engineer, has taken on the LBP’s administration anddaughter Aarti has enlisted as a nurse. On the margin of all thisactivity is a three-and-a half-year old grandson who proudlystruts alongside his grandfather and talks to the animals, brought in by concerned tribals, while their injuries are being tended to. �

INDIA PERSPECTIVES � NOVEMBER 201120 21NOVEMBER 2011 � INDIA PERSPECTIVES

PROFILE

THECOMPASSIONATE CAMPAIGNERS

Social workers andRamon Magsaysayaward winners,Prakash and Mandakini Amte’slives reveal a senseof service and achievement

WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, TELEPHONES OR PRIVACY THE YOUNG COUPLE LITERALLYPRACTISED MEDICINE ON THEROADSIDE. IT REQUIRED TIMEAND UTMOST PATIENCE TO WIN THE TRUST OF THE MADIAS.

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At 86, Ram Vanji Sutar, sculptor of iconic Gandhibusts, continues to hammer and chisel sculpturesat his studio in Electronic City, Noida — a suburb ofDelhi. ‘‘I still have the desire to create. I am stillhungry for more,’’ says Sutar, who is a recipient of

the Padmashri (one of the country’s highest civilian honours).The proof is a life-size statue of Mahatma Gandhi sculpted byhim that has been installed in Strasbourg, France, last month.

Massive statues – of bronze, clay, marble and fibre glass –pack Sutar’s studio, which in part resembles a museum ofleaders and heroes. Busts and statues of prime ministers,presidents, and social reformers are strewn everywhere. Also,on the premises are statues of Punjab’s ruler Ranjit Singh andMaratha king Shivaji, astride their horses.

The sculptor has successfully merged art and commerce.He has worked with fervent speed to establish a foundry inSahibabad, Uttar Pradesh, that can cast 1,000 kg of metalevery day. His creativity has found him admirers abroad as well.

ART

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LifeLarger This sculptor, who has given us iconic

Gandhi busts, says he is hungry for more

ART OF THEMATTER: RamSutar at work

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One of the commissions is from the Swedish government fora work that will show physicist Albert Einstein watching Gandhispinning a charkha (spinning wheel).

Born in 1925 in Maharashtra, the young Sutar’s ability toshape clay and stone was spotted by his teachers whoencouraged him to hone his talent. ‘‘To see things and mouldthem according to my imagination is a gift I have,” he says. Heopens several plastic boxes that are filled with pebbles, withhuman faces and bodies drawn on them. ‘‘I don’t chisel themor shape them. They are in their natural shape. My eye seesthem in a particular way and I draw an outline of what I see onthe pebbles – man, woman, child, etc.”

As a child, Sutar drew attention by creating extraordinaryart from ordinary things. In junior school, he made a scorpionout of a soap bar. In middle school, he etched an image ofGoddess Bhawani offering a sword to Shivaji on a black slate.Eventually, Shriram Krishna Joshi, an art teacher in college,tapped his talent for sculpture.

Sutar shot to fame nearly five decades ago with a massivestatue on the Gandhi Sagar dam in Madhya Pradesh. It is of awoman, 45-foot-high, carved out of a concrete block. Sherepresents the Chambal River, and is flanked by two boys,representing the states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh thatshare the river’s waters.

A few years later, Sutar created the 16-foot-high statue ofMahatma Gandhi in a meditative pose, it is now installed inParliament House. It captures Gandhi’s serenity completely.

Sutar’s Gandhi busts have inspired copies not only across thecountry, but also in France, Italy, Argentina, Russia, Malaysiaand the UK.

When he first saw Gandhi in real life, Sutar was in Class 3.‘‘Gandhiji came to our village during the Swadeshi movementto organise a bonfire. Everyone carried something that wasforeign-made to throw into it. I threw my fancy velvet cap. Iwas struck by Gandhiji’s peaceful persona,’’ recounts the artist.

In 1948, when Sutar first created Gandhi’s bust, for aschool in Maharashtra, he sought to capture the same serenity.With the `100 he got for the job, he left to join Sir J.J. Schoolof Art in Mumbai. By the time Sutar graduated – receiving theprestigious Mayo Gold medal for clay modelling – he hadmade many more busts and statues on commission.

Even as a child, Sutar wanted to create monumental worksthat represented heroism and humanism. Although he wasimpressed by Renaissance sculpture, and for some yearssculpted in a similar fashion, he eventually settled for thedecorative and poetic Indian style. He always takes care ofthree things – balance, architecture and engineering. Hebelieves technique is crucial because it decides whether thework will withstand the test of time. ‘‘The work should notcollapse because of a technical flaw,’’ he says.

He has two inspirations: B.R. Carmaker, an artist in BritishIndia, and, of course, Gandhi. ‘‘I love Gandhi’s vision not onlyfor India but also for the whole world. His message, of the bighelping the small is still relevant and necessary today.’’ �

NOVEMBER 2011 � INDIA PERSPECTIVES 25INDIA PERSPECTIVES � NOVEMBER 201124

CREATIVITY AT ITS BEST: (facing page fromextreme left) Mahatma Gandhi’s statue atParliament House; work in progress at thestudio; and (above) statues of famous Indians on the studio premises

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PHOTO FEATURE

20 INDIA PERSPECTIVES � SEPTEMBER 2011

REMEMBERING INDIA’S FIRST PRIMEMINISTER, JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, ONHIS BIRTHDAY, WHICH IS CELEBRATEDON NOVEMBER 14.

P R I M EPORTRAITS

(Left) Hugs grandson Rajiv as daughter Indira looks on before leaving for a trip abroad; (above)with Mahatma Gandhi during a Congress meeting in Bombay (now Mumbai), 1942

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(Above) Nehru releases a dove during a public celebration held on his 65th birthday at the New Delhi Stadium, 1954;(right) with grandchildren Rajiv (left) and Sanjay


‘‘PEACE IS NOT A RELATIONSHIP OF NATIONS.IT IS A CONDITION OF MIND BROUGHT ABOUT

BY A SERENITY OF SOUL. LASTING PEACE CANCOME ONLY TO PEACEFUL PEOPLE.’’

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‘‘WHAT WE REALLY ARE MATTERSMORE THAN WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF US.’’

(Clockwise from above) Shares a joke with Yugoslavia President Marshal Josip Broz Tito (right), and Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein at BrijuniIslands during a Non-Aligned Movement summit, 1956; with Dalai Lama; and with physicist Albert Einstein at Princeton University, 1949

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The 17th summit of South Asian Association forRegional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders to be held onNovember 10 and 11 comes at a time when theworld is looking at India and the South Asian region

for solutions to its problems, including the financial crisis.‘Building Bridges’ will be the theme of the summit to be

hosted by Maldives, one of the founding members of the eight-nation grouping. The last SAARC summit was held in Thimphu,Bhutan, in April 2010, and was devoted to ‘Climate Change’.

To be held in Addu Atoll, the southern-most tip of the SouthAsian region, the summit will build bridges, both physically andfiguratively. In recent years, the member-states — Afghanistan,Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and SriLanka — have worked towards overcoming barriers to establishconnectivity and communication. A few months ago, India andSri Lanka recommenced their ferry services across the PalkStraits after nearly 30 years. This is an example of the summit’stheme to strengthen economic, diplomatic and people-to-people ties among member-nations for mutual benefit.

The figurative aspect would be political dialogue. Accordingto the host nation, the idea of bridging differences would be theoverarching theme of the summit rather than any set diplomaticor development aims. ‘‘The idea is to celebrate the diversitythat we have and use this to unite nations to build a betterregion. South Asia is unique: 100 different languages arespoken here, 10 major religions are practiced here and one-fifth of the world’s population lives here,’’ says a release of theMaldives government.

‘‘The Maldives is the lowest lying nation in the world, at thesame time Nepal has the planet’s highest points. We want touse these factors as an opportunity to celebrate as a unitedforce to build bridges of friendship, peace and security,” it says.This will be the third time Maldives is hosting the SAARCsummit, having played host during the fifth and ninth meetingsheld in 1990 and 1997 respectively.

SAARC is a quarter-century old: young enough to maximiseits vibrancy and vigour to produce best results for the region’sown benefit and mature enough to take forward the initiativeas a relevant forum in global affairs. It has a major role to playin building capacities of its member-countries and India hasmore responsibilities in this regard than any other nation in theregional forum.


UNITED FORCE: Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh addressing the

inaugural session of the 16th SAARC

summit held in Thimphu in 2010


REGIONAL RELATIONS

The 17th SAARC summit, to be held in the Maldives in November, will strengthenexisting forums and focus on expanding people-centric activities

TEXT: N.C. BIPINDRA

Bridges of Friendship

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Keeping this in mind, the South Asian University in New Delhi,an international university sponsored by the eight member statesof SAARC, following a proposal in 2005 by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, began its academic session in 2010. Thisyear, the university has introduced courses in biotechnology,sociology, international relations and law, these are in addition tocomputer science and economics already being taught.

Another SAARC initiative in the field of human resourcesdevelopment is the SAARC Consortium of Open and DistanceLearning (SACODiL). This aims to promote cooperation andcollaboration among open and distance learning institutions inmember states and provide a viable and cost-effective methodof imparting quality education at all levels. To reach out toremote areas and under-privileged people, the consortiumworks at developing programmes and courses, evolvingmechanisms for credit transfer, accumulation and accreditation,and sharing information technology.

India’s Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is aparticipating institution in SACODiL, along with the openuniversities of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

With 1.5 billion mouths to feed, food security is a majorconcern for South Asia. Keeping this in mind, an agreement hasbeen signed by SAARC member states to set up the SAARCFood Bank (SFB) with a cumulative capacity of nearly 486,000metric tonnes (MT) in rice and wheat reserves, of which India’sshare will be over 306,000 MT. The SFB will cater to member-states in times of need, to help deal with severe and unexpectednatural and man-made calamities. The bank, approved in theColombo summit in 2008, will act as a regional food securityreserve to provide regional support to national food securityefforts, foster inter-country partnerships and regional integrationand solve regional food shortages through collective action.

The SAARC Development Fund (SDF) secretariat wasinaugurated in April 2010 in Thimphu. The SDF’s objective is to

finance projects to promote people’s welfare in the SAARCregion, improve quality of life, and accelerate economic growth,social progress and poverty alleviation. India has provided USD 100 million as a voluntary contribution in addition to itsassessed contribution of USD 89.9 million.

In the Thimphu summit, the leaders of the eight memberstates have reiterated their commitment to implement theSouth Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) in letter and spirit.There is a need to realise the full potential of SAFTA by reducingthe size of the sensitive lists, ramping up of trade facilitationmeasures, and speedy removal of non-tariff, para-tariff andother barriers. Moreover, the SAARC Agreement on Trade inServices, signed last year, will open up new opportunities fortrade cooperation among member-states and deepen theintegration of their economies.

The South Asia Forum, agreed upon in Thimphu, held its firstmeeting in New Delhi in September 2011. It has kick-starteddebate, discussion and exchange of ideas on the region and itsdevelopment, which will be critical to the future of the grouping.The forum has been mandated to provide inputs, based on acomprehensive understanding, for charting out the futurecourse of SAARC and improvements in the existingmechanisms within the regional group.

The Addu summit needs to debate on the conclusionarrived at the Thimphu meet that though the scope andsubstance of cooperation among SAARC nations hasexpanded to diverse fields, it has not translated intomeaningful and tangible benefits to the people. The solutionto this problem that came out of the Thimphu meet is: Thereis a need for more efficient, focused, time-bound and people-centric activities and for appropriate reflection of all SAARCdecisions in the policies and programmes of member-states’governments, all of which are incidentally products of multi-party democratic systems. �

At the Thimphu summit, the leaders of the eight member states reiterated

their commitment to implement theSouth Asian Free Trade Agreement

(SAFTA) in letter and spirit.

PROMOTING COOPERATION: (clockwise from above)IGNOU headquarters, Delhi; ferry services are operational

between India and Sri Lanka; and a cargo train plying between India and Bangladesh

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India and Afghanistan have a shared history,so it is natural for the two countries to bepartners in development today. Visits byPrime Minister Manmohan Singh and

Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai earlier this yearjust confirms how important Afghanistan is toIndia. One of the reasons for this importance isAfghanistan’s strategic geographical position onthe world map. Says Gautam Mukhopadhaya,India’s ambassador to Afghanistan: “A stableand economically robust Afghanistan is criticalfor the stability of the region.”

Dignitaries from Afghanistan came onreciprocal visits. President Hamid Karzai, whovisited earlier in February and later in October,was one of them. A historic agreement onstrategic partnership between Afghanistan andIndia – first agreement by the former with anycountry – was signed. The agreementreinforced the strong, vibrant and multi-faceted relations between the two countriesand formalised a framework for cooperationin various areas. They include political andsecurity cooperation, trade and economiccooperation, capacity development andeducation, and social, cultural, civil society andpeople-to-people relations.

During his visit this May, the Indian Prime Minister announced an increase of

` 24.5 million assistance in the present level of almost ` 73.5 billion. This is a significantcontribution and a result of India’s desire tosee peace and stability in Afghanistan.

As a result of Operation Enduring Freedom,Afghanistan saw the ouster of the Talibanregime and the extent to which the country hasbeen ravaged came to the fore. India was oneof the first countries to lend a helping hand torebuild the country. From roads, power stations,schools, hospitals to assistance in agriculture,education, and telecommunication, India hastaken up innumerable projects in various partsof the country. All the projects are undertakenin partnership with the Afghan government, intotal alignment with the Afghanistan NationalDevelopment Strategy and with focus on localownership of assets.

In 2009, India completed the Zaranj-Delaram highway, located near the Iranianborder. The 220-km-long road connects Zaranjto the Kandahar-Herat highway. The road willhelp regional cooperation by encouraging tradeand transit through the Iranian port ofChabahar. A mammoth project and a matter of pride, the highway involved over 330engineers and workers from India andAfghanistan. The road was built at a cost of ` 7.3 billion. Says Inder Pal Khosla, former


India has played a major role in reconstructing Afghanistanand rehabilitating its citizens

TEXT: MEENAKSHI KUMAR

Being a Good

Friend

DEEPENING BOND: (clockwise from above)

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh withAfghanistan President

Hamid Karzai at Parliament House; Defence Minister

A.K. Antony with hisAfghan counterpart

General Abdul RahimWardak; President Pratibha Patil with

Afghan First Vice-President,

Marshal MohammadQasim Fahim


GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

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Indian ambassador to Afghanistan: “TheIranians will now have access to sell goods intheir neighbouring country.” Already the roadhas resulted in increased trade, transport andcustoms revenues for the government.

A major project underway is the Salma Dam power plant in Herat province. The 42-megawatt power plant, which has beendelayed due to problems in logistics, will bringpower to the west of Herat. A 220 kV DCtransmission line from Pul-e-Khumri in thenorth and a 220/110/20 kV sub-station atChimtala were commissioned to providepower to Kabul. Considered a milestone inAfghanistan’s reconstruction, the Chimtalasubstation has been built at a cost of `4.5 billion. It has benefitted a huge number ofpeople by bringing power from Uzbekistan toKabul. Another ongoing project is theconstruction of a new Parliament building inKabul by India. “Indian projects in Afghanistanare widely regarded as visible, successful,and benefitting both the targeted communitiesand general economic development,” saysambassador Mukhopadhaya.

Capacity building is a significant aspect ofIndia’s involvement in Afghanistan. The projectsinclude reconstruction of Habibia School;award of 1,000 ICCR long-term universityscholarships and 675 short-term ITEC trainingprogrammes for Afghan nationals annually;deputation of 30 Indian civil servants underCapacity for Afghan Public Service Programme(CAP); setting up of CII-run India-Afghanvocational training centre for training 3,000Afghans in carpentry, plumbing, welding,masonry and tailoring; and a SEWA project forsetting up Women’s Vocational Training Centre

in Bagh-e-Zanana women’s market. SaysMukhopadhaya: “Our contributions in this areaare intended to help Afghanistan stand on itsown after 30 years of conflict that has severelydepleted its education and traininginfrastructure and shattered its structures ofadministration. India is perhaps best placed inthe region to help in this regard.”

Besides, India assists in community-based,small development projects in vulnerableborder areas. These are essentially in thefields of agriculture, rural development,education, health and vocational training. Thefocus of these projects is on local ownershipand management. Under phase-I (2006-08),50 such proposals have been approved andare being implemented; under phase-II(2008-2010), a new pipeline project hasbeen approved.

In addition, India has always extendedhumanitarian assistance whenever needed.Free medical services and medicines havebeen provided through five Indian medicalmissions. Moreover, in collaboration with theWorld Food Programme, India has sponsoredthe distribution of high-protein biscuits inAfghan public schools.

It is a win-win situation. Indian aid helpswin friends and earn goodwill and in theprocess the Afghans get infrastructure andworld class training in various disciplines.Mukhopadhaya sums up the partnership, “Wesee a progressive integration between theAfghan and Indian economies as a return tothe ‘natural state’ that has historically prevailedin this region. Such integration is also aguarantee for the long-term economicprosperity of Afghanistan.” �

Capacity building is a significant aspect ofIndia’s involvement in Afghanistan.

GOODWILL MISSION: (clockwise from above)The Chimtala substation, a milestone in Afghanistan’s

reconstruction; road repair in progress; Afghans unload medical supplies sent from India;

buses donated by India AFP

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CUISINE


Gujarati cuisine lays great importance on thebalance of flavours. When tasting food, aGujarati will often ask if the khattash(sourness) and mithash (sweetness) areall right. The non-vegetarian element, in a

largely vegetarian region, is contributed by two communities— the Parsis and the Bohra Muslims.

The Parsi community originated in Persia, present-dayIran. Very rarely chilli-hot, the cuisine has a partiality towardschicken, mutton and eggs. Popular dishes include dhansakh(lentils slow-cooked with meat and vegetables), which isserved with caramelised rice, mincemeat kebabs andkachumber (finely diced tomatoes, onions and freshcoriander); patra ni machchi (whole fish coated in corianderchutney and steamed in banana leaves); and tarapori patiomade with Bombay duck (a kind of fish which is dried andsalted before being eaten).

Gujarati cuisine is marked by the use of fresh, seasonalingredients that vary from region to region depending onthe availability of products. Dishes have prefixes to indicatethe region from where they have originated like Surti (fromSurat) and Bhavnagri (from Bhavnagar). The Bohra platteris just Gujarati cuisine, but incorporates meat.

Northern Gujarat is known for its thali — a platter withindividual servings of rice, dal, curry, vegetables, sproutedbeans, farsan (savouries), pickles, chutney and raita(yoghurt combined with spices and chopped vegetablesand fruits). The cuisine from the Kutch region of the stateis simple in comparison, with dishes such as khichdi (asimple dish of rice and lentils cooked together) and kadhi(a savoury curry made of yoghurt and chickpea flour).Other specialties include osaman, a preparation of lentils,flavoured with tomatoes, fresh coconut and coriander;khaman dhokla (a steamed snack made with fermented

Gujarat, in the north-west of the country, is a vegetarian paradise. Here, the simplest of ingredients are transformed into mouthwatering delicacies

BALANCE OF

FLAVOURSTEXT: RUSHINA MUNSHAW GHILDIYAL

ALL TIME FAVOURITE: (clockwise fromtop left) Khandvis (rolls made with gram

flour); theplas (bread made with a mixture of flours); bhel (a puffed rice

snack); and a thali with pooris and an assortment of vegetables

chickpea flour), doodhpak (sweet, thickened milk servedchilled); and shrikhand, a dessert made of yoghurt,flavoured with saffron, cardamom and nuts. Surti undhiyu,made with steamed millets is a well-known seasonal dishfrom Saurashtra, in south Gujarat.

Nothing celebrates Gujarati food quite like the thali. Aprocession of fresh vegetables cooked in aromatic spices,a variety of crisp, fried snacks and an array of delectableconfections are an integral part of it. It will usually havekhaman dhokla; khandvi (rolls made with gram flourtempered with mustard seeds and grated coconut); andpatra (steamed and fried pinwheels of coloccasia leavesand a lentil paste). The main course special includeundhiyu (a mixed vegetable preparation), best enjoyedwith steaming-hot rice and a dollop of clarified butter.Alongside the savouries are sweets such as halwa (adessert made of semolina) and shrikhand. The mostamazing thing about Gujarati cuisine is the sheer variety ofeach element on the thali.

Gujarati athaanas (pickles) comprise methia keri (amango pickle made with coarsely ground fenugreekseeds), chhundo (a grated mango pickle flavoured withchilli powder and sun cooked for a couple of weeks), golkeri (chunks of green mango and spices cooked to a thicksyrupy consistency), and the fragrant, sweet murabbo.

Gujarati cuisine has two kinds of snacks, nasto andfarsan. Nasto means breakfast but is not relegated to themorning meal. It could be served at any time in the daywhen one desires something to munch on. Nastos areusually dry, made of deep fried, spiced chickpea batter.

The most common forms are sev and ganthia. Sev ismade using an implement that has holes through whichdough is pushed out to resemble spaghetti, it falls straightinto boiling oil and is fried and then stored. The holes areof various sizes and types, allowing different variations:from as fine as vermicelli to as thick as a pencil. It comesin a variety of flavours such as garlic, chilli, tomato andcheese. Ganthias resemble squiggles or knots and are

usually accompanied by jalebis (a dessert, whichresembles pretzels soaked in syrup), mild Bhavnagarichillies and papaya chutney (green papaya and chickpeaflour tempered with cumin and mustard seeds).

While nastos are great niblets, farsans make up the heavyartillery of the Gujarati snack repertoire. No self-respectingcook of Gujarati food will present a thali without a farsan ortwo gracing one corner. Farsans could range from deep-friedbhajias (fritters) to ghugras (fried half circles of pastry stuffedwith savoury fillings), kachoris (fried circular pastry usuallystuffed with a savoury potato filling), dhoklas, muthias (madeof chickpea flour and grated vegetables steamed and latershallow fried), patra and the delicate khandvi.

There is always something to celebrate in Gujarat. Thefestivals and fairs here revolve around an occasion — be itthe harvest season, or a religious event. Some of the mostnotable festivals are Makar Sankranti or the Kite Festival, heldon January 14, on this day, a veritable war takes place inthe skies as thousands of kites engage one another,

Gokulashtami to celebrate Lord Krishna's birthday, Navratri,the nine days preceding Dusshera, when the nine avatars ofthe Mother Goddess are worshiped, and of course, Diwalior the Festival of Lights. Like the rest of India, Diwali iscelebrated with much fanfare in Gujarat with GoddessLakshmi being worshiped by the business community. Newbooks of accounts are started on this auspicious day. Foodtakes precedence over other preparations for the big festivalwith the women of the household labouring over hot stovesto prepare a variety of sweets and savouries. For children, itis a joyous time. They wear new clothes, participate in thepujas at home and savour the delicacies.

With such a wide range of snacks and savouries, is it anywonder that Gujaratis are fond of their food and even carryit with them when they travel? As soon as the train chugsout of the station, look out for the boxes of farsan, maghajladdoos, theplas, chunddo and chai masala tucked into bagsand boxes of various sizes and shapes. As the feast beginsand you are invited to partake of the goodies, enjoy. �


TICKLE YOUR TASTE BUDS: (clockwise fromright) Steamed dhoklas (fermented chickpeaflour savoury cakes); flavoured suparis(betelnut); dahi papdi chaat (discs of friedpastry in spiced yoghurt); and spices on sale

House sparrows were a common sight in homes acrossIndia. However, lately their population has beendiminishing especially in urban areas. Art curator Tunty

Chauhan has taken up the cause of the winged creatures. Lastmonth, she organised an exhibition, ‘‘The Lost Sparrow’’ at theIndia Habitat Centre in New Delhi. Prominent artists like ManuParekh, Anjolie Ela Menon and Sebastian Varghese contributedpaintings to it, portraying the sparrow and the need to save it.‘‘The initiative addresses the larger problem of the adverseeffects on the environment due to our lifestyle,’’ says Varghese,who often captures nature on his canvases.

Present at the exhibition was Mohammed Dilawar, popularlyknown as the ‘Sparrow Man of India’, who was on the Time listof Heroes of the Environment a few years ago. Dilawar, whoruns an NGO, Nature Forever Society, in Nashik, has beencampaigning for the cause for six years. He says: ‘‘ (To save thesparrow) we can take simple initiatives in our homes, we can

keep nest boxes and clean bowls with food and water wherethe birds can reach them.’’

To ensure that environmental awareness is imbibed at a youngage, schoolchildren from in and around Delhi were invited toparticipate in the programme. The idea, says the curator, is tocreate a ripple effect, to sensitise the public. The sparrow, animportant part of the ecosystem, is just a metaphor for the urgentneed to save our environment.

Experts have not been able to pinpoint the reasons for thedecline in the sparrow population, which is a worldwidephenomenon. They conjecture that it could be due to loss ofhabitat, chemical pollution and microwave radiation from celltowers. Other contributing factors, they feel, are lack of nestingsites due to changes in urban architecture, with tiled roofs givingway to concrete ones. “We should throw our doors open to thesparrow,” says Dilawar. That is the need of the hour.

—Swati Bhasin

REVIEWS

An exhibition, The Lost Sparrow, draws attention tothe fact that the little bird is fast disappearing

Birdwatching on CanvasEXHIBITION


DIFFERENT STROKES: (clockwise from left) PiyaliGhosh’s portrayal of the sparrowas a member of the family; Bhagat Singh’s experimentationwith water colours; and Rajan Krishnan’s Little Painting

A documentary tracks MNREGA and meetsthose whose lives the Act has changed

Path to DiscoveryFILM

For those who have little or no idea how the MahatmaGandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(MNREGA), 2005, is perceived in rural India or how it has

changed the lives of its beneficiaries, here’s a film that providesthe answers. Directed by Puneeta Roy, Bridging the GapBetween India and Bharat takes the viewer to Rajasthan, Bihar,Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh – states with different landscapes,climates and cultural complexities. Roy talks to NGOs,government officials, sarpanches and workers; looks at projectsunder way; highlights the scenic and oftentimes the harshbeauty of the surroundings, and doesn’t shy away from thepoverty she encounters. Her narrator is as much on the path ofdiscovery as the viewer.

Across the board, heartening voices echo one another.Those interviewed underline the revolutionary nature of the Act.It, not only, ensures 100 days of work a year to adults in ruralhouseholds; it is now a legal right that people can demand; itbuilds rural infrastructure, creates lasting economic assets and,hopefully, stems migration to cities; most of all it has ‘‘shakenbasic power structures and given people self-respect, dignityand hope’’. And all this without force, without ‘a bloodyrevolution’. MNREGA is truly democratic and groundbreaking.

In different states, this feel-good film tells us, MNREGA hasgreened parched land, recharged groundwater, created waterbodies, bettered communication through road construction,revived tea gardens, revitalised panchayats (focal points fordecision-making and delivery mechanisms), instituted socialaudits, involved women in the workforce and provided food tothe poor. In parts of Sikkim, workers get biometric smart cardsand payments are made through post-offices and banks.

On the downside, people’s voices may not always be heard;land records may not be updated, and progress can be slowsince individual rights and collective gain must be finely balanced.Can 100 days of work change lives? Perhaps not. But it is abeginning, both economic and social. The film opens ones eyesto the many success stories that MNREGA has unleashed.

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfDHP9XWxvc

—Latika Padgaonkar

BRIDGING THE GAPBETWEEN INDIA ANDBHARATGenre: DocumentaryRunning Time: 52 minutesDirector: Puneeta RoyProducer: Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs

46 INDIA PERSPECTIVES � NOVEMBER 2011

Facing the camera or calling the shots from behindone, 41-year-old Nandita Das has always beenapplauded for her brilliant work. She is known for herunconventional roles in films like Deepa Mehta’s

internationally acclaimed Fire and Earth and JagmohanMundra’s Bawandar, based on the true story of BhanwariDevi, a rape victim. Firaaq, her directorial debut, has woncritical acclaim across the world. Nandita has acted in films inten different languages: English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam,Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Oriya and Kannada. Among thenumerous awards she has received is the Chevalier of theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres given by the FrenchGovernment. At present, she is busy as the chairperson of theChildren’s Film Society of India (CFSI). She spoke to UrmilaMarak about the challenges of her assignment. Excerpts.

With the recent success of films like Chillar Party andStanley Ka Dabba, have children’s films come of age?Children’s films were never a priority in India, but we did have some lovely films earlier. As a kid, I remember watching Raj Kapoor’s Boot Polish and Safed Haathi. CFSIfilms lack marketing budgets, but still reachmillions of rural and small town children. Now,as marketing has become big, we know offilms that are making a big splash. I hope this surge in children’s films is the beginning ofa new phase.

How have children’s films in India evolvedas compared to the rest of the world?Children’s films make a lot of money abroadbecause there is a huge audience. Childrenare taken to watch these films in theatres.

While in India, Bollywood blockbusters with big stars getbranded as family films and that includes children. It isimportant to have a space for pure children’s films. After all,children are imaginative souls and their minds need morethan the burden of the reality of the world around them.

What are the challenges before you while preparing forthe International Children’s Film Festival India?A lot of thought has gone into making the festival a specialexperience for children. It is challenging, as many of themcannot read subtitles. We have to choose films that arevisually exciting without being dependent on dialogues. Wehave received a record number of entries from 85 countries.For the first time we have an African and a South Americanpresence. We have also introduced a country-focus sectionand will present a retrospective of Chinese films.

Why did you choose Firaaq for your directorial debut?Firaaq is an ensemble story. It was born out of my interactionswith young people in schools and colleges and myconversations with strangers on flights and at gatherings.

During my travels, I have sensed a collectivedesire to understand this complex world weinhabit and a palpable need for peace. As Ihave a platform to share my concerns, I use itto speak about marginalised communities.

Now that your son is a year old, do we getto see you back on screen?I am looking at a few scripts, both for actingand direction. If I find something interesting, Iwill surely take that up. But for now, it is myson, Vihaan, and CFSI that take up my time. �

‘‘For children,we have to

choose filmsthat are visually

exciting without beingdependent on

dialogues.’’

VERBATIM

“The International Children’s Film Festival has got entries from 85 countries”

AFP

AFP

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India Perspectives Nov.2011