Book Review - The Assassinations

Author - Vikram Kapur

Publisher - Speaking Tiger

Genre - Fiction

Pages - 211

Price - Rs. 299

First Impressions

The year 1984 is a very important special year for me, because I was born that year. Well, on the serious front, being a Delhiite I have heard many first person accounts of the 1984 riots. When merely listening to those accounts shook me, imagine what those people would have gone through. I hardly get to read anything about 1984 these days, so I was quite intrigued when i came to know about this book. 

The cover bore a fiery read look, symbolising the flames that had engulfed the once peaceful city and burnt many lives, hopes, desires and friendships. All that they left behind were burnt houses, burnt lives and ugly scars that refuse to leave the hearts of those affected. 

My View
If you have lived in Delhi during the 1980s, you would have your own set of memories related to the 1984 riots, irrespective of your religion. Having been born and brought up in Delhi, I have heard several accounts of the riots from my parents and in-laws. Those few hours of lawlessness left scars of a lifetime to many lives. I recall having once met a Sikh uncle at a social gathering whose one arm was amputated. When I asked my mom how he lost his arm, she made a grim face and told me in a hush tone, "He lost his arm in the 1984 riots". While uncle was happily enjoying his Patiala peg, I am sure the drink would do nothing to remove the ugly memories from his mind. When my mom in law came to know about the plot of the book, she went in past and recalled how houses were burnt in the nearby colonies. In my previous organisation, a Sikh woman told me how she and her family had to hide in the Gurudwara for days before they felt safe to venture outside. 

To feel unsafe in one's own home is the worst fear come true and sadly, this happened in the city I call my home. For those who unlike me, haven't had the chance to hear the stories of survivors, The Assassinations beautifully narrates how one incident can affect the destinies of multiple generations. 

The book portrays through Prem, Deepa and their families the physical, social and emotional trauma people went through in the times that followed the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Prem, the son of a migrant Punjabi family and Deepa, the daughter of a an affluent Delhi Hindu family are head over heels in love. Even as Deepa's father, a beaurocrat has his hunch on the upcoming situation becoming tense due to Operation Bluestar, the father in him is unable to say no. While Prem and Deepa are engaged and weaving dreams of a rosy life ahead, the flames of Operation Bluestar and its aftermath reach Delhi. In the lawlessness and riots that followed, Prem was transformed overnight from a guy next door to a youth with endless turmoil going in his mind. The effect is seen on their relationship as well, however keeping the focus on the aftermath, the book does not unnecessarily drags on their relationship. While reading a book like this, one often anticipates the next, so while I had anticipated Prem and Deepa to be the focus till the end, I was shocked when they both die in a militant attack. I think it was the powerful narrative after their untimely death which brings brownie points to the story. The story suddenly shifts focus to the lives that remain, how they try to pick up the remains and move on. While Deepa's parents live a life of endless guilt having agreed for the match, Prem's family tries best to escape the tag of a militant's family. The story fast forwards two decades later, where both families are seen struggling with the after affects of the incident. They do move on physically, however the scars on their hearts refused to fade. 

Hits

• One has to be very careful when touching upon such a sensitive topic as Operation Bluestar and the 1984 riots. I am impressed how the author beautifully captured the pulse of those times without any exaggeration or digression. 

• The chapters are divided aptly before and after 31st October 1984, which makes it easy to understand the sequence of events.

• Each character is penned thoughtfully and has an important role to play in depicting the mindset of each generation.

• The consistent pace of the book is its biggest plus point. Without any exaggeration, the book is able to keep the reader glued and one literally feels transported to 1984. 

• Unlike a lot of books that use such incidents to grab eyeballs without focusing much on the storyline, The Assassinations is a book that delivers what it promises. The powerful story not even once loses focus from the core issue and even as you flip the last page, your heart might say a silent prayer for those who suffered in those horrible times. For a moment, I felt as pained for the characters as I had felt while watching the 90s movie Maachis.

My Rating
4.5/5

A must read, for its powerful narrative.

I received the book from WritersMelon for an honest review.

The lazy chef's quick Misal Pao

After my first encounter with Misal Pao, I was sure I would never ever eat it, leave apart preparing it someday and blogging about it!

A day after we landed up in Mumbai, I ate Misal Pao in the breakfast buffet of the hotel we were staying at. My first impression was - something watery with just few lentils for the sake of formality and lot of namkeen and onions compensating for the lack of lentils. The next time I tried my luck was  during snacks time at the office cafeteria and needless to say, I was equally disappointed. "This dish is not meant for the Dilliwalla" I concluded and wrote it off. 

However, I often wondered what is so good about Misal Pao that my Mumbaikar friends can't stop going gaga over it. So much that a friend of mine has named her blog after the dish!

Anyway, the ice breaking happened few days ago, when Mr. Hubby declared that he had developed the taste for the dish. Now let me tell you, he is thousand times more finicky about food than me. So, when he appreciates a dish, I do pause and take notice. "It's about the preparation. If it is prepared well, it tastes awesome!" Apparently one of his friend's wife is a pro at the dish. 

Few days back, I was at a restaurant near my office for a quick bite and as I was glancing through the options that they could serve me within the next 5 minutes, my eyes fell on Misal Pao. My scepticism was obvious, considering my earlier experiences. But, being the typical Indian wife, how could I not decode the mystery of Misal Pao! So I ordered one plate and to my utter surprise, it tasted so good! The humble sprouts added to the body while the crispy farsan and the chopped onions played sporty. The right dash of lemon juice added well to the romance! Perhaps it was indeed about the preparation style!

Now the only milestone left was to prepare it better than his friend's wife, and going by his reaction to my maiden attempt, I am sure it was a job well done! 

Since I am a lazy cook, here's a simpler version of the recipe that I managed in 15-20 minutes while the toddler was enjoying his afternoon siesta!

Ingredients (Serve 4)

Mixed Sprouts - 250g (The main advantage of this dish is that it makes it easy to feed protein rich sprouts to otherwise fussy eaters!)

Onion (chopped) - 2 medium,

Green chillies (chopped)- 4

Tomatoes (chopped) - 3 large

Dried Coconut, grated - 1/2

Oil - 1 tbsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Whole cumin seeds - 2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - 1tsp

Coriander powder - 2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1tsp

Misal Pao masala - 2-3tsp (The most important ingredient!)

Water - 2-3 cups

Namkeen

Lemon juice

Pao

Method

While most recipes I saw on Youtube involved preparing the sprouts and gravy separately, I have decided to play quick and easy by cooking everything together in my pressure Handi. However, to each his own!

1. Heat oil in a pressure handi. Add asafoetida, cumin seeds. 

2. When the seeds splutter, add chopped onions and green chillies. 

3. When the onions turn pink, add the grated coconut and cook on medium flame for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, salt and Misal Pao masala. Cook on low flame for 1-2 minutes till the spices are cooked.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes and mix well. If the masala sticks to the surface, you can add a bit water at this stage. Cook the masala till it leaves oil on sides.

6. Add the sprouts and mix well.

7. Add water generously. Mix well and adjust seasoning.

8. Cover the lid and cook it till 1 whistle. Allow the steam to escape and open the lid.

Serving

Add some lemon juice to a bowl of the Misal and garnish with namkeen and chopped onions. Your Misal is ready to romance the Pao!

Of Sambhar and memories...

For us Delhiites, the very definition of South Indian food begins and ends with Sambhar. Be it Dosa, Idli, Vada or Utappam, we like to pamper ourselves with Sambhar. I remember during college days, me and my bestie Surbhi would often hang out at Madras Hotel in Connaught Place for some awesome Masala Dosa and Sambhar. The USP of the outlet was its "to die for" Sambhar. The servers or Anna as we called them would serve us generous helpings of Sambhar till our tummies would feel like gas balloons. I remember once we were so full (in the tummy, not in the heart) and sleepy after the meal that it was a tough walk from Madras Hotel to the bus stop from where we had to catch the bus to home (Delhi metro was non existent those days)!

My fondest memories of Sambhar are from my childhood, when my papa would prepare lip smacking sambhar with dosa. I still remember we had this special big tawa/griddle exclusively for preparing dosa. Even though kitchen was mom's baby, Sambhar Dosa was entirely papa's department. 

How Papa, an otherwise non cook material learnt to prepare the perfect Sambhar Dosa is also a very interesting story. Apparently, once during a long wait for bus at the bus stop, papa started chatting with a roadside Dosa stall owner. While the bus came way late, it gave papa enough time to learn the art of preparing the perfect Sambhar Dosa. So perfect is he with his dish that often his boss would drop by our place for savouring Dosa Sambhar. While mom would happily don the hat of an assistant that day, papa would be so full of zeal on being the head chef! Since we were a family of 6, the batter would be prepared in a large vessel in huge quantity. After the day long fermentation, it was time to savour the Dosa and Idli.  There was also a giant pressure cooker bought just to prepare enormous quantity of Sambhar.

Despite a Sambhar expert available at home, I never bothered to pick up the skill, being the lazy chef that I am! Even after marriage, Dosa Sambhar to me meant a visit to the popular Dosa joint in the WEA market in Karol Bagh and pampering myself to Dosa and unlimited Sambhar.

But, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention...

After we moved to Mumbai, the spicy North Indian style Sambhar became a luxury. I still remember the first time I had Sambhar in my office cafeteria. I walked up to the server and asked him if they put the sugar by mistake in Sambhar! Pat came his reply to my horror, "M'am that's how Sambhar is to be, how else?" Oh My God! For the Delhiite used to spicy Sambhar, this was nothing short of a cultural shock! Not willing to give up that easily, I tried my luck with few more joints so called "popular for their South Indian food" however, the ordeal repeated each time. 

At the cross roads, the foodie in me had just two options - either to forego the joy of relishing sambar or learn to prepare Sambhar as per our North Indian preference.

I decided to take things in my stride and became a pro at preparing Sambhar, thanks to my mom in law.

Sharing the simple and easy Sambhar that saves my day each time I have the craving to eat South Indian food.

Sambhar

Ingredients (for 4 portions)

• Tuur/Arhar Dal - 150g (soaked for an hour) (I have learnt a simple measurement rule from my mom in law - a fistful dal per person)
• Water
• Vegetables (Bottle Guard, Pumpkin, Onions, Tomatoes, Potatos, carrot, french beans) - Diced in mouthful size pieces (Sambhar is the best way to use the leftover grocery in the fridge!)

• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric - 1tsp
• Tamarind - to taste (deseeded and soaked in water for half and hour)
• Sambhar Powder - 2-3tsp
• Oil - 1tbsp
• Onion - 2 chopped
• Red Chilli Powder - 1tsp
• Rai/Black mustard seeds - 1tsp
• Asafoetida/Hing - a pinch (aids digestion)
• Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1tsp
• Curry leaves - few

Method -

Wash the soaked Arhar  Dal and drain out the water

In a pressure cooker, take all the diced vegetables, add the Arhar Dal and water. The water should be half index finger level above the vegetables.

Add turmeric powder and salt. Close the lid and pressure cook. 

After the first whistle, keep on low flame for 2-3 minutes and turn off the stove. Remove the lid and mash the vegetables a bit with the back of a round spoon (this will give a rich, thick Sambhar. You may skip the mashing if you like your Sambhar to be watery)

In a separate kadhai, heat oil. Add the asafoetida, rai, cumin seeds and curry leaves.

When the rai and cumin seeds begin to splutter, add the chopped onions and sauté.

When the onions turn golden brown, add the sambhar powder and sauté.

Next, add the red chilli powder and sauté till the mixture leaves oil on sides. 

Add the mashed vegetables and water and mix well. Finally, mash the soaked tamarind into a homogeneous paste (you may also choose to blend in a blender) and add to the Sambhar.

Give the mixture one nice boil. 

Tadaaa! Piping hot Sambhar is ready!

For the Onion Utappam

Ingredients

• Dosa batter - I am a lazy cook and allow myself some shortcuts in the form of readymade Dosa batter from the South Indian store nearby!
• Spring Onions - 2-3 chopped
• Green chilies - 2-3 chopped
• Salt - to taste
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Oil - 1tbsp

Method 

Add a pinch salt and asafoetida to the readymade dosa batter for a good flavour and easy digestion.

Mix together the chopped spring onions and green chillies and keep aside.

In case the batter is too thick you may add a bit water to dilute else skip the step. The batter should be flowy for crisp Utappams.

Heat a tawa/griddle. Spread some oil.

Once the oil is smoky hot, with the help of a round spoon, spread some batter on the tawa. The technique is to pour a spoonful batter on the tawa and make circular motions with the round spoon, reading the batter from centre to edges.

Spread some onion chilli mixture evenly on the utappam. 

Smear oil and once the other side looks brown, change sides.

Once both sides are cooked, the Utappam is ready to be served with Sambhar.

Aloo Parantha simplified

My parantha preparing skills are directly proportional to the number of years I have been married!

Though I always loved to savour stuffed paranthas prepared by my mom, I never bothered to try my hand at them....till i got married. One lesson cooking teaches you is that "practice makes one perfect!"  And when the family is typical North Indian foodie, there is virtually no escape from cooking! Over the years, it has been an interesting journey - from joining two separate dough discs with stuffing spread between them to effortlessly managing all sort of stuffed paranthas. My heart swells with pride when my mom in law says I have become a pro with Paranthas. Finally! All married women will understand what that means coming from the MIL herself! 

Being a lazy cook, one thing that gives me jitters is elaborate recipes. Often I have skipped recipes by merely glancing at the long list of ingredients. Having spent decent amount of years honing my culinary skills, I can say that a good recipe is not one involving elaborate ingredients but the right quantity of the right ingredients. For just like too many cooks spoil the broth, too many ingredients mask the flavour of the key ingredients!

Sunday breakfasts is incomplete without hot paranthas. Here's the way I prepare Aloo Paranthas, albeit my simple way, sans any elaborate ingredients.

Ingredients (for 3 adults having 2 paranthas each)

Potatoes - 3 (boiled and peeled)

Onions - 1 large (chopped coarsely)

Green chillies - 2-3 

Red chilli powder - very little (as per your preference)

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Green coriander - few sprigs, finely chopped.

Salt - to taste

Asafoetida - a pinch (aids digestion)

Ajwain/Ova/Carom seeds - 1 tsp (aids digestion)

Wheat Flour - made into a medium dough. Also, some loose wheat flour for dusting

Refined Oil - for cooking

Method

Mash boiled potatoes in a bowl. The potatoes should neither be hard boiled nor very soft as it will be a herculean task to manage the paranthas that way. A simple tip I have learnt from my mom in law is that the softness of the dough should be in perfect harmony with the softness of the stuffing to get the perfect paranthas. If the dough is too tight vis a vis the stuffing, the stuffing will escape the paranthas whereas if the dough is too soft, you will have a nightmare rolling the paranthas.

Add chopped onion, chopped green chillies and chopped coriander.

Now add the spices - salt, red chilli powder, asafoetida, carom seeds, coriander powder and mix well into a homogeneous stuffing.

Take a ball of the dough (I take a little larger than the normal ball I take for chapati, since a lot of stuffing has to be accommodated). A little larger than the size of a boondi laddoo, I would say. Roll the dough into a small circle using a rolling pin.

Place the stuffing in the centre and centre and spread a bit taking care to leave enough distance from the sides. Now the quantity of stuffing is subjective. Depends on how much stuffing can you manage without tearing the paranthas while rolling. I say, start safe and increase the quantity as you gain confidence.

Fold the sides keeping the stuffing in between. Dust some dough on the disc and with hands, press lightly to expand as much as you can.

Now, using a rolling pin, lightly roll the parantha till it reaches the side of a chapati. Take care to roll lightly, else the parantha will tear and the stuffing will escape.

Avoid this

That's better

Heat a tawa/griddle and place the parantha on it. Cook both sides well, smearing oil (Punjabis are very generous with oil however, I prefer low oil paranthas). 

When the parantha gets a nice golden brown colour, take off the flame. 

Paranthas are the most favoured North Indian breakfast. Serve with curd/raw mango pickle/Mint -Corriander chutney or just a generous dollop of homemade butter!

Bon Appetit!

Basant Panchmi & School Memories

Like all new moms, I too have lost track of how days become weeks, and weeks months. When a festival is around the corner, my elder sister or my MIL act as reminders, suggesting the bare minimum rituals I should follow.

This morning, as sonny boy and I went to the park for our daily dose of Vitamin D, I was delighted to see a burst of yellow. Women dressed in yellow, yellow flowers shouting to be picked up at flowers, the familiar freshness in the air and Pandal with Ma Saraswati idol in the colony school – I didn’t take a moment to realize Basant Panchmi – Saraswati Puja is here!

While my family doesn’t practice any ritual as such, apart from wearing yellow and preparing sweet yellow pulav, Basant Panchmi occupies a very special place in my heart. Having spent 12 years in a Bengali dominated school; the festival has been a special occasion each year. After all, this was the only day in the year when we could wear the dress of our choice to school instead of the boring uniform! Unlike most kids who save the best dress for birthdays, girls in my school dressed their best on Basant Panchmi. The three day long celebrations provided us the much awaited break from classes, freedom to dress up as we liked, lot of fun, amazing Bengali sweets and bhog, and much needed blessings from Ma Saraswati before the final exams would haunt us!

A Day Before

A day before the festival, all eyes would be trained towards the school gate as we waited for Ma Saraswati idol to arrive. The moment we saw the tempo, we would leave everything and rush to the foyer. The entire school echoed with “Bolo bolo Saraswati Mai ki Jai” as we welcomed the goddess with flowers, songs and impromptu dance!

The festival

For us, this was the day of freedom, fun and festivities! Our usually over protective parents gave us the luxury of giving the school bus a miss. Instead, we girls took our sweet time to dress up our best and arrived at the school on our own, in groups. The security situation wasn’t as sorry as present, so the authorities let open the gates of the senior wings and one could enter and leave school premises at our own wish. For teenagers of a girl’s school, this was nothing short of living the college dream once a year! The senior girls would seize the opportunity to flaunt the best sarees and imitation jewellery, even as the eyes of senior teachers scrutinized the depth of their blouses! Best part would be the Pushpanjali time, when each one of us would pray to Ma for good marks and a bright career! Sounds of “Bolo bolo Saraswati Mai ki Jai” would fill the ramparts as those who waited for their turn took to dancing and singing! Wish we had mobile phones with cameras back then! The alumni also took this occasion to take blessings from Ma and thank teachers for shaping up their careers so well.

Morning gave way to the noon in no time and the aroma from the makeshift kitchen in the classroom signalled that the Bhog was ready. Our teachers displayed their culinary skills as they pampered us with the most delicious Bhog – the traditional Khichuri! After Bhog, we would dash to grab our boxes of Prasad which contained an assortment of the best Bengali sweets one could think of! 

Awwww! I miss my school!

As we progressed to senior classes, the later part of the noon became hangout time with friends at Connaught Place before we returned home.

Visarjan

This was a moment that came heavy on our hearts as the thoughts of Ma parting left us teary eyed. Moments after the tempo left the school premises, taking Ma away, we would keep looking at the gate with gloom. Then the teachers would lovingly ask us to return to our classes and be good students till Ma returned next year.

More than a decade after leaving school and more than a thousand kilometres away from school now, I still feel the fragrance of flowers and incense sticks afresh in my mind. As I recall those wonder years, I pray Ma Saraswati for blessing my little one with knowledge and creativity the way she has been generous to me.

To, the Goddess, the mother, and the power – Bolo bolo Saraswati mai ki Jai !!!

Sharing few pics of my visit to the Alma mater few years ago 

My Alma Mater

The Decor

Ma Saraswati

The lovely rangoli

Flowers in full bloom

Friends

Friends