Good vibrations and Asma Menon's series Sacred Spaces
The transition from cosmopolitan city dweller to seeker of solace in the countryside, did not happen overnight but has been an adventure of sorts as well as the inspiration for her work.
Asma says when she re-located to Tiruvannamalai on a whim, building her home-studio on a parcel of land that was more of an afterthought than an investment, the joy of discovering her surroundings fed her creativity.
'I would hop on my scooter and set off on one of my 'Get Lost' trips coming across small temples, finding out about hero stones (memorial stones) and a megalith dating back to 1,500BCE, and enjoying the beauty of a sunset,' says Asma, adding that these road trips gave her an introduction to many quaint rites and rituals practised in those areas.
'I live in a little forest area where only five houses have been built. It is full of trees, birds, and the occasional snake that decides to come out. It's a magical place.'
Small wonder then, that Sacred Spaces is an attempt to capture the ethereal Asma sees in her everyday. Using acrylics for the most part, as well as oil pastels and watercolour pencils, her works depict rural scenes in vivid hues and geometric patterns. There are woods and water lilies, temple grottoes and swathes of sky and earth, but almost always, one can see Arunachala.
'This place is one of the oldest districts of Tamil Nadu endowed with a lot of vibrations and power that gradually seeps into you. Epiphany happens in a town like this and you open yourself to it without question.'
She recalls how during one of her trips she came across a pit full of terracotta dogs; no one seems to know how they got there or what purpose they serve. 'When it rains, a few of them get worn out, but there are still around 10 to 12 dogs in that space of 400square feet. Further away there is a place filled with little terracotta cows where people come to offer prayers when their cows are pregnant. It is amazing what one can see here.'
Prequel to a dream
Before she headed out to 'Tiru' as she affectionately calls her place of residence, Asma was city born and bred, spending her childhood years in Bengaluru. 'I began art classes when I was in the third grade or fourth grade, first with Ram Murthy and then with Balan Nambiar who admitted me into his adult classes,' says Asma, adding that she debuted at one of Balan's shows.
After completing her degree in Visual Communications, Asma went on to successfully work at advertising agencies and the production department of a newspaper in Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Art seemingly faded into the background until she had the chance to illustrate two children's books. 'It was sheer luck that I got the job, and I enjoyed going back to drawing,' she says, adding that as more projects came her way, she decided to quit corporate life and embrace art full time.
'I became involved in printmaking and painting at home. I also started children's art workshops and eventually got back into the circuit,' she says, adding that the runaway success of her first solo show in 1994, convinced her she was on the right track.
Today, in her spartan space at Tiruvannamalai, Asma says she is still journeying into sacred territory. 'I find myself awakening to a whole new landscape that affects me. It rumbles in my soul. It took years before I could render anything on paper or canvas, because it took me that long to fathom the enormity of it all. Sometimes when you are at the crossroads and are unsure of what direction to take, you just take the plunge.'
Sacred Spaces in a Path of Awakeningby Asma Menon is on display at MKF Museum of Art till July 31, 2025. Entry free, Mondays closed.
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Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Indian Express
A taste of Calcutta in London: The story behind Asma Khan's restaurant Darjeeling Express
The jam-packed streets of Soho in Westminster, London, reflect the city's vibrant diaspora and multiculturalism. From Chinese to Thai and Italian, the area offers a global gastronomic tour in just a few blocks. Among these flavours, tucked on the top floor of Kingly Court, is Darjeeling Express, a restaurant known for its Mughlai and Bengali cuisine Established in 2017, it is run by a team of all-women chefs and has a menu that remains proudly consistent. 'There are some restaurants that can change the menu and get away with it. We get people crying and screaming at us. We're quite trapped because we can't really change things,' says Asma Khan in an interview with Asma, an India-born British restaurateur, began her journey by hosting intimate 'supper clubs' at her home. Today, her restaurant, Darjeeling Express, stands tall among London's Michelin-starred dining spots. So how did a home cook open one of London's most popular Indian restaurants? Asma comes from a family with royal lineage. Her father, Farrukh Said Khan, was a Muslim Rajput, while her mother, Faizana Khan, was of mixed Bengali and Bihari heritage. 'My nana (maternal grandfather) was my father's landlord when he was posted to Calcutta working for General Electric Company (GEC),' says Asma, adding, 'he was quite a regal-looking man with his huge moustache, and my nana was impressed.' She explains that while the matrimonial alliance was formed, little was discussed about the practicalities of the marriage itself. 'My mother had never eaten roti in her life. She loved fish and rice. My father, interestingly, sees fish and gets scared. And he doesn't eat rice. There were also language and other differences. But they got married.' Asma was born in the family's Elliot Road home in 1969. 'I remember waking up with the sound of the trams,' she says. 'I must have been two and a half years old when a crow took my food while I was eating on the verandah; that's my first memory of food.' The family then moved to Hyderabad due to Farrukh Said Khan's transfer. 'My brother was born there. Then we went to Madras (present-day Chennai).' The Khans lived opposite former chief minister Jayalalithaa's house. 'At that time, she used to call us her Bengali neighbours. And we used to climb on the wall, and she used to give us sweets.' Asma reiterates that they always identified with Calcutta and being Bengali. 'Even though I am technically only a quarter Bengali.' Asma says that her maternal grandfather and two of his brothers married women from Bihar. Her grandmothers, with their entourage of cooks, ayahs, and drivers, all spoke in Hindi or Urdu. 'So sadly, the Bengali language kind of slipped off. But from a very young age, I identified strongly with Calcutta. This was home for me.' 1974 brought some good news for the Khans as Farrukh Said Khan was transferred to Calcutta. 'I remember my father's tears when he came in and said he had been transferred. Everyone was silent. I remember that emotion.' The family was both excited and relieved to return to Calcutta, she describes. 'A sense of homecoming…We were going home! And that is a feeling that I relate to even now.' Initially, Asma's mother thought of taking cooking classes. However, luck, according to Asma, landed her a catering contract at the Tata Centre. 'That was her first catering job… the rest is history.' She soon began catering at some of the city's most popular clubs — Tollygunge Club, Royal Calcutta Turf Club, and Calcutta Cricket and Football Club. Meanwhile, Asma attended La Martiniere School on Rawdon Street and later, Loreto College on Park Street. 'There was a very different sense of equality at that time in the 80s. Calcutta in the 80s and 90s was an incredible space,' says Asma, adding that one felt protected and valued. That feeling of protection wasn't the only thing that Asma loves about Calcutta. Food was central to her growing years. She talks about the 'rolls at Badshah in New Market, the chana bhatura and tutti frutti at Kwality on Park Street, the dosa at Jyoti Bihar, and the Chinese at the Taj Hotel.' That wasn't all. The American chop suey at Bar-B-Q is unmatched, although the queue to get a place is terribly long,' she laughs. For sweets, she names K.C. Das on Chowringhee, and for mishti doi (sweetened yogurt), Khan recalls visiting Mithai on Park Circus. She also explains the colonial influence on her family's food. 'My mother cooked a lot of continental food… She made Chicken à la Kiev, a prawn cocktail inspired from what was served at popular joints such as Sky Room, Mocambo, and Trincas on Park Street.' Having spoken at length and passionately about Calcutta's food, Asma says, 'All the Indian Chinese food in the rest of India is horrible. Calcutta Indian Chinese is really Indian Chinese.' Pausing for a few seconds, she utters excitedly…'And then, this kind of fabulous Dhaba culture – the chicken bharta, which is such a Calcutta thing. It's the adding of eggs to chicken. It's the combination of the Punjabi trucker and the Bengali kind of sentiments.' From a supper club to Darjeeling Express What remains in Calcutta for Asma is a house. 'My parents moved back to Aligarh, and my ancestral home on Elliot Road was demolished.' However, Asma bought a flat in the newly built apartment at the same place. 'I was the last granddaughter to be married from that house. And my mother was born in that house. So that link to that house was so great. In some ways, it's nice that I have a flat on the 11th floor.' Asma and her husband left Calcutta in 1991 for the United Kingdom. Years later, she began a supper club at home. 'I served chicken chop, rezala, kosha mangsho (dry chicken), gughni (chickpeas), luchi, aloo dum, and biryani.' 'People must have a desire to try good food,' she explains as her purpose behind the supper clubs. In 2017, she turned the supper club into a restaurant, retaining the name Darjeeling Express. 'My supper club was called Darjeeling Express after the toy trains in Darjeeling, which I cherished very much. Moreover, I thought my clients should know that it's by the same person. Otherwise, I would not call it this,' she laughs. Everything about the restaurant is designed to reflect Calcutta — walls painted in warm yellow hues, adorned with family portraits of the Khans and their home on Elliot Road, and a menu curated from Khan's favourite picks in the city. Although the eatery offers three varieties: à la carte lunch, pre-theatre menu, and set menu dinner, what remains constant are the tangra prawns, puchkas, niramish (a Bengali term for a vegetarian dish), prawn malaikari, and kosha mangsho. There is a cocktail called Jhal (a Bengali term for spicy) and a mocktail Jhalphoron. For dessert, Asma's restaurant serves the iconic Bhapa Doi, steamed yogurt. The locals and tourists alike flock to eat these dishes, resisting any change. 'That's what Calcutta food does to one,' she says gleefully. From the menu, Asma says, the favourites are kosha mangsho followed by prawn malai curry. 'Ta-da! Both Bengali dishes. These are our top favourites.' The next favourite is Calcutta biryani. When asked to describe it, she says, 'It is mild, fragrant. It does not contain too many spices, and the biggest thing is that the rice is not sticky. It's just separated.' Khan's favourite element of the biryani is the aloo (potato). 'The potato is better than the meat and the rice. All the flavour has gone into it. Best thing in the world. If that's the last meal of my life, I don't want the biryani. I just want the aloo.' 'And no city in the world, and I have travelled the world, for me, compares to Calcutta,' she asserts. 'I wish the government would do more. The state government would do more to promote tourism. I am tired of people coming to my restaurant and saying, Oh, I've been to India, I've been to Kerala, I've gone to see the Taj Mahal. I ask: Why have you not gone to see Calcutta? Our colonial history, our Bengali heritage, the beautiful stories about the synagogue, Nahoum's, you've got the Armenian tradition, you've got this amazing Muslim food as well as Indian Chinese (food). We have everything in the world but not tourists.' Asma expresses her desire to give back to the city that gave her an identity. 'I am willing to do it for free… to encourage people to put Calcutta as a destination. You cannot understand India if you do not understand and have not eaten in a city like Calcutta. It's the food capital of India and of the world.' On her plans for Darjeeling Express, Asma says she wanted to do something in Kolkata. 'In the West, I have achieved a lot. I need to go home. But in which way and how, I don't know. But the calling is very, very strong. The desire to go back is there. I want to go back when I can be of help. I want to go back when I still have the fire and I'm physically strong and I have the creative energy. Because the city has given me everything. I am what I am because of Calcutta. I also want to do something for Calcutta.' 'The Calcutta I grew up in,' Asma says in a low voice, 'has changed…I feel lost now'. Buildings demolished, streets renamed, modes of transportation modernised, and people more aloof. 'Yet,' she notes, sounding positive, 'the food remains the same – the best in the world.'
The Hindu
4 days ago
- The Hindu
Good vibrations and Asma Menon's series Sacred Spaces
'I know this sounds bizarre, but I feel Arunachala is not static; it moves. There is a strange vibe about it where I'm concerned,' says Asma Menon. The artist, whose solo show, Sacred Spaces in a Path of Awakening is underway in Bengaluru, talks about this series that took shape over the past two years. The transition from cosmopolitan city dweller to seeker of solace in the countryside, did not happen overnight but has been an adventure of sorts as well as the inspiration for her work. Asma says when she re-located to Tiruvannamalai on a whim, building her home-studio on a parcel of land that was more of an afterthought than an investment, the joy of discovering her surroundings fed her creativity. 'I would hop on my scooter and set off on one of my 'Get Lost' trips coming across small temples, finding out about hero stones (memorial stones) and a megalith dating back to 1,500BCE, and enjoying the beauty of a sunset,' says Asma, adding that these road trips gave her an introduction to many quaint rites and rituals practised in those areas. 'I live in a little forest area where only five houses have been built. It is full of trees, birds, and the occasional snake that decides to come out. It's a magical place.' Small wonder then, that Sacred Spaces is an attempt to capture the ethereal Asma sees in her everyday. Using acrylics for the most part, as well as oil pastels and watercolour pencils, her works depict rural scenes in vivid hues and geometric patterns. There are woods and water lilies, temple grottoes and swathes of sky and earth, but almost always, one can see Arunachala. 'This place is one of the oldest districts of Tamil Nadu endowed with a lot of vibrations and power that gradually seeps into you. Epiphany happens in a town like this and you open yourself to it without question.' She recalls how during one of her trips she came across a pit full of terracotta dogs; no one seems to know how they got there or what purpose they serve. 'When it rains, a few of them get worn out, but there are still around 10 to 12 dogs in that space of 400square feet. Further away there is a place filled with little terracotta cows where people come to offer prayers when their cows are pregnant. It is amazing what one can see here.' Prequel to a dream Before she headed out to 'Tiru' as she affectionately calls her place of residence, Asma was city born and bred, spending her childhood years in Bengaluru. 'I began art classes when I was in the third grade or fourth grade, first with Ram Murthy and then with Balan Nambiar who admitted me into his adult classes,' says Asma, adding that she debuted at one of Balan's shows. After completing her degree in Visual Communications, Asma went on to successfully work at advertising agencies and the production department of a newspaper in Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad. Art seemingly faded into the background until she had the chance to illustrate two children's books. 'It was sheer luck that I got the job, and I enjoyed going back to drawing,' she says, adding that as more projects came her way, she decided to quit corporate life and embrace art full time. 'I became involved in printmaking and painting at home. I also started children's art workshops and eventually got back into the circuit,' she says, adding that the runaway success of her first solo show in 1994, convinced her she was on the right track. Today, in her spartan space at Tiruvannamalai, Asma says she is still journeying into sacred territory. 'I find myself awakening to a whole new landscape that affects me. It rumbles in my soul. It took years before I could render anything on paper or canvas, because it took me that long to fathom the enormity of it all. Sometimes when you are at the crossroads and are unsure of what direction to take, you just take the plunge.' Sacred Spaces in a Path of Awakeningby Asma Menon is on display at MKF Museum of Art till July 31, 2025. Entry free, Mondays closed.
India.com
18-06-2025
- India.com
Meet woman who became Dilip Kumar's second wife, was already married and a mother of three, her name was...
Meet woman who became Dilip Kumar's second wife, was already married and a mother of three, her name was... In the glitzy and glamorous world, we often hear the picture-perfect tales of actors, whose dazzling lives are idealised. But behind these fabricated masks is a story that's far from reality. One such tale is of a legendary superstar who redefined Indian cinema, and his love story was considered straight out of a fairytale, a perfect romance. However, in reality, their romantic partnership involved a third person, who loved in silence and suffered in the shadows. The names in question are Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, and Asma Rehman. Dilip Kumar tied the knot with Saira Banu when he was 44 and Saira was 22; they had a gap of 22 years, and their marriage lasted for 16 years. During this time, he was introduced to a Hyderabad-based woman by his sisters called Asma Rehman. Both of them met at a cricket match, and this brief interaction was the start of their love story that ended up in their wedding. When Asma met Dilip, she was already married and a mother of three. Dilip and Asma got married secretly, and Saira Banu had no idea about this; she discovered it through the newspaper. At first, she didn't believe it. Later, when she got to know the truth, she was devastated However, their marriage didn't last long; it became a hot topic of discussion and a controversial part of both Dilip's and Asma's lives. In his autobiography, Dilip wrote that he regretted his decision to marry Asma; it was a 'mistake' and he was manipulated into doing it. Bearing the consequences of marrying a superstar, Asma was always under high scrutiny with no personal space. To escape this attention, Asma had to move to Canada since she faced a 'total lack of privacy' there. Later in an interview, Asma opened up about her decision of moving to Canada and emotional turmoil she faced after her divorce from Dilip Kumar 'Even in India, the media was after my life. I thought it would be more peaceful in Vancouver, but it feels like I am not meant to have peace,' she shared. Even after being miles away from Mumbai, the constant shatter of her past relationship didn't stop. 'There is a total lack of privacy, no matter where I go,' she said. She even stated that most of the facts stated in her name are false and hold no truth. 'Ninety-five percent of what was written about me was fabricated,' Though her name got somewhere lost over the years, Asma Rehman remains an integral part of a forgotten but deeply human story, a reminder that the coin of fame has two sides to it.
