Going bananas!!

I've always paid Rs.10 for 6 bananas. Since I've moved back to India that is. Irrespective of weather, inflation etc in the last 3 1/2 years, this is what it has cost me. Apparently not anymore. Reason? Still not weather or inflation but just me (not driver) in car buying the fruit! How ridiculous! I must have IDIOT plastered across my forehead because all the vendors were quoting me a higher-than-usual rate! Thinking that the supermarket can't cheat me (because prices are fixed and not because I look smart or anything) I walked into the store and was thrilled to see a 'buy 1kg, get 1kg free' offer for bananas. There is a God I thought momentarily but before I could thank Him I noticed that my total was Rs.25 because that was the cost of 6 bananas (1kg) at the store!

Rahman, Rehman whatever

I finished commenting on Atma Gyan's post and went in front of the TV when ARR won the Oscar for best song. I noticed that the presenter pronounced his name as RAHMAN which validates my theory that it is indeed his belief in numerology that made him change the spelling from the time of the nomination to the presentation.

Interesting that even the best of us believe that we need something more than just our talents to win!

Another one bites the dust

10. That's the magic number. Finished. No more. The entry in my cell phone for 'Driver' is now gone. May it rest in peace.

I surely will.

Adaptation - Part 1

So many aunties and uncles have been a part of my childhood. There was the aunty next door, the uncle down the street and the innumerable uncles and aunties all through school and college...my friends parents. Every new friend brought a new aunty/uncle into my life. I never thought of calling them anything else...which is why I used to wonder why Archie, Jughead and the rest of them called each other's parents Mrs. or Mr. xyz. I couldn't even think of saying Mrs. Vasudevan or Mr. Nichani. It sounded simply strange.

As strange as it might be to picture Archie calling Mrs. Jones 'aunty', right? Imagine my surprise when I went to a birthday party of a kid that studies in an international school and I heard one of the parents saying to their kid "Say goodbye to R aunty (said with an American accent...like 'ant'y) and K uncle"! And the kid didn't bat an eyelid either. She even came up to me and said "aunty, make sure to take a take-home gift for your kids"!!

See who's calling!

Hi maam, can I help you?
No, not really I'm just looking at the cordless phones available.
Let me show you the latest models.
No, its fine. I want a basic model, nothing fancy. This one seems ok.
Oh, but that doesn't have caller id. In today's world caller id is a must. We have to see who's calling before we answer!

!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right Choice?

January 20, 2009
2230 hours

Getting to bed early or watching history unfold.
Getting to bed early or watching history unfold.
Getting to bed early or watching history unfold.
Getting to bed early or watching history unfold.

It's never easy to choose...especially when its between two men!

I am ...

Doordarshan (DD) has been repeatedly playing 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhaara' now that its close to Republic Day. Having lived outside India, I've always explained to my 'foreign' friends that India is like Europe in that there are so many different languages and cultures but all within one country. What I didn't go on to add was that heart of hearts though, most Indians do not think of themselves as Indian, rather South Indian, North Indian or whatever else. Yes, we should be proud of our heritage and culture but not to the point of thinking that one is terribly superior to the other. It irritates me that even among my generation (given the education and exposure that we have), there are still people who have pre-conceived notions about how you will be based on where you're from even before they've gotten to know you.

How unfortunate that what most people remember about this DD classic once its off-air is only its tune.


Read Atma Gyan's latest for her thoughts on this.

Festivals, fun and food! - Pongal

This year I've decided to blog about the million-odd (exaggeration...) festivals that are celebrated in India starting with Pongal. Not like an informative blog about the significance or anything (Wikipedia will have that) but about the different food that is cooked and eaten on those special days. And a little about my experiences cooking them.

Pongal is just about coming to an end. I don't think any other festival has this much food, especially the different dishes made with rice. I feel like I'm about to burst and we still have one more day to go. I've successfully (even if I say so myself) made vadai, semiya payasam, venn pongal, chakra pongal, avial and gotsu. Tomorrow's menu is thenga saadam and thakali sadam.
Reads like a whole host of dishes, but all very simple and easy.

Here are the lessons learnt from my experiment:

• Pressure cooking jaggery with rice, milk and water is not good. It alters the taste of jaggery as well as lengthens the cooking time (Read tart chakra pongal and complete waste of gas).
• Always put in a small 'blob' of whatever you're trying to fry in the hot oil and NOT a whole batch so that a quick taste and texture check can be done. (Luckily the first few pieces were used for the pooja so not eaten by us. Sorry God!)
• Anything that needs to be stirred should NOT be in the back-burner especially when there is something in the front burner also. (Burn marks...duh)!
• The pressure cooker must be closed tight. (It isn't really pressure cooking otherwise).
• All ingredients should be kept ready so nothing is left out in dish. (Raisins went missing in chakra pongal)

This post is a day too early you might wonder...we still have the last day of Pongal left and two more dishes to be made. The expert cook that I am, I'm supremely confident that nothing will go wrong with those. Maybe I'll post some pics to prove it.

Look who's texting / The Text Nazi

I've received a whole bunch of random texts in the past couple of years including notifications of already-approved loans, jobs promising great pay working from home, random advertisements etc. Today was a first though. Early in the morning, my phone buzzed to indicate a new text; Sender name: CHANDRABABU. In my sleepy state I figured it came to me by mistake and I was about to delete it but opened it by mistake. It was some mumbo jambo about Sankranthi and New year wishes to all proud Telugu people from Nara Chandrababu Naidu. After a second, I realised that it was a message from the ex-chief minister of Andhra Pradesh probably hoping to accumulate some goodwill and get some votes in the upcoming election.

Too bad it came at the crack of dawn and woke me and a bunch of other people up. No vote for you...NEXT!

TGFI

Tees with lace and frills and pants so tight that the seam is bordering on bursting through. Shoes costing 6000 rupees and only designer socks. The latest and greatest Bollywood tracks blaring...and then there's me with my fish out of water look...old tracks, comfy (old) tee, oooooooold comfy shoes and socks wishing for some quiet else some bearable music.

The joys of working out at a supposedly hip gym where the city's who's who work out. Thank God (or at least Apple and of course, you Shobs) for my Ipod.