FEASTING ON ALL INTERNATIONAL FLAVOURS- JNU GOES VIBRANT

South Korean Dishes (Pix-Hemant K)

Jawaharlal Nehru University, which is one of the premier institutes of the country, has students flocking not only from India but from other countries too. Wherein, there is healthy exchange of ideas, talents and culture etc.  JNU's Foreign Students' Association organized an International Food Fest on 26^th of January, 2012, which undoubtedly brought out the significance of food as a part of culture. It gave a sense of identity to the international students and platform to showcase their culture, broadening India’s unity in diversity.

Crowd in the stall (Pix- Hemant k)

The crowd gathered in the international food fest showed their curiosity towards other cultures, as one of the M.A. student gorging on South Korean food said, “I have always been curious about Korean dishes. Event like this should not be missed.”  There was immense crowd, giving a busy time for students who were volunteering for the event. It was a great opportunity for the students, faculty and outsiders to get access to whole variety of food at a reasonable price. Students who could not make it this time are waiting for the next fest.

Some of the countries which found representation in the fest included Bangladesh, Vietnam, South Korea, Palestine, China, Iran, Syria, Nepal, Tibet and several others. Armenian dishes like; Pasuts Dolma, Artsakh, and Lobov Aghtsan, and the delicious Tibetan mutton curry cooked in traditional way could not escape the compliments of the people. South Korean dishes like Gimbab, which is a popular Korean dish made from steamed white rice (bap) and various other ingredients, rolled in gim (sheets of dried laver seaweed) and served in bite-size slices and Kimchi, which is a traditional fermented Korean dish made of vegetables with varied seasonings was a huge hit.

All in all, the International Food Fest was an event successive in true sense of the term.

THE WEDDING

Today is the wedding;

The bride to be is not thin like a coca cola straw or fair like a Himalayan snow,

The groom has a weak bladder; the rituals are not going to be shorter;

The wanting to pee pains will take the better of him; tears will roll from his cheeks.

The guests look like classic monsters devouring over the food,

The groom’s parents look happy and rich, the bride’s family are in no mood for calculation;

Some say that it is a union of two hearts, but other half says that it is the conjunction of two minds,

Groom’s friends are betting on how long the marriage will last, the bridesmaids are all set to

shimmer and shine.

There is a chance of rain to fall, for a drop has just hit the Pundit’s bald head;

If it does rain then everyone and everything will be soak, the grasses and the juice glasses,

A frog goes leaping by; this clumsy creature makes everyone laugh;

Then the ritual takes place, like a metaphor the bride’s tears rolls as she bade adieu to her play house,

The rain galloped down from the Heaven’s vile.

*The edited version of this poem can be found in Ayangti Longkumer's Magic Quill.

THE GREEEN TEARS

The green leaves quivered with fear,

The birds sang no more of the merry old song;

The sun was delighted for it was far from harm,

The wind had heard of the blunders about to come.

The earth had complained to the worm what tragedy she was living in,

The rivers, who knew no boredom, learn to tame her spirit

The sky watched them in pain, yet she has her own agony to subside;

The rugged stone known for its toughness, had cried many a night.

The corpse in the grave complained, “Even after been long death, we found no silence to rest in

peace.”

The bees found no sweetness in the flowers grown for lover’s delight,

The honking car showed its glamour in its wheels and glass, leaving pollutants for the greens,

In unison the depressed ones said, “The days of greens are gone…..in pains and in tears…all but

dream.”

*The edited version of this poem can be found in Ayangti Longkumer's Magic Quill.

WHAT IT NEEDS TO BE A WOMAN

What it needs to be a woman? Asked the girl to her Granny;

       “ Is it a ponytail or a pretty floral skirt?”

The old lady picked the girl on her lap, and narrowed her eyes;

And with a wise grin said, “It needs time and the right moment to know what it needs to be a

woman.”

 Granny? The confused girl interrogated furthermore,

“Well child. If you love the image you see in the mirror, and felt beautiful inside out, if you can

  dance in the rain, and sing even if you are down, and always give the Heaven’s above more

  than a quick glance, if you have tasted the saltiness of your tears, if you have laughed like crazy, if

  you have learned to tame your fears, and learned to say ‘no’ when you ought to.

 If you have loved someone truly, and handled rejection gracefully, if you have known how to react

 to a compliment and criticisms, if you know how to spare time for yourself, if you have never lose

 trust of yourself, if you treasure the smallest of moment in your life, and if you soar high despite of

the limitations,  if you have a fearless spirit and never giving up attitude, and if you never barter your

integrity for what you feel is true.

And if believe that change starts from you, and change for good, if you are shy like a child, if you are wise like an old owl, if you can ask for the true, if you can seek to find, if you never take even a paisa for granted, if you believe in yourself, if you respect all the God, race, gender, customs and creed. And above all love being a woman.

“Grandma, all these are needed to be woman?” asked the girl satisfied, yet puzzled.

“Yes my dear child, all these and many more.” She loved the look in the little girl’s eyes.

“ Wow! It is tough to be a woman. But, I love to be one.” Came the optimistic reply. 

*The edited version of this poem can be found in Ayangti Longkumer's Magic Quill.

A CYNIC VIEWS INDIA

       I belong to 21^st century India,

      Where hatred is like a diwali cracker, ‘isms’breeds faster than mosquitoes

      Poverty is like an epidemic, sex comes covered in rubber packages;

      Where coalition politics is simply collision politics,

      Democracy is synonymous to demoncracy.

      And money can buy everything, respect and honour,

      Malicious talks are unzipped, and animals are out from the zoo,

      Where the intellectual plane runs with a price tag and the sky is set by those who have power,

      But what crime it will be to end the poem in this note, so I write;

      Yet love runs deep, and hope survives in the hearts of? And the country moves on. 

       

WHERE HAS THE DAUGHTER GONE?

                                          ( Voice against Female Foeticide)

When she was in the womb, did she hear that she was banned?

    She laid stiff to where she belongs, as if she knew right then where her territory ended.

    She could hear her mother’s cries, and the yells her unseen father made,

    She feared what the outside world could be; she wanted to see it so much;

    She wanted to grow up, to be loved, cherished and respected, yet all these were but an illusion.

   

    She believed that she was made by the Creator for a purpose, but she knew that she will never

    -be able to achieve it,

    Sometimes, her tiny toes could respond to the music that was heard

    But her zeal was blown out by her breath of despair;

    She had heard the ugly conversation; if that was so then she had to go,

    She was the victim of choice; she had to go, she had to go

    Sadly there could be no one to ask, where has the daughter gone?

    Where did she go, did you show her the route?

   
*The edited version of this poem can be found in Ayangti Longkumer's Magic Quill.

THE FRUIT SALAD

                                                                           

Do you know how to make a fruit salad?

Maybe you do but let me show you how to,

For the salad made from the fruit of the Spirit makes you more humane,

Put on your apron and be ready for the life’s rollercoaster.

Take a large bowl; assume that it’s the world,

There go the chopped fruits,

Apple of love, banana of peace, orange of joy,

Papaya of patience; watermelon of kindness, and grapes for the goodness.

Cheerfulness of cherry is not to be missed; faithfulness of guava should be added

Then as a ruby drops the self-control of pomegranate,

To everyone’s delight the salad is ready;

You can have it now or you can have it later

But if you have it, a sinner will be less in this burdened world.

MIGHT NOT LOOK BAD

Was busy, so this is the first prose of the year.

I write: It is a (un)usual thing that almost everyone looks good in winter, Delhi is bitter as ever but still people are in high spirit, loud and it goes on. Today evening I saw a brave young lady having ice cream, she was in slippers with no socks, all I could do was stare at her and salute her mental strength. Anyway, if we talk about what to wear and what not to wear in winter then it all comes down to what makes you feel comfortable and what keeps you warm. Most of the girls I meet are soberly dressed, they really compliment the weather, on the other hand, 70% of the guys dress in the same black something, and the cool ones goes for leather jackets.

Personally, it is my secret winter wish to meet a dashing young man who wears cardigan and looks good in it, but sadly, I see only the elderly man in it, that too in cream and gray...boo hoo, sob, sob. One friend of mine bought a cardigan, only to locked it in his cupboard saying that it will make him look old and nerdy though he looks like one. I see no wrong in wearing cardigans, what is wrong with wearing a cardigan? It is warm, decent and hot and has a history of its own. It was named after James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan...continue (do a research of your own). Anyway, who am I to say, wear cardigans because I find the man is cardigan sooooo sweet? After all, it's their money, their body, it is their wish to buy and wear whatever they like.  Let me see how long the fascination I have for cardigans will last, but just for the time being look how cool Justin Timberlake looks in it.

PS. I am not endorsing any cardigan brands.