A Fight

Last night was terrible. Raj and Mai got in a fight. I mean a real fight. They argue all the time, they never stop. He says Sikhs are really Hindus. She says not. So they argue and even insult each other. They have done this for at least 30 years. Last night they got in a fight. She hit him. He hit her. She did that thing she does, she threw him over her shoulder. He landed on his ankle. She jumped on him and he screamed because her knee was in his crotch. Now he has a sprained ankle and is sore. Mai has a bruise on her cheek but she seems to be unharmed. If it matters, she won the fight. (Mai here: Of course, it matters!)

My husband and my best friend! She threw the first blow, but I can understand why she was so angry. There used to be a song called, Oh, What a Night. It starts, Oh, what a night, late December back in 63 was a very special night for me. Only Raj changed the date to late October back in 84 and made the song into a story about raping a Sikh woman in Delhi. No, my Raj did no such thing. He was in Montreal at the time. Mai was angry, but she freaked out when he reached the line, Sweet surrender, what a night.

I know violence can never be justified and Mai was wrong to hit him, but he was doing violence against her spirit and I can understand. He knows she is very ill and I think he thought that she was finally weak enough that he could defeat her. Anger is violence and I am trying very hard not to be angry at either of them.

I am worried about her. All of us are. I think she is more alive today than she has been for a couple of weeks. I am staying with her today while Simon is at work. We think she should not be left alone at this time. So far she hasn't objected.

I am going to put the words of that song on the lyrics scroll to the right. They are the original words, not Raj's words (Mai: which are better forgotten.)

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WHY TRY TO FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT?

Jain Potato

I have never eaten a potato. Now Mai has sent me this link about a potato that grows on a vine. I don't think any are available here, but she has some idea of trying to grow a vine potato herself. If I know Mai, she'll probably figure out some way to do it. For 50 years, I have been hearing how wonderful French fries, chips, taste. They do smell good. Maybe someday I'll find out! I know that self indulgence is a sin, but I'm not really the saint she thinks I am. Here is this article from the Times of India: Now, Jain potato in pav-bhaji 6 Dec 2006, 0241 hrs IST , TNN JUNAGADH: The Jain pav-bhaji may no longer come sans potatoes. A farmer in a village in Junagadh claims to have come up with a wonder potato - one that grows above the ground. For Girish Akbari, it's the fruit of months of research in his farm in Patarpur village in Una taluka. For Jains, it could be the freedom to enjoy the potato, with their religion keeping them from having any vegetable that is grown underground. Akbari, who hails from Rajkot, has even named his find the 'Jain potato'. "We have been experimenting for the past 18 months. We used a grafting technique and succeeded. We have also grown gourd in a similar way.We created this hybrid by grafting a potato onto a grape vine. It grew best during the monsoons," adds Akbari. While about 80 to 10 kg of potatoes grew on one vine alone last year, he expects the yield to be about 400 kg per vine. "They are initially green but turn brown on ripening. They even last for over a year after they are picked," he says. And, they are more nutritious. Testing at the Saurasthra University's biotechnology department found this variety to have significantly more protein than those grown underground. It also contained less starch and calories while it had similar amount of fibre. And the taste? Akbari says there is no difference. "All regular dishes - from curry to potato vada and chips - taste the same. You cannot tell the difference," claims Akbari. However, some experts have expressed doubts. "Grafting will change the characteristic of the potato. It is not possible to have potatoes through grafting," says P Butani, principal of the Agriculture College, affiliated to the Junagadh Agriculture University. Akbari has sent the potato to a Central laboratory in Delhi for confirmation.