GADBAD summers!

There are so many posts waiting to be written.

I start writing them in my head, sketch the piece out with words on a spare sheet and finally scratch it all out and jump to dream about the next thing to do!

and hence a lot of posts die a premature death!

Its not always a good thing to say this and make oneself seem like an insatiable glutton....but yes i have eaten a lot of different things over the time that i have been missing on the blog :)

idlis wrapped in leaves with chutney at "janapadaa loka" on the way to mysore, this perfectly golden brown circular (almost geometrically precise circle) chicken steak at "the only place". salmon salad at toscanoes at the UB city mall.....but something that i ate a long time ago and i still remember and have photographic evidence of is the gadbad.

gadbad (in hindi) actually means a mess...and maybe thats why this sundae is called that.Its a uniqely mangalorean favourite available at pabba's but made famous by ideals ice cream.

So its a huge dollop of sunny yellow pineapple ice ream which melts into the layers of cut fruit and raspberry jelly and cashew nuts that is filed into a long glass....oh and did i tell you about the vanilla icecream and very very strawberry ice cream that forms the foundation to this deluxe sugar extravaganza....and please ! lets not forget that no sundae is ever complete without a wholesome and generous toasted nut garnish!

many (OMG...Im melting) hot summers were spent in mangalore at Ideals. sitting with only my head above the table and my hands wringing themselves over the laminated table tops...looking and eyeing and salivating at every passing tray and surrounding table till my gadbad would arrive....:)

mourn the mangalore attack!!

what is this sri ram sena?
When did this moral brigade mushroom and become such a parasite to our society?
My mind is full of unanswered questions.
What right do these goons have that they lead themselves to believe that they have some superior indepth understanding of our culture to allow themselves such a demonstration of violence?
Im shocked, upset and I feel violated with the sheer presence of such people and thoughts.
Im growing towards indifference because despite every right that my country says it gives me, some stupid people who think they are "thekedaars" of this right dispense this freedom to us in the manner they desire.
After spending the 60th republic day in such shameful mourning, I don't know whether I should make the mistake of a being a hopeful fool in a country where people walk into public places and bomb it, ill treat women, stab men without the slightest fear of a higher authority or possible consequences(moral or judicial).
We talk of our resilient spirits …but im sorry the uncanny frequency of such accidents is corroding my faith, my thinking and my ability to believe in the ideals of my country.
I saw footage of this girl whose hair was being pulled and head was being rocked from side to side, another was being slapped, someone was stripped, many were humiliated and molested.
What is going on inside the heads of these people who perform such indecencies so freely in the name of tradition and culture??
Hinduism is meant to be a way of life and an assimilative one at that. Who ever gave them the right to distort a tolerant religion to make it so imposing?

Do they do this because they think they have the right to treat women they way they do?
These young girls will be doctors, engineers, capable citizens and shall contribute to the society in many more constructive ways than these illiterate guardians of a vague cause shall ever do.
This is what suprises me, the dormant violence that is in an essentially peaceful country.
Every day such incidents will happen and suddenly it will blow up in our faces and probably leave us disfigured for life.
Next we know, and people will be stoning women on the street for wearing heels or jeans which they might perceive as a symbol of moral degeneration.
Will we wait wait till then to voice our opinion or will we still let the silence engulf our fears because that's the safer roué to exit.
Why is no action being taken? There seems to be a state of anarchy and lawlessness. We are a regressive society with little respect for women, other human beings, with religious intolerance and mind numbing prejudices and we still manage to publish glossy cover pages hailing ourselves as "India shining" and "the next best thing".
Why will I not be pessimistic? and why should I have any faith on the democracy or government when it proves itself incompetent and unworthy at every testing ground?
It is very unfortunate that our response to this madness is indifference.
I do not write this because I have some bigger understanding of the way these things fuction, but I as a woman on the streets fear my own safety and I am writing this because im praying while I hold on to the last sliver of hope I have in my heart and yearn for it to be a great nation.