Just finished watching the Olympics opening ceremony. Honto ni spectacular datta. And there I was all set to 'boycott' the Olympics! This is the first time I was able/willing to watch the opening ceremony of any event  to the end.  It was really rivetting. Must have cost a mind-boggling amount to put up such a show. But with China''s pride at stake, it was  not surprising. The pre-parade show was colourful, specially the taichi  performance. The flag parade was done in true Chinese fashion - the country name was kanji-fied and the ascending stroke order was followed. Which meant we had no idea which country would come next. All we knew was that Greece came first and China last. The Indian contingent was not too big, compared to the American. And it was nice to see Sonia Gandhi cheering and waving.

The torch lighting was rather breathtaking. There was this gymnast harnessed to a hoist.Once the flare was in his hand he was pulled up and carried all around the stadium. As he 'ran',  it appeared as if a red carpet was unfurling before him on the screens fitted all around, showing images of Olympic torch relay in various parts of the country. Then once he reached the torch, he set it alight and it was magnificent.

It was really enjoyable.I'm going to watch the closing ceremony as well. And boycott the rest of the games.

It's raining heavily. Thunder and all. I hope we have class tomorrow. I'm bored sitting at home on weekends. Just to be on the safe side, I'm not shaving my legs tomorrow. Let's see. 

Here's the story that has started a few debates on abortion. Niketa Mehta was in the 24th week of pregnancy when her gynec discovered serious defect in the foetus and recommended abortion. The alternative was a seriously handicapped baby with a drastically reduced quality of life. Naturally the Mehtas were worried. MTP after 20 weeks is illegal in India unless the life of the mother is at risk.  The Mehtas decided to challenge the law. The High Court, after conducting many studies and tests ruled against them saying that the risk to the baby isn't as serious as stated earlier.  The question is: why shouldn't abortion be allowed in such cases?

Abortion, euthanesia..these are all such grey areas, ethically speaking. If abortion can be allowed upto 20 weeks, why not beyond it? Everyone has a right to live, whether a 20 week old foetus or a 26 week old one. Right from the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg and a zygote if formed, it is life. One cell, million cells, what does it matter? So why is it  ok to abort a less than 20 week old foetus and not one over it? The law should be equal towards all.

Abortion beyond 20 weeks is allowed when the mother's life is in danger. But regardless of how seriously defective a foetus is, aborting it after 20 weeks is illegal.  Is it really ethical to  give birth to a baby, knowing that it will never have a normal life?Every parent wants his/her child to grow up healthy. Who would want to see their kid on pacemaker and life support from the moment of birth, dependant on them for everything?  What would happen to the child when the parents are gone?  Who will look after them?  Is it ethical to condemn a child to a 'vegetable' existence?

The law does not recognise the unborn child as an individual with individual rights. The murderer of a pregnant woman is not sentenced for double murder. In case of accidents, the compensation does not cover the unborn child. Why?

In the end, I believe only the mother has the right to decide whether to abort a child or not. It isn't an easy decision.

So the trust vote is come and gone and the government has survived to fight  more battles. And I, like the rest of  India could only watch  aghast and bewildered  at the tamasha  that went in the guise of politics.  Now I know why it's called dirty politics. There was something so 'icky', so disgusting about the way our elected leaders went about garnering support for their cause. I couldn't believe people would stoop so low, discard all dignity to get what they want. I wonder why they do it. Is it all worth it? To know that the nation despises you, holds you in greatest contempt...People like Advani and Mayawati, I could see the greed in them, this unseemly thirst for power. Why? What is so great about leading a nation as troubled and pathetic as ours?

I think people over 50 should be barred from politics. There's nothing wise about them. All are greedy, corrupt, thinking only of their own skin. We need young people, people like Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdullah. At least they seem more mature and far-sighted. What's wrong with the nuclear deal? Ok, seeing as USA is involved, we should be extra careful. But that's no reason to outright reject it like the Left seem to have done. (Even their bosses in Beijing have given their support!). We need power and energy desperately. Even as I write there are areas in Mumbai suburbs that are reeling under 8-12 hours of power cut. Industries are shutting down. Nobody seems to have an alternate solution, so why not this? But no...Left is anti-American and the rest of them anti-UPA.  Cutting their noses to spite their faces!

Lets hope the nuclear deal comes through. And I'm never letting my child enter politics.

(Goes off to read Omar Abdullah's speech again)

The fuel shortage is finally hitting home. I booked my refill cylinder and was given a token number, for the first time, and told it would take 3 days.  Refills always used to come promptly the next day.  Time to tighten the belt.  Starting last Sunday, I've decided to ditch rickshaws and take the train  to commute to my class.  It's cheaper and less stressful, since I don't end up fighting with the drivers  over wrong fares and overcharging.

I think monsoons will be here soon. Must get the rain gear ready.

Speaking of rains.....

Naruto manga is going to kill me one of these days with its angst overload.  Sasuke  finally cried, something he should have done years back . I felt like crying myself.  Because Itachi is really dead ( yup, complete with that forehead poke and those word: forgive me, Sasuke, this is the last time. Waaaaaah!!!) Itachi had to die; killing him had been Sasuke's driving goal since chapter/episode 3. But did they have to evangelise him so?  I was ok with Itachi getting a sympathetic back-story, because no matter what his reasons for killing his clan, I held on to the belief that he spared Sasuke because he loved him. All that talk of measuring his capacity, sparing Sasuke because he was not worth killing, all that was just so much bull shit. It made Itachi a very interesting villain. During the fight with Sasuke, when he said that Sasuke was his spare, I couldn't believe it. That Itachi  would turn out to be a two-dimensional character, after all...But along came Madara and gave Itachi such a thorough whitewashing that he is now St. Itachi.  The Konoha secret  agent who so hated war that he killed his own clan in order to prevent them from rising against the Village.  But couldn't kill his brother because he loved him so.

I don't buy Madara's story because he has  a motive. But Sasuke.... will he ever show some sense? I'm happy that Sasuke can now properly mourn Itachi, can relive those happy times they had shared. I really understand his sorrow because I would feel the same. But  "crush Konoha'?  Is that an answer?  Why doesn't he stop for one moment and think that that isn't what  Itachi wanted?  Itachi wanted to save Konoha . And now Sasuke is trying to destroy it  because he wants to avenge his brother and family. Utter moron.

And in the end, it all comes to Naruto  vs Sasuke.  No matter how obsessively he chased after Sasuke, Naruto will have to fight him in order to save Konoha. I'm not even going to predict what the outcome will be. Maybe they'll both die and Sakura will be Hokage.

I kind of feel sorry for Naruto.

Meanwhile, the anime has descended to fillerdom and I stopped watching. I'll go back to it once the Asuma arc starts.

Shiv Sena's at it again. Now that their pet theme, Marathi manoos, has been hijacked and appropriated by MNS, they've latched on to the other pet theme. Mumbai vs Bombay. The Sena seems to have developed an allergy to the word 'Bombay.' So much so that they've gone into a frenzy and have blackened all and everything that sports that name. I don't blame them. It must be the weather we're having right now, hot enough to drive everyone crazy! So Bombay Scottish becomes Mumbai Scottish, Bombay High Court is Mumbai HC, IIT Bombay  becomes IIT Mumbai. Or so it seems. Soon it will be the turn of Bombay Duck, followed by all those film songs with the dreaded word. How does 'Yeh hai mumbai meri jaan' sound? Or 'Mumbai to Goa'?

When I first came to this city, it was happily going by the name of Bombay.  Changing the name to Mumbai doesn't seem to  have  done much good.  Au contraire. Wish the politicians would get a clue.

I was supposed to start my tai chi classes from today. But D had a bad night and so I postponed it.

Yesterday while I was at the fruit vendor's, I was approached by an urchin who pointed to the litchis and mutely asked for one. Litchis cost Rs.40 per dozen (so not worth it). Before I could react, the vendor gave him a banana and told him to scram. But he refused to budge and kept pointing to the litchi, so I told the vendor to give him one and I'd pay. The vendor cautioned me, "Aap usko bhav mat do. Usko sabse mehngawala  chahiye. Pata hai, us din usne kya manga?  Alphonso!"

Well, I'd rather buy the kid an alphonso than give him money.


Ok, recipe time.  Today's recipe  is "ishtoo'.  I've read about  various  ways to prepare it, quite a few of them using ginger-garlic. But the one here is what we make at home. And in case there is no coconut milk, the ordinary milk can be used. Kawarimi jutsu!


Ingredients:

Potatoes :   3 to 4
Onion: 1, sliced or chopped
Green Chilli: 1 or 2, depending on the spice level, slit lengthwise
Ginger: one inch piece, finely chopped
Curry leaves : a few
Salt to taste
Coconut milk:  half cup. (Or use ordinary milk)
Coconut oil: 1/2 tsp


Method:

Pressure cook the potatoes, onion, ginger and chilli. (3 whistles and simmer for 10 minutes.) Transfer the contents to a kadai, add salt and curry leaves and bring to boil again. Add the milk, stir, simmer for a minute. Garnish with coconut oil. Enjoy with rotis, bread, puri, puttu, vellappam...the possibilities are endless.   


 

It's been ages! But this summer vacation seems to be the most hectic one so far. Normally we spend the summer in Kerala, have done so for the last few years. But this time we miscalculated and by the time we decided to go, it was too late to book tickets. I'm totally regretting it. At least back home, D wouldn't be so bored. Her swimming classes are g etting over next week and I don't want to continue because she hasn't graduated from the baby pool yet, even though it's been one month. I don't think she'll do it any time soon, so I'll give her a break. There's the dance which she enjoys, thank god; but what else should I enrol her in? Having her underfoot  leaves me with no time for my work. And consequently I feel so hassled. We can't even take a break because M has no leave. I hate summer!

Last week we went to the zoo. I was quite excited because I was reminded of those trips to Alipore zoo when we were kids.  But Byculla zoo isn't Alipore, this isn't 1980s and summer isn't the ideal time for picnics. I was sadly disappointed and D simply didn't care for the sad-looking animals in their pathetic cages. I really hate zoos. I'll never visit one again.

Since A is in London now, I thought I'd write down a few recipes that he can make  easily. 

It's been a hectic week and a half. The school vacation has begun and I've enrolled D in a swimming class at Stanislaus. So she's occupied for at least one hour each evening. The classes started yesterday and the first lesson was how to hold breath underwater. Poor D couldn't manage it at all yesterday, kept thinking she'd drown. I wasn't too worried, though. Any parent who'd endured the trauma of first day at kindergarten/play school will find it surprisingly easy to sit through the other first days of their child's life. I'm sure D will be fine.

Yesterday was Vishu. As usual we put the kani and then M left for Tvm. Luckily D's friend was coming over for lunch, providing me with enough motivation to rustle up a 'naalu kari'. I wanted to record the recipes here, but too tired now. Maybe some other time.

On Sunday we had attended a First Holy Communion party of an acquaintance's daughter. I'd never heard of such party before though I was familiar with the ceremony. And - maybe it's just me, but I don't think  "Congratulations" is quite the appropriate opening song for such a party!

On Sunday I'd taken some chips to class. It resulted in an hour long discussion of various Indian New Year customs, particularly Vishu. And in Nihongo, too! And now we have to write an essay on the New Year customs we follow.

Naruto premiered on CN India last week. 8 episodes so far. What can I say? It's like eating refried vada. The taste is gone, but it's still vada. I've watched and loved the original episodes in Japanese. A lot was lost in translation when the series got dubbed into English. And it's this English version dubbed in Hindi that we're watching here. A lot of the nuances is lost in dubbing, a lot of regional references. How does いただきます  translate into English? "I receive"? Sakura sounds strange when she calls Sasuke as Sasuke and not Sasuke-kun. Thankfully they've retained 'sensei' and 'jutsu'. And of course, everything is so censored. Not only has Oiroke no jutsu become Beauty jutsu, it isn't fully shown. The part where Naruto stabs himself and takes the oath has been so distorted, unless one has seen the original, it would be difficult to follow. And the voice actors.......! They certainly don't sound 12 or 13. And that coolest of all ninja, Kakashi sounds like a middle-aged man!!!

Still, it's Naruto (or rather Narutoe) and I'll definitely keep watching it, crappy dubbing or not. Believe it!


     

Today is Gudi Padwa. I hope today does not set the tone for the rest of the year. We don't celebrate it, but....I'd expected today to be a holiday for me, but H sensei had confirmed that  we would have class.  Thought I'd take the train today, but spent so much time trying to d/l  Naruto ep (without success) that it was 7:10 by the time I left.  There was an accident at Lilavati junction and I saw the driver of the tempo involved, blood pouring down his face. It wasn't quite the sight one would wish one's 'kani' to be. Fought with the rickshawala  over faulty meter. (Strangely enough, I had the same fight on my return journey!) And once I reached the college, I found both yon kyuu and san kyuu along with the sensei waiting in the unlit corridor, because apparently no one had told the office peon that today was working day. So frantic calls were made, the guy located and roused out of sleep and finally the doors were unlocked. The evening batch had already finished chapter 53. We're lagging behind.

Today's lesson was 'みえます and きこえます. Watching Naruto certainly helps. I remembered the VotE scene where Sasuke keeps saying みえる. And the second ED of Naruto - ね... きこえますか   

It's been a fairly depressing week. Not personally so much as the happenings all around.

Let's start with Tibet. It's so sad what's happening there. And other than making noises, nobody seems to be doing anything. Forget India. I know my country lacks  spine where and when it matters most. India will never take up Tibet's cause, not if it involves  tackling China.  It's better to be in China's good books, isn't it?So what if China claims a part of our land as its own, so what if cheap Chinese goods flood our market and kill our local economy? So what if Chinese greed threatens an entire culture and a way of life? India must keep China pacified at all cost. How pathetic! Tibet is going to be lost forever. I wish I could do something.

Closer home, the Goa rape-murder case that has evolved from yet another statistic to something totally bizzare, because, guess what? Girls who are neglected by their parents deserve to be raped and killed.Or so the CM of Goa seems to think. Poor Scarlette Keeling. Maybe she was a victim of negligence, maybe she should have exercised  more caution  but  to be raped and then killed?  And then the entire sordid case gets covered up.

Well, here's to a weekend of communal harmony. There's Id on Thursday, Good Friday, Holi and Navroz on Saturday and Easter on Sunday.

Ok, quick post. Naruto manga ch 393 is going to be out in a day or so, and before I read that or get spoiled, I want to put in my 2 cents worth and make a few predictions of my own, just so I have the satisfaction of telling myself 'I told you so'. I could have done this at one of the many fansites, but fanbrats drive me crazy with their stupidity and total inability to understand what's happening.

So, there we have Sasuke and Itachi facing off finally and probably, hopefully for the last time. Sasuke has used every jutsu in his arsenal. Itachi has used tsukiyomi, amaterasu and finally susanou. It is the last which stumps Sasuke just when he thought he had won. Now there's nothing to stop Itachi from taking Sasuke's eyes (and his life). But wait, there is one - Konoha's wild, unpredictable and number one noisy ninja, Uzumaki Naruto.  Because, if anything or anyone can save Sasuke, it would be Naruto. This is the reason for Naruto's elemental chakra training; not so he can overpower Sasuke's lightning element with his wind power, but  so that that he can strengthen Sasuke's  fire (wind can fan the flames higher). Naruto can lend his power to Sasuke, just enough for Sasuke to defeat Itachi because Itachi too is at the end of his power.

And I'm pretty sure that will happen. It ties up with everything. Sasuke will realize that even though Orochimaru taught him a lot, he didn't succeed where it really mattered to Sasuke. Orochimaru's powers are not enough to defeat Itachi. Because in the end, Orochimaru himself got genjutsufied by Itachi's spirit sword. Incidentally, I'm happy with the way things turned out with Orochimaru. I knew Sasuke couldn't have killed him.  The only person Sasuke wants to kill is Itachi. Besides, how do you kill someone who is immortal, who flits from body to body? So for a brief while there Sasuke absorbs Orochimaru's spirit/soul/whatever.  But now that it is trapped in permanent genjutsu, Sasuke is free.

And Naruto - He will finally get a chance to do to Sasuke what he's done to Neji, Gaara, Chiyo, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Sai and so many others. He'll get  a chance to change Sasuke's outlook and his life. Like others before him, Sasuke will realise that true strength comes from having precious people to protect.

Naruto and Sasuke work best when they work together, as shown in the Wave Country arc when they free Kakashi from his water prison. They pool their strength and then fight. That is what should happen now as well.

Well, I've got that off my chest. Now I can sit back and watch my prediction fall like a pack of cards.

I really must be more regular. Last week the yonkyuu results were declared, but I waited till Saturday to pick it up. I have done well, better than I expected, specially in choukai. I mean, 76/100 wasn't what I expected. So I must have listened well, ne? Ananya scored the highest with 94%. She got full marks in mojigoi. This year, isshokenmei benkyou shite imasu yo!

Hema sensei's really good. So far she's not officially started any lesson, but she just forces us to speak in Japanese. No English translation, no Romaji writing. Half the time we  lose track of what she's saying, but we're getting better. Like Bipin sensei says, it's no good learning a new language if you're not going to use it. It's fun speaking in Japanese. All the so desu ne and honto ni....Even our aisatsu is getting better. For instance, all through last year I used to enter class (when late) with only a haitte mo ii desu ka. Last Sunday, I discovered that I had to say shitsurei shimasu as well and throw in an ohayo gozaimasu as well.

Karishma is going to Japan for two weeks on an exchange programme. Lucky girl! I wish I were going too.

Most, or rather all my classmates have some definite aim in studying this language. I seem to be the only one who's doing it for fun. But really, I need to have a goal. Translation service. Yes, but not just any translation. Like Ananya says, technical translation is too boring. I would like to translate books and movies and stuff like that. Yesterday I saw Om Shanti Om on dvd and it had such atrociously translated subtitles that it was unintentionally hilarious. It's not easy to translate from one language to another, specially when one of the languages involved is English. English is a very...masculine, no-frills language. Unlike Hindi or any Indian language. Or Japanese.  When you want to translate 'jab tu mere kok mein tha' you don't say 'when you were in my stomach', you use the word 'womb'. Or say 'when I was pregnant'.

I used to have a lot of fun translating Hindi songs when I was young(er). Now I'm  doing the same with Japanese songs.

Yesterday was the first Sunday class of san kyuu. San kyuu no ichiban nichiyoubi no kurasu. Hema sensei. It was quite interesting. Very interactive and fun-and-games-y.  Ice-breaker.  I think this year the focus will be more on conversational ability than  grammar.  I like that. After all, if we are taking the effort to learn Japanese, we should be able to talk in it, if not flawlessly, at least functionally.  Sensei also gave us valuable tips on how to study kanji. I knew the note books I'd purchased in Singapore  would come in use. Sensei says that we should practise writing kanji in squares and grids, rather a grid of four squares. That gives us an idea of the correct proportion of each kanji and enables us to write beautifully. After all the essence of Japanese script is its art, grace and beauty.

So, starting today, it's three /four kanji per day.

We have two new students. They are from IJA. Omoshiroi desu ne.

I spent Sunday afternoon figuring out the way to use my new ipod. It's such a headache, wading through the instructions online. I'm seriously technologically challenged, but finally I managed to import some of my favourite songs into it. I'd downloaded some Naruto songs from the Net. Got the full version instead of the TV version. And 'Michi' is as lovely as ever. I love that song so much. I don't know why. It's the music, the lyrics and the video too. Damn good.   

All that IPL business is making me crazy. I feel so depressed when I see those people throwing away money - crores of it - on already rich and useless cricketers. I want to grab hold of them by their collars, shake them, tell them to take a good long look at our country, our poor pathetic country. If they have so much money to throw away invest, build schools, hospitals, parks...Or invest in some other sports. What about football? Hockey? They are crying for some attention, some investment. Our stupid cricketers are already overpaid and underperforming.

I expected nothing better from Shah Rukh Khan and Vijay Mallya. But Preity Zinta  has totally disappointed me. 

Yesterday was Open Day at D's school.  I never look forward to Open Days because  the class teacher has only one thing to say to me - Dhvani is very shy and does not open up, please try to do something about it. Yesterday, thankfully, she refrained from saying it. I guess she's given it up as lost cause. Or maybe it's the TZP effect :D But she did compliment D on her academics.

I'm getting totally addicted to the anime Cardcaptor Sakura. I always thought shoujo anime was boring, too many girly girls in pink and ruffles talking about true love and stuff. Shonen anime was more my kind, full of fighting and jokes. But CCS is very appealing.  It's funny  and some of the characters are very pretty (coughTouyacough). And Syaraon's eyes are so enormous! Plus the opening song is very hummable.

Speaking of anime/manga, wonder what's happened to Sasuke. Has Itachi's Amaterasu fried him to crisp or has he managed to do some last minute jutsu to save himself? Initially I was all for Sasuke  getting beaten by Itachi and then needing Naruto's help (power of bonds!) to get his revenge. But now, I want Sasuke to win this round against his brother. This is his fight, the goal he had worked for since his clan's massacre. Sasuke should be able to do this by himself or he'll never forgive himself. Maybe he can take Naruto's help in the fight against Madara/Tobi later. But this - against Itachi - is Sasuke's fight and I'll be very disappointed if he doesn't win.

I really must update my journal more regularly.

On Valentine's day I wanted to do something special for my husband  and daughter who love  non-veg food.  I wanted to cook them a non-veg dish. Chicken was out of question, thanks to the bird  flu scare. Fish, on the other hand, seemed ideal, but I'd never cooked fish before, never ever purchased it, didn't even know how to and couldn't tell one fish from the other.  So I dithered and V-Day passed by. Dhvani continued to pick at her food and finally the worried mother in me took over.

My father is vegetarian and Amma, who couldn't live without fish curry, gave it up after marriage. We grew up on ghas poos with occasional egg on the side. Of course there were those long summer holidays when we would visit Kerala and I vaguely remember Ammamma making fish curry for us when Achan was not there!

The point here - what we didn't eat, we  didn't know how to prepare. We only knew the non veg stuff the restaurants dished out whenever we felt the craving.

I could do the same with Dhvani - order from out. But, so impractical and unhealthy in the long run.  So much better to just beard the lion, or in this case,  er...pull out the fins?

How does a complete novice go about it? In my case, a lot of research went into it. I read cookery books that told me how to tell good fish from bad, the dos and don'ts when  buying and cleaning fish.  The actual cooking could wait. I had to get the damn things first. So I asked a friend who recommended Pali market as the place to get started. At the last minute I changed my mind and hopped over to Chimbai Road where these fisherwomen sit with baskets of fish. It was closer and I wouldn't be overwhelmed by the smell and the noise.

I was fully prepared to be ripped off. All I wanted was some fresh fish. So I walked up to the stall which looked the least uninviting and asked for bangda. Bangda is aila in Malayalam. I have only heard of  aila and chala and didn't know the Marathi name for chala, hence bangda. I was shown the fish. I gingerly touched the tail (since my reading told me the tail had to be stiff). It was stiff. The vendor assured me it was fresh. I was convinced. I bought a set of three and asked her to clean them.  She  complied. (For  the sake of my delicate stomach, I will not describe how she did it. Suffice it to say the fish  got cleaned, gutted and  scaled/descaled.). She told me all I had to do was wash, cut and cook it. I paid  and left with my purchase.

Back home, the first thing I did was call my Grandma. She gave me two quick recipes and I decided to follow  the simplest this first time.  The recipe was ridiculously easy and my fish curry was ready in no time. Of course my appetite had completely disappeared by then and I had this insane urge to go take a dip in some holy water somewhere. Failing that, a shower seemed just as good. Cooking fish is such a smelly business. The entire kitchen reeked and I used up a  full bottle of Pril just to wash the dishes!

But it was worth it. For once my husband had no concrit to dish out. And my daughter, she loved it.

Maybe I'll do this again next week. And try out the second recipe.




 

Kino kara nihongo no san kyuu no kurasu ga hajimarimashita. Well, officially it started on Saturday when we were called for a meeting to discuss our Saturday timing. It seems all the girls have decided to continue with san kyuu. I guess the guys have opted out. No surprise there. Apart from Sandy no one had problems with the evening timing since the rest have classes in the morning. I would have preferred morning because it's a pain battling the evening traffic on Saturday.

Yesterday we were told that our teachers are going to be B sensei (Saturday) and H sensei (Sunday). I'm disappointed  that we won't be having Sandhya sensei. Yon kyuu batch is lucky. She's going to take both their classes. They won't have any of the problems we faced. I paid the fees and got the text book. It's a continuation of last year's, starting from chapter 46. I'm going to really be regular with my studies this year. 300+ kanji is no joke. I've started making flash cards. Staring from kanji no. 104 in our kanji book. Today I did gen/gan, iu/koto, a/yuu. Hema sensei is supposed to be good. Let's see.

Bipin sensei said there is a strong probability that this year onward  there is going to be an additional  JLPT  exam centre - in Mumbai.  Yeah! But I'll miss the Pune trip and everything.

Mayhem in Mumbai once again. My brother-in-law called from abroad to ask about the situation, since the TV channels were really hyping it up. But seriously, why do these politicians think  that smashing a  few taxis and destroying public property  endears them to the masses?  And Raj Thakeray...how pathetic  to take it out on Amitabh Bachchan because he didn't get invited to Abhishek's wedding. He wants to know what Amitabh Bachchan has done for Mumbai.I want to ask him the same question - what has Raj Thackeray done for Mumbai? Other than make mountains out of molehills, create mayhem on the streets and put the lives of the very people he claims to support in peril? Moron! 

Political parties who indulge in such acts should be barred from contesting the polls for 5 years at least. That should teach them to fight their battles properly.

And I fully support the taxiwalas' strike. They should not give in until they have received full recompensation  from the MNS.

Last week I saw  Taare Zameen Par. Aamir Khan's first directorial venture. Even though it deals with the concept of dyslexia, it's a movie that every parent should see, whether their child is dyslexic or not. Because it's also about accepting one's child for who he or she is, about being a parent in the true sense of the word. I cried when I saw it because I could see shades of Dhvani in Ishaan and shades of myself in Ishaan's mother.

Sometimes we need movies like this to remind us how special our children are. It doesn't matter whether they are brilliant in academics, gifted in other fields, or just average. Each one is special. Every child is gifted with an imagination, with an ability to see the world  through eyes that are clear, uncynical,  curious.  Every child is different. The movie made me realize where I was going wrong and  that  sometimes I need to step back and let my child be.

I loved the scene where Ishaan bunks school and walks around the city, taking in sights. It was like looking at the world through the eyes of a child. Aamir Khan's speech about what it means to 'care for a child' was also very moving.

Dhvani loved it too. Normally it is a pain to take her to the movies. She just can't sit through the  duration  and halfway through, would be whining to go home. But this time....even though I had to drag her to the theatre, once the movie started she was all eyes and ears.  She squealed  with delight at the animation that accompanied the opening credits. And cried at Ishaan's plight. I never realized she could empathise like this.

Darsheel  Safary was really superb as Ishaan. Amazing performance. Aamir Khan wasn't too bad either, but...(I know I'm in minority here) the thing is I love AK's movies but I really don't think he's exceptional as an actor. He's good. And he picks his subjects well, but I don't think he's the best out there. He doesn't make me forget that I'm watching 'Aamir Khan playing a character. ' In fact, in this movie I felt Shah Rukh Khan would have been a better choice. SRK isn't a great actor by long shot, but he excels in emotional scenes. Subdued emotion, that is. Like in Chak De, where you forget you're watching SRK. And Swades.  Most of SRK's movies are utter crap, but I love watching him in them. Whereas, most of Aamir Khan movies are good, with substance and plot, movies you wouldn't mind shelling out 200 bucks to watch. If only AK would make a movie and get SRK to act in it....  

Hectic weekend. Visited Thrissur to attend a wedding. There are 2 kinds of parties I don't mind attending:one where I don't know anyone and one where I know most of the guests. The wedding belonged to the 3rd category: one where I'm expected to know everyone but actually I don't have a clue who's who. It was the wedding of my husband's cousin, paternal cousin at that,  so all the more distant.  I'd been to his father's ancestral home only twice, the last time being 7 years back. I still don't know one cousin from the other or the who's who in the family tree. 

Thrissur's face is changing rapidly and it hurts actually. This isn't the place I knew since I was 17. Back then it was a  village pretending to be a town. There were wide stretches of paddy fields and acres of parambu, red-tiled sloping-roofed independent houses, girls in long skirts and occasionally salwar kameez. There used to be one restaurant that served North Indian food, others dished up the local fare. Cars were not numerous and traffic on M.G. Road was laughable. Rains arrived on the dot on June 1st and no matter how much it rained, streets were never flooded. Current Books was the sole book shop.  And I could find my way around blindfold. 

Now when I go there , each time I find something different, something changed.  The old-fashioned houses are being rapidly pulled down to make way for  flats. There are so many of them around. Multi-cuisine restaurants and malls are sprouting up all over the town. There are too many cars on the road and M.G.Road is a nightmare to navigate. Rains are capricious and since last 2 years the town has experienced Mumbai-style flooding. The paddy fields are being filled and making way for concrete structures. Current Books has competition. The entire landscape is changing. I don't know this town any more.I sound like some oldie cribbing about changes, but dammit, this is my hometown and hometowns are not supposed to change. It's like going home and finding that your parents are not as young as you remember them to be, that they are ageing at a frightening pace. It's scary. And too sad for words.

I visited the Strand Book Fair at Sunderbai Hall yesterday. It's my favourite book fair. I've been visiting it ever since I came to Mumbai. Strand is majorly responsible for the space crunch that I'm facing in my flat currently. Books everywhere, on every available space, stacked precariously.  And I haven't even managed to read through half of them.

I like Strand because of the wide variety it offers. Not just bestsellers but really offbeat books too.  It was here that I first laid hands on Japanese translated novels (Murasaki). I think Strand was also the first to start stocking manga. (Of course, there are more manga titles in Landmark than here.)

Books I bought:

Will Durant's 'Case for India'. It's got good reviews plus I like his work. I read most of the 'Story of Civilization' series when in school. It was utterly engrossing, just how history should be written.
Dennis The menace - 1951-52 . My all-time favourite cartoon character.
Japanese Design. This book is about all things Japanese, their food, transport, home, utensils...It's as good as  visiting a Japanese supermarket. Fascinating.
The Complete Neurotic:  The Anxious Person's Guide to Life. Reminded me of my mother. But it's hilarious. I started reading it in the train on the way back home, but had to stop after a few pages because I couldn't control my giggles.
GTO: The Great Onizuke - vol 1. I haven't heard of this manga so far, but the plot seems interesting.
A couple of Enid Blytons. Takes me back to my childhood. Amelia Jane, The Magic Faraway Tree...

There was a book on knitting that I wanted to buy. A beginner's guide to knitting. But I really don't have time for knitting. Maybe some other time.
 
These days everyone wants to file PILs against something or the other. On the way to the station, as we waited for the signal near the Hill Road junction, a bus drew up alongside. It sported a poster of the movie  'Rama Rama'...(something or the other).  The poster wasn't vulgar or obscene as such but for some reason, the rickshawalla  seemed quite offended by it. Probably the female character's attire and pose.  He was  of the opinion that  incidents like the Juhu molestation case happens because women dress like that. He wanted to file a PIL against the producers for making such movies ("You tell me, madam, is this the sort of movie I can see with my family?") He asked me whether he was justified in doing so, whether he would get into trouble if he went ahead and filed a case. I told him that as an aam janta it is his right to file whatever PIL he wanted. Yeah, go right ahead!

I haven't got around to uploading my holiday photos. But here's something I promised my daughter I'd do asap. She had been nagging me to write down the recipe for the aloo paratha that I make for her school lunch, for her best friend. Apparently her friend had threatened to break off their friendship if Dhvani didn't comply.

So, this is for you, Amaia. I'm sorry I'm so very late with this. And I'm so flattered that you like my paratha. And I hope you and Dhvani remain friends for ever.

Here goes:

Ingredients

2 cups atta/flour
2 medium or 1 big potato, boiled
A pinch of ajwain
A pinch of cumin powder
A pinch of turmeric
A pinch of chilli powder
A tea spoon of dried mango powder (amchur)
Salt to taste
A table spoon of finely chopped coriander leaves
A tablespoon of ghee


Method

Take atta in a big mixing bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients one at a time. Mix well. Add water if necessary and knead into a smooth dough. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes.  Divide the dough into small balls, roll out into slightly thick discs and cook on hot tava. Use a liberal amount of ghee to cook. Once both sides are nicely burnt browned, take off the tava. Your paratha is ready to eat. Enjoy.