Iris

A very happy festive season to all of you….

My readers must have been wondering about my whereabouts,  Iris has been going article-less for more than a month. Let me assure you that Iris is alive and in search of quality stories (a reader searched for the blog under the search term “Iris, Anne de Plume the girl who died” ).  I was on a travel spree for the past one month — went to Odisha, visited Puri, Nayagarh, Dhenkanal and of course Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. During the entire trip I had only one thought — to capture  some moments of my trip through my camera lenses, just for Iris and its readers.

In this article, I present a story in pictures of Odisha — an enigma to most, a “poor” state to some and a place “rich” in natural resources to many. Though I am not a photographer by profession, through these pictures I am “sketching” the Odisha, which I witnessed in my last visit.  It is not a travel guide — of what places to visit and see, rather in this article I share with you the Odisha as I observe it through my lenses. Let us begin with the new face of Odisha.

Fortune towers

A glimpse of a  corporate complex called “Fortune Towers” in Bhubaneswar. It houses some of the leading corporate houses of the state. Odisha has recently started to witness a corporate boom and corporates too are monitoring the state closely.

The neon-lit roads

A view of the roads of Bhubaneswar at night. The white building appearing as a hazy pagoda is the new Eastern Railways office in Bhubaneswar.

People often ask  about the cuisine of Odisha. Usually people ask that “there is something called “South-Indian” food, “Bengali” cuisine or “Punjabi” cuisine, we have never heard of “Odia” cuisine. What is special in Odisha in terms of food?”  It is difficult to define Odia cuisine per say because Odisha lives in its “everydays”  and according to the rhythms of Jagannath culture and the many festivities associated with this culture. There is a saying in Odia: “barah masa terah jata (12 months and thirteen festivities)”. The special dishes like “Kanika” (sweet-flavoured rices), “Pithas” (a range of homemade snacks sometimes salted and sometimes sweet), and certain curries like “Ghantaa” are just a few of the names that come to my mind. These dishes are  associated with celebrations and festivals listed in the Odia calendar.

Food served at homes

However, what appeals to my sensibility is the food that is served as a part of our daily lives in Odia homes. The platter above has steaming hot rice with a dollop of ghee, bitter-gourd cooked in a spices and fried such that it doesn’t remain bitter , cauliflower blanched and fried, Green Saag cooked with onion and garlic, a bowl of kadhi with coriander leaves, pickle and “Santula” ,which can be of two types: Bhaja santula in which vegetables are fried with onion and turmeric and is dry, or Sijha Santula where vegetables are boiled first and then added to a chhonk of mustard seeds and garlic and a drop or two of oil. My personal favourite is the Sijha Santula.

Santula

Try a hot Sijha Santula cooked by grandmoms or moms or aunts when you have a bout of cough and cold. Believe me, it is heaven incarnated as food . This Santula is somewhat closer in taste to the Clear Soup.

Let us now move to the roads and first drive towards Puri. However, before we enter the wilderness, there is something interesting these days about the walls and roads of Bhubaneswar. The BMC (Bhubaneswar Muncipal Corporation) has developed an innovative way to enhance tourism and travel.  Walls of Bhubaneswar have been painted with murals, applique works, pattachitras, Odisha handloom patterns and so on. Here is a glimpse of the roads.

Walls painted along the roads in traditional mode

Painted with mythological stories

A traditional Odia saree pattern designed on an over-bridge

The above picture is  of an over-bridge near Jayadev Vihar square in Bhubaneswar. The  bridge and also the drive way underneath have been decorated with patterns and paintings.

A huge billboard written in Odia

The photograph  shows a huge hoarding carrying an ad of a multinational food corporation. It is being given finishing touches by people who  may not even know what the product might taste or look  like.

When you move out of Bhubaneswar towards Puri/Konark, the wide roads start snaking into  serene greenery, glades and large fields dotted with hamlets, chai shanties, handicraft shops, smaller  temples  from times immemorial whose names might also not be known.

Drive towards Puri: last rays of a setting sun

When you drive towards Puri, very close to the Dhaulagiri, you might see a serene “canal” like river, calmly flowing since yore. The river — Daya, famous or rather infamous in history for the Kalinga wars fought in 2nd century B.C.,  has been a witness to one of the bloodiest wars of history. However, when you look at it from the narrow iron bridge, it appears to laugh back at you with a mock innocence. A calm nothingness envelops when you  keep gazing at the river from the iron bars of the bridge.

A silhouette of Dhaulagiri on the hill at a distance

Daya river by the sunset

Bhubaneswar is called the “temple city” with huge structures like the Lingaraj temple or the Raja-Rani temple. However, if you look at some of these old, sometimes abandoned temples as you drive through towards Puri or for that matter any other place, you might get a feeling that time still stands motionless in some of the places of a 21st century India — said to be young and dangerously dynamic.  There are Buddhist monuments like the Dhaulagiri and Khandagiri, Udayagiri and Ratnagiri which are unparalleled in their beauty. Yet, there is something mystical and mysterious about these smaller, unknown temples that you might encounter anywhere in Odisha.

'Pan' shot of a temple on Puri highway

A typical village temple complex

On your way towards Puri,  hamlets, green fields and coconut trees abound. If you are driving then make sure to stop by and look at the applique works (Chandua) of Pipli or taste the special malpua-dalma at Chandanpur. I have always felt that the most extraordinary things of life are concealed in what appears ordinary. Odisha has famous monuments, structures and tourist destinations. Yet, the beauty of that state is concealed in what appears ordinary when you drive past or walk past these places.

At the end of a long day

A Chai Shanty

Cluster of hamlets shot from a distance

Pipli chanduas on display

There are other attractions/distractions as well. Cool clean fresh coconut water from the freshly plucked green-coconut of the coconut trees, is a must if you are an avid nature lover. There are many such coconut-water (paida-pani) selling joints on the way. If you have time and 8-10 rupees, you will be richly rewarded not only with sweet fresh water but also with the fresh malai as a refreshing and healthy snack.

Freshly plucked coconut selling joint

On our way

Puri is an experience that might be unique for each person in their own ways. For some it offers religion, for some spiritualism, for some it is a honeymoon destination, for some it is a research point on a culture which still baffles in its uniqueness and for some Puri is a family holiday destination that has something to offer to each member of the family. Puri is an enigma not because of its religious or sacred significations but because of its geographical and historical positioning in the map of India. It’s a lands end city, strongly holding on to one major human attribute — faith. I leave the concept of Puri to be explicated by the historians, pilgrims, the artists and tourists. For me, Puri is an experience which is ever-new, an experience which is a part of an inheritance as well as an intense perception of my own collective identity.

The golden sands

The grand road of Puri

Shreemandira through my lenses

(To be continued in Part-2 of “Through My Lenses”)

I seriously have been resisting getting into the debate over Slumdog Millionaire (2008 ) and thought like every busy-for-nothing “type” let film critics, media and editorials battle it out. I was happy with the “Golden Globes” and “BAFTAs” pouring in for A.R .Rehman (one of my favourite music Directors). Moreover, who cares what the rear view of a mirror is as long as it clearly reflects my image on its surface! Then, I watched the movie… re-watched with some friends…then re-watched it alone, this time to understand what comes in the way of my appreciating it and the already famous awards and acclaim that have come for it. I read the reviews, the debates and counter-debates raging over the movie. Decided to forget it — but strangely couldn’t! So, had to plunge into…better than being “sleepless in Mumbai” .

Well, let me try to piece together my confusion…

The movie is brilliantly packaged, technically sound with a contemporary story-line and significantly “cleverly marketed” as a “rags-to-riches” and a “feel-good story of the decade”. The movie lives in its strongly strewn “moments” — of love, of anger, of orphaned existence, of communal riots, of beggary, of brother seducing a brother’s love, of betrayal, of honesty versus crime, and finally the feel-good factor of “love winning it all” and “virtuous-victorious” kind of ending, which of course makes you sit up in the theatre. “And they lived happily ever after…” thus ends the movie on an optimistic note. But, considering the deaths of Salim (the brother of Jamal Malik) and the Don, if we know the underworld well, then Jamal and Latika will hardly be left in peace, they were after-all the reasons for these deaths and also they have 2 crores in hand. If the cops can be after Jamal, so can be the underworld. However, we are not supposed to question while watching a movie–suspension of disbelief. We all love “happy endings”. But, then why did some of us not smile as we came out of the theatre? Two reasons: (a) We have seen something of this movie in many other Bollywood movies, maybe better versions; (b) The cultural part: I mean the “dog” part…

The first point is the crux of my blog: (a) We have seen something of this movie in many other Bollywood movies, maybe better versions. Let me take you back to a series of movies of late 1980s and 1990s, which had similar subject lines: of course not a “Kaun Banega Crorepati?” kind of story, but stories which you identify as “Mumbaichi Katha” with love stories set in the backdrop of “problems”. They were vibrant, pulsating and often “true” pictures of Mumbai, may not be clinically and technically as evolved as Slum Dog , but had in my opinion superior content narrated in a casual matter-of-fact style. Movies that immediately come to mind are: Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989), Parinda (1989), Baaghi (1990), Sadak(1991), Bombay (1995), Satya (1998 ). No I don’t mean to compare and critique Slum Dog in the lines of these stories, my comparison rests on the fact that they belong to the same genre and to the fact that Slum Dog wins a “Golden Globe”, while some of these movies are not even known in the home audience. When you watch Salim Langde pe Mat Ro… you tend to realize how far the tentacles of the underworld seeped into the chawls of Mumbai. There is no glossing over, no overboard styles and no Mr. Bachhan prototypes in the movie. Of course one of the best examples of parallel cinema that I have ever viewed. The plot is set in the chawls of Mumbai, even the restaurants that Neelima Azim and Pavan Malhotra (in title role) frequent can be imagined as any second restaurant near railway stations like Kanjurmarg or Ghatkopar. The Hindu-Muslim equations which Slum Dog tried to portray for our western and diaspora viewers in 2008, has actually already seen its consummation in Salim Langde pe back in 1989.

When you watch Parinda, the aspect that hits right on your face is the innocent love story of Karan (ironically played by Anil Kapoor) and Paro (Madhuri Dixit) and the way they were killed by the underworld Don Anna (Nana Patekar) on their wedding bed. As far as my understanding, Parinda defines the grammar of movies in this genre. Amazing cinematography (watch the pigeons flocking and un-flocking along with gun shots near Gateway of India in the movie) and extremely touching love-hate relationship between the brothers Anil Kapoor and Jackie Shroff.

Baaghi and Sadak make you fall in love with the young, angry Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt as they battle it out for girls stuck in the red-light area of Mumbai. Sadak especially brings out amazingly well the horror of attempting to tinker with the “business” of these people. Sadashiv Amrapurkar roaring and maneuvering against Sanjay Dutt as Maharani makes you literally shiver. The “murk” of the profession is menacingly narrated with a “shrug-off” kind of narration.

Bombay of Mani Ratnam and Satya of Ram Gopal Verma are cult movies. The first, set in the backdrop of Hindu-Muslim riots of 1991 featured Arvind Swami and Manisha Koirala — a Hindu-Muslim couple strangled in the riots, are looking for their lost twin kids Kabir Narayan and Kamal Basheer in the gullies of riot-ridden Mumbai. The pain of parents who have lost their kids, the pain of two frightened siblings torn-apart by violence and the dangerous communally instigating speeches of the Hindu and Muslim leaders, Bombay is truly a Golden Globe material. I love the A.R.Rahman of “humma-humma” or “Tu Hi Re…” unabashedly more than the A.R.Rahman of “Jai Ho!” The second, Satya of RGV, marked some of the all time highs of Bollywood art.The “cool-suave” Chakravarthy playing the title role gave a new-look to new-generation underworld-operating Mumbai. Urmila Matondkar in the role of “Vidya” makes you fall in love with “innocent love” all over again.

Watch these movies if you have already forgotten them! Mr. Boyle — India has seen it all! But thanks for showing it to the “West”. Slum Dog is a cock-tail of some of these movies, combined with the cultural dimension. That brings us to the second point: (b) The cultural part: I mean the “dog” part…. Unless we learn to love ourselves for whatever we are and whatever we have, we will be kept calling “dogs” . Mr. Sekhar Kapur says in his blog that even Bandit Queen was funded by the West and so was Elizabeth, what’s wrong if Boyle makes a movie on India? Of course, nothing wrong. Except for the “Millionaire” part. Danny Boyle has chosen to make a movie on the slums of Mumbai — he has lived, shot the movie in slums and even appointed slum children as his protagonists. That’s philanthropic! But that is also forms of capitalism and neo-colonialism. Mr. Kapur doesn’t visualize the future where instead of him being a film entrepreneur, he might end up being “employed” by the huge number of Hollywood production houses investing in Indian cinema. I don’t want to see small-time Indian production houses being engulfed by the large MNCs of Hollywood. We will then have cinema made only for people living in the West. The “dog” isn’t actually slums of Mumbai. In fact, “slum dog” can be seen as a metaphor for Indian cinema, for Bollywood especially, and for India which is visualized by the “West” as a gigantic mind-boggling slum. Considering the huge success of Bollywood worldwide, “slum-dog” seems to pun on the fact that Bollywood (the slum of Hollywood) is making it big in the world film circles. However, what seems unfortunate is not the West seeing India as a “slum” but Indians perceiving themselves “through the lens of Slum Dog Millionaire” . Yes! we have slums, we have underworld, we have poverty we have communal tension! Face it! But which country in the world doesn’t have it! Racism in US or England is a different form of communalism. Look at Southern United States, the situation is extremely difficult there. There is poverty in US too — and the poverty there is worse because of its psychological dimensions. In India people who live in chawls, many of them wouldn’t want to leave those chawls for their entire lives. Some of them choose to live there. For example, look at Tehelka’s recent report on Chawls in their website.

If you intend to watch Slumdog Millionaire, watch it for its clever concoction of “Indian” stories and for its cinematography. I have high regards for Mr.Boyle, because he could actually “sell” a Bollywood masala to the West, and showed that India also has its unique story-telling capacity. But my point was that Indian cinema is also capable enough to sustain on its own. The yardstick for Oscars, Golden Globe and such awards should not define our cinema-making capabilities. The movies that I cited above in my article are some examples drawn from both parallel cinema and main-stream commercial cinema. We are capable of matured movie making even without international acclaim.

Maybe that’s what they call — “art for art’s sake” …