“Full Service” is in the January-March 2023 edition of “Akhar”

by blogadmin | Dec 29, 2022 | Blog Post, Delaware, Media Publishing's, Year 2022

My short story “Full Service” appears in the January-March 2023 edition of “Akhar”, a prominent Punjabi literary magazine.

Cup & Kitaab: The Saga of an Inseparable Couple

by blogadmin | Sep 11, 2022 | Blog Post, Delaware, Media Publishing's, Year 2022

A cup. And a kitaab. Their rishtaa, I am sure, was made in heaven. If you are not so sure, look at them. Closely. One is lonely without the other. As a naked hanger hung in a closet is without clothes. Or one shoe dangling down the rear of the trucks (to ward off evils) is without the other in whose search it keeps circling the country for years.

A conducive setting or an enabling environment is vital for any relationship. A hospitable host not only nurtures it but nourishes it as well.

Such a host—a cafe—for cup and kitaab is in Silvi Park, sector 64, Mohali. The host’s dedication and devotion to them are apparent from its name: Cup & Kitaab. It is a unique and popular community gathering place, opened in 2020, and features large portions of food, entertainment, conversation—and one unusual restriction.

You are welcome to traverse the walkway to the double-door entrance but leave your laptop at home. Their use is banned by Neeru Khatter, the establishment’s owner and creator, as a way to encourage reading and socializing.

“There are times when our guests are upset because we don’t allow anyone to use laptops in the cafe because I want them to read books, the old-fashioned way,” says Neeru, master chef and one-time English professor. “Sometimes I even thrust books into their hands while they await their orders. The essence of various events that we plan, like Cha and Charcha or Blind Date, is to promote and reward reading,” she said, underscoring her reverence for the written word.

A suspended signboard in the middle of the walkway says the host’s name beneath the artwork, the logo, in which the kitaab opens itself up to soak in the cup’s steaming love. A more prominent signboard showing their torrid affair is visible on the rooftop.

A PILLAR OF BOOKS

Past the live cooking stations on the left and straight ahead in the center of the cafe is a pillar with illuminated wooden spokes radiating from its head and shelves full of books below that guests can pick and read.

“I have cherished reading from childhood as much as I have loved cooking and eating,” confessed Neeru. “It was my dream to build something like this in the wild, in the middle of a natural setting, giving book lovers a cool and quiet place to read while sipping and savoring their favorites.”

With the support of her husband, Anshuvan, Neeru’s dream soon became a reality.

The menu and milieu herald desi and videshi culinary worlds, but if someone still wants something else matching his or her health requirements or gourmet needs, that too is prepared. “Gur da parantha with ice cream” tops its list of favorite orders here. No wonder the joint is also called “Mummy Da Dhaba” by many.

“Every visitor here is our guest,” Neeru says. “None of them is a customer to us. We love and respect each of them in the spirit of our centuries-old Indian mehman-nawazi tradition.”

BUILDING A COMMUNITY

Much more than a restaurant, Cup & Kitaab has become a community and cultural hub, attracting students to senior citizens, office workers to business folks, actors, musicians, artisans and artists. 

When we sat down to discuss the roots of Neeru’s inspiration and independence, she modestly shared, “As a child and young woman, my pocket money was consistently expended on buying books. Being the youngest and only daughter of two Moga professors’ three children helped. I could get away with anything I wanted. Not so when Anshuvan and I decided to wed after a few years of friendship. But, by then, it was too late for my parents and siblings to expect me to change my habits. I went ahead and wedded the guy I loved and wanted to spend my life with over their objections and against their wishes. Soon they realized I made the right choice, and we became one large happy family.”

She added that married life did not cool her obsession with reading.

“I can’t recall returning home from shopping or grocery without one or two new books. My daughters read voraciously during our several years in Libya and Oman when they were young. We returned to India because of my older daughter’s interest in theater. Once both got phones after coming here, they no longer retained their avid reading habit,” lamented Neeru with a deep sigh.

A HOME AWAY FROM HOME

We were in the middle of our relaxed conversation when Punjabi singer Crowny Singh entered with a friend. They joined the discussion. I was surprised when he looked at Neeru and said, “Mom, I want a chicken sandwich.”

Within a few minutes, the table between us was filled with sandwiches and scrumptious snacks. Crowny picked up a guitar and started to sing.

As I started to enjoy the evening and admire Neeru’s culinary skills, she returned from the kitchen to explain why Crowny called her “Mom.”

“We have a lot of guests in the cafe who are living away from their families,” she said. “We are their extended family. Some call me bebe, some aunty, and others bhabhi. We enjoy the satisfaction of making them feel they are with their family at home away from home.”

Neeru and daughter Rhythm Khatter with Amy Virk

Neeru and Anshuvan count many celebrities among their guests, including Ammy Virk, Tarsem Jassar, Rajvir Jawanda, Maninder Buttar, Ayushman Khurana, Aparshakti Khurana, Bir Singh, Gurshabad, Ali brothers and Gopal Dutt. Standup comedians Parvinder Singh and Gurpal Singh are good friends. Himanshi Khurana, Prince Narula, Yuvika, Fankaar Singh and choreographer Sumit Kumar also visit regularly.

“We do our best to ensure they too can relax and peacefully enjoy doing whatever they came in to do like everyone else,” Anshuvan said.

In just over two short years, Cup & Kitaab has evolved from a readers’ den into a vibrant cultural hub replete with art, craft, music and traditional celebrations such as Vaisakhi, Karva Chauth and Teej.

“Bunty Bains, of Bunty Bains Productions, and B Social owner, was the first person to help me promote Cup & Kitaab,” Neeru emphasized.

So, what’s next?

“Now, I am working on organizing meetings where our senior citizens lacking writing skills will share their life’s stories with young men and women who are talented writers but lack powerful masala to write about,” Neeru concluded.

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This column was published online by https://tricityscoop.com/ on September 11, 2022.

Guest Commentary: Why Delaware should go for offshore wind

by blogadmin | Jul 26, 2022 | Blog Post, Delaware, Media Publishing's, Year 2022

Of the nine East Coast states, we are the only one without a commitment to use wind energy. In contrast, our neighbors not only have legally binding agreements to buy and use offshore-wind energy but are also scaling up ambitious plans around it.”

Charanjeet Singh Minhas is a board member of Delaware Interfaith Power & Light.

Delaware is burdened with twin disadvantages: It is the lowest-lying American state, and it is continuously sinking. But it also is blessed with a windfall, literally. The First State coasts have offshore-wind potential enough to power 137% of its energy needs.

These opposing factors combine to make a solid case for the state to move away from its current overwhelming dependence (91%) on carbon sources and toward indigenous offshore-wind energy for economic, scientific, health, climate and moral and ethical reasons. But the fossil fuel lobby in the state has fought this effort. Consequently, Delawareans are paying for a supply of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for life-threatening problems now and in the future — all while sitting next to an ocean of clean, renewable energy.

Of the nine East Coast states, we are the only one without a commitment to use wind energy. In contrast, our neighbors not only have legally binding agreements to buy and use offshore-wind energy but are also scaling up ambitious plans around it. The governors of Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina announced a collaboration in 2020 to build offshore-power projects and promote the region as a hub for offshore-wind energy and industry.

They might have been nudged by New Jersey’s grander dream of becoming the hub of the nation’s offshore-wind energy industry. The Garden State aspires to be the Houston of American offshore wind.

The Interior Department in Washington, D.C., estimates we will see some 2,000 turbines churning along the East Coast by the end of the decade. As Lisa Friedman wrote in The New York Times, these hopes were further vitalized last February when the “three-day, 64-round bidding war among more than a dozen companies for a triangular section of ocean known as the New York Bight surpassed expectations.”

The United States government, adds Friedman, netted a record $4.37 billion because “it was the highest-grossing competitive offshore energy lease sale in history, including oil and gas lease sales. Analysts noted that leases were sold at about $10,700 per acre, more than 10 times the previous record of $1,000 per acre.”

New York State, which in 2019 passed an ambitious law to reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change, had reached an agreement for two large offshore-wind projects the same year. These projects are an essential part of the state’s plan to get 70% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

“New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland have together committed, through legislation or executive action, to buying about 30,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore electricity by 2035 — enough to power roughly 20 million homes,” as noted in Yale Environment 360’s report more than a year ago.

Forget firm action on offshore electricity. Delaware doesn’t even have legislation to lend credibility to its greenhouse gases-reduction targets, as enumerated in its Climate Action Plan, unveiled in November last year.

Besides a bounty of wind resources, we also have nationally and internationally acclaimed local offshore-wind expertise. The University of Delaware’s Wind Power Program, initiated back in 2003, conducts research, education and outreach on wind power, with emphasis on coastal and offshore wind.

However, none of UD’s prominent experts was there when the Fenwick Island Environmental Committee hosted its offshore-wind symposium at Indian River High School on Friday, May 20. Representatives from US Wind and Ørsted were first to speak, highlighting clean energy, improved infrastructure and job creation from offshore-wind projects. They were followed by speakers who talked about problems with offshore-wind towers and turbines. Loss of viewshed, impacts to commercial fishing and effects on marine life were their primary concerns.

Also at the event was David Stevenson, Caesar Rodney Institute’s Center for Energy & Environmental Policy director and a former member of President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency transition team. He has questioned Delaware’s climate plan and opposed tighter air-pollution standards in the state. Last August, he was at a press conference outside the Massachusetts State House, where offshore-wind critics announced a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s approval of Vineyard Wind, the first major offshore-wind project in America to be issued an environmental permit.

Every noncarbon energy source brings with it proponents and opponents. Offshore wind isn’t a perfect or complete energy alternative. Still, it is a clean, renewable, healthy and economical energy solution suited to coastal Delaware, especially in light of the fantastic technological advancements and federal subsidies available now that expire in 2025.

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This column was published online by https://baytobaynews.com/ on July 21, 2022.