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An artist's story
The discussion on this particular series (11 paintings in total) evokes nostalgia. Because for Viren this series marks the revival of his miniature works that he indulged in during his college days, in early 70s and second, almost all his works bear some element from his works he did after his marriage.
His series which is being displayed under the title Aspects of Collecting will conclude in February and after that will be doing its rounds in 10 different museums in the world. parbina@tribunemail.com
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Screen test
Television is fast turning into a 'surrogate parent'. But is it really wise to bank on the 'electronic babysitter'? Lifestyle finds out Though it had a perennial presence, babysitting, as such, is relatively a neo-term in the Indian context. In a traditional joint family system, the kids were looked after well, thanks to multiple hands— parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, elder siblings and cousins - available to take care of them. However, as group families paved way for nuclear ones, a lot of things changed. The woman of the house started venturing out to work and single-child became a norm. But that left parents with a big task at hand - taking care of the baby. With not many daycare centres around and 'nannies' coming at a whopping cost, add to it the trust factor, many parents are leaving their young ones in the company of the tube. In fact, the TV is playing an important role in the lives of toddlers, says a recent study in the US. The research also shows that a third of young children have TVs in their own room, and many are put to sleep with the television on. But is it okay to bank on the electronic babysitter? We find out from parents. "TV, nowadays, has lots to offer to kids. There is no dearth of cartoons or educative programmes," says Suman Sharma, a lecturer in mathematics at Government Polytechnic, Mohali. "From gathering gyan on Discovery to learning magic tricks on Nick, kids can assimilate so much from the television. A parent can easily leave the child in the entertaining hands of the television," quips the mother of two. Agrees Taruna, a Sector 21 resident. "Sparing use of TV can greatly help kids and their parents. My one-and-half-year-old-son, Hemang is able to identify different animals, thanks to all the wildlife shows he is watching. He is too young for books. So, the TV comes handy. Also, it gives a much-needed breather to new parents," says the homemaker. However, the tube's detractors blame it for increased aggression among kids. "TV should never replace the interactions the young kids need for healthy development," asserts Madhu R. D. Singh, a schoolteacher from Ambala. "You laugh, talk, and sometimes even cry with the child while tending to him. The TV is bereft of all this. The parental touch and sharing of emotions are starkly missing in the electronic babysitter," says Madhu, adding that reality and dance shows are depriving kids of their childhood joys. Television is detrimental for another reason, says GS Saini of Sector 68, Mohali. " A child watching TV is not playing physically and may tend to become more obese," he points out. "The round-the-clock broadcasting leaves children with little time to spare. We do not realise that this (TV) babysitter is slowly finishing our social life as well as respect and care for each other. We will have to pay heavily for this," adds Saini. The experts are also not too happy with parents abdicating their position to TV as a surrogate parent. "Nothing can replace the nurturing and bringing up of parents," says Prof Sherry Sabbarwal, a sociologist. "Kids get transfixed while watching the tube. They simply get sucked into the TV. Apart from being addictive, kids miss out on parental connect, security and culture initiation. The effects are easily visible on health, psyche and behavior," she avers. Any solutions? "They vary from person to person. Find an elder to stay with you, arrange a nanny or simply alter the work timings to make sure that at least one of the parents is available to the child all the time. But the bottom line is don't have kids if you can't raise them properly," says the expert. mona@tribunemail.com
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Fusion &
confusion
Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan, one of the few surviving custodians of Delhi Gharana, who is in the city to perform at Pinjore Heritage Fest, defines fusion music as a survival tactic
International Amir Khusro Gold medal in 1966, Youngest vocalist of the country in 1970, Best Classical Singer of the Stage, outstanding vocalist of Delhi University, Aamir Khan Trophy and Mirza Ghalib Trophy, the title of Gaayan Acharya, Sangeet Rattan and Sangeet Saurabh, Priyadarshini Award-2001 and Rajiv Rattan Sadbhavna Samman-2003. Phew…if these few lines could sum up the pioneer of Hindustani classical music Ustad Iqubal Ahmed Khan's introduction, well, consider the job half done. The custodian or Khalifa of Delhi Gharana, one of the oldest traditional gharanas of Hindustani classical music and known for it's pleasing vistaar (elaboration) and exquisite compositions, is neither overwhelmed by his success nor scared to teach his music in its purest from, untouched from the materialistic corruptions. "Every kind of music is classical music, if the rendition reaches from one soul to another," said the celebrated artiste who has recorded more than 200 rare traditional compositions (bandishes) based on various ragas and talas. He has travelled across the globe, performing, promoting and teaching the Indian classical music and yet feels disappointed at the dying respect for the music in his own country. "I have got tremendous response and respect from all over the world and I like performing in the US, UK and Germany because people meditate with the music there. It is ironic that we get standing ovations performing abroad and yawns at concerts in India," he says. Two of his CDs have been released in Paris.
With music running in his blood for generations, he has been aloof from commercialisation of his music. But he does react on the concept of fusion music, "Fusion of sufi, classical and Western are all ideas to sell the music. There is nothing different. It's just a big confusion that is being sold to the young generation," he says. And a part of this confusion is his young prodigy, Imran Khan. Son and disciple of late Ustad Nazeer Ahmed Khan, Imran has grown up with music by his side. Ask him if his detour is an attempt to fit in and he is straight, "You can't limit yourself to being a type artiste. And there is no detour, just a different presentation. I sing bada khayal and chota khayal in a rock star avatar and people like it." Well, that defines his two bands - Orange Street and Manthan. Now, if Pt Ravi Shanker can hate the environment performing at the Woodstock Festival in New York, Imran may still call it a survival strategy. "You have to fuse your music to survive." But he does feel sad about the outsourcing of Indian music. "The amount of understanding and appreciation we get from foreign audience, it may not be surprising if in a few decades, Indians will have to go to abroad to learn Indian Classical music." nehawalia@tribunemail.com
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A colourful treat
Semi-figurative work by Niren Sen Gupta titled Refuge shows a lamb in hands of a man. The colour scheme is bright using red, yellow and orange colour except for the lamb in grey. Pravin Chand Baloni’s painting, Flower, shows a flower wine with many blooming flowers. The painting has also been put on the cover page of the catalogue for this exhibition. Fascination with human anatomy continues with Himmat Shah’s sculpture Head in bronze. Rajni Slathia figure Green Boat is made in bronze. City’s very own Mahesh Prajapati’s print titled Chasing is also on display here. It shows a man trying to locate something in a field and wild animal chasing the man. The print has used various shades of brown. Printmaking Studio, a painting by Mahula Ghosh, is a simple real work that shows all that one finds in a printmaking studio from liquids in bottles to be used to brushes. Manikanta Choudhury’s Angelina died here in the year 1988, is in tandem with the theme, death by making use of shades of grey only. The semi abstract artwork has crosses indicating a graveyard and a figure with wings like an angel but headgear looking that of an evil. Idea of Nilanjana Nandy, painting Game DogsIII is picked from the dog and the bone game. The painting shows two team of dogs, facing each other, ready for a fight for just two pieces of bones, also probably depicting the real life truth of few opportunities and too many takers. On till December 22 |
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Simply South
Aroma of freshly grounded coffee, fluffy idlis, tangy sambhar and masala dosa —city foodies simply cannot get enough of South Indian food Pungent in aroma, with a generous use of spices, it’s the final seasoning with oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chillies and urad dal that makes the Southern cuisines much liked delicacy in this part of the country. Though generally a mention of South Indian food brings to mind the images of idli, dosa, sambhar and vada, there are more to it. And the increasing number of restaurants and multiplication of the existing ones proves our point that South Indian food is indeed popular in the city. Having opened his second outlet in IIIB-2, Mohali, Skenkaran Sundaram from Sundarams confirms the fact, "I had lot of customers driving down from Mohali to our Sector 26 outlet. So, I thought why not open one in Mohali itself." Planning to open in Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jammu, he says dosa, idli and uthapam are most-liked dishes, but adds, "People don’t shy away from experimenting and are always looking for something new." While his menu remains more or less the same as his Sector 26 outlet, the ambience of the Mohali branch spells elegance. The brightly lit hall is more contemporary than traditional. More for the love of South Indian cuisine, Sundarams has also started catering for wedding and functions. "There’s a lot of demand of South Indian food in marriages and private parties these days, and cashing on its popularity, we cater to various occasions," says Sundram. And, when we are talking about dosas and idlis how can we not mention Sagar Ratna that has four outlets in tricity. Says Srinivas, manager, Sagar Ratna-17, "It’s because of people’s demand for South Indian food we have two resturants in Chandigarh, one in Panchkula and one in Mohali." Ask him what do our city foodeis like the most and he says, "Masala dosa, onion rava dosa, dahi vada and idli vada are the most liked dishes." When talking about South Indian cuisines, we must tell you this is referred to as Dravidian cuisine also, a term used for cuisines found in the four southern states — Andhra Pradesh, Karnatka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The similarities in all four states’ cuisines include rice as a staple food, the use of lentils and spices, use of dried red chillies and fresh green chillies, coconut and native fruits and vegetables like tamarind, plantain, snake gourd, garlic, ginger, etc. "Overall all the food in the entire belt has much in common and differ mostly in the spiciness or hotness of the food," says Srinivas. Synonumous to coffee and convesration, Indian Coffee House-17, is one place that despite the mushrooming of chic and contemporary food joints has a serpentine queue of people waiting for their seat. And, this gives us another reason to say, dosa is still ruling the roost. Having opened in July this year, Sankalp in Sector 26 is another reason to confirm that we love South Indian food. With around 15 varieties of dosas, 12 assortments of utthapams, the restaurant serves five type of biryanis, and idli with different servings. Based in Ahmedabad, the core group has 50 outlets across the country and another interesting concept here is of the 3-barrel dosa, where in one dish, one can have three different mini dosas, Mysore, plain and masala dosa. To add to the taste, any dish here is served with five regular chutneys, which include the popular coconut, garlic and maglapuri made of kala channa. To conclude we can say, get set and go South. jigyasachimra@tribunemail.com
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Christmas cheer!
Kandla Nijhowne Cheers! It’s Christmas, and there is a frenzy of preparations, baking, decorations and shopping the world over! Special music channels play Christmas songs round the clock, ranging from the evocative Silent Night to the comical Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, setting the mood for gaiety and good times ahead. On this joyous festival, how can a piece of fruitcake do you any harm? Fruit cake, studded with raisins, cherries, sultanas and currants and a gaggle of nuts that sat perched in a jar for weeks, soaking in rum and brandy! The final baked product, more than just a cake, becomes a heady treasure chest of exquisite flavours. Have I motivated you sufficiently with the delicious description? ! Ideally the fruit should be soaked for at least one month but you get good results even after a week. So, there’s still time to soak the fruit and bake this all-time favourite, so no excuses please! Traditional celebration cake 300 gm butter 1½ cup powdered sugar 3 eggs, separated into whites and yolks 1 tsp baking powder 2 ¾ cups maida 1 ½ tsp mixed spice, (powdered cinnamon, cloves, mace and nutmeg) ½ cup pineapple juice 2 tsp vanilla essence 2 cups raisins 1½ cups red glazed cherries 1 cup mixed peel ½ cup rum 2 cups broken walnuts Method Four to six days prior to baking, soak the raisins, chopped cherries and diced peel in rum. I suggest you also grind your own spice blend for that exotic fragrance! Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks, vanilla and pineapple juice and mix well. Sieve together the spice powders, maida and baking powder. In a separate bowl, toss the drained and dried fruit with a little of the maida. Stir the fruit into the egg mixture along with the walnuts, then fold in the maida. Beat the egg whites till they form soft peaks, then fold them into the batter. The resulting mixture will be bit stiff but don’t fret and do not be tempted to thin it with milk. A firm batter ensures that the fruit will be held up instead of sinking like the Titanic! Line a cake tin with double layers of paper and tie a band of paper around the tin to protect against scorching. Bake for 1 hour at 325 F and another hour at 300 degrees F. Remove and peel off the paper-lining. Decorate, if you desire, with a thick coat of icing sugar mixed with water. Top with a scattering of sliced apple preserve and glazed cherries. Chocolate Yule Log For the Chocolate sponge ½ cup sugar 6 egg yolks 6 egg whites 1 tbsp cocoa powder 100 gm chocolate, melted Method Mix 1/4 cup sugar with yolks until light and fluffy. Set aside. Whip whites until soft peaks form, slowly add 2 tablespoons sugar and continue mixing. Add cocoa powder and chocolate into yolks. Gently fold whites into yolks. Spread evenly on a greased, lined shallow pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes. Filling 1 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon sugar Frosting 250 gm cooking chocolate 1 ½ cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons brandy Method Whip the filling ingredients together with a few drops of vanilla. Keep aside. Chop chocolate. Add boiling cream and brandy. Blend and chill to proper consistency. Spread the filling on the sponge and carefully roll up the cake. Spread the frosting on the log and score with a fork to create a woody bark effect. Slice off a section of the roll at a slant and affix with some cream on the side of the log to look like an off-branch. Decorate with holly ornaments or cherries.
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Tasty byte
A new cookbook dishes out recipes that are nutritious and tasty
Sydney-based dietician Geraldine Georgeou, who co-edited the book, says the variety of ingredients used in the recipes showed that nutritious can be delicious and help prevent a range of gastrointestinal conditions including bowel cancer, diverticular disease and irritable bowel syndrome. "A lot of people think that getting diagnosed with a gastrointestinal condition means you have to cut out whole food groups from your diet," Georgeou said. "But the main issue is eating well, and this book shows that you can have good meals, at home or in a restaurant, and can still be healthy." 13 chefs have donated their recipes to the Gut Foundation. "Food is very much linked to quality of life, and we wantedto make sure, with this book, that everybody can have a good meal," Georgeou added. — Reuters
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"I call myself ‘Jack
of all trades and master of one’ with medicine being my vocation. Now
my effort is to be a master of poetry," she says coyly. Sadhran
da Bohia is collection of 50 odd poems, songs and ghazals on
topics that have touched the writer’s heart. Ranging from nature,
relationships, recent issues, Birinder has penned them all. "I
compose poems from everyday life and its experiences," she shares. Anjanmi
di pukar is a very intense poem on female foeticde that she sings in
Heer style. She covers a range of social issues like farmers’
suicide, teen troubles, substance abuse in Punjab and the perils of
modern science. "I also write about relationships. In Sadhran
da Bohia I have poems on brother-sister, mother-in-law—daughter-in-law
relationship, joint family system and grandchildren," she shares.
"I want to learn something everyday till the day I live,"
signs off the spirited woman. — Mona
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Every life has a story and
when it comes to the pictorial depiction of a story, Viren Tanwar happens
to be one of the bests we have. This is what we saw in his latest series
by the name Every Life Has a Story, which is now doing Chandigarh
proud at Vienna Essl Museum in Austria.
"These are contemporary
miniatures," says Viren showing his 17'' by 17'' frames. Contemporary
they are, in the sense that though his female forms look from the bygone
era and each frame bears the minutest details one usually gets to see in
the Rajasthani and Pahari miniatures, the treatment is new. Some of
his paintings come with elements like a gramophone or an acrobat or tit
bits from his dream house. And, if we can call it a trend, Viren has
introduced us to this newt one - making the frames part of his landscape.
Crisscrossing lines in blue, overlapping red and green and underlying black on the canvas—the depiction of a metropolitan looks so apt. Kalicharan Gupta needn’t make any definite shapes to show a city on canvas. The abstract form of art explains it all. Ajit Seal’s semi figurative artwork, Deity, has Lord Shiva on a bull with a trident in hand, that hints at his power. N. Surender’s How Green Was My? makes the theme evident with painting of trees, crop plantation and the colours beings used, green, brown and yellow. Just like these, the rest of the 45 artworks, comprising paintings, sculptures, prints and ceramics have a tale to tell at the exhibition titled Digressions being held at Punjab Kala Bhawan put up by the National Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, in collaboration with the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi.
Mother and Child by Dharna Jaisinghani aptly depict the expression of a mother’s love and care towards her child. Hanuman Kambli’s etching work, Recital, has a lot of faces. The expression on every face is different, which thus narrates different stories. However, emboss work on the print is the central point. 
