I never could have imagined that I would ever write about this…no not even because I’m a hard core foodie! I mean just think about it, the conversations of the kitchen are now making headlines and rightfully so as the grumbling homemakers concerns are just not hers anymore.
This really isn’t about the cartels formed by some colony cart-walas who seem to cast the prices of the day in stone and follow them like they were sent by the Lord Almighty himself! This isn’t even about the famous Mr. Onion who seems to have hogged all the lime-light posing on magazine covers, making special appearances in conversations of the high and mighty and even re-inventing the reason for why he used to make us cry! So all of you who love your Dal-Makhani with Naan so much more for the Onions in Vinegar which accompany it, please rid yourself of this sheer moh-maaya (worldly attachments).
Ok, ok I’ll come to the point…you see I have always loved Okra aka Bhindi and even refused to eat food without it while growing up. The reason I am so upset is that nobody cares about the dear lady finger anymore. I understand that the Onion prices are hitting the roof and soon a century but the Bhindi isn’t far behind (at least till yesterday in South Delhi =72/Kg). What will happen to all my friends, chefs and countrymen who love it as much as I do?
I even applied the logic of it being a lean vegetable and the Onion a well-rounded one and I understand that “curves are back”, etc but this kind of favoritism just won’t do!
Anyway on a more serious note, I was just thinking about how times have changed and the time when flaunting what you ate for dinner or what’s packed in whose lunch isn’t really far away! Imagine a conversation which goes, “Hey so have you heard that the party at their house last night had 27 dishes and all of them with Onions ;)” or “Did you know that Mrs. XYZ hasn’t bought any Onions for the last two months…Do you think they have a financial crisis?”
Come to think of it branded vegetables and fruits are already in the shelves of neighborhood supermarkets, so how far could ‘Vegetables in Vogue’, conversations be? Don’t believe me? Just answer the question -So which brand of water do you drink - Bisleri or Evian?
Sanchita Johri
