News

The Hindu :

Artist Sahba Shere Hoda finds her style constantly evolving

PHOTO: K. GOPINATHANOVERLAP The artiste plays music when she is painting and as a result, the mood of the notes finds its way into the canvasses

Sahba Shere Hoda’s canvasses are marked by geographies. Her paintings titled “Extraordinary in the Ordinary” are landscaped by her travels. “I grew up in Winnipeg and Alaska, lived in Minneapolis, Paris, California and San Francisco.” Sahba studied political science and international relations, but she always let her hobby, painting, flourish. “My mother was a professional artist and I was always surrounded by art and music.” She started painting when she was 12 and even participated in competitions.

So from rice paddy fields, dusty and rocky terrains, green fields to blue oceans, Sahba captures landscapes in abstract art. “My style has been constantly evolving. From portraits, impressionism and realism, I gradually moved to abstracts.” As a documentary photographer in black and white, Sahba says that her paintings are a product of her being an outdoor person.

She places the canvasses on the floor and works on layering and texturing them. “It is almost like planting and growing.” Her paintings, Sahba says, are a deep spiritual reflection of her inner landscape. “As a lover of both Indian and Western classical music, I play music when I am painting and as a result, the mood of the notes find their way into the canvasses.” The blue of Maldives coupled with the snow of Canada, sunset and a churning night sky, the red and black of China, the stone architecture of Cambodian temples have influenced her works.

Sahba finds the spirituality of South East Asia inspirational. “Despite their painful history of war and strife, their optimism has helped them move on with good energy.” Her works she says, aim to present different perspectives of the same thing in life.

“Extraordinary in the Ordinary”…More

The Hindu : y>

Pyramid Spiritual Trust and Mastermind International is organising a free demo of a five-day residential camp for kids above eight.

Date: April 26 and 27

Venue: J P Nagar 6th Phase, Brookfields- Kundanahalli, and Rajajinagar 3rd Y Block.

Contact: 43432525

<FONT …More

The Hindu : y>Ranjani Shettar tells SHILPA SEBASTIAN R. that museums are central for an artist and the audience

PHOTOS: ( K.GOPINATHAN) PHOTOS OF THE ART WORK, COURTESY: TALWAR GALLERY NEW YORK/ NEW DELHIART FOR ART’S SAKE Ranjani Shettar believes that art education is as important as exhibiting the works

She’s striking, with her dusky complexion contrasted against a bright white embroidered shirt and pale blue jeans. Initially, she is slightly hesitant to pose for photographs but as she starts talking about art and sculpture, she became oblivious to the flashing camera. Her face lights up and you see an intense passion for art in her.

Ranjani Shettar is from Shimoga and took to arts at a very young age. “I realised that I was most comfortable with art. I had no definite format but enjoyed painting and drawing as a child,” she recalls. Even as a child she would create little things from material that was available at her home.

“I would take out the wax from our wooden furniture and create small human figures. Curiosity was always there and my parents did not get angry with me for removing the wax or using other stuff from home. Instead they started getting me loads of material that I could work with. It also became their ambition to see me become an artist,” says Ranjani. She travelled around the country as her father had a transferable job, which, she believes, helped her grow as an artist.

“We travelled to many cities. Interacting with people and their culture also helped hone my skills, and gave me the right exposure at the right time. This kind of travelling also helped me to adapt and learn things quickly.”

To train herself further she came to Bangalore and studied fine art at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. “It was here that I was exposed to various arts and I realised that I was more…More

The Hindu : y>

A Carnatic and Hindusthani concert by Chandrika K. Mehta and Samanvitha Sharma

Date: April 25, 6 p.m.

Venue: ESV Hall, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Race Course Road

<FONT …More

The Hindu : SHONALI MUTHALALY

Junk your dog-eared cookbook. Log onto YouTube instead and serve up a meal

Live demo Sanjay Thumma

Sauté onions till brown. How brown? I’ve-spent-a-week-in-Goa brown? Or smoke-alarm-shrieking brown?

Recipes can be infuriating for amateur cooks. All those annoying professional terms: chiffonade the herbs, add a bouquet garni, julienne the vegetables. How many times have you been bent over a glossy cookbook, double-boiling and basting away like some 21st Century witch, wishing that you could bubble, bubble, broil and etouffe the writer? Fortunately, the YouTube generation has come up with a solution.

Between all the videos of apparently unbalanced young men having astonishingly idiotic accidents and stammering adolescents showing us how to use iPhones, there are now heaps of kind chefs and accomplished home cooks who record their recipes,demystifying the kitchen for once and for all.

People such asChef Sanjay Thumma, who has found himself catapulted to stardom thanks to YouTube, are quietly revolutionising the way people cook. Sanjay began recording and posting his recipes online just two years ago on http://vahrehvah.com.His lemon rice alone prompted 10,000 instant hits. Sanjay says that he now gets an average of one lakh viewers a day from all over the world.

Cooking styles have certainly changed. The dog-eared, turmeric stained, well-loved family cookbooks, passed downgenerations might just become a thing of the past. I, for instance, take my dinky iPod Touch into the kitchen and balance it on the microwave when I cook. The ability to view Sanjay, and cook simultaneously, makes following a recipe as easy as boiling an egg.

Sanjay says written recipes are really for professionals. “Home cooks tend to make mistakes,” he says. “With a recipe, one in 10 people can make it good. With a video, 99 out of 100 can make it good.” Especially, with Indian food. As anyone who’s ever tried to learn how to cook from their grandmother knows, Indian food involves…More

The Hindu : y>

Crossword Bookstore and Ridhdhi present “Boi-Choi”, launch of the Bengali book section with an evening of poetry and music by Joy Goswami and Pratul Mukherjee.

Date: April 26, 5.30 p.m.

Venue: Crossword, Residency Road

<FONT …More

The Hindu :

The Esplanade serves equal dollops of excellent Bengali cuisine and nostalgia

FULFILLED! The Esplanade serves a gargantuan feast to delight the most discerning epicure

When I told a friend that I was going to do a food review at The Esplanade, which serves Bengali cuisine, he sagaciously commented “The Esplanade is to Kolkata what Chandni Chowk is to Delhi.” Some quick research on the Net (praise the lord for Wiki) revealed The Esplanade to be the hip and happening place during the days of the Raj with gracious eateries and the movie theatre trinity of New Empire, Lighthouse and Metro.

So off we dashed (literally and reached embarrassingly early) to Koramangala.

The disconcertingly-young and soft spoken chef and owner of The Esplanade, Subhankar Dhar, greeted us and led us upstairs to the restaurant. Along the landings are massive black and white prints of the gracious buildings on the Esplanade, including a publicity poster of a movie running at the Metro in the days of yore.

We take our seats facing the window not out of any Michael Corleone tendency but because it is nice to stuff one’s face while watching the world sail by in front of you. We start our meal with a refreshing regent rave, a sherbet made of roasted raw mango pulp.

“The Esplanade is a tribute to the spirit of old Calcutta,” says Chef Dhar. “It was the time of restaurants like the Peliti’s and the Firpo’s. Chevalier Fedrico Peliti was appointed by Queen Victoria and was renowned for cakes and chocolates while Angelo Firpo in Chowringhee was a gastronome’s favoured hunting ground. In Esplanade we have attempted a marriage of traditional Bengali cuisine with a contemporary twist and old continental favourites.”

Chef Dhar, who is out to bust myths associated with Bengali cuisine, insists “mustard oil is used only for certain fish preparations and there is enough and more options for vegetarians.”

And…More

The Hindu : y>

Mother Tree is having a workshop of the Alexander technique by Padmini Menon for Rs. 1,000.

Date: April 26, 10 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.

Venue: No. 277, 1st Main, 5th Cross, Defence Colony, Indiranagar

Contact: 9632344144/ 41649044

<FONT …More

The Hindu : y>

A 10-day training programme is being organised in comics-making under the series “Say yes to comics!” by communication for Development and Learning. Designed for children between the age of 12 to 16 years, the programme will enable the children to think of their own stories and develop these into 16 page comics.

The first batch of comics-making will start on April 27 at CDL office in Koramangala 6th Block. Certificates will be given and an exhibition will be held on the last day for the public. For further details, contact Kiruthiga on 9902072155 or 25524192.

<FONT …More

The Hindu : y>

The Ants store is celebrating World Earth Day by exhibiting organic and eco-friendly products of seven groups with terracotta kitchenware, body care products and more.

Date: Till April 26, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Venue: No. 2023/B 14th A Main, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar.

Contact: 41715639 / 41521742

<FONT …More