India trip 2018 - Day VI

Having some time to spare during the day, I was watching a Test match cricket between India and the West Indies. It was completely one sided affair in favor of the host nation. It was sad to see the mighty Windies fallen to such a low over the years. Excactly 35 years ago the pace battery of the touring West Indian team battered the Indian batting attack to the pulp. I starkly remember in 1983 Raghuram Bhat, a player from Karnataka standing away from the stumps out of fear while facing the fiery Windies speedster Malcolm Marshall. Now it's other way round, India has mercilessly whipped the West Indians to submission in all the departments of the game.

In Odisha each day of the week has its own food related significance. You chose to go vegetarian or be a non-veg in local parlance (meat, fish and poultry eater). Most Odias stay vegetarians, some even avoid Onion & Garlic, called TAMASHIK (titillating carnal desire) food on the following days.

MONDAY - Day of Lord Shiva.
TUESDAY- Day of Maa Mangala and Hanuman.
WEDNESDAY - Budhei Osha. Very few practice this though. Most devour non-Veg food after a hiatus of two days.
THURSDAY  - Goddess Laxmi and Saint Sai Baba. Mostly women stay vegetarian than men on this day.
FRIDAY - Santoshima Brata. Devotees of the Goddess apart from avoiding non -Veg food avoid KHATTA (tangy) stuff like lemon, tomato, tamarind etc.
SATURDAY - Lord Shani and Hanuman.
SUNDAY - Lord Surya. Not many respect the Sun God as Goat meat features on the menu at most Odia homes during lunch.

That leaves non Veg food on the plate for only Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Friends and relatives crowd my schedule by inviting only on those days. I beg them to cook Bhata, Dalma and invite me on Mondays, Tuesday and Saturday as my stomach and schedule can handle so much. But they refuse to relent. Though I have absolutely no question about their hospitality, force feeding meat and fish need not be mandatory for a guest for someone who has time and scheduling constraints.

I saw a girl driving a Scooty, not wearing an helmet and talking with mobile on the left hand. Too dangerous ! Is it that important to put the life on the line to be online with this kind of unsafe driving ? Can't the call wait until the driving is done ?  A person once went to an astrologer, who after seeing his chart said "You will be begging after two years". "What will happen after 2 years ?" asked the curious and now somewhat concerned person. The astrologer responded "You will get used to it". Now I can proudly proclaim of getting used to the chaotic, snarling traffic, the unsafe driving in Bhubaneswar. More later...