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Indian strays are migrating to the West as adoring families vie to adopt them, reports SAVIE KARNEL 16-18

talk

NRI DOGS

BREWINGLanguage row on

FM radio 14

AYYOTOONS Hot curryGadkari 5

CAREERWork-from-home

virtual assistants 7

NRI DOGS

INTERVIEWS’Encounter’ Daya Nayak 3Novelist Manu Joseph 19

PHOTO: JACLYN MARKS

2talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.in

Talk’s content needs to be morevaried and fresh. Take your cyclingstory for instance (The twin-pedalrevolution, Issue 10). Your approachshould not have been similar towhat has already been written. Anew angle on cycling in Bangaloreshould have been highlighted—likethe problems cyclistsface in killing traffic,and not so much thefeel-good experience ofcycling, which isn'tentirely true. In general,stories need to be moreprovocative, and not justfeel-good. Overall, couldthe magazine take asharper view of things?Shravanti BSarjapur

Ilaiah wrong about IslamThe Talk interview with Dr KanchaIlaiah (Castrating caste, Issue 10)was interesting. However, Ilaiah iswrong in saying that “caste in Islamis limited to professions.” There isno caste system in Islam. It is true,though, that in some countries

some communities among theMuslims have continued to beidentified with the professions theyhave been engaged in forgenerations, even after theirforefathers converted to Islam.Likewise, some tribal customs and

practices are stillprevalent in Muslimcommunities in certaincountries. Some ofthese are totallyantagonistic toIslamic priciples—they have noscriptural sanction.In short, there arequite a few thingsthat many Muslims

practice that have nothingto do with Islam.I M Khan by email

Coverage you can relate toTalk magazine offers a refreshingperspective on stories that revolvearound our lives as Bangaloreans.Everyone can relate to the articles,which vie with each other for

attention. The coverage offers agood blend of objective facts andsubjective analysis, withoutcompromising the essence of thestory.Parinitha Shinde by email

Wanted: Wheels columnI recently heard about Talkmagazine from my newspaperdistributor. I appreciate your efforts.After glancing through the first fewpages of the magazine, I realisedyou are putting in great effort.With the influx of automobiles in thepast few years, people of all ages,especially the youth, are interestedin the sector. Young people preferarticles related to sports, gadgetsand automobiles, rather thanpolitics and other serious issues. Itwould be helpful if you could publisha column about the automobileindustry.Siddarth Lakshmanan,by email

mail team talk

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EDITORIAL

S R RamakrishnaEditor

Sridhar ChariConsulting Editor

Prashanth G NSenior Editor

Sajai Jose Chief Copy Editor

Savie Karnel Principal Correspondent

Basu Megalkeri Principal Correspondent

Bhanu Prakash E S Senior Reporter

Prachi Sibal Senior Features Writer

Sandra Fernandes and Maria Laveena Reporters and Copy Editors

Anand Kumar K Chief of Design

Shridhar G KulkarniGraphic Designer

Ramesh Hunsur Senior Photographer

Vivek ArunGraphics Artist

EXECUTIVE TEAM

Sumith KombraFounder, CEO and Publisher

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Abhay Sebastian Asst Manager - Sales

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Mithun SudhakarAsst Manager - Sales

Kishore Kumar N Head - Circulation

Vinayadathan K VArea Manager - Trade

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Yadhu Kalyani Sr Executive - Corporate Sales

Lokesh K N Sr Executive - Subscriptions

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What do you think of this edition?Write to letters@talkmag.in

Talk needs to take a sharper view of the world

3talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inlaw enforcer

editor talk

The story of Bangalore’s FM radiostations is ironic. It is a story ofpoverty amidst plenty. We have 11stations, and with the exception ofAll India Radio, none has the spaceor the equipment to record originalmusic. On private channels, thecity’s singers and musicians getalmost zero airplay. All India Radio,which still records some originalmusic at its sprawling studios,keeps its procedures so stringentand old-school that younger artistesjust can’t get their recordings on air.(For example, all artistes featuredon an album need to be AIR-auditioned and graded for theirmusic to be eligible for broadcast.That is an unrealistic expectation inthis day and age). Private FMchannels only play commercialmusic, and show little interest inanything other than film songs.While private channels aredesperately market-driven, All IndiaRadio, governed by Prasar Bharti, isneither here nor there. It has madeno recruitments in 17 years, andmany of its talented employees aredemoralised for want of creativeand promotional opportunities. Allof which has produced an FM radioculture that offers little more thancheerful, silly chatter and themusical equivalent of junk food. Wehave this week a story by SandraFernandes on a language battle thatis brewing between the privatechannels and the Kannada musicindustry. Bangalore is a city ofchanging demographics, with arecent influx of Hindi speakers. Butit also remains a Dravidian city,where Telugu, Tamil and Malayalamspeakers understand and relate toKannada. Bangalore’s musicaldiversity encompasses Hindustani,Carnatic and Western classicalmusic, sugama sangeeta, rock,fusion, and all these genres faceneglect. It is time radio stationsaddressed these larger questions.

S R Ramakrishnaram@talkmag.in

BHANU PRAKASH E Sbhanu.prakash@talkmag.in

The tough, honest,policeman who blowsaway the bad guys in asystem that routinelythwarts the law: that’s

how Dayananda Badda Nayak isportrayed in many films.

The Karnataka-born Mumbaipolice sub-inspector, an ‘encounterspecialist’, has inspired half a dozenfilms in Hindi, Kannada, andTelugu. Popularly known as DayaNayak, he came under a cloud in2006 on charges of amassing assetsdisproportionate to his knownsources of income. The case—filedin a Maharashtra Control ofOrganised Crime Act court on thebasis of a private complaint by ajournalist now in jail for hisalleged links with the under-world—was thrown out by theSupreme Court. KetanTirodkar, the journalist hadalso accused Nayak of

eliminating Chota Shakeel’s rivals atthe don’s behest, and ‘supplying’ anencounter victim, Sadiq Jamal, tothe Gujarat police. Jamal was laterkilled in a ‘fake’ encounter in 2004.This latter charge is still beinginvestigated by the CBI.

Tirodkar’s still in jail, butNayak was reinstated by theMumbai police in June this year,and he returned to duty last week.When Talk called him up, he spokein English and was every bit theguarded, tough cop who wouldn’tdiscuss, say, the school he set up inKarnataka, as he was “in uniform.”Edited excerpts from an interviewspanning three phone calls:

Tell us about your life during yoursuspension on charges of corrup-tion, abuse of power and links withthe underworld? Were you disap-pointed at the lack of support?Legally speaking, I wasn’t undersuspension. I was instructed by thepolice department to hand overcharge and stay away until the ver-dict was delivered. I took up myown case in the Supreme Court andsubmitted all relevant details. Thecourt directed a special investiga-tion unit to check the facts againstthe allegations. The resultsmatched and by God’s grace I’mback in my seat now. The judgmentis available to the public and any-body can go through it.

Tell us something about some ofthe criminals you tracked andkilled in your service? How closelydid you track them?(Silence for five seconds) It’s notjust me; it’s for any police officer tocarry out decisions made by superi-ors. I have been in a special unit ofthe Mumbai police tracking crimi-nals and their activities. That is aroutine part of my job, and that ofany police officer. The unit where Istarted my career has gunned downmore than 100 criminals in the last

five years. Any decision of‘encountering’ a criminal associ-

ated with the mafia starts withthe issue of a red cornernotice. When the accuseddoesn’t respond to it, we getpermission from the depart-ment to arrest him using any

means. Sometimes, suchrational decisions end up as

encounters. Why don’t youapply for an RTI regarding our

unit?

You started a school, named afteryour mother, the Radha NayakGovernment High School inYennehole in Udupi district?(Nayak was born there).I don’t want to talk about it. You cancall me some other time to discussit. I’m in my uniform now.

Continued on page 4

HIT MANDaya Nayak has

‘done’ more than 80encounter killings as

part of Mumbaipolice’s Crime

Intelligence Unit

He’s the controversial ‘encounter specialist’whose story has inspired several movies. TheKarnataka-born Mumbai policeman, reinstatedafter six years, says killings are carried out notindividually but on orders from the top

Daya Nayak, back inuniform, talks carefully

4talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inlaw enforcer

Continued from page 3

You are also known for the network of informants youhave developed in the Mumbai criminal world. How doyou ensure their safety?Yes. Having a good intelligence network is always an assetfor police officials. You never know what awaits you. Eachday you wake up not sure whether you will live through theday. Every police officer working in the special unit has tolook after his own sources. I can’t possibly tell you anymore (laughs).

What are your plans now that you are back after six years?It is my fighting spirit that sustained me and helped meclear all allegations. I don’t want to hold anybody in partic-ular responsible, nor point to any masterminds whothought they could finish me. I am immensely happy I havean opportunity to serve again with the special unit.

How did you get close to Bollywood bigwigs like AmitabhBachchan, who inaugurated your school?It was just a friendly gesture on his part.

People say you have killed wantonly, and the film Ab TakChappan, said to be based on your life, was quite critical.They make films on anything and everybody. And how canI be held responsible if they do something based on my life,

Six films in threelanguages have beenmade, based on the life ofDaya Nayak and the ideaof the ‘encounter cop’: AbTak Chappan (Hindi),Golimaar (Telugu),Encounter Daya Nayak(Kannada), Kagaar (Hindi),Risk (Hindi) and the mostrecent one, Department(Hindi).

In his home state ofKarnataka, veteran D Rajendra Babu directedEncounter Daya Nayak in 2005. The Kannada filmstarred debutant Sachin with Spoorthi as the loveinterest. Despite the publicity it received after it wasannounced, it flopped at the box office. When thefilm was being made, Daya Nayak visited the sets,as Babu confirmed to Talk.

"We did a lot of research and visited the placeswhere Nayak grew up. I consider it a warm gesturethat Nayak frequently visited us on the sets andgave his inputs on the script and the actionsequences,” Babu said.Daya Nayak brought real guns and bullets with himthat helped the unit shoot the encounter scenes. Forall that, the film flopped. “Maybe we could haveadded more entertainment elements,” he said. He isthinking of a sequel and plans to moot the ideawhen he meets Daya Nayak next.

Not all films about Daya Nayak are in awe of him.Ab Tak Chappan (2004), in Hindi, had Nana Patekarplaying Daya Nayak, and was directed by ShimitAmin who later went on to direct Chak De India andRocket Singh. It was produced by Ram Gopal Verma.

When the actionhero visits the sets

but add to it from their imagination?I should check whether they are mak-ing a sequel on my win in theSupreme Court!

They say you own star hotels in theMiddle East and have investments inother sectors as well.Anybody can check my assets. I havewon the case alleging I possess assets

disproportionate to my income. Ihave never been to the Gulf in my life.I don’t find time to go on vacations.

What do you think of criminals turn-ing real estate developers, creating abig mafia in almost all the majorcities including Bangalore. Is realestate more lucrative than violentcrime today?

I don’t know about that.

It is rumoured you were trying tocontest an assembly seat on aCongress ticket?Those were rumours created by alocal daily in Mumbai. I don’t knowhow it travelled everywhere. My onlyambition is to serve the oath I tookwhile joining the police force.

5talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.infun lines

BASU MEGALKERIbasavaraju@talkmag.in

Agriculture MinisterUmesh Katti has becomea hero of sorts in northKarnataka after he raisedthe demand for a sepa-

rate state last week. Known as rebel BS Yeddyurappa’s man, Katti has beengoing around saying the region candevelop only if it breaks away fromKarnataka. Opposition parties arenow demanding that he be sackedfrom the cabinet. It is no secret thatYeddyurappa is banking on the north-ern districts to bring him back topower.

Some leaders held a protest infront of Katti’s house, but he isn’tbudging. “I’m just being honest,” hesaid. Yet, despite his stubbornness,Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar andparty president K S Eshwarappa are inno position to remove him. If they goafter him, he could joinYeddyurappa’s proposed KarnatakaJanata Party, and project himself as amartyr for the north Karnataka cause.That way, both he and Yeddyurappacan garner more votes.

But not all is well in theYeddyurappa camp. Till recentlybrimming with energy, the formerchief minister is slowing down. As hisformal exit from the BJP becomesimminent, his supporters are dwin-dling. And the silence of his closeassociates Renukacharya and ShobhaKarandlaje is his biggest worry. TheLingayat politician’s chances aren’tlooking all thatbright any more.

Sidda vs Sidda inVarunaThe Varuna con-stituency in Mysoreis Siddaramaiah’sstronghold. He issure to be a front-runner for chiefministership if the Congress wins the2013 elections. But KapuSiddalingaswamy, a close confidant

of Yeddyurappa, is all set to queer thepitch.

Siddalingaswamy was an orphanwho grew up in the Suttur mutt, aLingayat organisation that wieldsclout among politicians. When

Yeddyurappa visitedthe mutt, theSwamiji deputedSiddalingaswamy toassist him, and thetwo have beentogether ever since.In fact, Siddalinga-swamy was consid-

ered the de facto chief minister whenYeddyurappa was running the gov-ernment.

Siddalingaswamy is now set to

challenge Siddaramaiah in Varuna,and the buzz is that he is alreadymeeting voters and being generouswith his money. Siddaramaiah isdoing his best to counter the threat.He has organised a conference forbackward castes in Shikaripura,Yeddyurappa’s constituency in centralKarnataka. But that may not beenough to counter his wily rival.

Got cash? Welcome to JD(S)With elections around the corner,both the BJP and the Congress partieshave a ready list of potential candi-dates. And both parties being inpower, the BJP in the state and theCongress at the centre, they aren’tshort of cash.

This leaves the JD(S), the thirdbig party in Karnataka. H D DeveGowda and his family are looking toinduct rich newcomers, and they aregoing after real estate players. SyedMudeer Agha became an MLC on aJD(S) ticket recently. Balaraj of Anekaland E Krishnappa of Nelamangalahave aligned themselves with theJD(S). BEML Krishnappa, who wasmurdered recently, was also a leaderof this party.

And then there are the filmtypes. Actor, director and producerRavikiran, who has made a fortunefrom daily soaps, has joined the JD(S)and will be contesting either fromPadmanabhanagar or RajarajeshwariNagar.

6talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inpolitical diary

Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti is demanding a new state, but is he serious?

If action is takenagainst Katti, hemight projecthimself as amartyr

PLAYERS ALL Umesh Katti projects himself as a champion of North Karnataka. (Below) B S Yeddyurappa with Siddalingaswamy, who’s likely tocontest against Siddaramaiah of the Congress. Deve Gowda’s JD(S) wants to field rich candidates who will fund themselves

RAMESH HUNSUR

A separatist tamasha

SAVIE KARNELsavie.karnel@talkmag.in

Jessie DSouza’s weeklytimetable goes like this:laundry on Monday, dustingon Tuesday, sweeping andmopping on Wednesday,

shopping on Thursday, gardening onFriday, and repairs on Saturday. Herday is divided into cooking and pick-ing and dropping her daughter fromschool. But between 10 am and 12noon, when her daughter is away atschool, and after 10 pm, you can findher at her new Apple computer,working on her projects. Her clients

are scattered all over the world, andthe odd hours are spent calling orSkyping them. During the day,between her chores, she is busy build-ing her online presence and market-ing herself on forums and blogs.

Welcome tothe life of the virtu-al assistant (VA),who work for exec-utives around theworld using theInternet. ThoughVAs like Jessie workfrom home, it certainly doesn’t meanthey have all the time for householdchores. “People think working fromhome is easy. But it is more difficultthan working in an office,” she says.People don’t consider work serious ifit is done from home, and besides, thedistractions are numerous. Jessie bal-ances her domestic work and her pro-ject work with the help of a schedule.She sweeps her house once a week, orwhenever she finds the time, becauseshe is “not answerable to anyone athome”. But she sticks to her work

deadlines strictly. “If my work isunsatisfactory, I may lose my clients.Reputation matters,” says Jessie, whohas been a VA since 2010.

Jessie was a teacher, and becamea VA after her daughter was born.

“With this I could bewith my daughter andalso work,” she says.She has been under-taking administration-related tasks, accounts,market research andsocial media market-

ing.Deepa Govind works for her

many foreign clients from her housein Bangalore. She took up virtualassistance soon after her marriage in2006. Six years on, she says workingfrom home is still not easy. “Whenyou go to office, there is a workingatmosphere. You don’t have to worryabout what’s happening at home.Once you leave office, you can forgetabout work. Here, you have to jugglethe two worlds,” says Deepa. Sheprefers to work on her projects dur-

ing the day, and update her clients atnight, when the family sleeps, whichshe says suits both parties.

Deepa is a mother of twins justsix months old, and is already back atwork. “Just two months after thedelivery, I started work again. This isa competitive field. There are manyVAs out there. A prolonged absencecould drive away clients. Thankfully,my in-laws are supportive. They lookafter the twins when I am working,”she says.

Deepa has been a VA since 2006and specialises in Zoho-based pro-grammes. The Zoho Office Suite is anonline office suite with word process-ing, spreadsheet, database, invoicing,and other applications.

When Deepa started work, shelearnt mostly on the Internet, sincethere is no formal training for VAs. “Iresearched a lot, read up and partici-pated in discussions. I also took uponline classes,” she says. She then reg-istered herself with VA websites,which helped her find assignments.

Continued on page 8

7talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.incareer trend

A peek into the lives of Virtual Assistants, thenew breed of office secretaries—mostly womenwho prefer to work from home—who assistexecutives overseas remotely

HOME WORKDeepa, originally ateacher, became aVA after she had a

baby. (Facing page)Jessie D’Sa deals

directly with clientsand calls herself a‘business owner’

www.yourvirtualassistant.com

‘Working fromhome is harder;there are manydistractions,’says Deepa

va4u.com | odesk.com | elance.com | freelancer.com | twango.comWebsites that connect virtual assistants with clients

RAMESH HUNSUR

8talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.incareer trend

Continued from page 7 Deepa has also improvised, and made

herself a teacher of Indian languagesthrough Skype. She currently teaches fourlanguages including Kannada, which aremainly aimed at foreign students whowant to intern in India. In addition, shealso takes up content writing and manage-ment of company websites, all of which puttogether brings in about Rs 25,000 to30,000 a month.

While Deepa prefers to continuebeing a freelance VA, Jessie has moved tothe next level, and prefers to call herself abusiness owner. “There are different kindsof VAs,” she explains. “Those who work ina BPO-like setup get a fixed salary, andthere are the freelancers. They sign up withwebsites who send work to them for a fee.”Business owners are those who work likeDeepa, who has built up a client base anddirectly deals with them.

Jessie, who makes Rs 30,000 to Rs40,000 per month, says, “I have no taxdeductions. Since I work individually, Idon’t have to share my earnings with web-sites that function like agents,” she says.But Jessie still has to meet the challenge ofkeeping ahead of her competitors, andmaintain her online visibility. She regularlyparticipates in discussion forums, blogs,

and keeps her website up to date with thelatest in the world of virtual assistance. Shealso gets testimonials and recommenda-tions from clients, which she ensures aredisplayed well.

In addition to all this, she announcesspecial offers and discounts. VAs usuallycommit to a number of hours of work tothe client. If she finishes the work early,

Jessie offers to carry over the remaininghours into the next project. She puts ineffort to keep abreast of the latest applica-tions, and is now keen on starting a servicefor corporate women. “They have obliga-tions like sending greetings and gifts tobusiness associates, family and friends. Iwill be their assistant where I maintaintheir social calendars, shop for them,

online or offline, and send out greetingsand gifts.”

Not everyone wants to experimentlike Jessie. Most are like Deepa, preferringto work as freelancers because it involvesfewer hassles. “We don’t have to makeinvoices or keep a record of the number ofhours we have clocked. The websites thatgive us work take care of all that,” saysDeepa.

Then, there are also those like KavyaN, who take up virtual assistance on a part-time basis. “I have a full-time job, and takeup assignments just to earn some extramoney,” says Kavya. Because of the com-mitments of her day job, she does notalways make as much money as VAs whowork full-time. “There have been monthswhen I earned just Rs 5,000 in a month,and months when it went up to Rs 30,000.It all depends on the projects I get and thetime on hand,” she adds.

Bala Kumar had been a virtual assis-tant for a short time, before joining a majorsearch engine firm. “It was a four-monthproject, when I had to do market research.After I took up a full-time job, I was unableto take on new projects. VA assignmentsrequire dedication of the kind you some-times can’t give when you have a regularjob,” he says.

SAVIE KARNELsavie.karnel@talkmag.in

When we hear the wordvirtual, we now immedi-ately associate it with

computers. In its current usage,the word stands for somethingimaginary yet real, created incyberspace. Beyondour monitors, webelieve, there lies arealm that cannot betouched, but that stillconnects realhumans. The easiest way todescribe it is simply by calling itvirtual. This one word takes careof what is a complex concept.

The association of the wordvirtual with computers may makeus think it is of recent origin. We

may even assume theterm was coined

after theadvent ofcomputers.That cer-

tainly isn’t so. Virtual dates back tothe 14th century and originatedfrom the Latin word virtualis.Back then, the meaning had noth-ing to do with technology.Instead, it meant “as far as essen-tial qualities or facts are con-cerned.” In the 15th century, itcame to mean “in effect” or “asgood as.” For instance, a sentencewith the old meaning would read:“The floods have virtuallydestroyed the town.” This mean-

ing still holds goodand continues tobe in use.

The change inmeaning hasn’tbeen sudden. The

first recorded change is in the1650s, when virtual came to standfor something present in essenceor fact, but with no physical form.Things like music, art and litera-ture came to be considered virtu-al. We know music exists, but itdoesn’t have a physical form.Music has no body or shape, andcan only be heard. We can saymusic is present in a virtual space,which we cannot otherwiseaccess. Many imaginative things

were also said to be ‘virtual’.Perhaps, this meaning gave way tothe meaning of virtual associatedwith computers.

It was in 1959 that the wordgot its computer-related meaning.It came to mean something thatdoes not physically exist but ismade to appear so by software.With the advancement of com-puters and the Internet, themeaning of virtual has expanded.We have become familiar withwhat we call virtual reality, whichdenotes an environment that sim-ulates reality that is created bycomputer programs. Cyber spacetoo is referred to as the virtualworld. Though we do not live inthe virtual world, we increasinglypretend to do so by creating virtu-al identities, or avatars.

Now, even this meaningseems to have changed. Thesedays, we use virtual for things thatexist in the physical world, but areconnected through the Internet.Virtual communities or groupshave actual people sitting in dif-ferent parts of the world. Theymeet in virtual rooms or forumsthat do not have a physical exis-

tence. But the discussions takeplace among real humans.

Virtual assistant was earlierused to mean a computer-simu-

lated assistant. Now, it stands forreal people doing the job of anassistant, connected to theirclients through the Internet.

The Talkcolumn onword origins

K EW O S

YR D

Virtual

A word for ‘real’ that came to denote the unreal

IMAGINED Second Life is an online ‘virtual’ world where real people take on avatars

BHANU PRAKASH E Sbhanu.prakash@talkmag.in

The Indian red sand boa isconsidered a lucky pet bysome, and a requirementin black magic by others.Despite wildlife activists’

best efforts, an illegal trade in theendangered reptilecontinues to thrivein Bangalore and itsvicinity.

Three caseshave come to lightover the last twomonths. Adugodipolice arrested Rajafrom Tamil Nadu and Harish andGanesh from Lakkasandra inBangalore on October 13. Earlier thisweek, on October 24, theYeshwantpur police were out on apatrol when they found a crowdstanding around a red sand boa. Theysay they released it in theBannerghatta forest.

A red sand boa reportedly fetch-es Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh in the local

market, and the price can go up to Rs1 crore in the international market.The snakes are usually smuggled outto China, Japan, Malaysia and theUAE.

The red sand boa is informallyknown as the two-headed snake, asits tail resembles its head, a survivalfeature to protect itself against preda-tors. Folk belief in many Asian coun-

tries attributessupernatural pow-ers to the snake,including the abilityto restore sexualvirility, and cureparalysis andintractable skin dis-eases.

Police say many celebrities,astrologers, and businessmen, espe-cially traders from some north Indiancommunities, keep the snake at homefor good luck and protection.

Snake Shyam, a reptile specialistwho lives in Mysore, says, “Thesnake’s so-called power to attract afortune is a myth created by thosewho earn a fortune by selling it toastrologers and businessmen. I have

received hundreds of calls asking forthe red sand boa.”

He said the snake is found inBagepalli, Tumkur and Sira morethan in other parts of the state. Thesetowns are within a two-hour drivefrom Bangalore.

The red sand boa is protectedunder Schedule 4 of the Wild LifeProtection Act of 1972.

While people call the reptile atwo-headed snake, the real two-head-ed snake, with a genetic malforma-

tion akin to that of conjoined twins,also exists. Two-headed snakes arevery rare, and do not live very long.

Inspector S Sudhir of Audugodipolice station says the three menarrested earlier this week were tryingto sell a snake for Rs 5 lakh.

“I don’t know how people wantto keep a red sand boa at home. Justtwo days in the station and the wholeplace was stinking. People should notfollow such superstitious beliefs,” hetold Talk.

10talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inhiss buss

A snake sells forup to Rs 5 lakhhere, and Rs 1crore in theworld market

FANG SHUIThree men arrested

by the Adugodipolice when they

were allegedly tryingto sell a red sand

boa, called ‘eradutale haavu’ and‘kempu mannu

mukha’ in Kannada

’Black magic snake’market thriving

Traders keep it at home forgood luck. Others believe itrestores their virility, andhelps them destroy theirenemies. The Indian red sandboa, wrongly called the ‘two-headed snake’, is in muchdemand in Bangalore

It is 5 am, cold and dark, andnobody out. I stand outsidethe home of the great story-teller Hans ChristianAndersen in Odense,

Denmark’s third largest city. It’s asmall house, low-roofed, and is at thecentre of a colony of houses.Andersen was born in poverty, andthis was a poor settlement then, buttoday it is an upmarket quarter. Thepaths are paved with cobble-stones,probably the very ones laid in the late19th century.

Andersen is a Danish icon. Hiscreations can be found all over thecountry - I even found a train ticketwith the image of one of his papercuttings. In his birthplace ofOdense—now the third biggest cityof Denmark—one can scarcely passby the town without being remindedof him.

Andersen’s house is now a muse-um, with a rich display on his life andwork. Close by is the Fyrtoejet(‘Tinderbox’), a playhouse for chil-dren that is themed on the stories andcharacters from Andersen’s stories.Storytellers act out his stories to chil-dren and their parents, and most arespellbound as they listen.

We have all read his stories inour childhood: The Emperor’s NewClothes, The Ugly Ducking,Thumbelina, and so forth. But wegrew out of them, and we thought ofthem as no more than fairytales forlittle children. Why then doesAndersen continue to be a central fig-ure in Denmark even today?

“His stories to me are very mod-ern,” says Pernille Holmskov, theleader of the team. “I realised thatonce I started working. You can para-phrase his stories to modern times inmagnificent ways. I think he doesn’thave enough room in Denmark. Weoften treat him as a children’s fairy-tale writer. The little mermaid—everybody thinks they know the

story, because they’ve seen the Disneyversion, and it has a happy ending.But actually, in his version, she dies,and the prince gets the princess. It’svery deep and moving. We try to givethis extra dimension that the fairytaleoffers in its original form, which is alittle sad. There’s longing and desirefor a different world.”

There are lessons aplenty in histales. “There’s this sculpture we’remaking, it’s is based on the Mother ofthe Sea,” continues Holmskov.“When people of the land get toogreedy, she gets angry, and we relateit to the present,where we’re pollut-ing the ocean.”

For DorritLillesoe, storytellerat the playhouse,the job is all aboutletting childrentravel in theirminds. “Andersen says the most beau-tiful thing about stories was lookinginto eyes of children, because hecould see they were travelling. So youmake a space that’s very special, thatyou don’t find in the world today,”she says.

Nor far from Andersen’s child-hood home is a stream. That is wherehis mother, a poor washer-woman,did the clothes. The sun is out and

the water sparkling. There’s a statue of Andersen in a

park by the stream. A few children areplaying by. I take a look - they’re alldressed as wizards, as Harry Potterand his friends.

Where clubs are nurturedThe motto of the town of Odense is‘To Play Is To Live’. It is an unusualmotto, but the town council adoptedit in 2008, sure of the importance ofplay in everyday life.

The emphasis in Odense, andindeed in Denmark, comes from the

realisation that nur-turing spaces for playreduces other prob-lems, like crime, andsaves a lot of moneyspent on healthcare.The Danes areamong the sportiestpeople on the planet.

You can spot even elderly men andwomen running or cycling on colddays. There are 500 clubs in Odense,which is home to 1.5 lakh people. AsStina Willumsen, Deputy Mayor ofOdense, and minister in charge ofchildren and sport, says, the club cul-ture is considered an important unitof democracy. “We believe clubs areimportant, because you have to con-duct regular meetings and elections,

and submit your accounts for audit,”she says. “These are the requirementsof a democracy, and so the govern-ment will fund anybody who wants tostart a club. The requirement is thatthe club should be open to everybody,and members will not take a salary.”

No surprise, then, that Odenseshould also plug the benefits of openair gyms or sports parks. One suchpark has elderly women and childrenworking out. The equipment—including some for weight-training—is simple, well designed, and requireslittle maintenance. Stig Jonsson, SalesDirector of Norwell, the companythat installed the equipment for thetown council, says the equipment isfree for anyone to use. “We wereinspired by the Chinese folk parks,”he says. “So far we have set up 100parks in Denmark, and we’re export-ing all over the world.”

Jonsson says the park has fourelements: it should be for everyone; itrequires you to work against yourown body weight (which means norisk of injury); it is open 14x7, and itserves as a social meeting place.

The equipment is ‘Scandinavianin design’, and is particularly useful tothose who find gyms claustrophobicand intimidating.

Now that’s something we coulduse in Bangalore as well.

11talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inletter from denmark

In Odense to cover the Denmark Open—whichIndia’s Saina Nehwal won—Dev S Sukumar

takes a detour to a colony where the world’smost famous children’s storyteller once lived

The town has an unusual official motto:‘To Play is toLive’

At home with Andersen

Dev S SukumarWriter andbiographer ofbadminton legendPrakash Padukone

HAPPILY EVER AFTER A Hans Christian Andersen sculpture, outside a hotel in his hometown Odense

The untimely demise of Yash Chopra, adoyen of the mainstream Hindi film,will be a matter of great distress to any-one acquainted with Hindi cinema.Apart from a career as director begin-

ning with Dhool Ka Phool (1959) and including suchpopular landmarks as Waqt (1965), Ittefaq (1969),Deewar (1975), Silsila (1981), Dil To Pagal Hai (1997)and Veer-Zara (2004), he was a leading producer,and the founder of Yash Raj Films. As importantly,his son Aditya Chopra is one of the most proficientdirectors in mainstream cinema today, with suc-cesses like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995),Mohabbatein (2000) and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008).Given Yash Chopra’s position in mainstream cine-ma as its biggest emblem, this may be an appropri-ate moment to reflect on whatBollywood has itself come tomean today.

Yash Chopra’s most signifi-cant film as director was perhapsDeewar—it launched AmitabhBachchan as the angry youngman—but one is uncertain aboutthe credit that should be appor-tioned to him for the film. In thegeneral rush to bestow ‘authorship’ upon the direc-tor of any film, one loses sight of the fact that Hindimainstream cinema is not a director’s medium butone that rightly belongs to the scriptwriter. The‘story’ in any film circumscribes its entire meaningfor the audience and cinema is only the visualmeans of delivering the story. One is hard put,therefore, to identify an element in Deewar whichwas not conceived by Salim-Javed. Perhaps sensingthis, most of Hindi cinema’s best-known directorshave turned producers and the new faces assumingthe director’s role today still deliver huge hits. YashRaj Films’ last big hit Ek Tha Tiger (2012) was direct-ed by Kabir Khan, who is not well known.

This being the case, the next question pertainsto the director’s contribution in any film, whetherhe can lay claim to ‘style’, as distinct from the story.Yash Chopra’s distinctive ‘style’—imitated by otherfilmmakers—perhaps evolved over a period of time.In films like Veer-Zara, he uses lush landscapes

preferably with snowcapped mountains inthe background and rivers or appleorchards in the foreground, stories pop-ulated by beautiful women dressed inchiffon. The critical term long used todescribe Hindi cinema was ‘escapist’,although with its global success com-mercially, one finds the epithetbeing applied more hesitantly.Yash Chopra’s style evolved toembody ‘escapism’—moving out ofthe real India into a magical realmfor two or three hours, at least helpingpeople get away from peak-hour traffic.

It should be noted here that the Hindifilm was not always ‘escapist’ in intent andthere were once directors who preferredthemes or genres with social observation andconcerns—those like Mehboob Khan, GuruDutt and Raj Kapoor who were also success-ful. The films of these pioneers were hardlydull, and audiences were caught up in theexcitement of the stories—following themwas their primary entertainment. But thatwas in the 1950s when the Hindi film still

had faith in the Nation. Afterthe debacle of the Sino-Indian war in 1962, whennational optimism was itslowest, Hindi cinemabegan to move out of the teemingcity (the emblem of Nehruvianoptimism) to picturesque hill sta-tions and foreign locales, and thestories also became flippant. The

1970s and the ’80s may have been different butHindi cinema reverted to escapism with avengeance after the economic liberalisation of1991-92. The era of cinema as idle amuse-ment arrived in the early 1960s and one canactually see Hindi cinema transformingbetween Dhool Ka Phool (1959) and Waqt(1965), two films by Yash Chopra. In Dhool KaPhool a judge is judged in his own courtroomfor having abandoned the woman whomothered his son, while Waqt, more giddily,is about three brothers being separated byan earthquake, the oldest brought up by acriminal...

One is not suggesting that social concernshould be mandatory in entertainment but themainstream Hindi film would perhaps havebeen a more laudable artifact if it had set itsstories in recognisable milieus, and if theaction had been made plausible. A film like 3

12talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.infilm legacy

Yash Chopra (1932-2012) was the mainstream Hindifilmmaker of his generation. He began with socialobservation but switched to escapist fare,offering the Swiss mountains as a magical realm to which weary Indians could get away

M K Raghavendra is the author ofSeduced by theFamiliar: Narrationand Meaning inIndian PopularCinema (Oxford,2008), 50 IndianFilm Classics(HarperCollins,2009) and BipolarIdentity: Region,Nationand the KannadaLanguage Film(Oxford, 2011).

The emblemof Bollywood

Chopra’s mostimportant film isDeewar, but howmuch credit hedeserves for it isdebatable

DREAM WEAVERYash Chopra died ofdengue, a disease associated with thepoor

13talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.infilm legacy

Idiots (2009)—which professes to show‘concern’—has its protagonists drivingfrom Manali to Leh, one of the most dan-gerous roads in the world—as though theywere driving between two suburbs inMumbai on a Sunday morning. Directionand cinematography have therefore cometo mean something quite different in theHindi film from what they mean in cine-ma. They neither assist in relaying thestory and nor do they provide visual

emphasis of any sort; they are simplyintended to distract the audiences withspectacle—because the story is too weak.Even as this is happening, the milieu isdeteriorating steadily and the gap betweenthe India known by the public and the oneacknowledged by Bollywood is increasing.Bollywood is completely unfazed by allthis. As an instance, a recent Hindi filmwas set in Ooty. Anyone who has seenOoty knows that it has been so ruined by

tourism that it cannot pass for the pristinespace that the story required it to be. Theway the director solved the problem was tomove the crew to a spot in Switzerland,pretend that it was Ooty, and shoot theentire film there!

The most shocking thing about YashChopra’s demise is that he died fromdengue fever. Dengue is emblematic of thecondition of our cities, the garbage chok-ing the drains, spilling on to the roads and

gradually usurping our parks. The diseaseis associated with the poor who live insqualid spaces where mosquitoes breed —but it has now begun to claim the rich aswell. If anything, dengue is reality assertingitself, and not being pushed under by appleorchards, snowcapped mountains andwomen in chiffon. It is horribly ironic thatBollywood’s biggest emblem was claimedby one of the most frightening emblems ofIndia’s reality today.

HIT FACTORY Chopra made his name with the gritty Deewar (1975), but later came to be known for romantic hits like Dil To Pagal Hai (1997). The last fim he directed is the yet-to-be-released Jab Tak Hain Jaan

SANDRA M FERNANDESsandramarina.fernandes@talkmag.in

The Kannada film musicindustry is up in armsagainst Bangalore FMradio channels switchingto Hindi. Red FM, owned

by the Chennai-based Sun group, isthe latest to move from Kannada toHindi. Their change in programmingcame into effect earlier this month.

The Kannada audio industry isplanning a big protest in the firstweek of November to counter privateFM channels dropping Kannada fromtheir shows.

The industry is puzzled. Thechannels aren’t telling them why theyare switching to Hindi. ‘They haven’twritten to us, nor have they had aword with us,’ says Velu of LahariRecording Company, south India’sbiggest audio label.

When Talk contacted theBangalore offices of Red FM andFever 104, they said they were notauthorised to respond. RadioOne saidit wouldn’t comment either.

Over the last four years, threeFM channels that used to playKannada music haveswitched completelyto Hindi. The first tochange was RadioOnein 2008. The station,then owned by Mid-Day Multimedia,began with Kannadaand Hindi, and thenswitched to Hindi. Fever 104, whichused to play only Kannada, changedits format to Hindi in July 2011. Itnow calls itself the ‘Baap ofBollywood’.

There was some talk that theKannada labels were demandinghigher royalties, but that is not borneout by what the Kannada musicindustry says.

Velu says, ‘The royalties a labelhere receives are meagre, and in the

range of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 amonth, whereas we should be receiv-ing a minimum of Rs 1 lakh.’

A highly placed source at a pri-vate radio station said Kannada songsend up being more expensive thanHindi. But Velu counters that claim,saying the royalty is fixed by the regu-latory authorities, and can’t bedetermined by audio rights owners.

The KarnatakaAudio and VideoOwners’ Association(KAVOA), headed byVelu, suspects the chan-nels are forming a cartelso that they can thwartthe Kannada musicindustry. ‘The bosses at

the radio channels have no clue aboutKannada language or culture,’ saysVelu. ‘They just want to impose theirprejudices on the city.’

Plans are afoot to protest thechange of language. Musicians, audiolabel owners and representatives ofthe film industry are talking abouthow to take on the ‘cartel’. Many aresuggesting they should take to thestreets and protest.

Neglecting Kannada is against

licence norms, and private channelscould be hauled up on that score.

‘FM stations in Tamil Nadu andAndhra Pradesh play their regionalmusic. Why can’t we?’ Velu says. ‘Thisnegative attitude is affecting not justour business but also our language.’

If channels in Bangalore startplaying Hindi, what will happen tothe Kannada music industry? That’s aquestion bothering labels, the filmmusic industry, RJs and listeners.

FM radio has a history of 11years in Bangalore. The first privatechannel to come to Bangalore wasRadio City, launched in July, 2001. Itstarted out playing only English popnumbers.

All India Radio launched VividhBharti and FM Rainbow in the sameyear in September. Gyanvani waslaunched in January 2004, followed byAmrutavarshini, the only channel inIndia to play classical music.

Next to join the league wasRadio Mirchi, launched in April 2006.RadioOne followed in August, RadioIndigo in September, Big FM inOctober and Red FM in November.The next year saw Fever 104 makingits presence felt in the city.

In the past, radio channels haverun into trouble when they tried tokeep Kannada out of their program-ming. Vasanthi Hariprakash, radiohost and TV reporter, experienced theire six years ago. ‘I happened to be theanchor of a breakfast show on RadioCity, and I remember people protest-ing against Hindi music. They camein on a Saturday when I was in facthosting my weekend Kannada showBengaluru Talkies,’ she said.

The KAVOA says it hasapproached the channels, but noth-ing has come of it.

Sanjay Prabhu, MD, RadioIndigo, denies that anyone hasapproached his channel regarding

With private FM channels switching fromKannada to Hindi one after the other, audiorights owners suspect the stations are forming a cartel to thwart the southern language

A battle is in the air

FM Stations that havechanged their formatRed FM (93.5): Kannada to onlyHindi

Radio One (94.3): Hindi andKannada to only Hindi

Fever 104 (104): Hindi andEnglish to only Kannada to onlyHindi

NeglectingKannada isagainst licencenorms

radio ruckus 14talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.in

this issue. ‘There is no rule that says thelocal language needs to be promoted,instead it is the local content—like localtalent and shows—that need to be promot-ed on radio.’

That will be seen as clever hair-split-ting, but, says N Raghu, programmeexecutive in charge of Amrutavarshini, pri-vate FM channels are promoting neitherthe local language nor local talent. ‘Rarelydo we see local bands being promoted onthese channels. They are promotingrecorded content.’

That is because private FM stationsare not equipped to record original music.They have neither the space nor the equip-ment to invite musicians over and producea professional recording. The only channelwith such infrastructure is All India Radio.

‘In order to promote local talent andcontent, these channels need to changetheir attitude,’ Raghu says.

Prabhu of Indigo, which plays Englishpop, says he is willing to hear out anyrequest for alternative programming. ‘Wewill react when we are approached,’ he said.

FM channels say they play only Hindior English music because of the ‘cosmopol-itan nature’ of Bangalore, and youngaudiences prefer Hindi and English toKannada. V H Suresh, former vice presi-dent and secretary of the Karnataka FilmChamber of Commerce (KFCC), isn’t con-

vinced. He says, ‘FM channels are misusingthe term ‘cosmopolitan’. They are takingunfair advantage of the culture and gen-erosity of the people of Bangalore.’

But defining audiences narrowly hasits problems. Vasanthi says, ‘In my ownexperience as RJ, whether at Radio City orAIR’s FM Rainbow prior to that, I have seen

how traditional Kannadigas have a finegrasp of not just Hindi film music, but alsoghazals, retro numbers and even Westernmusic.’

Many non-Kannadigas, by contrast,are not open to Kannada music. Theirexcuse: they do not understand the lyrics.Ashwin, a software engineer, says he listensto Kannada songs at his gym or at wayside

restaurants, that is, only when he has noother option. ‘I appreciate the music butlistening to it won’t be my first choice,’ hesays.

Prabhu says people who tune in toRadio Indigo are not just the city’s English-speaking population. ‘Our audience listensto Hindi and Kannada music too,’ he said.

FM Rainbow, run by All India Radio,caters to everyone’s tastes by playingKannada, Hindi and English music.Rajeshwari, transmission executive, FMRainbow, says, ‘Even though we are a cen-tral government-run channel, we givepreference to Kannada. A majority of ourcontent and hosting is in Kannada. At thesame time, we devote three hours to Hindiand one hour to Western music every day.’

The Kannada film industry says it willsuffer if radio channels play more Hindithan Kannada. ‘Since the Kannada filmindustry has a small market, the FM chan-nels should encourage us and not ignoreus,’ Suresh said.

When a channel changes the languageof its programmes, RJ careers are directlyaffected. Some are given non-RJ jobs with-in the station, while others go looking foralternative jobs, mostly outside radio. AKannada RJ at Fever 104 was jobless for awhile when the channel switched to Hindi.He now works for a Kannada TV channel.

Melodee Austin, RJ, Radio Indigo,

considers a scenario where her channel,now exclusively English, plays Kannada.‘We may have to learn the language andKannada music. Those really passionateabout music and the medium will go to theextent of learning both, but how comfort-able they will be is a question,’ she says.

Channels like Radio Mirchi and BigFM still play only Kannada music, and, ifindustry insiders are to be believed, aredoing well commercially.

As for the others, Suresh says, ‘Even ifthey play 50 per cent Kannada and 50 percent Hindi and English, I think the issuewill be resolved.’

Lahari’s Venu and KFCC’s V H Suresh

RJs Vasanthi and Melodee Austin (Radio Indigo)

radio ruckus 15talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.in

woof! woof!

Street dogadoption inBangaloreSince 2009, around 360dogs have been adoptedthrough Let’s LiveTogether, a Bangalore-based organisation.Individuals who fell in lovewith a dog on the streetshave taken it home, andtheir numbers are big, too.

Dr Mansi Jaysal, a dentist,organised The Great IndianDog Show in Bangalore,and received 65 entries. Itwas a show meant only forIndian dogs, and purebreeds could notparticipate. “There werepeople from all walks of lifeand with different storiesabout how they adoptedtheir pet. They were well-off people who couldafford to buy a pure breed,but still chose to adopt astray,” she says. She feelsmany Indians choose aforeign breed because theysee it as a status symbol.They feel ashamed to saythey own an Indian dog.

Achala Paani also has todo a lot of convincingduring the adoption campsof Let’s Live Together.“Many prefer only malepups. It is difficult to findhomes for female pups.Black and white pups areeasily adopted. ButBangalore has many browndogs, and they don’t easilyfind a home,” she says.

Achala keeps the pups in afoster home before puttingthem up for adoption, sothat the pups grow healthyand also get used to livingwith a family. “Those whocannot commit to keepinga dog can volunteer tofoster them for us for acouple of months. Somecould also sponsor food—Cerelac, biscuits orPedigree,” she says.

Achala can be contactedon 99864 13916.

Indian dogs—often unfavourablycompared to their foreign

counterparts by the natives—areincreasingly in demand from pet

lovers abroad. What’s more, someactually prefer these naturally

evolved canines to those that arebred by humans.

SAVIE KARNELsavie.karnel@talkmag.in

Pyari was a little brown puppywandering at a constructionsite in Bombay. She foragedfor food in garbage, drankfrom sewage and hid behind

sand bags to escape being stoned or beat-en by a passerby.

Her life changed dramatically oneday. She was picked up, bathed, vaccinat-

ed and nurtured in a shelter till she grewhealthy. Then she was off on a plane tothe USA.

Her new home was in Beverley Hillsand Hollywood celebrity PamelaAnderson was her new mom.

Pamela Anderson told Talk in an e-mail, “When I came to India to appear asa guest on Bigg Boss 4, the plight of thedogs I saw on the streets captured myheart. So when I learned that the CEO ofPETA India was headed to the UnitedStates to meet with her overseas col-leagues, I asked if she would bring an

From desi streets t

17talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.in

What makes Indian dogsbetter than pedigree dogs?Rajshree Khalap of the INDog (Indian NativeDog) project in Mumbai explains why the desihas such international appeal.

“The real difference between INDogs and theso-called pure breeds is in how they developed.INDogs evolved their typical appearance andcharacter through natural selection, just likeaboriginal breeds in other countries andcontinents. All the other breeds were createdintentionally by humans, by selecting fordesired traits,” she says.

Other ancient breeds that evolved like INDogsthrough natural selection are the Canaan Dogand the New Guinea Singing Dog. The AfricanBasenji was bred from free-roaming aboriginaldogs of the Congo. Since they are the productof natural selection, all their traits are pro-survival; they don't have any known breeddefects and are generally healthy.

‘Pure’ is a very confusing and misused word inrelation to dog breeds," she notes. Mostpopular modern breeds, specially the Euro-breeds, were actually created by mixing severalbreeds.

For instance the Golden Retriever was createdin the 19th century by crossing a number ofbreeds, including the Tweed Water Spaniel,Irish Setter, Bloodhound and others. TheLabrador Retriever has its origins in the StJohn’s Water Dog, which was a mix of smallwater dogs and Newfoundland.

“In comparison, the despised INDog consists ofonly one breed, the INDog, and that is ofconsiderable antiquity going by archaeologicalrecord. Preliminary findings of the CornellVillage Dog Genetic Diversity Project show thatINDogs have a distinct genetic profile, unlikedogs sampled in any other country. Even themix-breeds on our city streets are not reallymore ‘mixed’ than the average modern ‘purebreed,’” she says.

Barabara Gard, her counterpart in Canada toofeels that the genetics of the desi or INDogsmakes them healthier and more preferable.“People like that the desi dog has not beengenetically manipulated, is genetically healthyand is a natural, original, native dog,” she says.

Veterinarian Dr Premalatha Chaudhuryagrees, as do the owners. “Desi dogs are lowmaintenance. They do not fall sick easily anddon’t need to be taken to the vet frequently,”she says, and Monique Nerman inCalifornia, who adopted Goa-born Tommy,adds: “My vet here said I would be mostlikely very happy with this dog as hewould not have any inherited illnesses.”

Indian dog in need of a home over to me.I decided to name the new member of myfamily Pyari, since it means loved one.”

But Pyari is not unusual. Hundredsof Indian dogs like her have found homesin the USA, Canada and Europe. There isa demand for Indian dogs in these coun-tries and agencies there have been sourc-ing dogs from our streets.

Dr Premalatha Chaudhary, a Delhi-based vet who rescues dogs from streetsand sends them to families abroad, saysforeign interest in ‘desi’ dogs is on therise.

“They insist the dogs look typicallydesi. They specify it should have a curledtail, perked ears and short coat. And theyprefer black or tan,” she told Talk overthe phone.

She claims to have given homes to

over a thousand stray dogs and catsthroughout the world. The majority ofthem go to Canada and the UnitedStates. “The rules are more relaxed inthese countries when compared toEurope. The paper work happens faster,”she says.

Barbara Gard, founder of Adopt anIndian Desi Dog (AAIDD), is theCanadian link between people who wantto adopt Indian dogs and dog shelters inIndia. Since the setting upof AAIDD in 2009, she hasfound homes for over 200

Indian dogs.“They are primarily

in the greater Vancouverarea, but also in several USstates. We are not far fromSeattle so several adop-tions go into WashingtonState; we have also placed a dog in JuneauAlaska, in Yellowknife in the North WestTerritories, Canada (NWT), in SanFrancisco, California; Portland, Oregan;and New York and New Jersey,” she wrotein response to e-mailed questions.

People who prefer Indian dogs overother breeds do so because of theirunique temperament and build.

Gard notes, “The desi dog is athlet-ic, highly intelligent, highly alert and sen-sitive to the environment.”

What increases the appeal of desidogs is their ability to be comfortableboth indoors and outdoors. As Gard says,“They are very quick learners, calmindoors, and very fast and agile outdoor.This area of Canada/USA is very outdoororiented with most people enjoying hik-ing, walking, biking, and running. Thedesi is a good fit. They like that the dogcan keep up with them on their outdoor

activities but is calm indoors.”They also easily adapt to varying cli-

mate. “The desi loves snow and doesn’tmind the mild cold. They play for hoursin fresh snow fall, but don’t go out in therain,” she adds.

Rajshree Khalap, a desi dog enthusi-ast, has started the INDog project, aknowledge centre, which aims to createawareness on native Indian dogs. INDogsis short for Indian Native Dogs, whichshe believes are a truly indigenous breedthat evolved naturally. Their kind is seenonly in India and the subcontinent.

“Information about indigenousdogs is usually restricted to a small aca-demic circle of researchers and enthusi-asts, resulting in an information gapwhere the public is concerned,” she says.

Rajshree disseminates informationthrough her website, blog, social mediapages and with the help of other onlinetools. Surprisingly, many pet-parentsparticipating in the discussions live over-seas. “There are INDogs all over theworld, including in South Africa, Egypt,Finland, Denmark and Japan,” she says.

Most of these owners picked upstreets dogs when they were visitingIndia, and took them along. Some even

kept them at theirfriends’ places and cameback to take them.

Rhada’s is a touch-ing story. This Indipuphad come under a carand both her hind legswere broken. LisaPerrine Brown took herhome, and treated her.

When the time came for Lisa to return tothe US, she took Rhada along. Along withher, Lisa took two more pups. She tookOtis, whom she rescued from a puddle inwhich the pup had almost drowned, andanother pup Mahendra Singh Snoopy.They now live with Lisa in her Michiganhome.

The AAIDD has also adoptedinjured and deformed dogs. “We havetaken in dogs that have had legsamputated, (besides) one thatsurvived being thrown in afire, and one that was blind atbirth,” says Barbara Gard.

Bangalore-based NGOLet’s Live Together has beenpromoting adoption ofIndian dogs in the city.

Continued on page 18

'The desi dog isathletic, highlyintelligent, alertand sensitive,’says AAIDDfounder GardWELL-ADJUSTED 1. Boomer with her Abbotsford

family. 2. Bangle with Dieter at Adopt an IndianDesi Dog (AAIDD) in Vancouver. 2. Bella with herfamily in Seattle.

to overseas homes

18talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inwoof! woof!

Monique is an artist and filmmakerfrom the USA, currently in Italy.She adopted Tommy from Goa in

2009. Excerpts from an e-mail interview.

Where did you find Tommy? What madeyou fall in love with him?I came to Goa in 2009 for six months andTommy lived on the street outside thehouse I was renting. He was only sevenmonths old and had been mistreated. Therewas an older dog on the street with him.Tommy had wounds that were infected. Icleaned him up and got to know this verypretty young dog with gold-coloured eyes.He turned out to be the most gentle andsweet-natured dog, and soon enough, stoodevery day outside my door waiting for me. Ifell in love with his almost human way ofconnecting.

Did you face any difficulties while takinghim to California? Is the official procedurecumbersome?It was a much easier process than expected.Since I had to leave for America beforeTommy, I used a handling agent that tookcare of all the paperwork and two goodfriends helped me with preparing andtransporting Tommy to the airport in Goa.After an 18-hour flight Tommy landed inAmerica, and the US customs had alreadycleared his paperwork while he was onroute. The flight is long, but the airlinecompany and the handling agent did a greatjob. Except for the longest pee in historyonce he got out of the crate, Tommy wasalert and okay after such a long trip.

Tell us about Tommy at the Canine GoodCitizen Programme and Tommy’s work as

a therapy dog.The Canine Good Citizen is a programmewith the American Kennel Club (it nowexists in other countries too) to promoteresponsible dog ownership. The dog has topass 10 tests that include basic obedienceskills. You leave the dog to sit with the judgeand you walk away and hide for a certaintime, and the dog is not allowed to move.Therapy dogs are tested for their ability togive emotional support in a hospital envi-ronment.

Tommy is a natural, he walks in to theward and patients’ rooms wagging his tailand just knows what to do. He loves peopleand patiently stands next to wheel chairs orbeds while being touched and stroked. Hedoesn’t get scared by oxygen machines orloud noises. He brings so much joy to peo-ple and seeing him “in action” makes me soproud of my ‘INDog.’

What difference has Tommy made to you?All the difference! I wasn’t really preparedfor the amount of responsibility a little dogtakes in a western country, and the way Ihad to grow up and put Tommy before myown wishes and learn to be more organisedand make choices based on what is best forhim. It is an amazing journey seeing this lit-tle guy live his life and discover the world.Because we have been travelling a lot, healways has to come first, so that he can han-dle all the changes.

I think that most of all, it’s such anamazing experience to have someone trustyou so much and make that special connec-tion with another living being—I some-times have to pinch myself to be so lucky tohave a dog that allows me to love him somuch!

‘He has a most human way of connecting’

Though many Indian dogs havefound homes outside India, theprocess is not easy and pups haveto wait for months before they geta permanent home. A lot ofpaperwork is involved to get anexport permit from India and animport permit in the recipientcountry.

Dr Premalatha Chaudhary, a Delhi-based vet, says, “Besides thevaccination and deworming, bloodtests have to be conducted todetect illnesses. In the UK, therules are stricter and they demandthat on arrival to UK, the dogs bekept in quarantine for six months.With tests and correct paper work,we can do away with thequarantine period, but it takestime.”

The adoption processAdopting an Indian pup may not beas easy as picking it up andcarrying it home. The pet parentsare screened, and they are trainedto handle Indian dogs.

When a pup is ready for adoption,Dr Chaudhury posts anadvertisement on her websiteand that of AAIDD, theCanada-based Adopt an IndianDesi Dog, run by Barbara Gard.The applications received arescreened. She also checks ifthe dog matches thespecifications of the petparents.

Barbara does the checksin Canada and the USA. “We checkif the houses have enough spacefor a dog. We prefer to give thepets to those who have their ownhouses. If they live in rentedhouses, we ask them to get a no-objection letter from theirlandlord,” Dr Chaudhury says.

If they are satisfied with theapplicants, the dogs are airlifted.On reaching there, the dogs first goto a foster home. “After their flightthe dogs are housed at AAIDD. Ittakes them nearly two weeks to getover the jet lag. During this time, aprofessional dog trainer assessesthe temperament of the dog,”Barbara says.

The pet parents are encouraged tomeet the dog and the trainerchecks if they get along. “Therehave been times when they comefor one dog, but go with another.The pet parents also undergotraining on how to take care of anIndian dog,” says Dr Chaudhury.

Many times pet parents pay about50 per cent of the cost ofairlifting the dog, which isabout Rs 25,000. “Some

even pay the full amount.There are also some who maynot be able to afford it. If welike them and think that they

will love the dog, we do nottake any payment from them,”says Dr Chaudhury.

Doggie paperwork

MY BOY Monique with Tommy, proudly displaying the prize he won in a California competition

Continued from page 17 “We have also received many

emails where people from other coun-tries have expressed their desire toadopt an Indian dog,” says its founderAchala Paani. The paperwork involvedis a hurdle (see box). “So, currently, weare just focusing on our adoptiondrive in Bangalore,” she says.

Hardy and brainyDesi dogs have proved wrong scepticswho believed that they could not betrained. They are not only used assniffer dogs, but also as therapy dogs.“One INDog is a ‘Canine GoodCitizen’ through the American KennelClub programme, and has also workedas a certified therapy dog in the USand Europe,” says Rajshree Khalap.

Goa-born Tommy was adoptedby Monique Nerman, who took him toCalifornia. There she enrolled him inthe Canine Good Citizen Program ofthe American Kennel Club. Tommynot only passed all the obedience tests,but also got the trophy for being thefirst in the class. The tests includedheel, lie down, meet other dogs and

behave well and not react to loudnoise.

Says Monique, “Tommy’s job as astreet dog used to be to survive, andhere in the West his job is to protectme — but he also has to be a good dog.It’s not about having a dog that’strained as a monkey but about a dogthat does things right and communi-cates well with his owner.” (See box)

Indian dogs have proved theirmettle as sniffer dogs too. TheCounter Terrorism and JungleWarfare College (CTJWC) located inKanker (Chhattisgarh), experimentedwith training Indian dogs, and theywere pleased with the results.

They trained Indian dogs indetecting bombs and the dogs passedthe grading exams along withLabradors, and are active in Naxalareas. Besides road clearing and VIPduties, they have alsoperformed in completeharmony with theirLabrador and Alsatiancounterparts at RepublicDay and IndependenceDay parades.

PRACHI SIBALprachi.sibal@talkmag.in

Manu Joseph, editor ofOpen Magazine andauthor of the novelSerious Men, recentlylaunched his second

book, The Illicit Happiness of OtherPeople. Joseph has already proven hismastery as a storyteller in the unusu-ally honest first book. IllicitHappiness, which was ‘eagerly await-ed’ as the blurb-writer says, is a com-plete departure from the first book, atheart a simple chronological story ofthe ‘manufacturing’ of a child genius.

Illicit Happiness is the story ofUnni Chacko, a 17-year-old cartoon-ist of Malayali origin living in Madras.He does something terrible, some-thing that is evident but not recount-ed until halfway into the book.Nobody knows why Unni did what hedid, but the answers, it seems, lie insome comic strips he has left behind.

His father Ousep Chacko, ajournalist with UNI, is a man of graveethics and lives a poverty-stricken lifewith his wife Mariamma and youngerson Thoma in one of four identicalbuildings on Balaji Street in Chennai.Ousep has a mission; to find out whyUnni decided to kill himself one fineafternoon by jumping off the terraceof their building. When he starts offmeeting the boy’s friends, the journeyturns out to be more about getting toknow his own son.

The book doesn’t follow a partic-ular chronology, but is roughly setthree years after Unni’s death, whenOusep discovers something forceshim to re-examine the tragedy. Thismay make it sound like a classic who-dunit, with journalist turning detec-tive, but it isn’t. As the characters takecentre stage, we delve into the secretlife of the household. We learn of itsidiosyncracies: for example,Mariamma’s talking to the walls, andThoma’s longing for Mythili, the

Tamil Brahmin girl next door. There is much delightful satire

in Joseph’s descriptions of life in 1990Madras, a city that is as much a char-acter in the book as Mariamma orOusep. These standalone satiricalpassages are perhaps the biggeststrength of the book. The imaginativedescriptions of Unni’s cartoons, thatalmost makes you feel you have seenthem all yourself,give the book moreweight than theactual story.

The story,though unusual andfast-paced throughmost of the book,gets muddled in thelast 100 pages, with many distractionsand too many loose ends. In hisexploration of unusual psychologicalstates, Joseph obsesses with disorderslike The Folly of Two and the CotardDelusion or the Walking CorpseSyndrome; these interest you, but notfor long.

One of the side-stories, an inci-dent involving a character calledPhilipose (we won’t tell you more),creates a lump in your throat. It alsomakes you look closely at perhaps themost endearing character of thebook, Mariamma. Her relationshipwith Unni is heart-warmingly sensi-tive. It is she who brings out differentlayers in the other characters, and it is

through her eyes thatJoseph gives thereader an insightinto the MalayaliCatholic communityin Madras.

The disappoint-ment lies at the fagend of the book,

when the mystery is unravelledthrough numerous theories that leaveyou unsatisfied. Here, too,Mariamma is the one character whomanages to pull the narrativethrough. Another detail that worksagainst the book is the absence of thepolice, something that bothers you in

a story revolving around a suicidecase.

Overall, The Illicit Happiness ofOther People is an engaging book thatmakes the journey through the 300-odd pages worthwhile. The delightlies in the smaller bits and not in thewhole. That said, the honest story-telling from Serious Men, and theappealing simplicity of that book’slast 100 pages was thoroughly missed.

Excerpts from an email inter-view:

Why Madras when your story couldhave held true in any urban setting? Most novels can be set anywhere if wesee them as mere stories, but then theplace where it’s set becomes a charac-ter in its own right. This particularstory, inspired by events that hap-pened in Madras at a particular time,belongs to Madras and Madras alone.The time when the events occur, too,was inescapable for the same reason.Time, too, is a character.

Who according to you is the realprotagonist of the book—Unni orOusep? Does it matter, really?

Why did you rename the street youlived in to Balaji Street? That too whenreferences to Arcot Road give a fair ideaof what part of Madras it is that youare talking about.I believe that a novel should eitherconcoct events and places, or be trueto facts, be journalistic. When Idescribe a place in a novel, I want it toassume its real name only if I havebeen accurate about everything aboutit. I grew up in Rajaram Colony inKodambakkam and Balaji Lane isderived from that. I did not name itRajaram Colony because around theyears when the novel is set, therewas—apart from four identical red-and-white buildings—a cow shed andsome independent houses, whichwere distractions I did not need in mynovel. So I made it Balaji Lane wherethere are only the four buildings.

Do you hate the IIT JEE (JointEntrance Examination)? Did you takethe exam? You seem to write a lotabout it, including in the magazine youedit.I don’t hate the IIT JEE at all. I havenot written more than two or threearticles about it.

Continued on page 20

19talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inauthorspeak

Manu Joseph’s second novel The IllicitHappiness of Other People may be full of comicdescriptions of everyday life, but he tells Talk he

only describes things the way he sees them

The standalonesatirical passagesare the biggeststeength ofJoseph’s book

‘I don’t try to be satirical at all’

20talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inauthorspeak

Continued from page 19 It was a dark, menacing, powerful andunparalleled cultural force when I wasgrowing up in Madras, and I could seethat it was the worst thing that couldhave happened to generations of boys,including very smart boys. I did not takethe exam because Iimagined I was going tobe this great writer whodid not need anythingbut a place to write—Idon’t know why I was sosure about it even then. Idid lose my nerve aboutthree years later as I began to meet somejournalists and writers and was veryunimpressed. But circumstancesensured that I never strayed too far fromwriting.

How far has Unni’s character been takenfrom reality?Largely. Can I say, 88.7 per cent?

Your second book takes more from yourown life than your first, whereas with mostauthors it is usually the other way round. When I was writing my first book,Serious Men, I had this somewhat imma-ture contempt for writers who were

passing off memoirs as novels and Iwanted to achieve a novel that was notautobiographical—though Serious Menwas so in a way that people cannot easilysee. I am more comfortable now with theview that you really cannot write a novelunless there is a lot of your own experi-

ence in it.

How much research wentinto the book? What’s theadvantage of researching afictional work?There was a bit ofresearch. What research

gives you is the confidence to stay withyour opinions or an honorable opportu-nity to discard your silly opinions.

What inspires satire in you? Does havingbiases (like hating Delhi and disliking theIIT JEE) sometimes help an author bring inhumour?I don’t try to be satirical at all—honestly,I only set out to describe things the wayI see them.

Do you dislike Salman Rushdie? You seemto criticise him a lot in your writing andspeech?I don’t know why you get this impres-

sion. I cannot dislike him. Like manypeople of my generation, I believed Icould be a novelist after readingMidnight’s Children—though I have a dif-ferent view of the book when I read itnow. I find Mr Rushdie, as a person, veryinteresting and impressive. It is very rareto read a very famous writer who doesnot offer a single startling view but is stillsomehow widely admired.

What inspires you as an author? Anywriters who influenced your style orthinking?I want to tell a good story, and I want totell this story without boring you, and Iwant to write about relationshipsbetween men and women, which is theonly thing that matters in this world andit covers everything that we try to do.And, of course, I want to explain timeand again the sweet melancholy ofpointlessness. No writer has influencedme, and I don’t know why. I love somewriters but they don’t influence me.

How does being a person with amulticultural identity help your writing?I have no identity, really, and I don’t careabout it.

‘I have noidentity, really,and I don’t careabout it’

ExtractThe correct profile of a Madras streetAs things are, it does not take much to bea spectacle on this narrow tarred lane. Itwaits all day to be startled by the faintesthint of strangeness passing through.Such as a stray working woman in therevolutionary sleeveless blouse, who hasthe same aura here as a divorcee. A manwith a ponytail. A north Indian girl in jeansso tight you can see daylight between herlegs. It is as if such apparitions are a signthat the future, which has arrived in otherplaces, is now prospecting the city. Herenow is the final stand of an age, the lasttime one can profile a street in Madrasand be correct. Men are managers,mothers are housewives. And all bras arewhite. Anglo-Indian girlswho walk in floralfrocks are Maria.Page 5

(Extracted withpermission fromHarperCollins India)

The Illicit Happinessof Other People

Price: Rs 499

21talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.in

The book widely creditedwith helping launch theAmerican (and laterworldwide)environmentalmovement, RachelCarson’s Silent Spring iscelebrating its 50thanniversary. The book,first serialised in The New Yorker,documented the detrimental effects ofpesticides on the environment. The bookargued that uncontrolled and unexaminedpesticide use was harming and even killingnot only animals and birds, but alsohumans. Its title was meant to evoke aspring season in which no bird song could

be heard, because thecreatures have allvanished as a result ofpesticide abuse. Carsonaccused the chemicalindustry of spreadingdisinformation, andpublic officials ofaccepting industry claims

uncritically. The book caused an uproar,and eventually led to the strengthening ofpesticide regulations and a ban of thepesticide DDT in 1972 in the United States,and later in the rest of the world.Incidentally, India is the only country stillmanufacturing DDT, and remains thelargest consumer of the chemical.

The Charles Wallace IndiaTrust, in association withthe British Centre forLiterary Translation, isoffering fellowships fortranslators from India tospend two months at theUniversity of East Anglia,where they can work on atranslation project of theirchoice.

The translators will live on

campus in a single-personself-catering flat within easyaccess of universitycatering outlets. CWIT paysa stipend and also contributes to the costof international travel.Translators are stronglyencouraged to engage inthe academic, cultural andsocial life of the faculty.There are opportunities tolead seminars for post-

graduate students, presentpapers, and talk aboutwork in progress.

Two residencies are offeredin 2013 and will run fromApril 9 to June 8.Applications are open tillNovember 14.

For more information, visit:www.bclt.org.uk/opportunities/residencies/charles-wallace-india-trust/

The National Book Trust is holding a two-week training course in book publishing inBangalore from November 19 toDecember 1. The course will cover allaspects of the business, including editing,production, electronic publishing,marketing, sales promotion, finance andcopyright.

Eminent professionals from leadingpublishing houses will provide insights intothe many aspects of book publishing. Thecourse includes case studies, groupdiscussions and workshops, and is

designed to be participatory andinteractive.

Applicants should ideally be graduates.Candidates with higher qualifications willget preference. Course fee: Rs 1,000(payable at the time of enrolment). Lastdate for receipt of applications: 10 November

For more details, visit www.nbtindia.gov.inor call Amit Karki, regional manager,Southern Regional Office, National BookTrust, on 26711994.

Dream of becoming a publisher? Rajat Gupta sentenced:Gupta, former GoldmanSachs board member, wassentenced to two yearsimprisonment for feedinginsider information fromboard discussions to a hedgefund owner.

UK colleges shut down:Britain has announced that ithas so far shut down 500bogus colleges over the last18 months. The UK is highon the list of Indian studentswanting to go abroad for adegree, and many of themhave been affected.

US elections - closecontest: Various poll surveysahead of the Nov 6 USpresidential electionsindicate a close contestbetween Democraticincumbent Barack Obamaand challenger Mitt Romney.

Zynga cuts jobs, games:The company known forgames like Farmville popularon Facebook, has laid offfive per cent of its globalworkforce and is planning toretire 13 games.

Gadkari in the spotlight:Nitin Gadkari, who wasaccused of a land scam byArvind Kejriwal’s IndiaAgainst Corruption, alsofinds himself at the centre ofa fresh set of media exposes

Virbhadra Singh:Virbhadra Singh, the five-time chief minister ofHimachal Pradesh struggledto fend of allegations ofcorruption and amassing ofwealth, an even threatenedthe media.

Mysore Dasara: JambooSavari, the elephantprocession, brought theDasara festivities in Mysoreto a colourful end

Legislature session: CMJagadish Shettar has saidgovernment will organise a10-day legislature session inBelgaum every year

Garbage crisis: Tonnes ofgarbage continued toaccumulate in Bangalore,exacerbated by a festivalweek, as the governmentcontinued to flounder in itsattempts to resolve it.

Rewind

Inquiry sought:The father of BBC journalistRussell Joslin who apparentlykilled himself, has called foran inquiry into how his son’scomplaints about allegedharassment by a femalecolleague were handled. PeterJoslin said Russell’s bosses“could have done more.”

The name’s SkyfallThe latest edition of hugelysuccessful James Bondfranchise, Skyfall, starringDaniel Craig, is set for aninternational release. Thetheme song by Adele hasalready been making waves,and the preview has gotexcellent response. Expect tobe shaken and stirred.

Guantanamo BayAt Guantánamo Bay, terrorismsuspects Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri said that belly chainshurt his back and that hemight refuse to appear atcourt hearings if the guardsdid not treat him better

Google ChromebookGoogle is pitching a newChromebook ad campaign asit competes with Apple’sMacbook Air laptops, the iPadMini and the MicrosoftSurface tablet.

Radio protestThe Karnataka Audio andVideo Owners’ Association(KAVOA) have warned local FMradio stations against whatthey call a bias againstKannada in favour of Hindiand English. The organizationhas set a month’s deadline,failing which the KAVOA willlead a massive agitation withthe active participation of pro-Kannada organisations,writers, film personalities andall wings of the musicindustry.

Ex-CMs in the dockMore allegations are expectedto surface against threeformer Karnataka chiefministers--former primeminister H D Deve Gowda,External Affairs Minister S MKrishna and B S Yeddyurappa,on a complaint allegingirregularities in the Bangalore-Mysore expressway project.Lokayukta Court has ordereda probe against them.

Forward

50 years of Silent Spring

Fellowships for translators

The week that was The week ahead

PRACHI SIBALprachi.sibal@talkmag.in

It was in the late 1990s thatnews of this soon-to-be heart-throb reached this part of theworld. If fact, ‘heart-throb-ness’ is almost a hereditary

trait for Enrique Iglesias, whosefather Julio is one of Spanish music’sall-time best-selling artistes. Initiallyat least, it was about the music. A fewcatchy numbers like Rhythm divineand Bailamos helped propel IglesiasJunior on to the world stage, andwidespread adulation.

The focus soon shifted from themusic to other details like ‘the mole’and celebrity girlfriend AnnaKournikova. A rare pink diamond fora gift caught some attention too.Years may have passed since then, but

not much seems to have changedwith Enrique, the performer.

At his Bangalore concert lastweekend, I found myself among a6,500-strong crowd of swooningwomen (and men), who did not seemto mind that the singer arrived fash-ionably late at 8.45 pm, after an open-ing act that lasted nearly two hours.They also did not seem to mind thathis last album, Euphoria, was releasedin 2010, and his India tour came twoyears later.

And that’s not allthey had to put upwith; for there weremany disappoint-ments through theshow itself. First, theperformance lastedno more than 75 min-utes and was a mash-up of popular numbers with onerepeated even. The 2003 album 7 wascompletely off the list. There was alsothe lip-synching—more than once,Enrique dropped the mic and a famil-iar voice still lingered in the back-ground track. Far too much time wasspent chatting with members of theaudience and on other distractions

like white balloons, confetti and fire-works.

Now, does this make Enriqueany less of a performer? Going by thestar-struck crowd and a strangely sat-isfied feeling I had at the end of it all,no. From the moment he arrived onstage, there wasn’t a dull moment.The phenomenon that is ‘EnriqueIglesias live’ requires another under-standing of what people really lookfor, and want to leave with, in a show

that has very little todo with music.

Unlike at a rockor metal perfor-mance, the crowdhere isn’t in search ofmusic to which theycan head bang. Here,hands are held out aseverybody wants to

touch and feel the star they grew upwith. Enrique, on the other hand, ismore than willing to oblige. Hesprinted from one ramp to the other,extending his hand for his fans totouch.

His penchant for kissing fanson-stage—whether it was the then24-year-old bemused Rosy of

Bangalore in 2004 or Vinamrata ofPune in 2012—seems to work everytime. Last week’s performance was noexception. Enrique pulled up awoman from the crowd and croonedto her one of his most popular num-bers, Hero. He hugged her and gaveher a customary peck before we sawthe woman return teary-eyed. Thiswasn’t all. He also called onstage apoliceman who was positively fright-ened and even attempted to get offwhile Enrique wasn’t looking.

But it also seemed like his stagehad become predictable; the fans, farfrom being surprised, were anticipat-ing each of those moves. When ayoung boy was called on stage to singalong Ben E King’s popular numberStand by Me, he did so, but not with-out blurting out into the mic, “He didthis is in Pune too.”

The audience reacted to hisevery move and costume change withloud cheering, singing along throughit all. In the end, it was a crowd ofexhausted yet satiated fans thatwalked out. Enrique may not havegiven the money’s worth to a musicbuff. But to his star-struck fans, thatwasn’t a dealbreaker.

22talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inconcert review

Spanish music sensationEnrique Iglesias who returnedto town after 2004 has notleft his stage routine behind.He continues to give fans‘unforgettable’performances—and no, we'renot talking about the music

LATECOMEREnrique’s India tour

comes two yearsafter his last album

Euphoria wasreleased

Enrique’s stageantics were predictable: the fans knewall his moves in advance

Antics for sale

24talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inL I S T I N G S

Traditional yet modern: Thread Intrigues, the lat-est from 1090F shows offthe beauty of embroideryin threads of silk and cot-ton. The embroidery inthis collection is inspiredby flowers, creepers,Aztec prints and ethnicIndian patterns. Pricesstart at Rs 1599 onwards. Available at all 1090F out-lets

For all F1 fans: Fans of the F1 are in for atreat as Pepe Jeans intro-duces their latest offering,the Formula OneMerchandise Collection.Choose from differentdesigns of tees and be apart of the Formula Onemania. Prices start at Rs1,099. Available at all Pepe JeansLondon Stores

Reason to shop:Choose from variousdesigners such as Tavare,Sushma Desai, Kris andIshika and more this week-end. You can pick uptunics, kurtas, bags,accessories, jewellry andantique furniture. Basava Ambara, 93,Kanakapura Road, NearGunasheela Nursing Home,Basavangudi, till October29 65461856

For that completelook: Florsheim latestoffering, Tuxedo Shoes,will complete that formallook you've always want-ed. Pair these shoes withyour classic tuxedo andlook picture perfect. Made

from leather, these shoeswill be comfortable andfashionable.Available at outlets likeMetro, Mochi, Regal, Inc.5

Shop till you drop: At the Sahara Art and

Crafts Festival, you canshop for Odisha paintings,Rajasthani block printdress materials, beads,Jari items, Lucknowichicken sarees, dressmaterials, blue art pottery,Kashmiri cotton tops &shawl, Chinon sarees andmore. Open Ground, Next to SKRKalyana Mantapa, VarthurMain Road, KundanahalliGate, Marathahalli, tillOctober 289341127886

Foot fetish: Find sandals for all occa-sions at Metro shoes thisseason. Available in manycolours especially pink andblues with geometricdesigns and adorned withbeads, they will completethat diva look. Prices startas Rs 990.Available at all Metro shoeoutlets, till October 31

Lift your spirits:Grace this festive seasonwith scented candles andadd a dash of comfort toyour house. The collec-tion includes floral can-dles, scented candles,floating candles, gel basedcandles, tea-lights, aro-matic oil candles andmore. Available at @home, HosurRoad, Kormangala, tillOctober 31 25501012

music

food crafts

retail therapy

Bake like a pro: Want to make those perfectscones and cupcakes? Headto this baking workshopwhere you can learn how tomake pizzas, basic bakingtips, baking recipes and sometips from well-known foodcritic Priya Bala. Cilantro, Kormangala, October28, 4 pm to 7 pm9844707517

Fun with spooks: This Halloween put on yourfunniest and scariest outfitand enjoy food that is fit for aking. You can sample somesalads, main course anddesserts along with somebeer and mocktails. Priced atRs 1,300 for adults and Rs

595 for children. Activitiessuch as mask colouring andface painting will keep yourchildren busy all day.Toscano, 2nd floor, Whitefield,October 28, 11.30 am to 3.30pm 25939224

Concoct your own poison:Learn from Rohan Carvalhohow to make that perfectcocktail and mix classic andtrendy cocktails this week.Get tips on cocktail styles, barequipments, glassware, bartricks and more. Fee for theclass is Rs 900. Fava, 203, 2nd floor, TheCollection, UB City, VittalMallaya Road, October 31, 6pm, Log onto www.munchwith-us.com

Idlis in a mall:Craving for a dosa or vadawhile spending time in yourfavourite mall? Well yourwish is granted as MTR givesyou all that and more. So,have a crispy dosa with theirtrademark filter coffee andmake you mall experience memorable. MTR, 1st floor, Forum ValueMall, Whitefield

It’s all about BBQ andsteaks: Sink your teeth into beefsteak minute, fillet mignon,pork chops, chicken steakwith red wine and thymemoorish harisa potato, pump-kin mash, balsamic grilledtomato, sauteed mushroomand pepper eggs and more. Muse Terrace Lounge, 1206,Manan Arcade, 100ft Road,Indiranagar, October 289844707517

Gold rush this festive sea-son:At Swensen’s you can dig intothe Gold Rush, their latestoffering comprising of scoopsof rich chocolate and Turkishcoffee ice cream withcaramel, hot fudge toppedwith nuts and cherry and cel-ebrate this festive week. Available at all Swensen's out-lets

Begin your festivities on asweet note: Celebrate this festive seasonwith sweet hampers. You willbe spoilt for choices as youchoose from Dry Fruit & NutsHamper, Little Red RidingHood Hamper, Orange SquareBasket, Perfect Hamper,Basket of Gold, PassionateHamper, Big Bundle of Joyand more. Bliss Chocolates, Ground Floor,Forum Value Mall, Whitefield

Feel the blues?: Watch Indian Bluesfrom Kolkata performlive in the city. Inspiredby Hindustani classicalmusic, the band’s musicis an amalgamation ofWestern classical, blues,jazz, gypsy and softrock, among other gen-res. bFlat, 100 Feet Road,Above ING Bank, HAL2nd Stage, Indiranagar,October 27, 8.30 pm41739250

Indo-Jazz fusion:Fusion Dreams, an Indo-jazz fusion ensemblefeaturing classical vio-linist Dr JyotsnaSrikanth will performthis weekend. Watch

her as she will beaccompanied by otherartists like Karthik Mani,Rudy David and othersperforming at theBengaluru SangeethUtsav. Chowdiah Hall, GayathriDevi Park Extension,16th Cross,Malleswaram, October27, 6.30 pm9945511831

The techno don ishere:He’s worked for produc-tion labels like JohnDigweed’s Bedrock,Umek’s 1605, AdamBeyer’s Drumcode, TomHades is now in the cityto perform live. Head tothis performance and

start your weekend onthe right note. Counter Culture, 2D2,4th Cross DyavasandraIndustrial Area,Whitefield, October 26,8.30 pm 41400793

Pandit Jasraj live:Renowned Indian classi-cal vocalist PanditJasraj will be in city toperform live. Watch himas he performs hisMewati gharana’s styleof khayal. Tickets pricedat Rs 250 to 1,000. Chowdaiah MemorialHall, 16th Cross,Vyalikaval,Malleshwaram, October28, 6.30 pm23445810

Celebrating KarnatakaThe Handmade Collective, ayearly event by A HundredHands is back and this yearwith a Karnataka focus. Whilehandmade artifacts from allover the country continue tomake it to the stalls here,arts and crafts from thestate will be given specialspace to commemorateRajyotsava day. Local craftslike Kasuti embroidery, khadiweaves from Melkote, lac-querware from Channapatna,tribal jewellery from Bijapurand more will be available in

their design-friendly forms.You could also get yourhands on some interestingbooks on Karnataka andBangalore at one of thestalls. A Demo A Day! isanother section that can’t bemissed, where a traditionalKarnataka dish in its nativeform will be showcased oneach of the days of the exhi-bition.The Handmade Collective, No4, Ashley Road, Behing AjantaHotel, Off Brunton Road,October 31 to November 4, 11am to 7 pm

Pandit Jasraj

25talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inL I S T I N G S

Ranga Shankara in itsAnnual Festival this yearbrings a collection ofShakerspearean classicsacross languages.Performed by troupesfrom across the country,the plays keep to thebasics of Shakespeare’sclassic scripts butreinterpret them in theirown ways. Expect plays inHindi, English, Gujarati andmore

Piya Behroopiya:

The Company Theatrefrom Mumbai brings downAtul Kumar’s acclaimedPiya Behroopiya. A take ofShakespeare’s TwelfthNight, the play goes backto the nautanki-style ofperformance native toIndian theatre. Withvibrant costumes andmusic, the play will notjust take you back to theclassic script but also giveyou a few laughs.Ranga Shankara, 4thPhase, JP Nagar, October

27 and 28, 7.30 pm26493982Maqbool:For all those who haven’talready watched this on-screen adaptation ofShakerspeare’s Macbeth,here is a chance to catch itat the Shakespearefestival. Directed by VishalBharadwaj, Maqbool is aningenious adaptation setin Uttar Pradesh. Whilethe storyline borrows fromShakespeare, the filmdoesn’t compromise of

originality.Ranga Shankara, 4thPhase, JP Nagar, October30, 7.30 pm26493982

Hamlet and LadyMacbeth:These two performancesbased on the classicscome from Karnataka.Translated byRamachandra Deva, theseare unadulteratedperformances in thevernacular. Catchperformers SrinivasaPrabhu and LaxmiChandrasekhar enactShakerspeare’sunforgettable works.Ranga Shankara, 4thPhase, JP Nagar, October30, 7.30 pm26493982

Maro Piyu GayoRangoon:This critically acclaimedGujarati play directed bySunil Shanbag is a take onthe classic All’s Well ThatEnds Well. The play is amusical and has receivedrave reviews for thetreatment of the actorsduring its tours nationwideand abroad.Ranga Shankara, 4th

Phase, JP Nagar, October30, 7.30 pm26493982

Painting the bard:The Shakespeare festivalisn’t about stage actsalone. Artist SG Vasudevwill display a painting ofthe bard at the opening ofthis event. Nine studentsfrom city art colleges likeChitra Kala Parishath andKala Mandira School ofArts will also join in themural painting sessionand paint images of theplaywright in the theatrefoyer. Ranga Shankara, 4thPhase, JP Nagar, October27, 4.30 pm26493982

theatre festival talk picks

12345

Ek Tha Tiger (Hindi)Directed by: Kabir Khan Starring: Salman Khan andKatrina KaifPrice: Rs 269

Shanghai (Hindi)Directed by: DibakarBanerjee Starring: Emraan Hashmiand Abhay DeolPrice: Rs 269

The Avengers (English)Directed by: Joss Whedon Starring: Robert Downey Jr.and Chris EvansPrice: Rs 539

Kaksparsh (Marathi)Directed by: MaheshManjrekar Starring: Sachin Khedekarand Priya Bapat Price: Rs 297

Gangs of Wasseypur (Hindi)Directed by: Anurag Kashyap Starring: Manoj Bajpai andRicha ChaddhaPrice: Rs 240

Newly launched DVDsCourtesy Flipkart.com

Piya Behroopiya

Paranormal Activity 4 English:Nothing is revealed about the disap-pearance of Katie and Hunter, whowent missing five years back. Thefourth installment in the ParanormalActivity franchise, this movie is abouta suburban family who begin witness-ing strange things in their neighbour-hood when a woman moves in withher child. Directed by Henry Joostand Ariel Schulman, you are sure tobe sitting on the edge through themovie. Cinepolis, Bannerghatta Road- 10 am,2.20 pm, 6.45 Q Cinemas, ITPL,Whitefield- 10 am, 4.30 pm, 7.40CineMAX, Total Mall, ORR- 3.30 pm ,9.40 Fame Lido, Off MG Road- 12.30pm, 10 INOX, Garuda Mall, MagrathRoad- 12.20 pm, 7.35 INOX, MantriMall, Malleshwaram- 10 am, 5.15 pmPVR Cinemas, Kormangala- 12 pm,7.10

Rush Hindi:

The movie is about media, politics,crime and romance and is based onSam Grover, a struggling newsreporter. Though he doing very wellat the professional front, his talkshow is successful, he experiences adownfall in his personal life, where heis having problems with his wife. Inthe midst of all this he accepts anassignment offered by a dynamicmedia tycoon named Lisa, throughwhich he plans to make a lot ofmoney. But Lisa along with RogerKhanna , one of the wealthiest men inthe country, put him in a tough situa-tion that involves violence. Directedby Shamin Desai, the movie starsEmraan Hashmi, Sagarika Ghatge andNeha Dhupia in the lead. Fame Forum Value Mall, Whitefield-12.20 pm, 5, 9.55 Rex Theatre- 12.20pm Urvashi Digital 4K cinemas- 11 amFun Cinemas, Cunningham Road- 10am, 12.20 pm INOX, Mantri Mall,Malleshwaram- 11.50 am, 5.50 pm

INOX, Swagath Garuda Mall,Jayanagar- 1.35 pm

Ajab Ghazab Love Hindi:A remake of the hit Telugu filmSeema Takapai, Ajab Ghazab Love isthe story of a rich guy who has apenchant for cars and leads a luxurylife. He falls in love with a girl but theproblem is that she hates rich guys.In order to win her love, pretends tobe poor. Will he win her love? Will hebe able to face and convince herstrong-headed, angry big brother,who cannot stand cheaters and dis-honest people. Directed by SanjayGadhvi, the film stars JackkyBhagnani, Nidhi Subbaiah , ArjunRampal and Kirron Kher in the lead. Forum Value Mall, Whitefield- 10 am,1.05 pm, 2.35, 7.20, 9.45 RexTheatre- 10.10 am, 7.45 pm UrvashiDigital 4K cinemas- 2.30 pm FunCinemas, Cunningham Road- 1 pm,6.50 pm

Ballpen Kannada:This children’s’ film is the maidenproduction of actor Srinagara Kittyand his wife Bhavana Belegere. Thefilm is directed by Shashikanth andstars Skanda Prasad in a prominentrole with Master Samarth, Shalamraj,Chetana, Bhoomika and others.Suchindra Prasad plays a key role. Kailash- 10.30am, 1.30 pm , 4.30, 7.30

Chakravyuh Hindi:

Chakravyuh is the story of sixextraordinary characters, each withan all-consuming dream and a prom-ise that they will uphold above every-thing else. The movie is about theyouth of the country who arerebelling against injustice, tyranny,exploitation that prevails in our coun-try. Directed by Prakash Jha, themovie stars Abhay Deol, ArjunRampal, Esha Gupta and Manoj Bajpaiin the lead. Fun Cinemas, Cunningham Road-12.30 pm, 3.30, 6.35, 9.45 ForumValue Mall, Whitefield- 10.5 am, 12.55pm, 3.35, 4.20, 6.30, 9.20 Everesttheatre, Frazer Town- 6.30 pm, 9.30Rex Theatre- 5.05 pm, 9.55 UrvashiDigital 4K cinemas- 6 pm, 9.30 PVRCinemas, Kormangala- 10.30 am,12.45 pm, 3.30, 6.30, 9.15 INOX,Swagath Garuda Mall, Jayanagar- 10am, 3.25 pm, 6.20, 9.15 INOX, JPNagar- 10 am, 12.55 pm, 3.25, 6.20,9.15 INOX, Garuda Mall,- 10 am, 12.50pm, 3.45, 6.15, 9.15 INOX, Mantri Mall-10 am, 12.55 pm, 3.25, 6.20, 9.15

26talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inL I S T I N G S

film performance

Remo Fernandes with Aurkolive: Remo Fernandes along with withhis band The Microwave Papadumswill perform in the city, followed bycity-based band Aurko. RemoFernandes, a noted musicians isknown for his high energy perform-ances and unique style of music.Remo’s music is inspired by Goanand Portugese music and his genremostly is pop and rock. Aurko hasperformed in over 100 concerts andhas been a finalist of the TV showSa Re Ga Ma Pa.Phoenix Market City, October 27,7pm onwards 9980545600

Chakravyuh

Ballpen

27talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.in

Sensei Avinash Subramanyamon why rigidity is not theway to go in diet

martial arts DEMONSTRATED BY PRIYA CRASTA AND VINAY KUMAR. PHOTOS BY RAMESH HUNSUR. TRANSCRIBED BY RADHIKA P

Way ofBudo 5

He tries put his hands around you. Put your weight on your left leg. Swing the right leg forward.

SELF-DEFENCE FOR WOMEN A third technique: What to do when sexually harassed on the street

You are preoccupied when a man comes up.

Use your body weight to make the kick impactful. Pull the leg back so you land safely. Walk away.Swing it back hard and deliver a blow on his knee.

Last week, we discussed foodand dieting, and I offeredsome tips on how to bal-

ance the desire to eat and thedesire to be fit. Do not be rigidwith your diet because a bodyunused to discipline will rebelagainst a strict regime. Treat yourbody not with severity but withan expansive understanding. Benot like steel but a bale of cotton.Small changes go a long way.Here are some tips:

Avoid masalas, they causeirritation in the stomach.

Eat the ‘dangerous meals’earlier in the day; keep dinnerlight. When not possible, eat thelarge dinner at 6 pm instead of 9pm and drink fluids if hungrylater.

Eat a big salad before lunchand dinner. In your meal, eatmore vegetables or fish/chickenthan rice, and avoid ghee and but-ter.

Chew till the food becomespasty; it helps digestion.

Cultivate the habit ofdrinking lukewarm water. Drinkthree glasses of lukewarm water

for every spoon (not ladle!) of thatmousse. Drink a full glass ofwater with every pint of beer.

Change the way you cookfood—make it raw, grilled andbaked rather than fried.

While watching TV, beaware of how much you eat. Usethe TV as an aid to slow downyour eating. If you’re early at thecinema, eat a sandwich ratherthan fries.

Do simple, minimal fitnesstraining. Practise for at least 15minutes a day and keep yourselfactive even otherwise. Our grand-parents did not obsess over fit-ness, but they were active. Nordid they eat power breakfasts andpower lunches; they ate idli-sam-bar and rice-rasam. Be tough andfit eating ordinary Rs 20 food andnot fancy Rs 2,000 packets.

Practise table etiquette, butnot for mere appearance. Closeyour mouth while eating; the sali-va will work on your food. Usecutlery carefully. Don’t eat noisi-ly. Table etiquette can help yourdieting. If you have a stress-relat-ed eating disorder, substitute

your fries with a fruit or fruit bar,and drink vegetable or fruit juice.

Sometimes you need a burg-er and a Coke to boost you. This isneither good nor bad. Thereshould always be a balancebetween the yin (cold, wet, slow,negative, female, the earth, moon,and night) and yang (hot, dry, fast,positive, male, the sky, sun andday). Every do is a don’t and everydon’t is a do; just ensure that thedon’ts are fewer than the dos.

Remember, there shouldnever be a hard don’t. Hardness isbrittle. Train to understand whyyou indulge. Whenever you eat asteak or burger, eat happily andnot with regret so that the bodyaccepts it. Regret causes negativi-ty that damages the body. Shareyour steak with others and spreadhappiness; satisfy the stomachand the soul.

Eat frugal. A poor man’smeal measures well for the bodyand the mind. Believe that youare fit and tough. Eat 60 per centinstead of 80 or 100 per cent ofyour capacity.

At restaurants don’t order

too much at one go. Order onlyafter you finish the first plate.Don’t eat in a hurry; eat slow.Give yourself space and time tofind if the stomach wants thefood or not. Spend time on thepresentation before you eat—see,smell, touch and feel the dish,then savour it. The experience offood should be a harmony of thefive senses.

Don’t eat just because youhave paid money. At buffets, espe-cially, don’t gorge. Don’t spendmore than 30-45 mins on a buffetmeal. Eat in small plates and serveyourself not more than twice.

Zen and the art of eating:Give a thought to the millionswho starve. Many of us eatbecause of habit rather thanhunger. Experience that state ofhunger. And when the hungerdoesn’t genuinely disturb you, itis the beginning of the kaizen(continuous improvement) ofyour soul.

Sensei’s suggestions are basedon decades of experience. Use dis-cretion while making dietarychanges.

Change at the dining table

Last week: It’s the year 1986, and theNaxalites in Andhra Pradesh are on therun from the police. A group of thembring their leader KondappalliSeetharamaiah to Bangalore, wherethey approach academic and civilrights activist Professor Babaiah to getmedical help for him. A sympathiser oftheir cause, Babaiah agrees, and laterhelp them rent a house in the city.

The owner of the housewas happy: his tenantBhaskar Reddy paid therent regularly and kept tohimself. After about six

months, Bhaskar Reddy disappeared,but the owner wasn’t bothered. Noone visited the house for threemonths. One day, burglars tried tobreak in through a window. Thealarmed owner then lodged a policecomplaint.

When the police entered thehouse, they discovered a heap ofarms: rifles, revolvers, and country-made pistols. The house was adja-cent to former chief minister Kadidal

Manjappa’s, and the newsbecame sensational.

Babaiah was taken to theAshok Nagar police station

on April 23, 1986.Inspector Dharmesh

spoke to him in a familiar tone, say-ing he was a Bangalore Universitystudent, and his wife, too, was doingher MA there. Babaiah was relievedto find a university student amongthe policemen. Dharmesh took himto the outhouse, conducted a search,and spoke to someone on the wire-less.

It was past 2.30 pm. Babaiahwas hungry, but the atmosphere wasgrim. Raghunath, assistant commis-sioner of police, took Babaiah in a carand searched his house, but couldn’tfind anything suspicious. He askedBabaiah to go back with him.Babaiah’s son was anxious to knowwhat was happening. The professorassuaged his fears and said he wouldbe back soon.

But that was not so simple. Thepolice took Babaiah back to the sta-tion, and asked him to sit on a bench.It was 4.30 pm. In the morning, bycontrast, they had given him a chair.Their attitude had changed. He washungry and was blacking out everynow and then. At 11 pm, the policetook him in a van to the Ulsoor sta-tion. The vehicle was full of Telugu-speaking policemen. One of themasked, “Mr Babaiah, do you know anyTelugu radicals?”

“The revolutionary poems of SriSri, Karunasri, and Chalam are on mylips,” said an unsuspecting Babaiah.

“So for how many years youhave been a Naxalite?”

A shocked Babaiah said, “I havenever been aNaxalite. I ama sympathis-

er, but not an active member of themovement. I am a member of theKarnataka Civil LibertiesCommittee.”

“You were involved in theKondapalli incident in which twopolicemen were murdered, weren’tyou?”

Babaiah broke out in a sweat atthis question. “I have nothing to dowith it. You can ask anyone inBangalore about me. Why, we have auniversity student here, ask him,” hesaid, pointing to Dharmesh.

Dhramesh was toying with apaperweight, which he suddenlyflung at Babaiah. As he ducked, it hitthe knee of a police officer whoscreamed in pain and collapsed. Thepolicemen rushed him to hospital.Enraged further by this turn ofevents, they started treating Babaiahbrutally. A superintendent of policefrom Andhra Pradesh, addressinghim disrespectfully, ordered him toremove his clothes.

The police, who had beenbehaving like humans till then, hadsuddenly turned into monsters.Their politeness was gone, and theyhad started abusing him in foul lan-guage. They also started booting andcaning him. One policeman said, “Iknow you are from Chittoor, and soam I. You are a Naxalite inthe guise of a professor.You used to give shelter toabsconding Naxalites. If

you don’t want us to beat you, youbetter admit it.”

When Babaiah denied he was aNaxalite, the policemen said, “Youwon’t speak unless we put youthrough the treatment.” They laidhim flat on his back and rolled abaton on his legs with a policemanstanding on it. They sprinkled wateron his face when he fainted.

A deputy superintendent ofpolice, who said he was fromChittoor, said, “If you don’t acceptthe truth, we will bring in your wifeand children. We will strip your wife,and rape your daughters right beforeyour eyes.”

“Please don’t. My wife is a heartpatient and she will die if she sees mein this condition. Please ask meabout the activities of the KarnatakaCivil Liberties Committee. I am amember there. But I can’t confessthat I am a Naxalite. I am just a sym-pathiser,” Babaiah pleaded.

Babaiah was taken to AshokNagar police station on the morningof April 23. By then, he had been so

28talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inmemoirs

Prof Babaiah of Bangalore University isillegally detained and tortured for hisideological sympathies

Fabled ranconteur andBangalore’s top-notchcriminal lawyer bringsyou moving, sensationaland bizarre stories from40 years of his practice

C H HANUMANTHARAYAcrim

e fo

lioAre you a Naxalite?

VIVEK ARUN

badly tortured that he was not in his sens-es. From there, the police took him toCommercial Street police station. To hissurprise, they didn’t torture him there, butoffered him some tea and a cigarette.

The police had drugged Babaiah usingthe tea and the cigarette. They interrogat-ed him again, hoping he would confess,and they could tape an incriminating state-ment. They asked him to reveal the where-abouts of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah, andeven tempted him with Rs 1 lakh asreward. But Babaiah didn’t know any ofthose details. They locked him up in an 8x8ft cell in Ashok Nagar police station witheight others.

I would have not come to know ofBabaiah’s ordeal if my friend Mohan hadn’twhispered about it in my ear as I was argu-ing another case. I had heard of Babaiah.

His friends came to court to discussthe case with me. I quickly grasped thedetails. The police had confined Babaiahwithout showing his arrest, which was ille-gal. After interrogating him for a couple ofdays, they had handed him over to theAndhra Pradesh police.

Some women, including Babaiah’swife, were in the group. I recognised thelabour leader Nandana Reddy. She said,“There is a possibility of the AndhraPradesh Special Task Force taking Babaiah

away. They are notorious and could killhim in a fake encounter.”

Babaiah’s wife’s face darkened. I said,“They can’t do that so easily when peoplelike us are around.” These words gave herhope and tears rolled down her cheeks.

I got cracking without any delay. “TheKarnataka police have booked a caseagainst Babaiah and taken him into cus-tody. He must get an opportunity toexplain his position before he is handedover to another state,” I said.

“Besides, they are tak-ing him away even withoutproducing him before amagistrate,” Mohan inter-jected.

“Let us go and meet themagistrate and appeal tohim to set that right,” I said and took themto Magistrate Indudhar’s chamber, wherehe was relaxing after lunch.

“Sir, members of civil society havecome to meet you. They are protestingagainst the Karnataka police handing ProfBabaiah over to the Andhra PradeshSpecial Task Force. The police have neitherproduced him before you nor given him anopportunity to defend his case. They havefooled you. I have taken up the case. If themistake is not corrected, we will be forcedto call the press and expose the injustice,” I

said. The magistrate understood the situa-

tion. He called up the inspector of AshokNagar police station and said, “ProduceBabaiah before the court immediately, oryou will face legal action.”

Babaiah’s friends feared the policewould turn vindictive as he had written anegative report about them after a firing. Itried to comfort them. After a while, apolice van came into view, and we saw

Babaiah alighting.We followed him as

he was taken to themagistrate’s chamber.Women’s rights activistsKurian Kumar D’Souzaand Donna Fernandes(wife of former defence

minister George Fernandes’ brotherMichael Fernandes) were there. G Ramakrishna (later the editor of Hosathumagazine) of the Karnataka Civil LibertiesCommittee also joined us.

Babaiah slumped to a squatting posi-tion on seeing Mohan. His wife rushed tohold him. He seemed to have lost hope. Iheld his hands. We knew each other, buthad never met. I told an assistant to fetchsome curd rice, and Babaiah recovered a bitafter eating it.

Magistrate Indudhar allowed the

arguments at 3 pm in a courtroom at MayoHall.

“The Karnataka police have torturedProf Babaiah, treating him like a thief ormurderer. You can inspect the injuries onhis body,” I said.

I told the magistrate the police wereabout to hand him over to their counter-parts in another state, and requested himto move him from police custody to judi-cial custody. “The Andhra Pradesh policemust get a warrant from a court in thatstate if they want to take him away, andthey don’t have one now,” I argued.

The legal points I put forth gave hopeto Babaiah, his activist-friends, andMohan, who threw admiring glances at me.The prosecutor argued for the AndhraPradesh police. The magistrate was con-vinced with my arguments and remandedBabaiah to judicial custody.

It was a double victory in just two-and-a-half hours. I had not only savedBabaiah from the cruel hands of theAndhra Pradesh police, but also managedto rescue him from the Karnataka police.Babaiah’s wife walked up to me. “I cannever forget your help,” she said, her eyeswelling up.

Translated by B V ShivashankarNext week: A wave of support

29talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inmemoirs

They rolled abaton on hislegs with a copstanding on it

1st Cross Talk’s weekly crossword for Bangaloreans who know their way about town

ACROSS4 Indian Institute of Science locale

(9)6 Over 1,3000 BBMP ____ have

halted work claiming unpaid pailsof Rs 2,000 crores (11)

8 City lake used for GaneshaChaturthi immersion. (6)

11 Karnataka was known as the

State of ____ till 1973 (6)12 Kannada television actress who

was recently murdered (8)14 City area home to Asia's largest

clock tower (5,5)15 Nearly 18 kgs of this illegal drug

was seized by customs atBengaluru International Airport(8)

17 In the near future you can rent one ofthese from certain Metro stations (5)

18 Karnataka ____ : Our IVL team (5)

DOWN1 Music style associated with Karnataka

and other south Indian states (8)2 Popular Bangalore based rock group

which disbanded in 2009 (6)3 Capt ____ ____ : First woman from

Karntaka to climb Mt. Everest (6,8)5 National park near Lakya dam (9)6 River often in the news these days (7)

7 Popular travel guide which rankedBangalore as 3rd in the top 10 cities tovisit globally (6,6)

9 A fake bomber tried to loot the HDFCbank branch in this area (3,4)

10 Minister who recently demanded aseparate state for North Karnatka(5,4)

13 Nearly ___ crore rupees were recentlyspent on cloud seeding in the Cauverybasin (4)

16 Famous college on Bannerghatta road(4)

Across:

4 Fibre optic, 6 KSPCB, 7NIMHANS, 13Basavanagudi, 14 Harvard,16 Gold bars, 17 VijayMallya, 19 Yeddyurappa.

Down:

1 Lions, 2 Third, 3Hoffmann, 5 EnriqueIglesias, 6 Kanakapura, 8Silicon Valley, 9 Bellandur,10 Kambar, 11 Ugly Indian,12 Gopalan, 15 Thirty, 18Yana.

Last week’s solution

T I M E P A S S

Share the humour in your life, multiply thefun! Keep those anecdotes coming to:features@talkmag.in

The perils ofsitting on thefront benchThis incident happened when Iwas in college. I was alwaysamong the first-benchers. WhenI say first-bencher, you maythink I am one of the studioustypes, always busy taking notes.But that was hardly the case.One day, during a lecture, I feltvery drowsy (not entirely myfault) and kept nodding off.Unable to hold on any longer,even though my lecturer wasstill talking, I decided to put myhead down. Just for a second, Itold myself. The next thing I knew, I wasbeing violently shaken by myfriend sitting next to me. I gotup with a start and saw that myclassmates were giggling allaround me. Imagine my surprisewhen my friend told me that Ihad slept for ten whole minutes,and if that wasn’t enough, hadsnored so loudly that the wholeclass could hear me! Khubi Sharma, by email

30talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.in

31talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.inT I M E P A S S

ProfGood Sense

My love affair is two years old. I havenow started feeling things are not all right,and definitely not as they used to be. Myboyfriend tells me he is in touch with hisformer girlfriend. Last week, I sent him afriend request on a social networking site,but he turned it down. Later, when we met,he justified his action saying he onlywanted his college-mates on his socialmedia friends’ list. What should I do? CanI trust him?

Rani, Benson Town

Can a social networking site determineyour boyfriend's love for you? Facebookpages usually focus on projecting a certainimage. Such sites promote superficialrelationships and give people a false senseof security. I doubt if your boyfriend loveshis ex-girlfriend more than he loves you;otherwise wouldn’t he have chosen to bewith her? Whether he is still in touch withher or not shouldn't be your concern. In fact,it is high time you overcame suchcomplexes. If he is, in fact, still in contactwith her and doesn’t want you to knowabout it, there’s nothing you can do.Wanting so desperately to be on his friendslist is not a healthy idea at all. Beingomnipresent in each other’s lives will besuffocating to both of you. Remember this.

Prof M Sreedhara Murthy teachespsychology at NMKRV First GradeCollege. He is also a well-knownphotographer. Mail queries to prof@talkmag.in

32

Union Minister for RuralDevelopment JairamRamesh recently sent aletter to West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Bannerjee,announcing the release ofCentral funds to her state.The last line cheekily said:‘Incidentally, may I add thatthis reflects how sensitivethe so-called ‘brain-deadgovernment in Delhi’ is tothe needs of the people ofWest Bengal?’ Ramesh wasreferring to an earliercomment made by Mamata

about the UPA government.Predictably, hyper-sensitiveDidi flew into a rage, andpromptly posted the letteron her Facebook page. Hernote said she was ‘stunned’to receive such a ‘distastefulstatement’ from a unionminister, and asked thepublic to comment. Hmmm.Poor Didi, her enemies knowonly too well how she cannothelp biting every bait thatcomes her way, and makeherself look ridiculouslyangry.

Didi bites the bait

talk|1 nov 2012|talkmag.in

… the truth is I left you for just afew days. My ‘friend’ had calledme down to Kerala, to open hisjewellery showroom (whatelse). I kept my promise, andcouldn’t keep my distance,because I needed the cash (youunderstand). They seem to loveme here. Though it did feel

weird to have so many admiringcops protecting me, whenusually all they do is frisk me fordope. Just as well. After all, onecannot count on the hand of Godalways. Especially here in Hisown country, where He seems tohave His hands full. Be backsoon. Yours, Diego Chettan.

Don’t cry for me Argentina…

Maa ka doodh for saleWomen in Britain areselling their breast milkonline, using Facebook andwebsites such asonlythebreast.co.uk to makesome quick cash out of their‘extra’ milk. Supplied eitherfresh or frozen, it costsabout one British pound (Rs85) an ounce. (Doctors,incidentally, have warnednew parents againstprivately obtaining theirbaby’s food). Last year, arestaurant in London’sCovent Garden had

announced a new range ofice cream, made with breastmilk, which it had calledBaby Gaga. According toAndrew Cox, business editorat the Financial Times, “theemerging breast milkindustry is one of the fewhigh-growth sectors in anotherwise tanking economy,and perhaps the onlyremaining one where thecountry can leverage itssuperior technical knowhowglobally.” Okay, we madethat up, but only the last line.