India and Pakistan: The Stark Reality

re: YLH # 303

Manto was very political and all you have to do is read his ``Letters to Uncle Sam`` and know that he was in courts of Lahore all the time answering charges brought about as a result of his publications. To the best of my knowledge, Manto was more personally inclined to the communist methodology and in actuality, rebelled against what he considered as the moral and intellectual hypocrisy of the post partition Pakistani social and political elites.

Manto was a misfit in Lahore. His passion and muse was Bombay and he felt alone and lonely in the provincialism of Lahore and the reason that he suffered so much, professionally and personally, in Pakistan was because Pakistan was too intolerant for his cosmopolitian way of thinking. Manto used to live in Laxmi Mansions and before 1947, this residential block of apartments had Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis and Muslims all living here and all of these people were educated. After parition, as my mother recalls, Everyone except the Muslims left and the Muslim mobs ransacked the houses of the Hindus in Laxmi Mansions, tearing up their floors thinking that there was gold and silver hidden underneath. One Muslim mob even broke into the house of a Hindu, which was later used by Malik Meraj Khalid as his residence, and dropped a safe from the second floor to the ground. They hoped the safe would break and they could get the jewels inside. The safe never broke.

My grandfather used to give Manto Rs. 5 every week to buy alcohol. Rs. 5 was a big deal in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Manto never adjusted in Pakistan, because Pakistan and Lahore was too small minded for his creative genius. The problem was that Manto refused to exist under the mental and moral straitjacket, which was forced upon Pakistanis and repression of the state, only intensified his satire, which was politically caustic.

Manto`s views on parition was that it was an act of lunacy and he felt disheartened only because the whole enterprise did not make any sense in terms of human sufferings it caused. Manto, being a writer, was also a sensitive human being and he never reconciled to the orgy of pain, which was let loose as the result of the parition.

Manto`s family and mine is very close and we have known each other for over 50 years and I can tell you, many Pakistanis have a totally wrong impression of Manto. Manto was overtly political, because he was able to empathise with the pain and suffering of the post-1947`s ordinary person and he saw that pain without any tinted glasses and what he wrote, he wrote to hold, those who caused the pain and then looked away, as accountable for their acts and that sir, was an inspired act of political rebellion in a Pakistan, which was blindly drifting towards an unthinking singularity of political orthodoxy.

Ciao

P.S.: Anyone on this site, who is interested in Manto and his life, you are more than welcome to come to my house and I will personally introdouce to you his daughter. I have talked with Nighat aunty and she has said all of you are welcome to her house. Nighat aunty is a delightful lady and a gracious host and I promise you all, there is always a cup of tea waiting for you at her house. Temporal, do you remember that conversation? The gentle lady was asking about you and if you are reading this, I am as promised, conveying her regards to you and M.

vereesh #319: Impossible, nowdays, to run a successful IT venture, without an Indian and a Jewish partner. My Indian partner handles all my finances. I am convinced that the more North a person goes in the Sub-Continent, the lower the IQ and the poorer the ability to make correct business decisions (though, the better the looks). So while North Indians are as dumb and ignorant as the rest of us Pakistanis, South Indians have a few special anlaytical skills, that none of us can lay claim to. So I don`t like getting my accountant angry, by asking him too many personal questions. But I will inquire from my other Indians colleagues, about the food.

Do keep in mind, that I am not quite sure where central India stops and South India starts. Is everything south of Bombay, considered South? Also, before I met all these guys, I used to think that everyone in India spoke Hindi. I was thus surprised to see one of my South Indian friends telling me he couldn`t understand much of the dialogues from Sholay.

As for the last names, there is an even simpler formula. I just use the last initial. So Murthy BuddhaphattiSriRamaKrishanaLaxmanBhetonbotla simply becomes Murthy B. Reminds me of an old joke. Q. Why shouldn`t South Indians play sports? Ans. Because by the time the announcer gets finished announcing their names, the game is over.

Vegetarian food is actually turning out to be quite good. I am just getting into it. Never thought there could be so much variety. Cheaper, less fatening, and almost as tasty as non-vegetarian food. There is a place called Gerrard Street in Toronto. Apparently, the largest South Asian food center in North America. It has some good Vegetarian restaurants.

In the USA, one normally does not find many Pakistani restaurant, even the ones that are owned by Pakistanis and servers Pakistani food - at least in Silicon Valley. All the Pakistanis seem to give their restaurants Indian names, and write, ``Indian restaraunt`` to get more business. In Canada, Pakistanis seem a lot bolder and do put up, ``Pakistani restaurant`` or at least, ``Indian-Pakistan`` restaurant under the names.

I have never quite been able to figure out why so many Indians, don`t seem to like the Mughals, yet name their restaurants Babur and Taj Mahal, with Mughlia dish titles in the menu, and Mughlia pictures on the covers of the menus. Haven`t seen an Indian restaurant named after Aurangzeb, yet.

A growing trend is the Halal Chinese restaurant. There are now restaurants in Toronto, that have Chinese-Pakistani-Indian-Bangladeshi food in their names. A good indication of the multi-culturalism of the city. Never saw anything like that in the USA.

But all said and done, after having tasted quite a bit of the world`s culinary delights, nothing beats the North Sub-Continent ghosht and karahis.

Farzana, 320

“I like the way we Indians have taken over this Pakistani board. “

That’s right. Give you guys an inch and you will take a yard! But that’s democracy. Now you know why the Pakistan Army, and the Islamic regimes from Indonesia to the Maghreb, is so afraid of democracy.

Farzana, try not to be flippant when you can`t think of anything else.Such roughnecks?As if the rest of the country and the world is doodh ka dhula hua.I`m not ethnically a Hindi speaker,but I think that`s a demeaning and ridiculous stereotype.You sit there,in Bombay with the lights on because of a coal miner in Bihar,who will probably drown underground one day.So its Hindi speakers who started the riots in Jogeshwari,and Hindi speakers who did the damage in Gujarat(in a way, the latter is true because it started in Godhra).Coming back to your question, much of the Army is from the Hindi heartbelt and there would be enough Hindi speakers willing to buy out all the land in Srinagar,if they were allowed to,and you know they`re not.What I`m surprised at is that you don`t seem to know how strongly people feel and then you claim to speak on behalf of the common man.

It is all about Yuppies:

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Beans & Barista

LACK as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel or sweet as love - a cup of coffee has all kinds of avatars these days. Obviously, for many, nothing is better than the enthralling aroma of freshly brewed coffee and fortunately for Puneites, they don’t need to go too far to get some.

Barista, India’s leading coffee shop chain, with the recent backing of Tata Coffee Ltd’s 26 crore investment, has come to the city.

This is the country’s 49th outlet and it is nestled in the lush locale of the Talera-owned heritage property, Hotel Sunderban, right next to the Osho Commune.

Barista also plans to open more outlets in Pune by the end of the year.

As area manager Abhishek Roy Chowdhury tells, “It doesn’t matter if you have ordered a single cup - you can hang out here for 10 hours if you like.” Invitation accepted, as we see there are many in the shop who are doing just that. Evidently, they are all set to metamorphose the concept of “chilling out”.

The ambience inside is comforting and casual, with some semblance to the legendary European road cafe. There are trademark white, wooden tables and bright halogens in blue shades which dot the flaming orange walls. There’s a scrabble board and books available to keep silent minds busy. The more gregarious are free to strum the guitar leaning against the corner wall.

If you’re worried about where to begin once you enter the shop, worry not, there’s plenty of help from across the counter as the baristas (coffee barman in Italian), are ever-willing to help with the wide list of offerings that they serve. We decided to select from an assortment of mix and fix b e v e r a g e c o m b i n a -t i o n s .

Cappuccino s p r i n k l e d with chocolate and cinnamon was one. In the warm range, Expresso Italiano is a good bet. This dark and demitasse coffee is not to be confused with its Indian version, for this is the real thing.

The elaborate Caffe Mocha, again highly recommended, is an intense espresso with dollops of whipped cream garnished with chocolate syrup and cocoa powder. As for those who are connoisseurs of the “one black coffee”, they should perhaps stick to Caffe Americano.

The elaborate menu card gives you an idea of the types of coffee offered. A cup could cost you anything from Rs 30 to Rs 65, depending on the flavour and toppings. The friendly staff gives you the option of an array of add-ons - from Irish cream, caramel, cinnamon and almond to vanilla and hazelnut, at an additional cost of Rs 15 to Rs 20. You also have the option of asking for ‘decaffeinated’ coffee. The coffee beans used by Barista are roasted, ground, pressurised and processed in Italy to retain their special flavour.

The term ‘cold coffee’ takes on a whole new meaning at this place. Savour this: The iced cafe mocha is a fresh shot of espresso with chocolate and low-fat milk over ice at Rs 40 and the Frozen Coffee is a full bodied espresso, demerara sugar and ice. Another interesting concoction, aptly christened the Barista Special, is a melting pot of different flavours and served chilled. Vanilla icecream freaks could try Affoato, the drink in which their favourite flavour is added to a fresh shot of espresso.

Although sandwiches and rolls are at hand for a quick bite, the star attraction at Barista will always remain their liquid creations, even those without coffee.

The Granitas, a crushed ice slush, was one offering pronounced heavenly on a hot October afternoon. The good old ice-cream sodas are also available, but try the alternative offerings like the delicately pungent ginger or the latest black current addition. A dose of friendly advice. The sodas are on the sweet side, so make sure that you give your preferences in advance.

So, while the French delight in ‘pressed coffee’, the Caribbeans add lemon rinds to their coffee and the Italians indulge in newer varieties every day,

Barista’s plans to go on a 24-hour operation and we Puneites know one thing. The gap between the struggling coffee vending machine at the corner store and the expensive five star coffee shops has been filled. Long live coffee beans and bonhomie!

— Ashutosh Parekh
http://www.sannyas.net/press/20011018_timesofindia.htm

India`s coffee bar revolution


Coffee is the new drink for Indians



By Sanjeev Srivastava
BBC reporter in Bombay


A quiet cafe revolution is sweeping urban India with the proliferation of Italian-style corner coffee bars.


Tea drinking nations like Britain and Japan have been converted to coffee drinking, and Indian consumers are seeking similar lifestyles

Ravi Deol
Barista coffee bar
That is bad news for tea - still the favourite brew for a majority of Indians - which has been losing out to coffee in recent years.

India is one of the world`s largest exporters of tea and also one of its biggest consumers.

But it is coffee drinking which is increasingly becoming a statement of young and upwardly mobile Indians.

And coffee bars, an unheard of concept till a couple of years ago, are suddenly big business.

Coffee culture

Such is the demand for coffee bars, that the Barista chain - which opened its first cafe only last year in Delhi - is now opening a new outlet every 10 days.

Taking its inspiration from Italian corner coffee bars and the US coffee chain Starbucks, Barista and other Indian chains are also trying to educate customers about the virtues and finer points to coffee drinking.


India`s tea has fallen from fashion

``Consumers are converging, they`re thinking alike, they`re aspiring for similar products,`` said Ravi Deol, Barista`s chief executive.

``Tea drinking nations like Britain and Japan have been converted to coffee drinking, and Indian consumers are seeking similar lifestyles.``

Corner bars like these are offering more than just coffee and snacks to their customers.

For many of their regular patrons, a visit to these bars is also a part of the western lifestyle they so much want to identify with.

Youth appeal

Now tea is being forced to fend-off the competition and tone up its own marketing muscle.

Cha Bar - Delhi`s newest hangout for the young and happening - is making an effort to look fashionable and chic to the younger generation.

Indian tea companies are also worried as tea sales in the domestic market have begun to stagnate.

Some of them have even begun to introduce western distribution concepts like vending machines to popularise the traditional Indian drink.

Over the past few years, 50,000 vending machines have been introduced and this number is likely to double in the next few years.

But as tea and coffee battle it out in swank big city restaurants and bars, the most significant volume of tea is drunk by villagers villagers in small shacks along the roadside.

As long as these roadside stalls continue to do thriving business, tea will have a safe future in India.

guys, (esp romair) check this out

http://www.dawn.com/2003/10/20/ebr4.htm

India overtakes Pakistan: time for a wake-up call


By S. Akbar Zaidi

There is a story which has gained the status of a folklore. It goes something like this. In the early 1960s, Pakistan was seen as a model of economic development around the world , and there was much praise for the way the economy was progressing.

It has been suggested by numerous economists and bureaucrats, that many countries sought to emulate Pakistan`s economic planning strategy and one of them, South Korea, ended up copying Pakistan`s Second Five Year Plan (1960-65).

Those who recount this story argue that in the early 1960s, Pakistan`s and Korea`s per capita incomes were more or less equal. On account of following that strategy, it is said, Korea ended up among the more developed of the developing countries, with a GDP per capita greater than $8,000 today; Pakistan`s GDP per capita is still only $460.

Even if this story is not entirely true, it does reveal a great deal of truth in the fact that Pakistan has been left behind in terms of economic development, by numerous countries. Many bureaucrats, planners and economists who have always felt the need to be overly patriotic, have reluctantly accepted the fact that many of the East Asian countries - the newly industrialized countries, as they were once called - have advanced to near developed country status. This they have argued is a recognized fact - the Asian Miracle - and Pakistan should learn its lessons but not feel too discouraged by this trend. After all, it has always been maintained, Pakistan is well ahead in South Asia, and is the most developed of the three most populous countries in the region.

These Pakistani patriots have been particularly pleased that our growth rate and per capita incomes are way ahead of India. Little do they know, this is no longer true, and India has not just overtaken Pakistan, but is set to increase the difference between the two. Pakistan has surely been left behind, a fact that has major repercussions on the political economy of Pakistan and of the region as a whole.

In 1990, both Pakistan and India had identical per capita incomes, at $390 each; in 2001 for which the latest figures are available, Pakistan`s per capita income was $420, and India`s $460. It is probable, given Pakistan`s poor economic performance compared to India`s these last two years, that the difference has widened further. What is more suggestive, and worrying for Pakistan, is the comparison between India and Pakistan in terms of per capita income when we use a far more useful measure called the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) figures.

These PPP comparisons allow a far better assessment of standard of living in terms of what people can actually purchase equalising for differences in prices. Pakistan`s per capita PPP income in 1990 was $1360, while India`s was $ 1380. In 2001, Pakistan`s per capita PPP had risen to $ 1860, a rise of $500 or 37 per cent. India`s PPP per capita in this decade had more than doubled and rose to $2820 per capita. Indeed, a highly impressive achievement.

This critical indicator, that of the per capita income, is only the first of numerous social and economic indicators which show the growing difference between India and Pakistan during the 1990s, a trend which has increased further these last three years, and is going to continue to increase, for some considerable time to come into the future. Some additional figures will support this claim.

What is particularly interesting is, that in the decade 1980-90, Pakistan`s economic performance measured in terms of growth rates in agriculture, industry, merchandise exports, and even GDP was better than that of India.

In the 1990s, however, following both Pakistan and India`s economic reforms and liberalization - albeit done very differently, no doubt - India`s growth rates for the decade in all of these sectors (except agriculture) were not just higher, but significantly higher (often twice as high) in every single category.

Perhaps the most extraordinary difference in comparative growth trends between India and Pakistan is in India`s more than double export growth, and the four-times higher growth in new investment measured by Gross Capital Formation. Pakistan has had very little addition to capital in the 1990s, a trend, which sadly, has been made even worse in the last two years following 9/11 and Pakistan`s role in the War Against Terror.

Since 1993, India`s growth rate has been higher than Pakistan`s in every single year, and in four years in the last ten, India`s growth rate has been double of Pakistan`s. This is not all. If we look at all the seven Saarc countries, today even lowly Bangladesh and Nepal perform far better than Pakistan, and this is especially so if we compare the 1980s.

In the decade of the eighties, Pakistan had the second highest GDP growth rate after the Maldives. In the 1990s, Pakistan`s GDP growth rate was the lowest of the seven.

It is not just these `hard` economic statistics which show how Pakistan has been left behind by other Saarc countries and particularly by India, but numerous other softer indicators also re-emphasize this trend. The UN Human Development Index (HDI) is a good indicator of broad social development in a country and includes social indicators as well as economic ones.

In the HDI ranking of 1991, Pakistan was placed higher than India and Bangladesh. In 2003, India is ranked far higher than Pakistan, as is Bangladesh. More importantly, Pakistan`s rank fell from being at 138 to the 144th in just one year, 2002-03, and Nepal and Pakistan are the only two non-African countries to be classified in the low human development group. Clearly, a most ignoble achievement.

There are numerous other social and economic indicators which re-emphasize the fact that Pakistan has been left far behind. Poverty in India, for example, has fallen from 45 per cent of the population in 1983 to 26 per cent today; in Pakistan it increased from 17 per cent in 1987 to 33 per cent today. Not only do the past trends show a worsening gap, but while we were just celebrating a mere five per cent growth in GDP for the first time since 1995, hoping to achieve the same rate this year, the Reserve Bank of India was increasing its earlier expectations to well above six per cent for the next three years for India.

The difference is clear: India`s economic growth has by far overtaken Pakistan`s, a trend which is unlikely to be reversed for some time to come. The implications of this should be obvious to all. It is high time that Pakistan`s leadership realizes this fact and starts putting its economic, social, political and foreign policy houses in order.

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Dear Farzana:
[digression]
``For the Sea Lounge obsessed folks, it has reopened, and I shall soon be dedicating an ilog to it.``

I would love to see an article from you on what might be called the Barrista-phenomenon. I was quite taken in by the amazing growth of this chain in India.
...and yes, Indians have unfairly taken over this board. We should all move to ``debate this``:-)

veeresh:
For a mostly-vegetarian person like me, you are doing plenty of zyaatti...

[To date, the best biryanis I have eaten have been in Tuticorin and Machilipatnam.]

So true. Also, there is this quaint place on the Mahabalipuram Road. Another wonderful joint is in Chennai, think it is called `Sangam`, usually full of labourer types...had got quite addicted to it. Their biryani is superlative as also their Chicken 65. And you know what? Unlike N. Indian restaurants, the biryani was like the home-made one -- rice grains that could be sifted and not one lumpy mess...the aroma was just right and it was non-greasy. Surprising for a place that was downmarket. Another plus almost anywhere in the South is that after the first curious glances, they leave you pretty much alone. I went there a few times and although it was well past midnight and I was the only female(not alone, though) and the owner saw to it that we went to the inside section, I felt completely comfortable.

stuka (#305):
[...who is an Indian citizen has the same rights as you. ...I assume you were talking about him since he lives there..I live in DC ;0) ]

Rights. Now will someone start talking about duties too? And no I was only trying to alliterate; it could be about you too! Though I do have a different standard to judge you by...for whatever reasons.

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[History does not just vanish. The Partition has had a deep impact and we have had to live with the fissures it created.
++
Gee..That`s exactly the same arguments the ``ram sevaks`` make when they demand the construction of a Ram temple...history does not vanish etc etc... ]

Please, see the difference. The Partition has impacted on a large number of people who are still around and its legacy is for us to experience. How can you compare those wounds to what the saffron parties are trying to whip up for a place of worship that has not directly resulted in bloodshed which can be justified?

And if the Partition is of no consequence why are Indians obsessed with Jinnah? Why is Sardar Patel considered the unifier even today? This is due to their role at that time. This is palpable history; the mention of Babar and Aurangzeb is emotive history.

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For the Sea Lounge obsessed folks, it has reopened, and I shall soon be dedicating an ilog to it...about all that I lost and won there...I really wonder how these minds work. If I have my cuppa there or at a dhaba, how will my commitment to certain things alter? Is every single individual who has `cutting` chai more socially conscious and aware?

PS: I like the way we Indians have taken over this Pakistani board.

Dear Romair,

On South Indian nicknames, please take the initials and then call most of them ``Kris`` or ``VeeKay`` or something like that.

rgds/Veeresh

ps:=

Thankfully your accountants are not Arab. Can you imagine the length of their names, the number of ``Al``, ``Bin``, ``Binti``, ``Ibn`` and ``Mohameds`` each name may have and most of all, their five looks like a zero.

In case your business partner does not visit chowk, you may ask him:-

Has your business partner told you about Sri Velu Military Hotel in Madras? (Limited non-veg thaali with possible upto 15 more side dishes from amongst country chicken, whole fry crab, mutton pepper, fry fish, rabbit fry, fish curry, venison, and various :rare: meats.)


Did you know that Tamil Nadu now has the largest per capita consumption of meat and alcohol? (Truth).

Will he teach you the ``dubban kuthu``? (Vigourous and more sexual version of salsa)

Why brandy? (Why not?)

Has he any idea where to eat turtle egg omelettes, standing goat blood, Japanese quail in Madras? ( I do).

More than good accountants, they make very good culinary guides. To date, the best biryanis I have eaten have been in Tuticorin and Machilipatnam.

I think one sad outcome of this whole Indo-Pak thing is that while we in India get to eat all sorts of Pakistani food, and our good restaurants have names like Pindi`s, Baluchi, Frontier, Bukhara, Karachi Sweets etcetc / / / you do NOT have anything in Pakistan which brings out non-veg from India beyond the usual.

Vereesh #314: ``Pakistan needs SOUTH Indians to help it function better.``

I agree with this. South Indians make great accountants. My business partner is one. Their names are too long to pronounce though.

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#312 Arjun_M

Hi Arjun,

Just for a moment, doesn`t Jamali sound like ``Al Haig`s `I am in charge``` incident!