10-Day You Challenge/Quest: 5 Foods

This next section in the 10-Day challenge is a favorite topic among my peers for this blog-quest. But it’s not so much of a big deal for my taste-buds, or so I think. In general, I can live on any vegetarian fare and not complain much. My obvious preference is Indian vegetarian, which with it’s wide variety of culinary choices and preparation modes, makes me wonder (and I remember telling this to Deepa once) how other Indians get the opportunity or need to try non-vegetarian!

But I have a sweet tooth, and need some sort of dessert after every meal, a weakness I’m willing to live with :-) And given my demeanour to lean towards religion, and the influences of Indian myth and history on me, I’ve sometimes stopped to wonder what Amrutham (nectar) would have tasted like; that for which the Gods churned milk-oceans, and which made them immortal.
Connecting the dots, I obviously think Amrutham would have tasted sweet. So I’ll focus this article on a list of 5 food-items that I love so much, I feel Amrutham would have tasted like it. It’s anyways the best anyone can get out of me on the topic of favorite foods:


- Milk Chocolate: Think “Dairy Milk, Hersheys Milk Choc, Dove Silky Smooth Milk Choc, chocolate cream on cake, rich chocolate ice-cream” Don’t tell me your mouth hasn’t started watering! The combination of milk and chocolate spell ecstasy to me, as to every youngster with their mouths loaded with Hersheys! :-)

- Jackfruit Jam: “Chakkara Varatti” in Malayalam, it’s a tedious effort to prepare this jam. The jackfruit must be ripe enough, and there should be lots of it to even prepare a tiny amount of jam. Womenfolk in Kerala labor for hours boiling and stirring the pot with jackfruit, jaggery and water in it. And the taste, mmm, many are the times I have thought when chewing this soft and sweet concoction “If nectar were solid, this is how it would have been”. It remains forever, on top of my list. Do try it, but the only best source I know is my grandma, and now my mother. I know the ones you get in shops aren’t awwal number. I’ll try to squeeze-in an image to this blog.


- Paalada payasam:Again I’ll add an image for the benefit of those who haven’t tasted it. But the original color if you do get to (and you must!) should be a light saffron, any other (especially white as they’ll serve in hotels) and it’s not ready yet. This payasam (kheer) is not too available as it’s not easy to prepare and needs patience before it gets its color and taste (a few hours), but it’s worth it. It’s called the “elixir of the gods” and is made of milk, rice flour titbits (you’ll get it in shops). The best place to taste it would be Hindu marriages in Kerala, where they prepare it at the back of the ancestral homes in huge pots.


- Lassi: Not the kind you get in the US, but in many of the dairy farms in Mumbai, and I’m sure elsewhere in North India, with a layer of thick cream on top. Healthy, aww so delicious and filling. And to think of it, nectar was churned from an Ocean of Milk they say. Uncanny resemblance, don’t you think?

- Roshogulla: To top of this list, are definitely Bengali sweets. I mention Rasagulla for it’s the trademark, and also because in my mind, I pronouce it Roshogulla which itself is mouth-watering in sound! Now you know how much of a sweet-addict I am :-) But the Bengalis have many other sweets which are variants of the Roshogulla, and equal in taste. Multi-colored balls in water, and the chamchams, all available in Mumbai’s Brijwasi stores. I’d visit their store only to try (when in school) and buy (after I got a job!) their wide collection of Bengali sweets! Aahahahahahaa, no wonder the Bengalis are the most creative romantics composing such mesmerising songs!
Because, “Madhuram Jeevamrutha bindhu!” :-)

10 Day You Challenge/Quest: 6 Places

This next edition of the 10-Day You Challenge/Quest is of something I am not well-versed in: Places. Although I have travelled a bit, I’m personally perhaps neither too fond of, nor crave for it. So you can bet some of the places I list would be offbeat. And I hope it dosen’t violate the rules or the spirit of this quest:

- Someplace Silent: Any silent place appeals to me, the geographical location notwithstanding. It could then be the IIT or BARC campuses in Mumbai, or where meditation takes me.

- Someplace to Talk: Contradictory, but here I’m more implying a place where people can gather and freely exchange thoughts: Ideas, opinions, poetry, performances, discourses, knowledge. I usually get impatient with small talk, and talk for me has to appeal to intellect, or the heart.

- Home: The place I am most comfortable in. Believe it or not, I can spend days together in my home without being bored, literally. I can keep myself busy without missing the world outside. The only need to see the sun sometimes, but that can be done from the patio :-) So thank God for I have a family and am not a loner, and that my client does not allow wfh :-)

- Forest Preserves: This is something I really like in the US: Forest Preserve parks. There are countless ones around the country, and at least 2 within a 10min drive from my home. And if not home, the one place I’d like to be is alone with nature. I love climbing trees and rocks, it gives me a kick. I feel mesmerised each time I visualize the Animal Song: “I want to run through the jungle, the wind in my hair and the sand at my feet”. But of course I don’t want to encounter wild animals doing this, :-) and that is exactly why forest preserve parks fit the match.

- Kerala: I know Kerala is well-heard of, and the tourist spots are many. But the best places to live really are not the commercialized boat-houses, but the ancestral homes. With private green ponds attached to each and the heaviest rains (believe me, much heavier than by the time it reaches Mumbai). With “machchils” for our snake-gods (the deity for Nairs), coconut trees, unlit starry nights (every district in Kerala has to take turns in which two hours of the night should the power be cut off) because of which the most beautiful memory you would have of any person is him/her in crimson glow under burning lamps. The paddy fields and traditional temples which still light lamps all over. The real Kerala lives there, and it’s much more beautiful than outsiders get to see. Why, because Communism has destroyed the state. There is no industry, and and the term for getting a job is Rakshapettu (escaped/saved).  

- Cities in Karnataka: I couldn’t pick one: sorry. But I’ve lived in and loved all three major cities in Karnataka: Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore. And each has it’s speciality. The weather in Bangalore is well-known to all, perfect in all seasons. But what I really found outstanding is the drinking water quality. I know it sounds silly, but it’s a fact that the water there is very rich in minerals; some say older people get stones owing to it. But also due to that, it tastes the best. I used to drink so much water in Bangalore, my roommate would split the monthly drinking water accounts 2:1. :-P Mangalore is just like Kerala, in weather and people. Only, more temples. The most famous ones in the vicinity being: Kundapura, Udipi, and the Sringeri matt. Mysore for a view of the pristine culture of the nation gone by: women who wouldn’t step out without flowers on their hair. Men who first smile and greet before speaking. They still believe they are protected by their beloved king in the Mysore Palace, and the Goddess Chamundi from atop her hill-abode, don’t they. Thank goodness they don’t know how western culture has changed those in next-door Bangalore.



I know this article isn’t really per intent. But when listing ‘6 Places’, I did not want to look at it as 6 places I want to visit; I looked at it as 6 places I love to visit. And I broke the 6 into 2 that appeals to my intellect/spirit/soul, 2 which my heart loves and 2 where this mind resides.

10 Day YOU Challenge/Quest: 7 Wants

As Swapna thought aloud at the end of her last post, shortlisting your wants to 7 is a big challenge; we all have more that are equally important!

Want is what has driven human progress. If humans had innately been happy with what they have, we would still be in crouching in the darkness of the caves and the jungles. People only quote part of what Gordon Gekko says in the film Wall Street: “Greed is Good”...but listen to the full quotation, and there’s more than meets the eye: “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind”.
I agree, and I believe the main question is one of balance, or the ‘pendulum-effect’, where neither extreme is right, or good in the long run.

So here’s my list of wants, almost indulgences..

- Cars: A BMW for work, a minivan for family, and an SUV, well for the mountains?? Hope maine zyaada nahi maanga :-)

- Flexible job: A job or career which isn’t concerned with where I am; so I can be in India or a tropical country during winter, and in Europe or US in summer :-D

- Home(s): Well, since I’d be visiting multiple places in a year, I’d rather have a home in each. Makes sense right. ;-) But ya, I dream of having a mansion with a garden. I have a vivid picture of how it’d look. I just hope Jyothi agrees :-)

- Poetry Club: I write poetry for my satisfaction, but it really isn’t introspective. Neither am I trained. So I want to start a club of like-minds where we can share our poetry, interpret it in different ways, and have debates and discussions on it, and form opinions. The poetry could be on any topic, even current affairs. We could then periodically choose some selected ones and publish the consensus of our interpretations. Think about it, this could be used as a medium to spread awareness. Who knows, it might get to be a catchy trend.

- A Fulfilling family life: I’m not too much of an outdoorsy person. Give me a choice and I’ll go out only for a quick run :-D..I find more joy within the home, doing things of my own, but also with family. And want to have it all, like everyone else, happy spouse, happy kids and happy parents.

- Lead something with meaning: It could be a country (ironically, the tune “main zyaada nahi maangta” is playing in my head right now..), a company (..still playing..), or even a social organization (..hmm..stopped now).
But seriously speaking, something where I can put my vision in action, and leave behind something of value.

- Find my purpose: Every life is born to fulfill some role, some purpose. We all have our unique talents, passions, gifts which we are uniquely good at. I want to know what that is for me, and make it a full-time career. Do good at it. Leave my mark in that field, footprints on the sands of time.

10 Day YOU Challenge/Quest: 8 Fears

I’m really late to draft and publish my third installment to the “10 Day YOU Challenge”. Maybe it’s because I didn’t want to face my fears :P
And just this past weekend I was watching “Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara”, which was all about conquering fears and following you dreams! How apt :-)

So here goes the list of 8 Fears:

- Losing loved ones: Surely this comes way on top of everyone’s minds, and their lists. So I won’t elaborate, for even thinking about it would be painful.

- Stage-Fright: It is very difficult to get me to face a crowd and start speaking/performing. But once I start, I’m damn good! I’ve accepted that it’s just going to be like it, and work with it. Consolation is, so do the greatest in their fields: Mohanlal, Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar!

- Free-fall: ..although I’m in a constant struggle to overcome it, for it’s not really vertigo. And doesn’t everyone go through this? Or is it just that some people naturally act brave and enjoy the Level-5 rides? But given a choice, I just woudn’t go for them. Never done bungee-jumping; and no skydiving: I could completely empathise with Farhan Akhtar in ZNMD.

- Insects and Bugs: Although anywhere you go, bugs are the most resilient, tenacious and ubiquitous creatures around, I can’t stand any of them. I think it started with a childhood “traumatic” experience that I haven’t been able to shake off till date: I woke up one morning and found a dead cockroach in the drool near my lips! Now don’t ask me if it came from inside my mouth, or how it got killed, for I don’t know and have imagined a 100 different things (Yuck! Yes, exactly how I feel too). Since then, if I see an insect scurrying around, I resemble the Gorgs chasing the Fraggles in “Fraggle Rock”. Well, this habit in general keeps my home bug-free ;-)

- Horror movies/stories: I don’t believe in ghosts. I can stay alone. But I sometimes wonder if what The Joker said was true: “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stranger”. Watching a good horror movie makes me highly sensitive and suspicious of everything around. Not the zombie flicks, but the ones like Bhoot and Raat that show horror in everyday life, or after hearing an "incident" that happened in someone's village. I really begin feeling a “Paranormal Activity” within and around for days together. But I agree with what scientists say: Horror is born in our minds, and it’s a reflection of the mind’s fear of the unknown.

- Terminal Illness: It’s a salute to the human spirit to live in the face of death. As do so many people in this world. I keep hoping and praying that I or people I care for, don’t have to go through this. If it’s time, let it be peaceful and quick.

- Financial Dependance: I guess every man has this feeling, ever since he’s a college guy I guess. Or perhaps society keeps harping this into him. That someday he has to stand up on his own two feet, be self-sufficient financially, have a family and be able to provide for it. This feeling really drives the world. Indeed, if every person were willing to throw it all away to live his dreams, the world would have been chaotic :-); nobody wanting to follow anyone, everyone his own master, and doing what he pleases. Pretty scary although it’s supposed to sound nice! But men are willing to compromise, because the filial responsibility overbears all. And he is willing to gulp a bit of his pride, and bite the dust, and at times even do wrong, to keep his family well-provided for. I wouldn’t want to depend on anyone financially, and hopefully it’ll never be so.

- Radical views: I generally keep away from people who have extreme views. For I don’t understand how people can be “just so sure”, or stubborn to put it bluntly. And we all are adults, so I can air my opinion, but not really change anyone’s hardline view unless he himself is willing to. I have an opinion, but am willing to build up / compromise on it. It is better to bend than to break. Go to any martial arts master, and they’ll advise, where you find yourself overpowered, just start running! If you live today, you live to fight another day. So I shun radical or extreme views at either end. The pendulum has to swing around the center, and not from one extreme to the other. If everyone were so sure and hell-bent on things being their way, there really is no way we can achieve peace. And there truly seems to be where the world has always been. We never really have got along. We keep fighting, killing, and stealing in want. This endless cycle, driven by the extreme nature of human greed, and unwilling to compromise on anything in its wake, makes me fear for the planet the generation after will inherit.