Bollywood on top of Europe and an impossible railway

It is a match made in heaven near the top of the world.

Famous for hiking trails, glaciers and winter activities, the Jungfrau region lies at the foot of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau and in 2001 was designated as the first Alpine Unesco World Natural Heritage Site.

I had walked on water (albeit frozen) that morning at an altitude of 4100 metres but walking into ‘Bollywood’ for lunch was unreal.

This was in the middle of Switzerland for crying out loud and there was samosa, daal and chana – all you can eat for 33 CHF (Swiss Francs). They even gave us Masala Chai… and that topped even the top of Europe.

At over 11,000 feet, it was certainly the highest Indian meal I’d ever eaten. This 120-cover restaurant is open from April to October and it is not just for the millions of Indians who visit this Interlake area — I spotted some rather adventurous locals too.

But the Interlaken area’s love for Bollywood is not just limited to a restaurant. In these parts, they think Yash Chopra is cool – after all, from Sridevi to Aishwarya Rai have all danced in the Swiss meadows and most of his films were shot in Switzerland.

Earlier this year, the town of Interlaken honoured the filmmaker with a statue that was unveiled by his wife.

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This is not the first time the filmmaker, who died in October 2012, has been honoured in this way. The town of Interlaken had awarded him the honorary title of “Ambassador of Interlaken” in 2011, and the Victoria Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken named a suite after Mr Chopra, where visitors can spend a night for over 2000 Swiss Francs (1CHF= Rs 70).

Jungfrau Railways named a train after him – an honour shared only with the railway’s founder, Adolf Guyer-Zeller, who conceptualised this unique train line to the top of Europe in 1893.

Europe’s highest- altitude railways opened at an altitude of 3454 metres after a construction period of 16 years and today ferries over a million passenger to the top each year. The railway, Switzerland’s most profitable private one its CEO Urs Kessler, tells us, is a poster child for Swiss efficiency and planning.

From Kleine Scheidegg starts the most exciting part of the journey by Jungfraubahn. A 45-minute ride through snow, ice and rock covers more than nine kilometres while climbing up to 1,400 metres.

The cogwheel train chugged into Eigergletscher station – and from there to Eigerwand, (Wall of the Eiger Mountain), and Eismeer (the Sea of Ice) before it crawls to Jungfraujoch at 11,320 feet above sea level.

Jungfrau Railway Holding AG (JBH), the company that runs the railway and the other tourist facilities at Jungfrau is keenly looking towards India and China to expand. CEO Urs Kessler told us that Asian tourists were critical to the region and they’ve an ambitious modernisation plan which includes a new gondola-cable car project and new panoramic trains that will be fully functional by the end of this year. In this endeavour, ABB is partnering with the Swiss train manufacturer Stadler Rail. The new trains will be faster and cut turnaround time by about 20 minutes. It would allow shorter waiting periods and more tourists in a day than the 5000 the railway company can now carry.

As the trains head downhill after our walk on a Glacier and an Indian meal, we’re told that these trains actually generate electricity going downhill. Not only does this electricity heat and cool the train, it also helps balance the grid and light homes and businesses for residents and visitors who treasure Switzerland’s environment.


This article was first published on October 10, 2016 in timesofindia.com

My tryst with Nobel laureate Bob Dylan

There was a sense of disbelief in the newsroom today as Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for 2016, the first songwriter to win this prestigious award.

My first memory of Dylan isn’t associated with a song. Many moons ago, participating in an inter-school quiz in Delhi my team was asked for a tie-breaker question- ‘What is Robert Allen Zimmerman more popularly known as?’ We bungled the answer or the other team hit the buzzer first- All I remember is missing out on a goody bag full of noodles.

Later that week, my uncle asked in Bangla, “Tui Bob Dylan-er gaan sunish ni? (Haven’t you heard Bob Dylan’s songs?) and he proceeded to play a few bars of ‘Blowin in the wind’ on his harmonica. In a few hours, I heard Bob Dylan’s best song collection being played out on tape. To someone who was a teenager in the 1960s, not knowing about Bob Dylan wasn’t acceptable.

Those 12 tracks would be all I heard of a man, who was today touted as the greatest living poet, had I not several years later attended college in Kolkata – where ‘Dylan da’ was basic reading (or at least it seemed so at the time). His songs may have been about the American civil rights movement but oddly enough they made sense in 1990s Kolkata.

So it was, as I heard the announcement this afternoon, the question ‘why’ or rather ‘how’ seemed incredulous. And so difficult to sum up in words.

This probably is the best bet – what Barack Obama said of Dylan’s visit to White House.

“Here’s what I love about Bob Dylan: He was exactly as you’d expect he would be. He wouldn’t come to the rehearsal; usually, all these guys are practicing before the set in the evening. He didn’t want to take a picture with me; usually, all the talent is dying to take a picture with me and Michelle before the show, but he didn’t show up to that. He came in and played “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” A beautiful rendition. The guy is so steeped in this stuff that he can just come up with some new arrangement, and the song sounds completely different. Finishes the song, steps off the stage — I’m sitting right in the front row — comes up, shakes my hand, sort of tips his head, gives me just a little grin, and then leaves. And that was it — then he left. That was our only interaction with him. And I thought: That’s how you want Bob Dylan, right? You don’t want him to be all cheesin’ and grinnin’ with you. You want him to be a little skeptical about the whole enterprise. So that was a real treat.”

This piece was first published on October 13, 2016 in timesofindia.com

Tripura tales with Dumdaar Dus

“Aap aaj raat ko yahin rukk jaiye? Main aage chala jata hoon”, Bravo-not-victor (I’ll explain the moniker as we go along) told us.

We had woken up that morning prepped to fly on the ALH-Dhruv to Panisagar in North Tripura and 15 hours later found ourselves in the Gomati district in the reverse direction.

The weather played truant and after a 30 minute flight we returned to Agartala. As I mulled over my options, the Deputy Commandant entrusted with ‘babysitting’ us said,” I can ask the 10th Battalion. Your shots of patrolling with mosquito nets may get done. But it is a drive of 3-4 hours to their headquarters.”

S, my shorts-on-shoot comrade, looked at me. Three hours, we thought, was a breeze. And what option did we have.

A bone-jarring teeth-rattling 3 hours later, we had crossed the two of Udaipur and reached the idylic Maharanicherra. That we thought would be our night halt. It was 3 in the afternoon and the sunsets by half past four.

Bravo-not-victor, the 2-I-C, who was now our sitter chipped in: “You’ll find nothing here. We should head to Maharaja.”

“How far is Maharaja?” I furtively enquired. 80-odd kilometres… Good, I thought… we’ll be there in an hour. Nada… it took well over 3 hours in a 4×4 Bolero- that was equipped to handle the off-roads in this wild east.

We had managed to reach Rajbari, a border outpost from where the fence could be seen. Maharaja was further ahead but the road had been washed away. We were told the good old Gypsy being smaller and lighter might make the climb but the Bolero wouldn’t.

It was already sundown and there was little that could be shot. Bravo-not-victor said it was Maharaja (BOPs) officer in-charge’s birthday. He was headed down… “Dine here with us and then head up with him.”

So we stayed… some merriment and a sumptuous dinner later, a small fact came to light — Rajbari was the last BOP with electricity (oh yes, and it had a VIP room).

I wondered how a 100 men survived there without electricity. Stoically the officer-in-charge told us: “We have some to manage with from the generator. But getting diesel up is also an ordeal. Rains have washed some of the roads off. I got some of my men to drive stakes in the road and covered that with tin sheets. It’s makeshift but at least the Gypsy can go up and come down.”

S was looking at me, almost like my wife would, when she wanted me to understand something she wanted done, but didn’t want her in-laws in on it.

“Charge kaise hoga?” he hissed.

That must’ve caught Bravo-Not Victor’s ears. Because what followed was unprecedented. “Aap aaj raat ko yahin ruk jaiye? Main aage chala jata hoon.”

He’s a senior officer. I feebly said we’d manage just fine.But he insisted. It had started pouring— and with the road already in the condition it was – there was a good chance – they may have to trek.

Rajbari’s officer in charge, Rao, had disappeared. He was getting some of the men to tidy the VIP room, seeing if the AC works, etc.
Here are some of the shots we got next morning.

That we managed some very interesting shots is courtesy these very hospitable men of the ‘Dumdaar Dus’.

I doff my hat to them…

PS: Bravo-Not-Victor – the moniker explained. When I was first introduced to Second in Command (2-I-C) Virendra Bajpai, I shook his hand and said, “Nice of you to make such arrangements for us at a short notice, My Vajpayee.” He smiled warmly and said, “Surname is Bravo not Victor.”

This was first published in timesofindia.com on August 9, 2016

Counting votes on a Sunday: A digital journalist’s challenge

(Image by © Illustration Works/Corbis)

Imagine it is a Monday, you have the boss at your 6 ‘o’ clock and he is coming right at you, would you have time to track the results of an election on TV? Probably not and that makes my life a whole lot easier. Your laptop or that news app on your phone becomes your go to and I, as a digital news producer, can serve up well-packaged content on a digital platform.

However, the Election Commission in its wisdom has decided to count the votes polled in Bihar on a Sunday in November. And that means you (the viewer) will be at home with the option of remaining glued to your TV, looking at the numbers flashing on a rather busy screen and listening to a plethora of views and analysis.

So what of the laptop, the iPad, and the mobile?

Here is where the digital news producer has a go-to — the ‘second screen’. According to some studies, 4 in 5 smartphones and tablet users use their mobile devices while sitting in front of the idiot box. The second screen it seems was born out of a sense of boredom — of people not knowing what to do when commercials are on and probably resorting to checking Facebook or Twitter. Now these social media site have become second-screen playgrounds. With a massive install base and one of the most popular social apps across app stores, the popularity and ease of use of Twitter puts it at the top of the list.

So how does that translate into coverage for a digital news producer? TV believes in continuity, most channels assume that the viewer has been on them since the beginning of coverage and there is little or no customization for individuals possible. In the specific context to election coverage, it means people don’t have the option of jumping the queue and going straight to the information they want. They also may not have all the information available for them to process what is being spoken about. In India’s busy TV-scape, screens often have busy lines scrolling and flashing, they might not necessarily parallel what is being said on the screen.

Your hand-held device (not the TV remote) gives you that power to jump the queue (without greasing palms, I may add). Information neatly packaged and tabulated — so that you the viewer gets to see only what s/he wants or how s/he wants it. It could also serve as an aid to understanding what the exalted analysts on TV are banging on about. For example, if they talk about a party losing ground in a certain area of the state, your phone may actually have that specific stat to help you understand why those 5 seats are so critical or why the anchor has spent an inordinately long time on a bellwether seat.

While most of the technology exists, I’ve not seen extremely successful dovetailing of TV and mobile apps to the extent that the idea ‘second screen’ suggests. “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” sci-fi writer Arthur C Clarke had once said. When the mobile phone or tablet truly becomes a ‘second screen’ — a value-add to what’s on telly — that magic would’ve perhaps been achieved.

This article was first published in timesofindia.com

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A Magsaysay Award Winner with a Debt to Pay

For most of my life I’ve been given floccinaucinihilipilification (the action or habit of estimating something as worthless) — and the use of the second-longest word in the English dictionary — completely needless, leads me to an extremely existential question – Why? This is not the dilemma brought on by some premature version of a ‘mid-life crisis’. It is the result of a Saturday spent with my alma mater at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, talking about and to a man, who has just won a Ramon Magsaysay Award for his contribution to society.

In his acceptance speech in the Philippines, Anshu Gupta, the founder of Goonj, said he did not want to change the world; he just wanted to make it better. That came across as earnest. But as he was being felicitated by the IIMC Alumni Association, that earnestness changed into the bare naked truth, when he said, “I can’t sleep at night because I have burdened by a huge debt.”

And then he went on to explain how he owed a huge debt to his country and its taxpayers whose money had subsidized his education at this government-run institute. Imagine my indignation — what debt? I had (many moons ago) made it to IIMC on my merit. I had battled off reservation (all such government institutes have half the seats reserved) and competed in the open category to be selected for a course in journalism at what was then one of the few institutes to offer such a course.

But the rationale hit home and I’ve stewed in it for a good three days now. Yes, I competed but then I also ended up paying ₹20,000 and not ₹5 lakh as the course, correctly priced should have cost. I went to a government college in Calcutta (now Kolkata) which is one of the best in the city and where the taxpayers spent ₹1 lakh each year on a student like me. Then of course there is the entire hidden subsidy. For example, I went to Delhi Public School, which in all probability got the land, on which the school stands, at extremely subsidized rates from the government.

Most of us, the ‘creamy layer’ as sociologists and economists keep referring to, have benefited from these subsides enormously and continue to do so. According to estimates, nearly 3% of the country’s GDP is spent on subsidies — and much of it seems to be coming to people who don’t need it.

For example, how many of us have given up the LPG subsidy that we enjoy? Government figures from earlier this year say 10 lakh people have voluntarily done so. Good going you may say — not really, when the total number of LPG subscribers is a little over 15 crore. Yes I know, there are arguments both for and against this — but this is just an example. An example of how we all take from the system, selfishly and yet, put very little back in…

So what Anshu says makes sense. Give something back to your country not because of some inherent sense of patriotism but because you’ll sleep easy knowing that you’ve tried to repay the debt of the people to the fullest. It could be with something as small as running a neighbourhood watch that makes your back alley a safer place or petitioning your MLA or civic councilor for relaying the water pipelines.

Abraham Lincoln said, democracy is “for the people, of the people and by the people”. It is the actions of citizens such as us that will determine the quality of our society and our democracy. So we need to be the change instead of resisting it…

For me, step 1 is awareness. Step 2 is WIP.

This article was first published in timesofindia.com

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India Beats Pakistan in the World Cup Again.

Watching #INDvPAK at #IIMCAAconnections with 500 alumni, students pic.twitter.com/998eiJ6Iq3
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

Tri colour rules at #IIMCAAconnections #INDvPAK fever on the campus pic.twitter.com/xRBLC8fsAI
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

Campus cheers Virat Kohli century #IndiavsPak #IIMCAAconnections pic.twitter.com/48dtPk7y3R
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

Cheers for Suresh Raina as India cross 250. #IndvsPak #IIMCAAconnections pic.twitter.com/Il4IFNqdJy
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

Member of the 1983 World Cup winning team Madan Lal at #IIMCAAconnections says #IndiaJeetega pic.twitter.com/i18nA8kwHc
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

All seats in the house taken. #IIMCAAconnections #IndiavsPak pic.twitter.com/sCK3r5JaUJ
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

India finish on 300 for 7 after a late match middle-order collapse. Will it be enough? #IndiavsPak #IIMCAAconnections pic.twitter.com/WM60glfpsF
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

The OB vans at #IIMCAAconnections for #IndiavsPak - it doesn't get bigger than this pic.twitter.com/cjVZdMLal4
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

Cheering the fall of the 2nd Pak wicket. Ashwin sends haris sohail back #IIMCAAconnections #indvspak pic.twitter.com/TLlYa0opr7
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

Crowd cheers hard as Afridi falls. India almost there? #indvspak #IIMCAAconnections pic.twitter.com/Yl815txOf0
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

That's it folks. That man in Karachi must wait for his fireworks. At #IIMCAAconnections celebrations as #IndiaWins pic.twitter.com/SbIIF3MzgJ
— prasad sanyal (@prasadsanyal) February 15, 2015

India 5 Pakistan 0: Yeh Dil Mange More!

An India-Pakistan cricket match is more than a contest. It's a test of patriotism and nationalism. Here's how an Indian fan measures out his life around such high-octane encounters.

A last ball six - and my brother cheering a Pakistan win wildly. Circa 1986 - that's my first memory of an India-Pakistan match. 

Patriotism and nationalism aren't virtues we are born with. Those are instilled later. To my 3-year old brother, every wicket or boundary needed to be cheered -- a shot well-played needed to be applauded.  Having walked the earth for a few more years than him, I knew a Pakistan win couldn't be cheered.

A year later, the World Cup came to India and we made the semi-finals. But it went by in a flash. As defending champions, India took on the best in the world and as far as I could comprehend from the reactions friends and family, we gave a reasonable account of ourselves.

And then in 1992, I started bleeding blue.  Kerry Packer's pajama dream had become a World Cup reality. And I must confess to this day, that remains my personal favourite as far the myriad hues of India's ODI blues go... My recollection of watching India  in 1991-92 centered around the buzz generated by Sachin Tendulkar. On that long trip down under, I remember India losing but Indians marvelling at a 20-year old's batting prowess. Waking up at the crack of dawn to watch the tests -- the quality of TV coverage -- Channel 9 to DD was a comparison between a mature Cognac and locally-brewed hooch.  

That almost endless tour culminated in more disappointment - India's dismal performance at the World Cup. The only bright spark there was we beat Pakistan - the team that eventually went on to be world champions. Oh the sweet joy of our intrepid Mr More getting Miandad's goat, that Miandad who had so 'cruelly' hit a 6 off the last ball years earlier at Sharjah...

And we basked in Tendulkar glory till the tourney was back in India. 1996 it was - and I'd moved to Kolkata from Delhi by then. I had been exposed to watching cricket at the Eden Gardens and was hooked.  My excitement at the opportunity of being able to watch a semi-final live at the Eden Gardens was exacerbated with the joy of Venkatesh Prasad giving Amir Sohail the send-off of the tournament. India had beat Pakistan again. We had made it to the semi-finals - and they would play at the Eden Gardens. What happened after that was an anti-climax we'd all want to forget. Again Tendulkar stood out and we cheered -- our small victories.

1999 -- Not much off it since we didn't make it even to the semi-finals.  But two stand out. A belligerent Sourav Ganguly, ably aided by Rahul Dravid taking Sri Lanka to the cleaners in Taunton and us beating Pakistan. Would you believe it, we lost our other games in the Super 6 stage but Pakistan, we beat.  Pakistan still made to the finals where they got knocked over by Australia, and yes OF COURSE we had them beat again.

Thrice we'd faced them and thrice we'd beaten them... so measured in cricket matches, India beating Pakistan in a world cup was almost normative for any boy like  me growing up in the 1990s.

In 2003, we went all the way to the finals. But the India-Pakistan tie is all that I remember. Ganguly got a zero but we had Tendulkar getting 98 on top and then Yuvi and Jammy (aka Rahul Dravid) finishing with flourish as India chased down a large Pakistan total.  I also remember that World Cup for Kenya making it to the finals where we beat them. Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn obliterated us in the finals.  Australia had won its 3rd consecutive World Cup -- and yes, we were a little gutted - BUT we had BEATEN Pakistan.

2007 was a disaster. And we didn't get to play Pakistan -- so no small joys to take away from the Carribean shores.

Back in India in 2011, and MSD&Co won the cup. Apart from Dhoni hitting a huge six to win it for us, the match that stood out for me is the semi-final against Pakistan.  Again a standout performance by Sachin Tendulkar, and our bowling held up to our neighbours in green.

Imran Khan had once said, "Cricket is a pressure game, and when it comes to an India-Pakistan match the pressure is doubled."  He played cricket for Pakistan for 20 years and has over 500 international wickets. He must know what he is talking about.

Watching it from the confines of my living or working space, I must confess being an Indian fan has been a rather pleasurable experience... Onwards and upwards to February 15 then and another India-Pakistan face-off at the World Cup - yeh dil mangey more!

This article was first published on sports.ndtv.com

 

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