Vanjaram Fish - Shocking Truths !!

  Food adulteration is an old topic but when you get to see it through your own eyes then you are in for a shock. Sunday afternoon is not complete without a Non vegetarian dish in India and when lockdown was imposed on Sundays in India you should see the crowd in front of poultry and fish markets on Saturdays for you to believe whether corona really existed. Often our class teachers used to comment "Why do this class behave like a Fish market?" Fish market is a happening place and I love shopping in these markets because I missed this for over a decade. I usually visit Puthur Fish maket in Trichy and since the place is about to be renovated, I switched to Woraiyur market. My first choice would always be Vanjaram and there is big, medium and small categories; You have to go pretty early like 5.30 am to get Big Vanjarams as the restaurant business and Catering chefs come early and pick all the big ones. I usually go in at 7 to 8 am and I get to see only medium and small ones. Vanjarams are fleshy and ideal for both frying and Fish Kolambu and the best part is it has got little thorns. Suddenly one fine day I see the newspaper with an article that in Woraiyur Fish market, FSSAI authorities has seized 650 kgs of fish since fish was laced with Formalin. 

  Everything is sensitized in India for unknown reasons so I did my exploration to know what the inside story of this episode is. First and foremost, Vanjaram belong to "Sea food" meaning it can be found only in oceans. So, for places like Trichy, Madurai, Tanjore, Coimbatore and basically Noncoastal areas it has to be transported to local markets. Assume fish is caught on Wednesday in places like Rameswaram or Kadalore and it is consolidated on wednesday and by Thursday it leaves the source. On Friday it reaches destination to the big wholesale merchants who control the local market. Bidding happens on Friday and local retailers buy from wholesale merchants based on their level of Business. On Saturday and Sunday local merchants have all the fish they need. Now if you note the fish that was caught on Wednesday is what you buy on Sunday. Tamil Nadu is hot at least eight out of twelve months and for the fish not to decay for four days there is whole lot of things that happen. Western countries are able to retain the shelf life through Cold storage and other latest technology available at their disposal but over here 'Cost' plays the role in how food storage is handled. 'Ice', 'Ammonia' and 'Formalin' are three methods adopted by merchants to retain shelf life of the fish. When I say 'Ice', merchants usually have a thermocol box and have loads of ice on all sides of the fish to make sure fish does not get spoilt. But do you think mineral water was used to make Ice? Ice is usually bought from ice factories and on many occasions ice is prepared from unhygienic condition. Other method merchants deploy is ammonia is mixed with water and the water is freezed  to preserve the fish which is again dangerous. 

  Now coming to 'Formalin' - it is a cancer inducing chemical used illegally to preserve fish. Formalin may be injected deep into the fish so unless you cut deep into the flesh you will not know the smell of the chemical. In many cases on Government hospitals Formalin is used to preserve human bodies in mortuaries. Regular intake of formalin even in small proportions just increases the chances of Cancer. There are plenty of articles in the internet which helps us to detect presence of Formalin in the fish but I don't want to do fire fighting with the merchants rather I want to go back and choose wisely on what fish to buy. It has been almost a year now and I stopped buying Vanjarams (though I consume in events and Restaurants since it is beyond my control). I am buying local varieties now and these are caught locally and sold the same day. Blood splashes when they cut it in front of my eyes. On the down side it takes ever to take away the thorns from the fish and if you have toddlers then you are running a bigger risk of burning your Sunday afternoon doing nothing but removing thorns. 

So it is simple, ask yourself "Is point of sale far away from place of catch"; If answer is Yes stop buying Vanjarams rather buy local available fish. In other words make a switch from the modern classic to local Dappan kuthu !! 

Next Blog: My Adventure

Religious beliefs & Marriage !!

 My blogs on religious topics have always been well received in the past and realized it has been some time now since I wrote one on religious topic. I am going to go over Marriage and religious beliefs in Hindu religion. Marriage is a very important step in one's life and there is a famous tamil proverb which describes marriage as "Aayiram kaalathu payir" meaning as we see yield of crops in a particular season, marriage is similar to a crop where it has to overcome all seasonal challenges and come out strong spanning generations and give us plenty of yield. My community is one of the most conservative community and it is absolutely painful to see marriage failures and parents bearing the stress in their old age. Just like Covid has introduced the term 'New normal', 'Divorce' has become a very common term people are coping with in modern world. There is always prescriptions to anything and everything and Hindu religion has given a way to lead life no matter what your life situation is. There are so many rituals and temples which helps bride/groom to enter wedlock upon worship in their respective shrine. I am going to list out the ones which are not that common (since people may already know the common ones). 

1)Nandhi Kalyanam: There is a saying "nandhi kalyanam mundhi kalyanam" meaning one who witness nandhi kalyanam will get married soon. 

When: Panguni month, Punar poosam nakshatra day 

Where: Vaidyanatha Swamy koil, Thirumazhapadi 

Belief: Marriage happens between Nandeeswarar and goddess Swayambikai and it starts in the evening and festivities go till late in the evening. If groom or bride witness this marriage it is said their marriage will happen soon. 

2)Thadikombu - Soundararaja Perumal temple

When: Five consecutive Thursdays 

Where: Soundararaja perumal temple, Thadikombu

Belief: Performing poojas to the deities Rathi and manmadhan on five consecutive thursdays will help unmarried people enter wedlock sooner. 

How exactly it works ? Men need to pray and put garland for Rathi and women need to pray and put garland for manmadhan. This has to be followed for five Thursdays. Once you get married you have to come as a couple to offer thanksgiving. If you call priest he will explain you very clearly on the options you have. For some practically coming five Thursdays may not be possible and priest is the best person to advice you on the options. My intention is just to let you know that there is one such belief exists and worked wonders for many. 

3) Thiruvidanthai Nithya Kalyana Perumal temple:

Where: Chennai East Coast road, 24 kms from Chennai

Belief: Those who are yet to enter wedlock will soon get married

How exactly it works? Unmarried Boy/girl has to take a holy dip in the kalyana theertham, take cocunuts, fruits, beetel leaves and garland and offer prayers to lakshmi varahar by doing archanai. Priest will give one garland which you have to wear around your neck and basically do nine rounds around temple premises. Once you get married come as a couple and bring the garland and do an archanai and offer prayers for varahar. Before the garland get dry there is a belief one will enter wedlock. Once again call temple priest for up to date details. 

4) Thirupainjeeli Shivan temple

Where: Close to Manachanallur in Trichy 

How exactly it works? Doing archanai for both lord Gneelivaneswarar and goddess (Note: there are two goddess shrines in the temple) and offering prayers will help groom/bride to enter into wedlock sooner. 

5) Vedhapuriswarar temple, Thiruvayaru 

Where: Near Thiruvaiyaru

How exactly it works? This sthalam is one of the dosha nivarthi sthalam for marriage; People who need to enter wedlock can come and offer their prayers by singing devaram songs. Once they get married they can come as a couple and offer their thanksgiving. Saint Sampanthar mentions lord's mercy on all those aspiring for most auspicious wedding 

Literal meaning of the lines are "The whole hearted wishes of boys and girls are most auspiciously fulfilled. 

I just want to reiterate the fact that some of the things I mentioned above can be outdated so please kindly contact priest of the respective temples and get to know the complete details and see whether it aligns with your schedule. My intention is to just highlight the temples which helps people on marriage aspects.