Jodhpur RIFF returns after two years; Yuvaraj Singh opens up his Goa home, Casa Singh, to Airbnb guests; the Persian delicacy that has made its way to India; WOLF’s ode to Kashmiri mystic Lal Ded; luxury horseback safaris across the Saputara range with Jehan Numa, and the Great Indian Gin makes its debut.
After a break of two Covid-scarred years, the Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) is staging a comeback at its palatial venue in Mehrangarh Fort. The atmospheric fort, with sprawling views of Jodhpur, the blue city, and the heritage around, is a perfect venue for a genre-independent music festival (with Mick Jagger as its international patron), where Rajasthan’s Manganiyars also hold centre-stage with their sonorous voices.
Among the other venues for the festival are the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park, Jaswant Thada, and Veer Durga Das Memorial Park.
The 2022 acts include Sindhi sarangi master Lakha Khan, folk singers Sumitra Devi and Mohini Devi, sarangi player Dilshad Khan, singer Jasleen Kaur Monga, contemporary Indian artists Bawari Basanti and Harpreet Singh, and international artistes such as four-piece jazz and contemporary band Arifa, Israeli singer-songwriter Riff Cohen, Brazilian DJ Maga Bo, and Yurdal Tokcan, considered the finest oud player in the world today, besides the Manganiyars, of course.
Yuvraj Singh has opened up his Goa home to Airbnb guests. The cricketer’s three-bedroom holiday home is all about the location: the hilltop villa offers 180-degree birds-eye views of the Arabian Sea lapping the shores below and expansive decks from which guests can luxuriate in that view.
If you do decide to check in, don’t miss the personalised welcome note sharing Singh’s favourite hangout spots in Goa, and an excursion to the Divar Islands on an e-bike, riding past mangroves, fields, churches, temples, and homes.
Popular Persian dessert Ranginak is essentially chickpea flour (besan) roundels stuffed with dates, walnuts and pounded spices. The delicacy derives most of its sweetness from the dates and traces its pedigree to the south of Iran, a region where date palms grow. Available from Bruijn.in, which uses Indian dates, gluten-free flour made from Indian chickpeas, and spices like nutmeg to make Ranginak here.
The gin renaissance in India continues to gather steam. The newest to join the party is The Great Indian Gin (GiG) by the World of Brands. GiG is triple distilled for smoothness. The gin is infused with nine botanicals picked keeping in mind the Indian palate, resulting in an uncomplicated gin that makes for an easy, smooth drink.
Baro Market, Mumbai, is the venue for WOLF art studio’s project on Kashmiri mystic, Lal Ded, affectionately called Lalla in the Valley.
Song to Self traces Lal Ded's journey across Kashmir as she travelled in search of divinity, and expressed herself through her vakhs, a series of instructions that teach us how to live on—and love—earth and the universe.
The multimedia installations are made with scrap and found objects from Kashmir. “We travelled to Kashmir looking for Lal Ded, to hear her songs amidst the mighty deodars. We followed the sounds of nature, voicing her words as we walked amidst large open spaces. Objects and impressions from the travel have found their way into our artworks," they said.
