Day XV and XVI in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 This is some real bullshit. With the increasing use of tractors for tilling lands for cultivation, oxens aren't needed anymore. As sometimes an unwanted female child is known to be left at God's mercy on river Ganga GHAT (bank of the river), similar fate awaits the cow's male offsprings these days. Many leave their young, male calves at mercy of Lord Shiva to take care of his BAHANA (rider) Bulls. The old town, known as the city of Saivite temples bear the brunt of these stray bulls. The area where I live has a Lord Shiva temple every other kilometer, hence a good number of bulls and bullshit peddled around. There are at least a dozen of them roaming free in our locality - big and small, of different hues and colors. 

They sleep around on the middle of road. You can see them non chalantly ruminating as vehicles pass by. They graze and feast around trash near dumpsters. On occasions they're known to goad unsuspecting bystanders and their parked vehicles. They are also the cause of many traffic accidents, especially when they get excited at the sight of nubile cows and chase them around, inspecting to impregnate them. 

There are stacks of old newspapers lying in our house. Because of the Covid pandemic the prospective buyers who come looking for the newspapers yelling at top of their voice "KAGAZA, KAGAZA" (Paper, Paper) aren't seen anymore. We want to sell them off or send them out for recycling ♻️. But so far no success.

A different type of paper, the famous Paper Masala Dosa of Venus Inn located in Bapuji Nagar isn't what it once used to be. It's no more thin and crispy, I ended up chewing it like a Tandoori Roti. The Sambar and Chutney no longer taste the same. Recommended by someone I bought Dosa from a road side kiosk which tasted far better, not to mention a whole lot cheaper. It's not just the old restaurants with reputation like Venus Inn have lost their mojo. Most of the newly opened stores belong to the category of "well begun is half done". No sooner they become popular and their popularity gets amplified by coverage on social media than they start taking their customers for granted and their quality goes for a toss.

Already two weeks past my stay, I have managed to meet and interact with folks from different folds of life. I don't let an opportunity pass to have a chit with  local folks from all echelons of the society to get a hang of the political vive of the millieu. Here are my 5 take aways based on conversations and subsequent analysis.

1. Naveen Patnaik led BJD will stay in power in the state until the party supremo dies. I hardly found anyone who dislikes the man. His social policies work like magic in a state where the majority of the population are known to have low aspiration and are ledback in nature (the usual disclaimers apply).

2. BJP in Odisha is equally inept and corrupt. It has no other option but to wait for its turn to be at the helm of affairs of the state. There is not a single leader from the national party to match the stature of Naveen Patnaik in the state. Their two high profile central ministers from Odisha have zero political base. Forget getting elected to Assembly or Lok Sabha (where Lok or people vote their representatives), these two gentlemen aren't even capable of winning a Municipality election where real people vote.

3. Most Odias supporting BJP are upper caste Hindus and from middle class. They are invariably government servants, businessmen and retirees with a stable source of income. It also includes some hypocrites of highest order who earlier benefited from the largesse of the previous corrupt Congress regimes and now turned into BJP supporters. They are examples of what we call in Odia the perfect CHHATA (Umbrella) party, avid practitioners of the principle of "BARSHA JUADE CHHATA SIADE (Wherever is the direction of the rain, so goes the Umbrella). It is attributed to the fair weather folks. Not all supporters are "Chhata party" type. I encountered some MUNDA (Bull headed) supporters with Cowdung stuffed inside their head. If Sri Modi says shoot your mother, they will shoot without blinking their eyes. I wasn't surprised, having encountered a bunch of them on social media.

4. Forget the minorities, the lower caste still looks at BJP with suspicion. Invariably all the Autorickshaw, OLA - UBERAY (as Uber is pronounced here) drivers I have interacted aren't happy with the high gas (Petrol/Diesel) price and inflation. The common man who feels the pinch squarely blames the BJP led Central Government for that.

5. Modi and BJP are now synonymous as the Nationalist party is no more a cadre based party. It may well be chistened  - Modi Janata Party. Like it or not, Modi (BJP towed to his tail) will continue winning most if not all future elections including 2024 Lok Sabha. Though divisive his carefully crafted cult status has grown in stature a la Indira Gandhi in the 1970s. There is simmering discontent at the Modi's government, but there is no one to capitalize on it. It took a national leader like JP (Jayprakash Narayan) to oust Indira, but I don't see any modern day JP in sight to replicate the same. It's the hard truth.

My father, who like me though anti-Congress through out his life with an independent mindset has of late become a supporter of BJP, although he is far from being Bhakt (devotee) type. When I queried him if he sees any tangible results on the ground he couldn't list any. Yet he supports the party as he doesn't see any future in Congress and any other party. I am sure he is not alone. More later...

Day XIII and XIV in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 More than half way through my India trip I have realized that time flies faster than the speed of light. A vacation week passes much faster than a work week, vindicating "The Theory of Relativity". Explaining his famous theory Albert Einstein said "time flies slowly when you listen to a boring lecture, but it flies fast when you talk to a pretty girl". He stands vindicated.

In the initial days of the trip I didn't mind about spending money. Never bargained while buying from street vendors, gave them hefty tips to their ecstacy and in return got appreciations in form of bewildered looks to subtle chickles. But now I am starting to think - Am I spending more ? Do I pay more for the price of the commodity ? Can I get a cheaper bargain somewhere else ? May be from a visitor mindset I am slowly graduating to the mind of local resident.

During my school and college days I was a voracious reader of Odia and English books, varieties of newspapers and magazines. One of them was the SATHI (Friend) pocket series books - a series of Odia novels containing sagas of thrill and mystery, many of them detective stories. As the name indicated, the books were pocket friendly, thin and tiny enough to fit into one's pockets.

Remembered reading one such pocket series book - PATIA JANGALA RA SAAPA (The snake of the Patia forest). Patia on the outskirts of the capital city of Odisha was a rocky, red soil hamlet filled with rocks and ant hills notorious for harboring venomous snakes. Now the location has turned into a jungle of another kind - concrete jungle. The snakes living there now belong to a different species in form of real estate sharks of dubious characters. A friend just told me if you see a snake and a real estate guy in Patia, kill the real estate guy. Because the snake may leave you alone, but the real estate agent is guaranteed to ruin you. Anyway I hate concrete jungles and visit that part of the city only when it's absolutely needed.

Today I happened to be in Patia, located diametrically opposite to where I live. A long drive, not distance wise but due to the time taken to maneuver extremely unruly traffic. There is no traffic rule here in Bhubaneswar, every one from pedestrian to those driving vehicles, from bovine to stray dogs - each one makes his or her own rule. Yet every nook and corner you can see hoardings proudly proclaiming the state capital as a Smart city. Strings of multicolor underwears, Salwars (women's costume), Lungis (loincloth worn by many in India) adore the skylines of tall apartment buildings, fluttering in the wind as they dry out.

In the Webster's dictionary smart means "clever, witty, brainy" etc. But in local Bhubaneswar parlance a guy on a bike wearing shining shoes and chasing girls in the process of acquiring a girlfriend is considered a smart guy. The name "Smart city" tag given to Bhubaneswar speaks for itself.

Home sweet home - Our home is full of sweets, some bought by me and rest gifted by good samaritans, friends and relatives. My sweet blood attracts the Mosquitoes who apparently love sucking it using their straw like tentacles. Covid is not the only disease around here, as Dengue fever caused by mosquito bite is lurking in nook and corner of each home. These are highly resilient creatures. If they can survive Alaska and Minnesota, insecticides like DDT etc, they can survive anything.

I have been told to stay away from this murmuring species, but in spite of best efforts they still manage to feast on my blood sweetened by all these sugary stuff I am eating. No sooner a mosquito bites me than I get red boils and itching. Not that I hadn't been bitten by mosquitos before, but by staying away from them for quarter of a century I have lost my immunity from insect bite. By the time I start getting some immunity, my trip will be over. More later...

Day XI and XII in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 In spite of all the rain our locality in Bhubaneswar wasn't impacted by flooding. The basic Law of Physics still holds good - Water always looks to the lowest level of elevation and flows towards it. Luckily our home and the surrounding streets are located on a higher elevation and water logging is not an issue.

Now that rain is gone, it feels muggy as the air is thick with humidity which can make you feel like a melting man if you stand outside for 5 minutes in the afternoon. After a break of couple of days I had to crank on the AC to keep me cool and cozy.

There is no concept of making a queue (standing in line) at most places. The other day I was at Nimapada Sweets, a popular sweet store in Bapuji Nagar. Instead of making a line half a dozen or so folks were standing in a cluster, all shouting in unison "ADHA KILE (1/2 Kg) CHHENA PODA, KILE (1 Kg) SANDESH, DASA TA (10 count) RASAGOLA - all trying to outbid each other creating the miasma of a mini fish market.

I waited for my turn standing somewhere in that cluster but it took me nowhere. Neither the customer nor the server or the cashier cared for my etiquette. Soon I realized that I will be in all probability spend the entire day standing at the same spot. After waiting for 5 minutes I spoke up - "ETHI KANA LINE NAHI (Don't we stand in a line here) ? Being Roman in Rome, I wanted to enter wrestle my way to make a purchase if my query was unanswered. Thankfully for me the cashier who all along noticed this said - "ARRE, BABU NKU DEIDE (Hey, take this gentleman's order)". My order was ready.

Last evening I went to the Park right in front of the Arts block of BJB College for a walk with my friend Amit. We drove  past D-33, BJP flats and took a nostalgic peek at it. D-33 is that middle floor 3 bedroom quarters where we lived. (In local lingo government provided houses are called quarters here where the employees are quartered. Larger the quarter, bigger is the status of the person). I lived in that quarter for 15 years of the prime time of my childhood and youth. Took a nostalgic peek as I passed by it.

While making rounds inside the park I saw a young girl standing under lights posing as a model and her friend was shooting her on cell phone camera. The photo session continued for a while, with the model-in-motion bending left and right with hand on her hips, catwalking back and forth. It was walk in the park for her. When we passed by her again I could hear her complaining - "EITA BHALA HEINI. AU THARE NE (This shot wasn't good, do a retake". 

Saw a bunch of middle age ladies huffing and puffing their way on the narrow trail,  their chit chat indicated all talking and none listening, probably inspired by the discussion panels on local TV Channels where everybody talks but no one bothers to listen. I could overhear them talking about the necessity of staying fit to avoid any future ailments and subsequent dependency on their children. At least one of them was doing character assassination of her mother-in-law and maid - MO SASHU KA MUNDA KHARAP HEI JAICHI. MAID RA DUI DINA HELA DEKHA DARSHANA NAHI (My mother-in-law has gone crazy. The house maid hasn't turned for duty for last couple of days). Interestingly 80% of those walking in the park were females. Glad to see the fitness trend is going up amongst the fairer sex.

Oberhearing conversation can be interesting. Another time I heard a girl on phone speaking in a soft but audible voice following the recent fad of speaking in a hydrid of Odia, Hindi and English - "TU JANICHU NA, MO BOYFRIEND TA EBE BEWAFA HEI JAICHI (You know, my boyfriend has turned untrustworthy recently)". Good luck young lady on your "Bewafa Boyfriend" and thanks for enriching the Odia language by adding some news words to it. More later....

Day IX and X in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 In spite of all the rain and flooding there was hardly any power cut, at least in our locality in Bhubaneswar. During last couple of days the state capital and its vicinity got enough rain to graduate from deficit to surplus. The rain has grounded the dust in air, swiping off the dirt from the foliage like wiper blades of a car. The air looks clean and crispy. The buildings are looking wet but brighter in sunshine peeping through the cloud. No one minds this respite from incessant rains.

Monsoon season is very unique to India during which it gets bulk of its annual rainfall. It is accompanied by the reversal of wind direction. Arriving just after a long, torturous hot summer it quenches the thirst of a parched earth. Everyone eagerly waits for its arrival - from the farmers to poets, from villagers to city dwellers, from kids to seniors. Farmers to start their KHARIF (summer) Crop, the city dwellers for a reprieve from heat and poets to add one more ode to myriads of poems dedicated to the monsoon.

In West where winters are wet, cloudy depicting morbid gloom, the arrival of sunshine is celebrated. In contrast, in India the dark clouds with thunderclap followed by torrential rains is a welcome phenomena. Birds start singing, Bards sing legendary songs in the praise of the arrival of the monsoon, Peacocks spread their colorful tails to dance to the tune of rains. Dark clouds as silver lines are welcomed in India over sunshine which is associated with heat and dust. It brings joy and respite from the never ending Indian summer. 

People looks at the sky to savor this rare occasion of the first monsoon rains marking arrival of rainy season. Poets are motivated to let their pen capture the moment. Many love songs are written over the advent of monsoon - from the romance of Radha and Krishna, to songs of Bollywood depicting drenched actors and actresses eager to shower in the first shower of the season for the viewer's delight. Legendary poet and dramatist Kalidasa several centuries ago wrote an eulogy to cloud in his MEGHADOOTAM (Cloud Messenger) to carry the message from the lover to the beloved.

The celebration is not just limited to the reel world. In real world people come out to play, enjoy sitting on swings propelled by cool, gusty winds accompanying the rain, singing songs of delight to welcome the arrival of Monsoon. Swings play an important part in the Odis festival RAJA exactly timed around the arrival of the monsoon season. Many love to get drenched, as they believe that getting soaked in the first rains of the season cures skin infections. 

Monsoon is rarely an equalizer, far from being uniform. It could be deficit at one place but at the same time causing waterlogging in the cities and floods elsewhere. Vagaries of monsoon is neither new, nor unheard of. Its inherent tendency is bountiful one year, scanty the next. Invariably every year, the monsoon arrives in the month of June and takes leave in early October, with a highly inequitable distribution of rainfall. This Odia proverb aptly depicts  the vagaries of monsoon :

JALA BAHULE SRUSTI NAASA,
JALA BIHUNE SRUSTI NAASA, meaning

"Lack of water causes catastrophe,
 Excess of water causes catastrophe."

Went out in the evening to run some errands. At entrance of the store a GUPCHUP (Golgappa or Panipuri) vendor was busy perforating the large, crunchy, puffed shells using his long, uncut thumb nails looking dark from the dirt inside it. Instantly inserting mashed potato and chickpea paste into it, he dipped the shell into the spicy water stored in a large, earthen pot before distributing it to the surrounding buyers.

The vendor's customers, almost all of them girls holding tiny plates made from leaves (more eco friendly than plastic plates) were taking their turns extending their hands to the man, demanding - "MATE AU TIKE PANI DIA. MATE SUKHA GOTE DIA" (Gimme more spicy water, gimme a dry one). The multitasking man was super busy catering to their needs and counting the numbers consumed by each individual.

Done with their rounds of GUPCHUP munching, the girls left their leftover plates strewn around, a pariah dog lurking around, waiting for the right opportunity started licking them, polishing off whatever he could in the narrow window of the timeframe he had before being chased away.

He was soon to be vindicated. The irritated vendor shooed him away with "HEY JA JA (Go away), as the hapless mongrel fled with tail well tucked behind hind legs. The showers left puddles of water all over. Feeling secured and safe from a distance of 20 feet, the dogs started slurping from one of the puddles to quench their thirst post feasting on the spicy GUPCHUPs.

Talking of puddles, I was reminded of this incident few years back. One evening that summer after a bout of fresh monsoon rain Tanujaa (my wife), Sidhant (my son) and I were waiting on the street right next to our house for our Uber ride. 3 guys on a motorcycle started oggling at Tanujaa, their heads turned in unison by 90 degrees towards her, like they hadn't seen a girl before. All of sudden their pillion stumbled a pothole filled with ankle deep water. Distracted, one of them fell on the muddy poodle, while the other two got busy extricating their buddy from the mess. We had a hearty laugh at the fallen hero's expense. Monsoon has its share of fun and joy. More later....

Day VII and VIII in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 The cyclonic storm lashed out all morning. It led us to reschedule this evening's outing with friends. It's not just the rain which forced the cancelation, rather the thought of driving over mini swimming pools on pothole ridden roads on a dark, stormy night didn't sound exciting to most. Bhubaneswar received an estimated 8 inches of rain within last 24 hours, turning the city into a flotilla.

Rain has certainly cooled down the temperature - enough for me not to turn on the AC during last 24 hours. In fact, for the first time during my current stay I needed to pull on a thin blanket on top of me in the middle of night to keep myself warm and fuzzy.

There was a brief pause around 8 AM as lashing rains gave away to a steady drizzle. I took out my umbrella, walked towards a local tea stall who also serves BARA (Vada) and GHUGUNI (Cheakpea curry) located barely 100 feet from our house. There was a bit of crowd in front of his stall, customers eager to savor a breakfast of Bara and Ghuguni, a perfect start to a cool, rainy day. 

After taking my order Bulu, the shopkeeper-cum-chef told me "AGYAN TIKE DERI HABA (there might be a little delay in service) as he carefully pushed around the wooden planks inside the burning clay oven to turn on the heat and turned over about couple of dozens of Baras slow fried on a huge, dark pan. The wood fueled Bara cooked on clay oven has a unique taste but taken with Ghuguni can fuel a lot of gas inside the stomach. Like food chain, we have a fuel chain too. We need fuel to cook and cooked food needs fuel to burn it inside the body.

TIKE DERI HABA (A little delay) - "little" delay can be anything between 5 to more than 30 minutes, little being a relative term here. The Bara was getting fried on medium flame (from my own experience as an amateur chef I can vouch that it's better to fry in medium to low flame for the best results, so that both surface and the interior are fried uniformly). Many on their way to work stop by at this stall for an express breakfast consisting of half a dozen Bara soaked in Ghuguni washed down with hot tea. No wonder many Odias suffer from chronic gastric issues (Bara - Ghuguni combo though tasty is notoriously gas producing).

A guy parked his Scooty and walked in to deliver his breaking news - a 3 storeyed building shrank by 3 feet in Dumduma area due to ongoing deluge. As Bulu the Chef moved around the Baras swirling and wobbling on the surface of boiling oil using his jumbo sized spatula, he uttered back excited - "SALA SABU GAON RU UTHI ASI KAHIBE AME BHONSARA RE RAHIBU. " - All those brothers of the sisters I have seduced (Sala means wife's brother, but in local lingo its usage suggests the speaker is the seducer of sister of whom so ever concerned) have come out of their villages with the desire to live in Bhubaneswar. "RAJADHANI PANI, TANKU ANUCHI TANI - the water of capital city is luring them into it").

Bulu continued further. These folks who are used to live in squalors of their native villages have no civic sense. They come and live in GOLAM NAGARI (Slave city, referred to the rapidly developing portion of the city by those natives who pride themselves as the original city-gens), live like POKA, JOKA (insects and leeaches) in illegally constructed buildings. SALE SABU CHIPI HEI MARANTU (Let those whose sisters I seduce get trampled in the collapsed building and perish).

The tea and snack stall owner Bulu made his point clear. He prides being the true blue blooded boy of Bhubaneswar, born in Kapileswar, one of the native villages constituting old town, the real Bhonsara. Like all original inhabitants he resents the presence of outsiders encroaching like cockroaches into his domain, turning Bhubaneswar into a city of immigrants. He is sad but feels helpless - for least he can do to change the course other than whine about it.

Bara was slowly turning a light brown from the spotless white dough made out of soaked grams (lentils). It will take a few more minutes before getting ready. So I thought of taking a walk to the SUKHMESWARA temple only couple of hundred feet away, one of several Saivite temples scattered around our locality. The rain mixed wind was blowing hard and fast enough to turn my tiny umbrella upside down if I am not careful enough. I waded through the maroon colored floodwater adorning the marooned road, carefully avoiding the bullshit all around. I saw a lot of plastics (called POLITHINI polythene here) and Styrofoam plates floating carried by fast moving stream into the drain. No wonder our drains get clogged too fast, too soon.

There were only two of us inside the temple which usually gets pretty busy even early on a Monday morning. The priest was mumbling his prayers in Sanskrit. The Siva Linga of the Lord was submerged in water. The head of the snake coiled around the idol was barely visible. I offered my prayers, left a few coins for the priest and started my way back to pick up my takeout order of Bara and Ghuguni. A drenched big gray bull dumped a fresh mound of shit only a few feet away from me. The bullshit quickly swept away melting away in the flowing stream, akin to the bullshit which I peddle on Facebook fades into oblivion.

I walked back to pick up my carry out order (the carry out or "to go" order is called PARSALA here, the way parcel is spoken in Onglish, Odia accented English). My order of eight pieces of hot Bara and Ghuguni costing me Rs.35 (50 cents) was ready for pickup. A family breakfast for 50 cents, fresh out of wooden clay oven - can't beat it. As he handed me over the packet Bulu said - "BHUBANESWAR RE AGYA AU RAHI HABANI - Bhubaneswar has become unlivable for us. It was deja vu for me. He is not the only one who complains about Bhubaneswar, but hardly any one leaves the city.

While walking back home and struggling to keep my umbrella straight, I could feel that one half of me is drenched while the other half is still dry - one feet in water and the other feet on drier ground. It fully describes my current state of affairs - I have one feet on my motherland India and the other feet on my adopted land of the United States. The tea stall owner Bulu has no such dilemma. More later..

Day V and VI in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 Today morning I woke up to the sound of pouring monsoon rain. This year my city Columbus, Georgia is getting plenty of rain, almost every 2-3 days. No sooner I arrived in Bhubaneswar than it's been raining pretty regularly - much to the chagrin of city dwellers who hate mud on the road, but to the delight of many for alleviating the ongoing draught. Rain seems to be following me everywhere.

Walked into our neighborhood stall this morning to buy some milk packets. The owner known to me for 3 decades was excited to see me, asking me a standard question I get during my India visits, "When did you come and how long you will be here". He continued further - "BAIDENAY TA AGYAN BHARATA PAI JAMA BHALA NUHE. TRAWMPAW BHALA THILA. Pakistan KU SABAD KARI DEITHILA. NA KANA KAHUCHANTI (Biden is not at all good for India. Trump was good for India who taught Pakistan a lesson. What do you say ?) soliciting my opinion. I responded "APANA TA SABU JANICHANTI. MU ADHIKA KANA KAHIBI" (You are Mr. Know All. What more can I say) ? From his body language I could decipher that he took my response as a huge compliment. Foreign policy experts mushroom in every tea stall and betel shop kiosk, often metamorphosing into domain of foreign policy expertise on social media.

The topic of US didn't end there. I went to the bank where I have my NRI Account to withdraw some money. No sooner I handed over my check to the girl at the counter than she looked up and decided to have a tete-a-tete with me. She asked me the often asked question - "APANA US RE KOUTHI ACHHANTI, KETE DINA SETHI RAHILENI (Where you stay in US and how long you have been staying there). Then she followed - "APANA KARA KI BHAGYA, AMERIKKA RE ACHHANI" (You are so fortunate to live in America).

I replied - "Living in America has its own challenges and share of pros and cons. DURA PAHADA SUNDARA (Faraway hill looks beautiful, which means grass is greener on the other side of the fence). Came back her Googly - "I know of many coming to Amerikka. But why no one is coming back for good ? I got so and so cousin in California, so and so Mausa in Florida, so and so Piusa in New Jersey. No one even remotely contemplates of returning back to India".

"Well", I replied. That's a pretty good question. She looked flattered. I went on - "America is like CHAKRABYUHA (the legendary impregnable battle formation employed by Commander-in-Chief Drona of Kaurava Army in MAHABHARAT). It is much easier to get into America, but like the ill fated warrior Abhimanyu no one has a clue how to get out". It seems she liked my answer, instantly bursting into laughter as she handed me over the bills (called notes here).

Before walking out of the door I took a liberal dosage of the hand sanitizer handed over to me by the bank guard who gracefully opened the door for me. I responded by saying "thanks". He gave me a bewildered look, both surprised and pleased at my thankful gesture. I asked him for a little more sanitizer to which he gleefully acquiesced by bending and dumping a sizable lump of the sticky suff on my hand. I rubbed both my hands with on my way out, leaving no stones unturned in taking Covid precautions.

Adulations or brickbats towards USA varies but the constant fascination (obsession for some) towards America remains the same. It is firmly entrenched in the psyche of Indian middle class. Friday (Ganesh Puja) and Saturday (Nua Khai) being holidays here, many ascribe this weekend as "long weekend" - the way Americans refer to their long weekends. Not that India doesn't have its share of long weekends, but never before heard the usage of adjective "long" for an extended weekend. Long weekend may be the latest invasion of American slang here, long after the commonly used US imports "cool", "bro" etc.

I visited the chain of fruit stores on the left side of the road running from Raj Mahal Chhaka. Magoes are still available and tastes good, though not great like we get at the peak of summer. The Indian varieties the "King of Fruits" are succulent, have less fiber and unique aroma compared to its counterparts from Mexico and Caribbean available in USA. Bought some mangoes, Banana (Desi or Country variety), Aata (custard apples), Guavas, Sapotas (great sources of Vitamins and fiber) overlooking other fruits like Apples, Pears, Grapes, Kiwifruits, Oranges, Pistachios which I get plentiful in USA.

There were more animals than humans on the street when I was returning home minutes past midnight. Apart from a few vehicles in the dark carefully navigating through the freely roaming mongrels wondering on road, only human beings I saw were in the form uniformed cops chatting clustered around their PCR Vans. Closer to home on the local road as the car carrying me slowed down to jump the bump on the way, a cat from nowhere crossed over right in front of us melting into the bushes. It was a long day for me and long night for the street animals and police. More later...

Day IV and V in Bhubaneswar - India trip 2021

 Jai Jagannath (Hail Lord Jagannath). After a long time I got the opportunity to eat AVADA (Temple food) procured from Jagannath temple of Puri, followed by the dessert RASABALI a local speciality. It was pure bliss.

No vegetable of foreign origin is ever used in Avada, a conservative tradition enforced since centuries. For example - potato, tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, chilli pepper🌶, papaya which are extensively cultivated in India now aren't originally from India and were introduced by the Europeans. Native vegetables like Mula (Radish), Saaga (locally grown leafy greens), Desi Alu (yam), Potala (pointed gourd), Kankada (spiny gourd), coconut etc are used extensively to cook several delicacies like Besara, Mahura, Saaga, Potala Rasa and so on. These veggies along with Dal (lentils) are all cooked on earthen pot over burning wood which brings out its unique taste and flavor - especially from the crushed MARICHA (Black Pepper). A fitting finale to a meal of Avada is Rabidi, Chhena Payas or Rasabali - all different variants of sweetened skim milk and cheese.

After moving to United States I have developed this bad habit of drinking chilled or iced water. Here water at room temperature is served by default unless specifically asked for. Water at room temperature tastes so bland.

While traveling I have noticed wide usage of Google navigation to locate the destination. This morning the guy who drove me suddenly stopped the vehicle at the corner of the road, asking me - "TIKE NAVIGASANA TA MARI DIANTU (Please punch in the navigation). He was asking me to key in the destination address for him on the Google map. I entered the destination address and set his phone on navigation mode. It was useful for him. Meandering through the lanes using a mix of my "killing of navigation" (Navigation Mari diantu) and his expertise of skirting potholes, we reached our destination.

Almost a week has gone without me doing any tangible form of exercise. Thanks to my friend Amit Mahapatra we had an one hour evening walk inside the Rajarani temple park not far from where I live. We better call it a night walk as it was quite dark between 7 to 8 PM (sun sets here close to 6 PM). There were hardly anyone there except a few Chemenia (small bats) crisscrossing the temple premises which looked brownish lighted by the street lamps.

After finishing our walk we stepped outside of the park only to be greeted by a huge Bull apparently in heat, amorously baying at top of his voice. He didn't like my friend's Scooty and tried to lift it up using his sharp horns. I shouted "Hey Hey" and frantically clapped standing at a safe distance to shoo it away to no effect. My effort hardly could make any difference. Thankfully a cow standing only few feet away got his attention and he swung his massive frame and began trotting towards her veering through the traffic. We heaved a sigh of relief.

Reminded me of a local JATRA (Dance troupe) playing few years back at KHANDAGIRI titled "SABU CHHAKKA RE SASURA GHARA" - (Screwing at Crossroads). This Bull fits the bill. Screwing at Crossroads he can very well play the main character of that JATRA. More later...