Indian Tomato Raita (Tomato/Yogurt Salad)

"Raita" is pronounced as if, "rite-ah." Raita is often served in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal to "cool" the palate and stomach after spicy dishes have been eaten.

 

Make sure to use finely chopped ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

 

1 cup plain yogurt, stirred or whisked so that's it's smooth

1/2 cup finely chopped tomatoes (seeds removed)

1 heaping tablespoon finely chopped onion

1 teaspoon finely chopped green chili (serrano chili pepper is good, or unripened cayenne pepper)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons finely chopped mint

1/2 teaspoon salt 

Put the yogurt into a bowl and stir or whisk it so that it's smooth. (Optional) You can preheat a small dry skillet over medium heat and add the ground cumin for just like 10 seconds (shaking the skillet), and remove from the heat and let it cool down before adding it to the other ingredients; or, you can just add the ground cumin to the raita without toasting it. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl and mix everything together well.   

WORD HISTORY:

Tank-This word has an uncertain origin, and there are at least a couple lines of thought on its ancient history, but to me, the best history is the idea that "tank" was a word borrowed by Portuguese, as "tanque," from a language in India in the early 1600s, perhaps from transliterated Gujarati "tankh" (I also found it as "tanki" and "tanku"), with meanings like "cistern, pool, reservoir." Some believe this goes back to Sanskrit^ "tadaga" meaning "pond or lake."^^ Portuguese took the word back to the Iberian Peninsula from India and it passed into Spanish also as "tanque," and into English (circa 1609-10). I don't necessarily dispute the English borrowing, but both the Portuguese and the English were heavily involved in India in those times; so, in theory, English could have borrowed the word right in India, or it could have at least reinforced a borrowing from Portuguese in English. The meaning in English at the time was "a pool used as a water supply," obviously closely tied to the Gujarati meaning of "cistern, pool, reservoir." From this, the meaning "container" developed. Now ... during World War One, "a vehicle of armor with a mounted machine gun moving on caterpillar tracks" was dubbed "a tank" purely for deception purposes, but the name stuck when the British first used "tanks" in action in the autumn of 1916. This meaning was borrowed by Portuguese, proving "what goes around, comes around." The verb form "tank" came from the noun and had the meaning "to put something into a tank," with that meaning seemingly used to give a figurative meaning "to fail, to lose badly, to give up on achieving something;" which came about in the 20th Century, but exactly when, is tough to pin down, although the late 1960's tennis world is a possibility.

 

^ Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European; thus, it is related to English, although much further down the family tree. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India, with ancient texts of religious significance to Hindus and Buddhists.   

 

^^ One source says the Sanskrit form "tadaga goes back to Dravidian, but without any way to connect the word to that language family. Dravidian is a family of languages spoken primarily in southern India, but also to some extent in Pakistan and on the island of Sri Lanka.    

Indian/Pakistani Sweetened Fried Batter: Jalebi

A squeeze bottle is great to use for this recipe. If you don't already have such a squeeze bottle, like you often see on tables in diners or restaurants for ketchup and mustard, they are usually available in dollar stores or in the kitchen utensil section of supermarkets and department stores. You may have to cut the spout a little for a bigger opening; otherwise, the opening will be too small and the batter stream will be too thin. You could also wash out an empty plastic ketchup bottle; just be sure to get the ketchup-y, vinegary taste washed out of it. I looked at perhaps 15 Jalebi recipes and most called for using orange food coloring in the batter, while a couple gave it as optional. Food coloring is something I very rarely use, although I've always kept it in the cabinet, and I mean always ... is food coloring from 1973 still safe to use? Actually, I'm joking, because I did buy some food coloring just a couple of months ago ... so I tossed the coloring from 1973. hahaha! I didn't have orange food coloring, and from what I understand, it is not commonly sold as a separate color in the U.S., so I added like 4 drops of yellow and 2 drops of red to the batter (see photo of the batter below). Jalebi is very easy to make, although getting the hang of making the spiral forms is more difficult than you might think; at least it was for me; but then again, dotting an "i" or crossing a "t" can be challenging to me. This was my first attempt at Jalebi, so if you give the recipe a try, you'll likely get the shape down to an art form within a minute or two.   

Ingredients (multiple servings):

1 cup flour
3 tablespoons chickpea flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 drops orange food coloring, if you have it; otherwise, 4 drops of yellow and 2 of red food coloring
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/4 cup yogurt
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
oil or ghee (clarified butter) for frying

For the syrup:

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
few strands of saffron (you can substitute 1 teaspoon ground turmeric)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon lemon juice

For the batter: In a bowl mix together the flour, chickpea flour, baking powder, baking soda, food coloring, turmeric, ground cardamon, yogurt and 1/2 cup water. You will almost certainly need more water, but after the initial 1/2 cup, add it a tablespoon at a time, until you reach a point that the batter is fluid, but not runny; something like the consistency of thick ketchup. Cover the bowl with a towel or some plastic wrap and let it sit on your counter for about 12 hours. This time allows the batter to ferment, and some recipes call for a little shorter time, but some recipes mention to allow the batter to sit for up to 24 hours. Now, some people don't go through this extended process; and instead, they let the batter sit like 15 to 30 minutes, or even less, then they begin to cook. Whatever you choose to do, put the batter into a squeeze bottle. Add about 1/2 inch of oil to a skillet or a pan (a skillet generally gives you room to maneuver, as it is wide, but not terribly deep, and I prefer this). Heat the oil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low or medium low, depending upon your burner settings. Squeeze the batter in a continuous stream in a circular motion to form rings of batter about 2 inches in diameter. If the batter spreads out too much, you'll need to add some flour to thicken it a bit. If you have trouble squeezing the batter from the bottle, you likely need a little water to thin the batter, but I would only add a teaspoon at a time, until you are able to get a steady stream of batter. The jalebi cook quickly, so after 20 to 30 seconds, flip the jalebi over and cook the other side; this time, likely only about 15 seconds or so. Dip the cooked jalebi into the syrup, drain any excess syrup and then put the jalebi onto a plate, or onto serving plates. Serve warm.  
For the syrup: In a heavy bottomed pan, add the sugar and water, bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a steady gentle simmer until the syrup thickens, stirring pretty much constantly to prevent scorching. The syrup should be just thickened enough to coat the jalebi when they are dipped in, but not so thick as to set up. 

The "Jalebi" batter ...

WORD HISTORY:
Rajah (also spelled "raja")-This word for "an Indian prince or princely ruler" is related to quite a number of words, including: "reckon," "right" and "rich," all words from the Germanic roots of English, and also to "direct," "regimen," "rex" and "regulate," all Latin-derived words borrowed by English. "Rajah" goes back to Indo European "reg" which had the idea of "move in a straight line;" thus also, "direct in a proper way;" thus also, "rule." This gave Indo Aryan (a branch of the Indo Iranian language family of Indo European) "(h)raja," which meant, "ruler, king." This gave Sanskrit^ "rajan," meaning "king, prince, ruler." This gave transliterated Hindi and Urdu "raja," with the same meanings. English borrowed the word in the mid 1500s as English involvement in India intensified, although it took a little time for the word to come into more common usage in England and other parts of Britain. It is not a common word in American English, and I dare say that many Americans would not know what you were talking about if you used it here in the U.S. It "may" have better recognition in Canadian English, as Canada has maintained more of a direct connection to the United Kingdom as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, although Canada is an autonomous nation.    

^ "Sanskrit" is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European; thus, it is related to English, although much further down the family tree. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India.

Indian Chicken Curry

"Chicken Curry" is a popular dish on the Indian subcontinent, as well as in the United Kingdom, as it was one of the dishes brought there during the time when much of the subcontinent was a British colony. With trading ships traveling the world and stopping in so many places and with people of the Indian subcontinent emigrating to other parts of the world, recipes for chicken curry spread elsewhere, and as you can imagine, there are numerous recipes, but there are many variations right within the Indian subcontinent,* including some with far less sauce, often called "gravy" by people of the subcontinent. As I have said before about some Indian recipes, they can contain a long list of ingredients, but that's often because these recipes contain many wonderful spices. 

You can use chicken pieces with bones, which IS traditional, but let's be honest, boneless chicken is easy to deal with when eating, so that's what I often use, and I haven't been hit by a piece of naan bread yet, darn it! It's so good. I've also used some bright red sweet paprika, which is not traditional, but it helps to give more red color to the dish.**

Ingredients:

1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds small chicken pieces, bones-in or boneless
2 medium onions, chopped
2 to 3 chilies (serranos or jalapeños are good), chopped
2 to 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 inch piece ginger, grated
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (or olive oil)
2/3 teaspoon turmeric
2 bay leaves
1 heaping teaspoon ground red pepper (like cayenne)
1 heaping teaspoon sweet paprika, the redder the color, the better
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup water
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (also called coriander)
(optional) if you want to thicken the curry, grind up 10 or 12 cashews, stir the meal into the gravy

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until browned. When the onion is not quite browned, add the garlic and the ginger and saute until the onion is browned, stirring or swirling the ingredients in the pan as they cook (to prevent them from burning). Add the chopped chilies, chopped tomato and the turmeric, saute until chilies and tomatoes soften. Add the chicken and stir to mix, cook for about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often to brown the chicken pieces somewhat. Add the ground red pepper, paprika, ground coriander, ground cumin, black pepper, ground cloves, cinnamon, salt, stir well to mix in everything. Add the water and stir again, cook for a minute or two, then cover, reduce heat to low and cook about 25 minutes. If using ground cashews, stir them in and continue stirring for about another 1 to 2 minutes. Good served with rice or naan bread, or even better, with both.

* In northeastern India and Bangladesh they often add potatoes to the dish. Sri Lanka is one of the countries of the Indian subcontinent and I have a recipe for a Sri Lankan chicken curry at this link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/03/sri-lankan-chicken-curry.html

** The red peppers used in much of the cooking of the Indian subcontinent give a nice bright red color, something not always easy to duplicate with "Western" chili powders or ground red peppers.

WORD HISTORY:
Bandana-This word is related to "bind," "bend," "bond" and "band,"^ all words from the Germanic roots of English. "Bandana" (also spelled "bandanna" by some) goes back to Indo European "bhendh," which had the notion of "to tie, tie up, to bind." This gave Sanskrit "badhnati," which meant "binds." This gave Hindi "bandhnu," meaning "a process of tying cloth and then dyeing it" (the source of modern tie-dyeing). This was borrowed by English in the mid 1700s as "bandanna" (apparently double 'n' initially and by some still today), meaning, "colorful handkerchief," later in American English usage, "handkerchief worn around the neck by cowboys," then also, "colorful cloth worn on the head." 

^ The meaning of "band" for "a group of people, often like outlaws or musicians," was borrowed by English from French. The meaning, "strip of something, usually flat, that separates an area from another, often by color," also came from French ("bande") and it influenced (expanded) the existing English meaning "strip of something used to bind." The French form came from the same Old Germanic source, but was absorbed into French from Germanic Frankish. 

East African Spice Mix: Berbere

This is a common spice blend used in many countries in East Africa, especially in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It is so commonly used, many families make their own, so there are numerous variations to recipes for berbere (pronounced as if, "bur-bur-ah"), including for the "heat level." In East Africa, many of the spices are first toasted in whole form, and then they are ground, but to make this blend a little more simple, you can use already ground spices, but you can toast them in a dry skillet briefly, if you'd like, but take care not to burn the spices, which can happen quite quickly... ah, that's what I've been told. (Let me uncross my fingers before I move on.)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper or other hot red ground chilies
1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon mild smoked paprika (Spanish paprika is smoked)
1 teaspoon onion powder   

This is the hard part... haha  Put all ingredients into a jar or other small storage container, put the lid on the jar and shake the jar until the spices are well mixed. You should shake the container before each use.

WORD HISTORY:
Zen-This word, distantly related to "semantic," goes back to Indo European "dhyae," which had the notion, "to look, to see." This gave transliterated Sanskrit^ "dhyana," meaning, "meditation" ("mentally looking in a focused way at the various aspects of a subject, often regarding a god, or religion, eventually as part of Buddhism"). This was borrowed by Chinese^^ as transliterated "dzien" (by pronunciation), and this was borrowed by Japanese^^^ as transliterated "zen," with the deep mediation part of Buddhism meaning. Seemingly first borrowed by English circa 1730.

^ "Sanskrit" is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European; thus, it is related to English, although much further down the family tree. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India.

^^ "Chinese" in its several forms belongs to the "Sino-Tibetan" language family. It's best known relative is Burmese.

^^^ For such a large language, the overall history and ties of "Japanese" to other languages is a bit sketchy, but it is part of the "Japonic" language family. Over time, some have attempted, unsuccessfully, to connect Japonic, and thus Japanese, to Korean. The similarities shared between Japanese and Korean have been generally assumed to be from borrowings due to contacts between the languages, not directly from a shared common ancestor.          

Chinese Cucumber Salad

This dish is also at times called, "(Chinese) Smashed Cucumber Salad." Like most popular dishes, the recipe for this cucumber salad can vary a little.

Ingredients:

2 English (aka seedless) cucumbers
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon fresh hot red chili pepper, finely chopped* 
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt

Wash the cucumbers very well and dry them. Cut the ends from the cucumbers and then very loosely wrap the cucumbers in plastic wrap, but do not peel them. Use a kitchen mallet or a heavy skillet and hit the cucumbers until they are split (now you see why the salad is often called "smashed cucumber salad"). Remove the cucumbers and slice them lengthwise a couple of times, then cut those long pieces into pieces of about 1/2 inch or so. Put the pieces into a strainer and add the salt and sugar. Put the strainer over a bowl and let the cucumbers drain for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, mix the other ingredients together well. Add the drained cucumber pieces to the mixture and stir well, making sure all of the cucumber pieces are coated. You can serve the salad immediately or refrigerate it for about an hour.

* Instead of fresh chili pepper, you can also use chili pepper flakes or sambol oelek chili sauce (Sambal Oelek is an Indonesian chunky hot chili pepper sauce. It should be easily found in the Asian section, or in the hot sauce section, of supermarkets). If you don't like any heat, just use some red or yellow bell pepper.

WORD HISTORY:
China-This word's history is a bit uncertain, although it "seems" to go back to the "Qin" dynasty, which ruled in China during and around 220 B.C., although the word "might" predate that time. This then was taken by Sanskrit as "cinah," and "cinas," as the name for the people of the area of China; thus, this would also be the direct ancient source of "Chinese" in English and other European languages. This "likely" became part of Hindi, as transliterated "cin" (long "i"), and this was picked up by the Portuguese as "China," as they explored, traded and set up outposts in the Indian subcontinent. The Portuguese took the word back to Europe, where it was taken by English in the first half of the 1500s. The 1600s saw the term "china" used for porcelain dishware in English, as these were originally brought in from China. 

Red Pepper Relish: Serbian & Croatian Ajvar/Ljutenica

Ajvar, essentially pronounced as if "eye-var," and "ljutenica," pronounced as if, "loot-en-eetsa," are types of relish often used as condiments in Serbia, Croatia and in other parts of the Balkans. Recipes vary somewhat by region, but "ljutenica" is the spicy hot version of the relish in most areas. So you can make it mild or spicy hot, as you wish. It is used on sandwiches and burgers, as well as just spread onto slices of bread. When I was a kid, Serbia was often written as, "Servia," and Serbian was often written as, "Servian," but those variant spellings ceased decades ago; at least, to my knowledge. 

2 pounds roasted sweet red bell peppers, or store bought roasted peppers
1 small to medium roasted eggplant (aubergine), about 1/2 to 3/4 pound
1 medium ripe tomato, roughly chopped 
3 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon hot (or mild) Hungarian paprika
1 hot chili pepper 
2 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2  teaspoon black pepper
pinch or two of sugar

To roast the peppers and eggplant: heat the oven to 450 F. While the oven is heating up, wash and cut the peppers and eggplant in half. Remove the stems and seeds from the peppers. You can rub a little olive oil onto each, if you wish. Place the vegetables cut side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Roast for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the skin on the peppers begins to blacken in spots (the eggplant skin will get a wrinkled look to it). Let the peppers cool a bit, then peel off the skin. You can scoop out the eggplant and toss the skin away, along with the pepper skins.
   
Put all ingredients into a food processor or blender and process until still a little chunky, although some make it into a smooth paste. Often used in the Balkans on burgers there called "pljeskavice." For that recipe, here is the link: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/07/pljeskavica-serbian-burgers.html

WORD HISTORY: 
Aubergine-There is some slight uncertainty about the history of this word, and its ultimate origin is not known, although a Dravidian language may be the source. ^ It goes back to transliterated Sanskrit "vatigagama," ^^ which meant "eggplant." This gave Persian "badingan/badengan," which was borrowed by Arabic ^^^ as transliterated "al-badinjan," and with the continued meaning "eggplant." Large parts of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) were conquered by the Arabic speaking Moors, from northwestern Africa, and this brought the word to the various languages/dialects of Iberia in sometimes slightly different forms. French borrowed the word as "alberge/albergen(?), "perhaps" from a form in Catalan, which then became "aubergine," and English borrowed the word in the very late 1700s, and it finally overtook the word "eggplant" in England and Britain, although "eggplant" remained as the main word, and still does, in the United States and, I believe, in Canada, although "aubergine" is likely used by French speaking Canadians. I dare say that quite a number of Americans would be at a loss if someone told them, "We just bought a nice aubergine." German, a close relative of English, used "eierpflanze" (egg/eggs plant), before borrowing "aubergine" from French in just the past century, although some southern dialects use "Melanzani," a borrowing from nearby Italian. The idea behind the naming of the produce as "eggplant" comes from the oval shaped white eggplant looking like eggs, and the name carried over to the purple color produce too.   

^ Dravidian is a language family of southern Asia, principally with languages spoken in the south of India. English belongs to the Indo European family of languages, and then the Germanic branch of Indo European.
  
^^ Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European; thus, it is related to English, although much further down the family tree. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India.

^^^ Arabic is from the Semitic languages, the most common of which are Arabic, Amharic, Hebrew and Tigrinya. Arabic and Hebrew are commonly known in much of Europe and North America, but Amharic is spoken in a large part of Ethiopia. Tigrinya is also spoken in parts of Ethiopia and Eritrea, another East African nation. 

Scrambled Eggs a la India

Scrambled egg dishes in India go by different names: egg bhurji, akoori, ekoori, akuri, and perhaps others, but they are all spiced up scrambled eggs and have many of the same ingredients.

Ingredients:

4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon mustard seeds (yellow, brown or black) 
1 small onion, chopped
1 or 2 green or red chili peppers, chopped, or 1 or 2 teaspoons chili pepper flakes
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (or sunflower oil)
1 tablespoon butter (to finish)

It is good to use a spatter screen for your skillet. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the mustard seeds, which will begin to pop within a few seconds; immediately add the onion, the ginger and the chili pepper; cook until the onion begins to soften. Add the tomato and cook for about 1 minute, then add the ground cumin, the turmeric, the salt and 2 tablespoons of the chopped coriander. Stir to mix and cook an additional minute. Lower the heat to low, then pour the beaten eggs over the mixture. Stir occasionally as the eggs begin to firm up into the curds of scrambled eggs. Divide the tablespoon of butter into smaller pieces and add to the top of each serving. The hot eggs will melt the butter. Sprinkle a little of the remaining tablespoon of chopped coriander over each serving.  

With some flatbread

WORD HISTORY:
Cheetah-This word for "a large, sleek, spotted member of the cat family, known for its speed and agility; and thus, its hunting prowess," is distantly related to obsolete English words "hador" and "hædor," dialectal forms from the same Old Germanic source, with both meaning "bright;" thus also, "clear" (close English cousin, German, still has "heiter," meaning "bright, cheery"), and very distantly related to both "shine," and to the suffix "-hood," as in "neighborhood, adulthood." It goes back to Indo European "skai," which meant "bright, shining, clear." This produced the "k" dominant form "kitro/kitdra," with the same meanings. This gave Sanskrit^ the transliterated "chitra," which meant, "speckled." This then produced "chitraka," which meant, "speckled body;" thus, "type of leopard." This gave Hindi the transliterated "chita," and the transliterated Urdu "cheeta,"^^ meaning "speckled or multicolored cat, a cheetah." England's involvement in India brought the word into English in the 1700s, although its wider use didn't happen until later in the 1700s.     

^ Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European; thus, it is related to English, although much further down the family tree. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India.

^^ Hindi and Urdu are also Indo European languages from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European. They have many similarities and are mutually intelligible in most cases.

Indian Vegetable & Yogurt Salad: Raita

"Raita" (pronounced as if, "rite-ah") is a common refreshing salad side dish in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is often served to "cool" the palate and stomach after spicy dishes have been eaten. The main ingredient in a raita recipe is yogurt, with various vegetables or fruits, plus often some herbs, spices or other seasonings like onion and garlic added. This recipe below is a vegetable raita, but there are a multitude of variations in the Indian Subcontinent. 

Ingredients:

1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup seedless cucumber, chopped
2 green onions, chopped (including green)
1 tablespoon carrot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon coriander leaves

Stir the yogurt well so that it is smooth and not clumped together. Typically, the cucumber is peeled, but I leave a couple of little strips of the peel on, but I wash the cucumber well before doing so. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Chill the raita before serving.

WORD HISTORY:
Bangladesh (Bengal)-This name for the country founded in 1971 from then East Pakistan literally means "Land of Bengal." It is a compound, with the origins of the "bangla" part "perhaps" being from the name of an ancient god, and in Bengali "bang(a)la," and meant, "Bengal," the region.^ The "desh" part goes back to Indo-Iranian and Sanskrit ^^ "desha," which meant, "part, land, region, nation."

^ Bengali is a language from the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo European languages; as such, it is related to English, German, Dutch and others from the Germanic branch of Indo European.

^^  Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India. 

"Chai" Spiced Tea: Masala Chai

Updated slightly 10-3-22

Chai is a type of spiced tea drink, usually black tea, brewed with spices, milk and sweetener. It is pronounced like "ch," as in Charles, and 'eye,' the organ of sight. Chai is highly common in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and in these countries it is often called "masala chai," from the mixture of spices used to make it (the word 'chai' itself simply means 'tea'). I tend to make a large cup (like a mug of about 16 to 20 ounces) of chai, so this is the recipe for that amount. You can adjust the ingredient amounts according to the amount of chai you want to make. This is my recipe version of chai.   

Ingredients:

16 ounces of water (some water will boil off)1 1/2 tablespoons loose black tea *
1/2 inch piece of ginger, chopped or grated
1 teaspoon ground cardamom (or 5 or 6 cardamom pods, crushed to release their flavor)
1 teaspoon ground cloves (or 2 whole cloves)
1 cinnamon stick (about 3 inches)
1/2 teaspoon ground mace
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup milk (I use canned evaporated milk, see note *)
1 tablespoon honey
sugar to taste (I use about three teaspoons, see note *) 

Stir the loose tea into the water, along with the ginger, cardamon, ground cloves, cinnamon stick, mace and black pepper. Heat to just boiling, then reduce heat to a bare simmer. Brew for three minutes, then add the milk and stir. Bring back to a bare simmer and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let steep for about 2 minutes. Strain the tea, and then add the honey and sugar, stirring to mix and dissolve. Serve. 

* When I began making chai years ago, I experimented with the type and amount of black tea, and the amounts of the other ingredients I used. My suggestion is that you do likewise, using this recipe as a guide the first time, and then making adjustments if you feel they are needed the next time you make it. Also, I like strong tea, so bear that in mind as to the amount of black tea I used in this recipe (see note at end). I also used East Frisian tea from Germany, because it has a strong flavor, as it is made from "Assam" tea leaves; a type of tea grown in India and typically used there for masala chai; otherwise, I use a brand of American black tea in teabags for a regular, non-chai, cup of tea. If you use regular black tea, it likely will not be as strong, so keep that in mind, for your own taste preference. As for sugar, my experience in Indian restaurants is that the chai is very sweet (and I'm sweet enough). My guess is, they don't use any honey, as I do, but they likely add "at least" two or three tablespoons of sugar for this amount of tea, and perhaps more. Once the tea simmers for awhile, evaporation and the amount absorbed, and retained, by the tea leaves will lessen the amount of actual chai you end up with, which will be "about" 16 ounces for the amount of this recipe, and this is about what you would think of as three regular cups of tea, so the three teaspoons of sugar is not out of line, but the one tablespoon of honey helps to further sweeten the tea, but without going quite to the "restaurant" level of sweetness. Also with the milk, from what I understand from Indian restaurants and people from India and Pakistan I've met over the years, the amount of milk used in their own countries is generally about 1/3 to 1/2 of the amount of water, but I have cut down on the milk. For many years, I did not add black pepper, but then I gave it a try and I liked it, so now I always add it (many in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh also add black pepper).  Note: There is a "modified" type of chai called "karak chai" or "kadak chai," which means "strong tea." It is similar, but often with more tea and longer simmering time to give it a stronger flavor and higher amount of caffeine. Here is the link to this type of chai: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2022/10/creamy-strong-chai-karak-chai.html

My big mug of chai, with some gingersnaps

WORD HISTORY:
Pundit-This word goes back to Sanskrit ^ "panditah," which had the notion of "learned man, teacher." ^^ Where Sanskrit got the word is unknown, but the Sanskrit form gave Hindi ^^^ "pandit," with the meaning, "a learned man of the Hindu religion, who interprets the Hindu religion;" thus also, "a Hindu religious philosopher." The word was borrowed into English as, "pandit/pundit," in the second half of the 1600s, as a result of British commercial involvement in India by the (English/British) East India Company. The meaning in English later gradually broadened to today's meaning of, "a supposed authority on a subject who comments and/or offers criticism on that subject."    

^ Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India. It is related to English, but much further down the family tree.

^^ In English there are two words spelled "l-e-a-r-n-e-d." First there is the past tense form of the verb "to learn," which is pronounced as if, "lernd" (see note). Then there is "learned," pronounced as if "lern-ed," with the "ed" pronounced like the shortened form of Edward, and meaning, "the result of having learned (the first form) a particular subject or field." It is "sometimes" written as "learnèd," with the accent mark over the "e." NOTE: The past tense form, "learned," is also spelled and pronounced "learnt," especially in Britain, but it is often pronounced that way elsewhere, including in the United States, where it would NOT be considered as proper. I kind of imagine American English purists cringing every time they hear a person from England use "learnt," and I'm not kidding about this. Some take these things VERY seriously.

^^^ Hindi is from the overall "Indo-Iranian" branch of the Indo European languages, and is, therefore, related to English, but much further down the family tree. Hindi is the official language of government in India, along with.....English!

"A Night In Casablanca," With the Marx Brothers

While many people do not consider this movie to be one of the classics of the Marx Brothers, I disagree, and when I first saw it many years ago, I laughed so hard at a couple of scenes, I actually got sick. The Marx Brothers were a family comedy act born in New York City to German Jewish immigrants in the latter part of the 1800s, although one, Herbert, known by his stage nickname of "Zeppo," was born in 1901. In the history of American comedy, the Marx Brothers rank right up at or near the top, depending upon who is doing the ranking. In their early film career Groucho, Chico (pronounced "chicko," not "cheeko"), Harpo and Zeppo appeared together, but from the mid 1930s on, it was Groucho, Chico and Harpo. "A Night in Casablanca" was their next to last film together and it was made just after the end of World War Two. Thereafter, Groucho remained very much in the public eye with a radio show which then was transferred to television on NBC. It was a game show called, "You Bet Your Life," and to this day I remember watching that show as a child with my grandmother way back in the 1950s, when all such shows were in black and white.

"A Night in Casablanca" centers around a hotel in Casablanca, Morocco managed by Ronald Kornblow (played by Groucho), whose recent predecessors had died at the hands of Nazis staying at the hotel. The Nazis are trying to get artworks and other treasures pillaged by the Nazis in Europe during the war, but hidden in a remote storage room in the hotel. The head Nazi goes by a fake name, as he is really being hunted as a Nazi war criminal. His valet is "Rusty" (played by Harpo). Rusty is good friends with "Corbaccio" (played by Chico),  who does some work for the hotel, as well as owning a camel rental/ taxi service, called the "Yellow Camel Company," with his competitor being the "Checkerboard Camel Company." As with the previous hotel managers, the Nazis plan to kill Kornblow, but Rusty finds out their plan and goes to Corbaccio to "tell" him. For those unaware, as part of his act, Harpo Marx did not speak, so when he "tells" Corbaccio, it is by a number of gestures, body movements and whistles, and Corbaccio must then figure out what Rusty is trying to tell him. It is a hysterical scene!

I will not go further, so as not to spoil the movie for anyone who has not seen it, but there are other hilarious scenes, including, among others, Groucho being constantly interrupted while he is trying to make out with a woman (actually a Nazi accomplice), the Marx Brothers hiding in the same room where the Nazis are trying to pack as they prepare to flee, and Harpo piloting the Nazi getaway plane! Further, you will be treated to a popular song of that era, "Who's Sorry Now," and also Harpo playing Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2 on his harp, as well as Chico playing "The Beer Barrel Polka" on the piano and leading the orchestra in the hotel nightclub. Do yourself a favor and see this movie!

The photo is from the Warner Home Video DVD from 2004. 

    
WORD HISTORY:
Loot-This word comes in a noun version, meaning "items and valuables taken by plunder or theft, with some type of violence usually implied, often conquest," and also, "money," a meaning which seems to have developed in American English, perhaps from underworld slang in the 1920s. It also has a verb form which means "to plunder, to rob." It goes back to Sanskrit "lunt," which meant "to plunder." Exactly where Sanskrit got the word is uncertain. This produced Sanskrit "luntam," a noun meaning "plundered goods."  This gave Hindi "lut" with the same meaning. English borrowed the word in the late 1700s from Hindi.  

"Gandhi" The Movie and History, Part Four

Note: I omitted the fact that besides efforts on behalf of "untouchables," and India's poor in general, Gandhi also championed the cause of Indian women and he used women in his various campaigns, something that was relatively new in male dominated Indian society back then. 

The history of Hindu-Muslim conflict in India is complex. This article is simply an attempt to give readers basic information, but for those interested, there are many books and articles on the subject that can provide far more detail on this very hot issue, which still flares up in modern times. Remember, please support your local library.  

As noted in the previous segments, India was a much larger nation in the time of Mahatma Gandhi, with both Bangladesh and Pakistan comprising parts of the greater whole. The Hindu religion was the largest in India, but Islam held a substantial minority position among India's population, with some areas having Muslim majorities, especially in the northwestern and northeastern regions, but Muslims were essentially scattered throughout all parts of India, just as Hindus and Sikhs lived in Muslim majority areas. The desire of Indians to rule themselves and to end British colonial rule united Indians, no matter what their religious beliefs, and for a time, there was no desire by Indians to divide India into separate Muslim and Hindu majority nations. Muhammed Ali Jinnah, one of the main Indian Muslim leaders going back to the early part of the 20th Century, very much favored one India for quite some time, but his support waned over time. 

Jinnah was born in Karachi, a port city in then northwestern India, and now part of Pakistan. His father was a successful business man and Jinnah later studied law in England, a similarity he shared with Mohandas Gandhi.* Later Jinnah lived in Bombay (now called Mumbai), on the west coast of India, where he had a huge mansion built. Jinnah advocated Hindu-Muslim unity and was, for a time, not only one of the main leaders of the movement to bring varying degrees of independence to the country, but THE main leader; being highly regarded by both Hindus and Muslims. Jinnah's and Muslim ideas began to change as plans for future self-government began to be dominated by Hindu leaders, including Gandhi, who, in spite of his overt inclusive attitude towards Muslims and others, was a Hindu. Jinnah argued for certain protections for religious minorities, and especially for Muslims, but Hindu leaders, pressed by a fanatical Hindu element, did not respond favorably to Jinnah's proposals, which were defeated in a vote of the main Indian political organization, the Indian National Congress. Jinnah quit the organization and his proposals became the basis of Muslim demands from then on if Hindus wanted Muslim support for one independent Indian nation. After a period out of the political limelight, Jinnah became the head of the (Indian) Muslim League.

Gandhi continued to preach non violent resistance to British rule, always with the idea that he and others would suffer, and have to accept, the consequences of their attempts to free India. While Gandhi preached against British colonial rule, even calling it "evil," he refused to participate in any "war on the British." There is a scene in the movie "Gandhi," where he and others are sitting outside and he tells them, "We've come along way with the British. When they leave, we want to see them off as friends." This certainly represented Gandhi's basic real life feelings, not just something depicted in the movie. While certainly not all Indians agreed with him, his leadership, and the revered stature in which he was held, kept Indians from direct all out hostile conflict with the British.

Gandhi's inclusive behavior towards non Hindus, especially towards Muslims, brought an increasing disenchantment with him from fanatical Hindu elements. As India moved toward independence during World War Two,** Gandhi was confronted with the possible, and likely, division of his country into an independent Muslim nation, under the name Pakistan,*** and the majority Hindu state of India. His attempts to preserve one Indian nation only left Muslims dissatisfied and many Hindus angry that he was too considerate of Muslim demands. Gandhi and many Indians, but certainly not all, opposed helping the British during the war, and Gandhi's antiwar speeches and protests by Indians brought massive arrests by the British, including the arrest of Gandhi. During his imprisonment his wife died, and Gandhi was chronically ill (he was in his 70s). Fearing he would die while in their custody and that his death would then spark a violent uprising by Indians against Britain, the British released him from prison. 

Gandhi and other Indian leaders then faced the nasty divide between Hindus and Muslims. The war ended and Britain made it clear they would grant Indian independence, but the religious issue remained at the center of controversy, and, in spite of attempts by Gandhi, Jinnah, and others to work out a solution, the matter remained unresolved. Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah, dissatisfied with efforts to keep Muslims within some sort of Indian state, announced he wanted a separate Muslim nation of Pakistan as the only acceptable solution to the religious divide between Indians.**** To put pressure on the Hindus and the British for the creation of an independent Pakistan, Jinnah called for a "direct action day" by Muslims set for mid August 1946, with strikes and protests seemingly meant as the definition of such "action." When the day arrived, events went awry, with some violence in various parts of India, but especially in and around the northeastern city of Calcutta, in the province of Bengal, an area of very mixed Hindu-Muslim population, but with an overall Muslim majority. Terrible violence erupted as Muslims rioted, and then Hindus rioted. As many as 10,000 people were killed, with many bodies horribly mutilated, as one side tried to get even with the other (remember folks, this was all in the name of "religion"). While the violence halted after a few days, periodic and terrible episodes of mass killings took place in the region for months, and Gandhi went there to try to stop the carnage, but he was unable to undo the mistrust that had by then developed between the religious sects. In August of 1947, India was formally given its independence, but without Pakistan, which was partitioned (there was about a thousand mile gap between Western Pakistan and Eastern Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh). All hell broke loose as millions of Muslims living outside of Pakistan picked up as many belongings as possible and headed for the new border, while Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan tried to reach India. Heavy fighting broke out and at least a half million people died. Gandhi, the father of the nation, was devastated that he couldn't achieve a peaceful unified country. Since those times and as a result of the partition and all the violence, India and Pakistan have led a very troubled existence as neighbors, a situation which continues to this day. 

On January 30, 1948, Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse shot Mohandas Gandhi three times in the chest, killing Gandhi as he walked to a prayer service. Godse hated Gandhi's non violent approach to politics and religion, and he resented Gandhi's close association with Muslims over the years. Hindu militants believed Pakistan should not have been granted a separate state from India. Godse was tried and executed by hanging. The trial demonstrated to Hindus that it was one of their own, not a Muslim, who killed Mahatma Gandhi.

Note: There are many books about the life of Gandhi, but to do these articles, I relied heavily upon notes I made a number of years ago from: "Gandhi: A Life," by Yogesh Chadha, published in New York by John Wiley and Sons, 1997. I once owned the book, and while I'm not certain, I believe I donated it to The Cleveland Public Library in about 2009. The movie "Gandhi" is available on DVD.

* Both Gandhi and Jinnah also came from rather well off families of business background, putting them into relatively high social position in Indian society. The movie "Gandhi" depicts the subject's social position early in his life when he mentions "I always travel first class." The movie also shows Jinnah's standing when several of the Indian leaders meet at his elaborate mansion, complete with servants. As the movie correctly shows, Gandhi eventually chose to associate himself with the poorer elements of Indian society, which was by far the majority of the population, and he arrives at Jinnah's mansion for the above mentioned meeting, having come by "THIRD CLASS." Gandhi could just as easily have lived a pretty comfortable life, with fine clothes and a nice residence. Jinnah, on the other hand, retained his wealth.

** There had also been proposals to create Pakistan as a state within a state; that is, Pakistan would have been a mainly self governing region, but would have remained a part of India. 

*** The war only helped Gandhi keep the moral high ground against British rule. Britain declared war on Germany, including in India's name, but the Indian leaders were never consulted beforehand. Gandhi pointed out that Britain wanted to fight "German" tyranny, while at the same time they continued to rule India.
  
**** This sounded easier than it was to accomplish, because while Muslims constituted large majorities in the northwest and northeast, millions of Muslims lived scattered throughout the rest of India, while Hindus and Sikhs lived within the majority Muslim regions in the northwest and northeast. Property also became a big issue later, including Jinnah's mansion, which was in Bombay, a part that remained in India.

Photo is of DVD edition released in 2001 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

WORD HISTORY:
Yoga-This word traces back to Indo European "yewg," which had the notion of  "join together, unite." This gave Sanskrit, an ancient Indo European language still used to some degree today, primarily in religion, "yoga," with the same basic meaning, but with the context of "joining with a great spirit, god." This then passed to Hindi, one of the main languages of India. By the 1800s the word began to be used by British military, governmental and civilians in India with the idea of "exercise and mediation used to control the body and mind as one." As interest in eastern religions grew by English speaking people, the use of "yoga" spread, as did the word itself.

"Gandhi," The Movie & History, Part Three

India had a social system called the "Caste System." While most strongly associated with the Hindu religion, it had adherents among some of  India's Muslims and Christians.^ This stratified social system divided Indians into various fixed groups, with little or no social mobility for people of these groups. At the bottom were the "untouchables," with people in this group often suffering terrible discrimination and ill treatment, and with no way out of their "fixed" social position at the bottom of Indian society. Mahatma Gandhi's tolerance and inclusiveness for people of various religious and political views also included his desire to improve the acceptability and the plight of the those at the lowest levels of society. In the early 1930s Gandhi undertook a fast to bring national attention to the situation of the "untouchables" and to protest a British approved plan to give "untouchables" a separate system of representation under a newly devised Indian constitution. Gandhi rejected such a division. To demonstrate inclusiveness, Gandhi preferred to call the "untouchables" the more acceptable "children of God." Gandhi's fast and his subsequent concentration for a time on the nation's social system diverted attention from the attempts to attain freedom from British colonial rule, but it was part of the Mahatma's plan to gradually bring India toward the ability to rule itself and provide a more equitable society.

Gandhi's campaign brought discussions about the overall system and it achieved the abandonment of the division of the nation's representatives in the constitution. Many Hindu leaders reconsidered, or outright reversed, their previous support for the overall social system of India. In an ominous sign, however, more orthodox Hindu elements drifted further from Gandhi's ideals of tolerance and inclusiveness.

Next, Gandhi focused his and the nation's efforts on the Indian economy. India was a land of extreme poverty, which Gandhi believed was made worse by exploitation by capitalist interests at the highest economic level, who were not ethical in their treatment of workers. Workers labored long hours, but large profits went to business owners, while the workers earned so little, they could not always get the necessary food or clothing for themselves or their families. To Gandhi, capitalists benefited far out of proportion from the labor of others. He believed the system had to be made fairer, with workers gaining proper wages and respect for the goods they helped to produce, but that workers could not let themselves fall into laziness. Needless to say, business people were not thrilled with Gandhi's ideas. In what became a trademark of Gandhi, he took to spinning his own clothes, and encouraged his Indian brethren to do the same. Why? Indian cotton was sent to England and manufactured into clothing, returning to India at prices many times the original cost. Gandhi reasoned, why not keep the cotton in India, with Indians making their own clothing and keeping the costs at a minimum? The spinning wheel became a symbol of Indian independence.^^ Gandhi likewise promoted Indian agriculture as a means to limit the country's dependence on colonial food products.^^^  Further, by gaining more independence on food and clothing products, it also weakened the British reasons for maintaining colonial rule; that was, to have a colony that produced raw materials that could then go to Britain to be processed or refined, and then returned, at least in part, to the colony for sale at handsome profits. So Gandhi's effort also had major ties to his view of gaining Indian independence from Britain. 

Next, the last part on "Gandhi"

^ Keep in mind, this was still the "large" India, which then included Pakistan and Bangladesh.

^^ Gandhi's beliefs were also critical of (then) modern technology utilized by capitalists, which replaced workers with various mechanical devices. There has always been a struggle between displaced workers and technology, but technology always wins in the end. While Gandhi correctly saw a large Indian population that needed work, work at times deprived by technology, the idea that technological advances can be held back in favor of less efficient methods of production was too idealistic, in my opinion. Understand, Gandhi did not dismiss technology in all cases, and he understood the need for mass production in more advanced nations, but he saw unemployment and under employment as one of the social ills of India, only made worse by technology.

^^^ Large landholders charged rent to small farmers on their land either in cash or by taking percentages of farm goods. At times farmers could not produce enough to pay rent and provide for their families.  

Photo is of DVD edition released in 2001 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

WORD HISTORY:
Guru-This word goes back to Indo European "gru/gur," which had the notion of "heavy," which then produced the idea of "serious," and also "heavy with knowledge," which gave Sanskrit "guru," which meant "respected for knowledge;" and thus produced the eventual meaning "teacher," with the further meaning of "priest" in religious contexts. Sanskrit is an ancient Indo European language still used to some extent, often in religion, primarily in India. The word then passed to Hindi and Urdu, both common Indo European languages in India and Pakistan. The word was borrowed by English, likely in the mid to late 1700s, as India came under the firmer control of Britain, but the word didn't really spread throughout English until later, eventually expanding the meaning to the more general "adviser, mentor," with no particular association with religion. The word came into widespread usage during the late 1960s as the Beatles and other popular music groups delved into Indian religion.       

"Gandhi," The Movie & History, Part Two

Mohandas Gandhi chose to "fight" British rule of India by peaceful means, through non-cooperation with the colonial government. There is a scene in the movie "Gandhi," where Gandhi tells other, less patient and less peaceful, Indian leaders, in speaking about the British, "I want to change their minds, not kill them for weaknesses we all possess." Now, I can't tell you if Gandhi ever really said that in real life (I've tried to find it, but without success), or if this came from a scriptwriter, but the basic part of the statement was a major part of his non violent campaign to gain independence. That line has stayed with me for all of these years, and maybe regular readers have noticed, when writing about politics or economics, I frequently say things like, "both sides do it," or "such and such is human nature," or "most people want or do this or that." After all, for instance, we're all greedy to some extent, but those with great power have the ability to exploit others to try to satisfy their greed, and they need to have some restraints placed upon them, lest they destroy the lives of others, and perhaps even themselves eventually, as the exploited turn on them with a vengeance.

Gandhi was arrested several times and spent the equivalent of about 6 to 7 years of his life in prison in India (he also was jailed in South Africa earlier). Other Indian leaders were also jailed. He picked his times and places for non violent protests with great thought, including one that had Gandhi and supporters walk (it was called a "march") nearly 250 miles to the sea over more than a three week period, building the suspense and news coverage, and then pick up small lumps of salt from the beach in violation of colonial law.* Gandhi was later arrested, but another major part of the protest took place at a nearby salt works, and it occurred without Gandhi. News coverage was extensive, depicting how peaceful Indians were clubbed by police. The Indians did not fight back as the clubs fractured several skulls, and reportedly a few hundred Indians were hospitalized, and a couple died. Reports went around the world, and people everywhere began to question British rule of India, although these protests did not in themselves result in Indian independence.

Next, in Part Three, a little more on Mahatma Gandhi 

* The British had implemented a monopoly on salt production and collection in India, and they taxed it too. Salt is a necessary mineral for life, and it was especially so in India's hot climate. While the tax was not particularly high, India's population was terribly impoverished, making it difficult for many to pay the tax and buy the salt on extremely limited incomes. The salt was there for the taking from coastal areas, but it was against the law for Indians to take it without paying the tax.   

Photo is of DVD edition released in 2001 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

  WORD HISTORY:
Sikh-A "Sikh" is a person from a particular religious sect in India which was established in the mid 1400s in Punjab, a region of northern India at that time, and now a region divided between India and Pakistan. English traders established trading posts in India in the early 1600s, from which eventually developed colonial rule over the area, which then included modern Pakistan and Bangladesh. The use of the term "Sikh" seems to have become more widespread in English usage by the mid to late 1700s. "Sikh" traces back to ancient Sanskrit, an early Indo European dialect/language that still exists, and the Sanskrit word "siksati," which means "a student, one who learns." This gave "Punjabi" and "Hindi"^ the term "sikh," which means "a student of, or disciple of."   

^ Both Punjabi and Hindi are Indo European languages and are thus related to English, but further down the family tree. Punjabi is spoken extensively in Pakistan and northwestern India. Hindi is the official language of government in India, along with.....English!

"Gandhi," The Movie & History

Updated August 24, 2014: The producer and director of "Gandhi," Sir Richard Attenborough, died today just days short of his 91st birthday. This is a series of four articles I did on the movie and the actual history of Gandhi and India. I relied heavily upon notes I made from a book I once owned for much of the information in these articles: "Gandhi: A Life," by Yogesh Chadha, published in New York by John Wiley and Sons, 1997.

The film "Gandhi" was released in late 1982. The movie was more than three hours in length and was produced and directed by English actor/director Sir Richard Attenborough. Just a couple of years after the film was released, I actually met one of the Indian actors of the film (relatively minor role), as we were staying in the same hotel in Frankfurt, (then, West) Germany. "Gandhi" won the Academy Award for "Best Picture" and Richard Attenborough won the Oscar for "Best Director."

If you have never seen this movie, PLEASE do so. In a world filled with such troubles as we have today, I can't believe you would EVER regret it. The film deals with the life of Mohandas Gandhi,* who was born in Porbandar, on the western coast of India. The movie traces much of Gandhi's adult life from the time he went to southern Africa (Natal, a British colony) as an attorney to represent an Indian business.** There he met ruthless discrimination and became determined to fight it, albeit peacefully. He gradually organized the relatively small Indian community in the colony and gave the colonial authorities more than they could handle, achieving some significant civil rights victories for Indians in South Africa. This made Gandhi a force to be reckoned with years later when he returned to his homeland, then too a colony of the British Empire.

Gandhi gradually assumed the leadership of a movement to bring independence to India, a process that took Gandhi and his followers nearly three decades to achieve. During that time he also worked to bring attention to India's excruciating poverty and to try to bridge religious differences within the populace. His plan and beliefs for independence were governed by peaceful non-cooperation with the British and Indian princely authorities. With newsreels shown in movie houses all over the world, Gandhi's peaceful protests were filmed being forcefully put down by colonial police or military forces, a sight that gradually lowered British prestige, but which raised Gandhi's stature throughout the world, including in Britain. Some of Gandhi's followers became frustrated as the Mahatma (see "Word History" below) plodded along against British imperial rule, but he seems to have wanted to prepare Indians for the assumption of self rule.

Just a little history overview: Britain firmly established itself in India during the mid 1700s, but it must be noted that the "India" of those times was far larger than the present nation, as it included what is today Pakistan and Bangladesh. The British ran a colonial government in India, but they also relied heavily upon regional Indian princes to govern the immense country. The northwestern areas and the eastern areas were heavily Muslim in religion, while Hindus generally had a majority in the rest of the country (and overall), although Muslim minorities were widespread. As Indians strove for independence from Britain under the overall leadership of Gandhi, religious differences in India were relatively muted, but once Britain agreed to grant Indian independence in the future, the question of how religion would be handled in the governing of the country became a red-hot issue. Gandhi, while a Hindu, embraced people of all faiths, including Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and Jews, but while he was highly respected by all groups within India, his tolerance of other religions was not accepted by everyone, and religious-based violence erupted. Even Gandhi could not defeat the terrible feelings and hatred caused by the bloodshed, and in spite of his attempts to hold the nation together, a major movement developed among India's Muslim population to form a separate Muslim-majority state to be called "Pakistan." In the end, India was divided, with an independent Pakistan comprising two distinct regions, one in the northwest and one in the east, but separated by a thousand miles, and then the rest of India, with a Hindu majority, but with a substantial Muslim minority, as it remains to this day. Later the eastern part of Pakistan, initially known as East Pakistan, became independent as Bangladesh in the early 1970s.

Next, in Part Two I'll cover a few events in Gandhi's life.

* We Americans "tend" to pronounce the name as "gawn-dee," but British pronunciation "tends" to be more "gandee," which rhymes with, ah...Randy. I just thought that up. Gandhi was portrayed in the movie by actor Ben Kingsley, who is of Indian descent on his father's side. Kingsley won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his excellent performance as the peaceful Indian revolutionary.

** Gandhi had studied law in London, England.

Photo is of DVD edition released in 2001 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

WORD HISTORY:
Mahatma-This is a title given in India to someone as a sign of great respect, typically for their great knowledge and ability to give counsel to others; literally it means "great soul." It is a compound, with the first part tracing back to Indo European "megh," which meant "great." The second part, "atman," means "soul, spirit," but its original meaning was "breath." This gave Old English and its other Germanic relatives their original word for "breath," which was "aethm" in Old English. German still has "Atem" as its word for "breath" (as well as the verb "atmen," "to breathe"). The compound "mahatman" goes back to Sanskrit (an early Indo European language/dialect). "Mahatma" came into some usage in English in the latter half of the 1800s, as Britain ruled India in those times, but it really became known due to its application to Mohandas Gandhi, aka "Mahatma Gandhi."

Help! I'm Stepping Into The Twilight Zone

This was first published in September 2009. Just a note April 21, 2017: Trump would fit very easily into this story, with Tweets and unsubstantiated claims.

The title refers to the opening line of a former hit song by "Golden Earring," a Dutch rock group. But this isn't about music, rock or otherwise. It is about the old television series Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone," and an episode from 1962 called "Four O'clock." This episode starred Theodor Bikel as a kooky, self righteous, hate-filled spewer of nonsense, who anointed himself to punish and identify all the "evil people" by shrinking them to the size of the average kid's doll. This was to take place at "Four O'clock."

This demented man lived with his parrot in a dingy, small apartment where he kept a file on each person's supposed transgressions, no matter how trivial. He spent his days thinking about the latest conspiracy invented within his twisted mind, or sending anonymous letters and making anonymous calls to employers, for example, divulging the content of an employee's file, such as, "Your Mr. Jones is a communist sympathizer," and demanding that the person be fired. Of course, he never told the employer HOW he knew any of the information he provided, answering only, "Never mind how I know!" Of course the employers hung up on him, but at four o'clock he was going to set things right, all by himself.

It's a shame this episode wasn't filmed in 1965, as this secret avenger could have accused anyone who even dared to say a good thing about the newly created Medicare system as being a Commie, or at the very least, a socialist (Ah, come to think of it, maybe he did exist, just in the form of some other people). Or what if the show were filmed now? Hmm, WOW... lots of targets for him, including me, I'm proud to say! Ahh, but is it being filmed now with all of the nasty, distorted, divisive disinformation being thrown out there, sometimes anonymously via emails, for instance, and sometimes in person, as at town hall meetings? The 1962 character lives on in these people today, only it isn't just a television show anymore. This is real!

If you've never seen the above mentioned episode of the Twilight Zone and don't want to know the ending, stop reading now! I don't feel right leaving readers hanging there, without knowing the ending.

As the clock struck four and his parrot squawked, this hate-filled man peered from his window and proclaimed to his parrot that all the evil people were now shrinking. But in an instant, the man found himself looking up at his parrot, having shrunk to the size of a Barbie Doll, or I guess, a Ken Doll.

The other day (this was in 2009), I believe it was in New Jersey, there was a town hall meeting. I don't recall if the congressional person was a Democrat or a Republican, but there was a lady in a wheel chair who told of her crippling illness and how she needs help for her condition. In the midst of hoots and shouts at her, she tried to continue. One man, kind of a big burly guy, who obviously was far from underfed, told one of the reporters something like, "Listen to this...even a handicapped person has more rights than I have!" Hmm...I wonder if that guy stopped his clock at 3:59?

Word History:
Rice-This word came to English during the 1200s (one source says during the 1230s). Some linguists feel "rice" ultimately traces back to an oriental origin, but that sources are lacking to confirm that. In Indo European, it does seem to go back to Sanskrit "vrihi/vrihi-s," (first "i" with long sound) which meant/means "rice." Sanskrit, a relative of English much further down the family tree, still exists, although on a limited basis, mainly religious, especially in India, but its history takes it back many, many centuries ago in that southern part of Asia. Presumably, Old Persian got their word for rice, "brizi," from Sanskrit. Old Persian was the ancestor of Persian, one of the main languages of Persia, now called Iran. Persian is also an Indo European language related to English, but again, much further down the family tree, but more closely related to Sanskrit and to Hindi, one of the main languages of India. It seems that Greek picked up the word from one of these old languages as "oryza" (no, not Ore-Ida!), and it then was picked up by Latin as "oriza." Old French, a Latin-based language, continued with "ris," and presumably that is how English got the word, but Greek brought the word to Europe, and for example, German has "Reis," Polish has "ryz," Welsh has "reis," Lithuanian has "rysai," Italian has "riso," and Spanish has "arroz" (as compared to the old Latin form "oriza;" so, much closer).

Tarzan, Escape From Reality

First published in March 2009, modified with photo and Word History, 6/1/2016

We all need to get away from the grueling events going on around us on a daily basis; maybe its work, maybe its NO work, maybe its financial, maybe its illness, maybe its an issue with a loved one. This is true, not only in trying economic times, but even in better times, as harsh reality never rests and it spares no one, regardless of background, from at least an occasional smack upside the head or an out and out punch in the nose. To avoid a knockout blow, we often retreat to something that makes us forget, however temporarily, the troubling aspects of life. Just don’t forget to return to Planet Earth afterwards, no matter how much the other option appeals to you. Movies are one way to escape from reality, and “Tarzan” certainly provided many a person with a path through their own personal jungle to a place where these immortal characters of the screen gave us temporary shelter in the world of fiction.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, an American born in Chicago, wrote a series of books about the main character, Tarzan, a man of the African jungle, with the strength of the apes he lived around. Burroughs’ Tarzan stories differed from the later movies, and one of the reasons for that was, Burroughs signed a deal with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, known to many simply as “MGM,” that permitted them to use his characters, but NOT his stories. I happen to think that this worked out for the better, as Burroughs’ Tarzan was educated, and was thus very different from the character many people around the world came to know. While there had been previous Tarzan films, it was when “MGM” developed a series of six movies between 1932 and 1942, centered around the Tarzan character, his companion Jane, and a mischievous chimp by the name of Cheeta, that Tarzan became a mainstay. After three movies, the studio decided to add another character, “Boy,” who was not their natural born son, as Tarzan and Jane were not legally married, a subject as “taboo” to the movie censors, and likely to much of the public of those times, as many things were to the native tribes depicted in the Tarzan movies. In order to get around such a touchy subject, the writers had Boy’s parents killed in a plane crash, the baby found by a group of chimps and eventually taken to Tarzan and Jane by Cheeta. Just to make note here, neither Boy nor Cheeta were original Burroughs’ characters, but simply developed by the MGM writers.

When I was a kid Tarzan was BIG stuff! Attempts by so many of us to imitate, however badly, the “Tarzan yell,” were commonplace. Up along a steep hillside near my neighborhood, someone had draped a heavy, thick rope over a huge tree branch in an attempt to provide us with a swinging vine, as depicted in the movies. We simply called it “The Tarzan Swing,“ and need I say, a few broken arms came as the penalty for those unskilled enough at using it, although their “yells” may have ended up being closer to the true Tarzan yell, so elusive previously.

While commercial television got under way after World War Two, it wasn’t until the 1950s and 1960s that virtually EVERY American home had a television. Whether this is true or not, I’m not sure, but I remember it being said back then that more American homes had televisions than had telephones. Hey, at least some folks didn’t have their favorite shows interrupted! Television stations found a great source of entertainment for viewers by airing old movies, and since color programming didn’t become pretty much standard until the mid 1960s, the old black and white movies of the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s were easily transferred to the small screen. I can’t say exactly when, but I’ll just say circa 1960, the Tarzan movies were released to television, and they were a SMASH HIT! To me, to many of my generation, and to many from the generations when the movies were first released to theaters, Olympic swimmer Johnny Weissmuller WAS Tarzan. Any other actors who portrayed the “Ape Man,” no matter how competent, were purely imitators. Maureen O’Sullivan was Jane, but I think we came to later accept others in that role, but not easily. Cheeta was beloved by all, maybe even more than Weissmuller, as the chimp character showed us the close similarities, but also the dissimilarities, between humans and our closest relatives, chimpanzees.

The Tarzan movies gave us a chance to escape to a place where this monumental jungle man figure could communicate with the animals in his jungle habitat, especially the elephants, chimps, and apes; where Tarzan, Jane, and eventually Boy, shared the jungle with creatures large and small, vicious and meek, and where there seemed to be a true natural balance between all involved. Trouble almost always came when other humans, usually ruthless, greedy white men (and sometimes women)* intruded into Tarzan’s paradise to exploit some aspect of its environment, including in the last MGM episode, Boy, who was snatched for a circus act.

To those unaware, these films were shot at the MGM studios in Hollywood, with occasional location filming done in Florida for some underwater scenes. They were NOT shot in Africa, nor in New York, even though the one story has Boy taken to New York for the circus. The scenes of vast animal herds and prowling lions or leopards were added to the movies from previous footage that was actually filmed in Africa for another movie. The scenes of New York in the one movie, are just that, scenes of various NY buildings, but the actors weren’t present for filming there. MGM had a “jungle” put together at its studios, complete with a large water tank and even a river for those water scenes in the various pictures. They also had Tarzan and Jane’s “tree house” built there. Johnny Weissmuller didn’t swing through the trees “with the greatest of ease,” they used a professional acrobat. Tarzan’s famous underwater fight with a huge crocodile (the footage was used over in several episodes) was a fight with a mechanical croc, with dye sacks attached to it, so that when Tarzan stabbed the beast, it looked like blood flowing into the water.

Cheeta was portrayed by several different chimps during the course of the entire twelve episode Weissmuller series, and while Cheeta is usually referred to as a female in the stories, most of the chimps used were males. How they got those chimps to do some of things they did, truly amazes me to this day. I recall in the early 1960s, not long after the release of the movies to television, Weissmuller made a national tour and was welcomed everywhere by big crowds. As I recollect, he told of how he met Cheeta, although I don’t believe he said which Cheeta, since, as I mentioned, there were several different chimps used during Weissmuller’s career. I believe part of the reason for this was, they used younger chimps, as from what I’ve read, a chimp’s “personality” can change pretty dramatically after a certain age, and they can become aggressive, as unfortunately recently happened when a chimp viciously attacked a woman, almost killing her. Anyway, by all accounts, all of the chimps used to play Cheeta absolutely LOVED Johnny Weissmuller. Of course, he was a huge man, I think 6’ 3,” and he learned to quickly assert dominance over the chimps, as instructed by their trainers. Weissmuller’s son related a story in a book about his father, saying how much this one “Cheeta” loved his father, and Johnny would go and visit him in the zoo after the studio retired the chimp. The chimp died and Johhny told his son that it was almost like losing a child.

On the other hand, Maureen O’Sullivan wasn’t all that taken with the chimps, and they weren’t taken with her. From various things I’ve read and from interviews of O’Sullivan, since the chimps were usually males and they had been trained by male humans, they therefore connected well with the strapping Weissmuller, and later with Johnny Sheffield, who played Boy, but they grew jealous of O’Sullivan when she was too close to Weissmuller in some scenes. O’Sullivan noted in a couple of interviews and articles about a publicity picture taken with Weissmuller, Johnny Sheffield, Cheeta, and O’Sullivan. She said they had to make sure Sheffield separated her from Cheeta and Weissmuller, and that there was a rope or a chain on the chimp’s leg to prevent him from going after her. If you watch the movies, Cheeta will go to Jane, whisper in her ear and even give her a kiss on the cheek, but to my recollection, Weissmuller is not in the scene with them, so I guess the jealousy dissipated when he was not around.

Maureen O’Sullivan left the series in 1942, and MGM, having lost interest in the series, because of declining audiences in Europe due to World War Two, didn’t pursue a new agreement with Burroughs, who signed a new accord with RKO Pictures. This studio also produced six more movies, featuring Weissmuller in the lead. The first two, done in the midst of the war, had no Jane actually present. The storyline was that she was home in England helping the war effort, although she frequently wrote to Tarzan and Boy. Then RKO signed Brenda Joyce to play Jane in the final episodes. Johnny Sheffield also left the series, as it was felt that he was getting too old for the Boy role, so the script said he was off at school. RKO also had a jungle built for the series, complete with tree house. Interestingly, the RKO episodes no longer had Tarzan and his family in contact with the natives tribes in central Africa, but rather with people in areas in and around the Sahara Desert; that is, northern Africa. Why this was, I’ve never known.

‘Til next time....AhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaAhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

*You have to remember, these movies were made in the time of European colonialism, so “the enemy,” if you will, were usually white Europeans trying to exploit the area for personal gain. Americans, having successfully removed themselves from British colonial rule, were certainly not offended by the characterization of white Europeans playing “the bad guy” role. Further, four of the six Weissmuller MGM films were released during the Depression, a time when greed was easily seen as “the enemy.”

Photo is from the 2005 Turner Entertainment/Warner Home Video DVD set release

WORD HISTORY:
Jungle-The ultimate origins of this word are unknown, and its meaning has changed greatly from the original meaning. It goes back to Sanskrit ^ "jangala," which meant, "dry wasteland." This gave Hindi/Urdu,^^ "jangal," with the same meaning, but the meaning of which began to evolve to "area overgrown with trees and brush," from the notion of "wasteland." It was borrowed into English in the latter part of the 1700s (British presence in India, which included both Pakistan and Bangladesh, in those times).

^ Sanskrit is an ancient Indo European language, still in use to some degree, especially in India. It is related to English, but much further down the family tree.

^^ Hindi is an Indo European language and one of the main languages of India, while the closely related Urdu is the main language of Pakistan, but with a presence in India also.