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PHOTOS: BY AUTHORREFRESHING BREAK At the Swosti Palm Resort

SWOSTI PALM RESORT

GOPALPUR-ON-SEA

USP: Sun, sea and sand

Gopalpur-on-Sea is a quaint little hamlet in Orissa where the four landmarks are a lighthouse, a pock-marked building ravaged by time, a temple, and the sandbar where the lagoon merges with the sea. With so little to see, you will obviously end up watching the sea. Swosti Palm Resort is one place where you can park your bags, and take in the sea as well as the nearby places that time and worry have not touched.

Built as a guest house for Tata employees when it was setting up a steel plant, it has now been developed as a resort by the Swosti group. The rooms are built around an atrium, with a pool table. You can get a hint of the sea from a few rooms and the terrace. The resort has two luxury suites and 24 AC standard rooms. Winter is the best time to hit the place as the shallow sea recedes up to a km in the afternoon, leaving a broad band of sand where you can even drive a car or play a round of beach volleyball or frisbee. Gopalpur is fringed by an estuary on one side that attracts migratory birds by the droves.

The best thing about a beach resort is the seafood. In the morning, catch the sunrise and watch the fishermen haul their catch and people haggle over prices on the beach. Luckily, you don’t have to haggle; you can sit down at the sparkling clean restaurant and order the freshest fish.

If you do one of the to-do things and head to Chilika lake, don’t forget to get a few crabs that you can get cooked using your persuasive skills at the restaurant.

Things to do

Chill out on the beach, walk on the sand to reach a Shiva temple on one…More

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An art installation “Artist Talk” featuring coconut trees made from recycled paper is on. The exhibition is a result of a Max Mueller Bhavan sponsored two-month workshop for artists-in residence.

Venue: 1 Shanti Road

Date: January 16

Time: 6.30 p.m.

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The Hindu :

Ranjit, who is at home with most departments of cinema says that he loves direction best

REJUVENATINGMoulding actors is a good feeling, says Ranjit

W hat strikes you about Ranjit’s oeuvre is its diversity. Whether with regard to subject matter, style or genre, he refuses to be typecast. There is simply no Ranjit kind of movies, you have got to admit, like you have with other directors. It’s hard to believe that both “Nandanam” and “Rock and Roll” came from the same person, isn’t it? Lal Jose, of course, loves to flit from subject to subject and one genre to another, like a few others, but usually, directors like to confine themselves to their comfort zones.

Ask Ranjit what he is interested in besides cinema and he cannot think of anything else but travel, that too as cinema’s handmaiden, when he is over and done with a movie and wants to relax, and is ready to seek inputs. Not the touristy place for him, where the majority flock to. “Sathyamangalam forests, that’s my favourite place. Sometimes I go with friends, sometimes alone. I think I’ve been there eight times, usually after work on a movie is finished. Sitting and reading there is a great experience. We take provisions and cook for ourselves, for you won’t even find an eating place there,” he says.

Raw material

Travelling gives Ranjit a lot more than relaxation. It is grist for his story ideas pool. Meeting characters, looking at life from a different perspective, give him the raw material to weave a story. “Every story that I have written is backed by a real life incident. Everything is redesigned, no doubt but the germ of a story always has real life backing,” he points out. And you think of “Devasuram”, “Kaiyoppu”, “Thirakkatha” and “Aaram Thampuran”.

For a man who wanted to do nothing else but cinema, his dreams have surely…More

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EasyLib will conduct a workshop based on Dr. Sampath’s book “Discovery”. It is for children aged eight years and above. The introductory session is free and is open to parents too.

Venue: EasyLib, Koramangala

Date: January 16

Time: 5 p.m. to 6.30 p.m.

Contact: 41102231

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The Hindu : BHUMIKA K.

She’s got the gift of the gab and knows how to get dolls talking. Indushree R., Bangalore’s now famous ventriloquist tells BHUMIKA K. she loves being in the limelight

Photos : MURALI KUMAR K.Down another funny slide Indushree with the inseparable Dinku, who chats with her on anything ranging from the Mumbai blasts to why Rakhi Sawant won’t ever get married

R ight from when she was in class six, Indushree R. sat in front of a mirror for hours trying to figure out how she could speak without moving her lips — hardly something you would associate with a kid that age. “I simply thought ventriloquism is about shutting your mouth and speaking,” laughs the 23-year-old Indushree, today regarded as India’s first woman ventriloquist. She tried gritting her teeth, she tried lip control techniques, she watched videos to figure out how others did it. Today, with calluses and bumps on her palm, rigorous vocal chord training behind her, and an entry in the Limca Book of Records for the longest-running live TV show of its kind (68 episodes), Indushree knows better than that.

Loving challenges

It was a challenge thrown in her face (the “women can’t be ventriloquists!” kind) that made her switch over from magic. And oh…that’s another story. When she was in class two, a family friend performed a coin trick. She picked it up and performed it for him. Impressed, he gave her a magic kit. So began her magical journey, performing at school talent shows, picking up tricks from videos and books. She says she’s performed over 2,800 shows all over the country. Senior magicians like Keshav Jadugar, Uday Jadugar and A.K. Dutt inspired and helped her. “I simply enjoy being in the limelight,” is how Indushree chooses to explain her interest in both magic and ventriloquism. It wasn’t like anything in particular inspired her. “I play the…More

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Guruguhaamrta presents two young musicians, S.R. Vinay and K.V. Krishnaprasad, who will render select kritis of Muttuswami Dikshitar.

Venue: Ananya, Malleswaram

Date: January 17

Time: 6.30 p.m.

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The Hindu : SHONALI MUTHALALY

Thankfully, today you can browse and learn from others’ kitchen disasters. For one, there’s the How Not To Cookbook…

FRIES ON FIRE Kitchen woes

I t seemed logical. I wanted to re-heat a boiled egg. So, I peeled off the shell, popped it in the microwave, and headed to my room to slather on lipstick. (If Nigella Lawson can do it, so can I!) Then came the explosion.

Expecting to find a bevy of bomb-brandishing bandits rifling through my fridge, I rushed into the kitchen armed with a gleaming eyelash curler. (Oh, so what would you have done if you had nothing but a make up kit for protection? Held up a fluffy pink brush and yelled — surrender or I’ll highlight your cheekbones with Cheeky Peach?) Fortunately, I did not have to spend all afternoon giving a hairy burglar luscious lashes. The noise was from the ‘eggsplosion’ (self-satisfied chuckle), and my lunch was evenly coated all over the insides of a microwave. And, that’s how I learnt not to reheat boiled eggs.

The problem with recipes is that writers assume cooking techniques come naturally to everyone. That we all live in this idealised world — replete with kitchen scenes shot in soft focus at sunset — where we dabble at our grandmother’s knees lisping and learning how to expertly sauté, sift and stir fry.

Thanks to the Internet, we now know that the world is actually full of cursing, wounded, accident-prone kitchen blunderers, most of whom have no problem with letting all of us learn from their mistakes. They’re on blogs, food forums and recipe discussions. While a lot of their mistakes are funny (as other people’s disasters often are), they’re also a valuable guide. Rules on What Not To Do In The Kitchen are just as important as those snotty de rigueur ‘What To Do’ lists.

The How Not To Cookbook — Lessons…More

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Gunjan presents a Hindustani classical vocal recital by Smita Bellur. This will be followed by Indian classical instrumental music by The Prakash Sontakke Group. It is open to all.

Venue: Seva Sadan, Malleswaram

Date: January 17

Time: 10 a.m.

Contact: 23349045

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The Hindu :

The Paul in Domlur has a lovely spread, and has many plans for foodies

DINERS WILL LOVE ITInnovative and custom made

With large signboards strategically placed, it’s easy to locate The Paul hotel in Domlur Layout, off Intermediate Ring Road. It’s a tall building, designed with pretty tiles; a blend of Kerala and contemporary architecture.

It’s the coffee shop – Side Walk – on the premises of The Paul that we are heading to. Executive chef, Ashwin Kotain, says that the restaurant will soon start a seafood joint that will serve authentic Kerala cuisine. This ambitious chef plans to introduce a variety of food festivals at the Paul. “We are new (two-years-old). It will be good to offer a wide range of food options to people who come in here.”

He is innovative and loves creating a new dish for diners. One of his popular dishes is the open ravioli. “It’s designed like a rose and takes a really long time to cook,” he explains. This hospitable chef simply takes charge and serves us specialty dishes.

We start with the crispy starter – Bruschetta Trinacria. This comes with tiny crisp toasted garlic bread topped with fresh chopped tomatoes, mixed olives, herbs and olive oil. It’s on the saltier side, but the aroma of the lovely garlic toast with olive oil makes up for it.

The next is the corn chowder soup. At first it tastes totally bland. As you go on, you start recognising the flavours – with the corn flavour being the strongest. Must say its one of the most delicious soups one has ever had. For you really enjoy it even though there is no strong flavour in it. “It’s made from American corn, cooked with aromatic vegetables like onions, leek and celery, all cooked together, ” explains Ashwin. The servings are large and we are already feeling full. But the chef insists we…More

The Hindu :

China Moses turned the jazz evening in the city into a tribute to Diana Washington

Photo: Nagara GopalEFFORTLESS Scintillating music

The smoky bistros of Paris, famous for their Blues and Jazz musicians, were recreated for us Jazz aficionados here in Bangalore by The Embassy of France in India and The Alliance Francaise de Bangalore at the Hotel Royal Orchid. But the difference, as China Moses, the artiste for the evening said was ‘the ventilation was much better’ since it was out in the open! Jazz lovers chatted desultorily around platters of finger food and drinks and the music in typical Bangalore fashion, started up after 8 p.m.

“I wonder if she will be as good as her Mother,” wondered Yvonne Pinto a local jazz lover, as she settled down to the evening’s performance.

Influenced and admittedly obsessed by Diana Washington, a blues singer from way back in the ‘50’s, China Moses turned the evening into a tribute to the singer. With stories and anecdotes about the mercurial star performer liberally sprinkled between performing her hit songs, China kept the audience riveted through the evening. A rare chemistry that she shared with ace jazz pianist Raphael Lemonnier, backed by Fabian on the cello and Jean Pierre Derouard on the drums had the Bangalore audience shouting and clapping in appreciation.

China spiced up the beginning by recounting the tale of Diana Washington who in spite of living from just ‘24 to ‘63 managed to have seven husbands and had just started on her eighth one, when she died. China began the evening singing “Fine, fine Daddy” interspersing the lyrics with dance steps on her impossibly tall diamante encrusted heeled sandals. “Mad about the Boy” was next, punctuated with her tale for the ladies in the audience whom she said must have all waited for that fabled phone call at some time in their lives that never came….More