erudioJanuary 2014

INDEX

The Art of BharatanatyamSamyukta Rathna Venkatraman

The Girl Behind the Glass DoorRajitha Ksetty

SpecialDevdan Vaidyanathan

My Mistress Goes by the name of CinemaAchyuth Sankar

Artist of the Month: Slap the BullYash Bhatia

Formula 1 2014: Everything’s Changing!Amala Putrevu

2013 - The year that wasPriyanka Pimpale

Aamchi Mumbai: A plethora of ‘must-have’ meals

Henna Shah

{Music & Dance}

The Art Of BharatanatyamSamyukta Rathna Venkatraman

Samyukta Venkatraman writes about the origins and the uniqueness of the classical dance form extremely close to her heart- Bharatanatyam.

Often in my moments of apparent profound thinking, I’ve caught myself wonder-ing why Classical Arts are no longer patronized as they once were. It’s almost hercu-lean to find a person to talk to about Bach or Syama Shas-tri or Sadir. On one of those rare occasions that I’d found another classical enthusiast I found myself answering the question. Furthermore at various concerts I’ve often heard people murmuring to themselves, “What a pictur-esque performance this is. He transcends all barriers. The music serenades me, the dance entrances me, I’m in raptures of delight over this performance but I wish I could understand what the artist was trying to convey.” It hit me right then. _______________________

Classical arts have become arcane in to-

day’s day and age when everyone clamours for

simplicity.__________________

I heard a couple of rock songs. I watched a couple of videos of dancers from the western contemporary style. It hit me then. One doesn’t require a trained eye or ear to simply sit back and enjoy the prowess of these performers.What made Vaudeville so famous? Why did the 1960s see the Beatles saunter and

sashay into music space and make away with the hearts of millions of people? They connected with the people. They brought lucidity and effortlessness to the forefront, searing the populace with raw emotion. The BeatlesThey wrote about love, or loss or separation. Each and every one of us can relate to the pangs of lost love, of a gnawing desperation growing in us. Anyone today can hum their tunes. Is that possible with a Purvi Kalyani or a Varali? Why did Sanskrit and Latin lose their foothold? It was never made available to the masses. Today, in this ruthless age of the 21st Cen-tury, numbers are everything. Today, the classical arts still foster glowing embers, but it seems to be dying out, slow-ly, losing the fire to curling wisps of smoke. _______________________Sadly, the approbation of Classical arts is now relegated to a handful of connoisseurs and aficionados who are

sometimes accused of being elitist and er-

udite as they dismiss pop culture.

__________________Is it the labyrinth of tech-nique that has rendered it esoteric, salvaged by a hand-

ful of people? At this point I do ask a question? Wasn’t Kathak viewed by the mass-es of the 18th century in all its glory? Is it the rampant western influence that has somehow mitigated the importance of Classical art? Is change truly good then, as we somehow relinquish the throbbing, poignant emo-tions that pulsate through the core of Classical arts to a fairly simple version of it? Will all attempts be futile at rescuing this delicate form of worship? I do not know, and I cannot tell. However what I can do is impart what little I know about this melodic ocean of knowledge.

Bharatanatyam is often called the 5th Veda. This should tell you the sheer importance it carries in the heritage of India. A form of dance that can today tell the tale of cen-turies, it stands testament to the power of divinity in art. It can tell you tales of being subdued by masculine pow-ers; it can tell you the fables of revival at the dainty hands of a woman named Rukmini Devi Arundale. Rukmini Devi ArundaleIt is widely believed that the Natya Shastra written by Bharata Muni in the 4th Cen-tury gave rise to Bharatanat-yam. Etymologically speak-ing, Bharatanatyam derives

its name from his name “Bharata”. Originally it was called Sadhir. Sadhir was a temple dance. Often, when one visits temples in South India, beautifully carved ap-saras depicting Karanas (Pos-tures in Movement) adorn the walls. These commem-orate the existence and the glory of the temple dancers. These dancers were known as “Devadasis”. Devadasis liter-ally mean the slaves (Dasis) of God. They offered their worship to the omnipresent deity through their material bodies. It revolves around the central idea that there is cosmic energy that encom-passes the entire universe and exists within us. Nataraja (The God of Dance) is this manifestation of the cosmic energy that is considered the undercurrent of the existence of the universe._______________________

Bharatanatyam has been a glorious com-

bination of Scriptures, Music, Literature and Philosophy. The danc-er in essence worships the Lord through her

body and soul. __________________The art was a path of wor-ship, a way of life, and a guide to enlightenment for these Devadasis. However as Centuries rolled by, the word Devadasi came to be

synonymous with Prostitute. These women were beautiful, unmarried (they were mar-ried to Lord Nataraja) and were the very embodiment of grace. They were thus lured into performing in the Courts of Kings. Much like Kathak which was reduced to a court dance with the arriv-al of the Mughals (Kathak dancers began to be referred to as Tawaifs), the Devadasis were also Tawaifsrelegated to the title of court dancers and were later trapped into a world of sor-did disgrace. The Devadasis and so subsequently Sadhir fell from grace. A divine form of worship that had been the magnificent crown jewel of Indian culture was now reduced to this. Women from respectable, high class families were forbidden from dancing. It was a dishonour. And so when Rukmini Devi Arundale swooped down to rescue this fallen maiden, the Gods smiled somewhere.Along with her husband George Arundale, Rukmini Devi Arundale revived Sa-dhir. She was the founder of the world famous Kalakshet-ra. Kalakshetra became the first legalized institution in India to promote art. Under its patronage, Bharatanatyam was once more placed on the pedestal that it once held. Bharatanatyam was revived,

respect and dignity was re-stored to her and under the patronage of true artisans she flourished with a new joie de vivre. Women and men from across the world, rushed to devour this beautiful art form. Today the luminaries of the dance field are all from this institution. Adapting the original Pandanallur style that Rukmini Devi learnt from Meenakshisundaram Pillai, the Kalakshetra style was brought forth which stands for the yin-yang com-bination of grace and poise as well as clean, straight and angular lines which closely resemble ballet. Rukmini Devi Arundale was a student of Ballet and therefore in-corporated some of the tech-niques of ballet in this style. ______________________

Today, Bharatanat-yam is noted by critics

around the world as an art par excellence, it is performed across

the world and is an embodiment of Indian

tradition.__________________Bharatanatyam is often tout-ed as the visual embodiment of music (Sangeetham). Mu-sic is dance, and dance is mu-sic. One does not exist with-out the other and they are not offshoots or an ancillary trade of the other. The pa-tron God of Bharatanatyam

and all other Indian classical dances is Lord Nataraja (Shi-va). It is believed that when he danced the Ananda Tan-dava in the cosmic universe, a bell from his anklet got detached and flew up into the air. As it fell back, it hit vari-ous parts of His body, creat-ing the sounds Thath – Dh-ing – Gi- Na- Thom, which Hindus believe is the creation of sound. These five syllables are today used in Sollukattus (A sequential recitation of syllables) in Bharatanatyam, which is an indefinable mix of Nritta and Natya. Nritta is pure dancing which involves complicated patterns of foot-work and body movements. It encompasses the physical aspects of the Natya Shastra. Some of these facets areAda-vus (body movements), Mandalas (Postures), Charis (gaits), Hastas (Hand ges-ture), and Karanas (Postures in movement). Dance pieces such as Jathiswaram, Alarip-pu and the Thillana are pure Nritta items. Natya is the ex-pressional form of dancing. It mostly tells stories (Sanchari) as well as expatiates the meaning of the lyrics of the song on which the dancer is performing using Abhinaya. Examples of Natya pieces are Padams and Javalis. A com-bination of the two is known as Nritya. Dance pieces like Kauthvams (Poems) Shab-dam (Lyrical ballads) and Varnams combine both these aspects. A Varanam is a blend

of pure dance (Nritta) per-formed with Jathis (Passage of Sollukattus) as well as a marvellous depiction of the lyrical content of the piece of music through the ex-pressional, dramatic form of dancing. It’s also embellished with Sancharis. The Varnam is the longest piece in a dance concert. It’s the crown jewel of any Margam (Dance reper-toire). _______________________The glory of Bharatan-

atyam is in the es-sential core of its

existence. It is almost a visual materialization

of Bhavam, Ragam and Talam. Dance is the

most ancient form of worship. It is a pen-

ance. _______________________

We dancers believe that Bharatanatyam is the cele-bration of the union of the beauty of the material body with the spirit of the Cosmos. The Dancer slowly blooms like a flower and offers herself to the Lord. It’s a complete surrender to the divinity and the expanse of the Universe. Dance is truly the visual interpretation of art. It com-bines the melodic delights of music, the philosophy in the scriptures, the lyrical content and rich descriptive meaning

of literature and the pictur-esque view of a sculpture to present to the audience, a meditation, and a path to divinity. Bharatanatyam has the prowess to transcend all barriers and transport the audience into raptures of ecstasy.

_______________________ The dancer has the

power to open mun-dane minds to the

majesty of the cosmos. The sonata of divinity exists in the depths of Bharatanatyam. When one delves into it, they can hear the crescen-dos of symphony in the silence; the sym-phony of the Gods.

__________________

Bharatanatyam is not just a dance form or an art. It in-stills in me the confidence and belief that in this world fraught with peril, there is something that can be so sublime.At the end of this write up, only one thought plagues me.Can something this holy, this surreal, this astoundingly beautiful an art die?And the answer is a staunch “No”.

§

{creative writing}

The Girl Behind The Glass DoorRajitha Ksetty

She had always felt like an outsider, looking in on the countless moments that the people around her shared.

She had only the pleasure to view from within her glass sanctuary. There in that in-stance, but not really._______________________ She was the passerby on the street, looking around and smiling at these glimpses of the world and the people within it, but never

truly being a part of it.__________________

She couldn’t pinpoint when it came to become so, or even when she came to the realisa-tion that it had. It was always a silent truth, the one that haunted her on her lonely days but also provided solace on the laconic ones. And she had come to be okay with it. She supposed she was happy; she certainly had no reason to be perpetually sad. There had not been any worldly injustice done to her, neither had she been exposed to a situation grave enough to make her so. She had built herself that way, the reason for which never formed a conscious thought. She was nobody, and she knew it. Per-haps that was why she never found a reason to care for anyone. She never felt like she

belonged.

Her world was made up of herself and her imagination, enough to entertain her and enough to comfort her. Yet there was an ever present clawing at the back of her head. An itch that gnawed upon her late at night, when she saw the world from her roof top not alike an art lover would a beautiful collage of colours. What it must feel like to be an actor in this worldly drama and not an extra.And so, she wrote.

She captured her dreams and wishes between the ink of her pen and the sheet of her page. They were a part of her and she cherished them. She remembers the first time her words were read by another voice; the first time they were nestled in the mind of an-other, creating an image not unlike the one she conjured when she penned them; the first time they painted a smile on another’s lips._______________________Suddenly, people saw

her. They glimpsed her cracks, her flaws, her thoughts and her

voice. And though she felt exposed, people began to accept her.

__________________

Suddenly, she wasn’t the face

on the roof anymore. She be-gan to matter. Her opinions began to matter. She began to want to experience various things. She began to want to achieve the dreams she encased within those pages. She began to see the endless possibilities. She began to care – for the world and for the people in it.Was that what she had been missing all this while? She had spoken and someone somewhere had heard. May-be it was the inherent crav-ing for company that wove a thread of people into her life. Maybe that was human na-ture, to reach out to people in a hope that they feel the same and accept it in return. May-be all one had to do was find that someone who reaches into the world in a similar way.

_______________________Each of us live in a

world solely ours, col-liding with each other

and forming bonds that change us and those around us in

ways we don’t antic-ipate. Each of us is a

somebody to someone._______________________

Eventually, she began to accept this. And somewhere down that line, she found a key to the locks that chained

her in. She now saw a way out. Hesitation holds her hand in an iron grip. She had survived so long on this side. Unbeknownst to her, she became used to living her life like a caged bird – alone, but shielded. That was the life she knew. That was the life she was comfortable with.

Courage escaped her as she contemplated her move. She had tasted what it felt like. Should she choose to stay inside, she feared driving her-self to insanity with longing for it. For so long, desiring the unknown was an escape. Her own world she created to pass time by, to make things easier when the walls seemed to collapse. But that was all she had done- desire it. It was safe, easier. She knew not what lay behind the door. She saw the world through her glass window. Full of colour-ful opportunities yet dark-ened by a lingering shadow. What would she see – colour or a dark abyss?It was worth the risk, she decided. Through her fear, she finally unlocked the door, and stepped outside.

§

{creative writing}

SpecialDevdan Vaidyanathan

In this reflective piece, Devdan questions the meaning of the words ‘normal’ & ‘special’

& their implications in society making for a haunting read!

His mother said that the hands on the clocks were just thatJust hands, nothing more, nothing lessJust hands roaming over a vast expanse of 360 degrees,He couldn’t read the time.He always knew when to go to sleep on the weekendAnd when to watch that comedy show on TVAnd when to wash his hands before dinnerBut he couldn’t read the time.I wondered then if he had a clock in his headA little part of his brain devoted to tracking thePassage of an invisible hand trickling along in someDark corner of his consciousness as it tracked secondBy second to minutes to hours to days to twenty one yearsOf not being able to read the time.They said that with practice a normal kid can learn to readThe time off a clock in a year.It takes someone special to insert a clock inside their brainBut it’s not because they can, it’s because they have to.His mother told me to hug him, because apparentlyPositive energy roamed the surface of his body and whenYou touched him it touched you, and when you hugged himIt hugged you. He smiled then, teeth and facial hair and a bitOf tongue just for a moment creating a painting more poignantFor its transience, I blinked and the tongue was gone, the sun wasGone, the positive energy seemed to be back in control.They said that with time a normal kid can start smilingOnce they know it means to be happyIt takes someone special to smile because they don’t knowWhat else to do with the positive energy in them.I dreamed dreams of absolute freedomI dreamed of wings, flipping gravity and the worldAnd its people, I dreamed of dreams only containing myselfScrew the world and everyone in it.His mother said that he was already free. That it tookRestrictions and boundaries and routines to get him to integrateCommunicate and hence, survive.The moment a normal kid receives its first instructions it strugglesAnd chafes under restrictions it understands not,It takes someone special to accept that they shall not understand,To trust that this is what normal people do.

{Movies}

My Mistress Goes By The Name Of CinemaAchyuth Sankar

Art is long and Time is fleeting, and in this short time, Achyuth Sankar ex-amines his relationship with cinema - his favourite art form.

I wish I could go back in time and watch Short Term 12 for the first time. It is such a beautiful movie. I want to share my world of movies, bond over what I love about them. But you know what I realized?

_______________________Your relationship with art is the most person-

al relationship you’ll ever have. You cannot

quantify it. __________________

You cannot put it in words (the fact that I’m trying to is a different matter entire-ly). You cannot share it no matter how bad you want to. Others may try to let you in on their relationship with art but then you end up forming your own relationship with it, based on your likes and dislikes and relatability, and everything else is blurred, sometimes incomprehensi-bly blurred and sometimes like pretty bokeh lights. But you can’t share art the way I want to. A relationship like that has room only for two people. Yourself, and that art. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll get used to the loneliness over here; then you’ll begin to cherish it. Because truly, it is yours and yours alone. Nobody knows or can under-stand what you have gained from art, or in what way you

relate to it, simply because they cannot have had the exact same life experiences as you have. It is probably the only one of a kind rela-tionship in the world with no rivalries, no insecurities and no misunderstandings. That’s art for you, the one of a kind mistress that everybody can have for themselves. My mistress goes by the name of cinema.

Cinema combines the best of all worlds. Sounds, images and stories. And what’s more? Being a medium where everything is right in front of your eyes, it has become an extremely accessible one at that. It really does have something for everyone. But at the end of the day, it is about storytellers, and the whole new different way in which they go about telling their story. I suppose all art revolves around stories. They all depict something. Liter-ature depicts using words, paintings using static images, songs using music and lyrics, and movies using images and sound. Stories are something that have enamored people through countless centuries. Stories, in many ways, make us who we are. With that be-ing said, I believe that noth-ing does stories better than movies do. Sight and sound mixed together, with real places, real people (and now-adays, computer generated places and people), with your

attention promptly directed to exact elements of the tale, what’s not to like?

I have a special relationship with cinema.

__________________In many ways, cinema to me is like a magic

wand is to a wizard. A wand chooses a wiz-ard, right? The same

way, a movie presents itself to me at the ex-act right moment. It

chooses when, where, and it chooses me.

__________________

Sometimes I’d have a movie with me for quite some time, but never have the mood to see it, until one fine day I’m shuffling through my collec-tion and randomly spot that same movie and decide to actually watch it at that mo-ment, and it’d turn out that some very recent experience or conversation has made me relate to that movie and gain from it a lot more than I would have had I see it long ago. That is why I wrote above, that I may try to ex-plain my relationship with movies, but the bond I form with them, nobody else can or will, and the same is ap-plicable to every person who loves art. This factor makes

me love movies that much more, because it is almost as if it is waiting for the time when I need it the most, never expecting anything in return. Only, I want to give back. I want to make movies someday, with the hope that some human being in this planet is touched by it the same way I’ve been touched by many. The desire to give back, it is a strong thing. If I were winning an Oscar right now, I’d be thanking all the people who’ve aided me in my journey. But I’ve not won an Oscar, hell I have not even made a decent movie, but if I do, I’d go the Sidney Lumet way and say “I’d like to thank the movies”. Reading this so far, you might be wonder-ing whether this write-up belongs in my diary or on Erudio. The reason I’m writ-ing this is because not only do I want to tell everybody how much I love movies, but I want them to see the pow-er movies have, the capacity they have to create love, and maybe if they do, they’ll find a whole new world in cine-ma.

__________________Because really, films are what life needs.

__________________

Life, as it is, seems boring. there are so many things that happen that have so much

importance, so much dra-matic value, yet amidst the slow pace of life, and the mix-ture of so many unremark-able moments, the poignant moment gets sort of robbed of its significance, not to the person involved but to others who could be voyeurs. And wouldn’t you want to share those important moments with others? Wouldn’t it be sad if they can’t comprehend the absolute, stunning, clari-ty of that moment and what it means to you? And that is why I think cinema is so important.

_______________________To finish a film with

the rising crescendo of music, maybe a mon-

tage of the journey with allusions to all the emotions, epiphanies and experiences felt that have contribut-

ed to getting the hero where he is, and finally as the music falls to a dead halt and there is silence, a moment of

clarity, of catharsis, oc-curs. And so we show the world how poign-ant some moments are

in our lives. _______________________

We strip the lives of the

characters bare, strip it of everything else and leave only this one basic story that’s being told, because great moments and bits of life deserve to be shown on their own, deserve to be not overshadowed by the other-wise prevalent monotony and repetition. They deserve to have their day.

This is why cinema is so im-portant.

And I have a gnawing fear in me every time I watch a good movie. I don’t want it to end because the journey will be over.

Sometimes I wonder if it is better to leave it unfinished.Nah. What is a movie with-out its climax?

§

{Artist Of The Month}

Slap The Bull

A modern rock youth band from Chennai called ‘Slap The Bull’ has been making waves in the musical world lately. We thought we’d check them out & landed a very special interview with

this five-membered band!

1. What was the inspiration behind the name?Haha, if only we had a penny for every time someone asked us that! Well, in our starting stag-

es as a band we had a LOT of ideas for band names. But the problem was it all sounded like those typical Rock/Metal band names that you would hear a 10 year old call his band and we

really didn’t want to be that dull.So,we made sure the name of the band would be something different, something that people

wouldn’t forget so easily, and maybe a pinch of humor to help it all along.And voila, Slap The Bull!

2. Tell us a little bit about each member of your team.Jaison Titus: With his likes varying from all sorts of Pop to the likes of Green Day, his voice

has been everything the band could’ve asked for in a singer, apart from being oh-so-punctual.Anuj Pant: A weird mix of seriousness and fun, with conversations that never run dry! But, when he gets behind that drum kit he’s in a world of his own always trying to get something

new out of something old.Prathesh Prasad: It’s usually the drummer who wants to make and cover the heavy and hard-

core songs, but in our band, we have an exception. He’s always looking for the ”HEAVY stuff ‘” in everything.

Rohit Jacob: He’s this creative burst of joy, whether he’s composing the next song or altering the lyrics to another, he just doesn’t know when to stop.

Karthik Rajan: The lead guitarist of the band, always adding the finishing touches to any song we make with a few licks and bends and whatever sounds dirty enough to get you excited(in

the song!).

3. How would you classify your style of music?A. We love the fact that we all like different genres and keeps us moving between genres as a

band, but I’m sure we can put it all under Modern Rock.

4. Who are your musical Gods?A. We don’t really idolize any band, but we’ve definitely picked out some brilliant artists for

their particular talent like:Chad Kroeger’s voice, Clive Burr’s drums of hell, or Frusciante’s solos.

5. What is your dream live venue to play at?A. The Red Bull Tour Bus! It’s simply INSANE!

6. As a relatively new band, how have you planned your distribution strategy?

A. Well, first it was all about sharing on our Facebook page and forcing our friends to watch

it and do the same with their friends, which was probably the wrong way to do it. But now, we’re slowly branching out using Reverbnation, Soundcloud, and other places where we can

just post our music and wait for the world to tune in and let our music talk for itself.

7. If you could give all your band members an alternative title, what would they be and why?

A. Rohit would probably be the ’Socialist’. He basically talks to people and gets stuff done. He connects the band to the people out there whether its through the lyrics or the Facebook

posts.Karthik would be the ’Finisher’. You can give him a problem with a song or problem with how

we approach our stage time, and he’s your man. He’ll get a cameo done in no time.Jaison would be ’Jughead’, from Archies. Never jams without food! And to top it off he TRIES

to put on that ” I don’t care” attitude, but we all know he does, he REALLY does.Prathesh would be the ’chick’ of the band. Falls crazy for bands he likes and would honestly

consider himself a groupie if he had the chance.Anuj would be the ‘Houdini’ of sorts. Just like that he disappears and one fine day he’ll pop up

and go ”Hey machas, when do we jam!?”

8. Name one band you would love to open for.A. Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Simple Plan, Iron Maiden, Three Days Grace, Nickelback.

I’m sorry, we can’t choose just one!

9. How does music complement your current lifestyle?A. Well, we’re all currently doing our Bachelors degree in Engineering, and we all know what that’s like. So to keep things short and sweet, music is where we vent it all out! Bad day? We

go for a brutal jam, and all is suddenly forgiven.

10. What do you wish to express through your music?A. Our songs are all real life scenarios, where each song is definitely a story you’ve already

been a part of and you could probably relate to it. So basically, its your life, with a tune to it.

11. Which attribute of your band do you feel differentiates you from the current crop of bands?

A. The NAME! I dare you to disagree!You can follow Slap The Bull on Facebook. Check out their most popular song here-

<<insert YouTube link>>

{Sports}

Formula 1 2014:

Everything’s changing!Amala Putrevu

Amala Putrevu gives the readers of Erudio a fantastic prep-up for the forthcoming 2014 Formula 1 season, explaining its changes & the effects.

The year 2013 was a bitter-sweet one for Formula 1. From seeing Sebastian Vettel clinch the World Drivers’ Championship for a consec-utive fourth time, to seeing racing veterans like Mark Webber and Felipe Massa sing their swan song in Bra-zil, it was a season that won’t be forgotten easily. We bid adieu to the 2.4 L V8 engines and heard their ‘screaming banshee’ sound for one last time.

It was also the third edition of the Indian GP, which has been suspended 2014 on-wards due to red tape. But it will be remembered for sealing Sebastian Vettel’s 2013 championship with a dramatic, unassailable 115 point lead.

Everything’s changing!The 2.4 L V8 has been re-placed by a 1.6 L V6 engine which will produce 750 bhp not counting the additional power added by the ERS unit.The exhaust note of V8 F1 cars have a much higher pitch than an I4 engine, because each of the cylinders of a four-stroke engine fires once for every two revolutions of the crankshaft. Thus an eight-cylinder engine turn-ing 300 times per second will have an exhaust note of 1200 Hz.

Only 100 kg of fuel [or 140

litres] can be carried in the race car, down from 2013’s 160 litres.The maximum rpm has also been brought down to 15000 from 18000.

Energy Recovery Units161bhp Power boost from ERS, up from 80bhp33.3s Duration of boost avail-able, up from 6.7s2MJ Maximum energy that can be harvested from ERS, up from 400kJ4MJ Maximum energy that can be used from ERS, up from 400kJ

The regulations refer to the two devices as the ‘Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic’ and ‘Motor Generator Unit – Heat’. The latter uses heat energy from the turbo to generate electrical energy.With two sources of recov-ered energy, the limit on the amount of power they can generate has been raised. _______________________Drivers will now get a

bigger boost for longer, which in addition to the thrust from the

turbo engines should make for quite a spec-

tacle.__________________

Next year’s planned 48kg hike in the minimum weight limit comes as turbocharged en-

gines are set to return, along with a wealth of complicated Energy Recovery Systems. The minimum weight for engines will rise from 95kg to 145 kg.

Looking at the year calendar, there are some significant changes to the itinerary of the Formula 1 cavalcade.

• IndianGPhasbeendiscontinued for 2014 and will be continued in 2015• TheAustrianGPattheRed Bull Ring in Spielberg will be revived. The last F1 race here was in 2003.• TheinauguralRussianGP will be held at the newly constructed Sochi Interna-tional Street Circuit• Duetolowspectatorturnout, the Korean GP has been scrapped completely. Apart from the calendar and technical changes, the FIA has also stipulated eight new sporting regulations, out of which, the ones with the most impact will be:• Thefinalracewillofferdouble points to the drivers to keep the championship fight alive for longer.• Driverscanonlyuse5 engines over the whole season [reduced from 8 last year].• Penaltieswillbere-placed by penalty points and a total of 20 points would amount to a driver’s ban.• Thepitlanespeedlimit

will be reduced to 80 km/h from 100 km/h, adding pre-cious seconds to pit stops that will have a significant impact on pit strategies.

DriversThe ‘placement circus’ of drivers that happens after every season in Formula 1 is quite familiar.This year, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa have retired to make way for an upgrade for Daniel Ricciardo, the come-back of Kamui Kobayashi and rookies Marcus Ericsson [Caterham] and Daniil Kvyat [Toro Rosso].

Red BullEngines: Renault

1. Sebastian Vettel3. Daniel Ricciardo

Test/reserve/third driversSebastien Buemi

Antonio Felix da CostaMercedes

Engines: Mercedes6. Nico Rosberg

44. Lewis HamiltonTest/reserve/third drivers

To Be ConsideredFerrari

Engines: Ferrari7. Kimi Raikkonen

14. Fernando AlonsoTest/reserve/third drivers

To Be ConsideredLotus

Engines: Renault8. Romain Grosjean

13. Pastor MaldonadoTest/reserve/third drivers

To Be Considered

McLarenEngines: Mercedes

20. Kevin Magnussen22. Jenson Button

Test/reserve/third driversTo Be Considered

Force IndiaEngines: Mercedes

11. Sergio Perez27. Nico Hulkenberg

Test/reserve/third driversTo Be Considered

SauberEngines: Ferrari

21. Esteban Gutierrez99. Adrian Sutil

Test/reserve/third driversGiedo van der Garde

Sergey SirotkinToro Rosso

Engines: Renault25. Jean-Eric Vergne

26. Daniil KvyatTest/reserve/third drivers

To Be ConsideredWilliams

Engines: Mercedes19. Felipe Massa

77. Valtteri BottasTest/reserve/third drivers

To Be ConsideredMarussia

Engines: Ferrari17. Jules Bianchi

TBA. Max ChiltonTest/reserve/third drivers

To Be ConsideredCaterham

Engines: RenaultTBA. Kamui KobayashiTBA. Marcus Ericsson

Test/reserve/third driversAlexander Rossi

Robin Frijns

The FIA also introduced

permanent car numbers for the drivers and most of them picked numbers which were of significance to them• Buttonpicked22,for22 was the car number when he won the ’09 WDC.• Alonsopicked14,rem-iniscent of his car number in his days as a junior karter.• BothBianchiandBottas squabbled for 77 but the number was awarded to Bottas for finishing above Bianchi in the 2013 season .

What will it be like?With less than 40 days to go for the Australian GP, F1 junkies world over are wait-ing for the car launches with bated breath. Since there is no reference point for this smaller engine, it will be hard to predict team performances pre-season, and it will be ex-citing to see how the season pans out.It will also be fun to see Vet-tel’s equation with Ricciardo, the Sochi street circuit, com-pletely new race strategies and most importantly, the game of ‘fire and ice’ at Ferra-ri that was initiated by Kimi’s return to Formula 1. For a sport in which nothing in constant, it will be interesting to see how the sport chang-es with the aforementioned changes and how much of its essence can be kept intact.

2014, bring it on!§

{in & Around}

2013 – The Year That WasPriyanka Pimpale

Priyanka Pimpale sums up the year of 2013 in the most important facets- Enter-tainment, Fashion, Literature, Movies & most importantly, Food.

2013 was a…..breeze. That is the most apt word I could think of for describing 2013 (Don’t agree? Okay, tell me what you did in the obscure month of August?).

But then, isn’t that just what we say for every year? “Ah, it’s new year, its 2011/2012/2013! What can you do, time flies”.One moment you are curled up on your sofa, waiting for the ball to drop or party-ing away the previous year’s blues and the next moment, the holiday season of Octo-ber-November-December is upon us, and we are scurry-ing around like Santa’s elves, buying and organizing gifts for all our loved ones!

_______________________We undergo a panoply of emotions during a year – no year can be completely bad, there is a silver lining some-

where. These emo-tions, these highs and

lows make up your year and become hall-

marks of nostalgia.__________________

If you share my sentiment that 2013 did in fact fly right past us, here is a list of things (each from one genre of news) that marked, bid adieu and lived through 2013- the year that was:

EntertainmentIt’s Miley Cyrus! The rapid transformation of Hannah Montana to Miley Cyrus was a drama unfolding for the whole world to see. As Miley Cyrus did away with her gradually decreasing image of teen heart throb Hannah Montana, she donned a new avatar, that of an adult wild child. Was she justified in scaring her little fans? It’s for you to decide. Many actors such a Britney Spears came out in support of her, saying it was just a phase and that the media should let her be. There were some very pejora-tive comments against her as well. And her eyeball-grab-bing video for the single ‘Wrecking Ball’ surely cata-pulted her in the unofficial list of the ‘Most Controversial Celebrities Ever’.

FashionWhat about the Indian fash-ion scene – couture and street-wise? Street shopping went from palazzo pants to cut-out dress and tees. Mous-taches took over all acces-sories, and owls held their stands in every second girl’s jewellery box. Neon swept over the whole fashion scene, as saris, kurtis, tops, jeans, leggings all adopted differ-ent shades of the eye-catch-ing neon colour range. My advice: if neon is not your

thing, stay away from the streets for a while, its run-ning loose out there! Couture fashion saw a range of rook-ie designers making their mark and veteran promoting ‘quirky’ fashions.

Books2013 was a year of sequels and trilogies. Also, Indian fiction rose and gathered le-gions of fan following, secur-ing its position as a very pop-ular genre of books. And by Indian fiction, I don’t mean reading an abridged version of the Mahabharata.I mean the different takes that different authors have written about the all-time fa-vourites – Mahabharata and Ramayana.

_______________________The most awaited book of the impressive triad written by Amish Trip-athi – The Oath of The

Vayuputras – finally came out, and ended the Shiva trilogy on a befitting note. Jhumpa

Lahiri’s Lowland evoked great reviews across the world, but that’s expected, no?

__________________

There were a string of liter-ature and book fests, which

saw the release of many new books, by small time and ac-complished authors alike.

MoviesAspiring cinema trade an-alyst and in-house critic, Achyuth Sankar says that 2013 was hitherto the best year for films. And boy, do I agree! The volume of movies released, back to back, jos-tling for the lucrative week-end spot and compelling us to give up the last vestiges of our pocket money brought tears to the eyes of true blue movie buffs.

_______________________ A few notable movies,

on the international scene were-12 Years A Slave, All Is Lost,

American Hustle, Dal-las Buyers, Club, Mud, Rush, Prisoners, Pacif-ic Rim and Upstream

Color.__________________

Bollywood threw some pleas-ant surprises with movies like The Lunchbox and The Ship of Theseus!

FoodWhat we live for. Be it vada paav or salmon en-croute, Mumbai is climbing the charts as a global food hot-spot. With new restaurants,

such as Mamagoto coming in the picture, we aren’t far behind. Cooking requires a certain skill, an assortment of ingredients, blended in the perfect quantity to make a dish that will heighten your sense of smell and arrest your tastes. The new restaurants in and around Mumbai are doing precisely that!Certainly, this isn’t an ex-haustive list. There are so many other events that coloured 2013, feel free to add it to your comments

Miley Cyrus in 2013

Neon Colours shone bright!

Oath of the Vayuputras

{food}

Aamchi Mumbai Meals- A Plethora Of ‘Must Haves’

Henna Shah

Henna Shah, a true blue Mumbaikar, gives a de-tailed account of the eateries & restaurants that are a must-visit in The City Of Dreams- Mum-

bai.

‘Mumbai’ rightly referred to as the ‘City of Dreams.’ It is indeed one destination for all the gastronomic palates out there. This city has a wide variety of delicacies to offer. The unlimited assortment of viands can fit into the pock-ets of all, rich and poor alike. Each day thousands of new migrants move to this island city to earn their daily bread and I must say the bread is worth the effort! Right from the roadside sandwiches, to the Frankies, to the very well known Vada Pav, Mumbai has it all! The sandwiches here have a peculiar flavor second to none! The frank-ies are basically stuffed and rolled chappattis.

Vada PavAnd the world famous Vada Pav, is a potato cutlet accom-modated into a piece of the local bread available here sea-soned with various spreads or chutneys! Even when a group ofMumbaikars are relaxing on the Alps in Switzerland, their nostrils are sure to sniff the Vada Pav that a friend of theirs had packed from a lo-cal shanty and is secretly nib-bling upon! The very famous Vada Pav shanty in Mumbai is in it’s suburbs, Vile Parle, to be specific opposite the com-modious Mithibai College. The shanty proudly calls itself ‘Anand Vada Pav.’

Pav Bhaji Another dish that originated in a South Mumbai house-hold and which is interna-tionally known is Pav Bhaji. It is again the Pav dipped into a spicy red vegetable curry called the Bhaji with one of it’s predominant ingredients as Potato. _______________________The Sardar Pav Bhaji at Mumbai Central is the King of all Pav Bhaji-

walas. __________________

Their Bhaji is simply finger licking with a layer of butter to tickle your taste buds. One would always find a huge queue outside this place to take home parcels of this yummy comestible irrespec-tive of it being a weekday or the weekend!

Then there is the jaw drop-ping Chowpatty Chaat! This is the best Chaat one can hop into in the whole of Mumbai, it is so famous that it finds its mention in many of our Bollywood numbers! There is also a Kebabs and Rolls place in the vicinity of The Taj at Colaba called Bademiyas. People often appreciate the Rolls that this place has to of-fer and it is in fact frequented by Audis and BMWs al-though it is a roadside eatery.Now that was a gist about the popular local food joints, if

you actually happen to live in this city you will discov-er a hundred more with an equally appealing experi-ence. Owing to the hot and humid climate of the city, people often stop by to sip on some juice and the juices at Bachelorrs, Charni Road are indeed very refreshing. Also the ones available at the Haji Ali Juice Centre are worth a try. Another very sought- after option to get rid of the scorching heat is to delve into some ice cream! The very ancient K Rus-tom’s Ice Creams is a quaint ice cream parlor owned by Parsis. It has been famous since a long time and is still thronged with people even after a Baskin Robbins Outlet was erected right opposite it! A few other desisugar de-lights would be available at Sweet Bengal shops offering Mishti dhoi, Sondesh, Ras-sogullas andMalpuas! The Mishti Dhoi in the earthen pot is the hottest selling item on their shelf!

If one wants to enjoy the Indian cuisine but go to a comfortable place where one is pampered with the services of the waiter and has to aban-don the philosophy of ‘Self Help is the Best Help!’ we have a few more places lined up. For the silk- stocking crowd Zaffran has an amaz-ing variety of North Indian food. It has strategically posi-

tioned itself in South, North as well as Central Mumbai. For the slightly less aristo-cratic, Kailash Parbat has amazing North Indian edi-bles. It is this sixty-year-old chain and one of the few in Mumbai that proffers Sindhi cuisine. Majority of the peo-ple feelSindhi cuisine only has the Papad, but there is more to it, there is the typical Sindhi Kadhi, Seyal Mani (A concoction prepared out of bits of chappattis) and lots more. For a lighter repast, nothing can beat the South Indian cuisine at Café Ma-dras, Matunga. The people in this area frequent this place for a wholesome breakfast. Now, if you’re in Mumbai, Maharashtra you just cannot miss out on theMaharashtri-an Thali at Gajalee. This place is known for its seafood and has many outlets across the city.Now after this bit of the desi tadka, let’s move on to what Mumbai is otherwise known for. Its nightlife! It undoubt-edly has the best nightlife in India! The night clubbers proclaim Aer, Worli on the thirty-second floor of Four Seasons Hotel to have acted as an icing on the cake of nightclubs! Aer, WorliThere are also many other fine dining and casual dining restaurants offering more than you can shake a stick at!

There is the much in demand Indigo known for it’s superb European cuisine situated in Colaba. In the suburbs there is the Silver Beach Café that gives you a peaceful abode in the alleys of Juhu. There are also many other Mexican, American and Continental food joints, you name it and ‘Aamchi Mumbai’ has it all. For Chinese, Mainland Chi-na has itss name in lights for perfectly blending with the Indian palate.Mumbai has now also be-come the hub for Western desserts like cup cakes, mac-aroons, cheesecakes, pud-dings, soufflés, tiramisus, mousses, crepes and much more. Bandra is the fairyland of such fairytale desserts. It has all these off beat and out of the box places that allure the youth. Can you believe it; Bandra has a food joint sell-ing Greek cuisine. Did you know that Gyros are a part of Greek cuisine? Visit the Gre-ko restaurant in Bandra and you will know it all. Some of the other sugar coated havens here are Guilt Trip, Tart, Ma-rie Antoinette Patisserie and Suzette’s Creperia and Café.So, we can all deduce now that whether you’re affluent or impoverished, stout or skinny, young or old, a food lover or finicky, Mumbai has to offer to you bread and wa-ter, bread and wine and defi-nitely the bread of life! Come have a taste of Mumbai!

§

Aer, Four Seasons, Worli

K Rustom’s Ice Cream, Churchgate

Vada Pav!