Book of the month : January

Knowing that this is not going to be very easy, I picked up something that I know I would surely enjoy - Asimov's short stories. The book was thoroughly enjoyable, for someone who enjoys Asimov's writing. I must thank one of my friend's - Murr for introducing me to Asimov's wonderful world. What started as an obsession with the Foundation series, slowly increased to the Robot series, Clarke's Space Odyssey, Clarke's Rama series, Frank Herbert's Dune series and a bunch of other books (including Ender's Game which I really liked). The best thing about Asimov's short stories is that they are fast paced and never have a dull moment. If you are like me, it will leave you with a smile on your face - the same feeling you get when you read Jeffrey Archer's short stories, or a PG Wodehouse story or a brilliant Sherlock Holmes' story (written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). There are few writers who seem to take a lot of pleasure in writing, and I would place Asimov right there at the top. The energy seems to transfer through the power of their words and it transfers right to the readers. Lately, the Harry Potter books did the same to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the narration and savored each book, hoping that they would never end.

One month down and I am already liking this resolution.

Keeping up with the resolutions

Firstly, I am sorry for conjuring up images of a dysfunctional family that has now began to claw its way into main stream television by dating NBA and NFL stars. Secondly, I am kicked at being able to keep up with my resolutions so far. I know its a tall ask, but hey, I will take any credit I can give myself.

So, here's my entry about the "Dish a month (new)" or as my wife would exclaim each time she encouters this - "Damn!"

This month, I attempted a Vegetarian Quiche. I found its recipe on the web, while looking for dishes that can be made with feta cheese. Ironically, I ended up not using much feta cheese. I give myself a 6 on 10 for effort and taste, on this dish. It is one of the easiest things I have made in a while. Given that I have not cooked in a while, I would actually give myself a pat on the back for not screwing this up royally. I made this as a potato crust based quiche, with vegetable and cheese filling. It sounds rather yummy and would probably have been a lot better too. My first reaction was that it was too salty, but I realized later that the salt had not mixed well. My second reaction was that the potato had not baked uniformly, especially under the pie. So while, I had an overall good consistency, I would have liked it if the potato had solidified all around. The final thoughts I had were that this might have been a good dish but I had no reference to compare this to, and hence I declare this a success :)

An interesting thing happened when I popped the first piece into my mouth and realized it was a little salty. I turned to my wife who was also sampling her first piece and said

"Ok, my resolution said I have to cook a new dish every month but no one said it had to taste good. So I guess this cuts the bill"

Once again, without wasting a second, my wife chimed in with

"Of course, honey. No one said it had to taste good. I agree with you."

To put the media in its place

I came across this rather video of Ram Jethmalani, being interviewed by Sagarika Ghose from NDTV . Now if you are like me, and are not well-versed with popular and notorious personalities, you might not have heard about Ram Jethmalani. This guy is a criminal lawyer, who is well known for taking up famous cases (quite notably among them - Harshad Mehta). This particular video is about the Jessica Lal murder case. To put it in context, Jessica Lal, an upcoming model, who was found murdered at a bar, in 1999. The chief suspect was Manu Sharma, the son of a high-profile politician from the Indian National Congress. Ram Jethmalani took up Manu Sharma's case inspite of popular public and media opinions that Manu Sharma was guilty. Here, he states his case as to why he took it up.

A lot of things to be noted about the whole manner in which this murder has been tried in the court. Initially, the court did a lousy job of analyzing the evidence. It was only due to public and media intervention, that the case was reopened, and evaluated carefully. That being said, where does the job of the media end ? Is creating prejudice something the press should do ? Where do we get unbiased jury members from ? Should the press try to bias the defending lawyer as well ? The "popular opinion" about Indian judicial system and the Law and Order system may not be good. However, the solution is not to subject people to public trials, media scrutiny, and completely lose faith in the judicial system. Have faith in the system, and if it fails you, then try to appeal within its limits! I don't think the solution is for everyone to turn vigilantes and add to the existing law and order issue.

Stages of music appreciation

Stages that I go through when I like a new song

1. Instant appreciation.

2. Listen repeatedly till I scare myself into hating the song.

3. Stop listening to the song and desparately try to get hooked to something else.

4. Forget what the song's tune was and recreate the wrong tune in my mind.

5. Give in to the song and listen to it again.

6. Get blown away a second time and realize that I did not observe the nuances during my first hearing.

7. Try to sing the song whenever/wherever and do a horrible job.

8. Hate the song because it is not easy to sing.

9. Praise all artists involved in the song and accept that singing is not for everyone.

A week of firsts and something to think about...

It has been a week of firsts of all sorts. I had beetroot sambar for the first time in my life. Its amazing how I have had beetroot and sambar independently but this is the first time I had it together. You have to get past the different color but then it is a good taste.

Other than that I have had my first good dental experience. I have had a cavity bothering me for a little while now and with lot of hesitation, I took an appointment with this dentist that Uma had seen earlier. The doctor was very friendly and made me feel very comfortable. However, I cannot get past the idea of a dentist talking to me while I have a plumber's kit in my mouth. You see, the dentist was filling my cavity, so he stuck a device under my lips to keep my mouth pried open. Seeing that, this was not enough he wedged a bean shaped thing at my molars so that I could not bite down any more. Leaving me in this awkware position, he reclined my chair a little further than 180 degrees so that I felt a little bit upside down. He and the nurse then stare down my mouth while I try hard not to fog up his tiny mirror that he is using to see the underside of my tooth! While doing this, he told me some stories about his daughter and explained what he was doing with my teeth. I could not understand if he expected me to answer back or acknowledge that I heard him. At one point, he asked me if I was doing alright too!

At the end of the day as we were driving back after watching Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, I told U about my experience with the dentist. I told her that I found it awkward to listen to a one-sided conversation without being able to acknowledge it. Without missing a beat she remarked

"Vaadiki entha bore kodithe vachina prati addamaina vedhava tho vaadi inti sangatulu cheptaadu ??"

(Loosely translated: "How bored must this guy be to narrate his personal stories to every dumbass who visits him ?")

Things I discovered during my road trip

1. I love the Twix ice-cream bar! It has just about everything I want from my icecream - chocolate, caramel and crunchy cookie pieces. Sad that it does not last as long. I will run on the treadmill as long as I have to, in order to enjoy my Twix ice cream bar without any guilt!
2. I love oranges. I sort of started this at home prior to the trip but there were stretches on that trip when I devoured 3-4 oranges at a go! God knows if all the Vitamin C is preventing me from getting a cold now, but I ended up eating healthy, while enjoying it.
3. Even though I deny it, I do enjoy visiting man-made structures like the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument. I was very reluctant to visit these crowdy places, but it was either the weather or the high spirits of the people that made me really have a good time. I would have loved it if someone sold bajjis off the streets :)
4. I got my road trip mojo back! I had a terrible cold while driving towards Virgina but recovered after a night's sleep. I did not mind the drive on my way back and in fact enjoyed it a bit. All charged up for my next long drive now!
5. Uma has become quite a hiker now. Not only did she push me to get on a hike on Saturday, she maintained a steady pace while climbing uphill - something I can never do. My strategy is to walk as fast as I can, while making frequent stops. Uma maintained a steady pace while making lot fewer stops. Got to admire the patience
6. I need to re-invent myself on the photography front. I thought I was creative with my shots, till I realized that I am repeating myself too often. So no more of those close up shots of wild flowers or long exposure shots of streams. Time to think differently.
7. I am getting tired of the songs on my ipod. I probably forwarded through a dozen songs before playing one. It could be because I have not updated my ipod in a while. I need to listen to different kinds of music.

Rooting for your team

     Did you ever notice that you have always been rooting for "your team" all your life ? As a child, one of the first teams I liked was the Indian cricket team. You knew that Ravi Shastri, Srikanth and a bunch of other cricketers were real losers and were no match for the stars on some other teams. You knew you couldn't win with this team, yet you rooted for them. When I came to US, I picked a new team to cheer - the Denver Nuggets. When I started following the team, I knew deep down that there was no way we could win much with this team. Yet, night after night, my emotions ran high when the team lost matches, and I screamed myself hoarse cheering them to win! I rooted for every single player, however ridiculous they might have been. 

   Now, as years passed most of the original Denver team got traded to other teams, and now I found myself annoyed at how bad these players used to be. I could not believe that I used to like these players. I see myself going through a similar phase with the IPL, in cricket. I saw an article today in the newspaper saying that Andrew Symmonds (an Australian player) might be fit to play for Deccan Chargers  (the Hyderabad based team). I was a little relieved on seeing the news as I was hoping that my team makes it to the final four. I did not care, if they demolished Sehwag and Dhoni's teams along the way. I was prepared to even support Andrew Symmonds for this. Andrew Symmonds. Abey Maakki!! What's going on here ?? 

  Are my loyalties so shallow, that they can be compromised ? Do we associate ourselves with "teams" for no logical reason ? Makes me wonder about all my prejudices.