Chungs Chinese corner - dinner experience

You know the value of home cooked food, if you had been out of home at least for a month. And for a person who had been out of home for nearly ten years, you can judge the value of home cooked food.

So, instances, or situations where you get a little of that home cooked food, or the love associated with it, leaves you overwhelmed with joy. One such situation arose, recently, when I dined with my husband in a chinese restaurent in Bangalore. We had been to attend the CA award giving ceremony in Bangalore palace. I got so hungry around 7 o clock, and since dinner would not be served before 9, we decided to have dinner some where outside. We took an auto to M.G. Road metro around 8.00 P.M. Took the metro to indira nagar. I was so hungry, that if I dint have something immedietly, I felt I would faint. Very next to Indira nagar metro, we saw a    decent looking chinese restaurent, and we rushed in. We ordered  veg manchow soup and asked the bearer to get it immedietly, while we decide on the remaining menu. The soup was good, decent. Only after having the soup, I felt my energy returning. We ordered a veg schezwan fried rice, paneer manchurian for myself and some chicken dry item and chicken momos for my husband. I finished the paneer manchurian first and my husband had the momos first. My husband was very much satisfied with the taste of the momos and said they tasted heavenly. He liked the chilly ginger chutney served along with it too, Then, we were served the fried rice. It was authentic and good. But I had had better schezwan fried rice in Chennai- in Mainland china. The service was good. The bearer was prompt in refilling the water and waited upon us to see to our next order.Since, I already had the paneer manchurian, I was feeling full. I ate the fried rice with difficulty. My husband also felt the same, as he had momos and chicken. There was some rice still left in the bowl. Since, we felt we could eact no more, we left it and asked for the bill. The bearer, started serving the remaining rice to me. I said no, leave it. Surprisingly, just as a mother does, he coaxed and cajoled me, saying - " Just one more spoon madam, you can eat it..just one more''. So saying, he put , one spoon rice on my spoon and made me have it. He did the same to my husband, and and by doing that he emptied the bowl. I was so surprised with his behaviour, and did not want to hurt such a sweet smiling face, that, I had the food. I felt happy too. I was reminded of how my mother used to make me and my brothers have food coaxing in for each morsel. 

The restaurant that we went is ''Chungs Chinese corner''. That north east guy made a impression on me for life. The unknown bearer of Chungs chinese corner -A big thank you to you. And also to all those people who are like you.

Black is beautiful

Anita was frustrated after a long day at work. How could Pratap behave like this? She had done everything in her capacity to make the client get the best comfort. The client had clearly mentioned that he wanted coffee with milk.But when Pratap came he changed his stand and told him that he was not treated well- he had requested black tea, and he was being served milk coffee. And he raised hue and cry over this small trivial issue. This was not the first time he had behaved liked that and Pratap knew that .If he is not satisfied, in spite of all her efforts, she could not be blamed for it. But Pratap had done just that. He had yelled at her in front of the entire office staff. She had not expected this kind of behaviour from Pratap. Though he was her boss at office, he was also her childhood friend. And what had he said-"don't think that even if you don't do what is expected out of your designation, you can escape, just so that, I know you from a long time. I cant stand this 'Chaltha hai' attitude.''. Her eyes started welling up with tears when she remembered his words. Despite everything she did to the company, to Pratap, those long working hours, the days she sacrificed her personal life for office, everything seems to have just evaporated, just because an insane client is not satisfied. She recollected how she had spent her school days, coaching Pratap, so that he could pass in the examinations, doing the projects on behalf of Pratap, so that he can get good marks in college, making him sit and study, at the cost of her own studies. If she had just concentrated in her studies, she would have stood first. 

Wiping her tears, she noticed that she was near the Chowpatty beach. She did not realise how she drove all the way from office till there. She decided, she wanted some time to pull herself together, and she realised, she was hungry too. She parked her car, and walked towards the beach. She bought a Bhelpuri and sat down, facing the sea. It had started to get dark. The Bhelpuri satiated her hunger, and the cool breeze improved her mood. She decided she will talk to Pratap, and if he is not happy with her work, then she  would resign. She would do all the things she enjoyed doing, which she had not been able to do due to work.She would start painting.She would go on a holiday with her parents.She would visit the orphanage and play with the kids there. She remembered how much she loved being with kids.These thoughts brought a smile to her face and she sat there enjoying the sea breeze.

Chinki was a pampered child. All of three years, she knew how to make her parents dance to her tune. She just had to start crying, that her parents would be on their knees to please her, get her what she wanted.Today, her wish was balloons. She waited for her papa to return from work. The moment he stepped in she ran to him and declared - "Papa, I want Pink coloured balloon". Her papa, though was very tired, was very happy that his little princess could differentiate colours. So he said, '' My angel wants pink coloured balloon?, sure, papa will get it while coming from work tomorrow. Now where did angel see the pink coloured balloon''?. For which Chinki replied ''Bunty from the next door has a pink coloured balloon, and he refused to play with me. So I want two pink coloured balloons, so that I can show him and play by myself tomorrow morning. So I want the balloons NOW''. Her papa and mama tried a lot to persuade her saying, they shall get her many other coloured balloons, tomorrow evening. But Chinki was adamant and started to cry. With no other way, her papa and mama took her to Chowpatty beach, with the hope to get pink coloured balloons.

Chotu counted his balloons. Three more- two pink and one black. He loved the pink ones. He always wanted a balloon to play with, not to sell. But he knew, that in his fate, he could only sell. With his father paralysed, and mother suffering from that awful disease, where she spat out blood every time she coughed, he knew the value of each and every rupee.He also knew that the twenty rupees that the Seth gave him for selling the balloons, along with few rupees earned by his elder brother by doing odd jobs were not at all sufficient to run his family. Many days they had to go without food.He had been to school for an year, when his father was well, and was working in the factory. That seemed long ago now. But that one year of schooling had taught him to count and that is all it mattered in selling balloons now. The Seth was happy with the business young Chotu did.Six years of age,and he could sell more balloons than his other older boys, and he had to pay him only twenty rupees, while the older boys took fifty.

Chotu was happy if the day was pleasant and breezy. It was during those days that parents would bring their children to beach. Children meant business. His balloons would get sold quicker - though there were times, when teenage girls also wanted balloons, when accompanied by a guy. The guys used to buy the balloons for the girls. But that was rare. His usual customers were children.

Chinki, along with her mama and papa, reached the beach. It had become dark and there were no balloon-wallas to be seen. Chinki's papa became worried, as Chinki had started to cry. He got her a Kulfi, and asked her to sit with her mama, while he went looking for a balloon-walla. He was over joyed when he saw Chotu with, thankfully two pink balloons. Chotu, was equally happy to have found a customer who bought two balloons. Now he had to sell only one.Chinki was happy to have got her desired two pink balloons, and she wished to have one more kulfi before going home. Meanwhile, she declared she will play a while with her balloons. Her father, relieved,went to buy her kulfi.

Meanwhile, Chotu, started to go to each and every person on the beach, requesting them to buy the last balloon. But no one seemed interested. Chotu, became sad and started to cry, silent tears. If this balloon is not sold, he would not get his twenty rupees, and mother would not be able to buy medicine for father. He had not eaten anything since morning too.He noticed Chinki, playing happily with the balloons. He felt very sad, thinking of his fate. What was his mistake that he had to work so hard, he cant even play with the balloons, he sells everyday. And who would buy this black balloon today.No child would like black balloon. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he started towards the sea. He was so blinded by tears and also, since, it was dark, he did not notice Anita, sitting on the beach,stumbled against her and fell down. Anita, raised him up, and noticing his tears,asked him if he had hurt himself. He apologised for falling on her, and told her that he was not hurt. Then, she asked why he was crying. He told her that he had to sell his last balloon, to get his daily wage and no one is buying his balloon, since, it was black.Anita smiled, at the recollection of ''Black'' in the morning. She wiped Chotu's tears and offered him hundred rupees. She was sweetly surprised, when Chotu refused and said, that he was not a beggar. So she bought the black balloon for the usual price of ten rupees. Chotu thanked her profusely and started to walk away. She called him and gave him the black balloon, saying this is a gift to him. Chotu was so much over-joyed, on getting a balloon to play - what if it is black, it was a balloon still. He gave her his sweet smile and thanked her.

On second thoughts, Anita, called him back, rummaged through her bag, brought out few items of her cosmetics,and made a colourful glittery graffiti on the black balloon. She used her nail paints and glitters. Now the once boring black balloon became a master piece and glittered against the dark sky. She smiled on having made someones day and started walking to her car.

Chotu, very happy to have got a balloon, started walking towards the road. Chinki, who had finished her second kulfi, was walking with her parents, when she noticed the colourful black balloon, and as is usual with Chinki, immediately demanded that balloon be bought for her. Her dutiful papa, approached Chotu to buy the balloon, and he was impressed with the graffiti on the balloon. He realised that few minutes ago, the balloon was plain. He asked Chotu, who had made the graffiti. Chotu pointed Anita to him, who was walking towards her car. Chinki's papa, asked Chotu, to wait for a few minutes and he ran to Anita. He appreciated and  congratulated her on her Art on the balloon, offered her a job as graffiti Artist in his office. He explained to her that he was an art collector, exhibitor and he is also runs a studio and he had not seen such fine graffiti as the one she had done on the balloon. He gave her his visiting card and asked her to come to his studio tomorrow.Anita, who always loved painting, said she would visit his studio. She was also happy to have found a job, when she had decided to leave her previous one.She thanked Chinki's father and took his leave.

When Chinki's father came to Chotu, and requested him to sell the black balloon, Chotu, refused saying that, it is not for sale. He told him that he got  his long time wish to play with a balloon fulfilled only today and he cannot part with that now. Chinki's wails started increasing in volume when she noticed that her father is being unsuccessful in getting the balloon. She started crying that she wanted only the balloon which was with Chotu, and she does not want the pink balloons. Chotu, seeing Chinki cry, said, he is glad to exchange the black balloon for a pink one. So that was settled. Chotu, went home happy with a pink balloon and Chinki, with a colorful black balloon and a pink balloon. Chinki's parents were happy as their daughter was happy. Chinki's father was glad that he had found great talent in Anita. Anita had gone home, with satisfaction that she had got a job that she loved.

So, all is well that ends well. And one good deed begets another.

Cuttack -The Silver City

Cuttack - The Silver City. Some of my Odiya friends might know that a Odiya movie is released on this name, as I found from the big movie hoardings in cuttack and Bhubaneshwar. I was able to read the English tag - ''The Silver City'', and got to know the name of the movie, which was in Odiya, from my husband.But I am not going to explain about the movie- for I understand Odiya only sparsely.Even if I manage to watch the movie, without sub-titles, I am not sure, if I could be able to make much of it.

Cuttack is the home city of my husband and hence, we had been to visit my in-laws. I like the city, with its historic and rustic combo look. Its seems to be a perfect blend of the urban and rustic virtues. People seem to still retain the traditional human values, at the same time adopting the urban culture. The roads are wide sans heavy traffic, though many roads are dusty, they are bordered by greenery. The city is an island, though is connected to Bhubaneshwer by roads and bridges. So anywhere you go, you end up crossing at least one water-body, which makes it all more beautiful. It has two main rivers - the Mahanadi and the Kathjodi.

Almost every alternate evening, my husband took me out to roam about the city. We had mouth watering Dahi vada, aloo dum and aloo chop. My husband informed me that Cuttack is famous for dahi vada, aloo dum, especially Raghu's dahi vada aloo dum. It seems that Raghu has been selling it for more that four decades. He was around since the time my father-in-law was a boy. Now he is a old man, who sits in a corner overlooking the business, while his sons handle the shop. Many a time we failed to get dahi vada aloo dum, for we had reached a little late and the whole stock was sold off. If that be the case, we used to have paani poori in the market place. Then there is this very tasty Narula Kulfi. I had it whenever I did not have cold. May be due to change in climate, I caught cold every alternate day. The dahi vada aloo dum is so filling that, if I had it in the evening, I had to skip dinner. I liked the aloo chop as well.

Sunset from the naraj

Note the barrage in the middle

Kathjodi - view from the bridge

As I mentioned earlier, there are two main rivers flowing in Cuttack. One day my husband took me to the "naraj''. It is the place where there is a  barrage. The view of sunset from there is breath taking. Since, it is a secluded place and is not safe, we did not spend much time there. Rather, we went on a ride on the adjoining bridge. The bridge is bulit over the Kathjodi. We stopped mid way on the bridge and enjoyed the view from there. 

Cuttack is called the Silver City, for a reason. It is famous for a fine art work, whose main raw material is silver.Heard of filigree work? - it is an craft where thin wire of silver is used to create motifs, which are made to delicate jewellery, show pieces etc. There is a wide choice of jewellery made with the white metal to choose from - ranging from ear hangings, neck laces, anklets, toe rings, rings etc. Statues( I am not sure if I can call them statues - since they are made with wire), of Gods and Goddesses are also available. I was really fascinated by the Kalpa- Vruksh made with silver, and decorated with precious stones and enamel. The price you pay will include the price of silver in weight and the making charges. The making charges, for some exquisite and intricate work, sometimes would be so high that, the price of silver would look peanuts. But it seems worthwhile, looking at the craftsmanship. Due to lack of patronage, this craft is slowly fading out. So I made my contribution, by purchasing a pair of anklets. In my previous visit to Cuttack, I had purchased ear hangings. I got few other pieces of jewellery as gifts.

Anklets

Ear-hangings

Ear-hangings(notice the thin wire, which is interlaced)

Kada(bangle)

Toe rings

Toe rings

Toe rings

I bought a beautiful handloom cotton saree from the Orissa Art Emporium. Since it involved so much manual skill to make that saree, it was expensive, the price almost comparable to a pure silk saree. The shop had good collection of ethnic wear - sarees and salwar sets, in cotton and silk. Silk is called paatu here. Though there were many exclusive sarees, which seemed to be one of a kind, I could not buy them due to the high price.

May be, next time, I will buy one more saree, one more craft work in silver, manage to look around the Barbati palace, visit the place of birth of Subhash chandra bose, watch a match in the Barbati stadium. Looking forward to the next visit.

Konark ,Pipli and Dhauli

The next day was equally refreshing as the last one. We woke up early and went to the beach to enjoy the sunrise. The sunrise was enchanting - with clear waters, clean sands. To add to it, we had instant made tea on the beach. I liked the idea - the man carried a bucket full of water, a custom made bag, which could hold a vessel of milk, tea leaves, cups, sugar and a short stool to hold the stove. On getting the order, he instantly lit the kerosene stove and prepared the tea. We came back to the hotel at around 7.00 a.m, took some photographs of the hotel,got ready, had breakfast(which was included in the tariff of room rent) and checked out of the hotel. From there we went to Konark.

Konark - The road which links Puri and  Konark is called the marine drive and is by the sea. We enjoyed the cool breeze from the sea throughout.We stopped at the Chandrabhaga beach. It was as beautiful and as clean as the puri beach. But we reached there at noon and it was so sunny and glaring that, it hurt the eye. So we did decided not to spend more time there and made to the sun temple. The sun temple is also known as the black pagoda and is a UN world heritage site. The temple is built in the form of the chariot of the sun God Surya, drawn by seven horses and twelve wheels or chakras. Only one of the horses remain today. The entrance is guarded by two gigantic lions, crushing two elephants. The elephant in turn seems to be crushing a human.Opposite to the temple is the Natya mandir, where the dev dasis used to dance for the sun God.The carvings are very intricate and detailed, mostly of human forms. Floral,geometric patterns are also found all over the temple and in the Natya mandir. Remains of the dining hall and the chaya devi mandir(consort of God surya) can also be found on the site.Konark is famous for stone/rock sculpture. I shopped and bought a miniature temple and the Konark chakra. 

Konark sun temple

The dining hall

The Natya Mandir for Devdaasis

Note the Giraffe on right hand side

In one of the sculptures, we noticed a giraffe. All of us know that Giraffes are not of Indian origin. This sculpture, signifies, probably trade relations with South Africa.

From Konark, we started our way back. I was not hungry, due to having had a heavy breakfast,  hence skipped lunch. My husband and the driver had typical Odiya food in a hotel on the way back. Around two O clock, we reached Pipli.

Pipli: I was wondering if this is the same village as in Amir Khan's movie "Peepli Live". I was informed it was not :-). Of course, the spelling is also different. Pipli, is a small village on the Puri-Bhubaneshwar road. It is famous for a craft called "Äpplique work''. It is a  process of cutting coloured cloth into shapes of animals, birds, flowers,gods,and other decorative motifs and stitching them over a piece of cloth. The products vary from lamp shades, umbrellas, hand bags, bed spreads, cushion covers,wall hanging etc. I bought a wall hanging.I shall post the picture of the same after I mouth it on the wall.

From Pipli, we moved to Dhauli.

Buddha statue at the Stupa

Translation of the Rock Edicts

The Daya River

Dhauli is the site, where the Kalinga war was fought by Emperor Ashoka. It is next to river Daya- whose water is said to have turned red after the battle, from the blood of the soldiers. The sight of the red river melted the heart of Chanda Ashoka, made him repent and embrace Buddhism. Dhauli also houses the rock edicts of Ashoka's doctrine of Dharma. They are written in Prakrit - so I was not able to make head or tail out of them. There was a translation in English, thankfully. There is a Stupa - called the Shanti stupa, constructed by Japanese. It seems to be a recent construction.

That is it. Back to Bhubaneshwar. I heard that there are many interesting places in Bhubaneshwar as well. Due to shortage of time, we could not visit those. May be, I shall - in my next visit to Orissa.

Puri and Raghurajpur

My first visit to Odisha(then Orissa) was after marriage in july 2011. I did not get a chance to explore or roam about the area much. I stayed confined to the house, as was expected of newly-wed daughter-in-law- I donot have regrets, for I got to spend time with the new family.My second trip was more fruitful. My husband took me out to almost every other day during evenings. We also went on a trip to Puri, Konark and Dhauli. On the way to Puri, we went to Raghurajpur, which is famous for "Talpata chitra'' and "pata chitra'' or paintings on palm leaves and paintings on cloth. Drawing is made by carving on the palm leaves and is painted. I will get to the details in a short while.

We started from Bhubaneshwar at approximately 8.00 a.m. The scenic beauty after crossing Bhubaneswar is just awesome. It is a feast to the eyes. We had break fast at Pipli, which falls on the way to Puri. I can vouch for one thing - you can get amazing food at mind boggling low prices in Odisha, that keeps one wondering how the people manage to survive by selling their food products at such low prices. We had Poori and dalma, accompanied by Raabdi, at a roadside hotel. Food is abundantly available in Orissa, that you feel that the people live to eat and not the other way round. You find food items heaped to form small hills in the roadside shops. After breakfast, we took a detour to Raghurajpur, which I mentioned earlier. I was of the opinion that my trip to Puri was a religious one. But surprisingly, it turned out to be art tour.

Raghurajpur - is a very small but beautiful village, with a lake(it might be a canal too; I am not sure) on the way, bordered with coconut trees and lush greenary all around. It is developed as a heritage crafts village by INTACH. It is famous for patta chitra. The pattachitra paintings are made over a piece of cloth known as Patta or a dried palm leaf, which is first painted with a mixture of chalk and gum. On that drawing of gods and goddesses, scenes from Indian epics, of animals etc are made. The outline of the drawing is distinct and is made in black. Bright naturally derived colors are used in the painting. The paintings are available for sale and exhibition .They are usually sold to foreigners at a price which is double the price quoted to Indians. After a little bargaining, we can strike a deal. Apart from these main products, we can also find other crafts like, toys made out of coconut fibre, stone carving, face masks made out of paper, paintings on glass bottles, shaven coconuts etc.

We spent a lot more of time than we planned in Raghurajpur and so reached Puri around one o clock. Since the Puri Jagannath temple closes by 2.00 p.m, we straightaway went there, instead of going to the hotel.

Puri- Puri Jagannath temple is considered as one of the four "dhams", besides Badrinath, Dwaraka, and Rameswaram. It is felt that these four places have to be visited at least once in ones life time.The main deities are Jagannath, his sister Subhadra and brother Balabadra. The road opposite to the temple is nearly 200 meters wide, to accomodate the Ratha(chariot) yatra of the main deities. It is called the bada dhanda. The temple was crowded, mostly by widows, who were easy to spot in white sarees. The time I visited the temple was during the Karthika month and a little before the panchuka. It seems that this is the favorite time of the year when most widows travel to puri to pray to Lord Jagannath. I need to find out the story behind this from my mother-in-law.One thing that I noticed in this beatiful place( I mean Orissa), which also disappoints me is that nothing is organised here. The people do not follow the required etiquette and you will find no wall without the stains of paan spit. And in the temple people almost would walk over you. No queue system is followed. There is a lot of pushing and pulling in the main temple, that you always need to keep your vigil over your purse and jewellery. The temple prohibits carrying any kind of leather products inside the temple. Waist belts, bags, mobile phones, etc are to be handed over at a counter at the entrance of the temple. My husband was aware of this. So we had left ours in the car. We waited for some ten minutes in the main temple, for darshan. Some kind of pooja was going on with doors closed, and hence we waited patiently for the main deity darshan. And when the doors did open, people pushed over each other to get darshan and almost everyone lifted up their hands praising Jagannath, thereby, seizing any little chance left to get the darshan.I started feeling suffocated in the crowd, so we managed to walk out from there. From there, we went to the anand bazaar. This is the place in the temple where you get the Prasad. Prasad is not one item, but one square meals, complete with sweets. And may be due to the crowd, cleanliness seemed to have been compromised. Since, my husband and I were not very hungry from the heavy breakfast, we did not have the meals, instead, we had Raabdi and some milk peda.

Mayfair hotel, Puri

We checked into the Mayfair hotel around 3.00 p.m. After a quick wash, we had late lunch at the hotel. The ambience of the hotel was awesome. We had the view of the sea and the beach from the hotel and the beach was just outside the hotel. After lunch, we strolled the beach. Puri beach is the cleanest beach that I have ever seen. The sand was soft, and I loved walking bare foot on it and also tried to do some sand art :-).We were lucky to experience the sand art in making by Mr. Sudharshan Pattnaik, to bring awareness to save the endangered olive ridley turtles. The water is so clean and transparent, unlike in other beaches that you can see the sand beneath. We enjoyed the sunset lounging on the beach. After the sunset, we walked back into the hotel and spent a lovely breezy evening at the poolside.We enjoyed our tea, viewing the beach and listening the waves from our room balcony. We decided then that, we will be early birds to catch the warmth from the first ray of the sun, on the beach. It seems ages since, we woke up to see the sunrise. 

Sunset at puri beach

My sand art at the Puri beach

La Tomatina

Yes.. You guessed it right. It was a little "La Tomatina" in my kitchen. I was preparing the tomato pickle, for which, I had to blend the tomatoes to a pulp. May be, I had over loaded the mixer. The moment, i tried to turn, after switching on the mixer, the lid of the mixer went flying, i was splashed with tomato sauce and the entire kitchen, got a " La tomatina'' decoration. I started to clean away the mess. When I was half way through, I got the idea, as to why not photo graph the same. This this was the result. Alas, I did not think of photographing myself. I would have made a good specimen of the tomato festival - though, at home.

The noodle story

He was foodie.Or rather should we say a gourmet, since he does not take interest in the preparation of food, if it is already available in ready-to-eat form.He can travel any great distance, if he gets a whiff of tasty and yummy food - be it vegetarian or non-vegetarian,South Indian or north Indian.He loved momos and noodles (chowmein) too. He is ever-ready to try out any new cuisine. And thankfully his gang of friends were also as foodie as him. If let loose, they can devour a restaurant's food clean to the last bone of chicken.May be,to be his friend, being a foodie is a necessary qualification. He is good at cooking too, which he does only if there is no other easy option available. He has the menu cards of almost all the restaurants, which provide door delivery service or have a Take-Away facility. He has the phone numbers of all the restaurants which serve his favorite food, stored in his mobile, so that he could  book a table whenever he chooses to. Such a gourmet he was, he can go to the extent - of having soup and appetizers in a restaurant, the main course in another and dessert in a third one. He would like to complete the meal with the Banarasi paan. The travel required for travel to four different locations does not dishearten him at all. He would use any mode of transport - bus, train, auto- rickshaw or his own bike. He makes it a point to attend the marriages of all his friends, so that, he could enjoy the wedding delicacies. And that is Arya to you.

The first thing you notice about him is his boyish features and beautiful eyes. Yes, he was handsome too.And reserved. You can be sure - he will not be the one to start a conversation on first meet. And when he does speaks, it looks like he is on a ration on the number of words.He maintained an air of superiority about himself and stayed mostly aloof, even among friends, speaking only if addressed to personally. But he was a great listener. He could listen to any boring lecture with apt attention, as if it was some gossip story involving a movie star. This was a reason that all the talkative people found a great friend in him.His silence did not mean that he was not knowledgeable.He could give you a opinion - only when asked - on any topic under the sun(or the moon for that matter), which could last for half an hour. 

Arya and Ghazal met each other at a 15 day conference on Environmental conservation, which they were forced to attend by their respective organisations.Ghazal was very much outspoken and could lighten up the place she is in with the non-stop chatter and witty comments. She would enter the room like a tornado, managing to speak to everyone in the room, noticing every new thing about everyone and passing her comments and judgement on the same.

Just a glimpse of her five minute presence in the room - there were five people in the library reading room that day, including the librarian's shy assistant Jitu. Ghazal entered the reading room to collect her ipod from Prita. This was how it went. She entered like a whirlwind - her duppata flying, heels clicking, bangles jingling, long earrings swaying, and continuously pulling up her handbag.First to fall prey to her all noticing eyes was Joy - " Hi Joy, kya baat hai?!! :-), you are dazzling like anything? white shirt, blue jeans. Which girl are you trying to impress? Dressed like a Bollywood hero, haan? Or did you already get a girl friend, who is it,who is it?? I will not tell any one.Tell me." All the while, poor Joy was opening and closing his mouth like a fish, looking for a chance when Ghazal would stop talking, so that he can say that it was his birthday. Alas, he dint get one.Very much contradicting her name, her voice is high pitched and shrill. The entire floor could hear her even if she is talking to one person at a time. Next, her eyes fell on Gayathri, who was struggling to solve a Sudoku puzzle, which was her favorite pastime. "Hey Gayathri, I saw your brother yesterday with a girl. He has a girl friend or what? She was not that great looking though, oh, you don't know? then you should give me a treat, I am the one to give you the news, you see; now you can blackmail your brother". Next was Jitu. Jitu was short and fair with exceptionally yellow and zigzag teeth. It looked like each of his tooth pointed to one different angle. And he wore exceptionally white shirts. He can star in any detergent ad, as long as he does not open his mouth. "Hello Jitu sir; what washing powder you use. Are you married? No? You have to try the new tolgate toothpaste. They say in the advertisement that it will give super white teeth. Then it will be matching matching with your dress.Hahaha. Only then you will get married''. Jitu moved away embarrassed. She stopped near Prita, collected her ipod. "have you uploaded all the new movie songs? that is the price for letting you use my ipod once in a while''.And she took an about- turn and started to walk away, stopped mid way and noticed, satish. Hey Satish, here, take this, I need to give you two rupees, fifty paisa. You paid my bus charge while we were going to zoo, know.'' And she banged the change on the table and left. All this happened in a span of 5 minutes. Only after she left, you will notice how silent the place is. Yes, after Ghazal leaves, it looks like calm after storm.


Their friendship started at the end of conference, when Ghazal as was expected out of her, commented on Arya saying that in the 15 day duration Arya would hardly have spoken 150 words. May be, Arya liked Ghazal's non-stop chatter.Ghazal liked some one who could listen to her, without interruption. She lured him further, saying that she could make yummy noodles and cook mouth watering and finger-licking non-veg dishes.And as if to further enhance the friendship, Arya's friend, Atul, lived near to Ghazal's hostel. And whenever Arya, went to Atul, he made it a point to meet Ghazal as well. Sometimes, when Arya would be waiting in the bus stop for Atul to come, he would call Ghazal to the bus stop, where they would sit and chat (Arya sitting and Ghazal chatting), till Atul turned up. Ghazal became a pastime to Arya, to kill time waiting for Atul. And he was waiting for a day when Ghazal would rent up a house(she was staying in a hostel,remember), and invite him to taste for all the goodies which she claimed she could cook.Ghazal, who, never had a person listening to her chatter so keenly, mistook it as love. But she did not want to raise it to Arya and get rejected. She was afraid of on-the-face rejection. That is the reason she introduced Kathy to Arya. Kathy is short for Katyayini. She wanted kathy to befriend Arya and find out if he really was in love with her.


Kathy, who wanted the best for her friend, did as she was told and with passage of time became good friends with Arya. Reserved that he was, she was unable to get anything out of Arya for Ghazal. Having lost patience, she straightaway asked him if he was in love with Ghazal. Arya's  surprised and baffled expression gave her the answer that he never had such thoughts towards her friend. She felt sorry for Ghazal, who was expecting that she would be successful in making Arya, profess love for her. She did not want to disappoint Ghazal and kept on saying she did not ask him yet.


In the meanwhile, Ravi, who had also attended the conferance, proposed to Ghazal. And Ghazal without really thinking much accepted. Kathy was looking for a house to rent, which she planned to share with Ghazal. Arya, helped her in searching for a house, with the hope that, once Ghazal and Kathy moved to a house, Ghazal would prepare noodles and invite him over. Ghazal, on the other hand was reluctant to share the house with Kathy, as Kathy did not get along that well with Ravi. Kathy was happy for Ghazal that she found her love in Ravi, and she rented a house on her own, while Ghazal continued staying in the hostel. She invited Ghazal and Arya to her new home for lunch, one day and prepared the dishes, which she was good at. Though she failed to  satisfy Ghazal, Arya was impressed. Kathy loved it if someone appreciated her culinary skills. And though Arya did not say it verbally, he gave her the message by completing the food and asking when the next invitation would be. And thats how it began.. The saga of home cooked meals at Kathy's home, which all started with Arya's yearning for noodles. And as it is said a man's heart is through his stomach, eventually Arya fell in love with Kathy and proposed to her.

Mobile Phone Mania

I am not going to say about all the ill effects of mobile phone. I feel this is one invention, I wish had been invented a little earlier. I love my mobile phone and all the things I could do with it. My mobile phone is just not a phone. It is a companion. Besides helping me keep in touch with my loved ones via a call or sms, it helps me do many things. I take pictures of whatever fancies me the very instant. I could listen to music while I drive. I could watch a movie while I travel. I could read a book. I could organise my "things to do". I can remember birthdays, anniversaries and appointments.I can browse Internet.I can email.I can play games.

Just a recap of how my life was before mobile phones :

1. I used to carry a pouch full of one rupee coins to use in any coin phone booth to inform home that I could be late from school/college/tuition.

2. When I moved to Chennai - away from my home town and started staying in a hostel, I had to stay in a queue in a phone booth near my hostel to call home every night.

3. Internet was still new. And not all my friends used to use it. So, I used to write letters to them almost every alternate day( this is something I miss now; that intimacy and closeness, which I felt in writing letters is missing in emails). The letters would contain the details of the forthcoming meeting place and time.

4. I carried a copy of Chennai map( I still have the copy) in my bag. It had all the bus numbers with locations.

5. I used to call my friends in their office landlines, hostel land line and used to wait till my friend(s) are informed of the same. This resulted in each friend having many numbers - office, client(s) office, home, hostel etc. And all this numbers were noted down alphabetically in a phone book, which I carried in my bag.

6. I used to write a diary. I miss that healthy habit now.

The above is just a short list of things before the mobile phone era. Though I do miss some of the things which I did in that period, I should say, mobile phones have made the world smaller and more accessible.

Having said all that, my real idea behind this post: things I would have loved to capture in my mobile phone camera. Here goes the list with a brief description of the incident.

1. Open Quiz at Science Centre in Tirupati - Those days, when I was in school, some of us used to cycle to Science Centre in Tirupati, to participate in an open quiz conducted every week on a particular day. On one such day, I answered a question -"What is Hemophilia". No one in the hall of around two hundred people knew the answer and I was the only one who had raised the hand. I would have loved if someone had captured that moment when I answered it correctly and was called on stage.

2. When we were kids, my two brothers never stayed at home after school. They were always in the ground playing. This was the time, when they were ready to be off to the ground after school.One of them used to cycle, and the other would become a pillion rider. Both my brothers are tall. It so happened that, one brother sat on the pillion and the other started to cycle away. The bicycle had gone forward, but the brother who was (supposed) to be on the pillion was sitting/standing in sitting position on the road. The three of us had a good laugh.I wish I could have captured the jolly moment.

3. My brothers innocent childhood scenes. I would need a separate post to write all those.

4. The smile of a baby, when I held her finger in a crowded bus.

5. My first venture into kitchen - burnt omelet.

6. All my childhood paintings.

7. My younger brothers toothless grin in childhood, when taken on a ride on his tricycle and when colorful balloons are left into the air.

8. My toys collection.

9. We live near a railway track. My father used to work in railways. Sometimes, my father used to travel in the train which passes on that track. The three of us - my brothers and I, used to run near the track when the train passes, to wave to our father. He used to wave back. Though I do not have any photo of this, the memory is as clear as any video.

10.My younger brother's - chappal train. When my youngest brother was a kid, and had not started going to school yet, he used to play by himself, till we return from school. One of his activity was to make a train out of all our foot wear. I think he would have been a year old then. He used to arrange all the footwear based on size. The engine would be my fathers black shoes, followed by his chappals, then my mothers, followed by mine, then my first brothers and at last his shoes.

I could write till here. I shall keep updating this post, whenever I recollect an incident.

Clash of the Titans

I know it looks a little weird title for this post. But looking at the severity of the war(s) waging in school, this seems apt.

I am a proud ninth standard - "A" section girl student. You shall understand the reason I am stressing on  belonging to a particular class once you read through the following upcoming lines. Let me first explain the importance of being in ninth standard. Being just year below the highest standard in the school, made us sort of powerful. That was because, we already had started commanding the "senior" respect from all the students( the tenth standard people were too busy in the upcoming public examinations and had little time to deviate from studies; so we were the uncrowned queens and kings of the school). And unlike the tenth standard students we had ample time at our disposal, which we effectively utilised to show our "seniority". Though they could not do anything to help it, this was scorned upon by the standard ten students and they demanded that we accept there seniority( and their so - called superiority) at each possible opportunity. Though we respected our seniors, we could not always stand their "we-know-all'' kind of behaviour. This lead to clashes between the two standards- which, thankfully could not grow big due to their studies pressure.

And within standard nine, there were two sections- based on the preference of second language. I am in section A. There is always rivalry between section A and Section B students on whatever possible competition it be. It may be anything from scoring highest marks in all subjects, or coming first in the sports or winning the affections of the school beauty queen(of course this applies only to boys). When between Section A girls and Section B girls - the war would only be verbal. But when boys get involved it becomes nasty physical fight.Interesting thing to note is that even though there is always clash between girls vs boys in the same section - when it comes to clash between sections, this rivalry is forgotten and the whole class of a section stands against the other as one. These raging wars between sections always ended us up in uncomfortable circumstances - like mass punishment of the whole classes, stinky letters on bad behaviour to parents, scoldings and caning from teachers, awful visits to the Principal's room; but the war was on; there was no stop to it. Only a small incident was required to rage it again and again to a furnace.

As I mentioned earlier, our dear seniors(the tenth standard students), were ever busy with there studies and had delegated the participation in inter- school competition to us.These competitions are usually held during holidays.That is holiday for standards other than standard nine and standard ten.This was the practice in most of the Schools in the city, including the strawfort school.This was also the period when the cold war between the two standards would be at peak, fuelled by the feeling that we had to come to school when our your brothers and sisters are enjoying their holidays.The burden was on our young shoulders to represent our school in the inter school competitions and ensure that we win decent number of medals for our schools.In addition to our standard students,a few tenth standard students who were too good in athletics and were sure- wins, also were to participate in the competitions. The gem among them - Swetha, who is a sure shot win in any sports activity, and who also is one of the top five rankers in studies, and to add to it who was drop down gorgeous, was also participating.Swetha was an exception to our hatred towards our seniors.All of us respected Swetha and admired her.

It was during these competitions that a guy from the strawfort school taunted her. When one of her classmates tried to talk sense to that guy, he was slapped, insulted and beaten. These stawfort guys were aware of the waging wars in our school -  standard nine vs standard ten, and in standard nine - section A vs Section B, and also girls vs boys. That was their reason of their courage to taunt Swetha.

Some of the tenth standard guys seized up the strawfort guy who had insulted their classmate and beat him. They were in turn surrounded by the strawfort guys.Since the competition was happening in strawfort,our seniors, who were just a handful, stood a small chance to live. We still do not know how the information had passed on to students of our school.What happened in next few minutes happened so fast that it looked like a whirlwind. Around two hundred students from both ninth and tenth standards crashed their bicycles in strawfort and formed a bigger circle around the strawfort students.None of us imagined that this incident would trigger some dormant feelings within us - the feeling of oneness. All the enmities were forgotten. We were one. We were - "Our School". There was such a fight that if had been shot through a camera would have been no less than any bollywood movie fight. All of us were injured. But the strawfort guys lost in their own ground. We did not fight - we defended.That was one of the reasons why we were injured more that the strawfort guys. But we over powered and cornered them to a corner of the auditorium. By then our school principal and strawfort school principal arrived. Our Principal delivered a lecture on good behaviour. Strawfort's principal appreciated us for having handled the situation without fighting back. We were asked to disperse immediately. This incident made us one.Once we came out of the auditorium, to our bicycles, everyone was laughing, patting each other and appreciating each other.There were no clashes - no A section, B section; no boy,girl; no ninth and tenth standard.

P.S. :- In the second term of the school, Swetha joined strawfort as her mother got a job as a teacher there. This bridged the gap between the schools and  students of both schools together represented our city in inter city competions. All is well that ends well.

Treasure hunt

It was love at first sight. I instantly fell in love with my college, the moment I walked in. I felt that the Goddess Saraswathi at the entrance and the surrounding lushful gardens were welcoming me. The huge structure itself gave me a feeling as if I am in some historic place. I was glad that I got admission in the college.My happiness only increased when my dearest friends from intermediate college, Prashanti, Sujatha and Sri vidya also joined in the same class as mine.

I was awe struck by the huge library of the college. The library is some 500 mtrs(or is it nearly a kilometer- I am not sure) away from the main building, which is connected by a kachcha road within the campus. But if you were to take a detour from the road into the foliage and keep proceeding, you find the ruins of temple like structures. These structures are completely covered by foliage and this part of college campus does not come under the "well maintained" bracket. Prashanti and I, being avid mystery book readers, share the same wave length in imagining mysteries. And thats how the expedition started.

We had a whole afternoon free. The classes were canceled due to low attendance of the students. We could go home if we wished. Prashanti, Sri and I had planned to utilise the time to prepare ourselves for the upcoming examinations, by staying back and studying in the college campus. We settled down in the shade of a tree near the way to the library. After some tiring effort to study, we realised that none of us was in a mood for studies. And since, it was very hot and sunny, we voted against the idea of cycling home. That was when we noticed the ruins. Prashanti and I had the same thought. Why not explore them. We grinned on realising both of had the same thought. Who knows,we might stumble upon some hidden treasure. The idea itself excited us. We deposited our bags in the library. We started weaving the way through foliage towards the ruins. when we were about half way,I heard something slither past and I screamed which started the chain reaction of sri screaming and Prashanti following. Since this part seemed not to be in the to do list of the gardeners since ages, there was every possibility that this was the home of snakes and other dangerous insects.

We had two options - turnback and reach the safety of the road, or dare and go ahead with exploration.Brave hearts that we were, we chose to go ahead with the expedition. We reached the temple structure. The roof had partially collapsed and the ground within the structure was completely covered by ant hills, bushes and shrubs. Prashanti found a long dry stick, which she broke into two. She gave me one half. Sri had carried a long ruler. Holding them as if they were swords, we pushed aside the bushes to make our way inside the temple. Till then we were continuously chattering. Only when we reached inside the temple, after tearing the spider web at the entrance, we stopped talking; only to realise - the whole area was so silent that it was so eerie. I could almost hear my heart doing a heavy duty beating inside me. I could also see fear in both of my friends eyes. But none of us wanted to admit that we were scared. In fear, we started talking animatedly. I could feel the fear slippling and curiosity taking its place.

Prashanti found the broken head of a goddess statue. We also found some some carved pillars. We discovered a hidden well next to the temple ruins. It did not have a safety parapet wall surrounding it. The bushes were so thick that if we had not been careful with our steps, we would have ended up at the bottom of the well. When we looked inside the well, we noticed that long chains made of thick iron had been fixed to the sides of the well and they seemed to go all the way to the bottom of the well. Prashanti guessed, may be it was used to punish criminals. I felt may be the chains were used to pull up the treasure sunk in the well.The well seemed so dark and so scary and the sky seemed to have darkened by clouds so suddenly - we feared if we had accidentally triggered any of the curse surrounding the well. We decided it was best to leave the expedition further for another day and vacate the place. And thats what we did!

The another day did not come at all. We graduated and left college, but never again we finished the half explored expedition. Who knows - if we had completed the search, may be we would have landed up with hidden treasure. It is said that what you think of any given situation actually makes you happy or sad. And I think we would have found treasure, which makes me happy.

With that thought, for now adios amigos.