Indian Centre Govt moves to push up Parsi numbers
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The minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid, who tried in the past to help Parsis with Rs1 crore from the exchequer, said the new plan envisages setting up of counselling centres and fertility clinics as the community has the lowest child birth record. He said while government policy has been to promote family planning to restrict country’s population, the minorities affairs ministry has sought reversal of policy in case of Parsis, who are one of the five notified national minorities. The DNA had earlier reported the letter written by Keki Daruwalla, Sahitya Akademi award-winning poet and a member of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM to the Planning Commission (PC). He had highlighted the Census figures which show that the number of Parsis in 1941, which was 1,14,890, almost halved to 69,601 by 2001. He has requested central funding for these schemes so that they can be implemented on a national scale. According to the committee report, funding infertility clinics will cost the Centre a modest Rs20 crore. The National Commission for Minorities has also suggested the community to reverse the trend of late marriages or no marriages. A survey commissioned by the NCM found birth rates dropping to 174 in 2006 from 223 in 2001. Since the 1950s deaths have consistently outnumbered births every year, resulting in aging population. |
Indian Centre Govt moves to push up Parsi numbers
Get a glimpse of Gujarat’s fire temple in city
For the next ten days, the city’s art and history enthusiasts can get a
glimpse of the timeless charm of the Zoroastrian pilgrimage capital,
Udvada, enclosed in 60 odd photo frames.
As part of the exhibition titled Udvada, city-based photographer
Shantanu Das has captured the quiet hamlet of Gujarat in its distinct charm. The exhibition has been
organised by industrialist Parvez Damania, who belongs to one of the
nine priestly families of Udvada.
“I realised there is no photographic record or documentation of Udvada that is home to the 270-year-old Iranshah Atash-Behram,” said Damania. “Renowned not just for its old-world charm, but also for being a concentrated microcosm of the Parsi community, there are not more than 60 residents surviving in the town today,” said Damania, adding that there are not more than 7 priests in all.
For Das, capturing images of the rituals practised inside the temple was a challenge because he was not allowed to step inside.
“Since I do not belong to the nine priestly families, I had to capture the images of the devotees and customs through the iron gates,” said Das, who has been working on this assignment since December 2010.
“I tried to capture the town in all its distinct glory by highlighting the religious identity and lifestyle of the locals. They were very hospitable and enthusiastic,” he added.
The organisers are planning to publish the photographs in a book format apart from exhibiting the pictures in other cities.
The exhibition is being held at Tao Atrium Gallery, Sajan Plaza, 165, Dr Annie Beasant Road, Worli and will be open from 11am to 7pm up to April 7. It will be open on Sundays.
“I realised there is no photographic record or documentation of Udvada that is home to the 270-year-old Iranshah Atash-Behram,” said Damania. “Renowned not just for its old-world charm, but also for being a concentrated microcosm of the Parsi community, there are not more than 60 residents surviving in the town today,” said Damania, adding that there are not more than 7 priests in all.
For Das, capturing images of the rituals practised inside the temple was a challenge because he was not allowed to step inside.
“Since I do not belong to the nine priestly families, I had to capture the images of the devotees and customs through the iron gates,” said Das, who has been working on this assignment since December 2010.
“I tried to capture the town in all its distinct glory by highlighting the religious identity and lifestyle of the locals. They were very hospitable and enthusiastic,” he added.
The organisers are planning to publish the photographs in a book format apart from exhibiting the pictures in other cities.
The exhibition is being held at Tao Atrium Gallery, Sajan Plaza, 165, Dr Annie Beasant Road, Worli and will be open from 11am to 7pm up to April 7. It will be open on Sundays.
Best multi-cuisine
Ignis
Ignis does well by giving you a sweeping look at the heart of Delhi thanks to its first floor perch. With subtle interiors and intriguing décor choices, this place provides a calming atmosphere for a meal in the middle of the afternoon or after a stressful day. Ignis
offers both Continental and Indian cuisines, but tries to stay
away from the clichéd options that fill regular menus. The Mushroom
Cappuccino or Flambéed Prawn Bisque makes for a great start, accompanied
by any of their varied kebabs. The main course is a treat, with options
like Chettinad Mutton and Dal Muradabadi. You can also go for their
Stroganoff or even a pizza. If you are looking for something light, the
Smoked Salmon Sandwich is a good idea. Round it all up with a Parsi
Kulfi, and you’re good to go.
Where: F-45, Inner Circle, Connaught Place, New Delhi; 43081984
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12 pm to 12 am
Cost: R 1000 Facilities:
Set’z Restaurant & BarT he name has changed (from Zest) but the heart is still the same. The island bar gives out a very contemporary vibe, while interactive kitchens dish out seven kinds of cuisines. The Indian section stands out the most with gems like Murgh Ghee Roast, and the Japanese and Thai sections are notches above their city
counterparts. Desserts here are fabulous. Setz is definitely gourmet theatre at its best.
Where: 405, DLF Emporio, Nelson Mandela Marg, Vasant Kunj, Delhi; 43119999; www.setz.co.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12.30 pm to 4.30 pm; 7.30 pm to 1 am
Cost: R2000 Facilities:
Q’BA, Connaught Place
Trendy and fashionable, Q’ba has lent itself well to Delhi’s ever-increasing taste for both a quiet daytime meal or stylish night out. In the day, the atmosphere is relaxed, with space for quiet conversation and time to enjoy your food. The terrace area gives a beautiful view of Connaught Place. The menu features Indian, Thai, Mediterranean and European dishes. If you insist on going east, try the Tofu preparations.
Where: E-42/43, Inner Circle, Connaught Place, New Delhi; 45173333; 41512888; www.qba.co.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine Timings: 12 pm to 3 am & 7 pm to 12 am
Cost: R 1500 Facilities:
The Lap GardenThe Lap Garden is a lovely space that makes for a wonderful alfresco dining experience. Start off with the Phyllo, a lovely, buttery piece of pastry stuffed with nicely cooked lamb. The New Zealand Lamb en Croute is beyond tender and pinkly perfect. The Lap Garden does a very popular Sunday brunch with lots of live food stations and a special area for the kids. Service is efficient and suitably attentive.
Where: Hotel Samrat, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi; 24103762; www.laptheclub.com
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12.30 pm-3 pm & 7.30 pm-11.30 pm
Cost: R 2000 Facilities:
MagiqueSet inside the sprawling Garden of Five Senses, Magique shines like a jewel in the city’s culinary landscape. Not only is the food great, the ambience is like a part of Italy in a quiet part of Delhi, and the service is blissfully unobtrusive. You can eat in the charming indoor area or outside in the garden. Come dusk, and the place transforms into a magical space perfect for a romantic dinner with your beloved.
Where: Gate No. 3, Garden of Five Senses, Said-ul-Ajaib, Delhi; 29536767; www.magique.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12.30 pm - 3 pm & 7.30 pm - 11 pm
Cost: R 3000 Facilities:
Blanco
This swanky two-level bistro is done up in white and rather quirkily decorated with shelves of eyewear. The dishes are for the most part well done and the food presentation superb. Start off with any of their range of soups and go on to the legendary Vietnamese Prawn Rolls, which come with a nice sweet chilli dip. Come here for good food, excellent service and a warm ambience.
Where: 62, Middle Lane, Khan Market, New Delhi; 43597155/66
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 10 am to 1 am
Cost: R 1500 Facilities:
Sequel
This three-storied restaurant boasts an extensive menu of over 360 delicacies spanning exotic European, Western, Modern Asian, Mediterranean, and even regional Indian cuisines. Try the Jal Tarang Platter, which features a range of delicious seafood kebabs. Follow it with steaming Moroccan Lamb Tagine or Wild Mushrooms Ragout for main course. For dessert, try the delectable Trio of Kulfi.
Where: 35, Main Market, Defence Colony, New Delhi; 46576555/46576444
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12 am to 12 pm
Cost: R 1200 Facilities:
The Odyssey One of the classiest joints in Gurgaon, The Odyssey takes you on a culinary trip around the world with its extensive multi-cuisine menu. The restaurant serves everything from traditional Indian, Oriental and Thai cuisine to Iranian and Mediterranean dishes. From the Iranian menu, try the Chelo Kebab Loghmai Zaffrani, which are succulent kebabs made with saffron-flavoured chicken mince. Prawns in Green Thai Curry and Herb Crusted Lamb Chops are other dishes worth trying. What really makes the place stand out are the glass and steel transparent interiors done up in a nautical theme. The quaint ship artifacts that dot the restaurant have actually been sourced from shipyards abroad! After your meal, head to the terrace area to catch some fresh breeze and a beautiful sight of the Gurgaon skyline.
Where: Third floor, Sahara Mall, MG Road, Gurgaon; 0124 4048031-33; www.odyssey.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12.30 pm to 12.30 am
Cost: R 1200 Facilities:
Drift
Gurgaon’s culture vultures and business honchos make a beeline for Drift after catching a play or finishing a meeting. The world cuisine menu features delicacies such as the Classic Prawn Cocktail, Norwegian Smoked Salmon and the flavourful Mushroom Cappuccino Spiked with Mint Oil. But the star of the show is the Citrus Infused Duck Breast on Potato Corn Galette. Don't miss the desserts here.
Where: Epicentre, Apparel House, Sector 44, Gurgaon; 2715111; www.epicentre.co.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12 pm to 3 pm & 6.30 pm to 11 pm
Cost: R 1200 Facilities:
Best Regional
Oh! Calcutta
This is one of the few places in Delhi serving authentic Bengali food. Seafood lovers should try out the buffet with unlimited prawns and crabs. Don’t miss the delicious Chittagong Pomphret Bhaja or the delicately flavoured Daab Chingri served in a coconut shell. Apart from regulars like Shukto, Puishaak Chingri and Kosha Mangho are all delicious. Service is excellent.
Where: International Trade Tower, E- Block Ground Floor, Nehru Place, New Delhi; 26464180
Cuisine: Bengali
Timings: 11 am to 11 pm
Cost: R 1500 Facilities:
Chor Bizarre, Daryaganj Chor Bizarre serves North Indian cuisine, with
special emphasis on Kashmiri food. All kinds of quaint knick-knacks make up the unique kitschy decor.Try the Yakhni, Goshtaba and Tabak Maaz to get the true flavour of Kashmir. If you’re in the mood for a royal feast, ask for the taramis, or thali. The staff is polite and also knowledgeable about the cuisine.
Where: Hotel Broadway, 4/15A, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi; 43663600; www.chorbizarre.com
Cuisine: Kashmiri
Timings: 12 pm to 3.30 pm & 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm
Cost: R 1400 Facilities:
Rajdhani, Connaught placeUndiya, Gatte ki Sabzi, Khaman Dhokla and Masala Puri — if all this sounds like a treat, then this is
definitely the place you should head to. The meal starts with Chhaach, goes on to a variety of Gujarati sabzis, dals, curries, paranthas, puran poli and bajre ki roti. The feast ends with lip-smacking sweets, ranging from Gulab Jamun to sinful Pineapple Halwa.
Where: P 1/90, Connaught Place, New Delhi; 23346300/400; www.rajdhani.co.in Cuisine: Gujarati, Rajasthani
Timings: 12 pm to 11 pm
Cost: R 500 Facilities:
Zaffran
One of the first fine-dining Indian restaurants to set up shop in Gurgaon, Zaffran offers a nice repertoire of Awadhi and Hyderabadi dishes. The vegetarian kebabs take the cake here — from Nadru Ke Shammi Kebab to Dahi ke Kebabs — they all merit a bite. The portions are decent, the service efficient and there’s live music to complement the meal every evening.
Where: The Bristol Hotel, Sikanderpur, DLF Phase I, Gurgaon; 0124-2356030; www.thebristolhotel.com
Cuisine: Awadhi
Timings: 7.30 am to 11.30 pm
Cost: R 2000 Facilities:
The Oudh
This Awadhi fine dining restaurant offers a buffet at lunch and an a la carte menu at dinner. The menu itself is unique, because it’s printed in all the official
UN languages! The food is excellent for the most part. For a taste of traditional qorma, try the Oudhi Qorma; it can’t get better than this. The well-crafted Tohfa-e-Noor and the excellent Teh Biryani are other must-trys.
Where: The Ashok, 50-B, Diplomatic Enclave, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi; 26110101; www.theashok.com
Cuisine: Awadhi
Timings: 12 pm to 11.30 pm
Cost: R 1500 Facilities:
Bijoli Grill, Dilli Haat
Not only does Delhi’s sizeable Bengali population flock to Bijoli Grill for a taste of home-cooked food, the place has a loyal following among the city’s butter chicken-loving non-Bengali population. Their Special Fish Curry, Fish Orly and Prawn Malai Curry are lip-smackingly delicious. The mishti here tends to fly off the shelves faster than you can say khub bhalo.
Where: 17, Dilli Haat, Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi; 26881855/ 29237371; www.bijoligrill.com
Cuisine: Bengali
Timings: 10 am to 10 pm
Cost: R 800 Facilities:
Suruchi, Karol BaghSituated bang in the middle Karol Bagh market is a restaurant that offers decent home-style Gujarati and Rajasthani fare. Among the Rajasthani dishes, try Gatte ki Subzi and Dal Batti Churma; for a taste of Gujarat, Khatti Meethi Kadhi is a great option. Also tuck into their range of farsaan, especially Dhokla and
Jain Pav Bhaji.
Where: 15 A/56, WEA, Karol Bagh, New Delhi; 25731614-17; www.suruchirestaurants.com Cuisine: Rajasthani, Gujarati
Timings: 11 am to 4 pm, 7 pm to 11 pm
Cost: R 500 Facilities:
Gujarat Samaj Santushti
Looking for an unpretentious, pocket-friendly place that serves authentic Gujarati fare? Gujarat Samaj in Civil Lines is definitely one of the places to check out. The pure vegetarian thali works on an all-you-can-eat system. Though the menu is written in Gujarati, able translators are always ready at hand. Service is quick and friendly.
Where: 2, Raj Niwas Marg, Civil Lines, Delhi; 23981796-98; www.gujaratisamajdelhi.co.in
Cuisine: Gujarati, North Indian
Timings: 6 pm to 11 pm
Cost: R 500 Facilities:
Bernardo’s
Bernardo’s is the sole authentic Goan restaurant in town. The ambience reminds you of a typical shack by the beach; the framed family pictures
on the walls, other knick-knacks, and the few tables give a comfortable, non-commercialised feel to the place. ‘Home-cooked’ is how they like their food to
be known, and they succeed for the most part. The place is run by an old Goan couple who’s always around to help you pick dishes from the menu. A must-try is the classic Goan Vindaloo, apart from the Fugad and Fofos (fish croquettes).
Where: B-229, Supermart 1, DLF Phase IV, Gurgaon; 6518323; www.bernardosgoanfood.com
Cuisine: Goan
Timings: 1 pm to 3.30 pm & 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm
Cost: R 1000
Jakoi
This brand-new restaurant inside Assam Bhawan is slowly becoming the talk of the town for its authentic fare, reasonable prices, cheerful service and dishes that Delhi has never tasted before (including pigeon meat). The special Parampara thali is a hot seller. It includes Tenga Rohu Fish Curry, Steamed
Hilsa cooked in mustard, choice of pigeon or the traditional duck meat curry, vegetables and Khar Bowl. There’s an equally delicious vegetarian thali, too. Don’t miss out on the dessert of brown rice cooked in milk and lots of sugar.
Where: Assam Bhawan, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi; 24108605/24355555
Cuisine: Assamese
Timings: 12 am to 11.30 pm
Cost: R 600 Facilities: None
Poppadom
Delhi has finally got a classy Andhra cuisine restaurant. At the time of this review, the restaurant was only serving three kinds of all-you-can-eat thalis— vegetarian, non-vegetarian and seafood— though there are plans for an a la carte menu, too. The seafood thali features delicacies such as Prawn Drumstick Mango Curry, Black Pomfret roasted in Banana Leaf, and Andhra Crab Masala. Mutton Fry, Vizag Egg Curry and Chicken Kurma with Idiappam also get our thumbs-up. Poppadom is definitely a place to watch out for.
Where: 4, Ambavatta Complex, Mehrauli, New Delhi; 26644289/26641796
Cuisine: Andhra
Timings: 12 pm to 12 am
Cost: R 1500
Ignis does well by giving you a sweeping look at the heart of Delhi thanks to its first floor perch. With subtle interiors and intriguing décor choices, this place provides a calming atmosphere for a meal in the middle of the afternoon or after a stressful day. Ignis
Where: F-45, Inner Circle, Connaught Place, New Delhi; 43081984
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12 pm to 12 am
Cost: R 1000 Facilities:
Set’z Restaurant & BarT he name has changed (from Zest) but the heart is still the same. The island bar gives out a very contemporary vibe, while interactive kitchens dish out seven kinds of cuisines. The Indian section stands out the most with gems like Murgh Ghee Roast, and the Japanese and Thai sections are notches above their city
counterparts. Desserts here are fabulous. Setz is definitely gourmet theatre at its best.
Where: 405, DLF Emporio, Nelson Mandela Marg, Vasant Kunj, Delhi; 43119999; www.setz.co.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12.30 pm to 4.30 pm; 7.30 pm to 1 am
Cost: R2000 Facilities:
Q’BA, Connaught Place
Trendy and fashionable, Q’ba has lent itself well to Delhi’s ever-increasing taste for both a quiet daytime meal or stylish night out. In the day, the atmosphere is relaxed, with space for quiet conversation and time to enjoy your food. The terrace area gives a beautiful view of Connaught Place. The menu features Indian, Thai, Mediterranean and European dishes. If you insist on going east, try the Tofu preparations.
Where: E-42/43, Inner Circle, Connaught Place, New Delhi; 45173333; 41512888; www.qba.co.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine Timings: 12 pm to 3 am & 7 pm to 12 am
Cost: R 1500 Facilities:
The Lap GardenThe Lap Garden is a lovely space that makes for a wonderful alfresco dining experience. Start off with the Phyllo, a lovely, buttery piece of pastry stuffed with nicely cooked lamb. The New Zealand Lamb en Croute is beyond tender and pinkly perfect. The Lap Garden does a very popular Sunday brunch with lots of live food stations and a special area for the kids. Service is efficient and suitably attentive.
Where: Hotel Samrat, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi; 24103762; www.laptheclub.com
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12.30 pm-3 pm & 7.30 pm-11.30 pm
Cost: R 2000 Facilities:
MagiqueSet inside the sprawling Garden of Five Senses, Magique shines like a jewel in the city’s culinary landscape. Not only is the food great, the ambience is like a part of Italy in a quiet part of Delhi, and the service is blissfully unobtrusive. You can eat in the charming indoor area or outside in the garden. Come dusk, and the place transforms into a magical space perfect for a romantic dinner with your beloved.
Where: Gate No. 3, Garden of Five Senses, Said-ul-Ajaib, Delhi; 29536767; www.magique.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12.30 pm - 3 pm & 7.30 pm - 11 pm
Cost: R 3000 Facilities:
Blanco
This swanky two-level bistro is done up in white and rather quirkily decorated with shelves of eyewear. The dishes are for the most part well done and the food presentation superb. Start off with any of their range of soups and go on to the legendary Vietnamese Prawn Rolls, which come with a nice sweet chilli dip. Come here for good food, excellent service and a warm ambience.
Where: 62, Middle Lane, Khan Market, New Delhi; 43597155/66
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 10 am to 1 am
Cost: R 1500 Facilities:
Sequel
This three-storied restaurant boasts an extensive menu of over 360 delicacies spanning exotic European, Western, Modern Asian, Mediterranean, and even regional Indian cuisines. Try the Jal Tarang Platter, which features a range of delicious seafood kebabs. Follow it with steaming Moroccan Lamb Tagine or Wild Mushrooms Ragout for main course. For dessert, try the delectable Trio of Kulfi.
Where: 35, Main Market, Defence Colony, New Delhi; 46576555/46576444
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12 am to 12 pm
Cost: R 1200 Facilities:
The Odyssey One of the classiest joints in Gurgaon, The Odyssey takes you on a culinary trip around the world with its extensive multi-cuisine menu. The restaurant serves everything from traditional Indian, Oriental and Thai cuisine to Iranian and Mediterranean dishes. From the Iranian menu, try the Chelo Kebab Loghmai Zaffrani, which are succulent kebabs made with saffron-flavoured chicken mince. Prawns in Green Thai Curry and Herb Crusted Lamb Chops are other dishes worth trying. What really makes the place stand out are the glass and steel transparent interiors done up in a nautical theme. The quaint ship artifacts that dot the restaurant have actually been sourced from shipyards abroad! After your meal, head to the terrace area to catch some fresh breeze and a beautiful sight of the Gurgaon skyline.
Where: Third floor, Sahara Mall, MG Road, Gurgaon; 0124 4048031-33; www.odyssey.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12.30 pm to 12.30 am
Cost: R 1200 Facilities:
Drift
Gurgaon’s culture vultures and business honchos make a beeline for Drift after catching a play or finishing a meeting. The world cuisine menu features delicacies such as the Classic Prawn Cocktail, Norwegian Smoked Salmon and the flavourful Mushroom Cappuccino Spiked with Mint Oil. But the star of the show is the Citrus Infused Duck Breast on Potato Corn Galette. Don't miss the desserts here.
Where: Epicentre, Apparel House, Sector 44, Gurgaon; 2715111; www.epicentre.co.in
Cuisine: Multi-cuisine
Timings: 12 pm to 3 pm & 6.30 pm to 11 pm
Cost: R 1200 Facilities:
Best Regional
Oh! Calcutta
This is one of the few places in Delhi serving authentic Bengali food. Seafood lovers should try out the buffet with unlimited prawns and crabs. Don’t miss the delicious Chittagong Pomphret Bhaja or the delicately flavoured Daab Chingri served in a coconut shell. Apart from regulars like Shukto, Puishaak Chingri and Kosha Mangho are all delicious. Service is excellent.
Where: International Trade Tower, E- Block Ground Floor, Nehru Place, New Delhi; 26464180
Cuisine: Bengali
Timings: 11 am to 11 pm
Cost: R 1500 Facilities:
Chor Bizarre, Daryaganj Chor Bizarre serves North Indian cuisine, with
special emphasis on Kashmiri food. All kinds of quaint knick-knacks make up the unique kitschy decor.Try the Yakhni, Goshtaba and Tabak Maaz to get the true flavour of Kashmir. If you’re in the mood for a royal feast, ask for the taramis, or thali. The staff is polite and also knowledgeable about the cuisine.
Where: Hotel Broadway, 4/15A, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi; 43663600; www.chorbizarre.com
Cuisine: Kashmiri
Timings: 12 pm to 3.30 pm & 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm
Cost: R 1400 Facilities:
Rajdhani, Connaught placeUndiya, Gatte ki Sabzi, Khaman Dhokla and Masala Puri — if all this sounds like a treat, then this is
definitely the place you should head to. The meal starts with Chhaach, goes on to a variety of Gujarati sabzis, dals, curries, paranthas, puran poli and bajre ki roti. The feast ends with lip-smacking sweets, ranging from Gulab Jamun to sinful Pineapple Halwa.
Where: P 1/90, Connaught Place, New Delhi; 23346300/400; www.rajdhani.co.in Cuisine: Gujarati, Rajasthani
Timings: 12 pm to 11 pm
Cost: R 500 Facilities:
Zaffran
One of the first fine-dining Indian restaurants to set up shop in Gurgaon, Zaffran offers a nice repertoire of Awadhi and Hyderabadi dishes. The vegetarian kebabs take the cake here — from Nadru Ke Shammi Kebab to Dahi ke Kebabs — they all merit a bite. The portions are decent, the service efficient and there’s live music to complement the meal every evening.
Where: The Bristol Hotel, Sikanderpur, DLF Phase I, Gurgaon; 0124-2356030; www.thebristolhotel.com
Cuisine: Awadhi
Timings: 7.30 am to 11.30 pm
Cost: R 2000 Facilities:
The Oudh
This Awadhi fine dining restaurant offers a buffet at lunch and an a la carte menu at dinner. The menu itself is unique, because it’s printed in all the official
UN languages! The food is excellent for the most part. For a taste of traditional qorma, try the Oudhi Qorma; it can’t get better than this. The well-crafted Tohfa-e-Noor and the excellent Teh Biryani are other must-trys.
Where: The Ashok, 50-B, Diplomatic Enclave, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi; 26110101; www.theashok.com
Cuisine: Awadhi
Timings: 12 pm to 11.30 pm
Cost: R 1500 Facilities:
Bijoli Grill, Dilli Haat
Not only does Delhi’s sizeable Bengali population flock to Bijoli Grill for a taste of home-cooked food, the place has a loyal following among the city’s butter chicken-loving non-Bengali population. Their Special Fish Curry, Fish Orly and Prawn Malai Curry are lip-smackingly delicious. The mishti here tends to fly off the shelves faster than you can say khub bhalo.
Where: 17, Dilli Haat, Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi; 26881855/ 29237371; www.bijoligrill.com
Cuisine: Bengali
Timings: 10 am to 10 pm
Cost: R 800 Facilities:
Suruchi, Karol BaghSituated bang in the middle Karol Bagh market is a restaurant that offers decent home-style Gujarati and Rajasthani fare. Among the Rajasthani dishes, try Gatte ki Subzi and Dal Batti Churma; for a taste of Gujarat, Khatti Meethi Kadhi is a great option. Also tuck into their range of farsaan, especially Dhokla and
Jain Pav Bhaji.
Where: 15 A/56, WEA, Karol Bagh, New Delhi; 25731614-17; www.suruchirestaurants.com Cuisine: Rajasthani, Gujarati
Timings: 11 am to 4 pm, 7 pm to 11 pm
Cost: R 500 Facilities:
Gujarat Samaj Santushti
Looking for an unpretentious, pocket-friendly place that serves authentic Gujarati fare? Gujarat Samaj in Civil Lines is definitely one of the places to check out. The pure vegetarian thali works on an all-you-can-eat system. Though the menu is written in Gujarati, able translators are always ready at hand. Service is quick and friendly.
Where: 2, Raj Niwas Marg, Civil Lines, Delhi; 23981796-98; www.gujaratisamajdelhi.co.in
Cuisine: Gujarati, North Indian
Timings: 6 pm to 11 pm
Cost: R 500 Facilities:
Bernardo’s
Bernardo’s is the sole authentic Goan restaurant in town. The ambience reminds you of a typical shack by the beach; the framed family pictures
on the walls, other knick-knacks, and the few tables give a comfortable, non-commercialised feel to the place. ‘Home-cooked’ is how they like their food to
be known, and they succeed for the most part. The place is run by an old Goan couple who’s always around to help you pick dishes from the menu. A must-try is the classic Goan Vindaloo, apart from the Fugad and Fofos (fish croquettes).
Where: B-229, Supermart 1, DLF Phase IV, Gurgaon; 6518323; www.bernardosgoanfood.com
Cuisine: Goan
Timings: 1 pm to 3.30 pm & 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm
Cost: R 1000
Jakoi
This brand-new restaurant inside Assam Bhawan is slowly becoming the talk of the town for its authentic fare, reasonable prices, cheerful service and dishes that Delhi has never tasted before (including pigeon meat). The special Parampara thali is a hot seller. It includes Tenga Rohu Fish Curry, Steamed
Hilsa cooked in mustard, choice of pigeon or the traditional duck meat curry, vegetables and Khar Bowl. There’s an equally delicious vegetarian thali, too. Don’t miss out on the dessert of brown rice cooked in milk and lots of sugar.
Where: Assam Bhawan, Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi; 24108605/24355555
Cuisine: Assamese
Timings: 12 am to 11.30 pm
Cost: R 600 Facilities: None
Poppadom
Delhi has finally got a classy Andhra cuisine restaurant. At the time of this review, the restaurant was only serving three kinds of all-you-can-eat thalis— vegetarian, non-vegetarian and seafood— though there are plans for an a la carte menu, too. The seafood thali features delicacies such as Prawn Drumstick Mango Curry, Black Pomfret roasted in Banana Leaf, and Andhra Crab Masala. Mutton Fry, Vizag Egg Curry and Chicken Kurma with Idiappam also get our thumbs-up. Poppadom is definitely a place to watch out for.
Where: 4, Ambavatta Complex, Mehrauli, New Delhi; 26644289/26641796
Cuisine: Andhra
Timings: 12 pm to 12 am
Cost: R 1500
Parsis flock to 300-yr-old agiary to celebrate
More than 1,000 Parsis flocked to the city’s oldest fire temple to
celebrate the Zoroastrian Feast of Fire, which fell on the agiary’s
300th anniversary.
The Banaji Limji Agiary, in Banajit Street in Fort, was built by a
wealthy Parsi trader Banaji Limji in 1709. It is one of 40 fire temples in the city housing the Atash Adaran, or second grade of fire.
There are a total of 47 temples: three contain the lowest grade of fire, the Atash Dadgah, and four the highest, the Atash Behram.
Parsis believe that fire is a physical representation of the son of God, so fires at Parsi temples are kept burning 24 hours and if they stop burning a series of complicated rituals are required to restart them.
The Feast of Fire is when prayers of thanks are offered to the fire.
On Thursday from 4 am Parsis started turning up pay their respects at the modern pink temple, which stood out in its bustling Fort bylane of scrap dealers, stationery shops and paanwallahs.
After untying and retying their sacred chords they went inside to chant the prayer Atashnyaish to the fire.
Dr Darius Umrigar (44), an alternative therapist from Grant Road, said: “I am here to take guidance from the fire on the correct direction of my life.”
“It is remarkable to think there is a fire which has burnt continuously for 300 years,” said Khojeste Mistree, co-founder of day Zoroastrian Studies, an organisation, which educates people on Zoroastrianism.
There are a total of 47 temples: three contain the lowest grade of fire, the Atash Dadgah, and four the highest, the Atash Behram.
Parsis believe that fire is a physical representation of the son of God, so fires at Parsi temples are kept burning 24 hours and if they stop burning a series of complicated rituals are required to restart them.
The Feast of Fire is when prayers of thanks are offered to the fire.
On Thursday from 4 am Parsis started turning up pay their respects at the modern pink temple, which stood out in its bustling Fort bylane of scrap dealers, stationery shops and paanwallahs.
After untying and retying their sacred chords they went inside to chant the prayer Atashnyaish to the fire.
Dr Darius Umrigar (44), an alternative therapist from Grant Road, said: “I am here to take guidance from the fire on the correct direction of my life.”
“It is remarkable to think there is a fire which has burnt continuously for 300 years,” said Khojeste Mistree, co-founder of day Zoroastrian Studies, an organisation, which educates people on Zoroastrianism.
Dwindling but defiant
Concerns for dwindling numbers. Seminars on how to save their race. In
1940, when their number in India was a sizeable 1.14 lakh, the community
probably never imagined that 67 years later, it would be fretting over
its strength.
Parsis came to India from Iran 1,100 years ago “for a better way of life”, as Parsiana editor Jehangir Patel puts
it, and to escape religious persecution. They settled at first in
Gujarat but started streaming into Mumbai in the 17th century to explore
opportunities when the British began developing the city as a port and
trading hub.
From establishing industrial houses (the Tatas) to building roads (the Jeejeebhoy family), Parsis had a giant hand in the city’s growth.
With prosperity, came education. The flipside, a section of the community believes, is that the career-consciousness engendered by education made Parsi women place marriage low on their list of priorities. Some married late, some stayed away from it completely. As a result, the growth of the Parsi population slowed down.
Today, Mumbai has around 45,000 Parsis living in colonies or baugs. “The 2001 census shows that the all-India number of Parsis is around 69,000,” Patel says. “In fact, the Bombay Parsi Panchayat is now giving incentives for a third child.” The community is also weakened because when Parsi women marry elsewhere, they lose their religion.
To preserve exclusivity, a group of religious scholars recently formed the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis. WAPIZ believes that if a Parsi woman marries outside the community, her spouse and children should not be recognised as Parsis. But children from a Parsi man’s marriage to a non-Parsi are allowed. “I think it’s wrong,” Patel says. “Zoroastrianism preaches equality.”
The community is credited with significant contributions to theatre in the city. Parsi Natak Mandali was set up in 1853 with support from Dadabhai Naoroji, and then others followed. Today, the National Centre for Performing Arts, set up by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust in 1969, continues to fuel dreams on the art scene.
It also has to its credit luminaries like JRD Tata, Rohinton Mistry among others. Some Parsi eateries also remain. Most Irani restaurants have faded away into the sepia past, but you still have Kayani and Bastani to fall back on. And if the delectable flavours of Dhaansaak and Patra ni machchi know no religion, you have only God and Parsis to thank.
From establishing industrial houses (the Tatas) to building roads (the Jeejeebhoy family), Parsis had a giant hand in the city’s growth.
With prosperity, came education. The flipside, a section of the community believes, is that the career-consciousness engendered by education made Parsi women place marriage low on their list of priorities. Some married late, some stayed away from it completely. As a result, the growth of the Parsi population slowed down.
Today, Mumbai has around 45,000 Parsis living in colonies or baugs. “The 2001 census shows that the all-India number of Parsis is around 69,000,” Patel says. “In fact, the Bombay Parsi Panchayat is now giving incentives for a third child.” The community is also weakened because when Parsi women marry elsewhere, they lose their religion.
To preserve exclusivity, a group of religious scholars recently formed the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis. WAPIZ believes that if a Parsi woman marries outside the community, her spouse and children should not be recognised as Parsis. But children from a Parsi man’s marriage to a non-Parsi are allowed. “I think it’s wrong,” Patel says. “Zoroastrianism preaches equality.”
The community is credited with significant contributions to theatre in the city. Parsi Natak Mandali was set up in 1853 with support from Dadabhai Naoroji, and then others followed. Today, the National Centre for Performing Arts, set up by the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust in 1969, continues to fuel dreams on the art scene.
It also has to its credit luminaries like JRD Tata, Rohinton Mistry among others. Some Parsi eateries also remain. Most Irani restaurants have faded away into the sepia past, but you still have Kayani and Bastani to fall back on. And if the delectable flavours of Dhaansaak and Patra ni machchi know no religion, you have only God and Parsis to thank.
City will be home to more vultures soon
Alarmed by the drop in the number of vultures in the city, the Parsi
community and the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) have joined
hands to start a vulture breeding centre at the Sanjay Gandhi National
Park in Borivli.
The Parsi community is concerned about the dwindling vulture population as Zoroastrian tradition requires them to place the
bodies of their dead atop a tower — the Tower of Silence at Malabar Hill
— and expose them to the sun and to birds of prey. “Due to the decline
in the vulture population, the decomposition process has become slower,”
said Khojestee Mistry, trustee of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat.
The first in the state, the centre will take a year to set up once government permissions are in place. The project is expected to cost about Rs. 2 crore.
“There are two species of critically endangered vultures, the white-backed vulture and the long-billed vulture. We will breed these two varieties,” said Dr Vibhu Prakash, deputy director and head, vulture conservation breeding programme, BNHS. “The vulture population has declined by more than 99 per cent and is diminishing at the rate of more than 40 per cent annually.”
The centre plans to breed 25 pairs each of both species and release them in batches so that in the next 15 years there are 100 pairs.
“Once the breeding centre is established, we want to house some birds in an aviary in the Tower of Silence,” said Mistry.
The BNHS has three breeding centres in Assam, West Bengal and Haryana, and will get the birds to the city from one of these centres.
The fall in vulture population is said to be because of the veterinary use of the drug Diclofenac, to treat domestic livestock on whose flesh the vultures feed. The drug was banned in 2005.
The first in the state, the centre will take a year to set up once government permissions are in place. The project is expected to cost about Rs. 2 crore.
“There are two species of critically endangered vultures, the white-backed vulture and the long-billed vulture. We will breed these two varieties,” said Dr Vibhu Prakash, deputy director and head, vulture conservation breeding programme, BNHS. “The vulture population has declined by more than 99 per cent and is diminishing at the rate of more than 40 per cent annually.”
The centre plans to breed 25 pairs each of both species and release them in batches so that in the next 15 years there are 100 pairs.
“Once the breeding centre is established, we want to house some birds in an aviary in the Tower of Silence,” said Mistry.
The BNHS has three breeding centres in Assam, West Bengal and Haryana, and will get the birds to the city from one of these centres.
The fall in vulture population is said to be because of the veterinary use of the drug Diclofenac, to treat domestic livestock on whose flesh the vultures feed. The drug was banned in 2005.
The rise & rise of Lalbaug
Every time a relative comes visiting, retired mill worker Namdeo Hule
(59) cringes. His 100-sq-ft house in Tejukaya Mansion’s building number 7
in Lalbaug is already too small to accommodate his family of five.
One extra person means the former employee of Jam Mills and his two sons
have to sleep outside their house. “I am worried about how I will
manage after my grandson is born,” said Hule. “I may have to move the
sofa set out.”
This space crunch is now set to ease, not just for the 500-odd residents living in 12 chawls in Tejukaya Mansion but also for more than 8,000 tenants of 80 old buildings in Lalbaug.
Dilapidated chawls in Lalbaug will soon be redeveloped into towers where tenants will get 300-sq-ft one-bedroom-hall-kitchen flats. Many of these projects have either been approved or are in the final stages of negotiations between developers and tenants.
Tejukaya Mansion, an 8,000-sq-m property, is being redeveloped by the landlords, Tejuakaya and Company. “Our tenants want to continue living in Lalbaug but are finding it difficult to adjust in small houses as their families have grown,” said Pranav Tejuakaya, the firm’s managing director.
These new houses will be worth at least Rs. 40 lakh with flats here selling for Rs. 14,000 a square foot.
Lalbaug is inhabited mainly by working class Maharashtrians, most of who came from Konkan in the late 19th century when Mumbai was emerging as a textile hub. These migrants worked in the city’s 58 textile mills and continued to stay here even after the mills shut down following the 1982 strike. Over the past six years, the area has seen developers line up to build residential and commercial complexes.
With developers now eying Lalbaug as a cluster, its character is set to be transformed.
Ganesh Gully, famous for one of the biggest Ganesh festivals in Mumbai, will be redeveloped by Orbit Corporation Limited. Orbit has purchased 13 buildings here and is aiming to buy 40.
Then there is a 26,000-sq-m redevelopment project for Islam Mill, Lalbaug. Nish Developers will build 1,080 houses for the tenants and municipal staff here. In return, the developer will get 300 flats admeasuring 1,100-1,400 sq ft to sell. “The area is in the vicinity of the business district and corporates are eager to buy flats here,” said Kailash Agarwal, managing director, Nish Developers.
Anuj Puri, country head and managing director of real estate consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, said: “Lalbaug is ideal for people who want to remain close to south Mumbai. Unlike in south Mumbai where landlords demand higher compensation for property, here the rates are moderate.”
Other chawls on the revamp list are Peru Chawl, Doctors’ Compound and Meghwadi Chawl comprising a total of 1,010 tenants.
The National Textile Corporation has announced that the 32,400-sq-m Jam Mills compound will be redeveloped.
Author Sharada Dwivedi worries that this will end the culture of bonhomie chawls are known for. “All chawls had a central courtyard where people spent time. This won’t be possible now as they will live in isolation in high rises.” She said the place will now become a gated community.
Even Navroze Baug, an exclusive enclave of the Parsi community, has decided to go for a revamp. The locality’s 380 flats will make way for 1,000 bigger flats. The Parsi Punchayet will develop the property and houses will be sold only to Parsis.
Lalbaug will also have a multiplex in the neighbourhood once Vardhaman Builders constructs a multiplex on the plot where the 2,000-sq-m Ganesh Talkies stands.
This space crunch is now set to ease, not just for the 500-odd residents living in 12 chawls in Tejukaya Mansion but also for more than 8,000 tenants of 80 old buildings in Lalbaug.
Dilapidated chawls in Lalbaug will soon be redeveloped into towers where tenants will get 300-sq-ft one-bedroom-hall-kitchen flats. Many of these projects have either been approved or are in the final stages of negotiations between developers and tenants.
Tejukaya Mansion, an 8,000-sq-m property, is being redeveloped by the landlords, Tejuakaya and Company. “Our tenants want to continue living in Lalbaug but are finding it difficult to adjust in small houses as their families have grown,” said Pranav Tejuakaya, the firm’s managing director.
These new houses will be worth at least Rs. 40 lakh with flats here selling for Rs. 14,000 a square foot.
Lalbaug is inhabited mainly by working class Maharashtrians, most of who came from Konkan in the late 19th century when Mumbai was emerging as a textile hub. These migrants worked in the city’s 58 textile mills and continued to stay here even after the mills shut down following the 1982 strike. Over the past six years, the area has seen developers line up to build residential and commercial complexes.
With developers now eying Lalbaug as a cluster, its character is set to be transformed.
Ganesh Gully, famous for one of the biggest Ganesh festivals in Mumbai, will be redeveloped by Orbit Corporation Limited. Orbit has purchased 13 buildings here and is aiming to buy 40.
Then there is a 26,000-sq-m redevelopment project for Islam Mill, Lalbaug. Nish Developers will build 1,080 houses for the tenants and municipal staff here. In return, the developer will get 300 flats admeasuring 1,100-1,400 sq ft to sell. “The area is in the vicinity of the business district and corporates are eager to buy flats here,” said Kailash Agarwal, managing director, Nish Developers.
Anuj Puri, country head and managing director of real estate consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, said: “Lalbaug is ideal for people who want to remain close to south Mumbai. Unlike in south Mumbai where landlords demand higher compensation for property, here the rates are moderate.”
Other chawls on the revamp list are Peru Chawl, Doctors’ Compound and Meghwadi Chawl comprising a total of 1,010 tenants.
The National Textile Corporation has announced that the 32,400-sq-m Jam Mills compound will be redeveloped.
Author Sharada Dwivedi worries that this will end the culture of bonhomie chawls are known for. “All chawls had a central courtyard where people spent time. This won’t be possible now as they will live in isolation in high rises.” She said the place will now become a gated community.
Even Navroze Baug, an exclusive enclave of the Parsi community, has decided to go for a revamp. The locality’s 380 flats will make way for 1,000 bigger flats. The Parsi Punchayet will develop the property and houses will be sold only to Parsis.
Lalbaug will also have a multiplex in the neighbourhood once Vardhaman Builders constructs a multiplex on the plot where the 2,000-sq-m Ganesh Talkies stands.
Try this parsi egg dish….
Try this parsi egg dish….
Cut onions tomatoes garlic ginger and saute it in a pan till cooked, u can add some dry masalas too like garam masala or corriander powder and a dash of red chilli powder as per your chilli quotient
.
Spread the mixture into the pan, like u would spread a pancake and then break the eggs on the cooked masala ( as per the size of the dish ). cover it and let it cook. once done in about 7 minutes or so. serve hot with a garnishing of green corriander. tastes awesome with bread or roti
try and lemme know how you liked it !!! Cheers
Cut onions tomatoes garlic ginger and saute it in a pan till cooked, u can add some dry masalas too like garam masala or corriander powder and a dash of red chilli powder as per your chilli quotient
.Spread the mixture into the pan, like u would spread a pancake and then break the eggs on the cooked masala ( as per the size of the dish ). cover it and let it cook. once done in about 7 minutes or so. serve hot with a garnishing of green corriander. tastes awesome with bread or roti
try and lemme know how you liked it !!! Cheers
Perception vs truth
Is it an irony or a paradox that as different members of the large
Nehru-Gandhi parivaar lock horns over what it is to be hindu questions
are being raised about just how hindu they are? We tend to assume that
Rahul, Priyanka and Varun are hindu but their parentage would suggest otherwise. And certainly by birth and upbringing Sonia is not a hindu – she’s catholic.
So let’s start by unraveling the forgotten bits of their history. Indira Gandhi’s husband and, therefore, Rajiv’s and Sanjay’s father, Feroze, was a Parsi. That makes the two boys half-Parsi and only, at best, half-Hindu. In turn both of them married non-Hindus. Sonia, as we know, was Catholic. Maneka, as we seem to have forgotten, is Sikh. Therefore their children — Rahul and Priyanka as much as Varun – are three-quarters non-hindu and only a quarter-Hindu.
By parentage — and its important to emphasise that they could be something else by choice — Priyanka and Rahul were born half-Catholic, a quarter-Parsi and a quarter-Hindu. By the same method of calculation, Varun is half-Sikh, a quarter-Parsi and a quarter-Hindu.
These fractions are not important. They are mere matters of detail. But in the midst of the present controversy they are a useful corrective. They establish just how ‘hindu’ this generation of the family actually is.
Now, if you go by the position that caste is inherited from your father, then there are also a couple of things these three young Gandhis are not. They’re not Kashmiri pundits – though Jawaharlal, their great grandfather, and Indira, their grandmother, clearly were – and they’re not brahmins either.
But there is something that they are of which all three could be very proud. Because of their mixed ancestry, which embraces and amalgamates India’s minority faiths with its majority, the three Gandhis are a delightful religious pot pourri – or kichdi, if I may be blunt – that represents the solution and, I hope, the future of India’s often quarrelling communities. It’s when we’re prepared to marry each other, regardless of religion and caste, that we will have finally broken down and dispensed with the barriers of creed and jaat. The Gandhi children are products of such marriages.
And yet, bizarrely, the Gandhis don’t present themselves in this way. Rajiv and Sanjay seemed to forget — perhaps even ignore — their Parsi half. As far as I know, Rahul and Priyanka have never spoken of their catholic ancestry. And even Varun is silent about his sikh grandparents.
If the reason is that it could alienate voters in Hindu-majority India, then what does that tell you about the Gandhis? That they care more about not offending popular prejudices than standing up for secular values? At first that might sound a trifle harsh but could it be the explanation? Think about it.
Now,
if you go by the position that caste is inherited from your father,
then there are also a couple of things these three young Gandhis are
not. They’re not Kashmiri pundits – though Jawaharlal, their great
grandfather, and Indira, their grandmother, clearly were – and they’re
not brahmins either.
The Gandhi children have the good fortune of being a bit of this and a bit of that. It makes them truly Indian. Yet they want to be known, seen and thought of as hindu. They’re shrinking themselves, not celebrating their rich and many-splendoured parentage.
Sadly, this is typical of many of us. I suppose you could call it the folly of India. We need to become mongrels — yet when we are, all we want is to appear pedigreed. This is where Obama and America are so different. He’s half-black and half-white, his father was a muslim, his mother a christian, and at his first press conference he was proud to call himself a “mutt”. It’s the core of his appeal, which America readily embraced.
If Nisha had lived and we had children, they would be half-Hindu and half-Catholic and not for a moment would I have claimed otherwise. They would also have been half-Goan and half-Punjabi and so children of both north and south India. In that sense they’d have been far more ‘Indian’ than either she or I. They’d be like the Gandhis. Only the Gandhis are more so.
It’s time the Gandhis proclaimed the great advantage they have. If they do I, at least, will vote for them.
So let’s start by unraveling the forgotten bits of their history. Indira Gandhi’s husband and, therefore, Rajiv’s and Sanjay’s father, Feroze, was a Parsi. That makes the two boys half-Parsi and only, at best, half-Hindu. In turn both of them married non-Hindus. Sonia, as we know, was Catholic. Maneka, as we seem to have forgotten, is Sikh. Therefore their children — Rahul and Priyanka as much as Varun – are three-quarters non-hindu and only a quarter-Hindu.
By parentage — and its important to emphasise that they could be something else by choice — Priyanka and Rahul were born half-Catholic, a quarter-Parsi and a quarter-Hindu. By the same method of calculation, Varun is half-Sikh, a quarter-Parsi and a quarter-Hindu.
These fractions are not important. They are mere matters of detail. But in the midst of the present controversy they are a useful corrective. They establish just how ‘hindu’ this generation of the family actually is.
Now, if you go by the position that caste is inherited from your father, then there are also a couple of things these three young Gandhis are not. They’re not Kashmiri pundits – though Jawaharlal, their great grandfather, and Indira, their grandmother, clearly were – and they’re not brahmins either.
But there is something that they are of which all three could be very proud. Because of their mixed ancestry, which embraces and amalgamates India’s minority faiths with its majority, the three Gandhis are a delightful religious pot pourri – or kichdi, if I may be blunt – that represents the solution and, I hope, the future of India’s often quarrelling communities. It’s when we’re prepared to marry each other, regardless of religion and caste, that we will have finally broken down and dispensed with the barriers of creed and jaat. The Gandhi children are products of such marriages.
And yet, bizarrely, the Gandhis don’t present themselves in this way. Rajiv and Sanjay seemed to forget — perhaps even ignore — their Parsi half. As far as I know, Rahul and Priyanka have never spoken of their catholic ancestry. And even Varun is silent about his sikh grandparents.
If the reason is that it could alienate voters in Hindu-majority India, then what does that tell you about the Gandhis? That they care more about not offending popular prejudices than standing up for secular values? At first that might sound a trifle harsh but could it be the explanation? Think about it.
Now,
if you go by the position that caste is inherited from your father,
then there are also a couple of things these three young Gandhis are
not. They’re not Kashmiri pundits – though Jawaharlal, their great
grandfather, and Indira, their grandmother, clearly were – and they’re
not brahmins either.The Gandhi children have the good fortune of being a bit of this and a bit of that. It makes them truly Indian. Yet they want to be known, seen and thought of as hindu. They’re shrinking themselves, not celebrating their rich and many-splendoured parentage.
Sadly, this is typical of many of us. I suppose you could call it the folly of India. We need to become mongrels — yet when we are, all we want is to appear pedigreed. This is where Obama and America are so different. He’s half-black and half-white, his father was a muslim, his mother a christian, and at his first press conference he was proud to call himself a “mutt”. It’s the core of his appeal, which America readily embraced.
If Nisha had lived and we had children, they would be half-Hindu and half-Catholic and not for a moment would I have claimed otherwise. They would also have been half-Goan and half-Punjabi and so children of both north and south India. In that sense they’d have been far more ‘Indian’ than either she or I. They’d be like the Gandhis. Only the Gandhis are more so.
It’s time the Gandhis proclaimed the great advantage they have. If they do I, at least, will vote for them.
Thakre and Thackeray
Thakre and Thackeray
But first, here’s the background. Ever since Bal Thackeray’s delinquent nephew set himself up as his Uncle’s Mini-Me, Marathi chauvinism has returned to Maharashtra politics. Raj (the Thackeray nephew) first attacked non-Maharashtrians and then made the re-assertion of Marathi identity his platform. Uncle Bal was slow to react but now the Shiv Sena has also joined the campaign. In recent weeks, activists have vandalised signboards that use Bombay rather than Mumbai (as in the Bombay Scottish School, for instance) and the senior Thackeray has written an article urging any entity that still uses ‘Bombay’ to change its name. (Bombay Dyeing should become Mumbai Dyeing and so on.)
This campaign is predicated on the assumption that Bombay is a Maharashtrian city whose name was changed by colonial oppressors or, worse, evil north Indians. To use ‘Mumbai’ is to reclaim the past and to shrug off the insult symbolised in the name ‘Bombay’.
This is a stirring argument when used as election rhetoric. But there is one problem: it is also nonsense.
First of all, whether we like it or not, Bombay is not an ancient Indian city in the sense that, say, Delhi is. It is a colonial creation. There is no record of any city on the site of Bombay before the Europeans got here.
That explains the name. It is generally believed (though there are other theories) that the word ‘Bombay’ comes from a Portuguese phrase which means beautiful bay. This was later anglicised — when the city passed to the British — to Bombay. So Bombay is not a Maharashtrian name. In fact, it is not even an Indian name. And that’s because the city did not exist before colonisation.
So where did ‘Mumbai’ come from? The general view is that it is a corruption of ‘Bombay’. Indians have a tradition of corrupting city names when we use them in different Indian languages. For instance, it is clear that the city of Ahmedabad was named for Sultan Ahmed Shah.
But no Gujarati calls the city Ahmedabad (especially when we are speaking Gujarati). It is always ‘Amdavaad’. Nevertheless, educated Gujaratis do not claim that Amdavaad is the correct name. We recognise that it is a corruption of Ahmedabad. So it is with Bombay. No Hindi speaker says that ‘Bambai’ is the real name. It is a corruption of Bombay. And Mumbai is probably also a corruption.
Nor is Bombay a particularly Maharashtrian city. There’s a reason for that: till 1960, there was no Maharashtra. After Independence in 1947, Bombay became a full-fledged state. The city was its capital and it included much of what we now call Gujarat state (excluding Saurashtra) and today’s Maharashtra (excluding such areas as Marathwada).
The most famous chief minister of Bombay, Morarji Desai, was a Gujarati and there was no sense — till 1960 at least — that Gujaratis had less of a claim to the city than Maharashtrians.
This was not a just a political distinction. It had its roots in the city’s history. Even during colonial times, Bombay was developed by many communities: Gujaratis, Parsis, Muslims (many of them also Gujaratis) and Maharashtrians. All of them regarded the city as their home. No Parsi felt he was a guest in a Maharashtrian city. Bombay’s fabled cosmopolitanism springs from those origins.
When Maharashtra was created, it was largely because of pressure from Maharashtrians. Gujaratis were happy being part of a non-linguistic state. And even then, there was some debate over whether Bombay should be part of Maharashtra or a city-state on its own. Certainly, the population statistics did not support the view that it was a Maharashtrian city. Marathi-speakers were actually a minority in Bombay. So the view that it is a Maharashtrian city and that everybody else is an outsider is not supported by facts.
Then, there’s the problem with the name. The claim that it represents Marathi pride is sought to be substantiated by another claim: that one of the fishing villages that preceded the creation of Bombay was named after a goddess called Mumba Devi.
This is a historically dodgy claim. And even if it is true, so what? We don’t live in that fishing village. We live in one of the world’s great cities.
The view that Mumbai is merely a corruption of Bombay gains strength from another fact which the Thackerays prefer not to highlight: Gujaratis also call the city Mumbai.
It has never occurred to Gujaratis that we do this to honour some long-forgotten goddess. We have always treated ‘Mumbai’ like ‘Amdavaad’ — as a vernacularised version of a name from another language.
So if ‘Mumbai’ means anything, it is as much a symbol of Gujarati pride as it is as an expression of Marathi chauvinism. It’s all very well for Thackeray to insist that the Bombay Stock Exchange (where only a tiny proportion of the members are Maharashtrians) should be renamed the Mumbai Stock Exchange. But if that does happen, it is more likely to be seen as a manifestation of Gujarati pride (the majority of the Exchange’s members are Gujaratis) than of Marathi chauvinism. This is as true of Bombay House or Bombay Dyeing. Parsis are Gujarati speakers, and do not regard Mumbai as a purely Marathi name.
So, if Thackeray goes ahead with this crazy scheme, all he will do is re-emphasise the Gujarati contribution to Bombay. Maharashtrian chauvinism won’t even get a look in.
Why then is Bal Thackeray doing this? In 1980, when he first pushed to change the name of the city, he was able to joke about it. At the time I was editor of Bombay magazine and publicly opposed to the proposal. “Don’t worry,” he told me, “you won’t have to change the name of your magazine to Mumbai.” Over a decade later, when the Centre finally dropped its opposition to the change and Bombay became Mumbai, he was still quite happy to allow the Bombay Stock Exchange and the rest to continue using ‘Bombay’. His own grandson went to Bombay Scottish School.
So, why the change in stance? Surely, Thackeray has seen the example of other cities. Calcutta may now be Kolkata but the CPM is not asking the Calcutta Club to change its name. The Karnataka government is not forcing ‘Bengaluru’ on shops and establishments in Bangalore. Most state governments have worked out that change proceeds at its own pace.
In the 1970s, when Ceylon became Sri Lanka, most of us were startled by the change in name. But now, who refers to the country as Ceylon? The same is true of Iran. Nobody calls it Persia any longer. Change does happen — but in its own time.
On the other hand, the Lankans don’t get hysterical about the use of the term Ceylon tea. The Iranians do not demand that every Persian cat be renamed an Iranian kitten. The historical contexts are all unchanged: it’s still Persian art or a Persian rug.
But the Thackerays don’t understand history — or consistency for that matter. As my colleague Sujata Anandan wrote perceptively in the HT’s Bombay edition on Wednesday, this new-found zeal sits uneasily with Bal Thackeray’s own record: if he’s so keen on Marathi usage, then he should use his real name. It’s Thakre not Thackeray, in the manner of William Makepeace Thackeray, the author of Vanity Fair. Not only does Thackeray use the anglicised spelling, he even pronounces it like the English author, who, as far as I know, was not a Marathi manoos.
Worse still, I don’t think that either Bal or Mini-me really care about the issue anyway. They just need a cause that sounds emotive and chauvinistic enough to motivate the goondas in their cadres. Thackeray is now old enough to recognise that this kind of platform is not sufficient to hold a party together in the long run. But faced with the threat from Raj, he’s had to go back to the primitive chauvinism of the Sena’s early years.
It would be a tragedy if the people or the politicians of the city of Bombay allowed this rivalry between uncle and nephew to change the traditions and heritage of this great metropolis. The only way to handle the Thackeray campaign is to hold firm and to tell the old boy to sort out his family disputes in the privacy of his own home.
We are certainly not changing any more names only because he can’t handle his nephew.
Fill minority quotas, state warns colleges
The state government has directed the Higher Technical Education
Department and the School Education Department to ensure minority
institutes fill their 51 per cent linguistic and religious quotas.
Minority Development Minister Naseem Khan said on Tuesday that the state
would cancel the minority status of institutes that failed to fill the quota or discriminated against communities during admissions.
This followed a meeting between Khan and officials following complaints against certain institutes, such as N.M. College of Commerce and Economics and Mithibai College of Arts, Science and Commerce, which allegedly barred Parsi, Momin and Bohri students from applying under the minority quota.
“We have admitted all minorities, including Bohris, Parsis and Momins,” said Sangita Kher, vice-principal of N.M. College, which had earlier struck names of students from these communities off its merit list.
There were complaints about other colleges, such as Saboo Siddique College at Byculla, and Jhunjhunwala and P.A. Inamdar colleges in Pune, which had not filled the minority quotas. “We have given a three-year grace period to degree colleges to fill the quotas because in some cases there aren’t enough minority students. For junior colleges, there is no grace period,” said Khan.
He said degree colleges would have to explain to the Minority Department why their quotas were not filled.
This followed a meeting between Khan and officials following complaints against certain institutes, such as N.M. College of Commerce and Economics and Mithibai College of Arts, Science and Commerce, which allegedly barred Parsi, Momin and Bohri students from applying under the minority quota.
“We have admitted all minorities, including Bohris, Parsis and Momins,” said Sangita Kher, vice-principal of N.M. College, which had earlier struck names of students from these communities off its merit list.
There were complaints about other colleges, such as Saboo Siddique College at Byculla, and Jhunjhunwala and P.A. Inamdar colleges in Pune, which had not filled the minority quotas. “We have given a three-year grace period to degree colleges to fill the quotas because in some cases there aren’t enough minority students. For junior colleges, there is no grace period,” said Khan.
He said degree colleges would have to explain to the Minority Department why their quotas were not filled.
The K2K food court
Indian cuisine is like the English language — a
stunning repertoire of its own as the foundation while totally open to
new elements. That's why it's so madly eclectic and adventurous while
retaining its distinct identity. Arab, Persian, Chinese and Western food
have all acquired
Indian avatars and purists who can't take the heat just leave
the kitchen — to sneak back for a taste. Check out these 60 K2K (Kashmir
to Kanyakumari) classics that celebrate the way we are.
GIVEN UP THE GHOSHT
Luchi-Alur Dum: the Bengali maida puri with potato curry in tomato broth that gladdens many a Sunday lunch.
Mattar-ki-kachori: UP's winter treat made with fresh, tender peas tastes better than the oversweet tinned American peas sold all-year round.
Tahiri: basmati rice-and-peas UP-style with a hint of jeera and salt tempered in ghee or butter. A clean fragrance that can't be beat.
Samosa: the original triangle of dough was stuffed with minced meat before being deep-fried. Called a 'sambusa', it was a Mughal import from Central Asia. While the ones in the north are fat and squat, the samosas of Maharashtra and South India are thin, elegant and crunchy-crusted, a direct legacy of the Iranian version. Bengalis call theirs 'singara'.
Mango Kadhi: thin buttermilk-besan soup tempered with curry leaves, grated coconut and mustard seeds. The seasonal treat is the ripe mango sliced and boiled in it.
Gatte-ki-sabzi: Rajasthanis steam up rolls of besan, slice them and spice them dry or in yoghurt gravy.
Nadru: sliced lotus stem cut diagonally for a pretty shape to please the eye, spiced with powders of anise and ginger, a la Kashmir. North India also knows it as kamal-kakkdi (lotus-cucumber) or by the unlovely word 'bhein'.
Paneer-Tsaman: Kashmiri-style pasandas (flat pieces) of paneer fried and dunked in pure tomato gravy without onions and garlic. Eat with Punjabi-style layered parathas to feel you've died and gone to heaven.
Adai: the dal dosa of Tamil Nadu that you won't usually find in restaurants: urad, arhar and chana dal whizzed into a grainy batter, spiked with onion, red chilly, salt and pinched curry leaves. Eat with white butter and jaggery, green chutney, pickle or tomato ketchup. Protein breakfast, anyone?
Bisi-bele-bhaath: literally, 'hot-mixed-rice' in Kannada, this divine glop of sambhar-rice is teamed with crunchy appalam (rice papad) and vadaam (fat papad-straws).
Cauliflower Manchurian: this audacious take on Chicken Manchurian is as desi as it gets and no Manchu warlord would recognise it. Nelson Wang, the Bombay restaurant whiz, is said to have invented the chicken avatar: pakodas in red gravy.
Undhiyaan: a mixed batch of vegetables cooked in a pot buried underground over live coals, this is a complicated but delicious Gujju version of 'avial', the jhalfrezy or mixed-veg of the south.
Litti: this poor man's food has sanskritised in the last some years, sharing menu space with palak paneer and muttar paneer in most Bihari restaurants; now increasingly outside the state too. Goes well with chokha.
Anarsa: a flaky Maharashtrian matthi made of fermented rice dough rolled in khus-khus (poppy seeds) and fried.
Puttu-kadala-pazham: a grainy broken Kerala rice-mix is steamed with grated coconut into a dry porridge. That's the puttu. A gravy of kala chana (kadala) is ladled over your helping. Small, sweet hill bananas (pazham) are eaten alongside.
Chops: never tried these Bengali bombs? Mashed potatoes mixed with veg/mincemeat/fish flakes, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried golden brown.
Khichri/Pongal: the pan-Indian equivalent of chicken soup in the west, it's comfort food supreme, with or without kkeema.
Masuru Anna: that's Kannada for Curd Rice with South Indian tadka.
Rajma-Chaval: that rich tomato gravy, those satisfyingly mashy kidney beans, the dancing notes of ginger, garlic and fresh coriander. The fluffy, fragrant rice.
Chhole-Bhature: CBs are part of our hardwiring.
Aapam and Stew: there are chicken versions of this Kerala classic but somehow it's nicer with just veg cooked in thin coconut gravy, poured over spongy rice aapam with crisp, curly edges, made in a little iron chatti (wok).
Pearl Onion Sambhar: also called Madras Onion and Button Onion, these tiny translucent blobs are the devil to peel but a marriage made in sambhar heaven teamed with rice and potato subzi.
Vendekka Pachidi (Bhindi-ka-raita): slice bhindi very finely, fry crunchy-crisp and dunk just before serving in dahi tempered with South Indian tadka.
Moinja-haak: knol-kol or kohlrabi, both bulb and leaves cooked in a thin watery broth with Kashmiri spices.
Sindhi Kadhi: lots of vegetables, including sambhar-drumsticks, chopped and stewed, with colour and a tart edge from kokum, the red flavouring agent popular all along the west coast from Sindh to Maharashtra as an alternative to tamarind.
Sheermal: flaky, sweetish bread, moistened with saffron-milk, fresh from a tandoor. Lovely if eaten 'just like that' with great gobs of white butter and properly fruity jam.
Khasta Roti (layered roti): freshly made, spiked with saunf, it's another great stand-alone bread, needing nothing but a smear of butter.
Bhaja: called Bajji further down the eastern seaboard, these vegetable fritters taste best the Bengali way, thinly sliced and crisp, in a delicate, tempura-like batter. Pumpkin flower bhaja is particularly scrumptious.
Baigan Boorani: this Afghani 'raita' is special to Bhopal and has acquired poetic names like 'Baadal Jaam' (Cloud Wine). Rounds of baingan are deep-fried and served with thick, creamy globs of garlic-flavoured dahi on each round, topped with crumbled fried onion.
Dosa: because that's we are: a nation of dosa eaters.
MEAT TREATS
Anishi Gahauri: succulent pork cooked with dried yam leaves in Nagaland.
Salli-boti-zardalu: a Parsi classic, it uses dried fruit in that lovely, lavish Iranian way. Salli are potato straws (alu-ke-lachhe) used as a heavy garnish over meat (boti) cooked with dried apricots (zardalu).
Konju Pulao: check out Ummi Abdullah, queen of Moplah (Malabar Muslim) cookery for this fabulous dish of fried prawns and cashew nuts baked in lightly spiced rice — and eaten with lots more fried prawns.
Spag-Bog: the desi version of Spaghetti Bolognaise can't be bettered. Boil spaghetti, make a rich keema curry with ginger, garlic, onion and green chillies and heaps of tomato puree, bhuno-ed like a Punjabi gravy. Grate Amul cheese on top, it won't taste right else.
Shepherd's Pie: same principle as above in this Indian boarding school classic learnt from the angrez. Desify the keema nicely, top with a Great Wall of buttery mashed potato and bake golden.
Prawn Cocktail: elegantly pink in Thousand Island Dressing, steamed prawns are tossed into a wide-rimmed cocktail glass with a few shreds of lettuce, very tender cabbage, a few sticks of capsicum, onion and olive. It's back.
Mulligatawny Soup: a hearty angrez avatar of rasam (from molagu tanni, Tamil for pepper water), this dal-like soup can have a value-add with bits of boiled chicken. Squeeze some lemon on top and sprinkle a few grains of rice before spooning up.
Railway Cutlets: the Indian Railways does (did?) spicy mutton and veg cutlets best. To be smeared with tomato sauce and squished between two slices of white bread.
Kachnaar-keema: tender blooms of this pretty flowering tree are dry-cooked with minced meat, a Punjabi delicacy.
Pepper Chicken Chettinad: the subtle flavours of Chettinad food reflect the adventurous spirit of this ancient merchant community that sent its ships to China more than fifteen centuries ago. This chicken fry-up is speckled with black peppercorns, sort of a gourmet chicken chaat.
Meen Molee: the Kerala fish dish in a creamy coconut-milk sauce often pops up at parties. Eat with hot rice; rotis NEVER absorb the fabulous gravy properly.
Chicken Cafreal: the splendid Goan green chicken of Portuguese origin that no holiday in Goa tastes complete without.
Chilly Chicken: some people might get really angry if you insult this OTHER national favourite. Punjabi-Chinese is what we really, really like.
Mutton Do-Piaza: this means meat:onion, 2:1. Cooked slowly until the onions have virtually dissolved, and sharpened with lemon, ginger, mint and coriander, the meat should be falling off the bone. Eaten almost like a subzi with soft flaps of naan.
Methi Murgh: chicken curry made extra-special with fresh fenugreek when in season, but better somehow with fragrant dried 'Qasuri' methi. (Qasur is in Pakistan, birthplace of Hindustani vocalist Bade Ghulam Ali Khan).
Malai Chingri: prawn curry in coconut milk, Bengali-style.
Thokpa: Ladakhi/Tibetan noodle soup with meatballs. If you have this in Leh, the meat is faintly scented with the artemisia that the baral (sheep) graze on in the high-altitude desert.
Yakhni: a light Kashmiri summer dish of quenelles (mincemeat fingers) in thin yoghurt gravy.
Safed Maas: the rich Rajasthani mutton dish favoured by the Erstwhiles (former princes), its counterpart is the fiery Lal Maas.
Kakori Kababs: these delicate, soft kababs were invented in the 19th century by the cooks of Kakori near Lucknow for the convenience of toothless old nawabs.
Tabakmaaz: rib-chops Kashmiri-style, fried crisp.
Irani Berry Pulao: best eaten at Britannia restaurant in Ballard Estate, Bombay Fort. A mound of spiced rice hides a cache of mutton/chicken curry. The deliciously sour dried berries dotting the rice are called zereshk in Iran and imported specially for this jewel of a pulao.
Chicken Sixtyfour: not an impossibly athletic position from some old Indian love manual, but a Chettinad-style dish that was apparently Number 64 on the menu of Buhary's, the only decent non-veg restaurant for decades in Chennai.
Karwar Crab: stuffed masala crabs like you only dream of eating, from this pretty coastal town in North Karnataka.
Alu-Ghosht: this is a Sunday lunch special in many urban Indian homes: regular mutton curry embellished with huge chunks of fried potato. The alu absorbs the flavour of meat and masala and is eaten ceremonially by itself, not mashed carelessly with rice or roti.
Hyderabadi Biryani: there's biryani and then there's Hyderabadi Biryani. Don't ask questions, taste to know the difference.
Butter Chicken: okay, so we tried really hard to avoid this obvious one, but a national favourite deserves respect.
Kathi Roll: we're not particular if it's from Nizam's or wherever. Nothing restores morale and flagging spirits like a double-chicken-double-egg.
Kheema/Tandoori Pizza: who cares if pizza was originally American? Indian-style pizza is established since decades as urban comfort food. Or else, eat a Jain Pizza (all veg, no onion, no garlic) if you're a strict vegetarian.
Bun-anda: don't be ridiculous, you know what it is.
GIVEN UP THE GHOSHT
Luchi-Alur Dum: the Bengali maida puri with potato curry in tomato broth that gladdens many a Sunday lunch.
Mattar-ki-kachori: UP's winter treat made with fresh, tender peas tastes better than the oversweet tinned American peas sold all-year round.
Tahiri: basmati rice-and-peas UP-style with a hint of jeera and salt tempered in ghee or butter. A clean fragrance that can't be beat.
Samosa: the original triangle of dough was stuffed with minced meat before being deep-fried. Called a 'sambusa', it was a Mughal import from Central Asia. While the ones in the north are fat and squat, the samosas of Maharashtra and South India are thin, elegant and crunchy-crusted, a direct legacy of the Iranian version. Bengalis call theirs 'singara'.
Mango Kadhi: thin buttermilk-besan soup tempered with curry leaves, grated coconut and mustard seeds. The seasonal treat is the ripe mango sliced and boiled in it.
Gatte-ki-sabzi: Rajasthanis steam up rolls of besan, slice them and spice them dry or in yoghurt gravy.
Nadru: sliced lotus stem cut diagonally for a pretty shape to please the eye, spiced with powders of anise and ginger, a la Kashmir. North India also knows it as kamal-kakkdi (lotus-cucumber) or by the unlovely word 'bhein'.
Paneer-Tsaman: Kashmiri-style pasandas (flat pieces) of paneer fried and dunked in pure tomato gravy without onions and garlic. Eat with Punjabi-style layered parathas to feel you've died and gone to heaven.
Adai: the dal dosa of Tamil Nadu that you won't usually find in restaurants: urad, arhar and chana dal whizzed into a grainy batter, spiked with onion, red chilly, salt and pinched curry leaves. Eat with white butter and jaggery, green chutney, pickle or tomato ketchup. Protein breakfast, anyone?
Bisi-bele-bhaath: literally, 'hot-mixed-rice' in Kannada, this divine glop of sambhar-rice is teamed with crunchy appalam (rice papad) and vadaam (fat papad-straws).
Cauliflower Manchurian: this audacious take on Chicken Manchurian is as desi as it gets and no Manchu warlord would recognise it. Nelson Wang, the Bombay restaurant whiz, is said to have invented the chicken avatar: pakodas in red gravy.
Undhiyaan: a mixed batch of vegetables cooked in a pot buried underground over live coals, this is a complicated but delicious Gujju version of 'avial', the jhalfrezy or mixed-veg of the south.
Litti: this poor man's food has sanskritised in the last some years, sharing menu space with palak paneer and muttar paneer in most Bihari restaurants; now increasingly outside the state too. Goes well with chokha.
Anarsa: a flaky Maharashtrian matthi made of fermented rice dough rolled in khus-khus (poppy seeds) and fried.
Puttu-kadala-pazham: a grainy broken Kerala rice-mix is steamed with grated coconut into a dry porridge. That's the puttu. A gravy of kala chana (kadala) is ladled over your helping. Small, sweet hill bananas (pazham) are eaten alongside.
Chops: never tried these Bengali bombs? Mashed potatoes mixed with veg/mincemeat/fish flakes, dipped in egg and breadcrumbs and fried golden brown.
Khichri/Pongal: the pan-Indian equivalent of chicken soup in the west, it's comfort food supreme, with or without kkeema.
Masuru Anna: that's Kannada for Curd Rice with South Indian tadka.
Rajma-Chaval: that rich tomato gravy, those satisfyingly mashy kidney beans, the dancing notes of ginger, garlic and fresh coriander. The fluffy, fragrant rice.
Chhole-Bhature: CBs are part of our hardwiring.
Aapam and Stew: there are chicken versions of this Kerala classic but somehow it's nicer with just veg cooked in thin coconut gravy, poured over spongy rice aapam with crisp, curly edges, made in a little iron chatti (wok).
Pearl Onion Sambhar: also called Madras Onion and Button Onion, these tiny translucent blobs are the devil to peel but a marriage made in sambhar heaven teamed with rice and potato subzi.
Vendekka Pachidi (Bhindi-ka-raita): slice bhindi very finely, fry crunchy-crisp and dunk just before serving in dahi tempered with South Indian tadka.
Moinja-haak: knol-kol or kohlrabi, both bulb and leaves cooked in a thin watery broth with Kashmiri spices.
Sindhi Kadhi: lots of vegetables, including sambhar-drumsticks, chopped and stewed, with colour and a tart edge from kokum, the red flavouring agent popular all along the west coast from Sindh to Maharashtra as an alternative to tamarind.
Sheermal: flaky, sweetish bread, moistened with saffron-milk, fresh from a tandoor. Lovely if eaten 'just like that' with great gobs of white butter and properly fruity jam.
Khasta Roti (layered roti): freshly made, spiked with saunf, it's another great stand-alone bread, needing nothing but a smear of butter.
Bhaja: called Bajji further down the eastern seaboard, these vegetable fritters taste best the Bengali way, thinly sliced and crisp, in a delicate, tempura-like batter. Pumpkin flower bhaja is particularly scrumptious.
Baigan Boorani: this Afghani 'raita' is special to Bhopal and has acquired poetic names like 'Baadal Jaam' (Cloud Wine). Rounds of baingan are deep-fried and served with thick, creamy globs of garlic-flavoured dahi on each round, topped with crumbled fried onion.
Dosa: because that's we are: a nation of dosa eaters.
MEAT TREATS
Anishi Gahauri: succulent pork cooked with dried yam leaves in Nagaland.
Salli-boti-zardalu: a Parsi classic, it uses dried fruit in that lovely, lavish Iranian way. Salli are potato straws (alu-ke-lachhe) used as a heavy garnish over meat (boti) cooked with dried apricots (zardalu).
Konju Pulao: check out Ummi Abdullah, queen of Moplah (Malabar Muslim) cookery for this fabulous dish of fried prawns and cashew nuts baked in lightly spiced rice — and eaten with lots more fried prawns.
Spag-Bog: the desi version of Spaghetti Bolognaise can't be bettered. Boil spaghetti, make a rich keema curry with ginger, garlic, onion and green chillies and heaps of tomato puree, bhuno-ed like a Punjabi gravy. Grate Amul cheese on top, it won't taste right else.
Shepherd's Pie: same principle as above in this Indian boarding school classic learnt from the angrez. Desify the keema nicely, top with a Great Wall of buttery mashed potato and bake golden.
Prawn Cocktail: elegantly pink in Thousand Island Dressing, steamed prawns are tossed into a wide-rimmed cocktail glass with a few shreds of lettuce, very tender cabbage, a few sticks of capsicum, onion and olive. It's back.
Mulligatawny Soup: a hearty angrez avatar of rasam (from molagu tanni, Tamil for pepper water), this dal-like soup can have a value-add with bits of boiled chicken. Squeeze some lemon on top and sprinkle a few grains of rice before spooning up.
Railway Cutlets: the Indian Railways does (did?) spicy mutton and veg cutlets best. To be smeared with tomato sauce and squished between two slices of white bread.
Kachnaar-keema: tender blooms of this pretty flowering tree are dry-cooked with minced meat, a Punjabi delicacy.
Pepper Chicken Chettinad: the subtle flavours of Chettinad food reflect the adventurous spirit of this ancient merchant community that sent its ships to China more than fifteen centuries ago. This chicken fry-up is speckled with black peppercorns, sort of a gourmet chicken chaat.
Meen Molee: the Kerala fish dish in a creamy coconut-milk sauce often pops up at parties. Eat with hot rice; rotis NEVER absorb the fabulous gravy properly.
Chicken Cafreal: the splendid Goan green chicken of Portuguese origin that no holiday in Goa tastes complete without.
Chilly Chicken: some people might get really angry if you insult this OTHER national favourite. Punjabi-Chinese is what we really, really like.
Mutton Do-Piaza: this means meat:onion, 2:1. Cooked slowly until the onions have virtually dissolved, and sharpened with lemon, ginger, mint and coriander, the meat should be falling off the bone. Eaten almost like a subzi with soft flaps of naan.
Methi Murgh: chicken curry made extra-special with fresh fenugreek when in season, but better somehow with fragrant dried 'Qasuri' methi. (Qasur is in Pakistan, birthplace of Hindustani vocalist Bade Ghulam Ali Khan).
Malai Chingri: prawn curry in coconut milk, Bengali-style.
Thokpa: Ladakhi/Tibetan noodle soup with meatballs. If you have this in Leh, the meat is faintly scented with the artemisia that the baral (sheep) graze on in the high-altitude desert.
Yakhni: a light Kashmiri summer dish of quenelles (mincemeat fingers) in thin yoghurt gravy.
Safed Maas: the rich Rajasthani mutton dish favoured by the Erstwhiles (former princes), its counterpart is the fiery Lal Maas.
Kakori Kababs: these delicate, soft kababs were invented in the 19th century by the cooks of Kakori near Lucknow for the convenience of toothless old nawabs.
Tabakmaaz: rib-chops Kashmiri-style, fried crisp.
Irani Berry Pulao: best eaten at Britannia restaurant in Ballard Estate, Bombay Fort. A mound of spiced rice hides a cache of mutton/chicken curry. The deliciously sour dried berries dotting the rice are called zereshk in Iran and imported specially for this jewel of a pulao.
Chicken Sixtyfour: not an impossibly athletic position from some old Indian love manual, but a Chettinad-style dish that was apparently Number 64 on the menu of Buhary's, the only decent non-veg restaurant for decades in Chennai.
Karwar Crab: stuffed masala crabs like you only dream of eating, from this pretty coastal town in North Karnataka.
Alu-Ghosht: this is a Sunday lunch special in many urban Indian homes: regular mutton curry embellished with huge chunks of fried potato. The alu absorbs the flavour of meat and masala and is eaten ceremonially by itself, not mashed carelessly with rice or roti.
Hyderabadi Biryani: there's biryani and then there's Hyderabadi Biryani. Don't ask questions, taste to know the difference.
Butter Chicken: okay, so we tried really hard to avoid this obvious one, but a national favourite deserves respect.
Kathi Roll: we're not particular if it's from Nizam's or wherever. Nothing restores morale and flagging spirits like a double-chicken-double-egg.
Kheema/Tandoori Pizza: who cares if pizza was originally American? Indian-style pizza is established since decades as urban comfort food. Or else, eat a Jain Pizza (all veg, no onion, no garlic) if you're a strict vegetarian.
Bun-anda: don't be ridiculous, you know what it is.
I'm a mixture of all religions: Pooja Bedi
Actress and anchor Pooja Bedi is proud that she can boast of a family
tree that is an amalgamation of several religions. "I have a family
which is a mix of all religions, so I worship all gods and follow all
religions," Pooja told IANS.
Though Pooja is widely known as a Sikh girl as the
daughter of actor Kabir Bedi, her grandmother was a Christian
who took to Buddhism, her mother Protima Bedi was a Hindu, while she was
married to a Muslim.
However, the initial influence in her life was her grandfather Baba
Phyare Lal Bedi, father of Kabir Bedi. "My grandfather was a direct
descendent of Guru Nanak, which my father also carried forth," said
Pooja.
Baba Phyare Lal was a philosopher and an author who married a British woman, Frida Houlston, while studying at Oxford University, Pooja said of her grandfather.
On returning from London, he participated in the freedom struggle and Frida supported him, she added. "It was an unusual thing that a Briton was fighting against the British; but my grandmother did it," Pooja said.
Frida later converted to Buddhism and was ordained by the 16th Karmapa. "I was given the name Karma Sarwawati by the Karmapa. So Buddhism also had a great impact in our life," said the actress, who is best remembered for her role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.
Pooja was introduced to Hinduism by her danseuse mother Protima, who was the daughter of a businessman from Haryana, Laxmichand Gupta, and his Bengali wife Reba. "I was influenced by my mother to a great extent and I came to know about Hindu mythology from her. I learnt about the Ramayana, the Bhagvad Gita and many other Hindu scriptures because of her."
Model-turned Odissi dancer Protima, who set up dance institute Nrityagram on the outskirts of Bangalore, disappeared after a landslide near Pithoragarh in the Himalayas in 1998.
Pooja also took on the name Noor Jehan when she married businessman Farhan Ebrahim in 1995. Farhan's father is a Muslim and mother a Parsi. Though Pooja and Farhan split in 2002, they have two children - daughter Aalia and son Omar.
"Now my children also don't have a particular religion as I also didn't have. The only difference is that now they have Muslim and Parsi also in their blood. So they may be called Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Sikh, Christian and Parsi!" said Pooja.
"We don't have a single god, but have all the gods together. The only thing we say to god every day is thank you, god, for everything you have given," she said.
Baba Phyare Lal was a philosopher and an author who married a British woman, Frida Houlston, while studying at Oxford University, Pooja said of her grandfather.
On returning from London, he participated in the freedom struggle and Frida supported him, she added. "It was an unusual thing that a Briton was fighting against the British; but my grandmother did it," Pooja said.
Frida later converted to Buddhism and was ordained by the 16th Karmapa. "I was given the name Karma Sarwawati by the Karmapa. So Buddhism also had a great impact in our life," said the actress, who is best remembered for her role in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.
Pooja was introduced to Hinduism by her danseuse mother Protima, who was the daughter of a businessman from Haryana, Laxmichand Gupta, and his Bengali wife Reba. "I was influenced by my mother to a great extent and I came to know about Hindu mythology from her. I learnt about the Ramayana, the Bhagvad Gita and many other Hindu scriptures because of her."
Model-turned Odissi dancer Protima, who set up dance institute Nrityagram on the outskirts of Bangalore, disappeared after a landslide near Pithoragarh in the Himalayas in 1998.
Pooja also took on the name Noor Jehan when she married businessman Farhan Ebrahim in 1995. Farhan's father is a Muslim and mother a Parsi. Though Pooja and Farhan split in 2002, they have two children - daughter Aalia and son Omar.
"Now my children also don't have a particular religion as I also didn't have. The only difference is that now they have Muslim and Parsi also in their blood. So they may be called Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Sikh, Christian and Parsi!" said Pooja.
"We don't have a single god, but have all the gods together. The only thing we say to god every day is thank you, god, for everything you have given," she said.
Parsis and Feng Shui
On the occasion of Navroz (the Parsi New Year),
this article is specially written about some of the Parsis who have
consulted me over the years, thanks to Jam-e-Jamshed, oldest newspaper
(in existence since 1832) that caters exclusively to Zoroastrians. My
association with Jame and therefore with the beautiful community of the
Parsis goes back into early eighties!
(Feng Shui Master Mohan Deep, one of the top Feng Shui consultants in the world, is based in Mumbai, India. For more information you may visit http://www.fengshuimiracle.comorwrite to him at md@mohandeep.com.You can also contact him on 91-22-56997992. His cell number is 9820199378.Fax: 91-22-26350503)
Feng
Shui has certainly reached the houses of the fire worshiping community
of Zoroastrian Parsis. It is, perhaps, because Parsis are liberal,
adventurous and flexible that they are willing to try anything new.
There is no hostility to anything seemingly alien, belonging to a
distant oriental culture. The liberal community of Parsis, usually,
accepts Feng Shui without reservations. It doesn't interfere with their
faith. And how they have benefited!
The
latest is the way one of my Feng Shui paintings has shown results
within days in sorting out a chronic problem between a decent, god
fearing husband Rustom and Freny his 'nasty' wife. The wife is a typical
case of 'fair weather wife' who refused to stand by her husband during
the tough times. In fact, Freny made life hell for him, maligning and
bad mouthing him among the closely-knit circle of this man. She stopped
cooking for the family, stubbornly locked the bedroom from inside
disallowing her husband in and refused to leave the house!
The negative energy in the flat hit me hard.
Feng Shui almost failed against `the free will` of this vicious person till this Feng Shui painting began the process of `the end of misery` for them. I have started working on another similar painting - this time for the benefit of Roshni the long suffering Parsi wife of Viraf, a chronic borrower who only brought shame and embarrassment to his wife and children.
Feng Shui almost failed against `the free will` of this vicious person till this Feng Shui painting began the process of `the end of misery` for them. I have started working on another similar painting - this time for the benefit of Roshni the long suffering Parsi wife of Viraf, a chronic borrower who only brought shame and embarrassment to his wife and children.
In
yet another case, my Feng Shui painting is hanging on the wall of
Parizad, the heart broken wife of Sharukh a Parsi who had a serious
involvement with another - married - woman. Sharukh had almost walked
out to live in with Kashmira `the other woman`. Feng Shui is undoing the
damage, slowly but surely. While the benefits in relationships are
often intangible the impact of Feng Shui in business can be measured.
The graph can be seen.
Adil
Gotla's business of car care (polishing) has grown three hundred
percent in less than a year and he is still growing. Neville Randeria's
Medical store has grown so much that he says, "Never in my wildest
dreams did I see this kind of business. The business was okay but
because of another shop in better location it had started suffering. I
used to read your column in Jame. Now I thought of consulting you.
Should I function from the same shop or should I sell and move to a new
locality. You advised against shifting. You said, lets do Feng Shui.
Wait and watch for few months before taking a final decision.
What
happened was almost a miracle! I learned that a hospital was to come up
in the neighborhood. This plan must have been in the pipeline before I
got Feng Shui done. But I was not aware of it. I give credit to Feng
Shui and your Greedy Dragon of Ambition. I didn't shift. Today, four
years after Feng Shui, I am reaping the harvest. I am rich. The business
grew so much that I bought the adjoining shop."
The growth in business, in this case, is five times in four years. And Adil is still growing.
As dramatic is the rise of Pervez's business of `Customised Designer Furniture` as he describes it. "Nothing is happening. I am sitting amidst some of the most beautiful pieces of furniture and have a set up that can handle ten times the orders I get in a month. I do not understand what is the problem? The location is good, the furniture is good…but the business is not," said Pervez Lakdawala.
As dramatic is the rise of Pervez's business of `Customised Designer Furniture` as he describes it. "Nothing is happening. I am sitting amidst some of the most beautiful pieces of furniture and have a set up that can handle ten times the orders I get in a month. I do not understand what is the problem? The location is good, the furniture is good…but the business is not," said Pervez Lakdawala.
His
element turned out to be metal and thus clashed with the element of his
business, wood. Feng Shui adjustments by including his daughter's name
as a partner and my usual Feng Shui changes along with the painting of
the Peak in the Opportunities sector turned the tide for him.
"Your
painting of the Peak inspires me. I see myself climbing up. High,
higher…highest." Pervez laughed when he narrated his success story to
me.
(Feng Shui Master Mohan Deep, one of the top Feng Shui consultants in the world, is based in Mumbai, India. For more information you may visit http://www.fengshuimiracle.comorwrite to him at md@mohandeep.com.You can also contact him on 91-22-56997992. His cell number is 9820199378.Fax: 91-22-26350503)
Hub and happening
Pragati Maidan Metro station is perhaps one of the most important stops
that the Delhi Metro has. Catering to the ITO area, you’ll need to get
down here to reach some of the most important offices in the Capital,
including major newspapers. And the station’s capacity is tested to its
brink when there’s a fair or exhibition at the Pragati Maidan.
It took me 25 minutes on a direct Metro on the Blue line to reach Pragati Maidan from Noida Sector 18. The station is located near the Gate No.10 of Pragati Maidan. Since nothing exciting was happening there, I decided to explore the locality and hence started moving to my right, towards Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg — one of the liveliest and most popular places in the city. Those wanting to visit the Delhi Zoo, should start walking towards left.
Foodies paradiseEateries on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg are popular with office goers and students of Maulana Azad Medical College. However, Delhiites come from across the city to check out these joints.
Deep Tea Stall: The Sardarji here has been putting up this stall every evening for years now and it’s a life saviour for the nocturnal journos. The anda (egg) paranthas are the bestsellers and comes for Rs. 15 for a single piece. You can also try out mix veg, gobhi and aaloo paranthas for Rs. 10.
Gulab Jamun and Gaajar ka Halwa: Be it any season, this small cart sells gulab jamuns (Rs 15 for two pieces). Gajar ka halwa (Rs 20 for 100 gms) comes in winters, while kulfi with rabri is a summer speciality. The gulab jamuns were yummy, and so was the gajar ka halwa.
Udupi Café: Not only does this place offer great South Indian meal, but also fusion items such as the Idli Manchurian.
Parsi food: Next to Maulana Azad Medical College, the Bagli Kitchen offers traditional Parsi cuisine such as dhansak (meat cooked with lentils), Sali murghi and patra ni machchi.
In the neighbourhood
The Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket Stadium and the BR Amdedkar Football Stadium are two landmarks of this place. The stretch also marks your entry to old Delhi. As you walk ahead and cross the Khooni Darwaza, the ruins of the Feroz Shah Kotla fortress on your right reminds you of the former glory of the Walled City. An entry fee of Rs. 5 will get you into its serene and peaceful campus. Another place to enjoy a winter noon is the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Park. Heard in the metroAbey, ye metro kitna rukegi (Damn, how many times would the Metro hault).
Oh god! kitni bheed hai!
Bhaiya, this is ladies compartment. Please go to the next compartment.
It smells bad. Why cant they use deo?
Beta let me sit. Please shift a little.
Metro friendshipI love travelling in the Delhi Metro. I work in Gurgaon and now I can reach office in just an hour’s time from Mandi House. I have said goodbye to all those long journeys in the cab and being stuck in traffic jams at MG Road. It is indeed a blessing to us. I love to get a corner seat near the door and take out a novel to read. At times I just listen to the radio and daydream. The city has just become perfect for commuters like me.
-Rubina, a Metro commuter
Metro elsewhereSeoul Metropoliton Subway
It is one of the most heavily used rapid transit systems in the world with well over 8 million trips daily on the system’s 13 lines.
Senior citizens and disabled people qualify for free transit and can get a free ticket or enter and exit using side gates rather than turnstiles.
Over 70% of the total metro track length is underground.
It took me 25 minutes on a direct Metro on the Blue line to reach Pragati Maidan from Noida Sector 18. The station is located near the Gate No.10 of Pragati Maidan. Since nothing exciting was happening there, I decided to explore the locality and hence started moving to my right, towards Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg — one of the liveliest and most popular places in the city. Those wanting to visit the Delhi Zoo, should start walking towards left.
Foodies paradiseEateries on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg are popular with office goers and students of Maulana Azad Medical College. However, Delhiites come from across the city to check out these joints.
Deep Tea Stall: The Sardarji here has been putting up this stall every evening for years now and it’s a life saviour for the nocturnal journos. The anda (egg) paranthas are the bestsellers and comes for Rs. 15 for a single piece. You can also try out mix veg, gobhi and aaloo paranthas for Rs. 10.
Gulab Jamun and Gaajar ka Halwa: Be it any season, this small cart sells gulab jamuns (Rs 15 for two pieces). Gajar ka halwa (Rs 20 for 100 gms) comes in winters, while kulfi with rabri is a summer speciality. The gulab jamuns were yummy, and so was the gajar ka halwa.
Udupi Café: Not only does this place offer great South Indian meal, but also fusion items such as the Idli Manchurian.
Parsi food: Next to Maulana Azad Medical College, the Bagli Kitchen offers traditional Parsi cuisine such as dhansak (meat cooked with lentils), Sali murghi and patra ni machchi.
In the neighbourhood
The Feroz Shah Kotla Cricket Stadium and the BR Amdedkar Football Stadium are two landmarks of this place. The stretch also marks your entry to old Delhi. As you walk ahead and cross the Khooni Darwaza, the ruins of the Feroz Shah Kotla fortress on your right reminds you of the former glory of the Walled City. An entry fee of Rs. 5 will get you into its serene and peaceful campus. Another place to enjoy a winter noon is the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Park. Heard in the metroAbey, ye metro kitna rukegi (Damn, how many times would the Metro hault).
Oh god! kitni bheed hai!
Bhaiya, this is ladies compartment. Please go to the next compartment.
It smells bad. Why cant they use deo?
Beta let me sit. Please shift a little.
Metro friendshipI love travelling in the Delhi Metro. I work in Gurgaon and now I can reach office in just an hour’s time from Mandi House. I have said goodbye to all those long journeys in the cab and being stuck in traffic jams at MG Road. It is indeed a blessing to us. I love to get a corner seat near the door and take out a novel to read. At times I just listen to the radio and daydream. The city has just become perfect for commuters like me.
-Rubina, a Metro commuter
Metro elsewhereSeoul Metropoliton Subway
It is one of the most heavily used rapid transit systems in the world with well over 8 million trips daily on the system’s 13 lines.
Senior citizens and disabled people qualify for free transit and can get a free ticket or enter and exit using side gates rather than turnstiles.
Over 70% of the total metro track length is underground.
A Woman on Wall Street, a book
It had been a long day. Nina Godiwalla had stumbled home from a bar
after work, and collapsed in bed. But she was wide awake in a few hours.
She needed to talk to someone, be with someone. Her roommate was still
at work. A friend she thought of calling had a crisis of his own. And
her parents –
Parsi immigrants from India – were too far away in Texas, even for a phone call.
She opened the refrigerator and finished off her stock of vodkas. She needed more alcohol to escape the longing to escape whatever she was doing.
Wall Street had looked alluring from far, even magical. It had appeared to hold the key to success as she then saw success. Money and power is what she wanted, and the Street had both. That was her world, and she wanted to be in it at any cost. Even if it meant devouring sports scores for games she had no interest in. But it was her ticket to the world of investment banking.
Street Smart
Nina went clubbing as frequently as the men, drank as much and tried to be like them. She could have out-manned the men if she could, but how much could a lone intern do, and a second generation immigrant intern at that?
The world of her dreams belonged to men, and they intended to keep it that way.
Nina’s Suits: A Woman on Wall Street, a book on her two years at Morgan Stanley, the top-most investment bank in the world, might have delivered a crippling blow to a distasteful hangover from the past. The book is a runaway hit. Nina has been interviewed and profiled in every US newspaper and magazine of note, and the book has been reviewed glowingly by all. “I am booked for speaking assignments for months,” Nina reports.
As a first insider account of the all-male culture of the world of investment banking and its biases against women, the book is being compared to the iconic Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis. Lewis’s account of work and life at Salomon Brothers (now a unit of Citibank) was the first to show the frat-boy culture of the world of investment banking led by its cigar-chomping high-rolling executives. This was Wall Street in the ’80s. Nina’s Wall Street belongs to the 1990s.
She joined Morgan Stanley as an intern through a two-year salaried scholarship programme for minorities, after spending the previous summer interning with the other Wall Street giant JP Morgan. Soon after joining, all 20 interns – called scholars – were gathered in a conference room for their first lesson, which in hindsight contained all the clues she might have needed to what lay ahead.
“As a minority you will be scrutinised. And if you are a woman, expect 10 times the challenge. If they drink, you should drink. (However) Don’t think you can do whatever they do. They look at you differently than they do themselves. You will be required to prove yourself. You DO NOT get the benefit of doubt. One slip can cost you years of hard work.”
Nina listened hard, adding a few lessons of her own as she went along. She was good at copying others to be able to fit in better. This was a trait she found handy as an immigrant – she believes American Born Desis are still quite confused – and one that eventually made her popular at school.
Out of India
Nina’s parents are Parsis from India – her father from Jamshedpur, her mother from Mumbai. All the four Godiwalla children were born and raised in the US; Nina is the third. She recalls spending weekends at one Parsi congregation or the other, which kept the family firmly rooted. And some attitudes that were carried over from India – the daughters were not allowed to go on dates.
When
Nina brought home a boy from school once, Mr Godiwalla barely
acknowledged his presence. So how did he take to the book? Nina laughs.
She and her father have not yet discussed the book. But she ran the book
by her family before publishing it. “My father didn’t want to read it,
but did so on my mother’s insistence,” she says.
There was plenty to have shocked him. Nina’s clubbing for one. And then there is an episode in which she welcomes a blind date to her apartment. She was a couple of Absoluts down already. He turned out to be an Indian, but Nina knew immediately he wasn’t her type. Yet, they kissed and it would have gone on if he hadn’t backed out saying he needed to know her more. No, her parents didn’t bring up all this with her.
What about her husband? “He is from the same world of investment bankers and he knows the culture,” Nina said. Does she still drink? “Yes I do,” she says laughing. “But not as much as I did then, not with a baby at home.”
But again, that was work.
Remember her first lesson at Morgan Stanley: do as they do, drink if they did. For a place not used to women, it was a challenge. Check this bit from the book:
“As soon as they arrived Todd (a senior at Morgan Stanley) asked me, ‘You didn’t happen to catch the Knicks game, did you?’”
“‘Knicks 79-71,’ I said quickly, knowing it was less for his information and more of a test. I was pretty good about getting the sports scores off the Bloomberg machine every morning.”
Oh, man!
There were a few women at the bank, but the culture was distinctly all-male. Strip clubs were very much a part of after-office activity, just as routine as a visit to the bar around the corner.
“The most shocking evidence of the attitude towards women,” Nina said, “came from a colleague who was dropped from a team only because the client didn’t want to deal with a woman.”
Nina’s colleague felt dumped by her seniors at the bank. And when word got out, other female workers came up with their stories. They had kept these experiences to themselves, blaming themselves. This was almost 10 years ago. There are many more women on Wall Street now and surely the situation has changed? “I am told it’s not very different now,” said Nina.
Nina left all this a few years ago to start a company of her own, offering stress reduction courses to professionals. And she is back in Texas, where it all began.
She opened the refrigerator and finished off her stock of vodkas. She needed more alcohol to escape the longing to escape whatever she was doing.
Wall Street had looked alluring from far, even magical. It had appeared to hold the key to success as she then saw success. Money and power is what she wanted, and the Street had both. That was her world, and she wanted to be in it at any cost. Even if it meant devouring sports scores for games she had no interest in. But it was her ticket to the world of investment banking.
Street Smart
Nina went clubbing as frequently as the men, drank as much and tried to be like them. She could have out-manned the men if she could, but how much could a lone intern do, and a second generation immigrant intern at that?
The world of her dreams belonged to men, and they intended to keep it that way.Nina’s Suits: A Woman on Wall Street, a book on her two years at Morgan Stanley, the top-most investment bank in the world, might have delivered a crippling blow to a distasteful hangover from the past. The book is a runaway hit. Nina has been interviewed and profiled in every US newspaper and magazine of note, and the book has been reviewed glowingly by all. “I am booked for speaking assignments for months,” Nina reports.
As a first insider account of the all-male culture of the world of investment banking and its biases against women, the book is being compared to the iconic Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis. Lewis’s account of work and life at Salomon Brothers (now a unit of Citibank) was the first to show the frat-boy culture of the world of investment banking led by its cigar-chomping high-rolling executives. This was Wall Street in the ’80s. Nina’s Wall Street belongs to the 1990s.
She joined Morgan Stanley as an intern through a two-year salaried scholarship programme for minorities, after spending the previous summer interning with the other Wall Street giant JP Morgan. Soon after joining, all 20 interns – called scholars – were gathered in a conference room for their first lesson, which in hindsight contained all the clues she might have needed to what lay ahead.
“As a minority you will be scrutinised. And if you are a woman, expect 10 times the challenge. If they drink, you should drink. (However) Don’t think you can do whatever they do. They look at you differently than they do themselves. You will be required to prove yourself. You DO NOT get the benefit of doubt. One slip can cost you years of hard work.”
Nina listened hard, adding a few lessons of her own as she went along. She was good at copying others to be able to fit in better. This was a trait she found handy as an immigrant – she believes American Born Desis are still quite confused – and one that eventually made her popular at school.
Out of India
Nina’s parents are Parsis from India – her father from Jamshedpur, her mother from Mumbai. All the four Godiwalla children were born and raised in the US; Nina is the third. She recalls spending weekends at one Parsi congregation or the other, which kept the family firmly rooted. And some attitudes that were carried over from India – the daughters were not allowed to go on dates.
When
Nina brought home a boy from school once, Mr Godiwalla barely
acknowledged his presence. So how did he take to the book? Nina laughs.
She and her father have not yet discussed the book. But she ran the book
by her family before publishing it. “My father didn’t want to read it,
but did so on my mother’s insistence,” she says.There was plenty to have shocked him. Nina’s clubbing for one. And then there is an episode in which she welcomes a blind date to her apartment. She was a couple of Absoluts down already. He turned out to be an Indian, but Nina knew immediately he wasn’t her type. Yet, they kissed and it would have gone on if he hadn’t backed out saying he needed to know her more. No, her parents didn’t bring up all this with her.
What about her husband? “He is from the same world of investment bankers and he knows the culture,” Nina said. Does she still drink? “Yes I do,” she says laughing. “But not as much as I did then, not with a baby at home.”
But again, that was work.
Remember her first lesson at Morgan Stanley: do as they do, drink if they did. For a place not used to women, it was a challenge. Check this bit from the book:
“As soon as they arrived Todd (a senior at Morgan Stanley) asked me, ‘You didn’t happen to catch the Knicks game, did you?’”
“‘Knicks 79-71,’ I said quickly, knowing it was less for his information and more of a test. I was pretty good about getting the sports scores off the Bloomberg machine every morning.”
Oh, man!
There were a few women at the bank, but the culture was distinctly all-male. Strip clubs were very much a part of after-office activity, just as routine as a visit to the bar around the corner.
“The most shocking evidence of the attitude towards women,” Nina said, “came from a colleague who was dropped from a team only because the client didn’t want to deal with a woman.”
Nina’s colleague felt dumped by her seniors at the bank. And when word got out, other female workers came up with their stories. They had kept these experiences to themselves, blaming themselves. This was almost 10 years ago. There are many more women on Wall Street now and surely the situation has changed? “I am told it’s not very different now,” said Nina.
Nina left all this a few years ago to start a company of her own, offering stress reduction courses to professionals. And she is back in Texas, where it all began.
book, 101 Parsi Recipes by Jeroo Mehta
If it’s not Greek, well, it’s Parsi. The cuisine of the Parsis is attached with quite some history and mystery, and the book, 101 Parsi Recipes by Jeroo Mehta, is here to help you with all that.
Originating from the shores of the Caspian, their food absorbed the exotic flavours and
become a blend of East and West. The author explains some of
the best kept secrets of the Parsi kitchen and also ‘shortcut recipes’
with readymade masalas which are easily available in the market.
Price: Rs. 250.
Originating from the shores of the Caspian, their food absorbed the exotic flavours and
Price: Rs. 250.
Google celebrates Mercury’s birthday
Flamboyant Parsi-British musician Farrokh Bulsara, better known by fans
as Freddie Mercury and the lead singer of popular rock band Queen, was
remembered on his 65th birth anniversary by Google with an animated
doodle on its home page.
The 100-second collage, said to be among the
longest posted by Google, has been kicked off with a blog by
Brian May, who was a song-writer for Queens with numbers like We Will
Rock You that made Mercury one of the most popular artists ever.
“From time to time, we invite guests to post about items of interest and are thrilled to have Brian May join us to talk about friend and bandmate Freddie Mercury,” said Google, introducing the blog on Mercury, equally versatile on piano, keyboard and guitar. Born to Bomi and Jer Bulsara in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, now in Tanzania, Bulsara soon moved to Panchgani near Mumbai and spent his childhood there. He started taking piano lessons since seven and five years later formed a rock band of his own.
His family then moved to Feltham in Middlesex, England, and after his graduation and some odd jobs, he joined a band called Ibex in 1969. A year later, along with May and drummer Roger Taylor, he formed Queen — and also changed his surname to Mercury.
He was openly gay, but hid his HIV status — believed to have been diagnosed sometime in 1987 — from the public for at least two years. He died on November 24, 1991 at his home in Kensington, when he was barely 45, a few months after he said bye to Queen.
The 100-second collage, said to be among the
“From time to time, we invite guests to post about items of interest and are thrilled to have Brian May join us to talk about friend and bandmate Freddie Mercury,” said Google, introducing the blog on Mercury, equally versatile on piano, keyboard and guitar. Born to Bomi and Jer Bulsara in the British protectorate of Zanzibar, now in Tanzania, Bulsara soon moved to Panchgani near Mumbai and spent his childhood there. He started taking piano lessons since seven and five years later formed a rock band of his own.
His family then moved to Feltham in Middlesex, England, and after his graduation and some odd jobs, he joined a band called Ibex in 1969. A year later, along with May and drummer Roger Taylor, he formed Queen — and also changed his surname to Mercury.
He was openly gay, but hid his HIV status — believed to have been diagnosed sometime in 1987 — from the public for at least two years. He died on November 24, 1991 at his home in Kensington, when he was barely 45, a few months after he said bye to Queen.
Parsis in Surat bakeries
Delhi’s best baked delicacy
A buttery treat.
Though the Dutch could never make it to Delhi, their legacy has been left behind in these crumbly cookies sold in the city streets. The bakery is the cart itself. The bhayya prepares the dough by mixing in suji, maida, besan flour with khoya, sugar, desi ghee, cardamom powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. He then shapes the dough into dozens of circles, which are arranged on a large platter and placed on a coal-fired salver. The platter is covered with a karahi and the little moons are left to steam.
Now wait for five minutes.
The expert way Bhayya kneads, bakes and serves the cookies suggest that nankhatai-making was in his blood. Most probably his father and grandfather had lived and died as bonded labourers in the poverty stricken farm fields of Indian countryside. Bhayya had come to Delhi in search for a better life and instead of pulling a rickshaw or becoming a coolie, the accident of fate conspired to make him a roadside baker.
Ok, five minutes are over.
Eaten while still hot, a nankhatai is soft, buttery, a little powdery and, because this is a Delhi street, very sweet.
Where Look around in pavements; especially common in Old Delhi alleys Price Rs two for one.
Give me one
Bhayya’s expert hands
The bakery is open
Ashes to ashes, nankhatai to nankhatai
Hot and buttery
Baker by choice?
Smell
Bhayya, is it hot?
Accident of fate
American Fulbright scholarship turns 60
Born in America, Tina Wadhwa, 25, has come to Mumbai to research the
effect that Bollywood music has on underprivileged children. “A lot of
the impact is empowering and uplifting. But sometimes the films
themselves can increase criminal tendencies,” said Wadhwa. “On weeks
when the theatres are closed I even noticed crime rates go up in a slum,” she added.
Wadhwa is one of several Fulbright Scholars in India on a research project or course of study. The United States and Indian governments fund the Fulbright programme, which is in its 60th year this year. Indian students receive the scholarship to pursue higher education in the US and vice-versa.
A total of 17,000 scholars from both countries have received the scholarship since its inception. Several of the scholars were present at the American Centre on Friday to commemorate the landmark.
Aaron Welch, 32, affiliated to the University of Yale just completed his study on biodiversity conservation in the Western ghats after spending a year researching in the Konkan region. “This is one part of the country where through partnerships between organization involved in conservation and private landowners a lot can be achieved,” said Welch.
Kainaz Amaria (31), a photojournalist, is here to study the Parsi community through the figure of the Parsi priest. “Other themes such as inter-marriage or the dwindling Parsi population don’t lend themselves to a variety of visuals, like priests do,” said Amaria, who is two months into her nine-month long project. Co-scholar Abigail Rabinowitz (31) is profiling surrogate mothers and Priya Bapat (25) is looking at women in micro-finance.
“The Fulbright programme is not subject-specific. That is how we always have scholars pursuing many diverse research projects and degrees,” said Dr K Shankar, Fulbright Programme Coordinator.
Wadhwa is one of several Fulbright Scholars in India on a research project or course of study. The United States and Indian governments fund the Fulbright programme, which is in its 60th year this year. Indian students receive the scholarship to pursue higher education in the US and vice-versa.
A total of 17,000 scholars from both countries have received the scholarship since its inception. Several of the scholars were present at the American Centre on Friday to commemorate the landmark.
Aaron Welch, 32, affiliated to the University of Yale just completed his study on biodiversity conservation in the Western ghats after spending a year researching in the Konkan region. “This is one part of the country where through partnerships between organization involved in conservation and private landowners a lot can be achieved,” said Welch.
Kainaz Amaria (31), a photojournalist, is here to study the Parsi community through the figure of the Parsi priest. “Other themes such as inter-marriage or the dwindling Parsi population don’t lend themselves to a variety of visuals, like priests do,” said Amaria, who is two months into her nine-month long project. Co-scholar Abigail Rabinowitz (31) is profiling surrogate mothers and Priya Bapat (25) is looking at women in micro-finance.
“The Fulbright programme is not subject-specific. That is how we always have scholars pursuing many diverse research projects and degrees,” said Dr K Shankar, Fulbright Programme Coordinator.
Couple get police cover at children’s Navjyot ceremony
Two children of a Parsi woman and her Catholic husband were initiated
into the Zoroastrian community on Friday under police security as the
Parsi community had objected to the Navjyot Ceremony.
Police protection was provided after the couple, Roshni Mallu and Savio
D’souza, approached Home Minister R.R. Patil through the organisation Association
for Revival of Zoroastrian. The ceremony was held in a hall at Bandra
(West).
Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Nisar Tamboli said, “Some people had threatened to protest against the ceremony and hence police force was deployed outside the hall.”
Some members of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat had raised objection after they saw invitations for the initiation ceremony of Zinatra (10) and Tushar (7) being distributed.
They objected because Mallu had married outside their community and according to them she was no more a Parsi and hence could not perform Navjyot.
“They had approached the police fearing the ceremony would create a law and order problem,” said Vispy Wadia, a trustee of the organisation, which supported the couple.
“Why should somebody object to it when a Catholic father is willing to get his children initiated into the Parsi community?” questioned Wadia.
“There is no justification for the discrimination — children of males who marry outside the community are accepted but those of females marrying outside are not allowed.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Nisar Tamboli said, “Some people had threatened to protest against the ceremony and hence police force was deployed outside the hall.”
Some members of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat had raised objection after they saw invitations for the initiation ceremony of Zinatra (10) and Tushar (7) being distributed.
They objected because Mallu had married outside their community and according to them she was no more a Parsi and hence could not perform Navjyot.
“They had approached the police fearing the ceremony would create a law and order problem,” said Vispy Wadia, a trustee of the organisation, which supported the couple.
“Why should somebody object to it when a Catholic father is willing to get his children initiated into the Parsi community?” questioned Wadia.
“There is no justification for the discrimination — children of males who marry outside the community are accepted but those of females marrying outside are not allowed.”
Cyrus Mistry, Tata Group and the Parsis
The announcement of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman-in-waiting for
the $83 billion Tata Group has ended all media speculation about who
will take charge as the head of India’s most respected steel-to-software
conglomerate. The new question is: did Mistry get the job because he’s a
Parsi, a community of 69,601 adherents?
There are clear benefits, the most important being cultural. As a group begun by a Parsi businessman Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata in 1868, there is no denying its Parsi roots — as well as branches — as far as leadership goes. All the four chairmen after Jamsetji have been Parsis.
Dorab Tata (1904-32), Nowroji Saklatwala (1932-38), Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (better known as JRD) Tata (1932-91) and Ratan Tata today (he will retire in December 2012). To expect this cultural topline not to trickle down to the company’s innards — the 425,000 employees working in more than 100 companies — is difficult.
But not impossible. We are yet to hear of a single case where a Parsi was given precedence over a non-Parsi in this group. Overall, the Tata group has been one where values like merit have had a strong appeal.
So, while each chairman has taken the group forward, the value system of the company has remained the same. Ratan Tata, for instance, has globalised the group like never before. With half its revenues coming from abroad, the group under Ratan has globalised like never before.
There is no denying that each chairman has steered growth of the group over the past 143 years. In fact, the contribution of this tiny community in the large ocean of Indian business is huge — Godrej and Wadia, to name just two. So, Mistry’s elevation to the top job, though surprising because Ratan had said the group would look globally to find a successor, was really not so.
In a column I wrote the day Mistry’s name was announced, I said the group had moved into the hands of continuity in an age of discontinuity. The continuity is six-fold — Mistry is part of the family (his sister Aloo is married to Ratan’s half-brother Noel); he represents the largest shareholder; by serving on the board of Tata Sons as director for five years; he is humble and ethical. And, not to forget, he is a Parsi.
With 143 years of Parsi leadership behind, the next 32 years will see a non-Tata Parsi at the helm of the Tata group. For any further debate on this issue, we’ll have to
There are clear benefits, the most important being cultural. As a group begun by a Parsi businessman Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata in 1868, there is no denying its Parsi roots — as well as branches — as far as leadership goes. All the four chairmen after Jamsetji have been Parsis.
Dorab Tata (1904-32), Nowroji Saklatwala (1932-38), Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (better known as JRD) Tata (1932-91) and Ratan Tata today (he will retire in December 2012). To expect this cultural topline not to trickle down to the company’s innards — the 425,000 employees working in more than 100 companies — is difficult.
But not impossible. We are yet to hear of a single case where a Parsi was given precedence over a non-Parsi in this group. Overall, the Tata group has been one where values like merit have had a strong appeal.
So, while each chairman has taken the group forward, the value system of the company has remained the same. Ratan Tata, for instance, has globalised the group like never before. With half its revenues coming from abroad, the group under Ratan has globalised like never before.
There is no denying that each chairman has steered growth of the group over the past 143 years. In fact, the contribution of this tiny community in the large ocean of Indian business is huge — Godrej and Wadia, to name just two. So, Mistry’s elevation to the top job, though surprising because Ratan had said the group would look globally to find a successor, was really not so.
In a column I wrote the day Mistry’s name was announced, I said the group had moved into the hands of continuity in an age of discontinuity. The continuity is six-fold — Mistry is part of the family (his sister Aloo is married to Ratan’s half-brother Noel); he represents the largest shareholder; by serving on the board of Tata Sons as director for five years; he is humble and ethical. And, not to forget, he is a Parsi.
With 143 years of Parsi leadership behind, the next 32 years will see a non-Tata Parsi at the helm of the Tata group. For any further debate on this issue, we’ll have to
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