Saturday Feeling: How art, literature and film have inspired our travel

In Bengaluru’s Terminal 2 (where I spend far too many hours) is a corridor leading to the restrooms that’s lined with vintage posters from “the golden age of travel”. Air India’s now-retired Maharaja does the can-can in Paris, goes sledding sitting on a bed of nails in Europe, and for some inexplicable reason, saves a mermaid in Sydney. Designed between the 1940s and the 1970s, the posters are provocative, rascally, contain every stereotype possible, and would certainly get both the Maharaja and the airline cancelled today. What they did then—and despite their inappropriateness, do even now—is capture the excitement, the sense of discovery and the flights of fantasy that travel makes possible.

We’re wearier of travelling now in this era of closed air spaces, visa restrictions, travel advisories and flight delays, but reaching the destination still brings back that child-like sense of excitement and discovery. For most of us at Lounge, films, books, music and art have often been the first exposure to a place, and then we’ve gone seeking that feeling in the real world. Our writers this week describe that moment when the world opened up because of something they read, saw or heard, how they searched for the setting and planned the trip, and the joy of finally tracing a beloved work of art back to the place that inspired it. One writer heads to a beach near Seoul that was the staging spot for her favourite K-drama, another follows Eric Shipton’s trail to the Nanda Devi sanctuary, a third races around Mexico City trying to track down a mural first seen on a notebook cover, and someone else follows Feluda’s clues to Jaisalmer. These are journeys by superfans to pay tribute to art that moved them.

‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’ review: Too much rage

One of the biggest films of the year so far returns with its sequel. Before it continues the bloody ascent of Hamza (Ranveer Singh) in the Karachi underworld, Dhurandhar: The Revenge gives us the origin story promised in the final moments of the first film. Yet, the film feels long and a tad too brutal, and misses the electric, swaggering presence of Akshaye Khanna as Lyari gangster Rehman Dakait (whom Hamza killed at the end of part 1). Director Aditya Dhar can fashion hard, serrated action better than any director working in India today but he loses himself in the invention of new brutalities, writes Uday Bhatia in his review.

Your favourite bar now has another bar inside it

Sometimes, just sometimes, your favourite bar feels too noisy, too crowded or too familiar. Hence, the bar within a bar concept is catching on across the country, reports Ruth Dsouza Prabhu. Behind the buzz of the main room, smaller spaces offer curated drinking experiences while maximising both space and revenue. ZLB23 at The Leela Palace Bengaluru houses The Theatre, a seven-seater cocktail room. Goa’s Second House hides the Bartender’s Bunker inside its main bar. Delhi’s Barbet & Pals recently launched a micro-bar called Cavity, and at Delhi’s cocktail spot PCO, the Director’s Room is a 12-seater omakase-style bar. Brands are using the bar-within-bar format to offer immersive drinking experiences, while bartenders enjoy the room to experiment with techniques difficult to execute in a fast-paced parent bar.

How to prevent cortisol spikes

An increasing number of people live in a state of constant activation: poor sleep, nonstop stimulation, emotional overload, late meals, too much caffeine, and no decompression. Such chronic stress keeps cortisol levels elevated, and this can further interfere with sleep, digestion, reproduction and growth-related processes. It makes a person seem like they are high-functioning and this state is often mistaken for ambition, resilience or productivity, writes fitness and wellness coach Luke Coutinho. High cortisol is not a problem by itself. The real problem is a body that never gets the signal that it is safe. Coutinho explains how to prevent cortisol spikes and calm the nervous system so that you can sustain your energy and resilience in the long term.

Who is the real influencer?

Social media feeds may seem to be talking about brands and products, but in marketing, everything starts with the customer. Marketing is all about finding, getting and keeping the customer. While that is established marketing wisdom, digital media has made it possible to create communication that targets extremely specific groups, writes Harish Vasudevan in his new book, Digital Marketing for Non-Marketers: An Irreverent Guide. Typically, there are three roles connected to buying: User, Buyer and Influencer. While the user and buyer groups are nearly always easily identifiable, it is not often immediately obvious who plays the role of the influencer that actually sways the purchase decision. Read an excerpt.