Foot prints on the sands of time

No more chocolates

2011-04-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

"Aaj kaal government ni chocolates dena band kela ahe" said M. ("These days the government has stopped giving out chocolates").

Driving up and down the Nh-4 , most toll booths instead of giving back the Rs 1-2 change would hand out chocolates. Last trip though all of them handed out exact change. Hence the observation...

And they came....

2009-05-22T03:52:00.000-07:00

With thunderous drum-rolls,
With lightening as fire-works,
With howling wind accompaniments,
The big, fat raindrops,
Descended from the clouds.

Of women empowerment

2009-05-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

This post by Solilo and the comments received prompted me to pen down my own thoughts on this subject.
I entirely agree that the life of working, career-oriented women in general is a lot more tougher than their male colleagues. That glass ceilings and gender biases definitely do exist and women need to fight these. The joke - "Women have to work twice as hard as men to be considered half as good" holds very very true.
Yet, women empowerment is not only about being able to work and climb the corporate ladder. It is also about women being in a position to make a choice of whether they want to work, or stay at home or do both. It is also about women getting the support from their families and work-places to do what they choose, in terms of help from the husband in sharing household chores, flexibility at the work-place such as flexi-timing, creche at the work place and work-from-home facilities.
Just as there are instances where women are not allowed to work by their in-laws and/or husbands, I have also seen the reverse cases where women are forced to keep working inspite of not wanting to, because of the financial benefits.
Is it fair to look down on women who are happy and content taking care of the house , husband and children? After all, most of our mothers would belong to this category.
Is it fair to dismiss women with great careers who spend 12-14 hours working as bad home makers and/or mothers? A lot of women today are striving to achieve a balance and are succeeding.
So at the end of the day, it is all about having a say and getting the support for whatever a woman has decided. Be it from the family or the work-place. That would be real women-empowerment.

The Wait

2009-04-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Black soil, upturned
thirsty, waiting.
tall mountains, brown
burnt, yearning.
clear skies, blue
still, unyielding.

come soon, monsoon...

Summer

2009-04-19T08:49:00.000-07:00

Mirages on the roads

Sweat dripping from foreheads

Mango juice dripping down hands

Stiffling stillness in the air

Gulmohars blossoms spewing fire

A Haiku

2009-04-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

Now that I am four and thirty,
Remember the days I was seventeen.

The dreams that I dreamt...
The amount of energies spent...


That was half a lifetime away.....

Batter nostalgia

2009-03-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

These posts by DotThoughts, took me back to the days when I was trying my hand at the batter routine for the first time. Married to a mallu and at the time staying abroad where there were no udipi restaurants meant that I had to pick up batter making skills. My husband P kept telling me how sorely he missed those soft fluffy idlis and golden crisp dosas his mom made.
My mom used idli-rava and urad dal and I tried that route once only to be told that the idlis were good, but they weren't the real idlis.
Phone calls were made back to India and precise amounts of rice, par-boiled rice and dal were obtained from the m-i-l and the batter made. But no, it did not ferment properly although I placed it right next to the heater all night long. With baking soda to the rescue the batter was somehow finished.
Another phone call and we were told that "uluva" methi seeds were the most important ingredient and those would do the trick.
Off we went to the indian shop in the city center and bought a packet of methi seeds. The other ingredients were all measured out and a spoon ful of methi seeds added. Ah, we are going to have great dosas I said to myself, before going off to bed. The methi seeds packet was lying there right next to the soaked dal.
Woke up in the morning and sauntered to the kitchen and to my horror found that the methi seeds packet was half empty and the vessel with dal seemed to have a layer of methi seeds on top. I shrieked. The hubby came running in and confessed to have added the seeds. The methi seeds are the ones that will get the batter to ferment he reasoned so the more the seeds the better the fermentation.
"Do you know that methi seeds taste bitter?" I asked.
"No" he replied...
The next half an hour went in removing as many seeds as we could followed by grinding the batter. After another 10 hours the batter was fermented very nicely and with fingers crossed I made the first dosa.
Hubby was waiting anxiously. The Dosa looked good, nice golden brown and crispy. He took the first bite with me watching out for his reaction. "Not bad" he said," just a little bitter".
I took a bite. Eew, bitter definitely bitter!

Tried all sorts of things after that, added rava, maida, more ground dal but the batter remained bitter and we had to throw some of it away.
Sigh! Those were good days.Now of course the batter is never a problem and hence there are no stories to tell................................

And it happens again...

2009-03-09T03:35:00.000-07:00

We were at Odyssey last night roaming the aisles , well stuck to the "Bargain corner" to be more precise. Picking books at random, dropping some in the shopping basket and some back. When under a load of books, I noticed a Tarla Dalal book peeping out. I immediately pulled it out.
Now she has written hordes of books, with every conceivable cuisine, in addition to sub topics such as cooking with children, for children and what have you. But will any of these be available to me? No, the only one to land up in the bargain corner when I am around is the one on "Idlis and Dosas".
First the blogs, now even the books!!!

The 3 mistakes of my life

2009-02-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

..is a very easy read, as Chetan Bhagat intends it to be.
This is the story of 3 friends, Govind, Ishaan and Om from Ahmedabad who set up a cricket shop in the premises of a temple. How the business fares when Gujarat is first shaken up by an earthquake and later by the Hindu-Muslim riots form the back drop for the novel. A love-angel and Ishaan's determination for nurturing Ali-a gifted batsmen (and a Muslim to boot) add interesting dimensions to the story. The characters are well etched out and one can easily relate to them.

One of the reasons why this is such a smooth read is the story feels very much like a fast-paced hindi film complete with action, romance, adventure and even a foreign locale. The end with the heroes taking on the villains and a Hindu staking his life to save that of a Muslim, (In most films though it is the Muslim characters that die for the country/friend) cannot be more Hindi-filmish.
One thing I have noted, especially of Chetan Bhagat novels, is that all the female lead characters (heroines?) be it Vidya in this one, or Neha in Five point Someone or Priyanka in One Night at the Call Center, they are always assertive, always take the initiative in their relationships and don't think pre-marital sex is a sin. Quite the 21st centure women these are.

So does this book get you to introspect, philosophize, ask existential questions? Umm..no.
Does this book entertain, bring a smile and an occasional tear? That it most definitely does.

Picking up the challenge....

2009-02-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

....to read 20 books in 2009.

This is hosted by Lynn here.

If you intend to participate, leave a comment on the main entry stating so. You will then be added to the participants list.

Considering that I read almost a book a fortnight, some a week and that I have a subscription to www.librarywala.com this should be no big deal. Lets hope it also helps me blog about the books I read.

So this is where I keep track of the books I read for this challenge.

1. Against all odds.
Author: Kishor Shantabai Kale.
Started reading 20 Jan 2009. Finished reading 25 Jan 2009.
Read about it here.

2. The 3 mistakes of my life.
Author: Chetan Bhagat.
Started reading 14 Bef 2009. Finished Reading 16 Feb 2009.

Against All Odds

2009-02-25T21:13:00.000-08:00

Once in a while you come across a book that makes you look at your own life and be thankful for everything that you have, almost ashamed of yourself for being dissatisfied with a normal, secure life.
Against all Odds is one such book. Originally written in Marathi as Kolhatyache Por by Kishore Shantabai Kale (yes, Shantabai is his mother) tells the story of the Kishor; a son of a tamasha dancer of the kolhati community. The book was later written in english by the author himself.
An illegitimate child born in a community where literacy is very rare, where men either become dhol players or pimps, Kishor suffers abuse, starvation, humiliation and yet through sheer persevarance and tenacity not only attends school but goes on to become a doctor. What grit, what determination.
This is Kishor's story told simply, straight from the heart. Your heart goes out to this young boy whose mother, due to circumstances had to leave him with his grand parents and the boy's longing for his mother.
You feel disgust for the way the men in this community treat their daughters. You feel rage for the women for quietly accepting their fate and not fight back.
Most of all you feel sheer admiration for the boys hard-work and passion to study.Every once in a while he gets help from some relatives, but mostly it is only hard work that sees him achieve his goal. From cooking, cleaning and other household chores to selling clothes and at times even pimping his aunts, Kishor's is a story of never ending struggles to get the few rupees needed to buy books.
A worthy read that essentially tells us never to give up.

Food blogs.....

2009-02-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

Some women are addicted to food shows, some buy cookery books and quite a few like me read food blogs. Mind you, just read. I do not necessarily cook. Oh, I do get some cooking attacks once in a while when I venture into the kitchen and make something....different(its another story that it turns out totally different than what it was meant to be).
Otherwise there is a cook that comes in who is quite good and over the past few years has been trained by my m-i-l in mallu cuisine. Yes, the in-laws are malayalis. And considering that I get all the kalans, olans, avials at home every other day , I find it very amusing that every other random food blog I visit happens to be by a mallu, with recipes for the said dishes.
Is it that there are more mallu food bloggers out there than any other community or is it some law of karma that every other random click takes me to a mallu food blog?

Sudha Murthy's latest novel.

2008-03-26T05:50:00.000-07:00

Having read Sudha Murthy's "Wise and Otherwise" and "The old man and his God" and enjoyed them, when I saw a novel by her in a bookstore I did not hesitate to buy it. "Gently fall the Bakula" is a novel written by her almost 30 years ago, although it has been published only recently. Here's what the synopsis had to say --

"Written nearly three decades ago this novel remains startlingly relevant in its scrutiny of modern values and work ethics. It tells the story of a marriage that loses its way as ambition and self –interest takes their toll. As the story of Shrikant and Shrimati unfolds, we learn how every step of Shrikanth’s corporate climb is laid with Shrimati’s sacrifices and then, it makes one stop and reconsider the priorities that we set in our life."

The book is about 150 pages and chronicles the lives of Shrikant and Shrimati from their school days when they are competing with each other for the first rank, through their courtship to marriage , the intial years of struggle followed by success and then the "different" struggles again.

The story is very close to real life, the career progression of Shrikant in the IT sector and the accompanying wealth and stress and the cost at which these come. The book will defintely touch a chord with wives who invariably have to play second fiddle to their husbands whose careers always take precedence. The friction between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law,also very typical of indian middle class families is brought out well without turning it into anything ugly.

The setting for the story is Hubli, a town in North Karnataka and the families that Shrikant and Shrimati come from are typical middle-class families. As such it will be very easy for most of Indian readers to relate to the environment. The bits on history are very informative.

Though the story is a simple narrative, it often seems to be told from the point of view of Shrimati. Shrimati's character is more developed with her feelings and emotions being brought out strongly. She always gets to take the higher moral ground with all the sacrifices she makes. Shrikant's character on the other hand though is half-baked and other than portraying him as a very smart, intelligent and ambitious husband, the author does not delve too much into his emotions and feelings. The story would have been more interesting if his side of the story would also have been explored in greater detail. Their relationship also could have been developed a little more.

The writing style is very straight forward and comes from the heart. It reminded me very much of all the stories one reads in magazines such as women's era.

All in all the book is a good read, although I would like to classify it in the short-story genre rather than a novel.

Happiness

2008-03-19T03:15:00.000-07:00

What is happiness?

Coming home after a walk in the afternoon sun in the summer and having a slice of cool and sweet watermelon.
Curling up with a good book in the afternoon, without anyone to disturb you.
Getting drenched in the rain and coming home to a steaming cup of tea and a plate of hot pakodas.
Waking up late on a Sunday morning. Sitting on the floor with a huge mug of coffee and the Sunday paper. After reading the paper leisurely heading out for a hearty breakfast of fluffy omelets and golden crunchy toast and fresh orange juice.
P and I have always loved exploring places where we could get this kind of Sunday-morning grub. A few years back we headed out to Cafe Good Luck at Deccan for such a breakfast. The food at this place was good, but what was even better was the laid back atmosphere. Our heaven of happiness though, has been bulldozed by time and will be replaced by some impersonal steel and glass ugliness. Sigh!
One Sunday morning P had this urge to eat sausages. German Bakery,- one place we would surely get sausages in Pune, we thought. We had heard quite a few good things about this place from a lot of people. Worth the long drive we thought. So we drove across town to this small bakery-cum-cafe in koregaon park. The place was full of maroon-clad whites. There were a few normal whites as well (normal as in not dressed in maroon). I at once began to feel like an alien. "Why should you?" asked P. Yes, why should I? So we went up to order (this being a self service joint), only to be ignored by the person at the counter. "See, that's why.." I said. We were also told that they did not serve sausages. So much so for driving half way across town.... We ordered the normal eggs-and-toast breakfast. They do have a good variety of cakes, scones, danish etc. We had a tough time finding a place to sit. We waited politely for a table to be vacated. After a long wait and watching others just elbow their way in and grab a seat, we changed our strategy and grabbed a seat where a couple was already seated. The food also took its time arriving. But when it did arrive, all was forgotten. The bread slices where thick and toasted and buttered just perfectly. The omlete was also very fluffy and tasty.
However, that was many months ago and we have never gone back.
Another good place for eggs and toast breakfast is Hotel Vohuman outside Jehnagir Hospital. We walked in to this place one sunday morning when we happened to be in that part of town. A small Irani kind of a place, with a lot of tables and chairs placed close to one another. The place was quite full but did manage to get a table in a corner. The first thing I noticed as soon as we were seated was there were very few women. This seemed to be one of those places men would go for a quick and wholesome breakfast when they are travelling or when their wives are out of town.The place was also not very clean. Just behind our table was a door that opened onto the backyard-cum-dumping area. A stray dog walked in from the backyard and came sat near our feet. This was probably a very normal thing, for neither the waiters nor any of the other customers seemed to be bothered. We too acted like wise. We ordered our usual eggs-and-toast. The service was quick and the food tasty. The prices were very reasonable, with the bill coming to just under 100. (this included coffee and bournvita).
Last Sunday again we set out for a similar fix. This time we decided to head to George's on East Street. This place, also Irani was almost empty when we reached. Good we thought, for the Sunday-morning-breakfast is as must about the leisure as about the food. I stuck to the usual fare of omelet and toast, while P became a bit adventurous and ordered scrambled eggs-on-toast and chicken cutlet. We also order orange and mosambi juice. M, our carnivore daughter aged 3, was already jumping in anticipation of all the yummy food. Getting her to eat normal food is always a huge task, but anything non-veg, even eggs vanish in a jiffy. After a short while the food arrived. While P was dreaming of the tasty, golden scrambled eggs he would devour, the waiter placed some white mass plopped on two big toasts in front of P, which made P exclaim, "Don't you use egg yolk at all?" "We do", the waiter replied, "but this is made in milk and butter". After one mouthful, P wore a very sad look on his face. "I hope the cutlet is better" he kept on saying. M and I meanwhile started on the omelet which was quite okay . The cutlet arrived. One bite and P's already long face grew even longer. The cutlet was thin and rather tastless. So much so that even M(who absolutely loves chicken and can eat it in almost any form) refused to eat it and stuck to omelet. After all this when the bill came, it was close to 300, which we felt was way too high for the crap they had served.
So our search for a perfect Sunday morning breakfast place continues....................

Fish at Srushti

2008-03-19T03:14:00.000-07:00

As P and I stepped outside the elevator for a walk, the smell of fried fish greeted us. Immediately our plans were made, we were going to eat out. We were going to eat fish. Right after the walk was over.
The next most question, where do we go? The Bengali joint, Radhika at Baner Road? No, we needed something spicier. Nisarg at Nal Stop? Would be very crowded on a Sunday evening.
In such a moment of crisis, where else would be turn to other than the TFG(Times Food Guide). So P, who has been studying the guide as if it were a work of art, immediately flipped a few pages and gave me two choices, (He has developed a unique system of marking the Restaurants he finds interesting, that I think should be patented. How else could he bring up a shortlist from 100s of choices in less than 5 minutes?) Rahul - one besides the Rahul theater and Srushti at Tilak Road. Rahul I thought too formal..What we want I said is a no-nonsense place, so Srushti it was.
We called them for booking, only to be informed that on Sunday's they did not take any bookings. Lets go late, that way we won't have to wait we said and arrived at the restaurant at 9.45 pm and waited for half an hour. Waited amidst all that delicious smell. We have made a good choice we thought.
When we finally got a table, we were very quick to order, a Pomfret-fry and a Surmai-Malvani-Curry with Amboli (dosas made out of rice-flour) and not to forget the Solkadi.
Fortunately the wait for the food was not as long as the wait for the table. First to arrive was the fish-fry, fried in the malvani style. Now one thing I should mention here is about 6 months back we happened to go to Malvan for a short vacation and ate some delicious authentic malvani fish. So the first thing P said after a bite of the fish was- "Ah, we have been spoiled by Malvan". In short although the fish was good, it just did not match the authentic one. The fish itself felt a little tasteless. Nothing can probably beat fresh fish.
The curry was better and the Ambolis, just about okay. These Ambolis were no match for the Neer-dosa. The bill came to about Rs 350, which was pretty reasonable.
All in all, we had a good meal with our cravings for fish being well satisfied