Chennai:

“Jab jab garmi ne mara hai, Anmol chaanch aur lassi ne sanwara hai (Whenever the heat is killing, Anmol buttermilk and lassi come to the rescue),” says Dinesh Soni, 42, proprietor of Anmol Mohit Patiala Lassi located at 343, Mint Street. It is the heat of Chennai that prompted him to start this business twenty years ago. Situated in a narrow lane and with a blend of North Indian culture, the stall sets a perfect ambiance for the passerby to enjoy his drink of lassi. The area around the stall is busy, crowded and congested. Dinesh, 6ft 6 is tall and known as the khali of Sowcarpet, is a dynamic person who attracts customers.

He is ready to serve his customers with chilled lassi from 9 in the morning till 7 in the evening. Customers are crowded around him, waiting for their chilled glasses of lassi, as he deftly serves them. Ask him what is special about his lassi and he laughs loudly, saying that even he doesn’t know. Before starting this business, he was a professional wrestler in Pushkar, Rajasthan, his native place. He also makes Mohit Shampoos and hair oil for all kinds of hair problems, sold with a guarantee of money back if the customer is not satisfied within four months of use. In Chennai it is as though summer never ends, so his business does well through the year. Anmol Lassi is popular among Chennaiites, north Indians and south Indians alike. He has many regular customers who have been frequenting his shop since it opened. Among them is Sub-Inspector Christhuthanam who says, “The lassi tastes great and is the best in the city.” Shoppers and office goers are among his prime customers.

The rates are on the high side with at `60 for a giant steel tumbler and `30 for a regular one. He uses purified packaged water, which justifies the rates. The milk used to make the lassi is brought from a nearby village. He has two helpers to clean the tumblers and do other work.

Dinesh was born and brought up in Chennai and is fluent in Tamil. From a Marwari family of goldsmiths, he chose to deviate from the family business and is the only one to have stepped into this line. Even if his son pursues engineering, he will look after the lassi business. He feels at home in Chennai but makes sure to visit his native place once a year. He lives in Sowcarpet with his family and is well known among the people around. He has such charisma that once you see him you will not forget him.

Customers are like god to him; he knows them by their names and greets them when they arrive at his shop. The man is full of energy and enthusiasm and has a personal bond with customers.

There is never a dull moment as they sip their tasty glass of lassi, as he entertains them with his talk. People come from far off parts of the city to have Anmol Lassi. Buttermilk is a very fast moving item in Chennai. Many people have requested him to open branches in other parts of the city but he says he is too busy and may not be able to manage the branches. He is happy and content to serve the people of Sowcarpet.

source: http://www.ibnlive.in.com / Home> South> Southern News> Chennai / The New Indian Express / by Anjali M Pillay, Bhavna C. Uchil, V Padmini

Udhagamandalam, May 12 (PTI)

A 15-feet tall Indian Parakeet made of roses is the major highlight of the 11th two-day Ooty Rose Show which began here today. The Parakeet, with 12 feet width, is made of 8,000 roses and drawing huge crowds at the show in which more than 3,500 varieties of roses are on display.

Inaugurated by Nilgiris District Collector Archana Patnaik, other attractions at the show include 10-foot tall Panda made of 4,000 red and white roses, 10-foot Giraffe made of 6,000 roses and Rose Bull, with 12,000 roses, Santosh Babu, Commissioner, Horticulture and Plantation Crops, said.

PTI Cor NVM

source: http://www.ibnlive.in.com / Wires / Home> Wires> Latest News / PTI, May 12th, 2012

SPEAKING THROUGH KARAGATTAM: M.A. Zaffar Hussain and T. Thavamani Photo: S. James / The Hindu

Karagattam dancers T. ThavamaniM. A. Zaffar Hussain tell Soma Basu their performance is an art form to be enjoyed by all

During the annual Chithirai festival at the Police Grounds recently, Zaffar Thavamani set the stage on fire. Those in the audience who thought the name belonged to one person were surprised to see two karagattam performers. In their traditional costumes, make-up and matching steps, the pair delightfully introduced innovations in their performance, playing with fire, dancing on stilts, doing stunts with bamboo sticks and displaying other acrobatics even as they balanced on their heads intricately decorated pots filled with sand and water.

At the end of the hour’s performance, the spectators realised art has no religion. Some curious minds enquired which of the two was Zaffar. A few wanted to touch his feet, so impressed were they with his serene looks and graceful performance. As always, Thavamani received encomiums for his brilliant display of skills.

Chartered accountant T. Thavamani and businessman M.A. Zaffar Hussain are the unlikeliest of birds to flock together given their respective family, educational and professional backgrounds. But karagattam binds them like Siamese twins.

Says Thavamani, “We were batchmates in school but only after joining college, we bonded.” “The connection happened accidentally,” adds Zaffar.

In 1986, both responded to an announcement for participating in a folk dance competition at the Madurai Kamaraj University Youth Festival.

“None of the existing performers wanted to register in folk,” recalls Thavamani. “That helped us to team up though neither of us was a dancer.” “Our college was interested in promoting traditional and folk arts and both of us wanted to contribute in some way,” says Zaffar. Both were trained in kavadiattam, poikkal kudirai, and mayilattam. They do not remember how or why Karagattam and they clicked, but both believe in divine blessing. That maiden performance was not just about representing the college or returning with a prize, which, of course, they did. It was more about understanding a dance form whose popularity was on the wane.

Thavamani points out, “Karagattam is restricted mostly to rural areas as temple functions to invoke the Amman.” Zaffar continues, “We felt the need to mainstream the dance and focussed on energetic performance based totally on skills.”

SPEAKING THROUGH KARAGATTAM: M.A. Zaffar Hussain and T. Thavamani Photo: S. James / The Hindu

No looking back

Today, the duo has taken the open-air dance form to closed auditoria. With more than 1,000 shows behind them, besides 100-odd temple functions, they are now sought after not only as artists but also as teachers.

For karagattam’s sake, they do everything free of cost. They take only travel expenses for their shows and some negligible payment for the accompanists. Both take time from their respective work schedules and performances and voluntarily train school and college students in karagattam.

“In the initial years, we learnt and chiselled our skills with every performance,” says Thavamani. “Today, we enjoy our performances more as a recreation. Awards and appreciation motivated us to keep going.” Zaffar adds, “Our audiences are elated with the chemistry we share on stage, the element of humour we impart to our shows and the way we are able to educate the people.”

Rising popularity

Their name and fame has crossed geographical boundaries. Apart from participating in cultural programmes, they are also invited to give private performances at birthday parties, weddings, sashti- and ashtapurti ceremonies. Thavamani’s job profile fetches them opportunities to showcase their artistry in other States and countries during national and international conferences of chartered accountants. “The response has always been overwhelming and we keep gaining confidence,” he says.

What troubles them is the travel. “We need a lot of accessories for our performances,” says Zaffar. “Transporting them often turns out to be a big problem as we ourselves like to carry our things for safety. If even one item gets misplaced, it upsets our performance. It is always a lot of hard work before the show. When people praise us, we forget the labour.”

Thavamani recalls an incident when they put all their things in a cycle rickshaw but the rickshaw puller refused to drive the vehicle because of the weight. The two dancers drove in turns to reach the venue. Another time they missed a flight after arguing for hours with the airport authorities for permission to check in a ladder!

Their friendship goes beyond the stage. The dancers tease one another for helping to choose and approving each other’s spouses. And with much success to smile at, Thavamani and Zaffar are daring to dream again. “We want to create a record with a non-stop 36 hour performance. We have the determination and family support. All we need is a sponsor who will take us closer to our dream.”

To unite

Zaffar, performs Karagattm with passion to “unite people”, but he is also an established pattimandram speaker, a hobby he started pursuing from 2000. He and his wife, a school teacher, together have done over 500 programmes at public functions and on television. He has also trained his daughter in karagattam, and she gives performances in her school functions.

FRIENDSPEAK: Thavamani says Zaffar is “cool” and rings in laughter wherever he goes.

Time Management

Thavamani knows how he manages his time. “I have a supportive wife who with a smile let me stick to part-time consultancy while she continued with her bank job to run the family.” As a child, he wanted to become an IPS officer. Since that did not happen, Thavamani volunteers as a traffic warden for Tamil Nadu Police, controlling traffic at assigned intersections four hours a week.

FRIENDSPEAK: Zaffar says Thavamani “has a solution for every problem.” “He is a very balanced person with leadership qualities”.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Arts> Dance / by Soma Basu / Madurai, May 10th, 2012

PERFECT FOR PICKLING Green mangoes

Don’t get in a pickle over raw mangoes. Just pickle them

“Excuse me, where can I find raw mangoes in the market?’ I politely asked the onion-garlic seller. He shaded his eyes against the fierce sun, looked me up and down, and said: ‘Vandutaanga da, cooling glasses potindu, vadu-maanga vaangarathikku‘. Well, that cut deep; but having braved many elbow jabs and painfully-trodden toes to get to the chaotically crowded Mambalam market, I wasn’t going to let one sarcastic comment stop me. So I decided to hunt them down myself. Several terribly jostled, sweaty minutes later, I stood in front of a sack of raw mangoes. Meenakshi, who owned that shop outside door No. 8 openly laughed when I asked if I could talk to her about raw mango pickle. “But I have never made pickle in my life, though I’ve sold raw mangoes for 25 years. I buy my mango pickle from the shop.” I tell her I’m no different and ask her about her goods and customers. “Oh, first-class raw mangoes,” she says, holding out one the size of a coconut. ‘It’s from Andhra, great for pickle. People come from all over Chennai and India to buy from me; there’s just one other big raw mango shop here, so lots of mamis from West Mambalam are my regulars. Yesterday, a sackful of my raw mangoes went to Singapore. 80 kg, best quality!”

Destinations for raw mangoes

She’s rightly proud of her reputation. When I ask around, Mambalam and Mylapore markets are on everybody’s lips as ‘the’ destinations for raw mangoes and vadu maangas; nobody but the sellers mention Koyambedu. Suseela Sundaraman, a fan of both markets, has been making avakkai at home for over a decade. “The avakkai, in some ways, is the easiest pickle to make, as it involves no actual cooking. You just have to get the proportion of the salt-chilli-mustard-oil right. I follow my mother-in-law’s recipe, she always preferred hand-pounded rock-salt and chilli.” As for the vadu maanga, Suseela likes the ones from Kumbakonam. “They’re bite-sized, tiny but tasty. Madurai vadu is also lovely, very fragrant, but with vadu maanga, it’s important to choose the ones with a stalk, if not, they tend to spoil very quickly.”

Agrees Saroja Krishnamurthy, who buys her maavadu from the South Maada street market, Mylapore. “The stalked-ones are more expensive, costing Rs. 150 a kilo. Size too matters, very small ones tend to be bitter and the very large ones are insipid. It’s important to choose firm, medium-sized vadus.” The sellers, surprisingly, seem happy to indulge the finicky buyers. Susi, a raw mango and vadu maanga seller in Mylapore has a tidy mountain of fragrant raw mangoes artistically arranged on wicker trays. A middle-aged lady in salwar-kameez fusses over her purchase, choosing one from this pile, only to discard it and ask for another. Susi is patient, and even a touch amused. While they’re being cut to the buyer’s exacting specification, she tells me that her raw mangoes are as good as gold. “Good pickle mangoes should be sour and have some fibre. I should know; I’ve been selling manga for forty years. Maamis from Mylapore and all over Chennai come looking for the vadu maanga; from mid-March, they start calling me, and as soon as I get new stock, they come immediately and get it. Avakkai manga used to be an Andhra favourite, but now others are also buying it.” This year, she says, thanks to lower stocks, raw mango prices are steeper.

Making avakkai

Sarasa Krishnamurthy, who, incidentally, has just pickled raw mangoes for the year, talks about her experience of making avakkai for nearly four decades. “When we lived in a joint family, it was a big process, since we pickled 70 to 80 raw mangoes, which we cut at home using a rudimentary machine. The avakkai was preserved in large porcelain jaadis — no fridge then — with a white muslin cloth tied on the lid, to keep it airtight. But this year, my batch is made with just 5 big raw mangoes from Mambalam. For a good pickle, the manga has to be mature; it’s important to cut it with a piece of shell at the inner edge, so that the manga does not turn soft and squish into the pickle.” She then quickly gives me her recipe for avakkai, making it sound fairly straightforward. A few hours effort, I think to myself, and I too can smugly tell guests, “Oh, that’s homemade, it’s quite simple you know…”

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Arts> History & Culture / by Aparna Karthikeyan / May 03rd, 2012