The Ballad of the Brave Bhakri

My blogger friend Zephyr Nag literally opened a can of angry spices, as it were, when she wrote a wonderful post "Banish Dalia, let Quinoa Rule. "   These kind of thoughts have been simmering, in what one might called "Aunty Space" (I wrote a post on Auntyfication around the same time), and Zephyr's post was just the trigger for an avalanche.

Really, age has nothing to do with it. It is just that we grew up just fine without all these now-deemed-necessary-items, and still continue to do so, in the face of all these efforts being made by multinationals, to change our diet and expenditure patterns. 

Call it old fashioned or whatever. I guess we only pay attention when it comes back to us from the west......

The Moongfalees and Sarsos doth protest majorly; After a lifetime of being subjected to a squeezing into oil, and a dedicated domicile in hot kadhais and tadkas, they stand cracked and open mouthed at the encroachment by Lady Oilve and her pricey dribbling nakhras. And Tulsi , despite being a HRD Minister gets compared to Sir Basil, and treated like the poor cousin from the same family; Raging Dhaniyas being Jeer(a)-ed by the Thyme and Marjoram types, with the Garam Masalas laughing at the O-re-ganos thinking they can make spicy music. The original corns being misled by those that think that they are sweet and being golden is smart.

And the imitation chickoos, in reverse immigration as kiwis, not to mention, apples and pears, that bear labels as if they are part of the Designer Fruits of India Fashion Week, outrageous prices and all; Plums that have an identity crisis being sometimes large and dark in a land where Fair is Lovely; And capsicums, clearly convinced about that as they emerge sometimes blindingly yellow and sometimes shamelessly red, defying he traditional green. Broccoli beauties trying to be exclusive ignoring their cauliflower origins, suddenly realising they don't stand a chance in the face of Bagaray Baingan and Bhindi Fry...

And then one day Mrs Jowar Bhakri who has had it up to there with all this, bursts forth : "Away with streaky food designs in square plates; come eat a full meal with me; Zuchchinitai is not a patch on Khamang Kakdi, and Avokadorao needs to hear everyone saying Aho Kadho, Aho Kadho, when he appears ; As for the Flax Youths smitten by the adulation, do you really want to be roasted and gulped, when you can revel in the company of Garlic and Cayenne, teased by the Kadhipatta ladies, and get to be devoured along with white butter, watched by a Pithla simmering in jealously on the side, muttering to a green chilly asking "Bolo, yeh Quinoa kaun hai ?......"