London - then and now

After leaving London in 1997, I got a chance to visit the city again this year. We stayed at London 1996-97 for a total of 14 months. We were newly married and have fond memories of the place. No wonder I was feeling nostalgic and was reminiscing. 

The London I had in my mind was always raining, with no sun in sight. It was highly professional and strict. Might be because I was working then. Though my employer didn't object to my wearing Salwars to work, they did teach me about acceptable or rather unacceptable dress colors or sober colors as my mother calls them. I learnt many things in that 14 months of our stay. I learnt how to use fork and knife, even for pizza. I learnt not to swing umbrella in a casino, not to click heals in empty corridors. Though talking to strangers was not common, but smiling at fellow passengers and greeting strangers was routine. Most of all, I learnt to be proud of who I am. Looking at my attire, the first reaction used to be hesitation and attempting to figure out how best to communicate with me. But once the realisation dawned on the fact that I knew English and fluently at that, the attitude used to take a 360 degree turn. The hesitation and cold shoulder used to replaced by warmth and enthusiasm. It was like opening a Pandora's box, the amount of questions that followed was amazing. And I realised that I knew a lot about our traditions and customs! That gave me confidence to converse with strangers, something I never did before in my life.

Coming to the London of now. How it changed!!!! The crowd, noise and the carefree attitude. I got a culture shock!!! What happened to London? The place is overcrowded, to state mildly. And Indians, so many of them!!! And the sun, it was blazing. We went around July end and were prepared with warm clothing, not woolen but warm. We were overdressed. It was hot. Tubes were the same, efficient and on time. People, I couldn't find any locals, all looked like tourists. Everyone with a map in one hand and camera in the other. Many in groups trying to keep pace with the tour coordinator.

We went to visit the place where we stayed.

 That hadn't changed a bit, but the walk from tube station to the house was all wrong. It was lined with shops, that too Indian shops. And the walk felt too long, couldn't imagine doing that walk on a regular basis, did I grow old? There were multiple options for eating out, that too Indian restaurants.


We visited the places that were revamped since our stay - the crown jewels exhibition at Tower Palace, yes we saw Kohinoor!!!! The new additions like the Emirates Airlines, Millennium Eye and the Shard, tallest building in London, the concept in itself was a bit strange since we don't see many skyscrapers in London. We also did the usual round of Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, House of Parliaments, Buckingham Palace, Oxford Street and Greenwich. Everything was crowded and noisy. All in all it was a good experience and a proof that things change.......

Emirates Airlines

Tower Bridge

The Shard

Tower Palace

Millennium Eye

Greenwich

The Big Ben

My USA trip, 2014

I had been to USA to visit my brother's family this July. It was a short but sweet trip thanks to the hospitality of my brother and his wife. I was greeted every morning by a mango smoothie followed by a continental breakfast, courtesy my brother. Lunch and dinner were usually a multi cuisine affair, thanks to my sil, interspersed with delicious snacks of pies, muffins etc.. I surely put on a lot, was afraid of checking my weight. My only work there was to play with my nephew and nieces, which I readily accepted. Boy, was it fun with an almost four year old nephew and 14 months old twin nieces.

First, my nephew, he is adorable and a chatterbox. He has an answer for every question and a question for every answer. His English language is impeccable, inherited from his mother. He came to airport to pick me up along with his father. As soon as we reached home, he went straight to my mother and said "Nanamma, Manjuatta is not your daughter, she is my friend." I was elated by this acceptance. My euphoria lasted till I realised that this elite club already has close to 100 (or was it 1000) members, and it is a very dynamic list!!! He is very much into songs. His favorite was "jintata jita jita" from Ravi Teja movie, who happens to be his favorite actor! Even this list changes, while I was there the favorite song changed to "Rama kanavemira" from Swathi Muthyam. I bet it has changed by now.

And the twins. What do I say, such cutie pies. They were shy at first and by second day I got the sweetest smile from the elder one, but the second one reserved her opinion till the day I left. She decided I was ok provided neither her parents nor her nanny was not around. I found many ways to bribe them to play with me. My bangle for one, a promise to take them out. They both are intelligent and can identify quite a few things. The second one is a bit lazy. First one is on top of things. 

My prediction she will be the one with her hand in air in any class, eager to answer questions; the second one will get her work done by her sister or someone else! The first one has the sweetest smile, with her head cocked to one side, which will melt your heart. The second one has this hearty laugh which is reserved for her father and snacks/meals. One thing both like is dancing. Play some music, be it a nursery rhyme or just a few random notes, they start gyrating and swinging their arms and legs around. They especially like it when their brother sings for them. 

Overall it was a memorable trip and wish it lasted some more......

The world of Selfies, Usies and More

These days we are inundated with self portraits or selfies on social media sites. It has crept into paper media, too. Not a day goes by without seeing a selfie on page 3. Then came the celebrity selfies and the term usie was coined. Latest is petsie, with pets! This all led me to take a trip down the memory lane. Please bear with me if I ramble on a bit.

In the times of no smart phones, phones without cameras ...., actually this was the time before cell phones itself. We had a contraption called camera. One had to load the camera with a film roll, click the pictures, give the reel to studio for development and collect the printed snaps. The roll usually had 24 to 36 picture capacity. Sometimes, on one vacation or trip the roll wouldn't be exhausted. Then you either wait till the next trip or take random shots around the house, and finish the roll. The development of photos also took time, week to ten days. So after taking the shot, you get to see the results after almost a month !!!!!! There was no way of knowing what else you caught in the background and what you didn't.

In those days, my husband mastered the art of selfies. He had a very uncanny sense of vision and forethought, he still has it. He is basically camera shy, and on our travels most of the snaps would be of the scenery. My mom used to get irritated, "I dont want to see the sceneries, send me snaps with you in it", she ordered. Then I realised that he is never in the picture. He hated asking strangers to take snaps of us, so selfies. Don't believe me? See for yourself.

This was the first selfie taken (no comments on us!!!). This was in Paris in the year 1996. The camera was a Kodak, if I remember correctly, the aim and shoot type.

This was in a train in Switzerland. I think the camera was the same.

 

These were much later in Ooty in the year 2007 with a much better camera, digital, hence more clarity and better picture.

Not bad, huh.

Summer and Pickles - Part 4, final

The long awaited follow-up blog. Got the feedback from all concerned parties. First, my feedback, with a little recap.

Koru Pachadi

Thokkudu Pachadi

Avakai

This year I tried my hand at pickles and made three varieties - koru pachadi, thokkudu pachadi and avakai. All are varieties of mango pickle from AP. My take, all were good, naturally!!!! Koru pachadi was the best (might be because I made it under the supervision of my MIL), followed by thokkudu pachadi and avakai. The ordering shows my favoritism. I already got beaten up by my friend so spare me, but I am not a big fan of avakai. I like it but I like other pickles better. 

Now for other feedback. My parents liked it, of course. I am yet to make something which my father wont like, parental affection !!!!!! My husband and FIL, as usual, said less salt. My MIL felt the mango to be too sour. My friends said it is good, not sure whether they felt obligated to say that since I was in front of them!!!! My SIL's feedback was the most detailed of all. She adored it, it was "not crazy spicy".

My brother, the sutradhar to all this adventure, gave a B+ grade. Blame it on his new found fatherhood to think in terms of grades......

On the whole, I would say a successful first attempt. The universal opinion being mango very sour, but perfect for avakai, and proportions also good. So I will take it as an overall good. Three Cheers to me, yay.

Summer and Pickles - Part 3

No, still not tasted, have to wait couple of more days.

Day 2 was just mixing everything up and making sure oil was plenty, which it turned out to be.

I also thought I would go ahead and make thokkudu pachadi. The pieces of mangoes were mixed in salt and turmeric and left overnite. Next day, separated the pieces and oota (liquid part) and dried in sun for couple of hours. The mistake I did was entrust my hubby with the task of taking the utensils to roof top and bringing them back, some pieces went missing on the way !!!!!! The salted mangoes and dried pieces are very very tasty. Anyway mixed it with all the ingredients and kept it aside. Have to wait a day before tasting, waiting is such a cruel task .........

 

Summer and Pickles - Part 2

This year taking advantage of the fact that my parents are in USA, visiting my brother, I decided to take the plunge. Added to this was the fact that my mil made pickle when my hubby was in London, so he missed out on all the fun. Further, my brother challenged me to make avakai as good as my mom's and then he would accept me as a good cook !!!!! Challenge accepted.

So on a fine Saturday morning of May, my hubby and me set off. We went to Monda market (a wholesale market for fruits and vegetables in Secunderabad area). Bought mangoes, got them cut (there are people there who cut it there), bought ingredients - mustard powder, chilli powder, salt and oil. Had breakfast on the way back and reached home, all excited and enthused. Each piece has to be cleaned individually, which took almost an hour. Then the mixing of the ingredients. 

 

Turns out I don't have any big enough vessel to store the pickle. Parents duplicate key comes in handy, raid their kitchen for the appropriate vessel. 

Well there all done, now the waiting game begins. You too wait along with me for the results........

what next??

Summer and Pickles - Part 1

We all have fond memories of summer. Mine revolve around going to visit my grandparents and having fun with cousins. 

Of course, mangoes and pickles. I don't know about other states but in Andhra Pradesh, pickles are the lifeline. Pickle has to be included in every meal. And preparing pickles is an art by itself. Every summer all the households turn into small scale industries. Majority of our pickles are mango based and summer is the season for mangoes. And such varieties in mango pickles - avakai - multiple sub-types, magai, menthikai to name a few. My grandparents had 4 mango trees in their backyard. So come pickle season lots of hustle bustle. Getting men to pluck the mangoes - it should not fall on the ground else they crack, another set to cut the mangoes into pieces - all should be similar and should have seed on them there are special knives for that, ladies to grind (using mortar and pestle) the mustard seeds and red chillies, and my grandmother for the final mixing of all the ingredients. We kids used to run around very busy and even the little work entrusted to us was of utmost importance !!! Of course the waiting period. After the initial mix, there is the inevitable waiting for the taste to set in before we could eat it. Of course there were raw mango pieces, soaked in salt and turmeric and dried in sun, which could be eaten now and then. Ah, those days.

Later as we grew older, summer vacation were gone, busy with studies and then jobs, no one had time to go for the avakai manufacturing. But then pickles used to arrive at home without fail. I don't remember when my mother started making pickles but grandmother's pickles got replaced by mom's pickles and then supplemented by my mother-in-law's. 

My first tryst with avakai was when we were in London. Somehow, we managed to lay our hands on raw mangoes. We were in a temporary, paying guest accommodation. I managed to grind mustard seeds and made a temporary ava baddalu. What a sensational hit it was!!!! But later somehow I didn't get a chance for repeat performance. We returned to India. My hubby became very involved in my mil's small scale industry. Going to market with her, to buy all the ingredients, and then mixing avakai (he is interested only in avakai no other variety). We used to help my mil but never full fledged effort. Then my parents shifted to Hyderabad and there too it was the helper position that was accorded to me.

(to be contd...)

Of Bindis and Bangles

Growing up, i wore all sort of dresses, right from frocks, skirts, pants (in those days jeans were a luxury) and of course salwars and churidars. By the time i reached my tenth class, i settled to salwars and churidars. All those years, whenever i visited my grandparents' i was haunted by one question. How could my cousins bear to expose their mid-riff? Being brought up outside of AP, i gravitated towards salwar, while my cousins used to wear half-saris. They never understood how i could expose my legs and i never understood how they could expose their mid-riff. But that was long long ago, almost three decades back. Later i fell in love with saris and realised how a sari can be a Nirupama Roy's outfit as well as Sridevi's. Now i try to wear them as often as possible. Now, i realise that salwar is not an outfit of south India and that it was borrowed for convenience from the north. Same as now we are adopting jeans and other western outfit. My friend once commented that we Indians do not have the structure suitable for western wear. But more than the structure, i feel what we lack is the attitude. I for one can never feel comfortable in western outfit. And that discomfort shows in my body language when i wear one. And that results in the ugly look. I am more comfortable and confident in my salwars. That is the reason I have worn it without hesitation all these years, whether i worked in London, or USA or India.

After dealing with all the frustrations and conflicts, we see most of the girls these days ditching the Indian wear and adapting the western outfit. There are many reasons given - right from job requirement to comfort  levels (how a skin tight jeans and t-shirt is more comfortable than the airy cotton salwar beats me). These days the bone of contention is bindi, bangle and for married ladies mangalsutra. Girls are trying to ditch these too, and the older generation is trying its best to preserve the last final link to our tradition or culture. I feel the objection to discarding the bbc (bindi, bangle, chain) is more vehement when compared to the one raised for the outfit shift. The youngsters see it as an outdated fashion statement to be discarded along with the outfit, while the elders see it as the remnant of our culture. Elders are not able to convince the youth, the need of bbc. What is its value? Why do we need to wear it? Apart from saying that they are part of our tradition and that all girls need to wear them, there is no other strong argument coming up.

I am also lost for words, this is one argument where i am not able to decide which side to take. When i see a girl without bindi, i feel that she is not dressed properly, that something is missing in her. That's something i am used to seeing growing up, all girls wear bindis. But then, when i realise that its a Christian, Muslim or a north Indian girl, i don't find it odd. Am i prejudiced? or hypocritical? Is following tradition blindly such a bad thing? It is not hurting anyone, it is not like rejecting allopathic medicine in favor of ayurveda saying that it is not our tradition. There is no harm in following elder's word, right? Of course, counter argument would be what is the need to wear them when they are not benefiting us in any way. Point noted. 

Call me conservative if you like, but a girl does look beautiful with a bindi, even if it is foreigner. And that's my opinion, so hang me..........