TREAT YOUR HELP LIKE YOU TREAT YOURSELF

BY SELMA PINTO

As a kid, I would go visiting homes with my parents. Those days most homes could avail household help (age no bar) easily. Now I’m not talking about help that came and went, but those who lived in. They were treated so different from their own, especially children. There were no laws then to stop this ill-treatment. And if you look at it now, it is no different. Education! What has it taught us? To pass exams and get jobs? If only education taught us to respect each and every human being like we respect ourselves, then our country would be a much better place to live in. With all the castes, creeds, taboos, etc., how can we expect a change in our society?

We have help at home, but they are treated no different from ourselves. We eat at the same table TOGETHER. We use the same dishes. We feel one at home.

Love and correction, everything is done as we do to one another in the family. People actually have the atrocity to ask ‘You sit together?’ I really would love to strangle such people. Who do they think they are? The same people, when in dire need of blood in a hospital, when their life is at stake, don’t mind whose blood is being pumped into their veins, right into their bodies! Why don’t they find blood that came from their own kind?

It would be so nice if each home would start with educating the children of their maids, drivers, etc. I know many who actually are doing so, but we are a society still so far behind in helping others. We are ready to throw so much money on a lavish dinner in a starry restaurant, which in fact would pay a whole year’s education of some poor child. Think about it people. Stretch out your hands.

Make this world a better place.

UNDER THE MANGO TREE, RICHMOND TOWN - A REVIEW

BY PRIYA JAIN

Office time lunch is always a nerve-wracking experience. There is always that fear of overshooting your allotted lunch time as well as the idea of being on call. But when my colleague said ‘let’s go under the mango tree’ I simply found it hard to say no!

So off we went, bright sunny day, a headache almost threatening to come on. But once we entered the restaurant, I was quite happy with the cool (natural and not AC) breeze coming through and natural lighting, without being blinding, under the mango tree.

The menu was given and knowing our penchant for trying stuff never tried by us before and of course, Harry Potter and pumpkins obsession, we went with the roasted pumpkin soup priced at Rs 110 to start with.

The soup was quite bland in the beginning, but with more and more going into your mouth, the creaminess and the mild saltiness start to grow on you. Much as I was tempted to lick my soup container clean, I resisted. But I still do not understand the pumpkin obsession in Harry Potter, are pumpkins tastier abroad?

We went with Spinach cheese squares served with garlic tumb priced at Rs 190. In one word, the dish was ORGASMIC. Three of my favourite ingredients put together in the most delectable manner. The only disappointment was that there were only 4 pieces. My friend had to part with an extra half thanks to my greed and a phone call! Yippie! I am certainly going to try recreating the magic of this one at home!

Main course was again pumpkin based. Pumpkin ravioli in mango sage butter priced at Rs 280. A delightful dish that left me wanting more. The cream was so rich, I scooped it all out and ate it with the bread that the dish came with. When there was still some left, I used my spoon. The Ravioli had stuffing of mashed sweet pumpkin. The dish was lovely and flavored at every level. I LOVED IT

I did not like the fact that we were forced to take mineral water at Rs 30, most restaurants give you the choice of choosing regular water. Why put out more plastic in the environment when it’s already suffering? And what is wrong with drinking perfectly respectable tap water?

For dessert, we chose a blueberry cheesecake, priced at Rs 176. As good as a usual blueberry cheesecake.

The backbreaking bit as always were the taxes. 159 rupees. Could have had another starter and left a generous tip for the steward. An article coming soon on the service taxes.

Overall, the meal was a delight and did not take more than an hour to get through with.

BE HUMAN BEINGS, NOT HUMANS

BY SELMA PINTO

Grumble! Grumble! Grumble! That’s what I hear most people do, when dogs bark, monkeys enter their compounds, or the like.

Now let me ask you, what do they do when people disturb the poor animals? They cannot fight back except to use their natural instincts. I hear so many reports of dogs attacking kids. In the first place, did anyone ask the dog why he attacked? Not really. Why does the dog not have a fair trial like us humans? Sadly, because we humans cannot understand the dog’s language, even though it is making its point.

We grumble and take action when animals enter our territory. It may be our compound, may be our city. On the contrary, what do animals do when humans enter their territory? By instinct, they will attack or kill. They do not have any courts or laws to help them. And most importantly, just like us humans, they want to safeguard their territory.

Why can’t humans understand that we are invading their territory and hence, due to lack of space, they are entering human territory, much of which originally belonged to them? Why can’t we build higher, than going wider? If we don’t invade their territory, we not only retain our forests, which by cutting trees we are destroying our environment, but are also safeguarding wild animals from entering ‘our’ space.

An animal attacks only when hungry or is being attacked. But in the city, all humans attack the poor animal, making so much of noise, mainly for pleasure. The animal which is already so afraid is traumatized.

Picture courtesy- www.latitudenews.com

Now think about it. Why can’t we teach our children not to harm animals? First of all, this should begin at home. Parents are mostly to be blamed for their children throwing stones at dogs or other harmless animals on the street. I’ve found most parents just shunning animals. When children hear them, automatically they too begin to fear and shun animals. You don’t have to go out of your way and help in any way if you don’t like animals. But it would be nice if you didn’t talk against them either.

Teach your children to love animals. Teach them that they feel pain as much as you do. Teach them that human beings are so much more blessed since they can voice their feelings, both emotionally and physically. But animals cannot. You can be sure that your children will be better human beings, and not just humans.

Try this out. Watch people’s character. Those who are afraid of animals, but do not harm them, are also harmless people. But beware of those who harm animals. They are really dangerous people and cannot be trusted.

IT IS A PARTY FOR EVERYONE ELSE

BY NOLAN PINTO

BSY is back with the BJP and all media channels are on that. They covered his every move, nothing stopped them in this quest. OB vans rushing to wherever he went and correspondents on their toes to get exclusives. I have been there and done that myself and trust me, I was not too pleased about it. Never have and never will be since this in my opinion is not earth shattering. The state will not improve one bit and the lives of the downtrodden wont change for the better in a jiffy.

Picture Courtesy- PTI photo

In a way, January 9, 2014 should be considered a black day for the BJP and its cadres. They took a stand a year ago when their senior leader LK Advani wanted BSY to step down because of his corruption charges. Then we all saw the drama that unfolded, the number of leaders who came to meet him and finally the day he walked out. What a week and what a day that was!

Again today, he is back. Like they say, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies in politics. It is all about what suits the day best. Ultimately, it’s all about staying in power and minting money. The people, wait, who are they? Sheesh..

My grouse is that the media shies away from covering parties such as the Lok Satta Party or even individuals who are doing things for the better of society. Even when the AAP began, not many channels wanted to cover them. Forget that, even when IAC began their protest the first time, not many channels knew or wanted to give them airtime. Only when it became big, they ran over to the protest sites.

I am a neutral individual supporting no party but I sincerely believe that we need a change. And parties like AAP and Lok Satta Party are offering that change. Why not grab that offer and build on it? The people who are part of those parties are those who have utilized their education, struggled to reach somewhere and then decided to do so some for their society and country. Unlike the old political parties who have among them leaders who are alleged thugs, alleged rapists, alleged mafias and more. I am not saying that they all are pathetic but a majority of them are.

In college, we got into a fight once with this group of youth congress workers. They were all aspiring to become big shot political leaders in time. Their claim to fame was the number of cases registered against them in police stations and they said that with pride, loads of pride to put it correctly. I was ashamed upon hearing that then and still am. How I wish their claim to fame was something that really helped society.

Given a chance, many of us including me would love to join politics. But we stop ourselves from doing so since we are yet to gain complete financial security. We do not want to rob people and become rich. If we are into politics, it is to serve and not to mint money, have NSG commandos by our side and hordes of people following us wherever we go. These people in the AAP and Lok Satta Party have joined after gaining financial security (at least most of them) and hence can concentrate on the job of building the nation. Unlike again, politicians who make money and continue to do so even in power and want to do so, even when they are out of ‘power’!

A shame that our education has failed us. We will still go and vote for those politicians who election after election promise the moon but never deliver. And we still go and vote. Of course we have to vote, it’s our duty but what choice did we have earlier? To chose the best crook or the least crook amongst them all and cast our very valuable vote. Today we have choices. So lets, this coming election, use that choice sensibly.