Monthly Archives: June 2013

We asked the Delhi based art critic, writer, curator and translator about his experiences .

Here’s Johny ML’s take on travel and experience
Travel Deal: Which is your favorite travel destination? And why?
JohnyML: Favorite destinations change depending on the nature of traveling. I am not a person bitten by travel bug. But I do travel a lot as a part of my work. When it comes to traveling for pure enjoyment Kanya Kumari is a place I would like to visit again and again. Known to the rest of the world as Cape Comerin, Kanya Kumari is a place where three oceans, the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea meet. It is the southern tip of India. This place is nostalgically connected with me as there used to be annual family visits to this place during my childhood. Kanyakumari Temple, Vivekananda Rock and Thiruvalluvar Statue are the major attractions. Though the nature of seashore has changed over a period of time, I still look for those small crabs running along the shore and hiding in small holes, differently colored sands and shells. This is my favorite destination because I find some amount of peace in this place. Besides, on the way to Kanya Kumari, one could visit Sucheedram Temple and Padmanabhapuram Palace with wonderful murals. Both the bus and train journeys to Kanyakumari from Trivandrum are refreshing as the landscape along the way is really interesting.

TD: What’s your favorite street food?
JML: When I travel South, I prefer to eat from Tattukadas, makeshift eateries that become active only by evening. These eateries are different from dhabas of the North. Tattukadas serve you with good dosas, idlis, fish fries and many other vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies. I like to eat parottas and mutton fry from these shops.

TD: What’s your memorable journey?
JML: Most of the journeys are memorable ones. Traveling from Bastar to Narayanpura in Chattisgarh is one such memorable journey. Naraynpura is a Maoist center. We drove from Bastar to meet a tribal sculptor living in the Naxal region. We were advised to return by sunset by the Army deployment. Somehow we could not make it by that time. As we drove back it was pitch dark. The forests on either side had Mahua trees that yielded flowers with alcoholic contents. Tribal people set fire under each tree during the flowering season. We witnessed a vast land with trees circled by the girdles of fire. It was thrilling though we were partly benumbed by the fear of a possible Maoist attack on our vehicle.

TD: Could you narrate one of your funny travel experiences?
JML:When you are in it, no experience is a funny experience. But in retrospection they could look funny. I would rather recollect a happy and touching experience. Once I was traveling from Delhi to Kerala by train. A person from Lakshadweep befriended me during the journey. He was helping everyone in the train, to collect water, to fetch food or any chores like that. I got curious and he narrated his story to me. In an island everyone helps everyone else. That was the lesson I learnt from him. I recounted this experience in an article which got published in a very popular magazine in Kerala. A few weeks later, when I went to book my ticket back to Delhi, a booking clerk at the window, after looking at my application form asked me whether I was the same person who wrote about a guy from Lakshadweep. I said yes. Then he told me that the same person had come to book the ticket a week before at the same counter and they had talked about my article. This remains a very happy and touching experience in my journeys so far.

TD: Where does your work take you often?
JML: Work often takes me to Mumbai and Ahmedabad. In Mumbai I work with galleries and artists and in Ahmedabad I teach in two academies, National Institute of Design and CEPT University respectively. I enjoy spending time in Mumbai because in this city you could be simply anonymous. I walk into galleries, see shows, go to Samovar Restaurant at the Jehangir Gallery and occasionally meet some familiar people. I like Mumbai as a destination though I do prefer to live in Delhi.

TD: What is your take on art and travel?
JML: Somewhere I have written that travel is always filled with the unexpected even if it is a chartered one. Absolute strangers come up to help you or you meet up with people whose life stories could change your perspective. If you are an art/culture person, you are inclined to look out for such things during your journey. Travels reveal the characteristic features of the places where you travel and character of each place is constituted by the living cultures; it could be traditional as well as contemporary. You could read the people by looking at the images in the public domain. Artists and art people should travel as it is integral for developing and enriching their experiences and world view.

TD: Which is your get away place where you want to spend time alone?
JML: When you are not traveling, it is always my study room. But when I am traveling, I wish to spend time in small temples and or near temple ponds. I do not call it meditation but such places give you some kind of calmness. My experience is that I could go blank in such places. My favorite get away place is Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad. Whenever I get a chance I go there and sit for a long time. I just think about Mahatma Gandhi and his days there. Perhaps, I always like to live my life in an ashram, devoting myself completely to reading, writing, meeting people and listening to them.

TD:How does travelling help you as an art critic? Does travel help you in understanding art better?How?
JML: As I mentioned before, I am not an avid traveler like many others in our art scene. But travelling does help me expand the scope of my experience about contemporary art and history. I speak less and listen to artists a lot. I speak only when I am asked to speak. Whenever I travel, I try to visit the studios of artists and listen a lot from them. Listening to their version of art is always important to formulate a critical idea about the art scene which you are writing about. If at all I have learnt any lesson from my traveling it is this: each person out there has a story worth listening to. Each artist has potential and an interesting life. But I gauge their life with their ambitions, aspirations and philosophy; and most of them fall flat in my eyes when I come to know that they are more keen on certain ideas about ‘success’ than the art they produce which could take them to that ‘success.’ Really good artists do not talk about success or opportunities. They talk about their art and success naturally comes to them.

When it’s the Wies’n – local speak for Oktoberfest – in Munich, the Bavarian capital, around seven million people make the pilgrimage to Theresienwiese. This is the world’s biggest beer festival, so the catering is on a massive scale: millions of roast chickens are eaten and a veritable herd of spit-roast oxen is washed down by several million towering mugs of beer. Dating back over 200 years, the Oktoberfest is a hallowed tradition that, despite its size, still spells out what it means to be Bavarian.

It has millions of international fans and has spawned many imitations around the world – but there can only ever be one original Oktoberfest. Ever since Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria married Princess Therese in 1810 and a grand horse race was held in a field on the edge of the city, the site has been known as Theresienwiese – and the Oktoberfest as the Wies’n. Traditionally the festivities begin on the dot of noon on the first Saturday after 15 September, when the mayor of Munich taps the first keg and yells “O’zapft is!” Once the Oktoberfest is officially open, a twelve-gun salute signals to the bar staff to get the beer flowing and then there’s no holding back. The 10,000 seats in the beer tents start to fill up, the fairground rides whirl, the band strikes up and it’s party time. Be sure to book your hotel room well in advance because, like the seats in the beer tents, they’re few and far between at Wiesn time.This year too the festival would be a grand event with official opening by the mayor of Munich On Saturday 21 September 2013 followed by  a Procession of brewers and their families to the Oktoberfest .On Tuesday 24 September children and parents could enjoy a family day outing with everything offered at reduced prices Saturday 28 September would celebrate the fun Italian weekend when it is Flirt-time at the Oktoberfest
Sunday 29 September would observe the Half time of the Oktoberfest by having a
Concert by Wiesn bands on the Bavaria statue steps
followed by Prosecco- Wiesn in the Fischer-Vroni tent on Monday 30 September.
Sunday 6 October 12 noon would be marked by Traditional gun salute on the Bavaria statue steps

©GNTB.

In almost 20 years this was my first one month long vacation which I spent in hot yet cool environs of my mountainous native place in Kokan. But as the day to return to Mumbai neared, I could sense my longing to be in Mumbai, especially to visit my favorite hangout place Colaba Causeway.
Colaba Causeway being a cultural and art hub with galleries, theatres, museum and residential areas that are backed by historic references, the place offers attractive, modern and trendy fashion fiesta with its pavement shopping galore that sell clothes, junk accessories etc attracting both Indian and tourists. One can not only hop and shop a whole day on these streets and study the place of old world charm that still holds stone-walled buildings, attractive squares, but along with it the one place that arouses taste buds to try out traditional and cultural cuisines that are offered at restaurants and cafes which are of our grand dad’s age or little more than that. At last, a day after my arrival in Mumbai I landed up there and felt like a fish taken out of water for a few minutes and put back again in water before it suffocated. A fish in me survived! I decided to explore all the eaters and restaurants that I could in a day’s time. I started with the square ahead of electric house and walked in a lane which has New Martin Hotel.
Seafood is always a healthy option for non-vegetarians and if it is from New Martin Hotel then everything becomes fair in dieting and over-eating! New Martin Hotel, at Strand Road, near Strand Cinema offers a Goan style seafood. Fresh fishes from Sasoon Dock include salmon, Bombay duck, mackerel, king fish, lobster, butter fish, gold fish, black promfret, octopus are the most loved varieties served hot either steamed, in curry or simply crispy fried. The ‘Sole-Kadhi’; a sweet and sour juicy preparation made from blend of kokum, green chilies and coconut juice is simply lip smacking! Fish, Sole-kadhi and rice is a complete meal that leaves you full and compels you to stroll after your stomach cries for little empty space to feel light.
Walking down towards Fort becomes interesting as we move watching and collection antiques and other things from the pavements. Cinema poster at Regal cannot be skipped and also a look at Lal Bahadur Shastri’s ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ slogan below his statue. Taking a left turn I visited National Gallery of Modern Art and after a long time I was back in my artist’s abode, watching the thoughtful paintings by legendry and new artists. It was just 4.00 p.m when a come out of the gallery, feeling fresh by being in air-conditioned gallery, but within seconds the sweltering heat and humidity caught me and I decide to go back again on the street of Colaba Causeway. The pavements have juice stalls where you get fresh fruit juices in minutes. But instead of going in for fresh fruits I urged to be a sporty and spirited with the chilled bear and some cool snacks, so which would be better place than Café Mondegar? Just down the block of Regal Cinema, I entered the ever crowded café and took a seat near entrance door (Luck was kind to me on, so I got a seat there). Café Mondegar has its own charm instead of being jam packed at any time of the day. With the best jukebox, cartoons on walls and carefree crowd it seems worries and bothers are afraid to enter here. Chilled bear is its specialty. The Chinese and Continental cuisines and snacks are preferred over Indian dishes. Nonetheless French fries are all time munching favorites with dudes who want to enjoy drink only with nominal munch. My spirits uplifted and feeling cool down my nerves I strolled back on the street. It is interesting that every lane, by-lane and road here leads to something interesting, worth watching and not to forget appetizing! I decide Gateway of India as my next destination. The cool breeze of Arabian Sea and huge Taj Mahal hotel on the opposite end has always been exciting for me. The fortress like Gate though built to welcome Queen Victoria, always gives me an illusion that it is there to welcome me (Wow! What a grand welcome I think to myself) and then there are these ‘Chana jor garam’ vendors who sell gram flakes with little tangy chili powder and a dash of lime. Though it is a cheap road side snack one cannot hold back the desire to have at least on serving. And also you cannot miss on Jumbo sized glass of fresh sugarcane juice.
Moving on I take a road behind Taj Mahal Hotel and enter the by- lane where there is Baghdadi restaurant just next to Bade Miyan. It’s a family style, non- air-conditioned restaurant famous for large sized Khaboos roti that can be eaten with mutton or chicken. But personally I prefer chicken preparation whether masala gravy or simply grilled. It’s awesome and fulfilling, but my girlfriends hesitate to come there as they find very odd sitting there and feel its little average in terms of service and hardly find any woman relishing meal over there.
Bade Miyan! What to say about it? It is Mumbai’s world famous road-side most sought after non-vegetarian joint. It’s a fun to take a new visitor to its location during day time and again in evening. During day time it is closed and the lane is comparatively quiet only with some shop owners and pedestrians hurrying for work. Located on a few feet away from Taj Mahal, it does not make any impression all through the day but ….come evening and the Bade Miyan projects its popularity. The lane is adorned with line of cars parked on the side and its makeover is like that of a fair. The three to four carts of Bade Miyan parked in line are full of Seekh Kababs, Chicken Egg Roll, Bhuna chicken, Chiken- tikka roll and not to side line-  Rumali rotis! The atmosphere of mass enjoyment and chit-chatting people hogging together even post-midnight makes the place unique. It simply amazing being there and offers Value For Money. So all those who love to be alone yet be crowded with people this is the one place you should never miss when you are in Mumbai and close to huge Arabian Sea.
For all those who love organized setup of restaurants, with proper formal service and air-conditioned dining hall and attractive walls and seats  you have Delhi Darbar that stands on the opposite side of the main road and adjacent to Electric House. It has Indian cuisine. Very well set-up, great service and above all great North Indian food. Simply have meals to heart’s delight.
On its left on the same side of the road is a small Café Olympia. It is my most favorite place to dine. It is very old café and legendary painter M.F.Hussain’s favorite place. There is nothing unusual or unique about this place. It has old world charm with the teak wood chair and tables with white marble base. A non-air-condition, simple café, is famous for its morning breakfast of Kheema Pao. It’s relishing to have it hot with a cup of Irani style tea or chai. The taste of this specialty and Mughlai dishes served here have not changed with times. The food is tasty and cheap. You can have a sumptuous meal within Rs 250. The rotis, Mutton masala, Chicken masala with additional Shorba if you want, great tasting Biryani, Aloo parathas or simply Tandoori chicken I love every dish served here. The waiters are soft spoken and never delay in serving. As you sit upstairs and watch all the staff bend in reverence to Allah during Namaaz time, you too admire their spirituality and feel peace within. Both Indians and tourists love it. In fact, my friends who are settled in foreign countries do visit Olympia when in India, Mumbai. To end the meal the best dessert you can opt for is Pudding, served in a simple plate with no garnishing. Also observe that on the counter there are Uncles in stainless white robes, they are owners of course, but I sometimes smile and think even the men on counters have dress code…
On the opposite side of Olympia stands more than 150 years old Leopold Café which came into being along with Café Mondegar, both built by Iranians. Leopold Café is always bustling mostly with tourists from all over the world. They chill out there with chilling beer and snacks. The dishes are bland but suits foreigners’ taste. It has some age old printout of ads of wine, food and also has paintings. After 26/11 attack, it has an addition of bullet marks on walls and glasses that attract people towards it.
Other attractions for foodies are the Ming’s Café, Café Churchill. Ming’s Café serves some of the superb Chinese cuisines and Café Churchill I like for its cozy atmosphere, fish and steaks.
For hygiene conscious people who want to enjoy Chaats, Paani puris, Paav-bhaaji Kailash Parbat is the right place. You can also have some vegetarian delights. Punjabi curries like methi matar malai, Paneer Mutter, Chana masala, Chole Bathure, Club Sandwich or Thali, different kinds of Lassi, Samosas and sweet dishes like rasgulla, gulab jamun and fresh fruit juices etc. Also one can try snacks at Gokul. For formal and quiet ambience enter Picadilly and have some peaceful, undisturbed dining experience.
The talk of food and food joint has wavered me from my writing about my day spent at Colaba Causeway, but I don’t mind. Even if I am not a Hotel Management graduate, I still have good taste for food and luckily I am able to serve my artistic instincts and appetite in the same area. Hope you too have and enjoy soon…

By Tathi Premchand

An age-old tradition with a new perspective of developing heritage tourism of Orissa

Orissa (Odisha) which has been Kalinga of Mauryan age and Utakala of Mahabharata fame offers a delicacy of prosperous cultural as well as natural heritage in form of splendid architecture and magnificent beaches. The historical significance of this place lies in the fact that it completely transformed Mauryan emperor Ashoka after the massacre of Kalinga war, and the warrior became a great disciple of Buddhism.
Heritage of Orissa both tangible and intangible is fruit of the golden era, which, still stands today as evidence to a glorious past. The temples of Orissa are essential part of tangible as well as intangible cultural heritage of the state.

Amongst many splendid and marvelous temples of Orissa, the temple of Jagannath Puri holds a prominent place. Constructed during 11th -12th Century A.D in the reign of imperial Gangas the temple also known as Purushottam Jagannath is dedicated to Lord Vishnu’s incarnation as Lord Jagannath. It has been the centre of art and culture of Orissa, the culture that once developed with the community and the rituals and festivals, along with the idea of pilgrims has put a lot of emphasis on the integrative role of the temple. It can be put forth that its living traditions and the legacy which is carried forward for thousands of years has contributed to the development of heritage tourism of the state to a large extent. One such example is the grand Rath Yatra or car festival of Jagannath Puri which takes place every year during the month of mid June or first week of July. The Rath Yatra festival is part of the rich cultural heritage of Orissa and upholds age old tradition in its living form.
The popular belief behind the origin of this chariot or car festival is that every year during the month of Ashadh (June-July) the divine trinity i.e. Lord Jagannth (Krishna), his elder brother Lord Balabhadra, and their sister Devi Subhadra leave the temple in three ornate chariots for nine days to their aunt’s abode in Gundicha temple. Devotees pull the chariots all the way along the Grand Road of Puri to the temple. It is believed that divine trinity pours blessings on those who pull the chariots. Lakhs of devotees coming from long distances throng the temple to view the grandeur of spectacle.
The whole cycle of the car festival consists of the following rituals: (i) The Bathing Festival or Snana Yatra, (ii) Anasara, (iii) Netra Utsab, (iv) Naba Jaubana Darsana, (v) The ceremonial procession of images which is otherwise known as Pahandi, (vi) Sweeping of the floor of the chariots by golden broom by Gajapati maharaja of Puri, it is also known as Chherapanhara,(vii) Stay of the Deities in Gundicha Ghar for 7 days, (viii) The return journey of Gods which is known as Bahuda Yatra and (ix) The final return of lord Jagannath to the temple.

As far as heritage tourism of the state goes the car festival is one such major religio-economic activity which has contributed to the revival of intangible cultural heritage. Tourism is regarded as the driving force and promoter of cultural heritage, a medium of cultural conservation, and a source of revenue and employment generation. Since ancient times pilgrims from all over India used to come every year to witness the procession and pilgrims gradually developed relations with sevayatas of Sri Jagannath temple.  They have been warmly attending the pilgrims and making all sorts of arrangements for them for the convenient Darshana of deity and the whole procession. Traditionally the sevayatas or temple priests are responsible for the promotion of Jagannath Dham. The priests of Jagannath Temple were sent across various parts of the country to propagate the glory of Lord Jagannath. At the same time they were entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the flow of visitors and pilgrims. To the present day and time this tradition is being followed consistently. This has been the strategy to spread the splendor of Lord Jagannath and the temple, in addition people were persuaded to visit Jagannath temple and car festival. It can be said to be the present day marketing strategy to develop heritage tourism.
Earlier there have been separate priests or pandas responsible for separate groups of pilgrims flowing into temple from various states of India. They would guide the pilgrims during their visits to Puri, moreover they were well versed with the language of the particular pilgrim group assigned to them. All the native Pandas with this pilgrim business regularly used to visit these areas and promoted Jagannath cult as well as the destination.

With passing time a number of new systems developed and more and more organizations and Government Departments got involved in the marketing. Marketing helps to create new customers by way of first identifying their needs and then trying to satisfy these. Since, Sri Jagannath Temple Administration, with the cooperation of State Administration as a whole, organizes the Car Festival as a super event, State Tourism Department, India Tourism and various other Travel and Tour Operators try to market the event at various levels.

Since Car Festival is a living and a mega traditional event, it offers an exotic tourism product. The Temple Administration wholeheartedly organizes the event and takes care for its publicity. In fact Temple Administration has produced the chronology and sequence of the Car Festival well in advance and circulates it to all outlets set up in India. State Tourism Department and Orissa Tourism Development Corporation are major source for marketing of the mega events under the heading “Fairs and Festivals”. Although the activities of the organizations are well planned but not noticeable at the state level. As far as wide publicity is concerned, it needs a combined effort to market the destinations as well. The whole destinatioin which offers the beautiful art and architecture along with endless numbers of interpretations, legends, folk tales and history of this place, can be combined and amalgamated with this event. This combination in itself will boast of an exciting heritage tourism package.

Ragini Bhat