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The Hindu :

The Rock Climbing and Jungle Adventure Programme conducted by the National Adventure and Leadership School gave participants a taste of the enchanting beauty of the Nilgiris

Photo:K. AnanthanAdventure trip Learn the basics at the programme

S ilver oak swaying in the wind, above tea bushes, under the towering presence of the Sengottarayar peak, greeted the 16 participants of the Rock Climbing and Jungle Adventure Programme. The four female and 12 male participants were let loose, 1500m a bove sea level, to enjoy this overnight adventure. The program was held on the 650-acre Devashola Tea Estate in Kulakombai in the Nilgiris.

Peak with a view

The Sengottarayar peak, which is a two-hour trek from the estate, overlooks Silent Valley in Kerala. Behind the mist, far down below, Mannarkkad in Kerala and Peelamedu in Coimbatore are also visible.

The participants, 12 male and four female, ranging from ages 10 to 65, indulged in rock climbing and easy treks through the forest and the estate. Adults, additionally, got to rappel down a rock face, which was the best part of the program.It was a treat for the kids, many of whom hadn’t experienced such natural beauty and adventure, before. They were liberated from schoolwork and pollution, as they sang songs and ran wild in the tea gardens.

The food, provided by the estate, was vegetarian; raw vegetables were aplenty and oil, almost absent. The dining hall had walls covered with photos of Mahatma Gandhi. Outside, a dog named Tiger stood guard. Locals say it’s a cross between a dog and a wolf.

Tranquility

The program began on the evening of October 24, with a night walk up the estate. Soothing darkness, interrupted occasionally by an odd sodium vapour lamp from Irula tribal settlements; billions of stars; the song of cicadas and tamil cine music coming from a wedding party far away, it was beautiful.

Trekkers were lodged at the Sultana Cottage, one…More

The Hindu : y>

Beat poet An depth film on R. D. Burman

S hemaroo Entertainment has launched “Pancham Unmixed”; an exclusive collectors edition DVD pack – comprising a feature length-film on the legendary composer R. D. Burman. Directed by Brahmanand S. Singh, the film is certain to evoke awe, admiration and nostalgia.

This film has attempted to explore legendary composer R. D. Burman’s music. It takes an incisive look into the composer’s reflective artistry and his lonely inner being. Featuring a host of Pancham Da’s close friends, colleagues and admirers such as Asha Bhosle, Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, Manna Dey, Shammi Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor among others, “Pancham Unmixed” is one of the most comprehensive film on the great composer.

It is inclusive of a special coffee table book “Pancham – Strings of Eternity”, comprising anecdotes, insights and rare photographs of the legend. The collector’s pack comprises two DVDs. Disc one has the film “Pancham Unmixed” and Disc two features “Pancham Magic” with 30 timeless original songs composed by Pancham Da. It is priced at Rs. 999 and is available at select stores. For more details log on towww.panchamunmixed. shemaroo.com.

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The Hindu :

Take in the sights and sounds of a city where the past is still tangible

Photos: by AuthorHappy co-existence Time travelling in Tuscany

I remember the burnt Siena in my big box of watercolours when I see the colour of the earth around Siena — Italy’s best preserved medieval city. A reddish brown town, Siena has a rich bounty of medieval art and architecture. Narrow streets, steep alleys, and the magnificent Piazza Del Campo make it a Gothic dream.

Siena and Florence had many battles for supremacy and, ultimately, Florence had the upper hand. During Siena’s golden age, great buildings such as its Duomo were erected; it became a centre of textile, art and trade and had some of Italy’s richest banks.

We walk through the medieval contrade, neighbourhoods that the city has been divided into. Each neighbourhood has a mascot by which it is identified, such as a snail, a dragon and also its own patron saint! Petunias smile from window-boxes and colourful laundry hangs over ornate arches.

Siena is laid out over the slopes of several hills, and streets rise and fall dramatically testing one’s fitness levels. We start our explorations at the Piazza Del Campo, the physical and spiritual heart of Siena.

This is a scallop fan-shaped gargantuan square at the heart of town, packed with frenzied tourists sprawled all over, craning their necks trying to absorb all the sights.

Wondrous frescoes

The Gothic Town Hall, the focus of this square now, contains the Museo Civico with its walls covered in wonderful frescoes. The Torre Del Mangia bell tower that looks like a periscope is a flight of fantasy in brick and stone! It is named after one of its first bell ringers, and the climb to the top is long and steep.

Our local guide tells us that the foundation of the bell tower hall is only several feet deep but the local terrain…More

The Hindu :

Los Angeles-based coiffeur Jamal Hammadi sees strong parallels between our hair and the environment

LESS IS MORE So don’t torture the tresses, says Jamal Hammadi

His celeb clientele includes Drew Barrymore, Sharon Stone, Linda Evangelista, Eva Mendes, Lisa Marie Presley and Meg Ryan to name a few. World renowned hair expert Jamal Hammadi has yet another feather in his cap now. The Los Angeles based coiffeur is one of the seven cutting edge global hair experts chosen by Sunsilk to co-create its Stunning Black Shine Range, targeted exclusively at the Indian market.

In Mumbai to launch Sunsilk’s Co-Creations range, Jamal is ecstatic about helping make every Indian woman’s dream come true.

In a telephonic interview he says: “I do hair because I am passionate about it and good at itJamal reveals: “Adding shine to one’s hair has become a global concern. The hair of a child is naturally glossy and looks healthy and that’s what people can expect from this new range I have co-created with Sunsilk.”

The Paris-born hairdresser kickstarted his styling career in the early 90s and has even caught the fancy of Chanel, Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier and John Galliano who have roped in his expertise to complement their collections.

Ask him what it takes to give one the perfect hairstyle and he explains, “It starts with what one is wearing, make-up, then personality and the mood. I aim at keeping the look feminine. It is all about creating an image that celebrates a woman.”

Over the years, Jamal has come to the conclusion that “Every woman has the same complaint, that of dry and damaged hair. The market is spilling over with so many hair products leaving consumers totally confused. Women use loads of products and over-process their hair resulting in hair depletion and not in much-needed nourishment.”

This is one of the main reasons why Jamal decided to launch his own line…More

The Hindu :

The Mewar food festival, hosted by master gourmet Jiggs Kalra, is a perfect combination of great flavours

STORYTELLING Combines with food

We stepped into the gracious portals of the Jamavar at The Leela Palace Kempinski, with an air of anticipation for the Mewar food festival. Hosted by gourmet extraordinare, Jiggs Kalra, one could look forward to a super gustatory experience tempered with fascinating stories about the food. And we were not disappointed in the least.

The starters’ platter set the ball rolling. The sooley paneer ke with the delicious hint of cardamom and green peppercorn jostled with the bharwaan aloo Mewari with its saffron-rich yoghurt gravy while the kachori and the dahi gujiya did a delicious tango with the chutneys — mango and mint.

My companion dug into the vast array of non-vegetarian options from kebabs to a fragrant biryani with the meat so tender that cutting it was easy as pie.

After the starters came the famous dal bati churma and the fascinating story behind this famous Rajasthani food. Jiggs said: “The wives and mothers of warriors would give the men folk the raw wheat ‘peda’, when they set out to battle. The soldiers would bury these in the sand where they would bake in sun.” We, of course had the millennial version — bati doused in ghee with the delicately-flavoured churma and the traditional five lentil panchmael daal.

For the main course, there was paneer in saffron, the fascinating sweet and bitter methi kishmish — a stunning melange of fenugreek and raisin, old faithful, the bean and berry combination, kaer sangri and bharwaan gatte where the gatte are further stuffed with herbed paneer. The bread basket had the multi-flour bejarh (barley, channa and soya) and godri (wheat and channa). The Kabuli, a lovely layered rice with tomato and channa dal rocked with the silken smooth raitha.

Master Chef Farman Ali, bustled up to ask for…More

The Hindu : y>People Playing Hindi garage rock, Pralayh hopes to reach out with its original sound, writes ALLAN MOSES R.

National integration Pralayh’s members bring to the table the music and language of their StatesPhoto: Bhagya Prakash k.

L etting loose a volley of sounds and lyrics in a flurry of musical skill, Pralayh, a Bangalore-based desi band, got the crowds grooving to some extraordinary Hindi songs. The indigenous group opened at a live concert performance by Indian pop singer Kailash Kher in Palace Grounds recently.

The band was chosen owing to their popularity, by an online talent networking site, www.desitara.com.

With Reuben Jeffrey on the rhythm guitar and vocals, Shahid Shabir and Imon Sengupta playing the lead guitars, Rohan Bernard plucking the bass guitar and Arnab Roy beating the drums, Pralayh is a force to reckon with.

Dream opening

“Playing for Kailash Kher is almost unbelievable! It is an honour to open as an Indian band for such a reputed Indian artiste. For us this is a dream come true,” says Reuben jubilantly.

Pralayh, meaning a devastating storm, relates well to the band’s alternative garage rock music. With flamboyant guitar riffs, well-scripted lyrics and powerful drumming, their music is what they call “naturally Indian”.

On why they chose to play Hindi rock, the musicians chorus that they endeavour to make original music in the national language.

“We can reach out to people across the country with Hindi,” claims Reuben. “We want to bring out the real us,” says Shahid, while band manager, Uday Manlama echoes the same, “There are no proper Hindi rock bands in India and we want to make a difference.”

“Most Hindi rock bands are inspired by classical, fusion or Sufi music, but our music is more of the garage rock style. It is a lost form of music we want to bring back and is nothing like the Hindi music one normally hears,” explains Arnab.

After their first impromptu…More

The Hindu :

An Electrifying Evening with the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet

Verve/ Universal; CD; Rs. 395

F or the second time in a couple of months I find myself having reservations about an album of Dizzy Gillespie. This time, however, it’s not about the music.

This truly electrifying recording from a concert in New York in 1961 has the master trumpeter backed by Leo Wright on alto saxophone (he also plays intros on flute on two tracks), Lalo Schifrin on piano, Bob Cunningham on bass and Chuck Lampkin on drums. The quintet plays four tracks, the first three being Gillespie compositions and the last, “The Mooche”, written by Duke Ellington. The album is filled out by an 18-minute-long “interview” with Charles Schwartz, actually a question-and-answer session with the audience moderated by Schwartz, the producer of the concert.

Gillespie and Wright take the biggest share in the solo improvisations, which they get on all the four tracks. Schifrin, Cunningham and Lampkin, although not featured on every track, are also in the limelight from time to time, and get ample room to show their virtuosity. “Salt Peanuts” and “A Night in Tunisia”, both fast-paced and both famous tunes by Gillespie, are shorter than “Kush”, the opener and “The Mooche”, but are quite action-packed. Gillespie’s solos on these two are searing and, well, … dizzying.

“Kush” and “The Mooche”, brisk-paced, have quite interesting arrangements. “Kush” has alternations of soft and loud passages by Gillespie and the rhythm section. “The Mooche” has passages in which Gillespie and Cunningham, or Gillespie and the ensemble, alternate. Lampkin uses a tambourine at times on this number, and when the ensemble plays the theme, it veers tantalisingly between the actual melody and variations on it.

Schifrin was one of Gillespie’s favourite pianists and he shows just why. The other musicians too pull their weight to contribute to the greatness of this show. Gillespie, of course, is superb, inventive,…More

The Hindu :

Where geography ends and history begins

Beyond borders The Shamsbari range

If on earth there be a paradise, tis’ on a horseback it lies.’ Hardly. I am doing all I can to keep myself upright on a saddle-less horse as I negotiate the road home from the Line of Control at Tithwal. It’s dusk and the pony-track is illumined by only two Maglite torches. My family rides ahead while behind me walks a young Army captain so smitten by Fitzgerald’s Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam that I can hear him recite it on a star-spangled night. We pass Sharif, our driver, still trying to fix the Scorpio’s tyre that was torn to shreds on our onward journey and I hear pine trees rustle in the breeze and smell the sharp twang of wood fire.

My innate cynicism has restrained many a hare-brained scheme. But the Army wife in me gives in and I agree to be driven in kamikaze conditions by Sharif, to the border town of Tangdar, in Kupwara. It’s supposed to be ‘all quiet on the Western front’. “But the front is never quiet,” the alarmist in me whispers, “it would no longer be the front if it were.”

And then there’s Sharif who subscribes to the karma school of driving.

The road from Baramulla, via Handwara, Kupwara, the picturesque forests and gushing brooks of Trehgam and Choukibal is strewn with the mangled wrecks of vehicles that challenged these narrow, pot-holed mountain roads. Pratap Post glazes over in the mist and I’m furiously rolling the beads of my rosary. My mobile phone dies out and I gaze stoically at the stark, rocky defiles of the Shamsbari range.

The landscape is cold yet undeniably beautiful — fast-melting ice blocks turn into slushy streams and bridges and culverts almost seem to fall away as we pass. Signboards by the Border Roads Organisation reading “Be Gentle on My…More