Swimming against the tide
Mint Lounge is your guide to an intelligent lifestyle.
It may seem like a uniquely Bengali preoccupation—does hilsa from the river or the sea taste better? Yet beneath that seemingly pedantic argument lies a host of issues including overfishing, dwindling fish stocks, climate change, unpredictable monsoon, and a consumerist culture of paying more just to get a beloved food off-season. For the hilsa, a fish that swims upstream from the sea to lay its eggs during the monsoon, any change in climate patterns affects its behaviour, size, spawning, and once it’s on the plate, its taste. As Bengal’s catch declines, the state depends on Bangladesh, Myanmar and Gujarat on the western coast of India for hilsa. Rituparna Roy and Zico Ghosh set out to find out why Bengal’s beloved ilish is in decline, a quest that leads them to markets, dining tables, and even labs where scientists are trying to raise hilsa in captivity by painstakingly recreating waterways and spawning grounds. It’s a story that tells you how climate change is already affecting our lives, and why we should all care about a silvery fish that’s a delicacy.
Stories from Jantar Mantar
A couple of weeks ago, Abhilasha Ojha spent time at Jantar Mantar, where students and activists, at that time, had been on a round-the-clock protest for over three weeks demanding greater accountability in the education system. She went with the idea of merely observing everything around her but came away with the realisation that this is an important episode in contemporary Indian politics.
This was before Sonam Wangchuk was forcefully removed from the protest site, and police and security personnel turned on students walking towards Parliament. Iftikar Ahmed, who once studied for competitive exams and gave up, was at the protest on 20 July and reflects on the betrayal one feels when education leads to barricades instead of a bright future.
‘Jana Nayagan’ review: An unworthy swansong
H. Vinoth’s Jana Nayagan, or even more accurately Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s Jana Nayagan, finally sees the light of day. An obvious propaganda vehicle, Vijay’s cinematic swansong was slated to release in January this year but the film faced release troubles when the censor certificate was withheld.
Weaving politics and propaganda are not alien to Vijay and Jana Nayagan is supposed to be a double whammy—a celebration of a star ending a cinematic career at its zenith as well as a proxy to his party’s ideological framework, but achieves neither, writes Aditya Shrikrishna. Read more.
Breaking bread in Morocco
In Morocco, bread is not an accompaniment to the meal; it is the meal. Khobz, msemen, harcha, baghrir… a typical breakfast includes an array of breads to be enjoyed with eggs, cheese, olive oil, honey or mint tea.
For a long time, many Moroccan families made their dough at home and sent it to the neighbourhood communal oven, or ferran, where loaves from different households were baked together, as Anushka Patodia discovers. Read more.
Get those lilac highlights right
Trust make-up artist Pat McGrath to set the tone for a beauty trend every season. At Schiaparelli’s recent couture show during Paris Couture Week, where models wore silicone and latex breastplates and bodices in soft butter-yellow, lilac and mint green, McGrath echoed the collection’s palette with ethereal highlights in the same hues.
The lilac highlight created to mirror the iridescent sheen of the garments made a compelling case for swapping your usual pink or red blush for a soft wash of lavender. Celebrity make-up artist Pooja Rohira Fernandes tells Dhara Vora Sabhnani why lilac blush is a magic product that looks hot on everyone. Read more.
Gen Z and India Inc.’s effort recession
Over 60% of Indian organisations are finding their employees less willing to go beyond their core responsibilities, according to a recent report by organisational development consultant Great Place to Work, India. But this isn’t a bad thing.
About 26% of the workforce now comprises Gen Z employees—the number has doubled from 13% in 2023—and unlike their senior colleagues, the new generation isn’t interested in burning the midnight oil in office, pulling extra shifts, covering for colleagues or taking on any and every task their manager delegates to them, writes Somak Ghoshal. Read more.
How to prep for your first pull-up
The pull-up is one of the toughest bodyweight exercises. It engages most of your upper body muscles but also depends on grip, core strength, and a little bravery.
Beginners will surely need support, and not just from a gym-buddy. Most help will come from knowing how to use gym equipment and which specific workouts to follow as one progresses from step to step.
Pulasta Dhar explains how to learn the pull-up faster and more efficiently with some tips and tricks borrowed from those who have mastered the move. Read more.
Shalini Umachandran is Editor, Mint Lounge.