Sunday Long Reads: SS Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’, Ranveer Singh’s superstardom, Christmas special recipes, book reviews, and more

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Beyond Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, who’s the biggest Bollywood star globally?

Ranveer Singh was recently seen in the film Cirkus.

If I had a dirham for every “Sharookaan! Amitabacchan!!” I was smilingly greeted with — one flowing word, never two — during my short stay in Morocco, each time I went in and out of the venue of the Marrakech International Film Festival, I would have returned with a heavy piggy bank. A lovely young usher sang out “Namaste”, stopping to chat with me in halting but clear Hindi, and when I asked her how she speaks it so well, she said she is a big fan of Hindi movies.

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All I Want for Christmas: A writer’s recipe for happiness

The following Christmas, I got my mother to give me the family recipe for doughnuts so I could make a batch. This recipe is an old one, and the doughnut-making used to be an important part of Christmas preparations when I was a child.

I grew up in a pre-globalisation India: the burgers and pizzas we knew were from Nirula’s, and doughnuts were something my mother made at Christmas.

I adored those doughnuts: mildly sweet, cake-like dense, fragrant with spice. This was why, when the first commercially made doughnuts arrived in Delhi (Dunkin’ Donuts opened in 2012), I was disappointed. Fluffy, bready, and devoid of much flavour if you took away the toppings or fillings: this is not what doughnuts should be like, I declared the first time I had one.

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The spirit of Christmas: Writer Jerry Pinto on food, family and compassion

Among the pleasures of Christmas then, may we never forget the hungry. (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)

I have to say this upfront. There is nothing in this piece that represents my community: Goan Roman Catholics living in Mumbai. We were defined by many other factors even if this religious and exilic identity was also part of the mix. My father did not think we should have a servant unless we could pay a decent wage, and so, this meant that we did all our own housework, including the cooking.

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The thing that makes a Christmas lunch extra special

Meat cutlets and biryani have been a Christmas staple in many homes. (Photo credit: Simy Mathew)

My love for cooking stems from all the special meals that my mum cooked for occasions. We rarely ate out, instead choosing to try out Mum’s latest creations. She always made sure that something special was made for Christmas, New Year, Easter, and birthdays. She would painstakingly go through magazines and scour the latest recipes and try something new especially from the Desserts section. Christmas lunch at our home would invariably be biryani in a different style every year. Breakfast would be appam and stew, lunch would be biryani and cutlets followed by pudding – there was always pudding!

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Surabhi Dahiya’s ‘Indian Media Giants’ offers glimpses into how the Indian media has evolved since Independence

Indian Media Giants: Unveiling the Business Dynamics of Print Legacies; Surabhi Dahiya; Oxford University Press; 1040 pages; Rs 3475 (Photo: Amazon.in)

What was the Indian media like before Independence? What idealistic fervour did it have then, and what does it stand for today? How did numerous media giants grow from humble beginnings? Surabhi Dahiya attempts to uncover this in Indian Media Giants: Unveiling the Business Dynamics of Print Legacies. The 1040-page tome traverses the journey of six major media houses, their strategies and growth.

Through examples, anecdotes and interviews, she takes us through the time before Independence when the media primarily advocated for emancipation from British rule and focussed on nation-building after attaining freedom. Starting a newspaper before Independence was synonymous with the freedom movement, and profits were not on the horizon. The idea was to motivate people and make them think. However, it soon metamorphosed into a business proposition where profits mattered in a commercialised eco-system that punctuates the media today.

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Home birds: A look at the best of the avian world

Baby Babbler (Credit: Ranjit Lal)

All the birds that make up this top 10 have meant something special to me in one way or another. Even if some are extremely common, I can watch and listen to them for hours: they are amusing, talented and brimming with character.

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A history lover traces ancient India’s contribution to board games and martial arts

Window to Ancient India: A Tryst with Ancient Science & Philosophy | Part 1:
Chess, Board Games & Martial Arts
Satish S. Joglekar
StoryMirror Infotech
184 pages
Rs 250 (Source: Amazon.in)

Great contributions were made in ancient India in various fields of learning, including astronomy, mathematics, Ayurveda, yoga, philosophy, linguistics, grammar and others. Then, there is our great cultural wealth, spanning music, dance and literature. While we are aware of this, usually it is only scholars of ancient studies who know the details. The vast majority of us have to be satisfied with a sense of pride, while remaining ignorant about what those achievements really were. Satish Joglekar’s book fills this lacuna.

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Bhairavi Jani’s debut book Highway to Swades explores the role of community and heritage in India’s nation-building

Highway to Swades: Rediscovering India’s Superpowers

Bhairavi Jani
HarperCollins
Rs 699
432 pages (Source: Amazon.in)

India, at present, seems to be tiptoeing on more wrongs than rights. From bigotry to discrimination, ideological disparity to prejudiced stereotyping, every day brings with it a piece of news that screams hatred.

In a climate where the country is beset with regrets, Bhairavi Jani’s book, Highway to Swades: Rediscovering India’s Superpowers, lends some calming notes of hope.

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Former bureaucrat KM Chandrasekhar’s memoir offers a ringside view of the workings of India’s corridors of power

Taj Mahal Palace hotel at Colaba in Mumbai lit up as part of preparations of G-20 summit (Express photo by Pradip Das)

As Good as My Word by KM Chandrasekhar, who was the Cabinet Secretary from 2007-2011, starts as an autobiography with graphic details of his childhood, schooling and college education, set within the confines of a modest but disciplined Malayali home. The next part delves into his joining the IAS and the early years in his home state Kerala. Both segments, however, pale into insignificance compared to the latter part of the book which deals with a largely unknown but hugely important world of international trade. This is followed by a throwback into a series of tumultuous political events, including recent ones — and their cascading effect on public polity.

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To all our daughters and their mothers

To all our daughters and their mothers (Credit: Suvajit Dey)

Daughter: You let father humiliate me in front of everyone. How can I ever trust you after that betrayal?
Mother: I am just trying to hold our family together. Why do you make such a big deal about everything?
Daughter: There you go gaslighting me again!
Mother: Why don’t you try to understand me?
Daughter: Why don’t you try to understand me first?

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