 |
|
| SOCIETY |
|
Treasures in off-white 100 cheers to Amritsar’s pride FAVE foodie
|
|
More and more women are picking up their bags to go for a vacation on their own, says Gagandeep Kaur
The travel bug has bitten the urban woman. A sign of increasing women mobility and emancipation, more and more women are travelling alone or in groups to visit exotic locales overseas or within the country. “There has been a substantial increase in the number of women travellers. Around 1 per cent of the total 6 million outbound travellers from India are women now. Earlier this category was virtually nonexistent, but now we feel that it is one of the fastest growing categories,” said Subhash Goyal, President of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO). Earlier, the issue of safety and security restricted women from travelling alone. Also, there was a mindset that women cannot travel alone. This way of thinking is being changed by urban Indian women, who have no qualms about travelling alone or in groups. A major factor which is encouraging this trend is a decrease in the cost of air travel, which is considered safer than rail or road travel in the country. “Initially I was a little anxious about travelling alone and I would restrict my travel only to my hometown in UP and back to my worktown in Delhi. But when my friends decided to go to a rafting holiday to Rishikesh, I didn’t want to miss it. Now in the last two years, I have travelled to Ladakh, Munnar and Shimla with my women friends. However, I must say that an all-women group still attracts attention and one has to follow a number of dos and don’ts for safe travel,” says 28-year old, Sunita Chabbria, who is working in a Delhi-based fashion house. There are tour operators catering specifically to the needs of the women. The trips are organised by and for women travellers. No husbands or partners are allowed on such trips. “Basically such tours are for solo women travellers, but in a group situation, safety and security are top priorities. Apart from urban women living in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, women from places like Surat, Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Indore, Lucknow and Mangalore have also contacted such tour operators. They are in the age group of 20 to 55 and are in various professions, such as law, investment banking, teaching, corporate executives, techies, government employees, HR, BPOs, doctors, dentists, trainers, self-employed and homemakers and retired citizens. Their marital status is a mix of single, married, divorced and widowed,” says a travel writer who runs one such travel agency. Unlike other tour operators, this writer travels with the group to ensure that nothing goes wrong. “It took some time to convince my husband that I don’t get any break when I travel with my kids, aged seven and four years, since I am looking after them most of the time. For him, security was the main issue and also the mindset that he had never heard women travelling alone for fun. But finally we both decided to give it a try. My mother-in-law came for some days and I went to Darjeeling for 10 days with another friend. It helped that we stayed in an Army mess. It gave me the biggest kick of my life,” says 34-year-old Delhi-based housewife Sanjana Sen. Women travellers are generally finicky about their accommodation and ask a lot of questions about their security and safety. “They also have hang-ups about the other women travelling in the group. They like to ask about the other women travelling in the trip. They wonder whether they would get along with the others. They also ask a lot of questions regarding the destination, details of tourist attractions, the weather, what type of clothes to take, how much of foreign currency is required, etc. However, it is interesting to note that no ice-breakers are required — women talk easily — the moment they see each other,” says a tour operator. However, major tour operators have not started offering any specific scheme for women travellers. This indicates that though the number of women travellers is increasing, it is still miniscule, but not insignificant. A recent study by Mastercard International revealed that of the 139 million travellers in the Asia-Pacific region, 56 million or 40 per cent of them are women. Keeping this in mind, leading hotel chains have dedicated floors or wings for their female guests travelling alone or in groups.
|
||
|
Treasures in off-white
Wearing the Onakodi (new dress for Onam) is an important ceremony for Keralites. Surprisingly in Kerala, unlike other parts of India, white, rather a sort of off-white, is the colour for happiness. All six yards or more of off-white saree with kasavu (zari) has come to be recognised as being typical of Onam. The more traditional prefer the mundu and neriyathu, which is the original Kerala version of the saree. As a rule, the sale of Kerala saree (price ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 2, 500) picks up during Onam. Mundu or the lower garment is an ancient form of the saree and is also called thuni (meaning cloth), while the neriyathu forms the upper garment. Mundu neriyathu consists of two pieces of cloth, and could be worn in either the traditional style with the neriyathu tucked under the blouse, or in the modern style with the neriyathu worn over the left shoulder. The climax of the traditional wedding comes when the groom gives the bride a traditional mundu. With this gesture, he promises to provide for and protect the woman for life. The traditional Kerala saree is hand-woven. It’s 100 per cent cotton. The cloth is not subjected to any sort of processing such as bleaching and dyeing. The body of the saree is plain, while the pallu goes up to one metre. Now one can find booties and other design on the body. The most important aspect of these off-white sarees is the zari. There are two types of zari used in Kerala sarees — the copper-coated or `tested’ or artificial zari, (priced at Rs 200 or so) — and the silver or pure zari costing Rs 800 onwards. The most famous of Kerala sarees are the ones made in the town of Balaramapuram in South Kerala. The weavers of Balaramapuram were the court weavers for Varma kings. The other important variety is the Kasragod sarees, made in the town of Kasargod in northern Kerala. These sarees were once respected as masterpieces as they were made with the finest of yarn and were priced at Rs 5000. An interesting point in the process of weaving Kasragod sarees is that while weaving the cotton thread, a special starch paste is applied on the yarn, making the yarn long lasting and the colours fast. It normally takes a week to weave this saree. Time has brought changes though and the Kerala saree is being given a modern touch. Painting, embroidery and appliqué work are being used to give a makeover.
|
|||
|
100 cheers to Amritsar’s pride
Tehmi Bogga Bhandari — the only pure Parsi left in Amritsar — turned 100 on August 15. Born into a rich conservative Parsi family in Amritsar in 1906, she was the first woman to introduce “hospitality business” to the city when she converted her palatial home into a “guest house”, which was visited by many foreign dignitaries, diplomats and Hollywood icons. Although the business started due to a personal adversity, says her daughter Ratan Bhandari, Tehmi ran it like a professional. Twice married, she lost both her husbands early in life. She not only had to fend for herself and her three daughters and a son but also had to face her family’s ire for marrying outside the community twice. Sharp-tongued but with dollops of humour, Tehmi braved the hard times in her business during the wars of 1962, 1965 and 1971, the Emergency and during the decade-long period of terrorism in Punjab. Her parents along with family of Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, the first Field Marshal of India and hero of the 1971 war, were actually heading for Lahore during the British times but fell short of energy after a tedious journey from Bombay and decided to make Amritsar their home in the early 1900s. Tehmi’s father, Adeshwar Bogga, owned ice factories. The border city suffered the brunt of the gory Partition, testing many a strong spirit and helping evolve “brave-hearts” like Tehmi. She inspired and helped feed hundreds of refugees. Lady Edwina Mountbatten, wife of the first Viceroy, Sir Edward Mountbatten, “acknowledged and praised” Tehmi for her relief work for Partition-ravaged refugees in a letter written on January 19, 1948, and later invited her to Simla. Incidentally, the famous ‘Bhandari Bridge’ was named after her illustrious first husband Padam Chand Bhandari, the man behind the mutli-laned bridge connecting the walled city with Civil Lines. Tehmi’s indomitable spirit was evident quite early when she became the first woman to complete her Master’s in English, and ‘own’ and ‘drive’ a car — a Lincoln 12-cylinder car with a soft top. And, perhaps, was the first to have a love marriage in those times and defy widowhood to marry again. In keeping with her flair for style, a beautiful and memorable dinner was organised by her daughter Ratan on her 100th birthday. Though wrinkled and frail, Tehmi does not take a single pill even today, says her granddaughter Shirin Tehmi Bhandari. Tehmi had responded well when The Tribune profiled her four years back, but this time she sat silent and unresponsive in her wheelchair. Her birthday get-together was attended by her family, friends, acquaintances and guests from countries like Germany, UK, and the US. The occasion saw handsome donations by guests for a school for the wards of drug addicts in Maqboolpura. Keeping aloft the flame of fire worshippers in the city, Tehmi’s birthday cake displayed the words: “You made it, Mrs B”.
|
|||
|
FAVE foodie The poll, of a total of 5,437 people, was carried out by the Good Food magazine. Topping the list was British chef Jamie Oliver, who beat second place Delia Smith, reports Daily Mail. Gillian Carter, Good Food magazine editor, said that it was Oliver’s campaign to better school dinners, train unemployed youngsters as chefs, and down to earth approach to cooking that won him top spot. Jaffery, who came in twelfth on the list, was voted for her inspirational presentation of food in the three BBC series— Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery (1982); Madhur Jaffrey’s Far
Eastern Cookery (1989); and Madhur Jaffrey’s Flavours Of India (1995). —
ANI |
When it comes to food, Indian actress, director and cookbook author Madhur Jaffery has been named the eleventh most influential foodie in the world, according to a new poll.