Gujarat and Rajasthan

 I have been mostly to Ahmedabad, usually as a guest of an educational institute- IIMA, Nirma, and MICA being my hosts in the trips I remember, and a University in Anand once. Therefore, I don't have too many recollections, except the people I met who were uniformly hospitable, unlike the land, which is mostly dry and dusty, and somewhat similar to the Dubai landscape I have seen, minus the huge towers.

My memories are mostly about people, therefore- Varsha and Anita at MICA, Manjari and Ankita, Ishan Joshi, Keyur Bhalavat (some of them entrepreneurs like true-blue Gujjus usually are). Some pics including a couple from neighbouring Rajasthan.

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Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, a desert destination, worth visiting-above and below.

Manjari Mundanad and Punyashlok Dwibedy above, and Ankita/Ishan Joshi, Keyur and others, below.

The MICA team with Varsha, Anita Basalingappa and others. I was there for a Ph.D. viva of a student of Anita's.

Global Fashion -an Update

Fashion is the new constant-I mean change is the only constant, and fashion is about change. Don't get it? It's OK, neither do I. So I'll just get on with what I was saying.

The current fashion in these countries/states/cities seems to be-

North Korea- celebrating Diwali by firing rockets over Japan.

USA- Building walls (a fashion started by Facebook, which has since moved to Timelines)

Mexico-Shaking it up

Caribbean countries- Sending hurricanes to the U.S. coast.

China-trying Gujarati food (Dhokla-m?)

Gujarat- banning Sunny Leone ads

Mumbai- trying to become Venice

(These are not countries, but have populations bigger than some.) Fb, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp,..- trying to be like each other.

Local Flavours

Every place in India has its local delights- food being a major one.

And so it is that we have a Chitale's bakarwadi in Pune, a biryani or Double (bread, also called double roti) ka meetha in Hyderabad, and a Tunde kabab in Lucknow (hopefully it's still around).

Other delights I can remember are Tirunelveli halwa, some variation of which was also available at Calicut (and a shop called Bombay Halwa in Hyderabad sold something similar too-colourful, gooey, semi-solid stuff).

Of course, Gujarat has dhoklas, and theplas, and khakras. Gujaratis are foodies, though many are vegetarian, and have a variety of snacks. Kachoris are famous eats in many parts of North India, including Indore which is my current abode.

Aamras and puri and Puranpoli are two Maharastrian ideas, whereas the Avakai mango pickle is an Andhra speciality (I am at least partly an Andhravadu, having grown up there, and have a hot tooth, the opposite of a sweet one. Mirchi bajji is therefore a favourite).

Kolkata has many culinary ideas that involve fish, but its street food, particularly rolls, are quite distinct. Goa has its sausages, and also a dish spelt Xacutti which no one knows (at least I don't) know how to pronounce. Vindaloo with some meat (usually Pork) is also quintessentially Goan.

Belagaum has its kunda, a sweet, and Maddur has a vada named after it called Maddur vada. Pune's Kayani Bakery has a well-known Shrewsbury biscuit, and Karachi bakery in Hyderabad has its fruit biscuit that are now "world-famous" at least in India.

Americanisms and Britishisms

Right now we have an American and a Brit on campus doing various things. So I was reminded of an old joke. A Brit and an American were taking a walk. The Brit looked around him, and as is the habit of his countrymen, wanting to make conversation, said, "Spring in the air."

To which the surprised American replied, "Why should I?"

Not sure what an Indian would have done in a similar situation. He might have brought a small spring coil and thrown it up in the air, maybe?

Anyway, there is funny communication that happens all the time. Another classic that I remember from my experience is the play on the word 'bus' and 'boss' thanks to some friends from Orissa and Kerala, where they mix up these two words with hilarious consequences.

The Bengali propensity to pronounce a 'v' as a 'b' leads to amusing exchanges if one is not used to it. We had a sentence in school that made fun of this Bengali trait. You have to say, "Venkatramana, Venkatramana, why are you walking in the verandah?", with all the Vs and Ws pronounced as Bs.

Gujaratis are hilarious with some words too. They say 'snakes' when they mean snacks, and 'rape' when they want to say 'wrap'.

Anjaiah, an old Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, was known for his lack of command over English and a few jokes became legendary. As in, he was shown around a hospital, and when they showed him the labour room where mothers in labour were housed, he praised the staff for taking care of their labourers (he used to be a minister for that Labour earlier). Well, let me not belabour the point. I suppose you got it by now. Say 'gotcha' if you did!