THE HILLS TIMESWeekly supplement

CAREER TALK

BEAUTY TALK

Anxiety at the Start of Career

Pg-4

CELLULOID

Pg-5

TOMATO FORBEAUTY

Pg-7DIPHU SUNDAY MARCH 22 2020

COVID-19

DEVI

By: Dr. Ratan Bhattacharjee

Corona virus pandemic has gonewild and the world is onceagain in grip of fear, perhaps

worse than the plague that wiped outmillions in Europe in 1347. Betweenthese two, the world has tackled manyepidemics and endemics of malaria, tu-berculosis, or cholera. But for the firsttime, the globe is facing the same crisisand worse still, no one knows when avaccine will be invented to end it. Likethe locusts raiding countries as divinecurse or like the Bubonic Plague thatturned Athens or England into a landof corpses, Corona is the now thedeath’s messenger everywhere it goes.We were once vocal against social

distancing that the digital world hadwrought on people as depicted by Al-bert Camus in The Plague. Today as astrategy to fight the corona virus weare forced to practice social distancingin spite of the pains and sadness causedby it. Weddings, concerts, conferences,sporting events and mass transit mustall be avoided.Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi

has appealed to the countrymen to stayindoors on Sunday, in what is beingtermed as Janta Curfew. For now,breaking the chain of spread throughcontacts seems to be the only preven-tive method to slow the infection rate.How long will Corona virus reign

supreme? As of now, Corona is spread-ing rapidly and has taking an alarminggeometrical proportion, causing atleast 5 deaths in India and surpassing10,000 worldwide. It has alreadycaused a massive economic stir every-where, affected normal life causingshutdown of educational institutionsand workplaces. Thousands are alreadyaffected all over the globe and it canreach million or billion. Isolation sta-tions are being set up in hospitals forthe affected. What is worse is that Co-rona is not just endemic like malaria orepidemic like tuberculosis or plague, itis global crisis and so it is pandemic. Agenerational war is brewing over Co-rona virus. The carefree youths maycause the spread of the virus throughsocial contacts.Inside the living room members of

the same family too can be infectedand spread the disease to the neigh-bouring apartments.We are not able to trust our own

hands. We are scared to love and kissour dear and near ones. We are segre-gated, detached, alienated and dis-tanced from each other like MatthewArnold’s imagined ‘salt estranged is-lands’. Life is certainly death in life.No longer are there individual des-tinies; only a collective destiny, madeof Corona and emotions shared by all.People are debarred from the livingwarmth of togetherness. Even at

homes one is cautious about others on theissue of sanitisation. ‘The holy of theholy’ concept is now ‘the clean of theclean’. While the western countries arehabituated in this segregated life in largesky kissing apartments, people in the un-derdeveloped and developing countriesespecially those who live in herds in therural areas are forced to pass their mosttragic time. Social distancing is the curseof modern digital life in the urban areasbut for the rural people who hardly expe-rienced such segregation, they are in the

most awkward situation. So far sneezing or coughing in the open

was hardly noticed, with only a few well-bred individuals bothering to follow eti-quette, now every sneeze or a coughrouses suspicion. In India, people now seethe benefits of handkerchiefs and tissuepapers.The strategy of social distancing saved

lives of thousands during the Spanish flupandemic of 1918 and more recently inMexico City during the 2000 flu endemic.In the ancient past, in early seventeenth

century England, theatres were closedfor fear of plague. The Centres for Dis-ease Control and Prevention has cau-tioned gatherings of 50 or more peopleover the next eight weeks in an effortto contain the pandemic. Now placesof worship, sporting and cultural insti-tutions have also shut down. In Bolly-wood, Tollywood and Hollywood filmshoots and film releases have beenpostponed. Municipal elections are puton hold. In the last couple of days,India has taken a strong stand againstmass gatherings with the Prime Minis-ter Modi making a fervent appeal toexercises restraints in matters of out-door activities and restricting gather-ings.Meanwhile rumours and supersti-

tious beliefs are also doing the rounds,spreading faster than the virus and ag-gravating the situation. Some are sell-

ing Gaumutra and Gobar in falsepropaganda that Gaumata can save usfrom Corona. And these activities arereported from mega cities like Kolkata,Benaras, Ahmedabad and Delhi.In India only a few won personal

cars and avoiding public transportationis next to impossible. Only a small per-centage of the population can avail on-line payment for work-from-homeassignments, but for the larger chunkof working class, lower rank workerslike the daily wage earners, petty shopowners, still have to depend on manualtransactions. Social distancing wouldmean starvation and death for the poor.The loneliness caused by social dis-

tancing is terrible and it can be ex-plained in the words of Arthur C.Clarke: “Two possibilities exist: eitherwe are alone in the Universe or we arenot. Both are equally terrifying.”

PractisingSocial

SeparationOnce a side-effect of digitalisation,

social distancing is the key to preventing spread of deadly Corona

virus. In either way, the most vulnerable remains the economic

poor sections

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SUNDAY MARCH 22 20202 HERITAGE

DIPLOMACY

By: Karun Lama

India and the United States of America, the two largestdemocracies of the world, time and again, have un-dergone different statures of bond ever since colonial

India’s struggle for independence. As such, though Indiahas emerged as a successful democracy much later thanthe already democratic and powerful US, yet in the con-temporary times, the geopolitics has evolved in such away that none of the two nations can overlook one an-other, which certainly can be reckoned by the recent visitof Modi followed by Trump, both engaging in extendingfriendship between the two nations like never before, ifone keenly observes the ‘Howdy Modi’ event followedby ‘Namaste Trump’ extravaganzas. Well, as of now,how long this warm cordial friendship between the twonations would continue to prevail will soon be revealedin a couple of months from now. However, if one retro-spect this relationship, it can be counted in differentphases of both ups and downs in the past.To begin with, in the pre-independence era, India’s

struggle for independence had indeed caught America’sattention, as the latter also didn’t favour colonialismsince America herself had been a British colony once.Franklin D Roosevelt the then President of the USAthrew his full weight on India’s independence albeit onmoral and strategic grounds. However, after the outbreakof the Second World War and Japan’s growing imperi-alism in Asia, America’s position remained unclear withit subscribing to the British view. However, the initialyears of India’s independence saw great heights of sup-port from the US during famine wherein the Truman’sIndia Emergency Food Assistance Act 1951 came out asa helping hand to the needy India. Not just this, India’sGreen Revolution having been inspired by Norman Bor-laug changed the entire scenario which prevailed theninto an affluent India.In bi-polar politics, India refrained from direct in-

volvement. India seemed slightly inclined towards thesocialist ideology; no doubt, there stood genuine reasonsas America’s freestyle market capitalism created suspi-cion in many of the Indian elites, including Prime Min-ister Nehru. Knowing that imperialism or colonialismwas nothing but the cause & effect of capitalist ideology,India like others was apprehensive of powerful colonial-ists like the USA trying to re-colonize newly independ-ent countries.The US continued to support India during the Sino-

India war in 1962. It was also because China was a closerally of the Soviet Union carrying similar ideology ofCommunism. But, Nehru’s Non-Aligned policy insearch of strategic autonomy unfavoured America’sscheme of geo-strategic balancing in Asia. No doubt, inretrospection for India, it’s worth mentioning that NAMindeed played a significant role in sustaining India’s sov-ereign democracy though then India’s economic andstrategic insignificance followed a new gap in the rela-tion of the duo.Thereafter, the relationship post-1962 didn’t go well

with the emerging bond amongst US-Pakistan-China.Also, the USA had always been vocal of the Kashmirissue. Henceforth, India signed the Indo-Soviet Peace,Friendship & Co-operation Treaty in 1971. Notwith-standing, India was never critical against Soviet inva-sions in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and later Afghanistanin 1979. Such instances certainly added impediments in

the already deteriorating relation.Following this, America shifted support to Pakistan in

the Bangladesh liberation India-Pakistan war of 1971.Nixon, the then US President even dispatched aircraftagainst India. Moreover, taking advantage of ideologicalrift between the two great communist nations – USSRand China, the USA in 1972 tied hands with China. Thusas seen so far, for the USA, dictatorial-ship of Pakistanand the communist China was more acceptable thandemocratic India. This certainly proves HenryKissinger’s saying – “America has no permanent friendsor enemies, only interests”. The major setback in Indo-US relations came with India testing her first-ever nu-clear power which went against the nuclear treatyformulated by the US. Eventually, India signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1978.The entire global geo-politics changed after the col-

lapse of the USSR; the cold war ended and the worldorder moved towards unipolar where the USA stood asthe only superpower. Both India and Russia had notmuch of choice other than to befriend the USA. India’spolicy began to favour US so as to have a close alliance.Thus on one hand, where both India & Russia were try-ing to get closer to the USA while on the other hand thereemerged a rift between India and Russia.Thus, in the early 1990s, India on one hand lost her

Soviet ally, while on the other hand it was undergoing aserious economic crisis. This was the period when Dr.Manmohan Singh serving in the portfolio of FinanceMinistry initiated the Structural Adjustment Programme(SAP) to reform India’s economy which was success-fully followed by gradual economic reforms on the lib-eral lines. With this, America’s growing interest wasobvious as India opened a huge middle class market.And needless to say, geopolitical and strategic purposes,and economic reasons are the two major factors guiding

the US policies.Another series of intensive engagements took place

between India and US in 1998 when India again testedher nuclear program but this time, sanctions were put bythe US. No matter, it was later justified as a measure ofdeterrence by India against the already nuclear powerChina. The very next year followed the Kargil War whenit was thought that US and China would take sides forPakistan, but fortunately it didn’t happened so, insteadPakistan was asked to withdraw her army by US. Hence-forth, with the beginning of the new century, Clinton’sIndia visit in 2000 marked the beginning of a new era inIndo-US relations which was followed by the historicBush-Manmohan Civil Nuclear Deal signed in 2008.Along with this, the growing bilateral trade between boththe nations has also ushered in extending their friendshipand ties.However, only bilateral terms aren’t sufficient to un-

derstand the relationship as both the nations have alsobeen negotiating in various multilateral forums, be it inWTO, Climate negotiations and so on. Moreover, thereare various other international issues and security con-cerns, for instance – the USA-Taliban truce followed bythe withdrawal of American soldiers from Afghanistanbrings a lot of concern to India, the US-Iran conflict hasaffected India’s bilateral trade with Iran, et el. However,the decade marked several instances when the world wit-nessed euphoric events, be it – Modi and Obama – bothexchanging visits in each other’s country or the very re-cent visits of Modi and Trump, all these have indeed cre-ated positive sentiments among the masses of both thenations and strengthened the ties. Well, the decade as itnow ends soon with this friendship reaching at a peakand also the US presidential election just a few monthsaway whether the India-US relation will continue re-mains under deep reckoning!

Revisiting Indo-US Relations

As world’s largest democracies, both India and the US are forcesto reckon with, as is evident from the recent developments

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By: Om Prakash Basnet

Reacting to claims that the na-tional anthem "could not havebeen composed by a Gorkha",

the INA veteran lamented in this way"things in our country have come tosuch a petty pass, that sectarian and re-gional factors now dominate the think-ing of the people."At that time RamSingh Thakuri was alive. It is pertinentto bring the reference of Sarat Prad-han's article in 'Radiff on the net' tittled'Controversy over Jam Gana Manatakes a new turn',who contacted RamSingh directly to get his views regard-ing the controversy, He writes "lament-ing the level to which people couldstoop,Ram Singh narrated to this corre-spondent the tale of how and when theIndian anthem had been composed. "Itwas sometime in 1943 in Rangoon,when Netaji called me over to say thata national anthem in Hindi was re-quired for the provisional governmentof the Indian National Army. Jana ganamana was in Bengali, so Netaji, AbidHasan and another person got togetherto translate it. Subsequently, it wasgiven to me and I set it to music.Singhadded that when though the Hindi ver-sion was what was first sung, four yearslater, in 1947, the Indian governmentsubsequently decided to adopt the orig-inal Bengali version as the national an-them. "However," he added, "the tune Ihad composed was retained."Beamingwith pride, he recalled how he hadcomposed the tune in just one day."Then Netaji told me to brush it up, soI got back to it and redid the wholetune, and the final version was readyabout 12 days later."Asked specificallyif he would like to react to the criticismof people like Roy and Shankar, RamSingh said, "I think it is shameful thatpeople can give such a parochial slantto something of national interest. I'dlike to point out, too, that both the na-tional anthem and the INA anthemwhich I composed are songs of sol-diers. Gorkhas have in them what, inHindi literature, we call Veer-Ras, andhence it is not so incredible that weGorkhas can compose good music. Inany event," added the evidently dis-tressed soldier, "music is not, and cannever be, the exclusive domain of anyparticular community, or the people ofany particular region."Regarding this controversy that the

tune of National Anthem was given byRam Singh Thakuri or not, Lt. Col.Lakshmi Sahgal, the very senior officerof lNA, the commander of Rani Jhansiunit of INA and a member of the coun-cil of minister in the provisional gov-ernment of free India, feeling herselfqualified to condemn this unseemly andunnecessary controversy raked up bythe article (The Pioneer, 14 Feb 1997)by Archana Srivastava called 'INA na-tional anthem and captain Ram SinghThakuri' Regarding the music of ourNational Anthem Sahgal wrote "Acommittee was set up. And the result tobe produced within a week. Ram Singhand his group were given the task ofsetting the music. Within a week theydid and Netaji approved. "I must mention why this issue related

to our National Anthem has beenbrought forth as a controversy onceagain. I got an invitation from All IndiaRadio, Guwahati to participate in a talkon 'Indian National Anthem's music

to disregard any achievements of othersbut their own. In this regard I quotefrom Deepak Subba's 'Ram SinghThakuri'(pp.80'81) who writes "FinallyI would like to appeal to all Bengalchauvinists and say that neither Ra-bindranath Tagore nor Netaji were theexclusive property of Bengal. They be-long to all Indians and peace lovingpeople."In addition to this, Ram Singh

Thakuri composed a large number ofpatriotic songs meant for INA and gavetune and music to them. But his contri-bution has not been properly recog-nized till today. It is perhaps due to thefact that he belonged to Gorkha com-munity and Gorkhas of India are de-manding a separate state Gorkhaland.It is noticed that most of the rejectionand disrespect to Gorkha people stemsfrom West Bengal, where the Gorkha-land movement is still raging. It is amystery why the government of Indiadoes not recognize the sacrifice of INAfighters. The Azad Hind Fouj, led byNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose con-tributed a lot to free India from theclutches of the British.Maj Gen. GD Bakshi in his book

"Bose or Gandhi: Who got India herfreedom?” (pp. XVlll) writes “TheBritish were ultimately forced out ofIndia not by Mahatma Gandhi andNehru's non-violent freedom strugglebut rather starkly by the INA that Bosehad formed with Japanese help.” It isgood to mention that the INA soldierswere allowed to take part in the Repub-lic Day parade since before last year.

It is time the government of Indiarecognizes the contribution of CaptainRam Singh Thakuri and other INA sol-diers. Concluding the controversy re-garding the music composer of ourNational Anthem, the Central govern-ment should issue a notification infavour of Ram Singh Thakuri. To payhomage to this music maestro govt. ofIndia should confer on him the "BharatRatna" (posthumously) and statues ofRam Singh Thakuri may be erected inpublic places and a musical award canbe declared in his name.

composer captain Ram Singh Thakuri' on23rd January 2020, conducted by NepaliSection of AIR Guwahati. Immediatelyafter two hours of the recording, a tele-phone call came from the Program exec-utive Shyamalendu Das to Bhaskar Dahalwho is in-chage of Nepali Section, dis-agreeing the fact that Ram Sing Thakuriis the man who composed the tune of ourNational Anthem. Fortunately I was alongwith Bhaskar Dahal at that time attendinga book release function, who wanted himto talk directly with me (the talker) toclarify the mater. I talked to Shyamalendu

Das and clarified the matter from my endand asked him to search the same in Gog-gle and You Tube too. In the meantime hemight have got it online searched andfound, what he knew was not absolutelytrue. Few minutes later he let BhaskarDahal know that despite racking up a con-troversy he would announce Ram SinghThakuri as a patriotic song composer inthe broadcast. In this way he disagreedthat Captain Ram Singh Thakuri is theman who actually composed the tune ofour National Anthem. This is a commonhabit of this particular section of people

SUNDAY MARCH 22 2020 3HERITAGE

ALL ABOUT MUSIC

Captain Ram Singh Thakuri -the unsung INA hero who iscredited with composing themusic for Jana Gana Mana,which all Indians pride in

National Anthem &its musiccomposer

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By: Kaustov Kashyap

Fresh out of college, the nextmove would be a new careerpath - both come with fear

about what lies in the future. With allthe preparation and hard work to landa job, there are things you shouldknow to make things work for you. After all, those alerts that you set

up to land this job should not gowaste. After all those nights that youhave spent looking online for a per-fect job application letter, resume for-mats, preparing for interviewquestions and more, you expect thefirst day to be just perfect paying offall that you have put in for the job.But, the scenario can be different.There are a certain sets of challengesthat everyone faces at a new job.There are somethings you can do tocope with these challenges and getover the anxious feeling that the newjob brings to you.

Here is how to cope witha career start:

Accept the Work that Comes toYouYou might leave the college with

high expectations from the new jobyou are just into, but the reality couldbe that you may be given smaller re-sponsibilities before you have somereal stuff to deal with. So there arechances you may be required to dotasks that you don’t like, but are im-portant as they display different qual-ities like commitment and hard work.You will have to work hard, no mat-ter what task you are assigned for thefirst few days, weeks or months. Ifyou prove yourself in this time, youwill climb your success ladder inspeed. Learn new things every dayand make a list of each.

Adhere to Deadlines Strictly andStay OrganizedStarting a career is nothing like a

school or college. When in a new job,make sure that you follow some basicrules before you are completely insync with the company culture. Someof them include:

Always being on timeStaying organizedGetting your work done on or

before timeA lot of times you would not come

to notice unless you are doing some-thing immensely great or somethinghorribly wrong. But doing the abovementioned tasks ensure that youwon’t leave a single impression ofbeing unproductive.

Fit into the Company CultureEvery organization retains its iden-

tity and fitting into it is important fora healthy and happy workplace.There are interviews that test a can-didate for cultural fit. If you need to change a lot about

yourself to fit in the company, thenprobably you should not be there.

Just make an effort to mix and meeteveryone you need to. Start with introducing yourself

around. Make sure you never have yourlunch or coffee alone. The goal is to leave an impression on

anyone you meet. When you meet andtalk to people, you also get to knowabout the culture and you would know

what you need to do to actually fit in.Ask Questions FrequentlyAsking questions is important. Your

employers expect you to do your job cor-rectly and you should ask questionswhen you start out. Be sure you are lis-tening to their answers actively and if re-quired make a note of it as well. In thebeginning, make sure you ask questions

at any point you are unsure. Whenyou are working on a project, makesure your boss knows your progressand any difficulty you face. This wayyou have your back at any time youget lost. Also, be sure you ask onlywhen you have to. Asking is great butdo not overdo it. If you get the basics,do not be afraid to get things doneyour way. If you have to make smalldecisions, go ahead and do that. Once,you are done with what has been as-signed to you, ask your boss “Whatnext is lined up for me?” Make sureyou have something on your plate thatkeeps you busy.

Dealing with StressIt is easy to feel lost at a job espe-

cially when you are at the start of your

career. This can eventually lead toburnout, which is not a good sign. Toavoid a situation like that, keep inmind the following.Know when you are overworked be-

cause working too much withoutproper breaks can lead to stress. Obvi-ously when you are new, asking for along vacation does not make sense,but taking a day off work would notharm anyone. In fact it is sure to bring good than

bad. Take frequent breaks during theday. It is a possibility that right at thebeginning of your career, you mightface long working hours as you needtime to understand and work thingsout. Make sure when you have a longday you give yourself enough breaksto keep yourself to save a bit of sanity.In the end, what works out is a finebalance between being reliable and ad-hering to work ethics and at the sametime giving yourself time to rejuve-nate. Your first job is about gettingthings done, making connections andlearning the complete dictionary ofcorporate life. It is about building yourcareer.

SUNDAY MARCH 22 20204 HERITAGE

CAREER TALK

Being taciturn or overdoingthings can have great

negative impact on your career, something you canavoid with expert advicefrom veterans. New jobsoffer a lot of adventure

Anxiety at the Startof Career

How to beat the beginner’s fear syndrome

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SUNDAY MARCH 22 2020 5HERITAGE

BEAUTY TALKBy: Shahnaz Husain

India is among the top producers oftomato in the world. These humble ro-bust red balls contain antioxidants and

vitamin C, which strengthen immune sys-tem and are a potent source of potassium,vitamin A, vitamin B and magnesiumwhich help to achieve flawless skin,healthy hair and a fit body.Slightly acidic in nature, tomatoes are

exceptionally beneficial for people whowant to lose weight and maintain theirblood pressure levels. It comes in numer-ous varieties that are grown in temperateclimates in various parts of the world.Tomatoes, the beauty guru are grown innumerous colours such as yellow, green,orange, black, brown, pink, white, brown,and purple, but are available mostly intheir distinctive red colour.Tomatoes, a staple in every kitchen are

a huge reservoir of beauty-enhancing prop-erties. Everyone knows the health benefitsof a juicy, sweet tomato but on other handit also protects skin from ultraviolet (UV)rays, thereby delaying skin aging and pro-tecting against skin cancer. Not only dotomatoes taste great but has immense cos-metic benefits which can also help you getflawless, radiant and attractive skin. Theordinary tomato is a treasure trove ofbeauty ingredients which can treat rashes,sunburn, dull skin, acne and large pores.In fact, tomato is particularly beneficial

for the health of the skin, as it also helps torestore the pH balance of the skin, whichcan get disrupted by harsh soaps andmake-up cosmetics. Tomato also containslycopene, which is a powerful antioxidantand therefore, has anti ageing benefitswhen applied on the skin. Tomato pulp ortomato juice also helps to reduce oilinessand lightens skin colour over a period oftime.

Tomato is most beneficial for preventingacne, as it closes the pores and keeps it freefrom clogged oil. Preventing clogged poresis a way of preventing blackheads, whichis the primary acne lesion. They contain lycopene

which is antioxidant andworks as sunscreen fromwithin and also help infighting cellular dam-age and reddening ofskin. Daily intake of25 milligrams of ly-copene reduces thenumber of free rad-icals in the body andalso help to retainthe moisture in bodyduring summers. Youdon't need to spend yourhard-earned money on ex-pensive cosmetic treatments ifyou can use this common ingredi-ent from your kitchen to enhance yourbeauty. Apply tomato juice or tomato pulp on

the face and wash off with plain water after15 minutes. Tomato pulp can be applied onskin with acne and gradually helps to con-trol and acne condition.

Mix tomato juice with bakingpowder (bicarbonate of soda)into a paste. Apply on oilyand blackhead proneareas of the face. Washoff after 5 minutes. Ithelps to preventblackheads.Mix one teaspoon

each tomato and cu-cumber juice andapply it on the faceto control oiliness ofthe skin. Over a pe-riod of time it will alsohelp to remove tan and

lighten skin colour.For normal to oily and com-

bination skin, mix 3 teaspoons oatswith a little egg white and 2 teaspoonstomato juice into a paste. It should be of aconsistency that does not drip. Apply on

the face, avoiding the lips and area aroundeyes. Wash it off after 20 to 30 minutes, orwhen it dries.You can also mix tomato juice with the

pulp of avocado for normal to oily skin.While tomato reduces oiliness and has anastringent effect, avocado moisturizes theskin without making it oily.For sun burnt skin, mix tomato juice

with powdered milk into a paste and applyon the face. It will help to remove tan.Take some tomato and grind it. Rub the

pulp onto your scalp and hair gently. Or,you can directly use the tomato juice on toyour hair also. Leave it on for 15 to 30minutes and wash it off. Regular applica-tion improves hair texture and repairs thedamage caused by sun and dust. For dry skin, mix tomato juice with al-

mond oil and apply on the face to removetan and lighten skin colour. Olive oil canalso be combined with tomato juice tolighten skin colour.Take 1 teaspoon tomato juice mix few

drops of aloe vera gel. Apply the mixtureon the under eye area carefully. Let it dryfor 15 minutes and then rinse it off. Applythis once daily for quick results. Tomatopulp possesses skin bleaching propertiesthat will lighten the darkened skin underthe eyes. Aloe vera contains antioxidantsand anti-inflammatory compounds thatwill rejuvenate the skin and also reduce thesigns of aging.Tomato juice or pulp can also be added

to fruits to make a fruit mask. Mashed ba-nana, ripe papaya and grated apple can beused with tomato juice for a nourishingand cleansing pack for all skin types.

(The author is international famebeauty expert and is called herbal queenof India)

RE

CIPE

TOMATOFOR BEAUTY

Tomatoes, a staple in every kitchen are a huge reservoir ofbeauty-enhancing properties

FISH KALIA

By: Minakshi Gohain

What to do, now that you’ve got to stay indoors in this time ofcrisis. Should life stop? No way! In fact, for the positively in-novative minds, holidays offer a lot of opportunity to engage in

constructive activities and cooking can be one of those gainful time-utilityto brighten the day. Look into your kitchen shelves, and if you’ve got thefollowing ingredients and spices, if would do well to work-out a FishKalia dish. The procedure is simple and just five steps away to enjoyinga really delicious fish dish. So here we go!

METHOD:Step 1: To start with, marinate thefish pieces with salt and half a tea-spoon of turmeric. Set it aside for20 minutes. Then heat the mustardoil in a frying pan, and fry the fishpieces once the oil becomes hot.Dab the fried fish pieces with papertowels to remove the excess oil.Keep the fish pieces for later use.

Step 2: Now, fry the potato pieces in thesame oil in which the fish was fried. Oncegolden, remove the potatoes and keep themaside.Step 3: In the remaining oil, add the bayleaf, cardamom, split red chillies, corianderand cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds

start spluttering, add the onionpaste, ginger and garlic paste,and fry for 5 minutes.Step 4: Next, add thechopped tomatoes,the remainingturmeric powderand yogurt. Stir itso that it mixeswell. Fry until oilseparates from thismixture, which willtake approximately10 minutes.

Step 5: Now add waterand bring it to a boil. Then

add the fried potato pieces toit. Reduce the flame and let it sim-

mer until the potatoes are tender and thegravy is thick. Then add the fish pieces andcook for about 5 minutes.

INGREDIENTS:500 gm fish1 large potato½ teaspoon ginger paste½ teaspoon coriander seeds1 large tomato1 teaspoon turmeric1 bay leaf3 red chilli½ cup mustard oil4 tablespoon onion paste½ teaspoon garlic paste½ teaspoon cumin seeds3 green cardamomsSalt as required1 tablespoon yoghurt (curd)Water as required

A simple 5-step cook-way to a deliciousFish Kalia dish to relish with family

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6 HERITAGE

LITERATURE

SUNDAY MARCH 22 2020

When Corona

By: Arti Pandey

When the mischievous CoronaWalks down naked on the streets ofGorgeous world or seeps intoGracious humans through littleNostrils or openings of beautiful Eyes and catchy wise ears,

A terror trikes and a cold shiverknocks

Down the spine , sickness soundshigh.

Folks suddenly wash their hands they Never had done before so madly.Quarantine becomes the usage of The time , husbands and wives sortout Their matters over many cups of Teas and coffees at breakfast.

Many couples, it came in The PrintFight unto divorces for such close-

ness As this had never had happened be-

fore.Children yell and dance for schoolshave Closed at once ,no exams , nofear of failing , merry life begins outof the blue. Aeroplanes rest drooping

their faces in The cool hangers and roads have

found Some hibernation ,a sigh of re-lief

Free from the thumping footfalls.Ye, Corona you are cute! Say the

birds Flying free in the uncompetitivesky

Air is bereft of venom and scorching Heat of carbon trash ,aha! So clear a

sky!How Corona! How? Why did you do

so!Are you a warning to unrest humansOr just a signal , a flash of horrid fu-

ture.Hey , corona it's enough ,go , take

yourCourse in mysterious woods go or Your death warrant would soon be is-

sued.Corona ! Take it as a warning

Man has overcome all in all the agesLife goes on ! You know it well!

TwinklingSigh

By: Bipul Chandra Kalita

When Sigh twinkles on nostrilsShe looks attached

And I lip her sadness silentlyKnowing how its warmth works.

Sigh knows me, and I know herMy unstable steps love

Both of us, and enliven our dreamsAs vivid sufferings are our shadows.

Global virus infects us too,We bleed in sleep

Sleeping in deep anguishTolerating, in fear, everything

To let us go with heavy breathing...

Wings of peace make us fly highWe ignore dark clouds

Swimming across oceans of painMotivating all brothers and sistersNot to stoop but to conquer and sur-

vive.

I'm a global soldier, the virus myenemy

Opportunists play with fireBecoming the game planners

Pretending to be the ultimate savioursAnd, I need to be the victims' eye-

opener,Sigh relieves all tensions from busy

schedules.

By: Swarup Kalluri

Although I live close to a mall, my visits there are few and far between.But today I had to go there to pick up a gift for a baby’s naming cer-emony. After much deliberation, I selected a moderately priced toy

and was waiting for my turn at the check-out counter, when a smartly-dressedkid skipped gaily across me to where the toffees and chocolates were on dis-play, and in one swift smooth action picked up and handed over one of thepricier selections to her mother, to be added to the shopping bag. Seeing thenonchalance of the entire transaction, my mind travelled to several decadesin the past to when I was a child in Bombay. Malls were unknown then, theonly place that came close to being called one being Akbarrallys near FloraFountain, which was way beyond the reach of a low-paid government servantthat my father was. As kids, we satisfied ourselves with the small pleasures like visits to the

sea face, where we would brave the jagged-edged rocks to get to water’s edgeand sample its brackish taste. Air conditioning was a rarity then and I still re-call our tentatively pushing open the door of an “air-conditioned” ChanduHalwa outlet that had come up near our house and gingerly stepping in, pre-tending to be ‘customers’. We had no money on us – kids didn’t get pocketmoney those days, at least not in our house – hence, after ogling at the mouth-watering sweets on display in glass cases, we would troop out, feeling satiatedhaving experienced the cool air inside the shop. Even when our parents took us on those rare outings such as to watch Ben

Hur or Guns of Navarone, eating out or buying biscuits or chocolates from ashop were pleasures far beyond our reach. Imagine our joy, therefore, when,on returning home one evening, my father veered off the footpath with us intow, into a shop which had a neon sign announcing itself as J B Mangharamand Sons. Alas, our expectation that father was going to buy us a packet ofthose crisp and creamy wafer biscuits that this brand was famous for wasshort-lived. My father, who was in one of his lighter moods that day, askedthe man at the counter whether he had inspected the neon sign in front of theshop lately. Upon seeing the quizzical look on the man’s face, my father toldhim that part of the neon lighting was blinking and the shop now proudly an-nounced itself as J B haram and Sons. With that, he guffawed loudly andtrooped out of the shop with us following reluctantly, as our longing forcreamy wafer biscuits went unfulfilled.

SMALL PLEASURES

YouBy: Rumi Laskar Bora

You said: It’s pouring with rain in lashing drops.

A rainy day it is, andlet’s get drenched!

Come, let’s walk away into the woods, where

there’s stillness profound,the yield of our sweet dreams.

I wondered: Have we got time enough?Darkness will descend soon;life seems at the crossroads to shed the old and shape anew.

You smiled: Where there’s a strong will, there’s ample possibility.The moon smiles on, stars spout on, and

the winged mind flies high.

Your words remind me but of Newton... Newton ... Newton.

Oh, brush aside life’s poor equations!

At your clarion call, Once more I win back

the might of my lost spirit.Deceiving time declaims

to the world: ‘Mad lovers we are.’

(‘Tumi’, Rumi Laskar Bora: trans-lated from Assamese

into English by Dr. Hasinus Sultan)

Thoughts ofheart

By: Ela Emon Kashyap

Ask a person,Who escaped death By a whisker,

What the death is !

Ask a man,Facing starvation, What the hunger is!

Ask a patient, Suffering from unknown disease,

What the pain is!

Ask a lover,Cheated in affair,

What the broken heart is!

Ecstasy has no bounds, Grieves don't have either.

When and whereThey become dearerNo one knows.

The sorrows Keep piercing Everyone's heart Until one's death.

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By: Rahul Desai

Devi, a 13-minute short, opens witha roomful of women from differ-ent walks of life. Everyone is

doing their own thing. A bored-looking“career woman” (characterized by herpant-suit) rocks on a chair, an upper-class“party girl” (characterized by vodkashots and tiny clothes) loungeson a sofa, a gentle “san-skaari wife” (sari, man-galsutra) blesses thespace with her pujaplate, a young med-ical student (labcoat) works on thedining table, a trioof middle-classMaharashtrian aun-ties are immersed ina loud game of cards,a deaf-and-muteteenager adjusts the tel-evision set, a Muslim ladywaxes her arms – and so on.The diversity is so jarringly on thenose that you immediately sense that theroom is a metaphorical one. What do theyrepresent? Is this some kind of purgatory?Why does the room look like a corner ofsome haunted mansion? Are they ghosts?

When so many known faces across eras– Kajol, Shruti Haasan, Neha Dhupia,Shivani Raghuvanshi, Neena Kulkarni –come together in the same frame, it’s al-most always likely that the film willfavour message over method. And it’s al-most always likely that the noble PSA-style intent will render it bulletproof in a

way that makes impassioned view-ers equate critics of the film

with heartless haters of hu-manity. Nevertheless, Iwill take that risk. Theproblem with Devi –like dozens of othersocially consciousmovies that aspireto evoke adjectivessuch as “hard-hit-ting” and “timely” –is the pretentiousposturing of its narra-

tive. You can literallyhear the design: How do

we give every charactersomething to say? How do we

make this story both righteous andsuspenseful at the same time? How longdo we keep the audience in the dark abouttheir identities?

The hints are far from clever: A newschannel has a TV journalist reporting on

a new “case”. The writing here tries sohard to be ambiguous that the reportsounds badly customized to keep the mys-tery alive.

The doorbell rings and the women startto debate about whether they should keepallowing more “newcomers” into theroom. “This is not a dharamshala,” arguesthe student. “There is no space; it’s toohot in here,” opines the snob. Kajol, nat-urally, plays the voice of reason. Not sur-prisingly, each one of them sounds like aclear role has been assigned to them. Thediscussion sounds far from organic. Whenone of them begins to propose qualifica-tion criteria (“If it was someone fromyour own family, you can stay”) neededto occupy the room, the motive of the filmbecomes clear.

It’s by no means a big or even half-

clever reveal, but the script seems to thinkit is. That’s when the simplistic self-right-eousness of the title dawned upon me. Tobe fair, Devi ends with a powerful mo-ment. But I couldn’t help but imagine thatthe entire short is reverse-engineered –with a sort of sentimental film-school-level idealism – to arrive at this image.And if the closing slate is going to be fullof statistics anyway, why go through theentire ordeal of using art as the mediumof awareness? Devi would have been justas hard-hitting if all the fine actresses inthe room had merely read out these num-bers to the camera. It would have felt justas timely if an expository voiceoverplayed over their silence. That, in myopinion, is a bigger irony than the vio-lence-against-women-in-land-of-god-desses title.

SUNDAY MARCH 22 2020 7HERITAGE

CELLULOID

A Heavy,high-profileshort in awe

of its own intent

When so many known faces acrosseras - Kajol, Shruti Haasan, NehaDhupia, Shivani Raghuvanshi,Neena Kulkarni - come together inthe same frame, it’s almost alwayslikely that the film will favour mes-sage over method. And it’s almost always likely that the noble PSA-style intent will render it bulletproofin a way that makes impassionedviewers equate critics of the filmwith heartless haters of humanity

HP 7_Layout 1 3/21/2020 5:17 PM Page 1

SUNDAY MARCH 22 20208 HERITAGE

WILDERNESS

By: Rabin Prasad Kalita

Apair of blue throated barbets hadperhaps conceived a great plan tohatch their chicks and thereby ex-

pand their family. As time drew close tolay eggs, they were evidently flying toand fro in search of a suitable tree tohouse a nest until finally they found adead and dry tree in front of our court-yard, just across the road. The pairseemed in a hurry to hollow out a cavitynest akin to their shape and size.My wife and I were keenly observing

and enjoying the progress of their eye-catching, ceaseless efforts which madeus so humble and excited. I kept mycamera on without troubling their on-going work and was able to capture theirinnumerous watchful actions. Graduallyboth of them took me in faith, sensingmy harmless activity and by the end ofthe second day, a beautiful cavity nestwas almost prepared to their and nature’sconvenience.No one knows for certain how long the

canopy of happiness would shade onone's life! It might last for a substantialperiod of time or collapse anytime. So,one has to live the present with a littlehope to slide-on for tomorrow.On the third day, in the evening, as I

reached home after my daylong work, Inoticed the dejected mood of my wife asshe greeted me on my arrival. She wasalmost soaked in teary eyes as shebriefed me about the fate of that pair ofbarbets. Alas! The tree on which thebirds had made plans to raise their youngones was felled by our neighbor for fire-wood.In what seemed to be mourning for us,

the next morning, the birds made desper-ate efforts to chirp and try to locate theirdestroyed new home, hither and thither,searching for the missing tree, in thehope of finding it. Two days of hardwork as per the plan and earnest aspira-tion was ruined in a minute. Sadly, aftera couple of hours they had to fly away insearch of another tree incubating an in-domitable hope. Possibly they wouldfind another tree nearby to plan theirdream into a success!! There are a lot ofunforeseen barricades in life but successremains with one who negotiates withthe situations.Only a sufferer can visualize about the

pain of any such unpredictable conse-quences. Here is a similar example Iwould like to quote about how we had togo through such mayhem while revamp-ing our own house. Though we were too

small to take part actively but the thingswere still not blurred in our mind. Noone can forget one’s sorrowful days forsure.My father was a grade three state gov-

ernment employee. The salary he re-ceived was not sufficient enough to feedand sustain six members of our family,though the standard of living was verysimple those days. There was no expenseon internet, phone, television, cable,electricity, various gadgets, cooking gas,micro oven, refrigerator, washing ma-chine and a long list. He even had to drophis plan each month to purchase a bicy-cle for himself, lest he fall short ofmoney to make ends meet.People in 70’s – 80’s engaged in culti-

vation were better off in terms of earn-ings compared to grade 3 or grade 4government employees. I heard him hav-ing conversations with mom on a numberof occasions to renovate our old thatchedhouse to tin roof shade. Plans were well

chalked out but when the requisite finan-cial requirement punched the intent, thematter was dropped off for the next time.Soon the word ‘next time’ consumed adecade. He dared not touch the house, incase that remained unfinished for shortof cash. Each time he had to pack up hisluggage and return to his working place,soon he finished his spell of leave.Being an ardent house maker, my mom

had no option left except to nod and lis-ten to him. It was not that my mom wasunaware about the prevailing financialobligations. She was educated enough insuch matters even though her educationwas just upper primary level. We hadsufficient numbers of beetle nut (tamool)trees along with beetle leaves (paan) inour backyard which yielded abundantlyevery year. My mom used to sell those athome itself in lump sum to the bulkdealer. She added some amount to spendfor our daily requirements and the restshe kept in custody so that she could

Lost at the edge ofuncertainty!The asylum of hope: There is always asilver lining in the darkest of clouds

contribute in the hour of grave need.Moreover, she domesticated silk

moths at home for silkworm yarn bywhich she weaved many beautifulshawls for all of us. The excess shawlswere sold in the market which fetchedher high value. Thus she made a goodamount of money and saved in thestem cavity between two nodes of abamboo pole. Bamboo posts werefixed for supporting the side walls ofour house. It was like a pedagogicalpiggy bank which taught us the rudi-ments of thrift and savings.Next time when my father came

home on leave, they had the same dis-cussion stirred once again while diningtogether. This time my mom smiled alittle and without talking much,pointed towards the pole to open up theinter node of the bamboo cavity whichwas almost filled with coins and papercurrencies. My father took a knife rightaway showing a sign of jeer to mymom with a word “let’s cut and openup”. As he opened the big stem cavity,he was pleasantly shocked and lost hiswords to appreciate her. How come shecould save such a huge amount ofmoney? My father was besieged withwetted eyes sensing that would be amassive contribution towards the refur-bishment of our ancestral house.Somehow the old roof top was changedinto the tin sheets without further delayfor which my father had to extend hisleave for a couple of days more.We were happy to live under the new

shade though the tins were fixed andtightened up with bamboo, and thus,our night ordeals were over. Earlierthroughout the monsoon season, wehad to sit somewhere in safe place tosave ourselves from the number ofseepages from thatched roof. Previ-ously, we witnessed many nightscounting every second and prayed forthe sun to reappear in the morning inclear sky.But our happiness didn’t last long.

God may have been testing our en-durance. One evening in mid June inthe same year, almost half of our tinroof was blown away in a fierce thun-derstorm. After the storm calmed, weall went out along with other ill-fatedneighbours in search of our lost be-longings throughout the night underthe incessant downpour.I do remember a proverb which I

read somewhere in my school days,that well fits into this context i.e. "Manproposes God disposes". Humansmake plans, but ultimately it's Godwho decides the success or failure. Dowe know what comes next? We findcourage in the face of helplessness,triviality and uncertainty. Hence, un-certainty is the asylum of hope.

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