Intellectual Voyeurism over Notun Gurer Payesh

Had the "Videshis" over for what I call - a "hair down and feet-up" dinner at home.There were :Helen & Andrew, Collin with his wife Lisa and Mom, who is visiting, Brigid and Rosemary. Sameer, Buddha & Geeta and us provided the asian counter-point. Rosemary's husband, Daniel, had been pulled away to Bhuj for reporting alongwith the over 20 strong BBC crew gathered from all over the world. He was supposed to go to B'lore to do research for his book but was called off for this assignment. Cudn't agree more with her that, there is a lot of 'over-reporting' happening out there - journalistic "voyeurism" as she called it. I think it's particularly true of some of the Indian channels like Zee and even to some extent Star. But, what Andrew said was frightening. Apparently - Kathmandu comes on the same seismic fault line as Gujrat - both part of that pre-historic coast line , along which the continental plates had collided. So, if it wasn't Gujrat this time it could well have been Kathmandu. It seems that, before the last major quake in Nepal ( in 1934 ? ) there was a similar quake in Gujrat just 2 months before that. An earthquake is a great "leveller" literally - must circulate the stuff I received over e-mail tomorrow. otherwise, it was a nice quiet evening - totally realxed and informal, as it was meant to be. Nina had turned out a home-cooked traditional Bengali meal - Karai-shootir Kachuri, Alur Dam, Cholar Daal and Shorshe Maach, which everybody seemed to enjoy. Rounded it off with a double-barrel dessert - combination of Channar Payesh from Trishna and Notun Gurer Payesh. There can never be too much of a "sweet thing" in a Bong party.

Weather Forecasts & Testosterone

The accuracy of the 'Hindu' calendars is amazing - come Sri Panchami and the winter has already started receding. Pity they can't predict Earthquakes. It seems the secret of a trim physique and a flat belly is higher Testosterone count in the system - but, beware don't try artificial stimulants. This is particularly relevant to all those who have crossed the f(orty) zone recently,cause after that, like "combable hair" those vital ingredients silently start waning. Among the natural ways to keep the Testosterone levels up in the system are morning sex ( repeated afternoon, evening and night ), low protein high carbohydrate diets (isn't that what we Bongs eat ?), frequent snacking (don't keep the stomach empty or everything else will fall flat as well ). It seems nuts ( high on mono-unsaturates) are also good for the nuts. But, then you also have the option of practising Vipassana - when nothing else will matter anymore. If you still have trouble - write to 'my coach' - 'Sethmeera' (short for 'Set Me Right'), who'll convince you that it is simply a part of your process of "evolution". Got it !

Tush and Aakar - The Hip Patels

Just received a loo..ong letter from Tushita ( Patel nee Mitra ), excerpts:
i (and aakar too) have been completely overwoked with the earthquake. this morning they said the latest death toll is up to a lakh.
This is probably india's first midle class disaster... i know people who just bought apartments in fancy buildings in ahmedabad where
they will never be able to live again. their entire life's savings gone in a few seconds. anyway, i am a bit of fatalist and beleive that
this is nature's way of doing checks and balances.

ma has sent me some patali gur and i am feasting on it. aakar is a bit of a philistine and can't quite make out the difference, apart
from payesh, so once in a while i make some after coming back from work. i am also learning to eat the bombay fish -- the other
day i went and bought kane, rawas and of course pomfret and cooked it in the east indian style. my landlords are east indian and
happily gave me green and red curry recipes. quite yum. .......... aakar has just bought the 100 volumes of collected works of mahatma gandhi. while the
entire thing cost Rs 2,500, the bookshelf cost double of that.......i went there ( to the jindals ) in 97. it was quite good. i used to walk about 14 km a day and stayed on liquids for
nine days. plus they massage you and give u mudbaths and enemas and renal irrigation etc... it's worth trying. however, even after
14 days of this, i lost only 3 kilos, but people said i was looking great and glowing.

why dont u learn to make gotasheddho? come to mauritius and i'll make some (thakur will send me the receipe). i have asked him
to courier me his brilliant mulor porota and phul kopir porota... they are fabulous. he makes them thin and crisp, not the heavy
punjabi way. blissful. i miss home because of him.

i am getting used to bombay. can't say i love it, but it's ok... wish i didnt have to travel so much.

Love you all very much, Tush

Saraswati Puja, sans Gota Sheddho and Kuler Ambal

Today was Saraswati Puja - Sri Panchami. Like many other festivals it is celebrated in Nepal on the same day as in Bengal, with equal fervour and austerity. So much so, one sees community puja pandals in different localities ( to that extent it is different from the other festivals like Dassain and Tihar , which are celebrated more at home ). It was interesting to hear, the concept of "Bagdevi Aradhana' being explained on FM this morning. I don't think they would do that in Calcutta. In the evening, Nina took Jaya to a Puja nearby - dressing her up in a red Saree and Ghagra. Jaya didn't agree tho' to Sandip's suggestion that the colour to be worn on Saraswati Puja Day is yellow ( Basanti ) - but, then Red ( Rato ) is also the favourite colour in Nepal. Nina missed her Kuler Ambal ( which, no doubt, Ma will make up for in the next consignment of goodies from Cal ) and Sandip his "Gota Sheddho" ( a kind of cereal-less khicuri with bolied whole vegetables ) - for which he used to 'religiously' go to the Math ( Ramakrishna Mission ) at Mumbai on Saraswati Puja. As he always maintained, his connection with the Mission has been more gastronomical than spiritual.

Gandhi, Marx and Ram

As a Bengali I terribly disappoint my friends at not being able to spout either Marx or Tagore. So in a belated attempt to make amends, reading Ramachandra Guha's latest book - collection of his Essays - An Anthropologist among the Marxists - but, must admit, enjoying it thoroughly. He is surely one of the finest Indian mind of our generation ( now, now .. that's not Bong chauvinism - 'cause, he is not a Bengali but a Tamilian - the surname is Guhan, someone decided to drop the 'n' along the way ). His central thesis, as the blurb says, is: 'Inside every thinking Indian there is a Gandhian and a Marxist struggling for supremacy'. He writes about Gandhians, pseudo-Gandhians, Marxists, anti Marxists and, of all things, Cricketers. Tho' it was even funnier reading the Ram vs Ram ( N. Ram vs Ram Guha ) battle on the pages of the Frontline....over what else but a woman, in this case Arundhati Roy ( 'God of Small Things' fame ). N. Ram didn't take kindly to Ram Guha ticking her off on writing about environmental issues ( Narmada Dam ) commenting that, she should stick to writing fiction ( apparently - he said something to the effect of, I am told that she has written a good novel' pretending that he hasn't read or heard about her book ). As someone else remarked the other day, Roy's tirade against him definitely sounds like love spurned or jilted at some stage. It seems before that, N. Ram had written something equally stupid about Tibet, defending the Chinese occupation, which Guha had criticised in his column. So, the polemical feud carries on.