dr y s quraishi electoral system in indian political space mani shankar aiyar rajiv gandhi: the pm and the man nakul anand itc’s journey in responsible tourism! arjun mathur typecast, no! activist, yes! n o v e m b e r 2 0 2 3 . ` 5 0 india global sudden impact: imeec and india’s interests! the nijjar killing, the gaza war and china’s designs conversations ‘bad’ girl indrani mukerjea says with a grit and straight face you can expect her to show! the punjab tango in canada a conversation with ujjal dosanjh sports asian games’ successes! signs of a new eco-system! celebration leela hotels keeps alive the spirit of polo

in this issue voices ............................................................................................................4 sudden impact: imeec and india’s interests! the nijjar killing, the gaza war and china’s designs ..................................6 simplifying the war games. what next in the israel-hamas story? ....................................................................10 journey of indian democracy as witnessed through its electoral system; experiments in indian political space ..........................................................................12 global headwinds: our response and its ramifications ..........................................................................................18 bihar caste census: a political masterstroke? ......................22 mani talk on rajiv gandhi. the prime minister and the man he can recall from his memoirs ........................26 the punjab tango in canada. a conversation with ujjal dosanjh ..........................................................................................30 ‘bad’ girl indrani mukerjea says with a grit and straight face you can expect her to show!..............................34 kasauli remembers the passions, concerns and values of khushwant singh ............................................................38 asian games’ successes! signs of a new eco-system! ...........................................................................................40 what’s itc’s journey in responsible tourism means for indian hospitality! ........................................................................44 the kerala model in tourism: how does tourism benefit the state’s economy?........................................................50 exploring a new concept of a ‘distributed hotel’ model jewish homes in kochi street set to open ................54 hospitality is a serious business at interglobe hotels.......56 typecast, no! activist, yes! there’s much more to arjun mathur, waiting for us to discover! ................................. 60 delhi’s skal club brings three authors on one stage ................................................................................................66 leela hotels keeps alive the spirit of polo ............................. 68 indian accent now at jio centre! ................................................70 destination india is a monthly magazine edited and printed by navin berry on behalf of cross section media pvt. ltd, 401, surya kiran building, new delhi-110001. it is printed at advantage offset, naraina, new delhi-110028. registered with rni under reference 28908/1976. all enquiries can be addressed to connect@diconversations.com dr y s quraishi electoral system in indian political space mani shankar aiyar rajiv gandhi: the pm and the man nakul anand itc’s journey in responsible tourism! arjun mathur typecast, no! activist, yes! n o v e m b e r 2 0 2 3 . ` 5 0 india global sudden impact: imeec and india’s interests! the nijjar killing, the gaza war and china’s designs conversations ‘bad’ girl indrani mukerjea says with a grit and straight face you can expect her to show! the punjab tango in canada a conversation with ujjal dosanjh sports asian games’ successes! signs of a new eco-system! celebration leela hotels keeps alive the spirit of polo ‘conversations’ take firmer roots in this issue! the big topic within our country is the elections on hand, in the five states. the ec as an institution and electoral reforms remain a concern. former cec, s y quraishi, released his book that provided an opportunity for a panel discussion. that conversation is a central piece in this issue. khushwant singh remains both the doyen as well as the prized journalist of all times. in his memory, the literary festival in kasauli brings alive the writer’s zest for life, his sense of irreverence and his humour. his son, rahul singh, also a noted journalist, brings a rare assembly of authors and literary contributions onto a single celebration. we bring three of such ‘conversations’, each a treasure in their own segments. the israel-hamas war has brought a new series of issues and concerns back into the forefront, globally. first and fore-most must be the futility of war, the unending games that upend all human efforts to improve lives and value life, bringing untold misery and loss of dignity to human exis- tence. somewhere, did it have an ‘eye’ on india? never mind that, the fact is that some of our recent successes globally have got sidelined, in the interests of bigger and more immediate concerns; so, the war games continue, much to global outcry. a ‘greener earth’ remains a priority for us, a growing issue around us. it becomes imperative that every industry breaks out to contribute how best it can! in hospitality, the ‘green leader’ has been itc, where nakul anand has spear- headed these efforts for the last few decades. we bring a brief peek into these efforts, how itc can infuse this credo into the larger hospitality industry. entertainment is big, in every country, even more so in ours. that entertainment can help social causes, remove stigmas, help challenged people or who are different, is of vital importance. especially in india, where films can over- ride diverse languages and societies. lgbtq is an issue that confronts us majorly. ‘made in heaven’ with arjun mathur has been one big endeavour in this direction. meet arjun in this issue and follow his career and his young aspirations. navin berry editor destination india | november 2023 | 3

one thousand words keeping the spirit of g20 alive! a tree planting ceremony, organized at nehru park in chanakyapuri, new delhi commemorated a green, sustainable and environment friendly g20 presidency. attended by envoys and representatives of g20 members, invited countries and international organizations, who planted a sapling each of national significance from their respective countries or a local indian sapling. external affairs minister dr. s jaishankar, union minister for petroleum & natural gas and housing & urban affairs hardeep puri, lt governor of delhi v k saxena and india’s g20 sherpa amitabh kant participated. the theme also spotlights the message of mission life, which nudges individuals towards sustainable lifestyles and responsible consumption to preserve the environment. eam dr jaishankar said that india’s g20 presidency will be remembered as “g20 for the future” for its strong focus on environment, sustainability, and global south and that the g20 trees will serve as a reminder for the same. destination india | november 2023 | 5

an indian starting point from either mumbai or the adani port in mundhra. goods would be shipped from either of these two destina- tions to jebel ali or al fujairah ports in the uae. jebel ali is one of the world’s largest and most efficient ports and trans-shipment hubs. it is also the base of a famous emirati logistics company called dp world, which operates container terminals on india’s west coast at the ports of mundra, mumbai and kochi. almost 25% of india’s container traffic is carried by dp world. from jebel ali and fujairah, the imeec land route would see con- tainers moving by rail from fujairah to israel’s haifa port on the shores of the eastern mediterranean coast. the adani group has purchased a container terminal here at haifa for $1.2 billion. end to end from al fujairah to haifa the distance by rail is 2547 kms. out of this, 2067 kms of railway is already operational. a 250km stretch from the saudi-uae border to haradh is under construction and the remaining 1,392km long railway line from haradh to al haditha border post with jordan is already in place. what remains to be laid is about only 230kms of track from al haditha to beit shean on the jordan-israel border. the final 70km stretch from beit shean to haifa is already in place. co- incidentally, it traverses along a small part of the 1,300km long narrow-gauge hejaz railway line built by the turks in the early part of the 20th-century to link damascus with madinah. from haifa, the containers would then be loaded back onto ships that would take them to either kavala or volos in false flag operation (nijjar killing in canada) most likely jointly conducted by china’s mss and pakistan’s isi. the objective of this op was to derail g20 and with it the proposed g20 india-mid east- europe economic corridor (imeec). greece, gioia tauro in southern italy or marseilles in france to get on the european rail networks for their final destinations in germany or beyond. and the same would happen on the reverse journey from europe to india via west asia. imeec and the abraham accords: both important indo-us interests just days before the commencement of the g20 summit in new delhi on 8 september, prime minister modi visited greece on 25 august. according to an english language greek news portal called ‘greek city times’ during talks between modi and greek prime minister mit- sotakis, the former expressed india’s interest in acquiring greek ports. this interest was in acquiring one or more of the ports of kavala or volos or alexandroupolis. while piraeus would have been the best greek port for this purpose, it could not be considered because it is 60% owned by a famous chinese company called cosco. clearly the adani group was/ is integral to the success of imeec, since imeec can only be a reality with both haifa and either one of the three greek ports as trans-shipment hubs. what added fuel to the fire of china’s ire against this emerging imeec was italy’s formal withdrawal from the bri almost si- multaneously with its endorsement of imeec. furthermore, the next meeting of all the imeec signatories was scheduled for novem- ber this year. the genesis of this ambitious plan of creating the imeec unquestionably lies in the abraham accords. this was one of the few foreign policy achievements of the trump administration that has bipartisan consensus in the us and was adopted by the biden administration. the abraham accords not only estab- lished the basis for ties between israel and destination india | november 2023 | 7

the al-ahli baptist hospital in gaza blast (that hamas falsely blaming israeli airstrikes) prompted the cancellation of the critical next leg of biden’s visit to amman, jordan where he had been due to meet jordan’s king abdullah ii, the egyptian president, and the leader of the palestinian authority. further, uk prime minister rishi sunak landed in israel at on thursday 19 october 2023 for meetings with prime minister benja- min netanyahu and president isaac herzog. will sunak be the 21st century’s neville chamberlain? the situation in gaza also appeared to in- extricably harden the attitudes of key regional powers like turkish president erdogan. the arab allies of the us appear to have moved back many steps from their embrace with the us. meanwhile, the chinese and their guests and allies celebrating the 10th anniversary of bri are probably laughing behind the high walls of zhongnanhai and toasting their first significant victory, against the quad and its fellow travellers. editor’s note but this is where we stand at present, with much more action to roll! how it pans out remains of huge interest, given the non-stop coverage of the israel-hamas confrontation on our national television. given this possible scenario, india’s best interests are to ensure the imeec remains on track, recent alignments which india has achieved do not get derailed from their original intentions. that we remain ad- equately committed to our multipolar diplomacy, keep our defences up, our feet and ears to the ground. about the author iqbal chand malhotra is chairman and producer, aim television pvt. ltd. he has produced over 500 hours of television programming which have been telecast worldwide. he is a member of the international academy of television arts and sciences. taliatory killings of sunni palestinians in gaza. the israeli blockade of gaza has resulted in driving a wedge between saudi arabia and israel and saudi arabia and the us. further, it is beginning to unite all the diverse factions of global islam. the route taken by immec from al fujairah to haifa traverses through an area in israel that iran and islamists call waqf (endowment) land, temporarily lost to kafirs (infidels) and requiring reconquest. fol- lowing the us withdrawal from the middle east, iran has spent several years surrounding israel with client islamist paramilitary groups like hamas and hezbollah. the aim is to decimate and eradicate israel so that iran dominates the middle east. in this regard, iran encouraged hamas to make powerful regional friends like qatar and turkey. however, weapons know-how, tactical skills and hardware that made 7 october possible are only provided by iran. hamas has staked the lives of civilian palestinians to engage in this heinous act of terror on innocent civilian israelis. perhaps netanyahu’s persecution of the gaza strip to render it an unviable enclave within the ambit of the palestinian state has contributed to the emerging apoca- lyptic outcome. hamas had nothing to lose. it was being pushed to the wall. israel however has its work cut out as hamas is not merely an or- ganisation but a movement. how israel will succeed in obliterating this movement remains to be seen. if israel fails in snuffing out hamas, it will lose its aura of invincibility in the middle-east prompting others to take a chance against it. the former prime minister of palestine and the head of the hamas political bureau ismail haniyeh, has called on the global islamic ummah to stage anti-israel protests. these have started in a swathe from beirut to melbourne. all democracies with significant muslim minority populations can expect such demonstrations to ignite their cities in the days to come. why did sunak and scholz visit tel-aviv to be shortly followed by macron? on 17 october an explosion at the al-ahli baptist hospital in gaza created an uproar with hamas falsely blaming israeli airstrikes. israel however displayed evidence that the deadly blast in the parking lot of the facility was caused by a misfired rocket launched by palestinian ter- rorists. the blast coincidently occurred on the eve of president biden’s trip to israel the next day on 18 october. biden came to reinforce israel’s fight against hamas and to offer aid to palestinians suffering under an israeli retaliation. however, circumstances pushed biden to inextricably link himself to israel in any fight to come. the hospital blast prompted the cancellation of the critical next leg of biden’s visit to amman, jordan where he had been due to meet jordan’s king abdullah ii, the egyptian president, and the leader of the palestinian authority. rather than host a presidential summit, amman on wednesday was rocked by a second night of huge protests that crystalized anger in arab nations over the israeli pounding of gaza. demonstrations also erupted in tunisia, iraq, iran, in the occupied west bank and lebanon. destination india | november 2023 | 9

imeec could not have been the target! the hamas attack had a long planning process behind it. a perspective by maj gen. v.k. singh (retd) i do not give too much credibility to the presumption that the hamas attack was timed to target the imeec project. while there could be some truth to the canada connection, but the timing of the hamas attack could also be just a coincidence. there may be several reasons to arrive at such a conclusion. are we attaching too much credence to the g-20 success? no doubt, it was well conducted and received, but i think what was more successful was the media hype. has the west shed its colonial mindset, their continued deep-rooted suspicion and i daresay dislike for india and in- dians? does china even consider india as a competitor? why should such a massive effort be made to derail the yet on paper imeec? a more suitable timing for derailment would have been when india had sunk in major investments. next is the very nature of the palestine-israel problem. this problem is not something that can get solved. it has always been simmering ever since the inception of the state of israel and will continue to simmer. there have been frequent eruptions which do not necessarily get precipitated by world events like g-20, 9/11 and so on. they just happen because of the deep-rooted hatred and dislike, to the extent that they just cannot tolerate each other’s existence. thirdly, consider the very selection of the alignment of the imeec. why did we choose to make the corridor through an area which has been the centre of conflict ever since 1948. should we have not known what to expect either today or tomorrow? it is my firm opinion that the 7th october attack was not something that happened on the spur of the moment. it happened on sabbath day and on the date of several jewish holidays. the scale of the attack shows the kind of military planning and preparation that must have gone into, prior to the attack. possibly for years. even the very thought that such an attack could have been carried out to derail the imeec is beyond belief, because its planning would have commenced well before imeec was conceived. about the author maj gen vk singh, vsm (retd) was commissioned into the scinde horse in dec 1983. the general is a fourth generation army officer. but this would take some time; meanwhile, destruction reigns, civilian casualties mount, almost deafening human sensibility. images of women and children falling to bombs and mortar, reports of hospitals turning into mil- itary camps, shortage of food and crippling life conditions. these warrant immediate cessation, with a shared understanding on the next steps forward. untold misery on lives in the gaza region and around are beyond hu- man dignity and comprehension. no wonder, protests are mounting globally. going back into history can be everything, tracing the origins of this hostile environment for decades. it can also mean very little, for today’s generation, and for peace tomorrow. palestinians have been long time friends of india, always enjoyed our unstinted support and understanding. israel and india share strategic interests, we also have a long history of togetherness with the jewish community. what inspired hamas to launch this sud- den offensive? what was behind the timing? how much of the counter attack is justified? yes, there was an unprincipled hamas attack, to begin with. what will it take israel to say we have had enough of a revenge? with us forces doubling down in the region, both men and guns, ships and aircrafts, we have a most volatile situation on hand. the world waits, with bated breath. destination india | november 2023 | 11

framed the constitution, but they expected that parliament would pass some legislation about it and although parliament did pass one or two rules and laws, unfortunately it didn’t do too well and i was a little disappointed with earlier decisions of the supreme court of india, particularly with regard to mr sheshan, because i had great admiration for him. but there’s one important thing which you must know, and that is that there is an article in the same chapter which deals with election commissioners and that is an article 329a which is no longer in the constitution, so you can’t read what is missing there because that was a very, very dangerous provision that was specially enacted once mrs. gandhi lost her election in the allahabad high court, instead of going directly to the supreme court, what very intelligent lawyers did and those who advised her, that we should have an amendment so that ultimately the decision of who is to be elected and who not, would be taken not by the supreme court, but it would be taken by the executive who would draft the law. and you must read this 329a. it’s one of the most monstrous amendments that were ever carried out and fortunately it was the first time that the supreme court applied the doctrine of basic structure and shut it down and the rest of it was deleted by the janta government. so actually, this is one of the very highlights of this election laws that we have in our country and despite everything that’s been said, there is a feeling all over amongst the citizenry that much requires to be done to make the election commission have a backbone and at least be far more independent than it appears to be. nidhi razdan: in your book dr. quraishi, you’ve dealt with this issue of the election commission, the questions about its neutrality in some detail. how do you look at the way today the election commission’s credibility is being viewed, having been at the helm of that organization yourself? dr. quraishi: actually there are four or five articles in the book on neutrality and let me tell you, every time i have been an self-appointed spokesman of the election commission. let me tell you ashok lavasa is here; even when he was in office, he would not have that much credibility as i had as a retired chief election commissioner because his job is to defend evm. it’s not my job to defend evm, but if i say evm is dependable, people listen. they trust because i have no interest anymore. so, when i found that the election commission was not doing things right, it was a painful decision for me to write something. i tried to use all the command over the english language, which i have, which is very little, to somehow convey it in such a language that it doesn’t sound like a criticism of them. my typical answer was that every time i hear a criticism of the election commission, it hurts me. but the point was that there was criticism which they earned and it was all up to them. but i’ve been a every time i hear a criticism of the election commission, it hurts me. but i’ve been a defender because this is an institution i am proud of. this is an institution which has done india proud. there are aberrations here and there. actually there are four or five articles in the book on neutrality and let me tell you, every time i have been an self- appointed spokesman of the election commission. when i found that the election commission was not doing things right, it was a painful decision for me to write something. destination india | november 2023 | 13

the kind of challenges we have with many other developing countries and some new democracies found valuable. nidhi razdan: let me just get neerja chowdhary and shekhar gupta at this point. both of you have covered elections in india for decades now. so, you’ve seen how things have changed the kind of chaos our elections used to be. it’s a flawed, but it’s a great system of electronic voting machines. i for one, i don’t buy into the conspiracy theories about evm’s, but neerja chowdhary, in that context then, how important does the perceived independence and the neutrality of the election commission become in the india that we live in today that to ensure that in this chaotic democracy of ours, a level playing field is being provided to all? neerja chowdhary: look over the years we’ve seen this, and this is before t.n. seshan. t.n. seshan was also very close to the congress. he was part of the rajiv gandhi regime, but once he sat in that chair, he was a bulldog. he had the prime ministers, the politicians running in circles. they had to do what he said had to be done for the con- duct of free and fair election. and the ccs who followed no matter what their political alignments, they stuck to that. my experience is the stronger the prime minister, the weaker the institutions in our country. it is paradox, the weaker the government, if it’s an alliance government, the stronger the institutions, the more the checks and balances that come into play. and because for 25 years we had coali- tion governments, i think it made it easier for the election commission also to function more autonomously. but the simple answer to your question is there just simply has to be a political will to do the reforms that are necessary. i don’t expect it to happen unless you have a prime minister, strong prime minister in the saddle who says, okay, i don’t mind if i don’t come back to power the next time round. but these things i will do. nidhi razdan: shekhar gupta, just to take off on what neerja chow- dhary just said in terms of let’s move on to sort of the election electoral reforms that there are so many of them. i mean we could be here all night, but what would you say the election commissioner of india over these decades has really got, right? and what does it need to get right? is it election funding primarily? you think that we are still in a hole. shekhar gupta: the election commission got the mechanics of holding an election right. mechanics, if anything, have gotten better i would say with every election. it’s not just that counting is so quick and results come quickly, but you get much fewer complaints. people get privacy in the booth. i’ve just had for an audience, a bunch of bankers who said, why can’t voting be online in bangalore? they want everything to be online, so why can’t voting be online? so, it’s very difficult to explain to them that online means somebody’s voting from their homes. somebody will walk into the home with two ‘lathies’ shashi tharoor but why not have an appointment panel? right now, as you know, there’s a supreme court judgement suggesting a panel that would include the chief justice of india, until parlia- ment rules otherwise. and parliament of course means unfortunately in our present system, the executive. we’ve developed a reputation for having an election commission of true neutrality and inde- pendence, which has also acquired a lot of expertise in running elections in a country with the kind of challenges we have with many other developing countries. and say, i’m watching who you are voting for. so, it’s very important for a voter to go to a booth, get that privacy and get a sense of security. so over time, election after election, that has improved. those are things that are good and i would say by and large are fair. there are two problems. one is a problem that election committee doesn’t have to address. that’s a problem that the supreme court has to address. one is a problem that the supreme court has to address, but that can, a call on anon- ymous electoral bonds. before last elections, they said it’s too close to the elections right now. they will say it’s too close to the elec- destination india | november 2023 | 15

of seats at stake and the number of evms required and number of personnel required, all of that, you have it once. what’s to prevent one of these governments falling again six months, nine months from now, if your only solution is keep president’s rule until the next election cycle is due, that’s undemocratic. that would surely be violating of the basic principles of the constitution. so, i don’t see that this is a feasible reform, let alone whether it’s desirable or not. because as i say, i mean once the mirror has cracked, you cannot possibly be set together again and get an accurate reflection. nidhi razdan: mr. nariman, if i could get your comment on this idea of simultaneous polls. do you see it as an attempt in a sense to homogenize everything one nation, one election, one leader, dare i say maybe no elections? fali nariman: one president. the whole point is that because it’s a moving towards a presidential system of government, i have convinced that it is at some point of time and therefore we have to be extraordinari- ly careful if we are saying we are democratic and we hold elections and so on. and what shashi tharoor rightly points out the election bonds syndrome is a very, very dangerous syndrome because it’s only the big money bags who can then with whom the ruling party, whichever it is, whether it’s congress or it’s the bjp, they align itself to, and that’s the greatest danger in our country because you see the whole world today is getting more and more autocratic. and it’s time that we take note of this trend and see what we can do to reverse it. and one of the most important parts of it is the chapter on elections in the constitution, what sort of laws we need. shashi tharoor: if i may just add given, and we’ve already talked about some of this, given the hollowing out of our democratic institutions and practices, we haven’t even mentioned how parliament has been reduced to rubber stamp. given all of that, elections are actually the only vehicle for popular accountability, for holding governments accountable for their performance and therefore to reduce their number and frequen- cy itself is undemocratic because the more elections you have, the more opportunity you have to register your views about the government in a concurrent way. in some ways fali saab, a presidential system would be more honest. at least you’ll have an independent legislature. right now, we have the worst of both worlds. we have a parliamentary system being run presidentially and the parliament is completely toothless. fali nariman: in a presidential system, we won’t be able to have a meeting like this. shashi tharoor: well, that’s a different argument we need to have because i do believe that the logic of the presidential system is complete separation of powers. the executive would not be formed by the legis- lation, therefore couldn’t control it. but that’s a different conversation. nidhi razdan: you’re talking about the us system. dr. quraishi, your views of simultaneous polls not being feasible. dr. quraishi: actually, the government report, there was a prelimi- nary committee which says that it should be simultaneous, but one basic flaw in the whole argument. initially prime minister said that all three tiers should be simultaneous, but gradually 3 million panchayat elected person they forgot about. that left us with 4,120 mlas & 543 mps. so, it is a dilution of the proposal. then the parliamentary committee and the niti aayog committee come out with a proposal, alright, if not once in five years, let’s do two in five years with that kind of dilution, what moral authority is left in the proposal and then what we hear, look from the beginning, for the first 10 years, there used to be simultaneous election. yes, that’s part of history. but what happened in the 11th year because states started falling, we started having separate election. then finally, among various arguments, there are pros and cons of this. as one mp said, ask the people what do they want? they love elections because that is the only power they have. and the money, if they said it’ll save money. now the 60,000 crores which was spent shekhar gupta shekhar gupta it’s very important for a voter to go to a booth, get that privacy and get a sense of security. so over time, election after election, that has improved. those are things that are good and i would say by and large are fair. there are two problems. one is a problem that election committee doesn’t have to address. that’s a problem that the supreme court has to address. by the politicians, it was recycled. it went to the poor people, the labourer, the painter, the auto drivers. so actually, it is doing good to the economy. and i had a very interesting slogan by a girl in a youth parliament in pune. jab jab chunav aata hai, garib ke peth mein pulao aata hai (whenever elections are held, the poor are fed well). otherwise, how many times we have seen the mp or mla disappear for five years. so therefore, because of repeated election, they have to go back again and again. and finally, they should know now there are only two or three the stakeholders who will be affected by frequency. suppose the election is happening in, does it affect you or me? we won’t even know that the election is happening, only the political party who’s contesting and the elec- tion commission because we have to be there, everywhere. and the media. media should be happy because this gives you work. about s y quraishi is a former chief election commissioner, a former haryana cadre officer; a prolific author and political commentator. destination india | november 2023 | 17

market albeit temporarily. bond yields will harden, cost of credit may go up for companies, crude price will rise if it spills over to the middle east. there can be a sustained reduction in oil supply. surging crude oil could impact domestic inflation and interest rates could remain persistently high for a prolonged period. the disconcerting mix of war risk, spurt in us bond yield to record highs and volatile crude support the safe-haven dollar. technically, the greenback is still in an uptrend and the upcoming correction could be the normal retracement. gold may become a safe haven. swap traders are divided on the chances of another federal reserve rate hike by december, pricing in roughly 50% likelihood after the non- farm payrolls report showed employers quickened the pace of hiring. the federal reserve warned of escalating geopolitical risks to global financial system with middle east conflict and war in ukraine threat- ening ‘spillovers’ to markets amid heightened risks of higher inflation and slower growth. the fed said “the global financial system could be affected by a pullback from risk-taking, declines in asset prices, and losses for exposed businesses and investors, including those in the us”. at the global level, recently, the imf has placed in public domain a very comprehensive report on this issue which demonstrates that a 10 point basis hike by the us fed which will reduce commodity prices by 0.5% to 2.5% with a lag of 18 to 24 days and there are larger effects for highly storable and industrial goods. accordingly, there could be some kind of a divergent stance between central banks of different countries depending on their peculiar circumstances and distinctive conditions. global spillovers there could be a further flashpoint in the middle east and the isra- el-palestinian war may well spill over to iran. with some unconfirmed reports indicating that china could also have some part to play in it, the us bringing two of its warships in close proximity to the hotspot and china also parking its warship in the troubled waters, the situation is evolving and it is difficult to foresee how things will pan out. if the war is localised, then we do not see things going beyond manage- able proportions. but if iran is also affected and there is some kind of a major flashpoint with china, then things could spiral and go out of hand. in this kind of a doomsday scenario, all bets would be off. iran is contextually sig- nificant because of the crude the surprise israel- palestine war has wide- ranging ramifications and repercussions across geographies, economies and sectors. there is volatility in the bond and equity market albeit temporarily. bond yields will harden, cost of credit may go up for companies, crude price will rise if it spills over to the middle east. the disconcerting mix of war risk, spurt in us bond yield to record highs and volatile crude support the safe-haven dollar. technically, the greenback is still in an uptrend and the upcoming correction could be the normal retracement. gold may become a safe haven. oil output of almost 3 million barrels per day (mb/d), i.e., about 3% of the global pro- duction but more importantly, 20% of the total crude oil production passes through the persian gulf. indian scenario in the case of india, this war would have multiple macroeconomic impacts and also have several implications for the financial and banking sector. bond yields will go up -- as interest rates would rise further, oil prices would go further up. this would impact the indian capital market, the banking sector and the triple deficits - trade deficit, current account deficit and also to a limited extent, fiscal deficit. fiis are continuously selling due to higher bond yields and high crude oil prices could add more issues. india and the rest of the world are now tackling the bigger, higher threat of inflation. in this grim overall setting, the breaking out of another war, besides the on-going russia-ukraine war and the linger- ing impact of the pandemic makes the transi- tion growth pathway uneasy and the ascent to growth difficult and uneven. this leads to the fears of the central banks around the world launching a fresh cycle of rate hikes to control inflation and the rbi will have to carefully straddle the growth-inflation trade-off. but in the case of india, we did not see rbi cutting rates prior to april 2024 next year. now, this could delay things a little more. all this depends on the severity of the israeli counterattack and the duration- does it end swiftly with a crippling blow to hamas or it drags into a long protracted war, e.g., russia destination india | november 2023 | 19

one thousand words the president honours the big achievements in indian film industry a grand celebration of indian cinema and its outstanding achievements! at the 69th annual national film awards in new delhi, india’s president honoured among others- actors alia bhatt and kriti sannon; allu arjun, who cre- ated history in being the first telugu actor to win the best actor award; leading yester- year star waheeda rehman who got the prestigious dada- saheb phalke lifetime achieve- ment award! present on the occasion was anurag thakur, union minister for information and broadcasting. destination india | november 2023 | 21

mandal commission: a background the mandal commission, officially known as the second backward classes commission, was constituted in 1979 by the indian government, led by prime minister morarji desai, and chaired by b.p. mandal. the commission's primary mandate was to identify socially and educationally backward classes among the population and recommend measures for their upliftment. the mandal commission recommendations unleashed a political firestorm in india. on one side, there were vociferous proponents of the reservation policy who argued that it was es- sential to rectify historical injustices and uplift the marginalized sections of society. on the flip side, others vehemently opposed it calling it “reverse discrimination” and an attack on meritocracy. the mandal commission report of the late 1980s was a watershed moment, leading to significant changes in the coun- try's political landscape. it brought the issues of social justice, affirmative action, and caste-based reservations to the forefront, reshaping the dynamics of power and representation. the legacy of the mandal commission continues to influence and shape indian politics and society. what would the former prime minister manmohan singh be thinking? former prime minister of india manmohan singh used to say that the minorities have the first right on the resources of the country and that too the muslims, but now the congress is saying that the population will decide who will have the first right. does congress now want to reduce the rights of the minorities? narendra modi prime minister destination india | november 2023 | 23

the data collected in the recent caste census is expected to have far-reaching implications for bihar, helping design policies and programs that could address deeply- entrenched socio-economic disparities, improve access to education and healthcare, and uplift marginalized communities. additionally, it can paint a better picture of the distribution of resources and opportunities, ensuring that they reach they most needy. rahul gandhi’s idea of political represen- tation based on population can open a new pandora’s box for political parties vying for 120 seats in the hindi heartland (bihar and uttar pradesh cumulatively send 120 members of parliament), which holds the key to bjp’s chances of securing a third straight mandate since coming to power in 2014. the census catapults nitish kumar as a champion of backward castes and a front- runner in the race to become the face of the india alliance, should the multi-party alliance be able to grab a sufficient number of seats. much remains in the realm of ambiguity, judicial examination, and the outcome of the soon-to-be-held state elections in telangana, madhya pradesh, rajasthan, and chhattisgarh. if bjp is able to hold onto power in madhya pradesh, dislodge gehlot in rajasthan, bhagel in chhattisgarh, and emerge as a key player in telangana, it would have enough firepower to shape the narrative. on the contrary, dismal performances in key state elections will only embolden non-bjp state governments to fiddle with the idea of a state caste census, creating a counter-narrative to bjp’s hindu consolidation. politics aside, some of the other key issues around such an exercise are the lack of accura- cy of self-reported caste data, potential disputes over categorization, and worries about the mis- use of information for political purposes. those against the idea of caste-based reservations also argue that focusing singularly on caste may not suffice in addressing diversity-related challeng- es like gender, religion, or regional disparities, and may not lead to adequately inclusive and comprehensive policies. nitish kumar’s bold gambit has put the ball in bjp’s court. mandal 2.0 will have far-reaching consequences, or will it? only time will tell. about the author shashank shekhar is a freelance journalist, keeps track of political and social issues. the data collected in the recent caste census is expected to have far-reaching implications for bihar, helping design policies and pro- grams that could address deeply-entrenched socio-economic disparities, improve access to education and healthcare, and uplift marginalized communities. additionally, it can paint a better picture of the distribution of resources and opportunities, ensuring that they reach they most needy. why the political storm? like previous caste censuses in india, the 2021 exercise has not been without its share of challenges and controversies. bjp and other parties opposing the census suggest that the exercise is setting a dangerous precedent and trying to divide the country on caste lines. reading between the lines, the exercise threat- ens to derail the bjp’s attempts to consolidate hindu voters just before the all-important 2024 lok sabha elections. the india alliance, mean- while, views this as a masterstroke that can derail pm modi’s juggernaut. pm modi’s sharp reactions and frontal attacks on the india alliance and the idea of the caste survey indi- cate that the bjp remains vary of the development, especially as it gears to fight polls in five crucial states, in the run-up to the 2024 general elections. the census has already been challenged in the supreme court and the apex court has refused the petitioners’ request to stop the state government from going public with the data findings. the india alliance has been buoyed by the findings, and senior congress leaders like digvijay singh, former chief minister of madhya pradesh, have gone public to say that they would implement a similar survey if voted to power. even bjp's allies like anupriya patel of apna dal have echoed similar sentiments. nitish kumar’s bold gambit has put the ball in bjp’s court. mandal 2.0 will have far-reaching consequences, or will it? only time will tell. destination india | november 2023 | 25

mani: yes, it was. but that was, i think a highly motivated attack on him for it is generally believed even by people like jairam ramesh, who belong to my circle that rajeev said that on the first day, and that as soon as the riots broke out, he said, when a big tree falls, the earth will shake a little. and vajpayee in his typical style said, no, no, it’s wrong. it’s when the earth shakes a little that the tree falls. but this, it has to be remembered that it was only after his personal actions as a completely new and raw prime minister had brought matters to a complete dead stop by the 3rd of november. that 16 days later when for 16 days there had not been a single killing, at least in delhi, then it was that it turned out to be his mother’s birthday. and at that birthday celebration on the 19th of november is when in a speech where just before this sentence comes, he’s appealing for peace and a refusal to take revenge that he says that the only way that one can view what happened, he doesn’t condone it, he doesn’t justify it, is to recognize that it is a fact of nature that when the tree falls, the earth shakes. this has been misused again and again for the last 40 years. so, i thought i had better explain the entire background. i’ve given extracts in my book from all the speeches that he made between the 1st and the 5th of november, whereby which time things had come to a standstill. but i also criticize him. i also fault him for four major errors. i think the book says six, but i’m not going to go into the other two because it’ll be too long. the first error he made was that he did not apologize personally. it took a sikh prime minister more than, or nearly 20 years later as prime minister to apologize for the events of 1984. second, he did not dismiss his cousin, who was the commissioner of police. he removed him later, but that by then it was too long, too late. third, he didn’t announce a commission of inquiry. and the ranganath misra commission of inquiry was established six months after these events in april 1986, by which time it had no political impact. i think the last thing i would say is that he never said, he did not at that time say anything that could have brought comfort. malavika: and why do you think he didn’t? mani: well, what did he do then? he then showed that in his view, it was not words that mattered, but action that mattered. so as soon as he’d won the election in december of 1985, in january of 1986, he immedi- ately released sant harchand singh longowal. while i was then taken into the pmo and put in charge of organizing his trips and travels, and harinder baweja had used the man- ager tours and travels to describe my designation. and so i was with rajiv when he went to hussainiwala in punjab, and there was not a word of retribution towards the sikhs who had killed his mother. instead, there was a long hand of friendship extend- ed, and i didn’t know then. but we all learned later that the reason he’d ap- pointed arjun singh as the governor of punjab was to get a conversation going between longowal and all his companions and the government of india through the governor in order to create the ground through which eventually, and by eventually, i only mean july of that year, he talked to at all. what little i knew of him, i didn’t really appre- ciate. i didn’t think we should have a dynasty. i was astonished that an airline pilot was being made prime minister of india. i didn’t know him longowal directly and the rajiv-longowal ac- cord was signed and elections were declared in punjab. so his actions spoke very loudly, more loudly, i think, than his words. i wish he had combined his words with his action, but at least in evaluating his words or lack of them, i think his actions should be considered. rahul: but mani don’t you think the con- gress was behind those riots? mani: no. rahul: no? mani: no. rahul: well… mani: i think because i think there may have been individual congressmen involved, one of them. rahul: arun nehru? malavika: no, no. mani: no, arun nehru’s role has been men- tioned. i have mentioned that in my book. but i’ve said that i have no evidence of this at all. rahul: now there mani, i disagree with you. i think the congress was behind those. and that is why whenever people talk about the gujarat riots, they counter saying, well, what about the sikh riots? mani: well, now that you’ve said that, i would like you personally to give me the evidence that you have regarding the involvement of the congress as a party. as individuals there have been cases going against jagdish tytler for the last 40 years and have not come to a conclusion. there was the ranganath mis- ra commission, there was then another com- mittee, i forgotten what his name was. rahul: ved marwah also had something, had a committee. mani: the point is that it is not enough to make a statement. as a policeman ved mar- wah knew very well that he would have to establish this, and forums were established by rajiv gandhi and by subsequent congress government where whatever evidence there was could have been led. and if they weren’t, well, it’s not the fault of the congress. it is the fault of those who had information but didn’t come forth. destination india | november 2023 | 27

risk his own personal equity for the better good, for the greater good. mani: no, i think the shah bano story needs to start with a remark that rajiv made to me when he was more or less changing things after the 1985 decision. he said to me, even sonia does not agree with me. and now neerja chowdhury has said that d p tripathi had reported to her that he’d witnessed an argument between husband and wife. and since rajiv had the highest respect for his wife’s opinion, his opposition began at home. outside there was the general view taken even by his director of minority affairs that now that the supreme court has spo- ken, why do you want to involve yourself? but he had listened to the debate that took place in parliament for all of seven months, from may 1985 to december 1985, where every muslim speaker had said that this judgement violates muslim personal law, and he had to find a balance between the two. they were objecting. they thought the supreme court in 1985 had upheld a woman’s rights against the patriarchy of her reli- gion. and the muslim personnel concerned were of the view that you have promised us our personal law in the constitution. and other mi- norities joined in that and said that you cannot completely throw away personal law and say that all this is dependent on the supreme court. after he passed the muslim women protection on divorce rights act, daniel latifi, who is a very famous lawyer of my generation or of the generation which i admired, he filed a case in the supreme court, a special writ petition in which he challenged the legal, constitutional and moral validity of what rajiv gandhi had done. the supreme court took its time coming to a conclusion, but in 2001, 19th september, the supreme court announced that in fact he had codified muslim personal law into our civil law because the role of the waqf board in looking after destitute women was referred to the magistrate and it became part of our country’s civil law with the result that all marriages, which break down in the muslim community in the last 20 years have all been decided under the act that rajiv gandhi passed. and we’ve had nine non-congress governments in this period, none of which has repealed the act, and yet this is not talked about at all. the fact of the matter is that if you respect the 1985 supreme court judgement, you have to equally respect the 2001 supreme court judgement. malavika: okay. so this brings me to the question, as i said, he’s gone and it’s been a terrible loss for many people, including yourself and the nation as you have argued in the book. now, why for instance, do you think the present congress is following any of his principles, any of his examples in leadership? and if not, what is the gap between that? mani: i think parakala prabhakar answered that question this morn- ing, and i completely agree with him that there is no political party in india, including of course, the congress which would be ready to take on the bjp and the forces of hindutva on fundamental questions of principle. they’re not ready to do that. and rajiv himself, as i’ve said in this book, he fell from his great principles when he agreed to the suggestion made by r k dhawan and others that he should conduct the shalanyas in the middle of the election and the people punished him for it. he was brought down from over 400 seats to under 200 seats. his election in 1984 was the single biggest election victory ever recorded by a putative prime minister. the defeat that he suffered in 1989 as a result of playing both sides of the case, gave him the biggest defeat that any incumbent government has ever received in the history of parliamentary india. so, i am not saying that he was a god whom i am adulating or ad- miring he was a human being who was trying to cope with the situation. when he was on his own then the moral rajiv gandhi prevailed; when he was not on his own, when he was being pressurized then sometimes then sometimes he toppled over. but then in the year after he got defeat- ed, he spent time with siddhartha shankar ray. siddhartha shankar ray gave him an answer that a case could be filed in the supreme court under article 143, and he proposed that to chandra shekhar. and be- cause chandra shekhar didn’t accept that, it became one of the reasons i am not saying that he was a god whom i am adulating, or admiring, he was a hu- man being who was trying to cope with the situation. when he was on his own, then the moral rajiv gandhi prevailed; when he was not on his own, when he was being pressurized, then sometimes then sometimes he toppled over. why he brought down the chandra shekhar government. but much of the rest of the time, imagine being an airlines pilot who inherits problems that dates back to morarji desai, to indira gandhi, and in some cases even to lal bahadur shastri, and then he solves three of them within a period of a little over a year. and those solutions have held punjab today. and this conference itself shows that because all of us have come through, punjab is a peaceful state. yes, it has differences among themselves and with delhi and even with the congress party. but considering the situation that he inherited, the long-term solution, he found equally, you can go to assam anytime, and although it’s under the bjp government, you can easily wander around the whole of the state. malavika: and the irony is that people say that had he lived, he would have been a much, much better prime minister than even the first term. mani: i don’t accept this as a compliment. because i think where he prevailed, he was being himself where he failed, he was being a politician. and if your suggestion is that he’d become more of a politician, then no. he could have reverted to himself, but then he would’ve been the same prime minister who caused so much problems for himself. so therefore, i think we need to evaluate him as a person. destination india | november 2023 | 29

bumped into me at one place and said, look, because in canada, there was a lot of hatred in the punjabi newspapers. in punjabi radios in december of 1983 and before. so this council general, i still remember his name is bk mitra, just took me aside and said, sir, you should go and see mrs. gandhi. and i said, why would she see me? i’m just a lawyer. i am nobody. he said, no, you should go see mrs. gandhi. and impress upon her the fact that we need a solution to punjabi issues because it’s having an impact in our lives abroad, not only in punjab. so, he set up a meeting for me. my wife and i travelled in december of ‘85, and we were here december, january. and then during that time, i met accidentally, i had a long argument with bindrawale for about an hour on top of the langar building. i met with mr. longawal for about two hours, had a deep discussion with him about what was going on. i wanted to do that because if i was going to meet mrs. gandhi, i wanted to know what was happening on the ground. and then i met mrs. gandhi, my wife was with me, and the first 5 or 10 minutes we talked about our fathers and grandfathers being in jails and being freedom fighters. and then we got onto the job of what was happening in punjab. and my understanding at that time, look, one of the things i should say, i don’t have a dog in the race in terms of indian politics. i don’t support a, b, c, or d. i love india. it’s my motherland. and that’s why i come back. but i have no po- litical connections or concerns in terms of in- terest myself. so, when we were having that discussion, she says to me, she says, i’ve had many meetings. she confirmed much of what sant longow- al had told me about the meetings, but she said that i’m trying to negotiate a settlement, but i’m worried that every time you have a settlement with the akalis, there’s usually another group that springs up and says, we don’t accept that. so there has to be a sense of finality at some point to these issues. and as a lawyer and as an activist, i could empathize with that. those were the kind of last words she said to me before we left. and then june ‘84 happens, and there was a large demonstration, 25,000 people demonstrated in the city of vancouver against i was fighting the khalistani’s from 1984 onwards and too tired to run in elections and make a living at the same time. and then i finally ran in ‘91 and against my own wishes, because i was making good money as a lawyer and politicians don’t make any money in that country. operation blue star. we said nothing. we were quiet because every- body was hurt. we didn’t understand what was going on, thousands of miles away. so, we thought let them let out some gas and pressure. then in august of ‘84, i used to be invited to all these cocktail parties at the indian consulate’s home in the mornings flag ceremony, in the evening cocktail reception. i never usually went because i was a busy lawyer raising three kids, doing other things. but that morning at the flag ceremony, some of the khalistani extremists jumped the fence and had a running battle with the rcmp, burnt the flat, burnt the tricolour and had a skirmish. and you had rcmp helicopter overhead and the rcmp wrestling these guys down. the golden temple is very sacred to many of us. but to me, and i wrote that at that time, to me, the tricolour was as sacred. although i’m a canadian citizen, but my ‘nana’ spent eight years in british jails fighting for the indepen- dence of the country. his ‘chacha’ came from canada as part of the other party to fight for the independence of india and was hanged by the british. so, i come from a very different background, a very secular background, and i was concerned. i was concerned on several counts. one, it had taken us a long time in canada to get equality. right to vote had been taken away from us in 1907. we got it back in 1947. we couldn’t practice professions until 1953, like lawyers, doctors, and engineers. and we had achieved a certain modicum of equality during those years. and i was worried that with all the violence and the threats that were happening in vancouver and in other parts of canada that we were actually hurt- ing our own image as a community in canada. i had run twice and lost two elections by then. i was an activ- ist, i was well known. so, i thought, i talked to my wife, talked to my children. actually, they were very young. i felt that somebody destination india | november 2023 | 31

but they should say to trudeau and to the us and to britain that you should condemn the dismemberment of a friendly country. why aren’t you doing that? you consider us friendly. please condemn the movement that is trying to dismember your friendly country. can you tell me, is the next generation feeling as strongly about these things or is it a certain, the first generation who went over to canada, to the uk, are the youngsters as excited by it all? i wish i was a social scientist, although i did some sociology courses in my ba, but that’s a very difficult question. first of all, if you ask, all canadian sikhs, the khalistanis should stand up and be counted. i did that with them in 1984-95, they used to say, vast majority of the sikhs want khalistan. so i said to them, show me. i said, take ‘guru-granth sahib’ out of a temple. hold a rally in a public place and say only khalistanis should attend. they fell for it. they held a rally in vancouver on the first anniversary of june 84. it was june 85. no more than 200 people showed up, and then they thought that they had done something wrong. the following year they went to another area, it is a big complex. they think they had 250 people. so, if you ask people to stand up for khalistani, they would not, because most people aren’t khalistanis. if i’m a khalistani, i have two friends. i take them to the demonstration. people cover their faces when they’re demonstrating. so, 95% or more of the sikhs in canada and across the world are not khalistanis. so, when you stop issuing visas to us, sitting abroad, you are actually creating problems for your friends that love your country. from the audience you said that the canadian gover nment condemns people who try to divide india out there? no, it doesn’t condemn. they don’t condemn. no, that’s what i’ve asked them to do. i said you should as a friendly country, say freedom of expression, yes, but we don’t support what you’re trying to do. you’re trying to dismem- ber a friendly country. they haven’t done that. and there’s no law that stops them from even talking about dismembering a friendly country. that’s freedom of speech. violence and hate are prosecutable, but not freedom of speech. audience: now i don’t know how far it is correct. day before yesterday, pannu says, now we will invade and put an attack similar to hamas. so at least this is illegal. canadian government should book him. if he had said that on canadian soil, police should investigate that and book him for hate speech. if he’s done that on the american soil, because he is an american, i think canadian police should have perhaps reasonable grounds to investigate him for the statement that he made that all hindus should be expelled from canada. now that is hate speech. and that is prosecutable. destination india | november 2023 | 33 audience: i was not born in 1984. t his time, for the first time in my life, in the international press, the sikh issues, this khalistan movement have been discussed for all good or bad reasons. so what you think that if there is a political problem back in india or in punjab, you met mrs. gandhi as well. if the things would have been come to any sort of finality, this type of diplomatic embarrassment or at distasteful would have been avoided. but if you are talking about the current spat, there are no angels in this spat. i think prime minister trudeau had other options to deal with this issue. he could have dealt with it by allowing the press to talk about it and say, we are aware of it, we’re dealing with or get the foreign minister to say something rather than el- evating it to the level of a som- ber statement in parliament. and he may have had some political compulsions. but in your country here, there are political compulsions. so, you have your own problems in this country. canada has its own problems. indian culture is very jingoistic because ‘wah-wah’, we’ve done that strike and this strike and we’ve done this, and we don’t sort of think calmly about these issues and what the implications, long- term implications are, such issues. and so, all these things get lost. but the things the indian government needs to say to cana- da is first, if you have the evidence against people like nijjar or anybody else, present it in a formal request for extradition. audience: so, the only ques- tion i have left is that with the situation that’s happen- ing right now, personally, i may be wrong, but i feel like it ’s ver y political there as well. he wants his vote, he wants his bank, everything. but my question is, do you think that the prime minister making a statement like that in canada has the potential of backfiring in india for the people in india? well, it’s already backfired and he shouldn’t have done it that way. many political leaders and thought leaders in canada say that he per- haps has damaged himself as an interlocutor vis-a-vis india. it should have been raised. look, if india has done it, gone across international borders and killed somebody that is legally by international law, wrong, but it doesn’t make it right just because the us does it or somebody else does it. but there were other options in the way they dealt with it, they could have dealt with it better.

the good girl syndrome. that’s the first thing. the second thing is i do not believe that if i cannot be happy in a relationship, if i’m not happy in my relationship with a person, i cannot then make the other person happy. do i put my happiness before the happiness of the other person? if, that is the question you are asking me, it depends who the other person is. if it is you are talking about my three children, i would put their happiness before mine. if you are talking about a man in my life, i’m going put my happiness before the man’s happiness. okay, tell me now, what was the point where the whole lot has been said about how you tried to pass off these two children as your siblings and going by your book, that your parents thought that it was too much for society to take. and your parents then de- cided that those two c hil dr e n woul d b e brought up as theirs, but if for the sake of society they didn’t want to be exposed to that, then how do they explain to that s a m e s oc i e t y ho w these two young kids came into their life? i have had sheena when i was 16 years old. i was still a mi- nor and i, irrespective of what people have to judge or think at 16 i was not in a position to take care of kids. and that is the real- ities that i would’ve ended up probably instead of finish- ing my education, i would’ve ended up becoming a hooker. so i wouldn’t have been where i am. but most importantly, the day i was financially independent came the day i believe that i could take care of my- self at the very same time i brought my kids back to me because i would not have done justice to them. now your question is that when my parents decided that they were going to adopt the children and raise them as their own, it happens in a lot of cases. that is not the painful part of it. the painful part of it for me, i can only talk about my feelings. because destination india | november 2023 | 35 person of high net worth and it’s very laugh- able because i wish i could do black magic. i wouldn’t have spent six years in prison. but why do you think all your family was willing to believe the worst of you? i don’t know about everyone because only everyone who had to say a lot of things about me. i don’t know most of these ‘everyone’. my parents were not alive. actually my mother had a heart attack the day i was arrested and passed away in 15 days and my father passed away immediately after. and in fact, i have because i’m the only child, so i have to step out of prison. i had to take court permission and do their last rites. i think the most hurtful moment was when i was accused of filicide. i think that was very, very difficult for me because i was dealing with two things. one is the loss of a child and loss of my firstborn child irrespective of the paternity. i’m her mother and she’s my firstborn child. i have always i think had an inherent strength within me. i have learned to be on my own. and when i’m saying on my own, doesn’t necessarily mean not being around with people. but i have learned to deal with circumstances even when nobody supported me. what did come to me as a surprise was that sheena was the child of the rape by your father and that was the second time that he had raped you, first at 14 and then at 16. so do you think that this rape was apart from all that happened afterwards, was that re- ally the defining factor in your life because would it change your life pretty much after that, from that protected angel background to make your own life? so was that really the defining factor? actually i have always i think had an inherent strength within me, which is why i think i survived from a very young age, i have learned to be on my own. and when i’m saying on my own, doesn’t necessarily mean not being around with people. but i have learned to deal with circumstances even when nobody supported me. i’ve had the courage to, i was a very, very good student. so, i did not let anything come in the way of my educa- tion, for example. and i continued to study, i topped the university, i continued with my career. so that was something i realized very early on in life and which is what actually ultimately stayed with me. so what do you think about yourself? i mean, would you say that yes, you are pretty harsh about relationships? you know i do not conform. i never have and i will not conform to

when i actually wrote this book, a lot of people, when i came out, including very, very close friends, had said that, listen, you must write this as a fiction based and say it’s a fiction based on your life. and the reason i chose not to do that, and instead i said that no, i am going to write it as a memoir and i’m going to take the name of names of every single person and publish it only with a reputed publisher. there are two reasons behind it. one is somebody like harper collins, and particularly when you write a book without putting pseudo names, they do not put in anything in the book until and unless it is validated, you would know this because you’re a journalist and a very reputed one. it took six months, my book was ready. it took six months of legal validation of every single word that i said. he cannot dispute it. he cannot, he cannot, cannot. but the opin- ions are thoughts and opinions are different, facts that i had. see, the day i got arrested, there were two things, two very interesting things that happened, that the next few days peter just spent just interviewing, which all the journalists saying, what a monkey i made out of him. that is what, those were his words. hello, you are supposed to be this cool, the ceo of star. and if a woman came and made a monkey out of you, then i am clearly smarter than you. okay. my earlier question before i come to ask the end of your book was why should we believe you? but i explained about that whole thing about the exhuming and the body. so please read the book to find that out. but my last question is why has sheena not reached out, if you think she’s alive? see, i do not know or think of anything. that’s the first thing. okay. i have been informed that people have cited her, but i haven’t seen her myself. but i believe only in the hardcore evidence that has come on record in court. and i’ll cite only three evidence. i know for me, talking about skulls and bones has become the new normal again, because i know it’s not very easy for people. but i’ve done this for the last six years. in fact ended up studying a lot of law books and case study for this. so, the dna expert has come and admitted in court that he forged the dna report. okay, he got suspended. so anyway, so that obviously is very telling. why would somebody until and unless somebody’s really hell bent on framing me for reasons best known to them, why would anyone want to fudge a dna report? the second thing is also as per the post mortem report, they had said that the skull of that skeleton, which was found, was cut open. my reason to believe is because rahul mukerjea has come and admitted in court that there are messages, and he admitted those messages in between him and sheena five months after she allegedly disappeared and we allegedly strangled her. i had written this book in prison. i’ve written it with a pen. pen to paper. and i think someday i hope to sell that manuscript, handwritten manuscript for a fortune. i’m a businesswoman at the end of the day. so that is how it got printed so quickly because the book was ready. why has sheena not reached out? that i cannot say. that is only an answer that sheena can give me. she’s under duress. it is definitely all the evidence exonerates me. but i still need to find sheena. i still need to find what has really happened. and this has got nothing to do with the court and, you asked me another question, why should we believe you? right? you asked me, i’ll answer, i’ll answer. no, i don’t want anyone to believe me or not believe me because it doesn’t really affect my life whether people believe me or not. because people decided i was guilty till everything, all the evidence came and caught and everyone realized that the agency didn’t just have an egg on their face. they had an omelette on their face. okay? so that was big, but that really doesn’t make a difference to me anymore. but the court, ultimately, it’s the court. the case is the court. and the rest of it is, i think people have to accept me for all that i have gone through and people who decide that they want to be my friends and true friends, not fair-weather friends. i will never be the good girl that society expects me to. and that’s a warning to anybody who wants to be my friend. destination india | november 2023 | 37

a session featuring film actor raj babbar, his daughter a session featuring film actor raj babbar, his daughter and son in law, was an instant hit, with the audience loving and son in law, was an instant hit, with the audience loving every bit of this frank exchange. every bit of this frank exchange. we plan to have a litfest in london, which would be the fifth there. a kslf in london also enables us to get pakistani writers to interact with indian and other writers, thereby improving ties between the two countries. rahul singh, indrani and niloufer bilimoria major gen ian cardozo and lt. gen kamal davar destination india | november 2023 | 39

pt usha has arguably been india’s most distinguished athlete till date. her sterling performance in 1986 seoul asian games winning 4 gold and one silver medal remains the stuff of folklore. she was fated to lead this distinguished contingent from hang- zhou in her new role as the president of indian olympic association. i had an occasion to interview her after her return from hangzhou. excerpts of the interview: how do you plan to take forward the momentum created by the asian games? these are very positive tidings. we will need to expand the base of the pyramid and create many more sports hotels in every state so that talented athletes get support from early stages. what was different this time that fetched such good results? athletes are getting much better train- ing and competition exposure than what was available in my time. there is sports science support, foreign coaches and many more incentives. in fact, with such incentives, there should be not one but three neeraj chopras! w hat role do you see for pr ivate sector going forward? like reliance foundation, jsw, ntpc, many more corporate houses should come forward in providing jobs and in creating centres of training. this could even be included in the charter of corporate responsibility. games gold is tougher than an olympic gold. the fire and ice duo now have their task cut out for that elusive olympic gold in paris next year. koreans have held an iron fist over the sport of archery for decades; monopolizing all 10 gold medal events. indian archers led by jyothi surekha and the young 21-years old ojas deotale did the incredible by winning 5 gold medals; downgrading the mighty koreans to the second spot. koreans have held an iron fist over the sport of ar- chery for decades; monop- olizing all 10 gold medal events. indian archers led by jyothi surekha and the young 21-years old ojas deotale did the incredible by winning 5 gold medals, downgrading the mighty koreans to the second spot. this will hurt the koreans hard and set up india as an archery powerhouse. squash, once a pakistani fortress, guarded by the khan royalty of jahangir and jansher, was overtaken by saurabh ghosal and abhay singh in a nail biting final reminiscent of the drill at wagah border!! at the benjiang indoor stadium, india’s national anthem was played for the first time ever since the sport of badminton was introduced in asian games in 1978. the doubles pair of satwik and chirag, known as fire and ice, claimed the gold, ambushing the fancied chinese and the koreans. according to gopichand, the national coach, the asian destination india | november 2023 | 41

dr l a l i t bhanot, w h o hel med asian games plan- ning and monitored training of over a hundred athletes on his dashboard, had this to say: “over the past three years, afi contracted several specialist foreign coaches and imple- mented a scientifically customized competition plan using modern training methods. this was done in harmony with indian coaches who had trained the athletes in early stages. this was a crucial factor in the significant upswing in athletics performance”. he added “the main plank on which this success was achieved, was the annual inter-district meets conducted by athletic federation in which over ten thousand athletes get a chance to participate and be recognized for higher levels of training”. success in shooting, which produced the second highest medal tally, was no fluke either. dr pierre beauchamp, high performance director engaged by the rifle association, set up at karni singh shooting range in delhi, what was described by shooters as the ‘war room.’ mapping of pulse rate, heart beats and breathing patterns, neuro signals were simulated as experienced in final stages of shoot outs. raunak pandit, national coach says ‘it worked wonders’. apart from the sports authority of india which imple- mented its target olympic podium (top) program, several corporate entities i.e., reliance foundation, jsw, ntpc etc. earned wholesome praise from national federations in pro- viding cutting edge support. national pride and personal glory have undoubtedly driven our sportsperson to achieve unprecedented success. however, deep down, these champions cherish the hope that the state will reward them with more than just accolades. parul chowdhary’s innocent remark, after winning the gold in 5000m “at least now she hopes to be appointed a dy sp by the up government” was as candid as it can get. the state must live up to its duty in fulfilling these aspirations. in the after-glow of the asian games success, prime min- ister shri narender modi, in the ioc session held in mumbai, formally communicated india’s aspiration to host the olympic games in 2036. hosting the olympics is as much about creating world class infrastructure as preparing its athletes for podium finish. the prime minister has given a clarion call to the cor- porate houses for a deeper involvement and thrown down the gauntlet to a generation which is about to enter their teens and will be in the right age group to compete for olympic glory on home soil. pierre de coubertin’s words about the olympic games being a program of moral beauty will be as relevant then as these are now. the doubles pair of satwik and chirag, known as fire and ice, claimed the gold, ambushing the fancied chinese and the ko- reans. according to gopichand, the national coach, the asian games gold is tougher than an olympic gold. the fire and ice duo now have their task cut out for that elusive olympic gold in paris next year. differently by these agencies in the run up to the hangzhou asian games? yes, indeed. instead of bickering over who was the boss, the sai and national sports fed- erations (nsfs) worked in sync to ensure that there was no digression from the assigned goal. while nsfs organized robust domestic circuits and national camps with state-of-the art facilities, the sai ensured that there was no resource crunch for engaging foreign coaches, psychologists, bio-mechanics pros and send- ing deserving athletes for training abroad in olympic training centres. the new poster girl parul chowdhary and the poster boy avinash sable, winners in stee- ple chase and 5000 m, trained at high altitude training centre at colorado springs in usa under the renowned symmond scott. they were flown directly to hangzhou just days before their events. neeraj chopra trained at the olympic training centre in lausanne, switzerland under dr klaus bartonietz for months before reaching hangzhou. about the author v k verma is a former president, badminton association of india and a former commercial director, air india. destination india | november 2023 | 43

gourmet couch, sustainable packaging towel and say, i will not change my towel. that’s not luxury. then came the opportunity when we had a choice. we were con- verting from the sheraton brand to the luxury collection. we were getting into the luxury collection and itc’s dna was green. now what would i choose? do i choose green or do i choose luxury? i said, we will choose the path less travelled. the only option for us was a combination of both, together. thus, was born responsible luxury. now somewhere around at this point, itc gardenia was being built, so we converted itc gardenia into a platinum. we built it as platinum rated building, one amongst the first platinum rated hotels in the world, to prove to ourselves that it was possible. it also won the award for the most luxurious hotel of that year. giving us the confidence the two could coexist. the moral of the story being that you come and indulge, leave the backend to us, use as much electricity as you like, but it comes from renewable sources. right? so, while you are sleeping, while you are enjoying and while you’re indulging, we are taking care of the backend. at the end of it, you will leave with a positive footprint or the lowest carbon footprint that you could have in any hotel. but isn’t there a cost to it? there’s a cost to it, but cost was never a motive. let me explain to you. it wasn’t an option. a non-green building would have cost less, but the cost of operations was x. a green building was going to cost more, but let me also tell you nowhere else, but in our vedic scriptures, that we talk of sustainability. so, in even following sustainability practices, you are following exactly what is indian. indian food, ayurvedic forms of therapy, the whole science of food such as eat by season. the cost of operations was less. so, there was only one way to do business that was green for us. fortunately, it pays for itself over the years. we were setting an example for others to fol- low. we were also being responsible because we felt it was necessary that we should be! over how long a period? depends from hotel to hotel, place to place, et cetera. you can’t generalise it, but certainly the operational costs of renewable energy are much cheaper. recycling water, there are cap- ital costs much higher and operational costs, much less. over the years, it pays for itself. for a smaller hotel, like a hundred room hotel owned by an individual? the same rules would apply. the formula is the same. have you moved into the larger ambit of educating the industry as a whole? yes, yes. even suppliers, even vendors. let me tell you, it’s a very scary future. we all know what’s happening with global warming. where we are, we already set our goals with 2030 commitments, et cetera. so, there’s a big fear. now. every company has sworn, a unilever, a proctor and gamble, and itc, and tata has sworn that they will have x carbon footprint by 2030. by 2050 we will be carbon destination india | november 2023 | 45

will tell you to give them a carbon footprint at the end of a year. why mr. berry, did you cross so much? they will penalize you. so, you will firstly stay in the hotel with the smallest carbon footprint and secondly, you will take longer stays, but lesser number of trips; instead of four trips of three days, you may take two trips of six days. and save on your consumption of fuel. aviation is a big part of your fuel costs. you are already seeing it. then you’re going to combine business with leisure again because you want to save the fuel, et cetera, and you know can work from anywhere. trends are already showing that 90% of business travelers say they’re ready to book a bleisure. they are ready to give some time for leisure, et cetera. marriott’s data is already showing that business travel is getting longer. it was earlier an average of three days; it’s getting four days or five days proving exactly the point that i’m trying to say. you are now the custodian of your company’s carbon footprint. you have a commitment to bring it down. you’ve committed 2030 & 2050, right? ok, so that is for the corporate traveller. what about people like me whose company is not dictating me anything? so, am i getting more alive to it? it is up to us. but let me tell you, not so much the baby boomers where you and i come from, but the millennials and the gen z, very much savvy and very much conscious. and you’re passing the word to your own customer there? absolutely, and to our associates. our associates, our employees are taught in it. 10,000 employees. are you sensing a greater sense even amongst the industry or no? absolutely. let me give you a typical example of safety. 30 years back or 20 years back, even in the hotel industry, even in a five-star hotel, if i walked 30 years back, having two wires from a vacuum cleaner going into a power point, it didn’t affect us. today, it will hurt my eye and yours. it has to be a plug. that is how things have changed. that is the cause of safety. i’m just giving, this is a very simple example to say this is how our bodies have got attuned. it looks like a cockroach to us, which may be accepted 15 years back. if it was in our room today, you leave the room; we check out of the hotel if there was a cockroach. lobby at itc gardenia, bengaluru we converted itc gardenia into a platinum. we built it as platinum rated building, one amongst the first platinum rated hotels in the world, to prove to ourselves that it was possible. it also won the award for the most luxurious hotel of that year. giving us the confidence the two could coexist. destination india | november 2023 | 47

our biggest challenge was convincing the govern- ment that tourism is an engine of economic activity and not an elitist activity. today tourism has changed to an industry for which governments roll out the red carpet. mr. modi calls tourism on a mission mode. one bite wonder, mindful sustainable eating entrance at storii moira somewhere it has to move towards responsible tourism for us all. and we are hearing all this while that hotel constructions at large in states like himachal pradesh, rampant violation of local laws. what can the hotel industry do? we are a good means of communication. we are a good media for communication and i think we need to continuously communicate what is happening. let me share with you something that’s happened. for years, our challenge, and i’ve been heading industry associations like hai and wttc and now faith. our biggest challenge was convincing the government that tourism is an engine of economic activity and not an elitist activity. because it was considered to be an elitist activity. nobody wanted to touch it. today tourism has changed to an industry for which governments roll out the red carpet. mr. modi calls tourism on a mission mode. we’ve got 50 things happening in the country. so, people have begun to realize that tourism is totally a different thing. i think sim- ilarly it is important to educate people on the importance of tourism, the negative side and the positive side of it. i was there at the g20 in goa where the goa declaration was signed, the finest document that i have read, and i’m proud to be in indian, that india could do it. how tourism can be the path to sustainable development goals of the world. who put it together? the g20 task force for tourism, but it’s under india’s presidency and it’s called the goa declaration. but the declaration that has come out is absolutely brilliant one that was unanimously accepted by all countries. now that is moving towards responsible tourism and that covers the entire gamut of the tourism canvas. create more spaces for tourism. don’t put everybody in one city, create 20 more cities, create incentives for people to go there, what to do. rural tourism. it covers the entire gamut of it. but coming to our question of the example that we are setting in our own states, how hotels are rampantly, violating local norms, et cetera. i just feel that associations like hai, fhrai, wttc, faith - somewhere we need to do more, some kind of education because we are getting a very, very bad name for the industry. no, i think that we’ve had problem in one or two states. i think the situation is very much better than what it was before. i think some of the events, the last 60-90 days have come as bitter truth without naming in which state what has happened. but i think barring that, things are so much better. i think that these few places are also looking at correcting. it is much on the positive side, not withstanding these few recent aberrations. about the author navin berry, editor, destination india, over five decades has edited publications like cityscan, india debates and travel trends today. he is the founder of satte, india's first inbound tourism mart, biggest in asia. destination india | november 2023 | 49

ism researcher dr peter aderhold professor in denmark later after retirement founded the aderhold institute of tourism research. he described two types of travellers and coined words for them. one the sun sand surf traveller (sss) and the other alert independent traveller (ait). who are these? and, where did you fit into their requirements? sss: they seek 27degree celsius water, white sand, the best hotel, best room with a view. all in that line. nothing else mattered. certain of what they want. must have it regardless. they will buy a seat and go where the seat goes. ait: for whom it was a voyage of discovery. travel is an adventure. an exploration into new worlds. also, it mattered to him the life of local communities - their life, human rights, democracy. impact of his travel on them. and, between the two, as these were at variance with each other? clearly two markedly different types. aderhold research also found that 90 percent of the market was sss while only 10 percent was ait. but also found was that sss was sunset while ait was sunrise. destinations like india were more attractive to ait and more capable of satisfying the ait. it followed naturally therefore that despite ait being in minority, it fitted better into the aspirations and capabilities of destinations like india, kerala and enterprises like cgh earth. unlike the sss who bought a seat and went wherever the seat went, the ait wanted to be in fully in command. the internet and later the social media were the tools that belies him. so, this was a new model, unlike what was being pursued in other successful destinations in india, like in the north, for instance? kerala’s strength is in its evolved feature. it reflects the strength of mod- ern india and not dependent on ancient stories long gone of turbaned maharajas in palaces. kerala now stands poised in leadership position in what is referred to as responsible tourism, drawing its strength from the local in concept, practice and ownership. kerala’s strength is in its evolved feature. it reflects the strength of modern india. kerala now stands poised in leadership position in what is referred to as responsible tourism, drawing its strength from the local in concept, practice and ownership. and going into the future? where does this model go forward? travel is very personal. travel to rejuvenate body, mind and spirit. lifting the bar. the is the future of travel. this is the kerala model. and therefore, poised in an extraordinary advantaged position. mice, special events, weddings et al will flow from that. and, for the state as a whole? where does tourism fit into the economy? tourism has been identified as a change maker in the state through surging entrepre- neurship. harnessing the local. creating jobs and livelihoods in the town as well as in the far away villages. a model of tourism that is futuristic. putting the interest of planet and local communities on equal parity with the visitor. in short, able to attract the evolved traveller who finds luxury where the consum- er interest does not overwhelm the interest of the environment and people. destination india | november 2023 | 51

how has the industry been supported by the state government? is there a ppp in works? the ppp model in kerala, yes! the government has actively supported the local entrepreneur by promoting the destination. it is this part- nership that could lead to taking the pioneering step of branding the destination, as ‘gods own country ‘. this has served exceedingly well both on the supply side and the demand side. and, the industry too has come forward? in what manner and means? this is most marked in marketing of the destination, with the creation of the kerala travel mart which emerged as india’s most significant travel marketing event; a direct result of the ppp in action. ktm started in year 2000 when amitabh kant was tourism secretary of kerala and dr venu, the present chief secretary of the state, was its director. what was your role, and how did it work? as a local entrepreneur in the private sector, i came to be the president of ktm. the first mart in year 2000 brought buyers from around the world and the nation on a scale never before seen. for an entrant into the tourism sector, it obviated the need to go to itb or wtm and the huge costs that those required. what has been the downside for tourism in the state? surely, there would be some snags you have experienced on the way? through successive governments, whatever the colour of the flag, they have kept the kerala model on course. though, some barriers linger. one for example is the excise regulations. it was under the chief minister ship of sri ak antony that brought a ban on arrack. today, though the current government is enjoying an unprecedented run in kerala for a second term they are unable to get out of the clutches of the antony diktat. instead of arrack or imil (indian made indian liquor) made in ker- ala, creating local jobs and benefit local farmers, now allowed is imfl (indian made foreign liquor) mostly manufactured in other states. it is nothing but industrial alcohol with added colour and essence and called whiskey and brandy. though it is not the business of government to be in business least of all the business of alcohol retail. yet government has made it their monopoly business to retail alcohol and on top of it make a loss in the process. do these impact events and your capability to hold mice and wed- dings? yes, indeed, very much so! the state’s excise regulations stand as a major hurdle in tourism promotion. 1st of month are dry days, high exorbitant charges for serving alcohol on special events particularly wedding events - all these make the state a difficult destination for mice and destination weddings. on top of this, wedding planners complain about the addition- al hurdle faced on account of a practise called attimari, that gives local hoodlums the right to unload, enabling them to demand high charges, making kerala the most expensive location to have an event. and what of the future for this model? the kerala model in tourism gave a unique advantage to kerala. the realisation of the value of this model has not the same following as before. the state’s success will come from this differentiated model. to keep the leadership model, it is important for everybody to value and know your own strengths. harness those strengths. this is the story for every successful brand. what could be kerala tourism 2.0? is that needed? destinations must reinvent to remain relevant! you can’t keep flogging the same thing in eternity. the kerala model emerged as an innovative disruption to the existing tourism models. it was small local entrepreneur it was under the chief minister ship of sri ak antony that brought a ban on arrack. today, though the current government is enjoying an unprecedented run in kerala for a second term they are unable to get out of the clutches of the antony diktat. though it is not the business of government to be in business least of all the business of alcohol retail. yet government has made it their monopoly business to retail alcohol and on top of it make a loss in the process. led state supported model. which easily iden- tified itself with environment sustainability, local community inclusion and offering local . kerala’s progress from bimaru status as far as tourism is concerned to progressive is thanks to the model .it is acknowledged that kerala has leadership position in responsible tourism. this is giving the kerala destination a preferred destination status especially among the alert independent traveller whose numbers are swelling even among domestic travellers. though such a destination brand image for kerala is not waning it will make good sense for kerala to position the destination more strongly in this space. your last word on the subject? do what you say. say what you do. destination india | november 2023 | 53

ab salem house on synagogue lane, mattancherri synagogue lane at jewtown , mattancherry, the jewish quarter of kochi a vintage photo of synagogue lane, jewtown, cochin ab salem house on synagogue lane, mattancherri about restoring the house to what it would have been during the time ab salem, their grandfather, resided there. the house is to be made into a tourist residence. while i was undertaking the restoration work, the owner of another house 50 m down the lane, offered to sell his house, too. this house had been named as leela manzil by current owners from the jewish owners. i ended up buying that house, too. researching its history, i discovered that it was once owned by the jewish ezekiel family. it’s owner rahabi ezekiel was a prominent trader during the dutch times who traded with china on dutch ships. he was the one who had donated the hand painted chinese made ceramic floor tiles the synagogue is famous for. this happened in 1758 when the syna- gogue was undergoing renovation. these houses were ancient around 400 years old. the synagogue lane was the lane the jews referred to, as the one on which paradesi jews lived. the syngogue is known as the paradesi synagogue. the restoration of the two-ancient 400-year-old jewish houses was taken up sometime back. when the pandemic struck, the work was suspended. now i am completing the work. the ab salem house will have 4 guest rooms and the ezekiel house 6 guest rooms. the ezekiel house will also have a cafe serving jewish cuisine. i hope to compete the work and open the two houses in december 2023. i am experimenting with a different concept referred to as ‘dis- tributed hotel’. this is in contrast to the ‘fortress model’, which hotels usually are. enter through one gate and all the facilities and rooms are within the four walls. in the ‘distributed hotel’ model, the hotel is spread on the street. four rooms in one house, further down more rooms in another house. another house is a café, another a gallery, and so on. the street functions as the corridor of the hotel. now for the exciting part. others too, set up rooms and cafes. the more the better. in other words, the hotel is distributed along the street, and having different owners, too. on the same lane, other houses have been converted into guest houses. one has already opened. two more are paradesi synagogue tower in the pipeline, likely to open in 2024. in all, i can see a distributed hotel on synagogue lane aggregating about 25 guest rooms, differently priced, differently owned, each having its unique concepts spread over 5 houses. in addition, there would be a cafe and galleries. the street therefore gains identity as a great place to stay. as told to navin berry destination india | november 2023 | 55

new-gen room with art from emerging artists at ibis thane library at ibis thane achieved numerous firsts. we followed a strategy that was different from conventional wisdom and focused on greenfield projects. through our brand ‘ibis’, we have stayed true to our original philosophy of providing high-quality experience at great value for money, aimed at the young, discerning indian traveller. l we, like the rest of the interglobe group, has a strong commit- ment to compliance. it’s in our dna. the implemented procedures guar- antee meticulous adherence to compliance standards, as we consistently maintain a zero-tolerance approach towards any compliance delays. l our product is designed to cater to a diverse audience, including families, seniors, couples, solo travellers and the younger demographics on the go. design we have transformed india's mid-market hotel segment by antici- pating and effectively adapting to the industry's explosive growth and transformation. when the first hotel, - ibis gurgaon, was launched in 2008, it challenged the status quo, and other players turned around and took notice. our effective use of space, cookie-cutter design of rooms, pod bathrooms, and well-designed public spaces were game changers for the industry and have positioned the group as a frontrunner in hotel design and development. l our new-gen hotels are designed functionally and aesthetically to provide all essential facilities to offer an exceptional, first-rate experience to our guests. we partner with the best international inte- rior and architectural design firms to deliver modern designs in chic and lively public areas of our hotels, combining western aesthetics with indian elements. design is conceptualised keeping the modern traveller in mind, with spaces that are more fluid and offer a warm look and feel. l our fittings, fixtures, furniture, acoustics, etc. are constantly improved to keep up with trends and stay relevant. for instance, we have added curated libraries to our latest designs and started promot- ing emerging indian artists by investing in and displaying their art at our new hotels. this appeals to millennials and gen z alike, as well as business and leisure travellers. through the art initiative, we aim to promote and support artistic talent and raise awareness of india’s thriving art scene among hotel guests and patrons. l additionally, across all our properties, we offer modern, vibrant, and spacious back-of-house (boh) spaces to create a welcoming envi- ronment and provide a range of amenities tailored to meet the needs of young hotel staff, thereby fostering higher levels of engagement. continuous innovation n our approach revolves around ensuring that our business is fu- ture-ready, with a continual emphasis on innovation and the implemen- tation of cutting-edge technology. one of our key core values is future employee engagement program at our corporate office mindedness; our innovative methodologies have led to new industry standards in ‘cost- to-build’ and ‘time-to-build’ in our product segment. our efforts here are complemented by strong execution and operational excellence to provide best-in-class service experiences. n regular product reviews are conducted to ensure that our offerings are fresh, modern, and aligned with market demands. n l innovation requires transparency, and hence information flow and open communi- cation are crucial. through various forums and cross-functional committees, the focus is on resolving key business issues, which fosters ownership and commitment. we also have committees and groups dedicated to innovation and new ideas. during challeng- ing times such as the covid-19 pandemic, these committees developed various inno- vative ideas to generate ancillary revenues. consequently, when the hospitality industry experienced a resurgence after the challenges of covid-19, our hotels exhibited significantly faster growth and recovery compared to the overall market. culture n our culture places strong emphasis on agil- ity, encouraging employees to adapt quickly to change. it fosters an environment where employees are inspired to take ownership of destination india | november 2023 | 57

ev charging stations at ibis hyderabad and novotel chennai ‘vibe is at ibis’ campaign deployed, connecting critical departments and guest interfaces to simplify operations. this system enables centralised monitoring and review of progress, ensuring a consistent al- location of staff members, even during periods of high occupancy. n we are transforming/revamping the whole revenue management system with a com- prehensive single platform with a dynamic pricing solution for room rates, additional sales channels, credit management, and price listing across different otas. sales & marketing n while we have many distribution channels, our efforts have always been to maximize direct bookings and try to connect with our guests and end users. we aim to leverage our loyalty base and explore technology, focused public segment campaigns to grow this segment. n we prioritise integrating cutting-edge technologies in various operations, including cloud-based property management, e-audits, revenue management, and centralised finance and procurement. we can use data more intelligently and detect consumer behaviour changes with these new technologies. en- abling the business to better adapt its market- ing strategies to customers, an essential aspect post-covid-19. n our most recent brand campaign “vibe is at ibis” was launched at the beginning of the year, and the second phase of that is currently underway. the guest response has been very positive. through our target campaigns, we have the opportunity to offer the best rates, f&b options, and promote our health and safety measures, which are some of the key priotrties for tarvllers today. n efficient use of energy and resources via new technological tools for energy monitoring. n healthy & sustainable food charter - consume local and seasonal products. n food waste management. managing our assets n we opened our first hotel back in 2008 and the properties need continuous upgrades and maintenance. hence an asset management system was developed to manage our growing assets and volumes. this involves close collaboration with our joint venture partners and operators to ensure alignment towards the common goal of fostering a thriving business. n efficiently planning renovations using a robust displacement analysis is a crucial task undertaken regularly. this enables us to renovate a building within a ninety-day timeframe, demonstrating the strength and efficiency of our processes. n consistent with our forward-thinking approach, we consistently maintain a business plan that is regularly amended and updated to accurately assess where we stand as an organization in terms of value creation. our planning methodology remains adaptable and open to frequent evaluations and helps us to swiftly adjust our tactics in response to changing circumstances. n we have successfully tested and are now implementing a new energy control building management system which would help our team iden- tify operational energy conservation methods based on data analytics. n an interactive property management system has been successfully destination india | november 2023 | 59

this is the third time in my career that i played a gay character. the first time was, in fact, my very debut back in 2007. other than those in mainstream cinema, we only had caricaturist depictions. i can say that at least since the year 2007 is the time when i took my first step really in trying at all to depict it in any authentic or truthful way. destination india | november 2023 | 61

as hell, but they just like to sleep with men. so that’s really the only thing that is. very interestingly though, this was not my expected emphasis in this interview. when you say you’ve been kind of an activist in so many ways, are there some other causes that also i can expect you to pick up? there are so many ills that we have. i mean, non-rec- ognition of gays and straights is one issue, where we don’t recognize the individuality of the person, but there are other social stigmas and issues. the girl child, for instance. absolutely. would you look at being an activist for other causes in society? i’ve had gay friends my entire life. i’ll first just talk about this cause. i’ve had gay friends my entire life, and if we all say that, yeah, yeah, you have my support and this that, but made in heaven for me was a way to really just put my money where my mouth is with regard to that. so that’s why i did that. but personally, if you ask me, the gravest danger to our world is of course, i think the destruction of our natural habitat at the pace that is taking place. it’s re- ally what’s a primary concern for us all. if you were to ask me what is the one cause in your life, i really think to save this place we live in and to save all its wildlife and all its creatures really would really be my top priority. but that being said, yeah, there are, i mean, when the ca protests were happening, i was right there in the thick of it in mum- bai. there’s just anything, i mean, i’m there. at least i’m there to lend my voice to every ill that i see in the world. when there were those nrc protests back in, i think 2019. i would say that there are many causes that i think strongly about, but also i have to say that being some kind of a public figure, i learned over time, i have to be somewhat cautious as well; i used to be a lot more fearless about the causes that i believed in. you have to be a little circum- spect now? i do a little bit because i feel that public people run the risk of being exploit- ed. they’re exploited by the media for clickbait. and often times don’t care much about whose lives they’re destroying or whose lives they’re affecting, or who really bears the consequence of what they end up saying. so, i find that as a measure of protecting not just myself, but i have always considered also the people i love and care about. i’ve learned over time that it is also important that i temper my activism. myself a bit of an activist, to be honest, because i just find there are many, many things in the world that are just not right, and films is one of the strongest mediums we have, to form public opinion and change perceptions. i've always believed in not just preaching at the end of it, first and foremost, we are entertainers, but if through our work we are able to actually affect some change, some positive change, then absolutely, i am an activist. but very interestingly, you touched upon two very interesting points. one is that you talked about put- ting your money where your heart is. but i want to say these ventures of yours - made in heaven 1 and made in heaven 2 - these have been commercial successes for you, rea- sonable commercial successes, or is it the big screen that is going to bring you that commercial success. see, with streaming platforms, it is not the box office. that is why it ex- ists, because if it was the box office, then there is no way that actors like me, jim sarbh or that very extremely talented cast that you were seeing in most of the streaming shows today, these actors would not even be cast in these shows if they were based on box office and on commercials. just like at one point in time, art house cinema was a very niche thing. there is a limited audience for it, just like that. i consider even commercial cinema to be its own niche, because that is just what it is. what we are catering to, or at least what i tend to cater to, is honestly a world audience. i mean, you are in some way, can i say indulging in your passion or destination india | november 2023 | 63

times. i can feel her protecting me when things are bad. i can feel her smiling at me when things are good. she would’ve really loved to see where i am and what i am doing. and she was a real film buff in the family. sorry, just refresh my mind. at what age did you lose her? i was 14. because i can remember her smile was the most infectious. yeah, i agree. what role has your father played in your upbringing? my father, that has been honestly the greatest support. the thing is that we as a family went through quite a tragedy and it left everybody with their own gaping holes. in the following years as a teenager, dad and my relationship was quite volatile, and those were also very formative years for me. so, i think that fa- ther-son relationships can anyway be quite complex and complicated because not as much as shared easily between each other. in terms of just sharing feelings. so, i think things can get complicated. i think i spent some time in my life being quite angry and resentful, but i think that has also been my journey of growth and of forgiveness towards all of us. that ’s so touching what you are saying, because he literally dotes on you and is very, very proud of all that you are doing. i can only say as a father myself, we are just all the time doting on our children. so, we just love to see their growth and their success! and that’s what, it’s only when you yourself get a little older and gain the maturity to be able to see your father as a human before he’s your father. i think that has been my journey. but having said that, coming back to your question, from the day that i told him that this is what i want to do, and i dropped it on him like a hot potato. that i don’t want to go to college. that i want to go to bombay. that’s not an easy thing for a father to accept. he has just been supportive from day one. i always tell him that he is my role model in being an ideal father. my last question, what are you looking forward to in your next phase? it’s hard for me to be specific. i got myself an emmy nomination a couple of years ago. that was a huge thing for me. right now, i have just turned 42 years old. i am myself going through a time of transition, and there is change taking place in my life. i am now in a different bracket of ‘actor’ than i was when i started acting, when i was just 25-26 years old. so, i will simply go with the flow! daniel day-lewis, simple. there is just no greater talent to me than daniel day-lewis and the greatest thing about him is that he doesn’t give a ‘damn’. he does not dare. simply, he is what he is. he does what he does. he only gets talked about when he wants to be talked about. he only gets talked about be- cause of his work and nothing else. and more than any- thing, i think he realizes that this is all healing and it is all just unhealthy attachment ac- tually, to be so blindly fixated on your needs to be seen and to make all this money. i think the destruction of our natural habitat at the pace that is taking place. it’s really what’s a primary concern for us all. if you were to ask me what is the one cause in your life, i really think to save this place we live in and to save all its wildlife and all its creatures really would really be my top priority. somewhere then, would it be fair to say that you are not chasing money, you are chasing your satisfaction? i’m chasing having a body of work that i can look back and be proud of. wonderful. tell me, in all this journey of yours so far there would be some inspirations for you personally, privately. would you like to share some of that? but who has been your biggest influence? i think i have to say that my mother continues to be my greatest strength. what is it that you remember about her that you can recall, which makes you say she’s your greatest strength? and in what manner does reynoo still appear in your life? oh, she appears at the toughest of times. she appears at the best of destination india | november 2023 | 65

i have advocated there should be somebody in the pmo who should drive tourism directly under the prime minister’s direct stewardship. certainly, then, things will change. when mrs indira gandhi wanted to host 70 heads of state k b kachru, author, ‘humility and agility – the life of a hotelier’ when mrs. gandhi was to host a banquet for 70 head of states and she called my boss and told him that she wanted to discuss the menu with the boss and the team. so, we trooped in, alongside myself and our executive chef, a frenchman, roger moncourt. we arrived five minutes earlier and we were straight away rushed in and she said, what kind of menu we want to do. we meekly suggested it was around christmas time, in december and we must have roast turkey on the menu. she said, why can’t we have biryani? i said, ma’am, we can do biryani, if that is what you prefer. and while we were discussing that, she suddenly said, why can’t we have both? i didn’t know how to react. i said the two won’t go, and offered my reasons for that as well. and, she really gave me hell. she told my boss, this is the youth of india, they’re not ready for any change. my boss held my hand, suggested just listen to her. so, obviously, i did, had to save my job. everybody appreciated that. they ap- preciated because it was hosted by the host country’s prime minister or whatever it was. everybody appreciated it. then, after the banquet was over, i went to see her off. she came back, held my hand and told me, i told you this would be a hit. i mean there were encounters, some con- troversies, i’m sure many of you know about the white paint over hotel ashok! india today carried out a lead story on hotel ashok being painted white. and there was a whole lot of controversy all over india. they said mad people, people who are running the hotel, they painted the stone white. do you think one would have done that? but the real fact was the stone was never painted. there was a gap between two slabs of stone which was painted like pink. so that was changed into white. and the reason for that was we had spent, in those days, over a hundred crores refurbishing the hotel and it was her (indira gandhi) marketing mind. she said, you have done a lot of work internally and do people know what you have done? do it, create the controversy. people will know what you have done inside - we soon opened seven food and beverage outlets. five of them opened the same day and some of you would have experienced those which were a the three authors with the anchor, let the dialogues begin! hit. and you had an average waiting time of three hours to have a seat in that hotel during those days. industry must celebrate its big achievers rattan keswani, author, ‘check in, never check out’ i don’t think the hotel industry celebrates enough the people who work with us. and i would really exhort all of you that all the people who work with you, please celebrate them more. you all become mds and heads of divisions, et cetera. you have these certifications such as the best employee and more, but we don’t celebrate them enough. our industry, both travel and hotels, and when you put it together, is almost a representation of all the good and the bad and the confusion in our country. the societal confusion, the tribal confusion, the caste confu- sion. our team members come from very different backgrounds and the older the organization or the hotel or the travel agency or whatever, you will understand what i am talking about. but imagine all of them. we succeed when our business succeeds, but all of them come from different diverse backgrounds, thought and egos. but when they are on stage with our customer, there are hundreds of thousands of moments of truth and wow moments that they go through and handle for us. they are like multiple orchestras playing at the same time. and it still doesn’t sound dissonant. but we don’t celebrate them enough. we don’t recognize them enough. but therefore, the fun goes out in their life and it becomes a chore and just a job. the second part is people don’t want to work in our business. it has been talked about so many times because we don’t market ourselves well enough, they don’t want to work with us. we get blamed for long hours. every business is long hours. we don’t market them in our business. we don’t recognize the diversity of people. there are societal hangups that we’ve got. i think we need to shed them. so, both as customers and internal customers, think of the com- munity of the lgbtqs, that can be a powerful segment of employment that you never thought of, always kept away from. both as a customer all over the world, that community is a better community, a more productive community, a more rewarding community. they pay better business rates and they work better for us. we leave aside a whole segment of people that we could have, which would make our industry both travel and hospitality a lot more creative and rewarding than we can think of. the third part is that i did a lot of work with differently-abled people, which is why my book royalties are dedicated to work with that community. you will produce self-esteem. you will have a different set of people who create wonders and lemon tree hotels is a prime example of what can be done. it opens up a whole segment. kids of this age group need us to think differently and they can create wonders for us. but if we don’t, we will only live in the past and we will never be part of their future. destination india | november 2023 | 67

against the backdrop of the pink city’s rich heritage, the sport of kings, polo, came alive at rajasthan polo club where the heart-pounding matches took place, with an ambience nothing short of regal. against the backdrop of the pink city’s rich heritage, the sport of kings, polo, came alive at rajasthan polo club where the heart- pounding matches took place, with an ambience nothing short of regal. hi-tea set up by the leela palace jaipur destination india | november 2023 | 69

a l w a h c t h o r i : o t o h p baked paneer pinwheel, coriander pesto, baby cucumber achaar, chutneys saag tart, tossed vegetables, roast almond, makhni an exclusive di report a l w a h c t h o r i : o t o h p the bar at indian accent mumbai at the new indian accent at jio world center, we are serving a tasting menu, as well as an a la carte menu. the a la carte menu in mumbai has been compiled to capture the essence of indian accent over the last 14 years. all the best sellers over 14 years have been compiled on this menu, along with some new dishes which are especially created for mumbai, including the burrata chaat, the chandrakala dessert, the salmon dish. all these things were created especially for the mumbai menu. the tasting menu, however, is a specialty and we really emphasize on the tasting menu, because it is the one thing which gives the diner the complete experience of indian accent. the tasting menu in mumbai is totally different from new delhi. it’s a completely new menu, which is curated especially for the mumbai restaurant. every dish, approximately 17 dishes, on these tasting menus are new including the hundred-layer paneer, tamatar chaaman, nadru, braised pork kofta, punjabi lobia, bacon chilli glaze, pulled lamb dumpling, aab gosht, rice puffs, etc. it’s all my team and me, because while the menus and dishes are curated by me, it’s all of my team, especially chef rijul and chef shantanu, who help me execute my ideas at the restaurant on a day-to-day basis. chef rijul is the one who is heading the mumbai outpost and he will be taking care of the day-to-day at indian accent mumbai. destination india | november 2023 | 71