Drooly Memories - Part 2 (Jack)

For me, reminiscing on good times from the past is a wonderful 'Happy maker"
In recent times I began to notice that I have a lot of good memories of food
From tastes of fruits to the cheese dripping off a pizza
From travel food to delicacies from mom's kitchen
Thought I'd put down some of them as a reference for me to relive the good food times
To start with I'll go back to a moment over quarter a century ago.
During my summer vacation at my Grandma's place I was running around with the dog (Rocky)
in the front yard. The yard was well maintained by GrandPa which included two large trees,
a mango and a jackfruit tree.As we chased each other around I heard a thud
a quick investigation found a small jackfruit (size of a breadfruit) fallen on the ground.
One side seemed smashed. I sniffed it and the aroma of sweet jack hit my nostrils.
Not being a regular fruit eater I surprised myself when I carried it to the Kitchen work area
asking for it to be cut to be eaten. - The aroma was so compelling.
I stretched the surprise of myself to my parents too when despite being told that the
jackfruit was probably rotten as it was smashed or eaten by squirrels I asked to taste it.
My parents knowing my general aloof attitude to fruits decided to humor my sudden interest
in eating a fruit. I don't recall eating or tasting jackfruit before that but I never forget
the taste of this jackfruit . It was dark bright yellow and the way i remember it
its the sweetest jackfruit I have eaten till now as I type this blog.
I regretted not eating jackfruit, that too from that tree where i have spent most of my summer vacations,for the first 10 yrs of my life.
The taste and smell of that jackfruit has had such an impact on me
that I feel hungry every time I smell jackfruit.
The low point of the story is I didnt get to savour the jackfruit from the tree in my grannys garden
for long. Within a couple of years the tree was chopped down for safety concerns to the house:-(.
And apparently the the attempts to graft it failed. Its the wood of the tree that forms the door
to my grannys house to this day. But it opened me to the wonderful taste and pleasure of eating jackfruit.
It may have gotten sweeter in my head with time.
But the fact that it transformed me from a 'no touch' approach to jack
to consider the smell of a ripened jackfruit as a 'hunger-inducing' aroma
It truly was a special bite of yummy goodness

Life is Simple

A chat with a friend about the simple joys of life
sometimes instead of bringing a smile to my face
can get me melancholic.
I found myself choking up as I had my last chat on the matter.
As I recounted the things we give up to achieve 'things'.
I remembered the starting scene from the 1980 South African comedy movie,
'The God's Must Be Crazy'
I managed to locate the transcript online

  " Only miles to the south,  there's a vast city.
     And here you find civilized man.
     Civilized man refused  to adapt himself to his environment.
     Instead he adapted his environment  to suit him.
     So he built cities, roads,  vehicles, machinery.
     And he put up power lines to run his labour-saving devices.
     But he didn't know when to stop.
     The more he improved his surroundings to make life easier...
    ...the more complicated he made it.
     Now his children are sentenced to years of school, to learn...
   ...how to survive in this complex  and hazardous habitat.
      And civilized man, who refused  to adapt to his surroundings...
    ...now finds he has to adapt  and re-adapt...
    ...every hour of the day  to his self-created environment."

The gains that we make sacrifices for ...are they worth it?
We work long hours to give our children a better life
losing out on the joys of spending time with them
we occasionally don't realise they have grown
We leave the green gardens in our backyards
to live in concrete jungles
in the hope of earning enough
for a holiday to the similar green surroundings
There is no time for friends and family
because we are busy working.
Funny part is its generally for the family.
The true joys are there to be had not in a roller coaster ride
but in the twirling your little one in the air.
Its such a joy to have my daughter run and hug my leg
when i return from work
I wish I could come home earlier for more of such warm welcomes.

A passing thought : In the process of 'becoming something' we lose ourselves

Drooly Memories - Part 1 (Cheesy Pizza)

I began this post to put down 'not so happy' musings but as my fingers hit the keyboard I feel like sharing with my experiences with food.

My thoughts takes me to my first week at a job back @ Mumbai.
A high level meeting the following morning required us to stay back late.
The number crunching took us past dinner time entitling us to order a working dinner.
As this one colleague, PB skimmed through the menu card his face began to shake off the fatigue and began to glow with delight. We rewarded ourselves with indulgence as we ordered our pizzas.
His lips curled into a smile that reeked of greed n drool.
 The less than 30 minutes that the delivery took to deliver the pizza,
had him pacing around the office like every minute was an hour.
Domino's delivered their Pepperoni Cheese Burst Pizza with extra cheese toppings
and by golly, was he justified in his expressions of desire...
I remember sinking my teeth into the hot pizza, the soft dough giving way to
hot creamy cheese in the middle.
The melting cheese begins to escape the sides of the pizza piece.
Hot stringy cheese.
Our hands messy.
Our mouths messy.
The stress of the work seemed to have melted with the cheesy burst of cheese burst pizza.
Pure Indulgence.
Maybe I was famished. Maybe I was tired.
Maybe is was  the excitement for such naughty food created by my colleague PB.
Maybe it was that good.
But its 7 yrs since I had that pizza and I almost always talk about
it when ordering a pizza (with drool filling my mouth).

n times R

'R' ...That's the first letter of my first name.
 'R' happens to be the start of so many words stuck on my workstation.
 Words that remind of important things.

Some of them are :

The 3R's for the environment :
                   Reduce
                   Reuse
                   Recycle
                 
I already have a blog post about it  << Musing >>: The 3 "R"s and more ...
Just doing my bit to Remind  :-) .

The 3R's for building a successful career :
                   Rolodex
                   Resume
                   Reputation


The 3R's to be better human :
                   Respect for Self
                   Respect for Others
                   Responsibility for all your Actions


I also have a reminder to Read  & wRite .

And when things felt down ....I stuck in the middle of it all
                  RE-IGNITE

I found it striking that I had so many 'R' guides.

this blog post 'n times R'  is an example of a recently reignited spark
A spark that has Re-Lit the flame that's me.
I hope I can brighten the lives I touch,your lives.
I hope you feel the warmth of my friendship and love


Thought I'd add a couple more 'R's that are me dear to me
'R'etro music
& 'R'eminiscing on good ole times

and here is something a dear friend said to me ...
" 'r' & 'e' the most amazing letters, cos, when put together, it always gives you a second chance" - Swats


                  

Games We Played Part I

         Skimming through some old emails, I came across a chain of mails where I am exchanging notes with a friend on our childhood and the games that we played back then. And as I read my thoughts run back to the fading memories of my childhood. I can't help but get sucked into digging the recesses of my memory for all that I can remember from 'back in the days'.And today my search criterion is 'games that we played'.

        My fondest memories of games played as a kid growing up in the concrete suburbs of Mumbai (then Bombay) would have to be of "Chappal-ton Tennis".  Not a game many would know but in the cooperative housing society that I grew up in, it was more than just known, it was played and yours truly was probably its Most Frequently Played Player.  It was a simple adaptation of lawn tennis: wearing rubber slippers i.e. chappals on our palms as racquets and hitting a rubber ball (occasionally a tennis ball) on a rough concrete badminton sized court. More often than not we played it bare foot. I remember days during our vacation (especially the first day) where I would be on the court for hours while the opponents kept changing.  That evening generally had me eating dinner by moving my mouth to the plate/hand. The right shoulder and elbow were too sore to move even an inch. The soles of the feet used to be sore too with the running on the un-smoothened concrete which in the hot afternoon sun was scorching hot. It brings a smile to my face as I reminisce on the game that thrilled me.

        Vacations also brought in the season for marbles. There were a couple of games we played with marbles.  I am struggling to remember the names of the games but one involved us rolling the marble into a hole before we are allowed to use the finger like a catapult to hit the other marbles away. The other involved hitting marbles out of a triangle or circle using the fingers like a catapult. The released marbles were your prize. I remember that we used to use a larger marble i.e. if we had one called dupper (or something like that).

Talking about marbles, my mom reminds me of how I once stashed my marbles in my dad's office briefcase and how he had marbles bouncing all over his office cabin the next morning. My childhood is generally devoid of stories of mischief but bring in marbles and Mom has one story to narrate. This time my teeny pockets overflowing with marbles in church.

       Evening times brought a lot of running & catching games like Chor-Police, Langadi, Sankali, Hide & Seek, London Statue, Kho-Kho both the sitting and standing versions. The games of badminton, volleyball, bicycling, underarm box cricket, lagori, gilly gilly etc. were also played. Maybe I should enlist memories of each game and document the rules just in case our kids decide to  move away from their 3 inch playgrounds of violence and solitude and discover the joys of running and playing. 

1st January - begining?

HaPpY NeW YeaR .....2010
Its a New Day, a New Month, a New Year and a New Decade !!!

What is the deal with a New year ....
The sun sets and the sun rises just like any other .........
Its a day.... a New one ... !!!
So what is it that sets apart the 1st of Jan from any other day in the calender?
As I see it we should be Happy about the beginning of each Day of the year
Sometime back I did try wishing people a Happy New Month & a Happy New Day a few times and got weird expressions
Why?? ...I wonder.....

One thought did occur is if we set goals, targets for the year then the significance of 1st Jan of the year can mean something
(then again it could be any period i.e. month , quarter etc and could begin any day)

Some of us could choose our birthdays or say 1st of Dec or even 13 Sept for such target or goal setting. The more I think of it the less significance I see in the 1st of Jan 'mania' ......
Am happy with joy that is shared on the day but my grouse is with it not being true for other days say like 2nd Jan or a 29 Dec.
Through the year too we see ourselves saying beginning from next year i will do this or stop doing that.
There is no better time than NOW!!

On the other hand ........1st Jan .. can be seen as a universal 'milestone'
Like on a highway the milestones indicate the distance covered and distance to be covered .....
giving us a chance to plan our journey ahead i.e. speed, fuel, meal breaks and estimated time of arrival at destination. Similarly on lifes highway we need milestones ......
Yes we can set our own milestones like our birthday or anniversary for something but it helps to do it when the world is doing it on 1st Jan
New Year is a good time to see how much distance to your next stop and the route you would like to take
Pick the best memories from the year gone by and "move on"
Enjoy each day as it comes which is a New day a New beginning a New Year from that day to 365 other wonderful days

Celebrate each day as 1st of Jan and treat 1st of Jan as a any other .
God bless each one of you every morning you wake till the next morning with happiness and peace.

Happy New Decade, HaPpY NeW YeaR, Happy New Month & a Happy New Day :-)

My Travel Log 2 - Awestruck !

Recalling my travels brought back memories of some absolutely treasured experiences.
I have used the back space so many times as I tried to put down my favourite ..
I have concluded no favourites ...each holds a space in the heart

The trip to Sikkim is now 11 years from the past ...
I had vowed to revisit within 10 years ... well i'm past my deadline but as they say 'better late than never'.


Sikkim I remember for :
my first feel of snow (though snow fall i am yet to experience)
the white covered hills against the clear blue sky
grabbing a handful of cold snow & throwing it in the air

The biting cold when I dared to have a cold water bath at about 4 degrees.
The yummy 'momos'.
The very long hike up hill an down again
White water rafting.
The serenity of Rumtek monastery

Glad to have it on my list of places i have experienced and on my list of places to visit again.



Rajmaachi:
I recall both the treks to the place; one an excruciating long one & the other a cruelly fast one.
It holds place as one of my favourite trek destinations. Both treks began at night from Lonavla ..
both were led by COM ( Prof. Sudhakar Solomon Raj... he sometimes signs as Crazy Old Man).
Destination is Rajmaachi fort ... a Shivaji time fort on the Ghats of Maharashtra between Karjat & Lonavala. Its touted as the highest fort in the region.And thats where the commonality of both the treks end.

The 1st one was when I was in college my Final year BSc. It was a trek i was initially not supposed to be part of but wanted to be part of . It was a large group of 55 of us boys n girls with professors from 1st yr junior college to MSc students .

We made our way into the mountains now green with the monsoon effect. As we trudged along we could hear streams find their way down. Typewritter frogs tapping away with crickets & sikadas playin their own orchestrated music.

Somewhere along the path (which we learnt much later ) instead of taking a left we too a right turn and kept walking with no sign of our destination. We walked in almost pitch darkness though some used torches ...{Trek hint: torches shud be used in absolute emergencies ..our eyes will eventually adjust to the minimal light recd from the moon}
We started walking around 10:30 at night and began to see our destination only around 6 in the morn with a halt of about an hour for dinner (which we had carried) At 6 we had managed to reach the base of the fort and had to make the final climb. Were our legs sore !!! ?? but seeing the fort we were determined to climb it. It was a precarious climb with narrow footholds which in some places were covered with slippery moss. Luckily we held on and made up to the fort with no mishaps. Once there we collapse on the grass covered floor too exhausted to look around

The bigger deception came when we were told that Shivvaji never even visited the fort ! ..

Once we caught our breath we dragged ourselves to the ends of the fort ...peering over ...and the view took my breath away (hahaha).
simply put ..."B E A U T I F U L"
Its a fort built using the mountain face hence camouflaging it. It provided for an open unrestricted view for kilometers ...indicating its strategic positioning .. a perfect vantage point.

The view was carpets of green with the light cover of mist.
As the sun rays spread, the shine from the reflecting dew drops added the glitter

The long walk was well worth it .

Of course the trip down was more painful

We did walk almost 15 hours at a stretch with the halt for dinner and the brief
halt at the fort for breakfast.

It did leave a lasting impression on my mind


The next trek was about 10 of us only, half of us ex-students of the college including me. Its been a long while since my legs or body had done any remotely physical activity as we set out on this trek.
We started a little earlier and reached the base of the fort in about 2 & 1/2 hours of cruelly fast walking. COM was all out to set a record of sorts. My legs gave way ...suffering cramp , locked knee, muscle pulls on the way but was pushed on. We stayed at the village for the night in a hut with thatched roof and mud floor ...and ate the spiciest chutney with simple veg meal . We saw stars that night ...and we owe it to the chutney :-)

Early, before daybreak we trudged up the fort it was still breath taking like the last time.
We made it back also in double time ...with me almost giving up a couple of times preferring to live in the wilderness than walk anymore.

I'd love to go there again and pull a few more muscles ... its simply worth it

(This post was typed a long while back ...apologies for the delay in posting)