Oh ! Kolkata !

Incident 1 : some days (weeks?) back there was a very moving story in almost all the dailies circulated in kolkata .... The incident was the brutal beating of a lady by her inlaws. Infact the lady was in Kolkata Police (Sub Inspector if I remember Correctly)!! The reason was the age old family feud and dowry issues . She was tied to her bed , and marcilessly beaten by her brother-sister-mother in law and may be by other members !!

Incident 2 : This may not be a single incident , but this is the almost regular killing of men - women - children , by a bunch of psychotic Kolkata bus drivers .

Incident 3 : .. well if you ask me the date and time when this happened .. or even the newspaper that reported it .. I wont be able to answer .. but .. trust me .. this happened sometime back , and it happens every alternate day in kolkata and elsewhere in the country . I think it was reported a few months back how a 22 year old girl was burned to death for falling in love with another guy ,despite being married !! ... it happend in the city ! and then there was this sick shop owner who attempted to rape a 9 year old gal !!!!

and now lets come to the latest issue ... the very hot "Rijwanur death ". I find everyday that someone says something about it ! Be it politicians (that's nothing new),writers, poets , artists, women right activists ,students... and the innumerable intellectuals of the city !!! They are staging dramas, painting graffitis,reciting poems and doing everything they can , to make sure that its recorded by the spice thirsty media !!! I feel disgusted to see this .. and in my perspective its "pseudo-intellectualism" .

I would like to ask those people, who are shouting now for rijwanur, where were they when all these above incidents took place !!!! where were you guys when a child was raped , a lady was tortured or even that girl was burnt ! What happend to your humane feelings then ????
So is it because Rijwanur case involves some glamor , a scandal involving a rich businessman , and the very spicy hindu-muslim marriage issue .. that you guys have suddenly become active !!

I sometime feel like deleting these bunch of pseudo intellectuals from the face of the city !!

Why the heck should I care !!!!

.. Why the heck should I care !!!! ......

This question has been haunting me for a long time now . It specially resurfaces whenever , every morning I open the online version of the good old Anandabazar Patrika (or as a matter of fact any news paper of that catagory). The "News" are few .. and there are a lot of "incidents" reported. Incidents which I sometime feel, are not even worth mentioning in the most widely circulated daily of our state ! After all what good will it do to you to know that someone killed his/her son by cutting his throat ! or how it would help the public conscience, if you report the sad (brutal) end of a triangular love story !....

.. Gradually I realise that may be its the reader who wants such news. But ask me ... and I will tell you .. its not at all a good feeling to look at the darker side of my homeland , sitting 1000s of miles away!! ..
A journalist friend had once told ... "Barbarism sells .. be it in sex,love ,life or even relationships" !!!.. But I feel its too high a price they are paying for it. After all you have to trade your logical reasoning, humanity and conscience, to find spice out of the most pathetic incidents in someones' life !!

The question again comes back .. "Why the heck should I care !!!! " .... but I cant help it ... it makes me sad ...

A Cooking Calamity..

It all began with a desire... the most inherent desire of mankind. A desire for which we work in the office, for which we educate our selves and for which we create occasions in others lives!! … The desire to eat well!!!

I don’t remember the date (and don’t want to remember either) when the story began. It was one of my regular trips to the local Food Store, when I came across this stuff. Now, before I tell you what followed next, let me explain the psychology that drove me into this….

Recently back from an invigorating trip to Nashville and the Smokey Mountains, I was still loaded with the memories. Beside the natural beauty of the place, another thing that kept coming back, were the delicious preparations which my Scientist Friend Ayan and My Scientist big-sis Sudarshana di (I use “scientist” to mean that they are not Chefs in any Indian restaurant) had prepared at different time points, during the trip. While Ayan had a Keema preparation, Sudarshana di made Mutton Liver.

So, I had a hidden desire in me, to try and prepare these above items so as to satisfy my taste buds, which were still searching for those delicacies. Neways lets come back to the story now. So here I was in a Food Mart, with a burning desire to “eat Better”… and a hidden fantasy for Keema and Mutton Liver!!! Thats when I saw this thing, a cute white box in the “meat” section. I just couldn’t resist myself. It had those words written on it “G R O U N D” (which is basically keema). Little did I realize that it was neither Chicken Keema nor Mutton Liver, rather it was “Ground Chicken Liver”, and that’s not all!!! It had stuffs like Curd and Egg, mixed!!!!!! My confused mind, hidden passions and Scientist mentality (which never works in the lab), forced me to put it in my cart though :(

Back Home with a contended feeling for spotting the stuff that I wanted, I started with great enthusiasm!! Sudarshana Di had said, and ayan had made, the preparations very rich! Therefore with tears dripping, I finished chopping a mountain of onions,chillis etc etc! The cooking began with its usual good smell, when you fry onions with some Masalas (here I must say, I had a heavy dose of masalas put in , in an attempt to make it extra spicy).And finally It was time to open the pack and put the coveted “G R O U N D” stuff into the pan !!!! Like a child opening a box of Ferro Roche, I opened my prized catch!!! BUT… the first look of the stuff inside, made me sad.. it looked bad .. real bad!! I told myself “looks are deceptive”, and went ahead to put it , in my already fried onion and maasala mix !!!

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The Gap signifies the shock, I got when I put it in the pan!!! .. It was like a Biological “smell” Weapon!! I was thrown back with the overwhelming (read nauseating) smell!! I had nothing to do!!! I gathered all my strength, and told myself “cooking make things better”.. little did I realize that I was a dumb fool to believe that !!! Even after sweating it out for 2 hours… there was no change in the atmosphere!! The smell was persistent and self generating!!!

That was it …. 2 hrs of my time, 20 litres of sweat, and almost $20 of Spices, resulted in an “alien” delicacy, which may b extra terrestrials would have liked.

So friends what did I do with my marvelous creation??? ..He he !! .. I am intelligent enough to keep it in -20.. who knows may b the smell will “freeze to death” !!!... someday ... :(

Moral of the Story : Next time when you have good food, get it packed …