Monthly Archives: April 2012

Business school churns out women leaders

Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Uncategorized

New Delhi:

An Indian Business School has begun a novel course; one that will seek to churn out better and more women political leaders into the nation’s political arena.

The Center for Public Policy (CPP) at the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore (IIM-B), along with the Center for Social Research (CSR) based in New Delhi, is now offering the nation’s first course in political leadership exclusively for women called the “India-Women in Leadership (IWIL) program”.

In a country whose political sphere is dominated by males and uneducated legislators, the move is seen as a huge step in the forward direction.

“IIM-B and CSR have launched this course jointly to build creative, knowledgeable and innovative women leadership. Investing in women through formal training will help in creating a pipeline of confident and successful women leaders,” Dr Ranjana Kumari the Director of CSR said.

The three month long course will include field visits to other countries such as Singapore, as well as visits to the nation’s political capital New Delhi, besides lectures. The first batch is scheduled to begin on July 16, this year.

India has a poor record when it comes to gender gap in politics. The World Economic Forum ranked India 24 out of 135 countries in its Gender Gap Index for women’s political participation.

“Not only are there too few women in Indian politics, but women also face different barriers in their quest to become leading politicians in India. Therefore, women in politics need specialized skills and strategies in order to win elections and pursue the policies that matter most to them”, said Dr Kumari.

The Indian government has been trying to pass the Women’s representation bill, which will guarantee 33% reservation to women legislators to make it to the state and central houses of people’s representatives.

The bill has however been caught up over differences between political parties.

BM

source: http://www.bikyamasr.com / Home> World> Asia / by Mayabhushan Nagvenar / April 11th, 2012

Mangoes that smell like apples

Green Initiatives / Environment, Science & Technology, Uncategorized

Mangoes in Sayed Ghani Khan’s farm do not merely smell like mangoes. They have the fragrance of sweet lime, apple, jeera and even fennel seeds. This 36-year-old farmer has been innovating his farm in Mandya, by organically growing over 116 varieties of mangoes.

The tale of mangoes started when Khan was 14. When his father fell sick, Khan took to farming. A few years later, he joined college and pursued BCom. However, he discontinued and studied BA in archaeology and museums at Maharaja College in Mysore.

“My grandparents used to narrate stories of Tipu Sultan, who had a small but strong army in Mandya. The ruler was highly in gardening and had ordered mango trees from all over the world. Most of these trees are now dead, but I have conserved around 116 varieties. All the trees I have are close to 200 years old,” he said.

Khan had also registered many of his mango trees with the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resource and has code-numbered them. “I have also registered it with Indian Institute of Horticulture so that these trees are conserved,” he said.

Interestingly, all his crops are grown with absolutely no insecticide or pesticides.

However, this innovative farmer has been facing the wrath of expensive organic manure; Khan is looking out for options to help conserve his collection. “I have 450 varieties of rice. I like to collect and exchange seeds with other farmers. This way, I have collected 450 varieties of organic rice,” he said.

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / Daily News & Analysis / Home> Bangalore> Report / by Deepthi MR / Place: Bangalore, Agency: DNA / Saturday, April 07th, 2012

An inclination for porcelain

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Uncategorized

K S Raman, a retired professor, has a passion for antique porcelain items. He has a collection of over 100 items from various countries and each piece is different from the other.


Things made out of Imari, a well-known Japanese porcelain; Nanking Cargo, the blue and white porcelain made in Nanking and Nyonya; colourful porcelain items made in China, Malaysia and Singapore; Cloisonne, a brassware and Netsuke, a miniature Japanese sculpture, form part of his collection Porcelain boxes in various sizes and shapes with colourful and intricate designs, showpieces, pots, tea jars, flower vases, tea mugs, ‘Laughing Buddha’, plates, bowls, antique Chinese chairs and many such things decorate his house. A beautiful flower vase brought from Athens in 1963 was the first item he collected.

Raman had served as a professor at the National University of Singapore from 1984 and relocated to Bangalore when he retired in 2004. “When I was in Malaysia and Singapore, I had the opportunity to travel to China, Japan, US and Europe. It helped me develop a professional, business and personal relationship with the people there and study their culture. I was attracted by their beautifully furnished houses which had decorative pieces made out of porcelain. Impressed by this, I started collecting porcelain items from various countries,” he shares.

Raman says that he used to collect matchbox labels, cigarette packs, and movie notices when he was a high school student in the 1940s. “But, my collection of artistic objects started in 1963 when I spent a few days in Athens. A replica of an ancient Greek vase had caught my attention and I bought it immediately. I bought a replica of an ancient Egyptian vase in Cairo, which is now preserved in a relative’s house. Whenever I visit her house, she shows me the vase and taunts me saying, ‘I can return this to you, but at a hefty price’!’’ he laughs.

Most of the antique items are sourced from the night markets and small shops in Malaysia (from Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang, Kunsan, Kota Bharu), Singapore, Hong Kong, and China (in and around Beijing). “Some of the larger pieces are purchased from reputed art and antique dealers. I bought the Imari bowls and plates from a certified antique dealer in a shopping arcade in Tokyo,” he informs. He says that these have aesthetic value.
When Raman began collecting these items, his family members were not that supportive. “Initially, my wife and children couldn’t understand why I was spending money on such things. As I continued doing so, they accepted it as one of my vices,” he smiles.

It was not easy for him to transfer his collection from Singapore to Bangalore. “We started bringing smaller objects in hand baggage during our several visits to Bangalore for vacation. We engaged a company to ship the whole collection to Bangalore. My wife Indira had taken extra care in packing each item with utmost care. Finally, we were able to transport everything without a scratch,” he informs proudly.  As these objects do not require much care beyond occasional inspection and dusting, the couple doesn’t find maintenance a difficult task. “But, as both of us are old, it takes lot of time for cleaning. In the long run, we hope our son and daughter will look after these. Some others have also shown interest in certain items but we want to make sure that these items are kept safely,” he says.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> Supplements> Metrolife / by Rajani Hegde / DHNS / April 09th, 2012

Over a cup of evening tea: My journey of love & gratitude

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Science & Technology

By Javeed Nayeem

Guru-Sishya reunion: Author Dr. Javeed Nayeem seen with his revered teacher Dr. VRR at a momentous event in Salem.

Last Sunday I was at Salem in Tamil Nadu with my family. We were there just for a day and it was a journey of only about 270 kilometers each way. But for me it was actually a long voyage back in time, spanning over more than thirty-five years. It was a journey back to the era of my days as a young medical student in distant Gulbarga, then and sometimes even now, considered by all those in government service as the most befitting punishment posting.

The year was 1975 and it was Monday the eighteenth of August, perhaps the best time of the year, after the soothing rains had cooled and greened the place a little, to introduce the unwary and the unini- tiated to the vagaries of a land that is famous for having only two seasons: summer and very hot summer. We were a batch of sixty-seven students who were all seated well in time for our first class of the MBBS course.

It was a bright sunny morning and all of us were at the peak of our happiness and eagerness, as only those who become medical students will perhaps know. At the stroke of eight, a dark, bespectacled man in a long white coat, looking every inch a professor, entered the hall, automatically muting every one of us and sending the hall into pin drop silence. He introduced himself as Dr. Vissa Ramachandra Rao (VRR), the professor and head of the Department of Anatomy and from his language and bearing it was not difficult for me to quickly surmise that he had acquired much of both in Britain. He had served in many medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh and had joined our college after retirement from government service.

He was so impressive that what he said in one hour on that day is still so deeply etched in my mind that I can reproduce it verbatim even today although many things which I learnt much later have faded from my memory. Fortunately for us, we had many very great teachers almost in all subjects who were all able stalwarts in their fields to whom we owe all our learning and professional abilities. But Dr. VRR, as we all affectionately called him, perhaps by being the first one of them to teach us a difficult subject like Anatomy for a full eighteen months, soon became our favourite. Beneath his stern exterior he was a very warm and understanding person who was always very sensitive to our problems which he tried to set right with great concern.

Trip to Ajanta-Ellora

Once, while on a college trip to Ajanta and Ellora we happened to reach Aurangabad early in the morning after an overnight journey. We stopped for breakfast at a hotel where the prowess of the cooks somehow could not match the appetite of a busload of hungry youngsters. I decided to do my bit to ease developing tensions by becoming the self-appointed coordinator between the two groups.

Unnoticed by me, Dr. VRR, who had been accompanied by his wife Smt. Lalitha and his daughter Usha, was watching me closely and after all the students had had their fill he asked me to join them at their table for breakfast. He then asked me where I was from and appreciated my patience and helpful nature. After our return to Gulbarga he recommended my name for nomination to the students’ council as the representative of the pre-clinical batch. With this beginning, my relationship with him became very close and he would always turn to me whenever some responsibility had to be entrusted to someone.

In the darkroom

With my interest in writing and photography he used to be very happy to ask for my help in preparing scientific presentations for seminars and conferences. In those days our college could get this done only by approaching M/s Vaman & Dastur, a firm of photographers on Mouledina Road in Pune which was a rather long and cumbersome process. I used to then process Ekta-chrome slide film along with black and white film in my bathroom which on weekends would do double duty as my darkroom! With the strong and lingering odours of Metol, Hydroquinone and Sodium Thiosulphate overpowering those of my soap and shampoo, all my friends used to say that on Mondays I would always smell very strange!

Unforgiving taskmaster

Dr. VRR although quite friendly with me was always a very unforgiving taskmaster whenever it came to academics and would always keep himself and my parents too updated about my progress as a student. His classes used to be both sessions for the learning of anatomy and also for the inculcation of the essential values required for leading a good life. During my frequent periods of personal interaction with him he used to tell me all about his life including the time he spent in England in the company of some of the most well- known stalwarts of medical science, especially the trio of embryology: Hamilton, Boyd and Mossman. I still have a picture of him standing with them which he gave me.

He was invited by the Royal College when he along with his assistant at the Guntur Medical College, Dr. G. R. K. Hari Rao discovered a new blood vessel in the heart which was later named the Rao & Rao Artery. While working at Kakinada he was the man who dissected and preserved the body of the noted British Geneticist J. B. S. Haldane who donated his body for the advancement of science when he died in the year 1964. He was instrumental in creating and developing anatomy museums in most of the medical colleges where he worked. When I completed my MBBS and it was time for me to leave Gulbarga, Dr. VRR invited me home for lunch which his wife and daughter had very painstakingly prepared taking into consideration my favourite dishes. He then gave me a bundle of manu-scripts which were his most important notes and his trusted German camera saying, “I think I have no use for them now but I know you will value these.” He could not have been more right. I have preserved them among my most treasured thing

s even to this day.

Birthday greetings

We were always in touch over the years after that and I would never fail to send him a birthday card every year on the 21st of March. After he lost his wife he settled down at Salem with his daughter Dr. Usha Sri who has done a commendable job of looking after him through the ups and downs of old age. About five years ago when I had to attend a seminar at Yercaud, the hill station near Salem, I called her up and informed her that I would visit them in a couple of days. It appears he was so eager to meet me that he was constantly asking her exactly when I was expected and had insisted that she should prepare my favourite custard which her mother used to prepare and which I used to relish as an young boy.

I visited him with my family and for both of us it was a very emotional reunion. When we were about to part he smiled and said, “I have taught thousands of students over the years but I cannot expect every one of them to remember me or be in touch with me. But now that one Javeed has come and spoken to me so many years after my retirement, this Ramachandra Rao can die in peace and happiness.”

We visited him a second time a couple of years later with my brother’s family and my mother accompanying us and this time too he was overjoyed. At both these meetings I discovered how much joy a teacher gets when he meets his old students and I think this holds true for every teacher on this earth.

As usual, this year too I called him up on the 21st of March to wish him on his 95th birthday. He felt very happy talking to me but this time it was a one sided conversation because his already bad hearing had deteriorated so much that he could not understand what I was saying. His daughter Usha said she would convey my good wishes to him and said that the Tirupathi Temple authorities in recognition of the contribution of his father Sri. Vissa Appa Rao and his father-in-law Sri. Veturi Prabhakara Shastri to the field of classical music and Telugu literature would be honouring Dr. VRR on the 1st of April at a function in Salem. She said it was his desire that I should be there on that occasion.

His Master’s voice

Three days later there was another phone call and this time the grand old man himself was on the line. He said, “Javeed, I am already 95. I do not know if I will live long enough to see you again. So I want you to be here for this function with your family. It will make me very happy. I cannot hear what you are going to say but I am sure you have heard what I had to say. Thank you.” I had heard him right but I had nothing to say. He was my guru and I was his sishya and this is how the relationship had to be between us.

His wish was my command and so I went. It was a very touching occasion. A few other old students who had come there like me narrated their experiences of his generosity and greatness. A few friends had sent me messages on my cell phone which I read out. The Tirupathi Devasthanam Board had sent two representatives with a citation and a shawl to honour him and much to our surprise he rose to the occasion by making a brief but most impressive speech in reply. Then turning to me, he clasped both my hands in his and said, “Ah, my favourite student from Gulbarga is here. I feel so proud and happy.”

e-mail: kjnmysore@rediffmail.com

source: http://www.StarofMysore.com / Feature Articles / April 06th, 2012

Two Bangalore kids score perfect at International Maths Olympiad

Education, Records, All

Bangalore:

It’s double delight for Bangalore as two eight-year-olds from a city school grabbed first rank at the International Olympiad of Mathematics with a perfect score.

Adit Chatterjee and Rutajit Bharadwaj, students of Class III in Vidyashilp Academy, won the competition outperforming thousands of their counterparts from over 3,000 schools in 14 countries. The Olympiad has two rounds, testing students’ competence and proficiency in Mathematics. Their mental ability and reasoning skills are also on test. The competition is conducted for each grade separately. Questions are objective with multiple choices.

“Maths is fun to do… it’s kind of creative. You don’t have time to get distracted. I love decimals and fractions. You’ve to rack your brains for that,” said Adit. But ask him the humdrum question on what he wants to become when he grows up — “I want to become an Olympic swimmer!” is his apt and unexpected answer.

Adit loves swimming, said his father, Amit Chatterjee. “Getting him to practise Maths was very challenging. We used to do Maths drills while driving to the pool,” he said.

So what does the other wizard, Rutajit, want to do when he grows up? “I want to become an astronaut. I want to go to the space. The planets will look beautiful, the Sun will be bright, stars will shine and I want to land on the Moon!” Well, there’s no stopping Rutajit when you ask him about his future plans.

“I like Maths because it makes you smart. You can use the skills in your daily life,” the boy said.

“He was very excited about the competition as he loves Maths. He worked out sample papers and that further developed his interest. We have been telling him that if he’s good in Maths, it’ll be easier to analyze and apply logic even in daily life,” said Sham Prasad KN, his father, a software engineer.

Kalpana Mohan, principal, Vidyashilp Academy said: “Both the kids are intelligent, not because they came first in a competition but because we find them extremely active in extra-curricular activities that the school offers.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Bangalore / TNN / April 05th, 2012

 

Toyota to assemble Camry in Bangalore

Business & Economy

Japanese auto major Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt Ltd is planning to assemble mid-class luxury sedan Camry at its Bangalore factory from July and expects to roll it out in August.

Speaking to reporters after flagging off Etios exports to South Africa for the first time, Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director (marketing), said so far the Camry had been imported. “Toyota’s plan is to start assembling at its Bangalore facility from July and to launch in August. We are on schedule,” he said.

Despite an increase in duty, the company decided to go ahead with the plan, while acknowledging a price impact. Singh said, till now, around 300 units of Camry in a year were imported.

“Our focus in India will be semi-urban and rural markets to support our growth,” he said. The company said the number of dealers would be increased from 173 to 225 by the year-end.

Commenting on the localisation, Singh said, Etios localisation was currently 70 per cent and it would be increased to 90 per cent over the next two years. Etios is the largest localised product for Toyota in India. Localisation in other models, like Innova and Fortuner, is around 50 per cent.

On the investment plan, Singh said as part of the Phase-II expansion, the company was planning to add 100,000 units by 2013 with an investment of around Rs 898 crore. This would add to a total capacity of around 310,000 units a year in Toyota’s two plants in Bangalore. It would also be investing around Rs 500 crore in engine and transmission facility. “Engine plant would commence by the third quarter of this year and transmission by January-March 2013,” Singh said.

Meanwhile, Toyota on Wednesday flagged off its first export consignment of 247 units of the Etios series to the South African market via Ennore port.

“We are planning to export 20,000 units annually only to South Africa from this year. Our focus will be only South Africa, for now,” added Hiroshi Nakagawa, managing director.

The export models of the Etios and Liva, in petrol variants, are built on the same platform as the original models, which are manufactured and sold in India. Etios is currently manufactured in Toyota’s second plant located in the Bidadi industrial area on the outskirts of Bangalore and the export model will also be manufactured in the same plant.

source: http://www.Business-Standard.com/ Home> Companies & Industry / by BS Reporter / Chennai / April 06th, 2012

 

State to get Rs 1,400 cr to upgrade highways

Business & Economy

Several proposals regarding construction of rural roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) from Karnatak pending before the Union ministry of rural development will soon be cleared. Union Minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh has promised to expedite the proposals favourably.

When the proposals are cleared Karnataka would get Rs 1400 crore for repair of nearly 4300 km of rural roads that have been constructed under PMGSY and now need repair.

The state had been pressing the Centre for funds to repair these roads under phase 3 but the Centre had been unresponsive. This had forced Karnataka rural development minister Jagadish Shettar to announce that the state government would take up the repair work under Chief Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (CMGSY).

Jairam Ramesh’s assurance came when Dharwad MP Prahlad Joshi met him at his office in New Delhi on Saturday and explained to him about the need to clear the pending proposals. Ramesh assured that he would take the MPs from Karnataka into confidence and help the state with necessary funds.

Prahlad Joshi also discussed about clearing several other proposals sent by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj ministry in Karnataka. The state has sought clearance for construction of 5000 km rural roads at a cost of Rs 1982 crore in collaboration with Japan and construction of 76 CDs at a cost of Rs 52 crore among others.

This move by the Centre to hasten the development of highways in state comes a month after Karnataka CM D V Sadananda Gowda requested Road Transport and Highways Minister C P Joshi to consider extending the proposed Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor upto Belgaum or Mangalore.

In a letter addressed to Joshi recently, Gowda said it is learnt that the Ministry was keen on developing Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor on the lines of Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor.

But the State Government is of the view that the proposed Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor would not be of much use to Karnataka if it is not extended further from Bangalore to Belgaum or to Mangalore, he said.

“I, therefore request you to consider the development of Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor on the lines of Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor and extend it further upto Belgaum or up to Mangalore”, he had said.

AIRPORT:
The work on upgrading Hubli airport to international level would be completed in the next two years according to Airport Authority of India chairman V P Agarwal. Once the works are completed the airport will be ready to facilitate operation of airbuses and other big aircrafts.

The Karnataka government has acquired additional 600 acres of land around the airport in Hubli and handed it over to AAI for development of airport.

Dharwad MP Prahlad Joshi met Agarwal at New Delhi last week and urged him to complete the work at the earliest. Responding to Joshi’s request, Agarwal said the AAI had taken up the work at a cost of Rs 160 crore and the work would be expedited.

Already the AAI has fenced the area spending Rs 8 crore. Other works like construction of runway, control tower, new lounge, terminal, survey of obstruction and soil testing would be completed soon.

At the first stage the work on infrastructure like voice communication system (VCS), digital airport information service, automation of air traffic services, Doppler Very High Frequency Omni RangeôDistance Measuring Equipment (DVOR/DME) is on the verge of completion according to Agarwal.

The Karnataka government in the recent past has been increasing its focus on upgrading highways in the state and as part of this effort had approved a proposal to upgrade 3,411 km of state highways with a total investment of Rs 2,150 crore over the next three years. Of the cost, the loan component from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank is Rs 1,565 crore and Rs 585 crore, respectively.

source: http://www.Business-Standard.com / Home>  Economy & Policy / by Gururaj Jamkhandi / Chennai / Dharwad / April 06th, 2012

XLRI award for Narayana Murthy

Business & Economy, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology
Kolkata, MARCH 30:

XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamsedhpur, will confer the Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal to Infosys Technologies chairman emeritus and chief mentor, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, during its annual convocation.

The Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Social and Industrial Peace is awarded to heroic leaders who have contributed towards the growth of their respective organisations.

Mr Jaspal Singh Bindra, group executive director and chief executive officer, Asia, Standard Chartered, will be present as chief guest at the convocation.

source: http://www.TheHinduBusinessLine.com / Industry & Economy / by Hindu Bureau / March 30th, 2012

Banashankari to get 100-acre park

Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Uncategorized

Citizens of South Bengaluru have something to cheer about!

If all goes well, a mega park spread over 100 acres, akin to Lalbagh or Cubbon Park, will come up at the Banashankari 6th stage layout formed by the BDA, said Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday.

During the inspection of infrastructure projects in south Bengaluru, he said that about 100 acres of land falling under the state at the Turahalli range will be converted into a beautiful park with green cover. It will afford alternatives to Cubbon Park and Lalbagh and provide additional open pace, said Mr Gowda.

However, the blue print for the development of the 100 acres of Turahalli forest land is yet to be decided. In all probability, the BDA will be entrusted to develop such a park. South Bengaluru is developing rapidly and it needs the lung space very badly. Adjacent to the park, a sculpture park showcasing modern works of art is being readied by the BDA on eight acres of land, he said. Works of artists from New Delhi, Vadodara, Mysore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Vishakpatnam will be displayed here.

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Cities> Bengaluru / DC, Bengaluru / April 04th, 2012

Whipping up a storm

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Cooking has never been this fun before.

Thanks to chefs in the city who are holding masterclasses, foodies can now learn the skills from a pro. From Indian to Italian, Asian and more, these weekend workshops are bringing the cool back to cooking.

Chefs Sarabjeet Singh and Faseeulla, started The BBQ Story 11 months ago. The two have been friends since their college days at Christ University and decided to start the classes when they noticed the growing popularity of barbeques in the city. “We started out doing classes for friends and soon it became a mixed crowd including young couples, father-son duos, students, professionals and more,” says Sarabjeet, who runs Popsies and Cafe Grind.

The focus of their classes is on back-to-basics cooking with easy-to-find ingredients, without the use of stoves or electric appliances. Each class or chapter is based on a different theme, he explains.

“So far, we have had eight chapters with cuisines ranging from Thai to Spanish, Jamaican, Italian, Chinese and more. We limit the number to about 20 people so that it’s not like a demo, but a very hands-on experience,” adds Sarabjeet. Classes are fun-oriented and end with a Sunday brunch where the morning’s work is served.

Another theme based masterclass is the Herbs & Spice event organised by three chefs from different culinary backgrounds — Chefs Manjit Singh, Mako Ravindran and Madhu Menon.

Chef-entrepreneur Mako tells us, “The three of us are diverse in our knowledge of food so we have a huge resource among us. So far, we’ve held about 12 masterclasses on different themes like salads, rice, party foods, pasta, baking, etc. It’s not something we do for profit and we keep the numbers low so as to give participants a personal one-on-one workshop with professionals. It’s not only about learning a recipe, but also technique, theory, practical knowledge and application. We taste everyone’s food at the end and try to critique it as constructively as possible. People also get to take home some of the food they’ve made.”

source: http://www.DeccanChronicle.com / Home> Channels> Lifestyle> Dine o Mite / by Tenzin Dechen / DC / Bengaluru, April 03rd, 2012

Chef and owner Manjit of Herbs & Spice adds, “We are keen on restarting the series and organising a class this month.”

For those who want to learn how to host their own barbeques, Starvinmarvin’s Backyard BBQ run by Sarfaraz Soudagar and Sarosh M offers lessons on classic American barbeques.

Sarfaraz, a foodie and self-taught barbeque expert, says, “This is not a professional class but our aim is to teach you how to entertain guests independently. A session involves everything from how to light the barbeque to desserts. We have held four Art of Grilling workshops so far and have many more lined up.”