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The Hindu :

Six hundred years after they were built by the Incas, the tranquil ruins here continue to mesmerise

When Hiram Bingham stumbled upon Machu Picchu on a 1911 expedition, it took him days of travel by foot and mule to get from Cuzco to the general vicinity. Now, you can hop on a luxurious Hiram Bingham train from Cuzco and be there in three-and-a-half hours!Our train journeyed through Peruvian high plains that produce potatoes and quinoa, passed agricultural terraces from Inca times and small villages where people stopped working to offer a friendly wave. It went along the tumbling Urubamba river, and finally pulled into the small town of Aguas Calientes. We got into the waiting buses for the ride up the serpentine road to Machu Picchu. The hair-raising bus ride was one hairpin turn after another. My husband and I hiked to a high vantage point before the sun could climb above the sharp, jungle-green peaks of the Vilcanota Range. Below, I saw the walls and foundations of a long-abandoned community laid out with precision and care. Grey rocks formed the skeleton of the village, its masonry beautifully offset by verdant plazas where llamas grazed.

At the north end, the mountain called Huayna Picchu rises lush and symmetrical, girdled by terraces similar to those carved out by farmers all across the Andes. Huayna Picchu, ‘young peak’, is the most familiar backdrop for this magnificent setting. Machu Picchu, ‘old peak’, looms above the entrance gate. For most visitors, the old peak serves as a handy perch for grazing at the spectacle of a place no one really knows.

Some 600 years ago, people built this city in the jungle at the behest of Pachacutec, the ninth Inca emperor. It seems that, as with other royal estates at Pisac and Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu was originally a commemorative site of Pachacutec’s military victories that was transformed into…More

The Hindu :

German engineering meets kitchen comfort at Poggenpohl

LEAN AND MEAN The Porschedesigned men’s kitchen (top) and the kind of kitchen you’d like to bring out into the living space (below)

Men will be pleased as plum to note that someone thought they need a kitchen. And made it the way they like it — it’s one of those toys you can show off to friends over a drink you’ve just concocted at the built-in bar, while you watch a football match on the glass screen backsplash. The kitchen appliances like microwave and dishwasher come with touch-controls. See what I mean? Just skim your hands over a teeny-weeny bulb and the light swims in, flooding the kitchen worktop. The kitchen is all sleek, black, angular, built by the Porsche Design Group, much like they would have designed a car I suppose. And what more do you want? It only costs a cool crore and more — more fodder for conversation.

Poggenpohl, the German luxury kitchen brand recently opened its doors to Bangaloreans, inviting everyone to ogle at what 115 years of experience in kitchen-building can produce. And boy is that something!

But even as I wonder aloud what man would want such a kitchen when the average cooking repertoire doesn’t go beyond scrambled egg, Hamendra Sharma assures me there have already been enquiries from men for the Porsche Design Kitchen P’ 7340. Hamendra, managing partner, Poggenpohl India, admits that though the “kitchen for men” may be a pure marketing strategy to get people to start talking about it, it’s not such a far-fetched idea. “People who buy this kitchen will tinker around with it, use it as a piece of furniture to show off…bring the kitchen out of the kitchen. It’s for men who look upon cooking as therapy,” he explains. There’s a wow factor to them, with features that impress men, but they are…More

The Hindu : y>It was a year when auteurs Quentin Tarantino, Woody Allen and James Cameron spun magic, even as films in other genres made a mark, writes MINI ANTHIKAD-CHHIBBER

STRIKING IT BIG (Clockwise) 2012, Julie & Julia, The Reader and Pink Panther

With the quirkily-named “Inglourious Basterds”, it was time to pop the bubbly to celebrate the return of Quentin Tarantino. This weird and wonderful take on World War II was standard Tarantino, with long conversations and sudden violence, a heavy-duty star cast, eccentric subtitling and a phenomenal music score.

Just as we feasted on Tarantino’s luscious storytelling, came “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”, an undiluted Woody Allen film, with insightful dialogues and sharply-delineated characters. The year ended with the biggest of them all —“Avatar”, signalling the return of James Cameron to the screen 12 years after “Titanic”.

Roland Emmerich, too, returned after last year’s tepid “10,000 BC” to his favourite disaster arena with “2012”, filled in equal measure with eye-popping special effects and gaping plot holes. Tom Tykwer, who made the mind-altering “Run Lola Run”, made his big screen debut in India with the high-octane thriller “The International”.

There was a whole bunch of animation films — “Up”, the charming story of an unlikely friendship between a 78-year-old balloon salesman and an eight-year-old wilderness expert, was the pick of the pack, with “Monsters vs. Aliens” and Robert Zemeckis’ “Christmas Carol” following close behind.

Insipid fare

All chick flicks were uniformly hideous, from the tasteless “Confessions of a Shopaholic” to the awful “The Proposal”, which woefully underused the feisty Sandra Bullock. In “Julie & Julia”, Meryl Streep turned in a super performance as Julia Childs who revolutionised French cooking for Americans.

Angelina Jolie turned in a robust performance in Clint Eastwood’s “The Changeling”, and Matt Damon hid behind layers of fat, glasses and a little moustache as “The Informant!.” Sean Penn wowed us as Harvey Milk in Gus Van Sant’s “Milk”. Kate Winslet…More

The Hindu :

For starters, we can heave a sigh of relief because Sophie has decided to spare us those nauseating remixes that we’ve been accustomed to in her previous albums. “SOS” has nine tracks, some of which are scintillating and pleasing to the ear.

The opening track “Manjave” is an out-and-out dance number, complete with Brit-Asian rapper Mumzy making it the ultimate teeny-bopper special. This apart, Rishi Rich deserves special mention for syncing hip-hop and reggae beats into one number without making it sound like some sort of cacophony.

Then there’s “Pump it up” the refrain of which is a tad too grating. Sophie’s vocals through the rest of the song make up for this irritant. “Soni soni” that follows is a peppy song and would set your feet tapping.

“Mohabbat” is a rock ballad that is a huge variation from all of Sophie’s earlier works. Tranquil and melodic, this song is perfect to listen to, either when you’re heartbroken or when happily in love. The lyrics of “If I can’t have you” are rather corny but a neat job has been done with the synthesizers. Sophie’s wistful crooning is proof that her music has in fact, evolved.

“Daddy Cool” is quite uncool! It is not a total disappointment but it is just the average Indipop track. You could fast forward through this and not worry about missing out on something.

A commendable job, however, has been done on “Tu nahin,” the Arabic sounding number recreated by Biddu. Unarguably, Sophie’s voice modulation is her signature style through the album.

The eighth track is a remix of “Mohabbat” and is definitely not as good as the original.

The supposed rock ballad has some extra pulsating beats and the tempo is accelerated unnecessarily. Thankfully, DJ Suketu has worked on this one; hence it is not a total disaster.

The last track is the radio edit of “Manjave” and the outcome is decent.

Overall, reports…More

The Hindu :

Mahesh Manjrekar returns to direction after a long gap with City of Gold, which is based on the woes of Mumbai’s mill workers

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART Mahesh Manjrekar

Mahesh Manjrekar is a busy man nowadays and, for a change, it’s not his acting assignments that are keeping him on his toes. The National Award-winning director (“Astitva” and “Vaastav”) has taken a sabbatical from donning the grease paint and is back to doing what he loves most — directing. After a long, four-year gap, he is shooting for “City Of Gold”, a real-life drama based on the woes of Mumbai’s mill workers who have been waging a silent war to get back their means of livelihood with zero per cent success. As is common knowledge, a lot of mill land in the city has been replaced by high-end residential buildings, malls and multiplexes. “It’s been 28 long years now and we haven’t bothered to even give the mill workers a second look. I’ve been itching to do a film on this issue for a long time,” says Mahesh.

DAR Media Private Limited has backed the project as part of a three-film deal with Mahesh.

Incident-driven film

“City Of Gold”, whose cast is under wraps for now but reportedly includes a coterie of acclaimed theatre actors, is an incident-driven two-hour feature. Explaining his affinity to the subject, Mahesh says, “I grew up in Wadala (central Mumbai) where Bombay Dyeing Mills and Spring Mills were located. My friends were children of mill workers who lived their lives through those initial days of extreme turbulence. I saw them coming to terms with their situation even as their lives came crumbling down.”

In 1995, when he saw a Marathi play titled “Adhantar” (‘In limbo’) on the same issue by playwright Jayant Pawar, Mahesh was stirred to make a movie on it in association with Jayant. “Jayant had lived this life….More

The Hindu : y>

The Telangana issue continues to generate high temperatures in Andhra Pradesh, with protests for and against granting statehood to the Telangana region. This has stalled all normal life across Andhra Pradesh. Protesters from both side of the political divide have shown scant regard for public property, burning buses and destroying buildings etc. MetroPlusasked city residents whether destroying public property in the pursuit of any demand — real or imagined — has become the rule in this country.

Most felt that these mobs are being led by opportunistic politicians, who milk these grievances to bag political mileage. The mandate was however that the government must clamp down these elements and prevent them from taking law and order into their hands. The rioters must be fined if public property is destroyed. They felt that violence is not the solution to any issue and in a democracy, peaceful protests should hold the key to registering grievances. We sample some responses.

Anyone who destroys public property must be prosecuted by law. Politicians who instigate mobs must be asked to pay the damages. We must bring in honest politicians.

PrashantEngineer

Such elements always manage to hijack a largely peaceful movement and create conditions unsuitable for the State to exercise its duties. Public property must not be ravaged at any cost.

Prakash

Engineer

Protests are legitimate in a democracy, as long as they remain non-violent. I fail to understand how the destruction of public property would resolve any crisis.

Rajesh

Student

Certain politicians are responsible for such incidents. The police must be given a free hand to deal with such opportunistic politicians. The perpetrators must be asked to pay up for any damages.

Viswa

Supervisor

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The Hindu :

When it comes to homemade desserts, nothing can beat the range and taste of the Indian halwa

Photo K AnanthaHealthy and tasty Opt for halwas for dessert

Gajar halwa

Ingredients

Red carrots, medium-size, grated:10-12

Ghee: 5 tbsp

Milk: 1 and half cup

Sugar: three-fourth cup

Khoya, grated: 4-5 tbsp

Cardamom powder: half tsp

Saffron: few strands

For garnishing

Chopped almonds and pistachios

Method

Heat the ghee in a wide kadai. Add the grated carrots and stir for two to three minutes. Add the milk and khoya and cook on a low flame until the milk is absorbed by the carrots. Add the sugar and keep on stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens. Add cardamom powder. Dissolve the saffron strands in a little milk and add to the mixture. Mix well. Serve hot, garnished with chopped almonds and pistachios.

Moong Dal halwa

Ingredients

Yellow moong dal: 2 cups

2 cups grated khoya

Ghee: one and quarter to one-and-half cups

Milk: 1 cup

Sugar to taste: 2 cups

Cardamom powder: 1 tbsp

Saffron: a few strands

For garnishing

Chopped almonds and pistachios

Method

Soak the moong dal in water for three to four hours. Drain water and grind it coarsely using very little water. Heat the ghee in a thick bottomed kadai.

Add the ground moong dal and stir the mixture on a medium flame until it becomes golden brown. Add the grated khoya and stir again on a low flame for about 10 minutes. Heat the milk. Add it to the above mixture along with the sugar. Stir continuously on a low flame until the ghee separates. Dissolve the saffron in a little milk and add it to the above mixture along with the saffron strands. Mix well and serve hot, garnished with chopped almonds and pistachios.

Kesaria milk halwa

Ingredients

Milk: 2 litres

Fresh curd: 4 tbsp

Sugar: 200 gms

Saffron: a few strands

Cardamom powder: 1 tsp

For garnishing

Chopped almonds and pistachios

Method

Take a thick bottomed pan. Mix the milk and curd and put it to boil.

Add the sugar and cook on a…More

The Hindu : y>Catch some interesting series on Fox History

Not all battle plans involve large operations. Sometimes, a small number of troops can have the same effect as a larger group. Raids to achieve specific objectives can be a fascinating aspect of military art. Catch the action on “War the Battleplan:Raiding Operations” only on Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Fox History.

***Watch “Engineering Marvels:Vertical City” on Wednesday at 9 p.m. as it talks about the iconic 375 Park Avenue in New York, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, that changed skyscraper design forever. It has inspired the square glass blocks of skylines across the planet. Behind its revolutionary glass façade, is the story of how the creator managed to realise his dream without adequate funds, apart from its historical details. Catch the story on Wednesday at 9 p.m.

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