The Hindu Business Line : Tiger's appetite?

FICCI organised an interactive B2B meet between desi corporate honchos and a 25-member EU business delegation led by Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development.

This was a first-time visit for the charming Mariann whose young daughters backpacked through India last year. She confessed to being charmed by India and promised to return soon, on a holiday, with her husband in tow. Nanik Rupani, Co-chairman, FICCI-WRC emphasised India's strength as one of the top three agri-food producers in the world and the milestones achieved in agricultural development.

Mariann however had a serious plaint about the astronomical import tariffs and additional duties levied on certain agri-food products. Such as wine and spirits: The basic tariffs and additional duties in this sector work out to over 500 per cent, she said and expressed regret that the 2007 Budget had not addressed this longstanding issue and underlined the need to remove restrictions to enable business to grow freely.

After all, India was one of EU's most important and valued partners in Asia, with enormous potential for joint ventures. She also observed that the reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy that have taken place in the past few years make the EU confident of achieving progress in agriculture in the Doha Round.

Summing up, she said, "So often, the image which the outside world associates most closely with India is that of the elephant. But I think your agri-food sector is as much a tiger as an elephant — crouched to sprint at new opportunities."

Admen at the pitch

The CAG Shield, an annual cricket tournament organised for the advertising fraternity, was celebrated with gusto at the Sports Bar recently. Truly the World Cup of local advertising whiz kids, the CAG Shield has for over 27 years been bringing people from various departments and hierarchies to meet and compete on a level beyond everyday business. CAG Shield 2007 is promoted by Vyas Giannetti Creative Sports (VGC). . National Creative Directors, Account Directors, Vice-presidents, Chairmen and CEOs, one saw them all as well as the Mumbai Cricket Association officials.

Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle was the Guest of Honour; the celebrations included the launch of a coffee-table book on the CAG Shield titled A Different Pitch. Crafted by Vyas Giannetti, the book takes readers on an enlightening journey from the inception of the tournament to its present state. Lavish photographs are accompanied by interviews with the likes of Ali Merchant, Harish Thawani, Piyush Pandey and Shailendra Singh. Bhogle too. The prize distribution ceremony saw winners Percept whooping over their prize: a four-day vacation in Goa.

Remembering `Dizi'

Like the House of Tatas, Larsen & Toubro has a long tradition of patronising the arts. Its Chennai office has an exclusive gallery showcasing artworks by D.G. Kulkarni. In fact, L&T's co-founder, the late Henning Holck-Larsen — a discerning art collector who opened Kulkarni's highly acclaimed exhibition `Clowns' in Mumbai in the 1960s — was honoured by the National Gallery of Modern Art for enriching the field of Indian contemporary art.

L&T has supported the formation of the D.G. Kulkarni Memorial Foundation to promote art and budding artists. It has also sponsored a limited edition of a coffee-table book titled Illusion and Reality: DG Kulkarni, Master Painter, Sculptor and Cartoonist as a tribute. Together with designer Behroze J. Bilimoria, the author Asha Nath has presented an artist who was at times, like Van Gogh, so poor that he didn't have money for two square meals a day or to buy canvas despite his artistry in five mediums — cartoons, watercolour, oil painting, linocuts and sculpture.

Nath has close ties with L&T. Her grandfather co-founded and her father helmed the company for long decades. She also knew Kulkarni since she was a little girl when he would tutor her mother at home and at their Belgaum farmhouse, which now has a Sculpture Garden commemorating Dizi, as he was fondly known by his friends Husain, Ara, Souza, Hebbar and Gaitonde.

Films aplenty

In the capital of commerce and entertainment (amchi Mumbai, of course) movie buffs are spoilt rotten for choice. Consider this: For Rs 500 and less (Rs 300 for students and film club members) one could sit through nearly 100 screenings at the ninth international film festival organised by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI).

Cinephiles could also feast on Experimenta, a cutting-edge international film and video festival designed and curated by Shai Heredia at the Max Mueller Bhavan. This festival showcases radical contemporary experimental films alongside seminal avant garde classics. For this year's edition Heredia partnered with Marc Glode, a researcher at the Free University Berlin. That's not all.

Other movie fans and filmmakers, both desi and phoren, hit the road to Pune for the Pune International Film Fest (PIFF). This included Israel's Dan Wolman whose films, Ben's Biography (on child abuse) and Hands Tied (on the relationship between a mother and AIDS infected son), have been shown at MAMI and PIFF, where he was a member of the international jury. French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Boivin was at MAMI with wife.

His debut feature Attache la Toque (Hold on to your Hat) was shown in competition at PIFF 2005. The script of his second feature Blind Sight (a love story about a single parent and a blind woman) is currently being read by a prominent Indian filmmaker. A joint venture is likely on the cards.