Smiling under his shadow-Suman Singh with her children and team. PHOTO: Rajeev Sharma

By Rajeev Sharma

New Delhi: Next time when you go to Delhi do not forget to visit Man Singh Halwai in old Delhi. Enjoy delicious Chaat-Pakori, Pao Bhaji, Khati Kabab, Roomali roti and what not. These tasty traditional Indian snacks will leave a lasting impact on your concept of eat-out in India’s capital.
Man Singh Halwai-Not a big brand but late Harshed Mehta’s family, industrialist Anil Ambani and some senior politicians are mad for his food. Once , he was a small Dahi Bhalla Wala of Bazar Sita Ram (old Delhi) but his hard work and ancestral art of making Chaat- Pakori made him a big man. When he was on his peak , about three years ago, he suffered a massive heart attack which shook his snack empire. Man Singh left behind his wife, three daughters and a son. It was a difficult time for his widow Suman to look after the business and children but she managed it well. Now under the framed picture of smiling Man Singh, the show is going on.
Suman told SAT : “I am not much educated but with the help of my convent educated children, I am running the business and offcourse we have a team left by my husband is doing is doing its best in the field of taste”.’Man Singh Halwai” is specialist in vegetarian food. People are crazy for all of his snacks like Pao Bhaji, Kathi Kabab, Roomali roti, Mattar korma, Gatte ki Sabzi and stuffed Naan.
” When my husband left, my son Sunny was a school student and he was not interested in the ancestral business of Halwai, but later when he saw me working day and night he changed his mind and started taking interest in the business. Her daughter Pooja, who is a teacher, maintains accounts of business”. Today, any festival whether its Ram Lila or Diwali, is incomplete if there is no signboard of Man Singh Halwai in the Pandaal because taste is everything for Indians,” she said.Remember that scene from the movie “Delhi 6″,when Abhishek Bachchan goes to Ramlila with his folks,one can see the grand and glittering banner of “Man Singh Halwai”in the background.
Source: SAT, Oct. 2011 issue.

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By Rajiv Sharma

When BSP leader Mayawati speaks, mercury shoots up. Rarely I found her in a calm mood. In India you will find her as if she is the only ‘shubhchintak’(well wisher) of “Dalits”. But recently, I met a person who stunned with the work he has done for the Dalits, but still, his work is not recognised by the Indian Government. His name is Dr.Bindeshwar Pathak. The man behind the ‘Sulabh Sanitation Movement’.

I met Dr. Pathak at the Press Club of India’s “Meet the Press” programme. Despite he being a Brahmin by caste lakhs of dalit families are benefitting by his work. He is like God Father for them. The noted writer Dr. Mulk Raj Anand said about Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak–”What Abraham Lincoln did for Blacks in America, He has done for scavengers in India. Both are great redeemers.” The grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Prof Rajmohan Gandhi, said about him–”I am the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi but Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak is son of his soul. If we were to go to meet Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, he would first greet Dr. Pathak for the noble work that he is doing and then greet me.Dr. Pathak has restored human rights and dignity to people engaged in the manual cleaning of human excreta which they carried as head-load.”
At the different international forums Dr. Pathak work has been recognised with great honour. Recently his name was nominated for ‘The Stockholm Water Prize Laureate 2009’. But I am amazed no “Padamshree” or “Padamvibhushna” announced for this 66 years old ‘Dalit Massiah’.

Besides establishing neat and clean toilet complexes and liberating scavengers, Dr Pathak has set up a number of vocational training institutes throughout the country. These centres give training to the downtrodden in various courses like computers, typing, electrical trade, woodcraft, leathercraft, diesel and petrol engineering, motor driving etc. Sulabh has also set up an English medium school for the children of scavengers.
After visiting Madame Tussaud’s Museum in England, Dr Pathak set up a Museum of Toilets in New Delhi, which is one of its kind in the world. The objective of the museum is to educate students about the history of toilets and to help sanitation experts learn from the past in order to resolve the present problems.

- May 2009, South Asia Times

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In Australia, Indian nationals who are unable to return home due to the
recent closure of the Mumbai and Bangkok airports, and whose Australian
visas are about to expire, should contact the nearest office of the
Department of Immigration and Citizenship to discuss options.

In India, Mumbai residents who cannot return to Australia due to closure
of the airport in Mumbai and whose Australian visas, including Resident
Return Visa, are about to expire, should contact the Australian High
Commission in New Delhi (
http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/overseas/i/india/index.htm) to discuss
options.

Luigi Soccio
Community Liaison
Multicultural Affairs
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
Telephone: 03 9235 3290
Fax: 03 9235 3266
Mobile: 0434 604 832
Email: luigi.soccio@immi.gov.au

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BY RAJEEV SHARMA IN NEW DELHI

Dr Vinay Aggarwal

India is becoming the hub of medical tourism these days. Not only NRIs but forigners are also showing interest in Indian treatments as the services are becoming world class.Corporate groups such as Apollo Hospitals Group,Wockhardt,Fortis health care,Max India paved the way for corporate organisation structure for hospitals and have successfully developed a chain of multispeciality private hospitals.But the presence of these hospitals is only in big cities.
Pushpanjali Crosslay Hospital is another feather in the cap of Indian Healthcare sector.It will be the only super speciality hospital to be opened very soon in Ghaziabad(Delhi-UP border) at NH-24.It is planned to be a state-of-the-art,world class 400-bed and tertiary care hospital.Hospital is designed to meet the quality health care needs of UP,Uttarakhand and New Delhi.

Pushpanjali Crosslay is the dream project of Dr.Vinay Aggarwal,a graduate from Maulana Azad Medical College,who is well known for his”Save the Girl Child” and “Aao Gaon Chalen” campaigns.Dr Aggarwal has a soft corner for poor families who can’t afford expensive medical facilities.For him medical profession is a mission not a business.He still remembers how his mother sold off her jewellery to make him a doctor.He told me that this hospital will facilitate quick response to any natural or man made disasters in the region as it includes Helicopter services also, which is first of its kind in India.He further added that Pushpanjali Crosslay is not receiving any grant from the govt agencies, still it will cater the medical needs of rich and poor section of society equally.I was really touched when Dr Vinay told me that the kids of construction workers who are working on the hospital site,are given free education and food in the premises itself.The efficient leadership team of Dr Vinay has Dr Vijay Aggarwal,Dr P.D Garg,Mr Sudhir K Singhal and Mr K N Bansal.

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By Rajeev Sharma

Poet Neeraj

Call it sheer luck. I have had the privilege to
personally interact with two of my favourite
lyricists. Both are amazing personalities: Gopal Das
Neeraj and Gulzar. First, Neeraj. You may recall the romantic songs, most
of which are filmed on Dev Anand. One of them is the
memorable ‘Shokhiyon mein ghola jaaye phoolon ka
shabaab, aur usme phir milaayee jaaye hodi si sharaab’.
Your fantasy takes a new wing whenever you come across
this number. Neeraj has crossed 80 years (born February 8, 1926).
But his humming still has strength. Neeraj continues
to attend poetry meets. Organizers invariably invite
him on to the stage at the end so that the audience
sits through for him.
Songs penned by him have a combination of a yearning
for love and finer aspects that characterize our life.
Neeraj, as a child, was exposed to poverty so much so
that in Aligarh, where he lived, he had to live
through the day without one full meal, a couple of
‘kachauris’ from a roadside vendor would keep him going.
Neeraj says he owes the crispness of
his voice to the taste of those ‘kachauris’. Those
mouth-watering salty, sweet, kachauris – what oil on
earth were they soaked in!
Today, so many researchers have done their PhDs on
him. Neeraj is extremely fond of Osho and is a
well-read astrologer. He continues to live in Aligarh
(Uttar Pradesh).
I have heard Neeraj many times, and the most memorable
is an evening when Neeraj regaled a group of about
sixty friends – a sprinkling of industrialists, IAS
officers and politicians in Delhi’s Rajendra Nagar –
at his fan’s place with his inimitable style of poetry
rendition. Here, Neeraj was in his elements as he held
a glass of liquor in his hand and let his best ones
float still. Sample this: ‘Ab ke sawan mein shararat ye
mere saath hui, mera ghar chchod kar poore shahar mein
barsaat hui (the rain did this mischief with me this
season, it poured all over the city, not over my
house). I heard this in his voice for the first time
in my life. After that poetry session where I met him,
he invited me over to his hotel Alka in Connaught
Place the following morning.
It12 was to be a heart-to-heart interaction. We talked
about many things, and I got to know that only
sensitive souls such as him could bring out the ups
and downs of life through ones’ pen. To portray a
colour of life in its truest form is not easy.
Take a look at some of the songs written by him:

“Swapn jhade phool se, meet chubhe shool se, lut gaye
shringaar sabhi bag ke babool se, aur hum khade-khade
bahar dekht rahe, karvan guzar gaya gubar dekhte rahe”
(Dreams wilt like flowers, friends pierce like nails,
the beauty lost to the thorns of cactus. And here I
stand watching the spring, and the clouds of dust left
behind by a caravan.) Movie ‘Nai Umar ki Nai Fasal’
(1965), music: Roshan, singer Mohammad Rafi.

“Phoolon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se tujhko likhi roz
paati, kaise bataun kis-kis tarah se pal-pal mujhe tu
sataati”
(With the colours of flowers, the pen of my heart, I
write to you every day. There’s no way to tell how you
torment me moment after moment.)
Movie Prem Pujari (1970), music: S.D. Burman, singer:
Kishore Kumar.

“Likhe jo khat tujhe, wo teri yaad mein, hazaaron rang
ke, nazaare ban gaye”
(The letters I wrote to you in your absence became
scenes of thousands of colours.)
Movie Kanya Daan (1970), music Shanker-Jaikishan,
singer: Mohammad Rafi

Rangeela re tere rang me, yu ranga hai mera man,
chchaliya re na bujhe hai kisi jal se ye jalan
(I have painted my heart with the colours of your
love. But it has made me thirsty of your love, which
not even rain can satisfy.)
Movie Prem Pujari (1970), music S.D. Burman, singer:
Lata Mangeshkar

Megha chchaye aadhi raat, bairan ban gayee nidiya,
bata de mein kya karoon

(It has started raining in the middle of the night and
sleep has turned its back on me, tell me, what do I
do?)
Movie Sharmeelee (1971), music S.D. Burman, singer,
Lata Mageshkar

The simplicity of Neeraj can be gauged from the fact
that after our discussion at the Alka, he requested me
to drop him at the New Delhi Railway Station. And in
the crowd at the station, the old man clad in white
kurta-pyjama got lost after offering me the customary
“thank you”. Who knew in the crowd that the Great
Neeraj was amidst them!
About Gulzar, next time.

‘Garam’ Delhi ‘thandi’ CM

Delhi these days is whipped by a heat wave with the
temperature soaring to 45 degrees. Delhi is groaning
under the season’s extreme. Water and electricity are
in short supply. It’s beyond imagination how the city
will host the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Power
outages last for hours, and less said the better about
the water supply. Even after eight years of becoming
Delhi’s Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit has not been
able to get the full grip over the problems.
Let me share a joke with you about Delhi’s system,
which my bureaucrat friend Khalid Akhtar has told me.
In olden days, a Nawab of Lucknow had the habit of
having a glass of milk in the night. The milk cost
only 25 paise. His servant would arrange for this
every night. As the time passed, the servant developed
dishonesty. He pocketed one-fourth of the 25 paise and
bought the milk. He served it to the Nawab after
mixing it with water. The Nawab immediately knew what
was wrong. He reprimanded the servant and appointed a
checker over the servant. For a few days, the Nawab
got the milk in right quantity. But then, the old
servant made the checker too as dishonest. After all,
the checker too had a family to look after! Both
pocketed one paisa each and gave milk to the Nawab
with the rest of the money. The Nawab flew into a rage
as he drank the milk. Then he appointed one more
checker. Again for a few days, the Nawab kept getting
the pure milk. Then one morning when he woke up, he
became angry with all his servants. He furiously
told them: “You, blokeheads, why didn’t you give me
milk last night?” The three got together and said:
“What are you talking saab? Look at your moustache in
the mirror, there is a streak of cream over it. The
Nawab got convinced when he saw himself in the mirror.
He must have had the milk, so he thought. The three
smiled and shook hands.
Similar is the situation of Delhi’s citizens!
Source: South Asia Times (June 2007)

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By Rajeev Sharma

In the age when small girls play with dolls, Meenu
Saxena had something else in her heart. She was
always anxious to do something for the helpless. Her
mission began with injured little puppies, left
moaning in dust and muck. Small Meenu would take them
home and do whatever she could. Her father would
often get upset with her. One day, Meenu was faced
with a mountain of troubles: the ninth standard girl
lost her father. He left behind Meenu, her two
younger sisters, a brother and his ailing wife. Today
Meenu is 50 years old and unmarried. Carrying on with
her duties towards her family and others, Meenu is no
less than Mother Teresa when it comes to serving the
helpless and needy.
Meenu Saxena, on the strength of her savings and
contribution from friends, and wihout any help from
the government, has been running an organisation for
the disabled and the polio victims, Prerna Niketan
Sangh. The Sangh functions from a newly developed
residential area of Delhi, Dwarka. Meenu is a career
counsellor in Delhi University’s Faculty of
Management Studies (FMS). She spends a large portion
of her modest Rs. 26,000 per month salary on the care
of these children. They study under the tutelage of
Meenu-didi and stand on their feet through vocational
training. All this is not possible for a lone woman,
who feels in the name of NGOs, many money-spinning
shops have come up all over the country. She says
none bothers to care for a lone lamp giving out its
little warmth and light. Meenu Saxena is grateful for
the success of her venture to Yogi Ashwini, whose
organisation Dhyan Foundation donates Rs. 5,000 to the
Sangah for meeting expenses on milk and vegetables
needed for the children. The caravan of Meenu
includes Dr.V.K. Jain, Sanjay Puri, Shanti Devi,
Mrs.Anjli Aggarwal and bhajan singers Saxena Bandhu.
New Delhi Tit Bits (SAT, February 2007)

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By Rajiv Sharma in New Delhi

Wedding Blues

Film industry is a bizarre world: no body is a permanent friend or a
permanent foe. Relationships keep changing with time; people forget old
time. The Aish-Abhishek wedding has put Amitabh Bachchan in a spot. Tinsel
town bigwigs are upset over not being invited to the wedding. The gift of
sweets boxes to such legendary folks only rubbed salt over the hurt egos.
Those who were all fire and brimstone after receiving the gift are such high
and mighty: Dileep Kumar, Shatrughan Sinha, Dharmendra, Rani Mukharjee,
Sushmita Sen etc. Let’s recall their pride of place: The Amitabh-Dharmendra
pair of Sholey is a major Bollywood milestone, Dostana (with Sharu) is a
famous big screen example of how friends do remain friends in the end, Black
has seen Big-B beating all in showering best of praises on Rani Mukherjee;
and poor Sushmita calls Abishek her brother.
The uninvited to the wedding, Dileep Kumar is a living legend; and Rajesh
Khanna, the unforgettable of Amitabh’s fist hit Anand, remained grossly
unwanted in the wedding.
So, why did Amitabh behave like this? There has been no clear answer. What
appears is that Amitabh has become too superstitious in the company of
politician Amar Singh, and that he must have finalized the list of invites
at the instance of astrologers. The uninvited also include those who have,
in some way, nursed a few grudges against Big-B.

Mayawati is back

Mayawati has finally got back the throne of Uttar Pradesh. This has driven
many to wild political surmises: could the woman rise even further to become
prime minister. The blue flag of Bahujan Samaj Party has carved a niche for
itself on the country’s political firmament. The BSP goes about its business
of championing the cause of the low-caste based on the principles of Bhimrao
Ambedkar. The party’s founder Kanshi Ram recently died after prolonged
illness. Thus Mayawati assumed the leadership as a part of Kanshi Ram’s
heritage.
The fifty-something Mayawati is a law graduate, and is a very aggressive and
sharp politician. I have met her a number of times at her New Delhi
residence. She is always dressed in a simple suit. I have observed many
qualities in her during my interviews. First, she has on her finger tips all
the old and new political equations. Second is her bitter tongue. When she
goes after a big leader, her language is undiluted, without restraint. This
election, she turned the caste calculations on their head — quite
literally. This time, she went beyond her party’s traditional line of
hankering only after the Dalit votes and fielded 92 candidates belonging to
the upper castes, which included Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Kayasthas, Banias and
the privileged among the lower castes. Notwithstanding the bitter
mud-slinging, she successfully turned caste combinations in her favour. The
BSP slogans, this time, were far less bitter. Take a look: in previous
elections the most prominent slogan was: Tilak taraju aur talwar,inko maro
joote chaar (bash up the upper castes). This time, it was chadh gundo ki
chchati par, mohar lagao Haathi par (ride the chests of the goons, vote for
BSP). This way she echoed the widely perceived impression of the ruling
Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav that only criminals had benefited
under his dispensation. She convincingly told the upper castes that if they
cared for the BSP, the party would care for them. The result was obvious:
The Dalits voted for her en bloc, the Muslims felt she was best suited
against their bete noir, Bharatiya Janata Party, and the upper castes
shifted their loyalty on the basis of representation they got in the party.
The rise of Mayawati is thus nothing less than a revolution that has boggled
her political adversaries.

Travel Free!

A magnum opus can be attempted on the government facilities in India. I
bumped into a seventy-year-old man, who asked me the way to the Supreme
Court. I got to know that he was a lawyer by profession and had come to
Delhi from Bihar. As we struck up a conversation, I noticed a very old woman
sitting in a bench near us. The lady sat straight and appeared quite active,
but was toothless. Perhaps I had not seen such an old, active woman. Out of
curiosity, I asked him about the woman. He told me that she was her mother
and that she was 105 years old. The old lawyer spoke with pride to tell me
that the woman had been a freedom fighter. The Railways has granted her a
pass that allows her to travel free in any part of the country in an
air-conditioned coach. Plus, a caretaker too can accompany her for free. The
lawyer told me that whenever he had to go out of his town in Bihar, he tags
her mother along. What a way to travel free!

Presious Dada

Computer has arrived everywhere. There is hardly ay work that does not take
help of the computer. Clothes and jewelry are being designed on the
computer. A human hand is limited to the mouse. But what I am about to say
is something different.
Who doesn’t know Sant Kabeer. It is believed that Kaber continued till his
end his weaving profession even after attaining enlightenment. The clothes
woven by him were not very eye-catching: he was always in a state of eternal
bliss, but whatever he wove, was sold. For, the people believed that the
clothes he wove carried his divine power.
I know a very old jeweler living in Old Delhi. He is a Bengali. Everyone
calls him Dada. In his youth in Calcutta during the British raj, he learnt
the art from Englishmen. He uses the same old instruments and lives in a
small room with his work table. A famous jeweler has got the right on the
jewelry that Dada makes with his masterstrokes. Dada gets paid for this –
with a string attached: he cannot work for anybody else. This famous jeweler
exports the pieces that Dada makes. In return, Dada has got his small room
and a paltry sum. Dada specializes not only in small ornaments but also in
creating various shapes in gold– elephants, horses, canons and any
decorative piece.
His fame has been recorded in many video films. But he believes in his work
alone. Dada’s family includes his wife and a 30-year-old daughter, who is
well educated. Perhaps shortage of money has not so allowed Dada to marry
her off. Dada has had no time to spare: a normal gold ring would take at
least a month from him. It is said, a jeweler’s art is often judged by his
skill to embed a precious stone into a gold ring. Without applying a cut or
a stitch, this wok is too difficult and time-consuming, which others have
stopped doing. The work that Dada does makes a precious stone so firmly
fixed that the ring may get rubbed off with time, but the stone stays in its
original place.
Source: South Asia Times (May 2007)

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