The much-sought-after architect and interior designer is known to have
done up some of the most stylish addresses, besides being a force in the
art world. Having recently designed the interiors of restaurant Pali Thai,
he talks about his most marked characteristic and his greatest fear.
Ashiesh Shah
What are you most excited about currently?Atelier Ashiesh Shah — an extension to my
practice, a creative tank for self-expression through
industrial design.
What is your most marked characteristic?efinitely Wabi-Sabi. eauty in imperfection,
perfection in rawness.
Who is your greatest inspiration in the art world?Louise ourgeois and Lucio Fontana.
What is the biggest love of your life?Design.
What according to you is the most overrated virtue?Patience — you can’t always wait for
opportunities to come your way.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?Proportions. The fundamental of architecture and design.
What one quality should every woman have?Power.
Which one quality should every man have?Chivalry.
What one experience would you like to have?Not being an outdoorsy person, anything
adventurous would be worth the experience.
What is your greatest fear?Loss of creativity.
Which living person do you most admire?My niece, for her childlike quality. I would give
anything to think like a child.
What is your greatest extravagance?Art…and it will always be.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?It would definitely be to be more proactive.
What’s the hardest part about designing homes of Bollywood stars?I think with ollywood stars the timeline is always a
challenge, coupled with their erratic schedules which
don’t lie in their control.
What is your most treasured possession?My team.
What is your greatest regret?Not studying art history.
THE LEELA MAGAZINE | 18 | AUTUMN 2018 AUTUMN 2018 | 19 | THE LEELA MAGAZINE
PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE
Pickles have been a popular form of
fermented food
A taste of bacterial goodness
From popping up in cocktails
and desserts to cranking
up the taste of dishes,
fermentation is the new
buzzword in the culinary
world. Madhulika Dash finds
out why this seven thousand
year old technique is suddenly
seeing a revival by chefs.
Many chefs are charmed nowadays by the wonders of
the seven thousand year old technique of fermentation
that defined much of the food culture back in the day.
Whether it is in making breads, cultured butters or even
in upping the taste quotient of dishes.
Seasoned bartender Yangdup Lama, Cocktails & Dreams
Speakeasy, too seems to enjoy being a “fermentation revivalist”.
Lama’s inclination towards the ancient art of preservation and flavour
enhancement is natural. “Fermented food was very much a family
food tradition. I grew up eating a lot of fermented food in terms of
preserves, chutneys and even in cured meats. I still remember how my
grandfather’s day began with a big glass of millet beer sweetened with
molasses. It was considered not only nourishing, but filling as well.
However, his approach to fermentation — the technique at least
— isn’t conventional at all. Instead Lama uses it to add more funk to the
in-house liqueurs and bitters. “Fermentation or the broader sense of it
that we understand today is a great way to manipulate flavour profiles
of ingredients, especially of the delicate ones. But the one place that
fermentation can really work wonders is sugar concentration, which
is essential for great tasting cocktails.” He uses alcohol fermentation
to create fruit concentrates that have effectively replaced most of
the commercial crushes in the bar. “Not only are they healthier, but
also transform the drink into something that is more enjoyable with
fantastic tasting notes.”
FOOD
THE LEELA MAGAZINE | 26 | AUTUMN 2018 AUTUMN 2018 | 27 | THE LEELA MAGAZINE
It is this unique art of transforming ingredients without losing the
nutrients that has been one of the significant factors for the sudden
interest in this ancient technique. Says food historian Ashish Chopra,
“It’s this composition changing ability of fermentation that made it
one of the most worked on techniques in India, especially in the North
East, where the food culture was developed on the art of foraging and
fermentation.”
Fermentation was at the core of not only surviving through harsh
winters up in the north, but also the key to nomadic life. In fact, many
tribes preserved food and other ingredients before moving to a new
area and survived on these cured foods till they gained knowledge
about their new territory. This may explain why we’ve had such a wide
variety of pickles and chutneys that could survive long distances
without losing flavour. ut travel, adds Chopra, is only a factor that
contributed to the rise of fermented food in our cuisine. The main role
was, of course, the taste — and the avenues it created to use the same
food groups in different versions.
An excellent example of this is dahi and chenna. Chef Sabyasachi
Gorai of Fabrica by Saby says, “The very idea that you could use this
technique to give the same food groups a different, distinct flavour
profile and nutrient combination to make it all palatable is one of the
reasons of its wide popularity even today. Of course, what adds to the
charm is fermented food’s capacity to crank up a dish. Just a little bit
and you see a world of difference in the taste and texture of the dish. In
fact it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it is a naturally good tastemaker.”
This could be the reason that fermented foods like kimchi, soya
sauce, kombucha, cultured butter and milk kefir have been able
to effectively cross worldwide borders and have gradually earned
mainstream food status as well.
Agrees Chef Paul Kinny, Culinary Director, Bellona Hospitality.
Ordinarily, you would never find a kimchi fried rice or a miso soup,
but not today. You find fermented foods are either sneaking in
as tastemakers or as an additional component to make the dish
wholesome, flavour-wise.
Case in point: Chef Gresham Fernandes’ bacon kimchi fried rice.
While fried rice has its own unique flavours, in this case kimchi,
which is an otherwise acquired taste, helps add a certain acidity to
the fried rice which is different from soy sauce that pairs brilliantly
with the fat of bacon, creating that wholesome mouthfeel that is hard
to define but delicious.
The acidity manipulation is one of the many reasons that has
nudged chefs to experiment with fermentation even more. For
Chef Glyston Gracias, fermentation is used more in his marination
and batters. I used milk kefir as a base marination for my chicken
to give it that tenderness and richness of taste. While in my batter,
fermentation helps create a light, airy feel that adds to the taste of the
dish immensely.”
Chef Vikas Seth, Culinary Director of Embassy Leisure &
Entertainment, feels fermentation works more towards balancing the
dish. “Not just taste-wise, but health-wise too. In fact, traditionally, the
role of fermented food is to balance the dish rather than just taste,” he
says. “It adds freshness and sweetness that becomes a perfect palate
cleanser between two bites.”
This basic understanding of fermented food has encouraged
chefs like Chef Anurag Barthwal, Executive Pastry Chef, The Leela
Ambience Gurugram Hotel & Residences and Chef Mir Zafar Ali, The
Leela Palace Bengaluru to use the technique in dessert making as well.
“Lacto fermentation,” says Chef Ali, “works beautifully at releasing
the acidic side of fruits, especially berries, and helps incorporating
Sriracha Dim Sums are seen on many menus
il efir marinated chicken stew served with appams
Fermentation is increasingly used
in desserts
Dish Sheep Grazing captures the sensory brilliance of the hills through fermentation
THE LEELA MAGAZINE | 30 | AUTUMN 2018 AUTUMN 2018 | 31 | THE LEELA MAGAZINE
Fermented foods
like kimchi, soya
sauce, kombucha,
cultured butter
and mil efir
have been able to
effectively cross
worldwide borders
and have gradually
earned mainstream
food status
I don’t like dropping names, he reluctantly says. One of the virtues
of my art is that your clientele drop by the studio expecting utter
discretion and privacy. ollywood director James Gray is said to have
been decked by the man.
Suits that stand outWhat exactly does a fitting at the salon entail eeping up with
English tradition, it would mean beginning with a piping hot cup of
tea, with an assortment of biscuits on the side. What actually draws
Jheeta’s loyal customers to his address, time and time again, is his
superlative house style. Every establishment at Savile Row has a
signature design statement that sets them apart. Jheeta’s design
involves a cutting skill of a single-breasted acket, one button
fastening even on a two-button or double-breasted acket,creating a
very prominent straight shoulder line with long lines of peak lapels
to enhance the chest and slim-line the waist. While the ackets are
created to fit you like a glove, they are complemented by smart, slim
and close-cut trousers for a good finish.
Jheeta doesn’t have an Indian outpost as yet, a conscious
choice because of what it means to be part of the Savile Row
pedigree. owever, the et-setting designer’s fittings do keep
him globetrotting when his clients can’t fly down to see him, he
flies to where they are. And even though the designer has his
bedrock in Savile Row, the prodigal son was always clear that
he wanted to have a wide presence in India. “It is only recently
that the Indian aesthetic has honed enough to appreciate the effort
of investing in a bespoke suit. Then there’s the rise of the new
Asian man who can afford and aspire to dress in a classic Savile ow
bespoke suit.
What advice does Jheeta have for the Indian man on’t
try too hard to keep up with every trend, he says. ot every
fad may suit you. Knowing what does and doesn’t work for you is
key to dressing dapper. The Indian male is traditionally habituated
to wearing lots of colour. However, western formals work best
when neutral tones are accentuated by a muted colour palette,
he concludes.
If I weren’t a men’s designer: I’d be a pilot.
Other than a Paul Jheeta bespoke suit I’d wear:
olce & Gabbana or Versace.
I last vacationed in: Nice, Cannes.
I unwind by: playing cricket. I’m on the Chiltern League
I would never leave home without: A
Paul Jheeta jacket, a brolly (umbrella) and a pair of Tom Ford aviators.
Celebrities I’d love to style but haven’t: Bradley Cooper and Ranveer Singh.
Paul Jheeta deconstructed
paul heeta s bespo e suits
Th L La aGa n | | auTu n auTu n | 43 | Th L La aGa n
STYLE
Digraj Singh Shahpura’s designs bring across an aesthetic and regal tapestry of the fineries of a asthan that reflect the heritage
and craft of the Indian state.
A fashionable heritage
Shahpura gathered a lot of knowledge in the world of fashion by living
and travelling abroad. Thereafter he started his own brand by the name of
Digraj Singh Shahpura in 2015 and is dedicated towards bringing a new
revolution in Indian fashion and putting it on to the international fashion
map by bringing out designs that reflect his a asthani roots — Jodhpuri,
Bandhgala, Achkan, which are his strengths. Furthermore, his designs
bring across an aesthetic and regal tapestry of the fineries of a asthan
that reflect the heritage and craft of the Indian state. The brand started
with men and women’s haute couture with Shahpura soon expanding his
portfolio to include other businesses ranging from jewellery design to
consulting. The collections are inspired by old-word elegance and charm,
and his attires have a characteristic softness, creativity and genius colour
combinations. Known for resurrecting fashion styles of a bygone era,
his designs are iconic and fashionable, besides keeping intact the rich
heritage of Rajasthan.
Flagship store: D-257, Devi Marg, Banipark, Jaipur.
Web: www.digrajsinghshahpura.com
P romoting Indian heritage and culture through exclusively
designed ethnic Indian apparel, CEO and Creative
Director Digraj Singh Shahpura is known for doing some
unique and innovative work in the field of fashion. Although his
work is diverse, he has made a mark with his classic tailored cut
Indian wear. He has also collaborated and done trunk shows with
prestigious fashion houses abroad and in India like Burberry,
Berluti, Tods and Dior.
The collections are inspired by old-word elegance and charm and his attires have a characteristic softness creativity and
genius colour combinations
S.H. Raza, Bindu Naad, 1995, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy: Piramal Museum of Art
An artistic legacyNot only was SH Raza one of India’s greatest masters, but also one of the most recognised artists internationally.
As a new exhibition Traversing Terrains’ celebrates five decades of his work, co-curator Ashvin Rajagopalan
takes Sandhya Menon on a journey of Raza’s life, from the evolution of his famed Bindu series, his friendship
with legendary photographer enri Cartier- resson to the creative influence of another artistic great, othko.
As you take your time and walk through Traversing Terrains’,
an S aza retrospective the first ma or exhibition of the
artist since his death in 2016), your viewing ends at a
massive canvas taking up an entire wall of a black dot with
concentric grey circles radiating from the centre. ut as you look at it,
preferably in silence, you find yourself not going outwards but being
drawn within — towards its core, to the heart of darkness perhaps, if
the walk through the paintings has moved you enough, to your very
own beginning. This is aza’s indu’. And its significance is not so
much the painting itself, but the fact that the simple, geometric form
tells the story of how Raza, who started out painting the beautiful
chaos and order of landscapes, ended up at the simple discipline of
what can be seen as the heart of all creation.
orn in , to a forest officer father and a homemaker mother,
aza’s passing two years ago possibly marked the end of an era of
artists who, in spirit and effort, understood the meaning of anarchy,
ART
THE LEELA MAGAZINE | 44 | AUTUMN 2018 AUTUMN 2018 | 45 | THE LEELA MAGAZINE
and how it was possibly the only thing that propelled an artist to go
beyond what they knew or were taught. One of the founders of the
Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG), along with FN Souza, KH Ara, HA Gade,
F usain and S aker, aza, it would seem, was constantly in an
anarchic state of seeking. Whether it was a home he sought or a sense
of belonging, it is hard to tell but ‘Traversing Terrains’ establishes
Raza’s astonishing journey.
To trace how he arrived at the ‘Bindu’ is really to chart the course
of his artistic evolution. Having been formally trained at the Nagpur
School of Art and, later, the JJ School of Art in Mumbai, Raza began
as an expressionist painter of landscapes. As his involvement with
the PAG grew, the spirit of wanting to paint with complete freedom
— a part of the PAG credo — he soon found himself moving away
from expressionism towards Western modernism. It was his moving
to France (in 1950) that propelled this movement and what we see
today as rapid evolution, decade after decade, to arrive at the distilled
quality that his later work carried.
A belonging in FranceIn any form of exploration of Raza’s life, romantic stories of his
influences and moments that catalysed his work abound. From his
school teacher asking him to focus on a single dot in order to calm
his seeking, resting mind to the legend of him having chosen to stay
back in India while his family moved to akistan during the artition)
because of once having heard Gandhi speak, aza’s life seemed like
it had transformational brushes with change regularly. “The story of
his school teacher training him to look at a simple dot on the board
becoming the inspiration for the ‘Bindu’ series seems, to my mind, a
bit of an overreach. It might have been too early in his career for that
to have had any significant impact in relation with the indu’, says
Ashvin a agopalan, irector, iramal useum of Art, and a co-curator
of the exhibition.
“By 1965, he had already been in France for 15 years and you
could see the influence of his surroundings in his work. It was in ,
however, that he started to feel what I now suspect was a restlessness
for home and started to look at Indian miniature paintings. is work
from this decade has several elements of this style — clear cut borders,
inscriptions, among other things. asically, his work from this time
Facing page: S.H. Raza, Surya Namaskar, 1993, acrylic on canvas.Image courtesy: Piramal Museum of Art
Above: Raza in Galerie Lara Vincy, ParisImage courtesy: Galerie Lara Vincy Archives, Paris
To trace how
he arrived at
the ‘Bindu’ is
really to chart
the course
of his artistic
evolution
THE LEELA MAGAZINE | 46 | AUTUMN 2018 AUTUMN 2018 | 47 | THE LEELA MAGAZINE
rovenance seems to be getting a better response, though. The ew Yorker cards and our
elgian and French chocolates are flying off the shelves, he claims. aving multiple brands
has helped generate more of an interest and it’s also helped us manage our supply issues. For
instance, when we import chocolates or cakes, we need to make sure it comes in, in a timely
manner, and the temperature is maintained through transit — that was really hard when we had
ust one brand, but now with multiple brands, and increased quantities, it’s become easier and
more economical to manage.
While the lack of direct competition means the profits are all theirs to en oy, it has also
created challenges of a different kind. eing first movers in the field, we have no benefit of
experience and the onus of proving the merit of the business lies on us, while others can learn
from our mistakes, says Gadhok. ot having enough direct competition also means we have
to compete with fashion and food & beverage brands, which have the distinct advantage of
being specialised, and therefore, having to invest in ust one direction. ut over the last couple
of years, the competition has definitely increased with a lot more players coming in. Things are
now starting to get interesting
The store keeps unusual postcards from The New Yorker
Goodies galore
THE LEELA MAGAZINE | 60 | AUTUMN 2018
“The New Yorker cards and our
Belgian and French chocolates are
ying off the shelves
PhotograPhy
Wonders of the world
Laura DalyDuntulm, Isle of Skye, Scotland
“on our last night on the Isle of Skye, we ventured just five minutes from our accommodation to Duntulm Castle at sunset. Sharing the hillside with the midges and the sheep, we launched the drone, knowing the ruins were best seen from above. I chose to include the bright blue water of the ocean as it perfectly complemented the lush green grass, especially with the soft sunset light catching the walls of the castle. the view from above captures the beauty and lure of Skye, both natural and man-made.”
the LeeLa MagazIne | 62 | autuMn 2018
From the dramatic and stormy
waters of the Baltic Sea to
the magnificent Icelandic
valley of Thor, ’Outdoor
Photographer of the Year:
Portfolio III’ is a collection
of 150 photographs from
one of the most respected
photography competitions in
the world. We take a look at
some of the most captivating
entries, with an explanation
from each photographer on
how they captured these
magical moments.
Photographs courtesy
Ammonite Press
Witold ZiomekThórsmörk (the valley of Thor), Iceland
“After a morning full of drama, during which we almost ‘drowned’ our car in a river — and then pulled out a young Frenchman who had — we reached Thórsmörk, in the south of celand e wal ed up to a viewpoint where we could see...exactly nothing, due to the fog e waited and eventually the fog started to lift, but I still needed to wait a lot longer for a car to appear in the perfect position to add a sense of scale to the mountain landscape.”
‘Outdoor Photographer of the Year: Portfolio III’ is published by Ammonite Press, RRP £25.
THE LEELA MAGAZINE | 68 | AUTUMN 2018 AUTUMN 2018 | 69 | THE LEELA MAGAZINE
T he grand entrance of The Leela Palace Bengaluru leads
to an extravagant lobby designed in a very traditional
palatial style. The Royal Entrance, known as the Peacock
Lounge, has its close adaptation taken from the Durbar Hall of
the Mysore Palace. It is a symmetrically designed pillared hall
carved in pink sandstone with ornate and intricate detailing.
The entrance pillars are adorned with life-size figures of Yali,
a hippogriff or a giant mythical creature. The magnificent chandeliers,
the rich settees & chesterfields, the handsome dark furniture
and the stunning marbled courtyard has enchanted millions of
visitors and tourists, while giving an idea of the exuberant lifestyle
of the royals.
A palatial entrance
SNAPSHOT
Cuban nightsare here!
The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Delhi
unveiled its much-awaited Cuban-themed
lounge Club Cuba recently. The launch saw
the who’s who of the city in attendance, with several
top socialites and renowned names from the world of
lifestyle and real estate.
Representing a thriving culture coupled with a
glamorous lifestyle, Club Cuba is a reflection of the
pulse of Cuba. The candle-lit interiors with a stunning
view of the pool form a spectacular setting, with Club
Cuba blending luxury with artistic Cuban detailing.
The trendy lounge offers an extravagant selection
of the finest beverages along with a banquet of the
most-loved specialties from Cuba. You’ll also find
an amalgamation of Cuban and Indian food, as well
as some fusion delicacies. The highlights are their
flaming drinks and simply scrumptious finger food.
With a great selection of music, cozy ambience,
and sumptuous food and drinks, Club Cuba is the
picture-perfect place to be!
Get set to party at Club Cuba, the Cuban-themed lounge at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, Delhi.
The trendy lounge offers an extravagant selection of the finest beverages along with a banquet of the most-loved specialties from Cuba
LaunChpadLaunChpad
THE LEELA MAGAZINE | 78 | AUTUMN 2018 AUTUMN 2018 | 79 | THE LEELA MAGAZINE