The ongoing food revolution in India has two pleasant faces— one that it’s ethnic stuff that’s catching on and, two, the indigenous way they are served (A Mouthful of India, Jan16). Unlike the scenario soon after Independence, it’s not western cuisine that has caught up with our elite hotels now. ‘Exotic’ Indian dishes have earned a good measure of respectability. The ambience in which they are served is redolent with local flair. I recall the immaculate way waiters in a Calcutta restaurant wore the Bengali dhuti with the keys dangling from one end. It’s just smart swadeshi: the efficiency of the West being meticulously internalised but the stuff remaining charmingly Indian.
Utpal Ganguly, Bakreswar, West Bengal
The story is an excellent guide to this nouvelle culinary trail of our country. Just after a satisfying sichuan masala dosa with cheese(!) from the shop down the road topped with a couple of ferrero rochers, I must admit I was hungry again. Indeed ours is one of the most evolved, sophisticated and varied cuisines in the world. Bon apetit!
Mahendra Sinh, Mumbai
With Kashmiris relishing on appam-chicken stew and Keralites enjoying wazwan, India has found its own amusing slice of a "global village" on earth.
Dr Jinu Mathew, on e-mail
On my last visit to India recently, I noticed that city people gorge themselves senselessly on ludicrously large buffets. Have they lost all sense of proportions in the metros? Even good friends that I left vegetarians a few years ago have sadly turned into fat, meat-eating slobs.
Adi, on e-mail
Ethnic food can subtly counter the craze for fast food. But in the long run, caution is needed against possible adulteration and misuse of any kind of food.
A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram
While in the US, I used to miss the variety of Indian food as only mughlai was available. Later, there was a whiff of south Indian food from some pretty ordinary dosas. Now in Bangalore, I miss the company of good friends over some great overseas food. Thai in Bangalore is ordinary yet expensive, Ethiopian is non-existent and Middle-eastern is poor quality. Yet I should say the quality of food in Bangalore since 1999 has gone up. Now when I visit the US, I stick to all the other foods and pass up on any opportunity to go to an Indian restaurant.
Arun Maheshwari, Bangalore
How come there’s only a passing reference to Awadhi cuisine typical of Lucknow? Can any gourmet think of ignoring it?
Amitabh Agarwal, Lucknow
Your story was informative but let me add a few delicacies of my state, Haryana. First, the choorma, which is made by meshing together rotis, sugar and ghee. In olden times, it was the main sweet a bride would carry while returning to her in-laws after a break from her husband. Second, the suhali and gulgula—homemade dishes that don’t easily get spoilt in winter. As children, we carried these to our hostels and ate them for days together. Third, the famous gud ke laddoo. Pregnant women wait for this delicious dish, specially made to regain strength.
Col R. D. Singh, Jammu Cantt
After two articles praising the commies (and zillions for the Congress), Outlook finally has a non-bjp-bashing cover story. Perhaps it could have been something more relevant than gastronomical fantasies. Congress roast, for a change of taste?
Arvind S., Rochester, US
The Ultimate Indian Cuisine will be one that reaches every soul—bypassing bulging pockets.
Rajneesh Batra, New Delhi
The fight around the Kalabagh dam in Pakistan (Dam Up the Fury, Jan 16) is only the latest in the long-drawn-out dispute between the upstream province of Punjab and the downstream province of Sindh that began in the early 20th century. The dispute was to shape much of the irrigation development in the Indus basin, including in India; what’s now Indian Punjab too was a part of the dispute in the pre-Partition days. The article mentions that for 55 years, 35 million acre feet of water had been "allowed" to flow down to the ocean every year in the Indus, and siltation of upstream dams will increase this by 10 maf. This amount seems to be overstated. A study by the International Union for Nature Conservation notes that the flow in the lower Indus river had decreased from 85 maf in 1932 to 9.7 maf in the ’90s. Whatever the amount of water running down to the ocean, it was hardly going waste, for it was performing the critical function of maintaining the downstream ecology and economy, including the rich mangroves and coastal areas of the Indus delta. Strikingly, the iucn study found that the economic benefits of water flowing into the delta were so high that it would far outweigh the losses resulting from releasing 25 per cent of the Tarbela dam waters. One can imagine the losses a new dam with further storage would entail. India too should keep these in mind while building large dams.
Shripad Dharmadhikary, Badwani, MP
Having served as the vice chief from the day Admiral Arun Prakash took over the helm of the Indian navy on Aug 1, 2005, till the time I retired on Nov 30, 2005, besides my association of over 30 years, I’ve personally known of the finest qualities of head and heart that the man possesses and applies to his personal and professional life, including the day-to-day running of the Indian navy. In your article Shadow on the Chief (Jan 16), you write only of the call made from the naval chief’s residence to Kulbhushan Parashar but did not care to find out that he has the grace to return every call received at home or in office and passing it on to the concerned official. You did not bother to find out that M/s Shanx was indeed blacklisted for substandard safety practices during its cleaning contract of ins Jyoti’s fuel tanks where some poor workers employed by Ravi Shankaran died. You also did not bother to find out that it was Adml Prakash who insisted and ensured that an impartial and detailed enquiry into the incident be conducted by a board of officers under a two-star admiral; also, that he tendered his resignation the moment the name of a distant relative of his wife surfaced. Such moral stands have rarely been seen from persons in power in the recent past.
Vice-Adml Yashwant Prasad (retd), on e-mail
How successful Rahul Gandhi will be, only time will tell. Meanwhile, he has captured the imagination of the youth and Congress leaders (Gandhi Topi in Place, Jan 16). His could be a good beginning for clean politics. As for inheriting power on a platter, no political party is free of dynastic succession, in fact it’s reached ridiculous levels. With that as a given, let the tribe of young politicians grow and contribute to a healthy democracy.
K.S. Thampi, Chennai
Would there have been this deafening silence had a third party interlocutor been involved in Kashmir (Going Dutch, Jan 16)? Why is this government bending over backwards to please the nscn(im)? Its ceasefire isn’t binding on the other two Naga groups, its Nagalim won’t be anything short of a de facto independent state, with its own army and with no allegiance to the Indian Constitution. Besides, not only will other states not willingly hand over territory to the Nagas, but other tribes who live in the proposed Nagalim (such as the Kukis) who have suffered brutally at the nscn’s hands will go even more militant than they already have, in self-defence. Then, there is the significant fact that about half the territory of Nagalim lies in Myanmar. Will India be expected to invade and annex that territory too or will the Nagas be allowed to base terrorist camps in Nagalim to conduct a secessionist war against Myanmar? Who’s pulling the strings here? Does the fact that the nscn gets funding from the fundamentalist American Baptist Church have a bearing on this?
Biswapriya Purkayastha, Shillong
When one talks of yoga, one expects to hear about Patanjali, asanas, pranayama, kundalini etc. It is strange then that when describing yoga in Mysore (Sandalwood Simhasana, Jan 16), Outlook cannot see beyond the money.
Radesh Rangarajan, Chennai
It is silly to persecute Sanjay Dutt for the sake of it (Rocky Fall From Grace, Jan 16). He is just a film actor, not an underworld figure in hiding. I think the authorities are obsessed with film personalities in general and cannot get over their fascination easily. At worst, Sanjay Dutt made a poor judgement call and had no idea of the conspiracy being hatched. He shouldn’t be made a fall guy for that.
Amit Mangal, Jamshedpur
Sanjay Dutt took the desperate step of acquiring a lethal weapon only because he was being threatened by the goons of the bjp and the Shiv Sena. No one said anything when L.K. Advani launched his infamous rath yatra or the Shiv Sena distributed trishuls, all of which had nothing at all to do with religion but mayhem. And anyone remember the Sena’s Madhukar Sarpotdar? He was found in curfew-bound Bandra (East) with weapons and was arrested by the army. Let alone being punished, the party even went on to have a Lok Sabha Speaker. Why punish just Sanjay Dutt?
Azeem Taqi, Nashville, US
I was angry and upset when Outlook questioned whether IT companies were just angling for real estate and when you cast aspersions on Infosys’ demand for land. I thought you had gone overboard (perhaps even out of your mind) to criticise Infosys and Narayana Murthy. As a Bangalorean and a professional working in the IT industry, I felt you had fallen prey to the wild allegations being made by politicians. However, I have changed my views since. Infosys declared its quarterly results recently and its cfo Mohandas Pai said the company’s growth had been hindered by "the lack of land". As somebody who works in the industry and knows the dynamics of the profitability of IT companies (which is mostly a factor of increasing wages, reducing margins, sliding dollar rates etc), I can’t believe Pai actually cited lack of land as a reason for slow growth. Is IT All About Land, you had asked back then. Infosys has answered your question by publicly acknowledging it is indeed about land. Looks like Outlook was prophetic in asking that question.
Ashwini Shetty, Bangalore
I welcome the news that there would be no simulcast on Doordarshan as well as no commentary on the radio for the Indo-Pak series. For far too long has cricket been a scourge because of which too many mandays and consequent productivity has been lost. High time we got our priorities right.
Ramani P. Easwaran, Bangalore
