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POWER MOVES
There’s nothing ordinary about Varun Dhawan. By Arun Janardhan BLAZER, SHIRT, BOW TIE; ALL BY SHAHAB DURAZI
INDIA
Welcome To The
JAN UARY 2 0 2 0 `1 5 0
PHOTO: ERRIKOS ANDREOU
THE VANTAGE JUMPER, SKIRT, TROUSERS, RINGS; ALL BY LOUIS VUITTON
JANUARY 2020
— 5
CALCUT TA
Contents
18 Editor’s Letter 20 Contributors 26 GQ Access 165 Where to Buy 168 Humour
Chaos At The Top Of The World The “traffic jam” atop Mount Everest
86
154
30 Things To Be Excited About In 2020
65 150 130 The GQ Style desk brings you the Athleisure Special: Make room for Calvin Klein gear for your morning run; Three fitness heroes show off their style game; Onitsuka Tiger’s maintaining the balance between classic and current; Slick and sexy shoes to sport to your next game; Plus, the latest updates from the fashion world
8 —
JANUARY 2020
Bright Light
Accessories that match your style game
Drive
The new Audi A6 is for those who value comfort above all else; Lamborghiniʼs road trip from Bengaluru to Ooty
134 GQ Fitness:
The Big Picture
IMAGE: AFP (EVEREST), ©NASA (ASTRONAUT)
Style
Contents
38
106
GQ Talk: The Lost Poets of Bombay
GQ Grooming: The Other Side Of Midnight Carolina Herrera’s Bad Boy is now up for grabs
60
GQ Insider: A Beautiful Mind
144 136 112 108
The Checkered Isle Riccardo Tisci on Burberryʼs future
Good Vibrations Winter style, with a dose of swagger
Dig It
Meet India’s vinyl record obsessives
All Clear
Air purifiers at a time when clean air feels like a luxury
100 Good Life
56 10 —
From NY to Gurugram a Michelinstar chef’s journey; Stefano Ricci and cigar powerhouse Arturo Fuente bring their bespoke collection to Delhi; The best of luxury on our list this month
The Big Announcement Raymond x GQ Co-Lab
JANUARY 2020
118
Watch
Ulysse Nardin’s Diver X series is one you do not want to miss; ICYMI: Panerai’s latest is a tribute to our favourite skipper, MS Dhoni
42 Vibe
“Old Town Road” rapper Lil Nas X tells all; Artist Jitish Kallat’s first solo exhibition in five years is now open; The LGBTQ+ community gets a new voice with the Azaad Awaaz podcast; BoJack Horseman is off to the races with its final season
PHOTO: JIGNESH JHAVERI (PANERAI). IMAGE: COURTESY THE GUILD. COPYRIGHT WITH THE GUILD AND SUDHIR PATWARDHAN (MUMBAI PROVERBS)
Getting candid with chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
MANAGING EDITOR Maniza ART DIRECTOR Mihir
SENIOR ADVERTISING MANAGERS Dipti Uchil, Dipti Dani ADVERTISING MANAGERS Shubham Chauhan (New Delhi) ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER Ria Doshi ADVERTISING SALES COORDINATORS Nishant Santosh Shetty,
Cordo
Shikha Sethi
CULTURE EDITOR Nidhi STYLE DIRECTOR
Charu Adajania, Sneha Mahant Mehta
Shah
DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Vivek
Vriti Malhotra (New Delhi) ITALY SALES REPRESENTATIVE Angelo Carredu US ADVERTISING MANAGER Alessandro Cremona
Surve
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Gupta
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MARKETING DIRECTOR Akshay Chowdhary MARKETING MANAGERS Pooja Jaggi, Christel Anthony SENIOR MARKETING EXECUTIVE Ankita Rajurkar
Rahul Vijay
LIFESTYLE EDITOR Saumyaa
Vohra
HEAD – ADMINISTRATION Boniface D’Souza
Gopa Pincha
COPY EDITOR Anamica
Channa
CREATIVE DIRECTOR – PROMOTIONS & CREATIVE SOLUTIONS Dipti Soonderji Mongia ASSOCIATE PROMOTIONS EDITOR Sneha Mahadevan PROMOTIONS WRITER Tina Jimmy Dastur SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Varun Patil, Atul Hirijagner
Megha Mehta
JUNIOR FASHION STYLIST Shaeroy
Chinoy
JUNIOR FASHION STYLIST Selman PHOTO ASSISTANT Nidhi
MANAGER – CIRCULATION OPERATIONS Jeeson Kollannur
Fazil
Marwah
SYNDICATIONS MANAGER Michelle SYNDICATIONS COORDINATOR
HEAD – EVENTS Fritz Fernandes SENIOR MANAGER – EVENTS Khushnaz Daruwala MANAGER – EVENTS Vania Scott PROJECT & MARKETING MANAGER Olinda Rodrigues
Fernandes
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PR DIRECTOR Swati Katakam Samant SENIOR PR EXECUTIVE Waheeda Abdul Jabbar Machiwala
Nair
ASSISTANT COPY EDITOR Janice
Pereira
Shobhana Parmar
DIGITAL EDITOR Saurav
Bhanot
ASSISTANT DIGITAL EDITOR Shabdita SENIOR DIGITAL WRITERS Aarthi
ASSISTANT MANAGERS – HR Ria Ganguly, Neha Pednekar DIRECTOR – DIGITAL SALES & BRANDED CONTENT Shreyas Rao
Baliga,
Abhishek Nair, Shikha Talwar
SENIOR DIGITAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER Anita PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Sunil
Dake
Nayak
SENIOR MANAGER – COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION Sudeep PRODUCTION MANAGER
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Amrit Bardhan FINANCIAL CONTROLLER Rakesh Shetty SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Dattaprasanna Bhagwat ACCOUNTANTS Anthony Paulose, Nitin Chavan COMPANY SECRETARY AND ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR – LEGAL Mosami Kesarkar ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR VIDEO COMMERCIALS Kaustubh Belur SENIOR MANAGER – PROCUREMENT Rahul Mulekar ASSISTANT MANAGER – PROCUREMENT Anubhuti Sharma ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR – COMMERCIAL PLANNING Alisha Goriawala
Pareek
Radhika Agrawal, Vrutika Shah DIGITAL WRITERS
Mehra
PUBLISHER Almona Bhatia ADVERTISING DIRECTORS Kapil Kapoor (New Delhi),
Bharucha
PHOTO DIRECTOR Gizelle DEPUTY EDITOR
CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER Arjun
Che Kurrien
Pawar
Mangesh Pawar
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS & PHOTOGRAPHERS
Abhishek Bali, Abhishek Mande Bhot, Adil Hasan, Anish Trivedi, Annie Zaidi, Arun Janardhan, Bhanuj Kappal, Bikramjit Bose, Errikos Andreou, Jignesh Jhaveri, Kerry Harwin, Lindsay Pereira, Manasi Sawant, Manish Mansinh, Max Vadukul, Parth Charan, Phyllida Jay, Prakash Amritraj, Prasad Naik, Rahul Bose, R Burman,
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR Kiran Suryanarayana HEAD – AD OPERATIONS Sachin Pujari SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER – DIGITAL Dipak Raghuwansi DIGITAL GRAPHIC DESIGNER Deep Shikha MANAGER – TECH PROJECT Vishal Ingale AD OPERATIONS MANAGERS Vinayak Mehra, Reshma Nilankar AD OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE Akanksha Malik DIGITAL DIRECTOR Saurabh Garg MANAGER – DATA & GROWTH Tanvi Randhar SENIOR MANAGER – DIGITAL MARKETING & SUBSCRIPTIONS V. Satyavagheeswaran MANAGERS – DIGITAL MARKETING Akansha Naik, Priyanka Shivdasani MANAGER – AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Akash Kumar SENIOR EXECUTIVE – EMAIL MARKETING Tanya Chhateja EXECUTIVE DIGITAL COPYWRITER Pranjali Jakatdar DIRECTOR – DIGITAL BRAND SOLUTIONS Salil Inamdar CLIENT DIRECTOR – DIGITAL BRAND SOLUTIONS Aman Bahl ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR – CLIENT SERVICING & PROJECT MANAGEMENT Neha Dhanani MANAGING EDITOR – NATIVE STORIES Shivani Krishan MANAGER – INFLUENCER MANAGEMENT Insiya Bagasrawala COPY EDITOR – BRAND SOLUTIONS Tanuj Kumar (New Delhi) SENIOR MANAGER – BRAND SOLUTIONS Shweta Mehta Sen SENIOR MANAGER – DIGITAL BRAND SOLUTIONS Ankita Bhushan (New Delhi) CREATIVE STRATEGIST Karan Kaul CREATIVE PRODUCER – CONDE NAST CREATIVE STUDIO Mandira Sharma GRAPHIC DESIGNER (NATIVE) Ayushi Teotia DIRECTOR – VIDEO Anita Horam SENIOR CREATIVE PRODUCER – VIDEO Preshita Saha ASSISTANT CREATIVE PRODUCER Aditya Sinha EA TO MANAGING DIRECTOR Karen Contractor Avari
Sameer Kulavoor, Tarun Khiwal, Tarun Vishwa, Uday Benegal, Vikram Raizada
MANAGING DIRECTOR Alex
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Jonathan Newhouse
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Editor's Letter
Making
@chekurriengq
18 —
JANUARY 2020
Moves
PHOTO:MAX HERMANS/THOMPSON PHOTO IMAGERY (CHE), ABHISHEK BALI (SEEDHE MAUT)
cross the road from historic Shivaji Park – the cradle of Indian cricket and spiritual home of the Thackeray political dynasty – lies Bombay’s unlikely B-Boying bastion. At a small ground abutting the Arabian Sea, troupes of gangly boys from shanties across the city gather each evening to dance, sweat and compete. Their style can be loosely described as Krump, a key component of contemporary urban culture. Theirs are not predictable, synchronised Bollywood steps, but free-flowing hip-hop moves – a dance vocabulary that links them to a throbbing global youth nation. Dance has given these young men purpose. Is there anything more important in life? By monastically committing to their discipline, they have discovered a vehicle to climb out of their circumstances – avoiding the usual traps and snares. Their talent and ambition are immediately evident. Most will be recruited by the local movie industry, many will compete on the numerous television talent shows. Others will join travelling stage troupes performing before live audiences across the country. One or two might become household names. Dance gives them a future. While chatting with Varun Dhawan on the sidelines of this month’s cover shoot, he said that when it came to skills, these boys were streets ahead of film actors, even exceptional dancers like himself. Taking the cue, I encouraged Varun to take three or four exceptional individuals under his wing – to help support and promote them using his considerable equity and resources. There is precedent for this sort of initiative: Last March, Ranveer Singh launched IncInk records to launch and spotlight sensational Hindi and Marathi rap talent, including Kaam Bhaari, SlowCheeta and Spitfire. Varun was clearly intrigued by my idea, and said he would consider it. To be sure, I’m going to be following up with him. If we can get this done, it would be the best way to kick off the 2020s.
Contributors
ARUN JANARDHAN WHO: Mumbai-based feature writer-editor who tweets @iArunJ, but is mostly too lazy to do it. WHAT: “A Beautiful Mind”, page 60; “Power Moves”, page 122 Viswanathan anand vs Varun Dhawan: “One’s a veteran, the other on his way up. Both are disarming and honest.”
“Correcting humanity’s past mistakes and strong citizens’ movements because, as they say, hindsight is 20/20.”
KERRY HARWIN WHO: Writer who recently purchased a functional turntable after carrying two broken ones around India for a decade. Instagram @flashhardcor WHAT: “Dig It”, page 112 For the love of music: “Physical media is valuable, be it a record, CD or cassette. The infinity of streaming makes music disposable. When one has only a finite number of albums, one knows every intricacy they contain.”
“Robots, fascists and floods.”
NEHA CHANDRAKANT WHO: Fashion photographer based in Mumbai, who is also a biotechnologist. Instagram @nehachandrakant WHAT: “Power Play”, page 66 A shoot must-have: “An efficient and well-informed team. Nothing can make your picture work if the team isn’t in sync. Other than that, being calm comes in handy.”
“Self-awareness and a focus on individual aesthetic.” 20 —
JANUARY 2020
What will define this new decade?
ERRIKOS ANDREOU WHO: Photographer, Netflixer, photo-hoarder and amateur 3D designer. Instagram @errikosandreouphoto WHAT: “Power Moves”, page 122 Hero Power: “Varun Dhawan is very handsome and knows how to have fun and not take himself too seriously. It’s an attractive quality that, I think, makes him so successful.”
“Climate change and nanotechnology… I think it’s pretty obvious why.”
A SHOWCASE OF PRIDE
This year, Blenders Pride Fashion Tour launched ‘The Showcase’, in association with GQ India, an extraordinary platform to find the next big names in fashion. After much fanfare and overwhelming participation, the curtains on the winners were drawn at the Preview event for Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2019-20. Here’s an exclusive feature of the six immensely talented winners – three fashion designers and three glamorous models – who caught the jury’s attention with their unique sense of fashion and style, and now are on their way to showcase their talent at Blenders Pride Fashion Tour 2019-20, India’s grand fashion festival
‘The Showcase’ by Blenders Pride Fashion Tour is a platform to unearth undiscovered and promising talent in fashion and give them a grand stage to showcase their talent. In its first year, the program witnessed hundreds of entries pour in from across the country. To attract the best talent, icons from the fashion industry like Rohit Bal, Amit Aggarwal, Aviva Bidapa, Payal Singhal, Candice Pinto, Rahi Chadda, Rohit Khandelwal and Nikhil Thampi gave a shout out to aspiring designers and models to participate. The eminent jury comprising Che Kurrien, editor-in-chief, GQ India; Anaita Shroff Adajania, fashion director, Vogue India; Ashish N Soni, ace fashion designer; Diva Dhawan, model and entrepreneur; and Colston Julian, director and photographer; spent hours in deliberation, scouring through hundreds of profiles, before handpicking the three designers and three models as the winners. These winning designers and models of ‘The Showcase’ will take pride in their expression at this year’s Blenders Pride Fashion Tour, along with winning attractive cash prizes and being mentored by the crème de la crème of the fashion industry, as a part of their journey of winning ‘The
Showcase’. Let’s take a look at these six winners. STANZIN PALMO, DESIGNER While preparing for her medical entrance exams, Ladakh-based designer Stanzin Palmo also applied for a fashion designing course at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi. To her surprise, she was among the top 10 students to be selected to study at the esteemed institute. That’s when she knew that fashion designing was her calling. After her graduation, she went back to Ladakh to work on ‘Project Laksal’, a government program that aimed at honing the local womens’ creative skillsets. Her training gave her an insight into the technicalities of Ladakhi pashmina fibre, its exclusivity and importance. It also gave her the confidence to launch her own label, Zilzom, which represents Ladakh in a contemporary manner. Zilzom’s winter collection features ensembles in Ladakhi Pashmina fabric that flaunt delicate hand embroidered designs. SUSHANT ABROL, DESIGNER Abrol had a strong desire to pursue a career in the armed forces, but as he grew up, he started gravitating
towards fashion design. He learnt about design and embroidery while working with a brand that designed cashmere shawls. Shortly after that he got the opportunity to work with design houses such as Chanel and Ferragamo. Eventually, he landed a job with master designer Rohit Bal, and after working with the label for almost six years, Abrol started his own bespoke menswear label, Countrymade. His first collection was inspired by the Indian Army and dedicated to his late brother, who he lost earlier in 2019. Abrol mostly works with natural textiles – linen, blends of cotton, silk and khadi cotton – and a palette of black, navy and grey.
GQ PROMOTION
Ikshit Pande
Poojan Solanki
Preethy Prabakaran
Stanzin Palmo
Sushant Abrol
Ritu Chauhan
IKSHIT PANDE, DESIGNER A Parsons graduate, Ikshit Pande recently showcased his designs at the New York Fashion Week. “Winning on a platform like ‘The Showcase’ is a dream-come-true for an emerging designer like me. I’m proud of getting to be a part of such an eminent panel of veteran designers showcasing their work and expressing their art on such a large, nationwide platform like Blenders Pride Fashion Tour,” says Pande. Inspired by the myth of witches and witchcraft, his latest collection from his label QUOD is an exercise in
the humanisation and contemporalities of the concept. For this, he blends period femininity with modern streetwear and masculine formalwear. POOJAN SOLANKI, MODEL “When I was young, I was told that I was ugly, and I believed it. But as I grew up, I came to believe in myself. While I still struggle with it, I’ve come to love who I am and appreciate my beauty,” says Poojan Solanki. He attributes his unique sense of style to his introverted yet eccentric personality. “I am proudly androgynous, and I also bring that into my work if it asks for it. I think our country still needs many more examples of self-expression,” he says. PREETHY PRABAKARAN, MODEL Ever since she can remember, Preethy Prabakaran says that modelling was a career option she wanted to explore. And with Blenders Pride Fashion Tour ‘The Showcase’, she got the perfect platform and opportunity to showcase her talent. “I have been passionate about fashion and modelling for as long as I can remember. It’s an exciting career because you get to meet a lot of people and travel to various places,”
she says. Talking about her qualities, she says that she is a self-made person who is very focussed. “Every day, I strive harder to be the best version of myself,” she adds. RITU CHAUHAN, MODEL Chauhan started modelling just a few years ago. Recalling her first brush with modelling, she says, “I became a model absolutely by chance. There was a casting call for a runway show and I took it up. I didn’t have to impress anyone…and I feel like if you believe in yourself, you already win half of the battle. If you want to be a successful model, you must have confidence because that’s what people see in you. But even though I am ambitious, I like to stay grounded. It’s important to stay in touch with your roots.” This year, Blenders Pride Fashion Tour celebrates #ThePrideOfIndia with the finest in fashion as India’s leading designers will be exhibiting their creations at the grand fashion festival. The winning designers and models of ‘The Showcase’ will be part of the individual city festivals of Blenders Pride Fashion Tour, where one designer and one model will get to showcase their talent in each city respectively. Follow @blenderspridefashiontour on Instagram and catch all the action across the shows as mentioned below: Anamika Khanna January 22, Kolkata Manish Malhotra February 1, Hyderabad Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla February 8, New Delhi The Grand Finale February 22, Mumbai
GEAR UP FOR THE FUTURE
Futuristic technology meets powerful performance in the new Mercedes-Benz GLC with MBUX. With a highly intuitive multimedia system, supremely efficient engines and the most luxe interiors, every ride in the GLC promises to feel like an adventure Your car is often said to be an extension of who you are. It defines your persona and always makes a statement even before you do. For instance, you’re somebody who enjoys the finer things in life – a luxury connoisseur. So, the car that you choose to drive, must be an obvious reflection of your refined tastes. You’re tech-savvy. Your car should be, too. You’re powerful beyond the boardroom. Your car ought to be powerful beyond the road. And you know what? We think we’ve just described the new Mercedes-Benz GLC – a car that’s definitely designed to impress.
GQ PROMOTION
ALL ROUND PERFECTION This sporty new vehicle is defined by its distinctive lines and muscular surfaces. The stunning new grille with silver inserts is bound to catch the light (and the eye). Note the sleek aluminium-look running boards mounted on the sides, inlaid with slipresistant rubber studs to let you make a clean and impressive statement as
you get in and out. Understanding the demands of parking in the chaos of the city, it even comes with an exclusive Mirror package offering electrically folding exterior mirrors and a lowerable exterior mirror on the front passenger side, complete with a self-dimming function that protects the eyes. As you slip inside, you will find
yourself ensconced in the most elegant environs. The fine open pore walnut wood trim exudes finesse. Sink back against the seats, luxuriously upholstered in ARTICO man-made leather. Or, play around with the ambient lighting feature that offers 64 colours for you to choose from – a new colour for every new adventure that the GLC will whisk you off to.
INTRODUCING MBUX In the Mercedes-Benz GLC, simplicity and innovation work together to provide you with the most intuitive experience yet. Presenting MBUX – the new Mercedes-Benz User
Experience, exclusively for the Mercedes-Benz GLC. With just a few words or a gentle touch, you can have your text messages read out, switch playlists to suit your mood, ask questions about the weather and even phrase your desired destination address with ease. Did we mention that the MBUX system adapts seamlessly to suit the user? Smooth touchscreen multimedia displays, navigation with augmented reality, smartphone integration, intelligent voice control, better connectivity and a new user interface together bring the GLC in line with the latest technological standards. There’s also a revolutionary what3words location technology in the MBUX navigation system. So, you can now input your desired location precisely, without errors, by voice.
With the Mercedes-Benz GLC, what you say, is what you get! Do more by interacting with your car’s infotainment system in five different ways – the smooth touch control buttons on the multifunction steering wheel, the touch control on the multimedia display in the centre, the multifunction touchpad with haptic feedback on the centre console, the steering wheel’s talk button or by using two magic words – “Hey Mercedes”. The car is also equipped with a handy wireless charging feature, cruise control for fuel-efficient drives as well as Active Braking Assist, to safely bring things to a halt during an emergency. With all of that and so much more to offer, we can see why the new Mercedes-Benz GLC with MBUX is the car of the future.
For more information, visit mercedes-benz.co.in
Access
Rajiv Satyal
Che Kurrien & Karan Johar
THE POWER LIST
WHAT: The GQ 50 Most Influential Young Indians WHERE: Grand Hyatt Mumbai Hotel & Residences Innovators, changemakers and pathbreakers of 2019 – all aged under 40 – were celebrated at GQ India’s fifth edition of the 50 Most Influential Young Indians party. The event kicked off with a Q&A between GQ’s Editor-in-Chief Che Kurrien and entertainment mogul Karan Johar, followed by comedian-host Rajiv Satyal keeping everyone in splits through the evening. The night ended with DJ Proof creating the perfect vibe for some networking and partying.
Yash
Poornamrita Singh
Kurt Inderbitzin, Anish Gawande & Indrani Pillai
Manu Kumar Jain
Glenlivet brand ambassador Stuart Baxter at the Glenlivet bar
Karan Johar & Kusha Kapila
GQ’s winners of 2019
Diva Dhawan Anupriya Goenka
Rohan Gupta, Siddharth Nambiar & Abhishek Bajaj
Amyra Dastur Yash & Benaisha Dongre
Access
Mithila Palkar
Yeshwant Rao & Nyrika Holkar
Jahan Tahiliani, Ananya Bhandare, Toshin Shetty & Dhriti Udeshi
Prabhat Choudhary Shriya Pilgaonkar
Sahil Salathia at the Tissot display
Sahil Soni
Desiree Saldanha & Tej Brar
Pooja Kumar Puneet Mathur Rizwan Bachav at the Mahindra Alturas G4 display
Vartika Singh
Madhu Dutta
Almona Bhatia Akshay Chowdhary
Raja Kumari
Uday Benegal
Access
Shikha Sethi
of
o DJ Pr
Theron Carmine de Sousa
Natasha Sumant, Aqui Thami & Kanika Karvinkop
Smita Lasrado & Nikhil Dudani
Elvis Brown
Pritesh Kumar
Ankit & Shweta Agarwal
Ankita Lokhande
Chris K Franzen
Asha Bhat Jasmin Walia Sapna Pabbi
Rasika Dugal
Ajay Verma & Altamash Faraz
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Che Kurrien & Nikhil Mehra Oberoi, Sapna Pabbi, Vivek wani Vir j nu Ta & a pt Sayani Gu
Malini Ramani, Sapna Kumar & Prateek Jain
Prachi Singh, Dhruv Kapoor, Divya Kapoor & Kanika Goyal Shantanu Mehra, Kavita Rathore & Archana Vijaya
Ashish Dev Kapur & Sunil Sethi
Suket Dhir, Svetlana Dhir & Rahul Mishra
BEST DRESSED DELHI WHERE: Cirrus 9, The Oberoi, New Delhi
Pernia Qureshi
Raghavendra Rathore at the Rado display 32 —
JANUARY 2020
There may not be a conclusive answer to where India’s fashion capital really lies, but Delhi made a compelling argument with its super turnout of the country’s biggest designers, urban culture champions, culinary experts, entrepreneurs and socialites at GQ’s Best Dressed party. The crisp weather at the capital’s hottest rooftop venue and DJ Lloyd’s edgy tunes created the perfect vibe for a memorable night of networking and partying that saw fashion at its best.
Arjun Saluja
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Shivangi Lolayekar Shalini Passi & Rohit Gandhi
DJ Lloyd
Saggar Mehra & Vikram Bajaj
Shweta Jain
Gautam Gohain Pareina Thapar & Vinod Nair
Almona Bhatia and Kalyani Saha
Shivan Bhatiya
Shruti Arora
Zorawar Kalra, Dildeep Kalra & Kelvin Cheung
Kunal Rawal & Narresh Kukreja at the Smoke bar
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Sanya & Varun Jain
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Seema & Sumit Diwan
Talk
The
Lost Poets Of Bombay
Dom Moraes, photographed in a pub in Soho, London, in the early to mid-1950s
W R I T T E N B Y LINDSAY PERE IR A
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IMAGE: ©JOHN DEAKIN / JOHN DEAKIN ARCHIVE / BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
An ode to a forgotten generation
I
realise now that 2004 was an awful year for English poetry in Bombay. It didn’t seem particularly terrible at the time, because it takes distance to allow us a sense of measure; to gauge what we have won or lost. And so, with a decade and a half lying between then and now, I see how it was a death knell that first sounded on January 9 that year, with the passing of Nissim Ezekiel. One of the most prolific and well-known poets of his era, Ezekiel slipped away, struggling to hold on to memories that had been fading for a while, his story and verse claimed by Alzheimer’s. It could be that the enormity of his loss didn’t register because he died much as he’d lived, unobtrusively occupying a corner. Bombay lost a chronicler who’d spent a lifetime documenting her slide from grace and, in keeping with character, we simply didn’t care enough to mourn. This was once a city full of poets, which may seem odd at a time when poetry occupies no space in bookstores, and poets themselves have been replaced by stand-up comics who flower for weeks before fading. There were poets though, and they took their jobs seriously, some meeting regularly to argue about the merits and demerits of their work; others who set about publishing poems themselves because no one else would; still others who inspired younger poets to take up a cause that already seemed unworthy of a fight. If there was a thread uniting them all, it was Bombay itself, a dubious muse they grappled with, struggling to make sense of her promise and her contradictions, shifting
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between the extremes of optimism and despair that she provoked and continues to. Ezekiel dealt with it by acknowledging his helplessness. “I cannot save Bombay,” he wrote in “The Edinburgh Interlude”. “You cannot save it/ They don’t even/ want to save it.” All he could do was document, in poems like “A Morning Walk”, his “Barbaric city sick with slums/ Deprived of seasons, blessed with rains/ Its hawkers, beggars, iron-lunged/ Processions led by frantic drums/ A million purgatorial lanes/ And child-like masses, many-tongued/ Whose wages are in words and crumbs.” On June 2, Dominic Francis Moraes’ heart gave way while he slept, as if to give his cancer-ravaged body a rest. He worked until the end, turning to poetry much as he always had, attempting to find a way of belonging. To call Moraes a Bombay poet could be a stretch, given his peripatetic life. And yet, his early, tenuous connections with the city of his birth were strengthened as he grew older, his later poems like tentative hands reaching out into the dark as he learned to find it familiar. “Some of us never know home,” he wrote in “Sinbad”, but his final poems belied that sentiment. And then, on September 25, cancer took away Arun Kolatkar, poet laureate of Kala Ghoda. One could argue that Bombay had always loomed large in his consciousness, from when he began writing in Marathi, before switching to English. “Bombay made me a beggar,” is how a translation of “The Turnaround” opens, “Kalyan gave me a lump of jaggery to suck./ In a small village that had
IMAGE: COURTESY THE GUILD. COPYRIGHT WITH THE GUILD AND SUDHIR PATWARDHAN
Talk
Mumbai Proverbs by Sudhir Patwardhan, 2014, acrylic on canvas, 7 panels, 90 x 336 in
a waterfall/ but no name/ my blanket found a buyer/ and I feasted on plain ordinary water.” Bombay was not a placid backdrop for Kolatkar; she was a living entity breathing alongside the outcasts that populated his work. Her argot mixed with his ideas, her grime infiltrated the nooks and crannies of his blank verse. At times, he simply sat back and observed, as in “Irani Restaurant Bombay”: “The cockeyed shah of iran watches the cake / decompose carefully in a cracked showcase/ distracted only by a fly on the make/ as it finds in a loafer’s wrist an operational base.” There were always other voices obsessed with, or influenced by, the city; some in love with it, others in thrall to its casual horrors. There was Namdeo Dhasal, who passed away a decade after Kolatkar, raging against a caste system that had beaten his people down for centuries. Moving to the city at age six, he must have hoped that a metropolis could allow a man to escape the yoke of history. Bombay disappointed him. When Golpitha was published in 1972, it was shocking not only because it uncovered parts of the city that rarely saw a light, but because it dared to question rituals and even the rules of language that had long been accepted without question. “I am a venereal sore in the private part of language,” is how “Cruelty” opened, “The living spirit looking out/ of hundreds of thousands of sad, pitiful eyes/ Has shaken me.” On “Man, You Should Explode”, his litany of intoxicants listed substances that could help residents cope with their burden of
reality: “Jive to a savage drum beat/ Smoke hash, smoke ganja/ Chew opium, bite lalpari/ Guzzle country booze – if too broke/ Down a pint of the cheapest dalda/ Stay tipsy day and night, stay tight round the clock…” And then there was Eunice de Souza, who moved to Bombay as a young woman and never left, occupying a corner of Santacruz from where she would head forth to teach, recite poetry, or inspire thousands of young writers to use words as a “weapon to crucify.” The city’s Roman Catholic community was often a presence in her poems, but others appeared too. “My students think it funny,” she wrote, “that Daruwallas and de Souzas/ should write poetry./ Poetry is faery lands forlorn./ Women writers Miss. Austen./ Only foreign men air their crotches.” She passed away in 2017, leaving behind work that celebrates and, in equal measure, reviles the city she had a love-hate relationship with. One can see them all now as if in a sepiatinted photograph, gathered around a table in a dusty restaurant like the Wayside Inn. Moraes and Ezekiel, Gieve Patel and Keki N Daruwalla, Kolatkar and Dilip Chitre, de Souza and Kamala Das, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Adil Jussawalla, ageing prophets in conversation with acolytes like Manohar Shetty and Jeet Thayil, Melanie Silgardo and Raul da Gama Rose. That was when magazines had pages devoted to poetry, journals like Quest and Poetry India thrived, informal groups gathered for public and private readings, and self-published cooperatives like Clearing House launched new voices. In a country where bookstores now sell smartphones, and newspapers have replaced books pages with marketing supplements, it seems as if poetry began to lose its vitality as that storied decade ran out. I think of those poets often, those I was lucky enough to meet and converse with, others I continue to engage with on paper. To do this is almost unforgivable, in a city that has never been sentimental about history. What we have lost is more than just those voices though, and there will come a time when we may have to pay for our inability to remember. Lindsay Pereira writes about art and culture for GQ India
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WORDS: CAROLINE McCLOSKEY. PHOTO: MICHAEL SCHMELLING. STYLIST: JON TIETZ. PROP STYLIST: JAMES M RENE. GROOMING: MIYAKO J. PRODUCTION: ANNEE ELLIOT
E D I T E D BY NIDHI GUPTA
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MAN OF THE MOMENT
LIKE A
I
In a matter of months, Lil Nas X has experienced the delirious spectrum of emotion that comes with overnight success – from the glorious highs of “Old Town Road”, including five Grammy noms, to the relentless demands of sudden fame
t’s Saturday morning, and Lil Nas X is spent. At an hour when many 20-yearolds are still sleeping off last night, he’s under the hot lights of a studio in downtown LA, fielding on-camera questions from his fans on the internet. He does everything that’s asked of him, even delivers two line readings of the dictated script, but when the camera is off, he goes slack. “I’m sorry, I’m tired,” he says. This is not a solitary, one-rough-morning kind of sleepy (although, maybe it’s that too). What it more closely resembles is the chronic exhaustion – that sadistic combination of isolation and vigilance and personal sacrifice – of the new parent, which, in a way, is what he is: Nas X’s career as a celebrity is still in its infancy and must be tended to at all times. If he leaves it alone for even a second, he senses, something disastrous might happen. Nas X is living a year that is unimaginable to anyone on the sidelines. Today he’s promoting “Panini”, the second single off his EP, 7, whose video, after two weeks, has been viewed more than 65 million times on YouTube. But when you consider that the track’s predecessor is the record-shattering, genre-straddling juggernaut “Old Town Road”, a song that leapt out of the internet last spring to surpass titans such as Drake and Bieber and Swift – not to mention Elvis, Madonna, the Beatles and all the rest – to become the longest-running No 1 song in Billboard history, you understand how high the bar for Nas X has been set. The meme-like appeal of “Old Town Road”, a twominute PG-rated trap-country ditty, managed to prove irresistible to a shockingly broad audience: “Old Town Road”, it seemed, was one thing many people could agree on. Kids love it. Barack Obama loves it. My yoga teacher loves it. But of course, this being America, it was a whiff of scandal that ultimately tipped the song into the stratosphere. In March, shortly after “Old Town Road” charted, Billboard declared it ineligible in the country category, a decision many regarded as a barely veiled “get off my
lawn” style message from Nashville. As it happened, the remix with Cyrus was already in the works – a generous-spirited creative co-signing that doubled as a slick piece of business – and when that dropped the following week, it shot to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and parked there. And then, having scaled those impossible heights and surveyed the view, Nas X came out in a series of tweets at the end of June, a glorious assertion of identity that transcended the petty ground wars playing out below him: Nas X is more than a song or a genre. Swaddled in a black waffle-weave robe, Nas X beaches himself on a low-slung sofa in a dim corner of the studio, rests his chin on folded hands, and yawns. He flutters his eyes closed. And then, like a dragon that had momentarily forgotten about its gold, and its enemies, he blinks them back open and props himself up on his elbows, ready to go. This time last year, Nas X was sleeping on the floor of his sister’s house in Georgia – but actually he wasn’t sleeping much at all. He had just dropped out of college to pursue music full-time, had zero income, and was “leeching off family members,” he says, to get by. Days and nights were spent online, promoting his music. “I was feeling very stressed and afraid for my health,” he recalls. “Just being in a place where you’re not knowing exactly what’s going to happen, how long it’s going to take.” On December 2, 2018, he posted a snippet of “Old Town Road” on Twitter and shortly thereafter threw it on SoundCloud. It wasn’t quite as naive a gesture as tossing a penny in the well and making a wish – by design the song had broad appeal, and over the years Nas X had cultivated an online audience and some skill at marketing his work on social media – but it wasn’t too far off. Still he was optimistic. “I thought it was definitely something that was gonna put me on another level of people knowing who I was,” he says. “It’s something you can actually listen to as well as something you can laugh to.” He generated memes and worked comment threads to direct attention to the track, which soon found traction in the meme community. During this time, he says, “I’m sitting back JANUARY 2020
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looking at numbers but also promoting the shit out of it, ’cause it’s moving so fast, but you want to keep the momentum going. You don’t want to try to move on too quickly.” After the song made its way to the social media video-sharing platform TikTok in March, Nas’s life entered warp speed: hitting the charts, signing with Columbia, collaborating with Cyrus – all within a few weeks. In April, he performed live, for the first time ever, with Cyrus and Diplo at Stagecoach Festival, in front of thousands of fans. To go from anonymity behind a screen to major public debut seems a freaky leap, I say, but Nas X literally yawns (again). “No, not really, just ’cause I had been building up to that moment. I knew it was coming.” And this is kind of the point: For Nas, who grew up on the internet – taking refuge in it, fucking around on it, finding community in it – the distinction between the online world and the “real one” is fluid, essentially nonexistent. A stage is a stage. He remembers first going online at seven, logging on to “the big bad computer at the library – I’d be playing games and on YouTube. It was good times.” As a kid, he moved around a bit, living mostly with his
about what commentators said. Because I know how I was when I was in that position. I had nothing going on and I was a hater, so I understand the position.” His strategy for slaying troll armies, he says, is simple: “The only way to fight it is to keep succeeding. It’s the only thing. Because… People want to see you win, but not win too much.” Of his decision to come out, which he did on the last day of Pride Month, Nas says, “I’m in a position where I can do whatever I do, kinda, so it’s like, Why not? Who’s gonna stop me? kind of thing.” It was also an effort to control his own story, to remain the sole owner of it. “One hundred per cent. That’s what I wanted to do. [The response] was overwhelming support, and it blocked out any negativity.” He’s in a relationship now, but admits, “It’s kinda hard.” Are you always surrounded by people? “I feel surrounded but still alone, somehow.” Kind of like being on the internet? “Yeah, in a way. I feel like everything has changed but everything’s the same.” Personal relationships, diet, sleep – these things fall by the wayside, because, right now, Lil Nas X is on a mission. “I feel like I’ll always be able to maintain, but my focus
father and various configurations of siblings and stepsiblings (Nas X is the baby) outside Atlanta. He’d always been a good student, but by 14 he was increasingly applying his aptitude toward figuring out the internet, he says, “seeing how people respond to certain situations and stuff, and seeing the things that become trends and go viral. Learning how the internet works is a lot how the world works, in a way.” Nas X’s familiarity with the tidal forces of virality – the way it thrusts you up and just as swiftly will knock you back down – prepared him for the inevitable confrontations to come. During the Billboard brouhaha, people wanted him to react. When, during a televised conversation, Kevin Hart appeared to be dismissive of the bravery required to come out as a gay black rapper, people wanted Nas X to be outraged out loud. But whatever his private feelings, he has publicly shrugged these things off. “I think just me, being a troll myself, helps [me] not really care too much 44 —
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is definitely on building. My only thing I do think about is already reaching so many tippy-top moments. Of course, you can always make bigger moments in different fields.” Music, he explains, is just the beginning of his story. “Of course, I’m going to do other things. Acting, modelling, fashion – I want to get into the gaming world somehow, because that’s an industry that’s about to really blow up more.” Whether you’re hunting big game or scrambling to survive, it can be hard to know when and if to put down your weapon, and Nas freely acknowledges that “enough”, for him, is an alien concept. “I don’t think that’s a real thing. Once you feel like you’ve had enough, you’re just waiting to die. “Even right now, with this song – this is my currency, with ‘Panini’, ” he says. He pauses, considering the motor of his relentless drive. “I don’t know. It’s just fear, I guess.” Fear of what? “Fear that everything is going to go back to how it was.”
WORDS: CAROLINE McCLOSKEY
“The only way to fight it is to keep succeeding. It’s the only thing. Because… People want to see you win, but not win too much”
LUXURY’S NEWEST ADDRESS
Looking for an oasis of tranquillity in the midst of the concrete jungle that is South Mumbai? Welcome to Rustomjee Crown. Spread across 5.75 acres, this architectural marvel in Prabhadevi redefines extravagant living, with its ultra-luxurious three, four and five bedroom residences
The residences flaunt an impressive floor-to-ceiling height of 11ft 6in
Restful terraces, languid pools and idyllic gardens. Picture this breathtaking setting and you might think you’re nestled in a quaint resort. But what if we told you all this was possible, right in the heart of the Maximum City itself? Just six minutes away from the bustle of Lower Parel, in the quiet locality of Prabhadevi, lies the most extravagant gated estate in the city, with elegantly appointed residences – Rustomjee Crown. Spread across 5.75 acres, this impressive gated estate is the choicest location for anyone who seeks discreet opulence. What’s even better is that the lavish three, four and five bedroom residences offer uninterrupted views of the Eastern harbour at sunrise and the Arabian Sea at sunset. The project is designed by Hafeez Contractor and the interiors are designed by PIA from Thailand and HDFC Limited is the Funding Partner. Rustomjee Group also tied up with Landscape Collaboration (LCO), Thailand to develop unique creative landscape solutions for Rustomjee Crown.
Drawing from their 25 years of diverse experience in design and execution, PIA’s design concept seamlessly blends luxury hospitality aesthetics and functionality to opulent living. The new lavish four and five show bed residences designed by PIA masterfully depict a contemporary aesthetic that’s a smorgasbord of design sensibilities. Think customised sculptural pieces and carefully selected art works that will add visual intrigue, colour and definition to your living spaces. The five bedroom residences exude a restrained, yet luxurious vibe and boasts stateof-the-art amenities with a sober, monochromatic colour scheme. Elements of gold trimmings on black high gloss accents and burled metal fabric lend the bright space a modern edge. Soaked in luxury, rich velvety fabric and bespoke color selections add texture and enhance the open plan layout to give the apartment a capacious feel. For homeowners who prefer their house to exude a relaxed vibe, the four bedroom residences offers an
Shot at location
informally stylish approach. The neutral colour palette runs through the rooms with splashes of velvet and leather accents that embrace the modern design. Adding character to the restrained backdrop is the use of special paint for minimalistic wall paneling, contemporary chandeliers, and décor pieces in contrasting hues that adds to the luxurious aesthetic.
Pool Amphitheatre
Artist's impression
LIFE IN SOUTH MUMBAI’S FINEST GATED ESTATE • Spread across 5.75 acres, this impressive gated estate is the choicest location for anyone who seeks discreet opulence • The project comprises three towers — A and B have 68 storeys each, with a floor-to-ceiling height of 11ft 6in, while tower C has 65 storeys, with a floor-to ceiling height of 10ft 6in
Viewing Deck Artist's impression
• Lagoon pool, pool amphitheatre, an all-weather pool, a gymnasium, cinema, visitor suites, a designated play area for children, a squash court, a badminton court, a tennis court and myriad My Space • The three, four and five bedroom residences have their own private imperial foyers, flaunting a private high-speed elevator • Enjoy some quiet time at the 2.52 acre open-to-sky tropical podium
Imposing elevation and facade
LOCATION But the property isn’t just about extravagant residences. It’s also conveniently and strategically located to help make your commute to some of the city’s most popular hubs far easier and less troublesome. Its prime location not only offers easy access to commercial hubs like South Mumbai and the Bardra Kurla Complex via the Artist's impression
Bandra-Worli Sea Link, but also to popular entertainment hotspots like Palladium and High Street Phoenix, and Mahalaxmi Racecourse. The Siddhivinayak Temple is just eight mins away from Rustomjee Crown. RESIDENCES The project comprises three towers — A and B have 68 storeys each, with a floor-to-ceiling height of 11ft 6in, while tower C has 65 storeys, with a floor-toceiling height of 10ft 6in. The higher floor-to-ceiling ratio ensures that all residences receive ample sunlight and promise cross-ventilation throughout the day. Speaking of the residences, they range in size from a spacious 1,335sq ft to an even more elaborate 2,512sq ft, with the rooms featuring a muted colour palette that flaunts a liberal use of rich lines of texture with fabric, metal accents and leather adding a touch of sophistication. Unitised curtain walls with integrated fully sliding windows, combine the best of a regular window wall system with built in durability using heat strengthened, laminated glass.
GQ PROMOTION AMENITIES Rustomjee Crown will spoil you silly with every imaginable luxury and amenity. Think a lagoon pool, pool amphitheatre, an all-weather pool, a gymnasium, cinema, visitor suites, a designated play area for children, a squash court, a badminton court, a tennis court and myriad My Space amenities. The three, four and five bedroom residences have their own private imperial foyers, flaunting a private high-speed elevator. Every residence boasts an ultra-modern interior colour palette infused with hints of neoclassical bohemian designs that are reminiscent of the aesthetic of an upscale European resort along the French Riviera. That's not all! To ensure that there are lesser allergens and your home is healthy, The Rustomjee Group only uses non-toxic paints. IT'S THOUGHTFUL Take full advantage of the staggering height of the towers by taking in the view of the greenery around from the viewing deck on the podium. What’s better? The buildings are earthquake resistant and are built to withstand high speed winds. Enjoy some quiet time at the 2.52 acre open-to-sky tropical podium. The vehicle free landscaped podium has separate areas dedicated to kids and the RCC Slabs are designed to hold 4-6 feet of soil – enough soil to anchor 300 full grown trees. The group also encourages the use of electric cars to reduce air pollution. So, Rustomjee as a brand is getting future ready by having electric charging points at the gated estate along with a wide sixlane entry and exit driveway. Better still, the group places emphasis on encouraging spending family time together, with childfriendly spaces such as parks, playgrounds and learning rooms. With peaceful surroundings, spacious interiors and a host of countless experiences, live your finest life at Rustomjee Crown.
For more information, visit rustomjee.com or call 022-61116111 MahaRERA Registration Number: Phase 1 - Tower A and B P51900003268, Phase 2 - Tower C P51900006367. Reference Link: https://maharera.mahaonline.gov.in/
t e d a C e c a Sp IN T HE
GA LLE
RY
Contemporary artist Jitish Kallat is back with a new solo show in Mumbai – and this time, he’s looking to the skies to make sense of what’s happening on planet Earth
I
n 2016, Jitish Kallat’s Covering Letter (2012) was exhibited in the US for the first time. Two days before it opened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “Donald Trump was voted to power at the end of a very toxic and divisive election,” he remembers. “And this development completely altered the reading of Covering Letter in the East Coast. We had instances of people weeping in the presence of the work, or staying seated on the floor in the dark room for prolonged periods silently reflecting on the gloomy direction that the world was taking.” Covering Letter (2012) was another extension of Kallat’s long engagement with the 48 —
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“epistolary form” – including his Public Notice series – and features a letter Mahatma Gandhi wrote to Adolf Hitler, in 1939, projected on a curtain of cascading fog. The work has travelled widely, last exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2019 as part of the India Pavilion show, Our Time for a Future Caring. “I think people not only from different places, but also different locations in terms of states of consciousness, might read different things within a work like Covering Letter, projecting varying meanings onto it,” Kallat says. This month, the prolific contemporary artist opens a solo show, Terranum Nuncius, in Mumbai – his first in five years. It constitutes
Vibe
‘‘The two Voyagers and the Golden Record will most likely outlast us as a species and our planet, as well as our entire solar system. They remind us of our collective mortality and our collective journey on a tiny planet in an obscure corner of an ever-expanding universe”
INTERVIEW: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: COURTESY JITISH KALLAT AND NATURE MORTE, NEW DELHI
two new works: Ellipsis, the largest painting Kallat’s ever made, and Covering Letter (Terranum Nuncius), which he describes as “a search for signs delivered through the form of correspondence.” In between preparing for another solo show in March called Return to Sender, at the Frist Museum of Art in Nashville, Kallat tells GQ what to expect of Terranum Nuncius. The show, he says, “reflects on the distant and the afar to provoke a contemplation on the imminent and the immediate.”
Ellipsis, 20182020, Mixed Media (Jitish Kallat in studio, work in progress)
Covering Letter (Terranum Nuncius) draws from the two phonographic Golden Record that were hoisted onto the Voyager 1 and 2 space probes launched by NASA in 1977. What drew you to this material? I have been very interested in the movement of the Voyager space missions for a while and have closely followed their recent exit from the dominion of the solar system. My interest in these space probes and the contents of the Golden Record isn’t stemming from a technological and scientific perspective, but more from a philosophical and symbolic dimension of what they represent. The probes point to a deep human need to expand and explore the distant and the inconceivable, while the contents of the Golden Record reveals the fundamental human need to communicate. The contents of the record convey evidence of our presence on this planet to an unknown, space-faring alien. The two Voyagers and the Golden Record will most likely outlast us as a species and our planet, as well as our entire solar system. They remind us of our collective mortality and our collective journey on a tiny planet in an obscure corner of an everexpanding universe. What’s the underlying message here? Looking at the skies helps us reset our understanding of the streets. A shift in focal length at which we view the world alters the stories that we tell ourselves. At a time when we find ourselves divided by all kinds of separatist propaganda and ideological differences, the contents of the Golden Record
can serve as a meditation of our shared origins and our impending extinction. At a time when we’ve lost the vocabulary to communicate to the other, someone who may not share our beliefs or world views, the contents of the Golden Record reflect a compelling effort to search for a vocabulary to reach out to a distant other, an unknown alien. Meanwhile, Ellipsis has been two years in the making. I returned to painting after a gap of close to five years in 2017. While working on specific canvases in 2018, parallelly I began making marks and gestures on various other canvases. These fragments began to grow slowly, gather momentum and materialise as form, converging as clusters of speculative abstractions. Over the past several months these images slowly began to coalesce into a single painting titled Ellipsis. The ideas enshrined in the piece have been long-standing inquiries, but directed through a deeply probing painterly process. I followed the impulses as they emerged from the canvases, letting a mark or a stain direct the course of the next gesture… Evocations of the bodily, the botanical, the sub-oceanic and the intergalactic all intermingle and exchange energies. How would you assess your evolution as an artist in the past decade? I don’t reflect on my past work in evaluative terms. It is just as hard to objectively assess one’s artistic journey, as it is to measure the dimensions of one’s own shadow without altering its proportions in the process. In 2017, when people would describe my midcareer survey exhibition at NGMA Delhi as a retrospective, I’d often say that it is a “retroprospective”… Looking back only to see more clearly what’s ahead. What do you know about being an artist now that you wish you’d known when you started out? That illegibility and uncertainty are productive, fundamental properties of the artistic journey, and not shortcomings. Terranum Nuncius is co-presented by Nature Morte and Chemould Prescott Road at Famous Studios, January 10-21
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Across SAFE SPACE
THE SPECTRUM
With Azaad Awaaz, his podcast for Amazon’s Audible Suno, it’s film-maker and creative-about-town Mozez Singh’s turn to fly the flag for India’s LGBTQ community
Mozez Singh
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WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA
O
n September 6, 2018, the day Section 377 of the IPC was read down, Mozez Singh was in Goa, working on the script for his next feature film. “It’s in the LGBTQ space, and it’s a rather out-there story,” he says over a year later. “Once the news came in, of course my co-writer and I got no work done for the rest of the day. It was such an overwhelming, emotional moment. That evening, I turned to my co-writer and said, ‘we’re doing something right’.” Over 14 months later, the conversation around queerness has gone mainstream, as it was bound to do. One of the biggest web series of last year, Made In Heaven, has a gay man’s story as a leading arc; Sonam Kapoor played a lesbian woman struggling with her choices in a Bollywood blockbuster; Hotstar’s series of quaint short films have found a surprising audience and been heralded as a means of educating a country. This conversation has “never been more normal than it is now,” says Singh, sitting cross-legged on a leather couch in his Bandra home’s study. “Any platform – a podcast or TV talk show or a nightclub – that promotes this, helps to make it normal.” With his own foray into podcasts last month, with Azaad Awaaz for Audible Suno, the director of Zubaan and viral short films like First Period is deploying his storyteller instincts to “service the community”. “Amazon got in touch with Sikhya Entertainment [Guneet Monga’s production company], who reached out to me,” Singh says. “It came in the middle of 80 other things but I decided we had to do this.” So he took time off from writing a medical drama series for Hotstar, which will star Shabana Azmi and Shefali Shah; and another docu-drama set in the North-East, for whose shoot he’s set to travel for the day after we speak. “The purpose of this podcast was to give the voiceless a voice, to really get under the skin of a person. So
we asked the guests questions about everything. Whether it was about love, sex, god – we asked them all.” Over ten episodes of Azaad Awaaz, releasing weekly on the platform, Singh meets and chats with regular folk and stars alike. With a solid production and research team, and original score by Ashutosh Pathak for each episode, Singh went all in. He speaks to Neha Nagpal and Saurabh Kirpal, part of the team of lawyers who fought the case against Section 377. LaLiT Group scion and “pillar of the community” Keshav Suri opens up about how the death of his father affected him, and “the darkness he had to go through to become this absolutely lit and fabulous person”. He has actors Vicky Kaushal (“I launched his career and he launched mine”) and Richa Chadha, also allies of the community, dwell on whether they’ve ever thought about being in a
actually give a shit. You really have to listen.” Singh also found he himself had to learn a lot about this community he feels he belongs to. “I remember, we had this one transgender person on the show called Shakti. She was born male and at the age of 12 or 13 started to have homosexual sex. By 15, she started to have bisexual sex, which means she went from being gay to being bisexual. She started to really enjoy having sex with girls, more than with guys, and then she realised that she wanted to be a girl. Now, Shakti calls herself a transgender female lesbian!” “I’m gay,” Singh continues, “and yet, one of the things that I understand through this show is that being transgender isn’t defined by your genitals, but your soul. Shakti actually says that, even though she has a penis, she’s the world’s biggest lesbian. It defies every kind of convention we’ve been raised to believe in.”
“The only way to show that you’re interested in their lives is to genuinely care. You really have to listen” same sex relationship (they have). The country’s first transman pilot stops by to recount his heartbreaking story of being born Ayesha in a lower-middle class family in Kerala and fighting every convention to become Adam Harry. Star designer Manish Arora turns up for a candid chat about being gay in his 40s, coming from a sprawling middle class family in Mumbai and, after decades of “living life in the fast lane”, now finding his spiritual side. Singh is a voracious consumer of podcasts. His favourites include NYT’s The Daily and Modern Love; Oprah’s SuperSoul Conversations; Vanity Fair’s Inside The Hive with Nick Bilton; some LGBTQ podcasts and self-help ones like by Deepak Chopra. From Oprah, for instance, he learned to “never be afraid to ask the questions, but ask them in a way that is interesting and not offensive. The only way to show that you’re interested in their lives is to genuinely care. To
And when Singh probed further to wrap his head around this, Shakti told him, “all I’m doing is looking for love.” “And to me it’s extraordinary that in her quest for love she’s literally traversed the whole spectrum of gender,” Singh exclaims. And while Singh continues to acquaint himself with this new landscape, including the new pronoun lexicon, he hopes there will be a second season of the podcast, and that we will all arrive at a point when he can just host a podcast about people and their unique lives. “Being LGBTQ is such a private thing, it’s what you do in your bedroom,” he says. “Ultimately, it’s about how we are with each other as people. If I wake up tomorrow morning and want to walk out wearing makeup on a male body, that’s purely my choice. But I’d love for all this to become so normal that people lose all interest in talking about it; to reach a point where this conversation is almost banal.”
(From left) Singh with Manish Arora; Keshav Suri, Saurabh Kirpal and Neha Nagpal; Vicky Kaushal and Richa Chadha
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Rahul Bose and Nikhil Arora
KEEP HUSTLING
Know more about Indian actor Rahul Bose’s and Australian cricketer Shane Watson’s entrepreneurial journeys as they talk to Nikhil Arora, managing director and vice president of GoDaddy India on their latest series of interviews – School of Hustle Have a business idea in mind and looking forward to becoming an entrepreneur? What is the first thing you do? Choose a domain name to build an online presence so people can get to know more about your set-up. But choosing the right name can often be a daunting task. With GoDaddy – the company that empowers everyday entrepreneurs all around the world – finding the right domain name for your website won’t be a problem. GoDaddy India has also been successfully leveraging prominent sporting events and sports celebrities as active brand campaigning platforms and inspiring audiences to make health and fitness a core part of their personal and professional journeys. As part of their series of interviews – GoDaddy’s School of Hustle – Nikhil Arora, managing director and vice president of GoDaddy India talks to Rahul Bose and Shane Watson about their entrepreneurial journeys and how GoDaddy is supporting their respective online business journeys. Actor, rugby player, social activist and entrepreneur, Rahul Bose is also founder of a non-governmental organisation, The Foundation, while cricketer turned entrepreneur Shane Watson is the co-founder of BEON, a performance improvement module. Their interviews shed light on the importance of physical and mental fitness and why it is crucial, not just in sport but also for successful business strategy. Every sport can teach many vital business lessons like persistence, commitment, teamwork, accountability and patience; and GoDaddy’s endeavour is to encourage this spirit amongst entrepreneurs and small business owners around the world and in India who want to bring their ideas online.
NIKHIL ARORA IN CONVERSATION WITH RAHUL BOSE There is some tremendous work I have been seeing The Foundation do in the last few years. Tell us about its vision. A lot of people are concerned about the inequality in the world. And when I was looking at the abyss between the lowest and the highest form of development in the country, I realised that for development to take place in this country, the people of that land have to believe in you and your vision. And, we are the only NGO in the world doing this. We go into an under developed area and select six children and we give them the wisest, most compassionate and richest kind
of education that any child would want. We have six kids from Kashmir and five kids from Manipur. Seventeen years later, if you can send them back to their homeland as informed, educated people, what amazing, powerful human beings they’ll be. I am thankful to GoDaddy for helping us in this endeavour and driving this. When you started The Foundation, how did you go about building its digital presence? I never wanted anyone to know about The Foundation. But when someone wants to know more about us and our work, we do need to have a presence – on the web. So, now I am beginning to understand that whether it is through a website, or
Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, it’s not only important but also respectful to tell the world about the work we do. What I love most about social media is that you can actually put information out to people in remote parts of the world that you never imagined was possible. In fact, now when we want people to know about the work we do at The Foundation or when we want to hire more volunteers – digital is the way we go. You are a fitness enthusiast. So, what is your favourite fitness regime? I love everything that is plyometric and dynamic. But, my favourite thing would have to be running as fast as you can to catch the wind. That’s still my thing. I love it.
GQ PROMOTION
Shane Watson and Nikhil Arora
NIKHIL ARORA IN CONVERSATION WITH SHANE WATSON You have achieved so many milestones in the course of your cricketing career but there is one common DNA, and that is the right mental mindset which you have taken from cricket to your entrepreneurial venture – BEON. As you look back, when was the moment that you took the leap of faith and decided that you wanted to be an entrepreneur? I was going through a tough time in 2015 when a situation occurred on the field. It was around that time that I was exposed to my mental skills coach – Dr Jacques Dallaire – in the US. It was more about understanding mental skills and how he taught me to make my mind work for me to be able to access all the skills I had. And after that, I realised that this stuff needs to be out in the world. BEON essentially is all about developing your mental skills and achieving the highest level of performance.
Tell us about the role of the digital online space w.r.t your venture, because today, it’s necessary to have a digital presence for every business to be successful. The online journey was daunting, initially. But I have been reading a lot of inspirational stories on how to scale a business online. In the last couple of years, I have realised that the easiest way to do that is with all the platforms available on the internet because you don’t actually have to be there in person to get your business out there to the world. Today, you have to be able to understand how to manoeuvre the business on the internet because it’s much easier to scale a business with the help of online tools than it was back in the day. I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks. It’s awesome to be able to learn while I am on the go. What is the best and the worst thing about being a social entrepreneur? And, what’s next on your agenda? The best thing about being an
entrepreneur is being able to do what you want. And, of course, being your own boss. The hardest thing I would say is not knowing which direction you need to go in and learning it the hard way. My mistakes have cost me financially in business, whereas, in cricket, it doesn’t have the same impact straightaway. Personally, I am looking forward to spending more quality time with my family because for the last couple of years, I have been away from my kids. But in the next five to 10 years, I also want to build a really successful business. I am going to do everything I can to be a good entrepreneur.
For more information, follow @godaddyindia on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram
Vibe
LAST LAP
In The Neighbourhood
“D
o you think it’s too late for me?” In episode 11 of BoJack Horseman’s first season, titled “Downer Ending”, our equine anti-hero has just woken up from a bad drug trip and is having a minimeltdown in front of a panel of ghostwriters. He’s firing questions at Diane Nguyen, the writer of his memoir – and sounds desperate for validation. “I need you to tell me that I’m a good person,” he insists. “I know that I can be selfish and narcissistic and self-destructive, but underneath all that, deep down, I’m a good person. Am I just doomed to be the person in that book?” BoJack Horseman didn’t take long to establish itself as a wonderfully absurd show when it arrived on Netflix in 2014 (a time when the words “Netflix Original” carried their own weight). At its most basic, it was “a show about show business”, but what sets it apart from others popular in the adult cartoon canon – The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy – is that it took on the tricky subjects of mental illness and depression. Along with punching out and up, satirising the world’s biggest entertainment industry and punning all over the place, it also chose to introspect. But that doesn’t mean it ever took itself seriously. BoJack Horseman follows BoJack (Will Arnett): A washed up 1990s actor, who in his younger days led a Full House-like sitcom called “Horsin’ Around”. He lives in “Hollywoo”, a place filled with anthropomorphic animals and humans alike; an odd collection of characters pursuing their paths in this most mercenary of environments. There’s BoJack’s manager/agent and on-again off-again lover, the feline Princess Carolyn whose love life is a joke for much of the series: In the
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first season, she dates Vincent Adultman, who is basically three schoolboys stacked on top of each other under a trench coat. Mr Peanutbutter, a joyful yellow labrador, calls BoJack his best friend, but those feelings are not mutual. Todd Chavez (Aaron Paul) freeloads off BoJack, bumming about his elaborate mansion, and coming up with bizarre startup ideas (Smoodies, anyone?). But that quest for selfhood, or some form of redemption, remains the show’s main arc. Over the last five and a half seasons, BoJack has gone in and out of depression, while his behaviour oscillates between tragic and downright vile. The first half of the final season, released late last year, saw BoJack in rehab, trying to deal with his substance abuse problem and get past the death of his protege-turned-sexual partner. Elsewhere, Princess Carolyn, now a mother, contends with chronic exhaustion, while another running arc reflects on the #PayUp movement in Hollywood. Diane, now Mr Peanutbutter’s ex-wife, goes off to Hanoi on a journey of self-discovery only to accost her own demon: loneliness. In a recent interview, the show’s creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg observed that he actually saw BoJack Horseman as an optimistic show, not a cynical one. He quickly qualified this by admitting that he also found the story of Sisyphus optimistic, but he did maintain that the show is “clear-eyed about the hardships of life, but hopeful that people can push through that muck and try to be better.” It’s a worthy sentiment, but it also means we’ll just have to wait till the last batch of BoJack Horseman episodes drop, to know if it really is too late for our favourite humanoid horse to find his bliss. On Netflix January 31
WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: ALAMY
As BoJack Horseman gallops to the finish line, here’s why this adult comedy will always be in the money
THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT
b a L o C
Two Fashion Titans Join Forces
Raymond x GQ Co-Lab is a ground-breaking partnership brimming with cutting-edge design, content and new-age fashion appealing to men across India. From buzzy events at flagship stores, influencer engagement, interactive masterclasses in key retail environments and a glitzy tentpole fashion showcase, this is the country’s most powerful menswear statement. Boom!
The Kickoff
PHOTO: MANISH MANSINH (THE KICKOFF), SAGAR AHUJA (MODELS)
Come early February, the country’s most audacious designers, urban culture champions and gamechanging entrepreneurs will get together for a spectacular party to celebrate this unique association at Raymond’s multi-storey mega flagship in Mumbai. The night will also see the announcement of an annual prize to recognise the most talented menswear design students in India. After partnering with fashion schools to get 200+ entries, six will be shortlisted and finally a winner will be announced. The grand prize will include working with Raymond’s design team and an integration with Raymond’s programme at NIFT.
—GAUTAM HARI SINGHANIA Chairman & Managing Director, Raymond
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C it ie s
N ig h ts
“It gives me immense pleasure to announce our strategic collaboration with GQ. With men’s fashion gaining unparalleled prominence, a collaboration between Raymond and GQ is set to bring out the finest menswear in our country. As stalwarts in the space of men’s fashion, the two leading brands join hands to reach out to a discerning audience that is becoming more fashion-conscious. Gentlemen today aspire to look their very best every day, and we, through this association, envision to lead the way towards an elegant and charismatic wardrobe”
India Calling
The Raymond x GQ Co-Lab will tap into the growing style transformation of Indian men with a year-long series of interactive masterclasses across New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Hyderabad. A prominent influencer and GQ stylist will take on each city to break down the hottest trends and elevate your suiting game.
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The Big Showcase On a grand stage, the Raymond x GQ Co-Lab will present the most avant-garde and innovative menswear. Off the ramp, an experience zone will give a discerning audience an insight into the Raymond Atelier service, with dedicated khadi and handloom sections to boost your knowledge on sustainable fashion
“This ambitious collaboration between two iconic brands, brimming with motivation and disruption, will fuel the next chapter of men’s fashion in India.” —CHE KURRIEN, Editor-in-Chief, GQ India
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“This initiative will set the country’s sartorial gold standard and reflect the growing arsenal of best-dressed men in India.”
b a L o C
—ALEX KURUVILLA, Managing Director, Condé Nast India
PHOTO: SAGAR AHUJA (THE BIG SHOWCASE), MANASI SAWANT (STYLE SQUAD)
Style Squad
Cutting-edge creative influencers and rule breakers reveal what it means to be at the top of your game
“Raymond’s collaboration with GQ is a significant milestone in the journey of fashion in India. The coming together of two leading brands that live and breathe style will bring out the best menswear in the country and revolutionise the world of fashion.” —SANJAY BEHL, Chief Executive Officer Lifestyle Business, Raymond
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IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES
Insider
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A BEAUTIFUL
Mind
With five world championships to his name, Viswanathan Anand is a national treasure – and something of an enigma. Crowned Grandmaster at 18, his new book Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life is a masterclass in what it takes to play the game at the highest level, against opponents spanning different generations. A treat for rookies and fans alike PHOTOGR APHED BY KUNAL DASWANI WRIT TEN BY ARUN JANARDHAN
V
iswanathan Anand is inclined to look at 50 as just a number. It’s probably because he has spent most of his life in a mathematical pursuit of sorts, playing chess. He is sometimes prone to wondering what the difference is between 49 years 364 days and the next day. “But at the same time, people often ask: Did [turning] 40 make a difference? I can’t say it has,” he admits. For starters, leaving aside his philosophical musings, Anand’s 50th birthday on December 11, 2019 coincided with the release of his autobiography Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion’s Life (with Susan Ninan). The book is about the chess player and the person, though the two often merge and impact one another. Mind Master aims to provide insights for other players, inspiration for dreamers, and allow those who are not followers of the sport, a window into the life of one of India’s greatest-ever sportspersons. Even if fans know the highs and lows of his professional career, they would not know the stories behind those achievements, Anand feels. The symbols of his success – more than two decades spent at, and near, the top of this sporting world – occupy a room in his ground floor apartment in Kotturpuram, Chennai, that has a view of a slim, shared swimming pool. Trophies and medals hug nearly three walls of the room with the fourth overlooking a private garden. His eight-year-old son Akhil flits between trying to solve a puzzle and wondering if he’s required for the photo session with his father.
Dressed in a blue T-shirt and jeans, Anand gives the impression of someone whose mind is always working – which is probably the case. He can look distracted at times and yet be precise in his answers. It’s possibly a by-product of the profession that requires him to study a limitless number of moves, make swift decisions, and remember positions and sequences on a board that has been the centre of his life for over 40 years. Recognised for his potential at age 13 and becoming India’s first ever Grandmaster at the age of 18, Anand’s legacy in the sport is such that today there are 64 Indian Grandmasters, including him. While others have not achieved the kind of success he has, there is much to aspire to. Anand is currently (as of December 2019) No 15 in the International Chess Federation (FIDE) rankings – one of just three players born in the 1960s to still be in the top 100. He is certain that he will not reach the pinnacles he did before – he lost his world title to Norway’s Magnus Carlsen in 2013 and failed to get it back in 2014. “I will not be a world champion again – I will probably not qualify for one,” says Vishy, as he is often referred to. “I’m getting crowded out of the top 10. Occasionally, I’ll swing by because of the churn. The best players in the world today calculate better, are younger and at their peak.” “At some point, if I find it painful [to play], I’ll stop,” he admits. “When people think of landing, they think of a controlled glide down. It may not work out like that. I have no idea if I want to retire suddenly or fade out slowly. I genuinely enjoy competing, even though it’s frustrating sometimes.” Thirty-two years after he became a Grandmaster, it seemed like a good time to pen JANUARY 2020
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Insider
‘‘In sports, nobody is interested in what might have been... The book gives you a chance to vent”
his autobiography. He says there were three broad objectives to writing the book that was two years in the making – to present his life story, to share his experiences and provide his perspective on the sport. “A lot of people know what I do but have no idea what’s involved in a sport like chess,” he says. “So you have to go the extra mile to not only describe what you went through but why it’s important. Chess is a microcosm of life, a structured one. It’s a controlled environment, but at the same time, [it has] a lot of struggles, especially adapting to new technology.” Once known as the “lightning kid” for his speed of play and considered one of the all-time greats in rapid chess, Anand also speaks rapidly. It helped while narrating his story to Ninan, because “once you get me going, I’m fairly open,” he says, grinning. He would narrate incidents as they happened and afterwards they would decide to use them or not. In the few instances where he was uncomfortable bringing something up, he found his wife Aruna talking about it more openly. “Having it out there, I am happy we did it this way. What struck me quickly is in sports nobody is interested in what might have been. You want to complain about something that’s not fair, but realise no one is interested. The book gives you a chance to vent,” he says. Like many others, he finds himself caring less as he gets older, a part of “liberating yourself as you go along.” Maybe you become wiser, he wonders. “You understand that everyone has flaws. At some point, you learn that you can’t be nice to everyone and yourself at the same time. I don’t like things about other people, but I lump it and move on. They can do the same. To be honest, in a few cases, I’ve managed to say no – I tell people not
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to bother me anymore, it feels good,” he says, laughing. His dislike for confrontation comes across in the book, in situations where he could have thrown a fit or just moved on. He mentions the 1997 tournament in Dortmund when Anatoly Karpov showed up 40 minutes late for their match and Anand wondered if he should protest, but decided against it. “I explained how this [confrontation] can feel like a limitation, like a self-imposed prison. Maybe it’s my South Indian upbringing, but I’ve always avoided it. I’ve envied people who can be rude and abrasive in a tournament in the same way someone can be endlessly polite.” His life has been enriched by experiences from playing across different generations of competitors. When he first started competing internationally, he crossed paths with people born in the 1930s, who were top GMs in the 1980s. Alireza Firouzja, an Iranian chess prodigy currently ranked 29, was born in 2003 – three years after Anand won his first world title. The Indian was 12 when personal computers came in, 17 when there was a chess programme for a computer and 24 when he first downloaded something off the internet. The big marker for the world of chess, he says, is the advent of computers because they changed how players worked and thought about chess. The other thing, though insignificant, that changed is the way players dressed. His opponents also wore suits when Anand first started competing internationally, while his generation resisted that. The current crop has dropped it one notch further – they will show up in T-shirts, tennis shoes and pants or shorts without a belt, if they can get away with it. “I don’t know if I’m being fuddy-duddy or these guys are lazy. Nowadays, even if I don’t wear a jacket I’ll still be the best dressed person, at least in a conservative sense,” he says, laughing. “I wear my black shoes and that stands out in a sea of orange, red and white shoes. They want to stand out, but the practical effect is I do.” He might wear a suit at the opening and closing ceremonies and sometimes, somewhere in between. But playing in short sleeves helps during faster time control. “Maybe it’s psychological, but when I roll up my sleeves, I tell myself, I’m ready to play.”
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WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. STYLIST: SHAEROY CHINOY
On The Run It’s here. A brand new year. And the potential of a brand new you. Of the many resolutions on your list, we’re certain a fitter you is a priority and we’re helping you look good while you reach your goal. Whether it’s your morning run or gym session, Calvin Klein’s performance gear makes you look like the brightest spark. The best part is that you can wear it out to play as much as for a workout. In other words, double the benefits for half the effort. JACKET, `6,000, JACKET (INSIDE), `10,000; BOTH BY CALVIN KLEIN PERFORMANCE PHOTOGR A PHED BY JIGNE SH JHAVERI
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PHOTOGRAPHED BY NEHA CHANDRAKANT
THREE’S A CROWD Thanks to the current idea of dressing down and the big boys of fashion making windbreakers and trackpants covetable, athleisure isn’t just a trend but a way of life. A vibe that is a mash-up between performance wear and what you’d sport to a bar. The trick is to borrow from each spectrum and pair it together like a pro in the style of these three fitness heroes. ON VIRDHAWAL: JACKET, `6,500, TROUSERS, `4,000; BOTH BY JACK & JONES. T-SHIRT BY WESTSIDE, `400. SNEAKERS BY TOD’S, PRICE ON REQUEST
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ON KARRAN: JACKET BY CALVIN KLEIN JEANS, `13,000. SHIRT BY SELECTED HOMME, `3,500. JEANS BY RARE RABBIT, `4,500. SNEAKERS BY TOD’S, PRICE ON REQUEST
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WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. STYLIST: SELMAN FAZIL. ASSISTANT STYLIST: SHAEROY CHINOY. HAIR & MAKE-UP: JEAN-CLAUDE BIGUINE INDIA. PRODUCTION: MEGHA MEHTA
We’ve known for a while that sweats are stylish and the current fashion agenda is being set by the fit and virile among us. But before you click another gym selfie, GQ brings you 2020-approved athleisure to wear round the clock. That’s really what you want to capture right now
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JANUARY 2020 2019 FEBRUARY
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. STYLIST: SELMAN FAZIL. ASSISTANT STYLIST: SHAEROY CHINOY. HAIR & MAKE-UP: JEAN-CLAUDE BIGUINE INDIA. PRODUCTION: MEGHA MEHTA
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WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. STYLIST: SELMAN FAZIL. ASSISTANT STYLIST: SHAEROY CHINOY. HAIR & MAKE-UP: JEAN-CLAUDE BIGUINE INDIA. PRODUCTION: MEGHA MEHTA
Varsity jackets may have been the armour of Ivy League boffins in their downtime but its modern-day purpose is to replace your overused leather bomber and rock around town. Wear it over jeans or slim fit chinos, and a black or white tee. But never skimp on a pair of goodlooking sneakers to really walk the cool cred talk.
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WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. STYLIST: SELMAN FAZIL. ASSISTANT STYLIST: SHAEROY CHINOY. HAIR & MAKE-UP: JEAN-CLAUDE BIGUINE INDIA. PRODUCTION: MEGHA MEHTA
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Eye T H E TA S T E M A K E R
Of The
Tiger
This Japanese fashion player’s hit the sweet spot between old-school and cool
T
here’s no denying that the most vivid memory of Onitsuka Tiger in a 30-something’s mind will forever be of a lithe Uma Thurman wearing a canary yellow tracksuit and matching sneakers in Kill Bill. A deadly combination of sexy, stylish and superhero that triggered something of a fashion explosion: Colour. Sport. Street. All the words that we frequently use to describe style today. While Thurman looked like a fashion ninja, channelling a Bruce Lee-Kung Fu aesthetic, I always wondered if I could ever pull off the look, especially those in-your-face Mexico 66s. In my mind, the Onitsuka silhouette with that signature skinny sole belonged to tall men and women of a certain sophistication. Prince William and Jared Leto have been spotted wearing iterations of the OT Mexico. Close to home, I’d seen designers Nikhil Mehra and Gaurav Khanijo (both GQ Best Dressed slam dunks) sport a few pairs and each, while on point with the current codes of cool
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dressing, carried an air of nostalgia in their style. I conceded that I didn’t have the studied nonchalance to wear the classic silhouette and gave in to fatter sneakers. When tailoring savant Andrea Pompilio (who was previously at Canali and has been working with Onitsuka on capsule collections for the last seven years) officially came on as the brand’s creative director in 2018, the sneakers began changing shape and the apparel, edgier. In June last year came a delightful machination in the form of a Givenchy x Onitsuka Tiger collab with a clean white and black Mexico 66 pair respectively, threatening to break my OT mental block. But I didn’t really get down to it until this past November when Japan’s oldest sportswear label took a handful of media from across the globe to its SS20 presentation in Tokyo. I opted for the California 78 Slip-On in a safe olive to represent and fit in. The blowout spectacle complete with a marching band and acrobatic cheerleaders took place at the Shin-toyosu Brillia Running Stadium. The athletic track doubled up as a fashion runway and models,
Style
under the age of 25, came out in sports gear made for the streets – hot orange shorts, neon trenches and basketball-inspired jerseys. Carl Lewis and LeBron would have both approved. My eyes were, however, fixated on the chunky platform sneakers that both men and women sported – resonating with the tickers running outside the stadium preshow: The Genderless. The Global Diversity. The Freespirit. The Power of Sports. The collection appropriately coincides with the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. Undoubtedly, Pompilio has his pulse on the cross between classic and hype, retro and current – striking that balance between preserving Onitsuka’s rich Japanese heritage and injecting it with new age cool. It’s why today you’ll see Mexico 66s sit alongside the Big Logo Trainer or Hsintis – both chunkier and hopefully next in my arsenal. The wide offering today simply means that there’s something for everyone and Pompilio is working hard to maintain the balance.
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. IMAGE: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR (ANDREA POMPILIO)
Onitsuka Tiger’s gone through a tectonic shift... Initially, Onitsuka was popular and famous for being this exclusive, highbrow brand with very well-made sneakers for the Japanese market. Now, it’s much more fashionable, contemporary and accessible. Our consumers include a new generation, young people who are very stylish. I grew up in Italy, I’m 100 per cent Italian but since the beginning I’ve had a global vision. I don’t differentiate between Japanese or Chinese, Indian or European. I think we are all one at the moment. Especially thanks to the digital boom.
biggest fashion capitals. This collection also sees Onitsuka Tiger as a brand that’s deeply rooted in history from the lens of the Olympics. A lot of the logos you see come from the archives of the games – from kayaking to marathon running put together in a sophisticated, luxurious way. How would you set OT apart from other lifestyle labels? I think the difference between Onitsuka Tiger and other brands is that we are moving into a prêt-à-porter space and less streetwear in terms of finishing and styling. For example, there’s a sneaker with a platform, which brings in a touch of luxury. We’re working on shoes that are softer to the feet and the perfect weight so they’re long-lasting and utilitarian as much as they’re stylish. Does hype figure into the clothes and shoes you design? The way we used to dress in the past is different from how we dress now. When you spent money then, one looked for pieces that would stay in your wardrobe for at least five years. Then hype took over. Now, we’re moving back to a sensibility which is a combination of the two: less loud clothes but not in a classic cotton either. More sophisticated dressing but with fluidity to enhance your own individuality. Your thoughts on sustainability? There are a lot of fake certificates and there is not one product that is 100 per cent sustainable. Everybody is pushing it because it’s a new trend but honestly it’s a lot harder to achieve in reality. I believe we can do our bit by not buying plastic – even something as basic as hangers. You can also invest in long-lasting pieces and consume sensibly.
What’s your creative process? I’d taken a lot of inspiration from Japan and the world overall. I put a lot of European inspiration into Onitsuka and a lot of Japanese ideas into my eponymous label. I also love people watching, especially when I travel. People on the street give you an input on what the market wants and what it doesn’t. But my biggest obsession is watching men and women in their 70s and 80s – they carry no inhibitions when it comes to fashion. It’s the highest order of inspiration. What was your approach to the SS20 collection? This collection was an homage to Tokyo since it’s playing host to the Olympic games this year. It’s why you’ll see a lot of luggage alluding to the many sportspersons and tourists coming to the city in the next few months. Also, over the last few years, Tokyo has become one of the JANUARY 2020
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OWN YOUR STYLE
Five lucky winners of the Max Your Look contest – a unique collaboration between leading fashion brand, Max Fashion and GQ India, reveal their style secrets and more about what they love about the apparel brand Winter is here and it’s time to bring out the denim jackets, sweatshirts and hoodies. But, if you need any fashion inspiration, head to Max Fashion and give your wardrobe a makeover with their latest winter collection. From versatile pieces like denim jackets and bomber jackets that can be layered over graphic t-shirts, to sweatshirts in neon colours and contemporary prints, their range of winter clothes will leave you spoilt for choice. In association with GQ India, Max Fashion held the Max Your Look contest that saw thousands of entries pouring in from
several cities. The participants had to strike a pose at the nearest Max Fashion store, wearing the latest menswear collection at a special photo booth and upload their pictures on social media tagging GQ India and Max Fashion with the hashtag #MaxYourLook. Television actor Parth Samthaan and Telugu actor Allu Sirish were roped in as influencers for the contest. The five winners of the contest share their style mantra and talk about why they love the latest menswear collection at Max Fashion.
YOGESH KUMAR, MODEL AND ACTOR, 23
How will you define your personal style? My style is relaxed, and I am mostly wearing jeans and shirts because I like comfortable clothes. How does Max Fashion fit your style? Max Fashion is known for their trendy outfits. What I love about the brand is that their clothes are reasonably priced. Max Fashion is always my first choice for clothes when I go shopping.
MUBASSIR GHOGHARI, SELF-EMPLOYED, 23
How will you define your personal style? Clothes help me feel like a different version of myself. My style is an extension of self-expression because when you look good, you feel good. How does Max Fashion fit your style? We all have our own styles and the apparels at Max Fashion help me express my individuality. Max fashion fits everyone’s tastes and budgets and I absolutely love wearing their clothes.
GQ PROMOTION
GIRWAR SINGH BHATI, SOFTWARE ENGINEER, 21
How will you define your personal style? I am usually in cargo joggers. I pair them with high neck t-shirts and throw on a pair of cool sneakers. How does Max Fashion fit your style? When I’m in my hometown, I wear breeches (a pair of pants that is thick at the waist and narrow at the bottom). But, it was hard for me to find the same at a store in Mumbai. But one day, I tried on the Max Fashion’s joggers and it fit just fine.
VASIM TADAVI, STUDENT, 22
How will you define your personal style? Shopping is a stressbuster for me. And, when I go shopping, I usually buy full sleeved t-shirts and sweatshirts. I love denim too, and it’s perfect for the weather. How does Max Fashion fit your style? Max Fashion has a wide variety of styles to choose from. They have daily wear, formals, denims and clothes in bold colours. Whenever I go shopping, Max is always the first shop I enter.
SAIF F SHAIKH, MODEL AND ACTOR, 35
How will you define your personal style? I like to keep it casual and comfortable. I love clothes that are easy to wear and care for. How does Max Fashion fit your style? Max Fashion has the trendiest clothes. They’re perfect for all occasions and events. The clothing brand has always been my go-to choice since the past three years. Max Fashion always has clothes that fit my personal style.
PRESENT ACROSS 19 COUNTRIES | AVAILABLE IN 100 CITIES IN INDIA 20 MILLION CUSTOMERS AND COUNTING
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WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. STYLIST: SHAEROY CHINOY. PRODUCTION: MEGHA MEHTA
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Tennis
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JANUARY 2020
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STYLIST: SHAEROY CHINOY. PRODUCTION: MEGHA MEHTA
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WOOL TO THE RESCUE
GQ PROMOTION
Winters are here and so are the woollens. To help you stay stylish and warm, a wool blend suit is your best bet. Gear up for the party season ahead with internationally recognised dry cleaning brand Pressto while they dole out tips and tricks to take care of your woollens
For how long have you treasured your most favourite woolen sweater or shawl? Clothes often hold sentimental value and when we talk about wool, you’re probably imagining the sweater you wore to school as a kid. But the fabric is much more than bulky jumpers and boring mufflers. It is, in fact, soft, durable, luxurious and wrinkle-resistant. And, with the number of party and wedding invitations, a tweed jacket or woollen overcoat is sure to be your best friend this season. But did you know that there are numerous varieties of wool? Or, for that matter, did you know that wool is one of the oldest animal fibres to be used by humans? When we think about wool, the first animal that comes to mind is a fluffy sheep. But sheep aren’t the only animals that give us this exquisite thread. Mohair, known for its strength and resilience, is a type of wool that is specific to the Angora goat. Another lesser-known type of wool is obtained from the Angora rabbit. The
exquisite Pashmina wool comes from the Pashmina goats of Kashmir. And so, it’s important to consider the fineness of wool when buying a garment – the finer the wool, the better the quality of the clothing item because fine fibres give a garment more uniform. Besides keeping you warm and stylish, wool also has a host of other characteristics that make it a wardrobe staple. When combined with silk, wool is a popular material for suits and jackets because it lends strength to a garment. Wool is also often blended with synthetics, such as nylon and polyester, to enhance its durability and water-wicking characteristics. Even better? Wool is naturally anti-microbial, so it staves off odours. And, because it fights off bacteria, you can wear your woollen suit to multiple occasions before sending it for a dry cleaning process. Now that you’re up-todate with this wonder wool, go ahead and refresh your wardrobe of woollies to keep you stylish this winter.
CARE FOR YOUR WOOLLENS • Wool is sensitive to mechanical
action, moisture and heat, all of which can cause shrinkage. The fabric is also sensitive to alkalis, strong acids and sodium hypochlorite (bleaches); hence, it is best dry-cleaned
• With fabrics that are produced
with fine fibres or microfibres, you have to restrict mechanical action and avoid snags (pulled threads) as far as possible
• Never rub stains. Rubbing may result in permanent removal
of the dye. This will make the stained area more pronounced after dry cleaning. Rubbing wool may cause piling
• Allow your suits to breathe
outside the cupboard before storing them to keep the humidity out
• Hang jackets on wide
wooden hangers
• If your wardrobe is sensitive to dirt, retain the top part of your dry-cleaning cover.
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LEXUS X GQ MEN OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Shahid Kapoor
Radhika Madan
Sara Ali Khan
Ayushmann Khurrana & Tahira Kashyap Khurrana
Gaurav Gupta, Waluscha De Sousa & Arun Nair, Vice President, Lexus India
Neil Nitin Mukesh
Diana Penty
Mandira Bedi Swara Bhaskar
Angad Bedi
Manushi Chhillar & Raja Kumari
Anand S Ahuja
Pankaj Advani
Prahlad Kakar & Nayantara Jain
CHIVAS X GQ MEN OF THE YEAR AWARDS
CHIVAS X
Girish Patil & Pulkith Modi
Jim Sarbh
GQ MEN OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Jordan Edwards, Chivas Ambassador
Rohan Mehra
Katrina Kaif
Maharana of Barwani Manvendra Singh
Kabir Bedi, Parveen Dusanj & AD Singh
David Abraham & Rakesh Thakore
Gurinder Chadha Afroz Shah receiving the Chivas Presents - Eco Warrior Award from GQ’s Editor-inChief Che Kurrien Aisha & Neha Sharma Ashish Soni
Harshvardhan Rane Purab Kohli
Vijay Varma & Amyra Dastur Kubbra Diva Sait Dhawan
Russell Peters Sobhita Dhulipala
Aparshakti Khurana
Hrithik Roshan
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Kick About
Book Smart
Yorgos Lanthimos maybe best known for directing The Favourite and The Lobster, but his latest offering is a covetable tome in collaboration with Gucci. The book, titled Ωοτοκι’α (Oviparity) and shot at the Leda Gallery of Villa Albani Torlonia in Rome, focuses on the Italian house’s Cruise 2020 collection and presents a contrast between youth and old age. Young models in Gucci’s eclectic clothes are captured posing against Roman and Greek sculptures, while elderly people, with powdered white skin, mimic the marble statues. The art-meetsfashion book you want sitting on your coffee table right now.
Falguni Shane Peacock’s spanking new mega store in Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda is the benchmark for unisex boutiques in India. The power couple and designers, who recently started their menswear line, now have a whole floor dedicated to it, including highoctane tuxedos that you could wear for a bigticket wedding or break up into separates for your next night out. Just ask clothes horse Karan Johar who is a regular patron.
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GQ Eye
New In
Berluti’s Venezia leather is a fashion connoisseur’s dream – a sublime combination of quality and good looks for the discerning gentleman. The same leather in delectable hues of rich purple, green and wine made its way on to 17 original Pierre Jeanneret furniture pieces for Art Basel Miami. Berluti’s Creative Director Kris Van Assche and François Laffanour of Galerie Downtown teamed up to present a series of the Swiss architect’s restored pieces – originally created in the 1950s to furnish Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex. While getting a chair home is next to impossible, it does serve as great decor inspiration.
WORDS: SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR. IMAGE: COURTESY OF GUCCI (BOOK)
Hot Address
Throughout her longstanding relationship with Adidas, Stella McCartney has gone from strength to strength putting out new iterations of three-striped kicks and clothes, and injecting them with a heavy dose of sustainability. This time around, it’s a pair of vegan Stan Smith sneakers that’s made from animalfree glue and sports bright rainbow laces. In other words, stylish shoes you can walk the responsible talk in.
Organic Moringa Oil Anti-Pollution & Hydrating
In 2001, American businessman Dennis Tito realised his childhood dream when he paid almost $20 million to board a Russian Soyuz capsule to become the first ever tourist at the International Space Station. Space travel has long been a fantasy for humankind, and perhaps in recognition of this, NASA announced last summer that it would be opening up the ISS to private citizens for month-long getaways, expected to begin this year. In a rocket-and-capsule launch system developed by the Boeing Co and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, NASA will allow up to two private trips to the station in a year with each lasting upto 30 days. Obviously, it isnʼt going to be light on the pocket – at $35,000 per night, not to mention the millions more you’ll need to pay to get there. While life on the ISS will probably not be as luxurious as the Nobu Villa in Vegas, you can bet the view will more than make up for it. —ABHISHEK NAIR
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IMAGE: ©NASA
Space Jam at the ISS
30 THINGS To Be EXCITED About in
2020 EDITED BY NIDHI GUPTA
2
Eastward Ho
It’s official: In 2020, the shorter holiday, easier on our time and pockets, is going to be the way to travel. Which means that while Europe and the Americas still seem dear and far, the Far East remains an attractive option – and never more than now, with Indigo, SpiceJet and VietJet all launching budget flights to various cities in the region. Indigo now flies to Chengdu and Guangzhou in China, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Yangon in Myanmar (in addition to 14 pre-existing international destinations). Meanwhile, SpiceJet has now linked New Delhi with Hong Kong, and VietJet made its debut in India with direct flights from New Delhi. Plan those long weekends well and you could go ballooning over Bagan or, indeed, bring in the Chinese New Year in the wide and narrow alleys of Qingyang District, over a bowl of authentic Sichuan hot pot, at throwaway prices. —MIHIR SHAH FEBRUARY 2019
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2019 was a marquee year for Indian rap. Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy kicked off a feeding frenzy on an unprecedented scale, with labels, brands and even political parties falling over themselves to get a piece of the action. Even the breaking scene got a boost when Red Bull brought the BC One world finals to Mumbai. So what’s next? We’re going to see a lot more styles and scenes come to prominence, as audiences explore more
3
Seedhe Maut
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of the underground. Artists like Prabh Deep (whose upcoming album is based on the 1984 riots), Arivu, Seedhe Maut (who are working on a collab album with EDM supernova Ritviz) and Parimal Shais are experimenting with sounds that have mainstream potential. Labels like Mass Appeal India, Sony Music’s Awaaz imprint and IncInk Records will start putting out more substantial releases. 2020 will decide if the hip-hop scene can live up to its ambitions of global domination. —BHANUJ KAPPAL
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Tune in to homegrown podcasts
Last December saw the launch of three Indian original podcasts from the audio behemoth Spotify. A week later, Amazon Audible launched an entirely fresh platform called Audible Suno (Android only), and casually dropped 24 shows, each one by Indian creators, a lot of them non-fiction – while at least another 36 are in the pipeline. Meanwhile, boutique companies like Maed in India and IVM podcasts and early movers like JioSaavn will keep their hits coming. Basically, the “third wave” of podcasting is under way, and it’s got a strong local edge. Listening to Kanye on repeat already feels like a guilt trip. —NIDHI GUPTA
5
The answer to global warming, inside Bill’s brain
In a year that might see the US formally exit the Paris Climate Agreement – and as the deniers get louder despite the planet being on fire – it’s some consolation to know there are individuals still fighting the good fight. In his new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need (out in June), Bill Gates crystallises his findings from a decade of studying global warming and maps out a way to get to a carbon-zero world. Climate change, he argues, has the biggest impact on the people who’ve done the least to cause it. He’s the first to admit that harnessing new sources of energy is harder than creating software, but is pushing for innovations in transport and electricity – and betting big on nuclear power. It’s a mammoth challenge, but hope springs eternal in the human heart.
—SHIKHA SETHI
PHOTO: ABHISHEK BALI (SEEDHE MAUT). IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (TOKYO NEW NATIONAL STADIUM)
Indian hip-hop is on fire
The New National Stadium, Tokyo
All the world’s a scoreboard 2020 is all set for a coruscating start to a new decade in sports. First on the crease is the Women’s World T20, where defending champions Australia look to continue their domination, this time in their own backyard. But there are strong challengers from India, England and New Zealand: Watch out for 15-year-old Shafali Verma, who will be imperative to India’s World Cup chances in February. International football takes centre stage soon after as Portugal defends their Euro title in a first-of-its-kind, multi-venue tournament across 12
host nations, with the final scheduled to take place in Wembley, England. For the Three Lions, who believed that the World Cup was “coming home” in 2018, the Euros is a more realistic prospect. We then head east to Tokyo for the Summer Olympics – playing host for the third time in the game’s 124-year history. The introduction of seven new events (including karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing) means that the 2020 Olympics might just offer us a new generation of heroes. Ones to
watch: swimmer Caeleb Dressel, skateboarder Nyjah Huston and athlete Noah Lyles. The year comes to a close with the men’s edition of the World T20 Down Under. India, who took the trophy back in the inaugural edition in 2007, are eyeing their first World title under skipper Virat Kohli. Add to that the unpredictability of teams like West Indies and Pakistan, the resilience of Kane Williamson’s Kiwis and Ben Stokes himself – and we have ourselves an absolute nail-biter of a tournament. —ABHISHEK NAIR JANUARY 2020
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7
Hemp is the saviour crop of our generation
Move over kale and Pocari Sweat, hemp is the new superfood of 2020. We’re not talking about the good ol’ Snoop Doggy Dogg stuff, but a strain of cannabis that is fast becoming an important ingredient in food, medicine, textile and grooming products. Companies like Boheco, Hemp Republic, Hempsters, GreenJams and Satliva have tapped into the kaleidoscopic powers of industrial hemp to boost the country’s rural economy. Besides Uttarakhand making its cultivation legal (Himalayan hemp, here we come), there now exist substantial ecosystems across India to help empower farmers, as well as educate the masses on the benefits of hemp in your daily existence (from muscle repair to immunity and hormonal balance). With the world taking a turn towards sustainable living, hemp looks to be the biggest winner: It is estimated that the hemp-CBD market alone could hit $22 billion by 2022. —SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
Bond 2.0: Shaken and stirred Fourteen years and five movies later, Daniel Craig might’ve broken Roger Moore’s record, but the sun is finally setting on his stint as 007. No Time to Die, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, will see a retired James Bond brought back to find an abducted scientist, while Rami Malek plays the main antagonist. The script has been “spiced up” by Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge – interesting in itself, for the last time a female scriptwriter contributed to a Bond storyline was in the 1960s, when Johanna Harwood co-wrote Dr. No and From Russia with Love. After this, Ian Fleming’s notoriously misogynistic hero gets a 21st-century upgrade, with Lashana Lynch taking over. Just as well, since we’re hoping to see more of Craig as detective Benoit Blanc. —ABHISHEK NAIR
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9
Imphal’s new coolth
The stunning Dzükou Valley, with its rolling green hills and the magnificent Loktak Lake (check out Sangai Moonlight Camping) has ensured that Manipur finds a spot on every nature lover’s bucket list. But keep Imphal on your radar: A spate of new cafés and restaurants such as Forage, Dweller Teas, Fika Kitchen and Studio; designer boutiques like Richana Khumanthem; kombucha brewers and the chocolatiers behind Hill Wild; and indie bookstores Ukiyo and Books & Coffee are transforming the city. Kohima and Dimapur in Nagaland may have produced the region’s OG hipsters, but Manipur’s capital is now no longer content to be trailing behind.
PHOTO: GOUTAM RAJ THOUDAM (CAFÉ). IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (LASHANA LYNCH, J. COLE, PRIDE PARADE)
—SHIKHA SETHI
Dweller Teas Café
At last, new music from Moe Dee
In many ways, J Cole is an unlikely rap icon in 2020. At a time when mumble rap is de jour in American hip-hop, the notoriously private musician’s work harks back to the storytelling traditions of late 1980s/early 1990s rap. His 2018 album KOD catapulted to No 1 spot and broke streaming records despite being announced just four days before release. Cole’s next, titled The Fall Off and expected this year, will be a direct successor to KOD, which ended with the track “1985 (Intro To The Fall Off)”. The teaser video – with its obvious references to the Trump 2020 campaign – promises a record that grapples seriously with America’s increasingly divided society and politics. There are also rumours that this may be the artist’s last album: While that may or may not be true, it’s safe to say The Fall Off will be one of the year’s most talked about cultural events.
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March for love at Pride’s birthplace
In the summer of 1970, the first pride marches took place in New York, Chicago, LA and San Francisco to commemorate the Stonewall riots. We’ve come a long way since, and we can’t think of a better way to celebrate 50 years of activism (and glitter) than a June trip to San Francisco – the city that bore witness to the screaming queens of Compton’s Cafeteria, where the rainbow flag was born, and that’s loved love for decades before it became a hashtag. SF Pride’s 50th-year theme is “Generations of Hope”, in homage to the activist Harvey Milk. Expect Dykes on Bikes, Trans Marches, the flavour-of-the-month politician stopping by to swear allegiance – but also take the time to walk around Castro and gaze at the murals of Mission District to #neverforget.
—NIDHI GUPTA
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—BHANUJ KAPPAL
JANUARY 2020
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This year, there are two more ultra-luxe reasons to holiday in the desert state, and go off the beaten path while you’re at it. Accor Hotels brings its crown jewel Raffles to Udaipur – or more precisely, to a 21-acre private island in the middle of the Udai Sagar Lake. The 101-room resort will include a 1,100-square-metre spa and the Long Bar, historically known as the birthplace of the Singapore Sling. India’s first Six Senses opens in the restored 14th-century fort-palace of Barwara. A three-hour drive from Jaipur, the property boasts a cool 48 suites, two pools and a signature spa located in what used to be the queen’s palace. The Ranthambore National Park is a 30-minute drive, which is always worth a trip as it remains your best bet for tiger-spotting in the country. —NIDHI GUPTA
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Six Senses, Barwara
Facebook Horizon breaches new frontiers in social VR
Remember the game Second Life? An online simulation platform, where you could create an avatar and live parallely on the internet – our idea of virtual reality in the 2000s, before Facebook or Oculus existed. Enter Horizon, the massive multiplayer-world that a Facebook team (hooked to a certain Ernest Cline novel, no doubt) has built for the Oculus Quest. As a “friendly, inclusive and curious” Horizon citizen, you’d be legless, but have the ability to create your own private island. This being a Zuckerberg original, you can definitely expect the time you spend here to turn into money for someone else – but we’d rather it happen in this Pixarlike playground than while we’re eyeballing another “life event” post about a visit to the mall. —NIDHI GUPTA
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Lend your ears to Trevor Noah
Last year, Trevor Noah incurred the wrath of desi Twitter when he thought it fit to call an IndiaPakistan war “entertaining”. The comedian apologised, of course, but further appeasement comes in the form of two stops in Mumbai and Delhi this April, as part of his Loud & Clear World Tour, which saw sellout shows at O2 in London and Madison Square Garden in NYC last year. As Jon Stewart’s successor at The Daily Show, the 35-year-old comedian of South African origin has, in the past four years, proved he’s his own man, blending wry political commentary (the sitting POTUS makes his job easier, sure) with self-deprecatory humour and expositions about #fartgate (google it). Expect a night of unexpected observation, and to learn that nothing’s safe from Noah’s incisive wit. —VRUTIKA SHAH
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JANUARY 2020
14
IMAGE: ALAMY (TREVOR NOAH), GETTY IMAGES (PAUL MCCARTNEY), ANDREW ALLCOCK (GLASTONBURY), SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR (DIOR X RIMOWA)
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Beyond the obvious in Rajasthan
Glastonbury turns 50
Who would’ve thought that a humble folk and blues festival, born in 1970 on the day after Jimi Hendrix’s death, selling £1 tickets and free milk on a bare farm in Somerset, would become the world’s biggest music blowout? Glastonbury’s seen an entire galaxy of musicians perform on its stages – from the Rolling Stones to David Bowie, Coldplay to Radiohead, Metallica to Oasis, Jay-Z to Stormzy – and has always brought you the best in music, whatever your jam. Headlining the festival’s 50th-year are music legends Paul McCartney and Diana Ross, with Glastonbury virgins Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift also rumoured to get top billing. As expected, the first batch of tickets was sold out in a matter of minutes, but watch out for the resale in April: It’ll all be worth the grand spectacle to enjoy with everything stronger than milk. —SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
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Time travel with Dior x Rimowa
“Collab” may be an overused word now, but when Kim Jones does it, it translates into massive queues with screaming hypebeasts ready to wipe out an entire collection on day one. It first happened in 2017 when Jones, then at Louis Vuitton, put out an unforeseen Supreme collection that drove the fashion-loving world into a frenzy. Now ruling from the creative high chair at Dior Men, Jones has brought together the mother of all collaborations with luggage hero Rimowa for SS20. We’ve got our eye on the silver space-age Rimowa coolbox, with a dedicated champagne case designed to hold a bottle of Dom while you’re on the go. Summer’s looking sweeter already. —SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
JANUARY 2020
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Power up, gamers
In the age of streaming, where endless online libraries dictate how we consume music and films, it is only natural that the multi-billion dollar gaming industry stakes its claim. Enter cloud gaming – that is, streamable videogames minus the bulky hardware – with services like Google Stadia (launched last year), Microsoft xCloud, Apple Arcade and a new Amazon web service, all expected to debut in the coming months. The consoles are not going down without a fight: The new PS5 and Xbox Scarlett, loaded with exciting features like 8K resolution and immersive 3D audio chips, are set to launch in December. While you get to practising your moves, eSports athletes – casual gamers turned global superstars who rake in seven-figure “salaries” and even get endorsement deals – have a busy year ahead. After the success of 2019ʼs Modern Warfare edition, Activision Blizzard is organising the maiden league for Call of Duty: A 12-team franchise-based tournament, with a registration fee of a whopping $25 million per team. It’s going to be the biggest event of its kind in gaming history – and this, in a year when Dota2’s The International returns to Stockholm for its 10th edition; and Tencent has announced a two-part PuBG World League with a total prize pool of over $5 million. Is this real life? —ABHISHEK NAIR
18
A new design hotspot in the capital
As we wait for IKEA stores in Mumbai and Pune, expected to launch this year, Delhi gets a piece of the action via Space 10, the Swedish brand’s dedicated design lab. Popping up in Delhi’s hipster nerve-centre Dhan Mill Compound for six months, it’s a unique space to foster ideas on sustainable design. Last winter, it hosted sessions on how design can tackle air pollution – Ant Studios and Graviky Labs participated. Its next big project is the SolarVille installation coming to town. Go to see a working model for democratising access to electricity – involving blockchain tech and solar panels – and how the worldʼs biggest problems can sometimes have very simple, aesthetically pleasing solutions.
—SAUMYAA VOHRA
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IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (STARLADDER COUNTER-STRIKE MAJOR EVENT) PHOTO: SAGAR AHUJA (GQ FASHION NIGHT 2016)
19
From Rajesh Pratap Singh's show for GQ Fashion Nights, 2016
The Land Rover Defender is resurrected
After a non-stop production run of 67 years – which saw it serve during the Second World War, become a symbol of Britain’s old money and graduate to the status of the hardiest SUV ever made – Land Rover decided to give the old Defender a long overdue burial. But some icons are just too popular to stay dead. The brand has decided to create an all-new Defender, taking design cues from its square-jawed progenitor, while opting for a modern monocoque structure (in place of the old ladderframe one) to lend it some on-road agility. Land Rover has actually built a new platform for the Defender and has subjected both models (three- and fivedoor) to over 62,000 different tests; ie, the sort of testing usually reserved for lunar modules. Add to that the brand’s rather intuitive terrain management hardware, and you have yourself the ultimate off-roader. —PARTH CHARAN
20
Your wardrobe gets more eco-friendly
Sustainability may have well and truly entered our brain trust only in 2019, but now, the most influential fashion houses are putting their money where their logos are. At the G7 Summit, 32 brands (including Gucci, Zara-owner Inditex, Nike and Prada) acknowledged that fashion is the second largest polluter in the world. Having signed a pact, they are now aiming to eliminate single-use plastics and micro-fibre pollution, and use 100 per cent renewable energy. At Lakmé Fashion Winter/Festive 2019, 16 companies – including Future Group, Aditya Birla Retail, Arvind Brands, Raymond, House of Anita Dongre, Westside, Levi’s, Bestseller – got together to sign Su.Re (Sustainable Resolution), marking the first holistic effort by the industry to move towards clean fashion. You’ll see far better textile compositions in stores this year; but the onus lies on you to consume wisely. Begin with switching from plastic to wood or metal hangers. —SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
JANUARY 2020
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22
Keanussance comes to the videogame studio
If they’ve taken over your streaming services, it was only a matter of time until Hollywood took over your gaming consoles. This year, fully-fleshed out pixelated versions of your favourite stars are making cameos in some of the most anticipated games. The hottest of them all: Cyberpunk 2077 ft. Keanu Reeves’ metalarmed cyborg. Cyberpunk 2077 is a futuristic openworld RPG set in the fictional Night City in the year – you guessed it – 2077. Reeves won’t be a playable character (would be a waste of signature strut and flowing mane, given that this is a first-person game), but since he is the projection of a chip inside your head, he will be by your side on several missions. Word is, Reeves was to make a fleeting cameo, but pushed for a bigger role in the game. Expect his trademark “Whoa!” to punctuate the many incredible moments in this neon-lit slugfest. Is “Whoa!” still a thing in the future? Doesn’t matter, because an age-proof Keanu certainly is. —PARTH CHARAN
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IMAGE: ALAMY (DUBAI MUSEUM OF THE FUTURE, A QUIET PLACE 2018, BLACK WIDOW), MUSEUM OF ART & PHOTOGRAPHY (MAP, BENGALURU)
Stranger than SF at Dubaiʼs Museum of the Future
If you’ve ridden into Dubai’s financial district on that driverless metro lately, you couldn’t have missed the skeleton of a giant eye-shaped structure standing out against a curtain of shimmering skyscrapers. The Museum of the Future – set to open in the nick of time for Dubai Expo 2020 – has been in the news since 2015, when ME architect Shaun Killa landed the contract for this unusual project. While the seven-storey green building is made from stainless steel and adorned with calligraphy; within its columnless interiors, you’ll find exhibitions meditating on real-world human situations and looking for solutions in science. For instance, in a show called Climate Change Reimagined: Dubai 2050, the curators ruminate on how innovations in synthetic biology, environmental engineering, AI-run farms and autonomous building units can be deployed to adapt to a post-apocalyptic world. A genetic cross between a jellyfish and a mangrove root to solve the world’s imminent water crisis might sound like fantastical science fiction, but then, so did the idea of a holiday in space, 50 years ago. —NIDHI GUPTA
23
The year of terribly terrifying tales
Horror is peak genre in 2020. And the assault began on the very first day of the year, with Netflixʼs Ghost Stories, on which Karan Johar, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap reunite for a screamfest. Later, expect hyper-hero Vicky Kaushal to turn up in Joharʼs Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship (produced by Dharma) and Rajkummar Rao, along with Jahnvi Kapoor, appearing in Roohi Afza, a new horror-comedy by the makers of Stree. From the US, jumpscares come from beyond the evening news IRL. Must-watch movies include Jordan Peeleʼs Candyman; Janelle Monáe flitting between modern-day and Civil War-era America in Antebellum; Elisabeth Moss confronting new demons in HG Wells’ The Invisible Man; John Krasinskiʼs sequel for A Quiet Place; and, because no three year-cycle is complete without a paranormal adventure for Ed and Lorraine Warren, another edition of The Conjuring. —ANAMICA NAIR
A Quiet Place
24
Bengaluru’s shiny new art address
Unexpected collaborations are a part of the curatorial team’s DNA at the Museum of Art & Photography – such as with French painter Georges Rousse at the last Kochi-Muziris Biennale. And thatʼs what we expect to find at its permanent residence in Bengaluru, set to open at the end of the year. An initiative by the minds behind Tasveer, the museum’s wide-ranging permanent collection includes 20,000 artworks. 12th century folk art, pop culture memorabilia, MF Husain and Jamini Roy paintings will all be showcased across five stories of the new building, located along the leafy Kasturba Road. The “inclusive” museum will also house an auditorium, a restoration lab, classrooms and a café. They don’t call it “Namma Guggenheim” for nothing. —SHIKHA SETHI Portrait of a Barasingha by Jangarh Singh Shyam (mid-1980s)
25
A spandex suit of one’s own
2020’s superhero slate isn’t your usual testosterone-fuelled affair. This year, Marvel, DC and co. are putting women squarely front and centre – and behind the cameras too. In Birds of Prey, helmed by indie film-maker Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs, According to My Mother), Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn leads a band of female supervillains (not taking orders from the Joker for a change). The backbone of the Avengers, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), finally gets the origin story she deserves, under the solid direction of Cate Shortland (Joy, Somersault). Gal Gadot and director Patty Jenkins return to the era of disco – and blockbuster glory – in Wonder Woman 1984. Superhero films may not qualify as “cinema” for some, but they’re certainly trying hard to reflect the times we live in. —VRUTIKA SHAH
JANUARY 2020
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All eyes appear to be on South Asia to repeat some of that Crazy Rich Asians magic for the worldʼs biggest entertainment industries. Dev Patel plays David Copperfield in Armando Iannucci’s adaptation this month. Viveik Kalra, last seen convulsing to Springsteen lyrics in Blinded by the Light, will appear in Neil Burger’s sci-fi flick Voyagers. Himesh Patel leaps into Chris Nolanʼs globe-trotting espionage thriller, Tenet. Mindy Kaling returns to episodic story-telling with Never Have I Ever, in which she’s cast a 17-year-old girl from Canada discovered via social media. Mira Nair’s adaptation of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy and Aneesh Chagantyʼs sophomore project, Run, starring Sarah Paulson, are among the most anticipated projects of the year. Edinburgh Fringe-hero Ahir Shah has landed a comedy special slot from HBO Max. Riz Ahmed is producing and starring in a rap drama called Mughal Mowgli. And Kumail Nanjiani is now, unbelievably, a ripped AF mutant in Marvel’s The Eternals. #Represent.—NIDHI GUPTA
27
Gucci brings back menswear
Gender-fluid fashion hit peak bewilderment when Gucci maestro Alessandro Michele opted for a co-ed runway show in 2017 and sent out androgynous models in oversized suits and sequin pants. This month Gucci’s back on the menswear calendar, not only getting a hurrah from GQ, but also sending out a big message to the fashion universe: That menswear is prominent and has its place, and that Gucci is returning to OG codes of masculinity (maybe with a bit of glitter thrown in). —SHIVANGI LOLAYEKAR
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28
Your new favourite craft beer
The homegrown craft beer boom, which started back in 2015, is only getting Popeye-stronger, and the new MVP in the game is AB InBev’s 7 Rivers Brewing Company. It’s Indian all the way, with the name paying homage to “the land of seven rivers”, and its brewery in Aurangabad currently turning out two variants with local names that are fun to shout across a bar – Veere and Machaa. Veere harbours notes of orange and coriander, and Machaa is rife with banana and clove overtones. Liquor locavores already know that the barley is locally sourced from Rajasthan, MP and Haryana. Having recently launched across shelves and taps in Mumbai, Pune and Bengaluru, 7 Rivers plans to take it to other key metros later this year. —SAUMYAA VOHRA
IMAGE: ALAMY (DEV PATEL), GETTY IMAGES (FRIENDS)
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Brown is the new black
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The one we’ve all been waiting for
Remember when all you needed were subscriptions to two, maybe three, streaming platforms? 2019 changed all that – with Apple TV+ and Disney+ launching within weeks of each other – and now, HBO Max is all set to join the bandwagon in May. Along with HBO and WarnerMedia’s stellar library of content, HBO Max is investing heavily in original content by everyone from Mindy Kaling to JJ Abrams and Denis Villeneuve. And they’re betting big on a Friends reunion to draw in the crowds. Not to be confused with a revival, the one-off special will most likely feature a trip down memory lane – even though a sequel would’ve been a great chance for the show to redeem itself of some of its more cringe-worthy plotlines. —AARTHI BALIGA
This is the supercar of a sustainable future Back in 2008, the original Lotus Elise-derived Roadster was the car that brought the then-fledgling Tesla Motors global acclaim (long before it launched one into orbit): thanks to its supercarshaming performance figures and milk float shaming emissions. So, it stands to reason that the follow-up act, now bearing Tesla’s signature sleek looks (not counting the wedge-shaped aberration that is the Cybertruck) ought to blow every modern performance car out of the water. With a claimed 0-100kph acceleration figure of a scarcely believable 1.9 seconds and a top speed of 402kph, this is an all-electric bolt of lightning that might just wipe out petrol-powered performance for good. —PARTH CHARAN
FEBRUARY 2019
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EDITED BY SAUMYAA VOHRA
Good Life
THE
Homecoming Chef Suvir Saran put Indian food on the Michelin map in New York two decades ago – and his plans for India in 2020 are no less ambitious
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JANUARY 2020
WORDS: SAUMYAA VOHRA
(Clockwise from left) Chef Suvir Saran; The Anna Naar Cocktail; Masala Pebbles; The House of Celeste
ife was pretty good for Suvir Saran. He was running one of New York’s most successful Indian restaurants, Devi, which seated more celebrities than Graham Norton’s couch, and catering parties for the likes of Uma Thurman, Al Gore and Goldie Hawn. When he wasn’t, he’d be teaching nutrition at Harvard and co-authoring cookbooks like Indian Home Cooking that were selling like hot cakes. But when a stroke hit in 2018, it all seemed on the verge of crashing down. It left him with significantly impaired vision in one eye and doctors predicted barely a few months to live. A shot in the dark to find the right treatment brought him back to Delhi, and finding it led him to stay on after recovery. “Delhi gave me a second chance, I figured I owed it the same,” Saran smiles. And so, he packed up everything from his restaurant to his farm in upstate New York (“which had 48 alpacas!”) and returned to his hometown. It was time, he felt, to bring his signature Indian cooking back home. The House of Celeste, where we chat this afternoon, is Saran’s maiden venture in India. It opened doors early last month at the on-trend 32 Milestone in Gurugram. Steeped in rich (but not oppressive) jewel tones, the space lends itself to both a sunny outdoor brunch or an intimate indoor dinner. Stark-white chinaware starts to fill the table, breaking our animated discussion with vivid colours and piquant aromas. From the soft sage of the Mutton Mince and Mustard Green Sourdough to the fiery orange of the Fried Chicken Makhani (bedded by red risotto), each plate perfect for a ’gram-worthy topshot. “I felt lost, growing up a gay kid in India, and so, the kitchen became my safety cocoon where I could hide away,” Saran remembers, spooning some crispy shakarkandi (sweet potatoes) on to our plates. “I spent so much time with the maharaj [family chef] that I learned cooking hacks by age six.” All of 19, Saran moved to New York for myriad reasons (a love interest among them), with only talent in lieu of any professional training. The MO: Simply to cook and see where it took him. What started off as
private dinners at his house for friends grew to more and more seats at the table as word spread about his food. “At that time, New Yorkers only knew Indian food as butter chicken and dal makhani. It made for a filling, cheap meal but was never perceived as refined,” Saran says. “It was ‘heavy food’ that made your pores ‘smell like curry’. I wanted to alter that idea through fresh ingredients, lighter recipes. So I cooked the way Indian mothers cook – with things they’d find at home.” The off-hand dinners turned to celebrity catering gigs and eventually led to the launch of Devi – which became the first Indian restaurant to get a Michelin star in the US. The shift in global perception Saran intended had finally happened. The zeal to now lay roots in India will see Saran’s company (Cucina Hospitality) open a slew of other restaurants this year. Come February, its patisserie, Celeste’s Garden, will be dispensing phyllo, pie and pastry with a light soup-and-salad menu. Soon, a fine-dining 20-seater in the capital, a 200-cover restaurant in Vagator, Goa, and a new glass-bottomed cliffside one in Shimla, will follow suit. The cuisine will be primarily Indian because, “Japanese happened, Peruvian happened – now I want Indian to finally happen,” says Saran. The menu at The House of Celeste comes across as of the ilk of Manish Mehrotra’s iconic Indian Accent or Sujan Sarkar’s popular 2019 entrant, Rooh – but there’s a comfort to it that makes it stand out. “I think Rooh, in particular, is taking the kind of direction Indian cuisine ought to be right now. The House of Celeste – between the new recipes and some 2.0 versions of Devi classics – is my take on that direction.” The comfort may be inherent, but the savoir faire of the menu is unmistakable. It’s in the deceptively stone-like Masala Pebbles (bursting with chilli pineapple soup and tamarind chutney when you pop them in, golgappa-style), the bell-pepper-studded Gilafi Apricot Seekh, made with soft mutton, and the tangled nest of Mutton Ghee Roast, topped with a perfectly poached egg. From every immaculately swirled dollop of kasundi mustard to every inerrant smear of tomato jam, the Michelin touch is in the details. Saran might have the street cred to coast on star-power alone, but his fervour to cook for a new audience reminds one of a culinary greenhorn. It’s that precise combination that makes him a name worth remembering at the turn of the decade. JANUARY 2020
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Good Life IN FOCUS
A Puro With Style When a legacy torcedor family collaborates with a legacy fashion house, a collector’s edition is born. Filippo Ricci, Creative Director of Stefano Ricci, is excited about SR’s line of luxury cigar accessories, and the collaboration with Arturo Fuente for the Fuente OpusX - Stefano Ricci cigar, launched in India last month at the Cigar Lounge, The Oberoi, New Delhi
into the family business, our relationship with Indian clients has grown. When we had the opportunity to operate here directly, we put our faith into a boutique in Mumbai first and then in Delhi. What brought about the collaboration with Arturo Fuente? We wanted to expand our menswear into a luxury lifestyle concept. We came to know the Fuente family and their quality products, and had a strong affinity with their history – one that has also been passed down through generations. This then became a natural union. Tell us about signature Stefano Ricci touches that brand loyalists can expect from the cigar accessories? Carlito Fuente developed a “top of the top” selection for us, thus creating the Fuente OpusX - Stefano Ricci cigar. It isn’t for sale, but is offered to our clients who purchase a humidor or SR cigar accessories, which range from porcelain ashtrays with finishes in gold and platinum, to cigarette lighters with motherof-pearl inserts and exclusive SR crocodile cigar cutters. What’s your first cigar memory? The first cigar I smoked was in New York, after a gala evening at the Metropolitan Museum, which itself was a bit of a debut in the vicinity of the international elite. This was several years ago.
D
o you believe the meaning of luxury has evolved over the years? The term has changed in meaning after 9/11, when the word was used to push consumption through marketing manoeuvres. However, luxury still references products that go beyond advertising and express a value rather than a cost. What has SR’s relationship with India been like so far? In the 1970s my father had Indian clients who chose to wear his collection, and remained faithful to the brand for years. Since we entered 102 —
JANUARY 2020
(From top) The Fuente OpusX - Stefano Ricci cigar; Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr; Filippo Ricci
As we enter 2020, how do you think the idea of the cigar and its smoker has been redefined? There has been a natural evolution of this ancient rite. Smoking a cigar has become a social event, a privilege shared to celebrate an agreement, honour a new friendship or consolidate one’s style.
The Cigar Lounge at The Oberoi, New Delhi
INTERVIEW: SAUMYAA VOHRA. IMAGE: OBEROI HOTELS & RESORTS (CIGAR, THE CIGAR LOUNGE)
Do you have a fond cigar memory with your father? Being around a fire at night in Africa, a land that we love.
Good Life
Taste T ALL THAT MA
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THIS ERS
MONTH
THE ALCOHOL
SIQERA ARTISANAL CIDER | GURUGRAM
AMAN JET SERVICE | AMAN RESORTS
Aman Resorts is boosting its sybaritic luxury portfolio with its new jet service, a private flying experience customisable for guests of the hotels. Chartering the 12-seater Bombardier Global 5000 allows a guest to travel to Aman properties – or others – across the world. Each booking gives you access to your very own Aman Jet Concierge who plans your trip down to the last detail – including tailored meals, Wi-Fi, luggage access through the flight and curated products from the Aman Skincare range. We recommend you raise that flute of champagne and let the live ’gramming begin. aman.com/private-aviation
THE BAR
DIABLO | DELHI
Inveterate Halloweenists don’t need to wait for All Hallows’ Eve for their seasonal obsession any more. 104 —
JANUARY 2020
Diablo, a repurposed haveli, opens doors in gothic avatar this month, grabbing eyeballs for its medievalEnglish aesthetic and bewitchingly macabre vibe. The Mehrauli space is the latest in restaurateur Priyank Sukhija’s line of city staples, including Lord of the Drinks, Plum by Bent Chair and Dragonfly Experience. The gargantuan restaurant-bar promises concept interiors rife with sculpted gargoyles, a mirrored onyx bar and Phantom Of The Opera-esque grand chandeliers. You may come for the spectral mise-en-scène, but you’ll find the extensive Greek-Turkish menu and neo-modern cocktails worth staying for. It’s like a night at The Addams Family mansion, only with sangria, instead of a snake venom martini. @diablo_delhi
Himachal-born Green Valley and Tempest may have broken ground for Indian cider in the mid-2000s, but neither managed to tough it out too long. Enter Siqera, a small-batch artisanal cider brand bred in a brewery on the outskirts of Gurugram. It launched its fresh, pulpy rendition of the brew in November, officially becoming the only homegrown one in the country. Both its variants stem from a semi-sweet, medium-bodied base, but the Apple bodes well if you’re looking for something fresh. The Mango is juicier, with the trademark warmth of the Indian alphonsoes it’s made from. Delhi folk will find this on their shelves later this year, but Siqera does plan to hit other metros by early 2021. Stock up if you’re bored of your daily dose of fruits, because, hey, it’s got pulp. siqera.com
WORDS: SAUMYAA VOHRA
AT 30,000 FEET
Speakers include:
va Vodiano Natalia odel and Superm ropist Philanth
Barrère Hubert irector, D c ti is Art Lesage
aler s Kronth Andrea Director, Creative estwood eW Vivienn
r cie Meie ier & Lu Luke Me ve Directors, Creati r Jil Sande
For the latest speakers see
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29-30 April 2020, Vienna, Austria
THE PREMIER EVENT FOR LUXURY LEADERS nowdon David S nowdon, fS o A The Earl , Christie’s EME n a m ir a Hon. Ch
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Gvasalia Guram -Founder, o C CEO and MENTS VETE
500 luxury and fashion decision-makers, innovators, creatives and business figures will gather in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the topics that matter for the global luxury and fashion industry. The conference programme will explore the power of Central and Eastern Europe as a new consumer market for luxury retail, as well as a source of dynamic and innovative creativity. Speakers will also explore the critical topics of technology, inclusivity and sustainability, and the role of the artisan in the digital age.
Topics include: • The definition of “Luxury” • Size inclusivity in the luxury market • Luxury and fashion retail in Central and Eastern Europe • The relationship between commerce and creation • Sustainability in luxury
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Grooming
THE OTHER SIDE OF
Midnight The opiate draw of Spain’s capital has many facets, most recently for being the backdrop of Carolina Herrera’s new fragrance launch
(Clockwise from top) Sidewalk bars at Plaza de Santa Ana; Bad Boy by Carolina Herrera; Sangria at a market in Madrid; Café Central Jazz Club
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JANUARY 2020
WORDS: SAUMYAA VOHRA. IMAGE: ALAMY (MADRID), GETTY IMAGES (SANGRIA)
(From left) Actor Ed Skrein; Carolina Herrera de Baez, creative director of Carolina Herreraʼs House of Fragrances
The best side of Madrid is its dark side. It lies across the border of 10pm, where its denizens spring alive and fill the Spanish capital’s myriad cantinas and tapas bars. Its social nerve centre, Centro, is peppered with hostel bars and bistros in baroque buildings. Travellers navigate the maze of Mercado de San Miguel, piling their paper plates with bocadillos, before joining locals at their table for a bourbon borrachón. The drinking turns to dancing turns to daylight, all with a sensuality so easy, it’s infectious. There is also an irrefutable intensity to the city, its veins pumping with a fervour for sport. There is the Real Madrid fan base and the rawer bullfighting – still legal enough in this city to warrant the 25,000-seater Las Ventas arena – as well as a museum to boot. It is that latent machismo that Bad Boy tries to bottle in its soon-to-be-iconic lightning bolt flacon – one that took 600 attempts to create, a number of rejected car and bike silhouettes preceding it. It seems befitting, then, that Carolina Herrera would choose to launch its new men’s fragrance, steeped in delicious darkness, in a city like Madrid. The first event, a votive-lit, after-hours gala at the Prado Museum, with the pounding of djembe drums supplying the soundtrack, is metaphoric of the storm in waiting that the sapphire blue bottle promises. The other,
a Gatsby-esque blowout at the Bad Boy Mansion (a heritage cortijo on the outskirts, restored for that very night), sees the city’s haut monde streaming in outrageous ensembles, each wilder than the first. The effect is overall magnetic. The fragrance, with denser notes of tonka bean, cocoa and amber wood, made lighter by fresher tones of sage, green bergamot and pepper, has a similar, dualallure. It intends to be powerful without being overbearing – unmistakably “male”, but shedding any association of toxicity that might prefix it. What it is, without a doubt, is current – the same palate would not have worked 20 years ago. A 2000s man would’ve played it safe with a spicy sandalwood or a woody cedar, but the 2020 man is a risktaker, far less afraid to test his comfort zone. Tonka – with its full-bodied chocolate richness – is fresh-faced in the world of men’s fragrances, its creaminess having lent it to softer, feminine scents for much longer. The roasted tonka almost seems to find a mirror in Francisco Goya’s depressiveepisode work, housed in the same museum where the bottle was launched. Both the seminal Spanish artist and the tonquin legume are, in degrees, evocative of a distinct sense of rebellion. Then, perhaps, calling Goya the original “bad boy” of Spain would not be remiss. But the bad boy chosen to front the fragrance is a touch more topical – English actor Ed Skrein. A choice that makes sense as he comes crackling onto the screen in the official promo, through a slew of thunderbolts in a Corleone-esque suit. His red-letter roles (portraying badasses like Ajax in Deadpool or Frank Martin Jr in The Transporter Refueled) serve him well in this avatar of tough nut with a soft centre, something the essence of the fragrance always circles back to. While the brand may have its origins in New York, the scent is rife with Madrid’s charismatic energy. The seductive ebullience of the heritage city reverberates in its open, cobbled streets, begging you to get lost in them; and Herrera’s new fragrance – wild, but never savage – is not unlike it. JANUARY 2020
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l l lear C
It’s apocalyptic out there – oxygen bars are a thing now – but your home is no oasis either. Everything affects the air you breathe indoors: from pet dander and scented candles (formaldehyde-laced ocean mist, anyone?). To wit, it’s time to invest in an air purifier, stat PHOTOGRAPHED BY JIGNESH JHAVERI
With 60 per cent more HEPA filter and three times as much activated carbon as its peers, and the flexibility to tilt as well as oscillate 350°, Dyson’s newest is also its mightiest air purifier. It is helped along by integration with Alexa, a Siri shortcut and a remote control for adjusting temperature and speed. Built with both heating and cooling capabilities, it’s also among the few of its kind out there to be designed around a bladeless fan – so you aren’t stuck with an ugly appliance all year round. `54,900
WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA
DYSON PURE HOT + COOL
INDIA
D E C E M B E R 2 019 ` 1 5 0
LUCKY
JIM
JIM SARBH PHOTOGRAPHED BY BIKRAMJIT BOSE
Tech PHILIPS AC3257
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE BUYING AIR PURIFIERS HEPA or High-Efficiency Particulate Air filters are most commonly used and, in theory, can remove at least 99.95 per cent or 99.97 per cent of 0.3 micrometre particles. The additional Activated Carbon filter can boost efficiency. CADR or Clean Air Delivery Rate gives you a sense of what area an air purifier can cover, and how fast it can cleanse the air, which also points to energy consumption. Size, not price, is an indicator of an air purifier’s coverage area. It is recommended that an air purifier be dedicated per room. Changing filters when prompted is essential, and that could be at a frequency of anywhere between three months and once a year. Depending on the device, filters can cost between `1,000 and `3,500.
MI AIR PURIFIER 3 For smaller spaces – and budgets – the third iteration of Xiaomi’s popular air purifier range is a no-brainer. Inside the white rectangle (a design choice that will appeal to the minimalists among us) lies a triple-filtration system, including a more powerful HEPA filter and a centrifugal fan (as opposed to the Eddy fan in previous editions) that work together to provide a clean air delivery rate of 380 cubic metres per hour. It’s quieter, more intelligent and comes in nice ecofriendly brown packaging: ticking off all the boxes you want from a purifying product. `9,999
WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA
Don’t be thrown by the bulkiness of Philips’ latest: Inside is an extra thick “NanoProtect” HEPA and AC filter that can clean rooms as large as 1,100sqft. The fourstep colour ring feedback simplifies reading the air quality in any room without reaching for a manual on how much PM is too much. Its Aerasense technology alerts you when the filter needs to be changed – the purifier will just stop working until the filter is swapped out. While the fan is loud when in fifth gear, the device does come with an ultra silent sleep mode. With the 3000 series, Philips proves why bigger can be better. `32,995
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JANUARY 2019 FEBRUARY2020
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Most , music stories don t start like this. Vanj-based DJ Uri has been collecting records since he was 15
They start in the party. On the dance floor, with music blaring and lights flashing and an attempt to render the madness of the club through words on a page. They are bright and enticing accounts of rebels of the dance floor, or of DJs who break boundaries. This music story is entirely different. It is the story of those whose love for music manifests itself through solitary hours in damp basements and dusty godowns. It is a story of those who have, lovingly, built a prized collection of vinyl records. It is a story of credit card scams and international trades. This is the story of crate diggers.
PHOTO: MANISH MANSINH
I
step outside Surat airport, crossing the parking lot in the warm and dry night, and locate a group of men sitting in autorickshaws, awaiting custom. As I attempt to communicate my destination, they excitedly repeat “Londonwallah? Londonwallah?” I thought DJ Uri was from Leicester, but in a dusty parking lot on the outskirts of Surat, such distinctions may be immaterial. My suspicion is confirmed as they run their hands over their heads, mimicking Uri’s distinctly clean-shaved pate. Far from the clubland where he makes a living, Uri Solanki, 45, is a known quantity at the Surat airport. Thirty minutes later, I arrive in Vanj, the small village that’s home to DJ Uri and his fiancé, the hip-hop, grime and trap DJ Paper Queen. In a move that seems designed to destroy all the benefits of quiet country living, the houses of the village have arranged themselves along the neat paving stones of one short street. To my eyes, upon arrival, it looks like a quiet city lane. The next day, in the light, I will discover that it is the only lane. In every direction, narrow roads extend through kilometres of sugar cane fields. But much about Uri defies expectations. London-born and Leicester-raised, the DJ
was first exposed to records in 1982, when his cousins played him Afrika Bambaataa’s Planet Rock, a pioneering breakdance and hip-hop record. As breakdancing took over the cultural moment, an eight-year-old Uri was transfixed. “It was so fresh. The first moment you see it,” he wistfully recounts, “it’s like, ‘I want that’.” But for young Uri, “it wasn’t the breakdancing side of things, it was the music. I wasn’t a slim lad. I could never do windmills, innit?” Too young to acquire records, Uri’s earliest foray into collecting music came from taping the pirate radio stations that were common in the UK at the time – “they were playing all the underground shit” – then dubbing mixtapes of the hottest tracks to share with his friends at school. “I wasn’t even a DJ then,” Uri says, “I just wanted that reaction. I wanted people to tell me, ‘Yeah, this is cool’.” By the age of 15, Uri had started acquiring records, left school and began booking his first paid DJ gigs. And like crate diggers everywhere, Uri had to have a hustle. For someone like him, who didn’t grow up wealthy, that meant taking advantage of his father’s employment with the British Railways. “I had a train pass with which I could go anywhere in the country for free,” Uri says. Taking advantage of this rare resource, he would call record shops as far as Glasgow, Liverpool and London, travelling every week to pick up the records he managed to locate. At first, Uri says, shop owners “were like, ‘Who’s this chubby little Indian kid, buying all the new jungle?’” But as he built his rep, DJing at raves around the area, shopkeepers stopped pushing their slow sellers on him and gave him direct access to the good shit. But access alone was insufficient. “Records cost money, man.” “I used to buy a lot of records,” Uri says, “and I didn’t have the money to buy ’em all.” There is a long pause while he looks at me knowingly, then, “You know what I mean?” I do, but he fills out the details: Befriending a worker at Leicester’s BPM Records, Uri would bring along a fellow who dealt in stolen credit cards. In the pre-digital days, fraud was an easier trick. Uri would pick out his records, hand them to the fraudster, and then, purchase complete, buy the records off him at half of 113
Nishant Mittal runs the @digginginindia account on Instagram, where he documents his record collection, sourced from hot and dusty backrooms across the country (Opposite) A turntable in DJ Uriʼs home
their swiped value. “So I did it once,” Uri says. “Did it again. I think I did it for 10 years… That chunked up my collection quite a bit.” But, as is the case for many DJs, Uri’s record collecting days began to wane in the mid-2000s, when Serrato debuted, the first technology that enabled DJs to convincingly play digital tracks on turntables. This means that almost all of Uri’s records are at least 15 years old. They’re almost all in mint condition as well. As our conversation ends and we turn towards the records, I ask Uri to pick out five records that mean the most to him. Much to his credit, he tries. But as he pores through his crates, his excitement gets the better of him. I might as well have asked him to pick his favourite child. Each record comes with a story and each story cascades into another. It’s the icy chill of “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. But, no, what about A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders? Or the strident political rhymes of Public Enemy’s early work? Tom Browne’s oft-sampled “Jamaica Funk”? The sexy house releases of Naked Records? The scratch sample paradise on Disney’s The Jungle Book? As the records come out of their sleeves and touch the platter of his Technic 1200s, any pretence of an interview begins to crumble and we get caught up in the joy of two heads, hopelessly lost in the music.
T
he following morning, the AC Double Decker Express from Surat to Borivali takes me from pleasure to business, in the form of Mahim’s The Revolver Club – Mumbai’s prime location for vinyl records and hi-fi equipment. The owner of the store, 31-year-old Jude D’Souza, sits 114
opposite from me, his Zeppelin-heavy record collection on the shelf behind him. The Club’s top sellers include The Dark Side of The Moon, Abbey Road and The Eagles’ Their Greatest Hits, which is another way of saying that the store may not be a source for the kind of collectors featured in these pages. That said, the ripple effect of Jude’s efforts are real. The hardcore collectors, which Jude estimates at about 500 across India, have flocked to a WhatsApp group created and promoted by the Club. The store also organises meetups to bring together collectors and hosts record listening sessions in store, helping facilitate a community of younger hobbyists. But the biggest event on The Revolver Club’s annual calendar is International Record Store Day, when Jude can sell a month’s worth of stock in one day. By partnering with record dealers from places like Chor Bazaar, he’s able to offer new vinyl to those who want to go beyond his typical offerings, but aren’t yet comfortable chasing down hot and dusty back rooms. The event has drawn families on road trips from South India, and even a family of vinyl enthusiasts from Gujarat who spent a lakh on records just because they wanted to support India’s vinyl ecosystem. But many serious collectors stay away. “Vinyl dudes are typically weirdos,” Jude says. “They need their space.” The crowded hustle and bustle of record store day is not the digging experience they crave.
I
t is through a Revolver Club WhatsApp group that I find my way to the Perry Road home of Manu Trivedi, a collector of first pressing jazz records. Before our meeting, I know two things about Manu: Via a blog link he sends me, I have learned about his joy at receiving the first call when a local record dealer discovered a box of first pressing Coltrane albums; he saw this as evidence of the bond he had formed with the dealer through his knowledge, tenacity and an eye for fine jazz. Via the team at The Revolver Club, I have learned that in addition to jazz records, he collects vintage Porsches. The second thing I have learned indelibly colours my impression of the first. But, as we sit down in his Bandra home and story after story emerges, I’m forced to admit I’ve been unfair. Manu’s bank balance certainly hasn’t hurt his collection. But, like all true diggers, pure hustle is key ingredient in his impeccably curated crates. Growing up in Mozambique, his taste for jazz developed as he listened to his neighbour, a South African trumpet player, practise his instrument. Though he listened to other genres
– classic rock and synth-pop come up – his fascination with jazz persisted after his return to India as a teenager. As a young man in the late 1980s and early 1990s, his growing vinyl collection wasn’t a matter of any purist instinct for the medium. “I couldn’t afford to replicate my collection,” he explains. Updating to CDs wasn’t affordable, so “the only way to do it was to go into the second-hand markets and find records.” But even second-hand records cost money, and a young Manu developed relationships with DJs and collectors in the US and Europe, scouring Indian markets for records in high demand abroad, like the electro-ragas of Ananda Shankar and Bollywood classics like Shalimar and Julie. In return, foreign collectors would send the jazz records that were so much more abundant in the record stores they frequented. For Manu, digging was never a casual occupation. “Record hunts are tiring in India,” he says. “At 40 degrees in a flea market somewhere, it’s serious work. The joy
people who would wait for a record to actually own that piece of music. I would wait ten years to find a record… You just have to keep at it.” The work is part of what creates value for Manu. “Now you can get everything instantly,” he complains. “That process is not emotionally satisfying… To walk into a store and say I want these 20 records and they just pack it up for you... It doesn’t connect at some level. Maybe I’m dysfunctional.” This comment, of course, recalls The Revolver Club. But when I bring up the comparison, Manu defends their importance in the city. As a serious collector (and owner of more than 50 turntables, he claims), Manu isn’t the target market for the record shop. But, he says, it’s succeeded in creating a community. “For someone to buy a turntable is a big threshold to cross. Where’s your stylus going to come from? The Revolver Club,” which provides after-sales service and support, “has solved that problem.”
PHOTO: MANISH MANSINH (DJ URIʼS HOUSE). IMAGE: NISHANT MITTAL
“All of us who were collectors and friends would be there having chai and waiting. But in 30 seconds,” manu says, after the store opened, “we were friends no more” disappears after some time.” On one Chandni Chowk dig, he describes hunting down a butcher shop in a building that had formerly housed a record store, convincing the butcher to let him climb up to a loft that hadn’t been cleaned since the store changed ownership, and finding a pair of prized Miles Davis records. Another story has him showing up to Chor Bazaar at 4:30am on Friday mornings for the record store’s post-namaaz opening, when the week’s load of new records arrived. “All of us who were collectors and friends would be there having chai and waiting. But in 30 seconds,” he says, after the store opened, “we were friends no more.” Allowing the other collectors to spot a good find would triple the price. When Manu, recognising the serial numbers, found a first pressing of Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue – a record that now sells for more than `20,000 – he slipped it in between a stack of less memorable records, quietly made his purchases, then sat at a bar, sipped a drink, and marvelled at his find for a few hours before going home to put it on the turntable. “I didn’t have the CD,” he tells me, “I had only heard it at other people’s houses. We were the kind of
For his part, Manu plans to help build that community. He’s learned that records once held in an NCPA music library have been sitting in storage since the library was shuttered. He’s working to find corporate sponsorship to make those records available to the public again. He’s also begun acquiring Indian classical and Bollywood records. “I don’t know when I’ll listen to them,” he says, “but I think they ought to be saved somewhere. In another decade, they’ll all be gone.”
W
hen researching a community of relatively isolated collectors, interview subjects can be hard to find. But after dozens of WhatsApp messages, Instagram DMs and calls to a guy who knows a guy, the trail of guys finally ends at DJ Pearl. The long-time Mumbai DJ recognises that, especially in India, record collecting can often be a boys’ club. “A lot of DJs and clubbers were surprised that there was a girl on the console,” Pearl says of 115
her early days behind the decks. “That I was playing on vinyl was a bit of a double shock.” Pearl’s path to the console and crates full of wax started from a young age, when she would watch her father take obsessive care of his records as if, she says, “they were babies. He had a little brush for the needles, something to clean the record while it was playing... [He] even showed me how to wash vinyl if the crackle got too much or it got finger marks on it.” When Pearl began work as cabin crew for KLM in the late 1990s, regular trips to Amsterdam exposed her to a new world of club music. She dug deep into small specialty record stores, stocking up on her favourites, despite not yet owning a turntable. “I didn’t know what I’d do with them,” she says, “just that I had to have them.” As Pearl’s collection grew – she now owns around 1,500 records – she picked up those turntables and talked her way into an unpaid apprenticeship with T-nu, a then-prominent DJ on the Delhi scene. Brief stints playing to an empty club early in the night eventually paved the way for Pearl to take over whenever the resident DJ needed a break. As Pearl’s career skyrocketed, opening for legends like John Digweed and playing in globally renowned clubs like Pacha in Ibiza, vinyl was an integral part of her approach to the craft. “I fell in love with DJing watching DJs play on vinyl,” she says. “That was the only way in the beginning. I love looking at my artwork and touching and feeling my records and pulling out the next record, finding one that will work on the floor.” As a new mother, Pearl’s career is on a partial hiatus, but she plans to return to the vinyl-only events that she once organised. “I started the vinyl night,” she says, “because I wanted to reconnect with what I love about music. People find it fascinating to see a DJ mix on vinyl… You have to balance the arm, make sure your earthing is fine and there’s no feedback.” For Pearl, the care that vinyl requires is part of bringing the dance floor into the booth with her.
S
tanding in DJ Ivan’s Bengaluru studio in front of his three-decadeold Technic 1200 turntables, I am suddenly very anxious. I’ve just pulled a record from Ivan’s crates – an Alan Braxe and Fred Falke tune with an infectiously rubbery disco bass line – and when I try to hand it to him, he simply says, “go for it,” and hands me the headphones. It’s been over a decade since I’ve DJed with records, and the art of the vinyl mix is entirely more difficult than computer
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assisted-DJing. While I don’t quite nail it, the mix is relatively clean; I manage to keep the beats of both songs more or less in sync through the transition. I breathe a sigh of relief and I can’t help but get the impression – or perhaps it’s all in my head – that I just passed a test. For the past hour, I’ve been sitting in Ivan’s home, listening to a well-worn rendition of how he rose to DJ fame in the early 1990s, upending the convention of the time – of playing dance music, then rock, then slowdance numbers to close the night – by mixing dance tunes from the start of his set to the end. Finding a friend from Abu Dhabi who crewed Emirates flights to Amsterdam, he’d scour periodicals like DJ Mag and Mixmag for reviews and charts, sending a third of his salary to the friend every month to spend in Amsterdam record shops. With these regular record infusions, Ivan’s sound began to progress, moving from danceorientated pop music to classics of the early house era, playing artists like David Morales, Terry Todd and Franky Knuckles. “We didn’t even know it was house music,” he sheepishly adds. And though other old-timer DJs in India may also make it hard to verify claim that they brought house music to India, Ivan, graciously and with some apologies, disagrees. “I think we played it first.” By 2000, Ivan says, “I needed to step up my game.” From there on out, it was “two weeks, every six months in London.” But by 2008, the tides of technology turned against him. Most of his favoured record shops in London began to close as new technology, like Serrato, was becoming the norm. “You don’t even realise [what you’re giving up] at that time,” he wistfully recounts, “because you’re so… Excited by technology. But later on, when you start to play records again, you start to feel the pain of not having vinyl around. It’s the physicality of medium.” “Digital,” he tells me, shaking his head “is so disposable.”
I
stumble across Delhi-based Nishant Mittal by accident; a link leads me to his Instagram page – @digginginindia – and I’m struck by the gaudy dayglo colours and dancing flesh that dominate his feed. Unlike collectors who’ve sourced their wax from abroad, Nishant shares Manu’s passion for dark and dusty hidden bazaar back rooms. Unlike Manu, his target is uniquely desi music, specifically filmi music that’s grounded in an understanding of funk and disco. Nishant, 24, is a breath of fresh air in a scene that’s dominated by older collectors with
Retro cover art from Nishant Mittalʼs collection of desi records
IMAGE:NISHANT MITTAL
Nishant says he wants "to keep finding these rare funky gems and sharing them with the world.” As we speak, he's just received a box of 35 Odia records exclusively foreign sounds. His hunt began when, “One day I realised that India has to have an amazing musical history.” And though his realisation seems, well, rather obvious, his reaction was anything but. Attracted by the full-format cover art of the record, he headed to Chandni Chowk. This soon blossomed into trips to bazaars and flea markets all over the country. Nishant reports travelling with a 7-inch record at all times; when language barriers mean he’s unable to communicate what he’s looking for, he merely holds the record up and asks where he can find more. For Nishant, record collectors have a tendency to take their hobby too seriously. “I don’t want to be that person at the party going on about how vinyl is superior,” he confesses. But unlike the hunters of American first pressings, Nishant’s digging can be accomplished on a budget. In Bengaluru, one of his favourite places to find records, most sellers list their vinyl at a flat price. “None of the people know what they have,” he says. “The shop owners haven’t quite come to the knowledge yet. They don’t know how to check.” This ignorance is a boon to Nishant. Rather than tracking down rare editions of records he’s already heard, he’s more interested in uncovering music that isn’t available in the digital sphere. “I’m just looking for that groove... For that drum break,” he tells me. “I want to keep finding these rare funky gems... and sharing them with the world… It gives me a high.” As we speak, Nishant has just received a couriered box of 35 Odia records. While this swadesi eclecticism has earned Nishant a number of musical tastemakers among his Instagram following and the occasional desi disco set on Boxout.fm, it doesn’t translate into a club audience that’s ready for his sound. “What is abundant is often overlooked,” Nishant complains. And while he’s got multiple DMs from global scenesters offering him gigs should he find his way to their country, he says that “the only country where my set won’t be
appreciated is in India.” Hindi clubs want mainstream sets, not hipster gems, and the managers of more underground venues typically become apoplectic when they hear a Hindi vocal. “The funny part,” he observes, “is that if Four Tet came to India and played a Bollywood song, people would lose their shit.” With a sigh, I inform him that this isn’t actually a hypothetical; the Magnetic Fields crowd did just that when, in 2017, Four Tet dropped the Kishore and Lata banger, “Disco 82”, into his headlining set. Compared to Nishant’s deep desi disco cuts, the tune from the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer of the same name was low-hanging fruit.
I
n 1973, in San Francisco, my mother went to see The Harder They Come, Jamaica’s first broadly distributed feature film, widely credited with popularising reggae in America. Enchanted by the rhythms, she went straight from the cinema to the record store and bought the soundtrack. That album served as part of the soundtrack of my youth, eventually entering my hands when my parents finally decided to get rid of their records. After more than a decade without my records, I’ve finally begun to bring them over, suitcase by suitcase, to my home in Goa. As I began this story, sitting on my porch on the banks of the Chapora river, I put my turntable’s needle into the reggae record’s groove. First, the cracks and pops of old vinyl hiss, then Jimmy Cliff’s crooning begins. And as the record progresses, the experience is perfected by the imperfection of the physical medium; the needle catches on a scratch in the record and skips into an earlier groove, endlessly repeating an awkward snippet of vocal that ends and begins with half-uttered words. Suddenly, I’m no longer in my quiet Goa waddo. I’m six years old, back in my parents’ house, interrupting my dance moves to run to the turntable, lift up the needle, and place it gingerly back on the record. GLOSSARY First Pressing: The first instance in which a song or album was pressed onto vinyl. Akin to the first edition of a book, first pressings of records are prized by collectors and can fetch astronomical prices. Serial Numbers: Typically, when records are pressed, a unique serial number is etched on the inside of the record, indicating the plant at which it was pressed. Because multiple early pressings of a single record may exist, serious collectors will often memorise the serial numbers of pressings they desire for quick identification.
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Watch Crossover
P INT When it comes to material and design innovation, “X” marks the spot for Ulysse Nardin’s latest collection of diver watches
I
“ (Clockwise from top) Ulysse Nardin CEO Patrick Pruniaux; Diver X Antarctica caseback; Diver X Antarctica; Diver X Cape Horn; Diver X Nemo Point
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JANUARY 2020
f anyone who wants a blue watch is not buying a Ulysse, they’re making a mistake,” CEO Patrick Pruniaux asserts as I sit across him inside a conference room in Paris’ iconic Hotel Lutetia. The statement comes across as facetiously foreboding, but his intonations suggest otherwise. In fact, it’s a perfect example of what sets Pruniaux – and as a consequence Ulysse Nardin – apart in a sea of top-tier Swiss watchmakers, so to speak. Watchmakers who, in light of dwindling sales, are eager to diversify and make less purpose-built products. But as Pruniaux puts it, “We are born from the sea and we will continue to be linked with the sea in one way or another.” Ulysse may have, on occasion, ventured onto dry land, with the likes of the revolutionary Freak and the Executive, but it remains first and foremost a maritime brand. And if the latest Diver X series is anything to go by, it’s not likely to relinquish that crown anytime soon. Introduced earlier this year, the “X” series is a new experimental line that runs parallel to Ulysse’s existing ones, serving as a canvas for more radical forms of design that aim to break away from the brand’s traditional looking watches. The new men’s collection comprises three limited-edition watches, all of which are inspired by the world’s longest and most dangerous form of oceanic sport – the Vendée Globe race.
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN. IMAGE: VENDÉE GLOBE (VENDÉE GLOBE RACE)
The Vendée Globe race isn’t the most well-known endurance race out there, but it ought to be. If the likes of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Dakar seem like a daunting prospect, the Vendée Globe is downright implausible as it consists of sailing unassisted across the globe with minimal food, medical supply and navigation equipment (it is, after all, a race). “It’s probably one of the most dangerous races ever and the most important thing is to finish the race,” says Pruniaux, whose efforts have resulted in Ulysse being the official timekeeper of the event. “It resonates a lot with our values about pushing your boundaries, knowing yourself and defying Mother Nature.” The first of the three, Diver X Cape Horn, is named after one of the choppiest headlands for seafarers, and the point of convergence for the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It’s often considered one of the most challenging and dangerous sailing spots in the world. And is one of the landing points for Vendée Globe participants, requiring them to navigate around the southernmost tip of Chile tackling headwinds, necksnapping currents and, let’s face it, the occasional iceberg. The Diver X Cape Horn is the official watch of the race, which takes place once in four years. Featuring a scratch or fade-resistant carbon bezel, the watch is the stealthiest of the three, with carbon inlays on two opposing halves of the dial, on either side of the trademark “X” pattern that’s stamped across it. In addition to this, the caseback gets the geographical coordinates of Cape Horn etched directly onto it. According to the brand, the carbon treatment was restricted to the dial and unidirectional rotating bezel, as the material isn’t the best when it comes to waterproofing the watch, which in this case works upto 300 metres. Second is the Diver X Nemo Point, another 44mm limited beast. It’s dedicated to a location in the ocean that’s furthest from any landmass on earth. In fact, the closest human point of contact to the spot, located in the southern Pacific Ocean, is
an International Space Station hovering several miles above it. The Nemo Point features shades of blue and grey – more commonly found in UN watches. It’s got a similarly patterned and positioned “X”, with a blue rubber bezel and a blue fabric strap with red lining. In terms of the layout, all three watches are similar, differing only in the material used for the dial and bezel – this one going for a titanium case while the Cape Horn sticks with a titanium black DLC case. Then there’s the Diver X Antarctica – a pristine white diving watch, the likes of which haven’t been seen in recent times. The preservation of the Antarctic and Arctic regions ranks high on Ulysse’s priority, which explains why it’s teamed up with explorers such as Sebastian Copeland to throw light on the gradual depletion of our polar ice caps. “All ambassadors we team up with are associated with environment protection. Whether it’s through awareness or teaming up with NGOs, we want to help provide more solutions,” Pruniaux affirms. Like all Diver X watches, the Antarctica too is powered by the same Caliber UN-118 movement. It’s got the same direct seconds and a date window at six o’clock, titanium case (with a white rubberised bezel) and the Vendée Globe route etched on the caseback, this time, along with the coordinates of the Antarctic continent. The Diver X collection – all three limited to 300 pieces only – is an interesting departure from Ulysse’s pre-existing design language, something in dire need of refurbishment. It strays from the more metallic, glittery vibe of the brand and goes into a highly functional and sporty territory without taking huge risks with the aesthetic à la Freak X. However, if the brand is to be believed, there’s more innovation to come. In a manner of speaking, the brand under Pruniaux has simply raised its anchor and set sail into uncharted territory – which portends exciting developments.
JANUARY 2020
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Watch
“The first watch I ever purchased was one of those simple, digital quartz watches. Most of us had one at some point,” confesses MS Dhoni as he sits across me, at a club in Mumbai’s St Regis hotel, flashing that boyish grin and kicking things off with something characteristically homespun. His taste in watches has clearly evolved, over time, evidenced by the 44mm rose gold Panerai Luminor Flyback Chrono sitting on his wrist. His ownership over the watch extends far beyond the fact that it belongs to him, given that the watch has been created as a tribute to him. It serves testimony to the fact that despite approaching what appears to be the end of his cricketing career, brand MS Dhoni is as powerful as ever. A year after being named Panerai’s brand ambassador, Dhoni speaks with the air of an industry insider. “Panerai has come a long way in terms of innovation... Even the rose gold on this watch,” he says, pointing to the brand’s patented “Goldtech” shade.“Our rose gold is very different from that of other watch brands.” Seated next to him is a visibly delighted JeanMarc Pontroué, the brand’s CEO and the latest addition to Captain Cool’s legion of fans. “I love how he says, ‘our rose gold’. He has an ownership over the brand.” The two “Dhoni watches” – a 44mm Luminor GMT in stainless steel, limited to 251 pieces and a Luminor Flyback Chronograph that’s limited to 77 pieces – appear to be just like any other Panerai on the surface. They both feature an olive-green dial, with matching green stitching on the leather strap – a supposed nod to Dhoni’s fondness for all things Army. But, in reality, the only real signifier of the fact that it’s a tribute watch, lies on the caseback – featuring an engraved motif of MSD, executing his iconic helicopter shot, along with his highest ODI score of 183 and, of course, his signature. In every other sense, these are traditional Panerai watches. “When an individual and a company come together to design a watch, you have to keep in mind the ethos of the brand. You have to put out something that’s very Panerai and at the same time relates to me,” says Dhoni. After a brief chat, it becomes increasingly evident that the brand genuinely resonates with Dhoni, who is well-versed in its history. Something Pontroué can attest to. “When I first met him, I was a new CEO and he knew more of the brand than I did,” he confirms. When asked about his favourites from last year’s collection, Dhoni’s response is as swift as his movement on the pitch. “I love the Marina Militare, because of the military connect. I’m lucky to have a Bronzo as well. I’m one for whom the character of the watch comes from the scars it has collected.” 120 —
JANUARY 2020
PHOTOGR A PHED BY JIGNE SH JHAVERI
(From left) Panerai Luminor GMT in stainless steel; Panerai Luminor Flyback Chronograph in rose gold featuring an openwork caseback
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN. IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (MS DHONI)
Tryst Of The Wrist
Sports watches may be dime-a-dozen, but a special tribute to an Indian cricket giant? Those are hard to come by
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am a random guy, a super random fellow,” is one of the ways Varun Dhawan describes himself. He uses the term “random” in a casual, throwaway manner that does not quantify it in any particular way. It merely means, in this case, that he may do things that do not conform to any set standard of human behaviour. “I am pretty weird,” he adds, in case “random” didn’t cut it in describing his choice of activities. Seated cross-legged on a footstool, dressed in a T-shirt, shorts and having come into the room with no footwear, as any random chap is likely to be in his own home, Dhawan explains what he means. He might be sitting with friends when a movie scene would come into his head and he’d start acting. Or, he’d be listening to music in his car and start to imagine how he’d dance to the song. His mind would wander through this retro number – a tune from the 1990s, a rap rage or Eminem’s protestations – and he would imagine himself in a vest and baggy jeans. “I wouldn’t realise, but I’d start moving. Then I’d see someone staring at me, or trying to take a picture. It gets so embarrassing…” The 32-year-old actor is in a good place, he says, entering the new decade in a much better frame of mind than how 2019 started. He has a spate of films coming up, starting with Street Dancer 3D in January, Coolie No.1 in May, with possibly one or two more releases before the end of the year. The actor who played a vengeful Raghav in 2015’s Badlapur, the confused, youthful Danish in 2018’s October
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After flirting with darker roles,
Varun Dhawan is back to doing what he does best: playing
the consummate Hindi film
hero in feel-good entertainers that demolish the box office. Arun Janardhan meets the
affable actor, bent on becoming Bollywood’s go-to Everyman
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“I WANTED TO GO BACK TO MY KID-FRIENDLY, MASS GENRE FILMS. I WANTED TO MERGE IT WITH A MESSAGE, IN A PG-13 WAY”
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and the happy-go-lucky Mauji of Sui Dhaaga (2018) has made a deliberate shift in his choice of films, leaning towards children-friendly entertainers than more complex characters or roles. Street Dancer 3D extends Remo D’Souza’s Any Body Can Dance series, while father David Dhawan re-imagines his hit from the 1990s, replacing Govinda with his younger son, in Coolie No.1. “He [Dhawan] is good with subtle nuances, but is reluctant,” says Sharat Katariya, who directed Sui Dhaaga. “He is scared that it’ll go unnoticed but it doesn’t. Tell him this is the situation and without references to the past or future of the scene, he is able to live the moment. I don’t know his process, but it looks effortless to me.” Three to four films in a year is a lot for an actor who has done only 12 in seven years, with his last release Kalank a minor blot in a career of otherwise reasonable successes. His choice of films, mostly instinctive, in the immediate future may or may not have something to do with his 18-month-old niece Niyara, brother Rohit’s daughter, but his overall demeanour has changed because of the toddler. “I think she has added a lot of joy. After she came into our lives, I realised that coming back [home from work] and playing with her is actually ‘success’. I always think there will be a time when I come home and she’ll think Tata [as she calls him] is ‘uncool’ now.” He pauses, before lowering his voice, “That’s really a dreadful thought.”
t the Juhu apartment where Dhawan lives, the watchman relays the message about a visitor for chhote bhaiyya to the flat. The room where such meetings take place is shorn of vanity – except for one framed photograph of the actor and a few trophies. Dark tan sofas, a large screen TV and a desk form the rest of the relatively simple décor. In many ways, Dhawan is unlike a movie star – unpretentious, courteous and inquisitive. He is attentive – only once does he check his phone for an incoming call and promptly ignores it. When he was growing up, father David’s career was just beginning to escalate – one of his earliest hits, Swarg, came out in 1990 while the blockbuster Aankhen released three years later. Dhawan remembers their early years to be modest: an initial one-bedroom apartment, occasional rickshaw rides to Maneckji Cooper School in Juhu, sharing a room with his brother and playing cricket with the boys from the hood. The bonds that he formed then remain strong even now, he says, cemented by occasional games of cricket. “Directors were not so recognisable then, even though he [David] was a big name. That helped me. I was never a name-dropper; I was pretty basic. In Juhu, one of my favourite things to do was to have a cheese masala dosa and a watermelon juice at Shiv Sagar. These are some of the things that gave me happiness. Speaking about it makes me feel like ordering right now,” he says, grinning. If Dhawan’s debut as a glossy teenager in Karan Johar’s cheesy Student of the Year (2012) followed the prototype of a star son’s maiden film, the choices he made later both followed a pattern and broke it. Main Tera Hero, Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania, Dilwale, Dishoom and Judwaa 2 were the kind of films that get slammed by critics and earn nine to ten-figure returns at the box office. But movies like these were peppered in between with Badlapur and October, which showed an actor straining to spread his wings. “I was hardly offered scripts before,” he says, laughing. “I was doing whatever I was offered. People forget that you slowly build to become something... I look at it spiritually, which might be naive, but if something is mine, it will come to me.” But as his impact at the box office turned, so did his priorities. “I went through a change in 2018-2019. I wanted to go back to my kid-friendly, mass genre films. I wanted to merge it with a message, in a PG-13 way.” In a subtle manner or otherwise, Street Dancer 3D looks at the issue of immigration while Coolie No.1 is a comment on greed. “I was happy with that work too. But now I want to do this. When I have my fill of this, I will go back to another one or two ‘different films’.” One of these will
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“WHEN A FILM FAILS, IT IS LIKE A RELATIONSHIP THAT DIDN’T WORK OUT, LIKE AN EXGIRLFRIEND. YOU LEARN FROM IT”
be Sriram Raghavan’s biopic on second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, which fulfils Dhawan’s desire to play a soldier on screen. One of his favourite movies from the last decade is Tumbbad; he thinks (the Korean Oscar-nominated film) Parasite is fantastic and Danny Boyle’s Yesterday was a cool film, especially since the actor, “a Gujarati guy, was so good”. He’s been watching The Kominsky Method on Netflix, because Michael Douglas is “pretty cool” as well. He’s a cinema lover, who is able to go beyond the perceived notions of what a Hindi film hero should be like. “All actors want everything to be about ‘me/ myself ’,” Dhawan says. “They look at everything from their point of view but it’s so important today to open your eyes and see what’s going around. I’ve been able to do that, being part of a family of film-makers, to check which actor can collaborate with my family.” “When you see someone like Ayushmann [Khurrana], the stuff he does… He’s not playing an alpha male. Sometimes, he’s not playing a male at all,” he says, laughing. “In fact, he’s at his best when he’s not playing an alpha male.” 126
It’s easy to see why Dhawan is popular among children, and older people. He has an earnestness that’s unique for a product of the movie industry. His answers don’t sound prepared, but sincere, much like his performance in Kalank, where he was the only floating plank in a shipwreck. “Failure,” he says, “is almost like a relationship that didn’t work out, like an ex-girlfriend. You learn from it.” He smiles easily and pre-empts every other question because, like he admits, people or his family have asked him pretty much everything. “I don’t like being questioned,” he says, not admitting to the irony of the situation, ie, this interview, “but I love questioning people. You learn so much, which I can use in my acting.” It’s the reason he started the irreverent The Mango Man Show on YouTube, a reference, no doubt, to the common man or aam admi, which literally translates to “mango man”. “That’s my passion,” he says, laughing, “the unfunded show. Why am I doing this?” he pre-empts the question again, “because it’s always been my dream to interview people and ask them questions other people don’t ask them.” In one of the two episodes, he asks Sachin Tendulkar what the former cricketer used to do if he felt like peeing while batting in a long Test match. “Yes, that was my question. Then I got an opportunity to interview [pro wrestler] Charlotte Flair and that’s the highest viewed episode between the two,” Dhawan says, cracking up. “They make a lot of fun of me at home. There will be different guests, and you won’t be able to guess who my next is.” His interest in pro wrestling and UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is second only to his love for dancing. If it were up to him, he’d do shows for free, given his love for entertaining people. “But it doesn’t work like that,” he mumbles. “When we met,” adds Katariya, “I realised that he is just a happy person. He is funny and no matter the situation, is always trying to see the positive and that’s what the character [Mauji in Sui Dhaaga] is.” However weird it might sound, Dhawan says, he really pushed himself in Coolie No.1; Street Dancer 3D required seven to eight hours of dancing on a strict diet; even Kalank was “a lot of effort”. As he gets ready to interview entertainer Bhuvan Bam for episode three of his show, he wonders aloud where he could do it – at Shiv Sagar since it’s playing on his mind or maybe at Alfredo’s, a Juhu landmark Dhawan used to frequent in his less famous days. Or maybe that is just another random thought.
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COMEBACK
kid Audi’s swashbuckling mid-fielder – the A6, is back in the game. But does it pack enough heat?
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t’s been a while since we got a brandspanking-new Audi on the block. The gaping four-ring-sized hole left due to several months of inactivity only appeared to be expanding, even as Audi worked on its next offensive, teasing us, meanwhile, with glimpses into an Asimovian future – of electric cars, advanced autonomous functions and disappearing wing mirrors. Audi may have a firm grip on what’s on the electric horizon, but it still needs a champion of the present – something that’s as much of a vessel for its triumphant journey through the years in the Indian car market, as it is a showcase for the future. And for the moment, that car appears to be the new A6. Sure, it’s not the most sensational car in the Audi arsenal, but the A6 is and has always been a thoroughbred workhorse. Understated like a tweed jacket, swift and refined to a fault, it was a once-
ubiquitous staple of executive luxury that fell behind due to the lack of significant and timely reinvention. And while the arrival of the new one is anything but timely, its breadth of changes does qualify as significant. On the surface, it’s traded its slightly shopworn exterior for a new, taut and sharply cut frame that, at the risk of being a tad humourless, is all business. The carmaker’s scalpel-wielding designers have taken some liberties with the contouring of the A6, throwing into sharp relief, how much cleaner and punctuation-free Audi’s visual grammar has come to be. In-line with its current crop of machines, the grille is larger, the eyes are narrower and the shoulders are more clearly defined. The whole steam-pressed treatment has given it more length and girth, adding the customary millimetres that come with a next-gen upgrade to both dimensions. It is however, unmistakably, A6 – a stately guise that lends itself particularly well to an estate form (sold in India only in RS form). In a surprising move, Audi has only chosen to launch the petrol version – the 2.0-litre, turbocharged, “45 TFSI” to be specific, tuned to put out 245hp (hence the confusing nomenclature). It’s a familiar unit, which, when paired to Audi’s super-slick, seven-speed, dualclutch DSG unit, dispatches power with the same, steely resolve it did in the past, only marginally weighed down by all the luxury bells and whistles. (We wouldn’t have that problem with the 3.0-litre V6, now would we?) As a mid-level executive car, Audi has to account for the possibility of the owner driving their own car (as opposed to being driven in it) and so is obligated to infuse a sense of driving fun into it, if only as an
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN
Drive
AUDI a6 ENGINE 2.0-LITRE, TURBO-PETROL POWER 245BHP TORQUE 370NM TRANSMISSION 7-SPEED, DUALCLUTCH DSG PRICE `52.4 LAKH (SHOWROOM, INDIA)
TIP The new A6 is a do-no-wrong sedan designed for those who prioritise comfort and refinement over all else
afterthought. The A6 is based on the same platform as the A8 and A7. It benefits plenty from shared tech, and, like all the members of the “A” badged brigade, it prioritises quiet refinement over raw performance, staying true to its gentlemanly nature. The power levels feel more than adequate, building pace swiftly, if not immediately, with the A6 settling into its comfort zone at a breezy 120kph. It’s on the inside where the A6 really scores because it’s a terrific tub to sit in. Audi hasn’t missed a spot while lavishing the interiors with an intricate weave of leather, organic wood brushed aluminium and piano black bits – it is a significant upgrade from its predecessor and blurs the line between it and the bigger A8 quite effectively.
For the first time, Audi’s MMI system comes with a dual touchscreen system, dispensing with all manner of buttons and opting for a haptic feedback enabled system instead. There’s also the much-loved “Virtual Cockpit”, which, along with the layered and lush layout of the cabin, gives the A6 the distinction of having best-in-class interiors. While the new A6 may not scorch the tarmac, it possesses a sort of gratifying smoothness to it, wafting over surfaces despite the lack of adaptive air suspension – a unit that went the way of its predecessor. It’s not a deal breaker, but it was a fantastic bit of kit that leaves the A6 a little poorer upon removal. That said, with all the new additions, the A6 is a technologically superior product to its predecessor, but whether it’s a superior car depends on the parameters you set for superiority. Does it feel lighter and faster? Yes. Is it a nicer place to be in? Considerably. Do the steel springs drastically affect its ride quality? No, they do a pretty decent job, actually. That said, it closes the gap between itself and the A8 far better than the last one did, and for that alone, it’s worth serious consideration. The A6’s delayed arrival might set it back in the sales department – but it’s still a healthy indicator that Audi is back in the game. And if the highly capable A6 is merely a teaser of what’s in store, the future could be very exciting indeed.
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Drive
POWER
Cruise
An all-Lamborghini convoy of supercars across one of India’s most scenic routes is what fantasy road trips are made of
WORDS: PARTH CHARAN. IMAGE: PARTH CHARAN
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t’s one thing to have the eerie early morning silence at the foothills of Ooty pierced by the roar of a naturally aspirated V10, it’s a totally different matter when it’s done by a small armada of them. Like a string of aerodynamically repurposed skittles, the brightly coloured Huracans dart past the crowd – their phones unsheathed, cameras flashing, grins widening. Going by the kind of reaction a fleet of Lamborghinis can provoke, you’d think the residents of Ooty were witnessing the arrival of extraterrestrial life forms. And as far as terrestrial forms are concerned, Lamborghinis, with their wedge-shaped noses, crackling exhausts and roadhugging tyres have always been a muchneeded dose of extra. The sort of extra that can brighten up just about any kind of situation. The reason for the unusually high supercar-count is that this year, Lamborghini India has decided to go national with its annual GIRO drive. This customer-oriented initiative, executed globally by the brand, hosts Lambo owners as they drive across a predetermined route, with on-site technical assistance, five-star lodging and the sort of bonhomie that only mutual love for Italian automotive exotica can bring about. The logistical challenges are considerable when you account for the sheer number of cars being hauled in over flatbeds from all over the country, the costs of which are borne by the customers – everything else, including high-octane fuel and stay, is on the house. There’s also the fact that Lambos tend to have a dangerously hypnotic effect on passing
vehicles. People tend to slow down, gawk, temporarily lose motor functions as they find their vehicles slowly veering towards the Huracan’s perfectly proportioned posterior. Realistically speaking, then, venturing out into the unknown horizon, in a sub-`4 crore supercar entirely on your own can be a daunting prospect in India. Like moths to a flame, these cars attract crowds. Which is why signing up for such a drive appeals to Lambo owners, a singularly fortunate minority who, one would assume, couldn’t be bothered with the rigours of convoy driving. But, having the rare privilege of being in the passenger seat gave me the opportunity to engage with the owners with regards the big draw a drive like this has. As if on cue, we were intercepted by a police escort – a special request for which had been placed by Lamborghini India in order to ensure smooth passage for the cars – a luxury that no elite supercar club can boast of. This year, the trip flagged off in Bengaluru, driving up to Coimbatore where everyone temporarily hung their hats (and some highly coveted key fobs). The next morning they headed off towards Ooty’s Savoy Hotel, situated at a hilltop, which was to serve as the venue for a gala dinner. Seeing those cars being driven in unison, makes one thing perfectly clear. Of all the rarefied, poster-car brands out there, Lamborghini, the first of its kind, has come the furthest. If a mid-engined supercar can find itself comfortably permeating the Indian hinterland, filled with craters, patchy roadworks (only to find release around the winding hill roads) the days of temperamental and impractical hypercars are behind us. Being witness to a fleet of such cars in relatively remote parts is like having Elvis tour the world and stop by every hamlet, county, town and city for a jamming session. And being behind the wheel? That’s like shaking hands with god. JANUARY 2020
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T HE
Big PICT UR E The little things add up W R I T T E N
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A M R I T R A J
Fitness
IMAGE: MATT SAYLES
‘‘W
e are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” —Aristotle
Most of our days are a microcosm of what our entire lives look like. Once I started focusing on the micro decisions of my daily routine, it translated quickly into the macro picture. I set two alarms with songs that embody my code – the first one’s for 4:30am and the second for 4:35am. I begin my day early because I like to accomplish several tasks before the sun is up. It makes me feel like I’m ahead of the game by the time I get to work, setting the tone for accomplishment. I also do it because it isn’t easy, and it reminds me that I have the will to do what is difficult. Currently, the songs on my alarm will be two out of the following four: “Heart Of A Champion” by Nelly; “Remember The Name” by Fort Minor; “We Ready” by Ya Boy, or “Non Believers” by Ice Cube. These songs help me focus on the two most important founding principles of my Code: self-belief and hard work. So, naturally, the first thoughts I want to wake up with are always: “I believe in myself more than I ever have,” and “My will is strong enough to do absolutely anything I decide to/need to do.” Then, I pray. This isn’t for everyone, of course, and that’s understandable. I spend the majority of this time in gratitude for everything I’ve been given. I’ve found that the more you focus on the positives in your life, the more they multiply. Next, I feed my little pup Jonah, rub his belly and take him out for a walk. He’s one of the best things that’s happened to me. Starting my day with his needs allows me to focus on someone other than myself. It sets the tone for giving in my day. All my meals are prepared the night before, however, I always make a fresh breakfast in the morning. Nothing fancy – usually some eggs, oatmeal, some fruit and a lot of water. A nutritious meal in the morning gives me the energy I need for an optimal start and it reminds me how important it is to fuel myself. If not, you’re running on an empty stomach, and let’s face it: A car with a full tank of gas (especially the right type) will travel smoother and farther. This sets the tone for self-care. Those of you who follow me on social media know that this is the point in my day
– around 5:30am – when I like to dive into my training. (Check GQ India’s website for my piece on the many benefits of exercise – physical, mental and spiritual.) By this point, I’ve set the mood for my day, and feel at my best. The sun is out and I’m ready to sink my teeth into work. I structure my day thus so my mind functions at its sharpest when I need it. One needs to be honest with oneself, and organise their day in a manner that suits them. It all boils down to a combination of logic, efficiency and feeling. My work sked changes day to day – it may consist of filming (either presenting for tennis, or a role in a film/TV show), prep for an audition, or a business meeting. If nothing concrete is scheduled, I generate my own work – something that will further my company, career or personal growth. This may consist of everything from reading scripts and autobiographies of people I admire to books about subjects I’m interested in. It may also consist of working with an acting coach. There is always something you can do to further your knowledge, and in turn, your value (personally, and in your career). I love to schedule not just a full plate, but an overflowing one. The more you take on and successfully accomplish, the more you build your capacity to take on in the future too. When the work day ends, I spend the evening with those who matter the most in my life. This usually involves playing with Jonah, and having a drink or a meal with my parents. This sets the tone to make sure that I’m closely connected to those who remind me of my roots, values and what’s most important to me – family. I try to go to bed at 8:30pm – the earlier I get to bed, the better I sleep. It also gives my body enough time to rest so I can wake up at 4:30am the next day. Prioritising rest is an important part of self-care. Before I get ready for bed, I ensure my meals for the next day are prepared. Which principles are embodied in your day? What life characteristics can be identified in your micro decisions that will manifest in the big picture? I know work and life can get in the way sometimes. But nothing in life is perfect. Nonetheless, we always have the choice to own our decisions and how we choose to react to our circumstances. If we can set our tone for each day with the principles that comprise our code, it sets the tone for happiness, peace of mind, fulfillment and the life we truly want to live.
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TIONS
Forget winter style rules: Whether you want to flash some chest or swerve towards oversized workwear, just do it with swagger PHOTOGRAPHED BY STEPHANIE GALEA
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The
Checkered During a 12-year tenure at that most French of fashion maisons Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci reshaped athleisurewear with his uniquely Catholic melancholia. Having since crossed the channel, he is now the lead at British brand Burberry. Ahead of his SS20 show, GQ met the heritage label’s chief creative officer to discuss the inspiration he draws from the United Kingdom WRITTEN BY ALEXANDER FURY
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Kanye West and Madonna with Riccardo Tisci in New York in 2014
IMAGE: COURTESY OF BURBERRY (SHOW), GETTY IMAGES (TISCI WITH KANYE AND MADONNA)
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When in March 2018 the designer Riccardo Tisci was announced as chief creative officer of British behemoth Burberry – the only luxury brand listed on the FTSE 100, with a turnover hovering around £2.72 billion as of the last financial year’s takings – eyebrows were raised. That wasn’t due to a lack of commercial success nor understanding of big business (Tisci has both). It was more the fact that, well, Tisci isn’t British: he is Italian, born in 1974 in Cermenate, near Lake Como. And his name was established during a 12-year tenure at Givenchy, that most patrician and aristocratically French of fashion houses, where Tisci was one of only a handful of designers to create haute couture, while also offering couture-tinged ready-towear for women and, more unexpectedly, men. With more than a touch of smallmindedness, many commentators couldn’t see how Tisci could, on the one hand, interpret the quintessence of Britishness embedded in Burberry and, on the other, understand the complexities of Britain’s strange little society. “I’m not British, obviously,” says Tisci, in his still-heavy Italian accent. “But I lived here when I was young. I studied here. I graduated
here. I have to give all my gratitude to England. England made me.” He pauses. “But at the same time, what is it today, to be British?” That is a question that feels particularly resonant in the United Kingdom at the moment. “What I’m interested in, in England, in a moment like this, are the changes in culture because of Brexit and many other things,” Tisci says. He’s careful and measured – how anyone is when you talk about Brexit, especially in fashion. His thick black eyebrows frequently furrow. “I’m interested in how Britishness is developing in different ways.” In a sense, Tisci is now part of said “Britishness”. Burberry is a company that is a component of the country’s national identity, with its royal warrant and trench coats and checks dressing every echelon of society since Thomas Burberry founded the company as a 21-year-old in 1856. There was already some Britishness to Tisci: he first came to the country in 1991, when he was 17, and later studied at Central Saint Martins. His work is tinged with a rebellion often perceived as distinctly English, born from punk and the revolutionary work of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood – the first person Tisci chose to collaborate with at Burberry, on a capsule collection that reiterated her 1990s greatest hits, which Tisci knew well and evidently still loves. Tisci seems to have taken the nationalistic questioning in his stride. “Most of the time, people have said to me, ‘You’re not Italian,’” he says, despite that accent apparently. “At one point people thought I was Belgian, because I was dark, or French, maybe Latin, never Italian.” And although Tisci follows Yorkshireman Christopher Bailey in the position as Burberry’s chief creative officer, there is an Italian forebear at the company: the American-born Italian Roberto Menichetti designed Burberry from 1998 to 2001, the first full-fledged fashion revival of the label. Its zenith (or nadir, depending on your point of view) were paparazzi shots of the actress Danniella Westbrook in head-to-toe tartan with matching baby stroller in 2002. She was soon associated with the controversial epithet “chav” and Burberry check vanished from the house’s collections for a few years. It was viewed pejoratively, but in fact it demonstrated the power of Burberry. It is a name and a style with a resonance and appeal far beyond fashion. Which is one of the things that attracted Tisci to the house JANUARY 2020
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threaded check. Burberry past and present, blending to make Burberry’s future. We were in the very eye of the storm. But that’s only two reasons. “The third one is because of [Burberry CEO] Marco Gobbetti.” That bears examination: because designers often tell you they love where a house sits in popular consciousness (although few have the near-universal comprehension enjoyed by Burberry) and the idea of crafting a universe. The CEO, on the other hand, rarely gets a mention and is often viewed as an adversary – even Pierre Bergé, the partner of Yves Saint Laurent who headed his couture house from 1961 until Saint Laurent’s retirement in 2002, had a tempestuous relationship with his creative charge. Tisci’s harmony with Gobbetti was, for a long time, a near-unique industry example. The latter, then CEO of Givenchy, met the former when Tisci presented his womenswear show in Milan in February 2005. Givenchy was at that point without an artistic director: despite a bunch of other designers being in the running, Gobbetti took a punt on an unknown. “He took the risk to really give me a chance,” Tisci says. “Back then I was very punk. I didn’t want to do Givenchy. I did it because... Financial,” he says with a shrug. Tisci comes from a working-class Italian family, originating in the south but moving to the north to pursue prosperity in the 1970s. But his father died in 1978, leaving the family – consisting of his mother and eight sisters, with Tisci the youngest and the only male – in a precarious situation. It necessitated the children to contribute, when old enough, to its support. Tisci has previously stated that he took the Givenchy job to be able to buy his mother a house. “But then I realised that the man that was in front of me was like the father I never had,” he said. The happy marriage of a designer and CEO has since become something of an industry standard, with in-sync creative and commercial duos, such as Gucci’s Alessandro Michele and Marco Bizzarri and Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello and Francesca Bellettini, coupling business and pleasure to multibillion-dollar success. Yet Tisci and Gobbetti’s is an extraordinary story, with much emotion attached. It’s beyond business and even beyond fashion.
IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES (TISCIʼS AW14 GIVENCHY SHOW). REUTERS (AW19 BURBERRY SHOW), AFP (BURBERRY BEAR)
Tisci’s AW19 Burberry show in London
in the first place. The designer had elected to take a sabbatical from his position as one of the longest-serving artistic directors in contemporary fashion; no fuss, no drama, a simple and clean break. “Fashion is going very fast, much faster than before. I took that time to think about it,” Tisci says. “Then Burberry called me.” He was offered a number of other roles during that time, which, he hastens to add diplomatically, were all “amazing”. But, out of them all, he took the Burberry gig for three fundamental reasons: “I’m fascinated when houses belong to the culture of a country. I think Burberry represents Britishness. What really got me as well was not to do only fashion, but lifestyle. Because this huge empire is not only about the trench, the history, the check. I think people buy fashion, but mostly, the young generation, they buy what has an allure, a dream.” Tisci stops and draws breath. He speaks quickly, articulately, but with ideas and sentences bubbling over one another expressively. You get the same patter backstage at his Burberry shows and, indeed, visually in the shows themselves: he named his second, for Autumn/Winter 2019, “Tempest”, inspired by the aforementioned contrasts in British culture, as well as its weather. That is of course an unavoidable, stereotypical source of British conversation; Tisci has always had a good sense of humour. But that latter component was apt for an Autumn/Winter show, with men dressed in layered-up down jackets and rain macs and a puffer-clad male model toting a Union Jack survival blanket (at a time when the kingdom feels less than united), all mixed with city boys in slick suits in tonal caramel combinations of Burberry beige and even a gentle revival of that much-maligned red-
“This huge empire is not only about the trench, the history, the check. I think people buy fashion, but mostly, the young generation, they buy what has an allure, a dream”
(From top) The LFW 2018 Thomas Burberry bear; Tisci’s AW14 Givenchy menswear show, Paris
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Emotion is something one often associates with Tisci and his designs. In the past, he’s created clothes expressive of his Catholic upbringing, brimming with darkness and, if torment is the wrong word, then definitely with a certain melancholy. But in person Tisci is gregarious, smiling and warm. He’s excited by the opportunities offered by Burberry, by the breadth of his new position, by the opportunity to dress the world, not just Britain, in his brand of Britishness. And you feel that excitement and generosity in his Burberry shows. Mixing up menswear and womenswear, they frequently feel not like two but four shows in one, pumping out an array of ideas and, let’s be blunt here, product. Contrary to popular view of designer as creative genius agonising in an ivory tower and expecting moneymen to make commercial sense of his outpourings, Tisci is embedded in the business of Burberry. Perhaps that is in part due to his relationship with Gobbetti or maybe it’s just in his nature. He cares about what is bought, how and why. Tisci is savvy. We meet 10 days before his SS20 Burberry show, in London in September, Tisci’s third since he joined the British brand. He’s tanned from a summer vacation – an Italian tradition of August as a holiday month he’s keen to cling on to, even though he’s now based in London. Last year, he wasn’t able to take the time before his first Burberry show – and he’s about to enter a familiar but still intensive period of long days and sleepless nights. “This season’s going to be a big shock, because I’m feeling more and more confident. It’s going to be much more sensual, much more romantic, much more me, [but] still with the British side. You’re trying to do things that you know will sell well – but I don’t want
JANUARY 2019 FEBRUARY2020
IMAGE: COURTESY OF BURBERRY
The AW19 Burberry show, London
the company to become a company that sells only basics,” he tells me only five minutes into our conversation. He also lets drop that 30 to 45 per cent of menswear sales are to women. “The good thing with Burberry is we know who is buying our clothes,” he says, grinning. And Tisci isn’t just interested in what sells, but how: Since he began at Burberry, the company has adopted a sportswear-influenced model of incremental drops, releasing product on the 17th day of each month (17 is Tisci’s lucky number) and generating frenzied desire among consumers. Creating desire for menswear is one of Tisci’s talents: during his time at Givenchy, his menswear shifted industry goalposts, virtually inventing a new notion of fashionconscious hyper-masculinity that’s now widely familiar, with sports stars such as LeBron James, Odell Beckham Jr, Lewis Hamilton and Ruben Loftus-Cheek wearing flamboyant styles that nevertheless exude machismo. Often, his clothes coupled sportswear elements with couture detailing: embroideries of pearls, dentelle and guipure lace more commonly seen on wedding gowns, gold studs and floral patterns. They were bold and brave looks that, pre-Tisci, simply didn’t exist in mainstream fashion: “The T-shirt, the boxers, a lot of streetwear nobody was doing, a lot of print, a lot of denim with leggings, things that...” Tisci runs through his greatest hits at breakneck speed. “Very masculine, very gymnasium, more Latin, because, for me, the chic part of Frenchness is all about the mix of Arabic and African and Moroccan.” That was reflected as much in the models he used – a whole new array of beefed-up types, often Brazilian, who were an antidote to the slender silhouettes of the time. And Tisci cuts – and still cuts – a great suit, alongside that sportswear, tight and curved, emphasising a muscled build of men (this is pre-Love Island, remember) relatively newly conscious of their bodies, working on them and wanting to show them off. “It’s done very well, the suit,” says Tisci of his new Burberry offerings, which, for winter, are single-breasted and sharp, slim and pinched in at the waist, formal but not fusty. “When I arrived in fashion, I didn’t want to do menswear,” Tisci states, bluntly. “It was Marco that pushed me after three years. Then I started slowly. It was very successful.” Tisci is being breathtakingly modest when he cites success: unlike most fashion houses, weighed towards accessories and/or womenswear as the cash cow, Givenchy’s revenue was reputed to be almost evenly split between men’s and womenswear. LVMH, the conglomerate that
Givenchy’s turnover increased more than sixfold during Tisci’s time there, with revenue exceeding half a billion euros owns Givenchy, does not break out individual incomes for their brands nor categories within them. However, upon Tisci’s departure in 2017, the industry title Women’s Wear Daily reported that Givenchy’s turnover increased more than six-fold during Tisci’s time there, with revenue exceeding half a billion euros.
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evertheless, despite that initial reticence to design menswear, Tisci’s point of view proved bold and distinct. In fact, it wasn’t so much a point of view on what men were wearing as on men in general – and it became an industry shifter. “It was a moment when everything was very skinny, very young, very beautiful, very tight. It was very body-conscious,” says Tisci of the moment he showed his first menswear collection in June 2008. “So me, I came with something that going around the shops I couldn’t find. Today you can talk about genderless, but at the time you had menswear for gay people and menswear for straight people. And I was like, ‘I’m gay and I’m not ashamed of it, but I love
fashion and I like to wear clothes in these sort of ways, which is very normal, which people call straight,’ which was very stupid for me. So I started to build around the idea of being confident of your sexuality. A woman can wear men’s suits during the day and a guy can wear a lace shirt – it’s not about the look, it’s about your confidence.” Tisci is confident. He is a Leo, like Gabrielle Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent. And in a similar fashion to both those epoch definers, Tisci has a strong point of view, firmly imposed – direct, emphatic and unwavering. In retrospect, his first menswear collection for Givenchy didn’t introduce a Givenchy man so much as a Riccardo Tisci man. Yet Tisci’s Burberry isn’t about a man; indeed, it feels old-fashioned to talk about a “man”, given Tisci’s plurality of vision. His Burberry is about men, about city suits and sportswear striding alongside one another. He classes his Burberry into distinct strata: lady and gentleman, girl and boy. But they are presented together in shows staged on an epic scale, with pomp and circumstance. There’s nothing schlocky or caricatured about it. Tisci’s Burberry is multicultural, multilayered, a multiverse. It melds together socioeconomic and class signifiers, cultural origins and the age gaps of man and boy. You wind up with suits next to shorts, football shirts alongside elegant coats, a touch of drapery evocative of a Middle Eastern dress. “When sometimes you do your own culture, you put in your own private, personal experience,” reasons Tisci, perhaps making the case why, as an outsider, he can perceive British culture with a wider sweep than a countryman could. “I won’t say I’m the right person for this house,” he says, smiling and pausing, maybe letting me take in the fact that the CCO of one of the largest fashion companies in the world has implied he maybe isn’t the best fit for the job. “But what for me is very important with Burberry is the fact that this country, in history, is the most representative country of duality. You have the Queen, aristocracy, culture, intellectually, the elegance, the perfection. Then you always have this other side. First the punk, then the skinhead. That is the beauty. That is the first thing I want to build at Burberry: [the idea] that Britishness is these two very strong identities. Now I’m living here, I live in this history. I feel it.” FEBRUARY JANUARY 2020 2019
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WORLD
THE
OF
TOP
THE
at
Chaos
It was one of the most arresting viral photos of the year: a horde of climbers clogged atop Mount Everest. But it only begins to capture the deadly realities of what transpired that day at 29,000 feet. These are the untold accounts of the people who were there
NEPAL
MT. EVEREST
WRITTEN BY JOSHUA HAMMER
IMAGE: AFP
KATHMANDU
Mountaineers ascending Mount Everest from Tibet on May 22, 2019
t was morning and bright, and Reinhard Grubhofer, depleted and dehydrated, hoisted his body over a crest and rose uneasily. There, from the summit of Mount Everest, he could see everything. How the earth curved gorgeously in all direction; how wisps of clouds sailed beneath his boots. The view – out beyond his worries – was beautiful. But closer at hand, he could see trouble taking shape. He could feel it, too, shuffling with a dozen other climbers onto a slim patch of ground roughly the size of two ping-pong tables. The space was crowded. Shakily, Grubhofer held up a small flag and posed for photos with his climbing partner, a fellow Austrian named Ernst Landgraf, who’d made the slog to the summit uneasily. It had been a brutal day. Their 13-man party had awoken at eleven the previous night and trudged through the darkness up the icy incline of Everest’s north side. Along the way, the temperatures dipped to well below zero. At some point, the water bottle that Grubhofer packed had frozen into a solid brick. He was thirsty and exhausted. But he tried not to pay attention to any of that now. After weeks of waiting and years of planning, Grubhofer had made it. It was 9:30am on May 23, and a less experienced climber might have thought that the hard part was over. Grubhofer knew better. As he jockeyed for a place to stand at the top of the world, his Sherpa’s radio came alive. Kari Kobler, the founder of the Swiss mountaineering agency that had organised Grubhofer’s expedition, was radioing urgently from base camp. Bad weather was moving in fast. They had to descend, quickly. Grubhofer looked down toward Nepal and could see grey clouds sweeping across the southern face of the mountain. There was something else down there too: a line of a hundred or so climbers in brightly coloured suits snaking up the side of the mountain. The crowd seemed incredible – like a bag of Skittles had been scattered down the slope. On the north side, Grubhofer knew, more climbers were tracing his trail up the mountain from Tibet too. He hopped off the summit and crossed two windswept snowfields, digging unsteadily into the crust with his crampons. Whenever Grubhofer encountered somebody ascending the
mountain, etiquette forced him to unclip himself from the rope to step around the climber. Each time he did so, he was aware that a gust of wind or a misstep could send him hurtling to an uncertain fate. Grubhofer had tossed his goggles after they’d frozen in the night and now was wearing Adidas sports sunglasses, which fogged over constantly, requiring him to remove his down mittens in the cold to clean the lenses – a tiny reminder of the multitude of dangerous unpleasantries and unforeseen challenges that crop up on Everest. None of this was new to Grubhofer. A wiry 45-year-old with a thatch of reddish-blond hair, he’d taken up mountaineering 15 years earlier at 30. That’s when Grubhofer, depressed following a divorce, vowed to restart his life. He set out for the Himalayas and scaled the 21,250foot Mera Peak in Nepal. “I was not fit enough, but it got me hooked in,” he recalls. Over the following decade, Grubhofer ticked off three of the Seven Summits – the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. Everest would be his fourth. He took his first shot in 2015, but the adventure was cut short. He was dug in with his team at 21,300 feet, at what’s known as Advanced Base Camp, when an earthquake hit the region, setting off an avalanche that killed over a dozen people at the Nepalese base camp. Grubhofer’s expedition was untouched, but no one from either the Tibetan or the Nepali side of Everest summited that season. Returning to the mountain hadn’t been cheap. Grubhofer, who works for a sightseeing company in Vienna, paid $65,000 for a package that included travel to and from Tibet, visas, guide and Sherpa fees, and the $11,000 permit issued by the Chinese government. Reaching the summit this time around represented a special kind of thrill, but he refused to celebrate until he was safely down the mountain. Late in the morning, as he made his way along the crowded trail, a fog rolled in, the wind whipped up and snow began to fall. Around noon Grubhofer arrived at the most dangerous obstacle on the northern side: step two, a roughly 100-foot drop, negotiated this 155
time by three rickety ladders placed against the rock-and-ice façade. The first ladder was about 30-feet long. To reach it, a climber had to twist his body to face the mountain and extend his heavy, crampon-covered boot past an overhang, feeling blindly for the first rung. It was here that the half-dozen climbers ahead of him ground to a sudden halt. Why the hell aren’t we moving? Grubhofer wondered. What’s holding up the line? He swiftly identified the problem: a woman in a red climbing suit adorned with the emblems of a Chinese mountaineering group perched just before the drop-off, unwilling to go forward. The woman’s two Sherpa guides were firmly encouraging her to descend the ladder, but she remained paralysed in apparent fear. For those in the logjam behind her, there was no going around. Everybody was stuck, freezing in the storm. Nearly six miles high in the Himalayas, Grubhofer knew conditions were unforgiving: Standing still for long periods in the so-called death zone above 26,000 feet dramatically increased the risk of frostbite, heart attack, stroke, pulmonary or cerebral edema – and death. Grubhofer knew that Ernst Landgraf, the member of his climbing party whom he had seen on Everest’s summit, had been exhausted at the top. He could just make out Landgraf – obscured by snowfall, clouds, fog, and people – a few climbers behind him, but Grubhofer didn’t know how the 64-year-old was holding up. “Move it!” shouted a climber behind Grubhofer. Oh, shit, Grubhofer thought, this is getting serious. This Chinese woman, he was sure, had no business being on the mountain. Why hadn’t her guides screened her ahead of time? Thirty minutes crawled by. Forty-five passed. Still she wouldn’t go down the ladder. “For God’s sake,” another climber exclaimed, raising his arms in disgust. “Why is she not moving?”
For much of the year
, climbing Everest is an impossible idea. But each May the roaring jet stream that torments the mountain subsides just enough to allow alpinists a shot at reaching the top. Should the weather suddenly turn, the results are often deadly. Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air made famous the May 1996 disaster during which eight climbers – caught in a blinding whiteout – perished from exposure or plunged to their death. The book was a tale of the vicissitudes of nature, the hubris of climbers, and the ineffable lure of the mountain, as well as a reminder that, though Everest had been summited by hundreds, it remains an incredible and dangerous challenge. It was also a scathing portrait of irresponsible 156
guides catering to wealthy, out-of-their-depth dilettantes who were floundering around in what had become an increasingly commercialised enterprise. It was greeted as a wake-up call. But two decades on, the Everest experience often seems to have devolved even further into a circus-like pageant of stunts and selfpromotion. In April 2017, DJ Paul Oakenfold outraged mountaineering purists by hosting an EDM concert at the base camp in Nepal; this year three Indian climbers returned home to celebratory crowds after they supposedly summited on May 26, only to be accused of fraud after other mountaineers claimed that they never made it past 23,500 feet. And then there are the growing crowds. For this year’s climbing season, Nepal handed out 381 permits to scale Everest, the most ever. The Chinese government distributed more than 100 permits for the northern side. According to The Himalayan Database, the number of people summiting Everest has just about doubled in the past decade. And in that time the mountain has become accessible even to relative novices, thanks to a proliferation of cut-rate agencies that require little proof of technical skill, experience, or physical fitness. “Some of these companies don’t ask any questions,” says Rolfe Oostra, an Australian mountaineer and a founder of France-based 360 Expeditions, which sent four clients to the summit this year. “They are willing to take anybody on, and that compounds the problems for everyone.” On May 22 – the day before Grubhofer reached the top – a long line near the summit had already begun to form. One of those pinned in the throng was a Nepali climber named Nirmal Purja. That morning, Purja snapped a photo of the chaos. The picture showed a near unprecedented traffic jam on the popular southern side: a column of hundreds of climbers snaking along the knifelike summit ridge toward the Hillary Step, the last obstacle before the top, packed jacket-to-jacket as if they were queued up for a ski lift in Vail. The image rocketed around the world and, as the events on the mountain were still developing, raised an urgent question: What the hell is going on atop Mount Everest?
“ For God,“s sake,“ another cl mber excla med, ra s ng h s arms n d sgust. “Why s she not mov ng?“
Reinhard Grubhofer breathes from his supplemental oxygen – a necessity in Mount Everest’s brutal death zone
IMAGE: REINHARD GRUBHOFER
n the H malayan mounta ns
, calamity frequently takes shape off in the distance. Events have a way of cascading. Everest was clogged with climbers in late May because of – among other things – a cyclone that had struck weeks earlier, several hundred miles away. Earlier that month, Cyclone Fani made landfall in India as a massive Category 4 storm, blasting warm, wet air westward into the Himalayas. For weeks snow and wind buffeted Everest, and the climbers and crews who’d come to the mountain hoping for clear, calm skies dug in to wait. At base camp, Kari Kobler, who was directing Grubhofer’s expedition, was feverishly consulting the forecasts, hoping for a break. When the skies finally cleared, suddenly the race was on. “We were waiting for good weather at the base camp until May 19,” says Dendi Sherpa, one of the lead Nepali guides in the Kobler group and one of seven Sherpas hired to help the team. It was apparent to him what was going to happen: “We have only a two-day window, and all the people are going to summit at the same time.” Grubhofer joined the caravan, and by mid-afternoon on Wednesday, May 22, he’d ascended to Camp 3, a bleak and windswept slope at 27,390 feet. At these heights, the low air pressure means that the vascular system is receiving far less oxygen than it would at sea level; most climbers rely on supplemental oxygen. After arriving at camp, Grubhofer hunkered down to sleep. At 11 o’clock that night, he pushed off toward the summit along with
some 80 climbers from a dozen other groups – twice as many as usual, according to one veteran Everest climber. Grubhofer’s aim was to arrive at the summit shortly after dawn on Thursday morning, giving him plenty of time to make the descent before encountering the bad weather that typically sweeps in during the afternoon. He carried a bottle of oxygen that would last him between six to nine hours; his Sherpa guide carried two spares for Grubhofer as well as one tank for himself. But one hour above the camp, Grubhofer ran into trouble: The snow cover had melted, exposing treacherous patches of bare rock and gravel. “You are trying to dig in your crampons, but you are often sliding back, fighting to keep your balance, expending a lot of energy,” Grubhofer says. “And I asked myself, for the first of a thousand times, ‘Should I turn around?’ ” After wasting precious time struggling up the rock slope, Grubhofer reached the first of the three difficult steps just below the summit. At least ten other climbers lined up ahead of him, waiting to make the ascent. To do so, climbers had to squeeze sideways into a rock crevice and pull themselves up by a fixed rope. Grubhofer watched several of them flounder and thought, Oh, Jesus – what are they doing here? Two hours later, on the ridge above the second step, he came upon two frozen corpses lying beside the path. Judging from their torn and faded snowsuits and the patches of snow that covered them, Grubhofer could tell that they had been on the mountain for years; one was missing gloves, and the exposed hands had 157
twisted into claws. “They seemed to be reaching toward me,” he says. The bodies were among as many as 200 corpses abandoned on Everest, most left behind because of the high cost – up to $100,000 – and dangers of recovering them. They’re grim reminders of the mountain’s perils, and they’re likely to become more noticeable: As climate change thaws the mountain, the melting snow and ice are exposing additional corpses each year. Grubhofer looked away. “You just move on,” he says. “You refuse to let it affect you.” On the north side as well, Kuntal Joisher, an Indian alpinist famed for summiting Himalayan peaks while subsisting on an all-vegan diet, was trying hard to maintain a similar stoicism, despite what he was seeing. Joisher was attempting his fourth summit of Everest and had fallen in behind three Indian teenagers who seemed to have no idea how to negotiate the ascent of the second step. Fearful and slow, they took over half an hour to cross the step – usually a 10-minute climb for a strong alpinist. “I was thinking,” Joisher recalls, “Man, I’m freezing to death, and you guys are causing a traffic jam.” There was nothing to do but wait his turn in the frigid wind. “You are standing at the ledge of a giant boulder, and it’s just wide enough to hold your boots, with
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a sheer drop on one side,” he says. “You are totally exposed.” Above step three, the scene got worse. Joisher encountered a Sherpa guide, sprawled in the snow, separated from his client and utterly exhausted and delirious. His oxygen bottle was empty, and, says Joisher, “he had been there a while, and he had no idea what to do.” Joisher’s Sherpa searched the man’s bag, found a full bottle, attached it to the man’s regulator, and waited for the oxygen to flow. “After 10 minutes he was able to form good sentences and was in good spirits, and he said, ‘Okay, I’m ready to go up now.’ ” Joisher made the summit at 5:30am on May 23. “It was jam-packed at the top – it was crazy,” he says. He stayed only 10 minutes in the cold and wind before heading back down – desperate to avoid the crush of 80 or 90 people whom he could see approaching from both sides.
, Among those who ’d
also expected to be near the top by daybreak on Thursday morning was Chris Dare, a dentist with the Canadian Armed Forces. Like Grubhofer, he had started for the summit Wednesday night, falling in with a long line of headlamps snaking through the darkness. One of those headlamps belonged to Dare’s
The Intermediate camp at 5,800m with Mt Everest in the background
IMAGE: REINHARD GRUBHOFER
buddy Kevin Hynes, a gregarious 56-year-old from Galway, Ireland. But Hynes made it only a hundred yards out of Camp 3 before he turned around. He wasn’t feeling up to it and decided the prudent move was to head back. Dare pressed on, figuring he’d reach the top by six o’clock in the morning. But long, debilitating waits at each step delayed him until just before 9.30am. Soon after his moment at the summit, of course, the weather Thursday afternoon began to turn ugly. At around 10am, Dare was heading back toward Camp 3 when he encountered a member of his team, Kam Kaur, a British yoga instructor, still inching toward the summit with her guide. Kaur was an experienced mountaineer, but, says Rolfe Oostra, the Australian guide leading the group, she wasn’t in top physical condition – and it was dangerously late to be making the summit push. She was determined to go forward. Covered with ice, short on oxygen, and physically spent, Dare made it back to Camp 3 at 7pm and collapsed in his tent. He was barely conscious later, when a commotion erupted outside. The Sherpa whom Dare had seen earlier that day helping Kaur up the mountain had staggered into camp, incoherent and alone. They’d run into trouble, he said. According to Oostra, the Sherpa’s oxygen ran out and he’d been forced to leave Kaur to seek help. Oostra had been to the top once before but had abandoned his summit push that morning at the second step, after a faulty regulator valve had blocked his oxygen flow. “Where’s Kam?” he demanded when he saw the Sherpa. “She’s up there,” the Sherpa gasped. Oostra strapped on his crampons and grabbed an oxygen cylinder and a headlamp. As he prepared to climb, he spotted a light high on the ridge and flashed his headlamp three times; three flashes returned. Oostra locked onto the point in the darkness where he’d seen the light and set out up the icy slope. When he found Kaur, she was curled into the fetal position. Her oxygen had run out, and she was drifting in and out of consciousness. It hadn’t been Kaur who’d signalled Oostra – her light was nearly dead – but rather another man, a badly weakened Indian climber, who flashed for help and then staggered away. (Kaur disputes Oostra’s timeline, though she told GQ that she’s not yet ready to publicly share her story.) In Oostra’s telling, Kaur was practically helpless when he found her on the rock. “Can’t move my hands, babe,” she whispered. “They’re frozen.” Oostra strapped her into a sling, clipped it to his harness, and rappelled with her down the buttress. Then he pushed and dragged her back to Camp 3, shouting above the wind to keep her awake.
For the f rst- t mers
on the mountain – the multitude of climbers who had never been to Everest – the crowds and the chaos might have seemed normal. But the Sherpas knew better. Hundreds of them were scattered on the high slopes that night, and many of them understood that the mountain had never seen anything like this. Each year, in the months before the climbing season, mountaineering agencies identify the most agile and fearless men from high-altitude Sherpa villages – and then hand them awesome responsibilities. Sherpas lay the fixed ropes that guide climbers to the summit, lug the heavy oxygen bottles that keep their clients alive, and closely monitor their clients’ physical and mental states. The work is risky – in April 2014, 16 Sherpas died in an ice avalanche on the Nepali side of Everest; two Sherpas would die this spring in the Nepali Himalayas – yet the money, as much as $10,000 per season, provides an escape from the poverty of rural Nepal. The men often form an emotional bond with their clients, living beside them for weeks, sharing their victories and their setbacks. The finest walk a faint line between being helpful and being obedient – between bowing to their clients’ wishes and saying no when those wishes seem dangerously misguided. On Grubhofer’s expedition, one of the lead Sherpas was Dendi Sherpa, a 37-yearold veteran who had worked for Kobler & Partner since 2008 and had summited Mount Everest six times. Having worked his way to a top guide spot on Kobler’s team, Dendi had remained behind at Camp 3 on the day of the summit push. Now Grubhofer – inching his way down, just past the second step – was headed in Dendi’s direction when he heard agitated shouts and cries right behind him. His immediate thought was that his teammate, Ernst Landgraf, was in trouble. Landgraf was an experienced summiteer, but he was exhausted at the top. As he and Grubhofer sat on the summit that morning, congratulating each other, Grubhofer noticed that Landgraf seemed particularly spent. A Sherpa on his team had the same impression when he confronted Landgraf the night before they set out for the top: “He was weak, but he said, ‘This is my goal, I have to go to the summit.’ And I thought, Let him do it. It’s quite difficult to tell him, ‘You cannot.’ ” The Sherpa faced a dilemma confronted by many guides on Everest: how to respond to the determination of an apparently ailing or unfit climber. Only rarely, many experts say, will a Sherpa demonstrate the force of will to override a client’s decision to summit; for new 159
recruits trying to make a mark in a competitive business, getting a client to the top often becomes the priority. Grubhofer listened again for the shrieks. Please don’t let it be Ernst, he thought. But it was. Later, Grubhofer learned that Landgraf had slipped while trying to plant his foot on a ladder. Grubhofer was told that because Landgraf had been clipped by his carabiner to the fixed line when he fell, he banged into the ladder and then dangled limply on the line. Guides quickly attempted to free him. The wind was blowing, the temperature was dropping, and the climbers behind Landgraf’s suspended body were desperate to get off the mountain. Later, Kuntal Joisher heard that the waiting climbers were getting agitated. “Cut him off the rope!” some yelled. “We’re getting blocked – we’ll die.” The rescuers struggled to get Landgraf off the line. After determining that he was dead, they pushed him aside and left his body hanging there. The exact cause of his death is unknown, but Kuntal Joisher says that at that altitude, with a weakened body under intense stress, the slightest stumble can be disastrous. “A small slip or fall can cause your heart rate to shoot up to such a level,” he says, “that you will have a massive heart attack.”
On the other s de of the mounta n
, the Nepalese approach was turning into its own scene of confusion and death on Thursday. Gyanendra Shrestha, a Nepalese government liaison officer at the Everest Base Camp, had foreseen the trouble, watching days earlier as over 200 climbers milled around the tents waiting to set off for the top. One of them was an old friend of his, Kalpana Das, an Indian attorney who had summited Everest in 2008. Das had been given a hero’s send-off by thousands of admirers in her hometown before she set out for Everest in April as part of an allwomen’s team of climbers. But Shrestha, having observed her during acclimatising runs up the mountain in mid-May, saw that she was off her game. “She was very slow, and she was a decade older this time – 54,” Shrestha says. “I told her at the base camp, ‘Don’t push yourself much. I have a sense you cannot do it this year.’ ” Das struggled on the Khumbu Icefall, the first obstacle beyond the base camp. She eventually made it to the summit at around 1pm on Thursday, but she collapsed on the way down. When Shrestha received a Mayday call from Das’ Sherpa, Das was unconscious, barely breathing. The guide said that he was too exhausted to bring Das down alone. A four-man
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rescue team was dispatched, but by the time they reached her, hours later, Das had perished. Shortly after dawn the previous morning, Donald Cash, a Utah software salesman who had quit his job in December to devote himself to high-altitude climbing, had also reached the top. The achievement marked the completion of Cash’s Seven Summits project, and overjoyed, he performed a little victory jig at the summit. Then, without warning, he sank to his knees and toppled over. Cash’s guide raced to his side and opened wide the valve on his oxygen. The rush of air revived Cash, and the Sherpa helped him down to the Hillary Step, a 40-foothigh rock outcropping at 28,800 feet. A group of Sherpas had been dispatched to help bring Cash down, but when they arrived, it was too late. Cash had collapsed again and never got back up. Cash’s body was left on the mountain, as his family wished. Largely unaware of the tragedies unfolding around them, the other teams on the route raced higher up the mountain. Anjali Kulkarni, an experienced marathoner and high-altitude climber from Mumbai, and her husband, Sharad Kulkarni, summited on the same day as Cash, according to an account in The Times of India. After leaving the summit with her husband, Kulkarni fell ill. Above Camp 4, the paper said, she collapsed and died. A video shows a pair of rescuers, presumably Sherpas, attempting to move Kulkarni’s limp body. She lies unresponsive, her right arm extended, hand still clutching the fixed rope. The surviving members of Anjali Kulkarni’s team staggered, mourning and half dead, into Camp 4. Nearby, another exhausted Indian climber from a different expedition, 27-year-old Nihal Bagwan, who according to The Times of India had abandoned a 2014 Everest climb 1,300 feet below the summit, would die of altitude sickness just before midnight on the 23rd. Bagwan had been climbing with a Nepalese agency called Peak Promotion, which had already lost three other climbers in the Himalayas the week before. (The manager of Peak Promotion told GQ that the deaths in 2019 represent the first time the agency lost clients in its 27-year history. She also said that Peak Promotion has guidelines in place to ensure that Sherpas have extensive mountaineering experience.) Another Nepalese agency, Seven Summit Treks, founded by four Sherpa brothers in 2010 and now one of the biggest mountaineering companies in Nepal, had an even worse record this year. On May 16, a client of theirs named Séamus Lawless, a 39-year-old computer-science professor at Trinity College in Dublin, unhooked himself from the safety rope to relieve himself near Camp 4, according
IMAGE: NIRMAL “NIMS” PURJA, BREMONT PROJECT POSSIBLE
Nepali climber Nirmal Purja took the viral photograph of the chaos on top of Everest that fateful day
to Seven Summits. A climbing companion speculates that a freak gust of wind blew him off the mountain, and he apparently fell hundreds of feet to his death. His body was never recovered. That same night, Ravi Thakur, a 27-year-old Seven Summits client from Haryana, died in his tent at the same camp. And in the days that followed, disaster struck three more times on expeditions led by Seven Summits on nearby Makalu, the world’s fifthhighest mountain. When I met with him this summer, Tashi Sherpa, one of the founders of Seven Summit Treks – and the youngest person ever to reach the top of Everest without using supplemental oxygen – defended the company’s safety record. Seven Summits had 64 clients on Everest this year, led by 100 Sherpas – and all but two had returned safely. He conceded that the climbing season had not been good, but he insisted that the company’s practices are sound. Last May’s tragedies involved a wide range of outfitters from all over the world – including elite European agencies like Kobler’s. It’s not the case that companies from poorer countries are inherently more troubled or lax in their safety considerations. Still, Kuntal Joisher, the Indian climber, told me that the industry had become inundated with inexpensive agencies that cater to budget clients – Seven Summits’ Everest trips generally cost $38,000, according to Tashi Sherpa. The cheaper companies often have less to pay for guides and are said to employ more inexperienced crews. (Seven Summits insists that it rigorously trains its Sherpas and pays them higher than the market rate.) These agencies have found a steady clientele among Indian climbers, who typically have
much less money to spend than Europeans and Americans and are dying on Everest at a greater rate than anyone else. Four out of the reported 11 who died on Everest this year were Indians; of the 17 who died on Nepal’s 8,000-metre peaks, eight were Indian. “Indians are showing up who have not even climbed a 6,000-metre mountain,” Joisher says. “So many got frostbite, four died this year – clearly there is something wrong.”
Grubhofer spent
the last dreadful hours of May 23 in his own kind of agony. He’d staggered down the north side at a dreadful pace, exhausting his oxygen while waiting for others to move. Within sight of the cluster of domed tents of Camp 3, Grubhofer collapsed. He inched forward on his hands and knees in the gathering darkness, shredding his jacket on the rocks, begging for tea, water, and oxygen. “He was in terrible shape,” recalls Dendi Sherpa, who revived him, replenished his oxygen, and placed him in his tent with another climber. Too late to escape from the death zone, Grubhofer slept fitfully for hours, with his oxygen mask strapped over his mouth and nose, then sat up at around three o’clock in the morning, gasping for air. He felt terrible. With effort he removed his gloves, found his headlamp, scrounged around the mess of the tent for his oxygen bottle – and checked the meter. The tank was empty. It had been nearly full when he’d crawled into bed. He realised he must have accidentally opened the valve all the way. “Fuck,” he said. He tore off the mask of his regulator and retched. 161
“Dendi,” he croaked as the wind howled outside. “My oxygen.” Grubhofer again rasped out a plea for help. Moments later, Dendi Sherpa began his standard check of his clients’ oxygen supplies. Entering Grubhofer’s tent, he saw Grubhofer motioning desperately for assistance. Dendi looked at the meter, saw the needle was on zero, and hurriedly attached a new bottle. Grubhofer drew deep breaths through his respirator and settled back in his sleeping bag. Without the new tank, says Dendi Sherpa, “Reinhard would have died.” A few dozen yards from Grubhofer, Chris Dare was thrashing about sleeplessly in his tent that night. All he could think about was getting below the death zone the next morning. He was ready to be done. He was eager to reunite with climbing buddy Kevin Hynes, who had turned around before the summit push. With Everest behind them, the two were looking forward to meeting up at the cabin Hynes had built in the Maine woods. In the morning, as Dare and the group headed down the mountain, a Sherpa received a radio dispatch from Camp 1. “Kevin’s gone,” he told Dare. “What do you mean?” Dare asked, confused. Hynes, Dare learned, had died in his tent at dawn. It might have been a coronary or a stroke or any one of the fatal afflictions that can overwhelm a climber’s heart, brain or lungs at Everest’s merciless altitudes. Oostra says the coroner’s report would attribute the death of the vigorous Irishman to “natural causes.”
n Kathmandu n August
, long after the last mountaineers had returned home, I found the local climbing community consumed by a debate about what had gone wrong. At least four climbers died in the 24 hours that followed Grubhofer’s moment at the top – casualties of interminable lines and tragic miscalculations, victims of one of the deadliest seasons the mountain has ever seen. In all, 11 would die on Everest in May. By the time I visited, the Nepalese government had proposed a new set of rules requiring, among other things, that prospective climbers provide proof of high-altitude experience. But skeptics doubted that the government would seriously enforce such reforms and risk reducing its millions of dollars in permit-generated revenues. “At the end of the day, the changes that Nepal talks about never happen,” Rolfe Oostra tells me. “At the end of the day, money talks.” Reinhard Grubhofer shares the assessment that something has to change. When I meet him in Vienna, it has been three months since he scaled the mountain and he is still basking in 162
n the H malayan mounta ns, calam ty frequently takes shape off n the d stance. Events have a way of cascad ng the achievement. “I cannot go anywhere without being the one who has just done Everest,” he says with a smile. Sure, more people were climbing the mountain than ever before, but reaching the top of the world continues to offer unique bragging rights, he tells me. That will never go away, he thinks. “If I would meet you here and tell you I climbed, say, Annapurna, knowledgeable guys would say, ‘Wow,’ but 99.9 per cent don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says. “Mount Everest is such a fascinating mountain, this huge monster. It is still one of the biggest adventures on the planet. It is a prestigious place.” And yet the disasters that struck on the day he reached the summit cast a shadow. Nirmal Purja’s infamous photo of the traffic jam on the summit ridge, he admits, has diminished the achievement in some people’s eyes. “I was asked about the photo when I came back,” he tells me. “People said, ‘Oh, you’ve also been queuing up there,’ like it was the supermarket.” New rules have to be implemented, he says, to weed out the incompetent and the inexperienced, to reduce the crowds, to remove the Disneyland illusion and bring Everest back to something approximating its pristine state. Too many people, he says, have died needlessly because of sliding standards. “Let’s not make it a tourist mountain,” he says. “Let’s not spoil it even more [and] reduce it to dead people and tourists.” Of course, Grubhofer also knows that the high stakes are part of the mountain’s attraction. A note of humility creeps into his voice when he acknowledges how close he had come to asphyxiating in his tent – and how a single slip had been enough to end the life of his climbing partner, Ernst Landgraf. Two days after Landgraf perished, Grubhofer tells me, a small team from Kobler & Partner returned to the site and gently removed the body, which was still hanging from the line. Grubhofer says they pushed and dragged it away from the trail and then found a niche in the rocks where they laid Landgraf’s remains to rest – another haunting reminder of Everest’s fatal allure.
DEC 2019 150
20 FOR 2020
• PEOPLE TO KNOW • PLACES TO GO • BOOKS TO READ
THE VOGUE ART REPORT
TAKASHI MURAKAMI, BANKSY MORE
+
MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST
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DECEMBER JANUARY 2020 2018
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LUXURY, FASHION, TRAVEL AND GROOMING IN STANDOUT STYLE
Special escapes
For your first getaway in the New Year, opt for Evolve Back’s collection of luxury resorts in India. Relive what it was like to live in the era of the Gentleman Planter at its flagship property in Coorg – the Chikkana Halli Estate – that is located amidst a 300-acre working coffee plantation. If you’re one for wildlife, immerse yourself in the brand’s “spirit of the land” philosophy at the Kuruba Safari Lodge in Kabini. And culture vultures can get their fill of ancient history at Kamalapura Palace, situated just four kilometres from the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Hampi.
Floral, fluid fashion
Tactile elegance. Aristocratic affluence. Easy wearability. These are the qualities that sum up Nasir Khan Designs’ latest Leisure collection. Shot against the picturesque landscape of the French Riviera and inspired by the dramatic coastal views from the Corniche Roads, the range is a seamless blend of sharp silhouettes and fluid forms. Take this impeccably tailored orchid printed duchess silk kimono jacket, for example. Flaunting stark black and white hues, this jacket is versatile in design and promises to transform even the simplest of looks. Price on request. Available at House of Nasir Khan stores in India and Italy. Global Shipping also available
Wild, wild wonder
If Davidoff’s Cool Water fragrance was an ode to the majestic beauty of the ocean, the perfumers’ latest Run Wild fragrance is a celebration of nature. The men’s variant of Run Wild has been crafted by Alexandra Carlin and Pierre Gueros, and blends more than six ingredients sourced from remote corners of the world. The signature scent reveals fresh wild lavender from the Southeast America, which is layered with cinnamon from Madagascar, characterised by its warm overtones of amber, and finished with base notes of fir balsam.
Price on request. For more information, visit evolveback.com. For reservations, call +91 80 4618 4444
`5,300 (100ML), `3,950 (50ML). Available at leading retailers, Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Parcos and on amazon.in, myntra.com and nykaa.in
Cooking up a storm
The St. Regis, Mumbai’s favourite restaurant, By the Mekong, has welcomed Chef Xiang Bin Li from Sichuan, China, as its Chef de Cuisine. With over 23 years of experience in the food industry, chef Li has introduced Sichuan specialties inspired by his mother’s age-old recipes to the restaurant’s menu. Book a table and go on a delightful culinary journey by sampling intriguing dishes like a jujube and lotus seed soup with truffle oil, double-cooked Belgian pork belly with leeks and wok-fried lamb rice noodles. `4,000 for two 166 —
JANUARY 2020
The sea is calling
The Seastar 1000 Quartz Chrono from Swiss horologers Tissot is now available as a chronograph. The ocean itself is nodded to in the watch’s masculine design, with a subtle sea horse engraved on the backcase, and a deep blue dial, hinting at underwater adventures. Its ability to handle pressure up to 1,000ft and accessible quartz movement make it perfect for deep sea diving while the luminescent hands make for easy readability, even under water. `36,200. Available on myntra.com
Mirror, mirror
Ethnic silhouettes
Since wedding season’s showing no signs of slowing down, we bet you’ve got a few functions lined up. Come dressed to impress in Manyavar’s Timeless Celebration collection of sherwanis, IndoWesterns, bandhgalas and kurta-jackets, all complemented with matching accessories. If you’re looking for something sharp yet stylish, consider this midnight blue IndoWestern outfit, edged with a traditional achkan cut and flaunting an embroidered collar. Layer it with a velvet zari embroidered dupatta to make a strong statement.
Transparency and purity are the inspirations behind this sleek Calvin Klein wristwatch, which flaunts a simple form and novel design. The movement is housed inside a polished steel PVD light yellow or PVD rose gold case, with sapphire glass. One of the particularly striking features of this ticker is how the bracelet and case seem to be fused together in a “missing way”. Not to mention, the visual illusion created by the central dial, wherein the grid bracelet seems to extend all the way under the mirror.
Fashion with a conscience
At Lakmé Fashion Week, 2019, ace Indian designer duo Abraham and Thakore joined hands with sustainable fibre brand ECOVERO™ to showcase an inspiring kurta line, created entirely using LENZING™ ECOVERO™ fibres. The reinvented Kurta 2.0 saw the quintessentially Indian outfit get an eco-friendly yet fashionable update, with the designers experimenting with the age-old Indian hand-block printing technique. The collection of easy, effortless outfits boasted hand embroidered calligraphy, scribbled florals, appliquéd graphics and printed jali motifs across a colour palette of ivory, beige, olive and black.
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Price on request. Available at the Abraham & Thakore store at Moonriver D-16, Ground Floor, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024 and on abrahamandthakore.com
Memories of the Mediterranean
A collaboration between perfumers Daphné Bugey and Nathalie Lorson, K by Dolce & Gabbana for men takes you on an olfactory journey to the warm Italian countryside. The chiselled geometric bottle, capped with an extravagant handcrafted crown, houses a fragrance that opens with the zesty citruses of blood orange, Sicilian lemon, grapefruit and juniper berries, all warmed by amber heart notes of clary sage, blended with geranium, lavandin and spicy pimento essence, finally unfolding to woody base notes of patchouli, vetiver and cedarwood. `6,200 (100ML), `4,450 (50ML). Available at Parcos and select department stores
Mughal magnificence
Simple yet sophisticated, this dusty mauve sherwani from Jatin Malik’s wedding wear line is crafted specially for the millennial groom who wants to step away from conventional wedding attire that’s heavy and elaborate but still maintain a connect with his roots. Drawing inspiration from the magnificence of the Mughal era, this outfit flaunts beautiful Persian embroidery forms – delicate aari embroidery is enhanced by hand-embroidered zardozi wires on the aari base, collar and detailing on the jacket. `1,25,500. For more information, follow @jatinmalikcouture on Instagram
JANUARY 2020
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Humour
Course Syllabus
For Making New Friends As An Adult
INSTRUCTOR NOTE: This course has a low pass rate. Students who excel tend to be extroverted and have parents who own a vacation home. PREREQUISITES Students are expected to have completed the courses “A Comparative History of Small Talk and Its Scientific Applications”, and “The Semiotics of Bringing Up Your New Obsession with Craft Beer Without 168 —
JANUARY 2020
Making It Seem Like You Have a Serious Problem” and “Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire’s Friendship Master Class”. For logistical reasons, students are also expected to have already acquired a potential new friend’s phone number. But please don’t add your potential friend on LinkedIn – it’s weird. TOPICS COVERED • The importance of daily showers • How to transition from work friend to friend friend • Best practices for getting entirely caught up on at least one OTT show in order to meet the bareminimum requirement for being considered an interesting person • Identifying a nonabrasive moment in your new friendship at which to suggest trying a fitness class • Familiarity with true-crime podcasts (but not too much familiarity) • Best practices for getting into niche documentaries • Magnetic Fields (attendance not required – just a basic understanding of what it is) • How to tolerate conversations about vinyl
• When to say “How about a rain check?” when you’d rather do literally anything else EXAMS • Weekly quizzes: Text, but not too much. How much is too much? That’s up to you and your potential friend • Midterm: Hang out one-on-one • Final: Hang out one-on-one and sit comfortably in silence for at least four seconds without either party checking Instagram HOMEWORK Depending on what type of person your new friend is, homework assignments may vary, though most assignments will just end up being watching your new friend’s TV show recommendation. GRADING Course grades will be weighted in the following manner: • Ability to coordinate a date when you’re both available: 10% • Not flaking: 90% • Vinyl record collection: 0% OFFICE HOURS Rain check?
WORDS: IRVING RUAN AND ALEX WATT. PHOTO: TARUN KHIWAL
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OURSE OBJECTIVES Making new friends as an adult is difficult, especially for students who have just turned 30 and are approaching the precipice of death. This class will teach you how to navigate this emotionally demanding field, so that you can finally make new friends who will never find out about that one time you ate mulch for `1,000. By the end of the course, students should be able to make at least one new friend, albeit probably one who’s really into vinyl.