Humour
It's Been a Bad Week For Samosas
NEWS REPORTS
EXTREMISTS
Al-Shabaab, the extremist Islamic group that effectively controls much of Somalia, has banned samosas in the famine-stricked, war-torn East African nation, according to the Kenyan Daily Nation.
Apparently the ban, which was announced via loudspeaker, was instituted because Al-Shabaab leaders decided the samosa's triangular shape was too closely associated with the Christian trinity. Locals face punishment for cooking, buying or eating the meat- or vegetable-filled pastries.
CRAZIES
Never the ones to be left behind in things assinine, a group of New Jersey Hindus - yes, these good souls have somehow made it from Ayodhya to civilization - recently sued a restaurant for "covertly" serving them meat samosas, in violation of their religious adherence to a vegetarian diet.
Killing innocent women and children belonging to minorities is okay in India.
Brutalizing people of "low" castes there is okay.
Treating women as sub-humans is that land is also okay.
But meat in samosas in New Jersey?
That's a definite no-no!
How dare anyone expect these simpletons to first check what they stuff into their mouths?
This one is obviously a real case of human rights!
[Courtesy: Huffington Post]
July 31, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: Gina Kaur (Kenya), July 31, 2011, 9:37 AM.
No samosas? I ain't going to Somalia any time soon, I tell ya. And, for that matter, New Jersey neither!
2: Preet Singh (Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.), July 31, 2011, 9:42 AM.
I think there is an urgent need to change the laws in all of our countries in the civilized world to permit, as a punishment for those convicted of the offence - after a fair trial and all that, of course - five minutes of slapping around anyone found guilty of such stupidities, don't you think?
3: Mann (Chandigarh, Punjab), July 31, 2011, 9:50 AM.
This is simply the last straw ... how dare anyone mess around with my samosas!
4: Waryam Singh (Amritsar, Punjab), July 31, 2011, 12:23 PM.
It's a conspiracy all right. First they took away my ras malaa-ee's .. they got my doctor involved in the subterfuge. Then they took away my servants ... who are now politicians in Delhi. Then they all started speaking Hindi ... and sucked the class out of everything. And now ... they want to ban samosas? Over my dead body! Next thing, they'll be going for my saag and makki di roti ...
5: Baljit Singh Pelia (Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.), July 31, 2011, 12:28 PM.
And I always thought the samosa was a Hindu conspiracy - pointing in three directions so you would forever be lost. I am also confused as to which corner one is to bite into first. The sequence should be numbered, the contents labeled, and proper instructions clearly affixed: in three languages ... that is, any two local languages, AND Punjabi!
6: I.J. Singh (New York, U.S.A.), July 31, 2011, 6:38 PM.
The travails of the poor little samosa make me laugh but they also make me cry a bit. I hope our non-Sikh readers see in it humor - somewhat pointed, but absolutely not maliciously anti-Hindu in intent. Sometimes sharp humor is needed to step in and grease the process of communication when a civil dialog is impossible or summarily dismissed - just look at the plethora of anti-Sikh jokes that the larger Hindu Indian community has delighted in for many, many years. In fact, all of my life as I remember it. If we must take the anti-Sikh humor then we have to sometimes dish it out as well, but I hope not too often and never without a good-natured smile.
7: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), August 01, 2011, 10:06 AM.
The BBC is now reporting, contrary to the early Kenyan Daily Nation report, that Al-Shabaab's samosa ban may have been motivated by concern for public health rather than religious doctrine alone. The BBC explained that "traders were selling rotten meat from cattle that had died because of the famine. This was un-Islamic and threatened the health of people, al-Shabab said." Second, why should serving meat to a vegetarian in a New Hersey restaurant be seen as not offensive? If one goes to a restaurant, one should be able to expect to be served at least what they asked for, without being paranoid and being required to scrutinize all ingredients; a virtually impossible task. Yes, yes, I am expected to lighten up ...
8: Narayan Kaur (Cornwall, United Kingdom), August 01, 2011, 10:52 AM.
I am sorry, Gurmeet ji, but I have considerable difficulty with your post. When I choose to go out to eat in a restaurant, it is important for me to follow my desire to eat only jhatka meat. So I choose the restaurant accordingly. Then ... I make it a point to ask the waiter if the meat is indeed jhatka. If it isn't, I order a vegetarian dish. If I still crave for a meat dish, I go elsewhere. Then, if I later find out that the waiter or the restaurant owner have not been honest and have actually served me halal or kosher meat, I am certainly disappointed ... but, I don't lose it; nor do I think that my janam (life) has become bhrisht (desecrated). Someone else's dishonesty or negligence does not dictate or shape MY spirituality, religion or fate! I also do not lose any sleep over it. I get on with my life ... and yes, I don't go back to that restaurant again. No, I don't go around suing people left and right ... there are other, better, bigger and more meaningful battles to fight in this world. I simply will not allow myself to turn into a blithering idiot become some other unthinking or careless or mischievous fool has done something wrong. Even though I strongly feel this issue of eating or not eating meat has entered the realm for pure stupidity, I respect the right of religio-vegetarians to pursue their bliss, and humour them to the point of total indifference. But, I am simply not going to sit back and let them pollute the environment with their false piety or perceived injustices. Similarly, I do not take myself too seriously over my desire to follow the maryada on the issue of 'jhatka'. It is important to me, but I have not given it license to rule my life, and to turn me into an idiot when things somehow don't go right in my world. Get a life, guys!
9: Darshan Singh (Punjab), August 01, 2011, 11:12 AM.
I thought this was a HUMOUR section. Isn't it? And, from what I understand about the concept of humour, it is the pin we have for the purpose of bursting bubbles of pretension, ostentation and hypocrisy. I like the way sikhchic.com pricks everyone's balloon equally, including pompous Sikhs. It serves a purpose - just look at the excellent give-and-take between different views it generates. Some with anger and outrage, others with disdain and condemnation .. but don't these come with the territory? Keep it up, please! I get some of the best laughs here.
10: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), August 01, 2011, 5:31 PM.
Narayan Kaur ji, please know that I am with you on all your points. Being a vegetarian myself, I do/ would do exactly what you do. What I am objecting to is the suggestion that people should check out what they are eating before they put it in their mouths.
11: Sukhdev Singh Shergill (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), August 03, 2011, 6:22 AM.
Religio-vegetarianism is Hinduism. Period. Jhatka-bhatka stuff is for those who allow themselves to be led by the nose by self-proclaimed custodians of Sikhism. Who had the hallucination that they knew Sikhism better that our Gurus (bani). Jews created difficulties for themselves by imposing kosher and Muslims by imposing halal. Not to be outdone, the Sikhs have self-inflicted with jhatka-bhatka to mess up their own lives!