Outlook TruePDF 28 january 2019

ELECTIONS 2019 SEASON OF ALLIANCES Fast and furious January 28, 2019 Rs 60 www.outlookindia.com The Vegan istas Veg and non-veg are passé More and more Indians are embracing a compassionate lifestyle minus dairy and animal products R N I N O 7044/1961 Actor Richa Chadha, a vegan 904150 800010 03 twitter.com/outlookindia facebook.com/outlookindia youtube.com/outlookmagazine digimag.outlookindia.com ELECTIONS 2019 SEASON OF ALLIANCES Fast and furious January 28, 2019 Rs 60 www.outlookindia.com The Vegan istas Veg and non-veg are passé More and more Indians are embracing a compassionate lifestyle minus dairy and animal products R N I N O 7044/1961 Actor Richa Chadha, a vegan 904150 800010 03 twitter.com/outlookindia facebook.com/outlookindia youtube.com/outlookmagazine digimag.outlookindia.com VOte fOr 70 m m “I’ve been Sonia before, had to this!” Suzanne Bernert has portrayed Sonia Gandhi in The Accidental Prime Minister The German-born actress tells Giridhar Jha how did she get into the skin of her character in the movie? Excerpts: What kind of feedback are you getting for your role in the film? I am only being praised People don’t believe that it is not her (Sonia) They are all convinced about my character What did you to prepare for the role? Was there any special brief from the filmmakers? I am a director’s actor I was given a docket replete with videos, footage and pictures So I did not jump into the internet and start searching for all the materials on her Instead, I kept watching her videos on and on But there is no personal video of hers in the public domain So you don’t know what the person is like in real life I, therefore, took some liberties Were you apprehensive about playing such a high-profile politician? We are the first to have made such a movie When a poster of this film was uploaded by Anupam Kher on Twitter last year, somebody sent it to me, thinking I would be perfect for the role Actually, I had played Sonia Gandhi in a TV show called 7RCR earlier, aired before the 2014 parliamentary polls So, I went on to bombard the casting agency with emails and faxes because I wanted to portray this character From Berlin to Mumbai, how did you land in Bollywood? I did an acting course in Berlin for three years before coming to india I am here since 2005, when I was first offered a television show called Astitva Ek Prem Kahani Later, in Kasautii Zindagii Kay, I became the first person to have played a foreign bahu on Indian TV Bollywood offered limited scope for overseas actresses They’re often stereotyped Do you think you have better opportunities now? Definitely I have been doing diverse things here: an ad opposite Aamir Khan, a Marathi blockbuster, a celebrity show, besides doing Bengali films, including one by Aparna Sen O fortunes of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founded by NTR, but there could not have been better timing for their release Like most political ventures, the film also has a rival A YSR Congress leader, has already initiated the counter-attack by producing Lakshmi’s NTR, another movie on the late Andhra icon Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, it will—as its title suggests—explore NTR’s marriage with Lakshmi Parvathy, which subsequently led to the split in the party YSR Congress also has its own hagiography— Yatra, a biopic on party founder and former CM, the late Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy Ready for release on February 7, it has Malayalam superstar Mammootty playing YSR In adjoining Tamil Nadu, a biopic on former CM, the late J Jayalalitha, starring Nithya Menon, is in the pipeline.  Directed by A.  Priyadharshini, The Iron Lady has been planned as a multilingual Its shooting will commence on the birth anniversary of Jayalalitha on February 24 In recent years, Hindi cinema has shown a remarkable predilection for biopics on contemporary figures From Mary Kom (2014) to M.S Dhoni: An 70 OutlOOk 28 January 2019 Untold Story (2016) and Sanju (2017), life stories of many celebrities came out But the politicians were left alone, with the exception for Madhur Bhandarkar’s Indu Sarkar (2017), which talked about the Emergency Now that cinema has entered the politician sabha, where there is no dearth for content for sure, will The Accidental Prime Minister and others set a lasting trend? Poised at an interesting outsider-insider position, German-born actress Suzanne Bernert, who plays Sonia Gandhi in The Accidental… thinks so “I am sure it will open the floodgates, not merely the door,” she says (See interview) t RADE experts, however, beg to differ “The audiences, in general, not like a political film,” says Atul Mohan, editor of Complete Cinema “You cannot interpolate drama, comedy or an item song in a real-life narrative to make it appealing for an average audience.” Mohan avers that Uri clicked in a big way because it had enough action drama to keep the audience on the edge of their seats, “otherwise most of the political films have dry subjects.” An average Bollywood producer, Mohan feels, steers clear of a political biopic because of the sensitive nature of the subject “Besides, it is not easy to get funding for such risky projects They can be made only if they are favourable to the ruling dispensation because the censor board is invariably constituted by it.” Film writer Vinod Anupam believes that political biopics are at best a passing fad “It is purely a seasonal affair Such films will come and go and they will never be accepted by the mainstream cinema,” he insists “There is no market for such films here Look at the timing and the people behind these films Had they been released at any other time, we would have given them a benefit of doubt but in an election year, they all appear to be nothing but propaganda films This is despite the fact that such films hardly influence the voters Did Kissa Kursi Ka influence even one per cent of the votes in any post-Emergency elections?” The National Award-winning writer says Bollywood has made the maximum number of biopics on Bhagat Singh only because of the high drama in his life “They are yet to make an authentic biopic on Gandhi and Nehru, let alone the lesser mortals “Such films And it was a government agency (NFDC), which can be financed biopics on Ambedkar and Sardar Patel.” made only Moreover, Anupam wonders, what they can if they are show in a film on contemporary leaders or subfavourable jects which are still fresh in people’s memories to the ruling “Can they show in Mumbai what should be shown dispensation in a Thackeray biopic?” he asks “And pray, what was so new about the existence of a parallel power because the centre during the UPA regime, as depicted in The censor board Accidental Prime Minister, which the audience did not know in the first place?” O is run by it.” Wooing your Interiors with SlideLine 97 “I think everything in your house should have raison d’etre If you don’t know why it’s there, get rid of it,” B Potter, designer and author Jonathan Adler ought a new place lately? 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So folks, time to make SlideLine 97 a part of your life The simple and beautiful fitting by Hettich promises to carry on the rich legacy of your shelter through its multifarious interpretations with a single fitting connecting visually the different glass spectrums vivifying your home! n 28 January 2019 OutlOOk 71 PATRIOT GAMES WAGAH OF THE EAST The Beating Retreat at an Indo-Bangladesh border outpost matches the spectacle of the western frontier high kicks et al SHOW STEALERS A BSF jawan and a Bangladesh Border Guard trooper at the Beating Retreat; (bottom left) soldiers of India and Bangladesh line up to lower the flags at Akhaura, Tripura Text and Photographs by Sandipan Chatterjee at Akhaura, Tripura C HEST thrust forward like a soldier, his small feet synchronising with the beats of the military band, the youngster marches towards the Indian jawans standing in attention He then proceeds to give a crisp salute to the troopers before turning and marching back And as if on cue, a Border Security Force (BSF) trooper lets out a deep-throated military command to signal the start of the official ceremony Welcome to Akhaura, the Wagah of the East on the Indo-Bangladesh border It’s time for the Beating Retreat, a ceremony as spectacular and colourful as the more popular event at the border check post in Punjab along the IndoPakistan border A tad toned down than the chest-thumping pantomime at Wagah, for here’s a ceremony between two friendly countries The ceremony at Akhaura, just five km from Tripura capital Agartala, was launched in 2017 under the tourism ministry’s Swadesh Darshan scheme, and draws a fair share of visitors every day Most of the visitors are from Agartala Some are from other states, mostly West Bengal They are drawn by history, the Partition of 1947 when people with identical cultures and heritage were separated by a contentious border Geeta Mukherjee, a visitor from Calcutta, was overwhelmed by the ceremony It was an emotional trip for Pushpa Das who has ancestral roots in Bangladesh and connected to many people there On the Bangladeshi side too there were many with relatives in India After the flags were lowered by the BSF and the Border Guards Bangladesh, people from both countries are allowed to meet at a designated area O 28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 73 PAT R IOT GAMES KADAM KADAM BADHAYE JA A youngster shows off his marching skills as BSF jawans look on; (right) visitors from India and Bangladesh meet at the Akhaura check post on the Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura 74 OUTLOOK 28 January 2019 Zoho M l Your business relies on Your email Provide it Zoho Mail safety E mail is the keystone of modern day business communication Despite the uptick in social media and chat platforms, email is and will continue to be the most reliable way for businesses to correspond For this reason, email has become a prime target for scammers As your business relies on the safety of your email, companies need to take more precautions to safeguard 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World Congress of Poets (WCP) will be held at KIIT & Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar in October 2019, informed Prof Achyuta Samanta, President of the 39th WCP & Founder, KIIT & KISS in the presence of Mr Jacob Isaac, Executive Board Member of World Congress of Poets &, World Academy of Arts and Culture (WAAC), USA; Dr R K Das and Dr B N Nanda, Sr Advisors, KIIT & KISS at a press meet in New Delhi on December 20, 2018 W AAC and KIIT & KISS will jointly organise the next WCP which is expected to be attended by more than 500 poets from 100 countries Besides that, 2000 writers and poets from India and another 2000 from Odisha are expected to join On the request of KIIT & KISS, the decision to organise this prestigious event at KIIT and KISS was taken by Executive Board Members of WAAC, President of WAAC, Dr Maurus Young, Sr Vice President, Prof Ernesto Kahan and General Secretary Dr Maria Eugenia Soberanis during the 38th WCP hosted in Suiyang County of China’s Guizhou Province The World Academy of Arts and Culture (WAAC), a UNESCO-affiliated body, auspices the World Congress of Poets (WCP) WAAC was founded in 1969 Its Golden Jubilee will be celebrated along with the 39thWCP in 2019 Though WAAC is a 50-year old institution, it has so far conducted 38 WCPs For the 3rd time, World Congress of Poets is going to be held in India In a preliminary meeting, it was tentatively decided to hold the forthcoming World Congress of Poets from October – 6, 2019 The inaugural ceremony will be held on October 2, 2019 coinciding with the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi It has been planned to hold a session on tourism poetry at Konark and a session on spiritual poetry in Puri to promote tourism and culture of Odisha, in particular, and of India, in general Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) Deemed to be University and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) Deemed to be University are two prominent academic institutes in India The former is exclusively for the professional education having more that 30,000 student from across India and 50 countries Despite being a very young university, it has secured an impressive position of 1001+ in the global university ranking of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019 On the other hand, KISS is the human face of KIIT It is a home for 50,000 tribal students - 27,500 existing students, 12,500 well-placed alumni and more than 10,000 students in its various satellite centers The institute provides quality education from Kindergarten to Post-Graduation in a fully-free, fully-residential setting It has the distinction of being the only university exclusively for tribal students in India and the entire world Because of huge infrastructure and other facilities in KIIT & KISS, it has been organizing hundreds of very prominent national and international seminars, workshops and conferences since last 10 year KIIT has hosted prestigious national and international meets like 99th Indian Science Congress in 2012 with 20000 academicians from across India and abroad It was a fabulous meet organised flawlessly by KIIT Similarly, KISS has organized Commonwealth Big Lunch in 2018 where High Commissioners from 50 Commonwealth countries had lunch with 27000 tribal students of KISS at one time and at one place Briefing media, Prof Samanta said, “It is a matter of pride that KIIT & KISS will be hosting the 39th World Congress of Poets in India from October 2, 2019 coinciding with the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi There will be a good academic exchange as poets & writers from across the globe will come together So it will definitely give a very good boost to poets & writers in our state Odisha and India also Odisha state government will cooperate to make the World Congress of Poets a grand success We also seek the support from Ministry of Culture, Govt of India, he informed As WCP is being organized on the occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Golden Jubilee WAAC, it has been decided to name the award on Mahatma Gandhi, besides other D.Litt awards On the occasion, Mr Jacob briefed about the history of the World Congress of Poets and Mr Nanda put light on the organization of this prestigious meet in India Mr R K Das proposed the vote of thanks books Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda Lutyens’ Maverick: Ground Realities, Hard Choices and Tomorrow’s India |Rupa | 229 pages | Rs 399 Go Tell It In A Bazaar Panda’s transient, on­the­spur columns might embarrass in hindsight but he richly earns his encomiums for his profound essays on a gamut of topics by Mani Shankar Aiyar W HEN a common or garden reviewer is confronted with a book that is laden with the most lavish com­ mendations, the dilemma of how to review it beco­ mes manifest If one praises it, one runs the risk of being accused of just paraphrasing the blurbs: “thoughtful, stylistic, perceptive” (Jagdish Bhag­ wati); “must read…to understand the critical intersections of politics and public policy” (Manish Tewari) etc If, on the other hand, the reviewer carps and criticises, one runs the risk of crossing a galaxy of distinguished persons Nevertheless, here goes My first huge disappointment was that this is not the autobiography I thought it would be It is a collection of columns When I first took a bunch of my columns to Penguin in 1990—a year after I had started writing them—the sage David Davidar shook his head and said, “Books of columns not work” As I have since discovered, David was spot on: books of columns not work, for they are written in the spirit of the moment Both writer and reader are caught up—albeit some­ times on opposite sides—in that moment of time when nothing else seems as imp­ ortant, but time is cruel and what seemed overwhelming then is consigned to the trivia of the past Thus we have ‘Jay’ Panda pronounc­ ing judgements that must now embar­ rass him Writing in the immediate aftermath of the March 2017 UP assem­ bly polls (pp.77­80), Panda holds that the BJP is “is now looking unassailable” Judging the Congress to be “decimated” and “outmanoeuvred”, he proclaims, “the Congress today suffers from apolit­ ical, out­of­touch and wrong instincts at its highest level” The BJP he asses­ ses as “having once again secured the pole position”, its success in UP being both “resounding” and “whopping”, its 78 OUTLOOK 28 January 2019 victory in “heavily Muslim­dominated constituencies” constituting “an unp­ recedented breakthrough” Why? All because “the PM succeeded in market­ ing his all­aboard strategy” through his “aspirational development message” Surely, Panda must now concede, that the 2018 parliamentary by­elections in Gorakhpur (the Yogi constituency: Gorakhpur mein rehna hai to/Yogi, Yogi kehna hai), Phulpur (his deputy CM’s fortress), and Kairana has shown that neither is Modi ‘unassailable’, nor is the Congress sclerotic Indeed, the SP­BSP TRIBHUVAN TIWARI Many of Panda’s excellent, non-partisan suggestions deserve serious attention, though how the system and vested interests can be pushed towards good sense is another matter alliance that Panda, to his credit, foresees (“desperation is the mother of invention”) foretells the collapse of the “pole position” of the BJP from 71 out of 80 seats in 2014 in UP to eight in 2019 if the Congress is taken on board (Wanna bet?) Modi’s victory in UP was the result of a division of the votes of the non­BJP parties, not the high rhetoric invoked by Panda after the March 2017 results As for Modi’s “aspirational development message”, it is interesting to find Panda saying little about the demonetisation disaster other than renaming it as “rem­ onetisation” and suggesting that GST should be levied at a single rate of 15 per cent for 90 per cent of goods and services— without acknowledging that this, in sub­ stance, is what the Congress note of dissent to the Rajya Sabha’s select com­ mittee report had stressed Panda’s unf­ linching support to Modi—at least at the time his former party, the Biju Janata Dal, was a supporter of the BJP in Delhi— shows that Haseeb Drabu (in the blurb) notwithstanding, the “pragmatism of a practitioner” sometimes overwhelms the “rigour of a researcher” But once Panda moves beyond the topi­ cal, converting his writing from “columns” to “essays”, his writing is insightful His formidable team of researchers—some of the ‘best and the brightest’, plus his own assiduous addiction to web­finding and web­checking—gives us extremely inf­ ormative, deeply mined facts, figures and assessments that are thought­provoking on a diverse number of issues ranging from the ideological to the political, to the economic and the social, foreign policy and the institutions of our democracy These insights more than justify the enc­ omiums in the blurbs Many suggestions commend themselves to serious atten­ tion, even if, as a practitioner myself, I wonder how the system and its vested interests can be pushed in the direction of good sense There is also a celebratory tinge—the glory of our democracy, the strides towards economic development, the challenges we are addressing in pro­ moting social justice These are non­par­ tisan observations and imbued with greater credibility Now that Jay has quit the Biju Janata Dal (without telling us, in this book, why?) and acquired the 'pole position' of an eminently electable Independent, I expect him to emerge as a towering member of our political intelligentsia, much in the manner of a Minoo Masani, if not of a Jai Prakash Narain And please, Jay, get on with the autobiography O G.B.S Sidhu Sikkim-Dawn Of Democracy: The Truth Behind The Merger With India | Penguin Viking | 240 pages | Rs 599 Gangtok: Anvil of Statehood Sikkim’s democratic transformation into an Indian state was planned and executed by RAW Sidhu, who led the team, gives a nail­biting account by Vappala Balachandran T HIS book is a frank, action­ packed chronicle on how RAW achieved the second regime change in our neighbourhood in the 1970s to boost democracy and protect our northern border RAW’s involvement in Sikkim starts from page 114, which quotes the late P.N Haksar’s blunt note of March 14, 1972 to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi He said that India was losing the peo­ ple of Sikkim by developing “great fondness for the Sikkim Durbar” as “we wait on his frowns and on his smiles” Haksar was unhappy with the appeasement policy of our ministry of external affairs, in charge of Indo­Sik­ kim affairs India’s rejection of pro­ democracy leader Tashi Tshering in 1949 had emboldened the Chogyal, who had taken advantage of Mrs Gan­ dhi’s weak political position after the 1967 polls It was Haksar’s advice that made her ask “[RAW chief ] Kao in Haksar’s presence to something about Sikkim” The 27­month “operation” started in February 1973, when the Chogyal refused to accept India’s offer of “Permanent Association” The author had joined RAW in February 1972 after eight years in the IPS Kao reposed full confidence in him to lead this sensitive task from August 1973, as successor to Ajit Singh Sayali, later RAW chief Sidhu modestly interprets the appointment as India’s deliberate signal to the Sikkim pro­democracy groups that New Delhi would fully support them through their representative RAW intervention came in three phases The objectives were to combine anti­ Chogyal and pro­democracy groups by uniting Kazi Lhendup Dorji’s Sikkim National Congress (SNC) and K.C Pra­ dhan’s Janata Congress (JC) for Sikkim’s merger with India First, it had to infuse courage among pro­democracy groups to offset years of appeasement of the Chog­ yal For the first time, anti­Chogyal groups questioned his nomination route to manipulate majority after the 1973 elections Then came the ‘March towards Gangtok’ (March 22, 1973) and anti­Cho­ gyal 50th birthday demonstrations (April 4, 1973), forcing him to request India to take charge of the administration under the 1951 treaty A tripartite agreement between the Chogyal, India’s foreign secretary and Kazi­Pradhan Sikkim Congress was signed on May 8, 1973 Sidhu led from the second phase onw­ ards Kao did not give extension to Sayali, as is usual to complete unfinished jobs He deliberately appointed Sidhu to give an appearance of a normal transfer to avoid the Chogyal’s suspicions Sidhu gives a day­to­day account of his team’s subterranean activities MEA’s political officer K.S Bajpai and chief executive B.S Das were briefed only partly on a “need to know” basis The book gives frank details: motivating Sikkim Congress to demand follow­up steps of the May agreement from Bajpai or Das, framing new election rules, getting the chief election commis­ sioner of India to supervise polls, defeat­ RAW agents infused courage among pro-democracy groups to offset years of appeasement to the Chogyal (above) A march towards Gangtok and antiChogyal protests followed ing clandestine links of some Sikkim Congress leaders with the Chogyal and Communists, ferreting out the truth from discrepant intelligence from such ele­ ments, secretly vetting Sikkim Congress candidates’ list in February 1974 and countering the Chogyal’s propaganda that the new Assembly would have no powers The April 15, 1974 polls gave two­ thirds majority to Kazi’s Sikkim Congress The resolution of the Sikkim Congress on the future constitutional set­up, passed by the assembly on May 11, was drafted by the author Faced with the Chogyal’s muscle power, he had to per­ sonally clear doubts of Kazi and others on the bill before the June 20 assembly ses­ sion to consider the new constitution The Government of Sikkim Bill was passed on June 28­July 3, 1974, and promulgated on July A small cabinet headed by Kazi as CM was sworn in Indian Parliament passed the 35th Con­ stitution Amendment Bill on September 7, 1974, making Sikkim an associate state The third phase presented more diffi­ culties Bajpai, who was of great help in guiding Sidhu, was transferred Das was also shifted The new incumbents were not inclined to help Quick access to Kazi became difficult These fast­paced events reads like a thriller It included the Chogyal’s defiant visit to Kathmandu in February 1975, his press conferences, conspiracy to assassinate Kazi, the disar­ ming of Sikkim Guards by the army on April 9, 1975, detection of the Chogyal’s clandestine ham radio communication, unanimous resolutions by the assembly on April 10 for abolition of the institution of Chogyal, merger of Sikkim with India and the holding of a referendum for rati­ fication The April 14 referendum ratified this by 97 per cent The Chogyal’s press conference the same day disproved that he was under house arrest RAW’s involvement ended on May 15, 1975 when the President signed the 36th amendment of the Constitution, incorpo­ rating Sikkim as the 22nd State of India O 28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 79 Photographs: PTI glitterati Attn Deepika Only gali boys with millionaire benefactors can afford to dress so tastelessly in expensive jackets and sportswear But when has Bollywood let verisimilitude stand in its strident ways? Thus, Ranveer at the trailer launch of Gully Boy, about a rapper’s breakthrough, with co-star Alia, who does better Catch Her Meet Lauren Sanchez, 49 (that’s just a number guys, as you’ll see) Ex-TV host, owner of a museum-full of expensive shoes and clothes and flier of planes and helicopters ‘for fun’ And someone reputed to be very, very persuasive Ask Jeff Bezos, her latest boyfriend Priya’s Ill-Chosen Embarkation Point On the strength of several well-executed, slo-mo winks delivered across a hushed classroom, Priya Prakash Varrier captured, eyes, hearts and meme traffic In Sridevi Bungalow, her Bollywood debut, she plays a lonely actress named after the departed star who meets her end in a bathtub A cheap attempt at a biopic, they say It faces a legal notice from Boney Kapoor J.S ADHIKARI THIS TOO HAPPENED Trump described the spread as “great American food”—the stacks of burgers, pizzas and fries laid out for the 2018 College Football Playoff champion team in the ‘state dining room’ of the White House which was dysfunctional due to the shutdown by federal employees who are facing major salary issues 80 OUTLOOK 28 January 2019 Best Headgear In Town Time has not dimmed her vivacious beauty, nor has the emperor of maladies sullied it Sonali Bendre, as stylish as the next Bollywood diva out on a stroll in the presence of cameras, thanked fans, family and friends for their unwavering support when she faced mortality She’s right, too: her time, so well won in adversity, is now Mostly Charming A fortuitous brush with a celebrity begat, as is modern custom, a momentary place in the sun Hasin Abdulla of Kasaragod clicked a selfie with Rahul at the Dubai airport All it took was the Congress chief to tweet it: warm flames of fame touched Hasin in the form of mainstream media attention Plan, Train, Rear Shopping for trinkets in Bangalore is about the most relaxing things Sania Mirza can Izhaan, her darling infant son, takes up most of her time But once a champion, you can’t without the lust of on-court competition A target of end-2019 has been set, but a return would be tough work, she knows “Gandhi was not interested in Dalits getting their just due, he was interested in Hindus getting the majority…” OBADELE K AMBON, research fellow at University of Ghana, where students removed Gandhi’s statue in December 2018 28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 81 TEHRAN diary a mention The institute has more than All’s Swachh In Tehran 200 international awards and recognitions The first thing that strikes me about the with its IVF, stem cell and cancer research capital, Tehran, is that every road, alley ranking among the best seven in the world and street corner is clean to the hilt It’s Private expensive healthcare for those the midnight vacuum cleaning, I’m told who want special services is coming up and But it’s a little more than just hi-tech Iran is now the leading destination interventions: cleanliness is publicly of medical tourism for West Asia inherent here I noticed this every So, it could be good for some of the morning at six when I went out of Hotel UJJWAL K people of the more than hundred nations Simorgh for a walk, or later in the day durCHOWDHURY who have been given visa on arrival India, ing my city loitering Even the extremely (The author is a noted media however, does not figure on the list as “the busy Bazaar-e-Bozorg, which has a few academic and columnist) Indian government has put a lot of restricthousands visiting every hour, is spick tions on Iranian citizens getting visas to go and span—no garbage, cigarette butts and to India”, as a senior diplomat in the Iranian foreign affairs plastic packets on the streets Most types of plastic bags are ministry notes They rue the Indian government’s approach banned in Tehran The good habits extend to the public toiand seem to be keen to have an open-arm policy both ways lets too, and to the public hospital I briefly visited And our bad habits, such as peeing against the wall, are punishable The Laws of Love Are Strange offences here In fact, there’s no peeing against the wall at Iran is an Islamic republic and, true to its ethos, there all: there are no urinals, all have to use toilets with doors are restrictions on attire But there’s an equality in this restraint—no bare body display, even for men All women A Learning In Comfort partially cover their heads, hijab is usual, and head to feet The comfort with which women travel in Tehran was are to be covered by both men and women Public display a revelation for me A woman researcher from Tehran of affection are, of course, out of the question Although, University, who took me out for dinner with two university you wouldn’t be hallucinating if you saw a rare late-night professors at eight in the evening and dropped me back at exception, like when a couple bids loving goodbye after a nearly midnight, returning alone in a cab, attributed the romantic evening You may also see pairs walking holding city’s secure air to strict punishments against harassment hands and looking into each other’s eyes, but you will not see and a high conviction rate “I have not faced any problem anything beyond No unmarried couple can hire hotel rooms all my life,” she stated, and proudly added, “Iranian society However, read a special by the The Washington Post to know in general is value-oriented and shuns violence against about ‘Mutah’ or temporary marriage, which peculiarly women” Before I had time to dig deeper into this experienallows for ‘impermanently married’ couples to stay together tial observation in the hope of unearthing something of a lesson for home, another pleasant stat came frolicking Alt-tech Zindabad by Elham Shirvani, who heads CIFEJ, an international TV and radio may be the exclusive domains of the Iranian children’s film festival body, told me: “In Iran, women are government, but newspapers and digital media are more educated than the men in general.” largely private And then, there are social media’s In general, that is a good stat to have, isn’t it! inroads, despite Facebook, Instagram, YouTube I visited a school too, a Kendriya Vidyalaya run and Twitter being officially filtered Most by the Indian embassy It had a good mix Iranians have found apps and ways to of Indian and Iranian children The get into the game through homegrown principal, who is from Bhopal, doesn’t substitutes and proxy servers The want to leave Tehran at all Iranian alternatives to YouTube, named Aparat, and to Facebook, Good Meds & Visa Tugs named Coolb, are doing fairly There’s another reason to not well with more than 30 million leave Tehran, or come to the city— users in each, in a nation of 82 its flourishing medical sector As million people and 75 million I observed, medicinal provisions handsets, almost all of which are in Tehran city were impeccable smartphones And their holding All public healthcare system is free brand, SmartIdea, is a leading for citizens and 98 per cent of the IT company of Iran Interestingly, total medicines are produced locally the Russian social media platform, Medical research is top-notch The Telegram, is doing fabulous—sanction programmes being worked upon by the or no sanction Royan Institute in Tehran deserve MANJUL 82 OUTLOOK 28 January 2019 + 91 7838933328 | 011 46094609 | www.nchirag.com | trips@nchirag.com F 11-13, Vasant Square Mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi | southafrica.net/in/deals ... ELECTIONS 2019 SEASON OF ALLIANCES Fast and furious January 28, 2019 Rs 60 www.outlookindia.com The Vegan istas Veg and non-veg are passé More... Richa Chadha, a vegan 904150 800010 03 twitter.com/outlookindia facebook.com/outlookindia youtube.com/outlookmagazine digimag.outlookindia.com www.outlookindia.com navigator Volume LIX, No EDITOR... rules are likely to hit market leaders Flipkart and Amazon (facing page) NILOTPAL BARUAH 28 OUTLOOK 28 January 2019 N early 2015, two years after Amazon’s entry into India, Reddit tweeted a photograph