Want to get around? Leave your car at home!

Departing from our Thanksgiving tradition of a Vegas trip, I insisted we go either to San Fran or Napa. Really, with the kind of rents and taxes we pay here in the bay area, coughing up air fare and car rental fees is really painful. So, we decided to have a short and sweet night out in the big city. Parking at the Sunnyvale caltrain station was cheap, just 2 dollars for 24 hours.

The train ride was painful though - a really long hour and fifteen minutes. However, after we reached San Francisco, I realized the true bliss that comes with being a backpacker. We did not have to worry about traffic, or maps, or finding parking, or dodging crazy bicyclists. Of course, on the sidewalks, we did have to contend with a lot of second hand cigarette smoke and spitting (oh yea, they do that here as well...ewww...)

But the beauty of the city eclipsed all the grubbiness around us. San Francisco derives much of its character from the various hills that the city is built on, giving a quaint old world feel to the city streets. Amidst the boring sky scrapers, flashes of beautiful architecture still remain. The city's population is incredibly diverse, and much to my chagrin, there were a lot of incredibly good looking women around, intent on giving me a complex.

We contained ourselves to the Union square area for this trip. It is a lot of fun, and a shopper's mecca, surrounded by immense flagship stores (Macys, Armani, Tiffany etc etc). I paid for not doing my due diligence as a tourist by missing the Macy's Christmas tree lighting ceremony by ten minutes. Still, we managed to find our way to the base of the tree squeezing past milling crowds that you would normally find only in Ranganathan street.

A short trek past Union Square took us past several fancy art galleries. Of course, most of them had their doors shut to ward off pesky tourists (self included). One art gallery seemed welcoming enough, and we were rewarded with glimpses of rare prints of Renoir and Rembrandt. We then made our way to the Millennium restaurant for a spectacular meal (and it deserves an entire blog post, so more on this later).

After a lazy morning with lots of shopping (I now consider it my patriotic duty as an American resident to stimulate the economy with my hard earned dollars), we finally made our way back to the oh-so-dull bay area. I cannot wait for our next day trip - I really want to relive the sixties and its magical flower power in the legendary Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.

Trying to get my life back...

The details are a tad too personal for me to write here. Lets just say, I had the fortune and misfortune of experiencing the highest of highs and lowest of lows that any person can experience. The high point lasted all too briefly, and I am now trying to pick up the pieces of my life.

I briefly considered deleting this blog completely. Everything really seemed pointless. But, after wandering around my newly rented apartment, with truly nowhere to go and nothing to do, this silent space was all that I could turn to. There was a time when I had a life right? When I read books, cooked, traveled, had an opinion about things? Maybe its time to be myself again. Writing is a start.

Bay area veggie - Rajjot

K now has a big reprieve from my anti-California/pro-midwest tirade. The reason? My new job, or more specifically, the location of my new workplace. I am now just a mile away from "little India" in Sunnyvale and this translates into some really cool vegetarian lunch choices (and no more subway!! yaay!!!)

One of the best places in the bay area to get vegetarian food, especially if you like home style cooking is Rajjot. Located at the intersection of El camino and Wolfe road in Sunnyvale, it is hard to miss. Don't let the lack of decor or mismatched furniture put you off. The food is seriously good, at extemely reasonable rates (a piping hot desi lunch for about 6 bucks!). I've tasted almost all the vegetarian dishes in the menu (except the sweets), so here are some of my favorites dishes:

1) Samosa with channa - The potato stuffing in the samosas is perfectly seasoned, and you get more channa than you can finish in one sitting

2) Rajma/Dal makhani/Yellow dhal and rotis - This is one of my lunch staples. For $2.50, you get a generous serving of rajma or dal (or any other veggie side dish). The rotis are piping hot, and served with mixed vegetable pickle and sliced onions (very dhaba-ish)

3) Saag - There is no paneer, but the saag by itself is creamy and flavorful

4) Malai kofta - Sure, it is sinful with waaay too much cream. But, with the flavor of ghee and a sweetish tinge, just a tablespoon sized serving is good enough to spice up your meal

5) Gobi/Masala/Paneer/Aloo paratha - These massive parathas paired with raita and pickle are filling and satisfying

Unless you are eating by yourself, Rajjot is not really a sit-down kinda restaurant to take your family to. But, it is the perfect place for takeout. During lunch, anytime after 12:15 pm, the place could get crowded, so do try to get there earlier. You can phone in your order, and don't let the rather gruff staff turn you off. They have tons of customers, and i guess, they believe in giving customers an authentic indian experience in more ways than one!

Movie Review - Kuselan

Whats up with malayalam movies? Well, atleast the ones they remake into Thamizh superhits? Their first two and a half hours plod along, at a pace that would give snails major superiority complex. Then bam! The final thirty minutes of the movie end up being absolutely incredible. Cases in point? Kathalukku mariyathai, Chandramukhi, and now, Kuselan.

It would be a blessing for the audience if the moviemakers would spare us the ordeal of the first 2.5 hours and just cut to the chase. But then, nobody on this planet can get away with a forty five minute movie. So, we are forced to endure an interminable number of puerile Vadivelu jokes, haphazardly thrown together montages of Thamizh cinema, and all the mandatory shots about a poor but peaceful family holding hands and prancing along the shores of a lake where dolphins leap out every now and then (yes, really, dolphins!!!! In Thamizhnadu!). And then we get to see Nayanthara, a lot of her in fact. The pleasantly plump fresh faced actress of Chandramukhi has now morphed into this entirely different person thanks to seriously thinned eyebrows, rebonded hair, and God knows what combination of diet and liposuction. The innocence is all gone, and she frankly seems rather angry that her nutritionist took her lunch away.

The still chubby and natural Meena is a welcome contrast, with her trademark wide-eyed charm and a subdued, gentle performance. Pasupathi shines with his sincere portrayal. G.V Prakash's musical score does not rise above the ordinary. Cinematographer Aravind Krishnan does a superb job, especially with his extreme closeups of Rajni's face; every single emotion is captured, while the Superstar's age is miraculously masked.

After patiently waiting out all the barber jokes and other "comedy", us loyal fans are finally rewarded with a truly brilliant performance by Rajnikanth. Sorry, calling it a performance is inaccurate. The Superstar does not act. He simply plays himself. It is as though he listened to all our complaints post Sivaji - the boss. Sure, even in this movie, he romances a young heroine, and appears in a number of super hero get-ups, but these are just for the movie shoot around which the entire film's plot revolves. He good naturedly spoofs himself, and appears to genuinely enjoy doing it.

In every scene, he makes the audience hang on to each word he utters. There is a lot to be said about the movie's climax, but then, that would be unfair to the reader who has not watched the movie yet. Rajni moves the audience with a never seen before display of real emotion. I can only say this - if you are the Superstar's fan already, you will worship him after watching Kuselan. Even if you are not a believer yet, you will be converted. In Kuselan, Rajni's soul shines through. And how!!!

The 'grinding' lady

My childhood days revolved around a plethora of gentle souls popping in and out of our home everyday. Their regular visits were interrupted only during the most intense cyclone, that would promptly render all roads virtually impassable.

We never really needed to look at a clock to check out the time. The paalkari's (milk lady) early morning cry meant that only 30 more minutes of blessed sleep remained before we had to face another grueling day at school. At 9:00 am, it was Sakunthala's turn, feeding my mom with the day's gossip along with menu ideas when supplying the day's veggies. The 'poo' kari (flower lady) would show up just as the evening lamps were being lit, with a face as cheerful as the blooms in her basket. My mom would passionately swear that she was robbing us by gradually reducing the number of jasmine flowers per foot of twine, and the pookari would defend her trade like her family's honor depended on it and magnanimously give us a 'free' 2 inches of threaded jasmine.

The lady who fascinated me the most was our 'araikara mami' ('the aunty who grinds' being a literal and rather weird translation). Impossibly tall and skinny, she would show up every week. After patiently making small talk with my paati, she would sprinkle a few drops of water on our old fashioned grinding stone. Then, she would magically transform soaked rice and dhal into fluffy dosa and idli batter. I would sit next to her, utterly fascinated. Somehow, I could never comprehend how, in the abscence of sharp blades, just a dull stone appliance could work so effectively. I would often playfully drag my fingers along the batter's surface, and mami would never say a word; smilingly, she would simply maneouver the grinding stone away from my fingers.

I took her presence for granted. Now looking back, I can only remember the haunting sadness in her eyes, even as she quietly smiled at me. Was she unwell? What financial troubles prompted a lady like her to take up such physically intense work for a livelihood? In this day of instant dosa and idli batter, what does she now do for a living? Or, has God been kind to her...maybe her son now earns a good paycheck and takes care of her?

After I moved to the USA (its now exactly eight years since), I miss all of them immensely - the milk lady, the watchman, the flower lady, and the grinding lady. I really do. They have always been there for us - even spending many hours with my ailing grandmother, giving her the company that she yearned for. I am now too far away to return their affection - I can only thank them with all my heart.

Movie Review - The Dark Knight

Rare is the movie that lives up to its pre-release hype. Rarer still is the movie which blows away all expectations, exceeding even the highest hopes held by its franchise's loyalists. The Dark Knight belongs to the latter category. Calling it a movie, especially a super hero movie does it great injustice. It is a cinematic event. A benchmark that all future movie makers can only aspire to attain.

The Dark Knight's central theme is not really too different from other super hero movies. The secretive protagonist cannot reveal his true identity; his biggest fear is the fact that his loved ones are exposed to great danger. He struggles with a love/hate relationship with the public. Ultimately, he is forced into a massive showdown by the villain, and defends his city putting himself at great peril. Sure, this story reads a bit like Spiderman 3. Heck, even the rather pathetic Hancock had similar story elements. However, the storyline forms only a tiny portion of what The Dark Knight has to offer. The movie's zing comes from the unrelentingly dark screenplay.

The comicky feel of super hero movies can often be attributed to caricatured villains (remember Spidey's wussy dialogue "oh green goblin, what have you done....") These traditional villains have something logical (at least to their twisted minds) to fight for. And that is where The Dark Knight makes a radical shift from its genre. Batman's nemesis is the Joker. And the Joker wreaks havoc for one simple reason - because he can. As the movie progresses, the Joker's antics become increasingly terrifying - even Gotham's conventional villains (the mobsters) cannot survive. The Joker does not really want to destroy Batman - he needs Batman's good to contrast with his evil.

Much has been said and written by Heath Ledger's performance. He deserves every accolade and then some more. With his greasy hair, chilling voice, mirthless laughter, macabre makeup and scars across his cheeks (a tiny hint into the horrors he suffered as a child), Heath takes method acting to heights never before scaled by any other actor on this planet. I would love to watch this movie again, just to experience Heath's spine chilling performance.

While The Dark Knight belongs to Heath all the way, it would be a shame to ignore the supporting cast - Christian Bale as Batman, and Aaron Eckhart as the city's district attorney shine. Maggie Gyllenhal replaces Katie Holmes. I found her performance a tad disappointing - there was at least some chemistry between Katie and Christian. She also did bring some urgency and earnestness to her character.

The musical score by Hans Zimmer is simply brilliant. Also notable is the gritty action - there is very little use of CGI. Every stunt has been painstakingly executed. Even the heart stopping 18 wheeler chase was shot using actual vehicles, right in the narrow streets of Chicago. And speaking of Chicago, the director makes splendid use of the grand old city, transforming it into Gotham just by using strategic art direction and muted camera work.

Watch The Dark Knight. It is brilliant. Thank you Heath. We sure will miss you.

Some awesome television after a long time

Like a true blue desi, I get a little excited whenever there is any mention of India, or Indians in regular American TV programs. So, imagine my surprise when I started watching Heroes.

I never had a chance to catch this much acclaimed hit television series when it first started airing in NBC. Recently, K and I discovered the incredible watch-instantly feature of Netflix. All we needed was an HDMI cable to connect the computer to our HDTV and voila, the entire first and second seasons of Heroes was at our finger tips.

One of the lead characters in Heroes is Dr.Mohinder Suresh, played by Indian-American actor Sendhil Ramamurthy. In the series, he is shown teaching at "Chennai University", and later travels to the USA to pursue answers to the mysterious research performed by his murdered Dad. The scope of Heroes is sweeping and global- there are characters from Mexico, Ireland, Japan etc. I was pleasantly surprised by Mohinder's character, and more so by Senthil's performance -he comes across as intelligent and rather cute.

However, the set design is a let down. Sure, I did not expect NBC's cast and crew to fly to Madras and shoot in the thannithorai market, but, there is very little authenticity - you see sari clad women - albeit with sarees tied in the gujarathi style; Ok maybe they were trying to recreate Sowcarpet, but there are two towering temple gopurams (almost side by side) in the background. Huh??? And then, there is a sequence set in Kanyakumari. Looks like it was shot in a beach in California, which is ok given budget constraints. The Valluvar statue is shown in one shot, but, the next shot shows a Varnasi style temple structure right there in the seashore!

Well, I guess I am needlessly nitpicking. I am totally enjoying the idea of a mainstream Indian character not being reduced to a caricature. The series is genuinely good - it is entertaining, suspenseful, and sentimental (without being cheesy). The third season premiers in September. I cannot wait!

Movie Review - Dasavatharam

Warning*** Some spoilers below...

Seldom have I felt such conflicting emotions after watching a movie - do I love it or hate it? Well, after much thought - here is my verdict; the movie offered tantalizing glimpses into the immense potential that Thamizh and Indian cinema has; however, its impact is marred by innumerable gimmicks, dreadful makeup, and needless/endless hero-worshipping that much of Kollywood feels compelled to indulge in.

To state that Kamal is a great actor is like saying that the sun rises in the east. It is that obvious, and that indisputable. He does not act - he simply becomes the character. In the eighties, perhaps bored by simple "hero" roles, Kamal began experimenting with various avatars. And thus began the string of movies where the handsome actor intentionally disfigured and/or disguised himself, playing old men, midgets, etc etc. It just took a few eyebrow pencil lines on his forehead, a little talcum powder on his hair, a wig and some false teeth (and yea, the occasionally bound up legs or water bags tied around his stomach too)

Then sadly, Kamal discovered the "art"(?) of prosthetic makeup. Painfully enduring hours of application, and then many hours more for removal, Kamal transformed himself into an elderly vigilante for Shankar's Indian. Sure, he won a national award for the movie, but frankly, the makeup stuff (bearing scary resemblance to chapathi dough) ended up masking all his facial expressions (and Kamal is the most expressive actor I have ever seen). If one Indian-thatha was hard to watch, imagine the plight of the audience when asked to endure another eight such atta-masked characters in Dasavatharam.

Ironically, the only characters that leave a lasting impression on the viewer are the ones where Kamal allows his real face to show without the distractions of makeup (the scientist, and the 12th century Vaishnavite) or minimal makeup (the hilarious RAW agent). Watching the movie, you come to the quick conclusion that Kamal plays ten roles, just so that the movie could be called "Dasavatharam" and he could enter all the record books. Some of the characters do nothing to help move the story forward (Avatar Singh, the Japanese person), while the makeup on some other characters (the tall guy, the 95 year old paati) is so grotesque, you scratch your head wondering "what were Kamal and K.S Ravikumar thinking?"

Also, despite the seeming novelty of Kamal's multiple avatars, each role has a stale been-there-done-that feel. The Old lady? Yea, Avvai Shanmugi. Humanitarian guy pushing aside conventional religion? Kamal already did that in Anbe Sivam. Pious Vaishnavite? Remember Hey Ram? Suave foreign returned dude? the Madan character in MMKR....Hey, Kamal has even portrayed a japanese character already in the Kalyanaraman series.

Without the avatars, the movie would have been truly brilliant. A scientist participates in the creation of a bio weapon that could kill millions of people if released in the air. The bad guys want to get a hold of it. How he tries to save the weapon, dodging a ruthless ex-CIA agent forms the rest of the plot. Beautiful Asin reaches the pinnacle of her career with a fabulous performance as an orthodox Agraharam girl.

Kamal's Balaram Naidu character can easily be ranked the best, with laugh-out-loud funny dialogues. If you can forgive the bad makeup, Kamal has also excelled as the 95 year old lady and George Bush. The CIA officer would have been cool, but I could not look past the disproportionately sized head.

The biggest letdown however happens right in the beginning of the movie; There is a perfect sub plot set in 12th century Thamizhnadu - the tussle between a Chola king and a pious temple priest. Everything about this sequence was mind boggling - the special effects, majestic performances by Kamal and Napoleon, unparalleled art direction, lush cinematography and special effects hitherto never seen before in Indian cinema. I really thought the movie was going to evolve into a wonderful historical/supernatural/philosophical/religious/paranormal adventure. However, this sub-plot ends, without tying into the main script, and the rest of the movie is fairly mundane. What was the significance of this opening sequence? Was it to show that Kamal and Asin's souls are reincarnated and they unite in a later avatar? So?

Like it or hate it, the movie cannot be ignored. The special effects, while imperfect, are still truly commendable. The tremendous effort put in by the actors, and crew shows literally in every frame. Arggh....if only they had not bothered with the avatars and the makeup......

Here is the bottom line- Kamal is arguably the greatest actor in the world. A wonderful performer like him, does NOT need stuff plastered on his face. He has already set all the records he needs to in his illustrious career - he does not need any more gimmicks. As a movie buff, with a lifelong crush on Kamal, I can only hope that he goes back to his roots and leverages his talent and immense brainpower to make some seriously good cinema.

Mr. Kamal Haasan, you ARE the greatest. We already know that. So please, can we see the real you and nothing but your true face in your next movie? Please?

Image source: http://www.indiaglitz.com/

Book Review - The 10 year nap

Forgive me for an unimaginative tag line, but really, this book can even make a chronic insomniac fall into a deep, 10 year nap!

As a woman intentionally stepping away from the rat race to focus on my personal life, I was very interested in reading this book as its concept was intriguing - a detailed study into the lives of women who have quit their jobs to look after their kids and contrasting the current generation of women with the feminists of the 60s and the 70s.

This subject carries so much potential, but the author sadly builds a one dimensional tale around four uninspiring protagonists. The women are perennially unhappy, they do not know what to say when people ask them the dreaded "what do you do?" question (why not just let people know that they are stay-at-home-moms? what is wrong with that?). They take little interest in managing their family's finances, or building a happy home for their children. They wage a constant mental war against working women.

Books like these perform a serious injustice against women - promoting the age old cliches about working women and home makers. Is it really that complicated? As a working woman, I look at my non-working friends and cousins and envy them for the following -
* They get to see the sun rise and set (instead of going into an office at dawn and re-emerging 12 hours later after sun set)
* They spend their day loving and nurturing children
* They are always there for family and friends
* They do not need to face nasty egoistic people, and engage in thankless tasks

My non-working friends look at me and envy me for the following -
* My freedom (what freedom? I ask....anyway, that's what they think)
* My ability to just pack a couple of bags and travel around the world with K (we can never get the time off from work to do it)
* My ability to make money (but is it not the law of the world that as your paychecks increase, your expenses also increase?)

So bottom line, there is no perfect scenario - there are good and not so good things with choosing either path. The author Meg Wolitzer could have at least attempted to explore both sides of the equation. However, she chooses to fill 368 tedious pages with elaborate character sketches, not just of the four women, but their moms, and then, for some inexplicable reason, Margaret Thatcher. A basic plot and some heartfelt empathy are both conspicuous by their absence. Geez, I could have just taken a nap.

Media matters...or does it anymore?

No, its not a tween bitching about her hotter classmate on Myspace - its Maureen Dowd writing for the New York times. And is there any difference between said tween and Pulitzer prize winning Maureen? Not really, if the barometer for judging is Maureen's columns over the past few months.

Check out the titles of some of her recent columns - "Watch Out, Meryl Streep! She’s a Master Thespian', "All about Eve", "Is she a Trojan rabbit", "Surrender already Dorothy". Oh yea, the terms Trojan rabbit, Master Thespian etc etc applies to a woman who is a former first lady, currently powerful senator, and almost won the democratic primaries (till the establishment chose to bury her)

If this is the kind of trash talk from a female journalist, you can imagine the nature of the commentary from male journalists. Seldom have I seen any character assasination to the scale of what has happened in the recent past. Mike Huckabee did exactly the same thing as Hillary - he chose to stay in the race, till McCain reached the requisite majority of delegates. Was there even a whimper of protest? Not really.

And if you still do not buy into my rant against misogyny, do check out this youtube montage that Judith Warner mentioned in her blog in NY times (she is my new favorite now).

If the tables were turned - if it had been Barack who had won all the major states like California, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and a claim to the popular vote majority, and if he had been asked by Hillary's supporters to get out of the race, can you imagine the backlash and accusations of racism?

After obsessively following the primaries (I have been a rabid Obama supporter from 2004), I completely stopped following any of the races after March 18. My reason was simple - the only response the mainstream media could come up with for Obama's historical speech on race was this - "Did he throw his grandma under the bus?".

I gave up then, and did I miss a thing? Absolutely not. And by not listening to the news or reading political blogs, I got back two whole hours back every day; I could easily stay informed by skimming the headlines for a few minutes and listening to NPR radio on my way in to work.

The pathetic primary season ends...no wait...the media will still extract as much viewership as possible from speculation about the vice presidential candidates. Does anyone have any inside information or the ability to accurately predict who the Veep candidate from either party will be? Absolutely not - but do expect to see endless speculation and tripe from "panelists" who speak with more certainty about Barack's intentions than he himself would.

Will we see any real debate by the media on the pros and cons of the candidates' views on economic reform, education, national defense, and the environment? I am not going to hold my breath. But at least, I can delete Maureen's feed from my google reader page. Thank God for Paul Krugman, and NPR!

Spending .....is it all destiny?

After many years of careful financial planning and frugal living, K and I have painfully realized that no matter what, we always end up with a certain credit card balance every month. Trust me, we are not partying every weekend, or shopping at Calvin Klein. We rarely eat out, have no kids, and watch a movie in the theatre maybe once a month or so. We still run up a balance, larger than what we like. It could be due to an unplanned medical emergency, or a car related repair, or some other unanticipated home repair expense.

I am now leaning towards a very unscientific explanation - maybe, it is my karma to have a certain "varavu" (income) and a certain "selavu" (expense) every month? I feel powerless before it. I could just pay my rent and not climb out of bed for the next month all weekends, but somehow, the check engine light in my car will start flashing and before I know it, the auto mechanic gets richer by a few hundred bucks.

So, when spending is your karma, is it just better to go shoe shopping? Am I crazy for thinking this?

Movie Review - Sex and the City, the movie

I feel like I just survived a really bad date...wait...I feel even worse....

There is no gentle way to say it, so I'll go right ahead - the movie was vastly disappointing, just a poor shadow of the series. Sure, there were a few bright spots, but just a few. While the series was all about the girls, and the clothes were a surprising bonus, the movie becomes a pathetic exercise in over the top fashion and product placement. And not good products at that. The Louis Vuitton bag is hideous. And Carrie's beautiful wedding dress is ruined by the bird perched on top of her head (yes really, a bird)

Harsh? Yes. As I learnt from Carrie, life is all about the heartache and the heartbreak. And Carrie broke our hearts with this one.

(PS: I just cannot type anymore. Check out more reviews here)

Top 5 SATC episodes - A woman's right to shoes

Disclaimer - Almost every fabulous woman that I know is a mom. I am full of admiration and respect for mommies, and aspire to be one someday....

And with all that being said....one of my favorite SATC episodes is "A woman's right to shoes"!!!!

Most exceptional fashion statement - What else? The fabulous silver Manolos that the episode revolves around

Favorite quotes -

"I am getting married, to myself....and oh by the way, I am registered at Manolo Blahnik" - Carrie

"Where is the hallmark card for "congratulations...you did not marry the wrong guy?" - Carrie

Central premise -

Mothers are deified in every culture in this planet (and they deserve it for sure). However, the sad downside is, women without kids are often looked down upon, their lifestyle choices are seriously questioned, somehow, their passions and feelings are considered a little less important, and to Carrie's point, there really IS no occasion in which a single/childless woman's life is celebrated.

Here is the episode's storyline (and I would love to hear your thoughts on this) - Carrie is forced to take off her expensive shoes during a friend's child's birthday party. Naturally, the shoes are stolen. Carrie expects her friend to show a little sympathy, but her friend is simply callous. She accuses Carrie of having way too much time on her hands, while she, as a mom, has a real life. An angry Carrie requests compensation from her friend (her lawyer friend Miranda tells her this is legal), but her friend "shoe-shames" her by saying that she has real responsibilities and does not have to pay for Carrie's frivolous lifestyle choices.

A heartbroken Carrie does the math, and figures out that she has spent nearly 3000 dollars celebrating her married friend's lifestyle choices, and protests the fact that as a single childless woman, nobody considers her life worth celebrating. She announces that she is getting married, to herself. She registers for a single gift - the lost shoes in the Manolo Blahnik store gift registry, and her friend finally coughs up the cash (+tax by the way) and gifts Carrie the shoes

At first, I found the concept of Carrie requesting her friend to pay for her lost shoes a little odd. Miranda (who is a lawyer) thinks its fine, and legal, as it was the friend who forced Carrie to take off her expensive shoes. If I were in such a situation, would I make my friend pay? Never. But then, my real friends would NEVER ever trivialize my lifestyle choices just because I am childless.

But, if a person I considered a friend "shoe-shamed" me and somehow considered her life a lot more important than mine.....would I really accept defeat and walk away that easily? ...and then, would I even consider her a real friend? Would you??????

The Lean Veggie - Strawberries and sunshine (and some cream ofcourse)

Its my favorite time of the year - the three wonderful months between Memorial Day and Labor day. Whichever part of the nation you may find yourself in, the days keep getting longer and longer. Drenched with brilliant sunshine, bright flowers dress up even the most dreary sidewalks. Fresh produce and farmer's markets everywhere delight even the most ardent carnivores. Heck, K even managed to purchase some delightful strawberries from the big neighborhood warehouse discount store.

I rarely eat fruit, but this recipe is decadent enough to tempt even me. I love the simplicity.
The cream complements the slight tartness of the berries. I barely added any sugar to the recipe - the richness of the cream and the natural syrup from the macerated berries were good enough by themselves.

Summer also brings with it birthdays and celebrations galore (yes, including mine!) K gifted me this wonderful SLR camera that I'm still trying to figure out. Do let me know if you have some photography tips to share.

Recipe -

1) Prepare one cup of sliced strawberries (wash them and cut the green tops off before slicing)

2) Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over the berries and toss. Then cover with cling film and set aside for about 30 minutes. You will see a rich red syrup collect in the pan

3) Lightly whip a third of a cup of cream (lightly with a fork)

4) Pour the cream over the berries, add a teaspoon of honey and toss. Add a little more sugar if needed

NOTE:
Toss in sliced mango, or nectarines if you like. Any strawberries would work, but try some fresh locally grown produce if you can.

Top SATC least favorite episodes - Number 4

Episode title - The entire first season

Thats right...this much loved series actually had a rather weak first season, taking its title rather too literally. There were gimmicks galore.....characters looking at the camera and talking, Carrie's "nude" dress, unnatural dialogues like "abso-^&*^^-lutely", and all the ladies seeming a little too desperate.

Ofcourse, the biggest redeeming factor of season 1 was who else...Mr.Big (sorry, couldn't resist the big pun).

Most annoying moment - When Charlotte dumps a guy (who is miraculously perfect and the marrying kind) because their tastes in China do not match! (Episode- Bay of Married pigs)

The Fashion - Hmm.....maybe Carrie's giant fur coat or the chic sunglasses all the girls sported when driving to their formerly-wild-now-soccer-mom friend's babby shower....The clothes did not really stick to my mind, i think the style evolved in the later seasons. Remember, even the famous Carrie necklace showed up only in season 2.

Top 5 SATC Least Favorite episodes - Number 5

Episode title: I love a charade

Central premise: Can a relationship still be a relationship without the zsa zsa zsu?

Exceptional fashion statement: Carrie's green umbrella with Indian style embroidery

Best directed shot: Miranda enjoys the fragrance of lilacs, and baby Brady reaches out and grabs the flowers too (the scene signifies how the two are missing Steve)

This episode was the finale of Season 5 - also known as the least satisfying of all SATC seasons. The season had fewer episodes, due to Sarah Jessica Parker's real life pregnancy.

This episode does have some bright spots - politically incorrect Samantha refuses to get all baby friendly and bans little smelly-pants-Brady from her "A-list party", Steve and Miranda rekindle their relationship, and Miranda begins to fall in love with Steve again.

However, just when we thought wise-cracking writer Jack Berger was out of the scene as he had a girlfriend, he bumps into Carrie on the way to the Hamptons. The first of many unfunny banters begins (and continues till the two break up a painful few episodes later). I guess Michael Patrick King (the director) wanted to show how the two had an easy going, "clever" relationship, for, this was the first time Carrie was actually dating a fellow writer. But the chemistry was solely lacking between the two. And Carrie seemed way too eager to please, and for some weird reason, she overacted all through the Berger episodes, with exaggerated facial expressions and annoying gestures. I'm not sure if this was intentional - did the director want us to dislike the idea of Carrie and Berger together, or show that Carrie was not being natural, and somehow fooling herself?

Tomorrow's post is all about my favorite episodes - number 5 in my top 5 list!

(Image source: www.hbo.com)

Welcoming this decade's Big movie event

I'm going to type out a sentence that may seem crazy to some, but I genuinely mean it: Sex and the City (SATC) changed my life.

Three years ago, I was floundering a little in my personal life. I'm not sure why, but I kept moving away from the real me, and tried to fit into the stereotype of what I thought was a "good girl". Obviously, it was a bad idea, and it SO did not work. Then, one lazy weekend, my husband rented the boxed DVD set of SATC 's third season. (yea, you read right - its probably the worst kept secret in North America; men LOVE watching SATC, and most definitely NOT for the Samantha-scenes which give the series much of its notoriety and its R-rating)

It took a while for me to get hooked, but then there was no turning back. I found the message so tremendously liberating and joyful.....I realized there is a beautiful wide world out there, I realized my girlfriends were so precious to me, I discovered the fun in dressing up and being a girl, most importantly, I started being myself.

So, to celebrate this wonderful series, and welcome Sex and the city - the movie, I am going to write about my most favorite and least favorite episodes. Look forward to hearing your take on these!

Book Review - Why women should rule the world

Ok...ok....you guys...hang in there. The author Dee Dee Myers (DD for the rest of this blog post) does NOT say that all men should stay at home while women rule the planet. Infact, the misandry-filled title does little justice to what in reality, is a very interesting book.

While I attack fiction books with the gusto reserved for devouring idli-dosa-coffee breakfasts at Komala Vilas (ah....that is another blog post in itself), I usually borrow non-fiction, and return them barely read to the library. This book proved to be a different read.

DD explores three topics in very great detail throughout the book. She quotes from many research sources, simultaneously contrasting the research findings with her actual experience in the White house where she was sometimes marginalized. I could not have agreed more with her viewpoint. There are many chapters where I actually put the book down and laughed with relief as I realized that I was not alone when I found myself in many frustratingly unfair situations.

1) Why are there so few women leaders?

When you look at schools and colleges, there appears to be equal numbers of men and women. However, in many professional fields, in every ascending level of corporate power, there are fewer and fewer women as you get closer to the top. Previously, it was thought that if enough women are educated, sooner or later, you will see women in every echelon of the corporate world. In reality? This has not happened to the desired extent. Whats worse, the only jobs where women are paid equal to men, are the minimum wage ones. As you examine the more highly "valued" professions, the salary gap becomes glaring. While many women choose to step away from the rat race or at least slow down for their family, many find it increasing difficult to get back into the game when they are ready to do so. The few women who do get ahead, are held to much higher standards, and have often had to work twice as hard as their male peers

2) Why should we care anyways?

Equal opportunity for women is not just some politically correct BS. The question is not whether women can be "as good as men". Rather, the real question is, what are the unique feminine skills that women bring to the table? Read the book for the full list, but, there were so many things that DD wrote, which I could identify with; women are collaborative, oriented towards the common good as opposed to personal aggrandizement, detail oriented, and compassionate. Corporations and nations solve problems more effectively when women and men play equal roles in making key decisions. DD's examples of women in the middle east and war torn African nations is especially heart rending.

3) What should we do?

Well, when we talk about women rulers, people immediately bring up examples of women in major leadership roles who seemed to channelize all the worst qualities of men. DD offers a compelling argument to explain this. When there is one woman in a room with twenty other men, she tries to act like a man, because that is the only way she can survive. When there are, say ten women and ten men, suddenly, the gender pressures are gone. Women do not have to try and do the "tough" thing; they are free to do the right thing. DD talks about critical mass, role models...and many such more measures.

And I kept nodding my head furiously (in agreement, that is) as I read all this. I work in a male dominated industry, and have had to work ferociously hard in order for people to get over my gender, my looks, my physical stature, and my ethnicity. Eventually, I earn their respect; but do i have to go through a trial by fire every time?

Fear not, this is no feminist propaganda. It a simple cost-benefit analysis, in book form. So sisters (and brothers) try to read this. I greeted my work day with a little extra spring in my step the next morning.

(Image source: Barnes and Noble website)

Sometimes, I act like a tortoise.....

Excessively shy and introverted as a kid, I somehow found myself four incredible friends. We gained a lot of notoriety during our college years, and boy, we had the most incredible time of our lives. Today, more than eleven years later, we are still the best of friends, even though our addresses belong to three different continents and our watches are set to four different time zones.

My friends forgive me for one quirk of mine - Ever so often, I crawl into this shell of mine, cocooned in a silence of my own creation. I do it when life gets a little less than perfect. If there is something that I am immensely grateful to my four friends for - it is their patience. Every time I crawl into my shell, I know I can count on them being there, right outside, waiting for me to crawl back out.
I want to peek out of my shell again. I actually want to write again. So what if life is handing me lemons? Maybe I could blog about lemon pickle recipes? I see and hear things that I genuinely want to talk about, and share with the wonderful readers who sometimes wander into this little crazy world of mine.

The Lean Veggie - Baked tofu tikkas

If you want to eat the best paneer tikkas in Madras, you should try and go to the Boat club. They grill marinated paneer cubes with slices of onion, and serve with green cilantro chutney. These tikkas are a tad oily, but perfectly cooked - charred and crispy on the outside, spongy and chewy on the inside.

Even though paneer is readily available in many Indian grocery stores, the fat content seems excessive. So, I tried making tikkas with high protein extra firm tofu instead. They tasted almost as good. This recipe is really versatile. I served these by themselves, as a side dish one day. I also made mattar paneer and substituted the paneer with these baked tofu cubes. I'm sure these would taste great as a replacement for paneer in the classic palak paneer dish.

Method -

1) In a big bowl, whisk together all the below ingredients for the marinade -
3/4 cup yoghurt

1 tsp lemon juice

salt to taste

black pepper - 1/4 tsp

channa masala - 1 tsp

coriander cumin powder (dhania jeera masala) - 1 tbsp

red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

kasoori methi - 1 tsp

oil - 1 tbsp

grated ginger - 1 tsp

garlic - 1 clove grated

finely chopped cilantro - 1 tbsp

turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

2) Chop up some extra firm tofu into cubes - roughly about 1 inch in length, 1 inch in width and 1/3 inch thickness. For this recipe, I used about 1.5 cups. Combine the tofu cubes with the marinade. Each cube should be fully coated. If you think there is excess marinade, chop up some more tofu

3) Cover bowl with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 2 to 8 hours

4) Preheat oven to 475 degrees

5) Take a sheet of aluminium foil, place over a baking sheet. Grease the aluminum foil well

6) Arrange the tofu cubes in a single layer on the foil. If you have excess marinade in the bowl, spoon a little on each tofu cube.

7) Bake for about 15 minutes. As you are baking at very high temperatures, make sure you keep an eye on the oven. After 15 minutes, check on the tofu. If the edges are already browned, remove them from the oven. Otherwise, bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. Do not let it bake for too long, otherwise the tofu gets tough

Baking times could vary depending on the type of tofu you use. The easiest way to check is to cool and sample a cube (and yea, try not to finish them all)

The Lean Veggie - Salty and sweet nombu adais

We all have incredibly fond memories of the nombus and vrathams from our childhood days (especially when mom had to do all the cooking and i would make my grand entrance during the prasadam sampling stage of the poojas). My favorite was and still continues to be the Karadayan nombu, or to put in simple english - the valentine's day of vedic times.

The term "karadayan" simply means "flat cakes made with black eyed peas". Ofcourse, this festival has a lot more to it than its eponymous sweet and salty flat cakes. It celebrates the power of Savithri's love for her husband Sathyavan.
There was a lot of gal power in ancient India. And sassy Savithri is one such heroine. She definatly married the man she loved, prayed for his wellbeing, and then saved him from the God of death, not by wailing and pleading, but by beating him in a game of wits. The story is really cool. It goes something like this. Yama dharmaraja yanks Sathyavan's soul from his body, and starts traveling back to the netherworlds. Savithri doggedly follows him.

Lord Yama - Uh...lady... (stalker?) Can i help you?

Savirthi - I want my man back..

Lord Yama - If I say yes to that, doesnt my entire career become rather pointless then? I'll give you ANYTHING else that you ask for.

Savithri - Ok. I want to have many kids with Sathyavan then,

Lord Yama - Duh...Thats easy, you got it.

Savithri - Well, Sathyavan has to be like, ALIVE for that. Aha!!! Gotcha!

Lord Yama - Touche! May you both live happily everafter

Lazy sis and I enjoyed the spicy flat cakes and the free pass to eat all the butter we wanted to. Mystic Mom would get all misty eyed and chant a little old tamil phrase that translates into "i shall give thou some un-melted butter and a single flatcake...may you live for ever with me!!!" as she served dad.

K, my modern day Sathyavan grumbled over the countless carbs in the rice flour based cakes and the saturated fat in the generous blob of butter on his plate. After much emotional blackmailing, he finally sampled some, and actually pronounced it edible. These cakes have an incredibly simple taste - just the nuttiness of the roasted rice flour, the spice from the hing, and the sweetness from the jaggery. But they sure are fulfilling. Especially the salty ones.
So, here are the recipes. Enjoy!

Salty adais-

1 cup rice flour

2.5 cups water

1/2 cup cooked black eyed peas

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tbsp finely chopped green chilli

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp urad dhal

1 tbsp finely chopped curry leaves

2 pinches hing

1/4 cup shredded coconut (optional)

Salt to taste

Method

1) Dry roast the rice flour in a non stick pan till it turns pinkish with a nice roasted aroma (dont let it burn)

2) In another pan, heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds

3) When the seeds splutter, add the urad seeds, chilli, curry leaves and ginger and stir fry for a few seconds

4) Pour in the water, add salt (about 1 tsp), 2 pinches hing, and cooked black eyed peas. Stir in the coconut at this stage if using

5) Sprinkle the rice flour, and stir well till all the water is absorbed and it becomes a pasty mass

6) Spread the mixture on a big plate, and let it cool till you can handle it

7) Shape into flat rounds (about the size of the palm of your hand). Make a hole in the center (like a vada). Steam on greased idli plates for about 15 minutes

8) When you open the cooker, and touch the cakes, if they seem wet, it then means they are ready. Cool them and the vadais will stay together. If you are worried about the cakes falling apart after steaming, then arrange on a plate and microwave for 4 minutes

9) Serve with butter

Sweet adais -

1 cup rice flour

1 cup shredded jaggery

1/2 cup cooked black eyed peas

3 cups water

1/2 tsp powdered cardomom

1) Dry roast the rice flour in a non stick pan till it turns pinkish with a nice roasted aroma (dont let it burn)

2) In another pan, boil the water and add the jaggery. When it dissolved fully, add the black eyed peas

3) When the water comes to a boil, add the rice flour and stir well till combined without lumps, and all the water has been absorbed

4) Mix in the cardamom powder well

Perform steps 6 to 9 as described in the above salt adai recipe

Skinny Fat Girl - The why

Even skinny people get fat.

I used to be one of those lucky skinny people - I could eat like a cow and not worry about a single pound. This was till I turned 18.

I then spent the next 10 years messing around with my weight - Starting with indiscriminate eating during my college years (think potato chips at three in the morning, and 2 dinners everyday), I reached an unnecessary high as a newly married bride at 24, goaded by my family who equated slight obesity with good health for some reason.

Then, at 26, I started losing weight, without even really trying (i was commuting and working a little too hard). At first it felt good. But as my BMI dipped well into the underweight zone, I ran into some practical difficulties - I could not go clothes shopping anymore (juniors section clothing is not exactly corporate power dressing); I looked like a skeleton with skin draped on bones and weirdly big hair; There was nothing pretty about my face anymore; My family looked at me and thought I was suffering from emotional troubles (i wasn't really) and blamed themselves, and my colleagues tried stuffing me with every cookie and cake they could lay their hands on (which got a little tiring after a while).

Finally, my downward spiral stopped thanks to an embarrassing incident in my new workplace. I passed out in the middle of the warehouse that I was giving a visitor a tour of. The visitor, incidentally, was an insurance guy, in charge of ensuring my workplace was offering comfortable working conditions to the employees. So, me passing out was not a good thing at all. I realized I had to eat well so that my employers would not have to dial 911 at inopportune moments.

My calorie intake was balanced by all the walking around that I did in the shop floor. I steadily gained weight - and it was good. I could look at my photos once more without cringing, I could go clothes shopping without being directed to the little girls' section, and my family started talking to me about topics other than my weight.

I wish I could say I lived happily ever after. Unfortunately no.

Last October, I made certain massive lifestyle changes, which, though good for my personal life, were certainly bad for my BMI. In November, looking at my slightly plump face, I told myself I was looking well rested and happy. In January, I attributed my ill-fitting shirts to a "little extra holiday weight". Last week, after I could not fit into my well worn jeans, I realized it was time to stop kidding myself.

I have gained 20 pounds over the past 2 years. 10 of these were the good pounds which helped me get back into a health BMI. But 10 of these pounds are simply excess weight. And I gained these 10 pounds in the past 4 months. Sure, I am still well within the normal weight range for my height. But, if this trend continues, I will gain another 20 pounds before the end of this year, making me overweight. And obviously, I do not want to get there.

As a petite and formerly skinny person, it feels like its a bit harder for me to achieve my healthy weight target. I get laughed at, and my concerns are simply brushed aside as being a figment of my imagination. Well, all I can say is, my jeans cannot lie. It is easier for me to lose the 10 extra pounds now, as opposed to getting obviously overweight later this year and THEN trying to lose 30 pounds.

I hate going to the gym, and I enjoy food way too much to diet. After much reading and research (unscientific of course), I have made 10 simple rules for myself. I wrote them up on Monday, but, do not want to publish it here, till I am able to live by them for at least 2 days. My goal? Lose a modest pound a week, and then just maintain my ideal weight after that.

I'm hoping my blog will help me stay on track. If you look at me, you may think I'm nuts. But, skinny people do get fat. That's true. My favorite pair of jeans would agree.

The long and short of it

EXTREME MAKEOVER. That is what i am up to these days. Though, I never really intended to go down this path. To cut a long story short (pun entirely intended), I am still recovering from a hair-styling disaster. Why do I call it as such? Well....I was initially inspired by my idol Carrie Bradshaw.

So I bravely decided to get my locks styled like this.......

But finally, ended up with, well, THIS..........................

So you get the picture. When I secretly hoped to look like an Oscar winner, I was thinking Julia Roberts and Halle Berry. Not Javier Bardem.

K looked at me, tried very hard to suppress his broad grin and remarked "awww, you look just like....err...a little boy....oops..no,no,....i swear i meant little girl". Hmmpphh...speaking of Freudian slips...

The bright side of all this is, K's affections are comfortingly unchanged. I guess this is what they mean by true love then. Loyal mom of course loved it (Loyal Mom is a free spirit at heart, and I suspect she vicariously lives out some of her long suppressed desires through me)

Anyways,trying to make the best of a bad situation, I decided to upgrade my entire look, aiming to do the whole cute sporty girl thing. Only problem is, the rest of me is ANYTHING but sporty. So, this has inspired me to launch yet another (no please don't groan already) new self improvement endeavor (and blog series): The Skinny fat girl. Watch this space!

Hey critics - you owe me $30

Yes - For the movie tickets, popcorn, and the emergency coffee that we desperately needed after watching "There will be blood".

On sunday, K announced for the millionth time that we HAD to watch "There will be blood". Daniel Day Lewis is K's favorite actor. Selfless wife(??) that I am, I kept my premonitions to myself (my general rule of thumb - the higher the tomatometer rating for a movie, the more boring the movie gets, with only a few worthy exceptions). 30 wasted bucks and a lot of stifled yawns later, I realized to my dismay that my gut feel was right. The movie was B-O-R-I-N-G. Even K (who has really good movie taste) agreed.

The only intriguing and interesting thing about There will be blood is its title. I thought it would be a Godfather like saga, especially after the trailers offered tantalizing glimpses into Daniel's character - an oilman who is also a homicidal megalomaniac. However, there was very little happening after the brilliantly shot first twenty minutes of the movie. Daniel Day Lewis plays a cranky middle aged/old man who wants to drill for oil and has a complicated relationship with a little boy (I couldnt tell if he was really Daniel's son). There is also a supposed power tussle with an evangelist. Thats about it.

Daniel's Oscar winning performance is the biggest headscratcher of all. It was not bad - but just mind-numbingly monochromatic. There was one emotion that he portrayed; And sure, he portrayed that emotion well, but I cannot understand why a performance which was so low on nuance, made worse by monotonous dialoge delivery should be blessed with an Oscar. Ironically, the truly brilliant thing about the movie - the sound recording and background musical score - did not receive a single nod from the Academy.

The critics applauded the violent ending of the movie, calling it blood-chilling psycho-drama. All I saw was an old drunk clubbing an incredibly annoying character with a bowling pin. Its almost like all the critics who reviewed the movie had heard some buzz about it's supposed greatness, and then were too embarassed to admit that they simply didnt get it; and then they overcompensated by heaping way more praise than the movie really deserved.

Well, I'll say it for them - The emperor has no clothes. The movie sucked. And yes, we have seen far better performances from Daniel Day Lewis than this. And yes; George Clooney's Michael Clayton was way more brilliant and award worthy.

Some more quick notes on the Oscar -

* Jon Stewart was not too bad, but you would appreciate him only if you are a rabid fan of his daily show

* Americans now join Indians in complaining that the Oscars never go to them (all four acting awards went to Europeans)

* Loved Marion Cotillard's speech ("Thank you life, thank you love")

* Helen Mirren is fabulous - if i looked even a little like her at that age, i would consider it a life well lived

* Move over Cartier diamonds and Prada accessories - Baby bumps have become the must-have fashion accessory of the season. Yea great, so now actresses in addition to being incredibly beautiful and making millions, ALSO HAVE PERFECT PERSONAL LIVES. And yea, George Clooney showed up with his new girlfriend. I guess I should just throw myself off a cliff.

Ahh.....Clooney....

"Why are you mooning over Clooney?" asked Mom in a very disapproving tone. You see, she obviously did not like me wandering into what she firmly considers her turf. Well, what can I say? George Clooney's appeal transcends generations!

I would rate even a 30 minute video of Clooney sitting and reading a newspaper as award winning cinema. So, when I finally got around to watching Michael Clayton today, I think the movie buff in me died and went straight to heaven. The storyline was thought provoking, the screenplay was intense, the dialogues were cutting, the performances (especially that of Clooney) were awesome, and hey, did I mention Georgy Clooney is hot?

Tomorrow is the big Oscar night. Even though Clooney faces really tough competition from Daniel Day Lewis (who is such a spectacular actor that he can win an Oscar even if he, well, just sat in front of the camera and read a newspaper), I will be rooting for him. And Mom, we'll have to fight baby J someday over Clooney. Sigh......

Book Review - French women don't get fat

I usually try not to judge a book by it's cover. However, "French women don't get fat" leaves me with little choice; it sometimes does get as pretentious and elitist as it's title sounds.

Agreed, America is the land of plenty...of not so good food choices (avoiding them is not rocket science either). And many restaurants do not serve the healthiest portion sizes. However, the author Mireille Guiliano overdoes the berating of American women, especially with lofty language suggesting that only french women are aware of certain healthy living facts. I started reading the book with great expectations, and soon realized that in reality, women from almost all cultures in the world have practised the author's suggestions, for many centuries. To suggest that only French women have a monoploy on sensible eating, fine living, and other core human emotions like love and laughter is rather preposterous.

The author shares "secrets only known to french women" such as -
1) Drink lots of water
2) Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
3) Include lots of soup in your diet
4) Walk as much as possible
5) Eat lots of low fat yoghurt
6) Dramatically reduce your portion sizes
7) If you eat one heavy meal, compensate with another light meal
8) Enjoy food, don't make a big deal out of dieting

Uh...duh....i thought ALL of us knew that?????!!!!!

Just when I was about to overlook the author's penchant for adding unnecessary french twists to well meaning commonsense, the book got a little too elitist for my taste. I'm not being sarcastic; the author really offers gems like -

1) Do not eat fruits and veggies UNLESS you have procured them directly from a fancy farmer's market (sure, such sources are incredibly nice. but what do I do during winter, or if I cannot travel to or live near such markets?)

2) Only eat expensive hand crafted artisan bread

3) Always splurge on expensive chocolate

4) Do not eat oranges purchased from grocery stores, try and fly them in from Florida

5) Regularly drink and cook with premium champagne (recommended brand: Veuve Clicquot; CEO of Clicquot company: The author of this book Mireille Guiliano herself!!!gawwwdddd!!!)

6) When dining out with friends, order a full dessert, but then pretend to talk and discretely signal the waiter to clear away your barely touched plate!

7) Eat only fresh nuts and blueberries directly picked off the orchard trees from your back yard. Wait, you dont have a backyard orchard? (See, this is why you are probably not french and why you are probably fat)

8) Eat only one thin slice of bread with dinner

9) If you dont have bread, just eat cake

(ok, i made the last one up, but the author just barely stopped short of saying that!)

Movie Review - Pirivom Sandhipom

Pirivom Sandhipom is different and watchable, with lush cinematography, sincere performances, a different storyline, and simple dialogues. The movie is especially bolstered by Sneha, Cheran, and Jayaram's impressive performances. The attention to Sneha's look in the movie is commendable. She starts out looking fresh faced and pretty, and as the movie progresses, her face reflects her inner state of mind more and more.

(SPOILER ALERT*** plot details and movie ending revealed below)

Story in short -

In the movie, Sneha being a people person thrives in her newly married status as the daughter in law of a massive joint family. Then, she accompanies her husband when his job takes him to a remote hill station. Incredibly lonely, she mopes around, spiraling further into depression. Her husband finally awakens to her plight, and following the doctor’s advice, takes her back home to his family and they live happily ever after.

And I did not agree with the movie....

Sneha’s troubles are not imagined. Depression caused by such isolation is a condition that millions of us are sadly all too familiar with. It is prevalent, not just with young women, but also with elderly empty-nesters. I can especially identify with this, living in America. Despite having a highly demanding full time career and an incredible supportive husband, even I am familiar with the void that isolation and protracted periods of silence creates in you – this is something which no number of phone calls, emails or nice paychecks can fill.

After the entire movie sincerely attempted to mirror reality, the climax, to me, was annoyingly simplistic. I totally agree with Jayaram’s take on the importance of relationships. But, how easy is it for people to just pack up and go back home? Upon first glance, it appears as though this movie does a great job at empathizing with women, and giving a voice to their broken hearts. But in reality – I see the movie as doing a greater disservice to such women. "Oh you are lonely? Oh well, just go back then!" seems to be the message.

In addition to oversimplifying an often intractable issue, the movie only reinforces two immensely troubling stereotypes -

1) A woman's life begins and ends with her family and relationships at home, there is no outside world, there are no social causes that she could dedicate some of her time to - Despite Sneha being portrayed as intelligent, well educated, enthusiastic, and friendly, she shows zero interest in developing herself as person after her marriage. Sure, when she lives with her in-laws, it makes sense that all her time is taken up caring for them. But, she does absolutely nothing when she is alone – except cooking, and recording sound clips. Agreed that it is a small town with few job opportunities. But how about teaching? Volunteering in the doc’s clinic? Nope. The script writers do not even make this effort.

2) A good wife is the one who keeps all her troubles to herself and puts everyone's happiness ahead of her own desires: This pathetic stereotype has been propagated from the early days of quasi-misogynistic Visu movies. In defense of this movie, there is a scene when all the elders sensibly tell Sneha that it is important for her to communicate her feelings. Sneha’s character blissfully ignores this, and the screenplay glorifies and justifies this attitude of hers. She continues to indulge in her self destructive behavior, with little regard to what her husband would do if something bad happened to her.
I am tired of such needless martyrdom. Taking care of your physical and emotional health is not a selfish thing to do – by me taking care of myself, my loved ones have one less thing to worry about.

This is just a movie - why are you getting so worked up you may ask? To me, it is not just a movie. It deals with a situation that is immensely personal. Almost every family has moms and daughters living continents away, and increasing career pressures keeps husbands and wives away from home for 13 -14 hours at a time, or even all week.

The movie would have been infinitely better if they had shown the couple eventually striking a happy medium – with Sneha spending more time with her family, and also dedicating her time, knowledge and intellectual capabilities to volunteering and/or educating herself. Sure, family is important, but can we all simply focus on cooking for our families and taking care of our kids, when there is an outside world that desperately needs us?

The movie could have been a great progressive source of inspiration - galvanizing such young, intelligent, loving, compassionate, and well educated women like Sneha to actually leverage their immense potential to change the world. When a movie is pure fantasy, sure, the writers can take a lot of artistic liberty. But when a movie attempts to deal with realism, it also then has some social obligations.

The movie sure does offer a lot of sympathy, which is not a bad thing. But it really should have also offered some socially conscious tough love. And that would have been so much better.

The Lean Veggie - Simple Lentil Soup

There is nothing more wonderful than a saturday at home away from work, and a bowl of lentil soup to warm you up at the end of winter's day. This recipe is incredibly simple to prepare - really, the only effort needed is towards chopping. It is a one pot meal, but you can definitely indulge with some toasted bread on the side. The spices in this recipe are muted - enough to tingle your taste buds, but perfectly mild, especially when you feel overdosed from too many sambar-curry meals.

I chop the carrots a little larger than usual. I do not want them to completely disintegrate during the cooking process. The leeks can be subsituted with finely chopped onions. I used leeks, and did not add cumin seeds, as I wanted to make this dish taste a little different from the usual dhals I make. I used brown lentils - you can find these in some indian stores, and definitely in the international foods aisle of any major grocery store. These lentils cook up quickly, and have a delicate nutty flavor.

(Serves 2 with leftovers)

Ingredients -
Brown lentils - 1 cup
Finely chopped red onions - 1/4 cup (use 1/2 cup if omitting leeks)
Chopped leeks - 1 cup loosely packed (make sure you clean the leeks very well)
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Crushed chopped garlic cloves - 2
Canned diced tomatoes - 3/4 cup
Peeled and diced carrots - 2 (about half cup)
Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1/4 tsp (or 3 turns of the pepper mill)
Coriander-cumin powder - 1 tbsp
Finely chopped cilantro - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method -

1) Take the lentils in a bowl. Heat 2 cups of water till almost boiling and pour over the lentils
2) In a large heavy bottom pan, or pressure pan, heat 1 tsp canola oil and 1 tsp olive oil. Use a little butter if olive oil is not available
3) Add the onions, leeks, ginger and garlic, a pinch of salt, and stir fry on low heat for about 5 minutes . Use this time to peel and chop the carrots
4) Add the carrots and tomatoes and stir fry for another 5 minutes
5) Drain the lentils, wash with plain water and add. Then, add salt, red chilli powder, pepper powder, coriander-cumin powder, and 1 cup of water
6) Stir well, close the pan with a lid and simmer till the lentils are done. Add a little more water if needed. The lentils need not get fully mushy, they just need to become tender while retaining their shape. Serve garnished with chopped cilantro.

If using a pressure pan, close the lid at the end of step 5, and pressure cook for a couple of whistles. When you open the pressure pan after sometime, you may find that the lentils have absorbed all the water. Just stir in another 1/3 cup of water before serving, and correct seasoning if needed.

The Lean Veggie - Besan bajra rotis

It has been a while since I made phulkas the traditional way – quick toasting on a tawa and then holding them over a flame, where they puff up into a big puri-like balloon and then collapse into a pillow of perfection. Making phulkas on an electrical stovetop was always a big challenge. Now, I’ve found the perfect kitchen implement at the Indian grocery store. This rectangular “net” has a heat proof handle and little projections which support it nicely over the coils of the electrical stove top.

Making rotis is fun. You can mix and match different flours, and you just have to season and knead the dough well. Besan Bajra rotis are incredibly tasty even by themselves. When eaten fresh, they are crispy and flaky. After cooling, they are still softer than typical wheat rotis.

Ingredients –

Besan – ½ cup
Bajra flour – ½ cup
Whole wheat flour (atta) – 1 cup
Salt – 1 tsp
Black pepper – 1 tsp
Finely chopped mint or cilantro – ¼ cup
Oil – 1 tsp
Buttermilk – ¼ cup
Warm water – as needed
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp

1) Combine all the ingredients. Then, adding a little water at a time, knead the dough well into a pliable mass
2) Cover with a damp kitchen towel for atleast 20 minutes
3) Divide and roll the dough into lemon size balls
4) Follow the steps below for each phulka –
a. Roll the dough into a neat circular shape, keep dusting with wheat flour so that this does not stick

b. Place the phulka onto a heated tawa and toast each side for a few seconds till light brown dots appear

c. Transfer the phulka to the “net” and place directly on the stovetop. When one side puffs up, flip to the other side and let it puff up. Be very careful as the phulka could split at the seams releasing steam. Use a pair of tongs for flipping. Even if the phulka does not entirely puff up, flip to the other side. The taste will not get affected. Do not let it develop dark brown spots or get too stiff.

d. Transfer the phulka to an air tight container and spread a little ghee/melted butter spread on both sides. Serve with any vegetable curry and/or raita

Bheema movie review

I guess someone came up with some really nice songs. And then choreographed a bunch of fight scenes well. Uh...little problem, they forgot a couple of small details - something called a script and screenplay. Well, why fear when the formula is here?

- Remorseless hero who is a mass murderer by profession? Check

- Aging don with a heart of gold? Check

- Heartwarming scenes with aging don's mother-figure-wife? Check

- Corpulent dancers hurting your eyes in so called item numbers? Check

- Crazy annoying heroine who has no qualms about "loving" mass-murderer-hero and performing endearing child-woman acts like popping bubbles in the side of a busy street? Check

- Ashish Vidhyarthi as a cop? Check

- A stuttering Raghuvaran doing his routine for the billionth time? Check

- An audience that will spend hundreds of hard earned bucks to watch the same old mindless crap stuffed back down their throats without even a little attempt at logic or coherence? Check

- "Unique twist" to con audiences into thinking this is a "different" movie? - hmmm....oh yes! Make remorseless-hero have a weird man-crush on aging-don (so what if there are snickers from the not-so-innocent audience?)

Thats Bheema for you. If you are a student of cinematography or a fashion hound and want to see some really pretty clothes, watch this movie. Otherwise, just rent Thalapathi's dvd.

If you are Vikram's die-hard fan, please buy the ticket, but try and close your eyes through the entire movie. Or better still, spare yourself from the heartbreak of watching him waste the best years of his life on utterly pointless drivel like this.

The Matrix explained

This is a pretty lengthy article. I simply HAD to write it, because last weekend, after watching the Matrix Revolutions, I finally saw the light (pun intended). I've understood about 95% of the Trilogy, with a little help from some amazing fan sites. The remaining 5%? Yea, I'm still not clear about the significance of Sati, the role she will play in the future, the sunrise she created etc etc etc.


SPOILER ALERT*****
The entire Matrix storyline is detailed here. So, if you have not watched the Trilogy, please do not read this. The Matrix trilogy is brilliant because it is the very definition of intelligent cinema. The Wachovsky brothers make you think a lot - only some aspects of the storyline are even revealed fully in the movie. You have to try and fill the remaining holes in with your own interpretation.


The Matrix can be interpreted in many ways - you can look at it as a simple action flick. Or, you can discover many principles of Advaitha embedded along the entire storyline (subtly in the beginning, and then a complete out-in-the-open bow when the character Ramachandra speaks about Karma). There are many references to Greek mythology and finally, Neo becomes a Jesus-like savior. Whichever way you look at it - The Matrix Trilogy is arguably the greatest trio of movies ever made.

And so....here is the entire story (or atleast, the way I see it)

1) There is a war between humans and intelligent machines (for supremacy, what else?)

2) The humans blacken the skies to cut off energy sources for the machines (which presumably used sunlight as a renewable energy source)

3) The machines need energy, so they set up huge "farms" where humans are cultivated in pods
so that the machines can harvest the bio-energy generated by the human bodies

4) The only way they could successfully keep humans alive but imprisoned in the pods was by creating a virtual reality to keep their minds occupied. This virtual reality is called the matrix. So, the imprisoned humans are not aware of their actual physical state, because, in their minds, they live in (what they think is) "the real world" which is in reality, just computer code (the matrix)

5) There exists the city of Zion where truly free humans still live. They think that they are rebels, fighting the machines. They hack into the matrix to free humans - more specifically, the humans who are ready to free their minds (that are imprisoned in the matrix). The free and freed humans live in Zion.

6) The free humans living in Zion also deploy fighter ships which roam around in the real world (mostly a wasteland due to the sunlight being cut off), fending off attacks from sentinels (squiggly mechanical things that aim to destroy the ships), to try and free more humans from the farms.

7) A notable captain of such a ship is Morpheus, with a notable crew member - Trinity. They free Neo (Keanu Reeves) from the matrix and enlighten him with the truth about the real world (see points 1 to 4 above). They believe that Neo is the One who can win the war with the machines, because of a prophecy from the Oracle. The Oracle is a mysterious lady who appears to foretell the future and lives in the matrix.

8) The free humans often delve into the matrix for various reasons. Their physical bodies are still in their ships. Their minds are in the matrix. As long as they understand that what they see in the matrix is unreal, they can easily defeat all the villainous agents that the machines deploy to destroy the free humans, and can even fly and do superhuman things. But, they can also be defeated and killed when inside the matrix, if their minds succumbs to feelings of fear and believes the matrix world as really real.

9) Prompted by the Oracle, Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity go in search of the Architect (the computer program that built the matrix program). After a great deal of drama, Neo meets the Architect (who appears as an elderly man. Note that in the matrix, many computer programs have human forms)

10) Neo learns a shocking truth about Zion from the Architect - While being the home for free humans, Zion was not entirely a human creation. It was created/or allowed to exist by the machines themselves for a specific reason (see below)

a) The Architect's first version of the Matrix was a complete failure. It/He had created a perfect virtual world with no conflict/hunger etc. The humans (in the pod farms) immediately rejected it and died, as humans inherently need conflict and struggle as they identify the real world with it

b) The next version (where the Architect built tragedy, war, etc. into the Matrix was also a failure)

c) The Architect finally figured that to solve the above glitch in the matrix, the key is to give the human mind a choice, and make the humans think that they are living their lives according to their own choice (however flawed and meaningless the choice may be)

d) The choice given to the humans, on a subconscious level was this - stay in the matrix and enjoy its comforts, or jump into the real non matrix world. 99% choose the matrix and remain imprisoned in the pod farms, 1% choose freedom and Zion.

e) Hence, Zion is essential for the survival of the machines. They need Zion, but, at the same time, Zion cannot grow too powerful, so they also need to periodically destroy most of Zion and then start over by reloading a new version of the matrix.

f) The machines also wish to maintain the illusion of purpose that the residents of Zion have. If things were too easy (with the machines leaving Zion alone), then the residents of Zion will figure out the fact that the machines need Zion for their own survival and will find a way to defeat the machines. So, the machines engage the residents of Zion in a long war, with the Oracle manipulating them towards the quest of the One - the savior who they think will win the "war". The machines, with the help of the Oracle then engineer events so that "the One" will finally meet the Architect, and aid in the destruction and recreation of Zion

g) The Oracle is also a computer program - very critical in the creation of the Matrix, with a great understanding of human emotion. She manipulates the free humans by predicting the future, and encouraging them in their quest for "The One". She also gently manipulates Neo's emotions who has already been chosen by the machines as the One (reason for this in the next bullet point). When he is not ready to become the One, she lets him think that he is not the One. But by "predicting" the actions of Morpheus and by making self-fulfilling prophecies to Trinity, she makes sure Neo grows into the role of the One. She pushes Neo to go and find the Architect

h) When the Architect meets Neo, he communicates all the above info to Neo and gives him a choice - he can either survive and allow 23 members of Zion to survive, thereby ensuring the survival of "free" humanity. Or, he can choose to fight the machines, with the machines surely destroying Zion fully, thereby destroying humanity completely. There have already been a few Neos before this, and when all of them were presented with the same choice, they chose the former (saving 23 people and rebuilding Zion). Hence, this is actually the sixth version of the matrix, simply a part of the endless cycle where it is reloaded repeatedly, and Zion is destroyed and created repeatedly.

i) In this version of the Matrix, the Oracle has changed her(it's) mind. She/It does not want the endless cycle of the matrix reloading and Zion created/destroyed/recreated. So, she plays a game - she manipulates Neo into choosing the second option (where there is a full blown war and there are is no option of 23 survivors in the event of a defeat). She does this by making Neo and Trinity fall in love with each other. She gambles that Neo will not choose the 23 person option as he cannot accept the inherent caveat with this option - Trinity's death. His love for Trinity is far greater than anything else. He chooses to save Trinity and Zion prepares for an all out war with the machines.

j) There is a third factor in the middle of all this - agent Smith. Smith was originally simply an agent of the matrix. An agent is a computer program designed to eliminate the free humans trying to hack into the matrix to save the trapped humans. He ends up mutating into a wild version of himself, where his only purpose is the destruction of Neo. Like a virus, he begins infecting and corrupting the entire matrix itself

k) The Oracle is aware of the presence of Smith and that is an incentive for her gamble as she believes that the outcome of the war between the machines and Zion may be different when they face a common enemy

11) Neo gets to meet the Oracle for one last time. She cryptically tells him that "everything that has a beginning must have an end"

12) The war between the machines and Zion begins with thousands of sentinels breaking into the city.

13) In the meantime, it dawns on Neo that he must go to the machine city to meet the Source (the master computer) based on cryptic messages (certainly intentional) from the Oracle. Neo and Trinity travel to the machine city. Trinity dies in the process. Also, in the matrix world, Smith ends up corrupting more and more portions of the matrix. He meets the Oracle and ends up "taking over" her.

14) Neo talks to the Source. He convinces the Source by promising to destroy Smith in exchange for peace (for Zion). The machine agrees to a truce, stops the attack on Zion and plugs Neo into the matrix

15) Neo and Smith have a big fight in the matrix. Neo keeps fighting back. Then Smith echoes statements that the Oracle said ("everything that has a beginning has an end). Smith talks like the Oracle, as he has taken over the Oracle itself. Neo finally understands what to do. He figures out that the only purpose for Smith's existence is to destroy him. So, he lets Smith destroy him (by letting Smith take over Neo's mind/body). As Neo was plugged into the matrix, Smith is also now plugged into the matrix because of this and the Machine immediately deletes Smith as he is now simply a program without a purpose (as his purpose - the destruction of Neo has been achieved)

16) Neo becomes one with the Source. He is physically dead, but it can be said that his brain/thoughts/soul etc has been assimilated into the source where he will live forever

17) The Matrix reloads itself. All the programs that Smith corrupted - The Oracle, Sati, etc become themselves again. Zion is truly free now and does not need to fear the machines. The Architect agrees to free the humans in the pod if they choose to be freed

18) The movie ends with a chant from the Upanishads(?) - Asatoma sathgamaya... (from darkness lead us to light, from ignorance lead us to knowledge and from death lead us to immortality) - the significance of this verse being that the humans in the farms have the opportunity to free themselves from their darkness and ignorance, and their delusional world of the Matrix - which is essentially all Maya, and live free in Zion if they seek it and choose it.

Stuff that i do not get - The whole Sati storyline. Can anybody help me?