Wrap-arounds :)

This is a cute one now :). There is this guy at work whose step-Mom is Indian. The guy keeps telling me tid-bits about her all the time. But the other day he said something really amazingly cute.....

So, we had this holiday lunch at work and i got seated next to this guy. We were talking about general stuff, including dressing up for such parties. Thats when he happened to say "Oh, you know, my step-Mom has the most amazing dresses. They look gorgeous, with all the dazzling embroidery-those wrap-arounds. They are the most feminine outfits. I am never able to prnounce the name correctly-sarrrrri, right. But those are the coolest wrap-arounds ever". And then he quizzed me as to why i don't wear saris for such office functions :). (well, dude why do you forget that we have to do experiments after those lunches etc, and i surely don't want to wear my best dresses, when i know i'll have to spend time in the lab afterwards).

This was followed by something even cuter, and i mean it. He so cutely said "but, i hate the wrap-arounds for men-despite her (the Mom's) best efforts and much pin-tucking, i still haven't learnt to carry off the duttee (dhoti)" :).

And i smile on, wrap-arounds, yeah-thats how i used to pull my Bro, whenever he sported dhoti-kurta ;).

Friends :)

I know, i've been away for a while.....infact, i've been missing the blog :). thats height of narcissism ;).

Have been meaning to write since last weekend, but first i got sick and then there were few other things to take care of. Yeah, i finally got cold too. Oh, hold on, i am fine now-and anyway, you don't get sick reading a blog :)).

This week, a very dear friend of mine said bye-bye to the City of Angels, as she moves to Europe in a few days. needless to say, i am missing her and our adventures together.

We met a lil' more than a year ago. She was returning home from work, i was getting back to the lab after getting my evening coffee. As we waited for the walk sign, we found someone familiar around us.....yes, familiar. and then suddenly, we exchanged a smile and we both went "are you from .....". We exchanged phone numbers and email ids. Aha, and that was the beginning of what turned out to be a great friendship, spiced up with lots of food, movies and chit-chat. Thats why i like these desi-desi "where are you from"s.

We happen to be from the same graduate school-different departments and would have barely noticed each other in the campus.....(barely enough ;) to light up that faint spark of familiarity. The other common zing-thing we discovered within 5 minutes of our conversation was that we both had spent great time in Boston at some point :).

A whole year of good things, shared and experienced together-would last us both a life-time.....not only through the millions of pictures we madly clicked everywhere around, but also through the warm words, both spoken and un-spoken.....

i wish you a wonderful future and hope you make great friends in your new place.....

MD, this city isn't going to be the same without you, and i hope you would be back sometime-our favorite desi restaurant (and the friends we've made there), the Fox theater and the rest of Westwood awaits us :).

Bubble gum chirp :)

Here's a really funny and yet silly desi bubble gum commercial for Big Babol.

What's hot: The animation, music and umm, even the theme is not bad-very funny actually :). "Nervousayiyega nahin" is the cutest Hinglish bit :). The adoption angle is sweet.

Whats not: Bad, bad lyrics! I mean "ande diye khaas" doesn't sound too poetic! thats the silly quotient for something that could have been the funniest ad in recent times.

Random thoughts.....

If i were looking for something to charge me up, then the bright sun-shine would be it, the blue skies, the splash of gold around and that fragrant mist of flowers in the air.....

but since its dark outside right now, and i am indoors, i decide to reach for the orange in the grocery bag.....the rich inviting hues, the flavor, the mist of fragrance from the orange peel.....is enough to liven me up.....

Dancing with the penguins :)

Whats your favorite dance style: Bhangra, tango, tap or salsa-bring it on!
Mumble wants you to dance along-Mumble, the cutest penguin ever (besides Pingu).

Oh! and i've been meaning to share my meeting with this lovely penguin since a couple of days. A meeting that made me laugh and cry.....gently tugging my heart strings.....

I am clearly besotted :).

I met Mumble at the Fox Theater where he's currently making an appearance, and in style! His show is named "Happy Feet"-it leaves everyone happy.....and touched :).

Rarely there is any movie that tries to address many things at the same time, and does it so wonderfully well.

The story is about Mumble, a lovely, cutesy penguin, who's different! Different, in that unlike others in his 'hood who sing their way to glory, he expresses himself with dance. Born to Momma and Papa penguins, he's not particularly well received by his community, but lives on with a smile. He finds his muse in the pretty Gloria, who's every young penguin's heart-throb. Our dude makes friends with the cutesome foursome penguins, who are naughty and full of beans (but also feel the pain of being from 'the wrong side of town'). The naughty bunch enthuses Mumble, dances along with him and takes him to a philospohy spouting guru Lovelace (voiced over by Robin Williams). Together, they solve the mysteries of the penguin-land, doing everything penguinely possible, reaching out to the other worlds and having their voices heard.....

This penguin-land story has many shades of what we desis are so familiar with: here are few things that make you nostalgic ;).

1. Its a musical :). Yeah! and plenty of dance numbers ;).
2. Momma and Papa penguins singing a love song (Baghban, anyone!).
3. Mumble wooing Gloria in typical Hindi movie style (playes a saviour to the damsel in distress: imagine the baddie running away with heroine's purse and the hero chasing the baddie. well, in this case its about a fish :)). Mumble dances for his beloved, while she sings on.....
4. Our hero fighting the baddies and reaching out to the aliens single-handedly! He's surely a super-sweet super hero :).
5. Song and dance in the graduation party :). (Papa kehte hain and more).
6. Father and son duo dancing crazy ( Rock and Roll Soniye-Mumble and Papa make the AB duo of penguin-land ;)).
7. One of Mumble's amigos singing for him (just like Kishore Kumar sang for Sunil Dutt in Padosan :)).

See, the Hindi movie school works!

Mumble, you are good. You are great. i totally heart you. and i sincerely hope and pray what you did in the show, someone would do in reality too. Wanna come and stop by on planet earth.....

Al Gore must be a happy man :).

Verdict: GO watch the movie, NOW! Mumble takes us through this joy-ride bringing lots of things to our attention. As a bonus, he DJs some great music and lots of it. Its really heart-warming to hear some great songs from back in time.

P.S.: I noticed a desi contribution while the credits were rolling: Sonal Joshi is the Supervising Dialogue Editor here.

Elephants in the head

Y'day i was wondering if i had hallucinations about the whole elephant thing. I tried to cover my angst under the mask of pun and humor. No longer are those things of much use.....

Today was a real busy day. I am tired, drained and hurting.....

After finishing my work at 9:30 PM, i was leaving when i met one of my colleagues. She's a SwissMiss, a great friend and wonderful colleague. She had come to take care of some experiment quickly-and brought her friend (who we shall refer to as SillyMiss) along. A casual chat about the silly conversations we had at the dinner table y'day ensued (we were in two different corners). She mentioned how someone was super-mean to her. And i ended up mentioning about the E-thing. Like most people y'day, her jaw dropped too.....and then SillyMiss contributed the following with all her intelligence and knowledge.....

Me: "The guy next to me was ridiculous-he asked Do you still have elephants roaming around on streets in India.

SwissMiss: "OMG, thats so ignorant, silly-really stupid".

SillyMiss: "But, isn't that true, right (looking at me)".

Me: "NO! its not".

SillyMiss: "But no, its true, aren't they on the streets in the villages".

Me (trying to hold myself): "NOOOOOOOO!" and the (angry) music played on.....the songs of how elephants were seen in zoos and circuses were sung.....no avail.....our girl just won't stop.....

SillyMiss continued arguing for the next couple of minutes.....illuminating my ignorant self.....

SwissMiss looked on in embarrasment.....

The contentment of a great lunch and wonderful time spent with a dear friend in the noon couldn't last me through it.....no chai would work today.....and there aren't even any pictures of the beaches and palms to soothe.....just the thoughts.....about whether we were talking about the same geographical coordinates.....

and i sincerely wish that there won't be more stories of this sort to share.....

P.S. There were more things to share.....chance encounters with two desi couples.....one sweet and another one strange.....will chirp on that sometime else.

The great dinner time questions by and for a desi :)

Hmm, today was a busy day :). Have been up since 5:30 AM. Too tired right now, but i must share this with y'all. You must know, i am a real foodie and a chatter-box. and so this post is about my lunch and dinner today-and the chit-chat while taking care of my calorific needs ;). Hold on, this isn't as simple as it sounds. There are those lunches and dinners that you love to attend, and then there are those that you have to. The latter is the focus here, folks.

You know, these are the lunches at the most expensive restaurants in the best of hotels, where you go as a part of professional obligations/duties :). The celebratory lunches and dinners.....;).The kinds, where the ambience promises to be great, but the dining leaves a lot to be desired-both in terms of whats on your platter and the conversations during food. Read on, this desi first asked some silent questions and .....got asked the most brilliant question ever!

And so, my lunch and dinner today was at two 'great' restaurants in Santa Monica in two adjoining hotels facing the beach-after a marathon session of presentations and discussions. I totally love this place-ideal setting:beach, sun and warmth.....
The lunch, well, was a buffet: one salad, breads, cous-cous, ravioli, fish and chicken. Yummy, yeah :)). If only you knew that salad was just arugula leaves with the blandest possible dressing, cous-cous didn't taste like cous-cous and rest everything was not my cup of tea since i am a vegetarian. Colleagues informed that rest of the stuff could probably count as one of their least memorable outings! If only money could buy flavor and taste.....The dinner was more expensive, with fewer vegetarian choices (one salad and a ravioli). The food was fine, OK Some discussion with colleagues and some senior people, very interesting thoughts and experiences exchanged while waiting for the main course.

but here are my questions: 1. Why can't such places provide better quality food for the exorbitant prices they charge. 2. Why does the vegetarian choice end at either a very rich ravioli or a very light salad (indeed, this has been my experience at the so called fine dining places). The learned and experienced chefs can do wonders (hopefully) with meat, poultry and fish-does it really take a lot else to dish up something vegetarian thats innovative, delicious and fulfilling.

And as they say, save the best for the last: so here comes the masala. During the dinner, the gentleman sitting next to me was chatting with me. He looked Indian (but he wasn't)-and asked where i was from. After talking about tons of things, including how difficult it must have been for me to be away from home all by myself (really, i get this a lot)-he popped the question :)). No, not THAT question, silly. What is the best thing anyone ask an Indian-any guesses?

" Do you still have elephants roaming around on streets in India".....(swoon).....

i am charmed.....the wit, the intelligence.....ah! my dil goes ummmmmmmmmm ;)

do you have any answers.....

i thought of this ;)

and this :)).

PS: Don't believe it? I felt may be i was hallucinating! but no, other people heard it too and were shocked beyond their wits.....and i thought such stuff existed only in bad comedies.....guys, i need a chai.....(rushes to the kitchen). Let these pictures soothe a hurting desi dil.....

Where's the authentic desi accent!

For those of you who have ever watched Heroes, surely know that the series has a reasonably prominent desi angle-presented to you as a father and son duo, who are Professors in Genetics from Chennai University. Dad Chandra Suresh (played by Erick Avari) and sonny Mohinder Suresh (you know it girls, Sendhil 'heart-throb' Ramamurthy). The story has the Dad proposing a certain theory of evolution, with a strange touch of out-worldly mystique put together in a book named "Activating Evolution"-disappears and dear beta sets out to search for him. And nothing to your surprise, drives a cab once he lands in NYC. Streotypical, hmm, very much-but still significant footage is dedicated to Mohinder's character. Sounds good, yeah-well, no! That's the problem-they don't sound "good"!

So, Mohinder talks in an accent which is a very strange amalgam of desi, amreekan and Brit accents. By his own admission, Sendhil was asked to adapt a British accent.

“The producers wanted a very specific accent. I did an Indian accent, and I listened to tapes to develop it. Then they came back and said the guy was educated in English, so it should be a British accent, with a lilt of Indian. My accent changes throughout the pilot a bit, because then they wanted it to be predominantly English. It’s kind of been a work in progress. So now, it’s very English with Indian hints.” ( See Nirali for more).

Now, people like me who are born and brought up in India find this very perplexing. Most of the higher education in India is in English, but i haven't seen anyone educated in India in recent few decades, talk in British accent ever. What were the producers of Heroes thinking?

Further, y'days episode (and few more before that), featured Erick Avari playing Chandra Suresh, who very dreadfully pronounces his name as "Chaandraaa Surrreshh" with a distinct Amreekan accent. There is nothing Indian about his accent, whatsoever!! Few people even disputed if he looks Indian enough-well, to put those troubled minds to rest, he has Indian roots. But couldn't the actor have made some effort at getting the accent even a bit right.

From the desi perspective, Kavi Ladnier was the saving grace. She got her accent reasonably right and her dress and make-up were also very authentic. Wish there were more of her and wish she would inspire some authenticity :).

Hmm, so either we have the strange mutilated accents passed off for desi accent or forced British/Amreekan accent....."what is a desi accent anyway, with so many regional twists", says the critic. Grrrrrrrrrr, desi accent is one of the sweetest, got it-so better get it right.

Feels like :)

So said the weatherman-"feels like" so many degrees.....

what it actually "feels like" is very personal ;)

otherwise why would you see some people still in shorts and half-sleeve t-shirts, while others are dressed perfectly for a trip to the poles :)).

Whatever, i am loving the Cold but Bright (atleast today) SoCal weather-simply great.....

"feels like" Wonderful :))

Teesri Gali ka Vihar :)

The original motive of this post was to give some friends (who are currently enjoying their vacation elsewhere) an update of my extra-curricular activities, and that i WAS enjoying the holiday time. But as the day progressed, I realized that my excursion was turning into something blogworthy, a truly desi tunnel vision experience. Hmm, so here goes:

Its the Friday after Thanksgiving-6:00 AM, wake up with an interesting news on the TV (TV that’s been playing whole night, and usually does), about a new likeness based search engine like.com that would allow you to shop for your favorite celebrity style goodies. Quite “go-shop”inducing news. Even otherwise its been constantly drilled into my head by friends and colleagues, how I must go and avail the early bird discounts.....Well, so today I decide to go check it out. Hold on, but in the subsequent news, Chris Schaubel is reporting on how different stores arepotential wrestling zones.....Ohhhhhhh no, I don’t want to do that-the shopping bulb is dimming.....then, I have this brilliant flash. Go Santa Monica, Third Street Promenade. I assure myself that it wouldn’t be too crowded.....and thus the day begins. I get up, get ready, have breakfast and am off to SHOP.

10:00 AM, I reach Macy’s, avail some good discounts-buy a bag and a pair of ear-rings.....am completely emotional seeing ear-rings, they so remind me of Ms. E, one of my friends in Boston for whom my present always was a pair of ear-rings.....and no, neither I, nor she have and Henry Blofeld fixation. As I parade around, I hear some Marathi, she’s a really sweet Aunty ji and soon approaches me to ask if one or the other color would be better for the scarf she wants to buy for her daughter. We have a cute lil’ exchange, wish each other and move on.

11:00 AM, I walk out of the Santa Monica Place after spending some more time (and money) at my all time favorite: The Bath and Body Works . A block away I am greeted by two Indian guys, one of whom has a big Nama on his forehead. The guys say “Excuse me Maam,please take a minute to look through this book about meditation, its free, you can take it”.....and the dude hands out a book with the title “Bhagvad Geeta”. I wonder if Geeta has just been reduced to a book on meditation. I am a lil’ upset now, I politely refuse and walk on and keep wondering about it for next few minutes or more.....and I worry if this kind of preachiness is doing anyone any good-come on, if you really want to talk about it, put up a stall, keep the books, let the interested people come and do it for themselves.

11:20 AM, there is a sudden urge to hit the bookstore. I contemplate stopping by Borders on the way to lab, completely unaware that I am in front of one :). realization dawns upon me and I walk in and buy a couple of books (will write about them soon). BTW, I didn’t like this store much, they have very limited desi and psychology collection.....Westwood store is better, anywday. but I loved the lady who helped find a certain book.

Aha, and all this while I have also kept my camera-phone busy, clicking pics for whatever its worth. The pictures range from the really fake looking but cute X’mas trees, my favorite Poinsettias, balloons, flowers and what not :).

11:45 AM, I am at Express, and I am out within 15 minutes of idling around. I move on to Levi’s and soon realize that i am plain bored.

12:10 PM, am a bit tired and need something to charge me up-I decide upon Starbucks and get a Chai-at this moment am not interested in too much caffiene-just some warm liquid to soothe me. I lounge around a bit, reading one of the books I bought and listen to the music playing in the background. After Chai, its one more round of pictures, another lil’ walk to Santa Monica Place, and on the way am about to be greeted by the same bunch of guys, when they realize that I have been there before . they catch hold of a Japanese guy instead, who also politely refuses them and moves on. Inside the mall, I notice a shop named “India Arts”, am not sure if it refers to Indians from Asia or the Native Indians.

1:20 PM, hunger pangs.....I am in the food court now, and look around aimlessly. I know where I am headed to. I so feel like checking out the Indian corner here: Tandoor Cafe’. The owners are a cute Aunty ji and a gruffy Uncle ji. The girl on the counter is asking people to try out “samples”, she’s not Indian and so its a bit tricky to place the order as I end up ordering Palak instead of Spinach . Confusion sorted, I buy an onion naan with palak ka saag. I find myself a seat and sample the food.....The saag has got a lil’ sweet taste. I was hoping for something with my favorite ginger and a bit spicy fair.....its strictly OK. The naan smells fresh, its got a freshly baked home like quality (you know the smell of atta in tandoori rotis when you just take them out of tandoor, that smell)-its a big portion, has great texture, crispy outside and fluffy inside, but I strongly wish they had added some salt to the dough. and hope am not being too critical. I really wish them to be a hugely popular and succesful Desi food joint.

A picture of my khana

2:00 PM, am about to finish my lunch and I notice an Indian girl sporting Trojans t-shirt, as she sits close by and smiles. I smile back and we have the usual exchange-its sweet. She’s from Ne Delhi and I inform her that I am from Delhi too (well, that’s not completely true, I am from Amritsar, Delhi, Bangalore, Boston, New York City and Los Angeles equally). She is a graduate student doing Computer Science and claims that its very predictable. We exchange few more silly things, wish each other and I realize its 2: 30 PM and I have had enough masti for the day. I better go to the lab and do some work .

So, this is the story, full of Desiyana-ekdum interesting and enjoyable.....hai na Tunnel vision turning the Third Street Promenade into Teesri Gali ka Vihar.

Today's menu

Its a holiday, time to eat something yummier than usual.

The SoCal weather finally feels like a bit wintery, lil' foggy and chilly:).

So Chai n' mooli paratha for b'fast.
Pita Sandwich with hummus, sprouts, zucchini and tomato, with hot Cafe' Latte for lunch.

and the menu should not just be about food, today's menu must include calling up friends, listening to some great music, watching a good movie/reading a great book and thanking all the good people around.

May be its the corner grocery store people or may be the T, Subway, Blue Bus staff, may be the doorman in the apartment building, anyone who's doing something for others.....wish them a great holiday with a smile. Thats the nicest topping on today's menu.

Be cozy, happy and have a good time.....Enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Great, so we have a long weekend coming.

To rest, enjoy, make merry and be thankful for all the good things we cherish....

Turkey or no turkey, cranberry or blueberry: enjoy it your way.....

Enjoy and be thankful, to God, family, friends, life and whatever else you may please.....

Often, i hear it from some people "Oh, we don't beileve in Thanksgiving"-well, you don't have to believe in something to be thankful.....if not tomorrow, be thankful sometime in your life.....

If nothing, be thankful for the long weekend and the sales afterwards........awwww! ;)

Indiawich!

Aha! the title of this post sounds strange. Many of us have heard of Naanwich, and i really heart this wonderful fusion khana, but Indiawich-well, that was a surprise, hehe.

So, the story goes, there is a sandwich place in West Los Angeles that goes by the name East-West Sandwich. they specialize, and you are right, in fusion sandwiches. and so they have Japanwich, Chinawich, Koreawich and INDIAWICH!

And this is one extremely popular place, popular among all sorts of people.
and here's the descrption of their INDIAWICH, reproduced here ad verbatim, for your reading pleasure.....

Our INDIAWICH™ sandwiches are prepared with madras curry powder which gives them spicy but not overpowering flavor.

and this interesting creation is presented in two glorious flavors:

Chicken yellow curry and yellow curry salmon!!!!!

Now, if anyone can answer the following questions for me "whats Madras Curry powder" and even if we assume that it refers to some spice mix with Southern Indian Spices that flavor our beloved Sambar, rasam, palyas and kootus, i certainly am left wondering, if yellow curry is an Indian dish i know of.....Go figure, this is your Thanksgiving homework :)).

Boston, Tea-party.

One of the things that i miss most about Boston is the tea-party.....and i am not talking about the Boston tea-party. Way past the midnight, Arshi and i would have our own little
tea-party :) .

Arshi attended Art School during the day and worked in the night at an apartment help-desk in Prudential. But there were days when she would have a day off from her work. and those were the days we dedicated to the mad tea-parties :). Sitting outside near the apartment entrance, in the cold midnight that Boston so lovingly presented us with, we would sip on chai.....we would share pakoras, namkeen/nimko and many a dream.....endelessly chatting about how we wanted the things to be and how they actually had been. We would passionately talk about the books that we had read, the movies we enjoyed.....and the songs we so loved.....we would play on the same songs again and again, and never be tired of them.

we would talk about her workshops and my experiments.....the nice and the mean people at work.....and about the things that bonded us the most.....like our language, Punjabi and our passion for food. She loved sooji-halwa and would often ask me to make some.....yes, that what we were upto, making halwas and frying pakoras in the wee hours.....she would sometimes bless me like an octagenerian Bebe ji "Tere bachhe jeevan".....and we would burst our laughing. sometimes she would just make some mehendi and would insist that i also apply some.....we talked about mehendi a lot and tried to recall the Punjabi wedding songs :). she was like an elder sister to me, always so caring.....

few days back i was looking for something in an old bag.....and i found some notes on yellow stickies.....i had saved them when i left Boston.....those were the notes Arshi used to leave me.....our schedules being so different.....one of them said "Dear, the daal and sabzi in the fridge were yummmmmmy, promise to make you some aloo-parathas over the weekend, and BTW, thanks for the book-its great." and a B'day greeting card for me, which had a picture of me that she had clicked.....and another note about missing the tea-parties (written during the days when she was working towards her exhibition at school). we had many tea-parties after that.....we moved on with life.....any clue when will there be the next tea-party.....

Why do i blog.....

i have been asking myself this question, "why have i started blogging". is it just to pour out whatever i have within me. to share few things, with myself or someone unknown. why is it that i am typing this.....
i have to still think of an answer. an answer that would give me some insight into my own mind. aha! ya forgot that certain things are subconscious?
is it to put down things that i have been saying to myself, and then hoping someone else who shares these thoughts would read them and tell me that i am right. or that someone would tell me that i am not.....
and who is that "someone" that i am writing for. is it just me or.....
do i really want someone to even read through some personal thoughts, or no.....silly question. its a blog, everyone can see it.
or is it just that i want to talk.....we all talk, chirp-everyday, all the time.
all i know is that right now, i feel like saying all that i am saying.....
yes, i blog bceuase.....i feel like it.....

I crave

The good things i am craving for right now

I crave.....

hot masala chai and mirchi bajji

warmth of the sunshine outside

mints and very strong ones at that

a warm coat (my sweat-shirt isn't warm enough for this room)

a great book to read when i go back home (something as readable as Anne Frank's Diary, that book really talks)

fragrance of the roses, no, my hand cream doesn't smell like roses - hence the craving!!

more sunshine and a winter like feel at the same time, talk about paradoxes

The week that was :)

Aha, haven't chirped for quite some time. am back. haven't written a word since Diwali. so, here goes.....

So, on Diwali day i just met some friends for a chai and early dinner-hold on, after work . we meet at our usual desi restaurant very close to work-not a great one, but lets say we are used to each other.

but the most touching thing about that weekend was that i got a chance to talk to my brother-who's now a proud Dad. "wow, we are growing old"-he quips. Love that! yeah, sure.

and so life goes on-its another warm SoCal week in store. and i am just lazy so i don't blog at all. not lazy, just into my own world.....

one of my friends has been mentioning about another girl whom she met around her work place. and last week i finally met her. a nice person, very affable-we are from the same profession and there is a Delhi connection.....we chirp on about multiple things at our favorite hangout, munching on chhole and kulchas (folks, folks, don't go green in envy-this is not the kind of chhole-kulche taste that these very words invoke). after all, the chhole-kulche from a thele-wala (cart food-vendor) is beyond comparison.

and onto another weekend.....the week has gone by so quickly. i am always lazy on weekends to pack lunch to work-actually i have something like a brunch, so takes a while to go hungry again. and thats the thing, my dear. in the evening, you don't want to eat something substantial that would dim the chances of a great weekend dinner. so, i am hungry, just hoping to finish work and go home (fleeting thoughts of a great sandwich and cream of mushroom/broccoli soup from local deli, hot sambar and rice/rajma-chawal and planty many more goodies)

and thats exactly when i remember that i have to go to a friends place and from there to a function, with her. i reach her place and when i buzz the door-bell, she's on the phone with someone and insists that i talk to her, emphasizing that its a her she's talking to . i take the phone, and spend a few seconds guessing who it is.....thinking her to be another friend.....but i don't say much and then suddenly a flash ....."oh! how are you"-its a friend i recently caught up with (well, recent is a few months ago). and she's in another continent. we were together in Grad School. we catch up again, on lots of things.....my lovable host makes me a cpl. of crispy dosas because she's heard me (and my hunger pangs) scream on the phone a few hrs. back. BLISS :). i dig on the light and yummy food and then get up to make chai for both of us. we still chirp on with our friend on the phone and ask her if she wants her cuppa too.....

Diwali stories

Happy Diwali, everyone. I am sure you are all having a wonderful, colorful and a thunderous diwali :).

I just woke up-had real great dreams about Diwali.....Oo wow, all the phooljharis, chakris and anaars. As I call home, I can hear the sound of fire-crackers in the backdrop. and friends are writing from home abot what they are going to do for diwali. am I jealous ;) . what do I do for Diwali? ha, ha-go to the lab :) and go out for lunch.....

This year my family welcomes two new members: my nephew (brother’s son) and my niece (sister’s daughter). Their parents are a bit worried that the diwali dhoom might upset the lil’ ones.

And I am thinking about how I spent my Diwali last year-it wasn’t anything great, especially with the happenings in New Delhi. and I felt disgusted with one remark from an Asian colleague “Oh, they had such trouble for a festival, innocent people targeted-why? India is not an important country”. and I went all GRRRRRRRRRRRR. well, umm, not that loudly and rudely. but I challenged her to explain what she meant!! I turned out that she meant politically neutral and with her English not helping her enough she uttered the unsavory!

But, there’s one Diwali that’s very close to my heart. Boston, circa 2003.....

its a Diwali weekend-am back home after finishing a bit work in the lab. as I sip on some masala chai, the door-bell rings. Hmm, she’s home-my house-mate Arshiya. She looks at me and greets “Happy Diwali ji”-and I greet her back with the same. as I serve her some chai she quips “where are the lights”. and that makes me think, hmm, yes, its Diwali today. But then, am I supposed to celebrate this year.....Mom has left us for the heavens this year.....i think. I am quiet. and Arshi asks me, “kahan kho gayin aap”-i remind her that Mom is here no more. She smiles and hugs me and echos what goes on in my minds just as she hugs me. and we understand that my being happy and enjoying is only going to make Mom happier. She would actually not like it, if her child isn’t happy. I look up and break into a tearful grin and I hear my sweetheart Mom say “Chal uth, aiwayein na ro-ja uth ke kuchh kar. Aapni saheli naal bahar jaake aa” (”get up, don’t cry like this-go, do something-go out with your friend”). Thanks sweetie, I chirp, as Arshi looks on if its for her. She knows the answer.....and goes to set up the X’mas lights on the windows.

Dressed up, Arshi and I go out. Its quite chilly and we decide to walk upto the Bombay Cinema for a Hindi movie from our apartment in Brookline. I am told that theater no longer screens Hindi movies. On the way, we stop at Kashmir, an Indian store and buy some diyas and sweets. We pick up a coffee from Dunkin’-Donuts and buy a cpl of samosas after we reach the theater and get the tickets. The tickets are for “Pinjar”, a movie based on Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam’s novel by the same name. We anticipate a great movie as we both are Punjabis.....from the two sides of border. We munch on samosas while watching this movie that revolves around the story of a girl Puro, set in the turbulent times of India’s Partition. We are both a tearful shadow of ourselves, crying in bucketloads.....the movie ends and we both come out with a heavy heart and begin walking home. But as we walk, we feel lighter.....we laugh at this situation-an Indian and Pakistani girl watching and crying through this movie together. its a hindi movie like situation, we joke :).

We reach home, its another round of chai, this time with aloo-paranthas. We light the diyas and then sit and chat and within five minutes we realize we need some therapy.....we break into tearful grins again and pick up the casette for Chalte-Chalte and enjoy our beloved SRK dancing to “Gumshuda.....”

Darshan, embracing the baggage?

This morning i saw a trailer of the movie Darshan, The Embrace (L'etreinte) - there, its on my nerves again, have to talk about it.

Well, last month I got a chance to see this movie at a theater in Santa Monica. I have met Amma (courtesy one of my close friends) once while she was visiting Los Angeles this year. I found her to be very simple, child-like and innocent and her darshan means a warm embrace. She sits there the whole day, hugging people-all sorts of people. Amazing energy she has, she smiles all through, chit-chats with people around and doesn’t look a bit tired. She’s Amma (Mother in many Indian languages), lovingly so called because she hugs like a mother. And this was a movie about her, so I thought why not-must go and have a look.

Flashback: Its mid-September. A lil’ chilly in down-town Santa Monica. Hmm, its already 7:00 PM. I am a bit excited- a movie about an Indian saint here in US-lets see what its gotta say. Its a movie made by a Dutch guy, Jan Kounen. I am with a friend. We walk into the theater and take a seat. There aren’t too many people around, mostly her followers who’ve come to see the movie, hoping to see their beloved Amma. The movie begins with some vintage clips of Amma’s interaction with people who come to see her and then goes on to describe about “the hugging saint” a bit. The focus shifts to a young French woman, who’s come to see Amma. For next few minutes we are made to explore her spiritual journey, or so seems the aim of this footage. But, the camera just seems more interested in documenting empty corridors and even when it captures humans, its without much emotion and dialogue. In the latter few reels, we get to see the lush and beautiful Ashram in Kollam and few snippets of Amma. The movie then takes us to different cities (Calcutta, Benares and Jaipur) in India, where Amma goes to meet people. This is interspersed with Amma’s interaction with her devotees in Ashram. Its nice to see her dancing and singing, interacting with lil’ children, talking and even giving a part shy and part cute, but very sweet interview to the film-maker. The movie just sort of brushes on her charity work and her teachings, the former mainly in the form of footage from TV newscasts. There is also some beautiful old footage of Amma as a young girl on the swing and Amma doing Poojas-something sort of personal about the once lil’ girl, now a revered mother to millions. The movie concludes with a replay of the footage showing the young Amma on a swing. The movie is over and I am a bit disappointed, actually a bit off.....and I am just starting to tell this to my friend, who shares the feelings about the movie.

I hear someone say now, “whats your problem girl, with this movie?” Problem? I want to shout, No-I have PROBLEMS with the movie (and with some reviews too).....

As the movie progresses and takes us to different cities in India through Kounen’s camera, we are made to sit through footage that doesn’t necessarily focus on Amma or her energetic gatherings. There is a shot of a bus going to another city, and there multiple shots of hungry childrem in the slums in Calcutta, dust and grime-the cliche’ we are so used to seeing about India. And this goes on and on. Yes, there are slums in India-but how relevant is that to a movie about a saint. You know you are completely done when you see a carcass of a calf being consumed by maggots.....and that becomes the focus for a couple of minutes!! Pray, whats the relevance. and to top it all, as some touchy souls informed, its a calf.....In the whole of the conutry, all the film-maker finds is a dead livestock to focus on and disgust the audience. Or is he trying to convey something like “look, look-they worship cows and then leave them for maggots’ edification”. Worst, how does this become relevant to a documentary on the life and work of a motherly saint! Thankfully, the footage in Jaipur and Benares gets slightly better. The movie just has us taking a few glimpses of Amma and how she interacts with her devotees. Thankfully, it highlights her energetic presence and her wonderful gift of a hug to one and all. But, the movie doesn’t even explain the meaning and essence of Amma, the word and the persona. Instead of a film on a person and who she is, it merely follows her around and then mixes it up with irrelevant stuff and serves it to the audience. It doesn’t matter to a gora in the audience-hey have seen “India is poor, India is dirty” crap before. But it matters to me, an Indian-and where I come from-things just don’t look this way-its this and much more. Things could have been better.....If only Mr. Kounen had refrained from selling India’s poverty and instead focused on telling us more about Amma.

This agony is made worse when you see such irreverant stuff written in National Newpapers:

Quoting from http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/movies/26dars.html

“Mr. Kounen, who is Dutch, wants everyone to share his captivation: watching the white-garbed faithful line up by the thousands for a smile and a cuddle, his camera is guilty of lingering on the faces of the beautiful. Abundant shots of lush foliage, pastel-toned rooftops and sizzling sunsets are also a far cry from the images of Indian deprivation we’re accustomed to seeing on the news.”

Another strange thing is the use of this song "Jab hum jawaan honge" from movie Betaab in the background whenever a young Amma is shown on the swing. I know it sort wants to tell us that this lil' girl will one day blossom into Amma. But given the context of the song, as we have seen in betaab, it sounds out of place. Besides, the movie doesn’t choose to tell us much about the charity work Amma does and even her hugs are presented as mere statistics. There is more to a hug than just numbers in my opinion, you'll know if you ever hugged anyone.....or may be I am being too harsh on Kounen.

Do I even need to say more-its Friday night-am just back from work and completely tired, so I guess i’ll take leave for now. May be I am over-reacting, may be not. Afterall, the guy has made this movie on a shoe-string budget and made a movie about an Indian mother, a woman who’s hugging millions and doing charity tirelessly-is that what I am expected to day (one more cliche’ and this takes the cake).

Happy Diwali and have fun.....

Who's the rat

Am back. to chirp about the movie i saw this Tuesday. if you've seen the movie already then the word 'rat' is hint enough to guess which one. yes, i am talking about "The Departed". i watched this movie for three different reasons: 1. its got three of my favorite actors (Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio). 2. Its set in Boston and i am in love with the city, having lived in the Brookline area. and 3. It was playing in the famed FOX theater in Westwood that i never stepped in before, because they rarely play movies that i want to watch.

So, the movie is about finding the rat-the mafia suspects that they got a rat and the Police 'the staties' think they got a rat too. and rats there are, aplenty. Even the ones you don't suspect might be rats. I would have personally liked the term "mole", now made famous by desi media. Jack Nicholson plays the don Frank Castello and as usual does the job too well. Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio play the cops Sullivan and Castigan, respectively. Matt Damon is quite good, but show here belongs to DiCaprio, who lives the role. Martin Sheen plays Queenan, a fatherly chief of special unit and a perfect mellow foil in the movie to Nicholson's ruthless Castello. Mark Wahlberg is the abusive sergeant Dignam, really abusive and induces hate instantly-thats some performance too. Who's the bad cop-go, watch the movie. We also have Madolyn (Vera Farmiga), who is the department pyschiatrists and love interest to? umm, no spoiler, watch the movie.

Plenty of four-letter lingo, really plenty. do you want to get immunized for such language-its a must watch then ;). there is some unabashed use of racial-slur too. May be its there to make the stuff look more believable. and ah! how can we forget the corner convenience store-wallah desi guy. Though for a change he is not made to put on an un-authentic desi accent. it sounds more believably desi than most in recent past.

The movie can get a bit confusing towards the end, making you wonder "whats going on here"-but hold on, the last few scenes solve the mystery and you are good to go back home thinking that you didn't really waste time. All in all, a reasonable movie to go for.

Dada Dadi Ki Kahaniyan

Few days back i was playing with my friend's four years old when she just jumped into my lap and nudged me to tell her a goshto (a story/tale in Marathi). and i did, the story i had heard so many times, over and over again from my Mom and Grandmom.

And that took me down the memory lane..... the different stories, told and retold by the elders in the same wonderful style. the stories were told with masterly sound effects and perfect expressions, recreating the whole scene.....how vivid the imagery was-one could just see the cute kittens and rabbits, the mean wolf, the pretty princess, the graceful queen and a lot more right there.

Sitting in Grandma's lap and enjoying the warmth of her shawl's bukkal (bukkal: throwing one end of the shawl over the left shoulder, known as bukkal maarna in Punjabi) in the winters or just enjoying the gentle humming of her pankhi (hand fan) under the starlit sky in the summer , every night, i would enjoy countless tales of courage and bravery, beauty and riches.....she would tell stories and riddles or bujharataan/baatan on demand :). in her mock anger, she would say "i told this story even y'day", but i would go on requesting. there were many folk-tales about phool kumari, the queen and her maid-servants, the gith-muthiyas (mythic dwarfs who live in paataal-lok,meaning below the ground), jal-pari (the mermaid like mythic crature), panchtantra, Alif-laila, Bhagat Pooran ji, stories about the legendary warriors and saints, peers and faqeers, religious stories about Krishna ji, Ram Chandra ji and the Sikh Gurus. There were stories from her own times also-stories about Netaji, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, The World Wars and 1947. and whenever i would request her for a story during the day-time, she would say "you are not supposed to tell stories during the day-time. the travellers lose their way". sure, with such wonderful stories, they would!

Here are a few stories and i am glad that i found this link to share (God bless the people who compiled this).

I just mentioned about Punjabi tales, because thats where i come from. But our culture is a treasure-trove of such wonderful tales, in different languages.This tradition of narration and dramatic rendition is fading slowly. if you/ your elders have such tales to share, please come forward :). Lets hope that "Once upon a time" just doesn't become once upon a time.....

Shaadi ya.....

Many of you would have come across sporadic, strange marriage proposals from the shaadi-byah type web-sites or through other channels.

there are some who are probably (and you don't need to be a rocket-scientist to figure that out)sending the same mail to everybody: "hi, i am interested in your profile, if you are interested in mine, please contact me at :xyz@abc.com". there are some absent minded ones who don't care to leave even a contact address!

then there is another "DANDAman (guy with a danda/lathi)" breed: sample this gem"i love to dress well and exprect the same from my spouse (good so far) and if you are not into dressing well, i would have to take you for shopping to overhaul your wardrobe".

some male lurkers can be seen expecting their to-bes to be really "she should be taking care of herself well"-what does that mean? do you want her to be independent, i appreaciate that-but the following few sentences emphasising about manicures and pedicures suggest something else!

there are few who introduce by saying "i have a degree from a prestigious institute and am currently working at a fortune 500"-well if you are spending enough time to say this, then may we please know, where exactly!

A friend recently mentioned about a call she received from a guy's Mummyji:here goes-
Mom: Hi beta, i am xyz's mummy.
Ms sakhi-saheli: namaste aunty ji.
Mom; arrey beta, aapne namaste kaha. aajkal kaun namaste use karta hai( u said namaste, who uses this greeting these days)! so on and so forth.

and then "beta do you wear skirts etc, mera beta abhi US jaane wala hai-to thoda match bhi dekhna hoga na" (my son is going to US soon, so we have to get someone who matches).

and then some have a very practical quest" kya aapke paas H1B ya green card hai"-usually reserved for girls who are either in India or are here on F1 or J1 etc. or some men back home trying to woo women working here in USA in the hope of getting here, nothing wrong with that-but the way they ask is crazy and usually the first thing when they email/call the girl.

one may be a man/lady of few words, but this is really too few! PHEW! "i am tall, athletic guy in city XYZ" or" i am a slim, smart and educated girl"-no details, cliched and no one knows who you are and can be!! and for everything else:will tell you later.



with such proposals, one either laughs or fumes, but i bet you can't ignore them-so enjoy.

anyway, this is a sampler-share some of yours whenever you can :)

Day 1.

Hello folks, am here to share some thoughts with all of you who care to share the same :).

to just say a few words, i am a desi girl in pardes. a scientist by profession and a lot of other things in my own little world-hope to share my lil' rants on desiyana, mind and food.

hope to keep chirping.

Cheers,
me.