Saturday Feeling: Indian hip-hop is out to conquer the world

There’s so much about the Winter Olympics that’s baffling—why “skimo”; who thought skiing and shooting together is a good idea (biathlon); how does curling, which looks like something bored kids invented on a freezing day, remain a core Olympic sport? On the other hand, there’s the sheer thrill of downhill skiing, and the beauty of figure skating and ice dancing. This year’s ice dance theme was the spirit of the 1990s, which means there was a lot of fantastic skating and dancing to music with hip-hop influences, like Spice Girls’ Wannabe and C&C Music Factory’s Everybody Dance Now. Ice skating in all its forms, to me, is extraordinary—whether it’s figure skating or speed racing—because it’s all about balance, movement, grace and power. It brings on a sense of wonder, somewhat similar to the amazement I feel when I listen to Indian hip-hop—it’s powerful, lyrical, exciting, and makes you want to go out and conquer the world.

We explore this world of Indian hip-hop this week, which has moved beyond Hindi and Punjabi to Dakhini, Tamil, Bhojpuri, Khasi and every other language and dialect we have in India. This grittier rhythm with complex lyrics that don’t shy away from talking about injustice, identity, everyday reality, unfairness and lack of freedom, and made outside of big cities, has made its way to the mainstream. It’s an exciting time for Indian hip-hop with three of the five Indian songs most streamed outside of India being rap tracks. Bhanuj Kappal, our regular music columnist, writes about the rise of Indian hop-hop.

Pausing for ‘pa’ in Arunachal

On a trip to Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh, chef and culinary storyteller Thomas Zacharias discovers that a yeast starter for brewing the local rice wine is a quiet lesson in patience and community. Pa, the yeast starter that he brough back last year, for him, has become a symbol of slowness and hospitality and he writes about why it’s still sitting in his fridge, waiting for the perfect moment to be added to a wine or a dish. Read more.

When Flying Tigers came to Assam

Madhusree Dutta’s Flying Tigers premiered at the 76th Berlinale in the Forum sidebar and marked the director’s return to filmmaking after 20 years. In 2015, nearing the end of her life, her Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother kept repeating one warning: Close the windows. The tiger is coming! The question was not why her mother had imagined tigers but when she had actually seen them. Tracing the riddle led Dutta back to 1940s Assam, where her mother had grown up. During WWII, American “Flying Tigers” planes disrupted local ecology, pushing actual tigers into human settlements. Poulomi Das looks at how this discovery expanded into Flying Tigers, a personal docu-fiction essay.

A spotlight on the labour behind fashion

There are few people who have no use for clothing. No matter where one sits on the fashion scale, clothing is an item of everyday use that few can do without. But the labour, the work, the effort that goes into fashion is rarely noticed; instead, designers, labels and brands get all the credit. A show in Delhi, Disobedient Objects, is trying question that, asking whether the material and labour involved in fashion can carry the meaning instead of design. Avantika Bhuyan visits the show that spotlights the labour behind the making of clothes.

A guide to board exams—for parents

With class X and XII board exams underway, the mood in many homes is one of high anxiety. While it is students who feel the brunt, what isn’t discussed enough is the stress that parents go through during this season. The triggers for parental anxiety are many, including the fear of failure and fear of the future. With these fears at the root, homes transform into mini-examination centres and parents into “vigilant supervisors”. Anushka Patodia speaks to therapists and lifestyle experts for practical self-care strategies.

The high-tech pet grooming guide

There was a time when brushing and detangling pet hair—it wasn’t called grooming back then—meant chaotic scenes, fur in places you didn’t know fur could travel, and looks of judgement from your pet. Fast forward to today, grooming has gone high-tech, with vacuum-powered brushes that scoop as you groom, whisper-quiet nail trimmers and comprehensive kits that bring the pet spa experience home. Tushar Kanwar tests three high-tech pet grooming kits and tells you which would fit your pet’s lifestyle.

What to watch this weekend

Robert Duvall, who died earlier this week, was known for his roles in The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and Network. A stunningly reliable performer, he was an ‘actor’s actor’ and rather than have a grand funeral, his family asked fans to honour his memory “by watching a great film, telling a good story around a table with friends, or taking a drive in the countryside to appreciate the world’s beauty.” Raja Sen suggests some of the best Robert Duvall films to watch to pay tribute to the actor. We also have other suggestions for your weekend watching, from Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Kennedy’ and Brendan Fraser playing a relative-for-hire to Bejoy Nambiar’s Tu Yaa Main.