Sneha Kanchan

Chennai, March 4: Thursday afternoons can be lazy for restaurants with the mid-week lull hitting them. But not for Ramayon Keishing’s North East Kitchen. The restaurant, a blink-and-miss restaurant tucked in a nondescript lane in Egmore, is abuzz with activity. With customers flocking in, the kitchen hustles to dish out the next plate of authentic north eastern flavours.

“I didn’t want to complicate the name. The name reflects why I started the restaurant 4 years ago,” said 50-year-old Keishing, a Manipuri Naga. Having embraced Chennai as his home for 25 years, he said he wanted to bring down a piece of his home for Chennaiites to taste. The restaurant specializes in north eastern cuisine, with specific emphasis on dishes from Manipur and Nagaland. It also serves Japanese and Korean dishes.  

Keishing came to Chennai with a post graduate degree in commerce from the Delhi University and a will to study for the civil services exam. After dropping that plan, he worked at an NGO for about 7 years and later at Hyundai before wanting to start something of his own. The Korean and Japanese connect goes back to his 10-year stint with Hyundai as the gathering department’s general manager in the outskirts of Chennai. “My colleagues would make me try dishes from their countries and I really loved them. I knew the flavours but I didn’t know how to cook those dishes. That’s when Youtube and Google helped me,” he said. From ramen to sushi to dishes accompanied with radish and cabbage kimchi, the menu boasts an interesting miscellany of Japanese and Korean dishes today.

Hailing from Sorathen, an obscure village in Manipur just a few kilometers from the Myanmar border, he wanted the dishes from that area and the traditional values attached to them to be the heroes of his menu. For instance, the menu has a traditional Naga dish called Sarao- a preparation using the neck portion of the cow or pork which is served at meetings when significant deals are being brokered and signed between two tribes or villages.

Another dish that he’s planning to include in the menu was Yala Ain, which again, has a strong traditional Naga connect. Different parts of meat, he said, were saved for different family members. The belly, beef or pork, which is one of the best parts, is reserved for the sister. “Mainly because she gets married and leaves the house. Whenever she is in the house, the best part is reserved for her. I want to include preparations like that in the menu,” said Keishing.

The prices of the dishes are slightly on the higher end with a bowl of Korean vegetable Ramyun noodles costing Rs. 330. Keishing has an explanation for that. “A lot of ingredients that go into these recipes are imported from Korea and Japan as they aren’t readily available. The sausages, fish oil, sesame oil, wasabi, some types of noodles like Ramyun are all imported,” he said.

North East Kitchen has built itself a solid fan base. Most of his customers have been his promoters, he said.   

Nilo, a history post-graduate student from Loyola College who has been in Chennai since the past two years, mentioned how he came to the joint whenever he missed home food.  He, who’ll be going back home in April, said the restaurant was a good find in Chennai. “There is Naga Reju in Choolaimedu that serves cheap food and bigger quantities but there are certain dishes that this place cooks better than that one,” said Nilo.

 Washi, a native of Nagaland who is currently studying in Chennai, quipped about the high price. “The food is authentic which is why we keep coming back. The beef fried rice and the beef with bamboo shoot is very close to what we get at home,” she said.

Keishing runs the place as a family business with his family chipping in in whatever ways they can. His sister, a school teacher in the same area, helps him with the orders after her work hours. His wife helps with the cooking sometimes. He has also brought down five more people from his village to help him out, some of whom study at nearby colleges and help him part-time. 

He laments the ignorance of some people tagging natives from the north east as ‘Chinese’ or ‘Korean.’ An ardent south Indian food enthusiast who loves eating idli and sambhar at Saravana Bhanvan and Krishan Bhavan, Keishing hopes that someday that his food joint will bridge the gap someday. 60% of his customer base, he said, were locals. “My main aim is get our food to mainland India and capture the heart of Chennai,” he added.

What we had

Vidushi Sagar

Chennai, March 8: Her eyes skim over the ten pairs of feet. They dance in sacred synchronization. The Ghungroos chime in a fast paced rhythm, to the steady beat of the Taadam (wooden stick) that Radhika Shurajit hits on the ground. A Bharatanatyam guru, she talks about the unfair modern practices around Gurudakshina.

Gurudakshina is a practice that dates back to the Gurukula system, in which the Guru would be voluntary given a ‘Dakshina’ or fees cum offering for the teaching and guiding they did. Today, this ritual still exists in the classical performing arts, which have now been commercialized.

Increasing amounts of people are becoming interested in learning classical art forms. However, the demand of expensive presents from students becomes a hindrance to many learners from the lower and middle stratas of society.

In Bharatanatyam, Gurudakshina comes to light whenever an Arangetram is performed. An Arangetram is a ‘coming-out’ performance, which marks the start of a professional career for a dancer. It is often an extravagant affair, costing the student anywhere between 3 to 5 lakh in current times.

Radhika Shurajit, a Bharatanatyam guru with over 30 years of experience, says that Gurudakshina is a way of maintaining some of the rituals around the artform. It is voluntary and depends on what the shishya (student) wants to give to her Guru. “However, it definitely creates pressure,” she adds.

Radhika is the first and senior most disciple of the Dhananjayans, a revered dancing duo consisting of Vannadil Pudiyaveettil and Shanta Dhananjaya. She has also been taught by Padma BhushanKalanidhi Narayan. Her wide, kohl-lined eyes twinkle as she recalls her own experience with her Gurus.

“I was blessed to have met the Dhananjayans. I belonged to a middle income group family and my gurus exempted me from any fees or Gurudakshina,” she says.                                                                                                                                 

But, she has had many students who came to learn from her after facing problems with their previous Gurus.

“I have a student, Deeptika* whose Guru refused to attend her Arangetram minutes before it was to start, until a diamond bracelet was gifted to him,” she says.

“Another student of mine, Lakshmi*, has a Guru who demands gold from her every year under the guise of Gurudakshina. Even at own her wedding, he demanded jewellery from her. I remember it being very problematic for her at that time as she was already under financial stress,” she states.

Shukti Yadav is a student who came to Chennai from Delhi for six months to practice for her Arangetram. She has had a similar experience with Gurudakshina.

She refused to name her guru but says that those six months were financially very difficult for her family.

“My guru never missed an opportunity to demand things from me. He demanded jewellery, clothes and hefty amounts of cash, before the Arangetram. He did so not just for himself, but for his wife as well,” she recalls.

Apart from that, her guru had also been in charge of arranging her arangetram. According to her, every day he’d come up with new costs and never let her family look into the details despite the fact that they were paying the money, she adds.

 “He’d get offended whenever we touched the topic,” she says.

 Radhika confirms Shukti’s experience with many she has seen firsthand.

According to her, Gurus are set into arrangements with the musicians and organizers. They ask for a higher amount of money from the student than what is actually being paid for the program.

“Whenever one of my students perform an Arangetram, I arrange everything but I also make sure they know where their money is being spent, while also keeping them in touch with everyone involved,” she says.

Shanmuga Sundaram is a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer. He is a disciple of Smt. K. J. Sarasa, and whose school he now runs after her demise. He talks about having many colleagues who have faced similar problems.

“Some of these Gurus forget that Gurudakshina is essentially a voluntary practice. They never miss an opportunity to rope in money through a pure practice meant to form a bond between the shishya and guru,” he says.

He, however, feels lucky to have been on the other side of the spectrum for his teacher turned out to be too generous. “She would not take money from poorer students, and even arranged arangetrams for them,” he recollects.

According to Ms. Shutje, despite people who shame the practice by such measures, there are people who uphold it.
“True artists are a dying breed, but they are not dead yet,” she smiles.

Sravani Nellore

Chennai, Mar 7: Only about 50% of the buildings in the city have rain water harvesting systems in the city, says Sekhar Raghavan, director of Rain Centre, an organisation that is working on alternatives for storing water.

Abhishek Karanam, an IT employee staying in Nungambakkam, was one of many residents who didn’t receive water for two days last month. “We were supplied bore water initially, but it was too salty to use for anything. Later, we purchased water from private water tankers,” he said. When asked about the rainwater harvesting system, he was clueless.

According to the Tamil Nadu Combined Development and Building Rules that was released last month during the Budget, every building has to set up a RHW system. The rule was made keeping in view the impending water crisis in the city.

But, this is not the first time such a rule has come out. Sekhar says, “As per 2002 law, RHWs were mandatory in every building in the State. By 2004, almost every household in Chennai had a sump to collect the water. But the structures, that resembled bore wells, were poorly designed. Its intake was low, and it overflowed and clogged often. Seeing this, the people switched to borewells. The bore wells are dug deep into the ground, where, rainwater that would have seeped in through cracks, is drawn. The water is usually very salty and is not recommended by us.”

As the older RHW systems didn’t last longer than three years, Sekhar’s team filed an audit to the government, recommending an improvised structure, called recharge wells. The State government has asked the citizens to incorporate the changes suggested by Sekhar’s report.

Rajasekharan, an official at the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewage Board, said that there is a lack of knowledge about the benefits of the RWHs. He says, “Chennai doesn’t have many options to fall back on. The water table(the height of groundwater) in many areas is dipping day by day. All the water that the city gets, comes from the rains. It is sensible that we store the rainwater to escape the crisis, but the people here hesitate to install it. Every owner spends lakhs on having a parking slot and a garden, but installing a RHW is considered a waste.”

 “In coastal areas like Chennai, if the rainwater is not collected, the water goes directly into the sea and gets wasted. We cannot afford to waste water in this way. It is the responsibility of the government to check on the implementation of the law. When it was not done in 15 years, what can be expected now?, he asked.

Anushka Deepak

CHENNAI, March 8: With the start-up culture booming in urban India, the culture of co-working spaces is growing. The country’s modern workforce is challenging the archaic and impersonal office setup.

Getting into a space, searching for your workplace and bumping into strangers asking each other addresses is an experience no professional setup can offer. A gym where you can share your pumping fitness passion with the people you see every day but don’t know on a personal level and cafe to just relax and share your ideas and thoughts to enhance your knowledge is all that a co-working space enables you to get, all under one roof.

Rising above the cramped cubicles, today’s professionals are getting inclined towards flexibility and fluidity in the workplace.Small-medium co-working space providers understand the need for mergers with larger companies to enhance their services as compared to the increasing demand.

When small businesses realise that the bigger game changers are about to compete with them, they prefer a merged office space for expansion. Earlier, when the food tech industry realised that Uber cab service is coming up with their own online food delivery service, Food Panda decided to collaborate with Ola cabs and create a bigger market for themselves.

In Chennai, every company has an established setup if they’re standing in the market for long enough, but nowadays even the bigger ones are shifting into co-working spaces to join hands with the smaller firms doing well for themselves. With these space providers trying to grow their market, more IT company areas will be their main target areas.

‘Workafella’ is one such co-working space provider in Chennai that has 9,000 seats in three cities so far. “Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru are the hub of start-ups as of now. Our co-working company has become a leading co-working space provider in the South, and hosts workplaces envisioned for great ideas and inspired collaborations,” said Founder and Managing Director GurbinderRattha.

The provider opened its first branch at TTK Road in 2016. Looking at its success, a second branch sprang up in the bustling IT area on Old Mahabalipuram Road, Perungudi. To find a niche, Gurbinder claims Workafella was the first to offer a 24/7 office space with no hidden costs.

Inspiring productivity

An ideal workspace should not be warm and cozy like home, but should be functional and efficient so as to create a working environment. This doesn’t mean that it should be a place where there will be no relaxation for oneself. “Customizing your workspace according to your taste and mood can be done without altering the entire theme. Combine comfort and seriousness to build a productive workspace, where your creative juices can flourish and that is exactly what we aim on doing,” said Rattha. “And there are many takers. Within two months of launch in Hyderabad, the space was filled to capacity, and the company had to set up other two other co-working spaces.”

Gurbinder explains that nuanced spaces were created for each city, keeping in mind the local culture, food habits, and social norms. An example of a region-specific requirement is a terrace space for musicians and DJs to perform in the Bengaluru co-working spots. The spaces that Workafella doesn’t own are taken over on long-term leases and completely transformed to appeal to that particular city’s young professionals.

Future of Work

It is expected that investments of $400 million per year for the next five years will be poured in the co-working space.

At the inaugural day of the eighth TechSparks on 22^nd September 2017, Director WeWork India Karan Virwani said in his talk on ‘Future of the Workspace’ that it is this factor that they are banking on for the success of co-working spaces in the world. “Contrary to what people think that with the advent of robots and AI human interactions will become rare, we believe that the future of the workspace is bright,” he said.

Just like owning a car is no more important, traditional workspaces are also on a way out. As per the data provided by CRE MATRIX, leasing of co-working spaces in 2017 had gone up at an excellent pace, and the trend is bound to continue.

Expert researchers are of the opinion, that co-working culture could be a positive step in the future, which has less to do with the number of labour hours and more to do with hospitality and productivity.