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QuickPicks

Raj govt introduces 3 bills tonegate impact of farm laws

THE RAJASTHAN government on Saturdayintroduced three bills in the assembly tonegate the impact of the farm laws enacted bythe Centre recently, reports PTI. The move

comes after the Punjab assembly earlier this monthadopted a resolution against the farm laws andunanimously passed four bills to counter the Centre’scontentious legislations. PAGE 3

Sean Connery dies aged 90LEGENDARYSCOTTISH star SeanConnery,whobecame aglobalsensation as the first James Bond and featured in a string ofculthits in his five-decade-long career, has died, reportsPTI. Hewas90.According to BBC, the actor passed awayovernight in hissleepwhile in the Bahamas. He hadbeen unwell for quite sometime. In the career spanning half a century, the actor featured inmany critically-acclaimed and commercial blockbusters such asTheHunt for RedOctober, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,Murder on theOrient Express and TheRock.

WHATHAPPENEDTOTHOSE COUPLESWHOQUARANTINEDTOGETHER?Some are getting engaged.Others felt like theywere living inside apressure cooker Page 10

MIND & GAMES FE LINES

The cost of a reviewIs it okay togivenegative reviewswhen the travel sector is trying torecover from itsworst slump? Page6

Slow deathofliberal democracyACROSSTHEAISLE , PCHIDAMBARAM

OPINION, P2

■LEISURE, P5

Theprivate lifeWith onboard social distancing andreduced touch points, private flying isproving invaluable for an increasingnumber of fliers today

WHAT'S INSIDE

■WORDSWORTH,P4

Inspiteof spiteExcerpts fromSpite by SimonMcCarthy-Jonesreveal the upside ofour dark side

SPOTLIGHT

IT'S (NOT)THESAMEOLDSTORYChildhoods are up for aninclusive revolution,oneclassic at a time Page 7

P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E

FINANCIALEXPRESSON SUNDAY

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PUNESUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020, 20 Pages, `10 READ TO LEAD

RISHI RANJAN KALANewDelhi, October 31

HIT HARD BY THE pandemic,realestatedevelopersareliningupattractiveoffers likeflexiblepaymentplans,assuredpenaltyin case of delayed possessionandmaintenance waivers forovertwoyearstopushsalesdur-ingthefestivalseason.Another reason behind the

promotionsisagradualuptickindemand.Apre-festivechan-nel check report by EmkayGlobal Financial Services sug-

gestsresidentialsalesrecover-ingby50%ofpre-Covidlevels,primarilydrivenbyrecord lowfinancing rates, upfront dis-countandreliefonstampduty.Besides, city-centric sales aredriven largelybyyounger cus-tomers (32-38 years), an aspi-rationalbuyerclass.Sensing some pent-up

demand, Migsun Grouplaunched ‘possession proofhomes’where it is offering anassured1%penaltyeverymonthin case of delay in possession.Homebuyers have to pay 10%

initiallyand90%onpossession.It is applicable on projects inGhaziabadandGreaterNoida.Another developer, Gaur

Group is offering a paymentplanwith10%downpaymentwithin 30 days, 40% withinone year, and remaining 50%

at delivery on its projects inGhaziabad andGreaterNoidaWest. It is also offering giftslike laptop,washingmachine,microwaveandrefrigerator.MahagunGroup is offering

multitude discounts like 25gram gold, pay 25% now and

rest later,waiverof25months’maintenance fee, 25% off onstampdutyandcompensationof25%incaseofdelayinproject.Offers are valid on projects inNoida,GrNoidaandGhaziabad.Analysts said developers

aregivingoffers to lowerover-

allcostby10-15%.“Theyoffer5-8%discount as soon as youcome, thenmany offer to payregistration charges, waivemaintenance costs, coverEMIs, etc,” a senior executivewithadevelopersaid.Anarock Property Consul-

tants chairman,Anuj Puri saidassuminga1,000sqftpropertyin Bengaluru costs `80 lakh,including basic cost, parking,stamp duty and registrationcharges,plus an additional `5lakhforwoodwork,theeffectivetotal cost is `85 lakh.Buildersareofferingadiscountof`100persq ftonbasic cost (`1 lakh),waives carparking charges (`2lakh),waivesstampduty&reg-istrationcharges(around7%inKarnataka)andnoEMItillpos-session (hypothetically threeyears), and modular kitchen(about`2lakh).Here the buyer gets an

instantdiscountof`5 lakhonbasic cost, car park andkitchen.The benefit ofwaivedstampdutyandregistration isaround `5.6 lakh. Cumula-tively, the buyer’s cost is

reduced by around 10.6 lakhonapropertycosting`85lakh,roughlya12.35%discount.Consultancies and listing

sites, too,are coming outwithattractive offers.For instance,Housing.com launched the‘mega home utsav’, runningfromOctober7-November14.Itexpectstoreachover25millionbuyersthroughtheevent,whichwould see participation fromover100builders.Theportalhasalso collaborated with over1,000 channel partners alongwithbankingpartners.BullmenRealtyIndia intro-

duced Bullmen Shield, underwhichdevelopersareregisteringtheirproperties,whichwillthenbeverified.It is assuringbuyersdouble their stuck amount incaseofnon-deliverybydevelop-erslistedwithitsprogramme.

RISHI RAJNewDelhi, October 31

AMOVE IS afoot in the govern-menttonudgetheover-the-top(OTT) players like Netflix andPrimetobringaboutaself-reg-ulation code to checkviolence,pornography, explicit sexualscenes, etc, being depicted inwebseriesorevenfilmsthatgetreleasedonthismedium.Thisisbeingseenasessential

inrecenttimes,withseveralweb

series released, and since thelockdowneven films,on theseplatforms.There'sagreyareaasfar asOTTs are concerned andthere's no act in the statutewhereby the government lays

down either a programmingcode,asinthecaseofTV,orhasabody like the Censor Board toaccordpriorapprovaltomovies.For instance, films that get

released in theatres need to

have a certification from theCentral Board of Film Certifi-cation under the Cinemato-graphAct,1952.Similarly,TVcontent are governed underthe Cable Television Network(Regulation) Act,1995,whichlays down a programmingcodebywayofdosanddon’ts.These acts come under the

purviewoftheinformationandbroadcasting ministry. How-ever, when it comes to OTTsthere's no law that lays downanykindofprogrammingcodefor them. Interestingly, evenfilmsthatget releasedonOTTsdo not need a certification byCBFC. Just to give an example,movies likeShakuntalaDeviorGunjan Saxena Kargil Girl,which got released on OTTswhen theatreswere closed,didnotrequireaCBFCcertification.

ContinuedonPage11

Q2 PERFORMANCE

50-YEAR LEASE

AUTO SALES

WEBMONITOR

FE BUREAUMumbai, October 31

PRIVATE-SECTOR LENDERICICI Bank on Saturdayreporteda549%year-on-year(y-o-y) jumpinstandalonenetprofit to `4,251 crore in theSeptemberquarterofFY21onthebackofa16%y-o-yrise innet interest income (NII). Inthe corresponding quarter ofFY20, the bank had seen itsprofit figure slidebecauseofatax-relatedadjustment.Thebank’sNII—thediffer-

ence between interest earnedandinterestexpended—stoodat `9,366 crore inQ2.The netinterestmargin (NIM)—akeymeasure of profitability —stoodat3.57%,down12basispoints(bps)from3.69%intheprevious quarter. The bank’smanagement attributed theshrinkageinmargintosurplusliquidity and said theywouldrather focus on getting goodcustomersthanspecificallyonmargins.“Itwill be a functionof howthe credit growth pansout.Wearereallynottargeting

a credit growth. If growthcomesand itmeetsourexpec-tations, automatically thecarry that we have on excessliquiditywillcomedown,”theysaid.ICICI’s total advances

increased 6% y-o-y to `6.53lakh crore from `6.13 lakhcrore ayearago.The retail loanportfolio grew13%y-o-y andconstituted65.8%of the totalloanportfolio asonSeptember30, 2020. Total depositsincreased 20%y-o-y to `8.33lakh crore and the bank’saverage current accountsavings account (CASA) ratiostood at 40.3%, down from42.2%ayearago.Termdepositsincreased 26% to `4.68lakhcrore.Provisionsrose19.5%y-o-

y to `2,995 crore. Thisincludes provisions of `497croremadeonaprudentbasison loans aggregating `1,410crore that were not classifiedas non-performing pursuantto aSupremeCourt order.

ContinuedonPage11

ICICI Bank profitup 549%y-o-yon higher income

E-COMMERCE SALES

Get festivewith grocery tooas heavydiscounts on offer

● To regulateoffensive contenton such platforms,forwhich noprovisioncurrently exists

DEVIKASINGHNewDelhi, October 31

E-COMMERCE FESTIVE salesare no longer limited to theusual categories like fashionand smartphones this year;with online grocers, too,holding several sales eventsfor daily essentials, all eyesare on whether the segmentcan finally clock insignificant numbers.BigBasket is offering a

minimum of 33% off in over2,000 products on its plat-form, while Grofers has dis-counts up to 82% on groceryandstaples,andupto67%on

household items. Amazonoffered as much as 70% dis-counts on groceries as itkicked off its annual festivesales event last month. Thescaleofthesesaleseventsissettoaccelerate in theweek lead-ingup toDiwali.As per Forrester Research,

grocerywillhavea5-6%sharein this year’s overall festiveperiodsales,estimatedtobeat$6.5 billion. Last year, as pertheresearchfirm,thecategoryhad contributed only 2-2.5%of the overall $4.8 billion infestive sales.

ContinuedonPage11

Mangaluruairport handedtoAdani groupTHEAIRPORTSAUTHORITY ofIndia (AAI) onFridaymidnighthandedovertheMangaluruair-porttotheAdanigrouponleaseforaperiodof50years,accord-ingtoanofficial statement.ThecentralgovernmentinFebruary2019hadprivatisedsixairports—Lucknow,Ahmedabad,Jaipur,Mangaluru,Thiruvananthapu-ram and Guwahati. “In accor-dance toconcessionagreementexecutedonFebruary14,2020,AAI handed over handling ofMangaluru@aaimlrairport to@AdaniOnline on lease for50yrs. Exchange of symbolic keyheld atmidnight 00:00hrs onOctober30,2020,”theAAI saidonTwitteronSaturday. —PTI

●Flexible payment,maintenancewaivers, penalty for late possessionmaking homes cheaper

VIKRAM CHAUDHARYNewDelhi, October 31

WHILESALESOFpassengervehi-clesseemtohaverevivedduringAugust and September on theback of pent-up demand as aresultofthelockdown,thesamelevelof revival isnot seen inthe

saleof two-wheelers.Accordingtodealers,during thenine-dayNavaratri festival PVsaleswerebrisk,but sale of two-wheelerswere tepid and the industry isestimating thatonay-o-ybasis

thefallisindouble-digit.Analysts tracking the auto

sector feel this trend could bebecausethetwo-wheelersectorhas not seen launches of newmodelsorvariants,whichgen-

erallyspursconsumerinterest.A section of consumers mayhavegraduated to smallercarslikeMaruti Suzuki'sAlto, salesofwhich havewitnessed goodgrowth.This sectionmay alsohavemovedtobuyusedcars.Asper theSocietyof Indian

Automobile Manufacturers(Siam)data,duringJuly-Septem-berwhilePVsalesgrew17.02%(7,26,232 units over6,20,620units inQ2FY20),thoseof two-wheelersremainedalmostflatat0.17% (46,90,565 units over46,82,571units),despitepent-updemandinboththesegmentsbeingmoreorlesssimilar.

ContinuedonPage11

●A section oftwo-wheelerbuyers may haveshifted toentry-level cars

Growth in sales

-38.56

-49.59 -15.24

-3.86

314.16 11.64

26.45

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40(%, y-o-y) Two-wheelers

June 2020 July 2020Source: SIAM

Aug 2020 Sept 2020

Passenger vehicle

E-grocery market in India

In 2020 Share in overalle-commerce market

Average order value

$3 bn5-6%

`1,400-1,600

(estimated)

Others

Amazon Grofers

BigBasket

Marketshare(%)

35

2015

30

Reason to celebrate:With gifts galore, it’s home sweet home for buyers

Passengervehicles outrace two-wheelers

BUILDING HOPE■Developers aregiving offers to loweroverall cost by10-15%

■Migsun Group offersan assured 1% penaltyeverymonth in caseof delay in possession

■Gaur Group offersinclude 10% down

paymentwithin 30days, 40%within oneyear, and remaining50% at delivery on itsprojects in GhaziabadandGreater NoidaWest

■MahagunGroup isoffering discounts like25 gramgold, pay25% now and rest

later,waiver of 25months’ maintenancefee, 25% off on stampduty andcompensation of25% in case of delayin project

■ In Bengaluru,builders are offering adiscount of `100 persq ft on basic cost

PRIME MINISTER NARENDRAModionSaturdaysaidthetruthof last year's Pulwama terrorattack,inwhich40CRPFperson-nelwerekilled,hasbeenacceptedinPakistanparliament.Hisstate-mentcomestwodaysafterPak-istan's science and technologyminister Fawad Chaudhry

admittedhiscountry'sroleinthePulwama attack. Speaking inKevadiyaon thebirthanniver-sary of Sardar Patel,Modi saidwhen the entire nation wasmourning the brave soldiers'death inPulwamaattack,somepeopleindulgedin“dirtypolitics”fortheirpoliticalgains. —PTI

Pulwamaaccepted inPak: PM

REPORTCARD(` crore) Q2FY20 Q2FY21 Change (%)

Total income 22,760 23,651 3.9Net interest income 8,057 9,366 16.2Other income 4,194 4,028 -4.0Net interestmargin (%) 3.64 3.57 7bpsProvisions 2,507.0 2,995 19.5Netprofit 655.0 4,251 549.0GrossNPA(%) 6.37 5.17 120bpsNetNPA(%) 1.6 1 60bps

Source: BSE

■ There's no law thatlays down any kind ofprogramming codefor OTTplayers

■ Even films that getreleased onOTTsdo not need acertification by CBFC

■ The existing ITacts haveprovisions for takingaction against an OTTplayer for showingsexually explicit contentor pornography

■ There's some talk thatthe content part ofOTTsmay be transferred to I&Bministry fromMeity

GREYSCREEN

Govt mulling proposalfor OTT self-censorship

PMModi at StatueofUnity in KevadiyaonSaturday ANI

Pune

THE CONSTITUTIONOF India has a Pre-amble.Notmanypeople read thePream-ble or understand its significance.Eventhose familiarwith select provisions like'FundamentalRights','Article32'or'Emer-gency'maynotbefamiliarwiththewordsofthePreamble.On theday itwas adoptedbytheCon-

stituentAssembly,thePreambledeclaredthat "We, the People of India, havingsolemnlyresolvedtoconstituteIndiaintoa SovereignDemocratic Republic". (Thewords,'Socialist'and'Secular'were addedin January 1977 to further define ournation.) The Preamblewent furtheranddeclared thatwe resolved to"secure to allitscitizens:

�JUSTICE.....� LIBERTY......� EQUALITY.....andtopromoteamongthemall

� FRATERNITY....."Itisthesewordsthatdefinewhoweare

as a nation andwhat will be the IndianRepublic—aliberaldemocracy.

Thesewordsare foreverThesewords echo thebattle cryof the

FrenchRevolution(1789): 'Liberte,egalite,fraternite,oulamort'(Liberty,equality,fra-ternity,or death'). President EmmanuelMacron is beingpilloried bysome coun-triesforremindingthepeopleofFrance—andallthosewhowishtolivewithinitsbor-ders— that these are thewords thatwilldefine,forever,theFrenchRepublicandtheFrenchpeople.Afterateacher,SamuelPaty,was killed by an Islamist terrorist, MrMacronsaid"Weacceptalldifferencesinaspirit of peace.Wewill neveraccept hatespeechandwedefend reasonabledebate.Wewillcontinue.Weholdourselvesalwaysonthesideofhumandignityanduniversalvalues."Manycountrieshaveadoptedthethree

words,in one formorother, in theirCon-stitutions.Theyclaimtobeliberaldemoc-racies,asIndiadoes.Increasingly,however,such claims soundhollowinmanycoun-tries,India included. Manycountries faileven the first test of 'democracy', not tospeak of the next test of whether thatdemocracyis'liberal'.

Falling into shadowArecent issue ofTimemagazine fea-

tured'The100Most InfluentialPeople'oftheworld.I counted6headsof state/gov-ernment:MrNarendraModi,MrXi Jin-ping,MsAngelaMerkel,MrJairBolsonaro(Brazil),MrDonald Trump and MsTsaiIng-Wen (Taiwan). Of the six,no onewillclaim that twoareheadingdemocracies.MrModiandMrTrumpareindeedleadersofelectoraldemocracies,buteventheywillrejectthelabel'liberal'.OnlyMsMerkelandMsTsaiareheadsoftrulyliberaldemocra-cies.If you add someotherheads of largeandpowerfulcountriestothelist,thepic-turewill beworse.InCentralAsia,Africa,Latin America and our own neighbour-hood,wehavemanyexamplesofautocra-cies and electoral democracies but nottrulyliberaldemocracies.This iswhatTimehad to sayaboutMr

Modi:"....theDalaiLamahaslauded(India)as an'example of harmonyand stability.'NarendraModi has brought all that intodoubt.....hisPartyrejectednotonlyelitismbut also pluralism......The crucible of thepandemic becameapretense for stiflingdissent. And the world's most vibrantdemocracyfelldeeperintoshadow."Other countries too are fighting the

slideintoshadow.AfterthedeathofJusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg, President Trump

wasted no time in naming Judge AmyConeyBarrett to the US Supreme Courtand pushed through the nominationprocessinanunprecedentedshorttimeof30 days. Liberal America, especiallywomen,apprehendthatmajorliberalgainssuchas school integration,Right toAbor-tion,AffordableCareActandnon-discrim-inatory immigration rules may bereversed.

Whoarewe?Democracy is not equal to a liberal

country. Ademocracycanturn illiberal ina short spanof time,as it is happening inIndia.Citizenshipofmillions is thrownindoubt,freespeechiscurtailed,themediaistamed, protests are banned or severelyrestricted,politicaldefectionsareencour-aged,the State patronizes one religionorone language,majoritarianism is passed

offasculture,minorityanddiscriminatedcommunities live in fear,the police obeytheirpoliticalmastersandnotthelaw,themilitaryspeaksonpolitical issues,taxandlawenforcementagenciesbecomeinstru-mentsofoppression,courtsareweak,insti-tutionsarecapturedordebilitated,andtheruleoflawbreaksdown.Thesadpartisfew'see'whatishappening.Andofthefewwho'see',manyarecontenttoremainsilent.When laws are passed in Parliament

without avote;whenpolitical leaders aredetained without a charge for severalmonths; when charges of sedition areslappedagainstwriters,poets,professors,studentsandsocialactivists;whennooneispronouncedguiltyinacasewhereacen-turies-oldmosqueisdemolishedinbroaddaylight;whenanFIRisnotregisteredandnooneisarrestedfordaysdespitethedyingdeclaration of a girl whowas raped and

brutally assaulted; when the word'encounter'enters thepolice'svocabulary;when titular governors obstruct electedgovernments; andwhen crucial institu-tions are left headless or with multiplevacancies,thecountryfallsonestep'deeperintoshadow'.InNovember2019,agunmankilled51

persons and injured dozens at twomosques in Christchurch,NewZealand.PrimeMinisterJacindaArdernsaid,"Theyare us.The personwho perpetrated thisviolenceagainstusisnot."MrMacronandMsArdernareamong

thefewleaderswhospeakinthevoicethatwewant to hear.Even aswewitness theslowdeathof liberal democracy,wemustaskourselves'whoarewe?'

Website:pchidambaram.inTwitter@Pchidambaram_IN

OpinionSUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

FE SUNDAY2 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

ACROSSTHEAISLEPChidambaram

Slowdeath ofliberal democracy

Protesters hold a banner depicting French President Emmanuel Macron during a protest against Macron's commentsconsidered insultingMuslims, inYogyakarta, Indonesia REUTERS

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Chairman of the Board:ViveckGoenka,Managing Editor: Sunil Jain, Resident Editor: Malini Bhupta* (*Responsible for selection ofnews under PRBAct). ©Copyright:The Indian Express Private Limited.All rights reserved. Reproduction in anymanner, electronic or otherwise, inwhole or in part,without priorwritten permission is prohibited. The Financial Express®

THERE COULD NOT have been aworsemoment forMehboobaMuftito insult the Indian flag.As a formerchief minister who swore by theIndianConstitution,sheshouldneverhave said that the Indian flagwouldonlybe'allowed'inKashmirafter'ourflag' is given back.But,to say this intheweek that one of Imran Khan'sministersadmittedinPakistan'spar-liament that thePulwamamassacrecountedasoneofhisprimeminister's'successes' made it sound muchworse.If therehasbeengeneral sup-portacrossIndiafortheabrogationofArticle 370 it is because in the pastthreedecades,wehaveseentheKash-mirValleybecomeanarena forPak-istaniterrorismandradicalIslam.Inthesethreedecadestheformer

state of Jammu&Kashmirhas beengovernedbytwofamilies.TheAbdul-lahs and the Muftis. BeforeMehbooba made her shamefulremark,FarooqAbdullah said some-thingasoffensive.HesaidthatKash-mirwasreadytothrowits lot inwithChinaifthatcountrycouldguaranteetherestorationofArticle370.HasheheardoftheUyghurpeople?Doesheknowthat Islam is being treated inthat country as an evil ideology?Nothing thathashappened in theseHindutvatimescompareswithwhatChinahasdonetoitsMuslims.Remarks of this kindbytwo for-

merchiefministersconfirmthatArti-cle370hadtogo.It servedmostlytomislead far toomanyKashmiris tothink of themselves as not reallyIndian.When IheardMehbooba saywhatshedid itbroughtbackmemo-ries of long agoholidays inKashmirwhenwewouldgetoffendedbyordi-naryKashmirisaskingifwehad'comefrom India'.Politicianswhoportraythemselves as 'pro-Indian'maynothave actively encouraged people tothink thiswaybut theydid too littletostopthem.And,theydidmuchtoolittle to stop radical Islamic ideasfromspreadingacrosstheValley.When the 'azaadi' movement

beganat the endof the eighties andyoungKashmiriswentacrossthebor-dertobetrainedinterrorismwhywasso little done to stop them fromreturning?WhenviolentyoungmenwanderedaboutSrinagarforcingtheclosureof cinemas,liquorshopsandbars why were they not arrested?Twice such thingshappenedbeforemy eyes. Once when I saw radicalIslamistyouthsmarch into a liquorshopandstartsmashingbottleswhilethe owner of the shop cowered insilence.The second timewas in theBroadwayHotelwherewhile lunch-ing in the restaurant I saw twobeardedmenwalk into the bar andorderitclosed.Whywerethesethingsallowed tohappen?Whydidnobodydo anythingwhen young girls hadacidthrownatthemiftheycameoutinpublicwithoutahijab?

Whydid these leaderswhonowtalksoaggressivelyagainstIndianotshowasmuchaggressioninwarningordinary Kashmiris that there wasnevergoingtobe'azaadi'? Thetruthisthat there neverwas any chance of'azaadi'andthereismuchlesschancetodaythaneverbecauseofanincreas-ing revulsion against the kind ofIslam that teaches young men tobeheadpeople in thenameofAllah.So, if therewas once sympathyout-side India forKashmir'smovementfor'azaadi'ithasdied.Mypersonalviewisthattheafter-

mathoftheabrogationofArticle370has been badlyhandled. Instead ofmonthsofcurfewandInternetdenialthere should have been a seriouseffort at the highest levels of theIndian government to reach out toKashmiris and convince them thattheystood to benefit fromwhathashappened.NarendraModi'sKashmirpolicywill be countedasamiserablefailureifhedoesnotbringpeaceandnormalcy to the Valley so if thedemands of leaders like Farooq andMehboobaarereasonabletheywillbemet.Instead of demanding the

restorationofArticle370theyshoulddemand that statehoodbe restoredimmediately. It was a mistake todemotetheformerstateofJammu&Kashmirintoaunionterritoryinthefirst place, because now the HomeMinistry in Delhi has to take fullresponsibility for the terrorist vio-lence that seems togetworse bytheday.Fromall accounts theValleyhasbeen turned into a police statewithsoldiers andpolicemenat everycor-ner so why does the violence con-tinue? Last week three young BJPworkerswerekilledbyjihadistgroupsthatcontinuetoremainshadowyandhighlydangerous.Whydo theycon-tinuetooperate?At a political level, failures are as

glaring in Srinagar as they are inDelhi.Kashmiripoliticianshavecometogether in a Gupkar Declarationgrouping so they can demand therestorationofKashmir's special sta-tus.Cantheynotseethatthisisaroadthatwillleadnowhere?Allthatwillbeachieved is that ordinaryKashmiriswillbemisledoncemoreintobeliev-ing in that dreamof independencethatwasalwaysjustadream.Ifthesepolitical leaders care aboutKashmirthen they should be making morerealisticdemands.They should concentrate their

energies ondemandingwhat theycanget insteadofwasting timeontrying to restore Article 370.India cannot afford to allow anIslamist state within her bordersand this is what Kashmir hadbecome.Wrongly or rightly mostIndians believe this happenedbecause of the shelter that Article370 provided.

FIFTHCOLUMNTAVLEENSINGH

Arealitycheck inKashmir

BAD NEWS IS relative: cancellations ofevents,andnewsofmore players testingpositive for the Coronavirus no longermakes news. In that vein, readers aren'tlikelytostopandthinkaboutthefactthatTheHeroWorldChallenge—anunofficial18-player event hosted byTigerWoods-scheduled to be held in the firstweek ofDecember inAlbany,Bahamas,has beencalledoff.Or for thatmatter,the fact thatAdamScottisthelatestplayertohavecon-tractedthisdastardlyvirus.Yourcolumnist,forone,wasmoredis-

tressedseeingthesuddendropinthequal-ityof playbyoneof themostdependableandconsistentplayersinthehistoryofthegame-PhilMickelson.Leading up to his50thbirthday,Mickelsonhadbeengoingthrough one of theworst patches of hiscareer. That changed when the veteranqualified for the Champions Tour andquicklyproceeded towin both events heteed it up at.It's been really fun forme to

playandcompeteon (PGATOURChampi-ons),a lotmoresothanI thought itwouldbe.I'm surprisedhowmuch fun I'mhav-ing,howmuch fun it is to see someof thesameguysthatI'veseenforsomanyyearsandhaven'thadachance tobewith themforanumberofyearsnow.I seemtoget alittle bit of confidence and I'mhoping tobringthatoverintothisevent…"saidMick-elson on the eve of the ZOZO Champi-onship. Justwhat is it about theChampi-ons Tour that seems to mellow playersdown?Mickelsonevenpaidpaidtributetononeotherthanarch-nemesis,Woods forgettinghimtouphis fitnessgame."Look-ingback,IwishIhadbeenalittlebitmorecommitted fitness?wise in the height ofmycareer... (but)Tigerpushedmeto starttrainingalittlebitmore,whichhashelpedme elongate my career." UnfortunatelyMickelson,couldn't reprise hiswinningformat the event—bothhe andplayingpartner,Woods,finishedwaydown in thefield.TheZOZOChampionshipwaswonbya resurgentPatrickCantlaywho returnedfroman injury-relatedhiatus to the tour.Cantlay,who lookedcertain to set recordswhenhe turnedpro in2017,hasnothadthesupportheneededfromhisback.Thistimethough,itheldup,andtheyoungsterpulled off a string of fourbirdies on five

holesonthefinalstretchtowipeoutafour-shotdeficitandwinbyoneoverJonRahmandJustinThomas.ThiswasCantlay'sthirdPGATourwin.Anotherplayerwho's returned to the

mixrecentlyisourveryownAnirbanLahiri.Back in the gameat thisweek's BermudaChampionship aftera three-weekhiatus,Lahiri sounded positive."I played somegood golf at this venue last year with

rounds of 66and73beforewithdrawingin the third round. It's a prettynice golfcourse.It's unique.Obviously the biggestchallengehere is thewindand I considermyselftobeaprettygoodwindplayer.I'vehad a lot of good results atwindyvenuesandthegrassesaretropical,soit'salotlikewhatI'musedtoplaying…"Lahiriwhohadadisastrouslastseason

felt that he's back onhis game."I feel I'mdefinitely close to playingmy best golf.How close, I don't know. Might be thisweek,mightbe twoweeks fromnow."Theflip side of the lockdown has been theextended sessions Lahiri hasmanaged tohavewithcoachVijayDivecha."Obviouslyspending extended timewithmycoachback in Indiamadeahugedifferenceandthat'sbeginningtoshow.Itrustmygamealotmore,I'mhittingmyironsa lot better,which has basically always been mystrength but not so much so in the lastcoupleofyears."Lahiri had one of themost dramatic

lockdown stories: in India to play theIndian Open earlier this year, the Ben-galuru lad got estranged fromhis clubs(thatwere deposited at the academyhepractices at) and and didn't hit a ball forovertwomonths."It'sprobablythelongestI'vebeenawayfrommyclubsfor20years,maybemore. I think that also gives yousomeperspective.It builds thehunger tocomebackandmotivatesyou,somethingthatcansufferwhenyouhaveanextendedperiodofbadgolflikeIdid,sothatwasthe

bigtake-awayforme,"saidtheseven-timeinternationalwinner.

In the shadow of the unimpededmarch of the coronavirus, the showrollson,albeit sans spectators,and oftenwithless than full-strength fields. It's been aprettylife-changingexperienceformost,butforSophiaPopov,the28-year-oldwin-neroftheWomen'sBritishOpen,it'sbeena dramatic transformation.At the end of2019, Popov, was competing on theCactusTour,anArizona-based circuit forfledglingwomen's golf pros.She enteredtheOpen ranked304th in theworld andstareddownthebestplayers in theworldtowin.Today she's in theworld'sTop25,and has a two-year exemption on theLPGA."It'sbeencrazy,alittlebitofawhirl-wind,"Popovsaid."WinningtheOpenwassurprisingnot justtoeveryoneelsebuttome,too. I've been trying to let it soak in,whileatthesametimehavealotmoreonmyplate. It's changedmy life in a reallygreat way." Popov's $675,000 winner'scheque fortheOpendidn't evencountasofficial earnings because shewasn't anLPGA member. She says it felt reallystrangewhen themoneywas depositedintoheraccount."Itcamelaterintheweekandyoulookatitandgo,'Man,it feels likesomething illegal is happening onyouraccount.'" Now that's a heartwarmingstoryif thereeverwasone.Godknowsweneedmoreofthose.

Agolfer,MerajShahalsowritesaboutthegame

Turning the corner

Sophia Popov

Despite cancellations and empty galleries,pro golf is staging a recovery in the pandemic

OVERTHETOPMeraj Shah

Pune

NEWS 3FE SUNDAYWWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Raj introduces 3 bills to negate impact of farm lawsPRESSTRUSTOF INDIAJaipur, October 31

THE RAJASTHAN GOVERN-MENT on Saturday introducedthree bills in the assemblyto negate the impact of thefarm laws enacted by the Cen-tre recently. The move comesafter the Punjab assemblyear-lier thismonthadopteda reso-lution against the farm lawsand unanimouslypassed fourbills to counter the Centre’scontentious legislations.Rajasthan’s parliamentary

affairsminister Shanti Dhari-

wal introduced the EssentialCommodities (Special Provi-sions and Rajasthan Amend-ment) Bill 2020, the Farmers(Empowerment and Protec-tion)AgreementonPriceAssur-ance and Farm Services (Ra-jasthanAmendment)Bill2020andtheFarmersProduceTradeandCommerce(PromotionandFacilitation and RajasthanAmendment)Bill2020.He also introduced the

Code of Procedure (RajasthanAmendment) Bill 2020on thefirst day of theAssembly ses-sion.Anumberofprovisionsto

protect the interests of farm-ers, including sale orpurchaseofacropunderfarmingagree-ment on a price equal or

greater than minimum sup-port price and imprisonmentof three to seven years for ha-rassment of farmers, havebeen included in thebills.The Congress leadership

has suggested that stateswhereit is inpowershouldpasslawsoftheirowntocounterthecentral legislations that hadtriggered farmers’protests inseveral parts of the country. Inthe Farmers (Empowermentand Protection)Agreement onPriceAssurance and FarmSer-vices (RajasthanAmendment)Bill, a provision states, “Pro-

vided further that no FarmingAgreement for the sale orpur-chase of a crop shall be validunless the price paid for suchagricultural produce is equalto,or greater than,the prevail-ingminimum support prices,announcedbythe central gov-ernment forthat crop.”Apart from a few other

amendments, three new sec-tions have been added as spe-cial provisions for Rajasthan,providing for punishment forharassment of farmers andpowers to the state govern-ment togivedirections.

ADITYAKALRANewDelhi, October 31

AMAZON.COM INC has com-plainedtoIndia’smarketregu-lator that its local partner Fu-tureRetailmisledshareholdersby incorrectly saying it wascomplyingwithitscontractualobligations to the US e-com-merce giant, a letter seen byReuters shows.Amazon is locked inabitter

legal dispute with FutureGroup,which inAugustsold itsretail assets to Mukesh Amb-ani-ledReliance Industries for$3.4 billion.The deal,Amazonalleges,breaches 2019 agree-mentsbyFuture.ThetusslehasstrainedAmazon’s ties not justwithFutureRetail—oneof In-dia’s top retailers — but alsowith Ambani, Asia’s richestman, and his Reliance group,which is fast expanding its e-commercebusinessandthreat-eningcompanies likeAmazon.AmazonlastSundaywonan

injunctiontohaltFuture’sdealwithReliancefromaSingaporearbitrator both sides hadagreed to use in case of dis-putes.The Indian retailer thensaid in a news release it hadcompliedwith all agreementsand “cannot be held back” bythearbitrationproceedings.In

thelettertotheSecurities&Ex-change Board of India (Sebi)chairmanAjayTyagi onWed-nesday,Amazon said Future’snews release and stock exch-ange disclosures violated In-dian regulations, urging theregulator to investigate thematter and not approve thedeal. “Such a disclosure isagainst public interest, mis-leads public shareholders ... aswell as perpetuates a fraud forthe benefit of the Biyanisalone,”Amazon letter said, re-ferring to Future’s promoterfamily ledbyKishoreBiyani.A spokesman for Future

Group and the Biyani familydeclinedtocomment.AFuturegroupsourcedeniedAmazon’sallegations,sayingtherewasnoquestion of any fraud ormis-leading the public or share-holders,without elaborating.Amazondeclined to commenton its letter, the contents ofwhich have not previouslybeenreported.

Amazon tells SebiFuture Retail ismisleading public

Amazon is locked in abitter legal disputewithFuture Group,which inAugust sold its retailassets to Reliance

Industries for $3.4 billion

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIANewDelhi, October 31

COOPERATIVE NAFEDON Sat-urdayinvitedbidsfromimport-ers for supplyof 15,000 tonneof red onions byNovember20in order to boost the domesticavailabilityandcheckpricerise.

The cooperative has askedbidders to supply40 to60mmsize of red onions from anycountryof origin at `50perkgbyNovember 20.The biddingwillcloseonNovember4andre-ceived bids will be opened on

the next day, it said.The ship-ments are to be delivered atJawaharlal Nehru Port andKandlaports,itadded.“Wehavefloatedtendersfor

supply of 15,000 tonne of

imported red onions.Thiswillhelpincreasethedomesticsup-plysituation,”NafedadditionalMDSKSinghtoldPTI.The bids will be evaluated

based onvolumes,qualityandearlydate of shipment.Biddershave to supply fresh,well driedandcuredonions,headded.To ensure betterparticipa-

tion in the tender,Singh said ithad been decided to keep theminimumbidquantitylowerat1,000 tonne (instead of 2,000tonne)whichhastobesuppliedinmultiple lotsof100tonnes.

Nafed floats bids for supply of 15k tonneimported red onions byNovember 20

Pune

SPITERUNSDEEP.Wefind it inouroldeststories.It is there inthemyths ofAncient Greece.Medea kills her children, justto spite her unfaithful hus-band, Jason.Achilles refuses to help hisGreek comrades fight because one ofthemhasstolenhisslave.Folkloretellsofspite.Amagical being offers to grant amanonewish.Naturally,there isacatch.Whatever he gets, his hated neighbourwill get double. The man wishes to beblind in one eye. Such stories, althoughburied in time,still speakofan instantlyrecognisablebehaviour.Today,weknowthatspitecanbepetty.

Adriver lingers in aparking space, just tomake you wait. A neighbour puts up afence, solely to block yourview.Wemayalso realisehowdamaging spite canbe.Aspouseseekscustodyofachild,justtogetback at theirex.Avoter supports a candi-datetheyhopewillcausechaos.Butarewepreparedtorecognisethatspitemayhaveapositiveside?Whatexactlyis spite?Accordingtothe

American psychologist DavidMarcus,aspitefulactisonewhereyouharmanotherperson andharmyourself in theprocess.This is a 'strong' definition of spite. Inweaker definitions, spite is harminganotherwhile only riskingharmtoyour-self.It canalso beharminganotherwhilenotpersonallybenefitingfromthis.Yet,asMarcus points out,a strongdefinition ofspite, inwhichharminganotherentails apersonal cost,helps differentiate it fromotherhostileorsadisticbehaviours.Indeed, a helpful way to understand

spiteistolookatwhatitisn't.Whenwecon-siderthecostsandbenefitsofouractions,there are fourbasicwayswe can interactwith another person. Two behavioursinvolvedirect perks forus.Wecanact in awaythat benefits both ourselves and theother(co-operation)orinawaythatbene-fits ourselves but not the other (selfish-ness).Athird behaviour involves a cost tous,butabenefit to theother.This is altru-ism.Researchershavededicated lifetimesto the studyof co-operation,selfishnessand altruism. But there is also a fourthbehaviour,spite.Herewebehave in awaythat harmsbothourselves and theother.This behaviourhas been left in the shad-ows.This isnota safeplace for it tobe.Weneedtoshinealightonspite.Spiteischallengingtoexplain.Itseems

to present an evolutionary puzzle.Whywouldnatural selectionnothaveweededoutabehaviourinwhicheverybodyloses?Spite shouldneverhave survived.If yourspitebenefitsyouinthelongterm,thenitscontinued existence becomes compre-

hensible.Butwhataboutspitefulactsthatdon'tgiveyoulong-termbenefits?Howcanweexplainthose?Dosuchactsevenexist?Spite alsoposes aproblemforecono-

mists.What kind of person acts againsttheir self-interest? For the longest time,economistsdidn'tthinktherewasaprob-lem to explain.The famous eighteenth-centuryeconomistAdamSmithclaimedpeoplewere 'not very frequently underthe influence'of spite and that even if itdidoccurwewouldbe'restrainedbypru-dentialconsiderations'.Muchlater,inthe1970s,theAmericaneconomistGordonTullockclaimedthattheaveragehumanwasaboutninety-fivepercent selfish.Inthe'greedisgood'eraofthe1980s,manymayhave felt this estimate to be on thelowside.Economistsviewedhumansasacrea-

ture called homo economicus.Thiswas abeingthatactedrationallytomaximiseitsself-interest.Self-interestwas typically,

thoughnot always,understood in finan-cial terms.Yet,as Iwill discuss in chapter1,back in 1977 a groundbreaking studyfound peoplewere often quite happy toturn down freemoney.AdamSmith hadbeenover-optimistic.Somethingveryrealand very powerful lurked in Tullock'sresidualpercentage.Spite involves harm,butwhat consti-

tutesharm?Whogetstodecidewhetheranact is harmful and therebyhas thepowerto define an act as spiteful? To take anextremeexample,does a suicidebomber,who thinks that theywill be rewarded inthe next life and their families compen-sated in this life,harmthemselvesornot?Evolutionarybiologists possess anobjec-tivemeasure of harm.This is a loss of fit-ness(reproductivesuccess).Wewilllookatspitefulactsinvolvingalossofpersonalfit-ness,so-called'evolutionaryspite',inchap-ter4.Incontrast,economistsandpsychol-ogiststendtofocusonharmintheformof

immediate personal costs.This 'psycho-logical spite'can turnout tohaveunfore-seen long-term personal benefits. Suchspiteageswell,maturingintoselfishness.Oncewearehappywithwhat spite is,

twoquestionsremain.First,whatisdrivingsomeonetoactspitefullyinthemoment?That is,howdoesspitework?This iscalledspite's proximate explanation. Second,what is thedeeperreasonweare spiteful?Why does spite exist?What is its evolu-tionary function? This is the ultimateexplanation of spite.To take an examplefromanotherarea—whydobabiescry?Theproximate explanation may be cold orhunger,buttheultimateexplanationistoget care from theirparents.What are theequivalentanswersforspite?Oncewehaveanultimateexplanation

ofspite,wecanbegintoconsiderthepress-ingquestionofhowspiteshapesthemod-ernworld.Aloveofsugarandfathelpedourancestors, pushing them to eat high-energy foods. Yet in the Western worldtoday,wherecheapsugaryandfattyfoodsare ubiquitous,whatwas once adaptivenow causes diabetes and heart disease.Whathappenswhenourevolved spitefulside runs into aworld itwasnevermeanttodealwith?What are the effects of spiteinaworldwithlevelsofeconomicinequal-ity,perceived injustice and social-media-

enabled communication that would beutterlyalientoourancestors?Thisproblemispressingbecausespite

seemsmore thandangerous.Fromsomeangles it even looks like human kryp-tonite. Spite is, by definition, the exactoppositeofco-operation.Thisisworryingbecauseco-operationisourspecies'super-power.Our success as a species has comefrom our remarkable ability to worktogether.Althoughevenslimemouldsco-operate,weturnituptoeleven.Thisallowsus to live in large groupswith non-rela-tives,somethingthatourlessco-operativeprimate cousins cannotdo.This keepsussafe from a Planet of the Apes-styletakeover for the timebeing,yet there aremanyotherthingstoworryaboutshortofprimate overlords. If spite damages co-operation, it could not only hamperhumanprogress; it could also reduceourability to solve the complex global prob-lemsthatweface.Theworldisgettingbet-ter,butprogress isnotguaranteed.Spite can also be terrifying. Is there

anythingmorefrighteningthananadver-saryunfetteredbythebondsofself-inter-est? Selfishness can be a problem.But atleastwecanreasonwithaselfishperson'sself-interest.Whatdoyousaytoaspitefulpersonwhovalues your sufferingmorethantheirownwell-being?Theyare likeaTerminator.Theycan'tbebargainedwith,can'tbereasonedwith,andabsolutelywillnot stop,ever,until you are, if not dead,then at least inconvenienced.Unfortu-nately, such creatures are not limited tosciencefiction.

Pages1-5ExcerptedwithpermissionfromOneworld

Publications,UK,fromthebookSpitebySimonMcCarthy-Jones

WordsWorthSUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

FESUNDAY4 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

FAIZALKHAN

PERUMALMURUGANHAS been ateacherfornearlythreedecades.His literary career, too, hasspanned the same period hespent on campuses as a teacher of theTamil language.Froma junior lecturer toprincipal, the acclaimedTamilwriterhasseen howyoung people have built theirfutures block by block. And, how somehavedestroyedtheirs.Inhisnewnovel,theOnePartWoman

author is well positioned to expose thedisharmonybetween theaspirationsof astudentandtheparents.Estuary,theEng-lishtranslationofMurugan's2018TamilnovelKazhimugam, isa reflectionofcon-temporarysocietywherethestudentsareat the mercy of the establishment.Theauthor dissects the deep distrust in theyoungwithin a system thatviews devel-opmentasanobedienttooloftradition.

Set in fictional Asurapuri, the novelfocuses on a middle class family. Thefather,Kumarasurar,isasupervisoratthestatisticsdepartmentofthegovernment.HiswifeMangasuriisahomemaker.Theirson,Meghasur,isayoungcollegestudent.Theresidents,knownasAsuras,liveasthesubjects of theirKing,but are taken careofbyagovernment.ThenovelbeginsonemidnightwhenKumarasurar receives a

call fromhis son—nicknamedMeghas—whowantsmoney to buy an expensivemobilephone.Meghas' midnight demand sends

Kumarasurar on a roller coaster ride ofemotions, filling him with suspicionsabouthisson's intentions.ThenovelthentravelsafewyearsbacktotheschooldaysofMeghas.Whilethefamilyprepareshimto become a doctor, Meghas has other

plans.He begins to displayan interest inengineering,assembling a computer forthe homeonhis ownand explaining theworkingsofa smartphonetohisparents.We also get a glimpse of the father'sintransigencewhenhe locksuppartsofacomputer sent to his office for mod-ernisingofficerecords.While he scoffs at the use of a com-

puter in his office,Kumarasurar swiftly

agrees to a college using bridles to disci-plineitswards.Thebridles,whichcomeinplastic, brass and iron—even silver andgoldtosuitthedemandsofrichparents—aremeant toguide thestudentsbyfilter-ingnoiseandfocusingeyesight."Wereferto our students as rats.We treat themasonewouldtreatrats,"saysoneoftheteach-ers during a college tour attended byMeghasandhisfather.Kumarasurar is also pleased when

robot Asuras enforce discipline on thecampusatanothercollege.Inyetanother,its proprietor replicates his success as abuffalo farmentrepreneuron anewcol-lege campus,assuring effectivehandlingofcrowds.Meanwhile,Meghassettles foracollegethatdoesn'thaveadresscodeandhas amulticultural campus, to the dis-pleasureofhisparents.The tensions in a family inwhich the

pathsofprogressaredefinedbydifferingvaluesarepalpableinthestoryofMeghas.Theparentsarereadytodiveintothedubi-ous schemes devised bycolleges to reignintheirstudents.Atthecollegewherebri-dlesareusedonstudents,theadministra-tionisproudtoannouncethatthestateisconsideringusing themamong thepub-lic."Protests,disruption of normalcydueto protests... you-name-it. The govern-ment is considering free distribution ofbridles. It should be evident that our col-legehasgreatforesight,"saysaprofessor.The story of Meghas, named by

Kumarasurar's grandfather after theclan's deity Meghasura—the son ofRavana—revisits the mythological warbetween the Asuras and the Gods. "Ademon called the Internet has beenunleashed on Asuralokam," lamentsKumarusar.Thegodshavesenttechnol-ogy this time todefeat theAsuras.

FaizalKhanisafreelancer

UnstrungmelodyLack of faith andmisplaced concerns derail the dreams of a new generation

Spite: And theUpside of YourDark Side

Simon McCarthy-JonesHarperCollinsPp256, `399

EstuaryPerumal Murugan;

translated from the Tamilby Nandini Krishnan

WestlandPp 241, `499

Instancesof spite canbe found in themythsofancientGreece.Achilles (left) refuses tohelp hisGreek comrades fight becauseoneof themhas stolenhis slave

Inspite of spiteCooperation is humanity’s superpower, sowhydoesmalicemake sense? Could ill will yield anybenefits? Excerpts from SimonMcCarthy-Jones’newbook reveal the upside of our dark side

● EXCERPT: SPITE: And the Upside ofYour Dark Side

ONTHESHELF

THENEWMAPDanielYerginPenguinRandomHousePp512, `899

A new type of ColdWar isemerging between China andtheWest. The global order isbeing simultaneously shaken byclimate change and the shalerevolution in oil and gas--andnow by the coronavirus.Controversial frackingtechnology has given Americaleverage as the world's leadingenergy powerhouse, upendingthe chessboard of global politicsand changing the psychology ofglobal economy.

Ruby Ahluwalia was a promultitasker. She was juggling hertime and energies to be a superprofessional, mom, wife anddaughter. Little did she realisethat she was becoming a 'belowaverage her'. Just when sherealised that she was almostlosing the ground beneath herfeet, she had a knock thattoppled her life upside down.This book details her journey thatled her to answers that lay in thepatterns of human behaviour.

JACKMarilynneRobinsonHachettePp320, `799

MORETHANAWOMANCaitlinMoranPenguinRandomHousePp272, `699

FRAGRANCEOFAWILDSOULRubyAhluwaliaNotionPressPp196, `298

CAPTURINGINSTITUTIONALCHANGEHimanshu JhaOxfordUniversity PressPp344, `1,695

Author Himanshu Jha traces thehistorical development of theRight To Information Act (RTIA)and explains how the idea ofopenness progressed in thecountry. Interestingly, the authorhas explained ‘why’ and ‘how’2005 was considered the tippingpoint for the RTIA. The bookexamines the process ofinstitutional change through thelenses of transformation in the‘information regime’ in India bytracing the passage of the RTIA.

A decade ago, Moran thoughtshe had it all figured out. Herbestseller How to be a Womanwas a game-changing take onfeminism, the patriarchy, andthe general ‘hoo-ha’ ofbecoming a woman. Now withageing parents, teenagedaughters and a to-do listwithout end, Moran is backwith More Than a Woman, aguide to growing older and amanifesto for change.

Jack tells the story of JohnAmes Boughton, the loved andgrieved-over prodigal son of aPresbyterian minister in Gilead,Iowa, a drunkard and a ne'er-do-well. In segregated StLouis, some time after WorldWar II, Jack falls in love withDella Miles, an African-American high school teacher,also a preacher's child, with adiscriminating mind, agenerous spirit and anindependent will.

All books available as e-books

THEECONOMICSOFSMALLTHINGSSudipta SarangiPenguinRandomHousePp296, `299

Why are all the good mangoesexported from India?Whyshould we pay our house helpmore? Are more choices reallybetter?Why do we hesitate toreach out for that last piece ofcake in a gathering? Caneconomics answer all thesequestions and more? As perSarangi, the answer is yes. Usinga range of everyday objects andcommon experiences, she offerscrisp, easy-to-understand lessonsin economics.

Pune

VAISHALI DAR

WHEN AIR TRAVEL inIndia effectivelystopped in March,private jet operatorsfeared the worst,believing the pandemicwould decimatetheirbusinesses.Onthecontrary,however,manyhaveheldupsurprisinglywell.Delhi-basedentrepreneurKanikaTekriwal,whoruns JetSetGo Aviation, a private planeaggregator business,has seen a spike inqueriessinceflyingresumed."Now,wegetapproximately 20 queries a day... out ofthese, over 70% are new customers. InMarch, we saw a nine-fold increase indemand just before the lockdown wasannounced,butwere able to fulfill only50%of the requestsmainlybecause theregulations kept changing overnight incountries.Duringthelockdown,whichwasbeingimplementedinvariouspartsoftheworld,wereceived10-12requestsadaytobringpeople stuck invariousparts of theworldbackhome,"saysTekriwal,theCEOandfounderofJetSetGoAviation.Similarly, Santosh K Sharma, co-

founderandCEO,ForeseeAviation,apro-fessionalprivate jet andhelicopteraggre-gator,witnessed 30-40 queries per dayboth in thedomestic,aswell as the inter-nationalsector,andishopefulthisnumberwill eventually rise."Guests flyingprivateforthe first timewouldrealise the impor-tance of safe and customised travel.Speedy,efficient,flexibleaviationcomestotheforeintheseunprecedentedtimes.Theability to fly anywhere at a moment'snotice and get home quickly is provinginvaluable,"says Sharma,who is also thefounderof the soon-to-be-launched appBookMyJetforprivatebooking.Charters give one the option to fly at

one'sconvenience,skiplayoversandreachone's destination directly,saving a lot oftime.Add to it personalisedVIP service,onboard social distancing, hassle-freesecuritycheck and the scenario becomesextremelyappealing."Thevarious touchpoints throughout the journey reduce,making private flying favourable. Forinstance,commercial fliershaveover200touchpoints at the airport,while privatejets have as little as30.Hence,theprefer-ence,"explainsTekriwal.The pandemic has paved theway for

newtrendstoemergeasconsumerbehav-iourshifts,feelsDelhi-basedPritishShah,founderandCEO,ATravelCircle,abespokeluxuryholidays brand."We see two seg-mentsofprivate jet users-themost afflu-ent segmentwhowere always exposed tothis lifestyle,andan interesting segmentof business and first-class travellers...mostly,first-timeusers in the jet charter-ingsegment.Theydonot typicallylooktocharterthewholeaircraft,butratherbuyafewseats ina charter that's operating toaleisure destination... the concept of pool-ingonjetscouldbethenewwaytotravelatleastinthenearfuture,"hesays.Since businesses have come to ahalt,

most business leaders are opting to hireprivate jets to cover backlogs, sharesSharmaofForeseeAviation."Afewchartersareavailableatacomparativelylowerpriceaswell (withpricediscountsof40%),so itmakessensetooptforthese,"headds.

Repatriationhasseenasignificantrisefor Dubai-based Air Charter Interna-tional, an aviation services provider."Tothisdate,therearerestrictionsonentrytovariouscountries,whichhasreducedthenumberofflightsroutinelytaken...that'swhyasignificantriseindemandforcargoandpassengerrepatriationinthelasttwomonths," says StuartWheeler, founderandCEO,AirCharterInternational.The conservative rich are embracing

theideaofprivatecharters,saysMumbai-based SachitWadhwa,co-founder,BookMyCharters,an air charterbookingplat-

form,whichhasseenover70%first-timeflyers preferring to consult charteradvis-ersoverphonebeforetakinganydecision."Chartersarenowdrivenbyutilityandnotluxury.Thiswas alwaysonebiguntappedmarket and can nowbe expected to addsignificantdemand inthe future.Person-alisation is also key,as one canopt foranIndianmeallikedalmakhniinaEuropeannation or watch a Bollywood movie ondemand,"saysWadhwa.InAugust,GVK-ledMumbai Interna-

tionalAirport,whichmanages theChha-trapatiShivajiMaharajInternationalAir-

port(CSMIA),undertookthe'RestartFeed-backSurvey'posttheresumptionofflightoperations to align theneeds and expec-tations of passengers. The survey, con-ducted with 1,386 Indian passengers,revealed that passengers are eagerlyawaiting the return tonormalcyof flightoperations and are looking forward tointernational travel for leisure. It alsofound that passengers are comfortablewithairtravelinthenewnormal,as98.4%ofthem,flyingtoandfromCSMIA,foundtheairporttobesaferthanbusortrainsta-tions.Around99.6%foundairtraveltobethemost reliablemode of transport.Thesurveyalso displays a change in the pur-poseoftravelforpassengers,withbusinesstravelgainingmomentum.

Commercial chartersInSeptember,anewprivate jet termi-

nalwas inauguratedat the IGIAirport byDelhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).Exclusively for chartered flights, the ter-minal isamilestone inthesegment,withthe ability to cater up to 150 private jetmovements on a single day, includingcodeC-typeaircraft.Spreadovereightlakhsquarefeet,ithas57parkingbaysforpri-vateplanes.Thefacilityofferscarparking,passenger lounges, retail and F&B sec-tions,24x7 concierge services,a conve-nient access route towards the city,com-mon processing areawith customs and

immigrationandimmediateaccesstopri-vate jet stands,which canhandle over50passengerseveryhour."India's civil aviation sector is all set to

emerge stronger inapost-Covidworld,asmore routesareopeningandthenumberof passengers is growing.We expect thebulkof pre-Coviddomestic airpassengertraffictobebackbyDiwali.Thenewtermi-nal is theneedof thehour,whichwill sig-nificantly support this growth,"said civilaviationministerHardeepSinghPuri.Airlines likeAir India and IndiGo are

flying to meet the demand under theVandeBharatMission,whichaimstorepa-triateIndiansstrandedabroad.FromJunetillAugust,IndiGooperatedmorethan800charterflightswhilerepatriating1.50lakhpassengers from the Gulf CooperationCouncil,south-eastAsia,Commonwealthof Independent States and SAARC coun-tries.The airline operated internationalflights fromMiddle-Eastern countries,including the UAE,Qatar, Saudi Arabia,Kuwait and fromAsiannations likeMal-dives,SriLanka,Singapore,Malaysia,HongKong(anSARofChina),withRussia,Uzbek-istanandPhilippinesbeingthelatestaddi-tions to its international repatriationefforts.Air India officials,however, saidtheywill start charters dependingon thedestinationandifthedemandsurges.Experts say charter flights may see

moredemandinthecomingdays,asHNIswouldwanttotravelaloneorwithfamily."Weareoperatingmultiple internationalcharters every day either as part of theVandeBharat programmeor for individ-ual entities and corporations.There is aheightenedfocusonsafety,whichispush-ing the demand for direct and charterflights.Asofnow,weareflyingaround60-70 (international anddomestic) chartersa week, including all cargo missions(essential supplies)," saysWilly Boulter,chiefcommercialofficer,IndiGo.Tata SIAAirlines Ltd,operating asVis-

tara, is exploringvarious alternative rev-enue-generating opportunities as well,includingcharterandall-cargoflightssub-ject to securing business at viable levels."Wearepivoting to operate routeswherethereisdemandandreviewopportunitiesunder the air bubble initiative. We arealreadyflyingtoDubaiunderthescheme,"saysaVistaraspokesperson.

PriceyaffairThechargesofaprivatejetvarydepend-

ingonthesizeofaircraftandlengthofthetrip, starting at `80,000 perhour for aneight-seat turboprop to `5-`6 lakh perhour for a 16-seat jet, shares JetSetGo'sTekriwal.SharmaofForeseeAviation feelsit'sunfairtodifferentiatebetweentheaver-age ticketpricevis-à-vis aprivate jet char-terprice,butabusiness-classreturnticketonacommercialairlineforDelhi-Mumbai-Delhi would cost anywhere between`60,000and`1.40lakh.However,hiringaminimumseven-seaterlikeaCessnaCita-tion II orCessnaCitationCj2+would costapproximately`11 lakh toashighas`19lakh inanaircraft like the10-seaterDas-saultFalcon2000.AnIndiGochartercouldcostaround`4lakhperflyinghour,whichvariesfordifferentroutes,seatingcapacityandnumberofpassengers.Vistaradidnotwishtocommentonpricing.

With onboard social distancing and reduced touch points, privateflying is proving invaluable for an increasing number of fliers today

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

FESUNDAY5 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

WORLD'S FIRSTAIRLINEDELAG (Deutsche Luftschifffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft)was theworld's first airline, founded onNovember16, 1909,with government assistance, and operatedairshipsmanufactured byThe Zeppelin Corporation.Its headquarterswere in Frankfurt, Germany

WHENEVER I HEAR the word 'cloud', Iremember what some Indian politicalluminary"enlightened"uswith—wordsspokeninaroomremainsuspendedintheair even afterwe leave and canbedown-loaded.That'showhedeclaredcloudstor-ageworkedsomewhereupinthesky,dan-gerously easy to tap into. It makes mewonderwhathefeelsaboutcloudkitchens.Movingonthentosmarterconversations.Recently, I ordered from two cloud

kitchens,bothestablishedduringthepan-demic by teams,which pivoted sharplyfromexistingbusinessestojumpintothiswithmuchplanningandadaptation.PrasanjitSingh,AbhijitMukherjeeand

Anirudh Singhal (some very heavy-weightnamesfromtheF&Bindustry)figuredoutafewthingsbeforegettingstartedviz.● Cloud kitchensare entirely differ-ent from restau-rants doing homedelivery.●Certaindishescanjust not be homedelivered because thetexture and tastewouldbesub-paruponarrival.

●Anymore than a 7-km radius and thefood quality stands to be compromised.Hence,you need a newnode every timeyouexceedthatradius.●Theefficiencyofpreparation involves

not just culinary skill, but alsopacking and delivery tech-nicalprowess.

Armed with thisknowledge, they openedAsianFarmShack,servingSichuan and Bangkokflavours. But since it's acloud kitchen, it doesn'tjust do Asian fare. Thesame space also servesIndian fare (Masala Shack)and all-day snack items

(Shack Bites).Another USP: all

their food is ideally farm-to-table,shippedstraight fromthesource.The pandemic also ledAparajita and

Ankur Gupta (with their collective F&Bexperience in the space) to rework theirplansof launchingapremiumsouth-eastAsianeatery into a cloudkitchen.Formataltered,buttheywishedtoretainthedine-out experience.So to ensurepreservationduring transport,somedishes arrivepar-tially deconstructed, needing to be puttogetherbefore service.Abit ofDIY,butcrucial to theirno-compromise standonflavoursandtextures.However,somecat-egorieslikecrispyitemshadtobedroppedbecausetheyjustdon'ttravel.Being newbies, Aparajita and Ankur

realise the onus of delivering at parwithlong-standingstalwartsand,hence,investmore in R&D even if it leads to a higherfoodcost.Theydon'tclaimauthenticityorallegiance to anyparticular cuisine,butratheran innovative takewithout losingsightoftheoriginal.SloppySticksisacatchyname,harken-

ing to images of comfort food,messybutsatiating.Apremiumexperience aroundfood,the kind that one often craves and

simply wants to dive into without toomuchdeliberation.Themenuisextensiveandthechoicesaretemptinglytoomany—three browses later, I relented and askedthemtochooseforme.The proof, as always, is in the (pun

intended)Pudongpie.Iorderedfoodsepa-rately fromboth kitchens and I'mglad Iworkedoutbothdaysbecause thesewereheartyindulgences.Allthattalkaboutpre-servingqualityandflavoursseemedtodis-tilldowntothefoodandthewayitwaspre-sented.The portionswere generous, thetastespicy,butstillsomewhatgentrifiedtosuitarangeofpalates.Nevertheless,could-n't have faulted either for not beingflavoursome.Specialmention forAsianFarm Shack's wok-tossed Three PepperPorkBelly,theseafooddishesandtheThaicurries. From Sloppy Sticks, do try theSushi, Truffled Mushroom Bao, Singa-poreanChilliPrawns,andtheBraisedNoo-dleswithShitakeandTruffleoil.Beitmenuplanningorpackaging,cloud

kitchensseemtodoabetterjobthanregu-larrestaurantsdoinghomedelivery.If I'morderingin,I'dmuchrathersticktothese.

Thewriterisasommelier

Food from the cloudsBe it menu planning or packaging, cloud kitchens seem to bedoing a better job than regular restaurants doing home delivery

Leisure

The private life

❝Guests flying privatefor the first timewould realise theimportance of safe andcustomised travel—SANTOSHK SHARMACO-FOUNDER &CEO,FORESEEAVIATION,APROFESSIONALPRIVATE JETANDHELICOPTERAGGREGATOR

❝Commercial fliers haveover 200 touch pointsat the airport, whileprivate jets haveas little as 30—KANIKATEKRIWALCEO& FOUNDER, JETSETGOAVIATION,APRIVATE PLANEAGGREGATOR BUSINESS

THINGSTOKEEP IN MIND■ Advance booking ismust to ensure allpermissions, availabilityof aircraft and ascheduled itinerary

■ It's advisable,especially for first-timeflyers, to checkoffers/deals offeredby operators

■ Carry photoidentification andpassport for internationaltravel, and driver'slicence, Aadhar and PANcards for domestic travel

■ Avoid carrying sharp,flammable objects, etc

BETWEENSIPSMagandeepSingh

(Above) Asian Farm Shackserves Sichuan and Bangkokflavours; and (left) SassySalmon Poke Bowl fromSloppy Sticks

Pune

SHRIYA ROY

KIDS THESE DAYS are notjust learning, they areinnovating as well. Goneare the days when thelearning curve of childrenwas lim-ited to the classroom,passively tak-ing notes of what was being taughtto them. Today, they are notonly using technology, but alsoinnovating and creating it. Itwouldn't perhaps be wrong to callthem the tech generation. Theirobservant nature and in-builtcuriosity are fuelling their intellec-tual and cognitive development.Helping themaremanystartups

that teach students aged six to 18years coding and other advancedtopics.Andmany of these studentsare now coming up with their owntech innovations.Take,for instance,Manya from Suncity School, Guru-gram.Theeight-year-olddevelopedan interest in coding, whichprompted her to create an app toguide her sister to learn indepen-dently. The app, Pickaboo, helpschildren scan real-life objects tohear their name. The applicationtakes a picture of the object andsends it to a Microsoft Image Pro-cessing API. Once the API returnsthedescription,it is sent to aTrans-latorAPI.The result is then sent to a

Text to Speech Converter and atranslatorengine that spellsout thescanned object’s name in five dif-ferent languages—English, Hindi,Spanish,French andGerman.Talking about her new app,

Manyasays,“Mysisterisalwayscuri-ous to learn about different thingsthat she sees around her. I often seeher asking questions to my parentsand other family members, and Iwanted to create something thatwould help inmaking her indepen-dent. I worked on developing anapplication that would help kids inmy sister’s age group get informa-tion on theirown in a funway.”Manya isn't alone, as there are

other children as well who havedeveloped apps in the past. Eight-year-oldSouradeepSarkarfromBur-

dwan created the DYSXA app totackle dyslexia.DYSXA is a learningaid app for dyslexic children thatenables themto learnalphabetsandnumbers. Once logged in, the appaids in learning and formingwords.The app has animations forwords,helping kids learn their pronuncia-tion.Italsohasaseparatecolourandsoundforeveryletter,andquizzesaswell to help kids practice and iden-tify the correctword or spellings.Another example of a kid break-

ing tech barriers is Shillong-basedMaeMaewho has created the Anti-Bullying app for kids to report bul-lies anonymouslyand alert parents,teachers and friends about suchincidents.Thenine-year-oldandhersister faced bullying at school andthat’s when she decided that shewanted to put an end to it, andstartedwork to develop the app.Once on the app, a user can

anonymously share details of theincident, including the nameof thebully,andgiveadetaileddescriptionof how they were mistreated. Thiswill notify their parents and teach-ers, prompting them to take neces-sary action.Yetanotherstudent,16-year-old

JishnuBaruah fromAssam’sDibru-garh, created the Light Bagapp,which allows kids to shed offthe load fromtheir school bags.Theapp allows teachers to update thename of the books and notebooksthey want students to carry on aspecific day.The app also provides an esti-

mateof theweightofastudent'sbagandshowsanimationstoteachers toconvey a student's discomfortregarding the weight of their bag.Based on the calculations, teacherscan reduce the number of books, sothatstudentscancarrya lighterbag.Most of these kids learnt coding

dynamics from edtech startupWhiteHat Jr, which focuses onteaching coding to children agedbetween six and14years.With cut-ting-edge curriculum on AI, robot-ics, machine learning and spacetech,thestartupaimstoharness thenatural creativityof kids“Youngkids todayareveryobser-

vant, and their curious nature fuelstheir intellectual and cognitivedevelopment. Learning to code isknown to increase creativity andproblem-solving skills among chil-dren,”KaranBajaj,founderandCEO,WhiteHat Jr,said.As more and more kids are

encouraged to take technology intheir hands to deal with importantissues critical for their growth,a lotof surprises can be expected in thecoming days.

KambaRamayanamAlsocalledRamavataram,theTamilver-sionoftheepicwaswrittenbyTamilpoetKambarinthe12thcentury.ThestorylineandspiritualconceptsdifferfromValmiki’sRamayana,buttheworkisregardedasoneofthegreatestliteraryworksofTamilliterature.InKambar’sver-sion,Ramahasbeendeifiedasanincarna-

tionofVishnu.OthervariationsincludeRavanaliftingSitaalongwiththepieceoflandsheisstandinguponwithouttouch-ingher.SitaisshownbeingdraggedbyRavanabyherhairinValmiki’sRamayana.

Kakawin RamayanaTheIndonesianversionofRamayanawaswritteninoldJavaneseinapproximately

870ADduringtheMataramkingdomincentralJava.Writteninalongnarrativepoemform,itismodelledontraditionalSanskritmeters.WhilethefirstpartofthestoryremainsthesameasValmiki’sRamayana,thesecondpartdiffers.IttalksaboutthelocalheroGodSemarandhissons.It issaidthatRamayanabroughtaboutaresurgenceofHinduisminparts

ofAsialikeSumatra,westandcentralJavawhereBuddhismwasdominant.

Sri RanganathaRamayanamuTheTeluguadaptationofValmiki’sRamayana is believed tobewrittenbetween1300and1310ADbypoetRanganathawhomade severalvaria-

tions in the courseof the events.Forinstance,the three lines on the squir-rel’s backwereportrayedasRama’sblessing,as the squirrel clears the sandfromthe rockbridgemadebyHanumanandhis armyforRama.Among themore than40adaptationsofRamayana,this one remainsoneof themost complete and famousones.

Saptakanda RamayanaTheAssameseversionof theRamayanais believed tobewritten in the14-15thcenturybyMadhavaKandali.TheexplicitportrayalofRama,Sitaandothercharactersas'notheroic'bytheauthorrendered the textunfit forreli-giouspurposes.HehumanisedRamaandSita’s characters to suit the tasteofcommonfolk.Thework is also signifi-cant,as it is considered theearliestwrit-tenexampleofAssamese language.

Bhanubhakta RamayanaConsidered the firstNepali epic,thisversionwaspublished in1887.ItwaswrittenbyBhanubhaktaAcharya inNepali languageand is significantbecause it democratisedHinduism inNepal,thus,ending thedominanceofBrahmanicpriests in interpretingsacred texts.It is said that theDarjeel-ing literarycommunityrecognised thetext evenbefore theNepalis did.Theversionwas translated fromValmiki’sonewith slightvariations andnochanges in the story.The first EnglishtranslationofBhanubhaktaRamayana,donebywriterGokul Sinha,wasreleased in2016.

S T O R I E S A N D T R E N D S F R O M I N D I A A N D A R O U N D T H E W O R L D T H A T C A U G H T O U R F A N C Y

Fe LinesFE SUNDAY6 WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM

The tech generation

TECH-NOW-LOGY

VAISHALI DAR

SHOULDONE REFRAIN fromnegativelyreviewingahotel?A recent incident has trig-gered this question. It allstarted when an Americanexpat inThailandwassued for leavinga negative review of a hotel online.Despitethehotelclaimingtobeaccom-modating to the guest andwaiving acorkagefeehebroughtintotherestau-rant, themanused abusive languagetowards thestaff andthen left anega-tivereviewonline.Thehotelaskedhimto delete the review and, when herefused,a police reportwas filed.Thiscausedthemantobearrested.Wesley Barnes, the American

guest,publiclyapologised lastmonthfor his blunt online reviews of SeaView Koh Chang resort in Thailand.In exchange, the hotel promised itwould drop the complaint that ledauthorities inThailand to file crimi-naldefamationchargesagainsthim.In his review, Barnes had writtenabout encountering "unfriendlystaff"who "act like they don't wantanyonehere"afterastayat theresort,which is famed for its sandybeachesand turquoise waters. In another

review that was taken down by thesite for violating its guidelines, heaccused the hotel of "modern dayslavery".Aftertheresort suedBarnes,hespent twodays incustodyandwascharged under Thailand's strictdefamation laws—the maximumsentence is two years along with a200,000-baht ($6,300) fine.With the tourism industry badly

affected by the pandemic, reviewslike these can do considerable dam-age to the reputation of a hotel.At atime when the industry is going allout to provide the best care andcomfort to its guests, suchincidents trigger analarm, causing con-sumers to rethink ifit’s safe to travel.This isn't the

first time, how-ever, that some-body has posted acritical reviewonline. On portalslike TripAdvisor andGoogle, it's common tocomeacross blunt and crit-ical reviews of places travellershavevisited. In fact,one can see trav-ellers condemn everything on socialmedia,be it airlinesorhotels,criticis-ing them for loss of baggage, amongothercomplaints.Theuseof socialmedia forawide

spectrum of scenarios in tourismand hospitality and the influence ofsocial media on consumers’ hoteldecision-making process, however,remains little understood. Con-sumer behaviour and social mediaplay an important role in tourismand hospitality, transforming thewaytourists search,findandco-cre-ate informationaboutproducts,andchanging the way theymake hotel-related decisions online. With themajority of bookings done throughonline channels, online reputation

management works towards evad-ing negative reviews, an inevitableelement of the feedback process.Then there is the question of the

fake review.Do fake positive reviewspropagated by influencers serve asbad publicity? In some cases, fakereviewscanraisedoubtsbasedoncon-tent, services or authenticity builtorganically through years of hardwork.Of course, living in the age ofbotsandfollowers,it’sonlyasoftwarethat can identifywhat the reality is.Also,basedondifferentcategorieslikecleanliness andservice,theoverall

rating of a luxury propertywill bedifferent fromthatof,say,afour-starhotel's.Thegoodnews ismosttravellers return to ahotel thathaspartic-ularly attentive staffor seems loyal totheirbrandvalue.TheViennaTourist

Board works withinfluencers and media

aroundtheworld,andwel-comes theirviews on the city.

“Wedon'tencourageanyonetocre-ate fake posts as, in the long run,thatwould be detrimental both to us, aswell as our guests,” says IsabellaRauter, head, International MediaRelationsIndia,ViennaTouristBoard.“Citizens of Vienna lovewelcomingtouriststothecity,astheyunderstandthe positive economic and culturalreturnsguestsbringtothecityanditspeople.Almost95%ofthe4,000citi-zens polled welcomed tourists intoVienna.Thiswelcomingattitudeleadsto positive feedback from tourists, astheyexperiencethemagicofVienna'sheritage, culture,music, art and cui-sine,aswellas themodern,smartandeco-friendly facilities. Mercer, anAmericanhumanresourceconsultingfirm,has rankedVienna as themostliveable cityfor10years.”

RAMAYANARETOLD

The storyof LordRamais not exclusive toValmiki’sRamayana.There exist around300versions of it indifferent parts of Indiaand otherAsiancountries.The oldestversion,however,remainsValmiki’s,whichwaswritten in5th centuryBC.Herewepresent someof themost popularversions of the epic.ByReyaMehrotra

ReamkerTheCambodianepicpoemReamker is basedontheRamayanaandtranslatesinto‘GloryofRama’.Its surviving textdatesback to the16thcenturyand its ear-liestmentiondatesback to the7thcentury.Theepic is themedonemotionsandissues like loyalty,love,trustandrevenge.Scenes fromtheepicare foundpaintedonthewallsof theRoyalPalace,AngkorWatandBanteaySrei.PreahReam(Ram),NeangSeda (Sita) andPreahLeak (Lakshman)are thecentral characters,whileKrongReap is theantagonist.One findsanamalgamationofHinduismandBud-dhisminthestory,which is abattlebetweengoodandevil.

Phra Lak Phra RamPhra Lak PhraRam is thenationalepic of Laos.By the time theRamayana reached Laos, itwasadapted locallyand is considered aJataka story.It is the storyof twobrothers—Phra Lak andPhraRam—who followdharma and areepitomes of leadership,selfless-ness andvalues.In thisversion,the role of RaphanasuanorRavana ismore dominating thanthat of theheroes andRavana isRam’s cousin.Ram is also associ-atedwith the previous life of Sid-dharthaGautam.Sita is calledNangSida in theversion.

RamakienThailand’s national epicRamakien,which also literallytranslates to ‘Gloryof Rama’,owesits roots toValmiki’sRamayana.Itwaswritten in the 18th cen-tury.Ramakienhas the samemorals as theRamayana—goodtriumphs over evil. In the story,abattle is fought betweenKingRama andTosakanth, the demonking,who falls in lovewithRama’swife Sida and kidnaps andtakes her to his palace in KrungLongka.The god-king of the apes,Hanuman,helps Rama in the bat-tlewith his army.

Is it okay to givenegative reviews ata timewhen thetravel and tourismindustry is trying torecover from itsworst slump, andthe biggest healthrisk in a century?

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Thecostofareview

Fromdeveloping apps tomastering coding,kids today are givingwingsto their curiosity and are coming upwith dynamic tech innovations

MANYA,ANEIGHT-YEAR-OLD

STUDENT, DEVELOPEDAN INTEREST IN CODING,WHICH PROMPTED HERTOCREATE PICKABOO,ANAPP

TO GUIDE HERSISTERTO LEARNINDEPENDENTLY

CONSUMERBEHAVIOUR ON

SOCIALMEDIA PLAYSAN IMPORTANTROLE INTOURISM & HOSPITALITY,

TRANSFORMINGTHEWAY

TOURISTS MAKEDECISIONS

Pune

REYAMEHROTRA

FROM2021,CHILDHOODSwillnever be the same again.Thefairy godmotherwho provedto be the light of Cinderella'slife will be donning a new21st-centuryavatarintheupcomingcin-ematic remake of the classic tale,whichisupforreleasenextyear.Inafirst,Amer-ican actor and singer Billy Porter,who isknown for his gender-fluid sartorialstatementsontheredcarpet,willplaythecharacter of 'Fab G', the genderless fairygodmother,inthemovie."Howprofoundis it that I am playing the fairy god-mother? Magic has no gender.We arepresenting this character as genderless,and it is powerful,"Porterwas quoted assaying ina recent interview.Butthatisnottheonlyclassictocome

back into our lives.Recently,during thelockdown,Doordarshan started the re-telecast ofRamayan,Ramanand Sagar'spopularmythologicalseriesoftheEight-ies. While many loved the idea ofrewatching the most popular show oftheir childhoods once againwith theirfamilies in quarantine, the show alsotriggered a gender and religious debateonsocialmediaplatforms.Thequestionarises:ascenturiesgoby

and literature changes,dowe also needto have a relook at some of our popularmyths? Because popular mythologyoftencallsforaretellingfromafreshper-spective to balance out the uneven or toadaptthestorytomoderntimeswithoutchangingthepremise.Thoughthemak-ersoffairytaleshave,everynowandthen,tried adapting the classics for a morecontemporary audience, the genderlessgodmother in the Cinderella remakeremains oneof thebiggestmoves so far."This is a classic fairytale for a newgen-eration. The new-generation kids arereallyreadyforthis,"Portersaid.

The need to retell"Whodecidedthatawoman'shighestpur-posewastosupportmen...Iplanondoingotherthingswithmylife,"saysaconfidentDraupadi to her tutor in Chitra BanerjeeDivakaruni'sThePalaceofIllusions,a2008retellingof theMahabharata fromDrau-padi's perspective.Divakaruni,who hasauthored The Forest of Enchantments(2019),anotherretelling,isachampionatgiving avoice to the 'other'characters inepics."Ihavealwaysbeeninterestedinthefemale characters of the great epics,as Ifeel theydidnotgetasmuchattentionastheydeserved.Thereisalotwrittenaboutthe men, but the women seemed to betheirshadows.Iwantedtofocusanovelonthem,tellingtheirownstoriesintheirownvoice. That was my project in both myretellings,"sheexplains.SarannyaVPillai,PGcoordinator (MA

English) and assistant professor,MountCarmel College, Bengaluru, secondsDivakaruni."Rewriting classics involvesthepolitics of rereading them in the firstplacetoredefinethegapsthatthewrittentexthas.Arewritingofatextthatendorsespatriarchalvaluesinaconvincingmannerwould prove to be a significantwork,butcan also do considerable damage to anexistingnarrative.Retellingsfromtheper-spective of the marginalised,neglected, muted charactersoffer a newand alternativewaytoapproachthenarra-tive,"saysPillai.Retellings were, in

fact, being written inother parts of theworld as early as thelate 1970s. Englishwriter Angela Carter'sTheBloodyChamberandOtherStories,published in1979, retells fairytales in amanner far less romanti-cised with a stark horror-reality factor that staresyouin the eye. In her short sto-ries,she rewrites the tales ofAlice in Wonderland, SnowWhite,Puss inBoots,RedRid-ing Hood to introduce theideaofgothic fairytales forthenewage.Whocouldhave imaginedthat the littleRedRidingHoodwouldactuallysethergrandmother up to inherit her for-tunes? The one in Carter's short storyTheWerewolfdoes!More recently, celebrated Indian

authorAnandNeelakantan,whohaswrit-ten tales extensively inspired by Indianepics,hascomeoutwithhisbookTheVery,Extremely,Most NaughtyAsuraTales forKids, published by Puffin Books, animprint of Penguin RandomHouse.Thebookisaretellingofmythologicalstories,some ofwhich originate from religioustexts. It tells the stories of the clumsyBhasmawhocreatestroubleinthevillage,brothersAtapiandVatapiwhoeat96cart-fulsoffruitasdessert,thegreatBanawhoclaps with his 1,000 hands, and twoseven-year-old asura twins KundakkaandMandakkawho, like other children,hate school and are yet dragged by theirmother there everyday.The author por-trays the asura kids in a completelynewbut real light,making the reader fall inlovewiththemasthestoriesprogress."Ifoundthatmostchildrenofthisage

are addicted to their electronic devices.Wehaveoneoftheoldeststorytellingtra-ditions intheworldandit isunfortunatethat our kids grow up without gettingfamiliarwith them.Manykids find our

Puranic stories boringwith aheavydoseofmorality,andparentsforcesuchbookson them. But I haveheardmanyhilariousPuranic tales in mychildhood from folksingers.Who took thefunoutofthePuranasandmadethemsoseri-ous and preachy? Myattempt in this book is to

bring back the fun andentertainment in story-telling,"saysNeelakantan.Talking about why he

chose to do a funny take onthe stories of the muchfeared asuras andwhatwillmakethisaninterestingreadfor children,he says,"Tradi-

tionalIndianfolkartsaremeantforenter-tainment.Theyareneverpreachyorjudg-mental.Making asurasdark and evil is arecent phenomenon.There is a fascinat-ing world out there... that has so manywonderfulfantasyelementsinourstories.Thisbookisasmallwindowtothatworld.This is an introduction to themarvellousworldofIndianPuranas."

Unchanged story,changed focusTalkingabout theparameters tobekept

in mind while writingretellings,mythologistandauthor Devdutt Pat-tanaik,whohaswrittenmythological booksfor children like TheBoysWho Fought,TheGirlWhoChose,Pashu,the Fun in Devlokseries, among others,says,"You can't changethestory,butsticktowhatthe author is trying to tell.The Ramayana teachesempathy and pathos, andhas the recurring idea oflovers dying or separating.According tome,Ram is theonewho is trapped inAyod-hya,as he's born into a royalfamily as the eldest son andhas to followorders...Sita, the daughterofearth,isfreeandmakeschoices,whichreflects inmybook The GirlWho Chose,whereshemakesfive importantchoicesof her life.While retelling a story, theremust be simplicity of idea and simplic-ityof expression."Divakaruni agrees that the major

incidents must not be changed."Eachwriterretells inadifferentway.Forme,itis importanttousethesameincidents...just change the focus.All themajorinci-dents in both my retellings are takenfrom the epics. I don't want readers tosay,'Oh, she just made up these stories,

so they are not really aboutDraupadi or Sita, just herimagination'. I wantreaders to reallyunder-stand the reality ofthese characters,theirstrength and intelli-gence,"she explains.Theauthorbelieves

retellings are impor-tant in today's time andsosheplanstowritemore

such books centred aroundwomen inmythology in thefuture."Retellings are veryimportant because theymake us realise that theepics relate to our time justasmuchasearliereras.Whenwe retell intelligently, thereaderswill see the connec-

tionbetweenthethemesof theepicandtheir own lives. For instance, Sita is theearliestsinglemotherfigureinliteraturethat I knowof. If I focus on that aspect,howshebringsup two sons onherown,a lotof current-timesinglemotherscanrelate to her and draw inspiration fromher,"she says.

The flawed heroThenewgeneration,however,isnotnewto the idea of inclusive literature, as anumber of comic books have beentweaked in the last decade to talk about

same-sexrelationships,femi-nistwomen,female super-heroes, realistic charac-tersandmuchmore.Reena I Purie,exec-

utiveeditor,AmarChi-tra Katha (ACK),writ-ten primarily forchildren and young-sters, says,"Inmythol-ogy, the gods can workmiracles, therefore, theyare godly and they can haveflaws, which makes themhuman.Be it earlier or now,we have stayed true to thetext.We do have a Sita whoargues just as depicted byValmiki...wehavebroughtinfolk renditions of Draupadi,whichshowherbeinghelpedbythewomenof theKauravacourt...ourheroes makemistakes, fall, pick them-selvesupandultimatelywintheirbattlesbecauseweare telling children that thatiswhat they,too,cando."The good-versus-bad story doesn't

reallywork now, as today's generationhas realised that it's okay to be flawed.Says Purie, "As our founder-editorAnantPaiusedtosay,'If Suppandi is themost popular character in Tinkle, it isbecause he makes mistakes. A childreading Suppandi gets the permissiontomakemistakes.So the thought isnotnew to ACK. However, in mythology,

there are characters like Prahlad orDhruvawhodonot showagreyside.Wetell their stories as it is."Pillai adds,"Apiece ofwriting needs

to be rewritten if it does not accommo-date or appreciate inclusiveness. Suchwork in children's literaturewill ensurethe reception of the pluralities ofhuman existence, conditions such asracial, cultural and social factors. Theyoung minds that engage with theretellings learn to critique the existingmainstreamstructures."Though retellings are in, publishers

say that a certain amount of discretionhas to be observedwhile depicting vio-lence, talking about sexual encountersand highlighting the negative ratherthan thepositive."Storiesglorifying satiwere told earlier,we do not select suchstories anymore.Wewould ratherwriteaboutwomen pathbreakerswho foughtandwon Indianwomen the right to befree and to be seen as individuals.Ouraward-winning cover of Shakti is of abeautiful dark goddess.Our characterscome invarioushues and shades of skinasopposedtoearliertimeswhenthedarkwasalwaysgiventotheevil.Withthepas-sageoftime,there isanawarenessofnottypecasting.If earlierthebattlefieldwasPanipat, today it is a sports stadiumor adifferent kind of war, which is beingwagedtoprotectourplanet.Wehavealsointroduced gender-neutral languagewherever possible," says Purie, addingthat ACK also assures that there are nocolours or costumes bywhich one canrecognise a community or race unless astorydemands it.

Preparing for lifeAccording to Pattanaik, retellings pre-pare children for the real world wherenot everything is good or bad, andwhere the good does not always winover the bad.Therefore, the idea of theoriginal must be preserved whileretelling."There is aprobleminparent-ing if parents teach the children thatthe good always wins because whentheygrowup,they realise the horror oflife.We have each of the characters ofthese epicswithin us,be it a little bit ofRam,Ravana,DuryodhanorSita.Thereare no black and white characters. Inmyretellings forchildren,Imakeall thecharacters cute. For instance, there isDuryodhan with tattoos on his bodyand he is very cool. I also follow a par-ticular structure, as it plays an impor-tant role in simplifying a story for chil-dren.I amtalkingabout the fivechoicesof Sita and the six times the boys (Kau-ravas andPandavas) fought.The aimofthe authorwhile retelling should be tomake thechild think,'Iwant to fight fortheweakwithouthating themighty'.Ifparents are genuinely interested inchildren, theywill have conversationson these retellings. These books aredesigned around conversations...through them, there will be an Upan-ishad in everyhome throughchildren,"Pattanaik says.Talking about his book Shikhandi (a

character in Mahabharata born as awoman), which talks about genderissues,theauthorsays,"Myideas about

Shikhandi, a transgender, arevery radical... the book dealswith gender issues. Thereare many children whodealwithgenderissuesand know they do notbelong in the bodythey have been bornwith.Epics talkaboutso many things likemaking life's choices...in Sita's story, shemakes a choice of cross-

ing the line even thoughshe does not know the con-sequences of her choice. Itapplies to life's choices aswell. We have to makechoices without knowingwhat the future holds.There are no rules of thejungle... the moment you

step out,you are prone to attacks... thesame goes for life.Both Ravan and Sitaare educated and use education... theformer uses it to trick the latter,whilethe latter uses it to help the former.Ravana is working for the self, whileSita for others."Though retellings attract children,

good illustrations can be the cherry onthe cake."A retelling with illustrationscan attract youngminds and inculcatein them the habit of reading," says 25-year-old Miranda Ngangom fromManipurwhohaspursuedhermaster'sin English literature and culture stud-ies,where retellings were a part of thecurriculum. "While we keep in mindthat the classics are treasures, weshould also note thatwithmodernisa-tion, the perspective changes. One ofthemostoften toldperspectives is thatof the female voice, a character thatmay have been a victim of patriarchy...a character in thisnewsetting is amas-ter of her own.Many women are stillaffected by patriarchy, by social andcultural conventions. Children in par-ticular need to be taught now morethaneverthe importanceofequality,tobe the change the world needs... and aretelling of any form of classic in anyformof publicationwill be a huge con-tribution,"she adds.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2020

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FOLKTALEIt is believed that theCinderella story dates back to 1stcentury BC.The story of an Egyptian slave girlwhosesandalwas snatchedby an eaglewas spun by aGreekgeographer.When the sandalwas discovered by theking, he sent out to search for the girl andmarried her

Fromagenderlessfairygodmother to aSitawhomakesherown life choices,childhoods areupforan inclusiverevolution,oneclassic at a time

IT'S (NOT)THE SAMEOLD STORY

Spotlight

Celebrated Indianauthor

Anand Neelakantanhaswritten tales

extensively inspiredby Indian epics

Author ChitraBanerjee Divakaruniis a champion atgiving a voice tothe 'other'

characters in epics

Mythologist andauthor Devdutt

Pattanaik has writtenmany mythologicalbooks for childrenand adults alike

O