I came across this family in the Delhi Metro on 19 May 2019. The third child, judging by the tiny feet protruding through the mother’s sari pallu, was still a little baby.

I was a bit shocked and amused when I noticed that the father was neither illiterate nor middle-aged.

Hum do-hamare-do (we-two-our-two) campaign rigorously pursued by the government a few years ago, it seems, didn’t touch them at all.

This family is, in fact, one of the millions of literate families in India which, instead of being role models, have been breeding through generations like dogs.

With the country already teeming with millions of toddlers demanding far too many precious resources, what do you expect the governments to do? Irrespective of whichever political party is in power, scarcity of resources will always nullify every attempt by every government to improve the overall living standards of people.

The present government at the center is in power for the second time with a stronger mandate. It has no excuse for populism and must do what the country needs.

Instead of reservations, what the country needs really is an aggressive population control, a hum-do-hamara-ek (we-two-our-one).

We are right now the proverbial ship with a hole at its base.

people, recipes', Uncategorized

Love Sandwich

June 27, 2019 Jasbir Chatterjee 3 Comments

My 23-year-old daughter Suroshri recently made us proud by being selected for a prestigious internship in a British Council teaching project.

She leaves home for work these days at 7 AM and I face the daily challenge of sending her off with a tiffin box containing food which, apart from being filled with motherly love, is healthy, tasty and doesn’t require too much time to prepare.

Today, on 21 June 2019, I surprised myself by creating a sandwich that fulfilled all of these parameters.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

Bread slices, 4

Leftover yellow dal, 4 tablespoons

Grated paneer: 50g

Chopped items: one green chilli, some green coriander leaves, one small onion.

Spices: salt, amchur, jeera powder, dhania powder as per taste.

Method:

Mix paneer, all chopped items, and spices with a spoon.

Next, toast 2 bread slices on a tawa after smearing it with some Amul butter. Once they turn brown at the bottom, flip them and place some filling on the toasted part of one of the slices. Place the other slice on it. Toast the sandwich on both sides. Now sandwich is ready. Here are the step-by-step pics.

Do try this and let me know what you think.