Obituary of A Parantha

Obituary of the staple Parantha

It is with a very heavy calorie ridden heart, I pay my respect to the yummy, delectable Parantha. It has been the staple of us, the Punjabis but has suddenly died a sudden agonizing death by the onslaught of the fancy schamncy, rules-schmules of the new age fad dieters. It has been labeled as a fat guzzler, the dripping ghee sponge bomb.

Even the generation X children don’t want, “ mama it smells in the tiffin; my classmates make fun of it!” the pressures of growing up so made complex that our identity is under threat. Now, it is the well-balanced 180 calories brown bread sandwich cut into perfect triangles lathered with low fat butter with thinly sliced cucumber. Never mind, that on the way back the child will coax his mother to buy the latest chip packet that is the fad along with a doughnut. The mother will indulge not because it is good for him or her but will do because she is seen at the ‘it ‘ place, wearing the latest tight colored jeans along with a bag heavier than the dumbbell at the local gym.

My dear delectable yummy parantha so lovingly stuffed with aloo, has vanished off the breakfast table, along with the one of a kind ‘ aam ka achar’. Apparently, the calorie count is too much for our bodies.

It has been laid to rest in urban India replaced by the bland (good for the heart) cholesterol and the attack of the Cornflakes. We have been all sold; hook line and sinker that eating these cornflakes makes our thinner, sexier in two weeks in a red sari. They also make you stronger, smarter, give you energy and balance away the bad cholesterol.

Here, I agree that all this is true, but to lay the blame on the homely parantha is wrong. If we would get off our delectable backside, and do some work and not expect miracles by eating cornflakes and sprouts, we would do well.

Don’t blame the ordinary Punjabi gene; it’s our sense of eating wrong that makes us go fat and ready for a heart attack.

The parantha however, for now has died a death wrapped in the newspaper till it is resurrected by a famous celebrity and then we will start eating it.

Till then it is the bland , tasteless muesli for the uber urban folk , while I am guilty of eating a stuffed parantha with achar . Last heard, the new age dieters had recently packaged the aroma of the parantha to be released in intervals when the hunger pangs set in. Hmm ,a new solution for the babes and the metrosexual men of today.

Please pay your respects by eating one in its memory and help Punjab get rid of it s wheat buffer stock. Contribute is the new mantra.