Ramana's Musings

This is a guest post by my sister Padmini Natarajan who is a regular contributor to Sulekha.com and a professional writer. Her articles appear in many magazines in Chennai and she has co-authored/edited a few books that have won acclaim and awards.

This piece is all about the special foods in various parts of our diverse country. At least for me, reading it was a nostalgia trip. I hope that all those who read this get as much enjoyment as I did reading it.
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Frankly all this Globalization has taken the charm out of eating! There used to be a time when you looked forward to travelling to new places to taste the food that was special to that place.

If it was Chennai it was Idli, Vadai, Sambhar, Dosai and Chutney and Pongal, Puli saadam and that ambrosia—Curd Rice. Tirunelveli halwa and payasam brought up the sweet menu.

Kerala dished out aapam and stew both vegetable and fish and the rich coconut oil flavoured Nendranga chips and the Jackfruit varieties and the adai pradamam. The vella payasam made up of rice, gur, coconut and spices and dripping with ghee served in temples was unmatched.

Delhi was the place for Tandoori roti, chaat, Paneer dishes, sarson ka saag in winter with makkai ki roti—not to forget the sharp taste of the radish, white mooli and tender cucumbers sold by vendors with baskets full of fresh stuff harvested from the Yamuna river bed and served with a dash of pepper and salt and maybe a hint of kaala namak. Sweets bought in Bengali market, the dry spell in the summer when no milk based sweets were sold and the delicious taste of the moti choor ke laddu, gajjar ka halwa and Mathura ka Peda and Karol Bagh’s Kulfi and huge glasses of Lassi.

Calcutta meant rosogollas in earthen pots from KC Das and hot, hot singadas. Mishti doi from the corner doodhwala and a plate full rainbow coloured sweets like kaala jamuns, chum chums, malai channa and mishtis. Chocolates from Flurrys was a treat and the chana garam and kulfi at Victoria Memorial and pink candy floss in the Zoo were out of this world.

Bombay meant Bhel Puri, Paani Puri, Dahi Batata Puri, Vada Paav and ‘cutlees and sandich’ eaten on the streets, in little cubbyholes called restaurants or in famous joints all hade a unique taste. Thali food in Purohit, Thakur or in lately-come –Johnny places like Kamats was a treat for a hungry shopper or sightseer. Bombay Halwa from Chandu Halwai, Mohenthal and Jilebis, Phirni from Bhendi Bazaar and Alphonso mangoes in season was part of the branding of the city.

Indore ki Mithai Galli, Hyderabad ka Pulla Reddy, Bangalore’s Iyengar bakery, Lucknow ki Daseri and Mysore Pak were identified with the history of the cities.

A trip to London was a dip into Baked potatoes, Pies, Ploghman’s lunches, cucumber sandwiches, scones and crumpets, Trifles and Cheesecakes. Italy meant pasta and pizzas wafting aromas of Olive Oil and fresh herbs and gelatos. Paris was the place for Nouvelle Cuisine, Croissants and Baguettes, Cheese and Cold Cuts, gateauxs and sorbets. The States meant McDonalds, KFC, Apple Pie and Chowder. Singapore or Hong Kong—even for that matter China Town in Calcutta—was the place for Mien and Chow, Wontons and Chinese Soups, Toffeed Apples and Lichis and Chopsticks to eat food.

Today, every big city boasts of restaurants, hotels, caterers and cubby-hole eateries that serve anything from everywhere. Even Ethiopian food, Lebanese specialities and Egyptian platters have attacked the hungry consumer in every big city.

Fusion is in! Food traditions have been indigenised and you get Chicken Manchurian with Sambhar Podi in it, Paneer Pizza, Nachos as Dahi Vada and Chicken Tikka Burgers. I think the biggest grief is to have Pasta Biryani, Mince gol guppas and Mutton or mien filled dosas that scream of globalization in its worst avatar.

Soon I expect we will have mini Taj’s, Eiffel Towers and London Bridges in all cities to make the world a truly global entity. Then we wont need to take a plane—anyway with the airfares rocketing it is going to get more and more dearer—to ‘furrin’ parts to gawp at the seven,m eight, nine whatever wonders of the world. Disney is already miniaturising famous monuments in their theme parks all over the world and famous people are being re-waxed in Madame Tussauds in major cities.

No wonder people are hitting the trekking trail and opting for nature holiday or Safaris where you can go sightseeing and experience raw unexploited natural scenery! And the last resort is to turn up your nose and say, “Well darling! There is so much to eat, see and experience in India, why go elsewhere” and then get into your car and take off down the ECR Road, Mumbai Pune Highway, Delhi-Jaipur six way etc.

Bon appetite!

Tags: Nostalgia

What a Sunday! I got my weekly dose of "Outlook" and an article in it prompted this post. After I finished writing the first draft, another article caught my attention and that too has been added as an after thought in this same post.

The first article is by Saikat Datta and gives an interesting insight into the working of India’s RAW (Research and Analysis Wing). It is aptly titled "Spy versus Spy" and talks about the intra departmental rivalries between the IPS (Indian Police Service) officials and the RAS (Research and Analysis Service). The two services between the two of them have apparently been causing a lot of problems within this important part of India’s security establishment.

When I mentioned this to one of my retired Armed forces friends, he told me that this was nothing and went on to elaborate how, these two will gang up at an appropriate opportunity to take on the IAS, the BSF, the Armed Forces, etc and within the bureaucracy and the establishment, there will always be such inter departmental, and inter services rivalries and detrimental politicking. He related the latest instance of how the Rajasthan Police and the IPS, including the CBI blamed the BSF for being corrupt and allowing Bangladeshis to enter India.

He also mentioned how the IAS has always done things to protect its own turf at the cost of other services and pointed out the latest Pay Commission fiasco which has resulted in a lot of unpleasantness in the Armed Forces as well as in the Scientific establishment etc.

The political scene is no less illuminating for its sheer self-centeredness at the cost of the nation’s interest. The drama of the UPA unraveling and political wheeling dealing going on is a spectacle that no Bollywood movie can match for its sheer drama!

The other article is inset by John Mary "25:17…Path Of The Righteous Man" which talks about the crisis in Kerala arising out of text books approved for school children. One cites the example of an instance in a text book where the child of mixed parenthood unable to fill in religion cast etc in an application form, which has been criticized for leaving the children with lasting impressions,of quite what, one is led to imagine.

I had first hand experience of this in Bangalore in 1989. My son Ranjan was seeking admission into the plus two section of a college and required my personal appearance before the Principal to secure it. I rushed only to be informed that the application form as filled in by me will result in Ranjan not getting a hall ticket to write his examinations. The problem was that I had written that Ranjan had no religion or cast. At that point it was true as Ranjan had not made up his mind whether to take up my religion, Hinduism or his mother’s which is Christianity. So, after mutual consultation, Ranjan and I agreed to put in Hinduism as his religion but that left the caste. I joked with the Principal that perhaps I should put it down as Scheduled Caste. He promptly advised me to do so, if I could produce documentary evidence as, a lot of benefits can accrue to Ranjan. I politely declined. When I suggested that it be Nil, the Principal pointed out that while he appreciated my intentions, it would be impractical as the computer would not recognize nil as a caste and would create endless problems for Ranjan. I was beaten by technology and had to put in my caste down.

On a visit to my father in his village home, when I related this story to him, my father, a wise man berated me for having missed an opportunity. He said that it would have been a simple matter for him to have got a certificate issued to me identifying me as belonging to one of the scheduled castes! It would have perhaps cost a few hundred rupees, but it could have been done!

And that brings me to the last part of this post. As I finished writing the above, I checked the latest news and found this which I urge all of you to visit and read.

This is from CNN and I reproduce the first few paragraphs to whet your appetite.

"NEW DELHI, India (CNN) — One out of every three families living below the poverty level in India paid a bribe last year for basic public services, like admitting a family member into a hospital, according to a new report.

The report by Transparency International India and the Center for Media Studies said poor people in India paid about $210 million (9,000 million rupees) in bribes last year to the police, schools, hospitals and power companies.

The bribes were for basic services, the report said: to file a police report, to enroll a child in school, to admit a family member into a hospital or to get electricity turned on.

"This kind of corruption that denies people their entitlement to basic and need based services, many of which may be ‘free’ by law, results in the poor finding themselves at the losing end of the corruption chain," said R. H. Tahiliani of Transparency International India in a statement."

Tags: Indians, Politics

CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I wish to write about two instances of customer service or the lack of it.

One where I am, as a customer, disgusted and the other where, I am delighted and rooting for the supplier of the service.

The first story.

Times of India, has a Pune subedition called Pune Times. This is a daily that accompanies the main paper. Pune Times contains a whole lot of stuff of interest to perhaps the page three types and the yuppie crowd.  There was a time when children used to like it for the comic strips but that has stopped a long time ago, as they have been recycling the same old stuff over and over again.

If there is one thing about the Pune Times that is of value to me, and to many of my friends, it is the daily crossword puzzle. Neither I nor my friends are spring chicken and our eye sights are not very sharp.  The puzzle simply is of too small a font size and the space to fill in, too little to make the solving of the puzzle a joyful experience.

I have written to the Pune Times by email about their recycling the comic strips and the poor get up of the crossword puzzle and they have neither taken corrective action, nor responded to my mails.

If you think that this perhaps is a local aberration and Times of India as a newspaper will behave in a more professional manner, wait till you read another experience that I had with them.

The Economic Times, recently advertised their publication, The Best Of ET 2007. As advised by them on the body of the advertisement, I went to their website from which I could have bought the book online.  The website did not oblige.  I wrote a complaint about it to the person whose contact details were given in their website’s automated response, about this aberration and till date, I have neither heard from the book sellers nor from Economic Times.

Will I root for the Times Group, where customer service matters?

I also read Business Standard every day. The first time I had a problem with missing crossword puzzles, I wrote to them and within twelve hours I got a response, explaining their problem, giving me an assurance that they would solve the problem within the next few weeks and requesting me to bear with the inconvenience caused till then.  They solved the problem to my full satisfaction within the committed time.  They too, went to a small font size for the crossword puzzle, in the process of redesigning their paper and I wrote to them again advising them about this problem and how senior citizens like me found it difficult to solve the puzzles.  I got a reply back from them, and immediate corrective action was taken too.

Business Standard too advertised their publication India 2008 and I had the same problem with their portal not proceeding further after confirmation of the order.  I sent an email to them about the problem, and within six hours, I got a response from their IT people regarding the problem and that it had been fixed and requesting me to try the portal again.  I did, this time successfully and received the book within 48 hours too!

Two competing newspapers/groups. The first one, a long established one with a great name.  The other, a new one fighting for its place in the sun.  Is it because it is fighting for its place in the sun that it provides such customer service, albeit to one cranky individual customer?  I believe that it is not. I sincerely believe that it is a matter of a culture that the latter is building in its business model. While the former is sustained by its history and does not care for its readers, the latter is building a strong service oriented culture.

What do you think?

"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." – William Shakespeare.

Conversations to do with someone’s names can have some very peculiar outcomes. My name often results in some unexpected developments, new friendships are made and new insights into the whole process of naming are developed.

I was introduced to a new resident to our colony today and we went through the visiting card exchanging routine. He was promptly intrigued with the spelling of my surname, which has got an unusual “U” inserted in it. Rajgopaul instead of Rajgopal. I had to explain that this was done by my father under advise from a numerologist and all his children and grandchildren have got stuck with it.

This is not the first time that this discussion has taken place. I have had the same conversation with countless individuals. Quite a few of them have been quite disappointed that I am not a Christian! Quite a few, very happy that I am not.

For curious Europeans and Americans, I have even translated it to mean King of Cowboys, which actually it is. Rajgopal is a name given to Lord Krishna who was the King of cowherds. Naturally, I had to also explain that it was only a family name and I was not a Prince, or a Rajah!

I have also had to explain to many South Indians that my name is not Rajgopaul and that it is my surname. Tamilians have the custom of using only their given name and using their father’s name as the initials. Famous names such as Krishnamachari Srikant, Ramanathan Krishnan etc follow this system. My father however was exposed to the North Indian method and decided that he should start a clan called the Rajgopauls, and he has had his way. There are quite a few, and at the latest count the fourth generation has come into existence to keep the lineage going.

I was talking about this topic with some friends when one of them, a Sindhi who has spent a lifetime in Hong Kong suggested that I acquire myself a Chinese name and gave me a site to visit for the purpose. I did, and got myself a Chinese name, which is Ran Rui Ming. Ran, as per the Chinese system being the surname Rui and Ming being the letters of the given name meaning Sharp, Bright, Light, Brilliant and Clear. My friend from Hong Kong is very amused with the name and insists on calling me by that. For those of you who are interested, please visit http://www.mandarintools.com/ You can get yourself a Chinese name too.

This subject is a fascinating one with a lot of twists and turns. More on this subject in some future posts.

Tags: Names

I saw this cartoon in a blog during my surfing experience yesterday and wish to share it with all of you.

This is the universal human problem!  The grass being greeener on the other side of the fence.

I have felt like this any number of times and inevitably found someone else who had a different perceptive on the situation, or till I got what I thought would be better, only to regret letting go of the earlier job.

This cartoon however says it so elegantly!

There is a wonderful blog called A Deaf Mom Shares Her World which I strongly recommend to all.

This blog is full of such amazing stories about a family of deaf people and what they do.

In the latest blog, the blogger asks the question “Are you living your dream life?”
In my comment on her blog I said “I am a Vedantin from India. What you probably know as a Hindu. For Vedantins, life itself is a dream. It is unreal. What you probably know as Maya or inaccurately translated as illusion. In Eastern religions, there is no substance to this life and it is but a dream. This has now been kind of supported by modern physicists like Fritjof Capra. So, to your specific query, Yes, my life is a dream!”
A Zen Master tells his students that he had a dream in which he was flitting around like a butterfly. Since he woke up he has been unable to decide whether he is the master who dreamed about the butterfly or if he was the butterfly dreaming that he was the master with the students.
Eastern traditions, religions and philosophy are full of such amazing insights that one can get completely lost in a life long study. That is what happens to Sanyasis and Monks in the Eastern traditions.

In the Indian tradition, the training in such matters start from the time of the individual’s student days called the Brahmacharya Ashrama, continues during his householder days called the Grahasthashrama Ashrama, takes serious contours during his retirement days called the Vanaprastha Ashrama and culminates in his total withdrawl from society days called the Sanyasa Ashrama. While, from every stage one could jump into the last stage under the express approval of Rishis who satisfy themselves that the individual has no other responsibilities, normally, the individual experienced a full and rich life before the full time pursuit of matters spiritual.

Perhaps my answer to the blogger should have then been “As a Vedantin, my dream is to become a Sanyasi and I am on the path. I am now in the Grahastha Ashrama stage due to circumstances beyond my control, but I have every hope of moving to the other two Ashramas.” In all honesty, I cannot tell her that I am not living the life of a Grahastha as a Brahmachary dreams of.

Would she have understood it? Do you, dear reader?

Tags: Philosophy, Religion, vedanta

Today was my birthday. I stopped celebrating my birthday many years ago. My family and friends however insist on my contacting me one way or the other to greet me and to wish me for many happy returns. One day in a year, I enjoy that attention but still will not consent to a celebration of any kind.

The day started off with a phone call all the way from the USA from a delightful friend of 18 years who has not forgotten my birthday even once in all these years that I have known him. He chatted with me for a long time on a number of things including this blog.

My son Ranjan wanted to find out what I would like for a gift and since I did not have anything that I wanted, simply stuck a wad of currency notes into my hand and insisted that I should indulge myself!

After that, it was a series of calls and email messages. I had to go to my weekly Vedanta class and on my return, found a surprise birthday gift from a relatively new and young friend. This is again something that has not happened to me in a long time as everyone in my circle of family and friends knows that I do not celebrate and so do not send or give any gifts. This too was a welcome development for its sheer unexpectedness. When I thanked her for the gift, my friend further made my day for me by conveying to me that she found her association with me to be very fruitful and that she has benefited from it. What better morale booster can one ask for?

In the evening during our usual visit to the joggers’ park, all my friends greeted me, and people who did not know about it earlier also chipped in to the extent that it became almost embarrassing.

After such an interesting day, in retrospect, I still believe that the best thing that happened to me during the day was, this morning’s Times of India, which had a very topical cartoon by Jug Suraiya & Ajit Nainan. I am unable to download it for showing it to all of you, as I suspect that TOI does not publish cartoons in their web edition!

It shows a lady celebrating her birthday and her husband handing over a couple of bags with a satisfied smirk on his face. The lady’s expression is simply joyful with her eyes popping out and the text reads – “A litre of petrol and a kilo of atta? Wow – they are the best birthday presents I’ve got!”

This morning’s Times of India, under its regular column, “Last Word” quoted “ I dislike referring to them as dogs or my pets. This is because they are a part of me, my family and they share my every joy and sorrow. They understand me completely and there is such a big bond, such a rapport that I share with them that it moves me beyond words. Salman Khan on his two pet dogs, Myson and Myjaan, on his blog.”

Just two days ago a friend of mine came over to have lunch with us and to spend some time with us. We had not met for some time and I enquired about his son and daughter in law who were in Mumbai. He brought me up to date and told me that they have moved back to Pune with both of them getting good jobs here. He further told me that he was rather stumped with their life style as they have taken a very big loan and bought a three-bed room flat. On my expressing amazement, he continued that they now had two dogs and a dog handler who was needed to look after the dogs and so the two extra rooms were for the dogs and the handler. His daughter in law has grown up with dogs as pets in her maternal home, and she simply cannot be without dogs in her home!

We have four mongrels living in our housing society. They have adopted us and nothing that we do gets rid of them. Quite how they survive is anyone’s guess. They do not harm any body and bark at everything and any body strange coming into the society’s compound. Some Good Samaritan had taken them to the blue cross and got them neutered and I am told that this is a humane way of treating stray dogs. My query as to how they could be humanely made to shut up in the nights when they seem to take delight in non-stop barking for hours together, in concert with other stray dogs, is yet to be answered by the do gooding animal lovers.

I wonder if either Salman Khan or my friend’s daughter in law, can come up with some solution. I certainly intend asking the latter when I next meet her.

Time is change, transformation, evolution…—Isaac L. Peretz

At 7.15 this morning, I received a phone call from a friend from my past. Someone that I had not seen for over ten years, but with whom I am in frequent telephone touch.

This friend PS, and his wife were the local guardians to our son Ranjan, when he was in boarding school for three years. Our son was practically like a son in their home as, every holiday and special occasion, he could be found in their home along with their own two sons and a daughter, all elder to our son.

PS wanted to know if I was awake and naturally I was curious! So, I asked him as to where he was calling from. He sheepishly said that he had just got off a plane at the Pune airport and was on his way to our home along with his son Satya. They just wanted to spend some time with us before they went off to Shirdi, a place of pilgrimage, and four hours’ drive from our place.

The three of us quickly got ready to receive them. When they finally arrived, it was to surprise us further as; their respective wives, one small child and two other elders, all members of the family accompanied them!

It was a great reunion for all of us, and particularly for Ranjan and Satya, as they had a lot to catch up with, Satya having gone off to the USA many years ago.

All of those present however were certain of one thing. If as individuals each had seen any one else in a neutral location, no recognition of each other could have taken place. Yes, time had taken its toll. PS had undergone by-pass surgery and become a grand father five times over. I had undergone revision to my replaced hips, Satya had got married and become a father, Ranjan had gone through a marriage and divorce and all the ladies were so much more elegant and charming in their parent and grand parent status.

Time the great leveler!

Tags: Relationships and change

There is a news item this morning in the web that a few Pakistani soldiers were killed while on a routine patrol of the LOC in Kashmir. The Pakistani official in charge of the sector however clarified that Indians were not responsible and some miscreants fired on the patrol and killed the soldiers. The Indian officer on the other hand also confirmed that both Pakistani and Indian forces engaged the miscreants who were trying to infiltrate into Kashmir.

This is the first time that I have come across such heartening news from the flash point between the two nations.

I am suddenly filled with hope that perhaps there now seems to be some hope for peace between the two.