Embarking on a promotional spree, Sanya Malhotra had a fun interaction with real-life photographers clicking pictures against Gateway of India as well as with the photographers. Sharing her picture from the visit Sanya Malhotra says,

"Saalon baad jab ye aap photo dekhengi, aapko aapke chehre pe yahi dhoop dikhayi degi, aapke baalon mein ye hawa aur apke kaano mein hazaro logo ki awaaz.. hamesha ke liye sab chalajayega."

 

 

 

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Saalon baad jab ye aap photo dekhengi, aapko aapke chehre pe yahi dhoop dikhayi degi, aapke baalon mein ye hawa aur apke kaano mein hazaro logo ki awaaz.. hamesha ke liye sab chalajayega. . . Smile please!📸 #photograph #gatewayofindia @photographamzn #9daystogo

A post shared by Sanya Malhotra💥 (@sanyamalhotra_) onMar 6, 2019 at 12:39am PST

The film brings to the screen the story of a photographer at Gateway of India who convinces a stranger to act as his love interest to help his ailing grandmother. Nawazuddin Siddiqui will essay the role of the photographer, while Sanya Malhotra plays his muse.

Earlier, Sanya Malhotra who had a working birthday took out time and celebrated the special occasion with the paparazzi. Recently, National Award-winning filmmaker Ritesh Batra hosted a special screening of Photograph for film students prior to its theatrical release. Post the screening, the director interacted with the students and engaged in a discussion about films and their making.

Sanya garnered immense love and appreciation for her performance in Photograph when the film premiered at Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival 2019. The trailer brings to screen a sweet, innocent, and refreshing chemistry with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra's first association.

Written and directed by Ritesh Batra, Photograph is presented by Amazon Studious in association with The Match Factory and is slated to release in India on March 15, 2019.

Also read: Team Photograph shares a video on Nawazuddin Siddiqui's character

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Music knows no boundaries. That's perhaps why when Talisman, a world music group at Stanford University, California, found similarities in the way The Sound Space (TSS), a Mumbai-based initiative, approaches music, all it took was a few email exchanges to bridge the 8,500-mile distance. This Sunday marks the group's India debut, Mumbai being their first stop as part of a 10-day tour.

The Mumbai performance, called Naad, will be an a cappella one where 15 students of TSS will open the show, which will be followed by a collaborative performance between them and Talisman singers. For the finale, eight Stanford students will present their repertoire, which includes songs from their 2019 selection as well as classics.

A Sound Space session with kids

"Talisman had been following what we do, and they contacted us for a collaboration because they know that we reach out to a range of people," says Kamakshi Khurana, who founded TSS with her sister Vishala 13 years ago, about the philosophy that binds them. Trained in Indian classical music from Lucknow University, it was their bachelor's degree in psychology, which afforded them the ability to understand the human mind and take the help of music to affect it.

Kamakshi and Vishala Khurana

"Our aim is to spread music education and therapy and music from different cultures, and use it as a catalyst to get through to people from diverse sections of society," she adds, referring to their work in old age homes, cancer care centres as well as the corporate sector, and their music education programmes in schools, which often culminate in concerts where children from international and NGO schools perform together. Talisman, on the other hand, was founded in 1990, in solidarity with the anti-Apartheid movement, to bring to light under-represented music and stories on campus. Its musicality thus has roots in the South African tradition, but the repertoire now includes well-loved compositions from the world over. A multicultural group — it currently includes students from India, Thailand, Zimbabwe and the US — its selection for this year features Aye Mere Watan ke Logon and Dil Diya Gallan.

The initial talks began in December, and through email exchanges and watching a few videos, the Talisman and TSS students have prepared parts of a popular Indian song, which they will present together. "Vishala and I believe that all kinds of music need to be appreciated and we want our students to be exposed to it. Which is why we have elements of western classical music as well as African folk rhythms in our sessions, but a cappella is a different style of music, which hasn't been explored extensively in India," shares Khurana. She adds that the Talisman group will also conduct a workshop for the children. "This will help us teach our kids to think in a cappella style, as the voice application is so different. When they see a performance of this level, it is a nudge for them to take their art form more seriously."

ON March 24, 6 pm
AT Shantivan Gardens, Malabar Hill.
LOG ON TO bookmyshow.com
Entry Rs 400

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UN Women India launched a video campaign called #MujheHaqHai on Wednesday which emphasises the power and potential of women in today's world.

The video features a host of independent and courageous women, who have excelled in their respective spheres and mapped India globally. The video sends out a strong message for female empowerment to women all over India with the belief that they have an equal participation in all walks of life.

Apurva Purohit, the President of Jagran Group, is one of the prominent personalities featured in the video alongside the likes of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Mithali Raj and Sania Mirza, to name a few.

Apurva Purohit, President, Jagran Group

Apurva Purohit said, "It’s an absolute honour to be a part of this initiative by UN Women India. Any and every small step towards the empowerment of women and giving them their rightful place under the sun is the need of the hour today. We need more examples of women who are breaking barriers every day so that the girls tomorrow can rise and shine. While there is enough discourse on everything that is not right, this initiative is a beacon of hope, one that celebrates the struggles, dreams and aspirations of women who have emerged as winners. #MujheHaqHai is an ode to the undying spirit and grit of the woman of today."

At the launch event, mid-day online caught up with Nishtha Satyam (Deputy Representative UN Women India MCO), who stated that, "Through this event, we are trying to create a movement that is based on Human Rights, a movement that recognises women rights as Human Rights, where women exercise their voice and make choices without any fear or judgement, and shape their careers and lives. We are trying to create a movement based on women understanding their own rights as individuals."

Talking about the outcome, she added, "Women should realise their own potential and rights and be able to pursue their dreams without any inhibitions or fear of repercussions. That would be the grandest outcome from a movement like this."

The Ghatkopar plane crash, which killed five, yesterday would have ended up becoming a mammoth disaster, considering it crashed in a densely populated residential area, had it not been for the pilot's presence of mind. Several residents from the area and eyewitnesses said the pilot did a good thing by ensuring the aircraft crashed at an under-construction site, avoiding the residential buildings in the vicinity.

Emergency response
The accident took place when the plane was about to land at Mumbai airport. The four onboard — pilot, co-pilot and maintenance engineers — and a passer-by on whom the wreckage fell have been identified as the deceased. Immediately after the incident, the fire brigade and police reached the spot, and within minutes pictures and videos of the crashed plane and a charred body near the crash site went viral on social media.

Afternoon happenings
mid-day spoke to residents from the area to find out what exactly happened, and most said it all started in the afternoon when they heard a deafening explosion, followed by thick smoke and a tree on fire. Locals said the situation would have been worse had the aircraft crashed on a residential building or the busy LBS Marg, which is adjacent, or the Versova-Andheri Ghatokpar Metro corridor, which, too, is just a few hundred metres away.

A paan shop owner from the area said, "I was sitting in my shop when I heard a loud noise. At first I thought a tyre of some truck busted, but then, a person from the MTNL lane came running to my shop and said a plane had crashed. "We should all be thankful to the pilot, as by crashing it at an under-construction site, he saved hundreds of lives."

Also Read: Mumbai: Chartered plane crashes in Ghatkopar; five killed

Earlier this year, while performing at a military training centre in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, singer Ameya Dabli recalls receiving a disturbing piece of news from the army chief Lt Ranbir Singh. Four terror attacks had taken place at a nearby hillock on the same day. The hill, as he soon learnt, was located less than a kilometre away from the centre.

"The chief said to me, 'Don't worry. We will protect you'. This one reassuring line was enough to allay our fears in that high tension zone," he says. Dabli and his team of musicians went on to deliver a power-packed two-hour performance regaling the audience with musical compositions of poems penned by Kabirdas, Guru Nanak, Amir Khusro and Tulsidas. "We didn't realise how those two hours flew by. You see, that's the power of music," he says. Since then, Dabli has performed at several other conflict regions of the country, including eight districts of Jammu and Kashmir, and four in the Northeast.

Singing for peace
It was three years ago that Dabli, a Bhandup resident, conceptualised Ekam Satt, which are essentially pro bono concerts curated for the Indian Armed Forces and civilians, in order to not just motivate jawans, but also bring peace. Born in a family of music lovers - his mother Anuradha Dabli is a trained classical and light music exponent - the 38-year-old was inducted into singing from the age of seven. "But, the idea to use music as a peace building tool was something that took shape during my last stint as the marketing head of Ronny and Zarina Screvwala's Swades Foundation. Here, I got the opportunity to interact with a lot of non-profits," he says.

Dabli, who holds a robust 15 years of corporate experience as marketing head with the Tata Group, HSBC and Citibank, now straddles a music career along with a venture where he mentors start-ups and NGOs to start their businesses. Till date, he has performed over 1,500 concerts across 15 countries. "Initially, it took us a good six months to curate the songs for Ekam Satt, because we wanted it to be a good blend of sufi, folk and contemporary music. We even got RS Mani, the music arranger of Veer Zaara to help us. But now, it's seamless," he says.

While Dable's pieces comprise the works of legendary poets such as Mirabai, Narsinh Mehta, Khwaja Garib Nawab and Tukaram, the songs are infused with peppy global music styles like hip hop, reggae and opera to make it livelier. "When we approached the Army headquarters in New Delhi with the concept, they loved it and immediately asked us to come on board," he says.

On the shaadi front
Interestingly, Dabli is also a sought-after name when it comes to weddings and sangeet and has performed at the glitzy wedding of Sasha Rawal - sister of Bollywood's leading fashion designer Kunal Rawal - and Samarth Bajaj, and very recently, the engagement of Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal. He has also organised gigs for Kumar Mangalam Birla, David and Lali Dhawan, Aditya Birla and Adi Godrej. "It's not the typical shaadi scene. My forte is the pheras, something that most people don't pay much attention to," he laughs. "I perform something called the signature wedding chants, where I don't just recite mantras, but also provide explanation of the vidhis or rituals," adds Dabli, who perfected his Sanskrit under the tutelage of his father, Professor PV Dabli, a scholar in the language.

Dabli says juggling his entrepreneurial venture with his musical endeavours does test his ability to multi-task. "Sometimes, I don't know which one to focus on more. But that's what happens when you love whatever you do equally," he smiles.

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"Aye dil hai mushkil jeena yaha, zara bachke zara hatke yehe Mumbai meri jaan." We hum the song in our head, as we alight a train from the Ghatkopar Metro station. We are headed towards Chembur's Via Bombay. This is a city that grew from being a swampland that didn't interest the British East India Company to a bustling port city of the Empire, and eventually India's commercial centre. All of this is on our mind as we check out the menu that will circumnavigate its historic legacy.

We start with a paan pasand (Rs 340), an excellent pour of dark rum, betel leaf, mint, lime, gulkand and soda which is refreshing on the palate without being too sugary. We sip, and soak in its interiors, a green dress circle bar that is lit up and walls done up in frames of old newspaper scans.

From starters, we pick the baida pakoda (Rs 190) a deep-fried snack with a thick coat of gram flour. We wish the batter had been salted and spiced, for we have to resort to the green chutney for flavour. The Bombay duck rawa fry (Rs 275) on the other hand, is shallow fried and coated in semolina. The kick of desi masalas transports us to the streets of Bandra where Koli ladies selling the specialty. The Bhavnagri chillies (rs xx) taste good. It's stuffed with a coconut filling and served with a yummy side of peru dahi, which we feel deserves a special salute.

Baida pakoda

We wash it down with a Bombay gulab (Rs 320). After a fiery dish, the saccharine sweet drink helps, but the Rooh Afza and vodka jugalbandi sends our head into a tizzy. And not in a good way. For mains, we pick the mutton thali (R475), which comes with salad, gajar ka halwa, curd, mutton sukka and curry, daal and chapati. The dish is nowhere near the fare that's whipped up at its humble Maharashtrian counterparts scattered across the city.

(Clockwise from left on Thali) Salad, gajar, dudhi and beetroot halwa, curd, mutton sukka, mutton curry, daal and chapati

One spoonful of the dessert Amar Akbar Anthony (Rs 250), and we wish we had ordered it first. A delicious medley of gajaar, dudhi and beetroot halwa, the sweet treat is laden with ghee; just the way it should be. After all, unless you're calling yourself a health café, desi dishes ought to stick to their original recipes, never mind a dollop or two of extra fat.

Bombay gulaab

And though we loved the halwa, we leave the restaurant wishing the fare was a truer representation of asli Bombaywallah swaad.

AT Via Bombay, Jewel of Chembur, Chembur East 
TIME 12 pm to 3 pm; 7 pm to 11.30 pm
CALL 67099988

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Via Bombay didn't know we were there. The Guide reviews anonymously and pays for meals

Maharashtra minister Eknath Shinde has expressed confidence that the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will win the Lok Sabha polls and asked the coalition workers to work for increasing the victory margin this time. Addressing a meeting of Shiv Sena-BJP workers at Dombivli town in Maharashtra's Thane district on Sunday night, the senior Sena leader also asked them not to be reckless or underestimate the rival candidates. "Our victory is definite this time also.

Our target should be to ensure maximum difference of votes between the winning and losing candidates," said Shinde, who is also the guardian minister of Thane. Lauding Srikant Shinde, the sitting Sena MP from Kalyan seat in Thane, for the work done by him in his constituency in the last five years, the minister claimed the voters would elect him this time also. State minister Ravindra Chavan said voters in Dombivli segment of the constituency earlier supported the BJP and Shiv Sena and this time also they will ensure victory for the alliance candidate.

"This election is an important one and the party workers should ensure that our candidate wins by the maximum victory margin," he said. Srikant Shinde is the saffron alliance's candidate from Kalyan where his main rival is Babaji Patil of the NCP. Lok Sabha elections to total 48 seats in Maharashtra will be held in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29 and the results will be declared on May 23.

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Yami Gautam moved to Mumbai a few years ago to pursue her dream career to be an actor. She has achieved that dream of hers in a fast-paced city of Mumbai finding many successes to her credit. The year 2019 has begun on a high for the actress who's January release, Uri became a blockbuster success. The actress is soon going to be seen in various projects, announcements of which are soon to happen.

It's been said Mumbai is a city of dreams, also it is famously known it's a city that never sleeps. After having lived in suburbs of Mumbai these years, Yami Gautam took to the not so easy task to find herself her dream home in Mumbai. The URI actress has just moved into her new house from western suburbs to Bandra.

Yami Gautam hails from Chandigarh where she lived during her education and growing up years and originally was born in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh. Whenever she is not shooting she packs her bag to live with her family in Chandigarh and Himachal. But she always dreamt of a good spacious home of her choice in Mumbai. Due to her busy work schedule and constantly travelling across the world for work she was unable to find the home sooner. She will be now he spending time to design the interiors on her new cosy abode.

Speaking about it, the source said, "Yami was in a hunt for a new house for some time now. She was peculiarly looking for something specific. Having lived for a considerable time in western suburbs, she was looking at several options and finally narrowed down at a house in Bandra. She's just moved into the apartment and will be working to putting the house together for the next few weeks as per her likes. Her sister Surilie too would be moving in with her. The house suits the likes of Yami's sensibilities of a pretty but operational functional house and that's how she plans to do it up too."

Also read: Yami Gautam visits her hometown in Himachal

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Coolpad 'Note 6'. Pic courtesy/Twitter

Chinese handset maker Coolpad launched 'Note 6', an offline exclusive product in India on Tuesday. Two of the most notable features of Note 6 are 5.5-inch HD display and 8MP+5MP dual front cameras. The company in a statement said that smartphone will be available from Tuesday in 32GB and 64GB internal storage variants with 4GB RAM for Rs 8,999 and Rs 9,999 respectively.

Note 6 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 chipset, backed by 4,070 mAh battery and runs on Android 7.1 Nougat Operating System (OS). "Coolpad 'Note 6' will offer a great value for money smartphone for Indian customers," said Syed Tajuddin, CEO, Coolpad India.

"We are also planning to introduce more aggressive offline devices in the next few months to expand in the offline market through our retails partners and multi-brand outlets," Tajuddin added.

Coolpad "Note 6" will be available at over 300 multi-brand stores across eight states including Delhi-NCR, Telangana and Maharashtra.

(Edited by mid-day online desk, with inputs from IANS)

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Xiaomi India on Wednesday announced the launch of "Mi Music" and "Mi Video" to offer value-added Internet services in India.

"With the launch of these two apps 'Mi Music' and 'Mi Video', we hope to serve millions of Xiaomi smartphone users with a better user experience through enhanced Internet services," Manu Jain, Vice President, Xiaomi and Managing Director, Xiaomi India, said in a statement.

"Mi Music" is a pre-installed music app which offers an integrated music streaming service along with the ability to store offline music and has nearly seven million daily active users in India, the statement said.

"Mi Video" is a pre-installed video app that provides integrated video streaming across platforms.

"Mi Video" content is currently powered by Hungama Play, SonyLiv and Voot. It offers more than 500,000 hours of content with nearly 80 per cent free content, the statement added.

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More than a quarter of India's population or 337 million people would use a smartphone in 2018 -- a 16 per cent growth which is the highest rate of any country in the world -- market research company eMarketer said on Thursday.

Since its last forecast, eMarketer increased its estimate for the smartphone audience in India by more than 31 million people.

This uptick is thanks to the growth in smartphone usage in urban areas, where affordable smartphones are becoming widely available, the research firm said in a statement.

"India still faces technological challenges that are holding back mass smartphone adoption. "Mobile Internet speeds are among the slowest in the world, around two-thirds of the population still lives in rural areas and feature phones are by no means obsolete," said Chris Bendtsen, Senior Forecasting Analyst, eMarketer.

Advertisers can still be optimistic about the future.

"Smartphones are getting cheaper, mobile data prices have fallen and urbanisation continues. Over the next four years, as speeds and rural reach improve, eMarketer expects the smartphone audience to reach close to half a billion users," Bendtsen noted.

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Popular image and video-sharing platform, Instagram, on Thursday, announced new ways to share content on 'Stories', connect with friends over videos, and discover new interests on 'Explore'. The platform also announced measures to protect Instagrammers from bullies.

Here are the changes:

Sharing to Stories

From a sticker of one's new favourite song on Spotify to action shots from GoPro, it's now easy to share what one is up to or how they are feeling by posting directly to Instagram Stories from other apps. More apps will be adding the sharing to Stories feature soon.

Just tap the share button in the Spotify or GoPro app and the content is pulled directly into the Instagram camera. From there one can edit and add to their story or send it via Direct. One does not need to connect their Instagram account to other apps in order to share to Stories.

Camera effects platform for Instagram

Face filters, text styles and stickers help turn casual moments into experiences one can't wait to share. Instagram is now unlocking the ability for third parties to design unique, interactive camera experiences for their followers.

That means that one can turn any video into an NBA dunkcam or add a cloud of hearts and Pomeranians to fluff up their photo.

Further, more fun creative effects from one's favourite accounts are coming soon, including Ariana Grande, Baby Ariel, Liza Koshy, Vogue, and Buzzfeed.

Video Chat

More than 100 million Instagrammers watch or share on Live every day. But the community sometimes also wants to experience real-time video in a smaller group.

In the coming weeks, Instagram will bring video chat to its platform and give friends a new way to spend time together - even when they aren't actually together.

To start a video chat, simply tap the new camera icon at the top of a Direct thread.

One can chat one-on-one or with a small group ¿ and they can keep the conversation going for as long as they like. Further, one can also minimise the video and continue the chat while doing other things on Instagram.

Video chat is testing now and will roll out globally soon.

The New Explore

People come to Explore every day to discover new ideas, people, and experiences. And now the redesigned Explore makes discovery even easier.

It will still be personalised, but the content will now be organised into topic channels so that one can browse across their interests and go deeper into any area they like.

The new Explore will be rolling out over the coming weeks.

Further, Instagram will filter bullying comments intended to harass or upset people on the platform.

In 2017, Instagram had announced an offensive comment filter, which would automatically hide toxic and divisive comments, particularly those aimed at at-risk groups.

This new filter hides comments containing attacks on a person's appearance or character, as well as threats to a person's well-being or health.

The bullying filter is on for the global community and can be disabled in the Comment Controls center in the app.

The new filter will also alert Instagram to repeated problems so that the company can take action.

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Digital Transformation with 5G – 2nd 5G India 2018 International Conference & Exhibition. The conference will be held on May 17 and 18, 2018 at The Leela, Mumbai

Bharat Exhibitions is organising the 2nd edition of the 5G India 2018 International Conference and Exhibition, bringing together India’s telecom industry leaders, policymakers and telecom analysts to discuss how 5G will enable the future ushering in a new India. The conference to be held on May 17 and 18 at The Leela, Mumbai will focus on issues and opportunities related to the deployment of 5G and high-speed digital applications that will drive cross-industry applications and spur digital transformation and connectivity to catalyze growth.

With 5G promising to bring about a sea change in the digital ecosystem by servicing more industries through one architecture, the conference will address the tremendous growth that promises to take place in the next few years to revolutionize the Indian Data market and help India to emerge as a qualitative internet market as against a quantitative one. Leading experts will speak about the challenges and opportunities that operators and technology providers will face in the transformation of mobile broadband to 5G.

The event will witness the 5G Demo by various organization (BSNL, Reliance Jio, Intel, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Bombay). The conference will include sessions and panel discussions on what will it take for India to emerge as one amongst the leaders in standardization for 5G technologies and applications, enabling the positive use of Artificial Intelligence for all, global perspectives on 5G, preparing for 5G, trends and drivers shaping 5G, spectrum and technology for 5G and a CXO Round Table on Digital Transformation with 5G.

Shri Manoj Sinha, Hon’ble Minister of Communications (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for Railways, Govt. of India will be the Chief Guest, Smt. Aruna Sundararajan, IAS, Chairman, TC & Secretary (Telecom), Department of Telecommunications, Govt. of India and Mr. Malcolm Johnson, Deputy Secretary-General, ITU will be the Guests of Honour, Introductory Address by Mr. Adrian Scrase, CTO, ETSI and Keynote will be deliver by Shri Anupam Shrivastava, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited. 5G India 2018 International Conference and Exhibition is being supported by the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Govt. of India and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Govt. of India. With Broadband India Forum as the Knowledge Partner, the conference is also being supported by the industry associations including 3GPP, TSDSI, CEWiT India, COAI and TAIPA.

With plenary sessions, technical tracks in an innovative show formats and international case studies, the agenda will include visionary presentations from 30+ speakers across the globe including Mr. Klaus Pendl, First Counsellor – ICT, Delegation of the European Union to India, Mr. Sebastien Soriano, Chairman, ARCEP France, Mr. Daniel Brower, Vice President, Program, Deutsche Telekom, Mr. Julius Knapp, CTO, FCC USA and Dr. Wu Yong, Senior Standards Expert, 3GPP as well as Senior Spokesperson from BSNL, INTEL, Google, Savitri Telecom Services, Syniverse, Keysight Technologies, UTStarcom, Cambium Networks, CSG International, Rohde & Schwarz, Commscope, Infineon and Siae Microelettronica.

About Bharat Exhibitions

In a world where technology is erasing borders, it is indeed ironical that professionals find it increasingly difficult to maintain peer to peer contact on regular basis. Bharat Exhibitions fills in this space by managing and hosting some of India’s premier Telecom & IT events. We own niche and prestigious conference properties in the new generation technology arena such as 100 Smart Cities India, Cloud & Network Virtualisation India, 5G India, Data Centre India, Broadband Tech India, Smart-Sustainable Cities Technology & Innovation Summit, Cyber Security India, SMC Technology India and Telecom CXO Summit. We have a simple mission: Establish & deliver contacts that create value for your business.

For further details, please visit http://www.bharatexhibitions.com

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Telecommunications service provider Ericsson on Thursday introduced a new category of radio products called Street Macro in India to enable a smooth evolution from 4G to 5G.

Street Macro is a new site type that addresses the need for operators to grow in cities with limited available radio locations.

The company also launched new radio products that support "Massive MIMO" technology to simplify use for wider 5G adoption.

"Operators today are looking at ways and means to increase network capacity, especially in urban areas. Ericsson's Street Macro adds a new layer in the network layer to boost capacity enabling service providers to cater to the growing demands of data users," Nitin Bansal, Managing Director, Ericsson India, told reporters here.

According to Ericsson's new economic study of enhanced mobile broadband, evolution to 5G will enable 10 times lower cost per gigabyte than current 4G networks.

To help operators capture growth opportunities presented by new 5G use cases, Ericsson has expanded its 5G Core System offering with new capabilities to support 5G New Radio (NR) standard and also enhanced its Distributed Cloud solution.

The announcement came on the sidelines of Ericsson's annual technology roadshow in India, where the company recreated a "Do Zone" to showcase the highlights from Mobile World Congress 2018.

To date Ericsson has signed 39 memorandums of understanding with service providers for trials, the company said.

Aiming to disrupt India's mid-segment smartphone market, Samsung is set to launch four new smartphones -- two each in Galaxy "A" and Galaxy "J" series -- this month.

The upcoming Galaxy A6 and Galaxy A6+ smartphones could be priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 while the devices in Galaxy "J" series could cost customers Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000, industry sources told IANS on Friday.

Two of the four smartphones in the upcoming line-up would come with dual camera set-up, the sources added.

All of them will be made at the company's Noida facility. The smartphones will feature Samsung's super AMOLED "Infinity Display" -- bezel-less screen that creates an immersive viewing experience.

Notably, Samsung's flagship smartphones such as Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S9 series feature the "Infinity Display". Now, with the upcoming devices, the display feature would be introduced at lower price points in the Indian market.

The South Korean giant first introduced the "Infinity Display" in Galaxy S8 series in 2017.

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Targeted at millennials, Chinese smartphone maker OPPO on Tuesday debuted its sub-brand "Realme 1" smartphone in India for Rs 8,990 (3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage model).

The 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage variant is priced at Rs 13,990.

The smartphone comes with the world's first 12-nm Artificial Intelligence-based MediaTek Helio P60 chipset with "AI shot" technology.

"Realme 1 is focused at young online consumers and is primed to be a market disruptor with a stylish design," Madhav Seth, Chief Executive Officer, Realme India, said in a statement.

The device will be available on Amazon India, starting May 25, in diamond black and solar red colour variants.

A third variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB onboard storage, in moonlight silver and diamond black colours for Rs 10,990 will go on sale in June.

Realme users will have access to over 500 OPPO service centres across the country with guaranteed 90 per cent repair cases resolved within an hour.

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Representational picture

In India, gaming is considered as a hobby and was less than inclined towards gaming from the get- go. But the scenario is slowling changing. Looking at the growth of the industry over the years, we have finally come to a point where families have started being supportive of this career choice. Rather than opting for a 9-to-5 job, more and more gamers have started taking their careers seriously and are transitioning into professional esports athletes and streamers.

So what is gaming? Gaming is a form of entertainment which is consumed via interaction, participation and viewership. It encompasses PC gaming, mobile gaming and console gaming and is multi-billion dollar industry globally. This industry comprises of gamers who can be a casual or an enthusiast, an amateur or a professional, a player or a viewer. Gaming can be as simple as picking up your mobile and launching some birds at hostile pigs in a castle, or as complex as dedicating years to learning and mastering a game and competing against other similarly dedicated players globally with millions of dollars at stake.

The term 'esports' seem new but the concept isn't. Esports is the part of gaming that’s competitive, where various genres of games are played competitively against other players, on different platforms. From fighting against your friend at the local arcade with a barrage of virtual punches and kicks to being seated together and connected to 100s of other gamers and being the last person alive in a perilous deserted island. Esports is as old as gaming is. The only difference we see nowadays, is the higher stakes and the dedication gamers put in to reach the top. With prize pools running in the millions and a loyal audience who travel halfway across the globe to watch their teams play, esports has become a global phenomenon with major brands investing heavily in the industry and corporations building stadiums larger than conventional sports stadiums.

Professional athletes train their body and mind, regularly to stay at the best of conditions and are supported with the state-of-the-art facilities and a salary for playing their game. Another term people might be unfamiliar with is "video game live streaming”. Streaming is a form of online video broadcast on specialised platforms where you play games and entertain your viewers. A viewer might be engrossed by your playstyle or your witty humour. There can be thousands of players watching you at a point of time and cheering for you. Streaming has become a full-time job for a lot of people with them earning a comfortable six-figure income monthly by just regularly entertaining their viewers. Brands sponsor these streamers to advertise and endorse their products on their stream.

The global gaming industry is still growing at a rapid pace with a valuation of $108.9 billion and a YoY growth of 7.8% in 2017. The Asia Pacific region contributes to 47% of this with India ranked 17 th globally valued at $818 million with an 11.14% CAGR. Gaming in India is still nascent with a lot of scope for growth and recognition. Esports plays a huge part in gaming with $696 million market and whopping 385.5 million viewers watching their favourite teams and players fight for glory. That’s thrice as many subscribers Netflix has.

So how far has India come? India is slowly catching up with the rest of the world. We have 253.2 million gamers in India with 81% of them in the age group of 16 – 30. We have professional teams in India who compete globally against other teams. We have people who have taken up streaming as their jobs. Rather than pursuing a regular career like your average John and Jane, we have emerging brave souls who want to stand out and make their dreams come true. And the space is filled with brands who want to work hand in hand with these people, empowering and enabling such a career into reality.

Insight of target audience by COBX games

Gaming in India has been given a boost in the recent years with the advent of 4G and FTTH. Prices have grown more competitive which has helped not only companies but also gamers across India. We have seen a spike in mobile gaming with 4G being introduced in India and will play a major role in the industry. FTTH, which is already being deployed in tier-1 cities, provides high-speed internet connection over optical fibre directly to your home from the ISP which has increased the quality of service. In tier-2 cities, gaming cafés and colleges act as hotspots for gamers and most tournaments are hosted in these colleges, due to the presence of stable infrastructure which, in turn, promotes the growth of gaming.

Esports is on the rise in India with multiple tournaments being announced with unprecedented prize pools. Esports is dynamically changing the industry with numerous brands joining in and helping the space flourish. Monthly tournaments provide a scope for professional gamers to sustain a living and also provides growth to multiple domains attached to esports like cosplayers, shoutcasters, and analysts and so on. From small tournaments in cafés and college labs to huge events filled with gamers, esports has come a long way in India. 2018 saw numerous companies invest heavily in esports by announcing multiple tournaments with prize pools of over Rs 1 crore.

Mujahid Rupani, Co-founder & C.E.O of COBX Gaming says, "We are also expecting an increase in VR and AR gaming in India. VR gears are being readily accessible to people and families are opting in for the virtual reality experience. Mobile phones are growing powerful every day and proving to be effective AR devices. New games are being launched every day which take advantage of augmented reality and taking use experience to a whole new level. Mobile gaming is also on the rise in India due to the ease of entry and affordable and stable internet connection. With the amount of time people invest on mobiles, a lot of developers are shifting their focus to mobile games and catering to a big chunk of gamers who prefer mobiles over expensive PCs and consoles as their gaming gear. With the number of game development studies in our country, the next big title might be from India."

With the ecosystem growing and evolving every year, the future for gaming in India is bright. Gaming in India is an incipient industry and has a long way to go. We hope to see more professional players, more streamers and more parents supporting their kid’s dream. There was a time when you would idolise a sportsperson, the day is here when kids idolise their favourite professional gamer or streamer. We have a generation of parents who are gamers too and encourage their kids and help them balance gaming along with other life priorities. We hope to see more companies and brands invest their time and resource in the gaming industry and maybe one day, a kid who wants to grow up and be a professional gamer.

Also Read: Hrithik Roshan: Gaming In India Gaining Exponential Popularity

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Facebook has rolled out new updates in its Stories feature that are available for the users in India first and will reach the global users later.

One such update is "Voice Posts" that will let users share their thoughts via audio to their friends and families.

"Voice posts lets you share in the moment without having to share a photo or video. This could also help people who can't necessarily write in the language they want to share in," Connor Hayes, Director of Product Management, Facebook Stories, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.

People will now be able to save the photos and videos they capture through the Facebook camera, where only they can see them when they log into their Facebook account.

"This allows people to save the photos and videos they capture without taking up space on their phone," the post read.

It can also be used to save photos you might want to share later, so you don't have to edit or post them while you're out with your friends and instead enjoy the moment and share them later.

"In the coming weeks we're rolling out an archive for people to save the stories most important to them. After a photo disappears from your story, you can find it in your story archive - a place only you can see. You can always choose to not save them," said the post.

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Illustration/Amit Bandre

New Delhi: On an average, a college student in India checks his mobile phone over 150 times a day, according to a study conducted by Aligarh Muslim University and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).

The research, titled "Smartphone Dependency, Hedonism and Purchase Behaviour: Implications for Digital India Initiatives", has been conducted in 20 central universities, where 200 students each were interviewed.

"Anxiety and fear of missing out on information make university students check their mobile devices as many as 150 times a day on an average, an activity which can have adverse effects on the students' health as well as academics. "Only 26 per cent of the respondents said they use smartphones primarily to make calls. The remaining respondents use smartphones for other purposes such as accessing social networking sites, Google searches and for entertainment such as watching movies," said Mohammed Naved Khan, the Project Director.

At least 14 per cent of the students use smartphones for three hours or less in a day while around 63 per cent of them use it for four to seven hours daily.

"It came as a shock to us that around 23 per cent (of students) use the devices for more than eight hours a day," Khan added.

According to the study, eighty per cent of the students own a mobile phone and most of them prefer smartphones owing to convenience in the installation of applications, host of features, and ease of use and also work as affordable substitutes for a computer. The study conducted by researchers at AMU has been funded by the ICSSR with an aim to understand various facets of smartphone dependency and addiction among college-going students.

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Of India's 31 chief ministers at this point, 11 have criminal cases against them, and eight have 'serious' cases that include rioting and murder. Illustration/Ravi Jadhav

I urge you to spend a few minutes on Google and look for Indian politicians convicted of crimes. I don't recommend you search for politicians 'accused' of crimes, because that may leave you with very little time to do anything else for the rest of the week. I also warn you against looking for politicians convicted of corruption, or politicians disqualified from office, because both those lists are incredibly short and may depress you.

Also, read a little about the Association for Democratic Reforms, established in 1999 by a group of professors from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, to examine the criminal, financial and educational background of candidates contesting elections. To spend a little time at its website, where it publishes reports analysing elections and their contestants, is to expose oneself to just how awful the people claiming to represent us really are.

A week ago, for instance, the ADR published an analysis of MPs and MLAs with declared cases related to crimes against women. Apparently, out of 1,580 (that's 33 per cent) of MPs/MLAs analysed with declared criminal cases, 45 MPs and 3 MLAs have declared cases related to crimes against women. 327 candidates who had declared cases related to crimes against women were given tickets by recognised political parties. A number of candidates even contested in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha elections, and Maharashtra had the highest number of these gifted representatives. The website also carries a preliminary analysis of candidates announced by major political parties for the Karnataka 2018 Assembly elections, and shows that these parties continue to give tickets to candidates with serious cases.

Here's another thing that ought to concern us but no longer does, presumably because we are inured to information of this sort: Of India's 31 chief ministers at this point, 11 have criminal cases registered against them, and eight have 'serious' criminal cases that include 'voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means', 'rioting', and even murder.

It's easy to see why politicians with a criminal record are more likely to be elected than those who haven't seen the inside of a jail, of course. People who don't commit crimes don't have access to illicit funds, which means they simply can't afford to bribe voters. It's also why the government of our country overturned a Supreme Court ruling demanding the disqualification of any politician convicted for crimes punishable with more than two years in jail. According to the men and women who supposedly represent us, it is more important to maintain political alliances and stay in power than it is to prevent criminals from taking charge of our collective future.

We live in an era where transparency does not exist, where we have no access to information about why some men and women are mysteriously chosen to represent a majority, and where politicians are encouraged to avoid being answerable to their countrymen. We are kept in the dark about why some projects are initiated and others ignored, why deals that don't make sense to anyone with common sense are approved at our expense, and even why our streets are named after people none of us have ever heard of. It's also why no political party has taken concrete steps to encourage the brightest and best among us to run for office. It's also why qualified government officials are often shunted out, because our leaders need minions, not people capable of independent thought. This is why we live in a time where it is always the worst that rise to power the fastest, then dictate terms for the rest of us.

Children ought to aspire to a life of public service because ours is a country that has, at least on paper, always placed the common good above all. Our forefathers sacrificed everything they had to create a country that no longer works for its poorest citizens. The reason why these statistics ought to matter is the kind of message the world's largest democracy is sending to its youngest members. In America, young people are encouraged to nurture the belief that they can be President some day. We probably don't encourage our children to aim for those high offices because we recognise that they may need to have a criminal bent of mind in order to make it.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

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Illustration/Uday Mohite

Oh, wretched irony, that President Ram Nath Kovind — whom BJP president Amit Shah unabashedly introduced as a Dalit when nominating him as a Presidential candidate — should himself introduce a caste system, where it never existed before: India's august National Film Awards. The President informed the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) three weeks earlier that he would leave the award function in an hour. But the winners were informed only a day earlier, that the President would give away only 11 of the approximately 137 awards at the 65th National Film Awards; the rest would be given away by Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani, and Minister of State Rajyavardhan Rathore. As the award winners' invitations stated that they would receive the award from the President of India, they wrote to the DFF about a breach of trust, "65 years of tradition was being overturned in a jiffy," and nearly 55 winners boycotted the function.

Nothing spoke of the sordidness of this prestigious event as that photograph with just two disturbed award winners, in a hall full of empty chairs. The names of the 30 award winners who protested were not even announced. It is heartbreaking that a number of award winners, including Fahadh Faasil, who won Best Supporting Actor for Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, and Parvathy, who won Special Mention for Take Off, both in Malayalam, returned home without their National Awards. We are proud the National Awards still go to those truly deserving them, mostly. Bollywood, which usually hogs the limelight, is shown its true place in Indian cinema at the National Film Awards. Malayalam cinema won 11 major awards, Hindi cinema only eight in comparison; Bengali and Assamese cinema won five each; Marathi cinema won four; Tamil and Telugu cinema won three each.

The President, who is 72, gave no reasons for his self-styled, one-hour Cinderella rule. If he had medical issues, he could reasonably have declined, or split the awards into two sessions.

I have had the honour of attending four National Film Awards — once as an award winner, and thrice on the National Film Award Jury, in 2008, 2011 and 2014. Bungling and uncertainty are a given. I had won the National Award for Best Film Critic for 1998, but received the award only in 2000, because of unstable governments. As I'm usually at the Berlin Film Festival in February, I had asked the DFF about likely dates since October, but they said they would know only at the last minute. I was at the Berlin Film Festival when I was swiftly summoned to New Delhi, so my parents Indu Shedde and S Rammohan went to New Delhi, and my mother received the National Award on my behalf from President KR Narayanan.

On the other hand, Ramendra Naresh, a Dalit student who topped the MCA programme at the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, refused to accept his gold medal from President Kovind at the convocation scheduled last December, to protest against the growing atrocities against Dalits. Along with all this year's award-winners, I applaud Naresh as well.

Meenakshi Shedde is South Asia Consultant to the Berlin Film Festival, award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at meenakshishedde@gmail.com

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The saddest thing is how the people responsible for moral policing are allowed to get away with it. Representational Image

I didn't watch the viral video featuring that young couple being abused and attacked by commuters on the Kolkata metro. I knew it would only upset me, like so many videos populating a million WhatsApp groups now do with depressing regularity. I also expected the faux outrage, followed by young men and women hugging each other publicly in acts of defiance to be documented for their Facebook pages.

That this didn't raise eyebrows a few hours after the furore died down is proof of how insensitive we have all become towards any attack on perceived acts of love. We live in a city that once routinely saw couples being attacked on Valentine's Day until the regressive folk responsible for the attacks realised it didn't get them brownie points. We also live in a city where couples holding hands have to deal with thousands of people eyeing them warily, as if the act of holding another human being's hand is alien to our culture. That this is the same culture that gave birth to the sculptures of Khajuraho is lost on millions of our countrymen who scan the streets for acts of intimacy that make them uncomfortable.

In 2015, a young man was stripped and brutally assaulted in public by right-wing activists in Mangalore who had a problem with him being in the company of a girl with different religious beliefs. They couldn't stand the idea of two young people choosing to ignore something as inane as religion in order to find a human connection. That same year, another young man in Kerala was beaten to death by a mob after being found in the house of a woman. To put this into perspective, there were a lot of people offended by what two adults were doing in the privacy of their own homes.

There's a streak of misogyny that runs through these attacks, too, of course, as anyone who remembers the 2009 attack on a pub in Mangalore will attest to. Young men and women were drinking alcohol, which, according to the clowns who routinely become spokespersons for our culture, was an insult to traditional Indian values. It's interesting how all these values involve men making decisions on behalf of women, worrying about their morality, taking it upon themselves to decide how women ought to behave in public for their own good.

What happened to the 13 couples and 35 other young men and women who were rounded up by the Mumbai police a couple of years ago following raids at hotels? They were all consenting adults who had simply checked into several hotels in Madh Island and Aksa. How can a supposedly civilised country justify the idea of policemen knocking on doors and taking couples into custody for choosing to spend time in a room together?

How do we reconcile something as barbaric and regressive as an 'anti-Romeo' squad? How do we make sense of people claiming to be offended by men and women kissing? How do people doing what evolution compels them to do offend other people? How do we explain to visitors that we live in a country where it's perfectly okay for policemen to ignore criminals and spend time patrolling public spaces in order to prevent men from being anywhere near women? And if this is how authorities believe they are protecting women from sexual harassment, what does that say about how millions of Indian men are taught to behave around women?

The saddest thing about these incidents is how the people responsible for them are allowed to get away with it. There aren't even slaps on the wrists, let alone repercussions that lead to any genuine change. People believe it's perfectly okay to harass a couple for hugging in public because they know that a mob can get away with murder. It's also why mobs do get away with murder so often in the world's largest democracy.

People who have problems with couples indulging in public displays of affection probably behave the way they do because they have never received much affection themselves. If you want to leave this country a better place than the way you found it, please do the right thing and hug your children, partners and loved ones more often. Also, please do it in public.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

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BS Yeddyurappa submits his resignation as Karnataka chief minister to Governor Vajubhai Vala in Bengaluru on Saturday. Pic/PTI

At a press conference moments after BS Yeddyurappa quit as Karnataka chief minister for the third occasion in his life, this time after just two impotent days, Congress president Rahul Gandhi was asked if he would demand Governor Vajubhai Vala's resignation. Just the day before, Rahul had tweeted that Vala's decision to invite Yeddyurappa to form a government, despite being short of a majority and not having any other party's support, was "unconstitutional". Yet, with the press he was philosophical: "What's the point?" Rahul said. "Even if Governor Vala is made to go, Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi would put another puppet in his place, who will take exactly the same decisions."

Rahul repeatedly stressed the point that the RSS, through Modi, is out to destroy all institutions in India because it respects no institution other than the RSS. Modi did not behave like a democrat, he said, but like a "dictator". (Also, the Congress president referred to his BJP counterpart as "murder accused Amit Shah".)

Some Indians don't mind Modi being a dictator. They think democracy in India is too slow and needs to be speeded up. Not only is this sentiment justified by pseudo-Darwinism — so what if the poor get left behind? — it doesn't seem to bother them that subverting Constitutional niceties may backfire on them one day, when the Great Leader is replaced by someone else, perhaps another regional leader in a hurry. For now it's okay if their Governors try one thing in Manipur and Goa, and then try the opposite in Karnataka.

Rahul did not mention, however, the elephant in the room: the occupant of the highest constitutional office in the land. For much of the republic's life we have had some pretty ordinary occupants in Rashtrapati Bhawan, and one need not go far back in history to find some awful examples. Pratibha Patil was nominated by the UPA to be India's first woman president, but she was far from a leading advocate of gender-equality or even equal-pay issues during her career; her elevation was simply an exercise in tokenism —much in the way that Ram Nath Kovind's is. (Another pedestrian candidate, to my mind, was fixer and murky backroom boy Pranab Mukherjee, who in 2012 end-gamed then Congress President Sonia Gandhi into nominating him.)

President Kovind isn't even the first dalit in Rashtrapati Bhawan. The first was KR Narayanan, who unlike President Kovind, had a distinguished career as a diplomat and an academician before he became vice-president (and in 1997, president). President Kovind's achievements have been modest in the field of education; and though he was personal assistant to Prime Minister Morarji Desai, he has been a Hindutva ideologue for over a quarter of a century. The RSS considers him its man.

President Kovind isn't anywhere near the stratosphere of popularity achieved by the other NDA nominee for president, the late APJ Abdul Kalam, who succeeded Narayanan in 2002. On the contrary, President Kovind was earlier this month left looking diminished thanks to former information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani (repeatedly the proverbial bull in Modi's china shop) who mismanaged his presentation of the National Film Awards, provoking many artistes to boycott the function. (The photos were catastrophic, showing rows of empty seats at the function.)

President KR Narayanan distinguished himself in office with a couple of correct Constitutional decisions that shocked the political establishment, because he acted impartially rather than be the government's rubber stamp. In October 1997, he returned the recommendation by then Prime Minister IK Gujral's to put UP under President's Rule. He is the only president to have refused to impose central rule (he did it again the next year), setting an important precedent for federalism.

Given the recent partisanship of members of the Election Commission and of the Supreme Court, and with Governor Vala's naked and shameless partiality — he disregarded recommendations by various Centre-State Commissions set up since Independence on the Governor's role in inviting a party for government formation — you need not be a rocket scientist to predict President Kovind's behaviour if the 2019 election produces a hung parliament.

Imagine a scenario where the BJP wins about 180 seats and the Congress wins about 185, or the other way around. Forget for a moment how the pre-poll and post-poll alliances shape up. Then ask yourself the question: who will President Kovind invite first to form the government? This must be weighing on the minds of Rahul Gandhi and his team. It is obvious to most of us why Modi appoints whoever he appoints to high Constitutional office — it is to do his bidding. President Kovind's critical moment in history will come when he will have to make a choice — to be another KR Narayanan, or to be another Vajubhai Vala.

Aditya Sinha's latest book, The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI, and the Illusion of Peace (HarperCollins India), written with former spychiefs AS Dulat and Asad Durrani, is out this week. He tweets @autumnshade Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

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Cousins Ayush, Aryan and Arjun Asher enjoy some quiet book reading time with their friend Rudra Shukla at their Worli residence. Pic/Ashish Raje

Of gods and humans

Author Arshia Sattar is no stranger to mythological retellings. Best known for her English translation of Valmiki's Ramayana, Sattar recently released a new children's collection titled Garuda and the Serpents (Juggernaut Books), which draws from the Puranas, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana to deliver stories that will evoke both wonder and delight. From tales of why the gods and the asuras churned the ocean, to how Vishwamitra and Vasishtha became enemies for life, these marvellous adventures of gods and humans is not to be given a miss. And, with Sattar, who has a PhD in South Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago, helming the narrative, these stories, we know, rest in safe hands.

Garuda and the Serpents by Arshia Sattar
Age Group: 10+
Price: Rs 350

A rare friendship

The recently-released graphic novel, Indira (Context, Westland), definitely has a special place in history. The young adult novel, which has been brilliantly executed by writer Devapriya Roy and animation filmmaker and illustrator Priya Kuriyan, begins with the story of Indira Thapa, a Std VI student at a government school, who is given an assignment to write an essay around her namesake. Over the course of a long, hot summer and a curious friendship with an artist who is working on a biography of Gandhi, Thapa gets tangled up in the life and times of the country's only female prime minister Indira Gandhi. Through graphic panels and beautiful prose, Roy and Kuriyan lead us through Gandhi's rich legacy, including her rise during the Bangladesh War (1971) and fall, post the Emergency (1975-77). This one is for teenagers who'd like to revisit history differently.

Indira by Devapriya Roy and Priya Kuriyan
Age Group: 13+
Price: Rs 599

Magic on wheels

Lavanya Karthik's Neel on Wheels (Duckbill) is what we think, should be on every kid's must-read list. The book, illustrated by Habib Al, tells the story of Neel, who is wheelchair bound. But, that's hardly holding him back. Neel's wheelchair transforms itself to fight dragons and monsters and chase away scary creatures of the night. One of the prize winners in the Children First contest — started to create more books featuring children with disabilities as protagonists — this book deals sensitively with his challenges and the lovely relationship between Neel and his younger brother, who regards him with awe and respect.

Neel on Wheels by Lavanya Karthik and Habib Al
Age Group: 5+
Price: Rs 299

Family matters

Sharanya Manivannan's poetry is a sheer delight to read. With The Ammuchi Puchi (Puffin Books), the poet and writer has collaborated with illustrator Nerina Canzi to tell the story of Aditya and Anjali, who love listening to their grandmother's stories. Unfortunately, their lives fall apart on the night their grandmother passes away. Suddenly, her stories seem to lose their meaning. It's only when something magical happens that they feel their grandma is with them, after all. The dreamy illustrations complement the poetic prose, for a poignant story.

The Ammuchi Puchi by Sharanya Manivannan and Nerina Canzi
Age Group: 4-7
Price: Rs 199

Grandma knows best

No summer reading is complete without escaping into the stories by author Ruskin Bond. In his new book, Memories of Hills and Dales (Rupa), Bond's protagonist is an affectionate, brimming-with-stories grandmother, who shares tales of the past with her granddaughter Koki. From a mysterious kiss by a stranger in the dark to schoolboys taking off for a trek to a glacier, an old kite-maker reminiscing about his heydays and a beautiful village girl whose charms a city boy can't resist, this slice-of-life collection — many of which are autobiographical — takes us through the life in the hills and the joys, sorrows and excitement it holds.

Memories of Hills and Dales by Ruskin Bond
Age Group: 8+
Price: Rs 195

Suitcase memories

Nidhi Chanani's heart-warming debut graphic novel, Pashmina (HarperCollins India) weaves a tale about the hardship and self-discovery that is born from juggling two cultures. The story revolves around Priyanka Das, who has many unanswered questions — why did her mother abandon her home in India? What was it like there? And, most importantly, who is her father, and why did her mom leave him behind? Pri's mom avoids all these questions. For Pri, her homeland only exists in her imagination, until she finds a mysterious pashmina tucked away in a forgotten suitcase. When she wraps herself in it, she is transported to a fantasy world more vivid and colourful than anything she could have ever imagined. But to know whether this world is for real, she needs to travel further. For young readers, Chanani creates a world that magical through her prose and illustrations.

Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani
Age Group: 8+
Price: Rs 399

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Photographer and graphic designer Anusha Yadav started the Indian Memory Project, an online, visual, narrative-based archive in 2010, to trace the history of the subcontinent via photographs and letters. Pic/Ashish Raje

EarLier this week, artist and oral historian Aanchal Malhotra, 28, travelled nearly 240 km to Chandigarh from Delhi, to meet a nonagenarian, who had lived through the Partition of 1947. As she speaks about it now, there's a lump in her throat. "I couldn't sleep that entire night," Malhotra confesses. "Even 70 years on, the woman is so afraid to talk about it. It had everything, from gun fire, to fleeing from her home in Pakistan, to her brother and mother being taken as prisoners, and to giving birth in a forest on her way to India. When she first delivered the baby, her immediate response was to throw it away. You can imagine what trauma she was experiencing." What surprised Malhotra most was when the 90-year-old asked her what she would do with her story. "I said that I wanted to publish it. The woman's immediate response was, 'who will read this?'. They really think that nobody cares. But, this is the story that has shaped the future of contemporary India."

The jewellery Aanchal Malhotra is wearing, was made in the North-West Frontier Province and was given to her great-grandmother, Lajvanti Gulyani, by her in-laws on her wedding to Hari Chand Gulyani in the year 1919. But it could have been in the Gulyani family before that as well. Since she became a widow quite young and was a single mother at the time of Partition, it was carried by her to India in 1947 because she thought she would be able to sell it and earn money to put her children through school. She then gave it to Malhotra’s grandmother, who has now given it to her. Pic/Nishad Alam

Malhotra is the author of Remnants of Separation (HarperCollins India), a book that revisited the Partition through objects carried across the border, and the co-founder — along with Navdha Malhotra — of The Museum of Material Memory, a digital repository of material culture of the Indian subcontinent, tracing family histories and ethnography through heirlooms and objects of antiquity. Since the launch of the archive last year, the founders have put together over 35 heartwarming object stories. Closer home, photographer and graphic designer Anusha Yadav's Indian Memory Project — an online, visual, narrative-based archive, founded in 2010, which traces the history of the subcontinent via photographs and letters — has helped us see history in another light. There is also Paris-based perfumer Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan, whose recently-published book, Pukka Indian: 100 objects that Define India (Roli Books), documents the most coveted symbols and designs representing our culture, by tracing its origin and significance in our lives. All three projects while different in essence and form, have one common intent — to record untold stories from our history and preserve them for posterity. But, as Malhotra's subject asked her, why should anyone be curious?

The chakla and belan originated in 7,500 – 6,000 BCE in Punjab. At the time, this region was cultivating wheat and barley extensively. Rather than using the flatness of the chakla and the pressure of the belan to what we might expect to be used around the country to make flatbread, whatever the ingredient might be, it is only in this region of north India that the chakla and belan were used simply because wheat and barley lend themselves to kneading. What must have been perceived as a high-technology kitchen tool then, the chakla and belan soon spread to other parts of the country. Text courtesy/Pukka India by Jahnvi Lakhota Nanda, Roli books; Pic/Shivani Gupta

Celebrating the mundane
Nandan, an alumnus of the School of Art and Design at Tsukuba University, Japan, admits that her project stemmed out of her curiosity to find out about the designs that define us an Indian. "Design is a mirror of our attitudes and habits. Through the course of writing this book on Indian design, I found that uniquely Indian gestures like churning, combing and calculating were reflected in it," she writes in the book. From the dabba, agarbatti, and kulhad, to Babuline gripe water, most of the objects Nandan chose for the book, have "either been made or originated in India, or have an element that is very Indian, or are being used in a very Indian context".

This picture is of Purvi Sanghvi’s grandfather Dwarkadas Jivanlal Sanghvi (extreme right in a black coat) and his brother Vallabhdas Jivanlal Sanghvi with their business partners at a Pen Exhibition in Bombay around 1951. The family ran Wilson Pens that quickly rose to huge fame and became a preferred choice of pens across the country. All government offices, law court, used the Wilson pens. The Wilson Pen Family made the orange, thick-nibbed pen that wrote the most fundamental document that defines the state of India: The Constitution of India written by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Pic, Text Courtesy/Indian Memory Project/Contributed by Purvi Sanghvi, Mumbai

It's while working on the book that Nandan realised how "our own homes are a repository of history". Here, she relays an incident when Shivani Gupta, the photographer for Pukka Indian, had been anxious about finding a mandira — a butter churner — that Nandan had mentioned in the book. "She went home, and realised that she had five of them in her kitchen. She didn't even know she was sitting on so much wealth." Nandan adds, "We don't tend to celebrate the mundane. What we celebrate are things that have obvious value, like jewellery, the beautification of the body or the exotic."

Paris-based perfumer Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan's recent book, Pukka Indian, documents the most coveted symbols and designs representing Indian culture, by tracing its origin and significance in the lives of its users. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Object as a catalyst
Malhotra's interest in people's histories began while working on Remnants of Separation, which was an extension of her Master of Fine Arts thesis project for Concordia University, Canada. Malhotra's research began after she came across a gaz (a measuring device) and ghara (a pot), which belonged to her nana's family, and had crossed the border. "Sometimes the Partition is too traumatic to speak about. When I started my research, I didn't know where to begin or what I could ask, without sounding frivolous. The object became a catalyst to enter into that conversation. So, rather than me saying 'Oh! You lived through the Partition, that must be awful,' I was now asking relevant questions, like 'why did you choose to take this gold bangle with you?'. The object then, didn't become something that recessed into the background, but something around which the entire background was arranged."

That's when she and Navdha decided to start The Museum of Material Memory. The duo encourages everyone to contribute, provided the object is from or before the 1970s. The archive comprises everything from a 5-inch-long, mottled sewing needle to a chaddar with traditional baagh and phulkari embroidery and a former Class II Income-Tax officer's diary filled up with the repeated words 'Sri Rama Jayam', meaning Jai Sri Ram. Each post is accompanied with the story behind the object. "Material ethnography is so vastly explored in the West, especially when it comes to events of trauma and crisis. What we are recording here, will never be found in any textbook. We need active memoralisation, not just of traumatic events, but of our tradition and culture, which is primarily oral."

Not just for nostalgia's sake
The indianmemoryproject.com, says Yadav, started off as a book idea, where she wanted to collect old, wedding photographs. "I wanted to document the idea of weddings in different cultures, and explore the entire phenomena behind the crew that makes it possible," she says. "While the book didn't happen, the pictures stayed with me." That's how, her archive, a first-of-its-kind in India, took off. "If you are fascinated with history, you will know that India really is a melting pot. Every civilisation has passed through it. And so we have all kinds of DNA in us. And considering photography was discovered two centuries ago, we did have a lot of content to discuss," says Yadav.

She admits that it wasn't as easy to get people to share their photographs or talk about their stories. "But, there needs to be integrity, transparency and you need to earn the trust of your subject. When you have these value systems in place, people are more open. I always thought of the archive as an institution." Funding for the project has been tough, says the archivist. "When I began, I was very clear that I didn't want to become a trust. Unfortunately, that's the channel through which most of the money comes from. But, there's a server and maintenance cost and the site constantly needs to be upgraded. Now, I have started putting in requests for honorariums. The only way I will get money is through a private funder, who is fascinated with the idea, and wants to back it as well. Sometimes, when a good sum comes from my own work as a photographer, part of the profits go to it. At the end of the day, it is an unofficial record of history, and I'm doing my best to sustain it."

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Over a phone call from Kolkata, Vikram Rajan*, an audio engineer and guitarist formerly based out of Mumbai, wants us to listen to a track that he has composed. It's available on Soundcloud and, as we stream it, we more or less agree that its flavour of electronica-jazz could accompany a languorous Sunday evening. "For a long time, I had been unable to come up with something good. And, then, I composed this around March while I was microdosing and sometimes, megadosing on acid," says Rajan.

The 33-year-old is referring to a way-of-life that's effectively snapping the ties between drug abuse and the creative arts. This is a lifestyle experiment that some of the brightest techies in Silicon Valley are engaging in, and has got psychiatrists and anti-drug crusaders distraught. "From a 100 mics paper, I take about 20 mics, twice a week, giving the doses a 2-3 days gap. The effects of acid last for about six hours for me," says Rajan, who started experimenting with drugs as a teenager.

After a litany of prescriptions failed to control her mood swings and depression, Ayelet Waldman found relief in LSD. The former federal public defender authored A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life, in 2016. She wrote: "(It) made room in my mind not necessarily for joy, but for insight. It allowed me a little space to consider how to act in accordance with my values, not just react to external stimuli. This, not the razzle-dazzle of pleasure, was its gift." Pic/Getty Images

In need of a quick glossary before we proceed? Acid is officially called Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), a psychedelic drug banned in India, the possession of which can lead to imprisonment from one to 20 years under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. LSD is often illegally sold in the form of stamps, with the hallucinogen embedded on blotter paper. Mics is micrograms, that's one-millionth of a gram. A microdose is when you have about one-tenth of a recreational 'party' dose, which starts at about 200 mics.

"With microdosing, you are not tripping — this is not a trip. The euphoria isn't there. It's not about feeling good, it's about calmness," continues Rajan. Microdosing first hit headlines after Steve Jobs' passed away in 2011, when a number of inspiring tales on how LSD became the new go-to substance for enhanced performance by tech employees hit the net. Espresso became passé. 'Flow states' were the new yoga. While Jobs did more than just microdose (he was known to have gone all the way), Silicon Valley techies are reportedly doing acid in quantities such that their effects are 'sub-perceptual', where you won't "see stuff" but you harness its "positive" effects.

A dropper with CBD cannabis oil, used for medicinal purposes. Initial research in the area has shown that patients can reap the benefits without its full-blown 'high' effects

Paul Austin, founder of The Third Wave, where you will find a manifesto on microdosing, defines it as, "the act of integrating sub-perceptual doses of psychedelics, such as LSD or Psilocybin Mushrooms, into your weekly routine for higher levels of creativity, more energy, increased focus, and improved relational skills." The Third Wave, according to Austin, follows the first two waves, in which psychedelics were used indigenously for thousands of years, and then, in the 60s and 70s, when they were a part of American counterculture. Austin writes that The Third Wave is upon us, "brought about by recent developments in cannabis legalisation and psychedelic research — and it will change the way mainstream culture perceives psychedelic use."

Classically acid, now weed
For Rajan, however, it wasn't sub-perceptual Silicon Valley that got him to ration his 100 mics stamps, each of which costs about R2,000. It was simply a matter of demand and supply. Mumbai had better stuff than Kolkata, and more availability. Microdosing has classically been associated with LSD, but now has been extended to cannabis as well. Austin's website has guided instructions for microdosing on nine drugs, including cannabis and ayahuasca. Mumbai-based communications officer Varna Kumar*, 25, smokes a mandatory post-work joint every night in order to cope with anxiety and panic attacks. "I feel I have worked enough through the day, without much time to understand what I am going through. At night, when I am by myself, I smoke a small joint to achieve REM sleep," she says. The joint, a mix of two strains, sativa and indica, help her body relax. It makes her anxiety seem defeatable, is how she describes it. Her counsellor, who also smokes up, has not advocated this as a coping mechanism. "It's different from when I am smoking up recreationally during the weekend or when I am away on a vacation. I will do three to four joints when I have nothing to take care of," she says.

Rajan doesn't buy it. He offers an example that may be best contemplated upon or contested by those who have done both LSD and cannabis. "With weed, you are either stoned, or you are not. You will need to smoke up as soon as the high wears off. When you get stoned, your mind becomes passive. But, microdosing on LSD allows you to be calm enough to multitask, allowing a lot of information to be funnelled into your brain easily. You are alert, you are awake," he says, adding, "What is LSD all about? When you start tripping, you see a shift in perspective." You need not agree with Rajan, as he himself says, "We are all chemical reactions", with each of us reacting differently to drugs.

Covert, not convenient
Microdosing will often be compared to that hard-earned and well-deserved one drink after work hours. It's nothing like that, microdosers will tell you, and so will psychiatrists and rehab therapists. For one, microdosing has none of the ease of getting a drink at your favourite pub. You will be persecuted in your search for your creative spell or a calmer mind. Next, it's not even like getting a drug prescription that your GP advises you to have for the course of a fortnight. Kumar and Rajan know it all too well. Microdosing means self-experimentation, knowing when you are crossing the threshold into recreational high dosages. Cannabis, for instance, is best microdosed through edibles, like space brownies, which are available legally in some parts of the world. It's probably the reason why microdosing is yet to take on Silicon Valley proportions in India. "Here, we don't often get to know what strain of cannabis we are using, or where it is sourced from," says Kumar. Saying "this stuff is craazzyy" is, therefore, not enough if you want to microdose. "If you are living with family, it's hard to make edibles. All this means that the convenience factor associated with a drink is not the same with this covert process," she adds.

The idea of the junkie, with matted hair and piercings, is a stereotype that microdosing is replacing. It's no longer cool to be a junkie, especially in the vegan-conscious, gluten-free, aerial yoga health lifestyle that we are seeing around us. Microdosing may be the most metrosexual among the various kinds of drug use, and it carries the allure of high-performance and alleviation of mental health issues, with published studies to back these up. But doctors and psychiatrists are warning us about the glamourisation of microdosing, even as research to mainstream it for mental health is going on. Psychiatrist Dr Samir Parikh says, "Microdosing encourages the thought process that you need a drug for enhanced performance or better creativity or to calm your nerves. This will mean that students microdose before exams, athletes before a run, couples before a wedding, and the next thing you know, because someone has to attend a birthday bash. There is no end to important situations in life. We are making people believe that a student could have scored an additional five marks in an exam had she just microdosed. Can you imagine the perils of this philosophy?" he says. He backs this up with the number of risks associated with prolonged drug abuse, such as a permanent change in brain circuitry, cerebrovascular diseases, and panic attacks.

Then there are those who will argue that moderation as 'one-drink-a-day' is more addictive than the weekend drunken revelry. Is addiction, even in microdoses, still addiction, where the brain searches for rewards compulsively? Kumar disagrees. "Microdosing is the difference between dependence and addiction. For example, I am dependent on a cab to take me to the station. Can I get through my day without it? Can I walk to the station? Yes, I can. That's what microdosing is. I can get through my day without a joint, but a joint just makes it a little easier," she says.Psychiatrist Dr Yusuf Merchant, who runs a rehabilitation centre at Kalyan, says microdoses pose the risk of turning into overdoses. "With any drug, the body learns to metabolise it faster. Which means, that the quantity for a microdose will keep increasing and your hold on reality will keep getting more tangential."

Rajan himself admits to a 'bad trip'. LSD users will tell you that recreational doses are best done in settings that you feel comfortable in, to enjoy, or cope, with the hallucinations. With microdosing, you are headed into your office or your studio to function better. Rajan had once taken more than a microdose, leading him to have a panic attack, the kind where he couldn't even see his hands. The golden rule, he says, is that if you don't go on a full trip, you will never know what a microdose is.

That ailing pain
The push for microdosing is coming from a quarter where its future seems to be most secured — pain management. Mumbai-based homemaker Susheela Kamath*, 48, was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer a couple of years ago, and having undergone nearly a year's worth of chemotherapy and radiation, the accompanying pain and nausea, were all too real. Her daughter provided her with high-grade hash oil. The dealer provided her with a tiny spoon, the kind that you are handed inflight to stir your coffee with. "I had to initially understand, through a lot of trial and error, by gauging my mother's mood, on what a microdose for her would be. Hash oil is very potent," says the daughter.

A little drop of it on her toast every day, helped Kamath cope with pain. "From the third day to the tenth day after chemotherapy, my mother would have about three to four spoons a day, and, on other days, just half a spoon," says the daughter. Coping with the pain meant she could do more during her day, and also have an appetite. Now, months after she has wound up chemotherapy and radiation, she has bid adieu to the prescription drugs that came along with it, and the hash oil as well, without yearning for that high. Unfortunately, unlike medical grade marijuana that is available in some countries, and still not permitted in India, the daughter did not know if the oil had cannabidiol (CBD), which gives marijuana its medical properties, or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which gives you the "high".

Dr Kailash Kothari, interventional spine and pain management specialist at Fortis Hospital, Mulund, says that there is not enough evidence to either prove or disprove that microdosing on cannabis can help with pain management, the way opioids, such as morphine, act on the nervous system. "Do cannabinoids work like tranquilisers or do they have long-term effect? There is not enough research as of now," he says, adding, "Getting dependent on these takes a lot of time and not something that can happen in about 15 days of use." In the meanwhile, you can enjoy a night of quiet or a better track on Soundcloud by rationing your stash. But, is it short-term solace or long-term abuse?

*All names have been changed on request to protect identity

Palash Kothari. Pic Courtesy/Fahama Sawant

It's a hot, toasty afternoon in Mumbai. We can see bits of the pumpkin-coloured sky through the window blinds. The phone rings once, twice. On the other end is 21-year-old Palash Kothari aka Sparkle and Fade. "I really don't know what to expect," Kothari admits, speaking about his upcoming gig with Bengaluru-based producer-drummer duo Nikhil Narendra and Shreyas Dipali.

The Fringe is a new gig series to be launched in the city, which will feature artistes who create hybrid music. "Hybrid is very open. It can be analogue or digital, classical or jazz, acoustic or electronic, basically the coming together of conventional and non-conventional methods," explains Sainath Bhagwat, programmer at Mixtape, a Mumbai-based artist and event management company.

Nikhil Narendra + Shreyas Dipali. Pic courtesy/Mayuresh Vartak

"In the current scenario, there's a bulk of electronic and live music being made, which cannot be performed/consumed in a traditional club space. The idea for this night was born out of a collective desire to create a platform to showcase these artists in the right environment," Sainath adds.

Unsure of what to call Kothari's music, we dawdle between electronic and bedroom producer (a term used for musicians making and producing experimental music in their bedrooms) hoping to understand the use of Hindustani classical samples in his older EPs. "I am not sure what to call my music either. I began playing the synth when I was three and then, I trained in Hindustani classical. That was my first step into music, so the influence comes from wanting to put a little bit of me as a child into the music I make now," he elaborates.

"I was listening to pop and EDM in high school. Swedish House Mafia's concert in India inspired me to finally put my music out. Then I got bored, because it wasn't satisfying. So, I started making music that I felt right about. I mellowed down a little as a person and I guess that comes through in the sound, which is more solitary now," he says.

For Kothari, while the influences are aplenty, not mimicking takes conscious effort. "I am working on something now. So, I am going to stop listening to other music because it's difficult not to emulate them. I don't see any point in making music that already exists. In effect, this will probably also be my last gig before my new stuff is out," he signs off.

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Stretching from the imposing skyrises of Colaba and Malabar Hill to the fishermen's colonies in Worli, the prestigious VVIP Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency is the richest in the country making it a high-stakes affair for the two main contestants - Shiv Sena sitting MP Arvind G. Sawant and rival Milind M. Deora of the Congress.

Despite being wealthy, the constituency is barely 'generous' in exercising its franchise - it was way back in 1967, when George Fernandes won on a single point agenda of providing sufficient water supply to all, that 67.42 per cent electorate voted.

Again in 1991, the voting percentage plummeted to an abysmal 38.65, giving credence to the belief that people in high-rises remain indifferent to the political process. But in 2014 the percentage went up to a modest 52.48.

The population of Mumbai South is approximately 20 lakh and the voter strength is 14,85,846 including 15 per cent of some of the country's richest, a large 70 per cent dollop of middle-class and a sprinkling of 15 per cent eking out an existence in slums in what is one of the few fully urbanized constituencies of India.

Unconcerned by the turnout figures, Shiv Sena's Sawant exudes is optimistic of winning again.

"I am the voice of the masses and the classes. I have been present whenever and wherever I was needed in the past five years," Sawant told IANS.

On his rival Deora, he shot back: "Where was he for the past four years and nine months? This is what commoners and business community ask me. It is my work for all sections and my contacts with the masses that will decide the election."

Though incommunicado despite repeated attempts by IANS, the former Union Minister Deora has remained unflustered by the opposition barbs.

After all, in a political-corporate coup of sorts, last fortnight, he secured the open support of key players from India Inc, sending panic waves in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Sena combine.

Ranked as one of the most cosmopolitan constituencies, Mumbai South is beset with many problems that have remained unresolved over the years.

"There are hundreds of old buildings, ancient sewage lines, house gullies, traffic congestion and slum pockets in Darukhana, BPT, Colaba and Worli which are of great concern," Waris Pathan, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's sole Mumbai MLA, told IANS.

Though there is the ambitious Coastal Road project coming up, Patyan says "a lot will depend on its implementation, or it will be disastrous for the entire city".

Besides, there is the gnawing problem of security in the region which has witnessed two of the worst terror strikes in the country - the 1993 serial bomb blasts and the 2008 terror strikes.

Not surprising, since this constituency is home to the country's most affluent business districts which contribute hugely to the national exchequer, some of the poshest residential complexes, Indian and foreign banks, and national and international firms are headquartered here.

There are also offices of global corporates, airlines, embassies, luxury hotels, swanky restaurants and pubs, global tourist attractions, open shopping plazas, malls and multiplexes, reputed schools, colleges, an array of heritage buildings, the official residences of Maharashtra Governor, Chief Minister, the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and other judges, the Legislature and the Mantralaya.

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In times when Mumbaikars are criticised for not turning up to vote, many people in the North constituency could not vote because their names were missing from the electoral list. All of them have been voting in many elections, even from the same polling booths.

Gyanchand Somani, a 61-year-old Gorai resident, was frustrated after running around from one polling station to another, to find his and his wife's name in the voters' list. "This is not the first time I am voting. And my address has also not changed. How is it possible that my name is not in the list?" questioned Somani.

Bharat Desai's name was also missing

Bharat Desai, a 71-year-old resident of Eksar was also shocked to find that his name was not in the list. "I have been living on D N Mhatre Road for so many years and have always voted from St Rocks' school poll station," said Desai.

Nityanand Nair, who was born and brought up in LIC Colony in Borivali west had the same story to tell. "My entire family is missing from the list whereas we have been voting regularly," said Nair.

Disha Shah, a first time voter, also could not vote as her name was missing

A 22-year-old Babhai resident, Disha Shah, who was excited to vote for the first time was also disappointed. "My family members names were there, but mine was missing," she said.

Initially Mitali Sarvankar, a 21-year-old Kandivali resident was disappointed that her name was not in the list, but she managed to find it. "I found my name in Oxford Public School's list, thanks to the helpdesks set-up by different political parties," said Mitali who excitedly showed her inked finger.

Mitali Sarvankar found her name thanks to a helpdesk

Ganesh Mandals help

In areas such as Borivali and Kandivali, Ganesh Mandals, Senior Citizen's groups etc helped voters find their names in the lists and where they had to go to vote. "Though we are registered as Ganesh Mandals, we are all friends from this locality and hold several other activities. Setting up a helpdesk is part of our work," said Deepak Thorat, president of the Shree Siddhivinayak Navatarun Mitra Mandal.

Vijay Kate and his friends, all senior citizens also set up helpdesks. "So many people are frustrated with their names missing from voters' list. There have been instances when two family members' names are there and others are missing," said Kate.

Local restaurants pitch in

Several local restaurants had put up stalls to give out coupons of 10 per cent discount to voters. Many voters made it a point to stop by to pick them up.

Also Read: Elections 2019 in Mumbai: Voters, poll officials confused over ban on mobile phones

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Mumbai: Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has said Indians were, in the past, enslaved by an 'Italian government', in a veiled jibe at the Congress party. The 32-year-old, while speaking to reporters after casting her vote at a polling station in Khar area in Mumbai on Monday, said, "This (polling day) is a very important day for us, it comes only once in five years. I feel India is gaining independence today in real sense. Earlier, Indians were slaves of British, Mughal and Italian governments. Please exercise your Swaraj (independence) and vote."

The 'Italian government' remark is an apparent reference to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who was born and raised in Italy. Gandhi was the president of the Congress party for nearly two decades before handing over responsibilities to her son Rahul Gandhi in December 2017. Kangana went on to say that the situation that prevailed in the country was the worst during Congress' government at the Centre.

"The political leaders used to chill in London and the country used to suffer from an array of issues like poverty, pollution, rapes etc. The situation in our country was worst when Congress was in power. Now that our time has come, we should vote in large numbers," she added.

Polling was held on Monday for 72 seats across nine states including five seats in Bihar, one in Jammu and Kashmir, three in Jharkhand, six each in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, 13 each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, eight in West Bengal and 17 in Maharashtra. An overall voter turnout of 64.05 per cent was registered in the fourth phase of polling. Seven-phase elections will end on May 19, and results will be declared on May 23.

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Haitham with Shah Rukh Khan on the sets of Dil Hai Hindustani where the two sang SRK’s chartbuster Jabra Fan

When we meet Haitham Mohammed Rafi inside the dimly-lit sets of a popular music reality show, he stands out from those sitting beside him. The white of his traditional dishdasha and the colourful turban — called the massar — make him look like an anomaly. The 23-year-old appears to be closely observing his fellow singer — a girl half his age — who is on stage and singing the famous DDLJ-towel song, 'Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye,' when we raise our hand and call for his attention. There is instant recognition.

"Wallah!" he yells out in Arabic. "How come, you here?" he goes on, in his Middle-Eastern accent.

It has been three years since we first met Haitham. The last time it was in his hometown Muscat, the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman. "I will sing in Bollywood, someday, Inshallah!" he had then rapped, much to the amusement of this correspondent. At the time, we had wished him luck, without mocking his expectations or pointing out the risks.

Last week, when a video of filmmaker Karan Johar sitting in stunned silence after Haitham’s performance of Naina Thag Lenge, went viral on Arab social media, this writer was glad she had kept mum then.

Haitham, an Omani national, has just made it in the final 11 of the first season of music reality show Dil Hai Hindustani. Being an Arab, has only worked in his favour. For the judges, Johar, Badshah, Shalmali Kholgade and Shekhar Ravjiani (of Vishal-Shekhar fame), the first question on their mind was, “Can an Arab sing in Hindi?”

"Okay, maybe!" "But, that good!"

"I have Mohammed Rafi’s blessings," Haitham jokes. Not like, we hadn’t been meaning to ask him the story behind his namesake. Haitham al Balushi takes his middle name, Mohammed Rafi, from his father, who was surprisingly christened by the veteran Hindi singer himself. "Though Omani, my grandfather was a huge fan of Mohammed Rafi," he recounts. “When my father was born, Rafi saab was performing in Bahrain. My grandfather, who was working there, went for the show and managed to have a quick chat with him backstage," he says, adding, “He told Rafi saab, I want you to name my newborn.” The rest, as the Balushi family recalls, is history.

Until seven months ago, Haitham worked as a personal banker with a leading national bank in Muscat. “It was so boring. I hated going to work...it was suffocating," he says. Unable to take it anymore, Haitham put in his papers, and ferociously started looking for opportunities to sing. "I wanted to pursue my passion," he says. We ask him what that is? And, pat comes the reply, "I want to become the first Arab playback singer and composer in Bollywood." Haitham has been harbouring that dream since he was 11.

In Oman, Haitham says, there is no concept of vocal training. "If you're a good singer, you're a good singer." His only source of Bollywood music was audiocassettes and CDs as a child, and later YouTube. "So, when I told my Omani friends that I wanted to become a singer, they laughed. They said, 'You can’t make it big in India…it is so tough'."

On an Indian friend’s advise, he started listening to a lot of ghazals. "I was told that it would help me get my nuances and accent right," he says. His favourite ghazal singers are Jagjit Singh and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. But, that's how Haitham’s Bollywood dreams first took flight.

In 2012, he became the first Omani to win Muscat Idol, which sees participants mostly from the Indian Diaspora. From there on, due to dearth of a great body of work, Haitham started composing music for Omani TV shows. “But, I realised that I wasn’t enjoying Arabic music. Each time, I sang in Hindi, I was happier,” he says. Of the 500 songs he has composed, 450 were in Hindi. “My mum knew I wasn’t meant for Oman. So, she kept pushing me to try my luck at Indian reality shows,” he says. He tried thrice and failed. The fourth time, he decided to think practically and opted for 'The Voice Ahla Sawt', the Arabic version of the international music show. “Even there, I could not fit in,” he says. This December, after five years of working towards his dream, he got the call. And, that too, from India.

Here, he is still just another contender at the show. But, back home, things have changed for Haitham. After a video of his performance went viral, Omanis in Muscat, who he claims love Hindi cinema, have gone into an overdrive. “I’ve already signed 13 shows in Muscat and Dubai,” he says. “My friends are buying the Indian digital channels, just to watch my show.”

"I think it's a proud moment for my country," Haitham says. Just as we end, he gets his cellphone out, and shows us a photograph of his, clicked with Shah Rukh Khan, where the two are facing each other, striking the latter's signature pose. “India has already opened its arms to me," he gushes.

Last Sunday evening, nearly 400 people made it to Juhu's Novotel Hotel to watch a screening of Pulp Fiction. What made the evening special was that the "seats" i.e. the gaddas were laid by the pool, with cool breeze blowing in from the Arabian Sea.

It was the first film screening in the city organised by SteppinOut Movie Nights, which has presence across Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore. Ojal Kulkarni, the brand head for the firm, says they chose Novotel for its cool vibe and plan a movie night at the venue every two months.

In a city that's brimming with cinephiles it only makes sense to have non-commercial venues that will screen the classics as well as the indie films. And, Novotel promises to be a killer of a venue. Tickets will range from Rs 300 to Rs 400 and the movies will be chosen after a poll is conducted on their FB page.

But, if you can't wait until then to catch a screening of some well-curated films, along with other lovers of cinema, here are the some of the other venues in the city to watch out for.

RD Burman composed for more than 300 films in a career spanning 30 years

This weekend, a group of music enthusiasts is going to deconstruct the thin line between imitation and inspiration at a talk on Hindi film music. The works of RD Burman, Shankar-Jaikishan and OP Nayyar will be discussed at the event.

Shankar-Jaikishan ruled from 1949 to 1986

“Many tried to imitate a sound that worked well with listeners in that period. In fact, film producers would encourage music directors to do so. The music of Laxmikant-Pyarelal and Kalyanji-Anandji was close to the sound created by Shankar-Jaikishan and Burman,” says Ramesh KV, one of the speakers. “If you listen to the orchestration of a song, you will think it belongs to Burman, but it actually is by someone else,” he adds.

The full panel includes R Balaji, Shankar Iyer, Archisman Mozumder and Subramanian Iyer.

On: April 15, 7.30 pm
At: Pitaara – The Art Box, Yashwant Nagar, Goregaon (W).
Call: 9820393001
Entry: Rs 250

(From left) Kamal Sidhu, Purab Kohli, Dino Morea, Maria Goretti, Cyrus Sahukar, Mini Mathur, Cyrus Broacha, Luke Kenny. Location Courtesy/The Bombay Canteen; Pics/Rane Ashish

When video killed the radio star in the 1990s, we were not complaining. Our eyes were glued to the TV as cable television made its debut. We had heard our rock and pop idols on FM, and now, we had them, in our living rooms. MTV had landed, followed by Channel V. Along with them came a glam and chatty species called VJs. On them we pinned our hope for a favourite song, crushed on them, and sought fashion wisdom during our fumbling teenage years. Suddenly, we had new pin-up stars.

At a reunion of India's first set of VJs at Lower Parel's The Bombay Canteen, we saw model-VJ from MTV and Channel V Kamal Sidhu; the brain behind Channel V Luke Kenny; mad-hatter MTV VJ Cyrus Broacha; crush-worthy Channel V VJ Purab Kohli; model-actor with dear dimples Dino Morea; MTV's effervescent Mini Mathur; MTV's Mr Comical Cyrus Sahukar and MTV VJ-turned-food TV host Maria Goretti.

Madness ensued, with a whole lot of laughter and wisecracks. There were blows below the belt but not a brow was raised. For us, the '90s kids, they were the epitome of cool. It's true that we saw them in a different light — some of them are now parents — but they are just as charming.

Launching with the '90S
Kamal: I think I speak for everyone when I say, without the '90s, we wouldn't have had a career.

Mini: I was doing TV much before music television arrived. At that time, all of it was based out of Delhi, and only fiction came out of Bombay. But the music channels made it all cool.

Cyrus S: There were a handful of these networks in operation. It was a great time to be in and we got away with murder.

Luke: One of the things that happened was that the 18 to 24 demographic was created. That's the demographic for youth programming even today. Once 2000 rolled in, the concept of the TV anchor was born, but the VJ had died.

Kamal Sidhu makes a point as Purab Kohli listens in

Kamal: While the role of the VJ was fairly new to India, around the world there were VJs we were exposed to. In Canada, we had a local music channel, which didn't allow MTV to enter the country. There was Downtown Julie Brown (who hosted Club MTV from 1987 to 1992). On the show, the light switch went on, with the camera going up her legs and under her skirt, while she went, 'Waba Waba Waba Downtown Julie Brown'. She was among the real pioneers. When MTV launched in Asia, we beamed shows from Hong Kong. And, then, we launched in India with a party at the Taj Mahal Hotel [in 1992] in Mumbai. It was called The Bombay Blast Weekend. It received a lot of backlash, I remember, because the riots (Babri Masjid) had just happened.

Where i want to be: Vjing
Maria: I used to watch Kamal and Danny [McGill] VJ, and, suddenly, I was one of them. I didn't know what I was getting into until I did. The thing about VJing in the '90s was that it let you be who you wanted to be. I was lucky to be part of something I loved. Today, everyone wants to be something more, so, a lot of people get nudged out of television. MTV put Indian VJs on air and that changed something. It was now damn cool to be Indian; there was no need to have an accent. I didn't realise I was cool but apparently, I was.

Purab: I joined Channel V as a host for a travel show, and, gradually, when other slots opened, I started VJing too. There was a serious naiveté back then and VJing wasn't thought of as a stepping-stone to other things.

Cyrus Sahukar tells a story to Luke Kenny

Cyrus S: We were all there with the knowledge that this where we want to be.

Behind the scenes
Purab: There were times when we shot close to five episodes a day. It was intense. Sophiya [Haque], Laila [Rouass] and Meghna [Reddy] would do their own make up, write their own shows and select their own music. There was a transition, when I came in 1999 to Channel V. There was one show where we were asked to write and select songs. We would run it by Luke.

Cyrus B: Luke? Was everything right?

Purab: Yes!

Cyrus B: Luke himself didn't know what his designation was.

Purab: He would approve songs and that was our process.

Maria: Producers hated it when VJs would get together because that meant no one would be working. Once a year, we did a show together for Christmas or New Year and that would be a blast. I miss all of us working together — miss the travelling, the early morning flights, sleeping at airports because we had missed our plane. When I look back I realise that what I did was part of history.

Music then, music now
Luke: What do I think of the indie music scene? It's very niche, and some of the musicians have a chip on their shoulder. But, that aside, what business are they doing? Few manage to get paying gigs, and whoever turns up to support, comes, has a drink, pays R300 and then doesn't buy the album. How does it help the artist? I have been consulting with Channel V recently, and we are trying to go back to the model where the music channel only plays music, and supports indie acts by giving their originals air time.

Cyrus Broacha monkeys around as Dino Morea greets Kamal Sidhu

Kamal: I remember they would send us pop music videos at the Hong Kong office. And most of them were bad. We had to consciously decide to help some artists with their videos. And then Rahman and acts like Indus Creed came in, and the videos changed.

Luke: Kids today love their pop as they did back in the '90s.

Kamal: It was more authentic back then.

Luke: That's because the labels saw a market and invested in it. No one sees a market in today's indie scene.

Cyrus S: They were competing with an international kind of space and knew that spending money on videos was requisite. Everybody was trying to match international standards.
Kamal: And then everything got homogenised into one game plan — the Bollywood game plan.

The '90S role model
Dino: I landed in Bombay in December 1997, looking for opportunities and I remember sharing a room, not even a flat, with a girl who wanted to be a model too. Back in Bangalore, I remember seeing Kamal. I was in college and had to go meet a photographer. There she was, shooting for some perfume or cosmetics ad, and I was like, "Whoa!" Models were these superstars then. I did stare at her.

Kamal: Did I stare back at you?

Dino: (Laughing) I don't think you noticed me.

Sinking into reality
Kamal: A big change from the '90s, well, is that reality television came about, for better or worse.

Luke: One of the earliest reality shows to come was Channel V's Popstars, from which [girl band] Viva emerged. History rewrote itself in that decade with reality television.

Cyrus B: There was also MTV Bakra, which started towards the end of 1999.

Kids with an edge
Kamal: I think it was the time of the Asian liberation. Everything was booming. Also, it was a time for adjustment. Parents of '90s kids looked at people like us and questioned our place as role models. They said, we need to control the remote control.

Luke: No, there was no parental control at all.

Purab: I think it was because those kids were the first movers into the globalisation space.

Cyrus S: Even I used to come home and watch TV. It was a time when I had a VCP, not even a VCR.

Luke: Do you know why those kids had an edge over today's? Because they didn't have these. (Points to a mobile phone).

Maria: I think it was because there was a more organic interaction between people. The communication was real, which I don't see today. These days, it's about the phone. My kids just asked me why they don't have the blue tick on Instagram. Everyone is looking into their phones. We have become tech-savvy but have lost a bit of the soul. (Snapping her fingers). It's now all about reaching a place and changing the game.

Your fav music video of the '90S was?
Luke: Pretty Child by Indus Creed
Cyrus Sahukar: Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice
Dino: Can't Touch This by MC Hammer
Kamal: Anything by AR Rahman
Maria: Freedom by George Michael
Mini: All Sukhbir and Lucky Ali videos

Make heads turn by carrying a stylish umbrella that tells a story. In this engaging art revival workshop, you could learn to paint with a play of colours to create an illusion of varying textures that ensures that it isn't any run-of-the-mill print. Hosted by Blue Bulb, the workshop starts with an introduction to Gond painting, a folk art of the Gondi people of Madhya Pradesh. It then progresses into understanding freehand drawing and painting, directly using paints and pens. "One need not be an artist to be a part of this workshop. Once you've got the hang of it, you could even paint your t-shirt, canvas bags, shoes, stoles, wall art and furniture too," informs Ritika Jhunjhunwala, co-founder of Iteeha, organisers of the event.

Our society thrives on myths and fictitious stories and Gond art is an embellishment for those stories. The art form allows the artists to use more of their imagination than the somber rules. However, it has evolved considerably from its ritual storytelling days.

"The fine lines, dots and dashes of traditional Gond Pradhan motifs were introduced to the world by the late painter J. Swaminathan, who discovered a talented 17-year-old Jangarh Singh Shyam decorating the huts of Patangarh in Madhya Pradesh. The combination of vivid colours and distinctive forms, gives the traditional art a modern look and yet maintains its originality," says Jhunjhunwala for whom monsoon is the perfect time to unleash the creative side. "What you get is a full-size umbrella, all art supplies required and garma garam chai and kande pohe to enjoy the rains," she adds.

What: Umbrella Gond Painting Workshop
Where: Shivaji Park
When: August 27, 10.30 am - 1:30 pm
Fees: Rs 1,200 + plus taxes
Call: 7506122332

Cars honk as they make their way through Bandra-Kurla Complex to get to offices or to the newest eatery that has set up shop in the swanky financial district, the people in them all but oblivious to a small park in the back lanes that acts as a haven for the city's youth.

Annul Pale from the Meteoric crew trains at City Park, BKC

You will find them all here - collegians skipping classes, teens on their skateboards, and a group of young men performing exhilarating tricks on their bicycles. These are the city's BMX riders, for whom cycles are not simply modes of transport, but a way to express themselves.

The Sharptune crew at the Cycling Festival of India, held last weekend at Nehru Centre, Worli. Pics/Ashish Raje

"There is a community of approximately 45 BMX riders in Mumbai. Many of us prac-tise here at City Park daily," says 22-year-old Manoj Jaiswal, a Sion resident who was introduced to the sport by his neighbour in 2011. "We used to train along Carter Road promenade and the streets of BKC, but cops would arrive and shoo us away. And no public park allowed us entry with our bicycles. We ran out of places, but eventually, this park's management allowed us to use it."

This struggle is not new to the BMXers, who often end up travelling to far-flung - and thus less crowded - locations like Kalyan and Navi Mumbai. After all, in a city starved of space for even pedestrians, it's hard to imagine people giving up their precious streets to a sport they view as - in Jaiswal's words - a circus act.

Dipak Panchal

The beginnings
BMX racing took off in California back in the 1970s, inspired by motocross. It didn't take time for its popularity to rise among the youth, and soon, you could find them trying tricks on their own cycles across the world.

Rahul Mulani

Bandra resident Rahul Mulani was among the first few to bring the BMX movement to Mumbai three decades ago. "When we started out around 1987, we used to practise at a parking lot near Scandal Point in Breach Candy. There were fewer cars in the city back then, so there was plenty of space for us," he says.

Manoj Jaiswal

Not just empty parking lots; the seafront promenades used to be fair game, too. Thirty-year-old Dipak Panchal, who dropped out of college to pursue his passion for BMX and now runs a bicycle store in south Mumbai, shares that even as late as 2005, he could be found practising his moves at Marine Drive.

"Lately, whenever I have tried to practise there, policemen passing by have come and stopped me. They have even deflated my bicycle's tires, and there have been times they've threatened to throw me in the back of their van," he says, adding, "If there is a rule preventing people from cycling on promenades, they can tell us that without being rude. They allow elderly gentlemen to cycle peacefully, and even though we're not causing any damage to people or property, we are treated like criminals."

So, to avoid such conflicts, his crew, Sharptune, practises at a space they have rented out in Bandra. Last week, at the city's first cycling festival, amidst panel discussions and stores exhibiting the latest gear, they got a chance to show off their skills, but such events are few and far between. Though Panchal and Mulani try and organise jams and competitions, sponsors are hard to come by.

Need of the hour
Today, Mulani and Panchal, as well as the rest of the community, stick to a handful of spaces, including their own building compounds, that they know won't draw any unwanted attention.

"Even skateboarders are now getting recognition. In 2015, Khar Social set up a ramp, but it is too small for us to practise on, even though our requirements are not too different from a skateboarder's," says Jaiswal, whose crew, Meteoric, comprises skateboarders too. And because BMX is hidden away from the spotlight, the community is growing slower than it would have, had its members been given the chance to showcase their skills in public without any fear of repercussions.

The problem in India, Panchal believes, is that cricket overshadows every other sport. This leads to other sports, especially extreme sports like BMX, being ridiculed and even neglected by the public and the authorities. "The country's first pump track came up in Hyderabad this year, and it was built by a private body. We don't see the Cycling Federation of India [CFI] taking any interest in the BMX community," says Mulani.

VN Singh, assistant secretary, CFI, which is based in New Delhi, says they can't do anything for the sport until it is officially recognised. "I know it's an Olympic sport, but until there are enough practitioners of BMX in the country, we can't provide any support," he says. He follows this up by saying that a pump track in Delhi is in the offing, but quickly adds that he doesn't know how long it will take. "You see, we don't have the funds for it."

Why Cheat India
U/A: Drama Satire
Director: Soumik Sen
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Shreya Dhanwanthary
Rating:

The 'curse of the second half' in Hindi pictures is simply so severe, especially when it comes to films with well-known faces, that even as I find myself really enjoying a movie, there's a radar at the back of the brain constantly cautioning one to only hope that the post-interval portions even live up to the first half — by half. If so, then as an audience, you're pretty much through.

Is this movie an exception in that regard? Well, it eventually starts descending to such levels of random, thoughtless spinning of the yarn that by the end of it you're not even too sure it's the same film that you had started with in the first place. And hell yeah, it begins really well, what with highlighting the academic strains of being a teenaged 'padhaku' kid, Sattu (the boy's so brilliantly cast), in a lower-middle class family in Lucknow, coaxed into cracking a coveted engineering entrance exam (they don't call it IIT for some reason). For, how else does the father who's invested all his money into his child's supposed dream see his pension scheme through?

The film shines much-needed light on a common Indian teenaged nightmare, as sincerely presented in stand-up comedian Biswa Kalyan Rath's rather under-rated Amazon Prime series, Laakhon Mein Ek (2018). While sticking to searing realism — getting its time-setting, the year 1998 right, down to baggy trousers, and Force 10 type sneakers — the filmmakers manage to give the hero, Emraan Hashmi, a filmy sort of entry, smartly slipping in a soothing ballad, as well. Well done!

Hashmi plays a one-man racketeer who sneaks in smart kids, with counterfeit hall tickets, to max entrance tests on behalf of rich children, sitting at home, paying their way to top colleges as a result. You sort of know where the film might be going with this. And, maybe, that's the problem. Proxy contestants at overcrowded competitive exams for key educational institutions, where even well-prepared students wait for Godot to get in, is a huge multi-crore, organised industry, involving a system wholly corrupted, from top to bottom. Technology would have plugged some of the holes already; one's unaware to what extent.

If you haven't heard as much about this underworld, one should legitimately blame the news media for it — particularly in the case of the 2013 Vyapam (Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board) Scam, for instance, where close to 40 people, most of them whistleblowers, have mysteriously died, while the investigations are still on (or not quite) —but largely under-reported in the mainstream press.

And I thought this is what the film could be about — unearthing an earth-shaking scandal that should ideally knock you off your head. But, no, this is a film that attempts to combine strong commentary on the education/examination system, with a high-paced, heist thriller, with belaboured twists and turns, while trying to balance all of it with the urban slickness and high-life that Hashmi's inevitably romantically inclined, unscrupulous characters aspire for, and achieve, in his typical capers.

Watch Why Cheat India Trailer

So whatever fault you may find in the film possibly exists in the story/script to start with. And perhaps the reason is Hashmi himself, for he can't help but get on the big screen with strong baggage of the sort of flicks that have made him the star he is. The audience is obviously to blame for it, and the fact that Hashmi remains still an under-rated actor, because he is hardly commercially lauded for parts where he wholly goes off the beaten path — Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai (2012), I'm told, tanked; Danis Tanovic's Tigers (2018) went straight to OTT (Zee 5), both being his career's best works.

And so he goes back to being himself: the trademarked flawed hero, who eventually justifies his wily actions as a natural outcome of a multiple-choice, rote-learning system that gives very few kids a choice beyond acing it to get ahead. How a scamster like his character is the solution still, and not the issue, is beyond me. Have to say though, what the audience will empathise with is the fact that far too few fine courses/colleges exist for far too many desi children: a progressively massive problem staring us in the face and an even uglier future. This affects everyone. To be fair, the government is just as clueless on how to deal with it as this totally confusing 'pop-con' pic.

Also read: Emraan Hashmi: Change of Cheat India title is illogical, ridiculous

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Glass

U/A: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Sarah Paulson, Bruce Willis, James McAvoy
Rating: 

Shyamalan’s earliest films (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs) were brilliant, they intrigued, shocked and entertained all at the same time. The same cannot be said about the films that came later. The big budget ones especially were all jumbled up and schlocky. It felt as though the director never really achieved his vision. ‘Glass’ is a far better effort in terms of visual context but it fails on cohesion and lucidity – especially in the third act dominated by Shyamalan’s signature twists.

Glass, a sort of sequel to both Unbreakable and Split, spends its two hours plus without a strong story to tell. It is every bit as inconceivable and snaky a film as his worst but it still has a psychological depth that could have amounted to much more - if only the director had been a little more focussed. There’s so much he is wanting to say that it all gets lost in the confusion and incoherence brought on by a lack of emphasis.

Glass opens with Dunn(Willis) tracking down Split's villain, Kevin Wendell Crumb aka 'The Horde' (James McAvoy), a serial killer suffering from multiple personality disorder who has been preying on girls in the Philadelphia area. After some visceral action Dunn and Crumb are captured and taken to a secret wing of a psychiatric hospital also housing Mister Glass(Jackson) – to be studied by Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), a psychiatrist obsessed with decoding the phenomenon of men who believe themselves to possess the powers of comic book characters.

Check out the trailer here:

This is an indie film (in partnership with Blumhouse)with no big studio backing it so there are budget constraints which Shyamalan could have overcome by running a tighter ship. Shyamalan manages to get close to poignant and memorable but the third act(rather threadbare) pulls you off that track all the way through. The twists don’t make much sense and in fact renders the entire work rather directionless.

The build-up is pretty good even though the action is all visual, internalised and verbose but the third and final act fails to make something out of that. The director and DP Michael Gioulakis manage to compose some fascinating and striking visual mayhem but it doesn’t amount to anything powerful. If you followed ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘Split’ then there is a chance that you might cotton on to Shyamalan’s wavelength but for a large part of the audience this is going to be a film without a strong sense of purpose.

James McAvoy is simply the best thing about this movie. His enthusiasm and effort in playing out multiple personalities is extraordinary. Jackson wakes up from his stupor a little late and loses out on creating an impact while Willis looks on strategically- the thing he does best I guess. This is at best a baffling and inconsistent exercise in cinema!

Also Read: James McAvoy on Glass co-star Bruce Willis: He is most chilled dude

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The Escape Room

U/A: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Director: Adam Robitel
Cast: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Woll, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine
Rating: 

These so-called 'live' reality game movies occupy a sub-genre of their own and Hollywood has been churning out quite a few of them following the Young Adult's obsessive fixation with material that encompasses it in entirety. But they are not all as thrilling or compelling as the first few that made it to hit franchise levels.

'Escape Room' is basically a set-up to get rid of six nondescript lone survivors through a series of life-threatening puzzles designed to test their survival instincts. And why pray does that have to happen? There's not much explanation here for that. Just swim with the tide, is all they ask. Unfortunately, it's not that easy for the audience because the viewer has to constantly suppress the disbelief that springs up every time the participants go through haranguing moments that willy-nilly put their lives in peril.

Check out the trailer here:

This is a far more perilous version of the more recent spurt of high-risk Telly games and since we don't get to know or understand the participants' motives (other than the 10,000 dollar prize money) it's difficult to empathize or find a reason to pay attention to their trauma. The writers also use some uninteresting physics theory to justify the random six players' participation in a largely predictable schema of disjointed thrills. They are made to go from intense heat to intense cold, then to a gas chamber, a space crusher and a few more vicarious routines before the winner can be decided.

While the production design is vivid, there's not much holding it together. Nik Dodani as nerd Danny, Jason Ellis as irritating yuppie Jason, Tyler Labine as trucker Mike, Deborah Ann Wolf as the tough, capable war vet Amanda, Logan Miller as a young alcoholic Ben and Taylor Russell as a withdrawn college student Zoey put in imminently indistinct, forgettable performances. The writing is largely formulaic too and the helming lacks serious edge. There's really nothing here to hold your attention for the near 100 min runtime.

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

India post – a subsidiary of the Ministry of Communications – stepped in to help the residents of Madh Island, after a report in mid-day highlighted their plight regarding cash. They had been plagued by dysfunctional ATMs since the national lockdown was announced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But very few transactions were successful, since most residents didn't have their active mobile numbers linked to their Aadhaar cards — which is a must for availing the service.

After reading mid-day's April 26 report, India Post sent a team of three postmen to the area on Monday, to provide door-to-door cash withdrawal services — at no extra charge — via their mobile phones. Using their government-authorised mobile phones, these postmen helped residents withdraw money from their bank accounts and handed the cash to them—provided their bank accounts and active mobile phone numbers were linked to their Aadhaar accounts. Although a handful of residents were able to carry out successful transactions, a majority of residents could not avail the service since either their active phone numbers were not linked to their Aadhaar cards or their bank accounts.

One postman = 1 micro ATM
Speaking to mid-day, Saranya U, senior superintendent of Post Office of Mumbai North Division (under whose jurisdiction Madh Island falls), said that each of the postmen deployed for this service is equipped with government-approved mobile phones that are pre-loaded with the India Post Payment Bank (IPPB), as well as a biometric scan device that can be connected to the mobile phone. "For us, each postman acts like a micro ATM. Using their mobile phones, each of them could enable people to withdraw up to R50,000 from their bank accounts," she said. This limit was extended from R10,000 to R50,000 in the light of the COVID-19 situation.

She explained that a person had to simply run their biometric fingerprint scan through the device connected to the postman's mobile phone (Aadhaar requires thumbprints to cross-confirm). "If a bank account has been linked to the Aadhaar account, then money can be withdrawn from that account. The person's current active mobile number is also required since an OTP will be sent to it. Another step also includes authenticity confirmation from UIDAI," she said.

If all these criteria are fulfilled, people can withdraw money from the comfort of their homes. "However, we were able to distribute only R11,000 in total because most people either don't have their Aadhaar or active mobile numbers linked to their bank accounts. We carried out a total of 25 transactions, but only 4 of them were successful," said Saranya, adding that India Post's door-to-door cash withdrawal service is more popular in rural areas.

'It was easy'
India Post also reached out to Manisha Suryavanshi, a resident who is disabled with polio in a leg, and was mentioned in the mid-day report. "I was surprised to see them. They ran me through the entire process… and I got the amount instantly in my hands. I also received a debit message on my mobile phone…it was easy and we were not charged for the service," she said.

4
No. of successful transactions

25
No. of total transactions attempted

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The nation has come to a standstill as people have been asked to stay at home and observe social distancing to curb the spread of the virus. Motivating people during this tough situation and encouraging them to continue staying indoors, Radio City, India’s leading radio network launches ‘Ghar se na niklenge’ anthem. In addition to staying indoors, the foot tapping anthem urges citizens to come forward and support the nation by donating for the PM Cares Fund.

Radio’s City’s ‘Ghar Se Na Niklenge’ Anthem has been voiced by famous Bollywood singers like Divya Kumar, Benny Dayal, Asees Kaur, Meghna Mishra, and Nakash Aziz. The anthem is being aired across Radio City’s Hindi Speaking markets. Making the audience match steps with their groovy dance moves, the music video of the anthem features Radio City RJ’s along with artists like Sahil Khattar, Sushant Poojary, Paul Marshal, Rahul Shetty, Deepak Singh, Himanshu Parihar, Hiten Shah, Vaibhav G, Manan Sachdeva, Shashank Dogra, Aishwarya Radhakrishnan, Dhruv Dutt, Sonali Kar, Macedon D Mello, Sanam Johar, Abigail Pandey, Raveena Chaudhary, and Sneha Kapoor. The video will be amplified extensively across Radio City’s social media handles, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Sharing his thoughts on the anthem, Mr. Kartik Kalla, Chief Creative Officer, Radio City, said, "It’s been over a month and a half that we’ve been in lockdown and needless to say, it’s becoming increasingly tough to stay positive and motivated through it all. However, maintaining social distancing and staying at home is critical to flatten the curve. Radio City has always strived to utilise the power and reach of radio to connect with its audience and bring a positive change in the society. The ‘Ghar se na niklenge’ anthem is yet another creative approach from the Radio City’s AudaCITY team to not only entertain our listeners but also create awareness of the importance of staying indoors. We also support our Honourable Prime Minister’s message and through this anthem are encouraging our listeners to donate for the PM cares Fund. I would like to thank all the artists who have come forward and supported us in this initiative."

Speaking about the initiative, Batameez Dil singer, Benny Dayal said, "Amidst such unprecedented times when the world is grappling to fight the Coronavirus pandemic, staying home is the only way to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. Music has the power to bring people together, uplift mood, and provide comfort. A huge shout out to the Radio City team for making me a part of the ‘Ghar se na niklenge’ anthem and spread joy in others’ lives. I humbly request everyone to stay home and stay safe."

Sharing his thoughts on the anthem Actor, Indian Youtuber and Television host, Sahil Khattar said, "It is imperative for people to stay indoors to safeguard themselves and others as well. Radio City’s ‘Ghar se na niklenge’ anthem has brought all of us together to cheer up the audience. We need to understand the gravity of the situation and stay united in making the purpose of this lockdown a success. Let’s stay at home and defeat this pandemic together."

Speaking about the Radio City’s ‘Ghar se na niklenge’ anthem, the Shubharambh singer, Divya Kumar said, "I am elated to lend my voice to the ‘Ghar se na niklenge’ anthem by Radio City. I think it is our collective responsibility as citizens to abide by the rules and stay indoors for our nation. I am certain that this anthem will make you groove to its tune and help spread some positive vibes amidst the tough times."

The second phase of the campaign will be spearheaded by Pepeta choreographer, Rajit Dev, who will launch #RadioCityNamasteChallenge, a digital campaign that will urge viewers and listeners of Radio City to come up with their version of the hook step of the anthem and share it on their social media handles, tagging Radio City.

Radio City’s ‘Ghar Se Na Niklenge’ Anthem, is a collaborative effort of Radio City team and established Bollywood singers, TV personalities, social media influencers, and industry choreographers, who have joined hands to bring a smile to people’s faces and help them understand the importance of not leaving their homes during the lockdown.

You can watch The Radio City’s ‘Ghar Se Na Niklenge’ Anthem here: 

About Radio City:

Radio City, a part of Music Broadcast Limited (MBL) is a subsidiary of Jagran Prakashan Ltd. Being the first FM radio broadcaster in India and with over 17 years of expertise in the radio industry, Radio City has consistently been the number one radio station in Bengaluru and Mumbai with 24.5% and 15.7% average listenership share respectively. (Source: RAM Data, TG: 12+ Period: Week 1, 2013 to Week 21, 2019). Radio City Delhi ranks #2 with 13.4% average listenership share (Source: RAM Data, TG: 12+ Period: Week 1, 2019 to Week 21, 2019).

Music Broadcast Limited currently has 39 stations across 12 states, comprising 62% of the country’s FM population. Radio City reaches out to over 69 million listeners in 34 cities covered by AZ Research 2019 (Source: AZ Research Report). The network provides terrestrial programming along with 18 other web-stations, through its digital interface, www.radiocity.in.

Radio City has spearheaded the evolution of FM radio by offering content that is unique, path-breaking and invokes city passion amongst listeners with its brand philosophy of "Rag Rag Mein Daude City". The network introduced humour and the concept of agony aunt on radio with Babber Sher and Love Guru respectively. It also initiated Radio City Freedom Awards, a platform to recognize independent music and provided a launch pad to budding singers with Radio City Super Singer, the first singing talent hunt on radio.

Radio City bagged 73 awards across national and international platforms like Golden Mikes, India Radio Forum, New York awards, ACEF awards etc. in 2018-2019. Radio City has consistently featured for the 7th time in ‘India’s Best Companies to Work For’ study conducted by Great Place to Work Institute. In 2019, Radio City ranked 6th in ‘Best Large Workplaces in Asia’, according to the GPTW survey. Radio City has also been recognized in ‘India’s Best Workplaces for Women – 2019’ and has ranked amongst the Top 75 organizations on the list.

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Western Railway staff on Tuesday found the batteries of a local train parked near Borivli missing. Local trains have been stationary for over a month now following the lockdown.

WR officials said it was discovered early Tuesday morning by the Western Railway staff on duty who were inspecting and carrying out basic checks as per schedule.

Sources said that a few WR staff, as per routine schedule, went to check the functioning of vital components of trains stabled on the tracks between Borivli and Kandivli stations.

They found that five batteries were removed from the battery box, which was locked. However, WR authorities are unsure whether these batteries have been stolen, or have been removed by their staff for some technical inspection.

RPF officials said they are investigating the matter.

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It feels admittedly asynchronous. On one hand, I’m increasingly immersed in research around the silencing of female subjectivity by relegating it within the domain of the exclusively non-public, while on the other, I am personally deriving immense pleasure through my voluntary retreat further and further into the inner realms of domesticity.

I find I am consciously withdrawing from being public, whether out of a sense of responsibility, by staying home in a bid to minimise the country’s COVID-19 fatalities, or voluntarily, by limiting my social-media engagement. If anything, it is this practice of restraint, this movement away from what my body has begun to interpret as cacophony that I hold responsible for my increased productivity.

And I mean here to challenge this very Capitalist word. I don’t mean for productivity to signify output. I don’t mean for it to be quantifiable in any way. I want to address it as a sweaty qualitative notion. I want to centre my absorption of it at the level of the physical and the psychological. Later, in retrospect, I want to synthesise my experience of this ‘Lockdown’ as a fine-tuning of my very corporeal encounter with muscular memory.

This morning I was surprised by my body’s sudden fluency with raising itself upwards. When the curfew was first announced and our access to public spaces began to be curtailed, I asked my partner to help me evolve an exercise routine, so that I could find an alternative source for the endorphin high I had begun to enjoy after two weeks of playing badminton in the park.

When he first demonstrated to me some of the moves that were part of his work-out, I tried to mimic his gestures. Perhaps because I had been slaying him at badminton, he had no conception of my body’s inability to perform movements that he had internalised as fundamental. I remember breaking down when he was instructing me on how to, while lying down, bring both legs together and heaving them up into the air by enlisting the back to aid the lift-off.

I’m not exaggerating. I collapsed into a hot, wet mass of tears. I felt defeated by my body. I felt angry that I was not allowed to continue to excel at badminton, a game I love not just because I played it through childhood and adolescence and am good at, but because it really tricks my body into exercise by nurturing my competitiveness.

I had told my partner then that he would have to be really slow, superbly gentle, and would have to cajole me into this daily practice. Being the fantastic listener that he is, he agreed to my conditions.

Organically, my partner began waking up by 7 am. I’m lazy. I wait for the scent of brewing coffee to invade the bedroom and for him to bring my cup to my bedside. Eventually, when I feel ready enough to get out of bed, I do, and change into basic clothes, a sports bra and hot pants, and show up in the living room.

I let myself be trained by him, and about 20-25 minutes later, I pick up my hoop and either freestyle or learn new moves on YouTube. After breakfast, we often sit to learn German, and once again he becomes my instructor. Post lunch, I have begun spending more time at my writing desk. Every two days, I bake something as a form of currency to show my appreciation for his time. I post pictures on Instagram when I feel compelled to say something, and don’t spend more than 30 minutes on Facebook or Whatsapp.

This is how we have been living the hours. Every day I can do a little more than I could the day before. The nature of my advancements is diverse. I can speak German with a little more fluency. I grow more confident with the same recipe than a week before. Something clicks and I suddenly figure out how to make the best bhurji, or how to perfect my lemon cake.

I’ve reduced everything to this elemental logic — muscle memory, and my instances of joy derive increasingly from the recognition of momentary synthesis between body and mind, so that my subjectivity is not only shaped cerebrally, but through the embrace of the pulpiness of emotion and the expenditure of sweat and muscle soreness. Today I did ten roll-ups effortlessly. It was a small achievement.

As adults, we forget how the single gesture we’ve internalised is, in fact, comprised of several units of small movements that are only learned in time. It’s like not just holding a pencil, but also writing with it. It’s super basic, but if you’re a three-year-old, it’s one of the biggest challenges you’ve had to face.

I’m having so much fun playing outside my comfort zone, going out on a limb, so to speak, being child-like by learning how to acquire new movements and thus expand the range of my vocabulary. I want this muscle memory to feed my post-curfew life.

Deliberating on the life and times of Everywoman, Rosalyn D’Mello is a reputable art critic and the author of A Handbook For My Lover. She tweets @RosaParx
Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper

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When speaking of Indian mythology, the focus is on the stories, symbols and rituals of major religions such as Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. We ignore the mythologies of the various tribal communities of India, who have lived in the subcontinent long before the arrival of Aryan migrants. Their stories are fascinating.
The Santals found in Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand speak of how humans emerged from the egg of a goose and a gander, created by the gods, which included the High God, Thakur-Dev, the smaller spirits known as Bongas. In the beginning, they say the whole world was water, until the earthworms collected earth and placed it on the back of a turtle. Did this story inspire the Hindu idea of the earth on a turtle upheld by elephants?

The Korkus, scattered across the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, tell the story of a deer pursued by their ancestors that disappeared in a mountain cave. While waiting outside the cave, they were met by an ascetic, who gave them some rice to eat. The ascetic then introduced himself as Shiva and asked them to permanently settle down as farmers, not hunters. Another story recounts how Ravana strayed into the scenic but unpopulated forests. When he prayed to Shiva to populate those forests with people, Shiva directed his messenger, the crow, Kageshwar, to collect red soil from the hilly region. Shiva made two statues from the soil, of a man and a woman. However, before Shiva could infuse them with life, an angry Indra got his horses to destroy the statues. This, in turn, angered Shiva, who made two dogs out of the red soil, infused them with life and drove Indra's horses away. Shiva then remade the two human statues and infused life into them. Known as Moola and Moolis, they are the ancestors of the Korku tribe. The Korku worship Shiva, Ravana and the dog. And the driving away of Indra does allude to some rejection of 'civilised' Aryans, though Shiva himself is a Vedic god.

The Baigas are a tribe dispersed across Madhya Pradesh. They say that in the beginning, there was only water all around and no land. Then, Brahma made land in the midst of the water. Immediately, two people emerged from the land—one a brahman and the other a sadhu Naga Baiga. Brahma gave the brahmin some paper to start studying and writing. He gave the Baiga a tangiya, or a sickle. He also gave the Baiga some kodo and kutki grains and ordered him to start farming. From that day on, the Baigas have been farming, while brahmins focussed on getting educated.

Because there are over 500 tribes in India, and each one has a unique mythology, their mythology is often ignored when studying wider trends and patterns. They are often seen as being simpler, etiological (explaining causes), sometimes proto-history, but rarely having deep psychological insight. This could be the prejudice of the researcher or simply the nature of tribes, where the focus is less on introspection and more on ritual rhythms of life. It is easy to see the influence of Hindu lore on tribal mythologies, but the reverse flow is also true.

Stories of boars raising earth from the bottom of the sea found in Vedas could very well have tribal origins.

The author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times. Reach him at devdutt.pattanaik@mid-day.com

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For a few days now, this paper has been reporting about Indians who have been stranded overseas and are unable to fly out to their home country because of the lockdown.

India now has a plan in place to bring back lakhs of Indians stranded overseas. The evacuation aircraft will be bringing Indians back from overseas today. For many, their ordeal may thankfully be ending. For others who have not got that much-awaited call from Indian Commissions overseas, it is still wait and hope for the best.

mid-day had reported about an older couple from Mazagaon, who are stranded in New Jersey, because of the lockdown. They were finding it very expensive to continue living in the USA, and to compound problems, finding medication was difficult too.

An entrepreneur from Mumbai has been stranded in Nepal. A family of four from Dahisar has been marooned in Sri Lanka, and have very similar problems to that of the New Jersey couple. There are several seafarers from Tamil Nadu in Sri Lanka begging to come home.

One does understand governmental constraints and all the difficulties of managing a mammoth population.

Yet, it would be good if High Commission officials at least make themselves available to answer queries.

If there are genuine problems like acquiring life-saving or absolutely necessary medication, our officials need to see how Indians can procure these, so that they are at least out of that predicament, which seems very dire. What they need most is the reassurance that they are counted, their fate matters and that they will be evacuated in the end. People are struggling in foreign lands, many extremely lonely and living on little more than hopes and prayers, the authorities must demonstrate that they are there and they care.

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Days after a video showing patients lying next to dead bodies in a Sion hospital ward went viral, another video showing a COVID-19 patient escaping the hospital through the window surfaced on social media.

In the latest video, a middle-aged man is seen running out of ward no. 5 on the ground floor of the hospital and jumping out of the window. A few minutes later, the man is brought back by the hospital staff. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya shared the video on social media on Friday and sent a written complaint to the civic body demanding action. "The incident took place on May 3 in front of ward no. 5 which is meant for COVID-19 patients. It is the same ward where another video had shown bodies lying on beds," Somaiya said.

Dr Pramod Ingle, acting dean of the hospital, said that the video is authentic but is being shown in a negative light. "Patients of COVID-19 are often under a lot of stress and suffer from psychosis. People react differently to stressful situations. Fortunately, the patient was brought back by a guard wearing a PPE kit," said Dr Ingle. He added that the guard had been congratulated for his good work and the video was from the security footage of the hospital.

Bodies to go to mortuary

The Sion hospital committee probing the video showing bodies kept at Sion hospital's COVID-19 ward has been given a day's extension by Dr Ingle.

The patient seen walking towards the window 

Meanwhile, IAS officer Prajakta Lavangare has been appointed to take charge of Sion and Cooper Hospital. She visited the hospitals on Friday. Dr Ingle said that while the enquiry report is still awaited, a new protocol has been decided to handle bodies of COVID-19 patients.

"The bodies will now be packed in plastic sheets on the bed and then shifted to the mortuary. We have two mortuaries and among them, the bigger one has a capacity to keep around 40 bodies. Families can collect bodies from there," he said adding that currently, there are 11 COVID-19 bodies at the hospital.

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A man has been arrested killing a senior citizen for scolding him and his partner after finding them in compromising position. The accused, identified as Karan Singh Yadav (30), was nabbed by cops from the Shanti Nagar Police in Bhiwandi from a quarantine facility in Parbhani whereas his partner is absconding.

The deceased, Krushna Joshi (72) owned a room in a chawl at Temghar pada. He had rented the room to Yadav’s partner, identified as Lata alias Jyoti Rathod (35). Yadav would often visit Rathod in her home. In April, when Joshi had gone to collect rent, he found the Yadav and Rathod in compromising position. Joshi then scolded the couple and warned Rathod to stop bringing her friends to the room.

According to the police, Rathod and Yadav, enraged by Joshi’s comments, decided to kill him. “On the night of April 11, the couple found Joshi alone at his house and hit him with a stone," said an officer, adding that the duo fled the city the same night.

On  April 12, when Joshi’s son, who stays closeby, tried to contact him, he didn’t respond.  He then rushed to Shanti Nagar Police station and filed a missing person report against his father. The police launched a search for Joshi and found that Rathod also went missing the same night. Senior Inspector Mamta D'Souza formed a team under the leadership of Assistant Police Inspector Amol More and Shailesh Mhatre and started the investigation.

The officer said that they found Rathod’s address in which it was mentioned that she is a native of Parbhani. We didn't have any other details such as her mobile number or the CCTV footage of the spot of the incident, so we decided to go to Parbhani to find her" told API Shailesh Mhatre. "When our team went to Parbhani, we visited the place mentioned in address but there was no one stay there of this name," he added.

The cops then decided to check quarantine centres in the district made for people coming from other districts. "We found a name similar to that of Rathod’s partner, Yadav. We then immediately interrogated him and he confessed to committing the crime, but Rathod is still absconding,” said API Mhatre.

During interrogation, Karan told the police that, he dumped Joshi’s body in a well near the chawl. The police team came back to the city and recovered Joshi’s body, which was found to be completely decomposed. An offence has been registered against Yadav and Rathod under IPC section 302 (murder), 201 (disappearance of evidence) and 34 (common intention of committing the crime).

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Pooja Sudhir's search for a signature scent ended after graduation. She moved from deodorants to body mists and was finally looking to mature into a perfume user, when she found a scent with musky notes that she instantly liked. "The counter manager rushed to me, saying, 'But, ma'am, this is for men.' I think that's where it all started," she says about her fascination for unisex perfumes. Sudhir, an educator with DSB International School, now oscillates between the male fragrances put out by Body Shop, M&S and Titan Skinn.

Pic/Getty Images

A scent is considered unisex when it uses traditionally masculine notes like leather, smoke and wood, but is meant to be worn by both men and women. Historically, women's fragrances have carried floral or fruity notes. "I have often wondered why female perfumes are gentle and mellow, and almost always with a floral base," Sudhir, 32, says.
The gender stereotyping of scents she is alluding to could in fact, be a product of marketing and not so much about preference.

Educator Pooja Sudhir wonders why female scents are distinguished by floral notes only

The head of communications for Forest Essentials', an indigenous beauty brand with foundations in Ayurveda, says it has little to do with nature telling us what we should or shouldn't wear. "Fragrances are best chosen depending on mood, occasion, seasonality, and your personality rather than gender." Their best-selling body mists are proof. They tend to include oud, Kerala lime or vetiver. "For us, choosing the oud and green tea combination was less about gender and more about picking ingredients that are inherently Indian. That these fragrances have male and female appeal is an added advantage."

Gaurav and Jahnvi

Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan heads The Perfume Library, a four-year-old boutique label that operates from New Delhi and Paris. She speaks of the 30 gender-fluid scents that both, men and women have been seen to pick up. "For instance, the Aphtoori perfume combines notes of jasmine and cigar, and it is our fastest selling among women," she says. Nandan's friendship with designer Gaurav Gupta has propelled a collaboration that's now sealed in a bottle. Gupta launched AGAIN, his debut unisex scent last week, one with zero floral tones. "It [decision to launch a unisex scent] was a no brainer. I am gender-fluid by personality, and I don't see the world in slots. Gender divides are more to do with social conditioning."

The just-launched fragrance, AGAIN

Manan Gandhi, the head of Bombay Perfumery, a-young-but-talked-about fragrance house from the city, would agree. Musk is not only for men, he asserts. Chai Musk, one of his best performing perfumes, blends sandalwood, ginger, lemongrass and musk. Of the eight fragrances he currently offers, two are unisex. "Women are not particularly concerned about female-specific infusions. They look for natural ingredients, intensity and retention. They prefer a scent that lasts," Gandhi explains. Internationally, the unisex beauty concept raged in the 1990s when Calvin Klein launched CK One and Comme des Garçons introduced its eponymous fragrance. It was the big, disruptive idea from 27-years ago.

1020 is one of two unisex scents by Bombay Perfumery

In 2017, fashion continues to champion the genderless idea, whether in clothes or fragrance, and the user is more keen to find an intimate perfume story to participate in than be slotted in grooves. Tom Ford, Chanel, Kiehl's, L'Occitane and the homebred Kama are all part of the gender-neutral narrative in India.

Ahsan Hami doesn't quite get the debate over male and female in the world of scents. "It may be a talking point internationally, but in India, we have always patronised unisex scents. All attars are unisex, and India is one of its earliest manufacturers," he says of a tradition that dates back to the Mughal times. His store, A Hami Bros, on the chaotic Mohammad Ali Road, was established in 1939.

The shelves don't hold "for men" and "for women" labelled bottles. Vetiver, an earthy scent, is usually associated with masculine fragrances, but Hami says his experience has proven that its deep notes and instant cooling effects make it a favourite with his women customers, along with smoky oud. He says, "We don't need international trends telling us unisex perfumes are cool. We've known it for 500 years."

India is riding the fashionable wave inspired by Bollywood as 2017 saw movie buffs buying trends inspired by their favourite stars online, says an annual fashion report by e-commerce site Flipkart. The latest findings and trends of 2017 by Flipkart Fashion saw shoppers getting their hands on trendy outfits inspired by Bollywood.

According to the findings, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan starrer "Badrinath Ki Dulhania"; Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor starrer "Ok Jaanu"; Arjun Kapoor, Shraddha starrer "Half Girlfriend"; Vidya Balan starrer "Tumhari Sulu"; Salman Khan starrer "Tubelight" and Kangana Ranaut starrer "Simran" ruled the fashion sense of the millenials.

According to Flipkart fashion report, Alia Bhatt's latest hit became the fashion guide for Indian outfits in 2017. Her style statement in the movie refreshed shopper's style quotient by purchasing cold shoulder cholis, bandhani lehenga skirts and jhumkas donned by her in the movie, said a statement. Flipkart sold thousands of jhumkas and bandhani skirts within the first month of the movie's release. The first week alone saw the sales of 2,500 plus pairs.

Shraddha made a popular fashion statement of embroidered shorts and skirts in the remake of the iconic Rahman classic "Humma Humma" in "Ok Jaanu". She again made fashion trend with skater dresses, off shoulder tops and layered looks in "Half Girlfriend". From silks to Kanjeevarams to georgettes and crepes, Vidya has always shown her love for the sari. In "Tumhari Sulu", the actress created trends again with people buying saris inspired by her looks. Smaller cities like Bhopal, Chandigarh, Nagpur and Indore shopped for the Vidya Balan look.

Another fashion trend that hit the country was the Kangana-inspired red dress from the movie "Simran". Also men's fashion wasn't far behind as Salman Khan's look with the brown shoes hanging around his neck in "Tubelight" created a lot of buzz making fans wanting to get their hands on a pair at the earliest. The brown shoes topped men's footwear search across cities for two weeks on Flipkart after the movie released.

Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by mid-day online. This story is taken from a syndicated feed & is published on AS IS basis.

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