Men And Their Machines

June 9, 2015

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Imagine the lush landscape of the Deccan opening up to a crystal-clear sea and tree-covered valleys. It’s right here, in South India, a bucolic paradise, that’s home to some of the country’s most avid riders – hard tails, bobbers, baggers, Flatheads, Ironheads, 750s and everything you’d ever imagine that will cover highways. RITZ explores this passion for riding motorcycles that seems to have engulfed the South.

Bengaluru-boy, model-turned-actor, Dino Morea took to biking in his early teens. Now at age 42 he continues to pursue his passion, trawling the streets of Mumbai, Goa and Bengaluru (whenever he’s down here) on his 48 Harley Davidson. Be it John Abraham’s 1300 cc Suzuki HayaBusa or Salman Khan’s blue Suzuki Intruder M1800RZ, bikes have always invoked men’s fantasies. From being an indulgence for the country’s rich and famous to being an affordable accessory for today’s man, motorcycles have suddenly become an essential part of a man’s collection of toys.

The motorcycle trend is a curse to many. We spend money trying to chase them, only to be lost again after a time. What was once cool, is now lame and what was once lame is now cool again. Be it the super expensive, but ultra cool Harley Davidson, the sleek British brand Triumph, mean Hyosungs or sexy HayaBusas, or for that matter even the evergreen favourite Royal Enfield, men and their passion (and to an extent addiction) towards bikes have fuelled the biking industry and culture down South like never before.

People take long distance motorcycle trips mostly to get a feeling of thrill and adventure through them. It is about overcoming fears and defeating others in the battle of roads. It is a way to connect to directions and to feel the world as can never be felt while sitting in an office. Your senses go on hyper drive while riding and you notice things around you which you would never notice while travelling in a car. There is nothing to disturb you, there is only you, your motorcycle and the surroundings.

As motorcycle buyers become aspirational, they demand more power, size, style and features and hence a natural migration is happening towards bigger engine bikes. The move is also driven by an increase in average speeds in urban centers and the improvement of road infrastructure. The move to bigger capacity engines is also driven by the motorcyclist’s desire for self expression, independence and a somewhat misplaced notion of appearing sexy to the opposite sex when astride a bigger engine bike.

And man, does this ploy work!

The Men And Their Machines

Dhiren Pawar, General Manager, Shiro, a popular restaurant and lounge in Bengaluru, who owns a Ducati Monster 798 and a BMW S 1000 RR has his sights firmly set on a Hell Cat or Triumph Cafe Racer as his next purchase. He admits: “Due to my hectic work schedule I really don’t ride as often as I would like to, although I do take my bikes out at least one Sunday in a month.” He doesn’t ride with a particular group, but tags along with Gautham and Jean Michelle, both owners of Toscano, another popular Italian restaurant in the city. Jean Michelle is a hard-core Harley man, in fact he’s one of the first from the city to have picked up a bike when the company opened their doors in India. And he’s been a loyal customer ever since.

Telugu film star Varun Tej looks hot in a recent photo shoot for our sister publication Southscope, where he is astride one such mean machine. “I love going on long rides…. but my family is quite against biking, only because they are concerned about my safety. So I don’t have my own ride or don’t go often on rides, but I have a few friends from school who own bikes, mostly, Harleys and

Triumphs. I’m not so much into sports bikes but I do love cruisers. My present favourite is the Triumph Thunder Storm and I hope my dad will let me buy this….. I always keep asking him,” he tells with a cheeky grin.

Well Varun, we’re sure you can convince him, should you choose to make up your mind and take the plunge!

One of Bengaluru s most enterprising riders Giridhar Machenahalli, a 34-year-old software engineer working with Walmart, is also an ace photographer. He’s part of a motorcycle group in Bengaluru called BURN (Bikers United Riding Ninja) and owns a Kawasaki Ninja and a Triumph. When he’s not burning rubber with BURN, he’s zipping across the outskirts of the city with BRATs (Bangalore Riders Association of Triumphs). Several such biking groups have popped up on Facebook and Twitter, encouraging like-minded riders to get together for Sunday morning gigs. Sometimes they head out for a weekend, burning rubber on the several well-maintained highways that lead out of Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

The Road, Not So Less Travelled Anymore

Come Sunday morning Chennai’s ECR and the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway is choked with the smell of burning rubber. Riders hit the highway as early as 4 AM and zip off on long lazy road trips. Sometimes they ride from dawn to dusk, choosing to leave the city before traffic snags begin and return home late into the night, once again for the same reason.

The logic behind this is simple – bikes with such powerful engines cannot be managed at slow speeds on traffic-clogged roads, hence riders like to open up the throttle during the wee hours and take off on an exhilarating journey of speed.

Some of the most popular routes in South India frequented by biker gangs are always open, divided highways. Hence stretches between Bengaluru and Hyderabad, Chennai’s ECR heading to Puducherry, NH 4 between Bengaluru and Hubli, NH 7 between Bengaluru and Hassan and the four lane road from Chennai to Yelagiri are frequented by bikers.

We pick some of the favourite routes that riders from South India regularly explore:

-Chennai to Puducherry

The ECR from Chennai to Puducherry is one of the best rides in the South. Not just the condition of the road, the route is scenic, dotted with pretty French architecture, some stunning temple ruins and with enough curves and bends on the path to satisfy even the most daring rider.

Distance: 160 km

-Hyderabad to Kannur

It’s one long ride, but oh! so worth it.

Leaving behind the arid landscape of Andhra the excellent stretch between Hyderabad and Bengaluru (which you have to bypass to hit Kannur) is an amazing riding experience. On one of the new super fast monsters, this distance can be covered in just 8 hours. This stretch is also a foodies paradise as some of the local eateries on the highway dish out mouth watering grub. Once you hit Kerala, it only gets better!

Distance: 897 km

-Chennai to Yelagiri

Yelagiri is an erstwhile colonial retreat, a preferred weekend getaway from Chennai. The ride to the tiny hill town is perfect for thrill seekers as the road is filled with hairpin bends and cool turns. And if you have your saddlebags packed then you might want to pitch your tents in one of the lush forest reserves along the way and spend the night camping.

Distance: 228 km

-Bengaluru to Munnar

Another super preferred destination for bikers to kick back and relax after a long ride, Munnar is high on the bike trail map. The roads are excellent, save a few small sections on the ghat. The food along the way is awesome. The scenery is stunning once you begin descending down the coast and one could just take time to sit back and enjoy a few peaceful moments while recovering from a sore butt!

Distance: 476 km

-Bengaluru to Hassan

Once you exit Bengaluru city it’s just you, the road and your mean machine. One of the best maintained highways in South India, NH 7 is paradise for any self respecting biker. It’s 2 hours of pure bliss, for thats how long it takes a super bike to cover the distance. Many riders choose to head on to Chikmagaluru some 45 kms further, while others with a bit more adventure in their bones head down the lethal Charmadi Ghat to enter Mangalore. On an average this road sees hundreds of bikers tear across on a Sunday morning.

Distance: 187 km

When love has gone…

June 9, 2015

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Your heart gets a 1000 volt jolt – the one who professed to be with you forever suddenly walks out of your life, leaving you squashed, smashed, burning, moping – and it feels like the end of the world. Many of us suffer heartbreak at least once in life – whether we get dumped by a loved one or when we have to make the inevitable choice of walking out. It feels like endless agony! But one has to live through it and learn to live and love… Once again! RITZ delves into the hearts of people who have been there and gone through that to understand how long it takes to get over a relationship and move on.

Bette Midler, the American singer and song writer, wrote beautiful lyrics in her album `Some People’s Lives’ that topped the Billboard and achieved Platinum status in the 90’s. A couple of decades have passed but the words in the song ‘ Since You Stayed Here’ still resonate with people who go through a break up, even today.

“You’ll never recognize the room.

The pictures all have different frames now.

And all the chairs are rearranged now.

Somehow, I have thrown out every souvenir.

Yes, there have been changes made

Since you stayed here.”

But mankind has eternally survived on hope – for a better day, a day when everything will seem alright, when you will feel ready to let go. To quote John Keats from his poem `To Hope’ –

“Should disappointment, parent of despair,

Strive for her son to seize my careless heart.

When, like a cloud, he sits upon the air,

Preparing on his spell bound prey to dart.

Chase him away, sweet hope, with visage bright,

And fright him, as the morning frightens night.”

Easier said than done though! More so, if you’ve been dumped for somebody else. When Cliff Richards sang – “Someone else is in your arms tonight while I’m all alone and blue. Someone else will kiss you and hold you tight, just the way I used to do. I used to be your love and now I’m you used-to be. Outsider. That’s me” – it became the anthem of all those who suffered rejection.

Songs have been written, great masterpieces painted, operas composed, ballets performed, novels written – all inspired by the agony suffered by a broken heart. Many have tried to make sense of the complexities of love – especially why a relationship has to end. Is there anything more compelling, more painful in life than an aching heart? But then, the show must go on and we have to move on. While some take ages to lick their wounds until they heal, some get over it like a song, and some take the path of the rebound. Shrinks say there are no rights or wrongs in the path of healing. Different strokes for different folks.

Move on and no rebound please

For Vani Ganapthy who was married to movie superstar Kamal Haasan at one point, it was all about her determination to move on, grit to bash on regardless and channelize her energies into something more constructive like dancing. “If you’re determined to overcome a broken relationship, you will. My grandmother always said, ‘There is more to life than just marriage. You have to maintain the right attitude and work towards overcoming a broken marriage or a relationship,” confides Vani while reiterating that, “It’s important to have a strong support system when you are going through a tough period in life…. the people around you matter a lot. They must maintain a positive attitude and encourage you to find yourself again. Pursue your passions, find something that you love and channelise your energies into that field. For me it was my dance. I used dance as a platform to get over the emotions I was feeling – be it anger, depression, jealousy – when my marriage fell apart.”

Give it some time

And as they say, time is the best healer. Says Vani Ganapathy, “As the years go by, thoughts come back to you in spurts. Try and focus on the positive aspects of the relationship you had; remember the good times. Recalling bad things will leave you cynical and jaded.” And no, don’t grab somebody else in a hurry with the hope that you’ll be able to fill the void. “Never make the mistake of jumping into another relationship on the rebound. It’s the worst thing you can do. Allow yourself time – may be one or two years – to get over your breakup before exploring the possibility of a new relationship.”

So how long does the whole process of getting over a long term partner take? Says Rahul Dev Shetty, former model and choreographer from Bengaluru, who was married to model Jackie Bestowich for more than a decade, “It takes time to get over a relationship, especially if it’s been a long one. You have to give yourself time to grieve, to overcome the feelings of anger and jealousy that are bubbling within. Every relationship that you have, impacts your life in some way. It’s a slow process to get over a break up.”

The best route to get back to normalcy according to Rahul Dev Shetty is, “I think one needs to find a spark in their life again post a painful breakup. Do the things that you could not do when you were married, or in a relationship. Maybe you couldn’t travel to a certain place because it was too expensive for two people. Do it now. Find something you enjoy doing, it could be reading, music, a sport…. anything… and pursue that. It will keep your mind occupied.” When is it the right time to get into another relationship? “Don’t ever make the mistake of jumping into another relationship immediately. Give yourself anywhere between six months to a year to embark on a new relationship.”

Looks like what’s good for the goose is good for the gander too. Says Swetha Raj, Model, Miss India Australia’14, from Hyderabad, “If only there was a magic number to that question! Every relationship is different and hence the time it takes to get over also varies. Good news… Life moves on, so no matter what, sooner or later one will be over it. More often than not, it’s the routine and habit we need to get over rather than the people involved. So once other priorities come into place, the getting over gets easier. “

Feels like death but that’s life

While some of us are able to take it in our stride and cope with it, for some it feels like death. According to Anisha Bhandary who was married to a well known businessman from Bengaluru, “The death of a relationship is like the death of an entity. You must first and foremost accept that there is a grieving period involved once a relationship ends. Be it a marriage, a close friendship that breaks up or even a live-in relationship, you have to grieve for what you have lost.” And yes, her vote like Vani Ganapathy, goes to supportive friends and family, “Normally I’m a very independent person, but when my marriage ended I knew I needed support to get through the tough days ahead and I leaned heavily on my family and friends who meant well, to draw strength from them.” And the desire to cut all cords makes you go to great lengths to sever all connections. Agrees Anisha, “I also cut all contacts with friends and acquaintances who were close to my former husband to help me heal faster.” Of course, you need to find your own mantra for healing. For her it was, “Yoga and meditation helped me find perspective and gradually each day became easier than the previous one.”

Formula 365

While finding our own formula for moving on might help most of us, there are a few who dance to a different tune. Take the case of Sunder Ramu, photographer from Chennai, who is dating 365 women for 365 days in an endeavor to promote women’s empowerment. Says the innovator in the world of hearts, “For me there is no formula for how to deal with a break up, everyone has different ways of dealing with it. I always get into relationships knowing that there could very well be an end. I more often than not try to stay calm instead of getting angry and upset.”

But then it’s tough when you’ve been wronged, right? Sunder’s take is “It takes two people to get into a relationship but only one to end it, this could be me as well, so I try to figure out what went wrong so I don’t make the same mistakes again.” So then, why do people opt out of a long standing relationship? It’s perplexing, to put it mildly. Analyses Sunder, “When you get into a relationship it is based on what the other person’s impression is of you and the way you are. Sometimes these impressions change. I never play the blame game as I am still friends with most of my exes. I feel that when a relationship ends, the friendship does not necessarily need to end.”

Silver lining

And then we have eternal optimists like Ajay Mantena, a Telugu actor, who says, “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.
My luck changed the minute I broke up, so I can safely say that it’s true. It didn’t take very long. I guess when the fault is not yours; it’s just easier to move on quicker.” Hmmm… True that!

Nikhil Siddhartha, yet another Tollywood actor, has never gone through the trauma but if he ever does, this is what his approach would be, “ Honestly, not that I have personally been through a break up, but I think people shouldn’t take them seriously since it’s all infatuation and attraction these days and less of love. I feel if you lose someone you love through death or a tragic separation then it’s very tough to get over it. But if it’s some relationship which broke up because of fights or misunderstandings, then maybe it never was love in the first place.”

Regardless of the stage of your relationship, the pain is the same. The intensity may vary and the baggage may be heavier if you’ve given it the legal status. Is there a way out then? Is there some way you can do it yourself? The good news is a resounding – YES! Here’s what some people who have emerged stronger after a break up recommend…

World Music Day with Agam

June 9, 2015

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What’s a better way to celebrate World Music Day than with a contemporary-Carnatic progressive rock band? Nothing we figured!
Bengaluru based, seven piece band Agam comprising Harish Sivaramakrishnan (vocals and violin), Ganesh Ram Nagarajan (drums and backing vocals), Swamy Seetharaman (keyboards and lyricist), T Praveen Kumar (lead guitar), Vignesh Lakshminarayanan (bass guitar and backing vocals), Sivakumar Nagarajan (ethnic percussions), and Jagadish Natarajan (rhythm guitar) will be performing in Hyderabad on June 21st at Hard Rock Cafe.

Young And Restless – Mehar Moosa and Nidhiya Raj

June 8, 2015

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Addressing the first batch of NIT scholars, President Pranab Mukherjee urged the youth to march towards their goals with confidence. More so, in a young country like ours, it won’t be a surprise if more young minds come forth with some brilliant ideas. Two such young talents who dared to dream big are Nidhiya Raj and Mehar Moosa, both students of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT). With the help of an incubator company that supports startups like these, they’ve succeeded and are excelling in managing their own companies.

Mehar Moosa

Meet another young entrepreneur, Mehar Moosa, also a student at CUSAT. Founder of Anamega, he is in his last year of software engineering. Mehar started developing apps in his second year and ended up founding Anamega. His first eureka moment was “developing a secure browser.” The app has been lapped up by Blackberry, has had more than 50,000 downloads so far and an average rating of 4.5/5. “The browser operates on incognito mode and stores none of your personal data,” quips the 23-year old proudly. “It is also faster than the in-built browsers in most phones,” he adds.

Mehar, along with his friends Aamir Rahman, Eby Jose, Meril K Abraham, Saneem, Fayas Backer and Mohammed Wafiq, also developed a secure notes app that comes with the feature of a dummy pin code. “Usually when your friends or family want to take a look at what is in your phone, they ask for the access code. You can tell them a dummy code, which when entered will prompt a message, ‘please reset code’, which puts your friends off. The group of youngsters are also in the process of developing another app, that lets you tag pictures before storing them, so that you can find them with ease later, if needed.

-Dream Catcher

Founding and running a firm of his own, feels like a dream come true for Mehar, who has been mentored by Zacharias Manuel, former tech head of Startup Village. “It all began when he attended an elite programme by Blackberry, that inspired him to create an App that was “built for Blackberry.” Mehar, who is originally from Calicut, has two younger brothers. His father is a government servant and mother, a homemaker. He was interested in computer science right from when he was in the fourth grade at GMUP school. When he was in Class 10 he helped his teachers by installing Linux systems on the school computers, when computer education became compulsory in schools. By 12th grade, he was fluent in programming languages like C and C++.

The enthusiastic achiever plans to move his company to the IT hub of the country, Bengaluru.

Nidhiya Raj

Meet Nidhiya Raj, a 20-year old in her fourth year of B Tech IT, the CEO of Webaccede. Webaccede provides various web-related solutions to companies including designing websites, allowing them to start e-retail, social media marketing and branding. They can also create Apps for your services/products. “I was inspired when I attended a workshop by Startup Village at Kinfra Infopark for a free T-shirt. This was in my 3rd year. I then attended a hackathon organised by them. Just attending these events got me thinking that maybe I too could do something on my own,” says Nidhiya who is interested in hardware as much as she is in software.

-Fun beginnings

Initially the group of friends started designing websites for companies, making videos, teasers, doing online promotions etc. for pocket money. It eventually developed into a full-fledged company – Webaccede. “We started getting international clients right from the start because of my profile on Linkedin,” says the excited youngster. It then started getting ‘serious’ as they had targets to meet within deadlines. “We got more clients via word of mouth,” Raj says.

The team currently consists of Shabeer who takes care of the creative process, Mohammed Raees who looks after the backend and operations, Dinu Jacob and Alex Tom who are the developers. “We are all classmates,” she says. The team that worked out of a space provided by Startup Village, hopes to start an office of their own soon. Raj who finished schooling from Holy Ghost Convent, Aluva, says she is lucky that her parents are supportive of her aim to run a business. “Sure, they are worried, like all parents are, but they are supportive too. They do not think that I can’t do this just because I am a girl, which makes me happy,” she adds.

-Being real

Coming from a middle class upbringing, she had to convince her father initially that this was a great idea and was feasible. “He owns a small business. So he understands the glory and pitfalls of doing something on your own. The only thing he told me was to never give up and follow what I believed in with conviction,” she says. Raj who has an older sister and a younger brother, considers Sudha Murthy and Steve Jobs to be her role models. She said she related to Murthy because, just like her, Raj was the only girl in her class.

Raj is almost done designing a safety gadget for women which she has temporarily named the Nirbhaya Bangle. The bangle that also acts as a pepper spray, not only sends out alert messages to your family and friends, but to those around you too, so that help is available immediately. She hopes to make this easily available to all women, very soon.

Tech Savvy Whizkids – Rohit Asil and Vijay Varada

June 8, 2015

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Rohit Asil and Vijay Varada are not your average 20-something year olds. They are in fact anything but ordinary. Why? Well, frankly, would you have dreamt of being a CEO and CTO of a company that deals with manufacturing, sales and service of Desktop 3D Printers, Rapid Prototyping & Design consultancy as well as Product Design? In conversation with these two young entrepreneurs about how they balance their work lives with their student lives.

At age 23, Vijay Varada, along with his friend Rohit Asil, co-founded Fracktal Works while he was in his third year of Mechnatronics Engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology. Now a fresh graduate, Vijay takes care of R&D, product design, graphic design and team building, while Rohit overlooks everything else like operations, legalities, cash flow, and logistics. Rohit who is still in his final year, says, “I ran a Google search of myself recently and found that I am the Director and CTO of Fracktal Works who is studying at MIT, Manipal and lives in Bengaluru. This is what I am considered. Though, however, I really think of myself as a boy who always happened to be at the right place in the right time,” explains this hardworking, cheerful and impulsive CTO.

Ask them about how the company came about and Vijay says, “I never really had any inclination towards starting my own company. But it’s safe to say that the handful of people I met at Robomanipal (the robotics team of the college) were certainly the best in college”. In fact Rohit and he built a mind controlled robot that they entered into the colleges’ Business Plan competition, after being forced to join. They had won many technical competitions earlier, but thought making a business model out of it was absurd. “Honestly, we would never have thought we were the types who would start a company, at least I didn’t think so,” adds Vijay. But on winning the competition both boys were left speechless and later thought that such an opportunity doesn’t come every day and decided to go forward with it.

Asil mentions though, “I have always been curious and open to new ideas that come in my way. If not for a very successful one, I can make a business plan out of anything!” Then they were given an office space, `5 lakh seed money and were expected to make a Charles Xavier (X-Men) type mind controlled wheelchair for the physically disabled.

They add, “We were searching for ways to make prototypes for our initial designs, and that’s how we found 3D printing. At that time it was still in its nascent stage in the country and was really expensive to get our hands on. So, we did whatever any frustrated engineer would do – build our own!”

Once they were done, they were getting finishes and qualities that could compete with many industrial printers of that time, and that’s when they knew they had a winning product on hand. So, they dropped the wheelchair altogether and for the next year they perfected their design and came out with the first 3D printer. That’s how Fracktal Works was born!

What kind of services do they provide under the company,? They design and manufacture 3D printers and provide end-to-end product design services. “Everything from computer aided design, to rendering, to embedded systems to back-end and front-end programming, and lastly even manufacturing can be done by us,” they inform.

Coming into a market that’s so fresh in terms of manufacturing 3D printers, one might be judgmental about their surviving in this industry especially because they are students. “There are very few in the industry who take both product design and aesthetics as seriously as we do. By starting on small projects and executing them well, we landed ourselves clients like Toshiba, Cisco and many more,” says the young CEO. Their mechatronics background enables just a handful of people to take on multiple disciplines to make products where everything from mechanicals to electronics to the UI/UX and aesthetics is one comprehensive whole, and accomplishing all this at a record pace and costing which makes their customers happy.

So it wasn’t difficult to sell their product in such a market then? “For our 3D printers, we followed a pretty simple mantra – Be the best when it comes to aesthetics, quality of output, reliability and ease of use! After that, marketing and selling our machines wasn’t that hard,” say both the entrepreneurs.

Moving on to the student side… How do you manage to find the time to study when you are working?

According to Rohit, there have always been scenarios where they had to choose between work and study, but luckily the choices have been easy and have always been work. He says, “The professors and my friends are very supportive, especially when it comes to coping with the classes I missed. It’s been one hell of a ride and I still remember the all-nighters I pulled off just before the exam and how exam week used to be the vacation-from-work-week!” The best part he says, “is where you get to apply the lessons learnt in your class in your start-up operations.”

What about personal and social life then? Does that take a back seat? The only way to manage studies and working is by (almost) giving up on social and personal life, states Vijay. “It’s been quite some time since I’ve gone home and seen my parents or hung out with friends, but it’s something that would need to be sacrificed, at least at the beginning if you want to achieve as much in a short period of time as possible”, he says.

Vijay adds to that, “When you are a startup, even growing linearly can kill you and only exponential growth will give you any chance of success.” Speaking of growth and success, what’s the goal for Fracktal Works? “We are currently doing mostly B2B sales and low barrier products like 3D printing. Although there is still good money in B2B, the real challenge will be making consumer products for the B2C market. We are collaborating with many companies, as we speak, on various products ranging from home automation, to IOT to audio systems and aim to come out with well-designed products for the B2C market by next year and make Fracktal a household name.”

Leave them with the question about where they see themselves in five years and they say that there’s scope to get into electric vehicles and even health care. Though they aren’t necessarily sure what they might be doing in the future as they just started out. They began with product design as a service working on a diverse range of products from tablets to home automation. So, “No matter what we get into in the future, we are going to work as hard as humanly possible to be the best at it!” say the hardworking entrepreneurs.

An Ode To Nature – Janani Eshwar

June 8, 2015

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She’s a lateral thinker, someone who’s broken free of the shackles of established educational norms and given herself free reign to think and learn and live at the same time. Nineteen year old Janani Eshwar connects people to plants. She creates learning and teaching models for both children and adults at her venture Green Connect, a part of ArtyPlantz, a social organisation in Bengaluru.

It may sound simple, a tad over-hyped and not so important in the large digital world that one is drowning in these days. But Janani Eshwar believes that she is doing much more than teaching people to appreciate and conserve nature. “I connect people to plants. I find ways to make them fall in love with plants and to feel like we inhabit this ecosystem together,” explains the sprightly nineteen-year-old in her sweet, innocent tone.

She’s passionate about what she does. For someone who gave up the formal education system at age 12 to be home schooled, Janani has a long list of subjects learned and still being learned as part of her study repertoire. She’s presently doing a course under a mentor from the Eight Shield Community in California – it is a proprietary road-map applied to educational strategies, personal development, community building, organisational processes and more.

The Green Connect Programme, a module spearheaded by Janani herself for ArtyPlantz in Bengaluru, has gained much popularity among conscious groups of elders, youngsters and school goers, all through her efforts to connect and relate to the right target audience. “Outdoors, in nature is where we are meant to be. I’ve often been told by the participants of my programmes that this is just what they were missing. We restrict ourselves so much these days, what with our four walls boxing us in or the electronics we are wired to. Our senses miss out on all the exercise and exploration they need to be fully developed and it hurts us in many ways,” she explains.

Many studies have found links and proof to say that lack of exposure to nature and all the stimulus it provides are major reasons for psychological syndromes like ADD or hyperactivity and even depression. Most importantly, there are several things that are going wrong with our environment. Many of them because of our actions. “It isn’t hard to get information on how to live right, but very often we aren’t pushed to doing it. By connecting with plants, falling in love with them and realizing truly that we are a part of each other, people can’t think of doing anything that isn’t right by them. By connecting people with plants, we heal both the land, and our minds,” explains the passionate naturalist.

Through her work Janani concentrates on orienting mainly children and their caretakers to nature. She believes that if she can allow opportunities for children between the ages of 8 and 14 to connect to plants and nature, we will have a generation of self confident, empathetic, kind, healthy citizens who will do right for themselves and their community. She wants to reach out to every child in the country, but for now concentrates on her immediate society and city.

Constantly researching the subject and broadening her educational boundaries, Janani tells us how it is imperative for her to make a sustainable working model, even for a chosen profession like hers. “If I don’t make a sustainable model, my research is not complete,” she says. “I am going to be working with people from various classes of society, from various communities and from various fields of expertise. I am in conversation with psychologists, anthropologists, ethno-botanists and many others in the education field. The model I create should be one that can work for them all.”

Using her Green Connect Programme, the young lady works in two ways. Firstly, through a deep awareness of the senses and how to fully open them out. “This allows us to get down to the Earth in a way that animals and plants do. It allows us to enjoy fully, the opportunities for experience that the human body provides,” she explains. On a second level, the programme works through a realisation and reinforcement that we are a part of nature. She explains how as humans, we feel removed from nature. We often segregate things into natural and man-made. “We have to remember that we do really only get this one Earth, that we have a place on it, and that there are skills and practices that are needed to allow this to happen. This portion involves some thinking and introspection. It also involves a lot of skills and ways to live with the land.”

Vastly different from the average teenager (though Janani jokes that she doesn’t really know what the average is!) she went through intensive thinking before embarking on this mission. “I wrote out many pages, talked to many people (both supportive and otherwise), in fact, I used my workshops and sessions as a test to start with. I tried every possible way to see if this is what I wanted to do. I cleaned out the sentences I used to talk about my work until it sat right with me. I do have the frequent lazy day. I have the too much energy to sit with the computer. But, if I don’t work for a while, I don’t feel right. It doesn’t even feel correct to call it work. It is what I do. It is why I learn,” she says emphatically.

The aim of Janani’s research is to ensure that working with plants and nature can be financially sustainable. “This research and work model that I have created has to be sustainable. If I want to make this movement big, I need to be able to prove that others can choose this crazy field. That they can make themselves sustainable. We are solving a large deficit. We are needed. It is up to us to be innovative enough to find a way to make this solution work,” she says, signing off with a flourish.

Spinning A New Tune – Vishwesh Radhakrishnan

June 8, 2015

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He’s 22 and student at Loyola College Chennai, over and above which he pursues his passion, DJing. It’s not a career path considered mainstream or serious in India, yet passionate music lover Vishwesh Radhakrishnan is working to prove his critics wrong as he takes his company Musync from a start-up to being a well-known music property in the city.

Currently pursuing his Bachelors in Commerce from Loyola College in Chennai, Vishwesh Radhakrishnan is not your average youngster. The lad eats, breathes and sleeps music and is very sure that he wants to pursue his passion and build it into his career. Hence his move to start Musync, an event and artist management company focusing on exposing people to different kinds of music that are not the commercial tracks normally heard.

Says the youngster, “We find artists that are great at what they do, but not necessarily famous and bring them down to India. We work towards giving people an experience they will not forget. Our aim is to promote electronic music in India with local/national and international talent coming and performing here, thereby exposing people to the vast amount of music and different styles that are there to be discovered.”

Being extremely passionate about music, and often moonlighting as a DJ, Vishwesh says he’s had the opportunity to meet and interact with like minded people and understand the industry better. With the proper contact and a sound understanding of how the industry works, he decided to take a leap of faith and open a company, despite not having completed his formal education.

It is college by day and work late into the night for this music buff. “As I work on bringing down artists from USA and Europe, I find it easier as I work and interact with a lot of companies during these hours due to the time difference. It definitely gets hectic and stressful when I have an event during the week, and while it is manageable, sleepless nights are guaranteed. But then again, when you love what you do it all seems worth it,” he says with a contented expression on his young face.

Now that he’s actively into business, Vishwesh confesses that sometimes clients do not take him seriously when they consider his age. It takes a lot of convincing and extra work to get people to agree to his proposals. “One of the biggest challenges I face is that the kind of music I promote is not what people refer to as commercial music. It is more ‘underground’, more ‘soulful’, by and large unheard of to the normal music enthusiast’s ear. The task ahead of me is to make this form of music attract mass appeal,” he tells.

Having traveled and studied music culture in other countries, Vishwesh feels that there is a lot of scope in India to promote new genres of music. His ideology behind starting his own company early is so that he can monopolies the market before the competition actually arrives on the scene. “I felt that it was better to get into the scene and make it big before larger competitors came in. I wanted to make a name for myself. Hence I decided to start as soon as possible. I also work towards promoting genres of music that aren’t really that popular such as Deep House and Techno,” tells the enterprising young man.

His plans for the future include bringing down artists with bigger names, those who can aid in creating recognition for lesser-known music genres. “In the near future I am hoping to make my company more recognized by the masses, therefore creating a better space for artists to come in and showcase their talent.”

Turning Up The Heat – Pooja Kumar

June 8, 2015

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She’s the perfect blend of American spunk and Indian demureness. Pooja Kumar gives style a new definition with her hot bod and lissome ways.

Pooja Kumar goes gaga over her sizzling, summer cover photo shoot for our sister publication, South Scope. Located in ECR, the Reflection luxury villa is perfect eye-candy and has completely impressed Pooja. “This villa was absolutely beautiful and aesthetically done up, situated in the outskirts of the city. I loved the furniture and the colour scheme. It gave a modern feel. And the best part about shooting here was that, it felt like one big family hanging out together. It was really, something original and shooting was fun. You will want to work many hours in such an ambience.” says Pooja, who terms the theme of the photo shoot as ‘Fun time in summer’. “The sunglasses from Lawrence and Mayo added much to the photo shoot. They were very edgy,” says the star.

Although she started her film journey in Tamil with Kadhal Rojavae in 2000, Pooja who has worked with Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan in Vishwaroopam, is also the heroine of the recently-released Uttama Villain and will soon be seen with the South Indian superstar next in Vishwaroopam 2. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that she is currently one of Kamal Haasan’s hot favourites! With roots in Indian classical forms of dance like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak and a background in theatre and modeling, Pooja says she is being offered many more interesting roles in Indian cinema, especially in Tamil.

Suriya-Jo celebrate success with charity

June 8, 2015

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25 desolate women across Tamil Nadu were aided with financial support by 2D Entertainment, Agaram Foundation and Sakthi Masala at the success meet of ’36 Vayadhinile’. The event happened at Residency Towers in Chennai, where the innocuous and will-powered women were honoured by Suriya, Jyothika and others from Agaram group.

Akshara – an eye – candy

June 8, 2015

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Meet the charming Akshara Haasan who was in Chennai recently for the AUDI TT COUPE launch. We share exclusive images from our exclusive photo shoot with us watch this space for a candid interview with her soon.

Samantha’s homely avatar in VIP-2

June 8, 2015

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And its a schedule wrap for Team VIP’s second project together, which has Dhanush?, Amy Jackson?, Samantha in key roles. Here’s a groupie posted by Dhanush with Samantha. Anirudh Ravichander? will be doing the background score for the same. The film is being directed by Velraj. Samantha will be seen in a homely avatar in the film.

Rana’s night ride with ‘Bangalore Days’ team

June 8, 2015

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Well, Rana Daggubati? is in town and guess for what? For the next schedule of the Tamil remake of ‘Bangalore Days’. And here’s a groupie from the team when they went on a night ride. You can spot Arya?, Rana Daggubati, Bobby Simha, Sri Divya in the pic.

Africa Like Never Before – Saad Bin Jung & Ali Shaaz Jung

June 8, 2015

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“We were in the short-grass plains of Ndutu when the clouds turned grey. At the crack of thunder she began to move. The sudden change of weather had sparked more than just raindrops in the air. A palpable tension soaked up the atmosphere and then, one lesser noticeable black patch seemed to loom over a lone wildebeest.

Little did we know he was destined to die under it!

They called her Kifo, meaning ‘death’ in Swahili for, like her ilk, she was a lioness that took life with ease. But Kifo had a secret. In the tall grass, known as the ‘Marshlands of Death’, she had a litter of three and to keep them alive she needed to hunt regularly. The cubs were four months old and their diet was now meat. Though she was part of the Marsh Pride, she had to kill on a daily basis to ensure that there was enough food left to filter down to her cubs.

Guaranteed action, we decided to spend the next few days with her pride. Patience is the virtue of the hunter, and on the third day as we waited for the wildebeest to descend into the marshlands for water, Kifo too hid in the grass and waited. That’s when we saw the lonely wandering calf. He was very young, not more than five weeks and maybe in the scramble of the migration or in a bid to escape predators, the lone wildebeest had lost his way and was now walking alone, straight into the waiting jaws of death. We saw Kifo lift her head, the ears flicker and a set of ever-watchful eyes peered straight at the calf from the swaying grass. Then, with a blink of an eye, the blades of grass parted silently and Kifo was on the move, a blur against the rain soaked ground. The calf stood still completely oblivious to what lurked behind him, intent on finding its mother, bleating every few minutes.

The lioness was out in the open and moving like the wind. Effortless and without a sound she was within striking distance. One false sound, a misplaced step would cost her and her cubs dear, they would go hungry for another day if her prey spooked. That’s when she made the cardinal error and stepped on a fallen log weakened by the rain, the crack of dead bark sent the calf into a frenzied gallop. Within a second he was at full gallop, running straight for our vehicle. He came within touching distance of us and then, barely an inch from the safari vehicle, stood trembling looking at us with those large innocent eyes, begging us to save him from the jaws of certain death. The lioness wasn’t willing to come that close to humanity to make the kill and retreated back into the eerie grass to become yet again, another ghost of the marsh.

That’s when we saw another safari vehicle driving towards us. The calf thinking it was the mother, rushed to meet the dust. The lioness rose from the grass and descended on it again. The calf turned back to get to us but it was too late. She picked him up effortlessly and carried him into the grass.

A small stream of water trickled from the scene of the hunt to our jeep. It’s transparency lost to a varying hue of red. That day in the Serengeti, blood flowed as freely as water. That’s when our guests realised that in the deepest of Africa, when they safari with us in the endless lands of the great migration, they would more often than not, have a lot more than just the rain to soak in.

Africa never ceases to amaze us!

Africa, that majestic land of endless horizons, where each setting sun merits its own painting, simply has no parallel. A plethora of tribes, traders, explorers, colonists, bounty hunters, white hunters and incredible wildlife have blessed this land with a unique character of its own. It is the land of adventure; raw, savage yet sensitive and extremely gentle. In this land seeped in tribal traditions and warfare the earth is torn apart by cataclysmic forces creating a geographical magnificence unparalleled by any other in the world. Great mountains with snow on the equator and greater mountain ranges still, the majestic Great Rift Valley with its immense salt and fresh water lakes, great deserts in both the hemispheres and incredible rivers laden with diamonds and gold feed the human eye with sights beyond belief.

Here lies the source of the Nile, which has fascinated the world since centuries, a fascination which led to the very destruction of the continent. Explorations precede colonization and though Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe (to name a few) are independent today, they have retained the grandeur and romance of their colonial past. Tanzania and Botswana especially have mastered the art of taking you back in time and keeping you there, all with present day comforts. If you have the heart for adventure and if you want to feel, engage and thrill in the sheer ecstasy of being amidst the very last wilderness havens on earth then come on safari with us.

‘Africa Under Canvas’ is an Expedition & Safari company with its own mobile camps where we revolutionize the stereotypical views on travel within the Dark Continent. We retrace the rawness and the inner beauty of an era forgotten with personalized expeditions and safaris into the heart of the continent, offering both an inner glimpse into the savage yet gentle wilderness and the culture and traditions of the beautiful people that coexist with it. We take you to this extraordinary world of a pristine wilderness ruled by the still superstitious tribals, yet pamper and spoil you like no other.

Our camps are what both the guests and the wilderness need. They are temporary yet extremely comfortable, spacious tents that move after you have left, without leaving a footprint behind – exactly like my family did a hundred years ago, a reminiscence of the golden days of the royals of Bhopal and the Paigah of Hyderabad.

Africa needs to be touched, caressed and enjoyed and a safari with us is one of the best ways to experience the contrasts of this extremely diverse and stunning continent.

Check out Amy’s new look for ‘Gethu’

June 1, 2015

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Here’s look in her upcoming film ‘Gethu’.

The film has Udhayanidhi Stalin, Santhanam, Sathyaraj and being directed by Kris Thirukumaran. Music will be composed by Harris Jayaraj.

Dhanush to team up with Vetrimaaran

June 1, 2015

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Dhanush has announced his next project and he will be working with director Vetrimaaran next and guess which is the project? It’s ‘Vada Chennai’, yes the one which was announced earlier with Simbu, Andrea Jeremiah and Rana Daggubati and then later dropped. Samantha will be playing the female lead. The film will be a 2016 release. The shoot of the film will kick start in September this year after team VIP’s untitled project.. According to Dhanush, the script was narrated to him during the filming of ‘Polladhavan’.

Kamal Haasan’s Thoongavanam – First Look launch

May 25, 2015

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Prakash Raj, Trisha and Kamal Haasan at the first look launch of Kamal’s upcoming film, ‘Thoongavanam’.

RITZ

World Music Day with Agam

Young And Restless – Mehar Moosa and Nidhiya Raj

Tech Savvy Whizkids – Rohit Asil and Vijay Varada

An Ode To Nature – Janani Eshwar

Spinning A New Tune – Vishwesh Radhakrishnan

Suriya-Jo celebrate success with charity

Akshara – an eye – candy

Samantha’s homely avatar in VIP-2

Rana’s night ride with ‘Bangalore Days’ team

Africa Like Never Before – Saad Bin Jung & Ali Shaaz Jung

Check out Amy’s new look for ‘Gethu’

Dhanush to team up with Vetrimaaran

Kamal Haasan’s Thoongavanam – First Look launch

Actress Gallery

Smoking Hot 🔥 Raashii Khanna

Sizzling Sakshi Agarwal…! 🔥

Elegant: Iswarya Menon’s Photoshoot Pictures ❤️

Ravishing Rakul Preet Singh 😍

Hansika Motwani Latest Photoshoot Pictures

Actor Gallery

Dashing Photoshoot Pictures Of Harish Kalyan

Throwback: Arun Vijay Photoshoot Pictures

Throwback: Mahat Raghavendra Photoshoot Pictures

Stylish Photoshoot Pictures Of Silambarasan TR

Throwback: Ashwin Kakumanu Photoshoot Pictures