I'm all shook up

So last night, hubby and I were spending some quality time together on the couch, analyzing the dems debate. Just as I finished declaring my solidarity with Dennis Kucinich (he is a vegetarian and now has also announced on national television that he has seen a UFO!!!), the couch rocked. I immediately looked at the hubby in accordance with marriage law 1 "your spouse is the usual suspect for any domestic disturbances". It was not him. We could feel the whole house shudder and the blinds rattled. For a second we were in a what-the-f? mode, and then we realized it was an earthquake!

With great drama, we ran outside the house. I picked up our shoes on the way out (and entirely forgot about our wallets, passports, cellphones and car keys). To cut a long story short, the tremors lasted only for a few seconds. No damages were reported. We went back inside, and found our rickety book shelf still standing (which meant the condo was still structurally sound). In times of duress like this, we decided the best thing to do would be to get some icecream and so we did. But we parked our car outdoors and not inside the garage just in case.

Turns out, the earthquake was about 5.6 on the richter scale, with the epicenter about 15 miles from us. No damages were reported in the area (except for a few broken wine bottles). Forgive me for resorting to cliches, but I truly have a bigger appreciation for life right now. I am thankful the condo that I furnished just 2 days ago is still in one piece, and that the bookshelf which literally fell apart during it's long journey from Chicago to San Jose was still on one piece last night. It may have been a really insignificant event (did not even make national headlines), but it reminded me how significant all the little things in my world are to me.

The Lean Veggie - The perfect cup of chai

It took me many years, and I finally nailed it today. I made a wonderful cup of tea. The recipe is really simple, you just need the right ingredients and you can find all this in your neighborhood Indian grocery store.

Indian tea - I used the Tajmahal brand
Cardamom seeds - You can either use the whole crushed pods, or buy a packet of seeds (with the green pods already removed)
Milk - Preferably organic, 2% fat milk
Sugar - Real sugar is a must. Sweetners make the tea taste a little bitter
Fresh ginger - Use a vegetable peeler or a small knife, and make about a teaspoon of ginger shavings (including the skin).

Recipe -

1) In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup water
2) Before the water starts boiling, add 1/3 cup milk and stir
3) Add about 6 cardomom seeds (or one pod crushed) and ginger shavings
4) Heat till the mixture comes to a boil and rises. Watch the saucepan very carefully, and remove from heat the second the mixture starts rising
5) Add 2 teaspoons of tea (not heaped) and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Return the saucepan to the stovetop and heat gently for one minute. Do not let the mixture boil. If it boils, the tea may turn bitter
6) Turn off the heat, cover and let the pan sit on the heated surface for another minute
7) Pour the tea through a filter and remove the tea leaves
8) Transfer the tea into a serving cup (when pouring into the serving cup, raise your hand, and pour the tea from a height. This will cause the tea to froth a little, incorporate air bubbles, and improve the taste!)

Only 99? Where did the other 1 mark go?

I had a big smile on my face as i read this sentence from the NY times' article today about Bobby Jindal elected as the Louisiana governor) -

"The younger Jindal, growing up in Baton Rouge, was not expected to come home from school with anything less than 100 on tests"

(American politics note for my mom - Governor is the equivalent of our chief minister, and Bobby is the first Indian-American to be elected to such a post)

For any desi born in the 70's (yes, that includes dinosaur me too), this was probably the story of all our lives. A lot is being written about the meteoric rise of Indians all over the world. To me, the reason is really simple. Growing up, we didn't really have a choice. We had to get the 100. The loss of that 1 "mark" was really bad - a sign of how our "future could spoil aaidum". We bitched and moaned, but somehow, that attitude has helped all of us.

Do I want my kids to grow up in fear of the much dreaded 99? Maybe not. But there are times when I am glad my parents brought me up that way. We FOB desis do seem to have come a long way, and we probably have our dads and moms to thank, and maybe the heaping servings of vendakkai curry too!

Tajmahal - Another late movie/music review

I got yelled at for reviewing Unnaale Unnaale. Its so 3-months-ago complained my friends and family. But I really cannot change. Time stands still in my world. I refuse to believe in expiration dates for analyzing long forgotten movies. I dont go trolling for oldies, they just end up in my field of vision, then I start watching, and before long, I cannot get the movie out of my head.

I ended up watching Bharathiraja's Tajmahal on sun tv yesterday. I could not have had a more enjoyable experience. The movie was so incredibly bad, it was really good. Riya does not even bother lip-syching. She just moves her mouth like a goldfish, and there is some entirely different voice over! This was supposed to be Manoj's great launch vehicle. He must have done something really bad to piss off his big daddy, cos he is forced to mouth the most inane dialogues like "nee yen usiru" and "valikkudhu...". HAAAA!!!

But all the bitching aside, this movie does have some really good music by A.R Rahman. I am not a big Rahman fan, but this is one of his few music scores that you can listen to years later without cringing.

Sotta sotta nanayudhu - The male and female versions are pleasant enough to listen to, but this is standard Rahman cop out stuff, also known as "i cannot come up with a tune, so i'll recycle something from my netru illaadha maatram genre"

Eechi elumichi - One of my favorites. Its slow and very sexy. The lyrics are pure rustic thamizh and really poetic

"paasi mani rendu korkayila paavi manasayum kothavaley..."

Question to blog readers - The song credits read Manoj. Is he the same guy as the hero? He is really good in this song.

Kulirithu kulirithu - This is an absolute gem. Unnikrishan and Swarnalatha waltz through the impossibly high and low notes. There are certain songs where the harmony between the lyrics and tune is absolute perfection, and this song is definitely one of those. This song actually comes near close to Andhi mazhai...

So what came first? Sada or her frown?

It is one of those classic conundrums - does Sada perpetually look pissed off because of the kind of the roles that she is offered, or is she offered these roles because she looks perpetually pissed off?

Anyway, she takes to the role of an angry Jaanu like fish to water. Little can be said for the rest of the cast of Unnaale Unnaale (oh, this post is a movie review by the way). I'm still confused by the lead guy Vinay - i cant decide if he's oh-so-cute or oh-so-not. Tanisha is awful! So she has a cute smile, but the second she starts talking, its all downhill and the horrendous dubbing doesnt help.

The movie is kinda weird - it took me a while to understand where the director was heading. I actually kinda liked the theme - a couple splitting because of incompatability, and the fact that its really important that people in love share similar views in life to be happy together. Yeah yeah, they say opposites attract and all that blah, but I do agree with Sada's viewpoint in the movie. Unfortunately, her character is made to look like the bitch.

Tamizh cinema has sure come a long way. From poove unakkaaga (where Vijay decides to stay single all his life because the gal he jollufied has married someone else) to Unnaale Unnaale where the hero casually gets married to the next cute girl that shows up and lives happily everafter...

The Lean Veggie - Garbanzo beans and sprouts salad with Yoghurt-Mango dressing

I threw a bunch of ingredients together and ended up with this incredibly flavorful dish. Its important to drizzle the dressing on the salad just before serving, because, you definitely want to taste the distinct flavors of the crunchy sprouts and veggies, and also enjoy the tangy taste of the dressing. The inspiration for this recipe is of course bhel puri, i just tried to get healthier.

Yoghurt-Mango dressing -

Blend together the following - 1/2 cup yoghurt, 2 tbsp mango chutney (i used the Pathak's variety). Add a little water to thin the dressing out if needed, it should reach pouring consistency. Mix in 1/4 tsp of fresh cracked black pepper, a pinch of salt and a pinch of chat masala (optional). Substitute bhelpuri sweet chutney if you do not have mango chutney on hand.

Salad -

1) Mix together all the below ingredients (you can omit many of these if you dont have them, but at a minimum, the chickpeas and potatoes are very important)
* chickpeas (garbanzo beans) - 1 can
* Soaked whole green moong dhal - 1/2 cup (soak overnight, even better if you let it sprout). Cover with water and microwave for 15 minutes
* Boiled peeled and diced potatoes - 2 small
* Quartered cherry tomatoes - 1 handful (or use 1 regular tomato)
* 1 grated carrot
* 1/4 cup boiled black channa (definitely optional)
* Finely chopped red onion - 1/4 cup

2) Stir in 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp lemon juice and a good few turns of the pepper mill. Check the flavors and add more seasonings if needed. This mixture should be flavorful enough to eat on it's own (even without the dressing)

3) Stir in 2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

To serve -

* Scoop the salad into serving bowls

* Drizzle a quarter cup of dressing over the top

* Serve with some chapathis, or parathas, or even microwaved lijjat papads to make a light meal

It is easy to move, but why is it so hard to move on?

I'm moving on to bigger and better things. Then why the heartache? A cosy not-so-little suburb near Chicago was my home for the past four years. I loved it. The dreary gray winters, the searing summer heat, the incredible loneliness of saturday evenings....for some reason, I loved the place inspite of all these, and maybe even because of all these. Maybe it was the gorgeous forest preserves. The fact that you could truly live through the four seasons. Or the fabulous downtown area. Or the proximity to one of the most dynamic cities in the country.

Or maybe it was because of certain incredibly wonderful people. Who did not really have to love me. But did. And endlessly, unconditionally.

Ofcourse, as is expected of me, I will move on, going through the motions, making a new home in the land of sunshine and silicon. New friends, new job... the works. And obviously, Chicagoland and its wonderful people will move on too. Someone new will take my job. It will be business as usual.

But a little part of me will always be in the midwest, just like I left a little bit of myself in Madras. I will always cry a little for everything I left behind, everything that I loved and lost - the little birds that faithfully returned to my deck every spring and patiently waited till I filled the bird feeder, the lofty american flag just outside my window that I silently saluted almost every day, the forlorn howling winds from the lake that kept me company, the beautiful tree outside my house that was my barometer for the various seasons, the friendly indian grocery store where i bought 2 samosas as a guilty pleasure every friday, and last but most certainly not the least....my incredible friends who loved me endlessly and wished me only the very best, even as I chose to move on.

I went to California and found myself in India

There are neighborhoods in the Silicon Valley fondly referred to as Gandhinagar. This weekend, I could see why. The Blockbusters and Kay jewellers were replaced by "Sur sangeet music and dvd", and "Something-ji jems and jewels". We walked to komala vilas at 8:30 am for some hot filter coffee accompanied by MS Subbulakshmi's Vishnu Sahasranamam. For lunch and dinner, it was a literal embarrassment of riches - was it going to be Madras Cafe or the Jain diner? Tiffin or meals? South indian or North indian style buffet? And why eat icecream when you can get fresh cham-chams at Rangoli?

It was fascinating. I saw a mini mile-sur-mera-tumhara video by just watching the parents going for their customary "walk" (do they make it a requirement when approving someone's visa? "thou shalt walk for 3 miles a day through deserted suburban streets"?). I saw a traditional Sardarji, a kadar wearing thamizhian , and a pretty mod jogging Mama - all in exactly 2 seconds.

It was a little mind boggling. I immediately crawled into my virtual shell the way a desi typically does when in the company of other unknown desis. Oh, you know what i am talking about - The soundtrack that runs in our minds as we avert our eyes and frantically (but discretely) head in the opposite direction - Oh...please don't ask me about my employment and GC status and force me to lie and downplay my general good fortune in life..and no....I don't want to become an Amway agent for you...and no....I can barely hold on to my job, there is no way i can sell your "consulting services" to my company....And no, please don't stereotype me by asking "which software platform"....not all we desis are software types

Anyway, I need not have bothered. The junta were pretty cool, nobody gave us as much as a second look. After all, I was in little India, just another face in the crowd. I banished the defensive soundtrack playing in my mind and reveled in my new found status -someone that fits in. And, at the Udupi palace, as I unapologetically attacked my third-trip-to-buffet plate (scaring my husband with my immense appetite), I felt like I was at home. And it felt really good.