Kamath Loka Ruchi

My visit to mysore and other places nearby there, is incomplete without my visit to 'Kamath Loka Ruchi' enroute. The eat-out comes on the Bangalore - Mysore expressway. Recently, I visited the place to have a nice south indian meal with my family. Eating a meal there was a joyful experience as always. I had gone there with a fixed meal in mind - the popular north Karnataka 'jowar roti meals' ( or the jawar bhaakri like they call it)... We were given a multitude of meal-options by the staff there. I chose what I came for. My parents, not knowing better, followed suite. Di ( my sis ) opted for the Karavalli ( costal Karnataka ) meals. For some quaint
reason, my sis and me take unusual delight in having south indian meals...So this was her chance of experimenting. While the meal hadn't arrived, me n sis kept asking one of the waiters about the meal contents.. Gauging our less than perfect kannada, he was nice enough to give us a description of the meal in Hindi. My mouth grew increasingly watery as the minutes snailed by... Finally, they got us plantain leaves and served the first dish - the 'payasam' - a sweet
made out of mung dal and jaggery. I usually avoid sweets. They make me sick. But this payasam was steaming hot... and tempting. So i abandoned my no-sweets diktat for the moment and gulped down the entire cup of it. I din't realise m eating too fast until I saw my parents relish every whit of it. I looked into their plates hoping to get some of their's, but quit the idea soon. They din't look too keen on sharing it either.. :)
Next there was a little salad made out of channa - dal n cucumber, with a glass of machige ( butter milk). A vegetable curry made out of horse gram, followed by some stuffed brinjal...The waiter, dressed in a typically north-karnataka attire, served the garam garam Jowar Rotis topped with a generous helping of butter ( I quickly brushed
aside the calorie-clock ticking in my head...).. I don know how many of the rotis I gorged down ( it was being served continuously ). After having a good share of the rotis, there was rice and drumstick sambar ( a typical south indian lentil dish )... Everybody finished up the meal with a nice helping of fruit salad with icecream ( i dint eat that.. :)..).. Sis meanwhile was enjoying her Karavali meal which had a lot of coconut stew with rice noodles... Had some of that too. Yummy.

Carpe Diem

The last week saw the poet in me squirming for justice..:P
the end result follows

my mind so stuck in vortices...myself I somtimes forget..
memories pull me behind... while something ushers ahead....
it is restful, displeasing to hold on...
while the soul wants to let go..
the past is past...its burried n gone....
n the future comes all too slow...
no more does my heart yearn..
for the events that have gone..
no more does my mind long..
for moments that might not come...
my hopes no longer now hook on
to the hour that'll come n go...
the power of 'here' and the power of 'now'
is all I want to know..

Ramadan

Come Ramadan, and I am drifted back to the evening Iftar parties we used to go for...We had Muslim family friends who invited us for it...It was at their home. As people entered the house, there were cordial 'Ramadan Mubarak' greeting exchanges with the host. We could see people doing rounds serving Rooh Afzah and dates. During a day in Ramadan, people eat once before the sunrise. The meal is called 'seheri' and it is generally had at home with family. After the seheri, people fast the entire day and the idea is that the fast should be broken by eating dates during Iftar (the evening meal that is). After the dates, there used to be an elaborate buffet meal laid out. It usually consisted of a variety of non vegetarian dishes like chicken kababs, gosht biriyanis, haleem and chicken curries. The smile on everyone's famished faces even as the food was being spread out was worth the watch. While the non-vegetarians used to binge on their meal, we were happy scarfing out on the yummy jalebis, samosas, veg biriyani, paneer delicacies and raita.

The delectable 'sevai ki kheer' with lots of dryfruits and nuts was my all time favourite. Once the meal was done, people left after a final round of leave-taking pleasantries...

As a kid, I waited for Iftar just for the kheer. But on second thoughts, it serves as a perfect example of communal harmony and a reminder that any religion is a code of conduct, which eventually terminates at the same place.

Phelps

Got this as a fwd recently...Couldn't just help posting it...!!..lolzz

...a glint across the road.....eyes gleam.....he runs and crosses the road, mother runs behind, ...smack and holler.....his face fell...dampened spirit...moist eyes...lids down with guilt..

new color pencil....his eyes full of mischief....doodles over the wall...dad returns from office....ears nipped...sobs under the pillow cover...

study holiday...his maths book in front....rock dove on windowsill...his thoughts flying high out of the window....startled by a shout...

report card day....singing A+....maths - Fail.....rebuked at home....getting ready for school next day...no bathroom singing......tear drops flow down the sink with shower water..

scrabbles on the classroom desk...muffled yawn....droopy eyes....sent out of class and made to kneel down...

monsoon rains....paper boats...chided for getting wet....

..............................years pass........sparks dwindle down.....

Like a shayari by Nida faizal goes....

bachchon ke chhote haathon ko chaand sitare chhoone do....
chaar kitaben padh kar vo bhii ham jaise ho jaayenge...

It was one of those days when you look at the mirror n decide that its time your tresses need some treatment...(ofcourse this is the case with girls..:P..)..So i ventured out of my house, and the next big hump was 'the where'...With so many new plush salons mushrooming everywhere...one can swoon with the options..n given the phenomenal prices for a seemingly benign haircut...one might even enter a state of irrecoverable delirium.....I looked upon one such salon and decided to give it a chance..I walked in...n falling well with my expectations..it was grand...the walls embellished with supermodel posters...and the staff smiling away at the customers as if their one touch would turn us into nothing less than hollywood divas...Anyway..I walked in and asked for a haircut...The receptionist shouted out for the 'hair stylist' using a masculine name...Out came a man from one of the zillion rooms..I was bewildered...I wasnt quite expecting this ...And before long I was being led by this gentleman to a place where he'd probably treat my hair with big-ticket exotic products before the ensueing hair cut....I was made to sit on a very comfy chair...and the guy dabbed my hair with copius amounts of a seemingly expensive shampoo....After he was done with all the treatment which he thought was 'necessary' before the actual thing, he decided that it was time for a haircut..(finally)....We'll he was done with the job..n i was done a huge sigh...went to pay the bill with a light heart n a heavy pocket....went out of the salon with a heavy heart n a light pocket..!

10th May

Its not uncommon to see primmed up fastidious young people mourning the state of affairs in India today. There are endless crib sessions about how the future of countless Indians lie in the hands of moral underdogs...The conversations have elements of serious concern ranging from poor infrastructure to the state of farmers in our country, from food prices and inflation to crime and injustice crippling our country, and just about anything one can think of under the sun....Ask some of those individuals about whether they exercised their most important right - voting - in order to undefile the debased political scenario, and more often than not the reply will not be in
the affirmative........There'll be a host of pretexts...and all you can do is sigh..

I think its high time we take a pledge...to not talk about swaggering politicians who do nothing except shovelling in hoards of money, when it is us who need some moral police...Lets not go overboard talking about our above average demeanor.....If we cannot be earnest enough in sparing 15 minutes to cast a vote....n if all that an election day means is another holiday then theres little point in talking about anything at all..