Most Memorable Meals

Saw this post on Chandu's blog where someone tagged her to list out the top five memorable meals ever had. At the end of it there was an open tag, and of course, being about food, I had to take this tag up. So here are my most memorable meals ever had, in no particular order.

# I was introduced to momos only when I came to Madras. Prior to that I had no clue of Tibetan cuisine and I had not even tried dumplings before. I had my first taste of momos at one of our college fests, from a Tibetan stall. I was hooked and there was no going back. In my final year, the lead singer of my band was Tibetan and once he invited the whole band over to his place for lunch and the only thing on the menu were momos, on request. Out came this huge tub, like the one that carries fresh fish and ice in those fish markets. On opening the tub, I could swear I counted a million and one momos. We shamelessly dug in and went on and on. So, how much did I eat? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? Oh well, I remember counting till forty, then I just did not have the energy to count further.

# While growing up, when ever I visited my grandparent's place, I was always fascinated by the few farm animals they had. I took particular interest in the turkeys, mainly because of the way they looked and the sound the made. On one such trip, my grandmother announced that to welcome us home, she was going to cook up one of those lovely turkeys. I remember watching them the previous day and imagining what they would look like in my plate. The next day, I made sure I never missed any of the action. Right from the time the right turkey was chosen, slaughtered, skinned, cut, cooked and served. Somehow, that taste still lingers and it was the best turkey roast ever, along with the best gravy.

# Does food taste better when you are high? It probably does.How else can I explain that one night in USA where a friend and I developed this craving for something Chinese and something sweet. So we ring up this Chinese take away place and order pork friend rice, chicken noodles, pork roast and one box of sweet donut buns, which were soft, fluffy and sprinkled with powdered sugar. We cleaned it all up no sooner than it arrived. This was the best Chinese meal I had eaten in ages, from what would otherwise be just another take away restaurant. Oh, and did I mention that this carnal onslaught was just after we had finished dinner where we had downed a large Philly cheese steak, with hand cut fries and Pepsi, from Penn Station?

# Staying away from your country can make you crave a lot for the local food. While in USA, I really missed the regular Dosa, Vada and sambar types. Believe it or not, there was an Udupi right next to where I lived. There were other places too, but no matter how many times I went there, it never gave me the satisfaction I was looking for. On my first vacation trip to India, I had nothing but Saravana Bhavan on my mind. I reached late at night, and the very next day I headed out to Saravana Bhavan for breakfast with my close buddies, Paunch and Babu. Idly, vada, dosa, poori. I tried it all. I burped, and tried some more. Considering that I am not much of a VEG fan, I did eat a lot, and was more than satisfied. I could swear a tear rolled down my eye.

# I take great pride in the fact that I can cook. Now I am not the best by any standards, but with some level of arrogance I can confidently say that I can cook better than most people, both men and women. Keeping aside the daily common lunch/dinner, I take great care when I try something out of the way, like maybe a biryani, or pork ribs or a pizza and so on. With all the care that goes into making it and when the outcome is much better than what I expect, it gives me great pleasure. I think my all time favorite would be my biryani. For me, cooking is a personal experience and hence every meal I cook is a memorable one, so that surely finds a place in my top five.

Goa to Darjeeling

For quite some time, I have always been bothered by the fact that I have not been to Goa. When I say this, most of my friends say, "WHAT?" Ok, so here I am, all set to go, on my first trip to Goa. I leave on the 16th and am back on the 19th.

This trip is special in so many different ways. One, like I said, it is my first venture into Goa. Secondly, a couple of us have been planning this trip for close to two years, but we never got a chance to make it happen. Someone always had some unavoidable reason and so we kept putting it off. So this coming weekend worked out fine for most of us. The third reason is, this is a BOYS ONLY trip. It took some convincing for the men to ask their wives to NOT come, but I guess the wives are quite understanding/accommodating and hardly created a fuss. At least, that's what I believe. Now, I really have no problems with the women coming along. It's always fun, but when it's just guys, it's something else. I guess you need to be a guy to understand that. I guess I also kind of consider this my bachelors party. Anyone seen the movie "The Hangover"? Well, this seems to be similar to that in many ways. We just hope all of us come back in one piece with all our teeth intact.

The day after I get back from Goa, I am off to Darjeeling for a three day trip. This is an official trip for some work, but I do have a lot of time off and I hope to roam around a bit and try my best to get a glimpse or even take a ride on the world heritage DHR, which has always been one of my dreams. Apart from that, I have no clue of Darjeeling or any place close by. Hopefully can post some pics if I am not too lazy to carry my cam along.

Alrighty then, see you all after the trip. Be good, you all.

END-GAGED

Well, I'm actually fumbling on how to start writing. This blog has been a witness to the last few years of my life and the changes my life has gone through. The ups and downs and the smooth sailings and everything else that has happened. Now when there is a new beginning, what better place to let it out than here.

Yes, I am officially engaged now, to a wonderful person, who will now on be referred here as "RUSH" for the obvious reason that some of you already know, and some will figure out eventually. So, Rush and I got engaged last weekend, in a very peaceful and serene ceremony with close family. The setting was in Kumarakom, Kerala, facing the backwaters, with an awesome view. I could not have asked for better. The whole ceremony was quite casual with some beautiful singing by Rush's family, and also from my darling cousins. Cool breeze, good food and a houseboat ride only made the already beautiful day better.

Enough said about the event. About Rush, well, it did not take us long to figure out that we wanted to do this journey together. It was NOT love at first sight for me. Somehow that does not make sense to me, as I view love as something that constantly grows, and sometimes disappears. We were introduced to each other by a common friend, who I am sure did not think that things would come to this. For the last few months, they have been trying to fix me up with someone and I always kept saying NO, to all the names that were brought up. Rush's was the last name that came up after months, and I randomly decided that I would try to get to know her. So then, we started talking and then meeting and then it took off. Some said it was quiet fast, and honestly, at one point I felt the same way too. I felt I was rushing into it, and that i should take some more time. Then one day I asked myself, "what exactly am I waiting for? I need time for what?" I really had no answer there, and so I decided I was going to take the plunge.

Rush is a great person and yes we do get along just fine. She isn't perfect and neither am I even close to being perfect, but I have always said that, "People are imperfect and it is their imperfectness that makes them perfect for each other." So this way, I feel we are perfect. We differ on a lot of things. Our faith and belief systems are poles apart. We disagree on the food we like and what's worse, we even do not like the same kind of music. All this do not matter. I have come to understand that a good relationship or a good marriage is NOT defined by how much we share in common or how alike two people we are, but by respecting a person for their own beliefs and learning to coexist. What was most important in me making this decision was the fact that she was able to accept me as I am, in spite of my lifestyle being quite contradictory to hers. That small gesture has indeed set the tone for the rest of our lives.

To be honest, I do not know where we will be few years from now. We can only assume what the future holds. Most of the time we get it wrong. I have always taken one day at a time, and this time too I take the same approach, only this time it's not alone.