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the battle for bengal

can the bjp win?
FROM THE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
T
hat Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister
Amit Shah have converted the BJP into an electoral
juggernaut is fairly well known. Just how relentless that
machine is became apparent just a day after the Bihar
election results. No sooner had the BJP become the dominant
partner in Bihar than the prime minister, in a victory rally at the
party headquarters in New Delhi on November 11, trained his
party’s sights on the next prize—the state of West Bengal, where
elections are due in less than six months from now.
Three other big states—Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala—
also go to polls in 2021, but West Bengal remains
special. There are several reasons for this, not least
its charismatic chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
But with 42 seats, Bengal also has the third-largest
chunk of Lok Sabha seats, offering the BJP immense
room for growth. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election,
the party’s vote share grew phenomenally—from
17 per cent in 2014 to 40.64 per cent, just three
percentage points short of the Trinamool Congress’s
share. It saw the BJP win, for the first time, 18 of the
42 seats (compared to the mere two seats in 2014) Our July 16, 2018 cover
while the TMC’s tally fell from 34 to 22.
Three political parties have dominated Bengal’s
politics. The Congress ruled the state for the first
25 years, followed by the Left Front, which ran the
world’s longest-running democratically-elected
Communist government for 34 years. Finally, the
TMC of Mamata Banerjee, with her doggedness,
routed the deeply-entrenched Left in 2011.
In Mamata, the BJP has a foe who has stood like
a rock in their path, relentlessly baiting them for the
past six years. A trenchant critic of the prime min- Our April 2, 2012 cover
ister, she has consistently opposed his government’s
policies, be it demonetisation, GST or CAA-NRC.
She has been the fulcrum of opposition unity, bring-
ing like-minded parties together in a loose federal
front, starting from her swearing-in ceremony in
2016; she could do so again ahead of the 2024 Lok
Sabha election. Defeating her could clear the road
for the BJP in the next parliamentary elections.
But Mamata, going by TMC’s performance in
2016, will be no pushover. The party polled a whop-
ping 44.9 per cent vote share, winning 211 of the Our May 23, 2011 cover
state’s 294 seats. The BJP’s state unit, on the other
hand, is riddled with infighting; it also has no local leader of the
stature of Mamata who can take her head-on. With a ground-lev-
el understanding of politics, Mamata is a tenacious rival who has
fought many political battles. The BJP government’s Citizenship
(Amendment) Act has helped her consolidate her position among
Muslims, who make up 28 per cent of the state’s population.
And religious polarisation was rampant in the state in the 2019
Lok Sabha election, going by a CSDS-Lokniti survey. The BJP
cornered 57 per cent of the Hindu vote and the TMC 70 per cent
of the Muslim vote and only 32 per cent of the Hindu vote.
Mamata also has a razor-sharp political instinct and does
not hesitate to make mid-course corrections. For instance,
when she realised that she was falling into the trap of being
labelled a politician given to minority appeasement, she rapidly
changed tack, spending money on Durga puja pandals and
flaunting her religion. Aware that Bengalis are very proud and
protective of their culture, she is quick to cast any attack on her
government by the BJP as an assault on Bengali asmita (pride).
In contrast to the BJP’s aggressive dare, ‘Ebar Bangla, parle
shamla (This time Bengal, save it if you can)’, Mamata’s slogan
of ‘Ma, Mati, Manush’ is gentler. As Iman Kalyan
Lahiri, professor of political science at Jadavpur
University, puts it, “It is rooted in the soil and is all
about us, the people.”
Y
et, the BJP remains resolute in its game plan.
It will exploit the inevitable anti-incumbency
following nine and a half years of her rule.
Although it may not have a credible CM face, it has a
trump card in Prime Minister Modi. He is believed to
be polishing up his Bengali and trying to deflect the
TMC’s charge of the BJP being an outsider by playing
up the role of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder of
the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. The party is also raking up
the violence, corruption and nepotism associated with
Trinamool rule and attempting to attract disenchant-
ed TMC leaders and Left Front workers.
Our cover story, ‘The Battle for Bengal’, written
by Associate Editor Romita Datta, looks at this ulti-
mate political battle: Modi versus Mamata. “Bengal
is up for a different game this time,” says Datta. “The
Communists want to oust the TMC first and then
take on the BJP. The state, which once took pride in
its secular ethos, is highly polarised today, courtesy
the BJP and the ruling TMC.”
Bengal 2021 will be crucial for both parties. For
the BJP, buoyed by its recent success in Bihar, a win
in Bengal will complete its sweep of the East and
Northeast, barring Odisha. Such an upset would be
equivalent to Mamata dislodging the Left. And while
it took her 27 years to do so, the BJP, if it wins, would
have done it in 10. The party won no seats in the 2011
assembly election and only three in 2016. It was only
in 2019, when it won 18 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal,
that the BJP went from being a fringe player in the state’s politics
to becoming the principal opposition party. For Mamata and the
TMC, it will be a matter of survival. This keenly-contested elec-
tion will be a landmark one in India’s political history.
(Aroon Purie)
NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 3
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Volume XLV Number 48; For the week

November 24-30, 2020, published on every Friday

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BATTLE FOR BENGAL

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DEFENCE

32 A PRICKLY
PROPOSAL
To reduce the armed
Nitish Kumar’s five big challenges
by Amitabh Srivastava
As he begins his fourth full term as chief minister of
forces’ wage bill, a Bihar, Nitish Kumar now has to compete against his
new proposal suggests own record
slashing pensions https://bit.ly/36Smcoq
BANDEEP SINGH

BIHAR
As Nitish Kumar begins his fourth

36
term as chief minister of Bihar,
VICTOR’S the BJP’s large seat-share could
SPOILS rewrite the terms of the alliance

ANI PHOTO

ANI PHOTO Maharashtra reopens its places of worship

by Kiran D. Tare
C OV I D The decision to reopen came after a statewide agita-
tion as well as a sizeable drop in Covid-19 infections

60
https://bit.ly/2UF9jZ8
SLOW
RECOVERY Telangana braces for a Covid double
Persistent symptoms
take a heavy physical whammy by Amarnath K. Menon
and mental toll on The onset of winter and the festive season spell greater
those recovering from worries for the state
Covid-19 https://bit.ly/3kJBdO5
YASIR IQBAL

The Congress needs a fight plan for 2023

by Rahul Noronha
The Congress’ lukewarm performance in the bypolls
has accentuated old faults within the party and put a
question mark on its strategy for 2023
CINEMA
https://bit.ly/3kIZR1a

64 YOUTUBE TO
SILVER SCREEN Who will join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
Union cabinet in the next reshuffle?
Streaming platforms by Kaushik Deka
are helping a new
Among the top contenders are Sushil Kumar Modi,
generation of stars leap Jyotiraditya Scindia and Himanta Biswa Sarma as the
the gap from YouTube to BJP considers a rejig of the Union cabinet
full-fledged films https://bit.ly/3nziTcf
 UPFRONT
LADAKH: A LIMITED
DISENGAGEMENT
PG 10
A HOME FOR
THE CHEETAH
PG 16
ONLINE NEWS & OT T CONTENT
A DIGITAL
DISQUIET
By Suhani Singh and Kaushik Deka
O
n November
9, the Union
government,
through a
gazette notification,
brought “films and
audio-visual programmes
made available by online
content providers and
news and current affairs
programmes on online
platforms” within the am-
bit of the information and
broadcasting (I&B) minis-
try. This means OTT (Over
the Top) platforms, such
as Netflix, Amazon Prime
and Disney+ Hotstar, and
any digital media, includ-
ing social media platforms,
that publish or stream
news and current affairs
will now be monitored by
the I&B ministry. So far,
these fell in the domain of
the ministry of electronics
and information technol-
ogy (MeitY).
While, for now, the
move brings little change
to how digital media and
OTT platforms function—
Illustration by NILANJAN DAS
DECODING
STIMULUS 3.0
PG 12
OBIT: SOUMITRA
CHATTERJEE
PG 20
except the change in the
supervising ministry—in-
dustry observers argue this
could have a far-reaching
impact on media freedom
and creative expression.
These apprehensions grew
when, a week after the no-
tification, the Centre issued
a detailed set of measures
to be undertaken by digital
media entities to ensure
compliance with the policy
that restricts foreign direct
investment (FDI) in these
entities to 26 per cent.
The I&B ministry
notice states that a digital
news outlet with FDI
below 26 per cent should,
within a month, provide
the ministry details of the
company, its shareholding
pattern, and the names and
addresses of the directors
and shareholders. Firms
with FDI over 26 per cent
will have to provide similar
details and take steps to
bring down the foreign
investment to 26 per cent
by October 15, 2021.
NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 7
UPFRONT
In response, DIGIPUB, an um-
brella grouping of 11 Indian digital-
only news organisations, has issued
a statement that the government’s
directives could seriously limit the
growth potential of digital media
in India and prove disastrous for
people’s ‘right to stay informed’. ‘Re-
strictive policies could have serious
consequences, including job losses,’
read the statement issued by DIGI-
PUB chairperson Dhanya Rajendran
and Ritu Kapur, its general secretary.
T >300%
he Union government, though,
dismisses such fears and
maintains that the objective of
the exercise is not to regulate digital
platforms or censor their content but
to streamline their operations and
bring transparency to the function-
ing of these service providers. An
I&B ministry official says digital
media entities have been asked to
provide details as they, unlike print
and TV media, are not registered
with the government. A registra-
tion process for digital media, the
official points out, had already been
proposed in the Registration of Press
and Periodicals Bill, 2019. “The idea
is not regulation, rather it’s about
preventing anyone with internet
access from masquerading as a news
provider and peddling fake news.
The move will bring accountability. It
was but natural to bring all mediums
of news and content [on] a single
platform,” says the official.
The argument carries some
weight. The Reuters Institute’s India
Digital News Report for 2019 found
that 57 per cent of the respondents
in their study were ‘worried whether
online news they come across is
real or fake’. Over 50 per cent of the
respondents were concerned about
‘hyperpartisan content’, ‘poor jour-
nalism’ and ‘false news’.
While the Union government has
so far given no indication of any move
to censor digital news, I&B minister
Prakash Javadekar has expressed
concern that digital media platforms
10 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
THE OTT
UNIVERSE
$2.9 bn
(about Rs 21,598 crore)
India’s projected OTT revenues
by 2024, making it the sixth
largest market in the world
Expected growth of
subscription OTT videos over
five years from $708 million in
2019, making India the fastest
growing OTT market
93%
of India’s OTT market is video-
on-demand subscriptions,
which will be the prime driver
of this growth
10 mn 40+
subscribers Video OTT
paid for 21 players in
million OTT video India
subscriptions
in 2019
1,600
hours
of original content
created for OTT
platforms in India in 2019
Source: India’s OTT Market
Landscape Report 2020 by
inc42.com; Kantar, a data,
insights and consulting
company; Entertainment &
Media Outlook 2020, a report by
PricewaterhouseCoopers
did not have any regulatory body
on the lines of the Press Council of
India. Speaking on National Press
Day (November 16), Javadekar said
that the government was consider-
ing ways to strengthen regulatory
mechanisms for the entire news me-
dia, including digital platforms, and
at the same time called for greater
self-regulation by media companies.
“The government does not want to
intervene and curtail any freedom,
but this is your responsibility. When
the government is reposing faith in
you, you should set an example of re-
sponsible journalism and responsible
freedom,” he said.
These assurances have not al-
layed fears that the government is
planning to introduce a policy that
will make it mandatory for OTT con-
tent to get censor board certification,
like films screened in theatres. True,
India does not yet have laws regulat-
ing OTT platforms—unlike print,
TV and radio, for which guidelines
are in place—but what content
providers and industry watchers
worry about is the insistence on a
stuffy morality. At a two-day seminar
organised by the I&B ministry and
the Film Certification Appellate
Tribunal in October in Mumbai, ad-
vocate and BJP spokesperson Hitesh
Jain demanded regulation of OTT
platforms. Two petitioners, Apurv
Arhatia and Shashank Shekhar Jha,
also moved the Supreme Court in
October, seeking an autonomous
‘Central Board for Regulation and
Monitoring of Online Video Con-
tents’. Their petition argues that
online shows depict ‘anti-Indian’
content and make money ‘without
keeping in mind the religious and
cultural sentiments’ of Indians.
Much like films, several shows
streamed online have run into
controversies. For instance, Leila
(Netflix), Aashram (MX Player) and
Godman (Tamil series on Zee5) have
faced the wrath of religious outfits
for allegedly being Hindu-phobic.
While Aashram director Prakash
Graphics by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY
Jha put a disclaimer that his web series
respects ‘all gurus and their establish-
ments’ and ‘all religions’, Zee5 decided
to suspend Godman altogether. The
AltBalaji show X.X.X. Uncensored
had to delete a scene that triggered
a backlash for allegedly disrespect-
ing the Indian Army. Similarly, cases
have been filed against Netflix series
Bad Boy Billionaires: India and Sacred
Games and Amazon Prime’s Mirzapur.
U
nder pressure, the Internet and
Mobile Association of India
(IAMAI) unveiled the Univer-
sal Self-Regulation Code for Online
Curated Content Providers (OCCPs)
in 2019. The code has undergone at
least three iterations. In the latest ver-
sion released this September, at least
17 streaming platforms and digital
content providers agreed to monitor
their content by appointing an advisory
panel, which would have two in-house
members and an external representa-
tive. One of the core objectives of the
code is to ‘nurture creativity, foster
innovation and abide by an individual’s
freedom of speech and expression’. The
code, though, has not found takers in
the I&B ministry.
In fact, Javadekar has come down
heavily on OTT platforms, saying
they have streamed some “very bad
films and shows” and that the govern-
ment was deliberating on the sugges-
tions received for streamlining OTT
content. “They (OTT platforms) fall
under the [purview of the] IT Act but
have no governmental or self-regu-
lation. This happens nowhere in the
world,” says Javadekar.
While no official confirmed any
move to censor OTT content, the
platforms have been cautious in their
response to the government’s moves.
“We do not know whether there will be
[any] certification,” said Gautam Tal-
war, chief content officer, MX Player.
“We’ll have to see whether we can [con-
tinue to] tell our stories the way we
have been or if that would change.”
Content creators are apprehensive
about the future of a medium that is
THE FDI LIMIT say ‘responsible’, it’s quite apparent that
it is not about propagating misogyny,
rape culture, abusive language or
Print female nudity; it’s the politically pro-
26%
vocative content that’s going to come
under the scanner.”
Writer-director Alankrita Shriv-
astava, whose series Bombay Begums
will release on Netflix, is not surprised
by the developments. “In a country that
Digital has nurtured censorship with so much
26%
passion since Independence and has
been trying to monitor stuff (content),
it’s a given that it is not going to allow
any space to be free,” says Shrivastava,
who co-wrote and co-directed Made in
TV Heaven, a web series she feels wouldn’t
49%
have made the cut on television.
Arguing against censorship,
IAMAI’s self-regulation code says that
online content is offered to consum-
ers on ‘on-demand and pull basis’ and
therefore ‘does not qualify as public
282 MILLION exhibition of content, and is considered
UNIQUE VISITORS private exhibition’. OTT platforms be-
lieve content advisories—on depiction
CONSUMED NEWS of sex and violence, for example, and
AND INFORMATION age classification as well as parental
access control—are already helping
ONLINE IN JUNE viewers make informed decisions.
2019, SPENDING 90 Interestingly, in a 2015 Supreme
MILLION MINUTES, Court hearing on a proposed ban on
pornography, then attorney general
COMPARED WITH Mukul Rohatgi had maintained that
260 MILLION the Narendra Modi government was
against regulating private viewing.
UNIQUE VISITORS “We do not want to do moral policing,”
SPENDING 20 Rohatgi had said.
MILLION MINUTES While the government’s insis-
tence on accountability can hardly be
IN JULY 2018 faulted, how far it will go to ensure
adherence to its sense of propriety (in
OTT content) and how evenly it might
Source: Online Trendspotting in apply standards for news outlets will
India, Comscore, 2019
be watched with interest. It needs to
address the concerns of various stake-
seen as a liberating alternative to the holders and engage them in the policy-
strictures of theatrical film and TV making. “We urge the I&B minister to
shows. “I have been reading that the give us a hearing. We can together cre-
ministry is not going to censor us but ate a framework that will be nurturing
[that they] are concerned about us not to the digital media economy as well
being responsible with our freedom,” as set high standards of journalism,
says a writer of multiple web shows, on while addressing other concerns,” say
condition of anonymity. “When they Rajendran and Kapur. n
NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 11
 L A DA K H
A LIMITED
DISENGAGEMENT
By Sandeep Unnithan
A
s the standoff between
India and China enters its
seventh month, both sides
have inched closer to a dis-
engagement proposal that could see
their troops stepping back from key
confrontation zones around Pangong
Lake. This proposal was discussed at
a high-level meeting of military com-
manders on November 6, the eighth
such round of talks between the two
militaries at the Chushul-Moldo bor-
der personnel meeting point.
“We have arrived on the same
page about what to do and how to
do it,” an Indian government official
said after the meeting. Both sides are
‘about to implement a disengagement
12 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
plan under [a] reciprocal principle’,
reported The Global Times, an English
tabloid mouthpiece of the Chinese
Communist Party, on November 13.
However, the process of disengage-
ment is yet to begin. Indian and
Chinese troops are currently facing off
on multiple locations along the LAC
(line of actual control), particularly
in three locations along the Kailash
Range—a series of hills south of
Pangong Lake—where heavily armed
soldiers are deployed just a few hun-
dred metres away from each other.
A key hurdle to disengagement
has been the question who will step
back first, and how this withdrawal
will be verified. This is one reason
Indian military officials say talks are
likely to be prolonged, and why no
breakthrough can be achieved quickly.
The weather clock, meanwhile, is tick-
ing—winter has set in over Ladakh and
temperatures have already plunged to
-20 degrees Celsius or lower at many
of these standoff points. And sometime
next month, the landward access into
Ladakh will be blocked when two cru-
cial mountain passes leading into the
region are blocked by snowfall.
Talks of a military thaw are on even
as Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and President Xi Jinping came face
to face—digitally—at a multilateral
forum earlier this month. At a virtual
meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation

BANDEEP SINGH
TENSE PEACE
An Indian Air Force
MiG29 on a mission in Leh
Organisation on November 10, also
attended by President Xi, Prime
Minister Modi emphasised the need to
‘respect one another’s sovereignty and
territorial integrity’.
The two leaders are currently dis-
cussing the Chinese pullback from
Finger 4 to behind Finger 8 (these ‘fin-
gers’ refer to mountain spurs jutting
into Pangong Lake) and the withdraw-
al from the Hot Springs area, around
50 kilometres to the north. What is
not being addressed, however, is the
elephant in the room—the Chinese
incursions into the Depsang plains.
The plains, an area of roughly 800
square kilometres, lie in the north-
eastern corner of Ladakh. They are
UPFRONT
located around 50 kilometres south of
the crucial Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), a
military base and airfield, the Indian
army’s northernmost deployment
near the Karakoram Pass. The plains
are crucial because they are very close
to the 255 km-long Darbuk-Shyok-
DBO road, which was completed last
year and is India’s sole road link to
the northern outpost. Cutting off this
road could imperil a 250 sq. km trian-
gular wedge of territory lodged in an
area that the Indian army calls ‘sub-
sector north’. This territory is located
between the Siachen glacier, Xinjiang
and Aksai Chin.
Sometime before the current
standoff began in May—it is not
clear when exactly—the Chinese PLA
(People’s Liberation Army) blocked
Indian patrols from accessing four
patrolling points on these plains.
These four points—defined as the
outermost limit a patrol would walk
upto—were marked in the mid-1970s
and reinforced India’s claim on the
western edge of the Depsang bulge.
However, in 2013, Indian and Chinese
troops had a standoff on the plains
that lasted nearly 20 days.
“Between 2013 and 2019, we
were patrolling up to these points,
but this year it seems we have been
denied access to that area as well. It is
A key hurdle to
disengagement
is the question of
who will step back
first and how this
withdrawal will
be verified. This is
one reason Indian
military officials
say talks are likely
to be prolonged
a terrible loss and we need to contest
it,” says a former army commander
who did not want to be named. While
China has not constructed any perma-
nent or semi-permanent structures on
the plains, as it has in other incursion
spots, it has been blocking the Indian
army’s access to the entire plain. A
government official says the Chinese
incursions in Depsang will be dealt
with separately because they predate
the present standoff. The current
rounds of talks have been confined
to China’s incursions in and around
Pangong Lake in May this year, and
the pre-emptive ‘area denial’ forward
move by Indian special forces, who
moved in to occupy heights on the
Kailash Range on August 29.
M
ilitary analysts say India
could be squandering these
strategic gains on the south
bank for tactical concessions on the
north bank.
India’s gains on the Kailash Range,
they say, are strategic in nature—these
heights dominate the Chinese garrison
at Moldo and allow Indian soldiers
to monitor Chinese movements all
along the southern bank of the lake.
These heights could serve as a launch
pad for a military offensive into Tibet,
and are the closest forward position
to the vital G219 highway, linking
Tibet with Xinjiang, as it approaches
Indian territory. This is one reason
the Chinese immediately moved tanks
up to Chushul as soon as they spot-
ted Indian soldiers occupying the
heights. The present negotiations do
not attempt to leverage the gains in
the south against the more worry-
ing Chinese incursions in the north.
“If one has to do a swap, even with a
moratorium on Indian patrolling, it
should include Demchok, Chumar
and Depsang,” says Lt Gen. Rakesh
Sharma, former commander of the
14 Corps. Without factoring in the
big picture of incursions, the current
round of disengagement talks could at
best be a limited exercise that does not
restore the status quo on the LAC. n
NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 13
 TAKING ANOTHER SWING
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
at a press conference on November 12
SANJEEV VERMA/ GETTY IMAGES
THE STIMULUS DRIP
O
n November 12, finance
minister Nirmala
Sitharaman announced a
third fiscal stimulus follow-
ing the Covid-19 induced lockdown.
The latest tranche, styled Atmanirbhar
Bharat 3.0, combined with the pro-
duction-linked incentives announced
for manufacturing a day earlier,
amounted to Rs 2.65 lakh crore, or
over 1 per cent of GDP. While some of
the measures are new initiatives, oth-
ers are either extensions or enhance-
ments of existing schemes.
The new Atmanirbhar Bharat
Rozgar Yojana comes at a time of
rising unemployment, even after
lockdown restrictions have been
lifted. According to the Centre for
14 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
ECONOM Y
By M.G. Arun
Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE),
the unemployment rate rose to 6.98
per cent in October from 6.67 per cent
in September. In a purported boost to
employment, the scheme subsidises
provident fund contributions for two
years for new employees hired after
October 1, or those who had lost their
jobs between March and September
and have been rehired after October 1,
if their salaries are less than Rs 15,000
per month. Subject to certain mini-
mum hiring conditions, firms with less
than 1,000 employees will get subsi-
dies worth 24 per cent of employee
salaries (12 per cent contributions
each for employees and employers),
while firms with over 1,000 employ-
ees will get 12 per cent (only employee
contributions). However, the caveats
built into the scheme, the likelihood of
its misuse by employers and the fact
that half this fiscal year has already
passed are likely to dampen its impact.
Another big announcement
was the extension of the Rs 3 lakh
crore emergency credit line guaran-
tee scheme (ECLGS) till March 31,
2021, in order to provide support to
industries until the economy recov-
ers. While the original scheme was to
provide succour to micro, small and
medium scale industries, a new guar-
antee scheme has been announced for
companies in 26 stressed sectors as
identified by the K.V. Kamath panel,
in addition to the healthcare sector.
The Kamath panel, in a report to the
 THIRD-TIME
LUCKY?
A snapshot of the conservative push from
government to revive the economy
ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT 1.0
 Kisan Credit Cards: 15.7 million
cards issued, sanctioned loan limit of
Rs 1.43 lakh crore in two phases
 Emergency working capital
for farmers: Rs 25,000 crore of
loans issued through NABARD
 Emergency credit line
guarantee scheme (ECLGS):
Rs 2.05 lakh crore of loan guarantees
sanctioned for 6.1 million borrowers;
Rs 1.52 lakh crore disbursed
 Partial credit guarantee 2.0:
Public sector banks have approved
purchases of Rs 26,889 crore worth
of assets from NBFCs and HFCs
(non-banking financial companies and
housing finance companies)
 Special liquidity scheme:
Rs 7,227 crore for NBFCs/ HFCs
 Liquidity for discoms:
Rs 1.18 lakh crore worth of loans
sanctioned, Rs 31,136 crore disbursed
ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT 2.0
 Festival advances: Central
government employees given
advances via ‘Utsav cards’
 Leave travel concession:
Voucher scheme for government
employees, to boost consumption
 Capital expenditure: Rs 25,000
crore granted to ministries of road
transport and defence
 Loans for states: 11 states
granted Rs 3,621 crore as interest—
free loans for capital expenditure
ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT 3.0
 Rozgar Yojana: Provident fund
subsidies for new hires/ rehires to
incentivise job creation
 ECLGS extension: Scheme
extended till March 31, 2021, with
new guarantees for companies in 26
‘stressed sectors’, plus healthcare
 Production incentives:
Scheme initially rolled out for three
sectors now extended to 10 more
 PMAY-U: Rs 18,000 crore
allocated to this scheme over the
budget estimate for 2020-21
 IT law amendment: Subject to
conditions, real estate developers and
homebuyers to be exempted from tax
liability under Section 43CA of IT Act
for properties valued up to Rs 2 crore
Source: Ministry of Finance
UPFRONT
RBI (Reserve Bank of India) in
September, had drawn up five spe-
cific financial ratios for resolving
Covid-related stress across 26 sec-
tors. One criticism of the ECLGS
scheme extension is that it does not
raise the overall loan limit; it
merely extends the scheme dead-
line to allow the still-unsanctioned
guarantees (a third of the total) to
be used. Sitharaman said that out of
the Rs 3 lakh crore allocated,
Rs 2.05 lakh crore had been sanc-
tioned to 6.1 million borrowers,
with Rs 1.52 lakh crore already dis-
bursed—this means that around
Rs 1 lakh crore of collateral-free
loan guarantees are yet to be sanc-
tioned. As per the new announce-
ment, there is no turnover limit
set for companies to avail of the
scheme, which allows large firms
to benefit. On the positive side, the
scheme comes at a time when loan
growth has been slowing—accord-
ing to the RBI, non-food bank
credit growth fell to 5.8 per cent in
September this year, compared with
8.1 per cent a year ago.
Y
et another announcement
involved the government
expanding its existing pro-
duction-linked subsidy scheme. In
March, to boost domestic manufac-
turing, the Centre had announced
a production-linked incentive
(PLI) scheme for three sectors—
mobile manufacturing and speci-
fied electronics components, drug
intermediates and active pharma-
ceutical ingredients, and medical
devices—totalling Rs 51,355 crore.
On November 11, it added 10 new
sectors to the list—auto and auto
components, drug manufactur-
ing, telecom, textiles, food, solar
photovoltaic modules, white goods
like air conditioners and LEDs,
specialty steel, electronics and
advance chemistry cell batteries.
Under this scheme, cash subsidies
will be given to firms as a percent-
age of incremental sales from the
base year (when the scheme comes
NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
into effect). This initiative comes at
a time when India’s import depen-
dency on key materials needed for
production remains high.
Madan Sabnavis, chief econo-
mist with Care Ratings, points out
that PLIs work over a five-year
period, so the amount is spread
thin over that time span. “The
[scheme’s] impact in the current
year will be nil. Firms need to first
invest a certain amount and pro-
duce a certain amount to avail of the
benefit,” he says. Since 2020 is the
base year for the scheme, and since
most business did not do well this
year, they will not qualify for much
under this scheme, he adds.
Another initiative is to provide
Rs 18,000 crore over and above the
Rs 8,000 crore budgeted for under
the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-
Urban (PMAY-U) in 2020-21.
This scheme was launched in 2015
to provide housing for all in urban
areas by 2022—the finance min-
ister estimated that the additional
funding will help complete the con-
struction of 1.8 million houses. On
a related note, the finance minister
also provided some relief to home
buyers: the Centre plans to amend
the income tax law to exempt real
estate developers and homebuyers
from tax liability if the actual consid-
eration for a home is lower than the
stamp duty value (also called ‘circle
rate’) by not more than 20 per cent.
The changes would be applicable
only to the primary sale of residen-
tial properties not exceeding Rs 2
crore in value. At present, Section
43CA of the Income Tax Act restricts
the differential between circle rate
and agreement value at 10 per cent.
Niranjan Hiranandani, MD and
founder of the Hiranandani Group,
said the Rs 2 crore value would be a
limiting factor in metro cities. “Price
points in metro cities need to be
kept in mind while offering any such
relaxation. The ideal situation would
have been to extend this relaxation
to commercial real estate transac-
tions as well,” he says. n
INDIA TODAY 15

A N D H R A P R A D E S H / P O L AVA R A M H Y D E L P RO J E C T
THE DAMMED VIEW
T
he Polavaram hydel-cum-irrig-
ation project on the Godavari
river is set for more delays
after the Centre informed the
Andhra Pradesh government that it
would pay only Rs 20,398 crore (as
per the 2013-14 estimates) as project
cost, around 35 per cent of the revised
figure of Rs 55,548 crore fixed by the
Central Water Commission (at 2017-
18 prices). The Centre’s decision is
an apparent violation of the Andhra
Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA),
2014, under which the Union govern-
ment is committed to picking up the
tab for Polavaram, as a way of compen-
sating the state for the loss of capital
Hyderabad to Telangana. The Centre’s
financial obligation to the ‘national
project’ is articulated in Section 90 of
the Telangana Act.
Post reorganisation in June 2014,
the first Andhra Pradesh government
headed by N. Chandrababu Naidu of
the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had lob-
bied for the project to be handed over
to the state, hoping to speed up work.
A handover, had it happened, would
also be a violation of the provisions of
APRA, but Naidu was pushing it in the
hope that he might be able to shape it
during his tenure, and then claim credit
to garner support in the 2019 assembly
and Lok Sabha polls. But then his ties
with the Narendra Modi government at
16 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
By Amarnath K. Menon
the Centre soured and now it is alleged
that the TDP government did not even
use the allotted funds, diverting them
for other state priorities.
The new Jagan Mohan Reddy gov-
ernment says it is the Centre’s responsi-
bility to complete the project, whatever
the cost. The project cost has escalated
mostly due to increased expenditure on
land acquisition and rehabilitation and
resettlement of those displaced—about
50,000 families in 276 villages, of
which half are tribal habitations. This
is estimated to cost about Rs 28,191
crore at revised prices.
The Polavaram Project Authority
(PPA) is part of the Jal Shakti minis-
try (MoJS), which is charged with the
execution of the project. When ready,
Polavaram will have a live reservoir
storage of 75 TMC (thousand million
cubic feet) and gross storage of 194
TMC, enabling irrigation of 2.3 million
acres and becoming a lifeline for the
state. It will also have 12 power-gener-
ating units of 80 MW each, apart from
providing drinking water. The project,
SEC. 90 OF THE
TELANGANA ACT
COMMITS THE
CENTRE TO PAYING
FOR THE POLAVARAM
‘NATIONAL PROJECT’
NO FLOW
A Polavaram
dam site in
West Godavari
district in AP
first envisaged in 1946-47, is about 70
per cent complete now.
Jagan wrote to the prime minis-
ter on October 28, saying the Centre’s
action was “tantamount to accepting
a totally unrealistic cost to complete a
national project under APRA, 2014. An
amount of Rs 17,656.82 crore of public
money has already been spent on the
project... at this juncture, any unreal-
istic cost estimate would result in the
project remaining incomplete”.
State BJP president Somu Veera-
raju, though, alleges that “it is the Naidu
government that increased the project
cost by thousands of crores. The Jagan
government has compounded the prob-
lem...” Others allege that Jagan has been
lax in petitioning the Supreme Court
against the Centre for violating the
APRA. They point out that Naidu had
strongly protested when ex-finance min-
ister, the late Arun Jaitley, had raised the
2013-14 estimates bogey. It is unclear
now whether Jagan will put up a fight or
simply wash his hands of the project.
Analysts also say the Modi govern-
ment’s ploy is to claim credit for the
project in the 2024 Lok Sabha and
assembly polls. It stalls the project now,
only to start and finish it by 2024 to
claim that what the TDP and Jagan’s
YSRC (Yuvajana Sramika Rythu
Congress) could not do in 10 years, the
BJP did in just a couple of years. n
 UPFRONT

GL ASSHOUSE

RAM’S THE WORD

T he Centre’s favourite actors, Akshay Kumar
and Kangana Ranaut, both have a film in
the works that should go well with the Sangh
fraternity’s views on appropriate cultural en-
tertainment. While Kangana has declared that
her second directorial venture will be Aparajita
Ayodhya, a drama on the Ram temple, Akshay
recently announced a film called Ram Setu.
Sharing the film’s first-look poster, Akshay

Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE

tweeted that the “endeavour is to keep alive the
ideals of Ram in the consciousness of all Bharati-
yas by building a bridge (setu) that will connect
generations to come”. Given Akshay’s bench-
mark of three releases a year, expect him to beat
Kangana in the nationalist stakes and possibly in
whose film lands in theatres first.

ANI Photo

Power Yogi
T he BJP seems delighted
with Uttar Pradesh chief
minister Yogi Adityanath’s
campaign performance in the
Bihar assembly election. Yogi
addressed 19 campaign rallies
covering around 75 assembly
constituencies, and the NDA
candidates won in 50 of those Double
seats, making his strike rate an
impressive 66 per cent.
Trouble
ANI Photo

T he BJP leaders who had lost

in the 2018 Madhya Pradesh
assembly election and were
SINGH ISN’T KING waiting to be rehabilitated are
a worried lot. The recent bypoll

C ricketer-turned-neta Navjot Singh Sidhu ruined his chances

of becoming Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief
after misbehaving with party leaders at a rally in Moga on October
results have proved the “win-
nability” of turncoat MLAs from
the Congress on party tickets
4 when Rahul Gandhi was visiting the state. But he’s not without (and they won even in seats
takers: AAP, Sukhdev Dhindsa’s splinter Akali Dal group, the where the defeated BJP candi-
regional Lok Insaaf Party, they are all courting the ex-BJP MP for dates had worked hard to sabo-
his oratorical skills. Close aides say he will settle for nothing less tage them). Now, with reports of
than being the CM candidate with the power to pick candidates. another half a dozen Congress
This is a sticking point since Sidhu’s leadership skills are still unt- MLAs wanting to switch sides,
ested. In the Congress, of the 80 party MLAs, Sidhu can count on the old guard fears they will be
just one in his corner—India’s ex-hockey captain Pargat Singh. crowded out of their own party.

—Sandeep Unnithan with Ashish Misra, Anilesh S. Mahajan and Rahul Noronha
UPFRONT
C H E E TA H
THE COMEBACK
Madhya Pradesh is a frontrunner among
three states in the hunt to host the cheetah
when it is reintroduced to India’s wilds
By Rahul Noronha
A
s experts from the Dehradun-
based Wildlife Institute of
India (WII) start the process
of evaluating sites to rein-
troduce the majestic cheetah to India’s
wilds, a competition of sorts has also
begun between states to play host.
The cheetah was declared extinct
from India in 1952. Maharaja
Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koriya
is believed to have hunted and shot the
last three recorded Asiatic cheetahs in
India in 1947. Now, over 70 years later,
the fastest land animal appears set to
make a comeback in India.
In 2009, Jairam Ramesh, then
minister for environment and for-
ests, had initiated the cheetah rein-
troduction project, but it was stayed
by the Supreme Court in 2012 on the
grounds that the African cheetah was
an alien and exotic species and because
the National Board for Wildlife, the
apex wildlife body in the country,
had not been consulted in the matter.
In January 2020, though, after the
National Tiger Conservation Authority
(NTCA) filed a petition, the Supreme
Court finally allowed the Centre to
introduce the African cheetah to a
suitable habitat in India. A committee,
including M.K. Ranjitsinh, wildlife
conservationist and former IAS officer,
Dhananjay Mohan, IFS, director of the
WII, and a deputy inspector general
from the ministry of environment and
forests (MoEF), has been set up under
the orders of the apex court to monitor
the implementation of the project. The
18 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
committee has asked the WII to
carry out a technical evaluation of all
possible sites.
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan
and Bihar are eager to host the
big cats in their respective forest
reserves, and a fourth state, Gujarat,
is still evaluating sites. While
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
were part of the original plan, Bihar
is an interesting, new claimant.
Y.V. Jhala, dean, faculty of wild-
life science at the WII, will travel to
Madhya Pradesh on November 26
to begin site evaluation at four habi-
tats. “We will visit all probable sites
before narrowing down on the better
ones for reintroduction, depending
on factors like prey base, topogra-
phy and safety,” says Jhala. The state
had initially shortlisted two sites, the
Kuno Palpur sanctuary, which has
also been cleared as a second home of
the Asiatic lion, and the Nauradehi
sanctuary in Sagar district, but has
now offered two more options—the
Gandhi Sagar sanctuary on the
northern boundary of Mandsaur and
Nimach districts and the Madhav
National Park in Shivpuri district.
“Protection measures have been
strengthened, protected areas have
been added, augmentation of prey
base has been done through trans-
location of herbivore species and
villages have been relocated outside
reserves to create inviolate areas,” says
J.S. Chauhan, additional principal
chief conservator of forests, wildlife
THE STORY SO FAR
1947 2009
The last three A conference
cheetahs seen in was held
India are said to have at Gajner,
been killed by then Bikaner, to
ruler of Koriya state, work out plans
Ramanuj Pratap Singh to bring back
Deo, in modern-day the cheetah to
Chhattisgarh India
wing, Madhya Pradesh. He adds:
“Madhya Pradesh has been a pioneer-
ing state in wildlife translocation and
has a number of successful initiatives
involving species such as tigers, swamp
deer and bison to its credit.” Chauhan
believes the habitats in the state have a
good chance of being selected.
According to a top Madhya Pradesh
government official, once a site is
cleared, it will not take long for the
cheetahs to be reintroduced to the cho-
sen habitat. “It will take a couple of
years since a lot of work is being done
simultaneously,” says the official, add-
ing that talks are on with donor groups
in South Africa and Namibia to source
 CAT
SPOTTING
Cheetahs at the
Masai Mara National
Reserve in Kenya

gas exploration, which may not be

conducive to cheetah movement.
Kota in Rajasthan was also in the
reckoning, but it has been difficult to
find 2,000 sq. km for a cheetah habi-
tat here, more so since tiger introduc-
tion in the area is already underway.
The Mukundra Hill Tiger Reserve in
the state is another contender.
Among the respondents to the
MoEF’s letter for potential sites was
Bihar, offering the Kaimur district on
its southwestern border as a potential
site. The region is said to have a sub-
stantial black buck population that
would serve as prey base for the chee-
tah. There was talk of Gujarat throw-
ing its hat in the ring as well, since
the state has potential sites such as
Velavadar, Narayan Sarovar and the

AP
Banni grasslands reserve, but it is yet
to send in a proposal.

T
he tourism potential of the
2011 2012 2020 (Nov.) cheetah project is not lost on
Kuno-Palpur Supreme Court stayed Technical evaluation of the states. “The reintroduc-
sanctuary and reintroduction of sites begins tion would be as much an economic
Nauradehi in cheetah operation as a conservation opera-
Madhya Pradesh, tion. The cheetahs would promote
and Shahgarh in 2020 (Jan.) tourism in the area, create jobs and
Rajasthan identified SC lifted the stay; set up income for locals. What tigers did
as possible sites for a committee to monitor for protection of forests, cheetahs
reintroduction reintroduction will do for grasslands that are under
immense threat,” says H.S. Pabla, for-
mer chief wildlife warden, Madhya
Pradesh. According to Kuldeep Singh
the animals. The number of cheetahs Other states are just as optimistic Chandela, president of the Rajasthan
to be brought in is to be decided at the as Madhya Pradesh about bagging Association of Tour Operators, “The
end of the site evaluation process. “The the project. The MoEF had written to introduction of cheetahs will create
idea is to survey multiple habitats and all states to come up with a proposal one or two new tourist attractions in
ideally choose more than one. Once for potential sites. The Rajasthan the state and take away loads from
the habitats are shortlisted, WII may forest department has proposed the Ranthambore and Sariska, the two
recommend certain measures that Shahgarh Bulge near Jaisalmer on tiger draws in the state. Already, leop-
should be taken to further improve the India-Pakistan border, which was ard sanctuaries in Jaipur and Pali are
it,” says Ranjitsinh, chairman of the under consideration in the earlier new attractions for wildlife lovers.”
Supreme Court-appointed committee. version of the plan too. However, the The Union government, too,
“We were initially looking to complete ministry of defence has expressed con- has shown considerable interest
the site selection by the end of the year cerns over allowing tourist movement in the project. Even as ministries
and bringing in the animals by next so close to the border. Plus, the area is faced cuts during the pandemic, a
year. Unfortunately, Covid has impact- also used by the defence forces for stra- Rs 2.4 crore outlay was made for the
ed the pace of work, but once the site tegic movement and they are reluctant cheetah project a little more than a
selection work begins, the cats can be to let the cheetah introduction disturb month ago. n
brought in next year.” that. Besides, it is also a site for oil and —with Rohit Parihar

NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 19

 BOOKS
A MAN
MISREMEMBERED
By Mark Tully
MY YEARS
WITH RAJIV
Triumph and
Tragedy
by Wajahat
Habibullah
WESTLAND
` 599; 356 pages
W
ajahat Habibullah’s
book is a long overdue
revision of the widely-
accepted view of Rajiv
Gandhi’s political life. He is the least
remembered of the prime ministers
who lasted a full term or more, and
when he is remembered, it is usually
for his failures. His very considerable
achievements are forgotten.
As an IAS officer working in the
Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) at the
end of Indira Gandhi’s premiership
and continuing there through most of
Rajiv’s time, Wajahat saw Rajiv’s politi-
cal career at close quarters. Friends
with him since their Doon School days,
Wajahat is an admirer of Rajiv. But
this book is not a hagiography. Rajiv
made very serious mistakes. None of
them are glossed over.
Though Wajahat describes Rajiv as
a hands-on prime minister, the expla-
nations for two of his major mistakes
create the impression of a prime min-
ister who didn’t maintain sufficiently
tight control over the government.
When Wajahat asked Rajiv why he had
allowed the locks on the Babri Masjid
to be opened, he replied: “I knew noth-
ing about this development until I was
told about it after the orders had been
passed and executed.” The foolhardy
20 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
Operation Brasstacks, held near the
Pakistan border in the Rajasthan
desert and involving half the Indian
army, nearly led to war with Pakistan,
yet Wajahat says that while the troops
were being deployed, the prime min-
ister had “no inkling of the exercise”.
The then chief of army staff, Gen. K.
Sundarji, had, apparently, deliberately
kept Rajiv in the dark. According to
Wajahat, it was also Sundarji who per-
suaded Rajiv to mount the disastrous
peacekeeping operation in northern
Sri Lanka. But Wajahat blames Rajiv
himself for mishandling the Bofors
crisis by repeatedly issuing denials
which were then contradicted by facts
he didn’t know of at the time. Perhaps
because Wajahat was a civil servant
and wasn’t involved in politics, readers
won’t learn much about the political
problems Bofors created for Rajiv.
Those were Rajiv’s failures. Among
his successes was the invention of a
telephone system specifically suited to
Indian conditions, leading to sub-
scriber trunk dialling and PCOs, or
public call offices, which sprung up in
small towns and remote villages all
over India. Wajahat also highlights
the spread of computerisation and
maintains that information technol-
ogy was “launched” under Rajiv. It is
UPFRONT
very rarely remembered that the
economic reforms of 1991 were
planned in Rajiv Gandhi’s time and
a start was made on implementing
them. Among his achievements in
foreign policy was breaking the logjam
in relations with China to become the
first Indian prime minister since 1954
to visit the country.
The theme of Rajiv’s premiership,
which Wajahat emphasises above
all others, was his desire to make
the government more responsive
to the people, and bring them into
governance. To achieve that, he took
several steps to reform politics and
governance, among them was the Anti-
Defection Act passed to stabilise the
party system. Rajiv himself refused to
form the government by horse-trading
after Congress returned as the largest
single party but without an absolute
majority in the 1989 general election.
Rajiv had called that election because
the Rajya Sabha refused to pass the
reform he had set his heart on—bring-
ing Panchayati Raj within the ambit
of the Constitution. This fundamental
reform aimed at increasing people’s
participation in the government was
eventually passed by the government
headed by P.V. Narasimha Rao.
Rajiv emerges from this book as a
politician with the right instincts—an
obsession with poverty eradication,
a conviction of the need to reform
government and involve the people in
governance, and a passion for mod-
ernisation. But Wajahat also leaves
readers with the impression of a leader
who was often misled by a tendency
to trust too easily, and to take rash
decisions. Rajiv himself knew he had
made mistakes. He told me as much in
an interview during the 1991 election
campaign. He said he was determined
to not repeat them. Had he not been
assassinated, would he have been more
adept at politics? Would he have been
able to modernise India more rapidly
than his successors have done? n
Mark Tully is a journalist,
commentator and author of
several books on Indian politics
 OBITUARY
SOUMITRA CHATTERJEE
1935-2020
The Last of the Crew
Soumitra Chatterjee, the face of Bengali art cinema, was known for his decency, intellect and passion
By Ruchir Joshi
T
here is a story from the 1980s’ filming of a
political thriller set in Calcutta, directed by
one of Bengali art cinema’s rising stars. This
director, having seen all sorts of internation-
al cinema, from Costa-Gavras to Solanas,
decided he needed his protagonist to make a
call from a phone booth. Calcutta was never replete with phone
booths but finally one was found in Howrah station. As the
camera lights heated up, the young actor began to get cooked
in the glass cage. Take after take failed till the director yanked
open the door and shouted at the actor: “Why aren’t you think-
ing of Mastroianni!?! Try and remember Belmondo!!”
No director would have dared to ask Soumitra Chatterjee
to mimic Italian or French actors. In the early 1960s, as he
rocketed to international recogni-
tion along with his mentor-director
Satyajit Ray, Soumitra found himself
on an equal footing with other male
icons of international art cinema,
as originally Bengali and Indian as
Mastroianni was Italian, Belmondo
French and Mifune Japanese.
Ray’s films found critical praise
in a post-war European art cinema
circuit that consciously posited itself
against the mega-bulldozer of Hol-
lywood; Anglo-American film critics
who studied these European films
also began to appreciate works from
other parts of the world and Ray’s
films became regular offerings on
American college campuses and art
theatres. Leaving aside the trac-
tion enjoyed by Bombay films in the Middle East, Africa and
Russia, for a period between the mid-’50s and early ’70s, Ray’s
was the only serious Indian cinema recognised internationally,
with Soumitra as one of its main figures.
For Bengalis, Uttam Kumar might have been the more
adulated star, the better actor even, but for the world outside,
it was Soumitra who was the face of Bengal and, for a long
time, of India. With the early death of Uttam Kumar, Soumi-
tra, with his patrician nose, glowing eyes and finely-wrought
good looks, also became the one who distilled the archetype
of a quietly heroic, romantic, graceful and morally-upright
Bengali bhadralok of both the 19th and the 20th centuries.
This was true not least for Bengalis themselves—you could
look like Jyoti Basu or Pranab Mukherjee, but inside yourself
you saw Soumitra. Uttam may have had greater sexual
magnetism, Utpal Datta the deepest baritone, other stars
may have had unique components, but Soumitra’s was the
combination that trumped everybody. Off-screen, too, the
man was known for his decency, genuine intellectual learn-
ing and passion, and to be totally lacking in the arrogance
and pretensions that often encrust actors.
There were carpings and criticisms of course: Soumitra’s
chiselled Bangla speech was far from how real Bengalis now
spoke, that it was very “Ghoti”, i.e West Bengali, and from an
educated class of another age; that as an actor his range was
limited and disconnected from reality. But the counterweight
to all this was the immense grace and fragility he showed in
his early films, the almost Ardhanarishwar-like personas he
created. Later, there was a solidifi-
cation, a handsome not-so-young
man beset by flaws and doubts,
that had its own charm. Later still
came the “mature” roles, but by
then Bengal had picked up other,
more macho icons to idolise and
the “classic” Soumitra remained
encapsulated in the works of the
first 15 years or so of his career.
There are downsides to having
a longish life. Soumitra lived to
see the waning and extinction of
the great artistic period to which
he contributed so centrally. In
1958, when Apur Sansar was be-
ing made, Calcutta had the most
vibrant cultural and intellectual
life in the country; Bengali cinema
was piggy-backing to greater heights, partly on superb Bengali
theatre, with its tradition of great acting, directing, set design
and lighting. In other fields, too—literature, art, academ-
ics—the city led the rest of the newly independent India. It
was not to last. By the mid-’80s, a wave of mediocre directors
were scrambling to copy western art films, making work full of
cliched content. Starting with the passing of Ray in 1992, one
by one, the lights of the fecund and dynamic Bengali cinema
movement of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s began to dim and go out.
Soumitra was the last of the diverse crew that gave us so many
gifts—without worrying about what the Italians or Iranians
were doing. For that we should be very grateful. n
Ruchir Joshi is a Kolkata-based writer and filmmaker
Photograph by SOUMITRA GHOSH
LEADING THE CHARGE
Home minister Amit Shah at
the Dakshineswar Kali
temple on November 6

22 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0

 COVER STORY

WEST BENGAL

THE BATTLE
FOR BENGAL
With a spring in its step after the recent Bihar victory, the BJP has
launched a full-scale offensive to win West Bengal. How credible is
its pitch and what are its chances against the formidable two-term
chief minister Mamata Banerjee?

I
BY ROMITA DATTA

n his 40-minute victory speech at the BJP headquarters in New

Delhi on November 11, a day after the NDA win in Bihar, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi took a moment to exult at the BJP’s expan-
sion from “two seats, two rooms” to “every corner of the country”.
He attributed the BJP’s rise to the collective effort of party workers,
using the occasion to disparage ‘family parties’ or those that used
violence as a means to counter democratic means. “The dance of
death cannot work in a democracy,” he thundered. Such parties
have to “read the writing on the wall”. And the writing on the wall
could not be clearer. It was directed at Mamata Banerjee and her
party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been ruling West
Bengal for the past nine and a half years. The very anti-incumbency
that has led to Nitish Kumar’s diminution in Bihar haunts Mamata
in West Bengal too. Moreover, she will be facing a pumped-up and
reinvigorated BJP, buoyed further by the victory in Bihar, when the
state goes to election in May 2021.

NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 23

Photograph by SUBIR HALDER
 COVER STORY

WEST BENGAL

The stakes are high and the BJP is certainly not wasting any policies of the central government, be it demonetisation, the
time. Party general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya was reap- Goods & Services Tax (GST), the Citizenship Amendment
pointed West Bengal in-charge on November 13, while former Act (CAA) or the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Five
RSS pracharak Arvind Menon and BJP IT cell chief Amit national leaders—Farooq Abdullah, Akhilesh Yadav, Nitish
Malviya were made co-in-charges. BJP president J.P. Nadda Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Arvind Kejriwal—had at-
and senior party office-bearers will tour the state this week tended her swearing-in ceremony in 2016 when she became
to gauge the preparedness of party workers. From now on, chief minister for the second time, laying the foundation for
Shah and Nadda will be visiting the state frequently. A war a Federal Front. But even as the others fell by the wayside—
room will be set up to devise poll strategy, run social media Opposition parties were decimated in Uttar Pradesh, Nitish
campaigns, finalise candidates and hone returned to the NDA fold and Lalu was
the booth management strategy. BJP state sent to jail—Mamata soldiered on, deter-
chief Dilip Ghosh threw down the gauntlet mined to halt the saffron march firmly at
to the TMC shortly after the Bihar result. A VOCAL CRITIC her doorstep.
‘Ebar Bangla, parle shamla (This time Ben- OF THE MODI She has assiduously opposed central
gal, save it if you can)’. The war is on.
GOVT, MAMATA diktats, determined to uphold the federal
character of her state. Thus she refused
WHY BENGAL IS THE NEXT STOP REMAINS THE ONLY to cooperate with the inter-ministerial
Bengal is crucial for the BJP’s plans to IMPEDIMENT TO central team sent to examine lockdown
complete its domination of the east and violations in Bengal, was relentless in
northeast, and eventually, of the entire THE BJP PROJECT her focus on the migrants’ plight and
country. And Mamata remains the great- TO DOMINATE THE remains a mercurial element in meet-
est impediment to that project. A tren-
chant critic of the prime minister, she is
ENTIRE EAST ings with the Union government. Ma-
mata has recast central schemes, such
the fulcrum of opposition unity against the as Ayushman Bharat and PM Kisan

PIB
REMEMBERING TAGORE
PM Modi in Santiniketan in 2018,
with CM Mamata Banerjee,
governor K.N. Tripathi and
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina

24 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0

 A late entrant
BENGAL’S in Bengal

CHANGING 227
politics, only
in 2019 did the

HUES 192 16
21
30 SEATS 16
184
BJP become
its principal
Opposition
26 S party
SE
AT 26.6% 16.5% SE
AT 42
60 8% 1.9% VOTES
S
60
30.7 %
6.4% 4.1% 38.9 %

8.1% VO 8
T ES
VO 48.6% TE
S
5.7 %

9 2006 9.1% 3
8% 47.6 %
39.8%
01 20
211
203 39.5% 20 11
6.8%
10.2%
S

46%

SEAT
SEAT

VOT
S
VOTE

25.8%

S
E
44

S
82

2016
1996

ASSEMBLY 32
12.3% 44.9
%
6.5% 8% 4
ELECTIONS

2.7% LOK SABHA 2

11.1 % 46.8 43.7%
%
2

9
199

ELECTIONS

201
8

S
VOT

22

VOTE
3

S
E

26 % 5.7%
SEA

SEAT
S

13.3 % 20 7.6% % 40.6 %

TS

04 14 2.4
29 20
5.5 50.8 9.6 % 18
%
%
2009
8.1 %
VO 29.7 %
T ES 43.3% T ES
1 VO 39.1 % 2
21 % 4.6 %
5.9%
6 SE
14.6 %
6.1%
VOTES 17 %
4
13.5%
AT TS
S
S EA
31.2% 2
BJP 35 1 1
34
TMC SEATS
Congress
19 15
Left 6
Others

THE BJP-RULED 6. Gujarat

1
STATES 7. Goa
2 14
SAFFRON 3 1. Himachal 8. Karnataka
9 Pradesh
4 9. Arunachal

MARCH
10 16 2. Uttarakhand Pradesh
13 3. Haryana
12 10. Assam
6 15 4. Uttar Pradesh
If the BJP were to 5 11. Tripura
11 5. Madhya 12. Manipur
win West Bengal, 17 Pradesh
its domination of
the east and the BJP 15. Meghalaya
northeast would COALITION 16. Nagaland
be complete 7 13. Bihar 17. Mizoram
8
14. Sikkim

Graphics by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 25

 THE LONE WARRIOR
Mamata leads an anti-
Citizenship Amendment
Act protest in Siliguri in
January 2020 DIPTENDU DUTTA / GETTY IMAGES

Samman Nidhi, under the state government banner be-
cause she didn’t want the Centre to take full credit for the
schemes when states were footing 40 per cent of the bill.
She was also accused of not releasing the central share of
Rs 3,146 crore and the state share of Rs 1,521 crore ear-
marked for PMAY-G, the central rural housing scheme.
integral to the BJP quest for an Opposition-mukt Bharat.
Amit Shah, as then BJP chief, had launched Mission Bengal
shortly after the spate of electoral successes in UP, Uttara-
khand, Goa and Manipur in early 2017. He had even coined
a catchy slogan—Ebar Bangla. It is now time to put the plan
in action.

M
amata has also been able to give the BJP and
its leaders as good as she got. When, in June
2019, the BJP appointed a
new governor of Bengal—Su-
preme Court lawyer Jagdeep Dhankhar—
who spared no opportunity to humiliate
and harass her, Mamata shrugged off
his attacks and put him in his place with
aplomb. She has also succeeded in casting
the BJP as the ‘outsider’ out to vanquish
‘Ma’ or the motherland. “You have con-
quered a lot. What more do you need?”
she asks of the saffron side. Any attack on
her government is quickly turned into an
assault on Bengali asmita (pride). “Only
Bengal will rule Bengal, not Gujarat…” she
asserts in rally after rally.
Neutralising Mamata, therefore, is
ROAD TO BENGAL
The BJP tasted blood in 2019 when, for the first time ever,
it won 18 of Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats
and a 41 per cent vote share. In no time,
from being a fringe player, it became the
principal Opposition party in the state. It
MAMATA HAS vows to finish the job in 2021, an intention
BEEN PROJECTING it has made clear in its slogan ‘Unishei half,
Ekushe Saaf (half in 2019 and wipeout in
THE BJP AS AN 2021)’. And the victory in Bihar has only
‘OUTSIDER’ AND ITS put more wind in its sails.
ATTACKS ON HER Mission Bengal, it seems, began with
the 2016 election where the BJP was look-
GOVERNMENT AS ing to establish only a token presence in the
AN ASSAULT ON assembly, its larger purpose being to split
BENGALI PRIDE the anti-incumbency vote against Mama-
ta Banerjee and scuttle the chances of the
Left-Congress alliance. The plan worked,

26 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0

 COVER STORY

WEST BENGAL

as the combined vote share of the Left and Congress came
down by 10 percentage points to 32 per cent. The TMC polled
a whopping 44.9 per cent compared to 39 per cent in 2011,
winning 211 of the state’s 294 seats. The BJP, too, gained in
vote share, moving up from 4 per cent in 2011 to 10.2 per
cent in 2016. In at least 50 seats, the BJP spoilt Opposition
prospects by polling 20,000-50,000 votes. “It was part of our
plan to ensure a cakewalk for the TMC to stop the other oppo-
nents from becoming powerful,” claims a Bengal-based senior
RSS leader, requesting anonymity. “We wanted to reduce the
political fight to a contest between the BJP and the TMC.”
The tide, however, began turning after the 2018 pan-
chayat polls when 34 per cent of the seats went uncontested
and people could not exercise their voting rights in over
20,000 out of the 58,000 three-tier panchayat seats. BJP
national vice-president Mukul Roy alleges that it was TMC
workers who prevented people from voting out corrupt pan-
chayat leaders and the resultant backlash helped the BJP’s
impressive showing in the Lok Sabha election in 2019. “A
similar trend was observed exactly 10 years back, in 2008,

AREAS OF INFLUENCE
Going by its Lok Sabha performance in 2019, the BJP appears strong in
Bengal’s northern and western pockets; it needs to work in the south

RARH BENGAL 4 6. Balurghat: shares

NORTH BENGAL
border with Bangladesh
35. Purulia: 2
3 1. Coochbehar: comprising 7. Maldaha Uttar:
tribal belt
the indigenous Rajbongshis Muslims comprise
36. Bankura 1 and Adivasis 51 per cent of population
37. Bishnupur 2. Alipurduars: tribal belt 8. Maldaha Dakshin:
38. Bardhaman Purba 5 3. Jalpaiguri high minority population
and border district. Only
39. Bardhaman- 4. Darjeeling seat won by the Congress
Durgapur
6 5. Raiganj: near Bihar in North Bengal; Trinamool
40. Asansol border drew a blank
7
41. Bolpur
42. Birbhum 8 SOUTH BENGAL
13. Ranaghat
9. Jangipur in
14. Bangaon
Murshidabad
9 15. Barrackpur
11 10. Baharampur
16. Dum Dum
11. Murshidabad
42 10 17. Barasat
12. Krishnanagar
40 41 12 18. Basirhat
39
39 13
35
37 GANGETIC WEST BENGAL
38
36 28 14 23. Kolkata (S) 27. Serampore
29 15
24
27 16 17 24. Kolkata (N) 28. Hooghly
25 18 25. Howrah 29. Arambagh: TMC won by a
WEST 33 32 26 21 22 slender margin of 1,000 votes
19 23 26. Uluberia
30. Tamluk 30
34 31 20
31. Kanthi
FURTHER SOUTH
32. Ghatal
33. Jhargram 2019 Lok Sabha seats 19. Jaynagar 21. Diamond Harbour
34. Medinipur BJP TMC Congress 20. Mathurapur 22. Jadavpur

NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 27

 BJP’S CM The BJP has few chief ministerial faces that can match
the charisma or appeal of Mamata Banerjee. Some of

FACES
the names doing the rounds...

DILIP GHOSH TATHAGATA ROY SWAPAN

State party president, Engineer and educator DASGUPTA
groomed by the RSS, by profession, he is the Erudite, well-
proponent of aggressive, author of several books, spoken, he
muscular Hindutva. Is including one on Jan exemplifies the
appealing to people who Sangh founder Syama middle-class
feel terrorised under TMC Prasad Mookerjee. Bengali bhadralok
rule. Tough talker. “I am Enjoys the backing of and will hold great
not the sweet-talking the RSS. Votary of an appeal among the
type. I cannot sugar-coat orthodox, conservative intellectual class.
words when I have to put and, quite often, But has no popular
wreaths on the bodies of embarrassing brand support base in
my party workers.” of Hindutva. the party.

when Trinamool gained ground in the state in opposition to
the Left,” says Roy. “Success at the panchayat polls in 2008
was followed by the general election in 2009 and finally the
wresting of power in 2011. I see a repeat of political history
in the forthcoming assembly election, but with the TMC at
the receiving end and the BJP winning.”
Based on two independent surveys conducted last De-
cember and in August 2020, Shah has set an ambitious
target of 200 out of 294 seats for the BJP this time. “A figure
from Amit Shah carries weight,” says BJP leader Diptiman
Sengupta. “When he set a target of 22 of 42 Lok Sabha seats
in Bengal, many thought he was daydreaming, but the fact
that we came close to the target, winning 18 seats, shows
there is a scientific basis to his estimations.” What gives the
BJP immense confidence is the phenomenal growth in the
party’s vote share in 2019—from 17 per cent in 2014 to 41 per
cent, just three percentage points short of the TMC’s share.
From a mere two seats in 2014, the BJP increased its tally to
18, while the TMC’s fell from 34 to 22 seats.
By setting this ambitious target, the Union home min-
ister aims to achieve a few things. First, he hopes to instil
confidence in the party cadre and encourage them to fight
the TMC tooth and nail in the face of rising political murders
and implications in false cases. Then, he hopes to convince
the fence-sitters and those afraid of the TMC to repose faith
in the BJP. “You have given the Congress, the Communists
and Mamata Banerjee a chance, now give Modiji a chance
for five years,” Shah said during his last visit to the state on
November 6. Further, he intends to send a strong message to
Left Front workers to support the BJP and oust Trinamool
first, and redeem its embarrassing performance in the 2019
general election, when it failed to win a single seat. The BJP
is also hoping to retain the 20 per cent vote share Left sup-
porters transferred in its favour at the time. Shah is believed
to have asked the party cadre to win over Left leaders and
workers who are willing to dethrone Mamata.
TAKING ON MAMATA
In the past few years, the BJP has been steadily building a
political narrative against Mamata, accusing her govern-
ment of minority appeasement, corruption, nepotism and
lawlessness. The party plans to rake up the same charges
again in the upcoming election. Aware that it cannot win the
support of the Muslims, who account for 28 per cent of the
state’s population, the BJP has instead chosen to castigate
Mamata for appeasement politics which it claims has led to

28 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0

 COVER STORY WEST BENGAL
DARK SWAMI
KRIPAKARANANDA
HORSES With a brilliant academic
record, he was a practising
doctor in the US before he
turned to more spiritual
pursuits. A powerful orator,
Muslim vote and 32 per cent of the Hindu vote.
he has a sizeable following For the assembly election, however, the BJP plans to use
among the youth for his communal politics more cautiously, given the intense anti-
inspirational speeches. CAA sentiment, so that Trinamool does not automatically con-
Many think he could be the solidate the 28 per cent minority vote in its favour. “We don’t
Yogi Adityanath of Bengal. have to talk about different treatments for different religions,”
However, the Ramakrishna
reveals an RSS leader, on condition of anonymity. “A simple
Mission in Varanasi, where
he heads the medical team, reference to anarchy and the ensuing law and order problem
has rubbished the claim in Dhulagarh, Baduria, Kaliachak and Tehatta will bring back
as rumour. memories of communal flare-ups and the role of the police and
administration in allowing criminals a free run.”

T
he BJP is also hoping that the AIMIM’s (All-India
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen) decision to contest
SOURAV
the Bengal election, will affect the Muslim vote in
GANGULY
98 seats. The five seats that AIMIM won in Bihar
Could Dada take
played spoiler for the Opposition in the state, and the same
on Didi? Mamata
herself has could well happen in Bengal. And any split in the Muslim
confronted Sourav vote can only work in the BJP’s favour.
with the question, Meanwhile, to woo the Hindu voter, the BJP has been
but he has denied it. subtly injecting Hindutva issues in Bengal’s politics in the past
He remains close to few years, introducing many firsts—extensive Ramnavami
Amit Shah, though. celebrations, Hanuman Jayanti processions, chanting of ‘Jai
Shri Ram’ slogans—and giving doles to select communities.
While Mamata fell for the bait initially, denouncing such overt
religious activities, she fell in line soon enough, countering the
BJP by dipping into the state coffers to fund community Durga
Pujas and proclaiming her Hindu upbringing.
THE BJP HAS IDENTIFIED FOUR
MAIN ISSUES TO ATTACK THE THE YUVARAJ OF TRINAMOOL
MAMATA GOVERNMENT ON— Corruption and nepotism are the other charges that the BJP
plans to hurl against Mamata. According to surveys com-
MINORITY APPEASEMENT, missioned by the party, people are already unhappy with
CORRUPTION, NEPOTISM AND the Trinamool government for the perceived irregularities in
Cyclone Amphan relief and the culture of ‘cut money’ from
NATIONAL SECURITY the allowances of beneficiaries under various government
schemes, politicisation in the distribution of doles and in the
delivery of services and justice. Alongside, the BJP now plans
to raise the bogey of nepotism, threatening to expose where
rising Islamic militancy. “Why was the state police unable to the supply chain of the spoils and proceeds of corruption
arrest Al Qaeda terrorists, why were terror modules running stop. “The buck stops at a particular address and all wealth
for years without Mamata Banerjee’s overactive police getting is concentrated within one family,” alleges BJP MP Arjun
an inkling of what was happening in their own backyard?” Singh. The reference is to Mamata’s nephew Abhishek, who
asks senior BJP leader Jay Prakash Majumdar. The BJP says is accused of running the party like a family enterprise. And
it will back its claims with hard data and statistics to show though he himself has yet to be pinned down in any scam, the
how Islamic fundamentalism has become a way of life in cow smuggling and illegal coal mining rackets have thrown
Mamata’s reign. Communal polarisation will help the BJP up names of people who are allegedly close to him.
consolidate the Hindu vote in its favour. The party polled Abhishek remains Mamata’s Achilles’ heel, something
57 per cent of the Hindu vote in 2019, according to a CSDS- Shah latched on to early when he derisively dubbed him the
Lokniti analysis, while the TMC polled 70 per cent of the ‘Yuvaraj’ of Trinamool. The party now plans to dig the knife

NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 29

 COVER STORY WEST BENGAL
deeper, skilfully pitting Trinamool’s ‘parivartantra’ against
Modi’s ‘vikastantra’. During a recent visit to the state, Shah
alleged that there are three sets of laws in Bengal: “One for
the bhatija (read nephew Abhishek), one for the votebank
(by votebank, you know whom I mean) and a third for the
common people.”
Deliverance from the lawlessness of Trinamool rule is
another prospect the BJP intends to dangle before the elec-
torate. Political violence is a way of life in Bengal. The state
recorded the highest number of political murders—12—in
2018, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. Shah
has laid the blame entirely at Trinamool’s door, alleging that
over 100 BJP workers have been killed in Bengal in the past
few years. A BJP worker was found dead in Bengal’s Purba
Medinipur district earlier this week, and the party blamed
the TMC for the ‘murder’.
F
inally, the BJP proposes to challenge the Mamata
government on the issue of national security, ask-
ing why Trinamool is cosying up to fugitive GJM
(Gorkha Janmukti Morcha) leader Bimal Gurung
and Maoist leader Chhatradhar Mahato, both of whom,
they say, are facing serious terrorism charges. Gurung, while
breaking ties with the BJP, had said that the party had failed
to honour its commitment whereas Mamata is known to
keep her commitments. “What sort of commitment is he talk-
ing about?” asks Majumdar. “A separate state of Gorkhaland?
Trinamool will have to come clean on this, on the secret deal.”
CHALLENGES BEFORE THE BJP
Among the biggest challenges the BJP faces is shedding
the ‘outsider’ label that Mamata has managed to stick on to
them. To counter the charge, the BJP has resurrected Jana
Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the “worthy son
of Bengal”, left unsung during the three decades of Left rule
followed by 10 years of Trinamool. Ebar
Bangla is being projected as a call to hon-
our the man who, in Shah’s words, “pre-
vented Bengal from falling into the hands
of Pakistan”. “How can we be called outsid- IMPRESSED BY THE
ers when West Bengal owes its existence to TMC DEFECTORS’
Syama Prasad?” asks Mohit Ray, convenor
of the Bengal BJP’s refugee cell and former
STRIKE RATE, THE
professor at the Indian Institute of Social RSS HAS GIVEN THE
Welfare and Business Management, Kol- BJP THE NOD TO
kata. Bengal, the saffron brigade asserts,
has been the cradle of Indian national-
POACH WINNABLE
ism, with such nationalist icons as Bankim CANDIDATES FROM
Chandra Chatterjee, Swami Vivekananda
and Nirmal Chattopadhyay. When not in-
OTHER PARTIES
voking and appropriating Bengal’s icons,
30 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
ICON WORSHIP
BJP president J.P. Nadda
garlands the statue of
Thakur Panchanan Barma
at Naukaghat, Siliguri
the BJP is busy celebrating its fairs, festivals, films and foot-
ball. PM Modi recently tweeted a congratulatory message to
the Mohun Bagan club on winning a League match.
The BJP insists they are not coming to conquer Bengal,
as Mamata asserts, but to restore it to its former glory. They
are conjuring a vision of a ‘Shonar Bangla (Golden Bengal)’,
along with a promise of law and order, industry, development,
jobs, good governance and freedom from corruption, crime
and political interference. The party is coming up with a
white paper on health, education, industry, poverty allevia-
tion and employment to project its vision.
FINDING A STATE LEADER
Equally important to the BJP’s strategy is defection from
the TMC ranks. Impressed by the strike rate of TMC defec-
tors, three of whom (out of four) won Lok Sabha seats in
2019, the RSS has given the party a free
hand to poach winnable leaders from other
parties. Like they netted Mukul Roy and
Sovon Chatterjee by offering them protec-
tion from prosecution in the Narada and
Saradha scams, the CBI-ED net is now
closing in on Suvendu Adhikari, a popular
grassroots leader of the TMC, who is be-
lieved to be a step away from defection. The
BJP, though, cites Adhikari’s disillusion-
ment with Mamata and his marginalisa-
tion within the party to aid the rise of Ab-
hishek as the reason for his probable exit.
Adhikari’s activities in seven districts
have helped him build a strong support
base in rural and semi-urban Bengal, and

HAILING
BENGAL AS
THE CRADLE OF
NATIONALISM,
THE BJP HAS
RESURRECTED
AND EMBRACED
SEVERAL
NATIONALIST
ICONS FROM
THE STATE
ANI
his defection is likely to be a big blow to the TMC. He also
has great clout among other MLAs. “Word is he will join with
70 MLAs and that after him, many more heavyweights will
jump ship,” claims a TMC insider, requesting anonymity.
Y
et, the real challenge before the BJP is finding
a state leader who can challenge Mamata. Even
for the march to state headquarters Nabanna in
Kolkata this October, the BJP had to import the
party’s youth wing president Tejasvi Surya from Bengaluru.
While leaders like Dilip Ghosh, the state BJP president, and
Tathagata Roy come across as too aggressive, Swapan Das-
gupta is considered too erudite and genteel to connect with
the masses and Babul Supriyo too frivolous and casual (see
BJP’s CM Faces). The party is once again banking on Modi’s
charisma and performance at the Centre and Shah’s organ-
ising skills to see it through. “Every election is different—the
party regrouped itself in UP and won with a landslide without
projecting any leader. Similarly, the party went to Haryana,
Tripura and other states without a CM face. In West Bengal,
too, we will contest under the leadership of PM Modi,” says
Vijayvargiya. The PM, Tagoresque beard and all, will invoke
the bard, to engage the educated, intellectual Bengalis. For
instance, while announcing the New Education Policy in a
nationally televised address in August, the PM said, “Tagore
said the highest education is that which not only informs us,
but brings our life in harmony with all existence. Certainly, the
larger goal is linked to this.” Shah, on the other hand, will do
all the tough talking to engage the wider masses.
However, as Iman Kalyan Lahiri, professor of political
science at Jadavpur University, says, “Modi-Shah cannot
be a replacement [for Mamata]. The people of Bengal still
see them as national leaders, who can be faces of campaigns
and can at best rule Bengal through remote control but can
never be Bengal’s very own.” He is also sceptical of the BJP’s
aggression. “Mamata’s Ma-Mati-Manush slogan is rooted
to the soil and is all about us, the people,” he says. What kind
of war cry is Ebar Bangla, parle shamla (This time Bengal,
save it if you can)’? It reeks of aggression.”
“What are they saving Bengal from?” asks Firhad Hakim,
the state’s urban development minister. “The fact that there
are no police encounters, no riots and that people live in
peace, be it in Jangalmahal or in the hills?”
WOOING THE NEW VOTER
The BJP, however, remains undaunted. Taking a cue from Bi-
har, where the youth voted for the young Tejashwi Yadav, the
party intends to launch a special package to win over Bengal’s
2 million-odd first-time voters—more than in any other state.
Investment in industry and development and the consequent
generation of employment as in Gujarat is the promise the
party plans to hold out to Bengal’s young, educated brigade.
“Joblessness has hit both Hindus and Muslims alike,” says a
senior leader from North Kolkata. “About 9 million migrants
who work outside Bengal prove that it has failed to create
job opportunities for a sizeable section of the population. Of
these, 3 million are from the Muslim community. We will go
to the 180,000 first-time Muslim voters and tell them what
we can offer.” The party also plans to adopt a ‘one booth-11
youth’ strategy to nurse booths and engage unemployed
youth gainfully in social service. A motorcycle and a monthly
stipend for the time being, and prospects within the party in
the future, are what the youth are being promised.
The party is going about planning its campaign me-
ticulously. It has reportedly divided the state into five zones:
North Bengal, Rarh (southwestern), Nabadwip (south cen-
tral), Hooghly-Midnapore (south) and Kolkata (central).
During the 2019 Lok Sabha election, of the 18 seats it won
in Bengal, seven were from the north. Now, the BJP plans to
focus on expanding its base to other areas, for which it has
formulated a plan to tap local workers and leaders in order to
assess the organisational issues the party faces. At the same
time, the central leadership is aware of the huge infighting
within the state unit, a conflict between the old guard and
new entrants, particularly those from the TMC, and is mak-
ing an effort to unify them.
The Mamata-Modi faceoff promises to be the ulti-
mate political battle. Both leaders come with formidable
reputations of being giant slayers. Come May and Bengal
will make electoral history. A victory for Modi and the BJP
will make the party’s return to power at the Centre in 2024 a
distinct possibility. A Mamata comeback, on the other hand,
could herald the revival of a battered Opposition. n
with Anilesh S. Mahajan
NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 31
 DEFENCE PENSIONS

DEFUSING
THE PENSION
BOMB
A LEAKED DEFENCE MINISTRY NOTE PROPOSING
PENSION CUTS TRIGGERS CONTROVERSY.
BUT WITHOUT MAJOR REFORMS, THE INDIAN ARMED
FORCES’ PENSION PROBLEM IS UNLIKELY TO DISAPPEAR
BY SANDEEP UNNITHAN

O
ver the past 11 months, India’s first Chief of Defence
Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat, has opened many
fronts in the battle for reform. He has attempted to
bring down military expenditure, create new joint
commands and encourage jointmanship among the
forces. All of these are part of his mandate to create
a leaner, meaner military. The Department of
Military Affairs (DMA), which he heads within the
MoD (ministry of defence), is responsible for ‘all major aspects of armed
forces functioning’—this includes the organisation, recruitment, training
and terms and conditions of service for personnel, as well as career
management of all ranks of service members.
However, some of his proposals, though well-meaning—like cutting
` 1.3 LAKH CRORE
The allocation to pensions in
down on ceremonies and the number of officers’ messes in peace sta-
this year’s defence budget
tions—have attracted scorn from service members and turned into social
media flamebait. Yet nothing has created as much discontent as the
proposal to increase the retirement age of Indian Army personnel and to
slash defence pensions. Among other changes, the proposal suggests the
retirement age for colonels be increased from 54 to 57, brigadiers from
` 1.1 LAKH CRORE
The allocation to hard-
56 to 58 and major-generals from 58 to 59. The DMA wants a similar ware purchases—tanks,
increase in retirement ages for personnel in the navy and air force as well. jets, warships—in this
Another proposal is that officers who retire prematurely should get year’s defence budget
only a percentage of the stipulated pension: for instance, those with 26
to 30 years of service would get only 60 per cent and those with 31 to 35

32 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0


years of service would get only 75 per cent of entitled prema-
ture retirement pensions (see Ballooning Pensions). Only
those officers retiring with over 35 years of service would get
full pensions. The calculated savings from this proposal have
not been made public, but the objective is clear; the govern-
ment wants to bring down the armed forces’ pension bill.
The reason is not hard to see—this year, for the first time in
the history of independent India, the government will spend
more on paying pensions than on purchasing military hard-
ware. In a nutshell, this year’s defence budget allocates Rs 1.3
lakh crore to defence pensions and Rs 1.1 lakh crore to buying
military hardware like fighter jets, tanks and warships.
The proposal, which was leaked on social media, trig-
gered a tsunami of protests primarily among (but not
confined to) the military veterans’ community. One former
army commander, who asked not to be named, described it
as a “nutty proposal”, while a former deputy chief of army
staff went further, calling it “harebrained”.
‘As it is, [a career in the] military is the last option for the
youth,’ wrote Major Gen. Satbir Singh, chairman of the IESM
(Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement), in a letter to defence
BOMBS AWAY
Chief of Defence
Staff General
Bipin Rawat
CHANDRADEEP KUMAR
minister Rajnath Singh on November 7. ‘Introducing further
downgradation, degradation, demotivation and demoralisa-
tion policies will seriously damage the efficiency and effective-
ness of our military.’ The DMA’s logic has been questioned by
the armed forces themselves. A leaked briefing note, purport-
edly for navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh, says the pro-
posal has the potential to wreck the service as a career option
and could cause a trust deficit within the armed forces.
This also turns the armed forces’ human resources policy
on its head. A steep and narrow promotion pyramid in which
only 30 per cent of officers get to the rank of colonel has led
to a policy of allowing officers who don’t make the cut to leave
the service. If the proposal to reduce pensions is implement-
ed, it could lead to a ‘greying’ of the armed forces—officers
will likely choose to stay longer despite the lack of promotions
to claim pension benefits, rather than choosing to retire early
and making way for a younger lot.
THE TICKING PENSION BOMB
The defence budget, tabled in Parliament on February 1
this year, had some startling facts. The defence ministry’s
NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 33
 29
DEFENCE PENSIONS 32 32
32 20 35
21 25
18 21
23
BALLOONING
20 24

32
10
26 9 8 19

34
19
10 20
14 15 8
PENSIONS

25
14

26
14

2016
2015 -
2014 -
2015 -

19
2 0 0 17
2 0 16
9

2 0 14
20
31

20 17-
20

14

8
13

18
2 0 12 -

18

14

32
Pensions are the fastest 13 18
2 0 19

27

26
20
growing component of 201 0

9
1 2

15
201 - % SH -

7
2 0 19 )

14
the defence budget. The 2 ARE
OF 0 (R
E
increase has come at the E X PE M o D ’ S 2 0 2
NDIT 2020-
URE

28
19
14

33
expense of purchasing

6
2021 (BE )
Pay and allowances
military hardware
Pensions
(Source: ‘Defence Pension Reforms: Capital procurement (spending on
Recommendations of Past Committees and hardware like jets, tanks and warships)
Commissions’, Laxman Kumar Behera and
Vinay Kaushal, Manohar Parrikar Institute of Stores (ammunition and fuel)
Defence Studies and Analyses) Others (DRDO, ordnance factories)

GENERAL RAWAT’S PROPOSAL

To increase retirement ages and reduce the
pensions of those retiring early
Retirement age (years)
EXISTING PROPOSED
Rank
Colonels/
Group Captains/ 54 57
Captains
Proposed pension entitlements
Brigadiers/ for those retiring early from service
Air Commodores/
Commodores
56 58 20- 25* 26-30* 31- 35* Above 35*

Major General/
Air Vice Marshal/ 58 59 50% 60% 75% 100%
Rear Admiral
*Years served

Graphic by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

Rs 1.33 lakh crore allocation for pensions was 28 per cent
of the total budget. Over the past decade, defence pensions
have seen the fastest growth in percentage terms of any
component in the budget, outstripping even the growth in
what the government spends on buying military hardware.
The obvious solution—to hike the defence budget—seems
unlikely in the present pandemic- and lockdown-induced
downturn where the economy is projected to contract by
10.3 per cent this year. (Defence makes up 15 per cent of the
central government’s expenditure and is the second largest
head after interest payment liabilities.)
This explosive growth in the pension bill can be traced
back to a single decision taken exactly five years ago. In
November 2015, the government announced the implemen-
tation of OROP (One Rank, One Pension), which mandated
equal pensions for equal ranks, irrespective of the date of
retirement. A promise made in the BJP’s 2014 manifesto,
OROP was implemented after street protests staged by the
military veterans’ community. Military analysts now say it
has caused the most egregious harm to the defence budget.
The pension bill has more than doubled from Rs 55,000
crore in 2015 to Rs 1.33 lakh crore in 2020-21. India has
3.2 million pensioners and dependents and only 1.6 million
ex-servicemen. Pension outlays, as the last defence budget
showed, are now increasing faster than the component for
buying new military hardware like warships, planes and
tanks. The government has pressed the pause button on its
OROP promise of revising defence pensions every five years.
The 2019 revision of pension scales, which would have seen
it fork out an additional Rs 8,000-10,000 crore each year,

34 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0

has been put on hold by the government. it could not be applied retrospectively to existing pension-
A paper published in March 2020 by research scholar ers, only to those who had entered the service after the rules
Laxman Kumar Behera at the Manohar Parrikar Insti- were changed. It would also be difficult for the government
tute of Defence Studies and Analyses says the increase in to slash defence pensions for armed forces personnel without
pension costs in the defence budget has come at the cost of doing the same for their civilian counterparts.
capital procurement. The share of defence pensions, pay
and allowances has gone up from 49 per cent in 2011-12 to THE WAY AHEAD
61 per cent in 2020-21. The share of capital expenditure has The government’s pension burden is unlikely to go away
declined from 36 per cent in 2012 to 25 per cent in 2020- anytime soon. This is because India’s manpower-intensive
21. ‘The fast rise in pension expenditure has a significant armed forces have only worsened their pension costs in the
crowding out effect on stores and modernisation, two major recent past—India’s armed forces are the only major fight-
components that determine a nation’s war-fighting ability. ing force in the world that are increasing personnel numbers
Needless to say, this does not augur well for India’s defence instead of reducing them. The Indian Army, with 1.3 mil-
preparedness,’ Behera’s paper says. lion soldiers, is the world’s second largest, and it continued
Gen. Rawat, meanwhile, seems unfazed by the opprobri- to add soldiers until 2015, when the government paused
um that his proposal has attracted. “We are more concerned recruitment for the Army’s Mountain Strike Corps. The new
about the wellbeing of the frontline combatant soldiers who corps envisaged adding 90,000 soldiers—all of whom will
face the real hardships and on whose courage and valour we have to be paid pensions on retirement.
all seem to be basking in,” he told India Today TV on Novem- Some cosmetic changes have been made in the name
ber 5, adding that it was the “technically qualified personnel of reducing manpower—shutting down military farms, for
within the armed forces” who were un- instance—but these have not altered
happy with such proposals. This echoes the skew of the armed forces towards
what the DMA proposal says—that THE FAST RISE manpower over military equipment.
specialists and super-specialists trained IN PENSION COSTS In countries with large militaries, like
for highly skilled tasks leave the service HAS REDUCED RE- the US, pensions are a major spend,
to work in other sectors. “The loss of
such high-skilled manpower results in
SOURCES AVAILABLE but the bulk of US military personnel
do not qualify for pensions, because
a void in the service skill matrix and is FOR STORES AND nearly 80 per cent serve short terms.
counterproductive.” MODERNISATION, In sharp contrast, Indian officers are
However, an undated briefing note TWO COMPONENTS on permanent commissions and make
from naval headquarters provides THAT DETERMINE up over 80 per cent of the force, going
the clearest reasons why the DMA on to see over 20 years of service.
proposal could be unimplementable. It
A NATION’S WAR In terms of reforms, the armed for-
warns that the proposal could lead to FIGHTING ABILITY ces have paid lip service to options like
a trust deficit within the armed forces. short service commissions, in which
The circular, also leaked on social me- officers and men serve for periods that
dia, says it could ‘end up setting a dangerous and avoidable do not qualify them for pensions. Proposals made by the sixth
precedent’ and that it could have worrying implications for pay commission in 2006 to absorb retiring army personnel
moves like enhanced jointmanship and theatre commands into the central police forces could have ensured the govern-
(part of the CDS’s mandate). This method of reducing expen- ment retained a portion of its trained manpower rather than
diture does not make mathematical sense, the paper says, sending them home early as pensioners. These were not
because it could lead to the government retaining officers at implemented because of opposition from the home ministry.
full salary levels for longer periods of time—for an additional The solution could lie in policies like the NPS, which was
16 years in the case of colonel-ranked officers—rather than implemented for all government servants (except armed
retiring them early and paying them half their salary as forces’ employees) in 2004. Under the NPS, government
pension. The briefing note says the DMA proposal, if imple- employees contribute towards their own pensions from their
mented, could not only adversely impact the living standards monthly salaries, with a matching contribution from their
of retired officers but also affect the navy’s ability to attract employers. Pension fund managers then invest these funds
and retain talent. However, the biggest reason why the pro- in earmarked investment schemes. The entire corpus is
posal could be unimplementable is that it opens the armed handed over to an individual at the time of retirement, free
forces up to a barrage of litigation by changing the terms and of tax. Army officials say that the NPS could be an attractive
conditions of service in the armed forces. In a similar vein, option instead of a monthly pension. But these are long-term
the New Pension Scheme (NPS), which paid a lump sum to proposals whose effects would be felt after over a decade. In
retiring civilian government employees instead of a lifelong the absence of holistic long-term solutions to the problem,
pension, was introduced in 2004. The government found short-term kneejerk responses could be the order of the day. n

NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 35

 SPECIAL REPORT

VICTOR’S
SPOILS
Nitish Kumar starts a fourth term
on the trot as chief minister, but
ally BJP is already muscling in

BY AMITABH SRIVASTAVA
THE CM
AND HIS
DEPUTIES
(From left) Nitish
with Tar Kishore
Prasad and
Renu Devi, after
the swearing-in

C
oveted as it was, the
honour of being the
chief minister of
Bihar for a fourth
consecutive term
and a record seventh
time, it was by no
means easy for Nitish
Kumar to accept it. At the end of a nail-
biter of an election, the ruling NDA
(National Democratic Alliance) has a
wafer-thin majority, and his own party,
the Janata Dal (United), is a much-
diminished entity in the new assem-
bly—43 seats against 71 in the previous
house. For comparison, ally BJP has
74 seats, and Nitish is already feeling
the weight of a more assertive partner.
His old trusty deputy, Sushil Modi of
the BJP, has been sidelined in the new
cabinet, and two new faces have taken
his place as deputy chief ministers.
Sources say Nitish had initially
refused to lead the new governm-
ent, after the final results were out
on November 10, giving the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) a simple
majority. He finally accepted the chief
minister’s post, but a good 24 hours
later and only after ally BJP and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi openly en-
dorsed his leadership.
CHALLENGES GALORE
Nitish, 69, is the first Bihar chief min-
ister to win four consecutive assembly
elections, but the new innings comes
with a whole set of challenges. Apart
from bada bhai (big brother) BJP, he
has to humour minor partners in the
alliance because they prop up the rul-
ing coalition. The Hindustani Awam
Morcha (Secular) or HAM(S) and the
Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), with
four MLAs each, will demand their
pound of flesh, knowing fully well
that the JD(U) and BJP have 117 seats
between them, which is still five short
of the half-way mark of 122. The four-
party NDA government has 126 legis-
lators (including an independent)—a
really slim majority in the house of
243. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-
led opposition alliance, with 110

36 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0


MLAs, is not far behind.
But these numbers, or keeping
that majority intact, are not among
Nitish’s biggest concerns. If the BJP is
backing him, it is not only because it
fought the polls projecting him as the
next chief minister but also because
it cannot form a government without
the JD(U)’s support in the current con-
figuration of the Bihar assembly. Nit-
ish, though, still has options. Congress
leader Digvijaya Singh has openly
pitched a ‘switch sides’ offer to the
chief minister, though alliance leader
and RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav may not
be as enthusiastic (he tweeted asking
Nitish to focus on his poll promises
and less on the CM’s chair).
GETTY IMAGES
THE ONE THING IN A NEW-LOOK BJP
The other big news from Nitish’s new
NITISH’S FAVOUR 14-member cabinet is that partner BJP
IS THAT THE BJP has dropped all but one minister from
the previous cabinet. Mangal Pandey,
CAN’T FORM A the health minister last time around,
GOVERNMENT retains his place and portfolio in the
cabinet. The idea, apparently, was to
WITHOUT HIM, bring in new faces and also get the
BUT HE HAS caste balance right.
The new cabinet also does not have
OTHER OPTIONS. any representation from the minority
THE CONGRESS community, primarily because all the
Muslim candidates of the JD(U) lost.
EVEN MADE The BJP has appointed two deputy
CMs and has also cornered the crucial
AN OFFER... post of speaker of the assembly. The
new deputy CMs, Tar Kishore Prasad
NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 37
 SPECIAL REPORT
and Renu Devi, were not in the previ-
ous NDA cabinet. In fact, Tar Kishore,
a four-time MLA from Katihar, has
never been a minister before. Of the
14 ministers, the BJP has seven, the
JD(U) five, while Jitan Ram Manjhi’s
HAM(S) and Mukesh Sahani’s VIP
have one each. The unapologetic sack-
ing of Sushil Modi, without a doubt
the tallest leader of the state BJP
unit, is in itself a good sign of the new
thinking in the BJP. Modi, a long-
serving deputy of Nitish’s, was seen to
be too close to the chief minister to be
a good fit in the party’s new plans for
the state.
THE POWER OF PERCEPTION
Nitish knows he has a battle at hand,
and on multiple fronts. “There is seri-
ous introspection at the top level after
our poor electoral show. The irony is
that we lost seats despite our govern-
ment fulfilling a majority of the prom-
ises mentioned in the ‘Saat Nishchay
(Seven Resolves)’ programme,” says a
senior JD(U) leader.
Nitish has already clarified that
he is not going anywhere, dismissing
speculation that the 2020 assembly
election being his last. The governm-
ent may also revive the popular
janata durbar, where Nitish answers
calls and addresses grievances. The
practice had been discontinued after
grievance cells were set up in the dis-
tricts, but many now feel that it led to
a disconnect with the people.
POLITICAL CHALLENGES
In its choice of the two deputy CMs,
the BJP seems to be replicating the
Uttar Pradesh governance model.
Clearly, Prasad and Renu Devi’s eleva-
tion is meant to send a positive mes-
sage to the communities they come
from. Prasad, 64, is a Kalwar from the
OBC Vaishya community (which Su-
shil Modi also represented and which
is one of the BJP’s biggest supporters)
while Renu Devi is a Nonia, a numeri-
cally significant Extremely Backward
Caste (EBC).
The appointments are part of
38 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
SUSHIL MODI,
IRONICALLY, WAS
SEEN AS TOO
CLOSE TO NITISH, THE BJP’S LONG-TERM GOALS
AND HENCE When the party’s decision to replace
INCOMPATIBLE Sushil Modi as deputy CM became
clear on November 15, it was seen as
WITH THE BJP’S part of the BJP’s long-term plan to
EXPANSIONIST expand its footprint and one day rule
Bihar alone. Sushil Modi, ironically,
GOALS IN BIHAR was seen as too close to Nitish, and
hence not the man who fits in with
BJP’s new goal in Bihar.
The saffron party’s vote share has
gone up dramatically in the state since
2005. From 11 per cent in the Febru-
RENU DEVI’S ary 2005 assembly poll, it went up to
APPOINTMENT 24.4 per cent in 2015. This slipped to
19.5 per cent in 2020, but that was
AS DEPUTY CM largely due to the BJP contesting less
IS ESPECIALLY seats, 110 against the 157 in 2015. The
party has clearly more than doubled
SIGNIFICANT, its vote share over the years in Bihar.
SINCE SHE’S In this backdrop, the shifting out
of Sushil Modi was in sync with the
AN EBC AND A long-term goal of emerging as the No.
WOMAN, TWO 1 party in Bihar, in numbers as well as
stature. “We already have the num-
CONSTITUENCIES bers, but we don’t have the stature in
NITISH CONSI­ Bihar. That will come only when we
form a government on our own,” says a
DERS HIS CORE senior BJP leader.
SUPPORTERS However, the choice of Prasad
and Renu Devi also indicates that
currently the party needs Nitish as
much as the other way round. The two
deputy CMs are organisation veterans
but largely unproven, and unlikely to
the BJP’s plan to consolidate the be trusted with expediting the BJP’s
backward and EBC constituencies. expansion in Bihar. “They do have
Renu Devi’s appointment is especially symbolic significance but hoping these
significant, since she’s an EBC and two leaders will win us new support
a woman, two constituencies Nitish groups is too optimistic,” says a senior
considers his core supporters. The BJP leader.
BJP realises (as did Nitish) that the Contrary to the general percep-
EBC and backward castes are the only tion, the two deputy CMs could be
counterbalance to the RJD’s Muslim- good news for Nitish. To begin with,
Yadav base. This is significant given it is a guarantee of sorts that the BJP
that the single largest caste group, the is looking at a longer innings, which
Yadavs, stayed with the RJD even in gives Nitish the time and opportunity
this election. The BJP’s Yadav face, to build on his goodwill and deliver on
Nityanand Rai, failed to wean them his promises. For the chief minister,
away from the RJD’s first family. the present situation is less than per-
Meanwhile, there are indications fect, but it is still an opportunity. How
that the JD(U) may join the Union well he uses it will determine not just
cabinet in the next expansion to cem- his and the JD(U)’s future, but also
ent the party’s ties with the BJP. that of Bihar. n
CHANDRADEEP KUMAR

THE BIG STORY C O V I D

THE LONG ROAD

TO RECOVERY
Persisting side-effects even months after surviving Covid
are taking a heavy physical and emotional toll on patients, making
their return to normal life a protracted and difficult battle
BY SONALI ACHARJEE
 T
he first time Vidhushi
Tripathi sensed some-
thing was wrong with her
was when she couldn’t
smell the garam masala
her mother uses as a gar-
nish for dal. Normally, the
aroma of the spices would alert Tripa-
thi, a 33-year-old software engineer in
Bengaluru, that dinner was about to be
served. But one night in June, she could
smell nothing. “I tested positive for
Covid. I had mild symptoms—fever and
fatigue. I can never explain how fright-
ened I was that I might have infected
my mother, but she was negative. After
two weeks, I tested negative too and
could smell again,” says Tripathi.
Tripathi thought the worst was
over. But nearly five months on, she
continues to struggle with her post-
Covid recovery. Debilitating fatigue was
the first symptom she experienced of
‘Long Covid’, a condition where patients
continue to deal with Covid-related
symptoms long after their body has
been rid of the virus. Some days, the
fatigue was so extreme that she found it
difficult to even talk while walking. The
next symptom was the same old loss of
smell, which would last about two days
at a time. “Suddenly one day, I couldn’t
smell my coffee—I couldn’t believe it.
VIRUS WATCH Then a few weeks later, I couldn’t smell
A health worker
flowers. The symptom just comes and
collects samples
for Covid test in goes in waves. Every time I feel I am
Delhi’s Sadar Bazar getting better, I relapse,” says Tripathi.
The third symptom, which persists to
date, is gluten sensitivity that has forced
Tripathi to give up wheat, flour and
other gluten-heavy products.
In another part of India, another pa-
tient reported an entirely different expe-
rience of ‘Long Covid’. Mumbaikar Azad
Khan, 40, woke up one July morning to
find rashes and red marks on his fingers.
He thought it might have been caused
by the stress of dealing with Covid and
immediately got into meditation. Ten
days later, when his joints began to ache
painfully, he visited Jaslok Hospital
where a doctor informed him that the
condition could have been caused by
blood clots—an occurrence among sev-
eral Covid patients. Studies in France
and Netherlands suggest that 20-30 per
cent of Covid patients develop throm-
bosis, or blood clots, which could persist
even after recovery. If not treated in
time with blood thinners and antico-
agulants, it could be life-threatening.
Both Tripathi and Khan had jobs
that could be done from home. Sreeku-
mar, a 34-year-old courier delivery ex-
ecutive in Noida, in the National Capital
Region, had no such luxury. Despite
crippling exhaustion and muscle-ache,
he continued to ride his bike to deliver
packages. In October, the mental trau-
ma of two months of battling the physi-
ological manifestations of ‘Long Covid’
got too much. Sreekumar gave up on his
dream to make a living in a big city and
prepared for return to his hometown in
Telangana to work at a farm.
As India inches towards the 10
million cases mark, what remains
unrecorded are the ways in which Covid
has changed the health and lives of
patients. Even today, Covid continues
to startle doctors with the variety and
unpredictability of its symptoms. “Every
Covid case is different and we still
receive complete surprises. Sometimes
an elderly person sails through while
a young person remains severely ill for
days,” says Dr N.N. Mathur, director,
Lady Hardinge Medical College, New
Delhi. Indeed, week after week, studies
published show never-before-known
impacts of the virus. Most recently, in a
study by the UK-based Anglia Ruskin
University, 40 per cent of 3,103-odd
patients in 48 countries reported that
Covid had worsened tinnitus for them.
Tinnitus is a condition that causes the
perception of noise in one’s ears. The
study has been published in the journal
Frontiers in Public Health.
Another study in the Journal of
Clinical Immunology and Immunother-
apy notes delirium and fever to be com-
NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 61
 THE BIG STORY C O V I D
mon post-Covid symptoms. “When
the pandemic began, we only knew of
Covid as pneumonia. Now, we have
at least 50 per cent patients report-
ing other symptoms. Some of them
are unusual and unexpected, such as
amenorrhea, a condition which causes
women to skip their period. We are
still learning what all other symptoms
one can have for Covid, though we
know they exist for certain,” adds Dr
Mathur. A host of post-Covid symp-
toms are now known, among them
‘brain fog’ or the feeling of confusion
and ‘Covid toes’ or rashes on toes. But
doctors say a lot is going unnoticed
because of poor post-Covid follow-
ups. It is one of the reasons a post-Co-
vid care clinic was opened at the Rajiv
Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital
in New Delhi. Not to document the
health condition of recovered patients
but to provide treatment for their
persisting symptoms. The clinic says
about 30 per cent of Covid patients
battle ill-health even after testing
negative for the virus. “There is one
thing as being unable to infect oth-
ers. But there is quite another thing
as having fully recovered,” says Dr
B.L. Sherwal, director, Rajiv Gandhi
Super Speciality Hospital. “Since the
lingering symptoms are often minor,
doctors may not recommend invasive
tests to, say, review organ health. One
weighs the risk benefit ratio in these
cases. Yet, even if we don’t record or
test each one of the 8.5 million-odd
cases, we should have the medical
infrastructure to support their recov-
ery.” AIIMS in New Delhi and other
hospitals in the country are in the
process of setting up similar clinics.
WHO IS AT RISK?
Healthcare workers aren’t just con-
cerned about the bewildering assort-
ment of symptoms during and after
Covid, but the fact that there is no
clear way to assess who is at risk from
them. Initially, those on ventilator care
62 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
were seen to suffer the most in their
THE SPECTRE
recovery phase, but increasingly pa-
tients with mild Covid symptoms are
OF ‘LONG COVID’
Covid patients are reporting
reporting lasting impacts of the virus.
‘unusual’ and nagging health
Many researchers are looking for pat-
issues long after completing
terns to determine who are most likely their treatment
to suffer from ‘Long Covid’. “We have
some markers for cases that could turn
severe, such as age and comorbidities.  Covid toes:
But we don’t have that for persisting Rashes or skin
symptoms of Covid yet. Age could discolouration on
play a role,” says Dr Randeep Guleria, fingers and toes
director, AIIMS, New Delhi. due to blood clots
The Covid Symptom Study
published recently in the UK says  Brain fog:
older people, women and those with Extreme confusion of
at least five symptoms in the initial thoughts and lack of
phase of Covid are more likely to have clarity while perform-
persisting problems. But this is still ing familiar tasks
far from conclusive evidence as other
studies warn of young people being
at equal risk from ‘Long Covid’. In a  Fluctuating
symptoms: The
recent study, the US-based Centers for
onset and disappear-
Disease Control and Prevention said ance of symptoms,
Covid could result in prolonged illness, such as fatigue or
‘even among young adults without un- loss of smell, over the
derlying chronic medical conditions’. course of a few weeks
In India, Covid death rates are
the lowest amongst young adults.
However, lingering post-Covid
symptoms like fatigue, anxiety and
muscle pain can wreak havoc in
young individuals’ lives. Shahana Ray
from New Delhi knows this all too
well. The 29-year-old artist hasn’t
HEALTHCARE
been able to hold a paintbrush for the WORKERS AREN’T
past two months. Covid wrecked her
economically and personally. “I had
JUST CONCERNED
to move back in with my parents. The ABOUT THE
mental trauma is so great now that I
am unable to be creative. I am stuck,”
BEWILDERING
she says. When Ray got Covid, she ASSORTMENT OF
experienced nothing more than an
upset stomach, two days of fever and
SYMPTOMS DURING
a few days of exhaustion. Yet, those AND AFTER COVID,
minor symptoms have eventually led
to a much more damaging outcome.
BUT THAT THERE IS
“I still have days when I can’t do as NO CLEAR WAY TO
much work as I used to,” adds Ray.
Without a definitive determinant
ASSESS WHO IS AT
as to how the virus will impact an in- RISK FROM THEM
dividual, doctors continue to advocate
  Amenorrhea:
A condition where
women miss their and their after-effects.”
period Doctors also recommend drink-
ing hot water, steam inhalation and
gargle to help the throat and lungs
 Ringing in the
ear: A perception recover from the impact of Covid. “In
of continuous low
ringing in ears
SELF-CARE traditional medicine, it is important
to respect one’s body. When you have
IS THE KEY been through a disease as severe as
Covid, you have to slow down and take
 White patch: Post-Covid protocols time to heal. You should not rush back
Minor scars in that medical experts into a city schedule again,” says Dr Is-
lungs even without recommend sac Mathai, noted holistic healer and
major symptoms
chairman of Soukya in Bengaluru.
during Covid
 Avoid heavy and rich food Many of those who have been
handling post-Covid symptoms for
 Drink hot water and keep
yourself well hydrated
months now say complete bed rest
 Insomnia:
Problems with and home-cooked food have made a
 Do steam inhalation and difference. “There is no shortcut. You
sleep due to anx-
gargle often
iety or reduced have to suffer through the symptoms,
lung capacity  Monitor health with doc- but you can arm your body in the right
tors even after testing manner,” says Tripathi, who has been
negative; report sudden taking homeopathic supplements in
 Gluten symptoms or permanent
her recovery phase. She feels it has
sensitivity: changes in your health
Problems with made her “mentally stronger and
 Get adequate bed rest helped with physical recovery”.
digesting gluten-
heavy products  Focus on mental health; if Mental anxiety is one of the most
needed, visit a counsellor commonly reported symptoms of
‘Long Covid’—all the more caused by
the feeling that one’s life is far from
returning to normal. Patients say they
Icons by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY
can no longer exercise, work or even
socially interact like before. For many,
the nagging fear is that the virus
prevention—wearing a mask and so- the US, flu immunisation awareness may infect them again. “People don’t
cial distancing—as the best strategy. remains relatively low in India. While expect to be ill for so many months.
“If people say ‘Let’s just get it (Covid) a flu shot will not protect anyone Somebody with severe Covid would
and be done with it,’ it is a wrong against Covid, it can potentially help feel the trauma of hospitalisation. But
attitude to have entirely. At the end of reduce its severity by protecting indi- equally, someone with minor Covid
the day, it is a pathogen in your body. viduals against influenza. symptoms could feel the burden of
With or without symptoms, it is not The best defence against ‘Long persisting symptoms. This becomes
good for anybody’s overall health,” Covid’ is self-care and maintaining worse when you add economic and
says Dr Sherwal. a healthy lifestyle, say doctors. Diet financial burdens,” says Dr B.N.
plays an important role during both Gangadhar, director, NIMHANS,
IMPORTANCE OF the treatment and recovery phases. Bengaluru. Even small things like not
SELF - CARE “Avoid heavy food. You don’t want being able to walk one’s own dog or at-
to stress your system with rich and tend one’s job could potentially leave a
Given the onset of winter and the oily meals,” advises nutritionist mental scar. It is why despite a minor-
rising levels of pollution in several In- Kalpana Bhatia. “Your body needs ity of cases being recorded officially
dian cities, doctors are recommend- vitamins and minerals to recover, with persisting symptoms, healthcare
ing flu shots as part of the recovery and plenty of water. People often experts continue to emphasise on a
regime. While annual flu vaccines underestimate the role digestion and careful and professionally supported
are regularly taken in Europe and nutrition play in combating diseases recovery regime for Covid. n

NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 63

Where Star s Ar En te rt ai nm en t Yo uT

T ON THEIR YOU
ub e

TU BE C H A NNEL S
HAS ENABLED MANY DIGITAL STA
RS TO

VE CONTEN
FRESH, INNOVATI
GH
BY SUHANI SIN

ak t a Koli
j
Pra ostlySane lion
M 8 mil
c r i b e rs: 5.8 the first
Subs n for: Being er own
now have h
Best k ent creator to tty Fit
on t Pre
Indian c ube Originals,
YouT g up
Comin (Netflix)
ched
Mismat

n Tha kur
Varu cribers
Subs 000
259, n for
now g
Best k res of Strugglin
en t u ra
The Adv r Vicky Malhot
Acto ing up
Com haag (Netflix)
eanie B
Bhaag B

0:0 0 / 10: 41

70 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0

e Born U
ntil June 2020, Prajakta Koli was
best known as the funny woman
behind MostlySane, one of the more
popular YouTube channels in India,
and an influencer who, as part of
YouTube Originals Creators for
RS Change, for which she was invited
ACTING CAREE
KICKSTART THEIR twice, met and spoke to Michelle
Obama. Then came Khayali Pulao,
a short in which Koli demonstrated that her thes-
pian talent went beyond comedy. On November
20, Koli’s first big project, web series Mismatched,
an adaptation of Sandhya Menon’s book When
Dimple Met Rishi, released on Netflix. Currently,
she is in Chandigarh shooting for her Bollywood
debut, Jug Jug Jeeyo, a Dharma Production, also
starring Anil Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Neetu
Singh and Kiara Advani. “I’m 100 per cent aware
that I wouldn’t have any of this if it wasn’t for my
YouTube channel,” says Koli. “I can’t ever quit
making videos.” That explains why Koli, while
H
SING

shooting for Mismatched in Jodhpur, made trips

to Mumbai and used her free time to continue
D EEP

uploading content on MostlySane. “I take pride

BAN

in the fact that in over five and a half years I have

never missed a video day,” she says.
Koli is just one of the many YouTube person-
alities now drawing attention from filmmakers
for both OTT and films. YouTube singer Shirley
Setia, who made her acting debut with Maska on
Netflix, will soon be seen in the comedy Nikam-
ma. Both YouTuber and actor Dolly Singh and
comedian Varun Thakur will feature in Bhaag
Beanie Bhaag (an upcoming Netflix series), while
Bhuvan Bam of BB Ki Vines fame will be starring
in and producing his own film, Dhindora.
There have been a few who have already

Bam y Setia successfully made the leap. Among them is

uv a n Shirle
Bh BB Ki Vine9s.7 million
Mithila Palkar, who, after her cover of a
r ib e r s
Subsc lion Marathi song accompanied by a plastic
:1 3.61 mil for cup keeping the beat went viral, was
r ib e r s ing nown male artists
Subsc n for: Portray , Titu B e s t k by cast as lead in shows such as Girl in the
now
Best k racters, like Ba ola
ncho d i s o n gs sung am Re City and Little Things, and appeared
of Hin i, San
ted cha nd Mr H Covers ding Tum Se H in films like Karwaan. Mallika Dua
self-crea ngry Masterji a
F

inclu g up
VA SPAA NSHROF

Mama, A oming Up Com in a has a few films and shows under her belt
C N ik a m m and, earlier this year, creator Kusha Kapila
Dhindora appeared in the Karan Johar-directed short
for the anthology Ghost Stories. Both streaming
platforms and Bollywood see the value in roping in
digital stars with millions of followers. Srishti Behl
Arya, director, original film, Netflix India, says,
“We are thrilled that Netflix is a launching pad for
a new generation of stars. The growth in popular-
SAVE .. . ity, as seen in memes, is a good indicator of how our
41 1 SH AR E
22 K

NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0 INDIA TODAY 65

 Entertainment YouTube
films, series and stars are breaking out around the world.”
Acting aspirations are very much on the minds of YouTu-
bers, especially those who specialise in creating and playing
different characters. “It is because of how obsessed we are
with Bollywood,” says Dolly Singh, who has essayed charac-
ters such as Raju ki Mummy, Zeenat Baji and Shree Singh,
and has admitted to being quite “filmi”. “The desire or dream
to be part of something that’s bigger than my own tripod and
[has] a bigger team is always there, unless one is too woke
and is like ‘no, films are not for me’.” Bhaag Beanie Bhaag
came her way courtesy a friend on social media who told
her about the audition. After failing to land another part in
the series, Singh was cast to play a rich ‘influencer’ and best
friend to the titular female protagonist (Swara Bhasker).
S
ocial media has become the de facto portfolio of
aspiring actors, the short videos they post dou-
bling up as audition reels. Casting directors are
indeed scrolling through digital feeds of talent to
get a sense of both personality and abilities. Tess
Joseph, who recently became a member of the
casting branch of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences, says “social media presence
matters” now more than ever. For Joseph, whose credits
include international films such as Extraction and the up-
coming White Tiger and Shantaram adaptations, the biggest
and much-needed change YouTubers have brought around is
taking the casting conversation beyond “appearance”. “They
don’t give a damn about how they look,” says Joseph. “It’s all
about being your authentic self and having fun with what one
is doing.” It was through YouTube that Joseph found Taaruk
Raina whom she cast for Disney India’s musical Aladdin.
It’s now routine for film studios to do promotional tie-ups
with YouTube stars. Singh as Raju Ki Mummy has inter-
viewed Ayushmann Khurrana, Taapsee Pannu, Rajkummar
Rao and Kangana Ranaut, to name a few, on an online chat
show for iDIVA, while Bhuvan Bam had Shah Rukh Khan on
the debut episode of Titu Talks. Filmmakers are even asking
casting directors to search for talent among social media
stars for parts. Two years ago, a leading production house
asked casting director Nandini Shrikent to consider social
media stars; today, she has a separate tag called “YouTubers/
influencers” in her database. It has come in handy for she
has seen a spike in the number of mails she receives from
YouTube musicians after her fine work in Gully Boy. “There’s
a lot of talent sizzling in that pool,” she says. “It has become so
normal to watch videos that I have forgotten when I last saw
just photos.” Shrikent labelled Mallika Dua an ‘OG’—original
gangster in hip-hop slang—and Bhuvan Bam as someone who
is “set for bigger roles”. Recently, she and her casting partner
Karan Mally roped in Ayush Mehra, an actor who became
popular after appearing in FilterCopy’s sketches on YouTube,
for the Indian adaptation of the French comedy series Call My
Agent! being produced by Applause Entertainment.
66 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
Among th
e bigger ch
YouTuber anges
s have bro
around is ught
enabling
casting co
nv
move beyo ersations to
nd appear
ance
0: 00 / 10 :41
For some, like comedian Varun Thakur, the digital plat-
form came to his rescue after his film career struggled to take
off. After doing independent films, like Question Mark and
Yahaan Sabki Lagi Hai, which failed to find an audience, and
a blink-and-miss appearance in Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012),
Thakur realised his big Bollywood break was unlikely. He
started his YouTube channel in 2013 to showcase his talent as
a stand-up comedian, little knowing that the video stream-
ing site would not only bring him attention but also land him
auditions. In 2018, Thakur even created and acted in the web
series Shaitan Haveli for Amazon Prime. “Streaming has
changed the landscape for artists like us,” he says. “The defini-
tion of big screen has changed. With such a massive subscrib-
er base across the globe and the amount and variety of shows
being made, you hope that the content you keep putting up
finds it way and lands you a part.”
Setia’s journey has been similar. The singer began with
uploading covers of Hindi film songs shot on her phone
against a no-frills backdrop. It was her rendition of ‘Tum
Hi Ho’ in 2013, which went on to garner 3.5 million views,
marking a turning point in her career. Five years later, a
music video featuring Setia and singer Gurnazar perform-
ing ‘Koi Vi Nahin’, reignited her childhood dream of acting.
“I did not know whether even 100 people would watch, let
alone millions,” says Setia. The video got 138 million views
on YouTube. “It has changed my life!” Setia now shuttles be-
tween Auckland in New Zealand, and Mumbai and recently
finished shooting for her second Hindi film, Nikamma.
However, she has no plans of leaving her 3.61 million
subscribers behind as she pursues a career in Bollywood.
In addition to songs, Setia has started sharing dance videos
too. She says: “I know that the support and love I started off
with was through social media, so I always want to, in some
way or another, keep that going.” n
 A CLOSER LOOK AT NUCLEYA’S BASS
MINIATURES INSTINCTS
PG 77 PG 79

MAKING INDIA’S Q&A WITH

HISTORY RADHIKA APTE
PG 80 PG 82

Visitors at
the National
Gallery of
Modern Art in
Delhi admire
Amrita
Sher-Gil’s
painting titled
A RT
Young Girls

A DAY AT THE MUSEUMS

YASIR IQBAL

Connoisseurs can once again visit the National Museum and the National Gallery
of Modern Art in Delhi to gaze at some of India’s most iconic artefacts and works of art
 LEISURE

reluctant men into the Ajanta Paint-

ings gallery at a guard’s urging, but the
lights were all off. Tanjore Paintings,
too, was closed. But you could visit
Central Asian Antiquities, Maritime
Heritage and the Coins Gallery, which
I have always thought an attractively
condensed history of South Asia.
Watch out for the 3rd-5th century CE
Gupta emperors, who chose this most
Photographs by RAJWANT RAWAT

public canvas to enshrine themselves

in the popular imagination as ‘Rhi-
noceros-slayer’, ‘Swordsman’ and my
favourite, ‘Lyrist’: the conqueror Samu-
dragupta proclaiming his mastery of
the veena. Post-demonetisation cur-
rency isn’t a patch on Gupta coinage.
On the ground floor, I paid a visit
to the Harappan Dancing Girl, tiny
and insouciant as ever, before ambling
TRISHA GUPTA

into the sculptures, where a stunning

buffalo-headed female figure caught
my eye. “Vrishanana Yogini. Pratihara,
10th -11th cent. A.D. Lokhari, Distt.
Banda, Uttar Pradesh,” said the label.
It was only later that the internet told
NATIONAL TREASURES
(from left) ‘Pillar with Purna Kumbha’ (12th century AD), ‘Nataraja’, the lord me this was one of the museum’s most
of dance (12th century CE), ‘Nandikesvara’ (15th century CE), and (below) a treasured new acquisitions. Illegally
Gupta-era coin depicting the emperor as a rhinoceros-hunter—all on display at trafficked out of an Uttar Pradesh tem-
the National Museum, Delhi ple, this example of the powerful fe-
male-centric Yogini cult was returned
to the Indian embassy in Paris in 2008

T
by the widow of a French collector and
he National Museum New Janpath. Inaugurated in 1960, the acquired by the museum in 2013, un-
Delhi had never felt this in- museum complex is being revamped der the then director general, Venu V.
timate. I was in the Minia- since 2017, and I have often found the If only our curators understood: this is
ture Gallery when a robust upper floors closed for renovation. the story that should be on the plaque.
male voice began to sing On Sunday, you could again climb The nation would want to know.
loudly: “Tu hi pyaar, tu hi the grand staircase to the second floor, “Sixteen of the museum’s 27 gal-
chaahat, tu hi aashiqui but the only gallery open was ‘Tribal leries are accessible in this first phase
hai”. I had been admiring Lifestyle of North East India’: unre- of reopening,” the museum’s educa-
Radha and Krishna admiring their constructed old-style tion officer Rige Shiba
own reflection in a mirror: a pre-dig- anthropology running wrote in an email. Many
ital couplefie aided by an attendant— rampant, though there new arrangements are in
The National
and the painter. Now the 1640 Mewar are some striking Mon- place: the ticket counter
Museum and
miniature seemed illuminated by the pa and Naga masks and is now outside the en-
NGMA have
security guard’s rendition of the song headdresses. Sections of try gate to the complex,
reopened with
from Mahesh Bhatt’s 1990 romantic the open corridor dis- and temperature checks,
their own di-
superhit, Aashiqui. play were cordoned off,
verse collections sanitisation and secu-
It was 3 pm on the first Sunday af- but visitors might enjoy
of artworks on rity screening take place
ter India’s premier museum reopened the 10th century South before you walk in. Fol-
display
on November 10, but only 23 ticketed Indian stone sculptures lowing the ministry of
visitors before me had entered the of zodiac signs. On the culture’s guidelines for
grand old building on New Delhi’s first floor, I followed two post-Covid reopening,

68 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0

free volunteer-led tours are currently
suspended. So is one of the museum’s
innovations for visually-disabled visi-
tors: touch tours of the 22-item Anub-
hav gallery. Audio guides are also out
for the moment “unless these can be
disinfected after every single use”.
Curatorial tours are also suspended
at the National Gallery of Modern Art
(NGMA), where daily ticketed visitors
are down from 250-500 in pre-Covid
times to about 70. The gallery is dis-
couraging group visits, with curators of-
fering customised digital walkthroughs
instead. There’s also a free virtual tour.
But on Sunday evening, having scur-
ried through November rain, I could
not have found happier shelter than the
beauteous airy interiors of the NGMA.
Anupam Sud’s Ceremony of Unmask-
ing triptych made me smile at its new
relevance. Bhupen Khakhar’s minia-
ture-inspired Hamam Khana (1982)
seemed prescient about our strange
faux-sanitised times: a naked woman
standing rigidly to attention in a bare,
controlled enclosure, as if waiting to be
allowed to bathe.
I took the empty elevator upstairs,
discovering the Mexican mural-like
joys of Pran Nath Mago’s Rice Plant-
ers (1952), before arriving at his Delhi
Shilpi Chakra collective contemporary,
the underrated modernist B.C. Sanyal
(1901-2003). I stood forever in front of
Sanyal’s stunning At the Nizamuddin
Fair and his seductively lungi-clad self-
portrait, Old Man and the Bird. “Now
that’s the old man of love to become,” a
friend texted back.
A masked boy and girl stopped at an
M.F. Husain. “Yeh Picasso hain (this is a
Picasso),” the boy said. “Kehte hain inki
chai bhi gir jaati thi, toh painting ban
jaati thi (they say if he dropped his tea,
it would also become a painting).” They
held hands tightly. The world fell away. n
—Trisha Gupta

A Closer
A RT

The National Museum’s miniatures are now in

augmented reality, on a screen near you
Look
f you’ve ever admired a his simple brown one. You’ll see three

IN DETAILS (top) Swami Haridasa with
Tansen and Akbar at Vrindavana, (1700-1760
AD); and a folio from the ‘Razmnama’, a Persian
translation of the Mahabharata
I miniature painting on a
museum wall, you might
white-clad figures, but a closer look at
their clothes reveals their social posi-
know the feeling of tions. The swami wears only a loincloth,
wanting to hold it in your hands for a while Tansen and Akbar wear jamas
closer look. Life in Miniature partially with a gold-edged sash. But then you
fulfils that desire. The latest India- might notice that Akbar is barefoot:
centric project by Google Arts and perhaps in deference to Haridas?
Culture makes over 1,000 miniatures, The pleasure of these paintings
from the National Museum’s and 24 extends beyond social analysis. As you
more collections available in gloriously zoom in, monkeys, squirrels and
high resolution. “These many birds become visible in
paintings were not meant to the foliage. Google’s cura-
be viewed from behind LIFE IN R E is tors urge viewers to “find
TU
glass. You now have an MINIA in visual the parrots” or “spot the
ro o te d
experience close to that of e ligh t, as was weapons”, and group im-
d f
ntion o
the original patrons,” says the inte inters ages into “stories”, instead
the pa
Kavita Singh, professor of of the dryer chronological or
art history at Delhi’s Jawaharlal geographical approaches. “A
Nehru University, who has also lot of older arcane scholarly work
written an essay for the virtual show. did not serve these paintings well.
So, for instance, if you were to click Narrative and thematic approaches are
on a painting of the Mughal emperor more prevalent now. This exhibition is
Akbar accompanying Tansen to meet rooted in visual delight, which was the
the latter’s guru Swami Haridas in intention of the painters,” says Singh.
Vrindavan, the painting, at first glance, “Grouping images by subject or colour
simply shows Tansen kneeling before offers lively pathways into the art for
his mentor, while the emperor stands people outside the academy. Perhaps
behind him. Then you might notice the next step can be to make these
Tansen’s tanpura, richly ornamented, resources available in other Indian
sitting quietly by his side, while he languages. But this is a great start.” n
looks reverently at the saint plucking —Trisha Gupta

W
ith tousled hair
and a wide,
toothy smile,
Dibesh Pokharel
presents an instantly like-
able persona. It also helps
that he can sing like a young
John Fogerty, all passionate,
soaring vocals. It was this
combination that won the
23-year-old Nepali-Amer-
ican, who performs under
the stage name Arthur Gunn,
a legion of admirers on this
year’s quarantined edition of
American Idol, the franchise
singing competition.
At his very first audition,
where he performed Bob
Dylan’s ‘Girl from the North
Country’ and Creedence
Clearwater Revival’s ‘Have
You Ever Seen the Rain’, Idol
judge Luke Bryan jokingly
asked Pokharel to open for
him on tour. Judges Katy
Perry and Lionel Richie both
waxed rhapsodic, affirming
Bryan’s enthusiasm.
“You are the story we
KAREN NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
78 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
M USIC
TOP GUNN
Meet Arthur Gunn, the Nepali-American
who took American Idol by storm
need to tell,” Richie told
Pokharel after coming in for
an embrace.
That audition video went
viral in Pokharel’s home
country of Nepal, turning him
into a local celebrity over-
night. Nepalis are familiar
with Pokharel’s brand of
music, with Kathmandu’s bars
resounding nightly with the
kind of classic rock ballads
that Pokharel seems to belt
out from the heart.
Pokharel grew up in Kath-
mandu before moving to Wich-
ita in the US state of Kansas
at the age of 16. It was around
this time that he picked up his
distinctly non-Asian stage
name Arthur Gunn, although,
like a modern-day Dylan,
he has told multiple stories
about its origin. Pokharel told
Halla, a Nepali music website,
that he had simply combined
‘Art’ with ‘Hur’, a “biblical
name which means hole”,
and picked Gunn because it
“symbolised battle.” Later,
he told Billboard that he had
named himself after Arthur
Rimbaud, the 19th century
French symbolist poet.
In Wichita, Pokharel per-
formed at coffeehouses and
busked his way across Los
Angeles, San Francisco and
New York. He even indepen-
dently released an eight-song
Nepali-language album,
Grahan, in 2018. The album
is tinged with folk, country,
bluegrass and the blues,
gleaned from his influences—
Dylan, Nick Drake, Robert
Johnson and John Lee Hooker.
The stand-out track, Nyano
Ghar, sounds like a Dylan or a
Mason Jennings outtake.
On American Idol, which
moved online along with
everything else due to the
coronavirus pandemic,
Pokharel stuck to his style,
performing bluesy renditions
of Otis Redding, Bob Marley
and John Denver. He made it
all the way to the Idol finale,
narrowly losing out to R&B
crooner Just Sam. He might
not have won but he picked
up thousands of fans along
the way. Social media was
ablaze after the Idol finale—
outraged Gunn fans claimed
he had been “robbed”.
Pokharel has taken the
loss in stride and although
he hasn’t yet been offered
a record contract, as he
explained in a now-deleted
Instagram caption, in July, he
dropped Self-Titled, a seven-
track album. The album, also
released independently, has a
few hundred thousand plays
on Spotify, which isn’t too
spectacular. He has received
offers to tour, he said on Ins-
tagram, but with a pandemic
in place, live shows might
seem a distant dream.
For now, his Instagram
feed is all moody landscapes
and the odd selfie. The young
singer appears to be taking
it slow and riding out the
pandemic. n
—Pranaya S.J.B. Rana
A BIG VOICE
Dibesh Pokharel
aka Arthur Gunn
performs on
American Idol
 he term “international collabo-
T ration” is used loosely in our mu-
sic industry. While it has become
increasingly common for Indian
acts to release tracks featuring foreign stars,
frequently the participating musicians don’t
actually meet or even interact with each other.
The “duet” is set up by the label or manage-
ment team they share in common.
In the case of the recently released ‘Jadi
Buti’ by Nucleya and Major Lazer, not only has
the Indian bass music pioneer opened for the
American electronic music trio on their tours
here, he has known frontman Diplo for almost
a decade and they have been exchanging ideas
for a potential collaboration for years.
To Indian ears, with its playful nursery
rhyme-like lyrics and folksy female vocals,
‘Jadi Buti’ is more parts Nucleya than Major
Lazer. What the latter brings to the tune is a
pop sensibility that transforms it into the kind
of bass banger that has the potential to cross
over to mainstream audiences. Nucleya, who
has also recorded songs with American EDM
band Krewella and local idols such as Benny
Dayal, Divine and Papon, told us this is exactly
why he works with anybody.
“The whole intention is to hijack their
creativity,” says the long-time Goa resi-
dent whose real name is Udyan Sagar.
“To learn from it and then use segments
in my own way in my music. From my coll-
aboration with Major Lazer I learned that
there is no need to overcomplicate anything.”
‘Jadi Buti’ is Nucleya’s first proper single
as a lead artist in almost two years, but he is in
no rush to put out new material. After years of
performing nearly 200 shows annually, he has
been using the lockdown to spend quality time
with his wife and son. “I think I burnt myself
[out] in the past five-six years. It worked in
my favour, [so] I’m not complaining. [But]
E
M
nic mus
O
Ele c tro
H
a on h
Nucley ion with Ma jor n
rat
collabo
e r a n d
Laz
him res
helpe d
BASS
I could have scattered the releases in a sys- ACES OF
tematic way,” says the producer who broke
through with 2013’s Koocha Monster, turned BASS
Nucleya’s connections
into one of the country’s biggest independent
acts with 2015 follow-up Bass Rani and built in the electronic music
on his nationwide popularity with 2016’s Raja genre run deep
Baja and 2018’s Tota Myna.
These EPs were interspersed with the
occasional collaboration and contributions
to Bollywood soundtracks. Next up are sets
with Ritviz, with whom he shares the same
management company Under The Radar, and
Canada-based bass music composer Soltan,
with whom he studied music production. Nei-
ther record has a release date yet. SU REAL
The upside of the lockdown, according The New Delhi-based producer,
to Nucleya, is that it has forced him and his born Suhrid Manchanda, has been
pushing bass music for over a
counterparts in the Indian dance music com-
decade. In 2018, he, along with
munity to slow down. “There’s
‘Jadi Buti’ singer Rashmeet Kaur,
no race so it is way easier,” he won the Amazon Prime Video
says. “I’m very disciplined in reality competition The Remix, on
terms of making music but which Nucleya was a judge
discipline isn’t everything.
When you’re emotionally not
in the right place, your cre-
ativity goes for a toss. Thank-
fully, I think I’ve got-
ten it back.” n
—Amit
Gurbaxani
RITVIZ
Creator of his own genre of
‘Hindustani’ dance music,
Ritviz, somewhat of a protege
of Nucleya, is one of India’s
best-known independent acts
with four tracks that have
between 10 million and 25 mil-
lion plays on Spotify, including
AIB-endorsed ‘Udd Gaye’
ic star
is n ew
lockdow
h ow t h e a r e e r
et his c
GURBAX
The influence of Nucleya is evident
in the compositions of Bengaluru’s
Gurbax aka Kunaal Gurbaxani who
blends bass and Indian folk and
regional music sounds. He is one of
several young Indian producers to
have performed opening sets for
Nucleya or played guest mixes for
his BBC Asian Network radio show
 LEISURE
BOOKS
Making
HISTORY
Manan Ahmed Asif’s thoughtful
study shows how history has come to
I
be written in modern India
In pre-colonial Persian works of
different genres, India was often
referred to as Hindustan, but the
word Hindustan almost always
existed as a compound phrase:
Hindustan Jannat Nishan, or “Hin-
dustan the sign of heaven on earth”.
This Hindustan Jannat Nishan was
celebrated in chronicles, histories,
poetic compilations in Persian and
other vernacular languages. These
works extolled its climate, produce,
diversity and culture. However, this
Hindustan, the beloved of pre-colo-
nial histories, has disappeared from
modern Indian history writing and
been replaced by the idea of India,
and, more commonly in the popular
imagination, as “a thousand years
of Muslim tyranny and destruction”.
How did this come about? In investi-
gating this problematic idea, Manan
Ahmed Asif has written a book,
not just about those chronicles but
also a genealogy of how history has
come to be written in modern India.
The conquering colonial British
historians of India wrote the first
modern histories of India in the 18th
80 INDIA TODAY NOV E M BE R 3 0, 2 02 0
THE LOSS OF HINDUSTAN
The Invention of India
by Manan Ahmed Asif
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
`599; 336 pages
and 19th centuries. It is through their inal’ inhabitants of India, the Hindus,
formative histories that we have who had a glorious past but who en-
largely come to know our past. But in tirely lacked a sense of history, and that
writing their histories, they depended Persian histories were mostly useless
on the very Persian chronicles compilations of facts and conquests.
that they otherwise unanimously Asif shows how Dow’s ideas were
dismissed with great condescension. picked up by other influential thinkers
Asif’s analysis begins with Alexan- in Europe. His fellow Scotsman David
der Dow, a soldier in the East India Hume introduced Dow’s text to Voltaire
Company who published his History and to Immanuel Kant. Voltaire, Kant,
of Hindustan translated from the Hegel, Schlegel and Herder—heavy-
Persian History of Ferishta in 1768. weight philosophers, all of whom gave
But Dow also had a thesis on Indian lectures on the spirit and philosophy of
history and on the sources that he history—internalised and propagated
used which framed his translations, these ideas of Indians, that is Hindus,
a thesis shared by his fel- lacking history and outsider Muslim
low Orientalists such as invaders, who initiated an era of
g
William Jones, Alexander y inv estigatin despotism.
B A N
, MAN
Scott, Warren Hastings Ferishta SIF shows The native historian that
DA
and others. Muslim rule AHME dieval chroni- Dow relied upon to present
e
that m nderstood
in India, they claimed, clers u -Muslim India to the world was Abul
pre
was utterly despotic, India’s sts Qasim Ferishta, who wrote his
pa
which oppressed the ‘orig- monumental History of Hindustan
in the Deccan in the early 17th cen-
tury, at the court of the Ibrahim
Adil Shah of Bijapur, the self-
acclaimed devotee of Ganesha
and Saraswati. By investigating
Ferishta, and his predecessors,
Asif shows that far from being
worthless compilations of facts,
the medieval chroniclers had
an articulate notion of history
writing as well as a sophisticated
understanding of India’s pre-
Muslim pasts. Ferishta wrote a
history of India where no religion
was privileged over another and
where the main ethical task be-
fore rulers was to deliver justice
and prosperity to their subjects
irrespective of faith. However, the
Ferishta that Dow served up to
Europe was put to very different
uses. There India was presented
as a land of implacable conflict
between timeless Hinduism and
ceaseless Muslim despotism.
Dow was followed by James Mill,
Mountstuart Elphinstone and
Henry Elliot, whose immensely
popular histories of India, always
divided into Hindu and Muslim
periods, repeated these formula-
tions and found wide currency
among Indians through transla-
tions. As Asif writes, “the five
thousand years, the Golden Age
of Ashoka, the seventeen raids
of Mahmud Ghazni, and Muslim
despotism—this is the central
logic in the philosophy of history
that has organised the colonised
historiography of Hindustan”.
In turn, in order to make up for
this ‘effete past’, Indians of many
shades have sought to build a
more muscular present. Asif’s
thoughtful, penetrating and subtle
history reminds us that the forging
of modern India may have involved
counterfeiting some currencies
about our past. n
—Mahmood Farooqui
The author is a Delhi-based writer
best known for reviving Dastan-
goi, the lost art of Urdu storytell-
ing. His last book was A Requiem
for Pakistan: The World of Intizar
Husain (Yoda, 2017)
Photograph by JIGNESH MISTRY
BOOKS
C O D E R E A D
A r s h i a S a t t a r a s t u te l y d e c o d e s d h a r m a i n h e r n ew
c o l l e c ti o n o f R a m aya n a e s s ays
n their effort which governs life, the struggle when balancing
I to find
audiences,
epic, however, leaves its
characters with a press-
individual actions and
social mores, but when
Ramanand ing problem: at any point, Lakshmana disfigures
Sagar and religious there is always more than Shurpanakha and Rama
right-wing forces rid the one code to choose from. kills Vali, we see urban
Ramayana of ambivalence. By asking Dasharatha codes compete with those
In their telling, Rama was to crown Bharata, Kaikeyi of the forest. One man’s
never prone to doubt. His ignores moral pressures dharma is often another
actions were dictated by a to fulfil her dharma as a being’s suffering.
kind of moral certitude mother. By then send- Her chastity ques-
that divinity readily ing Rama into exile, tioned time and again,
affords. Thinking of Rama Dasharatha makes the Sita has become a mascot
first as man, Arshia Sattar pecking order of his dhar- for many Ramayana
has always sought to mas clear—he is a husband critics. While Sattar does
understand more fully the before he is a father or not offer absolution, she
king who ruled from king. With each of her does persuade us to prize
Ayodhya. With Maryada, essays in Maryada, Sattar nuance over adjudica-
Sattar forwards that leaves you pondering the tion. She reminds us that
project. She again rescues difference between good Dasharatha’s judgement
the Ramayana from that and right, right and just. was clouded by his love for
easy ‘good versus evil’ The Ramayana’s actors do a woman. Rama was anx-
binary. ious about repeating his fa-
In the Mahabharata, ther’s mistake. “Rama,” she
the line separating right writes, “is the ideal man
and wrong is blurred not in the sense that he
repeatedly. It becomes does not make mistakes;
hard for its audience to he is the ideal man because
clearly define dharma, the it is he against whom all
code that fashions conduct others are judged.” By
and cosmic balance. The searching for dharma in
Ramayana, Sattar says, the Ramayana, Sattar does
makes dharma accessible us all a favour. She makes
MARYADA
to all. In its effort to make Searching for Dharma Rama relatable again. n
conspicuous that code in the Ramayana —Shreevatsa Nevatia
by Arshia Sattar
HARPERCOLLINS INDIA
`499; 213 pages
 th
‘In nt’ e a A p t
rising
e on th e e a tre
Radhik of OT T, her th ent

e
Q A e
relevanc living in the pre
s

o m
d

M
d ay s a n

Q. Has OTT given you as big a platform, if not

bigger, than films?
I think I was one of the first few to not shy away
from OTT or feel like it will damage my image
on the big screen. From Sacred Games to Raat
Akeli Hai, I have received far more popularity
through OTT than I ever did through films. But
I have never been married to theatre, TV, short
film, film or OTT. It is the content that matters.

Q. How do you think OTT has changed

the entertainment landscape?
What OTT platforms have done is
give equal opportunity. Massive films
would take most number of screens
and independent films would get some
obscure timing or faraway theatre so
people wouldn’t be able to catch them.
With an OTT platform you can choose
what you want, you don’t pay extra and
there are no time restrictions. All that
matters is what you make.

Q. During the lockdown, Aasakta Ka-

lamanch streamed some of their earlier
plays featuring you. How much has stage
informed the actor you are today?
I was with Aasakta for 13 years. It was
my education in the performing arts.
With films you change a few things, but
how you approach a character or break it
down, and co-exist with your actors—all
that I learned there.

Q. You recently celebrated your 35th

birthday. Are you content with the way
your career has shaped up so far?
I have changed over the past decade. I
know now that nothing is permanent.
Setting goals like ‘Oh I need to achieve
this by 25 or 40’ is rubbish. While you
worry about the future, the present
keeps slipping away. I have learned to
just enjoy what I have at the moment.

—with Suhani Singh

74 Volume XLV Number 48; For the week November 24-30, 2020, published on every Friday Total number of pages 76 (including cover pages)
SEARCH FOR
EDITORIAL IMAGES
ENDS HERE
 NOVEMBER 2020 THE GOOD LIFE
circulated free with India Today in Mumbai, Delhi & NCR, Chennai,
Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chandigrah. “Supplement to
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India Today issue dated November 30, 2020”.

THE FIRST
ALL-ELECTRIC
LUXURY
SUV FROM
MERCEDES
RAISING THE
BAR WITH
FLAVOURED
WHISKEYS

VEGGING
OUT
The Organic
Revolution

Chef Vikram Ganpule,

Executive Chef,
Andaz Delhi
Shruti Jain,
Co-founder, Kaze
living (top); Sneh
Yadav of Tijara Farms
 LETTER FROM
THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie THOUGHT FOR FOOD IS FOOD FOR THOUGHT. Think organic.
Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa The purity principle behind recipe construction in the Age of the Pandemic
Group Creative Editor Nilanjan Das is eating healthy and eating fresh. The reinvention of traditional recipes and
Group Photo Editor Bandeep Singh methods using garden to kitchen ingredients are delighting cosmopolitan
Senior Editor Chumki Bharadwaj palates as people search for alternatives that can be trusted. And ‘conscience
Sr. Art Director Sanjay Piplani dining’ is the spice of life as five outlier chefs tell you in this month’s issue
Art Director Angshuman De of Spice. Ram Swaroop Kundra, head chef at Amanbagh uses organically
Chief Photo Researcher Prabhakar Tiwari sourced ingredients across all restaurants at the hotel, including the poultry
Principal Photo Researcher Saloni Vaid that is custom-reared in a free range setting. On the other hand, Executive
Production Harish Aggarwal (Chief of Production), chef at Andaz Delhi, Vikram Ganpule, offers a unique experience at the hotel’s
Naveen Gupta
restaurant Annamaya, where even the standard breakfast buffet offers organic
Chief Operating Officer Manoj Sharma
options, and artisanal produce is also available for sale.
The history of the world can be read as a culinary travelogue. Where there is
Associate Publisher (Impact) Anil Fernandes
food there is travel. A new discovery of India is happening as foreign countries
close airports to Indians. Millennials with the itinerant itch are choosing Made
Senior General Manager (Impact)
in India havens to get in touch with their roots. Now the road to self-discovery
Jitendra Lad (West)
lies through transformational destinations that bring to life experiences that
General Managers
are personalised, intimate and possibly enlightening. Goa and Mashobra have
Upendra Singh (Bangalore)
got a new spin on their cliché cool, while some are channeling Jack London by
Kaushiky Gangulie (East)
answering the call of the wild while relaxing in jungle spas and super-luxury tent
resorts offering curated elephant rides laden with picnic baskets of cold beer
Group Chief Marketing Officer
and chicken croquettes. Nice may be nice, but for now the Maravanthe coast in
Vivek Malhotra
Karnataka looks nicer for the surfers and snorkelling savants.
For rolling stones with an eye on their carbon footprint, the first all-electric
luxury SUV from Mercedes Benz, the EQC, is perfect to traverse the miles
in style. This first car in the German auto-giant’s EQ electric range, the EQC
offers massive space for your Louis Vuitton suitcases and Hermès picnic
hampers along with the plush interiors you would expect in a Merc. The driving
experience is exceptional, with the scorching acceleration we’ve come to expect
from EVs. The EQC will take you from 0 to 100 kmph in just 5.1 seconds.
What is travel without a tipple? Okay, you can’t fly to Tennessee right now,
so the next best thing is Jack. Traditionalists may be horrified at the departure
from Jack and Coke, but adventure is in the air. Read honey, cinnamon and
apple in your glass as flavoured whiskey rules the day. Jack Daniel’s first shot
at a twist was Tennessee Honey, which proved to be an unexpected high. Next
Volume 16 Number 7; November 2020 was the cinnamon-flavoured Tennessee Fire and Tennessee Apple, with its
Copyright Living Media India Ltd. All rights reserved throughout signature crisp green flavour. Cocktails are not out, but flavoured whiskeys are
the world. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited.
Printed and published by Manoj Sharma on behalf of certainly in.
Living Media India Limited. Printed at Thomson Press Aged whiskeys are always in demand, but ageing isn’t. Our ability to fight
India Limited, 18-35 Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road,
Faridabad-121007, (Haryana). off illness starts declining in our twenties, but Spice shows how to stave off the
Published at K-9, Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110001. inevitable, with simple diet and exercise changes. From fasting once, a week to
Editorial/Corporate Office: Living Media India Ltd., India Today
Group Mediaplex, FC-8, Sector-16A, Film City, Noida - 201301. high-intensity interval training style to taking a vitamin D supplement, here’s
Editor: Raj Chengappa
your guide to keeping the age of your immune system at 30, even if you’re
India Today does not take responsibility for returning unsolicited
publication material. pushing 70.
Health is wealth, but together they are unbeatable. Follow Spice’s example to
twin victories.
e-mail your letters to: letters.editor@intoday.com

(Aroon Purie)

INDIA TODAY SPICE 1 NOVEMBER 2020

CONTRIBUTORS

1. KAPIL CHOPRA
Founder and CEOof The Postcard Hotel, Kapil
Chopra has been a full-time entrepreneur
since February 2018. He is also the Chairman 1
of the Board for EazyDiner, India’s largest
instant restaurant reservation app. In his last
assignment, Chopra served as the President
of Oberoi Hotels and Resorts. Besides being
a hotelier, Kapil is an avid collector of Indian
contemporary art.

2. PETA BEE
A health and fitness journalist writing for The
Times, Sunday Times and Irish Examiner, Bee
is also the co-author of the 2014 bestseller Fast 2
Exercise.

3
3. RUPALI DEAN
Awarded the ‘Best food writer in the country’
by the Indian culinary forum, WACS and the
ministry of Tourism, Rupali Dean is a trained
hospitality professional, from the Institute of
Hotel Management, a nutritionist and a former
chef. She has also pursued food photography
and a writing course from the Champagne
region in France.

4. CHRIS FLETCHER
Chris Fletcher is the master distiller and director
of quality at the Jack Daniel Distillery. In this
role, he uses his sensory skills and extensive
knowledge of the whiskey-making process to
supervise and ensure the world’s top-selling
whiskey label is both in constant supply and true
4
to Jack’s guiding belief that “Every day we make
it, we’ll make it the best we can.”

INDIA TODAY SPICE 2 NOVEMBER 2020

 CONTENTS
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0

22
JACK OF
ALL TASTES
Flavoured
whiskeys are
defining a new
trend

NOVEMBER 2020 THE GOOD LIFE

12
circulated free with India Today in Mumbai, Delhi & NCR, Chennai,
Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chandigrah. “Supplement to
RNI NO. DELENG / 2005 / 15332 *Not for sale. To be

India Today issue dated November 30, 2020”.

COVER STORY

THE FIRST
ALL-ELECTRIC
THE CHANGE IS ORGANIC
The Age of the Pandemic makes
LUXURY
SUV FROM
MERCEDES
RAISING THE

a case for conscience dining

BAR WITH
FLAVOURED
WHISKEYS

VEGGING
OUT
The Organic
Revolution COVER PHOTOGRAPH: BANDEEP SINGH
Chef Vikram Ganpule,
Executive Chef,
LOCATION COURTESY: ANDAZ DELHI
Andaz Delhi
Shruti Jain,
Co-founder, Kaze
living (top); Sneh
Yadav of Tijara Farms

INDIA TODAY SPICE 3 NOVEMBER 2020

 CONTENTS
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0

18
ALL ROADS
LEAD TO HOME
Domestic
travel is all set

PHOTOGRAGH SHUTTERSTOCK
to boom and
bloom

28
ELECTRIC
DREAMS
The new
Mercedes EQC
is the first
luxury SUV

INDIA TODAY SPICE 4 NOVEMBER 2020

 CONTENTS N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0

32
NEW LAUNCHES

Toki, is a Japanese
whisky that
1
LETTER FROM THE
perfectly balances EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
craftsmanship and
nature
6 36
FETISH LASTLOOK

INDIA TODAY SPICE 5 NOVEMBER 2020

 FETISH

Fashionable
Art
Art and fashion have always been the yin and yang of the
creative world. So Louis Vuitton’s latest limited edition
creative collaboration——The Artycapucines——follows
in a hoary tradition. This collection invites six leading
celebrated contemporary artists——Beatriz Milhazes,
Jean-Michel Othoniel, Josh Smith, Henry Taylor, Liu Wei
and Zhao Zhao——to summon their unique visions to Louis
Vuitton’s modern classic bag: the Capucines. Each of them
has created stunning imagery that has been innovatively
worked on these iconic versions of the modern classic
Capucines bag. The collection is proof of Vuitton’s
unique ability and desire to marry its innovative spirit and
artisanal savoir-faire. And the artists have helped bring
these ideas to life. Starting October 30, each bag in the
Artycapucines collection will be released in
limited edition of 200.
Price On request
Availability Selected stores
worldwide

INDIA TODAY SPICE 12 OCTOBER 2020

 HOTSHEET HAMPERS

Cold Comfort
Celebration need not only be fixated on
chocolates, mithai or lights. This one from Zoet
is a delightful assortment of ice creams in a set
of six assorted flavours.

Price `3250;
Availability www.zoedesserts.com

Festive High
Festive indulgence by any other name should probably
be called ‘Grandeur’. This hamper from The Oberoi
Gurgaon, curates the finest, from time-honored con-
fectioneries to special edition of hand rolled cigars, rare
consumables, wellness items and more.

Price `55,000;
Availability The Oberoi, Gurgaon

Vanity Case
Even if you aren’t swayed by festive shopping,
these skin essentials are super food for the skin
to combat winter’s brutal effects for both face
and body.

Price `3,125
Availability Brand stores and online

Conscious gifting
Handcrafted goodness that brings together handmade note-
books, art postcards, sweet edibles along with a framed Gond
and Kalighat Art to a vintage lamp from Baro Market.

Price `10,000; Availability https://baromarket.in/

INDIA TODAY SPICE 10

8 NOVEMBER 2020

Water purifier
Infused with 85 per cent, pure bamboo water and
hyaluronic acid, this bamboo toner from Korean
brand, KEEP COOL is a one-stop-step to a toner-
moisturiser combination that’s quite unbeatable.
Price `1,890;
Availability https://maccaron.in/en/products/
collection/keep-cool-113/
Glow torch
Dull skin finally comes with a
permanent bright finish, and
from within too. This vitamin
C, collagen-boosting serum
from Just B Au Naturel is for-
mulated with eight super ac-
tive plant ingredients designed
to reduce discolouration and
promote an even skin tone.
Price `2500/- (30 ml);
Availability
www.justbaunaturel.com
INDIA TODAY SPICE
HOTSHEET BEAUTY
The Dorian Gray Complex
Wisdom comes with age, but so do lines, wrinkles and
sagging skin. Here’s a cream that promises to relieve
you of the not-so-popular companions of age: Concen-
trated Ginseng Renewing Cream from Sulwhasoo.
Price `17,000 for 60 ml
Availability https://www.nykaa.com
Age-defying
Elixir
The anti-ageing vital
skin-strengthening super
serum from apothecary
brand Kiehl’s makes op-
timum use of hyaluronic
acid and adaptogenic
herbs to fortify the skin
barrier to combat daily
stressors that age the
skin.
Price `4,500 for 30 ml;
Availability Brand stores
9 NOVEMBER 2020

Season’s
greetings
Now’s the chance to
channel your
inner James Bond with
Omega’s new festive
collection that’s all set
to give you the ultimate
licence to thrill!
Price on request;
Availability Brand
stores
Floor Art
Cold weather, warm colours, and gorgeous rugs
is the imperative of this season. Make the most of it
with D’Decor rugs——2020 collection. Who says
art can only canvas your walls?
Price on request;
Availability www.ddecor.com
INDIA TODAY SPICE
HOTSHEET PICK OF THE MONTH
Watch this
space
Make sure you’re the
tock of town with this
beauty from Lagado
watches. Style and sub-
stance work in perfect
harmony whether you
want to gift it or keep it
for yourself.
Price on request;
Availability
brand stores
Festive spirit
Celebrate in style with the
Chivas Limited Edition Pack—
Blend of Paradise by designers
Shivan and Narresh. Apart from
being a visual treat, the bouquet
of notes captures the designers’
vision of paradise.
Price Delhi (`2920); Mumbai
(`5500); Karnataka (`6090);
Availability
Retail stores pan India
Tilt it in your favour
Picnics will never be the same with the convenience of
wine in a can. Cool to carry, easy to use, and simple to chill,
Fratelli offers TiLT cans that pack four-in-one fun.
Price range for pack of 4 cans upwards of `700 (basis re-
gion and state); Availability across retail stores in Delhi,
Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Kolkata, UP, Chandigarh & Punjab.
10 NOVEMBER 2020
SEARCH FOR
EDITORIAL IMAGES
ENDS HERE
 COVER STORYFO OD I WELLNESS I ORG ANIC

AGRICULTURE
IS THE NEW
CULTURE
Five Indian chefs are leading the way for
conscience dining using farm to table
organic ingredients. Dressing plates
and delighting palates, these chefs offer
dynamism in food that is present in the now,
looks at the future, yet cares about the past.

By RUPALI DEAN Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH

INDIA TODAY SPICE 12 NOVEMBER 2020

Y
ou may or may not find organic Portobello
mushrooms or heirloom tomatoes or
even purple potatoes in a chef’s kitchen,
but chances are, you will spot a happy
farmer. You might wonder why chefs allow this. After
all, aren’t we all habituated to purchasing our pro-
duce from markets in which the actual producers are
anonymous? You may even wonder how these chefs
spare the time to personally collaborate with farmers.
Shouldn’t a chef concentrate on making the best use
of time and skill to innovate on what appears on the
plate, and how? The answer is easy; chefs in India are
now increasingly becoming part of the universal or-
ganic food movement, which began in the early 20th
Century as a substitute and regressive choice to the
increase in chemical farming. They understand that
kitchen methods and knowledge are all undoubtedly
useful, but the most vital part of any meal is the clean
eating, fresh ingredients and innovative recipes that
employ these ingredients to theiroptimum
abilities. And since you can’t have good cooking with-
out good farming, farmers are as important as chefs in
any kitchen. Now, in 2020 with a raging pandemic on
SEASON’S BOUNTY
our hands, organic food assumesever more Chef Ram Swaroop Kundra, Head Chef, Amanbagh;
significance as health and not wealth becomes the A farm fresh salad comprising seasonal fruits and
ultimate differentiator. vegetables from Amanbagh’s organic garden (left)

CHEF RAM SWAROOP KUNDRA

Head Chef Amanbagh, Ajabgarh, Alwar

At a certain point in his career, SwaroopKundra came to a deci-

sion. And that meant that he would no longer depend on the
typical supply chain for organic produce. He was going to seek out
and source his own ingredients. “Whenever time allows, we meet
local farmers to check what is growing in which month to under-
stand the cultivation process. This helps us to grow items in our
own organic garden as well as source from them in order to sup-
port the local community. By offering food free of chemical-free
fertilizers, we consciously opt for a healthier lifestyle and thus,
contribute to the organic food movement”, says Kundra.

Setting an example
Organically sourced ingredients are used across all the restau-
rants at Amanbagh as most guests make conscious choices and
ask/opt for organic food. “Three-quarters of the produce used
in dishes such as the Rajasthani thali are grown in the on-site
organic garden. Even the poultry is custom-reared in a free-range
setting. Apart from imported meat and vegetables, everything is
sourced locally from organic farms, so 80 per cent of our menu is
organic”, shares Kundra.

INDIA TODAY SPICE 13 NOVEMBER 2020

 COVER STORY
FO OD I WELLNESS I ORG ANIC ORGANIC FOOD
BRANDS YOU
SHOULD KNOW
Organic does not mean natural. The food
industry uses the term natural forfood that
has been minimally processed and is pre-
servative-free. Natural foods can comprise
organic foods, but it is not necessary that
all natural foods are organic. Only foods
labelled “organic” have been certified as
meeting the government specifications for
organic produce.

Kaze Living (Hydroponics)

Young entrepreneur Shruti Jain offers the
FARM TRIP freshest greens using soil-less farming with
Executive Chef zero pesticides, fertilizers and chemicals
Vikram Ganpule,
along with Annamaya and fully biodegradable packing.
chefs, understand https://kazeliving.com/en
the finer nuances of
organic production Courtyard Memories
from the farmers at
Tijara organic farm
Products that are honest renditions of
old-style family recipes, tweaked to use
only natural and healthy ingredients.
PallaviChaturvedi’sproducts are hand craft-
ed using artisanal processes and produced
in small limited edition batches.
CHEF VIKRAM GANPULE https://www.picuki.com/profile/court-
Executive Chef, Andaz Delhi yardmemories

Vikram Ganpule was well aware of the importance of growing and cul- Bilihu coffees
tivating fresh ingredients since childhood since both sets of his grand- These plantations, around Chikmagalur,
parents were farmers. Thus, the concept of how food is grown and its have been using sustainable farm practices
journey to the plate was an intrinsic part of his growing up years and for 5-10 years with noexternal fertilisers,
pesticides and generate their own water
DNA now. His tryst with organic food started in the year 2007. It was
supply.
during his first stint as Executive chef at Hyatt Regency Kathmandu, https://bilihu.in/collections/coffee2/
where he had a large, 5000 sq. ft.kitchen garden. “I was intrigued by the products/
methods at first and gradually started to understand the importance of
organic farming. The wheel turned full circle when I came back to where Ishwarii Himalayan Foods Pvt Ltd
I started—Delhi. I worked with Sneh Yadav from Tijara Organic Farms, (Ishwarii Himalayan Born)
who has taken this concept to a different level. I was introduced to differ-
ent techniques of organic farming which further helped me understand,
appreciate and connect with the concept even more”, shares Ganpule.

Upping the ante

Annamaya nudges the organic food choices by a notch by offering lo-
cally sourced organic food (when possible), even on standard buffets,
and plenty of options on thela carte menu too. Like most European food
halls, this is a place where food is served, and interesting artisanal pro-
duce and items are available for sale as well. Their current business mod-
ule aims to help communities and their respective environments. What’s
more, the food is fun and innovative relying on bold flavours, freshness
and creativity.

INDIA TODAY SPICE 14 NOVEMBER 2020

 All products are curated, preservative free
and researched to make sure they are
grown in villages of the Himalayan Belt and
healthy.
www.ishwarii.com

Nourish Organics
As a pioneer in clean-label packaged food,
all Nourish Organics products are 100 per
cent natural, free from processed sugar,
preservatives, GMO foods, trans-fats or
artificial flavour.
https://www.nourishorganics.in/

Tijara Organic Farm

Farmer SnehYadav and husband Colonel
Tar grow seasonal organic biodynamic CHEF CHETAN RANA
produce and run their farm purely on solar
Executive Chef, The Roseate Ganges, Rishikesh
and biogas energy. To achieve sustain-
ability they also conduct farm workshops,
stays and visits. Going organic was literally in his roots, since he belonged to the fertile
https://www.instagram.com/ belt of Uttarakhand, which gave him an edge over the understanding of
tijaraorganic/?hl=en sourcing and cultivating organic food. That being said, he always loved
cracking the mystery of entirely swapping across-the-board market
Organic India products with organic goods particularly those grown in and around.
They work with numerous small family
Rana’s dream mission found fruition at The Roseate Ganges, where
farmers across India. Theirproducts offer
one link in a chain between nature, farmers he could take his appetite for natural, organic ingredients and translate
and customers. his vision into everyday practises in the kitchen. “We have tied up with
https://www.organicindia.com/ small farms to source our organic ingredients. This not only helps us
get the freshest of ingredients but also provides them with a liveli-
Conscious Food hood”, shares Rana. All the farmers he works with are strong on
Started by KavitaMukhi, frontrunner of the fundamentals. Rana continues to work toward a greater goal of
organic food movement in India, they retail attaining food security, zero waste, refining nutrition and supporting
wellness products, oils, pulses, spices,
seasonings and flours.
viable agriculture.
https://consciousfood.com/
The food Chain
Green Sense Chidiyaghar, his restaurant at the hotel, has a unique concept: it focus-
Organic food brand, Green Sense falls un- es on regional food the way it’s made at home. A lot of his recipes are
der the umbrella of Agronic Food Pvt. Ltd. from various households in the region, this promotes and encourages
Operating out of Jodhpur,they sell every- women to carry on their food legacies. He even ferries guests to visit lo-
thing from organic Ayurvedic and culinary
cal families on request. Rana also buys at the right price to ensure that
herbs, superfoods and sweeteners to
cereals and ghee. the vendors and farmers get their fair dues.
https://www.
Stinging Nettle
greensense.in/
herbal tea from
Ishwarii Himalayan
foods Pvt Ltd Slurrp Farm
Two mothers THE ORGANIC
REVOLUTION
Shauravi Malik Organic Karela
&Meghana Narayan (bittergourd) Chaat
retail delicious, at Chidiyaghar at
immunity-boosting, Roseate Ganges
protein pancake (above); Chef
Chetan Rana ,
mixes and 22 or- Executive chef, The
ganic products us- Roseate Ganges
ing super grains for
children.
https://slurrpfarm.
com/
HIDDEN
GEMS
Responsible
Whatr cans
OatWow by Urban platter is a
100 per cent plant-based Oat
Milk made from the finest quality
oats. UrbanPlatter.in and
Amazon.in
Kocotrait by L Nitinchordia,
India’s 1st and only certified
chocolate taster. It is the world’s
1st ecological luxury, zero waste,
and planet friendly (plastic &
paper free) vegan, eco-friendly,
sustainable bean to bar
Chocolate brand.
https://cocoatrait.com/
Oil cure Retail healthy and
pure cold pressed oils (a certi-
fied climate neutral &plastic
neutral brand.
https://www.oilcure.com/
Vahdam Teas A range of gar-
den-fresh, high quality, premium,
loose-leaf teas sourced directly
from India’s choicest tea gardens
within days and weeks of har-
vest devoid of any middlemen.
www.vahdamteas.in
Responsible Whatr India’s
foremost natural mineral water
beverage, offered in an ecologi-
cal and biodegradable aluminium
can, obtained from a virgin and
natural source in the Himalayas.
It is rich in stable vital minerals
and ph. of 7.4, and is additionally
filtered and then canned. https://
responsiblewhatr.com/
INDIA TODAY SPICE
CHEF PRATEEK SADHU
Head Chef & Co-owner, Masque
For Prateek Sadhu, understanding of or-
ganic food, and the principles of organic
farming, began in earnest in college at
the CIA (Culinary Institute of America).
For him it was food grown without the
use of synthetic chemicals and materi-
als. However, it’s equally important
to recognise that organic food is not
necessarily sustainable and vice-versa.
“I certainly don’t think that the best in-
gredients can only be cultivated with my
own intervention---that would be hubris
at its best! In India, your neighbour-
LOCAL INSPIRATION hood veggie vendor is very often getting
Chef Prateek Sadhu, Head chef and
Co-owner Masque, Mumbai;
excellent produce from a farmer who’s
Mangalore-inspired banana bun delivered it to him or her the same day. I
served with pumpkin cooked in black think what’s key is to be more aware and
sesame paste (below) responsible about where you are sourc-
ing from. A more achievable ask is for us
to be conscious of that”, says Sadhu. And how do customers react to organic food
when they eat it for the first time? “Honestly, it’s not that you can always taste the
difference between food that’s been grown organically or not. Yes, often there is a
noticeable change in the quality of an ingredient, but it’s not necessarily one that’s
easy to identify on a whole plate of cooked food. As a chef, I think it’s important
that we cook with responsibility and pay that forward where we can. The purpose
of cooking with organic and sustainable food is to create systemic change”,
adds Sadhu.
What’s cooking?
Organic food on the Masque menu could be anythingfrom fruits to vegetables
depending on the season and menu at the time. But that doesn’t mean that every
dish uses exclusively organic ingredients. “We source from farmers across the
country and a large part from Zama Organics, who in turn, source from farm-
ers in Uttarakhand and Maharashtra. “Even if a lot
of what we serve is organic, from what I
understand, the certification process
for farmers in India can be ex-
pensive and time consuming,
which is why many have not
opted for it, even if they are
actually growing it organi-
cally”, adds Sadhu.
18 MARCH 2020
 COVER STORY
FO OD I WELLNESS I ORG ANIC
CHEF PRASAD METRANI
Executive Chef, Fairmont Jaipur
Back in 2013, Metrani was associated with
Westin Pune as a Chef de Cuisine and it
was then that his Executive chef had given
him an assignment of establishing a supply
chain for procuring organic produce in ac-
cordance with their requirements. During
his research, he discovered small farms
where people were growing good quality
organic produce;exactly what was required
for the menu. This introduced him to some
of the best ingredients that could be grown
sustainably in smaller farms with high qual-
ity yields. Cooking with these ingredients
and observing their transformation, Metrani
realised the importance of the origin of pro-
duce. “The process of establishing our own
garden at Fairmont Jaipur put me up close
with the produce and its journey”, explains
Metrani. “Farmers are connected to their
land and know the best ways to grow any
vegetable and how to nurture it. We need to
establish a regular channel of communica-
DISHING IT OUT
Chef Metrani of
Fairmont Jaipur gives
a final flourish to the
Laal Maas
INDIA TODAY SPICE
TOP FIVE:
FARMERS
MARKETS
The Earth Collective
Where? Sunder Nursery –
tion between the kitchen and the farmers,” Delhi’s Heritage Park
When? 9 AM to 1 PM,
adds Metrani. Every Sunday
Farmers markets are a great Hyderabad Farmers Market
platform. Where? Biodiversity Park,
“We are self-sustainable with some Gachibowli, Hyderabad
When? 8 AM to 1 PM,
ingredients,others we outsource, for which I Every Sunday
regularly visit farmers markets. These mar-
kets are the best way to interact and build Krishi Direct, Bengaluru
trust farmer and chef. We grow herbs and (online during the pandemic)
produce such as spinach, mint, coriander Where? https://krishidirect.com/
When?Any time
and fenugreek in quantities which suffice
the demand. These do not take up much Bandra Farmers’ Market
space and are also used in comparatively Where? Bandra Hindu associa-
smaller quantities. Exotic vegetables which tion, 30th Road, Off Linking Road,
are difficult to grow in small quantities and opposite Amarsons, Behind Nilgiri
Garden, Bandra west, Mumbai.
require expert attention such as coloured
When? 9 AM to 4 PM,
root vegetables like candy cane beet, mi- Every Sunday
crogreens, edible flowers and exotic mush-
rooms—shiitake, king oyster, Portobello, Gurgaon Organic
morels—are outsourced. In addition, heir- Farmers’ Market
loom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and others Where? Rajiv Gandhi Renewable
Energy Park, Roots Café,
that are required in large quantities are Sector 29, Gurugram
outsourced from farms vetted by our chefs”, When? 9 am to 12 noon,
explains Metrani. Every Sunday
17 NOVEMBER 2020
 Homeward
Bound
International travel may be seem like a flight of fancy but domestic
travel is ready to roll. Spice offers a host of choices—from the familiar
to the unexplored—that promise transformative experiences.
By KAPIL CHOPRA
Founder and CEO,
The Postcard Hotel
O
ver the past few months with COVID-19,
the world has seen that in a fleeting
moment lives can be completely disrupted,
businesses can change overnight and that
unattended health can negate a lot of what you have
achieved and struggled for. Consequently, even travel
has become more meaningful now—inspirational and
experiential. While the wellness trend has been spiking
over the past decade in various corners of the world,
right now I see a renewed focus, especially in India, on
personal wellbeing. People have adopted lifestyle changes
making them fitter and healthier, internalising and
pondering over their choices and questioning their path.
With this level of self-realisation, even the perspective
on travel has changed. Consequently, in terms of travel,
what will work now are transformational destinations that
bring to life experiencesthatarepersonalised, intimate and
INDIA TODAY SPICE
possibly enlightening.
The current scenario with yet another wave of Covidin
the offing and some countries going under lockdown
again, make it even more evident that domestic tourism
is here to stay and will only boom. Certain established
destinations in the country will continue to do well, along
with some new unexplored destinations emerging.
Goa The sunshine state
Goa will be in vogue through and through. It has the
highest levels of occupancy, even did before Covid, and
will continue to lead. Besides the lure of the ocean, Goa
has the right mix of art, culture and design. What’s more,
the Goa experience is by definition more Covid-proofed
than any other because it is mostly outdoors, and the
spread of the virus has been relatively lesser around
these parts. Apart from the fun and frolic afforded by
18 NOVEMBER 2020
 TRAVEL
D E ST I N AT I O N S I I N B O U N D

#VOCALFORLOCAL
Not just sunny Goa, but even the
Maravanthe coast in Karnataka and
Mashobra are blooming with tourism
opportunities

great restaurants, hotels and experiences, it also sports an

interesting craft movement—craft gin, craft beer and other
artisanal products.

Mashobra Valley of flowers

As Indian travellers start looking for new domestic des-
tinations that interest them, the more pristine areas in
the Himalayas will come into their own. Untouched loca-
tions that allow people to get away from the urban rut
and reconnect with nature is what the affluent traveller is
looking for. For instance, a place like Mashobra provides
a more authentic experience in the mountains as op-
posed to possibly oversaturated tourist destinations of
Shimla and Mussoorie. Sure they will remain the popular
‘hill stations’ to head to, however I believe the traveller is
looking to move beyond these. What’s more, Mashobra
PHOTOGRAPHS SHUTTERSTOCK

enjoys the benefit of easy accessibility and close proximity

to Shimla, along with the sense of being cut off, in a very
Thomas Hardy, Far from the madding crowd’ kind of way.
With spectacularlyauthentic experiences of being in the
mountains with sufficient fresh forest trails that can be
experienced as slow, soulful journeys for anyone looking
to unwind.

Maravanthe Coast The breath of the sea

For those wanting a coastal experience that is slightly off
the beaten track, the Maravanthe coast in Karnataka is
one of the most picturesque coastal stretches in India.
The destination is conveniently connected by air and also
by road including a stretch with unspoilt white sands of
the Arabian sea on one side, and the river on the other, a
hard find elsewhere in India. It is already a very popular
weekend getaway for those in Karnataka, offering great
cuisine and coastal recreational activities. For a holiday, it’s
a refreshing location to pamper yourself on golden sands,
under swaying palm trees, clear blue skies. An endless
shorelinetranslates to unique localities of fishing villages
and magnificent ruined forts, hemming the water’s edge.

INDIA TODAY SPICE 19 NOVEMBER 2020

 TRAVEL
D E ST I N AT I O N S I I N B O U N D

Gir Echoes the roar of the Asiatic lion

As Indians start looking inwards, they will realise that while
it is an exhilarating experience to go to Africa, to see the
Masai Mara or Kruger National park, closer home too there
are unexplored terrain that offers up the opportunity to track
the Asiatic Lion in a significant way. Gir provides the option
of a great wildlife experience right here in India. With good
connectivity from cities such as Rajkot and Diu via flight, and
then a short comfortable drive, it is simply perfect. And ris-
ing occupancies of existing hotels in Gir bear testament to its
growing popularity. At last count, the number of lions in Gir
national park was 674, which is a fantastic number for sight-
ings of one of the most magnificent animals in the wild. Gir
will definitely be in prime focus for this year and the next.

COUNTRY ROADS Above and Beyond

Wildlife parks of Travellers today are also receptive and eager. They’re not
Gir and Kaziranga simply satisfied with stunning sceneries, but also want to
offer fabulous travel
opportunities, as do
expand their cultural knowledge and grow as individuals.
the rolling hills of The wine estates in Baramati, coffee estates in Coorg and tea
fragrant Coorg estates in the Nilgiris are not just known for their distinctive

INDIA TODAY SPICE 20 NOVEMBER 2020

 Kaziranga Where
the Rhino reigns
If walking on the wild side is your
secret pleasure, The Kaziranga
National Park in Assam is agreat
option. Sprinkled with elephant-
grass meadows, swampy lagoons,
and dense forests, it is home to
more than 2400 Indian one-
horned rhinoceros, approximately
2/3rd of their total world
population. The park was declared
a World Heritage Site by UNESCO,
and one of the most sought after
wildlife destinations. While it may
not immediately happen, I believe
there is a phenomenal unexplored
potential in Kaziranga as well.

landscape but are also crucial to the essence of our offerings as a country.
Coorg is a destination that evokes a feeling of aspiration combining
with flair and panache, leisure and learning. Although it’s most famous
for fresh aromatic coffee plantations, it’s also loved for it’s scenic beauty,
authentic food and leisure activities such as rafting, hiking and birding.
When talking of travel and current popular destinations that are here
to stay, its impossible to ignore Rishikesh, Hampi or Dharamshala that
summon religious and spiritual significance as well, rounding off a truly
soulful experience.
As far as travel is concerned, the Indian subcontinent is a veritable
treat for varying sensibilities. While the destinations above seem to be the
immediate future of domestic travel, the North East is poised to open up
in a very significant way with new airports leading the way to increased
accessibility. This will likely lead to a spike in domestic travellers who
have hitherto not explored this region. The huge diversity between the
PHOTOGRAPHS SHUTTERSTOCK

different states, with very unique histories and cultures, offers any traveller
the chance to experience an entirely altered spectrum of choices. Culture,
food, textiles, dance and music, language and beliefs open up vistas for
those looking for a truly transformative experience.After all, to travel is to
journey beyond the hearth to where the heart leads and the mind runs
free. And never has this notion held more truth than now.

INDIA TODAY SPICE 21 NOVEMBER 2020

 The
Tennessee
Waltz
Honey, cinnamon and
apple; flavoured whiskeys
are the new norm that are
spicing things up.

By CHRIS FLETCHER
Master Distiller and
Director of Quality,
Jack Daniel Distillery

JACK OF ALL TASTES

Tennessee Fire is the cinnamon-
flavoured Jack Daniel’s expression that
has won fans across demographies
 SPIRITS
WHISKEY I TRENDS
T
here is an old saying in our part of the world
that whiskey brings people together. I am
a native of Lynchburg, Tennessee, and my
grandfather, the late Frank “Frog” Bobo, was
also Master Distiller at Jack Daniel’s. He retired in 1989,
when I was eight years old, and I distinctly remember
coming on weekends and enjoying the beautiful space.
While I have stepped into my grandfather’s shoes and
have a strong connection with this distillery, there are
many others who have their own connection with the dis-
tillery through generations, which is why I say whiskey not
only brings people together but whiskey is often steeped
in tradition in more ways than one.
However, over the past seven to eight years, what has
been fascinating to see is the innovation that has taken
place in whiskey as a category and the transformation it
has undergone within a short span of time. The changing
consumer preferences, the new trends that have caught
on, and the willingness to try newer things have driven
this evolution and these have been really exciting and in-
teresting times for the whiskey market the world over.
Fun is the new flavour
Innovation is the key to evolution and disruption. The
initial success of flavoured whiskeys and the acceptance
by consumers propelled whiskey makers to experiment
even more. Jack Daniel’s first offering was our Tennessee
Honey and it proved to be wildly successful and still is one
of our most popular offerings. We have since followed that
up with Tennessee Fire, which is cinnamon flavoured and
Tennessee Apple, with a nice, crisp green apple flavour.
What flavoured whiskeys have done is they have en-
abled the whiskey market to reach out to a different set of
people and make new people reach out for the dram. You
don’t need to add any liqueur or bitters or sweeteners to
them, and they can be enjoyed on the rocks—it’s almost
like cocktail in a bottle.
The Millennial Effect
Today with the rapid advent of digital media, a shrink-
ing worldis the new millennial playground and the latest
trends and brands their favourite toys. With increasing
aspirations, disposable incomes, and exposure to global
brands, I believe they are more open to experiment and
try out newer things and different whiskeys from around
the globe. They are the new generation of explorers, who
want to continuously add new experiences in their library
of memories to give them social currency. This is another
INDIA TODAY SPICE
reason behind the rapid growth of flavoured whiskeys.
That is the reason our Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire, which
is mainly promoted for the shot occasion doing so well
and at the same time an exponential growth in our RTD
(ready-to-drink) portfolio because this new generation is
always on the go and RTD gives them convenience
with quality.
Age no bar
Now that whiskey has more variety, it has indeed become
popular with everyone, men and women alike. The
perception is that whiskey is for a mature person and
young people opt for beer, but I have seen young people
enjoying a Jack and Coke at parties and concerts. Like-
wise, I know some older people who enjoy Tennessee
Honey. What has also been really good to see is that
women continue to help drive the growth of whiskey.
More drama per dram
Different whiskeys can be paired with different kind of
foods. For instance, Old No 7 has a perfectly balanced
flavour—it is neither too sweet nor too spicy. And this
trend of pairing whiskey with food has really caught on,
fuelling the demand for such innovations.
With each new introduction, the cocktail culture
evolves too. The emergence of speakeasy bars and craft
cocktail bars specialising in whiskey cocktails seems to
suggest that the trend is here to stay. When Old No 7 was
introduced, people enjoyed the Old Fashioned and
Manhattans. Now with more flavours and choices, I have
seen people bring out cocktails with varied things. I
have even tasted one with milk and honey-flavoured
whiskey in Japan.
Trust Wins
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, people are more
confined within their respective homes and hence have
moved towards in-home consumption rather than going
out. In such a scenario, the sale of tried and tested whis-
keys has gone up. People are assured of the quality of the
brand they trust and stick to that.
In India, particularly with the festive season going on
and given that most consumers are expected to stay in-
doors, categories and brands which elevate the in-home
experience will witness a healthy demand. Within spirits,
consumers are also indulging in premium brands as they
are moving their planned outdoor spends to brands they
can consume at home.
23 NOVEMBER 2020
Turn Back
the Clock
Our ability to fight off illness starts declining in our twenties,
but you can reverse the trend with simple diet and exercise
changes. Here’s how to anti-age your immune system.

A
s with nearly everything else to do
By PETA BEE with our bodies, the effectiveness
of the immune system declines
with age. From our twenties
onwards the body’s ability to fight infection
decreases at a rate of about 2 to 3 per cent a
year, gradually leaving us more susceptible to
diseases, says Janet Lord, a professor of im-
mune cell biology and the director of Birming-
ham University’s Institute for Inflammation and
Ageing. But, she says, the speed at which this
happens isn’t unavoidable. “Ill health should not
be an inevitable part of growing old. By under-
standing what happens to our immune systems
as we age, we can break that link.”
Ageing of the immune system is accelerated

INDIA TODAY SPICE 24 NOVEMBER 2020

 HEALTH
A N T I -A G E I N G I M A N U A L

by the usual baddies: smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, weight

gain and an unhealthy diet. By improving these and other
factors, you can turn back the immunity clock. Dr Jenna
Macciochi, a lecturer in immunology at the University of
Sussex and the author of Immunity: The Science of Stay-
ing Well, says that it is possible to have the immune func-
tion of a 30-year-old in your sixties or seventies---and vice
versa. “There is now data proving that our immunological
age is not the same as our chronological age.
We know there is a decline with age, but our immune
PHOTOGRAGHS SHUTTERSTOCK

systems are a bit like cars, and whether you have a Nissan
or a Ferrari, it is how well you look after it that makes
the difference.”
Daily exercise and immune-strengthening dietary
habits are key to anti-ageing our immunity. Lord, 63, acts
on her own advice to keep her immune system youthful. “I
run six mornings a week, with one of those runs in high-
intensity interval training style,” she says. She also fasts
once a week, drinking only water that day. “With age, the
diversity of our gut flora reduces, allowing harmful bacteria
to take over,” she says.
“An occasional fast reduces inflammation and helps the
good bacteria to flourish.” Here’s what else you can do to
lower your immune age.

Walk 10,000 steps a day

Lord and her colleagues looked at the effect of daily
physical activity on neutrophil movement, a type of
immune function, in a group of older adults (average
age 67) for one of their studies. “Neutrophil movement
matters because these cells are our main defence against
bacteria such as those that cause pneumonia,” Lord says.
“They have to be able to move from the blood quickly and
efficiently as many bacteria grow very rapidly and so must
be found and killed quickly.”
For the trial she compared people who were most
active, doing 10,000 steps a day or more, with the least
active, who managed 3,000 to 5,000. “We found that
those doing 10,000 daily steps had neutrophils that
behaved like those of young adults,” Lord says. “What we
can say is that 3,000 to 5,000 steps a day is not enough to
have an effect on immune function as we age and 10,000
daily steps is enough to elicit changes.”

INDIA TODAY SPICE 25 NOVEMBER 2020

 HEALTH
A N T I -A G E I N G I M A N U A L
Try HIIT three times a week
Lord is a fan of high-intensity interval training
(HIIT), not least because her findings sug-
gest it can successfully slow the ageing of our
immune function. She asked 27 sedentary
middle-aged people to take part in a short,
sharp HIIT class on bikes three times a week.
Each HIIT session comprised a five-minute
warm-up of low-intensity cycling followed by
high-intensity sprints of between 15 and 60
seconds, interspersed with periods of “active
rest” (45 to 120 seconds) when the participants
pedalled lightly.
The HIIT class produced favourable
changes in immune function, specifically anti-
microbial and bacterial functions of infection-
fighting neutrophils and monocytes, that
matched the immune gains from a moderate-
intensity continuous workout (a five-minute
Our immune
systems are a bit like
cars, and whether
you have a Nissan
or a Ferrari, it is how
well you look after
it that makes the
difference.
warm-up of low-intensity cycling followed by
30 to 45 minutes of moderate pedalling).
Another trial on 12 older adults with
rheumatoid arthritis showed that a HIIT
walking session three times a week (involving
a five-minute warm-up and cool-down and
a 20-minute workout with ten 60-second
intervals at an intensity that left them puffing
hard) produced similar benefits. “We also
found our volunteers enjoy this form of
exercise as it didn’t take long to do,” she says.
Fast once or twice a week
There are few studies to support the idea
that intermittent fasting—such as the 5:2 ap-
proach—benefits immunity in ageing adults,
but that’s not to say it doesn’t work. “Fasting
places the body under mild stress and, as a
consequence, it kills off tired old immune cells

when you fast and kick-starts the production of new ones
once you resume eating,” Macciochi says.
Lord says that a twice-weekly fast “does appear to have
beneficial effects on the gut microbiome, with one study in
humans showing that fasting twice a week encouraged the
growth of health-promoting bacteria” that will help to fight
off infection.
Get on your bike
Staying active throughout your adult life can have a marked
impact on immune function. The thymus organ, situated
between the lungs behind the breastbone, makes T cells,
which help the immune system to respond to new infections.
From age 20 the thymus tends to start shrinking, producing
fewer of these disease-fighting cells.
However, in a study on 125 men and women cyclists aged
55 to 79, Lord found that thymuses of the committed cy-
clists—men able to ride 100km in under six and a half hours
and women to cycle 60km in five and a half hours—were
making as many T cells as younger people. “The exercisers
had high levels of a hormone called interleukin 7 [IL-7], a
critical growth factor for T cells and helps to stop the thymus
from shrinking,” Lord says.
Would there be a positive effect if cycling were taken up
at any age? “We don’t know for certain, but my guess is yes,”
Lord says. “Studies in mice have shown that if you give them
IL-7, the thymus can be restored, and we think that active
muscles will make more of this hormone and keep the im-
INDIA TODAY SPICE
mune system, and especially the thymus, young.”
Take a vitamin D supplement
“Vitamin D is critical for the immune system,” Macciochi
says. “It’s a steroid hormone and our immune cells have
receptors for it on their surfaces, plus it helps some immune
cells function much better.” Take it daily.
Eat 30g of fibre a day
Our body’s biggest microbial load sits in the gut. “It is
connected to and influences everything,” Macciochi says.
“It really is true that 70 per cent of our entire immune
system resides in the gut.” A diverse, high-fibre diet is now
considered paramount. “When your gut microbes chow down
PHOTOGRAGHS SHUTTERSTOCK
on fibre, they produce by-products known as ‘postbiotics’.
These by-products act as an interface between diet and
immunity, changing the personalities of our cells, and
circulate in the blood to affect the whole body regulation of
our immune system.”
The postbiotics from dietary fibre help to fight infection by
turning up virus-fighting cells, studies have shown. Yet most
of us consume too little of it: women in the UK amass a daily
average of 17.2g of fibre and men 20.1g, far less than the rec-
ommended 30g. So increase your intake of fruit, vegetables,
wholegrains, nuts, seeds and pulses to make the mark.
Maintain good oral hygiene
Since the mouth is the entry to your gut, oral health is vital
to immunity. “Every time you swallow you ingest thousands
of bacteria—some bad, but, most importantly, some good,”
Macciochi says. “And your oral microbiome speaks with your
immune system, just like the bugs in your gut.”
Thorough brushing and flossing daily are essential,
although “some mouthwashes tend to eliminate beneficial
bacteria in the mouth”, Macciochi says. “Mouthwash
containing chlorhexidine has the potential to disrupt levels of
good bacteria.”
Do push-ups and lift weights
Resistance work using weights or exercises such as lunges,
push-ups and squats is vital. Lord says: “When muscle is mov-
ing it can improve the immune system, for example by produc-
ing hormones called myokines such as IL-6 that help immune
cells to function and keep inflammation down.” Increased
inflammation with age is one of the factors that increases the
risk of age-related conditions such as heart disease. “Strength
work is an absolute essential as we get older,” Macciochi says.
“It really can rejuvenate your immune age.”
Courtesy: The Sunday Times (London)
27 NOVEMBER 2020
 ES
CH T
UN O
LA H

Simply
Electric
The first all-electric luxury SUV from
Mercedes Benz EQC is in a class by itself

By DHIRAM SHAH

LUXURY WITH A
CONSCIENCE
(The EQC look is stylish and
futuristic (left);
The interiors offer a plush and
quiet cabin (facing page)

INDIA TODAY SPICE 28 NOVEMBER 2020

 AUTOT E ST D R I V E

A
s Mumbai wakes up to a new dawn, fresh charges your car in under 11 hours. On a full charge the
from overcoming the more severe days of car’s 80 KWh battery pack offers an impressive real world
the coronavirus pandemic, it blinks into the range of 400+ kms.
horizon of what is to come. The maximum The driving experience is yet another reason to go
city is always ready for the next big thing and in this case, electric, with confidence. The car simply glides over the
it is the New Normal that has come to be. Rallying forth road like butter on a hot pan. And the EQC is quick, press
as a true Mumbaikar, there was no better way to forge a the accelerator pedal and the car will quietly whiz away
new day than to char the astphalt on a much-needed long from a standstill to 100 km/hr in just 5.1 seconds. The
drive, away from home and city. Our destination of choice EQC has two electric motors, one each in the front and
was Lonavala. Since we were all about the grand future, rear axle that generate a total of 402 horsepower and 561
we chose a car befitting the new era: the most luxurious pound feet of torque. The gearless car does come with
electric vehicle to awe India yet, the 2020 Mercedes- paddle shifters except that they toggle the regenerative
Benz EQC. braking. At its highest setting the EQC would come to a
We set off early with the aim of dashing through the complete stop just by lifting the foot off the accelerator.
delightful Mumbai-Pune Expressway plenty before noon. The 4MATIC configuration offers you an infinitely
Fresh from the monsoons, the landscapes were vivid variable torque split so that you’re ready for all terrains.
green and the open roads finally gave us the all-important Everything else is what you can expect from a connected
respite from the self-imposed confinement of covid times. car, be it location tracking, parking sensors, security packs,
A lot of the sense of freedom had to be attributed to the trip insights and reporting, vehicle diagnosis, and route
EQC 400. It is the first dedicated electric car by selection, to name a few.
the German auto-giant, but we’ll get to all of The 2020 Mercedes EQC heralds the ar-
that later. Carting an Indian family around rival of the electric SUV in a big way. It isn’t
requires space because families that ‘live SPECIFICATIONS patronising to those making the switch
Battery 80 kWh
together, travel together’ atleast in Yash- from conventional fuel models but dons
Max power 402 bhp
Raj films. To this end, the EQC 400 Max torque 78 kgm a personality of its own. At the end of
is perfect. Plush interiors, the kind you Range 450 km the trip, it does pique the imagination
could expect from a Mercedes-Benz, 0 to 100 km/hr - 5.1 seconds to realise how wonderful it would be to
Price `99.30 Lakh
comfortably accommodated my family of normalise this notion of an electric car
five with cosy leather seats and ample area that delivers without compromise.
for our picnic baskets.
The new MBUX infotainment system is a
much-welcomed addition, with a voice-controlled as-
sistant that dutifully met our demands. The system also
detects your hand and arm movements to activate or
deactivate functions as if by magic. Controlled over the
large touchscreen display, other functions can detect if it is
the driver or the navigator who is using the system. Smart!
The more frequently used controls are also mirrored on
the steering wheel, via buttons that ensure you needn’t
leave the wheel. There are three display styles in which
you can set up the display—modern classic, sport, and
electric art. A cool energising pack helps you rejuvenate,
especially during long drives with a mix of aroma-therapy,
lighting, seat-heating, and vitality training and tips.
The usual question is how do you go electric in Mum-
bai? The EQC demonstrates how wonderful it is to go
electric, with a near-zero carbon footprint, silent opera-
tion, and a convenient Wallbox charging system that

INDIA TODAY SPICE 29 NOVEMBER 2020

 ES
CH T TECH
UN O
LA H

PHONE

Call of the New

The new iPhone 12 series is here and whether you are
an Apple loyalist or an Android user, here are four
reasons why you simply can’t ignore it.

By SULABH PURI
Editor-in-chief, GadgetBridge.com

INDIA TODAY SPICE 30 NOVEMBER 2020

T
aking a bite of the proverbial apple just got
more lucrative and expensive. But more on
that later. It’s not without reason that Apple
launches come around the festivities. How-
ever, this time they have upped the ante and outdone
themselves. For starters, there are four instead of the
usual two or three variants in different sizes. With a super
luxe glass and metal look, the series includes iPhone 12
mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Of course, the planets are aligned to decimate your pock-
et—the price goes up to `1,59,900 for the top end vari-
ant. While we could give you a dozen good reasons to get
your hands on the iPhone 12 series, here are the top four.

Save the earth, no charger in the box

Yes, you read that right. This time there is no charger
in the box. By doing that Apple has taken a step towards
reducing the carbon footprint. Most users who would
upgrade to the new iPhone 12 series already have the
previous generation of the iPhone and those chargers
will work perfectly well with the new series. In case you
still want a new charger, you can buy it separately with the
iPhone 12.

Super-fast processing means every-

thing opens quicker
Apple iPhone 12 carries the latest Bionic A14 CPU inside,
which is much faster than the previous cohort. It makes
apps and games load faster; graphics look better, and
battery life also improves. When compared to the latest
Android phones, iPhone 12 series is faster.

Slimmer design and gorgeous colours

The design is a case of old wine, new bottle, fresher
concept. Let me explain. The model is similar to the
boxy design seen on the iPhone 5, but they have given it
a fresh spin. It is slimmer (by 11 per cent) and is available
is what the traditionalists would call quirky hues. The five
shades to pick from include product red (Apple’s iconic
red), white, black, green and blue. Gold is another option
that was announced globally and will be available in India
soon. Right now, our favourite is blue.

Use your iPhone 12 like a car key

This is something many phone manufacturers are work-
ing on and iPhone 12 series is clearly leading the pack.
Apple has already partnered with top car manufacturers
around the world. As keyless cars are becoming more
mainstream, Apple’s crazy idea was to turn your smart-
IT’S NOT AN iWASH
phone into a smart key for your smart car. Smart thinking Apple has outdone itself with four instead of the usual two
indeed! But then again, Apple didn’t make it to the trillion or three variants in different sizes—iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12,
dollar club on a wing and prayer. iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

INDIA TODAY SPICE 31 NOVEMBER 2020

 ES
CH T SPIRITS
UN O
LA H

W H I S KY

Blended to
Perfection
The recently launched Toki—a blended Japanese whisky—is an
impeccable blend of tradition and timelessness.

By SANDEEP ARORA
Consulting Editor,
Whisky Magazine, UK

Toki
Toki means “time” in Japanese. A con-
cept rich in meaning, the world over,
but more so in Japan, where respect for
tradition and reinvention creates a pow-
erful and creative energy. Suntory’s Toki
blended whisky brings together a happy
mélange of the old and the new from
a House that prides itself on its proud
heritage and innovative spirit, to create
a blend that is both groundbreaking
and timeless.

Blending is an art
A vivid blend of whiskies from Suntory’s
Hakushu, Yamazaki, and Chita distill-
eries, Suntory Whisky Toki features
the quintessential characteristics of a
Suntory blend: exquisite balance, har-
mony and oneness. At the same time,
its unique pairing of Hakushu American
white oak cask malt whisky with Chita
heavy-type grain whisky overturns the
traditional hierarchy between malt and
grain. These seemingly dissimilar but
deeply accordant whiskies, together
 A FINE BALANCE
Toki blends the finest of
Japanese craftsmanship and
nature.
The balanced smoothness
of Toki compliments chicken
wings and cured ham (facing
page) with as much panache
as a sushi platter (next page)

Taste Notes
1. Silky with a subtle
sweet and spicy finish.
2. Colour: clear gold
3. Nose: basil, green
apple, honey palate;
grapefruit, green
grapes, peppermint,
thyme
4. Finish: subtly sweet
and spicy with a hint
of vanilla oak, white
pepper and ginger

INDIA TODAY SPICE 33 NOVEMBER 2020

with select Yamazaki malts
incorporate additional
depth and complexity to
give Suntory Whisky To-
kiTM its silky taste, vivid
character, and bold inven-
tiveness.
The introduction of
Toki enhances the House
of Suntory’s portfolio to add
strength and versatility to a
House that already boasts
the Yamazaki Distillery
Reserve and Hibiki Master
Select, besides Roku Gin.
An impeccable blend of
premium whiskies, Toki
complements the Indian
palate and appeals to a
wider base of discerning
connoisseurs.
INDIA TODAY SPICE
The Toki Highball
The smoothness of Suntory’s whisky, Toki, gets extra credit for versatility. It can be
enjoyed neat, on the rocks, as a highball or mixed as a cocktail. The Toki highball
is a carefully-crafted cocktail that pays great attention to detail and creates perfect
harmony between Toki’s vivid blend, top-quality ice and carbonated water. The
superbly balanced and refreshing drink enhances its intrinsic delicate sweetness and
aromatic notes. As a highball, Toki delivers the most authentic yet modern Japa-
nese whisky.
Experience the classic whisky soda that was much in demand in the 1950s.
The Japanese love this simple, stylish cocktail as a refreshing way to drink whisky.
It is also a great favourite as it pairs rather well with Japanese cuisine. Suntory has
played an important role in re-establishing the highball, and evolving it into an art-
ful blend that has dominated the drinking scenario in Japan.
Simple Recipe; Meticulous Ritual.
Fill the glass to the brim with ice. Add one measure of whisky. Now stir to cool the
whisky as well as the glass. Add more ice to fill to the brim, if necessary. Pour three
measures of chilled sparkling water along the side of the glass to avoid melting the
ice or bursting the bubbles. Add a twist of citrus and enjoy.
34 NOVEMBER 2020
 SPIRITS W H I S KY

The Art of Time

Bowmore
The Bowmore 12 Years Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky epito-
mises tradition, heritage and luxury. Bowmore is the first li-
censed distillery on Islay and home to one of the oldest Scotch
whisky maturation warehouses in the world, the No1 Vaults.
When it comes to whisky heritage, the Bowmore Distillery is
unrivalled.
The Bowmore Distillery, founded by the merchant David
Simpson, dates back to 1779. It’s in these legendary stone walled
warehouses thatBowmore whisky has been meticulously matured
by master distillers for over 240 years. Unlike most distilleries,
Bowmore still has its own Malt barn, an airy shed where they
malt their own barley and start the process of germination. It’s
also where Bowmore gets its subtle peat smoke character. Typi-
cally, Islay distilleries are famous for their distinctive peaty taste,
which is an organic fuel that is found in bogs across Islay, and it
is this smoke from a peat fire that lends the whisky its warm and
distinctive aroma.

The alchemy of taste

Master Distillers use three ingredients to make Bowmore®
Whisky—barley, yeast and water. The soft freshwater from the
Laggan river and the magnificent character of Islay culminate to
create this impeccable single malt.
The Maturation stage
Arguably, the most important part in the whisky journey, this uses
a variety of used casks, carefully sourced from across the world,
to develop the different colours and flavours of the whisky. Time
holds the mysterious power to shape and transform the precious
into something truly beautiful. Only that which is truly special
and unique from the beginning will benefit from the passage of
time. And it is this that transcends this spirit into a piece of art.
So how does 240 years of history taste?
Balanced, complex and delightful.
Every bottle of Bowmore Scotch whisky has been shaped by
the exquisite flavours of carefully selected oak casks, where its
character is moulded by the slow passage of time. Time is central
to the making of Bowmore; fermentation periods are perfectly
timed, casks are hand-selected and the care and attention to
detail is what creates the complex balance of not just the mild
smokiness, but also the maritime minerality and fresh stone fruit
notes. That is why Bowmore ages like no other.
BOWMORE 12 YO BOTTLE
A delightful dram that combines tradition and time
with contemporary stying
The Bowmore Balance
Bowmore 12 YO is a quiet reflection of the essence of
the place of its birth and generations of tradition. The
warm amber dram has a delicate flavour with citrus
notes, mellow honey and a gentle hint of Beam Sunto-
ry’s trademark peat smoke notes that tingle the palate.
The symphony of flavours creates a titillating experi-
ence for the senses. Not surprising then that the dram
won Gold at San Francisco World Spirits Competition
2018 and the International Spirits Challenge 2017.
What makes it the most distinguished single malt
expression in India is its craftsmanship, tradition and
unmatched legacy makes it an elixir for whisky lovers,
who appreciate the finer things in life. Sometimes the
message in a bottle is truly a gift of time.

INDIA TODAY SPICE 35 NOVEMBER 2020

LAST LOOK

The
Colour of
Perfection
Traditionally it is believed that a second knot
always weakens the first one; clearly not the
case for the new generation of Rolex’s Oyster
Perpetual watches. The new versions of the
Oyster Perpetual 36 offer dials in vivid colours,
where the light reflections on the case sides
highlight the elegant profile of the Oyster case
that is made from Oystersteel. With colours such
as candy pink, turquoise blue, yellow, coral red
and green on offer, the Oyster Perpetual 36 is both
dynamic and vibrant. Measuring 36 mm with a
domed bezel, the watches in the Oyster Perpetual
range are direct descendants of the original
Oyster, the world’s first waterproof wristwatch, on
which Rolex has built its reputation since 1926. In
addition, these watches come fully loaded with all
the fundamental features of the Oyster perpetual
collection: chronometric precision, a waterproof
Oyster case, and self-winding of the movement
via a perpetual rotor. With clockwork precision
and a sophisticated finish, dare we ask for more?
Price on request; Availability Brand boutiques

INDIA TODAY SPICE 36 NOVEMBER 2020