WEEKLY MAGAZINE, JUNE 23, 2013Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

VIR SANGHVIRude Travel: New York diary

SEEMA GOSWAMINotes to my younger self

RAJIV MAKHNIYou cannot ignore Apple’s iOS7indulge

He thinks fashionmakes womenunhappy. He’dmuch rather callhimself a clothesmaker. But whocan deny thatSabyasachi isprobably India’smost successfulfashion designer?

He thinks fashionmakes womenunhappy. He’dmuch rather callhimself a clothesmaker. But whocan deny thatSabyasachi isprobably India’smost successfulfashion designer?

A mash-up of prance and exercise (doh!). It’s the brainchild (and trademark, please) of US-based social worker Joanna Rohrback. Watch the video on www.prancercise.com/videoUsage: Monica: What’s with Phoebe ambling about like a clown? Rachel: She’s not ambling, you dimwit. She’s prancercising to lose all that winter weight!

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor),Aasheesh Sharma, Rachel Lopez, TavishiPaitandy Rastogi, Mignonne Dsouza, VeenuSingh, Parul Khanna, Yashica Dutt, Amrah Ashraf, Saudamini Jain, Shreya Sethuraman

Drop us a line at:brunchletters@hindustantimes.com orto 18-20 KasturbaGandhi Marg, New Delhi110001

Cover design: MONICA GUPTACover photograph: RAJ K RAJLocation courtesy: OLIVEBEACH, DIPLOMAT HOTEL,NEW DELHI

DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru(National Editor, Design),Monica Gupta, SwatiChakrabarti, Payal DigheKarkhanis, Rakesh Kumar,Ashish Singh

FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACTNational — Sanchita Tyagi: sanchita.tyagi@hindustantimes.comNorth — Siddarth Chopra: siddarth.chopra@hindustantimes.comWest — Karishma Makhija: karishma.makhija@hindustantimes.comSouth — Francisco Lobo: francisco.lobo@hindustantimes.com

JUNE 23, 2013

■ People’s telegram stories STOP Aww STOP

■ Kindle comes toIndia. One Paperwhite coming up!

■ Researching hot celebrities for an interview■ This headline: “My husband loves to seeme in leather: Salma Hayek”■ Man of Steel

■ Facebook ‘Confessions’ pages, whichare still active

■ If you’re whining about the depiction ofsouth Indians in Chennai Express (it’s a RohitShetty masala movie, not a textbook)■ Quoting books you haven’t read■ Mumbai’s monsoon woes (it rains just asmuch every year, you guys!)■ That it took PRISM to make people read 1984

On The Brunch Radar by Saudamini Jain

Word Of The Week

Five reasons to fly business

AVAILABLE AT LEADING BOOKSTORES AND NEWSSTANDS.

Get the Brunch Collector’s Edition delivered to yourdoorstep. Subscribe now and get 4 issues (this andfuture editions) for the price of 3! SMS <BCE> to54242 or call 01160004242 or 18601804242

by Shreya Sethuraman

To feel like a moviestarWhen Economy fliers walkin, they gawk at you withsuch a perfect mixture of envy,hatred and (oddlyenough) admiration. For thatmoment, you’re Paris Hilton.Flight attendants are your entourage. They keep bringinggreat food (in courses, on realcutlery), refilling your glass,getting you drunk... Plus, youmight actually be sitting next toa real movie star.

It’s where all the good-looking people areThat’s why people fall in love onflights in movies all the time!This part of the plane inspires

romance writing! Economy is for lecher-

ous men in their 40s,auntijis and old foreign-

ers. Sigh, and me.

To sleep like ababy

Oversized seats that turninto a flat bed, comfypyjamas, a real quilt(not those silly econo-my blankets), freshwhite sheets and the gentlewhirring of the plane. I sleptwatching The Mindy Pro-ject. Only to wake up in sixhours to...

Hear nice thingsThe attendant told me I looked“so peaceful” when I was sleep-ing. Another had earlier compli-

mented my “perfect wavy hair”.They were both lying. I look likean idiot asleep and my hair,well, it’s a bit boisterous. Butwhat can I say, I like sweet liars.

For a happy bum Oh, the genius who thought ofmassage chairs! So, these seats

had this little but-ton which make

them vibrate. Youknow, thatamazing feeling thatspreadsthroughyour entirebody andmakes youtremble(don’t be aperv)!

Prancercise

THE TOOLS: A pair offoot weights tied to yourankles (and later on toyour wrists), music tohelp you sway.

THE METHOD: Remember how Saif Ali Khan danced toWoh Ladki Hai Kahaan in Dil Chahta Hai? Repeat thatad nauseam, prancercise around the circumference ofyour neighbourhood park. When you tie the weightsto your wrists, just imagine yourself to be Rambo.

YOU WILL LOOKLIKE: A clown. Ora tipsy old auntdancing at awedding.

by Saudamini JainTravelling Pants

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK, THINKSTOCK

Phot

os: P

RANC

ERCI

SE.C

OM/V

IDEO

4 B R E A K FA ST O F C H A M P I O N S hindustantimes.com/brunch

noun\prans- r-siz\e

If you’re some hotshot who already flies business, skip this section. The rest of you, save up or prayfor one of those last-minute upgrades. ’Cuz whoever said money can’t buy happiness never sippedchampagne while being massaged by a chair, 30-something-thousand feet above sea level

This 160-page issue is dedicated to the mostcharismatic and powerful part of our filmindustry – the stars!

We shortlisted the top 50 Bollywoodstars of today and got top names in theindustry to talk about them

Exclusive, sensational photo-graphs of the stars by the bestphotographers in the business

Essays by well-known film-makers, writers, journalists, sociologists andbloggers

If you are movie fans like we are, you can’tafford to miss this one. It’s Bollywood likeyou’ve never seen before!

The writer flew on a Qatar Airways flight to Chicago. The fabulous food,good wine and plush seats made her wish it was a longer flight. She’s hopping back on when she marries a millionaire. And when that happens,well, how do they say it? Love is in the air...

You’rea goddess, basically.

ON STANDSNOW!

GRAB IT FORR100 ONLY!

The BrunchBollywood Collector’s

Edition is Out!

JUNE 23, 2013

SABYASACHI MUKHERJEEwalks into the restaurant withchildish glee and hops on to thescooter placed there: “Is this

where I am supposed to sit?” TheKolkata-based designer looks nothinglike the ghost of Rabindranath Tagore –wavy long hair, beard tamed to obei-sance, khadi kurta, Nehru coat – theway he has appeared in public recently.Changing 20 expressions a minute, hecups his cheek in the palm of his hand,elbow resting on the handle of thescooter and beams into the camera likehe just received a special present on hiseighth birthday.

Hair chopped in a boyish crop, bely-ing his 39 years, dressed in the street-style staple of an Oxford blue shirt andolive trousers with suede shoes, helooks nothing like the man who wouldsay, “I always knew that one day Iwould become India’s most successfuldesigner.”

If success is measured by being themost talked-about person at Cannesthis year (as far as the subcontinent isconcerned), by just dressing up one ofthe jury members, then the scales havebeen broken for a while now. Themoment pictures of Vidya Balan, headcovered and bowed in a namaste to theinternational media, hit the Internet,fashion became the conversation. Theweek that followed became theSabyasachi-Vidya Balan fashion weeklive from Cannes. With every outfit shewore (the full-sleeved blouses with anath, the white textile sari with tight,centre-parted hair or the Kanjeevaramsilk specially flown in from Chennai),the din of scathing Facebook com-ments, tweets, open letters on blogposts and mocking online and print edi-torials only grew louder.

The designer, used to creating seis-mic waves of applause with almost

every appearance, found himself at thereceiving end of a newly fashion-con-scious nation, who couldn’t tolerateVidya Balan looking “matronly,” “aunty-like” or more bluntly, a “buddhi.”

“When the star Vidya Balan facedthe camera for a photo-op with her co-jury members looking like a sub-servient bride, a caricature of thosenotoriously big fat Indian weddings,there was collective disillusionmentand ridicule,” wrote Vogue India’sfashion features director, BandanaTewari on the fashion site, Business ofFashion.

Sabyasachi doesn’t care what thefashion press writes. “I had asked Vidyato be prepared for this. I told her thatonly a few people would appreciate herand she would have to face a lot of criti-cism for her clothes. She was ready forthat.” Having turned the Cannes redcarpet into a showcase for Indian tex-tiles and weaves, Sabyasachi arguesthat it’s time we started taking pride inour own heritage since even “peoplefrom Africa wear their national cos-tumes with pride.”

Fashion journalists like ShefaleeVasudev assert that revival of tradi-tional fashion shouldn’t be so muchabout costume. “Given the influencehe has on the consumers of Indianfashion, his most overpowering state-ments in designs and styling don’tstand up for the idea of contemporaryIndia,” she says.

“That’s just a whole of lot intellectualmasturbation,” says Sabyasachi. “Myprimary idea is to make clothes that thecustomer can buy. And I am not goingto apologise for it.” He pronounces‘a’pologise in a way only Bengalis do.“The power of any brand exists in thestrength of its copy market. I madeVidya wear a Kanjeevaram sari, whichis almost a dying legacy, but a year from

Sabyasachi knew he’d be India’s mostsuccessful designer at the age of 13. Andhe’s made it to the top on his own terms

by Yashica Dutt

8 COVER STORY

JUNE 23, 2013

9facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch

now there’ll be copies of it all over thecountry, the NRIs will be looking towear it and the mills that had shutdown will be back in action again.That’s the real influence of my brand.”

Full-sleeved blouses (alreadymaking an appearance in thewedding markets), while they

covered Vidya Balan’s arms, alsounwrapped Sabyasachi’s predilectionfor making his women ‘modest.’“Modesty is back in fashion. Peopleare tired of looking atwomen as sex objects.It’s heartbreaking tosee a 30-year-oldwoman trying to dresslike a 12-year-old. IfMarc Jacobs andPrada do prissy cloth-ing, then it’s cool butwe are embarrassed ofpicking up connota-tions from our ownevolution.”

He thinks VidyaBalan got a lot of flak because shedidn’t choose to put herself on displayand look like a piece of ham. She isnot fashionable and likes wearingclothes she’s comfortable in. And nei-ther is Sabyasachi – fashionable thatis. He is decidedly anti-fashion, does-n’t see the benefit of constant changeand so many seasons – the meat andpotatoes of the industry – and thinksfashion makes women deeply unhap-py. “You can’t eat chocolate, you haveto be constantly mindful of what youeat, it’s like being in military school.Our brand never looks down onwomen to say ‘You are fat so you can’twear this.’” That explains the loosesilhouettes, the figure-flattering linesand the covered-up clothing that he’sbeen showing a lot of lately.

And perhaps it explains why he isnot shy of calling a Sabyasachi lehen-ga the new Birkin of India. “Most ofour customers feel that our clotheshave been made for them. Becausewe have sustained a certain identityin our clothes, like several other icon-ic brands – Chanel, Louis Vuitton andBurberry. You can’t have fans withoutthat sense of repetition. We have hadcustomers like five sisters from thesame family getting married inSabyasachi, and we dressed each ofthem on those occasions. Peoplecome to you because they know whatthey are going to get.”

Sabyasachi Mukherjee alsoknows exactly what to give. TheSabyasachi image is a careful

construct of perceptiveness, mediasavvy and plain common sense. He

does not drink or smoke or party,obviating the three base principles inthe Indian designer formula of 2013.His clothes are different in their sameold sameness and most of his inter-views, where he talks easily about hislife, read like verbatim clones of eachother. Like a handy memo for themedia to spread the exact message hewants. Fashion columnist SujataAssomull Sippy says he is the ShahRukh Khan of fashion with the kind ofcopy he gives to journalists, knowing

the impact his quoteswill create.

Even when hedebuted in 2002 witha collection namedKashgar Bazaar atLakme India FashionWeek in Mumbai, heknew he was filling agap between what wasthe ‘cling and bling’ ofIndian fashion andRitu Kumar-wovenand crafts-based cre-

ations that were largely linked to MissIndia contests. “The fashion ramphad something missing. Sabyasachifilled that hole not just with a newinterpretation of traditionally Indianideas but with a voice that was clearlyhis own,” says Shefalee Vasudev.

That’s reason enough to believehim when he says that he wasa child prodigy who was a bril-

liant back bencher and had conversa-tions with trees. He always madefriends with the older kids, who wereusually the first to make the move(most of his friends are many yearsolder than him). And even when heattended school, commuting on aboat in Kankinara, a suburban townon the outskirts of Kolkata, he alwayshad a bigger picture of the world. Toexplore that world, he ran away toGoa at 17, travelling between traincoaches without a ticket, served as awaiter at Anjuna beach and joinedthe ISKCON Hare Krishna move-ment out of curiosity.

A mathematical genius of sorts,who even coached the neighbourhoodkids in the subject, his father,Shukumar Mukherjee and motherSandhya Mukherjee, wanted him tobecome an engineer. But he alwayswanted to be a designer, and by 13 hewas completely sure about it. MeetaGhosh, one of his oldest friends andneighbours, recalls his precociousdesigns. “There was an amazing flu-idity in his sketches. When he wantedto become a designer, his parents andgrandmother were not very happywith the idea. So my husband went to

Photo: RAJ K RAJ

Sabyasachi doesn’tdrink or smoke or

party, obviating thethree base principles in

the Indian designerformula of 2013

JUNE 23, 2013

convince them, especially the grand-mother, who heard him out patientlyand said, ‘So he wants to be a darzi!’”

Today, when Sabyasachi is muchmore than that, he doesn’twant to move away from

Kolkata. “I want to live close to myparents, they are getting old and noamount of money can change that.”He stresses on his middle-classupbringing, imputes it to his non-drinking, non-partying ways and saysthat he’s still not comfortable in thesocial space where he has become sosuccessful.

“Fame came to me when I was 26.Till then, I was shaped by anonymi-ty. That made me who I am.” Still,his team has a hard time dragginghim to events, even when they arebeing hosted by him. Sabina Chopra,fashion strategist, creative consult-ant and someone who’s almost exclu-sively seen wearing Sabyasachi, sayshe’s not the guy you can becomefriends with at a party. You get toknow him best through one-on-oneconversations, just like she did 10years ago. “Sabya is a very groundedand genuine person. For Sabya hisego comes from the quality of hiswork and not his position in the busi-ness, usually the opposite for mostpeople in fashion.”

His father would take him to themovies every Sunday, occas-sionally even lying on his

behalf to the school if he had to, buthe was extremelystrict about his grades.Sabyasachi was petri-fied of his father, whowas paradoxically alsohis best friend. Helearnt early lessons inresponsibility when hisfather had to quit hisjob, and Sabyasachiwas just 15. Which iswhy he hasn’t quitfashion even when he wanted to.

“There are always moments ofdoubt, when you feel suicidal anddepressed. I have wondered why Idon’t run away and become a farmer.But there are lives that you end upshaping even without knowing. Onceat the Bhubaneswar airport, much tomy shock, an elderly lady came andtouched my feet and told me thatshe’s a local designer who has a busi-ness of copying my designs, andthanked me profusely. I felt veryproud of myself that day. I knew I wasdoing something right.”

His sister Payal, who always hero-worshipped her older brother, is sec-

ond-in-command at Sabyasachi. Shewas his muse, his partner-in-crime,and his backstage support at his firstshow in 2002. And she has been withhim ever since. When she got mar-ried in 2011, Sabyasachi behaved ter-ribly, howling throughout her wed-ding day and looking grumpy inevery single photograph.

“Sometimes, it’s extremely painfulto work with my brother, because hedemands perfection nearly every

time. He’s always try-ing to be better atwhat he’s doing andworks very hard at it.Even if he’s travelling,he comes straight tothe workshop the nextday, jet lag or no jetlag, and works till11.30-12 at night, whilethe rest of us areready to drop.” This

trait echoes the time when a youngand lanky school-going Sabyasachiparticipated in a marathon, thoughhe’d never run in one before, andcame first. When asked how he man-aged to win against the better-builtguys, he replied, “I think it was mywillpower.”

Sabyasachi is an old soul. Hecan talk for hours and seemsto have lived way beyond his

years. “There is no excuse to not bea nice human being. You can stillrun this business with integrity. Ihave been cheated by assistantswho took my designs and started on

their own and by people who I trust-ed, who used my money for thewrong reasons. But for every 100people who use you, it’s worth find-ing that one person who deservesbeing nice to.” He is oddly karmicand believes that what you doalways comes back to you. “I havewitnessed bizarrely similar situa-tions – when I have not been verynice, the same scenario has beenreplicated with me at the receivingend. That’s why I am not materialis-tic. Even this much money hasn’tchanged me or my family. My fatherstill goes to buy fish from the mar-ket. I think if you grow up witness-ing a stable marriage like my par-ents’, you do grow up feeling goodabout yourself.”

He is also old school. All hisstores have clocks that havestopped at odd hours and

random black-and-white photo-graphs of people he’s never met. Hisclothes too cry out to be capsuled inthe past and he loves the grace withwhich yesteryear actresses conduct-ed themselves. Perhaps that’s why hedoesn’t see the brouhaha over pre-senting Vidya Balan covered fromtop to toe on an international plat-form. He is peculiarly patriotic andfeels that we don’t take enough pride

in our own culture (which he wasaccused of caricaturing at Cannes).He has a line for cultural costumesfor children and thinks that peopleshould dress them in traditional cos-tumes for special occasions. “Backthen, there was more depth. Thesongs today are nothing compared toold Guru Dutt ones. Beautiful thingswere created without any commer-cial intent. It might have somethingto do with the way I was brought up,rowing the boat to school and livingin an idyllic setting.”

The tortoise and the hare is one ofSabyasachi’s favourite stories and itcomes up often when he talks. It’s nothard to guess that he thinks of him-self as the former. But after 11 years inthe business, a TV show, several col-lections, including New York, Milanand Paris, becoming the dream outfit-ter for any bride, a business thatmade a profit of over 45 per cent lastyear and a national award for bestcostume for Black, Sabyasachi is thehare of Indian fashion who’s got thetortoise in his back pocket.

yashica.dutt@hindustantimes.comFollow @YashicaDutt on twitter

twitter.com/HTBrunch

MORE ON THE WEBSabyasachi gave us the shoot of alifetime. See all his moods athindustantimes.com/brunch.

10 COVER STORY

IN THE UNLIKELY event of time travelbecoming a reality, I really would not want tobe a teenager again. Yes, I know this has

become a bit of a cliché, for middle-aged folks toclaim that we have never been happier and morecontent now that our younger days are behind us.But behind every cliché lurks an eternal truth.And in this case, it is that youth is wasted on theyoung (oh dear, there I go with the clichés again!)

It was certainly wasted on me. When I wasn’tfretting about the numbers on my report cards,I was moaning about the ones on the weighingscales. I was constantly worried about fitting inrather than focused on standing out. And then, Iwent effortlessly from worrying about how I wouldfare at a job interview to obsessing about howI would interview all those larger-than-lifecelebrities once I had landed a job with the mostpopular news magazine of the day.

Only now that my youth is oh-so-definitelybehind me, do I realise that I really did not havevery much to worry about at all – if only I had thesense, and the perspective, to see that at the time.

So here, for the benefit of my younger read-ers (and maybe the odd older one), are some

notes that I scribbled down for my younger self.Read on… they may stand you in good stead for

the next 20 years.■ Don’t envy the cool kids in school/college. Theymay seem very with it now, with their designer

clothes, their dewy complexions, their over-weening confidence on the sports field, their talent on thestage. But fast forward 25 years and you won’t be envying

them at all. Believe me, I’ve seen the pictures. And suf-fice it to say, they’re not pretty.

■ Don’t obsess over your grades. The difference betweena first-class and a second-class degree seems insurmountablenow. And it seems that your life will end if you don’t score that

magic 60 per cent (what would now be a magic98 per cent). Trust me, it won’t. In fact, in anoth-er five years or so, when you’re finally excellingin the job of your dreams nobody will even askyou what you scored in your graduation papers.In fact, most people won’t even care if you grad-uated at all.■ Don’t knock the way you look. Yes, I know, whenyou stand in front of the mirror now, you feel asif a) you could stand to lose a few pounds b) zapthose inflamed pimples on your chin that noamount of concealer could camouflage c) gain afew more inches in height and d) get a brand-newwardrobe. But when you gaze at pictures of youryounger self 20 years down the line, you will beastounded by just how amazing you looked. Andyou will wonder why that never occurred to youat the time.■ Don’t be too focused on putting money asidefor a rainy day. A bit of cash stashed away isalways useful. But don’t shy away from spend-ing money on experiences that will give you alifetime of memories. Backpack through Asia.Take a rail trip through Europe. Climb a moun-tain. Go deep-sea diving. The memories will bepriceless; the money, if saved, will only be a frac-

tion of what it was worth when you earned it.■ Don’t ignore your emotional life because you aretoo busy focusing on your professional one. Reach outand make friends. Make time for family. Spend timenurturing your bonds with those whom you love andcherish. Stay in touch with your feelings. It is rela-tionships that will sustain you in the long run; not that

bright, glittering career you are so proud of.

Don’t be toofocused on

puttingmoney aside

for a rainyday

Photos: THINKSTOCK

MORE ON THE WEBFor more SPECTATOR columns by Seema Goswami,log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch. Follow her on Twitter at @seemagoswami. Write to her atseema_ht@rediffmail.com

SeemaGoswami

spectator

BOND FOR LIFEReach out and make friends. Spend time nurturingyour bonds with those whom you love and cherish

12 indulge hindustantimes.com/brunch

Things I wishI had knownwhen I was ateenager…

MAKE THE GRADEDon’t obsess over yourgrades. Your life will notend if you don’t scorethat magic 60 per cent

■ “The new flat look ishorrible”■ “What’s with all thesegarish neon floating colours?” ■ “It’s the biggest revamp in six years for iOS andApple has pulled off a revolution”■ “Almost every ‘new’ feature is a copy of what alreadyexists on other OSes. This is Apple in pure copycat mode”■ “Visually, cosmetically and with all the new features, Apple has delicately introduced all things new without offending the previous generation of users”

IT’S APPLE and when they do something as big as completelyrevamp the operating system for their portable devices, it’sgoing to be loved and hated in very loud and extremely vocif-

erous ways. Ominous drum beats could be heard on the horizon fora while. An upgrade to iOS was a much required, much awaitedand would very much be taken as a showcase of how Apple will farein the next three years.

Even the most ardent Apple fans have been feeling that thelook and feel of the OS was starting to look jaded and decidedlyold school. Consumers who upgraded their iPhone and iPadswould feel a tinge of disappointment when they would discoveron boot-up that their spanking new gadget continued to look thesame since 2007. Thus, this revamp is a critical one – one thatwould be a showcase of Apple’s innovation prowess for the nextfew years. How well did they do?THE COSMETICS: The biggest change is that visually it’s all new,

nothing has been left unchanged. The lock screen, system font,icons, background, colours, wallpapers,animation and behaviour is a completeclean sweep of new over old. Icons are flat,but float over the background in a 3D state.Opening and closing apps as well as mov-ing from screen to screen have all-newslick animations built in.

Shutting the phone screen and power-ing it on also has a nice little special effect.Translucent elements abound where thebackground seems to leak into whateveris in the front (think smoked glass) andpastel colours all around seem to give theOS a brighter, younger and happier feel.

ICONOLOGY: This section has leftmost people a little cold. The new iconsare just new graphic designs predom-inantly, and don’t have many abilitiesbuilt in. Expectations were that the icontechnology Apple would use would bea cross between Androids widgets andWindows Live tiles.

A smartphone’s screen is prime realestate and icons that exist just as launchbuttons to open apps is a great wasteof space. Expectations were that larg-er icons for some apps would be intro-duced (2x2 and 3x1) and that icons wouldhave updates and information appearing in realtime. Hasn’t happened and that is disappointing. NEWBIES: The new feature sets immediatelyapparent, are notifications (now segmented as All,Missed and Today; useful but a tad busy), the all-new control centre (swipe up from the bottom andit gives you access to your most-used settings likeWiFi, screen brightness, Airplane Mode and a torchbutton; most of this is very Androidish), multi-tasking (now instead of static icons you’ll see youropen apps as big windows, once again very Android,Windows and BB10 OS-like), Siri (full screen now,gains a few new voices and the ability to changesettings like screen brightness and WiFi on and offby just asking it to do so; all good stuff and hope-fully they’ll get it to understand our accent finally)

and automatic updates for apps and OS (instead of notifications,apps will auto update on their own; can be switched off). Most ofthese new features are critical for a modern smartphone user andit’s good to see them finally appear on iOS too.THE BIGGIES: Away from visual revamps and critical utilityupgrades – iOS 7 also has some big new features. They start musi-cally with iTunes Radio, which is a free radio streaming servicethat you can customise with artist or ‘type of song’ preferencesand also buy a song that you like, then they plunge towards AirDropwhere you can see all the other people nearby with the same facil-ity and transfer stuff to them by just touching a button.

From here they morph FaceTime into VoiceTime so that you canmake voice calls minus video to people on your contact list. Up nextis a lockdown on security with iCloud passwords for lost or stolenphones as well as iCloud Keychain. Also swiped in is a gesture backbutton that we haven’t seen before and will make a big difference;and about a dozen or so more minor to major features.THE VERDICT: Apple has always been a disruptive company thatcurates and innovates in both product as well as operating systems.iOS 7 seems to be a mix of catch-up and curation and very less dis-ruption. That is not necessarily a bad thing, and one that may bodewell for future products and phones.

Do remember that this public unveiling of iOS 7 isn’t the finalversion and lots may get changed and added to it before you canget your hands on it. Between iOS 7 and all the other whiz bangstuff that the next generation of iPhones and iPads may well bring– Apple seems to have pulled off just about enough medium-sizedrabbits from the hat! Time for Android 5.0, Windows 9 and BB 11to show their bag of tricks up next!

Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3

13hindustantimes.com/brunch indulge

ALL NEW AND SHINYThe biggest change in iOS 7 is that nothing hasbeen left unchanged

IT’S A DISAPPOINTMENTThe icons were expectedto have updates and infoappearing in real time, butthat hasn’t happened

MORE ON THE WEBFor previous columns by Rajiv Makhni, log on tohindustantimes.com/brunch. Follow Rajiv onTwitter at twitter.com /RajivMakhni

JUNE 23, 2013

techilicious

ABOUT TIME NOWEven ardent Apple fans felt that thelook and feel of the OS was jaded THE NEXT-GEN

APPLE IS HERE!Love it or hate it,you cannot ignore Apple’slatest operating system, the iOS 7

Rajiv Makhni

A MIX OF OLD AND NEWThe icons are flat, but floatover the background in a3D state (right)

THE MORE I think about it, the more convinced I am that The Pierre may wellbe one of my favourite hotels in theWestern world. The hotel itself has a

phenomenal history and reputation. It is one of New York’s grandold hotels like the Savoy in London, the Crillon in Paris, the OberoiGrand in Calcutta or the Mandarin in Hong Kong. It is still ownedby a co-operative consisting of the owners of the many apartmentsin the building. Part of the hotel consists of these apartments (belong-ing to very rich people) and the rest consists of rooms and suites.

The co-op allows various hotel companies to take the rooms,suites, public areas etc. on long lease in return for a profit-share.For many years, the Four Seasons ran The Pierre (without both-ering to invest too much in the refurbishment) till it took over Regent

Hotels, inherited that company’s New Yorkproperty and moved out of The Pierre.

In 1997, when he became Chairman of IndianHotels, Ratan Tata declared that he wanted to turnthe Taj into a global luxury company. So far, therehave been more misses (St James Court in Londonis part Crowne Plaza, part dharamsala for well-con-nected Indians – though things may look up nowthat Digvijay Singh is general manager) than hits(the wonderful Taj Exotica, probably the best hotelin the Maldives.)

But the greatest success in Ratan Tata’s strate-gy has been The Pierre. When the Taj took it over,the hotel was a mess. The Taj closed it down formany months and spent the millions that the FourSeasons had not bothered to and reopened it as thenew Pierre, restored to its former glory. At the time,I wondered if the huge investment would yield adequate returns. But my guess was that the Tajsaw this as an investment in its global image. Youcan’t really claim to be a luxury company on thebasis of an Indian dharamsala in London’s Victoria.You need to attach your name to one of the world’sgreat and most famous hotels. And so, the Pierreinvestment made sense not just as money pouredinto a single property but as a statement about theTaj’s global future.

My second concern was practical: was the Tajup to the task of going head to head with the world’s great hotelcompanies in New York, the most competitive of markets?

Early indications suggested it was. And this time in New York Iwas pleased (and speaking as an Indian: very proud) to see that thePierre had became an island of discreet and refined luxury. Thanksto Heiko Kuenstle, who has been general manager since the Tajtook over – and has successfully managed the unions and the co-op – The Pierre is a truly exceptional property.

The millions spent in renovations have paid off. The newly redonerooms and suites are elegant and luxurious. The food – always thehotel’s Achilles heel – has improved dramatically since Ashfer Bijutook over as the executive chef. (If you are Indian and vegetarian,Biju can guarantee first-rate desi khana around-the-clock). ThePierre’s concierges are legendary (even before the Taj era) and theywill get you into virtually any show or restaurant in New York, evenif it is supposed to be sold out. The excellence of the service extendsto the courtesy car parked outside the Fifth Avenue exit. If you haveto be dropped somewhere within central New York, the Pierre’slimo will do it for free.

One of the Pierre’s greatest assets is its location. You walk out ofthe hotel and straight into Central Park. You walk in the other direc-tion and you are in the middle of the great Fifth Avenue stores:Bergdorf Goodman, FAO Schwarz, Saks and even the Apple store.Walk towards Madison Avenue and you realise that Barneys is the

IN BAD TASTEThe Sirio (left) at The Pierre was soulless, lifelessand poorly run

NEW YORKDIARY

There really is no city likeit anywhere in the world

Vir Sanghvi

rude tr

avel

14 indulgeFifth Avenue,

New York

very next building. And all the designer boutiques of Madison Avenueare between three to five minutes away.

If you go in the summer, the location can be magical. I arrivedearly one sunny Sunday afternoon and rather than go for lunch,bought a hot dog from a street vendor and found a chair in theplaza next to the Pierre in front of the Apple store. For an hour orso I just soaked in the sun and watched the pulsating drama thatis New York; there really is no city like it anywherein the world.

I always say that there are only two cities whereyou cannot eat badly: Bangkok and New York. Butmy first meal at Sirio, the new restaurant run bythe Maccioni family of Le Cirque fame at the Pierrehotel, nearly proved me wrong. The restaurant was soulless, lifeless and poorly run. The cooking waslazy too: my steak was overcooked and the Tuscanfries were like sponge fingers filled with oil. I wenton a Sunday when the chef was off during aMemorial Day weekend so perhaps it is not fair tojudge the restaurant. But it is a shame that Sirio,which has the opportunity to beat Harry Cipriani,which packs them in right next door, should be sopoorly run. The menu is Cipriani-esque and the Maccionis areNew York insiders. So why can’t they get it right?

But the rest of the food in New York lived up to my expectations.The two high spots were unfancy restaurants. Maialino is one ofDanny Meyer’s operations and though it gets a so-so rating fromZagat (it is not among its top 30 Italian restaurants in the city), Iwould urge you to go if only to eat one dish: the signature sucklingpig. This is the best pig I’ve ever eaten: nice crisp skin and the meatinside that was so tender that it melted in the mouth.

Like all of Meyer’s other operations, service is friendly with knowl-edgeable staff (my waitress chose the wine and it was perfect) whomake no attempt to hustle you. One example: many New York restau-rants now give you the option of free normal water so that you don’thave to pay for bottled mineral water. But at Maialino they cometo your table with a bottle of free water and then ask if you want

mineral instead. So there is no pressure to splash out for overpricedwater. You just take the free water.

The other single dish restaurant I went to is new so it has yet toget into Zagat. The Marrow specialises in bone marrow whichcomes to the table, in a bone split open with a sea urchin topping.I’ve eaten good marrow before (Fergus Henderson in London mustbe the world’s marrow champion). But this was ethereal, glowingbriefly around your mouth, hitting all the right spots and then vanishing. I also had a whole hen-of-the-woods mushroom which isnot something you see on many menus these days. It is a largefungus (it can range from the size of a grapefruit to a pumpkin) that

grows wild on the barks of trees. The Marrow’sversion was delicious (and entirely vegetarian) thoughI would have preferred some politically incorrect butter in the finishing rather than a needless andvaguely offensive dash of truffle oil.

Other New York meals consisted of old favourites.Keith McNally has opened a branch of Balthazar inLondon so I thought I’d see how the New Yorkoriginal has held up. It is a vast bustling, noisy French-style brasserie with a clientele that mixes locals,tourists and celebrities. But despite the crowds, serv-ice was exemplary and the cooking probably betterthan at many Paris brasseries these days. I had excel-lent duck confit and not-very-French bread pudding.

I had other okay meals – including one at the FiveNapkin Burger, part of a chain of vaguely upscale hamburgerrestaurants. (America has gone burger-crazy.) And I had an outstanding afternoon tea at The Pierre’s lounge. The food within the hotel (overseen by chefs from India) is so good that itmakes you wonder how Sirio can get it so wrong.

The general rule in New York is that locals get it right and outsiders fail. Nobu is a hit. Hakkasan is not. Balthazar buzzes.Benoit struggles. Jean-Georges flourishes. Joël Robuchon and AlainDucasse both had to shut their restaurants while New Yorkers ranGordon Ramsay out of their city.

So congratulations to the Taj for taking on the world’s greatesthotel and food city – and winning. Shame about Sirio, though. Doyou think the New York locals are pulling a fast one on an out-of-the-country hotel chain? I hope not. Because that is the only thingabout The Pierre they still have to get right.

A TRUE LEGENDThe newly redone rooms and suites (above) at The Pierre are elegantand luxurious. And its concierges (above right) are legendary

NOT GOOD ENOUGH!In New York, Joël Robuchon (above) andAlain Ducasse (below)both had to shut theirrestaurants

15

MORE ON THE WEBFor more columns byVir Sanghvi, log on tohindustantimes.com/brunch

facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch

I always saythat there areonly two cities

where youcannot eat

badly:Bangkok and

New York

Photo: THINKSTOCK

FREE FLOWMany New York restaurantsnow give you the option offree normal water so thatyou don’t have to pay forbottled mineral water

FORGET A dip in the Ganga.Scrap the mini break inMauritius. Ditch Atkins.Cancel your lymphatic

drainage appointment. It’s 2013. Youhave a smartphone, a tablet, a lap-top, WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook,email, an e-reader, and proba-bly 1TB full of pop cultureessentials. Yes, you needto detox but it is morelikely that you need toease off the digital wagon.

An Ericsson ConsumerLabstudy, The Digital Lives ofGeneration Z, revealsthat while 30 million outof 69 million urbanIndian youngsters ownmobile phones, tweens(nine- to 14-year-olds)end up spending roughlyseven out of 15 wakinghours on their phonesor in front of the TV. Ofcourse you can’t unplugcompletely and expect tosurvive today. But we canbenefit from little changesthat keep us connected, notaddicted. So allow us togently pluck that BBfrom your iron grip, asyou read on…

ONE CLICK AT A TIMEOnly you know how pluggedin you are. My own Facebookfeed is currently, and ironically,choked with jokes abouthow a boy, who was textingwhile driving, met with afatal accident. More tragi-cally, there’s been an e-furore overhow teenage girls in America andCanada have committed suicideafter particularly vicious bouts of cybershaming and cyberbullying.

Your life may not be as bad. Butjust living 24/7 glued to those ‘indis-pensable’ gadgets can take its toll.Azad Essa, journalist, author of TheMoslems are Coming, and for whoma BlackBerry is a constant compan-ion, admits that as a newspersonand writer, he finds ittough to give up. “Cuttingoff totally can never bean option,” he says,explaining that you riskbecoming obsolete andthat social networks are alifeline for anyone wholives away from home.So, a few years ago whenEssa read about digitaldiets (on Facebook!), he dismissed it in the way

any wired person would: FirstWorld Problem! But in 2012, whenhe realised that his online behaviourshowed signs of addiction, he tookaction. “I was forced to curtail myactivity on the Internet,” he recalls.It involved “reserving more time totalk to closer friends and family,rather than trying to partake in onemassive global orgy of a conversation.”

MORE BARKTHAN BYTE? Before you dramatical-ly fling your iPad out ofthe window, consider ifyou are really addictedto a digital life. A goodproportion of theurban Indian popula-tion believes that thedigital dragon iswell under con-

trol. Parmesh Shahani, MITFutures of Entertainment Fellowand founder of Godrej India CultureLab, is one of them. “I don’t think ofbeing wired 24/7 as something thatwe need to take a break from,” hesays. “Aren’t people who use wheels– in a car or in a machine – follow-

ing a lifestyle? I use digital toolsin my life as much as I use ana-

log tools and don’t really dif-ferentiate between the two.”

The key, Shahani insists, iswhat role you assign totechnology. “I have sus-

tained meaningful relationshipsover Skype, WhatsApp, Facebookand Twitter, just as I have with face-to-face contact,” he says.Anisha Subandh, yoga teacher andmother of two young boys, also saysthat she does not find the digital

world as crazy as it’s made outto be. Apart from a fewunspoken rules – no phonesat the dining table, for one –she’s happy to occasionallyindulge her kids’ with a PS3,PSP, Wii, DS, iPad andiPhone.

If you’ve got your Instagramand tweets under control, no need

to panic. But if you’ve alreadytexted 10 times while readingthis story, it’s time for a digital detox.

PRESS THE HELP KEY Psychotherapist and

counsellor Dr Minnu Bhonsle,sees new cases of youngsters

unable to handle theirdigitised lives every week.In most instances, the firstcasualty is the family unit.One mother was reduced

to sending Facebook mes-sages to her son (holed upwith his laptop in his bed-

room) to coax him to the dinner table. Dr Bhonsle also

found that being constantly pluggedin had made him fragile – easilyoffended, angry and depressed.

“That send button is themost dangerous thing,” shesays, referring to how youngpeople take the most casual

comments made by their ‘onlinefriends’ very personally. “Earlier,when you called someone from alandline in a fit of anger, those fewminutes it took for your call to getconnected often gave you buffertime to cool down,” she says. Likeinstant gratification, Dr Bhonslesees a problem with instant expression.

OLDER, WISER?So which group is most at risk fromonline overload, ‘digital natives’(those born to technology) or ‘digi-

16 TECH TALK

JUNE 23, 2013

UnbuttonYourself

MORE THAN WORDSWhen you’re glued to multiple screens all day,you start losing touch withnon verbal cues of com-munication, which makeup 80 per cent of our con-nection with the world,says Dr Minnu Bhonsle

Think about someone commenting ‘Goodone’ on a girl’s photograph. You’d assumeit to be a compliment. But what if the per-son typed it with a smirk on their face?The virtual world makes no allowancesfor these non-verbal cues. “This leavesimpressionable kids confused about thestatus of their relationships.”

twitter.com/HTBrunch

Gizmos hook you. The web ensnares you.The social network is your social circle.

Can you disconnect from the digital worldwithout unplugging completely?

by Aparna Pednekar

If you’vetexted 10

times whilereading this,it’s time for

a digitaldetox

AS INCREDIBLE as it maysound, the drink that you seecelebrities such as KateMiddleton, wife of the UK’s

Prince William and chef JamieOliver holding in paparazzi shots(see pictures on next page) is asmoothie, the current ‘it’ food/drinkthe world is obsessing over.

With celebs proclaiming it as thesecret of their glowing skin, thesmoothie is now inching its way intopeople’s lives and homes. Books,food blogs and TV shows thatdescribe ways to make a smoothieare the new rage. But the drink isnothing fancy. It’s simply a liquidblend of fruits or veggies, or both.

THE OBSESSIONIn 2012, the worldwide smoothiemarket was worth £134m, reportedThe Independent, UK. Britons drank34 million litres of smoothies in2006, compared to 6.3 million litresin 2001. By 2011, believes marketresearch firm Mintel, the world willdrink almost 100 million litres.Phew! Some numbers there. Nowonder then that Coca-Cola, realis-ing the drink’s potential, took com-plete control over Innocent, a UK-based smoothie chain launchedby three Cambridge friends inFebruary 2013.

It’s not really the first timesmoothies have captured theworld’s attention. The drink firstcame into being in the 1920s, withthe advent of blenders. Since then,smoothies have been in and out offavour, finally to inch their way backinto people’s lives.

Why now? Well,Arindam Basu, a

manager with the KempinskiAmbience Hotel, Delhi, says peopleare beginning to see throughprocessed food. “The West is seeingits pitfalls. And they are looking forsomething or someone to rescuethem. That’s why smoothies havebeen enjoying a resurgence.”

Around the world, doppelgangersof smoothies already exist in a lot ofcultures. There are the cold vegetable soups like the Spanishgazpacho and our very own lassi.And that’s why, say food experts,Indians will take to this trend.

With fitness, nutrition and healthbecoming a top priority in people’slives, smoothies are becoming thesaviour of those who crave nutri-tion, but hate eating fruits or veg-etables (and there are many peoplelike that!), those whose want to givetheir kids a more balanced diet, andthose who want to lose weight by

cutting out a regular meal (infavour of a smoothie).

EASY DOES ITSmoothies are so simple to makeeven a kitchen virgin can put onetogether. Blending asmoothie is an addictiveprocess: just stick to afew rules, get togetherwhat you can and makesure it pleases yourpalate. You can team ginger with mango,cucumber with melonand look for other inter-esting, yet edible permu-tations and combinationsof things you think you can drink.

“People don’t have time, and the‘great food movement’ that encour-ages them to cook and try outrecipes from across the globe ismore of a weekend activity,” saysArindam Basu. “No one is expected

to put together elaborate mealsevery day. That’s the spacesmoothies are filling.”

DECODING THE CONCOCTIONContrary to popular perception, notall smoothies are yoghurt-based.They can even be composed of rawvegetables and fruits blended in witha variety of natural additives toenhance their taste, says food blog-ger, diet and nutrition consultantSangeeta Khanna.

One of the big reasons for thepopularity of smoothies is their versatility. A smoothie with a highcalorie count will give a child mostof the nutrients he/she needs daily.People who work out will find that asmoothie gives them the necessaryenergy, and those into strengthtraining will find it fulfills their pro-tein requirement. A sweet smoothiecan be drunk as a dessert, and

another recipe can giveyou your daily dose of veggies.

One of the more popu-lar ways smoothies arebeing consumed is asreplacements for meals.“Full of nutrients,smoothies have become agreat way for people tokeep their weight incheck along with fulfiling

nutritional requirements. They feelfull and not starved and also ingestfood that titillates the taste buds,”explains Suman Agarwal, aMumbai-based nutritionist.

According to Khanna, to replacebreakfast, a smoothie should be fill-ing and contain proteins and com-plex carbohydrates. She recom-mends blending in bananas, half acup of oats (to make the mixturecreamy) and soaked almonds

along with a cup of milk or yoghurt.A lunch smoothie should again befilling (Khanna recommends

18

To replacedinner, asmoothieshould behigh onproteins

Why Is The WorldGoing Crazy About

FRUIT SMOOTHIE60ml orange juice 60ml pineapple juice1 mango, sliced

90ml non-fat yoghurt 6 basil leaves

Blend into a fine,smooth consis-tency. If required, add

some ice andpour it into atall glass.

BANANA-ALMOND-FLAXSEED COCOA SMOOTHIE WITH MILKOne large banana1 heaped tbsp flaxseeds10-12 almonds, soaked2 tsp good quality organic cocoa powderA cup of full fat milk, or more as requiredLiquidise everything together in a

food processor or mixie tomake a smooth drink. Using chilled milk and afrozen banana gives you acreamier, chilled smoothie.

SPARTAN STRAWBERRY120ml soy milk 30ml maple syrup 90ml non-fat yoghurt 6 fresh strawberries Blend into a fine,smooth consistency. If required, add someice and pour itinto a tall glass.

QUICKRECIPES

~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

They are fresh, easy to make, and greatfor those who want to lose weight.

You just need to acquire a taste for them!by Parul Khanna

5THINGSYOU NEEDTO MAKE ASMOOTHIE

U R BA N TA D K A

Seasonal fruits andvegetablesIt’s just easier

Lots of ideas Bitter gourddoesn’t work,even whenteamed withstrawberries andoranges.Common sense

An experimentalpalate Experiment andmix at your ownrisk!

Five minutesin the kitchen Novices can turn into show-offs

SM THIES?

COURTESY: SANGEETA KHANNA

COURTESY:ARINDAM BASU

Photos: THINKSTOCK

CUCUMBER-HERBS-MIXED NUTS AND SEEDSAVOURY SMOOTHIE WITH YOGHURTOne cucumber, chopped roughly1/2 cup coriander greens, chopped2tsp sunflower seeds2tsp pumpkin seeds4-5 walnut halvesAdd a tbsp of onion and green chilli. Useany herbs like celery, parsley, mint or basil,depending on what you get fresh and whatyou feel like having according to your constitution. Drink this smoothie fresh. However, it doeskeep well in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Illustrations: SHUTTERSTOCK

A blenderBut of course

19hindustantimes.com/brunch

coconut milk) and its ingredientsshould have proteins and be rich infibre. So, you could blend in man-goes, herbs (basil, rosemary etc.),water or coconut milk and muskmelon, or for a savoury version,blend together raw mango, coconutmilk, salt and pepper.

To replace dinner, a smoothieshould be high on proteins and lowon carbs. So, avoid bananas andmangoes, but make sure thesmoothie is filling or one might endup bingeing. Choose ingredientsthat are high in soluble fibres(pears and citrus fruits). Thesebulk up the gut, giving a feeling ofbeing full and have negative caloriecounts. Churn togethersprouts, a little peanutbutter, cucumber,coconut milk, salt,Tabasco and pepper.“Take care not toinclude too muchinsoluble fibre (nuts,flaxseeds) in this meal.It causes flatulence,”says Khanna.

Of course, like allmovements or assome may call them, fads, criticshave put together some innovativereasons to diss smoothies, too.They say too many smoothies canharm you. And food expert BhartiSanghi acknowledges there mightbe some truth in this assumption.“Replace only one meal with asmoothie or have it as a mid-daysnack,” she says. “Youcannot sit and measure

what fruits and veggies have solu-ble fibres and which have insolubleones,” adds Sanghi.

So, if you are having a number ofglasses, make sure you keep theamount of fruits and veggies thesame, but bulk the smoothie upwith more milk, water or yoghurt.Also, one needs to acquire a tastefor it, especially vegetable smooth-ies, points out Arindam Basu.

REALITY CHECKOn a realistic note, how bad canchurned fruits and vegetables be?The health benefits are assured.The more important part is tomake a good smoothie – read upfood blogs and get recipes.

International healthblogs have people rav-ing that a regular doseof smoothies causestheir skins to glow,something the cosmet-ic industry has beenpromising them foryears. “It’s true. Thosedrinking it even for amonth are able to sus-tain a glowing skin forsix months,” says

Bharti Sanghi. “One, you are ingest-ing ‘good food’, something yourmoms have been trying to get youto eat since you were a child, and inbetter quantities. There are only somany carrots you can chew, butyou can drink many more. Plus, it’sbrilliant for the digestive system.You will be going to the restroommany more times, but that’s anindicator of good metabolism.”

Arindam Basu adds, “What’snot to like in a smoothie? It’s a

win-win situation. The waterfrom the ingredients hydrates you.The yoghurt aids intestinal diges-tion and helps absorb proteins. It’sgreat for metabolism, gives you anenergy boost and is a completefood, without bad fats or choles-terol or empty calories. It’s a won-der drug for those who want tolose weight and look great.”

parul.khanna@hindustantimes.com

It’s a wonderdrug for

those whowant to loseweight andlook great

A TOAST TO

MY HEALTH

Celebritychef andrestaurateurJamie Oliverposes with asmoothie

BEETROOT & BERRYSMOOTHIE1cup whole blueberries½cup whole raspberries1/3cup beetroot,cooked and sliced¼cup low-fat yoghurt¼ cup fresh orange juice1 tsp honeyBlend all ingredientstogether ina blender.

Photos: GETTY IMAGES

HONEYDEWMELON & BABYSPINACH SMOOTHIE1cup baby spinach,washed thoroughly1½ cup honeydew melon1/3 cup low-fat yoghurtBlend all ingredientstogether in a

blender.

COURTESY: NEHAMALHOTRA

A ROYAL TREATKate Middleton sips at a smoothie,high on taste and nutrition

8

5

6

4

20 VARIETY

JUNE 23, 2013

TheBucketList

1FIND TRUE LOVE

GET MARRIEDSo your best friend got hitched at 22to the guy she was seeing since shewas 11? Good for her, but it doesn’tmean you should too. Keep your 20sto yourself. Shake a leg, figure outyour belief systems, your politics,your style, your poison. Have fun, docrazy things you’ll want to tell yourfuture children about before you

zero in on ‘the one’ and take theplunge. Marrying later means

you’re in a better place in yourcareer, have a bigger nest eggand more confidence in your-

self. Look at George Clooney orMilind Soman. They’re single, eligi-ble and don’t seem to want to settleanytime soon! Oh, and if you pine

for someone younger, we rec-ommend Ranbir Kapoor. He’sjust 30!

LEARN TO MAKE ANEXOTIC COCKTAILReally? Exotic? Because it has kiwisor curacao or something else that is

commonly available?Cocktails are for wimps.Your guests are better offtrying things neat. Why nullify the taste of a goodalcoholic nectar by con-cocting some punch? If

they don’t caremuch for adventure, serv-ing some strong beershould do the trick. Leavemuddling and blending tothe experts. You don’tneed these skills.

You can get inked at any point ofyour adult life. So why jump the gunwhen you’re too young to appreciatethe meaning of permanence? CheGuevara’s face, Tinker Bell, the

Chinese symbol for peace orthat one-line tagline yougot from Game Of Thrones:

they won’t be cool forever.But tattooed on yourarm, they’ll never

leave. Plus, why undergoall that pain? The removal

process is even worse. Wait tillyou’re 30, after all the poseurs havegot their motifs inked, then findsomething better, get your tattoo and show it off.

Today, that’ll proba-bly be a mashup ofhow you fell in (andout) of love, your solohike to a remote vil-lage off the map… orworse, a compilationof your tweets andFacebook updates.You can’t write if you haven’t lived.Take a cue from Chetan Bhagat orAmish Tripathi. Both have pennedbestsellers, published only afterthey crossed the big three-oh.

YOU’VE READ blog posts and Facebook notes. Your friends (and sometimes family) keep talking about them. The world is teeming withlists that tell you what you ought to do before you turn 25, before youget married and before you die. Our list however, is a bit different! We

tell you what you don’t need to do before a certain milestone. Read on...

10 things there’s no need to do before you turn 30

by Shreya Sethuraman

WRITE A BOOK 2

SEE THE SEVENWONDERS OFTHE WORLD3What IS with Paris and its alleged

eplaceable charm? Go to Coorg.It’s much cheaper, as romantic(perhaps even more), and the lushcoffee plantations with their

quaint cottages are a perfectcipe for romance and finding

ur very own je ne saisquoi! Simplicity beckons!

LEARN TOCOOKYes, yes, weknow justhow thera-peuticcooking is. Youcan give the in-ner chef in you wings. Chickenwings. But it’s not what you need tolearn before you turn 30. Snip, pourand heat can get you far. Besides,eating Chinese out of the box ismuch more fun than toiling in thekitchen all day! It’s 2013. Everybodydelivers. Not knowing how to cook isnot a recipe for disaster!

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK, THINKSTOCK

7With such excellent public transportsystems in your city, why add to Earth’scarbon footprint by driving a car (if youdrive a bus for a living, you’re not included). The Metro or the local train,and the bus are often a faster means ofgetting somewhere and are cheapertoo. Sure, having a car is a status symbol, but who needs that whenfriendly people offer you fresh grapesor jackfruit on the train? Now how canyou refuse that? Hop on!

LEARN TODRIVE

10

In the time of smart-phones and photoapps like Instagramand PicsArt, that’senough for you to know.Poster-ise your photographs,make a comic strip of them.World-renowned photographerAnsel Adams published his finestwork titled Rose and Driftwood, atthe age of 31. Or perhaps learnfrom Armenian-Canadian YousufKarsh, a portrait photographerwho famously shot WinstonChurchill in 1941. He was 33.

TAKE PERFECTPHOTOS

shreya.sethuraman@hindustantimes.com,Follow Shreya on Twitter at @iconohclast

If you really want to see the wonders of the world, catch a sunrise, watch a pup being lickedclean by its mother, eat chocolate ice cream on a full moon night…Make your own highlights, chaseyour own rainbows. That’s what life(and Facebook albums) are all about.

Thirty is too soon to find ‘true love’.When you’re a twenty-something,you’re a typically over-the-top-whine-on-loop character. You

believe every love is truelove. Wrong. Besides,true love is a highlyoverrated term. Life istoo short to wait for the

‘one’ to drop into yourlife when you were too

busy waiting for the bus!Vidya Balan, Shilpa Shetty,

Aishwarya Rai... Not only didthey marry after they turned 30, webelieve they found true love too!

published they crossed the big

3What IS with Pirreplaceable charm? Go to CoorIt’s much cheaper, as r(perhaps evcoffee plantations with their

quaint cottages arrecipe for r

your vquoi

GET A TATTOO

GO TO PARIS 9

21WELLNESS

JUNE 23, 2013

SHIKHA SHARMA

MIND BODY SOUL

MORE ON THE WEBFor more columns by Dr Shikha Sharma and other wellnessstories, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch

Photos: THINKSTOCK

They say life begins at thisage. Let yours be thehealthiest you’ll ever have

STAYING HEALTHYAFTER 40

PART II

WITH TIME, the unexercisedmuscles of your body begin to

degenerate. This mostly happensbecause of a sedentary lifestyle. Muscle degeneration, in turn, leadsto an overall collapse of your bonestructure. So if you are experiencingbackaches, joint pain and other backproblems, it is a sign of a weakenedskeletal system. The only way toavoid this is by eating right and exercising. The ideal combination ofexercises is cardio, flexibility andstrength training.

EAT RIGHTOnce you’re over40, your bodygoes throughmany changes.Your bodymight start to showsigns of deficiency of vitamins and mineralslike vitamin B12, folicacid, calcium, iron and antioxidants.

By this time, your liver, bones andmuscles take the most beating. Theliver cleans the body of toxins, sowhen the liver becomes full of toxins, its own function begins toget compromised. The result is lowmetabolism, weight gain, water retention, hormonal problems andskin problems.

OVER 40? MANAGE STRESSManage stress via exercising, medi-tation, listening to music, or takingup other relaxing hobbies. These activities relax the mind to make itcalm and focused. We all know thatthe mind is very fickle, and manu-factures thoughts every few sec-onds which stem from desires. And unfulfilled desires lead to stress,anger and frustration.

You can make your mind less clut-tered by practicing meditation. Itmakes the mind more focused. Andas the mind relaxes, so does yourbody. A feeling of relaxation releas-es happy hormones, that has a posi-tive impact on the entire body.

The period after one turns 40 isthe best time to plan and applyhealthy habits in one’s daily routineso that you can live a longer, youth-ful and energetic life, and ensurethat your body ages healthily.

(This concludes the series)ask@drshikha.com

■ A diet rich in antioxidants.Choose foods like spirulina, greentea and vegetable juices likespinach, tomato, bottle gourd,beetroot and cucumber.■ Salads: Eat at least one bowlevery day. Salads contain vital enzymes that help the body digestcooked food. Eat lettuce leaves,rocket leaves, sun-dried tomatoes,

blanched broccoli, boiledpeas and asparagus. Sal-

ads are also a goodsource of calcium.■ Oils: Consume oilsrich in natural omega 3and omega 6 fatty acids.

Eat almonds, flaxseeds,sesame seeds, peanuts,walnuts and pine nuts. Incidentally, all nuts andoilseeds are naturally

cholesterol free.■ Cereals: Eat natural, unrefined forms of cereal like broken wheat, brown rice poha,natural oats and ragi. ■ Fruits: These can be a goodsource of vitamins like pineapple,apple, cherries and berries (essential for the wellbeing of the kidneys), melons (keeps theblood healthy), plums, grapes,guavas, mangoes, apricots, etc.

CHOOSE THESE FOODS

PACKING A PUNCH Fruits are a goodsource of vitamins

BREATHE IN Meditationrelaxes the mind,which in turnrelaxes the body

22 twitter.com/HTBrunchPERSONAL AGENDA

Cricketer

Irfan PathanHOMETOWNBaroda

PLACE OF BIRTHBaroda, Gujarat

FIRST BREAKDecember 12,2003 againstAustralia

HIGH POINT OFYOUR LIFE Bagging my Indiacap. What a moment!

LOW POINT OFYOUR LIFE When I injured myback in 2009-10

SUN SIGNScorpio

BIRTHDAYOctober 27

CURRENTLY I AM...Looking forward to representing India in the West Indies tri-series

SCHOOL/COLLEGEMES High School, Baroda

You only had one bicycle between youand Yusuf, were there fights? Yes, like all siblings we fought alot but we always had each other’s back.When did you realise that cricket wasyour calling in life? When I was 14 and my parentswere very supportive.What did you buy first: bat or ball? Bowling shoes because I didn’thave a pair for the longest time.Who are your best buddies on the Indian team? Robin Uthappa. But I get alongwith everyone.There are cricket matches all throughthe year. How do you stay fit? It is very important to sleep welland train harder each day.If you could party the night away withone guy from the Indian dressingroom, who would it be? Cricket is not about one individual. The reason that our team is

successful is because we allwork hard together andparty together.After the Pakistan tour, youwere India’s golden boy for awhile. Did it hurt after youwere dropped from theteam? Yes it did hurt, but Ialways knew I willcome back strong.And I’ve been train-ing very hardsince then.What do you do rightbefore a game? I pray and stay relaxed.Best moment in thedressing room. Winning the T20World Cup(2007) and shar-ing it with my brother. The at-mosphere in the dressing roomwas unreal and electrifying.One senior player you are scared of. I respect all of them and fear noone.One piece of advice you wish some-one had given you 10 years ago. You shouldn’t be too hard on

yourself. If you weren’t a cricketer, you wouldhave been…

My parents wantedme to become a doctor

or a priest.Your favourite Bollywood movie.

Hera Pheri (2000).Your last meal would be... Anything cooked bymom.

You have five minutes topack, what do you takewith you? Two pair of jeans,two T-shirts, a pair ofshoes, my prayer carpet, iPad andheadphones.A song that defines yourcurrent state of mind. Take my breath away

– Top Gun (1986).What attracts you to a woman? She has to be a nice humanbeing and respect elders.Do you enjoy playing or watching anyother sport? I enjoy playing table tennis andvolleyball.If you could be a superhero, who

would you be? I would like to be Popeye.A sin you’d love to indulge in. I try and avoid all sin.A moment that moved you to tears. Making a comeback to theIndian team in 2011 after myback injury.The last line of your autobiographywould read…It has to be something aboutmy family.

Biryani PayaMixed vegetablesthat my momcooks Mangoes Methikeema

5 THINGS IRFAN LOVES

TO EAT

—Interviewed by Amrah Ashraf

Photo: RAJ K RAJ

Photo:THINKSTOCK

WHO IS THE MOSTDIFFICULT BATSMAN TOBOWL TO?

AdamGilchrist