Of Curries and Croquembouches...

So here it starts. I've been wanting to write about food since long. Though I am not the best cook myself, nor do I write professionally about food. I still love to try out new delicacies and watch food related shows. Indian television does offer some cooking and food reality shows, but they come across as a bit bland and boring after one has had a taste of the western cookery shows. Well we can't blame only 'Westernization' for that. For decades we had only Sanjeev Kapoor's 'Khana Khazana' as a cooking show, and only one celebrity chef, Sanjeev Kapoor himself. Along with Khana Khazana there also aired a show with chef Tarla Dalal. English language cooking shows and food related shows were virtually nowhere on the list.

The tables have turned now. We have far more English language cookery and food reality shows ever, across various lifestyle and entertainment channels. Be it Star World's MasterChef series or Zee Cafe's Hell's Kitchen or even Fox Traveller's Eat Street, Indian audiences are opening up to newer avenues, and are welcoming foreign cuisine with open arms into their living rooms,err..well kitchens.

While the fate of cooking shows is restricted to simple 'nutritious' dishes, by housewives and for houseviwes, we have only one celebrity chef. Doesn't this seem quite ironical for a country obsessed with food, being such a culturally diverse country offering hundreds of different cuisines which are nowhere similar to each other?

What must be the reason? Why do we not have young and dynamic celebrity chefs, like the Australian hearthrob of kitchen, Matt Moran or the recent Masterchef winner Andy Allen, Or the ever gorgeous Rachel Allen and of course the most beautiful celebrity chef, yeah you guessed that right, Nigella Lawson.

Nigella Lawson with her Spaghetti

Many of our very own chefs have pursued a successful career overseas, simply because of a lack of opportunities and exposure in India. Vikas Khanna, the Michelin starred chef based in New York City, or Vineet Bhatia, the successful chef of 'Rasoi' based in London who also hosts 'Twist Of Taste' on Fox Traveller, are some of the very talented chefs and are among the most respected in the culinary world.

New York based Indian chef Vikas Khanna

Efforts are being made to encourage taking up cooking as a profession. With MasterChef India: Kitchen Ke Superstars already in its second season, it has provided with the much needed adrenaline to cooking reality shows rather than the plain old 'Poushtik Cutlet' recipes which our traditional shows focused on. Series like MasterChef have given a sense of competition and have made even cooking something very exciting. It has also encouraged people to break free from their daily monotonous lives and try their hand at cooking.

But then again, the question remains, why we do not have any more shows like them, whereas it is clearly evident that people love to watch them. 

Probably cooking is kind of looked down upon,  is not given much heed, and is considered to be a woman's job (another stereotype of a predominantly patriarchal society) and so that's what Indian Television does, caters to its viewers what they want. And that's the reason we don't have any food icons, to look up to while cooking in itself is looked down upon. And with all this hullabaloo going around, one does not simply become a celebrity chef when all the viewers wanted was, a simple recipe to attract kids to karela and baingans! 

India is a diverse country, we have the richest of the richest and poorest of the poor, so while most of the housewives are busy jotting down '2 chammach cheeni, aur namak swaadansuar' the younger lot is busy guffawing when Gordon Ramsay (host of Hell's Kitchen) yells "Pack up your knives and go!" or absolutely melting inside when Adriano Zumbo cuts a slice of his famous V8 Vanilla Cake. 

 Patissiere Adriano Zumbo with his signature dessert Macaron Tower.

'Why do you watch MasterChef Australia?' I ask Srushti, a regular 16 year old girl, who fits perfectly in the target audience of English language channels like Star World India, Zee Cafe and Fox Traveller, and pat comes the reply "because it exposes me to the cuisines of the world, and I can have an understanding of what people like to eat, outside India". Another 17 year old student, Kumar replies that he just watches the show for the fun element of it, the races, pressure tests, the team challenges and of course the food. 'Dessert rounds are my favorite' he remarks with a twinkle in the eye.


With chefs like Adriano Zumbo who is regarded as the Dark Lord of Desserts and The Patissiere of Pain who dishes out famous signature desserts like the Macaron Tower, the croquembouche or his V8 Vanilla Cake, the audience can't seem to get enough of it. With chocolate cakes oozing with hot chocolate ganache, sprinkled with castor sugar or the perfectly wobbly chocolate mousse with a dash of orange zest and praline look so tasty on TV that people have started calling it 'foodporn'!                          
They say the food looks so tasty that it's almost orgasmic. Seriously, who doesn't love themselves a little foodporn, its indulging in food, with zero guilt. So go on, switch on the idiot box and Droooool...

Movie Review: Kai Po Che

'Kai Po Che' is yet another film based on the works of noted youth writer Chetan Bhagat. While the book was a hit with the youth, so is the movie. Directed by Abhishek Kapoor of 'Rock On!!' fame, it was overall a good watch.

It started off with Govind (Raj Kumar) giving a presentation about his company 'Sabarmati Sports' supplying sports equipment to various institutions across India. And then suddenly we are taken to the lanes of Ahmedabad, Gujarat in the year 1999. It comes across as a simpler time without the recent innovations of high tech cellphones, and tablets.

The story, set in the old parts of the culturally rich city of Gujarat, 'Amdavad' comes across as a breath of fresh air among today's cinema. The element of authenticity on the part of the director and the cast was simply amazing. Before going into the theater I thought to myself, this was going to be another one of those bollywood movies set in Gujarat, but somewhere are not very real to life, the humble gujju way of life, lives of people that slyly turn in Amdavad's 'pols'.

Having spent the formative years of my childhood in Baroda, Gujarat, I could very well understand the grappling situations which the three of the protagonists were facing. The direction is fantastic, with each frame with its unique touch of Gujarat, be it the actors hurling Gujarati abuses, giving speeches in Gujarati or coyly calling each other 'bakaa'. The filmmakers have truly captured the essence of Gujarat which is rare for a Bollywood production. 

I was naturally impressed with the whole cinematography and the screenplay which reeked of Gujarat, but the moment the earthquake of January 26th, 2001, shook up the characters on screen, suddenly I was taken to my childhood, and remembered those days of utter confusion and chaos and of course fear as I had never experienced an earthquake, leave away experience, I had never even known what an earthquake is. The intricacies of the difficult situations, and the friction between various groups for the proper rehabilitation in different camps was just perfect. You cannot be the judge of the authenticity of such an arduous situation without actually experiencing it first hand, yet the grapple between one of the story's protagonist Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput) and a member of the Omi's (Amit Sadh) party was something very real to life. 

A lot of attention was paid to the minute details of each frame, and the film was actually able to transport the audience to Amdavad. The aftermath of the earthquake, the rehabilitation camps, the Godhra kaand, the aftermath of the Godhra kaand were all peculiarly portrayed without any fine detail going amiss. The complex situations that had arisen after the incident at Godhra were so perfectly shown, be it Govind telling his buddy Ishaan over the phone in hushed tones that its not safe outside, or the scene in which Omi forces his way through Ishaan's student Ali's home, it was all so believable. 

The whole cast, even though was particularly new to the audience, yet they played the characters well.  All characters seemed closer to life. The plot was well written and the screenplay was clever. The background score too was good, in complete sync with the emotions and intricacies of the situations. The only thing which was not quite authentic, and hence up to the mark, was the navratri sequence. The so called 'garba' was a total bollywood song 'Pari Hoon Main', which looks somewhat out of place in a traditional Gujarati setting, as hindi songs being played at Garbas is not the trend in Gujarat. Melodies like 'Indhana Veenva' or 'Tara Vina Shyam Mane' could have done much more justice to it.

So all in all, its a good watch, will give you a quick trip and insight into the humble Gujju life. It will surely give you goosebumps if you have actually suffered those traumatic experiences. I'm no certified film critic, but as they say "Audience is the biggest critic", so I award this movie 3.5 stars.

End of an era...

'This is the end.' crooned Adele at the Academy Awards, on 25th February. It was an end indeed, the end of my school life, the last day totally summed up this magnificent journey of 12 years. Though I've changed 5 schools in my life, they all were tied together by a common string, of a home like feeling, comfort and humility, especially high school. So here's a little poem, which is somewhat like an ode to the end of my school life, moreover high school life, and wishing us all luck for our future...

End of an era

‘High School!’

Those two words which made me lose my cool.

Huge books, alien teachers, and hostility,

Were all going to replace fun, laughter,and humility.

A few months passed quickly,

And this hostile environment became a sort of family slowly.

As I got a hang of it after a while,

Strangers became more than just a smile.

Forged new friendships,

Cherished old relationships.

Cherishing them, on each passing day,

Realized that we were never this way.

Some of the friendships didn’t last long,

As some people drifted apart, and never came along.

Days, weeks, months passed with some highs and some lows.

Peppered with laughter and giggles, at each blow.

All this time passed so fast,

Not a minute, to think of the past,

Let alone planning the future,

‘Cause it’s tedious, picking a career!

We are each at crossroads, in our own lives,

Waiting for our turn to dive,

Into the real world,

Out of this very secure mold.

This is the end of an era,

As my high school life is ending.

Which had a very bittersweet beginning.

These two years passed away swiftly,

Hope the coming ones to go as smoothly.

..But this is the end of an era,

…The end of a remarkable era.

End of A New Beginning...

The year started off on a not so good note, all the friends were separated, and I was in a place which was my own, yet unknown, yeah- THE SENIOR SECONDARY SECTION! Initially everything seemed heavy, but later on we all became one big happy family, and now it's coming to an end. With surprises on every turn, it was a wonderful journey with wonderful people.  It's just an end of one academic year, yet it has resulted in a huge void. 11th grade will always be cherished, for its initial discomfort, and later for it's comfort and home like feeling! This little poem here goes out to each and everyone of the people who made the year special for me...

                                               

                                          End Of A New Beginning...

Embarking on a new phase,

I was all in a daze.

Only a few familiar smiles,

To start an adventurous journey of miles.

During this magnificent journey,

Discovered a friend,
Out of an acquaintance.

Hoping to be with me, till the end.

Talking,chatting and always hitting the lanes!

Rediscovered a special relationship,

Out of an already beautiful friendship.

Deepening of our lovely bond,

That's the best thing that has happened.

Some people changed,

And some remained the same.

The wonderful journey ranged,

From happy to sad, and from sane to insane!

Standing by my side,

Always ready to guide.

My best friend,

Will always be with me till the end.

The year went away quickly,

Like sand falling down an hourglass swiftly.

Just as swiftly and smoothly,

As I hoped it to be.

One memorable year has come to an end.

I hope the coming year to be remarkable as well.

After all,

'All's well, that ends well...'

...And it ends well, only if,

Twelfth is not hell!

Eighteen To Life

The day is fast approaching,
The day I'll turn eighteen.
Just weeks to go and I'm all grown up.

But slowly and steadily maturing,
Suddenly an adult with a bit of sheen,
It was just moments ago that I felt like a little pup!

Birthdays always filled me up with joy,The thought of gifts, food and a new toy.
But this year, the charm of the birthday is lost.
Because my childhood is now a thing of past.
The good ol' days were filled with innocence, pranks and lollies,
But now all I have is tension, stress and a whole lot of worries.

Everyone says 'Oh, He's turning eighteen,
He must preen!'
But I'm still a kid inside,who just wants ice-cream!

Nothing's gonna change,
But nothing's gonna be the same.
Hope it all recedes away, the reluctance, mixed feelings, and the pain.

Tick tock, tick tock the clock is ticking,
The day is fast approaching,
The day I'll turn eighteen
The day I'll turn eighteen....

Personal Life, personal no more!

Personal lives of people are no more personal, thanks to microblogging sites like twitter, but most importantly the television! It's like personal life sells on TV these days! All the channels are airing the oh-so-called 'Reality Shows' which have more drama than fictional shows. Turn on your TV and you'll see tonnes of shows which take you deep into the participants' life, or sometimes even their bedrooms, a few years back Reality Shows had a completely different meaning, Indian Idol, Nach Baliye, Kaun Banega Crorepati, Roadies, and the likes, were considered reality shows, but now Reality TV has a whole new definition. Explicit shows like Dadagiri, Emotional Atyachaar, Love Lockup, Maa Exchange,Wife Bina Life, Pati Patni aur Woh,Such Ka Saamna, are all ruling the roost of the IndianTelevision! 

Is the average Indian TV viewer so dumb that he can't differentiate between what's real and what's not! Has everyone gone blonde? Anyone could make out that Dolly Bindra was not possesed or anything like she claimed! But Its not just India, some no-brainer reality shows trace their roots back to L.A, shows like Maa Exchange is adapted from it's western counterpart Wife Swap. And Such Ka Saamna from Moment of Truth.

Its not that only common people's personal life that sells, people loved to watch Rakhi Sawant choose her 'var' on Rakhi Ka Swayamwar, followed by Rahul Mahajan, and now Ratan Rajput. But even these shows are not truly Indian, they're rip offs of some really successful shows in the wild wild west like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Even worse shows have hit the TV these days, for example, Baggage is a show in which people dare to bare their deepest and darkest secrets just for a chance at love, this is horrible, even after revealing shocking things about them, they don't find a date! 

One more such non-sense show is Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which shows nothing but the everyday life of the Kardashian family. Every episode is almost the same with Kim Kardashian finding out about some sex tape (from high school) being released, and the show wraps up with Kourtney and Khloe educating their little sisters about the bodily changes!

The viewer is not so dumb, please stop this! and give us some real 'reality'!

Note- A lot of research has been done for this post, by watching several episodes of Baggage, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Bachelor, Moment Of Truth, and Bachelorette. Please appreciate it.

The First Post...

So, ever since I got myself this brand new blog, I've been thinking what the first post should be about! I thought about it for long...really long, but everytime I thought something, I had a hundred reasons of not posting it! So then I stumbled upon the idea of posting about the first post itself! 


Here I am, with a blog, lots of things to rant, but thinking of if  they're better off staying inside my head. I was going to start off the blog by saying a few things about myself, but then i felt it would look kind of narcisstic, Then thought of that I should start the blog with everyone's favourite Rajnikanth, but I didn't have any nice words for him, so shut that thought too. I practically thought of everything to be posted, from Communist Domino Effects of the Egypt Revolution to the BT Brinjal Scandal, from the 2G scam to the Kalmadi Controversy, from Alam Ara's 80th anniversary to life of a struggling bollywood actor, from Why Sarah Jessica Parker looks like a horse, to the ad of the seventh season of Desperate Housewives, from Munni to Sheila, to Razia to the new in tinsel town 'Jalebi Bai'...But couldn't get my mind fixating on a single topic, My mind kept wandering and wandering and wandering..and then I had the excellent idea of posting it all and showing off my UNSYNCHRONIZED IDEAS!