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| Movenpick – Belgian waffle with chocolate ice cream. |
The other day my aunt showed me a pendant she got that totally resembled a waffle. Seeing that, my cravings resurfaced and I just HAD to have a Belgian waffle.
And so I did.
Save The Girl Child
The census report this year has some extremely scary statistics to report : the boy-girl sex ratio has dropped from 927 to 914 per 1000 boys. This is the worst statistics since Independence.
How can we call ourselves a developed nation when we choose to discriminate a child even before she is born? Although identification of the sex of the foetus is against the law, there are various medical professionals and clinics who still go ahead and identify the sex of the foetus. Once the foetus is identified to be female, many couples and their families choose to abort the foetus.
A pre-natal test is a criminal offence fined up to three years in jail and a Rs.10,000 fine for the first offence and five years imprisonment and a Rs.50,000 fine fro the second offence.
This does not just happen in the lower classes and in the uneducated sects of the society but it is also very prevalent among the higher and more elite societies where couples quite often travel abroad to determine the sex of the child without actually breaking the law.
That’s what it is : finding out the sex of your child before birth is breaking the law in India. In a country that deems itself to be so modern, so urbane and so ‘in’ with what’s hot and what’s not we are still steeped in age old customs and insane beliefs. We still celebrate the birth of a boy and mourn the birth of a girl. Somehow we like to hold on to that thin, almost dwindling shred of belief that the boy is going to save us and uplift our life and the girl will bring only misfortunes.
Every other week we hear stories of new born children found in dustbins, thrown in lakes and undeveloped fetuses in dust buns. It is nearly impossible to educate a society on the impact of this when they refuses to comply with the schemes. A few years back this piece made the news : In a small village in Rajsthan (I think) there was a dearth of girls. The drought of girls was so much that there was an unnatural number of young boys in the village waiting to get married.
Despite all the so called ‘development’ we are still a society that places the male above all else. Families from lower backgrounds feel that sending the son to school is better than sending the daughter because it will invariably be a waste of money and that he will be the bread winner. But the harsh reality is that, that boy would go grow up to be a ruffian and the girl would have to work multiple jobs just to feed her family.
How is it possible to bring a nation out from this ‘dark age’ and make them see the light of day that it is impossible to live in a society without girls? They are the founding factors on which any civilization is built on. Women are not important just to cook your food and have your babies. They play such an important role in the society at large. They become great doctors and lawyers, CEOs of major companies, entrepreneurs and artists, contribute a LOT to society and bring about changes in ways the others can’t.
Every girl child deserves the right to be born. No one can rob her of the right to be educated. Every child has a potential that needs to be identified and utilized to the maximum. It is her right to be the person she wants to be and to achieve what she wants in life. Unfortunately, we fail miserably to recognize that. As soon as the girl is born the family only thinks of the expenses she will incur.
The Government says that female foeticide can be stopped only through awareness. But how much of it will actually be effective? If in 2011, 64 years after Independence, we face the worst sex ration ever, then does it truly show that all the ‘awareness’ created by the Ministry for Women and Child Development is actually useful?
Will we ever change?
Bleeding Blue. 100%
I’m not a die hard cricket fan. In fact, I don’t think I even know all of the rules. I know six, four, out, not out, lbw, wicket, catch, no catch, etc etc but my heart is truly filled with joy now that India has won the World Cup!
Winning the India/Pakistan semis was brilliant. But the media shouldn’t have created THAT much hype about it. I mean, yeah I know its very exciting. It truly is. But they made it seem like one battle.
Seeing the cup being lifted by Sachin in my generation is truly incredible. This picture will be etched in our minds forever. So now India will not worry about winning for the next twenty eight years ’cause people will still keep talking about the 2nd of April, 2011 when the entire country erupted just out of sheer happiness.
Thank God India won. Now we can gloat about it for many many years to come. Else we’d have to hear stories about how we came THIS close to winning the World Cup and lost and some stories never get old.
Also, how absolutely charming is Virat Kholi! Ah.. he just makes my heart melt!
The Baeku Is Back!
I love to eat.
I REALLY love to eat.
When I see food I get excited. I’m not a glutton but food is probably one of my most favourite things. I don’t differentiate when it comes to food. Dosa, lasangne, dim sum, aapam, biryani, phad thai, tom yam, idli, maasi, desserts; I love everything as long as it tastes good. Bad food is a totally different experience. Some of which haunts me till today. But I love to feel the the flavours in my mouth. I like to taste food and guess what’s in it. I love spooning mutton curry right off the stove and tasting biryani as soon as it is done. If you give me a four course meal I will eat. If you give me curd rice and oorga, I will still eat and ask for more a la Oliver Twist.
I am what a person might call a thinipandaram which roughly translates to eatercock. You know, like fighter cock. I am not a QUANTITY thinipandaram but rather a QUALITY thinipandaram.
My mamma always tells me, “If you love to eat so much can’t you please cook?”.
Fair enough. But she NEVER lets me inside the kitchen when she cooks. She always asks me to get out of her way, like I am some big boulder that is preventing her from cooking.
Hence, I resigned to my fate. For now.
Years of being fondly called a baeku by my darling brother finally came to use today.
I BAKED!
A cake!
Without my mamma’s help.
But yes, I called her and asked for instructions. I didn’t trust Betty Crocker too much.
And I must say, it is pretty fun. I think I’d like to bake a cake everyday. And the batter looked so sexy all brown and gooey I just wanted to drown in it.
So yeah, here I am, 21 years old and baked my first cake.
The baeku has evolved baby!
Worst.
Day.
EVER.
The Great Dictator (1940)
Today, as I was flipping through the telly I stopped at UTV World Movies. The channels’ normal fare consists of spooky, creepy Korean movies, French movies that are almost always about love, lust and so on and rugged looking Arab/Middle Eastern movies. But today was different. They were playing ‘The Great Dictator’ starring Charlie Chaplin. I had heard about this but never had a chance to see it.
Charlie (Charles) Chaplin was always known for his slapstick humor. He was the epitome of comedy and personified funny like nobody ever can. But I was pleasantly surprised with ‘The Great Dictator’. Chaplin plays a double role of the dictator Hynkel and a Jewish barber. Chaplin was greatly criticized for disrespecting the Jews and the Nazis alike as the movie was a satire on Hitler and Mussolini.
During Hitler’s reign the movie banned in Germany and in all Nazi occupied territories. But Hitler did see this movie. Twice. Unfortunately history never recorded what he thought of the movie.
‘The Great Dictator’ is probably one of the bravest movies ever made considering the circumstances of its release. It was released in a time where Hitler’s actions were not fully known. Chaplin however manages to draw a fine line between the guilt of the persecution and the concentration camps and the actual humor.
Although this movie is a satire, it teaches us a lesson. The final scene where Chaplin gives a speech is five minutes long and has to be one of the most excellent dialogs in cinema, the likes of which cannot be found today. The speech became so popular that Chaplin was invited to do a live radio broadcast.
This speech is something we can relate to in this day and age. It is amazing how something that was filmed seventy one years ago is extremely relevant today –
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. Soldiers! Don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men – machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it is written that the kingdom of God is within man, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite! Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up Hannah! The clouds are lifting! The sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed, and brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into the light of hope, into the future! The glorious future, that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up!”
Special mention has to be given to Billy Gilbert, one of the finest actors I’ve seen. For those who don’t know him, well,he was the voice of Sneezy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).
Picture courtesy http://www.thisguyoverhere.com
The more you see, the less you know
The less you find out as you go
I knew much more then than I do now.
– City Of Blinding Lights
Oh Bono! How you talk to me!
I love you so.
If Happiness Is A Warm Gun..
Then I’d take a bullet through my heart.
It’s Just As Your Mamma Told You…
The traffic in Chennai is getting worse everyday. The past couple of days it took me an hour and a half to come from Mount Road/Anna Salai to Anna Nagar. The number of cars have increased multi-fold. This isn’t anything new, but NO ONE OBSERVES THE TRAFFIC RULES! In bumper to bumper traffic today at Nungambakkam High Road the foolish person behind the wheel on the left most side of the road turned on his right indicator and took a deep turn! People honestly need to know where they want to go!
I use the brake more than the accelerator. I think my speedometer showed like 20km/Ph or so. Anyways, while I was stuck in this signal, there stood next to me the ever threatening MTC bus. If there is one thing I’m scared of while driving its the MTC buses. They are the Rajas of the road. I respect them a lot ’cause no way do I want to die in front of one.
So ya, in the aforementioned bus which was spilling with people there stood a row of pakka rowdy type boys behind some pavum girls. Theses guys were singing and playing beats on the roof of the bus and basically making a public menace of themselves.
That’s when I saw the look on the girls’ faces. FEAR with a capital F.
The guys were standing SO close to the girls. I felt extremely sad that these girls were not able to afford any other kind of transportation and had to undergo this kind of unruly behavior. Women are always targeted. You can wave your women’s lib bras saying we’re equal to menfolk but it is stupid to ignore the obvious fact staring right at you.
How many times have you been felt up in a crowd or have been on the receiving side of lewd glares? You may be the bravest most smartest woman around but once you’ve had a bad experience where you’ve been molested or harassed then your perception on life changes in an instant. I don’t mean to say that women have to shut themselves at home and never set foot outside. I am totally for the independence of women financially or otherwise.
But we need to be aware of what lines not to cross. I’ve seen girls literally throw themselves at guys and make such fools of themselves. There a girls whose first aim while entering a room is to scrounge for good looking guys and make sure that they catch the their attention. They flip their hair, flatter their eyelashes and talk decibels louder just so that everyone knows that she is in the room. There are some people who naturally exude confidence and grace and they attract a different set of eyes but there are a select few who specialize in grabbing eyeballs.
Islam commands women to cover their modesty or hyyah. We are taught how to act and behave in public places. Basically we are taught not to make fools of ourselves. But this, as all things are, is not practiced by every Muslim. In fact Muslim girls are the ones who practice a high degree of immodesty.
Being modest does not mean immediately wearing a burkha, a niqab, covering the face and being anti-social. Modesty is knowing your limits and protecting your hyyah.
There are girls who, Astagfirullah, wear their hijabs in the most provocative way. There are also girls who do not wear hijab but dress so modestly.
It’s easy to say “I can do whatever I want but men have to learn to keep their hands off me “. But girlfriend, once you have a bad experience all that goes right out the window.
Basically it’s just like your Mamma told you – Better safe than sorry.
Benjarong
There is no sincerer love than the love of food. -George Bernard Shaw
While on a holiday in Bangkok a few years ago I had the opportunity to tase the most amazingly fragnant and delicious tom yam soup.I don’t know the exact ingredients that go in but it looked like a mess and tasted like heaven. A few things that went into the soup were mushrooms, lemon grass, prawns and lots of different Thai herbs and vegetables. Due to the lack of halal food we had to make do with drinking this alomost everyday. No complaints there.
So, this weekend we visited Benjarong, a Thai resataurant in Alwarpet. Yes, I know its been there for a long time but I never got to go.
The decor is very subtle with a lot of Thai influences. There was a sleeping Buddha here and a dragon there. Lots of whiny Thai music too. Near the entrance one chinky looking girl in a traditional kimono type dress was sitting on a little dais peeling and carving carrots.
For all the scene they put I thought the food would be bad. How wrong I was! Samma yummy it was! I wanted to take pictures but the glutton inside me didn’t want to wait. I did manage to overcome that and click three photos.
For starters we had tom yam soup. Super yummy it was. But thanks to all the kaaram, full nasal leakage only. We also had kimono wrapped prawns. Cute, I know. It tasted even better. The lamb something crispy was to die for! It was fried oh-so-gently with peppercorns and was crispy and soft at the same time.
Main course was rice noodles, Thai red curry and white rice. Thai cuisine is mainly know for the aromatic herbs and spices used. It is also known to incorporate the balance of the five fundamental tastes in each dish : kaaram, pulippu, inipu, upu and kasappu.
Benjarong amalgamates all this perfectly and forms one beautifully presented meal that is sure to leave your taste buds begging for more, although your stomach will burst from the excess food.
Location : TTK Road, Alwarpet, Chennai. It is right opposite the road that leads to Samco Malaysian restaurant. It is a one way road. Do not go in the opposite and direction and get stuck like my brother did.
Maybe In Madras 