When we think of Delhi, the first thing that comes to our mind is the street food. The blissful aroma of papdi chaat, gol gappa, chole bhaturey, Samosa and what not. One of the best places to eat street food is Punjab Sweet House, on Ajmal Khan Road, in Karol Bagh. It is a decent sized sweet shop, with some place to stand and eat. Seating is available upstairs but will anyone want to sit and have the waiter serve gol gappa on the table and insult the genius who invented it. Oh! And for people not so familiar with Delhi, gluttony might be a sin but its worse to call gol gappa as pani puri in Delhi.
On a hot, sultry June afternoon, we made our way to this joint. First were the gol gappas, which have to eaten standing next to the guy making it and be served one at a time in a cup made of dry leaves. I suggest the ones made of rava (Semolina) but you also have the ones made of wheat. For the extra adventurous, you can try it without the sweet chutney. Another point to note for people not so familiar with Delhi, the sweet chuntey is called SONTH and not meetha. At the end of the gol gappa eating session, make sure to have some of the water to drink. If you get 2-3 hiccups due to the spice, it is a sign that you have enjoyed it, else keep drinking till you get one.
After 5-6 gol gappa’s each, we went for the papdi chat with dahi bhallas. Make sure you tell the guy to make it with dahi bhallas, else the whole essence of the papdi chaat is lost. After the spicy gol gappa’s, the slightly sweet and tangy chaat was soothing to the taste buds. Once you have had the papdi chaat, ask the guy to give you some gol gappa spicy water in the same plate that you ate the papdi chaat…. It is not obnoxious. Do this and you will bless me for the rest of your life. Still not satisfied, we ordered choley bhaturey and shared it. Two huge bhaturas in one plate is good enough for two people. And you get the ever tasty chole, extra, at no additional cost. Make sure you eat the pickle and the onions that come with it and for the ever adventurous, take a bite of the green chilli…….
To end it all, we ordered lassi. It was hot standing outside and eating and the lassi would cool our bodies (including our stomach). It came in a humongous steel glass with a small ball of malai (cream) in it. The idea is to drink it bottoms up and at the end of it,one should have a small white moustache made.
Now the only thing was to go home, switch on the AC and hit the rug. A sound sleep of a good 2-3 hours is the best way to digest it. By the way, the damages. All this for 4 people cost us Rs. 250/- only. Now that’s the icing on the cake, or rather the malai in the lassi.
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Wednesday 10 June 2009
A rude true story
Away from the food reviews and trying to express my views on the dance of the democracy. I want to share incident which happened recently in front of my eyes. It was shocking to say the least.
Date - June 3, 2008. Place - Chennai Egmore railway station. Train - Rockford Express from Chennai to Kumbakonam. As the train left the platform at 10:30 pm, many travellers were already sleepy. We had upper berths, so climbed up and sat comfortably, to have the lower berth travellers sort themselves out. Opposite me was an octogenerian (80+) couple travelling. The man was given the lower berth and the lady alloted the middle berth. Another 3 people had different berths, but lets leave them alone as they are not related to this incident. On the second lower berth was a man, who would have been around 30-35 years old. The elderly man requested this youngster to swap the middle berth with his cancer stricken, 80+ old wife, for the lower berth, so it would avoid her the ignominy of climbing up the middle berth. I was appalled to see this young man refusing with a straight face and had the audacity of being rude to an extent that anyone who is impatient, would given him two across his face. The reason, he said, he had important documents with him and it was in his bag kept under the seat, so he will not leave his lower berth. The old man requested again and again but his requests fell on deaf ears. The wife pulled up the middle berth and prepared to climb up. At once, the old man made his bed on the lower berth and asked his wife to take it. He took the effort to climb up the middle berth with difficulty. Hats off to this man for being a real gentleman and displaying so much of affection, care and support. The lights went out and all of us slept off.
When I got up in the morning, the octogenerian couple of were gone and so was the rude, young man. I kept wondering if he would slept comfortably that night. If his frail body would have any effects of the climb (although for most of us, its no great shake). I wonder what was so important with that young man, that made him not give up his lower berth. Could he have taken the bag and kept it with him while sleeping? Could he not have locked up everything with a chain to assure the safety? Why was he so rude?
Has the youth of today lost the apathy towards fellow citizens, leave alone elderly people? Have we lost the sensitized feeling? Is this an indication of times to come? I do not have answers to these questions, but shudder at the thought of thinking about them.
Date - June 3, 2008. Place - Chennai Egmore railway station. Train - Rockford Express from Chennai to Kumbakonam. As the train left the platform at 10:30 pm, many travellers were already sleepy. We had upper berths, so climbed up and sat comfortably, to have the lower berth travellers sort themselves out. Opposite me was an octogenerian (80+) couple travelling. The man was given the lower berth and the lady alloted the middle berth. Another 3 people had different berths, but lets leave them alone as they are not related to this incident. On the second lower berth was a man, who would have been around 30-35 years old. The elderly man requested this youngster to swap the middle berth with his cancer stricken, 80+ old wife, for the lower berth, so it would avoid her the ignominy of climbing up the middle berth. I was appalled to see this young man refusing with a straight face and had the audacity of being rude to an extent that anyone who is impatient, would given him two across his face. The reason, he said, he had important documents with him and it was in his bag kept under the seat, so he will not leave his lower berth. The old man requested again and again but his requests fell on deaf ears. The wife pulled up the middle berth and prepared to climb up. At once, the old man made his bed on the lower berth and asked his wife to take it. He took the effort to climb up the middle berth with difficulty. Hats off to this man for being a real gentleman and displaying so much of affection, care and support. The lights went out and all of us slept off.
When I got up in the morning, the octogenerian couple of were gone and so was the rude, young man. I kept wondering if he would slept comfortably that night. If his frail body would have any effects of the climb (although for most of us, its no great shake). I wonder what was so important with that young man, that made him not give up his lower berth. Could he have taken the bag and kept it with him while sleeping? Could he not have locked up everything with a chain to assure the safety? Why was he so rude?
Has the youth of today lost the apathy towards fellow citizens, leave alone elderly people? Have we lost the sensitized feeling? Is this an indication of times to come? I do not have answers to these questions, but shudder at the thought of thinking about them.
Sunday 7 June 2009
The election post-mortem
Well!!! The elections have concluded. Not even 50% of eligible voters exercised their franchise. We have another term for a Ms. Sonia Gandhi de-facto government and the face of the government is still Mr. Manmohan Singh. As such there is no change at the helm of affairs. Some stability at last, instead of having a left government, which is never right or the saffron party which does not seem to understand what secularism means.
As a response to my earlier blogs, many readers mailed back that we have educated and learned people coming into the election foray now. Typical examples being Meera Sanyal, Captain Gopinath or some of the IIM grads, who want to make a difference (or at least have the intention). We should cast our vote for them. The governance of our country will be in good hands if such people went to the Lok Sabha. Agreed ! Definitely these are learned people, who give up the cushion of the corporate sector and air conditioned offices and want to do something for our country. But how many such people have got elected to the Lok Sabha? How many of them have been given an opportunity to do something? How many of them have got a chance to make a difference? The answer is none. None of these so-called learned people got enough votes to enter the parliament. This is not just a one off case. In previous elections also, a few learned people stood for elections but none of them could secure enough votes. They could not and did not make a difference.
First reason is, most of them stood as independent candidates and did not have the backing of the congress, BJP, BSP, SP or RJD or any other political big-wig. Secondly they did not have deep pockets to buy votes in return for a colour TV, rice at Re.1 per kg or distributing currency notes to the electorate to secure votes (lets face it, this is what happens). That was the battle lost even before it began. The majority of the vote bank does not care if a candidate is from IIM or a corporate sector big-wig. The main question for them is “kaunsi party se ho”. The answer is “independent candidate “or “nirdaleeya umeedwar”. Back comes the reply “voh kya hota hai?” You have lost the election there itself.
Statistics speak for themselves. 0.5% of the total independent candidates won the election in their respective constituencies. Who are these guys who won against all odds? These are not from the group of IIM grads or corporate big-wigs wanting to make a difference. These are candidates who use to be a part of Congress, BJP, BSP or RJD sometime in the past and have broken away from them due to difference of opinion. These guys are not amateur politicians but seasoned candidates who know how to play their cards during elections.
A lot of people have told me (read criticized) that if I do not vote then I should not complain about the government. If I had a chance, I would have voted for someone like Meera Sanyal, but are we in majority to take someone like her to Lok Sabha? No and probably never will be. The truth sucks, but the reality is majority of the vote bank was and is people who live a life of subsistence. People, who are below the poverty line, people, whose income is less than $2 a day, people, for whom school means nothing or is just a part of their memories of childhood. Such people, who are in majority, cast (read sell) their vote for a TV, food or money. Then how does the educated class (like us) make a difference, even if we vote or stand in elections? Do these so-called sellers of their votes even know the meaning of exercising their franchise? No, but numbers speak. They are in majority and that’s what democracy is. Majority wins…….
So my friends, who cast their vote and criticize people like me for not voting to make a difference, let me tell you a secret. “desh ke logon ko sarkaar aisee hee milthee hai, jaise vo khud hain”. In our country, majority are uneducated, illiterate and are willing to do anything for money. So we get leaders, many of who are uneducated, illiterate and shell out money to buy things which seem beyond their reach due to their own deeds.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, the truth sucks. Unless the majority of the vote bank is educated, we cannot make a difference. Unless the majority of the vote bank has enough wisdom (read common sense) to decide who to vote for, we cannot make a difference. Unless there is fear in the minds of the politicians that if they do not perform, the public will vote them out, we cannot make a difference.
Till then either we should be patient or keep voting for the best out of the worst. Now hasn’t that has been our tradition? After all that is what our ancestors have been doing since 1947?
As a response to my earlier blogs, many readers mailed back that we have educated and learned people coming into the election foray now. Typical examples being Meera Sanyal, Captain Gopinath or some of the IIM grads, who want to make a difference (or at least have the intention). We should cast our vote for them. The governance of our country will be in good hands if such people went to the Lok Sabha. Agreed ! Definitely these are learned people, who give up the cushion of the corporate sector and air conditioned offices and want to do something for our country. But how many such people have got elected to the Lok Sabha? How many of them have been given an opportunity to do something? How many of them have got a chance to make a difference? The answer is none. None of these so-called learned people got enough votes to enter the parliament. This is not just a one off case. In previous elections also, a few learned people stood for elections but none of them could secure enough votes. They could not and did not make a difference.
First reason is, most of them stood as independent candidates and did not have the backing of the congress, BJP, BSP, SP or RJD or any other political big-wig. Secondly they did not have deep pockets to buy votes in return for a colour TV, rice at Re.1 per kg or distributing currency notes to the electorate to secure votes (lets face it, this is what happens). That was the battle lost even before it began. The majority of the vote bank does not care if a candidate is from IIM or a corporate sector big-wig. The main question for them is “kaunsi party se ho”. The answer is “independent candidate “or “nirdaleeya umeedwar”. Back comes the reply “voh kya hota hai?” You have lost the election there itself.
Statistics speak for themselves. 0.5% of the total independent candidates won the election in their respective constituencies. Who are these guys who won against all odds? These are not from the group of IIM grads or corporate big-wigs wanting to make a difference. These are candidates who use to be a part of Congress, BJP, BSP or RJD sometime in the past and have broken away from them due to difference of opinion. These guys are not amateur politicians but seasoned candidates who know how to play their cards during elections.
A lot of people have told me (read criticized) that if I do not vote then I should not complain about the government. If I had a chance, I would have voted for someone like Meera Sanyal, but are we in majority to take someone like her to Lok Sabha? No and probably never will be. The truth sucks, but the reality is majority of the vote bank was and is people who live a life of subsistence. People, who are below the poverty line, people, whose income is less than $2 a day, people, for whom school means nothing or is just a part of their memories of childhood. Such people, who are in majority, cast (read sell) their vote for a TV, food or money. Then how does the educated class (like us) make a difference, even if we vote or stand in elections? Do these so-called sellers of their votes even know the meaning of exercising their franchise? No, but numbers speak. They are in majority and that’s what democracy is. Majority wins…….
So my friends, who cast their vote and criticize people like me for not voting to make a difference, let me tell you a secret. “desh ke logon ko sarkaar aisee hee milthee hai, jaise vo khud hain”. In our country, majority are uneducated, illiterate and are willing to do anything for money. So we get leaders, many of who are uneducated, illiterate and shell out money to buy things which seem beyond their reach due to their own deeds.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, the truth sucks. Unless the majority of the vote bank is educated, we cannot make a difference. Unless the majority of the vote bank has enough wisdom (read common sense) to decide who to vote for, we cannot make a difference. Unless there is fear in the minds of the politicians that if they do not perform, the public will vote them out, we cannot make a difference.
Till then either we should be patient or keep voting for the best out of the worst. Now hasn’t that has been our tradition? After all that is what our ancestors have been doing since 1947?
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