Indholdsfortegnelse for March 21, 2016 i India Today

In character, the Indian establishment is no different from the Paxman prototype. It is a permanent if amorphous institution, yet most fluid in its constitution. The government is still the most punchy economic and social engine in India. As such, the most obvious practitioners of power are those who hold political office or man the best civil service jobs. The INDIA TODAY compilation of the High and Mighty excludes these statist symbols. It focuses, rather, on those who exercise influence not thanks to their designation, but due to their innate abilities, acumen or sheer adeptness in “getting things done”. Power in India flows from, broadly, five sources: politics and government, business, entertainment—in effect, the cricket-cinema coalition— religion and the media. Neither the power people nor, indeed, the five founts themselves…

The India Today High and Mighty List has always had its share of plutocrats and popular stars, public intellectuals and persistent nuisances. It is a chronicle of people who influence society and culture beyond their immediate provenance. A tycoon who lives in a tall tower doesn’t become powerful by virtue mainly of the wealth that insulates him from the teeming slums below. A movie star who matches a late-night talk show host wing for wing in a chicken-eating contest doesn’t become influential merely because she’s playing a multi-ethnic FBI recruit in an American soap. A young student union leader doesn’t acquire importance merely because he is articulate. The tycoon exercises power through the industries he encompasses and the way he intersects our lives. The movie star becomes high and mighty…

One of the perceptible fallouts of the Narendra Modi government’s centralised system of governance, a hybrid of the US Presidential style system operating within a Westminster democracy, has been the continuing rise of the bureaucracy. Power, it would seem, has shifted from the elected representatives occupying Cabinet posts to the officialdom handling key levers of government. This is because the Modi PMO, the most powerful in decades, is reminiscent of the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv years. The PMO selects the officials responsible for executing the NDA government’s vision. These are officials entrusted with the responsibility of vetting and selecting other key bureaucrats, men who run the economy, drive foreign policy, interface with the judiciary and formulate the security agenda. Many officials, a majority of whom make up Modi’s inner circle…

HANSAL MEHTA Bordering on Indie, his movies are realistic portrayals of the trials of the less-privileged IMTIAZ ALI Lost characters, life-changing journeys, the sheer power of romance and all it entails MEGHNA GULZAR Thought-provoking and insistent, her movies are about the many things that fall through the cracks PRADEEP SARKAR Driven women and their battles occupy Sarkar, who combines entertainment with substance to create emotional dramas ROHAN SIPP A blend of comedy, drama and action are essential aspects in Sippy’s cinematic universe To celebrate 40 years of its existence, INDIA TODAY roped in five celebrated directors to tell their stories in a brand-new format for an evolving world. Small screen. Low budget. Short in length. Each of them revelled in the opportunity to say something relevant about the times we…

Master Strokes Till March 10 Art buffs will get their first-ever view of 80 works of Jamini Roy, as an exhibition of the 20th century master comes to the capital. Unveiling a set of drawings and paintings that had remained part of a private collection, the 42-day show at Dhoomimal Gallery will feature Roy’s work from more than a half-century-old assemblage of Uma and Ravi Jain Estate. Curated by critic-scholar Uma Nair, the works at ‘Carved Contours’ represent Roy’s inspiration from the Kalighat paintings of Kolkata and the ‘Pat’ style of rural Bengal. Done on cloth, board and paper, the show features a series of simple monumental images of sari-clad women, village dancers and domestic animals besides madonnas, Christ and the famed Ramayan series. At Dhoomimal Gallery, G-42, Connaught Place…

Everywhere you look around in Kareena Kapoor Khan’s living room in Bandra, all you find are framed photographs—some are even perched against a sofa—and books. Before we take her for a bibliophile, she quickly points out that they all belong to her husband Saif Ali Khan, who is a voracious reader. After three years of marriage, his influence is increasing as she says, “I have a small shelf that’s growing.” Her favourite spot in the house is one next to the living room; a tiny balcony. It’s got a dainty white coffee table and is decorated with plants and flowers. The view of drab buildings doesn’t evoke the feeling of being in Paris or Italy as she claims, but it will do for her. This is home. Settled on the…

MINIMAL FLARE As less is more now, the denim dress perfectly falls in that category. Complete the look with ethnic footwear, silver accessories and a neat bun. Bhane denim crew dress `1,900 Amrapali earrings `2,900; bracelet `11,500; anklet `8,800 Fabindia kolhapuris `1,390 THE BOLD BOHEMIAN Explore your boho self; pair denim shorts with an oversized white top, gladiators and play around with the silhouettes. Add some colourful accessories, knit braids and you are good to go. H&M blouse `2,999; shorts `1,799; scarf `1,999; gladiators `1,799; hat `1,799 Amrapali ring `13,200 Fabindia bag `2,290; neckpiece `1,090 (long) and `1,290 (short) CLASSIC CONTEMPORARY Celebrate the traditional drape with the modern denim. Beautiful, casual and comfortable is all you get. Anubha Jain denim sari `14,000; blouse `4,500 Amrapali necklace `3,900; cuff `8,800; earrings…

German philosopher Friedrich Schiller described power as the most persuasive rhetoric. But there are different kinds of power. The kind that flows through the barrel of a gun, feeding on fear and breeding negativism. The kind that is transient and vested in an office, hard to win and easy to lose, sometimes leading to arbitrariness and often encouraging the worst kind of cronyism. And then there is a subliminal power that impacts the world we live in—touching us in ways we don’t even understand. When we decided to put together our India Today High & Mighty special issue 13 years ago, we were clear about the kind of power we wanted to document and celebrate. That is why our list does not include presidents, prime ministers, ministers, leaders of political…

Karl Marx once remarked that “Indian society has no history at all, at least no known history”. That statement is now seen as an example of the wrongheaded, dismissive view of India taken by many Europeans during the colonial era. In a bizarre turn of events, however, some modern Indians seem intent on making Marx’s statement into a reality by deleting significant periods of India’s past from the history books. In the past week, a cadre of Hindu nationalists has unleashed a Twitter campaign to remove the Mughal Empire from Indian history books using the hashtag, #Remove MughalsFromBooks. Hindu nationalists have long pushed to saffronise Indian history and villainise the Mughals but this campaign is far more outlandish. The goal is to erase the Mughals from India’s past altogether. #RemoveMughalsFromBooks,…

STREET JUSTICE Pappu Yadav will give Rs 10 lakh to citizens lynching a corrupt official or politician. A sting will get them Rs 25,000. JAIL REFORMER UP cabinet minister for prisons, Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, plans to release 2,149 prisoners who are over 60 years old CLARION CALL Karnataka energy minister D.K. Shivakumar got 10,000 angry calls for the arrest of a man who phonestalked him for poor power supply with ROMITA DUTTA, AMARNATH K. MENON, ANANTH KRISHNAN, JEEMON JACOB, SANTOSH KUMAR, ROHIT PARIHAR, AMITABH SRIVASTAV, ASHISH MISRA, ARAVIND GOWDA…

The Displaced People who didn’t make it to the Power List 7* DEEPAK PAREKH Banker 9* A.M. NAIK Group Executive Chairman, Larsen &Toubro Limited 14* M.S. DHONI ODI and T20 Captain for India 19* NATARAJAN CHANDRASEKARAN CEO and MD, TCS 24* AJAY PIRAMAL Chairman, Piramal Group 30* KAPIL SHARMA Stand-up Comedian 32* N. SRINIVASAN Former Chairman, BCCI 35* FALI S. NARIMAN Jurist 36* ARVIND PANAGARIYA Vice-chairman, Niti Aayog 40* KUNAL BAHL Co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal 42* CHETAN BHAGAT Author 45* RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR Venture Capitalist and Rajya Sabha Member 46* ADI GODREJ Chairman, Godrej Group 49* R.K. PACHAURI Former Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change *Last Year’s Ranking…

There was a collective cheer as the man of the moment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, walked on stage for his biggest overseas outreach yet, at the Wembley Stadium in London in November 2015. This was just one stop in a series of meticulously planned and orchestra ted diaspora events that Modi and his men put together in the course of the year, charting an impressive circuit and connecting with Indians overseas at multiple levels. From addressing sharp young minds at Silicon Valley, where he touched upon the need to turn India into a digital economy, to wooing Indians at Madison Square Garden in New York, crowds in Sydney, Dubai, Shanghai, Toronto, and even Singapore, PM Modi made it amply clear that the overseas Indian was a key stakeholder in India’s…

SISTER ACT Delhi girl and Kingfisher model Aisha Sharma has landed a dream debut. Sister of model Neha Sharma, Aisha will star opposite Varun Dhawan in Judwaa 2. But audiences down south could get first access as she stars in Telugu and Kannada film Rogue too. RIDING ALONG Freida Pinto has got a new man in her life in polo player Ronnie Bacardi. She has a new assignment too, albeit it’s behind the scenes. She’ll be the voice of the adoptive mother in Jungle Book: Origins. This one hits screens next year. MAN TO WATCH Having worked with the three Khans and Amitabh Bachchan, who next for Nawazuddin Siddiqui? One of Hindi cinema’s favourite stars, Sridevi. If it’s anything like his turn in Vidya Balan’s Kahaani, this could be fun.…

HEALING LIVES Ria Sharma, 23 Founder and President, Make Love Not Scars DURING THE LAST semester of her fashion degree at Leeds College of Arts, Ria Sharma realised she's completely uninspired to pursue the course further. Armed with a picture of an acid attack survivor, she approached her professors at the college who advised her to go back to India and make a documentary on the subject. Before she knew, she found herself standing in front of the burns ward of a government hospital. "I started meeting the survivors while I was working on the documentary. I was so intrigued by their stories and wanted to know more," says Sharma. That’s how Make Love Not Scars was born as an organisation in April 2014. Along with her volunteers , she…

PAMPER PERFECT Aashima Sharma, 39, General Manager, Park Hyatt WHAT MAKES A SPA THE MOST POPULAR REQUEST DURING THE wedding season? “The fact that it engages a bride in a ‘cleanse, restore and uplift’ ritual, preparing her for a new journey in life. This journey—needless to say—is best started with a pure inner sanctum,” says Aashima Sharma, general manager, Park Hyatt, Chennai. Sharma is the new face of Park Hyatt Chennai, having joined the hotel as the new general manager less than two months ago. She’s also one the youngest to have held this position, and this fact lends itself to her keen, dynamic persona, understanding every little therapy that has been conceptualised into their spa catalogue. Antahpura draws from the rich history of ancient Indian wellness practices to unlock…

She’s a woman working in a man’s world, but that has never stopped Anjana Reddy, 28, from marching ahead and that too on her own terms. As the Founder and MD of Universal Sportsbiz Pvt. Ltd. (USPL), she’s managed to bring together sports and fashion in a unique way bringing out fashion brands curated by leading sports personalities including Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sania Mirza, Saina Nehwal and Vishwanathan Anand among others. She’s also launched Collectabillia, an online portal that lets fans get access to limited edition merchandise of their favourite sporting icons. Based out of Bangalore, she’s also a former sportsperson herself, having played badminton at the national level along with Saina Nehwal. Having started USPL in 2012, she’s managed to achieve an impressive amount of success in a…

From playing a simple, farmer’s wife from rural Rajasthan in her debut film Citylights against actor Rajkumar Rao, in 2014, to acting in Vikram Bhatts’s urban thriller Love Games to be released in April, actor Patralekhaa has come a long way. The Shillong-born, 26-year-old beauty who worked in TV commercials before entering Bollywood, is evidently both experimental and versatile as seen in her brief, but impressive career graph. Daughter of a chartered accountant father, she realised during her boarding days at Bishop Cotton Girl’s School, Bangalore, that she was not cut out for academics. “I always knew that I wanted to be an actor,” she says. It was during her time at boarding school that she got exposed to multiple cultural activities ranging from stage and drama, to singing, dancing…

MARCH 7, 2016 “The space for alternative narratives within the Indian State is dwindling. The arbitrary labelling of its own citizens as anti-national is a clear reflection of a uniform state policy.” SURYA SANKAR SEN, via e-mail Division Sums The BJP under Narendra Modi has over the years refined the politics of polarisation to a high art. As the chief minister of Gujarat, his inaction in the pogrom of 2002 paid him rich electoral dividend just a year later. Again in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, ‘reverse polarisation’ vis-à-vis the politics of ‘minority appeasement’ of the Congress helped catapult him to the position of prime minister. Having failed to polarise voters in the Delhi and Bihar assembly elections, an effort is now being made to divide the…

READERS WRITE IN Q How does one deal with sexual harassment at the workplace? With more and more women keen on furthering their careers, cases of sexual harassment at the workplace too have increased. What is unfortunate, however, is that many of these cases are brushed under the carpet as a result of which the guilty go unpunished and get more emboldened and brazen. I would advocate immediate action as such acts have no place in offices or elsewhere and the law is very strict on this score. Every office is expected to have a committee to look into such matters and all complaints should be brought to it for redressal and necessary action with immediate effect. Where such a set-up does not exist, it would be necessary to file…

On January 19, 2016, as news of Rohith Vemula’s suicide reached different corners of the world, a Dalit girl sitting in a café in New York City, decided it was time to use her words wisely and speak out against the rampant discrimination against her community. By ‘coming out’ as a Dalit, not only did she put an end to the years of shame she had harboured during her time in India, but also managed to inspire and encourage others to follow suit. Yashica Dutt is one of the many inspirational women who have been leading the fight for freedom of expression, currently considered to be at great threat in the country. Not ones to follow a path carved out for them, a host of women in the country have…