Some thoughts on food and cooking

I've been venturing into the kitchen this last 2 weeks as Priya's away. Some thoughts triggered by that:

 

-- Eating raw veggies:  What would life be like if we didn't automatically expect our food to be a source of pleasure ? Eating raw veggies can have multiple kinds of effects: one , of a completely different taste and texture sensation than cooked food. That's what is so hard to take. It also has an intrinsic healthy feel -- when I feel I've been eating too much junk, and my body wants to do something nice, it'll instinctively respond positively to the idea of eating raw vegetables. And lastly, the point I started out with -- it could feel basically tasteless and sensation-less. If we are just okay with that -- wouldn't it simplify eating and life ?

   (Angst above coming from a waistline that is not doing well)

-- Sugar (and salt): Consider how very unnatural normal refined sugar is -- little manmade grains and a somewhat metallic taste. When there are so many things that are naturally sweet, why do we use sugar ?

-- Popcorn is a marvellous thing. It looks like a highly processed food item, who would guess it came from heating corn grains

-- There are two kinds of cooking. You can just try to sling some vegetables into a pan or pressure cooker add salt or garlic or whatever you think might be appropriate and generally it turns out okay since you watching it and can be making small continuous adjustments. The other type is with a developed body of knowledge like Indian (or any other reasonably developed cuisine) cooking. Try winging a rasam or sambar like above and you won't get very far.

-- I'm trying to understand some of the principles behind cooking. For example when you fry a vegetable like cabbage with a little oil, what are the interactions between the moisture in the vegetable and the frying in oil process ? For best results does the process of dehydration of the vegetable precede, come after, or occur at the same time as the process of the frying ?

-- What are the well-developed cuisines in the world. Indian for sure, Chinese, perhaps Thai, French. American I think qualifies due to the sheer range and variety across different states and timeperiods. Any others ?
One of the most difficult meals I had was at a Peruvian restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was gagging.

Looks like I'm spending more time thinking about cooking than cooking. Having pizza tonight :-)

 

 

 

Stuff I found interesting

http://zenhabits.net

 

and

 

http://www.oktatabyebye.com/gajodhar/index.html?Camp=promo&attrib=emailer/OTB 

 

Absolutely cool, if you know anything about Ghajini . Do see and comment.

When I see things like this I know that we in India have really arrived.

From a mail forward:     Raju Raju     Yes Baba     Cheating us     No Baba     Telling lies     No Baba     Open your balance sheets     Ha! Ha! Ha!

Comment responses

bunch of comments to which I wanted to respond:

Antonego -- you're new to my blog. Welcome ! Something about yourself ?

Anonymous -- will update about this ; got a mail from the company asking hold off until they investigate. I was suprised !

Siddhu -- don't get too excited. Arvind Uncle will say anything as long as it irritates me. Still, why don't you do guest posts on this blog more often ? I don't update it often enough.

Arvind, Sajini -- I can see how you find this annoying. I like it personally. The guy does talk sense, introduces me to some new books that I haven't heard about and has a nice voice. Perhaps it'll grow on you. I took it off temporarily in order not to conflict with the timbaktu video, but was planning to put it on again sometime. Give your feedback again then if you still hate it.

Ben - thanks for the tip about seeclickfix . It seems like a neat tool and I'm interested in using maps for all sorts of public information things. I don't think I'll try it right away due to lack of time, but hopefully will get around to it, and hopefully it will pick up steam on its own in India

Palls (without hyperlink) -- the issue with the Hindu and China is a long discussed one and you are late to the table here (as with everything else?). Am well aware of the Hindu's blindspot in this matter and can apply corrective.


Also : one of those once-in-a-lifetime events , Arvind is doing something useful: He started the following site and associated NGO: http://www.mathscienceforall.org/
All the best to him !
(PS: Why is my name last in the list of advisors)



Happy new year everyone !!!
Which includes (in no order so don't get ego-hassled, and I would have forgotten someone. In fact, if you read this blog it would be really really nice and interesting if you add a comment wishing everyone happy new year on this post):
Palls
Nandita
Sajini
Anonymous Sukesh Patro
Anonymous Other
Sidharth with a single 'd'
Siddharth with a 'u' :-)
Sneha
Vidya
Suniel
Sunil (?)

Timbaktu photos

From my recent visit there

TimbaktuKalpavalliJan09

From Vishweshwareya Museum

Images from Vishweshwareya science museum (sic) -- Ultra cool science museum in Bangalore.



Face on a platter !!




A tap hanging in midair and pouring water !




Artistic light arrangement thingy




Priya's niece (does that make her my neice too?)



Forget what this was

New video

My video skills are improving:





I was at Timbaktu last weekend and recorded a meeting that took place regarding a local issue that they've been having. Timbaktu and the local community have been painstakingly regenerating and taking care of some of the barren land back to a forested state. An outside windmill company has now come in and wants to put windmills on that land.

I was particularly happy at how the photo+music sections at the beginning and the end came out. In fact I'm a bit surprised how easy it is to evoke a certain mood or emotion in this way.

From Balaji

A good friend's (R.Balaji, IITM 92 Chem) bad experience with a mover, would like to spread this information widely. I 100% vouch for the veracity of the story below.

Customer service in India is absymal -- I am fighting with HDFC Bank Credit Cards currently.

============

Dear Friends,

I have recently moved over from Mumbai to Kolkata and engaged M/s Caravan Packers & Movers (CPM), http://www.caravanpackers.com for Door To Door shifting of my House hold Items and Maruthi Zen car on 25th Dec'08. I had a very bad and traumatic experience with them and could recover my belongings only after approaching the local Police. I am sharing my experience here below for the benefit of all of you. Request your HR Department to Black List this particular Transporter from your company's list. Also advise your friends and relatives to avoid such rouge Transporters to avoid loss of property and mental trauma.

This was one of the transporters (ISO 9001:200 & IBA Approved Company and claim to be in this business since 1971) who contacted me after I registered for my requirements in the website "Sulekha.com" (advise you to avoid using this site too). They have shown attractive catalogues, Brochures and references.

The terms of contract agreed were that they would engage a 17 feet exclusive truck from door to door for house hold items and a car career for transporting my car. The final contract price negotiated was Rs. 50,000/-, that includes insurance for Rs. 1,50,000/- worth and service Tax etc. 70% of the amount to be paid by cheque at the time of loading and the balance 30% to be paid by cheque after the delivery of the last item (car) at my residence in Kolkata.

After handing over my goods to them in Mumbai, the attitude and behavior of the transporter has completely changed. They have unilaterally changed all the terms of contract agreed upon earlier. It was the worst kind of service I had ever received from a transporter and a brief summary of my experience is recollected here:


1. The truck was unloaded in between and moved over into a different container.
2. The goods were not delivered at my residence and instead unloaded at an unknown destination in the outskirts of Kolkata.
3. M/S CPM demanded for the balance payment in cash even before delivering my goods.
4. All my items were ransacked, searched for valuables, some items were stolen, and others were damaged.
5. After getting the involvement of local police, they have repacked the loose items in haphazard manner and dispatched.
6. Almost all the 32 cartons were in open position and they even tried to put the tape and seal them while unloading from the truck.
7. I tried to contact their offices at Delhi, Mumbai as well as Kolkata but the response was never positive and they all talked the same language.
8. None of their offices could provide me the phone number of their C&MD.
9. They have a website, where there is no provision for customer feed back or complaint.
10. Though I have paid for insurance coverage and reported the damages, there was no response from them after receiving the balance amount.
11. They never responded to any of my emails and subsequent reminders.

Request all of you to learn from my bad experience and avoid this particular transporter and be wiser before you engage any other transporter. They are real cheats and can cause a lot of headache. They do not understand the meaning of the word – Service.

Thank you for your co-operation and support.

Best Regards
Balaji Raparti

Timpany Alumni get-together in Bangalore

See mail below. As of now I know only one Timpanian in Bangalore, so enthu to go is still at lower end. If more people I know are going, let me know !!


> > Hi,
> > 
> > Here's wishing you and you loved ones the very
> > best for the New Year! As we herald in the New Year here's hoping that 2009
> > brings you much
> > happiness, love, peace and prosperity. I am so excited and look
> > forward to seeing each of you on Sat. Jan. 24, 2009 at the Bangalore
> > Club to meet each other, celebrate each other, honor dear Ms.
> > Jeyaraja Rao and to reminiscence about the "good old years"!
> :-)
> > Details of the wonderful
> > gathering will be sent by Meenu who is in charge of organizing the
> > event "Nostalgia 2009".
> > 
> > I know that everyone is really busy with life, work, family, and
> > other responsibilities. Each of us has to make difficult choices on
> > where to spend our limited time and money but since this is the
> > first and possibly last ever worldwide alumni meeting of Timpany
> > School with Ms.
> > Jeyaraja Rao in India, I expect each of you to take that extra time
> > and effort to make the commitment to attend and bring along at least
> > 3 other family or friends who were part of the Timpany experience.
> > We can have an incredible and successful event but only if you are
> > willing to invest the time, trouble, expense and energy to attend
> > the celebration. After 90,000 people died in the earthquakes in
> > China, a couple of hundred died in the recent Mumbai tragedy in late
> > Nov. 2008, we should each celebrate just being alive and having
> > people who care about us.
> > 
> > So please take this opportunity to invite your friends, any family
> > members like brothers, sisters, cousins or anyone else, who may have
> > attended Timpany School. Please RSVP to confirm your attendance to
> > Meenu's assistant who will be sending out emails to
> > each of you starting this week.

> > Thank you in advance for your commitment to attend and make Ms.
> > Jeyaraja Rao the happiest person and also to treat yourself to this
> > luxury of going down memory lane and sharing with each other.
> > I hope to see each
> > of you on Sat. Jan. 24th, 2009 and hopefully more often in the years
> > to come, as we continue to grow in the life's journey and help
> > others along in that fun and sometimes challenging journey of life!
> > 
> > Best wishes,
> > Sheela Murthy

Siddhu's story

My nephew Siddharth. This essay won him second prize at a college competition:

SHANMUGHA ZINDABAD!

(A True Life Story)



EAMCET- 26,353.

Manipal- Waiting List

VIT- 2nd Councelling

AIEEE – You so don't wanna know

IIT- As if you can't guess by now!

After a "disastrous" performance in the Pre-Engineering grinder, life became tough for a while. Options were running out and so was time. The feeling of letting my parents down grew day-by-day and phone calls from relatives and the jobless society enquiring about my ranks and percentiles added fuel to the fire.

There wasn't a day when I did not ponder as to why I had to choose Engineering as my career when I used to draw, paint and sketch well at school, but fate saw to it that I landed in the most miserable and the lousiest college in the country for my +2. I did "NOTHING" in those 2 years and it obviously reflected on the score cards. Just when I was running short of options, some godly creature informed me of an entrance exam for architecture, and that got me thinking.

I wanted to give it one last try and the next two months, I just devoted myself to it.

Meanwhile, time was running out, and my last option for Engineering, a deemed university called "SASTRA- Shanmugha University", which was my best option called for applications. I reluctantly filled it up and my mediocre 90%(mediocre.. because it's the state boardJ) in inter got me a call from it. The results for the architecture entrance were still not out, so, not having an option, I, along with my dad went to Thanjavur, the town where SASTRA is located to attend the councelling, and this was my experience….

Firstly, the ride was tough. Having to change 2 trains, a couple of buses, and then an auto! I already missed home by then. Then as soon as I entered college, there were these "lungi people" who were looking at me as if I was from some Turkmenistan or Azerbaijan or something. The reason—I was wearing a T shirt and jeans. The rules over there—T shirts and jeans are strictly banned. Fine- Rs.200/-. Caught talking with a girl. Fine-Rs.100/-. Caught speaking on the cell phone at college. Fine-Rs.500/-. Hair to be neatly trimmed at all times. Hostel food- pathetic. I felt like running away! With a sober face I went and attended the counselling, got an IT seat, somehow begged the Chancellor of the university and submitted attested mark memo's, with a promise that I'd submit the originals once college starts within a couple of weeks (since I was still waiting for the architecture result and I needed my original if at all I got a seat) and paid a neat 50,000 bucks.

We then came back home and there were still no signs of the results coming out soon. So, I didn't want to take a chance and hence SASTRA was the only option left. There were scenes of me, talking with this girl, who was the only(STRICTLY ONLY) cute girl during counselling and ending up paying Rs.100 everyday, scenes of me having to read volumes of not-so-good-to-look-at engineering books, scenes of flunking semesters, scenes of wearing a shirt and a cotton pant with belt and leather sandals to class everyday, scenes of being deprived of all the luxuries I could get at home.. all these and more – EVERY NIGHT!

My days of sanity were numbered and I started cursing JNTU for delaying the results. Afterall, I really did give the exam my best shot, and all that was going to go down the drain. The day had finally arrived when I had to bid adieu to my family and most importantly—LIFE!

June 23rd, 2006. The day when I knew God still loved me. The day which was nothing less than a miracle. The day when I got back my life which I thought I was going to lose forever.

I was back at SASTRA for my first day at college and I took dad along. I checked into my hostel, and Kailasagiri Venkata Balasubrahmanya Iyer who happened to be my roommate welcomed me into the room with a "huvvar u?"- Madurai Style. Without wasting a minute, I got the hell outta there and the next moment me and dad were at the admin building, about to submit my original certificates as promised. Just as we were about to enter the chancellors office, the phone rang, and it was my brother who broke the news that the architecture results were out and that I had secured a 3rd rank. I asked dad if it was a big huge cosmic joke. I then called up JNTU to confirm. Everything was correct.

Tears (also called as "anandabhaashps") started rolling down as only I knew how much effort had gone into getting that mark. The joy of getting a rank subsided as I had made a commitment to submit my certificates, failing which I was entitled for a fine of lakhs of rupees. I quarter-heartedly told dad that I'd go for SASTRA rather than burn a hole in his pocket. He encouraged me to go for architecture, as he knew that it was on my mind all along. Without wasting a moment, I thanked Lord Shanmugha, and quietly got my luggage out of the hostel and without informing anyone we literally RAN back home, a.k.a "Pokiri" style! (If at all I had submitted my certificates, I had to pay up the huge sum to get it back, so it was better losing the 50,000 we paid in the beginning)

Celebrations at home, and never did I love the phone ringing so much! I never felt happier as I knew that I didn't let my parents down and I did prove I was good at something! Then the counselling happened and here I am, doing stuff what my heart wants, learning things I love and spending time with some of the most wonderful people(the judges for this competition :p) I've come across in my life!




Now, what happened to SASTRA? Didn't I already enrol myself? Yes. I still keep getting letters at home, telling me that my attendance is 0% and that I have been flunking my exams, semester-after-semester with record breaking scores!! The latest one being, to pay up my library dues and caution deposit!! So, I am officially doing an engineering and an architecture bachelors at the same time in different cities. Talk about talent eh??? J

In God I trust!

=====================

See Siddharth's fantastic photography here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sidwork/



The general question that the above post raises is how many students are stuck miserably doing Engineering at bad (or good!) colleges dotted across South India, learning nothing and then joining the workforce without being ready for anything. A human tragedy of unrealized potential (and an opportunity for change)