Me in ChinkyLand - Battle of the ChopSticks

We all know that the sumptuous Chinese Fried Rice and the Noodles are pretty famous all over the world and more so in India. You would find Chinese food being served at an exotic restaurant of a star hotel to a roadside cart stall, where Noodles may be spelt as “Nudils”!!!.

I have been to quite some Chinese restaurants in Bangalore like Three Quarter Chinese, Rice Bowl, Shogun, China Pearl etc. However, I never ate with Chop Sticks. Rice was eaten with Spoon and the Noodles were nicely twirled using a fork. Little did I know it would not work as easy in China!!!

When I left for China, I was quite apprehensive as to what I would eat there as I am an eggeterian. We all know that Chinese can gulp almost ANYTHING down their throat. Hence, I made quite some preparations before traveling. I had purchased MTR food packets, packed Amma’s Puliyogare Gojju and Home made mixture. Nevertheless, for a foodie like me who loves to taste various types of dishes and experiment with the taste buds, this type of packet food would never help. I knew that!!!

I vividly remember the very first meal in China. Just 3 of us, Andy, Seng and me, met for lunch as the others were off for Chinese New Year vacations. I told them that I am an eggeterian. They were very courteous and always customized my order to be vegetarian. As they knew the restaurant staff very well, they ensured that I got only eggeterian food. My first order was a vermicelli dish which came with the chopsticks!!! This was like giving a heron a plate to eat from!!! I struggled with the chopsticks for sometime and later admitted that I do not how to use the chopsticks. Quickly learnt to ask for teaspoon (chá chí) or “fork and spoon”(dāo chā). The hotel staff always ended up giving me a soup spoon. But something is better than nothing. I was ready to eat even with my hands, in the Indian ishtyle!!!

I usually never give up quite easily. So, I flicked a pair of “use and throw” wooden chopsticks and smuggled it to my hotel room. That night, I heated up the MTR packet containing Bisi Bele Baath. Now, the actual fun started. This Bisi Bele Baath became my victim for the first chop sticks practice session. Heck!! How much ever I tried, not more than one grain of rice could be picked. I remember feeding more to my blue T-Shirt than my mouth :D

Rice is always served in bowls in China. Chinese hold these bowls close to their mouth with the left hand and quickly transfer the rice from the bowl to the mouth using their extremely dexterous right hands. Couple of days later, I was helped by my colleagues, to use a combination of spoon and the chopsticks. It goes like this:

1. Hold the Chopsticks in the right hand
2. Hold the spoon in the left hand
3. Pick the rice with the chopsticks and transfer to the spoon
4. Repeat step 3 till the spoon gets filled.
5. Then transfer the food from the spoon to the mouth!!!!

Huh!!! I was thinking why I cannot jump to step 5 directly :D Any case, this circus was quite interesting and helped me learn to move my fingers in such a way that I was comfortable with the chopsticks. Few days later, I was eating with the chopsticks. Yippeeee!!!

Chinese food is all about vibrant colors, repertoire of dishes and elegant presentation. Dishes were served on a “Lazy Susan” in most places I dined. Food is placed on the moving counter of the Lazy Susan and people sitting around the table turn it to get their favorite dish. The food is so beautifully presented. Especially, the fruit plate which is served at the end of the meal. The presentations were in the form of a peacock, a rooster, a rainbow. Wow!! Unfortunately I do not have snaps of these :( . Flicked the following from our dear internet.

Lunch and dinner started off with a pot of green herbal tea, no sugar no milk. And a common bowl of roasted peanuts. With my newly acquired knowledge of using the chopsticks, I carefully picked up the roasted peanuts and I was caringly applauded by my colleagues. I devoured dishes made out of Tofu (something like Panneer), tomato, eggs, eggplant and a bowl of extremely tasty rice everyday.

There were dishes in the menu like “Ox Tail Soup”, “Fresh Frog cooked in Fresh Lotus Leaf”!! I have seen how a dish made out of a frog or eel looks. Frog dishes look almost like chicken dishes!! I have heard that it tastes similar too. Frog Sauce is a prime ingredient of most chocolates!! I once casually enquired, if there is anything that the Chinese do not eat and phut came the answer “Humans”!!!

When I started to China, I thought I would accomplish my ever postponed goal of reducing some pounds. Opposed to that, I added some more pounds to myself :D More than the pomp with which the food was presented and consumed, what touched me was the warmth with which the food was served by the ever-smiling stewardesses. I felt at home though we always conversed in terms of smiles and nods. In Hindi, Chinese are referred to as “Cheeni” and even sugar is referred to as “Cheeni”. Sometimes, I wonder if Chinese got their name as they are as sweet as sugar ;-)

Signing off!!

TV Show of the Moment: Kylie’s Cookery Show on Discovery Channel

Next to Come: BlogMares

Look Who's Riding

“Titanic” is one of the few movies I really like for both its cinematic excellence as well as gripping story line weaved with the facts of a real life tragedy. One scene which I really like from that movie is the penultimate scene, where Rose Dawson, the old lady is sleeping on her bed and there are many photo frames at her bedside. Photos about her illustrious life, a satisfied life, a life lived to the fullest. I had wished from the bottom of my heart that when I am on my deathbed, I should have such photo frames by my side!!

In one of the photos, this lady is riding a horse. No points for guessing. Yes!! I got a chance when I went to Mahabalipuram, a fortnight ago. For the first time ever, I was up on a horse ;D

That’s me on the horse “Blackie”. I must say it was a very fulfilling moment. Each penny spent on this was more than worth it. In fact, the exhilarated feeling I had is invaluable.

With this spirit, the re-incarnation of Jhansi Rani, that’s me, went on to have some shooting practice too at Marina beach later.

Wow!! I got 9 out of 10 shots spot on! Boy!! I had a ball of a time. The more interesting part is all this happened when I went to Chennai on an official assignment. Is it just a coincidence that such wonderful things happen to me on my official trips? :D (See “Me in ChinkyLand Series”).

Signing off!!

Feeling of the Moment: Top of the World (Oops!! Was I just on top of the horse??)

Next to Come: Me in ChinkyLand – Battle of the ChopSticks

Tryst with Timma

In one of my earlier posts, I had mentioned that my younger brother has a strange way of addressing GOD. Yeah!! Timma stands for "Tirupati Timmarayaswamy" or "Lord Venkateshwara".

We had been to Tirupati in the last week on January. Most of us know that Tirupati is the world’s most visited religious centre. We may also know that Lord Venkateshwara is one of the richest GODs in the world ;D If you thought, my post would give you more such “Did you know?” gyan, you are wrong!! More about history, geography, philosophy and economy of Tirupati can be found here :D

The highlight of our Tirupati visit was that we (my parents, my brother and myself) climbed the seven hills to reach the main temple. This post is a photo journey of our climb to the ultimate destination (that sounds so clichéd).

The total distance is around 10kms and the average time taken is around 3.5 hours. There are seven hillocks to pass and the first and last hillocks are pretty steep to climb. As we had booked a hotel room at the foothills, our entire luggage stayed there. We carried some basic things like a water bottle, some fruits, camera, “Kaanike” to donate etc. I had just one worry when we woke up to get ready that morning. My mother has some health concerns and has pain in her leg joints even when she walks small distances. I asked her a zillion times if she wanted to climb the hill. She was adamant and insisted she is determined to climb as she had made a “Prarthana”. I shall discuss more about this in a later paragraph.

On 22nd January 2006, we started for the foothills at around 6a.m after having breakfast. After performing the initial puja by lighting camphor at the first step, we started the climb uphill.

The first hillock to climb was “Narayanaadri” – a very steep one. The first interesting sight was awaiting us. There was an Anjaneya temple which had small stone heaps all around.

As per the lore, these stone heaps are formed by people to help Hanuman to build the stone bridge to Sri Lanka. Also an addendum to this is that when you start building your own house, the “Vaanara Sainya” would help you find the stones for your house. Maybe that’s the secret behind taller heaps ;D Later, we saw stone heaps over tree branches.


While my brother was wondering what’s the logic behind this, I was quick to react, that was for a tree-house :D

We completed the Narayaandri climb at a Gopuram which had a Shankha, Chakra and Naama.



After climbing a steep Narayaanadri, we stopped to have a lime soda. I must say that was the most refreshing drink I have ever had!! We ate and drank a lot of things on the way. My mother was into a non-stop tirade. She kept reminding that this is a religious climb and not a pleasure trip. All her advice went in vain :D We had samosas, home made milk khova, gooseberries, guavas and lots more on the way.

The next hillock was “Anjanaadri”; mostly plain road walk with a lot of shops around in contrast to Narayanaadri. The entire path has a lot of Telugu mantras on the side pillars. Religious people keep chanting that all along the way. Opposed to my expectation, the entire path was pretty clean for the population it supports.




“Vrushabhadri” was the hillock to follow. We saw a very old stag here. I was very moved by its bad state. My brother took a snap of it which keeps me reminding the pain it was going through.


“Vrushabhadri” also had this wonderful “Hanuman” statue.

The subsequent hillock was “Sheshadri”. The path was adorned with a beautiful and old Banyan tree. The entire region has various parks and gardens maintained by the Forest Department.

The next section was “Neeladri”. Here, the walk was along the bus used roads.

We could capture some scenic snaps here.

“Narayanaadri” (same name as the first hillock??), the next hillock, was quite steep again. People were lighting camphor at each step here. “Venkataadri” too had similar scenes.

After an enjoyable hike for around 4 hours, we reached the main temple complex. Lots of people on the hot Sunday afternoon. Late afternoon, we had our darshan.

I went to Tirupathi after almost 16 years. It was family trip after a long time too. It was quite satisfying, as the whole trip went on as planned. Also, as I had mentioned earlier I was pretty worried about my mother. Surprise!! Surprise!! She could climb successfully. More surprising is that she had no pain at all!!! From then, my mother’s devotion towards Timappa has grown leaps and bounds.

My brother and I are not great devotees. However, we too were surprised about this fact. We kept discussing this for almost a week after we returned to Bangalore. Some of the theories exchanged about this strange feat were:

1) Will power: My mother’s dormant will power might have surfaced. I am one of the staunchest believer’s that anything is possible with immense will power.

2) Positive Energy Circle: Though I am not a major devotee, I believe that these spiritual centers are enveloped by a positive aura.

OK… A little about my personal take on God. I know some of you might be ranting “Whos asking your view?” I belong to the shameless and insensitive category. So, I am going to tell you even you don’t like it!!!! Here, it goes. I do not believe in idol worship or any rigid rituals. I get restless when I have to stand in queues to see “God”. I am against donating in kind like “Gold Plate”, “Vajra Kireeta” etc. I am against donating huge amounts of cash.

Am I against God? Am I an atheist? NO. There are many Gods walking, talking and breathing around me. Thanks to my Yoga teacher, Parameswaran Sir, who changed my perspective of God. I have realized that God lives in and around us rather than way up above in "Heaven". Blessed I am for whom God cooks. Blessed I am with whom God shares and listens. Blessed I am to be helped by so many unknown Gods in all places I have been.

As I wind up my yet-another-long-post, I remember two movie dialogues which sum up my take on God

1) One of my favourite dialogues from Upendra’s movies (for the uninitiated, Upendra is a Kannada movie actor). In Uppi’s own style, “I am God. God is Great”.

2) Another dialogue from the movie Bruce Almighty - "If you want to see miracles in your life, be that miracle yourself to others lives"

Signing off!!

Movies of the Moment:

Anbe Shivam (means Love is God. A classic Kamal Hassan starrer Tamil Movie)

Bruce Almighty (One of the sensible movies of my favorite Jim Carrey).

Next to Come: Look Who’s Riding

Note: After ten posts on my blog, I should say I have good response compared to what I had expected. In fact, I had no expectations at all as the reason to start this blog was totally different. My blog hit 100 unique visitors in less than 20 days I added the counter. Thanks to all the people who visit my blog. Apologies too if you are waiting for a regular update from me (one of my blog visitors complained about this :D). I shall try and be more regular going forward