Africa is all about adventure, even when you are stuck in slush waiting for the rescue jeep, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image I have an uncanny feeling that I’ve been caught slap bang in a B-grade Hollywood film. This is Out of Africa II, or should the title be Stuck in Africa? Consider the scene. I am waiting, bags on tarmac on the tiny airstrip in Masai Mara waiting for the Safarilink aeroplane that will fly us back to Nairobi. We’ve managed to arrive in time to catch our 11 am flight, despite having to push our jeep through slush…

MTV?s irreverent humour and Kandagaon?s traditional iron craft come together in an exhibition that takes contemporary art to the edge of desire, Namita Bhandare. HT Image MTV makes its debut at the National Gallery of Modern Art. A sweeping exhibition that captures a decade-long perspective on ‘contemporary visual practices’ in India runs the gamut from desi cool to folk traditions. Through 80 exhibits, including photographs, videos, installations and paintings by 34 artists and two collectives, Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India comes to the NGMA after having travelled to Australia, the United States and Mexico. In India, it marks the launch…

As the art season gets going in the city, gallery owners begin scouting around for new locations, reports Namita Bhandare. HT Image Less than 12 hours after its wine and cheese opening of artist Aditya Basak’s exhibition, the walls at Anant Art Gallery in Defence Colony had been stripped bare, the paintings sent into storage. The culprit? The ongoing sealing drive. “We persuaded the landlord to allow the preview but took the paintings down the next morning,” said gallery owner Mamta Singhania. The art boom in the city has seen a mushrooming of art galleries—an estimated 100 with a vast…

Despite the harsh terrain, the Rann of Kutch is a stretch of spectacular beauty, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image I am connected to Kutch in a strange and roundabout way. I grew up in a rented apartment in Bombay in a building owned by Pragmalji Madansinhji, the former maharaja of Kutch. The building, on busy Napean Sea Road was called Symphony; though it was anything but symphonic. Every time the double decker BEST 122 rumbled down the street, the building would shake, rattle and roll. But the landlord was a nice enough man given to maharaja-style eccentricities: every evening his numerous…

Despite the harsh terrain, the Rann of Kutch is a stretch of spectacular beauty, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image I am connected to Kutch in a strange and roundabout way. I grew up in a rented apartment in Bombay in a building owned by Pragmalji Madansinhji, the former maharaja of Kutch. The building, on busy Napean Sea Road was called Symphony; though it was anything but symphonic. Every time the double decker BEST 122 rumbled down the street, the building would shake, rattle and roll. But the landlord was a nice enough man given to maharaja-style eccentricities: every evening his…

Chanda Shroff is the moving force behind a project that sustains thousands of families, reports Namita Bhandare. HT Image She’s an unlikely social crusader. Conservatively dressed, married into a wealthy Mumbai-based family of industrialists, Chanda Shroff is the moving force behind a project that sustains thousands of families in drought-prone Kutch. Chandaben, or Kaki as she is universally known around Shrujan, the organisation she founded in 1969, is also the only Indian Laureate of the Rolex Award for Enterprise (RAE) announced every two years ‘to encourage a spirit of enterprise in visionary individuals around the globe’. Rolex launched the awards…

Chanda Shroff is the moving force behind a project that sustains thousands of families in drought-prone Kutch, reports Namita Bhandare. HT Image She’s an unlikely social crusader. Conservatively dressed, married into a wealthy Mumbai-based family of industrialists, Chanda Shroff is the moving force behind a project that sustains thousands of families in drought-prone Kutch. Chandaben, or Kaki as she is universally known around Shrujan, the organisation she founded in 1969, is also the only Indian Laureate of the Rolex Award for Enterprise (RAE) announced every two years “to encourage a spirit of enterprise in visionary individuals around the globe”. Rolex…

At 83, Ram Jethmalani has probably been called a maverick more times than he can remember, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image He wears the word as a badge of honour. A maverick, he says is “someone who thinks independently, who has not mortgaged his soul or intelligence to anybody.” At 83, Ram Jethmalani has probably been called a maverick more times than he can remember. “I am fine with the appellation,” he says. The ‘maverick’ lawyer is back in the news with his decision to defend Manu Sharma, main accused in the Jessica Lall murder case. The headlines have been…

A significant part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is marked as ?disputed territory? on the flight path of Jet Airways’ recently introduced in-flight entertainment programme. HT Image A significant part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is marked as ‘disputed territory’ on the flight path of Jet Airways’ recently introduced in-flight entertainment programme. On the Mumbai-Delhi flight 311 on Thursday, passengers were surprised to see that the flight path, that allows them  to track their flight’s route on a touch-screen TV, flagged Jammu and Kashmir as ‘disputed territory’. The map also delineates India’s border, placing…

Jet Airways recently introduced its in-flight entertainment system on some flights on the Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Hyderabad and Mumbai-Bangalore routes, reports Namita Bhandare. HT Image A significant part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is marked as ‘disputed territory’ on the flight path of Jet Airways’ recently introduced in-flight entertainment programme. On the Mumbai-Delhi flight 311 on Thursday, passengers were surprised to see that the flight path, that allows them  to track their flight’s route on a touch-screen TV, flagged Jammu and Kashmir as ‘disputed territory’. The map also delineates India’s border, placing Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) outside India’s sovereign border.…

A significant part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is marked as ?disputed territory? on the flight path of Jet Airways’ recently introduced in-flight entertainment programme. HT Image A significant part of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir is marked as ‘disputed territory’ on the flight path of Jet Airways’ recently introduced in-flight entertainment programme. On the Mumbai-Delhi flight 311 on Thursday, passengers were surprised to see that the flight path, that allows them  to track their flight’s route on a touch-screen TV, flagged Jammu and Kashmir as ‘disputed territory’. The map also delineates India’s border, placing…

Eminent citizens come forward to sign a letter written by Vikram Seth, reports Namita Bhandare. Will you support? HT Image Indian citizens from all walks of life have come forward to sign a letter written by author Vikram Seth asking for the overturning of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. The section makes homosexual activity illegal and a criminal offense. The lead signatories to the letter are social activist Swami Agnivesh, former attorney general Soli Sorabjee, former UN under-secretary general Nitin Desai, freedom fighter Capt Lakshmi Sahgal and Siddharth Dube of UNAIDS. Economist Amartya Sen, while not a signatory…