World Samosa Day 🍱

Do you know, September 5th is World Samosa Day?

Photo credits: Internet

Samosa, as we know it, is a popular snack in India. They are prepared using wheat or maida flour with fillings (veg or non-veg) and served with chutney made with mint, tamarind, and coriander. They vary in size and shape depending on where they are from (cones or half-moons but usually are triangular in shape). Just as with their size and shape, their ingredients and spices vary by region (peas, potatoes, cheese, onions, minced meat, beef, lamb, green chiles, ginger, and spices).

According to Historians, Samosa's origin is dated back to 10th century in the Iranian Plateau in the Middle East. The first official mention of samosa was found in Iranian historian Abolfazl Beyhaqi’s work Tarikh-e Beyhaghi, where it was referred to as ‘Sambosa’.

From there they made their way into India through Libya, Egypt, and Central Asia! That was sometime in the 13th or 14th century during the Delhi Sultanate rule. The first mention of samosa in the royal era began when noted poet and scholar of the Delhi Sultanate, Amir Khusro spoke of samosa prepared from meat, ghee, and onion that nobles relished during that time.

Later, in 14th-century traveller, Ibn Battuta, mentioned about sambusak (aka samosa) made with minced meat, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, and spices being served as part of a royal meal in the court of Muhammad bin Tughluq. Even in the Mughal dynasty, Ain-i-Akbari, has mentioned the recipe of samosa known as ‘Sanbúsah’.

 

From then to now, the versions have only increased and each one special! For example, in Portugal, Brazil, and Mozambique region, samosa is known as ‘pastéis’. While in the Arab countries, they call it ‘Sambusak’ stuffed with minced meat or chicken, onions, spinach and feta cheese. In Israel samosas are stuffed with mashed chickpeas and in Maldives, they stuff it with a filling of tuna or fish mixed with onions.

All these names come from the Persian word Sanbosag, which means "triangle pastry." 

 

From Asia, the popularity has spread world wide gaining a dedicated day for itself! Since 2016 September 5 is celebrated as World Samosa Day!

There's even a Guinness World Record in 2017 for the absolute largest Samosa in the world, weighing 153 kg, made in a London mosque as a way to bring awareness to a charity! Way to go on World Samosa Day!

Samosas and Jalebis are much sought after dish in many parts of India!

Oh, all the talk on Samosas has made my stomach growl with hunger or perhaps craving! I am going to do pet puja!

 C U later... Till then, Stay safe and Stay healthy! 🙏

07.09.2021

Me Too Vaccinated!

Day 01.06.2021... Got vaccinated!

I was not going to. I had not even thought of getting the vaccination at least not this week. The drive for vaccinating 18+ got started on 28th May in our office. 

Some one sent a message on WhatsApp group that slots are free and no rush... So people were rushing like an opportunity not to missed. 

Surprisingly, a few of those covidiots whom I have never seen neither wearing masks proper and never missing a chance to gossip were the first ones to get vaccinated! I was under the impression that they considered themselves as superhumans whom the virus could never touch! Guess, superhumans also have weaknesses! 

Vaccination is a safety net for the one vaccinated but they could be a carrier and pass on the virus to others. I wonder should I name them Selfish or am I just over thinking! Left to see how they would be behaving after the vaccination... Because no where any one has said that once vaccinated we can discard the covid appropriate behaviors! 

Neither do I want to be infected nor do I wish to be a carrier! 🙏 

My boss came and kind of informed me of the centre asking me to go if I wanted to. I was literally in a dilemma. 

Should I or shouldn't I? 

The vaccination for 18+ had started on May 1st but due to shortage of vaccines it had not been going on full fledged like when it was for 60plus and 45plus. And, I had been thinking I will do it once my parents second dose is done... Around this month second week! I had all those questions that I am sure many had and still have... doubts... Fears... are they efficient... any unknown side effects? They were so strong almost pulling me back! But, anyway went ahead... some safety is better than nothing, I guess! 

It felt like an invasion... Letting some stranger into my blood stream... Into the core of my body... I could almost imagine my whole inner body gearing up to face this unknown forced entry! All those chaos because of a stranger in the midst! 

Initially for 45+, our office had given Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV). Covaxin is developed using Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell derived platform technology i.e., they are inactivated vaccines which do not replicate and are therefore unlikely to revert and cause pathological effects. They contain dead virus, incapable of infecting people but still able to instruct the immune system to mount a defensive reaction against an infection. The technology similar to those in the vaccines for diseases such as Seasonal Influenza, Polio, Pertussis, Rabies, and Japanese Encephalitis.

But for 18+, they are giving Covishield. I think because of shortage! Covishield - the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine created by the Serum Institute of India. It is a recombinant, replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus vector encoding the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein. Following administration, the genetic material of part of corona virus is expressed which stimulates an immune response.

Anyways, time only will tell how efficient they are! For now, I am nursing my injected arm trying to reduce the pain and had a paracetamol for the fever and headache I felt when I woke up this morning. Amma is not letting do any work so it's my absolute day off! 😁

May doze off any moment... dreaming the battle of corona within me! 

Let the good conquer the evil. 🙏

02.06.2021

An Unexpected phone call!

“Memory is the treasure house of the mind wherein the monuments thereof are kept and preserved.”

                          – Thomas Fuller

The many years that we live in this world, we cross line with lives of so many people. Some leaving a mark in us, some becoming friends forever and some mere acquaintances who we tend to forget as we move on and some others who becomes memories… Memories of a beautiful time! And years later when something unexpected happens and triggers those memories… we literally go back into those times and relive them in the mysterious mind of ours. The ecstasy that brings… indescribable!

It was a very uneventful day… office day for me. We have an alternate days working schedule with 50 per cent attendance because of this lockdown. That kind of makes it a little easy to go to office in the midst of this second wave. May God bless the souls of people (so many) who had succumbed to this deadly virus and those suffering the aftermaths of the infection! And, may the infected get well soon without much complication! And, the rest, May God give them enough sense to follow covid appropriate behaviour!

So it was a very uneventful day. Made tea in the evening and had with my family. And, casually my father comes and sits next to me. He nudges me to look at him and I see him all beaming. His eyes and face an explosion of emotions and happiness as he says, Today I got two calls from my long lost friends… and he went on to say how two of his friends had called him and what all they spoke before sharing with me how surprised he was on getting their call… they had lost touch almost 30 years ago! Happy that they had searched for his number and called him… Happy for the happy memories that caught with him with these unexpected calls! And me, just happy to see him so much excited!

“So long as the memory of certain beloved friends lives in my heart, I shall say that life is good.”

                      – Helen Keller

All evening he moved around dreamily absorbed in his own world of memories. After dinner, I find him browsing in the gallery and about to share one of his stylish snaps. (He has lots of pictures of himself in different styles and poses… always takes a snap before going for a shave or hair cut! And sometimes he would be crazy about moustaches and grow them and send a pic to all before shaving! Men and their fashion!! ). I quietly watch him.

I could see ecstasy right in front of me then!

God Bless! 

28.05.2021

P.S. Please note that the word  ecstasy here in this context is used to mean extreme happiness... A kind of bliss. That's the first word that came to my mind and I didn't feel like editing 😊... The word's got a punch!!

The Dark Demon

There was a time when DEATH never affected us. But as you grow up DEATH becomes a reality so dark and as you grow even more, I guess, DEATH becomes a reality so peaceful! I am right now in that middle stage where DEATH is a "SCARY DARK DEMON"... beyond imagination!

Today May 25th 2021, got a shocking news! My colleague's second son, a mere four and a half year old boy, passed away in an accident. He fell into the pond in the courtyard in his hometown and no one realised until it was too late. He was visiting for the holidays. Him and his elder brother... another kid! The mother was away and I can't imagine her grief. How will she bear? A part of her taken away so young... She herself so young! She was here with her third kid, a two year old!

“Grief is like mending a knee. You can mend the knee and make it function, but the knee never actually heals”

                – Jason Reynolds

Everyone used to ask her how she would manage with three kids? And now what... How will she manage not having all of her kids? Worse would be the memories! Bet each and everything would remind her of him and the loss! I am no mother myself but I can imagine the depth of this grief to an extent... a bottomless void! A breakup itself creates such a void and torturous memories... A mother and a child... unperceivable! Have read somewhere... no matter how many kids a woman will have... one kid lost... he would be the most loved of all... always.

“Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell”

                      – William Penn

Have only seen similar tragic incidents in movies. Shed two tears and it was forgotten but of course the storyline and a few scenes would haunt at times but they could be conveniently forgotten and dismissed as just a story. But now... this. I seriously wish and hope it hadn't happened to someone I knew. Because I know her and her face comes to my mind... always smiling. Can't imagine sadness creeping into those eyes but the image keeps popping... the sadness.. the pain, and I try to forget. Forget the whole incident.

"It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things."

                    – Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

Praying with hope that she gains the strength to bear and move forward without any negativity in her because its an easy time to get those negative thoughts in. Negative thoughts like all those what ifs and worse, blame! But who can one blame in this? Those who were there around and didn't keep track of the boy? Well, I am sure they would be self condemning themselves already! Or, the parents who were not around? I am sure they would be thinking of all those what ifs now!!

“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds” 

               – Psalm 147:3

It's not easy and somehow, not right to blame anyone but the mind... it can conjure up so many thoughts... Who will think of right or wrong at this hour? Sense feels senseless!!! Nothing is right.

“We never truly get over a loss, but we can move forward and evolve from it” – Elizabeth Berrien

A loss that can never be remedied... A pain that cannot be erased... A moment that cannot be reversed... Unfathomable and Unbearable. Yet life got to move on accepting and forgiving. 🙏

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

                    – PSALM 73:26

Cute... mmm!!!

Today a junior colleague of mine stopped me in the pantry and said, "Ma'am, kal main xyz ma'am k bete ko dekha. Bohut hi cute hai ma'am wo..."

(The xyz is one my closest friends here and I hadn't met her 6 months old son yet! Due to the corona and all!)

I was at a loss about how to respond. I couldn't picture cute! Of course my friend is beautiful so obviously her kid would be gol mol like her and "fair" (Being from north and all... That kind of fair!)! 

But, what did she mean by cute? I wanted to ask but that would sound ridiculous and well, rude too perhaps!

Aren't all babies cute? With their tiny innocent face and ever searching eyes? 

I have a few friends from south India and for them anything - anyone fair are beautiful and cute! The few times that I had stayed with them, they always seemed to feel inadequate because of their complexion! And, trust me, whenever they used crib and fret about it and look onto others skin tone with jealousy I have always felt like shaking them and telling them, look at me! Clearly they were fair compared to me but I wonder whether they are colour blind. Do they see only dark and fair? I want to tell them there are so many shades to a color! And so many beauty other than color of the skin! Touch wood, I have had a complexion-stress-free life with a fair share of fans! 

Well, as the saying goes beauty lies in the eye's of the beholder!

Cute... Reminded me of the pre-covid days when while returning home I had to pass an under construction building. Small sheds were placed around the building for the laborers where they stayed with their family! The kids played around on the heaps of mud. One evening as I passed them quite immersed in chatting with my friend... I heard the voice, "Bye, Akka..." I turned to see a small girl wave at me from top of the heap! She was surrounded by her friends or maybe siblings... Kids babies. I waved them back. Same thing repeated the next day. After a few days, they were not there and I felt sad. I missed that innocent exchange of gestures! It was always dark.. though i never saw her face, she was cute... She is cute!

Well, back to the present, I simply smiled and nodded and asked, "Milne gaye the tum?” and she replied, "Nahi, Video call!"!

Corona - The Fight Continues... Update

PM Modi launched pan-india rollout of Covid-19 vaccination drive today at 10.30AM live. 

Corona - The Fight Continues

Oh, it's New Year and I haven't written anything! Of course no one reads my posts!! (Ha ha) Still I am Hope... For all my future readers a very Happy New Year 2021!!

Year 2020 had started off normal turning into a chain of unexpected events like straight out of a movie! Year 2021 is continuing but with hope... The fight against the dreaded corona has taken a new turn... A Hope... A confidence...

We are starting with Vaccination and so many speculation... so many questions... doubts are coursing through our minds at this time... 

"How safe would it be? 

Will it be effective as claimed? 

What would be the side effects?

Would we succeed in getting rid of Corona finally - for good?"

All of us are by now done with this life full of restrictions and scare. Anyway, I think, many (most) of us have already started with normal life - doing everything that we once did. May be with the exception of having to wear a mask... Which mostly I see draped around the neck..like some fashion statement! Would this vaccination finally get rid of the "albatross around the neck"?

As per today, 5,63,500 doses of vaccine is delivered to different states. And the vaccine rollout would start from 16th January in a phased manner as per the Government.

The initial phase would cover about one crore health workers and two crore frontline workers..

In the next phase, those above 50yrs of age and those with associated co-morbidities like hypertension, diabetes, HIV, Cancer, chronic diseases etc would be considered. 

In subsequent phases others... Probably the Government may give open access via the private market to healthy adults, teenagers, children and lastly to neonates.

Covishield developed by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) and Covaxin developed by Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research are the vaccines approved for restricted use in emergency situation vaccine that may prevent COVID-19 disease in individuals 18 years of age and older.

The Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has issued a fact-sheet to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) that vaccine beneficiaries might have.

"The Covishield vaccination course consists of two separate doses of 0.5 ml each. The second dose should be administered between four to six weeks after the first dose. However, there is data available for administration of the second dose up to 12 weeks after the first dose from the overseas studies," the fact-sheet reads.

The second dose is a must because as per the fact sheet the protective immune response will happen 4 weeks after the second dose of Covishield vaccine.

After numerous tests and trials, the Government has given the approval but still how can we not doubt. It had never happened before and probably may not happen in near future... some experience akin to a movie! And, over that the controversies, discussions and doubts... "The Oxford one or our own indigenous one?"

Covid virus seems to be varying... Especially with the findings of a new strain... "How effective would these vaccines be?"

"How will the whole process be monitored?"

Covid-19 vaccination drive will be virtually launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16. On the same day, PM Modi will also launch the Centre’s CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network) app to track listed beneficiaries for vaccination on a real-time basis. Right now, only officials have access to it and is being used as back-end software to kick-start the first phase Covid-19 vaccination for 1 crore healthcare workers whose data is being pre-populated in the application. When it does become open to everyone, it will have four modules -- user administrator, beneficiary registration, vaccination and beneficiary acknowledgement, and status updation. The app has two parts - one that will be used by the beneficiary and the other that will be a back-end module that will be used by vaccinators. The app is likely to be made accessible to the general public for registration by the end of March 2021.

All good, but is it mandatory for all to get vaccinated. "What if we are not sure about it? Do we have a say?" Of course, the vaccination is voluntary...

And, if we decide to take the vaccination, "what would be the side effects?" 

And, hygiene, mask, 6 feet precautions are to be followed even after vaccination. Vaccination doesn't mean every thing is back to normal. Hope people would understand especially those who go around wearing Mask as an ornament around the chin/neck!

Let's wait and see... I have my fingers crossed. Let's join hands and support the vaccination drive. May the efforts pay. May we soon see a Covid-free world again. 

Jai Hind!

P.S. All images and notes are from My Gov official site. All FAQs on COVID-19 vaccine rollout can be found here.