Mini mushroom quiches

Living in France and being vegetarian means one would have to have had a quiche (pronounced kee-sh) at least once out here. A quiche is just an open pie containing eggs that can be baked with/without a crust and with any ingredients that one is willing to put. I recently bought a set of ramekins hoping to make créme brulée sometime. But before that I thought I’d make an attempt at a mini quiche. For the uninitiated, here’s what a mini-quiche looks like -

Yes, yes i made that… Like what you see? Here’s how to make it -
Ingredients (to make 6 mid-sized mini-quiches)
1. Eggs – 3 medium
2. Egg whites – 2 medium
3. Milk – 2 tablespoons
4. Mushrooms – 3 large button mushrooms finely chopped
5. Garlic – 1 small one chopped fine
6. Seasoning – salt to taste, garam masala to taste
7. Garnishing – fresh coriander to sprinkle
8. Oil – 1 tsp
9. Baking spray if you have it
How
1. Whisk the eggs, egg whites and the milk together and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet. Once it’s hot, put in the garlic and cook till golden brown.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook till tender. You have the option of adding onions here if you want. I wasn’t in the onion-cutting mood. So, I skipped it.
4. Stir in the salt and garam masala to taste. Turn off and let it cool briefly.
Bake
1. I used ramekins because I didn’t have a muffin pan. If you do, that’s your best option. Spray it with baking spray so that the quiche doesn’t stick to the edges when it gets done.
2. Divide the egg ‘batter"’ equally in all cups/ramekins. Meanwhile start to preheat the oven to 325°F ( approx 165°C).
3. Spoon in a heapful of the mushroom mixture into each of the ramekins.
4. Pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes. The egg starts bubbling and a toothpick that’s inserted should come out clean (as in all baking cases). This should be the visible transformation -

Garnish with fresh coriander after spooning out the quiches which should pop out pretty easily. It's light and absolutely delicious and almost like finger food at this size.
When to eat it
A quiche is a normal appetizer here in France. If you choose to put in some sweet stuff and refrigerator, it doubles as a dessert. I prefer to have quiche as a mid-day snack.. a filler of sorts for the grumbling tummy. Tonight of course, it serves as an appetizer for dinner.

Larger quiches are made in pie pans and usually have a pie-crust underneath. I read something on the food network recently and had the irrepressible urge to try out a mini-quiche (also to use my brand-new ramekins). So here I leave you with a final tempting shot.

Bon Appétit!

Reflections of the other kind

I have no clue if Newton realized it when he proposed it back then, but his third law - Every action has an equal and opposite reaction has a whole new dimension now - not just motion. It's practical existence in everyday life. People often react off something with or without realizing it. We're the perfect canvases to study emotion objectively. It's almost basic instinct to check your reflection whilst walking past a shiny window, for instance ... if your hair's okay... you're lipgloss isn't smudged, blah. But I guess what I am talking about is not just the shallow aspects of it. Most people tend to react off the reactions from others about many things. And more often than not, these are pure reflections of what's given to them. Like you're generally nice to a person who's being nice to you... and if not, soon patience wears thin and you end up being just as ungracious to them as they are to you (unless you are saintly - which I most certainly am not). Simple tit for tat. Similarly, a negative feedback about anything can rob the charm about it that made you do/buy/act that way. For example, a new dress that you loved and bought receives lukewarm response from your friends which robs your intial excitement from the whole experience. There's a rare person who can wear the devil-may-care skin and still be happy with their original choice. You can live with it for sure, but you end up second guessing a lot of times. The same analogy can be translated to actions, behaviour or relationships with varying degrees of importance and depths of responses, of course. Ever notice how your reactions are mirrored in the other person and vice versa? I just consciously started to . It's fascinating.

The perfect tomato soup

Ever made tomato soup and had that one tiny complaint about it? Texture? Flavor? Color? Thanks to Priya, I found the perfect, yes, perfect tomato soup recipe. And with this one, it’s hard to go wrong.

Look for the recipe here.
I did make a few changes, nothing too dramatic – I used 5 tomatoes, a whole garlic, a very large green chili, 2 small carrots, 1/2 a beetroot and 1 mid-sized white onion. For seasoning, the only extra thing I used was 1 tsp my new-found sweet Chinese chili sauce. The procedure is all exactly as she’s said it is. And the taste, the flavor, the smell and texture is totally divine.
Here’s why you should try this soup -
1. It’s healthier because of the extra veggies that go into it.
2. It’s perfect for a light lunch/dinner paired with salad or bread.
3. If you’re a tomato soup fan, believe me you want to brag about making this one :D.
Kudos to Tastypalettes.(Her pics are way better than mine… but I had to brag about making it :D)

Bon Appétit!

Curl Girlz

Another one just for the girlz. Sorry guys! This post is not for those gifted people with naturally wavy hair with softly curled ends. It's for the genre of women 'blessed' with pure curls and just curls. Hint: Does your hair look like a springy mass once you've washed it? This one's for you.

If you're anything like me, you've hated your mass of curls at some point or the other and been perpetually jealous of your friends/foes or bystanders with straight, silky and shiny hair which they just can't seem to stop flaunting in front of you. You've looked up to the skies, cursed about life being unfair, tried a whole variety of products on the market from expensive conditioners to curl crunchers to the variety of all new brushes designed to 'enhance' your curls. After years of discontent though, I've discovered that hating your hair only makes it work against you. Work with it and all of a sudden, there's so much potential waiting to be tapped to make you look and feel better about those dense curls.. Here are some well-waited out tips -

Find your length: Long, short or medium, every hair type has it's critical length at which it is at it's best. Too long and the hair at the ends maybe thinning or splitting... Too short and you've got a semi-electrified look. But hey, some things work better on some people than some others. My hair tends to straighten out a bit beyond it's critical length. While on the surface this may seem to be good, soon unable to deal with it's own weight, my hair starts breaking. Ergo -> haircut. So go for whatever length you find easiest to maintain and what you think looks good on you.

Condition: Curly hair and frizz go hand in hand and seldom have I seen people with just pure curls and no frizz without any products... Finding the right hair-care product then becomes a challenge to combat the unruly ones. I'm no dame at taming it, but I find that regularly conditioning your hair does work eventually. And really, there's no need to wash your hair more than twice a week. That's one of the advantages of having curls.. they don't get oily/sticky a couple of days after the hair wash. In fact mine are at their best right before I need to wash them again.

Tame (an option): Absolutely weird as it may sound, sometimes using a curler on your hair can help regularize your curls to a more standard shape that suits you than leaving them natural. For instance I like to soften my tremendously tight curls into a more rounded form when I have the time. The downside? If you want it to stay just a couple of hours, there are none. Else, expect your hair to regain it's shape in a few hours and even sooner if you're headed to someplace humid. On the bright side, all styles look good ultimately even though you may not think so.

Damn the gel! News flash - gel sucks. Even the ones that they say don't stick end up making your hair seem like crunchy cotton candy. Not worth it at all. Along with the gel, throw away all hair crunchers, curl scrunchers and whatever other weird products out there.

Recognize the green side: With curls, there's no day you have to worry about hair being flat or lacking volume or being 'oily'. In fact once you realize that the grass is greener on the other side and that the chicks with the straight hair want your curls, things begin to look up. Liking your hair and oozing confidence about it's looks works wonders in other people's eyes as well. Always.. always remember that. Love 'em and have your fun...

Chips for lunch

So, it was a busy morning last week. I was running late… hunting my shoes down, was on the phone with PB who was visiting Paris. All the while at the back of my head, I remembered that I had to put something in my bag. Something that I had to take to school. And so I put it in, zapped out of the house and caught the right train n stuff and got to school at the right time. Phew! And then I dug into my bag to retrieve my lunch, which is what I was supposed to put into my bag in the morning. And so I look in. No lunch. Just my brand-new laptop. What was I expecting to eat? Chips? LOL moment.

Broccoli-spring onion soup

And here’s how I pretend to be a health-nut… by disguising ingredients I am not too fond of in a delicious medley and calling it soup! This one is a broccoli-spring onion soup inspired by the remnants in my fridge. But it turned out to be as delicious as anything I’ve tried and healthier than most things I’ve tried.

Here’s what you need

1. Broccoli – 1/3 broken in florets
2. Spring onion – 1/2 a sprig, the onion coarsely chopped and it’s leaves finely chopped
3. Carrot – 1 diced coarsely
4. Garlic – 1 small, diced fine
5. Vegetable broth – 1/2 cup
6. Milk – 1/4 cup
7. Oil – 1 tsp (I used grape-seed oil ‘coz I read somewhere that it has the best ‘required’ fatty acids and a marginally lower calorie content)
8. Salt, pepper n spices – to taste. I used a bit of Chinese sweet chili sauce

Make it

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté the garlic until golden brown.
2. Toss in the spring onion bulbs and half of the leaves and mix them in and allow to cook in salt.
3. The carrot and the broccoli go in next. Close the saucepan and cook on medium-high for 5 minutes. Add a bit of chili-garlic sauce if you desire (do try – the flavor is great!)
4. Stir in the vegetable broth and the milk next and allow to simmer for a few more minutes.
5. Set aside till cooled down and give it a spin in the mixer with a bit of water/milk to get your soup. Alternately, you can cut all the pieces really fine and the enjoy it as a stew.
6. Garnish with the remaining spring onion greens, a pinch salt and pepper.
Voilà.. very filling, very tasty and absolutely healthy! Bon Appétit!

The forbidden fruit

Ahhh so many of us have been faced with this at some point or the other. The minute someone tells you that you can't have something, it becomes pretty irresistible to you. Sounds immature, childish even, but it holds good for a lot of things. And while sometimes it can be a motivating force to achieve something called the 'impossible', some other times it's plain irritating. I often like to challenge my own 'will-power' so to speak by trying to forbid myself from doing things. Top amongst this list are nail-biting and unnecessary shopping.. While these I can manage if I truly want to, some other restrictions are harder to go by. Like eating something. If I tell myself that I shouldn't eat chocolate on some day, that's all that I can think about the whole day. And the funny fact that goes with the territory is that if I hadn't made that 'resolution', I probably wouldn't have had chocolate by myself in the first place. But placing it on the forbidden pedestal makes it nearly impossible to resist unless the day in itself was so busy that there was no idle time to think about it. But if the day had been busy, I wouldn't have found time to make useless resolutions in the first place and hence it's a vicious circle. And funnily this is not even one of those cases where someone else imposed a restriction on you. It was done by me on me and yet I found it hard to keep up. Sounds fickle? Just shows that the resolution wasn't important enough to keep up.
Moral of the story: Make resolutions you want to keep rather than the ones you think you should. There's a big difference.

Luck by chance

Note: This has nothing to do with the movie.

By no standards am I an indecisive person. In fact for almost every situation where there's a choice, one choice outweighs the other in my head all along however small the difference maybe. However while I know this internally, to actually make that choice and make it real is the bigger deal to me. It's sort of treading the fine line between the logical choice and the sometimes frivolous ones. While it seems obvious off the top to pick the logical one at all times, sometimes, I'd go for the frivolous one for reasons ranging from laziness to curiosity. But not wanting to be entirely responsible for making the choice, I leave it to fate. I tell myself that for me to proceed with the one choice or the other, I need another sign. And I assign these signs myself. Thankfully I am not biased to the signs as well which would negate the whole fate thing. With equal opportunity signs, I go for the choice from the sign that shows up first. For example, recently I've become exceedingly lazy to change trains. I'd rather take a bus-train combo that takes 10 minutes longer to reach than the bus-train-train combo. But on the days that I am in a hurry, I make the logical choice - the quicker one. On the days that I am not, I leave it to fate. If the bus that goes all the way close to college shows up first, I take the bus-train combo and if the bus that goes just to the station shows up I take the bus-train-train quicker combo. This way I am not entirely to blame, see? Of course that's just one of the examples in a whole lot where other "signs" indicate different choices to me. Makes sense? Sounds weird? Do you do it too?

Le Cirque du Gavarnie

Breathtaking.. the only way to describe it. Here, take a look yourself. The natural amphitheatrical valley between France and Spain.

Tip: Click on the photo for the full-sized panorama.

Plate of vegetables

When we were on our trip, we went to have a Tex-Mex dinner at an authentic Tex-Mex restaurant in Dax. One of the reasons that I love Mexican food is that it's easy to adapt into a vegetarian dish. But having been all excited about dinner at a Mexican place after eons, on getting there to my surprise the menu didn't contain any vegetarian items. I wasn't bothered too much about that because I was sure that on request any non-vegetarian dish could be made into vegetarian by simply not adding the meat. However to my anguish, the waiter informed me that they couldn't modify any of the dishes on the menu. Which meant me n S could go hungry that night. As an after thought however, he added that they had a plate of vegetables if I was interested. What does that sound to you like? A plate that's filled with fresh/boiled vegetables with no spice nothing (that's how the French make veggies - just boiled and nothing else) and that's about it, right? With no other choice, we went ahead and ordered it and look what they brought us?

Clockwise from right bottom: Kidney beans, onion rings, wheat soufflé, baked potato, capsicum-tomato grilled mix, salad, smoked potatoes and broiled veggies.

In his defense, they are still just a plate of vegetables. ;)

No gain from caffeine?

I've been sleep deprived for the past week almost. What with the night train (in which they didn't turn off the lights), the short nights, the long drives, the long hikes and a very late return immediately followed by the start of the week, I can safely say I am tumbling towards exhaustion at an unprecedented rate. And how have I tried to combat the overpowering drowsiness through the day - yes, that cup of coffee.. or in my case, those cups of coffees. The worst part? They don't work. Sure when the warm drink cruises down your parched throat, it seems totally worth it. And at that instant you are sure that the drink will keep you awake. Not for me. I've had one tea and 2 coffees since morning and my eyes are dragging shut till now. The only thing that's keeping awake? Blogging. So, here's the second post of the day! Any tips on how to keep awake will be deeply appreciated. Suggestions may not include youtube/chatting/orkutting/FB or any other vetti mantra.

The overgrown child

First up, I'd like to thank my regulars for checking in on me to see if I was still alive considering I hadn't posted anything in 6 whole days ( a shocking reality). I was out of town and will soon follow up with at least one stunning photograph from where I was. For now, though here's some food for thought -

It suddenly struck me how typical this phrase is in a household like mine - "Ennadhaan irundhalum nee innum enaku kozhandai dhaan" - roughly translated meaning - No matter what, you are still a child to me. In the grand scheme of things with the relative aging process of everyone remaining constant, that statement holds entirely true. And unlike some Western countries where kids start calling their parents by their first names once they reach a certain age, in India we always call them the way we did when we were kids (almost always the regional language terminology for "Mother" and "Father"). This doesn't change whether we're 10, 50 or even a 100 years old. So perhaps when the elders use that in some sentimental manner, it's unnoticeably natural. However when it's used against you, your true age strikes you and it's no longer acceptable as a valid argument on the elder's behalf. For instance, one of my friends recently told me that she'd been given the "Periyava vishayathila thalai idadhey" dialogue (Translated: Do not interfere in the elder's business). Sure, when we were 10 and trying to be oversmart it made a lot of sense. Not so much when we're fully grown, completely independent, married and perhaps with a family of one's own. So what if the relative age difference remained the same? The maturity levels had perhaps meshed and the "elders" were being unreasonable in not wanting our two pence that we had to put in if it was required. This isn't to say that we don't like being pampered just the way we were from when we were kids... but just that when it comes to sharing inputs and information, experiences and views our relatively younger age should be seen as a different perspective rather than an uninformed and precocious trait, past a certain age at least. Once again this is a rather presumptious argument. My parents for instance have trusted every single decision I've made and stood by me at every stage in my life. And I have always been encouraged to express my views and opinions even if they didn't matter from a very young age. But from the other relatives' view, I wonder when it is that they truly consider us to be grown-ups. Anyone venture a theory?

Ducksaver

This is cute if anything is! Awwwwwww...

Parisian Fashion - 101

So, you're visiting Paris, the city of lights and one of the fashion capitals of the world! Worried what to dress like? Don't fret... after living here for over a year, I have a pretty good idea of what Parisian fashion is all about. (Guys, you may want to stop reading right here because I cannot offer any tips on your dressing styles).

1. Made-up is beautiful: Practically no one, I repeat no one, from the ultra-busy medical intern to the office secretary wades into their workplace unkempt or un-madeup. Throw on the war paint, whether on the train, in the restroom or the window seat on the bus. A girl's got to do what she's got to do.
Tip 1: Over-emphasize just any one facial feature. If you're going heavy on the eyes, leave everything else subtle.
Tip 2: One to-blend-in makeup tool is your mascara brush. Coat on enough to blacken a zebra and you've got it right, Parisian ishtyle.

2. Layers: It's all about layers.. Clothes or hair, jewelry or makeup... more the better! So if you think you're gonna feel cold, instead of throwing on a rugged not-so-feminine jacket, wear a couple of layers and then a delicate pull. Want to wear a miniskirt over leggings or jeans? Go for it! That'll boost you right up there on the fashion scene.

3. Boots: Have a pair of boots? Then, wear them for crying out loud! Match 'em up with everything from dresses and skirts to skinny jeans and shorts. It's as Parisian as it gets. I bet all my money that every single Parisian woman has at least one pair of boots in her shoe cupboard. Anyone taking me up on this one? And if you don't have boots... there are only 2 other options - flats or stilettos... don't wear a mid-size heel... It has got to be either a stool or well-grounded.

4. Super-size me: Huge is in... but only in terms of accessories. Over-sized handbags, sunglasses and jewelry is totally trend-setting out here. Big baubles around your neck (by big, I mean the size of the pendant and the length of the chain), long earrings, sunglasses that cover 1/3rd your face (the upper third has the option to be covered by bangs) are all not-to-miss additions to your daily couture. They grab attention and that's what you're aiming at. Other than blending in of course..

5. Stockings: Maybe it's a winter thing.. but stockings are completely in.. And in various colors too.. not just the old boring black/skin. Whether it's a dress, a skirt or a mini, stockings are one thing that meld the dress and the shoes together. So, it's a no-brainer.

6. Brands: Ah, the ultimate tool for the blend-in experience. Sunglasses... handbags... perfumes.. clothes.. Chanel, Dior, Fendi, Valentino, Gucci and what not.. If you have something branded, flaunt it. I am not sure that every piece that everyone seems to be wearing is authentic. But to the untrained eye like mine, it makes no difference! Don't go for knock-offs though. Classic is still the best.

There you have it... a simple routine to rock the city of lights. Go Girl!

PS: I have a fashion faux pas list as well. Drop me a line if you wanna read it.

Perseverance pays

I got evidence of that recently! This was a known fact of course and our professors (mostly) keep driving it into us that if we persist with something, it's bound to pay off. As good as it sounds to hear it, it's even better when the theory comes to life and rewards you with results. That's when the sweetness of the accomplishment truly settles in and propels you to achieve harder goals. Perseverance pays... never give up (unless you don't want something as much). Then the effort's not worth it.

Spicy shahi tofu

Well, that’s just a fancy name really, for a put-together dish. My Vietnamese friend took me to an Asian grocery store last week and I left from there with a pack of tofu. With it sitting in the fridge and threatening to expire soon, I decided I didn’t want to use it in a Chinese-style dish but would rather do a Desi delicacy. And so I chose Shahi paneer and modified it suitably to achieve tangy and yummy results.
I am not going to publish a recipe here coz it’s nothing phenomenally different from any of the Shahi paneer recipes online and I can’t claim to have come up with anything. However here are some tips when working with tofu -
1. Drain: Make sure to have drained the tofu of the submerged “water''”. To ensure that you have eliminated all the liquid, keep the tofu out of the fridge on a bowl and keep some weight on it for at least 15 minutes (I kept an empty pressure cooker on the tofu slab).
2. Combat blandness: The big Indian requirement is for spice in anything. And tofu fails miserably on all accounts. The way one can eat fried paneer, one can NEVER eat fried tofu. So, here’s what to do… Instead of shallow frying the tofu in batches the way you would paneer, just add them all cut in flat slabs into a wide saucepan with a teaspoon of heated oil. While the tofu sits there getting “shallow-fried”, add salt, a bit of red chilly powder, turmeric and a hint of garam masala. The result? Super-tasty tofu, perfect for Desi recipes. Plus you save a lot of oil going into the dish and so it's healthier. It's win-win!

Shown below: (a) Fresh cut tofu pieces and (b) Spiced tofu

3. Just make the gravy then (the usual mustard seeds-jeera seeds- saunf- ginger-garlic-cloves- onion-tomato) first cooked and then ground. I like to add capsicum to the above for a richer body, colour and taste. Make sure to have one coarse batch so that the gravy isn’t too liquid.
4. Then? Put them together and voilà, there’s your spicy Tofu.

Serve with chapathis/parathas or steamed rice. Bon Appétit!

Second skin

You know how you buy something and it fits so well that you couldn't be happier? Now then, you know how that happiness just multiplies when you didn't actually buy it? I do! One of the websites on which I had shopped a few times decided to send me a surprise gift from their winter clearance... an awesome light grey sweatshirt that's dressed up like a trench-coat. I was totally impressed. Not just that they'd sent me a free gift but that they sent me such an awesome free gift. And it fits like a glove. I get that total "glow" feeling the way Harry Potter feels when he grasps his wand for the first time. I've liked my skin lesser sometimes.. ok, that's a bit exaggerated but no harm done. They sure know how to keep their customers. And what a nice way too! Yoo the hoo.

Being emoticons…

As always I was day-dreaming about something when suddenly this thought occurred to me. How life would be if we all acted out the emoticons which we liberally used online. With the Internet out there to stay, it's no big wonder that everyday newer chat portals are launched everyday, successful or not. And in the course of chatting, many people like me resort to one or many emoticons provided by these portals to express ourselves succinctly. But just imagine... if each of us out there were to act out each of these expressions whilst trying to express something. For example (yes, I agree I am utterly jobless) -

I was too lazy to mimic the other emoticons. But wouldn't that be totally scary? Someone baring their teeth everytime they wanted to express extreme joy... or bursting into tears to express extreme unhappiness or protruding their tongues to tease? You get the point. Which is why it's good to have our feet planted in this real, less-animated, saner world.

The silver lining

I’ve had the longest day.. it began with the culmination of the troubles that our cooking hot-tops had been giving us. One had failed a month ago and the other while tripping the electrical circuit periodically, gave up today and decided to trip the whole house’s electricity instead. While that was rectified with the flip of the fuse, the same cannot be said of my chai-less start to the day. And so it began. While it didn’t exactly go downhill from there, it sort of stayed at a plateau… a whole bunch of experiments underway and none of them close to completion meant it was a terribly long day. And then I decided to buy us a small table-top gas to stand-in and serve as my cooking essential. And so I found one in a seemingly nearby-to-college store. Ever notice how something light can slowly and steadily grow heavier as you take more and more steps? And it’d be of some merit if I was actually coming home with the burden. Unfortunately I had to head back to college to end my experiment. And so I lugged the stove back to school, shut my experiments off for the day, observed the current results and then headed homeward. All of a sudden, I remembered that I had to pickup a letter at the La Poste which meant I had to get off the bus a stop earlier rather than the one right in front of my house. The weather had changed steadily as if to mimic my mood. Now it was dark with heavy clouds looming and uncannily dull-lit for 7:00pm… While I mused over this, it started pouring. And not just rain… Ice rain. I’d never seen anything like it. While I scampered for cover, I couldn’t help admiring the whole scene. Everything from the loud clatter of ice on the roof below which I’d sought shelter, to the color of the sky to how pretty the city I lived in was. Suddenly I wished I had a camera. And then I remembered my cell phone’s camera. While it probably couldn’t do as much justice to the actual picture, it did a great job.. Here see (you can see the La Poste to which I was headed at the bottom of the left-side building) -

And then just as suddenly as the rain had started it stopped and the sun peeked out from behind the dense mass of clouds. And just like that, my mood brightened. Bonne soirée!

Repeat-u

Don’t you just hate it when you’ve just passionately finished explaining something to someone and then they just calmly look at you blankly and say “Come again?” or “I’m sorry?” If the case in point was something genuine that needed a couple of shots at getting it, it can be excused. But not when the listener is distracted while he/she is actually supposed to be listening to what you have to say. More often than not, I end up snapping or I make a very obviously irritated repetition. Of course one could go into a lengthy tirade of how they never listen, blah blah.. but guess what – that takes longer! How do you deal with it?

Guilt + guilt = guilt free

Ah Mathematics! Negative x Negative = Positive. And it holds good almost everywhere (no, 2 bad deeds don’t make one good one).. But 2 bad deeds against one another may make even. It’s so the same thing in the guilt scenario. If you’re guilty of doing something against one person and they do something equally “bad” to you, then you don’t feel so bad about what you did anymore. This is often a convenient bargaining chip among friends and couples alike – the '”call it even” scenario. “Let’s not get each other any birthday presents.. Deal?” , “So what if I forgot to call.. it’s not like you did either!” are some fairly common examples.. And it works fine. In life’s complicated issues, twists and turns, (in)equalities like this make it easier to get on with and of course there are more than just this example… Math rules!

Great expectations

Ah.. seeing as it’s Mother’s Day today (Happy Mother’s Day btw), I couldn’t have chosen a more opportune moment to write about this topic – that first child. This is a topic on which I’ve had various discussions with my friends. It’s no shocker that these days, unlike the past, people aren’t popping kids the tenth month after their marriage (for the international readers, having kids out of wedlock in India is considered illegitimate and is highly frowned upon). Instead they choose to get to know their spouses in new light even if they knew them from before. They discover living together, make plans for the future, including financial stability amongst other things in preparation of bringing new life onto the Earth. But that’s typical of this generation, I would imagine. Of course, I understand that there are different reasons for children being born as well - “accidental” babies and all those not-so-flattering instances when kids are conceived for a variety of reasons other than truly wanting them – to repair a marriage, caving to parental pressure, to become the center of attention,  to spice up the marriage by adding a new dimension, to name a few. Sounds bizarre? Believe me, I’ve heard about it happen, outside of the soaps on TV. And as much as it sounds like 10 months conception time is a decent period of time to prepare for the new arrival, unless you are mentally ready, you’re probably not. These pearls of wisdom have been given to me by the newer generation. The older generation steadfastly believes in the “sooner the better” strategy. And for them, reproduction formed the core of family life. In our day and age, we seem to have added a lot more dimensions to our personal happiness and satisfaction and I know while everyone would love to have a child eventually, no one wants them right away. For one, it’s too much of added responsibility to the already being married thing. And in the past, for us Indians at least, it seemed easier said and easier done because of the large joint families and the plenty of childcare experience that ran with it. The women were largely homemakers and had plenty of guidance from the mothers and the MILs alike and in fact had hands-on assistance from other relatives and maids alike. Raising a child was a family responsibility as far as it went. And consequently the dads just had to entertain the kids when they were in good humor while the mommies got stuck with the diapers (previously just loin cloths I assume) and 3 hour feeding sessions. These days it’s an even deal and the Daddy had better pitch in for almost every responsibility to make it easier on the typically working Mommy, considering that the families lived away from homes and with visa restrictions and stuff, it wasn’t possible to have help on hand more than a couple of months at a stretch.

Everyone can agree that this is one change that is truly life-altering. It is so important to respect the fact that you are bringing in a new life to this world that is totally helpless and dependent on you for everything. While in short thinking it might seem as an excellent camouflage to get that attention from the husband/family or to stop those incessant fights amongst couples or to even stop having those unpleasant conversations with the grand old ladies who tell you they won’t live to cradle their great grandchild in their arms, it’s the most important thing to realize that the child needs to be born(e) because you want him/her, not because of anything else. Listen only to yourself.

On a different note, Happy mothering to all my expectant friends. :)

This post marks the 500th for MindBlogging! Cheers, MindBlogging!

Back off

Yup.. my back’s off.. and I have a fair clue of what I may have done to tick it off. After some internet searches it seems fairly obvious that sleeping on your stomach is one of the worst things you could do to your back. And I don’t know any other way to sleep. It’s a trait that we (me n my bro) have inherited from my dad. And the pain has set in after all these years now only because I stopped using a pillow under the raised leg. Grrr… Muscular layouts. My incredibly sweet Vietnamese colleague gave me a bunch of heat patches to help out. I will be trying them out soon. If anyone else knows of any tried and tested home remedies to ease annoying lower back pain, I’d deeply appreciate the inputs. For now, Bon Weekend (yes it’s a long weekend in France :D)

Slumdog Millionaire - The reaction review

If you're thinking that it is pretty late in the day to be reviewing the movie that took the Academy Awards by storm, you are mistaken (I already reviewed it-read it here). This is more about the mixed reactions that the movie has evoked and importantly the interpretations that have been made of these reactions. Having been in the premiere show here in Paris, I know for a fact that almost everyone, Indian or not, enjoyed it. There is no doubt that the movie was great fun. It was a total Masala flick, feel good and nothing Hollywoody about it. But soon, I read that Big B was pissed. (Read an insight article here). Surprisingly so were many of my friends. And the main issue that caught everyone's attention was the portrayal of the poverty in India.

Let's be honest here. Poverty exists at large in India. There's no denying that. But what ticked off most people was that this was exploited by Westerners to make a movie to win awards. Had the movie been made by Indians, there would've been lesser complaints, I bet. But to be totally truthful, I do not think any part of the movie was exaggerated. It was commercialized for sure.. but not exaggerated. In fact the whole poverty deal was vital to the screenplay and that's why it should be left at that. As a matter of fact, later in the movie itself, the opulence and advancement of Mumbai is shown. Perhaps because this display took a backseat to the actual script, the dissed Indians probably thought that the "Foreigners" reveled in the misery of our country, perhaps secretly thanking their stars to have been born in a richer country.

Come now, rich is a loose word, isn't it? Is there any country that can hold a torch to India's richness in culture, in colour, in diversity of religions, people, races, languages,in food, in architecture,in intelligence and what not? We have no reason to be ashamed of one segment of reality shown in some movie. Like Big B pointed out, every country has a murky underbelly lurking somewhere. With a population of over a billion, it's not surprising that India does. But that hasn't hampered the success of Indians world over in any field and we should all take pride in that. And finally take a movie to be just that - a movie. Jai Hind!

Mommy's mates

For as long as I remember, I don't recollect my mother having friends of her own and that was a shocking truth given her fantastic networking skills. Rather, all her "friends" were either related to her by marriages (her own and of her brothers, etc) or they were the wives of my dad's friends/colleagues or the moms of my friend's or my brother's. She never seemed to have a social circle of her own and it seemed very strange to me while I was in college and in the thick of friends and was in that phase where I couldn't live without sharing some news with a special few. And then I wondered how my mother could bear to lose touch with her friends. People she studied with and created allegiances with, of her own accord.

Now, after being married and sitting in a continent different from all my friends and family, it's easier to see why. All that pride and joy we took in branding one another as 'Friends for life' while slapping on the friendship bands in that immature phase, using the umpteen ears as sounding boards for the most ridiculous conversations, abusing the corporate Airtel numbers to make conference calls, slumber parties... weep fests, you name it, and we'd had it. While the Friendship has stood the test of time thus far, the same cannot be said of it's intensity. Sure, it's very easy to pick up where we left off and gab on for hours like giggly teenagers but that happens so less often that while it is special when it does, it pales in comparison to anything that we shared before. What did you expect, what with time zones, a crazy work schedule, couple time, personal time and social commitments, it's little wonder that we get to speak to our treasured friends all across the Globe. And if you take Amma's case, throw in a couple of kids and you have pandemonium. I guess the most important thing though, that contributed to my mom losing in touch with her friends was the unavailability of the technology that we have these days. With most of us having immediate access to email all the time when we are awake, we still find it hard to keep in touch. No wonder then, that back in those days when people had to use postal letters as an alternative to expensive STD/ISD cards to communicate, the urge and the frequency of these communications dwindled and ended with less than a whimper. It also goes to show how her marriage has moulded my mom's life. While it worked for her, I cannot imagine what I would do without my support circle (with whom I hope to keep in touch with for life). Kudos to Amma! (Advance Happy Mother's Day)
And Happy Birthday ML :)

Open but caged

Gloomy captives. Those are redundant words. Of course those in captivity are gloomy. This time I am not referring to people alone. We’d been to a wild life animal park near Paris yesterday. I was initially very excited. The whole experience promised to lend a safari feel to an otherwise ordinary day at the zoo. We were told we could drive along the premeditated trails in our cars and get a glimpse of the animals in “an artificially recreated natural habitat”. The main attractions were the lions and the bears. The others were pretty normal and the “collection” included giraffes, zebras, strange-looking African elephants and other herbivores with a sprinkling of hippos, rhinos and American bison. So we drove at snail’s pace and had the opportunity to pat zebras, ogle giraffes, have ostriches block our car and many a Grand Koudou gaze steadily at us in close quarters. The lion “habitat” took the longest to get to and once there, I felt inexplicably sad. There was a full pride of lions. Yet, they were all determinedly looking away from the crowds that were oohing and ahing and clicking away to glory less than 50 feet away. It was almost as if they didn’t want to be seen. The bears were more at ease though… maybe because of the dense trees around or because they had a very large number of their own. And once we took the walking trail within the zoo to gain access to more animals like cheetahs and tigers, I was more convinced that zoos like these weren’t working out, for the animals or for the perceptive public (they were great for kids catching their first glimpse of real animals outside the LCDs and HDTVs). Sure, they maybe safer here than in the wild where they’re likely to have been hunted down… but the second we saw a happy and playful gibbon skip into it’s enclosure to eat it’s piece of bread in solitude and away from the ogling eyes, I felt sure that these zoos weren’t necessarily doing the right things. I mean, imagine living in a glass enclosure, being fed time to time, with millions of animals/people/insects walking around you through all hours to look at you eat, sleep, or just sit and you’ll know what I mean. Even though they have just 5 senses, the more animals I saw, the more convinced I became that they hid themselves away in far corners, behind rocks, under shrubs and what not; simply to shield themselves from the millions of prying eyes, much like what we would’ve liked to do if put in a similar situation. It was sad really. And it was a testament to the animal intelligence. Seldom have I seen the animals at ease in these recreated habitats and there’s little wonder why. And that makes me wonder why I’ve ever enjoyed going to zoos. Something should be possible - maybe there should just be vastly spread animal sanctuaries/reserves rather than stand-alone zoos. As in every case, it’s easier said than done. Can something be done? PETA, anyone?

Face/On

Finally… I mean after resisting month after month, I joined Facebook today. And this decision came after I came to read on Google News that the Whitehouse had joined facebook. Hell, if i could be part of Orkut, I could as well be part of Facebook. I mean, why not? The reasons I came up with for why not thus far are simple and pretty much the same that I think for Orkut too – waste of time. But hey, here’s a start – I get to promote this blog on one more portal. So, everyone who knows me and I haven’t added by default –search me out n add me.

Small is Big

While working with one of my wafers yesterday, I felt a very sudden, very localized shooting pain on my left index finger. On closer inspection, I didn’t notice anything particularly wrong. I touched my thumb to it and there was an agonizing surge of pain again. I was in the yellow Lithography room. I stepped out into a room with normal lights to look even closer and then I spotted it. A very small, sharp and thin piece of silicon had penetrated my glove and pierced my skin. I had to use my lab tweezers to ease out the fragment and I could feel the instant relief, accompanied by a miniscule drop of blood. And then it struck me. How such a small, seemingly insignificant piece of material could make such a difference  in my comfort level. And how there could be no relief till I was rid of it from my skin. It is ironic that this simple concept defines my career... how I work with the miniature stuff and hope that they create a disproportionately large impact. And how this analogy applies to all of us in the grand scheme of things. How small things have big impacts, be it gestures, words or incidents. How something surreally small can evoke the big emotions from us. It’s along the lines of the “Less is more” concept. This is one of life’s open secrets. And I guess it’s up to us to make at least the small efforts wherever we need the big returns. Small is big.

The first one

Ah I bet almost everyone has this sentiment about new things. About what we all call the new “baby” of the house/life/call it what you like (until of course there is a real baby). That first new car (or old but your first one nevertheless), the new cell phone, your first laptop, the brand-new plasma TV (ok you get the idea). They are each very precious to us and terribly close to our hearts. We take dear care of them particularly when they are new and unscathed. But fate has it’s way (or you’re a klutz… or they’re related) or maybe it’s someone else’s fault… but there’s always that dreaded first scratch (or it’s equivalent) sooner than later – there are those few moments when you first catch sight of it and your heart skips a few beats and as you leap closer to take a proper look – is that really a scratch? And then that sinking feeling when you realize that it is and even then find yourself wiping it over and over again, just hoping it’ll go away. Or that huge sigh of relief washing over you if you’re one of the lucky few for whom it was just a fleck of dust or something else. But of course that first scratch is just waiting to inflict itself in the most mysterious of ways on the most precious of things. And after that? It’s not that the value of the thing goes down… but you learn to treat as it was meant to be – as a gadget.. not something with feelings… not something alive. Sometimes people just consider it dhrishti (for the uninitiated it's like a blackmark that will henceforth ward off the 'evil eye'). My brand new lappie had his first one today… And I had fleeting thoughts of getting him exchanged. But for such a stupid reason? No way.. he came with my name written in bold letters on his box and was custom-made for me. He’s all mine. (With the gender attached to him, you can see that he’s not transcended into the gadget realm just yet). And not for a while, I would imagine.

Amused about me and my laptop legacy? There's more here.

avoi'dance'

Alright, this one is not for you virtuous folk out there. This is for someone like me (I bet there will be many people nodding along as you read on) - someone who would rather avoid the confrontation than face the discomfort. So I spotted someone I'd rather not have (lets call them "X"), walking a few feet ahead of me and instead of catching up and exchanging casual (un)pleasantries, I did the first thing that came to my mind and lingered. I let my steps drag to try and increase the distance between me and X but I discovered that X happens to walk uncharacteristically slow and was apparently headed to the same destination as me. Which made me seem pretty stupid (I could see my reflection along the glass-paned buildings). I was sort of walking in slow-motion and anyone who's seen me walk can vouch that I am a fast walker. And so I felt foolish. As I crept along, another strange thought struck me. What if X caught my reflection on the glass alongside and wondered why I was snailing along? I dismissed the possibility as highly unlikely. But on the other hand, I might've appeared as a strange stalker as well.. walking a safe distance behind the target. Come to think of it now, I should've probably crossed the street and walked far ahead with my pace than drawl behind. Or better yet, I could've walked on ahead, caught up, thrown a fancy "hi there" and made a I'd-love-to-chat-but-I'm-in-a-terrible-hurry scene and gotten with it. As always, hindsight is 20/20.

Knockout

It was one of those funny moments and it was funny only if you were looking at it or it was in retrospect but not necessarily while experiencing it. Last night before going to bed, I was trying to take off a sweater that I was wearing. My hands must’ve been slippery or it must’ve been the fabric. Whichever the case, while I was tugging real hard at the sweater to take it off with a fistful of fabric, my hand slipped and I ended up punching myself in the jaw. Ok, be honest - how many of you actually burst out laughing imagining it? Let me tell you.. it’s not entirely funny when it happens to you. Especially if you have a sore jaw to reckon with the whole day. Every now n then, my jaw’s been seizing up for half a millisecond before easing up and it’s certainly something I could live without. Gosh, if I had a euro for every time I’ve done something this stupid!

Lowering the bar

Being in my mid-20s means that I have many many friends that are getting married/got married recently or are in the phase where they are partner hunting... ok you get the idea. Having been through the phase myself and still in touch with many of the eligible bachelor/bachelorettes, I have tried to understand what seems to be the most important characteristic that these people look for in their potential partners. Of course it is different for different people. While secure jobs and charming personalities make the list in most cases, still others are a bit more superficial like physical appearances and similar tastes in movies. Of course certain things may matter more to some than some others. For instance, while I think movies is an area that can be compromised either ways, someone else may see it as a deal-breaker if their partner cannot enjoy similar movies which they tend to interpret as their possible lone-time being split. To each one, their own. However, what struck me through this whole discussion was how the bar just went down when it was subject to an object of their affection. Almost everyone who’s still single and looking to mingle has had a crush or something more on someone else in the past. Amusingly, none of those people were of the “perfect” characteristics that are now being sought in the potential partner by all of them. For example, one of my friends was insistent about marrying a “tall'” guy. But I also happened to know that she had fallen for someone who was of average height earlier. And this to me was a clear sign that this particular expectation could immediately be done away with as a necessary ‘checkbox’ in the already tedious mating dance. If she ended up with a tall guy in the end, great… but there was no reason to ‘reject’ another perfectly great guy just because he wasn’t tall enough. Now substitute “tall” with any of the many many, sometimes odd expectations that people have of their partner, be it being well-travelled or having a “good vocabulary”. The reason I don’t necessarily see these as flaws is that there are no consistent definitions for these examples and they vary from person to person. And these are just some of the perks that I’ve witnessed as deal-breakers. Sure we all have that one big pet peeve and while that’s best avoided in our partners, surely, some of the lesser significant ones can be easily worked with. While one could unknowingly lower the bar for a previous object of affection, a person they didn’t even end up with, why can’t they lower the bar knowingly for someone they could end up with? Or is it the thought of settling for someone lesser than they ‘wanted’ dissatisfying? Or is it that they all think that there is someone better out there? Maybe it’s a combination of everything. But ultimately, as time passes, the bar steadily goes down, one peg at a time. Time sure levels out practically everything. Interesting, isn’t it?

Chocolate gâteau

With a brand-new oven sitting at home, what was the excuse not to experiment? Nothing. So I tried out a chocolate gâteau (for the un-French-ized, it’s a fancy word for cake).

It fluffed up good, tasted good and hence, was a decent maiden effort. As for the recipe, it was nothing fancy. It was your everyday recipe which you can google and find in seconds. I  just wanted to share fun pictures. Have a sliver, won’t you?

The haircut that wasn’t

Did it ever happen to you that you cut your hair and no one noticed? Just now, after you read that question, did your eyes shift up towards your right brain while you searched your memory? Was it like once in your whole lifetime when you got a “trim” or something? Now what do you do when you chop off 7 inches of your hair and still no one notices? Well, now you know how I feel! Unless you’re one of those I-got-my-haircut-for-my-own-satisfaction-people. I got a haircut last week and my curly tresses went down from waist-length to shoulder-length. And give or take 3 people, NO ONE noticed! Granted, from front I don’t look that different at first glance. But from back or when it’s let loose, it’s like hello, where’s the rest of it? And why why why isn’t anyone noticing? Take my parents… I was Skypeing with them the day of my haircut with my hair loose and in tight curls around my ears and they didn’t say a word. On the other hand, when I have it in plaits or anything equally unexciting, they speak about it all the time. And the second I mentioned the haircut out of indignity to invoke a reaction, I got the wrong one. If you’re wondering what I am talking about, read this post. And everyone else is totally on the “Hey wassap” mode. Grrr. Here’s another big fat disadvantage to having insanely curly hair. No matter how long/short, it looks short. No matter what the volume, it looks big. And bangs and blah need so much maintenance they are not even worth it. Add to that every time I call attention to my hair, I end up sounding pretentious. Hmph.

Yup-pee

Ah well, I've avoided writing about this because it's not something you necessarily want to write about. But I figured almost everyone has been confronted with this situation, probably a lot of times in their lives - the urge to pee and with no available loo around. It happens in the most inconvenient of situations of course... long drives, longer journeys, mehendi (henna tattoo) on your hands, you name it... And once you find that elusive loo after what felt like your bladder might burst, the literal relief is probably the most palpable form of relief that one can feel. It's like all your tensions ease away (other than the literal tension of the bladder muscles loosening up). Back in India it never happened... maybe because I was subconsciously aware that the public latrines were best avoided. And ever notice how when you have to pee, that's like the top-most thing on your mind? You can't stop thinking about the fact that you have to go. Like all the other times when you don't, you are not even remotely thinking about the loo or anything in it's whereabouts. I can't remember the number of times that I have literally calculated the minutes to the nearest usable loo in such situations and coaxed myself that yes, I can make it and I won't pee in my pants. But gosh.. once or twice I didn't think I'd make it. I remember once when I had to return from renting a car here in Paris, I couldn't find parking near the house (of course you've read my woes on parking. You haven't??? Here you go!) and I'd had like 3 million gallons of water before going to pick up the car (I neither anticipated wanting to pee nor the lack of availability of parking - one of my rookie mistakes). And it was pure hell. I finally found parking about 2km away... figured I couldn't hold back from peeing all the way back home... almost considered diving into a café for a fake cup of coffee while really all I wanted to do was to use the toilet... but then reconsidered the option for having to fake niceties, looking at the menu, ordering, drinking more fluid and then going to pee. Instead I decided to keep up the momentum and semi-sprinted back home... only to discover that someone was moving out/in from/to our apartment.. bah, who cares? My apartment's on the ground floor and all I needed was half a foot of clearance to squeeze in, find my door and hop to the bathroom. It wasn't to be. For a frustrating 10 minutes, a huge cabinet blocked my door as the woman in charge apologized profusely and I tried to be as gracious as one can be in the situation... but looked nothing like it, while crossing and uncrossing my feet, making impatient sniffs and finally bolting through the door as if something was on fire. Something was. And two minutes later, I was lighter and relieved. I vowed never to do this to myself ever again.. to use the loo as liberally as required, go even if I didn't have to where there was a clean one available... blah blah. Needless to say, I haven't succeeded and neither was that my last time.

No means Yes

Ah, we've read a million forwards about how women think differently from men... everything from how we decode things that aren't coded to how when we say something, we actually mean the exact opposite thing. Quite the confounding species, us women. While I beg to disagree with so many sappy and silly stereotypical characteristics slapped on us, I have to grudgingly agree that a lot of times we say things that sound right but is not necessarily what we want from the bottom of our hearts. I think the most famous examples are when "no" means "yes". Here's a classic example -

Him: Hon, Our anniversary's in a week.. What do you want me to get you?
Her (what she says): Oh never mind, hon. Let's just go out to a quiet, romantic dinner, just us.
Her (what she probably means): I don't want anything extravagant but maybe you'll figure out something small to surprise me.
What he thinks: My wife's the best. Now I don't have to worry about getting her something she'll like. Whoosh!

And so he gets her nothing. Elementary mistake. Of course she's gotten him something to surprise him - a shirt, a cologne... something to say she cared. Yes, she did say she wanted nothing... but that didn't mean that he should have obliged immediately. It's not like he listens to everything else that she tells him anyways. No flowers even? Come on!

Typical scenario. At least most girls are like that. Hidden gestures... hidden thoughts. There are exceptions to this of course and some girls really didn't want anything except the quiet dinner. Those husbands/bfs lucked out. But the men soon learn to read the clues and try to make up for the fiasco. At least with the anniversary, you know you messed up coz she got you something. Good luck with the other occasions, like birthdays and Fridays and all that..

Surrogacy in India

Well, we were watching some French television and in one of the channels there was a programme that explored the reality of - Babies made in India: the whole Indian surrogacy scene. If you have no clue of what I am talking about, you should probably read this article. I knew that surrogacy was legal in India and I knew about the whole "womb for rent" publicity and everything. And I did guess that the costs in India had to have been phenomenally low to encourage baby-yearners from all walks of life and varied countries and cultures approach our country... but I had no idea that the costs were this low in comparison, nor that the women who undertook the task were paid less than a business-class fare from the US to India. Less than 5000$ for an entirely life-changing gift? One may argue that the $2000-$5000 they're given is way more than they could've expected to earn blah blah... but look what they're giving in return - a baby... which can only be tagged as priceless. No amount of in-vitro fertilizations or any other form of treatment could give a couple a baby born with their genes and that is purely theirs, only grown elsewhere. Call it weird patriotism or vague protectiveness, I feel that these people are being exploited. I doubt if these women would accept this pretty measly amount of money if they knew that elsewhere people were being paid 3 times as much to do the same deed. Maybe they would because they need it so much more for their survival than their counterparts, perhaps. I guess I was more disappointed that the doctors recruiting them for the job didn't offer to have them paid much more than they currently are being given, fully aware that the "going rate" is way more. We Indians seem to have embraced "outsourcing" of all sorts, including Surrogacy it seems, for this is a $440 million-a-year industry. . I guess the whole issue boils down to each one's opinion. And since there are no "fixed rates" at which this is viable, there is no right or wrong... except that to me this feels more wrong than right. Surely I am not the only one?

Key moment

So it was a typical weekday morning. S and I had boarded a bus near home to go to the railway station to get going to our respective places of work. I'd locked the door as always and shoved the keys in my left sweatshirt pocket. We were chattering away about something and soon were at the station and descended. I dug my hands into my pockets as I normally do and suddenly felt a very noticeable emptiness. Where were the keys? In that split-second of realization I panicked. I dug into my pockets frantically once more to make sure and then spun around just in time to see the bus pulling away from the bus stop and leaving. Another split-second of imagination saw me chase down the bus and find my keys below the seat I was sitting in. But that would be plan B and before putting that into action, I vaguely remembered something and dug into the top pocket of my backpack. And there I saw the fluorescent hue of my 'I love India' key-chain. Whoosh... I was flooded with relief. How many times have we played out an entire scene in our minds in the few milliseconds between panic and realization, or between declaration and revelation? One-too-many, I bet.

So dark the con of man

Title courtesy: Dan Brown

Ah today was one of those dark days on which I had to return a rental car. If you don't know what I am talking about, read this post. And as always, I had to fill fuel and then go around in 3 long and oblong circles around the rental place for the lack of parking. And since the agency is located on a one lane street, there was no chance of turning on the hazard lights and hoping one of the agency guys took the car and parked it elsewhere. And so I roamed from ville to ville (town) in search of nearby parking and for the lack of sufficient U-turns. Finally, I decided to give up and randomly entered one of the perpendicular streets vaguely near the rental agency. And I found one parking space. It was going to be a tight fit but it was possible. While I was mapping out my parallel parking 'route' mentally, a young man on the street offered to park it for me. I took the chance. I knew that the French were superb in parallel parking and this guy would take 5 seconds or less to park the car. I was right and he was done in a jiffy. I started thanking him profusely and I fully expected him to walk away. Instead, he asked me for a pen and reached for the blue rental information folder that I had kept on the passenger seat. I watched uneasily as he started noting the kilometers from the odometer and checking the inside of the car. Taken aback, I asked him if he was from Rent-a-car to confirm anyway. It was a valid question given that this was some random street and a sizable distance from the agency. He just nodded his response and proceeded on with his inspection. A sudden thought struck me. What if this guy was a con artist? What if he was pretending to be someone from the car rental place while really he was trying to steal the car? In the few seconds that he checked the car, I played out an entire lawsuit in my head. He started walking away apparently indicating that I was to follow. Surely this was going to be okay? And as he walked into the store, relief flooded into me. He was genuine. He was from the agency. And he gave me the receipt and everything and signed off on the rental. And the guy who gave me the car in the first place was there. All was well. I wasn't conned. There was going to be no lawsuit. Whoosh!

So dark the con of man = O(h) often cars honk mad (Sorry, couldn't think of a better fit in viewpoint - Anyone who can come up with a better one will get it on the post!!) :)

Lovely Loire

We’d been to a beautiful place in France called Loire. It’s also dubbed the “Val du Roi” or the Valley of Kings. And once you get there, it’s easy to see why. There are literally hundreds of Chateâus, each one prettier than the other. If the weather hadn’t played spoilsport, we could’ve seen a lot more and gotten far better pictures. But here, I leave you with a few sights to behold.

Chateâu de Chambord

Amboise centre ville

Chateâu de Chenonceu

Pretty, rustic and pretty rustic, isn’t it?

Outer body experience

Sorry to disappoint anyone who equated this similar to a NDE (Near Death Experience). This is literally sort of getting a third person view to something you are physically present to witness in. I had a presentation today… it’s sort of become second nature these days. There’s not the slightest whisper of nervousness and I seem to know what I am talking about so there’s no stage fear either. So, today while giving my talk, I knew my lips were moving, that I was saying the right thing… but I only sort of vaguely heard myself. Instead, the rest of my energies were concentrated on gauging other people’s reactions – were they following or lost, was I going too fast, was it interesting, etc. It almost felt like analyzing someone else’s talk. And at that exact instant, I thought I should blog about too. All this while tirelessly talking about superlattices. Weird third person perspective that.

Of forks n knives..

Well, we all know that the fork goes on the left hand the butter knife on the right hand. At least that’s how they place it around your plate during a formal meal.  But I’ve never been able to eat that way. The logic behind this arrangement is that the knife would be in your natural hand (predominantly right) to have the strength to cut whatever it is that you were eating while the fork held it down and then once it was cut free, you could use the fork that was still holding it to directly put it in your mouth. Makes sense on paper (at least to me). But while trying out, I’ve always found it bizarre. I switch hands. I use the knife on the left hand to hold the food down while I tear it away using the fork with my right and put it in my mouth. I’ve attributed this to the fact that it’s widely taboo to use your left hand to eat food in India (and we’ve been taught so). Even still, many many people have been able to make the transition to formal dining with etiquette and get it right. I haven’t. Consequently, once the waiters see the cutlery reversed around my plate, they assume I am left-handed and place everything accordingly (the wine/water glasses will go to the left instead of the right, etc). It’s a very subtle change but I’ve been amazed that so many places in France in particular have noticed and attempted to make it “comfortable” for me. For that matter, how many people know how to use the many different types of forks/knives/spoons that are cluttered around your plate during a formal meal? For this one, I can say I do. :D

Bye bye UCid

Boo hoo... They revoked my UC email account a little less than 2 years since I graduated. Well, that's pretty generous, you would think. And that it had to have happened sooner than later and I ought to have expected it. Not me... I don't remember seeing an email from them indicating that they were going to expunge my ID. All was well till last week when it stopped logging in. All those congratulatory emails, contacts, everything.. all gone in one second. And after contacting them about it, I realize all over again that it's all gone indeed. Now I realize that I should've backed up those things whether I needed all of it or not. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20.

Happily ever after…

Everyone wants this… the happily ever after in their lives. The three golden words - where they find the man/woman of their dreams, get married and live happily ever after. Of course that’s the fairytale version. And it’s short and sweet. In reality and in this day and age, however, there are more coordinates in the equation, more things that need to be perfect- that perfect job/career for both of you, that perfect house to live in… those perfect kids in the future… everything needs to align for those magic words to come together – happily ever after. In the earlier days I think people’s expectations were in accordance to times or what maybe considered not-too-ambitious these days. More women were homemakers where they would follow their husband to wherever he was working because he was the “breadwinner”. As with everything, there were exceptions. These days… both husband and wife are career-conscious and let’s face it, for a luxurious life, two incomes are better than one… and it’s common for both men and women to work outside their hometown. Take the best standing example – the oh-so-common situation in the US these days. I know so many couples who started out in different states and had to work their way to the same one. It involved compromises on either end for the final goal of being together to be achieved. It was never this hard in “simpler times”. It used to be uncommon for the guy to quit his job, move to the city where his wife was and even considered “giving in” to his wife (this was equated to being subordinate – don’t ask me why). Even after everything, maybe one of them didn’t end up with their dream job, the best salary or any of the other things that matter to each one individually. But this was “happily ever after” till the other things worked themselves out. Or till you worked towards them. And once that first step - getting together has been achieved, the rest of happily ever after should follow in due course of time (or so we all hope). Here’s to fairytales and happy endings!

Is East the new West?

The "R" word has hit everyone... No matter which news channel you're tuned to, you're bound to be bombarded by the word "recession" at least once during the whole newscast. For time immemorial, the "West" has been considered superior in many ways to the "East". Things are changing. Thanks to having been the most economically ahead, the West is also suffering the major brunt of the recession. People everywhere are insecure about their jobs, more so in the US and ever since the Obama administration took over, there's been a lot of job cuts (I don't know if they are related) and then there was the whole H-1 debate (as to whether immigrants should be given 'US jobs'), so on and so forth. Me being me, I have no clue about what this exactly translates into or how it directly affects us, etc. The only thing I know is that we need to be sound in our jobs, save on the side and curtail meaningless expenses, which make good sense, recession or not.

However what prompted this post was an ironic twist to things. In India, the "foreign" mappilai thing (a groom settled abroad) has held very high status for many many years. And typically "foreign" translated to the US. Almost everyone wanted to send their daughter abroad and hence preferred a "US mappilai". I was amused to learn then, that recently, a guy friend of mine who's settled in the US was turned down for the very same reason. The recession has taken a very real manifestation in this case, where the parents were now concerned to get their daughter married to someone who could lose their job any day. And no matter how much he assured the prospective in-laws about his job security, perhaps it seemed like empty promises to them because the proposals fell through. Maybe people are being ultra-cautious with the whole 'better safe than sorry' outlook, but this personally, was one of the last things I foresaw as a side-effect from the recession. Add to that the many people who are all of a sudden India-bound, or just moving east - to Europe, Singapore, Japan, etc.. where the recession seems 'lesser'? I maybe mistaken about this but I suppose that many other countries have better job protection schemes than the US. And the "termination packages" are entirely sustainable till one finds another job unlike the US where you are asked to clear out your desk on fine day. So, till the economy recovers or maybe beyond, is the East the new West?

Spring is in

I always wondered why Europe changed it's time for Spring almost a month after the US did. Now I know why. It's because when the time changed in the US, we were still semi-freezing. But slowly over the past month, unbeknownst to us, the light has lasted longer (it gets dark only after 8 pm now), flowers have sprung on the grass, the trees have started sprouting leaves again, the chill has left the air and the crowning glory - my office is warm again (Why is this the crowning glory? Read these.) And after bitching about the cold that much, it was only appropriate that I welcome Spring with widespread arms. It was a long winter but finally Spring has sprung in.

Subtitle Alert!

Does this happen to you? You’re watching something with subtitles… and all you can see and concentrate on are the subtitles? You miss people’s expressions, the scene and what not, even though you entirely understand what’s being said, your eyes are completely drawn to the subtitles alone? I HATE when that happens.

Vegetable Biryani

Today S had the biryani craving… and having only just restocked the fridge, the ingredients weren’t lacking. And so I set about making it.

What	How much
Veggies	Whatever you can find! Onions – 3 medium, Tomatoes – 2 medium, Carrots – 2, Potato – 1, Green chilly – 1, peas, etc.
Spices
Mustard seeds	1/2 tsp
Jeera seeds	1/2 tsp
Bay leaves	2 small
Cinnamon stick (dal-cheeni)	1/2 inch piece
Dried red chillies	2-3 broken
Ginger-garlic paste	1 tsp
Turmeric	1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder	3/4 tsp
Dhaniya-jeera powder (optional)	1 tsp
Other
Curd	3/4 cup, beaten with equal amount of water
Cashew nuts/ raisins	As you desire
Basmati rice	2 cups washed well and cooked so that they are separate and not sticky
Salt	To taste
Oil	2 tsp
Coriander	To season

How?
1. Prepare the curd for marinating the veggies. Beat the curd with water. Add a pinch of salt and 1/2 tsp of ginger-garlic and mix well. Set aside.
2. Wash all the veggies well. Cut carrots and potatoes and 1 onion lengthwise, in thin slices and let it marinate in the curd for at least a half hour.
3. Cut the other 2 onions also in thin slices and the tomatoes in small cubes.
4. In a large skillet, heat the 2 tsp of oil.
5. Once the oil has heated sufficiently, add the spices in the order mentioned from Mustard seeds to ginger-garlic paste. Toss in washed cashews/raisins once the rest of the spices have cooked to brown them as well.
6. Next, put in the onions and the tomatoes that have been cut separately and cook on medium-high with salt to release the juices. Stir constantly to avoid any charring. Add the turmeric and the dhaniya-jeera powder.
7. Lower the gas to medium-low once the onion-tomato mixture has cooked fully. Add the marinating veggies with the curd and peas to the skillet and stir in. Add the red chilly powder and any more salt (if required). Close the lid and allow to cook for at least 5 minutes. The carrots and the potatoes take a while to cook on an open container.
8. Open the lid, test if the veggies have all cooked. Once you’re sure of that, turn off the gas. You are ready to stir in the rice.
9. Add the rice in small quantities to the veggies, stirring in carefully to make sure that you do not break the rice. Adding too much rice will not keep the biryani moist the way it should be and adding too little will make it watery. Keep adding rice to the mixture till you are satisfied with the consistency of the biryani.
10. Garnish with fresh, washed coriander leaves and voilà, you’re set!
Notes: To make the flavor more authentic, you could soak 5-10 strands of saffron in water for 10-15 minutes and “color” some of the rice with this to give it the distinct orange color and flavor for a more authentic biryani.
It suffices to say that we probably won’t be eating biryani outside for a long time. It was perfect. The flavor, the color, the texture, the taste, all of it. Serve with raita/chips. I leave you here with one more shot. Bon Appétit!

I'm an IndYAN

I vaguely remember some rap song like that... "I'm an IndYAN.. I am an IndYan". This past week has been so weird. As Indian as I look, I have been confronted by a wide variety of people and been mistaken to be everyone from Spanish to Moroccan. I get that... maybe because of the jet black hair and matching eyes.. and maybe the kajal (kohl) in my eyes and brown skin, perhaps I look Meditteranean to the unitiated eye. Surprisingly though, no one guessed Indian. Hmph. Not even the Sri Lankan folks. Well, they often thought I was one of them. They would just break into Tamil with me... and well, of course I could reply... but our dialects were so obviously different that the second I opened my mouth, my Nationality was obvious. And this is all a shocker for I have always been told how TamBrahm I look. I think all us South-Asians (India-Pak-Sri Lanka-Bangladesh) look similar to many people... sorta how many people can't tell the difference between Indians from the east-China-Tibet-Japan. Funny how perceptions vary. If only perceptions could reach through to the varied cultures between all these countries.

Making the list

I am one of those people who needs to make a list for most things… even if it has just one item. It makes me feel organized and like I’ve thought things through. Even when I used to chart out my study schedules back in my student days (oh wait a minute, I am still there!)… I religiously made out plans to the minute hoping somewhere that I vaguely followed it. More often than not I would end up having spent more time making the schedule than sticking to it. And when I start making a list and have only one item, I usually add more things to it, whether they were entirely relevant or not. It makes me feel like I have an agenda. Very weird… but I know others who do it! Besides, having more than one thing to do promotes the need to complete at least one of the tasks enlisted. Indeed when I used to work for CTS, I used to have my own white board space on which everyday I would neatly enlist my “Tasks for the day”. As the day wore on, the guilt of not having completed any would slowly take over and I would work really hard to complete at least one major ‘bullet point’ because I took (and still take) extreme happiness in adding a check-mark to an action item once completed. That’s what seals the accomplishment, for me. My own acknowledgment of a job well-done (which I don’t give myself unless it’s truly done to the best of my satisfaction). And well, personally I need these silly boosts to elevate me to do the next item on the list (usually in the order of priority) and as the saying goes – If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it. Whatever works, works.

The Hail-Nails challenge

It's high time... Finally I've decided that I've got to stop biting my nails. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, here's some reference to get abreast - http://jollyjaya.blogspot.com/search/label/nail%20biting. Having succeeded twice before on distinct occasions, I know I can do it. But I need to do it once more... NOW. My sad excuse-for-nails finger tops have become embarrassing especially in a professional environment (not that everyone's staring at my nails-or lack of)... but in this extremely Fashion-conscious country, every bit(e) counts. And if not for me, not for my poor long-lost-hope-nails, for the fashion element in this country, I have got to to grow my nails back. I realize that this is a hard task ahead. And so now, I am equipped with a lot of ammunition that needs to back up my flimsy will-power -chewing gum, weird nail polish, etc. All you long-nailed folks, wish me luck. Biters, join me in this challenge and let's beat it!

The reason I am making this public is in the hope that it will make me stick with it... and a few months down the line, I hope I can post pics of normal-looking, well-painted girly nails. Keep watching this space... I plan to post updates (not that anyone cares) but anyone else in on this challenge is welcome to post updates too!

The biggest pet peeve

Ah... anyone who knows me knows that I am a stickler for propriety in the written language (okay, even the spoken language). While errors on that end are not half as bad, especially when they're genuine mistakes, I think what crawls my skin unfailingly each time is when I read something that's written lyk dis coz dis iz d l8est shtyle in lyf. Big style-bhai alert!
I don't think I got the concept right even now... because try as I might, I can't write like that. This is how the younger generation communicates from what I've seen of the majority. Because you know, who's going to type all those extra letters in a word and waste, like 5 seconds! Time is galleons and so what if you spend it on Orkut/Facebook, etc? That doesn't mean that one should spend time typing the one extra letter that'll differentiate the word typed from what it was intended to be to what it was made out to be. Gosh! Even writing about me has me all irked and pouty. Time to end this post.