The Vegetarian Challenge

Abbas-Mustan films are some of my favourites. Of course, I need to be in that 'willing suspension of disbelief' state of mind, but they just pack in a punch of entertainment, a good-looking dramatis personae and nice music.

I once did a Facebook post on toying with the idea of 'turning vegetarian', and I almost got booed out of a forum that is, clearly, so carnivorous that fangs are bared at the drop of a hat. Ninety-nine per cent of my 'friends' thought I was a complete cop-out and that there was something intrinsically wrong with me for propagating the cause "ghas phoos" (which roughly translates into "grass and other such unmentionables"). It was like my human status had been pulled down a couple of notches because I was suddenly not red-blooded enough. Just to set the record straight, I love eating veg food, and I rarely eat (or enjoy) meat, but I'm not vegetarian (yes, I know I'm a pseudo, trying to straddle two ends of a culinary world conveniently). One day, I hope to be vegetarian (though I know I'll continue tucking into eggs), but till such time I will be in thraldom of those who chose to give up a meat-eating lifestyle for general good. Factors like environment, health and, most importantly, for the sake of not taking an animal life. This week, we feature a bunch of folks who chose to be vegetarian, and stuck to their guns despite pulls and pushes (not just from the larger Facebook community). Some of their insights are quite the revelation. Who knows, you may be tempted too!
I come across the stereotyping of Emiratis - especially the women - pretty often. While on a mall crawl, during the course of which we supposedly spend our well-earned money, there's always a snigger when we pass by a group of Emirati ladies, and someone says, "Oh, how I wish I was born with a golden spoon in my mouth. You know. like them." So we decided to speak to a few of them, and get to the bottom of it. and, boy, were we in for a surprise! These women are fiercely independent, competitive and want to shine by dint of merit. And, yes, they are also a bit unhappy about the judgements drawn on them by 'the others'.
Abbas-Mustan films are some of my favourites. Of course, I need to be in that 'willing suspension of disbelief' state of mind, but they just pack in a punch of entertainment, a good-looking dramatis personae and nice music. I remember dragging some friends to a cinema hall in Jaipur, where we had escaped for a weekend, and they were not pleased at the prospect of theatrics on a getaway; but I had my way because it was an Abbas-Mustan flick (Humraaz, to be precise), and I wasn't going to take no for an answer. Bollywood profiles the elusive duo.
We catch up with Gauri Khan, whose furniture line looks set to go places. There's also a comfort food spread that promises to be, well, comforting. All this and much more.
Enjoy reading wknd. and have a great weekend!