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Retired or Working We in India , being an old-fashioned country, are not used to see people idling or having private means and taking life easy. We place our friends / relatives / people surrounding us – whether male or female as to whether they are Working, Retired or still Unemployed. But are these 3 categories enough to group all persons ? Let us see – off hand I can think of several categories – such as …. 1.      Working and getting a Salary 2.      Retired and getting a Pension 3.      Retired and getting no Pension 4.      Unemployed – totally 5.      Sporadic employment 6.      Self employed – hence no retirement 7.      Not having to work – having private means Of course there can be some more categories, but let us consider the above one by one 1. Working and getting a Salary At the employable age, we all wan...

The progress of the Nouveau-Riche THEN or the Stage - I In the 1950’s and 60’s, a class of people came to be known as the Nouveau-Rich. They were mostly tradesmen who became very rich by selling grocery / vests & underwear / chole – bhature / or bricks & sand etc. These, the Nouveau-Rich loved to show off their money among themselves, made mistakes in manners etc., but were rich ! They gave their children professional education with the backing of capitation fee (seats in medical / engineering colleges in that era were very limited). Being tradesmen / businessmen they were polite towards the salaried officer class, and did not put on airs in public. Among themselves they called the other class as snobs The salaried class whether employed in the government or industry, was better educated professionals, and sometimes offspring of similarly employed officer parents. Their paths crossed at railway trains or tourist spots. The salaried class did not mix with them and t...

SHORTAGE Dictionaries describe “shortage” in various ways, such as …… ·         A complete absence of a particular thing, ·         Something that is needed but is in short supply or missing, ·         Not to have something that is needed, ·         To have too little of something, ·         An insufficient supply of something, ·         An inadequate supply of something necessary, ·         A situation in which there is not enough of something,       and so on.  But we in India have forgotten the above meanings. At least the last three to four generations have been born and brought up in a situation of shortage of one item or another. The leaders of the country are prone to blame any ...

                         MALAI MAKHKHAN of LUCKNOW The Nawabs of Lucknow have been known to be connoisseurs of several things and food is one of them. Gifts were given to the khansamas whenever a new dish was prepared and liked by the Nawabs. The khansamas turned out several items which were unique and Lucknow is still famous for several of these food items. Milk was supplied to the Kaiserbagh Palaces from the cattle keepers of Thakurganj – a mohalla adjoining Chowk. These people developed the art of making kulfi, which took up about 8 months of the year. During the months of winter these people of Thakurganj invented a mouth watering dish called “ Malai Makhkhan “.                           Malai Makkhan  is one of the most amazing sweet snacks sold during the winters in Lucknow . While the name may scare the diet conscious, the tr...

Bada Mangal of Lucknow The month of Jyestha has started, and with it the series of four tuesdays in the month known as Bada Mangal of Lucknow.                             Of course only the first tuesday has the honour of being known as Bada Mangal. The last tuesday of the month of Jyestha is known as Budhwa Mangal (it could be 4th or sometimes the 5th). The rest of the tuesdays in between do not have any special name. The month of Jyestha falls during the period of early May to mid June                             The occasion is the special Darshan of Lord Hanuman and asking of wishes in the Hanuman Temple at Aliganj, and the accompanying mela. The darshan and occasion are specific to the two temples (old and new) at Aliganj, but with time all Hanuman Temples in Luckno...

LPG cylinder in India, courtesy - Indian Oil What is in the LPG Cylinder  ?          When crude Petroleum is drilled out from deep inside the earth, it comes out with a gush and is accompanied with huge amount of gases. This gas is loosely known as petroleum gas.          This gas is filtered to remove the liquid petroleum accompanying it.          A strong smelling chemical is added to it – so that you can identify if the LPG cylinder is leaking.         Finally the gas is compressed to a liquid state and filled in cylinders.         When the gas is used from the cylinder, the liquefied gas becomes gaseous again, and comes out under pressure.        The liquefaction is done so that the cylinder can accommodate more gas. Is any manufacturing process involved ?       ...