वडापाव आणि त्याचे जागतिकीकरण

राजू कोरती

कोण्या एकेकाळी मुंबईतील सर्वसामान्य गिरणी कामगाराचे खाद्य समजले जाणाऱ्या वडापावने आज बरीच मजल मारली आहे. ज्याला मुंबईकर कौतुकाने बॉम्बे बर्गर असे संबोधतात त्या वडापावला जरी अनन्यसाधारण महत्व प्राप्त झाले असले तरीही त्याला जागतिक दर्जा कोणी आणि केंव्हा दिला ह्यासंबंधी कसली ही माहिती उपलब्ध नाही. अर्थातच काही अतिउत्साही लोकांनी वडापाव विदेशात पण भारतीय आवडीनं खातात म्हणून त्याचा जागतिक पातळीवर उदो उदो केला असावा. ह्यात खरे तर आक्षेपार्ह असे काहीच नाही. मुंबईकरांसाठी वडापाव हा केवळ पोट भरण्याचा खाद्यपदार्थ नसून एक खोलवर रुजलेली भावना आहे. वडापाव बरोबर त्यांचे एक भावनिक नाते आहे,"
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जागतिक वडापावच्या निमित्ताने बऱ्याच वडापाव प्रेमींनी तर सामाजिक माध्यमातून "वडापाव महात्म्य, वडापाव चालिसा" व इतर तत्सम स्तोत्र रचुन त्याचा यथोचित गौरव केला. मात्र समाजातील तळागाळापासून ते श्रीमंतापर्यंत सगळे वडापावचे आस्वाद घेणारे असल्यामुळे हा महाराष्ट्रातील, खास करून मुंबईतील लोकांसाठी. सर्वधर्मसमभाव आहे. वडापाव जातपात, धर्म बघत नाही. तो खऱ्या अर्थाने 'सेक्युलर' आहे आणि म्हणूनच त्याचा जोड फेविकॉल पेक्षाही मजबूत आहे.

संशोधनाअंती लक्षात येईल की वडापावला तसा फारसा मोठा इतिहास नाही. दादर येथिल अशोक वैद्य आणि सुधाकर म्हात्रे ह्यांनी हा उपक्रम १९६६ मध्ये सुरू केला. तेंव्हा या जोडगोळीला पुसटशीही कल्पना नसणार की ५० वर्षानंतर वडापाव आणि त्यासोबत मिळणारी लाल लसणाची चटणी हे साता समुद्रा पलीकडे छलांग मारून आपले एक स्वतःचे प्रस्थ निर्माण करतील. आज वडापावने इतर राज्यामध्ये ही आपली लोकप्रिय घोडदौड चालू ठेवली आहे.

बहुतांश वडापाववाले आज खोऱ्याने पैसा ओढताहेत. त्यांच्या अवताराकडे बघू नका. सरासरी रोजचे १०,००० ते २५,००० चा गल्ला असतो. मला वाटते कुठे तरी सरकारने ह्याची दखल घेउन वडापावला आपला ब्रँड ambassador खाद्यपदार्थ बनवायचे मनावर घ्यायला हवे. हे फारसे कठीण नाही. वडापाव मध्ये थेट परकीय गुंतवणूक करण्याचे मनोगत सरकारने व्यक्त करायची खोटी की विदेशी निवेशकांची रीघ लागेल. विदेशी चलनाची तूट भरून काढता येईल. आणि हे जेंव्हा होईल तेंव्हाच खऱ्या अर्थाने वडापावचे जागतिकीकरण होईल.

धंदा, भांडवल व लोकभावनेची सांगड घालून वडापाव जगाच्या प्रत्येक देशात आपला ठसा उमटवू तर शकेलच, शिवाय तेथील बर्गर संस्कृती वर देखील मात करू शकेल. देशात सध्या स्वदेशीवर भर देण्यात येत आहे. स्वदेशी जागरण मंच व तत्सम संस्था ह्यात मोलाचा पुढाकार घेऊ शकतात. मात्र वर्षातील केवळ एक दिवस वडापावाचे गुणगान करून भागणार नाही. सध्या तरी काही भारतीय विदेशात वडापाव विकताहेत आणि त्याला मागणी पण बऱ्यापैकी आहे असे समजते पण त्याला अजून चालना देण्याची गरज आहे.

वडापावचे जागतिक ब्रँडिंग करायची धुरा मी खांद्यावर घेण्यास तयार आहे. त्या संदर्भात अनेक कल्पना माझ्या मनात घोंगावतायत. दुर्दैवाने त्यांना सध्या तरी कोणी वाली नाहीये. त्यामुळे इंग्रजीतील Charity begins at home ह्या उक्ती प्रमाणे मी सुरवात रोज स्वतः दोन वडापाव खाउन करू शकतो. 

वाजली तर पुंगी नाही तर वडापाव! 

Of predictable fatwas and Russian footprints in Afghanistan.

Raju Korti
Having watched all the ferment in the land-locked country ever since the Soviets occupied it end 1979, I have come to the conclusion that Afghanistan continues and will continue to run around in circles. The plot has moved along predictable lines. The much coined Taliban 2.0 is not going to be any different from the Taliban 1.0. When you are talking of a medieval mindset that harks you back to more than 1500 years, the entire discourse refuses to change one bit.

A lot many commentators have let their imagination go on a cruise trying to make out a case that the violent outfit appears to be softening as it assumes control but the steadfast submission to the Sharia leaves them with no room for flexibility. The so called press conference that its apparently rational sounding elements took was an eyewash. Their accommodation for what is being sought to be conveyed as a meltdown from its earlier primitive posturing has come a cropper. Developments in the last couple of days is perhaps just a trailer of the bigger picture that is inevitably set to unfold.

Later than sooner, the first edict is out. After talking tall about women's rights, the Taliban has taken its first somersault, banning co-education in universities because it is the "root of all evils in the society". It also wants "virtuous female lecturers would be allowed to teach only female students, not the male ones. That should make you wonder who is that Taliban doesn't trust -- men or women. Beyond all that lip service, the Taliban has dropped enough hints that women are only meant to lie under men's bodies and cater to their baser instincts. Mind you, they are their own women! If they are going to kill women indiscriminately for not obeying their diktats, who the hell would they be left with to carry out their brutal legacy? With women hiding behind their veils and faced with relentless despotism, it is effectively the end of education for women. Expect more such oppressive fatwas in the time to come.

While nothing that the Taliban has done or gone about has any element of surprise, it is slightly unexpected that the Russians appear to have taken in their stride the Taliban resurgence. The Russian diplomats believe the people in charge as 'normal guys" and Afghanistan is safer than ever before. This is obviously a take off on Moscow's new stance that the take-over in Afghanistan is a reality that they must attune to. It is a complete anti-thesis of what all it did during its occupation of Kabul to prop up a Communist regime.

While the western countries have frantically tried to evacuate its people and embassies, Russia has chosen to stay put with a certificate that clears Taliban of any reprisals. In fact going one step further, the Putin dispensation sees a bright future of national reconciliation that spells end to political uncertainty and bloodshed. Putin's special envoy to Afghanistan opened the doors to a new equation saying the Taliban as being easier to negotiate than with the old puppet regime of the now exiled President Ashraf Ghani. Just as the NATO found it incompatible to deal with the puppet government the erstwhile Soviets had installed before they chose to exit the theatre.

Somewhere in this change of heart, where Moscow has preferred to use the term "radicals" instead of addressing the Taliban as "terrorists",it has not rushed to recognize Taliban as rulers. It has been trying to build bridges with the Taliban in the last three years in an obvious diversion from its earlier foreign policy. That hasn't gone down well with the West. Looked at from the ground reality, the West and the Communists have changed postures but in terms of their hostile posturing, everything is status quo. In the new algorithm Russia is indicating that while it is ready to come to terms with the mutations in Afghanistan, it is not ready yet to throw full dice, preferring the picture to emerge clearer.        

There is a plausible reason to understand why the Russians have been resilient. It visualizes no military role for itself after realizing that the war it fought in the 80s was futile. They miscalculated the wages of the 1979 invasion. It cost them over nine years and 20,000 army men to prop up a regime besides turning into an international pariah. The Soviet economy just couldn't hold on, nor could its states that were destined to balkanize. The exit was unceremonious and Afghanistan went from frying pan into the fire. My gut feeling is the Russians didn't anticipate the Taliban's sweep to the power and is making just those initial noises. I will not be surprised if they are biding time until they find out the real shape of things to come. As new rulers, Taliban doesn't leave much room except for some speculation.

That brings me to the basic question. Do the Talibanese have any ideas about governance beyond the  setting up of a Caliphate? At the cost of hazarding a guess, I think not. They may impose the Sharia that has limited takers in the present matrix. That will not work in the longer run if they have any thoughts about salvaging their ruined economy or if they want to acquire some leeway on the international negotiating tables. While there are reports that the Northern Alliance is rolling up sleeves again to fight the Taliban in their own backyard, the latter has a lot of hard work to do.

The war and strife are far from over. It could well be the beginning of even more hazardous times for Afghanistan. 

From Afghanistan, gone with the medals

Raju Korti
You don't have to be an officer in the army to know how touchy he is about the medals on his uniform. Beyond decoration, they are badges of honours that they flaunt on their swollen chests. There is a message loud and clear that these medals convey: Give me enough medals and I will win you any war.
But look at the picture accompanying this blog. It is of Field Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum of the Afghan National Army who rose from a politician to become Commander in the Communist government during Soviet-Afghan war. You will wonder whether Dostum is wearing those medals or the medals are wearing Dostum.  

The key indigenous ally to the American special forces and the CIA during the campaign to topple the Taliban government, he was one of the most powerful and notorious warlords since the beginning of the Afghan wars. This opportunistic turncoat who conveniently chose to side with winners after every war in Afghanistan has now fled to Uzbekistan -- with all his medals. With Taliban catching up, Dostum knows that any further act masquerading as a brave marshal would end up with a Taliban bullet drilling a hole somewhere between those very medals he has been flaunting all these years.

A warrior should be defined by his scars, not his medals. I have seen pictures of a North Korean General with medals almost hanging down to his boots. When you get more medals than Captain America and Rambo put together without having even one active ground war, you look like a towering absurdity. Field Marshal Dostum deserves a honorable mention in that elite gallery. To be fair to Dostum, he has had a fair reputation, defeating Mujahideen commanders in northern Afghanistan and even persuading some to defect to the Communist cause. Although these were a slightly enhanced version of gangster fights, they earned him quick promotions. As someone who followed the tumult in Afghanistan regularly, I remember then President Mohammad Najibullah calling him a 'Hero of Afghanistan.' Najibullah didn't survive long and was found dead hanging to a wooden pole in the thick of the smoke that was rapidly engulfing the ravaged country.

From playing a pivotal role in the overthrow of the very man who called him a hero to joining hands with the new Burhanuddin Rabbani government, from partnering the Northern Alliance to shaking hands with Hamid Karzai he rapidly changed colours. When the going got tough, this 'tough' army chief chose to take a quick powder and flee Afghanistan when the Taliban over-ran Mazaar-I-Sharif. So Dostum is not a new hand at bolting from the country. This should be his second and probably the final exit as he knows the Taliban will not be charitably disposed any more.

For all of his six feet beefy structure, the bushy mustache and the number of medals decorating his camouflage Soviet-style military uniform, Dostum's CV though exciting and interesting, is diluted by his rank opportunism and his penchant to vanish when things got hot for him. That casts aspersions on all those medals glittering on his coat. There are no scars behind those medals. As journalist friend Prashant Hamine points out: "Looks like he got those medals from Mumbai's Chor Bazaar. They look like a collection of soft drink bottle caps."

Well, the fizz has gone. Only the 'dhakkans' remain.

Confessions of a rejection-softened man

Raju Korti
I have often been told that most fears of rejection rest on the desire of approval from other people and your self-esteem should not become casualty of how others view you. For all the hype and cosmetic coming from Teflon-coated tongues on the positives of rejection, I stand committed to my conviction: Rejection feels lousy and seriously dents one's sense of oneself.

As someone who has encountered rejection at all levels in the arduous course of my professional career and personal relationships, I have veered round to the conclusion that my life has been consumed by rejection. Trust me. it is psychologically debilitating, although I have kept trying my best for course corrections. It is what many people describe synonymously as destiny. Rejections are destined to happen. I realized it much earlier in my 65 years of existence. With the passage of time, I have experienced how much of my concern with social acceptance has percolated into everything I have ventured to do.

The pain of being excluded or rejected is not much different than physical pain or injury. In fact, it is worse a times. I have experienced emotional upheaval, cognition and even manifestation in physical health. Having reached a stage of being ostracized, I have been grappling these to the point of no return. I have never made any attempts to analyze and understand, lesser still, appreciate the whys and hows of rejection. I feel too disabled to rationalize rejection.

I marvel at the people who are evolved to live in cooperative societies. To some, it comes naturally. Like hunger or thirst, their need for acceptance emerges as a mechanism for survival. Social rejection aches cannot be handled like physical pain. Ask anyone who has been at the receiving end of a social snub, he will tell you his sob story of emotional turmoil and cognitive ferment that breed anger, anxiety, depression, jealousy and sadness. Even innocuous episodes of rejection can sting. 

Unlike most people who respond to rejection by seeking inclusion elsewhere, I prefer to go into a shell -- the fear of further rejection always weighing on the mind. Its a pain of chronic rejection that I have found it difficult to ward off although rejection from all quarters has become a way of life. I have begun to avoid people like plague. When I run into them, rebuff looms large. I am saying this despite being a professional and personal counselor. The only inconsistent part of this rejection story is when I counsel others to make a virtue out of it. In many words, not practicing what I preach. In one word 'hypocrisy'.

There is a silver line to this pessimistic story. I have desperately clung on to myself while people don't care about losing me. There is a consistency in my being rejected at all times, on all occasions and by all people including those who come across as close relatives and well wishers. At least a clear rejection is better than fake acceptance. No small consolation that. I have sustained rejections on the premise that you come alone, you go alone. Take rejections in your stride and move on bracing for more rejections. Mercifully, death never rejects anyone. At least someone will be kind enough to embrace me at the fag end of my rejected life. The redeeming feature is I won't be alive to see being rejected even after death.