C’est moi. Flickr Creative Commons

Cynthia, then Arundathi tagged me for this.
First I wondered, why would anyone want to hear me brag about myself? Well, I’m flattered and honoured that they do.

Then I thought, this is so easy. Wrong. This is difficult.
Cynthia wants seven random things, Arundathi wants eight. So I’ll write down eight things that swirl around my head right now.

I

I miss living in a big, bustling city where I can get lost in the crowd. I miss living in an apartment where I can lock ONE door behind me and not worry about whether I have latched all the gazillion doors and windows, if the sprinklers will come on, and who will water my house plants when I am away. I’m an urbanite at heart.

I miss the vibrant street life. At the same time, I know I am fortunate to be able to grow different things and enjoy a quiet life in a quiet part of the world. This, however, is the last home with a yard we will live in. We’ve decided that our next home will be an apartment somewhere.

II

I am happy today because

- Alan Johnston has been freed from captivity.

- life is full of delightful surprises. Lori, whose blog I have been following for a while, told us a few months ago that the doctor had given her six months live. I go to her blog from time to time dreading what I am going to read next.

You grow attached to some people even though you’ve never met them or spoken to them. Lori is one of them. She now tells us she is in partial remission. She’s the gal who fired the oncologist who told her there was no treatment and no hope left, and hired a new one. She planted flowers and veggies in her garden this spring when her world was enveloped by darkness, and made a trip to Hawaii to celebrate herself and those close to her.
Her doctor tells her she’s in partial remission.
My heart did a happy dance when I read that. Wishing you a full recovery, Lori. You inspire me.

Read her blog @ Too Sexy for My Hair.

Now, I am fervently hoping Sandee gives us similar news. Fight on, Sandee.

III

I had a job where I got to meet famous, influential people from around the world. The one who left the deepest mark on me was Sir Peter Ustinov. He was gentle, funny and prodigiously gifted.

IV

Things that elude my comprehension:

- St. Anthony of Blair is the new Middle East peace envoy. Yeah, Bush’s pet poodle who went sniffing for Weapons of Mass Distraction, and is responsible, with his master, for the loss of over a hundred thousand innocent Iraqi lives, is going to dispense peace and sunshine in the Middle East.

- People come to my home or accost me at public places to ’save my soul’. Gee, thanks, but I am a happy heathen. Think about it. if heaven is inhabited by these boring sanctimonious types, I’d rather go to the firepit where the party is.

- People who urge Jai and I to go ahead and breed already. ‘You need a bahbee to make your faaaaamilllyy compleeete.” I want to say, “Thanks, but I don’t recall asking you for guidance about my sex life”. Instead, I don my biggest crap-eating smile and say, “Kids are irritating and expensive.” Not my true feelings, but it’s a real treat to watch a baby monger recoil from you in indignation. Muuuaaaahhhh.

V

My first kitchen experience. I was 17, had invited my friends over the next day. My mom was travelling and I was alone at home.

11 p.m., tried to make chana masala. I tried to pry open the pressure cooker before the pressure had subsided. The lid flew open. I was scalded all over my right arm and parts of my face, and admitted to the hospital. Stayed there for over a week. My face healed soon and completely, I still have faint scars on my arm.

Stayed away from the kitchen for five years, until I had to live alone. The first recipe I tried was some eggplant abomination from some Indian cookbook. It called for vanaspati (margarine). Yes. I went and bought some eggplant and some vanaspati. The recipe called for six tablespoons. I went ahead, made it, hated it. After sitting for a few hours, the dish had a hard coating of vanaspati on the surface. Threw the whole thing out, and lived on toast and Kissan jams for the next couple of years. Lunch would be at the office. I love whole grain toast and fruit preserves. Will never tire of it.

My favourite celebrity chef: Jamie Oliver. I also like Martin Yan.

VI

I dread wedding invitations. Don’t know why, I feel like I am intruding. I don’t understand the concept of making a relationship ‘official’ to begin with, but the idea of being present at what is supposed to be an intensely private moment between two individuals makes me uncomfortable. Yeah, I am negative and quite anti-social. I’m not proud of it, but it’s a fact. Weddings and similar events where I am wondering why I am there, all the while making small talk with random people make me so bored, I want to cry.

VII

I had never read a comic book until Jai introduced me to them. My favourite is Calvin and Hobbes. I rarely read fiction. I have a short attenton span, and not a very good imagination. I like cold, hard facts. That’s why I find non-fiction engaging. My reading list looks a bit like this.

My favourite light reading: anything by Bill Bryson.

I also enjoy books about political theory, history and the media. Currently, I’m reading Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. She’s a Jungian psychoanalyst who dissects folklore to look at the instinctual, wild side of the feminine self. Very empowering.

VIII

I am a wheat addict. Love breads of all types. It’s been proven that the most common food addiction is addiction to wheat. I can live happily without rice. However, I need my wheat fix, and can’t imagine going on a carb-free diet.

I love anything with dark chocolate. Except chocolate icecream. I don’t like it at all. My favourite icecream flavours: rum and raisin, coffee, and custard apple.

However, I prefer fruity sorbets to icecreams. I don’t enjoy milky things too much, except yogurt. I am mildly lactose intolerant.

I used to be a huge carnivore until I turned vegan. Stayed vegan for a long time, until Jai came and disrupted my plans. He started making nice masala tea with milk, and storing tubs of icecream in the freezer. I still avoid milky things (like cheese on pizza) if I can.

My sense of smell is very sharp. I really really can’t stand things that smell funky - raw onions, cabbage, radishes, some cheeses, etc. I like cauliflower if I’m not around when it’s cooking.

My fav veggies are bittergourd and okra. I don’t like French beans, cabbage, radishes and eggplant. I had a great mom. She never cooked these veggies ‘cos she didn’t like them either. ;-)

J loves French beans and claims that cabbage does not stink. Yeah, he has strange taste when it comes to veggies, but let me tell ya, he has fabulous taste when it comes to women!!!
Both of us have birthdays next week, and he’s gonna make me something special tomorrow. I’m all excited.

- b.

I’m required to tag eight people. Very hesitantly, I tag (well, my sweet friend Manisha has already been tagged)

Anita of A Mad Tea Party
Pel of Elaichi Et Cetera
Anjali of Anna Parabrahma
Priya of Akshayapaatram
Sia of Spice Corner
Linda of Out of the Garden
Shyamala of Food in the Main
Nabeela of Trial and Error

If you aren’t interested, there’s no compulsion at all. This is just my call of duty.

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