Reading, Reading and more Reading.

I have never been much of a reader. Infact i cant remember the last book i have read. I sometimes start of reading a boom with the expectation to finish it, but i can never get myself to cross the tenth page. Is it not funny that i completed my bachelors and masters in Philosophy without ever reading a single book? I dont want it to sound like i am proud of it because the truth is, I really wish i could read more because there is so much that i am missing out on. Even back in school and college i had trouble reading and remembering stuff from the books. The case is totally different if i was listening to a song. I can memorize the lyrics to any song just by listening to it two times, and sometimes a little more than that. I used to joke to my friends that i would have had much better grades in school and college if they had songs and music albums on philosophy and economics, instead of just text books. I am having trouble even now. Some courses that i am doing require around 12 text books. Im not kidding. Yes... 12 books. And how many of them did i read, or atleast try reading? I rather not try answering that. Starting today, we have begun our reading week. Its a whole week given off to students so that they can catch up with the reading where they are lagging behind. So what am i supposed to do? Well, im catching up on a lot of sleep and eating and watching a lot of TV. I am however in a situation where i cannot completely avoid my readings. I am forcing myself to try and browse through the pages and get something into my head. I havent started yet, as i have a whole week ahead of me. As for now, its back to bed, and a good nights sleep.

Blasphemy in the Kitchen

My friends here in USA were amused to know that i am so interested in cooking. Some of them have asked me to cook for them on certain ocassions, which i have. My food was a hit. Some friends still talk about it. There is however one big thing that i must mention. People here cannot tolerate spice. How can u creat some food without the necessary spices? How are you going to get the flavor? The taste? I have seen friends gobble up a huge steak(un marinated, un spiced.. just plain meat), and say yyyuuuummmmmm, at the end of the meal. These same people taste some real food and say thats its too much for their taste buds to handle. I dont blame them since they were never used to spicy food. But they still insist that they love my food and want more. The reason being that when i cook something for friends here, i dont add the required spices, but i only add ginger/garlic and onions and a very mild spice, jsut so that the dish can have some flavor. I would say that its a sin to eat bland food...lol...!!! People love the food as long as i subtract all spices. They call it yyyuummmm... delicious....!! I call it blasphemy......!!

Too many Cooks....

I love food. Well, who dosent? Yeah, thats right, but for me it is not just about eating. I do love to eat, ofcourse but i do love cooking also. My grandmother is the worlds best cook and teh food she makes is just amazing. Its no surprise that i always gain more then afew pounds when ever i visit her. Its was many many years ago and i was just a child, but i still remember the turkey roast(indian style) that she made. I dont remember the ocassion but after all these years i still remember the taste of that. Her skill has been passed on to her four sons and one daughter. Yes they are all excellent cooks. The men cook much better than their wives and in our family that is no secret. I guess that explains my intrest in cooking. Not just my intrest, but also my skill. Now i am not the best in business but i sure can whip up a good meal that would leave a person more than satisfied. If i remember correctly, the fist time i tried my had at cooking was when i was 11 or 12 years old. I think i tried baking a cake, which unfortunately did not rise. I was disappointed, but then i realised that i had this strong desire to experiment with food. From then on i have never missed an opportunity to enter the kitchen and creat something. Sometimes things have gone awefully wrong, like the time when i put a whole well marinated chicken into the microwave, on a plastic plate. Yeah.. a plastic plate for a whole 20 minutes. The kitchen was covered in thick black smoke and it was a very concerned neighbour who ran into our house and alerted me. Then there are numerous times when i have left something on the stove and been glued to the TV. Anyway, i never miss a chance to show off my cooking skills here in the USA. I enjoy it when i am able to cook for someone. After all, what fun is it if i cook and eatmyself and no one else is able to taste and marvel at my creations?

Welcome to the Machine

Kind of late to start writing a blog?? Never have i kept a journal. Never have i jotted down anything. Then why am i doing this now? I dont exactly know. I think i know myself well, so if things go normal, i might write for a few days and then just give up. Not because i dont have anything else to write about, but just that i might be bored with this and no longer find this appealing. Anyway, this is me. The one in the picture. Travelling in a suburban train in chennai. I love trains and yeah i can spend days in a train. I can have the most peaceful sleep in a train. I have so many memorable train journeys to write about, but my number one train journey was on August 9th, 2005. More about that later. Not right now. now i just miss life in India. Been away from home for a very long time now. Miss the food, friends, climate, sweat and yeah, trains ofcourse. I have been in the USA for close to two years now and i am excited each night as i lay in bed to sleep because i know that when i wake up i will be one more day closer to going home. Well, if i dont like it here that much, then why am i still here???? Good question. I have to admit that i do not dislike this place. I do like it and it has its own advantages and i have tried my best to fit into this alien culture as much as i can and yes, to an extend i have been successful. I am a surviver and i can survive anywhere and that is what has kept me going. Right now i am making the best use of my opportunities. I have in my hands an opportunity that most people in India dont have. A lot of people want to come over to the USA to realize their dreams and most of them never make it and here i am complaining about being here. What right do i have to behave this way? Well, like i said before, i am going to make the best out of this and i am going to learn as much as i can about this culture and country. As much as i would like to learn from here, i would also like to teach. There is a lot of things that people here can learn from me, or Indians in general. Now i am not much of a talker and i find it very difficult to start a conversation. Very few people ever talk with me about my country. Most of them dont care. Some are afraid that their ignorance will be brutally exposed. Lunch time at the cafeteria is something that i look forward to each day when i am in college. Not because of the food, but because of the chance i get to sit down with people, hoping that someone will ask me something about my country and my culture. Most times i have left the cafeteria feeling disappointed. Who would want to hear about an ancient culture when they would rather talk about the NFL and NBA. Oh, i do love sports, but cricket is my game and i have tried explaining the game to people here and they just cannot comprehend how a team can play a game for five days, from morning to evening and at the end of the fifth day walk off without a result. Well anyway, there are one or two people in my college who take the time to ask me more about my country and culture. These are some of the conversations that i enjoy the most and look forward to. I must admit that i have never ever felt the need to talk so much about my country. I guess like many other indians back in India, i just took it for granted and assumed that it was something not worth talking about. I have new ideas and beliefs and i wake up each day as a new person. Im happy now. Lets wait and see what the day holds for me when i wake up tomorrow morning.