Prakash Jain’s thriving little showroom in Chickpet sells knock-off sportsgear. Bhanu (photojournalist/translator/ wise-veteran-to-my-bumbling-rookie) and I marvel at the material, the tailoring, the Nike swoosh, the Adidas trefoil and the Reebok vector—excellent enough to satisfy even the most snooty gym auntie. Prakash smiles his unassuming smile, feeds us hot-from-thekadhai samosas and kachodis and confides that he plans to visit the Ram Temple in Ayodhya soon.
‘But you’re a Jain,’ we say. ‘So what?’ Prakash shrugs. ‘Ram is there in Jainism also. Sita, Lakshman everybody! I go to temple, I go to church, I go to gurudwara.’ After an infinitesimal pause he adds, ‘I go to mosque also.’
Chickpet market, dating back to the 16th century, is Bengaluru’s largest commercial hub—chock-ablock with wholesale and retail cloth, jewellery and bartan (utensil) outlets. It is a BJP stronghold, home to the second-largest Marwari population in south India, and represented by the firebrand MP, 33-yearold Tejasvi Surya, an ardent advocate of hindutva. The consecration of the Ram Temple on January 22 was marked by a celebration ‘bigger than Diwali’ in Chickpet.
‘Amit Shah is the most powerful man in India,’ Prakash says as we sip bright orange chai from tiny paper cups. ‘He stays in the background, but from there PM, CM, the big industrialists, he pulls all their strings.’ He goes on to confide that he does not discuss politics with his parents, but only with his friends. It is a matter of respect.
この記事は THE WEEK India の April 28, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は THE WEEK India の April 28, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
Divides And Dividends
Contrasting narratives on the scrapping of Article 370 define the elections in Jammu and Kashmir
Playing it cool
Everybody knows what 420 means in the Indian context. But in American parlance it is something very different: four-twenty or 4/20 or April 20 denotes cannabis celebration; its cultural references are rooted in the hippie culture of the 1960s and 1970s.
The heroine's new clothes
Who else but Sanjay Leela Bhansali could bring on a wardrobe reset like the one in his just-dropped period piece—an eight-part Netflix series called Heeramandi?
AI & I
Through her book Code Dependent—shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction—Madhumita Murgia gives voice to the voiceless multitudes impacted by artificial intelligence
Untold tales from war
Camouflaged is a collection of 10 deeply researched stories, ranging from the world wars to the 26/11 terror attacks
Hair force
Sheetal Mallar, in her photobook Braided, uses hair as a metaphor to tell a story that is personal yet universal
THE WHITE TIGER GAVE ME CONFIDENCE IN MY ABILITIES
The first time Adarsh Gourav made an impression was in Ramin Bahrani's 2021 film The White Tiger, a gripping adaptation of Aravind Adiga's Booker-winning novel.
The art of political protest
The past doesn’t always remain in the past. Sometimes, it emerges in the present, reminding us about the universality and repetitiveness of the human experience. Berlin’s George Grosz Museum, a tiny gem, is a startling reminder that modern political and social ills are not modern. Grosz lived through World Wars I and II, shining a torch into the heart of darkness in high-ranking men and women—who were complicit in the collapse of the world as they knew it.
REFUELLING DYING SATELLITES
A Chennai company is making waves in the world of space tech startups
DIVERSITY IN UNITY
THE SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY IN THE US HAS SEVERAL THINGS IN COMMON, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS, THERE ARE WIDELY DIFFERING OPINIONS AND FEELINGS