Baljee's restaurant

SUNDAY MUSINGS :
Exactly a year ago, I had written a post about the imminent closure of  the Baljee's restaurant after about a year . I had expressed my concern accordingly as  apart from being  a  popular eating joint  serving  South  Indian and  routine Veg/ Non- Veg  food and snacks,  it has  the facility of over the counter purchase of sweets for home as well as for savouring hot Gulab Jamuns , just standing there .
The other day when a friend posted a video figuring Shimla eateries like   Indian Coffee  House , Baljee's & a Tikki- Chaat shop, a localite helping the host particularly mentioned eating Gulab Jamuns at the Baljee's and pointed out to the  expected  rather apprehended closure of the Restaurant on 10th of July. Every Shimlaite is going to miss this landmark .
On a personal note, I am taken back to my college days in the early '70s when we came here , not frequently though as it seemed a bit upmarket in view of the limited amount of pocket money we received. The choice then fell alternatively to The Indian Coffee House and the Himani restaurant, which we could afford.
In the early days of my employment at Shimla, I used to alternate between Baljee's and the Indian Coffee House.Baljee's was also preferred because on demand, songs and ghazals were played on the music system.
For more than a decade now , my visits to the Mall have become few and far between, but Baljee's is the only place I visit to have tea and the South Indian stuff like, Dosa, Vada or Idli, any other place being a second choice.
I feel concerned for the eighty odd number of staff employed there, who will face crunch.
Alas the day has arrived  !

राज कुमार

अपनी अनूठी संवाद अदायगी, राजसी अदाओं एवं  तौर तरीकों के लिए  विख्यात, अद्भुत अभिनय प्रतिभा का दशकों लोहा मनवाने वाले अभिनेता  राजकुमार की आज पुण्यतिथि है । 8 अक्टूबर 1928 को
बलूचिस्तान में जन्मे राज कुमार का वास्तविक नाम कुलभूषण पंडित था।

स्कूल के ज़माने में मुहम्मद रफ़ी का अपने ख़ास अंदाज़ में गाया एक गीत ' घोड़ा लाहौरी मेरा, तांगा पिशौरी मेरा...' बहुत लोकप्रिय हुआ था । अभी हाल में  यू ट्यूब पर तलाश किया तो पाया कि यह गीत राजकुमार पर फिल्माया गया था ।एक बार और उनकी अभिनय प्रतिभा के प्रति प्रशंसा का  भाव मन में उभरा ।रजत पट पर अपनी जानदार उपस्थिति से कई बार पार्श्व भूमिका निभाते हुए भी नायक पर  भारी पड़ते हुए राजकुमार ने अनेकों यादगार फिल्मों में अभिनय किया जिनमे मदर इंडिया, दुल्हन, पैग़ाम, अर्धांगिनी, उजाला, दिल अपना और प्रीत परायी, घराना, दिल एक मंदिर,गोदान, फूल बने अंगारे, ज़िन्दगी, वक़्त, काजल, हमराज़, मेरे हज़ूर, नील कमल, हीर रांझा, लाल पत्थर, मर्यादा, पाकीज़ा, कर्मयोगी, बुलंदी, कुदरत, राजतिलक, सौदागर, तिरंगा, जवाब आदि शामिल हैं ।

आज उनकी 21वीं पुण्य तिथि पर हमारी विनम्र श्रद्धांजलि

FOOD NOSTALGIA

Allows me to tweak  Alfred Lord Tennyson's famous lines from the poem 'The Charge Of The Light Brigade thus -

I am not  to reason why ,
I am  but to eat and cry .....
not  literally though..!
Any talk of food by me draws a jibe for my wife  who is blunt enough to point out that  I care for food and food only.
She is a self appointed  nutritionist in my case  who decides what to eat and what not to keeping in view  my advanced age. So no excess Proteins in diet which according to her do more harm than good past a certain stage.
So no Rajma will be cooked  for the two of us.However, it becomes necessary to cook  Rajma, when kids come visiting  and I get a chance to savour the delicacy.
Another  food item I like is the Baingan ka Bhartha, which she cooks from time to time , though not the way my mother used to when round shaped baingans were  put on angeethi and rotated &;turned till the pulp would start oozing out. Then those were fried with masala and left to cook. My wife , not to take any chance,cuts them into pieces and puts them on the gas burner in a kadahi to reach the pulp stage. I must say these also taste good.
I am taken back to my University days, when we 2 -3 friends were day scholars and invited to lunch by our boarder friends in the Hostel mess. In fact they knew my predilections for Rajma & Bhartha and by chance both were on offer together at the same time.
A friend from Haryana would add a liberal helping of desi Ghee brought from home.
Lip smacking delicacies indeed, the taste still fresh in memory and mouth after 45 years !

Mohammed Aziz

Today is the  birth anniversary of Mohammed Aziz,the popular Playback singer of Hindi , Bengali and Odia cinema. Born Syed Mohammed Aziz-un- Nabi this day in 1954 at Guma in 24Pargana District of West Bengal, he started singing at a very early age. His debut came  with Bengali film 'Jyoti'.
He shifted to Mumbai in 1984, and the same year he was given his first break by Anu Malik in Amitabh Bachchan starrer film Mard  .Later he became a favorite of composers Laxmikant Pyarelal who made him sing some beautiful melodies. His career in Hindi films came to a halt when Laxmikant Pyarelal left the scene. Other composers promoted the likes of Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan. Mohamned Aziz lent his voice to Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda, Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakravorty, Anil Kapoor and Sunny Deol.
He sang some beautiful duets with Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Anuradha Paudwal & Kavita Krishnamurti.He recorded about 2000 songs in all.
A versatile singer, he dabbled in Hindustani Classical, Jazz,and Pop music also and was one of the rarest singers capable of singing in the ' saatwan sur'.
He died last year on 27th November, aged 64.
Our humble tributes to the talented versatile singer !

Doctors' Day

प्रसंगवश -
स्कूल के ज़माने में  किसी अंग्रेज़ी व्याकरण की किताब में  अनुवाद हेतु एक  पैरा  नज़र से गुज़रता था, यथा  'नीलरतन जोशी एक प्रसिद्ध डॉक्टर था.......'  । इसके आगे इन डॉक्टर महोदय  की कर्त्तव्य निष्ठा, अपने कार्य में निपुणता, मृदु स्वभाव आदि का वर्णन था । पैरा के अंत में कुछ इस आशय का लिखा मिलता था कि यदि दुर्भाग्यवश किसी रोगी की मृत्यु हो जाती थी तो वो  उसके सगे सम्बन्धियों के साथ अंतिम यात्रा में शामिल होता था...आदि आदि । कुल मिला एक आदर्श डॉक्टर की छवि उभरती थी  ।
हममें से लगभग सभी का वास्ता डॉक्टर से पड़ता है जो कि शारीरिक कष्ट और बीमारी के समय साक्षात् ईश्वर का रूप प्रतीत होते हैं ।
आज चिकित्सक दिवस है जिसे डा. विधान चंद्र रॉय के जन्मदिन के रूप में भी मनाया जाता है ।उल्लेखनीय है कि डा.विधान चंद्र रॉय एक उच्च  व्यवसायिक शिक्षा प्राप्त  चिकित्सक थे और  पश्चिमी बंगाल के प्रतिष्ठित मुख्यमंत्री भी रहे ।
सभी चिकित्सक बंधुओं को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं एवं अभिनन्दन ।
Happy Doctors' Day !!💐

Bushehri/Kinnauri Cap

SUNDAY MUSINGS :
Some more than 55 years back, when my  father saw a visiting acquaintance wearing a Bushehri cap, he at once took a fancy to it and requested him to arrange three caps for him. Within days came a VPP from Kullu containing three caps, perhaps Rs.2/50p.  a piece , if I remember correctly.In hind sight I gather that the caps were of middle variety with Shaneel patti in maroon  colour.
In the ' 80s when I got to serve my first tenure at Pooh, I came to know about the socio- cultural significance of the Bushehri/ Kinnauri cap traditionally worn both by men and women. Invited or otherwise visiting guests are welcomed and received by putting the cap on their heads as a mark of honour and respect .
Made with three colours of patti i.e., Green, Maroon & Red, the cap has gained international popularity.The patti comes in three variants viz, Velvet, Shaneel & some coarse cloth, which also determine the price. The velvet version, the most superior of the three these days costs upwards of Rs 400/-.

Quite amusingly , the cap for many years now has also added a political dimension to it. The Green is identified with Congress party and the Maroon , with the BJP. A third political party HVC which was in existence for a few years had chosen Red colour.
Amusingly, worldlywise people, not deep into party politics  adopt the colour of the party ruling in the state .

Razor Blade

My childhood memories of the common multipurpose device called a razor Blade or simply a Blade, are still fresh in my mind. Off and on my father would bring home a packet of BHARAT Razor Blade containing five blades, the wrapper declaring it  'A Malhotra Product'.The brand later changed to Erasmic , Topaz or some other available brands like 7-O' Clock.I call it a multipurpose device, because apart from being used for the shave, it came handy to cut paper, for sharpening a  kachchi pencil etc.

It was quite amusing when some  guest  from village  staying overnight  would in the morning ask for a Blade. To our utter amazement, he guy would  go out in the open and pare the nails with such expertise that not a cut was caused to allow blood to come out.
Some other guest, despite the shaving kit being offered would only ask for a Blade and some warm water and  shave the face smoothly, without a cut or a bruise. I ,for one, use both the simple razor blade  and the twin blade, the latter taking care of the chin down to the neck.
The barbers,  instead of the conventional Ustara , the edge of which had to be sharpened by running up and down a leather strip or on a Flint slab, now use Ustara, fitted with half blade .
The design  and size of  the blade has  remained the same, irrespective of the brand , though quality may differ.