Vah Reh Vah !!

We Indians of today cannot thank Sanjeev Kapoor enough for Khana Khazana, his cookery show on Zee TV; he proved that cooking good food in our own homes is possible.

Though we had amazing and celebrated chefs like Tarla Dalal from a long time, Mr. Kapoor brought out well kept secrets from the chef's kitchen's and presented it to us for our own good. I guess the show enjoyed patronage rivaling that of our legendary TV shows, Ramayan and Mahabharat.

"Kadhai mein tel garam kijiye, ussmein zeera daalkar thoda saute kar lijiye..." I need not write more, as I am sure you will be able to continue the recipe description and finish almost any vegetarian or non vegetarian dish that you would like to make and eat. Mr. Kapoor helped us cook better by teaching a lot of amazing recipes, and also the terms and phrases like saute, swaad anusaar, garma garam parosiye. He presented the chef's vocab to the aam janta, and we were able to note down recipes, share them verbally with our friends and family. Such a wonderful revolution...:)

I fondly remember the days when we learnt new recipes every sunday. My dad used to lovingly note down the recipes in his book and we used to look forward to preparing and relishing them soon. A non-veg recipe was always a treat, and vegetarian dishes were treated with equal gusto. I remember how much the atmosphere was charged when we had decided to prepare Dum Aloo one sunday, and Chicken Biryani the other. My siblings and I hadn't tasted these two delicacies ever, hence were super excited. Each recipe demanded a lot of family effort, but the resulting aromas and tastes were heavenly!

Chicken Biryani

Dum Aloo

Mr. Kapoor's advent marked the beginning of some other amazing cookery shows on every channel on Cable Television. Today, it is mandatory for each new channel to have its signature cooking show to be in place.

I am a foodie and I wont say anything more. And thanks to chefs like Mr. Kapoor whose shows were regularly enjoyed at my place, I started becoming a lover of tasty food. But alas! My mom, sensible as she is, prepared the healthy (read not so exciting) fare each day. I used to crave good food and this is what prompted me to learn the art of cooking.

Starting from cutting vegetables, doing dishes, cleaning chicken, shelling prawns, making poori's, sauteeing (most favorite activity), I moved on to become a specialist for various cooking styles like Chinese, Mughlai, South Indian, Goan etc. , obviously in a limited but a very good way. Then with a lot of iterations came a revelation that cooking in itself is an amalgamation of science, arts and most importantly love...:) Today, thanks to me staying away from family, and having met a real awesome room mate who taught me how to cook home food, I can prepare a tasty meal for a good group of 5 people (that's an achievement!)

With me improving as a chef, unfortunately the same cannot be said about Mr. Kapoor's shows. Though he has a full fledged channel today, his shows are no longer amazing and innovative as they used to be. Nowadays we enjoy shows like Highway on my plate, where the show anchors roam India and show us delicacies from everywhere. 

Rocky and Mayur, you guys simply rock!!

It does make us realise that there are so many tastes and smells to explore and experience in our own Motherland!

I believe that while having a meal, if one watches an amazing dish being prepared or relished on TV, the quality of the whole experience of eating gets automatically enhanced. With this in mind, I used to search videos online and one fine day, I luckily stumbled upon the youtube channel of this amazingly talented south Indian chef - Sanjay Thumma.

Sanjay Thumma - The VahChef

His Facebook page says: "Chef at Vahrehvah.com. Won the prestigious Gold Medal All-India chef's competition for culinary arts for his Recipes. Smile is his weapon." 

His smile surely is a weapon, but this gentleman has many more weapons under his sleeve...:P

On his Youtube Channel, you will find some real amazing recipes, which will definitely make your mouth water. 

What stands out is this guy's innovative approach to the whole idea of having a show. He says "Vah Reh Vah is all about inspiring others to cook fresh food." Such an amazing thought! Though we all are doing things to earn a name and some good money, a well meaning job statement like this one sounds really good and warms the heart. I presume his intentions are to make the average westerner, or the working class Indian to understand how easy and simple it is to cook good Indian food and enjoy it. 

Better see his antics in live action, you will come back for more!

And how amazingly does this chef enjoy his creations! Some of his expressions while enjoying food almost sound orgasmic; kind of embarrassing at times, but at the end, you see that this man has a heart. He cracks his own silly jokes and laughs at them like a child. Writes outrageous disclaimers like "This is a show for adults who can appreciate a stupid sense of humor!". Plays tunes from movies like Don etc. at the opening of his shows. Has a very heavy south Indian accent. And is a damn confident fellow who loves what he does.

A man with a heart warming smile, funny antics and an amazingly human approach to the art of cooking, presenting a show with no hint of any staged drama and most importantly, superb recipes presented in a superb way! That is the VahChef for you...:)

Official site: http://www.vahrevah.com

Note: You should see the comments on his recipes on Youtube. People really love him...:)

The rant of a frustrated Airtel customer...

 Its been 10 complete days. 

My SIM card, stone dead it lays.

Couple of mails to the Airtel customer care. 

Loads of things done but still not there.

Frustrated, applied for a new SIM finally

Vodafone it is, a firang company.

Being a true Bharatiya is all i tried

Responses from Bharti Airtel have left my brain fried.

Its a pain. A PITA to be precise. A customer purchases a SIM card, recharges it regularly. Doesn't complain when at times a few rupees go here and there, all thanks to those ill written programs which automatically enable value added services on your account. Displays 3 full years of loyalty. And one fine day the SIM expires, and he is simply a fool; a fool as he doesn't pay attention on the penultimate day and recharges his number with the princely sum of Rs. 333. He has faith that the company will help him extend the validity. But all that he gets is a couple of useless replies and an understanding that the number will no longer be usable...

Itnaa saara haath paair maara, 

par itne saare din company ne mera maara, 

mails par toh aise replies mile, 

lage aisa ke Aam ke ped par Karele khile.

To ease this bitter after taste, I feel like going back in time....

Life was great without cell phones. Today's folks find it unbelievable that someone can survive without one. I did; my 4 years of engineering. I was never part of major initiatives back then, since, as you know, you need to be connected to get things done, which i never was.

I missed out on maintaining a lot of relationships, thanks to my lack of connectivity. Friends were just a matter of time; we stayed in touch as long as we were seeing each other; by virtue of going to the same school or whatever.(Today, all thanks to Face Book, people are so disconnected even if they are seemingly well connected)

The times when I seriously used to think that yeah, its getting hard living a life without a cell phone, i used to think of the old days; how did people meet in those days, in places which both parties were not really sure of? Today, thanks to the phones which have moved from our desks to our pockets, we can randomly call anyone and set a meeting at any point, and still be confident of having it successfully. Alas, back then I had to plan as per the old style and yet, all was well.

Funnily the girl from my engineering days, who liked me, really appreciated the fact that I never carried a cell fone. In this regard, I was very proud to have a sort of identification with the character of Jai Singh Rathore, played by Imran Khan in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na.

Whenever his mom used to ask him to get a cell fone, he said "Jab jaroorat padegi tab le loonga" (will get it when i need one)

And jald jaroorat padi. I reached Mysore for my Infosys training and got a SIM card the first day itself. And it was Airtel I chose then, although Vodafone folks came up with a better plan the very next day. I simply had no SIM and no choice whatsoever - first time away from home and utterly disconnected.

And in all these years, I have learnt to send short messages, handle long calls; realised how good mobile internet actually is, specially today when an Android opens unknown possibilities like navigation on your phone. And WhatsApp! Really, what an app! We save so much on messaging thanks to it...:)

I also do realise that why we need to be so connected today. That is since we have built a society and a life style which simply is averse to socialising, the old way.

If you live a modern life, you need to adopt modern ways completely; half measures will never help. And phones are the connecting mediums which we all have to be addicted to - its a necessity, not a vice!

All this experience came at a good cost. This translates to the contribution from one individual in supporting a telecom company with his hard earned money. There are millions like this individual. And after this long journey, it pains when the individual is meted out treatment so bad.

The individual knows he is not alone. But then, he needs to act, and the best action in this case is to move on...

I guess its time to say bye

And i am sad its not a good bye

Theres a bitter after taste on my tongue

And you know the reason why

Kyunki Airtel ne aisa phasaaya

Humne Aam samajh kar Karela khaaya

Here is my reply to a long series of unfruitful mail exchanges between me and the AIRTEL PRESENCE team. Straight from the heart after a long time and pretty eloquent...

The response i received for my mails to Airtel presence team


Namaste,

You wrote in on 7th April 2013, regarding disconnection of services against your airtel mobile number 9975440165.

We tried contacting you on 9975440165, but we were unable to establish contact with you. Please provide an alternate number on which we can contact you and resolve your concern. 

For any further queries, you may get in touch with us at airtelpresence@in.airtel.com. 

airtel appreciates your business and always welcomes your suggestions/feedback. 


My Reply to the same

Namaste,

I am receiving this reply for the 2nd time now. Its been 10 days, and my fone is dead. None of the things i tried works.

Tell me sir, what exactly is that is that needs to be spoken on the fone which cannot be said on mail? Afterall, this is also a mode of communication.

U tried to call on my fone, this means u did not read my mail carefully. My SIM has EXPIRED, so how can you exactly even think of speaking to me on the same number?

As for the alternate number that you are asking for the second time, try to understand the plight of a single, working male, who has no other contact number other than the one which has expired. Then ask for the same.

But don't worry, this bachelor working male has already arranged for a SIM with Vodafone. Airtel will be losing a few customers owing to this episode through my word of mouth.

Your reply will determine what you feel about your company, about your job and about the 'esteemed' customers you are here to serve.

Have an amazing time doing an amazing job that you have been doing all this while

Frustrated,
Shrinath Shenoy