Dynamic duo, Hari and Sukhmani, have taken their eclectic folk-electronica tunes across the globe. Juanita Kakoty talks to this talented pair about their latest stint with the show ‘SoundTrek’ The young and ambitious duo, Hari and Sukhmani, seek to take Punjabi folk music from the yesteryears into the future, from New Delhi to New York City. One can catch them on SoundTrek, the travel-based music show on Fox Traveller. The show has been presented as ‘the ultimate Indian jam session on Indian television’ and airs every Thursday and Friday at 10 pm. Breathing freshness in how ‘travel’ is viewed, Fox Traveller brings to the audience an exhilarating mix of styles, cultures and personalities; a cross-country journey which merges different music genres.
Travel & music
“We were approached by blueFROG who are producing the show,” say the duo about their association with the show. “We haven’t travelled to any place for the show. We only shot in Delhi. But we did get to ride around town on our motorcycles, which was fun, and met some nice people. We were asked to choose one of our previously produced tracks. It’s a cool collaboration with a brass band.”
They say they were most happy with their stint with SoundTrek, but in a jocular vein add, “Although we wish we had travelled to a more exotic location!”
Hari and Sukhmani are from Chandi Town (Chandigarh) and they combine eclecticism with a curiously contemporary take on traditional folk songs from Punjab. They blend folk music with electronica. “We say long live Punjabi folk! Chardi kala! We will keep making our small efforts to keep it alive.” And about response to Punjabi folk music and their kind of fusion, the duo shares, “The response is always fantastic. It’s good music, and if presented well, you can’t go wrong with it.”
Sukhmani Malik is a trained Hindustani classical vocalist from the Rampur Gharana and has a voice which is dense with character. Hari Singh is a producer and an audio engineer. “We met through a common friend. I guess the time was right. I had just finished my travels in Europe, Hari had also returned from Manchester, and we were both looking for work!” says Sukhmani.
And since December 2008, Hari and Sukhmani have been touring nationally and internationally, having performed time and again in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Udaipur, Lucknow, Benaras, Goa, Jim Corbett, Manali, Mussouri, Shimla, Sydney (Australia), Wellington and Queenstown (New Zealand). Their charisma and demand has also been growing in the wedding circuit. The duo has also made music for feature films like Deepa Mehta’s Videsh and Heaven on Earth.
Apart from Hari and Sukhmani, SoundTrek features other musical geniuses like the MIDIval Punditz, Lucky Ali, Advaita, Parikrama, Ranjit Barot, Avial, Indus Creed and Soulmate to name a few. The show takes the audience to popular Indian destinations like Ladhakh, Goa, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Auroville, Kerala, Shillong, Calcutta, Varanasi, Kalimpong, Maheshwar, Srinagar, Orchha and Udaipur. And in these journeys, the musicians try to find the best local talent for the biggest jam session of their lifetime. A fresh take
The show holds a lot of promise because it is being produced by pioneers in the field of music — blueFROG, a revolutionary integrated music project that consists of the country’s premiere live music performance clubs. Artistes from all over the world have played at the blueFROG clubs, including John McLaughlin, Earl Klugh, Richard Bona, Angelique Kidjo, Trilok Gurtu, Zakir Hussain, Anoushka Shankar, Gotye, Deep Forest, as well electronic music giants Skazi, Armin Van Buuren, Shpongle, John Digweed, Sasha, Nick Warren and Infected Mushroom.
SoundTrek will present the experiences, musical and travel, of the musicians as they interact with storytellers, qawals, boatmen etc. The show will run 18 episodes, which will feature 18 bands, 18 journeys and 18 unique collaborations. Hari and Sukhmani are quite excited about their stint with SoundTrek and they also look forward to future projects.
“Next level is to keep the originals coming as well. Songs on iTunes, hitting international festivals etc. Sky is the limit!” is what they say signing off.
The sight of quaint tea bungalows nestled in the midst of tea gardens is perhaps what started my romance with tea gardens and their bungalows even as a child when we took road trips to upper Assam. As dad drove the car to Duliajan, Golaghat, Jorhat, Tinsukia and Sibsagar during our school vacations, the tea gardens that lined the road on both sides created a romantic sight (all the more when it drizzled) and fueled my imagination. I would spin my own tales of who lived in those bungalows and what must be happening inside one of them just as we passed by. Me and my brother always waved to the workers who would be plucking tea leaves by the roadside, baskets hanging by their heads. They were charming: the sights of tea gardens, bungalows and the busy workers. An aunt of mine would joke to me, "We'll have to look for a tea manager for you when you grow up!" And I would be pleased as dreams of spending a lot of time walking around the estate, being the mistress of a beautiful bungalow, and learning the jhumur from the workers came to me! I thought that would make a wonderful life.
I never married anyone from the tea gardens, nor did I end up working in one. But I did get to spend time every now and then at the tea gardens where relatives were posted. And the experience lived up to my expectation of tea garden life, although many tell me that it is a lonely life. So years later, even with the disturbing news about violence within tea estates as many tea managers lost their lives to mob fury, the romance of the tea gardens remains alive for me. Maybe it is because of the pictures they painted for me when I was a child. And maybe because I want the romance to stay alive.
Here I post pictures from a trip in 2011, visits to my relatives at two estates - SESSA and THANAI. I know I need to take more pictures of the tea estates! inside the compound of the manager's residence at SESSA Goodricke Tea Estate, located in the Dibrugarh district of Assam. The garden was first planted in the year 1897 under the British India Tea Company and derives its name from the river Sessa which flows around the estate's western northern and partially eastern boundary. Putul mama, the manager of the estate, recounts stories from his garden days. and for this bungalow he says that the original quintessential heritage tin-roofed structure was demolished by a fire years ago, and in its place this RCC building was built. a tour around the estate. inside the factory where tea is processed. my husband Nadeem poses here with Putul mama, the manager of the estate and the young assistant manager. It is here that Nadeem learns for the first time about 'Garden Time'. he noticed that the clocks in the factory were running an hour ahead of the usual Indian Standard Time. "This is to save daytime for the workers because the sun rises and sets much early in this part of the country," explained Putul mama. this is what you see right at the entrance to the estate. captured from a moving vehicle, hence a little blurred.
moving on to The Assam Company Limited's THANAI Tea Estate. the manager of the estate, my cousin, informed that the Assam Company Limited boasts of being the oldest player in the tea industry. It is the first ever tea company in the world, established in 1839 by a deed of the British Parliament. not only that, it is also the first company in the world to establish tea gardens and export tea.
chatting up with Rubul da, the manager of Thanai Tea Estate and his family in the first floor veranda of their bungalow.
the fascinating 'blue' guest room in the bungalow.
Lewes is undoubtedly the town that made the most impact on me. It touched my soul. During my 14 days' stay in England, I kept going back to it. I often took the train from Falmer (close to University of Sussex where I was staying) to Lewes, a 7 minute ride, and walked through the charming lanes to my heart's content.
Lewes is an ancient town and is the county town (main administrative point) of East Sussex. The
Greenwich Meridian runs through its western part. There are several historical attractions that lure the tourist to Lewes; but for me, Lewes was all about my walks around it - and I'll always remember the calm spirit of the town for keeping me company in those walks. This photo-essay is an attempt at narrating why I fell in love with Lewes.
the Lewes railway station, operating since 1846
right outside the railway station is this flower shop, and i really liked the idea of a flower shop by the station. what a pretty sight it made for the travelers.
i took a right from the station and walked into the town.
at the town centre, there is the Harveys Brewery shop. Harveys is a local brew and Harveys Brewery is the oldest brewery in Sussex dating back to 1790! Lewes is home to Harveys Brewery. there is this story that in 2000, there was a massive flood in the town and the liquor brewed for a week or so longer. that stock was released and became popular as 'extra strong Harveys' :)
the town centre
the charming old alleys of the town. mesmerizing.
walking around Lewes...
Fitzroy House, former memorial library to honour Henry Fitzroy, M.P. for Lewes (1831-1860) built in 1862 by his widow.
as i walked the lanes of Lewes...
i fell in love with the structures...
this is when i, with a few friends, went from Lewes to Glynde, climbing and going down the Hills. the popular expression for the exercise that we undertook is "down the Downs". the 'Downs' is a range of chalk hills across the south-eastern coastal counties of England.
i was delighted by these beautiful cows that were grazing around!
we crossed one private property after another, which by the way is open to public access in England, as we went down the hills to Glynde.
the mound of stones mark the number of passers-by who went this way, down the Downs.
the small town of Glynde gleamed below. Glynde has a few houses and just the bare essentials to qualify as a town.
the only pub at Glynde where we descended after coming down the hills. the pub still holds the old-world charm of the English character as much as the town does. Glynde could easily be one of the locations where the TV series Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot was shot!
I made this trip in 2011 but it is still fresh on my mind. London was a bit disappointing because when I reached there I thought it wasn't much different from Delhi, ironically though because Delhi has been home to me for more than a decade now and a place I seriously have come to love despite everything. But friends told me that had I lived in London for a few days, it would have also grown on me like Delhi. Anyways, I am glad that I didn't have to stay in London and spent my days in and around Brighton, savoring the beautiful Sussex countryside. In an earlier piece (Charming Countryside) for Deccan Herald, which one can read in my blog here, I had written about beautiful Brighton: places to see, be and savories to taste. Here, I would like to post a few pictures from in and around Brighton, like a photo-essay.
one of the lanes in the marketplace, Brighton
an old building and a new building exist side by side, Brighton
in front of Brighton Pier
Brighton Pier and a beach of pebbles not sand
inside Stanmer Natural Park. this is private land but accessible to the public like most private land in England
at Falmer village
this is the oldest pub in Brighton
there are many such Indian restaurants all over Brighton and London
prawn cocktail at one of the oldest pubs in Brighton, Browns
around Brighton town
This is when Alan invited me over at his place for dinner, at Moulsecoomb. After the world war, a slum had emerged here. The local authorities created this wonderland to rehabilitate the slum dwellers in the 1950s. Now, most of the houses have been bought by people coming in from elsewhere like Alan, who works at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex; the rest however are still maintained by the local authorities this used to be a slum! Moulsecoomb.
dinner at Alan and Sandy's house in Moulsecoomb
Alan and Sandy's home at Moulsecoomb overlooking Brighton town the quaint Falmer railway station close to the University of Sussex
Listening to my husband talk about his family is like having someone recount the stories from some storybook that comes from the era of black and white films. His father was born in a haveli and his family till date boasts of a living Sufi saint who presides over the Kaliyar Sharif Dargah. They have had Sufis for generations. And I strongly suspect the Sufi gene in my husband for the dharamshala that our house turns out to be at times!
They are the Shahs of Behat and according to Wikipedia, "Behat is an ancient town and a nagar panchayat(municipality) in Saharanpur districton the northern tip of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India..." Wikipedia cites from A Gazetteer of Saharanpur District District Volume XIV: Gazetteers of the United Provinces edited by H. R Neville what is the origin of my husband's family - "During the reign of Bahlul Khan Lodi (1451–1489), a Muslim colony was founded at Behat by Shah Abdullah, who was a descendent of the Saint Sheikh Baha-ud-din Zakariya Suhrawardi. Western part of Behat along the Naugaon Rau is named after him as Abdullah Mazra." Thus, the Shahs of Behat are the direct descendants of Shah Abdullah which is why, I later understood, everybody in the family writes Shah before their names and not after their names. When I first met my husband years ago, I was curious about his name - Shah Nadeem. And "kahan ke Shah ho tum? (and you are the Shah/emperor of which place)" used to be my favorite refrain. When I met the men of his family, I realised what the case was. And when I saw the shrine of Shah Abdullah in Behat, I must say I did get goose bumps.
Here, I seek to post some pictures of the ruins of Behat, the ancestral haveli of the Shah family which is in ruins. But there are portions of the haveli where the members of the family are still living. Partition marred the haveli and its residents. Most of the family members migrated to the haveli they were given in lieu of the one in Behat in Pakistan. But my husband's grandfather stayed back. And his stock now bears testimony to the life and times of Behat and its ruins.
one of the entrances to the haveli
the small charming lanes of Behat
next to the main gate is this old 'kacheri' (court of justice) where the Shah family's grandfathers of several generations presided
family members enjoy evening tea in the parts of the haveli which are still in use
TLC’s style gurus Trinny & Sussannah hit the Indian shores to transform women into confident, stylish individuals. Juanita Kakoty talks to the duo about their experience in India.
Lifestyle channel TLC is all set to bring renowned makeover artists Trinny Woodall and Sussannah Constantine on Indian television for the first time ever with the new series Trinny and Sussannah’s Makeover Mission India. The series will start from August 12 and will showcase how the celebrity duo changes the way participants look and feel about themselves.
British fashion advisors, presenters and authors Trinny and Sussannah are best known for presenting the television series What Not to Wear that was launched by BBC in 2001. Their fashion advice books have become bestsellers in Britain and America and they have also launched their own clothing and underwear ranges.
On Indian women
On being asked how difficult or easy was it working with Indians, Trinny admits, “Indian women want to be polite. And whenever we put something together for them and they didn’t like it, they wouldn’t tell us out of politeness. So we changed the way we worked with them. Sussannah and I took a different approach and started asking them, ‘What is it that you don’t like in this?’ We tried to find out what was going on in the woman’s mind when we were giving her a makeover. We wanted to know about her life experiences, her choices, her tastes, her personality etc.”
Trinny and Sussannah have come to India after giving over 11 countries a makeover. The audience will see them giving a new set of women a complete makeover in their own inimitable and incredibly entertaining style in each episode. Their mission is to give style challenged-women a dramatic and glamorous makeover, women they have picked randomly while walking on the streets and these women come in all shapes, sizes, fashion preferences and personal backgrounds. The duo hunted for anyone in need of their help and expertise.
“The women on our show are from many different situations. There was someone whose husband was dead and found herself all alone. Then there was this girl who was embarking on a career and was in need of confidence. Our show has many such women from different walks of life, who were in need of fashion makeover and, most importantly, in need of confidence.”
Trinny refers in particular to this woman who was working in a man’s world and thus dressed like a man. “Just to prove herself probably,” says Trinny, “She dressed like a tomboy — baggy pants, loose shirts, sport shoes. She never felt attractive as a woman. What Sussannah and I tried to do with her and all of the other women was to make them appreciate what they really have. And when these women walked the ramp for family and friends, the experience boosted their confidence to great levels.”
The rewards of their efforts have been immense. “Sussannah and I saw that most women went back home happy with their makeover. But there were some who had all their emotions written on their faces. It was like they have entered another stage in their life. That something has shifted within them.”
Fashion scene
Trinny says that she has been to India at least 10 times before and that she loves the country. Particularly of the fashion she gets to see on Indian streets, Trinny says, “It’s a mixture. In traditional dresses, I love the colour, the fabric, the texture. In western wear, I see them wearing neat but dull colours — black and white. Then some do use colours like orange and yellow, or neon with white — and then again, if you have the skin tone, why not!”
After having spent considerable time with Indian women for the series Trinny and Sussannah’s Makeover Mission India, Trinny has a pertinent fashion tip to share with all Indian women. “A good bra is really important. Probably about 90 per cent of the women Sussannah and I worked with for the series were not in a good bra. In India, women tend to go for the cheapest bras or bras on sale where three bras come at the price of two, etc., etc. What they don’t realise is that a good bra is very essential to look good. It is important to lift and separate your boobs because that will make your clothes hang well on you.”
Then she speaks of the trend to wear skinny jeans. “We noticed tons of women wear skinny jeans here in India. But it is not for all body types. Depending on the body type, one can experiment with different styles of jeans. For instance, you need to know that a certain body type will never look good in skinny jeans, but would look amazing in jeans with flares.”
Trinny also has a thing or two to say about footwear. “One should wear great footwear. Sussanah and I saw, while doing the series in India, endless pairs of sandals on kitty heels. It’s cute and pretty, but slightly old-fashioned. We would say go for heels, go for flats, but go for great footwear! Your footwear can do interesting things to the dress you wear.”
The recent case of a spurned lover hacking his female classmate before killing himself shocks former JNUite JUANITA KAKOTY
It is sickening to hear of a premiere institution like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) adding to women’s woes in the already traumatized capital city of New Delhi. More so because I was a student there during 2001-2007 and JNU has shaped me as a humane and social being much beyond what I could perhaps express in words. Coming from the frontiers, I was always an outsider in Delhi. I was made to feel like an outsider for almost three years because of the way I looked and spoke, especially Hindi. Till I came to JNU. For the first time, I felt at home in Delhi. There were many like me: from the frontiers, from India’s remotest corners who empathized with each other and helped each other to grow.
Coming to the recent case of murder where a spurned lover hacked his female classmate with an axe before taking his own life, I see it as a case of education and exposure gone waste on a university student. His inability to take no from his classmate had deeper moorings which obviously education could not mend. For most of us, the space JNU provided allowed a transition to maturity in understanding and action. Apart from interactions with the teaching faculty, frequent open debates through fliers, hand-made posters and lectures on burning social, political and moral issues educated and benefitted us. JNU transformed us and enlightened us. I, for one, would definitely want my children to go to JNU not for just getting a degree that will get them a job, but also to go through experiences in life that will make them stronger and richer.
From what I remember from my days in the university, no one cared if you moved about the campus in chappals and pajamas. But yes, if anybody teased a girl or misbehaved with her, physically or verbally, god save you then! Student bodies and the Gender Sensitization Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) knocked the daylights out of these individuals. The campus was extremely women-friendly. I used to come back at about midnight all alone from the library to my hostel, which was a good ten-fifteen minutes walk, and in all those years never faced any untoward incident. Never did I ever hear my female friends complain of any undignified action towards them.
There used to be the age-old joke though how in the matrimonial advertisements from the prospective groom’s side there would be the occasional mention about “JNU girls need not apply”. A “JNU girl” was, I am not too sure if it still is (and I would like to believe that it is not), obviously seen as ultra-modern, fast, independent-thinking who moves about with men, chats with them, has no qualms about sharing tea and a drag with them. I understand these images jeopardize notions about how the Indian woman should be for some people. But these images don’t give anyone the right to misbehave with her.
In the recent murder case, the police recovered a four-page suicide note written by the assailant, where he mentioned feeling slighted by the girl’s indifference to him of late, that his "ego was hurt". In the past, there have been other such stories that have placed JNU in a precarious position, if not in the media then in people’s minds: The rape case of October 2012, the suspension of a professor for sexually harassing a female student, the MMS scandal in 2011. Sadly these are all cases of education and exposure gone waste. And it is disheartening because they mar the image of an institution like JNU which continues to produce some of the finest minds of the country.
