Politics In India - Rajni Kothari

It is certainly worrying that instead of looking into why the CBFC Chief Leela Samson and 13 other board members resigned citing "interference, coercion and corruption" from the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry, the government chose to fill up the posts with BJP and RSS members.

We certainly don't need to read the tea leaves to know that there are going to be a lot of controversies in future regarding the censorship.

I regretted the decision of taking a cab to office today the moment the cabbie started the cab. He seemed to be one of those types who consider traffic rules in general and traffic signals in particular as totally unnecessary and are in a perennial rush to reach someplace. But I have been recuperating from (yet another!) attack of cold and didn't think I was up for traveling by a local train. So I had no option but to try hard to concentrate on the newspaper while curbing the urge to jump out at the best possible moment.

Finally a traffic police at one of the junctions asked him to pull over. The cabbie started muttering that he didn't see the red signal. What? He didn't see the signal? Isn't he supposed to look out for the signals on the roads? My heart fairly leapt into my mouth. The cop came to the cab and I wanted to shake his hand in gratitude. He might have just saved my life by stopping this psycho cabbie from rushing in the middle of the junction without first checking if he was allowed to or not. The cabbie grumbled more but the cop was adamant - you want to pay your fine here or at the office? The cabbie made a last-ditch attempt at pleading but to no avail. He got down and walked after the cop. Now I know enough about these traffic cops to wonder whether the cabbie paid the legal fine amount or got off by paying a smaller amount to the cop instead.

He was still muttering to himself when he got back to the cab. 'I didn't see the signal' as if that proved that he had been unfairly fined. In my opinion he should have been fined twice for failing to pay attention to the signal. He clearly expected some sympathetic noises from me. I refused to oblige. He was in the wrong and deserved what he got. Of course, I knew better than to voice my thoughts. So I kept on reading my newspaper.

But the thought that was uppermost in my mind was why do we take driving so lightly in this country when we know that even a second's lapse could turn fatal? Has life become to cheap?

Spanish - The Final Class

I am sure none of us students knew that this was to be the last class of the program. That's because we were told that we would be having classes all through January. And some portions of the book haven't been covered yet. In fact, I had begun to worry that the classes might go on well into February till the teacher declared the exam dates.

But I should have guessed yesterday - there was no new material covered. We covered the homework during the first half hour of the class. And then completed a variety of exercises based on what we have learnt so far. One of the exercises - the one in which two friends are talking about the fiance of one of them - had everyone laughing because the photo of the gentleman in question didn't match up to his description of being 'guapo', as per the entire female population of the class.

There were 2-3 audio sessions, acutely reminding me once again - as if I need to be - that I am going to have a hard time deciphering it during exam. The teacher gave the paper pattern - in the written exam, there are going to be 4 sections - reading comprehension, audio comprehension, one section containing questions about the grammar and another containing images which we will need to describe. Each of these sections will be of 20 marks and we have to score at least 10 in each. Plus there will be an oral on the following weekend - 20 marks. We have to score at least 10 in that as well. I have to check out the sample papers from the internet.

It was then that the teacher said that we will next meet for written exam and that there will be no class next weekend. I felt relieved and sad at the same time. Relieved because lately it had been getting increasingly tiresome to drag myself outta bed every Sunday morning. But sad because it had felt good to be in college again, sitting amongst young students, learning new things. All that has now come to an end.

I looked around to take a quick head count. There were about 22 of us in the class - more or less the same number since past couple of weeks. We were about 35 when the class had started. So almost 60% of the class stuck to their guns and saw the thing right to its very end. I looked around again. I was going to see most of them again during written exam. But since the class was going to be divided into groups for the orals and each group would be called at a different time, I was unlikely to see most of them again after that. Our lives would take different paths. We would go through our share of good/bad experiences. But I am sure that each one of us would have fond memories of this class. The student population might not think much about it at this time because I am sure most of them have had enough of classroom sessions. But the 4-5 professionals surely would. Then a few years would roll by and the students would become professionals with a couple of years of work experience under their belt. It is then that they will think about this, and all other classes, with a tinge of nostalgia.

So here's to my companeros de clase - Buena Suerte!

Oh! Calcutta

This weekend we once again found ourselves at this restaurant that specializes in Bengali cuisine. The first order was of course for Fried Fish. In fact, if you look closely, every waiter that comes through the kitchen doors has a plate containing this dish amongst the others balanced on his hands.

The other most popular item seems to be the luchis - giant puris that can be eaten with a gravy dish or a sabji. We had tried them last time but decided to give them a miss. We also decided not to for the Chingari Malai Curry - the gravy was too thin for our taste.This time I hunted around for a mutton dish - though I don't like mutton at all. There aren't many mutton entries (or chicken entries for that matter!) so it was a simple choice - Kosha Mangsho (described as 'pot roasted mutton with traditional spices') and the Classical Railway Mutton Curry. I remember watching this dish being prepared in some cookery show on TV and I suspect I have its recipe tucked away in one of the numerous recipe notes I have taken through years. Needless to say, I was keen on trying it out. But the description accompanying it mentioned coconut milk. And the server confirmed it when I asked which of the two dishes would have a thick gravy. He said that would be the Kosha Mangsho. So Kosha Mangsho it was.

The Fried Fish was every bit as I remembered from out last visit here. I especially love the strong-flavored mustard-based chutney that accompanies it. At the risk of sounding repetitive I would say that if you visit this place, you have to try this dish unless you don't like or are allergic to sea-food.

But the real surprise of the day was Kosha Mangsho. For the record, I hate mutton - hate its taste, hate its sight and hate its texture. So I had set my mind on going only for the gravy. But as I picked up a spoonful of it, I realized that the meat was so tender that it was impossible to separate it from the gravy. Reluctantly, I ladled it on to my plate and reluctantly took the first mouthful. The thick rich tasty gravy did full justice to its description of 'pot roasted with traditional spices'. I have never, ever, eaten a mutton dish with so much of gusto and enthusiasm. This surely has to find its place among my most favorite dishes of all times.

I still can't believe I ate mutton. Oh! Calcutta :-)