When will this madness end?” tweets a tech enthusiast on my network. He’s talking about the impossibly large phones being launched on a weekly basis. He’s from the camp that believes “Phablets” are an outlandish concept that neither allow you to use the device with one hand nor fit in pockets. I tell him it isn’t ending soon. Joshua Flood, Senior Analyst with ABI Research, the technology market intelligence firm, thinks the starting point for phablets was really Samsung’s Galaxy S III, not the Note. The super seller’s 4.8-inch screen changed peoples’ perception about the optimum size of phones as the larger screen enhanced the experience for users who love carrying “everything” with them and are happy to read their mail and news, watch videos, and check their social networks on the go. It’s the same reason Apple kept the iPad large, until it caved in and brought out the Mini and stretched the iPhone a bit. People just want to do more and don’t find tiny screens enough. Smaller screens are for those who still primarily use their phones for calling and haven’t yet expanded their activities to match a phone’s capabilities. No wonder 83 million phablets were shipped in 2012, an increase of 4,504 per cent from 2011. And for this year, ABI Research predicts it will be 150 million phablets and this will be 18 per cent of all smartphones. You can see the trend from the ads around you. But that’s worldwide. In India, there’s another trend taking root. Low-cost phablets are invading the market and from the collection I’ve seen so far, they offer a surprising amount of value for money. Take the Canvas 2 from Micromax which I’m using occasionally these days. It’s slim, light and runs on a 1.2GHz dual core MediaTek MT6577 processor with Android 4.0. The screen isn’t high-end, but it more than does the job. Browsing is fine. The camera is an 8MP but again, not what you’d get on other top phones. Overall, it’s usable. And all it costs is about Rs 10,000. A large phone, dual-sim at that, and it costs one fourth of what the most-coveted ones do. For those who can’t afford the 40k phones, a device like the Canvas 2 is amazing. Phones in the low and mid-range from the bigger companies cost more than this super phone. So Micromax went ahead and launched the next version of its Canvas line, the Canvas HD, with a quad core processor and a top notch IPS screen and under Rs 15,000. Not just that, Micromax plans to launch another 30 phones this year. There’s a joke going around that what Samsung did to Apple, Micromax will do to Samsung. Micromax claims to have sold more phablets than Samsung in Q4 and is confident it will beat them, given a little more time. While that may or may not be true, it’s a fact that Samsung has had to join the race and just after Micromax’s launch, released a 5-inch dual core phone too – with a display not as good as Micromax’s 1280 x 720 either. In a sense, it’s ironic that Samsung had to launch the Galaxy Grand Duos in a category which it was responsible for beginning. Obviously, it’s going to be a big war, with the beneficiaries being the consumers. Not only will students and anyone not ready to shell out close to half a lakh on phones find they have affordable options, the entire pricing structure may have to adjust to this new reality. So far, the second tier or mid-range phones have actually tended to be the least value for money, costing as much as Rs 25,000. But now, the 5-inch force offers more than this segment of Rs 15,000 to 25,000 does and many who didn’t consider large phones until now, may do so. If the phablet army wants to keep up its advantages though, it will have to figure out setting up service for repair or replacements. They also need to consider pushing Android updates which are important in the absence of “skins” or signature interfaces, special features and apps. Given these, there are always some fairly powerful apps on Google Play that could make the device useful for work as well. The government might well want to consider backing an Akaash phablet, for that matter.mala(at)pobox(dot)com,(at)malabhargava on Twitter(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-03-2013)
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A flutter of excitement greeted the arrival of the HTC Butterfly as it alighted in India and was introduced to a small gathering of the tech media in Delhi. The folks at HTC correctly figured that reviewers would instantly clamour for units to get a closer look, and they arranged for everyone to get their hands on what is surely one of the most gorgeous looking phones I’ve ever seen. To zoom in on what makes the Butterfly so breathtaking — it’s the 1080p x 1920 HD Super LCD3 display, gazing crisply back at you with a pixel density of 441 ppi. That is the most spectacular screen out there so far and it shows right away. Someone asked me if laymen could really tell the difference if there are more pixels. I have to say, yes; the experience is that much more pleasing. And as for comparing with other phones, regular phone users don’t need to be doing that in any case. But what has been equally breathtaking is the price of this smartphone. It’s upward of Rs 46,000. While the iPhone and many other top-tier phones hover around the same price point, consumers feel HTC is not in a position to command such a high price perhaps, without enough of a differentiating factor. Other pixel-perfect screens are coming soon, after all, and so is the World Mobile Congress show where God-knows-what specs may be sitting on a slew of phones. Still, the Butterfly is an extremely elegantly designed gadget. If you look closely, you’ll see the styling and detailing that’s gone into it, that too, using material that spells sophistication from the moment you see and feel this smartphone. The back, slightly curved for better ergonomics, is made of material similar to that of the HTC 8X. It’s smooth and soft and slightly rubbery. The front is, of course, that gleaming screen — slightly reflective though. All along the sides is a deep red dotted strip, adding a further touch of class to the device. The buttons are also carefully stylised. A few problems though, because nothing is perfect. The main power button is centre top and takes some getting used to. The slots for the cable, sim, etc. are covered with a flap that you must prise open and that’s not very easy to do frequently. But other than that, it’s a marvel of design as they have been able to put so much power into a form so very thin. Yes, thinner than the iPhone. This is a 5-inch phone and, given its specs, could have got away with being clunkier, but clunky is the last thing it is. HTC has managed to find the right width to make sure the Butterfly is comfortable to hold. Also Read: Tushar Kanwar's review of HTC ButterflyFor one-hand users, if you have a longish hand, you could reach across the screen, but in my experience, super responsive touch screens aren’t made for being swiped with a thumb like a mini windshield wiper. The Butterfly neither feels nor looks as big as it is, while at the same time, giving you enough screen space. That’s why, thankfully, the reluctance to put it in the phablet category. The 8MP camera on this phone isn’t a specialist in any particular aspect of photography, but it does take very nice pictures. Of course, one of the reasons they look that good is because of the screen, but even transferred elsewhere, they’re pretty sharp. The colours are very pretty and there’s enough detail. It doesn’t have any low light special abilities but does a pretty good job of macro. An annoyance is the lack of a dedicated camera button. It also has a 2 MP wide angle front facer and a great feature which lets you set a timer for self shots. The sound is pretty good all around, including on calls. Beats audio is included but the headphones are regular. Still, Beats makes a difference to them and the sound is full. As of now, it’s recommended for those who have the money and want a truly powerful premium phone plus the pleasure of always looking at a lovely screen. The Butterfly is classy beyond a doubt. There are other smartphones coming though, including the M7 from HTC and the Xperia Z from Sony. mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-03-2013)
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Living with the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga for the past few weeks has been nothing short of a luxury. While I knew that this Ultrabook-tablet hybrid has a screen that bends 360 degrees, it’s only when I started using it that I fully realised how it was possible to work or digitally entertain myself in a variety of situations, some of them pretty much horizontal. While there have been many hybrids and convertible form factors changing the good old laptop, the Yoga, which won some awards at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show, is special because of its very strong hinges. How these would fare over the years, one can’t say, but they’re sure to be repairable in any case. For now, what I can say is that the screen’s flexibility, quite like a yogi really, lets you use it like a regular laptop, a tablet on a stand, in tented TV-like mode, and folded right over as a tablet. Those are the advertised positions. When you use it, you figure that there are actually many in-between screen positions to fit the way you like to sit or recline with your gadgets. I even tried it out as a tummy-top with the screen at exactly the right angle for me to watch some videos. The fact that there’s no fiddling and clicking into place, no danger of the screen dropping away from the keyboard, means that you use it all the more confidently. BLACKBERRY Z10 AND Q10: BlackBerry Z10 launching in India on 25 Feb and the Q10 coming later are the new BlackBerrys, finally complete with a re-thought smooth operating system. Communication is a thumb-swipe away for the hyper-connectedDELL INSPIRON 15Z ULTRABOOK: This budget laptop is light and thin and comes in brushed aluminum. With Windows 8 and an optional touchscreen variant, its big sound and screen (15 inches) is ideal for those who want to do more than just work.MICROSOFT’S SURFACE PRO: The Surface, yet to surface in India and not doing as well as expected elsewhere, has just turned Pro, getting the full Windows 8 treatment instead of the more limited RT. It also has a pen and a 1920x1080 screen.The IdeaPad is otherwise beautifully built. When you hold it, you immediately feel that this is top-notch gadgetry. It looks matte-finish metallic and feels soft. There’s even an orange version. But, as is the case with all these softened materials, any finger oil goes straight on to it, and no matter what you do, there’s always some on one’s hands by default. Luckily, they’re wipeable, with some effort. The inside is a grainy matte material as well but somewhat less prone to fingerprints, which is a good thing because your palms rest on the ample space reserved for them. One has to think of the hybrids that have come out so far more as Ultra- books with a secondary function of a tablet. As an Ultrabook, it’s slim and light and doesn’t have that teardrop shape that everyone has copied from the MacBook Air. In fact, nothing has been copied from Apple’s designs here, and that itself is rather refreshing. The keyboard is comfortable even though the keys are shallow. My only problem with it was that the Shift, Enter and other keys on the right were close together and sized differently from the ones I’ve been used to, causing me to keep pressing Enter instead of Shift. And that, when my own primary laptop is a Lenovo ThinkPad. Another problem that I faced is that when you touch the screen, it tends to move a little although this depends on your choice of angle. As a tablet, as expected, it’s too thick and heavy to compete with the standalone tablets of the world, because obviously you’re holding a tablet-plus-keyboard, not just a tablet. Together it’s 1.54 kg. A big problem here is also that the keyboard is exposed to more abuse than usual as you put the device down on a surface or your lap. It’s also not natural and comfortable to feel a keyboard on the flip side of a tablet. Perhaps they should explore some kind of retractable thin cover that can slide over it at the touch of a button. But that’s just an idea for the IdeaPad. There are two versions of the Yoga. This, the 13-inch, runs on Widows 8 Pro and costs Rs 84,290. The 11-inch Yoga runs Windows RT (the lighter but more limited version of Windows) and costs Rs 61,790.mala(dot)bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-03-2013)
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Once a month, Ajit Balakrishnan, the 64-year-old CEO of Rediff.com, boards the 16-hour Mumbai-New York direct flight. In the flight, he tries to get as much work done as possible, leaving only a few hours for a snooze before disembarking at Newark airport. From the airport, he is driven straight to his hotel, has a shower and is out again for back-to-back meetings with shareholders (Rediff is listed on the Nasdaq) and others. He finishes late in the evening and next morning, is at office again. After completing another series of meetings, he is ready to board the 5.25 pm Air India flight, landing the next day at 5.30 in the evening in Mumbai, where it’s business as usual. Spending the better part of 48 hours in an aircraft criss-crossing time zones is simply part of the job for this CEO who is accustomed to working 12 to 14 hour days for the past few decades. But then, 12 to 14 hours, seven days a week, 350 days or more a year work schedules are becoming increasingly common for most CEOs, investment bankers, senior consultants, corporate lawyers and even politicians in today’s globalised world. Indeed, there are quite a few who believeHALE & HEARTY: Naresh Trehan does yogathat it is the ability to put in long hours at work, day after day, that often determines who becomes a CEO and who stays a middle manager. Talent and brains are useful — but it is the mental toughness and the physical endurance to go on for days with little sleep or rest that makes a difference. Like Balakrishnan, 66-year-old superstar cardiac surgeon Naresh Trehan, chairman and managing director of Medanta, also follows a schedule that could kill lesser mortals. He is in the hospital from 9 am to 9 pm, examining hundreds of patients and performing surgeries. He has been going on at the same pace for the last four decades and seems to have no plans to slow down. In politics, you could take inspiration from a 73-year-old Subramanian Swamy or an 85-year-old L.K. Advani; in films, from a 70-year-old Amitabh Bachhan; and, in the cut-throat world of mergers and acquisitions, from Zia Mody — who all put in back-breaking hours. How do they manage to do it when others burn out? Are they born that way or is it exercise and diet? As it turns out, it is both. Some people are born with stamina and, despite a poor lifestyle, can still put their peers to shame with their work hours. But many others can build themselves up to deal with these rigours with some bit of training. Trehan puts his stamina down to training and discipline. “During my seven-year residency in New York, I never slept for more than four hours. We were trained like commandos.” While the first couple of years were difficult, the body and mind soon adjusted. “You learnt to be alert even if you had hardly slept.” Yoga And MeditationThat training has stood him in good stead. Today, he sleeps for six hours daily and while he recommends power naps to most of his patients, he himself is unable to find time. But Trehan does believe in a work-life balance and manages to socialise 2-3 times a week. “Meeting different people and having interesting conversations keeps you stimulated.” Regular exercise and yoga also play an important role in ensuring his fitness — both physical and mental. In the mornings, he alternates between hitting the treadmill and doing yoga while he utilises the driving time between the hospital and home to do Vipasana. “It is the best utilisation of time. I feel totally rejuvenated by the time I reach home.” Asha Gupta, the 40-year-old managing director of Tuppwerware, believes in pacing herself to go through her packed schedule. From conference calls to the US at 6.30 am, to meetings with executives late in the evening, her day is full. “I pulse through the day. I reach a point of high activity, then slow down for a short while and then rise again.” She practises meditation. “I only manage 15 minutes in the morning and evening, but it works.” Gupta also works out regularly in the gym and likes to go for long walks. Swamy, leader of the Janata Party, practises Pranayama or breathing exercises for an hour every morning. Pranayama helps increase the intake of oxygen into the body, which leads to higher concentration, stress reduction, makes you more energetic and increases stamina, explains Payal Gidwani, a yoga and fitness expert who has trained Kareena Kapoor.Rising Early Balakrishnan, who claims to come from a line of ‘sturdy peasant stock’, has benefitted from his early life experiences. As a young student, he used to play football for Kerala University. He got into the habit of waking up at 4 am to practise and he hasn’t been able to sleep later than that since. “I’m at my creative best between 4 and 7 in the morning,” says Balakrishnan whose book The Wave Rider was published recently. Most of his reading and a large part of his writing is done during that period. Physical exercise in his youth has also ensured that he is fitter than most. “I used to run 11 km a day till my mid-40s. Then I was advised against it as it could affect my knees.” Now he goes for an hour-long brisk walk three times a week and does yoga on other days. Swamy too wakes up at 4 am. “I chant mantras that have been given to me by different acharyas. These help my mind think beyond boundaries,” says Swamy who spends the next hour replying to mails and reading and posting on Twitter. Then it’s time for his walk. You Are What You Eat“To feel energetic the whole day, the right diet is essential,” says Gupta, who believes in eating light meals of small portions 4-5 times a day. She also eats a lot of fruits and vegetables and is disciplined about sugar intake. “Too much sugar and fat affects agility,” she says. Shikha Sharma, Delhi-based nutritionist and wellness consultant, approves of Gupta’s diet. “Heavy meals leave you feeling sluggish as all the energy goes into digesting the food.” Every Minute CountsAnother distinguishing factor is time management. Swamy, for instance, has divided the day into three 8-hour shifts. From 4 in the morning to noon is the first shift. Then, he has lunch and sleeps for an hour. From 1.30 to 9.30 pm is the second shift and then he goes to bed. “I get two 8-hour working days in a day as compared to one that most people do.” Balakrishnan spends almost an hour commuting from his home in Mumbai’s Colaba to the Rediff office in Mahim West, reading on his iPad or working on his laptop. That’s two hours of commute daily that is well utilised. “It’s my secret weapon,” he says. Passion for your job is essential for endurance. Says Priya Chetty-Rajagopal, partner at Stanton Chase International, an executive hiring firm: “High energy and passion is now a job requirement. You need to be physically and mentally agile as, thanks to improvements in technology, you never really shut off.” 10 Tips To A Hacker- proof PasswordDon’t use any personally identifying informationStay away from actual words, even in a foreign language Make your pass- word long and complex — between 8-20 characters Use both upper- and lower-case letters Use one or more special characters such as #, *, $ Place numbers and punctuation marks randomly Don’t share your password with anyone else Don’t use sample passwords given on websites Change your password regularly, every six months or so Type your pass word quickly to prevent anyone from looking(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 11-03-2013)
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There once used to be a time when Microsoft would launch a new version of Windows and hordes would flock to buy the newest hardware sporting the latest from Redmond. Not the case this time around with Windows 8, though. With soft sales all around, PC makers have literally to think outside the box and wow customers into the purchase. Can the lineup of innovative Windows 8 form factors on offer today do the trick? Read on… Sony VAIO Duo 11: Is this a laptop or a tablet? How you answer that question will probably affect what you think of the VAIO Duo 11 from Sony. At first glance, you see what looks like a slightly bulky 11.6-inch touchscreen tablet running Windows 8 at a glorious 1920 x 1080 full HD resolution. The touchscreen is extremely responsive, and the flat tablet-style use makes a lot more sense than pecking away at a traditional touchscreen laptop screen. The fat bezel around the screen does make you wonder if they could have jammed in a slightly bigger display had they just tried harder! Once you slide the screen back and up, the keyboard and optical pointer reveal themselves. Now while it looks rather cool, the design is not without issues. For one, I’m not fan of the exposed hinges – they take up too much space, leaving you with a cramped keyboard experience, not to mention just one fixed viewing angle in propped up mode. Under the hood, the Duo 11 packs a third gen Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM and a speedy 128GB solid state drive, which boots quickly and chews through everyday tasks and heavier tasks like 1080p HD movies and picture editing with equal ease. A full complement of ports means this is a perfectly capable machine, if you can learn to love its one major quirk.Verdict: Is the unique, eye catching form factor worth the price? Possibly not. Lenovo Yoga 13: Now this is a hinge done right! Take what looks to be an ordinary ultrabook, and keep tilting the 13-inch touchscreen back, past what one would assume would be its breaking point, until it folds all the way around. Fold it flat all the way around and the keyboard and mouse are automatically disabled just as the screen goes past the horizontal position. You can even open the Yoga partly on a table or on a bed, with its screen facing outward in a tent-like shape and watch your favorite movie or TV episode. The concept is so simple that you wonder why no one else though of a hinge implementation this useful. What’s useful about the Yoga’s design is that there’s little or no compromise as a notebook. You get a spacious keyboard and a wide touchpad, and while the display may not best the Duo 11’s full HD screen, it certainly isn’t a pushover with its 1600 x 900 pixel resolution. The third gen Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory and a 128GB SSD keep things feeling responsive at all times. My only issue with the Yoga 13 is with it claiming to don the tablet hat – it is far too heavy to be treated seriously as a tablet, and battery life is more laptop territory than tablet. Net net, it’s still more a touchscreen laptop than anything else, but one with seriously well-executed hybrid intentions.Verdict: Worth the extra pennies? Most certainly. Acer Aspire S7: Perhaps a Windows 8 ultrabook most worthy of the name, the Acer Aspire S7 checks off a number of boxes straight off the bat. Sporting an all-aluminum rear, the S7 offers a stunning looking piece of kit with a shockingly thin form factor at just a shade over 1 kilo. But this isn’t just a looker – the S7 packs in a full HD 11.6-inch touchscreen with a roomy keyboard and mouse, though I personally prefer keyboard keys to have much more travel that the S7’s did. The Windows 8 experience is great on the sharp touchscreen, though you should know that the moment you drop down to desktop mode, the high resolution makes the visual elements and text a tad too small to read easily. Specs are typical high-end ultrabook fare, including third generation Intel Core processors, 4GB of RAM, and a capacious yet zippy 256GB solid-state drive. If anything, it’s really the poor battery life and premium pricing that’ll be the undoing of the S7, but other manufacturers should sit up and take note of Acer’s most capable ultrabook offering yet.Verdict: Tough pill to swallow at the price, but one of the best Windows 8 devices yet. Samsung Series 5 Ultra Touch: The most traditional of designs in our lineup for today, the Series 5 Ultra Touch makes some rather safe and value oriented choices, both in terms of design and hardware. To begin with, it looks like a bunch of the other ultrabook. Then the choice of display – a touchscreen with a bare minimum 1366x768 pixels resolution. You get a third gen Core i5 processor, 8GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, and a 500GB 5400RPM hard drivecoupled with mated to a 24GB ExpressCache SSD. What ExpressCache allows is the ability to combine the speed of a solid-state drive with the capacity of a regular hard disk. The net result is improved overall system performance and fast boot times, application launches and data access. To be fair, these specs may not beat the fastest ultrabooks out there, but you’re also spending a third less than all the other devices on this page.Verdict: At its price, the Samsung makes for a good ‘safe’ buy. Sony Duo 11Rating: 7/10Price: Rs. 89,990/-URL: http://bit.ly/10cC6Er Lenovo Yoga 13Rating: 8/10Price: Rs. 84290/- onwardsURL: http://lnv.gy/UyQWgK Acer S7Rating: 8/10Price: Rs 88,499/-URL: http://bit.ly/UUjLXz Samsung Series 5 Ultra TouchRating: 8/10Price: Rs. 64,990/-URL: http://bit.ly/REp0e6 Complete MakeoverIt’s been a tough couple of years for Research in Motion, but with the 30 January launch BlackBerry 10, the company may well turn a page. I’ve spent some time with the new OS, and here’s my pick of the top features I like. Homescreen: You can get a lot done on a BB10 device simply by swiping from different edges of the screen, great for one-handed use by on-the-go types, no fumbling around for a home button to get things started. Yep, no home button! The main home screen contains “Active Frames”, which give you an overview of information from a particular app and launch the full app when tapped. Swiping right to left will take you to the app list. BlackBerry Hub: Possibly one of the best implementations of a notification center on any platform yet, the new BlackBerry Hub is accessed by swiping an “L” shape, up and to the left. The new Hub can handle it all — multiple email accounts, text messages, BBM, calls, WhatsApp (among others) and all your social networks in one place. Not just that, if you’re in middle of composing an email and a new one comes in, you can swipe ever so slightly to “peek” at the new content before you continue with the email. No switching between windows, pressing buttons or saving to drafts! Or for that matter, when you’re in the Hub looking at your new notifications – you can drag down from the top of the screen, and the Hub will automatically show you the calendar events for the day in the top half of the screen, allowing you to quickly see how your day ahead looks like without launching the full calendar app. I can safely say this feature will make the sale for productivity-obsessed folks! Touchscreen Keyboard: Yes, yes I know most ‘berry fanatics swear by the keyboard, but you have to use the BB10 keyboard to see how good it can get! Visually the keyboard looks similar to regular BB keyboard, down to the silver line between the rows of keys which looks like the metal strips between buttons on the Bold range. The BB10 keyboard app scans through your email/chat history to better predict the words you will type, and the keyboard embeds some very handy swipe gestures to type stuff in really quick. You get next-word suggestions overlaid over the keyboard, and if it's the word you want to use, you just need to swipe up over the word and it will be added to your sentence. In my limited time with the device, this is a serious time saver! Another interesting feature is that the keyboard can support up to three languages at any one time, so if you're writing in English it will offer up English words as suggestions, but if you choose to suddenly switch to typing out words in French, even if it is in the same message, the BB10 keyboard can detect the change in tongue and adjust its recommendations accordingly – very neat! Hinglish can’t come soon enough! Personal and Work Modes: When you have two distinct personas – one for work and one for play – why should your phone be any different? BB10 lets you have two modes, with separate background images and a password that can stop petulant kids from sending from sending out a garbled text message or email to your boss. For example, in Personal mode, you can install any apps you want, send any email, save files etc without being locked down in any way. Work mode can be completely set up just the way the company wants, giving you as much/little freedom within this area as they deem fit. Plus, everything is encrypted and fully secured and just one remote wipe away in case your device is lost. Both modes coexist on the same device, but with zero interaction between the modes, you’ll never end up saving that company confidential file into your personal cloud storage account! It’s like having two smartphones in one, and with BYOD on the rise, this is a feature whose time has come. Camera: While details about camera hardware are scant, there is an innovative camera feature I did like. It’s called ‘Time Shift’ and what it does is offer you a rewind mode to correct photos after the fact. It works by taking a series of photos at a time, and then locating the faces in the image. Once a face (or many) is located in the photo, you can tap it and literally rewind time to find the point at which the person had their eyes open and was flashing their best smile. If there are more people in the photo, you can individually adjust each person to the time when they were looking their best, and the app will seamless merge all these photos into one final photo! technocool at kanwar dot nettwitter@2shar
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Sit up. Don’t slouch. Sounds familiar? You may have thought you’ve outgrown your mom’s instructions, but the modern executive’s sedentary lifestyle just re-enforces the need to follow the rigmarole all over again. We spoke to Dr B.M. Jha, head of physiotherapy, at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, for pointers.Compiled by Shruti ChakrabortyIllustration: Anthony Lawrence(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 04-02-2013)
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The past month went by in innumerable discussions on how unsafe Delhi is for women. Endless hours of unsettling thoughts on how it could have been any one of us on that bus that December night. It was time to take matters into my own hands. I decided the only way to feel safe in the city was to learn some form of self defense. A colleague recommended Israeli martial arts. It sounded dodgy. I was in. As I traipsed into the basement hall of Fit Comb Training Centre in Gurgaon to attend a trial class, I realised I had not envisioned the seriousness of the matter. There were rubber guns on the floor, not to mention an intimidating group of students who looked like they had walked out of a war movie. I was informed that it was a Kapap class and not Krav Maga, which Fit Comb was previously known for. Both Kapap and Krav Maga are Israeli combat systems that teach self-defense techniques. While the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, they have basic differences. “While Krav Maga is all about physical combat and is a lot more aggressive, Kapap is more logical. It focuses on concepts which are ever evolving,” says Captain Jaipreet Joshi, a certified Kapap trainer. A Kapap class starts with a ‘warm-up’, which is only sweet talk for putting your body through a painful half hour of intensive workout. “The aim is to increase the heart rate. Only once it reaches 140-150 bpm, do we start working on the different Kapap techniques. With a relaxed state of mind you can do things better, but the point is to make the setting as real as possible. And when someone is attacking you, you will not be in a relaxed state of mind,” says Joshi. Kapap, which has recently gained popularity in the country, focuses on biomechanics and attempts to understand human physiology and then use it to one’s advantage when under attack. There are no restrictions for joining a Kapap class. Says Joshi, “A fit mind and a desire to learn is all we look for.” At the beginner level, the prime focus is on developing endurance. Following that, Kapap classes build up flexibility and body balance. Then they move on to basic standing techniques, teaching students how to stand and move on their feet when in combat. It focuses on a 360 degree defense system, teaching one to use hands, base of the palm, fingers, back of the hands and even how to slap in a more effective way. Joshi assures me that with regular practice one can reach the level of an instructor within 6 months. But one class had taken its toll on me. By the end of the one and a half hour class, I had been slapped, pulled, pushed and had a rubber gun pointed at me. My body was protesting. Was it worth it? Of course. After all, I had learnt how to defend myself in case someone points a gun at my chest. I think.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 04-02-2013)
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If your resolution for 2013 is to eat healthy, you are walking on slippery terrain. On the one hand, we have more food choices: Local and exotic vegetables, fruit, superfoods like almonds, walnuts, prunes, old-turned-trendy grain aka quinoa, spelt, millets, and a range of cooking mediums. On the other, there is an increasing problem in identifying what exactly is healthy. One category especially difficult to decipher in India is olive oil. Increasingly seen as a miraculous potion to sort out all your health issues, olive oil — in its many retail avatars — is being adopted across thousands of middle-class homes. It is one thing to jump on to that bandwagon; another to understand what really you are buying and why. On a recent tour to Italy, I visited a cross-section of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) producing and bottling companies under a programme sponsored by the European Union and the Italian ministry of agriculture. In the process, I met many stakeholders, health experts and consumers and managed to demystify the confusing world of olive oil. As one of the cornerstones of the much-emulated Mediterranean diet, olive oil is one of the healthiest cooking mediums around. The catch lies in what we are buying. Sometime ago, journalist Tom Mueller, author of the book Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil, had created ripples by investigating labelling frauds and pointing out that not all “virgins are as pure as they might seem”!PURE & UNTOUCHED: Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the highest quality of olive oil — mechanically pressed without solvents However, even if labelled correctly, olive oil in retail leaves one bewildered. Should one pay a premium for EVOO (which can be up to 10 times the cost of regular seed cooking oil)? Or should one buy “olive oil” as it is categorised? Or, “olive pomace oil”— being sold often as “best for Indian cooking”? (The last is a claim not necessarily correct because EVOO can be used for frying, sautéing, tadkas… with its smoking point of 220 degree C higher than frying temperatures in domestic kitchens which hover at 180 degreesC.) First things first: Let’s clearly establish the fact that EVOO is the highest quality of olive oil — mechanically pressed without solvents, under temperatures that will not degrade the oil. It is not refined, is fresh and full of polyphenols and antioxidants (apart from omega 6 fatty acids). This is also the oil with all the associated health benefits that you hear about and one that you should use — if you can afford it. But what are the health benefits that you can expect from EVOO? In Italy, a common saying is that two tablespoons of EVOO a day keep a host of troubles (including gastric ones) at bay. You may or may not take that literally. However, were you to switch to just two tablespoons per person of EVOO as your entire daily fat intake (of any kind, doing away with so many saturated, trans and other fats in our diets), you can indeed expect several benefits. Before we list these, it is good to remember that while antioxidants, polyphenols and monounsaturated fats in EVOO make this “healthy”, it is not a magic pill. It is still fat and you cannot use unlimited quantities. One fruit a day like an apple or veggies like broccoli and carrots will possibly have more nutrients (without the calories). But as a cooking oil rich in monoun-saturated fatty acids, it breaks down at a higher temperature than other mediums. This means that harmful radicals causing congestion of the arteries and joint disease are less likely to form and the same oil itself can be used twice more for cooking. So what are the top health benefits attributed to EVOO?Healthy heart: Apart from bolstering the immune system and protecting against viruses, olive oil helps lower cholesterol. Studies suggest that regular consumption can help decrease both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Oxidative stress and cancer: Olive oil is rich in antioxidants, especially vitamin E, long thought to minimise cancer risk. Studies suggest it exerts a protective effect against certain malignant tumours —if eaten as the main fat source. Diabetes: A recent Spanish study published in the journal Diabetes Care showed that a Mediterranean style diet rich in olive oil reduces the risk of type II diabetes by almost 50 per cent compared to a low fat diet. The bottomline: Cook with it, drizzle it on salads and grills, but do so in moderation. It’s still got calories! Anoothi Vishal is a Delhi-based food and travel writer.(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 04-02-2013)
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