All posts by Suvan

FOOD

Malabar Parotta: an epitome of Guilty Pleasure

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If you have ever traveled to South India, especially to the states like Kerala or Tamil Nadu, definitely you have heard the name Malabar Parotta in any restaurants you have visited in the south. The Malabar parotta or Kerala parotta is a food of immense pleasure that every family enjoys as an evening meal, whether be children, adolescents or adults, it is having high demand for all age groups. In the middle of this pandemic disease, still there is a high demand for this heavenly food and particularly as an irresistible combination with chicken curry, egg curry, and beef or else with gravy, nevertheless the personal choices differ. Those people who are looking for the perfect evening street food, you can’t miss this one. This mouth-watering food of India is also has an enormous craze in the state of Tamil Nadu.

History & Popularity

Basically, Malabar parotta or Kerala parotta is a layered flatbread made of redefined wheat flour or maida, to get in the shape of soft dough it requires a lot of kneading. Distinct from the north Indian lachha paratha, this fascinating food originated in the Kerala, specifically in the Malabar region, yet the story of origin is still unknown. As per the Food experts the ancestors of parotta may have introduced in North India but not more than 100 years ago. Only in 1960’s parotta became the popular dish in Kozhikode. It used to be small and served as the street food in the evening. By 1980’s parotta became the necessary dish in Kerala and it was strongly displayed in movies during that time and as the time passed, many restaurants started having good business all because of parotta. It is also available in different states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka and in other countries such as UAE and Sri Lanka. Other than malabari parotta, there are other types of parotta such as Poricha Parotta, Bun Parotta, Kothu Parotta, Madurai Parotta, and Ceylon Parotta.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of all purpose flour (Maida)
  • Salt for taste
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1/4  cup of warm water
  • 1/2 cup of Milk
  • 2 table spoon of ghee
MALABAR PAROTTA | PHOTO SOURCE: WHISKAFFAIR

Steps

  1. To start making the Malabar Parotta recipe, in a mixing bowl or a food processor, add the Maida, ghee, milk, sugar, salt and sufficient warm water and make firm dough.
  2. Cover the parotta dough and allow it to rest 15 to 20 minutes and divide the Malabar parotta dough into equal portions and roll them into balls, then place a ball on a worktop and roll the parotta with the help of a rolling pin into thin sheet.
  3. Apply some ghee on the rolled parotta and with the little Maida dust it.
  4. Make small pleats like an accordion and then bring the pleats together. Start to roll the parotta into a round pinwheel from one end. Dust in flour and roll into a circular shape.
  5. Do the same with the remaining portion of the Malabar parotta dough. 
  6. Heat the tawa over medium heat; add the rolled out Malabar parotta and cook without ghee for a few seconds until the raw look goes away. 
  7. Drizzle little ghee and cook the Malabar parotta from both sides until lightly brown and crisp.
  8. Present Malabar Parotta with chicken gravy or with any Vegetable Curry Recipe as a weekend night dinner special with family or with friends as a special Indian menu.

Conclusion

In my personal opinion, I recommend you to have Malabar parotta once in your lifetime, but making of Malabar parotta is not that easy. It will take a lot your time and energy in the preparation of making parotta in home, but it will be worth all your efforts in the preparation of this fascinating food.

News

Shooting in time of Pandemic

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Global film industries are facing the tough situation due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Let’s start from the beginning, few months ago due to the outbreak of the deadly virus, which is also known as coronavirus. Because of this pandemic virus all the production of films had been lockdown officially and all the talented people who were working front of the camera or behind it were all quarantined.  As the movie studio is filled with hyper active people who works in the close range of proximity and are regularly having physical contact, like in the department of makeup, hair and costumes where the equipments are frequently passed over the crew. All the events such as film festivals or any award ceremony were cancelled. Even the cinema halls were closed (it’s still closed) and the entire industry faced an uncertain financial future.  

As cinemas are closed, many big starrer films had chosen to release the film in OTT platform instead of chosen traditional path to theatrical release which is impossible as of now. Films like Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Gulabo Sitabo which was released in Amazon Prime, Vidya Balan’s Shakuntala Devi which was released in hotstar, Shushant singh rajput’s film Dil bechara was released in Disney plus, few days after the demise of him and Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl starring Jhanvi Kapoor will release in Netflix. Akshay Kumar`s Laxmmi Bomb is also set to release in Disney plus hotstar, Abhishek Bachan starrer The Big Bull will release in Disney plus Hotstar. and many other films like  Anurag Basu`s Ludo, Sidharth Malhotra`s  Shershaah,  Kiara Advani`s  Indoo Ki Jawaani, Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday`s  Khaali Peeli may or may not release in digital platform in near future. For many members in the film industries are facing financial difficulties due to the lockdown but with the direct-OTT release not only it will push the Indian market with the digital medium but also it will give some relief for many members of the industry.

All these Films have chosen the path of OTT Platform instead of theatrical release as the presence of coronavirus which resulted in the temporary shutdown of cinema halls. | Photo Credit : DNA India

By the time of May, proposed by the Producer Guild of India, 37-pages of guideline that can give permission to resume shooting which is granted by the government. On 27th May, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray allowed TV industry to resume shooting with conditions applied. This comprehensive report offers guidelines to all the department and professionals at TV and Film shoots. According to the various news sources, Film shooting won’t start before the month of July.

It will be a big change, the way industries will work as in the guidelines; there will be no handshakes, hugs, kisses or any other physical greetings, wearing a triple layer medical mask, above the age of 60 no workers are allowed, The masks must not be left unattended and would need to be disposed off in the bins provided on location, before entering into the set, every cast and crew members should go through temperature measurement with a contactless thermometer, the advisory states. All the talents and crew members should sign or submit a fitness or declaration form, informing the production team about their exposure to COVID-19 and health status by the time of signing-up a project or booking and again they have to repeat on arrival at the set. Every person should maintain a record every day throughout the shooting schedule and it is also includes work-from-home where possible, limiting the number of cast and crew, downloading of the Arogya Setu app on phones, avoiding outdoor shoots, and in two different shifts having a medical team on sets for  initial three months when shoots begin.

The document also recommends advises that the setting up of an isolation zone, away from the main filming area. Anyone indicating COVID-19 symptoms must not be allowed on set. If anyone growing symptoms while at work, he or she should right away be isolated in the designated isolation room on set, and also have the set of medical team monitor them for symptoms and advising the necessary authorities. Ambulance should be there on stand-by at all the time. A certified nurse and two junior-level doctors must be there on set in two different shifts for an initial three months.

Many popular shows like Kapil Sharma show has already started to air on television and the sets of this shows are taking serious precautions as per the guidelines issued by the government. | Photo Credit : The Indian express

By the time of June, the lockdown had been lifted the Television shows have resumed production of daily soaps in different parts of the city with producers following guidelines to ensure the safety of the cast and crew amid the scare of COVID-19 and the TV shows and films, which had stopped production in mid-March, have been allowed to resume shootings in non-containment zones with conditions to adhere to the state government led safety guidelines. Actors are also coming prepared with their own safety kits.

Channels like Star Plus shows Ye Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, Kasauti Zindagii Ki, Yeh Rishte Hai Pyaar Ke and Ye Hai Chahatein have resumed shooting. Star Bharat channel show RadhaKrishn – Krishn Arjun Gatha has also started the shoot. Zee TV’s popular daily soaps Kundali Bhagya and Kumkum Bhagya have restarted shoot with a limited crew. Sab TV’s show Bhakharwadi featuring Deven Bhojani in the lead, too have resumed shoot.

Now, the popular shows like the kapil Sharma show has already started to air on TV and the first episode was aired on 1st august with Sonu Sood as the special guest of the show. Last Month, He (Kapil Sharma) shared some videos on his social media sites, informing fans about the beginning of the show as in the video various safety precautions were taken in the place of shooting. In the sets Bharti Singh was being sanitised, the actor’s temperature and oxygen levels were tested before entering the sets as shown in the video. Many other television shows are all set to release in the near future.

HEALTH

COVID-19 and the need for action on Mental Health

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Due to the outbreak of the infamous virus (COVID-19) globally, we all are stuck in our home, hoping to go out. But with the cases which are increasing day by day, we are restricting ourselves to move out, we only go out of the house for emergency purposes like buying groceries or any other related items for our home. As the cases are increasing, we sometimes forget to take care of our mental health as it is equally important as our physical health. We always stress over small things, which eventually leads to bigger problems in the near future. Because the cases are increasing rapidly worldwide, it is also giving us the great amount of fear or concerns for our grandparents or the person who is suffering from a serious illness, who is more prone to this deadly virus if he or she moves out of the house in emergency cases.

Basically, Mental Health is a psychological condition of an individual, which means the way people talk, feel, think, react or behave. We can also call it as an absence of mental illness. Mental Health can easily affect the relationships, physical health and daily life activities due to stress, anxiety or depression which interrupts a person’s personal routine.  In Mental Health there is a factor of age, sex, ethnicity or income, so everyone has some risk of developing these mental health issues, as in India estimated by World Health Organization (WHO) that the mental health problem is 2,443 DALYs per 100,000 populations and the age- adjusted suicide rate per 100,000 populations is 21.1 per cent. People who are going through financial problems or being part of marginalized can also have high chances to increase the risk of mental health due to these entire burdens. India being the second-most populous country in the world, it shares the large number of people who are suffering from these mental health issues, such as, Depression, Bipolar mood disorder, Anxiety disorder, Schizophrenia, and an eating disorder.

If you are not having peace with yourself you are not alive fully. | PHOTO CREDIT : SUVAN

So, because of this deadly virus (COVID-19), most of the places have restricted the social activities and the hospitals are flooding with COVID-19 patients, many problems related to mental health are emerging such as Anxiety, depression, stress, frustration and uncertainty about the future in the time of the rapid increase of the COVID-19 cases. Because, of the worldwide lockdown, teacher’s started teaching their students through online through zoom or Whatsapp but with online teaching there was end number of projects faced by students to complete by the allotted date which was the same date for almost all the subjects. This created pressure for students to complete their work so that they get marks to pass. No end semester exams where conducted, so instead of exams students faced projects, and there where many students who dint have proper gadgets to use for the projects, which was a burden to them. As the day by day increasing cases of coronavirus in the city, exams were cancelled; this resulted in disappointment between the senior students who prepared hard for their exams. Not being able to go out to meet the friends of their school or colleges, which are making them bored, frustrated or homesick because of lack of interpersonal communication. These all things are affecting and making them feel distressed due to loss of control, financial loss or having fear of getting this deadly virus to themselves or one of their family members. Many of the people are suffering from anxiety, due to the increasing cases of COVID-19 and the deaths relating to that virus or the deaths of their closed one, which is affecting them mentally, making them uncertain about their future. As the people who are not able to go out of their house, regarding the unpleasant situation, it’s affecting them as irritability, anger, confusion, loneliness, insomnia or suicidal thoughts. There are many people in various countries, who are not able to meet their family in their hometown because of this virus which is rapidly spreading and are stuck in the country full of the stranger. Because of this situation, the economy of the country is low and many lost their job, which leads to financial crises where they are having a difficult time to pay the fees or running the house for the family. All these current problems are giving high chances to fall in the mental health problems, which will give the negative consequences if we do not deal with this as early as possible.

There are no physical tests or scan which tell that if a person is having a mental illness or not, but there are some symptoms, which will give some possible signs of the mental illness such as:-

  • Feeling sad or down for quiet a sometime
  • Being confused or not able to concentrate properly
  • Excessive sleeping or not having proper sleep
  • Excessive eating or having a low amount of food
  • Having extreme mood swings of High and lows
  • Spending too much time alone, disengaging with family, friends and colleagues
  • Felling of low energy or tiredness or not able to sleep
  • Showing negative emotions
  • Feeling of hopelessness
  • Having an excessive amount of alcohol or drug for your mood
  • Having drastic changes in eating
  • Not able to complete the day to day task, which you are good at
  • Showing the extreme amount of anger or violence
  • Hearing voices in your head
  • Instead of being in reality, facing delusion or paranoia
  • Having thoughts of causing physical harm to yourself or others

There are different types of mental health problems and the individual should talk to doctors about their problems faced in their lives so that the doctor can recognize your problem and provide you with good treatment. If anyone close to you whether it be family, friends or any other individual who is suffering from mental illness, discuss with them about their problems and encourage them or motivate them and give them your support so that at least they feel little hope. Help them to find a good mental health professional and make an appointment with them, so that they get don’t attempt any self-harm on themselves. If you are feeling sad, angry, and confused or stresses, it’s completely normal because everyone faces it at the time of crises, just talk to your loved ones with whom you can trust. Maintain a healthy lifestyle, exercise daily, have a proper diet, get good amount of sleep and always stay in touch with your family and friends. Almost everyone faces mental problems whether it be stress, anxiety or depression, but there is always a cure for all these problems and before attempting any self-harm on yourself think about your family who is praying for your well being every day.

Tech

Zoom: Rise in the middle of global Pandemic

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As we all are stuck in our homes, due to the infamous COVID-19 virus, many of us used or at least heard of the video calling application called as Zoom. This app is available as free of cost to all the app stores and is also being used on laptop, tablets, mobile phones, etc. This videoconferencing software company that went public last year, is used mainly for meetings, webinars, hosting video calls and this video calling app has became quite popular across the globe as more and more workers are now working from home during the period of lockdown. Zoom is doing wonders in app stores that in android and iphone, it topped the charts of the most downloaded apps and it became so famous on mobile phones that it was ranked 2nd only after the TiTok as the most downloaded app in the world. Zoom has been embraced by education worldwide for enhancing the quality of online teaching, encouraging students to engage in online classes or discussion. The reason zoom is so popular among the masses is that it makes it simple comparing to the other videoconferencing platform and it also offers the fastest way to get started for a meeting or for an online class. This application allows conference calls up to 100 attendees and 40 minutes free video call.

Now, in Supreme Court a PIL has been filed raising the concerns over privacy and security in relation this videoconferencing app.  This application got warned by the ministry of home affairs (MHA) that this video calling app’s usage is not safe for the users. The Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord) of ministry of home affairs said in a new 16-page advisory that the “Zoom is a not a safe platform.”

The government’s warning arrives following the India’s nodal cyber security agency, Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-in), had warned against the vulnerability of this application. The agency also realized the important weakness of this video calling app which can allow users accessible to cyber attacks which also includes the leakage of sensitive office information to criminals.

Different News reports appeared highlighting privacy and security breaches caused by the Zoom application on some incident. In this view, the PIL filed in the Supreme Court says that, “It is pertinent to point out that the CEO of the respondent no.3 has already apologized publically and has accepted the app to be faulty in terms of providing a secure environment digitally which is against the norms of cyber security.” The security issue affects the whole nation, the petitioners say by adding that, due to the lockdown, portrayal to this effect cannot be created. Since the government has identified the threat which posed, it is known with the subject matter of the instant petition.

 Another issue raised by the petitioner refers to the accusation that Zoom enlists in data hoarding of the private user data and that it, “stores cloud recordings, instant messages, files, whiteboards, etc.” The new trend has been observed that is known as Zoombombing, where unknown and unauthorized persons sometimes join a Zoom session and performs indecent activities.

Unexpectedly, the usage of the app has increased during this lockdown and even the CEO of the company has accepted the company was not ready for such a rise in user influx. This application is neither prepared or was ready to handle the sudden rise in the number of its users, said by PIL.

The petitioner contends further that, this app violates right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution. In this regard, it is submitted that data storage, access and collection without letting the user know is “nothing but infringing their fundamental right of privacy.”

Even the schools have stopped holding online classes through the app after the MHA’s direction and through whatsapp they are sending whatsapp recorded videos and assignments for the students during this lockdown. From, many teachers view, WhatsApp is not as useful as Zoom because zoom allows conference which allows them to hold the online classes for a batch of 30 to 40 students for two to three hours, which is not possible with whatsapp, which allows maximum of four people to go live at one point of time.

In this new advisory, MHA has asked users, who would still wish to use Zoom application, has to follow certain guidelines for the safety purpose, which includes avoiding unauthorized entry in the conference room, preventing an unauthorized participant to carry out vicious activity.

The new guidelines has been reissued by the government after many users complained about situations of leaked passwords and hackers hijacking video calls midway through conferences.

India

Gag order gets issued by Mumbai Police in the time of COVID-19

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In the time of this pandemic disease, Mumbai city has been the place for the ongoing prohibitory order for almost three decades. On 23rd May the Commissioner of Mumbai police have issued an order which is known as the gag order i.e. a person can’t speak against the state governments or it’s functioning in the times of COVID-19 disease. This order was issued under Section 144 of CrPC 1973, DCP Pranaya Ashok of Greater Mumbai who signed this gag order due to the several issues faced by the state like the widespread fake news, incorrect information, misinformation, and other such objectionable content in the form of messages, videos, images and memes, audio clips over internet messaging and social media platforms. It’s been told to all the persons entitled as the “admin” on social media or messaging platforms shall be personally responsible, if any such information being circulated from a group administered by them. “It shall be the personal responsibility of all persons designated as ‘Admin’ on messaging and social media platforms to report such malicious, incorrect or derogatory content posted by a member of the group to police immediately,” it says.

The gag order which was issued by the police, effective from the 25th May to 8th June, the other directives as “prohibits any person inciting mistrust towards government functionaries and their actions taken in order to avoid the spread of the COVID- 19 virus and by that causing danger to human health or safety or a disturbance to the public tranquility”. Any individual who is going against this prohibitory order will be prosecuted under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, said by the order. According to the police, the order was issued to deal with the “animosity created in the state due to COVID-19 pandemic”. Ever since the communal violence occurred in the Mumbai city in 1992-93, the prohibitory orders have been issued continuously in the city. In most cases, the order has been justified under the reasons that is individuals from the summon group is of more than four or five people, but also from time to time the prohibition changes, which completely depends upon the political atmosphere and situation in the city.

Currently, BJP Party’s opposition leaders has launched an assault on the tri-party government which is led by chief minister and Shiv Sena head Uddhav Thackeray, this order can’t be looked in separation. The opposition has been offensive the state, particularly on social media, for the increasing range of cases of COVID-19 infection. During these attacks, the opposition leaders, together with former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, have time and once more sought-after Thackeray’s resignation and disintegration of the state government.  Proposals for governor’s rule have been created. Claimed by many within the opposition that he police order was in response to their criticism of the government’s functioning in the state. Criticized by the BJP, that the tri-party Maha Vikas Aghadi –consisting of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress – government’s gag order, created critical comments on the social media. Reacting to the police order, BJP’s Mumbai unit spokesperson Suresh Nakhua told that the Emergency was within the Congress’s DNA. Nakhua tweeted, in addition of the copy of the order that, “Emergency is in the DNA of Congress and its allies. Gag order issued in Maharashtra”.

As soon as the first gag order was issued, Pankaj Rajmachikar had moved the Bombay high court against the state government. Nevertheless Justice R.K. Deshpande had noticed, “Prima facie, the object of issuing the order seems to genuinely protect the persons from false and incorrect information being provided in respect of COVID- 19 disease, which is spread all over.”

Inconsistent issues of prohibitory orders have been time and once again criticized in the high courts and the Supreme Court. Disha Wadekar, the lawyer of the Supreme Court, who has made representations in a lot many cases referring to the recent anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests in Delhi, termed the order “disproportionate”. Wadekar mentioned that the fundamental rights can’t be suspended under the aspect of “reasonable restrictions”. “Section 144 cannot be used as a legal tool to suppress the constitutional rights,” she added.

For almost three decades in Mumbai the order has been issued continuously without saying the specific scenario and because of the nature of these prohibitory orders, it has also changed the state of Maharashtra too. Since the last year of December, the police have been more rigid in its usage, mainly to avoid any kind of disapproval against the CAA, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

This order, therefore may seem harsh to public due to unable to fully express their words regarding their own states, but it may also become the start to treat their place with respect and also it will prevent some prejudicial scenario in the city. Hopefully, the outcome of this order becomes beneficial for citizens.