Professional Documents
Culture Documents
COVER
Dollar
dreams Dingucha is one of many villages in
Gujarat where an NRI status means
so much that people are willing to risk
lives and break the law for it p3
IN THE NEWS
Flowering period
Charles Darwin can rest easy: an “abominable mystery” he
complained of in 1879 might be solved soon. The latest
discovery of a fossilised flower bud dating back to the
Jurassic period proves that there were flowering plants or
angiosperms in the Jurassic period. Only, they hadn’t been
found until now. For centuries, the oldest discovered fossil
flower was one from 130 million years ago, or the
Cretaceous period, which followed the Jurassic period. It
suggested that there were no angiosperms in the Jurassic
period and then they suddenly appeared and diversified at an amazing rate from the mid-Cretaceous period onward. Darwin,
who strongly believed that nature does not make a leap, was intrigued and disturbed by this. The new fossil proves that
angiosperms were very much there in the Jurassic period although they might have been uncommon and found only in
specific geographical clusters. The new discovery changes the way the evolution of plant species has been thought of till now
and justifies Darwin’s doubt. Discovered in the Inner Mongolia region of China, the fossil consists of a stem, a leafy branch, a
bulbous fruit, and a teeny bud. The new species has been named Florigerminis jurassica.
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OPEN PAGE
THE HINDU Magazine
02 DELHI
*
Cover story
Crafty algorithms leave youngsters addicted to these platforms and susceptible to online bullying and abuse It is beyond
Pooja Kashyap tion had moved online. This has In an interview with Time, Ms. imagination to
created a schism within homes, cut Haugen says the most dangerous think that an
R
eading the newspaper ting down family time to almost ze thing about engagementbased rank ancient
one recent morning, I ro. With both parents in a nuclear fa ing is that it is much easier to inspire metropolitan
was struck by a headline: mily going to work, things get worse. someone to hate than to teach some overflowing with
“Meta sued over 11year Numerous instances of online ad one empathy. She expressed con gold and global
old’s suicide”. The report diction, bullying and abuse have cern over firsttime Internet users in trade (‘The Deccan
from the U.S. left me feeling sorry caught our attention of late, pointing countries such as Ethiopia and India domination’; Jan.
for the child’s mother, who has cho to the possibility of a mental health who are not mentally equipped to 30) could also be a
sen to call out the “culprits” who epidemic among youth soon. judge the authenticity of data. place where sages
caused her little ones’ death. A Class 6 student committing sui During the inauguration of the taught the
She alleged that her daughter suf cide in Madhya Pradesh for having first India Internet Governance Fo importance of
fered from depression and sleep de lost money on an online gaming site, rum from November 25 to 27 last enlightenment and
privation due to severe addiction to and a 17yearold in Gurugram end year, Information Technology Mi of knowledge as
Instagram and Snapchat. The report ing his life over a girl’s comment nister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, the ultimate
reminded me of a similar case in the against him on Instagram point to “The responsibility for wealth. A dynasty
U.K. where a man partly blamed In the dark side of the Internet. content put on social whose rulers were
stagram for his 14yearold son’s Recent cases of Bulli Bai and media platforms and always open to
suicide. Sulli Deals apps, along with websites need to be violence also patronised
It sent shivers down my spine as I the abuse of women in the clearly defined. art and culture. also had the same fate.
recalled a similar case of alleged sui Clubhouse app, make Since the way con Shubhi Negi M. Jeyaram
It’s indeed cide by a teenager whose family I me nervous. tent is being creat
scary that know personally. She was probably Are the social ed, consumed and ■ Vestiges of the past can ■ Once, when Pulakeshin
children like upset over her Instagram photos media companies accessed has often be found in the II’s advances were
to spend and for being reprimanded for ready to hold pu changed, there is spoken language, some stopped by the Pallava
them. It’s indeed scary that our chil blic welfare more certainly a need mutilated beyond rulers at Kanchipuram, it
more time recognition and some is said that the Chalukya
dren like to spend more time on important than to rethink the go
on social still used in the original king was so stunned by
these social media platforms than their profits? In the vernance struc
media with us parents. U.S. Congress, a ture of the form and sense. The the architectural beauty
platforms Being a mother of a 13yearold former Facebook Internet.” names of the gold coins of the Kailasanathar
than with girl, I instantly slipped into deep in employeeturned The Information with the Varaha or boar temple that he ordered
trospection. She recently intro whistleblower Frances Technology Rules, crest, issued by the his army not to destroy
parents Chalukyas, can still be the temple but took away
duced me to a word called “ghost Haugen said these pho 2021 do address grow
ing” — friends suddenly choosing to tosharing and messaging ing concerns about the heard in Kannada and the sculptors to build a
disappear from your life. A sudden apps do have deliberately safety of children and re Tamil marriages, where temple in the same style
feeling of being ignored and neglect designed algorithms that cognises the need for social gifts are announced as at Pattadakkal.
ed by friends had hurt her selfes keep teens hooked onto media platforms to be held “1,000 katti varaha(n) A.S. Thirumalai
A summer
as absence of research. C.V. Aravind
G. Meena
Wonderful pastime
■ While the legacy of the Last week’s quiz (‘Easy
“I
f your emotional abilities ble ways. Long hours of masking,
A
recent study says memories retain of Kannada history original meaning of
aren’t in hand, if you don’t offsite rather than onsite meetings,
remarkable fidelity even as we age. and culture, ‘Carnatic’ was ‘black
have self awareness, if you are entire offices being run from home,
Encouraged by this assurance, I recall my it is hardly known country’.
not able to manage your distressing online teaching and learning, de
early student days, across the gulf of almost seven outside the State. It Ayyasseri Raveendranath
emotions, if you can’t have empathy ferred visits to doctors, dentists and
decades. We had a monotonous and busy schedule is heartening that a
and effective relationships, then no even barbers and being closeted in
during the academic year. The summer vacation new book brings the Best Sunday read
matter how smart you are, you are our homes for days and months to
extending over a couple of months, therefore, held history of this part Last week’s edition
not going to get very far.” These gether require the comfort and
out hopes of long, carefree holidays. of the country into was a real treat. From
words are from the American psy soothing presence and support of
Invariably, the last in the series of annual popular focus. the fascinating cover
chologist Daniel Goleman, who has one’s family or close friends.
examinations would be the geography paper which P. Satish story to the tragedy of
written and spoken extensively
was abracadabra to most of us. Almost everybody the great Indian bustard
about emotional intelligence (EI). Essential quality
would step out of the examination hall about half ■ Anirudh Kanisetti’s (‘Green Humour’;
EI is very often the fulcrum on with the forest rangers in the jungles There are companies these days
an hour before time. Boys would discuss in groups commendable efforts in Jan. 30), the hilarious
which the character of a person is of Congo and the rangers greeting which hire people on the basis of
their plans for vacation, even as the burly putting together this exploits of Tiwari
built. A high intelligence quotient the huge gorillas by beating their their EI. People with a high EI are
supervisor on rounds shouted in a stentorian voice, book is an inspiration for (‘Thus spake the
(IQ) is no guarantee to happiness, chests to show that they were there better team men and women, they
“Please leave the hall.” more such works. speaker’), the
mental stability or physical and as friends and the gorillas recipro value relationships, they are more
There was no question of attending special Yasodha Krishna eyeopening culture
mental wellbeing, whereas a high EI cating the same with unbridled liked and adaptable and take criti
classes or summer coaching institutes. While the of China (‘What makes
usually denotes great levels of self enthusiasm. cism better than those with lower
affluent went to summer resorts in Ooty or ■ Not only have Deccan the dragon tick’),
awareness, ability to recognise and It was as if the decks had been EIs. Unlike IQ which is more inhe
Kodaikanal, others hostellers go back to their rulers either been the hilarious yet
manage emotions not only in oneself cleared for an interaction based on rent, EI can be cultivated and deve
hometowns to rejoin their parents. A few would ignored or not found a informative article on
but also in others and take one’s de understanding — key to any form of loped. Selfawareness, selfevalua
assist their parents in family enterprises. The rest welldeserved place in viruses (‘The wolves of
cisions based on this awareness. social interaction! tion and taking responsibility for
would spend the proportion to their Molecular Street’),
Two standout words from Gole The pandemic has resulted in one’s actions and understanding
holidays at home playing achievements in our and all the others in
man’s abovequoted text are “self deaths, loss of jobs, closing down of another's situation are key to deve
cricket on the street or history textbooks, between — it was
awareness” and “empathy”. We businesses and issues such as de loping one’s EI.
visiting relatives and several regional rulers one of the best
have often seen that dolphins and pression, anxiety, fear and panic. A While high grades and skill sets
family friends. from states like Kerala, Sunday reads yet.
elephants show some form of self closeknit family structure designed are definitely important, the impor
One summer, after my Assam and Odisha have J. Dahiya
awareness and empathy. They gen to increase one’s EI can be very use tance of someone with a high EI can
repeated entreaties, my
erally live in large family groups, ful during stressful times. in no way be overemphasised. A
parents finally allowed
bond with each other, mourn the Love, affection and understand high EI is a huge soft skill to have and
me to spend a month in
death of their young ones and dis ing within a family fosters and pro its value is being increasingly recog
our village near
play a wide range of emotions, motes EI and creates an enabling en nised in all walks of life today!
Thanjavur where my
which is why they are credited with vironment to tide over the myriad ........................................................................
grandparents lived. It
a high EI. I remember walking along issues associated with the pandem ashokwarrier27@gmail.com
was a great moment
when the express train with me in a window seat
steamed out of the Tambaram station. I was in
cloud nine as if I was leaving on a roundtheworld
More on the Web
W
e all have enormous tive and extend support and gui
delightful. dreams and goals. Though dance. If you fear about something Do we need to have programmes round the clock?
My daily routine underwent a radical change in we invest remarkable which falls within your control, Should there be no break?
the village. My grandfather, a stickler for discipline, amounts of time, put in hard work, steps can be taken to resolve the Balasubramaniam Pavani
insisted that I rise with the lark and accompany him possess proficient qualities and problem. For instance, students
to the river for a bath. He did not seem to notice my skills, the fear about someone or so constantly fear about their perfor Losing green
sleepiness and protests. As we returned after the mething puts a pause to the revela mance in exams. Such stress in the We got so accustomed to this gradual destruction
bath in the gentle morning breeze, I felt tion of our talent and potential and long run may result in severe physi strength to tackle complications. A that we didn’t even notice it for quite some time.
rejuvenated. Grandpa taught me to recite prayers makes it hard to reach the road of cal and psychological issues such as few years ago, I was quite hesitant to Akshara S.
and hymns, which are still green in my memory. success. sleeplessness, anxiety and the in speak in English. But now, I have de
I had to switch over to millet porridge flavoured However, fear becomes essential ability to digest petty failures and re veloped myself to write and speak in
with cinnamon and cardamom for breakfast, Only the big picture
sometimes to safeguard oneself jections. This is the point when pa English fluently without errors.
missing my usual steaming coffee. A walk along the from desperate circumstances. But rents must instil confidence and Treat fear as an opportunity for Attention to detail is no more a virtue; it is con-
paddy fields with my grandfather regaling me with when its proportion exceeds, it is vi motivate their children. growth and never allow it to con sidered unimportant, and carries an adverse image
interesting stories now punctuate by anecdotes tal to learn and practise the tech Note that you are losing out on quer you. N. Chandar
glorifying rural life and cultivators. He made me niques to handle and overcome fear. peace and happiness when fearing Feed yourself with positive affir
understand that farming was the fabric of village First, try figuring out the nature of about things that does not fall under mations (I’m strong, I can do it) ev
community. I developed an attachment for the This page consists of reader submissions. Contributions of up to a
fear and pen down its causes. By your control. Whatever has to hap ery day with belief which will yield length of 700 words may be e-mailed to openpage@thehindu.co.in.
polite and helpful villagers. now, you have reached halfway be pen will happen and so move ahead you productive results as proven by Please provide a postal address and a brief background of the writer.
It was with a heavy heart that I returned. Back in cause you have gained clarity over with an attitude of acceptance. One research. Visualising your goals is a The mail must certify that it is original writing, exclusive to this page.
school, my friends told me that I looked fresh. Rural the issue and started to look out for can extract optimum advantage by key to overcome fear, preparing the The Hindu views plagiarism as a serious offence. Given the large
air and millet porridge had asserted their virtues. volume of submissions, we regret that we are unable to acknowledge
befitting measures to confront the preparing with courage to battle the brain to procure the sources re receipt or entertain queries about submissions. If a piece is not
........................................................................................................ fright. haunting factor as it will build self quired to accomplish one’s desires. published for eight weeks please consider that it is not being used.
ramaraon2014@gmail.com Whenever you feel panicky, feel confidence that paves space for per ........................................................................ The publication of a piece on this page is not to be considered an
free to express your fear to a reliable sonal development and supplies the endorsement by The Hindu of the views contained therein.
indhuja.nagarajan@gmail.com
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COVER STORY
THE HINDU Magazine DELHI
03
*
Departures Dingucha
village, with its deserted
streets, big pucca houses,
and a sprawling panchayat
building; all built with NRI
money. Immigration
ads and posters cover the
walls and street signs
everywhere. (Right) The
family residence of Jagdish
Patel, who along with his
wife and children (below),
died on the U.S.-Canada
border last month.
*
VIJAY SONEJI &
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
most youngsters from the community
[Patels] want to get there by any means,”
he says. The phrase “any means”
indicates why he realises that the NRI
dream is also a weakness.
“Most people left for the U.S. in the
60s and 70s,” he continues. “They went
MIGRATIONS on student visas and then settled there.
They became magnets for the others to
follow. It’s a rat race, a chase for money, a
dollar dreams
The villagers suspect that the illfated
Patel family paid over ₹1.5 crore to agents
for safe passage to the U.S. In fact, besides
the four found dead by the Canadian
authorities, the U.S. law enforcement
agencies have detained seven
undocumented Indians, and preliminary
investigations indicate that all 11 were part
of the same group of migrants trying to
slip across the Canada border.
S
urrounded by some dozen southern Gujarat. As a result of this heavy
villagers and relatives on the tiled demand, there is a widespread network of
floor of the courtyard of his local agents that works with international
house, Baldevbhai Patel, 67, is trafficking agents, and this network
barely able to speak. In the sharp facilitates border crossings for hefty fees
cold of a fading Gujarat winter, Patel is that the families willingly pay. It’s a
wearing a jacket over his shirt, and his thriving business.
head is wrapped in a muffler. All he can “There are several dozen agents active
do is nod his head to questions and fold in this belt. They lure families who are
his hands tight as tears roll down his face. struggling here but have relatives abroad.
I am in Dingucha village in Gujarat, Since they are not qualified to take the
about 20 km north of Gandhinagar, the legal route, they pay heavily to touts and
State capital. “What is there to say now? agents for safe passage through illegal
The entire world knows about it,” he says, channels,” says a 40yearold agent from
even as a thin stream of visitors flows Kalol. The usual method is to first get a
through the gates of his house, everyone visitor visa to Canada and then move to
with folded hands and moist eyes. the U.S. Most villagers blame the craze to
The old man is still to come to terms migrate on the lack of opportunities and
with the horrific tragedy that has befallen quality jobs in Gujarat; this is what forces
his family. On January 19, the bodies of his youngsters to undertake the highrisk
son Jagdish, 39, daughterinlaw Vaishali, journey to foreign countries, they say.
37, and their two children, daughter “Why do people go to the U.S., Canada
Vihangi, 11, and son Dharmik, 3, were and Australia or any other country?
found in south Manitoba along the Because there is a lack of opportunity
U.S.Canada border. here in Gujarat. They don’t find jobs
They died from exposure to extreme despite working hard here. Therefore,
cold while trying to illegally cross over to they spend huge amounts of money and
the U.S. from Canada. They had found take a lot of risks to migrate to the U.S.,”
themselves stranded, caught in a blizzard, said Gujarat’s former Deputy Chief
as temperatures rapidly dropped to Minister and prominent community
around 35°C. leader Nitin Patel, while addressing a
gathering at an event of the Patidar
Fearful silence Jagdish’s last communication with home their ancestral village in Dingucha. Then, certain distinction. It is called the NRI community. Once Gujaratis reach the U.S.,
“Don’t ask him questions about it. He was on January 15, when he informed according to local authorities and the village. Nearly 70 families from the village he said, they don’t need to worry because
does not speak. Even we don’t talk to him everyone that they had reached safely. His police, about a fortnight ago, they left for have settled in the U.S., and a few others of the presence of many of their brethren
about the incident,” says a young man parents had not told anyone that they had Canada on visitor’s visas. have emigrated to Canada and Australia. from the State there, who help them in
There is a sitting next to me. As the family’s relatives emigrated, saying instead that they had And it is the generous donations of many every possible way. “Their main concern
widespread and friends gather around to mourn the gone on a vacation. ●●● such NRI families that have paid for the is when they cross the border,” he said.
network tragic deaths, they blame destiny. The The Patel family, like most others in construction of the panchayat building, a This reasoning, however, still does not
man remains silent, occasionally sobbing. the village, are landowners. They grow Entering Dingucha is like entering a place school, temple, health centre, community explain the fact that most of the villagers
of local
When asked about how his wife is coping, crops such as wheat, millet, and cumin. of mourning, its streets deserted, houses hall, besides other initiatives, in the who willingly put their life and liberty at
agents that Patel simply says, “She is okay.” The They are not rich, but a middleclass quiet. It looks more like a town than a village. risk don’t appear to be escaping dire
works with relatives say that Madhuben, 65, is a family with land. Their house is village, with its tarred streets, bank “Most of the Patel families have one or poverty or persecution or physical
international deputy sarpanch in the village. Ever since mediumsized, with a tiled compound, branches, a huge temple, a sprawling two members abroad,” says Mathurji danger. Like Jagdish and Vaishali, they are
trafficking she heard the news, she has mostly stayed two rooms upstairs, and a terrace. Both panchayat building with airconditioned Thakor, the sarpanch of the village. mostly from the middleclass with modest
in bed. Jagdish and his wife Vaishali were rooms, and a community health centre. According to him, the Patels and the whitecollar jobs or with landowning
agents, and
Nobody talks much. The silence is also schoolteachers at different schools, one in A mural painted on the panchayat Thakors are roughly equal in population, families. Ironically, once they enter the
this network possibly because everyone knows Kalol town about 12 km south of Dingucha building in Dingucha promises enrolment some 800900 members each, in the U.S. illegally, they often end up doing
facilitates someone or has someone in the family and the other in Gandhinagar, about 26 into a university in the U.K. or Canada village of approximately 3,500 people. menial and lowpaid jobs at gas stations,
border who has migrated without papers. Except km away. “with or without IELTS”, the English The large number of NRI families from department stores or motels owned by
crossings for for Baldevbhai’s immediate family, About three years ago, Jagdish had proficiency test required for admission to this particular village is seen as both a NRIs, who are happy to get cheap labour
hefty fees nobody else, not even the neighbours, joined his younger brother Mahendra in universities in these countries. In fact, strength and a weakness, says the and, in turn, don’t report them to the
had an inkling that Jagdish and his family his garment business in Kalol, and the most of the walls of the village are covered sarpanch. “For us, it’s a matter of pride local authorities. Back home though, the
that the had left Canada and were heading family had moved into a rented with advertisements about immigration to that so many families from our village are dollar speaks and they are considered
families towards the U.S. border. The family had accommodation there. A few months ago, the U.S., Canada, and Australia. settled abroad. Because ‘NRI’ is regarded success stories. And the migration rush
willingly pay left India in the first week of January. the family left Kalol and moved back to In this region, Dingucha enjoys a as a status symbol or a mark of success, stays fuelled.
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04
Literary Review
THE HINDU Magazine
DELHI
*
Mundane to magical
Perhaps she is in thrall to him right
from the outset, for soon her mind
starts leaping towards the magical
and the otherworldly. She becomes
almost obsessed with the strange
lore of her own family — the ancestor Same man? The cover of Amar Chitra Katha’s Chanakya: The Kingmaker. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
EXPERIMENTAL FICTION with supernatural powers who drew
T
his strength from two girls whose he Arthashastra is an first quotes two previous writers
feet never touched the ground. But atypical text. For one, on strategy (as is common
K
.R. Meera’s magicreal There was a time when Bhavana understanding and savoir faire. Per years ago — nobody is quite sure — nue accounts, and functions of au er, who is stronger than the oppo
ismsuffused novella, Qa- adored the man she was married to, haps therein lies his real power, the the text is a set of books that are dit; the civil service and its regula nent. The idea of joining hands
bar, can seem like a co even though he was a bully who real source of his ability to turn the part constitution, part penal tions; law, justice and with the enemy’s enemy makes
nundrum at first, making needed to feel superior to her, forc mundane into the magical, the banal code, part taxation manual, part punishment; covert operations; sense. Kautilya says one ought to
you wonder about its ing her to make sure that she never into the sublime. landscape manual, among other foreign policy; defence and war. be servile to the protector (“as a
true essence. But then you realise outshone him in any way. She parted Thangal represents a lot more, things. One bit on battle and posi If it seems comprehensive, it courtier to a king”), which may
that the work defies specificity and ways with him eventually, because, though. The qabar that he is fight tional warfare is like Sun Tzu’s The is. And, of course, it is also shot surprise those who think of king
categorisation. It is many things at as she euphemistically explains to ing to protect bears echoes of the Ba Art of War. through with considerations of ship in terms of honour.
many levels — at once a fierce femi her child, he lacked “empathy.” bri Masjid that was pulled down, and The work is credited to Kauti caste, so much so that one has to If an alliance is not possible,
nist tract and a magical love story, at his lived experience of being a Mus lya, who may or may not be Cha hold one’s nose while reading then surrender is the best option,
once a hypnotic chiaroscuro of his Abusive relationships lim in India points to religious bigo nakya, the Brahmin who is sup much of it. says Kautilya. After surrender,
tory, memory and the occult, and a However, it is not just Bhavana who try and the ruthless divide between posed to have orchestrated the Many are familiar with only care should be taken to give up as
political comment on religion, iden threw off the suffocating burden of Hindus and Muslims that has been defeat of the Nanda king in the one part of the Arthashastra, sets that are not particularly use
tity, law and justice. an abusive and unequal marital rela kept smouldering for centuries in Gangetic belt. which is, strangely enough, its ful or to use slowacting poison on
Translated from the Malayalam by tionship. Her mother had done the this country. smallest part: the section on fo useful assets like elephants and
Nisha Susan, Qabar is told as the same. Soon after Bhavana’s wed Qabar throbs with a multidi Comprehensive text reign policy. Kautilya is thought to horses.
firstperson narrative of Bhavana Sa ding, she had left her husband for a mensional intensity and a multiplici The Arthashastra was known have said that an immediate This is the sort of practical ad
chidanandan, an additional district “room of her own”. ty of themes that may seem some through quotes in other historical neighbour is to be seen by the vice that the Arthashastra is filled
judge and single mother to a boy “When I was your age, I thought what directionless at times. But its works but the full text was un state/ king as an enemy while the with and what makes it readable.
with attention deficit hyperactivity family means heaven,” her mother appeal is really that of poetry — available till it was discovered on neighbour’s neighbour is to be But the fact remains that Kautilya
disorder. The story weaves in and tells her. “After a while, I understood splendorous with halfglimpsed leaves by a librarian, R. Shamasas seen as a friend. A more interest (like Sun Tzu) is not theoretically
out of the sober reality of Bhavana’s that this too is a workplace. A twen truths. This book is a journey un try, in the first decade of the 20th ing, and I daresay more relevant, sound on many issues, which
existence and the realm of the occult tyfourhour job. No leave, no pro bound by the usual markers and the century. Shamasastry also tran section in the same book is the might be one of the reasons why
and the supernatural, to which her usual answers — it’s where the real slated it, followed by Professor chapter on the weak king. he hasn’t found the recognition
mind gravitates. and the illusory come together and R.P. Kangle a few years later. he deserves.
Qabar Her real world is taken up with take us along in their everlasting I have the Penguin edition, The weak king
K.R. Meera, the cases she presides over in court, This is the searing realisation of tide. edited and arranged by the form Kautilya examines the options of Aakar Patel is a
trs Nisha Susan an exhusband whose memory still generation after generation of ........................................................................ er diplomat, L.N. Rangarajan. He one who is being threatened at columnist and translator
Eka rankles, her child’s condition, his women — that marriage can be The reviewer is a journalist has organised the work in the fol the borders by a larger and more of Urdu and Gujarati
₹399 tantrums that must be borne, and brutally exploitative and author. lowing way: the state and its con powerful neighbour. The text nonfiction works.
Women
can create many layers to establish happen.
King of cool
the central character and events. ‘Poison’ is a gutwrenching story
The short story has to be direct. The about female infanticide, which was
reader too has to work a little harder fairly common in the southern
fight back
to understand the atmosphere being districts of Tamil Nadu until
created. However, there is recently. When the woman whose
Humans pay heartfelt tributes to their feline masters in this quirky collection something soulsatisfying job it is to do away with
in a wellcrafted short the girl child feels she
Subajayanthi Wilson turnedmemories that detail a tailed, ter in cat company and grew up just like story of the kind has had enough, the
fourlegged, independent being, whose them, each jotting resonates with a me This eclectic collection Vaasanthi writes. unthinkable happens.
V
incent loves wet paint; Smoky language of love is very different from mory I count precious. I’m reminded of These are not easy, But in this eclectic
prefers perfectly diced saus ours. the nameless tom on Noah’s ark who of stories reflects happy stories. Most of collection, some stories
them centre on women, make you hope and
ages; Eecha has his own “If I crawl deep enough into my blan went about spraying on every corner of Vaasanthi’s how they are crushed in a smile too. In ‘He came’,
training schedule; Rahat is ket, I can still smell her: a carefullycrafted furniture, re
very generous; Heena’s pre combination of tea tree oil gardless of who said what, preoccupation with patriarchal society. But two young men, a
sence is healing. They all don’t live to shampoo and fallen fur,” says driving the most righteous old her women usually fight Hindu and a Muslim,
gether, but belong to the same feline fa Payal Nagpal of Spotty, the man on earth to turn down his social injustice back. So, there is a discover that humanity
mily. Cats, they adopt you. And, before cat who barked. calling — well, almost. glimmer of hope in some exists when they
long, enslave you. They are cool, cu “The fat cat, Caesar, stared The tom who owns me is su of the stories. undertake the long trek
rious, have nine lives, they land on their at me. He was furry, and his premely handsome, with black Sushila Ravindranath ‘Murder’ is about a home during the first
feet when they fall, they dream when fur was the same colour as Al and white patches in the right large clan somewhere in lockdown, after being
V
awake and asleep, they know every trick penliebe,” says Kulfi Moham places. A linguist and a bari aasanthi, one of Tamil rural Tamil Nadu. The Ganga’s Choice booted out of their jobs
in the book, they are therapeutic to the mad Saidali of the tabby he tone with telling eyes, he Nadu’s bestknown family is under the iron and other Stories overnight.
catlover, a nightmare to the one who briefly met at a seaside house knows the ways of the world. writers, has novels, short grip of the paterfamilias, Vaasanthi, trs However, one wishes
isn’t. in Chennai. M.K. Ranjitsinh’s He remembers how far he has stories, travelogues and the ancient Somaiya Sukanya that some of the
Cat People political biographies to Thaatha. He controls the translations were not so
Cat People, edited by Devapriya Roy, moving piece is about his come from being a rescue and Venkatraman
Edited by her name. Her latest book is a land, which is in his name, & Gomathi literal and had lived up
is a collection of many essays and a few friendship with Khairi, the graciously accepts how grate
Devapriya Roy collection of 15 short stories, and has very rigid ideas to the flavours of the
stories by over 30 authors, each captur tiger cub of Simlipal Tiger Re ful I am to have him around. Narayanan
Simon & Schuster translated from the original Tamil. about women’s place in the Niyogi Books original.
ing the myriad moods, expressions and serve, who knew how to hug A book on cats should make
₹499 The stories reflect her household, which is to ...............................................
tones of the most memed creature — the without hurting. you want to tell your own sto ₹450
cat. Each piece floats on experience For me, who breathes bet ry. This one does. preoccupations — social injustice, serve men. No one dares to The reviewer is a
human right violations, communal cross him. Women and the journalist and author.
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The Christie Affair The Greatest Kashmiri The Tombstone in my Garden The Ten Commandments of Evil
Nina de Gramont Stories Ever Told Temsula Ao Vignesh Sivasankar
Mantle Selected and trs by Neerja Mattoo Speaking Tiger Readomania Publishing
₹699 Aleph ₹499 ₹350
In 1926, Agatha Christie disappeared ₹699 In this collection of five stories from A childless couple is gifted with
for 11 days. The story of those days The storytellers included here range Nagaland, Temsula Ao documents the sinister twins; a girl starts
is narrated by her husband’s from the earliest practitioners of the lives of everyday people. A ‘Bihari’ smelling death; a psychopath is
mistress, Nan O’Dea, who becomes craft to more contemporary writers. coolie at the Dimapur railway station petrified by speaking walls. A
Agatha’s unlikely ally. During those Some are realistic dramas; some focus hides a secret; a rare lily refuses to compilation of 10 stories where
mysterious 11 days, the two unravel on women’s inner lives; all are striking bloom because she was moved into an the forces of evil turn ordinary
a dark secret that only Nan holds stories born out of the Kashmiri ornate pot; a misshapen grandfather lives upside down in spooky
the key to. experience. tree becomes the protector of a village. ways.
CM ND-X
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Literary Review
THE HINDU Magazine DELHI
05
*
FOCUS
CULTURE
B
ooks on interna did not feel obliged to support India dia and China have given rise to ex fits. It is formed from the emotional
links to colonial history tional relations are writ as a developing country, with which pectations that the next century be bonds we share and the solidarity
ten either by former di it had historical and sentimental longs to Africa and that Africa will we feel for each other.”
plomats, who take up ties. The yen mattered more than grow dramatically by 2035. At the Africa has also welcomed the in
Ritu Sethi writing as a hobby, or the linkages of the past. same time, a more realistic assess crease in the number of visits of In
scholars, who pursue re Former Foreign Secre ment is that as many as 22 African dian dignitaries to Africa and the In
W
hile publications on heritage textiles and cos search and analysis as a tary Krishnan Srinivasan, in countries were classified as having a dian decision to open new
tumes abound, it is much rarer to find writings profession. Diplomats tend his foreword, has outlined low level of readiness to benefit from diplomatic missions in Africa. But
which connect the dots with colonial history. to reminisce on their expe the hazards of treating Afri the technological revolution sweep Bhatia points out that, in the light of
This volume bridges the gap. Tracking evolving riences, linking them with ca as a Union, since it is a ing the world. “In view of the sub the Chinese experience, India
changes in how people used different textiles the history of the country continent of diverse nations stantial gap between aspirations of should deepen the political commit
and clothes, influenced by social and professional mores during concerned and provide and India’s relations with the future and achievements so far, ment to Africa, set aside sizeable fi
colonial rule, Jasvinder Kaur’s Influences of the British Raj on the personal accounts of their each country has to be stu it may be tempting for some to mock nancial resources and increase our
Attire and Textiles of Punjab seamlessly links past with present. accomplishments, which died separately. Bhatia or dismiss Africa’s prospects. Ho capability for project execution.
It underlines how material culture was not experienced in isola are a useful source material identifies only 15 countries wever, a respectful and empathetic
tion but as an entwining of the personal with the larger national for scholars, who do not with which India had sub attitude is recommended,” says Bha Many dimensions
narrative. With a focus on Punjab the author’s indepth research have the opportunity to stantial interactions in spite tia. He admiringly quotes Cyril Ra The continental, regional, bilateral,
together with oral histories, photographs, letters, newspaper clip deal with events and perso India-Africa of the nonaligned and com maphosa, President of South Africa, diaspora and other dimensions of In
pings, objects, topical advertisements unfold a history of textiles nalities. Rajiv Bhatia, a con Relations, monwealth links. On the is as having said in 2019: “This is Afri diaAfrica cooperation have been
influenced by the zeitgeist of that period to bring about lasting summate diplomat, in his Changing sue of expansion of the per ca’s century, and we want to utilize it analysed in detail to show the pros
changes which are still visible. monumental work, India Horizons manent membership of the to good effect.” pects for Africa in the coming years.
Africa Relations, Changing Rajiv Bhatia Security Council, Africa, The dawn of the new century It is inevitable that deglobalisation,
New lifestyle Horizons, has taken on the Routledge with its demand for two marked a “scramble for Africa” and debt and digitalisation, the three
In the introduction, Kaur writes that from the mid18th century mantle of the scholar, rath ₹995 permanent seats to be rotat India was also compelled to move on mega trends in the world will shape
right up to 1947, western influence pervaded all aspects of Indian er than the diplomat. Autobiograph ed in the region, has created consid from the political, ideological, pea Africa’s economic future. India has
society and culture. “Indians were exposed to a new language, ical elements in the book are few erable confusion. cekeeping, development assistance special capabilities in these areas.
new types of food, new lifestyles, such as sitting on chairs, eating and far between. The book concentrates on the and cultural cooperation to new Bhatia has established beyond
at dining tables... Inevitably, the influence Vital ties first two decades of the 21st century, areas of technological cooperation. doubt that IndiaAfrica relations
crept into their ways of dressing, and was visi Prime Minister Yen, past links which came after I left the continent We had to contend with the scram have grown from strength to
ble not only in the adoption of Western wear Narendra Modi To take the case of Kenya, where and, therefore, his sympathetic and ble and unregulated competition strength and that the future is pro
by Indians, but also in the westernisation of In and South Bhatia and I served, our bilateral re hopeful narration of the period and from major and middle powers. Chi mising. But he has also admitted that
dian clothes.” African lations were correct and cordial at his hopes for the future offer helpful na was in a class by itself, with the there are many milestones to cross
If men took a fancy, she says, to wearing President Cyril best as Kenya was preoccupied with new insights for readers like me. formation of a Forum on ChinaAfri before it can be claimed credibly
not only a fully western outfit, but also combi Ramaphosa seeking development assistance “The emerging economies, such as ca Cooperation in October 2000 that “India and Africa are among the
nations of European and Indian apparel, wo along with from developed countries and our China and India, led the charge. Yet with an ambitious programme. highest priorities for each other.”
men changed the style in which they tied the leaders of modest assistance programme, to the old challenges persisted. It was The reality is that strategically, polit
sari, and began to wear fancy blouses — as Sa China, Brazil which they had to contribute a against this backdrop that those ar India’s role ically and economically, India and
tyajit Ray showcased in his Tagore adapta and Russia at share, was not very attractive to guing for Afrorealism proved con Bhatia has devoted a large part of his Africa are still far apart and much
Influences of tion, Ghare Baire (‘Home and the World’) — the BRICS them. When we sought the Kenyan vincing; their principal conclusion book to the rationale, the details and more needs to be done.
the British Raj and petticoats. summit in vote in a crucial election against Ja was that Africa was performing well, the impact of India’s Africa coopera ........................................................................
There were different codes of dressing for Johannesburg, pan for a nonpermanent seat at the but it needed to do much better,” tion programme. Prime Minister Mo The reviewer is a Former
on the Attire
different functions — a uniform for the armed South Africa, in Security Council, President Arap says Bhatia. di asserted that “India is honoured Ambassador, and Director General,
and Textiles of
forces, formal attire for the court or durbar, of 2018. AP
*
Moi told me frankly that Japan had The global attention and compe to be a development partner for Afri Kerala International Centre.
Punjab
fice wear, sport wear. From the wearing of
Jasvinder Kaur
trousers, waistcoats and overcoats to a hybrid
Rupa
mix of clothing that combined traditional wear
₹2,500
with the contemporary, these shifting patterns
of clothing and accessories responded to the times. Pyjamas be
gan to be teamed up with coats, under the coats men often wore
kurtas.
In the world of women, the changes wrought were more subtle
and the author has delved into these hidden histories. With the in
troduction of dining and ‘living rooms’ and ‘formal’ entertain
ment, embroidered items went beyond the Phulkari to include
bedsheets, tablecloths, cushion covers, napkins, sofaback covers
and other items that were now embroidered in the European style
with patterns taken from imported women’s magazines. These
magazines played a part in impacting design — needlework and
knitting magazines, pattern guidebooks on sewing with pullout
ironon transfers were easily accessible in Punjab. Specialised
shops that traced and transferred designs and patterns for em
broidery and sewing complemented the craze for the new and
modern. While women’s clothing largely remained the same,
there were changes in material where ‘vilayati’ or foreign cloth
was often in use, albeit before the swadeshi movement. Other
changes were equally subtle like the addition of cuffs, collars and
sleeves similar to men’s fashions that were added on to women’s
kurtas along with the donning of embroidered ‘vaskat’ or waist
coats. Children wore frocks with smocking and the fashionable
used cosmetics and curled their hair.
The strength of the publication also lies in its exploration of the
many ways in which the past has shaped our present material cul
ture of dress and attire. This marvellous publication must set the
way for others to follow as there are many more such hidden his
tories from across India still waiting to be written.
..................................................................................................................................
The reviewer is founder-trustee of the Craft Revival Trust and
editor of Asia InCH Encyclopaedia and Global InCH Journal of ICH.
ENVIRONMENT
S
hunned by many as symbols ers’. It is this story of revival, of an are ‘uncertain’. This makes conser With no charismatic values, and Hindu mythology. Bharathidasan re ganisations such as the Bombay Nat
of death and ghoulish deso often unloved group of birds found vation work of the kind pursued by not much appreciation of either counts the references to vultures in ural History Society, Malabar
lation, vultures could not in the western mountains, gorges Bharathidasan and Arulagam criti their environmental role or unique Sangam literature, including the A Natural History Society and Saving
really hope to be the centre and valleys and plains, that conser cally important. digestive system as scavengers, vul kananuru, Purananuru, Pathitru Asia’s Vultures from Extinction
piece of a conservation vationist S. Bharathidasan narrates The author, who prefers to call tures do need a fresh introduction. pathu, Ainkurunuru and Natrinai. (SAVE) working to conserve these
campaign. Even deep mythological in his bilingual EnglishTamil boo vultures ‘Paaru Kazhukukal’ (rock Bharathidasan brings them to life The interested reader looking wider unique birds.
links in Hinduism, as in the Ramaya k, In Search of Vultures. living raptors), rather than ‘Pinan with this basic guide, featuring will find, for instance, that the Pura Diclofenac has been banned for
na, have not staved off their precipi thinni Kazhukukal’ (carrioneating) bright full plate images of the species nanuru mentions vultures, crows, veterinary use for years, but human
tous decline over the decades in In Overcoming barriers has struggled to overcome two ma in India and those frequently seen in owls and pokuval birds gathering in use formulations continue to pose a In Search of
dia. There is no clear picture of how ma jor barriers to conservation pursued Tamil Nadu (the whiterumped, burial grounds at night, amidst wan challenge. Other drugs such as Keto Vultures
Their importance to ecosystems ny vultures remain. In fact, the State by his NGO, mainly in a 100 km radi longbilled, Egyptian and redhead dering ghosts. profen (banned in Tamil Nadu and S. Bharathidasan
has, however, been recognised and of Indian Birds 2020 report gives the us of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve. ed vultures are commonly sighted The contemporary sobering real later by Bangladesh, according to Kalamkriya
spurred a major conservation effort, current trend for the birds as a The first was to change the public and the cinereous, Himalayan Grif ity, retold here, is that two vultures the conservationist), Aceclofenac, No price given
with research scientists, forest de ‘strong decline’ for the Egyptian, perception of vultures as loathsome fon and Eurasian Griffon vultures that regularly came to feed at the Nimesulide, Flunixin, Carprofen
partments, conservation agencies, redheaded, whiterumped and In carrion feeders. And, it had to over only sporadically in the State). The wellknown Thirukkazhukunram and Analgin can kill too. The strug
nongovernmental organisations dian vultures, and ‘moderate de come resistance from farmers and other species sighted in the country temple in Chengalpattu district gle to save vultures continues.
and bird lovers joining forces. cline’ for the cinereous and bearded the pharmaceutical industry to the are slenderbilled and bearded stopped appearing after 1994, caus ........................................................................
One NGO behind the effort to save vultures. The slenderbilled vulture ban on veterinary painkillers. Drugs vultures. ing considerable lament among — The reviewer is a
vultures based in Tamil Nadu, Arula with a restricted range is listed as such as Diclofenac and Ketoprofen, The story gets particularly ab and losses to — the local residents. Chennai-based journalist.
Bangladesh: Writings on 1971, Emotional: The New Thinking Ramayana: A Comparative Study What the Heck Do I Do with
Across Borders about Feelings of Ramkathas My Life: How to Flourish in
Edited by Rakhshanda Jalil, Leonard Mlodinow A. A. Manavalan, translated by Our Turbulent Times
Debjani Sengupta Penguin Random House C.T. Indra, Prema Jagannathan Ravi Venkatesan
Orient BlackSwan ₹2,097 Vitasta Rupa
₹875 It has been said that thinking and ₹995 ₹395
Bringing together voices from feeling are separate and opposing This treatise critically studies the Rama From Cummins to Microsoft India,
Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, many forces in behaviour. But Mlodinow story in 48 languages, including the Venkatesan has straddled both
translated into English for the first argues that advances in psychology folk tradition. It looks at renderings of manufacturing and information
time, this volume records the and neuroscience prove emotions are the Ramayana in India and Southeast technology. He makes the case that
experiences of partition and liberation critical to well-being like thinking. He Asia as a social document and not just successful adaptation in the new
in South Asian history. says how emotions can help, and hurt. a religious story. century requires a ‘paradigm shift’.
CM ND-X
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06 WIDE ANGLE
DELHITHE HINDU Magazine *
Theatre of ‘Dwellers of the holy Kaaba must see
the city of Kashi; they will see the hea
vens one day, but let them see the tem
1781, he constructed the historic path
way to the Vishwanath Temple that is
now being demolished. In 1826, Urdu
excess
ples today’ had become the city’s official lan
guage.
Ali Fraz Rezvi Mirza Hatim Ali Beig Mehr, a close
friend of Ghalib who stayed in Banaras
T
he diya and flowerdecked shortly, wrote:
ghats of Banaras usually teem jab se mujhe qismat ne banaras se
with thousands of tourists chhudaya, rahta hai zabaan’ par
and visitors from different meri bas haaye banaras!
backgrounds, religions, ‘From the day fate compelled me to
sects, and creeds. Today, the same ghats leave Banaras, O Banaras is the chant
have been pasted over with posters that Banaras, the dearly loved city of Sufi poets on my lips’
ban nonHindus from visiting. kaabe mein’ dua mangunga main’
Banaras, known to accept everyone and Urdu luminaries, is now being urged apne khuda se, ya rab!
with open arms, is being asked to ex butekaafir mujhe bulwaaye
clude every person without a Hindu
to forget its multicultural past banaras
name. This overt saffronisation of Bana ‘I will pray to my god in the kaaba;
ras might result in the erasure of its fa ghar Ali Khan, the grandson of Nawab being a guest of Shahzada Mirza Jawan O god, let me be recalled by the
mous mixed culture, the mili juli tah Meer Qasim Aali Jah of Bengal; Mirza Ra Bakht Bahadur in Banaras. Who would idols of Banaras’
zeeb, which had made Sufi mystics like jab Ali Beig Suroor, court poet of Nawab have known that such a simple wish of These poets are long dead but the
Sheikh Ali Hazeen call it their home. Wajid Ali Shah; and a lot more. In their his would not be granted... spirit of their poetry should not die
Down the centuries, several luminar works, Banaras became a byword for Ghalib also wrote a qaseeda (ode) in with them. Let the narrow lanes of the
ies of Urdu literature found a second love, art, literature and culture. Persian titled SubheBanaras, where old city not become a graveyard of all
home in Banaras: Mughal princes such ta’ala allah banaras chashmebaddoor he exhorts those leading boring lives things good, of art and love, and a
as Mirza Sikandar Shukoh Bahadur and bahishtekhurramofirdausemamoor to come and take a look at the lively wealth of culture.
Shahzada Mirza Khusrow Jalal Ahmad ‘May god protect Banaras from the evil structures of the city of idols. Though .............................................................................
Khan Bahadur; Nawab Syed Naseerud eye; What an amusing manmade para Banaras is a place of idolworship, for The writer is a theatre artist and a
Deen Ali Khan Bahadur Samsam Jung dise it is’ him it is the ‘holy Kaaba of Hindous When Ali Ibrahim Khan was appointed Chief Magistrate of Banaras in 1781, student of Social Work at
from the royal family of Doolighat; As Said the legend of rekhta, Ghalib, while taan’. The people of Banaras have he constructed the historic pathway to the Vishwanath Temple Delhi University.
GREEN HUMOUR BY ROHAN CHAKRAVARTY Saree sight Sarah Jessica Parker in that while it was “really cool” that Sex
the Diwali episode of Sex and the and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw want
City. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
* ed to showcase Indian clothes, the
problem is “there are now millions of
people out there who think what Car
After Arushi Sinha wrote a caustic rie is wearing is a saree. It’s not.”
takedown of Sex and the City’s saree Details do matter. I remember a
gate for Vogue India, Penn called it roommate in California asking if he
“spoton”. Even The New York Times could call me Sandy instead of San
wrote a piece headlined “Saris, Le dip. I almost acquiesced and then re
hengas and Why Carrie Bradshaw fused. I reasoned that just because he
Should Know the Difference” where was more familiar with Sandy, that
it explained that a lehenga is a “three was no reason for me to answer to
piece garment worn at Indian wed that name. That’s how we lost chai
dings and celebrations” while a saree and now coffee chains in America sell
is an “uncut piece of fabric that’s us a concoction known as “chai tea”.
wrapped around the body and The characters in And Just Like That
draped over a shoulder, along with have woke conversations about
complementing blouses.” whether Carrie Bradshaw wearing a
saree is cultural appreciation or cul
Woke conversations tural appropriation but entirely miss
Sinha’s hypothesis is that the lehen a moment for cultural education. As
gasaree sleightofhand was because film critic and disappointed Sex and
the writers didn’t “want to over the City fan Aseem Chhabra said,
whelm their audience with too much “They really make no effort to under
Indianness.” And sarees were just stand any other culture, any way of
better known than lehengas. life other than the way white people
The more I think about it the more live in Manhattan.” And the people of
it seems that this was just the curryfi colour exist in shows like these, said
cation of the saree. Just as curry has Arushi Sinha, merely “to diversify the
become a catchall term for any kind lead character’s milquetoast lives.”
of Indian dish with some gravy, the My mother who owns no lehengas
show made saree the wrapall term but has at least 200 sarees would
for any ‘Indian female ethnic wear.’ have been aghast. “My first love is sa
Some would say we are tying our ree,” she said. “Everywhere I went I
selves into knots over a wellmeaning had to buy at least one saree. Even in
mainstream gesture of inclusivity. At Paris I got a French chiffon.”
least a lehenga which pretends to be These days, increasingly home
a saree is better than the Seinfeld epi bound, she rarely gets to wear her sa
sode where George claims he never rees. The last time she wore one was
went to the bathroom while in India when she went for her COVID vac
or The Simpsons’ ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Ban cine. But the sarees are never far
galore’ episode where Homer is ven from her thoughts. Other people
erated as a god in India and teaches count sheep when they try to sleep.
Indians how to unionise and stand up My mother counts sarees. Then she’ll
for their labour rights. Clearly the remember one she has not seen in a
white saviour complex just refuses to while. “Then I have to get up and look
quit India. Also, a Falguni Shane Pea in the almirah till I find it,” she said.
POP-A-RAZZI cock lehenga is certainly more up “Otherwise I can’t go to sleep again.”
market than the cowspovertyfamine Luckily, my mother does not
The saree that wasn’t
beat that India is often relegated to. watch Sex and the City. Otherwise she
really would have been unable to
Over chai tea sleep for days because in her war
Is misrepresentation, patronising or drobe finding a lehenga and calling it
not, better than no representation? a saree is unforgivable.
Is misrepresentation better than no representation? Not really Not really. Imran Amed, founder and It’s kind of like stumbling upon
chief executive of The Business of America and calling it India. But at
W
hen And Just Like eyes while chilled monkey brains are Fashion, said in an Instagram post least that was a genuine case of mista
That, the reboot of served for dinner in Indiana Jones ken identity in 1492, not sheer cultu
Sex and the City, and The Temple of Doom. ral laziness in 2022.
passed off a lehenga An IndianAmerican actor once
as a saree, I realised said that after that film was released Just as curry has become a
a cultural shift had happened. no one wanted to sit next to him at catch-all term for any kind of Sandip Roy, the author
Sarah Jessica Parker running down school. “They were convinced I had
Indian dish with some gravy, the of Don’t Let Him Know,
the steps in a Falguni Shane Peacock monkey brains in my lunch box,” he likes to let everyone
lehenga and calling it a saree is in a said. The irony was that this was Kal show made saree the wrap-all
know about his
different league from Amrish Puri Penn aka Kalpen Modi, a good vege term for any ‘Indian female opinions whether
thundering Kali Ma with bloodshot tarian Gujarati boy. ethnic wear’ asked or not.
CM ND-X
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BOOKEND
THE HINDU Magazine DELHI
07
*
BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE
LIFE HACKS FROM AGONY AKKA
Alarming bells
terway. “Conservation and liveli
hoods are at serious and violent
odds,” says the researcher.
The deliberate killing of these aquatic mammals may have declined, To give the species a fighting
chance, Kelkar and his colleagues Dear Agony Akka, nearby and must be propitiated
but inadvertent drowning in fishing nets alarmingly continues could have lobbied for fishing to be with food and incense every day.
I
am a radiologist (the doctor
shut down, poachers prosecuted, As you imagine married life
who does your ultrasounds)
N
achiket Kelkar, as an un and nets confiscated. That would be unrolling from Day 1, you have
nearing my 30s. I am thinking
dergraduate studying the way of conventional conserva visualised your future wife and
of getting married this year to
zoology, became in tion. But they sympathised with the present mother vying to do the
the love of my life. But I am
trigued on reading poor fishermen who had few other honours of waking you up and
anxious about the events after
about the Ganges river options. Criminal gangs threatened cooking your breakfast but where
marriage. For instance, now my
dolphin. The species cannot see its these marginalised people and ap are you? Why aren’t you present
mother wakes me up, cooks
fishy prey or even its own young. Re propriated much of their meagre there in that scene waking yourself
duced to tiny pits, the eyes at the catch. They beat and even killed breakfast for me, etc. After
marriage, should I ask my wife to up and cooking your breakfast?
most detect light or its absence. Vir anyone who resisted. Caught bet The last I heard, alarm clock
tual blindness is not a disability nor ween thugs and paltry returns, ma do so? Would this be patriarchal
because she is also a doctor. On the technology had advanced by leaps
does it slow the animal in the siltla ny fishermen set aside their nets and and bounds. In fact, you can even
den turbid Ganges and the Brahma migrated to cities to work on con other hand, mother cooking for
both of us could be odd. What record your mother’s loving voice
putra rivers. The aquatic mammal struction sites and factory produc and make it the alarm tune in your
locates its meal with its inbuilt sonar, tion lines. should I do? What is the way
forward? phone. As a qualified radiologist, I
emitting highfrequency clicks and am sure you will crack the modus
using its fluidfilled melonshaped A struggle — Caring and Anxious Doctor
operandi in no time. When you are
head to detect their reflection off ob “Studying river dolphins led me to Dear CAD, nearing 30, you are even past the
jects. In shallow waters, it swims on engage with fishing communities, The fact that we have reached a globally recognised grace time that
its side, a rare ability for a member their history, and how they relate stage of evolution where an Indian Indian men are allowed to fully
of the family of whales, porpoises, with the animals,” says the research man is asking whether or not an grow up. Get an alarm.
and dolphins. Kelkar thought it Victim Threats to the sleek creatures also come in the form of er. “Typically, this is not what a biol action of his might be considered Mind you, you’re not alone. I
seemed so different from its popular declining fish stocks and competition with fishermen. SUSHANT DEY
* ogist is taught to do. It’s been an en patriarchal is a great day in the life once met a NRI guy who travelled
relatives, the seafaring dolphins. riching struggle.” of the nation. I want to give you a regularly to India on business and
Why do these streamlined ani river dolphin, locally called soans, is Dependent for generations on Instead of further victimising the trophy, throw a party, break into his wife had to call him from Texas
mals swim on their sides? Do the more valuable dead than alive to the river and with no other means of remaining fishers, Kelkar and his song. Sadly, I cannot even shake to wake him up each morning.
calves find prey with echolocation fishermen, who use the stinky oil subsistence, they cast their nets in team recommend that the authori
your hand warmly because of the Indian men are truly sui generis.
or by some other means? The re from the blubber to catch catfish. In the same spots where dolphins ties allow fishing nets in which soans
pandemic. Be assured, however, Anyway, now that you’re awake,
searcher studied the river dolphin the past, they hunted the animals, hunt, competing for the same catch. are least likely to drown. Offering in
that mentally I am doing just that. let’s move on. The two options you
for his master’s thesis, but what he but conservationists convinced The commonly used gillnets with centives for reporting dolphin by
I am also congratulating you for so elegantly state are between your
discovered in the lower Gangetic them to stop the practice. The delib less than 40mm mesh size are ille catch could open an opportunity for
writing to me with your question mother and your wife making your
floodplains of Bihar changed the tra erate killing of these aquatic mam gal, making the local enterprise an dialogue with these communities.
and not asking the love of your life. breakfast. Even though it appears
jectory of his enquiry. mals may be declining, but inadver offence twice over. But the legal Regular monitoring of the river by
Somehow I feel that she would not from your question that you are
“I went from sensory ecology to tent drowning in fishing nets largegap nets entangle dolphins wildlife authorities may curtail gang
have taken it in a friendly spirit of worried about these two women
studying political ecology of the spe continues. that then drown. The finemesh gill activities and keep an eye out for
detached interest in male and who should do the cooking, if I
cies,” he says. nets create an invisible curtain un dead dolphins.
When social and political issues Entangled derwater that the aquatic mammals Perhaps these measures would
progress. do an ultrasound of your letter, it
on land affected these aquatic ani A 65kilometre stretch of the water can detect and then swerve. offer a glimmer of light that even the All this is for the asking part of becomes crystal clear that you are
mals, understanding those impacts way called the Vikramshila Gangetic Besides these immediate dan soans can see. your letter. Now for the question actually and primarily worried
gained more urgency than studying Dolphin Sanctuary, the only one of gers, pollution, dams, and the vagar itself. I was spellbound to see how about how to continue your own
their biology. its kind for India’s national aquatic ies of climate have a much more tell entirely you were missing from that comfortable life without any
Janaki Lenin is not a charming home life scenario you unpleasantness coming between
Threats to the sleek mammals animal, is a reserve only in name. ing impact on fisheries and the conservationista but
zing from many directions: declining Catching fish is not allowed within a soans. painted. It was like reading a ghost you and your aloo paratha.
many creatures share
fish stocks, competition with fisher conservation area, where fishermen It’s a wonder that any Ganges riv her home for reasons story where there is always a spirit Let me assure you that neither
men, and death in fishing nets. The can’t help fishing. er dolphins survive in this abused she is yet to discover. or poltergeist or gremlin that is not the biological fact of being male
present but always hovering nor the study of radiology prevents
you from cooking breakfast. Unless
you’re worried that the aloo
GOREN BRIDGE knew that his partner held the paratha will become radioactive?
queen, as declarer would not have This is a valid fear but one
Psychology played this way holding the queen.
East ducked and West won with the
that scientists will reject
outright.
The year is still young. Fix
ILLUSTRATION: SATHEESH VELLINEZHI
queen. Hopelessly endplayed, West
cashed the ace of clubs and declarer marriage for November and
NorthSouth vulnerable, North deals claimed the balance. use these nine months to
At the other table, declarer discover how the least
Bob Jones cashed the ace of hearts before ruff odd thing in your life
ing a diamond. He then led a low will be to look after
G
ood declarers are always did not want to guess the club posi spade from his hand, perhaps in yourself.
looking for ways to mask tion. In fact, the club position was tending to also play the ace and — AA
their intentions. They not guessable in today’s deal so los another spade. agony.akka
want to make it as diffi ing the lead to East would lead to de West inserted his queen, however, @gmail.com
cult as possible for the feat. and South ducked in dummy, de
*
QUIZ
THE SUNDAY CROSSWORD 3188
Easy like Sunday morning
What has February 6 ever given us?
Berty Ashley cess and after having what she de
scribed as her most thrilling expe
1 February 6, 60 AD, is the earliest
date in human history for which
we know for certain what day of the
rience she climbed down from the
tree next day a Queen’. Who was this
guest who rose to fame hunting
week it was. We know this because maneating tigers in Uttar Pradesh?
of a piece of graffiti in a city in Italy. It
identifies this day as ‘a dies Solis’
(Sunday), by a system, that corres
ponds to modern day Wednesday af
9 On February 6, 1959, electrical
engineer Jack Kilby of Texas In
struments filed the first patent for an
ter adjusting calendars. The reason invention that he had come up with.
this early record was clearly pre Since he was a new employee, he
served was because of a tragic event couldn’t take a summer vacation so
that happened 19 years later that he spent the time working on a com
preserved the graffiti in thick ash puter related problem called ‘tyran
and pumice. In which city would Popular still The Landlord’s Game, created by Lizzie Magie, has ny of numbers’. His solution earned
you find this historical record? numerous variations and revolves around wealth creation. him a Nobel Prize in Physics and led
to a revolution in the world of elec
2 On February 6, 1685, James II of
England and VII of Scotland was
proclaimed King upon the death of
neering microbiologist. He disco
vered a bacterium, then called
‘KlebsLoeffler Bacterium’, which
monstrate how an economy that re
wards wealth creation is better than
one where a business is the only sup
tronics, as now circuits could be
smaller and inexpensive. What now
ubiquitous entity did he invent?
his brother Charles II. He had caused an infectious disease that has plier of a product or service. The
proved to be an able administrator
through his actions during the Great
Fire of 1666. He championed the role
been described since 5 BC. Thanks
to Klebs’ work, we eventually had a
vaccine for the disease that is often
game as we now know has numer
ous variations and is a rare game in
which a player can go to jail. What
10 On February 6, 1988, this
sporting legend made one of
his signature moves from the free Across 7 Play’s unusual theme, describing Tesla,
1 Fish on strike? I don’t believe that (10) a nuisance (3,7)
of the municipal corporation in its given along with those for pertussis game is this that many families have throw line during an NBA slam dunk
6 Flipping crazy attempt (4) 8 By brat I set to work! (4-6)
efforts, and in 1687 issued a Royal and tetanus as a formula known as played together? contest. His move, which saw him
9 Somewhat resembling how the Burj Khalifa 12 Who sings? Smooth Rat Pack member
Charter to start the first ever corpo ‘DTP’. Klebs discovered the reason flying through the air, earned him a was constructed? (2,2,1,5) Sinatra, to start with (4,7)
ration outside London. In which city
did King James II launch the second
for which disease?
7 On February 6 this singersong
writer attained global fame for
title, and a logo which has since be
come one of the most recognisable
10 Broadcaster; put another way, Auntie (4)
11 Bus gets represented with short movie (12)
13 Embarrassed with opulence, Oxford Univer-
sity accepted it’s increasing (10)
oldest civic body in the world?
5 Born on February 6, 1913, Mary
Leakey was an EnglishKenyan
his characteristic style of music and
song writing. Skillfully fusing ele
and valuable symbols in sports.
Known as ‘Jumpman’, this logo is
15 Having lost both axes, extremely tricky to
get wood (3,4)
14 Very strong pimento not digested (10)
18 One is one of these fuddy-duddies (7)
3 Born on February 6, 1726, Patrick
Russell was a Scottish surgeon
and zoologist who is considered the
archaeologist and anthropologist
who discovered 15 new species of
animal and named a new genus. She
ments of reggae, ska and rock, his
songs, which also had a sense of spir
ituality, spread the world over and
based on which legendary
sportsperson?
........................................................................
16 Letters to spell ‘spit’? That’s child’s play (7)
17 Creepy old Oscar wearing less (7)
19 Loudly discussing Eucharist ‘as a body’ (2,5)
19 Permit’s ambivalent: it legalises ‘to some
extent’ (7)
21 Southeastern European, Raškian Balkan
‘Father of Indian Ophiology’. In also excavated many fossils of ape popularised the concept of ‘Rasta A molecular biologist from Madurai, 20 Very expensive films — they bomb (12) primarily? (4)
1785, he became the Naturalist to the like creatures that were ancestors of farianism’. Who was this iconic mus our quizmaster enjoys trivia and 23 Brainwave: Everyman had meal but 22 ‘Key’, somewhat misleadingly (4)
East India Company in Madras. Dur humans. In 1976, she and her team ician whose pictures can be seen on music, and is working on a rock not sides (4)
ing his time he identified a snake discovered a trail of footprints fossil tshirts of youth till this day? ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi 24 Spite, that’s about right — leading to Solution No. 3187
known to the locals as ‘katuka retula ised in volcanic ash, which were is an Emotion’. @bertyashley appeal (10)
25 Gristle regularly refused in French holiday
poda’, which Europeans didn’t
know about but was only second to
the cobra in lethality. Eventually
more than 3.75 million years old.
Known as the ‘Laetoli hominim foot
prints’ at that time, these were the
8 On February 6, 1952, Elizabeth II
was in a tree house in Kenya
when she learnt about the death of
10. Michael Jordan
9. IC (Integrated Circuits)
accommodation (4)
26 So-called ‘best insole’ stinking (10)
8. Jim Corbett
this, which is one of the Big Four earliest example of what important her father George VI, following 7. Bob Marley Down
snakes in India, was named after human feature? which she became Queen of the Un 6. Monopoly 1 It’s a kind of salmon, pal (4)
him. What species of snake, also ited Kingdom and the Common legs) 2 In report, see a collection of information (4)
3 Hatch ‘wrote a check’ for meteorological
known as ‘kannadi viriyan’ in Tamil,
6 On February 6, 1935, this now ve wealth. On this day, one of her
5. Bipedalism (ability to walk on two
4. Diphtheria
is this? ry popular board game went on guests, a famous hunter, wrote in the 3. Russell’s Viper kit (11)
sale for the first time. The game was visitor’s book — ‘For the first time in 2. Madras Corporation 4 Peer and knight, stuck in bathrooms,
regularly vexed (4-3)
4 Born on February 6, 1834, Edwin designed based on ‘The Landlord’s the history of the world, a young girl 1. Pompeii
Klebs was a GermanSwiss pio Game’ created by Lizzie Magie to de climbed into a tree one day a Prin
Answers 5 Replace second overturned vehicle (7)
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BACK PAGE
THE HINDU Magazine
08 DELHI
Illustration: R. Rajesh
myself as privileged, cocooned by And after appropriating these faiths,
my social circle. Only much later they have the audacity to fine Dalits
60 MINUTES: WITH CYNTHIA STEPHEN did I realise that society was seeing for entering temple premises,” she
me as Dalit. This realisation was says, referring to an incident last
Hindu
distressing but eyeopening. It was a September in Koppal district, where
watershed moment. I unpacked and a Dalit family was fined ₹25,000
unravelled my Dalit ancestry,” she after their toddler stepped into a
says. temple.
One grandparent each on her Under such conditions, the state
maternal and paternal sides are cannot bully people seeking dignity,
Dalit. But it took her years to figure she says. “You cannot win over love
it all out because her family was with violence. The Brahminical
hesitant to talk about it or system that people want to abandon
acknowledge that they were Dalit. “I is a clinical, cruel and cold system
by the stroke
am proud to be part of a very with no conception of love but of
talented and compassionate people, control.” How else do you explain
who have shown courage, struggled one’s own family committing
of a pen
and persevered. I acknowledge my violence against one in the name of
privilege and have no intention of caste, Cynthia asks. She talks of the
taking the spaces that belong to ‘othering’ that is practised by
those who have faced Brahminical patriarchy.
discrimination. I’m only advocating “Brahminical patriarchy others
for the people until they find a women and anyone who is not a
voice. Once they do, I will retreat Dwija male.”
into the background,” she says. Karnataka is the only southern
State where the BJP is in power, and
Thrice removed it wasn’t until 2007, when the JD(S)
Any time there has been brokered power with the BJP, that
mobilisation by the Dalits, the party got an opportunity to rule
Karnataka’s anti-conversion bill especially for access to natural the State. With influential caste
resources like water, poromboke groups, the power struggle in
stands in the way of people’s dignity, land, or land for housing, there’s an Karnataka has always alternated
and is a red herring to distract from invariable retaliation by the upper between the Vokkaligas and
castes. “An immediate response to Lingayats. Cynthia says, “This was
the real problems in the State, any attempt at assertion of rights by the first time the Vokkaligas and
Dalits is subjecting Dalit women, Lingayats came together to form a
says the activist and researcher who face thrice removedness by government. The powerful Lingayat
virtue of gender, caste and class, to community mostly backed BJP’s
systematic sexual violence,” Cynthia B.S. Yediyurappa, under whose
■ Diploma in Pragati K.B. says. The 2006 Khairlanji massacre leadership the party grew.”
Journalism is one such caste atrocity in the Unlike Tamil Nadu, Andhra
“W
from IIMC, hy does the context of land rights. Educational Pradesh or Telangana, which are led
New Delhi, and
majority fear aspirations of Dalit children, too, by culturallyrooted regional
Master’s in
Women’s
a minority are ruthlessly crushed. “Decades parties, Karnataka hasn’t had any
Studies from community ago, Dalit boys with good academic iconic politicians who have held
Alagappa that records would be murdered and sway as opinion leaders. It is also
University, comprises only 23% of the girls raped and impregnated. The culturally very diverse and
Tamil Nadu population? Why is the ‘56inch newage version of this is fragmented, a cultural Rubik’s cube
chest’ afraid of us?” Cynthia institutional murder, such as in the with a lot of possibilities. “The
■ Former State
Programme Stephen, activist, researcher and cases of Rohith Vemula and Payal diversity of the State, which used to
Director of independent journalist, thundered Tadvi.” be our strength, has become its
Mahila into the microphone at a protest in It is ironical that the current Achilles heel,” says Cynthia. She
Samakhya Bengaluru’s Freedom Park last dispensation speaks of “ghar wapsi” says, “Although not surprising, the
Karnataka, a December. About 40 civil society or returning to the Hindu fold, increased instances of intolerance,
programme organisations had gathered there to Cynthia says. Because it was only by moral policing, hate crimes and
of the HRD protest the anticonversion bill, the stroke of a pen during the vigilantism definitely go against the
Ministry formally the Karnataka Protection census operation that communities ethos of Bengaluru.”
■ Member of of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, vote on December 24, even as the pandemic, I raised funds to oppression and women’s of Adivasis and Dalits were made And yet, society is in a churn
Expert 2021, introduced by the State Congress and JD(S) opposed it. It is distribute rations among women representation, Cynthia has often Hindu. “Culturally and historically and all hope is not lost. Cynthia
Committee government. “This Bill that the yet to be tabled in the Legislative through my NGO. This action can been trolled as a “rice bag convert”. speaking, they are not Hindus. The says, “My generation will remember
re-drafting the ruling BJP legislators want to pass is Council. attract a 10year sentence under the It is an intimidation tactic used to Brahminical forces have coopted a pledge: ‘India is my country and
Karnataka against the very Constitution they statute. Services provided by thwart dissent, she says. One of her indigenous gods and goddesses with all Indians are my brothers and
Panchayat Raj
took their oath on while assuming Timely distraction convent schools and Christian tweets reads: “The reference is to their grand and meta narratives. sisters’. The pledge ends with: ‘In
Act, 1993,
in 2014
power. It furthers the According to Cynthia, “The Bill is a hospitals can be similarly the fact that my ancestors, three their wellbeing and prosperity
Manusmriti-sanctioned agenda of red herring to distract us from real penalised.” Every offence in the Bill generations ago, allegedly alone, lies my happiness’. I want to
■ Participated in Brahminical patriarchy that issues like the multicrore bitcoin is nonbailable and cognisable, with converted to Christianity to get rice. bring back those values into the
the 58th delegitimises women, Dalits and scam in the State and the imprisonment between three and I’m glad they did coz they also got ‘Only much later did I realise formal structure of education and
session of other minorities,” Cynthia said. potholeridden roads in Bengaluru ten years and fines up to ₹50,000. education. That’s why I can speak of that society was seeing me as change the way we teach and raise
CEDAW in
The Bill seeks to punish forced or despite a whopping ₹20,000 crore Over the past few years, similar injustice on social media”. Dalit. This realisation was our children in order to create a
Geneva, 2014,
induced conversions. It prohibits being spent on them.” She goes on laws have been introduced in many Cynthia’s was a middleclass harmonious, inclusive, respectful
lobbying for distressing but eye-opening.
the rights of conversion by “misrepresentation, to say that, under this law, even acts other States like Uttar Pradesh, Christian family. Her father was an and equal future.”
force, allurement, fraudulent of charity can be construed as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and engineer and her mother, a teacher. It was a watershed moment. ........................................................................
marginalised
women means, or marriage.” The Karnataka inducement, attracting stringent Himachal Pradesh. “I did not grow up with caste I unpacked and unravelled my The writer is a freelance journalist
in India Assembly passed the Bill by a voice punishment. “During the Vocal on issues of Dalit consciousness. I grew up thinking of Dalit ancestry’ based in Bengaluru.
Comfort food Pricked and chopped and stewed in tamarind juice and tamarind. The sorakaya
with onion and green chillies, the sorakaya bejjala pulusu, made pulusu was a slightly more
with bottle gourd, is almost stew-like. K.R. DEEPAK & GETTY IMAGES/ ISTOCK
* involved process — big
vegetable, stabbing, cutting,
stewing — it was more fun.
But how was I to find the
recipe now? Would an Internet
search help? It did, but three
videos in, I wasn’t sure any of
them were what I wanted. One
left out the tamarind
altogether, advocating the use
of coriander and cumin
powder, another deepfried the
vegetable, and the final look of
the third put me off.
Cook at a go
In my Andhra family, we
routinely ate a lot of gourds. A
chunk of the sorakai would go
into pappucharu, a cousin of
will be another sorakai. Give sambar but not as thick or
SUNDAY RECIPE my regards to your mother.” spicy. Most of the gourds would
And with this flashback, one is be turned into a light,
Sorakaya bejjala pulusu consuming, along with the palegreen stirfry or a chutney.
sorakai, the past all over again. The dosakai went into the
Ingredients Ammamma and her popular Andhra dal, dosakaya
1 tender bottle gourd (about 500 gm) gaptoothed smile, the soft fuzz pappu. Many of the gourds
2 onions chopped on the gourd, the ’80s, when would be cooked into a thin
2-4 thinly sliced green chillies we ate only at home, and the gravy with tamarind, or a paala
A loose fistful tamarind, soaked in a cup of water
for an hour
many foods that went out with koora, a mild curry finished off
2-3 garlic cloves the people who cooked them. with a big splash of milk.
1-1.5 tsp red chilli powder/ sambar powder In a sudden burst of From being rotund or long
1/4 tsp turmeric nostalgia, I thought of bejjala and ending in a languid curve,
Salt to taste pulusu, an unusual dish then bottle gourds in my Chennai
1-2 tbsp jaggery when most of the gourd neighbourhood have of late
2 tbsp oil vegetables we ate were diminished to the size of my
Sravanthi Challapalli NOSHTALGIA For tempering routinely peeled — sorakai, forearm. The dismay I feel at
½ tsp mustard seeds beerakai (ridge gourd), their short and stumpy avatar
I
½ tsp cumin seeds
f I had to dredge up a
memory about sorakai
In my Andhra family, we routinely ate 2 dried red chilli
gummadikai (pumpkin),
dosakai (melon cucumber),
is momentary; I can now use
them in one go, rather than
¼ tsp fenugreek seeds
(bottle gourd), it would a lot of gourd, as pappucharu, pachadi, A handful curry leaves potlakai (snake gourd). I say save them for another meal.
have to be the one about ‘unusual then’ because these As it turned out, I didn’t
how I ate koottu made pulusu or paala koora Method days there’s so much being have to look very hard for the
with it day in and day out for 1. Wash the bottle gourd and prick all over with written on cooking exclusively recipe. While writing this
Gourds in my
three years in my hostel mess — a fork. Do not peel. Cut into medium-sized with vegetable and fruit peel. article I found my greataunt
only to find out later that it pieces. Suseela’s cookbook
wasn’t. The vegetable in 2. Heat the oil. Add the tempering ingredients, Sticky, golden affair Doctoramma Vantalu (Telugu).
question alternated between ensuring they do not burn. For just a few dishes, the A gynaecologist and a fine
3. Then, fry the onion, garlic and green chilli well.
ash gourd and chow chow. I 4. Add the bottle gourd and saute for 3-4
gourds would remain cook, she spent many
kitchen
From being had never heard of chow chow minutes on medium flame. unpeeled. There was the weekends feeding me delicious
rotund or in my growing up years in 5. Add salt and turmeric, mix well, and saute sorakaya bejjala pulusu, where food over some 18 years, till she
Andhra Pradesh, but sorakai some more. the gourd would be pricked passed away. This is adapted
long and
made a regular appearance on 6. Extract the tamarind juice and add it to the with a fork all over and stewed from her recipe. I’m not sure
ending in a the dining table at home. pan. Add the chilli powder or sambar powder. in tamarind juice with onion how its name will translate into
languid How does one recreate a Mix well, cover and let it cook in its own juices and green chillies. There was a English — holey stew, pierced
curve, bottle dish from memory when they till done. Keep checking and add water if curry made with cubed green vegetable curry, pitted bottle
necessary so that the vegetable does not stick to
gourds have weren’t curious about it as a pumpkin and jaggery where gourd curry — but it’s as much
the pan. The peel will offer a wee bit of
of late child? I recently got the gift of a resistance even when the pieces boil down to a the peel was left on, a sticky, fun to translate it as it is to
tender, round bottle gourd that to the sight of an avuncular rather sizeable, potlike velvety consistency. golden affair that was hot and prepare it.
diminished to reminded me of my relative, motorcycle key vegetable. sweet; a dosakai chutney that ...............................................................
7. Add the jaggery, simmer and switch off the
the size of grandmother, of kitchen dangling from his fingers, Grandmother would grin, flame. Serve hot. was just raw melon cucumber The independent writer and
my forearm gardens, and the door opening outstretched hands holding the saying, “If it’s you, I know it pounded with salt, tempering editor is based in Chennai.
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