Today definitely qualifies as a red-letter day...a bright-crimson-red red letter day...hell, make that neon-glowing red letter day! I know I prolly sound like m going overboard, but I really really am happy! Err...well, not exactly happy, but very definitely relieved! Ever since I moved frm Aamchi Mumbai to this valley of Silicon, the thing right at the top of my to-do list, was to get me a gas connection! N it ranked even above getting a bloody house to stay in!
Thing is, I used to dig those cookery shows on Travel & Living...n have always wanted to cook! I'd watch them the way bored housewives glue themselves to those atrocious saas-bahu serials during the afty! I wasnt bored or anything...just that I love the colors n textures of those freshly cleaned bright beautiful vegetables. My personal favorite was the one called "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations", followed closely by "Kylie Kwong Simply Magic". BTW whenever I'd watch these shows, I'd be reminded of that scene frm Monsoon Wedding, where Naseer's kid, who -- the kid, n not Naseer -- is shown to be very effeminate, in reply to his query as to what he wants to do when he grows up, cheekily tells him that he wants become a "khansama"...a chef! I harbour no such ambitions...n my wrist action is pretty firm ;-)
One of the reasons I like Bourdain, is coz he's partial to street food, which goes very well w/ urs truly too! N besides that, he also "writes" well...he'd string together descriptions of delicious food w/ rants, philosophy n lovely phrases. I wld smday love to go travelling around south-east asia savoring their street food. Armed, of course, w/ a camera!
I really must start saving! How I'm gonna do that, I have no clue whatsoever! After paying the installment on my home-loan, credit card bills, phone bill, rent, mine is pretty much a hand-to-mouth existence!
I so wanna go cry right now! :(
Wow! I started out this post in a rather upbeat mood...n here I was abt to spill my tears into a chipped coffee-cup! I'm prone to mood-swings! Almost everybody who's been w/ me has had this complaint at the top of the list...
But I'm digressing!
As I mentioned earlier the thing that was at the top on my to-do list after moving here was to get a gas connection, but I never really got around to doing it! I must've told everybody I knew abt my plans to get a gas connection SOON...tomorrow...next weekend...definitely tomorrow! I've bugged quite a few ppl abt info...as in which service is better...Jyothi, Elf, HP. Now HP was immediately out of the question...I dun have the requisite documents...apparently u need a ration card or voter ID to get an HP connection. Anyway, it's been almost six months, since I started this research project...I've made enquiries at FIVE different places...all quite spread apart, geographically. I dun have a vehicle...I've always preferred to walk, n that's what I did during these excursions...walked to all these places to compare prices, QoS, potential red-tape etc etc. But everytime I'd dillydally...on the strength of such stooopid excuses...like I've forgotten to withdraw the money from the ATM, so I'll do it tomorrow n THEN I'm DEFINITELY heading to that gaswalla...or since by the time m back frm office, it's already too late, n it'll be cruel to make that guy lug around that cylinder n stuff to my place...or that I need to look at sm more gas burners...
It was really crazy...n the guilt kept piling up...I mean it was a 10 min task...all I had to do was go n drop the dough in that gaswalla's hands n the rest wld be taken care of in less 15 mins!
But the truth is I also had my doubts as to whether I really needed a gas connection. I'm a minimalist, n I've always travelled light. I eat once a day, n that is in our glorious office mess. So there was no way, I was going to cook except on weekends! And then going out n buying all those ingredients, cooking n doing the dishes...I was wondering if it'd really all be worth it...I mean, it's one to thing to look at celebrity chefs toss in all the ingredients, which r pre-prepared into shiny utensils...n smthng totally different to...
Doubts like these kept me going -- rather not going -- for almost six months!
But I had to get the damn thing...it had become a prestige issue...I had told my landlord 5-6 times abt my plans...so finally I got bugged w/ the whole damn thing n decided the matter once n for all...I actually had to...had started seeing flying cylinders in my dreams for chrissakes!
So day before yesterday, I made sm final enquiries n today I plonked the moolah in that guy's palms...w/ the result that I finally have this huge millstone of guilt off my chest...n it had needlessly become such a TASK! Anyway, the stainless-steely shiny thingy now sits proudly on my kitchen platform.
But there's still lots that needs to be done...I still need to get a cooker, sm pots n pans...I have a few pans actually...n quite a few other things, thanks to a dear friend...god bless her! Or else my first self-cooked meal wld've been even more distant than it already is!
But I'm very happy...I've crossed the biggest hurdle! It's all downhill frm here...or so m hoping!
My first dish is going to be those cup-noodles, where just pouring hot water into it takes care of everything! I'm going to start small...to tell u the truth, I cant be too ambitious now, coz I have none of the ingredients nor half the equipment!
I must get back to my noodles now!
PS: If u have any good quick recipes, pl feel free to share them w/ me. Once I master them, I might even invite u over for dinner...
PPS: The noodles were ok...not too great, but ok. BTW I'm reading Upmanyu Chatterjee's "The Mammaries Of The Welfare State" for the second time -- I really do re-read books! AND enjoy them! Anyway, while reading it, I suddenly remembered that I had bought tea-bags n coffee the first time I had gone shopping after moving here. I remember I was very happy then...I had thought that all I have to do now is just get a gas connection. The reason I'm mentioning this, is because until just now the question of milk or sugar hadnt crossed my mind at all! Seriously! For ALL these months! I wield that Occam's Razor w/ a lil too much finesse, I guess!
Thing is, I used to dig those cookery shows on Travel & Living...n have always wanted to cook! I'd watch them the way bored housewives glue themselves to those atrocious saas-bahu serials during the afty! I wasnt bored or anything...just that I love the colors n textures of those freshly cleaned bright beautiful vegetables. My personal favorite was the one called "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations", followed closely by "Kylie Kwong Simply Magic". BTW whenever I'd watch these shows, I'd be reminded of that scene frm Monsoon Wedding, where Naseer's kid, who -- the kid, n not Naseer -- is shown to be very effeminate, in reply to his query as to what he wants to do when he grows up, cheekily tells him that he wants become a "khansama"...a chef! I harbour no such ambitions...n my wrist action is pretty firm ;-)
One of the reasons I like Bourdain, is coz he's partial to street food, which goes very well w/ urs truly too! N besides that, he also "writes" well...he'd string together descriptions of delicious food w/ rants, philosophy n lovely phrases. I wld smday love to go travelling around south-east asia savoring their street food. Armed, of course, w/ a camera!
I really must start saving! How I'm gonna do that, I have no clue whatsoever! After paying the installment on my home-loan, credit card bills, phone bill, rent, mine is pretty much a hand-to-mouth existence!
I so wanna go cry right now! :(
Wow! I started out this post in a rather upbeat mood...n here I was abt to spill my tears into a chipped coffee-cup! I'm prone to mood-swings! Almost everybody who's been w/ me has had this complaint at the top of the list...
But I'm digressing!
As I mentioned earlier the thing that was at the top on my to-do list after moving here was to get a gas connection, but I never really got around to doing it! I must've told everybody I knew abt my plans to get a gas connection SOON...tomorrow...next weekend...definitely tomorrow! I've bugged quite a few ppl abt info...as in which service is better...Jyothi, Elf, HP. Now HP was immediately out of the question...I dun have the requisite documents...apparently u need a ration card or voter ID to get an HP connection. Anyway, it's been almost six months, since I started this research project...I've made enquiries at FIVE different places...all quite spread apart, geographically. I dun have a vehicle...I've always preferred to walk, n that's what I did during these excursions...walked to all these places to compare prices, QoS, potential red-tape etc etc. But everytime I'd dillydally...on the strength of such stooopid excuses...like I've forgotten to withdraw the money from the ATM, so I'll do it tomorrow n THEN I'm DEFINITELY heading to that gaswalla...or since by the time m back frm office, it's already too late, n it'll be cruel to make that guy lug around that cylinder n stuff to my place...or that I need to look at sm more gas burners...
It was really crazy...n the guilt kept piling up...I mean it was a 10 min task...all I had to do was go n drop the dough in that gaswalla's hands n the rest wld be taken care of in less 15 mins!
But the truth is I also had my doubts as to whether I really needed a gas connection. I'm a minimalist, n I've always travelled light. I eat once a day, n that is in our glorious office mess. So there was no way, I was going to cook except on weekends! And then going out n buying all those ingredients, cooking n doing the dishes...I was wondering if it'd really all be worth it...I mean, it's one to thing to look at celebrity chefs toss in all the ingredients, which r pre-prepared into shiny utensils...n smthng totally different to...
Doubts like these kept me going -- rather not going -- for almost six months!
But I had to get the damn thing...it had become a prestige issue...I had told my landlord 5-6 times abt my plans...so finally I got bugged w/ the whole damn thing n decided the matter once n for all...I actually had to...had started seeing flying cylinders in my dreams for chrissakes!
So day before yesterday, I made sm final enquiries n today I plonked the moolah in that guy's palms...w/ the result that I finally have this huge millstone of guilt off my chest...n it had needlessly become such a TASK! Anyway, the stainless-steely shiny thingy now sits proudly on my kitchen platform.
But there's still lots that needs to be done...I still need to get a cooker, sm pots n pans...I have a few pans actually...n quite a few other things, thanks to a dear friend...god bless her! Or else my first self-cooked meal wld've been even more distant than it already is!
But I'm very happy...I've crossed the biggest hurdle! It's all downhill frm here...or so m hoping!
My first dish is going to be those cup-noodles, where just pouring hot water into it takes care of everything! I'm going to start small...to tell u the truth, I cant be too ambitious now, coz I have none of the ingredients nor half the equipment!
I must get back to my noodles now!
PS: If u have any good quick recipes, pl feel free to share them w/ me. Once I master them, I might even invite u over for dinner...
PPS: The noodles were ok...not too great, but ok. BTW I'm reading Upmanyu Chatterjee's "The Mammaries Of The Welfare State" for the second time -- I really do re-read books! AND enjoy them! Anyway, while reading it, I suddenly remembered that I had bought tea-bags n coffee the first time I had gone shopping after moving here. I remember I was very happy then...I had thought that all I have to do now is just get a gas connection. The reason I'm mentioning this, is because until just now the question of milk or sugar hadnt crossed my mind at all! Seriously! For ALL these months! I wield that Occam's Razor w/ a lil too much finesse, I guess!
