On Idlis & the Congress

Idly, the staple dish of south India, has more connotations than the humble dish is given credit for. For instance, it is a plain, simple dish that metabolises quickly, takes on any additional flavouring and generally nourishes those who partake of it.

Much like Indians; who are able to assimilate into any society, enhance themselves with additional skills and in general contribute to the welfare of the society they become a part of. Idlis are pretty easy to make and lasts long, again much like Indians.

Much has been made about the Chinese dumplings and their version of rice-cakes. The difference is that unlike Idlis, they have a distinctive flavour, and are generally not suited for the honorific: easily assimilated.

Wikipedia, that boon of the 21st century, is so fascinated by the Idly that it gives a hyperlink- and image-filled feature, four pages long, before it can tear itself away to cite references and associated articles. Please note, I am still talking about the basic idly and not its variants, like the K-idly, kaduppu, rava idly, etc.

In the end however, one finds that the basic message is the same. The Idly is a simple dish and a habitué can enjoy different flavours with a host of condiments. Much like the Congress party’s ideologies, which change ever so often though the basics remain the same.

Wikipedia also points out that Idlis are useful even when extras have been made and not consumed immediately. Again the parallels to the Congress are striking. If there are excess units of the Congress, they can be transformed into localised versions, like the TRS, YRS, TMC (both) and so on. 

Idlis, for their part, can be transformed into uppma, cut up into smaller pieces and fried with chillies, peppers, onions and so on, or even can be deep fried to take most of its sustenance providing qualities. The end result may blow the roof off your mouth and trouble your stomach for a while. 

In this aspect also it is much like the Congress, which when pushed into a corner, spices up its agenda, especially on economics, and threatens your very health but is still able to prevail because of popular conceptions.

The Congress's styles are much like the Idly too. The latter is white and is served with red chilli powder and two chutneys white and green, the basic colours of the Congress. The party’s election symbol, the open palm, strikes a chord as well – as it can also stand for the ubiquitous Kai-endhi bhavans that ply their trade all over the country.

And every once in a while the Idly can be mixed thoroughly with milk or curds, with seasonings of choice, and pushed upon us under different names like Dodhiyanam. The only problem is Idly-lovers will strongly object to the demeaning of this dish by the comparisons with the Congress. To them all I can say is: I Am Sorry.

For The Faithful Outside Madras

The 28-year-old Mangala Vinayagar temple on the Panadiyan Kovil Street in Krishnapuram Colony is the go-to place now, mainly because of the ghee that has been "coming out" from the head of Hanuman there.

A senior priest had warned not to take photographs of the idol, despite which The New Indian Express manage to store this image for posterity.

Everyday, at 8.30 a.m., a pooja is performed and after a while the idol is covered with ghee, an event called a 'miracle' and one that has been drawing the faithful in increasing numbers. The miracle is all the more precious because ghee is selling at around Rs 400 a litre. 

So am sharing this especially before rationalists and scientists prick this ghee balloon.

Shredding The Strings

)

ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man (Live In Texas) (+playlist)

)

The Canny Cops Of U.P.

Recent events have helped the Uttar Pradesh police re-establish their credentials. They had been roundly reviled and accused of acting on their political masters’ whims and favouring the rich.

In the former case, they had been charged with turning a blind eye to the camps of those affected by the riots in Muzaffarnagar. The recent death of a three year old child in the ‘refugee’ camps only intensified this animosity.

In a further test of their credibility, they were accused of using excessive force on some doctors who had taken to the streets while airing their grievances. They were then taken to task in the curious case of Sahara Group chairman Subrata Roy. 

After the Supreme Court issued an arrest warrant on Roy, the UP cops went to his house and came back empty handed. Roy had cannily moved over to his mother’s house, thus giving the cops enough reason to say that the house they searched did not house the accused. 

But with the SC forcing their hand they soon ‘found’ him and then went on to lodge him in an expensive resort, which was then closed to the janta.

Roy, an ardent supporter of Indian cricket, also appears to be a fan of Mae West, who had famously said: I’ve been poor and I’ve been rich. It’s better being rich. And as a cricket fan, Roy also took to heart the advice given to batsmen: When slashing at a ball outside the off-stump, you must slash hard.

Taking these two in conjunction Roy has amassed a vast fortune and had bedevilled investors and the taxman so much that the Supreme Court finally lost its patience and forced him into Tihar jail.

These incidents, however, only spurred the UP cops to step up their bid for righteous fame. In a recent case they had managed to track down seven buffaloes belonging to a minister and which had been farmed out in different locations.

How they did it, remains a mystery. They do not want to follow in Sherlock Holmes’s footsteps when he said, “You know my methods. Apply them.” Now, they have solved a murder, a case which would have stymied Holmes, Poirot and Perry Mason.

First, the case: Mrs. Neelam (45), wife of Vijay Sharma, the editor of a Hindi daily, was found murdered at her residence in Agra on February 20. To make matters worse her pet dog too had been killed.

After a week of deduction, the cops found aid, help and succour in the victim’s parrot, named Hercule. The bird was found to screech every time the husband’s nephew came or even at the mention of his name, Ashutosh.

Synapses fired and the Agra SSP, Shalabh Mathur, proudly revealed that Ashutosh had confessed to the crime on being interrogated. "Ashutosh and an accomplice had entered the house with the intention of taking away cash and other valuables.

“Afraid that his aunt might recognize him, he stabbed her as well as the dog when he started barking. But he hadn't accounted for the parrot who was watching silently.”

More on how a son fought seven years to have his father accept him, the rites of the Left and other events later on.