Kappayum Meen curryum…

Aka the art of eating….

Cooking is a great art, I accept… but Eating beats it by several notches… its not just the table manners, cutlery usage or chewing with your mouth closed as though you have a secret… its much more than that... a greater art justified only by conneisseurs and gluttons… only they can define the joy of the food….
 The aroma, the taste, the beauty of Food is a thing of joy to every "eater"… using fork and knife can be dealt by anyone who takes the 14 day crash course on Social Etiquettes… but the real fun is to eat with your hands feeling the texture and touch of the glorious food… the maximum pleasure out of a dish is derived by feasting your eyes and nose to the great look and aroma…. Let the food melt on your tongue and it will awaken all your sleeping senses…
 Like have you ever tried eating Sardines with a fork and knife (and get choked on the minute numerous fish bone)… or tried eating Bisi-bela-bath with a spoon (and make a mess of the table, trying to avoid the spices and curry leaves)… or even better Chicken chops with cutlery… I took my little sister to a 5 star restro and she tried the same… mysteriously all pieces on her plate landed on the guy's plate sitting at the next table…. Geesh…
 Eating a sardine fried, poached or cooked as that yummy-spicy-hot Bengal Machi curry is a great work… first you separate a fish out of the curry… then you slowly remove the dark skin from the inner fleshy part… next you separate the fish into two parts and carefully remove the central bone of the fish… Now you relish the awesome spice-soaked-hot-as-bipasa-basu fish…. On the other hand you can also do the other thing… take the whole sardine and put it in your mouth... sucked on the fleshy part and draw out the bone… Yummy...
 I can just go on and on about the ultimate art of eating… but a blocked nose and a high temperature jut makes me stop here… I heard this adage below some 8 years back at a lecture… but the current situation and its logic, is making me go insane…

Seriously how can I treat a bad cold and a high fever if you give me such mystic cures??? Dang…

Feed the cold and starve the fever…

P.S # the title translates itself into " Tapioca and fish curry"… a perfect Keralite dish which I love to the core… incidentally that's what mom prepared for lunch today… total yum, I must say… one compliments the other in a perfect way… slurp…

I know what I did this summer…

If not I then who else will know this secret… Lolzzz…. This summer was very different from my past seven summers, given I was at home for a change…. Last seven summers had seen me knee deep in some odd summer project, internship or looking after a particular assignment at work… this year was completely different with me travelling to my ancestral villages, some road trips, anxiety, fun and freedom….

I did enjoy this summer even though I longed for some serious work… I was shooting flora and fauna at my Dad’s village while I really wanted to bury my nose into some business documents… I let my hair loose in the wind when I must have otherwise bored my eyes editing some presentation works….

Well this break did change so much in me... i learnt to have a balance between work and fun /don't ask me what work... mom made a slave out of me.. sheesh/ i saw the workaholic in me fly away to oblivion... i even switched off my perpetually 'On' music player /ouch.. i don't even remember the last time i charged my iPod/ and the highlight, the fights between me and my parents has reduced considerably... /and the spare holler sessions we have in need of practise are so intense that the whole sleeping colony assembles at our door... free movie... :-D/  

and the fun things i did to beat the summer ??? :-P dug into melons... Red juicy ripe ones... i hit the pit before the pips hit me... and invented new mocktails out of ginger, mint, coriander, oranges and mangoes... Found out the harder way that mango goes great with vanilla icecream and not so good with dark chocolate... /a messed up kitchen and even more messed loo will stand witness for that :-P /

and now.. its a fresh start... new beginnings... and Hope keeps me going on.... :-)

P.S : not to mention the freah start includes a movie marathon (not animation or kids) and a victorian thriller (something i never tried before)... Life ROckzzzz...

The Great Indian chuk-chuk-chuk

So how many of u make those unplanned journeys.... the one which involves no reserved flight/train/bus arrangements, no proper food alternatives and no proper accomodation at the destination???? well once in a while everyone would have been-there-done-that... but let me introduce you to the specimen who makes unplanned journey everytime... yes i mean everytime... well as you may have well guessed by now thats none other than yours truly....

its just that, it happens so.. i remember one journey i planned elaborately in 2007.. i got all the tickets, accomodation and everything down to T, only to cancel it the day before the journey... Poof... the other time i had a proper arrangement for a two day journey, only to miss the train by 5 mins and take the next train- unreserved general compartment... :-(

not that i regret my trips... Travelling in general compartments can be an experiance on its own... once during a leg of journey between Kolkatta and Guwahati, i learnt the following things.

• yup, Love can bud during these overnight journeys, esp between a guy aged 60 and a female aged 50... and the female in question 'll always save the seat if the guy needs to stretch and the best portion of aloo-poori.. poor me, not even a flying mosquito looked in my direction
• Peanuts are also called as Badam...
• The electronic items sold in such trains are longer to last than the branded ones you buy at authentic e-malls with guarantee period
• However you try to sleep, you ll be awakened by the person next to you to announce the up-coming station
• the Surprise Birthday Cake you receive in such crowded compartments is the sweetest.. :-D
• Everyone smokes irrespective of the "No Smoking" sign and closed windows, hence no air circulation.. believe me , i thought i ll die with lung cancer the next morning..
• and Finally if you sit at a single place just because you dont want to give up the corner seat, your legs are bound to resemble an Elephant's leg by morning..

During college, i tried to travel from college to home atleast twice a year... tried is the best word... i made only 6 trips during my whole of 4 years of engineering... it so happened, i had to make succesive trips with in 2 months... holy moly, a lady who recognized me from the first trip saved a nice seat for me during the next trip... love that lady... :-D she even defended me when some random crack nut claimed that i was sitting in her seat... :P

the recent trips have all been unplanned except for the Indore - Chennai trip... i was used to general compartment and its eccentric crowd largely... so you just have to imagine my agony when i asked to board a luggage van by the TTR... Like hell... even then all was well until a gang of Gypsies entered thae same.... ever heard of the term Non-Stop nonsense.. they just gave it a new meaning.. and all the chatter-patter by my lil sista seemed so quite to me... sheesh...

i remember the first trip home from Indore.. i planned to surprise my mom for Diwali... only thing was i got surprised since all vehicles aka bus/taxi/auto/tempo had stopped runnin on the same day... Poor me atlast i reached the place, Udumalpet i think, only to realise i have never been to this town... my folks had transferred while i was lounging in Indore... i just roamed around the town in a friendly auto, which i hired after a looooong story... Was saved by the blanket mom had left outside to dry... Phew.....

So ... i Love the great Indian railways... wat are your experiances...

P.S # All is well.. i am at the end of my inner journey
P.P.S # The Yercaud trip got postponed.. thanks to a nosey sister... :(
P.P.P.S # i am reading all your blogs though i commented in none.. i ll make it upto you dearies... :-)

'Ta