Why China's renaming of Arunachal Pradesh locales deserves a socio-culinary repartee

Kolkata: Indians blessed with competent literacy must have read about China's unilateral renaming of our sovereign territory with awful impunity. This deserves repartee across frontiers which can easily commence with the dining tables.

Chow Mein can well be rechristened as Maida Poha, with various creative versions. Chilli Chicken is a prime candidate for being termed Murg Ghanashyam, as the darkness in texture matches well with the hearts of the neighbours. Fried Rice is clearly a fine candidate for Safed Pulao as its colour is never usually pale.

Delving further, the dim sum can easily become diet samosa, the fillings as versatile as the fertile imagination. Soup is surely nothing more than Bahurupi Chai, Chai and Chinese phonetically akin. Darsaan ( albeit Thai) is the most sensitive brethren, so similar to darshan in every context, strangely similar to the Puri Mandir prasad.

So much for fun and games and now on to some more serious stuff. The Chinese have been hassling us since time immemorial and it is indeed time to address the matter, the culprit for our gullibility genuinely Nehru. But ever since Bhai Bhai became Bye Bye, the troubles have only increased as the opium traders of yore are wishful new-age imperialists.

I must draw attention to the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and how China's intent to be spoilsport was thwarted by Soviet Russia, fuelled by a border skirmish. Those seeking the greatest confirmation must devour Brigadier John Dalvi's Himalayan Blunder, which exposes the magnitude of Chinese aggression quite unconnected to our avoidable deficiencies. The Chinese have been enemies of the state with the purest intent, and I have always believed with way greater venom than comical Pakistan.

Given the relentless aggression, in posture and action, it is quite incredulous how China is still a business partner of India, all data points notwithstanding. The China-India trade tally in 2022 stood at around $136 billion with New Delhi's trade deficit parked at approximately $100 billion. We know how everything from mobile phones to furniture to even buckets seems to originate from that preferred land, the price value equilibrium rather too attractive. But one thing is an enigma for sure - how does this scenario persist in spite of the border turmoil? Obviously, it is advantageous from a customer point of view but surely incongruous.

The audacity in Arunachal Pradesh proves that the nagging acumen still persists - the neighbours committed to the hassle and harass Indians just short of full-fledged conflict. In terms of military enrichment, they are ahead of us numerically and this is public data - the nuke capability is not quite established beyond repair. Besides, they are still a totalitarian state and thus unworthy of democratic processes and pressing a killer button or two not beyond the domain of the entitled executive.

Socio Culinary exiling is actually a valid way to make our stance clear - an underrated dimension of soft power. Truthfully, our pop culture influences are rather Western in every sense and China makes a mark largely in the tables of delight and its role in brands is not a persistent consumer truth. We must banish them, as we did during the conflict in the 1960s, collateral damage be damned.

In the meantime though, my dinnertime menu is well-planned. Chicken Ghanashyam with Safed Pulao seems a good bet and you can join in as well. As long as the nomenclature is just Chinese and not Greek.