FROM POTTI PATI TO JUMMA PATTI

the dignity township for senior citizens at neral(7kms from matheran) is nearing completion.hopefully most of the external work will be completed before the onset of the monsoon.the annual rainfall in matheran is about 500cm.which is very high compared to the all-india average.last year due to the very heavy rains work had to be stopped several times.we hope and pray that it will not happen so this year.we decided to have the 'gruha pravesham' havan and other religious rituals this month on an auspicious day.13th march was chosen by our family purohit.there were about 450 people who had assembled to participate in the function.the pujas were followed by lunch for the guests and village elders.about 58 cottages will be ready for occupation by end march/1st week of april.we expect most of these to be filled up before june.the administration building,the dining hall and the club house might take another 2 to 3 months for completion.phase 1 would have been completed by then.it is s's dream coming true.

s has decided to stay there temporarily till 1st week of april.on the day of holi,i made another visit.and we decided to go up to matheran and take a look-in after many many years.matheran is about 2500 feet above sea level and is a quiet and beautiful hill station.population is only about 6000.from jumma patti which is the last rail stop, one has to walk up the hills or go on horseback or take a handpulled rickshaw.there is a toy train going right upto matheran, but currently out of order.the distance is covered in approximately one hour.the rickshaw can take only one person.we were three of us and we therefore took three rickshaws.though it was close to noon when we left we did not feel the heat at all.in fact it was very pleasant.the rickshawallas steered the handcart with dexterity on a very kuccha road.one boy pulled the rickshaw and another two boys pushed it from behind.we had some breathtaking view from atop and i took some pictures.we also looked up the neemrana hotels 'verandah in the forest'.they also own 'villa potti pati' at bangalore.this is the best hotel in matheran.the downhill ride was easier and by 3pm we were back in neral for a late lunch.

the evening was spent in various discussions with s and another colleague.we expect to get connectivity through reliance who are the service providers.i plan to spend most of the coming weekends in neral.i love the peace and tranquility at the dignity township.neral is 92 kms from our home at mumbai.the road is excellent and it takes only ninety minutes in the mornings when there is not much traffic and about two hours during day time.i want to make the most of it before the rains arrive.

VILLA POTTIPATI

i have been travelling to bangaluru so often in the last one year that i decided to stop travelling businesss class and also to refrain from staying in 5star hotels.besides saving a good amount of money for my company which it can ill afford in its present juncture,i like the thrill of booking my tickets on the net in the last minute,taking a printout of the eticket and waving it to the security at the airport entrance who earlier used to look a trifle surprised when they saw this sheet of paper being waved at them instead of a regular ticket.no more.they ask "e ticket"? now they give a broad smile and let you in.that is the way flying has changed in our country. courtesy air deccan,spicejet,go or even the omniprresent,omnipotent and ubiquitious indian airlines,sorry indian.and ofcourse the going- to-be behemoth jet airways.

bangalauru hotels have become frightfully expensive.windsor manor charges you upwards of tenthousand for a single night.that is if you are lucky to get accomodation.there are more rooms in demand than the supply and therefore these 5 star hotels are having a blast.i decided to stop this mindless expenditure and decided to try lower tariff hotels.i also stay at the bangalore club but then unless you book well in advance the chance of getting a room are very remote.the tariff is only rs 1000.hotels that have neat and clean rooms,towels,bedlinen and comfortable ac sans all the five star trappings.i tried the atria several times(rs 5000) and was quite happy.this time i decided to try villa pottipati.a funny name i first thought when i read about it in an ia inflight magazine.i tore the pages and kept them with me for future reference. in my previous visit all the 15 or so rooms were full;so they said bad luck.please try in your next visit.this time i was lucky.i got "anekal" for rs 2500 basic plus 12% taxes which takes you to rs 2800.breakfast on the house,quite surroundings,courteous service,plenty of magazines to read,elegant and compact rooms,well-lit and a comfortable bed,simple dinner service,locker and tv.good bathroom with solar hot water connection.it was so hot even with the cold water tap opened full. i think i will stay there during my next visit too.besides all the above,it is only a five mintes drive from our factory at rajajinagar.

located at malleshwaram.the tambrahm bastion,the house belonged to a reddy family from the village of pottipati in andhra pradesh.i learnt that a frenchman has bought a number of these old mansions and palaces/havelis and converted them into hotels without disturbing their oldworld charm.for example,vpp has red oxide flooring,old rosewood cupboards and alcoves,huge rosewood double beds and other period furniture.a big lawn in the front where the villa boys play cricket! sreesanths and piyush chawlas have fired the interest of our youth so much that in every streetcorner you find youngsters playing cricket with a tennis or rubber ball,makedo stumps and bats made by the nomads from rajasthan.

visit www.neemranahotels.com and see what they have to offer.

OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLE

many of us would have read jane austen's 'pride and prejudice' in our younger days.set in 18th century britain,the story is about five sisters and a purpose-driven mother and a take-it-easy father.the mother finding that her children are of age and realising their rather weak economic condition is hell-bent on seeing her daughters married off to well-to-do guys.

no love marriage here.it is all arranged and all for the good of everyone.but she has a problem with her second daughter who has a mind of her own.she is beautiful,wellread and can't think of marriage unless she has fallen in love.no such nonsense for the mom.all her time is spent in showcasing her five daughters to likely suitors by taking them to balls,inviting people home etc etc.in some cases she succeeds and in some she fails.her husband is uninvolved and is clear that whatever has to happen will happen.

the question that begs is, is this story worthy of an nth adaptation as a movie.several p&p have been cinematised in the past all of them not so successfully.where does the appeal lie in the story? and why is it that every now and then some people are bitten by the bug to bring this story on celluloid? the answer to me appears to be simple.it is a masala waiting to be properly mixed and exploited.if judiciously done a fortune could be made.

the story is about one humongous family,chitchatting and giggling girls,a dominant mother and a kind lovable father.set in the old days of britain,it brings with it some oldworld charm and values.how economically deprived people can exploit their strengths to improve their wellbeing.it needs a strong and independent mind like that of mrs beetly and focus to achieve her objectives.

what are the plus points in this movie? of course keira knightley as elizabeth,the second precocious daughter of donald sutherland and breda beetley who are mr and mrs bennet.her beauty is a given.her acting rises to great heights.who would have imagined that a 20 year old dyslexic girl who started her career when she was 3 years of age as a child artiste and played fantastic roles in 'bend it like beckham' and 'domino' would so quickly be close to winning the oscar for her role as lizy?

she hates mr darcey when she first meets him in a ball.he is too arrogant,conceited and condescending.initially he has the same feelings.he gradually starts liking her and even proposes to her which she rejects.but then there is a change of heart and chemistry and she actually falls in love with him,when she knows him for what he truly is.

good costume designs,excellent cinematography,superb direction.all the ingredients for winning an oscar award.nominated under four categories.will p&p make it? your guess is as good as mine.oscar awards are unpredictable.i was bitterly disappointed last year when my favourite actor and most likely for the award didn't make it.it is a gamble.let us wait and see whether the old wine is truly of period quality and importantly is lucky to stand out as a winner.just two more days to go.sunday 5th march.i will wait with bated breath.

YOKO'S SIZZLERS

surprising though it may seem,accompanied by a colleague,i decided to become a little adventurous for lunch yesterday.s had bought some stuff from bombay stores on pm road and she had been given a free rs 200 coupon for food at yoko's.she had promptly passed it on to me and when i was clearing the mess on my worktable yday,i found this small piece of paper and the last day for availing of this discount was 28th feb.then and there i decided to have a go at it. with a little bit of trepidation,i must admit. "gb,no lunch to be packed" and off i left for the office some time later.i had warned my accounts manager yday morning that i was going to treat him for lunch and he was pretty excited.gunbow street is very close to our office and many many years ago,shall we say 45 years ago,we lived in this area for 2 years when we first moved to mumbai.i knew the coordinates quite well and we reached the place around 1.30.

yoko's sizzlers was earlier 'star of asia',an irani joint.i had been there earlier during my days in st xavier's college for pav and maska and hot tea.they used to apply 'polsons' butter those days.the whole place had undergone a facelift.as was expected.the new owner,anjum rizvi has done a good job,i must admit, pleasing indoor deco,courteous waiters,quite and peaceful place. very good ambience.the two most important things-quality and taste of food and the price.on both counts,yoko's sizzlers comes out in flying colours.

we ordered mushroom soup for my colleague,cheese and onion soup for myself.it was just the right temperature and tasted great.we moved on to vegetable sizzlers.the first time i had heard and seen sizzlers was in 1967 when an indusrtrial engineer colleague of mine took me out for lunch to the taj mahal hotel. some years back s and i went to indigo and everyone was ordering only sizzlers.the smoke and aroma was so overpowering that we decided to leave.a deja vu now.served on a hot skillet and served piping hot,it was on a bed of rice on which capsicum,potatoes,cabbage,cauliflower,carrot and peas topped up with sweet and sour sauce and fine cheese shavings.actually we had one by two.it was a big portion.and to cool down the hot sizzlers we went for some real cold stuff.kulfis.and they were gorgeous.and we felt we should have ordered one by two for the dessert too.

and the bill came to just rs 510 less rs 200 discount and the net bill was just rs 310. add rs 50 for tips and it was a pretty good deal. we left satisfied and decided to come again when we were in a mood for sizzlers. oh,i forgot. i must say "thanks" to s for leaving that scrap paper on my table!

Zafar Hai, Bahut Accha Hai

we were special invitees to a private screening of a documentary film called 'keepers of the flame' last saturday at the godrej theatre,n.c.p.a. zafar hai the wellknown filmmaker was commissioned by the tatas to make this documentary to commemorate the hundredth death anniversary of nusserwanji and the birth centenary of jrd. the film traces the origin and the growth of the tatas starting from nosherwanji who relocated from navsari in gujerat to the then bombay to start his career in cotton trading.the documentary tracks the lives of three generations of tatas-nosherwanji,jamshedji and jrd.

i must say i was in for some pleasant surprise.facets of the personalities of these doyens which one had not read or heard about hitherto. brilliant photography,excellent onscreen narration by the flamboyant kabir bedi,a well prepared script narrating the tata family's rise to become a top industrial group in india,their ethics and the vision of the founder came out in the most convincing manner.the pictures of the now raj bhavan at kolkata where lord curzon stayed when he was viceroy and victoria memorial made me very nostalgic.the many firsts of the tata group- empress cotton mills at nagpur,steel plant at jamshedpur,taj mahal hotel at mumbai,tata institute of science at bangalore where nobel laurate c v raman worked and air india were shown alongwith the stupendous efforts and sacrifices made by the family in the last 100 years to create world class institutions.the sacking of jrd, the first chairman of airindia, by morarji desai when he became prime minister was poignant.

both jamshedji and jrd were buried in paris the city they loved.they were passionate about india but it was an irony that they died abroad and had to be buried in foreign soil.it was an one hour documentary and we came out with pride over the achievements of this philanthropic group.their rise to eminence,their zeal to industrialise india,their love for their adopted motherland and their value system.

the movie was preceded by tea and snacks and followed by cocktails in the lawn.the weather played a bit of a spoilsport as it was very sticky.not unusual though at this time of the year in mumbai.a bit of breeze from the sea would have helped.we met many of our friends and it was good fellowship.a clear gainer was s who got some bookings and commitment for 'dignity lifestyle'.

zafar hai, bahut hi accha hai.

Mixed Doubles (3B-Breaking Bedroom Boredom)

no,it was not a mahesh bhupati and martina hingis or a sania mirza and liezel huber tennis match.it was a movie we saw yesterday.'mixed doubles'.a satire on spousal friction.produced by rajat kapoor,it is a low budget movie and off the beaten track.it is an a-moral tale.of sexual boredom.like milon kundera, rajat deals with sex with humour and poignancy.there are many out there who suffer from a similar problem.

it is about a married couple,sunil and malti married for 10 years with a kid.the guy finds that the thought of having sex with his wife doesn't excite him any more and he learns from an office colleague that partners can be swapped.he feverishly surfs the internet and tries to meet willing couples who want to have such an arrangement.the movie is a funny sex comedy and konkona sensharma steals the show with her portrayal as the sexually frustrated husband's innocent and loving wife.she is eventually dragged into meeting a couple-rajat and koel puri but then nothing really happens.there is no sex during the swap.they return minus the adventure and back to their normal lives.

dialogues by anurag kashyap are witty and sharp.ranvir shorey as the boredom afflicted husband does a good job.small time actor vinay pathak as the office colleague who advises sunil to to try spouse swapping acts very well particularly the scene when he cries after his wife deserts him.both koel puri as the wife of rajat kapoor and rajat who form the spouse swapping couple put in natural performances.naseeruddin shah has a cameo role as the father of malti.cinematography by rafi mohammed is excellent.

does rajat kapoor convey any message? i don't think so.he has left it to the viewers to decide what they want to do with their sex lives.boredom creeping into a married life is inevitable.but then how does one counter that and keep the marriage alive and kicking? that is what married couples should contemplate upon.modern urban life puts pressure on both the husband and wife.they have their own careers and priorities.sex has to find an important place in their lives to keep them glued.otherwise their marriage will drift and a breakup would be on the cards. he is not even remotely suggesting spouse swapping to get over the sexual boredom.he addresses a genuine issue and the conflict when sex is no more the driving force for young couples.

Colour of Spring(Rang de Basanti)

having read several raving reviews of this movie we watched it at inox last night.we were very impressed.very good story,excellent acting by almost everyone,terrific cinematography and great music by ar rehman.three hours of entertainment.

the message in the movie is for the younger generation.the nextgen.don't just fritter away your time,in having fun-fast cars,drinking and hiphop music.our forefathers had made huge sacrifices for getting us independence from british rule.do something tangible to improve the lot of the country.don't just sit and criticise or remain cynical.be a change agent.if corruption has to be removed go ahead and do something about it.

the foursome get the message and when their friend is killed in a mig crash decide to take revenge on the defence minister responsible for buying defective spareparts.they kill him.

the movie begins with an english girl coming to india to shoot a film on bhagat singh and other freedom fighters.her grandfather worked for the empire and oversaw the hanging of bharat singh.he writes all this in his diary which the granddaughter reads after many many years.and is moved so much as to decide to produce a movie on these freedomfighters.she meets her friend soha ali in india who takes her to the university campus.she sees the foursome and after meeting them decides that they will be the main actors. aamir khan acts brilliantly as dj.the direction is very cleverly done and past scenes during the uprising are juxtaposed with the present film shooting.

too early to say but could be our nomination for this year's oscar. thanks to maneka gandhi the picture that you see had to be censored.pranab mukerjee and chiefs of defence staff were shown the movie before it was commercially released.good pr work by the producers.no controversy.and the cash boxes continue to ring.it is a superhit.

Tete-e-Tete with an Ex-Fugitive

Last Friday,after lunch,I picked up the TOI to see whether there was any interesting function for the evening.I was thrilled to see in Today's Engagements a book- reading session organised by Oxford Book Stores.Why was I thrilled when so many of these keep happening? The Chief Guest for the function was going to be Gregory David Roberts.Does it ring a bell in your ears? If not, you have missed reading a literary masterpiece.'Shantaram'.Acknowledged as an international best seller, it is a gripping thriller;a novel of high adventure based on an extraordinary true story of an exfugitive's life in the slums of Mumbai and his involvement with the Mumbai underworld. Gregory David Roberts,an armed robber and heroin addict,jumped an Australian jail,travelled to India on a forged passport and hid himself in a Cuffe parade slum.He joined an underworld don and also ran a firstaid clilnic.He learnt Hindi and Marathi,spent some time in a Mumbai prison,acted in a Bollywood movie and then fought the Mujahiddeens in Afghanistan.His luck ran out when he was caught at Frankfurt aiport and deported to Australia.After serving sentence,he totally reformed himself.He established a multimedia company and is now a fulltime writer living in Melbourne.And his book 'Shantaram' is being made into a movie with the same name.I had read the book in and out and could totally relate myself to the characters.I then and there decided to attend this session.

I was 15 minutes late into the book-reading and I could identify Linbaba on the dais.That is how he is known in Mumbai.The writer of this new book is Sonia Faleiro,a journalist with Tehelka.The book titled 'The Girl' is set in Goa and is about a girl's depression and ultimate suicide.I bought a copy of the book,got it autographed by Sonia,but I am yet to read it.It is her first book and Gregory Roberts was full of praise for the girl's maiden venture.My interest was focussed on Linbaba though.After the book reading of 'The Girl' was over I went across,introduced myself to GDRoberts(Linbaba) and told him how much I enjoyed reading his monumental 933 pages of sheer literary beauty.He was overwhelmed when I said I expected to see an ugly person in him(that is how he referred to himself in the book) but then he was far from that.Tall,wellbuilt,good features and long hair flowing on both shoulders right upto his lower back.A charming smile and a very articulate person.I congratulated him on his perseverance.His manuscripts on 'Shantaram' were trashed twice by the jailors.What a fabulous memory he must be having and the courage to go through it all over again and again!We chatted for about 5 minutes on some characters in the book and about his forthcoming books and the movie 'Shantaram'.He spoke a little bit of Hindi and Marathi when I asked him whether he still remembered these languages.He loves Mumbai and it has now become his second home.

That was a close encounter with an Ex Fugitive. And I have a maha regret.I did not carry my digicamera and my 'Shantaram' copy.

The New Converts

More and more people are turning to vegetarianism.It is not a trend in India alone.It is happening all over the world.Call it the impact of Yoga, call it the call of Gurus like Deepak Chopra,BKS Iyengar,Sri Sri Ravi Shankar or Baba Ramdev. People are making fundamental changes in their eating habits.They are giving up meat and fish and turning a new leaf.The major trigger for this change is the concern over health.People are becoming more health conscious.There are more people exercising now than before.There is literally a Yoga boom.And with it comes the suggestion of having Satvik food for mental and physical wellbeing.. The virtues of eating fresh fruits and vegetables are being extoled.Calorie counting is the in-thing now.One fallout of this phenomenon is that nonvegetarian restaurants are biting the dust.

The latest casualty in Mumbai is Ovenfresh,the Italian cafe at Shivaji Park .It has gone veggie,much to the consternation of the carnivores.And what is it offering now? Vegetable Biryani,Veg Lollipop,Veg Manchurian,Pahadi Kabab and Veg Bolognaise among a plethora of veggie dishes!

Actually for the record,,the original kebab was vegetarian.When man began to eat,he ate the produce off the ground.He often grilled it to make what we now call the kebab.Though from the time of Chenghis Khan,the kebab has come to be synonymous with non-vegetarian fare, historically the kebab has been vegetarian. Now there are delicious dishes such as Veg Galouti,Veg Murtabbak etc. etc. While the former is so soft that it melts in your mouth, the latter is a stack of thin romali rotis,layered with herbal paneer and potatoes and coated with ghee and saffron. Ambrosia,India's first Aurvedic fine-dining restaurant in New Delhi serves you all these delicious dishes. Next time you are in Delhi don't miss it out.

Crocodile Dundee

Those of you who have seen the Hindi film "Salaam Namaste",would be able to recall the character who spoke in a lingo which was a combination of Hindi cowbelt and Australian outback.Whenever he had to affirm a certain proposition he would say "Ezactly", for exactly. He would say so with a certain panache. Him you call an Indian crocodile Dundee.He is a glocalised Indian who has carried the Indlish language far and wide.

When I first heard this expression,I wondered what it was.How did this name come about? I did a little bit of research and hit upon the following story.

A man who waded into a dam and wrested his dog from the jaws of a crocodile has been variously described as a "crocodile dundee" and a "silly twit". Len Stock,a dog breeder,was walking six of his dogs with his wife near Empangeni, on South Africa's east coast,when one of them named Bess went for a swim in the dam.He heard a grunt and a loud splashing and he thought maybe she had had a heart attack or got some water in her ears. She was struggling in the water and he didn't know what was happening,so he took off his sandals and waded in about waist-high.She had gone under and he grabbed at her. What he grabbed was a crocodile and it kicked Stock.He pulled and tugged to get Bess loose and finally the crocodile let go.

Stock became the "crocodile dundee".

London Is Cool,But Very Pricey, Man!

Travel guide,"Lonely Planet" has recently reported that London is one of the coolest capitals of the world but horrendously overpriced. I entirely subscribe to this view.

My first visit to London was in 1979 more than 25 years ago.I stayed in a hotel in downtown and one night's tariff was just 10 pounds. It had cost me almost that much for a cab drive from Heathrow airport to the hotel then. Last October when I was in London, I decided to stay at the Zetter,a swanky hotel in the heart of London and it cost me a bomb. I went to Sheffield by British Rail and a second class return fare for a 150 mile journey was about 75 pounds.The tube used to be very cheap those days.But now it has become very expensive.Averagely,bus fares are cheaper by almost 50% but then they do not have the coverage of the underground network and the speed. Taxi fares are prohibitive and then if you are not lucky you might be driven by a drunken and foulmouthed cabbie.I had a bad experience one early morning at Heathrow when I wanted to go from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. It was not a very long ride and I tried to negotiate the rate with the taxidriver.He was annoyed that I wasn't accepting his fare offer and asked me to ****off. Racial feelings are strong particularly with the lower strata of society.Price of a cinema ticket is about 6 pounds and you will be minus by about 45pounds if you decide to dine in a fine restaurant! A friend of mine told me that an ecstasy pill costs 4 pounds,a gram of cocaine for 50 pounds and about 20 pounds for an eighth of marijuana.! Isn't that one hell of a sum for getting those fancy trips!

Like New York,London is a pot-pourri of multilingual cultures.That gives it a definite character.No more the old days when there were only Mom and Pop pubs offering beer and fish-n-chips.There are a plethora of restaurants offering international cuisine and London is an epicure's delight. Though London has a population of about 7.5 million it is certainly not bursting on its seams. It has a huge floating population and the Government's earnings from tourism are very substantial.The annual Nottingham Hill carnival drew 1.2 million visitors last year. Grime music is making inroads into the mainstream. Hooded sweatshirts(deemed to be the source of all evil) and male anorexia are in fashion. Antisocial behaviour and youth violence engaged the British parliamentarians in long debates.British writer Zadie Smith has this to say about her homeland: "When I think of England now I just think about the England that I loved,and it's just gone.It's the way that people look at each other on the train: just general stupidity,madness,vulgarity,stupid TV shows,aspirational arseholes,money everywhere.It's just a disgusting place,it's terrifying. Maybe I am just getting old." Perhaps she has a point.

For the Indian diaspora,London is like a second home. Many have amassed a fortune by dint of hard work and oozes of luck. They are mostly Punjabis,Sindhis and Gujeratis. And no visit to London is complete without a shopping binge at Oxford Street.

Come June and that will usher in the Wimbledon Annual tennis tournament. Held in 'very British' style. I am not going to miss it out. The tennis and the strawberries with cream. And with a little bit of luck a place in the 'box'. All the thanks must go to l and h for shifting residence to London.

Sweet,Sweeter,Sweetest.

Many many years ago,Nirad Chaudhuri,in an article in The Statesman of Kolkata had declared that Kolkata sandesh was peerless and that savouring the best Simulia sandesh was like imbibing vintage champagne.How very true!

Last week when I was in Kolkata,I realised that it was the season for "notun guder mishti"(mishti made out of new jaggery). Promptly,I commissioned my guy to get me a reasonable quantity.I was shuttling between meetings and could not do a hands-on purchase.Before I left for Mumbai, the packet arrived and I kept it carefully in my briefcase.When I opened it in Mumbai and tasted one sandesh it was nothing short of heavenly. S who is not a great sandesh buff(she sticks to mishti doi) went gaga. And my cobrother(that is a term I learned in Bangaluru) who is visiting us for a few days almost swooned after consuming just one piece. Connosiuer's of sandesh may know that before sandesh became popular,kanchagolla was ruling the roost. Abanindranath Tagore sang its praise. Pantua,ledikeni and chumchum have now lost their popularity.There are other sweets like,sarpuria,sarbhaja and sar-er nadu .I think sar-er nadu is still avaibale in Shyambazar/Bowbazar.Of course the plethora of Benagali sweets that is available is mindboggling. Manohara,kshirkadamba,nikhuti and channar jilipi are also there prominently in the hierarchy.Interestingly,even China has started making Indian sweets for the fast growing Indian community .The food chain is based in Zhuai.

We lived in the 50s in Kolkata in the corner of Loudon Street and Moira Street.I learnt recently that chefs making these delicasies are called 'moiras'.Now I know how I picked up this weakness for sweets.During Makar Sankranti many Bengali families make special sweets called pithe.Something like a pancake.You have the ashkey pithe(melted palm jaggery),ranga aaloor pithe(sweet potato) and pati shapta the most popular of all.It is a flat pancake filled with khoa(reduced and solidified milk) and grated cocconut.

Apart from the above sweets another very popular item sold in Kolkata is the lal doi.It is sweetened curd(mishti doi) but red in colour.No visit to Kolkata is complete without returning with a handi of mishti doi.Though i would love to buy it from Shyambazar,logistics compel me to buy it from Gangurams.And I have never regretted that decision.During the last visit I bought it from Mishti on the way to the airport and I was very disappointed. No mistake this time around. It was spoton.The familiar salesman remarked "bhalo kore pack kare debo,aapni bombay niye jhacchen to"! And the familiar security guys at the airport smile when they see me with the mishti doi handa.Like Lord Chesterton and his ubiquitious umbrella.

L'Affaire Swami Ramdevji Maharaj

He has been very much in the news for more than a year now.He rose to fame with his much- seen Aastha channel on TV. The asanas he taught to a large receptive audience seemed to have made him a cult figure.For millions of his followers every morning,Swami Ramdev is the 5am family physician.He taught his shisyas pranayam too,meditation and other techniques to improve the quality of life.He guaranteed cure of ailments like asthma,high blood pressure,diabetes,migraine,cervical spondylitis,bronchitis,constipation etc. And many were really cured.That increased his credibility and popularity and fame exponentially.He is a proud Indian,with strong belief in our traditional medicines and value system,He started the Divya Yoga Mandir at Hardwar and in a span of 10 years he has created a huge organisation and a terrific brand equity for himself. His followers swear by him and are prepared to give up their lives,if required. Indeed,he is a Messiah to his disciples.

Then what went wrong. Firebrand Brinda Karat,CPI(M) Politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP took him on. She accused him of using human and animal matter in his preparations advertised as Ayurvedic and herbal.She had his medicines bought and analysed by Ayush,the wing of the Union Health Ministry which deals with indigenous medicine.The initial findings indicated that human and animal bones have been used in the so-called herbal preparations.The mud slinging started.

Brinda also accused Swami Ramdev of unfair labour practices in his factory at Hardwar and wanted the Ministry to take action. She even paraded the sacked workers who gave testimony that human and animal bones were indeed being used for preparation of the herbal medicines .Swamiji accused her of instigation at the instance of the MNCs to bring about a bad name to him in particular and Ayurveda in general. Swami Ramdev regularly speaks out against fast food and MNCs. One of his favourite lines is: "Cola matlab toilet cleaner." His supporters burnt her effigy and indulged in earsplitting hullabaloo.His big followers from his 'circle of influence' rushed to give him a clean chit and have called Brinda and company as traitors and denigrators of Ayurveda,yoga and even Hinduism.Why are millions queuing up in his support? Simple. Most owe their improved health to the breathtaking art of pranayama.By simplifying pranayama he has made it accessible even for the aging and obese.I don't think Brinda had bargained for this. And not even his friendly b-i-l Prannoy whose NDTV gave her huge publicity.

There is a school of thought that thinks that Swami Ramdev's desi aphrodisiac is giving stiff competition to Viagra which has recently started sales in India and that this is a MNC conspiracy to discredit him.

Where does the truth lie? As in such cases, somewhere in between. I am currently reading a book titled" Medicine in the Buddhist Monastery" by Kenneth Zysk.In one chapter he writes that sick monks required fats as medicines.The Buddha allowed five types of animal fat to be used as medicines and consumed as oil before meals.Fats from bears,from fish,from alligators,from swine and from donkeys.Oil of the permitted fats were used as medicine.I have also read that Ayurveda prescribes the powder of deer horns for preparation of medicine for certain ailments.Buddha permitted it and Ayurveda has been using it for thousands of years.Then why all this tamasha now.We should not just get carried away by sensationalism.

What needs to be done is to ensure that all ayurvedic products exhibit the ingredients of the product. Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940,stipulates that.Unfortunately because of some unscrupulous manufacturers,sale of Ayurvedic products is being banned in some countries.We all know that Ayurvedic medicines also contain lead, mercury and arsenic.What need to be ensured by the regulatory mechanism is that they are all within safe limits for human consumption.Pharmaceutical procedures must be regulated.And Ayurveda needs to integrate more organically with modern medicine.These important issues should not get missed out in the mudslinging battle.We need to address the key question whether the ayurvedic and herbal products of the Divya Yoga Mandir conform to the requirments of law and public health or not.If not,what corrective actions are required to be taken by the Government to ensure that these medicines are fit for human consumption.

If Swami Ramdev emerges unscathed out of this Agnipariksha, his reputation will soar. If he doesn't, the folk hero's downfall would be imminent.

From USA With Love,Fresh Air And A Tap Dance

As many would know,tapping of phones is not a new phenomenon.Therefore, when I read about the criticism of President Bush for unauthorised phone tapping,I wasn't very surprised.Of course, he defended his action saying that it was required to keep a watch(or lend a ear) on terrorist activities; but that did not cut much ice. He continues to be severely reprimanded by the Press and freedom-loving people for what they call "warrantless eavesdropping".

Our Congress Government seems to have caught the same infection. Amar Singh,the Samajwadi Party and sidekick of Mulayam Singh Yadav is fretting and fuming that his phone was tapped and 20 hours of his conversations have been taped.He has named Rajiv Shukla,a journalist turned MP as the main culprit who,according to him, in consort with an industrialist has done this job.Reliance Infocomm,his best friend Anil Ambani's company,ironically has been the service provider. It has been caught in the crossfire. Amar Singh has met the PM and laid the blame squarely on 10 Janpath. He said that he is getting threatening phonecalls for implicating Sonia Gandhi and that should anything happen to him, Sonia Gandhi will be entirely responsible. And he has named Ambika Soni as the hatchet woman. Amar Singh has also met Jayalalitha and Chandrababu Naidu who also have complained of their phones being tapped and is garnering their support to add teeth to his charges.He even had a private hush-hush meeting with Subramanian Swamy. Maneka Gandhi has also joined Amar Singh's club. The winter season in India has changed to a Tap and Tape season.

The grapevine says that the conversations,some of them, are with Bollywood bombshells. Flirtatious talk. And Amar Singh is livid. He has threatened to sue the people he has named; besides creating a ruckus in Parliament aimed at the Government for intruding on his privacy.

It is deja vu! I remember many years ago when the late Ramakrishna Hegde of the Janata Party was in the Central Cabinet,a similar scandal broke out in Karnataka and the poor man lost his job because when he was the CM, it was established that he had authorised the tapping of some specific phone numbers. Also when young turk Chandrashekhar was the Prime minister,leader of the Congress party Rajiv Gandhi decided to withdraw support because he said his phone was being tapped and the Goverment collapsed. Whether big heads will roll this time is anybody's guess.

How does one deal with this penchant for eavesdropping that parties in power have.We have the National Security Act under which phone tapping can be legally done in certain cases, say the well-informed.I have not read the Act and I therefore cannot really comment.

In America, you also have the NSA but it is not an act;it is an agency. The National Security Agency, a low-profile organisation,more powerful and with far greater resources than CIA,but less visible.It is the largest US government intelligence agency.It is the single largest employer of Ph.d. mathemeticians,it has the single largest group of supercomputers and a budget much greater than that of the CIA. It spends about 21 $ million per year on electricity and has 18,000 parking spaces in its headquarters at Fort George,Maryland. It has even a computer chip manufacturing plant. It seems that NSA has been doing the phonetapping for the US Government for quite some time now. New York Times was the first to report it.It refers to phone tapping as a violation of the citizen's constitutional rights. "We have a President,not a King above law".

It is an ethical issue.It has to be secretive and is sensitive.Who should decide and what should be the criteria? Both the US and Indian Governments can learn important and useful lessons if they take the trouble to put politics behind and address the issue objectively. A clear framework can be drawn,with a set of guidelines, which will allow the concerned authority to undertake phonetapping with a proper justification.The National Security Act can be suitably modified to prevent misuse.Or,an altogether new Act can be passed by the legislature.Phone tapping should not be done at the whims and fancies of people in power.There must be a regulating mechanism.

Phonetapping is a double-edged sword. Used correctly, it can serve its specific purpose. Used wrongly, it can do incalculable harm.

Mera Naam Hai Chin Chin Chu

I immediately remembered this old Bollywood song when I recently read an article about how you could get a Chinese name for yourself.I think it was veteran actor Helen who enacted the role of a vamp when she sang this song.I forget the name of the old Hindi movie but that is irrelevant.

What fascinates me is our sudden found enthusisam for China and Chinese.
I lived my early years in Kolkata which in those days had a sizeable Chinese population.They lived as a community together and carried out most of their activities from Chinatown or Kangra as it is called.Till today,a Chinese daily is being published for a readership of about 3000 Chinese reading people.Marxism has deep roots in West Bengal like in Kerala.And at one time Mao and Ho Chi Min were deified.Chinese noodles and Schzwan food are a great hit in the streets of Kolkata and Mumbai too. There are many dialects in China and I am told that Mandarin is more widely used and easier to learn.There is an expression called 'guo cui'.It is not easily translatable as it conveys a whole lot of meanings.For example,mumbaimanoos or bangali bhadralok.When such expressions are used the distinct characteristics of a Mumbaikar or a Kolkattan flashes your mind.

The fascination for names among the Chinese goes back to five milleniums.Emperor Fu Xi set the ball rolling when he assigned names to 100 families of his time.They had three names in one like say Chou En Lai or Mao Tse Tung..The surname,the hereditary name and then the given name.And thanks to their becoming a member of WTO,those who are interacting with the world outside, are also having an English name in addition to their Chinese names.And if you want to take on a Chinese name log on to www.mandarintools.com.I am considering making a visiting card with Chinese letters showing my name as Go Paal Soon.

YEH PAAAN HAI MUST MUST

Many urbane people look at the habit of chewing paan with dismay and askance. However,it is a very popular custom among rural and many urban Indians as well. Chewing paan-supari or beetel-leaves with chuna and arcanut is an addiction with some and an obsession with many. It is considered to be one of the keys to good health,wealth and prosperity. On any auspicious occasion,the function remains incomplete without distributuion of paan and supari among the invitees. Perhaps this practice has been in existence from Vedic times.

Our physicians of yore had discovered paan and found it to be useful for sharpening of appetite and digestion of food. Paan also acts as a germicide in a small way and helps human beings to keep their alimentary canal clean. Beetel chewing not only arrests the fermentation and formation of gases;it also helps to conceal the bad smell in the mouth formed by residual food particles.Consumed in moderation,the use of paan in the morning checks the formation of phlegm and helps in clearing the bowels.

And paan is a great leveller. Whether rich or poor,upper caste or lower caste,educated or uneducated,employed or unemployed,he or she gets attracted to paan like bees to a flower. Paan is associated with Goddess Lakshmi. Men and women are supposed to please Her by chewing paan and receive her blessings. "Thaambula dhaaranam karishye",says the worshipper.

Paan industry is a huge multicrore industry in India. And even in Pakistan,Bangladesh and Nepal,paanchewing is a popular pastime. Sophisticated people though,prefer paan masala a la 'paan paraag' to the basic paan and chuna and beetelnut. Companies manufacturing these products have massive advertising budgets and splash their products over newspapers and televison. They rake in huge profits. Some of them even get mixed up with the underworld mafia.

My father was a great afficianado. In his youth, he suffered from severe tonsilitis. He would lose his voice often,albeit temporarily. And those days surgery was considered to be very risky. Doctors advised him to cultivate the habit of chewing paan with some tobacco in it. He continued this habit for 70 years almost till his last days. When he went abroad,and he travelled extensively,he would take his quota for a few days with him. Replenishment would follow courtesy the pilots of Air India.In one of the cocktail parties,his foreign guests were amused at his habit of paanchewing and the host wanted to taste a paan.When he was offered one,he immediately ejected it out of his mouth saying "how horrible". And later when wine was offered to my father he spit it out in front of his host.They had a hearty laugh.Such was his loyalty to his paan.I too got slowly attracted to this habit and have enjoyed my paanchewing though I have never been able to match him in his consumption rates. He preferred to chew only madrasi paan though other varieties like poona paan,banarsi paan and kolkata paan are also available.

Paan making is an art in itself. Each heartshaped paan is given a layer of chuna and filled with perfumed supari or just broken arcanut and folded with silver foil before placing it in the mouth. Then comes the period of ecstacy when you chew it to your heart's content and after completion spit the reddish liquid out.Government offices are famous for the red colour melange in their walls which bear mute witnesses to the indulgences of the babumoshais. In some cases the paan is split into two down the middle.The two halves are placed together.The fingers are then dipped in a pot containing thick lime & water solution and the top half-leaf is coated with the white paste. It is the alkaline substancce that protects the mouth from the sharp pungency of paan juice. Then a brown liquid would be applied over the white paste and then the green,brown and white tones of the paan form a perfect foil to the spices that are to follow. Finely grated supari,cardamom.fennel seeds,gulkan etc are then added and then the paan is wrapped to form a small cone and held together with a clove stuck through the edges.

Particularly after a hot and spicy meal,the cardamom,fennel and cloves act as chasers. Some paanlovers even have it with jarda or perfumed tobacco. Paan is considered to be an aphrodisiac,an inexpensive substitute for the modern Viagra.Not always though.There are paans which can cost a king's ransom.

The Oriyas refer to their paan as gundi paan.The 'beeda' is popular in the South.It has coconut shavings added to the paan.The Banarsi and Kalkatta meetha and theeka varieties, I suspect, are the most popular,at least in Mumbai. When I have a heavy meal paan is a must. My favourite paan shop is about 10 minutes walking distance from our house. Rammurat and Shriram run a thriving business.It is called Ram paan Parlour. The gliterrati of Mumbai come driving down in hordes in their imported cars to pick up their favourite banarsi or kalkatta meethas. Late Dhirubhai Ambani used to drive down in his Mercedes,chat with the Ram brothers and take back with him about 2 dozen paans. Kokilaben, Tina,Anil and Mukesh and the family continue to patronise the Ram Pan parlour after Dhirubhai's demise though they prefer to have their paans collected by their liveried chauffers who drive down in a Maybach or an Audio. The Ram brothers often fondly recapitulate their conversations with the late Dhirubhai.

Prices vary from Rs 10 to Rs 1500 per paan.They are other paanwallahs who sell even more expensive paans. What they contain is anybody's guess. Like Deve Gowda our ex-PM who likes to call himself a 'humble farmer',I like to remain as a 'humble paanchewer'. I stick to the Rs 10 variety.The Ram brothers make it to my specs and I get the bang for the bucks.