Absolute Nonsense - Push or Pull

{Series of posts churned out from the depths of my creativity, and impulses of madness}

Women generally push a door, which indicates that it should be pulled, and they say its part of being a woman. Observed one such woman today and thought of an imaginary conversation between us.


I: Ma'am, you just pushed a door, which is indicated to be pulled.

Lady(L): See, the door moved, so there should be no problem!

I: Ohh! There is a problem ma'am - why do you think they indicate how a door needs to be moved? 

You see when you enter a premise, you will push the door, because you can see who is in front of you. If you pull at this point, there are chances that someone behind you may be injured. (they do damp this with a carpet these days)

When you leave a premise, you will always pull the door, to keep the door moving in the same direction as before. This way the door hinges can stay fine for long.

I know its complicated, but no need to think so much. Just see whats written near the door handle and follow.. (so simple...:P)

L: Excuse me, if you mean to say that we can push only when we enter a premise, then think that I am entering 'outside' and your problem will be solved!

I: Ahh, good one there madam! But there is a clause you fail to understand - the door belongs to the shop! Hence even though you are entering 'outside', it is not the premise to which the said door belongs to. Hence you should follow the rules, based on the premise to whom the door belongs...

L: Arghh!



Ps. Dedicated to all the ladies who care to read this...:P

One World, One Culture Series - Erhu and Ravanhattha

I started my analysis of Indian musical traditions 2 years ago. Raagas being combinations of notes rendered in a particular format, it will not be difficult to digest that we will find songs based on Indian raagas, in musical traditions of other countries like China, Arabia etc. This is where i started sensing a Cultural Unity which exists but has not been investigated or established properly. My attempt in the forthcoming posts will be to try and document and share all the ideas i have around this topic.

I happened to hear this lovely Chinese song, played on a two stringed instrument called the Erhu. I love the sound...:)

Taking a look at it, and having investigated quite on Indian musical instruments, i was startled to see that this instrument looks a lot like Ravanhattha, played by street musicians in Rajasthan. The instrument is also a two stringed simple instrument, and its creator is said to be the mighty Dashaanana Ravana himself.

Erhu

Ravanhattha

A performance by a street musician in Rajasthan. Note that eventually the tune starts sounding Chinese...:)

The whole point of similarity here is Chinese music is primarily pentatonic (5 note scales), and we can find songs based on Indian raagas like Malkauns/Hindolam, Bhoopal/Mohanam in Chinese music.

This, I believe, is a significant discovery for me as it hints at the fact that culture spreads gradually, and does not respect the discrete nature of geographical boundaries. Thousands of years of cultural interchange has created an amalgamation, which we can easily enjoy and connect in today's Internet connected age.

We should utilize the unique advantage we have to establish our Cultural Unity...:)

The love of parents...:)

{I havent blogged for a long time and feel its better i share small snippets of my ideas. I feel this will help me finally get back to writing good, long posts.}

The love that you feel for your parents is the most purest form of love you will ever experience in this life, i.e if you love them at all and are fortunate to get amazing parents like i have. As a kid i could never think i could love my father, but then a father's love is of a different kind. They say you will understand a father's love when u become one, but i am glad i am able to understand it now itself. Mothers are generally always loved by their kids, specially when they have a sweet mommy like i have...:) 

Whenever u feel down in life, and think its worthless and the worst; feel like ending it, think that was this the reason why those two lovely people brought you into the world and went through around 20 years of hardwork and sacrifice to make you a person able to support him/herself? They made you so that you could be happy, as much as you were when you were a babe. Being happy in this life is very important for that is the sole reason they brought you here. You are an outcome of their love...

I feel immense gratitude towards my parents and love them a lot, more than when i used to as a child. It was taken for granted in those days but now i know, the love for your parents is the greatest strength one can have in this World.

Love you Aanna and Amma...:)

On the day of dad's 60th birthday shanti. (L-R) myself, mom, sis, dad and bro...:)

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

A note on World Betterment...

7th July 2012

No action or a resolve for the same 

Must be kindled by a feeling of hatred or helplessness. 

One should sit calmly, 

with smile on his face and faith in his heart; 

Faith in the power of God and Goodness of things; 

the Hope of seeing a better World ,

bettered in a small way by the act that he intends to perform. 

He should visualise the assistance 
the Kind Lord will provide him along the path, 

and be aware that it will come 

in unexpected forms 

and will reside

 in unexpected corners of the road to be taken. 

This positive feeling 

is the most important starting ingredient one needs 

before undertaking a beautiful journey 

to self improvement and World betterment.

I just saw the promo of the movie Barfi, and was so enamoured and delighted to see something so beautiful being made in our country. We all know the present state of affairs and it boils our blood most of the times, making us make numerous resolves to take our Nation out of this muck. But we forget that till the time we take the battle axes and move to the front, we are still doing things that matter to our Nation. One mans action will always be small, but it can be made large only through motivation. And it should start from where we already are, and should not be reserved for the times and places where we shall be when we start the revolution.

For the revolution is now, and the preparation has been all through these years that you have lived.

Note: This was a daily note i had written quite long back. Barfi turned out to be a very nice movie on the technical and story front. Brilliant acting by every artiste...and I loved Illeana so much!! The director was bashed for using scenes from Charlie Chaplin classics and other movies. For me, the scenes lifted from "The Notebook" were too much to bear. But the director insists, that its his tribute to those classics. Ok fine, but i am happy that we are finally growing as a cinema loving population.

The songs in this movie are just out of the World. In today's times when Rahman is God and Vishal-Shekhar and Amit Trivedi come just close to the second spot, Pritam shows his latent talent in the soundtrack. Melodius songs, and of so many genres! I wonder no one has been able to tell which songs Pritam has lifted to compose the songs; I would prefer to know they are original. Take a bow Pritam Da...:)

Heres one song which always make me say...now that is how a song should be...:)

The Diwali of my childhood...:)

Diwali was always a time of the year that all of us used to wait eagerly, for it meant a long vacation and respite from the routine of school and homework. The business in the kitchen, with mom and my aunty from the neighbourhood preparing all sort of tasty treats like chakkuli (chakli), tukdi (shankar-pali), masala shengdano, churm-undo (ladoo), besana-undo, shevo (shev) etc. proclaimed that the great days of the year were finally here.  And what happy days were they!!

Diwali also meant that we would get to eat a lot of fish, finally after Shravan, Ganeshotsav and Navratri when eating these was a sin (which I lovingly commit in these so called independent(read unruly) days of mine). There was a peculiar observation I had, that my hair used to grow a lot more denser and quickly during this time of the year than any other time, and I attributed it to the quantity of fish that we used to consume in these days.

For us Konkani’s, Diwali always starts with Naraka Chaturdashi, on which day it is said that Lord Krishna, after defeating Narakasura, had a hearty and satisfying oil bath. 

To commemorate that achievement of the beloved Lord of many, we all have this bath, maybe on the morning of that day (preferably) or the evening of the previous day (as I usually like to have). My mother used to (and still does) prepare a medicated oil that is applied unsparingly all over the body, the head and the face; even put inside the ears (a means of cleaning them) and when we kids used to make a funny face saying that it sucks when oil is put in our aural cavities, our mommy used to say that if I don’t put it in, you guys will turn into monkeys (I guess putting oil never worked, I was and still am one...:P).  After allowing the oil to stand on the body, with repeated massage, our mom bathed us with tremendously hot water, which was a little bearable thanks to the layer of oil.

After the bath, the whole body sank into a great fatigue, which eventually becomes invigorating. To supplement this great exercise of physical cleansing, our mom prepared a ‘kashaayoo’ (medicinal tea)of coriander seeds, pepper, elaichi , turmeric, jaggery and ginger, which was ground well and then cooked in water till the water reduced, and served with a little milk. Such a tasty drink! And for dinner, we had fried fish (usually Raj/Bangda  or mackerel as they call it in English, my all time favorite…J)

{ I am proud to say that I have never broken this tradition of oil bath, even during my training days in Mysore last year, when I got a bottle of parachute coconut oil and had an oil bath in my room Fortunately there was hot water that evening…:). Just that no mackerel and no kashaayoo last year…:(}

After having done all that, one truly could feel happy to be alive, to enjoy such simple treats of life, see the happy faces of people wishing each other well, the diyas dancing gaily in the light winds that flowed; the bursting crackers and the rockets and sky-fireworks, which are my all time favorites.

Diwali will always be incomplete without fire, may it be in the form of the mild, beautiful and unpolluting diyas or the noisy, exciting, polluting fireworks which definitely were loved by all of us when we were kids. Our dad used to provide these in limited quantities, since we never had the kind of money to burn on such endeavours. But I guess the frugality that he observed in buying crackers has led to us having had the best memories of these festive days.

He used to get us a good amount of sparklers, one or two packs of flower pots, zameen chakkars, one pack of small bombs (teta) for me and my bro. When we had grown up, he had got us a pack of sutli/atom bombs each. Every night, myself and bro used to burst one garland of the teta’s each, then two flower  pots, two chakkars and 2 packs of sparklers. We used to get very creative with the small bombs, turning them into chakkars, bursting them in holes in the wall so that small circles of smoke used to come out at times, which was considered as a great achievement. The biggest treat was when we used to collect the powder inside these bombs on paper to create a heap, place a wick on the heap and create a mini conflagration!

{These frugal diwali’s lasted only till I reached 6th std, beyond which due to our awareness of both air and sound pollution, we stopped bursting the crackers completely.}

I grew up in a Gujarati locality, and towards the end of Diwali, came the Gujarati New year.  ‘Saal Mubarak’ (Happy new year) was what we used to call it. It was a day when we had to get up a little early, since hordes of kids would come to our place, to wish us new year, and take away sweets. When we were small, even we were allowed such pleasures but my strict dad never liked that practice. You could see those happy little faces, dressed to glory, with gals having cute little purses, held only with the sole intention of collecting as many toffees and sweets as they could…cute!

Thus were spent the few uproariously happy days of the year…the festival of lights, sounds, smells, tastes and smiling faces….Diwali. Wish you all a great one this year...:)

Note: This one was written a year back...:)