Taliban Bans Contraceptives

Is there any hope left for Afghanistan?

Taliban fighters, threatening people again, February 2023, photo source: Google

This is the first thought one gets each time you hear about the Taliban going around on a rampage again with crazy notions in their heads. The latest thing they’ve latched onto is contraceptives. They are banned now and anyone who stocks them runs the risk of getting shot!

Poverty is everywhere. Looting is rampant. Foreign aid isn’t coming. Women can’t work. Girls can’t go to school and are generally married away too soon. With contraceptives no longer available, unwanted pregnancies and kids and their terrible consequences including malnutrition and premature deaths are bound to rise. How will the common people, women especially, cope with so much misery? Even God has no clue on this.

To be a female in Afghanistan appears now to be the worst thing that can happen to a human being. In a country where 50% of the population remains deprived of their basic rights, no one can be at peace.

Click below for more details.

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/taliban-ban-sale-of-contraceptives-call-it-conspiracy-by-west-to-control-muslim-population-2336864-2023-02-19

Haiderpur Forever

Haiderpur metro station, recently renamed as Haiderpur Badli Mor metro station; photo source: Google

In Northwest Delhi, there is an ancient place from the Mughul era called Haiderpur. Its ruler, no prize for guessing, was King Mohammad Haider. Thanks to rapid urbanization, Haiderpur is no longer a sleepy village. Now it has a metro station too by the name of Haiderpur, recently changed to Haiderpur Badli. But that’s not the reason why it is special.

The special part is that Haiderpur is still Haiderpur, not Amritpur for example! It has survived, despite the anti-Muslim renaming frenzy that has gripped our country now.

Mughul Garden at Presidential Estate, Delhi, is now Amrit Udyan. In Delhi University, Mughal Garden has become Gautam Buddha Centenary Garden. As per the latest reports, many cities in UP, such as Aligarh, Farukkabad, Sultanpur, etc will also be re-christened soon.

What is so disturbing about all this renaming? A rose by any other name would still smell the same, after all, wouldn’t it? Well, it reflects hatred, intolerance, and phobia and goes against all those ideals our great country India stands for. Renaming places serves no purpose, as far as common people are concerned, especially those who don’t know where their next meal will come from.

Brinjal Peels & Boiled Potatoes Salad

Brinjal peels and boiled potatoes salad

Most of us discard the brinjal (eggplant / baingan) peels, don’t we?

Here is a recipe of an amazing potato-brinjal peel salad that uses the barest minimum amount of oil and spices. It’s a good way to minimize food waste.

The step-by-step photos are self-explanatory.

1. First, fry the peels of three eggplants in matched till they become crisp. Place them on a plate.

Brinjal peels, fried

2. Chop three boiled potatoes in a microwave dish.

Boiled and chopped potatoes

3. Sprinkle salt and black pepper powder on the potatoes as per your taste. Mix with a spoon.

Boiled potatoes with salt and black pepper powder sprinkled on them

4. Microwave the potatoes for 1.5 minutes. Add one chopped onion and one chopped green chili. Mix with a spoon.

Boiled and microwaved potatoes with salt and black pepper powder. Chopped onion and one green chili added after microwaving

5. Transfer these potatoes to a mixing utensil. Add the fried brinjal peels. Adjust the spices and salt again as per your taste. Your eggplant peel dish is ready. Enjoy.

Joy Of Freedom

Birds, 11 February, near Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar, Delhi

Fallen Beauties

Fallen Roadside bougainvilleas

A Roadside Beauty

A Bougainvillea flower, 4 February 2023, Delhi

A Bougainvillea flower fell from a roadside bush today right in front of me. I was walking in a leisurely manner on my way to work. It looked so gorgeous with its bright maroon color reflecting back Delhi’s soft, soothing sunlight of February.