‘We are born with spiritual understanding’
Gayatri Jayaraman
Saturday, August 12, 2006 21:22 IST
Film-maker Shekhar Kapur looks deep into his inner self, saying he can detach himself and question everything he does
You have become increasingly spiritual after Bandit Queen. Was there a turning point in your life?
I believe we are all born with a spiritual understanding. As children, we see the universe is born of Leela, and is at play. In order to comprehend society, we begin to edit out things that become confusing, and when the consciousness comes into conflict with the individual, ego is born.
Children are born into consciousness because their sense of the imaginary and the real is not distinct. Spirituality is as much a path of unlearning as it is of learning.
As a child I would sleep on my terrace in Delhi and, looking at the infiniteness of the stars my consciousness was split into a schizophrenic understanding of the dual—finite and infinite realities. I have always had to contend with the imagined. At 26, I wrote a half-novel that was never quite published on the theme. I have written short stories and poems to express it. All my films are linked by the theme of loss of innocence. It is a sense that has been accelerated because I don’t quite understand the society in which I live.
Your spiritual poetry and writings reflect thoughts on your daughter. What’s been her impact on you?
As a father, I have come to recognise the unconditional love I feel for my daughter. It expands beyond her and in the process it de-crusts my soul.
When you experience love like that, your soul becomes flexible. It begins to shake and dance and flow and the crust that has formed over it through time begins to crumble. The debris shakes off. Maybe I want to leave her something to know me by when she grows up.
What do you live by? What spiritual urges channel your creativity?
What has shaped me is agony. You agonise, you act, you succeed, you fail, and through that agony you question the existence of reality, of desire, of joy. For me, it is necessary to drop individuality.
I find my individuality is my greatest prison. Who I am is shaped by the context in which I am placed. I question who I am when pulled out of context. The answer to that is out of context, I’m not.
Are you running from the context in which you were—Bollywood?
No, I will not, have not withdrawn. At the end of the day we all need that context to be. I am human, not a saint. I live in a way that many would term ‘immoral’.
The difference is that I am able to detach myself and question everything that I do. Spirituality does not make one a better person. The assumption of one being a better person is in itself a victory of the ego.
And how does this newfound understanding of consciousness impact you?
Consciousness is nothing more than a state of being. It has no purpose, unlike everything we imbibe with it.
Do you separate you, the director from you, the self, and your achievements?
People talk of the Big Bang. If there was a beginning, there must be an end. But there is no linear time, so where is the end? I call it the Big Laugh. Someone laughed ‘ha, ha ha’ And between the first and the second ‘ha’s, came a few billion years.
What I create has an identity that is separate from what I am. There are some who, instead of creating, block creation by their being. I find it important to allow creation to flow through me. Masoom, Bandit Queen, Mr India, they all exist with identities of their own.
How big an influence is Deepak Chopra?
I read no books, I follow no gurus, I visit no temples. Deepak Chopra is a friend, but I’ve never read a book of his.
He’s an amazing guy, he can quote you masters on any subject. He gave me the confidence that I was not mad. That it wasn’t me. It was others who didn’t get it.
Have you found a path that works best?
I have no answers. All I have are questions, and more questions, and more questions. This universe is Shiv’s tandav, the dance of unorganised chaos-spewing creation and destruction randomly as it is danced.
When you give in to the chaos, maybe, just maybe, you bring yourself into harmony with the unpredictable.
Monday, April 30, 2007
EDIT PAGE INTERVIEW: James Laine: I don't Apologise/ Jan 14, 2006
‘No. I am not apologising for the books’
Gayatri Jayaraman
Saturday, January 14, 2006 21:35 IST
The books 'Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India' and 'The Epic of Shivaji' have been banned by the Mahrasthra government after descendants of Shivaji protested. The scholarship of the author James W Laine has been trashed and there are now demands that he be extradited. Laine, a professor of religious studies in the US candidly fields Gayatri Jayaraman’s questions on freedom of speech and historical perspectives.
Your first book Hindu King was banned in 2004 and the second, actually a precursor, was banned recently. Was the first work available all this while with no controversy? How do you react to the bans?
Yes, it has been available in India since 2001. The precursor is primarily an English translation of a Sanskrit epic poem Shivaji himself commissioned (the Shivabharata). Since it is the work of a court poet and its sole purpose was to glorify Shivaji, it’s hard to see why it would be controversial. Given the second controversy, one can see how people might interpret the first book in the same light. I understand that the cause for offense was the use of the word “oedipal”. I used the word to highlight the father-son conflict theme rather evident in the text, but it was taken as an explicit comparison to mythical Greek hero Oedipus.
You had apologised for inadvertent controversy, but are you apologising for writing the books or for theories and facts in them?
No, I am not apologising for the books. Both are honest works of scholarship not intended to be offensive to anyone. If it were my intention to defame Shivaji, why would I translate a 340 page text the sole purpose of which was to glorify Shivaji?
Marathi scholar Bhalchandrarao Patwardhan challenges some of your facts and refutes your theories. How do you respond?
These critiques assume that my primary purpose was to re-write the history of Shivaji, whereas the purpose was to understand the forces that shape the way the stories are told. I am interested in how historical, and some not-so-historical ‘facts’ are shaped into a morality tale. I don’t believe Patwardhan ever took seriously its real purpose. One notes his lengthy refutation of the idea that Shahji was not Shivaji’s biological father. I never made such a claim which a careful reading of the book would make clear.
The reason I wrote “unthinkable thoughts” was because I believed the impulse to read the story as a patriotic tale or a religious morality tale is so strong, it becomes impossible to get into a different frame of mind. So I am not surprised some critics still reject the work so vehemently. Please note that no critic writing for a peer-reviewed academic publication has attacked the book.
Who did you meet in the course of research—other scholars, descendants who protested? Were they aware of your earlier book and the research? Why did the protest not erupt in the research phase?
Since some people who helped me with Marathi or Sanskrit had to later take police protection, I cannot mention names. During the research phase, I was more concerned with gathering data than with analysis. It is my analysis that has caused controversy. Except for a few scholars who understood the nature of my inquiry, most people in India assumed my work was an act of devotion rather than an exercise in critical scholarship.
You mentioned you hoped for debate and criticism, not condemnation. Since the first controversy has your work ever been academically challenged? Have facts contradicting yours emerged? Do you accept or refute them?
There is one area where I believe my work is flawed. Although I discuss the writing of Mahatma Phule, in light of recent conflicts, I see I underestimated the continuing influence of his critique of brahmin bias in writing about Shivaji. I am of course accused of colluding in that bias, a fact I vehemently deny. Otherwise, I think it has held up pretty well.
Has your reading of the history suffered for a lack of understanding of the cultural environment as alleged? Were you an outsider looking in?
I do not believe in framing things as insiders and outsiders. Clearly the big fight is between brahmins and Marathas. Both are “insiders.” I got caught up in this fight and became a convenient target. I wrote the book for other scholars, Indian and non-Indian. Within that community, the book has been well-received. Criticisms have come from a different audience who never accepted the scholarly premises.
Does history change according to perspective? Or is cultural context crucial to its interpretation?
Of course. History is always a story. The big issue is not simply the recording of facts, but the way they are used in a narrative. My real interest is in reflecting on the nature of that narrative and its motivations. Is it to inspire devotion? Serve the nation state? Criticise a particular religion or group? These are in a sense second-order questions, but perhaps the all-important ones, nonetheless.
What expectations did you have for your work in Indian scholarly circles? Surely, you must have foreseen it would make waves?
I hoped it would receive a respectful response and it did. Traditional scholarship was an act of following one’s guru, and transmitting ancient knowledge faithfully. Modern scholarship is about creative new responses, “making waves.” One hopes to “make waves.” One does not, however, hope to be banned, indicted or cause acts of violence.
How have the bans impacted your perception of India/Maratha culture and history? Do you continue your research in this field?
Yes. I no longer concentrate on Maharashtra as I do not foresee a time when I can research there. My Marathi gets rustier by the day. But I will always been interested in India.
Do you think controversy has actually helped stir interest in this field of study?
Unfortunately, there has been more heat than light. Of course, now scholars realise it is unwise to research any subject related to Shivaji.
There have been calls for your extradition and arrest. Do you fear for your safety and your research?
I have received threats and thus would not visit India, but otherwise I do not fear harm. I have re-oriented my research to broader themes that do not require fieldwork in India.
Your view on the practice of banning in democratic societies?
Scholarship depends on the free exchange of ideas and book banning would be intolerable in the USA.
What’s your next book on?
I am working on the relationship of religion and politics in the context of empires. It begins with reflections on Mauryan Emperor Ashoka.
Gayatri Jayaraman
Saturday, January 14, 2006 21:35 IST
The books 'Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India' and 'The Epic of Shivaji' have been banned by the Mahrasthra government after descendants of Shivaji protested. The scholarship of the author James W Laine has been trashed and there are now demands that he be extradited. Laine, a professor of religious studies in the US candidly fields Gayatri Jayaraman’s questions on freedom of speech and historical perspectives.
Your first book Hindu King was banned in 2004 and the second, actually a precursor, was banned recently. Was the first work available all this while with no controversy? How do you react to the bans?
Yes, it has been available in India since 2001. The precursor is primarily an English translation of a Sanskrit epic poem Shivaji himself commissioned (the Shivabharata). Since it is the work of a court poet and its sole purpose was to glorify Shivaji, it’s hard to see why it would be controversial. Given the second controversy, one can see how people might interpret the first book in the same light. I understand that the cause for offense was the use of the word “oedipal”. I used the word to highlight the father-son conflict theme rather evident in the text, but it was taken as an explicit comparison to mythical Greek hero Oedipus.
You had apologised for inadvertent controversy, but are you apologising for writing the books or for theories and facts in them?
No, I am not apologising for the books. Both are honest works of scholarship not intended to be offensive to anyone. If it were my intention to defame Shivaji, why would I translate a 340 page text the sole purpose of which was to glorify Shivaji?
Marathi scholar Bhalchandrarao Patwardhan challenges some of your facts and refutes your theories. How do you respond?
These critiques assume that my primary purpose was to re-write the history of Shivaji, whereas the purpose was to understand the forces that shape the way the stories are told. I am interested in how historical, and some not-so-historical ‘facts’ are shaped into a morality tale. I don’t believe Patwardhan ever took seriously its real purpose. One notes his lengthy refutation of the idea that Shahji was not Shivaji’s biological father. I never made such a claim which a careful reading of the book would make clear.
The reason I wrote “unthinkable thoughts” was because I believed the impulse to read the story as a patriotic tale or a religious morality tale is so strong, it becomes impossible to get into a different frame of mind. So I am not surprised some critics still reject the work so vehemently. Please note that no critic writing for a peer-reviewed academic publication has attacked the book.
Who did you meet in the course of research—other scholars, descendants who protested? Were they aware of your earlier book and the research? Why did the protest not erupt in the research phase?
Since some people who helped me with Marathi or Sanskrit had to later take police protection, I cannot mention names. During the research phase, I was more concerned with gathering data than with analysis. It is my analysis that has caused controversy. Except for a few scholars who understood the nature of my inquiry, most people in India assumed my work was an act of devotion rather than an exercise in critical scholarship.
You mentioned you hoped for debate and criticism, not condemnation. Since the first controversy has your work ever been academically challenged? Have facts contradicting yours emerged? Do you accept or refute them?
There is one area where I believe my work is flawed. Although I discuss the writing of Mahatma Phule, in light of recent conflicts, I see I underestimated the continuing influence of his critique of brahmin bias in writing about Shivaji. I am of course accused of colluding in that bias, a fact I vehemently deny. Otherwise, I think it has held up pretty well.
Has your reading of the history suffered for a lack of understanding of the cultural environment as alleged? Were you an outsider looking in?
I do not believe in framing things as insiders and outsiders. Clearly the big fight is between brahmins and Marathas. Both are “insiders.” I got caught up in this fight and became a convenient target. I wrote the book for other scholars, Indian and non-Indian. Within that community, the book has been well-received. Criticisms have come from a different audience who never accepted the scholarly premises.
Does history change according to perspective? Or is cultural context crucial to its interpretation?
Of course. History is always a story. The big issue is not simply the recording of facts, but the way they are used in a narrative. My real interest is in reflecting on the nature of that narrative and its motivations. Is it to inspire devotion? Serve the nation state? Criticise a particular religion or group? These are in a sense second-order questions, but perhaps the all-important ones, nonetheless.
What expectations did you have for your work in Indian scholarly circles? Surely, you must have foreseen it would make waves?
I hoped it would receive a respectful response and it did. Traditional scholarship was an act of following one’s guru, and transmitting ancient knowledge faithfully. Modern scholarship is about creative new responses, “making waves.” One hopes to “make waves.” One does not, however, hope to be banned, indicted or cause acts of violence.
How have the bans impacted your perception of India/Maratha culture and history? Do you continue your research in this field?
Yes. I no longer concentrate on Maharashtra as I do not foresee a time when I can research there. My Marathi gets rustier by the day. But I will always been interested in India.
Do you think controversy has actually helped stir interest in this field of study?
Unfortunately, there has been more heat than light. Of course, now scholars realise it is unwise to research any subject related to Shivaji.
There have been calls for your extradition and arrest. Do you fear for your safety and your research?
I have received threats and thus would not visit India, but otherwise I do not fear harm. I have re-oriented my research to broader themes that do not require fieldwork in India.
Your view on the practice of banning in democratic societies?
Scholarship depends on the free exchange of ideas and book banning would be intolerable in the USA.
What’s your next book on?
I am working on the relationship of religion and politics in the context of empires. It begins with reflections on Mauryan Emperor Ashoka.
Tamil Brahmins are the new minority/ May 21, 2006, DNA
Gayatri Jayaraman
Sunday, May 21, 2006 00:13 IST
Mumbai: “The only person in the state to oppose reservations and to insist no new categories be added to it is me, and I have no takers” says Cho Ramaswamy, journalist and political commentator.
“Forget Jayalalithaa, even a paper like the Hindu will never oppose reservations in this state because the minority - the forward classes - have no voice.”
The reason behind the success of reservation in the state, he says, is its brilliant use as a political tool to sway the majority vote bank and the ‘pathetic state’ of the minority community.
“Reservations in Tamil Nadu have been in place seen pre-independence from the time of the justice party. Hence the electorate is accustomed to it more than any other state,” he says. All political parties in Tamil Nadu support reservation without opposition.
Very few statistics are available on the state of the ‘forward community’ in Tamil Nadu. P V Indiresan, a Padma Bhushan awardee and former director of IIT Chennai, says, “I am in Delhi because of the reservations in Tamil Nadu. My immediate family and of those I know have all migrated from Tamil Nadu to other states or other countries and will never return.”
On December 27, 2005, the Tamil Brahmin Association, headed by N Narayan, submitted a proposal before the state government seeking 15 per cent reservation for Brahmins in educational and governmental institutions.
Nothing, not unexpectedly, came of it.In Tamil Nadu, Backward Castes (BC) get 30 per cent reservation in educational institutions, Most Backward Castes (MBC) 20; Scheduled Castes (SC) 18; and Scheduled Tribes (ST) one per cent. The 1,224 medical seats then get divided into 354 for BCs; 247 for MBCs; 226 for SCs; and 13 for STs.
The rest of the 384 seats are allowed as open competition, where everyone competes, regardless of community. In 2005, the final tally released by the Directorate of Medical Education indicates only 28 students from the `non-reserved’ or Forward Caste (FC) have got into government medical colleges, representing about 2.3 per cent.
Are Brahmins a minority in the state and should reservations be extended to them? “Brahmins were always a minority,” points out Prakash, a financial analyst in a leading multinational firm.
“Their focus was always on education. So when they were denied that, they just left and began to find it elsewhere.” While few grudge the righting of a historical wrong, many fear the lack of educational opportunity will shut the door on them.
Sunday, May 21, 2006 00:13 IST
Mumbai: “The only person in the state to oppose reservations and to insist no new categories be added to it is me, and I have no takers” says Cho Ramaswamy, journalist and political commentator.
“Forget Jayalalithaa, even a paper like the Hindu will never oppose reservations in this state because the minority - the forward classes - have no voice.”
The reason behind the success of reservation in the state, he says, is its brilliant use as a political tool to sway the majority vote bank and the ‘pathetic state’ of the minority community.
“Reservations in Tamil Nadu have been in place seen pre-independence from the time of the justice party. Hence the electorate is accustomed to it more than any other state,” he says. All political parties in Tamil Nadu support reservation without opposition.
Very few statistics are available on the state of the ‘forward community’ in Tamil Nadu. P V Indiresan, a Padma Bhushan awardee and former director of IIT Chennai, says, “I am in Delhi because of the reservations in Tamil Nadu. My immediate family and of those I know have all migrated from Tamil Nadu to other states or other countries and will never return.”
On December 27, 2005, the Tamil Brahmin Association, headed by N Narayan, submitted a proposal before the state government seeking 15 per cent reservation for Brahmins in educational and governmental institutions.
Nothing, not unexpectedly, came of it.In Tamil Nadu, Backward Castes (BC) get 30 per cent reservation in educational institutions, Most Backward Castes (MBC) 20; Scheduled Castes (SC) 18; and Scheduled Tribes (ST) one per cent. The 1,224 medical seats then get divided into 354 for BCs; 247 for MBCs; 226 for SCs; and 13 for STs.
The rest of the 384 seats are allowed as open competition, where everyone competes, regardless of community. In 2005, the final tally released by the Directorate of Medical Education indicates only 28 students from the `non-reserved’ or Forward Caste (FC) have got into government medical colleges, representing about 2.3 per cent.
Are Brahmins a minority in the state and should reservations be extended to them? “Brahmins were always a minority,” points out Prakash, a financial analyst in a leading multinational firm.
“Their focus was always on education. So when they were denied that, they just left and began to find it elsewhere.” While few grudge the righting of a historical wrong, many fear the lack of educational opportunity will shut the door on them.
EXCLUSIVE MAIN EDITION LEAD: Wardrobe Malfunctions: Accident or Design? April 02, 2006
Gayatri Jayaraman
Sunday, April 02, 2006 01:37 IST
MUMBAI: Underneath the clothes is a seamy story. Fashion’s biggest week ripped to reveal more than flashes of bosom and derriere — MMS clips, blame game, and rumours of publicity stunts.
Police chief AN Roy denied receiving an official complaint, but ‘wardrobe malfunctions’ on three successive days of the Lakme Fashion Week brought the event under a cloud. Turn to p18
“It’s hard to rule out a publicity stunt,” said Pradeep Hirani of Kimaya, a key Indian buyer. “But then a friend from Norway saw it on the news. It’s put Indian fashion on the map. If they can have a Janet Jackson, we can have ours.”
While all lauded the models’ grace under fire, some weren’t too sure about the designers. “The designer-model relationship is one of trust,” said designer Lascelles Symons. “A new model might begin to distrust her designer, wondering if rumours are true.”
Symons, who himself started out as a model, said he does not know how to make it up to Gauhar Khan, who was modelling his skirt when the zipper came undone. “I asked her to stop by my store and pick up a dress,” he said. “But she’s afraid the media would make something of her coming to the store. So she said she’d rather have it sent to her place.”
Khan was livid at being caught on camera. The MMS clips doing the rounds have just made it worse. “It’s not the designers who are doing this to me, it’s the media,” she fumed. “Designers have mothers and sisters and wouldn’t do this to me. Some said I didn’t wear underwear. Don’t they know models wear thongs?”
Designer Narendra Kumar believes such incidents are not good publicity and only reflect bad workmanship. “If it is a publicity stunt, it’s very wrong,” he said.
Nevertheless, designers in Delhi are jittery. “The designers showing on day one have been told to pull in the celebrities after Bollywood walked the Mumbai ramp,” said a member of the Fashion Design Council of India.
Sunday, April 02, 2006 01:37 IST
MUMBAI: Underneath the clothes is a seamy story. Fashion’s biggest week ripped to reveal more than flashes of bosom and derriere — MMS clips, blame game, and rumours of publicity stunts.
Police chief AN Roy denied receiving an official complaint, but ‘wardrobe malfunctions’ on three successive days of the Lakme Fashion Week brought the event under a cloud. Turn to p18
“It’s hard to rule out a publicity stunt,” said Pradeep Hirani of Kimaya, a key Indian buyer. “But then a friend from Norway saw it on the news. It’s put Indian fashion on the map. If they can have a Janet Jackson, we can have ours.”
While all lauded the models’ grace under fire, some weren’t too sure about the designers. “The designer-model relationship is one of trust,” said designer Lascelles Symons. “A new model might begin to distrust her designer, wondering if rumours are true.”
Symons, who himself started out as a model, said he does not know how to make it up to Gauhar Khan, who was modelling his skirt when the zipper came undone. “I asked her to stop by my store and pick up a dress,” he said. “But she’s afraid the media would make something of her coming to the store. So she said she’d rather have it sent to her place.”
Khan was livid at being caught on camera. The MMS clips doing the rounds have just made it worse. “It’s not the designers who are doing this to me, it’s the media,” she fumed. “Designers have mothers and sisters and wouldn’t do this to me. Some said I didn’t wear underwear. Don’t they know models wear thongs?”
Designer Narendra Kumar believes such incidents are not good publicity and only reflect bad workmanship. “If it is a publicity stunt, it’s very wrong,” he said.
Nevertheless, designers in Delhi are jittery. “The designers showing on day one have been told to pull in the celebrities after Bollywood walked the Mumbai ramp,” said a member of the Fashion Design Council of India.
Women Criminals on the rise?/ Sept 17, 2005, DNA
They're more victims than criminals
Gayatri Jayaraman, DNA News
It will never quite be the same to be a woman in Mumbai again. Sharmila, Amishi, Preeti, and Tarannum have, perhaps, forever changed whatever little the inelegant ladies storming railway compartments at peak hour did not.
A diploma holder in advanced computing, Tarannum Khan is the latest to be thrust into the limelight. A little over a year ago it was Sharmila Shanbag, the first ever Indian woman to be extradited from Germany with an Interpol Red Corner notice. In between, came the elitist Amishi Vaish (who kidnapped Vaibhav Agarwal, the 16-year-old son of Mumbai-based stock broker Ramdev Agarwal), and the bewildering Preetii Jaiin (who is alleged to have paid a 'supari' to the underworld to murder film director Madhur Bhandarkar).
This could well have a little bit of history. In 1975, feminist theorist Freda Adler in her 'Sisters in Crime' stated her belief that the 1970's second wave of feminism consequently coincided with a 'dramatic' upsurge in women's criminal activity. Has the wave caught up with Mumbai, too?
Prayas director Vijay Raghavan, a field action project of TISS and one of the few NGOs working for women prisoners within state prisons, differs. "I wouldn't correlate it quite so simplistically, but it is symptomatic of the social migration of women. It is said society creates crime, and individuals commit it. Crime is a complete economic system. There is a demand for it and hence there is supply." Hence, he says, there is little logic to projecting Tarannum as a criminal in a society of which she is probably also a victim.
"Any marginalised community may rise against its oppressors to get even, but that does not erase the facts of its marginalisation," points out a feminist voice - filmmaker Madhushree Dutta.
"Let's not forget that though Preetii Jaiin and Tarannum are being painted as criminals now, the fact remains that both were victims." Preetii, an alleged victim of the casting couch, in itself a huge crime, and Tarannum of the exploitation of sexuality by bookies and bar life. Crimes that both attempted to control, but failed. Both remain pawns in the system they fight.
"The media is extremely harsh to women in crime. Their motives are sought and held up to scrutiny, but few ever question the social process behind it," says Raghavan. Working for over 15 years, he has derived that the dividing line is not between the women with economic motives and those without, but rather the social migration of women with or without support.
"The woman with support remains protected by the system despite its apparent inequalities, but the one who breaks away, whether an educated woman who needs to assert individualism, or an economically backward one who needs to fend for her family, also moves away from the protection that the family, typically the male domain, provides. In this process, the woman is more prone to negative influences."
Raghavan believes that women thrust or 'liberated' into supportless social situations, often have little actual choice in the matter. "A woman with no social support becomes dependent on the relationships she builds in the process of social migration. Being active in taking charge of their lives, these women were often exploited by the relationships they built with the people, such as middlemen, who allowed them to break away, and socially migrate. Women in such situations tend to think 'even if I have nothing else, at least I'm making money' and they hold onto that until the social support they hope for, most often in the form of a dependable man, who may or may never come their way."
Raghavan still believes crime essentially remains a man's domain. "Despite all the hype, let's not forget that women commit only 5% of the crime in Mumbai and probably only 1 to 2% of that in other places.
Gayatri Jayaraman, DNA News
It will never quite be the same to be a woman in Mumbai again. Sharmila, Amishi, Preeti, and Tarannum have, perhaps, forever changed whatever little the inelegant ladies storming railway compartments at peak hour did not.
A diploma holder in advanced computing, Tarannum Khan is the latest to be thrust into the limelight. A little over a year ago it was Sharmila Shanbag, the first ever Indian woman to be extradited from Germany with an Interpol Red Corner notice. In between, came the elitist Amishi Vaish (who kidnapped Vaibhav Agarwal, the 16-year-old son of Mumbai-based stock broker Ramdev Agarwal), and the bewildering Preetii Jaiin (who is alleged to have paid a 'supari' to the underworld to murder film director Madhur Bhandarkar).
This could well have a little bit of history. In 1975, feminist theorist Freda Adler in her 'Sisters in Crime' stated her belief that the 1970's second wave of feminism consequently coincided with a 'dramatic' upsurge in women's criminal activity. Has the wave caught up with Mumbai, too?
Prayas director Vijay Raghavan, a field action project of TISS and one of the few NGOs working for women prisoners within state prisons, differs. "I wouldn't correlate it quite so simplistically, but it is symptomatic of the social migration of women. It is said society creates crime, and individuals commit it. Crime is a complete economic system. There is a demand for it and hence there is supply." Hence, he says, there is little logic to projecting Tarannum as a criminal in a society of which she is probably also a victim.
"Any marginalised community may rise against its oppressors to get even, but that does not erase the facts of its marginalisation," points out a feminist voice - filmmaker Madhushree Dutta.
"Let's not forget that though Preetii Jaiin and Tarannum are being painted as criminals now, the fact remains that both were victims." Preetii, an alleged victim of the casting couch, in itself a huge crime, and Tarannum of the exploitation of sexuality by bookies and bar life. Crimes that both attempted to control, but failed. Both remain pawns in the system they fight.
"The media is extremely harsh to women in crime. Their motives are sought and held up to scrutiny, but few ever question the social process behind it," says Raghavan. Working for over 15 years, he has derived that the dividing line is not between the women with economic motives and those without, but rather the social migration of women with or without support.
"The woman with support remains protected by the system despite its apparent inequalities, but the one who breaks away, whether an educated woman who needs to assert individualism, or an economically backward one who needs to fend for her family, also moves away from the protection that the family, typically the male domain, provides. In this process, the woman is more prone to negative influences."
Raghavan believes that women thrust or 'liberated' into supportless social situations, often have little actual choice in the matter. "A woman with no social support becomes dependent on the relationships she builds in the process of social migration. Being active in taking charge of their lives, these women were often exploited by the relationships they built with the people, such as middlemen, who allowed them to break away, and socially migrate. Women in such situations tend to think 'even if I have nothing else, at least I'm making money' and they hold onto that until the social support they hope for, most often in the form of a dependable man, who may or may never come their way."
Raghavan still believes crime essentially remains a man's domain. "Despite all the hype, let's not forget that women commit only 5% of the crime in Mumbai and probably only 1 to 2% of that in other places.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Rape Law biased against men?/ 18/5/2006
Rape law biased against men? [DNA News]
‘Solution does not lie in dismissing the law or taking away its teeth’
Gayatri Jayaraman
Rajesh Ahire, brother of Kamlesh Ahire, a 21-year-old gymnast falsely accused of rape by an infatuated teenager, who served nine days in jail, is still under medication and counselling for trauma. He can answer no questions, trembles with fear at the memory, and pleads to be left alone. His brother’s good looks, muscular physique and Olympic ambitions, he says have changed his close-knit lower middle class family forever.
On April 3, 2006, Sunil More was convicted of the rape of a middle class college student and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Twenty-seven witnesses, identities closely guarded and well protected by a police force under severe media and public scrutiny, undoubtedly contributed to this conviction. On October 19, 2005, barely a few months after the Marine Drive rape case, a 15-year-old ragpicker was raped, also by a police constable, Chandrakant Pawar, also in Mumbai. Soon forgotten by the media, justice is yet to be done in the second case.
Given the circumstances, is the Supreme Court ruling placing the woman’s word in a case of rape as truth beyond the pale of medical evidence a loose cannon against the innocent, or an overdue sword against the guilty? Some fear misuse of the law just as, they claim, IPC 498a, has been misused. Save India Family Foundation, launched from Silicon Valley and with a large subscription of harassed techies, petitions against 498a and hails the July 20, 2005, Supreme Court Bench decision that warns against ‘legal terrorism’. Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice HK Sema said “Dowry law is a shield, not an assassin’s weapon…. The court would like to go on record that for noting that educated women are approaching the courts for divorce and resorting to proceedings against in-laws under section 498a IPC, implicating not only the husbands but also their family members whether in India or abroad. This is nothing but misuse of the beneficial provision intended to save the women from unscrupulous husbands.”
Bikram Jeet Batra, legal officer of Amnesty International India, reacting to the judgement observed “The solution does not lie in dismissing the law or taking away its teeth completely by making it compoundable and bailable,” and professed Amnesty’s support for the law.
According to the National Bureau of Crime statistics, 58,121 cases were booked under 498a in 2005, an increase of 14% over the previous year. Compare that to the same report’s 1,54,333 cases of crime against women for the same period. According to the State Crime Records Bureau, “One rape occurs in the state every six hours.” Given the statistics, the ruling must surely be welcomed?
Veena Gowda, women’s right activist and lawyer dismisses concerns. “Every law is abused to an extent, 498A is highlighted because it aids women. And if you look at the statistics of how many women die within marriages, are beaten up, sexually abused, and compare that to the number of 498A cases filed, you’ll find it is underused, not misused.” What this ruling offers women in a world where a report is often treated with disbelief, she says, is an assurance that shoddy medical examinations and the absurd excuse of lack of witnesses-rapes don’t occur in public view, but in private spaces-will no longer delay or banish justice.
Harish Sadani, of Men Against Violence, who worked closely with Kamlesh, is glad for the justice the Supreme Court ruling will bring to abused women, after all MAVA was founded on the premise of 498 A, to include men in the solution. “But even gender-sensitive lawyers are getting sceptical of 498A now and advise male clients to apply for anticipatory bail,” he points out. “498A has been misused. It is essential to end the character assassination that a woman who cries rape is subjected to, but it is also necessary to guard against misuse of the law. It is not desirable to depend solely on her views,” he warns.
‘Solution does not lie in dismissing the law or taking away its teeth’
Gayatri Jayaraman
Rajesh Ahire, brother of Kamlesh Ahire, a 21-year-old gymnast falsely accused of rape by an infatuated teenager, who served nine days in jail, is still under medication and counselling for trauma. He can answer no questions, trembles with fear at the memory, and pleads to be left alone. His brother’s good looks, muscular physique and Olympic ambitions, he says have changed his close-knit lower middle class family forever.
On April 3, 2006, Sunil More was convicted of the rape of a middle class college student and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Twenty-seven witnesses, identities closely guarded and well protected by a police force under severe media and public scrutiny, undoubtedly contributed to this conviction. On October 19, 2005, barely a few months after the Marine Drive rape case, a 15-year-old ragpicker was raped, also by a police constable, Chandrakant Pawar, also in Mumbai. Soon forgotten by the media, justice is yet to be done in the second case.
Given the circumstances, is the Supreme Court ruling placing the woman’s word in a case of rape as truth beyond the pale of medical evidence a loose cannon against the innocent, or an overdue sword against the guilty? Some fear misuse of the law just as, they claim, IPC 498a, has been misused. Save India Family Foundation, launched from Silicon Valley and with a large subscription of harassed techies, petitions against 498a and hails the July 20, 2005, Supreme Court Bench decision that warns against ‘legal terrorism’. Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice HK Sema said “Dowry law is a shield, not an assassin’s weapon…. The court would like to go on record that for noting that educated women are approaching the courts for divorce and resorting to proceedings against in-laws under section 498a IPC, implicating not only the husbands but also their family members whether in India or abroad. This is nothing but misuse of the beneficial provision intended to save the women from unscrupulous husbands.”
Bikram Jeet Batra, legal officer of Amnesty International India, reacting to the judgement observed “The solution does not lie in dismissing the law or taking away its teeth completely by making it compoundable and bailable,” and professed Amnesty’s support for the law.
According to the National Bureau of Crime statistics, 58,121 cases were booked under 498a in 2005, an increase of 14% over the previous year. Compare that to the same report’s 1,54,333 cases of crime against women for the same period. According to the State Crime Records Bureau, “One rape occurs in the state every six hours.” Given the statistics, the ruling must surely be welcomed?
Veena Gowda, women’s right activist and lawyer dismisses concerns. “Every law is abused to an extent, 498A is highlighted because it aids women. And if you look at the statistics of how many women die within marriages, are beaten up, sexually abused, and compare that to the number of 498A cases filed, you’ll find it is underused, not misused.” What this ruling offers women in a world where a report is often treated with disbelief, she says, is an assurance that shoddy medical examinations and the absurd excuse of lack of witnesses-rapes don’t occur in public view, but in private spaces-will no longer delay or banish justice.
Harish Sadani, of Men Against Violence, who worked closely with Kamlesh, is glad for the justice the Supreme Court ruling will bring to abused women, after all MAVA was founded on the premise of 498 A, to include men in the solution. “But even gender-sensitive lawyers are getting sceptical of 498A now and advise male clients to apply for anticipatory bail,” he points out. “498A has been misused. It is essential to end the character assassination that a woman who cries rape is subjected to, but it is also necessary to guard against misuse of the law. It is not desirable to depend solely on her views,” he warns.
Prayas report labels bar girls 'human trafficking'
Tuesday, September 20, 2005 12:41:00 AM
Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo must be obtained from DNA.
Prayas report labels bar girls ‘human trafficking’
Gayatri Jayaraman
Think about it. You're a single woman, with two kids in primary school. An HR consultant gives you a job, takes large chun
should you not be as beautiful as some of your colleagues, and the job gives you grief. You'd quit? According to a new repor
just couldn't.
Crorepati bar girl Tarannum is fast becoming unrepresentative of the mass of women in the business, states a field action r
by Prayas, a field action group of Tata Institute of Social Sciences and one of the few NGOs working directly with prison cells.
The report spent the last six months studying bar girls at the Protective Home for Women, Chembur, the Kalyan prison, the S
Home for Minor Girls, Deonar, at bars and in their homes. The study examined entry processes, socio-economic situations,
and alternatives after the ban.
Vijay Raghavan, director of the project, squarely calls the business “trafficking”, claiming it fits the definition of the term
Protocol of 2002, key being the exploitation of a person in 'a position of vulnerability'.
"The findings of our study illustrate that these were not women who went into this business out of choice. We recommend th
taken against middlemen. The women urgently needed to be provided night shelters — they are very vulnerable now," he said
Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo must be obtained from DNA.
Prayas report labels bar girls ‘human trafficking’
Gayatri Jayaraman
Think about it. You're a single woman, with two kids in primary school. An HR consultant gives you a job, takes large chun
should you not be as beautiful as some of your colleagues, and the job gives you grief. You'd quit? According to a new repor
just couldn't.
Crorepati bar girl Tarannum is fast becoming unrepresentative of the mass of women in the business, states a field action r
by Prayas, a field action group of Tata Institute of Social Sciences and one of the few NGOs working directly with prison cells.
The report spent the last six months studying bar girls at the Protective Home for Women, Chembur, the Kalyan prison, the S
Home for Minor Girls, Deonar, at bars and in their homes. The study examined entry processes, socio-economic situations,
and alternatives after the ban.
Vijay Raghavan, director of the project, squarely calls the business “trafficking”, claiming it fits the definition of the term
Protocol of 2002, key being the exploitation of a person in 'a position of vulnerability'.
"The findings of our study illustrate that these were not women who went into this business out of choice. We recommend th
taken against middlemen. The women urgently needed to be provided night shelters — they are very vulnerable now," he said
Attack of the greens/ Nov 12, 2005
Saturday, November 12, 2005 7:56:00 PM
Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo must be obtained from DNA INDIA.
The attack of the greens
Gayatri Jayaraman
Hira Ratan Manek, a mechanical engineer and spice trader from Kerala took inspiration from Jainism, Greek, Egyptian and
native American philosophies, to develop a method of sun gazing. Since June 18 1995, 68-year-old Manek claims to have
lived purely on the energy of the sun and water with occasional tea, coffee and buttermilk in addition to ayurvedic medicines.
Much researched by medical communities in India and the US, Manek has spawned a following of sun gazers across the world.
While Manek may be extreme, he is indicative of a new breed of food followers that are bringing in a back-to-basics food
movement that has evolved from the manic, panicked vegetarian, plagued by FDA rulings. Tired of agonising over crushed
bone powder he firmly believes makes his chapati ka atta softer, the vegetarian has upped and decided to evolve by develop
his own stream. Whether for religious, animal welfare or plain health reasons, the evolving sects have spread from the by-
now common vegan, to the pesco vegetarian, the paleo dietarian, the rawist, the fruitarian, and the monotheistic instincto,
lacto ovarian, to name a few.
“The food markings and health diets are all fads,” says Laxmi Venkatraman, a school teacher who eats all vegetables partially-
steamed and eats only fruit until noon and after 6 pm, is a little bewildered by the markings on her tea powder, certifying it as
100% vegetarian, “These things make people panic. It’s best to use pure whole grains and ingredients that one is sure of.”
“This panic is unnecessary if one is led by what is right and the truth from the ecological, ethical, spiritual, and religious point
of view,” says nutritionist and fruitarian Vijaya Venkat, who runs the Health Awareness Centre. “All you need is biorhythmic
food, food that is in rhythm with your body and the world around you. Your needs are met by fruits, vegetables, nuts and
pulses.”
Pushpa Subramaniam, a follower who personalised the regime, is a sworn fruitarian. “It is sometimes not possible for me to
follow it all year round, but even with a 50 per cent adherence, no one in my household ever falls ill. When I do, I just lie
down and stick to fruits and that takes care of me. Pushpa propagates these views through occasional seminars or workshops
at the Sri Guruji Academy of Arts, and firmly believes such diets shape one’s personality and improve social welfare.
Such thinking harkens back to the Paleolithic age, when the first fruitarians or phalaharis, typified by the exiled prince Ram, is
said to have survived on forest fruit and nuts. This gave rise to a small sect of sadhus known as Ramanandis, who still follow
the diet. Dudhaharis are those who survive only on water.
In The Story of My Experiments With Truth, Gandhi details his beliefs; “It is my firm conviction that man need take no milk at
all, beyond the mother”s milk that he takes as a baby. His diet should consist of nothing but sunbaked fruits and nuts. He can
secure enough nourishment from fruits like grapes and nuts like almonds. Restraint of the sexual and other passions becomes
easy for a man who lives on such food.” Paleliothic groups in the West follow diets that involve even raw meats, fashioned in
the palate of paleolithic men.
In India, however, the back-to-basics vegetarian is still thinking about, and eliminating, certain food choices while deciding
how vegetarian to be. Fifity-five-year-old Chandru Wadhwa is an ovo-lactarian, a vegetarian who eats eggs. “Eggs are crucial
in building health and stamina,” he says. “Other meats are unnecessary and involve taking a life.” Chadru believes that some
of the benefits of being on top of the food chain are to use nature for one’s benefit without exploiting it.
Pesco-vegetarians, for instance, include the fish eating communities of India. As Karen Gelliger, president, University of Texas
Pesco-vegetarian Society, puts it, “Fish are the least-tampered-with meat form. Unlike other meats, they are not farmed or
force fed.”
But Mumbai’s first experimental vegan restaurant, Nosh, that was to introduce Mumbai to the exotica of vegetarian cuisine,
had a premature demise. The trend then, is still shy of populism, but remains a highly personalised and stylised back to
basics movement.
Permission to reprint or copy this article or photo must be obtained from DNA INDIA.
The attack of the greens
Gayatri Jayaraman
Hira Ratan Manek, a mechanical engineer and spice trader from Kerala took inspiration from Jainism, Greek, Egyptian and
native American philosophies, to develop a method of sun gazing. Since June 18 1995, 68-year-old Manek claims to have
lived purely on the energy of the sun and water with occasional tea, coffee and buttermilk in addition to ayurvedic medicines.
Much researched by medical communities in India and the US, Manek has spawned a following of sun gazers across the world.
While Manek may be extreme, he is indicative of a new breed of food followers that are bringing in a back-to-basics food
movement that has evolved from the manic, panicked vegetarian, plagued by FDA rulings. Tired of agonising over crushed
bone powder he firmly believes makes his chapati ka atta softer, the vegetarian has upped and decided to evolve by develop
his own stream. Whether for religious, animal welfare or plain health reasons, the evolving sects have spread from the by-
now common vegan, to the pesco vegetarian, the paleo dietarian, the rawist, the fruitarian, and the monotheistic instincto,
lacto ovarian, to name a few.
“The food markings and health diets are all fads,” says Laxmi Venkatraman, a school teacher who eats all vegetables partially-
steamed and eats only fruit until noon and after 6 pm, is a little bewildered by the markings on her tea powder, certifying it as
100% vegetarian, “These things make people panic. It’s best to use pure whole grains and ingredients that one is sure of.”
“This panic is unnecessary if one is led by what is right and the truth from the ecological, ethical, spiritual, and religious point
of view,” says nutritionist and fruitarian Vijaya Venkat, who runs the Health Awareness Centre. “All you need is biorhythmic
food, food that is in rhythm with your body and the world around you. Your needs are met by fruits, vegetables, nuts and
pulses.”
Pushpa Subramaniam, a follower who personalised the regime, is a sworn fruitarian. “It is sometimes not possible for me to
follow it all year round, but even with a 50 per cent adherence, no one in my household ever falls ill. When I do, I just lie
down and stick to fruits and that takes care of me. Pushpa propagates these views through occasional seminars or workshops
at the Sri Guruji Academy of Arts, and firmly believes such diets shape one’s personality and improve social welfare.
Such thinking harkens back to the Paleolithic age, when the first fruitarians or phalaharis, typified by the exiled prince Ram, is
said to have survived on forest fruit and nuts. This gave rise to a small sect of sadhus known as Ramanandis, who still follow
the diet. Dudhaharis are those who survive only on water.
In The Story of My Experiments With Truth, Gandhi details his beliefs; “It is my firm conviction that man need take no milk at
all, beyond the mother”s milk that he takes as a baby. His diet should consist of nothing but sunbaked fruits and nuts. He can
secure enough nourishment from fruits like grapes and nuts like almonds. Restraint of the sexual and other passions becomes
easy for a man who lives on such food.” Paleliothic groups in the West follow diets that involve even raw meats, fashioned in
the palate of paleolithic men.
In India, however, the back-to-basics vegetarian is still thinking about, and eliminating, certain food choices while deciding
how vegetarian to be. Fifity-five-year-old Chandru Wadhwa is an ovo-lactarian, a vegetarian who eats eggs. “Eggs are crucial
in building health and stamina,” he says. “Other meats are unnecessary and involve taking a life.” Chadru believes that some
of the benefits of being on top of the food chain are to use nature for one’s benefit without exploiting it.
Pesco-vegetarians, for instance, include the fish eating communities of India. As Karen Gelliger, president, University of Texas
Pesco-vegetarian Society, puts it, “Fish are the least-tampered-with meat form. Unlike other meats, they are not farmed or
force fed.”
But Mumbai’s first experimental vegan restaurant, Nosh, that was to introduce Mumbai to the exotica of vegetarian cuisine,
had a premature demise. The trend then, is still shy of populism, but remains a highly personalised and stylised back to
basics movement.
Perils of vigilance: A whistle-blower dies / NOV 24, 2005
Thursday, November 24, 2005 11:40:00 PM
Gayatri Jayaraman
DNA
MUMBAI: Struggling to express their grief, shock, despair and hope, students and alumni of the IIMs have taken to mailing,
blogging, calling, talking. A silence march was held at the IIM Lucknow mess on November 24, and elegies have been
incessantly pouring in, on alumni e-groups and blogs, condemning the murder of Manjunath, India's second martyr whistle-
blower.
Fondly remembered as Machan, the affable singer carried a certain warmth that suited his role as an active secretary of the
IIM Lucknow MBA batch of 2002. He cheered some up, gave others a dose of reality, and always did his job well. Possibly
this, more than anything else, made his assailants pump six bullets into the 27-year-old sales manager. Online, the shock
totters on despair. "Sad, but this is what our system has cultivated. One honest officer trying to do his job in the right way
becomes the victim of the very system he is trying to protect," says one sympathiser.
"It begins from why the gas has to be adulterated. Why the owners are so desperate about losing their license? Why Manju's
repeated recommendations didn't ring a bell in the hierarchy up at IOC? Should IIML have a separate elective for 'soft-skills'
for a sales role? These are few of the bigger questions that Manju's death imposes on us. Working towards them is one of the
ways we can pay respect to Manju," said the Remembering Manjunath blog. As the news spread, shocked peers called up
DNA. "We need to make a noise about it, so his death won't be in vain," was a common refrain.
Vikas Mantri of SBI Capital Markets was Manjunath's junior and considered him a mentor while at college. He met him last at
the IIM alumni meet 2004 and is ridden with guilt that he didn't pay much attention to the threats Manjunath was receiving
even then. "He was being offered large sums of money to clear inspections, he spoke of adulteration, of the hardships at a
PSU, and about the financial and political clout these dealers wielded. He received rude warnings, but I didn't know it would
lead to this." Beneath all the apparent despair and shock is a thirst for justice and change. "The one fallout is students will
now be wary of taking up jobs in such geographies," warns Shah.
Online community unites to get justice
Quick to react to Manjunath's murder, his friends from IIM Lucknow, Sri Jayachamarajendra Engineering College, Mysore and
other IIMs are participating in a signature campaign to seek justice.
The online community of his friends and well-wishers has expressed their support for a petition addressed to the Prime
Minister seeking independent inquiry into the murder. The signature count on the petition site has been fast increasing. At 12
noon on Thursday, it had 243 signatures and by 7 pm the number had touched the 800 mark.
Created by Manjunath's college friend Chandrashekar Ramanan, who is based in the US, the online community also urges
organisations like IOC to ensure the safety of their officers. IIM-Lucknow director Devi Singh told DNA he too supports the
petition.
Gayatri Jayaraman
DNA
MUMBAI: Struggling to express their grief, shock, despair and hope, students and alumni of the IIMs have taken to mailing,
blogging, calling, talking. A silence march was held at the IIM Lucknow mess on November 24, and elegies have been
incessantly pouring in, on alumni e-groups and blogs, condemning the murder of Manjunath, India's second martyr whistle-
blower.
Fondly remembered as Machan, the affable singer carried a certain warmth that suited his role as an active secretary of the
IIM Lucknow MBA batch of 2002. He cheered some up, gave others a dose of reality, and always did his job well. Possibly
this, more than anything else, made his assailants pump six bullets into the 27-year-old sales manager. Online, the shock
totters on despair. "Sad, but this is what our system has cultivated. One honest officer trying to do his job in the right way
becomes the victim of the very system he is trying to protect," says one sympathiser.
"It begins from why the gas has to be adulterated. Why the owners are so desperate about losing their license? Why Manju's
repeated recommendations didn't ring a bell in the hierarchy up at IOC? Should IIML have a separate elective for 'soft-skills'
for a sales role? These are few of the bigger questions that Manju's death imposes on us. Working towards them is one of the
ways we can pay respect to Manju," said the Remembering Manjunath blog. As the news spread, shocked peers called up
DNA. "We need to make a noise about it, so his death won't be in vain," was a common refrain.
Vikas Mantri of SBI Capital Markets was Manjunath's junior and considered him a mentor while at college. He met him last at
the IIM alumni meet 2004 and is ridden with guilt that he didn't pay much attention to the threats Manjunath was receiving
even then. "He was being offered large sums of money to clear inspections, he spoke of adulteration, of the hardships at a
PSU, and about the financial and political clout these dealers wielded. He received rude warnings, but I didn't know it would
lead to this." Beneath all the apparent despair and shock is a thirst for justice and change. "The one fallout is students will
now be wary of taking up jobs in such geographies," warns Shah.
Online community unites to get justice
Quick to react to Manjunath's murder, his friends from IIM Lucknow, Sri Jayachamarajendra Engineering College, Mysore and
other IIMs are participating in a signature campaign to seek justice.
The online community of his friends and well-wishers has expressed their support for a petition addressed to the Prime
Minister seeking independent inquiry into the murder. The signature count on the petition site has been fast increasing. At 12
noon on Thursday, it had 243 signatures and by 7 pm the number had touched the 800 mark.
Created by Manjunath's college friend Chandrashekar Ramanan, who is based in the US, the online community also urges
organisations like IOC to ensure the safety of their officers. IIM-Lucknow director Devi Singh told DNA he too supports the
petition.
Yash Raj vs Karan Johar/ 19 March, 2007
Yash Raj vs Karan Johar?
Gayatri Jayaraman
[19 Mar, 2007 l 1939 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
The film industry is abuzz with rumours of Yash Raj Films taking on Karan Johar's new entertainment channel with the launch of their own television network. While Yash Raj Films denies any such move or motivation, they do stop short of admitting to be hiding a channel up their sleeves.
A ‘television team' is already in place. "We have a research team headed by Ravina Kohli, which is ideating and exploring various possibilities in the field of television," said CEO at Yash Raj, Sanjeev Kohli.
Word on the street has it the new channel will be launched by the end of 2008. Karan Johar and NDTV, refused to comment on the head-on competition to what was so far the channel's USP — Karan Johar's star power. Meanwhile, the industry is waiting for round 1: Yashraj vs KJo.
Gayatri Jayaraman
[19 Mar, 2007 l 1939 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
The film industry is abuzz with rumours of Yash Raj Films taking on Karan Johar's new entertainment channel with the launch of their own television network. While Yash Raj Films denies any such move or motivation, they do stop short of admitting to be hiding a channel up their sleeves.
A ‘television team' is already in place. "We have a research team headed by Ravina Kohli, which is ideating and exploring various possibilities in the field of television," said CEO at Yash Raj, Sanjeev Kohli.
Word on the street has it the new channel will be launched by the end of 2008. Karan Johar and NDTV, refused to comment on the head-on competition to what was so far the channel's USP — Karan Johar's star power. Meanwhile, the industry is waiting for round 1: Yashraj vs KJo.
Liz Hurley's Men/ 7 March, 2006
The men in Liz's life
Gayatri Jayaraman
[7 Mar, 2007 l 1949 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
A playboy image, a sense of humour and million bucks in the bank... all of Liz Hurley's men share this and more.
Elizabeth Hurley, it seems, has a penchant for well-educated multi-millionaires. Her list of hits and misses include the over-a-decade-long boyfriend Hugh Grant, Friends star Matthew Perry and Hollywood biggie Stephen Bing, before settling on Arun Nayar. So what is the leitmotif running through her choices, besides a warm smile and a great sense of humour? For starters, the playboy image.
"Playboys are interesting people and attract women. They have an air of mystery about them. Also, look at Liz herself, she is quite an interesting and colourful personality. Besides, there's always the challenge of trapping a playboy," explains psychiatrist and relationship expert Anjali Chhabria.
Is Liz also looking for a match in real life that is otherwise possible only on-screen? Hugh and Matthew both wear warm smiles and share a sense of humour, and are off-screen images of their on-screen selves. The equally school boyish Steve Bing – the father of her son Damien – is known to be reticent, a serious political campaigner and a funder of social causes, and extremely wary of publicity. He is known to stick to jeans and gym shoes at most events, and is close friends with Brad Pitt who called him "a fine man".
Very little is known about her now-husband Arun Nayar, who is very publicity wary too. He is reportedly the sort to be comfortable taking their son out on a tractor at their farm in England, and definitely wants to have kids. "Given the Bollywood video they had starred in and screened at their wedding, she seems to have been searching for that on-screen perfect match all this while, and seems to have found that in Arun," adds Anjali.
And what's with all the multi-millionaires? "Women today are no longer looking to their men for primary security, but they still believe their man should be one level above them. And hence, you see the seeming attraction to multi-millionaires," explains Anjali.
Psychoanalyst and psychotherapist Shilpa Raheja also believes that with Arun Nayar, Liz has found what she's looking for. "All the previous men in her life have been from Hollywood, and TV/filmi relationships are comparatively fragile. With Arun, she seems to breaking away and saying 'it's time to settle down'. It's the stability that comes from the reputed name, social standing, financial and emotional security."
Gayatri Jayaraman
[7 Mar, 2007 l 1949 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
A playboy image, a sense of humour and million bucks in the bank... all of Liz Hurley's men share this and more.
Elizabeth Hurley, it seems, has a penchant for well-educated multi-millionaires. Her list of hits and misses include the over-a-decade-long boyfriend Hugh Grant, Friends star Matthew Perry and Hollywood biggie Stephen Bing, before settling on Arun Nayar. So what is the leitmotif running through her choices, besides a warm smile and a great sense of humour? For starters, the playboy image.
"Playboys are interesting people and attract women. They have an air of mystery about them. Also, look at Liz herself, she is quite an interesting and colourful personality. Besides, there's always the challenge of trapping a playboy," explains psychiatrist and relationship expert Anjali Chhabria.
Is Liz also looking for a match in real life that is otherwise possible only on-screen? Hugh and Matthew both wear warm smiles and share a sense of humour, and are off-screen images of their on-screen selves. The equally school boyish Steve Bing – the father of her son Damien – is known to be reticent, a serious political campaigner and a funder of social causes, and extremely wary of publicity. He is known to stick to jeans and gym shoes at most events, and is close friends with Brad Pitt who called him "a fine man".
Very little is known about her now-husband Arun Nayar, who is very publicity wary too. He is reportedly the sort to be comfortable taking their son out on a tractor at their farm in England, and definitely wants to have kids. "Given the Bollywood video they had starred in and screened at their wedding, she seems to have been searching for that on-screen perfect match all this while, and seems to have found that in Arun," adds Anjali.
And what's with all the multi-millionaires? "Women today are no longer looking to their men for primary security, but they still believe their man should be one level above them. And hence, you see the seeming attraction to multi-millionaires," explains Anjali.
Psychoanalyst and psychotherapist Shilpa Raheja also believes that with Arun Nayar, Liz has found what she's looking for. "All the previous men in her life have been from Hollywood, and TV/filmi relationships are comparatively fragile. With Arun, she seems to breaking away and saying 'it's time to settle down'. It's the stability that comes from the reputed name, social standing, financial and emotional security."
EXCLUSIVE: Suchitra looks for young nude men to pose for her
Gayatri Jayaraman
[27 Feb, 2007 l 2019 hrs IST
lTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
| |||||
Suchitra Krishnamoorthi is looking for hot-bodied, young men to pose nude for her canvas.
Suchitra Krishnamoorthi is calling for hot-bodied young men to pose nude for her at her studio in Juhu: "I'm going to do something I've never done before. The outcome may be worth it. I'm going to pick a male muse to paint — someone between 18 and 25 — who is young, beautiful, strong, muscular, full of yearning, hope, ambition, intelligence and faith.
I'm sure I'll find many volunteers. And if we are both lucky, with blessings from the cosmos, we could make headlines and laugh our way to the bank! I intend to obliterate his face, his expressions, his soul, his heart and brain, with smudge lines on canvas. The only thing I will highlight in bold are the strong 'V' lines of his taut torso and private parts. These will leap out of the canvas and smack you in the face like a loud clanging bell. Oooh la la..."
Life, among other things, has lent Suchitra a sense of humour, and her tongue is firmly in her cheek on this one. Why is she doing this? "Well," said Suchitra, "It started when someone I knew casually called me up and asked if they can stop by my studio to be painted in the nude. I was shocked and felt very betrayed — if they were strangers, it wouldn't feel like 'Is this how you have perceived me all this while?' Disgusting!"
But as she pondered it, Suchitra said, the artist in her took over. "I asked myself why is it that when women get treated as sex objects, there's always a reasoning and logical dimension given to it. So as an artist, I decided to reverse the roles and asked how men would feel if I made them sex kittens?"
Have perceptions of her changed after her divorce? "Yes, a little bit. Today, if an Alyque Padamsee can ask me: 'So, do many men hit on you?' — which he wouldn't have dared do when I was married. But I don't believe the world is full of such men. On the whole it's a nice place, and I'm pretty insulated — I go to my studio and paint. I have my daughter. I live a full life. So no, I'm not at all fearful of it at all."
Thirteen years after Suchitra played the coquettish Anna opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na, the actor who had put her career on hold to become director Shekhar Kapur's wife, has post-divorce taken on the role of Amitabh Bachchan's wife in Ram Gopal Varma's remake of the classic Sholay. "My character is not evil. I play a pretty much spaced-out housewife in the film. It's quite interesting actually," she said.
Suchitra Krishnamoorthi is calling for hot-bodied young men to pose nude for her at her studio in Juhu: "I'm going to do something I've never done before. The outcome may be worth it. I'm going to pick a male muse to paint — someone between 18 and 25 — who is young, beautiful, strong, muscular, full of yearning, hope, ambition, intelligence and faith.
I'm sure I'll find many volunteers. And if we are both lucky, with blessings from the cosmos, we could make headlines and laugh our way to the bank! I intend to obliterate his face, his expressions, his soul, his heart and brain, with smudge lines on canvas. The only thing I will highlight in bold are the strong 'V' lines of his taut torso and private parts. These will leap out of the canvas and smack you in the face like a loud clanging bell. Oooh la la..."
Life, among other things, has lent Suchitra a sense of humour, and her tongue is firmly in her cheek on this one. Why is she doing this? "Well," said Suchitra, "It started when someone I knew casually called me up and asked if they can stop by my studio to be painted in the nude. I was shocked and felt very betrayed — if they were strangers, it wouldn't feel like 'Is this how you have perceived me all this while?' Disgusting!"
But as she pondered it, Suchitra said, the artist in her took over. "I asked myself why is it that when women get treated as sex objects, there's always a reasoning and logical dimension given to it. So as an artist, I decided to reverse the roles and asked how men would feel if I made them sex kittens?"
Have perceptions of her changed after her divorce? "Yes, a little bit. Today, if an Alyque Padamsee can ask me: 'So, do many men hit on you?' — which he wouldn't have dared do when I was married. But I don't believe the world is full of such men. On the whole it's a nice place, and I'm pretty insulated — I go to my studio and paint. I have my daughter. I live a full life. So no, I'm not at all fearful of it at all."
Thirteen years after Suchitra played the coquettish Anna opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na, the actor who had put her career on hold to become director Shekhar Kapur's wife, has post-divorce taken on the role of Amitabh Bachchan's wife in Ram Gopal Varma's remake of the classic Sholay. "My character is not evil. I play a pretty much spaced-out housewife in the film. It's quite interesting actually," she said.
Scorcese nod for Deepa Mehta/ 11 Feb
Martin Scorcese, Steven Spielberg nod for Deepa
Gayatri Jayaraman
[11 Feb, 2007 l 2111 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Deepa Mehta heads home to India after the last leg of her Oscar lobbying in Los Angeles.
Deepa Mehta says she finds the way India has adopted Water — a film that she was not allowed to make in the country — "charming". Ahead of its release in India, the Oscar-nominated director is lucid about where the film stands.
"Water is the Canadian entry to the Oscars, not an Indian one. It's not how I see it or not, it's what it is," she says. "Of course it's a Hindi film set in India, but it's message is universal."
Oscar or not, Water for Deepa has already achieved what it set out to. She's ecstatic the film was screened at the Museum of Tolerance, in LA. "That's what it's about — tolerance," she says. "To me it has made people respond. Whether it's Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorcese, both of whom came up to me after the screening and said they had been waiting to meet me. Martin said 'It reminded me of what real cinema is' — and I can't tell you how that made me feel — it has made that connection."
And those connections, she says, come to her from across the world. "Australians tell me it reminds them of how aboriginals are treated. In the USA I'm told it's how old or black people are treated. Anywhere in the world, the lessons for the marginalised are the same."
Water, apart from completing the trilogy of Earth and Fire, to Deepa is a highly metaphorical film. "Water is an element we can't do without and yet can be highly destructive too. It can be stagnant and it can flow. Ninety per cent of our body is water. And the film takes place on the banks of a river. The rain is a symbol of purification," she explains. The film was also a personal journey of purification for Deepa. "It gave my daughter and me a chance to bond."
Would the film have been different if made the first time round? "Definitely," she says. "The script had not changed over the four years, but I had changed as a person. I became stronger in my vision as a filmmaker."
Gayatri Jayaraman
[11 Feb, 2007 l 2111 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Deepa Mehta heads home to India after the last leg of her Oscar lobbying in Los Angeles.
Deepa Mehta says she finds the way India has adopted Water — a film that she was not allowed to make in the country — "charming". Ahead of its release in India, the Oscar-nominated director is lucid about where the film stands.
"Water is the Canadian entry to the Oscars, not an Indian one. It's not how I see it or not, it's what it is," she says. "Of course it's a Hindi film set in India, but it's message is universal."
Oscar or not, Water for Deepa has already achieved what it set out to. She's ecstatic the film was screened at the Museum of Tolerance, in LA. "That's what it's about — tolerance," she says. "To me it has made people respond. Whether it's Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorcese, both of whom came up to me after the screening and said they had been waiting to meet me. Martin said 'It reminded me of what real cinema is' — and I can't tell you how that made me feel — it has made that connection."
And those connections, she says, come to her from across the world. "Australians tell me it reminds them of how aboriginals are treated. In the USA I'm told it's how old or black people are treated. Anywhere in the world, the lessons for the marginalised are the same."
Water, apart from completing the trilogy of Earth and Fire, to Deepa is a highly metaphorical film. "Water is an element we can't do without and yet can be highly destructive too. It can be stagnant and it can flow. Ninety per cent of our body is water. And the film takes place on the banks of a river. The rain is a symbol of purification," she explains. The film was also a personal journey of purification for Deepa. "It gave my daughter and me a chance to bond."
Would the film have been different if made the first time round? "Definitely," she says. "The script had not changed over the four years, but I had changed as a person. I became stronger in my vision as a filmmaker."
EXCLUSIVE: Mukesh & Nita Ambani/ 4 February, 2007
'It is a wonderful time to be Indian and to be young'
Gayatri Jayaraman
[4 Feb, 2007 l 2003 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Nita and Mukesh Ambani reflect on India being Poised for change, what the Corus acquisition means for India's place in the world, and the power of the youth.
The Inner Wheel Women's meet on Friday night in Mumbai resounded with the cry originally raised by the Times of India's India Poised campaign Our Time Is Now.
Emphasising the need to push for social change and exemplifying how everyone could be a part of it with instances from her own life was keynote speaker Nita Ambani.
Husband Mukesh Ambani was quietly supportive in the audience he first modestly said,"It's Nita's day. Let me not speak." But when urged, Mukesh and Nita spoke jointly to DT in this exclusive interview...
What is your message to the youth poised for a changing India today?
Mukesh: My message to the youth today is to be prepared for the change that is to come. India today is poised for change on a scale that we have never imagined. What we are talking about as taking place now is nothing. The boom we are witnessing now is nothing. India is poised to catapult into a completely new era. You and I cannot imagine or predict the progress India will see in the next 20 to 30 years.
Nita: Look within yourself for motivation. I can only look within my own life and draw from what I was taught by my own family. I was brought up in a middle class joint family and learned responsibility at a young age from my parents, brothers and sisters.
My uncle was blind and so was my grandmother. So all of us siblings took turns reading to them, or helping, taking them out, etc. I learned from small things.
Then, when I met Mukesh, I was prepared for the larger challenges building the Jamnagar township, schools, planting Asia's largest mango orchard in dry arid desert... And my greatest guru of course was my father-in-law, the late Dhirubhai Ambani.
What is the single most important area youth need to focus on to create change today?
Mukesh: The single most important thing we need, why just the youth, all of us as a society, is to change our mindset. We need to change the way we think. We need to find that motivation and drive from within and think progressively. That is the way youth will create the change they want to see in society.
Nita: It really distresses me that healthcare and primary education are not where they could be. I would like to see a day when every child gets to attend a primary school, and every woman gets healthcare, and where farmers get fair prices, especially considering the spate of farmer suicides.
When our economy booms, what we need to see is that literacy rates go up and unemployment rates go down, that is the only path to prosperity.
Given the booming sensex, and now the Corus acquisition, what does this mean for India's place in the world today?
Mukesh: The focus is now on India. In fact, more and more people are coming back to India.
Our businesses are drawing back the talent that people once thought was only available in the West. It is a wonderful time to be Indian and over and above that to be young.
In fact, I am beginning to regret that I belong to an older generation. I wish I was younger to experience it when it happens. This is the time to be young. This is when it is all happening. Nita: I always look to my children for these answers not just my own but those in all my schools. I have learned the most from them – even when children are ill, they teach you so much with how they cope with and react to life and society.
The youth are an empowered generation. Young children in my school have made a film against child labour. The youth think radically today and are ready to create the change they want to see.
With the growth in the economy, it is important for corporations to increasingly become socially responsible and to see themselves also as social corporate citizens. As we progress, we need to consider the environment, healthcare, primary education.
We have a lot to draw from, that gives us advantages over the West our culture, our spirituality, our intelligence gives us the backbone that will support our economic growth.
Gayatri Jayaraman
[4 Feb, 2007 l 2003 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Nita and Mukesh Ambani reflect on India being Poised for change, what the Corus acquisition means for India's place in the world, and the power of the youth.
The Inner Wheel Women's meet on Friday night in Mumbai resounded with the cry originally raised by the Times of India's India Poised campaign Our Time Is Now.
Emphasising the need to push for social change and exemplifying how everyone could be a part of it with instances from her own life was keynote speaker Nita Ambani.
Husband Mukesh Ambani was quietly supportive in the audience he first modestly said,"It's Nita's day. Let me not speak." But when urged, Mukesh and Nita spoke jointly to DT in this exclusive interview...
What is your message to the youth poised for a changing India today?
Mukesh: My message to the youth today is to be prepared for the change that is to come. India today is poised for change on a scale that we have never imagined. What we are talking about as taking place now is nothing. The boom we are witnessing now is nothing. India is poised to catapult into a completely new era. You and I cannot imagine or predict the progress India will see in the next 20 to 30 years.
Nita: Look within yourself for motivation. I can only look within my own life and draw from what I was taught by my own family. I was brought up in a middle class joint family and learned responsibility at a young age from my parents, brothers and sisters.
My uncle was blind and so was my grandmother. So all of us siblings took turns reading to them, or helping, taking them out, etc. I learned from small things.
Then, when I met Mukesh, I was prepared for the larger challenges building the Jamnagar township, schools, planting Asia's largest mango orchard in dry arid desert... And my greatest guru of course was my father-in-law, the late Dhirubhai Ambani.
What is the single most important area youth need to focus on to create change today?
Mukesh: The single most important thing we need, why just the youth, all of us as a society, is to change our mindset. We need to change the way we think. We need to find that motivation and drive from within and think progressively. That is the way youth will create the change they want to see in society.
Nita: It really distresses me that healthcare and primary education are not where they could be. I would like to see a day when every child gets to attend a primary school, and every woman gets healthcare, and where farmers get fair prices, especially considering the spate of farmer suicides.
When our economy booms, what we need to see is that literacy rates go up and unemployment rates go down, that is the only path to prosperity.
Given the booming sensex, and now the Corus acquisition, what does this mean for India's place in the world today?
Mukesh: The focus is now on India. In fact, more and more people are coming back to India.
Our businesses are drawing back the talent that people once thought was only available in the West. It is a wonderful time to be Indian and over and above that to be young.
In fact, I am beginning to regret that I belong to an older generation. I wish I was younger to experience it when it happens. This is the time to be young. This is when it is all happening. Nita: I always look to my children for these answers not just my own but those in all my schools. I have learned the most from them – even when children are ill, they teach you so much with how they cope with and react to life and society.
The youth are an empowered generation. Young children in my school have made a film against child labour. The youth think radically today and are ready to create the change they want to see.
With the growth in the economy, it is important for corporations to increasingly become socially responsible and to see themselves also as social corporate citizens. As we progress, we need to consider the environment, healthcare, primary education.
We have a lot to draw from, that gives us advantages over the West our culture, our spirituality, our intelligence gives us the backbone that will support our economic growth.
Exclusive: Im not tying the knot: Anupama Varma / 29 Dec
'I'm not tying the knot'
Gayatri Jayaraman
[29 Dec, 2006 l 1958 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Anupama Varma says Aryan Vaid's public proposals of marriage are bold, considering that he doesn't even know if she reciprocates.
Anupama Varma's breaking her silence on her much-speculated romance with Aryan Vaid. "I'm not comfortable with the fact that Aryan Vaid is talking about private matters that are not clarified by me. I really don't appreciate this," she says.
Anupama says "I struck a rapport with Aryan because he's very positive, we were like-minded, with a common professional background."
Anupama says she's always known of Aryan's fondness for her. So Aryan Vaid her type? "No," she answers, "If he was, I would have dated him in the six years I knew him. We'd bump into each other at shows, and he's always expressed a fondness for me. But I've always drawn the line. He was someone I avoided for six years."
Anupama continues,"He's not just another friend. I'm not palming him off. We share a special bond. I respect that he's vocal about his feelings because I'm sure it takes a great deal to go to the press when you are not even sure if the girl reciprocates. In the house I was touched by his gestures, and I would tell him 'You're my best friend, and I will always want to know you', and I stand by that."
But all this talk of marriage is disturbing her. "It hit me like a boulder when I stepped out of the house that things had gone to this extent! When Arshad asked me about it, I said 'I definitely like him, but love is a very strong word, and I don't feel that so easily.'
I was not being diplomatic about that." Anupama clarifies that a relationship means more to her than love-at-first-sight.
"I've led a very simple and clean life. I've not seen anyone for years. When it comes to relationships, to me it's something that is as big as the institution of marriage. If I commit, I'd better be sure of it. If I'm in a relationship it will be for a real reason.
Gayatri Jayaraman
[29 Dec, 2006 l 1958 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Anupama Varma says Aryan Vaid's public proposals of marriage are bold, considering that he doesn't even know if she reciprocates.
Anupama Varma's breaking her silence on her much-speculated romance with Aryan Vaid. "I'm not comfortable with the fact that Aryan Vaid is talking about private matters that are not clarified by me. I really don't appreciate this," she says.
Anupama says "I struck a rapport with Aryan because he's very positive, we were like-minded, with a common professional background."
Anupama says she's always known of Aryan's fondness for her. So Aryan Vaid her type? "No," she answers, "If he was, I would have dated him in the six years I knew him. We'd bump into each other at shows, and he's always expressed a fondness for me. But I've always drawn the line. He was someone I avoided for six years."
Anupama continues,"He's not just another friend. I'm not palming him off. We share a special bond. I respect that he's vocal about his feelings because I'm sure it takes a great deal to go to the press when you are not even sure if the girl reciprocates. In the house I was touched by his gestures, and I would tell him 'You're my best friend, and I will always want to know you', and I stand by that."
But all this talk of marriage is disturbing her. "It hit me like a boulder when I stepped out of the house that things had gone to this extent! When Arshad asked me about it, I said 'I definitely like him, but love is a very strong word, and I don't feel that so easily.'
I was not being diplomatic about that." Anupama clarifies that a relationship means more to her than love-at-first-sight.
"I've led a very simple and clean life. I've not seen anyone for years. When it comes to relationships, to me it's something that is as big as the institution of marriage. If I commit, I'd better be sure of it. If I'm in a relationship it will be for a real reason.
EXCLUSIVE: Mira Nair to direct Johnny Depp/ 24 January
Gayatri Jayaraman
[21 Jan, 2007 l 2133 hrs IST
lTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
| |||||
Shantaram will be co-produced by Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp.
Mira Nair will direct Johnny Depp in the film Shantaram based on the escapades of former convict Gregory David Roberts as outlined in the book of the same name.
Sources close to the director confirmed Mira's participation in the film on Friday. The film will be coproduced by Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt as well as Warner Brothers and is expected to be shot extensively in India.
While Johnny Depp has evinced interest in making the film for quite some time now, the script was originally being worked on by Gregory David Roberts himself. The current script that Mira Nair will work on has been written by Hollywood scriptwriter Eric Roth.
Mira Nair will direct Johnny Depp in the film Shantaram based on the escapades of former convict Gregory David Roberts as outlined in the book of the same name.
Sources close to the director confirmed Mira's participation in the film on Friday. The film will be coproduced by Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt as well as Warner Brothers and is expected to be shot extensively in India.
While Johnny Depp has evinced interest in making the film for quite some time now, the script was originally being worked on by Gregory David Roberts himself. The current script that Mira Nair will work on has been written by Hollywood scriptwriter Eric Roth.
Exclusive: Khans hypnotised/ 24 December 2006
Gayatri Jayaraman
[24 Dec, 2006 l 2056 hrs IST
lTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
| |||||
Dubai-based life coach has apparently been charming the city's jetset.
A life coach visiting the city has got the city's rich and famous abuzz. Recently, Zarine Khan led a group of celebrities that included the Khan coterie and Pooja Bedi with her friend choreographer Hanif Hilal to an evening of divination or 'life coaching' as they call it at a friend's place. The life coach in question is Dubai-based David Crane who, Zarine informs us "moves only in VIP circles" and uses hypnotism to reinforce a message of being positive.
"It was an evening where a friend had invited him over, so actually it was not specifically a session," says Zarine.
Pooja says she walks around with a little card given by the life coach in her pocket and pulls it out for her own personal dose of postivity. "It's about believing that you become what you believe and when you think positive, you channel that energy into your actions and life," she elaborates. Incidentally, in the perception game printed on the card, that they also played that evening, the highest scorer in the room was Hanif Hilal. He scored above all the Khans!
A life coach visiting the city has got the city's rich and famous abuzz. Recently, Zarine Khan led a group of celebrities that included the Khan coterie and Pooja Bedi with her friend choreographer Hanif Hilal to an evening of divination or 'life coaching' as they call it at a friend's place. The life coach in question is Dubai-based David Crane who, Zarine informs us "moves only in VIP circles" and uses hypnotism to reinforce a message of being positive.
"It was an evening where a friend had invited him over, so actually it was not specifically a session," says Zarine.
Pooja says she walks around with a little card given by the life coach in her pocket and pulls it out for her own personal dose of postivity. "It's about believing that you become what you believe and when you think positive, you channel that energy into your actions and life," she elaborates. Incidentally, in the perception game printed on the card, that they also played that evening, the highest scorer in the room was Hanif Hilal. He scored above all the Khans!
EXCLUSIVE: My brother is not a terrorist/ 29 November 2006
My brother is not a terrorist'
Gayatri Jayaraman
[29 Nov, 2006 l 2321 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
An emotional Priya Dutt spoke to BT minutes after Sanjay Dutt's verdict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case .
As Sanjay Dutt was pronounced guilty for possession of arms on Wednesday by the TADA court, his first words to sisters Priya and Namrata were "Are you ok?" His first thought was of his father, Sunil Dutt. His first wave of relief came when Judge Kode pronounced "Sanjay Dutt is not a terrorist". His first phone call outside the courtroom was to his daughter, Trishala, now 18, who lives in the USA.
Priya Dutt's voice was awash with relief minutes after she left the courtroom. Her thoughts immediately went to her father, who, she told BT, "is with us now and very happy" and Sanjay's daughter, Trishala. "She's a big girl now, and she's been following this story since she was a child. We had to explain what the sentence meant. Her first reaction at being told the verdict was 'guilty' was shock. But we explained it and she was relieved too. If Sanjay does go to jail, we will try to have her come here and spend some time with him. We'll have to see about things like that, because till now, we've just been caught up with the legalities of all of it."
Irrespective of the sentence, says Priya, Sanjay Dutt is a man who can live with any number of years in jail now that the judge has vindicated 13 years of his father's struggle.
"Whether it's three years or five or even if the judge says that it is enough that he has served the two years, what is the biggest thing for us is that he pronounced "He is not a terrorist."
Priya says "I cannot tell you what a relief it was to hear that. My father spent 13 years in front of TV cameras, he spent the last 10 years of his life, trying to convince the people that Sanjay was not a terrorist. We could only think of him and know that he would be so happy if he were alive today."
Priya left Sanjay in the courtroom, she says "at peace, clear in his mind, relieved that his father was right in placing his faith in him, and holding up just fine."
Gayatri Jayaraman
[29 Nov, 2006 l 2321 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
An emotional Priya Dutt spoke to BT minutes after Sanjay Dutt's verdict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case .
As Sanjay Dutt was pronounced guilty for possession of arms on Wednesday by the TADA court, his first words to sisters Priya and Namrata were "Are you ok?" His first thought was of his father, Sunil Dutt. His first wave of relief came when Judge Kode pronounced "Sanjay Dutt is not a terrorist". His first phone call outside the courtroom was to his daughter, Trishala, now 18, who lives in the USA.
Priya Dutt's voice was awash with relief minutes after she left the courtroom. Her thoughts immediately went to her father, who, she told BT, "is with us now and very happy" and Sanjay's daughter, Trishala. "She's a big girl now, and she's been following this story since she was a child. We had to explain what the sentence meant. Her first reaction at being told the verdict was 'guilty' was shock. But we explained it and she was relieved too. If Sanjay does go to jail, we will try to have her come here and spend some time with him. We'll have to see about things like that, because till now, we've just been caught up with the legalities of all of it."
Irrespective of the sentence, says Priya, Sanjay Dutt is a man who can live with any number of years in jail now that the judge has vindicated 13 years of his father's struggle.
"Whether it's three years or five or even if the judge says that it is enough that he has served the two years, what is the biggest thing for us is that he pronounced "He is not a terrorist."
Priya says "I cannot tell you what a relief it was to hear that. My father spent 13 years in front of TV cameras, he spent the last 10 years of his life, trying to convince the people that Sanjay was not a terrorist. We could only think of him and know that he would be so happy if he were alive today."
Priya left Sanjay in the courtroom, she says "at peace, clear in his mind, relieved that his father was right in placing his faith in him, and holding up just fine."
Rahul Bose Nandita Das hook up? 24 November, 2006
Nandita Das-Rahul Bose hook up?
Gayatri Jayaraman
[24 Nov, 2006 l 2036 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Has the eternal bachelor fallen? Is Rahul Bose, all of 39, still ferociously guarding his solitary status?
Has the eternal bachelor fallen? Is Rahul Bose, all of 39, still ferociously guarding his solitary status? Or is the object of his affection the newly single Nandita Das? The two were spotted getting cosy on the sets of a recent filmmaking venture that threw them together. And it takes little calculation to wonder why it is that Rahul's latest scholarship venture sends children from the Andamans to Rishi Valley School, where Nandita started her career as a teacher.
Add to that the fact that both have publicly been heard syncing their filmmaking styles, the part Bengali antecedents, the love of social activism, the common stand on the Narmada issue, and you have a match made in actor-activist heaven. "It is a happy coincidence that we share much common ground," says Rahul, "but my record of six years of singlehood remains unchanged."
Gayatri Jayaraman
[24 Nov, 2006 l 2036 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Has the eternal bachelor fallen? Is Rahul Bose, all of 39, still ferociously guarding his solitary status?
Has the eternal bachelor fallen? Is Rahul Bose, all of 39, still ferociously guarding his solitary status? Or is the object of his affection the newly single Nandita Das? The two were spotted getting cosy on the sets of a recent filmmaking venture that threw them together. And it takes little calculation to wonder why it is that Rahul's latest scholarship venture sends children from the Andamans to Rishi Valley School, where Nandita started her career as a teacher.
Add to that the fact that both have publicly been heard syncing their filmmaking styles, the part Bengali antecedents, the love of social activism, the common stand on the Narmada issue, and you have a match made in actor-activist heaven. "It is a happy coincidence that we share much common ground," says Rahul, "but my record of six years of singlehood remains unchanged."
SRK: I am anxious/ 24 January, 2007
I am anxious'
Gayatri Jayaraman
[24 Jan, 2007 l 2122 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Shah Rukh Khan on his show and his supposed war with Amitabh Bachchan.
King Khan's life has come full circle — after Fauji and Circus, and big screen blockbusters in between — Shah Rukh Khan's back on TV with a reality show, but says his nerves aren't any steelier.
So, are you nervous, confident or over confident?
I am anxious. Everybody thinks I am pompous but that's a just a front for me. For me it's the creative process. You create something in isolation and when it is exposed, there is a huge explosion of public opinion. In the film industry, I know where I'm headed. Here, I don't know.
Are you coping with the obvious comparisons?
There has been hype, pressure, comparisons with this other gentleman that I am not comfortable talking about. But what really hurts me are the SMSs.
SMSs?
That newspapers carry in reader's polls. When a Geetika from Bhayander says 'SRK sucks' that really hurts me. I read them all. The good and the bad. It's like a pimple on the face. You don't notice the rest of the face, but the pimple you do.
You work hard to shield the kids?
Yes. But my kids have sensed that I am anxious. So they are doing something they have never done before – they drop by the sets and linger around, when I'm doing my make up, sometimes all day. They've never done that in all these years. I think children are the first to sense these things. Mine feel they need to be there for me.
Is there any truth to 'SRK vs Bachchan'?
He's an accomplished gentleman who's 64, and I am where I am, and at the stage where I am the comparison is not fair to him at all.
Gayatri Jayaraman
[24 Jan, 2007 l 2122 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
Shah Rukh Khan on his show and his supposed war with Amitabh Bachchan.
King Khan's life has come full circle — after Fauji and Circus, and big screen blockbusters in between — Shah Rukh Khan's back on TV with a reality show, but says his nerves aren't any steelier.
So, are you nervous, confident or over confident?
I am anxious. Everybody thinks I am pompous but that's a just a front for me. For me it's the creative process. You create something in isolation and when it is exposed, there is a huge explosion of public opinion. In the film industry, I know where I'm headed. Here, I don't know.
Are you coping with the obvious comparisons?
There has been hype, pressure, comparisons with this other gentleman that I am not comfortable talking about. But what really hurts me are the SMSs.
SMSs?
That newspapers carry in reader's polls. When a Geetika from Bhayander says 'SRK sucks' that really hurts me. I read them all. The good and the bad. It's like a pimple on the face. You don't notice the rest of the face, but the pimple you do.
You work hard to shield the kids?
Yes. But my kids have sensed that I am anxious. So they are doing something they have never done before – they drop by the sets and linger around, when I'm doing my make up, sometimes all day. They've never done that in all these years. I think children are the first to sense these things. Mine feel they need to be there for me.
Is there any truth to 'SRK vs Bachchan'?
He's an accomplished gentleman who's 64, and I am where I am, and at the stage where I am the comparison is not fair to him at all.
Too Much Information/ 27 November, 2006
Should you reveal all to your partner?
Gayatri Jayaraman
[27 Nov, 2006 l 2127 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
We're in a generation of Too Much Information (TMI), where private is public and the furtive past is revealed all too easily.
We're in a generation of Too Much Information (TMI), where private is public and the furtive past is revealed all too easily. It is rumoured that Shweta Singh grounded her relationship early on by revealing to her partner, Rahul Mahajan, details of her past that played kabab-mein-haddi to their marital bliss. Can any alpha male, safely experienced in the ways of the world, truly stomach details of his partner's grisly past?
We asked a popular agony uncle, who tells us he was once faced with a distraught wife who hadn't told her husband that his best friend had been her childhood sweetheart. One drunken confession later, 12 years of marriage and 20 years of friendship is hanging in the balance. Agony uncle says, "Damned if you do, damned if you don't!"
So do you or don't you? "Men tend to brood over the details," warns TV anchor Pooja Bedi. "We all have pasts, but women have wonderful memories for grisly details, and will extricate the information to use it against a man in an argument. Men on the other hand forget what they have revealed about their own pasts, and have no clue what's hit them!" she laughs adding on a serious note, "Leave the past in the past, and that's the best way to move on to the future."
Model Suchitra Pillai is all for honesty —with your girlfriends that is. "Chat about it with your girlfriends if you have to. It's necessary for a relationship to start in a place of trust, but it's also sensitive to spare your partner gory details."
"It depends on the individual's personality, not on the nature of the revelation or whether it's a man or a woman," warns psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria. "If a person is suspicious by nature, then, the partner needs to take care." She suggests couples give each other space. "I don't recommend hiding things or keeping secrets, but don't allow your honesty to feed your partner's insecurities," she warns. "Measure what you say according to the person you're dealing with." And how do women deal with their partners revealing their past? Do they get as possessive? "Of course women too get possessive, but they tend to hide their feelings,"says 30-year-old homemaker Nina Lele.
Gayatri Jayaraman
[27 Nov, 2006 l 2127 hrs ISTlTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
We're in a generation of Too Much Information (TMI), where private is public and the furtive past is revealed all too easily.
We're in a generation of Too Much Information (TMI), where private is public and the furtive past is revealed all too easily. It is rumoured that Shweta Singh grounded her relationship early on by revealing to her partner, Rahul Mahajan, details of her past that played kabab-mein-haddi to their marital bliss. Can any alpha male, safely experienced in the ways of the world, truly stomach details of his partner's grisly past?
We asked a popular agony uncle, who tells us he was once faced with a distraught wife who hadn't told her husband that his best friend had been her childhood sweetheart. One drunken confession later, 12 years of marriage and 20 years of friendship is hanging in the balance. Agony uncle says, "Damned if you do, damned if you don't!"
So do you or don't you? "Men tend to brood over the details," warns TV anchor Pooja Bedi. "We all have pasts, but women have wonderful memories for grisly details, and will extricate the information to use it against a man in an argument. Men on the other hand forget what they have revealed about their own pasts, and have no clue what's hit them!" she laughs adding on a serious note, "Leave the past in the past, and that's the best way to move on to the future."
Model Suchitra Pillai is all for honesty —with your girlfriends that is. "Chat about it with your girlfriends if you have to. It's necessary for a relationship to start in a place of trust, but it's also sensitive to spare your partner gory details."
"It depends on the individual's personality, not on the nature of the revelation or whether it's a man or a woman," warns psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria. "If a person is suspicious by nature, then, the partner needs to take care." She suggests couples give each other space. "I don't recommend hiding things or keeping secrets, but don't allow your honesty to feed your partner's insecurities," she warns. "Measure what you say according to the person you're dealing with." And how do women deal with their partners revealing their past? Do they get as possessive? "Of course women too get possessive, but they tend to hide their feelings,"says 30-year-old homemaker Nina Lele.
Artists rally around MF Husain/ 15 December, 2006
Artists rally round Husain
Gayatri Jayaraman
Anjolie Ela Menon, Jatin Das and other artists of international repute will be shortly presenting a formal appeal to the government to allow self-exiled artist MF Husain to come home. Anjolie explains that this unified front by the artists has come in the wake of the Supreme Court recently asking that all cases against MF Husain be brought under one judicial body for review.
“It’s all political. This has nothing to do with freedom of expression,” says Anjolie, currently in Mumbai for the collective at the Museum Art Gallery. “These paintings were made 30-40 years ago, and are only now being targeted.
Some goons were asked to attack an exhibit and they pulled the hairs out of Jatin Das’ beard thinking him to be MF Husain, that’s how much they know about the art!” Anjolie continues: “Just post-independence, artists were caught up in nationalism. Today, everything is grist for the mill — artists paint, use cowdung, roll over their canvases—nothing is off limits. Stylistically, materially, the world is open to us. Freedom of expression is integral to art today. Husain is 93, he needs to be allowed to come back. Let him be.”
Gayatri Jayaraman
Anjolie Ela Menon, Jatin Das and other artists of international repute will be shortly presenting a formal appeal to the government to allow self-exiled artist MF Husain to come home. Anjolie explains that this unified front by the artists has come in the wake of the Supreme Court recently asking that all cases against MF Husain be brought under one judicial body for review.
“It’s all political. This has nothing to do with freedom of expression,” says Anjolie, currently in Mumbai for the collective at the Museum Art Gallery. “These paintings were made 30-40 years ago, and are only now being targeted.
Some goons were asked to attack an exhibit and they pulled the hairs out of Jatin Das’ beard thinking him to be MF Husain, that’s how much they know about the art!” Anjolie continues: “Just post-independence, artists were caught up in nationalism. Today, everything is grist for the mill — artists paint, use cowdung, roll over their canvases—nothing is off limits. Stylistically, materially, the world is open to us. Freedom of expression is integral to art today. Husain is 93, he needs to be allowed to come back. Let him be.”
Sachin: I make Up Stories/ 13 Nov, 2006
I make up stories: Sachin
Gayatri Jayaraman
On Children's Day, Sachin Tendulkar reveals he likes spinning stories for his kids when he is not spinning the ball.
Sachin Tendulkar's quite a kid among kid. And though being a kid doesn't quite include being a storyteller, merrymaker and teacher, Sachin's all that too when he's with the li'l ones.
Barely a bundle of nerves on the field, it was quite a different thing observing Sachin watch his son Arjun and daughter Sarah, students at Nita Ambani's school, perform at their annual day. "I suppose it's different for me because I know what to expect, but when it comes to them, I was a bit nervous," said Sachin, adding proudly, "But my kids were so excited, not nervous at all." Like dad, like children!
Sachin loves families getting together, "I think these kind of social outings and gatherings where parents encourage and cheer their kids to learn and compete are essential for children. It's what allows families to bond and learn from each other."
And yet, he is wary of praising his kids too much, "When we were kids, our parents never went home and popped bottles of champagne when we scored 100. At the most we drank buttermilk and started thinking about the next game." This, he says, is essential for parents to understand. "It helps children to keep a balanced perspective in the face of victory and defeat."
Sachin believes children learn most by watching their parents, "Whatever I know I learned from watching my father. Someone earlier asked me if I get angry... I don't, and the reason is simply because I never saw my father lose his cool."
Whatever Sachin can't explain by reason and logic, he makes up for by way of stories. "I love to tell my children stories, and when I run out of classics and fairy tales, I make them up. I compose stories and slip in moral elements that the kids subconsciously pick up. I think it's the best way to teach kids."
Gayatri Jayaraman
On Children's Day, Sachin Tendulkar reveals he likes spinning stories for his kids when he is not spinning the ball.
Sachin Tendulkar's quite a kid among kid. And though being a kid doesn't quite include being a storyteller, merrymaker and teacher, Sachin's all that too when he's with the li'l ones.
Barely a bundle of nerves on the field, it was quite a different thing observing Sachin watch his son Arjun and daughter Sarah, students at Nita Ambani's school, perform at their annual day. "I suppose it's different for me because I know what to expect, but when it comes to them, I was a bit nervous," said Sachin, adding proudly, "But my kids were so excited, not nervous at all." Like dad, like children!
Sachin loves families getting together, "I think these kind of social outings and gatherings where parents encourage and cheer their kids to learn and compete are essential for children. It's what allows families to bond and learn from each other."
And yet, he is wary of praising his kids too much, "When we were kids, our parents never went home and popped bottles of champagne when we scored 100. At the most we drank buttermilk and started thinking about the next game." This, he says, is essential for parents to understand. "It helps children to keep a balanced perspective in the face of victory and defeat."
Sachin believes children learn most by watching their parents, "Whatever I know I learned from watching my father. Someone earlier asked me if I get angry... I don't, and the reason is simply because I never saw my father lose his cool."
Whatever Sachin can't explain by reason and logic, he makes up for by way of stories. "I love to tell my children stories, and when I run out of classics and fairy tales, I make them up. I compose stories and slip in moral elements that the kids subconsciously pick up. I think it's the best way to teach kids."
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