From past few months,i have been feeling this terrible urge of attaining some super power to uproot all the maddening bad ,prevailing around.I can feel a transition within me from being a happy go lucky girl to a nagging,yelling,irked person ,conferring eternal damnation to at least 20 people per day(in my thoughts of course).Little things start bothering me and i see red at drop of the hat.When i discuss this with my friends and well wishers,everyone suggests the same thing…”you can’t change the world,and there is no sense in fretting and fuming,so just calm yourself and better practice some Meditation.” I agree yoga does helps me considerably to cool down,but is it always possible to remain cool,or rather is it always necessary to be as cool as cucumber?
Still i took the suggestions of my friends and practiced some deep breathing exercise every time i was cornered .
Grocery man,weighing 953 gms of sugar instead of 1000 gms in front of my eyes…i deep breathed and remain silent
Ricksha walla (driver of three wheeler public transport) demanded 7 INR instead of official 5 INR rate…i obliged
Telephone connection went boooooohooooo….i remained silent
Internet connection didn’t got restored despite of hundreds of calls to the pathetic customer care guys,and to even- more -pathetic local service providers….i kept quiet
Ethernet card was destroyed due to lightning,TV tuner card went kaput..i didn’t moaned
Just because we reside at wrong side of metro city,we go without current for 8 hours a day,while the metro which is just 25 kms (distance between two railway stations)from our place enjoy uninterrupted power supply….I bear this with silence
Dirty politics in offices,bribe greedy officials in government institutions,and policeman demanding free rides in public transport vehicles,female infanticide,people throwing infants and even embryos in garbage bins(whatever their personal excuses be)while garbage stinking in fronts of homes,potholes on roads,that are shoddily filled when some MLA is expected,only to go crap within few days,and working class idiotically paying their taxes(coz they are deducted at source)while businessman cleverly escapes from the clutches of Honorable finance minister who can hike the rates of petrol when globally crude oil rates shoots to 110$ /barrel,but forgets to dive back , when the rates slide down to as low as 70 $/bbl
There is more stupidity on TV,with every absurd news served to us as BREAKING NEWS,Reality Shows with not so real tears and stories,vulgar stuff aired in the name of Modernism,and morons hogging up the limelight ,while serious issues concerning to common man are not voiced even for the heck of Genuine news.All served to us between ADVERTISEMENTS.If you watch TV for say 30 minutes,you end up seeing advertisements for 18 minutes and actual stuff for 12 minutes or even less..I don’t do anything to change that……So i keep my cool and stop watching TV instead
BUTttttttttttttt
…..how far can a sensible person stay deaf,dumb and blind to such apathy ??Should we always turn our eyes from all this ILL,and just call ourselves cool ?I agree ranting wont change anything,but is it possible for a pulsating heart to ignore all this and keep silent with few pranayams?Wont we be as good as dead then?
I know even when i wrote all this,nothing is gonna change..not even 0.5% …but should we just seal our lips,and ears,and eyes,and lay dead ?
Well after boiling so much of my blood over these issues,i definitely need some energy to go on.When i was a kid,my Mother used to say that pulses and vegetables gives us energy and make us strong.So now let me have some SUPER MOLECULES or proteins as they are generally called,and what better source than Kaalachana
I am confused to categorize this simple but power packed dish.I can call it salad since it is a food mixture consisting of boiled and raw stuff,with a tangy dressing,but then i also remember this as one of our favorite chaat sold outside our school gate!
So call it whatever you want..but do include this in your diet .
Ingredients
- Kaala chana(black chickpeas)
- Tomato 1
- Onion 1
- salt and pepper to taste
- Tamarind chutney or lemon juice 1-2 tspn
- Boiled potato
- Coriander leaves to garnish
Method:
- Pick the chana,rinse properly many times with water ,and soak them for about 5-6 hours
- Later boil it with salty water till cooked.If unsoaked or not soaked for much time,you might need to boil it for more time,otherwise it is almost done in 2-3 whistles in a pressure cooker.Again that depends upon the quality of chana.So keep experimenting
- When done,lay them in serving bowl or plate,top it up with dash of salt ,pepper powder,chaat masala powder(optional),red chilly powder(optional),2 spn (more or less ….depends upon your taste) tamarind water(just soak a ping ball size of tamarind in half cup of water for 10 minutes,mash it and squeeze it properly.Discard the pulp,and use the tamarind water)
- Add chopped onion,tomato,boiled potato,or veggies of your choice.Garnish it with coriander leaves
This simple salad is going for
Sra’s My Legume Love Affair Which is the brainchild of Susan
Sangeeth’s Eat Healthy-Fight Diabetes contest
Divya of Dilse for Diet Food Event
Alka, I empathise with you – it really is a struggle to live in this country sometimes. What especially bothers me is how we have to keep pursuing the customer service people and government departments. However, I must acknowledge that in my case, BSNL Broadband is fairly responsive, compared to other services in other sectors.
Thanks for the entry!
I agree Alka.I remember when I took my tataindicom connection and they promise me to provide a good connectivity as well as gud customer care service. But within few days connectivity started loosing and many times I had to call customer care but with no result. I had become so irritaed after repeating the same sequence that literally I went to their dept and yelled at the person. I was so pissed off that forgot where I am. but one thing is true even though you try to protest or do something there is no effect
. Finally I simply had to disconnect tataindicom.
when I first entered, seeing your pic I drooled and felt hungry. When I started to read your post, I wanted to give you a big hug. Many a times, a Hug comforts. Even I have felt the same way. Auto walas irritate me the most and also the recent power shutdown. My cousin couldnt study properly because of this and she feels bad. what to do?If there is something that we can do..count me in! sometimes things dont work the way we want and we have to tolerate it!
btw thanks for the entry to eat healthy event!
Alka,Thank u very much for ur lovely comments on my blog.u r blog looks great yaar… chaat looks yummy ..
Hi!Dear ,
Really ! U literally spoke my heart out ,U ,its commendable,appreciate you realistic views,pls try to put ur receipe on Youtube,the same chaat could be alternated by green whole moong,decorated with fine sew,
this chaat looks delicioooous…
Thnks N God Bless
champs
Hi Alka,
I have been visiting your blog since last few months, I really like it the way you describe each and every sindhi dish and the pics you give with the recipe are soooooooooo good, the food looks tempting!!
I must say you are a true sindhi girl.Thank you very much for spreading the sindhi food and culture.
I am also from Ulhasnagar, presently living in USA. Just returned from UNR few days back.As i was born and brought up there,I feel happy to be in that place,but can’t think of settling down there again. You have really spoken my heart, as just go there for few weeks these problems doesn’t bother me much, but I appreciate the patience of the public.
These problems are not only in UNR but are in whole country, in every state you will find these problems.I lived in Bangalore for 2years and I felt suffocated and came back here.
Just a little suggestion ,whenever you feel down sing this song…
from movie “subha kabhi to ayegi” in Mukesh’s voice
“Aasman pe hai khuda aur zameen pe hum, aaj kal woh is taraf dekhta hai kum.”
Keep doing the good work of giving us nice and delicious recipes and be happy!!:-)
Hats off to u….u r being surrounded by so many catastrophies…stll u get lovely ideas of cooking mouth watering dishes…..keep doing meditation & Yoga u will find urself a different person….i guarantee u…i am talking from experiences
That is indeed a healthy entry.Thanks for sending this in..
Hi Alka! You’ve voiced so perfectly the same feelings I’m often swamped with, just living in this country! What’s the point in rejoicing over a 9% GDP growth rate when the mentality of half the country is still unable rise above itself? Yesterday a potato-walla managed to somehow cleverly pass on a half rotting potato amongst the one-kilo that I had bought from him. But I consoled myself that I rarely allow myself to get hoodwinked. I just think of the few wonderful things I have in my life and it makes all these little things very trivial. Or I philosophize by convincing myself that he needs the money to educate his children (that makes it more bearable).
I read some place that when things go bad, you should see yourself in relation to the universe, meaning that you should imagine yourself gazing down from outer space and seeing yourself as a tiny speck on the earth amongst millions of other people teeming the Earth. You’d be surprised at how insignificant you seem with this view. However lofty the vision, the insight is very astounding actually and the situations you think are bad now would only make you laugh at yourself.
Another way would be to ask yourself if this particular situation would affect you ten years from now; if it does, then worry about it, if not then let it go, it’s simply not worth your time! Life is too short.
we hear you girl…
i understand the many challenges from electricity to autowallah…
your recipe looks mouthwatering delicious.
That is a mouthwatering recipe, thanks. When it comes to cooking, Sindhi food is world class. The recipe you have given is easy on the palette, stomach and the nose; because it doesn’t use the usual ’smelly’ chaat masala.
I suggest to cheer yourself up, you can read some poetry. When I get bogged down with the big bad world, I usually look towards a good book. An autobiography of a great leader like Nelson Mendela might be something you may enjoy…
regards
Yummy chat. nice collection of recipes
Well I do understand you and when I was in india had the same feelings, but few things are the same here, people are the same and at the end I have realized is you always will miss the place you were brought up in and I miss India inspite of all these issues. You do not find the relationships and love u get in India over here and at the end you just want to be loved and cared by people who matter most to you, no one else matters
Love the recipe
I know exactly how you feel,many of us feel the same way too.really want to do something but wonder if thats goin to make a difference.I feel that if we bringabout small changes within ourselves and our immediate surrounding we are helping towards a better tomorrow.
Very nice chaat……proteins are so good for us.
Dear
Alka
nice to see sindhirasoi website.
i would like to send you more Sindhi dishes.
Kindly send me your email or simlpy reply on my email
thx
Mrs. Bhojwani