I met Me

I woke up early this morning. It was barely 5 am. I was cold. Ankit leaves the window open as its usually stuffy and hot because of two people, a refrigerator and a laptop running 24/7 in a small room made for a single person!

I could feel the cold settling on my skin, its familiar yet such a strange feeling. I was not shivering, I was warm on the bed but on my face and arms I knew I was cold. The curtain fluttered in intermittent gushes and I gazed at the ever bright street lights of Paris. Through the cover of the trees came this shimmering flash of light, periodic. Its almost the rapid eye movement sort of a feeling, you know you are awake but at any moment you would be in the dreams again! My eyes were heavy and I was cold!

Object of Curiosity! the periodic flash of light..... Got my head spinning and as it happens with 5yr olds, I couldn't sleep. I pushed myself up on the elbow, waited for the periodic period; strange as it seems, it took longer than the usual for it to appear again or was it just me observing!

A lot of things kept me thinking. I don't even remember all of them. But I clearly remember me telling myself, record yourself. I almost all of a sudden put myself into the third person's perspective. Or should I say that my consciousness was in the third person. I now saw a boy looking out of a window, tracking a changing light. I remembered the documentary on Hiroshima I saw last night, the Coldplay song "Talk" was running through my head. I thought about why was I looking, what was I waiting for. I knew it was all but an insignificant flash of light. I could feel my head grow heavy and I was cold, yet I was looking out of the window.

I asked myself, what drives you now. I was curious about the flash, I was more curious about why I was curious. Its something you most rarely, if ever, experience. A flash of light! that's all it took to get my head spinning. I've heard they say a lot of what goes around in your head is the expression of what you see around yourself. I was thinking about thinking. I was curious about curiosity. I have never concentrated this hard on this ever before.

I was driven into deeper thought. I was thinking about man's essential nature: The explorer. The curious. Had I just struck a cord with a fundamental instinct at 5am on a cold morning? Had I that gush of a feeling that had our ancestors come from being hunter gatherers to flight pioneers to space explorers to blog writers. A 10,000 year old civilizational saga all driven by this simple "What is it?"!

I was excited, again the 5yr old kid. I could feel the hair on my forearms rise. Excitement or cold. Decide for yourself! But it was so true. I was curious about the thought of the flash (it hadn't occur ed again as yet). I was as excited about myself as I was perhaps at the last ball of the T20 India Pak final or at the result site for semester results or at the climax of a thriller.

Then as smoothly as it had started, it came to an end. I was still staring at the window. That's the road next to the Stade Charlety, I realized and that I'm in my room and I'm feeling cold.


Then came the flash. It was from a advertisement scroll, that sort that roll between advertisements. That's all that took to take me into a short but I feel a remarkably beautiful journey!

Now that I think of it, I feel like did it actually happen. But that's one reason I post this so that I remember that once on a cold early morning.. I Met Myself!

Eyes Wide Open

I stand here with an olive twig, I am curious to what the world would be nevertheless, I am sure we are living a turbulent phase in history!

A few weeks ago I was glued to BBC's Story of India. This enthralling documentary series takes you right from the very beginnings of human settlements in the Indian subcontinent, to the great empires and epic sagas of undivided India's glorious history! Watching it is like floating on a timeline and enjoying the essence of the subcontinent in all its fervor. It is like a summary of all major events, empires and rulers in our history, from the Guptas, the Kushans to the Mughal and the British. The timeline brings us to the present and the recent, including the struggle for independence, the unfortunate loss of millions of lives during the partition and the uncomfortable relations ever since.

Through all of it I realized a fact that shines above whatever history has documented... Whenever people in the Indian subcontinent have faced turbulent times, we have shaped the destiny of the world. Throughout history, the subcontinent has enriched, enlightened and molded innumerable aspects of human civilization.

We stand again at history's crossroads. Although 60 years may be just a blip in our history, it is significant as we have branched out in different directions as different nation-states. The jingoistic rhetoric that “we are still the same people yaar!” does not fundamentally apply or appeal to us anymore.

Understanding the India and Pakistan of today from the grandpa’s bioscope view of one people-two nations is frankly, outdated. No matter how glorious the past may have been, the modern reality is of two separate nations, two separate identities and two completely different theories of nationhood.

Through this medium, I wish to have clarification more than dialogue, because dialogue cannot happen without a clear understanding of perspectives. I wish to put across to the readers an average Indian's point of view of Pakistan and the prevailing tense situation between our nations. I wish to put forward realities that are often left butchered or swallowed by the demon called the 'stereotype'.

To start with, lets banish the ghost of this stereotype. And how do you do that? It’s simple, just analyze things objectively, look for reason and don't have blind faith in what you see or read as propaganda!

Having said that, I have opened my eyes to the reality that Pakistan is not a country all ravaged by terrorists, it does not have a 'Talibanized' society and nor does it aspire to be ruled by fundamentalists. As is evident from the recent protests by lawyers and opposition parties, Pakistan's civil society has had a new awakening. It is both vigilant and active, which is seen in the democratic world as symbols of people's power. Pakistan, like any developing nation has the same basic tenets of life and often the people share similar aspirations as us.

Like anywhere in the world, the Pakistani society is also threatened by extremists (militant or non-combatant), only here the case is a little severe as present-day geopolitics and a clash of cultures have ironically made Pakistan both the scape-goat and its butcher.

India sans propaganda

Now, to understand an Indian's perspective you have to kill your stereotype of India. First of all, think Big! India’s size and diversity is greater than that of entire Europe, it is not made up of war mongering and radical religious fanatics, Indian society rejects and challenges any imposition on its basic fundamental rights far more vehemently than many countries in the west. However, all this general knowledge is no match to the biggest ‘India stereotype’, the one about India's communal harmony!

India is secular in its spirit. The word's depth is something I cannot express in the space here, it can only be witnessed and I hope that each one of you can visit India someday and feel it for yourself. It is easy to portray a few fundamentalist outfits rioting in India, but it is difficult for your propaganda to follow that through an independent judiciary, justice is delivered each and every time.

If things against the minorities in India were really that bad, how do you explain a Roman Catholic leader of the ruling coalition with a Sikh Prime Minister, a Muslim vice president and a Hindu president with a multi ethnic, multi religious, multi racial cabinet ruling over perhaps the most diverse nation on earth, democratically?

A very good example of secular India came a few weeks ago, when the Sri Lankan team came under attack in Lahore, India at that time was in a frenzy of rejoicing her Oscars winners, on the podium were A.R. Rehman, Resul Pookutty and Gulzar!

Interesting bit of biography that goes with all three... Rehman was born as Dilip Kumar and converted to Islam at the age of 21, Resul is Malyalee for Rasool, a Muslim and Gulzar’s real name is Sampooran Singh Kalra, a Sikh! All rose to eminence from very humble average backgrounds, yet their belief and their religious inclination never came in their way of becoming national heroes!

They may come from any religion/region, in India it just doesn't matter! Having seen the societies abroad, I feel this aspect of recognizing the individual above his faith is unique to India, as it has been for the past 3000 years.

However, India is by no means a perfect country; it has its fair share of problems with poverty, infrastructure, extremism and fundamentalism. India has by all means realized this simple fact that in the world of tomorrow only an economically stable country can survive. India houses one-sixth of humanity, it definitely aspires to be super-power and at present the national focus is on economic prosperity and welfare.

Zinda + Abad Pakistan

I have interacted with a few Pakistani friends on Internet forums, some are prejudiced and some are open-minded, just like everywhere in the world. However, I noticed one basic propaganda aftermath- the staunch belief that India's intelligence agencies are behind recent spree of terror and violence in various parts of Pakistan. The same was also alleged in the wake of the Lahore attacks and for disturbances in Swat. Even stronger is the notion that those responsible for terror in India, the much gossiped “non state actors” of Pakistan don’t operate or reside on Pakistani soil, we hope the average person realizes how incorrect that is!

Now if you go beyond the rhetoric and check out for logic, India has most to gain if Pakistan's civilian government, the fragile democracy survives and builds its roots deep enough to not be ousted again. It matters to India if Pakistan is under martial law, because for some reason each time the army's at the helm in Islamabad, military confrontations (or their threat) becomes a clear and present danger. 1965, 1971 and 1999 stand as disgraceful reminders of the same.

The most important reason for us to wish for a stable Pakistan is pure economics. The 2001 mobilization of forces caused useless expenditure on the Indian ex-chequer even when there was no war; imagine the consequences in human and economic terms had we fought!

These are tough times in the world economy, as countries throughout the world reel under the brunt of severe economic policing, India has managed to stay relatively safe in these troubled times. With a 8-touching GDP growth, an improving world image and a booming economy... a war, a destabilized neighbour and a political crisis of any sort are the last on India’s wish list!

Thus, the fundamentalism in Pakistan, incidents such as Benazir's assassination, the Lal Mosque siege or the recent 'March' on Islamabad worry India as much (if not more) as Pakistan. We have seen how the crisis of Afghanistan in the 1980s has so deeply affected Pakistan today; India would be the last to have a hand in destabilizing a democratic Pakistan or inviting an Afghanistan-like situation.

As a nation, as individuals and a society Indians don't wish to be victims of terror. The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jamat-ud-Dawa and a long list of organizations which have funded, aided and supported terror strikes in the past and the present (such as 26/11: Mumbai). What India wishes to see is acceptance of the fact that these 'non-state actors' are a menace and a threat to Pakistan and that just because they are fighting India should not be a reason to allow them to operate or let the perpetrators go scott-free!

As extraordinary as the times we live in, it is ironic that India has never wished more for the integrity of Pakistan and its return to successful nationhood, than it does today. Indians hope for a united and strong Pakistan, which can curb terror and fundamentalism that is today a threat to not just to world peace but also for Pakistan's existence.

It takes many generations and hundreds of years to build a strong nation, but just one generation can completely ruin the whole show! Pakistan and India have both seen troubled times in the past, but none have been so severe as to threaten the very existence of the other. At these crossroads of civilizations, of cultures, of time we don’t really know what the future has in store for us, what we know is that we are living through historical times and hope we can see a better tomorrow. Moderation, tolerance and brotherhood of all mankind are more important than any religion or God, which is the essence of our civilization!

I still stand here with the olive twig .

The Culinary Divine!

I was asked by a friend of mine, to blog the experience of feeding yourself (as in literally speaking…. Cooking what you can and then eating it J)

I’m documenting something so emotional, its FOOD!

I Can’t Cook! I never have made progress in a lot of things…. Like playing music, like playing field sports, like dancing…. Cooking until recently was one of those things I’d rather shy away and never try because all my little experiences have been so bad in the past.

Then came Paris, for the starters I’ll justify the need to cook, at 2.85 Euros (cheapest-student rate) a meal even the most ardent followers of No-mess-only-dhaba regimen have to bend. It’s simply impossible even for the average Parisian to go without cooking for more than a few days.

The supermarkets are good, except for liquor almost everything would seem overpriced from Indian standards but then it is not India. The French have a good taste of breads, jams, pastries and bakery stuff, at Rs. 110 for 6 cans, Coke comes to your rescue too!!

At first we had rice, microwave cooked rice fried with chopped onions in ghee showered generously with stir-fried vegetables…… whoa!
Lets get to reality, Microwave cooked rice always has some water remaining or not fully boiled until you get the precise idea of how much rice, water and time should be given. Vegetables, who knows how to ‘stir-fry’ them…?

Rice Day One: We put some extra ghee and some extra watery half boiled rice in the pan, poured almost every masala and ready-to-eat paste we had. It was sludge, slimy thick thing which we’re yet to name. We boiled potatoes (pomme de terra in French), peeled of the skin and and gulped it. Lots of salt to normalize the taste, lots of lemon juice.. believe me helps you gulp!

Rice Day Two we bettered the rice, Rice Day Three was even better, Rice Day Four the Rice smells like Rice, Rice Day Five the Rice is tastes like Rice…. OMG!!! We are master rice cooks! Day Six: Rice Over.

Adventure Day: So its difficult to shop here, even more difficult to read French, you tend to get you almost got the meaning of the word you read and dang...it means something completely different, guess it’s the same with every language so we can skip discussing it!

The most economical supermarket here is LIDL (lee-del as the Indians call it). We were scanning through the section ‘Riz’ or Rice, the best decorated big box had this camel thing drawn over a big bowl of rice with a Tuareg (I know it as I watch Discovery ‘ends of the world’) Desert Tribesman on it. The size, the price was good. We got it! Praised the company Golden Sun Couscous on the way back. And just before we were to inaugurate the nice new box of Golden Sun Couscous rice for dinner, a veteran in our block who shares the kitchen stood there giggling, happy as he was to see our bag of Golden Sun, he asked and this is one of those times you can never forget!

“What are you cooking today”, the matter-of-fact me jumped…What do you think am I cooking with a box of rice, noodles I guess, hahahaha!

Well I see no rice, do you mind letting me taste the couscous* (pronounced khus-kus) came the response.

*couscous is a very popular North African dish, resembles upma, largely tasteless.

Thus began the couscous days, and believe me you can add Indian masalas to everything and everything tastes like chat corner delicacies J

Week two has just ended, have mastered Aloo-Pyaz ki Sabzi and scrambled eggs. Breakfast goes good with toasted bread, nice jams, cereal and milk and eggs, enough to keep you going for the day. To less monotonize dinners we have the less remaining Maggi soups and until recently the Indian snacks. Biscuits and general fillers and Coke help us get by each day.

P.S.: Goodness and genuine help is not all dead! Quite regularly we get tips, treats and guidance from India House residents.

Will keep adding as I progress,

Days are passing by and its so far so culinary divine!