Frankly speaking, the lack of sleep the previous night was getting to me and I literally dragged myself to go for the play for the sole reason that this was my nephew Anirudh’s maiden theater performance.
I was not disappointed. A light hearted drama by Jean-Baptiste Poquein (better known in literally circles as Moliere), this was done very well by a group of young folk which calls itself Miracle Entertainment.
My only beef was that Anirudh played Leandre whereas I’m very sure he could have carried off the lead role with equal aplomb.And I’m not saying this just because he’s my nephew. In a minor role, he excelled and stole the show with his acting abilities!
I must say a tear or two welled up in my eyes seeing him on stage. My periappa (father’s brother) had acted in the same play 5 decades or so back and to me, it was like seeing him again on stage, which I never had the good fortune to do.
Thanks Anirudh for giving me the opportunity to see how my periappa might have performed and I wish you all the best in your budding acting career. You rock and though you might not hear me wax poetic on your abilities, I love your talent and drive. Keep it up man!
Not wanting to dilute the very important aspect of my life (read - eating), I decided to have a separate blog for all the food and restaurant related articles which will hopefully help others with a similar bent of mind in this noble pursuit of great food around the world.
We finally did the deed. Zak Prasad, born Feb 16th, 2009 officially joined our family yesterday. A tiny runt to look at, he’s sure got lots of attitude and tons of spunk. We’re in it for the long haul and revisiting our early days with the kids sans the diaper changes. Zak actively seeks out the carpet for all his output and stubbornly refuses to sleep in his posh crate. So, we need to wait for him to fall asleep and then put him inside. He loves to eat his Cerelac with water and he perks up the moment he hears the spoon mixing in his bowl. Quite an alert chap the few hours he’s awake and he actually comes running when you clap, something that Sol never did for many years.
It’s not easy to let go of thoughts of our beloved prince but we’ll do our best in giving Zak all our love and affection just like we did for Sol. Looking forward to having him around for a long long time. Hope someone up there is listening?
In the name and spirit of team building, we were herded into an uncomfortable van on Friday for some 'organized' fun and bonding. The barely concealed zeal when I clambered in was hard to miss!
A 'planned' breakfast of alien spaceship shaped idlis and more driving on Mysore road brought us to the foothills of Kunti Betta (Mound of Kunti?). One of our smarter team members, an architect no less, took one look at the rocky vertical terrain and backed out in no uncertain terms. The rest scaled the tor because that's what was ordered.
On the way down, the 'organizers' pulled out blindfolds (the only investment this company has done), paired us up, blindfolded one partner and gagged the other. The activity was to guide your partner down without talking to him/her. I'm still not sure what purpose this served, other than make everyone really thirsty and irritable.
We then had to climb another boulder rich hill. One of the adventure tour guides was apparently scared of heights. Hmmm.... Anyway, him and our manager with the same fear clung on to each other and finally made it to the top a good half hour behind us fit and fearless folk.
Getting down, no easy task was also accomplished in the same order of the climb. Luckily no gags and blindfolds this time. I'm pretty sure who would have been blindfolded and gagged had this been proposed one more time for the descent.
Ensuring consistency in lack of planning and organizational capabilities, the event organizers experienced a sudden realization that we didn't have lunch. So, off one of them went, taking the van and all our drinking water and snacks. Exhausted, hungry, thirsty and with team spirit and team building thoughts furthermost from our minds, we waited in grim anticipation for our food. One or two of us did try to provide dismal entertainment but a few wandered off to watch an ad shooting nearby. This was definitely something that helped take our mind off the gnawing gut-wrenching feelings of utter starvation.
The food finally showed up an hour and a half later and we were treated to rock-hard rotis, two barrels of alleged rasam and some other liquid that was passed off as sambar. Too tired to protest, we mournfully munched on our repast. School kids around us looked at us in wonder and pity but we soldiered on.
The team was ready to head home, but keeping with the 'team spirit' concept, the will of 8 was over-ridden by the organizers and we were dragged to a man-made lake which surprise surprise was a body of water and pretty much nothing else.
After an obligatory round of photographs and some frolicking on the banks, we headed back to more obligatory antaakshari activities for the journey back, well, until one of us put a stop to this misery.
I still don't know why we had to get these event coordination or whatever they are called people. I'm sure we'd have had more fun by ourselves, letting things happen, eating what AND when we want. Oh well, ra ra ra for team building!!
Not sure how I'm supposed to feel. Today's my 15 year anniversary of working. What do I have to show for this much time spent working? I really don't know. Is this what I'll be doing for the next 15 years? I hope not. But, then what else should I do? Hmmm...time for introspection. Something's gotta give.
A wedding trip away from home is always a fair excuse for an extended vacation. The nuptials at Delhi almost incidental, the meat of our trip was in Chandigarh and Amritsar.
But, I don’t want to disregard the awesome marriage ceremonies and the mind boggling food. The starters themselves numbered in the double digits, with chaats galore; we just couldn’t set aside stomach space for the mind numbing variety of the main courses. We watched an eminently forgettable movie (Delhi-6) instead. What the hell was that all about?
A wonderful Shataabdi train journey to Chandigarh was capped by free dinner at the Shivalik hotel. A lovely city this is and definitely life moves at a slower pace than in the big cities. Didn’t do much and by an amazing twist of fortune, we got there on a Saturday night and Sunday all shops are closed; much to the chagrin of the women folk. That the wife still managed to do heavy weight shopping despite these seemingly insurmountable odds is another matter.
The rose festival in full bloom necessitated a visit to this roaring event. The most beautiful roses were in the form of Punjabi maidens and they easily outnumbered the actual amount of roses I saw. Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention to the flowers we were supposed to be seeing.
Another train ride (from Ambala) saw us in Amritsar. Here we were welcomed with open arms by our friends’ relatives who readily gave up their bedrooms for us. An interesting episode with the wash basin was the highlight of the first night in this town. Our hosts and our friends stepped out for dinner. We decided to stay back as the kids were tired. Manasi, for some unfathomable reason, decided to wash her feet in the wash basin and in fine form landed her foot elegantly on a sensitive part of the assembly. Not being an eyewitness to the actual drama, we rushed out of our room to see her calmly standing by while Niyathi had a major chunk of the ceramic basin in her hands. Ever the calm one, the wife, quickly took charge. Screaming at all of us on the top of her lungs, she frantically starting cleaning the floor, picking up the pieces, all while still mouthing curses at two innocents and one culprit. Strangely, the only one unaffected by the composed behavior was the perp who just stood by casually.
The kids, packed off to bed after severe admonishments, the post-mortem was a solemn and action oriented affair. Introspections on child rearing and upbringing of our babies were the main agenda items. I must say I provided valiant input to the whole drama.
We waited in trepidation for our hosts to return and I must say they were taken aback by our grim countenances. On hearing the reason, they all burst out laughing and were more concerned about the kids’ safety. That’s Punjabi hospitality for you!
No trip to Amritsar is complete without a visit to the Golden Temple. Truly an awe inspiring place. I just loved it and was fortunate enough to do the Sarovar (dip in the ice cold reservoir 5 times). Being a festival day, the temple was packed and it took us quite a while to enter the main temple, but man, it was worth every minute of the wait. It’s a great feeling to see the seat of any religion! Words can’t quite express the wonderful feeling one has in this holy shrine.
A somber visit to Jallianwala Bagh brought a few tears to the eyes to actually be in the same place where thousands of innocent people were shot down by one English General. The brick wall at the far end of the garden has carefully preserved bullet marks from the massacre. You can’t help but wonder how anyone could do something so heinous.
The same evening our hosts drove us to Attari/Wagah, the border towns in India and Pakistan. Hardly 30 km from Amritsar, we didn’t want to the border ceremony that happens here every day. As it was a weekday, we expected a smattering of people. Reality was different. It felt like entering a cricket stadium for a match between the two countries! Blaring loudspeakers, music and a festival like atmosphere! They even have stadium like seating with steps. Though the flag lowering and the aggressive marching at each other lasts about half hour, it’s packed with a lot of patriotism and passion. The BSF guards’ orders are yelled at full volume, further amplified by the microphones held in front of their faces. On the Pakistan side, there’s an old man who waves a Pakistani flag. Apparently, he does this daily and has been doing it for a couple of decades! Now, that’s commitment!
An interesting observation by our friend later was that while we on the Indian side were shouting ‘India Zindabad!’ our neighbors were shouting ‘Jeeve Jeeve’. Essentially, we were showing our patriotic fervor in Urdu while they were showing theirs in Punjabi.
On the Indian side, a gigantic truck with Balochistan license plates waited patiently for the celebrations to end. A non-decrepit truck but the novelty of a Pakistani truck on Indian soil attracted many photographs with people proudly standing in front of the ‘foreign’ license plates. The Pakistani driver was no doubt not feeling too safe as he had all his windows rolled up and stoically stared straight ahead, praying no doubt to quickly get across to his own land!
Another in your face gesture is a small Hindu temple at the border belting out Bhajans and Slokas with megaphones! All in good spirit?
Before I end this already painfully long essay, I gotta talk about the food! On a friend’s recommendation, I had Shikaar on the roadside.I did Obelix proud here as Shikaar is nothing but wild boar.It was just too too good! We also had the most wonderful home cooked Punjabi food, with paneer dishes, sabji and rotis with home-made butter. I easily added a couple of kilograms at one breakfast sitting!
And finally, I must say that I have never seen a warmer and friendlier people. While not overbearingly warm and affectionate, we were treated as part of the family during our stay and made to feel extremely welcome with all our comforts taken care of. There’s a lot one can learn from people here. I would love to go back again someday just for a taste of Punjabi hospitality.
Other than the saving grace of awesome food, last (long) weekend was akin to Rambo training to go into Vietnam. Hoping for a relaxed getaway at the family home in Mysore, I found the holiday to be anything but that.
After a sumptuous breakfast, and only 2 hours behind planned departure time, we took off to the homestead. A cucumber with salt stop at Maddur, and we were at our cousin's home in Mysore a little after 2. The eating started in earnest right there. Lamb chops, brain masala, mutton pepper fry soon disappeared in record time.
Fortunately, my nephew advised us against go-karting and bowling due to the crowds and I escaped that one for a dinner. That was a fiasco though as the place we went to had the most horrible service. We made up for this with some delectable desserts at Corner House.
Sunday morning is when the unwarranted activities began in earnest. First a hike up Chamundi hills, a hefty climb of 1000 steps. Luckily we got the driver to drive us down. A heavy breakfast of idlis with Gowda style fish curry pretty much wiped out anything burnt on the uphill task.
Back home, I was looking forward to a lazy Sunday afternoon. The walk up the hills, an endeavor I had never taken up in my lifetime was already too much exercise. My cousin, on the other hand, though in his late 40s is made of a different caliber. He had the brainwave to drive to Balamuri, a water spot, few miles from Mysore. Left with no choice, as everyone else was showing immense enthusiasm, I reluctantly agreed.
Balamuri had about 2 million people with similar goals as we did. Demurring at the crowd, we were about to head back when my cousin started talking to this guy with an auto. The fellow asked how many of us we were and when we said 13, he said 'No problem'. I was now very intrigued. An auto that can take 13 people? Well, my intrigue turned to dismay as the auto happened to be a cattle carrier type of contraption. The front portion was undoubtedly an auto, but the back was a metal carriage flatbed truck. As we were determined to have fun at whatever cost, the group piled into the auto thingy. A nephew of mine recently recovering from an operation down under was under a lot of stress as this was a ride that could give a normal person afflictions in the gluteus. We held on for dear life but luckily it was only a 2 km drive.
Arriving at Yedmuri, we found that the crowd was definitely less, but only by a million. Unfazed, my hyperactive cousin crossed the river (by foot) and found a private farm with trees and hence shade (for our lunch!). On the other side, we encountered an expressionless farmhand who refused to let us in. Complex negotiations followed (read - money changing hands) and we were in.
Food was as usual a treat. Mutton biryani for the non-veggies, chapatis, pulao, sabjis for the veggies, sweets, strawberry milk, fruit juices, the usual stuff one takes on a light picnic lunch.
A little bit of frolicking in the water for the brave and the energetic and we headed back to Mysore.
Again, no rest. Palace lights to be seen. I don't think I have ever seen the palace lights myself even though I've lived in Mysore long enough and visited it untold number of times. But, it had to be done. Luckily, we got in just before they shut the lights off.
Dinner! Well, we never thought we needed table reservations in our town. Apparently, we did! We couldn't find a damn restaurant with a table for 11. We finally ended up in Park Lane where we waited for 20 minutes and got a table. Food was good, but the service bad.
We managed to rush out at 10:30 and after ensuring the advance party had ordered desserts for us, we had our fill of ice cream with mango pulp, fudge brownie, hot chocolate fudge and other such diet products.
I was so bushed that day and cursed my 'bunny in heat' type of energy my cousin had. We finally got home and I crashed on the bed in an instant.
This was a vacation that never was. I have never gone to Mysore and done so much. In fact, come to think of it, I haven't done so much in all my time living there. I need to go back now secretly, without my cousin's knowledge and get my lounging time. But then, he does know the best places for mutton...hmm...what a conundrum..
If there is one word that describes yesterday, it's 'warmth' as a good friend succinctly put it. Overlooking the fact that I am an idiot and was clueless to the war-like plans hatched under my very eyes, the fact of the matter remains. This could not have been done without herculean efforts and dedication, especially by my amazing love. Words cannot begin to express how truly wonderful she is; my respect and love for her have reached unattainable heights. To quote from another friend last night - 'I don't think I would do something like this for anyone in my life'. That pretty much sums it all....
The day started innocuously enough. A lazy Sunday afternoon I thought and looked forward to a good lunch and a nice long afternoon siesta. But something was amiss. I was being pressurized to go bowling at 4 p.m. with my cousins. While there's nothing wrong with that, I just didn't want to get out at that time and was raising a big fuss to change the status quo of my lethargy. Vaish was to go shopping with my nieces and she said she felt guilty leaving me alone at home, as the kids were with my parents. I should have smelt a rat right then as this guilty feeling of leaving me alone at home has never occurred in the last 14 years! But, as I said, I'm an idiot and let things go.
Sure enough, around 4 p.m, my cousin and his wife show up to take me bowling! Their daughters are going to stay back at our place and go shopping with the wife. Nothing out of the ordinary I thought.
We picked up another cousin and his son and headed out to M.G. Road. As I had been rudely awakened from a fitful afternoon slumber, I was still a bit groggy and sorely needed some caffeine to come to grips with this afternoon outing. We hung out at Barista and then on to Amoeba. Looked like it would be a long haul to get a lane so we decided to go towards Bowring Institute where we were to meet with the wife and the kids who were supposedly done with their shopping.
Still in the dark, I tagged along, having peanuts and paani puri on the way, loitering around and taking things easy, unsuspecting of the deep dark plots churning in my wake.
We finally got to Bowring around 6:30 or so and my cousin said we'll wait in the lounge till the others show up. Again, no raised eyebrows from me as I am quite content in going with the flow. A discussion ensued on gyms and my cousin tells his wife that he wants to show her the new gym in Bowring. Apparently, they had redone it. Obediently, I got up and followed like a puppy. We got to the pool and more small talk occurred on swimming pools, gyms and other important matters which undoubtedly were time delaying tactics. As the gym was obviously closed, my cousin said he would take us through the side and up the stairs. Like a lamb to the slaughter, I continued walking....
At first I saw nothing, just darkness. A second later I could see a few flash cameras menacingly hidden in the night. I could distinctly make out figures in the shadows. My cousin nonchalantly says that there seem to be some people there....
Still uncomprehending, I walked on and all of a sudden, the lights go on, cameras start flashing and there are a 100 people in the open hall shouting and yelling "SURPRISE!!!!". My brain couldn't process anything at this point. I see family members, colleagues, ex-colleagues, friends all at the same place and I am in a dream.
I don't think I'll ever get over my 40th birthday surprise party. Vaish is a stupendously talented and amazingly resourceful girl. WOW!! What a woman!! And how in the world did I get so lucky?? I can't even imagine how tough the last month must have been for her; to do all this without letting me know. Just outstanding....
My surprise didn't end there. There was an emotion filled slide show of my life in pictures, from my early years to current day and the nostalgia just got to me. In addition, my most wonderful friends from the US had recorded a video clipping of their wishes and this was more than I could take. As another friend said 'When I turn 40, if there is 1 person who can talk well about me, I consider myself a success, and to have so many talk about you, shows how well you are doing in life'. So true, so true! I am truly blessed with the best family and friends any human can hope for. My life can only get better from here and believe me it's been a great 40 years.
I don't want to get into the Oscar Award mode of thanking everyone. You know who you are and how much you've done for me and how much you mean to me. It was the most loving gathering I've ever been a part of and years from now, when I look back, this will hands down be the most memorable moment of my life.
As for my old woman, I will deal with her in due course of time! Didn't think she could keep even a small secret and she successfully planned an entire event without even giving me an inkling of the goings on! My wife, my love, my life....
After Sol died, I didn't want to write anything else last year. He is just too much in our minds and the 'time heals all wounds' doesn't seem to work here. We still miss him like we did the day he left us. Some hurts never go away.
Anyway, on to more positive thoughts. Turned 40 this week and loving it. Not that it feels any different but I suppose it's some sort of milestone...or so everyone tells me...
We had a great year end bash. The family took off to Allepey for a house boat vacation for a few days, about 30 of us. That was a blast though the coordination between four houseboats remained an everlasting challenge.
My birthday went off without too many surprises which is how I wanted it. The breakfast at Dwaraka cafe was great. Other than idlis, we ordered everything else on the menu. It was actually quite an effort to not order idlis.
As usual, no resolutions this year. 2008 was an interesting year, not necessarily the best I've had. I almost reached my target weight. Got rid of 20 kgs and now need to maintain the body.After all, I'm getting old and can't afford not to!
I'm coming to realize how fragile relationships are (kinda late in my life) and how lucky I am ; just when I was going to take things for granted. Too many problems I've been hearing about in so many lives, near and dear ones, friends and family alike. I hope everyone sorts things out this year, because it really sucks otherwise. Good reason to sort things out, right?
I've been asked by my highly significant other to write serious stuff this year. Not sure if that's going to happen, but will give it a shot, though my core competency remains in inconsequential events and the lighter side of life. Time will tell how that goes.
And, in case it wasn't clear before, I can't get over Sol's passing. The tears still come out in his memory ever so often....
