Big Question

Do sharks eat ducks? And conversely, would a duck peck a shark?

Sunday Post-It

Did the spontaneous thing. Bought tickets for N's wedding. :D

Next up: Must get new sari and things. Shopping. Ughs.

Now: My instant noodle addiction is acting up. I'm off to test (and taste) the new Thai / Chinese / Japanese / Vietnamese noodles I bought the other day. 8)

Meanwhile: Do the Garfield thing. (Jim Davis - thank you for that wonderful cat.)

Family

Blood ties do not a relationship make.

Just because you are my relative, does not mean you are family.

Just because our DNAs are not linked, does not mean you aren't.

Rebel, No Cause

I've reached my rebellious phase. 13 years late. (But I've always started late - walking, talking, travelling alone, making friends. I'm relatively punctual though. Relatively.) Everything is open to question - religion (especially religion), society, family ties, authority, the army, even air, and some of the planets.

The do-this, do-thats of the world trouble me.

Religious rituals - even more so. Every ritual has a context, a historical significance. Yet, nobody questions religion or its rituals. They follow blindly. Like sheep. Or cows. Displaying a herd mentality that troubles me.

Anna Hazare - everyone jumped on this corruption bandwagon, sharing reports, news videos, opinions, the works. Most were clueless about the possibilities, outcomes, even the context. Herd mentality again. There is much to recommend supporting a movement; but supporting without question - that is scary.

(The following may seem unrelated. But there is a connection, vague though it may be.)

Costa Rica does not have an army. Not since 1948. Yet, it remains politically stable even within a turbulent neighborhood. What would have been military funding is now diverted to more positive areas - education, healthcare, etc. Maybe they are on to something.

Why doesn't the big bad world question its need for the military? Can't the world live without its armies?

Not as long as people remain unquestioning (for that is key), ready to feel slighted at the slightest opportunity, ensuring that war remains inevitable, and armies necessary.

Personal freedom. There is no respect for it in this do-this do-that world. Everyone's a lecturer. Everyone's a moralist. Everyone's an intruder. Everyone is sowing the seed of eventual violence.

I will do as I please. Do-this do-that world, stay away from me. I don't believe in you.

Dear Santa

Could you bring me a really, really nice new year? It's been a while since I lived one of those.

xoxo

One of those days

that refuses to end. I'm tired, grumbly, unhappy, stressed. But my horoscope says things will be "wow!" by the 15th. What can I do but wait? Sigh.

Vacation Complete

Back from Santiniketan holiday. Injured left hand (due to pet cat bite) has made typing super-tough.

Cat Tooth

Incidentally, this tiger-wannabe is not the biter.

This is the biter:

The Biter

More when injured hand gets better. :(

Dinner Date

The long-awaited dinner date finally took place at Tung Fong. :) :)

Meet the stars of the night:

Smoked Lamb

Chilli Garlic Crab Claws

Half-eaten, yes.

Llama Proverb: Good food does not wait for the auto focus.

Today has been a good day. Managed to complete a story that I'd actually want to read. It is just the right degree of silly too. :)

Plus, there is a possible weekend vacation in the offing. :D Fingers crossed.

Yes, I am smiley today.

The Cat's Whiskers

The meows loved Whiskas - Ocean Fish Flavour (They are fish-shaped too). Had no clue they'd go this gaga over it. Even the dog had a taste. Liked, but didn't love it.

Meanwhile, I loved these two songs. They really are this cat's whiskers for the day.

and

Yayness

Finally, a start-to-finish storyline, with smaller loopholes. Yay! Who knew that skipping a rerun of Masterchef Australia for A Model Life With Petra Nemcova held the answer! Strange how ideas strike when you least expect them.

Again. Yay! This could be my key out of the gotta-work-for-a-living rut. :D

Llama Tip: Head to the Monet Kitchen on Garfield.com for recipes to the famous feline's favourite foods.

What can I say, I'm a Garfield geek!

Gooey Chocolate Fudge

Made it again. Improvised on the butter. Added Hershey's white chocolates for thickness (because non-cook me added too much milk). Worried that it was too sweet.

Carted most of it to RR's. A sort of apology gift.

Came home. Ate a piece. Ate another. Loved it. :)

I impress myself.

Here's a photo. Not a very good one:

Gooey Chocolate Fudge: All that remains

Hates This Spoon-Feeding Business

Why is it that so many working people need to be spoon-fed? Why is inefficiency so widespread in Calcutta? And  why do people just assume things and not ask questions when needed? :|

Llama Tip - If you don't ask questions at the right time, here is what happens:

False Perceptions & Happiness

People will say anything.

Like how thin you've become (not in a good way), when actually you've gained 5 kilos. It doesn't matter that your double chin is now the size of a watermelon slice. They have decided. Reality can go to hell. Perception is where it's at.

Another good day - low on stress, high on happiness. Is it the regular blogging? The frequent-er RR diet? The return to chewing gum (mainly to destroy double chin)? Or the ever wonderful Dairy Milk chocolate? A bit of everything?

And this is something I have always wondered: What is it about Dairy Milk chocolate, that strange legal mood enhancer? How does it make the world seem all right? And how does it taste so perfect, every single time?

Maddy Monday

Health fright in the morning, followed by panicked cancellation of all work, followed by a lazy, chatty day with Maddy, followed by braving the rains for fish fry @ South Pole (they weren't that good), followed by still more rain.

It has been a good day. :) The kind that's perfect for this song:

Sunday Shaker

I woke this morning to a lazy Sunday. No work. All the time in the world to read the newspaper cover-to-cover (minus a few sports stories). Chicken curry lunch. Bits and pieces of superhero movies - The Dark Knight, Spiderman II and Harry Potter III - followed by the perfect Sunday afternoon movie, It's Complicated (Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin).

It's Complicated

Meryl Streep runs a restaurant/bakery in the movie. So plenty of beautiful food - roast beef, mashed potatoes, chocolate croissants. Gave me some serious munchies. Post-lunch I've eaten papad chaat, Dairy Milk, and gone scouting for more food. Chewing gum has since stemmed the eat-streak.

But this Sunday had a surprise in store. A 6.8 magnitude earthquake even as I got to writing this post. It struck Sikkim. There were tremors in Kolkata.

You're not supposed to get excited at the prospect of natural disasters. But this was my first tremor. I was on floor, resting against the sofa with the lappie on my lap. Suddenly, I feel my head bobbing like those wobbly-headed dashboard toys. I close my eyes, and the sofa's trembling behind me. I call for the dog, "Sugar, are you scratching behind the couch?" Far from itching behind the three-seater, she is catching forty winks on the other couch.

I close my eyes. Place the lappie on the floor. Move away from the couch. Is my head spinning? I imagine the building tottering on its pillars and go "Nyaaah!" Sure, I've experienced one of Mumbai's worst floods ever. But earthquakes don't happen to me. It's probably that dormant heart condition acting up. Or is it?

Within the next few seconds, the tremors struck Facebook:

"Just felt earthquake tremors in Kolkata!"
"Who felt the quake?"
"Think there was a mild earthquake in Kolkata just now."

(Thank you Zuckerberg & Co. for Facebook. I wouldn't have suspected a quake otherwise.)

Since I last checked, there are a few panicky messages as well. Case in point: "God save us from earthquake." (NB: this would not be funny in North Bengal, Sikkim and other heavily-struck areas. )

Today is also Biswakarma Puja. But the god of craftsmen and architects seems unfazed by the tremors. His devotees are still playing music and dhaks to the aftershocks.

[NB: Hope damage and casualties are minimal in all the quake-struck areas.]

To-Do List Successes

Chicken Wanton Noodle Soup - Done
Chilli Roast Pork - Done
Stray Doggy Hunting - Done
Date - Done
Blog post - Done

Today has been productive.

Chicken Wanton Noodle Soup

The wantons are hiding under the noodles.

Bad lighting = not-so-hot photo :|

Doggy Hunting

Tomorrow we go doggy hunting. No guns. No knives. No woomeras. Just the friendly neighborhood shutterbug and I.

We will be hitting all the canine hot-spots. Hope to catch a good-looking gang of four-leggers for a quick photo shoot.

STRAY DOGS ONLY!

Think you fit the bill? Let us know.

Pretty doggies like the one below will get preference:

Photo Courtesy: Rishi Roy

Bored Out Of His Mind

Thomas has been meowing all week.

"I am bored," he meows. "Bored of lazing, chasing the other cat, sneaking a nap, eating liver-and-rice. Bored bored bored!"

It began last Tuesday:

"I need excitement in my life," meowed Thomas.

"Catch rats," muttered the dog, his housemate.

Thomas was not interested, "Too much work." So saying, he curled up on the sofa for his eighteenth nap of the day.

He woke from the nap with an idea: "The stupid dog was actually on to something."

***

He has been meowing since. Says he wants a rat "to pet and cuddle and play with".

As if. :|

Hate Post

Sympathy seeker, I detest you. I loathe your attention seeking tactics. I can't understand why you walk around with "Poor Me" printed all over your oily forehead. I don't believe in sympathy. I don't dish it. I don't need it. I don't want it.

And I am not alone.

Garfield agrees with me:

  

Must be a Gemini thing.

Course Correction Day

Today was Course Correction Day. The day you take a step back, study the game board and re-plan your strategy. I don't know a lot. But I know what NOT to do.

Sadly, my Chicken Wanton Noodle Soup date might have to be postponed tomorrow. But just you wait CWNS, my greedy eyes are watching you:

Hard Times

"T'is a hard year," I said to him. "Not necessarily an unhappy year, just a hard one."

There's too much work. Too much stress. Too little time for silliness.

Too much loss. Too much growing up. Too much disillusionment.

Neverland seems so far away. So does Costa Rica with its endangered green sea turtles.

So do Candy and Mini and Maxi and Ebby. Strange how you popped off like the ten little Indians one after another.

Candy

Maxi

Mini & Ebby

You will be missed.

Along with Mammam, who is probably instructing celestial chefs on the fine art of rolling the thinnest rotis. The older I get, the more I miss you and your wonderful mangshor jhol.

Being 27

It's tough being 27; more than being 25, maybe less than being 28. It's the now-or-never year - the year you finally stop being a fence-sitter and fall (or maybe are pushed) into grownuphood. Not a nice feeling, especially if you keep looking over your shoulder, "Which idiot pushed me? C'mon! Own up!".

There's nobody there. If there ever was, they've run off long before you scrambled to your feet to dust the mud off your trousers. So what are you now: girl or woman, boy or man? Blur the age difference with, "I'm just one of the guys", but that doesn't change a thing does it? In the newspapers, a 27-year-old no longer qualifies as a youth. You've made the transition into the "young man/woman" category.

Yet, even if you heave an unwilling sigh and accept the final move into adulthood, you'll find others who are not quite ready to let you pass. "Where's your pass?" they'll shout. Where's your award? Where's your money? Where's the recognition? Where's the spouse? We can't let you pass without all that, they'll say. And yet, they are the ones who are secretly wishing you would grow up quicker. Wishing and hoping and waiting and pulling you back into babyhood. Doing this again and again and again, until you get fed up and yell, "I'm all growed up Mom. You stop acting like a child!"

And then Mom (or Dad, for they are one and the same thing really) will look at you hurt, walk away and proceed to act like a hurt baby. So what do you do? Quickly jump back into babyhood to make them feel all growed up again. Then it is back to the struggles of being 27 again. How old are we really?

Anniversary Eve

So tomorrow the otter-llama relationship turns 3. Since we started dating on the cusp of 7-8 July, we hold 2-day celebrations. If you can call it that.


This blurred blue picture is of when we first met. :P

In the meanwhile, I've been trying to harness my culinary skills and falling embarrassingly flat on my face. Made the worst pasta in cream and mushroom sauce ever. Then ate the whole lot, 'cause I didn't want the fridge to sneak a smirk at it.

Today I made mushroom. Not so terrible. But far from good. Sigh. The pressures - be girly, cook well, learn to put eyeliner. Pressure pressure pressure.

On the bright side, got myself a 2-day weekend. Yay!! (It's been a long time coming)

Recap

Have been absconding after only 2 posts. Not a good sign. Not a good sign at all.

It has been a good week. Wednesday, met ex-boss. Then hung out with ex-colleague over Dominoes' Pizza, waited at a bus stop for half an hour, then spent quality time at "the most wonderful oasis of a park" at Andheri's JB Nagar. We were waiting for another ex-colleague, who incidentally is getting married on 29 November this year. It is an arranged match, but apparently, she and her to-be-husband are completely in love and have been meeting regularly behind their parents backs. Aah! Young love!

The high point of meeting these two was a surprise birthday pastry at a very nice coffee shop (read: not-noisy, nice view, great menu) in Miradore Hotel. The chocolate birthday pastry took me completely by surprise.

For some reason, people like surprising me. This is officially my fourth surprise event and my third birthday surprise. I'm a sucker for such things too.

Here's a photo of my wonderful ex-colleagues with the surprise birthday pastry:

Sadly, this was followed by a Mumbai darshan ride on an auto rickshaw. The jury is still out on whether or not the auto driver was conning me and taking me all around the city.

My pig cake thankfully arrived the next day, in time for our cousin Deep (good name: Shourjya; he calls himself SJ). There was much game playing (the three kids played Game of Life while I worked; sigh, the trauma of adulthood), followed by a CCD trip, dinner, and a lot of Poker (with fake money from the Game of Life. Had it been real cash, I would have been richer by 2,70,000+. Sigh.)

This wonderful day ended with the cake cutting. Here's the cake:


The bakers cheated. It was supposed to be a pig-shaped cake. Not a square cake with a picture of a pig drawn on a sheet of white chocolate. It may be cute and all, but hello, this is NOT a pig-shaped cake. But I'm not one to complain. I blew out the candles, cut it, ate it, liked it. Birthdays should never be complained about.

This marks my fifth year in a row that I have not worked on my birthday. This is a tradition that I plan to continue in the years to come.

Birthdays don't make me sad. At 27, I don't feel old. Hell, I can still pass for a college kid, despite the occasional grey hair.

This year, I plan to go geeky on Existentialism. I may be a natural Existentialist, so I might as well know-it-all by heart before letting the world know of my philosophical leanings.

PS: Watched 2-and-a-half movies this week: (1) Adored "X-Men: First Class" [N.B.: Was an X-Men virgin until this movie.] (2) Liked, but didn't love "Shaitaan" - the song sequences were top-notch though. (3) Couldn't get enough of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", but a faulty Disc 2 put paid to my plans of feeling enriched by the end of the movie. Am still cut up about it :(

PSS: Tomorrow is shopping day. I'm not a fan of shopping. May God help me.

Birthday Bumps

1. Last Night's Dinner: I finally went with the "Make Your Own Pasta" option. My customized pasta had Conchiglie (the shell-shaped pasta), Mushrooms, Pesto Cream and Lamb. It would have been nicer without the lamb, but us Bongs feel cheated without some meat in our food. And if there's a choice between chicken and lamb, the latter it is.

As it turned out, the online menu was not identical to the offline one. Plus, many of the desserts were unavailable. What to do? Khush and I shared a Ferrero Rocher pastry. It was really dense and we ended up wasting a little. Sigh. Sometimes the body refuses to cooperate with the food on the plate.

(It did not help that we hogged on paani-poori just before dinner :|)

Desert 2: We then drove to Bachelor's (drive-in icecream place facing the sea) - I got greedy and had watermelon icecream :) Manu had Mausambi juice. Don't remember what Father and Alpana Auntie had. Khush had nothing. She may have been contemplating a snooze, but somehow the Sandman missed her last night and caught Manu instead.

2. Meeting ex-colleagues: The high point was a surprise birthday pastry by Usha and Nisha at the Mirodoro Hotel cafe. This was preceded by an hour of conversation at this beautiful oasis-like park in the middle of the Andheri desert. This was preceded by a Dominoes lunch with Usha. This was preceded by a meeting with ex-boss and his current wife at their not-yet-ex home.

3. How I know I'm older: Gone are the days when a cockroach in the bathroom would make me scream. Or shrink against the wall. Or shudder. Today, I coolly covered my hand with the handtowel, reached for the roach, caught it, then threw it out the bathroom window. There will soon come a time when I shall catch roaches with my bare hands. By then, I will be truly ancient.

4. Birthday gift to me: Well, not quite. But at least I managed to pick up two pincher clips. Llamas like pincher clips to keep their hair out of their food. Boyfriends of llamas hate clips. It is the whole gender divide. Maybe someday I'll tell you the real secret: why boys don't clip their hair back, and complain when girls do!

5. Miscellaneous negatives: There was the auto-wallah who took me on Mumbai darshan. There was the Patchi chocolate that totally ruined the taste in my mouth. There was the whole question of my boss asking if I am basically wasting time again. :|

But overall, it has been a good 24-hour period. Llama largely pleased with life.

Llama Turns 27

Time: 1:27am. Date: 07/06/11

It is past midnight, which means that I am now officially 27-years-old.

But since I was a 1:00pm baby, I still have approximately 11-and-a-half hours of being-26 left. There are no grand plans for these final hours.

***

Apparently, afternoon babies are born foodies. Is that why spent the last two hours sifting though an 11-page menu and wondering what I should order at my Cafe Basilico birthday dinner? After 120 minutes of ogling at dish after dish after dish after dish, I have selected 2 finalists:

1.





and 2.




Yes, pasta is my first choice on Birthday No. 27.

But just in case tomorrow does not smell like Pastaday, I have been eying some non-pasta dishes as well. These are:

1.




2.





3.





For desert I'll be going with the Baked New York Chocolate Mousse Cake. If that is unavailable, I'll try Crunchy Chocolate or Gooey Chocolate or (if I'm feeling really really adventurous) Chocolate Cheese Cake.

While we are at it, a little ice-cream wouldn't hurt either!

N.B: Do NOT drop food on new Ritu Kumar blouse!!