Reader's Digest India - August 2021

75th Independence Day Special
AUGUST 2021 `100
E STORY
TH
OF IND IA
bjects
ic O
In 32 Icon
EXPERT SPEAK
Is It Good To
Be Bored?
Why It’s
Okay To
Say ‘No’
DRAMA IN REAL LIFE
How They
Caught Their
Stalker
BONUS READ
War And
Peace On
Melrose Hill
Reader ’s Digest
CONTENTS
94
Features 80
extraordinary lives
94
drama in real life
56
cover story
The First Lady
of Mental Health
Even at 98, India’s first
How They Caught
Their Stalker
An elusive hacker
THE THINGS THAT woman psychiatrist, humiliated a group
MAKE US INDIAN Sarada Menon is easing of high-school girls.
the our mental anguish. Then they helped the
Stories of our favourite by bhavya dore police set a digital trap.
products can trace the by stephanie clifford
history of our nation.
by shreevatsa nevatia 86
and naorem anuja
rd classic 102
bonus read
illustrations by ryan garcia
Triumph of
68 an Olympian War and Peace
health on Melrose Hill
In 1987, two competitors
Home Remedies From from different countries A chance encounter on a
Around the World showed the world the train journey leads to an
13 folk treatments that true meaning of respect amazing discovery of a
are proven to work and sportsmanship. decades-old connection.
by rd editors by doug small by dr yashwant thorat
readersdigest.in 3
readersdigest.in 3
Reader ’s Digest
10
8 Over to You it happens 13 things
top: illustration by richard borge; below: illustration by serge bloch

only in india 34 Scent-sational
22 Filtered Dark News About
Conversations and a Marriage Smell
department of wit Menagerie by emily goodman
by naorem anuja
10 Robots Gone Wild news from the
by andy simmons world of medicine
ask an expert Better Living 38 The Illusion of
Multivitamins,
14 Is It Good to
30 The Power of No Pet Videos to
Be Bored? by leah rumack
by courtney shea Beat Stress and
Hep-C Screening
good news
18 A Unique Harvest,
and Drones to
the Rescue
by ishani nandi
34
points to ponder
20 Naomi Osaka,
Nayantara Sahgal
and Dilip Kumar
4 august 2021
Culturescape studio
123 Gandhi Greeted
interview with by Darwen’s
irvin allen sealy Textile Workers
110 Turning Over by shreevatsa nevatia
a New Leaf me and my shelf
by sukhada tatke 124 Ira Mukhoty’s
rd recommends Favourite Reads
118 Films, Watchlist,
Books and Music Brain Games Humour
review 126 Brainteasers
122 A History of Violence 128 Sudoku 37
by jai arjun singh 129 Word Power Laugh Lines
131 Quiz 40
132 Quotable Quotes Humour in Uniform
66
All in a Day’s Work
78
Life’s Like That
85
As Kids See It
114
Laughter, The Best
118 Medicine
On the Cover
Cover design by Nilanjan Das
halfdark/getty images
The Story Of India in 32 Iconic Objects ....................................... 56

Expert Speak: Is It Good To Be Bored? ........................................ 14
Why It’s Okay To Say ‘No’ .............................................................. 30
Drama In Real Life: How They Caught Their Stalker................... 94
Bonus Read: War And Peace On Melrose Hill .......................... 102
readersdigest.in 5
VOL. 62 NO. 8
AUGUST 2021
Editor-in-Chief Aroon Purie
Vice Chairperson Kalli Purie
Group Chief Executive Officer Dinesh Bhatia
Group Editorial Director Raj Chengappa
Chief Executive Officer Manoj Sharma
editor Kai Jabir Friese IMPACT (ADVERTISING)
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features editor Naorem Anuja
consulting editor Shreevatsa Nevatia
editorial coordinator Jacob K. Eapen BUSINESS
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6 august 2021
The Ever Beloved
OVER TO Mr Bond
As an 11th-standard
YOU
Notes on the
student, a voracious
reader and one who
June issue has decided to try my
hand at writing, I en-
joyed this interview
He Trots the Air with one of my favou-
rite authors. I have
Pets become members of a family and their loss is learnt from him that
as ravaging as the death of any loved one. I’m no pet complacency should
keeper but tried raising a Labrador pup on my never set in if one
daughter’s insistence. She soon got on with her life, wants to become a
leaving the responsibility of this young arrival on my celebrated writer.
wife’s and my shoulders. He grew bigger, more active. Bond sets an example
In the limited space of our flat, we soon found the sit- to all writers by con-
tinuing his craft even
uation unmanageable. A senior military official with
at his grand age of 87.
large open spaces agreed to adopt him. While our
Steve Frank, via email
furry friend found his forever home, we felt deep
sorrow and solitude. So the author’s grief upon the Bond’s responses in
passing of her four-legged companion, who stayed this interview can form
by her side for decades, resonated with us deeply . a well-set guide for
—Arvind Arya, Mumbai budding writers and
even seasoned jour-
Arvind Arya gets this month’s ‘Write & Win’ prize of ₹1,000. —EDs
nalists. Reading Bond
is always a pleasure,
We Will Study! not only for kids but
Shantha Sinha’s article was a fantastic read. During adults as well and
this pandemic several children have had to forgo Bond is my all-time
education because of a lack of mobile phones, digital favourite. A trick I
connectivity and a steady source of income. All the tried on my grand-
efforts and incremental progress made in education children to get them
are under threat—will education, particularly for girls— to give up their smart-
reduce drastically because of the pandemic? This is a phone addiction was
monumental challenge for the government, and must gifting them Bond’s
be dealt with much thought and adequate financing. books. It brought ex-
Jayanta Kumar Padmapati, Guwahati cellent results. Now
8 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
his unforgettable char- can never be matched. like played a significant

acters—Rakesh and his Among the many kinds role since the beginning
grandfather, Binya, Bijju help offered, volunteer- of the battle against CO-
and others—loom large ing to give a respectful VID-19. As Pope Francis
over their leisure time burial to the dead is per- says, our faith enables
rather than those coun- haps the most selfless, us to reach out to others.
terproductive games brave service of all. May their tribe increase!
on tablets and smart- Hopefully, the services SANJAY CHOPRA, Mohali
phones that were de- rendered by citizen he-
vouring their precious roes will serve as an eye Open up and say Haha
days for so long. opener to communal- This story was a worthy
Tharcius S. Fernando, minded and religious read with advice worth
Chennai fanatics who cannot emulating. As Firakh
look past differences. Gorakhpuri says in one
They Give Us Hope Anna Mary Yvonne, of his verses, a person
That there are thou- Chennai who brings cartloads of
sands of Indians with laughter brings precious
compassionate hearts The pandemic has seen gifts of youthfulness and
becomes evident when- Indians from all faiths many shades of poems
ever we face calamities and backgrounds come and pleasures.
like the present pan- together to save lives, Janardan Sharma,
demic. The stories of driven by sheer human- Pushkar
citizen heroes and their ity in the face of a mas-
service to COVID vic- sive systemic failure Write in at editor.india@
tims, irrespective of to address the second rd.com. The best letters
caste, community or re- wave. Indian civil-soci- discuss RD articles, offer
criticism, share ideas.
ligion at the cost of their ety groups, public-spir- Do include your phone
own health and safety, ited individuals and the number and postal address.
Reader’s Digest’s Very Big Year

That’s right, RD becomes a centenarian in
2022! But don’t call us old—we’re timeless.
Kick off our celebration of 100 years of goofs,
gags, thrillers, and tearjerkers by telling us the
story of an RD article that made a big
impression on you. Why did it stay with you?
Send us your stories editor.india@rd.com
and we might publish your memory (and
even the original article) next year.
readersdigest.in 9
DEPARTMENT OF WIT
Robots Gone Wild

What happens when you train a machine to take over
for humans? It screws up—just as people do
By Andy Simmons
10 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
R
obots really are taking over Another specialty was ‘Tart Cover
the world. They’re writing Shrimp Butter Wol’, featuring “1 can
novels—the first was 1 the Road, fried pale fruit to cover that drain.”
a cyborg’s homage to Jack Kerouac Are you out of fried pale fruit? You
published in 2018. And they’re mak- might have some rice, though you’ve
ing lunch: The California restaurant probably never used “1 cup grated
chain CaliBurger is trying out a ro- white rice,” as listed in another recipe.
bot that can flip 2,000 burgers a day. Clearly, Betty Crocker can sleep easy.
What human can compete—espe-
cially given that androids don’t com- You Call That Service?
plain, ask for raises or get drunk at the A few years back, the Henn na Hotel
office Christmas party? in Nagasaki, Japan, hired 243 robots
To celebrate the 100 th anniversary to cover positions ranging from con-
of the coining of the word robot by cierge to bellhop. Unfortunately, the
the Czech playwright Karel Capek, check-in robots had trouble answer-
we thought it would be fun to take a ing guests’ questions and photo-
look at another side of robotkind, one copying passports, while bellhop
that’s all too human. Here’s a by-no- robots kept banging into walls and
means-complete list of failed attempts tripping over curbs. One in-room
by automatons to replace us flesh- assistant sprang to attention every
and-bone types. time a lodger snored, saying, “Sorry, I
couldn’t catch that. Could you repeat
Hold the Beothurtreed your request?” Not long after the ex-
Janelle Shane, an optics research sci- periment began, the hotel ‘fired’ half
entist, wanted to find out whether of the malfunctioning robots. And
artificial intelligence could create a they didn’t get their tips, either.
menu that didn’t taste, well, artificial.
So she fed a computer 30,000 cook- Stop the Presses!
book recipes and then programmed In 2017, the Los Angeles Times pub-
it to create its own recipes. The re- lished a story about a 6.8 earthquake
sult: Something called ‘Beothurtreed that shook Santa Barbara, California.
Tuna Pie’. Want to make it? You’ll need You would expect such a large quake
these ingredients: to have gotten a lot of press coverage.
1 hard-cooked apple mayonnaise And it did … in 1925, when the earth-
5 cup lumps, thinly sliced quake happened. Turns out the report
Once you have your apple mayo was produced by a computer program
and lumps, “surround with 1 ½ dozen called the Quakebot, which generates
heavy water by high, and drain & cut articles based on notices from the US
into ¼ in remaining the skillet.” Geological Survey. When a staffer at
illustrations by Richard Borge readersdigest.in 11

Reader ’s Digest Department of Wit
the USGS made an error while updat-

ing the historical data, the Quakebot
jumped on it as if it were breaking
news. Soon, Southern Californians
were quaking in their boots over a
non-earthquake.
You Look Familiar

Facial recognition software has one
problem—it can’t always recognize
faces. The American Civil Liberties
Union proved that point when it used
the Amazon Rekognition software
to match mug shots of criminals to
28 members of Congress. But what spread the puppy’s load throughout
about soccer ball recognition? During the house, decorating floorboards,
a match last year, the Scottish soccer furniture legs and rugs, “resulting in
team Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC a home that closely resembles a Jack-
unveiled AI-programmed video cam- son Pollock poop painting,” as Newton
eras designed to automatically follow described it.
the ball. Alas, the cameras constantly
mistook the referee’s bald head for the Whatever You Do, Don’t Anger Sophia
soccer ball. One helpful viewer called ‘Sophia’ is a social humanoid robot
the team to suggest supplying the ref developed by Hanson Robotics. She/
with a toupee. it has an attractive face, with a square
jaw, high cheekbones and impressive
Quick, Grab a Broom! eyebrows. And she can hold a conver-
What’s the worst a robotic vacuum sation to rival the mere chitchat of Ap-
cleaner can do, right? Let Jesse New- ple’s Siri. This is surely the robot of the
ton fill you in. Poor Newton: His new future. When CEO David Hanson and
puppy pooped on the floor sometime Sophia appeared on CNBC’s The Pulse,
before 1:30 a.m., while he and his wife Hanson asked the robot the question
were asleep. How did Newton come humans have been asking themselves
up with that particular time? “Our about robots for years: “Sophia, do
Roomba runs at 1:30 a.m. every night,” you want to destroy humans?” With-
he noted online a week later. “And it out hesitation, Sophia—smiling a tad
found the poop.” And so it began: “The too broadly for our taste—responded,
Pooptastrophe. The Poohpocalypse. “OK, I will destroy humans.” Humans,
The Pooppening.” The robot vacuum you’ve been warned.
12 august 2021
ASK AN EXPERT
Is It Good
to Be Bored?
We ask psychologist and
York University professor,
John Eastwood
by Courtney Shea
illustration by Lauren Tamaki
Ê Boredom gets a bad rap. But is

there an upside?
Absolutely. Its function can be com-
pared to that of pain, which provides
feedback to prevent us from damaging
our body. Boredom does the same
work to protect us from stagnation. If
we were content to be mentally unoc-
cupied, we might never learn, explore,
grow, discover. Instead of sitting down with our
thoughts or complex ideas, we’re giving
Ê These days, we’re constantly our minds over to a screen—and our
stimulated, arguably over-stimulated, capacity for willful focus and attention
by technology. Has it led to a decrease may atrophy through disuse.
in boredom? There’s also an addiction metaphor
It may actually be making us more that’s used: Technology messes with
prone to boredom. Technology grabs our brain, giving us a constant high,
our attention, but it does that by turn- and then we need even more stimula-
ing us into objects rather than agents. tion to feel satisfied, to get that fix.
14 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
ÊSounds like we need to get better captivity pull their feathers out when
at being bored. they’re under-stimulated.
It’s more that we need to engage in
activities that might make us feel bored ÊIt seems like a lot of kids today will
without succumbing to it—like going say they’re bored pretty much any
for a long walk by yourself without time they’re not being entertained.
your phone. There’s a lot of pressure on parents
these days to treat our kids like buckets
ÊEasier said than done. Most people that need to be filled with compelling
take their phone to the bathroom! experiences, structuring all their time
Absolutely. To move away from that you and never giving them the opportunity
can practise basic exposure therapy: to make a choice. The problem with
Head out on an errand without your this approach is that kids aren’t learn-
phone or read something that is longer ing to be agents creating their own
than a sound bite. Initially you will feel meaning in the world.
the discomfort of boredom—that urge
to reach for your screen. But after a
while you won’t miss it as much. You TECHNOLOGY
may even find you enjoy letting your MESSES WITH OUR
mind wander.
BRAIN, GIVING US
ÊWhich is different from boredom? A CONSTANT HIGH.
Getting lost in one’s own thoughts is
probably the exact opposite of boredom.
ÊYou’ve also said before that bored
ÊI read about a study where people kids can play an important role in
were left alone in a room to either sit social progress.
with their own thoughts or electro- Right. Young people being ‘bored’ of
cute themselves. And a lot of them their parents’ culture is a way they reject
opted for the latter. the status quo, which is how individuals
I know of that experiment. I think it’s and society move forward from one gen-
important to note that for a lot of peo- eration to the next. If kids didn’t get
ple the choice to shock themselves bored of their parents’ taste, we would all
may have been based on curiosity, and still be listening to Beethoven.
that no other activity was on offer. That
said, there is evidence that non-suicidal John Eastwood, a York University pro-
self-injurious behaviour is correlated fessor, is co-author of Out of My Skull:
with boredom. For instance, animals in The Psychology of Boredom.
readersdigest.in 15
(Left) IFS Officer Vaibhav Singh; (Right) One of the hundreds of chal kahls constructed
to harvet rainwater that helps restore the fragile terrain of the Rudraprayag hills.
seems up to the task. Under his aegis,

several soil preservation measures and
GOODforNEWS
a
rainwater harvesting structures were
set up, and the results speak for them-
Better Planet
selves. Along with trenches, check
dams and percolation pits, a total of
612 chal kahls (man-made ponds) with
A Unique Harvest the capacity to collect more than 10
million litres of water were made in the
environment The verdant hills pepper- last year alone. Around 400 hectares of
ing our country’s north may appear to degraded land has also been restored.
(top) facebook; (right) twitter (@pemakhandubjp)

be picture-perfect idylls, but the area is It just goes to show that age-old, tried-
beset by serious problems that remain and-tested techniques, assiduously
largely unnoticed by all but local resi- enforced, can truly change the face of
dents. The pine-covered Himalayan a faltering landscape.
region of Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand,
for example is plagued by landslides, Pulled from the Brink
forest fires and shortage of fresh water service Amidst continuing stresses and
supply to settlements. Soil erosion dur- crises in everyday lives, and a lack of
ing unpredictable monsoon showers the required awareness and support for
also causes unstable terrain as well as mental-health issues, our ability to
heavy silting and flooding of rivers. But cope is very often tested to its very
Indian Forest Service officer and Divi- limits and many seek escape by ending
sional Forest officer Vaibhav Singh it all. Pulling people back from the edge
18 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
is no mean task but 45-year-old professor’s supervision. “The drone

M. Eshwaraiah from Maheshwaram, uses a feature that marks the location of
Hyderabad, a home-guard officer with detected people on a map and trans-
the Saroornagar Lake Police, does this mits real-time information to rescuers,”
Sources: Environment: The Better India, 02.07.21; Service: Telangana Today, 01.08.21; Technology: The New Indian Express, 31.07.21; Public Health: India Today, 14.07.21
time and time again—literally. Over the says Sruthi. “The drone was completed
last six months, he has rescued more using the parts which were open-
than 10 people attempting suicide by sourced. It is cheaper when compared
diving into Saroornagar Lake. “Most of to commercial drones. The technical
the people coming to the lake to end assistance was provided by the Interna-
their lives are either depressed with tional Centre for Open Source Soft-
family issues or financial problems or ware,” said the team.
relationship issues,” says Eshwaraiah. “I
try to reach the person within a few No Mountain Too High
minutes of being alerted by the patrol public health For the team of officials
mobile or the police control room. I put in the Tawang district of Arunachal
in every possible effort and ensure they
do not drown in the lake and pull them
out to safety,” Eshwariah says. While
alert first-responders like Eshwariah are
critical to suicide prevention strategies
and save lives, here’s hoping that
support systems soon develop enough
to make this line of work obsolete.
Drones to the Rescue

technology In a clear example of using COVID vaccine drive in remote Domstang
the power of new-age tech for good,
students from Government Engineer- Pradesh, there’s no time to rest when it
ing College in Thrissur have devised a comes to fulfilling their duty. To ensure
way to use drones to locate stranded, no one is left behind in getting the CO-
lost or injured people during natural VID vaccine, the group, led by Tawang
disasters such as floods and landslides District Magistrate, Sang Phuntsok, un-
particularly in remote areas with low dertook a nine-hour journey crossing
connectivity. The team—Sruthi MS, mountains, forests and a river to reach
Nandana VN, Lakshmi S and Manal Domtsang, a village along the Indo-
Jaleel Poovathingal—from the Electri- Tibetan border at 14,000 feet, where 16
cal and Electronics Engineering depart- locals missed getting their jabs during
ment devised the innovation for their a special drive conducted in May.
final-year project under an assistant —COMPILED BY ISHANI NANDI
readersdigest.in 19
POINTS TO PONDER
I do hope that people can relate and understand it’s okay
to not be okay, and it’s okay to talk about it. There are people who
can help, and there is usually light at the end of any tunnel.
Naomi Osaka, tennis player
At Independence, India lost no time in establishing a

democracy and writing a Constitution that guaranteed the
liberty and equality of all Indians. Yet 70-odd years later, today’s
India recognizes no such guarantee. In this threatening political
climate, Indians who have been schooled in democracy, continue
from left: alamy, arun singh, alamy

to fight to reclaim their Constitutional rights ... Father Stan
Swamy is the latest casualty in this heroic endeavour.
Nayantara Sahgal, writer
Everyone says corruption is everywhere, but for me it seems strange to

say that, and then not try to put the people guilty of that corruption away.
Alexei Navalny, lawyer, anti-corruption activist
Naomi Osaka Nayantara Sahgal Alexei Navalny
20 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
For the world is movement, and you cannot be stationary in

your attitude towards something that is moving.
Henri Cartier-Bresson, photographer
Empathy isn’t just something that happens to us … it’s also

a choice we make: to pay attention, to extend ourselves. It’s made
of exertion—that dowdier cousin of impulse. Sometimes we care for
from left: alamy, sbeowulf sheehan, yogen shah
another because we know we should, or because it’s asked for, but

this doesn’t make our caring. The act of choosing simply means
we’ve committed ourselves to a set of behaviours greater
than the sum of our individual inclinations.
Leslie Jamison, writer
If you allow fame to get the better of you, you become

a nuisance, a public nuisance, a nuisance as a friend,
a member of family, a nuisance of yourself.
Dilip Kumar, actor
Henri Cartier-Bresson Leslie Jamison Dilip Kumar
readersdigest.in 21
It Happens
ONLY IN INDIA
“Do you have a swimming licence?”
Filtered Dark everything good, suc- forlorn, and as they

Travel the length and cessful and joyful. No changed back to their
breadth of this repub- matter how many our lighter tones, happiness
lic, and you’re bound differences, dark-skin flooded their faces.
to find various shades bias unites us all. To no Looks like we’d
of brown skin, but the one’s surprise, Indian all benefit from a glow-
long and short of it is content creators up in societal attitudes.
we Indians hate mela- flocked to Instagram’s Source: indiatoday.in
nin. Maybe it is residual latest, fairly problem-

colonialism, or colour- atic, ‘blackface’ filter. Fake It Till You Make It
ism, but we’re wired to Reels flew fast and In a tale full of fraud,
equate a peaches-and- wide, portraying how legal drama and a mas-
milk complexion with dark skin made them terful bluff, 27-year-old
illustration by Raju Epuri
22 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
Kerala woman Sessy and a black Labrador, a video calls for friends
Xavier managed to Buddha statue, a tradi- and family to attend
establish a thriving le- tional lamp stand and the wedding virtually.
gal career, minus an `10 lakhs, which they The lesson, dear
actual law degree. De- said would be used reader: Not all is as it
spite never clearing her to get his betrothed a seems on the internet.
LLB exams, Xavier hus- job after marriage. Source: firstpost.com
tled her way into prac- This smorgasbord was

tising for around two demanded over and A Hairy Situation
years, serving as an above the tributes he Hair is everything!
office-bearer of the already received at the But for hair agents in
Alappuzha Bar Associa- engagement. The Madhya Pradesh whose
tion and even getting bride’s family’s inability hair parcels, weighing
herself appointed as to find the tortoise en- 10 quintal and worth
advocate commission raged the groom `50 lakhs, got nicked
by a panel submitted enough to call off the from a Howrah-bound
by the bar association. wedding. The bride’s train, the hair loss is
The con was on till an side only rushed to file irreparable. These
anonymous letter with a police complaint parcels were on their
the truth about the when the man refused way to be processed
forged documents she to give the ‘gifts’ back. and manufactured into
used was received by Better late than never! wigs and extensions.
Alappuzha Bar leaders. Source: indianexpress.com The Railway Protection
She turned up in court, Force is combing the
feigned surrender, only Wedded to Work? Nah! hair-raising case for
to give the cops the slip A recent video to join details. To cut it short,
and is now on the run. the viral hall of fame is it was a bad hair day.
Source: timesofindia.com of a groom, sitting at his Source: vice.com
wedding altar, tapping —COMPILED BY NAOREM ANUJA

Marriage Menagerie away at his laptop. The
A marriage is a union internet quickly stepped
of love. Or in the case in, tweeting their two
of India, a greedy, cents about ‘work-from-
dowry extravaganza for home’ experiences,
the groom’s family. One only to be quickly Reader’s Digest will pay
army man from Nashik, corrected by the few for contributions to this
column. Post your sugges-
for example, went all guests in attendance. tions with the source to the
out, asking that he be The groom wasn’t on editorial address, or email:
gifted a 21-toed tortoise duty, but was setting up editor.india@rd.com
readersdigest.in 23
BETTER LIVING
THE
OWER
O
P
N
OF
karen chapelle, a 50-year-old metal-

work artist in Toronto, has always had
trouble saying no when people ask
Why it’s okay to her for favours. Usually, she’ll
respond with a knee-jerk yes—and
turn down favours just as often find herself regretting it.
“It’s a natural thing for me to want
to help people,” says Chapelle. “It’s a
BYLeah Rumack
good feeling to be useful and needed.”
ILLUSTRATION BY Ally Jaye Reeves
The problem, she adds, is that she has
30 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
readersdigest.in 31
Reader ’s Digest
unintentionally trained everyone in her To turn down favours without guilt—

life to expect a yes to their requests, no or with less guilt, anyway—Newman
matter what they are. says to remember that saying yes
Chapelle knows her ‘okaying’ to in the moment means you’ll have to say
favours, whether requested by co- no to somebody or something else later
workers, friends or her family, often at on. View it, she says, as a time
the expense of her own finances, time management issue as opposed to a
or mental health, isn’t good for her. But good-person-o’meter.
it’s been a hard habit to break. “A lot of us tend to think we can
Many of us get sucked into saying always fit one more thing in,” she says.
yes—even when we’d really rather “But the more you say yes to someone,
not—to avoid conflict, because we feel the more you’re going to be targeted.”
sorry for others, or because we even Always being the go-to person can
feel ashamed when we put ourselves be flattering at first, she adds, until
first. If you have difficulty figuring you realize you have no time left
out when, or how, to say no, here for yourself.
are some tips for breaking the cycle Newman says it can be useful to
of what one psychologist calls “the make a list of the people whom you
disease to please.” want to help, and decide in advance
what your general boundaries are
PRIORITIZE YOUR TIME when it comes to demands on your
Learning how to take better care of time. Do you exercise every day at
yourself often goes hand in hand with three? Do you need to be in bed by
learning that you’re allowed to put nine? Do you have a standing lunch
your own needs and wants first, and date every Saturday? Keep these
that doing so doesn’t make you a things in mind when you’re
jerk. In fact, consistently putting considering adding to your load the
yourself last is likely to leave you parent council fundraiser.
drained and annoyed—a sure path to If you don’t want to completely turn
jerky behaviour. someone down, Newman suggests put-
Dr Susan Newman is an American ting specific limits on the scope of the
social psychologist and the author of ask instead—and sticking to it. “Keep-
The Book of No: 365 Ways to Say It and ing in mind your own needs isn’t self-
Mean It—and Stop People-Pleasing ish,” she says, “it’s self-preservation.”
Forever. Newman’s book argues that
always being there for others (to your LISTEN TO YOUR GUT
own detriment) doesn’t necessarily How can you tell if the favour that’s
make you a nicer person; it just makes being asked of you is one you’re going
you miserable. to resent doing later? Oh, you’ll know.
32 august 2021
Better Living
As the bestselling author Sarah Knight personal boundaries, and you’ve

put it in her 2019 self-help book F*ck decided that no, your neighbour
No!: How to Stop Saying Yes When You cannot borrow your lawn mower again.
Can’t, You Shouldn’t, or You Just Don’t But how do you actually say no without
Want To, any time she felt saying yes damaging your relationships or
was a bad idea, a little warning voice stressing yourself out?
piped up in her head. She had to learn “Avoid lengthy explanations,”
to stop stifling it. In time, the more she counsels Newman. “As soon as you say,
truthfully said no to things she didn’t ‘Oh, I can’t because I have to walk my
want to do, the more she was able to get mother-in-law’s dog,’ you’re leaving
in tune with herself and give other wiggle room for them to debate with
things an enthusiastic yes. you.” It’s sufficient to simply say, “No,
“If it’s something you really want to I can’t do it.”
do, you don’t tense up when you’re If that kind of bluntness makes you
asked,” explains Newman, “and you’re uncomfortable, Newman suggests
happy to do it because it’s for someone keeping at the ready phrases like
you trust will likely reciprocate at some “Maybe next time” and “Thanks for
point down the road.” While favours asking, but I’m overloaded right now.”
aren’t a scoresheet that need to be Most importantly, she says, don’t
perfectly balanced, she adds, nobody waste time worrying that the person
wants to feel like they’re at the mercy you’ve refused is sitting around
of a ‘user’ or a ‘taker’—that person who thinking about what a pill you are.
is always asking for something and They’re probably not thinking about
rarely plans on giving anything back. you at all and have already moved on
Newman says it’s always prudent to to their next target.
be wary of classic taker tactics, such as Chapelle jokes that she’s spent
flattery (“Oh, but you have to make the “many, many” hours in therapy
baby shower cake because you’re the learning how to say no to favours, but
best at it!”); playing on your sympathies it still doesn’t come easily to her. She’s
(“I’ve just been so busy with my sick working on being able to say no
iguana, I haven’t been able to work sometimes and not feel terrible for
enough hours to pay rent”); or doing so. Often she still does feel guilty,
pressuring you for an immediate but she’s learning to live with it.
answer so you don’t have time to Her new attitude has come with
consider your options. some valuable lessons: “When you
never say no, people take advantage of
SAY THE WORD you, and if you start doing favours
OK, so you’ve made your chosen for the wrong person, you can get into
people lists, you’ve figured out your a lot of trouble.”
readersdigest.in 33
13 THINGS
Scent-sational News
About Smell
By Emily Goodman
1
When asked in 2018 which sense Suddenly, the stepchild sense took
they would miss most if they lost centre stage.
it, smell came in dead last—only
2
two per cent of respondents picked it. Researchers soon realized that
Then came COVID-19. In early 2020, smell loss is a leading indicator
ear, nose and throat doctors around of COVID-19. Those infected
the world saw an unusual number of with the virus are 27 times more
patients who had unaccountably lost likely than noninfected people to
their sense of smell. Many of these exhibit smell dysfunction—but only
specialists then developed the same two and a half times more likely to
condition, and some became very ill. run a fever. Some public health
34 august 2021 Illustration by Serge Bloch

Reader ’s Digest
7
experts started pro- Smell dysfunction is Women have
posing using smell also the most common keener noses than
tests—not temperature early symptom reported men, perhaps
checks—to screen by Parkinson’s patients— because they have as
people for the virus. even before they begin many as 50 per cent
to experience motor- more cells in the part of
3
Scientists still related symptoms. the brain that processes
don’t fully under- smell. Studies have
5
stand the link That said, if shown that women are
between smell and your sniffer isn’t better able to identify
COVID-19. While they as sharp as it used and distinguish among
know that patients who to be, don’t panic. Our scents than men.
don’t lose their sense sense of smell naturally
8
of smell are more likely declines as we age. A Pregnant women
to be hospitalized and third of people in their have especially
placed on a ventilator, 80s can’t smell at all. sensitive noses.
they don’t know why. Smoking dulls the sense One theory is that the
Perhaps most worry- too (one more reason to increased sensitivity
ing, they don’t know quit). But you can boost during pregnancy
whether this virus’s your smelling savvy with reduces the likelihood
adeptness at invading a bit of training. Vary of the mother ingesting
noses indicates similar what you eat and focus toxins. On the other
skill at invading brains. on food’s aromas—our hand, depression liter-
(The smell receptors at sense is strongest when ally depresses our
the top of our noses are we’re hungry. ability to smell.
connected to the base
6 9
of our brains.) If seeing is be- While no scent is
lieving, smelling is universally ‘good’
4
Smell loss could tasting. Our palates or ‘bad’, our nega-
also be an early are almost entirely de- tive response to odours
warning sign of pendent on our ability we perceive as foul is
Alzheimer’s disease, to smell. While taste detectable during an
schizophrenia, or buds distinguish among MRI brain scan. The
autoimmune diseases broad categories of fla- smell/mind connection
such as lupus. These vour such as sweet and is such that smell can
disorders can shrink salty, it’s the receptors play a role in the treat-
or otherwise disrupt in our nasal cavities ment of PTSD. Most
the parts of our brains that parse out the pasta current approaches try
that process smell. from the pastrami. to teach trauma victims
readersdigest.in 35
Reader ’s Digest 13 Things
to suppress their fear grass like dogs are children aren’t

memories, but they perfectly capable of screened for smell
must first be able to finding and following disorders the way
recall those memories. a scent trail. The spe- they are for vision
Suggestive smells can cies with the strongest and hearing problems.
help trigger them. sense of smell, how-
13
ever, also has the big- Companies
10
Scent also gest schnoz: the African in France
heightens elephant. Elephants are and Canada
our positive so sensitive to scent are developing devices
experiences. A Dutch that they can smell that mimic our sense
museum recently water from 19 km away. of smell and can be
took advantage of built into home appli-
12
this by surrounding People with ances to create ovens
Jan Willem Pieneman’s anosmia have that shut themselves
painting The Battle of no sense of off when they detect
Waterloo with a unique smell. Unable to detect burning and refrigera-
fragrance combination odours such as smoke tors that alert you
of gunpowder, sweat or spoiled milk, they when produce is at its
and a perfume called are twice as likely to peak ripeness. Imagine
4711 Eau de Cologne, succumb to fire and all the wasted food
which is the one food poisoning than we could save—not to
Napoleon wore. those with the sense mention never burning
intact. Most causes of another piece of toast.
11
Humans might anosmia are the result sources: Intechopen.com,
not have the of illness or head injury Learnaboutcovid19.org,
Medicalnewstoday.com,
greatest sniffers (car accidents are a Medpagetoday.org, Ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov, Npr.org,
in the animal kingdom, leading cause). Those nytimes.com, Statnews
but we’re sharper than who are born with it .com, Thehealthy.com,
Thespoon.tech, Vumc
we might think. People often don’t realize it .org, Worldatlas.com,
Yougov.com, Zdnet.com
willing to crawl through until their teens, as
Matching Wedding Bandwidths

Before you marry a person, you should first make them
use a computer with slow Internet to
see who they really are.
will ferrell, comedian
36 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
LAUGH LINES
When the pandemic is At what point after the
over, my greatest hope pandemic will you be able to
is that people at clear your throat without
concerts have forgotten everyone looking at you funny?
how to slowly wave their — @lmhere4ever
hands back and forth
over their heads.
— @scullymike I’m not whether to be
proud or concerned
that after over a year
Just wanna of pandemic life, I
announce ahead now know my debit
of time that after card details off by
the pandemic heart. This could
ends I will be be dangerous in
grunting at you the future.
like a caveman — @Casual_Heresy
because I forgot
how to talk.
— @RobDen-
Bleyker
The first date I have after

this pandemic might end
I am going to continue to wear a up being a proposal
mask, my face is worthy of a paywall. — @y2shaf
— @hansmollman
Post-Pandemic
shutterstock
Pointers
readersdigest.in 37
Stressed? A Pet
Video Can Help
It turns out that watch-

ing cat videos on the In-
ternet may actually do
some good. We already
know that hanging out
with pets in real life can
relieve stress, but now a
British trial suggests that
News From the watching adorable ani-
WORLD OF mals on a screen can
trigger a similar effect
MEDICINE on your blood pressure.
The next time you’re
feeling a bit anxious,
spending some time
MULTIVITAMIN with cute critters
online might help.
BENEFITS
INCLUDE ILLUSION Dancing Helps
Seniors Stay
Millions of us take a multivitamin every on Their Feet
day—and we feel as if we’re getting re-
Worldwide, almost a
sults. In a Harvard-led investigation, third of people over
people who used these supplements 65 take a tumble each
rated their overall health, on average, year. Dance activities
30 per cent higher than non-users’ self- such as tango, folk
dancing, or swing
assessments. It turns out, though, that reduce this risk by
both groups actually had comparable around 37 percent,
levels of well-being, both physical and according to a new
mental. It’s possible that people with a review. This is likely
shutterstock
because dancing
more positive outlook are more attracted improves balance,
to multivitamins or that taking them mobility, and lower-
promotes a healthy self-image. body strength.
38 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
CHOOSE AN EXERCISE Overeating Is OK

(Once in a While)
APP THAT SUITS YOUR
PERSONALITY We all overindulge
from time to time,
and it’s nothing to stress
If sticking with an exercise habit is a challenge for over. For a study that
you, there may be an app for that. In a University of sounds more fun than
Pennsylvania trial, smartphone games helped sub- most, healthy young
jects become more active. men ate as much pizza
Participants were randomly assigned to one of as they could in one sit-
three versions of a game that recorded how many ting: 3,000 calories, on
steps they took each week. The first version placed average. Their blood
them in direct competition with others. In the sec- sugar didn’t climb more
ond version, they worked as a group to gain points. than it would after a
In the third, players earned points on their own but normal meal, and fat
were asked to designate a friend or family mem- levels were only slightly
ber to be their supporter. This person received an elevated. Frequent
e-mail each week reporting on the player’s perfor- overeating can lead to
mance in order to help cheer her or him on. obesity, diabetes and
On average, all three groups racked up more steps other issues, but the
than usual. That said, certain versions of the game odd indulgence likely
worked better for people with different personality won’t create major met-
mphillips007/getty images
traits. For instance, players who were more outgo- abolic consequences.
ing and more motivated to persevere with their goals
tended to accumulate more steps in the competitive Screen for Hep-C
mode. In contrast, introverts responded well to the
game whether it was competitive, collaborative, or Hepatitis C is a liver in-
supportive. A third type, made up of those prone to fection that often goes
taking risks with their health and safety (by not wear- undetected for years,
ing a seat belt, for example), was until serious complica-
not helped by the game at all. tions, such as liver scar-
So though not all of us ring, arise. The US Preven-
benefit, exercise gami- tive Services Task Force
fication can work—and recommends Hep-C
work especially well when screening for ages 18 to
you keep your personality 79, given that treatment
in mind as you choose from now exists to provide a
among the many available apps. safe and quick cure.
readersdigest.in 39
Reader ’s Digest
Humour in
UNIFORM
During our introduc-
tion to Vietnam, the
instructor warned us
about the deadly sea
snakes in the South
China Sea. “If one of
those snakes bites
you,” he said
ominously,
“you’ll take
three steps
and drop dead.”
A newly arrived
GI raised his hand and
asked hopefully, “What
if we stand still?” mud-filled hole that
—Dick Crislip had been dug into the
side of a berm and cov- put down the paper,
When I lost my rifle, ered with lumber for turned to my friend,
the Army charged me protection. Their one and said, “Well, there
$85. That’s why in the extravagance: a bare goes the light bulb.”
ellis nadler/cartoonstock.com
Navy, the captain goes light bulb they’d hung —James Valouch,
down with the ship. from the ‘ceiling’. from rd.com
Dick Gregory, One guy was reading
comedian a newspaper article
from back home about Reader’s Digest will pay
While serving in a congressional investi- for your funny anecdote
or photo in any of our hu-
Vietnam, my friend gation into why some mour sections. Post it to the
and his buddies were troops were living in editorial address, or email
hunkered down in a relative luxury. The guy us at editor.india@rd.com
40 august 2021
2021
2021
WINNERS
READER’S DIGEST | AUGUST 2021
100% VOTED BY CONSUMERS
View all results at https://www.readersdigest.in/tb-winner/ 41
ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
Trusted Brand Special Supplement
CONGRATULATIONS
TO OUR WINNERS

42 View all results at https://www.readersdigest.in/tb-winner/
ADVERTISING FEATURE
Trusted Brand Special Supplement 2021
INTRODUCTION
The Brands We Trust

R eader’s Digest launched Trusted
Brand in 1998, as a way to uncover
India’s most trustworthy brands
with the help of its readers. Honouring
excellence and quality, the Reader’s
Digest Trusted Brand awards are now a
benchmark in the Indian marketplace.
Our winners have built a longstanding
relationship with consumers, allowing
them to stay relevant in a mercurial
market and obtain the seal of
customer approval.
For the past 23 years, consumers
have picked their favourite brands The Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand
across segments and categories, award continues to serve as a buyer’s
sharing with us the factors that guide to the Indian consumer, allowing
influence their purchases, including them to make decisions regarding their
value for money, consistent quality, product choice by enlisting only those
innovation and excellent customer brands that have kept and maintained
service. These years of research allow the trust and loyalty of a discerning
us to confidently dissect the qualities public for several years.
that top brands embody as well as The following pages contain some of
measure brand performance against India’s most trusted and best-loved
the yardstick of customer approval and brands. Our winners have continued to
satisfaction. This is particularly useful stay in step with changing consumer
in India’s ever evolving market, where needs and have become wonderful
the customer is spoilt for choice. success stories over the years.

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
METHODOLOGY
How We Conducted the Survey

F or the last 23 years the annual
Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand
survey has showcased Asia’s most
trusted brands. 2021 marks the 16th
edition of the survey in India.
Conducted in collaboration with Ipsos,
one of the world’s largest market
research companies, the survey has
established itself as a premier
consumer-based, international
measure of brand preference.
A representative sample of 3,750
people across 17 cities were surveyed
online. Respondents were asked to
name their most trusted brands across
44 categories. The participants were
then requested to select ‘Most Trusted reflect the population distribution of
Brand’ out of the ones given and further the respondents.
rate their choice of ‘Most Trusted The results of the 2021 Reader’s
Brand’ on a predefined list of attributes Digest Trusted Brand survey aims to
on a scale of 1 to 5. To ascertain the accurately reflect consumer
Trusted Brand winners, the composite preferences, and identify and award
scores for each brand were arrived brands that have earned the seal of
at through the collation of the stated consumer approval by maintaining
and derived scores. For statistical brand excellence and the highest level
accuracy, the data was weighted to of quality and integrity.

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
ALL BRANDS LISTED HERE ARE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
AUTOMOBILES
CATE G ORY BR AN D
H ON D A
HY U N DA I
FOU R W HE EL ER S MA H IN DR A
M A RU T I S UZ U K I
TATA MOT O RS
B AJ AJ
H ERO
TW O W H EEL ERS HON DA
MA H IN D RA
R OYAL E NF I EL D
A PO L LO T YRE S
B R IDG E S T ONE
T YR ES CEAT
JK T Y R ES
M RF T Y RES

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
CATEG ORY BRAN D
B L UE S TAR
LG
A IR CO ND I T I ONE R S AM S UN G
V O LTA S
WH IR L PO O L
G O DR E J
LG
AI R PUR I FI ER PAN AS O N IC
PH IL IPS
WH IR L PO O L

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
CATEG O RY BRAN D
G O DREJ
LG
R EF RI GE RATO R PA N A SO N IC
S A MSUN G
W H IRL PO O L
B OS CH
K ENT
VA CU UM CL E AN ER LG
PA N A SO N IC
PHIL IP S

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
FINANCIAL SERVICES
CAT EG O RY BRAN D
A ME R IC A N EX PR E SS
CRED I T CARD S CI T I BA NK
( IN TE RNAT ION A L HS B C
B ANK S )
STAN D AR D
CH ART E RED
B A J AJ A L L IA N Z
G E N ER A L I NSU RA N CE
HDF C ER G O GE N ER A L
IN S U RA N CE
IN S UR AN CE IC IC I L O MB AR D
(GE NE RAL ) IN S U RA N CE
S B I G EN ER AL
IN S U RA N CE
TATA AI G G EN E R AL
IN S U RA N CE
AMA ZO N PAY
BH IM
PAY ME NT WALL ET S GO OG L E PAY
PAY T M
PHO NEP E

48 View all results at https://www.readersdigest.in/tb-winner/ 89
ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
FOOD AND BEVERAGES

CATEGORY BRAN D
DEL M ON TE
E V ER E ST
P IC KL ES AN D
K IS S AN
SA U CES
MO THE R 'S RE CIP E
N IL ON'S
A MUL
M AG GI
RE ADY T O COOK AN D MC CAIN

F RO ZE N F OOD
M O T HE R DA I RY
M TR

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
HEALTH AND PERSONAL CARE

C AT E G O RY BRAND
H I M A L AYA
IODEX
PA I N R E L I E F
MOOV
OINTMENTS
TIGER BALM
VOLINI

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
HOME IMPROVEMENT
CATE GORY BRAND
A CC
A MB U JA
C EM EN T IN DIA C E MENT
J K C E MEN T
ULT RATE CH
D 'D ECO R
G O DRE J
F UR NI S HI N GS N IL K A MA L
P EPPE R FRY
U RB A N L AD DER

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
HOME IMPROVEMENT
CATEG ORY BRAN D
C E N T UARY
DU RO F L EX
M AT T RES SES G O DREJ
K U R L ON
SL E EP W E L L
G O D RE J I N TE RIO
H A FE L E
M O D UL AR KI T CH EN H E TT I C H
JO H N SO N KI T C HEN S
K OH LE R

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
PERSONAL PRODUCTS
CATE GORY BRAND
AD ID AS
B ATA
F OO TWE AR N IK E
P UM A
REE B O K
CE LL O
CL AS SMAT E
PE NS HIN DUS TAN P EN C I LS
PAR K ER
R EY N O L DS

ADVERTISING FEATURE
2021
SERVICES
CATE GORY BRA ND
D O MIN O 'S
MCDE LI V ERY
ON LI NE F OOD P IZZ A H U T
ORDE RI N G PL ATF ORM
S WI G G Y
ZO MAT O
C LE ART RIP
G O IB IB O
T R AV EL PORTAL MA K EM Y T RIP
T R IVA GO
YATRA

ADVERTISING FEATURE
Trusted Brand Special Supplement 2021
CONCLUSION
Fostering Relationships Built on Trust

S uccessful brands are not built
overnight. Great brands go beyond
marketing blitzkriegs—they walk that
their ethos intact. The Trusted Brand
Award 2021 winners have not only me-
ticulously adapted to the changing
extra mile in order to establish a loyal marketplace, but have also been able to
consumer base and add new patrons continuously deliver on
into the fold by ensuring that their consumer satisfaction, product quality,
products and services meet the innovative product range and versa-
highest quality and reliability tility, while also providing the
standards. They also hold consumer with a positive,
steadfast to their core wholesome experience.
principles and Consumer trust is
continue to evolve hard to win and
and innovate in harder still to main-
order to meet the tain. The best brands
high expectations of understand the value
the modern-day of this trust and know
Indian consumer. that a satisfied, happy
Over the years, as customer is key to a suc-
traditional marketplaces cessful business. The
have given way to newer Trusted Brand Award 2021 win-
platforms, consumer needs and de- ners believe that ensuring consumer
mands have evolved alongside it. The satisfaction converts consumers into
altered market landscape has ushered loyal brand champions. The Indian con-
in fresh challenges along with a host of sumer looks not only for the best bar-
new opportunities. Brands need to tap gain, but at how a brand enriches their
into the potential of this rapidly chang- life in a holistic way. This is what makes
ing market environment while keeping a Readers Digest Trusted Brand.

Reader ’s Digest
COVER STORY
THE
THINGS
THAT MAKE
US INDIAN
The story of some of India’s favourite products can
trace the history of our nation’s evolution
By Shreevatsa Nevatia and Naorem Anuja

illustrations by Siddhant Jumde
O
bjects, though inanimate, can sometimes tell our story better
than we can. Gandhi’s charkha, for instance, is testament to
both the Mahatma’s simplicity and his power to disrupt. From
the Amul butter we spread on our toast, to the Bajaj scooter
we rode in the 80s, everyday objects—ordinary, sometimes
extraordinary, things—have guided our habits and our lives. They have
brought us delight, comfort, even emancipation. Our identity, we see, is
coded, in part, in our shopping list. As independent India turns 75, we
celebrate the things that have been loyal companions in our freedom.
readersdigest.in 57
Reader ’s Digest
HOW WE
COMMUNICATED
Godrej Typewriter
(1955–2011)
B
y 1947, Godrej had already built
for itself a solid reputation. ITI Rotary Phones
(1948—circa 1980)
Founded in 1897, the company’s After World War 2, when British
popular soaps were free of animal fat; companies stopped supplying phones to
India, the Nehru government set up Indian
its lockers and steel almirahs had also Telephone Industries Limited in Bangalore
proven to be sturdy. A few months after (ITI) to manufacture its own rotary phones.
Independence, Pirojsha Godrej was VSNL Dial-up Modem
visibly excited when his son, Naval, (1995—2008)
It’s hard to forget the screeching, gargling
proposed they start manufacturing sounds these modems made when logging
typewriters. As Pirojsha knew, they’d us on to the internet. Even harder to forget
are those intermittent beeps we heard
be the first in Asia to do this. before being suddenly disconnected.
Having cornered the Indian market,
the Remington typewriter had already Airtel SIM Card (1995—)
Given our need for telephony and our
ushered in a new modernity by having hunger for the internet, we’d be lost
mechanised writing, making it faster without the SIM card. No wonder then
that over 350 million Indians bought into
and universally legible. Women, too, Airtel’s promise of ‘aisi azadi aur kahan?’
had started joining the workforce as (where else is there freedom like this?).
typists, but the M-9, Godrej’s “all-
Indian” typewriter, first introduced
in 1955, earned vast appeal and was every year. Though there were quieter
hailed by PM Jawaharlal Nehru as the imported machines on offer, India
symbol of an “independent and in- much preferred the loud, clickety-
dustrialised” India. Here was “today’s clack of a Godrej. In 2011, when
typewriter with a touch of tomorrow”. Godrej shut down its typewriter unit
By 1970, the year in which Shashi in Pune, writers and journalists wrote
Kapoor frolicked to ‘Typewriter Tip mournful obituaries. The tool was
Tip’ in Bombay Talkies, the company obsolete, but the Godrej typewriter
was manufacturing 25,000 typewriters continues to remain beloved.
58 august 2021
Cover Story
WHAT WE RODE unsubstantiated, since its small wheel

size made it less stable than the
Bajaj Chetak motorcycle. Often enough, it would
(1972–2006) require a persuasive kick or vigor-
ous tilting to get it started, but for an
B
oth a marker and means of mo- India of modest means, it was a vehi-
bility in the 1970s and 80s, the cle that mirrored its unassuming way
Bajaj Chetak was the steed of of life. It was after all ‘Hamara Bajaj’
choice for most of middle-class India. (Our Bajaj).
It all started in 1959, when Bajaj won a
contract to manufacture two-wheelers.
Hero Cycles (1944–)
The Bajaj Chetak, launched in 1972 These swadeshi workhorses that
and modelled on Piaggio’s Vespa Sprint provided mobility to a newly
independent, ambitious India can
scooter, became a blockbuster hit and still be seen on Indian roads—
the first family vehicle in several homes whether it’s the milkman riding a
Hero with his cans affixed to the
across the country carrier, or the odd biking enthusiast
India transformed this two-wheeler laying claim to the road.
into a domesticated beast of burden—
HM Ambassador (1958-2014)
its floorboard bore the weight of entire This burly diesel car was the answer
families while still providing enough to all of India’s automobile-related
asks—potholed-roads, space to
space to take on groceries and a dickey squeeze in extended family, fuel-
to store sundry items. Unlike the butch efficiency and easy to fix! A ‘laal
bati’ (red light) fixed atop would
architecture of the motorbike that gave transform it into a political totem.
off an adventurous, racy energy, the After his trusted Ambassador broke
down on him in 2003, Atal Bihari
Chetak’s soft, rounded contours of- Vajpayee became the first Indian PM
fered the functionality of motorized to switch to a fully-armoured BMW.
For Ambassadors, the end was nigh.
transport, along with a reputation
for stability and safety—however Maruti 800 (1983-2014)
Few were willing to give ‘the people’s
car’ a chance against the reigning
Ambassador and Premier Padmini
when it launched, but by the early
1990s, its demand outstripped
supply to such an extent that Maruti
was forced to institute a “priority
queue”. Politicians, of course, tried
jumping that queue often.
readersdigest.in 59
Reader ’s Digest
HOW WE STUDIED dripping fountain pens and Sulekha ink

are still clearly etched. While Morarji
Sulekha Ink (1934–) Desai and Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy
extolled Sulekha’s double-filtered vir-
I
t isn’t often that the story of a single tues, Satyajit Ray doffed his hat to the
brand is analogous to the history of ink in his films and Feluda stories.
an entire nation, but Sulekha Inks, Not just did Sulekha start exporting its
one could argue, tells perfectly that inks to the Middle East, it also helped
chequered tale of Indian progress. Ma- the UN set up factories in Africa. The
hatma Gandhi’s insistence on Swadeshi dream, sadly, was too sweet to last for-
was in no way half-hearted. He even ever. Crippled by union trouble, Sule-
wanted Indians to make the ink with kha shut shop in 1988.
which he wrote his countless letters In 2005, the West Bengal govern-
and petitions. Nanigopal and Sankara- ment helped resurrect Sulekha. Having
charya Maitra— brothers from Rajshahi flirted with home-care for some years,
(now in Bangladesh)—said they were the company made a decisive return
up to the task. Legend has it that it was to its forte—inks—in November 2020.
the prolific Rabindranath Tagore who’d Selling the idea that fountain pens are
given their ink both his blessing and its a more sustainable option, the new line
name—‘Sulekha’ (beautiful writing). of inks—Swadeshi, Swaraj, Swadhin—
For children who went to school in stoked nostalgia, while also catching up
the 1950s, memories of blotting paper, with the ‘Made in India’ programme.
Wilson Pens (1941–1988)

It was a thick, orange nib that made
Wilson pens popular in colleges and
schools, but Dr Babsaheb Ambedkar
is said to have used it to write our
Constitution because of its solid
swadeshi credentials.
Camlin Geometry Box (1931–)

G. P. and D. P. Dandekar stole the name
‘Camel’ from a box of cigarettes when
giving their stationery business a name in
1931. By 1958, they settled on the more
unique ‘Camlin’ for their geometry sets.
Nataraj Pencils (1958—)

Made by Hindustan Pencils, the sturdy
Nataraj 621 HB pencil barely needed any
marketing to become popular. If you’ve
been a student in India, you know no
other pencil lasts longer than Nataraj.
60 august 2021
Cover Story
HOW WE WERE DRESSED

Singer Sewing
Machines (1851–)
H
av i n g p at e nt e d h i s
design for the sewing
machine in 1851,
Isaac Singer decided to go
multinational. Convinced
that his sewing machine would
find customers only in Europe, he had
no hope from the Indian market. Little
did he know that he would one day find
an ambassador in Mahatma Gandhi. a greedy shark, (“I don’t care a damn
Though Gandhi hated machines—he for the invention. The dimes are what
felt they atrophied human limbs— I’m after,” TIME quotes him as say-
he made an exception for Singer: ing) but Gandhi was right. Singer of-
“It’s one of the few useful things ever fered its buyers great value for money
invented, and there is a romance about through reduced time, easy labour and
the device itself,” he said. creative control. In independent India,
Isaac Singer went down in history as tailors sat with Singers in little rooms,
or even on pavements, to herald one
Bata Footwear (1932–) fashion revolution after another. From
Travelling through India in the 1920s, the 1920s, women had become Singer’s
the Czechoslovakian Tomas Bata saw in
a barefooted India a ready market for his principal users, and films often hinted
light, budget shoes. It has been 90 years at the agency these machines afford. In
and Bata is yet to give up that ‘foothold’.
Mera Naam Joker (1970), for instance,
Vimal Fabrics (1966–2014) a widow uses a sewing machine to save
Endorsers like Sridevi, Ravi Shastri and her son from the circus and her family
Vivian Richards made Vimal synonymous
with style, but it was Dhirubhai Ambani’s from penury.
perseverance which made us think that if By the 1960s, Singer, the American
we need fabric, there was ‘Only Vimal’.
parent company, had started giving up
Flying Machine Jeans (1980–) on the sewing machine, but India still
If video killed the radio star, it was wanted more. With the incorporation of
denim jeans that killed the socialist
pyjama. We had Levi’s and Wrangler, Singer India in 1977, the country’s love
yes, but it was this Arvind Mills product for sewing machines solidified itself as
which decisively helped us graduate
from stodgy to stylish. a reliance. Orders, one hears, are still
pouring in—from Kashmir to Kerala.
readersdigest.in 61
Reader ’s Digest
HOW WE RELAXED
Onida Colour TV (1981–)
T
he year was 1982. Scores of Indi-
ans huddled spellbound in front
of television sets as the 16-day
sporting spectacular of the ninth Asian
Games unfolded in living colour. Since
owning a TV set was still prohibitively
expensive—and a colour one a rarity—
affluent neighbours opened up their
living rooms, or lent their sets to com-
munity viewing areas. Nearly 23 years Murphy Radio (1948–)
after television screens first blinked to Before video killed the radio, Murphy
radio sets went from helping British Armed
life in India, electronic colour vaulted Forces communicate during World War 2
into our homes, kickstarting the era of to bringing everything from news to Binaca
Geetmala countdown into Indian homes.
small-screen programming. The coun-
try shared in cataclysmic moments un- HMV Records (1901–2000)
folding on-screen: Kapil Dev lifting the HMV Records produced India’s first
recorded song in 1903, laying ground for
World Cup in 1983, cosmonaut Rakesh the Indian music industry. As tastes and
Sharma orbiting in space, patriotically tech changed, it was acquired by the RPG
Group in the 1980s and rebranded as
proclaiming that India was ‘saare jahan Saregama India Limited in 2000, sounding
se accha’ (finest in the world), or the the closing note of its 100-year journey.
pantheon of Hindu gods coming alive Amar Chitra Katha (1967—)
every Sunday. One isn’t sure if our beloved
By then, India had exploded a nuclear Anant Pai— considered comic books
pure entertainment or an instructional
device, launched satellites into orbit moral tool, but his two creations—
and had the world’s third largest pool Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle—made
both the god Shiva and Shikari
of scientific and technical manpower. Shambhu equally fun.
Her autocratic ambitions electorally
forgiven, Indira Gandhi, now back in seductive tagline—‘neighbour’s envy,
power, used the Games to showcase an owner’s pride’—struck a chord among
advancing India to the world. Neigh- consumers, allowing it to beat brands
bours Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and rival like Oscar, Salora, BPL and Videocon.
Pakistan already had colour television Precious and aspirational, millenials
(CTV)—surely India couldn’t lag be- may recall behemoth CTVs occupying
hind! Brand Onida emerged around the prime real estate in drawing rooms,
same time. Its smarmy devil mascot and protectively wrapped in ‘TV covers’.
62 august 2021
Cover Story
WHAT WE ATE puns in 1966. By making the phrase

‘utterly butterly’ a key part of our food
Amul Butter (1946–) lexicon, the Amul girl slid on to our
shelves, seemingly forever.
I
t is hard for the youth of India to Indian food—of which dishes
think of a butter that isn’t Amul, like bun maska and butter chicken
but for some senior citizens, the are worthy ambassadors—has al-
mention of Polson’s still triggers ways needed a few good dollops
nostalgia. Polson’s was creamier, yes, of rich, salty butter. While Amul’s
but its practices were accused of
being monopolistic. Farmers
claimed they were being
milked dry. Formed as part
of a cooperative movement,
Amul challenged Polson’s
hegemony in the beginning,
but, finally, it was that tubby
little doe-eyed mascot
in a polka-dot dress who
captured our imagination
with her clever, incessant
Parle-G (1929–)
Parle claims that if we stack the one billion contribution to our culinary evolution
packets of Parle-G biscuits it produces is, of course, unmistakable, it was also
every month, the pile would be high
enough to touch the moon. No wonder Amul’s architect, Dr Verghese Kurien,
then that the ‘G’ now stands for ‘genius’. who was one of the first to show that
success didn’t have to just mean
Campa Cola (1977–)
Having introduced us to Coca-Cola in profit—that self-sufficiency need not
1949, the Pure Drinks Group (PDG) sipped hinge only on capitalism. Kurien,
sweet success. In 1977, when Coke was
shown the door, PDG only needed to known as the ‘Milkman of India’, knew
tweak its soft drink template to give us he had to be dogged to realize his
our beloved, all-desi Campa Cola.
‘Billion-Litre Dream’.
Haldiram’s Bhujia (1937–) By the time he passed in 2012, he
Today, Hadliram’s is the world’s second- had used his industry to ensure that
largest snack food company but its
enterprise was apparent in 1937 too, India did not ever have to import milk
when Haldiram Agarwal used his aunt’s or butter. That Amul butter is now
recipe to spice up the once-humble
Marwari bhujia. sold in over 50 countries is a testa-
ment to his rigour.
readersdigest.in 63
Reader ’s Digest
HOW WE HEALED zinc oxide and lanolin. He called the

resultant cream Boroline.
Boroline (1929–) Though Dutta had imagined a
wider catalogue when he launched
G
our Mohun Dutta, one of pre- his G. D. Pharmaceuticals in 1929,
independent India’s early it soon became clear that Boroline
entrepreneurs, had made his was his golden goose. Given the re-
peace with the tyranny of the British ports he received from customers,
by importing cosmetics from them. In especially those from Bengal, the
1905, when Bengal was divided and antiseptic cream healed cuts, cracks,
the Swadeshi project began to take burns, swelling, even pimples. The
off, Dutta knew he had to go local. It adage went that there was only one
was a hand-held churner that did the thing Boroline couldn’t fix—a bro-
trick. Dutta used it to mix boric acid, ken heart. On 15 August 1947, Dutta
Amrutanjan Balm (1893–) gave to one lakh Indians something

Amrutanjan may never have taken off if not
for Nageswara Rao’s brilliant marketing. priceless with their freedom—a free
Knowing that music recitals leave one tube of Boroline.
sore, he began selling his analgesic balm
to savants outside concert halls. Though Boroline became a fixture
in Kolkata households, there was also
Vicco Vajradanti (1952–) evidence that it had helped soldiers
We might remember the iconic advertising
more than the product, but for diabetics in the Himalayas fight frostbite. In
and vegans this toothpaste is something South India, Boroline has earned
of a god-send. Not only is it free of sugar,
it is also free of all animal products. the reputation of being a reliable
sunscreen. One isn’t sure whether
Dabur Hajmola (1978–) it’s the green of its tube, or it’s
On the subject of whether Hajmola is a
digestive or a tablet full of chatpata fun, trademark scent, but the unanimous
Dabur never came clean. In households verdict is simple: Nothing works like
that stocked its bottles, kids learnt early
the import of ‘too much of a good thing’. “shurobhito (fragrant) antiseptic
cream, Boroline”.
64 august 2021
PAN card (1972–)
The PAN card wasn’t mandatory when
HOW WE WERE GOVERNED it first rolled out in 1972, neither was it
a ‘permanent’ number. Each circle was
provided a set of numbers, so if taxpayers
EVM Machines (1980–) changed his address, so did his PAN.
Aadhar Card (2009–)
F
or the world’s largest democ- Word to the wise: your data is more
racy, elections are a high-octane valuable than you think, and subject
to breach even with a gatekeeper
affair. A billion-strong popula- government. Remember the 2017 hack
tion exercising their franchise—the that led to more than 200 central and state
government websites making private
only way to register one’s political will Aadhaar details publicly available? Or the
on the body politic—had become an time the official Twitter handle of Common
Services Centres tweeted out Mahendra
increasingly expensive exercise. The Singh Dhoni’s Aadhar info?
paper-ballot system was not without its
problems: It commandeered massive Co-WIN App (2021–)
As the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination
resources, and was often subject to vio- drive for all adults took off in May 2021,
lent booth capture. Enter the Electronic the Co-WIN app—built to help citizens
book appointments—became the next
Voting Machine (EVM). Invented by must-have download for anyone
M. B. Haneefa in 1980, this inexpensive with a smartphone.
gadget was designed to work around
the geographical and socio-cultural in 50 polling stations during the
realities of India. From the frigid Hi- North Paravur Assembly Constituency
malayan air to soaring desert tempera- by-election in Kerala, the EVM was
tures, from power absences in remote dragged to the Supreme Court. The
polling stations to tech illiteracy of dis- Election Commission was accused of
advantaged groups, these Braille-com- overstepping by changing the way polls
patible machines ticked all the boxes, are held. It took the 1988 amendment
including registering no more than 300 to the Representation of the People
votes an hour, which Act 1951, its clearance by the Electoral
kept voter fraud Reforms Committee in 1990 and a trial
in check. Upon roll-out in 2003 state elections for EVMs
its 1981 to finally be allowed in the 2004 gen-
debut eral elections. In India, the voting ex-
perience, unlike many other aspects of
public life, isn’t pockmarked by hierar-
chies of caste and class. Every regis-
tered voter queues up in the order
they arrive and exercises their
vote. The EVM —helps
preserve this egalitarian
democratic process.
readersdigest.in 65
“If only I’d thought to take my phone with me,
I could be getting some work done.”
a devastating insult, know his name, my

All or so he thought: “I’ve grandmother admired
in a Day’s taught you everything how he embraced ev-
I know, and you still eryone as family. He’d
WORK don’t know anything!”
—Michael Jollie
send food baskets to
the poor, pay others’
rent and help people
Two co-workers of mine It was 1930s Chicago— with their troubles.
alex gregory/cartoonstock.com
at the post office—a the height of the Grandma was so

supervisor and a letter Depression. My grand- struck by his innate
carrier—were always parents owned a small decency that she
at each other’s throats. grocery store, and one admonished my grand-
Recently, they were of their regulars was father to be more like
at it again, this time a a charming man who him. She knew
real barn burner of an seemed to be the that one day this kind
argument. I walked centre of attention stranger would be rec-
in just in time to hear wherever he went. ognized by the world
the supervisor deliver Though she didn’t for his deeds, and she
66 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
Kudos to therapists for resisting the natu- “What would be your
ral urge to top other people’s problems. main strength?”
“Well, I can commu-
— @joshcomers nicate with animals ...”
“Wow, impressive.
was right. One morn- students. I was walking Any weaknesses?”
ing, Grandma picked in the lobby of one of “They can’t
up the newspaper. our main buildings understand me.”
There on the front when an upperclass- — @EndhooS
page was a picture man stopped me.
of her hero. His “Excuse me,” he
Reader’s Digest will pay
name: Al Capone. said, looking lost. for your funny anecdote
—Marcia Weisenfeld “Is the second floor or photo in any of our
humour sections. Post it
still upstairs?” to the editorial address, or
A sign spotted outside —Karen Love email: editor.india@rd.com
a carpet/flooring
store: “If it’s in stock,
we got it!”
BUT YOU CAN CALL ME MR PLOUGH
banksphotos/getty images (snowplow), jpgfactory/getty images (c 3 po)
—Charles Thomas Minnesota’s Department of Traffic asked residents

to suggest names for its eight new snowploughs,
After taking my time at then let residents pick their favourites. And the winner
the shoe store, I finally was … Ploughy McPloughFace. Does that odd moniker
found a pair of flats that leave you cold? Maybe you’ll warm up to these nomi-
were both comfortable nees, even though none of them made the cut:
and stylish. Of course, Ê C-3PSnow
beauty is in the eye Ê Edward Blizzardhands
of the beholder, and Ê Flake Superior
when I brought them Ê For Your Ice Only
up to the register, the Ê Lake SnowBeGone
cashier gave them a Ê Mary Tyler More Snow
zero-star review: “They
make the ugliest shoes
these days.”
—A.P. via rd.com
The first day of college

can be disorienting,
even for returning
readersdigest.in 67
HOME
REMEDIES
from AROUND
THE WORLD
68 august 2021 illustrations by Ed Fotheringham
These 13 folk
treatments are
proven to work
by RD Editors
readersdigest.in 69
Reader ’s Digest
M
any of us fall back on Many of the ingredients steeped in
home treatments for ail- it—garlic, rosemary, sage, lavender,
ments, whether they’re thyme, juniper berry, black pepper
proven to be effective or and more—are proven to have anti-
not. We asked editors at bacterial properties.
some of our Reader’s Digest (RD) edi- “I know people who consume this
tions around the world to share those regularly as an antibacterial,” says
that work for them—and then we Stéphane Calmeyn, Paris-based editor
checked out which ones are backed of RD. He adds that a friend of his with
by research. Here are our favourites. Type 2 diabetes credits it with helping
regulate his blood sugar.
FRANCE
Though more research is needed,
VINEGAR there is evidence that vinegar, partic-
Fights Infection ularly apple cider vinegar, can affect
French folklore has it that dur- blood sugar levels: it delays the rate at
ing the 17th-century plague, a gang which the stomach empties and starch
of four thieves would rob corpses, yet is digested, which reduces the blood-
never catch the plague themselves. sugar spike after a meal. But check
Supposedly, anointing their bod- with your doctor before adding it to
ies with a concoction of vinegar and your diet, particularly if you are taking
herbs protected them. blood-sugar-lowering medications.
The so-called vinaigre des quatre Apple cider vinegar may also pre-
voleurs (four thieves’ vinegar) is used vent overeating. A small Swedish study
today in the belief it fights infection. found that those who consumed vin-
egar with a meal reported feeling more
satiated than those who didn’t con-
sume vinegar. That could prevent un-
healthy snacking later in the evening.
It’s best not to drink vinegar un-
diluted, as its acidity could damage
tooth enamel. Instead, add one or two
teaspoons to water or tea.
all photos: © getty images
MALAYSIA
PAPAYA
Aids Digestive Health
When her husband got food poi-
soning while travelling in Malaysia in
2017, editor Bonnie Munday heeded a
70 august 2021
recommendation for a local remedy.
“We didn’t have any medicine for
tummy troubles, but our hotel man-
ager advised eating ripe papaya,” says
Bonnie, who is on RD’s International
Edition team and is based in Toronto.
She was skeptical but bought some
of the fruit from a beach vendor. “An
hour or two after my husband ate it,
he felt so much better.”
A study from Obafemi Awolowo
University in Nigeria published in
the Journal of Medicinal Food found
that papaya, the orange-fleshed fruit
that grows in the tropics, fights intes-
tinal parasites. When researchers gave
a papaya seed preparation to chil-
dren who tested positive for intestinal
parasites, it was shown to be anti-
helminthic (capable of eliminating GERMANY
parasitic worms) and anti-amoebic CALENDULA
(capable of destroying or suppress- Calms Inflammation
ing amoebas); it treated their parasites
without harmful side effects. “Many people in Germany consider
And results of a double-blind calendula a miracle cure, and have
placebo-controlled trial that were their own recipe for a balm,” says
published in the journal Neuroendo- Annemarie Schäfer, who works on the
crinology Letters in 2013 showed that RD team in Stuttgart.
volunteers with digestive complaints Her cousin Marlen, a teacher, re-
like bloating and constipation had calls that when her mother grew
significant improvements after ingest- calendula—also called marigold—in
ing a papaya pulp supplement called her garden, she’d mix their orange and
Caricol. Papaya is also rich in vita- yellow heads with warm pork fat (you
min C, and high in water and fibre con- can also use petroleum jelly, beeswax
tent, which regulates bowel activity. or olive oil). After a day of steeping, the
“Ever since that time in Malaysia,” mixture was strained and jarred, to be
says Bonnie, “if we see papaya at used on rough hands, insect bites,
the store, we buy it, just for overall acne and other skin irritations.
digestive health.” High levels of antioxidants in the
readersdigest.in 71
Reader ’s Digest
dried petals reduce the damage caused

by free radicals. Laboratory and animal
research has shown the flowers con-
tain anti-inflammatory and antimicro-
bial components that prevent infection
and heal wounds by helping form new
blood vessels and tissue. In patients
with venous leg ulcers treated with
either calendula ointment or saline
solution dressings, calendula helped
ulcers heal much faster.
NETHERLANDS
LICORICE Glycyrrhizin, tastes sweeter
Relieves Sore Throat than sugar, despite having a
Licorice-based candy, called dropjes, zero glycaemic index. But it’s not safe
are as Dutch as wooden shoes—but to consume more than 100 milligrams
while few farmers still wear wooden per day, as it can dangerously reduce
shoes, everybody eats dropjes. “It’s blood potassium levels. (A cup of
a sort of national pride,” says editor licorice tea contains roughly 30 milli-
Paul Robert in Amsterdam. “And you grams, according to The British Medi-
can get them everywhere—super- cal Journal.)
markets, newsstands, pharmacies. “When I was a child,” says Paul,
They come in all shades of brown and “the best thing about having a cold
black with flavours ranging from very was that I’d get lots of dropjes. Suck-
sweet to very salty.” ing on them soothed my throat back
Besides being somewhat of an then, and still does now.” Dropjes
addiction for the Dutch, it’s widely are an acquired taste, especially the
known in northern European coun- salty ones. “Once,” he recalls with a
tries that licorice also serves a me- laugh, “I gave them to an American
dicinal purpose: sore-throat relief. friend, who told me they tasted just as
Indeed, a 2013 randomized, double- terrible as the raw herring and
blind study of 236 people by the Medi- smoked eel I’d given her earlier!”
cal University of Vienna found that
PORTUGAL
patients who gargled a licorice solu-
tion before going into surgery requir- GARLIC
ing throat intubation had a lower risk Gets Rid of Warts, Corns, Calluses
of sore throat after the surgery. “We use a lot of garlic in our cuisine,”
The extract of the licorice root, says editor Mario Costa in Lisbon.
72 august 2021
Health
“But some people, especially in rural limping because of a callus, she told
areas, also use it to get rid of warts, me about this home remedy. I baked
corns and calluses.” a few garlic cloves, crushed them and
Corns and calluses both involve a applied the pulp to the callus, avoiding
buildup of skin at pressure points on healthy skin. I covered it with gauze
the foot, while warts are small growths and changed this compress daily. Al-
that can occur anywhere on the body though the smell was a little intense,
and are caused by the human papil- after five days, my callus disappeared.”
lomavirus, or HPV . Research from
SLOVENIA
2005 published in the International
Journal of Dermatology showed that ST. JOHN’S WORT
warts treated daily with a garlic ex- Soothes Skin
tract disappeared for all the study “We use a balm containing St. John’s
subjects within two weeks, and corns wort to promote wound healing
disappeared for 80 per cent of subjects and soothe skin,” says editor Maja
after three weeks. Lihtenvalner in Ljubljana. St. John’s
Garlic has antibacterial proper- wort is a plant with yellow flowers
ties (thanks to its main component, that’s native to Europe, northern Africa
allicin) and its antiviral effect may at- and southwestern Asia.
tack the virus that causes warts. Be She describes how her friend
careful not to allow raw garlic to touch Neven, a consultant and olive oil
healthy skin as it can cause irritation producer in his 50s, remembers his
and damage similar to a burn. grandmother always having the rem-
It worked for RD reader Georgina edy in her kitchen. “Neven would
of central Portugal. Here’s what she spend summer vacations at her house
told us on Facebook: “A few years ago, on the Adriatic Sea, and often got sun-
when my friend’s aunt noticed me burnt. His granny would apply a mix-
ture of St. John’s wort and olive oil to
his painful skin.” She also used it on
bruises and insect bites. “He says it
was always a relief.”
Animals studies out of Turkey in
the past few years have shown that
St. John’s wort promotes wound heal-
ing and also relieves burns; rats treated
topically with St. John’s wort four times
a day experienced more rapid healing
than those in the other groups.
And a 2010 Iranian randomized,
readersdigest.in 73
Reader ’s Digest
double-blind clinical trial of 144 mother would rub them with arnica
women published in the Journal balm, and in a few days the bruis-
of Alternative and Complementary ing would be gone.” These days, Luis
Medicine showed that women who uses it for sore muscles. “I keep arnica
had undergone caesarean sections and balm in my first-aid kit.”
applied a St. John’s wort ointment Anti-inflammatory arnica, from the
three times a day for 16 days had same family as asters and daisies, is
improved wound healing and less pain said to reduce swelling and bruising.
and scarring than those in the placebo A 2013 review of 174 people with hand
and control groups. arthritis found that arnica gel reduced
Ingesting St. John’s wort can also pain and improved function in the
treat mild to moderate depression, hand as effectively as an ibuprofen
and menopause symptoms such gel. As arnica can be poisonous, it
as hot flushes. But speak to your should not be taken by mouth.
doctor before taking it, because it Luis has another go-to: aloe vera, or
can cause serious side effects and sábila. A review of four studies from
drug interactions. Asia, published in the journal Burns,
concluded that aloe mucilage (the gel
MEXICO
inside its leaves) and some aloe prod-
ARNICA Reduces Bruising; ucts can accelerate healing of minor
ALOE VERA Relieves Burns burns several days faster than con-
Arnica is popular in Mexico, says ventional medication. “Not long ago,
RD editor Luis Eduardo Pineda in I accidentally grabbed the handle of a
Mexico City. “I played basket- hot pan,” recalls Luis. “Luckily I keep
ball when I was a kid, and sábila in a flowerpot on my patio, so
sometimes my fingers I got relief quickly.”
would get painfully
BRAZIL
bruised. My
MACELA
Soothes Cough
“When we were kids, if we had a cough
my grandmother would whip one egg
yolk with sugar and, when it had
whitened, combine the mix-
ture with a cup of macela [also
spelled ‘marcela’] tea,” says
Tanara Vieira, a designer for RD
from Rio Grande do Sul. “It tasted so
good that my sister, my cousins and I
74 august 2021
Health
used to pretend we were coughing so

she would give it to us.”
Across Brazil, plants have long been
used medicinally. A review of sev-
eral studies published in 2014 in the
Brazilian Journal of Pharmacognosy
sought to show whether a variety of
plants of the southern Rio Grande re-
gion offers the health benefits they are
purported to. The review showed that
indeed, in several pre-clinical stud- editor, says her sister-in-law, Car-
ies, there’s evidence Tanara’s grand- men, goes to her doctor to get built-up
mother was right: macela (Achyrocline earwax removed, but she sometimes
satureoides), which is a plant in treats it herself.
the daisy family, appears to be anti- “On a recent beach holiday in
spasmodic, helping relieve a cough. Galicia, she noticed her hearing had
It’s also muscle-relaxing, anti-inflam- diminished, and knew what the prob-
matory and analgesic. lem was,” says Natalia. “So she dipped
a cotton swab in warm olive oil and let
SPAIN
a little drip into her ear, and soon the
OLIVE OIL clog disappeared.”
Softens Earwax A University of Southampton re-
We need earwax because it keeps the view of 26 clinical trials found that
skin inside the ear moisturized and earwax softeners are effective, and
helps prevent dirt and bacteria from that side effects are rare. Neverthe-
reaching the inner ear. But a buildup less, it’s recommended you check
of too much wax can form a plug, con- with your doctor before attempting
tributing to hearing loss, ringing in the self-treatment of ear issues.
ears or dizziness. Plugs, called ceru-
NEW ZEALAND
menosis, can happen if you use cotton
swabs, which push wax in, or if you’re MANUKA HONEY
naturally prone to the buildup. It can Helps Many Ailments
happen especially in elderly people or For centuries the Maori community
those who wear hearing aids. of New Zealand has relied on the bark
People in many parts of the world and leaves of the manuka bush—na-
find that a little warm oil, such as tive to New Zealand and sometimes
almond or olive, can soften the called a tea tree—for its health-giving
wax, unplugging the ear canal. Na- properties. More recently, the honey
talia Alonso, Madrid-based RD made from its white or pink flowers
readersdigest.in 75
Reader ’s Digest
is the star: research shows this type of Some people use this honey as a
honey has much higher levels of an- facial mask to soften and brighten their
tibacterial and wound-healing com- skin. Says Julia, “I use it regularly, and I
pounds than others. must say my skin looks amazing!”
“Our whole family uses manuka Check the label to make sure it’s
honey,” says Auckland-based Yulia genuine manuka honey from New Zea-
McKenzie, who works in advertising land. Labels also carry a UMF (Unique
with the New Zealand edition’s RD Manuka Factor) grade up to 26; the
team. She says it’s a great-tasting way higher the number, the more health-
to keep the immune system healthy. ful compounds it contains.
“We use it on waffles and cereal, and
AUSTRALIA
as a sugar substitute for smooth-
ies.” In winter months, Yulia’s family EUCALYPTUS OIL
uses the honey to soothe sore Clears Sinuses
throats and coughs. Adele Burley uses eucalyptus oil to
Research from Cardiff University alleviate cold symptoms like nasal
showed that components of manuka congestion. “It helps clear the air-
honey can stimulate immune cells, ways,” says the Sydney-based senior
increasing our ability to fight bacte- art designer for RD Australia. “I add
ria. (It’s especially effective against a few drops to a bowl of steaming
a strain of streptococcus.) Another water, cover my head with a towel and
study showed its antimutagenic, anti- breathe in.”
oxidant, and anti-inflammatory quali- In a randomized double-blind
ties may even help prevent or trial of 152 people, published in
treat cancer. The Laryngoscope in 2009,
One small study showed German researchers found that
that manuka honey may im- the main component of eucalyp-
prove dental health. Subjects tus oil—1,8-cineole, or eucalyp-
given a chewable form of the tol—was effective and safe for
honey had a 34 per treating sinusitis, helping
cent reduction clear nasal blockages
in plaque, and a and mucous.
similar reduction The eucalyptus tree
in bleeding for is native to Austra-
those with gingivi- lia, and the oil from
tis, compared with its leaves is simi-
study participants larly helpful if you
directed to chew have perennial al-
sugarless gum. lergic rhinitis—a
76 august 2021
Health
chronically stuffy or runny nose due a sauna, their heart rate increases, as
to pet dander, mould or dust. A South does blood flow in the skin, boosting
Korean study published in 2016 in circulation as much as low to moder-
Evidence-Based Complementary and ate exercise does. Risk of heart attack
Alternative Medicine found that es- and stroke are reduced, according to a
sential oils including 1,8-cineole al- 2015 study of Finnish men published in
leviated symptoms. Of 54 people JAMA Internal Medicine. That research
aged 20 to 60, those who inhaled also showed that sitting in a sauna two
the oils for five minutes twice daily to three times a week lowers the risk of
over seven days also had better sleep dying from any cause by 24 per cent.
versus those who inhaled a placebo. Another study showed that 15 minutes
Don’t ingest eucalyptus oil, though, a day in a sauna five days a week may
and avoid applying it directly to help ease mild depression.
your skin; if it’s undiluted it could Ilkka’s friend Ben, 76, credits the
cause irritation. sauna with his good health. “I go prac-
tically every day,” says Ben. “You feel
FINLAND
so pure and healthy afterwards, and
SAUNA your soul is relaxed.”
Boosts Circulation If you’re new to the sauna, start
“The steam sauna has been a Finnish with five or 10 minutes; 20 minutes
tradition for hundreds of years, and is the maximum. And if you have
most Finns go regularly,” says Ilkka heart disease, or high or low blood
Virtanen, Helsinki-based editor of RD. pressure, speak to your doctor about
“It’s good for heart health.” whether a sauna is safe. Drink plenty
A sauna is typically a room heated of water, and avoid alcohol before or
to between 80 degrees and 100 degrees during the sauna; alcohol causes fur-
Celsius. When a person sits sweating in ther dehydration.
She’s on Kitchen Police Duty

While the adults finished their coffee, RJ, 6, and his sister, Marissa, 4, went
off to play. Soon, the doorbell rang. It was a police officer. “Is everything all
right?” he asked. He said three 911 calls had come from the house.
“We’re fine,” Grandma replied. “There must be some mistake.” The officer
asked the kids whether they made the calls. Petrified, RJ said, “Not me.”
Marissa started sobbing uncontrollably. Then she looked at the
officer and said, “But my brother didn’t eat his vegetables.”
sent by catherine venturi
readersdigest.in 77
Reader ’s Digest
she turned away, I pause, the boys’ mother

heard her murmur, remarked, “And he’s
LIFE’S
Like That
“No, it’s too early
for vegetables.”
the smart one.”
—Mary Meillier
—Betty Rosian
Me, before coffee:
I was driving with my Ugh, why is everyone
When our tour group young twin grandsons shouting?
roz chast/cartoonstock.com
entered a cafeteria when their mother Me, after coffee:

for breakfast, the woman called. As we chatted OK, yes, I do see
walking in with me made over the car’s Bluetooth the fire now.
a beeline for the carrot speaker, one of the boys — @RICA_BEE
cake. But just as she yelled out from the
reached for a slice, she back, “Hey, Mom, guess After a visit to Yellow-
thought better of it and who this is? Is it me or stone’s Old Faithful
withdrew her hand. As Luke?” After a slight geyser, our family
78 august 2021
My husband walked in the room and said,
“How’s my sleeping beauty?” I smiled
and opened my eyes just in time to see
him pat my sleeping puppy’s head.
— @VisionBored1
stopped at a gas station freezer, I found pierogi

YOU EAT IT!
outside of the park. and offered to cook
NO, YOU EAT IT!
Our daughter leaned them for her. “No,” she
over a water fountain, said. “Your sister Ê My husband wants
and just as she was made them, but I to make cauliflower crust
about to take a sip, don’t like pierogi.” pizza, so now I have to run
the water shot up and “Did you tell her to the grocery store and
find a new husband.
sprayed her face. that?” I asked
— @mommajessiec
The gas station “Of course not,”
attendant smiled. she said, scoffing at Ê Apparently, I pack an
“That’s why we call the very idea. “If I did, apple in my 5-year-old’s
lunch so it can get out of
it Old Faceful.” she wouldn’t bring
the house for a few hours.
—Sharron them anymore.”
— @Brianhopecomedy
Nelson Wood —Dave Curran
Ê As a child, I truly did
not understand how good
My Fitbit had stopped When my little sister
I had it not having to de-
working, which meant Gauri started school,
cide what to eat for dinner
I wouldn’t get any a homework assign- every single night.
credit for all the steps ment asked her to — @jonnysun
I took during my up- write the letter A in
Ê Me: I don’t get why
coming Zumba class. boxes that filled up a
our kids are such picky
Luckily, my husband page. She completed eaters. It’s just food. Eat it.
came to the rescue. it by writing one big ‘A’ Wife: Have a salad.
Handing me his that fit the whole page. Me: I’d rather die.
Fitbit, he said, “Here, —Yash Cariappa, Coorg
halfdark/getty images
— @XplodingUnicorn
take mine. I need Ê Almost left the grocery
the exercise.” Reader’s Digest will pay store without buying
—Debbie Wallis for your funny anecdote a bag of spring mix to
or photo in any of our
humour sections. Post it throw, unopened, into
Rummaging through to the editorial address, or the garbage in two weeks.
my elderly mother’s email: editor.india@rd.com — @thisisdrew08
readersdigest.in 79
Reader ’s Digest
80 august 2021
EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
The
First Lady of
Mental Health
Even at 98, Sarada Menon, India’s first woman
psychiatrist, is easing the pain of our mental anguish
By Bhavya Dore
S
arada Menon chortles heartily. The 98-year-old
is stumped by the question: How many patients
has she treated in her long and storied career
in psychiatry? “That’s too much to ask, I don’t
know,” she says. At least 1,000? “Yes, yes,” she concedes.
photo courtesy: sarada menon
Other numbers are easier to pin down. The number

of women psychiatrists in India before her: zero.
The languages she speaks fluently: four. Her current
enthusiasm levels: infinite. She’s received a Padma
Bhushan, built and led institutions, worked on prison
reform and in flood-prone districts. She has researched,
rehabilitated, taught, treated; and packed a bursting
resume ever since she finished her MBBS in 1947.
Menon is speaking with me over Skype from her home
readersdigest.in 81
Reader ’s Digest
in Chennai where she still practises,

seeing patients daily online. Bespec-
tacled, and quick to smile, she wears
her sari crisply and her pioneering
status lightly. “I went from day to day,
doing what I had to do. I didn’t think
about other things,” she says. “How to
better the effects of our treatments, was
my only goal. I never bothered about
anything else.”
Born in Mangalore in 1923, Menon
was the eighth of 11 children. Her birth
precipitated the usual hand-wringing
that followed the arrival of a girl. Six
girls had already come before her (“ev-
erybody must have got tired”), then a
boy (“they were very happy”). So, when
her sisters returned from school the
day she was born, their grandmother
reported the news dismissively. “‘Ha, a
girl’—that was her reply,” says Menon,
with a deadpan imitation. “Those days,
girls were not very popular.” Menon at her convocation ceremony in
Menon was educated in Madras, 1953 after earning her master’s degree
first at the Women’s Christian College in general medicine.
and then at Madras Medical College.
Her mother died when she was 18, and and 20-odd women in her MBBS. In
though her family opposed her desire her final year, an epiphany struck that
to study further, the pushback was not would kickstart a lifelong journey. The
serious, or at least didn’t seriously get students were taken to visit the local
in the way. “Medicine, they said, is un- mental hospital where Menon saw pa-
necessarily long study,” she says. “At tients up close. They were bedraggled,
every stage, there was some opposi- sickly, unkempt in unimaginable ways;
tion, [but] somehow, I managed. My laughing, talking and adrift from real-
parents helped me, even though they ity. “I felt very, very sad,” she says. “And
didn’t like my joining medical college.” I said I must do something about this.
It cost nothing to earn her degree, Without knowing the cause [of their ill-
and that was a boon in 1942, the year nesses] or even completing my degree.”
she joined a cohort of about 100 men There were few takers for the special-
82 august 2021
Extraordinary Lives
ization then, so scepticism met this de- important part of the treatment,” she
cision, too. “For a long time, everybody says. “You have to study them, give
asked, ‘Why psychiatry?’ But I was very them work that suits them.”
keen.” Mental health was a vague and In 1984, after 20 years at the hospital
mysterious sub-field; institutionaliza- where she led several new initiatives,
tion, asylums, lobotomies and shock Menon, along with a group of philan-
therapies were common in the middle thropists and mental-health profes-
of the century. Menon did a short stint sionals, founded the Schizophrenia
in London, and then at a general hospi- Research Foundation (SCARF) to treat,
tal in Andhra Pradesh to get an overall research and educate the public. Her
grasp of practice. The All India Institute years at the hospital had shown her
of Mental Health, which would go on to a cross-section of conditions, but
become NIMHANS—now India’s finest schizophrenia, she says, “is the worst
mental-health institute—had just intro- type of illness”. It is complicated in its
duced post-graduate courses in 1955. presentation, tough to treat, often with
Menon joined in 1957, and spent two recalcitrant or unsupportive caregivers
years specializing. From 1959, she be-
gan practising at what is now called the “Rehabilitation can
Institute of Mental Health in Madras,
where she took over as head in 1961. make a meaningful life
Menon first practised in an era possible. Mental illness
where patients were subdued and se-
dated, often shackled, and abandoned
need not be a life
by their families. In the 1950s, a new sentence,” says Menon.
drug, chlorpromazine, had just come
into the market and it was a water- and patients who were written off. “I
shed moment in handling psychosis, thought it was necessary to concentrate
particularly schizophrenic breaks. “It on this section of patients,” she says.
made all the difference in treatment,” Her life spans pre-Independence In-
she says. “Symptoms were controlled, dia and post-liberalization India; she
the patient became more amenable. has seen how mental health has gone
Slowly, they would get better, [their] from neglected sub-field to the cen-
aggression would go, they would tre of the conversation, how practices
understand us.” have improved. “Many new drugs are
Over the years, approaches have coming, it’s one speciality with new
evolved, and she underlines how re- methods, not only medicines but also
habilitation can make a meaningful psycho-social rehabilitation,” she says.
life possible, that mental illness need People, too, have changed. Menon
not be a life sentence. “Work is a very describes how in previous decades,
readersdigest.in 83
Reader ’s Digest
grateful patients would come to invite try to be as independent as possible,”

her to their children’s wedding, stuff she says. “You must be grateful that you
the envelope in her hand and in the can do whatever you can do—music,
same breath, sheepishly say: Please reading, helping people, some activity.
don’t attend, if you can. “Some will You must be active.”
ask, why was that doctor present at Outside of practice, Menon spends
the wedding?” But “there is much less her days reading, doing needlework,
stigma now,” she says. “Patients are and watching television. She is a fic-
coming for treatment. Families are tion fiend; from Charles Dickens,
bringing their relatives. After recovery, Walter Scott and W. M. Thackeray, to
patients are getting jobs.” Jeffrey Archer and Sidney Sheldon, she
She highlights the importance of admits with a chuckle. And then, there
related fields—psychology and so- are movies. Her current favourite? A
cial work—and the qualities of a good show about another famous 95-year-
mental-health specialist: “One has to old woman, living a full and remark-
be kind, persistent, patient,” she says. able life: The Crown. Like the Queen,
“You have to have a hard core of resil- Menon remains a working woman;
ience if you want to do this work. Don’t and there’s a reason she gets up every
expect results immediately.” morning and keeps going. “Because I
India’s first female psychiatrist is feel sorry for those who are suffering,”
cavalier about the challenges of be- she says. “I want to help them in some
ing a woman doctor, insisting that her way or other. I enjoy doing that.”
gender proved no impediment.
Menon, holding a
Through her work, she met and mar-
book commemo-
ried a police officer in her forties, a rating 35 years of
man who was supportive of her career. the Schizophrenia
The regrets are few. For a second, she Research Foun-
thinks if she would have done anything dation (SCARF),
different. “Maybe change this or that the institute she
medicine,” she says. “But founded in 1984.
nothing other than that.”

At 98, there is little left
for her to achieve, but
plenty more pleasure to
be had from doing the
things she loves best.
The trick to living well
in old age, she says, is to
keep at it. “You must
84 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
AS KIDS SEE IT
“You said we should always question our sources.

So I did, and now my source wants a word with you.”
Math teacher: If I bed. One night, my tions, unless I hear the

have three bottles in mom finally just said, ice cream truck com-
one hand and two “Look, the monsters ing, in which case the
in the other hand, have a lot on their music means they’re
C A RTOO N : CO N A N D E VR I E S
what do I have? plates, so they really all out of ice cream.

Student: A drinking don’t have the time to — @Lhlodde
problem. haunt you.” Honestly,
— LAUGHFACTORY.NET it worked.
— @BrotiGupta for your funny anecdote
When I was little, I or photo in any of our
humour sections. Post it
thought there were I try to be honest with to the editorial address, or
monsters under my my kids in all situa- email: editor.india@rd.com
readersdigest.in 85
Reader ’s Digest
Bob Van Osdel (left) and

Duncan McNaughton
greet one another at
the Olypmic field.
photo: ©pa images/alamy stock
86 august 2021
RD CLASSIC
Triumph of an
Olympian
Competitors from different countries,
the two men showed the world
the true meaning of sportsmanship
By Doug Small
readersdigest.in 87
Reader ’s Digest
Sorting through the mail one morning in the spring of 1987 in

his comfortable home outside Austin, Texas, Duncan McNaughton
spotted a letter from the wife of his old friend Bob Van Osdel. Pulling
the note from the envelope, he began to read, and sadness crept over
him. Bob, his friend for half a century, was dead at the age of 77.
With the note was an obituary from the Los Angeles Times.
As Duncan, then 76, read the headline—Trojan Olympian Offered
Costly Advice—his grief turned to anger. They’ve got it all wrong,
he thought. As he sat down to write a note of condolence to Bob’s wife,
his mind went back to the day when two young men took each other on
in a heart-stopping high-jump competition and cemented a friendship
that lasted a lifetime.
It was 31 July, a balmy afternoon Though united by their sport, the

in Los Angeles and the first full day two were quite different. Bob was a
graphics: (background)©shutterstock; (wreath)©getty images

of competition at the 1932 Summer studious, bespectacled dental-school
Olympic Games. student from Long Beach in southern
Arriving at the high-jump pit with California, with a masterful grasp
18 other keyed-up jumpers from of the techniques of high jumping.
11 different countries, Duncan and Duncan was a dashing carefree
Bob exchanged a quick, amiable science student from Kelowna, British
greeting and went their separate ways Columbia, Canada, a born athlete
to limber up. who took to high jumping as he did
For more than two years, the two to most sports—easily and naturally.
men had been members of coach In high school Duncan had pre-
Dean Cromwell’s fabled University ferred basketball to track-and-field.
of Southern California (USC) Trojan He’d taken up the latter in the off-sea-
track team. School work commanded son and taught himself the ‘western
most of their time, but the two prac- roll’ high-jumping technique from an
tised together two or three times a athletic how-to book.
week and often spent weekends to- He was soon a star, winning
gether at various meets. Almost inevi- championships in jumps, sprints and
tably, they had become friends. hurdles. But he might have dropped
88 august 2021
Bob sails over the ever-
higher jump bar.
AT BEST, DUNCAN
THOUGHT HE MIGHT clears the bar, the jumper, his side
parallel to the bar, begins to roll,
MAKE IT INTO THE so that he is facing down as he
TOP FOUR FINALISTS. lands in the pit.
Wi t h t h e 1 9 3 2 O l y m p i c s
approaching, Canadian officials
track for basketball had he not won soon realized that the 21-year-old
a scholarship to the University of Duncan could be added to their team
Southern California, where he fell at little cost, a major consideration as
under Bob’s wing and made the the Depression began to bite.
Trojan high-jump team. Although he had been improving
Bob had helped the younger man steadily, Duncan was still losing to Bob
perfect the revolutionary mechanics three times out of four in lower-level
photo: ©ap/shutterstock
of the western roll. The jumper plants competitions, and the lanky Canadian
the foot closest to the bar as he reaches had no illusions about his ranking in
his take-off point, then kicks up hard the high-jump universe. The heights
with the other to elevate his hips. The he’d been jumping suggested he was
kick, that upwards thrust of the outside sixth or seventh in the world that year,
leg and foot that lifts the body, is at not only well back of his friend but also
the heart of a successful jump. As he others on the American team.
readersdigest.in 89
Reader ’s Digest
With luck he figured he might make an official gave Duncan the signal to
the top four in the Olympics. But only make his first attempt. He fixed his
just. The Olympic high-jump record, eye on the bar 15 metres ahead.
set in 1924, was 1.98 metres. Duncan Ever ything went just as he’d
had never jumped higher than 1.94 visualized it. Hitting his take-off point,
metres; Bob, on the other hand, had he planted his right foot, kicked up
jumped more than 2 metres. with his left and sailed over. Landing
Suddenly 31 July—opening day— in the sawdust on the other side, he
was upon them. Neither man had felt himself relax. As the afternoon
ever competed before a crowd as large wore on, the official black-and-
as the 1,00,000 or so rapidly filling white striped bar inched inexorably
the seats of the newly expanded Los upwards, and the 20-man field began
Angeles Coliseum, and both were to narrow.
doing everything they could to keep Dunc, as everybody called
their nerves in check. McNaughton, preferred big meets and
Duncan fixed his attention on the usually performed better as the stakes
area in front of the high-jump stand, increased. But his nerves were being
noting the soft, somewhat spongy rattled by the jumper just ahead of
condition of the turf as he marked off him, who would take out a tape before
the distance to the bar. Don’t slip, he each try and remeasure the length of
thought, as he drew a mental sketch his run to the jump.
of the approach he’d make, the kick But now even this minor irritation
that would send him skywards and was gone; that jumper had just sent
the soaring roll that would see him the long bar flying and was out.
clear the bar. So was another potential threat,
As officials set up the black-and- American George Spitz, who was the
white striped bar for the opening jump favourite after clearing 2 metres on
of the afternoon, Duncan stripped off five occasions earlier in the year. But
his warm-up jersey, glanced down Spitz slipped in the soft take-off area
at his singlet with the Canadian red at the base of the Olympic jump and
maple leaf above the number 73, and went out at 1.85 metres. His friend,
painted another mental picture of his Bob, however, was having a good
first jump, now only moments away. day, soaring over the bar time and
Opposite him, on the left side of again with the style and assurance
the jump, Bob stretched, adjusted his of a champion.
glasses and did the same. Of the two, By late afternoon, Duncan’s hopes
the 22-year-old was the clear favourite. of making the top four had been
The bar was set around 1.8 metres realized. The field was down to a Los
just after 2:30 in the afternoon when Angeles high-school student named
90 august 2021
Cornelius Johnson, Simeon Toribio
of the Philippines, Bob and Duncan.
The bar was raised to 2.007 metres.
All four failed. An expectant buzz
spread through the stands and wafted
out over the field in the still summer air.
When the bar was lowered, Duncan
and Bob made it over. Toribio and
Johnson did not. The two friends
would go head-to-head for the gold.
With all eyes on the high jump,
Duncan clears the
officials quickly called a halt to bar during that
long summer's
afternoon.
A HUSH FELL OVER
THE CROWD AS THE
TWO MEN JUMPED
FOR THE GOLD MEDAL.
competitions elsewhere in the had been jumping for more than three
massive stadium. An attentive crowd hours—Duncan from the right side,
tensed for the showdown. Bob from the left. Both were succeeding
photo courtesy of bc sports hall of fame archive
Bob had proved himself the better on some tries and missing others, but
jumper. But as that long afternoon never in a sequence that would make
wore on, as the two hurled themselves one or the other the winner.
over the bar again and again, Duncan Relaxed and loose, oblivious to
found himself with an unexpected the intermittent roars of the huge
advantage over his friend. crowd, the two were feeling less
As a teenager he’d packed gear for and less like rivals in a high-stakes
his father, a civil engineer. Hauling all Olympic match and more like buddies
that powder, lumber and equipment at a daily practice session.
over mountain ridges and down into As time went on, however, both
valleys had been ideal training for an jumpers seemed to be tiring from the
aspiring high jumper, adding to his prolonged competition. Bob, long
stamina and strengthening his legs. accustomed to watching his amiable
It was nearly six o’clock, and the two acolyte with a critical eye, had winced
readersdigest.in 91
Reader ’s Digest
when the Canadian had hit the bar

and knocked it off on his last jump.
As Duncan readied himself for
another try, Bob walked over to him.
“Dunc,” he said, “you’ve got to
get that kick working. If you do,
you’ll be over.”
Bob would lose if Duncan
succeeded, but he never gave it
a thought.
Duncan hadn’t been conscious of The
competition
over, the
men share
a moment
BOB AND DUNCAN'S together.
FRIENDSHIP LASTED
THROUGHOUT THEIR
ENTIRE LIVES.
the problem with his kick. Now that utter surprise. What happened here?
he was, he focused on it. He crouched, he asked himself as the stadium
fixing his eye on the bar. Then, erupted in cheers. At his side was his
photo courtesy of bc sports hall of fame archive

springing forwards, he hurtled ahead tired friend and temporary rival, Bob,
to his take-off point. He planted his smiling a generous “well done”.
right foot and kicked like he’d never Then an exuberant Australian
kicked before. He exploded upwards shouted congratulations for “beating
into the air, his arms outstretched the hell out of those Yanks,” and
like wings, and in one suspended, Duncan came back to earth, appalled.
unforgettable moment, he was free of Those were his teammates the
the earth and over the bar. Aussie was putting down. And more
Bob then took his jump, taking the to the point, it was Bob’s last-minute
bar with him into the pit. Duncan had advice that had helped him win. It
won the gold medal with a first jump was a selfless gesture, and with it,
clearance of 1.97 metres. Bob had expressed the highest ideals
It came to him not as a flash of of Olympic competition.
euphoria or flush of triumph but as F ro m t h a t d ay o n , B o b a n d
92 august 2021
RD Classic
Duncan’s friendship would never And when Duncan’s gold medal

falter. Bob graduated in dentistry from was stolen from his car during a
USC in 1934, and Duncan earned a move, Bob had a new one made for
master’s degree in science from the him using a mould cast from his own
California Institute of Techology in second-place silver.
1934. Then World War II caught up
with both men. After learning of Bob’s death,
Duncan enlisted with the Royal Duncan remembered his friend’s
Canadian Air Force and flew 57 trips sportsmanship as a great moment
as a Lancaster bomber pilot, earning in Olympic history. “I may have won
the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the gold that day,” he said, “but Bob
the war he completed a PhD at USC Van Osdel showed what champions
and became a successful consultant in are made of.”
the oil and gas exploration business. More important than medals, than
Through it all, the bond with Bob winning, was the gesture of a friend.
remained strong.
Bob served in the US Army Dental Duncan McNaughton died on
Corps, and when he returned, he 15 January 1998, at age 87.
settled in Los Angeles where he
became Duncan’s dentist and the This article originally appeared in the
godfather of his oldest daughter. August 1996 issue of Reader’s Digest.
The Weight of the World

Quarantining expanded so many waistlines. Time for revenge!
See how these COVID-era terms feel with a little
extra padding on them.
COVID-30: Formerly COVID-15; the amount of weight
gained by an average adult during quarantine.
Sometimes related to a pan-demic.
Pan-demic: A potentially dangerous increase in the
baking of bread in a quarantined home.
Flattening the curve: Trying to fit into your jeans
after months of sweatpants.
(See COVID-30.)
The New Yorker
readersdigest.in 93
DRAMA IN REAL LIFE
HOW THEY CAUGHT

THEIR STALKER
94 august 2021
Reader ’s Digest
An elusive hacker humiliated a group of

high-school girls. Then they teamed up with
a determined detective to set a digital trap
By Stephanie Clifford from WIRED
illustrations by Ryan Garcia readersdigest.in 95

Reader ’s Digest
ELMONT, NEW Hampshire Channeling the officer who inspired

(population 7,200) is an her as a fifth grader, Moulton offered
old mill town in the north- workshops at the high school about
eastern United States sur- safe online behaviour. She warned
rounded by lakes and students that a nude photo might get
forests. A hardware store sent around to unintended viewers or
and a hair salon are about all Main uploaded online. The results weren’t
Street has to offer. At the local police all she hoped for. “One girl told me,
department, a donation box is stuffed ‘What I got from your class is, as long
with change and dollar bills to support as my head isn’t in the picture, it’s OK,’”
Vito, the department’s dog. “We don’t Moulton says.
have a lot of people who are rolling in In the spring of 2012, after Moulton
the dough,” says Raechel Moulton. had been promoted to detective, a stu-
For years, Moulton, 42, was the town’s dent walked into the police station and
only detective. She grew up about 32 km said that someone she hadn’t met and
away, in Concord. A bold kid, she would knew only as Seth Williams had been
stride up to uniformed police officers to texting and hounding her for naked
ask them about the things on their belts. photos. When she wouldn’t send any,
When she was in fifth grade, an officer he broke into her cell phone account—
came to her school to run a drug-aware- she wasn’t sure how—and found some
ness course. That’s when she decided nude photos. Then he copied and sent
she was going to be a cop. them to her friends. Hoping it would
In high school, Moulton enrolled make Seth stop pestering her, the girl
in a law-and-policing course, during gave in and sent him an explicit photo.
which she was assigned to ride along But he didn’t stop.
in a patrol car with a male officer. He A few weeks later, another Belmont
told her that women shouldn’t become High girl showed up at the station. A
cops. That cemented her ambition. In guy was harassing her too. Then more
2005, she was hired onto the Belmont girls came in. Some were ashamed,
police force. “This job picks you,” she some were in tears, and some were ac-
said, sitting straight-spined in the po- companied by furious parents. Moulton
lice department, her brown hair pulled had an epidemic on her hands.
back in a tight bun.
Crime in Belmont tends toward opi- IN 2011, MAY was a 16-year-old
oids, thefts and burglaries. But before student at Belmont High when her
long, Moulton was fielding complaints family moved to a nearby town and
from parents and staff at Belmont High she enrolled in a new school. “I
School about teens sending nude pho- wasn’t that popular, I guess you could
tos, often to people they were dating. say,” May said.
96 august 2021
Drama in Real Life
found her. “He always came back,” she

said. “Always.”
One night in the autumn of 2012, a
text pinged on her phone. It was Seth,
again demanding photos. This time, the
text included nude photos of other girls.
May recognized a friend from her Bel-
mont days. She called the friend, who
So when she got a Facebook friend urged her to talk to her mother and go
request from someone named Seth to Detective Moulton in Belmont.
Williams, whose profile photo was “I remember taking in a deep breath
cute, she accepted it. They exchanged and going up the stairs. I sat on my
numbers, and he began text ing. mom’s bed, and I said, ‘Mom, I have
He said nice things and seemed to something that I need to tell you, and
want to get to know her. He’d ask I don’t know how,’ ” May says. The next
about her favourite ice cream flavour day, May and her mother went to the
and her pets. Belmont police station.
When he asked for photos of her May met with Moulton, who was
body, she hesitated. “I still was like, spending more and more time on the
no guy shows me this attention,” she mystery. Seth had sent nude photos
said. “He actually seems like a nice to other girls, too, and with their help,
guy. Maybe it’ll be OK.” May sent him a Moulton was able to track down a dozen
photo she thought was fun, of her rear or so victims and see a commonality:
in jeans, plastered with handprints They all had, at some point, attended
from her freshly painted room. Belmont High. She knew some of the
He wanted more. She sent him a pic- girls were really suffering. One began
ture with her in underwear, then one of sleeping in the same bed as her mother.
her bare bottom. When he demanded Several feared Seth would attack them.
a full nude, she told him, “No. That’s One girl cried herself to sleep. Another
where I draw the line.” routinely called her mom at work, sob-
“No picture, no Facebook,” he re- bing, terrified about being alone. They
plied. When May tried logging in to battled depression, anxiety, nausea.
her accounts, she couldn’t access them: Moulton talked to New Hampshire’s
He’d hacked her Facebook account and computer-crimes unit and was told that
her email and changed the passwords. there weren’t any known perpetrators
She begged him to return the accounts; who followed Seth’s script. She took
he refused. She blocked him on her over one girl’s phone to try to elicit in-
phone; he texted from a different num- formation from Seth, suggesting they
ber. She changed her number; he still meet up at a teen hangout nicknamed
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Reader ’s Digest
the Arches. He didn’t seem to recognize

the name, and she wondered whether
he was a local.
In response to a subpoena, the mes-
saging service TextFree sent informa-
tion that identified Seth’s phone. With
that, Moulton was able to subpoena
the phone’s registration and billing in-
formation. The results pointed to Ryan
Vallee, a 19-year-old graduate of Bel-
mont High, class of 2012.
Moulton needed more evidence
to know it was Vallee for sure. But kind of fear.” So Moulton reached out
she told a few of the girls that he was to federal authorities.
a suspect, hoping it might ease their
fears. “They really had a sense of this In October 2013, the feds learnt that
big, huge, brute of a person,” Moulton one of the victims was close to suicide
said. “When they found out who it and charged Vallee with extortion.
was, some of them were like, ‘Really?’ ” But under a tight time frame, they
If they could place him at all, class- dismissed the case, opting instead
mates remembered Vallee as quiet and to gather more evidence with the
awkward. One girl had sat with him at goal of arresting him again on
lunch occasionally. She’d even told him stronger charges.
about her online stalker. Vallee offered Five months after they took over
his help to unmask ‘Seth’. May knew the case, a new expert came on board:
Vallee from the school bus and had Mona Sedky, a lawyer in the Depart-
made a point of being friendly towards ment of Justice who specialized in
him. What did I do for him to feel that I computer crimes and corporate hack-
deserved this? she wondered. ing. A few years earlier, she had been
As Moulton tried to gather more enlisted to help with a case against a
information, she was staring down man who had threatened to spread na-
another problem. Even if she could find ked images of a young mother online.
the proof to arrest Vallee, the most she The man pleaded guilty, but soon after
could charge him with was harassment, his sentencing, the victim killed her-
a misdemeanour carrying a sentence of self. Then Sedky learnt that someone
less than a year. “For a couple of those in her own extended family had expe-
girls, it became their lives for a year rienced something similar at age 14. “I
and a half,” she says. “I didn’t think the can’t unring that bell for her, but I can
laws of this state were enough for that help make sure that other women don’t
98 august 2021
Drama in Real Life
have that happen to them,” she says. it’. By studying the exchanges, O’Neill
Since then, Sedky has worked on cracked one way that Seth accessed his
about a dozen ‘sextortion’ cases. victims’ accounts. When Seth was mak-
While sextortion isn’t a federal crime, ing friendly chatter with the girls—such
prosecutors can charge people with as asking May her favourite ice cream
computer fraud and abuse. Most flavour and the names of her pets—he
states outlaw non-consensual sharing was really collecting clues that he then
of sexual images, but generally these used to answer the security questions
carry far lighter sentences than the on their accounts.
federal laws Sedky relies on. Finally, in 2016, federal prosecu-
Matthew O’Neill, a Secret Service tors had enough evidence to charge
agent in New Hampshire, reached Vallee with interstate threats, aggra-
out to Sedky for help with the Vallee vated identity theft and computer
case. (The Secret Service investigates fraud and abuse. The indictment listed
computer crimes and identity theft.)
Sedky jumped in, issuing subpoenas
to Ama zon, Skype, Yahoo, Google, ONE GIRL CRIED HERSELF
Facebook and others. She unearthed
the trail all Internet users leave: log-
TO SLEEP. ANOTHER
in IP addresses, time and date stamps
ROUTINELY CALLED HER
and registration information. Investiga- MOM AT WORK, SOBBING.
tors then went back further, to the In-
ternet providers, to find subscriber and
location information. 10 unnamed victims—the women who
With these details in hand, O’Neill had been persuaded to come forward.
and other agents mapped the locations Vallee was released on bail and or-
where Seth had logged in. They all had dered not to use the Internet. Though
some plausible link to Vallee: a restau- the evidence was strong, Sedky was
rant near his mother’s house, an air- worried; she knew from experience
conditioning business belonging to his that putting vulnerable victims on the
mother’s ex-boyfriend. A random per- witness stand in court could be enor-
son’s Wi-Fi in New Hampshire, turned mously distressing, “so there were in-
out to belong to his sister’s neighbour. centives for us to try to get him to plead
These were crucial bits of circumstan- guilty to avoid a trial.” But Vallee was
tial evidence, and investigators needed adamant that it wasn’t him—that some
as many of them as possible. other dude did it.
“In these cyber cases, you have to
defeat the SODDI defence,” O’Neill AFTER GRADUATING from Belmont
says—that is, ‘Some other dude did High in 2011, Mackenzie moved to
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Reader ’s Digest
North Carolina. Her mother had using a Belmont girl’s hacked Face-
banned her from social media in high book page to harass Mackenzie further.
school, so she “went a little crazy,” she Mackenzie messaged the girl, who told
says. When Seth contacted her, she re- her about Detective Moulton. Mac-
sponded. But then Seth took over sev- kenzie passed along dates and screen-
eral of her accounts and demanded a shots, adding to the thick case file.
photo of her breasts. When the trial team called Mac-
“I won’t send one. I’ll fight back,” kenzie, she told them that Seth had
Mackenzie wrote him. stopped bothering her for a bit but that
Mackenzie, who says she was a vic- in recent months he’d contacted her
tim of abuse when she was younger, again, using the same hacked Facebook
was determined not to cower. She page of the Belmont girl, identified in
printed out her exchanges with Seth court papers as M.M.
and took them to the police in her This information was critical: It
town. “The policewoman told me, meant Vallee was back online, break-
‘Honestly, we don’t really have the ing the terms of his bail. If agents could
technology to be able to deal with catch him with whatever device he was
something like this, and there’s a very using, they would have his browsing
low probability that anything will and messaging history. With evidence
come from this,’ ” Mackenzie says. that strong, they could circumvent
A year later, in 2013, Seth started Vallee’s ‘some other dude’ defence.
The government got an order that
required Facebook to deliver daily re-
ports of IP addresses and log-in times
for the M.M. Facebook page. Mean-
while, Secret Service agent O’Neill took
over Mackenzie’s Facebook account.
Copying the instant-messaging patois
he’d learnt from his teenage daughters, photo courtesy detective moulton
O’Neill posed as Mackenzie on Face-
book Messenger. He alternately flirted,
challenged and acted mad at ‘Seth’,
who, the Facebook reports showed, ac-
cessed the app with a cell phone. The
investigators were determined to get it.
On a windy March morning, Secret
“This job picks you,” says Detective Service agents in black SUVs pulled up
Raechel Moulton, who decided in outside Vallee’s mother’s house and his
primary school to become a police officer. sister’s apartment. They figured Vallee
100 august 2021

was staying at one of them. O’Neill,
acting as Mackenzie, once again used
Facebook Messenger to connect with
the hacker of M.M.’s Facebook page.
Just after O’Neill signed off, Vallee
left his sister’s apartment. Secret Ser-
vice agents followed. When he stopped
at a traffic light, the officers jumped out
of their SUVs, guns raised. Vallee took
off, weaving through traffic. The Secret
Service and local police tailed him until
he hit a dead end. As he got out of the
car, a police officer yelled at him to get
on the ground. In the car was a back- Mackenzie was determined not to cower.
pack. Inside the backpack was a phone. “I’ll fight back,” she wrote to her harasser.
Five months later, Vallee pleaded
guilty to 31 counts, including aggra- she says, “quirky and small, and some-
vated identity theft, computer hacking one who I probably wouldn’t have been
and cyberstalking. as afraid of if I had actually known who
he was.” But when she got up to make
ON 6 FEBRUARY 2017, Ryan Vallee sat her statement, she tried to avoid look-
in the Concord federal courthouse ing his way. It wasn’t Ryan Vallee she’d
for sentencing. Sedky told the judge feared, she told the judge, trying not
about the emotional devastation to cry, but Seth, who was “everywhere,
Vallee had wrought. She called his all the time.”
acts a “remote sexual assault” and ar- Judge Paul Barbadoro asked Vallee
gued that Vallee should go to prison whether he had anything to say. He
for eight years—the higher end of fed- shook his head and said, “No.”
eral sentencing guidelines. The judge sentenced Vallee to the
Investigators had identified 23 vic- eight years in prison that prosecutors
tims and suspected there were even had requested.
more. Most declined to speak at the “It should send a message to other
hearing. “I can only guess they were people out there that you can’t do this,”
photo by cole wilson
just as ashamed as I was,” May says. Assistant US Attorney Arnie Huftalen

But she decided to attend, as did said. “This is real crime. It really hurts
Mackenzie and a third victim. Sitting people, and it creates injuries that will
behind Vallee in the courtroom, Mack- last for a lifetime.”
enzie studied him. He was wearing from WIRED (july/august 2019), copyright © 2019
glasses, his eyes cast down. He looked, by stephanie clifford, WIRED.COM.
readersdigest.in 101
Reader ’s Digest
102 august 2021

BONUS READ
WAR AND
PEACE ON
MELROSE
HILL
A chance encounter on a train journey leads
to an amazing discovery of a decades-old
World War 2 connection
BY Dr Yashwant Thorat
ILLUSTRATIONS BY Siddhant Jumde
Reader ’s Digest
M
ay I have a light?” I looked up to see a Japanese
gentleman, about my age, standing next to me with
an unlit cigarette in his hand. I reached for my lighter.
We were on a train, travelling from Berne to Geneva
in the autumn of 1980.
“Are you Indian?” he asked.
“Yes” I replied.
We began talking. He was an official at the United Nations,
returning home and to his headquarters. I was scheduled to lecture
at the university. He gave me some useful tips on what to see and
where to eat in the city. Having exhausted our store of small talk,
we fell silent. I retrieved my book, Defeat into Victory, an account
of the second World War in Burma, by Field Marshal William Slim.
He opened up a newspaper.
After a while, he asked, “Are you a professor of military history?”
“No,” I replied. “Just interested. My father was in Burma during
the War”. “Mine too,” he said.
In December 1941, Japan invaded their only convenient supply base and
Bu r ma a nd opened t he longest port of entry.
land campaign of the entire war Winning battle after battle, they
for Britain. There were two reasons forced the Allied forces to retreat
for t he Japanese advance: First, into India. The situation was bleak.
cut t i ng of f t he overla nd supply The British were heavily committed
route to China via the Burma Road to the war in Europe and lacked
would deprive Chiang Kai-Shek’s the resources and organization to
Nat ion a l i st C h i ne s e a r m ie s of recapture Burma. However, they
militar y equipment and pave the soon got their act together. The High
way for the conquest of China. Command was overhauled: Field
Second, possession of Burma would Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell was
position them at the doorway to India, replaced by Lord Louis Mountbatten
where they believed a general insur- and operational control was given
rection would be triggered against the to General William Slim, a brilliant
British once their troops established officer who forged the famous 14th
themselves within reach of Calcutta. Army—an efficient combat force made
Entering Burma from Thailand, the up of British, Indians and Africans.
Japanese quickly captured Rangoon The Japanese, aware that the defenders
in 1942, severing the Burma Road at were gathering strength, resolved to
its source and denying the Chinese of end the campaign with a bold thrust
104 august 2021

Bonus Read
K. S. Thimayya and L. P. Sen—were

introduced to Mountbatten, who
made casual but searching enquiries
regarding their war experience.
After a long meeting, the group
emerged from the conference tent
and Mountbatten turned to Reggie
Hutton, t he Brigade commander
and said, “All right, Reggie! Let your
A ll-Indian Brigade do it. But, by
God, it’s going to be tough.” Turning
to the three commanders, he said,
“Gentlemen, the Japanese are pulling
out of Upper Burma. You have been
chosen to intercept their withdrawal
from there into the South. You will
concentrate at Ak yab, proceed to
Myebon by sea, capture Kangaw,
penetrate Japanese-held territor y
and convert their retreat into a rout.
The author's father, Lt. Colonel (later Is that clear?” It was.
Lt. General) S. P. P. Thorat, descending
Melrose Hill after the night-long battle. ***
My Japanese friend, who had been
into India and a simultaneous attack listening intently, leaned forward and
in Burma’s Arakan peninsula. asked, “Did you say your father was in
It was i n t he ebb a nd f low of the All-India Brigade?”
these larger events that my father, “Yes”, I replied.
a soldier, played a part—f irst in Our conversation paused as the
Koh i ma, clea r i ng t he Japa nese waiter served coffee and croissants.
from the Naga Hills, then in Imphal Later, he persisted, “Was he a junior
and, finally, here, in the forested officer at the time?”
mountains of Kangaw. “Battalion commander. Punjab
I n 1945, a m idst t he bl i nd i ng Regiment”, I replied.
monsoon rains, Supreme A llied As he digested the information, his
Commander Mountbatten’s plane face seemed to blanch. It was perhaps
landed at Maungdaw where the All- a play of light or just my imagination,
India Brigade, of which his regiment but I thought he was going to be ill.
was a part, was headquartered. My “Are you okay?” I queried.
father and two other commanders— He nodded. “Please carry on.”
Reader ’s Digest
War poster detailing the events of the Allied campaign in Kangaw, Burma. The Burma
campaign was the longest fought by the British Army during the Second World War.
After marching through hostile enemy’s withdrawal, the hill would

territor y against stiff opposition, have to be captured despite the odds.
the Punjab troops finally landed at He made the call.
Myebon. They proceeded to Kangaw, The first attack by the Hyderabadis
not knowing that 48 hours later they under Thimayya mauled the enemy
would be locked in a battle that was but did not achieve the objective.
to last a fortnight and claim the lives The second by the Baluchis under
of thousands. Sen met a similar fate. It was then
The Japanese withdrawal route that Hutton asked my father and
was dominated by Hill Feature 170, the Punjabis under his command to
dubbed ‘Melrose’, an elevated terrain make a final effort. Artillery and air
that gave the men holding it an enor- support was coordinated. The attack
mous tactical advantage. Moreover, was set at 0700 hours on 29 January
intelligence reports claimed they had 1945. At dawn, as the leading com-
two brigades whereas the Indians had panies moved forward, the Japanese
one. Brigadier Hutton realized that to opened machine-gun fire. As artil-
achieve their mission of stopping the lery provided cover and laid out a
106 august 2021

Bonus Read
smokescreen, the Punjabis began to The battalion commander would

climb the hill. Ensconced in well-dug be decorated w it h t he DSO for
bunkers, the Japanese rained fire on “unf linching devotion to duty and
the climbing party. Air cover, a key personal bravery”. But that was far
part of the plan, failed to material- into the future.
ize—bad weather and bad luck. The At that moment, on the field of bat-
Indian casualties mounted. tle, the triumphant chief looked over
Ta k i ng a ca lc u lated r isk , t he the captured Japanese, assembled, as
commander pushed on. They were soldiers do, neatly and in order. On
hardly 91 metres from the top when seeing the Indian commander, their
the Japanese threw everything they leader called his men to attention,
had at them. In the face of such stepped forward, saluted, unbuckled
unrestrained ferocity, the advance his sword, held it out with both hands
began to falter, hovering uncertainly and bowed. The Indian was startled
on the edge of retreat. It was the to see his enemy’s face streaked with
moment of truth—fight or flee? tears. He understood the pain of
As he watched h is men being defeat, but tears? After all, this was
mowed down by heav y fire, a rage
er upted w it hin t he commander.
Throwing caution to the winds, he
The advance faltered,
ran ahead to stand with the troops. hovering on the edge
His presence seemed to t ip t he of retreat. Should they
scales—the soldiers rallied, ‘fixed’
bayonet s a nd cha rged i nto t he fight? Or flee?
Japanese, shouting obscenities and
primeval war cries. Fierce hand-to-
hand combat ensued. Neither side war—one or the other side had to lose.
took or gave quarter. The conf lict W hat t he Japa nese cou ld not
continued unabated through the explain was that his tears were not
night. The Japanese counter-attacked of grief but of shame. How could he
in wave after wave, but the Indian make him understand what it meant
line held firm. Then, the last bullet to be Samurai? Given a choice he
was fired and there was silence. would have preferred the nobler
Many years later, Mountbatten course of hara-kiri (taking one’s own
would describe what took place as life) than surrender, but fate willed
“the bloodiest battle of the Arakan”, otherwise. The ancestral sword in his
and rightly so. Around two thousand hands had been carried with pride by
Japanese and 800 Indians lay dead in his forefathers. Now he was shaming
the course of that single encounter. them by handing it over.
Reader ’s Digest
All this was unknown—unknow-

able—to the Indian commander.
And yet there was something in the
manner and bearing of the defeated
officer in front of him which moved
him deeply. He felt that the moment
was not merely solemn but deeply
personal, even sacred.
He reached out to receive t he
sword, and t hen, inex plicably—
compelled by an emotion which
perhaps only a soldier can feel for a
worthy opponent—stepped forward
and spoke clearly and loudly for Japanese flags like this one were often
everyone to hear: “Colonel, I accept brought back home as souvenirs by the
your surrender, but I receive your victors after close-combat encounters.
sword, not as a token of defeat, but
as a gift from one soldier to another.” soldiers are different from those who
guide other mortals, for they bind
them in strange webs of understand-
Battle was battle. Each ing and codes of honour that persist
fought with strength. no matter what flags they fly.
The moment passed. The success
Now, that it was over, signal was fired. Far away in the jun-
they were all just men. gles below, Brigadier Hutton watched
the three red lights in the sky and
smiled. He would later explain that
T he Japa nese leader looked up, at stake that night was not only the
his face lit up w ith surprise and battle mission itself, but the larger
unspoken gratitude for the remark issue of whether Indians ‘had it in
that redeemed his honour. them’ to lead men in war. Sceptics
The Punjabi soldiers—Hindus felt his faith was misplaced, but the
and Muslims—nodded in apprecia- day’s victory offered vindication.
tion. Battle was battle. When it was ***
on, each fought the other with all The story ended, I looked out of
their strength. Now that it was over, my compartment window, lost in
they were all simply men—there was t hought when I heard a chok ing
no personal or national animos- sou nd. My Japa nese f r iend had
ity. Maybe the gods who look after broken down. He swayed from side
108 august 2021

Bonus Read
to the platform and bid farewell.

“Goodbye,” I said. “Keep in touch.
Incidenta lly, wou ld you like me
to restore the sword back to your
f a m i l y ? ” He s m i le d a nd s a id ,
“Certainly not. The sword already
rests in the house of a Samurai.”
That was the last I saw of him.
Usha, my wife, says the probability
of our meet ing def ies stat ist ics.
She should know, having studied
economics and statistics. That both
our fathers joined the army during a
World War and fought in Burma was
perhaps understandable; that they
were present in the same specific
bat t le—d i f f icu lt but bel ievable.
They returned to their families—
The Samurai sword surrendered to plausible. But that their sons grew
General Thorat after the Melrose battle
up in two different lands, happened
to go to Berne at the same time,
to side, his eyes closed, clearly in the board t he same t rain, share t he
grip of an emotion more powerful same compartment, and discover a
than he could control. He kept saying connection from four decades ago—
“Karma, karma,” and muttering to that undoubtedly is insane.
himself in his own language. After Personally, I do not believe in pre-
a while, he looked up and held both destination and yet, at times, I am not
my hands. “It was my father who so sure. The sword has a pride of place
battled yours on Melrose. It was he in our home. Now, whenever I see it,
who surrendered. Had your father my mind enters the jungles of Arakan,
not understood t he dept h of his where in the midst of the madness of
feelings, he would have come back war, two soldiers entered the heat
and died of shame. But in accepting and fury of battle and emerged on to
our ancestral sword in the manner a common ground where respect and
he did, he restored honour to my humanity won the day.
father and to our family. That makes
us brothers—you and I.” Dr Yashwant Thorat is the son of late
W hen t he t ra i n pu l led i nto Lt. General S. P. P. Thorat, KC, DSO.
Geneva station, we stepped off on First published in Salute, July 2017.
CULTURESCAPE
Books, Arts and Entertainment
TURNING
OVER A
NEW LEAF
In Irwin Allan Sealy’s latest
novel, we discover an Asoka who
is more human than saint
by Sukhada Tatke
E
mperor Asoka ruled much
of South Asia and played a
crucial role in the spread of
Buddhism in the 3rd century
BC. But who was the man? What
brought about his transformation
from a warmonger to a practitioner
and preacher of peace? Irwin Allan
Sealy’s latest novel Asoca: A Sutra—
an imagined memoir told in the voice
of the ageing emperor, ‘Asoca’, after he
has abdicated and retired to a cave—
might provide some answers.
110 august 2021

Reader ’s Digest
“FOR A What drew you to write a book on Asoka?

A glimpse—quite late in life—of his
REVOLUTIONARY famous Kalsi edict rock located in the
TRANSFORMATION very district where I’d spent a goodly
portion of my life, Dehradun. The rock
OF THE KIND ASOKA was pivotal in establishing an accurate
WENT THROUGH, chronology for our ancient history and in
the deciphering of our archaic languages,
THE HUMAN so I was a little ashamed of having failed
MATERIAL MUST to visit this crucial landmark in my
own backyard. I think the novel was
BE EXCEPTIONAL.” part expiation.
In Zelaldinus (2017), the narrator was

your alter-ego. Here, Asoka is looking
back on his life as a 70-something man.
Did your being close to him in age have
any bearing on his reflections?
Certainly, it helped to be able to look
back as Asoka himself might have to-
wards the end of his life. I’d like to think
that proximity—reflecting on life from
a comparable vantage—gave the first-
person narrative some authenticity. We
don’t know for sure when Asoka was
born or when he died, so his age is con-
jectural. Historians think he lived into his
mid-seventies.
You said in an interview that the sorrow

of Asoka resonated with your own expe-
riences as a person. Can you elaborate?
I did have in mind a darkening of the
photo: arun pardesi
screen—a sobering or sombering—that

comes with advancing age. In fact, the
Kalinga war came when Asoka was barely
middle aged, but it appears to have pro-
foundly changed—you could say aged—
him. Sorrow is almost by definition an
Reader ’s Digest
older person’s response; it goes much Of all your books, this one seems to
deeper than simple sadness, which is be among the more ‘straightforward’.
available to you at any age. Yes. In the past I’ve often chosen com-
plex modes of story-telling. The form—
You make a distinction between say a nama or a chronicle, as indicated
‘Asoca’ and ‘Asoka’. Could you tell us in the subtitle—was a clue to the strat-
a little about the ‘k’ sound and why egy of the text. This time the strategy
the difference? itself was straightforward. I set out to
It was just a way of distinguishing my tell a plain unvarnished tale, something
fictional character from the historical the sutra—or thread—exemplifies: no
man. The ‘c’ was my proprietary mark, loops, no knots, just a continuous yarn.
which allowed me to shape my man in Hence Asoca: A Sutra.
any way I pleased. He was ‘my Asoca’
in the way Zelaldinus was my Akbar. How did you strike the balance be-
(The Jesuits at court wrote his name, tween taking creative liberties in the
Jalaluddin, as Zelaldinus in novel and staying faithful
Latin, and I thought Good, to the spirit of the man?
I’ll call my man that!) In The edicts are what we
Asoca the eccentric spelling know this man by, and
is also a linguistic marker: their unique feature is their
There’s light weather made advocacy of non-violence
of the way people speak and and a message of tolerance
how it indicates their social that broke with the vaunts
class or regional origins. of all other rulers of antiq-
uity. I needed to keep this
Were you already thinking quality front and centre
of this book when you without making a saint of
wrote these lines in Zelaldinus: the man. The man who emerges from
“… Ashoka the great? Don’t the edicts is in fact very human: a bit
make me laugh ...”? humourless, a bit sanctimonious, a bit
Strangely, no. At that point I was Akbar. of a prig, so I tried to work those quali-
And of course, the poem was a one-off, ties into the book. There is also a tra-
a comic set-piece. The reader under- dition that Asoka was a cruel king who
stands Akbar here is the edgy, imperial turned over a new leaf when he became
egotist looking for the nearest competi- a Buddhist. Now, I could have used this
tor. Asoka is more than the straw man alleged transformation in a lurid way
Akbar sets up here. That’s part of the that made for melodrama, but in fact I
joke, which then goes still further with was trying to create an ordinary man,
the ‘other guy’—Christ. neither saint nor sinner. Extraordinary
112 august 2021

Culturescape
men have their ordinary moments, and awakening to practical and political
many of the liberties I take surround ends—his programme of dhamma.
such moments in his life.
Asoka’s story is inspiring in that a
Tell us a little about how your visits man who spread destruction trans-
to Kalinga influenced the book. formed after great penitence. Do
To stand by the Kalsi rock, or the one at you think our present-day leaders
Kalinga, is to step outside time. As you are capable of such introspection?
muse, you’re gathered up into a past For a revolutionary transformation of
that has vanished so completely that the kind Asoka underwent, the human
you’re obliged to reinvent it. Possibly material must be exceptional. I see no
that strenuous evocation turned me evidence of the necessary strength of
into a storyteller: recreating the times character among today’s leaders, but
led to recreating the king. We all grow there’s no such thing as a kali yuga any
up with a smattering of Asoka, and I more than there’s ever been a golden
think I’d reached a tipping point where age. History can throw up an aberration
I was after more. I began by reading the any time, just as it did in Gandhi’s day.
edicts. The edict rocks should be places
of national pilgrimage. “Forgive yourself,” Asoca is told in the
end. Do you think that is a good start-
In the novel, Asoca doesn’t shy away ing point on the path to redemption?
from recounting war and bloodshed It is a prerequisite to wiping the slate
in great detail when he speaks about clean, and that is a necessary first step
the signal he gave to “begin the kill- on the path.
ing”. Usually, one tends to bury one’s
darkest mistakes, but not Asoca. What are you working on now?
What does that say about him? On a gazetteer of the Doon valley.
It says he was an uncommon man, un- Something along the lines of the
usually reflective, ahead of his time (as Imperial Gazetteer of India, which was
a ruler if not as a thinker—remember an extraordinary work of literature. Of
always that the Buddha preceded him course, that encyclopaedic work
in a sense that made him possible) and would simply be a point of departure:
spiritually resourceful. Only an unusu- old forms are a springboard to new
ally strong personality could snatch kinds of writing. My Gazetteer will be
victory from a moral defeat the way he considerably more playful and will
did. To take a cynical view of his trans- happily accommodate fact and fiction,
formation is to miss a human triumph something that would horrify any civil
that is also a piece of admirable king- servant worth his salt, especially those
ship, because he proceeds to turn his staid Raj sahibs.
LAUGHTER
The best Medicine
Little Johnny and

his friend Tommy
were on their very
first train ride. A
vendor selling con-
cessions came by,
and Tommy’s mother
bought each child
a candy bar.
Johnny eagerly
tore into his just as
the train went into
a tunnel. When the
train emerged, Johnny
saw that Tommy was
still struggling with
the wrapper. “A tattoo? You’re kidding. It sure looks like a suit.”
“I wouldn’t eat
that if I were you,”
Johnny said to Tommy. really boring people are still at the back
“Why not?” asked until you fall asleep. of my cupboard. peter steiner/cartoonstock.com
Tommy. It’s online sedating. — @craiguito
“Because I took one —Jon Harvey, Ê I switched the
bite and went blind comedian labels on all my
for half a minute.” wife’s spices. I’m
—Innerworkspublishing.com Season to Taste not in trouble
Ê Spices were first yet, but the thyme
I’ve created an app brought to Europe is cumin.
to help with insomnia. in the Middle Ages, —Submitted by
It lets you talk to other and some of them Justin Mitchell
114 august 2021

Reader ’s Digest
Start each day with a positive thought, $10 million?”

like I can go back to bed in about 16 hours. “No,” the man said.
— @AbbyHasIssues “Half of my estate?”
“No,” the man said.
A priest, a minister $10 million, half “Ah! You want to
and a rabbit walk into of my estate, or my marry my daughter.”
a blood bank. The daughter’s hand in “No! I want the
rabbit says, “I think marriage. But there’s name of the man
I might be a type O.” a shark in the pool.” who pushed me in!”
—Submitted by One day as he said —Alphausa.org
Vincent Gottschalk this, there was a loud
splash. A man swam
A wealthy business- a lap of the pool and
man liked to show his got out just as the for your funny anecdote
party guests his pool shark thudded into or photo in any of our
and say, “If you swim the wall. humour sections. Post it
to the editorial address, or
a lap, I will give you “So, would you like email: editor.india@rd.com
EVERY TRICK IN THE BOOK

Bibliophiles can be so clever! Before you dive into your summer reading,
watch out for booksellers (and librarians) pulling pranks.
via sadanduselss.com (2)
RD RECOMMENDS
Films
ENGLISH: After its
recent premiere at
Cannes, reviewers
didn’t quite seem to
know what adjectives Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard in a still from Annette
they should employ to tick all the boxes an Though it is hard to
for this film. While edge-of-your-seat thriller replicate the valour of
most called ANNETTE should. In an effort to Captain Vikram Batra
(streaming on Amazon exact revenge for the in the 1999 Kargil War,
Prime Video from death of her son, Seema it was, perhaps, a mat-
20 August) “beautiful”, Palwa (Neena Gupta) ter of time before the
they also thought it kidnaps the family of Hindi film industry
was “baffling”. Starring police officer Nikhil gave his heroism the
Adam Driver and Mar- Sood (Bajpayee). cinematic treatment.
ion Cottilard, this Leos Chaos ensues. SHERSHAAH, relea-
Carax rock opera is sing on Amazon Prime
about a mysterious child Video on 12 August, is
who turns her parents’ the perfect biopic to
lives upside down. watch this Indepen-
dence Day weekend.
HINDI: There is hardly Siddharth Malhotra
anything which Manoj plays Batra as an ordi-
Bajpayee touches these nary man filled with
days that does not be- extraordinary courage.
come gold. Given its
high-adrenaline trailer, TAMIL: Even though
DIAL 100 (releasing on Manoj Bajpayee as police anthology films are all
Zee5 on 6 August) seems officer Nikhil Sood in Dial 100 the rage, NAVARASA
118 august 2021

Reader ’s Digest
(releasing on Netflix on
9 August) promises to
exceed expectations.
Created by Mani Ratnam,
the film’s segments each
explore one of nine emo-
tions that make up the
gamut of human feeling.
With directors such as
Arvind Swami and Bejoy
Nambiar, and a cast that
includes Revathi and
Vijay Sethupathi, this
one cannot be missed.
Suriya Sivakumar in Navarasa
#WATCHLIST: boasts of names such

0N OUR RADAR as Kit Harrington and
Minnie Driver, this col-
Modern Love Season 2: lection of love stories
The first season of this seems to have all the
anthology series proved right ingredients—
not only that the New quirk, warmth and dol- Falcon and Magluta
York Times column lops of mush. Strea- from Cocaine Cowboys .
Modern Love is a great ming on Amazon Prime
read, it is also fun to Video from 13 August. Corben gave us a
watch. With a cast that compelling overview
Cocaine Cowboys: The of cocaine trafficking,
Kings of Miami: Coming but this time he has
to Netflix on 4 August, narrowed his focus
this series will see down to two notori-
filmmaker Billy Corben ous drug lords—
update his 2006 docu- Augusto “Willy”
mentary, Cocaine Cow- Falcon and Salva-
boys. Fifteen years ago, dor “Sal” Magluta.
Kit Harrington in Modern Love Season 2
Reader ’s Digest
Books
Better to Have Gone: Auroville—Love, Death and the
Quest for Utopia by Akash Kapur, Simon & Schuster
John Walker, the were both found dead
handsome scion of an 20 years later. Scope Out
influential East Coast Akash Kapur grew The House Next to the
American family, came up in Auroville and Factory (Fourth Estate):
to India in the 1960s later married, Aura- Made up of nine
with Diane Maes, his lice, John and Diane’s interlinked stories,
Belgian hippie daughter. In Sonali Kohli’s book
lover. Together 2004, the couple tells the story of post-
they gave shape return to Pondi- Partition India through
to their dream cherry with its protagonist Kavya
of a new world. their two sons. and her affluent family.
At first, Auro- In his memoir,
ville, the com- Kapur confronts Funeral Nights (Context):
munity they the ghosts of his In Kynpham Sing
joined, seemed parents-in-law, Nongkynrih’s unusual
to have realized but also asks a and compelling novel,
a utopian ideal, but like deeper question: What a group of friends find
with any utopia, John price are we willing to themselves lost in a
and Diane’s plenitude pay in our quest for a jungle, swapping stories
could not last. They perfect world? that throw light on
Khasi life and culture.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE ... Discordant Notes:
Fragments Against
The Voices of Dissent in the Last Court of
My Ruin: A Life (Context)
Resort (Volumes I & II) by Rohinton Fali
Farrukh Dhondy
Nariman (Penguin): Although justice
is many things—
comes to rely on consensus, it isn’t
television celebrity,
essential that all judges on a bench
writer, unabashed
are always in agreement. A dissenting judgement,
leftist and homegrown
for instance, records the opinion of a judge who
Parsi boy. This
disagrees with the verdict at which his peers arrive.
memoir is a sum of
In these definitive volumes, the eminent Rohinton
all those parts.
F. Nariman examines the most important dissenting
judgments in the history of India’s Supreme Court.
120 august 2021

Music
TUNE IN
Song: ‘Churaya’
Artist: Amit Trivedi
When Amit Trivedi burst on to the

scene, actors in Hindi films still pre-
tended to sing on screen. Unlike to-
day, Bollywood soundtracks were
much sought after. Trivedi didn’t
take long to engineer what would
soon become a trademark sound.
For audiences, the songs of Dev.D Amit Trivedi
(2009), Aisha (2010) and Queen (2013)
were at times more memorable than dry, he, too, has been forced to adapt.
the films themselves. Even though AT Azaad, his new independent label,
Trivedi’s style is unmistakable, no two gives Trivedi freedom to make music
melodies of his have ever sounded the he likes. On ‘Churaya’, for instance,
same. His is a big, profound talent. he uses the trumpet and saxophone
Trivedi has always been very good liberally. With a video that’s as cheery
at understanding a film’s context, but as his production, Trivedi shows us
with the pandemic sucking Bollywood that music can beat all odds.
LISTEN assembling its audio tems with guests

AUDIOBOOK: cast: James McAvoy, like Anupama Chopra,
Neil Gaiman’s THE Riz Ahmed and Amitav Ghosh and
SANDMAN is Bible for Michael Sheen. Sameer Kulavoor.
some comic book lov-
ers and Audible did PODCAST: Hosted by
due jus- journalist Raghu Kar-
tice to nad, MARINE LINES:
its cult MUMBAI’S HIDDEN
status WORLDS explores the
when city’s various ecosys-
—COMPILED BY SHREEVATSA NEVATIA
Reader ’s Digest
REVIEW
A History
of Violence
Fahadh Faasil’s
Malik reminds us
that in cinema,
crime does pay
By Jai Arjun Singh Fahadh Faasil in Malik
TO UNDERSTAND the spanning five decades, in communal tensions

breadth of current with a large cast of char- exploited by politicians
Malayalam cinema— acters. It begins with a and police—leading to
responsible for, perhaps, very long, single-take se- a parting of ways with
the most vibrant film- quence that introduces his brother-in-law David
making in the country us to the household of (Vinay Fortt). Though
today—consider the last the ageing Sulaiman or centred on the politics
two collaborations be- ‘Ali Ikka’ (Faasil), as he of a specific area, Malik
tween writer–director prepares to leave for a (streaming on Amazon
Mahesh Narayanan and Hajj pilgrimage. He is Prime Video) draws on
actor Fahadh Faasil. In arrested, though, and templates and character
2020, with pandemic- plans are made to kill types that have been
generated restrictions on him in prison. This sets genre staples since The
conventional filmmak- the framework for flash- Godfather (some scenes
ing, they made the low- backs—narrated by dif- also feel like a homage
budget, experimental ferent characters—that to Mani Ratnam’s Naya-
‘computer screen film’ detail the rise to power gan). While crime-movie
CU Soon, through video of a man who becomes a aficionados might find
calls, online chats, and hero in the Ramadapally it over-familiar at times,
only very basic real- region. While Sulaiman, on its own terms, this is
world sets (Faasil offered a Muslim, falls in love a solid, well-acted film
the use of his own flat). with and marries a with a sense of the broad
Their latest, Malik, on Christian girl Roslyn sweep of history and the
the other hand, is a big- (Nimisha Sajayan), he intimate moments that
canvas gangster film also finds himself caught forge that history.
122 august 2021

Culturescape
STUDIO
Gandhi greeted by also see their suffering. on Gandhi’s part. He

Darwen’s textile His empathy, they felt, told the workers about
workers, 1931 would win the day. In India’s struggles, all
September 1931, when the while refusing to
38.1 x 28 cm
a 62-year-old Gandhi cede an inch. When
IT WAS LANCASHIRE’S visited London to an old weaver com-
cotton town of Darwen discuss India’s future, plained about how bad
that felt keenly the Darwen extended a things were, Gandhi
sting of Mahatma warm invitation. only said, “My dear,
Gandhi’s swadeshi He accepted. you have no idea what
movement. Unlike Although it was poverty is.” Nearly 90
the rest of Britain that Gandhi’s boycott that years after this photo
mocked Gandhi, his had crippled their in- was shot, it serves as a
methods and strange dustry, they flanked reminder of our hard-
demands, the mill him the way they won independence,
workers of Darwen would a matinee star. yes, but it does also
did not hold the There was laughter, prove that inter-
Mahatma’s protest hurrahs, and as seems dependence can, at
against him. They just obvious from this pho- times, matter, too.
badly wanted him to tograph, some shyness — BY SHREEVATSA NEVATIA
ME & MY SHELF
In books such as Daughters

of the Sun and Heroines,
Ira Mukhoty made apparent
her love for feminist narratives
in Indian history and mythology.
Released earlier this month,
her first novel, Song of Draupadi,
helps further that abiding
affection for strong,
radical women.
Beloved the mythical town of Macondo. In prose

BY TONI MORRISON, that is breathtaking and fantastical, and
RHUK, `499 with an imagination that combines lyri-
Having been brought cism and lunacy, Márquez conveys the
up on a diet of Anglo- chaos and beauty of human life. To be
Saxon writers, reading read with caution.
this electrifying and
startling novel entirely changed the The God of Small Things
way I thought about the written word. BY ARUNDHATI ROY, Penguin India, `450
Morrison’s innovative and almost dis- Arundhati Roy’s novel may not have
turbing use of language to describe the aged particularly well, but when I read
haunting of a black American woman it 25 years ago, I was mesmerized by
by the ghost of her daughter is a literary her luminous prose and her fastidious
tour de force. The flavour of this book attention to detail, almost like a seam-
stays with you your whole life. stress spinning a rainbow gown. A
disturbing love story shackled by a
One Hundred Years of Solitude sense of foreboding and disquiet.
BY GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ,
photo: devaki jayal
Penguin India, `399 A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing

A novel that almost single-handedly BY EIMEAR MCBRIDE, Faber & Faber, `899
defined the genre of magic realism, This debut novel by Irish writer Eimear
Márquez’s labyrinthine novel describes McBride is almost beyond categoriza-
the vicissitudes of the Buendia family in tion. The author uses a stream-of-
124 august 2021

Reader ’s Digest
consciousness style to tell the story of a couple when they lose their 11-year-old
young Irish girl who lives with a brother son, Hamnet. Interestingly, Shakespeare
suffering from a brain tumour. In prose is almost entirely missing in the book,
that is as fractured and full of seams as reduced to just a pronoun and descrip-
the brother’s scars, this is a haunting tor—‘he’, ‘husband’. The story is filled
tale of love and pain. with foreboding but is told in rich, lumi-
nous prose. The story of Agnes, entirely
H is for Hawk forgotten by history, is mesmerizing.
BY HELEN MACDONALD,
Random House, `499 After the Prophet
When Cambridge research scholar, BY LESLEY HAZLETON,
writer, falconer and naturalist Helen Anchor, `799
Macdonald found herself devastated by A lucid and engaging
grief over the sudden death of her father, account of the great
she decided to train a goshawk as a way rift that gave rise to the
to sublimate her sorrow. She produced Sunni–Shia branches of
a book which is at once a memoir, a fal- Islam and continues to violently divide
conry manual and a heart-breaking Muslims. Hazleton brings to life with
meditation on loss—all interspersed great vividness the terror- and grief-rid-
with gorgeous descriptions of nature. den events that occurred immediately
after Prophet Muhammad’s calamitous
Wolf Hall death before he could name a successor,
BY HILARY MANTEL, Fourth Estate, `499 which led to the schism that haunts the
The first—and best—of Hilary Mantel’s Islamic world even today.
trilogy about the rise and fall of Thomas
Cromwell at the court of Henry VIII is A Strange and Sublime Address
a masterclass in historical fiction. From BY AMIT CHAUDHURI, Penguin India, `299
the first paragraph, the reader is pulled Tales from Firozsha Baag
into the 16th-century world of Cromwell BY ROHINTON MISTRY, Faber & Faber, `499
with all its violence and splendour. The Both these books, written only a few
book is spotlit by the brilliant prose and years apart from each other, marked
attention to detail that Mantel brings the rise of Indians writing in English
to all her work. with more panache, confidence and
style than ever before. Both these books
Hamnet are deeply anchored in the keenly noted
BY MAGGIE O’ FARRELL, Tinder Press, `699 reality of Indian cities—Calcutta and
This re-imagined story of Shakespeare Bombay—and are eloquent testimonies
focuses entirely on his wife Agnes, to their grace and beauty, but also the
and the terrible tragedy suffered by the violence and chaos of everyday lives.
Book prices are subject to change.
BRAIN GAMES
7 Pages to sharpen Your Mind
21 14 19 23 4 8 22
1 to 25 24 1 20
Moderately difficult Move
the numbers from the outer
ring onto the board. Each num- 3 18
ber must be placed in one of the
five cells that lie in the direction 17 9
indicated by its chevron. The
(1 TO 25) JEFF WIDDERICH; (MATHELOGICAL) FRASER SIMPSON; (FAVOURITE THINGS) EMILY GOODMAN
numbers must snake together
vertically, horizontally or diago-
13 5
nally so they link in sequence
from 1 to 25. (For example, 2 6 12
must be adjacent to both 1
and 3.) There’s only one
solution. Can you find it?
25 15 16 11 2 7 10
Mathelogical Favourite Things

Difficult Each A B C Easy Amar, Sheela, Roohi and
letter in the grid Basim each have a different
stands for one D E F favourite activity from among
of the whole the following: rock climbing,
numbers from kayaking, cooking lessons and
1 through 9. No G H J zip-lining. Can you figure out
two of them rep- who likes what, based on the
resent the same following clues?
number. With the help of the clues, can Ê Amar’s favourite activity isn’t
you figure out which letter stands for what? rock climbing.
1. B × F = the two-digit number AB Ê Sheela is afraid of heights.
2. B + J = G Ê Roohi can’t do her favourite
3. D × D = the two-digit number BC activity without a harness.
4. One of the rows contains only Ê Basim likes to keep his feet
odd numbers. on solid ground at all times.
126 august 2021

reader’s digest
Trains
Moderately difficult
This map shows Maya, her
destination and three train 80 km
routes she can take to get 60 km
there. Each segment of track 50 km
has a different speed limit, 30 km
indicated by the speeds A 120 km/h
shown. The distances of each 15
segment are indicated by B 0
km
their colours and the legend
C 10
0k /h
m/
to the right. Presuming that h
120 km/h
90 km
each train always goes at the
10
0
top permitted speed and
km
h /
/h
doesn’t stop anywhere along
the way, which route (A, B
120 km/h
or C) is the fastest?
Dominoes
Easy A standard double-six set of 28 dominoes has been arranged in a rectangle.
Can you draw in the lines to show the placement of the dominoes? We’ve listed the
28 dominoes so you can cross them off as you find them.
(TRAINS) SUE DOHRIN; (DOMINOES) FRASER SIMPSON
For answers, turn to page 128.
SUDOKU
BY Jeff Widderich
7 5 4 3
6
9 8
2 1 5 3
3 9 6 8
6 5 2 4
Favourite Things
4 9
Amar likes to zip-line,
Sheela likes to kayak,
1
Roohi likes rock climbing
and Basim enjoys cook- 4 8 2 7
ing lessons.
To Solve This Puzzle
Trains
Route A, which will take Put a number from 1 to 9 in
70 minutes. each empty square so that:
SOLUTION
1 3 7 2 8 4 6 9 5
Dominoes Ê every horizontal row and 6 5 2 9 3 7 1 4 8
vertical column contains all 9 8 4 5 6 1 2 3 7
nine numbers (1-9) without 4 9 1 7 2 3 5 8 6
repeating any of them; 2 7 8 6 5 9 3 1 4
3 6 5 4 1 8 9 7 2
5 4 3 1 7 6 8 2 9
Ê each of the outlined 3 x 3 7 1 6 8 9 2 4 5 3
boxes has all nine numbers, 8 2 9 3 4 5 7 6 1
none repeated.
128 august 2021

Brain Games
9. lapel n.
WORD POWER (luh-’pel)
a elbow patch.
b jacket’s front flap.
Ready to try this month’s quiz on for size? c pocket square.
It’s a closetful of fashion and clothing
words that’ll come in handy whether 10. sheath n.
(sheeth)
you’re lounging in your sweats or stepping a crocheted shawl.
out in your Sunday best. Will you stay b close-fitting dress.
on trend or fall behind the times? c long cape.
Turn to the next page for answers.
11. haute couture n.
(oht kuh-’tyur)
By Sarah Chassé a high fashion.
b evening gown.
c off the rack.
1. stiletto n. 5. houndstooth n.
(stuh-’leh-toh) (‘hownz-tooth) 12. beanie n.
a high heel. a belt buckle. (‘bee-nee)
b body armour. b hidden pocket. a handmade button.
c traditional costume. c checked pattern. b knit cap.
c ballet flat.
2. knockoff n. 6. sashay v.
(‘nahk-off) (sa-’shay) 13. array v. (uh-’ray)
a shoulder pad. a drape. a dress up.
b imitation. b strut. b lay out.
c stunning beauty. c twirl. c embroider.
3. dapper adj. 7. camisole n. 14. gabardine n.

(‘da-per) (‘cam-uh-sohl) (‘gab-er-deen)
a dated. a raincoat. a wide-legged pant.
b threadbare. b sleeveless top. b clutch purse.
c stylish. c slipper. c woven fabric.
4. anorak n. 8. haberdashery n. 15. accessory n.

(‘an-uh-rak) (‘hab-er-da-sher-ee) (ak-’seh-suh-ree)
a hooded jacket. a finery. a new collection.
b snowsuit. b hatmaker. b decorative item.
c hiking boot. c menswear. c reflective vest.
Reader ’s Digest
This Swimsuit is the Bomb

In the summer of 1946, two French designers were competing to
create the tiniest two-piece bathing suit. Jacques Heim made waves
with the Atom, a revealing number named for the teeny particle. Not to be
outdone, Louis Réard unveiled an even smaller, navel-baring suit that shocked
the public. But what’s smaller than an atom? As it happened, the first post-war
nuclear tests (in which atoms were split) made headlines that same week, on the
remote Bikini Atoll. And the name of a fashion bombshell, the bikini, was born.
Word Power 6. sashay (b) strut. 12. beanie (b) knit cap.
ANSWERS The models sashayed
down the runway.
Jia sports her trade-
mark beanie year-
round, even in the
1. stiletto (a) high heel. heat of summer.
7. camisole (b) sleeveless
Muskaan sprained
top. Wearing a black
an ankle when her 13. array (a) dress up.
camisole and a pink
stiletto broke. Arrayed in an ornate
tutu, the ballerina
floated onstage. gown and a tall golden
2. knockoff (b) imitation. crown, the queen took
This may look like a her seat on the throne.
Gucci handbag, but 8. haberdashery (c)
it’s a knockoff I bought menswear. The shop sells
trousers, cufflinks and 14. gabardine (c)
for 2,000 bucks! woven fabric. “Please
other haberdashery.
don’t toss my gabar-
3. dapper (c) stylish. dine blazer into the
Zinia cut a dapper figure 9. lapel (b) jacket’s
front flap. The senator washing machine.
in his grey pin-striped suit. It’s dry-clean only!”
always has a flag pin
4. anorak (a) hooded on her lapel.
15. accessory (b)
jacket. “Does the dog decorative item.
need a sweater, a rain 10. sheath (b) close-
fitting dress. Rachel chose Mother always said
bonnet and an anorak?” the best accessory is
Raj asked. a simple white sheath for
a big smile—or a
dendong/getty images
her beach wedding.

big diamond.
5. houndstooth (c)
checked pattern. “Should 11. haute couture (a)
I go with the houndstooth high fashion. Ali’s idea Vocabulary Ratings
or the classic plaid for of haute couture is a 9 & below: good
my new golf pants?” clean T-shirt and jeans 10–12: gold
Mona asked. without holes. 13–15: god
130 august 2021

Brain Games
11. What hit Chinese

QUIZ drama was streamed
over 15 billion times
before the Chinese gov-
BY Samantha Rideout ernment censored it?
12. Before there was an

1. What American politi- 6. Approximately three Internet, a Soviet mathe-
cian wrote the books quarters of the world’s matician proposed a nation-
Smart on Crime, Super- smartphones run on wide network of civilian
heroes Are Everywhere which operating system? computers. True or false?
and The Truths We Hold?
7. In which of the follow- 13. What mythical
2. What type of wine was ing countries would you beast is the national
sent to the International not find a pyramid that’s animal of Scotland?
Space Station for a year, more than 2,000 years
to see how it would age? old: Sudan, Mexico, 14. Which country’s
Madagascar or Italy? national broadcaster
3. George Bridgetower popularized the concept
was a virtuosic British 8. Tremors, loss of smell of ‘slow TV’ when it aired
violinist of African and stiffness are symp- an eight-hour recording
descent. What composer toms of what condition of a train journey?
dedicated his ‘Violin affecting the production
Sonata No. 9’ to him? of dopamine in the brain?
4. What Canadian folk 9. In the winter of 2021,

artist lived in a house what genre of traditional
that measured roughly folk music was trending
4.1 by 3.8 metres? on the youthful social-
media platform TikTok?
5. Vikings might have
helped which animals 10. An estimated 18 to 15. There are now over
spread across the globe, 35 per cent of humans 30 Godzilla movies. In
by bringing them on experience photic snee- which decade was the
ships to control rodents? zing, which is what? original released?
ISTOCK.COM/NICESCENE
13. The unicorn. 14. Norway. 15. The 1950s.

response to bright light. 11. Story of Yanxi Palace. 12. True, but the proposal was rejected.
5. Cats. 6. Android. 7. Madagascar. 8. Parkinson’s disease. 9. Sea shanties. 10. Sneezing in
Answers: 1. Kamala Harris. 2. Red wine (Bordeaux). 3. Ludwig van Beethoven. 4. Maud Lewis.
Reader ’s Digest
QUOTABLE QUOTES
Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own
life that the more I exercise it the more natural it
becomes to not let my fears run me.
Arianna Huffington, founder, The Huffington Post
There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot

appear to them except in the form of bread.
Mahatma Gandhi, leader of India’s Independence movement
Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life.
Can you give it to them? Then, do not be too eager to deal out death
in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
J. R. R. Tolkien, author
ALAMY (3); AP PHOTO

Women must try to do things as men have tried. When
they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.
Amelia Earhart, aviator
Arianna Huffington Mahatma Gandhi J.R.R. Tolkien Amelia Earhart
132 august 2021

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Total Pages in this issue of Reader’s Digest, including cover: 134; Published on 1st August 2021, Monthly Magazine: RNI No. 6175/1960

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75th Independence Day Special

AUGUST 2021 `100

8 Over to You it happens 13 things

top: illustration by richard borge; below: illustration by serge bloch

The Story Of India in 32 Iconic Objects ....................................... 56

TRUSTED MEDIA BRANDS, INC. (formerly RDA Inc.)

President and Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Kintzer

MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS/CUSTOMER CARE: Email subscription.rd@intoday.com Mail Subscriptions Reader’s Digest,

his unforgettable char- can never be matched. like played a significant

Reader’s Digest’s Very Big Year

Robots Gone Wild

illustrations by Richard Borge readersdigest.in 11

the USGS made an error while updat-

You Look Familiar

Ê Boredom gets a bad rap. But is

seems up to the task. Under his aegis,

(top) facebook; (right) twitter (@pemakhandubjp)

is no mean task but 45-year-old professor’s supervision. “The drone

Drones to the Rescue

At Independence, India lost no time in establishing a

from left: alamy, arun singh, alamy

Everyone says corruption is everywhere, but for me it seems strange to

Naomi Osaka Nayantara Sahgal Alexei Navalny

For the world is movement, and you cannot be stationary in

Empathy isn’t just something that happens to us … it’s also

another because we know we should, or because it’s asked for, but

If you allow fame to get the better of you, you become

Henri Cartier-Bresson Leslie Jamison Dilip Kumar

“Do you have a swimming licence?”

Filtered Dark everything good, suc- forlorn, and as they

nin. Maybe it is residual latest, fairly problem-

tled her way into prac- This smorgasbord was

wedding altar, tapping —COMPILED BY NAOREM ANUJA

karen chapelle, a 50-year-old metal-

unintentionally trained everyone in her To turn down favours without guilt—

As the bestselling author Sarah Knight personal boundaries, and you’ve

34 august 2021 Illustration by Serge Bloch

to suppress their fear grass like dogs are children aren’t

Matching Wedding Bandwidths

The first date I have after

It turns out that watch-

CHOOSE AN EXERCISE Overeating Is OK

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The Brands We Trust

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How We Conducted the Survey

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TW O W H EEL ERS HON DA

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ALL BRANDS LISTED HERE ARE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

READER’S DIGEST | AUGUST 2021

ALL BRANDS LISTED HERE ARE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

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ALL BRANDS LISTED HERE ARE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

PAY ME NT WALL ET S GO OG L E PAY

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FOOD AND BEVERAGES

RE ADY T O COOK AN D MC CAIN

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ALL BRANDS LISTED HERE ARE IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER

HEALTH AND PERSONAL CARE

READER’S DIGEST | AUGUST 2021

Reader's Digest India - August 2021

Reader's Digest India - August 2021