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How the Lounge team is feeling this week

  • Lounge's take on the biggest updates of the week

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra finally stepped into active politics just ahead of the 2019 general election. Photo: Reuters
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra finally stepped into active politics just ahead of the 2019 general election. Photo: Reuters

Vinesh Phogat for the win

The Laureus World Sports Awards has its first Indian nomination. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, 24, has been nominated along with American golfer Tiger Woods, Canadian snowboarder Mark McMorris, American ski racer Lindsey Vonn, Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu and Dutch paralympic snowboarder Bibian Mentel-Spee in the comeback-of-the-year category. Phogat had suffered a knee injury in the 2016 Rio Olympics. But after a period of recovery, she went on to win a silver medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships and followed it up with gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games—all in 2018. Her nomination marks a remarkable turnaround after fears that the injury would have long-lasting effects on her career. Phogat, however, now stands a chance of winning an award previously scored by the likes of Usain Bolt and Serena Williams. The 2019 winners will be announced in Monaco, on 19 February. —NS

The flag in our food

This Republic Day, you can cook and eat like a patriot. Unlike controversial fashion statements, the F&B industry is fortunate because it is entirely legitimate to showcase the tricolour in forms both sweet and savoury. Restaurants, hotels and even street food stalls get creative with food colours and natural ingredients that evoke the shades of the flag. Italian food throws up a number of options—from a three-layered carrot, Parmesan and asparagus risotto to a tricoloured pasta Aglio e Olio. Closer home, there is the tiranga sandwich which alternates green chutney with cheese and a carrot mayo mix, and the three-tiered dhokla in shades of saffron, white and green. Three drops of food colouring are all it takes to give a patriotic edge to pastel macaroons and rainbow cupcakes. Combine the flavours of orange, pistachio and cream to create Indian desserts like kulfis, mithais and more.—DK

A Star Is Born (again)

If you too can’t stop going gaga over Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s heart-shattering performances in Cooper’s directorial debut A Star Is Born and want more, we have what appears to be a solution. The YouTube channel Be Kind Rewind has a nerdy dissection of the previous three versions of this iconic Hollywood story: the 1937 one, the 1954 one starring Judy Garland, and the somewhat ignorable 1976 one starring Barbra Streisand. It might give you cues as to what makes Cooper’s version deserving of eight Oscar nominations.—AG

The other Priyanka

This week, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra finally stepped into active politics just ahead of the 2019 general election with her appointment as Congress general secretary for eastern Uttar Pradesh, an immensely important political geography, comprising as it does of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s constituencies and many other high-profile seats of political battle. It remains to be seen whether this will “herald the dawn of a new kind of politics in the state", as claimed by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, but if Vadra’s appointment and her anticipated involvement in the forthcoming election create a positive, progressive social environment in UP, it is a welcome move. As a young, female person of power within the Congress, she, despite her overwhelming privilege, is a counterpoint to the toxic masculinity of Indian political culture. And it feels reasonable to hope that she will work towards diluting that as well as empowering and enabling women and minorities in UP and elsewhere. —SB 

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