Reader's Digest AU NZ 05.2020

Sandie

to her room and stayed

there. I couldn’t believe

this was happening. So

this is why people aban-

don their dogs. They don’t

think things through be-

fore bringing one home.

Sooner than antici-

pated, I became Sand-

ie’s sole caretaker. My

hands quickly ended up

with long scratch marks,

and tiny holes speckled

all my clothes – an un- The author holding Sandie (right), daughter Ananya
wanted design addition (left) and mother-in-law Linda
made by Sandie’s teeth!

I took antitetanus and even antira- that Sandie would follow. One game

bies shots. Patience, I must have told led to another. Before long, they were

myself a hundred times! Eventually, I like litter mates, playfully chasing

found myself happier than I had been and falling over each other. I was

in a very long while. Despite the dam- more than delighted. And what a

ages wrought by her wild antics, my change had come about in my child!

heart melted each time I saw Sand- Ananya was now more relaxed. She

ie and her capers. My patience soon laughed more, sang loudly and had

paid off; Sandie and I forged a tight a bounce in her step. Sandie was

bond, but, the dog who was meant hugged and held close, and so was I.

to be my daughter’s companion, had The ice had finally broken. Suddenly,

become my shadow. The only time our home had come alive! The heavy

Ananya interacted with Sandie was blanket of sadness that had envel-

when the plucky puppy was asleep. oped us was slowly lifting.

Still, I told myself, it’s a start. It’s now close to three years that

Sandie sett led dow n w it hin a Sandie has been in our lives. She’s

couple of months. She was now the proverbial family dog I so des-

an even-tempered young dog who perately longed for – lively around

couldn’t love us enough. It wasn’t her young mistress, and so protective

long before Ananya crept out from about her too; calm with my ageing

her safe chair and made tentative mother-in-law; and always watching

steps towards Sandie. Soon, she was me with something akin to devotion

running through the house, hoping in her lovely brown eyes. And yet,

99

READER’S DIGEST

there’s something different about asking ‘how does she know?’ I real-
this dog of ours. What is it about her ised it’s instinctive. And Ananya and
that gets a school boy – a complete I are just happy she’s around.
stranger – to reveal the painful sto-
ry of losing his own pet dog, while In October 2017, Sandie was chosen
he pats her back lovingly? And how for a TV commercial. As the cameras
does she know that the lonely lady rolled, she proved to be quite the star.
next door needs more than just a What impressed me more was how
wagging tail? That what she really Ananya, then 15, walked Sandie in
wants is someone to talk to? What front of the cameras and several on-
deep instinct makes her sit quietly lookers. The girl who once shunned
while we pray? “Cockers are a sensi- the limelight, now stood under the
tive breed,” her trainer once told me. bright arc lights, a little nervous, no
“They pick up on emotions.” doubt, but happy and confident next
to her beloved dog.
Sometimes I’ve caught Sandie put-
ting her nose into Ananya’s school As I watched the two of them, my
book when studying gets too tough, mind went back to those days when
or sitting next to her during piano I’d find Ananya curled up in her dad’s
practice, as if willing her tired fin- chair, lost and staring blankly at the
gers to continue. And then there are TV screen, a far cry from the self-as-
those times when she comes up to sured young lady she is today. My
me when I’m overwhelmed by tough heart felt a little lighter, and the deep
circumstances. With her paws on my sense of powerlessness in not being
shoulders, she looks into my eyes, her able to help my child cope, faded
tail gently wagging. “If you’re feeling away. As I walked over to them, I
sad,” an animal behaviourist told me, knew for certain that this was one
“so will Sandie.” Over time, I stopped very special cocker spaniel. Our
Sandie was a dog sent to heal us.

Teenager Discovers Planet

A high school intern on his third day helping out at a NASA program
discovered a previously unknown planet with two stars, 1300 light
years away from Earth, in the constellation Pictor. “It was like, oh …
there’s something here that was cool,” said 17-year-old Wolf Cukier.

His bosses spent several weeks verifying his observation, and
concluded that Cukier had discovered a planet 6.9 times larger than
Earth. Cukier, a Star Wars fan, said he hoped this is the beginning of

a career in the field. WWW.BBC.COM

100 may 2020

TALKS What’s New in RD Talks

Sit back and enjoy the audio versions of the most engaging
stories to have appeared in Reader’s Digest magazine.

DEADLY DOSE – MILLY’S
THE ROSE PETAL LAST WALTZ

MURDER Both inspirational
and touchingly sad,
Kristin Rossum’s this is the story of a
flea-ridden and aged
husband was found little stray dog that
came to stay a while.
dead, surrounded by

rose petals. But how

exactly did he die?

THE RIGHT IDEA SURGERY UNDER
THE SNOW
Success starts with
the right idea and With amateur helpers
and homemade
the conviction instruments, a
to stick to that
idea – something medical student had
property developer to perform an eye
Harry Triguboff operation on a fellow
understands well. Antarctic explorer.

TO LISTEN GO TO:

ww ersdigest.com.au/podcasts
www.readersdigest.co.nz/podcasts

www.rdasia.com/podcasts

WHO KNEW?

ACCIDENTS

That Changed

HISTORY

Altering the course of human events takes a
grand idea and careful execution – most of the time.
But at these fateful points, plans went out the window

BY Jacopo della Quercia ILLUSTRATIONS BY Istvan Banyai

A melted chocolate bar helps mindedly stuck his hand in his shirt
create the microwave oven pocket – and found a gooey mess.
Spencer often carried a Mr. Peanut
Percy Spencer was so fascinated by the chocolate bar to feed the squirrels at
sinking of the Titanic that he became lunch. He knew enough about radar to
a scientist. He joined the US  Navy, suspect that its heat-producing mag-
trained as a radio electrician, and ul- netron waves could be the culprit, but
timately became a civilian expert on he wasn’t sure. So he placed a bag of
radar during World War II. And he did popcorn kernels in front of the ma-
it all without ever having graduated chine – and they popped. Then came
from high school. a raw egg, which dutifully exploded all
over a sceptical colleague’s face.
After the war, Spencer worked for
Raytheon Manufacturing, a defence Spencer fine-tuned his discovery
contractor. As he was walking near the with Raytheon and marketed it to
radar equipment one day, he absent railways, restaurants and cruise liners

102 may 2020

as ‘the Radarange’ – or, as it’s known Theodor Geisel – the good doctor’s
now, the microwave oven. Fortunate- given name – wrote his first children’s
ly, microwaves have come a long way book, A Story No One Can Beat, in the
since 1947, when they stood nearly mid-1930s. Working as an advertising
1.8 metres tall and weighed 340 kilos. illustrator at the time, Geisel sent his
whimsical manuscript to 27 publish-
Dr. Seuss and Stephen King ers. They all rejected it. After the last
are rescued from the cold shoulder, Geisel stomped down
rubbish bin of history New York’s Madison Avenue, deter-
mined to burn the manuscript and,
Different though they may be, Stephen perhaps, his writing career.
King and Dr. Seuss have two things in
common. They are both among the While he was out cooling off,
most successful authors in history, he bumped into his old university
and they both narrowly escaped a life roommate, Mike McClintock, who
of obscurity. happened to edit children’s books

103

wrote. “She wanted to know the rest
of the story.” And so he went on.
Carrie sold over a million paper back
copies in its first year.

at Vanguard Press. Geisel shared his A miracle drug
woes with McClintock, who asked to
see the story. McClintock suggested In 1928, Scottish physician Alexander
a few changes, and Vanguard pub- Fleming was in such a rush to go on
lished the book in 1937 with a new holiday that he accidentally left a stack
title: And to Think That I Saw It on of dirty petri dishes in his laboratory
Mulberry Street. According to Geisel: sink. As if this weren’t already gross,
“If I had been walking down the other the dishes were smeared with Staph-
side of Madison Avenue, I’d be in the ylococcus, a bacterium that causes
dry-cleaning business today.” boils, sore throats, and food poison-
ing. (Let’s hope the doctor at least
Stephen King’s first published book washed his hands before he left.)
was about a bullied teenage girl who
discovers that she has fantastic men- When Dr Fleming returned weeks
tal powers, which she uses to get later, he found something interesting
revenge on her tormentors. King’s in the mess in his sink. One of the
worst critic wasn’t the publishers – petri dishes was dotted with bacteria
it was himself. He disliked his story everywhere except for where some
so much that he threw it away after mould was growing. The area around
writing only three pages, accord- it was clear, as if protected by an un-
ing to his memoir On Writing. A few seen barrier. Upon closer inspection,
hours later, his wife found the pages Dr Fleming realised that the mould, a
crumpled and covered with cigarette
ash in the bin. She took them out and
started reading, and she was hooked.
“She wanted me to go on,” King later

104 May 2020

Accidents that Changed History

rare form of Penicillium notatum, had science could imitate. That’s where
secreted a ‘mould juice’ that killed his faithful Irish pointer came in.
several strands of deadly bacteria.
Dr Fleming published his remarka- After a day hiking in the Swiss
ble discovery – and almost no one mountains, de Mestral noticed that
noticed. In fact, years later, Howard his dog was covered with spiky
Walter Florey, an Australian pathol- burrs, as were his own pants. He
ogist, found Fleming’s paper by acci- put the burrs under the microscope
dent while leafing through old med- and found tiny ‘hooks’ at the ends of
ical journals. Along with biochemist their bristles that seemingly latched
Ernst Boris Chain, Dr Florey began to onto most kinds of fur and clothing.
explore the therapeutic effects of the Since de Mestral was no fan of zip-
mould juice, and by 1941 they had pers – they tended to freeze in the
collected enough penicillin to use on Alpine winter – he spent the next ten
the first human subject, a 43-year-old years trying to duplicate the burrs’
police officer suffering from a termi- irresistible attraction to his hiking
nal bacterial infection. The results partner.
were astounding: the patient’s fever
dropped and his appetite returned,
and the penicillin used to treat him
was hailed as a wonder drug. Unfortu-
nately, when supplies ran out, the of-
ficer’s infection returned and he died.

Still, Dr Fleming shared the Nobel
Prize with Dr Florey and Chain for
their work. “I certainly didn’t plan
to revolutionise all medicine by dis-
covering the world’s first antibiotic,”
he remarked, “but I suppose that was
exactly what I did.”

A dog gives the world Velcro After countless attempts, he found
the right material for his invention:
Swiss engineer George de Mestral nylon, which was strong enough for
was a natural inventor. When he was the hooks to hold but pliable enough
12, he designed and patented a toy to be separated with the right tug.
aeroplane. As he got older, he con- De Mestral named his invention
sidered nature the greatest inventor Velcro, a combination of velvet and
on the planet, so he kept his eyes out crochet, the French word for ‘hook’.
for naturally occurring phenomena

105

READER’S DIGEST

Ping-pong ball dents world, Chinese leader Mao Zedong
China’s Great Wall invited the entire US team to visit. A
year later, President Richard Nixon
Glenn Cowan was practising for the made his own historic trip to Beijing.
1971 World Table Tennis Champi-
onships in Nagoya, Japan, one after- A clerical oversight makes
noon when he realised he had missed It’s a Wonderful Life a classic
the team bus back to the hotel. Un-
daunted, the 19-year-old American Despite its reputation as one of the
just hopped onto the shuttle with the most cherished works in cinema,
Chinese national team. Most of the Frank Capra’s 1946 film was a finan-
Chinese athletes watched the shaggy- cial disaster. It failed to earn back its
haired kid with suspicion – the US US$2.3 million budget at the box of-
had broken diplomatic relations with fice, and its losses helped bankrupt its
China way back in 1949, and the team production company, Liberty Films.
had been forbidden to so much as Capra later said that Liberty’s financial
speak to the Americans. woes proved “fatal to my professional
career.”
But Zhuang Zedong, the team’s star
player, stepped forward to shake Cow- And yet today It’s a Wonderful Life is
an’s hand. The two spoke through an a classic. How is that possible? Care-
interpreter, and Zhuang presented lessness. After Liberty Films went
the American with a silk-screen pic- broke, no one involved thought to
ture of China’s Huangshan mountain monitor the movie’s copyright, which
range. Cowan, a self-described hippie, lapsed in 1974. That meant TV sta-
returned the gesture the next day by tions were free to broadcast it without
giving Zhuang a T-shirt featuring a paying any royalties. It wasn’t until
peace symbol and the words ‘Let It 1990 that the rights were effectively
Be’. After that spontaneous exchange locked up again. But by then, many
of goodwill was beamed around the people couldn’t imagine Christmas
without watching the classic.

106 may 2020

THAT’S OUTRAGEOUS!

BY Erica Lenti

COPY CAT archives revealed a second surprise:
the capsule may have never been
When Gary Samuel Lambe broke in the safe in the first place – and
into a commercial property in instead got buried in an adjacent
Toronto, Canada, he wasn’t exactly parking lot. Library staff headed out
discreet. Midway through the break- with metal detectors in search of
and-enter in August last year, the the missing capsule, but returned
54 year old stopped to eat some empty handed. For now, the mystery
food, leaving scraps behind. contents remain lost – in time.

Then, he left an even bigger clue: SSS-STRAY SNAKES! When the
he headed over to the office printer
and made a photocopy of his face. Sannella family’s pet snake, Monty,
Toronto police released a copy – went missing last June, they were
featuring Lambe’s blurry visage and uncertain they’d be able to find him.
his white, wide-brimmed fedora hat So, when animal services recovered
– to the public, and the fugitive was a ball python in a Toronto sewer
identified when he was arrested on the following month, the Sannellas
a separate matter later that month. jumped at the chance to be reunited.

The bright side: Lambe now has a Once the snake was home,
much clearer portrait – his mugshot. however, they noticed his distinctive
spots didn’t match their past
EMPTY PROMISES photos. It was a case of ‘mis-snaken
identity’ – the imposter turned
Library staff in Derry, New out to be another rogue python.
Hampshire, weren’t sure what Fortunately, Monty was found in
they’d find last April when they
opened a safe that had been left the Sanella’s basement
untouched for years. Rumour four months after his
had it a 50-year-old disappearance. But
time capsule might we are left to wonder:
be inside. But upon just how many pythons
cracking the safe, are slithering through
they discovered the sewers?
it empty. News

rdasia.com 107

THE GRAND PLACE
IN BRUSSELS’ FAMED
CENTRAL SQUARE

BY Seth Sherwood

ADAPTED FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES

108 May 2020

TRAVEL

36 Hours in

BRUSSELS
Give the Belgian capital a second look,
and you will find plenty of avant-garde art, vintage
wares and daring cuisine

PHOTO: MICHAEL CHIA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

READER’S DIGEST THE PLASTICARIUM AT ADAM, PHOTOS: (TOP) VISIT.BRUS SEL S/JE A N-PAUL REMY: (BOT TOM) VL A DIMIR V. GEORGIE VSKIY/SHU T TERS TOCK
BRUSSELS DESIGN MUSEUM
here is literally noth-
ing to do here,” the Brussels – and the suicide attacks on
British musician the Brussels airport and subway sta-
tion in March 2016 were a tragedy for
“ Noel Gallagher once the city. But Brussels has rebounded.

T said of Brussels, that FRIDAY
hotbed of policy
directives. He was hardly the first. 4PM Kitschy, Yet Cool
Around Europe, the Belgian capital
and headquarters of many European New York has Lady Liberty, Paris has
Union institutions is not especially the Eiffel Tower and Brussels boasts
known for its rock ’n’ roll spirit. But a soaring silvery structure mod-
Gallagher – and many of us – should elled on an iron crystal magnified
give Brussels a closer look. Clearly 165 billion times, known as Atom-
he didn’t have a chance to admire ium. Built in the 1950s, the roughly
the graffiti, avant-garde installations 102-metre-tall lattice of spheres and
or conceptual creations in the city’s tubes is kitschy, yet cool, especial-
new art spaces. Or shop for vintage ly the views from the retro-futurist
items in the many retro and antique cafe at its summit. More fascinating
boutiques. Or taste the innovative 20th-century relics await around
dishes in the city’s neo-Belgian and the corner in the ADAM, Brussels
Belgian-fusion restaurants. Or knock Design Museum, which opened in
back fine-tuned cocktails at one of 2015. Walk through the entrance –
the upstart liquor bars. designed by the French architect
The Paris terrorist attacks in No- Jean Nouvel – into the Plasticarium,
vember 2015 – which were plotted in a sprawling permanent collection of
some 2000  candy-coloured plastic
ATOMIUM

110 May 2020

36 Hours in Brussels

furnishings, appliances, interiors rodents, reptiles and other creatures.
and artworks. From bubble chairs to Tastier science occurs behind the
a recreated 1960s discotheque, the bar, where bartenders concoct house
works are a fascinating time capsule cocktails like Sunny G&T (Hendrick’s
and design showcase. gin, hibiscus-cucumber cordial,
tonic) and Honeymoon (whiskey,
8PM Star treatment pear-honey cordial, Amaro Monte-
negro and black walnut bitters).
Designed by the celebrated Belgian
architect Victor Horta, the Palais SATURDAY
des Beaux-Arts (a.k.a. Bozar) is best
known for international art exhibi- 10AM Natural Habitats
tions, films and concerts. Now it’s a
gastronomic destination, too, thanks Victor Horta and his contemporaries
to Bozar Restaurant, which earned pioneered Art Nouveau – which in-
its first Michelin star in 2016. Within fused colours and forms from nature
the Art Deco interior, the chef Karen into furniture, art and architecture
Torosyan creates ever-changing mul-
ticourse menus and an à la carte se- LA PHARMACIE ANGLAISE
lection of seasonal neo-Belgian dish-
PHOTO: COURTESY LA PHARMACIE ANGLAIS es. The bread-crusted pâtés might
include a collage of duck, goose and
black pig, accompanied by a spiral of
colourful vegetables like carrots and
beets, while traditional rabbit stew
becomes slow-cooked, stuffed meat
rolls with a citric sauce made from
Kriek cherry beer.

10PM Curious Cures – and their work is visible on town-
house façades around the neigh-
Is sobriety a sickness? If so, La Phar- bouring Saint-Gilles and Châtelain
macie Anglaise (The English Phar- neighbourhoods. Admire Horta’s
macy) prescribes boozy remedies own vine-and-tendril decorations
in an environment suggesting the at 25, rue Américaine (which houses
19th-century salon of a debauched the Horta Museum) before heading
British lord. Panelled with wood, the to 92, rue Africaine, notable for its
cocktail bar is decorated with Ori- big circular window. The building at
ental rugs, armchairs, antiquated
lab equipment and – most notably
– bones, jaws and jars of preserved

111

READER’S DIGEST

13, rue de Florence is a sober, stony friendly vibe and healthy daily spe-
specimen, while 83, rue Faider sports cial – there is just one, and no menu
a wondrous top-floor mural of wom- – which might be pork in miso sauce
en in a sea of flowers and stars. Two with shiso leaves or rice, honey- and
edifices beckon from Rue Defacqz. tamari-glazed cod with crunchy veg-
Number 48 is adorned with gold- etables. Follow with the daily dessert,
tinged mythological images, while which was recently a spongy cherry
number 72 incorporates green plant- cake.
like ironwork.
2PM The Paper Trail
NOON The Daily Dish
Let’s say you wanted to strap on ice
If you don’t have a cool Belgian aunty skates, pop on a hard rock CD and
to cook for you, you always have tinkle along at an upright piano
Magalie Boutemy. Tucked away on while sipping from a vintage beer
trendy rue du Page, her restaurant, glass. Such dreams can be realised
L’épicerie, feels more like a home, at Les Petits Riens, a nearby multi-
thanks to its plank floor, farmhouse storey emporium of used goods,
tables and simple Old World kitch- ranging from African drums to
en. Regulars stop in to enjoy the vintage suitcases. The neighbour-
hood also attracts the literary set,
HORTA MUSEUM thanks to Peinture Fraiche, a gal-
lery-like bookstore selling impec-
cably chosen art, design and archi-
tecture tomes, and Le Typographe, a
paper-lover’s Eden of handmade
notebooks, diaries, stationery and
other goods printed on site.

4PM Urban Studies PHOTO COURTESY HORTA MUSEUM

Cool things are brewing at the new
Millennium Iconoclast Museum of
Art (MIMA), a former brewery whose
renovated industrial expanses now
bubble with contemporary art. The
museum’s permanent collection
leans towards street art, graffiti,
graphic design and pop works full
of colour, irreverence and mischief.
Just witness the Dutch artist Parra’s

112 May 2020

36 Hours in Brussels

MILLENNIUM ICONOCLAST
MUSEUM OF ART (MIMA)

PHOTOS: (TOP) COURTESY MIMA; MICHAEL CHIA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES large sculptural red tomato with legs, returned to Liernu, Belgium (season-
which lies helplessly on the floor. al vegetables in a sweet onion broth),
Multiple temporary exhibitions also before heading off to the South Ko-
fill the agenda. rean island of Jeju (succulent pork
cubes with toasted buckwheat and
7PM A Culinary Journey cabbage) and Dublin (whiskey-in-
fused panna cotta with chocolate
Ready to fly? Names of international sorbet and burned chips of Gruyère
destinations – Kyoto, Berlin, Mexi- cheese). Neck pillow not provided.
co – are stencilled on the colourful
walls of San, a cosy spot opened by LIFE IS
the Belgian-Korean chef Sang-Hoon BEAUTIFUL
Degeimbre in 2015. They also adorn
the menu, where each of the five
nightly courses is named after and
inspired by some spot on Earth. My
itinerary started in Murringen, Bel-
gium (velvety beef tartare mixed with
savoury razor clams in a floral Ber-
gamot broth), moved to Deshaies, in
the French overseas region of Guada-
loupe in the Caribbean (fritters filled
with cod in a spicy red pepper pesto),

READER’S DIGEST

9PM Beer and Botanicals SUNDAY

“Leave the abbey, join the play- 11AM Bruegel’s Brussels
ground” is the motto at Brussels
Beer Project, a microbrewery When it comes to art, this is Mag-
angling to bring Belgium’s legend- ritte’s town. Two museums are de-
ary brewing tradition into the 21st voted entirely to the master of the
century. Relax on a grain sack and strange, and images of his man in
order from an ever-changing roster the bowler hat fill the city. But Pi-
of more than 40 beers that might eter Bruegel the Elder was also a
include Delta IPA (crisp, hoppy Brussels resident, and the Renais-
and floral). Nearby at Life Is Beau- sance painter’s stock is rising these
tiful, cactuses hang from the ceil- days as this year celebrates the
ing and potted plants dot the can- 450th anniversary of his death.
dlelit room. Opened in 2016, the
flora-filled cocktail bar transports At the Old Masters Museum,
you to the Caribbean with a rum- there’s a cinematic room and numer-
based Storm in the Caribbean or a ous interactive tutorials devoted to
chestnut-cream-based Grandpa is his masterpieces, including The Fall
Going Nuts. of the Rebel Angels, an apocalyptic
fever dream with archangel Michael
fighting a seven-headed dragon.

OLD MASTERS MUSEUM

PHOTO: MICHAEL CHIA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

36 Hours in Brussels

Steps from the LODGING colours from every
fashionable shops surface. The 61 rooms
of Avenue Louise, the Belgian beers and have a 1970s bachelor-
photo-themed Zoom chocolates. pad feel, courtesy of
Hotel (rue de la shag carpets, spherical
Concorde 59-61) has 37 In the trendy Saint- chrome lamps and
rooms and a gallery-like Gilles neighbourhood, moulded plastic
lobby with a bar selling the kaleidoscopic bedside tables.
Pantone Hotel (1 Place
Loix; pantonehotel.com)
radiates bright, solid

Rubens, Rembrandt and Bosch are shelving to arty lightboxes. Belge
among the collection’s other heavy Une Fois concentrates on clothing,
hitters. jewellery, art and more from scores of
Belgian designers and brands, in-
1PM Buy Belgian cluding lamps in the shape of croco-
dile clips and bold-printed tote bags.
Belgian pride suffuses rue Haute, And if you still haven’t fully uncov-
where hip boutiques are champion- ered the city, The 500 Hidden Secrets
ing local design and products, some of Brussels is among the many books,
of it handmade on site. Atelier en posters and postcards depicting
Ville, a vast hangar-like space, is a Brussels at Vanclever.
combination cafe, clothes shop and
furniture studio that builds and sells THIS VERSION WAS CONDENSED BY READER’S
everything from neo-industrial DIGEST. © 2017 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES CO.

Exporting or Importing?

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) listed the Kingdom of
Wakanda as a free-trade partner – despite it being a fictional country.
The department’s online tariff tracker hosted a detailed list of goods

the two nations apparently traded, including ducks, donkeys and
dairy cows. In the Marvel comic universe, Wakanda is the fictional
East African home country of superhero Black Panther. The USDA

said Wakanda had been added to the list during testing. It was
removed from the list soon after US media first queried it, prompting

jokes that the countries had started a trade war. REUTERS

115

BONUS READ

Following my husband’s
death, I found myself in
charge of the African
nature reserve we
created together. I didn’t
know where to begin

An

ELEPHANT

in My Kitchen

BY Françoise Malby-Anthony

FROM THE BOOK AN ELEPHANT IN MY KITCHEN

116 may 2020

Young Tonic and his
mother Induna lead
the herd on a stroll

through the Thula
Thula reserve

117

READER’S DIGEST

grew up a city girl, a Parisian through and through,
who could tell the quickest way to Saint-Germain-
des-Prés but who knew nothing about animals. Our
family never even kept pets. Living and working

I in the city, even a beautiful one like Paris, leaves
no time to notice nature. It’s métro-boulot-dodo, as
they say in France, when life is a relentless treadmill of
commute, work, sleep. Yet even as I pounded the Parisian
treadmill, somewhere deep inside of me I always felt that I
would end up in a foreign country.

But living in the sticks in Africa? Not that foreign.
And yet, here I was, in the sticks, all by myself.

It was my husband Lawrence the acacia and tambotie trees on the
Anthony, a South African, who banks of the Nseleni River and opened
brought out the wanderlust in me. the Elephant Safari Lodge in June
I’d met him in London in 1987, and 2000. I employed some locals, taught
a year later I gave up my job and my them about office work, dealing with
chic Montparnasse apartment and guests and cooking French dishes.
moved to South Africa. I started a Lawrence handled everything to do
fashion business in Durban, but we with the reserve – he mended fences,
were drawn to the bush, and even- monitored security, improved the dirt
tually we bought a game reserve roads and cleared the vegetation.
– a beautiful mix of river, savan-
nah and forest sprawled over 1500 Then in March 2012, at age 61, Law-
hectares of the rolling hills of Zulu- rence died of a sudden heart attack.
land, KwaZulu-Natal. There was an And now here I was, alone, burying
abundance of Cape buffaloes, hye- my husband, and I didn’t know where
nas, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and to begin.
antelopes, as well as birds, crocodiles
and snakes of every kind. DANGEROUS DAYS

We named our reserve Thula Thula. By then I had been in South Africa
We added elephants, rhinos and hip- for over 20 years. We had expanded
pos, and soon we were working to save Thula Thula to three times its original
our Noah’s Ark from the predations of size. And though a part of me yearned
poachers and hunters who roamed for the busy familiarity of Paris,
the countryside for fun and profit. I knew my life was in South Africa.
We built seven luxury chalets under I loved Africa and embraced its melt-
ing pot of traditions and cultures.

118 May 2020

An Elephant in My Kitchen

After her husband Lawrence died in 2012, Françoise ran Thula Thula on her own

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF FRANÇOISE MALBY-ANTHONY I soon faced my first baptism by reserve. A rumour suggested it was an
fire. It was only a few days after inside job. Perhaps a guard had been
Lawrence passed away when I re- bribed? Maybe someone was trying to
ceived a radio call. Poachers. Our frighten me into leaving?
rhino calf Thabo, a strapping three-
year-old male, had taken a bullet. The rangers reported that there
was a lot of blood, but Thabo’s fe-
When Lawrence was alive, he han- male companion, Ntombi, wouldn’t
dled the emergencies. I had no clue let anyone near him. And then the
what to do. I was simply shocked hyenas, smelling blood, began to
that poachers had the gall to breach pester them.
our fence in broad daylight; they
hadn’t even bothered to use silenc- I talked to our vet, who was three
ers. Perhaps they knew Lawrence had hours away by car or 30 minutes by
recently died, and assumed that our helicopter. I told him that the rang-
security would have been dropped. ers had seen Thabo take a few steps.
“That’s good news,” he assured me.
At that point we had 23 guards who “If he’s walking and not in obvious
were supposed to watch over the ani- pain then the bullet probably didn’t
mals, sweep for snares and act as first damage any bones. He won’t be
responders if poachers entered the comfortable but it doesn’t sound

119

READER’S DIGEST

life-threatening. I’ll be there in the at holding their breath, one of his
morning. Keep him safe until then.” guards was so worried that he sat
next to him on the bank of the dam,
No one slept a wink that night. cradling his head in his lap until he
The rangers gave Thabo and Ntom- was ready to get out.
bi their space, but kept an eye on
them all night. Thabo eventual- Lawrence was gone. I had a rhi-
ly lay down, while Ntombi stayed no in trouble and security men
vigilant and spent most of her time I couldn’t rely on. And since booking
chasing off hyenas. Rhinos have after booking had been cancelled
terrible eyesight but a great sense of af ter news broke of Law rence’s
smell, so Ntombi knew these small passing, I also had an empty bank
but dangerous predators had arrived account.
long before the rangers did.
The pressure to deliver was enor-
By daylight, I’d arranged for two mous, and I struggled against the
ex-military men to reinforce our scepticism of people who didn’t be-
security. When the vet arrived, he lieve in me, who didn’t think I could
darted Thabo while the rangers kept manage. Most thought I would go
Ntombi at a safe distance. back to France. But how could I
leave Thula Thula, the dream that
“It’s a f lesh would,” the vet an- Lawrence and I had fought so hard
nounced. “The bullet missed the for? I worked with the most wonder-
bone by millimetres.” I will always ful people. They were my family and
be grateful that those poachers were I couldn’t abandon them. And there
such useless marksmen.

I WORKED WITH THE MOST WONDERFUL
PEOPLE. I COULDN’T ABANDON THEM

For weeks afterwards Alyson, a vet- was our special herd of animals,
erinary nurse and one of our main many of whom we had raised from
caregivers, cleaned the gunshot babies. They were family, too.
wound every day. Thabo was healing
well. But he was still traumatised. He I had a lot to learn, but I slow-
lost weight, cried out in the night and ly found my feet. Everyone did
became worryingly lethargic. everything they could to help Thabo
get better, and eventually he recovered
One day Thabo lay down at the from the trauma. I set up meetings
edge of the dam on the river, with with the staff to go over reserve and
his face completely submerged. animal issues and to agree on prior-
Although rhinos are quite good ities. I reorganised the security staff.

120 May 2020

An Elephant in My Kitchen

Veterinary nurse Alyson played a crucial role in helping Thabo (pictured with
his female companion Ntombi) recover from his gunshot wound

And I launched our own rhino fund. I I threw open the door. “Tom? What
realised that without money, the ani- are you doing here? What’s wrong?”
mals wouldn’t be safe. Money flowed
in, enough to pay for extra guards and Tom, a petite, shy young woman,
buy extra security equipment. was my chef. She motioned for me
to come outside. “There’s a baby ellie
I will never forget those ghastly here.”
days after Thabo was shot. But they
helped define the purpose of my life “An elephant?”
without Lawrence, and I understood “She’s right outside your house.
that the mantle of protecting Thula She’s tiny and terrified.”
Thula’s wildlife had become mine, “It must be ET’s one-week-old
and mine alone. daughter,” I said grimly.
Tom explained that she’d heard a
BABY ELEPHANT noise outside her room. She’d taken
her torch, opened the door a fraction
One night there was a sharp knock on and shined it across the garden. A
my door. I wasn’t expecting a visitor. tiny elephant stared back at her, eyes
bulging in terror.
“Françoise? It’s me,” a woman Stunned, Tom had closed the door
whispered.
121

Feeding Tom the baby elephant turned out to be a messy process

and climbed out a back window to the side of the house. Frightened eyes
call me. peered out at us through the leaves.

Apparently, the baby elephant had I walked slowly towardss the calf.
somehow slipped under the perime- She watched me, paralysed, but as
ter fence. But elephants are fantas- soon as I was within touching dis-
tic mothers; ET would never leave tance she squealed and bolted be-
her baby unattended. The whole hind the house. Tom and I ran af-
thing seemed impossible. And a ter her, but again she hurtled away,
baby elephant in trouble is a code- trumpeting in panicked shrieks. I
red emergency. She faced too many was scared she would wriggle under
dangers on her own – hyenas, croco- the fence and disappear. If she ran
diles, snakes, rhinos, not to mention into the reserve we would never find
the river. I shuddered. What does a her, and if she got lost she wouldn’t
week-old calf know about the dan- survive.
gers of water?
Other staff heard the commotion
Tom and I had to get her inside to and came to help. I scanned the bush
keep her safe until we could get her around the house. Where on earth
back to her mother. We found her was the herd? The calf was making
cowering behind a mulberry bush at so much noise they must have heard

122 May 2020

An Elephant in My Kitchen

her by now, but there was no sign The elephant drank straight away,
of them. I began to wonder if they’d gulping down the first glove-bottle
abandoned her. If they’d rejected her, and then nudging Alyson’s hand for
they would never take her back. more. We spilled milk on the floor
and all over Alyson, and it complete-
It was at times like this that I felt so ly covered the elephant’s face. But
alone. Lawrence would have known the baby calmed down and began to
what to do. I stood in the middle of inspect us with great interest, surf-
the lawn and gazed into the black- ing her inquisitive trunk all over us,
ness, willing the herd to come back sniffing our faces, poking it into our
and fetch their little one. hair.

Tom and Alyson managed to corner She finally dozed off. I contacted
the calf in the parking area. She stood the rangers who all got out of bed and
completely still, head down, ears started searching for the herd. Then
drooping, her eyes flitting anxious- I sat next to the baby on the kitchen
ly at any movement or sound. I tried floor in case she woke and felt fright-
approaching her again, and this time ened.
she didn’t resist, allowing us to gently
herd her into my home. Once inside, I inspected every part of her and
she panicked again, running around found nothing wrong. No open
my kitchen in frenzied zigzags, trum- wounds, no swellings, no deformi-
peting in fear. ties. She was a perfect little elephant.

I kept talking to her, telling her she Long after midnight, my radio
was safe and that we would get her crackled. “We found them,” Vusi, my

WHAT IF HER MOTHER IGNORED HER?
OR WORSE, BECAME VIOLENT?

back to her mum. Alyson called the chief ranger, said. “They’re not too
vet, who told us the priority was to get far away. We’re on our way back. I’ll
her to drink – soya milk if we had it, bring the truck to your door and we’ll
otherwise regular cow’s milk. load her up and take her home.”

We had nothing resembling a That was great news. But we still
bottle, so we adapted latex gloves. faced a real test. What if her moth-
Alyson used a needle to pierce a tiny er ignored her? Or worse, became
hole in the thumb, and we started a violent? I’d heard of baby elephants
feeding line. Tom warmed the milk. being trampled to death when they’d
I held the glove open. Tom filled it. I been rejected by the herd.
tied it closed. Alyson did the feeding.
We prepared another glove-bottle

123

READER’S DIGEST

in case we needed it. And I reassured nearby. Then the elephants caught
the baby, “You’ll be with your mom- scent of the baby and pounded clos-
my soon.” er. The calf trumpeted in bewilder-
ment. The team leaped back into the
We heard the rattle of the truck truck.
on the dirt track. Vusi had arrived.
Alyson fed the calf as Tom and I car- ET skidded to a standstill, her
ried blankets to the truck to soften ears pinned back. The herd flocked
the ride for her. behind her, silent. Then ET’s trunk
curled over her daughter and pulled
“How does the herd seem?” I asked. her under her belly. The baby stood
“Tense and skittish,” I was told. still, watching the rangers.
They were clearly stressed, yet hadn’t
come to fetch the calf. All signs point- “Time to go,” Vusi said in a low
ed to rejection. voice.
The men lifted the calf into the
truck. Vusi took the wheel and oth- ET trumpeted loudly and pushed
ers climbed in the back, as the calf her baby into the middle of the herd.
gave a couple of trumpets. It seemed A tangle of trunks welcomed her, and
she now thought she was on an then Vusi drove off.
adventure! If she survived, she was
going to be a remarkable elephant So far so good. They hadn’t reject-
one day. ed her. But we couldn’t relax until we
I waved them off with dread in had seen her suckle.
my heart. Please take her back, ET,
In the morning Vusi headed to the
dam. The entire herd was there. He
manoeuvred as close as he could,

ET PUSHED HER BABY INTO THE HERD.
A TANGLE OF TRUNKS WELCOMED HER

I thought, crossing my fingers and binoculars trained on the elephants.
blowing a kiss to the sky. And that’s when he saw the calf
suckling.
The herd was slowly heading south,
so Vusi drove to a clearing that they I named the calf Tom in honour
would traverse. “Expect visual in of my gentle chef, whose presence
five,” I heard on the radio. of mind in the night saved the lit-
tle one’s life. We monitored baby
“Time to off load the calf,” Vusi Tom for weeks to make sure she
said. “Go, guys!” didn’t wander off again, but ET had
obviously grounded her daredev-
They lowered the calf off the back il daughter. Every time the rangers
of the truck. The clatter of breaking
trees became louder. The herd was

124 May 2020

An Elephant in My Kitchen

The elephant herd comes to Françoise's yard for a visit

saw ET, baby Tom was right there at April. The Zuzuland anti-poaching
her mother’s side. unit found the carcass of a poached
female rhino, but there was no sign of
“SHE ATTACKED HIM!” her calf. Hopefully the rangers would
find him before the lions did.
I wanted to build an orphanage to
take care of animals whose mothers We heard nothing for two days. The
were killed by poachers or hunters, clock was ticking for the little chap.
or who otherwise met their fate in At last the orphaned calf was sighted
the bush. We received funding from with another female rhino and her
Four Paws, an animal welfare char- infant. It’s unusual for a female to
ity based in Austria, and by early look after a calf that isn’t her own, but
2015 we were putting the finishing if she allowed him to stay with her he
touches on the facility – building had a good chance of surviving. The
wallow pools, planting grass and orphanage was ready, but the top
decorating the nursery with sten- prize for him was not to need it at all.
cilled paw prints. We were in a
strange no-man’s land of waiting for Then we got an update. The cow
tragedy to happen. was turning aggressive. The little
orphan rhino could smell her milk,
The call came one morning in could see the other calf drinking

125

READER’S DIGEST

from his mother, but he wasn’t The first night he slept peacefully,
allowed anywhere near them. The due to exhaustion and the seda-
next morning the rangers called us. tion. But the second night was hell.
“The calf’s in danger. We’re going to His high-pitched squeals of terror
rescue him.” pierced every corner of the orphan-
age. Feeding him was impossible. He
“Bring him, we’re ready,” I said. was too big and violent for caregivers
“When will you get here?” to go into the room with him, yet he
wouldn’t take the bottle they held
“Don’t know. It’s bloody dangerous. through the barrier.
The two calves look alike, and if we
get the wrong one, the cow will kill The caregivers, including Alyson,
the orphan.” the veterinary nurse, and Axel, a
young man from France, tried to
They tried for two days. But as persuade him to take the bottle. But
soon as the rangers approached, all his fear overcame his hunger, and
three rhinos scattered and disap- he cowered in the corner away from
peared into the dense bush. Then I them.
got another call. “She attacked him!
She threw him in the air. He’s injured Axel jiggled a bottle of milk be-
and the cow and calf have run off.” tween the bars of the barrier. “Come.
You need to eat,” he murmured.
With the mother out of the way, the
rangers caught the terrified calf at last. Ithuba watched him, fear in his
They brought him to us in a truck. eyes.

We got him inside. The vet sedated Axel splattered some milk on the
him, then inserted a drip into a vein

SLOWLY ITHUBA’S NIGHTMARES BECAME LESS
FREQUENT AND HIS APPETITE EXPLODED

to hydrate him. There were festering ground. Ithuba gave a little hungry
wounds on his groin where the fe- squeak and shuffled a few steps clos-
male had gored him, and his skin was er. “A few more steps,” Axel encour-
covered with infected tick bites. The aged gently.
vet cleaned him up and administered
a hefty dose of antibiotics. Ithuba stared at him, ventured
closer. Axel stretched forward and
We named the young rhino Ithu- nuzzled the milk bottle gently against
ba, meaning ‘chance’ in Zulu be- Ithuba’s lips. Then, finally, his mouth
cause he had dodged poachers and opened and he latched. His eyes flut-
predators for a week and now need- tered closed and he drank and drank.
ed luck to give him a second chance.
An hour later he drank a second

126 May 2020

An Elephant in My Kitchen

Ithuba (pictured with his carers Megan and Axel) set about testing the limits
of every structure in the orphanage

bottle. But then colic struck. He be- The next day we opened the gate
gan to shiver and jerk about in his to his outside boma (enclosure) as
sleep. Then he woke up and was so soon as he finished his bottle. Ithuba
scared and confused he spun around trotted to the threshold, nose high to
the room in a panic, peeing all over catch the scents, but he didn’t ven-
the place and flinging himself up ture any further. Two days of timid
against the wall. inspection followed, then he sud-
denly headed straight for a tyre lying
The vet told us, “What Ithuba is go- close to his open door. He sniffed
ing through is not surprising. People it with great interest, then gave it a
think post-traumatic stress is only head-butt and tossed it over his head.
experienced by humans, but we see He was so surprised! It landed with
it in wounded elephants and rhinos, such a thump that he bolted back to
and in military dogs as well.” his room. Two steps forwards, one
step back.
“What else can we do to help him?”
I asked. Slowly Ithuba’s nightmares be-
came less frequent. His insecurity
“Routine and love,” the vet replied. faded and his appetite exploded. In
“And when he starts to feel safe he’ll
begin to heal.” 127

READER’S DIGEST

Thabo and Ntombi, now all grown up, go for a stroll with Françoise
and her dogs Gin and Gypsy

three months, he doubled his weight baby elephant. We had achieved so
and turned into a happy little rhino much. And for the first time since
tank. Lawrence died, I began to feel that all
the fires had been put out and I could
With size and confidence he gave focus on the animals and the reserve
himself the job of Quality Control … and growing Lawrence’s legacy.
Inspector, and proceeded to ex-
pose every construction weakness FROM THE BOOK AN ELEPHANT IN MY KITCHEN
in the orphanage, usually smashing BY FRANÇOISE MALBY-ANTHONY WITH K ATJA
his way through to prove his point. WILLEMSEN, © 2018 BY FRANÇOISE MALBY-
Soon every door, lock and barrier ANTHONY WITH KATJA WILLEMSEN. REPRINTED
had been tested, and strengthened BY PERMISSION OF PAN MACMILLAN LTD.
and repaired, and no rhino calf was ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ever going to break out.
Update: Françoise Malby-Anthony
Which was just as well, because his continues to run Thula Thula, where
days of being the orphanage’s only she acknowledges that there is always
calf were fast coming to an end. more to do to protect the animals.
Elephants are poached for their ivory.
By the beginning of 2016 we had Hippos are killed for their meat and
taken in six rhino calves and one

128 May 2020

An Elephant in My Kitchen

teeth. And rhinos are being wiped out herd of elephants has grown to 29
for their horns. (Some game reserves and counting. The orphanage has
trim rhinos’ horns in an attempt to been expanded into a rescue and
protect them from poachers.) Rhino rehabilitation centre for wounded
horn is prized for its medicinal value or orphaned wildlife. The elephant
– which is largely fictitious. Yet when Tom is alive and well. Thabo and
a poacher sees a rhino, all he sees is Ntombi are ten years old and
money. are a happy, inseparable couple.
“I’m impatiently waiting for them
In February 2017, five armed to make me a rhino granny,”
men invaded Thula Thula, looking Françoise says.
for rhino horn. They killed one
rhino, fatally wounded another, In addition to the main guest
and assaulted one of the Thula lodge, there is now a volunteer
Thula caregivers. The attack forced academy near the rehabilitation
Françoise to temporarily close down centre where people from all over
her orphanage, and motivated her the world can learn the ways of
to build up her security operation the African bush and the value of
yet again. But giving up was never conservation for the wellbeing of
in her genes. “I have learned to themselves and the planet.
hold on to my dreams, always to
search for the silver lining,” she says, Thula Thula is just about to be
“and that by looking forward the expanded by 2500 hectares. “We
difficulties of the past eventually are turning Lawrence’s vision of
fade out of sight.” creating a huge conservation area
into a growing, sustainable legacy for
As of last report, Thula Thula’s generations to come,” Françoise says.

Evergreen Plant

A Californian plant lover was left shocked when she discovered the
reason her succulent remained in ‘perfect’ condition wasn’t down
to her love and dedication. Caelie Wilkes, who had been watering
the plant twice-weekly and making sure it was getting the right
amount of sunlight for two years, explained that after finding a cute
container, she decided she would re-pot it. But when she pulled it
out of its original container she saw that it was plastic and attached
to a block of foam. “How did I not know this. I feel like these last
two years have been a lie,” she wrote on Facebook, adding that she

would not give up on it now. MSN

129

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R COMMENDS

Books Male proboscis
monkeys sprout
Pinocchio-like noses

World’s Wackiest Animals Lonely Planet (Kids)

Small and square, this photo journal
of some of the world’s strangest
looking creatures is just the right size
for little hands. Traversing every continent
on the planet, including the North and
South Poles and the oceans around the
globe, Lonely Planet has selected 100
“uncommonly peculiar creatures” to
feature in this fascinating book. Thick
glossy pages boasting colourful images of
the bizarre, such as the star-nosed mole,
to the downright ugly, like the anglerfish
found in oceans deep, to the vibrant, such
as the mantis shrimp. The perfect gift for
grandchildren and young kids in your life.

COMPILED BY DIANE GODLEY

131

READER’S DIGEST

The Lost Pianos of Siberia Enemy of
All Mankind
Sophy Roberts (Russian History/Music)
Steven Johnson
PENGUIN RANDOMHOUSE
(History)
Often connected to exile, gulags (penal
colonies) and unmarked graves, Siberia has a PENGUIN
surprisingly heartening side: music. Dotted
around the remote icy savannahs are pianos: RANDOMHOUSE
grand instruments crafted during the 19th-
century boom years, and humble Soviet-made A true story of piracy,
uprights that found their way into modest power and history’s
households. Since the mid-17th century, first global manhunt,
during the reign of Catherine the Great, piano this book focuses
music has been a on one event in the
major influence in colourful life of 17th-
the country. But century pirate Henry
how the pianos Every – his attack on
travelled into an Indian treasure ship.
the snow-bound Wanted dead or alive,
wilderness is Every’s attack was one
testament to noble of the most lucrative
acts by governors, crimes in history,
adventurers, exiles and inadvertently
and music lovers. triggered a major shift
What is even more in the global economy.
remarkable is these Author Steven Johnson
pianos are still traces the path from
making music. a single attack to the
birth of multinational
132 may 2020 capitalism.

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The Bass Rock The Ghost & the
Bounty Hunter
Evie Wyld
Adam Courtenay
PENGUIN (Australian History)

RANDOMHOUSE ABC BOOKS

(FICTION) Adam Courtenay,
best-selling author
Three women, of The Ship That Never
hundreds of years Was, has jumped back
apart, their fates linked into Australian colonial
to a wild coastline in history to reveal
Scotland. In her second another poignant and
novel, Miles Franklin colourful true story.
Award-winning author The year is 1803. Convict Willia
Evie Wyld explores Buckley escapes into the bush from the
the psychological embryonic settlement around the Port Phillip
and physical abuse area. Found by local Aboriginal people, he is
perpetrated against taken in and lives with them as a kinsman for
the women in the 32 years, until bounty hunter John Batman
story. Starting with a decides to take control of their perfect
young ‘witch’ fleeing pastureland – which eventually becomes
from a lynch mob in Melbourne – and Buckley is forced into the
the 1720s, it jumps to role of cultural go-between.
Ruth in the aftermath of
WWII, then to Viv, who 133
is looking for answers
about her past, in the
present day. A powerful
examination of the
female experience.

Movies The Very Excellent
Mr. Dundee
IBlack Widow (Action/Fantasy)
was recently introduced to the Marvel M(Comedy)
franchise of movies by my children r. Dundee (Paul
and, I have to admit, I’m a convert. Hogan) is dragged
Scarlett Johansson, who we recently out of retirement
saw in JoJo Rabbit, reprises her role as and reluctantly thrust back
Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, a into the spotlight as he
Russian trained in espionage and martial desperately attempts to
arts with specialities in interrogation restore his sullied reputation
and hand-to-hand combat. The only on the eve of being knighted.
female to play a major part in The ‘Hoges’ is joined on the big
Avengers movies, Black Widow reveals screen by comedy legends
her backstory – as seen with stand- John Cleese, Chevy Chase and
alone movies from the other Avengers’ Shane Jacobson, plus the very
characters. If you haven’t yet indulged much-loved Olivia Newton-
into Marvel movies, then why not start John, so you wouldn’t be
here? They are great for bonding with wrong in thinking this all-star
tweens and teens. cast will make this movie a
winner. Unfortunately, the
134 may 2020 story is lacklustre and the
jokes tired. For avid Paul
Hogan fans only.

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RD Talks. Your Own BBC Earth
The Night I Met Backyard Podcast
Einstein
A documentary From the vast sand
“I knew as much podcast series desert of the Sahara to
about Bach as I know investigating the the eerie deep of the
about nuclear fission.” unsolved missing sea floor, each week
The unforgettable person case of the BBC Earth Podcast
evening a young man 19-year-old student has a collection of
finds himself sitting Kristin Smart, who immersive stories
next to the most disappeared in 1996, about our world
brilliant mind in the after she and other and the astonishing
world, who gives him a students walked home creatures, landscapes
lesson in life and music. from a party. and elements in it.

HOW TO GET PODCASTS To listen on the web: Google the website for ‘BBC Earth
Podcast’, for example, and click on the play button. To download: Download an app
such as Podcatchers or iTunes on your phone or tablet and simply search by title.

TO LISTEN TO RD TALKS GO TO www.readersdigest.com.au/podcasts,
www.readersdigest.co.nz/podcasts or www.rdasia/podcasts

Puzzle Answers See page 140 PATH PUZZLE
2
GO FORTH, TRUE BLUE SUDOKU
SUBTRACT 3
AND MULTIPLY Esmé is wearing 297618534 4
red, Noah 561347892
8 6 7 14 is in yellow, 984725163 5
Shubham is in 415832679 5
3124 green and Olivia 758493216
is in blue. Olivia 632971458 634
9 4 5 25 will wear a blue 129586347
shirt again 376254981 135
45 20 25 tomorrow. 843169725

READER’S DIGEST

THE
GENIUS
SECTION

Sharpen Your
Mind

TRAIN LIKE
A MASTER

To stay on top of their mental game, the world’s best
chess players do serious workouts – physical ones

By Aishwarya Kumar

FROM ESPN.COM

At 7.30 in the morning, grandmaster in chess, the number
Fabiano Caruana heads two player in the world. His training
out for a run with his partner, Chirila? A Romanian grand-
training partner, Cristian master. And they’re doing it all to
Chirila. As he’s jogging, prepare for the physical demands of ...
it’s easy to mistake him for a soccer chess? Yes, chess.
player. At 1.6 metres tall, Caruana
has a lean frame, his legs angular and It seems absurd. How could two
toned. He has a packed schedule for humans – seated for hours, exerting
the day, including an eight-kilometre themselves in no greater manner
run, an hour of tennis and an hour of than intermittently extending their
swimming. arms a third of a metre at a time –
face physical demands?
But Caruana is, in fact, an American
Still, the evidence overwhelms.

136 may 2020

ILLUSTRATION BY KLAWE RZECZY The 1984 World Chess It all combines to produce an average
Championship was called weight loss of almost a kilogram a day,
off after five months and or about nine to 11 kilograms over the
48 games because de- course of a ten-day tournament.
fending champion Ana-
toly Karpov had lost To combat the stress, today’s players
ten kilograms. “He looked have begun to incorporate strict food
like death,” grandmaster and fitness regimes to increase oxygen
and commentator Maurice supply to the brain during tourna-
Ashley recalls. ments, prevent sugar-related crashes,
and sustain their energy. “Physical
In 2004, winner Rustam fitness and brain performance are tied
Kasimdzhanov lost eight kilo- together,” Ashley says.
grams during the six-game
world championships. According to Ashley, India’s first
grandmaster, Viswanathan Anand,
In October 2018, Polar, does two hours of cardio each night
a US-based company that to tire himself out so he doesn’t
tracks heart rates, moni-
tored chess players during a 137
tournament and found that
21-year-old Russian grand-
master Mikhail Antipov had
burned 2350 kilojoules in two
hours – roughly what Roger
Federer burns in an hour of tennis.

Grandmasters in competition are
subjected to a constant torrent of
stress. That causes their heart and
breathing rates to increase, which
forces their bodies to produce energy.

Meanwhile, players eat less during
tournaments, simply because they
don’t have the time or the appetite.

Stress also leads to altered – and dis-
turbed – sleep patterns, which in turn
cause more fatigue and can lead to
more weight loss. A brain operating on
less sleep, even just one hour, Kasim-
dzhanov notes, requires more energy
to stay awake during the chess game.

READER’S DIGEST

dream about chess. Kasimdzhanov “It kept his blood sugar at a reason-

plays tennis every day. Chirila does able level without too big a variation,

cardio and weights to build muscle and he felt less tired during key mo-

mass before tournaments. ments in tournaments,” his father says.

But not one of these grandmasters But that was merely the beginning

has perfected his fitness routine the of Carlsen’s makeover. Since then, he

way the current world champion, has trained his body for chess. Before

Magnus Carlsen, has. the world championship last year, he

went skiing every day and tweeted

IN 2017, CARLSEN realised he had a that it strengthened his legs and his

problem. The reigning world number willpower. He hired a chef who trav-

one for four years felt his grasp on the els with him to ensure he’s eating the

title loosening. He was still winning right combinations of food.

most tournaments, During tournaments,
Carlsen focuses on re-
HOW COULD TWObut his matches were
lasting longer, the vic- HUMANS, SEATED laxing and conserving
tories less assured. He FOR HOURS, FACE energy. He chews gum
was waning in the final SUCH PHYSICAL during games to in-
hour of games. He no- crease brain function

ticed younger players DEMANDS? without losing energy;
catching up to him. he taps his legs rhyth-

So Carlsen visited mically to keep his

the Olympic training centre in Norway brain and body alert. He has even

with his father, seeking advice from managed to optimise sitting. Carlsen

performance specialists. Their sugges- rests his lower back against the chair

tion was deceptively simple: “Cut back so it retains a natural curve, keeps his

on the orange juice you drink during feet firmly on the ground, and leans

tournaments.” forward at about a 75-degree angle. In

Carlsen had relied on a mix of half this position, he’s not too far forward

orange juice, half water for an energy to limit his oxygen and not so far back

boost since he was a child. But now, as to require extra energy.

in his late 20s, his body was no longer Among chess players, there is a

breaking down the sugar as quickly, growing understanding that physical

leading to sugar crashes. The nutri- fitness can improve mental fitness and

tionists suggested that he instead stamina – qualities that are essential

drink a mixture of chocolate milk and to succeed in gruelling duels over a

plain milk, which contains less sugar board.

but would also supplement his body © 2019 BY ESPN. ABRIDGED VERSION REPRINTED
with calcium, potassium and protein. COURTESY ESPN.COM.

138 May 2020

The Genius Section

FAMILY FUN

Spot the Difference

There are ten differences. Can you find them?

Spot the Dog

Study the eight dogs below. They may look similar but only two are identical.
Can you spot which two?

Check your answers for Family Fun on page 144.

139

READER’S DIGEST

PUZZLES

Challenge yourself by solving these puzzles and mind
stretchers, then check your answers on page 135.

2
3

4

5 True Blue (PATH PUZZLE) RODERICK KIMBALL; (TRUE BLUE) FRASER SIMPSON
Moderately difficult
5
Noah, Esmé, Shubham and Olivia are
634 wearing solid-colour shirts. The
colours of their four shirts are red,
Path Puzzle Difficult yellow, green and blue. Only the
person in the blue shirt tells the truth,
Draw a path that leads from one of the while the other three people lie. They
maze’s openings to the other. As the make the following statements:
path winds from one cell to the next, it
can move up, down, left or right but not Noah: “Shubham is wearing
diagonally. It cannot pass through any a red shirt.”
cell more than once. A black number tells
you how many cells the path passes Esmé: “Noah is not wearing
through in the corresponding row or a yellow shirt.”
column. A red number indicates the total
number of cells the path passes through Shubham: “Esmé is wearing
in the corresponding row and column. a blue shirt.”
Can you trace the path?
Olivia: “I’m going to wear a
blue shirt tomorrow.”

Can you determine each person’s
shirt colour, and whether or not we
can expect to see Olivia in a blue shirt
tomorrow?

140 may 2020

34789 BRAIN POWER

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Sudoku To Solve This Puzzle

Put a number from 1 to 9 in each empty square
so that: every horizontal row and vertical column
contains all nine numbers (1-9) without repeating
any of them; each of the outlined 3 x 3 boxes has
all nine numbers, none repeated.

(GO FORTH, SUBTRACT AND MULTIPLY) DARREN RIGBY 14

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Go Forth, Subtract and Multiply
Moderately difficult

Fill the whole numbers from 1 to 9 into the cells,
using each number once. If the three numbers in
any given row, from left to right, and the three
numbers in any column, from top to bottom, are
A, B and C, then the number provided for that row
or column is equal to (A − B) × C.

READER’S DIGEST

TRIVIA

Test Your General Knowledge

1. The three actors who starred entertainer, activist and secret

as Magneto, Iron Man and Doctor agent had a pet cheetah named

Strange have all played what other Chiquita? 2 points

character? 2 points 8. Which country’s flag features

2. So far, which has been the only an eagle eating a snake? 2 points

FIFA World Cup host not to make it 9. In 1986, a US court of appeals

out of the group stage? 1 point ruled that what magic-practising

3. Worldwide, which is the most movement qualifies as a religion?

commonly transplanted organ 2 points

from living donors? 1 point 10. What is the hottest planet in

4. What city elected Sadiq Khan, the solar system? 1 point

its first mayor from an ethnic 11. Who dedicated her book Atlas

minority, in 2016? Shrugged to both

1 point her husband and her

5. Who allegedly wrote boyfriend? 2 points

the song ‘Golden Years’ 12. True or false:

for Elvis Presley but your hair and your

ended up recording it fingernails are

himself? 1 point made from the same

6. Who’s the only 14. In 2016, a Pizza material. 1 point
athlete who ever lit
the cauldron for an Hut in Dar es Salaam 13. Off what country
Olympics and then won delivered to the top of are the islands of Islay,
a gold medal at those what mountain, thus Mull, Tiree, Sanday
same games? 1 point setting a record for the and St. Kilda located
highest-elevation pizza – Ireland, Scotland or
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES
7. What French delivery? 2 points Iceland? 1 point

16-20 Gold medal 11-15 Silver medal 6-10 Bronze medal 0-5 Wooden spoon

ANSWERS: 1. Sherlock Holmes. 2. South Africa, in 2010. 3. The kidney. 4. Greater London, England.
5. David Bowie. 6. Australian Cathy Freeman, in 2000 in the women’s 400 metres.
7. Josephine Baker. 8. Mexico. 9. Wicca. 10. Venus. 11. Ayn Rand. 12. True.
13. Scotland. 14. Kilimanjaro.

142 may 2020

The Genius Section

WORD POWER

All Too Royal

Take on this regal quiz and you shall have
new words at your command

BY Linda Besner

1. pomp – A: display of splendour. of peasants to respect nobility.
B: tall furry hat. C: royal fire brigade. C: labour owed to a feudal lord.

2. interregnum – A: interview with 8. livery – A: monarch’s allowance.
a head of state. B: burial ceremony. B: court etiquette. C: servant’s
C: period between rulers. uniform.

3. clarence – A: prohibition of 9. primogeniture – A: hereditary
poaching. B: House of Windsor china disease of royalty. B: palace revolt.
pattern. C: closed, four-wheeled, C: system in which the first-born
horse-drawn carriage. child inherits all property or titles.

4. regent – A: palace caretaker. 10. Albertopolis – A: concentrated
B: scarlet robe. C: person standing area of cultural sites in London.
in for an underage, incapacitated B: very large city. C: royal gossip
or absent monarch. magazine.

5. wonsam – A: ceremonial overcoat 11. tyrant – A: royal toddler.
of Korea’s female royalty and B: oppressive leader. C: formulaic
aristocracy. B: marsupial on a coat speech.
of arms. C: charming.
12. dynasty – A: nostalgia.
6. figurehead – A: symbolic B: succession of hereditary rulers.
leader without real power. B: royal C: conflation of church and state.
accountant. C: monogrammed
stationery. 13. fanfare – A: public appearance
by royals. B: crown-shaped pasta.
7. noblesse oblige – A: idea that C: ceremonial tune played on brass
privilege entails obligations. B: duty instruments.

143

READER’S DIGEST primogeniture so Princess Victoria
would inherit the throne instead of
Answers her younger brother.
10. Albertopolis – A: concentrated
1. pomp – A: display of splendour. area of cultural sites in London.
Spain’s King Felipe VI was sworn in Albertopolis was named for Prince
at Parliament with minimal pomp Albert, an enthusiastic patron of the
and ceremony. arts and sciences.
2. interregnum – C: period between 11. tyrant – B: oppressive leader.
rulers. After the queen died, a brief History remembers Emperor Nero
interregnum took place while her as a murderous tyrant.
sons jostled for power. 12. dynasty – B: succession of
3. clarence – C: closed, four- hereditary rulers. China’s Zhou
wheeled, horse-drawn carriage. dynasty lasted nearly 800 years.
Tourists admired the clarences in 13. fanfare – C: ceremonial tune
the royal stables. played on brass instruments. The
4. regent – C: person standing in appearance of King Vajiralongkorn of
for an underage, incapacitated or Thailand was greeted with fanfare.
absent monarch. King Mswati III’s VOCABULARY RATINGS
mother was regent of Swaziland
until he turned 18. 5-8: Fair 9–11: Good
5. wonsam – A: ceremonial 12–13: Word Power Wizard
overcoat of Korea’s female royalty
and aristocracy. The wonsam is Family Fun Answers See Page 139
associated with the Choson court,
which spanned from the 14th to the Spot the Dog
20th century.
6. figurehead – A: symbolic – D and F are the
leader without real power. Many
contemporary monarchs are merely identical dogs.
figureheads.
7. noblesse oblige – A: idea that
privilege entails obligations. Charity
work is seen by some as part of the
noblesse oblige of royalty.
8. livery – C: servant’s uniform.
Louis XIV’s retainers wore livery of
red, white and blue.
9. primogeniture – C: system
in which the first-born child
inherits all property or titles. In
1980, Sweden adopted absolute

144 May 2020

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