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.

eve teasing

May be marriage has given me some extra courage. Having lived in Delhi all my life I have learnt to avoid suggestive comments, brushing against body parts and other lewd deeds of otherwise perfectly normal looking men. But today suddenly wanted to tharsh a twosome who were doing some hanky panky.

importance of marriage

Having being happily married for six months now, sometimes I review the painful process of finding a partner that I went through for nearly five years. For those who would be surprised at the time period should not be for as it now appears to me, it is quite common in the great institution of Indian arranged marriages to look around for this long. It is only when your parents are contemplating suicide after much frustration and you are at the end of self esteem that you come across somebody with whom you can spend your life with or whatever is left of it sby this time.
The biggest and the most common denominator for choosing a partner specially if you are a man is the physical appearance of a girl though you might not even qualify to be presentable. Though I would not deny that this is the same in case of a woman but still beauty is the key word when looking for a wife and modern Indian men also like to stick to that yardstick specially the fairness of a girls's skin followed by the what is describe by most a "homely" the meaning for which is yet to be deciphered by many including me.
Having gone through the processes of meeting umpteen guys who either rejected me or were rejected by me, I was so glad to finally settle down with a guy that I wa quite on the seventh heaven with joy.
It so happens that sometimes when I see some of my friends going througg that phase now, I have the same feeling which I had when I had passed my board exams and other people were appearing for it. Ha Ha. My best wishes to all those who are still looking.