Sanjana before we left fr India 

Sanjana in Bangalore 

try this, finger licking yumm...

Mirch Ka Salan
Ingredients

• 8-10 big Green Chillies (the ones you use for Pakoras/Bhajias)
• Oil for frying
• 1 medium Onion finely chopped
• 2 medium Tomatoes finely chopped
• 1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp grated Coconut roasted & powdered
• 2 tbsp Sesame seeds roasted & powdered
• 1 tsp Dhania & 1 tsp Jeera roasted & powdered
• 1/4 cup Tamarind Juice
  Method :
  Cut chillies lengthwise into 2 or 4 pieces each
  Heat oil & fry the chillies in them till the colour changes to light green
  In the same oil fry ginger -garlic paste
  Add chopped onions & fry till brown
  Add chopped tomatoes & fry well.
  Add all the powdered ingredients and fry well.
  Add tamarind juice & salt to taste & let it cook for a while
  Finally mix in the fried chilli pieces and turn off the heat.
  
  did someone talk about not sharing recipes in india? ;) sorry, inside joke!
  samajhne waale samajh rahe hain,
  naa samjhe...? naa samjhe, woh anaadi hain!

dreams, mirchis, cows and light sabers

why am i dreaming of a new house every night? well, last night we found a beautiful one, in a community called "seaside village." high 25 foot ceilings, lovely painted rooms in vivid colors (not boring white) cool layout and, best of all, a beautiful terrace with a view. a view not of other rooftops, but of a large lake. hmmm... very livable this, but a dream nevertheless.

and sucheta-ashu bought a new house too. in covenant cove. sucheta was supposed to come over to tell me details over chai. i'm waiting, suche ;) -- do cup chai tayyaar hai!

hey -- have you ever had mirch ka salan? it is an incredible dish -- especially shalu ke haath ka banaya hua. we tasted it on friday night and sanat and i could not speak of anything else all weekend. i found a recipe for it on the web (check a separate post -- and try it if you like spicy yummy food -- and remember to thank me when you eat it!) and plan to try it out soooon.

the food at shalu's was spectacular, the company was entertaining beyond a doubt. the center stage belonged to a real estate agent who regaled us with her critiques of bollywood movies, actresses, people, things, everything ;)

sanat and rakesh were waxing eloquent about bipasha and mallika only to be cut short contemptfully -- "they're cows!" she exclaimed. "if that is what you are interested in, go to australia -- they have excellent cows and you'll get 6 nipples instead of two!" also in the bovine category were: rani, rekha, aishwarya, smita patil, shabana azmi, oh the gamut. even hollywood bombs were not spared by her chopper. anjolina jolie, roberts, zeta jones, everyone -- COWS -- no brains! so who did she like? after much debate and thinking, kajol and dixit were slightly more evolved and finally "i'll tell you who my favorite actress is -- what's her name... what's her name, yaar... " she looked to her quiet husband for help. turns out charlize theron was the only one worth seeing. "have you seen her in monster? only someone who is brilliant can dare to act with a face like that!"

all movies old and new were summarily dismissed with even more contempt. "star wars is mainstream," she avered with a shudder and a pucker of the nose as if the name stank. "i'm more off beat." had she seen pyasa? "what is that? it sounds like a sex flick!" oh god, no. it's brilliant -- guru dutt! "it cannot be good. i've seen pyasa II." What?! "guru dutt, sunil dutt -- all bengalis, all the same." we were rolling on the floor in incredulous laughter. "have you seen intersection?" she contested -- "it is the best movie of all time." she proceeded to tell the story -- sounded interesting, but that doesnt take away from the others. oh and yes, she allowed kevin spacey some credit too...

siskel and ebert are erased, khalid mohammed is history! here was the new queen critique. for 3 hours + we were treated to entertainment -- mainly massacres of everyone from calvin and hobbes to george lucas, from buxom babes to brilliant actresses. (tho she maintained that even "mainstream, run-of-the-mill like shakespeare and asterix" shared her purportedly extensive library.) with strong egging on by the audience much, much fun was had!

saturday: those memories reluctantly gave way to young anakin skywalker. i was completely unaware and uninterested in lucas's legacy until saturday. i grudgingly allowed myself to hear the "history" of star wars enthusiastically retold by vinay, sanat and cousin-arati. it sounded interesting -- i mean, of the sort of mahabharata, lord of the rings, etc... dark sides, good over evil, disguises, conversions, "main tera baap hoon, bete." etc... ok, i'll see the revenge of the sith -- what was the sith again?

10pm show at the PVR europa cinemas. i was blown away. this was probably the best episode i could have seen as an introduction to the series of six. not for the effects, not for the acting, not for any technical brilliance -- all of which were present in spades -- but just for context. if you were one of those like me that had never seen star wars, watch 'the revenge...' anakin skywalker will blow you away and tug at your heart strings. it's cool and you'll want to watch (or re-watch) the other 5. ILM brilliance, of course is par excellence.

this monday morning of memorial day (of which india, of course, has no reason for memory) a light rain is intermittently falling trading turns with a cool breeze. i woke up to excellent coffee, courtesy shanta, and began blogging...

write, guys, when you have some time...

and... may the force be with you.

the music in my heart i bore...

(this post is largely in Hindi, sorry about that!)
Sunil Dutt to Nutan via the phone in Sujata. a beautiful film, in which i cannot help but thinking Sunil Dutt's character is as close to real life as can be.

Dutt passed on yesterday. (As did Ismail merchant.)

Jalate HaiN Jiske Liye,
Terii Aa.Nkho.N Ke Diye
Dhuu.Ndh Laayaa Huu.N Vahii,
Giit Mai.N Tere Liye
Jalate Hai.N Jisake Liye

Dard Banake Jo Mere Dil Me.N Rahaa
Dhal Naa Sakaa
Jaaduu Banake Terii Aa.Nkho.N Me.N Rukaa
Chal Naa Sakaa
Aaj Laayaa Huu.N Vahii Giit Mai.N Tere Liye
Jalate Hai.N Jisake Liye

Dil Me.N Rakh Lenaa Ise Haatho.N Se Ye
Chhuute Na Kahii.N
Giit Naazuk Hai Meraa Shiishe Se Bhii
Tuute Na Kahii.N
Gunagunaauu.Ngaa Yahii Giit Mai.N Tere Liye
Jalate Hai.N Jisake Liye

Jab Talak Naa Ye Tere Ras Ke Bhare Ho.Ntho.N Se Mile
Yuu.N Hii Aavaaraa Phiregaa Ye Terii Zulfo.N Ke Tale
Gaaye Jaauu.Ngaa Yahii Giit Mai.N Tere Liye
Jalate Hai.N Jisake Liye

my neighbor in bombay dedicated this song for me on the eve of my engagement to sanat. she sang it beautifully. and the music in my heart i bore, long after i heard it no more.

this is the view from the living room. looking over the verdure of bangalore club.  

just to give you an idea of the house... snapshot of our living room -- the cd box is still unpacked :). planning an african theme for this room.  

the morning after...

... the "live-in" arrived. i am so not a "maid" person. but nevertheless am 2 maids rich today. being waited upon hand and foot. coffee as soon as i woke up, dinner last night with hot chapatis (oh by the way, we had a choice -- sookhi roti or with oil chapati), plates cleaned up after us, table spik 'n' span without my lifting a finger. actually i lifted many fingers, forgot she was there and took my plate to the sink when she gently chided me for doing so. "leave it on the table, leave it on the table," i practised to myself.

even now, sitting and blogging, resisting the urge to make myself another cuppa and summoning the strength to say "shanta, chai banao!"

i can tell, it will take a lot of getting used to.

obsequity is all perspective!

one of the few remaining tree-lined streets of bangalore lead us to the office of the commissioner of police, bangalore city. "need to go there, sir. yes, all of you. need signatures, sir. for FRRO, sir. need to register yourself -- staying more than 180 days, no, so only." aalright.

it looked like a jungle lodge. tropical monsteras climbed high over luxurious red-berried banyans, hostas on the beds below, copper pods, etc, etc... old colonial columned buildings signalled government offices. tons of people hanging around (doing what seemed like nothing) underlined the same. a short walk led us to a very small lobby where 2 pot-bellied middle-aged men were busy checking, separating and initialling various documents. chinese, indians, the occasional caucasian all hung around looking clueless to different degrees. a swarthy seated man who initially told us he was "in line, sir" waved us to approach the counter ahead of him. one of the pot-bellies -- a dark nama-ed man sporting a handle bar mouche and huge gold and silver rings took our documents. sanjana's documents were first. she stepped forward curiously to see what he was going to do. he poked her tummy and said "what you had for breakfast?" "nutella sandwich," she replied in a small voice. "not idli? not raagi dosai?" he asked. sanjana stared unsurely back at him. "your name?" he asked. she replied in a slightly louder voice. "sanjanaaa," he repeated and resumed his checking documents. "you are not registered?" he asked sanat. sanat pointed to his documents in the pile. "oh, wokay." a few minutes later, he had detached a few papers and waved us to "get signature from ACP." we headed out to the ACP's office.

a totally different atmosphere shrouded this place. a high ceilinged large room with high beams from which hung ceiling fans idly churned warm air. a long low table with several people sat at one end. ACP saheb was sitting in a polyester curtained room with several peons in attendance in permanent stoop. ACP saheb ordered them around in a soft but firm voice which made sounded more like a cough. he had a gentle face, but the relocation person who was guiding us told us he was extremely stern "he never smiles." when our turn came, the relo expert's turn to bow also came. we stood up -- i felt my backbone bend in deference as well. as he signed, we said "thank you, sir." no words were spoken otherwise. and then sanjana happened. she waved with a loud "baayyye" to the assistant commisioner of police, jagadish prasad. ACP smiled and waved back and said "bye."

the relo expert was shocked. "i have never seen him like that!" sanjana said excitedly, "the policeman said bye to me!"

sanat and i exchanged amused glances -- for sanjana, obsequity comes in the face of mrs.julia and mrs. jan, not the assistant commissioner of police, bangalore city ;)

but all in all, having the relo person showing us around and doing the paper pushing was tremendously useful. we couldnt imagine doing it all ourselves. coming on the right visa (for US citizens) is so important -- realizing you have a wrong visa only just before the stipulated 180 day window is about to expire, then running around to delhi/chennai to get the visas changed, harks of one's worst nightmares. our getting a PIO card before we left negated all those issues and proved to be a huge benefit. for NRI US citizens considering a long-ish stint in india, suggest getting a PIO card.

pinot gris in the dead of night

taika, nineteen twelve (both are lounges/dance clubs), shalu's lovely sylvan roof garden. mohitos & chicken tikka, loud music, soft wind & liqueur respectively. 10pm -2am friday night out with hozi, rasheeda, shalu and rakesh. "it's happening, happening, happening!" as mr. rao would say. he enjoyed it tremendously.

vinay, sarita and cousin-arati (notice the distinction ;)) came by saturday evening and we trooped down to shezan (just up lavelle road) for dinner. paneer makhanwala, hyderabadi murg, vegetable haryali, and a spicy mutton appetiser that was made specially for us "not on the menu, sir." yumm. add to that methi kulche, onion kulche, butter and plan naan. aaah aah aah. har dil lazeez. with all this walking distance from home -- thank god i dont have a weighing machine here. it is easier to fool mirrors.

on the way back, more temptation -- java city and hot fudge sundaes, choco chocolate cake with ice cream and strawberry ice cream scoops, accompanied by lightning, thunder, a hail storm and pouring rain. sanjana got deliciously wet and loved eating her ice cream through many a shiver. we enjoyed it all. period.

walked home and played 20 questions, what's the good word and "scene it!" -- popped open a very delicious pinot gris (thanks to Tbird tammi westall who gifted it to me) and sipped it through mid night. several yawns and bouts of laughter later, we crashed. 2am.

sunday, 10am. something i am not accustomed to, happened this morning. our maid made us breakfast, coffee, cleaned up after us, neighbor's kid dropped in, sanjana went back with him to his place for lunch... ate there happily and returned quietly for her nap!

sunday 4pm. and as i sit and type this, the thunder is crashing outside and the sudden wind is undecidedly swinging doors open and shut in gentle rain. i feel like chai (who will not?!) and will indulge myself... ok, chai in hand, i listen to sanat's soft snores and sanjana's slumberful breathing while thumbing through a rich, dreamy interior design book. just as a sunday afternoon should be.

wish u were here.

Remembering Tibet

Trial post of a photo using Hello. Young monks outside Ganden Monastery which stands above 4500 m above sea level.

eyes skyward in anticipation ....

the mercury just keeps climbing. localites, who were not so local a few years back, are teasing us for bringing AZ temperatures to cool Bangalore! yesterday afternoon, sitting in a room putting up my colorful new curtains, i felt a bead of perspiration form and then another and another... awfully uncomfortable. 37 degrees and humid. all across india, this summer is being hailed as the worst in years.

but they say, the hotter it gets heralds an impending downpour that much sooner. and so we squint up at the sunny sky and pray and wait.

have you ever traversed from one place to another looking up?
it is interesting, you notice layers of evidence of life you haven't before.
from koramangala to lavelle road (20 minute drive) i only looked up. at first i saw the high flying circling pariah and brahminy kites... way above ground. then came the enormous canopies of rain trees -- adenanthera pavonina, for those botanically inclined -- beautiful, sheltering still more kites, crows and all sorts of other birds under it. the occasional lamp post whizzed by -- occasional, yes, because nocturnal lighting is mighty poor on these roads. and then lower layers were coconut trees, some buildings and yes -- cables. at times you could see only criss-crossing cables! all cables of all kinds run above ground here and make for the first layer of the canopy ;) happily though, at least on this journey, the trees outnumbered the buildings and cables.

out of my window here i see a myriad trees -- colorful shades of verde -- home to brilliant butterflies, barbets, parrots, kites, swifts, sunbirds, shrikes, etc. some sport loud red flowers, some yellow ones... others just wear their green garb in quiet anticipation... of the promised wash... monsoon!

shopping in the dark...

as usual, the electricity went out yesterday. this happens about 3-4 times a day, but our apartments are spared, thanks to back-up power. Creative Living, a nice home store down the road was not so lucky -- "generator is not working, sir." and we were in the store ;) so i shopped in the dark. choosing between red, maroon and purple in the dark... needless to say, i am making a trip back there today to return/ exchange something!

but there were a bunch of people shopping merrily in darkened stores, choosing stuff by only candlelight. veggie stalls, flower shops, the local chaat wala, travel agencies -- business as usual for them all. the lucky ones where the generator worked, of course were reaping rich rewards.

i guess the famous "chalta hai" attitude works both ways. people are resilient enough to make do with what life deals them, or, in this case, what the electricity board decided to deal them.

apartments like ours have their own travails, in that, having 4 A/Cs and 3 geysers are not necessarily a boon. "please dont run 2 A/Cs at the same time, sir. also, not to be putting geyser at the same time as A/C, sir. will trip, sir. can't take so much load." Wokay.

of salons, parties and maids

squeeze. that's the uptown swanky salon owned by prasad bidappa. it's next door. and so sanat headed there. "models come there." sure enough, there were model-types hanging out getting various parts of their bodies attended to. mr. rao got a cool hair cut, but came back saying "models don't cut your hair there!" -- he thot models cut the hair, not come there to get their hair cut ;) trust mr. rao!!

jibran's party: 15th may, 6pm, diamond district.
there are little alcoves in bangalore where, if you can imagine it for a moment, it feels like you are in a desi party in the US. same chandler-type crowd, kurtis and pants, neckwear and mojris. only the food is out of this world and the women running after kids are not the ladies of the house, but decked-up maids! and so, the parents mingle, laugh and enjoy a dance without a care in the world. the talk is of nights out after the kids are in bed "i have a full-time, yaar" referring to the live-in maid. and so maggis, ruhis, premas, sarsammas, parvathammas and mandabais become an essential part of lifestyle here. "cannot think of 2 years here, man, without maids!" "maids?" oh yeah. not one, not two, but three is the norm :)

and so mr. rao is waiting for "delegating everything." until the said 3 maids arrive, i will have to do ;) ha ha ha -- just kidding.

but seriously, there is a thriving sub-culture of maids in bangalore. our purported bengali one never turned up fr the "interview" so the kannada maid will start from 25th. our first maid (the one who cleans and dusts) has recommended her and the consensus is that the maids have to get along, so the best reference is from an existing maid! two maids rich we are now :)

he he he. i sounds like a bedouin or a tangier tribesman, dealing in maids and talking riches in maid-strength!

8 days on...

i really should be more regular. it's been 8 days with many "oh this is inifitely bloggable" moments... so here goes...

it's funny how each day some 5 people with various skill levels and vocations drop in on the pretext of fixing something or the other. the A/C guys after several days of "no parts available, sir" finally arrived to fix the A/C -- mind you, they came empty handed -- wonder what parts they were waiting for...? anyways. the A/C is about 8 feet above the ground (always has been) but yet, these guys arrive with no step stool. "any stool or net chair?" net chair!? what on earth is that? no, i dont have anything. they ask if they can use a small dresser -- what is the alternative? i allow them to. "motor not working sir, will come again tomorrow." then WHAT exactly did they do the last time? i mean, since the A/C never worked and they were purportedly "waiting for parts" how come they walked off with a new part of the A/C this time?

anyways, "tomorrow" has come and gone, the A/C guys have not. i warned them to bring their own step stool since they know A/Cs are all installed high up ;)

and then there is the plumber. and the "supervisor" - Mohan. "tch tch, still leaking, uh?" what did he think? that it would stop leaking of its own volition? i almost said it aloud, but let it go. the plumber came with one wrench. he was told earlier that the t-junction had broken and needed to be relaced. still he comes with one wrench. of course they shake their heads and say "will come again tomorrow. this needs to be replaced."

you get the idea. several trip by several arbitrary characters, but the problem never gets fixed.

but at least the maid is working out. she cleans and dusts... and talks and has joined the long list of people who tell me what to do. but that's OK. and the search is on for the full time maid. a bengali one is on the cards -- but she wants sunday off. rasheeda thinks she will be good. then my maid (the one who sweeps and swabs) is suggesting one who she knows well... says they will work well together... politics galore... not sure if one maid will get along with another and i sure am not used to dealing or pacifying these issues. rasheeda gave me some great pointers and how she uses them -- she is a pro! so tomorrow is decision day. i am supposed to meet both the kannadiga and the bengali. let the games begin!

parents are with us right now. mine, that is... they like the place, which is a relief. had sanat's parents over for lunch today and vinay too -- was a lot of fun. sanjana enjoyed and entertained us like crazy... she sings "aap jaisa koi" and it is too hilarious to hear her. of course she doesnt know the exact hindi words and her subsitutes crack everyone up.

the food here is amazing -- went shopping yday and stopped to eat at noodle bar (Bombay Blue/ Noodle bar) and the food was YUMMMMMM. totally worth it. ate like pigs. i am putting on weight i can feel. oh god. but it just tastes so good. the corner chaat guy (yes, there are decent ones in bangalore, surprise!) makes a mean bhel puri and we enjoyed some 2 days ago... there are a bunch of places around where we live (since we live in the town part of blore) and it is fun to try out new places each time. yeah, the food in india is totally worth coming back for.

the FM stations rock... radio city -- cool new songs, cooler old ones (already heard phoolon ke rang se, tujhse naaraz nahin, pal pal dil ke paas, etc) -- and some pretty funny DJs. the traffic is almost bearable thanks to radio city.

we are waiting for visitors-- it will be fun to host people here ... and see their take on the city life :) -- hey guys, plan a visit while we are here. serious invite, this.

later gator...

05.05.05

what a nice date :)

so we reached india... and the return ticket is not due for a while...
thunderstorms at bangalore cleared for a cool summer evening and we came home to some good hot south indian coffee... yes, in the dead of night. didn't prevent us from sleeping soon after, tho.

that we are going to live here now is slowly sinking in... very slowly. we had our first taste of indian work ethics -- our apartment keys are not ready yet... no stove in yet. people waiting in various places for unnamed "documents" and the longest "5 minutes, sir" -- amusing, almost.

and oh, by the way, our bags didnt all make it either. apparently lufthansa realized that 2 bags were left over in Frankfurt and let us know of it before we landed in india... they are supposed to arrive on sunday morning, by the next flight. as luck would have it, the bags are mine :)

we went to the avis "lot" -- a row of parked cars at the oberoi and by ulsoor road (!) -- and picked our car for the year -- a black honda accord ("executive color, sir") with very black tinted windows -- rather mafia-like -- but a comfortable car.

we are now suppsed to get the keys at 9am tomorrow, but turns out it is "rahu kaalam from 9-11, sir. cannot give you keys in that time, sir" -- so we will get the keys after 11am.

*grin*

so we start moving in after that.
wonder what else is in store for us, "sir." :)