Oru Cup Chaaya…

late may 2007..

A small room in Ruby Tourist Home with an attached bath and red curtains in Vallanjambalam ( The temple at the turn).. also a neighbourhood in ernakulam.

The small room had a window which looked out into a small courtyard. A courtyard which was covered with a thick sheet of Heat Absorbing, Wind stopping, Greenhousing Asbestos… and just so that people do not forget… IT IS LATE MAY.. AND IT IS KERALA…

It has been a month and a half of roaming.. incessant roaming.. sometimes pointless.. sometimes fruitful.. but mostly in the sun doing up and down shop stairs asking the same questions replete with misunderstood statements made in a salad of languages… Communication is not difficult.. it is conversation that stumps me.

I have met 40 something Dark, Hairy, Big men called lo and behold “BABY JOSEPH”.. yes.. I kid you not..

I have felt the pleasant feeling of meeting a fellow tamilian.. or seeing a quick familiar gesture on hearing I am with the horlicks company..

There is great comfort in routine.. No ugly turns.. No guesswork.. you know exactly what tomorrow holds in store.. (By store I wish to intend a PUN.. one that I will be going to a lotta stores.. and two is what it means)

So getting back to Late May 2007..

The day would begin nice and early with a sweaty neck.. which used to wake me up everyday.. which pissed me off so much.. the irritating summer sweat in the neck.. eeewww… followed with a warm shower at 7 am.. warm water at 7 friggin am and there is no concept of hot water for bating (I will get to hot water at a later post) in kerala..at least in may.. The water was hot on it’s own.

715 and I was out.. walking to the nearby hotel.. go ahead and order myself an APPAM or a DOSHA.. topped with copious amounts of sambar and chutney..In this place like many of the small hotels.. there is no concept of single serving sambar or chutney.. if you want you could bathe your dosa in sambar…

It was really difficult to choose between the DOSHA or APPAM.. even though the similarity is uncanny with the sambar..but still..

I would occasionally Indulge in a cup of KADALA (The aftertaste will linger for a while.. better be prepared for that) with the appam.. or better still order PAROTTA..but only sometimes.. Kadala is a spicy dish made with Kale Chane.. Little too spicy to be had everyday.. But a day saver when you just want to wake up..Parotta is something which is a crispy flaky parantha in the morning.. when it is made.. In the afternoon when it is just heated and served.. it also acts like a stepney in case you have a flat…

The breakfast set the foundation for another day in kerala for me..

But it was never quite a complete experience… without ORU CUP CHAYA.. or one cup tea.. the beauty of weak kerala tea after a heavy spicy breakfast followed with a swift smoke on the way to the bus stop IS an experience in itself..

Man I miss the breakfast at (the hotel I never saw the name of but went to everyday)

Stewie for Governor!!! and Parotta for President..

Cliche for a reason…

They are called so because they are used in such similar occasions to display the exact same emotions.

But, they are used because they are so apt..

The whole talk of first day in college.. or the last..

The lazy afternoon.. children playing.. women chatting..

Mom’s cooking ..

The first date.. the first love…

They are so overused…, yet so apt. I cannot possibly think of  a more apt way of saying ” I miss home” than by saying ” I miss mom’s cooking”. There is no better way to talk of an eventless afternoon than without the children and the chatting.

Talking of mom’s cooking.. at this moment I am really missing mom.. Really missing the times I used to come back from college.. toss the bag in one corner and just go sit in front of the computer or the TV..  and mom would be making dinner.. nothing spectacular about that.. but is it gonna come back.. No.

All through life we talk of fleeting moments that defined our lives. We talk of the great days and bad days. The birthdays and the anniversaries.. the firsts and the lasts..

I just want a completely normal day to come back

I wanna live the eventless day..But I know I never will .. Everyday is new…

That is the best.. yet it isn’t

Stewie for Governor!!! He should love his mother

Kimi wins.. but 2006 will remain in memory

World F1 Champion – Kimi Raikkonen – Iceman – Flying Finn… But not schumi….

I guess fir the next twenty years.. not a single champion will not be compared with the german.

Kimi had a good race.. Hamilton showed he’s a fighter or a Rookie. It will depend on perspective.

But 2006 will remain etched in my memory.For that matter in global memory.

Schumi’s tyre bursts, He pits, Drops to 17th and he’s still in the race.

He finishes 4th, Shy of world championship. Alonso Wins. Gets no attention.

That was a race. Yesterday, It was just another race.

I feel bad for Kimi, Not for the money he makes of course.

But for playing second fiddle. Even as a champion.

Stewie for Governor!! Racing to the top.

Vanilla Ice Cream that puzzled General Motors

‘Many of you, unlike me, might have come across this long ago, as it is in circulation for years now. But I just received it today and was spellbound by the incident. For those who are not aware of it, it goes like this – Never underestimate your Clients’ Complaint, no matter how funny it might sound..

 

This is a real story that happened between the customer of General Motors and its Customer-Care Executive. Please read on…..

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors:

‘This is the second time I have written to you, and I don’t blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we’ve eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It’s also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem….

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won’t start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I’m serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds “What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?” The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway.

The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn’t start.

The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.

Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man’s car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor.

Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn’t start when it took less time. Eureka – Time was now the problem – not the vanilla ice cream!!!! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: “vapor lock”.

It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

Even crazy looking problems are sometimes real and all problems seem to be simple only when we find the solution, with cool thinking.

Blu del Moncenisio (There is a Blue cheese)

An Italian blue cheese that’s not gorgonzola, Blue del Moncenisio is a cow’s milk cheese from the northwestern most corner of the Piedmont. Slightly firm with rich pungent punch this is a very good cheese but overshadowed by its superiors. I liked it but the flavor was not memorable a few days after tasting it. Like most blue, pair it with a sweet dessert wine like a still or sparkling Moscatto or a stronger Nebbiola that withstand its force. Name: Blu del Moncenisio
Type of Milk: cow’s, unpasteurized
Type: blue, semi-soft
Produced in: Italy
Date Purchased: 6/16/2007
Date Eaten: 6/20/2007
Purchased Where: United States, online, Artisanal Cheese
Price: $23.75/lb.

Hanckneyed or Stilted.. You take your Pick

When I sit down to make a new entry.. or for that matter, when I see some other posts in most of the blogs… I wonder how similar writings are.

Most of us are just expressing our mood.. about the day.. someone special or not so.. maybe something which someone said or something we saw..

Introspection sets the general mood.. Hunour invariably is peppered with satire.. there is a feeling of “I am right when I say this”

We write a few lines and wonder.. speechek.. Chek for grammar.. Look around.. maybe take a stroll in the house.. wonder whats in the fridge..   Except tomorrow to bring something better into our lives..

And then there are those who have a blog to ‘show’  the world that they also have a blog… “Hey, you know how many hits I got today? I did this to the blog and I did that..

There is the occasional Cut-Copy-Paste posts..

A few discuss politics and the future of the world in general..

Still a few attempt a smear campaign on the rest of the world ..

And I sit here in introspection… And conclude that..

I am all of the above..

Blogging is good..

Stewie for Governor!!! By now you should be saying this too….

This or That

Is there a difference between Whisky & Whiskey?

I recently worked on a couple of presentationsrevolving around liquor.. I saw these two terms getting used interchangeably.

I am really confused.. because I have a niggling feeling that there is a difference between the two words…

And talking on this .. is there a search engine where you can run a comparative search on two terms or phrases…?

 Please help…

Stewie for Governor!!! I already said help…

Sunday afternoon..

This is what we live for..

A lazy day.. where the sun is there.. but so are the clouds.. there is a cool breeze with the midday sun.. you wake up at 12 to doze off again..

You realise this is why we work.. cos if this were a monday or a wednesday.. You would feel like a shitty bum..

Sundays are good..

Stewie for Governor!!! for Five day weeks…

It has been a while…

As i mentioned in the last post.. I have been away for a while.. my absence is credited to many factors.. but primarily it is the lack of inspiration that has been gnawing at me.

The week in delhi was extremely hectic and almost completely offline.

The week after that was almost completely free and online… (Yet No post)

The week after that has been busy and eventful.. and the week continues..

Indian cricket team made a bit of ‘CONSOLATION History’..

Another Grand Prix went by me at Formula 1 speeds.. and I did not even notice..

A few new things have “Caught my fancy”.. I shall be working on them for a while..

My liquor consumption Month over Month has drastically gone down..

I got a new cricket bat from a large corporation..

And i wish the best in Luck and wishes to my juniors..

Here it is…

A bonafide ‘New Post’

Stewie for Governor and for Twenty 20…