A Daily Dose of India #5

After a week of Diwali merriment, thoughts turn to a more tempered approach to food intake [die, yet]. At the top of the list is that Creamy Layer* (viscosity TBD) - hardly surpirising, since India has long been obsessed with cream and its clarified version, ghee. Yavat jivet sukham jivet/ rinam kritva ghritam pibeyat (Be happy as long as you live/ Drink ghee even if you have to borrow for it). As one can see from the Sanskrit saying, support for the [die, yet] attitude is often not forthcoming - internal joint lubrication by the milk fats being one of the many justifications. Also, since what results from the fat are 'delicacies', there is no danger of being grossed out, is there? In due course, however, the interaction of the obsession with the [die, yet] attitude leads to doubts. Fat/no fat. Skim/2%/Low fat. Cow/Buffalo. Good fat/ bad fat. Saturated fat/non-saturated fat. Trans fat. Progressive [f]at/non-progressive [f]at. Forward at/ Backward at. Forward/Backward/the Other Backward/the forward Backward/ the backward Forward...you get the picture?

....Ah! creamy layer.

* Main Entry: 1cream Pronunciation: 'krEmFunction: nounUsage: often attributiveEtymology: Middle English creime, creme, from Anglo-French creme, cresme, from Late Latin cramum, of Celtic origin; akin to Welsh cramen scab, crust1 : the yellowish part of milk containing from 18 to about 40 percent butterfat2 a : a food prepared with cream b : something having the consistency of cream; especially : a usually emulsified medicinal or cosmetic preparation3 : the choicest part : BEST 4 : CREAMER 15 a : a pale yellow b : a cream-colored animal
or
**Main Entry: 2creamFunction: verbintransitive verb1 : to form cream or a surface layer like the cream on standing milk2 : to break into or cause something to break into a creamy froth; also : to move like frothtransitive verb1 a : SKIM 1c b : to remove (something choice) from an aggregate 2 : to furnish, prepare, or treat with cream; also : to dress with a cream sauce3 a : to beat into a creamy froth b : to work or blend to the consistency of cream c : to cause to form a surface layer of or like cream4 a : to defeat decisively b : WRECK c : to hit with force : SMASH
or
***“the correct criterion for judging the forwardness of the forwards among the backward classes is to measure their capacity not in terms of the capacity of others in their class, but in terms of the capacity of the members of the forward classes. If they cross the rubicon of the class of backwardness, they should be taken out from the backward classes and should be made disentitled to the provision meant for the said classes” Indian Supreme Court Expert Committee (1993 report)