Fast Car Slow City

So, I am a car owner now. Does it mean good bye to the Last Train to Panvel? Nah!
Firstly, it's going to take some time to get used to this new fact, considering that I never wanted to own a car. I mean, who wants the hassle of maintaining a white elephant, worry about one ways, traffic jams, parking, break-downs etc. etc. Taking trains, taxis etc. is actually so much more convenient.  And I would rather spend my savings on travelling, seeing my country and the world and so many other nice things in life.

Alas! Public transport has become a scarce and difficult commodity in this city. It doesn't augur well for our urban future if privately owned transport becomes a necessity rather than a luxury.

I had posted this earlier on this blog. I am forced to state that New Bombay is not a great city. I hope it becomes at least a good city while I am still alive.

In the mean-time, a car and a driver has brought a much needed convenience. Hujband says: stop complaining, feel happy.

OK.

Dreams

YouTube is fabulous. It lets one actually see events about which one has only heard about and that too vaguely.

“I have a dream” for me was one such event I knew about but had no real idea of how it unfolded or what it consisted of. Then I saw this clipping on the YouTube, to be totally swept off my feet. This legendary speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr from the Lincoln Memorial is a masterpiece of  courage of its conviction and the manner of oratory. It arouses an indescribable feeling even 47 years later, knowing fully well about the impact it had on the American mindscapes then. I have since watched this video clipping many times and even used it for teaching in my Humanities class.



During the very first viewing, I found two things particularly striking. The first was that several of the volunteers of the civil rights movement seen on the dias with Dr. King were wearing Gandhi caps. Although Dr. King never met Gandhi, he acknowledged the influence of Gandhi’s ideas and methods of civil disobedience on the struggle of Black population in America (children of former slaves) for equal rights.

The other striking thing was to see so many white folks among the multitudes who had thronged the Mall in Washington DC to listen to Dr. King. Several of them had brought their kids along and can be seen as hoisting the little ones on their shoulders so that they can have a better view. This is very significant as the Civil Rights Movement was not just fought by the aggrieved but also supported by the civil society at large that stood for justice.

I could not help drawing parallels with the struggle for Dalit rights in our country. In many ways the lot of Dalits in Indian society was far worse that of the Blacks in America. The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes consist of appx. 24% of our population. They have been historically excluded from Indian society for centuries. The struggle for Independence brought their plight in the foreground because of leaders like Gandhi and Ambedkar. In the ensuing free republic, their plight was formally recognized and measures of alleviation incorporated. Yet, in the advantaged civil society of our country, it is rare to find any empathy for this group. We even use the term SC/ST as an expression of derision. How many of us will ever attend a rally in support of the rights of some other section of our own society, let alone sensitizing our children to their plight?

It is not enough to have rights enshrined in the constitution. They are meaningless if there is lack of justice on ground. A civil society is one where the majority in mainstream stands up for the demand of justice for the minorities and marginalized.

 I do not know whether we are there yet.

Goodbye 2009

2009 was a good year. I went on two maha yatras: Spain and France in May and Ladakh in September, besides going to Aurangabad and Lonar during the Diwali holidays. Academically, it has been a taking it easy year: No Conferences and no research papers, yet an enjoyable year on the whole. Also, started this blog which is just a collection of random notes, more for myself and less intended for any readership. Not that there is any. I happily bid adieu to 2009. For the coming year, for the first time in my life, I make some resolutions.

In random order of importance:

1. Not sleep till late on non-working days.
2. Exercise more and remain healthy.
3. Cook and clean more often.
4. Write at least one blog-post per week.
5. Be more tolerant of fools.
6. Not waste time on the net.
7. Be more organized.
8. Actually start keeping promises to friends about meeting up on Fridays.
9. Learn a new skill, language and software.
10. Be nice to people.

In short, I have decided to improve. Amen.

Sangria at Christmas

Christmas celebrations started in advance. Two days back, J brought a home-made cake and later, we participated in a naive but very jolly programme in the college. Although, we are still awaiting the goodies from the neighbours, the yule tide is very much around us.

Today, on the Christmas day, after a long while, got to spend a quiet holiday at home with the husband. Our spirits were high with the prospect of one week of domestic bliss and to raise them further, we decided to celebrate by making Sangria- a Spanish cocktail like a fruit punch. Sangria comes from 'Sang Real' or Royal Blood, an allusion to Jesus and Mary, so appropriate for the festive season.

Here's how to make it:
Take a large glass jug. throw in a pinch of sugar to start with. Squeeze in one lemon and two oranges. That is, cut them in halves, de-seed and then using the palm, squeeze the juice out of them directly in the jug. Throw in some slices of pear, peach, kiwi fruit- whatever you have -plus slices of orange and lemon. Add some white rum and a small bottle of red wine. Let the mixture marinade for a few hours in the fridge. When ready to drink, take the jug out, top it with lots of ice and chilled soda and give it a good stir. Pour out in tall glasses and enjoy with friends.

No friends were around, the two of us emptied the jug ourselves. Hic!

Getting Drunk on Pineapple Banana Curry

I have a continuous love affair with Malayali food that began in 1992 when I joined PiCA as a founding faculty. There was a sudden explosion of Malayali people in my life- colleagues, neighbours, students and now former students.

A traditional Onam meal, for instance, was a revelation of entirely new flavours and combinations. I was also struck by the sheer number of items served on the Banana leaf. Over the years, I have become adept at eating from a banana leaf- including Payasam which tastes much better that way as it absorbs the aroma of the leaf and mingles with the remnants of previous curries. I have also learnt the trick of crushing ripe banana and papadam into hot payasam while scooping it up with fingers. After such a meal, only thing to do is go to sleep and dream of being in heaven. Surprisingly, upon waking up, you again feel quite light as the ingredients don’t sit heavy on the stomach.

I try my hand sometimes in rustling up a quasi-Kerala meal. I particularly relish combining the flavours of kadi patta and adrak with coconut milk. Today I made the ‘Pineapple banana curry’- a recipe I had picked up from the Jamie Oliver show- my all time favourite on the tele. It is so simple and quick to make and the result is absolutely lip smacking.

Here’s the recipe: Heat oil in a pan and crackle some mustard seeds. Add hing, thinly chopped adrak, a couple of green chillies, kadi patta and sauté for a minute. Dice up one whole pineapple and add to above along with mirchi powder and freshly ground roasted cumin. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, after which add chunks of two bananas and two cups of coconut milk. Bring to boil and simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Add some more kadi patta and green chillies just before removing from the heat. The sweet- sour combination is so unique. The trick is to choose a tender pineapple whose pith is not very hard and one that is properly ripe and juicy; and bananas (ordinary, not elaichi) that are firm and not squishy. I find convenient to use coconut milk solids to make milk and tear up kadi leaves for better infusion of their flavour.

As accompaniment, I made pumpkin pachadi which is also very easy to make. Choose golden ripe pumpkin and grate it fine. Lightly steam- this is important- as should cook but still retain some bite. After cooling it a bit, add beaten curd and salt. Temper with tadka of oil, mustard and jeera, hing, grated adrak, slit chillies and torn up kadi patta. This tampering works with many other things also as the oil gets flavoured with green chillies and kadi patta. I can’t eat chillies as I find them too hot to handle but love it’s flavour. I also prefer the popatiya green variety as it is less hot and more flavourful.

For desert, I mixed ripe, sweet papaya and firm banana tossed with some lemon juice and topped with sour cream. Sour, not sweet. And lemon juice is very important as it so totally combines with papaya.

To wash down all this, the only thing to do was to open the Rhododendron wine bottle which we had picked up from Manali a few months back.

I had really really hectic last two weeks. Cooking this meal was so soothing for the nerves. Wolfing it down  had such happy heady feeling. My head was swimming- I don’t know whether that was the wine or the curry.

Sign Language

The language row in Mumbai, the Hindi v/s Marathi argument, came to a head when MNS MLAs slapped Abu Azmi for taking his oath as a member of the Maharashtra Assembly in Hindi. This action was lauded by many Marathi speakers judging by comments on the websites of Marathi dailies. This by itself is not surprising given the sustained propaganda for over a year. What is surprising is the approval of many Tamil and Kannada bloggers- some partisan to begin with and some others who are otherwise normal, funny or learned suddenly discovering their brothers-in-arm Hindi haters. Are they, in trying to justify this, finding reason for their own stated or latent grouses?

What are the various arguments given by the ‘professors’ of Marathi against Hindi?

The foremost is Hindi hegemony or Hindi arrogance, that Hindiwallas expect others to learn Hindi by falsely claiming it as THE National Language. So they refuse to learn other languages. India is multi-lingual in character and Hindi is one more language among many. The Hindiwallahs expect the shopkeepers and auto-drivers in Chennai to speak in Hindi. Now, while most non-Hindi people have experienced this arrogance; let it be known that the Hindi arrogance is not exclusive to Hindiwallas. Equally, Gujaratis, Bangalis and indeed Marathis expect the auto-driver in Chennai to understand them in Hindi.

The other argument is that the local language should have primacy over the others, that all outsiders should respect it and learn it. Nothing wrong here, except that these bloggers who are writing from Bangalore/ Chennai/ and mostly USA don’t realize that when it comes to Mumbai, Marathi is NOT the only local language. If India is multi-lingual, then Mumbai is its microcosm. Traveling in Bombay’s local trains, you would hear many of these tongues.  The language of public communication and discourse is a mix of Hindi and English. This is how it has been always and most Mumbaikars don’t see what’s wrong with it. It is very common here to find two Gujaratis, two Malayalis or even two Marathis speak with each other in Hindi and English. In this sense, I feel that Bombay (unlike Delhi where it is local) is the only place where Hindi is spoken as the national language. Nobody has imposed Hindi here. Mumbai has no reason to despise it; after all it is the home of Hindi Film Industry. Many non-Marathis in Mumbai such as me are well versed in Marathi not because we ‘respect’ it, simply because we have friends and enjoy its cinema, theatre and culture. Many are not.

The Marathi v/s Hindi battle, linguistically, is artificial as they belong to the same family. Every urban Marathi perfectly understands Hindi and speaks it fairly well without having to specially learn it. Moreover, both are written in the Devanagari script, making them even more similar. This knowledge of Hindi is the Marathi man’s strength as he can do business with a number of other linguistic groups in the country.

It is ridiculous to compare Mumbai with Chennai or Marathi with Tamil. In the 1950s, probably there was validity in the anti-Hindi sentiments in the South. In 2009, such chauvinism is dated and self defeating. The shopkeeper or auto-driver in Chennai does not gain anything (only looses business) by pretending not to know Hindi. Mumbai can well do without the misplaced concerns of misguided 'Madrasis'.

As for the Marathi speakers, they might do well to remember that all of Bombay’s populations, including most Marathis, are migrants except for the Kolis and the Agris (fisherfolks and salt makers). Bombay’s mosaic of sub-cultures was formed well before it became the capital of Maharashtra. They should try to see through the propaganda by which their sentiments are exploited for political games.  Instead, they should devise innovative ways of making their earthy and rich language more popular and fashionable among non Marathi speakers. This should not be a tall order given inherent talents of Marathi writers, film makers and musicians.

As for the political goons, they only do disservice to Marathi when they violently try to foist it on people. It is so ironic, for instance, their insistence on Marathi sign boards. They forget that Marathi is written in Devnagri- same as Hindi. The train commuters witness this oddity on the station name boards daily. As can be seen below.

Things that Annoy Me

1.  This street dog who thinks that the landing in front of my door is his private potty.

2.  People in the neighbourhood who insist on reversing their cars with horrible tunes at ungodly hours.

3.  People who think that their kids are God’s gift to humanity and don’t think it necessary to teach them some humility.

4.  Relatives who look me over as if I was something that the cat brought home.

5.  People who think that laptops are some new age radios and have never heard of ear-phones.

6.  People who flood my inbox with ‘invites’ to join Facebook or to view their photos.

7.  Passengers on trains who insist on talking loudly on their cell phones and if not, listening to ‘music’ without ear-phones.

8.  New Bombay train stations that don’t think it necessary to have indicators on the path leading up to the platforms and mostly, not even on the platforms.

9.  Idiots who thought of installing metal detectors blocking the smooth exit at the VT station. And even bigger idiots who write letters to the news-papers complaining that they are out of order, or if not, how the beeps go unchecked and the security is so lax.

10. Panvel auto-rickshaw drivers who think it is their birthright to fleece passengers; and the dumb people who don’t protest.

11. People who spit from their car widows, train windows, windows from the upper deck of a bus, while walking on crowded platforms, streets unmindful of people just behind/below them

12. Characters in TV serials who speak in faux-Gujju accent.

13. News readers on NDTV who think their drawl is oh! so fashionable.

14. Cookery programmes on TV by Indian chefs- I mean they actually succeed in making the act of cooking, that too Indian cooking, totally sterile and unexciting. As if that was not enough- there is always a dumb looking anchor who insists on repeating every explanation. And at this stage, if you think that they can’t do anything more to insult your intelligence- they give you a quick recap. Jeez.

15. Hindustan Times for believing that the traffic police’s job is to arrest pedestrians and not to control traffic.

16. Motorists who think that the roads were made for the sole purpose of double-parking.

17. People who are behind me in the queue at the bank counter, who can’t stand patiently in a single file, insisting on stepping on the side. Not that they want to jump the line or dare to. They just think that being closer to the window will make things faster.

18. Bollywood film makers who make dumb films just because the NRI audiences lap them up.

19. NRIs who write letters via e-mail to India Today and Outlook- lecturing all and sundry on how to run the country.

20. The Indian middle class who think that it is the mission of the rest of the world to prevent India from becoming a super-power.

PS. Inspired by a dear old friend.