Who can cook??

So, everyone says women should know how to cook... It's assumed that you know your pink dal from your green one, and your garam masala from, I don't know, maybe hing! And, you're supposed to know all this much much before you go to live alone in another country, especially because you're vegeterian by choice in a country where fish is considered veg food!

And ofcourse, I didn't know any of this. The closest I ever ventured into the kitchen was to make tea (and it was really good, if I may add!) for my Mom sometimes, when I was in 8th grade. Some time later, my Gran'dad decided to take matters in his own hand (because I could very easily refuse Mom when she asked me to come and make something with her and the cook) and he tried to teach me to make rotis. I made the chapati in the shape of Orissa. He gave up.

Years later, when I had started working in Delhi, the bai didn't turn up and my Mom was away, so I had to make meals through the whole weekend.. I remember I tried to make Kadi Chawal but I got the proportions all wrong for both the kadi and the chawal... so what we had was like solid kadi and watery chawal... However, I was forgiven... sigh, such an understanding family I have (except for my brother who laughed at me, nodded his head and said "Didi, who is going to marry you at this rate?!".. thankfully, he was kidding)..

But the panic button was pressed when I was about to leave for Paris. They gave me one week's notice to make arrangements, and this was obviously not enough time for me to learn to properly identify and cook pink, green, half green (damn, I still dont know the names!) dal, rice, chapati, AND sabzi! It was like information overload! So, my Mom very sweetly made a recipe book for me, which painstakingly explained how to make simple everyday food. And she knew me well enough to actually label the masala packets too, because she knew I wouldn't know the difference between chaat masala and amchur (are they the same thing?? they're not, right?!).. yes, I love my Mom and yes I also know she's pampered me!

Anyways, just because I had a recipe book and labelled food items in hand didn't mean I could start cooking right away! I had to identify the actual food in the grocery store too... and there lay the challenge - one, because I didn't recognize some of the more interesting vegetables, like louki, or ghiya (and thankfully, I didn't eat these either), and second, because the names were in French... anyways, help was sought from colleagues, not without being a laughing stock first... that done, the first day I made something, I burnt it. So I actually called my boss, who was staying at the same hotel and asked him the words I think he'll never forget "Boss, how to cook dal?!"... I think he had a fit - laughing.... he said "Maine socha team mein ladki aayegi aur humare liye khana pakayegi, lekin yahan to ulti ganga beh rahee hai!" - like I don't have anything better to do in life than cook for an entire team of hungry men (even if I knew how to)! So my boss, who is a very good cook, taught me how to make dal, curry, samosas, paranthas, pooris, chhole, rajma, kadi, round chapatis, and bhindi ki sabzi, among many others!! The poori story is funny because I didn't know how to make pooris, but decided to be nice and offer to help my (same) boss's wife in the kitchen... when I started to put dry aata on the poori to flatten it out, she sighed, looked at me squarely, and told me to go watch the movie with the guys and get out of her way in the kitchen!

From someone who knew zilch about cooking anything 3 years back, I've come a long long way - Wednesdays are usually "my day to cook" here at my aunt's place... and this Wednesday, I made shahi paneer, pulao and methi aloo ki sabzi for dinner, ALL by myself! (Ok, so I had a little help from bawarchi.com - so?!) And I knew it was really good because my cousin, who is very very finicky about the taste of food (especially when it comes to paneer) had four helpings of the shahi paneer!!

Playing catch up...

Playing catch up seems to be the story of my life right now! Be it at work (how do you get work done when you're in meetings the whole day?!) or personal stuff like paying my bills, talking to friends, shopping, and not to mention blogging! In the midst of catching up with life, I forget to notice the smaller things in life, such as how beautiful and the bright the moon is every night (last night was a lunar eclipse here, and I failed to realize that the moon is usually much brighter than the muddy brown colour it had taken on during the eclipse!!), how fresh a crisp winter morning can feel, how comforting a warm hug can be and how good a warm chocolate brownie sundae can taste!

In the meantime, 2 people tagged me - Unpredictable and Adarsh.. Don't know if I can complete both posts today, given that I'm dying to hit the bed, so I'll start with the relatively simpler one - one which relies on past "wisdom" and does not call on my brain to churn out something new at this uncreative time of the day!

Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 keywords given (family, friends, yourself, your love, and anything you like). Tag 5 other friends to do the same. Try to tag atleast 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better. Don't forget to read the linked posts and leave comments!

Family: I've mentioned many of my family members in different posts, but I think the one that is closest to my heart is the post I wrote for my brother on Rakhee in 2006.. ofcourse, he had a look at it and nodded his head and grunted - all signs of acknowledgement that he knows I love him so much!

Friends: I've never dedicated a post to any particular friend of mine, and maybe I should, but here's something I wrote about a friend of mine who has been there with me through thick and thin for the past 7 years, and we're so much part of each other's lives, I think we are like sisters... And my post to thank all my wonderful friends definitely counts too!

Myself: Aaah.. must have written a thousand posts about myself!! But here are my favourites - when I grow up, the older and nicer me, cosmopolitans, a little girl and what I'd like to do..

Your love: This one is easy! My crush/love/lust!

Anything I like: Mumbai story, weekend stories and the music story!

Now, to pass this on...
3 known people to tag: Zee, Chaitali, Cuckoo
2 new peope to tag: Equilibrium and IR

Stories from last week...

"Are you married, single, divorced, widowed?"

"Single"

"Are you pregnant?"

"Ummm... no..." (With the Indian upbringing, I'm still wondering why the question is being asked.. I'm SINGLE, psycho!)

"Are you trying to get pregnant?"

"Hell no!" (Eyes popping out at the horrifying suggestion)

"Ok, don't get pregnant in the next 6 months"

"I don't foresee the danger of that happening" (Goodness, stop already!)

-- Thats my conversation with the new doctor I went to visit last week. I was thinking the whole time "I have an earache for God's sake, what does this have to do with my being pregnant?!!".. Its an American thing, I noticed, that even if you say you're not married, they ask you pregnancy related questions... ofcourse you can't take anything for granted here.. in India, you went for a blood test, they asked "Are you married?" You said "No", and they peacefully moved on, avoiding any questions relating to marital status.. comfortable... answering 20 times whether you're pregnant or expecting to be pregnant is hell of a lot more awkward than I could imagine!

Other laughable situations this week included spelling out my name for the girl at the counter at Blockbuster videos... I said "Its spelt as Are You See Etch Aye Kay A" and she's like "ruc-what?" "Etch" "What?" and she looks at me like I'm some non-english speaking illegal immigrant from a 3rd world country where they don't teach how to pronounce H correctly. My cousin pitches in, she goes "Aetch" "Oooohh.. you mean H"!!! Yeah, you dim-witted moron, H... you should be glad I wasn't saying "hetch"!

But accent I realise is a matter of habit.. If you don't pronounce words the way they're used to listening to it, the above situation repeats itself everywhere.... so you have to end up rolling your r's, "Do I have the time? Oh yes, its eight-turrrty"... Pretty soon you're talking to your parents with the same rolling rs... damn. Well, atleast I haven't pronounced fast as fayst yet, so I'm glad.

Anyways, in other significant little achievements (which I've told you I will start celebrating), I've declared myself a "sober chocaholic" :) I can now look at a rich dark chocolate brownie with hot melting chocolate sauce poured over it - without devouring it the next second. Its an attempt to get my ever increasing mid-riff in control! Cheers to that!

Also this week, I finally watched 'Serendipity' in an attempt to find out what everyone is so ga-ga about! I had tried to watch is once before, but had to shut it off within 15 mins, disgusted as I was with all the mushiness (it didn't help that I had a broken-heart to mend at that time)... This time, with renewed enthusiasm, and since my heart is now in perfectly good shape, I watched it, and managed to see it to the end. But, I still don't know whats so great about the movie! Its not exactly the Dr. Zhivago or Gone with the wind of romance, and its based on such a silly idea. And worst is, many of us are trying to find our own 'serendipity' in our own little worlds, thinking someone somewhere is "made for us".. Like an SRK-Kajol movie, complete with gazing at the clouds and imagining soulmates... Jeez!

And the song thats been stuck in my head the past 3 days - "Pom pom pom pom pump up the jam!" (--Partner, 2007) Hahaha! Its too funny! :))

Refreshing selflessness!

I watched 'Lage raho Munnabhai' this weekend.. (don't worry, this isn't another review!).. after the innumerable posts and newspaper reviews on the movie, the storyline or even the jokes were no surprise to me.. but of course the movie was as good as people said it would be, and in some scenes I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes! So it was all it was touted to be... and the Gandhian principles that were the theme of the movie also hit home...

But all that has been much discussed, and the newspapers, news channels, net, mags have this sudden new-found interest in Gandhian principles and politics... and if a movie is what it takes for the new (our) generation to remember Gandhi and his teachings, so be it..

But what struck me most during the movie (and I am not undermining the other good things in it, just that those have already been talked about a trifle too much!) was the depth of friendship between Circuit and Munna, especially the loyalty that Curcuit has towards Munnabhai! I mean, where do you see such selfless love these days, where do you see people giving up their own identity for the sake of their friend's? Where do you find people putting their friend's (or even family's) happiness above their own anymore? The dedication towards Munnabhai that Arshad Warsi's character shows is indeed exemplary in these times.. and he does so without looking like a chamcha! It's refreshing to see that certain values have been revived in this movie, like the way that Circuit pretends he can see Bapu too is not only funny but also portrays a deep sense of affection for his friend.. its only a friend who can let you believe the impossible! Ofcourse this has its disadvantages too (also brought out in the film) but I was really touched at the affection shown between them..

In this world of rat-races, competition, comparison etc.. one is lucky if they find a friend who is always there for them, putting everything aside for their benefit.. its not even expected these days!! I am sure in my life there are not more than cpl of people whom I can count on really... not that the rest of the people do not care or are not good.. everyone does what they can within their comfort zone.... going out of their way - now thats something that's beginning to get rare these days..

I've been blessed with really caring friends - those who genuinely wish the best for me, would like to see me do well, would help me 'get there' and would be willing to point out what's wrong and nag and nag and nag till I do what's right! (Very few people in this world actually bother you know!) I'm very choosy about who I "make friendship" (!!) with.. I tend to make friends slowly, but surely.. so I end up making few friends, but they are (or what I hope to believe!) for life... its not that the person has to be there with you 24 hrs, but just the feeling that they will be willing to fight for you, they'll be willing to put some sense into your head (if not put then definitely hammer it in!)...they'd be willing to wake up in the middle of the night to hear your good or bad news.. they'd be considerate enough to let you alone when you need to be and not make it a life and death situation! They'd let you make your own mistakes (much like Circuit did!) but will be there for you when you come home beaten and hurt! They'd have a way of making the worst moments seem better, would be more than willing to poke fun at you when you feel your egoistic best, and of course, would be an angel in the eyes of your parents ("That girl is really nice and sensible") when you know better!! And the best part is that you would be willing to be all these things and more to them as well... friendship can never be a one way street.. else the other person either feels stifled or unhappy - depending on how much information you do or do not share with them! Hehehe...

But anwyays, net take-away is that friends like Circuit, with his level of dedication and ability to take shit on behalf of his friend, are amazing to have and should be treasured and kept locked away! If one finds just one or two such people in this world, one would be much happier in just that knowledge!

Like I am! :-))

Superman vs. Kkrish!

I recently told someone that I didn't want to watch Hrithik Roshan flying around with a cape and mask! My friend was quick to point out that if I can see Superman wearing his underwear outside his pants, why can't I see 'Kkrish' with a cape?! And if Chinese people could fly in 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', then why should Indians be left behind?!

So why did I make such a 'firangi' statement?

At the grassroot level, I think it's the inherent nature of Indians to admire and accept all things gora, or is it the fact that we'd rather let them look like fools than our own actors and actresses?! I mean, I am used to seeing Hrithik Roshan do more normal and human-like things (like running around trees, yeah, just like the rest of us!) than climbing up trees without using his hands... admittedly, I dont know who the hell is Brandan whazzisname and haven't seen any of his previous movies (if any); so I cant compare and think "what the hell is this guy thinking?!" ... but if Pierce Brosnan decided to bunk his armani suit and don yellow, blue and red attire, I'd definitely think twice! Oops! Suddenly the decision to watch Kkrish over Superman had become a matter of national pride! Hehehe..

But u know what? I did watch 'Kkrish' (I dont want Rakesh Roshan to lose any of his good luck, so am spelling the movie name as it really is) last nite and was pleasantly surprised that it was actually entertaining.. the same degree of entertainment which I would perhaps attribute to Daredevil, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Spiderman (ok, action was not as fast as spiderman, but Kkrish could still climb hills using web-like hands and feet so atleast he had spiderman's super-powers!)...

Our desi superhero has a combination of all the powers of the afore-mentioned superheroes - except - he cant fly!! He just cant do it (picture me shaking my head going tsk tsk).. poor thing tried so hard towards the climax to follow the helicopter but he'd just couldn't get off the ground!! He had to go underwater instead.. !

So, he's not beat Superman - yet!

I will watch Superman anyways, but I have this new-found pride in what action and graphics Bollywood computers can conjure up after watching Kkrish... go Hrithik! :-))