Epicurean seasons

Before you read ahead – this blog piece could cause you to feel hungry at the minimum, rob the nearest kitchen, in any case high probability you will salivate: Issued in public interest
One season gives away to another….its perpetually changing maybe not as much for the people at the poles. The thing I like most about changing weather and new seasons is the variety of food that can be enjoyed. The cold drinks in the summer days…lemonades, chilled soda, Aam Panna, flavored lassi or just our old faithful Rooh Afzah. Your thirst can hardly be satiated these 4-5 months of the year. Then westerlies and eastern winds gush in with such fervour bringing the cloudful of rains, and then it just pours and pours like forever which reminds me of a nice reading “Bombay Girls and Bombay Rains”… tongue-in-cheek suggestion of unreliability and suddenness. Never mind, my nostrils catch the earthiness in the air, of the parched dust that soaks the rain, quite an orgasmic experience isnt it?… for all I care is actually deep fried crispy pakodas – any filling will do – brinjals, spinach, shallots, potatoes and cauliflowers, that makes me salivate!! And that cannot go without a hot cup of chai topped up with juicy cuts of ginger…

Gar firduas bar ru-e zameen ast, hami ast hami ast hami ast… Jahangir – quite a lousy emperor in my opinion- said that for Kashmir, its beauty and its heavenliness. Inspired, I decided to go there for my honeymoon in peak winters this year. Once landed I was enchanted with the snow capped peaks, the stay in the houseboat on Dal Lake where the room was heated by burning wood, the tranquility of sitting hand-in-hand in the shikara appreaciating the scenic views or when other salesmen in other shikara’s come up to sell jewels, dry fruits and to photograph you in kashmiri/pathani/mongolian/iranian attire and poses …all the same but gives them the incentive to click more to make you pay more… now you wouldn’t dare refuse your newly wedded wife. Anyways back to my gastronomic agenda, what I enjoyed most on my entire 6 day trip was our national food – piping hot Maggi in the middle of the dal lake, at Zam-zam restaurant (the last one at sonmarg before it becomes inhabitable), by the river lidder in pahalgam, at the golf course in gulmarg!! Coupled with a nice cup of Kahwa – (herb tea with dry fruits) is total bliss that can make you forget anything……and who told you I am romantic?? I fervently believe that instant noodles have been the greatest invention of mankind.

Winter is the time we eat, rather stuff ourselves with creamy, cheesy and buttery delicacies… the onset which arrives at Diwali – the time to relish the sweet savories. I actually don’t buy any for myself but the fridge refuses to be stocked out thanks to friends and family. And there’s no reasoning wife/mum would take to allow me another piece but it runs in the family to quietly sneek in at half in the night and devour the awesomeness. Recently gifting trends have only helped – chocolate boxes, candied dry fruits and hand made cookies. Waking up to stuffed paranthas, lunching on makki-ki roti and sarson ka saag, and sleeping off to a belly full of daal makhani and a generous helping of gajar ka halwa. Enough!!! Or did I miss the daily evening staple of tomato n cream soup, which paired with grilled sweet potatoes eaten like you are scooping icecream from a waffle cone… nothing beats the warmth and contentment.

Now since Thanksgiving, I have been waiting for that heavenly rum and fruit christmas cake…would anyone care to oblige? In my case it’s never a question – I live to eat, and love to eat. What about you?...

Life...Delicious ambiguity

Read this on a blog and loved it...

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learnt, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.” - Gilda Radner

Here's the blog link...very nice readings:

http://deeviations.blogspot.com/2010/09/life-it-teaches.html?

Swades Mera (Part 2)… India - An enigma of metamorphosis

Yunan, Misro, Ruma sab mit gaey jahan se

Ab tak magar hai baqi nam-o-nishan hamara

Kuch baat hai ke hasti mit-ti nahi hamari

sadiyon raha hai dushman daur-e-jahaan hamara

What was Iqbal thinking when he wrote these lines into the Tarana-e-Hind. Was this poetic catharsis a result of the metamorphosis he felt happening to once what was widely accepted to be the greatest nation on the face of the earth? I have always been intrigued by these lines, for our country has always been synonymous to a golden bird always happily chirping even while having countless enemies. We have charmed many and still continue to, far-away travelers of the yore like Hieun Tsang, Ibn-Battuta, Mannuci, Tavernier who went back, came again and wrote extensively of the beauty and diversity of this country. We have fought off invaders from the River Tigris to the Indus valley and even taught the kings of Mesopotamia and “Great” Britain a lesson in humility over the last 2500 years. Still the country stands today well on its feet, still smiling with folded hands in humility and in state of constant evolution. Yes, we are the “developing” nation and that tag has rather become a sobriquet for India given we have stood up to the incessant plundering of wealth by foreigners and still been gracious enough to provide home to many of them – the Mughals are one just example.

A few days ago while sitting with a few foreign businessmen a friend asked them “Why don’t we get more investment from USA into Emerging India?” To which came the instant reply - “Half the US doesn’t know where your country lies on the map!” Isn’t this very ironical for any citizen of the nation that was discovered by a man who had set out to find India! Probably since he could never find it, the Americans have continued his legacy for another 500 years.

Also ironical to a biologist’s interpretation, sixty five years ago two parts of our country was severed on the pretext of it being the genesis of better for a certain race and of which one has now become cancerous for our very own existence. Were it the wings of Icarus, that were to soar into prosperity but landed in failure?... ironically still, the poetic lines once composed for our one nation were erased by Iqbal himself to be recomposed for the other (Tarana-e-milli) but the rhyme remains well etched in our minds ”Saare Jahaan se achcha Hindostaan hamara”.

The more educated can keep thumping the tables arguing for better governance, a higher rate of GDP or countering terrorism and corruption, while forgetting that this nation has survived the greater tragedies and follies in history. As a larva does struggle inside the cocoon into its becoming, so is our nation, we have had more than our fair share of struggle to which history stands witness and some we will continue to experience. The metamorphosis shall continue, the beautiful butterfly shall emerge, the world shall see…but not yet…

The Sounds of Silence

Remember the acoustic feel of the Simon & Garfunkel hit of the ‘60s? The compelling music draws you to it and makes you listen again... and in silence. Silence is related to in many ways and forms. For most silence is often correlated with solace, stillness, unhappiness and punishment and for some it is a way to seek enlightenment and self-realization. The world we live in continually moves towards noise so much so that it’s deemed pollution. In fact the silence of one person threatens the peaceful existence of the society. Even the observation of silence at unfortunate events becomes discomforting to many. The truth is that both Silence and the absence of it can be accepted only intermittently, the continuity creates a disturbance.

Try walking into a Bahai faith temple and the ubiquitous silence in the hall reveals itself differently, the mind apprehends the vacuum and the changed environment makes you think – here lips are motionless but the thoughts reverberate inside your cerebellum. The vow of silence by Anna Hazare recently created more than the combined cacophony of imposing opponents. The silent approach to the execution noose by Saddam Hussein left people thinking. The “Silence of the Lambs” is actually about the numbness of not being able to scream or cry oneself in a moment where you would want to. Two mute people use the medium of hands and expressions to speak to each other in existence of silence. Thus the sound inherent in the silence becomes the noise and challenges the very notion of “Silence”.

Silence belies the meaning and the reason behind it. You may be attracted to silence but once you are subjected to the state of silence you would probably scream out loud. You shut off the idiot box because you can’t tolerate the rambling on a channel, only to switch it on again when silence engulfs you. You want silence around at your workplace, but the sudden lack of noise as you walk in over to your desk makes you think “Is something wrong around here?” Silence becomes some thing that we long for but we don’t know what to do with, much like the dog that chases each passing car.

…And why so serious?! While you may judge if silence is good or bad, wanted or unwanted, it actually depends on the situation and the subject. Does a stock broker really want silence on the trade floor? His life and wage depends on the incessant clangor, silence would mean a Black Friday!! Music too inherently depends on silence in some form or another to distinguish other periods of sound and allow dynamics, melodies and rhythms to have greater impact. Does it imply that silence too is a sound? Think aloud in your silence….

"IF"

“If” - The beautiful poem on the entrance of Wimbledon courts by Rudyard Kipling.

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it...

“IF” is most likelihood the most exciting word in true sense that comes out of the dictionary. “If” rides in with such possibilities that otherwise may create nondescript landscape. What if the word “if” and its reason never existed? We would have lived a life without options, alternatives, retrospect, introspect, and maybe any thought into the future. Our actions would never be evaluated and there would be no judgment. Statisticians like me wouldn’t have existed because the entire concept of probability rests on the two letter word “IF”. Now that opens up the bag of thoughts, let me leave aside myself for a moment (when I am maybe only a proton in size compared to the larger scheme of the universe) and think WHAT IF the following never happened:

WHAT IF God had not created Eve…?
WHAT IF both earth and sun revolved around each other…?
WHAT IF you could sleep and wake up at your will…?
WHAT IF you could travel time and see the future…?

Doesn’t life suddenly become eventless, unexciting and predictable? Because there is an “If”, we live with endless possibilities and boundless energies. The last question is most often heard of, and if you ask me it is a waste of thought, the reason being if you could see your future you would try to correct it now and change its course but if that’s possible then the future you saw initially was never true. Why would you want to believe in the future you see when you know you could change it…? If we get to see the future perpetually then we would never look into it. It’s just like a toy a child wants badly until he has it, once he gets it the enigma is solved and life with it becomes uneventful.

WHAT IF I could be perfect? Sounds wonderful but perfection isn’t valued for long, it is the eccentricity and idiosyncrasy in world that defines it. We exist to make things happen, my friend’s 5 year old son once asked his mother “What if all the students score the same in the class examinations, who comes 1st then?” I cannot explain and find a reasonable conclusion. The dilemma wins the war over the clarity of thought. A single instance of putting a “What if XYZ event in the history of the world happened differently” can steer the entire sequence of events into a new universe of possibilities. “If” is indispensable because it brings us into the face of reality, at the same time “If” moves us into a diverse range of potentials. Place an “If” before your future actions and not before your past actions… live in the moment, rise to the challenges “if” poses to your being. WHAT IF brings worry, caution, fear, sadness when you reason but explodes you into an enchanting realm when you dream…. Realize the madness and happiness even if unrealistic and temporary it brings…

Dream today, “what if” tomorrow is not the one you want to be in….
And seize the day, “what if” tomorrow never comes!!