the kashmir issue

Ofcourse am not an expert on Kashmir though it is fashionable to be one. Kashmir experts which come dime a dozen ( as opposed to 'Kashmiri expterts' which also come dime a dozen) will always tell you it is a complex problem. Be it politicians from India and Pakistan, ordinary Kashmiris or international experts.
But one thing which should be clear to the Indian government with this latest episode of rebellion by the Kashmiri youth is that India has lost the propoganda or some may call it the ideological war in Kashmir. The government over the years has failed to sell the idea of Indian state to the Kashmiris.
It has failed to establish in them the need for an Indian identity along with their Kashmiri one. And since this is the scenario now, almost nothing can be done to win them over now as we have lost an entire generation who would be in the helm for the next at least 50 years.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talks about the need for jobs and education and schemes, I think it is much beyond all that now. Young Kashmiris should have been told how going with Pakistan would make them end up like Pakistan. How the hijab was against their culture also and how 'azadi' will make them be devoured by the powerful neighbours like Russia and China.
They needed to be told that how can Pakistan which is a failed state itself make them an independent state. Instead, the Indian government used the language of guns which made youth rebel more.
We all know caning makes the child alienated and this applies to the states also. And somehow this is the first time that the rest of the country has come to know the sentiments of the Kashmiris. Maybe media is more powerful now.
But this is a propaganda war which the Islamists have won and India has lost.

the dying art of cooking

Being a late entrant to the world of cooking, I sometimes feel this is one of the most underrated arts which is dying fast. More so for a country like India where it is said that
the cuisine changes every 100 metres. Though we Bengalis or Tamilians or Malayalis are very protective as well as possessive about our culture and language, we don't really work towards protecting our food.
It makes me wonder whether we will soon lose all the spices and secret recipes which our grandmothers got handed down from generations altogether. Though mixed marriages have also contributed to the taming down of ethnic food as we call it, I think it is also the hectic lifestyles and demanding jobs which have made most people depend on cooks. So you can get a perfectly bengali meal in a Kashmiri household or see a Punjabi family have dosa and idli for breakfast.
But as a very proud member of my Bengali community I feel we all should work towards preserving our food also akin to the way we protect our culture and language.
Just imagine should we not learn to make 'chingrir malaikari', 'patol pathuri', 'doi-koi' and 'bhapa-ilish' for our children. Or do you want them to eat mcdonals burgers and pizzas.
So my suggestion to the new-generation parents, learn cooking!

the quota can

The women's reservation Bill has opened yet another can of quota worms. Makes a woman feel so dependent on the crumbs of male psycology to become independent and '"empowered"'" --whatever that means.
Going by these yardsticks the entire world would be cut up into reservation pieces and devoured by some community or the other. What surprises me is that nobody talks about a compulsory quota for women or the SC/ST/OBC/MBC in primary education. Actually the government does not really have any schools for the general category, forget the reserved ones.
Parliament seats are bequeathed to us free so let us cut them up.