IT training outlook TruePDF 28 january 2019

OLD IS GOLD The Congress may have won the three Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh but many in the party’s rank and file are upset at the alleged failur

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Volume LIX, No 3

EDITOR Ruben Banerjee

MANAGING EDITOR Sunil Menon

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Satish Padmanabhan

CHIEF OF BUREAU Pranay Sharma

POLITICAL EDITOR Bhavna Vij-Aurora

BUSINESS EDITOR Arindam Mukherjee

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CHIEF ART DIRECTOR Deepak Sharma

WRITERS Lola Nayar, Qaiser Mohammad

Ali (Senior Associate Editors), G.C Shekhar

(Associate Editor), Jeevan Prakash Sharma

(Senior Assistant Editor), Prachi

Pinglay-Plumber, Ushinor Majumdar, Ajay Sukumaran

(Assistant Editors), Naseer Ganai (Senior

Special Correspondent), Preetha Nair, Neel

Shah (Special Correspondents), Salik Ahmad,

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Editor: Ruben Banerjee Printed at International

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and published from AB-10, S.J Enclave,

In this obvious season of alliances, how is the BJP positioned?

28 Achy Shake Cart

Are the new rules for the e-commerce industry consumer-unfriendly?

30 V For Very Selective

While most dismiss it as a fad, a niche section of society embraces veganism for both ethical and health reasons How does vegan-land really look like?

56 A Talk With Tendulkar

In an exclusive interview, Sachin Tendulkar talks about the generation

of Indian cricketers after him, calling them brilliant and well-settled

68 The Role Call

Examining the recent trend of political biopics from Bollywood

72 The Other Wagah

On the eastern front, at Akhaura in Tripura, the BSF and the Bangladesh border

guards enact a Beating Retreat similar to the one at Wagah

28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 11

12 LETTERS 18 DEEP THROAT 78 BOOKS 80 GLITTERATI 82 DIARY

Cover Design: Deepak Sharma & Ashish Rozario; Photograph: Apoorva Salkade Location Courtesy: ITM Institute of Hotel Management, Oshiwara

DEHRADUN Rakesh Agrawal: This

refers to your “issue of the year” on

menstruation, I Bleed for Life (January

14, 2019) Without menstruation, there

can be no motherhood—hence if men­

struating women are impure, then so is

all humanity Kudos to Outlook for tak­

ing up this very pressing issue of the

day Our real national character is mis­

ogynistic, with valorisation of mascu­

linity and patriarchy Little wonder,

women are treated as untouchables

even in the 21st century in the name of

protecting Indian culture, tradition

and honour, and are routinely har­

assed, ridiculed, molested, raped and

killed The happenings at Sabarimala

are just symptomatic of this all­perva­

sive misogyny cutting across the reli­

gious and cultural boundaries That’s

what makes India the most dangerous

place for women in the world

BANGALORE Minati Pradhan:

With many well­researched and inf­

ormative articles, your ‘issue of the

year’ is an eye­opener, presenting the

topic from various perspectives Kudos

to the Outlook team for bringing up a

topic that is considered taboo in many

societies, including ours Here is a

poem I wrote on the same theme

Bleeding life, at times death

Shakti retains her fertility

When the earth bleeds

Witnessed by literature and sculptures

Bleeding liberates, does not confine

Why not revamp our values and faith?

PALAKKAD C.V Venugopalan: This

refers to Profane Marks of Sacred

Blood by Nalini Natarajan, who writes:

“Grumbling about being excluded

during the ‘curse’ is one of the staples

of female bon ding across castes and

classes This is more so in societies like

India where this most normal higher­

mammalian occurrence is treated as a polluted, untouchable, shameful state.” This generalisation cannot be justified with facts, at least in the con­

text of Kerala, where Sabarimala is located In almost all the Hindu com­

munities in the state, the first men­

struation of a girl, when she is hailed as

“pushpini” or “rithumathi”, is cele­

brated not just by her family, but also

by others in society The girl is decked

up in the fineries of an adult There are special songs for the joyous occasion and the entire neighbourhood is inv­

ited In Brahmin households, ukkarai,

a typical Diwali sweet, is prepared In the typically matrilineal community of Nairs, this event is even more elabo­

rately celebrated It is not embarrass­

ing for the girl to be the focus of all attention, decked out beautifully as an adult, which gives her the proud feeling that she could from then on become a mother

Even goddesses are worshipped because they menstruate At the

Ambubasi Mela during monsoons in Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, lakhs

of devotees, almost all from the mar­ginalised sections of Hindu society, gather to witness a phenomenon they consider sacred: The goddess bleeds! She undergoes ‘menses’ and rejuve­nates her men struation cycle This period is con sidered auspicious for all those immersed in Shakti worship What looks like a primitive ritual is actually a larger celebration of a pro­found concept in nature The goddess

is prayed to for her power of rejuvena­tion and revitalisation—the closest possible metaphor for nature being worshipped as mother Menstruating women are potential mothers and are thus objects of worship

BANGALORE B Rajasekaran: Yours was an exceedingly empathetic issue about the cause of poor and mar­ginalised women, and their travails due to baseless traditions and dreadful customs on menstruation It has bro­ken the Gordian knot of prejudice by cogently arraying the scientific reali­ties on physiological facts boldly and convincingly It covered the whole gamut of mythological musings to negative mores, and underpinned the necessity for valiantly rising above the folly of ostracism The corporal actual­ity, biological reality and medical ver­ity of women make them the victims of temporary exile, exclusion in dwelling areas, negation on social occasions and banishment from partaking of growth

in all avenues As the majority of peo­ple live from hand to mouth, it makes the sanitary napkin seem like a luxury even though it is a necessity for women The Article 14 of the Indian Constitution guarantees equality of men and women, but all the govern­ments so far have not taken the gen­der­related needs of women seriously

letters

To Bleed in Peace

RAYAGADA Samuel Joseph

Sabarimala reminds us of absurd ideas of purity on which the caste system is based.one-liner

January 14, 2019

Policy­makers must walk the talk by

crafting reoriented policies to lift

women out of the quagmire of regres­

sive social attitudes Women demand

freedom from norms and prejudices

that hamper their functional liberty

Speed It Up

VARANASI Jaideep Mittra: This

ref ers to your story Money Trail Gone

Cold (January 14), which shows the

extent to which our judiciary finds

itself beleaguered when it comes to

improving the abysmally low

conviction rate in high­profile scams

The legal procedure before reaching

the stage of conviction is so cum ber­

some, involving collection of

evidence, submission of investigation

reports and a series of court proc­

eedings, that the gravity of the cases

gets diluted with time and immunity

is accorded to the accused Some­

times, before the final judgment

arrives, the influential criminals

would have reached powerful posi­

tions where they make the rules and

turn the tide in their favour Courts,

therefore, need to devise methods for

reducing procedural delays in cases of

national importance

Unwaived Malady

SECUNDERABAD K.S Srinivasan:

This refers to your story on loan waiv­

ers for farmers (Seeds of Politics in

Debt-trap Farm, January 14) In the

wake of victory in three heartland states, Congress president Rahul Gandhi coming out strongly in favour

of farm loan waivers across the coun­

try is regressive It’s an idea that penal­

ises honest farmers, encourages defaulters and sets the country back in the development race It does not ben­

efit all farmers in distress as only a fourth or so get institutional credit, and tenant farmers, who form a sizable percentage, are outside the purview of the waivers Pre­poll waivers are a means for political parties to score brownie points with farmers in elec­

tion season rather than actually imp­

rove their lot In contrast, schemes framed by the Telangana government

to mitigate agrarian distress have ben­

efited farmers in the state It would have made sense if other state govern­

ments followed the Telangana model instead of announcing waivers

An Editor’s Arrest

DELHI Bipradip Bandyo­

padhyay: This refers to The Loud

Sound of Silence (January 14),

your story on the arrest of Suman

Chatto padhyay, editor of Ei

Samay, a Bengali daily from the Times of India stable, by the CBI

After hearing the news on All India Radio’s Bengali news bulle­tin, I tried in vain to find details of the scam in which Chatto padhyay

is allegedly involved As a regular

reader of Outlook, since its very first issue, and also of Ei Samay,

I was happy to see your story But you too avoided mentioning the name of the correspondent It was your only story without a byline

INBOXED

WHEN KHAJA WENT GEO HOPPING

THE Khaja is the fairytale of the godly kitchen, a

happily-ever-after to the satvik prasad of Jagannath As one who appreciated the sweetmeat associated with the Puri god, it seemed that a geographical identification (GI) tag for those deep-fried fritters dunked in sugar syrup implied a reprehensible frivolity It is recorded in the Swatwalipi; an offering to the gods at the 12th century shrine, or as part of the chappan bhog But this great culinary performance failed to engage the modern, geo-political palate The Puri Khaja lost its claim to the GI status to Bihar, which argued it was the Buddha who tasted the multi-layered Silao savoury and called it “Kha Ja” There’s a quiet sadness that Odisha allowed Bihar to take a gastronomic licence away, much as Bengal did with the rosogolla

THE SUBCONTINENTAL MENU

I N & A R O U N D

JUDGE ANTI-SAAS-BAHU

YOUR Pakistani visa may get

rejected the nth time but no one has henceforth been able to check the untrammeled entry of our saas-bahus into the zenana of our inhospitable neighbours Not that they watch the soaps for the drama; these are popular for the ensemble: the over-the-top jewellery of the actresses, make-up and expensive clothes Well, the terrestrial trespassing is seen with disdain by the mullahs and another powerful man—Pakistani chief justice Saqib Nisar The country’s Supreme Court recently banned all Indian content from Pakistani TV channels, saying it “damages our culture” The verdict follows a similar ban by the broadcasting regulator in 2016 on tel-evision and FM radio channels, which was later reinstated So much for neighbourly bonhomie, the culture vultures are at it again

PATIENT PYTHON

NEVER leave a snake wounded So goes an old Assamese saying Get

it treated, we would say

That’s what vets at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University did when foresters brought an injured five-and-half-feet Indian rock python The poor reptile was out sunning this winter when

a lawnmower’s blades caught

it in cold blood—nicked the dorsum, causing a laceration 15-cm-long The serpent was etherised with Sevoflurane, a gaseous, potent, safe and fast- acting anaesthetic, and a rare surgery was performed The wound was cleaned, perforated muscles were sutured layer by layer and the skin was apposed

in a two-and-half-hour-long procedure The patient was discharged after 10 days The hiss is back in the forests of Ponganamkadu in Thrissur.

Illustrations by MANJUL

VIRAL COP THREADS

SENSE Venam, Sensitivity Venam,

Sensibility Venam! This is classic

Mammootty, from The King, now

reproduced on the Kerala Police

Facebook page as an answer to how to

identify a fake post Or take this

rip-oste for an invite to join the

“under-world”—a meme featuring Mohanlal,

screaming “Vo… venda” (No, thanks)

Well, men in k haki are not known

for their wit but that is perhaps what

sets the force from down south apart;

their Facebook page more popular than

NYPD’s with more than a million likes

because of these raw, robust rib-ticklers

The stocks soared after Kerala Police

sel-ected five from their ranks last summer

to manage the account, which then was

getting at best 100 views for a post A

meme advising people on the Nipah

virus set the traction And of course

there’s also the agony aunt advice for the

20-somethings on love and marriage

A FIRESTARTING FOOTNOTE

Start the Fire got to do with Indian

courts and honourable judges, you may ask

Well, the 30-year-old song underscoring

epochs of the 20th century found mention

in a Delhi High Court verdict on power theft,

quoted to counter the defendant’s plea that he

didn’t ‘start the fire’ of stealing electricity Is it

a manifestation of the judges’ eclectic interests

or their knowledge of the fact that the

inde-fatigable singer-songwriter from Hicksville is

a known name in law for the judgment in the

Billy Joel versus Various John Does of 1984?

ANYONE would shed real

tears when a leg or an

arm is caught between a

croc-odile’s jaws; a bite force more

brutal than an indus trial

sledgehammer’s pounding

The jungle aphorism turned

on its head when a

130-year-old, three-metre-long

croc-odile in a

Chhattis-garh village died of

natural causes The

whole of

Bawamoha-tra turned up for the

burial of their

bel-o ved, friendly

neighbour-hood Gangaram, carrying him on a tractor decked with garlands He never displayed his crocodilian instincts on humans during his lifetime, and villagers say kids could swim around him without fear Gangaram was wor-shipped, would eat rice and dal served as offering And all because of this gentle

croc (forgive the oxymoron) the sleepy village is known far and wide as magar-machhawala gaon

THE Himalayan

Grif-fon Vultures are, er,

from the Himalayas When

a couple of them were

spotted deep south—at the

Penchikalpet forest range

of Kumram Bheem

Asi-fabad district in

Telanga-na—they put many

feath-er-friends in a flap These

long-distance fliers circled

over a cliff of sedimentary

rock before settling down

atop a ledge near the top,

cooed biologists So what got these scavengers from the high mountains drift

to the Indian Long Billed Vulture’s abode? A south-side cousin’s wedding?

Nah, we are kidding ter migration is the plausi-ble answer The sightings, apparently only the fourth

Win-in southern India recorded since 2013, give hope to conservationists of these highly endangered birds

MALALA Yousafzai, the world’s youngest Nobel Laureate, might have inadvertently waded into the choppy waters of Pakistani politics.

Malala’s choice of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto over other leaders as her icon could prove to be prickly for some politicians She is studying philosophy, politics and economics—subjects that Bhutto studied in Oxford in the seventies Interestingly, current PM Imran Khan, Bhutto’s contemporary in Oxford, also studied the same subjects But he finds no mention in Malala’s recent interview with BBC.

Malala, the widely known education activist, revealed

on Monday that she had a photo of Bhutto in her room

in Oxford University She also spoke about what she does in between writing and university life.

“I think, for relaxing, it’s just spending time with friends, playing cricket or having a bit of

gossip, or just going for lunch,”

she said Malala, who is starting her second year in Oxford, has often talked about her love for cricket “When I say I love cricket, I’m not that good,” she quickly added A point to be noted for former cricketer Imran

Imran, who was the cricketing hero in his university days and later became captain of Pakistan’s cricket World Cup winning team in 1992, is now the country’s prime minister But despite his current office, he hasn’t managed to make the cut to Malala’s icon list despite her being a cricket lover.

A Dawn report said, when asked what she did for fun, Malala expressed her liking for British comedy and sitcoms “I recently watched The Black Adder Sometimes

I watch Yes, Minister I also like Mind Your Language, which I know wouldn’t be welcome in the same way it was, but I find it funny,” she said.

As for her university room, Malala said her mother tells her off for being untidy “I am not a big fan of posters, but

I have a photo of Benazir Bhutto in my room,” she added Her icon’s choice isn’t surprising at all, though Bhutto, after all, went on to become Pakistan’s first woman prime minister in 1993 Malala’s comments on Bhutto might not

be seen as out of place by the cosmopolitan Imran But who knows, they could raise more than an eyebrow among his nasty supporters.

Malala’s latest book, We are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World, was released worldwide last week Malala, who is from Swat, has been living in Birmingham, since October 2012.

Icon On Malala’s Wall

Malala revealed in

an interview that she had

a photo of Bhutto in her room

at Oxford University

THE HIMALAYAN VISITORS

DEAR CROC, REST IN PEACE

28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 15

OLD IS GOLD The Congress may have won the three Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh but many in the party’s rank and file are upset at the alleged failure of party president Rahul Gandhi to bring about his promised generational shift It is not just about the decision to play it safe by going with old warhorses like Kamal Nath and Ashok Gehlot in MP and Rajasthan, respectively The appointment of three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit, 80, as the president of Delhi Congress has also peeved many in the grand old party The expectation was that 55-year-old Ajay Maken would be replaced by someone of about the same age However, by putting Dikshit in charge, many

in the party claim, the Congress may have just given Delhi to AAP on a platter It is widely believed that it is Sonia Gandhi who preferred experience over youth in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.

RAJNI CAN, RAJNI CAN’TRajnikanth appears to be in

no hurry to launch his party

or inclined to contest the Lok Sabha elections Enthused by the huge success of his latest

release Petta, which pleased

his fans, the superstar is busy finalising his next film—a po-litical drama The release of the film, being produced by Sun TV’s Kalanidhi Maran

(who also gave Petta) and

di-rected by A.R Murugadoss of

Sarkar, could then be used as

the launch pad of his proposed political party ahead of the assembly polls Rajnikanth told his supporters that they should keep their powder dry for the assembly elections instead of being distracted by the Lok Sabha polls He also hopes that the political air in the state would clear after the May general elections, helping him to strategise more clearly

SHAH OF SUSPENSE

Shah Faesal, the 2010 IAS

top-per, has created a crisis of

cri-ses in J&K’s political circles

From mainstream political

parties to separatists,

every-one is wondering what the

former IAS officer is up to

after his resignation from the

services It was assumed that

Faesal will join the National

Conference and contest from

the Srinagar parliamentary

seat Given the response he

got post-resignation and the

pressure on him to form a new

political front, other parties

are worried Unlike many

leaders, he has a clean image

and is popular among the

youth Moreover, he is

Harvard-educated and there

is a perception that the US

may be backing him That’s

why Faesal’s emergence is

being watched with curiosity

and anxiety in equal measure

deep throat

by Preetha Nair

Still smarting from the

drub-bing in three heartland states

and facing the greatest

chal-lenge from within, the

begin-ning of the election year spells

little cheer for the ruling

BJP-led NDA Sixteen of its constituents,

both big and small, have quit since

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took

over in 2014 the latest instance

came exactly a week into 2019, when

the BJP’s ally in Assam, the Asom

Gana Parishad (AGP) led by Prafulla

Kumar Mahanta, pulled the plug on

the NDA over the passage of the

Citi-zenship (Amendment) Bill 2016,

which seeks to grant indian

citizen-ship to non-Muslims from

Bangla-desh, Pakistan and Afghanistan

Though the AGP’s exit wouldn’t hurt

the Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP

government in Assam, it will definitely

alter the arithmetic in the Lok Sabha

polls later this year It could well be the

beginning of the troubles for the BJP in

the Northeast as most parties in the

region, including its allies such as the

National People’s Party (NPP) in

Megh-alaya and the Indigenous People’s Front

of Tripura (IPFT), oppose the bill and it

is likely to prove politically costly for

the saffron party

Putting the blame squarely on the

Assam CM and his council of ministers

for not thwarting the bill’s passage, the

AGP said it’s an anti-people move “We

expected Sonowal to help us and it was

his responsibility to raise his voice

against the bill that will bring doom to

the state,” says AGP president Atul

Bora “Many may think we were there

for greed of power, but we wanted to

fight staying in the government And we

fought till the last moment.”

With the entire Northeast up in arms

against the bill and the Congress

look-ing to woo the AGP into its fold, the

BJP’s dream of bagging 21 out of the 25

Lok Sabha seats in the region may take a

hit The BJP, however, remains unfazed

and its leaders claim those who quit the

NDA would end up regretting it “The

AGP was not a BJP ally in 2014 and its

departure won’t hurt BJP’s prospects in

Assam,” says BJP spokesperson G.V.L

Narasimha Rao “Our party has always

followed the best traditions of coalition

dharma and tried to accommodate the

concerns of allies Parties that have left

us will rue their decision.”

However, political analysts say the BJP would be contesting the general elec-tions this time with considerably less allies than it had in 2014 “NDA in 2019 will be much weaker than NDA in 2014,”

says Sanjay Kumar, director, Centre for

the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi “The signals are clear

The number of allies the BJP managed

to attract in 2014 will come down this time Modi was the glue then That factor

is missing now and the party has already lost some important allies.”

The party lost a key ally in March 2018,

With ally troubles mounting, BJP needs some soul-search ing ahead of general elections

The Friend Zon e Blahs

poll tieS

28 January 2019 OutlOOk 21

when N Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) quit the NDA citing its failure to meet his dem-and for special status to Andhra Pra-desh Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) followed suit

in December Defending his decision to exit the NDA, Kushwaha says the BJP is

an utter failure at “coalition dharma”

“It only wants to finish off the smaller parties They never walk the talk and only imp lement the RSS agenda They had no reason to deny three seats to my party,” he says Last June, the BJP had walked out of its ruling coalition with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir

While murmurs of disenchantment are growing louder in big states like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, BJP leaders refuse to attrib-

ute it to the setback the party faced in recent assembly elections In

UP, where the Bahujan Sama j Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) announced an alliance, the BJP is grappling with its bickering partners—

the Suheldev Bha ratiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and Apna Dal (Sonelal), who are seeking more respect and recognition from the Amit Shah-led party

A senior BJP leader feels it’s usual for regional parties in UP or else-where to make noises

to be heard during tion season

elec-Maintaining that they are very much part of the NDA, Apna Dal (S) presi-dent Ashish Patel says his party will wait for the central leadership to concede its demands on reservation in contrac-tual jobs and appoint-ment of OBCs at tehsil offices and police stations Claiming it was the Yogi Adityanath-led government’s apathy towards the party that necessitated an outburst, he said Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel, who is Union minister

of state for health and family welfare, was not invited to the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the State Medical College at Siddharthnagar

“Despite our nine MLAs and two MPs,

we are ignored There have been a lot of political appointments, but none of our men have been appointed so far Dalits and OBCs supported the NDA in 2014,

but they are disappointed now,” adds the Apna Dal (S) president, reiterating that if their demands are not met, they can go to any extent

While BJP state spokesperson Harish Chandra Srivastava dismisses all talk

of a rift as rumours and seems dent that the alliance is firmly in place, political observer Prof Badri Narayan feels that if both the SBSP and Apna Dal (S) choose to leave, it would be a setback for the BJP

confi-Analysts say allies are alienated by the way the BJP functions Citing the party’s

constant run-ins with its oldest ally, the Shiv Sena, Sanjay Kumar says the two parties seem to be on the verge of a break-up this time “None of the allies are happy with the BJP, thanks to the style of functioning of the PM and the party president,” says Kumar As the spat bet w-een BJP and the Shiv Sena intensifies, the possibility

of an alliance for the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Mah-arashtra is fast receding.Airing his party’s disp l-easure over the BJP’s highhandedness, Sena

MP Anil Desai says his party never minced words in criticising the saffron party’s wrong policies “As an ally, we were never consulted on many important deci-sions, whether demonet-isation or GST The state and central governments failed on many counts to deliver on their promises, resulting in agrarian distress, unem-ployment and many other issues Being the bigger party, it is the BJP”s respon-sibility to fulfill the people’s mandate, though we are also answerable to the electorate as an ally,” says Desai

While the Shiv Sena has been mently attacking the state and central governments on many fronts, the BJP too recently hardened its stand, with national president Amit Shah threaten-ing to go solo in the elections Reacting

vehe-to the BJP’s exhortation vehe-to its cadres vehe-to aim for 40 seats without the help of the Sena, Desai says his party will tackle it

With ally troubles mounting, BJP needs some soul-search ing ahead of general elections

The Friend Zon e Blahs

“Despite our nine MLAs and two MPs,

we are ignored,” says Apna Dal (Sonelal) president Ashish Patel.

“The BJP only wants

to finish off the smaller parties,” says Upendra Kushwaha

of the RLSP.

the league amit Shah walks ahead of the two Paswans and Nitish

getty images

poll tieS

in its own way “There are different

ways to go about being in a coalition

But if you are openly exhorting party

workers to defeat us, we have our way of

handling it Our leader Uddav

Thack-eray will take a final call,” he says With

the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led

Nationalist Congress Party reaching an

amicable seat-sharing arrangement,

the road ahead in Maharashtra is not

going to be smooth for the BJP

Another of the older allies of the BJP,

the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in

Pun-jab has been voicing its displeasure

over the saffron party neglecting the

smaller parties Drawing parallels with the Atal Behari Vajpayee era, Rajya Sabha member and SAD leader Naresh Gujral says uneasy relationship with allies doesn’t augur well during elec-tion time “The BJP should be more

magnanimous towards small parties and treat them with more respect,” says Gujral, adding that the style of functioning of the PM and the BJP president is the main reason for allies

to snap ties with the NDA

However, Bihar looks promising for the BJP with the NDA alliance in place, says an analyst Though the BJP man-aged to retain the Lok Janshakti Party

in its fold after a hard bargain on seat-sharing, it was a face-palm mom-ent when the other ally, the RLSP, chose

to join the mahagathbandhan—the anti- NDA grand alliance O

UP is setting the tone for 2019 with a

formidable alliance between its two

biggest regional parties despite a long

history of rivalry Any new political formation

at the Centre hinges on what UP, the most

populous state, chooses The Mayawati-led

BSP and Akhilesh Yadav’s SP have chalked

out a seat-sharing arrangement of 38 each

for the 80 Lok Sabha seats, leaving Amethi

and Rae Ba reli, represented by

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and

his mother Sonia, respectively The

alliance is historic, say observers,

signaling a coming together of Dalit-

and OBC-led political forces and the

consolidation of regional parties as a

bloc outside the Congress and the

BJP The SP-BSP’s combined UP

vote-share of 42.12 per cent in the 2014

general elections, when the BJP had

bagged 73 seats with its allies,

sug-gests danger for the saffron party’s

prospects this year “The alliance will

work on the ground and we believe

people will vote for it,” says SP

spokesperson Ghanshyam Tiwari.

The exclusion of the Congress has

fuelled speculation over the fate of

the grand alliance at the national level

helmed by the grand old party The Congress

will go solo in all 80 seats and its leaders say

its doors are open for a post-poll alliance

with secular parties According to a senior

Cong ress leader, the party will strive to

bolster the winning chances of the SP-BSP

alliance rather than squander its prospects

Analy sts say the Congress would put up

Brahmin candidates where the SP and the

BSP are on a weak footing, thus denting the

BJP’s prospects Though the alliance could

have added to its tally by bringing in the

Cong ress, political analyst Neerja Cho wdhury

says it’s a sign that regional parties want to curtail its revival at their expense “May aw- ati fears a resurgent Congress would be a threat to her support base,” says Chowdhury.

The turn of events could open up ties of political realignments While it would

possibili-be a direct fight possibili-between the BJP and the Congress in Gujarat, Madhya Pra desh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Hary ana, the

grand old party has entered into strategic iances with regional parties in other states

all-“We are looking at state-specific ties, like we did in 2004, 2009 and 2014,” says senior Congress leader Manish Tewari State-wise alliances have been stitched in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, though seat-sharing is yet to be finalised.

In Karnataka, where its coalition ment with the Janata Dal (Secular) is facing a crisis after two independent MLAs withdrew support, both parties say their alliance is firm Accusing the BJP of trying

govern-to poach MLAs and govern-topple the government,

state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao says, “If we work together and campaign sincerely, we will get 20-21 seats.” Ruling out wrangles over seat-sharing for the state’s 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, JD(S) leader P.G.R Sindhia vouches for his party’s commitment to the coalition.

The alliance in Tamil Nadu seems to be on a strong pitch with the DMK, the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) alr- eady on board, while seat-sharing talks are under way with others Emphasising that the grand alliance is a reality, DMK leader Kani- mozhi says efforts are on to bring all opposi- tion parties into the fold “Our party sticks to the idea of Rahul Gandhi as

PM I don’t think it created any rift in the alliance,” she says.

In Maharashtra, which sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha, the Congress has forged an alliance with the NCP With a clutch of small parties in the coalition, NCP leader Nawab Malik ruled out any alliance with the Shiv Sena or the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena In Bihar, the mahagathbandhan

in running on full steam, with the RJD allying with the Congress, the Hindustani Awam Morcha, the RLSP, Vikassheel Insaan Party and the Loktantrik Janata Dal.

While all eyes are on which side Trina mool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee would tilt, analysts say she is likely

to contest alone With the state acc o unting for 42 seats, the TMC look invincible, says political analyst Rajat Roy On the question

on the PM candidate, leaders say the final numbers would decide it “Our primary objec- tive is to defeat the BJP and leadership ques- tions will be addressed post elections,” says CPI leader D Raja As talk of a non-BJP, non-Congress federal front also on the hori- zon with leaders like Mamata, BJD leader Naveen Patnaik and TRS leader K Chandra- shekar Rao taking the lead, the post-election scenario is likely to be interesting.O

A Suitable Alliance

UP leads the way as anti-BJP forces get their act together

“NDA in 2019 will be much weaker than NDA

in 2014 Modi was the glue then That factor is missing now,” says CSDS director Sanjay Kumar

CaPPiNg it Mayawati and akhilesh Yadav

naeem ansari

candid talk

Makar Sankranti is alive with myriad kites

dancing in the clear blue skies in Jaipur

It’s a big festival and we seem to be the only

visitors in the elegantly laid down chief

minister’s office Bang on time, Ashok

Gehlot walks in, for the third time in his

career to these offices, with a marked

spring in his steps He is an old-world

poli-tician, warm and unassuming, enquiring

after our well-being and insisting we all

have sweets with him Gehlot says he will

not let another lynching take place in his

state, Rahul Gandhi has never used his

family to win votes and that Narendra

Modi has lost his chance to come to power

again Excerpts from an interview with

Satish Padmanabhan:

Compared to the mood of the people

during campaigning, is the final result

a disappointment?

There were some shortcomings in the

ticket distribution This gave a jolt to the

mood prevailing at that time But Rahul

Gandhi had set an agenda for jobs for the

youth and helping the farmer right from

the Gujarat polls to these elections If not

for that, we would have got even less seats

You were in charge of Gujarat where

Congress performed well As a senior

party leader, won’t it be better that

you were in Delhi, to strategise and

plan before the 2019 elections?

Whatever the party high command deci­

des for anybody should be acceptable to

all No leader should ask for any post This

is not the time to demand any post This

was a perception created by the media

The perception was that there was a

race for the CM’s post

It was totally created by the media There

are three things which decide the chief

minister: whom the people want, the

party workers want and the MLAs want

Also, that there was a rift between you and Sachin Pilot

It was splashed unnecessarily by people who didn’t know the ground realities

They said there was a big fight between us

There was no such thing Neither of us has said a word against each other Who­

ever declares himself the CM never beco mes the CM I have never asked the party leadership for any post in my life I have never asked to be made the PCC president, cabinet minister or chief min­

ister Only once in 1977 I asked Indira Gandhi for a ticket to contest elections and that I lost

There were reports of differences bet ween the two of you even in port­

The fight was going only in the media

They were going on flashing on TV that now Gehlot has gone in, now Pilot has gone in Actually, there was no discussion

at all, as Sachin Pilot was not even there

What is your view on giving more res ponsibility to the younger generation?

I am all for it All of us got our opportunity

when we were young I was a central minister at 29 But young doesn’t mean everything should happen too early I bec ame CM 14 years after being selected the state party president I was thrice the state party president before I became CM There is a process of getting ahead In our generation, people who became MPs in their 30s, became central ministers or chief ministers or members of the AICC

in their 60s But yes, the younger genera­tion must come forward Rahul Gandhi has a very aggressive view on this The other two states where the Cong­ress has recently won, especially Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh, have embarked upon a de­saffronisation drive Would you also be doing it?This needs to be done in the whole coun­try There is a fascist mindset government

at the Centre Those ruling now don’t bel ieve in democracy, they only put on a mask of democracy Only two people,

“

28 January 2019 OutlOOk 25

Modiji and Amit Shahji are ruling this

country Does this bode well for a democ­

racy? The whole country is concerned,

there is fear, there is suspicion, there is

hatred, people are being lynched People

are afraid to use mobile phones, they tell

you to message in WhatsApp Does this

happen in any other democracy?

So you would also be changing heads

of institutions, those who are political

appointees…

All institutions are being shattered They

have destroyed the CBI We Indians used

to hold the CBI in high regards So, yes, we

have just come to power, we will take an

overview of how institutions are run and

take decisions which will be in the inter­

est of Rajasthan

Your education minister has said he

will restore the syllabus which was

changed by the previous government

Yes, we will change the history text­

books to what they were before

Won’t this confuse the children, they learn one thing in one regime, another

in the next?

Well, we have to place the truth in front of them Those who change history, tweak it, have never been able to make history

They say the Congress has tweaked history too

Congressmen haven’t written history

They have been written long ago Those who can demean Pandit Nehru on social media, who is acclaimed by the whole world, who laid the foundation for a

democratic India, are blaming us about changing history?

You spoke about lynching Sadly, Rajasthan has seen many, right from Pehlu Khan How would you stop it?

We have already told the chief secretary and the DG police that we will not toler­ate it and will be dealt with very seri­ously We will make sure that such an incident doesn’t happen again

And you have also launched schemes for cow protection, adoption of stray cows…

That we have done before too There are many stray cows on the roads, in the fields, which is worrying Something has to be done about them But we don’t do politics

in the name of the cow It is very easy to

do politics in the name of religion

Other parties are trying it too The Congress is accused of peddling soft Hindutva

No, we don’t believe in it But yes, if there is a wrong perception among the public, it needs to be corrected When Rahul Gandhi went to temples in Gujarat, everyone said we are heading towards soft Hindutva That is not true But if the perception has been created that Congress has become a party for Muslims, that needs to be corrected, because we are with every religion If Rahul Gandhi is Hindu, or I am Hindu, and if I go to a temple, why should any­one be bothered? The Muslim minority understands this very well

Yes, religion is a personal thing, but if

a spectacle is made of someone going

Let them cover it That’s how a wrong perception will be broken It is our res ponsibility to do that, to break something that is absolutely a false perception The BJP and RSS were successful in creating this image We have to spread the message that the Congress is for everyone

Coming to the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, what is your gut feeling? It’s too early to say anything But I can say this: the BJP had a great chance of coming back to power under Modiji The people had reposed great trust in them for development, for jobs, in 2014

I can say they have lost that chance O

“The chief secretary and

DG police have been told we’ll not tolerate lynching

We will make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“

sanjay rawat

by K Shaini in Bhopal

Kamal Nath is no stranger to

con-troversies and the Congress

vet-eran appears to have waded into

another, right after taking over as

the new chief minister of madhya

Pradesh His tearing hurry to wipe off

anything remotely resembling

saf-fron—the political colours of the state

during the 15-year reign of the BJP—is

being seen by many as unwar ranted

and counter-productive and perceived

as political vendetta Not the least, his

decision to stop the mass singing of

Vande mataram outside the state

sec-retariat here Nath assumed offi ce on

December 17, one of the three new

Congress chief ministers, including

ashok Geh lot in Rajasthan and

Bhu-pesh Baghel in Chhattisgarh

Among other things, the government,

within 15 days of taking over the reins,

stopped disbursement of pension to

those detained during the Emergency,

sacked the vice chancellors of two

uni-versities, disbanded the Jan Abhiyan

Parishad, a semi-government agency

packed with RSS-BJP men, dismissed

all political appointees in state-run

corporations and boards and indicated

that a string of decisions of the previous

government would be reviewed

Vande Mataram, the national song,

was sung in a park opposite Vallabh

Bhavan, which houses the secretariat of

the MP government This practice was

introduced by BJP chief minister

Wrongs of the Right

New Cm Kamal Nath is in a hurry to de-saffronise the state

Babulal Gaur in 2005 Officials and employ ees working in Vallabh Bhavan assembled in the park on the first day of every month for the mass singing

Invariably, some ministers used to participate too On January 1 this year, the programme did not happen The first to protest was Nath’s predecessor, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who called the move “unpat-riotic” Chauhan announced that BJP members would asse mble it the park on the morning of January 2 and sing Vande Mataram

Accordingly, several former BJP ters, legislators and local leaders assem-bled and sang Vande Mataram But they ended up shouting slo-

minis-gans—“Is desh mein rahna

hain to Bharat mata ki jai kehna hoga” (If you want

to stay in the country, then you have to chant ‘Bharat mata ki jai)—often used by right-wing activists to tar-get those they perceive to

be unpatriotic or traitors

It’s another matter that when reporters asked the BJP members to sing the national song, some of them faltered “Very few people know the complete text of Vande Mataram If you ask me to recite the national song, I may not be able to do it But I respect it all the same,” explained

former MLA Surendra Nath Singh Taken aback by the protests, Nath clarified that the government did not intend to insult the national song A new system was then put in place under which the employees would march from a war memorial to Vallabh Bhavan singing patriotic songs, accompanied by

a pol ice band Vande Mataram would be sung at the state secretariat

The decision to stop pension of those detained under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency has triggered a major controversy The Chauhan government had started the scheme in 2008, start-ing with Rs 8,000 a month and subse-quently raising it to Rs 25,000 per person The beneficiaries, numbering around 2,000, included Chouhan and several BJP MPs and MLAs The Congress government’s argument is that the pension was nothing but a tac-tic to dole out largesse to RSS and BJP men, as it was being given to persons who were detained for even one day under MISA or Defence of India Rules (DIR) between June 25, 1975, and March 21, 1977

Yet another decision of the government, which is being labelled bizarre, is the chief minister’s announcement that hence-forth announcements of new projects and schemes will be made by bureaucrats and not by ministers And that the offi-

cials would be respo ns ible for the im p le me n tation of the schemes and projects The move is seen as an attempt to differentiate his government from that

of Chouhan’s The former chief minister had earned the sobriquet Ghos-hnaveer for his penchant for announ cements, most

of which remained filled However, Nath’s decis ion is being seen as against the principle that guides the functioning of a democratic government, where the political execu-tive takes decisions and the permanent executive implements them O

unful-Immediately after assuming office, Kamal Nath reversed several decisions of past BJP governments

in Madhya Pradesh

SONG SUNG BLUE BJP leaders sing Vande Mataram outside the secretar-iat to protest a government move

changing tunes

jitender gupta

TRANSITION TIME

by G.C Shekhar in Chennai

EVEN in her original avatar as a

man, Apsara Reddy never fought

shy of her sexual identity As Ajay

Reddy and the features editor of a

Chennai-based English daily she

would use the women’s washroom

“She had no compunction in disclosing

that she was a woman trapped in a

man’s body and was yearning to break

free And she informed everyone

open-ly before going to Bangkok for her sex

change operation,” recalls a colleague

On returning as Apsara Reddy, she

switched to politics and joined the

Tam il Nadu BJP before migrating to

the AIADMK The Congress though

gave her the much-needed political

recognition when Rahul Gandhi

appoi-nted her as the all-India general

secre-tary of the Mahila Congress—the first

time a transgender has held a national

position of a major political party

Apsara, 35, however, refuses to agree

that Rahul’s gesture was merely symbolic

and aimed at giving the space for trans­

genders in his party “I

think he rewarded me

more for my capabilities

and his quest for women

empowerment There is

no tokenism here,” she

says It also had a lot to do

with the inclusive nature

of the Congress, she adds

But Apsara’s first real

break as a politician came

in the AIADMK when for­

mer chief minister Jaya­

lalitha admitted her in the

party during a public meeting in October

2015 “Though her minions had given me strict instructions on how to stay two feet away from her, cover my mouth while talking to her and also touch her feet, I did not follow any of them We actually had a casual chat and Amma welcomed me warmly and she was very unlike the dis­

tant, stern leader that she had been por­

trayed as,” Apsara says

She addressed public meetings, cam­

paigning for the AIADMK for the 2016 assembly elections and surprised the leaders with her speeches in fluent Tamil

After Jayalalitha’s death she was briefly with the Sasikala faction, appearing on

TV channels in support of Chinnamma, jailed in February 2017 “I was beholden

to Sasikala since it was through her I met Jayalalitha and joined the AIADMK

Even when I campaigned in RK Nagar byelection in December, 2017 I cam­

paigned only by uttering her name When EPS also turned against Sasikala and TTV was keen only to promote himself, I

kept away from the AIADMK or any of its fac­

tions,” Apsara explains

But does celebrities par­

achuting into party posts without doing any grass­

roots work cause heart­

burn to other workers?

“Barring a few insecure functionaries, the majority have welcomed me warmly

I would rather take their positivity,” she says Even S

Jothimani, a former state

youth Congress president, finds nothing wrong in such lateral entry of well­known personalities “The party benefits by their experience and talent whatever field they are from And Apsara has been an active journalist and has written on women iss­ues,” Jothimani says

Khushboo, who too was suddenly appo­inted as the spokesperson shortly after joining the Congress, welcomed Apsara’s entry “She is intelligent and fierce and the Congress needs such persons in Tamil Nadu,” she says But Apsara’s identity as a

“lifestyle and page­three” journalist could hamper her connect with grassroots workers of the party “It is one thing to party in five­star hotels but to rub shoul­ders with the hoi polloi calls for a different mindset,” says a former colleague of hers Senior Congress functionary, Karate R Thiagarajan, is not very pleased at the sudden incursions of such celebrities with little political background “They

do not even adhere to the basic rules of the party and insult senior functionaries Khushboo made such a fuss when asked

to renew her membership She stated she was answerable only to Rahul Gandhi Similarly, Apsara even now is openly prai sing Sasikala and denigrating Rajni­kanth Does she even know the reach of Rajnikanth?” he questions

A confident Apsara is ready for the challenge, though “Those who question

my commitment would praise me one day I’ve battled my entire life against the perceptions against transgenders This

is one more perception battle that I will overcome,” she adds O

An Apsara

In Politics

Congress appoints a

transgender in a top

position in its women’s

wing, a first in India

Apsara Reddy says her apointment as

a Mahila Congress general secretary

is not symbolic

“I’ve battled against perceptions against transgenders This is one more perception battle (in politics).”

BREAKING GROUND Apsara Reddy with Congress president Rahul Gandhi

28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 27

by Arindam Mukherjee

IN early 2015, two years after Amazon’s entry into India,

Reddit tweeted a photograph of a delivery box of the US online giant at a Flipkart office reception The photo sparked a barrage of twitter exchanges between Amazon and Flipkart, then India’s largest e-commerce firm, and also signalled the start a fierce business rivalry that con-tinues to the day The next few years brought a bonanza for Indians as the two e-tail giants ramped up their rivalry with eye-popping discounts and “sales” that appeared to defy gravity But the story is about to change from February 1

In a recent notification that could change how e-commerce functions in India, the government has barred online retailers from offering massive discounts, and also limits the amount of sales a single company can give The move is seen as an attempt toprevent predatory pricing and deep discounts which have hit millions of small shopkeepers, especially in areas like mobile phones and electronics According to market data, around 60 per cent of mobile phones were sold through the online chan-nel last year These businessmen have been lobbying for gov-ernment support in the face of the cut-throat rivalry between Amazon and Flipkart, which was acquired by Walmart for $16 billion last year The local traders fear that Walmart’s entry could drive the mom-and-pop stores out of business

Amazon and Flipkart dominate India’s e-commerce market, which is expected to rise to be worth over $32 billion by the end

of the decade Other players include Snapdeal, backed by Japan’s SoftBank, Paytm E-Commerce backed by SoftBank and Alibaba Group, and Tiger Global-backed ShopClues People with knowledge of the market say that the new rules could have

a telling impact, not just on Indian consumers but also impact company-owned sellers, especially Amazon and Flipkart

Amazon sells a number of products through its subsidiary, Cloudtail, a joint venture between Amazon and N.R Narayana Murthy’s Catamaran Ventures It also has another joint venture, Appario Retail, with the Patni Group, which has emerged as one of the largest sellers on Amazon India

Similarly, Flipkart till recently had WS Retail, promoted by the founders of Flipkart Though the company has been spun off from the parent and is an independent seller now, it is still the largest seller on Flipkart The new rules will bar these companies from selling on their parent platforms

The rules, effective from next month, will bar e-commerce companies from selling products from companies in which they have an equity interest Besides, commerce ministry notification said, companies will not be able to enter into exclu sive arrangements with online retailers This will end mobile phone deals by companies such as Motorola and OnePlus who have been selling their products exclusively through retailers However, market analysts say the new announ cements would be detrimental to not just the func-tioning of the larger companies but also Indian consumers

New e-commerce rules could shake up the ma

28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 29

who have been getting better deals on these online retailers as compared to brick-and-mortar shops “In essence, it is against consumer interest The government has to ensure a level playing field and not meddle through pricing The government should not get into pricing at all,” says Lloyd Mathias, former

HP marketing head and consumer expert

Also significant is the rule that a vendor will now not be able

to sell more than 25 per cent of its products on an online nel This is certain to affect small businesses who have taken to online channels to avoid distribution and retail costs Says Ankur Pahwa, partner and national leader, E-Commerce and Consumer Internet, EY India, “While providing a level playing field and supporting MSMEs is

chan-the intention of chan-the government ; pricing, discounts, private label mix are equally relevant for brick-and-mortar retail businesses as they are for e-commerce compa-nies So, it will certainly be inter-esting if we see similar stringency being applied to brick and mortar stores as well, especially if the inte ntion of this is to protect small vendors and suppliers, who would

be seeing the same impact spective of online vs offline.”

irre-ARVIND Singhal, chairman

of retail consultancy Technopak, points out that while louder clam-our is coming from small traders, whose objection is only against inter-national retailers, today the biggest retailers are all Indian This includes Reliance with a turnover of Rs 100,000 crore, Future Group with a turnover

of Rs 40,000 crore across formats, DMart with Rs 20,000 crore and Tata with over Rs 20,000 crore across all its formats “The government should see how many small traders are actually shutting down shop That would be difficult to establish as they are all thri-ving In the UK, organised retail has decimated small traders but that is not the case in India and will not be for the next 10-15 years,” he says “It’s a red herring that has been thrown…

This is a game being played by big (Indian) businesses to create obstacles for international players There is nothing called deep discounting In mobile phones, even a five per cent discount can look big while in clothing, a 60 per cent discount can also be called less.” Also, the total e-commerce market is just about two per cent of the $700 billion overall retail market in India, analysts say, adding that any claims of

that affecting overall retail may be far-fetched

What the government and traders are not looking at is the amount of investment brought in by international online retai lers Flipkart has already invested $6-7 billion in India and Amazon has also invested around $5-6 billion in the last 6-7 years How many sectors in India have attracted that kind

of investment? Of the $25 billion FDI coming into India from venture capital and private equity, a large part is coming from online retail, shows market data “Because of the political reve rses in the five states, a lot of politically sensitive decisions are coming up which will not be economically logical, sensible

or rational Now playing to the gallery has begun Also, the old trader lobby is feeling alienated having come under GST It is

a step to appease the offline retail trade lobby and counter consumer interest,” adds Mathias

One of the grey areas in the new rules could be the 25 per cent limit for online sales Mathias says this could bring back the lice nce raj with companies forced to share data to the govern-ment on how much of their products have been sold through

online channels Online nies will also have to re-work their business strategies The net imp-act of all this will fall on consumers for whom prices will increase as retailers, in the absence of getting exclusive deals with online com-panies, will have to spend on dis-tribution and publicity which will

compa-be passed on to consumers

Some experts like K eswaran, who set up India’s first e-commerce company India-plaza and considered father of Indian e-commerce, feels that none of the rules are new as they were already in the country’s retail policy, which governs e-commerce as well The government statement has just reiterated what was already in the policy “This means that all this while, all the e-commerce companies in India have been breaking the law The government kept quiet when Amazon was competing with Indian companies and Flipkart was breaking the law for the last 10 years It also allowed Wal-mart to spend such a huge sum of $16 billion to acquire majority stake in Flipkart before reiterating the rules and limitations on online retailers operations Walmart and Amazon are easy targets in an election year,” he says

Vaithe-What is interesting is that large Indian companies who are waiting to launch their online initiatives, Reliance for one, will largely not be affected by these rules Because the policy is only for e-commerce companies in the marketplace model with FDI

in them Larger Indian companies will not have FDI But one thing is certain From February, a new chapter would be written

in the history of e-commerce in India One that will not be sumer-driven It could very well end the golden age of consum-ers and give unfair advantage to a section of Indian business O

con-New e-commerce rules, effective from February 1, bar online retailers from offering massive discounts.

E-commerce companies will not be able

to sell products from companies in which they have an equity interest.

Companies will also not be able to enter into exclusive arrangements with online retailers, commerce ministry rules say.

rket and put consumers at disadvantage

Damaged In Transit

VEGAN VERSE

THE

by Lachmi Deb Roy

IF not for that goat milk, Gandhi

would have been vegan Yes, that’s how close India is to having a patent on one of the biggest global fads of recent times ‘Fad’ or ‘trend’ perhaps would be a wrong word for something that comes out of a deeper philosophy Veganism, after all, rests on the idea that humans are compassionate beings and it is in their nature to choose kindness over killing—

or that such a state must be aspired to and can be taught or inculcated Those who turn vegans see it as a life- changing transformation free of any religion, propaganda, violence, lies, guilt, cruelty, rules, agenda, guru or a guidebook A lot of that can be admired,

a lot of it can also be submitted to a careful, respectful and sceptical analy-sis But whichever side of that cheese omelette or chocolate sundae (or smoked pork) you stand, there are things here that we can learn from and apply—for the sake of the planet.But back to Gandhi first Whether you prefer to bring him down a few notches, thinking of him as a faddist, or to ennoble the ‘fad’ itself by linking it to him, the historical connection is interesting From a family steeped in Vaishnav tradi-tions in Gujarat—with the very visible imprint of Jainism—it’s easy to trace that movement in the mind towards non- violence as a moral ideal, leading up to

a whole worldview around collective sustainability It’s also easy to see how these ideas also link up with a kind of monkish renunciation How thinkers have associated vegetarianism with celi-bacy (even if a handful of hundreds of millions in India will not agree) How

Not just a different menu, but an alternative way

of relating to the living world—this ism is a hit

COVER STORY

Photographs: JITENDER GUPTA Location Courtesy: PURPLE GREENE, DELHI

to make it a good protein diet

• For good fats: Olive oil and olives, coconut oil.

• For calcium: Vegan mayonnaise, peanut butter and sesame butter can be used as spreads and dips for calcium intake

• Vitamin D: Mushroom and sunlight (yes!); preferably, the morning sun

• Omega3: Chia and flax seeds

VEGAN DONT’S

• Those meats: Meat, poultry and fish,

• The ‘no’ ingredients: Food that contains animal ingredients like omega 3, gelatin and vitamin D3

• The derivatives: Dairy ice cream, cheese and dairy yogurt

• Gold hush: Honey

The Good

Charter

Delhi-based vegan nutritionist Bipasha Das says, “One should keep in mind that a vegan diet doesn’t create deficiencies if a person consumes it the right way under proper professional guidance.” She points out the dos and don’ts of the special diet

Gandhi, before journeying to England

as a young man, swore to his mother

that he would not touch “wine, women

and meat” (an association that will

strike us now as anachronistic and

sex-ist) Or how he linked intake of milk to

“animal passions” (remember all those

film scenes with the coy bride) A

freeze-frame of the noble intent and

a touch of the mental confusion going

with it, therefore, is already available

in the early Gandhi, way before British

woodworker Donald Watson coined

the word ‘vegan’ in 1944

The confusions around veganism

ext-end beyond how the word is to be

pro-nounced For starters, it’s not the same

thing as being vegetarian A masala

dosa from that neighbourhood Udipi

joint would be vegan (if there’s no ghee),

but the butter milk you wash it down

with is not And yet, a lot of its primary

impulse comes as a reaction to the

cru-elty and excesses of the meat industry,

which it shares with vegetarianism

Paul McCartney famously said, “If all

slaughterhouses had glass walls,

every-body would be vegetarian.” That simply

gets extended to dairy products

Actress Richa Chadha became a vegan

two years back when she realised the

kind of unethical practices that goes

into keeping cows pregnant throughout

their life because humans want to have

milk “I think to be a vegan is a

compas-sionate choice,” she says

TAKEN to its logical extreme, any

kind of animal product would be

forbidden in veganism as a lifestyle

choice And not just most Indians,

but most of humanity would fail the

test For it’s not just that tall glass of

lassi, that plate of thair saadam, or ice

cream or mango shake, that would be

sinful You can’t carry a leather bag, or

wear wool in winter, that pearl necklace

is a no-no, so is that Kanjeevaram, all

the piano you’ve heard is a sin (the keys

are ivory), so are all the songs with tabla

or most other drums (animal skin), or

even string instruments where animal

gut was used Yes, ethical alternatives

can be found in many instances, but

you get the drift Don’t even call your

darling ‘honey’

The other big strand in veganist

thought has to do with biology The

idea that humans are naturally

vegetar-ian; that monkeys are vegetarvegetar-ian; that

COVER STORY

the convoluted shape of our

intestines are more like that of deer

and not the linear one of lions; that

drinking milk beyond infancy is

unnatural to all other mammals (not

to speak of snatching some other

animal’s milk)

A few contrasting thoughts here

before going to the practitioners, the

evangelists and the sceptics The

vitamin B12 cannot be got from

any-where other than animal sources,

and most vegans have to pop a pill to

make amends there Then, teeth:

humans are heterodontic We have

incisors to tear/cut plant food and

molars to grind them, but also

canines for meat, a sign of our

omn-ivorous nature And our closest ape

relatives, chimpanzees and bonobos,

are omnivorous too Frugivorous

mostly, subsisting on fruit But they

are more than just opportunistically

non-vegetarian (consuming meat if

they come across a carcass), they

act-ually hunt monkeys, birds and

smaller mammals, and chomp down

termites and insects (even if all that

forms just 3 per cent of their diet)

There’s also the troubling thought

that it’s precisely the expanded

nutri-tional palette brought about by

cooked meat that may have made the

ape brain grow and created the

human being in evolution

But now that we are here, and in

billions, and since the planet groans under our weight, choices can still be made Richa Chadha was quite clear about it The dairy industry doesn’t function the way it used to when

“our parents were consuming milk”, she says Lord Krishna wasn’t vegan either, but the cows then were kept

in good conditions (and heard a lot of good flute) Now they have chemicals and steroids pumped into them to stimulate them to produce more milk, while the calf is cruelly sepa-rated from the mother “If you ever witness that, I don’t think anybody will ever have the desire to drink milk again,” says Chadha

She doesn’t believe in lecturing people, though, because “the entire philosophy of veganism is based on live and let live” The desire must come from within “I work with the NGO ResQ and I’ve seen how male cattle get thrown out of trucks It’s inhuman to drink milk when you know how female cattle are pumped with hormones and forced to give milk Sometimes blood comes out from their udder The male cattle are not even this lucky—they often get separated at birth, to be given away

to slaughterhouses because they are

of no use in the dairy industry There’s a lot of cruelty and I don’t want to carry all the negativity in my head Plus, meat can cause cancer and this has been confirmed by WHO.” And how does she feel, physi-cally, after becoming a vegan? “My hair and skin are better,” she says

DR Nandita Shah is one of the

earliest stalwarts of veganism

in India—in 2005, she founded Sharan, wishing to connect people to animals and nature in order to heal themselves and the planet “It’s a documented fact that the slaughterhouse worker suffers from emotional problems—violence, anger, suicidal and homicidal tendencies, drinking, addiction— because they are always dealing with death They do the work nobody else wants to do,” she says.Does the seed of human violence spring from our acceptance of bru tality vis-a-vis how meat and milk come to our table? It’s not a self- evident fact, but what Hannah

619 mn humans

killed in all wars and

genocides in our recorded

history We kill the same number

of animals every five days.

slaughtered every year

in India for meat

28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 33

Sources: PETA and FAO

Do you think veganism is just a

fad or does it have a much

deeper philosophy?

While veganism has the inten­

tion of saving the environment

and animals, frankly, it’s just an­

other fad Any diet that is not

flexible in terms of food options

and requires you to eliminate a

certain food group forever is a

fad A good diet is flexible and

dynamic in nature It should

allow you to eat according to

your body’s needs and lifestyle.

Is veganism picking up fast?

It’s unfortunate that very few

people follow veganism with the

right intention For most, it’s just

about following others Herd

mentality is something this gen­

eration is into but for healthy liv­

ing, one needs to personalise

their lifestyle decisions.

What’s wrong with eating milk

products?

Milk is not the problem; the qual­

ity of milk is Most of us have

grown up drinking milk and eat­

ing milk products So, have our

grandparents It’s the quality of milk, its source and the way it is sourced that have changed

Today, milk is sourced in very unethical ways Cows are pumped with growth hormones, antibiotics and fed corn and soy

to fatten up If you wish to drink milk, do it the ethical way, and respect nature.

Can extracting milk be considered cruelty to the cow?

There is a wrong and a right way

of doing things If you are depriv­

ing a calf of its mother’s milk out

of sheer greed and impatience, that is certainly cruel

Can a vegan do high-intensity exercises?

Kuntal Joisher is India’s first vegan mountaineer to scale Mt Everest His performance, with his choice of lifestyle, has been a mindset breaker People thought

it was impossible to build that level of nutrition and fitness which is required for such a chal­

lenging environment But to everyone’s surprise, he has

climbed many mountains.

However, I would say that nutrit­

ion is a fraction of what it takes

to be successful There are other vegan mountaineers too who did face challenges Other qualities are needed apart from nut rition:

the right kind of training, recov­

ery, mindset, willpower and determination.

Is it easy to be vegan in India?

It is easier to be a vegan in India because the consumption of non­vegetarian food is much lesser as compared to other countries However, India is one

of the largest consumers of milk,

so it may be a challenge for someone who has been eating dairy products throughout their life before turning vegan

What are the deficiencies a vegan diet could lead to?

It is wrong to say that only veg­

ans suffer from deficiencies

There are so many non­vegans who have critically low vitamin levels Also, we see so many veg ans with flawless blood rep­

orts and parameters However, if veganism is not followed prop­

erly, it can be detrimental to our health Vegans can be deficient

in Vitamin B12, protein, Iron and Omega 3 (DHA & EPA) Eggs and fish are some of the best sources

of Omega 3, which is necessary for brain and heart health, as they reduce the risk of stroke and neurological disorders.

Do vegans need protein substitutes?

If you choose to go vegan, it’s important to carefully plan your nutrition One cannot wake up

one morning and decide to do it Vegans can either be under­eat­ ing protein or overeating protein Veganism requires you to elimi­ nate all sources of meat, fish, eggs and dairy Hence, a vegan diet should be designed in such a way that it makes sure one is eating adequate protein via len­ tils, pulses, legumes, nuts, seeds These are good quality proteins, which, when had in the right combination—like cereals and pulses—offer complete pro­ tein Vegan diet has enough opt­ ions to meet a person’s dietary needs, just that it needs to be planned and executed well.

In certain cases, vegans ass­ ume that since they’re not con­ suming animal protein, they will

be protein deficient, and in order

to stock up on essential protein, they turn to protein powder But consuming too much protein is not only unnecessary, but also dangerous Our body can digest only 12­15g of protein fromg a meal When you consume too much protein, it’s not digested well by your body and the extra protein piles up as fat, which leads to obesity.

What about athletes like Virat Kohli, who is said to be into extreme fitness, being vegans?

When you are an athlete, you can customise your fitness regime Regular people working

9 to 5 jobs can’t be training like athletes It’s detrimental for the health in the long run Virat Kohli has an entire team looking after his nutrition and fitness and making sure his body isn’t falling short of any macro or micronutrient

TO V OR

NOT TO V

Understanding the vegan regime

with nutritionist Luke Coutinho

COVER STORY

Arendt called the “banality of

evil”—how cruelty, when repeated,

becomes so mundane that we no

longer balk—does resonate here If

we see an animal being stoned, we

want to stop it But meat, leather,

wool, silk and animal testing

happen out of our sight Veganism,

Dr Shah says, “is a social justice

movement where equality and

justice to every living being is asked

for When one stops commodifying

any living creature, one starts

seeing the world in a whole new

way.” It’s conditioning that allows

us to selectively love animals, she

adds To feel pain when a dumb

tourist stones an egret in Bharatpur,

but calmly dig into chicken curry at

the jungle lodge afterwards

If you’re an environmentalist by

orientation, consider the fact that

animal agriculture is the world’s

leading cause of habitat destruction

and species extinction Research

published by cbsnews.com says salt

water fish will be extinct by 2048 An

international team of ecologists

predicts our oceans will be empty of

fish by then Why? Overfishing, for

starters Already, 29 per cent of

edi-ble fish and seafood species have

declined by 90 per cent But it’s not

just about having seafood on our

plates Aquatic animals also filter

toxins from water and protect the

shorelines A natural coast guard

ANY intense pressure on natural

resources is detrimental to

ecology—livestock meat is a

good example Forests need to

be cut down to create ranches, and

you could drown many times over

in the amount of water a bovine

needs to drink so it can become that

burger on your table Says Tiasa

Adhya, conservationist and wildlife

biologist, “Converting our diet in

ways that reduce our pressure on

the natural world and, in turn, on

our own future is a significant step

towards conservation Our personal

choice of meat-eating disintegrates

the very natural system that sustains

us Chemical treatments to increase

food production are a health concern

for the planet, causing terminal

illnesses like cancer.”

Dr Shah started her vegan journey

in the early 1980s when she stood that to consume cow’s milk, a cow is artificially inseminated and her baby taken away from her “I imm ediately thought about my grandmother’s ‘chikh’, a pudding made from colostrum I felt a knot in

under-my stomach I realised that when we consume colostrum, the calf hasn’t even had the first drop of milk from its mother,” she says

Veganism alone cannot guarantee love for all Says Sayan Mukherjee, marine engineer, vegan activist and

a fitness freak from Calcutta,

“There’s a growing movement to grate speciesism into the intersec-tionality movement.” The idea of human superiority over animals is just ano ther axis on the interlocking systems of power that impact the most marginalised Very often speciesism language is used to des-cribe the marginalised Carol J Adams, in her feminist vegan critical

inte-theory laid out in the book The

Sexual Politics of Meat, says how

misogyny and meat-eating are lar in mechanism Both req uire objectification—the separation of mind from matter And women are frequently referred to as meat.Beyond the social, there’s pure biol-ogy: diet, nutrition and our bodies Says Dr Shah, “Greens and beans have more protein per calorie than

simi-“After a doctor’s hour-long presentation on how diet can prevent 15 common fatal diseases, I was convinced about veganism.”

AAMIR KHAN

28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 35

chicken or steak We are told lies by the companies that want to sell ani-mal products Excess protein causes acidity, gout, kidney failure, ostoeopo-rosis, allergies and cancer, and yet we are urged to have more of it.”

There’s a lot of confusion on whether animal protein increases the risk of cancers The answers are not

as straightforward as the question

According to research commissioned

by Cancer Council in Australia, there exists a clear body of evidence to link bowel cancer with consumption of red and processed meat (but it’s just one in six cases) WHO classifies pro-cessed meats—ham, salami, bacon and frankfurters—as a Group 1 carcin-ogen, indicating strong evidence of causation, including for stomach can-cer Beef, lamb and pork are classified

as ‘probable’ carcinogens

“The way the meat is cooked is very important,” says Dr Jaskaran Singh Sethi, director and head of depart-ment, Radiation Oncology, Fortis Hospital “Cooking meat at high temperatures above 100° C, in direct contact with the flame, creates pos-sible carcinogens like heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Stewing, poaching and steaming create lesser amounts

of those Processed meat has a lot of nitroso compounds and nitrites, potential carcinogens The way animals are reared in the farms is also a factor.” He means the pesti-cides and hormones used in feed, which result in toxic residues

BUT does animal protein itself

pose a risk? “There isn’t cient data and direct evidence to say that,” says Dr Sethi “Further studies of biomarkers of intake and metabolism need to be done to fully understand the association between these food items and cancer risk Still it’s advisable to limit the consumption

suffi-of red meat and processed meat in particular.” Nutrients like high fat content, heme iron and choline are

on the radar; the latter is linked to

“increase in inflammation”

Actress Kajal Agarwal turned a vegan a couple of years ago for health reasons “I was extremely sensitive to gluten and milk: they caused chronic stomach pain A vegan diet doesn’t by

itself help in weight reduction But I feel energetic,” she says Genetically babies need milk, adults don’t Every animal eats according to instinct But humans eat according to advertise-ments and social conditioning “In the animal kingdom, it’s only humans who drink others’ milk,” she adds.How did it go for her? Well, it’s dif-ficult for anyone turning vegan in India, one of the world’s top milk- producing countries, where no vege-tarian spread is complete without paneer, raita, ghee and milk-based sweets But not impossible Just that one needs to plan Kajal recalls, “It used to be a task to find almond milk I’d make it at home But now everything is just a phone call away.”

A 2016 poll by Ipsos MORI showed the number of vegans has risen in the

UK by 360 per cent in just a decade And in the US, there were 600 per cent more vegans in 2017 than there were in 2014 In India too, a recent article on a website run by Franchise India Holdings Limited pegs the recent rise at 360 per cent, though absolute numbers may look more meagre Chirag Medira, an ethnographer, design thinker and ex-army man, is one of them For him, veganism is not just a diet, but “an identity that surpasses all man-made lenses of culture, traditions, society and nationalities, a more conscious

FERMENTED FAD: Fermented food

is high in demand as people are

becoming aware of their inherent

probiotic health benefits Many are

switching to kefir, which is almost

100 per cent lactose­free after the

bacteria have metabolised the milk

sugar Korean spicy fermented

cabbage, or kimchi, is another

popular item at restaurants.

EATING WILD: Many regional cuisines

incorporate wild ferns, berries, shoots

and tubers into their menu These are

catching on with the foodies and

turning up on five­star hotel tables.

THE LOCAVORES: Eating moringa

leaves is far more nutritious than

lettuce and there are environ men­

talists, foodies and restauran teurs

who are trying hard to bring such

traditional greens to fine dining

Millets, ranked as poor man’s grain,

are now considered a health food and

used to make breads and muffins.

FLOWER POWER: When it comes

to eating flowers, we just don’t

restrict ourselves to banana blos­

soms In fact, flowers have arrived in

a big way; not just for decoration and

garnishing, but also as essential ing­

redients in dishes Begonia, carnation,

lily, daisy, hibiscus, lilac, marigold,

pansy, peony, rose, sunflower, tulip,

violet Japanese honeysuckles are a

huge favourite of the chefs.

OTHER

FOOD

TRENDS

“I have been sensitive

to gluten and milk On becoming vegan, I started eating clean and feeling energetic too.”

KAJAL AGARWAL COVER STORY

Vitamin B12: Chances

are that if you aren’t hav­

ing non­vegetarian food

and also not eating a

well­balanced diet, you

may see your vitamin

B12 levels dipping

However, our gut health

has a lot to do with vita­

min B12 levels “Our gut

releases a co­factor

that’s necessary for B12

conversion If our gut

health is messed–up,

then it could lead to low

vitamin B12 levels too

For B12, one needs to

take supplementation or

fermented food or foods

made with the vitamin

(like nutritional yeast, or

some plant milk),” says

holistic and lifestyle

coach, Luke Coutinho.

Protein: Not eating any

meat, egg, dairy and also

skipping on vegan options

like pulses, lentils, leg­

umes, nuts and seeds can

lead to protein deficiency

Hence, it’s important to

plan a balanced vegan

diet and also focus on

dig estive health because

it takes the right amount

of digestive enzymes and

juices to digest and

absorb protein.

Iron: Non­vegetarian

food is rich in iron and is

generally absorbed better

than a plant­based

source However, if you

choose to go vegan, make

sure you focus on iron­

rich foods in your diet

Low iron levels can lead

to anaemia, leaving you

feeling weak, fat igued

and tired all the time In

some cases, even supple­

mentation is required,

esp ecially for pregnant

women or lactating

mothers Include mor­

inga, spinach, carrot,

beets, beans, lentils, nuts

and seeds into your

meals “Top off meals

with lemon juice as vita­

min C boosts iron absorp­

tion,” says nutritionist Kavita Devgan.

Omega 3 (DHA &

EPA): Eggs and fish are some of the best sources

of omega 3 which is nec­

essary for brain and heart health “If vegans are skipping that and also

not having adequate nuts, seeds and cold­ pressed oils in their diet, they are bound to fall short of this essential nutrient,” says Coutinho.

Creatine: It helps inc­ rease muscle mass and endurance Our body makes a small amount

of creatine each day but

to meet the rest of its creatine needs, it relies

on dietary sources, namely meat So, for vegans, creatine supplements may

be necessary.

Carnosine: This amino acid helps prevent a range of diseases like dia betes, cataracts, Alzheimers and Par kin­ son “Carnosine can be formed in the body from the amino acids histidine and beta­alanine Apples, corn, mushrooms and bananas are rich in histidine,” says Devgan.

Zinc: Have loads of beans, legumes, and whole grains But as phytic acid found in these foods can hinder zinc absorption, so always soak or sprout them before cooking to reduce the phytic acid content.

“Top off meals with lemon juice as vitamin C boosts iron absorption, ” says Kavita Devgan.

Deficiencies veganism can lead to and ways to deal with them

28 January 2019 OUTLOOK 37

and intuitive global identity It’s NOT a

choice, but a moral obligation for the

three trillion animals slaughtered

every year, a massacre we are a part of

in our daily lives,” says Medira

Medira also believes he is in his best

physical and mental health, even better

than what he was during his army

days—he finds living without conscious

and subconscious guilt quite freeing

“All health starts with mental health,

and in today’s world the suppressed

truths of us being murderers affects us

at a deeper level When I turned vegan,

I felt this uncontrollable surge of clean,

dynamic and natural energy I had

never experienced before,” he says

AUTHOR and travel blogger Shivya

Nath had no idea an ordinary

‘chicken bus’ ride in Nicaragua

would transform her life But

that’s how it is with the road; it changes

you when you least exp ect it “I no

longer remember what our destination

was, only that the chicken bus—so

called because people are crammed in

like chickens—was far more crowded

than usual because it was New Year eve,

and locals were heading home to the

countryside,” says Nath “An old lady

kept her sack next to my feet, and I felt

something moved.” When staring

didn’t work, she asked her politely in

Spanish to move it Minutes later, she

felt something poking her back Much

to her horror, ins ide were three little

squeaking chicks trying to survive in a sack without a hole to breathe “I brea-thed a sigh of relief when the lady got off at her stop Clearly, she had taken the ‘chicken bus’ literally,” adds Nath

A month or so later, when Nath was making an egg in her friend’s apart-ment, the incident came back to haunt her “I knew the eggs we eat wouldn’t become chicks, but I wanted to know what eggs really were, what conditions they came from.” When she started reading, she was shocked She had been

vegetarian for over a decade, but had no idea that by consuming milk products, honey and other animal products, she was still contributing to animal cruelty This was Nath’s foray into veganism.The lifestyle choices it implies means abjuring not just leather, silk and wool, but also cosmetics that have been tested on animals; also, not visiting places based on captivating and com-modifying animals such as the zoo, circus and water worlds “I avoid any lifestyle products that feature animal products like honey, beeswax and goat milk It’s a myth that one can get pro-tein only from meat or eggs I get mine through a balanced diet, which features lots of legumes, green vegetables and soya tofu,” adds Nath

Most cities around the world have

a vegan movement in swing, and apps like Happycow make it easy to dis-cover vegan-friendly places Nath has been travelling constantly for over five years now, and has been vegan for the last three “It sounds difficult, but actually, every cuisine has dishes that are accidentally vegan or can be cus-tomised I’m happy to drink green tea Many of my vegan friends have mas-tered the art of coffee and chai with almond, soy or oat milk,” she says.But what’s with milk? “Infants and children produce enzymes that break down lactose, but as we grow

up, many of us lose this capacity,” says Anuradha Sawhney, former head of

“I stopped eating meat four

or five years ago What has happened now is that I’ve stopped having milk and milk products as well.”

SONAM KAPOOR COVER STORY

• Skin Sensitivity:

High consumption of full­fat dairy, particularly among teens increases the risk of moderate to severe acne.

• Digestive Distress:

Many are unaware that milk causes digestive

iss ues; lactose intoler­

ance often goes undiag­

nosed Nutritionist Karishma Chawla says,

“Sym ptoms such as gastrointestinal cramp­

ing, flatulence, and diarrhoea are seen

Some also have a harder time tolerating dairy as they age.”

• Cancer Concern:

Experts say those who consumed high levels of dairy had an increased risk of developing prostate cancer.

• Contaminant Challenge: Synthetic

hormones like recombi­

nant bovine growth hor­

mone (rBGH) are often given to cows to inc­

rease milk production

They make way into our milk supply The same goes for antibiotics adm inistered to animals that develop infections due to milk production manipulation.

• Respiratory Risk:

Many people find that they suffer less from respiratory diseases when dairy is removed from their diet.

SAY NO CHEESE, AND WHY

Arguments

against milk

and dairy

products

PETA India and author of The Vegan

Kitchen: Bollywood Style! “Lactose

intolerance is common, affecting

about 95 per cent of Asian Americans,

74 per cent of Native Americans, 70

per cent of African Americans, 53 per

cent of Mexican Americans, and 15

per cent of Caucasians.” See that last

figure against an old pastoral history,

which India shares

And what about dairy products and

bone health? It’s apparently debatable

An analysis published in the British

Medical Journal says most studies fail

to show any link between dairy intake

and fractures In one study, researchers

tracked the diets, exercise and stress

fracture rates of adolescent girls, and

concluded dairy products and calcium

do not prevent stress fractures

Another study of over 96,000 people

found the more milk men consumed as

teenagers, the more bone fractures

they experienced as adults!

“Milk is not the problem, the quality of

milk is,” says Luke Coutinho, who

styles himself as a ‘holistic lifestyle

coach’ using integrative medicine

“Most of us have grown up drinking milk

and eating milk products So, have our

grandparents Its source and the way

the source has changed create the

prob-lem.” Sawhney cites how cruelly cows

are kept tethered The milk-extracting

machines are fixed to their udders,

even if they are turned on and off

dur-ing milkdur-ing timdur-ings Even if a cow has

an infection or her milk has run dry,

these machines keep on squeezing the

udders Cows and buffaloes are also

inj-ected with Oxytocin, a drug banned for

humans, to stimulate milk production

VEGANS believe lactose and casein

are not really great for our health

“In fact, people who consume milk

are more prone to ostoeoporosis

and cancer, contrary to the dairy

industry line that says ‘drink milk for

healthy bones’ Moreover, dairy is one

of the leading causes of obesity and

cholesterol No external cholesterol is

good for our body,” says Medira

Becoming a vegan needs a lot of

thought, effort and investment, if

there’s no easy access to good quality

produce Being creative with cooking is

the trick An ideal vegan diet includes

fruits, vegetables, whole grain products,

nuts, seeds and legumes A typical

menu might include grain porridge with fresh fruit for breakfast, a veggie stir-fry with quinoa for lunch, and a bean and vegetable soup with a leafy-green salad for dinner

Being a global fad helps The rooming restaurants, cafes, snacks, ice-cream parlours, clothing concepts and home decor devoted to veganism attest

mush-to it “It’s unfortunate that very few people follow veganism with the right intention,” says Coutinho “For most, it’s just about following what others are doing herd mentality.”

Sawhney feels it’s not too difficult in India: there are already so many vege-tarian places One only needs to inform the server that you don’t want any dairy products “Today in India, chefs and

waiting staff in restaurants understand this term It’s no longer like what it was back in 2000 when I turned vegan, when we had to sing a long litany of stuff to avoid in one’s food…no ghee, no cream, no cheese, no curd, no butter, no white sauce, no paneer…and invariably the food would have to be turned away because there would be some dairy product or the other in it,” she recalls.Milk may be essential to the Indian palate But unfortunately, milk produc-tion can’t keep pace with our popula-tion growth It’s adulteration that chips

in And you get pesticides, urea, toxin and such like, all potential carcinogens “They’re linked to the dev-elopment of various cancers…hepato-cellular, colon, lung, prostate, brain,

1 To produce foie gras, ducks are force­fed multiple times

a day to inflate the liver

2 97 per cent of dairy calves are taken from their mothers within the first 24 hours of life

3 Due to genetic modifications, 95 per cent of broiler chickens have gait abnormalities

4 More than 50 million animals are killed for fashion every year

5 Around 40 pigs are slaughtered every second glob­

ally That’s one billion pigs a year

6 50 billion chick­

ens are artificially hatched, fattened and killed after 42 days each year globally

7 The egg industry has no use for the male chick, and every year, over 6 billion male chicks are thrown into

a shredder

8 Piglets born in factory farms often

have their tails docked and teeth clipped usually with­

out any anaesthesia

9 Chickens are crammed so tightly that they grow irri­

table and start peck­

ing each other So, they are debeaked without anesthesia soon after birth

10 Hens in the egg

industry are kept in cages smaller than

an A4 size paper, stacked up on top

of each other

11 Dairy cows are typically artificially inseminated within three months of giving birth They are fed steroids for a higher yield and kept pregnant

so that they keep producing milk Most dairy cows suffer from mastisis, a painful udder infection

A male calf is immediately sent for slaughter

ANIMAL FARM

The Vegan Society underscores the brutal practices of the meat and dairy industry

COVER STORY