Back to basics

Unresponsive consultants have held up my experimentation plans for cooking. Been sticking to basics lately, Dosa, rice, bread etc. My shoulder still hurts from exertions of yesterday. Raising my arm above shoulder level is quite an effort. Sad state of affairs ...

So what else is happening ? Reading has been painfully slow, cooking has been just routine stuff, no more wild mood swings of late( apart from the occasional feeling of loneliness, which I can live with quite easily) and pretty busy at work.

Started watching Yes Prime Minister recently. Really classy humor. Also been watching episodes of Everybody loves Raymond, which is also nice, but entirely different type of humor. Nothing like a good laugh to relax you at the end of a tiring day !!

Cricket !!

An inter-lab cricket tournament is fast approaching. Due to the severe talent crunch in our lab, many old warhorses like me have been forced to return from retirement.

Believe me, when I say I have been called to play for a cricket team ( I don't care what team, could be a team of 4 year olds ), you can bet your life that someone is really desperate for people to make up the 11. Rule of the thumb is as the degree of movement involved in the sport goes up, my skill level goes down exponentially. I can manage quite well in carrom, I can kick some rear-sides in 8 ball pool. But soccer and cricket ?? Hmmmm. Let us say that I am a bit motion challenged .....

We had a practice session today. I started of by attempting to bowl fast for the first couple of deliveries. A creaking shoulder and knee resulted in me settling down for gentle medium pace instead. Stinkingly low fitness levels resulted in off/leg spin variations after a few more deliveries :-). Did experience some direction related issues while bowling, often my deliveries were up to a quarter radian from the intended target . In my defense, I must say I am not alone, our  whole team uniformly sucks in this department

My batting philosophy has always been pretty simple. Swing the bat with all your might in a wide arc. Depending at what point of arc I make contact, results vary from clean bowled to leading edge to sixer.

Feeling tired after the physical activity, I am sure I will sleep well tonight. Also a pointer for me on how to over come my sleep problems !! A pointer that I am sure I will ignore. Why, you may ask ? welll..............

Cake with unsalted butter

It was pointed out to me couple of months back that it is always recommended to use unsalted butter for cake. I had been thinking of baking a cake the "proper" way for a long time now. Finally got around to doing it today. The only variations from the original recipe being the use of unsalted butter and the addition of chopped figs to the cake.

Well, here is what the end product looks like ..

I don't know if you can make out from the picture, but the middle of my cake is actually lower than the edges !! Don't know why this happened, maybe my baking powder is getting old. Maybe the eggs were not good. At the time of mixing, I did notice that one of my egg yolks was a very dark yellow.

Inside was just a touch undercooked. I did 220 deg C for around 30 minutes. As you can see the top is very brown. Maybe I should do 200 deg C for say 40 minutes next time.Have to say the unsalted butter has not impacted the taste much. I don't know what happened to the fig, can't taste it in the final cake !!

Raining here in Bangalore. Temperatures have taken a sharp dip down, asthma is taking a sharp rise upwards !! But this time I am right on top if it with my Inhalers, hot soups and steaming coffees. We shall see who wins this time around !!

Due to some strange coincidence almost all my friends are in the U.S now, whoever is remaining also would be there by the coming weekend.

Off to cook dinner now !!

Bangalore blasts

I have to admit I am a bit shaken by this whole episode of serial blasts in Bangalore. I am scared of going to any place with a crowd gathering now , I guess most people would be feeling this way for a couple of days. The amazing nature of human memory would ensure than within a week most of us would really push this incident out of our minds and carry on with life as usual. Till the time the next tragedy strikes of course.

Spare a thought for all those people who lost their lives in this mindless incident. Their families and friends would not forget this day for sure. The simple truth regarding irreversibility of death is what they have come face to face with today. Just think about it, tomorrow it could be you and me in the same situation.

I can't believe there are people who think that killing innocent people would somehow help their 'mission'. I guess there is no shortage of morons in this world.

When will this nonsense ever end ?

Lean on me

Mentioned about this song by Bill Withers called Lean on Me in one of my earlier posts. There are several version of this song sung by other groups later on. Somehow I found the lyrics to be very simple and touching , so producing the same below . Listen to this song if you get time, you might also enjoy it like me :-)

Sometimes in my life we all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you Won't let show

you just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that You'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For ,it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on

Ya just call on me brother, when you need a hand
We all need somebody to lean on
I just might have a problem that You'll understand
We all need somebody to lean on
If there is a load you have to bear
That you can't carry
I'm right up the road
I'll share your load
If you just call me

call me (if you need a friend)
call me (call me)
call me (if you need a friend)
call me (if you ever need a friend)
call me (call me)
call me (call me)
call me (call me)
call me (call me)
call me (if you need A friend)
call me (call me)
call me (call me)
call me (call me)
call me (call me)
call me

Short and sweet trip

Had a nice short and enjoyable trip home over the weekend. Only problem with a short trip is you never really recover from the tiredness of bus travel.

Kerala is a complete mess now. Swami Vivekananda once referred to Kerala as a mental asylum , I believe he was being very mild indeed. Hartals happen at the drop of a hat(remember, bandh is banned by High court, so why not just re-name it ?). I bet no woman can step outside safely after 6.30 p.m or so.  Minor insignificant issues being totally blown out of proportion. A toothless media which hardly does anything other than just plainly report events that occurred. A population which is completely dejected and has very little hope of a better future. And I am not taking sides with any party here, all are uniformly bad. I had once harbored hopes of going back to Kerala sometime in future and settling there, now I think that might remain just a wish :-((

My little one was really happy to see me. We played lots, read stories and cuddled up together. Apparently she has been told in school to sing songs loudly. Boy, doesn't she follow those instructions well !! When she starts to sing, volume is so absurdly high that you have to cover your ears just to retain some sanity. I heard her sing in Sunday school class, she could be heard right outside the church. And I am talking of a really big church here !! :-)

She had a day off in school today. Education Bandh in Kerala. This state will never ever improve.

Songs , driving et al

Ever noticed how what song is playing on your CD payer affects your driving style ? I have noticed definite increase in aggression with Its my life !!

Been downloading and listening to quite a few English songs now. Quite a few I am hearing for the first time. Here is a few that I can recommend, choose based on your mood !!

• Lean on Me by  Bill Withers - Nice song about friends who are always there
• The Wonderwall by Oasis - Similar in theme to Lean on me
  An Innocent Man by Billy Joel - Just a nice song about relationships and hurt, I guess. Not a negative song, very soothing .
• Unforgiven 2 by Metallica - This is the song that I listen to most when in a dark mood. More interesting than the song is the millions of weird interpretations that you will read about :-)
• Sleeping Child by MLTR - Whenever I miss my daughter
• Wonderful Life by Black - When life just feels good !!
• Tubthumping by Chumbawamba - Just to pick up the mood when I feel down. Its incredible how a repetition of the lines "I get knocked down, but I get up again, You're never gonna keep me down" can influence you !!
• Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel : An English Ballad.One of the most soothing songs that I have ever heard, love is the theme.

Might add to this list later on !!

Little one down

My daughter is down with Asthma. Poor thing has been coughing non-stop for a while. Doctor has put her on steroids to ease away the Asthma. We do use inhalers for her, but if you use them too much ( like a Salbutamol ) , the heart rate gets bumped up and that is not good.

This is one thing I am sure I have passed on as a hereditary trait to my daughter. How I wish I could reverse that :-((. Bad Bad Bad gene, no donut for you ....

There must be few things more upsetting to a parent than a sick child. Also wish I could be by her side comforting her . Well, she has an array of grandparents, uncles and aunts to fuss over her, so I must admit she is not doing too bad on the affection front :-)

Question & Answer

As another Sunday evening approached, an interesting question popped up in my mind :How fast can my Wagon-R go on the outer ring road ?

Answer : Not very :-(

After some attempts, the max I could hit was around 110 kms/ hr, got limited by traffic mostly. That is like a first gear corner in F1.

I am realizing driving fast is also a mood elevator for me :-). Do not get alarmed though, I am a fast driver , not a rash or stupid one . There is a difference, you know . A difference not appreciated by most of my friends, I must say :-(

Weekend passed by with the usual dose of activities. Cooking, reading, some TV, movies and volunteering. Latest movies were Silence of the lambs, Forrest Gump and Remember the titans. Liked all of them. Chilling is the only word to describe Antony Hopkins in Silence of the lambs. Forrest Gump is one of those genuine heartwarming stories, Tom Hanks is just amazing. Remember the titans is based on a true story of a football team that overcomes racial segregation issues. You can learn more about the true story here : http://www.71originaltitans.com/

Next in line is Bridge over River Kwai

Another weekend looms

My plans of making a brief trip home have been upset by some work related stuff that has come up, so sulking a bit because of that. Would be missing my niece's birthday, so feeling down now :-((

Today we were asked to leave office by 7 p.m as there were reports of some unrest in parts of Bangalore like JC Nagar. No one knows what exactly is the nature of unrest, unable to find anything on this on TV either !!

I have resumed volunteering as you might have read in one of my earlier posts. I am convinced that the direction we are headed in with our new initiative is wrong. However no one seems to be keen on listening to me :-(( I can only put in my best effort and hope things work out well. I must admit that I am missing a bit of passion from my time at EOTO.

According to me our target student population has been woefully off so far , this is still ok as we are just starting. More disturbing to me is that our agenda is getting hijacked into something else now. If we are not really careful, it could mean the end of our program. However, not many others seem to have the same amount of concern, maybe I am wrong.

Or maybe I am just tired and my thoughts are all scrambled up. God knows, that has happened a few times before .

I am adding the disclaimer again that this blog is not intended at any particular person(s) , it is just an expression of my own frustration

The taxi driver

As you can guess from the title, yesterday was mostly a driving day.

Started off by going to the Passport office near Koramangala national games village. My passport expired couple of weeks before and had to renew it. Made a strategic blunder by choosing the outer ring road and was severely punished for the error by being stuck in a jam near Bellandur cross for like 30 minutes. Another unwise choice was to skip breakfast. By the time I was done with the whole submission process, I almost collapsed due to hunger !! Hey, how come my mistakes always get savagely punished, this ain't fair !!

Went over the good old Imperial hotel near Koramangala club and parceled the legendary Kerala porotta with chilly chicken. Was nearly 3 p.m by the time I finished my "brunch" and reached back home( near Marthahalli)

This was followed by a trip in the evening to Richmond road to meet a dear friend of mine, the kind I mentioned in this post :-). You know some friends never fail to cheer you up, a 5 minute chat is all you need to feel great again !!

Traffic was pretty light and managed to reach near MG road in 15 mins. The last 500 meters took a further 20 minutes :-((. We had dinner at Karavalli ( Residency road), dropped her back to Richmond Road and then back home.

All I recall is lying down on the bed, next thing I know is alarm going off in the morning !! So now I know the pill for sleeping. Drive around in Bangalore traffic for couple of hours :-)

The cook returns

After the stellar success of Aloo paratha, I had some recent discussions with my consultant on what else can be achieved. We discussed 4-5 options , each of the recipes went like this

"Take chilly powder, green chilly, mango powder, coriander, onions"
"Take green chillies, onions, potato, mango powder , chilly powder"
"Take onions, potato, green chillies, coriander powder , mango powder"

You sort of get the drift don't you ? My head started spinning like a top trying to work out the subtle differences. Vague qualitative answers did not help one bit either. Take in the following conversation, Con is short for consultant, no pun intended :-)

Me  : How much coriander powder should I add ?
Con : A little less than Chilly powder but more than Mango powder 
Me  : Hmmmm .... So how much Chilly powder ?
Con : Well, it has to be slightly less than the salt
Me  : What ???? How much salt do I add ?
Con : Depends
Me  : #&^%#$#)#$(#*

Well, the last response of mine is imaginary, I don't swear in real life :-). Rest all is true !!

Finally after some effort , we narrowed down the choice to the fairly innocent looking cousin of Aloo paratha , The Onion Paratha. Apparently, there is nothing to it, instead of using aloo, just use more onions and make the stuff.

Ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.......

For starters, rolling it is a heck of lot more trickier than aloo paratha, but my technique has become very polished with time. So I tackled that hurdle ok. But boy, what happened to the taste ?? It was some of the most horrendous tasting stuff that I ever made. I am pretty sure, some ingredients have been conveniently 'forgotten' by the consultant again.

Hunger forced me to eat two parathas anyway, just could not bring myself to finish the third one, had to throw it out :-((

Another case of a talented cook led astray by poor advice, I must say :-)

Hungry !!

Guess what, I am hungry. I am out of raw materials as well as patience to cook. So enforced fasting at night for the past week :-(

For me hunger is always something that causes bad mood swings. I get angry the most when I am hungry. I believe it does have a strong co-relation for most people. Which is why it is never a good idea to schedule a meeting right before lunch hour, especially if it is a brain-storming session. Mostly you will end up having people getting on each others nerves :-)

So what should be my next cooking project ? Need some discussion with my consultants to finalize that. Till that gets done, more fasting in store for me , I'm afraid.

Been following Wimbledon a bit, happy to see the Maverick Marat Safin returning to center stage. I have always had a fascination for these odd-ball characters in any sport. Not the consistent brilliance of a Federer and Nadal, but on their day these folks can take your breath away.

They seem to be fighting some demons from within most of the time and are always within a hair's breadth of hitting the self-destruct button. Say a Vinod Kambli in Cricket or a Paul Gascoigne in football. Somehow I feel we are not getting enough of these mavericks in sports any longer. Every one is so focused on saying the right things, looking the right way, having the right technique and so on. I almost fall asleep listening to most of their interviews. Come on folks, let us see some color and life out there !!

And this coming from one of the least lively and colorful persons out there. Saying is so easy, ain't it ? :-)