My Italian epiphany

Everyone has had Masala Dosa with Sambar..but little is known of the superhero persona these 3 take on when served with some Italian flair. I give to you - DOSAGNA! Formidable though it may sound, it is really simpler than simple. I'm not going to write the recipes for Masala Dosa or Sambar here, since they are prolifically available on the internet, or on the phone with your mother/aunt/grandmother/periappa/mama/kozhandai/Kamakshi chitti's Pug. If you're not on talking terms with your relatives, no problem..just ask the Pakkathaathu Mami. She will gladly oblige, if only to prove her recipe is superior!

In a round baking dish, put a layer of foil at the bottom. Start with a layer of dosa, top with a thin layer of potato masala. (A note on the masala here..mildly chunky will work best, or it will get on too thick and overpower the dish.) Repeat this until you have about 6-7 dosas. The top most layer should be a dosa. Then, once you're ready to serve, cut a wedge down to the last layer, plate and pour a ladle (or two!) of hot, spicy sambar over it. There you have it.

You could vary this up by smearing some coconut/tomato chutney on the dosa before you put the layer of masala on, or once the whole thing is built, sprinkle some Molagapodi on top of it and skip the Sambar. Whatever your preference, Dosagna will be there to save the day! Of course, you'll be pretty much passed out from a Doma (Dosa-Coma) for the rest of the day!

Zakir who? Where are my vadais?

This has been a bloody exhilarating, but exhausting weekend. It's taught me a couple of things about life and people. One is that truly great people are never obvious about the fact that they're great and the other that it is possible to have a grossly disproportionate idea of your own importance.

Saturday saw Masters of Percussion in Austin, led by Ustad Zakir Hussain and featuring Violin maestros Ganesh and Kumaresh. By a massive stroke of good fortune, the spouse I actually had the honour of being able to spend time with all three. I cannot say that I have ever met people as nice, friendly and chilled out as them. The Ustad has had a huge fan in me ever since I heard him as a young child and watched his delivery of 'Wah Taj Boliye' on TV hundreds of times. To be able to meet and speak with him was surreal, and I was totally starstruck. To me though, the stars of the show were Vidwans G + K. I have heard them many a time, but they were shining especially bright this Saturday evening. I'm still recovering from the stellar quality of the show.

Having seen my mother coordinate music concerts for many years, I have a fair idea just how much work it involves, so I am not without appreciation for those who put out a great effort to support and propagate Indian Classical Arts in other countries. But, and this is a very heartfelt but..spending the first 15 minutes of such a show honouring yourself for doing this negates the effort a little. It could just as easily have been a private celebration or done at the end of the show. When you have artistes of that calibre waiting behind the screen to perform..you do not try to steal their thunder. I also loved the fake surprise at being lauded.."I had no idea this was coming!!"..Really? Didn't you organize this show? Also unacceptable is telling your member base one thing and doing something else entirely. If you promised them good seats at the show in exchange for signing up, do not stick them in the upper balcony. If you do, it's safe to assume that that's probably the first and last time they want to be on your mailing list.

And to come to my favourite part of that evening, How much anxiety and distress does a lost plastic box of home made vadais call for? So much so that you ask everyone, including your star line up if they saw it. Admittedly, they're home-made and hard to come by in the Yoo Ess, so I'd be first in line trying to help you find them, so I can get some of the reward..namely that whole box. BUT, when I'm in the same room as Zakir Hussain, you've got a hope if you're sending me on a vadai hunt. Made or paid for.

Just when I was getting off the high from Saturday, I floated right back up. Sunday was tremendously inspiring. I saw my guru dancing her traditional repertoire for the first time. It made me even more proud to be her student. She was far and away the star of the show - this is my sincere opinion without bias, and let me add that I found the other performers wonderful as well. In fact, one of them is close to 80! I'd give an arm and a leg...ermm..I probably won't be able to dance much without an arm and a leg, so maybe a lot of vadais to have that kind of spirit when I'm 60..let alone 80!!

Here's to many weekends in the future filled with great art, the company of living legends, indomitable spirit and vadais out of the plastic dabba and in my stomach!

Floating..

This is not another limbo post, so before you skip off to some other blog, hear me out.

I've been feeling very light this month, for a variety of reasons. It's my anniversary tomorrow (yes, on valentine's day, and yes, it's corny, but I love it anyway), and I'm being surprised. Does knowing that I'm being surprised make it any less of a surprise? I'm also being surprised (I'm told) for my birthday next week. The spouse has this very infuriating habit of dangling juicy tidbits of half-information which makes me want to hang my tongue out and beg like a puppy to be told all. But no, I'm going to pull myself together, put up a shield of nonchalance and practice my surprised expression in the mirror. :P

I just found out I'm going to be able to go home for a couple of months. YAY. Yours truly has also managed to procure a raise, so more cause for celebration. I will be drinking heavily for the next week or so, and if you see me on the street (if I'm not plastered to a wall or face down in a ditch) say hi, and I might buy you a shot, even if it isn't your birthday. I'm feeling generous.

On a healthier note, I've been eating a bloody ton of leaves and fruits and vegetables, and greeting morning bowel movements like well loved old friends. If you think that's too much information, we'll talk after a week of you eating nothing but salad every night. The joy is indescribable! If you're wondering why I've been chewing the cud, it's a result of A's obsession to eat even more healthy and lose even more weight...I tell you the man is a bit cuckoo. I can't wholeheartedly complain though..there's not much weight to a counter argument! Haaaa. I crack myself up.

I'm off to start my week of binge drinking with some home-made blueberry mojitos! Oh yumm, yumm, yummm!

A certain amount of flexibility.

I've been thinking to myself that if anyone was to ask me about the current state of my life (this will probably never happen. Who walks up to you and says - Excuse me, how would you describe the current state of your life?), I'd probably say 'in limbo'. It got me thinking..this phrase that I've heard used by so many people, and quite frequently by moi, what does it really mean?

I went to a 70s theme party once while in high school, and one of the high points for the less fat and more flexible guests was a limbo contest. I'm pretty sure you know what this is, but if you don't, there's no need to bend over backwards to find out (Ha, ha).
Just go here.

This cannot possibly be what people are talking about when their lives are in limbo. I mean what - "My life is so ugh that I want to dance and possibly pull a few muscles?" I firmly think not.

And then, I did what I do when I have a question. Googled it. And this is what I found -

Definition 1:

In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin limbus, edge or boundary, referring to the "edge" of Hell) is a speculative idea about the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the damned. Limbo is not an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church or any other. Medieval theologians described the underworld ("hell", "hades", "infernum") as divided into four distinct parts: hell of the damned (which some call gehenna), purgatory, limbo of the fathers, and limbo of infants.

HOLY scary explanations Batman!....this is a bit extreme.

Definition 2:

Limbo (Dungeons & Dragons), a plane of existence in Dungeons & Dragons representing pure chaos and uncertainty.

Erm..let's not play games here.

Definition 3:

The Amstrad PCW's bundled word processing software, LocoScript, used the term "in limbo" to refer to files which had been deleted but which could still be restored, a concept similar to that later implemented by the Trash in the Apple Macintosh and the Recycle Bin in Microsoft Windows 95.

Innnnteresting..but still unsatisfying.

Definition 4:

Differing slightly from the original meaning, in colloquial speech, "limbo" is any status where a person or project is held up, and nothing can be done until another action happens. For example, a construction project might be described as "in limbo" if political considerations delay its permit.

Now that seems rather close. I guess it's a bit of a stretch, and far more positive than its religious origin. I will settle for "stuck between 2 states". And when I move, you'll be the first to know.

Note: This post was influenced in part by the analytical nature of the new Sherlock Holmes movie (not), and inspired by Alton Brown's critical and investigative approach to all things food.

Weblished.

I'm co-authoring a blog series with my boss. I am officially a published writer I guess. Small step, but I'm excited.

Read it here -

Web Design for Print Designers (WD4PD)

:)

I've found maturity!

I was looking in the mirror the other day, and thought to myself.."Wow! my hair is a bit shinier where it wasn't before. That new conditioner may not have been such a useless purchase after all". On closer examination, the cause was determined to be what I think is my first grey hair. (Coming to terms with useless purchase..)

Living in a country that's obsessed against greying, sagging, wrinkling, and basically any other trapping that might suggest advancing age and being subjected to vast numbers of ads that each pimp a new product to help fight this dreaded occurrence, one would think it is the next big incurable disease. Tuck this, tighten that, lift this, touch-up that, pull this, smooth that, erase this, plump that..the list of action items is endless.

I was asked by someone last year if I'd start using anti-wrinkle cream when I hit 30. I certainly wasn't thinking about it..but this seems to be a hint of some sort. I suppose I can kinda see why it might be hard to accept that you can't be a nubile innocent forever, but that apart, I think there's a certain dignity to looking one's age. I mean, I don't want to look like the mother of 8 brats who's run to the ground and looks 60 when she's actually 28. That would suck. I think a few lines, a couple of wrinkles and a sprinkling of greys is perfectly acceptable. To me, it's a sign that I have arrived. In the league of adults, in the league of the dignified and stately, and that the wisdom that surpasses my years is finally out there for all to see, albeit with some peering and squinting on their part.

The other possibility is that marriage has not been kind to me. Hmm..no, I don't think that's the reason, though every time the spouse gets on my nerves I make it a point to rummage wildly through my head to pull out that one hair and say "SEE! See what you've given me in 4 years!?". He claims he can't see it and that I'm hallucinating about the pride of my entire head. Phooey to him. When the count changes to one black hair, I might be tempted to change my tune but for the moment, I'm going to revel in my new found maturity.

Annnnnnd...its here!

A New Year, a new decade, and a new phase of possibilities and experiences. As a child, I was told that on New Year's Day I should do a bit of everything that I want to happen for me in the new year. Which meant loosely, do your holiday homework, don't be on the phone all day and you might have a decent year without us getting on your case.

There's no more holiday homework, and my friends definitely don't have the time to sit and talk vetti nonsense for 3 hours at a time, and I realize I can't possibly cram a year's worth of expectations into one day.

So far I've managed to catch a dance performance, meet some friends, sleep in, cook a nice lunch with the hubster and have a chilled out day with a movie and a birthday celebration to go to. I have no complaints if that's the trend for this year :)

Have a FAB 2010 all!