Diwali in Distance

The thought Diwali takes me to a nostalgic memories of family shopping which would ideally start 3 weeks earlier, followed by my parents making various sweets and savouries. My sister and I would barge into the kitchen every now and then to taste the mixture, thattai, thengoyal, chocolate burfi, thenga burfi and so on. On the day of the Diwali all efforts will be taken to wake both of us starting with mom, followed by the various special entertainment on the television courtesy my dad and finally the noise of bursting crackers around our house. When we finally wake up we would be made to sit on a palagai and in no time be soaked with warm nalla yennai on the head. Once we are done with thalai kulial, we would take blessing from our grandfather and wear new clothes followed by the cracker bursting session. During the day we would have friends and neighbours coming over to exchange greeting and sweets.
This was probably the ideal way of celebrating Diwali few yrs ago. Today the entire concept is modernized and advanced. Sweets are made to order and crackers are sold at sky rocking rates and still there are people to buy it. Money overcomes authenticity of events. The other side of it you will also find thoughts and voices of individuals who dont burst crackers as it contributes to noise and pollution. For them Diwali just means a day off from work, meeting friends and great Dinner.

Today sitting in this cold country, i feel like Diwali is virtually celebrated. The joy of speaking, wishing and hearing about how our loved ones celebrate it back at home is only way i could relate to it. This day is special to me which is not realised person walking next to me on the street which means that responsibility and work routine is a part of life. Its probably like celebrating Christmas in Indian village. But despite all this i manged to contribute my bit by making thattai and carrot halwa and really feeling the spirit of celebrating Diwali from within my heart.

Hope i am back in India to celebrate it next year.

The Gordon Ramsay's Style

One day as i was going thrugh GORDONRAMSAY'S SECRETS book and i start up a conversation with vjiu

Vidya:- Viju, Do u know to make infused olive oil?

Vijay:- Obviously, what a question. Ek Chef ki itena bh

i naki aata hai kya?

Vidya:- No i am sure u know, but we never make it at home and so i have not seen u doing all these stuff. Achha bolo how do u make it?

Vijay:- Warm the olive oil, put basil in it for a min and the pour it into a bottle with the basil, and seal it.

Vidya:- No, Gordon Ramsay Says seal it when its warm and store it in a cool place. Can we make it, we have got olive oil at home.

Vijay:- Whats the use, we will never use it. By theway u can also infuse diffrent stuff life, chilli, Red pepper, Garlic and so on.

Vidya :- Well we could use it in our pastas. But yes if we daily keep eating dal, rice, roti, sambar, and rasam we will never get to try those exiciting stuff. Oh Gosh! There is no use of getting married to a chef, might have got married to a software engg, atleast i would not expect him to teach and cook all those exicitng dishes.

Vijay:- Achha baba we will make pasta tonite. You boil the pasta and i will come and make the sauce.

Vidya :- Well i need the sauce Gordon Ramsay Style. from here on i will check the proof of recipe of every dish you cook and this book is my guide.

Vijay:- Bang, Bang, Bang (hits me with the book). Go get married to Gordon Ramsay

Vidya:- Cant has already got Tana (his wife). By the way how do u make Pesto Sauce ?

Vijay:- Boil and blanch the pistachio nuts, blend it with Pramasan Cheese, Basil, and Olive oil

Vidya:- Wrong Gordon Ramsay Says that Clasical Pesto sauce is made with pine nuts, u need to blend it with parmasan, add basil and olive oil. Store it in a tight Jar and refidgerate it for a week.

Vijay:- And then what do u do with it.?

Vidya:- I dont know.. He has just told how to make the pesto sauce, but not what to do with it.

And we both laugh at it..............

Life is Mystic

Life is like Music. When one listens to music he mentally seems to understand the lyrics but does not know why the sound or the lyrics of the music make him feel happy or sad after listening to it. No one in this world can explain or prove scientifically the reason for such feelings. Last evening vijay and i were sitting and discussing on our future plans of changing houses, the good and bad this decision. His new job and how its gonna change our life and what he really desires to achieve from this and of course our financial strains caused as a result of taking this step. I guess its very common among partners to discuss these issues. Every thing seems to be fine and we kind of came to a conclusion. After a while on the same evening vijay received a call from his future employer stating that he will have to move to Bristol as the restaurant in Leeds is not doing great business as expected. It felt like a leaf falling off from a strong tree. After that we sat there the whole evening thinking about our new plans and decisions. confused and irritated we decided to chuck everything and went out for a dinner with a friend......
That is why i call life - Mystic