Woh pehli bar

Hmm.. the pehli bar? As the queen of interpretations would rule supreme!

The pehli 'bar' I jumped into? When I was sick and poor couz of mine was trying to get this fresh-off-the-plane-and-sick-child a ginger ale by all means, while waiting for Muk to turn up? And there it was (aptly named): the First Base, in the heart of Sox-land.

Or the 'Woh pehli bar', which I hum for no reason, every now and then. Sweet song. The movie bombed (I guess, and I haven't seen it anyways) but I did catch the tune. Hmm, romantic and me? Now thats a laugh. But doesn't hurt to listen to these songs right?

And all the other 'pehli bar' stuff.. that night on 57th, on the way back from a daring jaunt through the univ to get to Noodles etc, and on a full stomach plodding along, and lo and behold.. my first fire-fly sighting. I know, shame on me, I was 24 when I actually got to see real live fireflies fluttering around. Fascinating!

Or the first time I was proudly grinning seeing my name on the Company phone and contacts list.. the flyer that gets updated and distributed on the routine. Well, cmon, I'm only an intern, I have every right to grin :)

Or the first time I navigated downtown without getting lost, on my own.. the first time I bought those CK jeans of mine with no one to ask an opinion from.. the first time I drove my car all by myself, with no one on the passenger seat!.. the first time I had bills in my name.. my first credit card. Like duh!

Or the road trips, the Metra escapades, the Target sprees, the Dollar stores..

Or the rasamalai, the mor-kuzhambu, the onion garlic chutney (forget the rava dosa that went with it!)..

Or the first time I paged someone on the company paging system.. gleeeeee... that was this morning ;) Cool!

Looks like I'm a nut case, bringing life to the phrase: Simple pleasures in life.

?!

Things do move along... the 2 credit project, the doc's visits, the company projects, the shopping sprees, the lets-have-fun episodes. Isn't as tough as I thought they would be, but now and then, I remember that its not as it all seems!

But who cares? As long as the day goes by... and with work picking up, having to complete stuff by the deadlines, its not so bad.

I am so looking forward to the December vacations that I'm going to take.. man, 15 days of much needed doing-nothing, not waking up early in the morning, going out whenever and wherever, maybe try a trip or something, or just vegetate turning the heat up, the soup on the stove and the novel on my pillow.. I've started counting down to Dec 12th already!!

Blah, nothing much to write about right now.. but quite a bit happened - the realization about me having kept away from Alexa's and grown my hair a bit, another no-big-deal Diwali (seventh in a row), retail therapy weekend, Monday morning purples (I ain't all that blue today!!!!), accounts due, my blah mehndi (was so impatient, I took it off in a short time, and its a dull orange, blyech), the record socks, the shady trip to the Alley on Clark (absolutely LOVED it), the forecast of another funky-chic-coat-less winter to come (but you never know.. might actually buy one soon!), the rava dosa (and not so brilliant rava dhokla?), the french fries craving that still rages on, yada yada.. etc.

The TV Trap

There was a time in my life in the US where I didn't really watch TV, at all! But now, I just switch it on just because it is there! And boy oh boy, basic cable itself reels you in with so many channels and shows, I wonder what would be the state of affairs with more than 75 channels.

I am not a soap-opera fan. No tear jerkers for me, no thank you! Every time I'd visit home in India, there it will be, the inevitable array of soap after soap after soap. And each would be a melodrama at its best - long drawn out dialogues, music crescendo, a highly made-up female villain with the largest bindis and eyelashes, an avenged protagonist completely devoid of make-up (to throw in the sympathy votes), lots of family ties, and shady pasts.. Why do I not see things like Small Wonder, Friends, etc in the Indian context? Maybe it is because people keep dishing out the same old formulaic segments that are sure to get their ratings up.

Why I like episodes of Raymond, Friends, 8 Rules, and the like are because of one simple reason.. they need not be watched continuously.. week after week. You just catch an episode now and then, laugh over it, and just be! How cool is that? Though I must admit, I even watch re-runs of Friends episodes..

And now, its a whole new ballgame, the dawn of reality TV. Even better! The competitions and all the drama. I am more inclined to these things as compared to the TV shows of the old days.. (not that I'm THAT old!). But yes, I LOVE Project Runway.. why? I don't know.. I also catch a few episodes of Top Chef and America's next Top Model every now and then. There is something about these three shows that makes me want to watch them. Maybe its the fact that it is a competition of a different kind..

Oooh, and I love taking someone's side and seeing if they make it through to the final! Damn, I was rooting for Alyson, and finally, switched to Michael once she was out and he made the Pam Greer outfit. And how hilarious were some of yesterday's re-union clips! Tim Gunns's vocab sure made it fun ;)

But all said and done, the TV is a menace. If it just weren't around, I'd stick to renting some DVDs and watching them on my comp, and then, spend the rest of my time quite fruitfully. I would be roaming around downtown, window shopping of course ;) Else I would finally sit down to do my Oil painting of my interpretation of the Chicago landscape.. Hmm, its time to start it, but this weekend doesn't seem to be too promising. Too much to do, so little time..

Oh no, there is also my 2 credit project.. God save me!

Rice and shine!

I LOVE rice. Period. But lately, there seems to be this paradigm shift in my already confused universe. I have started HATING it.. whaaaaaaaat?

Yes, this is the morbid confession of a South Indian Madras Rice Freak. Rice for lunch, rice for dinner, and rice for breakfast at times too - that was me. But ever since I have started cooking rice daily and having it here at work for lunch, I feel like 'Damn, isn't there anything else I can eat?'. And for the past two-three weeks, all I can think of are McD's french fries and Potbelly-Panera-Subway sandwiches. Has eating rice become so monotonous? But how is it that three-course rice meals at home everyday went by pleasantly in Madras? The sambar, rasam, pachidi, curry and thayir sadam (man, if only I were a poet, my first ode would be to Thayir Sadam!) routine was sailing along so smooth then.

Ok, thinking of that, Thayir sadam still hasn't gotten hazy, its still strong and steady in my preferences. But its the basic rice that has become jaded. I wouldn't mind eating some frozen Mac n' Cheese for lunch, but please, don't give me micro-waved rice in a box again? Maybe it all has to do with the sitting on the sofa - eating from a plate - licking your fingers thing. Which is why I could probably explain the fact that I don't mind rice for dinner.

But why do I not mind Chipotle for a meal? Isn't that rice too? But nah, its FRESH. Complete, and a feast for the eyes too. Thats probably why I still like it. And which is why I love soups. They are so smooth, and easy to eat/drink(?). Oooh, its a T-storm outside now, and my mouth waters at the thought of the Broccoli-Cheddar at Panera.. Haha, lets drag B.

But does that mean, I have started not liking Indian cuisine.. No, that isn't true either. I still love rasam, cutlets, Hema's kitchen, India House appetizers, Sev batata puri from a box, etc etc.

It is but a passing phase I guess. I should just lay off the rice for a while, and start having all other things like salads, pasta, mac, pizza and sandwiches at work. That should have me panting for rice like a dog at dinner :)

Sob. (hic)

Yes. A pretty washed out end to the week.. oh, literally 'washed out'. Game day, and all in great spirits, and then.. a good start. Got them wrapped up for 149. Our target: 150. (Funny, the way I say 'we/our'.. I'm just a spectator, am I not?) And down came the rain. The boys were of course in a good mood, thought they would win easily, and danced around in the rain, blaring 'Paatshaala' over the speakers. Then out came the sun (how I now wish that had not happened.. wish, indeed) One by one, they fell, slow and steady.. until hope came in somewhere in the middle. But it was not to be our day, remember? Torrents yet again, and we pack up to continue the next morning. Advantage/disadvantage.. the what-ifs? Next day, bright and early, with the cards stacked precariously.. half asleep, I receive the call, its a close game.. We still have a chance. And I sense, rather than feel the impending doom. It was there yesterday when I watched others on the field.. but I had pushed it aside.. the clammy feeling, the flutter. But here it stared me in the face. We were going to go out one notch lower than last year! And down we went. Tears anyone? Not me, thanks, it was just anger and a resignation.

I keep thinking, why do I feel so bad? It wasn't my team (per se), I wasn't playing, I wasn't betting anything on them, but in the end.. Yet another year of games come rain or shine, every Saturday morning, sitting there crossing my fingers and breathing a silent prayer they would make it through.. and make it through they did, but not the game that mattered. I know I'm wrong, but I cannot help but blame everyone, they all let me down. But aren't they the ones who feel more sad.. that they lost? I feel sorry for them, but selfish me, sorrier (grammar, hic!) for myself.

Rationale and logic take a backseat. I am sad. Even if everyone had made just one more run, I wouldn't be here writing a sob story. When does the game become more than a game? Why am I never able to register that? Because I am not a person playing the game? What is it that drives people.. the rush of blood, the speed.. the ups and downs of a team's season.. I agree, there must be sportsmanship, the ability to face defeat with grace. But why do I feel bad?

I should in fact be glad that the season is over, for there are no more Saturdays to wake up early, no more games, no more getting messy with sweat in the sun, no more oily sun-blocks, and no more dead-beat Mondays..

Why then, am I so empty? Devoid of reason?

Its a love-hate relationship I share with cricket.. and I loved-hated every moment of it this year.

Weird.

This sure is weird. I haven't really blogged so often in the past, and look at me now? Maybe its a flutter-by butterfly kinda thing.

I usually don't like putting my thoughts down on paper. They simply should be in my head! In my head.. reminds me of this Mathemagic Disney cartoon I used to own on tape when I was young. It was pretty much one of the coolest things around then... There is this one particular shot of the brain being zoomed in, and as soon as Donald duck tries to 'think' and do some arithmetic or remember the tables or something, the wheels start working rustily, the gears creaking against each other, and slowly the room (=brain) becomes a little brighter, and Donald is able to whiz through its corners, upturning shelves and stacked papers to find what he's looking for! Or am I imagining the scene?

This usually happens when you're trying to think back about something you really used to like, and now its all part of this vague past, which you think you remember, but you actually don't??! How does that happen? Is it that your memories get stacked in your brain and get erased in a while as new ones get etched there? How then do you remember extremely vague things from when you really were a young kid? Like the time I played with one of these cool 'Hotwheels' setup bridges-roads-etc set which my cousins(?) had (in Bangalore, was it?).. Or like the green train I swear I remember I broke the last compartment of by stepping on it and chipping it? (though my mom surely doesn't recall what I am talking about.. and believe me, my mom does remember pretty much everything!). Some things are so teasingly within the grasp of the mind, yet they are so far away. The more you try and probe, the more frustrating it becomes!

What a weird thing the brain is, indeed?! No wonder people still haven't explained the phenomenon of the 'dream'. Why is that sometime even in my dream, I realize 'hey, I know what's coming next.. I've had this dream before'.. and yet I continue dreaming? Why is it that I still remember the dream where the skeleton was dancing on my front porch at Prithvi Avenue? I even remember the rubbery feel of its arm, while I was trying to push it away!!!! What is it that triggers these sensory perceptions which stay in your memory?

And even more weird, the 'deja-vu'.. Now, what is that all about? God bless someone who does figure it all out. Maybe this is why I appreciate the conspiracy theories when I read novel after novel :) Anything that remotely hints at a hooded situation in the existence of mankind surely does tickle me.. What if we are indeed in a 'Matrix'.. what if we are really in the 'I heart Huckabees' existentialist world... what if we are indeed just a small speck in some other larger universe? The what-ifs are countless..

Of course, when I mean 'conspiracy' I do not mean the machinations of the 'human' mind. I am not talking about the 'greatest cover-up in the history of the presidential race', the 'man-did-not-truly-land-on-the-moon' or the 'this corporate giant is doing this-and-that' kind of conspiracy.. I am talking of the unexplained stuff.. the X-Files kinda thing. But does that make me a sci-fi buff? Nah.. I still read pretty much anything and everything I do get my hands on..

And right now, I guess its time to get back to the report on the Daily Production Summaries of DEFI staring me in the face!

Curse of the (Curly) Parsley.

Ok, I admit! I am becoming a Food Network regular. I frequently watch Alton Brown; lap up Rachel Ray, bite my nails over Cake competitions and Top Chef, and randomly flick my TV to Channel 70 if I’m bored. I am a food junkie, and everyone who knows me very well will tell the others (who scoff at my petite frame) that this is, in fact, true. But we are deviating... It was supposed to be all about Parsley... Alright, Halloween nears, and you might think my imagination is running wild when I titled this the Curse of the Curly Parsley. But no, I do consider it a curse. Pray let me explain:

It all started with me watching quite a few people prepare dishes with Parsley on the network, and go about praising its ‘strong fresh flavor, the earthy tones, and the aroma it blends into a cold salad’. Now what we must keep in mind though, is the fact that I am a complete desi-food cook. But yet, I do not give up hope. Ignoring the cilantro (which has always been my top-herb - I still find saying ‘erb funny!) wilting in my fridge, I decide that I simply MUST try parsley out. Add to all the hype the fact that parsley does wonders for a fresh breath and blah blah... And then, like a cursed soul, I kept thinking about parsley quite a bit, imagining the heady scent of it, when I would chop it into fine fresh pieces (can we call them pieces!??).

One impatient week later, I jump onto the pretext of an important Devon shopping spree (for what? Some munchies, asafetida and paneer) and decide that today I WILL end up buying an entire bunch (and some cilantro, of course.. now we do not want to offend ‘the’ cilantro, do we?) to try. Shopping done, all pleased with myself, I come home and wait for the next day when I’d prepare something with the herb.

So I go about browsing the internet for recipes incorporating the stuff sitting in my fridge, and end up with zilch. So I decide, ok, let me make semiya upma (another thing I decided to pick up from Devon with my random aisle-walking... Semiya!! And heck, this was already roasted, how cool is that?) and instead of garnishing it with cilantro in the end, maybe I should just chop up the herb and let its flavor do the trick. Upma is a roaring success (hoo-haa, my first time, and its b-e-a-u-tiful) and now comes the garnish. And I retrieve the stuff from the fridge, chop it up, and decide to smell it before I put it in my Upma!

EEEEWWWWW! This is not the smell I want with my Upma?! It is strong! Now I know why Wiki says it is used as garnish in a lot of fish and meat dishes. So, there goes... And they say that curly parsley is the less strong of the two (curly vs. flat, that is) Now I understand, why moms never did use parsley in our cooking at home! But, do I give up? No. I will still make that cold salad recipe with onions, tomatoes, lime, cilantro and parsley... You just wait, I will.

But for now, parsley’s back in the fridge, sitting right next to the cilantro. That makes me think... what if it was the Cilantro that pulled one over the Parsley? Maybe it’s the curse of the Cilantro?! Hmm...

Dude, where's my Internet?

Irritated? Wash it all down with a bowl of soup..

I LOVE soups. Of course, the veggie ones :) But I don't mind the occasional chicken broth factor which could hinder an otherwise veggie-freak to neglect a good Broccoli-Cheddar soup at Panera's. Lovely stuff.. smack!

But yea, that was NOT what I started out blogging today.. getting back to the 'irritated' bit. I have been without the internet at home for the last 14 days. And, looks like I survived! But thats besides the point. I've been waging this battle of sorts with AT&T. And let me tell you, they have driven me to the brink of insanity.. (the smash-your-fist-in-the-wall, damage-things, curse-like-thats-all-there-is-in-your-vocabulary, snap-at-everyone variety) First, their online stuff is such a load of crap, you HAVE to end up calling them anyways to start the process. And don't we know customer service? Yea, a big fat waiting time, with some recorded techie-droning on the other end. And finally, you do manage to set up an appointment for the folks to come out and fix it four days later. You ask specifically, does this installation require someone to stay at home? They say no, and phew, there is no need to take the day off from work. But then you see a voicemail on your cellphone.. "We needed access into the house, and hence the connection was not set up this morning". And of course, they do not work a minute after 5, they do not do this work over the weekends, and so you wait until Monday.

Catch hold of a friend to sit at home for the work to get done, while you're at work.. stuff gets done, they say the DSL should be up and running in two hours. Two hours become eight, and no sign of it yet. 110 digested daytime minutes later, they give you a commitment for a 'by-8-pm-tomorrow' connection. And another 90 daytime minutes on the phone the next day, and voila, 'We cannot find any fault, can you stay at home from 8am to 8pm tomorrow to fix it?' Dude, are you going to sign my paycheck?.. take a hike! And this is a pattern thats repetitive.. And I buy a phone only to notice that the dial tone is non-existent on the phone line he 'fixed'! Aarrrrrgghhhhh..

And thus go by Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu.. and today Friday, I am planning to rush back home for a 2-6pm slot. I swear, if I do not get the connection today, I might end up institutionalized!

Funny business all this.. Customer service. They won't transfer you to a 'supervisor', they are the only folks who cater to your area, they are the only option you have, and what ever happened to 'The customer is King' days? Are we just going to have to take all this nonsense? AND pay all the charges? What are these corporate giants upto? Do they think we cannot do anything about this stuff.. in a way, yes, we all have better things to do than drag this out to some consumer court or file a claim or whatever it is people do. But in the end, I do wonder.. how long is this going to last? All the less-than-size-7 print in (the-almost-white) grey on their websites which we fail to notice - the 'fine print'.. their 'Policy'. Sure looks like its here to stay!

Knock Knock

A hiatus.. through August. What was I upto? Thinking back, all I can remember is running around to complete my projects for the semester, trying to get the paperwork done at work and finally.. move to a new place. Damn the housing manager for all the confusions she caused.

But anyways, now I sit, in a quaint house, sedate and content. Blessed are those guys who helped me move.. lugging those couches and boxes over three flights of stairs, phew! Manpower indeed.. :)

But with all this on my head, this was a first-of-sorts for my B'day! Sep2 and I wasn't even jumping around a week in advance. Is that a sign that I've become 24 and can no longer worry about such things? Nah, I don't believe it.. Must have been all the stuff I was busy with at that time.

I want my Birthday back!!!!!

(Maybe I should celebrate another birthday.. come up with a 'Floating-Bday'!)

Ah, birthdays. What is it about them that generates all the hoopla? But every bit of the day is exciting. The self-induglence and the pampering, the shopping (needless to say), the treats, the GIFTS!

Twiddly thumbs?

As has been the habit for the past week, here I sit, "at work".. and my current project? God-only-knows!! Anyways, not that I'm complaining about it! It is quite nice to sit around at times and do nothing, isn't it? AND get paid for it ;)

There is quite a bit of stuff floating out there in the "Internet", enough to keep you sitting still for atleast an hour (provided you don't keep jumping up and down everytime someone goes past your cubicle!) and man.. somehow at the end of the day, no matter what you read, what you learn, it feels like you haven't really done anything! I am of the firm belief that you have "done" something when you are physically tired. Yes, I loved that week where all I did was sit next to the reactor and troubleshoot it at 125 degF, when I ran around inventorying all the doors that needed weather proofing, shuttled between departments trying to figure out what was going wrong where in the process.. But there you have it, I am one of the dwindling species on the earth who look at work from this angle. What with the computer boom, where the work is all in your mind, and the physical part of it is office ergonomics!!!! No offence to the software folks (ooh, have so many friends in that huge part of the working world).. Aren't we slowly moving toward a period where physical work isn't really considered glamorous? Where suits and laptops rule the day? Well, I still stay the same

As they say.. all in a days work ;)