Onam & Ramadan

Onam is here. May be I watched more TV this year, but Onam seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year. More crowds doing the 'Utrhradam Pachil', worlkd record breaking 'Pookalams', great boat races. Even got to see Pulikali and 'kalashakali' on TV, of course.

I did get to narrate the story of Onam to some arabs (where god is the 'villain') this year also. A fantastic story, but some doubts have cropped up over wheher Mahabali was a Malayalee. Seemingly, Mahabali (the son of Hrinyakashyap and grandson of Prahalad) was conducting the Aswamedha Yagam on the banks of Narmada, when Vishnu in the form of Vamana appeared asking for alms. The rest is history. But why did Mahabali travel all the way to the banks of Narmada for the Yaga. Or is the legend of Mahabali brought to Kerala by the migrating Nairs?

Personally, Dinesh and I had an excellent sadhya on the uthradom day with Bala and Shobhana and on Thiru Onam day, we had our company Iftar at Emirates Palace hotel, one of the most expensively built hotels in the world. The hotel is entirely golden themed. But some how did not excite me to much. A bit too dull for an Indian used to more colour and drama. Ha!

                              

And finally here is our parliament seen from a fresh angle, which I feel is much more impressive.

New and improved

It is in the nature of all organisms or organisations or bodies to continue to strive to become bigger (unless there are external forces forcing it otherwise). I guess it is similar in the case of products. Every new model of a car is bigger than the previous model. But when it comes to the size of the tablets you have to swallow, you will start questioning the model. To treat my recent bout of pharyngitis, I was given an antibiotic which is 1 gm. Till now I had seen only antibiotics which are 500mg (also called 'forte'for strength). The pharmacist said it is so big because it is a combination drug.

Some interesting news I have recently come across:

IBM is now the second largest private sector employer in India (after TCS) with an esimated 130,000 employees including in IBM Daksh, its BPO arm.

Cognizant (CTS) is in sniffing distance of the big 3 (TCS, Infy and Wipro). CTS has been growing consistently (quarter after quarter) at a higher rate than the big 3 something like China overtaking England, then France, then Germany and now Japan in size. It looks like they have a slightly different business offshore model which is just a bit more frontend than the others and this could be paying off.

Something from an old Economist (which I find is an excellent weekly - I know Baiju subscribes to it - it is too costly in the newsstand) - on the question of health claims of various products. EU is bringing in legislation to create a framework for assessing nutrition claims ('contains calcium' or 'high in fibre') and health claims ('promotes strong bones'). Everybody knows Omega 3 is good for you, but not all are equal. The good ones - long chain- comes from fish, while the less beneficial ones - short chain- comes from flax seed, soya etc. Another catch is something which has an equal quantity of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids may not be beneficial at all.

And lastly something gleaned from the book Gandhi gifted by Radhika. Kasturba Gandhi before marriage was Kasturba Kapadia! Now how many knew that! The only Kapadia I had heard of was Dimple.

Sanju is contemplating Bali next month. Which is a remarkable coincidence as our two good friends, George / Gigy and Dinesh/ Sangeetha also visited Bali in the last two months.

Signing off..

Existential dilemma

I am going to start my blogging life addressing the most existential dilemma haunting most men living alone.. what to eat?

I have found out to my surprise that I do not like to eat out, at least on my own. Though there are many nice restaurants within 500 metres from the flat, as I visualise them, none seems appetizing (a pun!). So the only option is to cook. As I dont know how to cook in limited quantity (Baiju also has the same problem), I end up cooking for a week. So every weekend, the haunting question is what to cook?

Last night I had gone walking very late at night and it was past midnight when I reached back. Luckily being Ramadan, the grocery shop was open. After roaming around finally bought Chicken, Liver, Cabbage, shallots and okra.

But first for breakfast. Uma had taught me over phone last week how to make Upuma. It came out fantastic except that I had forgotten to put salt in the water and had to sprinkle later. So today I again decided to go for it and again it was great except that I had put a bit more salt than required, as if I was putting in some curry.

Chicken also, I made exactly like the last time, (Uma's recipe - very chettinadish) but with potato and full mushrooms thrown in. Incremental variations from Uma's tried and tested recipes is the safest bet.

The Cabbage thoran, I got instant instructions over phone (I woke her up as she was taking an afternoon nap - she is patient with me.. sometimes...). But I think I put in too much coconut...

For Sambar, I used the shallots and okra. It has come out tasy. In fact all the dishes did. One thing I can do is admire my own cooking and enjoy it too..

All in a days work.. I think I take too long cooking. It was 3:30 pm (started at 11) by the time I had finished. Have to learn how to be quicker. Problem is my inability to multitask and getting all the vegetables cut, all the condiments lined up etc. takes up time.

Finally with the last remnants of last weeks food, it was a veritable sadya for the late lunch. So it was only youghurt at night.
That was enough food for thought, I hope.








This is my first attempt at blogging. I hope over time to move on from the mundane to the less mundane...