WEEKLY MAGAZINE, JUNE 22, 2014Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

Business owners Amisha Gulati and Prateek Duggal take a breather from their big, fat wedding in Delhi to do a fun photoshoot

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER 16, 2014Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

1. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman CapoteAbout a New York society girl in the 1940s. Doesn’t matter if you’ve watched the film, the book is different. You must meet Holly Golightly. 2. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess: Read for Nadsat, the coolest secret language and for its countless pop culture references.3. Memories of My Melancholy Whores byGabriel García Márquez: The opening line will draw you in: The year of my ninetieth birthday I wanted to give myself a night of mad love with an adolescent virgin. 4. The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín:The mother of Jesus recounts the events that led to the death of her son.5. Love Story by Erich Segal: Those who’ve read it have wept or sniggered.6. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy: A story of death, and of life not lived well enough. A masterpiece (and shorter than his Anna Kareninaand War and Peace).

7. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman: Thoroughly enjoyable fantasy writing – you may even get mildly spooked, in a PG-13 way. 8. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: This super bestselling children’s book for adults (or adults’ book for children) is tiny, full of drawings (and wisdom).9. A Contract with God

by Will Eisner: The “first graphic novel” – it popularised the term. Here are

stories of some poor jews in 1930s America. 10. Any of Aleph’s ‘Short Biography’ series: Our favourite series of books about cities. 11. Heart of

Darkness by Joseph Conrad: This influential and controversial book is an account of a European who sails to Congo, where a fellow European is worshipped by the natives.12. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie: Possibly his most fun read, an adventure for kids, adults and above all, storytellers.

4 BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

twitter.com/HTBrunch

EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Rachel Lopez, Aastha Atray Banan, Veenu Singh, Satarupa Paul, Saudamini Jain, Asad Ali, Nihit Bhave, Atisha Jain

DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor, Design), Monica Gupta, Payal Dighe Karkhanis, Ajay Aggarwal

Cover design: MONICA GUPTA

Cover image: VINAYAK DAS AND SNIGDHA SHEEN

The Book Club

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Where We’re Headed Next Week

FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACTNational – Sanchita Tyagi: sanchita.tyagi@hindustantimes.comNorth – Siddarth Chopra: siddarth.chopra@hindustantimes.comNorth – Shaila Thakur: shaila.thakur@hindustantimes.comWest – Karishma Makhija: karishma.makhija@hindustantimes.comSouth – Sharbani Ghosh: sharbani.ghosh@hindustantimes.com

Drop us a line at: brunchletters@hindustantimes.comor to 18-20 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110001

n All the tributes to professor MSS Pandian who passed away earlier this week. RIP n Leftover meva from Diwali n That Twinkle Khanna likes zombie novels. She apparently really liked MR Carey’s The Girl With All The Gifts. So did we!n How tweeting makes you a better, crisper writer n That Brunch boy Asad Ali is maintaining records of the number of inappropriate things the ladies say at work

LOVE ITOn The Brunch Radar

n Blue ticks on WhatsAppn Blue ticks on WhatsAppn Blue ticks on WhatsAppn Blue ticks on WhatsApp n Blue ticks on WhatsApp(This isn’t a typo. We’re bluesy because those horrible blue ticks mean ‘read and ignored’. We always liked to pretend to be busy. Now, we’re just rude – and hence, alone)

SHOVE IT

by Saudamini Jain

We do have a perfect

magazine in this world now!

- @seltsamefrau

Brunch: It’s probably because

we got Govinda and Kalki in

one issue!

Stuff That Happened Last Sunday

We do have a perfect

t Happened

This “love it” column sucks today ! Apology from your side required else me and my friends gonna boycott this newspaper ! We are not in support of kiss of love and we can’t love it !- Prerna DawarBrunch: xoxox

Find Hindustan Times Brunch on Facebook or tweet to

@HTBrunch or

We got tons and tons of feedback for our cover story on vegetarian dining from Jains and herbivores across the country (and so many meat-eaters too). But Rachel Lopez still finds it difficult to eat baingan.

Photo: SHUTTERSTO

CK, THINKSTO

CK

This “lov

Although I’m not into Western music, I like reading Sanjoy Narayan’s column. - Geeta Kumar

ThHOW TO

READ 24

BOOKS

(OR MORE)

IN A YEAR

by Saudamini Jain

24 BOOKS YOU CAN READ QUICKLY (PART-1)

Six weeks till the end of the year – your deadline to read 24 books. Want to speed through? Read these...

To read Brunch stories (and more) online, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch. To discuss the stories (or give feedback), follow @HTBrunch on Twitter. For everything cool on the Internet, like Hindustan Times Brunch on Facebook. And for videos, check out our channel (youtube.com/HindustanTimesBrunch).

Amarrass Music Festival is just around the week’s bend, ready with a great mix of authentic world music (where world music is not some Korean ambient artist). The third edition of this two-day festival kicks off on November 21 at Lodi-The Garden Restaurant. Expect some really good stuff. The line-up features Madou Sidiki Diabaté, an exceptional kora (21-string instrument) player, Mike Kashou who plays the oud, a pear-shaped string instrument and many others. Home boys include Goriya Fauji

Band, eight musicians from Punjab playing bagpipes and drums. And the renowned Lakha Khan, sarangi musician from the talented Manganiyar community in Rajasthan. For those with a thing for the psyche stuff, Jeet Thayil shall be present with his ongoing musical project Still Dirty.

arden y good stuff.

s Madou Sidiki Diabaté, a (21-string instrument)

the oud, a

is not some Kd edition o

Barenocommunity in R

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by Asad Ali

Shortcut To Smart

The Fault In Our StarsSure, Interstellar is all sciencey and mindblowing. But it’s been influenced by everything from Friends to Harry Potter. Don’t believe me? Here’s proof

by Rachel Lopez

(Warning: Spoilers ahead. Don’t read if you haven’t watched the movie)

Our hero is a farmer who lives on a nowheresville farm with his two kids

and used to have another job. Just like Mel Gibson in Signs (2002).

The humans get help from the beyond, but it’s actually

just their future selves. Remember

who sent Harry that patronus in the Prisoner Of Azkaban

(2004)?

Some guy has been left on a very

cold planet for a very long time. Spock, thank

God Jim Kirk found you in Star Trek (2009).

Murphy is a kid at the start and is very old by the end. Dad stays adult for the emo climax. Déjà vu from The Time Traveler’s Wife(2009), in which the lead pair does same thing, with lots of sex.

The Dylan Thomas poem, Do Not Go

Gentle Into That Good Night, which holds the film together?

High school students read

it, connected it to Bob Dylan, and won Dylan-Dylan contest in Dangerous Minds (1995)!

So general relativity says one person might age slower than the other? Joey Tribbiani in his crazy play in Friends: “I’m gonna

get on this spaceship and go to Blangon

7 ... And when I return, 200 years from now, you’ll be long gone. But

I won’t have aged at all.”

TARS, the robot, is wittier than any of the human cast. You could say he does for Interstellarwhat C3PO did for Star Wars (1977) with aplomb.

Murphy’s dad is gone, but he loved science so she becomes a scientist. And a new dimension reunites them. But Jodie Foster did that in Contact (1997) already!

This astronaut just wants to go home to his motherless kids, dammit! Didn’t Dom Cobb also

have that problem in Inception(2010)?

Somebody messes with the spaceship’s airlock. OMG, that’s just like Gravity (2013), but worse.

MIND BODY SOUL

WELLNESS6

MOST OF us know that protein is an important part of our diet, but we

don’t really know why, or how much is necessary, and where to source it from. Here are some FAQs.

WHAT ARE PROTEINS?Proteins are the building blocks of the body. All our organs, tissues, muscles, skin, hair, and so on, are built of protein molecules.

WHAT ARE THEY NEEDED FOR?n Body growth and development: A protein deficiency in growing children can result in weak bones, muscles, organs and tissues, showing up as lack of growth, dull skin and hair, a weak liver and poor digestion. n Body maintenance and repairs: Though adults need fewer proteins than growing children, they still need to be of good quality, because our bodies are constantly slough-ing off dead cells and replac-ing them with new ones. Plus, new cells are required to help injuries heal.n Immunity: The cells in our bodies that identify and fight off infections are made of protein molecules. A protein de-ficiency leads to low immunity.n Hormones: Protein is an important part of the structure of hormones. Hormones control almost all body functions by carrying messages from the master glands to all parts of the body.n Energy: When the body doesn’t get enough carbohy-drates to fuel itself, it falls back on protein. That is why people who go on starvation diets lose muscle tissue.n Transportation and storage:Protein molecules like hemo-

globin carry oxygen, while others store minerals.

HOW MUCH PROTEIN DO WE NEED?Make sure you consume one

gram of protein for every kilo of your body weight. So if you weigh 50 kilos, you need 50 grams of protein in your diet every day.

SOME SOURCES OF PROTEIN AND THEIR PROS AND CONSn DAIRY: Milk, curd,

yoghurt, processed cheese, paneer Pros: Palatable, accept-

able for vegetarians, eas-ily available in many varieties, contains calcium. Cons: Many adults are lactose intolerant, dairy products may create indigestion, gas and acidity. n WHEY PROTEIN: The liquid that is left after cheese has been processed. Pros: It is efficiently absorbed by the body. Cons: It’s still a dairy product, so may cause allergies. n RED MEAT: From beef, mut-ton, etc.Pros: Is quickly absorbed by the body. Cons: Has been linked with heart disease and immune dis-orders. Commercialised meat has high levels of hormones and antibiotics.n POULTRY: From chicken, duck, etc.Pros: Efficiently ab-sorbed, less fatty than red meat, not linked with heart disease. Cons: Commercialised poultry is high in anti-biotics and hormones.

ask @drshikha.

com

Your guide to this essential component of your diet

SHIKHA SHARMA

ALL ABOUT PROTEIN

BODY BASICSPoultry and cheese are rich in protein

MORE ON THE WEBFor more columns by Dr Shikha Sharma and other wellness stories, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

Photos: SHUTTERSTO

CK, THINKSTO

CK

MONTHS BEFORE the bride takes pheras with her groom, she has established a committed

relationship with someone else – her personal shopper. This is a re-lationship she regards with equal sanctity as her marital union, because she and her shopper have come to understand each other’s needs and adjusted to each other’s rhythm. The goal of this alliance is clear: to find the perfect lehenga.

This is a trend picking up in Delhi and Mumbai, where brides overwhelmed by the scale and dra-ma of the Big Fat Indian Wedding have decided they need help. Enter experts who are stylists, designers and image consultants all rolled into one. They’ll help brides and bridal parties create the look for different wedding functions, shop for outfits for the honeymoon, and assemble a complete trousseau for months of newlywed bliss.

“Some brides are con-fused or clueless about how to put so many outfits together,” says Shazia Aggarwal, 29, a trousseau shopper and an image consultant in Mumbai. “As a bride, you also have so much going on, it is difficult to find time for shopping alone. That’s where I step in.” Aggarwal has put together wedding outfits and

trousseaus for five brides over the past year.

Each project takes three to four months, comes with varying briefs and caters to budgets ranging from a few lakhs to a crore. The amount covers bridal outfits and the trousseau – Indian wear, Western gowns, casual outfits, fashion jew-ellery, lingerie, shoes, make-up and everything in between.

Stylists usually charge a percentage of the budget as their fees. In exchange, they not only take on the headache of browsing, they ensure that the bride wears more than generic red and gold. “You don’t want the bride to look ordinary on her special day,” says Nisha Kundnani, 32, a celebrity, editorial and commercial stylist, and founder of Mumbai’s wedding wardrobe consultancy, Bridélan. “I customise a look for each bride: how to drape the sari, wear the dupatta, style the hair and pick the make-up, accessories and jewellery for her face and body shape.”

SHOP, DESIGN, STYLEColour swatches, reference images, online research, embroidery choices and ap-pointments for

bridal showings are crucial when shortlisting stores and budget-ing. So a lot of wedding shoppers profile clients. Mehak Sagar, 27, a blogger and founder of the Delhi bridal shopping consultancy, Bridesbypb.com, has a question-naire with images of outfits to understand the bride’s taste and personality: “Does she like bling, does she like traditional?” She assists Indians and NRIs, and in-cludes stores across budgets, from Greater Kailash and Hauz Khas Village to Shahpur Jat – the new hub for quirky trousseau finds.

Bollywood costume designer Urvashi Shah, 30, styled her first groom this June, creating several looks and styling his uncles and brothers too. She recommends getting an outfit stitched if your budget is tight. “I chose the colour palette, bought fabric and added personalised touches by making shoes in the same fabric and add-ing embroidery to the sherwani and the dupatta,” she explains.

The film styling and design-ing backgrounds of personal

shoppers helps them understand just how a

garment should fit. “At designer stores, the merchandiser is clueless about fittings. [But a] per-sonal shopper can

suggest flattering styles and even guide you during alterations – a

mighty task with bridal wear,” says Nidhi Bansal, 26,

designer and personal shopper. She often

recommends lesser-known, out-of-home

fashion designers and suggests that brides

stitch lehengas from their mothers’ old saris for

smaller functions. “It adds a sweet touch to a wedding and is

the perfect way to personalise and add vintage glamour to the big day,” she says.

brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

8 WEDDING SPECIAL

How To Buy Your 27 Dressestwitter.com/HTBrunch

Move over mamis and chachis. The bride-to-be now has experts to help pick her bridal gear, and to take on the stress of building a trousseauby Bhairavi Jhaveri

Photo: IMAGESBAZAAR

TROUSSEAU TIPS What to keep in mind while shopping for your wedding

NIDHI BANSAL, 26. Designer and personal shopper“Trust your aesthetic and be yourself. De-clutter your thoughts

and chalk out a plan on paper with needs and wants, and take it step by step.”

SHAZIA AGGARWAL, 29. Wedding trousseau shopper and image consultant“Don’t shop too much in advance; trends keep changing. Always pick an outfit in your current body size, not smaller. If you lose weight, it can be altered.”

URVASHI SHAH, 30. Costumer and personal shopper “Plan so that you feel fantastic and at ease after you are married.

Must-haves include make-up, san-dals and lingerie. Avoid too many heavy outfits.”

MEHAK SAGAR, 27. Blogger and founder of Bridesbypb.com “Pick classic pieces that you can wear even 10 years from now. Focus on good-quality fabric and embellishments. Throw in a few modern elements for a unique look, like a statement jacket, palazzos, and a cocktail sari.”

T ONE END of a ground the size of a football field stands a grand stage with snazzy lights and the best

sound system. Twelve thousand people are seated in front of it, their feet tapping in rhythm to the chartbusters that Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy are belting out, their hands occasionally reaching out to the array of canapés being served by waiters in smart suits.

Soon the lights dim and the act changes: a man and a woman dressed in glitzy finery make a slow aerial entry suspended from giant cranes, almost like blingy angels descending from heaven. In their hands they carry garlands, which they expertly exchange, almost as though they have practised the move a dozen times before. Applause and cheers follow.

On another night, in another place – a faraway, exotic one this time – a group of about a hundred people sits down for dinner in Greek-inspired settings. Soft white curtains billow in the breeze, white tulips from the Netherlands compete with white orchids from Taiwan, and sterling silver cutlery is complemented by expensive crystal flutes. The bride and groom walk in, elegantly dressed in matching beige lehenga and sherwani. They peck at the caviar, truffles and foie gras elegantly. Later, they clink glasses, read out their vows, and raise a toast.

These are settings for the weddings of the rich and the famous. These are heady affairs,

a far, far cry from what you, I and the average Joe know about weddings.

“A luxury wedding can take anywhere between 15 days to 18 months or more to conceptualise, design and produce,” says Neelabh Kapoor, founder and creative director of Studio Neelabh. An experiential wedding design company, Studio Neelabh has worked on some of the biggest, most extravagant Indian weddings in the one decade that it has been around. “We recently did two of the biggest weddings in India to date. The Guptas, one of the most influential families in South Africa, had a destination wedding in Jaipur. A dozen chartered flights brought guests from various parts of the world; chief ministers of all the states were present, and so were all the Bollywood A-listers.”

The second wedding, hosted by one of the biggest business families in Surat, broke all records in terms of scale, to become the biggest wedding in the history of modern Indian weddings. “About 36,000 people attended the event

produced three mega wedding concerts, with 220 live performing artistes – from Pritam, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Kapil Sharma and Terence Lewis, to many Bollywood actors,” says Kapoor. To put things in perspective, the first edition of the NH7 Weekender – that music festival everyone goes gaga over every year – drew a crowd of only 10,000, and so did the first edition of Goa’s Sunburn Festival. The Surat wedding was like three such music festivals in one!

If you’ve got it, flaunt it. And we aren’t talking looks here. Video jockey and actor Rannvijay Singh, of Roadies fame, had 18 functions and parties when he got married to London-based Prianka Vohra in April this year. “The grand wedding celebrations took place all over the world – Mumbai, Delhi, Dubai, London… the main

wedding was held in Mombasa, Kenya,” Singh said, sharing some of the details. “What made our wedding such a fabulous affair were these intricate little things, like the fact that I arrived on a tractor decorated with phulkari in Mombasa, and instead of giving money to my sisters-in-law and my girlfriends who attended the wedding, I bought gold bracelets for everyone.”

However, not all the rich and famous like to go over the top at their weddings. Actress Dia Mirza, who got married to her longtime business partner and producer Sahil Sangha last month, tells us about her relatively less ornate Delhi wedding. “The mehendi ceremony was all floral, kitsch, Rajasthani themed. I insisted on using only local flowers. We had a qawwali singer and dhol-tappa walis who sang traditional Punjabi songs. The food was chaat and North Indian ghar ka khaana like kadhi chawal and rajma chawal.”

The wedding was a simple Arya Samaj ceremony. “Sahil came with a baarat that was supposed to take an hour-and-a-half, but actually took four hours to arrive,”

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

WEDDING SPECIAL

When they decide to get hitched, they live their dreams, movie style. Gatecrash the weddings of the rich and famousby Satarupa Paul

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Mirza laughs. “But you had to see my mandap! It was so beautiful with elements of crystals, lovely fresh flowers and twigs.”

Didn’t she want a big, fat, glamorous wedding? “As you travel, meet different people and get exposed to new life experiences, a lot of that starts resonating in the choices that you make,” she says. “While I wanted the wedding to be beautiful, I also wanted it to be inti-mate and representative of our per-sonal choices as individuals. Given that I’m half-German, half-Bengali, grew up in a Hyderabadi Muslim household and was marrying a Punjabi, a lot of those cultural influences permeated into different aspects of the décor, the clothes, the tehzeeb, and the food. My wedding was just perfect for me.”

Many celebrities do seem to be going down the same unassuming road as Mirza when it comes to celebrating the most important day of their lives. Earlier this month, Fukrey star Pulkit Samrat got married to Salman Khan’s ‘rakhi sister’ Shweta Rohira at a destination wedding in Goa. While the tabloids were buzzing with stories and pictures of “Bhai” and other celebs at the

wedding, sources who attended the wedding said it was in fact a close-knit affair of about 200 people, consisting mostly of family and friends. “There were no stars performing at the wedding, nor was it over-the-top glam. It was a nice, warm event with lots of food, booze and drunken dancing… just like any typical Punjabi wedding,” a source said.

Around the same time, actor and TV anchor Gaurav Kapur got married to long-time girlfriend Kirat Bhattal, a TV host on a lifestyle channel. Theirs too was an intimate, private ceremony

in Chandigarh, attended by the couple’s friends from the industry like Neha Dhupia, Yuvraj Singh, Maria Goretti and Mini Mathur, most of whom were dressed simply. “These two crazies got married today and it was nothing short of perfect,” photographer Prarthna Singh (@psingh400) tweeted with a photo from the wedding.

Back in Delhi, chess champion Tania Sachdeva got married to

architect Viraj Kataria in a tradi-tional wedding that lasted six days. “In the olden days, in the villages of Punjab, the women would carry matkas on their heads (the matka had a small fire burning inside it), and go from house to house to invite people. We did that as a little tradition for Tania’s mehendi,” says her mother Anju Sachdev. “These special little touches made the wedding so much fun… like Tania entering the sangeet not as a coy bride but dancing to the song Lag Gayi Lottery. It wasn’t a destination wedding, but everyone who attended, came out feeling it was nothing short of one.”

Mirza echoes her sentiments, “For me simplicity is beauty. The desire is not to make a statement but to create an environment where everybody comes together and has a wonderful time.” She says that for a lot of people, espe-cially those who are not a part of the movies, a wedding is that one big occasion of their lives where they get to live a dream, a movie.

Malini Agarwal, of the website MissMalini, had a beach carni-val theme for her mehendi and a complete Bollywood theme for her sangeet in Goa. “There

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

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were a lot of giveaways at my mehendi – colourful bindis, silver anklets and goodie bags,” she says. “At the sangeet, DJ Aqeel made sure everyone got their full Bol-lywood dose. Other fancy touches included little ‘wear me’ and ‘eat me’ signs all over the venue.”

When weddings become so beautiful (or showy, or over-the-top), what better way to remember them years later than through pho-tographs – which can cost as much as the bridal lehenga, or more. Pra-kash Tilokani, 48, is known as the man who photographs the luxury weddings of India’s rich and fa-mous. His client list includes the Ambanis, Laxmi Mittal, Bhushan Kumar of T-Series, Shilpa Shetty and many more.

“Capturing a wedding with a fixed thought process is absurd; every wedding is unique,” Tilokani says. “Emotions dominate and one has to emotionally immerse oneself to capture the essence. Also, every wedding has a theme to it these days so I try to capture and retain that theme in pictures with respect to its scale, grandeur and authenticity.”

He refuses to divulge his fee, but according to a 2013 Reutersstory, Tilokani charges a minimum of `3 lakh for a day.

But a photograph can only say a thousand words. For the rest, there are films. And we don’t mean the several-hours-long, yawn-inducing videos of people entering, greet-ing, eating and leaving. Wedding films are now as good as feature films, shot with the best cameras by the best cinematographers, with great production values that capture not just the laughter, tears and anxiety of a wedding but also the entire journey of the two people. Among the best known makers of such films is The Wed-

ding Filmer. Started four years ago by film

director and producer Vishal Punjabi, who had worked with Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies En-tertainment before, the company was born out of his own wedding. “Back then there was no concept of keeping your memories in a way that gave them some respect. And that is what we wanted from our own wedding,” says Zara Chowdhary, Punjabi’s better half and producer at The Wedding Filmer. “We didn’t have any profes-sional videographers to shoot for us. What we had were a lot of friends who happened to be tal-ented cinematographers from the film industry. They started to film and take pictures, and what we ended up with was a four-minute film that Vishal put together.”

Since then, The Wedding Film-er has made gorgeous, award-win-ning short wedding films for the rich, the famous and even those who have heart-warming stories to tell and just enough money to af-ford them (which is about `5 lakh for a day and can go up to `30 lakh or “much much more”). “We get an average of 1,500 requests a month, but we end up doing only 10-15 films a year. It’s not an assembly line; each film is a very emotion-ally exhausting process for us,” Chowdhary says. “Weddings in India are changing. When people are spending that kind of money to make it special, they also want to capture it the right way. Because when all your money and effort is spent in the three or four days of celebrations, at the end of the day, all you’re left with is memories.”

With inputs from Aastha Atray Banan

satarupa.paul@hindustantimes.com

Follow @satarupapaul on Twitter

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

10 WEDDING SPECIAL12

Trend #1NEW TRADITIONS“Fusion works best, striking a balance between traditional and contemporary Indian design,” says Vivek Sahni of Vivek Sahni designs.

So cards are opulent, but with an international look. “A customary Ganesha may be replaced with what a bride just demanded of me – butterflies,” says Puneet Gupta of Puneet Gupta Invitations.

And forget about mithai or chocolate boxes. “Hampers filled with organic honey, exotic teas, paan or caramel-flavoured raisins are in vogue,” says Puneet. “Old-style potlis are also used for the cards and sweet boxes,” adds Sahni.

Trend #2KEEP IT NATURALBut don’t use handmade paper. Laser-cut paper with a lacy effect works better. “Or an organic invitation: compressed wooden sheets instead of paper, printed with vegetable inks,” says Gupta.

Trend #3LOCATION AS THEMEIf it’s a destination wedding, cards get particularly creative. “For a wedding in Rajasthan, the invitations consisted of a vertical box in the shape of a jharoka, with two doors. When you opened them, the cards were inside three pieces of paper shaped like the blades of a fan,” says Gupta. “For a wed-ding in South Africa, the invita-tion was designed like a trunk, so it seemed as if you were getting ready for an expedition or a safari.”

By Veenu Singh

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Invitation cards are becoming modern and opulent. Check

out the big trends this season

HIS IS good advice for all brides and grooms (yes, grooms, you too): the day

you finally set the date for your wedding should be the day you begin to think about how you want to look at your wedding.

“Stress over your big day can affect your hormonal balance, which may lead to pesky break-outs, rashes and even overly oily or dry skin,” says Dr Deepali Bhardwaj, a Delhi-based derma-tologist. “To avoid such trouble, set a proper routine that encompasses everything from your skin to your diet to your body.”

Here’s a five-week countdown to your big day.

If you want beautifully youth-ful skin, you need to switch to a healthy and clean diet. “The diet I put brides- and grooms-to-be on is strict but really effective: no caffeine, alcohol, sugar, dairy, and processed foods,” says Dr Bhard-waj. “But you can have plenty of vegetables as they are high in fibre, help blood circulation, sup-port the skin’s elasticity and give you the antioxidants to kill free radicals in the body for that feel-

good factor.” Don’t forget hydration: Four to

five litres of water a day, especially if you’re doing killer workouts.

A variety of cardio workouts are an absolute must. Exercise tight-ens the skin, creates muscle tone and stimulates hormonal mood en-hancers which make us feel good, says fitness expert Neeraj Mehta.

Great ways to lose body fat and bring out muscle mass include running, boxing, skipping, swim-ming (preferably in saltwater pools) and biking.

“A really important part of this plan is body brushing as it stimulates the lymphatic system, exfoliates the surface of the skin and prevents ingrown hair,” says Dr Bhardwaj.

To help the body get rid of toxins, fatigue and water reten-tion, use a firm natural bristle brush once a day first thing in the morning before having a shower. “Start at the toes and work your way up the legs, concentrating on the pelvic area where there are a lot of lymph nodes. Move up to the tummy area with clockwise cir-cular movements, up around the chest and then from the hands to the heart area,” says Dr Bhardwaj.

Alternatively, do the same rou-tine with a full body massage. Use coconut oil, olive oil, sesame oil or almond oil. “The oil will ensure that your body remains well-hydrated, especially now, during the winter season,” recommends Richa Aggarwal, beauty expert, Cleopatra Spa Salon.

A facial can do wonders for skin clarity and tone, says Dr Bhard-waj. But it’s best to do it two weeks before your wedding day, to allow pimples and toxins that are just underneath the epidermis layer to come out and clear up.

“Opt for a facial that suits your skin type,” says Sushma Khan, na-tional creative director – skin and make-up, Lakme Salons. “People with sensitive skin must choose a hydrating, moisturising facial. Go for organic or vitamin C facials as they do not use bleach, steam and harsh chemicals.”

Don’t rush around in the last few days before the wedding. Re-lax. Let the stress seep away.

veenus@hindustantimes.com

Follow@Veenusingh12 on Twitter

10 WEDDING SPECIAL 14Photo: IMAGES BAZAAR

Here’s your quick guide to gorgeousness on your wedding day (grooms – this means you too)by Veenu Singh

WEDDING SPECIAL16

The great Indian wedding just got bigger and fatter. Check out the new trendsby Veenu Singh

VERYONE IS on a diet – except, it seems, the famous Indian wed-ding. Décor, this season, is monumental (in many cases, literally). Whether you’re part of the wedding, or merely a guest, here’s what

you’ll be seeing this shaadi season.

Trend #1MAKE IT MONUMENTAL

The props are fewer, but bigger, filling up the blank spaces at the wedding venue. “Large arrangements not only add volume to the décor, but attract attention,” says Meeta Gutgutia, director and creative head, Ferns N Petals.

Guests now see 3D structures inspired by temple architecture, historic cities and ornate struc-tures with intricate accessories. “We recently did a wedding with a Banaras Ghat theme, fashioning the atmosphere of the Ganga arti,” says Geeta Samuel of Q Events. The company recreated the ancient city at the wedding venue, with the stage placed beside a 240 foot-long water body representing the Ganga, complete with candlelit ghats. Large 3D temple structures surrounded the venue, with elevated lounges in the centre.

“On the other hand, for re-ceptions and sangeet functions, whimsical concepts with delicate flowers and muted pastel colours are in demand,” adds Samuel. “We are designing a sangeet in Udaipur next month with a ceiling full of ethereal wire-gauze clouds and crystal ‘rain’.”

Trend #2FLOWERY FUSIONTraditional ladi (lights) work is com-plemented by massive props using flowers. “Combining tree branches with a cascading orchid-covered roof is interesting,” says Neelabh Kapoor of Studio Neelabh. “This is a theme

titled Wisteria, named after a flowering plant that cascades down-wards. This can be combined with crystal and fairy-light-embedded cages hanging from the roof for a surreal effect.” Exotic flowers like orchids and anthuriums are very much in vogue and are best used for cocktails, dinners, receptions etc.

Trend #3NATURE CALLINGNatural materials like wooden logs and planks are combined with crystals and fairy lights to create an elegant, yet glamorous look. “Lighter tones, lots of greens and fountains can create a garden-like ambience,” says Gutgutia. “The flavour of the 2014 wedding is ‘woodsy with a bit of bling’. So, using neutral linen with a pop of colour is a good idea.”

Trend #4WATER, PLEASEExperiment all you like with mandap shapes, but a water body near the mandap is very popular. “At a wedding inspired by the temples of Khajuraho and the movie Ram Leela, the highlight was the ‘floating’ vedi surrounded by a huge body of water which we had dug out and lined with concrete a few weeks earlier,” says Samuel.

Trend #5TECH FIRSTWedding designers are using 3D mapping to visualise the layout of the area. Holographic lights are used to project life size images up against the night sky. These images could be of the bride and groom, or their inter-twined initials, or even a video of the couple thanking guests.

veenus@hindustantimes.com

Follow @veenusingh12 on Twitter

Photo courtesy: Q EVEN

TS

Photo courtesy: SOULEBRATION

WEDDING SPECIAL18

Food at weddings has gone absolutely global. Think lobsters and beyond!by Veenu Singh

XOTIC CUISINES, live stations, sugar-free desserts. Food at wed-dings has moved from the typical dal makhni, shahi paneer and pizza to something much more challenging and intriguing.

Trend #1GO EXOTICMexican, Italian and Chinese cuisines at the wedding feast are passé. The emphasis is no longer on the popular, but on the exotic, says Ramesh Dang, CEO of Seven Seas Foods.

“The idea is to offer authentic delicacies from across the globe,” says Dang. “Risotto stations, mezze counters and spicy feta salad stalls are popular. Chefs are incorporating cultural diversity into food, transforming simple traditional flavours into something more delectable. So a simple aloo gobi changes into curried cauliflower puree with roasted potato cups, and traditional cheelas are served as brown rice pancakes.”

Conventional dessert favourites like gulab jamun and ras malai havebeen replaced with panna cotta and tiramisu. Risotto and empanadas have replaced aloo tikkis and seekh kebabs. “Even Italian has gone be-yond pizza and pasta to raviolis and polenta,” says Ishan Gupta, director, Tivoli Group. “Live stations even include an elaborate spread just for eggs, offering dishes like frittatas, quiches, Eggs Benedict and scram-bled eggs with smoked salmon.”

Buffets are a complete no-no. Instead, a more personalised French, Italian or Japanese style of service is preferred.

Trend #2HEALTH AND FESTIVE“Sugar-free and gluten-free are key words,” says executive chef Nishant

Choubey from Dusit Devarana. Farm fresh and organic are also

top priorities. Nothing beats the taste of fresh, fully ripened tomatoes for your bruschettas or pastas and hearty seasonal Michigan apples for your fresh fruit bar.

Alcohol-free weddings are also in vogue, with bars serving a variety of flavoured drinks, such as cardamom-cinnamon scented hot chocolate, mint citrus and so on instead.

“Quinoa, oatmeal and first- pressed coconut oil are in demand,” says Choubey. “MSG and even regular salt are out. Himalayan red salt or sea salt are trendy instead.”

Trend #3SAVOURY CUPCAKESThe portion sizes are perfect and the amount of creativity they encourage is unlimited. “Filo dough ‘cupcakes’ offer sweet and savoury in one plate. Think booze-laden cupcakes for adults for an extraordinary bite of flavour at the table,” says Dang.

Trend #4MIDNIGHT FEASTFew guests stay for the actual wedding rituals, which tend to take place long after midnight. So small cakes or snacks for guests who do stay on late is the new trend. Should the wedding rituals take place so late at night that it’s actually the next morning, champagne brunches are high on the list.

veenus@hindustantimes.com

Follow@Veenusingh12 on Twitter

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

NOW SHOWING(Clockwise from top): Ice sculptures at salad bars, exotic desserts and sushi platters are making waves at weddings

Photos courtesy: SEVEN SEAS FO

OD

S; NISH

ANT CH

OUB

EY

ANDROID IS an unstoppable force! Now that I’ve got my sledgehammer statement out and Apple iOS’s ‘recruited and working for free’ warriors are about to decimate me, let me add more blows.

Android now commands more than 82 per cent of the world market. It has, for the first time, taken over the mantle of the most-used OS for all net traffic worldwide. India and China will buy more than 500 million smartphones in 2014 (half of the total sold in 47 key countries) and 90 per cent of them will be Android devices. By 2018, 1,400 million An-

droid devices will be sold versus 200 million for iOS. Okay, enough baiting, iOS fans. This isn’t about

Android versus iOS. This is about Android’s biggest reboot and redesign, ever.

Android’s new OS will affect 80 per cent of the world

and almost 90 per cent of Indian mobile us-ers. Time to find out if Lollipop is a treat

or if it sucks!

THE LOOK, FEEL AND DESIGNThey call it Material design and it looks unlike any Android ever. It’s white and clean; icons are flat and minimalist with softer edges; translucency has been abandaned for solid col-ours. The action buttons at the bottom have been redrawn as simple shapes and are pretty much idiot proof. Overall, it’s a new, lighter, airier, less techie, and more consumer- friendly look. But it’s not stellar or radical or bold – just what the industry is moving to. Rating: 7/10

PERFORMANCEAndroid’s performance for the last few years has been a bit of an oxymoron. Most Android phones have incredible horse power and hardware but are also the most suscepti-ble to lags. Android L promises to change all that. While

under the hood there’s a promise of real change (Android L will support 64-bit processors and also the ART software library, which will apparently get rid of the feeling that your phone has slowed down after a month or two), the real proof will lie in the pudding. Android currently needs way too much proces-sor power and RAM to function well and that may not change here by too much. Rating: 7/10 here too

BATTERY LIFEBattery life, or rather the lack of it, is the biggest frustration of the mobile world. And L wages a good battle to change that. Better performance, intelligent handling of activities that don’t need the phone to come alive, let-ting developers come up with apps and features that can save power and a battery saving mode that automatically kicks in and can give you 100 minutes or more at 10 per cent battery life. This is a big deal! Rating: 9/10 here

GUEST MODE AND SCREEN PINNINGNeed to give your phone away to someone to use a single app (a child to play a game or a friend to use the web)? The chances are that after they are done using the app, they’ll look at more private things on your phone. Thwart their plans by pinning and locking that app as the only one that can be used on screen. And, if you have to give the phone away for a while, switch to Guest Mode where nothing from your private life is up for analysis by others. Good thinking here. Rating: 9/10

NOTIFICATIONSThis was supposed to be the big deal on all systems for a

long time, but is not very intuitive or useful. Plus, you can’t really control it much. Now L seems to be making sure that it’s useful. Notifications can show up on the locked screen in order of priority; the interruption feature lets you choose which ones are allowed to do that. On phones with OLED screens, they even float up in black-and-white while the screen is off and you can go right to the app straight from the notification. Finally, intelligent use of a critical feature. Rating: 9/10

MULTI-TASKINGThe other big frustration on any smartphone is that moving from one app to another is tedious. On L, all apps and even activities (like reading email and an open email you are still typing) are all depicted as a stack of tab cards and you can move from one to another and even look up things on an open tab. Nice, but needs to be more PC like. Rating: 8/10

ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT MATTERLollipop has Smart Locking (you can use other devices like an Android Wear watch or another phone or a Chrome Laptop to keep your phone unlocked), double tap to wake, a smarter face unlock, intuitive quick settings, tap-to-go for setting up a new phone from an old one, screen cast to view your screen on a TV installed with a Chromecast device, better Google voice response and dictation (I was surprised at how accurate the dictation was) and a better implementa-tion of pre-installed apps. Rating: 8/10 here too

Overall, I would say that Android has done enough to pull off the headline that this is the biggest reboot of its Mobile OS, and that the Lollipop is actually very good and totally unsucky. Does that make it the best OS for a smart-phone? Well, at least 82 per cent of the people across the world seem to think so.

Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of

Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3

22 indulge

Does AnDroiDLoLLipop suck?

MORE ON THE WEBFor more Techilicious columns, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch. Follow Rajiv on Twitter at twitter.com/RajivMakhni

The views expressed by the columnist are personal

Rajiv Makhni

techilicious

ALL IN ONE GOAll apps and even activities between apps like emails are depicted as a stack of tab cards

Or can it give its competitors a licking? Here’s a quick report card

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

CLUTTER CONTROLNotifications can now show up on a locked screen, and that too in order of priority

WHAT IS this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare”, wrote the poet William Henry Davies in his Songs of

Joy and Others, published in 1911. But the sentiment still holds true more than a cen-tury later. It really is a ‘poor life’, as Dav-ies wrote, if we have ‘no time to stand and stare’.

But in our modern anxiety about mak-ing the most of our time, of making each moment count, we seem to have lost the ability to do that. We race through the day, trying to cram in as much as we can into it: family, work, kids, workout and what not. We spend the evenings networking so that we stay ahead of the competition. We catch up on news and gossip late into the night. And then we get up the next day and go through the whole sorry cycle again.

Where is the time to ‘stand and stare’ in that kind of tight schedule let alone ‘turn at Beauty’s glance, And watch

her feet, how they can dance’. We are all too busy dancing around trying to get our work assignments finished, the chores completed, the kids’ homework done, and making sure that dinner’s on the table. God, if we stopped spinning all those plates madly, our entire world would come crash-ing down our ears!

But wait, pause for just a minute and think: would it re-ally? Or are you just creating needless pressure for yourself by trying to be all things to all people all the time? Would it really hurt to take some time out for yourself ? Or are you doing more damage than you realise by ignoring your own needs?

If you feel tired and rundown all the time, you will not be doing an optimal job on any of the many tasks you have assigned yourself. If you feel put-upon by the demands that the people in your life place upon you, then it won’t be long before you start resenting them. Result: nobody will be hap-py; neither you nor those around you.

So, in everyone’s interests, just take a time-out. And while you’re at it, take some time out for yourself. Set aside a portion of day – it could be even a measly half hour – when you do something just for yourself. Something that gives you pleasure, something that makes you happy, some-thing that makes you forget all about the demands that life places on you.

It’s tough, I know, to make this kind of change when you have conditioned yourself to believe that the Earth would stop turning on its axis if you stepped away from the plate. And after years of considering everybody but yourself, you probably are at a loss as to what you can do with your me-time.

So, just to get you started, here are just a few sugges-tions. Maybe they will set you free to think up some of your own.n Take an evening off to go and chill with your friends (no spouses allowed). Bitch about your co-workers, bosses, hus-

bands/wives, kids, in-laws, whatever you need to get off your chest. Have a drink or two. Ditch the diet and go for the deep-fried stuff. Act as if you’re back in college, out for a good time with your mates. You’ll feel like that by the end of the evening, anyway.n Have a date night with your spouse, where nei-ther of you is allowed to discuss a) the kids b) the mortgage c) your jobs d) old resentments. Use this time to reconnect with one another, to remem-ber why you fell in love with each other in the first place.

n If you are lucky enough to get driven around, don’t use the commute to catch up on e-mails or make work calls. Use that time to listen to some of your favourite tracks on your iPod or read a book. Or simply stare out of the window, take in the world, and revel in the rare felicity of being alone with your thoughts.n A friend of mine swears by this: get up 20 minutes before everyone else in the house, make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, read the papers or just stare out of the balcony as a new day dawns. This will give you the equilibrium you need to take the rest of the day in your stride.n Do one thing every day that gives you pleasure. It could be anything: getting a manicure; reading to your children; walking in the rain; eating a cupcake; phoning an old friend; soaking in the bath last thing before going to bed; watching an old episode of Frasier; sneaking in a late-night snack once the kids are safely tucked away in bed.

In other words, take time out for yourself. Or, to quote one of the best poets of our age, the songwriter Paul Simon, “Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morn-ing last. Just kicking down the cobble stones. Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.”

Say this much for poets; whether it is Davies or Simon, they get it right every time.

24 indulge

Time OuTNo matter how rushed the day, remember to take out some time for yourself

Photos: SHUTTERSTOCK

Seema Goswami

spectator

MORE ON THE WEBFor more SPECTATOR columns by Seema Goswami, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/seemagoswami. Write to her at seema_ht@rediffmail.com

The views expressed by the columnist are personal

IT'S MY TIMEDo one thing everyday that gives you pleasure, like eating a cupcake

TOAST TO GOOD TIMESTake an evening off to go and chill with your friends (no spouses allowed) and have a drink or two

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

THE RUDE Food Awards are a tradition that started over a decade ago, then became part of the HT City Food Guide and eventually came to be called the Vir Sanghvi Awards, when HT City instituted its popular and prestigious HT

City Crystals.I missed doing them last year – they are usually an-

nounced in the autumn – but I promised everyone who asked about their absence that they would be back this year. All the usual qualifications apply: this is no more than a highly subjective list of the places I tend to go to and the people I respect in the industry. These do not claim to be objective, comprehensive, or measures of genuine popularity. (Like say, the HT City Crystals, which attract thousands of voters).

BEST CHINESE (FIVE STAR): THE CHINA KITCHENEvery year I long for some hotel to open a great new Chi-nese restaurant. And every year I am disappointed. In-stead, The China Kitchen at the Hyatt just keeps getting better and better. The new chef has re-invigorated the menu and regulars know to ask for the off-menu Hunan and Sichuan specialties. Not cheap but not more expen-sive than its other five-star counterparts.

BEST CHINESE (STANDALONE): YAUATCHAEver since it opened in the Ambience Mall in Vasant Kunj, this branch of the Michelin-starred London original has been packing the punters in with outstanding dim sum including the legendary baked chicken puff and the excel-lent cheung fans. The non-dim sum part of the menu can be a little wobbly (too many sweet sauces in the stir-fries from the Malaysian-Chinese in the kitchen) but overall, an outstanding experience.

BEST MODERN INDIAN: INDIAN ACCENTThere’s only one thing left to be said about Manish Me-hrotra, without a doubt India’s greatest chef: why is he still stuck at this destination restaurant in a residential colony? By now he should have opened in London, New

York and at the very least, Bombay. Instead, this master of modern Indian cuisine is still doing what he did three years ago. He has an incred-ibly supportive and passionate foodie boss in Rohit Khattar. I hope this will be the year they break out of Friends Colony.

BEST NORTH INDIAN: BUKHARA Yes, I know: boring. But find me one other Indi-an restaurant that after 35 years of serving the same menu (only the prices keep going up!), still maintains its standards and is full night after

night with guests from all over the world? A true phenom-enon and a legendary restaurant.

BEST SOUTH INDIAN: SWAGATHEvery time I have friends from Bombay over who brag about their coastal seafood places, I order in from my neighbourhood Swagath or I take them there. Without exception they are blown away by the crab, the mutton sookha, the appams and even the (north Indian) Garhwali Dal. It always amazes me how Jayaram Banan manages to maintain these standards.

BEST EUROPEAN (FIVE STAR): ORIENT EXPRESSWho would have thought it? A restaurant that opened in 1982, does not depend on over priced expat chefs, and embod-ies the roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-to-work values that the Taj group was built on still beats the hell out of Le Cirque and all its newer, fancier rivals. In its own way, as much of a legend as Bukhara. Congratulations to Taljinder, Ashu, DN and the rest of the Taj Palace team for keeping the faith.

BEST EUROPEAN (STANDALONE): LE BISTRO DU PARCIn a sense, the anti-Orient Express: small, reasonably-priced and modest in its ambition, this Defence Colony bistro brings out the true essence of French cuisine: a talented chef extracting the best flavour from local ingre-dients. Proof, if any were needed, that you don’t need to import your cherry tomatoes to cook a great meal.

BEST MODERN INDIAN (FIVE STAR): AMARANTAI know that Kapil Chopra packaged this as a seafood res-taurant when he opened the Gurgaon Oberoi but it is so much more than that. Delicious, delicate Indian flavours, wonderfully presented by talented chefs. In current form: better than Varq.

A few old favourites, a few new stars. Welcome to the 2014 edition of the Rude Food awards for Delhi

And The AwArd Goes To…26 indulge

Vir Sanghvi

rude food

NOVEMBER 16, 2014

FIVE STAR STARS(Clockwise from below) The China Kitchen at the Hyatt keeps getting better every year, Megu at the Leela Palace trumps Wasabi on better food and service, and Amaranta at Oberoi, in its current form, is better than Varq

BEST CAFÉ: SODABOTTLE OPENERWALLAOk so maybe it’s because I grew up in Bombay but I love the Cyber Hub Sodabottle. (Mixed reports about the Khan Market branch). Wonderful Bombay non-vegetarian street food (keema pav), acceptable interpretations of Ira-ni stand-bys (Berry Pulao) and home-style Parsi (papeta per eedu). A great concept, superbly executed.

OPENING OF THE YEAR: TOWN HALLThis is how all new non-hotel restaurants should be. A vast, quirkily-designed space spread over two floors in Khan Market, Town Hall lets you relax and enjoy what you want. A collaboration between several veterans (the folks behind Amour Bistro, Augusto Cabrera who popu-larised sushi in Delhi at Threesixty° and Navneet Kalra, the uncrowned king of Khan Market, among others), this has Wasabi-quality food at half of Wasabi’s prices, plus pastas, pizzas and the usual stuff. A triumph.

FOOD COMPANY OF THE YEAR: LITE BITE FOODSProof that two outsiders to the restaurant business (Amit Burman and Rohit Aggarwal) can create a massive multi-brand company out of nothing more than a passion to be the best.

RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR: ZORAWAR KALRAI briefly considered giving an award to the massively suc-cessful Farzi Café but decided, on balance, that the real triumph was Zorawar’s. He has finally emerged from his father’s shadow (his dad is my old pal Jiggs Kalra) to be-come one of India’s most exciting restaurateurs, excel-ling in old-style Punjabi (Made in Punjab) and doing what none of us thought was possible: taking genuinely inno-

vative modern Indian food to a mass, young audience with Masala Library and Farzi Café.

F&B PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR: SOMNATH DEYYou may not have heard of him, which is how he wants it. But Dey has turned the Hyatt Regency into an F&B hub because of his obsession with food and service and his outstanding banqueting skills which keep the Hyatt two steps ahead of the competition.

JAPANESE RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR: MEGUA tough one because Wasabi is so good but, on balance, I’ll give it to Megu because the food is better, the restaurant looks better and the service is outstanding.

CHEF OF THE YEAR: VIKRAMJIT ROYHe returned to Delhi in triumph with Tian (which would have won Best Pan-Asian if the category existed) which showcases both his skill at understanding and extracting flavours and his flair for dramatic presentation. My pre-diction for the year: he is the next Manish Mehrotra, and potentially India’s brightest and most inventive chef.

HOTELIER OF THE YEAR: ANIL CHADHAEvery company has a few key employees who embody the values the company was built on. At ITC, it is Chadha who exemplifies the chain’s can-do attitude, its lack of snob-bery and pretensions, its commitment to quality, its em-phasis on personalised service and its quest for efficiency. He has transformed the ITC Maurya – the hotel he was probably born to run. And one day, this man will run a major hotel company.

MORE ON THE WEB For more columns by Vir Sanghvi, log on to hindustantimes.com/brunch

The views expressed by the columnist are personal

PLESANT SURPISES (Clockwise from left) Le Bistro du Parc brings out the true essence of French cuisine; for Farzi Café the real triumph is its owner Zorawar Kalra; Townhall has Wasabi-quality food at half the cost; SodaBottleOpenerWala does great interpretations of Irani stand-bys

TWO TO TANGO Rohit Aggarwal (left) and Amit Burman of Lite Bite Foods created a multi-brand company out of nothing but passion

27

In county cricket, they referred to you as The Boss. What was sharing a nick-name with Bruce Springsteen like? Pretty flattering. At one point, I used to have a lot of his music and obviously, Born in the USA was on my iPod.Who is the liveliest character in the Chennai Super Kings dressing room?Apart from the Indians – Ravin-dra Jadeja, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni – Muttiah Muralitha-ran and Makhaya Ntini come to mind. Then there’s Faf du Plessis, who brings a sense of fashion and vanity to the team.How so?Well, he thinks he is the Giorgio Armani of cricket. Now he has taken it upon himself to give me style tips. Going by his advice, I’ve added a little bit of a taper to my trousers.After a long day at work, what do you love to gorge on?Seafood and wine.Which wine do you like the most?Any pinot wine from Queens-town is great. The sauvignon blanc from Marlborough is another of my favourites.Which is the most picturesque stadium you’ve played in?Pukekura Park in New Plymouth, New Zealand, is sur-rounded by native bush. It is the prettiest ground in the world. What do you miss about New Zealand?When I am home in Christch-urch, I lead a slower life. We have about eight acres of land and I like being outside with the kids, experiencing farm life and playing golf.What’s the best experience you have had in India?I had the privilege of meeting

the Dalai Lama.How do you expect India to do at the World Cup in February?Two months before that hap-pens, the team will go Down Under to play against Australia. If they win against them, they will carry some of that confi-dence into the World Cup. How active are you on social media? I just use Twitter as a news-feed. I am an infrequent tweeter but have about 120,000 followers. Some handles I follow include @BBCBreaking, @SkySportNZ and, if you don’t mind my language, @WhatTheF Facts.

twitter.com/HTBrunch

— Interviewed by Aasheesh Sharma

BIRTHDAYApril 1

CURRENTLY I AM...Coaching Chennai Super Kings and promoting Tourism New Zealand

SUN SIGNAries

SCHOOL/COLLEGECashmere High School, Christchurch Teachers College, New Zealand

HIGH POINT OF YOUR LIFERepresenting and captaining my country

LOW POINT OF YOUR LIFEBeing dropped from the team in 2007

HOMETOWNChristchurch, New Zealand

PERSONAL AGENDA28

Photo: SUBRATA BISWAS, Location courtesy: THE TAJ MAHAL HOTEL, NEW DELHI

Stephen FlemingCricketer/Coach

A NEW ZEALAND FILM YOU ALWAYS RECOMMENDThe Lord Of The Rings trilogy

A HOLLYWOOD FILM YOU’VE WATCHED MANY TIMESOld School (2003) featuring my favourite, Will Ferrell

YOUR FAVOURITE ACTORS IN BOLLYWOODBipasha Basu and Abhishek Bachchan

my movies