My top ten food choices

Out of my hobby of 'Scouting for local delicacies', from among a list of about 70 items (based on first recall), here is the list of my top ten favourite dishes at various places in India. My ratings (out of 10) are shown in [ ]

1. Jalebi-dahi at MT, IITK (Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh) [9.2]
2. Poori-aloo sabzi-suji halwa breakfast at Haveli (Jallandhar, Punjab) [9.2]
3. Vada Pao at any local train station (Mumbai, Maharashtra) [9.1]
4. Kebabs at the floating shikara restaurants in Dal Lake (Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir) [9.1]
5. Murthal ke Parathe at Gulshan da Dhaba (Murthal, Haryana) [9.0]
6. Rajasthani Thali at Chokhi Dhaani (Jaipur, Rajasthan) [8.9]
7. Mutton Curry with Appam at some restaurant (can't recall name) (Kochi, Kerela) [8.9]
8. Kadha Prasad (rich suji halwa) at Golden Temple (Amritsar, Punjab) [8.9]
9. Desi chicken at some local dhaba enroute Patni Top (Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir) [8.9]
10. Aloo Paratha with dahi at Gyan da Dhaba (Ludhiana, Punjab) [8.9]

In addition to these ten items there are other 60 also in the list which I have rated on my personal liking. Am feeling the urge to mention at least the next ten in the list as well.

    11.  Kheer/Phirni at Bhrawan da Dhaba (Amritsar, Punjab) [8.8]

    12.  Dal ke pakode at Lakhanpur Border (Jammu-Pathankot highway, Punjab-J&K) [8.7]

    13.  Kulche at the roadside shop opposite Hotel Mohan International (Amritsar, Punjab) [8.7] 

    14.  Kebabs at The Kebab Factory, Park Plaza (Gurgaon, Haryana) [8.6]

    15.  Bedami poori with aloo ki sabzi at a street corner shop opposite 11/22, Old Rajendra Nagar (New       

           Delhi) [8.5]

    16. Mutton Yakhni at some restaurant, name not recalled (Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir) [8.5]

    17. Masala Dosa and Filter Coffee at Coffee House, Ram Mandir (Bokaro, Jharkhand) [8.5]

    18. Chikoo Shake at Popular Juice Corner, Old Rajendra Nagar (New Delhi) [8.4]

    19. Gupchup at Sector-5 Hatiya (Bokaro, Jharkhand) [8.4]

    20. Dal Chawal Butter Mix at Hall 4 Canteen, IITK (Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh) [8.3]

In the entire list, there are some more common entries like the Kesar da Dhaba of Amritsar, Roshan di Kulfi of Karol Bagh, the Art of Spices (Chicken roll) in Old Rajendra Nagar, the Litti Chokha of Sector 4 Bokaro and many more. They, however, do not top my list. The ratings are completely personal and hardly scientific. 

If I was to choose a "dream menu" I would definitely choose from the items mentioned above. The scouting, will, nevertheless continue and any more local delicacies tasted shall find an entry into my list if they deserve it. 

I shall enjoy eating in the meantime... :)

about "Biharis" and other such 'abused' people

(Note: Some part of this post can be socially offensive to certain communities. I apologize for the same. The specific names of communities have been used only to provide examples and I do not approve of their usage as abuses, neither do I condone their practice as such.)

In some of my earlier posts, I have expressed my dismay and agony at 'bihari' being used as an 'abuse' (i.e., to swear at people) in some parts of India, especially Delhi. The agony had more to do with me being a bihari who has lived in Delhi/Gurgaon for about three years now. Recently, however, I have begun to think about the issue more impersonally.

It has left me wondering why is it that only particular communities get such pejorative connotations attached to them. Moreover, does the entire community feel 'equally' humiliated when sworn at or is it only some members of the community who feel that humiliation? To answer several such queries, I have been interacting with several biharis who have lived in Delhi, Mumbai or other places and asked them how do they feel about it. The obvious choice of such interactions is friends and family. They, obviously, echoed my feelings of disgust and wanted 'something concrete' to be done about it. As for what are the reasons for such abuses, most people blamed politicians for it while some blamed the chauvinistic attitude of the Delhiites or the Mumbaikars. I was quick to conclude that 'biharis' are being unnecessarily abused and looked down in the metropolitans of the country.

My conclusions were contested when I interacted with some 'other' biharis. These were mostly the rickshaw-pullers, the chai-wallahs, the gurads outside the ATM's, the paper-wallahs etc. Most of these had stayed in places like Delhi (or Mumbai) for more than a decade and some also for more than a generation. When I ask them about "bihari" or "bhaiyaa" being used as an abuse, they don't seem to be as enraged as me or my friends. They mostly resign to the fate of being abused, by whatsoever name, responding that earning their bread is more critical to them than making an issue out of such 'redundant' matters.

Trying to analyze the two varied set of responses, I am tempted to look at their social background as a source of their responses. The first set of people who are quite enraged at being sworn at are mostly Brahmins, Rajputs, Bhumihars, Kayasthas and Banias. Only very few belonged to a lower caste. The second group (rickshaw-wallahs et al) were mostly the Scheduled Castes, or 'Harijans' as they mostly referred themselves and  Muslims (who are mostly low caste converts in Bihar). Educationally, the first group was quite well to do and were mostly in these metropolitans for either higher education or jobs that resulted from them. The second group, instead, mostly migrated as manual labourers and constituted of illiterate or lowly educated people. This tempted me to ask a question - "Do the affluent feel more humiliated? And if so, why?"

To understand further, I look at other examples. I am reminded of my hometown Bokaro, presently in Jharkhand. It is mostly inhabited by Bihari migrants, who came down to work in India's largest steel plant. The local tribals of Jharkhand also share the space with them. Biharis, however, do not find themselves as abused as they do in Delhi, for instance. Rather, it is the local tribals who get abused by the biharis. As a result of the setting up of the steel plant, the tribals were displaced from their original forest dwellings and resettled in the outskirts of the Steel City. They were also promised jobs in the plant as compensation. They are, therefore, technically referred as 'Locally Displaced' people. Over time, though, the term and mostly its abbreviation LD has become synonymous with tribals and is one of the most common abuses one would hear in Bokaro. A dress which is out of place or a persons with very dark skin colour are generally ridiculed as LD, as they resemble the local tribals.

When I reach my parents' native place, Bhagalpur, which lies in present Bihar, I observe other abuses. 'Chamar' and 'Dom' are commonly used abuses for unlcean or untidy people. These are actually caste names for cobblers and basket-makers, respectively. Chuhar and Junglee are also similar abuses. Chuhar is a tribe of Santhal pargana (close to Bhagalpur region) and junglee is a general term used for forest dwelling tribals. 

When I meet some of my friends who have stayed in the UK or the USA, they tell me how 'Paki' is an abuse there, referring to Pakistanis, in particular and South Asians, in general. Niggers (or Negros), similarly was an abuse in USA for the African Americans. In most of north India, similarly, people from North eastern states who have Mongoloid origins are ridiculed by the name 'Chinki', probably referring to their similarity in appearance with Chinese, with whom Indians share a strange kind of hostility. In much of UP and Bihar, even 'Kattu' is used as an abuse, which has its origin as a ridicule to Muslims of the region, for their circumcision of the foreskin in males. Mohemedan or Miyan in itself is also used as an abuse in parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, there are swearing in the name of Sikhs, mostly aimed  at their attire and their typical turban. In Mumbai, similarly, 'Ghati' is an abuse, connoting low status, taking its origin from the people who lived in the Western Ghats, who old time Mumbai residents found non-urbane.

Not all abuses are rooted in specific communities. Some of them are also general. Junglee, as already pointed out, is an abuse to all forest dwellers. 'Ganwaar' similary is an abuse meaning someone who comes from a village (and hence, unclean, uncivilized etc). 'Jahil' similarly is an abuse for illiterates, in general. 

Therefore, racial abuses generally trace their origin from communities which are placed low in the social, political or economic hierarchy in a particular region. When a large section of people from a particular community are abundant in a place, mostly staying at the lowest level of the hierarchy, their community name becomes an abuse. Biharis, mostly the manual workers, maid servants, rickshaw-wallahs are placed low in hierarchy in Delhi and thus their community name becomes an abuse. These same rickshaw-wallahs when in their homeland Bihar were abused by the names of Chamar, Dom, Chuhar, Malechchha (meaning unclean, actually a term for untouchables) etc. In the cities of Jharkhand (Bokaro, for example), most of the manual workers are tribals and not biharis. So bihari is not abused there, but the tribals are (LD, junglee etc). The community placed in the lowest rank has been historically much exposed to such exploitation for generations and it does not complain any further. It either resigns to its fate or else finds justification in such an exploitation. (Marx's concept of 'false class consciousness' can explain this further).

Examples show that when such an abuse has become part and parcel of a group's language, it is the upper cream of the 'abused' community which also has to face the brunt. The sense of humiliation germinates in this upper cream, which is generally well educated and well accomplished, but of the lowly origin. Indians were called 'coolies' in South Africa because most Indians who went there worked as coolies in the mines. It is only when a First Class Attorney of an upper caste Gujrati Bania family landed in South Africa and was thrown out of a train for being a 'coolie' that the sense of humiliation germinated. That well educated 'coolie', Mahatma Gandhi, as he is known today, sowed the seeds of a mass movement. Similary, Dr. Ambedkar, a PhD from London School of Economics, when was ridiculed as a 'Mahar' (a low caste), felt the humiliation and devoted his life to the cause of upliftment of the the low castes. Educated African Americans, similarly led the Civil rights movements in USA.

Thus, to blame Delhiites for being chauvinist in calling us biharis, is only part of the picture. We bihari too call people as 'Chamars' and Junglees and Kattu. No changes in the abusive status of bihari is possible unless the educated upper caste biharis themselves do away with abusing entire communities just because they have been traditionally placed in lower ranks in social hierarchy. If one wishes to see that Bihari is no longer an abuse in Delhi or Mumbai, the need is not to fight the residents of Delhi and Mumbai, but the need is to uplift the conditions of the rural, low caste and illiterate biharis who have no choice but to exchange their manual labour and their dignity in lieu of bread and water. Otherwise, till the time, Chamar is an abuse in Bhagalpur and LD is an abuse in Bokaro, Bihari will remain an abuse in Delhi.

ढूँढ रहा हूँ...

बैठा हूँ बर्फ की  चादर पर
और ढूंढ रहा हूँ शीतलता
लहरों पर हूँ सवार, फिर क्यूँ
दीखती नहीं कोई चंचलता ?

                    पेड़ों कि छाया के नीचे
                    क्यों धूप जलाती है मुझको ?
                    सूखे रेतों के टीलों पर
                    वारि क्यों गलाती है मुझको ?
                    जब ध्यानमग्न हो बैठा हूँ
                    तो क्यों है ऐसी आकुलता?
                    बैठा हूँ .....

रातें मुझको बहकाती हैं
करती नयनों में उजियारा
और डरता हूँ दोपहरों से
जो फैला देती अंधियारा
जब स्वच्छ दीखता है जल, तो
फिर कहाँ है उसकी निर्मलता?
बैठा हूँ....

                    माली बगिया में ढूंढ रहा
                    फूलों कि खोयी सुरभि को
                    ढूँढता यज्ञ वेदी उठकर
                    अपने अन्दर कि अग्नि को
                    और ढूंढ रहा मैं शक्ति को
                    जो हर ले मेरी दुर्बलता
                    बैठा हूँ ....

..

हाथ पकड़ो जो मेरा तुम ...

हाथ पकड़ो जो मेरा तुम तो कोई साथ मिले
पास हो तेरा जो एहसास तो कोई आस मिले

हम तो बस यूँ ही जिए जा रहे जाने कब से
ढूंढते मायने ज़िन्दगी के न जाने कब से
तुम जो मिल जाओ तो तलाश को मिले मंजिल
पा के तुमको मेरी साँसों को नयी साँस मिले
हाथ पकड़ो जो मेरा तुम...

खो गया भीड़ में मेरा अकेला मन देखो
रुख हवा का उड़ा देगा मेरा आँगन देखो
तुम ही बन जाओ मेरे आँगन की नयी रौनक
रोशनी पा के मेरे रूह को आराम मिले
हाथ पकड़ो जो मेरा तुम...

Gandhi : Naked Ambition

Jad Adams has put in all the research in this book and both primary and secondary sources have been used to write this biography of Gandhi. This is not the first book on Gandhi and most of the readers would be already aware of the life story of Gandhi which has been written too often. To ensure that readers find the book interesting, Adams has emphasized more on the contradictions in Gandhi's life, which can make for an interesting read.

I must caution, however, that devout fans and followers of Gandhi might find this book insulting. Adams has deliberately avoided using the prefix 'Mahatma' or even the suffix 'ji', both of which are customary in Indian writings. He has given equal space to both the personal and the political life of the man, and has also gone in the details of the clothes Gandhi wore, the food he ate and the women he slept with (or did not sleep with). The focus is mostly on highlighting the contradictions of a spiritual man and a leader of the masses with a chauvinist husband and a cruel father. Various other contradictions have also been pointed out.

The claim of the author is to be "objective" about the person he is writing, but a closer study would easily depict how Adams cannot shed his Anglo-centric attitude in glorifying everything that is Western and ridiculing everything that is Indian. He somehow overemphasizes on the influence of Christianity and Gandhi's European friends but wishfully ignores the various Indian philosophies and Indian personalities that also had an impact on Gandhi. Adams' over-emphasis is more conspicuous in detailing the various 'brahmacharya' experiments, the crash diets and the disastrous family life. In all these depictions, a slight tinge of criticism keeps getting transformed into ridicule, though the British English tries to conceal it through flowery words.

Overall, the book can be said to be interesting and would mostly attract readers who find Gandhi's criticism fascinating. But as an objective book and an academic analysis of Gandhi's life, the book fails on various accounts. When compared with all other biographies (including the autobiography), this book is one of the most colored by the author's ethnocentrism. It could be an interesting read but must be supplemented by more objective biographies of Gandhi to get a complete picture.

CMT's Book Rating 3/5

चाँद का टुकड़ा

कल रात चाँद तोड़ लिया मैंने,
सजा कर रख डाला मेज़ के ऊपर
बत्तियां बुझा दी कमरे की,
और देखता रहा चमकते चाँद को रात भर

पास से देखो, तो पता चलता है
चाँद के दाग बड़े गहरे हैं
जैसे बचपन में चेचक हुआ हो
और दवा के असर करने से पहले दाग छोड़ गया हो

हाथ लगाओ, तो चुभता है उसे
दाग सूखे - से हैं, पर दर्द अब भी है
कोई गहरी चोट आई होगी कभी,
घाव भरने में वक़्त लगा तो दर्द गहराता गया

हाल पूछो, तो कराहता है चाँद
दबी सहमी आवाज़ में बुदबुदाता है
दाग का राज़ पूछो तो सहम उठता है
बहती आँखों से किस्सा सुनाता जाता है

बन के बेटी इंसान की , जन्मा था कहीं
कोसते बाप ने गरम चिमटा लगा डाला था
जले का दाग रह गया चिमटे से...
जवानी शौहर के जूते खाकर गुज़री
कुछ नए दाग और बनते गए...
बुज़ुर्ग होने पर बेटे ने कसर निकाल ली
जो भी दाग थे, गहराते गए...

आँख भर आई बात कहते-कहते,
मेज़ की चादर गीली हो गयी आंसुओं से
सिसकती आवाज़ में कह पड़ा चाँद मुझसे,
"फिर किसी मासूम बच्ची को चाँद का टुकड़ा न कहना"

you are so CUTE....

How much some boys would love to be called CUTE by girls and how readily will they pour out their wallets on buying chocolate cakes and teddy bears in a failed attempt to hear this little word....

Boys are simple... you show them a girl, the Leydig Cells of the testes release the Testosterone and they are ready... if the girl smiles, they are "high", and if the girl says, "you are so cute", the heart rate of the guy has already crossed permissible limits. With girls it is more complicated. You show them a guy, they do not notice. The guy dresses up well, talks nicely, has a heavy wallet, a car to drive, he is OK; could be friends. If the guy is 'dependable' (defined as per the girl concerned), macho, heroic, out of the world, well... she might consider dating. If he is the Cupid's own incarnation, she would marry him provided he bends on his knees with a ROCK Solitaire diamond ring and says "will you marry me?" That is why you hear boys 'hunting' for girls (and not 'vice-versa') because hunting, by its very definition, means a tedious job that requires a focused approach, a meticulous plan and a flawless execution. Ask any man who has had a 'yes' after the knee-agonizing-wallet-fuming-solitaire-gifting scene and he will proudly (and sigh fully) tell you how he 'accomplished' this. Girls know that they are privileged and they do not need to run after boys. Boys are anyways running after them. In all this chase game, there are but a few respites. The adjectives like 'my baby', 'cutie pie', 'sweetoo','jaanu' are like the small Vishisht Seva Medals which are awarded to control attrition of low paid army men.

I, today, want to discuss the most frequently used adjectives nowadays - cute. One doesn't need to look in a dictionary to understand the meaning; it is the connotation which is more important. Earlier the adjective was mostly used for babies. Men would generally be honoured with "handsome", "smart" or the like. But recent trends in colleges say that "CUTE" has far outweighed any adjective hitherto used by ladies. The word carries such wide scope and universal appeal that it applies to Brad Pitt as easily as it does to Dhoni. Abhishek Bachchan is also cute to some and so is Salman Khan (they are 'cute' and 'ex-cute' to Ash). Such wide usages makes it confusing to understand the real connotation of the term. Well, one should look at real life examples. In most cases, a guy having looks and physique of Salman Khan shall not be called cute. Handsome might be a rather appropriate word. Cute, at times, is more suitably applied to sissy guys, (you know, who shake their hands more than they shake their heads while talking and their bums more than their legs while walking), but most girls today are giving up this usage. New terms are being coined for the purpose. In that case, cute is most aptly applied to a chubby, rounded, plump and clown like figure. He is vitually the humanized version of the Panda. Cute is, today, directly proportional to the visible proportion of adipose tissue (fat storing tissues) in your body and is fast replacing the adjective fat (or obese) as its politically correct synonym.

It is no wonder that when I was first called cute, I thought of myself as Salman Khan, but when I was called cute by plenty and they accompanied this with a smile or a laugh, I was compelled to believe that the latter meaning (the politically correct version of fat is intended. I have met girls rarely during my college days (thanks to the amazing sex ratio at IITs) and hence never bothered about how I looked. The four years had left me half-haired and twice-bellied. I was first called cute by my girlfriend and I was justified in thinking myself as Salman Khan. Why else would a girl who called me cute, become my girlfriend, right? Well, I was called cute again by my female friends of office. I was a bit impressed initially but worried later. I could see that their then boyfriends (now their husbands) are far more better looking than I am and hence cute, by no means, would have meant "macho" or "handsome" when it was used for me. I asked my girlfriend why she called me cute and with a giggling smile she explained me the 'real' connotation. I was broke. I looked in the mirror. My waistline was thinner than my tummy line. In vital stats, I would be something like 36-46-36 (chest-tummy-waist...perverts!!!). When I looked at my face, it felt like a miniature version of my tummy was transplanted as my cheeks with the nose and ears clumsily fit on the lump. I could be easily termed "du tho gola" (bihari - दू ठो गोला meaning 'two circles'). Having realized the real intended meaning of the word, I had no choice but to accept the honour (with regret)

It has been few months that I took a break from my job and started studying once again. After about a few weeks of classes, got acquainted with a couple of girls. They were nice, friendly, intellingent and talkative. And when one evening, while sipping tea at a roadside stall, they almost unanimously said, "CMT, you are so cute...." I was broke, once again.