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The Hindu :

Mahindra Xylo and Tata Sumo Grande Mark II offer acres of space, comfortable seating and a refined ride

The Mahindra Xylo was an instant hit after its launch a year ago. And for good reasons. It provides acres of space and comfortable three rows of seats. It has a decent ride and comes with a fabulous torquey engine. Above all, it is well-equipped and well-priced too.

The Tata Sumo Grande isn’t a new car to us. Space and practicality were always its strong point. But it was let down by average performance, scary dynamics and poor quality interiors. Now Tata has tried to address all these deficiencies with the Sumo Grande Mark II. A bit of chrome on the grille, indicators on the rearview mirrors and a chrome-lined rub strip on the doors — these changes make Grande’s chiselled styling even better.

Exterior and interior

The tall stance and SUV-like boxy proportions make the Xylo look like a mix between an SUV and MPV. The exteriors theme is carried onto the interiors as well. Once you step up into the Xylo’s , you are greeted by a spacious cabin. The dash of the Xylo has a youthful design. You sit at a good height and all the controls fall to hand easily. The front seats are supportive and the adjustable handrest is a nice touch. The gear lever too is well-placed, but the golf club-like design of the gear knob is odd to hold. The air vents too are not good at directing flow. There are a few quality niggles. Interior quality in both cars is about average. The squarish design of the Grande translates into a very spacious cabin. The front seats are roomy and comfy in the Grande but the Xylo’s front seats are a wee bit better. You get armrests up front in the Grande but they are not adjustable so…More

The Hindu : y>

Women On Wanderlust (WOW) completes five years and to celebrate it, it has added Bangalore as one of its new departure points. The WOW group’s next trip is to China.

The team departs from Bangalore on May 20.

This nine-day expedition takes you to Beijing, Lhasa, Shanghai and a train trip to Xian. Experience the highest ever train journey in the world, climb the Great Wall of China, walk through Beijing’s Forbidden City and do more.

The trip is priced at Rs. 96,000 per person on double occupancy. The single occupancy surcharge is Rs. 10,000. There will be a discount of Rs. 5,000 if the complete payment is made by March 25.

Contact WOW founder Sumitra Senapaty, on 0-98916-55054 or check www.wowsumitra.com for details.

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The Hindu : KARTIKEYA SINGHEE

It’s a bigger, wider and more of an American take on the minimalist roadster. Kartikeya Singhee on the luxuriant Panoz Roadster

The Panoz Roadster is surreal. You could actually think of this as a modern-day take on the F1 cars of the 1950s and 1960s, where the cars were merely skateboards with engines plonked on them and enough space for a driver to squash in between. Daniel Panoz, the man behind Panoz Auto Development, admits “It’s the smallest chassis that can be wrapped around a V8.” It might look like a Lotus re-worked but, to be honest, it’s not.

A portly Mustang-sourced 4.6 V8 and the general largesse has the Roadster tipping the scales at 1150kg, which ends up taking the edge off the mammoth 305bhp on offer! It’s a bigger, wider and more of an American take on the minimalist roadster. This collector’s item is among the last of the super-exclusive Roadsters made over nine years ago. Considering that only 300 of these all-American cars were made, owning one of these cars is sure to draw a lot of attention. And each one of those was sold, so that means the one that I am driving is actually a loaner. The proud owner of the car has used it more as a show piece than a track car and it’s in mint condition. It’s done less than 50km a year for the past nine years and this time around, we’re about to add the quickest mileage it’s probably ever done. Looking at the car, you get an inkling of why the obsession with keeping it spic and span.

The finishing is classy. The chrome headlamps, suspension arms and coils look exquisite. There’s an aquiline feel to the Roadster’s design, right from the eye-like headlamps and the way the rounded nose flows back, to the plump rear which, however, feels a…More

The Hindu :

Swati Santani gives her personalised touch to that chair

Photo: K. GopinathanDESIGNS ON YOU Swati Santani rues how India is not considered a big furniture market

It is a real task to locate her office in HAL 2 {+n} {+d} Stage. The next task is to get this really shy designer to talk and smile for us. “I am just not comfortable doing these things,” she says. So we decide to sit at her office and ask her about her work. She gets so involved in explaining her work that she gradually relaxes and starts talking about her passion.

Swati Santani is young and loves designing furniture and tiny accessories. Her designs match your first impression about her — quiet, yet strong and stylish. She smiles and says that she took to interior design and felt that she was intrigued by furniture. She did her post graduation diploma in furniture design at NID, Ahmedabad. After which, she started working with various Indian and international furniture companies, in the design and the sales departments to study the furniture market.

Working on space

“When I was into interiors I was more interested in small-scale products. But I realised that I can make it more personalised if I focussed on furniture,” starts this designer, who has made Bangalore her home for the last four years.

Having worked in Mumbai and Bangalore, she chose Bangalore because the company that offered her a job here was more interesting. “I have grown with the company and have learnt so much. Then I decided that I had to do something on my own at my own pace. So I started the Working Radius.”

Swati says she enjoys being on her own and exhibits her collections as and when she puts them together. “My first exhibition was all about accessories inspired by sea shells. I received a very good response. Now I am working…More

The Hindu :

Jean Manuel Jacquinot sees a change in how Indians perceive wine

NEW CHALLENGES Climate change and wine tastes

“I ndians do not like to eat food when they drink, be it wine or any other drink. This is different from Europe, where drinking and eating is a tradition. I feel that this is the reason that many people are apprehensive about pairing wine with Indian food,” says Jean Manuel Jacquinot, a renowned winemaker, who is involved in crafting the Nine Hills reserve from the hills of Nasik.

“Wine is a new entrant in the Indian market. It is gaining a lot of popularity. Vineyards are coming up across the country.”

India boasts many regions with temperate climates, where wine grapes can thrive. “The hills of Nasik and Nandi hills in Karnataka are excellent places for growing wine grapes. These regions receive adequate rainfall, the soil has good moisture levels and the climate is suited for growing great wine. It will take some time, but the Indian wine industry has the potential to make a major impact on the international wine industry.”

With the spectre of global warming hanging on the planet, Jean feels the wine industry too would be affected. “Wine is a commodity that can change with even minor changes to climatic conditions. The increase in global temperatures has resulted in alterations in the taste of wine in some parts of France, but the situation is under control.”

He adds, “When pairing food and wine, a lot of discussion also goes into ensuring that the wines and the food bring out their unique tastes on to the palate. If the wine cancels out the taste of the food or vica versa, the pairing loses its purpose. They should complement each other well. We have discovered that, contrary to popular belief, Indian food, especially tandoor preparations such as tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, go very well…More

The Hindu : K. JESHI

The Badshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, effortlessly juggled roles to entertain, quiz and dispense words of wisdom. K. JESHI reports

Photo: ApTurn on the charm Shah Rukh Khan.

As the countdown began, all eyes were glued to the stage. Lights went dim, there was silence and the star descended in true Bollywood style with music beats. He stood on a podium which moved up in the air, and everyone in the audience got a glimpse of the star waving and smiling to them. Decorative display of lights beamed on the stage, ‘King Khan’ flashed on the screen and the youngsters screamed “Shah Rukh Khan I Love You”. To which the actor replied: “I love you too.”

“We’ll have enough fun, music and entertainment,” the actor told the packed audience at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium. He was in Bangalore to host the Dare 10, the B-School Quiz organised by IIPM along with 4Ps Business and Marketing magazine. A total of six teams made it to the finals after competing with teams from 150 countries.

Recalling his childhood memories in Bangalore (his grandparents lived in Nandi Durga Street) he told them “Success cannot teach you any wisdom. I came to Mumbai, started doing roles and I became successful. Sometimes, you don’t even know how it happens.”

SRK says failure is an amazing teacher. “It teaches you to be pragmatic, who your real friends are, and it leads to exhaustion and you start working harder.”

It is the fear of failure that drove the actor to make it big. “My parents were not successful, I have seen poverty and I am scared of begin poor. This fear makes me work hard. Be organised, disciplined and continue working hard,” he told the youngsters and delivered the popular “kkkiran” dialogue from “Darr” and “Harne wale ko Baazigar kehte hain…” from “Baazigar”.

“Find out what is the music you want to…More

The Hindu :

Madras Heritage Motoring Club spread joy and messages on the road to Puducherry

Photo: M. KARUNAKARAN

The youngest in a family grabs all the attention. Some families make an exception. Like this one, which took a trip down the East Coast Road last weekend. While having a spot of relaxation near Marg Swarnabhoomi’s project site, close to Mudaliar Kuppam Boat House, this family reverentially let its oldest member — a 1927 Austin Chummy – stand in front and hog the limelight.

We are talking about a family of vehicles whose specialness lies in defying time.

An overhead Marg banner said, “We laud the spirit of the golden oldies.” Laudatory efforts by their owners had brought these vehicles so far.

They would go even farther; their old engines would cool off only in Puducherry.

Chennai to Puducherry is an unduly long distance for these oldies.

The fact that the cars, numbering over 30, made the trip and back, with only minor hiccups along the way, underlines the meticulous planning by the Madras Heritage Motoring Club.

While the rally encompassed roles by the tourism wings of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, messages about heritage preservation and a socially-responsive performance by a villapattu troupe, it was not just another staid awareness campaign.

The car owners had a rollicking time. There were quips, cranks, good-humoured barbs and insider jokes. Viji (treasurer, MHMC) said, “Bally (president Balraj Vasudevan) is a picture of concentration. He’s driving a big car.” Bally was at the wheel of M.S. Guhan’s huge Chevrolet Skyline; and Viji was alluding to the dimensions of Bally’s car — a 1926 Austin Chummy. Had it participated, this Chummy would have been the oldest.

Maya Ganesh was a surprise. The biker girl was at ease rolling the wheels of a left-hand-drive Willys jeep, her uncle Selvaraj’s. She kept pace with her friend’s modern vehicle, overtaking it regularly. The engaging race was disrupted when the Willys stopped…More

The Hindu :

Serve delicious green tea ice-cream

SOUNDS COOL Your daily cuppa all frozen up

An oriental evergreen tree, the tea plant is raised as a shrub on tea plantations. A relative of the camellia with the botanical name of Camellia sinesis, the tea plant produces abundant foliage, a camellia like flower and berries containing one to two seeds. Only the smallest, youngest parts of the plant — the two leaves and bud at the tip of each new shoot — are picked for tea.

Most high quality teas will produce a pale green to yellow-green cup. To test for freshness, tightly squeeze a small amount and smell the aroma. The freshest, most flavourful tea will smell sweet and grassy.

To retain freshness and flavour of both loose and bagged tea, store it in an airtight opaque container to protect it from light, moisture and food odours. It’s best to store tea in a dark, cool, dry cupboard. One bag of green tea contains zero calories. The catechin in green tea is thought to have anti-cancer and antioxidant effects. Now, for a recipe.

Green tea ice-cream

Ingredients

Green tea powder: 2 tbsp

Granulated sugar: 70 gm

Egg yolk: 3

Milk: 150 ml

Double cream: 150 ml

Method: Begin by mixing two tablespoons of granulated sugar with the green tea powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the remainder of the granulated sugar with the egg yolks. Gently heat the milk in a pan without letting it boil. Remove from the heat and mix a small amount of the warm milk with the green tea and sugar mix until it becomes a smooth paste. Gradually add the milk to the rest of the green tea paste while keeping the mixture smooth and then return to the heat. Before the mixture boils, remove again from the heat and then strain the whole mix through a fine sieve to remove any impurities. Leave the mixture…More

The Hindu : C.K. MEENA

A lament for those who have to look good in order to feel good. and to look good, have to look like someone else

An eight-year-old gets her eyebrows plucked at a beauty parlour. An eighth standard student asks for Botox to remove a line between her eyebrows. If your eyebrows aren’t shooting up by now you must be more shockproof than I. On the other hand, why should such news shock me?Falsity, which permeates modern life, is nowhere more prevalent – indeed, more sought after – than in the realm of physical features. If adults strive to appear to be who they are not, it is only a matter of time before children do the same.Beauty-conscious little girls (it’s always girls, isn’t it?) got me thinking back to my own childhood. I did go through a brief teenage phase of examining my face with a hypercritical eye and growing convinced that my eyes were too small and narrow-set, my nose too large, my lips too fat and my hair too curly.Images of women in the magazines my mother read were my standards for judging myself. I was not engulfed by the storm of still and moving visuals that today’s youngsters are swept away by. Peer pressure wasn’t invented yet. It was easy for me to overcome my fleeting, superficial aspirations to an ideal body and decide to remain true to the original.Maybe I overdid the “to thine own self be true” business. I equated make-up with dishonesty. On principle, I refused to dye my prematurely greying hair. I shunned cosmetics like the plague – no eyeliner, or bindi even. And no plucking, waxing, smoothening, straightening, thank you very much. “What you see is what you get.” That’s the principle I lived and continue to live by. The only mechanic whom I will allow to tinker with the prototype will be…More

The Hindu : y>

Magical ceremony Interviews with Indians who have attended the ceremony will be featured

With the 82nd Annual Academy Awards coming up on March 8, Star Movies will update viewers with the latest news on Oscars through special programming modules all this month. A special movie festival Oscar Fever will showcase Oscar winning movies on Monday and Tuesday after the 9 p.m. movie.

The channel will also have special segments with interviews of Indians who have attended the Oscars ceremony.

A week before the main event, the channel will have an anchored compilation of the major contenders, which will include a film critic giving his/her predictions on the winners. This special show ‘And the Oscar Goes to…’ will air on February 28 at 8 p.m.

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