Содержание выпуска: August 15, 2016 — Open Magazine

editor@openmedianetwork.in LETTER OF THE WEEK The cover story, ‘The Overcomers’ (8 August 2016), brought out the inspiring way in which a section of the Dalit community is fighting to break free of stigma. Their enterprising efforts should be applauded as it is such people who effect real changes in society. A few hundred years ago, consumers of the so-called ‘top castes’ in India would not even have considered buying a small item from a Dalit, let alone [invest in a company set up by one]. This itself goes to show how the community is reviving its fortunes and finally getting its due respect. The Hindu caste system is conceptually flawed and it is shocking to hear that there exist orthodox elements in society who adhere to it even today. How…

THE EXISTENCE OF evil is a moral requirement in politics—or so it seems in the age of Donald Trump. How this man has soared so high, defying gravity, asks the outraged. And the man himself, reading the mind of evil-busters in the media and in his own party, loves playing up his bogeyman side, forcing all the good men of America to seek the meanest of adjectives. Candidate Trump must be waking up every morning only to realise that, even as his poll ratings rise to alarming levels, he is the single cause of America’s shattered idyll. Is it then Weimar America today? Is it the story of a delusional, righteous native harvesting the deepest fears of the volk? Is it the age of the paranoid all over again, the…

GETTING THERE BY ROAD: New Delhi to Reeta Village - 340 kms via Moradabad, Rampur, Rudrapur, Kathgodam, Bhowali and Ramgarh. The journey takes about 8 hours. Distances of other tourist destinations from Reeta: Nainital - 40 km, Bhowali - 30 km, Mukteshwar -14 km. BY TRAIN: Daily Overnight Ranikhet Express departs from Delhi at 10:45 pm and arrives at Kathgodam at 6:00am. Take a taxi from Kathgodam to Reeta, a hill journey of 60 kms. Summer special (May to July): Shatabdhi Express departs from Delhi at 6:20 am and arrives at Kathgodam at 12:30 pm. Nestled in the middle of a fruit orchard in the heart of Kumaon in the Himalayas, lies the peaceful resort of Whispering Heights. Perched at an altitude of 1,940 meters with forests of oak, rhododendron,…

ANY LAW WHICH holds people guilty until they are able to prove their innocence is always a bad idea. It does not matter whether the charge is rape or terrorism, once the principle of assumed innocence (until otherwise) is turned upside down, everyone is potentially a rapist or terrorist as per the whim of a policeman. To crimes like these that arouse so much public anger that such laws are welcomed, Bihar has just added the drinking of alcohol. This is what will happen in Bihar to people who consume, store or supply alcohol, as per an analysis of the The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Bill, 2016, by the research body PRS Legislative Research: • ‘The Bill allows an authorised person to arrest the offender without a warrant’ • ‘…the…

IT IS ‘ABSURD’, Jawaharlal Nehru acknowledged, ‘to think of India or any country as a kind of anthropomorphic entity’. And yet, he couldn’t resist feeling ‘that a country with a long cultural background and a common outlook on life develops a spirit that is peculiar to it and that is impressed on all its children, however much they may differ among themselves’. A key figure during India’s freedom struggle and the nation’s first Prime Minister Nehru’s hope in The Discovery of India (1946)—in which these observations appear—was to capture a shared experience that Indians might be able to call their own. It was the kind of effort that nationalism demanded; a response to the orientalist indulgence of colonial accounts of the past. As a work of history, The Discovery of…

THERE IS A LARGE puddle in the middle of the narrow road that leads to Shankar Gaikar’s row house. It stands at the dead end of the alley. All houses here have tall gates, but whereas the others are shut, Gaikar’s open gate swings back and forth in the wind. A Bullet motorcycle is parked on the porch, a shoe rack at the far end has slippers and shoes. The house is unfrilled within—two sofas, a TV set, a framed painting of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji and photographs of various gods and goddesses. And also, a photo of Gaikar himself, seated and holding a tiger on his lap. Fifty-four-year-old Gaikar is the head of the Bajrang Dal for the western region. Given the reputation of the organisation and its…

THERE WAS A time, around the mid-90s, when patients suffering from obesity were advised not to spend too much time watching cookery channels. It was easy to do—you simply switched the television off. Today, however, there is no diet, no personal trainer and no certified clinical health coach in the world who can save you from constant exposure to the elaborately staged performance that is food porn. It’s everywhere—crammed into your Instagram feed, attached to hashtags, posted on your best friend’s Snapchat, staring at you as a profile photo on a WhatsApp group. There is no escaping that unbelievably delicious-looking image of banana cardamom coconut samosas and chai-poached pears with its detailed caption and weathered cookie sheet backdrop. “This is the era of Generation Yum. We no longer need Betty…

Guess Who’s Ready to Come Round Sanjay Leela Bhansali is having trouble finding an actor to play a key role in his new film, Padmavati. It’s a crucial part opposite Deepika Padukone, who will play the title role, but it’s a secondary character to the film’s male lead, which is— who else but Bhansali’s Bajirao himself, Ranveer Singh. No wonder, everyone from Masaan’s Vicky Kaushal to Sushant Singh Rajput and Fawad Khan are believed to have politely declined. According to insiders, Bhansali always envisioned a new actor in the role, but was being urged by his lead pair, his studio, and his friends not to settle for a debutant before at least trying to land a marquee name. Despite multiple rejections, rumours are abuzz that Shahid Kapoor has said ‘yes’ to…

HUBLOT BIG BANG UNICO SAPPHIRE ALL BLACK By its nature, black absorbs all visible radiation and does not reflect any light. In this original interpretation of the “All Black” concept, Hublot is once again playing with received ideas. The Big Bang Unico Sapphire All Black is both transparent and completely robed in black. What is more, it does not absorb light. In fact, it lets light pass through. It embodies the dichotomy of the visible and invisible, the seen and the unseen. BIG BANG UNICO CHRONOGRAPH UEFA EURO 2016TM Hublot was the first luxury brand to invest in football back in 2008. The brand was the “Official Timekeeper” for UEFA EURO 2008. Jean-Claude Biver, Chairman of Hublot and the watches division for LVMH, was the man behind Hublot’s entry into…

THE PASSAGE OF the Constitution (122nd Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha on 3 April paves the way for a Goods and Services Tax (GST ) across the length and breadth of India. While there are a couple of other enabling Bills that will have to be passed by Parliament in the months ahead, the rollout of GST is now assured. Much of the excitement about the Bill is that it will give India a unified indirect tax system, something that is good for consumers and producers alike. Predictability of taxation will help end uncertainty for businesses and the burden they bear on account of multiple tax authorities will be lifted. This, however, is a narrow view. Viewed historically, GST marks another leap in the strengthening of the Indian nation-state.…

The two hallmarks of alcoholism are denial and self-destruction. Just some time ago, Bhagwant Mann had almost everything going for him. He was one of AAP’s most popular faces in Punjab, even a potentail Chief Ministerial candidate. And now he seems to be touching rock bottom with a poorly thought out sting on Parliament itself. Three MPs have written to the Lok Sabha Speaker asking for him to be sent to rehab. His alcoholism is becoming a legend in Delhi. It is actually a story of any alcoholic, just that his seems to be playing out in public view. The solution is also simple: give up denial and go in for treatment. WORD’S WORTH “If something bad happens, you drink to forget; if something good happens, you drink to celebrate;…

Outside a large vanity van that casts a soft light upon its owner whenever it is opened, like a refrigerator in a dark room, Salman Khan sits under a temporary structure made of poles and tarpaulin sheets, across a table with several white plastic chairs. He sits at a slight elevation—two chairs stacked one atop the other—as if to distinguish his position from those who come to occupy the other chairs. Wearing a dark tee with the name of his foundation ‘Being Human’ scribbled on both sleeves like a declaration of intent, and a pair of jeans that strangely has two large sequined flaps flopping out of the backpockets and hanging like a basset hound with overlong jewelled ears, Salman Khan scrutinises his surroundings with cold dispassionate eyes. Dozens of…

AMONG THE MANY surprises of this seething, perplexing American election season is the fact that its current stars, a hundred days from polling, are a family of Pakistani Americans from Virginia. That reflects, above all, the power of the rebuke Khizr Khan, a retired immigration lawyer who moved with his family to America from Abu Dhabi, delivered to Donald Trump at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia on 28 July. The reality television star and Republican nominee describes America’s Muslims, a strikingly prosperous and law-abiding community, as terrorist-loving fifth-columnists. He has sworn to impose an entry ban on foreign Muslims, until America can “figure out what is going on”. Such a ban, Khan noted, might have stopped his son, Humayun, moving to America as a toddler. A captain in the US…

HASHIMPURA 22 MAY: THE FORGOTT EN ST ORY OF INDIA’S BIGGEST CUSTODIAL KILLING Vibhuti Narain Rai Translated by Darshan Desai Penguin 180 Pages | Rs 399 FIRST, THE FACTS as narrated in this chilling, courageous account. May 1987. Two months of riots rend Meerut apart. The Ram Janmabhoomi agitation is on the rise, the Hindutva demand for a temple at Ayodhya’s disputed site rousing a large section of North India’s upper- and middle-caste population. The year before, Rajiv Gandhi ordered the opening of the black seal of the Babri Masjid, angering conservative Muslims. Tension fills the air. Opinions are so polarised that antagonisms have seeped into the government, bureaucracy, constabulary: officers of Uttar Pradesh’s Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC ) attack and almost kill a Muslim officer when he tries to…

“I WOULD BE LYING TO YOU IF I SAID I DON’T LOVE THE ATTENTION. BUT NOW THERE IS THIS TEMPTATION TO BE A BIT CREATIVE AND A LITTLE TLE CHEEKY” Rahul Khanna TUCKED AWAY IN a lane a few hundred metres from Mumbai’s iconic Haji Ali Dargah, you are likely to miss the Royal Willingdon Sports Club if you aren’t aware of it. Founded in 1918 by Lord Willingdon, the then Governor of Bombay, the club is cited as Mumbai’s ‘most exclusive’, with its membership having been shut to outsiders since 1985, and is especially known for its snobbery towards all things Bollywood. So this club is the last place you would expect to meet an actor for an interview, least of all one who purportedly counts on his allegiance…

How does crowd-funding for start-ups work and what is unique about the 1Crowd model? Crowd funding as a concept started gaining traction from the United States when a Boston musician and computer programmer launched AristShare in 2003. Crowd funding has since evolved into funding for creative projects, nonprofit campaigns, and other social causes. Today, crowd funding is seen as another platform to encourage and promote entrepreneurship. Ours is an equity-based crowd funding platform where a pool of investors looks for investment opportunities into a host of promising Indian startups. What makes us unique is our state-of-theart ecosystem, created around the core business of fundraising for startups and early stage ventures. We, at 1Crowd, go a step beyond connecting startups with investors. We co-invest in start-ups and early stage ventures that…