My Other Passions – Food & Cooking

I love food. I also love to cook. I think there is something very warm about cooking and its great when you can share your creations with friends and family. I made Kofta curry (minced meat ball curry) tonight and was lucky enough to share it with close friends. I decided to marry my two passions – cooking & photography and clicked a few shots – I hope you enjoy it !    
   

It’s the Small Things

I was in LA a few weekends ago all ready to hit a very fun party when I realized that I had forgotten the screw of my earring - Damn ! I ran from store to store to see if I can fix this problem. I was even ready to buy a new pair of earrings. Then from no where this guy helps me out. He gives me the back eraser of a pencil to use that holds the earring in place - Genius! It was perfect and I was ecstatic. He had no reason to help me, but he did. It is amazing how the small things that people do makes one happy. The smile from a stranger on the street, or the musician at the subway playing a familiar tune just when you have missed your train. Babies and flowers have the same effect – you can’t help but feel warm mushiness when you get a bouquet of flowers or hear a baby chuckle. I have posted a few pictures that have made me smile in the last few weeks.

Bombay Meri Jaan

Bombay – a city that is often compared to New York; it is looked upon as the nerve center of India. On one hand, you have the most mesmerizing structures that were built centuries ago, and on the other you have an urban jungle that is built on greed and chaos. My visit this winter was a whirlwind, but I did notice a few things that disappointed me – the dug up roads, the pollution, the poverty. All of these have always existed in Bombay, but the level to which it had escalated was terrifying. I wondered, how long can it take this kind of abuse? There is so much positive press about India – we are a country of a billion people, but it is these people that live in conditions that are un-acceptable and basic requirements like water, cleanliness & clean air to breath are difficult to come by. We have a lot of potential, but no infra-structure in place to take it to the next level. With greed and corruption all around how will Bombay / India succeed. I see a beautiful country with so much, and yet depleting itself bit by bit till nothing will be left. I hope we can change this course and give some respect to our city – Bombay !

Note: The pictures were actually taken as I was driving from Bombay to Pune and in Sinhagad Fort - but I felt they depicted a piece of life in India that we see in Bombay as well.

A Slice of Heaven

A midnight flight to Bangkok and then an early morning connection to Krabi; that is what I recommend to anyone who is looking for some rest and relaxation. Krabi is located on the west coast of Thailand. What amazed me besides the beautiful white sand, the green-blue sea and the mesmerizing sunsets; was that it was un-touched and nature had prevailed over human commercialization. If your looking for a spot off the beaten path – this is it! We stayed at the Amari Vogue Resort located on Tub Kaek Beach. The resort has great restaurants and an amazing Spa. If you plan on visiting I suggest you definitely do day trips to Maya Beach and Phi Phi Islands where you can scuba dive or snorkel. Also, visit the Ao Nang market where there are great deals to be found and bargaining is a must. I tried my best to capture this beautiful slice of heaven.

Terror: a state of intense fear

Terrorism: A systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In 1987 I boarded a Pan Am flight that took me to New York via London for my summer holidays. A year and a half later a terrorist would blow up a plane just like the one I had boarded. On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people on board as well as 11 on the ground.

This weekend I was in Syracuse and saw a memorial that was created for students that died in the 1988 terrorist bombing. There were 35 students aboard that flight. This brought back back memories from last year. Nov 26th is my mother’s birthday and also a day that anyone who has anything to do with Bombay will never forget. I remember frantically calling all my loved ones and breathing a sigh of relief to know that they were all safe; not everyone was that lucky. As long as there is politics, hate and greed in this world acts of terrorism will continue and people will live with fear and come to terms with grief. It is not fair, and yes, something must be done about it – how and what, I don’t know. It takes a lot to change the world; I hope to see this change in my lifetime.

Parades and such….

I have had bloggers block for the last few weeks; I guess sometimes you just don’t feel like posting and instead of forcing myself I just gave into my complacency. I took these pictures a while back on a bright sunny day when there was a parade in the city. NYC has the most parades, they get monotonous sometimes and of-course wreck havoc with the traffic. Forget about going cross town in a cab when there is a parade blocking all of 5th Avenue. There are actually over 50 parades a year in NYC click here for a list of them.

The first picture is of a mini Turkish festival that had a sufi dancer "wowing" the audience

This second picture is one of my favorites; every parade must have a band marching down the street……

Lie to Me

I was walking by the Apple store near Central Park the other day and saw a promotion for the show "Lie to Me", which I found hilarious. It was people writing down things they had lied about on a card and sticking it up on a board. There were three boards that were stacked with lies! It made me think, lies are such an integral part of our lives. We all tell little white lies every now and then, we use products that basically lie to us telling us how much better or prettier we will look or healthier we will be, we watch TV which are pieces of fiction (lies) that entertain us. Oh well - being a little cynical this morning, but the silver lining is that in every lie there probably is a small sliver of truth :)

Tug Of War

I wrote the beginning of a short story and then related it to some pictures I have taken. Below is the initial paragraph - if it pulls you in you can click on the link to read more.

I walked out of my old, crumbling Manhattan apartment, just as I had done for the last three years.

"Good morning Jones, have a nice day".

I find it funny that my doorman will never call me by my first name; he uses my last name as though it were my first, I am just used to it now. I smile and nod as I have everyday.
There are so many people in Manhattan, where do they all come from? I have always enjoyed my morning walk to work. I like to notice the various people I come across; some are suit-clad bankers while others are the creative type (I also refer to them as people wearing weird clothes). The ones that get a chuckle out of me are the men wearing oddly matched trousers and shirts or women who are wearing clothes that are way too tight for them; don't they look in the mirror before they leave home? You would never see me wear anything that would make me stand out. I like fading into the background. Observing is what I do best and what I am far more comfortable doing. I can never be like Tina (my half sister), she is always the center of attention, loud and boisterous. Click Here to read more

Jump

Week three of my fiction writing class. I got inspiration to write from the below picture which incidentally was the first pic that I took with a DSLR. Hope you enjoy the little story and the picture!

She could feel the soft breeze tussle her hair; it felt like Marc was playing with her silky strands. Anna closed her eyes and melted away into her memories. She missed Marc dearly; there was not a minute when she did not think about him. She closed her eyes and saw his face; he was so handsome. His blue eyes complimented his brown hair and tanned complexion so well. She still could not believe that he had walked out of her life. She remembered their last conversation, “I cannot take this anymore” he said, “you are not the person I fell in love with; I am sorry I have to go; I am not strong enough to combat who you have become – your black-outs – your multiple personalities, it’s driving me crazy”. That was it – he had just walked out, never to return again. She did black out – at first it was rare, but now it had become an everyday occurrence. She would lose hours in a day; and when she regained consciousness she smelt like she had just rummaged through the garbage or looked like she had been in a fight; scratched all over. She had no idea what had happened or what caused these occurrences. All these events had brought her to this very moment in her life; she could smell the salt in the breeze all the way up where she stood, the sun was shining as though it was beckoning her; she took one deep breath and jumped off; Anna and her personalities took one big jump off the Triboro Bridge into the deep blue water below.

Fiction Writing

I am taking a fiction writing class - this is the first week. I signed up for it so I could write stories about my pictures. My first assignment is supposed to relate to something I saw or read (a picture, a headline) and should be 250 words. Below is the picture and my 250 words ! Let me know what you like about it or not.

It was a hot summers day, my parents were having their annual British party. We had spent all morning cutting perfect little cucumber sandwiches, mom had made her famous coconut macaroons, dad had his Tanqueray and Pimms ready. They had stupid rules at this party; all guests had to wear a hat and everyone had to speak in a British accent for the evening. One can imagine how ridiculous the yanks sounded in fake Brit accents! As a little girl I would sit on my yellow swing under the tree watching the festivities unfold. As the night progressed the accents got funnier and the conversations more bizarre. I was always a by-stander looking from afar, I wondered why my parents would have this yearly shindig that the entire neighbourhood would look forward to for months. Later I realized how much this brought the community together and how much my parents missed their home in England.
Last week my mother passed away so I hosted 'the party' one last time in her memory. Everyone came with their hats and accents, this time around I could not be a voyeur to the party; I had to make sure the scones, cucumber sandwiches and macaroons were up to snuff. I now understood why my mother did this every year; it was so that she could never lose her roots - it made her feel like she was back home in England. T&T in hand, I toasted to her in a thick British accent!