Aarakshan/Reservation

I was delighted when I turned 18, because that very year, 1989, the Indian government decided to lower the voting age from 21 years to 18. I could now cast my vote and decide who my leaders were going to be. I went proudly with my Dad to the polling booth at Greater Kailash, was thrilled to get the black ink on my finger, went behind the screen and cast my secret ballot!

I voted for VP Singh who was an upright politician with tremendous goodwill.I loved him till he got bitten by the Reservation bug and wanted to implement the Mandal Commission recommendations. In college, we were flummoxed by the decision. We had studied hard and fought tooth and nail for admission into coveted courses and colleges in the Delhi University.And now, on the basis of the heinous Hindu legacy of caste, India was ready to write off a number of seats in colleges and government organisations to those who belonged to the backward classes? Where was the walking into, nay striding into the 21st century, building on India’s competencies?

But we were young, full of enthusiasm, confident in our belief that we would protest and the government would change its mind. We made stickers on ‘Anti-Mandal’, ‘No reservation’ and distributed these on the major traffic junctions. We wore Anti Mandal t-shirts and participated in demonstrations against the same. Rajiv Goswami tried to immolate himself and there was distress and a huge uproar. That year, DU exams got postponed because of the protests and weeks that the colleges shut down.But this was a political decision - one aimed at garnering a larger vote bank, much like the slums in our cities do. There was no pulling back.

In these 20 odd years, it would be worth a study to see how much the OBCs have progressed because of the Reservation wand - one that made eunuchs of regular people like us. Today, many of those seats go empty while the truly deserving ones have to struggle hard, getting above 95% to get into any college of repute.

My disenchantment with my voting rights, my inability to make a difference to my own life because I am in the minority hit me big time. The disillusionment with the politicians who deliberately ruined it for us was intense. It also angered me that I had equal voting rights as the others who contribute nothing to the system, live off it like parasites and who my tax money is supposed to support.

Perhaps I was wrong in never going back to vote. And I have watched with growing horror how there are few educated leaders and all corrupt politicians and bureaucrats who run the show. How this democracy has become a sham and is now moving towards and oligarchy, with the power vested with a few.

And yet I am not sure that my vote will change anything. Ever.

Who bombed Mumbai?

Ashwin Sanghi’s book ‘Chanakya’s Chants’ ruined whatever idealism I thought there might have been in politics.

So I have become cynical about many things. For instance, is Kasab (in custody) the real terrorist who was unleashed in Mumbai that fateful July night? Is it not eerie that the only terrorist who was caught on the cctv cameras was the one finally arrested, and is the only one who survived? Could it be true that there is no Kasab and that ‘details’ of his trial are released periodically to showcase how mean the terrorist is and how ethical we are in giving him a fair trial?

So who bombed Mumbai?

The Pakistanis - Maybe! They have enough troubles at home and a terrorist attack on India is a good diversionary tactic. Besides, they can’t really take off on the US, can they, for coming into Pakistan to ‘eliminate’ Osama? (btw, is it only good timing that the US found Osama now? When Obama was having problems at home? Now people are all praises for his leadership!)

The BJP/Shiv Sena/RSS - Maybe! To bring to fore the inability of the Congress to protect its citizens. None of their moves have borne any fruit - Ramdev has been discredited and even Ayodhya is not attracting enough attention to create fire. A series of bomb blasts in Mumbai is awesome fodder.

The Congress - Maybe. The party is under tremendous fire for inaction and its inability to rise out of corruption and other scandals. Citizens and civil society groups are asking too many questions ; the tv channels also do not give them breathing space. So a ‘terrorist’ attack on Mumbai is a quickie to deflect attention. Sure, the Congress has come under fire because of its inability to protect Mumbaikars, but their lament that Pakistan is out to destabilise India has many sympathisers. Ofcourse we Indians hate Pakis for the way they terrorise us!So, Congress loses a battle, but wins a political war!

Wah! I love this politics business, where everyone is suspect and everyone has an ulterior motive! And anyone could have bombed Mumbai!

Actually anyone - the real estate sharks, the migrant population, the kids who don’t like school, people who wanted a holiday the next day, Ram Gopal Verma who wanted candid shots on his new movie on Maria Susiaraj and 26/11! Anyone could have bombed Mumbai !

The only sad bit - Mumbai has zero infrastructure development and its once impeccable police is corrupt and dances on the tunes of politicians. And yet, Mumbaikars go about their business, not because of their resilient spirit, but because it is an expensive city and people have to work and earn a living.

And I don't think there is a Chanakya in any of the parties who is strategising all this for India's benefit. Atleast the Chanakya of the 3rd BC had ethics!

Food in China

When we planned our trip to China, we received warnings from many well wishers on the food there. A Gujju friend told me how even her hardcore Panju friends had a problem with food in China, rice that is yuck and sticky, the smells and the taste. She was insistent on sending me home made theplas and pickles to help me tide over the China trip.
But China opened up my taste buds in another way! There was no Chicken Manchurian and American Chopsuey that we Indians so love, but the food was simply fantastic. All restaurants have picture menus, so you can see what your dish looks like and then order. We learnt to eat with chopsticks, but towards the end of all our meals would use the soup spoons to eat off all the food (else we would sit there forever)!
We hardly even ate chicken or fish, because beef and pork was always on the menu and never failed to satisfy. (OK, once maybe!). Wild China, the tour company that organised our guide and food has the philosophy of taking clients to places that serve wholesome, authentic, regional Chinese food. So we were warned that while the loo facilities in these places might not be the best, the food would be outstanding. We ate Beef and Pork in all their variations - with whole red or green chillies,with fresh garlic shoots and bamboo, fried crisp, with vegetables, or in curry and other sauces.There were soups with weird leaves in them, though they tasted lovely. And green tea aways accompanied the meal to clean up the palate and to help digest food.
The best hamburger was the Chinese one we ate in Xian - crisp bun with pork in a nice sauce. That was also the only place that served raw garlic with noodles, because the region eats it like that.
The Dumpling restaurant in Xian was another great experience. This four storeyed, massive place is packed by 6 in the evening. We were served a variety of salads with jellyfish and other sea animals before the dumpling service began. There were 18 different kinds of dumplings, in different shapes too! Fried, steamed, sweet and savoury, we had dumplings with chicken, pork, beef, fish, rabbit, walnuts, coconut, even a few vegetarian ones.( I believe that is where I started putting on weight and started looking like a dumpling-again)!
Our adventurousness stopped with exotic meats like donkey and bull frog! While husband and son enjoyed the donkey meat, I ate it only because I did not want to look squeamish!
But the food I hated the most and would not recommend to anyone was the Beijing/Peking Duck. They serve it in style. The Duck, looking lovely with a beautiful brown glaze is artfully carved at one’s table. The crispy skin on one plate, skin with meat on another one and just the meat in another plate. You are supposed to wrap it in the thin pancake, top it with some veggies, add sugar and other sauces provided and bite into the duck! I could throw up because all that glitters (glistens) is not gold, and the skin was ugh!
The Muslim quarters in most Chinese cities is quite a fun place. Food, all kinds of skewered meats, breads like khubbus and pita bread, dried fruits like dates and walnuts in big baskets, desserts made of tofu and other unrecognisable things are all in display there, but don’t eat there if you don’t want a Delhi Belly.
And everywhere Chinese glug green tea as if there is no tomorrow. They put green tea leaves in their bottles and refill the bottles all day long.The drinks carts have all kinds of green tea drinks. We bought tea from Dragon’s Well at Hang Zouh - apparently known as Emperor’s Tea, but I bet the emperor never paid so much money for those measly tea leaves!
The fruit is lovely. There was a mini mango that had a thin skin and a tiny seed and was delectable. Everywhere, skewered pieces of melon were being sold and were so refreshing in the heat.
The traditional stores and the wet markets were great fun to go through as well, though not after a meal coz the smells and sights could make you throw up. There is a Chinese saying - we eat everything that flies (except the airplane), everything on land (except the cars) and everything in sea (except the boat)! And that is totally true.
We did not see any snakes or fried locusts on display, but there were whole chickens and ducks, skinned and displayed with an artistic tilt to their heads. Offals stuffed into various kinds of sausages, eels, turtles and other unrecognisable sea animals and meats of all kinds of animals. Sea cucumbers selling at RMB 9000 for half a kg and worms at RMB 6000 for half a kg are believed to cure arthiritis and other old age problems.Chinese traditional medicine is still big business and the shops are stocked with all kinds of weird looking things.
So, if you plan your holiday to China, don’t be nervous! Unless you are vegetarian ofcourse (even eggplant is served with pork!), though there are Buddhist restaurants that serve pure veg food. Or you can pig out on KFC, MCD and Haagen Daaz.