“From the fertile soil of this Golden land
Eons of warm endless traditions expand...
... As I bow to your feet my creator my Mother
UTSAV — celebrating you like no other”
So reads the tribute on the cover of Michelin-starred chef Vikas Khanna’s 16kg coffee-table book Utsav.
“Utsav — festival in Hindi — is the heritage, culture, diversification, tradition, infinite colours and glory of India spread on some thousand pages,” Khanna told tabloid! about his tome written in gold ink. “It has 12 years of my life, dedication and devotion. I unveil the purest India to the world.”
The book, which will be released tomorrow at the Indian Pavilion at Cannes Film Festival by the Indian Ambassador to France, is a documentation of 28 festivals of India and 1,000 recipes connected with them, Khanna said. The description of each festival is preceded by a poem written by him and illustrated with several photos taken by him. Yet, he dedicates the book to a sector of society which, though part of every celebration, remains marginalised.
“The book is dedicated to the hijdas [hermaphrodites] in India. It’s created chronologically — January to December — but I made one exception, the hijda festival comes first. Each year on May 13 they converge to a village near Chennai to celebrate Koovagam, a heartbreaking festival. I’ve touched social subjects [in the book] and believe if someone reads it years after I go they will know the culture of India. It’s my way of creating a small place for myself in history.”
Priced at Rs800,000 [Dh45,900], after the launch, Khanna is taking an exclusive set of 12 copies to chosen world leaders, including one to His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, he told tabloid!
“Dubai houses Junoon [restaurant], which is part of me. Dubai is a total essence of the world coming together and creates a modern culture and heritage for today”.
