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Printed and published by Sumith Kombra on behalf of Shakthi Media Ventures India Pvt Ltd - FF70, Gold Towers, Residency Road, Bangalore -560025. Editor: SR Ramakrishna. Editorial Office: FF70, Gold Towers, Residency Road, Bangalore -560025 Email: [email protected] Phone: 08049332100, 08040926658. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited.

god article 03talk|sample edition|talkmag.in

The discovery of the‘God particle’ or HiggsBoson is about toexplain the birth ofthe universe. I got to

see, from close quarters, how thescientists worked to get there.

After a long bus journey fromTurin, Italy, I arrived at Geneva,Switzerland, via Mont Blanc, one ofthe most beautiful mountainranges in the world. On the roadfrom Geneva to CERN, lush greenfields often made way for dazzlingsunflower fields. Not once could Iimagine that the earth under thesefields would soon experience theworld's most powerful human-cre-ated explosion.

Once at the institute, I took alift to travel 100 metres below theground to get into the CERN laband tunnel. Thesecurity is high atthe entrance. Onceinside, I got to see ahuge iron and steeltube within a con-crete structure. Thetube runs endlessly,covering an area of 27 km, and it isa circle. Not only is the LHC theworld’s largest particle accelerator,just one-eighth of its cryogenic dis-tribution system would qualify asthe world’s largest fridge. I got totouch the magnets, again made ofsteel, many of which had comefrom India, Bangalore in particular,but no one was allowed to climbonto the tube or get into it: after all,electro-magnetic forces are atwork. At the entrance of the tunnel,CERN scientists explained the col-

lision process to me, and took mearound the entire laboratory,demonstrating the workings of thesmall detectors. The control roomis animated – discussions abound –and all of this is informal, receptiveand academically inspiring.

The CERN cafeteria is a hub ofactivity — with scores of scientistsengrossed in informal discussions.A sense of purpose and discipline isapparent alongside the informality.I was fortunate to share coffee witha host of scientists at the cafeteria.

On the way back to board thebus, I noticed an unusual landmark– a tall statue of Nataraja, or thelord of dance. The statue, symbolis-ing Shiva’s cosmic dance of creationand destruction, was given toCERN by the Indian government

on June 18, 2004, to celebrate theresearch centre’s long associationwith India.

The renowned writer FritjofCapra says on his site that in choos-ing the image of Nataraja, theIndian government had acknowl-edged the significance of themetaphor of Shiva’s dance for thecosmic dance of subatomic parti-cles, observed and analysed byCERN’s physicists. The parallel wasfirst discussed by Capra in an arti-

cle titled The Dance of Shiva: TheHindu View of Matter in the Lightof Modern Physics, published inMain Currents in Modern Thoughtin 1972. Shiva’s dance then becamea central metaphor in his interna-tional bestseller The Tao of Physics,published in 1975 and still in printin over 40 editions around theworld.

A special plaque next to theNataraja statue quotes extensivelyfrom The Tao of Physics. Ananda K.Coomaraswamy, seeing beyond theunsurpassed rhythm, beauty, powerand grace of the Nataraja, oncewrote, “It is the clearest image ofthe activity of God which any art orreligion can boast of.”

More recently, Capra explained,“Modern physics has shown thatthe rhythm of creation and destruc-tion is not only manifest in the turnof the seasons and in the birth anddeath of all living creatures, but isalso the very essence of inorganicmatter… For the modern physicists,then, Shiva's dance is the dance ofsubatomic matter.”

He concluded: “Hundreds ofyears ago, Indian artists createdvisual images of dancing Shivas in abeautiful series of bronzes. In ourtime, physicists have used the mostadvanced technology to portray thepatterns of the cosmic dance. Themetaphor of the cosmic dance thusunifies ancient mythology, reli-gious art and modern physics.”

A thought crossed my mind onthe journey to Geneva: Who wouldhave expected an Indian God to beat the heart of the world’s largestphysics experiment?

PULAO BULAOThe CERN

cafeteria keepsin mind the

tastes of themany Indian

scientists whowork there. Onthe table was

‘mixedvegetable rice’

with a variety ofchilli sauces.The rice was

similar to ourvegetable

pulao. Meat,chicken and

sea food wasalso on offer forthe continental

palate. Our reporter

lunched in theprivileged

company ofsome of the

world’s greatestscientists.

Prashanth G Nbrings you a

first-hand accountof all the action atthe institute that

went looking forthe origins of the

universe

Talkwas

there!

Nataraja in Geneva

Editor TalksWe are delighted to place thissample edition of Talk in yourhands. When our team set out todo a weekly — and there aren’t toomany in English in our city — weasked ourselves what we shouldcover, and how. The focus of ourmagazine is Bangalore, a city thatdefies classification, and changesevery day in apparent and subtleways. As history tells us, Bangaloreis actually two cities: the old petefounded by Kempe Gowda andshaped by the gentle classicism ofprincely Mysore, and the moreWesternised, outgoingCantonment. For captains of the ITindustry, this is a business-friendlycity with an energetic and talentedworkforce. (Thomas Friedman, thefamous New York Times columnist,believes engineering colleges fromBangalore’s outposts poweredIndia’s big IT revolution). Formarketers, we are a city of bigearners and big spenders. Butthat’s not all. The city lives andbreathes in many nooks andcrannies, in many languages andmany communities. We hope tocapture the vibrancy of the manycities within this city, and chasestories our esteemed seniors in thebusiness couldn’t, or wouldn’t.

Talk brings you news, analysis, andentertainment. We will do our bestto deliver writing that is wellresearched and thoughtfullypresented. Do let us know whatyou think about our sample fare,and what else you would like inTalk that would enhance yourreading pleasure. We will take upserious subjects, but at the sametime, we won’t be apologetic aboutmaking our magazine a fun read.Our team has enjoyed producingthis edition for you. We hit thestands in a more formal fashion inAugust. Till then, happy reading.And may we say we are thrilled tobe talking with you!

S R [email protected]

TO CERN WITH LOVE:The cosmic dance of

Nataraja is an inspiration to particle physicists

worldwide. The Geneva labproudly displays this image,

gifted by the Indian government

The writer at CERN

PLAY IT AGAIN: At Jayanagar’s

Calypso, a musicbuff checks out

the vinyl collection.

Below: Afterthree decades,record players

are backon the shelves ofBangalore stores

S R RAMAKRISHNA

Several music stores inBangalore now stock LPs,and people familiar withvinyl are celebrating thereturn of a richer sonic

experience.Customers who walk in looking

for LPs are usually between 40 and 50.“They ask for specific titles. They aremusically well informed and have athorough knowledge of the technolo-gy as well,” says Vikas Chawla,managing partner of Calypso, a musicstore in Jayanagar.

Besides Calypso, Reliance TimeOut and Landmark also showcasesmall collections of vinyl records. Thetitles don’t exceed two dozen, butdraw customers steadily.

The revival of vinyl began twoyears ago, thanks to the import andmarketing of records, and the appear-ance of record players at the stores.For decades, music lovers couldn’t lis-ten to LPs because the styluses oftheir old players were in bad repair,and no new record players were avail-able on the market. Since 2010, thoseproblems have begun to vanish, andthe yearning for analogue sound isbeing fulfilled, but it costs goodmoney.

What’s an LP? Given the predomi-nance of people below 40 in India, it’slikely many will ask you this questionif you rave about the warmth of musicon a vinyl record. Let’s look at the lin-eage: LP is short for long playing

record, and is the illustrious grandfa-ther of the digital CD. In India, aselsewhere, after the LPs came cas-settes, which were followed by thecompact disk or what we know as theCD. As CDs rose to prominence as thepreferred medium of music, cassettesfaded away. CDs, as those of us wholisten to music online know, are nowmaking way for streaming and mp3downloads.

Sales have gone up in the last twoyears, especially after 2011, andBangalore is the third largest marketamong Indian metros for vinylrecords, the first and second beingMumbai and Delhi.

Adarsh Gupta, sales head of themusic label RPG Saregama, saysmovie titles like Mughal-e-Azam,Pakeezah and Silsila are back indemand. Indian labels are gettingtheir records pressed in Germany, asthe Kolkata factory for producingvinyl records shut down somedecades ago, when demand for vinyldipped.

Some new records are also comingout. Kailash Kher’s album Kailasa, andmovie albums from the 1990s, likeMaachis, are also on offer. Stores dis-play imported pop, rock and jazzalbums. Michael Jackson, Abba,Metallica, Cold Play and HerbieHancock are among the artistes youwill find at the Bangalore stores.Virgin, EMI, Universal and Sony arethe international labels with a signifi-

cant presence at the Bangalore musicstores.

Sameul F John, floor manager atPlanet M, says vinyl sales could bebetter if only some effort went intomarketing and publicity. “Only musi-cians and vinyl record collectors nowcome looking for vinyl,” he says.

Prices start from Rs 795 for Indiantitles, and go up to 2,250 for imports.Double albums from an internationallabel cost close to Rs 5,000. In recentmonths, stores like Calypso andReliance Time Out have begun stock-ing record players (also calledturntables). The options aren’t wide,but if you have a particular model inmind, they offer to source it for you.

Lenco and Denon are the most easilyavailable turntables in Bangalore.

ProFX at Barton Centre, whichdeals in Denon, sells two or threeturntables a month. That may notsound like a lot, but just over twoyears ago, no store in Bangalore wasselling any equipment that could playLPs, and you’d have had to pester an

NRI relative to bring you one of thoseplayers. In the US, the revival is betterdocumented. Since 2010, stores therehave sold 28 lakh records. NielsenSoundScan, a survey agency,described vinyl as the fastest growingmusical format this year. The Amazononline store in the UK stocks 2.5 lakhrecords to meet the growing demand.Indian labels are not very forthcom-ing with numbers, but they did tell usbusiness was looking up.

The low-end Denon model comesfor Rs 9,900, and will suffice if youjust want to listen to LPs, while thetop model costs Rs 23,400, and candigitise and directly record songs onto a thumb drive.

Vinyl technology comes from anearlier era, and younger music lovershooked to iPods and digital formatshave no exposure to its fabled rich-ness. But many Bangalore audiophilesare convinced the beauty of vinyl cannever be matched by digital, howeversophisticated the latter technologymay get. It is not just nostalgia; theromance of vinyl lives on.

Second hand records are availablenear Avenue Road, but for a reallyextensive footpath collection, you willhave to go to Mumbai. For the afi-cionados, the cost of new records isno object. They feel they aren’tsplurging, just contributing to thecause of good music.

(With inputs from Sandra Fernandes)

LPs are back at the Bangaloremusic stores, and lovers ofanalogue are thrilled to bits

The return of vinyl04talk|sample edition|talkmag.in

Vinyl records soundbetter than CDs. Also,music in the vinyl era

was recorded live andwith natural

instruments, and not produced digitally.

James J Music composer,

Indiranagar

Ramesh Hunsur

record romance

05talk|sample edition|talkmag.in

The recent crackdown on file-sharing websites by the USgovernment has upped thestakes in the fight for thecontrol of the Internet, and

the impact is being felt in India as well.The first volley was fired by central

information technology minister KapilSibal, who called upon social networkingwebsites such as Facebook and Twitter toremove “offensive content” posted by theirusers. Then came the Madras High Courtorder that wanted all file and video-sharingwebsites blocked. A related concern ismonitoring and recording of private onlinecommunication by intelligence and policeagencies. The question users and Net free-dom votaries are asking is how sucharbitrary action can be checked.

Piracy vs file-sharingWhy are file-sharing websites blocked?This happened for thefirst time when produc-ers of the Tamil film, 3(Moonu), approachedthe Madras High Courtseeking restrainingorders on websitesuploading the film.Incidentally, the filmhad benefited hugely from the freedom toshare, and a video showing the recording ofa song, Kolaveri di, had gone viral.

Using the court order, Internet ServiceProviders (ISPs) were asked to block web-sites, like The Pirate Bay, that upload films.The producers had a point, as they stood tolose their audiences and consequently theirinvestment if the websites uploaded thefilm ahead of release. Later, the courtupdated its verdict saying only URLs topirated content, and not entire websites, beblocked.

Offence vs free speechThe second issue, the one that got Sibal allupset, concerns arbitrary removal of con-tent deemed ‘offensive’.

The government’s guidelines say that ifany material is offensive, disparaging orblasphemous, a notice can be served, towhich the website publisher must replywithin 36 hours. The websites can eitherremove the content or explain why thecontent remains published.

Internet activists say ISPs have beenblocking all content that may even remote-ly be deemed offensive, in a case ofover-compliance. The words ‘offensive’,‘disparaging’ and ‘blasphemous’ need to beclearly defined. What if ‘objectionable’refers to legitimate protest, they ask.

The activists also raise the question ofwhether 36 hours is enough time to inves-tigate the material. Against this must be setthe sizeable presence of blatant and subtleonline content that is genuinely offensive.Government, as the institution responsiblefor law and order, does have a legitimatepoint in attempting to curb offensiveremarks that could trigger social disharmo-ny or conflict. No freedom is absoluteanywhere in the world, those who hold thisview point out. The activists, however, fearthat such regulation may be a pretext tocurtail criticism of the government.

Privacy vs securityThe third issue centres around monitoringof private content by state agencies.Perhaps this is the most serious of all

Internet-related issues,but unlike in the West,it receives little atten-tion here. The IT Act(Amendment) 2008,gives the Indian statethe power to demandinformation about pri-vate, individual users

and the content they communicate fromISPs, whether to examine whether it isoffensive or in the interest of nationalsecurity.

ISPs are all too easily bullied into hand-ing over private data to the police. Privateemotions and intimate content now facethe risk of exposure. Internet activistsargue that terms like ‘sovereignty’ and‘national security’ are too overarching andbroad and can easily be misused by agen-cies that have a poor history when it comesto respecting citizens’ rights.

Free speech frontier tosome, anarchy’s owncountry to others, theNet has always beencontested territory.Prashanth G N gives anoverview of the freedomvs control controversy

New webof worry

There is a move to curbfreedom of the Net.Specific definitions ofobjectionable or offensivecontent are required toeliminate subjective opinion and ambiguity.

Lawrence Liang Alternative Law Forum

net debate

Section 69 of the IT Act of2008 empowers thecentral and stategovernments or theiragencies to “intercept,monitor or decrypt anyinformation generated,transmitted, received orstored in any computerresource if it is necessaryor expedient so to do inthe interest of thesovereignty or integrity ofIndia, defence of India,security of the State,friendly relations withforeign States or publicorder or for preventingincitement to thecommission of anycognisable offence or forinvestigation of anyoffence.” In other words,it’s not so difficult for theauthorities to pry intoyour online life.

No capitals, please!Netiquette (short for‘Internet etiquette’) is an

almost forgotten termthat denotes socialconventions that helpfacilitate smoothinteraction online.Netiquette determinesmany of the conventionswe follow today. Forinstance, typing entirely incapital letters is avoidedbecause it is considered‘shouting’.

Netiquette prepares

users for the pitfalls ofonline communication.For example: “Watch cc-swhen replying. Don’tcontinue to includepeople if the messageshave become a 2-wayconversation.”

High time webrought netiquette back -after all, self-regulation isthe only real antidote togovernment regulation.

What the law says, and what you can do

SCARY, DI: Kolaveri, a song from Dhanush’s Tamil film 3,went viral, but ironically, a case filed by its producersprompted the Madras High Court to order the blocking ofseveral sites

BASU MEGALKERI

Karnataka has justentered a frighteninglydivisive phase. WithJagadish Shettar getingthe chief minister’s

position for being a Lingayat—BJPpresident Nitin Gadkari said so—other politicians are making vocifer-ous demands for berths only on thestrength of their caste.

With the BJP’s decision to replaceSadananda Gowda, a chief ministerwho faced no personal corruptioncharge, the party has antagonised hiscaste, the Vokkaligas. In fact, thechange of guard is fuelling a franticrealignment of political forces onbrazenly casteist lines.

The run-up to the 2013 assemblyelections isn’t looking good from theperspective of the big parties. WhileB S Yeddyurappa and B Sriramuluare giving sleepless nights to the BJP,the Congress is in disarray as itwatches new caste formationsthreaten its traditional vote banks.

In numbers, recent estimatesindicate that Dalits are the biggestbloc in Karnataka, followed byLingayats, Muslims, Vokkaligas,Kurubas, and OBCs. (The projectionis based on latest estimates, whichare unofficial and not reflected in

the chart below). Yet, despite theirdemographic strength, the Dalitshave never had a single chief minis-ter from their ranks.

But Lingayats, a pre-dominantlyagricultural and trading caste thatforms the second largest group, rou-tinely mobilise their forces to garnerpolitical benefits. With Yeddyurappaat the helm, the BJP had come to beseen as a party where Lingayats dom-inate. The early Congress years hadthe Lingayat Nijalingappa andVeerendra Patil as chief ministers,but in recent decades, the caste hasfelt sidelined within that party.

When the BJP had to sackYeddyurappa from the chief minis-ter’s post, it brought in SadanandaGowda, a Vokkaliga, in his place.That had left many Lingayats jittery,and a disgruntled Yeddyurappa can-nily capitalised on the confusion byprojecting himself as the saviour ofthe community. He has now forcedparty leaders into changingSadananda Gowda and bringing inanother Lingayat, Jagadish Shettar,to the top post.

But there’s no guarantee yet thatYeddyurappa will stay within theparty. Now that he has tasted blood,he will continue to make more andmore demands on party elders. If hebreaks away and forms a new party, asignificant chunk of the Lingayatvote could go his way.

As for Deve Gowda, he is lookingat winning about 30-35 seats in a 224-member assembly. That will makehim indispensable to any party thatwants to form a government. His cal-culation, if sources are to be believed,is to make his son Revanna chiefminister of a coalition government.South Karnataka is the stronghold ofthe JD(S), and Deve Gowda and hisother politically active sonKumaraswamy are seen as represen-tatives of the Vokkaligas.

The third leader engaged in caste

consolidation is Sriramulu, right-hand man of G Janardhana Reddy,the mining lord now in jail. Reddy isplaying an interesting game. Hisbrothers continue to be in the BJP,while his protégé Sriramulu is outmobilising support for a new party,the BSR Congress. While most peo-ple know that BSRstands for BSriramulu, the partyis presenting itself asrepresenting thebadava (poor man),shramika (labourer)and raitha (farmer).

With the support of Bellary min-ing lords, Sriramulu is the richestamong those now trying to carve outa group that can participate in gov-ernment formation. He is confidenthe can win 10 to 15 seats, and is pro-

jecting himself as a leader of the STsand the underdeveloped northKarnataka region. Sriramulu is aValmiki, and his 54-day padayatra,now in progress, passes along aregion populated by people of hiscommunity, as well as caste groupsallied to it.

The Congress,with its fragmentedleadership, isn’tdoing much to capi-talise on the voter’sneed for a party thatrepresents multiple

interests. This is the projection for2013: At least three regional groupswill split the vote and make minorgains, but will enjoy a disproportion-ate amount of power because nogovernment can come to powerwithout their support.


Caste splitwide openYeddyurappa has forced the BJP’s hand and got aLingayat to replace Sadananda Gowda as chiefminister. That portends a brazenly casteist electionand a fractured mandate ten months from now

neta watch

Who represents whom

Deve Gowda: VokkaligasYeddyurappa: LingayatsB Sriramulu: Valmikis

HIGH DRAMA: The BJP hopes Jagadish Shettar (top) will keep the party’s Lingayatsupport intact. By threatening to leave the party and split the Lingayat vote,Yeddyurappa (left) is turning the screws on party elders. Deve Gowda of the JD(S)banks on Vokkaligas. Sriramulu, who broke away from the BJP, is campaigning allacross Karnataka.

Ramesh Hunsur

* Five-yearBJP termcoming to aclose withthird CM.:) We know.Yeddyurappawas theopener, andJagadish's theshutter.

AyyoRama!

KNI

folk hero 07talk|sample edition|talkmag.in

PRASHANTH G N

Shantaveri Gopala Gowda,socialist leader who liveda life of poverty, is unani-mously considered themost charismatic legisla-

tor in the history of the Karnatakaassembly.

Some others were inspiring, forsure, but Gopala Gowda, oftenreferred to as the Ram ManoharLohia of Karnataka politics, is a namepoliticians, activists and writersinvoke over everybody else’s.

Talk asked politicians and politi-cal observers which legislator theyremembered the most in 60 years ofthe Karnataka legislature, and GopalaGowda’s name cropped up withalmost everyone we spoke to.

“I can think of L G Havanur, M DNanjundaswamy, Dr Siddalingaiahand A K Subbaiah who also madeseminal contributions to public life,but Gopala Gowda towers above all ofthem. All these legislators, good intheir own right, have taken inspira-tion from him,” said Ravi VermaKumar, thinker, advocate and socialactivist.

D B Chandre Gowda, MP and for-mer law and parliamentary affairsminister, agrees with Kumar. “I canthink of stalwarts like B VaikuntaBaliga, Nazeer Sab, J H Patel andRamakrishna Hegde, who wereinspiring in many ways, but Gopala

Gowda was a legislator with a broadvision and universal appeal. Many ofus have been influenced by his val-ues.”

Shantaveri Gopala Gowda (1923-1972) was a pioneer of thesocialist movement inKarnataka. “He is not justKarnataka’s but India’sacclaimed son of the soil.He stood up to the severesttests in life – overcomingpoverty and even starva-tion to become a champion of thefarmers, and then a legislator repre-

senting the socialist cause. He was avoracious reader and a great orator.His speeches, I believe, are bench-marks for oration in the legislature,”recalls Ravi Verma Kumar. A lover of

literature, he would awe audi-ences with his brilliantoratory, peppered with wide-ranging literary references.

Gopala Gowda advocated‘land for the tiller’ and nation-alisation of banks. As leader ofthe opposition in the assem-

bly, his analysis of budgets wasincisive. “No governments in all these

60 years have given in to criticism asmuch as governments in his time,”recalls Ravi Verma Kumar. “Therewasn’t one element of compromise inhim. It is difficult to imagine anotherlegislator of his stature.”

The charisma made him a naturalmentor to several politicians, includ-ing J H Patel, S Bangarappa, D DevarajUrs and S M Krishna, all of whomrose to become chief ministers. Ursunderstood the depth of GopalaGowda’s dedication to the cause ofthe poor. The Land Reforms Act andrenaming of the state from Mysore toKarnataka during Urs’s time cameabout because of the momentumgenerated by Gopala Gowda.

Subaltern histories tell us thatGopala Gowda was one of the archi-tects of the famous ‘Kagodusatyagraha’, a peasant agitation claim-ing rights for tillers in Shimogadistrict. That movement is still freshin the memory of many veteranpoliticians, and Girish Kasaravallimade a documentary film about it.

While Gopala Gowda’s death at anearly age stalled the socialist move-ment in Karnataka, ProfNanjundaswamy of the RaithaSangha carried it forward in his ownway. Gopala Gowda interacted closelywith intellectuals and literary figureslike Gopalkrishna Adiga, U RAnanthamurthy, P Lankesh and ProfNanjundaswamy. In fact,Ananthamurthy wrote a novel,Avasthe, meaning ‘state of life’, basedon the life and times of GopalaGowda.

Literary critic N ManuChakravarthy says: “Avasthe dealswith Krishnappa, a socialist politicianwhose consciousness of self and soci-ety evolves in the confines of theprison, under a constant threat of tor-ture. It narrates the story of acharismatic shudra leader who fightsfor the peasants. The use of metaphorin most of Ananthamurthy’s writingsenables him to say what otherwisewould not be accepted by the power-ful.” The book was also made into amovie, with actor Anant Nag playingthe main role.

Continued on page 8

ERUDITE:Shantaveri Gopala

Gowda (1923-1972) brought

Lohia’s socialism toKarnataka

Shantaveri Gopala Gowda’s angerwas there for all to see. Hewouldn’t compromise one bit. Nowonder leaders from across thepolitical spectrum remember himas the greatest MLA in the historyof the Karnataka legislature

leaderEverybody’s

Ram Manohar

He was a socialistarticulating theconcerns of the poor.And yes, he didcriticise the dynasticpolitics of theCongress.

Ramesh KumarCong. leader and former Speaker

Gopala Gowda wouldmix with peopleeasily, and when hetravelled, would stayin any house withoutany distinction ofcaste and creed.

D H Shankar MurthyChairman, Legislative Council

His socialist principleslaid the ground forland reforms, banknationalisation and astrong public sector.

Mallikarjuna Kharge10-time Congress legislator, now Union labour minister

He was fearless abouttaking positions. Hewas 100 per cent themost inspiringlegislator Karnatakahas known.

K S EshwarappaState BJP president

Meet Mr Madhav Rao, who has scrapedtogether about Rs 2 lakhs, which he nowwants to invest for a period of three to fouryears, when his daughter would be ready toapply for her dream professional course.

The talk in Rao's circles seem to constantly revolve around thesky-rocketing price of gold. His wife too swears by it, calling itthe safest investment option ever. Rao himself has been tempt-ed, but has so far held back.

If he walks into an investment consultant’s office - or as ismore likely to happen, for a post-dinner chat with a neighbourwho is known to ‘play’ the investment game - chances are theadvice he’ll get will be more of the same. But turns out thatRao’s intuition was right - far from being the safe option it’scracked up to be, gold is about to turn a corner, and increasing-ly looks like a scary bet.

Old Indian belief in the rising value of goldGold is often viewed as a safe investment bet, and Indians arefamously fond of the metal. Invariably, this leads them tobelieve that it's price will keep increasing. That may not be so;here’s why.

To start with, apply a simple chart check on the prices ofgold for the last 30 years:

To take a quick historical review, gold started a dream run inthe mid 70’s, when it traded at a premium of nearly 65 per centabove its average prices. It continued to do so until the early1980’s, when it saw a sharp dip. From then on, it was traded at adiscount of nearly 50 per cent to its average price till about2000. That’s a good 20 year period!

What we have been witnessing since 2002 is a frenzy of goldbuying reminiscent of the 1980’s gold rush. But as the righthand side of the chart shows, gold prices have started to ease.While this does not mean that gold prices will come crashingdown immediately, it’s reasonable to believe that the end of thisextraordinary bull run is just around the corner.

So, given the current state of gold prices, Rao would do wellto stay away from gold. Or better still, sell the gold he has atthese high rates; he may even be able to buy it back later at alower price. Now, let’s look at what other options Rao has, if hewants his money to earn returns for him.

DDeebbtt IInnssttrruummeennttss:: DIs are interest rate sensitive; higher theinterest rate, higher the amount you earn. The simplest and themost popular form of DI is the Fixed Deposit. All one needs todo is lock the money in the bank for a certain period; at the endof the maturity period, you get your money back with interest.

Other debt products include government bonds, corporatebonds etc, where, as the terms indicate, you loan your money tothe government or to a company. Right now in India, interestrates hover in the region of 8-11 per cent. So based on the bor-rower’s profile, an investment in debt products is likely to earna return anywhere between 8-11 per cent. Not bad at all, but isthere something better?

EEqquuiittiieess:: Returns on investment in equities depend on thestate of economy, which means that in the current situation inIndia, there are no good reasons to invest in Equities.

And yet, there’s room for a contrarian view. An interestingfact is that every time Indian markets have hit a valuation of 17or lower, then the minimum returns during the next 3 yearshave been at least 50 per cent. In other words, low valuations donot keep foreign institutional investors and other big investorsaway from the Indian markets for long. So, it’s not impossiblethat an investment in a decent mutual fund today could yield a50-60 per cent return in three years. In fact, the returns can behigher if Mr Rao is diligent enough to pick quality stocks byhimself. Remember, the big payoffs almost always come tothose risk investing in troubled times.

Karthik works with the investment consultancy The Quant Lab


Time to sell gold?There is much drum-beating aboutrising prices making the yellow metala popular investment option, butthere’s reason to believe the rush hasrun its course, says Karthik Rangappa

Continued from page 7

His compatriots would narrate tales ofhow Gopala Gowda, with no money tospend, would go hungry for days on end.And if he did manage to get any money,he would spend it on bun and milk atKsheera Sagara. They recall how in thesocialist circle of those days, (futurechief minister) J H Patel would be theonly one to have any money, and therest of them would wait for him so theycould have tea. In dire straits he mighthave been, but none of it could makedent in Gopal Gowda’s selfless nature.Or for that matter, his outspoken char-acter; if anything it fuelled it.

Chandre Gowda has the last word:“Gopala Gowda lived all the ideals hepropounded. He protected the interestsof farmers and the downtrodden, andwas a well-read, aggressive oppositionleader. We are all inspired by him.”

Umbrella StyleIn the assembly,Gopala Gowdalashed out at theShimoga districtadministration.The next day, he

decided to visit the Shimogadeputy commissioner. As hearrived, the gatekeeper told himthe DC was busy in a meeting andmade him stand at the gate. Hestood there for 45 minutes, wait-ing. Gopala Gowda stormed in tothe DC’s office only to find himpacing about, puffing on a ciga-rette. He had smoked a completepack terrified of the man, wonder-ing how to deal with his fury. Assoon as the DC saw Gowda, hestarted fleeing towards the door.Gowda picked up his umbrella,flung the rounded handle aroundhis neck and pulled him back tothe chair, shouting at him that hebetter answer all questions.

Lesson for defectorThanks to his hard work, theSocialist Party tasted success in1967 and many of its candidateswon. One MLA defected to theCongress. Gopala Gowda fell ill,and his fever touched 104degrees. He was bedridden in theLegislators’ Home, and the feverwouldn’t subside. One day, theMLA decided to apologise. Hecame to Gopala Gowda’s room,held his feet, and begged his for-giveness. When Gowda realisedwho it was, he grabbed hisumbrella and gave the MLA thethrashing of his life. No defectedMLA had ever received such treatment. HIGH GLITTER: The history of gold suggests current rates are unnat-

urally high, and hints at a possible slide

$50*

$375 $300$450

$1000

money wise

GLITTER AND GLOW: Movie star Lakshmi Gopalaswamy at ajewellery show in Bangalore

*Approximate rates

Ramesh Hunsur

When he casuallysays he idolisesMadonna, I amtaken aback.Now, that’s

hardly the way a corporate honchobegins an interview. Uh-oh, this is notgoing to be business-as-usual, I think.Tesco HSC chief Sandeep Dhar does-n't fit my idea of a ‘captain ofindustry’.

“I am a CEO with a heart,” Dharventures, laughing, as if that explainsthings. The first thing he asks me foris permission to “ramble on”. I readilyagree. It’s not an offer a reporter getsevery day. The informal feel of his

cabin makes it easy to believe we arein a café, chatting away over coffee.

On his first day at Tesco, Dharwas asked to write a speech he woulddeliver to his employees. To every-one’s surprise, he announced hewould go extempore, saying he want-ed to speak from the heart.

“But CEOs don’t have a heart,” asceptical colleague gently tried toremind him, to no avail. Four yearslater, you actually bump into Tescoemployees who swear their boss doeshave a heart.

But first, I had to settle thisMadonna business; images of the divasinging and gyrating were flashingthrough my mind. “Why Madonna?” Iask. “Because she has lived life on herown terms. She hasn’t gone by soci-ety’s definitions of right and wrong,but has experimented with life.”

That’s fine, but why not a man-agement guru? “You can take a goodthing from Jack Welch , another fromsomeone else, but you have to experi-ment with yourself. It’s all aboutbeing yourself.”

Being yourself. I’ve heard thatbefore, so I undertake a furtive surveyof his book shelf, and as if to confirmmy hunch, spot such vaunted names

as Guy Kawasaki and Kahlil Gibran. I ask him about his reading.

“Poetry, mostly. Gibran, Rumi andPablo Neruda. Gibran can createhavoc in your mind. He should beread with some care,” he cautions.

I needn’t have worried. Dhar is noDale Carnegie in the making, spout-ing ready wisdom about theimportance of winning friends andinfluencing people. He confesses to alove for the Persian Sufi poet Rumiand the Marxist Neruda, but laments that a lot is lost in translation. “I wish I could read Neruda in Spanish. Idid learn the language, but it’s justbasic, not enough to relish poetry,” hesays.

Since we are on the subject ofbooks, does he have a favourite? “TheTao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. It’s prima-rily a religious text. I am a Hindu bybirth but follow Taoist philosophy,”he says. So what draws him towardsTaoism, the state religion of ancientChina, with its great emperors amongits followers? “The pragmatism of itall,” he replies.

An explanation follows: “If youtalk about action, for instance, thenTaoism says that excessive action iscounter-productive. Keep trying and

work hard, but you should knowwhere to stop. Effort beyond a pointis useless. If you keep sharpening asword, there will be nothing left. Ifyou keep rubbing it against a stone,one day it will disappear.”

I’m slightly confused. “So, what doyou have tell those who say, followyour dream, aim high, don’t stop tillyou achieve?” I ask.

Dhar plays that one straight:“Who sets your goal? Who definesyour dream? You should do it your-self. You can become a CEO at 30, nodoubt. But I guarantee you will haveno family life. There should be awork-life balance.”

“How old are you?” I ask, attempt-ing to veer the conversation awayfrom philosophical heights. It turnsout he is 47. So, didn’t he set a goal forhimself? “No. I had no yearning oraspiration that I have to become soand so. One should keep learning newthings and applying new skills. Do itconstantly and well enough. Successis inevitable.”

Dhar graduated in physics andhad plans of pursuing a PhD andbecoming a teacher. “I found that itdoesn’t pay very well. So the nextobvious thing was an MBA,” says theIMT Ghaziabad alumnus. His journeyfrom a Kawasaki Bajaj-riding sales-man to a BMW-driving CEO has hadits share of bumps.

He started off selling software forNIIT in Bangalore, where he admitshe didn’t fare well.

Sandeep Dhar, who heads Tesco,admires the unfettered life of his favourite pop stars, andequally, the quiet pragmatism ofChinese philosophy, discoversSavie Karnel


Ramesh Hunsur

Dhar loves Madonnabecause the diva ‘haslived life on her ownterms’

BEING HIMSELF:Sandeep Dharat his office in

Whitefield

hello boss

The dancing CEO

“I spent more time evading the watchful eyes of the boss,”he reveals. He went on to sell Hewlett Packard products for acompany called Bluestar in Delhi, travelling 100 km each dayon a bike in the heat of Delhi.

He then went on to become the “equivalent of a call centreagent” for Citibank; the “first Indian call centre agent who didnight shifts in the banking sector.” Here he stuck around for awhile before climbing the ladder at ABN Amro, then Mphasis-EDS and Sapient, and finally, Tesco.

So, what’s the view from the top like? He comes back withan interesting (if literal) anecdote from the time he worked forCitibank in Mumbai, where his office overlooked the swim-ming pool of the Oberoi Hotel. “I saw people lying by the poolall day, doing nothing. I said to myself the day I get to do that,my goal would be accomplished. But when the day came, Icouldn’t do it for more than five minutes. I wondered how any-one could spend the whole day there.”

Does he have any more dreams left, or is it just going to besagely contentment from now on? “I want to act in a film, anyfilm; Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood,” he says, the excite-ment palpable, and in the manner of a fresh face desperatelyhoping to convince a director. “I can dance, I can fight and act.”

Tesco employees would vouch for his dancing skills, havingwatched him perform any number of styles from MichaelJackson to Shah Rukh Khan at the company’s AnnualFoundation Day events. Those shows were not meant for mereentertainment, he adds. “People here are young. I have to beyoung to connect to them. I believe I am young.”

Anyone who sees Sandeep in action at his weekend Tai Chiclasses would agree. Before he discovered Tai Chi, he used tobe a yoga practitioner who looked down upon the Chinese

martial arts. “Now, I’d say the Chinesehave taken yoga and given it a new

dimension,” he says.His family has been support-

ive. By way of compensation, hemakes it a point to spend theweekends with his wife andthree children, and often holi-days with them in Thailand.

But there is one thing he has-n’t got his wife’s approval

to buy: a KawasakiNinja motorbike.

“There’s a fluo-rescent green

model at theirIndiranagarshowroom.Whenever I

pass by, I lookat it, but my wife

firmly says no. Shestill dreads riding pillionwith me as in the earlieryears of marriage!” hechuckles.

The hour I had beengranted is up, and I thankhim for his time. “But Ihave time, I do the leastwork in office,” he jokes,before walking us out of

the floor with a “Keep intouch.”

That’s just the kind ofthing CEOs say, I think, butby the time I return tooffice, I have a friendrequest from him onFacebook. He means it,after all.


MOONWALKER:Sandeep dressed

up as MichaelJackson for a

dance tribute tothe pop star at

Tesco’s 2011Foundation Day

MEGHA HIT: An overcastsky in Goa,

captured byTalk lensman

RameshHunsur

MonsoonK E

W O SY

R D

Centuries ago, even beforethe time of Vasco-da-Gama, the Arabs took thesea route to India. Theysailed with the south

western winds blowing over theArabian Sea and Indian Ocean andarrived on our shores. They called thetime of their travel ‘mausim,’ whichmeans season.

The word ‘mausim’ then gotattached to the winds and the rains thatfollowed it. Somewhere in the late 15thcentury, the English corrupted‘mausim’ to monsoon. That’s how theword ‘monsoon’ came to be formed.

Though the name is relatively new,the season has been around for over 50million years; ever since the collision ofthe Indian sub-continent and Asia toform the Himalayas and the Tibetanplateau. If the monsoon wasn’t there,India would never be the way it is, butwould merely be an extension of thecentral desert. It would probably looklike Afghanistan. We owe our greenery,forests, farms, eating habits, clothing

and lifestyle to the monsoon.The ancients understood it very

well. Perhaps, that why they wor-shipped the rain and prayed for thedownpour. When the Aryans migratedto India from Central Asia, they accept-ed the importance of these rains, andworshipped it like the way the nativesdid. The Aryan God Varun, was earlierjust the God of waters of the netherland, but was later made the God of therains as well. The natives associated thecroaking sound of the frogs with therain, so did the Aryans.

It can be seen in the frog hymn inthe Rig Veda, where the croaking of thefrog is compared to the Vedic chants. Itsays, “When one of them repeats thespeech of the other, as the student thatof his teacher, all that of them is in uni-son like the eloquent (Vedic) chant thatyou recite during the rain.”

If not for the monsoon, we wouldnot have Kalidasa’s masterpieces. InMeghdoot, an exiled Yaksha pleads to arain cloud to carry his message to hiswife in the Himalayas. The route of thecloud, that he explicitly explains, alsoshows us the immense meteorologicaland geological knowledge Kalidasa had.Of course, the description of the emo-tions of the people over whom thecloud passes is incomparable.

In Ritusamhara, he glorifiesthe rain cast sky saying,“Overcast on all sides withdense rain clouds, the skydisplays the deep glow of

blue-lotus petals, dark in places likeheaped-collyrium, smooth-blended,glowing elsewhere like the breasts of awoman with child.”

Some enthusiasts believe thatHindustani music is inconceivablewithout the rain. How could music bewithout the Raag Malhaar? It is believedthat when Tansen sang this raag, theskies erupted with joy and burst intoshowers. The tabla resounds with thevery sound of the thundering clouds.

With the ‘varsha’ being such anintegral part of our culture, our movieswould not have been left behind. Rightfrom the black and white movies whereNargis walks in the rain to Pyar huaikraar hua, to Aishwarya Rai frolickingto Barso re megha barso, there is noth-ing more sensuous than a lady kissed byrain.

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaanbrings out the pathos of the farmerswaiting for the rain, and shows theparched earth. On the other hand, thecinematography of Mani Ratnam’s boxoffice failure Raavan celebrates thesplendor of earth during the monsoonin the ghats. Perhaps, the most beauti-ful depiction of love in the monsoon inKarnataka is in Yogesh Bhat’sMungaaru Male.

So, the next time it rains, do notcurse the skies. Instead, step out

and get drenched in the rain,for you are among the

lucky few whom themonsoon visits.

The Talkcolumn on

word origins


The Arabs called it ‘mausim’, orseason. The English turned it to‘monsoon’. Savie Karnel tells thestory of a 50 million-year-oldphenomenon that brings poetryand joy, and sometimes misery, to India.

Get ready to go to Tumkur andfile an application in amurder case,” my seniorDevadas instructed me oneday, out of the blue. That

made me nervous.“But, sir, I haven’t registered at the Bar

Council yet.” I said.“Don’t I know these courts? Go stand

there and tell them you work for me. Whowould dare question you in that court?” heshot back.

He summoned his clerk RamachandraRao, and called for a tailor fromVenkateshwara Tailoring Hall next door. Hetold him, “Get two shirts, two pairs oftrousers, and a black coat ready by thisevening.”

I had a room booked at the Woodlands,near what is now called the old bus stand.He gave me some cash for my expenses. I setout, like a soldier going out on his firstbattle expedition.

Paramappa and Ramanaiah, the twoaccused, came over to my hotel and treatedme with fearful respect. They wouldn’t letme spend on food. This made me happy.“You will be all right. You will win the case,”I told them, putting on the air of someonewho knew it all. “Paramappa, you have totell me the truth. You know whose loss it iswhen a patient lies to the doctor, and aclient lies to his lawyer. If you tell me thetruth, we can devise a strategy to save you.”

The brothers swore they hadn’t killedKamanna, alias Komanna. “We only gavehim some blows. I don’t know who killedhim suddenly. God knows why his sonGaviyappa has filed a false complaintagainst us,” Paramappa said.

Would a killer admit to his crime soeasily, I thought to myself, and said, “Allright, but make sure you speak the truthwhen my senior comes here.”

Paramappa didn’t know what

to say. He swallowed, and sat down with adefeated look. I laughed to myself, thinkingI had caught the thief out.

The trial began in Justice Ponnarangam’scourt. Devadas’s fame must have spread: thejudge welcomed him with a smile. Devadaskept looking at Gaviyappa closely as he wasbeing cross-examined.

What the court understood fromGaviyappa’s statement: Kamanna andParamappa were neighbours, and ownedland side by side. A dispute over theboundaries had arisen, and ended inKamanna’s murder. Paramappa and hisbrother Ramanaiah had tried to murderKamanna. Gaviyappa had rushed to hisfather’s help, and the brothers had tried tokill him as well. Gaviyappa had survived.

When Gaviyappa’s questioning wasdone, the judge said he would allow thecross examination the next day. “No, sir.Please examine the doctor who treatedGaviyappa for his wounds before he is cross-examined,” said Devadas.

The judge agreed readily, and fixed adate. Devadas walked out solemnly. He didnot speak to his clients. Some lawyersapproached him and introducedthemselves. He smiled at them cursorily,shook hands and got into the car.

The court examined the doctor andcalled Gaviyappa again. At the Bar, manylawyers told me the case was tough. Mysenior, they argued, wouldn’t get any famefrom defending a killer againstwhom the victim’s son wasdeposing as an eye-witness. I feltthe same way, but I also hadblind faith in Devadas. I wasconvinced he would come outvictorious in any

case. How he would do it in this instance Ihad no clue. “Just you wait. We will win thecase. I can’t tell you the secret of how we willdo it,” I boasted, and shut them up.

Gaviyappa’s cross-examination began.Devadas asked him, “Which hand do youuse to eat, plough, and do your work?”

“My right hand.”“Where have you been injured?”Gaviyappa took off his shirt and showed

his wounds. He had cut marks on the left ofhis neck, left arm, left chest, left thigh, leftbuttock and left knee.

“Why didn’t Paramappa give you a singleblow on your right?”

When the judge heard this question, astrange smile crossed his face. It appeared tobe the key that would unlock the mysteriesof this case.

The countenance of the lawyers insidethe court hall changed too. I shot a proudlook at all those who had tried to make lightof Devadas’s skills.

“Gaviyappa, with what did Paramappatry to kill you?” Devadas asked.

“With the knife he uses to splice betelnuts...”

Devadas took the knife from the police,and handed it to Gaviyappa. “Hold it in yourright hand, let’s see,” he said.

Gaviyappa gripped it as instructed.“Pretend you are hitting yourself on your

right arm, like you say you were hit on yourleft,” Devadas said.

Gaviyappa couldn’t turn the knifetowards his right arm.

“Done. You may go,” said Devadas.He then sought the doctor in the witness

box for cross-examination.


Fabled ranconteur andBangalore’s top-notchcriminal lawyer recountssome of the most movingand bizarre cases in 40years of his practice.

C H HANUMANTHARAYA

A curious murder Cr

ime

Folio

“Are Gaviyappa’s injuries caused byblows inflicted by someone?” he asked.

The doctor understood thebreadth and depth of the question,and answered, without any hesitation,“All those are self-inflicted injuries.”

The court was stunned. Devadashad turned the case on its head. Myhead was bowed in respect; I wasfeeling so proud of my senior.

The judge was bowled over byDevadas. He forgot he was a judge,and nodded inappreciation.Devadas hadinfluenced thejudge so muchthat he hadstarted wearing aturban, just likeDevadas, by thetime the case hadended. Afterretiring as ajudge, he startedpractising at the high court. Hecontinued to wear a turban. I used totell myself it was a gift my senior hadgiven him.

What Devadas found was hair-raising. Kama means desire, andGaviyappa’s father Kamanna had acharacter true to his name: he waslecherous. Paramappa had three wives.Kamanna had cast an eye onParamappa’s third wife. She had nointerest in him, and had complainedto her husband about his advances.

Gaviyappa was sick of his father’slechery. He had fought with himseveral times, and told him it was hightime he gave up his lust and got hisson married. Kamanna’s wife wouldsupport her son.

That afternoon, Kamanna hadtried to get intimate with Paramappa’swife. She had run inside, sobbing.Paramappa heard about it when hecame home from the farm, and waslivid. His brother Ramanaiah swore hewould finish Kamanna off that day.

They took along people who livedon the street, stood in front ofKamanna’s house, and flung the vilestabuses at him. Neighbours tauntedKamanna that he had no shame. Anagitated Paramappa screamed,“Kamanna, you’ve just pulled my wife’ssari. Bring your wife here, I’ll strip hernude. What do you think of me?”

Gaviyappa was furious hearing allthis talk. He was shaking all over. Buthe wasn’t angry with the neighbours;all his silent fury was directed at hisfather, who had caused so muchhumiliation to come to their door. Hefelt like screaming at Kamanna, butcouldn’t say a word. He sat outside inthe breeze. He seemed to ready to tellhis neighbours to go in and get hisfather.

Kamanna’s wife got into thekitchen, and didn’t step out.Paramappa and Ramanaiah barged in,pulled Kamanna out, and thrashedhim. The neighbours told him thatwas enough, and they would gettogther and ostracise Kamanna if hedidn’t mend his ways. “Why do youwant to bring a case upon yourself bydoing something in haste?” they said.Kamanna had submitted to theirblows, without any protest. He had

given up. After the

neighbours left,the house waseerily silent.Kamanna andGaviyappa didn’ttalk to eachother. No one atedinner. Kamannaslept on aplatform outside,and Gaviyappa

went to sleep some distance from him. A full moon was shining.

Gaviyappa quietly took out a knife andslit his father’s throat. The old manstuck out his tongue in agony. As helooked at his son, blows rained on hisarms, legs, and chest. Gaviyappastopped when he felt his hands goingweak, and was short of breath. Hisfather had been dead for a while.

His mother was inside, and hisneighbours were fast asleep. He washorrified by what he had done, anddidn’t know what to do. How to facehis mother and his neighbours becamea problem, and he lost his ability toreason. He started slashing himselfwith the same knife, and was soonbleeding profusely.

As he bled, he also gatheredcourage and started thinking of a wayto escape from the corner he hadpushed himself into. He startedscreaming hard so that the neighbourswould come running.

He told them, “They came andkilled my father… Paramappa andRamanaiah. I’m going to die too… lookat how they’ve slashed my neck… I’mnot going to survive.” He then fell tothe ground, unconscious.

The neighbours were convincedParamappa had killed Kamanna in arage, and wouldn’t believe a word ofwhat the brothers said. The policearrived, handcuffed them, and tookthem away.

I tried to understand how Devadashad deduced that Gaviyappa, who wasin the witness box, had killed hisfather. I didn’t find an answer. Themore I tried to understand Devadas’spowers of deduction, the moremysterious they became.

Translated by S R Ramakrishna


Many lawyers told methe case was tough. ButI was convinced my senior Devadaswould come outvictorious. How he’d doit I had no clue

sunk in debt 16talk|sample edition|talkmag.in

SHAMELESS:Already under fire

for endemic corruption, theBBMP’s fiscal

indiscipline nowthreatens the city

with bankruptcy

Ramesh Hunsur

As though pledging its buildings was-n’t bad enough, the BBMP is nowplanning to sell its properties inprime localities.

Speaking exclusively to Talk,BBMP special commissioner K RNiranjana said the proposal would beplaced before the municipal councilsoon.

The BBMP believes it can reviveits finances, now in the doldrums, byselling prime property. The municipalbody is in the red, in shameful con-trast with Hyderabad, whichpresented a surplus budget this year.

“We will earn revenue throughthe sale. First, we will get the saleamount and then earn property tax aswell,” he said.

The shops to be sold includethose in the Public Utility Building,Jayanagar Shopping Complex,Rajajinagar Shopping Complex, K RMarket and Johnson Market.

Civic analyst KathyayaniChamaraj believes this is a foolishidea. “Honestly, it’s like selling the

family silver,” she said.Others were harsher in their

criticism. “This is a fit case for aLokayukta inquiry,” said a RichmondRoad resident who wished to remainanonymous. “They are out to sell pre-cious property that belongs to thepeople of this city.”

If the BBMP is really desperateand sells away its property, the moneyshould be used for public welfare,Kahtyayini Chamaraj argues.

“They should not use it to paysalaries or meet their administrativeexpenses. They should invest themoney to create social infrastructure--- primary health centres, housing forthe urban poor, or day care centres forchildren,” she said.

Former mayor P RRamesh supports theBBMP’s idea of sellingthe shops. His only con-tention is that the shopsmust be auctioned andnot simply sold to theexisting lease holders.

“Every citizenshould have the right to participate inthis and only then should it be sold,”he said.

Former MLA and mayor KChandrashekar agrees with Ramesh.“With the BBMP having so muchdebt, it is a good idea to sell shops atmarket prices,” he said. Besides sellingthe shops, the BBMP is also planningto revise rents. It will now lease orrent out the shops at market rates and

seek a 5 to 10 per cent increase everyyear. Currently, the shops have beenrented out for a paltry Rs 100 or Rs200 a month. Some leaseholders havesub-leased the shops at market rates.

“Tenants should never get theright to sub lease property becausethey will continue earning money inlakhs while the BBMP will bear thelosses,” Kathyayini Chamaraj said.

Borrow meterLax in repaying its loans, the BBMPhas handed over the title deeds of the24-storey Public Utility Building andthe Jayanagar Shopping Complex tothe Housing and Urban DevelopmentCorporation (HUDCO) to take a loanof Rs 1,000-crore.

Simultaneously, acash-strapped BBMPhas decided to improveits revenue, ridiculously,by demanding a licencefee of Rs 250 from everydog owner, and anannual fee of betweenRs 3,000 and Rs 10,000

from every ornamental fish trader inBangalore.

The opposition Congress andJanata Dal have been quick todenounce the ruling BJP, and pointedout that the BBMP had borrowed Rs500 crore from HUDCO recently,after pledging K R Market, citing thesame financial crisis.

HUDCO is a public sector com-pany owned entirely by the

government of India. It financeshousing and urban infrastructureprojects, and provides long-termloans at low rates of interest.

Khandre Rao, public relationsofficer of the BBMP, says, “Takingloans from HUDCO is helpful. We get15 years to clear our dues, and the rateof interest is lower than at the nation-alised banks.”

The BBMP earns revenue fromproperty tax, optic fibre cable layingcharges, garbage cess, khata and bet-terment fees, and trade licences. Itgenerates around Rs 4,000 croreannually, whereas its expendituretouches Rs 9,000 crore. That’s a bal-ance sheet the authorities have noshame in defending. “Yes, we spendtwice as much as we earn. We spendon construction of roads and flyoversand on solid waste management,” Raosaid.

“Without debt, one can’t run anorganisation. Citizens’ expectationsare rising,” Niranjana said.

Benson Issac, a social activistand assistant professor at AzimPremji University, is not convinced.“It is crazy to pledge public properties.But what is worse is that ordinary cit-izens don’t benefit in any way,” hesaid. P R Ramesh, former mayor, saysthe BBMP has no vision for its offi-cials. “Last year was a big-spendingyear. In 2007, the BBMP’s jurisdictionwent up from 225 to 800 sq km. Withnot enough grants, we started takingloans,” said Niranjana.

An irresponsible BBMP is set tosell property in prime locations totenants who have sub-let theirshops in violation of the rules. Italso plans to legalise sub-leasing, reports Maria Laveena

Municipal folly

Shopkeepers like the idea

Twilight Handicrafts is located inthe BBMP Commercial Complexon Residency Road. The BBMPhad leased out the shop toMushtaq Ali to run ThrissurSurgicals. But Ali isn’t here anymore, nor is his surgical store.“He is in Kerala. I am the co-owner,” said Vishnu Das.That’s typical of many shops.When we asked Das if he wouldbe willing to buy the property, hesaid, “Yes.” He refused to revealhow much rent he pays.Mohammed Fayaz, manager ofRaymond Retail Shop in PublicUtility Building, said tenantswould be ready to buy shops.“The BBMP must sell it to theexisting lease holders andtenants. It won’t be fair if theyauction the shops, as most ofus have been running theseshops for a long time.Raymonds has been here for 40years,” he said.

BBMP'swonky budgetAnnual revenue:Rs 4,000 crAnnual spend:Rs 9,000 cr

RIDDHI MUKHERJEE

Even an ardentAndroid/Samsung fan wouldnot deny that the Apple iPadis a superior gizmo in almostevery aspect. And yet, the

Samsung Galaxy Tab series has per-formed better in the Indian market. Asignificant price difference might havebeen the primary reason, but theSamsung tablets are priced close to theirApple counterparts. Why then?

A report on the Indian tablet marketby CyberMedia Research, released lastyear, revealed that the market share ofApple iPads in India was considerablylow when compared to other markets.Samsung rules the roost here.CyberMedia studied the Indian marketbetween November 2010 and March 2011and found that 85,000 tablets were soldin this period. Samsung tablets com-manded the biggest share with 84.7 percent tablets sold. Olivepads had an unex-pected 8.2 per cent market share, whileApple came in third with just 5.9 per cent.

According to market intelligencefirm International Data Corporation

(IDC), 2.5 lakh tablets were sold in Indiain 2011, of which 70 per cent wereaccounted for by iPads, Samsung tabletsand Blackberry Playbooks. IDC furtherestimated that in 2012 tablet sales wouldgo up to 5 lakh units. Consulting firmDeloitte Touche Tohmatsu estimatedthat the total tablet PC sales in Indiawould go up from around 0.6 to 1 millionunits in end-2011 to 2 to 2.5 million unitsby March 2013. Clearly, these extremelydivergent figures indicate that the actualfigures lie somewhere in between.

The reasons for Apple laggingbehind other brands in India are mani-fold. To begin with, India was never apart of Steve Jobs’ plans for the brand.When the entire world was waiting forthe iPad 2 on January 28, 2011, Indianshad to be content with the first version.The number of units shipped was small, amarker of the company’s low expecta-tions from the Indian market.

But Apple didn’t seem bothered byits skewed market share vis-à-visSamsung. For, in April 2011, the companyshipped just 20,000 units for its Indialaunch of iPad 2, and they were sold outin 72 hours. In other words, Indian con-sumers were ready to pay for the rightproduct, even when the companythought otherwise. Even Nokia andBlackberry, which are losing marketshare in the saturated Western market,are gaining ground in India because theyhave formulated an effective countryplan.

The potential of the Indian market,in the tablet PC space, cannot be dis-counted. Adoption may have been slow

so far, but that has little to do with price.Infrastructural requirements like robust3G connectivity and Wi-Fi hotspots arenot met, and contribute to the lukewarmresponse to tablet PCs so far. Once theseissues are sorted, India is bound tobecome a hot market, and Apple serious-ly risks being left behind.

The other big weak spot for Apple isthe flood of Android-based mobilephones entering the market, givingAndroid OS-based Samsung tablets anedge. The higher percentage of free appsin the Android Marketplace (now part ofGoogle Play), in comparison to the AppleApp Store, is another reason Androiddevices will perform better in India.

But there are other rumbles in thetablet market that may work against notjust Apple, but the leader Samsung aswell. A slew of low-cost tablets havealready entered the market and it is just amatter of time before they start dentingthe share of their illustrious counter-parts.

The rave reviews received so far bythe latest entrant, Microsoft’s WindowsSurface tablet, promises to make thetablet space more interesting in the daysto come.

Microsoft’s Windows OS has beenthe leader in the Indian market in com-parison to Apple’s Mac systems, and theWindows 8 OS incorporated on theSurface tries to replicate the PC experi-ence on a tablet. This gives Microsoft aclear advantage in a market where PC-users are a majority. Overall though, it’sthe consumer who will have a field day inthe tablet ball park!

The demand for the iPad is high, butthe supply low. That and competingtechnologies are seriously dentingthe chances of Apple’s celebratedtablet in India

Big star, poor show18talk|sample edition|talkmag.inpad yatra

Micromax FunbookDisplay: 7 inchMemory: 4GBExpandable memoryup to 32GBWi-Fi + external 3GdonglePrice: Rs. 6,500

iBall Slide i7011Display: 7 inchMemory: 8GBinternal, expandableupto 32GBWi-Fi + external 3GdonglePrice - Rs. 13,400

Reliance 3G TabDisplay: 7 inchMemory:Expandable upto32GBWi-Fi + 3GPrice: Rs. 13,000

HCL ME Tablet X1Display: 7 inchMemory: 4GBinternal, expandableupto 32GBConnectivity - Wi-Fi+ external 3GdonglePrice: Rs. 10,990

Milagrow TabTopDisplay: 7 inchMemory: 8GBinternal, expandableupto 32GBWi-Fi + 3GPrice: Rs. 13,990

BlackberryPlaybook Wi-Fi,16GBDisplay: 7 inchMemory: 16GBinternalWi-FiPrice: Rs. 14,300

NOT TONIGHT:Bangalore stores

have a waitperiod of up to

15 days for theiriPad customers

Why so unserious?

Here’s what we found in the courseof a quick reality check: Reliance Digital iStore is among thepremier Apple resellers in India.Their M G Road store has in stockthe Wi-Fi only version of the newiPad (called iPad 3 by some) andnot the Wi-Fi + 3G version. TheirJayanagar store does not have evena single new iPad in stock and thewaiting period is four to five days.Both stores have the older iPad 2 instock. Imagine is the other majorApple reseller in India. Their storeat UB City has run out of the newiPad, and the waiting period for anyorder is seven days. The Imaginestore at Mantri Square only has theiPad 16 GB Wi-Fi version. For allother models, the wait period is 10-15 days.

Lots ofchoicefor thetablettaker

Edward Oakley Thorp, Americanpioneer in mathematics, was a pro-fessor all right, but he smartlydeployed his knowledge of proba-bility and statistics in the stock

market, discovering a number of pricing anom-alies in the securities markets. This was back inthe 1960s. By the turn of the century, he report-ed an annual 20 per cent return on all hispersonal investments. Thorp the academiceven became president of a hedge fund in hisname.

Thorp’s life is about opportunities in thefinancial world for mathematics students,researchers, and professors. Even by predictinga stock crash, you can make a personal fortune,all because your mathematics was right. Thenew stock market stars now are mathemati-cians, students and researchers who are makinga killing like Thorp, even if sometimes theydevise programs that cause crashes, like the onein 2010.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) hasjust opened its doors to this world of thisopportunity by launching a virtual mathemat-ics teaching and learning institute. TheIndo-US Virtual Institute for Mathematical andStatistical Sciences (VI-MSS) connects two USmathematical sciences institutes with severalmathematics and statistics institutes in India,including the IISc and Indian StatisticalInstitute in Bangalore.

Prof Govindan Rangarajan of IISc, who co-ordinates work from India in Bangalore, sayswhile collaboration in advanced areas like sto-chastics and probability and number theory willtake place, mathematics in finance is a potentialarea “we’re looking to work on”.

“The use of mathematics in financialapplications is one big incentive for students totake up mathematics research. This explainsthe rise in the numbers of financial mathemat-ics scholars,” he told Talk.

Stock exchanges, says Rangarajan, are thenew hotspots for mathematics students andresearchers. “As a mathematics scholar, you cando something as critical as designing stockoptions and futures, or the basic financialinstruments of the stock market. Their growthtrajectory in some sense is in your hands. Notsurprisingly, mathematicians are turning finan-cial designers.”

PREDICTING STOCKMaking predictions, understanding patterns inmarket behaviour, outlining investment

options for companies and individual investors,and anticipating stock movements are the otherinterventions mathematics scholars areinvolved in.

“Companies and stock exchanges look outfor math minds. In the old days, you wonderedwhat to do with statistical knowledge. Now it’sa question of how much you can make from it.There is a vast, profitable and secure world outthere for math aspirants, and stock markets are

the light houses from where you see thatworld,” says Rangarajan.

Business writer Richard Anderson of BBCNews sees this as a trend that takes away fromtraditional methods. He writes: “Investmentdecisions are no longer being made by finan-ciers, but increasingly by PhD mathematiciansand the immensely complex computer pro-grams they devise. Fundamental research andintuition are being usurped by algorithmic for-

mulae. Quant (quantitative) trading is takingover the world's financial capitals.”

According to Anderson, there has been aparadigm shift in the role of mathematicians,whose skill set, he writes, “is increasingly beingused to make money, not just to stop losing it.”

Math researchers help generate millionsplaying a key role in high-frequency trading(HFT), devising quantitative trading programsthat monitor market movements, trading pat-terns and news flows, and change strategieswithin a second.

Says Anderson: “A recent government-backed study in the UK estimated that betweena third and a half of all share trading in Europe,and more than two-thirds in the US, was HFT.It drives almost everything that goes on on WallStreet.” This simply underscores the enormousfinancial width of a math career.

SCEPTICISMStatistical physicist H Eugene Stanley of BostonUniversity, a proponent of applying approachesand concepts of physics to economics, in arecent interview in Scientific American saysmath scholars can do a great deal in under-standing risk even if they can’t help beat themarket.

“Science is about empirical fact. There isno question that optimistic people think theycan beat the market, but they don't do it consis-tently with mathematical models. No modelcan consistently predict the future. It can't pos-sibly be,” he told his interviewer.

“What you can do is predict the risk of agiven event. The risk just means the chance thatsomething bad will happen, for example. Thatyou can do with increasing accuracy because wehave more and more data. It's like insurancecompanies: they cannot tell you when you aregoing to die, but they can predict the risk thatyou will die, given the right information. Youcan do the same thing with stocks. If you loseless, you get ahead of those who lose more,” heexplained.

Stanley also explains why economists and

quants (those who use quantitative analysis tomake financial trades) have immense faith inmathematical models: “If you’re worried, forexample, about the segment of the Chineseeconomy that deals with steel, you make amodel of what that whole market is all aboutand then you see if we did this what would like-ly happen. They’re right some of the time. It’sbetter than nothing. But when they have exces-sive faith in these models, it’s not justified.Math starts with assumptions; the real worlddoes not work that way….”

Stanley says algorithm-based trading pro-grams caused certain fluctuations, like the“flash crash” in 2010 when the Dow JonesIndustrial Index momentarily dropped roughly1,000 points in minutes. “There is no questionthat a huge percentage of trades are done elec-tronically by algorithms. Of course, the flashcrash was triggered by that. But we had prob-lems before (algorithm-based tradingprograms). We’ve had lots of crashes.”

SKY-HIGH SALARIESDespite the scepticism, young math PhDsworking for top companies like Morgan Stanley,Standard and Chartered and Mc Kinsey in theUS earn a whopping 200,000 to 250,000 dol-lars a year.

They devise models of invest-ment and analyse existing trades andstocks to guide critical investmentdecisions. In India, says Rangarajan,math analysts in financial and stockbroking firms are paid wayabove what even

tech pros are – the new Gods of work.Beginning with Rs 25 lakh a year, salaries cancross a crore, depending on experience and thestrategic importance of the work. Most PhDswork as strategic analysts within companies oras consultants who double up as faculty inrenowned universities. The ones who go abroadearn more.

The old perception that mathematics andstatistics can’t get you anywhere is dead. As longas these experts don’t make the mistake thatUS-based financial strategist Rajat Gupta did(leaking information from a board room meet-ing to a hedge fund manager), there are millionsto be made legitimately on the stock market. All

that’s needed is the expertise toread between the mathemati-

cal lines.

21talk|sample edition|talkmag.inmathemagicians

In the US, mathematicians becomingfinancial analysts is a big trend. The salaries

of math analysts range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs10 lakh a month.

S BalakrishnaMember, Bangalore Stock Exchange

WHAT AFTER PhD IN MATHEMATICALFINANCE?

Quantitative trader at the stock marketFinance analyst at a bankInvestment analyst in an investment firmDesign stocks and futures in stock-broking firmsPricing analyst

COMPANIES THAT HIRE MATH PhDsGoldman Sachs, Mckinsey and Co,Standard and Chartered, J P Morgan andalmost all financial and investment firmsand banks.

MONTHLY SALARIES AFTER MATH PhDFrom Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh in India, andRs 4 lakh to Rs 1.2 crore in the US

WHERE YOU CAN DO A MATH PhDIISc, IITs, IIMs, NITs and RECs, andHarvard, Wharton, Oxford and manyuniversities abroad.

THE NUMBERS

Math PhDs enrolled in BU: 50Math PhDs at IISc: 45Math PhDs passing out of IISc: 6

Most students getting into stocks andshares with math finance backgroundcome from IIT Kanpur, IIT Guwahati, IITMumbai, IIM Kolkata, IIM-Bangalore, andIIM-Ahmedabad.

*ManmohanSingh tellscaptains ofindustry toinvoke theIndianeconomy’s‘animal spirit’.:) Our primeministerknows somuch aboutthe shermarket, no?

Using an array of equations and computerprograms, mathematics PhDs are the new mastersof the investment universe. Some earn as much as

Rs 1.2 crore a month, even if the algorithms theydevise sometimes cause severe market crashes.

A report by Prashanth G N

Triumphof the nerds

Each day is different. My jobis always interesting. It is very

exciting to see how budgetsand government policy affect

the job I do

SaharAssociate (finance), Morgan

Stanley, London

I majored in economics,accounting, statistics, and

econometrics. During mysummer vacations, I pursuedvarious internships. Banking

and finance interested me themost. When Goldman Sachs

came for campus recruitment,I knew this was where I wanted

to be. We act as agents ofgrowth, and this helps me

sleep well at night.

IshanAssociate, investment manage-ment division, Goldman Sachs

I work on modelling credit riskin a regime switching market,

and develop a procedure forestimating the unobservable

assets of a firm in such amarket

Tamal BanerjeeMathematical finance PhD

student, IISc

Financial derivatives were introduced inIndian markets in 2000. However, according

to the Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch, Mumbai, India currently lacks a

critical mass of researchers andpractitioners adept at further developing

and implementing sophisticated ideasin mathematical finance.

AyyoRama!

MATH PATH: (Top right) Mathematical finance pioneer Edward Oakley Thorp later became the presidentof a hedge fund in his name. The Indian Institute of Science (below) is the hub of the discipline in India.

AbrahamLincoln:Vampire HunterBased on SethGrahame-Smith’s novelof the same name, themovie promises to be anamalgamation of action, horror,

fantasy and history.The story revolvesaround former USPresident AbrahamLincoln, who sup-posedly has asecret identity as avampire hunter. In

the movie, Lincoln’s mother is killed bya supernatural creature, which triggershis passion to crush vampires andtheir helpers. The movie shot in 3-D ispacked with gory scenes. Strictly forthose who enjoy stuff like torn limbsand splattered blood.Releases on:July 13.

Ice Age 4: Continental DriftThe rollercoaster ride continues! All thefavourite characters from the three earlier installments will reprise theirroles for this one. Directed by SteveMartino and Michael Thurmeier, thestory of this animated film takes placea few years after the events of Dawn of

the Dinosaurs. Scrat'spursuit of the acornhas world-changingconsequences, forcingManny, Sid and Diegoon an adventure,where Sid reunites

with his long lost family, Diego finds hislove interest, Shira.Releases on:July 13

The Dark Knight RisesThe last and final installment in theBatman trilogy. Directed byChristopher Nolan, the story is set 80years after the events of The DarkKnight. Batman returns to GothamCity and encounters the mysteriousSelina Kyle and villainous Bane, fromwhom he, well, must... save... the city.The film is shot in various locationsincluding Jodhpur. Fans are wonder-ing if Batman will be killed in themovie, if this has to be the last in the

series. Pundits how-ever doubt if thefilmmakers will let alucrative franchiselike Batman die.Releases on:July 20

CocktailWatch out for this

romantic comedy,shot in London and

directed by HomiAdajania of Being Cyrus

fame, and produced under SaifAli Khan’s banner Illuminati Films.

Initially it was decided that ImranKhan and Deepika Padukone would

play the lead pair,but Saif replacedImran. It will alsobe model DianaPenty’s film debut.The music hasalready createdwaves, and the

trailer on YouTube launched on May21 crossed one million hits in justthree days.Releases on:July 13

Kya Super Kool Hai HumThis romantic comedy directed bySachin Yardi is a sequel to the 2005hit Kyaa Kool Hai Hum. Produced byEkta and Shobha Kapoor, the film

has Tusshar Kapoorand RiteshDeshmukh in thelead roles. Thestory is about theirjourney to Goa insearch of love and

the mayhem that follows. The moviehas a spoof of a scene in Dostana,with Tusshar Kapoor imitating JohnAbraham’s dare bare act. However,critics have given a thumbs down toTusshar’s butt, saying that he cannotmatch John’s. The film’s rights arealready sold for Rs 21. 6 Crore.Releases on: July 27

ShivaThis Shivaraj Kumarfilm is about childbeggars and childlabour. Undoubtedly,Shivanna will fightthe baddies and rescue the children.Director Om Prakash

Rao and Shivaraj Kumar have cometogether after a decade. Their lastmovie AK 47 was a blockbuster hit.Ragini Dwivedi plays Shiva’s loveinterest. Will Shivanna’s Shiva be assuccessful as kid brother Puneet’sAnna Bond is the question on everyone's mind.Releases on:July 27


MOVIE RELEASES


Girl who loves mud pieA

mong the handful ofBangaloreans who willhead for the LondonOlympics is AshwiniPonnappa. Kodavas are

renowned for being a nursery ofhockey talent, but in Ashwini theyhave produced a gem of a badmintonplayer. Ashwini has partnered theHyderabadi shuttler Jwala Gutta overthe last three years with remarkablesuccess, and the two are seen as adangerous pair the world over.Ashwini’s story underlines the impor-tance we should give to simplesporting infrastructure.

Ashwini started playing bad-minton at the Department of YouthServices and Sports courts onNrupathunga Road. Spotted early onby the Prakash Padukone Academy,she was seen as a prospective singlesplayer, but she had a promising part-nership with another Academytrainee, Nitya Sosale, and the twobecame national junior champions.Ashwini was a natural athlete andhad so impressed V R Beedu, thewise athletics coach associated

with the PadukoneAcademy, that hedeclared he wouldmake her a national-level athlete if shewould give up bad-

minton.The women’s

doubles at the sen-ior level was

dominatedby JwalaGutta and

fellow-Hyderabadi

Shruti Kurien,but the pair

enjoyed limitedsuccess at the inter-

national level. TheJwala-Shruti andAshwini-Nitya pairswould have both faded into oblivionhad not Jwala and Shruti quarreled;Jwala started to look for a new part-

ner, and Ashwini seemed to fitthe bill. It was a fortuitous moment

for Indian badminton. Doubles part-nerships are like locks and keys.While Jwala is a brilliant forecourtplayer – meaning she patrols the neteffectively – Ashwini complementsher from the back.

The Kodava girl is a superb ath-lete and one of the hardest hittersin the international circuit. Howsuch a petite girl can hit the shuttle

so hard is a matter of mystery, butAshwini is generally regarded to havebenefitted from the sporting genes ofher family. Her father – in the tradi-tion of the Kodavas — was a goodhockey player, and Ashwini has inher-ited athleticism and strength fromher martial forefathers.

The Jwala-Ashwini combine shotto national fame when they won theCommonwealth Games gold medal infront of a rapturous crowd at Siri FortStadium in Delhi. That was when shefirst shot to fame nationally, andbegan to grace the front pages of mag-azines. The two went on to win abronze at the World Championshipsin 2011. Today, to think of an Indianbadminton team without AshwiniPonnappa is inconceivable; she iswith Jwala one of the country’s topsportswomen.

How would it be had YMCA onNrupathunga Road not had bad-minton courts? Would Ashwini havetaken to the game and done suchremarkable service for the country?Are we then sure that there are nomore Ashwinis in the cities and the

countryside waitingto be discovered?Why must we leave itall to chance?

Bangalore as asporting centre hasdiminished in recentyears, thanks to thecity planners’ indif-ference to sportinginfrastructure. Therewere times whenOlympic-boundteams would camp atthe Sports Authorityof India’s SouthernCentre, locatedbeside BangaloreUniversity. But today,as more cities aroundthe country developinfrastructure,

Bangalore appears almost backwardin comparison. It has been long sincean event of international importancewas hosted in Karnataka’s capital, andthat should be a matter of concern,for it indicates that the enterprise andfree spirit and demonstration ofhuman excellence in internationalsport is denied to Bangalore citizens.

One of the hallmarks of a greatcity is the quality of the artists, scien-tists and sportsmen it breeds.Sportsmen need quality sports infra-structure; which does not mean astadium worth a million dollars – but

rather, grounds all around the city, eachwith a running track, changing roomsand good toilets. Without functionaltoilets, how would a girl be encouragedto take up sport?

Not to forget choco fudgeAshwini Ponnappa was raised inBangalore and moved toHyderabad, where her father, aReserve Bank officer, is now post-ed. Her heart lies in Bangalore andshe hopes to come back to this cityafter the Oylmpics. She studied PUCat Mount Carmel College,Bangalore, before graduating incommerce from St Mary’s College,Hyderabad.When she is in town, she gorges onhot chocolate fudge at CornerHouse and Mississippi mud pie atShezan.A fan of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilightseries, she can read her romancenovels over and over again. Butshe refrains from watching moviesbased on Meyer’s books: she feelsthe characters on screen and nothalf as good as in the novels.Ashwini loves dressing up andavoids being photographed whenshe isn't wearing eyeliner. She lovesto shop for stylish, colourfulfootwear.

Ashwini and JwalaTheir team ranks No 17

in the world.In 2011, they became

the first Indian pair to wina medal at the WorldBadmintonChampionships Heavy medal

2011: Bronze, World BadmintonChampionships (Women’s Doubles)2010: Gold, Commonwealth Games(Women’s Doubles)2010: Silver, CommonwealthGames (Mixed Team Event)2010: Gold, South Asian Games(Mixed Doubles)2009: Won National BadmintonChampionships (Women’s Doubles)2006: Gold, South Asian Games

Ashwini Ponnappa, the badminton champ representingIndia at the Olympics, was nurtured on government-run tennis courts at NrupathungaRoad. Her feat stands out in a citythat’s now promoting spectaclemore than sport, writesDev S Sukumar

BORN GRACE: A wise coach

once declared hewould

make Ashwinia national-level

athlete if only shewould give up

badminton

london calling

According to LizzieCollingham in her book,Curry of Cooks andConquerors, when theBritish took up residence

in the Madras Presidency and askedtheir cooks (who were locals) to rustleup a soup for starters, this is whathappened. Since the concept of soup isan alien one to Indian cuisine andnecessity is the Amma of Invention,the clever ‘Madrassis’ took rasam,tweaked it around by adding rice,vegetables and meat and served it –probably a little nervously - to theirBritish…dare I say “masters”? Theresult was such a hit that very soon, no“Anglo-Indian” dinner party or ball wasconsidered complete if “very hotmullagatani soup” was not on themenu. And the by then “MadrassiBritish” quaffed it in such largequantities that they earned thenickname “Mulls”!

So, while South Indians will sneerat this question, it is one that begs tobe asked.

Not ‘South Indian soup’ Well, the most common descriptionthat I have come across is “a SouthIndian soup.” Which is tantamount tosaying that Lata Mangeshkar is asinger.

Because there are rasams and thereare rasams. So many of them that youcould say that “rasam” is actually aentire continent, populated withthousands of rasam gotrams. Some areminimalists – just water, delicately butfabulously infused with the souls of afew, select spices and a souring agent.(The term “mullagatani’ or“mulligatawny” is a corruption of theTamil “milugai tanni”, meaning pepperwater.) Other are more complex androbust, made by boiling a dal, thenflavouring and seasoning it in allmanner of ways. Some areflamboyantly fiery, others more subtleand sly in their sting. Most rasams aretart, but a few are sweet-and-sour, the

most famous example being “obattusaaru” (or “holige saaru”) in Karnataka,a by-product of “obattus” orpuranpolis! Some are made in a matterof minutes, others choose to slowlysimmer and seethe for hours beforethey are ready. And some are not evencalled rasam. For example, inKarnataka, the term used is ‘saaru’, inAndhra Pradesh it is ‘chaaru’ and evenin Tamil Nadu where the term “rasam”is supposed to have originated, thereare variants like “sathamudhu” and“pulichaar”.

So, what is rasam?Perhaps the answer is in the etymologyof the word “rasam”. It is derived fromthe Tamil ‘irasam’ and the Sanskrit“rasa” both of which mean ‘essence’ or‘extract’. And so, if one were to look foran inclusive description, this isbasically what rasam is. A set ofingredients cooked together so thatthey give up their signature flavours tomingle and marry into a fabulouslyredolent, delicious…well, what shouldbe called a symphony but I’ll settle forthe more mundane ‘soup’.

Naturally, the next question is -what are those ingredients?

Ah. It is one almost as difficult toanswer as “what is rasam?”. Because

the crafty rasam cook can extract arasam from almost anything. Dals ofevery kind. (Though tuvar dal is themost commonly used.) Tomato.Tamarind. Pineapple. Ginger. Kokum.Lime. Citron. Curry Leaves. Garlic.Even kanji - the excess waterremaining after rice has been cooked –is cleverly seasoned to become a rasamthat you will find in the Udupi regionof Karnataka. There is also a rasam

made out of neem flowers - vepampoorasam, prepared especially during theTamil New Year, when the neem treesare in full bloom. In fact, I’d like tothink that the first rasam was thebrainwave of a desperate cook forcedto feed unexpected guests with a larderthat was almost bare and I amreminded of that story of the man whomade soup out of stones. So, whoknows? Maybe there is a rasam that isindeed made out of stones!

But stone or water, no rasam ispossible without the presence of itsstar performers – spices. The array isimpressive and one that reaffirms theSouth Indian cook’s reputation ofbeing a master (or should that bemistress?!) of spices. Red dried chillies,black pepper, coriander, cumin, methiand mustard seeds, asafoetida - toname the more popular ones. Someroasted, often with dals; some broiledin a little oil. Sometimes ground intopaste, but more often than notcombined in hundreds ofpermutations and combinations andthen powdered to become thosemaddeningly aromatic, jealouslyguarded secrets called “rasam powder”that are passed on from one generationto another and considered almost asprecious as the family jewels!

TABULARASAM:

The origin ofthe word

‘rasam’ can betraced to

Sanskrit andTamil

saarurasammulligatawnypulichaarsathamudhuchaar

Ratna’s KitchenWriter, director and photographer,Ratna Rajaiah is best known for herfascinating insights into theevolution of our cuisine. Author ofthe popular book How the BananaGoes To Heaven and Other Secretsof Health from the Indian Kitchen,she is partial to traditional foods,especially those from the South ofIndia.


Saaru, sathumadam or chaar?Or is it the tony ‘mulligatawny’that we have in mind? Turns outthe rasam isn’t such a simpleaffair after all

The spicy rasam storyRamesh Hunsur

Savie Karnel

Not a single member of the approximately onelakh people who came for Ambarish’s 60thbirthday bash at Palace Grounds on 29 May hadbeen paid to come. This was no political circus.The fans came in lorries and tractors, besides in

buses and cars, and with no other objective but to see this manwith blood-shot eyes, hardly the sort your mother would tellyou to emulate. Ambarish is an unusual icon.

Star of over 200 films, mostly Kannada, Ambarish hasnever been known for his gravitas. He isn’t a Rajkumar, whorose from humble origins to become a superstar. If Rajkumarwas known for his simple ways, his love of music, and his prac-tice of yoga, Ambarish was always the drunk, gambling,gallivanting movie star.

Ambarish’s family has produced one of Karnataka’s great-est musicians in whose name Bangalore houses aviolin-shaped auditorium. Chowdaiah, the Carnatic maestro,is Ambarish’s grandfather’s brother. When Ambarish was achild, some of India's greatest classical musicians visited hishouse in Mysore. Chowdaiah would sometimes tell him to

play the shruti box, all through the night, as M SSubbulakshmi, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar andM L Vasantha Kumari explored complex ragas.

“Don’t become a musician. You’ll ruin my name,”Chowdaiah would tell Ambarish, knowing his

erratic ways. When producer ShankarSingh recommended Ambarish for arole in Puttanna Kanagal’s filmNaagarahaavu (1972), the Mysore boy

was too lazy to meet the director.His role of Jaleel, the ruffian who

harasses the heroine with his lovetalk, won him a quick following.Naagarahaavu became a superduper hit, and its hero

Vishnuvardhan went on tobecome an icon, too, but

Ambarish’s image as a bad guy tooksome time to change.

In Devara Kannu, Ambarishplayed the villain who rapes theheroine. His father, a schoolteacher, saw the film, and cursedhim. “He wouldn’t believe it was just

an act,” recalls Ambarish. On anoth-

er occasion, when he sawAmbarish smoking, he slip-pered him.

Yet, Ambarish’s honestydisarms everyone. “I used to lieto Puttanna Kanagal when I wentlate to the sets,” he told Janasri chan-nel recently. “Lies, all lies”. Hisgodfather Puttana would reprimandhim, “Who made you a hero?” To whichAmbarish would say, “Who else but you, sir!”

It is this lack of pretence that makes him friends withmovie stars across industries. Shatrughan Sinha, JackieShroff, Rajinikant, Suniel Shetty, Jayaprada, Khushboo,Chiranjeevi, and Balakrishna were among the industry col-leagues who came to the Palace Grounds bash. Ambarish isa member of the Congress party. He had contested theMandya Lok Sabha constituency, and his rival happenedto be Cheluvaraya Swamy of the JD(S). Ambarish wouldcall him up and say, “Send me some cash, Cheluva. I needit for the elections.” And his admirer-rival would gladlyoblige!

Ambarish did pretty little when he was made theunion minister of information and broadcasting. He isfamous as a minister who never attended office fortwo years. He had resigned, saying the centre hadbeen unfair to Karnataka in the Cauvery water dis-pute, but he had handed his papers to his partyleaders, and not to the speaker.

Not one to be bothered by the public cause,Ambarish has yet remained a respected voice inthe Kannada film industry. After the death ofRajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, the industrylooks upon him as its statesman, and respectshis verdict whenever internal disputes threat-en to go out of control. Married to thebeautiful Telugu actress Sumalata,Ambarish says he wouldn’t be as heartbro-ken if she left him as he would be if hiscook did. “He makes all kinds of snacks allthrough the night, when my friends and Isit drinking and playing cards,” he says.“What would I do without him?”

Ambarish’s role as god Yama inKatariveera Surasundarangi(Swordsman and the IntoxicatingBeauty) is a hit. At 60, he has littleinterest in acting, but no one’s in amood to let him retire. The filmindustry, for one, wants him to medi-ate in its disputes. The Congress hasjust made him vice-president of thestate working committee, but there’salso talk that the BJP’s attempting tolure him to its camp.

Mr Devil-May-Care at 60

AMBI PURE:Ambarish as

Yama, God ofDeath, in arecent film

(right), and ashimself

Carefree punter, all-night boozer, centralminister who never attended office, moviestar who gives away half his earnings tofans, Ambarish is an icon like few others

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Iwas interested in what Prakash’scelebrity status had done to hisfamily. Deepika, his eldestdaughter, is today one of India’smost popular film stars. In the

late 1990s, when I was working on hisbiography, she was all over the place:newspapers, magazines… in fact, therewas a huge billboard of her advertisingjewellery, on the way from his house tothe badminton academy, and Prakashhad to pass by it every day…

As Deepika began to get famous, shewas always referred to as “badmintonace Prakash Padukone’s daughter”. Thatsort of thing was inevitable, but it wasalso ironical, because Prakash hadalmost no role in making her a model.He had little clue about the fashionindustry, and he wasn’t the sort whowould have dictated what professionshe would choose.

It was Ujjala who paid attention toDeepika’s earliest inclinations. Thelittle girl, just seven, once told her sheliked modelling, so Ujjala took her forramp shows and dance classes, andlater, for portfolio shoots. Deepika dida couple of campaigns but stopped inhigh school to concentrate on studies.

As a schoolgirl, Deepika took tobadminton, but it was evident from thestart that the pressure would beenormous. Everyone looked at her forsigns of champion material—in acountry which had gone intobadminton decline, perhaps the onlyhope was a champion’s offspring.

“There was no pressure from myparents; more from people aroundme,” Deepika said. “They expected meto be as good as him. The pressuredidn’t really affect me because I knewI’d get back to modelling.”

Deepika seemed to have reasonablebadminton talent, but she was upagainst some formidable odds. Yearsafter having heard various expertopinions on her husband’s game fromonlookers, Ujjala now had to endurethe same thing about her daughter.Parents of other children would besitting by, and they consoledthemselves that Deepika just didn’tseem to have the talent that her fatherwas famous for.

They’d say, look, her father is thegreat Prakash, but Deepika’s too lazy.She’s got everything going for her butshe’s not making use of it. Now if onlywe had the same facilities… That’swhen Ujjala decided to stop going forher daughter’s matches. She’d drop herat the venue, leave, and pick her uplater. And when she did that, therewere parents who said: see, her parentsare so busy, they’re not involved withtheir child, they never take them totournaments …

Finally, one day Deepika came upto her dad and told him she wasthrough with badminton; she was

interested in modelling and wanted totake it seriously.

She had as spectacular a start to hermodelling career as her father did wayback in 1972. Of course she wasconstantly compared to him, “which isunfair, because they’re two differentfields, and my mom has played a biggerrole in my career.”

Prakash’s second daughter Anishaloves all sports except racket sports. Shetrained for a while with her father, butlost in her first match at a juniortournament, and didn’t touch the racketthereafter. “I retired after 20 years ofplaying,” Prakash joked to her, “And youon your debut.” Anisha represented thejunior national cricket team, butdecided to concentrate on golf.

Harish, Prakash’s youngest brother,perhaps summed it up for everyone

when he told me, “Celebrity is adouble-edged sword. We grew up inPrakash’s shadow. And then youwonder what your identity is. Peopleare nice to you… but you wonder if it’sbecause of him that they’re so nice, andwhether you deserve it, and you feeldishonest about accepting thatattention.”

Dev S Sukumar’s book, Touch Play:The Prakash Padukone Story, will

soon be reprinted by Niyogi.

What’s it like to grow up as a celebritychild? A look at the dilemmas of a girl whogrew up in the shadow of her father, thebadminton legend Prakash, through the eyesof his biographer Dev S Sukumar

NO RACKETSCIENCE:

Anisha,Prakash, Deepikaand Ujjala. Right:Deepika tried her

hand at badminton,but was always

unfairly comparedto her illustrious

father


Deepika, thePadukone

fame game

Fotocorp


Dear AjjiI’m a single mother, very proud that I work hardand bring up my daughter all by myself. Mywomen colleagues are considerate. I'm anoutsider in this city, but feel safe enough to takemy daughter to IPL matches, all by myself. Butthe problem is with the men. While they areextremely polite with me, they always seem to bein a hurry to get away, whether at work or atsocial occasions. Is there something aboutmotherhood that puts men off? RRhheeaa,, KKoorraammaannggaallaa

DDeeaarr RRhheeaa, Indian men are, by and large, respectful ofmothers, their own, or others'. So sunny side up:You are safe from unwanted attention. What areyou looking for? A man to date? A man to marry?A man on whose shoulders you can cry? Peoplethese days find both love and...er... intimacyonline. Just pointing in that direction, not sayingthat's the only place.

Problems? Let no-nonsense Ajji sort them out.Write to: [email protected]

Agony AjjiThe andacame firstMaa: Kaaiko rora?(Mother: Why are youcrying?)Beta: Teacher maarimereko.(Son: Teacher beat me.)Maa: Kaaiko maarikameeni?(Mother: Why did thewretched woman beatyou?)Beta: Main usku murghibola. (Son: I called theteacher a chicken.)Maa: Kaaiko aisa bola rey

kambakhat?(Mother: Idiot,

why did you callher that?)Beta: Kaaiko boleto? Harexam main anda deri namereko! (Son: Why? She’sbeen giving me an egg(zero) in every exam!)

Posted on Facebook bywell-known tabla-player

Gaurang Kodical

Kambakht diskIt happened to me someyears ago, when CDs werecalled disks. I work in a

government office and theoffice boys have difficultyin pronouncing Englishwords. I wanted my officeboy to fetch a CD from mycolleague. So I told him,“Saab se disk le aane."(Get the disk from Saab).He went and said, “Saabne dicks maanga hai.”(Saab has asked fordicks).

Dig that!I do not like men with longnails. This is not permittedin my organisation. One ofthe boys had grown the

nail on his little finger. Itwas almost an inch long.So, I asked him, “Naakhunkyu badhaya hai?” (Whyhave you grown yournail?). He replied, “Naakkhodne ke liye.” (To dig mynose).

S Srivastava,Koramangala

Share the humour in your life, multiply the fun! Keep those anecdotes coming to: [email protected]

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Across

1 Karnataka's first ChiefMinister (1,1,5)

3 Bangalore’s famed botanicalgardens (7)7 Recently appointed CM ofKarnataka (7)

8 Tourist destination which used tobe the capital of the Vijayanagar Empire(5)10 Official language of Karnataka (7)11 See 2414 V H ____: Minister in charge ofPrimary and Secondary Education inthe Karnataka cabinet (6)16 Bangalore based tennis playerwho will represent India at the 2012Olympics (7)19 Ac & 1 Dn: Our High Court is alsoknown by this name (6,7)21 Where three rivers meet inKarnataka (7)23 Bruhat Bengaluru MahanagaraPalike in short (4)24 & 11 Across: Magadi chieftain whofounded Bangalore (5,5)25 National park home to manytigers and elephants (9)

Down

1 See 19 Across2 Home & Transport minister in theKarnataka Cabinet (1,5)4 Our ruling party (3)5 20 Down's father (5,3)6 Probably one of the best crick-

eters ever from Karnataka (6)9 22 acre park between M.G Roadand Cubbon Road (8)12 A steamed dosa (5)13 City art gallery which has around600 paintings (10)15 ___ City: Bangalore of course (6)16 No rickshaws allowed on this road(7)17 The State Archaeological ____ islocated in Cubbon Park (6)18 Park spanning 300 acres in theCantonment Area (6)20 You will find the remnants of hisfort in the City Market area (4)22 One of Bangalore's oldest temples(4)

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

Who said that megapixelsdo not matter? Whoever itwas, turns out was right, forthe gigapixel era is here. Ateam of engineers at DukeUniversity in NorthCarolina have developed acamera – dubbed AWARE2– which can potentially takepictures with resolutions ofup to 50 gigapixels or50,000 megapixels. This is

achieved by synchronising98 tiny cameras in a singledevice. Team lead DavidBrady says that with miniaturisation of electronic components,hand-held gigapixel cameras will follow.Currently it can take one-gigapixel images at up tothree frames per minute.Say cheese to that!

Going giga

Facebook may have got themarkets and advertisers allexcited, but this MBAbride-seeker from TamilNadu is clearly notimpressed. As he casts hiseye around for a wife, hehas set down that sheshouldn’t be a Facebookuser. He must have readthe report that one in threemarriages breaks downtoday because of Facebook liaisons.

No Facebook, please

Having a tough time makingsense of postmodernism?Resent the invasion of highflown theory into literatureclasses, media studies andeverything else in Humanities?Here's your chance to get back atthe theory-nuts. Create your own post-modernist essay using thePostmodernism Generator. Itallows you to sound just likeyour cooler-than-thou professors, if not better – andcomplete with references fromDeleuze and Guattari! (Thosewho don’t get a word of this cantake heart, you’re not missinganything).Written by Andrew C Bulhak, it’sa (www.elsewhere.org/pomo) aweb program that allows you tocreate such exquisite nonsensesuch as this: ‘If Foucaultistpower relations holds, we haveto choose between dialecticdeappropriation and post-constructivist textual theory.’(From an essay titled: Dialectic deappropriation and

socialist realism)Still don’t like it? Foucalt, we say!

Chumbak challoChumbak (‘magnet’in Hindi) makeseverything fromflip-flops to fridgemagnets. Clever andquirky, they areinspired by a thoroughly desi popsensibility.Available at selectstores and atwww.chumbak.com

36

Postmodernism Generator

talk|sample edition|talkmag.in

What Antilia really means Antilia is where business badshah MukeshAmbani lives. His associates call it the TajMahal of the 21st century, but not everyoneshares that sentiment, as you can see from thet-shirt here. This cheeky attire by Wear YourOpinion (www.wyo.in) was inspired by aHemant Morparia cartoon. It gives you a not-so-subtle idea about how the 27-storeybuilding might look if you placed it horizontally on the ground.

OOvveerrhheeaarrdd:: Building the

world’s mostexpensivehome: Rs4,000crore.

Paying forMumbai’s

most expensivereal estate: Rs50,000 a sq feet. Being unable tomove in for a yearbecause of vaastutrouble: priceless!

For iPhone users,here’s something todrool over. Twig is thelatest offering showcased onKickstarter (www.kickstarter.com)which describes itselfas ‘the world's largestfunding platform forcreative projects’. Theprototype, which madegadget website CNetwonder if it was themost innovativeiPhone docking cableever. Its ‘bendablelegs’ can transformit into a tripod for yourphone. Price: about Rs 1,000.

Hugh MacLeod is a cartoonist famous for the ‘minimalist’ doodles he creates on the back of business cards. In a recent blog post he writesabout ‘mastery’ as a model of success that doesn’tinvolve selling one’s soul. One of his role models isJiro, a 75-year-old sushi master who runs a dingy,tiny sushi bar in Tokyo, the world’s first sushi chefto win three Michelin stars. The Savile Row tailorsof London, famed for making the world’s best suits,also pride themselves on their work. Their secret is‘mastery’ – they havemastered a craft. Someof the world’s richestqueue up at their outlets– and in Jiros’ case quiteliterally – eat out of theirhands. Don’t worry aboutsuccess, says MacLeod;worry about mastery.

So, that explains theworse-than-usualtraffic jams onKanakpura Road.Apparently, our muchloved neighbour VeenaMalik is shooting for aKannada film at a location thereabouts.The buzz is that thebimbette is drawingcrowds from as faras Kollegal and evenbeyond the ghats. Onlyfair, since she’s comeall the way fromPakistan. She toldreporters she liked thescript of the Kannadaremake of DirtyPicture, and hadcome downto displayher histrionics.

(Note:Histrionicsisn't abrand ofknickers).

Love thy neighbour

Master of one

Twigs with legs

Rs 5.5 lakh for a pair ofsneakers? Not so Yeezy

Tata MegaPixel

A jolt of a carFor those who want an eco-friendly car, but aren’t toohappy with the looks of Reva,the MegaPixel might be theanswer. This hybrid car from TataMotors runs on battery and petrol.A single tank takes you 900 km, andthat’s a lot. You just park over an induction padto charge the car. Shown at the Geneva autofair earlier this year, the MegaPixelmight steal the thunderfrom Reva, whichcosts Rs 5 lakh,and ChevvyVolt (right),which costsRs 35 lakh.

No kidding, that's howmuch Nike's latest offering, the limited-edition Air Yeezy IIdesigned by rapperKanye West, is sellingonline for. A pre-orderedpair of the soon-to-be-released sneakers wassold on the auction site

eBay for an astounding$90,300 recently. But alittle birdie tells us thatthe outrageous bid is apublicity gimmick, possibly engineered bythe rapper himself. Afterall, who would pay that ofmoney for shoes mouldedon someone else's feet?

Jiro

Banned Book MugAdd some extra stimulation toyour morning cuppa with thisBanned Book Mug, displayingin bold the titles of theworld's most famous bannedbooks, from Galileo’s Dialogoto Rushdie’s Satanic Verses.

Dali WatchOr watch Dali, as his trade-mark moustache twirls itselfaround his face in pursuit ofan ant that, wait a minute,actually tells the time. A creation worthy of theSurrealist master himself.

Freudian SlippersWe’ve all had our share ofFreudian slips, now getsome Freudian slippers.What better way to spend alazy Sunday morning thanlounging around in slippersmore comfortable than HerrFreud’s famous couch.

More at: www.philosophersguild.comQuirky and cool: Gift ideas from The Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild


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THE ANGRY ADVENTURES OF YEDDYMAN

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