My Trysts with Cooking !!

"I dont even butter my bread, I consider that cooking !!"

First of all let me make one thing clear..Am a staunch follower of d above statement.Atleast I was. Then..... I started cooking !! :)

Cooking... Well.. sounds outright Greek and Latin to me.The only memories of my involvement with cooking that lingers on, is me helping out my mother in cutting some veggies,which in turn she'd prohibit me from doing, lest I should make a mockery out of it.I for one, can always draw parallels between wartime situations and the subject of discussion.All geared up, ammunitions in place, U start proceeding. One wrong step, and u are doomed.(doomed with a capital D)

Thought of putting this blog across in a conversation mode.. Let me introduce the characters,My first roomie Rafi, who I swear is the best cook I've known(Atleast after my mom!!) and Karthik,who atleast is prudent in technical aspects of the art and ofcourse theres this good for nothing me.....Wait.. Make that good for something..(Eating what they cook provides the transformation here !! :))Lets get started..

Rafi : What do we make blokes??
Me : Anything edible would do !! :)
Karks: We'l try out sambar today...
Rafi :(Sheepishly).. Well guys.. I don't have a damn idea how thats made.
karks : What, I thought u'd be adept at that.
Then.. the attention turned towards me..
Me: Hey... Y do u guys even bother to look at me??.. I can always eat whwtevr u can make.
Rafi : No probs guys... Lets give it a shot.. I've got a vague picture of how it can be done..
Here.. we were all set..
Rafi : De adi, anda thovaram parupa edu da..
Me : Now, for me.. locatin this goddamn thing was more difficult than sniffing out osama from his den. (Defeatedly..) Machi.. Neeye vandu edu da... Edhunu therla..
Rafi : Periya parupu mari pona??... (Now that was a comment!).. Moves menacingly towards the cupboard.. stops... gapes.. Dei.. Enada rendu parupu dabba iruku!!.. Idhula edhu da thovaram parupu??
Me : (With a downright irked up look).. Dei.. Idhuku than ivlo effecta potiya da... Atleast I accepted my ignorance..
Rafi : Vidra maapi.. Ariyamaiya enikume velipadutha koodadu!!..
Karks : To hell with u guys!!..(Picks up a box and hands over).. Idhu thanda thovaram parupu..
Me : Now that the identification part of the target is over, we can proceed with our execution.!!
Karks : Vetti scene ku onum korachal ila..

And then after following some preliminary steps, we proceeded in our amateurish way..
Karks : Do keep track of the cooker whistles.. We need to stop as and when it sounds five..

Cooking I believe is an art thats innate to certain folks. If at all I can proclaim myself to be a pro after a couple of decent cooking outings, I'd be commiting heresy.But in all eventuality I may call myself a pro,in cooking up this blog atleast..:)

To ward off time till that happened, we positioned ourselves before the TV. To our joy, we found Shah Rukh Khan,lighting up the stage with a thundering performance, at a filmfare awards ceremony.. As was expected we were heavily engrossed in the proceedings and inevitably, lost track of our cooking expedition. By the time we could realize, it was already half an hr since we set up the sambar!! Suddenly Rafi cried out in dismay "Our sambar!!"..We all barged into the kitchen striking up a frenetic pace.

We couldnt believe what we saw. Crestfallen, we picked up the overcooked sambar and started pondering patchup works."An artist's briliance, I'd say, lies in his ability to coverup his shortcomings!".. In the same vein,we proceeded..Adding a pinch of salt,then some masala powder,water and literaly whatever we could lay our hands upon..After finishing up, I took the plunge and tasted it.. Hey. tastes great guys!!.. And I bet the other blokes seconded my opinion that my tastebuds were in place atleast!!.

Just as we prepared to eat up, the doorbell rang.. Here, I guess is space enough to introduce one more character.. Bhai!!

Bhai : Ena machi.. Enada samayal iniku??..
Me : Hey.. welcome... Join us..
Bhai : (Tasting our sambar).. Machi !!.. Rasam super!!....
All three of us gave that baffling look..All our attempts of making sambar had gone down the drain with that comment. Atleast he din't know the truth!!
Me : Dei.. Enadu.. Rasama!!.. (Then I held myself back).. Ama machi.. That was indeed rasam... Nala iruku ila.. We dont take much pains cooking it up.. adhan.

Sometimes.. The best compliments are received when u least expect them !! :)

End of story !!

King of Good Times

Probably one might think this is one of those fascinating interludes with Kingfisher, but lo behold!!
This is an ode to the impeccable experiences that I have derived during the journey of my college life...A rolercoaster ride i'd love to live back anyday, of course interspersed with many kingfisher interludes !! :)

I've always fathomed how unpredictable destiny's plot is, leading people of varied culture and ambitions, of distinct backgrounds, into a pool of common thought, giving them an opportunity to explore a mystique environment, full of unadulterated fun, a paradise called college. "CIT" , for those blokes who've logged in accidentally n dont know me !!.. Sometimes it makes me wonder whether the lyrics of the legendary song "Jeena Yahan Marna Yahan, Iske siva jaana kahan" are tailor made for such instances. Pardon me for turning poetic but could'nt hold myself back at the stark coincidence.To all those buddies who dont understand hindi it roughly translates to something like this "Vaalvum Inge, Saavum Inge, Idhai vital engu povadhu !! ".. Know it sounds extremely comical when bluntly put down, but the hindi lyrics are pretty intense.. Believe me !! :)

Quite bizzare it is indeed, how a "Machi" or a "Maplai" could for the basis for any individual's recognition transcending his status. The demons of segregation arising out of caste based reservations are rendered so much infinitesimal , when pitched against the larger picture. The metamorphosis from being a lanky nerd to an all encompassing adult is replete with experiences drawn with time.

The quartet of years makes one undergo a full cycle. The bottled up attitude of the fresher, possessing a purity waitng to be exploited by his seniors, the hegemonistic sophomore yearning to stamp his authority, the high flying third years who need to be reminded that their feet are still grounded and the sagacity of the final years are all testimony to the game.

Now speaking of the interludes that I mentioned in the beginning, I bet any hostel tale, however fantasised it may be, will never achieve satiation without the inclusion of a drunken tale. Being witness to innumerable such instances its a safe bet to derive the fact that, many a man whose gotten drunk would profess, in all his honesty, things that could have caused a huge furore if not for the intoxicated state of being. All said and done, one cant help but admire the fact that innumerable quarrels however frenzied or whipped up it may be, can always be settled with a bottle of spirit. :)
And that remains an unsaid secret.

From the dungeons of Tv rooms watching cricket to the never ending night studies for semesters abundantly replete with "vetti pongals" life could never have been so upbeat. If at all life is all about those Q moments with buddies, those chito chats shared,those scrambling for food in a single plate,those uncanny quarrels and subsequent reunions or those unrelenting rapport which never needed an expression, then its definately worth living... A hundred times !!..

During my formative years, during a casual talk one of my friends asked me " What's real friendship?? ". I pondered for a while and said " A simple friend, when visiting, acts like a guest. A real friend opens the fridge and helps himself! ", which I swear is something I took out of a forward that I received that day.And I chided myself at saying that ! :).. Couple of years went by and it dawned upon us that we needed to bid farewell to each other. I still remember those last moments that had an everlasting silence and the occasional rolldown of a tear drop. My mind raced back in time. Atleast I wasn't looking for an answer now. I knew, silence had spoken more than words....

Dedicated : To all my buddies..