All about Peking Ducks and White Wine.

A Brahman editor asked me out for lunch as he wanted to celebrate the success of an article we had jointly written. It got the thumps up from all over the state. I was afraid I would have to eat drum stick sambar and vangi bath with papad and pickle. Not that I dislike vegetarian food. But, who celebrates success with sambar and pickle? No one. But, surprise, surprise, we went to Taj West End and he booked a table at the Thai Restaurant surrounded by water on all sides with ducks and fish swimming along lavender color water lilies. Wow! Then, to my astonishment; he ordered chilled white wine and Peking duck. I hate duck meat. I like ducks in the wild and not on my lunch table. Anyway, the Peking duck was cancelled soon enough and Chicken Satay was ordered as an appetizer and later Thai green chicken curry. My Brahman editor ate a few pieces of chicken and drank vodka with fresh orange juice. I raised an eye brow. And, he laughed aloud and said nothing. We spoke about our favorite movies. Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill A Mocking Bird and Roman Holiday. And, Oscar Wilde and Kafka. It was intelligent thought provoking conversation. The lunch ended with Cassata ice cream and more conversation on Kuvempu, Shakespeare, Kennedy and the Bay of pigs, Che Guevara and Karl Marx. I love picking peoples' brains if I find them interesting enough. The lunch ended with a photo op on a Polaroid camera saying cheese. I still have the picture. A toast to my first editor who loved me as a cub reporter and I am forever thankful for his encouragement and support. I just heard he is no more. For Whom The Bell Tolls?

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A healthy romantic during Covid-19 lock-in.

How to be a healthy romantic during Covid-9 Lock-in

     If you want to stay healthy stick to what your grandmother or great grandmother ate back in those days. We, in south India, ate rice, fish and vegetables day in and day out. We grew our own rice and vegetables in the fields. There was no time to sleep in the afternoons. The time was spent on preparing those elaborate evening meals which were basically fish curry and rice. Now, making curry in the olden days was an art. You have to grind the freshly grated coconut and roasted masala on a stone contraption which is rotated round and round by you, by hand. It's terribly boring because it takes hours to get to that fine consistency your grandmother wants. I have done it. Meanwhile, as you do it, you can talk to your cat which is waiting patiently for that bit of fish you promised it

     Back in those days, there was no electricity in our village and if we had it, it came only for a few hours in the morning. But, it was fun to eat under a lantern hung from the ceiling. Nowadays, you light a lamp only if Modi tells you, but, back in those days, we had to do it every evening. It was great fun eating freshly caught fish, cooked in a coconut based sauce under the shadowy light of the lantern hung from the tiled ceiling. Did I tell you I am a great romantic? I still like to eat by the light of the lantern when there is no current in Wayanad which happens to be all the time during rainy season. And, yea, it keeps me grounded and appreciative of things that I have.