Giving credit where credit is long overdue!

I love getting comments from readers on my blog. Of course I prefer positive remarks (Who doesn’t?) but constructive criticism is also appreciated. Now, I know that there are several visitors to my blog, who enjoy reading it but don’t actually leave any comments here for whatever reasons (laziness? Shy? Dunno how to?). However when they happen to meet me or see me online, they let me know how much they like my writing, which really makes my day :-)

Of course I have a stats monitor which shows me details such as how many visitors I get and from which part of the world etc. But when people actually think of letting me know that they like reading my blog it is indeed very encouraging. That is predominantly the reason behind this post.

I can generally spend hours together doing something which many think of as “uncool”. (Actually make that, do a lot of things which most people would term uncool! ) And that is…watching cookery shows!

Starting all those years back with some tacky and dull cookery shows on Doordarshan to the spunkier Samaiyal, Samaiyal on Star Vijay, I used to watch any cookery show that I came across. I was soooo into this that at one point I even considered taking up catering technology! Anyway thanks to my brother's words of wisdom, better sense prevailed and I did not do that – coz knowing me, I probably wouldn’t have had the energy and stamina to stand and slog away in a hot kitchen for a long time!

The fact that I actually enjoy watching cookery shows continuously baffles my husband who often wonders “Aren’t you bored?!” Well, no! I really take pleasure in watching the chefs create something delicious. Each chef has a different stlye and their signature touch. Sometimes the dishes are new to me, sometimes I already know how to cook them, sometimes I copy their recipes, sometimes I don’t. I would't even call myself a food lover because really I don't eat much at all. But irrespective of whether I am going to make the dish shown or not, I watch the shows anyway!

I think that there is so much to know about a country’s culture, history and tradition by looking at their food and their way of making it. You can see how one dish from one part of the world has been derived from or influenced some other dish from another part of the world-and the culinary borders blend and merge into one another. Some foodie facts are intriguing; some are fascinating while still some others simply succeed in just churning your stomach! You pick up all kinds of trivia! Did you know, for example, that Jamaican and Moroccan cuisines use a lot of spices common to the Indian palate? While we have dosas the French have crepes. Or that Molligatawny soup is supposedly the British pronunciation of “Molagu thanni” in Tamil or in plain English pepper-water? Or that there is an Italian pasta dish called Puttanesca which literally means “in the style of a prostitute” – because according to one theory, it is quick, easy and spicy! Hmmm ;-)

In recent times I have moved from watching cooking shows on TV to the Internet. After lurking anonymously at various websites I finally subscribed to not 1, not 2 but 4 cooking channels so far!(Well it’s free anyway!). I never leave any comments on their videos, which obviously they have taken a lot of time and effort to make, post and administer. So I thought that I would show all of them my appreciation here on my blog. And in case any of you are interested, you could also look them up!

One of the very first cookery videos I saw online was from those 2 smart and savvy ladies at Show Me The Curry. These 2 Indian ladies are settled in the US and cook mostly Indian dishes. Even if they make dishes from other cuisines they customize it to suit the Indian palate-which helps a lot!

Betty’s Kitchen, is another show I follow. The cooking and explanations are done by Betty a retired professor while the filming is done by her husband Rick. She is from Kentucky and speaks with a distinct southern drawl. Initially I used to wonder as to why she was speaking so slowly until I realized that it was her accent! A really sweet and charming lady who barely looks 50 but is actually 60 plus! Her food is mostly American.

The next one is Titli Nihaan. A British lady who is well traveled and is open to trying out different dishes from different cuisines from all over the world. She hosts Titli’s Busy Kitchen and I really enjoy her spontaneity and sense of humor! This is one crazy old lady who definitely cracks me up!

Here comes the famous Nigella Lawson! She is yummy and whatever she cooks is yummy too!In fact she has earned the nickname of being the queen of food-porn ;-) I love her no-nonsense, down-to-earth, hands-on approach to cooking. Above all I absolutely adore her British accent (no matter what Russell Peters comments about the English accent!)

Last but not the least, comes Laura Vitale an Italian cook. Sigh! Sometimes I wish I was born in Italy! Their flawless olive toned skin, silky long hair, sparkling clear eyes! Oof! And they get to eat all the cheese in the world! Lol! Anyways Laura is a very energetic, beautiful and friendly cook and I love hearing her pronounce the names of the Italian dishes, well in Italian as they should be!

I notice that I have only listed female cooks. Although I do watch men cooking, I guess I somehow prefer it if women cook! (Pre-conditioning?!) Of the men I would pick Sanjay Thumma from Vahchef for his absolute passion towards food and cooking as well as Chef Damodaran, who kinda looks like a dark Santa-minus-the-beard! Both seem to be jolly old fellows who would love to dig into a huge plate of food at any given time! I do not like the other famous chef Sanjeev Kapoor mainly because his shows are in Hindi, which I don’t follow. Also I haven’t gotten down to watching a whole lot of other celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater, Julia Child (Although I did watch Julie & Julia, which I found to be charming!) Maybe I will someday ;-)

And then of course, there is the whole world of extensive food blogging, drool-worthy food blogs, wonderful food photographers and talented food bloggers! Well, that is something for another day!

Image Courtesy: www.dreamstime.com

Where Have All The Humble People Gone?

I had recently been to a fashion event and the make-up artist who worked on me was really good at her job. She was a thorough professional who has many high-profile gigs to her credit and is in much demand. She does a lovely job, is really sweet and extremely humble. Looking at her and interacting with her, you might never guess that she is such a successful make-up artist who deals with several leading models frequently. She was really down-to-earth and simple. I was quite impressed with her skill and with her as a person. 

On the other hand, there are some people who simply think too much of themselves, in spite of hardly having achieved anything worthwhile in life. There is no better example for this than someone I meet almost every single day. So, I happen to travel to work by a car pooling service, since I live a fair distance away from my office. The driver is a young fellow in his early twenties and God, he has a bucket load of attitude and arrogance in him! I suspect that he is delusional enough to think that is driving a Ferrari, when in fact it is nothing more than a regular old Toyota sedan. Or perhaps he thinks that he is Schumacher’s twin. Whatever the assumption, one nearly gets a heart attack when seated in his car. He drives like an absolute nut. You know that irritating guy on the road who believes that he owns the entire road and has no intention whatsoever of following any road rule? The one who refuses to wear the seatbelt despite travelling at high speeds on the highway, the one who starts honking impatiently a good 15 seconds before the red light changes, the one who tailgates incessantly and bullies you off your lane, the one who makes driving a stressful activity for all other drivers and the one who couldn’t care less about anyone else on the road? Yeah, he is this guy. 

As if his driving skills are not enough to drive you crazy, his banter is even worse. He sounds like a teenager, never mind that he is actually a married man and a father to boot! Whenever he speaks it is like getting a peak into an adolescent’s naïve and inexperienced mind. And don’t even get me started on his silly jokes and an even sillier laugh that is guaranteed to get on your nerves. 

Even if one forgives these transgressions and looks past his shortcomings, his over-confidence and know-it-all attitude is too big a factor to overlook. He spouts really lame life gyan with such superciliousness that I honestly feel like giving him a good, solid whack on his head! And does he stop with sharing his life musings? Oh no, not at all! He goes on to enlighten us about ourselves, how we lead boring lives going to steady and stable jobs and spending time at home over the weekends and how we will make bad parents and how we all need to die young because we become useless when we grow old – and mind you, his definition of old is 35 years. Okay mister! So you have a car and you drive. Honestly, that doesn’t make you an expert on my life and nobody really asked you for your opinion in the first place. Why do such people think that they can go around sharing their non-sensical philosophies with unsuspecting individuals such as me? Arrghhh!!! Why God, why! Somebody save me from this jerk please!

Not my cup of tea!

Ladysfinger, or okra according to my internationally settled friends, is one of my favourite vegetables. Yet contrary to the old wives tale of ladysfinger giving one an aptitude for mathematics, I was-am-will be terrible with maths. It was the only exam (apart from Tamil) for which I used to sit up late, wake up early, cry buckets and worry myself into a fever.

So my family was justifiably surprised when I took up a job in Finance a couple of months back. Well if you know me then you probably also know that I am a software engineer and a budding journalist. But I just randomly saw this ad in the paper for a walk-in interview scheduled for the next day and thought I would give it a shot.

The interview lasted for approximately 2 minutes, as I had no clue about finance/sales/marketing and the interviewers had no idea about software engineering. Somehow I landed the job (applause!) and decided to try it out just for the heck of it.

I quote Chetan Bhagat here “It is bad news when you hate your job in the first hour of the first day of office”. I agree whole-heartedly.

I was supposed to sell car insurance as well as savings accounts to prospective clients. ME??!?? Car Insurance?!?? Okay I had about 1% knowledge of cars in the first place. There were only 2 kinds of cars according to me-big cars and small cars.
4 wheel drive? Didn’t all cars run on 4 wheels??!!
Saloon? Isn’t that a synonym for barber shops??

I went back home and cribbed my heart out to my husband. Aware that this was just the first of many similar-complaints & cribbing-filled-evenings, he said “Okay quit if you don’t like it”

But I had just blown away a good part of his salary to buy myself some work wear (just an excuse to go shopping!) and felt a teensy weensy bit guilty.
So I closed my eyes and conjured up my motivational image, namely mall-hopping!! Then I took a deep breath and decided to hang on for some more time.

Once training was over, I started selling-or atleast started trying to sell.
Here are a few samples of the conversations between 3 of us- My Mouth (MMo), Client(C) and My Mind(MMi).

MMo: Sir this is so-and-so from *******, regarding car insurance. May I know if you own a car?
C:Yes yes I already have credit card.
MMo: No sir not carddddd – am talking about carrrrr.
C: No no I don’t want car!!

MMi: Okay so you thought some random person would call up and offer you a car??!? Keep dreaming dude!

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C: You know, fortunately or unfortunately my wife’s name is also Anne.
MMo: Oh is it sir!? That is such a nice coincidence!

MMi: Did I ask?! Do I care?!??? Are you gonna buy this product from me or not?!!

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MMo: Sir, our insurance covers your car against natural calamities such as floods, earthqu-
C: Dear what happens here is not called floods-go to Pakistan that is what is called floods!!

MMi: Why don’t you go there and drown yourself?!??

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MMo: Introductory statements
C: Plleeassee!!! Pllleeaaseee!! Yahhyen huwlllo hsyawhulla Arabic?!?
MMo: Ok sir, I shall ask someone who speaks Arabic to contact you soon.
C: You don’t know Arabic?
MMo: No sir.
C: Why?!

MMi: Because I do not need to know alllll the languages of the world!!!! Y don’t you know English anyway?!!!!

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MMo:Sir, did you receive the application form sir-I had emailed it to you a couple of hours back.
C: Anne I have a job here. I cannot keep checking my emails.

MMi: Okay then why did u ask me to email it to you, you moron!!

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MMo: Sir, our insurance covers your car against natural calamities
C: Okay so what if a cat scratches my car?

MMo & MMi: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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MMo: Standard greetings & introductions. So may I ask if you own a car sir?
C:………………………..
MMo: Sir? Are you there??
No response
MMo: Hello?
C: mmmm?

MMi: Wake UP!!!!!

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MMo: Standard greetings & introductions
C: See what is this? Early morning you are asking me about car insurance?!??

MMi: Okay if 10 AM is early morning to you then what do you call sunrise time? Midnight!?!??

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C: I want to open a joint account for my wife and myself.
MMo: Sure sir, can I have the contact details of both of you?
C: Why? Are you going to call her up and check if she is my wife??
MMo: NO sir, we just need those details to fill up your application form.

MMi: Why so paranoid!??

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MMo: Sir would you like to open a free savings account with us?
C: Madam I am a poor man. No money to save. If you give me money I will open the account.

MMi: Well if I had sooo much money as to distribute to random strangers I wouldn’t be doing this job would I now?!?

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I had actually wanted to note down the various responses from people but due to tight schedules I couldn’t and now I can’t recollect man of the notable ones.
Anyway after numerous clients, hundreds of calls, unrealistic targets , a monotonous routine and a realization that the only happy thing about this job was the paycheck-I quit. So here I am back to what I like doing best!! If you have noticed, there has been a gap of more than 2 months between this post and my last one. Hopefully I would be more active on blogger now!

Image Coutesy:http://www.dreamstime.com/