Iftars: Of food walks, dastarkhwans and cultural assimilation

Zafri Mudasser Nofil

(New Delhi, May 28, 2017) This Ramzan, one can look forward to a number of gastronomic expeditions like Iftar walks and dastarkhwans, exploring time-honoured eateries and other paralleled joints, with special focus on interfaith dialogue and cultural assimilation.

As the month of fasting began today, a number of groups have started food walks in the walled city and other areas during iftar (meal to end fast) and also sehri (meal before fast).

‘Sehar & Iftar Walks’ by Delhi Food Walks will take place in the narrow alleys of Old Delhi.

“The Iftar starts at Jama Masjid. And then, the group of participants go to various places of culinary significance to savour delicacies like pakodas, paneer jalebis, keema samosas, keema golis, shami kebabs, chicken tikkas, biryani, nihaari, phirni and shahi tukdam,” says Anubhav Sapra, founder of Delhi Food Walks.

Sapra is organising the Iftar walks every Saturday and Sunday during Ramzan. He is also planning to start Sehri walks on the last two Saturdays of the holy month.

India City Walks is also organising special Iftar evenings (Shaam-e-Iftar) and Sehri from today till June 25 to “celebrate interfaith dialogue and indulge in traditional festivities during Ramzan”.

Says its chief explorer Sachin Bansal, “During Ramzan, breakfast becomes dinner, night becomes day and fasting turns to feasting. Our Iftar evenings include a visit to the chock-a-block and vivacious lanes of old Delhi where one can relish an array of sumptuous culinary platters.”

During Ramzan, old Delhi’s iconic eating joint Karims remains closed during the day and opens only after iftar and runs till Sehri.

“We accept orders for takeaways from 5.30 p.m. and serve food to customers at our outlet only after Iftar,” says Mohammad Alman, a manager at Karims.

Activist-writer Sadia Dehlvi is hosting ‘Iftar-e-Dastarkhwan’ at her home celebrating history, culture and food.

The menu is elaborate: staple and energy booster dates, rose and khus sherbet, chicken samosas, chana dal, fruit chat and pakodas to start with; aloo gosht, chicken karahi, biryani, dahi vada and chana dal karela for dinner; and mango rice kheer for dessert.

An outlet in the capital’s Connaught Place area is also hosting innovative Iftars.

The Masala Trail by Osama has an all-vegetarian affair – dates, roohafzas or shikanji, fruit chaat, assorted pakodas, mini samosa, fryums, poori chole, dahi bhalla and gulab jamuns.

During Ramzan, all roads in the national capital lead to Old Delhi. Some of the signature items during the month are bhajiyas, keema samosas, kala chana, fried boiled eggs dipped in chickpea batter, phirni, halwa and biryani, sutli, dori and boti kebabs, keema golis and fried chicken.

In Mumbai, one can savour Iftar dishes like Nalli Nihari, Paya Curry, Tandoori Quail, Khiri and Kofta Kebabs, Sitaphal Halwa and pink milk-based watermelon sherbet.

Some must-try items in Kolkata during Ramzan are Arbi haleem, mutton chaap, sutli and kheeri kebabs, rezala, rogini roti and bakarkhani, ghoogni, halwa paratha and khajla.

When Tagore’s grandpa offered to raise funds for rail lines

(New Delhi, May 25, 2017) Rabindranath Tagore’s industrialist grandfather wanted rail connectivity to the collieries and if the lines were to be laid from Calcutta to the Raniganj coalfields, he even offered to raise one-third of the capital.

The business interests of Dwarakanath Tagore (1794–1846) straddled banking, insurance, shipping and trading, with a focus on items like indigo, silk, sugar and coal.

With a British partner, he established Carr, Tagore and Company in 1843, an outfit that had close commercial ties with the East India Company. On a visit to England, Dwarakanath got interested in trains and wished to bring rail transportation to Bengal.

Rowland Macdonald Stephenson first arrived in Calcutta in 1843 as a representative of the Steam Navigation Company. When he and Dwarakanath Tagore met, they realised they had a common interest in developing railways in India.

At that time, Dwarakanath also owned the Englishman, the newspaper in which Stephenson used to articulate his views about the railways.

These interesting bits of information find mention in a new book named Indian Railways: The Weaving of a National Tapestry by Bibek Debroy, Sanjay Chadha and Vijay Krishnamurthi.

“Because of his business interests, Dwarakanath Tagore wanted that there should be railways in the collieries. To push this idea, he got in touch with a friend of Stephenson’s, a Calcutta-based barrister named William Theobold. If the lines were to be laid from Calcutta to the Raniganj coalfields, Dwarakanath Tagore even offered to raise one-third of the capital,” the book, published by Penguin says.

Though there was agreement on the need for railways, agreement on railways routes was a different matter. Stephenson formed the East Indian Railway Company (EIRC) in 1845, and in the same year, Dwarakanath formed the Great Western Railway of Bengal (GWRB).

The routes planned by EIRC and GWRB for the main line from Calcutta to Mirazpur were different and had nothing to do with the six routes proposed by Stephenson.

The route eventually chosen wasn’t quite exactly either of the original two proposed. But more importantly, EIRC was preferred over GWRB. Dwarakanath died in 1846, and GWRB was merged with EIRC to form East Indian Railways (EIR), the book says.

The book tells the story of the network that made modern India. It captures the immense power of the business behemoth as well as the romance of train travel; tracing the growth of the railways from the 1830s (when the first plans were made) to Independence.

Book 1 of ‘Baahubali’ trilogy now in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam

(New Delhi, May 17, 2017) A prequel to the blockbuster movie Baahubali is now available in multiple languages – Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu.

As part of its focus on regional publishing, Westland has come out the translations of the S S Rajamouli-directed movie.

The Rise of Sivagami, the first book of a trilogy, by Anand Neelakantan tells the tale of the kingdom of Mahishmathi, revealing the childhood and history of Sivagami, the queen of Mahishmathi, and introduces readers to the royal slave Kattappa.

The book is not an adaptation to the movie but in fact, lays the foundation for the epic that the Baahubali movie series is.

Forty new characters and a self-devised vocabulary inspired from Telugu, Tamil and Sanskrit find their way into Neelakantan’s historical fiction.

Fans of the character Baahubali can take solace in the fact that the seeds of Kattapa’s reasons behind killing Baahubali are sown in this narrative.

“Long before Baahubali, there was Sivagami. So even though the film is on Baahubali, but the back story could not be any other hero other than Sivagami… The story is her journey that these three books will be dealing with. Another strong character is Kattapa, he gives colour to the book and is a very modern character,” says Neelakantan.

“What we managed to showcase in the film was just the tip of the iceberg. From the minute I started working on this story, I knew the world of Baahubali can’t be encompassed into a film or two, simply because there’s so much more to tell. Books give the epic tale a new life and we’re thrilled to be collaborating with Westland to bring this book to audiences,” says Rajamouli.

When five-year-old Sivagami witnesses her father being branded a traitor and executed by the maharaja of Mahishmathi, she vows to one day destroy the kingdom. At 17, she recovers a manuscript from her crumbling ancestral mansion.

Written in a strange language called Paisachi, the manuscript contains a secret that may redeem her father or condemn him further.

Meanwhile, Kattappa, a proud and idealistic young slave who blindly believes in his duty, finds himself in the service of a spoilt prince. Alongside, he must try and keep his brother, who resents their social position and yearns for freedom, out of trouble.

As Sivagami tries to unravel the secret of the manuscript, she finds that the empire of Mahishmathi is teeming with conspirators, palace intrigues, corrupt officials and revolutionaries.

An ambitious nobleman will do anything for power and money. A secret group of warriors under the leadership of a seventy-year-old woman is determined to stop the slave trade.

A forest tribe, deeply resentful of having been driven away from their holy mountain three hundred years ago, is preparing to wage war against the king.

Pak, Iran helping our foes for own interests: Afghan diplomat Masood Khalili

(New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) Afghanistan’s neighbours like Pakistan and Iran are actively helping its enemies to further their own interests and this has to end for peace and economic stability in the country, says Afghan diplomat Masood Khalili.

The ambassador of Afghanistan to Spain and son of great Afghan poet Ustad Khalilullah Khalili has recently come out with a book, “Whispers of War: An Afghan Freedom Fighter’s Account of the Soviet Invasion”, in which he describes his travels through the high mountains to mobilise people against the invading Red Army.

Afghanistan is a place that has come a long way since the times of ‘Whispers of War’, which was written in 1986, he says.

“We beat the Red Army, then we had a civil war with different war lords, then came the Taliban and now is the time of America and the rest of the world,” Khalili told PTI.

“In the last 17 or more years since the fall of the Taliban and the introduction of a constitution and then three elections, we have not only had the building of all our institutions, a relatively stable economy and two presidents, we have a society of people that work to build a better Afghanistan.

“More than 4 million boys and girls go to school, more than 300,000 men and women in the army and police, and the most vibrant and free media in the region. Afghanistan has changed tremendously but we still have much more things to do,” he says.

However, “we still are at war and fighting against the Taliban, al Qaeda to a small extent and now even Daesh. Our neighbours like Pakistan and Iran are actively helping our enemies to further their own interests. And we still have a large population of very poor. These are things that we need to work on to overcome,” he says.

According to Khalili, most Afghans are still hopeful that their country can have peace sometimes in the near future. The people, he says, may not have confidence in the government but they have also not raised the flag of the Taliban either.

“We are at a very crucial phase where our government needs to work 150 per cent to bring peace and economic stability in the country because our enemies are actively working to bring all of this to a stop. We must always keep the candle of hope alive. The second our people lose the candle of hope, we lose everything,” he says.

There is also mention of a brief conversation between the author and military commander Ahmad Shah Massoud in the book, published by Sage, on the situation in Afghanistan today.

When Khalili asks Massoud what would happen once the war against the Soviets is won, the latter replies: “It will not be easy at all. Every post-war situation is harder than even the war itself, especially in Afghanistan with its strategically difficult location. Undoubtedly the fight for freedom is difficult but when you finally win freedom, you need stability and stronger leadership.”

Govt’s banking for poor lacked follow-through at grassroots: Public policy expert Anirudh Krishna

(New Delhi, May 12, 2017) The government’s macro project of bringing banking to the poor is showing results that are less real and more symbolic because of a lack of follow-through at the grassroots, says public policy expert Anirudh Krishna.

He says that had demonetisation come after people had become familiar with banking, then both the objectives could have been realised better, with less pain overall and greater benefit.

Krishna, a former IAS officer and an Edgar T Thompson Professor of Public Policy and professor of political science at the Duke University, USA, has come out with a book “The Broken Ladder: The Paradox and Potential of India’s One Billion” which is an account of India’s development strategies.

In the book, published by Penguin, Krishna presents a ground-up perspective, delving into the lives of ordinary individuals.

On demonetisation, he writes, “Some poorer people were largely unaffected, but many more had a hard time from the beginning. Week after week, as people lined up for hours in front of bank branches and banks ran out of cash, the market collapsed. People stopped buying things and started letting go of their employees.”

He then cites the example of a 50-year-old villager Hiralal, who had a masonry business. He built and repaired drystone walls, generating enough work to employ four assistants. But after demonetisation, as banks were letting account holders withdraw only Rs 10,000 monthly, there was no one who wanted to build a wall in the near future.

Hiralal received no commissions and his team of workers, once united, had scattered.

Though he had a bank account, Hiralal didn’t know how to use it. No one had informed him about how to write or deposit checks or how to take out a loan for running his business operations.

“Because of the lack of follow-through at the grassroots, the macro project of bringing banking to the poor had results that were less real and more symbolic. If the two campaigns had been more closely integrated, with demonetisation coming after people had become familiar with banking, then both the objectives could have been realised better, with less pain overall and greater benefit,” Krishna writes.

“But paying heed to the micro realities of individuals’ diverse experiences doesn’t come easily in a world of siloed campaigns and top-down imaginations – where the intent, so often, is to ‘give’ the things of development to the people,” he goes on to add.

Development, according to him, isn’t about giving away a set of things; “what’s required is to provide opportunities so that people can develop”.

“Developing people, in turn, is not best served by big-bang remedies that ignore micro realities and are not followed through persistently. That’s hardly the only way in which public resources can be employed in the service of the nation. An alternative mode of governance needs to be inculcated. There’s much to be gained from exploring a bottom-up process of innovation,” Krishna suggests.

He says two sets of development strategies are required in tandem: a macro strategy to grow the national economy, and a micro strategy to promote individual development.

“There is a symbiotic and cyclical relationship between aggregate growth and individuals’ development. Opportunities for individual development increase when there is faster economic growth in the country; conversely, growth is given a boost when, across the board, individuals become more productive,” he writes.

War diaries: Afghan diplomat Masood Khalili’s account of Soviet invasion

Zafri Mudasser Nofil

(New Delhi, May 11, 2017) When Afghan diplomat Masood Khalili travelled through the high mountains to mobilise people against the invading Red Army, he missed his wife and to console his heart, he would take out his notebook and write the things he saw, felt, heard and experienced.

And now years later, one of those notebooks has been translated by his son into “Whispers of War”, a heart-wrenching tale of freedom and hope.

“Whispers of War: An Afghan Freedom Fighter’s Account of the Soviet Invasion” by Khalili, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Spain and son of great Afghan poet Ustad Khalilullah Khalili, is published by Sage Books.

As a young political leader, Khalili motivated his people and led them in their fight against the Red Army. Alongside his friend, Commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, Khalili travelled on foot, horseback and donkey, sharing the tales of pain, despair, and despondence of his countrymen and women.

In letters to his wife Sohaillah, he writes of his journey through the Himalayan range, accompanied by a team of foreign journalists.

The book is an account of the search for ever elusive peace in a country ravaged by war – a war that changed the landscape of the country and the fabric of its society.

“As I travelled through the high mountains of Afghanistan, I would miss my wife and the only thing that could console my heart, would be to take out my yellow notebook and write the different things that I saw, felt, heard and experienced,” the author says.

“In my 13 trips into Afghanistan over the course of the whole jihad, I travelled to every corner and in each one, I had one thing always with me and that was my notebook to my wife. One of those notebooks is the one that my son translated and we made into ‘Whispers of War’,” he says.

He describes his book as a journey of a young political officer who wanted to bring peace in his country.

“But more than the story of that young political officer, it is the story of the tears, pain, and suffering of the common people of that poor, war-torn country,” Khalili told PTI.

He says he would write to his wife almost every hour.

“Whenever we took a break to try and regain some energy in order to keep going on, I would take out my notebook,” he says, adding his notebooks helped him with that mental strength.

The inspiration for writing diaries came to him from love of his family and even more so the love for his nation.

“I wanted my wife, for whom I was writing, to really understand the depth of the struggle of my people as I was learning it by being with them. Family is number one in our hearts but our nation is just as important to most patriotic people,” he asserts.

He wrote over 40 notebooks, some political, some military and the others for his wife.

“My son, Mahmud, who translated ‘Whispers of War’ has plans to translate one more of my notebooks. This one is the trip to Herat. It is a totally different kind of feeling because I travel through the Southern provinces of Afghanistan, which has a different people and culture than people of the North,” Khalili says.

According to him, it is very hard to know the real life stories of the people unless one hears these from them.

He then recalls one such story when he saw a Nooristani woman extending her hand as if she was seeking alms.

“It was strange to me to see a woman begging in Nooristan. It was very unusual. They are poor but not beggars. I moved past quickly,” he says.

“At that moment, one of the men said loudly, ‘Khalili Sahib, she has something for you.’ As I turned back, I saw that the woman instantly covered her face with her old black headscarf and kept one hand extended towards me.

“I took a few steps in her direction and saw that in her outstretched, there were four walnuts,” he recalls.

Works of renowned Iranian poets in new anthology

(New Delhi, May 10, 2017) A new anthology of more than 85 acclaimed Persian poems gives readers powerful insights into Iranian society, touching upon various aspects of human existence and emotions – from God and nature to love and sorrow and from indulgence and denial to the subconscious and the abstract.

“Modern Poetry of Iran” comprises works of renowned Iranian poets, translated into English by Delhi-based Persian scholar Aziz Mahdi.

Persian poetry surpassed the borders of modern Iran during a period of eight centuries and expanded its wings over the Indian subcontinent, where it reached new heights of success, complexity as well as simplicity.

While Persian strengthened the bonds between the two countries, providing literary advancements to the land of its brothers; as a return gift, India gave Persian the famous ‘Indian style’ of poetry.

According to Mahdi, this collection, published by Rupa, covers poets who are “somewhat under-represented” in the translated anthologies that have been made available to the readers across the world, till now.

The purpose behind compiling this volume was to fill the void in modern Persian poetry, he says.

“This collection is an introduction to some of the finest examples of modern Persian poems written over the last 100 years, starting from Nima Yushij (the father of modern Persian poetry) until now.

“A variety of themes, including the mystical, the social, the abstract, and love and politics, have been covered in this book. The imagistic, rhetorical and personal characteristics of Persian poetry are portrayed in the poems included in this volume,” he says.

Mahdi feels works by contemporary Persian poets like Yushij, Akhavan Sales, Sohrab Sepehri, Furugh Farrrokhzad, Qeysar Aminpour, Shafiee Kadkani, Ali Reza Qazveh and Mohammad Javad Asman among others, have been neglected by the translation societies of the world.

“The reason may lie in the political trenches or wherever else it may; but the fact remains that Persian poetry is worthy enough and must be translated,” he says.

Some of the poems in the collection are Yushij’s ‘Moonlight’, ‘Mother’ and ‘Spring in an Elevator’ by Qazveh, Asman’s ‘Deja Vu’, and ‘Beloved House’ by Sepehri.

HarperCollins’ 25th anniv film wins award at Phalke film fest

(New Delhi, May 5, 2017) A film on the journey of publishers HarperCollins India, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has won for best direction at the 7th Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival.

The ad film “HarperCollins: Books Create Stories” was directed by Srinivas Sunderrajan.

It celebrates the journey of a book that starts from a real-life story and ends in the shape of a book, culminating with the tagline ‘Books create stories. Stories create books’.

HarperCollins India worked with Taproot Denstu India to co-create the concept of the film which was also scripted by Sunderrajan of Absolute Films, the publishers said.

“It’s akin to reading a book; one visualises and feels so much that you’d want to feel the same when you see its adaption on screen. While directing the film, my main aim was to ensure that the viewer goes through the same wave as I did; apart from bringing a bit of old-world charm that’s associated with paperbacks,” says Srinivas.

Sharing the background to the film, Sonali Singh, Head (Marketing & Corporate Communications) of HarperCollins India, says, “This is a big year for us and to make our 25th anniversary in India special, we were clear that we wanted to celebrate books and the journey that translates into the creation of these and the stories that we all begin to feel a part of.

 

“Srinivas has so beautifully done justice to what we wanted that you have to see the film to understand the magic it creates.”

 

Creative head of Taproot Dentsu, Titus Upputuru, says, “When we made the film, we had no clue it would garner so much love, attention and accolades. We are extremely delighted and feel absolutely grateful.”

When Ramdev quit govt school, fled home and joined gurukul!

(New Delhi, Apr 30, 2017) A young Ramdev was so moved by the writings of Dayanand Saraswati that he quit the government school as the curriculum was a leftover of the colonial education policy, fled from home and enrolled himself in a gurukul.

Saraswati’s book “Satyarth Prakash” had a deep impact on Ramdev.

While greeting someone over phone, Ramdev never says hello. Instead he chants ‘Om’.

The first chapter of “Satyarth Prakash” explains the etymology and significance of Om.

After reading the book, Ramdev wanted to follow the path shown by the ancient sages. As the path of ancient sages also meant practice of celibacy, so he took a vow – to never marry.

A new book “The Baba Ramdev Phenomenon: From Moksha to Market” by Kaushik Deka has these nuggets of information.

“Satyarth Prakash” was written in Hindi in 1875 by the renowned religious and social reformer and the founder of Arya Samaj. The book formed the intellectual core and social, political and economic philosophy of the yoga guru. It was a book primarily explaining the true tenets of Hinduism, making an appeal for one uniform religion based on the principles of the Vedas.

“This book was a revelation to me. It awakened my inner-self, gave me a sense of purpose in life. It introduced me to the wisdom of our ancestors. I wanted to follow the path shown by the ancient sages,” Ramdev is quoted as saying.

“Satyarth Prakash” not only changed Ramdev’s life but also gave it a direction and purpose.

“He was so moved by the writings of Dayanand Saraswati that he quit the government school where ‘the curriculum was a leftover of the education policy’ introduced by British politician Babington Macaulay (1800–59), who was instrumental in the introduction of English as the medium of instruction for higher education in India.

“He knew his parents would never agree to his decision of quitting regular school, where he was doing exceptionally well. So one fine day he fled from home and enrolled himself in a gurukul, a traditional educational institute based on Vedic principles, at Khanpur in Haryana,” Deka writes.

Ramdev was the brightest student in the government primary school, located in the village, where he studied till the class V. For higher classes he moved to the Shahbajpur High School, a few kilometres away.

“I used to buy second-hand books, yet I always topped my class,” claims Ramdev.

“Dayanandji made me realise the value of the treasure trove hidden in Vedic education. It’s a progressive approach based on ‘tark’ (logic), ‘tathya’ (facts), ‘yukti’ (argument) and ‘praman’ (evidence). The goal of British education system was to enslave our mind and curb free and logical thinking,” he says.

“The Baba Ramdev Phenomenon: From Moksha to Market”, published by Rupa, offers a detailed account of Ramdev’s journey from attaining moksha in the Himalayas to ruling the market, especially the FMCG sector, with his Patanjali products. It captures the rise and rise of Patanjali and the various factors that worked for it, most importantly, the vision of Ramdev and the assistance of his associate Acharya Balkrishna.

According to multinational brokerage company CLSA, Patanjali is the fastest growing fast-moving consumer goods company in India. It is valued at 13,000 crore.

Ramdev says Patanjali is able to reduce cost for four reasons.

“We don’t have high-flying executives who spend 90 per cent of their time in conference calls and making presentations. Our purchase department has men of integrity. Till now we kept our distribution network restricted to our flagship stores,” he explains.

Anish installation to come up at NYC’s Brooklyn Bridge Park

(New York, Apr 27, 2017) ‘Descension’, one of Anish Kapoor’s most viscerally arresting installations, will be on view at the city’s Brooklyn Bridge Park from next month.

As part of its 40th anniversary season, Public Art Fund brings ‘Descension’ to New York City for the first time.

Sited at Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, this massive, continuously spiralling funnel of water will harness one of the most evanescent of materials and create a striking contrast with the adjacent East River, the organisers said.

Best known for his iconic public artworks, Kapoor’s last major outdoor sculpture in New York City was ‘Sky Mirror’, his 35-foot-diameter concave mirror at Rockefeller Center in 2006.

With ‘Descension’, he has created a dynamic negative space that descends into the ground, disturbing the familiar boundaries of the world.

The installation will be on view from May 3-September 10 at the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

“As we celebrate 40 years of bringing remarkable public art to New York City, it’s important to recognise those artists and exhibitions that have shaped the discourse and been so memorable to our broad public audience.

“We’re thrilled that Anish’s newest work will be a highlight of this anniversary season, more than a decade after his outdoor debut with us,” says Public Art Fund director and chief curator Nicholas Baume.

Since the mid-1990s, Kapoor has explored the notion of the void by creating works that seem to recede into the distance, disappear into walls or floors, or otherwise destabilise assumptions about the physical world.

In ‘Descension’, 26-feet in diameter, the spiralling funnel of water is treated with an all-natural black dye, creating an opaque, seemingly endless hole. The whirling pool will be surrounded by a railing, inviting audiences to peer into its dark depths.

Through this transformation of properties inherent to materials and objects, Kapoor blurs the boundaries between nature, landscape, and art, allowing people to perceive space differently.