Deccan Herald - Sunday-Sunday Herald

Punctuality is one of the noblest qualities a human being can possess, but this trait is alien to most Indians. While the rich and famous are notorious for their lack of punctuality, the common man is not far behind when it comes to the total lack of time sense.

Many years ago, a well-known philosopher was invited by the late Sri Sathya Sai Baba to deliver a lecture in one of his schools. The talk was scheduled for 11 am, and Baba was looking alarmed as the speaker had not yet arrived, though it was only two minutes past the scheduled time. Punctuality was one of the core values Baba constantly tried to imbibe in his disciples, and thus arriving even two minutes behind schedule was unpardonable.

Shared experience
Seeing Sai Baba anxiously waiting for him at the classroom door, the philosopher profusely apologised, "Kindly excuse me, Swami; I am late by two minutes." The speaker was taken aback when Baba sternly reprimanded him, "You are late by 80 minutes, not two minutes." As the perplexed speaker protested, Baba explained, "I agree you are only late by two minutes. There are 40 students in the class. You have taken away two minutes of each of them, and that means you have wasted 80 minutes." Realising his mistake, the speaker promised Baba that he would never be late again. The philosopher lived almost up to a 100 years, and he remained punctual at all his assignments until his last day.

The words 'two minutes' have become a figure of speech in India. When somebody says, "I will be there in two minutes," it could range from anywhere between two minutes and 20 minutes, or more. No doubt, the Indian Standard Time (IST) is often referred to as the Indian Stretchable Time.

Celebrities and politicians are the worst of the lot. "Celebrities often show up late for events and parties as they believe it builds a sense anticipation and generates a certain amount of mystique. However, when this attitude of arriving 'fashionably late' extends to official meetings and shoots, it can be potentially disastrous, and even ruin careers," says Mumbai-based makeover and etiquette expert Jasmine Arora.

The same philosophy applies to politicians who derive some kind of vicarious pleasure from making people wait. Once, a chief minister who had an appointment with Field Marshal K M Cariappa, a strict disciplinarian, failed to turn up even after half an hour. When the chief minister finally arrived, Cariappa had locked the main doors of the house and refused to allow him in. Only after making the chief minister wait for a full 30 minutes did Cariappa open the door, but not before extracting an apology.

However, a rare exception among politicians was former Karnataka chief minister R Gundu Rao, who always swore by his watch. At a seminar on national integration, where he was the key speaker, Gundu Rao had arrived on time, but there was no sign of the other guests. After waiting for a while, the former chief minister walked up to the dais, delivered the welcome address, his own speech, the vote of thanks, and simply walked out of the venue, leaving the organisers gaping!

Politicians who argue that they are unable to keep time because they are constantly accosted by people should probably take a leaf out of Mahatma Gandhi's book. Once, while driving to deliver a lecture at Annamalai University, Gandhiji's motorcade was stopped by a large group of people which requested him to participate in a feast being attended by both the upper and lower castes. Though the issue was close to his heart, Gandhiji politely excused himself because he feared he would be late for his engagement at the university. Even as the crowd surrounded his car demanding that he alight, Gandhiji managed to escape and reach the university. Though he was delayed by less than a minute, he began his speech with, "I humbly apologise for arriving late."

B-School professor and management guru Boman Moradian blames the lack of time sense among Indians on double standards. "When we avail of some service, we always expect the best. The irony is that when it comes to 'receiving', we have a standard which is 'zero deviation', but when it comes to 'doing' or 'giving', we believe in 'this-will-do attitude'. This double standard percolates in all that we do, and absence of punctuality is one of them."

Yet, there are many for whom punctuality is next only to godliness. The late K Sankaran Nayar, publisher of a newspaper in Bengaluru, never took a chance with time, even when he had to visit his daughter for a meal. Google maps had not yet come into existence in the 90s and whenever Nayar received an invitation, he would send his car on a 'recce' the previous day to measure the time taken to reach the destination. Such people are rare and far between.

Punctuality, elsewhere
Not being punctual is the norm rather than the exception in India. Even well-educated people, senior corporate executives and academicians have a complete disregard for the time of others. We do not recognise that when we waste another person's time, we consume a slice of their life, over which we have no right. Anglican clergyman Richard Cecil could not have put it better when he said, "If I have made an appointment with you, I owe you punctuality. I have no right to throw away your time, if I do my own."

Though across the world punctuality is regarded as the soul of business, in India meetings usually never begin on time because somebody or the other is always late. As most executives do not believe in time-budgeting, they often find it impossible to strike a work-life balance, leading to stress, frustration and broken families.

In Japan, which is regarded as the most punctual country in the world, executives arrive for an appointment at least five minutes in advance because it takes that much time to get seated and settled so that the meeting can get started on schedule.

Over the years, the contempt for time has become an accepted standard in India. It is perfectly alright for plays, concerts and movies to start late; no brows are raised when guests arrive for dinner much after the scheduled time; and when it comes to public transport, we take it in our stride even if our trains run 24 hours late.

In Japan, the pressure to stick to the schedule is so high that train conductors apologise profusely even over a one-minute delay. The average delay of the bullet train is said to be less than six seconds. The Japanese view any delay in service as a betrayal of customer confidence.

The utter disrespect for punctuality is so deep-rooted in the Indian culture that we have absolutely no qualms about arriving late for appointments or social engagements, without even a hint of guilt, shame or regret. And if you expect an apology, banish the thought.

"Lack of punctuality is often a cultural trait. This is reflected by phrases like 'anytime is Trinidad time', 'work slowly' (East Africa), and 'time is money' (USA). A majority of Indians are notorious late-comers. One of the reasons for this late-coming is that many Indians have a fatalistic attitude towards life and work. We have a low sense of our worth... of not being important because everything is determined by fate. Hence, arriving early or late hardly matters," says noted psychologist and retired Bangalore University vice-chancellor M S Thimmappa.

Punctuality is an attribute which, if not imbibed at an early age, is difficult to adapt at a later stage in life. In the late 50s, prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was invited to inaugurate the newly constructed swimming pool at Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashala, Mysuru, arrived a few minutes late. But the school authorities did not wait for Nehru and went ahead with the inaugural ceremony after garlanding his photograph because they did not want to set a bad example to the students. Even to this day, the daily routine in this school is driven by clockwork precision.

On the converse, turning up at private parties or public functions much before the appointed time also amounts to a breach of etiquette as the organisers or the hosts are usually busy with last-minute preparations. When General Cariappa was elevated to a five-star Field Marshal, the people of Coorg had organised a civic reception in his honour. Though the General arrived half-an-hour in advance, he patiently waited in his car outside the venue, only to alight five minutes before the scheduled time and walk up to the stage. Needless to say, the function began and ended on time, a rarity in India. The solider believed in respecting others' time as much as he did his.

Most Indians fail to realise that people who are punctual are a class apart. It is a quality that distinguishes the cultured from the uncultured. As Louis XVIII of France said, "Punctuality is the politeness of the kings. It adds grace to our personality and years to our life."

The first time I had an hour-long meeting with my American professor, I became upset when he left the meeting after just 15 minutes. I complained about it to my husband, then my boyfriend. "I was there at 10.45 am for the 10 o'clock appointment and the man just left at 11!" I said heatedly.

My man stared at me. "But you were 45 minutes late!"

"So what?" I asked. "It's not as if I missed the entire appointment!"

That event set the tone of our relationship. Till date, my husband and I are on two different time zones... as are Indians with the rest of the world.

The old joke used to be that IST was not Indian Standard Time, but Indian Stretchable Time. As we all know, we Indians tend to be extremely laidback. It is not always laziness or a reluctance to do something, it is just the reluctance to do something right now. The task will get done... eventually.

We drive the rest of the developed world, especially countries like Switzerland, Japan, Germany and America just nuts with our ideas of dealing with time. There is even a theory about this behaviour.

The theory is basically this: while others may think that time is finite — it has a beginning and an end — we think that time is infinite. Our time is not a line, but a circle, without a beginning or an end. So why hurry and do something on time? We'll get to it, have patience, it's not earth-shattering!

We also believe in fate arranging our life for us, which conveniently absolves us of having to be proactive for the most part. After all, what will be, will be, and what won't, will never be. So why bust a gasket?

If you want to understand this better, picture a man returning home from the market on his bullock cart. He gets on, guides the bullocks onto the right road... and his work is done. They know the way home, and amble down the dirt road at their own pace. The driver can even fall asleep. On the other hand, he can whip them into a frenzy and get home a little earlier. But why hurry? Whatever is waiting for him will still be waiting for him, if it is meant to be. If not, nothing he does will ever make it happen.
Having this attitude to 'time' and 'life' is great... as long as you live by your lonesome self. But when you have to interact with others who don't have the same philosophy as you, things go out of whack. This was what happened with globalisation.

Imagine slouching down a hot deserted road at midday slowly and half-asleep, and suddenly a huge black dog jumps out of a gali, baying insanely in your face — that was the kind of rude shock that we got. Work no longer meant 'Do it when you feel like it'. It meant 'Have it done, and done well, by the day and time the customers want it done'. It meant a whole new way of thinking.

But instead of just becoming more time-conscious, a dichotomy has risen in our way of thinking, depending on whether we are the doer of the task or the doee. We now expect others to adhere to their timelines, while we are still ambivalent about our own. "How could so-and-so not finish the task I gave them?" we fume, while, when it comes to our work, we grouse: "What does he mean, do it by the deadline, or else?"

The way we deal with the deadline crisis is peculiar. We put off the task and drag our feet for as long as we can, and then hurry to complete it. Since such haste never produces good results, we know we're delivering a bad product. So there we are, putting finishing touches at the nth hour, and as anyone who has tried to put on lipstick while driving on Indian roads knows, it never works out great!

However, not all of India is going berserk trying to learn timeliness, thank goodness. The government sector, like a massive titanosaur, continues to dwell in a deadline-less world, as do some private businesses. Ever had a tailor deliver a well-stitched blouse on time?

Meanwhile, at our home, we've developed ways of dealing with timelines. These days, when I say I need just five more minutes to get ready, my man just asks, "Your five minutes or mine?"

Now, all we have to do is teach the Swiss, the Japanese, the Germans and the Americans to ask: "Your time circle or our timeline?"

Immersed in our busy lives, we take our abilities for granted. To see and hear and speak coherently, to sprint across busy roads or dash up a flight of stairs, to think clearly and grasp what we read; we do it all without a second thought. Yet there are millions among us for whom these activities are impossible dreams. I recently fractured my knee, and experienced life in a wheelchair.

Taking even a few steps became excruciatingly painful. During the long process of recovery, routine daily tasks seemed as challenging as climbing the Himalayas. Taking a bath; crossing roads jammed with Bengaluru's legendary traffic; balancing painful steps on uneven and often non-existent footpaths; ordinary tasks posed stiff challenges.

How do people muster the courage and determination to contend with such handicaps lifelong? How have severely disabled persons like Stephen Hawking and Helen Keller overcome impossible odds to become iconic inspirational figures for all of humanity?

Crippled by a rare disease, British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking lost control over his body and gradually became completely paralysed. He is celebrated as one of the most brilliant living scientists. American author and activist Helen Keller became deaf and blind in infancy from scarlet fever.

She was a terrified little child imprisoned in dark, silent and complete isolation. Her dedicated teacher Anne Sullivan painstakingly taught her to speak, communicate in sign language, and read books in Braille. Helen Keller travelled to many countries. She campaigned for the rights of women, workers and disabled persons, and other social causes.

The brilliant scientist Albert Einstein had learning disabilities as a child. In his early years, he was slow in school. Today he is celebrated as one of the world's greatest scientific minds. They demonstrate the immense talent and potential of disabled people, and the importance of assisting them to integrate into mainstream life.

Disabilities in seeing, hearing, speech and movement have long been recognised. But problems of the mind are only recently emerging from under the carpet. Mental retardation, mental illness, learning disabilities such as dyslexia, and issues such as autism and depression are only recently being acknowledged and tackled. New advanced treatments and therapies are being formulated. Growing public awareness is slowly lifting the veil of secrecy and stigma in which mental issues are shrouded.

India's official Census 2011 shows 2.68 crore people in India as suffering from some form of disability. Disabled persons comprise 2.21% of the total population of our country. That huge number is larger than the entire population of many countries! Government's efforts to generate employment and enhance skills are bearing fruit.

However, there's a long way to go before all persons with disabilities (PWDs), rich and poor, from urban and rural areas, enjoy universal accessibility to essential facilities. Access to equal opportunities in education, transport, employment and a non-discriminating and disabled-friendly workspace and living environment is vital.

Only then will our society become fully inclusive. This is critical for enabling them to gain equal opportunity, live independently with dignity and participate fully in all aspects of life. Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 provides for non-discrimination in transport, non-discrimination on the road and non-discrimination in built environment respectively.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), to which India is a signatory, casts obligations on the governments for ensuring to PWDs accessibility to information, transportation, physical environment, communication technology and accessibility to services as well as emergency services.

Individuals and associations are also pitching in to make this world a more comfortable place for our disabled fellow citizens. Several years ago, I was invited to a special camp organised by the Rotary Club in Bangalore. Doctors, paramedics and technicians had been brought all the way from Rajasthan to fit needy amputees with the miraculous Jaipur Foot.

Wheelchairs and other vital items were being distributed to grateful recipients. After some speeches, three men leapt up on the dais to dance and sing. Neither slickly dressed nor noticeably good-looking, they danced surprisingly well to Bollywood tunes. Their verve and enthusiasm was infectious. And then, the dancers transformed into magicians. They rolled up their trousers as they danced, revealing artificial legs strapped below their knee stumps.

Dancing on a single leg, the men then unbuckled their prosthetic legs and twirled them in the air to overwhelming applause. After the dance, they got down to work as technicians of prosthetic legs for other PWDs like themselves! This was the miracle of the affordable and easy-to-fit Jaipur Foot. Designed in India by Dr Ram Chander Sharma in 1968, it is benefitting countless people. A famous beneficiary is the brilliant dancer and actress Sudha Chandran.

Compelled to have her foot amputated at the age of 16, Sudha Chandran continued her career with tremendous effort and the help of the Jaipur Foot.
People with disabilities, both mental and physical, are now doing well not just in their jobs but also in life.

Thanks to improved health services and other support, PWDs are now emerging from seclusion to live longer and more fulfilling lives, and enriching the society with positive contributions. Famous inspirational disabled persons are many. There are also remarkable PWDs all around us.

Former Army officer Navin Gulia was a fighting-fit young man of 22 when an accident during military training forced him into a wheelchair for life. Spending another 22 years paralysed below the shoulders with restricted arm and hand movement, he continues to glow with infectious enthusiasm.

"I've never felt sad in my life," he says. "Definitely not for myself. People tend to sink into depression, brooding 'Why me?' I say, 'Why not me? Even Jesus Christ and Gandhiji suffered. Am I so special that I should be spared? What will I gain by being sad?"

Self-pity and negativity are not an option for this lifelong fighter. "The miracle is in being alive. If I ever meet god, I will thank him for what I have. The right attitude helps you deal with life. My self-esteem is high. I consider myself equal to others. After my accident, my sense of humour kept me going. I focused upon what to do with the rest of my life. I went on to earn my Master's degree and studied Gandhian philosophy." He has also authored a book, In Quest of the Last Victory, an inspirational story of his perseverance, fighting spirit and persistent efforts to achieve higher goals by stretching beyond his limitations.

Taking up the mantle of Directing Worker of ADAA (APNI DUNIYA APNA ASHIANA) came naturally to Navin Gulia. ADAA is an effort aimed at helping, assisting and guiding the lives of underprivileged, orphaned, abandoned and differently abled children in the weaker sections of society. "I wanted to give back something to society," Navin Gulia says. "I connect very well with children and believe in doing the right thing, not to get attention and popularity, but because I want to be true to what I do."

"Writing is such a powerful way to release emotions," says Arundhati Nath of Guwahati, Assam, whose articles on travel, culture, parenting, current affairs and women's and children's issues are published worldwide. She's even penned a book for children and trained in Hindustani classical vocal music while attending to her duties as an employee of State Bank of India. The first time I met her, it took me a while to accept that this charming young girl had just 25% residual vision, had been through multiple eye surgeries, and will need another one in 2018. She, along with her dignified and gently concerned parents, embodied courage and positivity.

Integrating productively into mainstream life wasn't easy. "Apart from insensitive or sympathetic remarks about my eyes from people, I initially felt I was inadequate when I couldn't even read the blackboard from the first bench in school. I never had a proper 'aim in life' like my classmates who wanted to be doctors or astronauts. I wasn't confident of my abilities and loved music, science and literature equally, which is still a contradictory mix for higher education in India. In spite of scoring 98% — the highest marks in science in my Class 10 boards, I was discouraged from choosing the science stream because of my visual impairment. I still feel frustrated, but I'm thankful that there are plenty of wonderful books, websites, journals and videos which can take me back to the marvellous world of science. I do not have a degree in science or literature (as I'm a commerce graduate), but I'll continue to learn more about both of these disciplines."

"The incidents at school looked like trifles as I grew older," Arundhati Nath shares. "Depression often reached its peak; and I went back to listening to music and Tedx talks on YouTube, and taking writing courses. I've been able to overcome my negative feelings because my parents have relentlessly supported and believed in me, introduced me to books and music very early, and have allowed me to take my decisions independently. I'm indebted to my school teachers: Aparajita Dutta, Ajit Kumar Misra, Rashmi Borkakoty, Mahua Das, Geeta Dutta and Bipasha Deka. In the growing up years, I took solace in music, reading children's books, and writing stories and poetry."

It's all in the mind

Mental health issues have traditionally been treated with silence and denial in Indian society. Trouble and tensions smoulder under the surface. Many silently suffer or see others suffering in isolation, and would benefit from open discussions. Government and voluntary agencies as well as dedicated doctors and hospitals are providing valuable services to sufferers and their loved ones. They strive to bridge the practical and objective gaps regarding treatments and care facilities.

Meanwhile, Indian writers are trying to shed light and spread awareness on the subjective experience of mental illness. Authors Jerry Pinto in his book Em and the Big Hoom, and Amandeep Sandhu in Sepia Leaves, have artistically rendered the emotional alternate realities they have personally faced with their own suffering near and dear ones. Jerry Pinto has also edited A Book of Light, with pieces written by various authors, offering fictionalised or autobiographical accounts of dear ones with mental illness. These stories shed "light on the dark areas of pain and guilt and utter helplessness." The family is our shelter from the pain, dangers and heartbreaks of the world outside. "But what if it is your mother who is wounding you and then soothing you by turns? What if it is your father who seems distant or desolate, living in a dark tower that you cannot enter?"

In his story in A Book of Light, Madhusudan Srinivas writes of the pressures to appear 'normal' regarding his own differently abled son. "Most of our children haven't demanded anything of us, ever. It's we who end up demanding a hell of a lot of them in our endeavour to meet society's norms. To make the differently abled as non-different and as indistinguishable as we can" for the sake of gaining social acceptance.

Annabelle Furtado says, "There is no shame in telling my story. If it can help others understand that a breakdown doesn't mean you are dysfunctional, I stand to be heard." She points out something we all need to understand. "No one is merely crazy. We just don't know how to describe or treat the illness. The lines between normal and abnormal are often so personal. What may seem normal to one may be abnormal to another."

Such books help all of us understand the pain of coping, of suffering in isolation, the helplessness and lack of peace faced by the sufferers among us, and their caregivers. They spread awareness and sensitivity, and can enable us to better support and appreciate those around us of 'a different mind'.

PWDs are shining and inspiring us in every sphere of life. Shekar Naik is a T20 Blind Cricket World Champion and has 32 centuries to his name. Arunima Sinha lost her leg when miscreants pushed her out of a moving train. She became the first woman amputee to climb Mount Everest. PWDs have the potential to excel despite odds. They do not want pity and to be looked down upon because of their handicaps. They can overcome their physical limitations with the help of a strong will. It is up to each of us to support them by boosting their morale and determination.

Motivation and optimism are the key. "If I had a choice to go back in time," Arundhati Nath adds, "I would change my attitude and belief in myself. That would have eased so much heartache much earlier. It's our own attitude that ultimately matters."

Amandeep Sandhu has the final word on disability — "Life can sometimes be hard, but we can resist being crushed."

Warning: Reading this article may cause cravings that insist on being satisfied. To prevent mental anguish, it is a good idea to open a bar of chocolate as you start to read.

My love for chocolate first started with Cadbury's Eclairs. My sisters and I 'worked hard', doing small errands for my grandmother, and earned enough to buy three of this chocolate, which cost 35 paisa each at the time. The best way to eat it was to suck on it a couple of times and then bite into it. The slow ooze of the delicious chocolate centre … ah, it was divine!

Yes, there is one food that is loved by nearly everybody on this planet and that is chocolate. They say that nine out of every 10 people in this world love chocolate… and the 10th person always lies. Okay, there may be people who don't like the brown concoctions, but even they like white chocolate.

And what is not to love? The rich-brown mysterious colour, the wonderful aroma, the firm break-off, and the melting in the mouth make the chocolate-eating experience a joy in itself. And that's only one aspect!

There are so many intriguing myths and misconceptions about chocolate that it is hard to know where to begin.

We know that Swiss and Belgian chocolates are the best in the world. However, chocolate originated not in Europe as we think, but deep in the steamy tropical jungles of Central and South America. It was the ancient Central American civilisations that discovered the goodness of chocolate. The Olmecs of Mexico prepared chocolate beverages for religious rituals or as a medicinal drink. In fact, the 'chemical footprint' of this beverage has been detected in a vessel found at an Olmec archaeological site in Mexico, which has been dated back to 1900 BC. These people were also the first to domesticate the cacao plant. Even the word 'chocolate' is attributed to the Aztec word 'xocoatl' meaning a bitter drink brewed from cacao beans.

Just imagine, a tree with bars and bars of chocolate hanging from its branches! Sorry, that isn't exactly how chocolate is born. The cacao plant, Theobroma cacao, produces large yellow or red-coloured fruit called pods directly on the stem and branches. Each pod has a sweet, viscous pulp, in which are embedded about 30 to 40 seeds, which are the cacao beans. The pulp was probably the first to be eaten. The cacao beans are fermented and roasted and then processed to make chocolate.

Another myth is that the chocolate was always consumed as a solid. The truth is that the first use of cacao is as a drink. The Mayans believed that gods shed their blood on the cacao pods as part of its production. They fermented the beans, roasted them, ground them into a paste and then mixed them into a drink with water, chili peppers and cornmeal. This drink was then transferred repeatedly between pots until the top was covered with a thick foam.

Not so popular then

Such a unique product must have clearly been recognised as valuable by the invading Europeans, right? The answer is: absolutely not. Christopher Columbus first encountered the cacao bean on his fourth trip to the Americas, when he and his men seized a large native canoe that contained various goods for trade. Among them were the beans, which the natives seemed to value greatly. Calling them 'almonds', his son Ferdinand commented that whenever one fell on the ground, they all stooped to pick it up, 'as if an eye had fallen'. Though Columbus and Co. did not know it, cacao was deemed extremely precious in those days. It was touted to be good for the stomach and general health, and used as everything from an energy drink to an aphrodisiac.

Aztecs were unable to grow cacao themselves, but imported it. When they conquered parts of Mesoamerica (from Central Mexico, down to northern Costa Rica) that grew it, they forced those provinces to pay them as tax or tribute. Thus the cacao bean became a form of currency. Children these days barter a bar of chocolate for favours like homework, but back in the day, according to the Spanish conquistadors, 100 beans could buy a canoe filled with fresh water, or a turkey hen. In fact, cacao beans were commonly used as currency even up to the 1840s in the Yucatan peninsula, where they were used in place of small coins.

Unlike the Mayans of Yucatan, the Aztecs drank their chocolate cold. Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes observed emperor Montezuma being served this drink from time to time from a goblet of pure gold, which gave a clue of how highly regarded that drink was. Columbus faithfully took the cacao beans to Spain with him, but they did not become an instant hit. Remember, the Mayan concoction had chilis in them and was spicy and bitter. But then, the Spanish sweetened the bitter drink with cane sugar and vanilla, and voila, it became a must-have.

Chocolate remained a Spanish secret for nearly a century. But when the daughter of Spanish King Philip III married French King Louis XIII, she brought her love of chocolate to France. This drink quickly spread to other European courts, and soon became the favourite of aristocrats. To feed this habit, cacao began to be grown in plantations in equatorial regions.

The labour force in these plantations consisted of the local workers, who unfortunately succumbed to diseases brought by their employers. This was when Europeans started bringing in African slave labour to work their plantations.

On a side note: the sad truth is that slave labour, that too child slave labour, is still a big factor in cacao plantations today.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, chocolate was a favourite drink of the aristocrats, but ordinary people couldn't afford it. This changed when Dutch chemist Coenraad Johannes van Houten invented the cocoa press in 1828. This cocoa press could squeeze the fatty cocoa butter from roasted cacao beans, leaving behind a dry cake. This cake could be pulverised into a fine powder that could be mixed with liquids and other ingredients, poured into moulds, and solidified into edible, easily digestible chocolate. The process dropped production costs and made it affordable to all.

For the hearts

After the 'Dutching' process was invented, inventions came fast and furious. In 1847, British chocolate company J S Fry and Sons created the first solid edible chocolate bar from cocoa butter, cocoa powder and sugar. In 1861, Richard Cadbury created the first known heart-shaped candy box for Valentine's Day. In 1868, John Cadbury mass-marketed the first box of chocolates. In 1876, Daniel Peter of Switzerland experimented for eight years before finally inventing a means of making milk chocolate. In 1879, Daniel Peter and Henri Nestle joined together to form the Nestle Company. In the same year, Rodolphe Lindt of Switzerland invented the 'conching' machine which produced a smoother and creamier chocolate that melted on the tongue.

There is a very interesting story about the invention of another chocolate favourite, the chocolate-chip cookie. One day in 1930, Ruth Wakefield realised she was out of bakers chocolate when she wanted to bake chocolate cookies. All she had was a Nestlé chocolate bar. She mixed broken piece of Nestlé chocolate into her cookie dough expecting that the chocolate would be absorbed, producing the standard chocolate cookies. Instead, the pieces held their shape but melted into a gooey goodness, which her guests loved. When the recipe came out, there was a spike in the demand for Nestlé chocolate. Therefore, a deal was struck: Andrew Nestlé gave her a lifetime supply of chocolate in return for the right to publish her recipe on the wrappers of Nestlé chocolate bars.

Another interesting snippet is that Lay's once sold potato chips dipped in milk chocolate in America. We can safely infer that this was not a great hit, because the chip company hasn't continued the product.

History is not the only fascinating aspect of chocolate - the making is equally interesting. There are three main cultivar groups of cacao beans which are used to make cocoa and chocolate - the Criollo, Forastero and the Trinitario, a hybrid of the Criollo and Forastero. Criollo are the most expensive, rare and prized beans, which are less bitter and more aromatic than any other bean. These were the ones used by the Mayans. Forestaro, on the other hand, are hardier trees which give cheaper cacao beans, and give about 80% of the beans. About 10% of the beans are from the Trinitario cultivar. As far as the cultivation of cacao goes, you would expect that Latin American countries would lead production, right? Wrong! About 40% of the world's cacao comes from Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia, with Brazil, Nigeria and Cameroon being smaller producers. The dark side of cacao production, other than slave labour, is the fact that every day, thousands of acres of rainforest are being cleared to make way for cacao plantations. So in a way, our insatiable love for chocolate is leading to deforestation.

Okay, now back to the fun stuff, like how chocolate is made. To make chocolate, cacao beans are first cleaned and then sorted and roasted at temperatures of between 210 and 290 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes to two-and-a-half hours, depending on the type of beans. Then the beans are cracked and the shells removed. The product is the nibs, which are ground and crushed until they form a thick, bitter chocolate paste. Here, cocoa butter, vanilla and sugar are added, removing the bitterness and adding sweetness. Milk is added in the case of milk chocolates. This increases the creaminess. Once the chocolate is mixed, it is conched, meaning air is whipped into the chocolate to give it more creaminess. Then the conched chocolate is tempered, that is, heated up and cooled down several times before it is tuned into chocolate bars. Tempering gives chocolate its glossy finish and allows it to melt properly.

There are many, many confections that can be made with chocolate. Over and above, anything that is good can be made better by dipping in chocolate. There is a whole world of delicious possibilities. You can use it to coat fruits like mandarin orange, banana and strawberries. It tastes deadly delicious with nuts or peanut butter. However, if you want to indulge in the bizarre, you can try chocolate-covered onions, dill pickles, squid, seaweed, scorpions and crickets. Not saying you'll like it, but it has been tried...

Finally, here's an intriguing question: why do we love to eat chocolate? Of course, we love the smooth and seductive tasty mouth feel given by cocoa butter that just melts in your mouth. But, the true reason why we love to eat chocolate is its chemical contents. First of all, the main factors of carbohydrates, sugars and fats give us a boost of energy. Chocolate contains the chemicals theobromine and caffeine, both of which are stimulants and make you feel things more sharply. However, there are only five to 10 milligrams of caffeine in chocolate, compared to a cup of regular coffee that has between 100 to 150 mg of caffeine. So there is really no truth to the term 'chocoholic'!

There are about 300naturally-occurring chemicals in chocolate, including neurotransmitters, some of which can tell our brains to feel happy. One of these, phenylethylamine, causes alertness and excitement, quickens the pulse rate and makes us happy. Another neurotransmitter called serotonin, which is a mood-lifter, is released in the brain by a chemical called tryptophan, which is found in chocolate. Anandamide (from the Sanskrit word 'ananda') is one of the fats in chocolate that activates a receptor that causes dopamine production, and dopamine causes a feeling of intense well-being. These are the same receptors that respond to the psychoactive ingredients in marijuana and hashish. However, it's impossible to get a high from eating chocolate, so rest easy. You'll have to ingest more than 25 pounds to get there. Chocolate also contains endorphins, which are released into the brain while it is being eaten, and these decrease stress and pain.

So what are you waiting for? Go and get yourself some chocolate. And work hard to save the earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.

Geography lessons can completely slay your sense of aesthetics. They can really make life prosaic. Imagine this. Dark clouds have gathered. You look into the sky beseeching the lord for a mighty downpour. The rain boots are standing tall at the threshold. The first raindrop and you are ready to run out and dance in the rain. Suddenly that old geography lessons haunt you. If you are waiting for long rain, watch out for nimbostratus clouds; if you want hail, well, hail the cumulonimbus clouds. If you see a tall, puffy cloud that looks flat at the top or find flat low-level fray clouds floating around, rain is just another cloud away. They even define rain as precipitation that falls in the form of liquid water drops. They measure raindrops' diameter (0.1 to 9 mm), discuss its shape (diminutive raindrops are round; big raindrops are shaped like parachutes). Even count them — every minute, 1 billion tons of rain falls on the earth. Too much geography can kill the delight called rain.

I love the rain. Period. I walk in the rain. As Roger Miller said: "Some people walk in the rain. Others just get wet."
I walk in the rain. And I could walk to the end of the equator for more rain. Where the rain gods shower in the heaven, their bath water spills off heaven as rain. It rains and rains and rains more. In that quest for more rain, I stumbled upon the world's wettest, rainiest places.

Emei Shan, Sichuan Province, China
For the devout, Mount Emei is the home of the Buddha; on the top of the 3,099-metre-high mountain lives piety. Located in the Sichuan Province of China, Mount Emei is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China. Sitting at the western rim of the Sichuan basin, it is also the highest of the four sacred mountains. The pious come here to pray to the Buddha, rain lovers throng to the region between June and September to get soaked in the incessant rain. Not that other months are dry. Mount Emei gets nearly 250 days of rain, but June-September is the rainiest.

There is more to Mount Emei than the big fat constant rain. There's the cloud spectacle that can dazzle even the bland. Known as the Clouds Sea, the spectacle includes several cloud phenomena, for example, clouds appearing in the sky above, in addition to the regular clouds beneath. Adding grandeur to the clouds is the sunrise where the sky turns purple with rosy clouds gathering at the crack of dawn. The Golden Summit of the mountain is the best viewpoint to see the sunrise and the Clouds Sea.

Pu'u Kukui, Maui, Hawaii, Oceania
Pu'u Kukui has too many u's in its name. Too much of a tongue twister. But forget the u's. Translate it into Hawaiian and call it Candlenut Hill. All you need to remember is that it is listed in the world's top five wettest places. When the annual precipitation hits 9,820 mm (386.5 inches), you wonder whether there is ever a dry day in this Hawaiian mountain peak, the highest peak of Mauna Kahalawai (the West Maui Mountains), an 18-mile (30-km) stretch of mountains, the Honolua volcanic series, that dominates the western peninsula of Maui. Formed by a volcano, the 1,764-metre summit rises above the Puu Kukui Watershed Management Area, an 8,661-acre private nature preserve. The rains also bring in nature's largesse and make the landscape lush and beautiful.

Mt Waialeale, Kauai, Hawaii, Oceania
Resting lazily behind the Kukui'ula is the magnificent Mt Wai'ale'ale. Located in the middle of the island, Mt Waialeale rises 1,569 m, making it the second highest peak on the island, after Kawaikini at 1,598 m. Eternally shrouded in wispy clouds, Waialeale averages 11,430 mm (450 inches) of rainfall annually. Receiving 683 inches of rain, 1982 was the rainiest year on record.

Translating into Rippling Water or Overflowing Water in Hawaiian, Mt Wai'ale'ale is sometimes tagged the world's wettest place, a title that Mawsynram (India) holds now with the 38-year average rainfall of 11,870 mm (467.4 inches). Laymen have always wondered how Wai'ale'ale is so rainy when most of Hawaii is so sunny. It is all about location — situated in the northernmost region of the main Hawaiian Islands, Kauai is exposed to front winds and rain in the winter. The round shape of the summit exposes all its sides to dampening winds. Interestingly, rains peter away barely miles away from Wai'ale'ale —totalling a meagre 10 inches of rainfall a year. That is because the mountain's steep cliffs cause the humid air to rise quickly, allowing for a large portion of rain in one spot.

Big Bog, Maui, Hawaii, Oceania
The Big Bog sounds more like the name of a wrestling hulk than that of a pretty scrap of land with endless rain. Located on the edge of Haleakala National Park overlooking Hana at about 5,400 feet elevation, Big Bog is the wettest place in the United States. For long, scientists knew nothing about the Big Bog. When they first set up the rain gauge in 1992, the maximum expected precipitation was 180 inches annually. But Big Bog proved the big scientists wrong. In 1994, Big Bog hit the 560-inch mark, and the 30-year average was 404 inches.
Big Bog is beautiful. But not many can partake in its glory. One either does an arduous two-day trek or hops into a chopper into the bog where several endemic plants create an amazing kaleidoscope.

Debundscha, Cameroon, Africa
Sitting at the foot of Mount Cameroon's south-western corner, Debundscha is set up for massive downpour. Nature planned it that way. The 4,095-metres mountain rising from the coast of south Atlantic ocean blocks the rain-forming clouds from passing it. The mountain literally traps the clouds, resulting in abundant rainfall throughout the year. Its proximity to the equator, which is consistently hot and humid, gives Debundscha a long rainy season and a short dry season in a year. Receiving over 10,000 mm (400 inches) of rain annually, this village in Cameroon is often listed amongst the five rainiest places on earth.

San Antonio de Ureca, Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea
Stacked in the northernmost part of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, and also known as Ureka or Ureca, San Antonio de Ureca is the wettest place in Africa. Receiving 10,450 mm (418 inches) of rainfall annually, this village in Bioko Sur Province has a wet season from February to June and September to December. The inland areas receive less rainfall than the coast — in Bata, during the rainiest months (September-November), the average rainfall is 2,400 mm (95 inches), while the coastal town of Calatrava gets 4,600 mm (180 inches). Rainfall slows down inland with Mikomeseng receiving under 1,500 mm (60 inches) annually.

Cropp River, New Zealand
In the nine-km long river, rain is not measured — as is wont — in millimetres. There is so much rainfall that it is measured in metres. Not 1, not 2, but 18 metres of rain annually. That makes the Cropp River, inland from Hokitika, the wettest place in New Zealand. And one day in December 1995, 1,049 mm (41.3 inches) of rain fell over the Cropp River, a record rainfall for a 48-hour period for New Zealand. The rain is not just fat raindrops, it brings along a largesse. At higher altitudes, the rain comes in the form of snow, filling the alpine basins and forming glaciers that have shaped the landscape of the Westland. Torrents of rain bring along debris from the mountainside, making the fertile floodplains that houses the rainforest. In the Cropp River, which joins the Whitcombe River, every drop of rainwater is recycled by nature — everything runs into the Tasman Sea, returned to the clouds to fall as rain again.

Tutunendo, Colombia, South America
Tutunendo is fragrant. It sits by a township near Quibdó, whose name is derived from an Embera word meaning 'river of fragrances'. Tutunendo, the wettest place in South America, is small. With a human head count barely crossing the 3,000 mark. There are more clouds in Tutunendo than there are people. The clouds seem to hang permanently from the grey sky with barely three-four hours of sunshine each day. Rain is abundant throughout the year, averaging 463 inches of annual rain. Tutunendo is the wettest in autumn (September and October), though August and November are also very wet. Even the driest months (February and March) get at least 20 days of rain each month.

The climate is that of a tropical rainforest — very hot, high humidity, no wind and a lot of rain. The day and the night are almost the same length all year around because it is very close to the equator. Pristine rivers cascade down several waterfalls, one of these is known as 'Alka-Seltzer Falls', because of the effervescence produced when the water hits the rocks.

Cherrapunji, Meghalaya, India
For the longest possible, Cherrapunji was the wettest place on earth, a tag it lived with great fat raindrops. Originally called Sohra, it has fallen into second place in the 'wettest' list. But it still puffs about the two Guinness World Records for receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single year: 26,471 mm (1,042.2 inches) of rainfall between August 1860 and July 1861, and for receiving the maximum amount of rainfall in a single month: 9,300 mm (370 inches) in July 1861. Known for its subtropical highland climate, Cherrapunji looks the prettiest from The Viewpoint where countless waterfalls hurtle into a large pool.

Mawsynram, Meghalaya, India
Call it the gawky neighbour that toppled the long-reigning monarch. That is Mawsynram, the town in Meghalaya, that toppled Cherrapunji off the Wettest Place on Earth throne. So cloudy and rainy is the village that clouds float right into homes and the entire existence is rain-driven. Labourers wear full-body umbrellas made of bamboo and banana leaf, and the natives train ficus roots to span bridges over frothing rivers. You need to do all this and more when the rains hit a record-breaking 11,861 mm a year. Step into Mawsynram between December and February and you'd find locals queuing up at taps where water is a trickle. Even the world's wettest place has water woes!

Some 20 years back, I was inducted to life in this city mostly by travelling around in an auto, for which I needed to pay 'one-and-a-hoff'. The first thing I learnt was that curd-rice was an object of worship. It was not uncommon to come across news reports like, 'Murugappa killed Sumana in a rage of fit over not having to eat curd-rice for dinner'.

Initially, I disliked the phlegm-like temperature and consistency of curd-rice and, foolishly, chose to announce my view publicly at a wedding lunch. People choked on their vadas, the birds flew away from the rafters, and dosas crackled angrily on the hot plate. A dark, angry mob seemed to close in on me from all directions, perhaps to drown me in the cauldron of boiling rasam. Thinking quickly on my feet, I lumped two generous spoons of it on my plate, laughing nervously, saying, "I was just kidding!"

I had not only made fun of curd-rice, I had made fun of gourmet curd-rice: the one with pomegranate seeds balancing on its wobbly body. Tch tch!

I also discovered that Kiran was boy, so was Madhu. One day at work, my manager sent me on an errand to collect an important delivery from 'Kiran'. After waiting in the lobby with a largish, unshaven man for 15 minutes, I learnt that he was Kiran. I was thankful that he was miles away from the Darr casting director and Juhi bagged the role.

The new city was giving me new insights: for instance, what banana leaves were meant for. They were plates and also vehicle adornments. In Ayudh Pooja, they were fastened to the sides of cars, which then moved around like mini-forests on the roads. That day, the city was the Jurassic Park of the plant world. The good thing was this brought down the crime rate: since people were hardly able to see what or who hit them, the question of revenge-crime did not arise.

I figured that here 'software' was a more lusted-after object than underwear. If one was not working in 'software', or learning 'software', or wanting 'to do' software, he or she was ascribed a poor rating: just below the tender-coconut seller and marginally above the SLV table-cleaner, which brings me to SLVs. Technically, one could not launch satellites from here, but, if you overdosed on the sambhar, the chilli-hit had the propensity to eject you to outer space. SLVs, named after a deity, were those small, efficient restaurants that churned out fresh, mouth-watering budget meals all day long. The great levellers where the CEO and the auto rickshaw driver stood at the same table, digging into yummy, steaming idlis.

Finally, I learnt that Bengaluru had the highest traffic density in the country. So, for those who wanted to get from Point A to Point B, there was a useful tip: just stay at Point A: build a shelter, get a wife, have kids, and lead a nice life at Point A. Point A was Silk Board junction.

Early Sunday morning, the phone rang. One of our neighbours was calling on behalf of another to say that they have left a bag of mangoes for us outside our door. Why did they not ring our doorbell and think it nice or necessary to say hello? The primary reason we exchange food, chats, concerns with each other in a community is to maintain camaraderie; to convey that we're there for each other. Exchange of stuff cannot replace that.

Why is it not a surprise that the number of lonely people in big, crowded cities is on the rise? Is it not true that we're not investing sufficient time and interest in forming meaningful relationships and day-to-day interactions with the people around us — neighbours, colleagues, and even family? According to studies, urban loneliness is as much a cause of early mortality as is obesity.

Chandrika is 24 and lives in a metro, away from her family. On a typical day, she leaves for work at 8 am and reaches home by 8 pm, to either cook a simple dinner, or order in, and then exhausted, calls it a day. On weekends, there is personal work and household chores to attend to. There is no time to socialise, meet up or make new friends in a new city. The interactions, even when there are people to go out and eat out with, remain superficial. She is alone in a city full of people.

Shift in priorities
What is revealing is how Chandrika is resigned to this situation. She says she is very clear that at this crucial stage at the start of her career, she would rather focus on it than invest time in making friends.

This is the story of a growing number of young people who we least expect to be lonely - not just those who stay away from their families, but also those who stay with one. There is only so much that they can fit into their lives and they would rather give the time they have to their careers and professions. Doing well in life is valued more than their being happy and having strong bonds with others. Our careers and professions have come to define us in more definitive ways.

Loneliness is generally associated with people who are single, old and socially awkward or those who choose to stay away. But with single, individual households on the rise, especially in big cities where people move for work or education leaving their families behind, it spares few. Too often, many of those who move to big cities and metros support families back home and do not earn enough to have their families come to live with them. This is especially the case with house helps, cooks, drivers and security guards. Also, social structures are in a state of flux — marriages are less lasting, people are marrying and having children late. So, more people than ever before are living alone.

There is a thin line between individualism and selfishness. Be yourself, realise your dreams, achieve your full potential — they are all very inspiring and empowering ideas to live by, but these may also be leading us to become excessively individualistic and to focus all our energies in our own achievements. My life, my money, my home, my time — we're becoming more and more self-absorbed. Each person in the family is seeking and pursuing opportunities of personal growth that may not always contribute to a happy family life. Our days are neatly slotted to fit in work, commute, and housework, but there is nary a slot for conversations with family, meeting friends or calling up relatives. Unplanned visits or phone calls upset our schedules and are not welcome.

German psychoanalyst Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, in her seminal essay on loneliness, defined it as the 'want of intimacy'. So it is not a surprise that loneliness can be experienced while living with family, in the company of others, if one cannot make meaningful connections with them.

Armchair society
Apparently, when the radio came, it was said that it would isolate people. We have transitioned many times since — to television, the computer, the Internet and the smartphone. The fact that modern technology has helped us to connect with our friends and relatives across the world cannot be contested. But it is still a my-will-my-time engagement. A person battling loneliness may not have the inclination to engage with 'friends' online. People who lack social skills, or have social anxiety, retreat into the 'connected' world of the internet and become lonelier from the lack of 'real' interaction.

When India won the World Cup Cricket quarter-final against Pakistan in 1996, instantly and instinctively, everyone in our housing society in Delhi came out cheering, dancing and beating thalis. I have not seen anything like that since. Even with all the communication on Facebook and WhatsApp, it is difficult to get a sizeable group of people together for a social cause or event. We're given to armchair activism and there is a marked decline in our civic and social engagements that bring people together.

We also seem to need each other less. Mutual dependence is increasingly frowned upon. Everyone has help at their fingertips — whether it is to call a doctor, a cab, to order food or any other service. In small towns and cities, people still make the effort to visit the sick, the home-alone and the bereaved.

Neighbours and friends would earlier cook food for a grieving family. It was not just about providing food - it was about people coming together, talking, sharing, being around. When we do away with age-old traditions, we sometimes also lose vital human ties built on closeness and warmth.

Recently, when our friends had an open house, we had a wonderful time mixing casually with people of different age groups and backgrounds. It made me think of our childhood homes that were always 'open house', where people dropped by any time of the day and more often than not, shared a meal. Often, children in families that have limited social interactions are awkward with visitors. It is normal these days to visit someone and not get to meet and talk to their children at all. Children are no longer encouraged to meet or greet visitors.

Parents seem to prefer to have children depend on technology more than on human interactions. Look around in a restaurant and you are sure to spot a baby or two sitting quietly staring at the screen of a phone or a tablet. Parents get them hooked to these 'pacifiers' to free themselves of the responsibility of taking care of them, engaging with them. This, when people are clearly noticing good-versus-bad parenting. Recently, a blog post about a couple at an airport patiently caring for and comforting their twins, went viral. The writer called them 'parenting champs'. It takes a lot to care for children. So does making and keeping friends. As for technology, whether it is a boon or a bane is totally in the hands of the user.

Give to receive
Manjul is a single parent, and when her daughter left home for the university, I asked her if she felt lonely. Quietly but very surely, she told me she's too busy to be that. Manjul runs a not-for-profit for women who have fewer opportunities to earn and live with dignity. I'm sure she's lonely sometimes, but she has chosen a way out. When we extend a helping hand to others, we help ourselves the most.

The elderly become lonely when they give up participating in life, feeling too old to follow their passions. The body and the mind do slow us down and life's little tragedies - passing away of contemporaries, retirement, empty nest... can all lead to a greater feeling of not being useful, of abandonment.

But every individual, in any circumstance or stage of life - old, infirm, unhappy, grieving - has something to share with the world, something to give. Each of us has to go out and get to work, sharing our skills and stories, caring for someone, cooking, gardening, dancing, exercising, keeping oneself gainfully occupied so we help ourselves and others. This is the only way to guard ourselves against loneliness - to invest in hobbies and pursuits; to take interest in the work of others and to contribute to our communities in the meaningful ways that we can.

A recent news story tells us of a retirement home in the Netherlands that provides students with free accommodation in exchange for spending time with its elderly inmates. The company of young people helps the elderly cope with the challenges of old age and isolation.

There is also avant-garde R&D going on into building humanoid robots that not only assist humans, but can also express emotions. This year, a social robot, iPal, is slated to be launched in the US. The robot is expected to give company to the lonely - home alone children and the elderly. According to news reports, "Its emotion management system senses and responds to happiness, depression and loneliness. It can act happy when the child is happy, and encouraging when the child is sad." A scientific feat no doubt, but also one that exposes our human failing.

There is magic!" - Dolly Thakore.
"It's breathing!" - Makarand Deshpande.
"There is human touch and live audience!" - Jayati Bhatia.
"It's the thrill of a live event." - Nitish Bhardwaj.
"There are incredible magical moments." - Arundhati Nag.

Just utter the word 'theatre' and the eulogies never end. The excitement, the passion, and the intensity of love for their craft can be felt even from a distance across telephone wires. A small SMS or a message on their Facebook account is all it takes to get a prompt response to talk about theatre.

Otherwise extremely busy and hesitant to talk to the media, the word 'theatre' acts like the call of the Pied Piper. The ones quoted above and hundreds of others can be clubbed as the 'theatre gang', and maybe their shows don't earn millions, but many of their plays are running for decades, crossing 1,000-plus shows.

"I would love to talk about theatre. The subject is very close to my heart," is Jayati Bhatia's response. Jayati is an actor in Hindi television series (Sasural Simar Ka, Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin etc) and theatre (Vagina Monologues, Blame it on Yashraj, Mahatma vs Gandhi etc) for more than two decades now.

"I don't want you to get anything wrong about theatre, and hence this call," laughingly admits Arundhati Nag, a renowned theatre personality and the force behind Ranga Shankara in Bengaluru. Over four decades of working in films and plays in various languages like Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, English etc, and winning many awards, she is a walking encyclopedia on theatre. Ask her about any stage actor, play, group and she will fill you up with all the information along with her own special footnotes.

It's this adoration, single-minded devotion which is zealously and courageously taking on the mega-entertainment moneyed industries like cinema, television, and now social media. This passion isn't restricted to India. All over the world, theatre is something special, reverential, something which defines quality and the reason why many continue to act in the same play for years.

The opening act

Terrence Mann, a distinguished professor in musical theatre at Western Carolina University in North Carolina, and also prominent on Broadway for more than three decades as actor, director, singer, songwriter, says, "Movies will make you famous, television will make you rich, but theatre will make you good!"

"There is life on stage. Anything (films and TV serials) that is recorded is recorded. Theatre gives you an adrenaline rush," says Makarand Deshpande. Way back in 1993, along with actor Kay Kay Menon, he founded the theatre group Ansh in Mumbai, and through this group he has written, directed and acted in as many as 50 short and 40 long plays (Sir Sir Sarla, Ek kadam aage…, the latest being Patni along with musician Niladri Kumar). Known for his abstract themes, Makarand, whose second home is Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, has also acted in several films in Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil, and in many TV serials.

A well-written, directed and acted play is highly appreciated by all classes of people. It not only gets a full house, but also runs for years with hundreds and thousands of shows. The longest running play in the world, Mousetrap, is written by English crime novelist, playwriter Dame Agatha Christie. It opened in London's West End in 1952. It has completed 26,703 shows at last count!

In India, we have the Marathi plays Ghashiram Kotwal, written by Vijay Tendulkar and directed by Dr Jabbar Patel (1973); Nat Samrat, written by V V Shirvadkar and acted brilliantly by Dr Shree Ram Lagoo (1970); To Mee Navhech, written by Acharya Atrey (1962), Katyar Kaljat Ghusali, made famous by the singing and acting of Vasantrao Deshpande (1967) and many others that have completed more than 2,000, some even going above 3,000 shows, and are being staged for decades with change of actors and directors also.

Actor-director Nitish Bhardwaj, who will be forever remembered for his role as Lord Krishna in the Hindi TV mythological serial Mahabharat (B R Chopra Production, 1988), says, "I have seen this phenomenon of very long-running plays in Marathi theatre. The credit goes to the high literary value of the content of the play, original writing and fabulous audience which patronises quality." After acting in several Marathi films and directing the highly acclaimed Pitruroon, he is at present busy playing Lord Krishna again in another play titled Chakravyuh, which has already completed more than 60 shows.

Language doesn't become a barrier when there is quality in work. Long-running plays are there in almost all the languages in India. Many a time they are translated in several languages. In Kannada theatre, we have classic and legendary plays like Hayavadana by Girish Karnad (1971), Jokumaraswamy (1972) directed by B V Karanth, Mukhyamantri (play adapted by Ranjit Kapoor from a 1976 novel by Chanakya Sen, translated by T S Lohitashwa), Mysooru Mallige (a musical dance-drama based on the poems of K S Narasimhaswamy), and innumerable others.

Mukhyamantri has completed more than 1,000 shows whereas Mysooru Mallige is faring well even after 500 shows. These and a few others are legends in Kannada theatre. They evoke such emotions that even after four decades of their debut, whenever and wherever they are staged, they run to full houses. In fact Tughlaq, the play written by Girish Karnad way back in 1964, still goes full house. It was staged in Delhi as lately as June 30!

"Even Odakalu Bimba in Kannada, written and directed by Girish Karnad (2005), in which Ive acted, has crossed over 150 shows. The same play is translated in Hindi, titled Bihkre Bimb. In both the languages I play the lead, Manjula Nayak, and her doppelganger. It's translated into English as Broken Images also, and Arundhati Raja played Manjula. The play was adapted and directed by Alyque Padamsee where Shabana Azmi plays Manjula. In all the languages, the play has been doing extremely well," explains Arundhati Nag.

Welcome, English...

Surprisingly, in India, even English theatre isn't lagging behind. Till the 1980s, it used to be only the elite who watched English plays. Bharat Dhabolkar, the ad man behind the Utterly butterly delicious advertisements, changed the profile of this audience when he wrote and directed the play Bottoms Up.

"With Hinglish (Hindi+Enlgish) dialogues and star cast from Marathi and Gujarati theatre mouthing dialogues in their accentuated Hinglish, it created a new audience for English theatre, and as they say, there was no looking back," remembers Dolly Thakore, former leading newscaster, TV talk show host and English theatre actor (Streetcar Named Desire, All My Sons, The Birthday Party etc). Her latest play, the ongoing Vagina Monologues, has been running to packed houses all over the country for more than 14 years, and has crossed over 1,000 shows. "People are tired of TV serials. They want good content for entertainment, and theatre is able to fill this void," says the doyen.

A few other English plays that are doing extremely well are Dance Like A Man directed by Lilette Dubey (more than 550 shows), Hamlet: The Clown Prince directed by Rajat Kapoor (more than 200 shows in Mumbai alone), and Love Letters, adapted in India (1993) from the Pulitzer prize-winning American play by A R Gurney. In fact, Rajit Kapoor and Shernaz Patel still bring the stage alive with this play. It even became a cult play when it was adapted in Hindi and enacted by Shabana Azmi and the late Farooque Sheikh. Its Kannada adaption, Iti Ninna Amrita, directed by Dr Jayant Kaikini, also did very well.

"A play has repeat value if it's written well, has a relevant subject, and has tremendous performance by actors," says Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, the woman behind the Indian adaptation of the iconic The Vagina Monolgues (1996) play by Eve Ensler. The popularity of the play and the demand for it to be staged in places where English isn't the common language made them translate it into Hindi (Kissa Yoni Ka). "In fact, the Hindi version is doing extremely well, and when staged in the slums of Mumbai, it was extremely well received by women!" says Jayati, who was with the play for 10 years and has now made way for younger actors.

The play with vagina in the title, a taboo word in India, met with opposition in the initial years. But, word-of-mouth appreciation has kept it going for nearly one-and-a-half decades now. Today, fathers come with their daughters to watch the play as its subject, sexual abuse, is very relevant. "Not just in metros, we get welcomed in smaller cities too," says Thakore.

She also explained that keeping the story and concept intact, a little adaptation here and there for relevance keeps the play alive forever. For example, the diversity of India has people speaking English with different accents. So, if a director can get multiple actors performing the same role in different regions with regional accents, it gives a local flavour and touches a chord.

"Initially, opposition for any experimental work or controversial subject is always there. But it's the conviction of the cast which carries the work to greater heights," explains actor, singer, musician and lyricist Shekhar Sen. The chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi since 2015, Sen is famous for his Hindi mono-act musical plays based on historical figures like Kabeer, Tulsidas, Surdas, Swami Vivekananda et al.

"My idea of staging a mono-act was met with a lot of apprehension. But I always believe that if a work is well-researched, well-written, and performed well, the audience is sure to appreciate it. Kabeer, which has seen over 400 shows, has many repeat audiences. I have to give them something new to see, and for that I rehearse and do riyaz of my singing every day for more than five to six hours without fail."

The world of theatre has one grouse. Lack of money and sponsorships! "At IPTA (Indian People's Theatre Association), we have staged many plays and many have attained cult status. I have acted in Bakri (directed by M S Sathyu), Ek Mamuli Aadmi (directed by Raman Kumar), Ek Aur Dronacharya (directed by Subhash B Dangayach), which have been revived. At any given time, with slight modifications, the topics of these plays remain relevant," says veteran Hindi theatre, film, TV actor Aanjjan Srivastav, famous for his role in the TV serial Wagle Ki Duniya.

Why, just why?!

Srivastav also questions the sad treatment meted out to theatre. He asks, "Where is the coverage in the media, and where is the money? We love our craft. Most of us have a day job to take care of chulha and roti at home, and whatever time is left, we rehearse and stage shows. No doubt audience appreciation gives us a high, but we really wish more space is given to theatre in the media, so that we get sponsors!"

Another pertinent thought put forth by Arundhati is the lack of space for theatre. In any given city, there are very few places where plays can be staged. A maximum number of three shows can be held at the same venue on the same day. To restage a play, producers have to wait to get fresh booking, which might take long. Many plays become so popular in one language that they get translated into other Indian languages and get staged by regional actors under the direction of different directors.

"To woo more audience to theatre, it's time stars on the silver screen start performing on stage. Abroad, a majority of Hollywood actors, after working two years at a stretch in films, take a break of at least a year to polish their acting skills and perform on stage. Their names and popularity become a big attraction to theatre," observes Arundhati.

With that kind of importance given to theatre in Hollywood, theatre gets more respect, artistes get more recognition, and also better remuneration. In India, even if plays run for thousands of shows, how many people know stage actors? If the Bollywood Khans, Kumars and Kapoors take to stage, then theatre will not be threatened by the moneyed entertainment industry.

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Every Thursday evening, about two dozen enthusiasts gather at a cafe on Jyothi Nivas College Road, Bengaluru. They will be there from 7 to past-11.

Ask them what they're doing there, and they'll say, "Games!" But you'll see no mobile phones, no XBoxes, and no laptops there. Instead, there are arrangements of strange-looking modular boards on tables, cards in hands, little pieces representing players here and there on the boards.

These folks are here to play board games. Not the well-known Scrabble, Cluedo, or Monopoly either, but a fresh set of games that stretch the mind in delightful new ways. Welcome to the brave new wave of games that are taking the world by storm.

No electronic equipment required here — just your imagination, a set of rules, and game partners who will quickly become friends. This event is called ReRoll, and it's all organised by a couple of techies with an interest in the growing field.

A couple of hours away in Mysuru, Ramsons Kala Pratisthana, opposite the famous zoo, is open for business — and their big business is the traditional board games of India. They sell games boards and sets, along with the rules — games that were once played by everyone in India, and are now forgotten in the rush of busy city life.

An appeal on their website asks for details about any games that visitors may have grown up with, or old dice and boards that they no longer want. About 37 games from their collection were on display in a recent exhibition, eliciting interested responses from their visitors who happened to walk in.

The magnetic factor

Something is happening here. A generation ago, board games were on the decline — not just in India, but worldwide. The standard games of Snakes and Ladders or Chess were either deemed too childish, or too niche. It felt like technology was taking over the world of entertainment.

Facebook, Whatsapp and Angry Birds were the new ways to pass your time. Why did one need to meet up others face to face, the reasoning went, when one was connected perpetually to the whole world on the phone, tablet or laptop?

But more and more people have been realising that they were missing something — the real comfort and joy experienced from meeting up friends and family and spending time with them. Hobby clubs of various types are becoming popular, from running to trekking, to storytelling, and, in a revival of an age-old practice, board games.

Helping this along is a renewed industry of creating new games for new times. But it's the people that count.

Two years ago, Karthik Balakrishnan completed his engineering degree and returned to his town, Bengaluru. As an experiment, he started exploring board games. It quickly turned into a passion, and he, along with two friends, began to explore ways to bring the hobby to more people. It eventually turned into ReRoll.

"There's a very social aspect to board games," he says. "Sitting together, focusing on what's going on in front of you, discussing strategies as you go — it makes for a very different experience. That's what draws all the regulars back."

In terms of modern games, India is just beginning to catch up with the rest of the world. The so-called Euro-games have been at the centre of a revival over the past two decades. These games are different in that they focus on co-operative play rather than competition, and involve all the players till the end of the game.

Settlers of Catan is a good example. It's been the symbol of this renaissance, and has sold more than 22 million copies, besides multiple variations and expansions. To play, you arrange hexagonal tiles representing different terrains into an island. Each player is a settler on this island, trying to take over resources like wheat, coal, wood, and so on.

To win, you must accumulate points — but to do that, you must co-operate with other players on getting the best combination of resources. The game lasts from 1 to 4 hours, and while the basic rules are easy to follow, players get more out of it as they get more advanced. The board is about the size of a Monopoly board, with game pieces and cards representing the players and resources.

On the other hand, you have the "carry-in-your-pocket" games like Sushi Go and Love Letters. Sushi Go is composed of a pack of cards with different types of cartoon sushi and sauces depicted. Players must pick up and drop cards in sequence, trying to assemble high-scoring combinations of sushi as you go.

In Love Letters — which has a bare 16 cards — players try to get their letter to the princess through a maze of palace officials and courtiers. Both these games take about 10 to 20 minutes to play, and are often used as warm-ups before going on to more complex games.

What's your pick?

Karthik usually recommends the games Love Letters, Coup, Settlers of Catan, and Ticket to Ride for beginners. "We don't expect you to know about these games when you walk in —we're more than happy to teach you, and other players are always willing to give helpful hints. We get a lot of young people who don't like the usual clubbing and pubbing scene, or couples who want to do something fun together. Board games give you that thrill of new situations, along with face-to-face conversations."

Indeed, board game exhibitions are a growing trend across Europe. In these exhibitions, successful and upcoming game designers show off their newest creations, set in wildly diverse settings.

Recent games featured farmers trying to grow crops, medieval kings trying to annex kingdoms, secret agents in post-apocalyptic settings, and adventurers facing down Lovecraftian monsters.

There's even an annual award, the Spieles des Jahres, given in Germany to the best board games released in the past year. Among game enthusiasts, it's as eagerly awaited as the Oscars.

A successful game could make its designer rich and famous — Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride have both been winners.

And because the more complex games are expensive and large, game cafes — similar to what ReRoll has set up — are springing up in England, Germany, and the US.

The game cafe used to be focused on role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragon's, or Warhammer, in the past decades. These were highly involved freewheeling games that went on for days at a time, required huge amounts of equipment, models, and insider knowledge.

Naturally, they were extremely niche and the stereotypical RPG players were geeky, socially awkward young men.

Playing space

Now, however, game cafes have remodelled themselves to become welcoming spaces for all age groups and genders. Hosts help you select games to play, guide you through the mechanisms, even pair you up with co-players.

Refreshments are usually available. Regular players move on to more advanced games, if they want, or stick with their favorites.

"My all-time top games are Love Letter, Coup, Captain Sonar, and Codenames," Karthik says. "All these involve a lot of interaction between the players, and there's a lot of strategy and thinking that goes into them. And they're all over in half an hour or less. In Captain Sonar, for example, you play a submarine team that's trying to sink the opposing players' sub - something like Battleship. But it's played in real time, with everyone trying to get their moves in quickly while absorbing what the other team is doing. Fun!"

A similar trajectory is being charted by the enthusiasts of traditional India board games. These were popularly played during evenings with the family and social gatherings in older days, but are slowly fading away amidst city life. Everyone who's old enough has a personal story to tell about these games.

My own story is about Ang Bang Chowk Chang — a traditional Rajasthani game that got played on a 5x5 board (which my grandmother drew in chalk on the kitchen floor), "dice" made from two tamarind seeds split into four (which was done using the pestle from the kitchen, by one of us younger cousins), and player tokens (cribbed from the kids' monopoly boards, or maybe an onion or potato).

It's rather similar to Ludo, with players allowed to "attack" others and send them back to the starting square, and at our childhood summer vacation gatherings, the loser was often asked to do something as a punishment — Dad was asked to make tea for everyone when he lost, and my aunt had to walk all around the house on her knees.

Every move was scrutinised with interest by everyone huddled in the kitchen, under the weak incandescent bulb. The games would go on till midnight, and would end only when someone noticed how several of the children — me among them — were dozing in sitting positions!

As is quite evident from the above account, it wasn't the game that mattered - but the gathering of the extended family, and all the cheering and yelling from the audience as the players made their moves.

Board games such an 'Ang Bang Chowk Chang' were the original social forums - used by families as well as villages to come together. Now they may not be as well known, but their appeal lies undimmed. The same game is called 'Chauka Bara' in Karnataka, and no doubt has more names in other states.

In the recent Bangalore Literature Festival, a section of the hall was set aside to demonstrate and play some of these games. Through the day, parents and children could be seen playing them, the parents often talking enthusiastically about their own experiences.

Shalini, mother of a five-year-old, talked about her experience here: "This reminds me of playing Adu Huli Ata — Goats and Tigers — in my childhood with my friends. It doesn't need anything — just chalk marks on the ground and a few stones. We had a usual place under a tree, and we friends used to play there. Now I'm seeing interest in these games here again, and it makes me really nostalgic."

While many of the traditional games can be traced back to India — the stories of chess and Ludo are well known — such games are not specific to India. In fact, some have been traced all the way back to ancient civilisations.

The game of Senet, for example, is an Egyptian board game using a board of 30 squares and player pieces. There are many variations of the rules (it is somewhat similar to backgammon), and it is thought that the original rules were lost in the burning of the Library of Alexandria —the game dates back to 3100 BC. But even that isn't the oldest evidence of games — dice from 5000 BC have been unearthed in tombs in Turkey.

Board games haven't always been taken as pure entertainment. Chess, for example, was considered a sort of war simulation. The ever-popular Snakes and Ladders'evolved from an old Indian game, called either Moksha Patam or Gyan Chauper, which was used to teach good behaviour to younger ones.

The "ladders" were virtues and good deeds that got you closer to Moksha, while the "snakes" were vices that took you further away. Other games were considered royal pastimes — Ur, a game in ancient Egypt, was for kings, and then of course, have a version of 'pacheesi' (Ludo) being played by the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata.

Carvings of game boards are seen in temple complex floors and old buildings, if you know where to look. Possibly the artisans working on the buildings carved these as a pastime, or maybe they were played by pilgrims — who knows?

What is clear is that these games have an appeal to everyone, are easy to pick up, and provide a much-needed outlet to chat and socialise. As a result, even the games intended for a higher purpose now become an end in themselves.

There are further hidden benefits to gameplay that aren't always obvious. Any parent of a toddler can tell you what happens as kids pick up these games. They learn things like the patience of waiting for your turn, coming to terms with winning and losing, following the rules — all essential life skills.

Doctors and NGOs are using them for child development at a fundamental level. In Jaipur, there's an NGO named Bhavani Child Development Centre, which works with children with learning disabilities. They found that introducing children to traditional board games helps them focus, improves their neural, motor, as well as life skills.

For all of the technology and its conveniences, human needs remain the same - the comfort of company, the joy of conversation, the safety of rules, along with the thrill of the day-to-day.

Board games are a real way to access all of these. Whether you'd like to go the traditional route and connect to our roots, or out to the new frontiers and pick up something new, there's something that matches your interests.

Now, please excuse me. My son would like to do a round of Snakes and Ladders with me. I won the last time, so he's keen on his revenge. I'll probably let him win.

On a hot April afternoon in 1853, Sindh, Sultan and Sahib, three steam engines, coughed smoke, rumbling in readiness to tug 14 garlanded coaches into the annals of history. On board were its elite guests, Lady Falkland, wife of the Governor of Bombay, besides 400 dignitaries, royalty, merchants and sahibs as the hoi polloi waited with bated breath along the sidelines. Flagged off with a 21-gun salute and wild applause, the train let out a long whistle and rolled out at exactly 3.35 pm from Bombay's Bori Bunder station. The 21-mile journey to Tannah (Thana) was covered in an hour and 15 minutes and marked the first commercial passenger service in India. It was the dawn of the bold new age of the railways…

Nearly 164 years later, whatever direction the tracks have taken, the Indian Railways has trailblazed new frontiers and altered the very economics and social construct of the country. From the tea gardens of Nilgiris and Assam to mountain ranges of the Sahyadris and the Shivaliks, there's no corner of India that is left untouched by the railways. And in thus connecting the dots across the Indian subcontinent, the railways present some truly incredible train journeys…

In the words of musician Paul Simon, "There's something about the sound of a train that's very romantic and nostalgic and hopeful." Long journeys have often resulted in forging tales of life-long friendship and brotherhood among fellow passengers. Train travel presents myriad perspectives of India from the landscapes of poverty, profit and pelf to awe-inspiring views of natural splendour in virtually inaccessible zones. Who can resist the vision of pristine waterfalls tumbling through dense green forests or rough-hewn cliffs? Or the majesty of mighty rivers? Or the thrill of tunnels that draw gasps and hoots of fear and excitement among young and old as they are suddenly swamped in darkness? How many memories run amok about childhood journeys with lovingly packed hampers? These were picnics on the move, sharing food and life stories with complete strangers.

The same Bori Bunder station of yesteryears (today Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) is the start of the beautiful Konkan Railway from Mumbai to Goa and Karnataka. A trip in the monsoons leaves an indelible imprint on the mind of any traveller. The blinding blaze of green, waterfalls lurking around corners waiting to startle you, and little streams emboldened to become boisterous torrents; the transformation in the scenery brought about by the rains is unimaginable. Take the Mandovi Express or Konkan Kanya as you cross little stations like Khed, Chiplun, Kankavali and Kudal, passing through 92 tunnels, crossing 2,000 bridges, and presenting views of rivers, fields, forests and sea.

In Goa, seasoned train travellers on the Vasco-Madgaon-Londa rail route look forward to their tryst with India's fifth highest waterfall. As the train climbs from Mollem to Castle Rock, it passes Dudhsagar waterfall, literally 'Ocean of Milk', as it tumbles down the sheer rock face in two tiers from a height of 310 m. Set in the Western Ghats on the Goa-Karnataka border, the mist-laden, dreamy railway bridge runs in a neat arc midway across the falls. Some passengers throw coconuts or coins as offerings from the train, much to the annoyance of picnickers below!

To experience India's western coastline, continue on the Konkan Railway via Ratnagiri to Mangaluru. Or take the Karwar Yesvantpur Express from Mangaluru to Bengaluru to soak in the beauty of the Western Ghats. The train veers through the legendary Green Route, a thickly forested stretch of 52 km from Bisle Ghat, Kukke Subramanya and Sakleshpur. This section has 57 tunnels and 109 bridges, some almost a kilometre long, and some as high as 200 m!

Regal railways

One of the most talked about rail experiences, especially among international travellers, is Palace on Wheels, India's original luxury train, launched in 1982. The concept was inspired by the royal legacy of the railway coaches. Originally personal saloons of the rulers of the princely states of Rajputana, Gujarat, the Nizam of Hyderabad and the British Viceroy of India, the 23 coaches are named after former Rajput states. The interiors bear all the grandeur of blue-blooded lifestyle with posh suites, fine dine restaurants and bar on board! Starting from New Delhi, the eight-day trip covers Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bharatpur and Agra. Another exclusive experience is the Indian Maharaja Deccan Odyssey, which connects Mumbai and Delhi via Rajasthan with tiger spotting in Ranthambore and visits to Ajanta-Ellora caves and the Taj Mahal.

Inspired by the success of Palace on Wheels, the luxurious Golden Chariot was launched in 2008 and named after the famous Stone Chariot at Vittala Temple in Hampi. Dressed in regal hues of purple and gold, the 11 carriages are named after leading dynasties that ruled Karnataka down the ages. The 'Pride of the South' tour retraces the Wodeyar trail in Mysuru, Hoysala temple architecture at Belur-Halebid, the seat of the Vijayanagar Empire at Hampi, the pinnacle of Chalukyan cave architecture at Badami, and throws in a wildlife safari at Nagarahole, the erstwhile hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Mysuru. The 'Splendour of the South' tour covers Puducherry, the temples of Tamil Nadu at Chennai, Thanjavur and Madurai, besides a bit of Kerala with stopovers at Trivandrum, Alleppey and Kochi, before returning to Bengaluru.

If the western coast is picturesque, the eastern coastline is no less dramatic. Whether it is the train from Bhubaneswar to Brahmapur past Asia's largest lagoon, Chilika Lake; or from Vizag to Araku Valley, the Eastern Ghats are a delight for any train traveller. Further down the Coromandel Coast, surrounded by turquoise waters is the scenic Pamban railway bridge connecting Rameswaram on Pamban Island to mainland India. Opened on February 24, 1914, it was India's first and longest sea bridge until the Bandra-Worli Sea Link overtook it. The most amazing feature of Pamban Bridge is its Scherzer rolling-type lift span that, even to this day, is opened manually using levers to let ships pass. Starting off at the confluence of three oceans, the Island Express from Kanyakumari to Trivandrum may be a short journey, but is an idyllic slideshow of Kerala's lush countryside.

However, most train journeys pale in comparison to India's Mountain Railways. Immortalised in several movies and songs that have delighted us down the decades like 'Meri Sapnon Ki Rani', 'Chaiyya Chaiyya' and 'Kasto Mazza Hai', the Mountain Railways are a living heritage. It is for this reason the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) and Kalka-Shimla Railway have been collectively designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Hailed as "outstanding examples of bold, ingenious engineering solutions for establishing an effective rail link through a rugged, mountainous terrain", the Mountain Railways offer glimpses of raw, natural beauty. Often dismissed as 'toy trains', these narrow metre gauge railways redefine the term 'slow travel'.

Feats at altitudes

Built in 1881, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway covers the 88-km stretch from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, presenting dazzling views of the Eastern Himalayas. Chugging along at 12 km/hr past tea plantations, it's a charming journey of loops, reverses, spirals and zig-zags. Creak past the spiral at Agony Point to Ghum, India's highest railway station and Batasia loop, as the railway line crosses main roads and runs alongside fruit stalls in its ascent to Darjeeling. On a clear day, you can see the snow-capped peak of Kanchenjunga.

The Kalka-Shimla railway, built in 1903, scales the rugged Shivaliks negotiating 102 tunnels, 87 bridges and 900 curves. Tugged by the Himalayan Queen, the 96 km train ride takes 5 hours 10 minutes. On its heels came Nilgiri Mountain Railway in 1908, the only rack and pinion railway system in India. The 46-km ride from Mettupalayam to Ooty crosses 250 bridges, 208 curves and 16 tunnels, winding past tea estates, blue mountains, churches, lakes and viewpoints. The Jammu Mail to Udhampur, a 53-km stretch that marks the northernmost extent of the Indian Railways. Cleaving through 20 tunnels and 158 bridges, the train wends through the rocky Shivalik range where raging mountain rivers and valleys run deep into the Himalayan foothills. The railways are indeed a celebration of man's triumph against geography and the forces of nature.

Also nominated for a UNESCO World Heritage tag is the Matheran Hill Railway. It was the brainchild of philanthropist and Bombay's first sheriff Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy who donated 16 lakh rupees towards the project in 1901. His son Abdul Hussein Adamjee Peerbhoy completed his dream in seven years. In honour of this engineering feat, the British government knighted Adamjee Peerbhoy.

Juddering up from Neral, sometimes at walking pace, the Matheran Hill Railway covers 21 km in a little over two hours, tackling steep gradients and the cheeky 'One Kiss Tunnel', so named by a British officer who found it short enough to sneak a quick peck! The train stops at Jummapatti station for a crossing, and Waterpipe station to cool down the engine. Even today, the train halts at Aman Lodge railway station and toots thrice as a mark of respect to Peerbhoy. His bungalow, 'The Chalet', located above Aman Lodge, is named after his late wife Amina.

On the descent, it is intriguing to watch train assistants crouch between boxcars to manually apply the brakes and prevent the train from overspeeding. The Matheran Hill Railway was an extraordinary feat of engineering genius, and these lines in the 1924 Handbook to Matheran are a befitting tribute:

"Hugh Malet who discovered this hill

Whom we all remember still

Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy for all his skill

In bringing the railway on the hill

Good paymaster with his intellect wise

Turning the lovely hill into paradise."

As we celebrate 70 years of India's Independence, let's take justified pride in the wonderful land and culture in which we were nurtured. A cradle of human civilisation, our motherland has an ancient heritage of greatness. The Indus Valley Civilisation flourished in our subcontinent over 5,000 years ago.

Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus originated in India in times when humans in Europe were still hunting in the forests for food. Lagadha's Vedanga Jyothisa, an ancient text on astronomy whose earliest version dates back to 1400-1200 BCE, has astronomical calculations, calendar-related studies, and lays down rules for empirical observation to help plan religious functions.

Today, India is the only country after USA and Japan to have built a super computer relying mainly upon homegrown expertise and resources. India produces the second largest number of scientists and engineers in the world. Our highly evolved schools of philosophy; our many languages each with its unique literary treasures; our eminence as the world's largest democracy; the list stretches on.

India has the largest postal network in the world with over 1,55,015 post offices. A unique floating post office in Dal Lake, Srinagar, was inaugurated in August 2011.The largest employer in India is the Indian Railways, employing over a million people.

Very much a reality

While we have much to celebrate, we also fall short in many ways. Our current situation is riddled with contradictions. Our citizens are among the wealthiest in the world, and India is the world's largest consumer of gold. Meanwhile, many Indians eke out a hand-to-mouth existence. Some suffer from severe malnutrition, while farmers continue to commit suicide when crops fail and debts become unbearable. Patients from distant lands come to India seeking state-of-the-art healthcare at reasonable cost. Yet many Indians do not have easy access to health facilities. Mothers die from childbirth-related complications, while others die from treatable ailments like dysentery and tuberculosis.

Let's take pride in our many strengths and achievements, not for the sake of blinkered jingoism or a false sense of complacency. Let's remember all our many great achievements to motivate ourselves to reach for greater heights. After all, if we could engineer such impressive feats in the past, then we are surely capable of even greater wonders in the days to come. Let's celebrate the patriotism of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand. After trouncing Germany and leading India to the gold medal in hockey in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Major Dhyan Chand was offered German citizenship by Hitler himself. He was also offered a high post in Germany's army, and a place in the German national hockey team. Dhyan Chand never hesitated to decline with polite dignity.

Let's seek inspiration from Rabindranath Tagore, the only poet in the world to have composed the national anthems of two countries, India and Bangladesh. He was the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, and was conferred a knighthood by India's British rulers. He refused the great honour to register his protest against the bloody Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

India is the world's largest democracy. We are a free people of a liberated country. Our elections are overall free and fair, and have been that way for the past 70 years. This is an amazing achievement, especially in a world where millions of people are ruled by totalitarian regimes, or face strong state-imposed restrictions curbing their freedom. Our government goes to great lengths to ensure that all citizens are able to freely exercise their franchise. A special polling booth is set up since 2004 for a lone voter, Mahant Bharatdas Darshandas, in a place called Banej, deep in the Gir forest of Gujarat. In remote villages in the mountains of the North East where there are no motorable roads, polling officials arrive with their equipment on elephants to dutifully supervise the election process.

We are fortunate to have the freedom of speech. Social media, that noisy ranting space for intellectuals and pseudo intellectuals, is flooded with shrill opinions based on questionable reasoning. Mainstream media is often accused of resorting to sensationalism in order to push TRP ratings. The corruption and ineptitude of our past and present leaders is a burning topic. Outrage is expressed selectively, and a sense of balance and objectivity gets lost in the babble of conflicting views. People like us love to complain how the country is run by unprincipled politicians. We must also remember that these same leaders we revile have so far managed to maintain our homeland as a free country. And because we live in a free country, we can get away with such open criticism of the powers that be.

We have the right to express our opinions, so we rush to shout our half-baked views from the treetops. But when it comes to acting and contributing positively to society, most of us withdraw into our comfort zones without lifting a finger. Let us introspect and try to get a balanced and informed view of issues at hand, and act responsibly before jumping the gun on public issues. Let us also try, each in our small ways, to improve the world around us instead of simply complaining. After all, little drops of water make the ocean. It's up to us to ensure that we don't become 'webaqoofs'; folks who take everything floating in social media as gospel truth. While taking pride in being citizens of the world's largest democracy, we need to remember that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty".

True to its principles as a land of freedom, democracy and peace, India has been the largest troop contributor to the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions since its inception.

Versions of oneness

India has the world's third largest active army, after China and USA. India is the world's largest importer of arms. But India has never invaded or attacked a country. In recent times, India has welcomed large numbers of refugees from Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who fled from religious and political persecution.

Some people hold that the concept of India as a nation was a British invention. According to them, there was no connection binding all the people of the subcontinent before the advent of the British. However, thousands of years before the birth of Christ, the Aryans called River Indus as Sindhu. Then Persians came and called it Hindu. Sindhu and Hindu combined to form the name Hindustan, which continues to refer to the entire land of the Hindus.

Our homeland has also been called Bharat since time immemorial. Once upon a time, India was a land of fabulous wealth and great advancement. In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Europe seeking a sea route to India across the Atlantic Ocean. He didn't reach India famed for her spices, silks and jewels, but discovered America instead! The British were certainly not the first to unify India under their political rule. Thousands of years ago, India was governed by the same code of laws and rulers when the mighty Mauryan Empire spanned across most of the subcontinent. Rock edicts and pillars inscribed by Emperor Ashoka stand witness to this fact in many far-flung parts of our country.

India had cultural and spiritual unity thousands of years before the British came. Scholars in ancient times traversed the length and breadth of the subcontinent in pursuit of learning, moving from the great university of Nalanda in modern-day Bihar, to Takhshila in the far west in today's Pakistan. Around 800 years CE, Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya travelled from his native Kerala in the far south, to important holy pilgrimage centres for the Hindus across the length and breadth of the land. He established Sringeri Sharada Peetha in Karnataka in the south, Govardhan Peetha in Puri in the east, Jyotirmath in Badrinath high in the Himalayas in the north, and a matha in Dwarka in the West, spreading his message of spiritual enlightenment from the mountains to the seas surrounding our homeland.

Our ancient places of pilgrimage drew saints and pilgrims from all over the land. Consider the example of Puri on the coast of Odisha in eastern India. Puri is one of the four holiest Hindu Char Dhams. Through the ages, saints and sages came here seeking divine enlightenment. Aside from

Adi Shankaracharya, Guru Nanak, Kabir, Tulsidas, Ramanujacharya, and Nimbarkacharya also visited Puri.

Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, prayed here for 24 years. Srimad Vallabhacharya travelled from his birthplace in the distant south and visited Puri, where he performed a seven-day recitation of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. He also travelled to Gujarat in the west to establish his spiritual philosophy, Pushtimarg. The mathas and meditation spots of these saints continue to exist in Puri, though many are neglected and encroached upon.

Let us celebrate India's beautiful tradition of religious diversity and harmony. India is the birthplace of four major religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, which are followed by 25% of the world's population. Islam is India's, and the world's, second largest religion. With lakhs of active mosques, India can boast of numbers larger than any other country, including the Islamic world. Jews and Christians have lived and thrived in India since 200 BC and 52 AD respectively. Zoroastrians came to India in waves over several centuries to escape religious persecution in their native Persia.

I remember with respect the Catholic nuns who affectionately taught us in school. Haven't we all exchanged greetings, gifts and delicacies with friends from other religions, and shared the joys of each other's festivals? Let's maintain this friendship and harmony, and be proud of it.

Through the ages, India has made great contributions to world civilisation. The art of seafaring and navigation was born in the mouth of River Sindh or Indus over 6,000 years ago. Archaeological excavations in the Harappan seaport of Lothal in Gujarat throws light on their advancements in shipbuilding. Indian sailors regularly sailed to Eastern Africa, the Middle East and Greece for trade. In eastern India, sailors set sail from the mouth of the Mahanadi river for the islands of Indonesia and beyond. The word 'navigation' has roots in the Sanskrit word 'navgatih'. The word navy comes from the Sanskrit word 'nou'.

The Indus Valley Civilisation prospered 6,000 years ago because of technological innovations such as drainage and sewerage systems. Sophisticated systems of irrigation and water storage, such as artificial reservoirs at Girnar C 3000 BCE, led to planned settlements and townships. Cotton and sugarcane were cultivated in this region as early as 3000 BCE. The Indus Valley Civilisation has also shown evidence of ploughs, hearths for firing terracotta, map making, and the use of weights and measures.

India has contributed to advancements in science for thousands of years now. The studies of Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus had roots in India. The 'Place Value System' and the 'Decimal System' were developed in India circa 100 BCE. Baudhayana circa 8th century BCE composed the Baudhayana Sulba Sutra, with basic Pythagorean triples, as well as a description of the Pythagorean theorem for the sides of a square: "The rope which is stretched across the diagonal of a square produces an area double the size of the original square." It also has a formula for the square root of two. Indians used numbers as big as 10*53 (i.e. 10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period.

Charaka consolidated Ayurveda 2,500 years ago. This is the earliest school of medicine humanity has known. The Sushruta Samhita, an Ayurvedic text, has exhaustive descriptions of 1,120 illnesses, 700 medicinal plants and a detailed study on Anatomy. Sushruta, widely recognised as the Father of Surgery, performed complex surgeries on cataract, urinary stones, and brain surgeries. Ancient Indian doctors used anaesthesia. The world's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BCE. Thousands of students went there from far corners of the world to study over 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda, built in the 4th century, was another shining example of India's advancement in higher education.

India's first satellite was brought on a bullock cart. India's first rocket arrived on a bicycle to the Thumba Launching Station in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Yet, despite financial constraints, India's space programme is among the top five in the world. In September 2009, ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 used its Moon Mineralogy Mapper to detect water on the moon for the first time. ISRO's women scientists have helped build India's spectacular Mars Orbiter or Mangalyaan project. These dedicated women teamed up with their male colleagues to set ISRO's world record by launching an amazing 104 satellites in one shot.

While excelling in many fields, Indians did not forget recreation. Chess was invented in India. The popular game of Snakes and Ladders, earlier known as Moksha Patamu, was invented long ago to teach children moral lessons about karma. The modern version of this board game is popular to this day.

India boasts of the world's largest film industry. Around 1,100 films are produced annually, which is twice as many as the American film industry. Commercial Hindi films account for around 200 films a year, followed by Tamil and Telugu films.

Let' appreciate these and many more Indian achievements, and continue our best efforts to help our country forge ahead.

During a trip to Portugal, I was journeying with a guide in hand, and its most useful section was the list of common words and phrases in the local language.
It was helpful when I had to say 'hello', 'please' or 'thank you', but I would face a hurdle with menus written in Portuguese, especially in small towns. During supper at a restaurant in Porto, I saw a plate of potato fingers whizzing past my table. That settled my order and I tried explaining to the steward what I wanted. After a minute or so he said, "Ah! Batata".

I nodded an amused yes, and reflected on the episode. Batata? That's the word for potato in Marathi, Gujarati, Konkani, and also heard in cities like Kolkata. These are areas that had seen Portuguese influence. So, had the potato arrived in India from Portugal? Research showed that indeed it had, around the 17th century, via Portuguese sailors who in turn had picked it up from neighbouring Spain who had originally brought it to the shores of Europe from South America.

The first potato in India was grown along the western coast. It's not just the humble potato that was an import; many a vegetable, fruit and preparation of food we are fiercely proud of as being inherently desi, were not heard about till a few hundred years ago.

At farmers' markets across India, you would notice some vendors selling a variety of spinach, assorted beans, gourds, pumpkins and local produce like banana flower, drumsticks etc, while there are others who keep coloured vegetables like bell peppers and carrots. The latter are often referred to as those who sell angrezi or shehri subzi... English or city vegetables. In a very straightforward way, this unexceptional segregation of trade conveys the story of Indian cooking.

India has had a deep relationship with locally-grown provisions, forest produce, herbs and spices; a fact our remote villages and tribes still exhibit the best. Cooking was largely based on the ayurvedic system of eating which, broadly speaking, means having food according to the season and the body type, with each meal presenting a combination of six flavours: sweet, salt, bitter, pungent, sour and astringent. Food was simple, balanced but nourishing.

Imported flavours

As I dug deep to discover the history of food, it became evident that imports brought in a plethora of choices and flavours and almost every popular dish in the country has evolved over time to present itself in the form we know it today. Multiple invasions, royal patronage, colonial rule, asylum seekers and maritime traders who turned settlers have greatly influenced our food. The arrival of the Portuguese, Dutch, British, French, Mughals, Persians, Afghans, Parsis, Cantonese, Arabs, Jews, Armenians and others saw their cooking traditions blending with local methods and ingredients to give India gastronomy with immense depth and diversity.

Portuguese explorers, led by Vasco Da Gama, were the first Europeans to discover the sea route to the subcontinent in 1498 AD. Their dropping anchor on Indian shores over the next few centuries brought in new greens and grains. The first seeds of the red long chilli pepper are also believed to have sailed the seas with them to forever alter the character of Indian cooking.

Apart from the potato, they disembarked with tomato, groundnuts, maize, papaya, pineapple, guava, custard apple, a variety of beans and cashew to name a few. This fact can be fairly established by vernacular terms of some items. In Bengal, for example, the guava is called peyara; the Portuguese term for it is pera. Pineapple and cashew are known as ananas and caju, respectively, in both the countries. Bread is called pao in Portugal; so no guesses required in tracing the history of your favourite breakfast essential.

The origin of paneer has for long been a subject of debate. But food historians as K T Achaya believe it was the Portuguese who introduced the technique of heating and deliberately splitting the milk using an acidic agent. Such cheese was first prepared in Bengal and came to be known as ponir and chhana. It was to become the basic ingredient of the immensely-loved rosogulla. On the west coast, it's the surti paneer, also known as topli nu panir among the Parsis, which has Portuguese origin.

They are also credited with having brought the art of making vinegar and initiating its extensive use in cooking. That's clearly exhibited in the cuisine of Goa, which was a Portuguese outpost till 1961, when the Instrument of Surrender was signed, closing the chapter of Portugal's rule in India which had lasted 464-long years. Popular Goan fare, a must-have on tourist lists, like chicken cafreal, pork vindaloo, prawn recheado, chicken xacuti or the sweet bebinca is the scrumptious result of that mingling.

Arabic, Jewish tweaks

Much before the Portuguese, in the 7th century, Arab merchants had landed in Southern India, in areas that belong to Kerala now. They settled in peacefully and married locally. That alliance led to an incredibly interesting spread of food in the region.

In the state's northern districts, the Moplah (or Mappilla), the Muslim community of Malabar, have a cooking style reflecting the Arab influence of yore. The fortuitous marriage of traditions can be seen in the aleesa, a wheat and meat porridge that's the Malabar cousin of the original Arabic harees. Browse through the menu at a Moplah restaurant and you can spot the parotta.

It was a flatbread created with refined flour to please the palate of homesick Arabs who did not care for rice in all three meals and missed their khoubz and khamira. The Malabar biryani served with Ethapazham or dates pickle and coconut chutney is another example of India's remarkable composite culinary culture.

Later, when the Portuguese arrived, Malabar got its popular eshtews and egg-based desserts like muttamala, similar to the fios de ovos and the banana fritters.

The first Jews too came to the southern coast around the 8th century, most possibly for trade in teak, ivory and spices. Over the centuries, small batches kept arriving here with the later ones as Bene Israeli, Baghdadi Jews started reaching India's shores to escape persecution. Apart from areas around Kochi, they moved to other parts of India, and over time Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai and Goa became places of preference. Jewish culture thrived and Kochi's Jew Town and ornate synagogues in other cities stand witness to a glorious past.

And so does typical Jewish fare like challah bread, aloo makalah, latkas, dolma matzo balls in soup etc, that became familiar in Indian homes. Kosher bakeries like Nahoum and Sons in Kolkata grew famous for traditional items like baklava and the baked cheese sambusak, said to be the forerunner of the samosa. The Jews naturally influenced regional food too, and a strong claim food historians make is of the appam being a Cochin Jews invention. Though the population has dwindled, Jewish food items continue to be savoured in areas where they had a strong presence, and have become a happy part of the Indian food glossary.

Persian palate

In 1526 AD, Babur set his foot in Hindustan. The Mughals not only changed the political history of the country, but in a significant way transformed the course of our food history too. How we cook and eat today, especially in north India, has its beginnings centuries ago.

Babur had suffered a series of setbacks in Central Asia, and turned towards Hindustan to accomplish his ambitions of being a conqueror. He had heard the glories of the land but though he found wealth here, he was largely disillusioned with the social fabric. In his biography, Tuzk-e Babri, also known as Baburnama, the cultured warlord has famously written, "Hindustan is a place of little charm. There is no beauty in its people, no graceful social intercourse, no poetic talent or understanding, no etiquette, nobility, or manliness. The arts and crafts have no harmony or symmetry.

There are no good horses, meat, grapes, melons, or other fruit. There is no ice, cold water, good food or bread in the markets." Having come miles away from his land Samarkand, Babur, it appears, missed every aspect of home. Like his ancestors Timur and Genghis Khan, he was enamoured by Persian civilisation. As he set up his empire in Hindustan, he began introducing Persian elements of art, architecture, landscaping and food. His son Humayun carried that legacy forward in a greater way.

Humayun had lost Mughal territories to Afghan noble Sher Shah Suri and had retreated to Persia. He returned 15 years later to recapture them; and this time, accompanying him was a large contingent of Persian nobles, artists, writers and cooks. Humayun was victorious and hereafter Persian culture dominated Mughal courts.

In royal kitchens, delectable Persian flavours bubbled. Their aromas also filled kingdoms such as Punjab and Kashmir (where Persian cooking and art can still be seen in its near-original form and almost borders on the sublime).

Culinary art was at its zenith in Persia, and its cuisine was known for its sophistication and delicacy. Fragrances and flavours melded to present lavish results. At Mughal courts, royal chefs ran trials, fusing locally available ingredients, spices and cooking styles with indigenous Persian techniques as 'dum pukht' or slow cooking in a sealed vessel, allowing the juices of the meats and vegetables to get absorbed well, using curd as a marinade for meat, combining vegetables and meat in a single dish, using dry fruits and rosewater in dishes, grilling meat over charcoal in the tandoor, or balancing the sweet and sour flavours in stews and soups. The result was a cuisine rich in taste and texture that, over time, came to be known as Mughlai.

Naale (tomorrow), or its equivalent in any other Indian language, is perhaps one of the most popular words in the country, especially if one is dealing with the government. Laziness has permeated so deeply into our psyche that the concept of 'here and now' does not exist in our vocabulary. Why do today what you can do tomorrow, has become an accepted philosophy.

Whenever one visits a government office to get a file cleared or avail of some service, the standard response is "naale banni" (come back tomorrow). Naale need not necessarily be tomorrow; it could mean the next week, or even the next month. Like their bosses, files too are bitten by the laziness bug and it could take them months, if not years, to travel from one desk to the next.

At the entrance to Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power in Karnataka, is a prominent inscription, 'Government's work is God's work.' Perhaps, civil servants take this literally and leave all their work to god, while they kill time. Fortunately, there is an antidote to laziness that works miracles almost instantly. It is called 'speed money' or 'lancha' in Kannada. The moment you grease the palm of an officer, he immediately drops his cloak of laziness, while files that earlier refused to budge suddenly grow wings.

Incentives play the same trick in the private sector. "Performance and incentives are directly proportional to each other. Incentives can swing even the laziest employee into action," says an HR head. This applies across the spectrum and percolates down to farm labour too. "Labourers pick less than 100 kg of coffee per day when they are paid fixed daily wages. But when they are paid on per-kg basis, they pick around 250 kg in the same duration, because they tend to earn more," says Coluvanda C Thimaiah, a coffee planter in the outskirts of Madikeri, Kodagu. Apparently, money can remedy sloth. In contrast, the productivity of small farmers who till their own land because they cannot afford paid labour, is much higher.

Lacking steps

What has prompted a debate on the subject of laziness is a recent survey by Stanford University which lists Indians among the laziest people in the world. While Indians take an average of 4,297 steps a day, the Chinese, who are considered the least lazy, take 6,880 steps. Indian women at 3,684 steps, walk even lesser. Most Indians would rather use a car or two-wheeler for neighbourhood shopping than walk, however short the distance is. While the survey may have many infirmities, it nevertheless underlines the perception that Indians are generally lazy.

Bengaluru's well-known fitness expert, Santosh Kumar, however, disagrees with the conclusion of the survey. "In India, right from our childhood we are conditioned to work hard, rise up the ladder and build a security blanket around ourselves and our families. This often leads to a compromise on good lifestyle, socialising, recreation, not to mention exercise and sports. This is often misinterpreted by Westerners as being lazy. While Indians have a long way to go with respect to physical fitness compared to the rest of the world, they are becoming a lot more conscious of the need to exercise and look good. But to term us lazy is farfetched and bereft of facts," he argues.

Taking up for women, Sapna Lekha, a corporate professional, says, "Whoever calls us lazy should survive a day in our kitchen preparing a variety of dishes for each meal, let alone running the household."

While it may be wrong to paint all Indians with the same brush, it is also difficult to shake off the tag of being languid. Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, remarked recently, "As a critic, I sometimes feel people in India are lazy. You should work hard. Look at the Chinese, they work very hard."

A living example of this is the Tibetan colony at Bylakuppe in Mysore district, where Tibetan refugees who escaped from their homeland following the Chinese invasion in 1960 were allotted 3,000 acres of barren land by the Karnataka government. By the sheer dint of their hard work, the refugees transformed this parcel of land into an agricultural bowl and made Bylakuppe a very prosperous township and a centre of tourist attraction, putting the local 'lazy' Indians to shame.

Bharat Ratna recipient CNR Rao feels Indian scientists are lazy compared to their counterparts in countries like Japan, South Korea and China. "We are generally a lazy lot. If a person is upset with his superiors in Japan, he would work for an additional two hours. But in India, we stop working," he said at a function a few days ago.

Indian techies are normally considered hardworking and have carved a niche for themselves in the Silicon Valley, but they too have not been able to escape the taint of being sluggish and slow on delivery. When British Airways had to cancel hundreds of flights recently after a systems crash possibly due to power failure, the Staff Union sought to find fault with the outsourcing of IT services to India. And one of the adjectives used against the Indians was 'lazy'.

If scientists and IT professionals are accused of lethargy, can academicians be far behind? A senior professor of Mysore University, who does not want to be named, explains, "It is true that 60 per cent of the teachers bunk classes in State universities. The work load of teachers in India is much lower than those in the West. While there can be no comparison between the quantity and quality of research papers submitted by Indian and Western scholars, the output of teachers from Asian countries like Malaysia, Philippines, China and Japan is much higher than our academicians who have a lackadaisical attitude."

Indian journalists too have lent themselves to criticism for being laidback by increasingly resorting to 'arm-chair reporting' and 'kite-flying', that is, manufacturing stories which are often speculative, from the confines of their office, and attributing them to unnamed sources. "In many international publications, several man-hours and intense legwork go into the production of a story like the Panama papers, but in India, most reports get done over the phone. A journalist is the happiest if he is given a press note from which he can copy and paste. There are many exceptions to this rule, but most scribes in India fall within the lazy bracket," says a journalist-turned-PR-professional.

The work-ethic of Indians has attracted ridicule in countries like Germany and Japan which place a high premium on discipline, precision and speed of delivery. I G Chinappa, who worked as the general manager (South) with an Indo-German optical company, says, "We, in India, could never meet the production target, and our German counterparts would mock at us for our poor output. Similarly, in Japanese-owned automobile companies known for their high level of efficiency, the productivity is always lower in Indian units. It is in our nature not to work hard."

However, in many parts of the world like the United States, the Indian diaspora is respected for its dedication, loyalty and hard work. "Indians are known to accomplish their assigned tasks much faster than an average American. We do not waste time on our cell phones, in idle chat with colleagues, or around coffee dispensers. We are known for our work culture and high level of integrity," says Anuradha Gajaraj Lopez, an Indian-American settled in California.

Quick to adapt

Indians are normally versatile and are known to quickly adapt to their surrounding environment. An Indian who would not dare to relieve himself on the streets of Singapore for the fear of punitive action, would most likely not hesitate to rush to the nearest wall when in India. A person who drives recklessly on Indian roads would scrupulously follow traffic rules in the United States. Our behavioural pattern appears to be impacted by the culture of where we live.

Says noted Bengaluru-based nephrologist Sankaran Sunder, "One of my sons who is an oncologist in Singapore puts in 80 hours a week, while another who is a radiologist in the UK where there is no pressure on targets, clocks only four-and-a-half days per week. Often, our output is not determined by our laziness, but by the work culture prevailing around us."

Avinash Thombre, professor, University of Little Rock, Arkansas, agrees that the so-called lazy Indian can excel if a conducive atmosphere is provided. "Indian researchers who come to the US are rated very high and hold several patents in their names. Here, the academia relates to a strong culture of seeking innovation in all aspects of life from engineering and technology to social sciences, for which enormous amount of human capital and funds are devoted. In Indian academics, there is a culture of following the tradition which is not conducive to innovativeness. Thus, an academician who is considered below average in India can be a super-achiever in the US."

While one section strongly believes that Indians generally have a lazy disposition, the other has a diametrically opposite view. And while the verdict is yet to be out on the subject, Sushanto Banerjee, a Delhi-based senior corporate executive, pipes in, "If we are lazy, how can our population be so high?" In procreation, there is no procrastination. With that, we rest our case.

Do you like to travel? If you do, you are definitely not alone. Even in the past, when people thought the Earth was flat and you would fall off if you travelled to the edge, or that there were fire-breathing dragons which would devour you, there were intrepid travellers. And they travelled, because…

…Back in the day, there were a lot of places that were unexplored. You got some money from the rulers of the day, got to these strange lands first, and hey presto, you owned the land! Then you raised a mercenary army and killed off all the people who had lived there forever with manufactured wars and new diseases and looted the riches. If ever there was an incentive to travel, this was it. Old Christopher Columbus, James Cook, Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama and Co. found this to their taste. Then there were the followers who had only one thing on their minds: gold. The conquistadors, professional soldiers, travelled to strange lands with barbarous cultures just to make money.

Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, along with Niccolo's 12-year-old son Marco, were great travellers too. In the year 1270 AD, they travelled the legendary Silk Road, the road to Emperor Kublai Khan's China through Persia and Mongolia, to ply their trade. Of course, no one can undertake that kind of a trip today — it lasted 24 years!

Many others, including Englishmen, travelled for their livelihood. With primogeniture being the order of the day, when the eldest inherited all the wealth of the parents, the younger sons were left with extremely small incomes and had to seek their fortunes, when and wherever they could.

There was another purpose for which upper-class British and other Europeans travelled around Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, on what was called 'The Grand Tour'. The purpose was to observe the culture of different Western countries, and see and experience art that could not be done in their own lands.

Yet another motive for travel in the 18th century was disease. Yes, many patients with tuberculosis or 'consumption' were prescribed life in the warmer, drier, and more salubrious climes of tropical counties as compared to the cold and damp British climate. One such notable patient was Robert Louis Stevenson who travelled to Hawaii and eventually died on a Samoan island in the South Seas.

Of course, we cannot talk about travellers over the ages, without mentioning the missionaries of various religions. Proselytisation of 'ignorant savages and heathens' was the incentive that caused many ordinary people to brave strange people, weird cultures and horrible diseases in order to perform their 'God's will'.

Well, fast-forwarding to today: it is a fact that travel and tourism accounted for about 9.6% of India's total GDP, about 208.9 billion US dollars in 2016. With globalisation in full swing, it has become far easier to travel inside and outside the country in this century than in the past. Though there are no more lands to conquer and savages to 'civilise', people do love travel, not only for their work, but also for fun. Also, with higher disposable incomes, leisure travel has become more affordable to all.

But even in this day and age, travelling involves a lot of hassles, doesn't it? For one thing, it is money down the drain —you have nothing tangible to show after a trip, discounting the tacky souvenirs. Then there is the acute physical discomfort. Air travel means sitting in a cramped space, to go by bus means aching all over, and trains take forever to reach the destination. And can you ever forget the food problems you encounter — what to eat, where to eat, how to identify what you are eating, etc etc…?

In spite of all these problems, there is no doubt that we humans, as a species, love to leave home for a while. We may lose half our holiday to jet lag. We may need a second vacation to get over the physical rigours of our first one. We may have come this close to ordering a horse-meat burger or actually eaten an unknown species. But mention a trip to an unknown locale, and we sit up with gleaming eyes.

Miles to cover
The number one reason why we Indians, especially, like to travel, is for pilgrimages. For, however powerful the deity nearest to us is, there is a more powerful one farther away. India is dotted with holy sites all over its vast domain. Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram, Udupi, Mysuru, Nanjangud, Thanjavur, Madurai, Pandharpur, Nagur, Velankanni, Dwaraka, Tirupathi, Mathura, Amritsar, Vrindavan, Goa, Palitana, Sarnath, Kashi, Bodh Gaya, Agra, Amarnath, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Manasarovar, Kailash… These are but a few of the innumerable places of worship in this land, which counts godmen as some of its richest citizens.

In the hoary past, pilgrimages would be undertaken with great piety and a lot of effort. People mostly walked, camping overnight alongside the roads, or in the homes of kind people. These journeys took a long time no doubt, so young families and working people could not have embarked on them. The journeys were so arduous that they would have a feast in their village, if ever they managed to make it back from the pilgrimage in one piece, like a Badri samaradhane after a trip to Badrinath.

Nowadays, these journeys are condensed to a few days. However, the physical rigours and the devotion are still great draws. My 72-year-old grandmother undertook a journey to Badrinath with great enthusiasm; she wouldn't travel to the next town normally…

Unless… it was to attend a wedding. Let's face it, people: the other thing after religion that binds Indians is 'family'. This happiest occasion in every family had to be attended by its members and it usually meant travel. Even those who wouldn't otherwise spend money and time to visit a place, packed some jazzy formal wear and set out for a faraway place to witness their brother's son or uncle's daughter get married. In my GOD (good old days), leave letters and bogus doctor's certificates would be dispatched as soon as the wedding invitation with its turmeric-yellowed corners was received. It was okay to squander precious casual and sick leave thusly, because no one ever took a vacation and visited a place for its own sake.

But these days, vacation days are as rare as honest politicians. So, on receiving the e-vites, people send a WhatsApp Best Wishes complete with the appropriate emojis. However, this concept of travelling to weddings has got a huge boost, thanks to…

Destination weddings! Yes, those extravaganzas thrown at tourist destinations! Where you once went to a destination for a wedding, now you travel to a wedding for the destination! Goa, Hawaii, Greece, Monaco… the more spectacular the wedding, the better! And if the marriage doesn't last, why, even better! There will be another destination wedding to go to because… When you travel, you get bragging rights! Yes, you can say that you've been there, done that, and even got a T-shirt to prove it. To some people, the stamps on their passport are validation of their existence. To have seen the 'Eefel Tavar' and 'Libarty Stachoo' is a really big deal, whether you understand what they stand for or not. Collecting souvenirs and fridge magnets is to a tourist what collecting scalps used to be for a self-respecting Native American warrior of the yesteryear. I should know: you cannot see my refrigerator for the magnets on it.

Tacky souvenirs are enough if you are an ageing tourist. But if you are aspiring to be 'cool' and be somebody on social media, you have to do more than pick up souvenirs. At one time, visits to Jog Falls or Malpe Beach with an excursion group was a huge deal. But mention your trip to these places on your Instagram post, and you might as well bury your virtual self in a shallow grave. You might get away with visiting such uncool places if you went there with a biker's group, or walked backwards, or swam with the dolphins, or did some such exclusive thing. You went to Sri Lanka and Bali? Oh, just forget it, you're so lame, you're practically limbless. These days, you have to have taken a hot-air balloon ride over the Niagara Falls or a white-water rafting trip down the Colorado river in order to even get noticed by the 'in'-crowd. Yup, even bragging is a lot harder these days.

What's not done before...
The truth is, some people find it a fulfilling challenge to get out of their comfort zones, and see what they are capable of. "We must have walked miles at the Louvre! My feet were screaming at the end of it," a person boasts with pride at having done something s/he had never done before. A friend of mine went paragliding for the first time on a trip abroad, and found a facet of herself she never knew existed. The question is: would she have gone paragliding in her home town?

The answer is obvious: no. Even if there were opportunities for her to paraglide in good old Bendha-kaalu-ooru, I doubt if she would have done it. We lose some of our inhibitions when we get away from the stultifying environs of our daily life. Even old stick-in-the-muds get frisky and feel like trying something new in a place where they are not known. Some like to rough it out while others like to test the limits of lazing and lounging. It is freeing to do and try new things, to test our capabilities, in unfamiliar places.

Another way to get out of the comfort zone is to travel alone or in groups of strangers. This is a huge step out of the comfort zone, especially for women, who have always travelled with the security of their husbands or families. On her first trip alone to the States, she was a basket case, said a friend. Now, she regularly takes solo trips, where she can have both physical freedom and financial independence, and comes back with renewed confidence and a sense of achievement. Women can also journey with groups like WOW, Women on Wanderlust.

Sometimes people leave home to seek fresh perspectives after a heartbreak or tragedy. There is nothing like going to a totally alien setting to help them get a new outlook on life.

When I polled my friends, every one of them told me that they love the new experiences that travel gives them. It is an investment that pays handsomely in experiences, they said. To get away from the same old-same old, to go where no one you know has been, is simply awesome. Finding a good restaurant, seeing an interesting viewpoint, making contact with a 'native' can be a big 'Chris Columbus' moment. To see new places, new cultures, and new ways of life gives such a thrill that we forget the travails we went through to get there. We have only one lifetime and we want to cram as many life experiences into that one lifetime. And as experiences are always coloured by food, it follows that …

…Food acts as a motivator to travel. There are two kinds of people — those who need familiar food, and those who want to try new things. There is a very good reason Indians can travel to Warsaw, Versailles or Yakutsk and still get their roti, dhal-chawal and masala dosa. Indians like their comfort food and Indian tour operators know it. So they tie up with Indian eateries to provide for those who'd rather play it safe. On the other hand, there are the risk-takers who like to play 'what-am-I-eating?' guessing games. Whichever group we belong to, it is definitely a thrill to spend a month's grocery budget on one meal and talk about it throughout your lifetime. I once spent a hundred rupees on one hot chocolate in London — everyone I know knows about it. By the way, one reason I love to travel is the hotel stay, where I can get room service, instead of me being the room service. Aah, the luxury of ordering coffee, lunch and snacks while lounging on a bed made by someone else… It is so worth it. I'm sure there are others who feel the same.

There is another surprising explanation as to why many of us love to travel — to go back to our ancient roots. Most of us love to go to scenic spots or national parks where we can see other animals in their natural settings. Curious — it is as if members of our species want to put themselves back, at least for a short while, in the time and space where we once co-existed.

It is as if we want to get away from everything we have created for our safety and comfort, and get back into the very situations we evolved to avoid. Hiking in cold, soaking rain, or living among wild lions while on a safari — didn't we learn to build shelters and live in communal groups to avoid just these circumstances? It is as if we're daring ourselves, to see if we can still do it.

But the ultimate purpose for travelling is pure and simple: wanderlust. We all have this in varying degrees, and seek to slake it in different ways. The ultimate wanderer in mythology is the Greek warrior Ulysses, who reached his home on the island of Ithaca after 10 long and arduous years at sea … only to leave again. Lord Alfred Tennyson describes Ulysses as a victim in the throes of wanderlust: 'I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees'. Even though he is old, he still wants to travel to gain knowledge. His words strike an answering chord in us: 'Come, my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world.' And we, as the human race, travel for one main reason… 'to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.'

They are increasing in number. Every organisation of repute, both here in India and abroad, are seeking their help. A decade ago, their numbers were small and they were comparatively an unknown group. They were looked at with doubt and skepticism.

Then came Barack Obama who declared, "Yes, we can". It was 2008, and those three words by America's former president in his first victory speech not only got the entire America but the whole world fall in love with him. People started believing in him and his endeavour to take the country once again to the centre stage of the world. Those three words 'motivated' Americans to look at life with new hope and zeal. And this also heralded a new set of motivational, inspirational or activational speakers into this century.

The world rediscovered the strength of motivational speech and speakers. They realised that the entire scenario can change with a good inspirational speech. In fact, the reason for the resounding victory of Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2014 elections was the high adrenaline motivational speeches by the present Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A majority of Indians wanted a change and they saw the hope of a new India and a positive future in his five words — 'Na khaoonga, na khane doonga'. Those words touched a chord and motivated the whole nation to vote for change. That is the impact of a good motivational speaker.

Impressive talkers

Motivational speakers were not born after Obama's three words. From the days of Lord Krishna and Lord Buddha, to the days of Chanakya, Subhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, Fidel Castro and Martin Luther King Jr to the present day leaders, there have been many, but perhaps it was those three words of Obama in the 21st century which made motivational speaking a very lucrative profession, attracting hordes to this vocation. Earlier, there were leaders. From the late 20th century, they are motivational speakers. It's their increasing presence which has made business entities realise that besides hard work, employees need to be motivated to work better. The daily routine, stiff competition and urban loneliness is taking a heavy toll on the emotions of people. This hinders their progress at work.

Motivational speakers address all these problems. They are tackling every ailment of the society — from losing weight, following a diet, doing well in exams, career growth, interpersonal relationships, family ties, marriage, tackling old age, ill-health, and of course, the megalomaniac corporate world. Most successful motivational speakers travel a lot in India and abroad. Depending on their success and experience, they take home an annual package of anything from Rs 50 lakh to a couple of crores. Many speakers specialise in certain subjects as they have to be very thorough in what they speak, and need to have a great number of personal or observed anecdotes to pitch their speech properly.

A motivational speaker works in sessions — ranging from a minimum of two hours to eight to 10 hours. It can be a one-time session, or a couple of them spread over a period of time. Every speaker has his or her own way of tackling the subject.

One of the best motivational speakers from America, the late Zig Ziglar, who was also an author and salesman, had famously said, "Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude. Remember you were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win!"

And, this is the mantra every motivational speaker follows. This is the underlying principle that motivational speakers use to stimulate their clients or the audience. These speakers are very good communicators and can hold a lengthy dialogue with their audience. Business houses hire them to communicate the company's strategy, new policies and rules to their employees in a language which they can understand, can get inspired, start looking at future in a positive way, and start working more constructively.

Systematic approach

In India too we have many motivational speakers. Search engines throw up hundreds of names. Akash Gautam, a popular motivational speaker, says, "In the days of Ziglar and earlier motivational speakers, it was a field of gentlemanly speeches. Not exactly sermons, but straight and formal talks were the norm. Now we include fun, sarcasm, satire, games etc to motivate our audience. The approach of a motivational speaker today is more informal, involving participation from the audience at every step."

Chandigarh-based Gautam, who has nearly 2,00,000 followers on Facebook, and has so far done more than 1,200 events as a motivational speaker across the world, has spoken to a diverse group of clients including the Tihar Jail inmates, rural women of Haryana, Miss India beauty pageant contestants, the corporate sector, premier institutions like IITs, IIMs, and many others.

He says a motivational speaker has to communicate more than utter mere good words borrowed from here and there. It needs a lot of research in the subject that he or she plans to talk, plus recalling and narrating anecdotes from one's experiences in life. Agreeing with Gautam, Vasu Primlani, a standup-comedian-turned-motivational-and-TEDx speaker, says, "Many motivational speakers think their work is to change the person or group. I don't think like that. Change is temporary. I want to transform the person or the group I work with. And this requires a lot of homework before actually starting work."

Being a triathlete (swimming, cycling and running in one race), and also a rock climber, Primlani, a visiting professor at many international universities, also works as a somatic trauma therapist. She has worked with a rapist, with suicide bidders, victims of child sexual abuse, women victims of domestic violence etc. Being the first openly gay standup comedian, she brings in a lot of her own experiences to her talks.

"Each client needs a different kind of preparation. To inspire or motivate them to lead a better life, one needs a different approach. So, all motivational speakers are neither homogeneous nor do they do only one kind of work," explains Delhi-based Primlani.

Primarily, motivational speakers work to bring in a balance of the mind and emotions of a person. Mumbai-based homeopathy practitioner-cum-motivational speaker Dr Rahul Joshi explains the seven basic points where motivation or inspiration is needed to lead a more productive life. "We have to work on the happiness, enthusiasm and willpower of people in the audience to help them learn to forgive, develop a good value system, and focus on their work. This, added with a touch of spiritual quotient, automatically helps a person perform better in whatever field he or she is."

Working with diverse groups of clientele, Dr Joshi says, "In my sessions of motivational speeches, I believe in doing 'dhamal'! I believe that every member in the audience should enjoy the time, have fun, play some games, and go home with a smile on the face and a zest to start afresh."

Being a classical singer (he is the voice of actor Ranbir Kapoor in the Asian Paints advertisement of rain havoc on walls), he incorporates music also in his sessions. To emphasise his point, he happily breaks into old Hindi film songs while talking about his motivational speech sessions. While pursuing his post-graduation in Homeopathy and winning the Mr Pune contest, he realised his mentor Lovell Prabhu, an image consultant, groomer of models and actors, was right when emphasised the necessity of good grooming to infuse confidence in a person. "A well-groomed person is motivated to work better!" declares the consulting homeopath.

Like Joshi, every motivational speaker has his own method of communicating with his clients in a session where the participants' numbers vary from one to 10 to 100s. Depending on the type of group one is addressing, they either work solo or have a team of their own to help them in a session. "I have a team that I work with. Before starting the actual session, we talk to people in the organisation — everyone from the top brass to the lowest in the rung — and sometimes videoshoot their response to get a better idea of what needs to be done in that organisation. We even distribute questionnaires. It is only after these excercises do we decide how to go about actually conducting the session," explains Anand Chulani, who too began his career in public speaking as a standup comedian and gradually moved to becoming a motivational speaker.

A winner in everyone

"I am actually not a motivational speaker. I prefer to be called an activational speaker!" says the jet-hopping Chulani who is forever travelling to some country or the other at any given time. He invented the 'Peak performance pyramid' and believes that he only works with champions.

According to Chulani, there is a champion lurking in every person, which sometimes gets obscured by other events in life. A person just needs a gentle prod, a gentle push, to help him get back his championship qualities. He has worked with the team of Kings XI Punjab of IPL in 2016, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and so on. He loves his work with students, youth and their parents. "These people were already great workers. I just activated their inner self to do better, and the results were great," says the activational speaker.

The question that pops up at this junction is whether there's a difference between the leaders who have a great following and this breed of paid motivational speakers. Kolkata-based motivational speaker and trainer of professionals, Kunal Chakrabarti says, "Leaders have an agenda. They want to bring in social changes and not personal ones. So when Subhash Chandra Bose said, 'Give me blood, I will get you freedom', he instantly motivated people to join the freedom struggle. When Field Marshal General Manekshaw roared, 'Your task is your duty. You have to fight, and fight to win', he won the Bangladesh War along with his soldiers. Such leaders have a very homogeneous crowd who do what their leader says. Our audience and work is entirely different."

Continuing, Chakrabarti explains that the present day motivational speakers first need to win the trust of their audience. "The audience at no point should feel that the speaker is fibbing or doesn't have the experience to talk about a subject. So, we need to narrate a lot of personal anecdotes. We, the present day professional speakers, need to keep our eyes and ears open to everything that is happening around us, and keep improvising our act. We can't be repetitive."

The town of Westfield, Massachusetts, USA, features in a very famous management studies fable. Before the year 1890, the fable goes, Westfield had a thriving industry of buggy whips — the short whips used to goad carriage horses.

Then that year, the industry began to sink suddenly. The fable goes on to say, the buggy whip manufacturing associate petitioned the government to ban the competing industry that was threatening them. The petition, thankfully, didn't work. What was the competing industry? Automobiles, which were suddenly being mass-produced by Henry Ford's assembly line. In a few short years, the 40-plus whip businesses in Westfield shrunk down to just one as cars replaced horse-drawn carriages.

Who knows how true this whole story is. But the management theory it exemplifies has been proven true again and again: no industry or job is truly static. As the world changes around us, jobs that were once essential go extinct, and new ones appear. The change could be due to any number of reasons: social trends, technology, politics, or just fashion. The job market is a mirror to what is going on around us. Conversely, if you want to validate a new social or technological trend, look to see if it is generating jobs suited to serve it.

Consider the frankly incredible rise in computing power that's available to the normal person today. The average smartphone in your pocket has a more powerful computer than the entire setup that was used by NASA to put a man on the moon in 1969. Say you lived away from this trend for the past two decades, and now wanted to understand the impact this change had had, all you need to do is to see the new jobs it is generating. You'd imagine we're using this new power to solve for computationally massive problems like weather forecasting? Nope, all the new jobs are to make things like Angry Birds, Temple Run, and then Whatsapp.

That may have sounded like I'm joking, but there's more to it. People do want more out of their phone, but more of what is the question. The answer turns out to be immersive entertainment, painless communication, and news updates. Being a software engineer in the 90s meant making banking programs. Now it means knowing Android and iPhone programming. The technology has seeped into our very personal lives instead of being an abstract, corporate topic. That also means that a single guy who learns programming on weekends can now write something that goes directly to the pocket computers of millions of users.

There are other tech-related jobs that are new: machine learning, AI, all sorts of analysis, which we won't talk about. They all point back to the increasing power of computers in our lives and how they show up in completely unexpected places. I will, however, point out one story that illustrates the direction we're going in.

A man stormed into the nearby branch of the American departmental store, Target, a few months ago. He demanded to know why the store was sending his daughter, still in high school, gift vouchers and offers for cribs, lotion, and other pregnancy-related purchases. The manager of the store didn't know why either. "Our billing data is analysed by a computer program and used to recommend offers," he said as he apologised. "It seems to have detected some pattern in your daughter's purchases." The man stormed off, but later on it turned out his daughter was indeed pregnant; she just hadn't told her parents. The "Big Data" part of the store's system had predicted the news correctly.

All the faster computers and phones and internet have gotten together to give us what we always wanted: more choice. But is that making us happier? We now have access to a million songs, thousand of alluring things in the shops and online, all the cuisines and experiences we could dream of — and now it's well-nigh impossible to make the right choices for our lives. Overwhelmed as we are by the bounty, what we need is some expert who knows the ropes. Enter a new breed of jobs focussed purely on curation. You have food walk organisers who try out all the restaurants in an area before making a route touching the best of them. They're curating those restaurants for their customers. Similarly, cultural tour organisers or historical guides apply their area of expertise to guide others into the area. An interesting example of this is Graffiti Tours — cities like New York and Bogota, which have a lot of interesting street art aka graffiti, now run art tours through the streets, allowing tourists to view these unique murals. In India, of course, we have had Heritage Walks in places like Old Delhi and the peths of Bengaluru, allowing history buffs to share their enthusiasm with tourists.

One of the most interesting types of curation that couldn't have existed a few years ago is toy curation. That's exactly what it sounds like — you buy or receive toys, rate them, and show others what it feels like to play them. This is a growing profession — in fact, for the year 2014, the highest earning Youtube channel, DC Toys Collector, had nothing but videos of an unknown woman playing with new toys. How much did she earn from the ads on that channel? An astounding $5 million!

A reason to cheer

I must mention one last curation job that will make many readers sit up: beer sommelier. Similar to the fabled wine sommeliers of France, a beer sommelier is someone who knows the best beer — usually one of a restaurant's multiple micro brews — that go with a patron's choice of cuisine. There is actually a certificate course for this job, run by institutes in the US and Europe, where varieties of beer are growing even faster than in India.

Then there are the jobs that could just as easily be called having fun seriously. In today's age of instant communication and video technologies, creating and sharing content is for everyone. Vloggers (video bloggers) are the folks armed with a camera, maybe a friend to help them record, and a burning desire to share with the world. Whether its recipes (Nisha Madhulika, or Vah ji Vah, popular food vloggers in India), poetry (Hindi Kavita, a channel dedicated to reviving and appreciating Hindi Poetry), or even the umpteen travel vloggers who tell us of the best things to see in every Indian city — vlogging is here to stay. Even more interesting are the professional video game players, who record their play sessions and upload on video sites. The impact of this can be estimated with a simple number: the gameplay video sharing site, Twitch, was recently bought by Amazon. The price? $970 million.

Or, if you aren't into the virtual aspect of things, playing with robots and drones might work better. With the acceptance of drones as a multipurpose tools of monitoring, recording, and management of large events, drone operators are much in demand — every run, every open-air dance, every new year party today has a drone hovering around unobtrusively, taking funky videos. Play with drones and get paid for it, too!

Our constant barrage of information, videos, memes, and whatnot is changing us fundamentally. Our attention spans are going down, our thirst for the latest news is overpowering detailed discussions, and the emphasis on likes and friend counts is taking us away from deep relationships. But it isn't all bad — the popularity of these mediums gives us the means to espouse our causes to larger and larger groups. On the one hand, we have the vloggers, the tweeters, the change.org petitioners who manage well for themselves. On the other hand, we have the rise of the professional social media strategist, the person who will navigate these shifting waters and help companies, celebrities, or the aspiring independent author get their due attention. The rise of this job is nothing but a recognition of the importance of social media.

And of course, our increased awareness of the environment around us has led to a rise in related professions. In China, the Giant Panda Protection and Research Center announced openings for full-time panda cub caretakers - someone who plays with and cares for giant panda cubs all the time. Turtle conservation efforts in Odisha co-ordinate events where newly hatched baby turtles on the beach are pointed towards the water instead of the bright lights of nearby cities. And in Europe, microlight pilots are recruited to lead endangered birds through their migration routes.

If none of these seem interesting to you, you could apply for the aptly named 'Best Job in the World': the caretaker position at the gorgeous Hamilton Island off Australia, where your duties include walking around the island monitoring the plant life, checking the water temperature, and diving into the sea to look up marine life. For an outdoors person, that one can't be beat!

For every job that is made obsolete, another (or ten) take its place. In the continuous churn, the ones most affected are those that lose their comfort zone and have to change to something new. We like to think of our parents' generation as being a time of static, straightforward jobs — but every generation has its newfangled opportunities and misplaced nostalgia. As those long-ago buggy whip makers learnt, the only way out is forward.

Now, where can I start practising my drone skills?

And one day God picked colours from the palette to paint India — frothy rivers, beefy mountains, deep valleys, dense forrests, precarious cliffs, powdery snowscapes… And when the landscape was painted, he packed gallons of adrenaline into the adventure junkie who loves to trek, hike, climb rocks, run trails, snow ski, fly fox, glide, board, dive. Then, he threw adventure darts on the map: Goa for water sports, Kamshet and Bir for paragliding, Madhya Pradesh for rock climbing, Arunachal for trekking, Andaman for scuba diving. A million adventure options for travellers who are now spurning vanilla beachside vacations and sight-seeing holidays and packing adventure into their itinerary.

A 2015 Ministry of Tourism (MoT) survey studying adventure tourist flow to 28 states in the country found that Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra attracted the highest number of adventure tourists in India. The adventure-seekers are growing — in 2015, there were 31 lakh adventure tourists (including foreigners). Waking up to the sunshine statistics of the adventure tourism market, the MoT has appointed The National Task Force (NTF) for the development and promotion of Adventure Tourism in India. The NTF will expedite opening of small airstrips for adventure tourism, opening of more peaks for expeditions; development of training and certification programmes through adventure-sport institutions, and to identify and promote activities in categories such as wildlife, forests, rivers, mountains, islands, deserts and coastlines, backwaters and deltas.

Here are 10 best 'Where-To-Do-What' adrenaline list:

Skiing in Kashmir

'If there is a heaven on earth. It is this, it is this, it is this.' When poet Amir Khusro described Kashmir as the closest approximation to paradise, he sure wasn't specifically talking of the ski slopes, slaloms, powdery snow and glistening mountains. A skier might not be so poetic, but he too will hum jolly ditties to Gulmarg, the haven of ski lovers. Sitting on a plateau at 2,600 m above sea level, Gulmarg puffs as one of the highest lift-served ski resorts in the world. The Gandola Cable Car Lift, a big draw for the powder hounds and free-riders from all over the world, takes people from Gulmarg just below the summit of Apharwat (3,979 m). The skiing season in Gulmarg usually commences before Christmas (around mid-December) and continues till mid-April. Adding to the lure of the snow, heli-skiing was introduced in Gulmarg in 2011 with the opening of Kashmir Heliski (formerly, Gulmarg Heliski). Punch Peak is one of the highest peaks in the Pir Panjals, towering at 4,745 m, offering free-riders a descent of more than 2,000 m of thigh-burning vertical drop.

River rafting in Himachal

In summer, when the snow melts and feeds the starving rivers, the bravehearts throng to Himachal Pradesh to raft. The brimming rivers are not placid, but are volatile, speedy, dangerous. Tough to conquer. These rivers in the upper Himalayas have several staircase rapids cutting against the rocky banks; they crash into rocks, crevices, and break into white water rapids — foaming, swirling, and falling in a thunderous din. It is the challenge that makes river rafting a dare-do for the adventure enthusiasts. In Himachal Pradesh, there are options galore. Sutlej, Ravi, Beas and Chenab, the four main rivers, meander through Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu, Pangi, Chamba, and Kangra, and the valley of Sutlej. The popular river-rafting spots include the wild waters of River Sutlej in Shimla, River Ravi in Chamba, River Chandrabhaga in Lahaul, Pandoh Lake in Kullu, River Spiti in Spiti Valley. For amateurs, there's Chamera Lake (Dalhousie). The 20-km stretch between Shamshi and Aut on the Beas has tremendous river-running expedition opportunities. Early-October to end-April is the best time for river rafting.

Mountaineering in Uttarakhand

A mountain might frighten the faint at heart. But for the mountaineer, the lure lies in the precarious precipice and the mighty peaks. And there is no better place for the mountaineer to test his mettle than the steep ascends of mountains in Uttarakhand. Ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 m, the Greater, Lesser and Middle Himalayas provide all types of mountaineering outings. Smug at 7,816 m in the Garhwal region, Nanda Devi is the second highest peak of India and best attempted between May and September. Perched between 6,334 and 6,904 m in the Eastern Kumaon region is Panchachuli, a group of five Himalayan peaks. For the avid mountaineer, nothing beats the magnificent view of the four-peak Chaukhamba from Guptakashi and the Vasuki Tal. The really daring mountaineer attempts the Shivling Peak that rises like a pyramid above the Gangotri glacier. Between May and September, adventure lovers trek nearly 32 km from Badrinath to the base camp of Swargarohini, a snow-capped peak in the Garhwal Himalayas region. Gaumukh, Om Parvat and Bhagirathi are the other peaks that bring mountaineers to Uttrakhand, often called Devbhumi (The Land of the Gods).

Trekking in Arunachal

Talley Valley. Bailey. Zero. Mechuka. Gorichen. Before stepping into the Orchid State of India, remember these names by rote. No, they are not names of orchids. These are treks that Arunachal Pradesh is famed for and draws avid trekkers from across the world. Best undertaken during May-June, a nine-day trek starting from Guwahati and traversing through Tezpur, Ziro and Pange, the trail ends at Talley Valley, a wildlife sanctuary and bio-diversity hotspot. The Bailey Trail traces an old trade route that connected India, Burma and Tibet, while the Ziro trek includes the magnificent Kardo Hills, a sweeping view of the breathtaking Ziro Valley, and the inevitable sight of the 25x22 ft Shiva Lingam on the Kardo Hills. The largely unexplored Mechuka trail takes about 15-20 days, and is certainly not for the weak-hearted. Running nearly 20 days, the arduous Gorichen Trek covers the high and the low regions of the state.

Some more fascinating trekking routes are: Bomdila-Seppa, Along-Mechuka, Daporijo-Taksing, Pasighat-Tuting, Pasighat-Mariang, Daporijo-Along and Bomdila-Daimara-via-Ramlingam and Chakku. The best months for trekking are May and October.

Scuba diving in Andaman Island

The water is emerald green, the beaches unexplored, the fish beautifully patterned, the corals in stunning colours. All you have to do is wear a wet suit, pack a tank of compressed air on the back, slip into fins, tie a mask, buckle a pair of goggles, and dive deep into the heart of the ocean. The cluster of islands offers myriad opportunities to the beginner as well as a dare-diver. Considered one of the best dive sites in the world, Havelock Island offers night diving at its Lighthouse; harsh corals at Aquarium are best for beginners; at Mac Point, divers can swim with the exotic dugongs; meet the sea turtles at Baraccuda City; find Napoleons amidst staghorn corals at Seduction Point. Neil Island, which includes dive sites called Margherita Mischief, K Rock, Bus Stop, and Junction, is also on every diver's to-do list. Port Blair also has several dive spots, the most famous one being Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park, a one-of-a-kind national park at Wandoor.

Flying fox in Kerala

If wishes were horses, angels would fly. Heard of that idiom? You'd never see the mythical flying horse, but you sure can be the flying fox and traipse through valleys and mountains, chasms and rivers. You needn't grow wings either. Just hang on to the ultra-strong steel ziplines and look down on earth. And hundreds swarm to Kerala to become flying foxes, which is also known as zipline or zip wire and foofy slide in South Africa. Munnar, a hill station, is a flying fox hotspot; so is Dare Nature Camp in Wayanad, and the 250 m zip slide over Karlad Lake. The 300 m Muddy Boots hipline in Vythiri is often tagged the longest in the state.

Bungee jumping in Karnataka

Did you know that bungee jumping stems from an old manhood ritual from Pentecost Island (Vanuatu) where young men would jump off tall wooden stands with just vine leaves bound to their ankles (the length of the vine was calculated so that the young fellow's hair touched the ground just as the elasticity reached its limit)? In India, bungee jumping has caught on as a big adrenaline rush. Several facilities offer season-specific bungee thrill, but Bengaluru is the only city with a permanent bungee jumping facility (Chamundi Hotel). Ozone in Bengaluru is another popular bungee destination.

Water sports in Goa

Kneeboarding. Flyboarding. Wakeboarding. Paddleboarding. Jet skiing. Paragliding. Kayaking. Snorkelling. Wind surfing. Scuba diving. White water rafting. Banana boat-tube ride. Parasailing. The country's smallest state is really big on water sports. With countless beaches, Goa is the ultimate pilgrimage for all water sports enthusiasts. Go kneeboarding, wakeboarding on Candolim Beach, Mobor Beach, Rajbaga Beach; kayaking in Palolem Beach, Dona Paula, Hollant Beach. Windsurfing is best at Dona Paula Beach, Bogmalo Beach, Vagator Beach, Calangute, Colva, Palolem, Miramar, Baga Beach, while Grande Islands, St. George Island, Devagh Island, Pigeon Island, Netrani Islands are the favourites of scuba divers. While most water sports are unavailable during the monsoon, white water rafting at Mhadei river and Tilari river finds many takers between June and September. Flyboarding is done on Baina Beach, and snorkelling on Suzy's Wreck, Bat Island and Navy Island situated near Bogmalo, Grande Island.

Paragliding in Maharashtra

Walter Neumark must have seen paragliding in a crystal ball. In an article in Flight magazine (1954), he had predicted a time when a glider pilot would be "able to launch himself by running over the edge of a cliff or down a slope…" Six decades ago, he could not have seen Maharashtra becoming a paragliding hub with various options available, of which Kamshet (16 km from the twin hill stations of Khandala and Lonavala) is on top of every paraglider's wish list. The Sahyadri mountain ranges with low hills and proper landing space are perfect for easy take off. The February-October easterlies and the March-June westerlies prove very conducive. One can enrol for a three-day beginners' course or attempt acrobatic paragliding 2,200 ft in the sky. Tandem and special tandem flights are also doable at Tikona Peth at Pawna Lakeside near Kamshet.

The other paragliding spots in Maharashtra include Ratnagiri Peninsula, exactly at the point where Shastri river enters the Arabian Sea, Lake Paradise, Telegaon Dabhade, Sanjay Rao, Golden Glades, Vadivali Lake, Village Uksan and Om Shanti Paragliding in Panchgani.

Rock climbing in Madhya Pradesh

Go back as far as in history and one will always find rock climbers. A Chinese painting dated 220 BC depicts a rock climber! However, it was only in 1880s Europe that rock climbing became an independent pursuit outside of mountain climbing. In India, rock climbing gained popularity after climbers from other countries came to India looking for challenges. Now, Madhya Pradesh is a sought-after destination for crack climbing, face climbing, slab climbing and simul climbing. The Satpura mountain ranges are ideal for rock climbing experience with Pachmarhi, Orchha, Gwalior, Chanderi and Jabalpur being the popular spots.

It is often said that in India, food and language change every few kilometres. In a vast country like ours, street food is as diverse and limitless, with each region having its own specialties. Many food connoisseurs consider India's capital Delhi as the national street-food capital. From Paranthe Wali Gali in Chandni Chowk to late-night anda parathas at Moolchand, thukpa in Tibetan Market to various state stalls in Dilli Haat, Delhi's street food scene is exciting.

Bittoo, the male protagonist in the movie Band Baaja Baaraat, would earnestly profess 'Bread pakodey ki kasam'. Delhiites are likely to swear by their favourite snack as easily as they swear at their best friend. While chhole bhature is typically Delhi, on the streets you are more likely to find pushcarts or bicycles with large brass containers selling chhola kulcha, a soft flatbread served with chhole that's dry or curried. Hawkers trawl the streets and office complexes carrying baskets of ram laddu or deep-fried moong dal pakodas, topped with grated radish and coriander chutney.

In the evening, vendors clang their tavas to announce deep-fried aloo tikki or aloo chaat. Roasted shakarkandi (sweet potato chaat), bread-omelette and boiled eggs topped with onion, green chillies, coriander leaves, salt and chaat masala rule in winter while summer spells lassi, shikanji, bel ka sharbat (wood-apple squash), sattu, bhanta (goli soda) and chuski (ice gola) to quench people's thirst. Thanks to the significant population of immigrants from Darjeeling and the North East, momo stalls have sprouted all over Delhi like start-ups in Bengaluru. Explore the bylanes of the old city with Delhi Food Walks.

From Delhi to Amritsar

One place that rivals Delhi for the tag of 'food capital' is Amritsar. The first eateries popped up around the Lake of Nectar being excavated, which gave the city its name. The common staple is kulcha, a thick aloo paratha cooked in a tandoor and served with bowls of chana, longi (a chutney made of potato, onion, tamarind and mint) and butter. Suchha da Kulcha on Maqbool Road, Ashok da Kulcha on Ranjit Avenue and Darshan Kulcha wala near Jamadar ki Haveli are the top kulcha joints there.

For Amritsari chhole, there's Kesar ka Dhaba at Chowk Passian, Bade Bhai ka Brothers' Dhaba and Bharawan da Dhaba at Town Hall. Try the tandoori chicken at Beera Chicken on Majitha Road and Amritsari machhi at Makhan Fishwala and Surjit Food Plaza in Nehru Complex. Wash it all down with lassi at Ahuja Milk Bhandar at Lohagad Gate or Gian di lassi.

Mumbaikars are equally passionate about their city's eats. From bhelpuri at Chowpatty, chaat at Elco Market, late night roomali rolls at Bade Miyan, or fruit with ice cream at Bachelorr's, Mumbai has its chosen haunts. Besides the ubiquitous vada pav, there's pav in every form — misal pav, pav bhaji and kheema pav. Sure, there's ragda pattice (chana and aloo tikki chaat), but on the national food stage, Mumbai's frugal eats fare the same as we would in an all-India exam, 'satisfactory, but can do better'.

Mumbai's eponymous quick fix, the Bombay sandwich, is made at roadside stalls with slices of potato, onion, cucumber, tomato and cheese between pressed toast. Competing with Mumbai's dabbawalas are the unsung poha makers, a local household industry, and the idli-vada vendors of Matunga, which harbours a significant Tamil population. Parsi-run Irani cafes dish out brun maska and tea all day long. During Ramzan, the mile-long stretch from Bohri Mohalla to Mohammed Ali Road teems with food stalls selling baida roti, rolls, kebabs, malpua and phirni. The same ambience can be found in Nagpur's Mominpura.

In Ahmedabad, locals throng roadside stalls like Shri Ambika Dal Vada Centre selling hot lentil pakodas with onion and fried chilli.

After the jewellery shops in the gold district Manek Chowk down their shutters, the entire area transforms into one giant open-air food court.

Local businessmen don't mind; it's free security till 2 am! Understandably, a lot of real estate is devoted to churans, digestives and mukhwas (mouth fresheners). However, not everything is vegetarian in Amdavad. Bhatiyar Galli is packed with Muslim non-veg fare like salli gosht, mutton samosas, kebabs and patties (puffs).

Besides khandvi and khaman (dhokla), Gujarat's most popular snack is Kutchi dabeli, a desi burger invented in Mandvi, made with potato, masala, chutneys of tamarind, date, garlic, red chillies, and garnished with pomegranate and roasted peanuts. Since the filling is 'pressed' together between two buns, the dish is called 'dabeli'. On an average, 20 lakh dabelis are consumed across Kutch every day. Surat is synonymous with undhiyu, a mixed vegetable dish, literally 'upside down', as the dish is traditionally cooked underground in upturned pots with fire from above. Another Surat special is Surti '12 Handi' — paaya (trotters) and assorted meat parts simmering in 12 different handis or pots.

In neighbouring Rajasthan, cities are associated with their unique snacks. If Jaipur is known for its pyaaz kachori (best at Rawat Mishthan Bhandar and the iconic Lakshmi Mishthan Bhandar or LMB), and Bikaner has its signature Bikaneri bhujiya, Jodhpur wins hands down with its mirchi bada and mawa kachori. Sign up for a Bazaar, Crafts & Cuisine walk with Virasat Experiences and eat your way through the streets of Jaipur, trying out ghevar, imarti and makhaniya lassi.

In Madhya Pradesh, Gwalior's local snack is bedai, a poori stuffed with spiced lentils. Every morning, regulars queue up at SS Kachoriwala and Bahadura, an 80-year-old shop in Naya Bazaar, for samosa, kachori, scrumptious jalebis and gulab jamuns. Dilli Parathe Wala at Sarafa Bazaar, Agrawal Puri Bhandar at Nayi Sadak and Shankerlal Halwai's laddus aren't to be missed, besides the mandatory pack of gajak (sesame, sugar and ghee sweet) from Ratiram Gajak or Morena Gajak Bhandar.

Indore, royal seat of the Holkars, bears a strong Maratha influence, evident in their love for poha, except that they couple it with jalebi! Sharing a border with Gujarat and Rajasthan, khaman and dal-bati are integral to the Malwa region.

Indore's street-food scene is legendary with stalls at Sarafa dispensing garadu (deep-fried sweet potato), dahi bada, bhutte ka kees (grated corn fried in ghee and spices), batla (green peas) kachori, sev and khopra patties — an aloo bonda with grated coconut inside! Chhappan Dukaan, a commercial precinct of '56 shops', mostly food joints, is home to legends like Johnny Hot Dog and Madhuram's shikanji, a sweet concoction of thickened milk and dry fruits.

Many cities have a khau galli or Eat Street' where locals congregate for their daily fix. In Lucknow, Hazratganj and Chowk, the old market stretching between Gol Darwaza and Akbari Darwaza, constitute the ultimate foodie heaven. Melt-in-your-mouth kebabs like shami, kakori and galawati are sold at stalls like Tunday Kebab, alongside kulcha-nihari and Lucknowi biryani at Idris or Lalla. Awadhi cuisine, unhurried and delectable, is best savoured in various halwas and desserts like nimish or makkhan malai.

The most popular naashta or breakfast item across the Hindi heartland is poori-sabzi. In Allahabad and Varanasi, locals also love their kalakand and lal peda. Everywhere in India, bhutta (corn) and moongfali (peanuts), variously called jig nuts, kadlekayi, singh dana or 'timepass', are anytime eats, grabbed on-the-go at traffic lights, or by the kerb. In the south, they like their groundnuts and corncobs steamed!

It's 'gol, gol' world!

The ultimate street food of all time is golgappa, which is known by different names and comes in subtle variations. Pani puri, puchka, gupchup, pani patase, call it what you may, it evokes the same emotions. Holding a makeshift sal-leaf cup, awaiting your turn, you open your mouth till the world sees your epiglottis as you relish the burst of flavours and tangy explosion of tamarind water as you gobble a golgappa whole. It's an unwritten rule that every round of pani puri must be followed by papdi chaat, the drier version, and a gratis sukha (dry one sans masala) in the end.

In Kolkata, besides kaati rolls, biryani and Bengali sweets, the samosa's smaller cousin, the singada, and aloo chop, rule the roost. Kolkata's eastern nook of Tangra is legendary for its Chinese joints. No train journey in these parts is complete without jhal muri or puffed rice, spiced with mustard oil, peanuts, Bengal gram mixture, onion, chilli, coriander, potato cubes and pickle masala, rattled expertly in a dabba with a spoon, and served in a thonga (paper packet) with a sliver of coconut.

Every evening in Bihar, locals snack on mudhi (puffed rice) with kachri (onion/potato fritters) or chura bhuja (roasted flat rice) with lal chana. Bihar's most well- known export is litti-chokha, roundels of dough stuffed with spiced sattu (roasted gram flour), which are doused in ghee and relished with potato mash and thin tomato chutney. Bhola Kewat is a litti legend in Ranchi. Another Jharkhand classic is dhuska, a thick, fried poori made of powdered rice and chana dal.

Nearby, Steel City Jamshedpur, with its multicultural cosmopolitan air, has its superstars — 'Tambi ka dosa, Fakira ka chanachur, Hari ka golgappa, Bauwwa ji ka chai, Kewat ka litti, Lakhi ka rolls, Bhatia ka milkshake…' Jampot folks go into raptures over the taste of nostalgia, reminiscing about their street-food heroes like kids obsessing over WrestleMania cards.

Pahala, midway between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, is lined with shops displaying large cauldrons of rasgulla, supposedly invented in Odisha before local maharajas (cooks) popularised it in Kolkata after migrating to Bengal. Another Odiya heavyweight besides chhena poda and chhena gaja is Dhenkanal bada, a dal vada served with ghugni (yellow pea curry).

Puffed rice or mudhi is consumed all over India, from Odisha, Bengal and Bihar to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where it is known as puri. Across North Karnataka, it's called mandakki, and stalls in Davanagere furiously stir it into spicy variants like khara mandakki, nargis or girmit. At dusk, little angadis (shops) dispense hot mensinkayi bajjis (chilli pakoda) from Vijayapura to Bengaluru. Here, an evening snack is not just a local tradition, but a sacred birthright. People love their bajjis (fritters) made of potato, onion, lentils or raw banana.

If Maddur is synonymous with Maddur vade, and Davanagere with its benne dose made with dollops of white butter, Mangaluru boasts teatime snacks like goli baje, Mangalore buns, ambode, uppitu-shira and kori rotti. In Hubballi's khau galli Durgada Bail, stalls sell unique dishes like tomato omelette. Cultural capital Mysuru has the holy triumvirate of Mysore dose, Mysore bonda and Mysore pak (a ghee-drenched sweet). In Bengaluru, major food haunts like VV Puram, Malleswaram, Shivaji Nagar and Mosque Road resound with the chomps of hungry masses. The quick and cheap rolls of Fanoos have sated appetites for years. Local outfits run food walks through the pete (Old Bangalore), Frazer Town, Basavangudi, Russell Market and Military Hotels.

In Hyderabad, feasting continues in the city of Nizams with biryani, kheema samosas, haleem and paaya.

Tamil Nadu goes into raptures over their dosai and vadai as much as parottas, besides soondal, a salad of garbanzo beans or chickpeas tempered with onion, chilli, mustard seeds, curry leaves and coconut. Every evening, Chennaiites head straight to the fish-fry stalls on Elliot's Beach to nibble on an assortment of local fish.

In God's Own Country

Across Kerala, the morning starts with puttu-kadla, steamed cylindrical rice cakes with black chickpea curry. Chips made of banana, tapioca and jackfruit are fried in roadside stalls like Kumari Banana Chips in Kozhikode. But the northern tract of Malabar promises a world of lesser-known Moplah delicacies — assorted pathiris (rice pancakes stuffed with egg or meat), bonda, ari kaduka (rice stuffed in green mussels), spindle-shaped unnakaya (mashed banana stuffed with coconut, nuts and raisins) and pazham nerchadu (banana fritters).

Like Iyengar bakeries in Bengaluru and other colonial haunts across India, Kerala too has its share of outlets dispensing baked goodies. From Mambally's in Thalassery, Kerala's first bakery that opened in 1883, to Delecta and Cochin Bakery in Kozhikode, the bakery culture is omnipresent in India, right up to Srinagar.

The famous Ahdoos and traditional Sofi-run bakeries churn out khara biscuit, sheermal (saffron flatbread), baqerkhani (puff pastry), lavas (unleavened bread) and kulchas (brittle bread) topped with sesame and poppy seeds, avidly consumed with kehwa (Kashmiri tea) and sheer or noon chai (salty tea).

In Himalayan regions like Ladakh, Sikkim and Darjeeling, locals pop churpi or yak cheese cubes like popcorn. It smells vile, tastes like cardboard, and takes hours to melt in your mouth, but somehow they love it. No matter which street corner you hang around, there's a food stall beckoning you with a local bite that begs to be tried.

Billionaires in the West are donating most of their wealth to charities, leaving very little inheritance to their children, scream media headlines, prompting the question, "Are Indians miserly when it comes to social causes because they hoard all their wealth for the next generation?"

"This is not true," counters Essel Group and Zee Network Chairman Subhash Chandra. "In most cases where billionaires bequeath their wealth to charities, they themselves or their inheritors are the trustees." On Indians being thrifty, he explains, "We generally do not prefer to shout from the rooftop because when it comes to charity, we believe the left hand should not know what the right is doing."

Of late, there is a clamour among billionaires to don the philanthropic robe, particularly after the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates launched The Giving Pledge, which extols the affluent to make a commitment to donate a majority of their wealth towards "giving back to the society". The pledges currently total over $365 billion.

Buffet has committed 99% of his wealth to charities. Bill Gates has announced that a majority of his fortune will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims at eradicating disease, poverty and hunger across the globe. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan plan to leave 99% of their billions to the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation to fund personalised learning and building strong communities. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has given away over $1 billion to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, has pledged to donate most of his wealth to health-related causes. The list goes on.

Indians may have to catch up with their Western counterparts, but they certainly do not lag behind. Wipro Chairman Azim Premji, the first Indian to sign The Giving Pledge, has already donated 50% of his wealth to philanthropy. Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has committed 75% to make healthcare affordable. Bharati Airtel has set up a family-funded corpus of over Rs 225 crore to provide education to the rural poor. Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal has promised to give away 75% of his wealth to the eradication of poverty and community development. Infosys founders have invested millions in charity, and so have the Tatas and other billionaires.

A short list

Yet, a common criticism is that the list of the super-rich in India donating to social causes is not as long as the one in the West. The comparison may be unfair as Western countries like the United States and United Kingdom have a long history of financial development, unlike India, which inherited an economy that was in doldrums from the British just about seven decades ago. Most billionaires are of recent origin, particularly of the post-liberalisation era.

Another pertinent point is the tax angle. Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani is on record that in the US, an individual who inherits property or wealth is liable to pay an Inheritance Tax of up to 40%. However, if the asset is given away to a federally-recognised charity or foundation, it attracts zero tax.

With billionaires deciding to donate a large part of their wealth, where does it leave their children? In his letter to The Giving Pledge, Bill Gates felt that leaving a huge inheritance to his children might prevent them from creating a path of their own. His thoughts were reflected by Buffet, who wrote, "I want to give my kids just enough so that they feel that they can do anything, but not so much that they feel like doing nothing." Music Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber noted, "I am not in favour of children suddenly finding a lot of money coming their way because then they have no incentive to work. When Kung-Fu star Jackie Chan pledged to donate half his wealth to his charitable foundation, he remarked, "Let my son make his own money."

Ujwala Balajee, a mother of two from Mysuru, agrees that children should be made self-reliant so that they can follow their passion, while critics like Vivek Prabhu, a Bengaluru-based software analyst, tears into claims that billionaires are leaving little or nothing to their wards, "The very little these business magnates are leaving for their offsprings are a couple of billions. A few generations can live like kings with that kind of inheritance. While most donations are in the form of shares, what about houses, estates and bank deposits? Billionaires not only live in another planet, they are from another dimension with a different set of ground rules."

Cultural differences also play a role in our saving and giving habits. "In the West, kids are on their own after they attain 16 or 18 years of age. The philosophy is: spend on self and spouse and leave very little for the children," says Girish Baliga, a professional in the high-tech semiconductor space.

On the contrary, in India, which believes in strong social values, it is considered the responsibility of the head of the family to provide for children. "Making children self-sufficient is extremely important, but that does not have to necessarily come at the cost of a secure background. The Western model of washing your hands off children at 16 is detrimental to growth, emotional security and societal values. This is one of the reasons why Western families are falling apart while those in India are bound together. The beauty of the Indian system is that parents make sacrifices for their children, and in turn get taken care of when they grow old," argues a freelance writer from Bengaluru.

While parents spare no effort in 'settling' their wards, it does not mean children have access to a bottomless pit of fortunes because in most cases the savings of a typical Indian family are meagre. Vachana Shetty, a principal marketing consultant who takes pride in being a self-made woman, says, "We inherit a lot from our parents and it does not necessarily have to do with wealth. I never expected them to save up or insulate my future. I have not depended on them from the day I started working. When I quit my job to pursue an MBA, I took an education loan. I bought my car on my own. My husband and I decided to pay for our wedding ourselves. In fact, my brother and I try to take care of our parents in as many ways as possible."

Corroborating Vachana Shetty's words, Ramkumar Gopisetty and his banker wife Usha, parents of two daughters, add, "An average Indian's life follows a set pattern. First, we sink all our savings and obtain a huge bank loan to buy a house. Our second priority is to upgrade from a two-wheeler to a car. Education and marriage of children also entail an enormous expense. Most families end up paying a better part of their salary as bank EMI until they retire. A middle class family can barely scrape through life, let alone amassing wealth for their children or making huge contributions to charity. Leaving large inheritances is the privilege of the rich and famous, who are a minority."

According to the Wealth Pyramid prepared by Credit Suisse, the Zurich-headquartered global financial services firm, half of the world's wealth belongs to the top one per cent. The top 10% of adults hold 85% while 90% own the remaining 15% of the world's total wealth. In India, the top 10% corner three quarters of the total wealth, while 60% of the country's fortune is held by the top one per cent. That perhaps explains why most Indians cannot save substantially or donate liberally.

Rooted in tradition

Securing the future of their progenies is not the only reason that motivates Indians to save. "India has traditionally been a feudal society with accumulation of money in a few hands, the rest being slaves to their masters. The trend continues to this day with politicians taking the place of masters. The tendency to save comes from historical facts. Being a largely agrarian country dependent on the vagaries of nature, we have developed a 'thrift gene' to insure ourselves against famine and floods. The saving might not be substantial though," explains former chairman of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board H C Sharatchandra.

Another reason that prods Indians to save is the environment of uncertainty in the absence of adequate social security measures. Says well-known nephrologist Sankaran Sunder, "In most developed countries, post-retirement expenses are taken care of by the government. Imagine a private practitioner like me who has been paying taxes for three decades and still has no social security or pension. We live an unsure life which drives us to fund our own social security by saving for the future."

Is the propensity to save making Indians tight-fisted to the point of ignoring other noble causes? "No," says N S Ravi, a social worker from Cox Town, Bengaluru, "Our financial limitations may not enable us to contribute to organised charities in a big way, but that does not mean we do not loosen our purse strings. Indian families stand up for each other, often extending financial assistance during difficulties, besides generously contributing to the education and marriage of the children of their household helps. It is just that we do not make a song and dance out of it."

True, Indians may not have deep pockets, but they surely have a large heart.

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