Victory Ladoos

[skchai]

One immediate concrete benefit for the urban residents of elections are the celebratory sweets that are distributed by victors. Anyone had any? Any difference between Cong and BJP / NDA celebratory sweets (other than, presumably, that there less of the latter than the former)?

[Monica Bhide]

I am preparing to be amazed at this answer to this..

Vikram?

[Monica Bhide]

with Sonia coming in... Tiramisu perhaps

[gingerly]

soan(ia)papdi and egg halva

[anil]

How about some cheese platter from here and a spread of ham to go with it and maybe a glass of vini bianchi and they will deliver to DEL

[bague25]

Ok Ok, you guys have convinced me! Today is open market day in my area and since the Italians are the biggest immigrant community in Belgium each market has at least a couple of Italian stalls. I'm going to get some antipasti and cheese!

And to keep this post Indian, maybe I'll make some spagetti with green chutney instead of pesto...

Edited May 14, 2004 by bague25 (log)

[anil]

Ok Ok, you guys have convinced me! Today is open market day in my area and since the Italians are the biggest immigrant community in Belgium each market has at least a couple of Italian stalls. I'm going to get some antipasti and cheese!

And to keep this post Indian, maybe I'll make some spagetti with green chutney instead of pesto...

Or you could shop at the Asian market in a street opposite the Stock Exchange (a few blocks from Marriot BRU) I forget the name of the Street off hand

[bague25]

Its the St Géry area - there's also in the same area on St Catherine street Sun Wah that's now KY.

How long ago were you in BXL?

Or you could shop at the Asian market in a street opposite the Stock Exchange (a few blocks from Marriot BRU) I forget the name of the Street off hand

[anil]

How long ago were you in BXL?

At least once/twice a year if not more. However I'll miss this year's Jazz (last weekend in May normally)

Edited May 14, 2004 by anil (log)

[gingerly]

Help! There’s a kofta in my spaghetti

ERRATICA/BACHI KARKARIA

[ SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2004 11:57:39 PM ]

I've promised myself: no cheap Rome-free sms jokes. We should be pasta that kind of thing. Kyunki bahu bhi kabhi gander ko sauce mein drown karti hai .

The Canape Carpers however will have enough Italian seasoning for their bruschetta for months to come. Our Woman in Armani will sniff at Sonia's accented Hindi, and she will do so with the gestures she's picked up in New York along with the ‘deli' pesto and sun-dried tomatoes. Well, she can frettuccine till she's as blue as Gorgonzola, because Shrimati Sonia has just done a Guccipudi on her critics.

Special FX arrows straight out of a theatrical Ramayana are an occupational hazard for all politicians, especially fallen heroes. But it's always open season on Sonia. If it's not ‘foreigner', it's dynasty. And when they have nothing else, they pick on her sweat glands.

So what is the saffron-tinted socialite going to do now? Desert tiramisu? Erase the dial-a-pizza number from her cellphone? Stop Salvatoring over the Ferragamo stilettos, and drool over Joy sandals instead? How will even the pasta-bens of Modi's Gujarat protest? Come to think of it, they've voted with their pizza-cutters. Indeed, Togadia would look rather fetching in a toga; one fiddle comes free when you decide to let home burn.

But, we go hell for leather on labels from Aquascutum to Zegna, so we'll never make a bonfire of our vanities. On the contrary, every international brand is toasting khadi as the ‘new linen'. But we have to draw the line somewhere, don't we? We can't globalise the PM-ship. Not even if it was this pardesi who trudged through a 58,982 km Jan Sampark Abhiyan, and the shuddh Bharatiya party got its view of the des from the distorting heights of a rath.

So, do all of us become foreigners today? It's a terrible feeling. Belonging to a 60,000-weak minuscularity, I don't expect the average biddu or bhaiya, or indeed anyone outside the Parsi reservation of Mumbai to recognise my 100 per cent Indian credentials, but the gori-gori who heeds the plea to ‘ meri gali aya karo ' can end up with stares and jibes.

It's worse if you try to visit a monument. Because then your honesty is questioned in addition to your right to the heritage. At a recent weekend in history-strewn Agra, I was detained at every entry gate, accused of trying to pass through and off as an Indian by paying five bucks instead of the foreigner's fee of Rs 250.

Each time, I had to step aside and be subjected to interrogation. You'd think I was at an American airport. At the Taj I got past the first barrier, but as I ambled along gazing at the ethereal marble, a menacing sentry caught up with me. " Delhi " wasn't answer enough to "From where you have come, Madam?" He demanded, "But where you are from?" "Mumbai," I said. "Who is the chief minister there?" he quizzed. If I'd said "Bharatrao Bluffkar", would he have been any the wiser?

You can't blame these guys for not recognising a Parsi. But my friends from Shillong to Srinagar are thrust into the same identity crisis. So let's nail the foreigner issue for once and for all. Or, let he who is innocent, caste the first stone.

****

[anil]

Help! There’s a kofta in my spaghetti

ERRATICA/BACHI KARKARIA

[ SATURDAY, MAY 15, 2004 11:57:39 PM ]

I've promised myself: no cheap Rome-free sms jokes. We should be pasta that kind of thing. Kyunki bahu bhi kabhi gander ko sauce mein drown karti hai .

Excellent writing. LOL

[Monica Bhide]

Gingerly thanks for a good laugh!!

[gingerly]

Kulhad chai is back

IANS[ MONDAY, MAY 24, 2004 07:24:48 PM ]

NEW DELHI : Doing away with plastic and going back to eco-friendly clay cups, kulhads India 's new Railways Minister Lalu Prasad is planning to inject some of his earthy flavour to millions who travel on trains every day.

Turning the clock to two decades ago, Prasad will soon bring back the practice of serving tea in freshly baked earthen cups instead of plastic and Styrofoam containers.

"The use of plastic cups and glasses will be banned and they will be replaced by earthen cups, which will not only provide employment to potters in the village but also be environment friendly," said Prasad, who was till recently known as Laloo Prasad Yadav.

Taking a dig at the previous government, the minister said one of his priorities would be to clean the surroundings of the stations as well as the railway premises and the trains themselves, particularly the toilets.

"There will be no compromise on cleanliness," said Prasad, who has a tough task ahead of him as minister of the largest railway network under a single management, which operates over 13,000 trains daily.

© Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

a fitting first decree from the husband of rabri and father of jalebi.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

That reminds me, how are the earthenware cups dealt with? Do they get cleaned between customers, or are they ground up to make the next batch of clay, or just disposed of, or...?

Been wondering about that for a few years ever since reading about it.

Pat

[gingerly]

they're really meant to be smashed after one use and people generally oblige quite enthusiastically with the odd exception.(oh what a lovely little penholder/flowervase/whatever-guilty!).i have observed the empties or shards being gathered up purposefully though and my guess is that they may be ground up as grog or used as fillers for insulation in subsequent firings.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Wow. So is there a designated or socially accepted place of smashing, or just wherever not aimed at someone's head?

Have to admit I'm a bit tickled by what's probably beyond mundane to you all, not just because I'd always thought drinking chai out of earthenware cups would taste so very good, but now it turns out it's also a chance to indulge one's inner 4 year old!

Pat

[gingerly]

a bin/basket by the stall if you're lingering by otherwise wherever-the gap between platform and train,out the window if you're on the train...( reported as seen of course!)

good going on the lunch!

and now snacks too

Edited May 28, 2004 by gingerly (log)