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Hopenhagen failed!
Copenhagen Accord may have been an easy escape for the Richie Riches of the world and a ‘flexible’ move on the part of India, but the outcome has disappointed various social and environment groups equally. With the leaders of two dozen countries failing the world’s poor again, the entire thing that was being hailed as a significant step towards slowing down global warming, turned out to be a damp squib in the end. And once again, we are forced to shoulder the responsibility and the burden of some solutions individually.
“I think the Copenhagen summit failed because developed nations were unable to ensure an equitable deal. Developing nations, namely India and Africa, even today have per capita carbon emissions which are 1/5 of that of the US or Australia,” says Shreya Kishore, Miss India Earth 2009, and an environment enthusiast. “There was more of moral posturing by the developed nations without making any serious commitments,” she adds. While Shreya may have a point in defense of the poor, and now exhausted under the burden of justifications, Jairam Ramesh, our own green crusader, feels it’s time to act local, but at least think global.
“It’s nothing new, just another case of the intellectual hopes at the global level letting us down. Anyway, the issue would be helped more by some local action and not global discussion. If each one realises our responsibility towards the cause, then we don’t have to depend on the system for solutions,” says Gaurav Chabra of Humlog. Sharing the view is Boboton Singh, city coordinator, Greenpeace- Chandigarh chapter. “It’s more about making a personal effort. It’s disappointing to see the summit ending without any substantial results, but then the action can still be taken to cut down the individual carbon emissions, if we are more aware and act responsible,” he adds. They did their share by making Noise For the Planet, to raise awareness before Copenhagen at Sukhna Lake. “We had good response from the crowd, blowing whistles, drums and joining hands to make the voice of planet reach the diplomatic ears,” he says. Another angle to the entire debate is the GDP factor. While addressing the Parliament over the issue, Jairam Ramesh made it clear that ‘For the Western countries, it may be an environmental issue but for us it was a developmental issue.” “Until the West opens up its resources to the poor nations and come up with cost-effective technologies, the issue remains,” feels Gaurav. The deal also fell short of the UN ambitions, which was meant to be a turning point to push the world economy towards renewable energies, such as hydro, solar and wind power, and away from fossil fuels. “It was incumbent on the part of the developed nations to pledge financial aid and technology estimated to the tune of $1 trillion and then settle for a paltry $100 billion. Even the carbon emission cut offs were disappointing, 17-20 per cent than the needed 40 per cent,” says Shreya. She adds that for nations on a crucial stage of development, complete switch over to the green technology will affect the GDP. But Boboton differs, “We are forgetting that we are heading towards a unhealthy, unfavorable environment in the name of development. Is that what we want to leave behind for our children?” Well, while the government tries to find a middle ground, the refugees of climate change will not stop demanding their rights. nehawalia@tribunemail.com |
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Come Rain(a), come shine
Meet M.K Raina the noted theatre, film actor, director and designer of international repute on December 26 at 4 pm at the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi auditorium, State Library Building-34.
Presently busy in organising the South Asia Peace Festival in Punjab, Raina has been credited with multifarious contribution to the performing and visual arts, stamping his versatility as an actor, director, production designer, producer of plays and films. A veteran actor director of over 100 plays, seven TV serials, seven telefilms, three tele plays and actor of over 24 feature films, Raina is a visiting professor for five leading institutions, including the FTTI Pune and the NSD, New Delhi. Rightfully decorated with top national honours, the alumnus gem of NSD, Raina is in the city on the invitation of Kamal Tewari, chairpersonof the akademi, for an interaction with city artistes.—
S.D Sharma
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Unchained verses
Sixty poems on relationships! Relationship with parents, sons, friends, women friends, unborn daughter, even with the tomato in the garden, mangoes, kite and garlic. Anything that triggers a thought process, makes up for inspiration and it need not necessarily be someone close, a passerby can influence too, anything can leave an impact, if it emotionally binds.
Amarjit Chandan hasn’t ever defined the sphere of his relationships, not even in the compilation of poems in his book, Sonata for Four Hands, not even in the total 500 poems he has written or in the three books of prose. He explains the cause with an example, “On a visit to America, I saw the Punjabi translation of garlic on the sign-board of a farm. It was an advertisement for Punjabis there who knew how to plant garlic. That Punjabi translation of garlic in America tasted like sugar lump, thus a relationship was formed and rejoiced through the poem.” Every poem has a similar story behind it. The book will have the poems originally written in Punjabi and their translations in English on the corresponding side, though he feels the translation usually fails to do justice to the original text. “The soul of the poem goes amiss when it is translated. Emotions and feelings help me write a poem, which I fail to find after it’s translated,” adds he. He prefers to translate his poems but acknowledges the fact that most of his work can’t be translated from Punjabi at all, “For, certain words of English might not be as expressive and appealing as words Punjabi.” His 160 poems have been translated into English. The three books of prose, he feels, can’t be translated as more emotions are involved. “Prose requires a deep meditative process. Unlike verses, it’s not an account of a momentary flash or feeling but is a result of introspection, the originality of which you can’t temper with.” Settled in England for the past three decades, his love for Punjabi hasn’t diminished even when his sons converse only in English, something he rues. In fact, he feels that staying away from his motherland has made him value his mother tongue all the more, “The present generation’s inclination towards English, rather than Punjabi, is the subject of my most recent poems.” So, out of the whole English vocabulary, the only word he likes is, telephone, as it, “Rings a bell in my mind and make me connect with people.” Also, Amarjit has another side to him, which he again relates to the theme of his poems relationships. In 1970s, he was an active member of Naxals and contributed to their cause through his write-ups in Lokyudh, the official Naxalite newspaper in Punjabi. Though, he now no more believes in the theory of Naxalism, for the uncalled violent means they follow. He believes, “Social activism and human relationships are interrelated. It’s the set up of society that defines our relationships. If the constitution of society is erroneous, relationships are bound to get affected, resulting in revolts.” Relationships take the center-stage once again. The reading session of his poems will be held at the Government Museum and Art Gallery-10 on Saturday at 3.30pm. ashima@tribunemail.com |
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So far, so close
Born and brought up in Mehraj village, near Bathinda, ophthalmologist Dr Mohinder K. Gupta retains his Punjabi warmth and mannerism even though he’s settled in the United States for over three decades now. Dr Gupta a regular visitor to his native place as also to Patiala where he graduated from the Government Medical College way back in 1972, delivered a talk on the recent advances in cataract surgery organised by Dr Sukhdip S. Boparai, chief consultant of the Patiala Eye Hospital and Lasik Laser Centre. Dr Gupta informally shared with them his traits of building a rapport with the patients. He said that he tries to establish a personal equation with them. Like if his patient is a farmer, he will talk to him about his farm production and ask him to carry along a sample of his farm produce whenever he visited him next time. This establishes mutual trust with the patient and strengthens my bonds with the patients who start understanding that I am genuinely interested in them. It is no joking that I have samples of black and white pepper in huge quantities as in Ashland, Ohio and Mansfield, Ohio where I practice surgery there are a good number of farmers?
Speaking on the occasion Dr Gupta said that traditional lasik still has some drawbacks because of the nature of the cornea. Light that enters around the edge of a lasik corrected cornea is diffused, resulting in halos, starbursts, and poor vision in dim light. Wave front Lasik (Custom Cornea) technology is superior, and is used in conjunction with the LADAR Vision 4000 excimer laser. Dr Gupta is an avid lover of things Punjabi and loves Punjabi life and culture. He says that despite being in the US for almost four decades he still speaks Punjabi back home and so do his wife and three sons. Even his grandchildren are fluent in Punjabi. In Patiala to attend a wedding Dr Gupta donned a bhangra dress and sported a Punjabi turban and many among the wedding party did not believe that it was the well-known ophthalmologist shaking a leg. Dr Gupta, along with Dr Boparai, has done pioneering work in the field of phaco-emulsification (stitchless cataract surgery) and Lasik Laser in the region. He had last year performed over 100 eye surgeries in the Caribbean island nation Dominican Republic where he was part of a team of experts who went to the tiny national to help thousands of patients suffering from different eye ailments. |
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Theatre treat
None of the old thespians has elicited the love and affection of the naïve art lover, theatre and acclaimed theatre artists than the great Gursharan Singh, a pioneering theatre personality credited with giving new dimension to Punjabi theatre and grooming a new generation of artists with his humble yet stalwart contribution. His courage and unbending dignity to fight anti-human forces, a perpetual threat to society, through the powerful medium of theatre has been duly acknowledged with the love of his admirers. Prestigious awards like Sangeet Natak Academy fellowship award and Kalidas award. He is the only Punjabi theatre person who has taken Punjabi theatre to the remotest areas. Punjabi
Tribune on the behalf of public opinion voted him as “Punjabi 2005”.
In his honour, Suchetak Rangmanch is organising the 6th Gursharan Singh Naat Utsav 2009, at Shivalik Public School Phase-6 Mohali from 26 to 28 December 2009. As per festival director Anita Shabdeesh four plays, as briefed will be staged during the fest.
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Fare enough!
2009 — the year was significant in many more ways than food. But since we have to talk about food, there was plenty cooking on this front. And, for our city that is high on gastronomic delight, the year belonged largely to makeovers. Some got a complete facelift, some mere cosmetic changes.
Other than this, food festivals were a major draw this year. If momos were biting into the rehri fare, we had African and Mediterranean delicacies giving noodles a run for its money. Opened this year, restaurant like Sankalap-26, Flamme Bois Café-35 etc dished out not only flavour but also variety.
And, giving way to healthier fare were restaurant renovations. From Metro 35 to Sundarams, there was fresh fare on the gourmet platter. Yet, there was a hunger for more as the year saw old wine in a new bottle. For our regular foodies, the year didn’t see many new eating joints, for pub goers they also saw less of launches, and more of re-launches and by the year-end, we can confidently say, it was a season of mere cosmetic changes for our gastro getaways. But adding some spice to the overall dry year, the year-end saw the opening of Crystal, a restro lounge in Sector 26 and other than that the so-called poor cousin of the city (read Mohali) got its own Shangrila, Bakers’ Hub and Tadka, a new family restaurant. Brewing no new conversations, the year didn’t see any new coffee outlets also, but yes we saw Lavazza, a Barista outlet coming up in Sector 17.
The good news for the epicureans was— the tricity brimmed with a host of food festivals. Starting with Moti Mahal’s Hyderabadi and Peshawari food festivals, we had Purple Rice put up an oriental fare, Copper Chimney with their Great Indian Kebab Festival, African Barbeque at Barbeque Nation, Bebe De Rasoi, a millet-based traditional food festival at Press Club-27, Mediterranean Food Fest at Zinc-26, Punjabi Fare at Vodoo’s Zaika and Fun City and yes, we even had a seafood fest at Hotel Western Court-43 and Panchkula. But taking the plum share of it all was the Chandigarh Crafts Mela at Kalagram. And tickling the taste buds was the Wazwan delicacies from Jammu and Kashmir and the sweet Jaleb from Gohana. A fun fare, this mela also saw the launch of first-ever sky dining. Though it wasn’t a hit with city connoisseurs, but the concept was definitely sky high. That was for food fair, but we also had food experts coming to the city. First came John Higgins a Canadian chef, director of George Brown Chef School, Toronto, at the Taj, then we had the grand dame of all things edible, Karen Anand in the city for an Event Men Can Cook and well, we also had the model-turned-chef Aditya Bal in the city teaching some innovative ways of cooking. And, last raising the bar a little high, CII held a wine tasting session that saw some fine wine and cheese to go with it. In the end we can say, though this wasn’t a leap year for food, but we definitely had some food for thought! jigyasachimra@tribunemail.com |
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Chocolate crisis
Soaring cocoa prices, at 30-year peaks, could drive confectioners towards milk chocolate from healthier dark chocolate, and to downsize bars and use cheaperalternative ingredients. European cocoa traders and consultants said the almost doubling of cocoa prices in the past two years will inevitably force a re-think of sales and marketing strategies of confectioners and increase the appeal of industry consolidation.
Tight supplies and low investment by West African producers drove cocoa futures prices on the ICE market in New York to a 30-year high of $3,510 per tonne on December 16. Chris Brockman, market research manager at consultants Leatherhead Food Research, said that during an economic downturn, confectioners would do their best not to hikechocolate prices in response to the cocoa market rally.“We’ll see a move to less cocoa content,” he said.A recent shift in tastes towards dark chocolate, which hashigh cocoa content and is perceived to have health benefits, was likely to swing back towards milk chocolate.“Dark chocolate has suffered substantially. It was a leadingsegment of the market,” said Ricardo Santos, a senior cocoatrader with the agri-commodity brokerage of BNP Paribas Fortis.Confectioners could leave prices unchanged but make smaller chocolate bars and use cheaper alternative ingredients, such as cranberries andblueberries. “The incorporation particularly of ‘super-fruits’ that have
proven health benefits, has been prevalent,” said Brockman. This year, privately owned Mars cut the size of its Galaxy bars by 17 percent to 125g, after the shelf price rose 26 percent to 1.26 pounds ($2.02), according to Leatherhead Food Research.Confectioners have revived brands, such as Cadbury’s Wispa, allowing them to slash advertising budgets compared with a new brand launch, and helped them tackle commodity price inflation. —
Reuters |
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Chosen curry
It has emerged that Indian curries are fast becoming one of the favourite dishes on the British menu. The traditional fish and chips supper, which had originated in the United Kingdom, has now become more popular in Dublin than anywhere in the UK.
But Indian curries are on the menus of most eateries, except in London and the North West, where Chinese food is more popular. A survey showed found that Indian and Chinese meals together make up three out of every five takeaways. Website Just-Eat.co.uk quizzed 1,200 people and found that the average annual takeaway bill is 550 pounds, and that sales go up more during the winter. “People get great comfort from takeaways in the winter - and there is the bonus of no washing up,” the Sun quoted David Buttress, Just-Eat’s managing director, as saying. —ANI |
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Party pleasers
It’s festive time and what better way to warm up your cold days than with food? Kandla Nijhowne
Baked rice with mushroom and chicken
Ingredients 1 ½ cups uncooked rice Method Wash and rinse rice until the water runs clear. In a heated wok or saucepan, melt the butter. Add the sliced mushrooms and the cubed chicken. Saute for a few minutes until the surface of the chicken pieces are sealed and somewhat white. Add the washed rice along with salt and black pepper and garlic. Stir well, add a little less than 3 cups of water and cook. When the rice looks nearly done, spread into a buttered shallow dish and scatter a layer of shredded cheese over the surface. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C (392F) for about 20-25 minutes, or until all the cheese has melted and is very slightly browned. Garnish with parsley. Vegetable jambalaya
Ingredients A true jambalaya uses sausages, shrimp and chicken. This rich vegetarian recipe version uses beans to provide a meaty texture and flavor! 1 tbsp. oil 1 onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper, chopped ½ cup chopped celery 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 cups water 350 gm diced tomatoes 4 tbsp tomato sauce ½ tsp. dried Italian seasoning ½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes ½ tsp. fennel seeds, crushed 1 cup uncooked long grain rice 300 gm cooked beans(rajmah) Method In a large karhai, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, green bell pepper, celery, and garlic in hot oil until tender, about 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add water, tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and fennel seed. Bring to a boil and add rice. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes until rice is tender, stirring frequently. Add beans and cover. Simmer 5-10 minutes longer or until well heated, stirring frequently.
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Festive times mean party times too! I adore winter mornings and afternoons, just as much as I abhor the evenings where dressing to keep warm is a major nuisance! It’s great to entertain at home, making the best of the balmy, sunny afternoons. I bring you inspiring potluck ideas for a leisurely mid-morning brunch, a backyard picnic or a Sunday supper. Both these delightful one-dish meals are rice based and are easy to carry out. They are also perfect when you have a home party since they are virtually fuss free. Add a tossed salad of winter greens or some flash fried broccolli with garlic, maybe some roast potatoes and your meal is complete! The chicken recipe is my personal favourite because there is not much in the world that looks more appealing to me than a baked cheese topping! However, you may substitute the chicken with paneer or soya nuggets.