Soul food

With Pongal having come and gone, the rising sense of emotional sentiments, festive rituals and soul food from the past came back...a pongal kolam to mark the beginning of thai maasam, a grouped together, hands-on-earth experience-I drew designs that I thought fit well into the expanding mesh of flowers and butterflies, of a sunny chariot, held high by a sun god motif on a high flying soggy flag, run over by kids(or kite runners) running all over the compound early the next morning. The eldest of the(sister) girl bandwagon, Uma, captained this dusk-dawn colourful beginning. The D day starts with a spiritual dose of thiruvempaavai, eye half shut and winter morning mist air biting into our paavadais and skirts, to sing praise of the three eyed Lord Siva. The high praise that beckons the deep in sleep (or ignorant)village belles or paavais to rise and sing like the raag bhupala, the sweet nectar of pure faith, runs hoarse and pitched off the octave by us sisters. The venn pongal (with coconut chutney and gotsu) and sarkarai pongal eaten religiously, hand sticky with pure ghee smells all day divine! As few showed any real inch of interest in flying kites that day evening(from the terrace), the fun was in observing diamond-cut kites get bound in shard like thread, spool unwinding, the flying kite anchored, higher above the rest.Being happy for your home team or for the neighbours didn't matter.The take off, the let go, the dip, the spin and the cut off its back up, dis joint and flying homeless to reach another territory was all very moving. The kite looked more liberated and lonely than ever. On kanu pongal, we got weary of the rituals by now, waiting for out turn on the early morning hours of pre sunrise to feed the sparrows and crows leftover pongal, diced sugarcane pieces, berry fruit and some other colourful rice, rolled in palms like mini golf balls, spread in linear patterns on a plaintain leaf. I looked around and checked to see if our singing a song to mark the end of the pongal festivities, attracted any attention from morning walkers and joggers.Being on the terrace didn't feel like the top of the world experience always. And another round of kalandha saadam-this time, coconut rice, lemon rice, curd rice, fried papad, sambar, fresh curd and payasam (with vadai at times). We sisters from this joint family grew as we ate, different tastes of home food, year after year and being married to different home cultures, are now far from this inviting flavours of pongal, kanu pongal and the likes. Like the kites we've come far away from our native land, soaring and disjoint and the common spool of roots reduced in people size- soul food, a delectable memory.

What's cooking??

Multi-culture cooking is happening in many T.V. shows across the country.The getting together of many culinary artisans who blend their art of cooking on a palette of aroma and colours is sure shot appetizing! Iam a hard core vegetarian, but the dressing of the dishes cooked(veg/non-veg), seasoning, blending in of the global flavours, adrenalin pumping pressure tests to bring out the best of the best chefs across the continent is food culture redefined. The passion of the food in the making, the prize money for the numero uno chef amongst competitors and the title to take home are rewarding and feel full for the aspiring cooks. The state of the art culinary techniques and finesse in their applying raises steadily higher and tougher in the ranks of select judges, adding steam to the whole process of becoming the deserved one. This journey, this experience is celebrated in the amateur being prepared to the next best level of master multi-culture chef.

Resting unrest

A sense of restlessness becomes part of a growing, professional mind.The day seems to end a new, tired beginning for the sunshine to follow. I write less and edit more now - quite the opposite to what I used to do! Being mindful of a measured sense of flow of words is what is the working flow all about. I enjoy the dim lighted darkness at the work foodcourt. It seems to be agreeing to the dark clouds hanging in my head owing to ignorance; exhaustion and the likes are passing clouds that look pale a moment and seem full of silver lining the next. The endless stream of employees trying to make life look larger, trendier, more informal, somewhat serious and a whole lot more than what one is needed for and asked to do is largely obvious. Iam one of those faces.A consciously corporate tight fit in, who takes time out to feel the real life and live simply as a free thinking and writing soul. Today is a day off from the maddening traffic mayhem, suffocating pollution and tight time schedule. My day of restimg my restlessness is quite the break to begin the next week ahead.

Chutnification!

Several ingredients that went into making us the way we are today-our cat fights with our siblings, our make believe play world, running and catching, kite flying, assisting grandma in making pickles, vadams(savory item like appalam/papad) during summers; pocketing sweet sour elandha vadams, badams (Almonds) and juicy maavadu (Tender mango), washed and dried and licking like hungry street urchins, squinting eye and rolling them, while clicking tongue in noisy, tasteful agreement, thayir saadam in placid company.A full moon above our heads on a breezy summer night, as Talat Mehmood sung pathos from the Philips tape recorder... Decades later, juicy nostalgia does find its way into my apartment kitchen, a full moon atop a neighbouring beauty salon and moist breeze that trickles down my sweaty forehead. Although chutney and thuvayal pastes are available in all leading super markets and stores in home food clonish Chennai, the true taste of originality was diligently practised on a groaning mixie, while coriander leaves were slightly sauteed in an oil pan, with til, urad dal and other ingredients, until the leaves were removed of their raw smell. With tamarind juice, red chillies and salt for an addition, the chutney looked a lovely green, for what it was worth.

Idlis sitting comfortably next to this chutney was the happily ever after ending to this chutnification.

By the people-To the people.

Social networking venues outside of the net is anything but gripping. A set pattern of rituals that earmarks the time and date in function, succeeding which the place of venue and the logistics to reach there can be worked out in predictable plan-specially the need to feel important enough, relatives (near and far) to be seen there and arbitrary comparisons drawn to one's own-belongings and other factors that is anything but one's business. To prepare oneself pre ritually is the gathering together of one's 'party' wearables-saree, lehenga,fitting blouse with befitting accessories.The face that masks hundreds of emotions gets a facial done, a necessity to present one's age and grooming gracefully and being a woman, the layers of cosmetic treatment from hair care to pedicure has to be scrubbed off and shine clean sans the weariness of customized  and irrelevant get-togethers. For who for what are probings that receive only a silent answer from within. To acquire a set role and get t(s)ucked into its making, thanks to many such rituals that make you feel more ornamental that tradition making rule book people can't care less.
Being familiar with a family that I am married to with ego divides within families, uppity snobbery, tongue in cheek sarcasm, insecure prestige and frivolous pride, the loud voice within the clan that always has to have the last word, these attitudes have also become part of the family 'tradition.'
The grand dinner or the sumptuous lunch can be a saving grace that the high and the low of a same human society can gulp down, in acceptance, if the humble food fare can quell their need to be nourished, failing which an unfulfilled appetite of wrath can fall upon the hosts, word of mouth adding the finishing touch.

'Im'proper Nouns

'Sheila' and 'Munni' have become the new face of Indian womanhood.Every curve of feminity exploited and promoted, one devouring eye candy item after the other. These proper nouns flaunt everything, stop at nothing and push the 'new' face of Indian woman to an all great high. An adjective that's come of age!! A sumptuous feast of perverted voyeurism,masala moves, bang on music and booze unplugged -a riot of human senses, which looks super hot and senseless at the same time.It is not sensitive and moves quite nothing within the viewer.Even hormones hibernate this cold season into numbness. To feel stripped off clean entertainment that gets itemized, tabulated at the top of film charts and worse still, we end up paying for it! Maybe calling women names have become the latest trend,a noun, an item. (Im)proper nouns anyone?

A toast to our city!

It was raining lightning thunderbolts at high volume volts yesterday night. Nature's fury raging from outside the bedroom windows, that a small peep made me scamper and tuck in like a scared rabbit! Its warm and cold by turns and the rains take us chennaiites by surprise. The roads leading down to the supermarket from the 1920's, the liberated shoe shop that blares stereo (Type) tamizh 'kollywood' music, the overcrowded bhavan that I must be blind to, lest I lose myself in ananda to its oil dripping, crusty and golden brown veggy cutlets...sheer misery to a diet watcher! The queue of people have options many, to wait and be stalled meanwhile by other smaller outlets outside that have the "American" prefix added to the bright yellow sign board reading "American sweet corn", "American pizzas" and so on. While the curtain raiser of a rain dampens and dries, the moisture is enough to keep one's taste buds craving. The variety here in Chennai is rich and generous. Its a nice blend of the south with the mushrooming north, a culture connect with the continental and laps of sea food by the beach and more.
Being a hard core vegetarian and having been to a handful of food courts and still counting, food junctures are a stop gap appeasement that is not a daily to me, but a mouthful of appreciation for a city on the go and Chennai sure has plenty to offer rain or shine.