Tuesday, May 24, 2016

What is in a name ?

              This heading reminds me of a story that we read in our childhood. The summary of the story is like this:- 
               A person was not satisfied with his name given by his parents. Ultimately, he went to a Mahatma to tell his grief. The Mahatma laughed and said, "Go and find the best name of any person, I will rename you". He saw a person named "Nayansukh" (meaning-enjoying through eyes), but found that he is blind and can hardly move himself. Next, he saw a person named "Sudarshan" (Means- handsome to look), but he was very ugly. He moved on and saw a dead body being taken to a funeral, followed by a procession of mourners. He asked a person in the procession, "Who died?". The answer was, "A person named Amar has died". "Amar" means - one who will never die. He again asked, "How can Amar die?". The person saw him from head to toe and rudely answered, "What is in a name?" He felt that the name of a person has no relation to his looks or virtues and knew that his search for the best name was useless. He thanked the Mahatma and came back.
                The people in rural India understand it. So they name children on common things like -Gendalal, Chhedilal, Gulabo, Phoolmati, Chameli, etc. The tribal people in Chotanagpur named children on the day they were born, like Somra, Mangra, Budhwa, Etwari, etc. 
              But some people who are religious-minded in the Sanatana Hindu Dharma named their children after the Gods. Like - Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva, Durga, Parvati, Sita, Radha, etc. The thinking was that when they call their children by name, they will earn "Punya," and if they call them when breathing their last, it will give them "Moksha," the ultimate wish of a religious Hindu. This type of naming gained popularity, but after some time, these names became common and parents of the new generation changed them with synonyms of God's name like Ramesh, Suresh, Mahesh, Dinesh, Maheshwari, Jaya, Haripriya, etc. 
                Then came a generation that wanted to name their children something new and unheard, but still, there were some Sanskrit words not in daily use. Like- Ananya, Aparajta, Anal, Soumya, Aniket, etc. Now, naming a child is good mental work, and to help such parents these days, some sites on the internet are suggesting names for children. I recall an interesting incident that I came to know through my friend. His relative's child was born in India and they named the child "Anal" which means fire in Sanskrit. After two years, the child's parents had to shift to America. But this child when started going to school there, all his classmates would tease him because 'Anal' has some vulgar meaning in English. To change the name of the boy, his father had to come to India to make an affidavit. 
              As Indians have a tendency to copy English culture, it was hard to resist the English names for Indian children. One can find names like Rose, Tulip, Shiny, Sherlyn, etc. 
                One of the latest ideas in naming a child is that both parents give half of their names to make a new word for naming. Obviously, such a new word has almost no meaning. For example, a couple in my neighborhood has names, Namrata and Harish. They did this =>   Nam[rata + Har]ish = Namish. Since this name sounds like a male name while their baby was a girl so they named her "Namisha". I do not know whether it means something or not, but a name does not require to have a meaning.                       

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Friday, May 13, 2016

Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan ?

              A year ago, "Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan" was a hot topic. Celebrities were holding brooms, and we saw their pictures in Newspapers. Do not know how much they cleaned the road. We do not expect cleaning roads by them, but surely they tried to convey a message to the public that they should take an active part in cleaning their locality. The government did its own favorite work - an extra tax on public expenses. A "Swachchata cess" was imposed on tax-paying public. Nowadays, we do not find it discussed anywhere. And not much has changed. 
              The mindset of the public is still the same as it was then. May the person is from less lower-income group or from the big businessman community, their habits are still the same as it was a year ago. If he liked cleanliness, then he still likes it. If he did not care about it then, he still does not care. 
                Though the municipal corporation had provided small colorful dustbins in a good number, and small vendors made use of them but the main problem is the behavior of some people, which is simply offensive. Even if the government gives good and clean roads, these people do not care. One of the very bad habits in Bihar and Jharkhand is spitting. Use of Paan, Khaini (Raw tobacco with lime), and gutkha is abundant here, and it results in spitting. Some of the people who care spit at places meant for it, while some others just seek corners and roadsides. One can see such disgusting corners in the stair halls of public buildings. In despair, authorities at some buildings have placed ceramic tiles with images of different gods to prevent the spitting, but perhaps it is not the foolproof way. So in many buildings, they have put flower pots with sand to spit in them. But what is most annoying is that a few number of people are habitual dirt spreaders. A few days ago, when I was returning from a morning walk from the dam side park in front of CMPDI, I saw three friends talking in the vegetable market there. They were in the age group of 35-40 years. This vegetable market has been made pucca and wider by the government because it is also an approach road to the Dam side park, which is under renovation. It is also cleaned regularly. What I saw was that one of them was munching 'Paan' spit in the open in the middle of the road in front of the whole public in the market, while he could have turned his head and spit in the roadside drain. Nobody dared to say a word to him, and in fact, nobody cared. That person had no guilty feelings. Everything remained as if nothing had happened. These three friends were grown-ups and seemed like small businessmen.  
                   Even some people in the high-income group do not care much about the locality just outside their boundary wall. An example is in my neighborhood. This big businessman has his house on Kanke Road beside a temple. It is a posh area. The plot is in acres, and a beautiful garden has been maintained like in movies. But it is not visible to the public on the road because of a 6-foot boundary wall. The boundary wall is unplastered and not painted. The rainwater from many seasons has made the color of the surface poor. Even the iron gate is not colored, and it remains closed all the time. Clearly, it has been done not to attract public attention. OK, it is good for him to think about his safety, but what I am talking about is that he does not care to maintain the cleanliness just outside his boundary wall. Three years ago the Kanke Road was widened with divider and lights and it is regularly cleaned by the agency, but the servant of this businessman daily brings the dogs out of the gate makes them to poo on the clean road just in front of his boundary wall. The temple is only 50 feet away from this dirty made spot, but even the priest has no objection because the businessman is one of the patrons. 
                   So, to make the "Swachh Bharat Abhyan" successful, only creating the hype will not help, but penalizing such bad-mannered persons is also necessary, irrespective of their status. But the sad part is that in our society, status matters a lot.
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Saturday, May 7, 2016

Tasty foods on slow flame- स्वाद की बात !

           The taste of food is not only due to its ingredients and different spices. One may add different ingredients and costly spices to make tasty food, but in the end, it may not taste great. Not everyone can make good dishes. Why?
Deep-fried fish on a slow flame

            Some people say that cooking with love makes food great. I have observed it minutely over the years and found that good cooking needs patience. And good cooks make it a habit. Patience is required to make dishes over slow flames, which is the key factor to great taste. It takes time, and sometimes it is boring. I have seen my grandmother cooking. She burnt straws (पुआल) as fuel, which were in plenty there. Straws burnt quickly, and she used to push them at regular intervals into the oven to keep them burning. Its flame was slow and took time to cook food, but the taste was awesome, be it pulses or vegetables. 
              Even without many ingredients, slow cooking enhances the taste. For example, take the case of fried potatoes. With some mustard oil and salt, cook it over a slow flame, keeping covered and stirring at some intervals. In the end, you will find tasty fried potatoes (आलू भाजा / भुजिया). 
                   Though some dishes require many spices and ingredients but sometimes too many different flavors mixed together do not have the expected result.
                Another factor in great taste is fresh vegetables or spices. It is even more desirable to have organic things.
Slow-cooked poached omelet

                Apart from being great-tasting, foods cooked over a slow flame are healthier. If using less oil for health reasons, slow cooking is a good option. Cook slowly but cover it to make the vegetables soft. Check regularly so that it does not stick to the pan. Stir regularly.
              Not only vegetables, you may try it with omelets. Cook it over a slow flame and cover it fully with a steel plate. You will get a tasty and fluffy omelet. 
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