Home Sweet Home!!!

We live in a country where parents are respected and taken care of after they get old. Serving them for the same reasons they took care of us when we were young and fragile. But time has changed the dictat of the ages. We have to travel to distant places for the need of satisfying a monthly income or an employment. Parents are left with themselves to bear the brunt of the world in their old age, the unaffordable living conditions in our city of residence makes things even worse.

Even worse is the life style we live in the hustling cities trying to make those ends meet at a equilibrium of comfort. Rising rent prices, food costs, travel and to top it all the pressures of work and the constant competition to be on top of the performance chart.

The home we left behind suddenly becomes a distant memory for us and the want to going there is just another need of the hour; a break from the regular routine of work and home. The change of the surroundings and the need to recollect the beauty of what was once the castle which we would have our way with.

The bed that would be our pal, the desk that took most of our weight during the study hours, the hall which was always filled with fights for the channel of choice with your siblings, the kitchen which had the aromas of heaven floating when we would come from school or college. The evening games we would play with our friends in the colony and then the old school which had all the mischief written in the walls and in the memories of our past. I am sure we all at one point of time had a Miss. Sandra or a Miss Lobo who would have taught us in the junior grades.

The beauty of the place which has now been transformed due to the modernization of the country is hidden in the secret vaults of our head and the smile that comes with just a visit to the old place is enough to keep us alive and gives us a reason for what we do with our lives in the city of life….!!!

The Beauty of G-W-L

The first sight of her is in the form of a mother, then if you are lucky you get to see her as your sister and then as your wife. All the three forms are packed with love, care and a fragile touch of comfort. There isn't a soul on this planet who would not have been touched by their presence at some point or the other in their lives. Most of the sons are closer to their mothers than their fathers. But still in our very great and progressing country there are episodes of infanticide and the killing of the GIRL child. The understanding that a girl is not lucky for a family without a boy.

I read about a couple who kept having kids but were so lucky to be blessed with girls and they had 4 of them but the husband and the in-laws were not happy with the girls as they wanted to have a boy in the family. The result was that the fifth time they got lucky. The irony of it is that when they grew old and wanted their son to take care of them, it was the daughters who came to their aid and supported them when they needed the love and comfort the most.

I have been among the few who has been blessed with two sisters, one elder and the other younger to me. Although, I was the middle one, I was pampered by both my sisters and showered with unconditional love and care all the time. I must state that I have been really greedy of it and have tried to reciprocate the same towards them when I could, but I got more than I gave!!

In the last few years, the bachelors states of Punjab and Haryana are facing a major crisis. There is a shortage of woman for them to get married to. I recently saw a documentary on one of the Indian news channels which showcased their plight. Apparently, they are going down south to find brides for themselves in Maharashtra and Kerala. The ironic part is that they are giving dowry to the girls side to get married to them and the same parents who would profess the boy is lucky for them are now treating the daughter in laws with a lot of dignity and respect. This is something that they have now started to realize and have initiated a drive of information to the literate illiterates the importance of the girl child.

World over, the most prosperous nations have been the ones where the Female sex has been given more or equal opportunities as men and the developing and third world nations are the ones that are still in the primitive age of treating them as a second to the Males. Look around you and see it for yourselves. Compare it and you will find the reasons for it is all inter-linked to the support of the people and its benefits. There are exceptions like the gulf states but yet they are progressing faster than most countries as far as equality is in question.

The Multi-Specialty Cuisines

A couple of months ago I had read an article on the restaurants in the city which have been going through a change of the menu they offered. The article stated that the traditional outlook of specialty restaurants were slowly in a state of becoming the more infamous multi-cuisine restaurant. The Pasta shops now would serve a variety of Continental and Chinese, the Indian specialty had some Chinese menu to it or that the Chinese corner now had some Indian dish to it. I was quite surprised at the revelation and as I would enjoy a meal in a restaurant I was actually reminded of this trend when I would see the menu change over a period of time and the alarming menu that would be presented to me.

In a recent outing to a Pizza joint, I was surprised to see a menu card that had more items other than a pizza. They had starters, pasta, soups and salads along with desert. While in the past, we would always venture to different places to have the choice of food that would tickle our palates now we can enjoy the same in the pleasures of a single place. This is a very good but yet and ugly trend that is being circulated in the city and we are not realizing what we are actually missing.

The times taken to prepare a dish along with the natural flavours are lost. Customers want it as soon as possible and are not ready to wait for their meal they are impatient. In a bid to satisfy the customer, restaurants are starting to employ quick and modern methods of cooking have changed the way the food would traditionally taste, the emphasis is on the presentation and not on the flavours. The food looks good but when you eat it, there is a definite let down in the taste and the flavours. Have you ever eaten a tandoori dish from a restaurant recently, 9 out of 10 times your hands will be red by the time you are done with your meal because of the excess colouring used to give the touch of red to the dish. The pasta is always either too dry or too mushy due to the stagnation in open air before it is served.

If you are a person of admirable taste and you relish what you eat, these are things that you will notice the next time you are out and enjoying an overpriced dish that has lost its flavor from the start.

• Look to see the ambience of the place, there is a definite evidence to look at the worthiness of the place and the seriousness in the owners to make the customers comfortable and welcomed.
• How are the stewards, waiters dressed? This is a clear indication on the hygiene of the outlet and the health concerns that govern the food preparations.
• The cutlery is an important read. If they are washed properly and shine in the light on the tube lights or fluorescent lights. They are the right place to be.
• The serving pattern is another important aspect of the process. Is the serving done in process or in a wayword manner? lets not follow the western philosophies of serving, there may be a reason for it but in India we like to be served with love and affection to enjoy the food we eat. 
• The last and most important aspect is to taste the food and reason out the flavours that are burried in the pores of the dish you have ordered or has been recommended by the server. This will be the judge of all the other reasons that you may forgo, like the ambience, the hygiene, the service process, the taste and the texture of the dish is the reason why we go to the outlet more than once.

Of course, there are places that have retained the traditional way of cooking and the food is mouthwatering and delicious. Places where you would not only recommend but would frequent yourself. Its time we demand quality rather than look at the quantity of the food at reasonable prices.