RasamNirvana follows food. A food history junkie, foraging in history, geography, mythology, where it came from, where it went. What people and books, songs and slokas , Ernie and the Amul tot have to say about food……
Most of the time, these forays lead to happy places, where food is celebrated, eaten, enjoyed, critiqued, loved.
However, RasamNirvana’s meanderings these days often end in places that have little to be happy about.When the chatter in Sesame Street turns to thousands of children going to bed hungry most nights in recession-hit USA, the delight one took in adorable Ghatotkacha’s solo food-fest to the singing of “Vivaha Bhojanambu” palls somewhat.
As Lester R Brown, analyst and friend of the environment says, food is the new oil. The ability to grow food is fast becoming a new form of political leverage, and countries are scrambling to secure their own parochial interests at the expense of the common good.
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This means some nations play politics with food, big business destroys food security of poor communities in poor nations. What we chose to eat, or not to eat, can often affect the lives of communities thousands of miles away. Rather like the Butterfly effect.
All this can be rather vexing.
RasamNirvana, looks at how food explains the world we live in.
