A day when we walked into the Airport

Yesterday was a day of phenomenal travel. Around 4000 odd kilometers to Delhi and back in 24 hrs. Finally on the way back home I was reflecting on how all we travelled; in a single day, we managed to travel on:
 Airplane
Metro train
Bus
Auto rickshaw and last but not the least,
By Foot

It was the last part which I found the most interesting. We literally walked into the Palam airport. Ever heard of going to an airport by an Auto?? Curiously enough, an auto dropped us in the front of the airport and we walked in much to the amazement of the taxi drivers parked in the front! You can walk into a bus station or railway station, but an airport? Well, all I can say is;  'been there, done that' :)

The Onam of 2012

So happy was I to be home for Onam this year. People in my office were asking all about it and I told them its a 'harvest festival'. Actually I just think its a harvest festival, not quite sure of it. Anyway, them Kannadigas don't know any better than me , so I managed to get away with it :)

And they are surprised that Onam is a state festival celebrated irrespective of religious affiliations. Again they stumped me by asking which god is worshipped for Onam. I explained the story of King Mahabali and Vamanan, they were familiar with some parts of it. Then they wanted to know what we did on Onam. The answer that came to my mind was that we watch movies on Surya TV, Asianet, Kairali TV etc. I din't tell them that ... Instead I that told we make Pookkalams and we have a grand feast on Thiruvonam day :)

Some images from Onam this year...

The Vazhakkula without which no Onam is complete, proudly photographed from my home garden....

The quintessential Pookkalam, the hallmark of Onam...

A closeup view of the smae,

The Thrikkarappan, made of mud, decorated with flowers

Up close,

Some flowers without which Onam cannot be...

Thumba poo, sadly so out of focus  :(

Mukkootti....the yellow bells,

Kakkappoo, it is actually violet or blue; the colour dint come out in my pic...

A Happy and prosperous Onam to one and all!

Hotels

Simply I thought I will make a list of hotels we have stayed in, not much anyways, but hope to keep updating.

Thrissur, Kerala - Joys Palace

Bangalore, Karnataka - Pai Viceroy, Anand Vihar, Prakash Cafe, The Libra, Golden Bell

Delhi  - oh I Forgot,

Jaipur - Arya Vilas (simply the best budget hotel)

Ooty - Sullivan Court() heavenly chicken cutlets)

Mysore - Hotel Sandesh

Goa - Hotel Nizmar, Calangute (ughh....)

Chennai - The Orchid (forgettable)
                The Crystal Palace (good food and room service)

Boston - Hampton Inn (cheese omelettes, pork patties :) )

Pittsburg - Quality Inn, The Hilton

Newyork - Holiday Inn, Apple hostel

Chicago - Holiday Inn

Abu Dhabi - The Sands hotel

A stopover at Tumkur

Last 3 days, I have been doing up and down to Tumkur on some work. One of the days, I went to a place called Bellavi. As we were driving in and around Bellavi suddenly it reminded me of home. There were hibiscus flowers in the hedges and in the front courtyard gardens of houses. I saw  a large pink-purple hibiscus which I had not seen in a long time and suddenly nostalgia came rushing back like waves crashing in on the sea shore.

While I was there in Ramanagara, I took a snap of a small plant in the garden. It resembled one of the plastic christmas trees we have at home. This one looked so cute though...

Today is R's turn
R has'nt vented in a long time - considering the fact that he's been busy with clipping his nails, drinking lots of coffee and mugging away at his books preparing for exams and exams. These exams of his just keep coming but never happen - they havent happened for the last 4 years but all the time he has never spared me from hearing his whining about them coming...

It makes me curious - why does R want to give these GOD forsaken exams - inspite of having given so many until now, having performed reasonably well in all of em... I asked R myself...funny part is he kept scratching his head for a long time..and finally decided to write in my blog

I want to fly - i want to fly so high and soar above the sky
You know in the movie Avatar - Jake says a line once he's into the Navi world - he could fly and he was free
In a mallu movie I saw recently - USTHAD HOTEL- Dulqar says - that he can fly
In SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION morgan freeman says- Some birds can never be caged coz their wings are just too colorful......

it is kind of abstract but I was born to be cross the seas - if u ask me whats my family's legacy its having crossed oceans and catapulted the skies in aircrafts..... getting bored of airports and security checks.........

These exams will give me my wings, and then I shall take off- higher than anyones ever taken off before...and then keep flying and flying until Im sick and tired of it


Well here was Rs take on the issue - he said that he would catch hold of his copilot too ....theres just no escape for me........

All of it may seem just so abstract, grandiose and idiosyncratic - but then all of it's got meaning......

Rs has had his venting ......I just hope that he gives me enough of AVOMIN before taking off with me on his trips - or else all that i would have time to do is feel nauseated!!!!!

Olympics trivia

Somethings which caught my eye from Olympics in the last few days...

Michael Phelps has a diet of 10,000 -12,000 Calories per day!! Mind boggling, given that the average Indian man would eat not more than 3000 cal.

Wu Minxia, the Chinese diver. Her parents concealed the fact that her grandmother diet a year ago and that her mother has breast cancer, for fear of upsetting her Olympic medal hopes. That sounds crazy but then people have their reasons.

Yao Jie, Netherlands shuttler. Some Chinese badminton players have emigrated to European countries because the level of competition in Chinese badminton is so high that you cant make it to the national team top rankings. This is how Yao Jie came to play for Netherlands. I was intrigued seeing her play Saina Nehwal. The name, the appearance and the country dint quite go together ad hence I googled her!

That's it for now, will keep updating as more and more things catch my eye in the days to come  :-)

Hail Internet! Hail Bolt! Hail Mary! (Olympics in the age of social networking)

I think the 'Olympics in the age of social networks' bit has already appeared in a newspaper column. I was attempting to match it with 'Love in the times of Cholera' by Marquez. Guess somebody beat me to it already....

Yeah London 2012 is not the 1st Olympic games in the times of internet. But is surely a first for me in the sense that I am prolifically using various cyberspace platforms to catch up on the action I have missed every day. There is an official Live Olympic channel on Youtube. Not to mention the live feeds from The Guardian and BBC sports websites.  Yesterday morning I searched on Youtube and found the official video of the 100m final. I was belatedly enthralled to witness Usian Bolt majestically powering to the finish line. His challengers were simply specks of dust compared to the brilliant radiance he emanated in the track.

Since the name Bolt came up, its only proper to gush about the wonder and genius that he is. As a commentator mentioned during the 100m final, "He has transformed the world the sprinting for ever". By clocking times never seen before or even thought humanly possible, he has sent the sprinting world into a tailspin. As The Hindu headline wondered, 'Is it the yam or nuggets or merely genes??', in reference to the yam they eat regularly in Jamaica, or the chicken nuggets he snacks on or  is it just something in his blood? As I heard one commentator mentioning, before Bolt rewrote history, it was believed that tall men can't sprint, just like the shorter the better in gymnastics. But then Bolt came , he saw and he conquered; and he stood tall at 6ft 5"!!

In these Olympic times, it is impossible not to comment on India's performance in the games. Of late, India's hopes are resting on the tiny shoulders of a petite lady, Mary Kom, boxer, mother of 5 year old twins. I cant help but admire her for doing what she is doing and for being where she is now. To box at her age, juggling a  family and gruelling training schedules, she is truly a superwoman.

 I was watching an interview with Saina Nehwal, the shuttler and P.Gopichand, her coach. She won a Bronze for India in Badminton. Her coach says, neither he nor Saina has watched a movie or gone for a party or let their hair down in any way for the last 6 months. I was truly amazed at their dedication to the sport, giving up all worldly pleasures, working with a single minded dedication. It may be one of the instances when work becomes play becomes work. Everything is the same for these athletes; work, play, life.... Truly remarkable people.

A shocking face/off with Dill

True to my ignorance, I dint even know there was something called Dill till about roughly 2 years back. Then I saw it in one of the recipes and googled it. The main reason for this ignorance was that it has never been cooked in my house. In Kerala it is hardly ever seen or used in any cuisine. As far as I was concerned, it was something you would use  to garnish, just sprinkle on the top. So imagine my shock when  a palya/ upperi of dill leaves was served with some roti. It was the kind of reaction as if someone gave you a stir fry of cilantro leaves which you are supposed to use for garnish. More than that the taste was a shocker. The leaves just refused to go past my tonsils. I tried hard not to contort my face in front of them who had offered food to me so lovingly. I guess its an acquired taste. And I acquired it in a bad way!

To satisfy my curiosity, I googled Dill palya and found that it is a common part of kannada cuisine. I had not encountered it because they hardly ever serve it in hotels. It is popularly known as 'sabbsige' in kannada. Now I think I know why I can never be a foodie. My palate is so unforgiving to new flavours. Now I truly, deeply admire all those tv anchors who bite into ox tails and beatles without blinking an eyelid and even manages to give a thumbs up for it!

H4 visas and food blogs

The Hindu over the last 2 days has extensively covered  the sorry plight of H1-B visa dependants or in other words, the H4 spouses in the US. While there have been letters to the editor suggesting that the reports are exaggerated, I think it may be not too far fetched. I was led to believe this after seeing many food blogs from Indian women in the US.

I used to read enthusiastically the various exotic named dishes they made with exotic veggies not available in India. Reading the beautiful prose that some of these bloggers write, it is clear that they are really talented and imaginative women. Their cooking skills attest to the same. But at times, it was impossible to miss the loneliness that stood out in between the lines once in a while - the meagre lonely lunch menus, the energizing drinks, hot soups for snowy days looking out of the window- would be thrown in with gregarious pot luck parties, weekend family get-togethers etc etc. Food blogging is a way of reaching out for these women. This is not to suggest that all food bloggers are cooped up lonely women. But atleast for some of them struggling with their isolation, they find solace and company in the virtual world. It gives a purpose to their dreary days; every morning you get up with the anticipation of how many people have commented or liked on your post. Every day you can plan what new dish to cook, you can spend time exploring new camera angles, buying new crockery for the bright pics. It is an outlet to whet their unused creativity and talent, an attempt to make sense of their time.