Tastes of Mumbai.... The list of what I miss most!

I miss Indian food so much, so I decided to make a list of exactly the things that I mean to have once I get back to Mumbai ... :)
Here is the list in no particular order:

* Bhelpuri at the Bhelwala under the building
* Pani puri at Tarabaug, Charni road
* Ragda Pattice on the Govt. College road, Marine drive
* Karachi halwa and Daal Pakwan from Punjabi Chanru halwai,4 Bunglows
* Mysore Masala dosa from the stall near Ahimsa Hall, Khar
* Misal Pav from Vinay Health Home, Thakurdwar
* Pav Bhaji from Shiv Sagar (Napean Sea road) and Sardar's (Tardeo)
* Motichoor ladoo, Raj Kachori from Tiwari's
* Jalebi, ghathia and papaya chutney from Khau galli, Opera House
* Vada pav and masala chaas behind K.C college, Churchgate
* Fresh lime soda from a railway station
* Veg. pattice from Monginis & Merwans'
* Samosa and green chili from the Byculla vegetable market
* Cutting chai at Ashirwad and Indryani (Office)
* Paneer butter masala & veg. kolhapuri at Sai Palace (Office)
* Kanda Pohe from the office cafeteria
* Idli-vada sambhar at Sadanand near Crawford market
* Kulfi falooda at Badshaah, Crawford Market
* A wholesome meal at Bhagat Tarachand's with a bottle of chaas and kheecha papad

Westerm music - Familiar???

Nope. This isn't a 'songs of the 21st century countdown'... This is different.

Kids my age grew up watching Chitrahaar on Sunday mornings till the early nineties. I really do not know when exactly I started listening to English music. I remember being your run-of-the-mill adolescent whose love for music centered around contemporary bollywood numbers. I had no idea who Dylan or Lennon was. Far I was concerned, The Beatles were a family of bugs who lived down a cottage from Mr. Catterpillar in an Enid Blyton book.

So, recently as I was going thru and arranging my music, I was genuinely surprised at how much Western music I have. The suprise stemmed from the the fact that I actually liked so much Western music... understood and liked it. Amazing. I was introduced to it a decade ago, when I got my first PC. I got a free music CD with the PC drivers, and Billy Joel's 'River of Dreams' was the first song music ever owned. It remains one of my favorite songs to this day.

Anyway, as I was running thru my collection, I noticed a few old songs that have just stuck around ...

Here's one song for instance, that everyone who was born around 1980 in India is familiar with. This is regardless of whether the person is interested in western music, interested in music at all, owns a computer, speaks English ...... "Summer of '69' by Bryan Adams. The song is played at all social functions, if the occassion demands a song. It effortlessly cuts thru the folk songs at a traditional Indian wedding. It can make bored employees break into a jig at a corporate annual get-together with the same ease. It shall be played at Holi and Diwali celebrations, even Ganpati visarjans, for no apparent reason - probably just because everyone in the youth understands and enjoys it. I know its been remixed with Punjabi bhangra music, and has been given every synthetic treatment possible.

It just so happens that listening to western music is the cool thing while you're growing. If you think you can't relate to this - think if you had to choose between a guy who listed to Kumar Sanu, and another who listened to Bob Dylan - who would you pick? Seriously.... who would you be seen around with? With this whole trying-to-fit in mindset, an uninitiated kid starts listening to whatever (s)he can lay her / his hands on. Some english tracks have become legendary in this regard.

Take 'Desert Rose' by Sting for instance. It was probably 4 years after I had initailly heard the songs, that I could actually make out the lyrics. And I know most people still can't. The frustating part about this song is, that it is so familiar. And yet when it plays, you find yourself unable to sing any of it, thereby forfeiting the claim that you are actually familiar with the song!

And the there's the eternal love song 'Nothing's gonna change my love for you'. Everyone shall have a copy of this track. It shall either be by Glenn Mederios or George Benson, although I have not been able to determine who actually sang the song.

Other tracks worth a mention that may ring a bell include Uptown Girl (Billy Joel / Boyzone), 25 minutes (MLTR), It's my Life (Bon Jovi), Pretty Woman (, Roy Osborne), Careless whisper (George Michaels), Hotel California (The Eagles) and Candle in the wind (Elton John)

If you can relate to this, do leave back a comment with your comments.

Deja Vu

Its just over 11 years now.

Under lights at Eden Gardens, the Indian innings is disarray in Wills World Cup semi final. After a freaky Tendulkar dismissal, Indians over the country begin to hope for a miracle as wickets begin to tumble.... Images of Kambli walking back weeping and stands being burnt are vividly splashed in the papers, the next day.

And then on March 18, 1996, the Ceylon Tigers beat the Australians, courtesy a DeSilva gem... the 60 to 1 outsiders lifted the World Cup - the first chasing team to do so.

Fast forward to present.... Its Sri lanka versus Australia again.

Sri Lanka are probably currently at their peak since the 1996 triumph. Although they have always been a team to contend with, they have relied on individual brilliance a lot. The new crop of players in the team is a talented & enthusiastic bunch.

Australia have been on the top of their game ever since their victory in the 1999 version of the World Cup. Despite showing chinks in the armor in losses to England in the series prior to the World Cup, the team has been ruthless in this tournament.

Sri Lanka shall look for a repeat of their sub continent win a decade ago.

Australia shall aim to make it three in a row - a feat no team has achieved yet.

At an individual levels, the players from both the teams have a lot of play for..

From the Sri Lankan camp, Jayasuriya, Vaas & Muralitharan are over 34 and shall probably bow out after the tournament. Amongst the Aussies, Hayden, Gilchrist and McGrath fall into this category. These are world class players, amongst the best in recent times. A world cup final is a big occassion for any player, and they shall be the ones to watch out for. The bowler-batsman battle that ensues that be a fine exhibition of cricket.

Amongst the other players, Lasith Malinga and Shaun Tait are two players to watch out for. They have taken the World Cup by storm by their aggressive bowling. It shall be interesting to see how Hayden and Jayasuriya match up against them.

Between the captains, Ponting is naturally a more aggressive captain. However, the soft spoken Jayawardene is as shrewd as his mentor Ranatunga, is well aware of the Australian pressure building tactics.

In retrospect, it seems only fair that these two teams are meeting in the final.

One may criticize the format of this version of the WC as much as they want, the fact is - we did have the four best teams in the semi finals, and now have the best two in the finals.

Of Pickles & Lady fingers ...

My friends and colleagues at office are out to "Americanize" me, whatever that means.

I have tilted strongly towards coffee... the Brooke Bond packet is lying untouched in some nook in my room. You have to give them that - they have some good coffee here! (And Bless those Crispy Creme donut people!)

Its been six months in the US, and the American culture still manages to surprise me quite often. In the words of someone at work, I speak "The Queen's" English, while everyone around speaks "American". That's just euphemism for - you don't talk straight...

So, what I have put together is a few things that shall tickle you pink about these Americans, if you already do not know this.

The biggest sacrilege any man can commit is admitting he does not like cricket. It is very difficult for an Indian to take a liking to such a person. Well, the number of Americans who like cricket probably does not exceed 17. I am told that cricket is a sissy game... players wearing all that padding and bright clothing... Sheesh! Someone even added, that only nations that were colonized by the British play cricket. This is true to an extent, but in no way brings the stature of the sport down.

What's the most popular sport in the World? Soccer, right?

Wrong, I am told - its Baseball during the Baseball season, and Football during the NFL season. Yeah right! These people have World series every year, and the only country taking part is the United States! How lame is that! And American football... why is it called Football, when the only time you use your foot is to actually score the bonus goal?

The other day, I had conjured some some decent rice pulao by accident, and I put some mango pickle on my plate to go with it. My friend asked me what it was, and my answer surprised him, shocked even. Pickle? from a Mango... Pickles are made from Cucumber, dude, he says.... I did not bother telling with that we pickle everything from chillies to carrots. By the way, I got a jar of cucumber pickles in my Easter basket, along with my 1lb. chocolate bunny. That was pretty cool ... :)

Then there was this big discussion over Lady finger at office one day. I wass adamant that a Lady finger (Bhendi) was a vegetable, as any Indian shall tell you. Bhendi is called Okra here, and I was apprised that Lady finger was a desert. What????? Sometimes it just seems people find out the meaning of a word outside US, and then use it for exactly something different within US. That's probably what makes the Life interesting for an alien.

Anyway, I took everyone to my PC and went to my trusted friend - Wikipedia. It betrayed me!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Finger_%28cookie%29

I turned to my second resort, Google image search... this one was better...

http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&q=lady+finger&btnG=Search+Images

In the end, I found Lady fingers is indeed a desert, something like Tiramisu.

Bhendi is called Lady's finger....

You can relate to this post only if logging on to a computer is part of your daily routine.

You stagger into your office early morning, while the sun is bright, the sky is blue and the birds are chirping. The only thing you have to look forward to is your Outlook inbox. With a resigned look, you mutter your Good Mornings in a monotone to colleagues who are within the earshot or sight.

You try logging on, and the computer flashes an error message: "The password is incorrect...."
I have observed that based on how people react at this point; they can be classified into one of the following categories:

• The clueless coworker

These people shall be taken aback for a second, and then look as if they might burst into tears. They shall look around like a rabbit, trying to find someone to share their misfortune. They shall go to the nearest person and say, “My computer doesn’t like me anymore …” No further attempts are necessary: the day has already been ruined in perspective.
People falling into this category are usually females (No offence meant: Note that I did not write ‘Females usually fall into this category’ …)

• The lazy leech

People in this category shall initially glare at the screen, and then look around like Golem for secrecy. Next, the password shall be entered incorrectly twice ensuring that the account is locked. They shall then help themselves to a low chuckle, and promptly head out for a smoke …People, who have been around in the organization for a while at the same level, usually fall into this class. With a brilliant scheming mind, this is their way of getting back at the organization.

• The panicky pessimist

People in this category initially react like the category above, and then… panic!
They get all keyed up, and think of 3498 reasons why they have been denied access to their own system – but the possibility of having entered the password incorrectly does not occur to them. Maybe my internet browsing history was tracked, maybe they found all that music on the hard disk, maybe they just plain terminated me … every possible scenario shall flash thru their amazing minds. Ask them to try logging on again, and they shall look at you beseechingly, as if to say,” What’s the use?”
These people are born pessimists, but a great source for music, games and useful two-bit software that shall expire in 13 days.

• The natural nerd

This group is like the white Bengal tiger… rare and endangered species.
These people shall be initially shocked, and then try to enter the password again – this time as if an incorrect keystroke would cause them to lose their job. If the same message appears a second time, they shall repeat the exercise, as if computer ran on a third-time-lucky algorithm. Once this fails, and the account is hopelessly locked, they raise a ticket with the helpdesk. Some high achievers shall go ahead, sit at an unoccupied machine and start working on whatever is possible, so that the organization’s quarter-end revenue target remains achievable.

• The woeful wanna-be

This class of people wants to be like the nerds, since its appraisal time.
These people shall be classified as the lazy leech a few years from now. They shall suspend the account the on purpose and then bawl about not being able to work – making sure the boss hears it. To be doubly sure, they shall have the boss raise an urgent ticket with the helpdesk to resolve the issue.
Next, they shall call the helpdesk person, and take him for a smoke.

• The Neolithic non-techie

This category is strictly for the management types… the pointy haired bosses….
These people shall write their passwords on a sticky note and put it on the back of the keyboard. The day after they change their password, inevitably they shall try to enter the same old password. The error message appears … If you try and help them out, they shall throw some technical jargon at you – network issue, firewall problem, system crash down, etc… it’s their way of making conversation. In most cases, you shall sheepishly move away before tearing your hair apart …

What category do you fall into?

Innovative Bhel!

(My first tasty dish!!!)

Cooking

My culinary skills before coming to the US included making great maggi, good tea and uh.. ummm.. that's pretty much it, actually. Practically speaking, I was not someone who can whip up imaginative masterpieces from the kitchen.

Equipped with a few recipes that my mother penned down & basic Indian utensils, I was ready for the challenge - surviving on my self cooked food. I was pretty confident initially, that I'd be able to get some decent meals made.

I failed miserably.

One disaster after another, my time in the kitchen was beginning to resemble like an Adam Sandler movie. On my X'mas visit to LA, my aunt taught me a few basic recipes and gave me some valuable tips. I have improved after that... atleast I can eat whatever I make, although I have my share of problems as well.

I still find it hard to tell the difference between jeera and ajwain. So, I keep it simple and add both whenever a recipe call for either of them. The internet has helped me with my cooking as well and I have learnt quite a bit. A major problem with every recipe book or a site however, is that no one shall give you measurements for salt / spices. "Salt to taste". What's that supoosed to mean? I am going to taste the dish after its all cooked, how am I supposed to know how much is enough. I found that the hard way.... the hard 'salty' way.

Something else that I have learnt with cooking is the darned jargon involved. I just knew cooking involved the gas stove. As if different recipes requiring low, medium and high flame level was enough of an overload, the food needs to simmered, sauteed, stewed and what not.... You literally have to maintain a data dictionary for all this. Imagine you ask a friend for a recipe of say, green beans, and she replies - 'Well, you just buy these fresh snap peas and beans, yada yada yada simmer on a low flame yada yada yada... saute in yada yada sauce....' How can one understand all this, let alone remember it? I'd just nod in resignation..

Another observation: A recipe will never turn out good if you follow directions painfully to the point. (Cakes could be the exception to this rule) You need to add some of your own variation to get the taste and texture right. Its almost as if the recipe has been written as a puzzle. You need to identify the flaw before following the instructions.... You can recognize some of them easily, they are downright lame - like using an apple while preparing tomato puree.

I have realized, I am real good at making snacks. My Bhel and Bhaji turned out real nice (I've posted their pictures) Perhaps, I still have hope if I the IT sector gives me the boot....