cooking up storms..

It's winter! (mostly) fake yuletide cheer time.. All the stupid potluck things have started..and those of us with the gift of brown skin in vella-kaaran land are expected to come up with 'exotisches indisches' celebration food. One such do is happening later today and my friend V in all his enthusiasm volunteered us to make something... We decided on 'Suji ka Halwa'..'Kesri Baath' to me..because it was easy to make.. and pulled it off pretty well in the end.

The process, however, was a traumatizing experience..for me and my me-accustomed kitchen. V is what I now refer to as a method retard.. he messed up my kitchen..stirred the suji so it slopped all over the stove..and burnt itself in place.. sent some of it flying to the previously clean, mopped floor, used all the clean utensils and ladles he could reach, dumped the drippy stirring spoon on every available clean surface and generally forced me to enter a state of suspended conciousness just to keep from braining him with a suji coated saucepan.. and I repressed my homicidal side by alternately shoving him out and stirring for a bit till he popped back in..and spacing out to other times I've cooked with someone else while he abused my poor kitchen..

Amma... I imagine my mother feels a similar horror and remorse for her kitchen when I decide to cook. Cooking sessions with Amma were and still are (to a lesser extent now) revelations.

 I'd start off thinking 'that looks simple..and I've watched her make it for..like..ever..I can handle this' two minutes into the recipe.. I'd be like 'maaa!' and she'd turn to me looking resigned, encouraging, proud of my effort and a smidgeon smug (as only mothers can) and tell me exactly what was amiss..it's scary.. I really hope someday I'm as good at her..at my job if not cooking. While it's fun kitchening ( prepping, cooking, cleaning up) whith her, her inner management-conscience doesn't permit her to not-correct..she'll try really hard to let me muddle through it on my sloppy own but will eventually cave and offer some ( usually credible) suggestion. I pretty much always feel a bit embarassed and a tad disgruntled and react to it in one of 4 ways- I'll silently do what she says and leave it be; - I'll glare and continue doing it wrong; - I'll dump it down and say 'you do it!' and storm out or I'll pause, demand she let me do it on my own, throw in some crap about not having her experience, and do what she asked me too, with one part of me smirking at the other..
That made me sentimental and goofy, but I still wanted to cry with my kitchen... so..onto the next..

Sandy.. Cooking with Sandy's one of the funnest thing to do on the domesticity list... from childhood 'chinese' cook-fests to baking trials that almost ended up in electrocution.

Now, both of us being wiser, we have this pattern. We discuss, start to cook..improvise to include cravings, continue with discussions, screaming and maniacal laughter and end up with a fairly decent meal..normally comprising corn, chilly, fried stuff and cheese... and leave the kitchen a mess that neither of us want to think about. Then her OCD makes her go back and clean..and I end up helping...which means I clean out a space on the counter for my butt and talk/tease/sing while she does the cleaning.

I never got out of the cleaning in the winter cooking sessions with T and S back in Yingland, though. T and I were alike..cooking temperament wise.

 We'd get things started and clean up while we cooked..and us being housemates..that was a good thing all round. Our sessions always ended with a hot and usually brilliant meal and a clean kitchen and even tempers (I'm making this sound like something else now..damnit y'all..focus!) but sometimes S would show up.. she was one of those people that literally and metaphorically sticks her finger into every..well.. subzi, sambhar or payasam... throw in a pseudo friendly, incessant high pitched chatter and you had the perfect murder scene. T and I stayed outta jail though..just shows the power of a homecooked meal.

I was beginning to think V's low score on my kitchen compatibility scale was a result of the y chromosome but my most recent cooking experience..with R who's visiting me for new years..forces me to reevaluate..

not only is R extremely efficient in the kitchen..he's so bloody darn good, I could fall back on the old setting the table and doing the dishes routine.. code for Renu's patented wriggling out of work and doodling..

So all in all..my best cooking experiences amount to me either being alone..or not actually cooking!

Lab-rats in the Caribbean

Yo maan!

I just got back from the Caribbean...and can't seem to sleep.. since that's very disturbing..me being me, who's normally able to sleep anywhere and anytime irrespective of jetlag or prior napping. I've decided to take my mind off it and write this out...besides, there's the added benefit of reliving my week of absolute beach-bum bliss!

So.. it all started when my labmate Karolina and I decided to apply for a travel grant to attend this stem cell biology conference in Antigua. We didn't really expect to get it..being only a few months old in the field and all..but figured it was worth a shot.. so a few hurried experiments, data compilation and 2-page long essay application later we were informed that we'd bagged the grant. A lot of jumping and screaming, high fives, jealous colleagues, reams of visa and ticketing paperwork (the crappiest thing about being Indian is that you need a visa to visit even a tiny little speck-on-the-map island) more hurried experiments, piles of data, a ridiculously time consuming poster, hurried shopping and packing and 3 months later we were on a plane headed to the V C Bird international airport, Antigua.. 4 days before the start of the conference.

Antigua's hot and humid as can be expected of a sub tropical island- Air so humid it's like inhaling steam, the faint tang of salt water, fish and seaweed, heat that weighs on you so you feel like you're dressed for winter, and the cacophony of insects, birds, lizards (bleah..shudder) and frogs. There was a ridiculous number of horrid, leaping lizards..and Karolina was so taken by them she took a million pics!
                                                                         
 The people were laid back and relaxed..it took a while to get used to the accent and cadence but once we learnt to ignore the ' oh mah lordy' and 'sweet gawd' and 'darlin' and 'lurve' that appear several times in a sentence, the english was pretty easy to understand. They're quite friendly and helpful and we never felt unsafe and had a really good time.

The Capital- St Johns had a definite Indian small town feel to it... in fact I felt like I was back in Adugodi or someplace. Narrow roads half blocked because of parked vehicles, random vehicles of different makes and sizes...awful drivers, roadside vendors selling pirated DVDs, confused looking  tourists, public buses that drove you to your destination..be it your resort or the closest vegetarian restaurant.. if you fluttered your eyelashes and looked bit helpless. We visited the local fruit and veg market and tried out the famed Black Pineapple- major letdown- it wasn't even remotely black and I've definitely eaten sweeter ones back home! But Karolina was enchanted! Europeans..bah!

We hit a new beach everyday.. sometimes several..Antigua's supposed to have 365 beaches, so there was plenty to choose from.. each was different..in the texture of sand, type of shells, the presence or absence of birds, the colour of water, the depth, the waves..the clouds, the shade,the foliage, even the way sun hit the water!..you get the picture..several subtle differences adding up. Naturally we had the time of our lives just laying about, talking to the occasional passer by, wading, lazing.

 

 Apart from taking advantage of the beach and ending up " browned like breakfast bacon" as an amused friend pointed out, we took full advantage of the unlimited food and drink included at the resort where the conference took place. The rooms were great and  had a great view of the sea.. we faintly regretted the fact that we only used them to sleep in. We attended..very reluctantly.. the talks and grudgingly stood by our posters for 3 excruciating question and mosquito filled hours a day.. I visited the secondary rainforests where they have 'zip lines'- steel ropes spanning gorges, ravines and such, at canopy level, to which you're harnessed and can..well zip across. Had the best time.. was a pity I couldn't take pictures..but there was the danger of being distracted taking pictures and smashing into a tree.. also, I FINALLY tried jet skis..was so much fun! definitely a repeater!

All in all a brilliant trip..looking forward to the rest :D

The BIG little things...

Little things that gave scientist-me a major thrill... before they became tedious routine or just a *+§$§~#* pain ..

-  Feeling my first endothermic reaction... the tube cooled up..I couldn't let go!
-  My first colour reaction... something with iodene and starch....reddish to blue-black..everyone went 'ooooh'.. I looked cool..but was doing cartwheels inside :D
- Fixing and staining *pathogenic* bacteria for the first time
-  Focusing my first microscope..on aforementioned bacteria
- Figuring out how to manipulate data...and be realistic!
- My first record...zoology..it's a work of art!
- Sectioning onion roots and microscoping 'em FTFT (for the first time!)
- Poking myself to get a blood typing sample...I'm still proud of me!
- Watching little bits of stem grow into little plants in tubes.
- Running the HPLC and Mass spec.. all them tubes and things..
- The defining moment...Growing my first cells- G292 osteosarcoma cells.. labelling the flask with my name!
- Watching the G292s detach when I trp-digest them.... gets me everytime..it's still fun!
- My first contamination.
- Getting my own brand new set of pipettes.. with my name on them.
- Isolating cells from gory bits of bone.. and watching the cells grow *sniff* I'm so proud!
- *hoping* something useful comes of every experiment I start...

Urlaub in der Schweiz..

Drumroll! Fanfare!! I'm back from my first ever shlep out of Berlin. Took the very bold and more difficult than I thought decision of abandoning my cells for 4 days and catching a flight to Zurich..and man! was it worth it.

The flight from Tegel to Kloten was pretty uneventful.. well..except that I discovered Air Berlin serves you a sandwich and a Snickers bar for free..despite being a budget airline.. pretty neat start to a vacation eh?  The inevitable OPK (other peoples' kid..the loud obnoxious kind.) was there...screaming..but I pretty much slept through it..and an hour later I was in Zurich. Airport procedure was relatively smooth...blah blah.

R was supposed to meet me at the airport.. he did.. just a bit late! Not that much of a surprise...I doubt that between the two of us we've ever met on time for anything.. Doodled a bit at the ticket vending machine..figured out what tickets we needed..kind of.. and took the half hour tram ride to Seilbahn Rigiblick (SweizerDeutsch: cable car mountain view... because you can see the Alps from there on a clear day).. There's a pic of the daft confusing ticket vending thing..with the name of the station.... I love the name Rigiblick...sounds like something you'd call a hyperexcitable puppy!

 The next four days passed in happy oblivion... I wandered around in the old city... got a week pass for the public transport... Was really impressed by the fact that the ticket is valid for any 7 day that you validate it for not for 7 consecutive days like in Germany.

So.. the highlights of my happy-oblivionness... getting up late to the nicest view.. and not feeling guilty about being late for lab!

 

R and I fed the swans on lake Zurich every single day... with loaves..yes..loaves in plural!..of brot (bread!) we bought specially for them from CoOp city..It's not like I lurve swans or anything..i think they're freaky.. but we got a huge kick out of starting swan feeding frenzies..  pic below.. I got bitten while starting one of these.. this great nasty swan plucked the bread out of my hands..and nipped my fingers in the process..

                    

We also discovered that if you drop bits of bread on a swan's back, the foolish thing won't realise..and will soon have a flock of it's yeobirds pecking at it.... hilarious to watch...particularly if you pick the biggest meanest swan..

The ducks at that part of the lake were particularly fiesty... they'd zip in from nowhere and steal bread from under the swans' long s-shaped necks! This one particular red eyed, croaky voiced duck we'd nicknamed psycho-duck crapped a tonne into the lake in front of us...and turned the clear wated a murky green for a few hilarious minutes...

 

 Oh! and there were there moorhen things  that made whoopy noices and these reeeallly noisy..squaky screechy gulls...

Sprungli was another MAJOR treat... I did a Heiße Schoki there....

and the store was one of my fondest chocolate/pastry fantasies. I later ate these cream centered, melt-in-your-mouth mini pastrie things called Luxembourglis... shlurp..I can say no more!

The touristy things about Zurich can me found anywhere on the great wide net... I'd say the cathedral and the various museums are definitely worth a visit... And since this is starting to make me want to go back, I'm going to stop here!

How come...

(questions I've had for as long as I can remember.. hopefully some will get answered here..)

..People dont see the beauty of snakes and crocs?
..I want to believe people when they say 'everything'll be alright' but I can't?
..I feel obliged to hold on to principles I don't believe in?
..There's never the right quantity of media in the tube so I keep having to refill?
..My mum's always right?
..I'm always too early of a bit late for things..never comfortably on time?
..Other folks are late if I'm on time?
..My super's there when I'm cleaning the bench but not when I'm working?
..My old friends never go (physically go!) with me when I move to a new place?

..There's ALWAYS a whining/sugar high/ bawling child in close proximity when I travel?
..Most of my childhood daydreams involved talking animals?!
..Mundane nonsense qualifies as small talk?
..Nobody can see my invisible alligator anymore?
.. Aforementioned child ALWAYS has a leaky nose and always finds it's way to me?
..I rarely ever eat enough..it's mostly too much or somethimes too less.
..Other folks can tell when I'm hungry but I can't?!
..It never rains when I can afford to lay in bed and loll?
..The jerk that knocked me off my bike hasn't received retribution?

..It takes so long to make friends?

South India- a primer

Seeing as this post will probably put several backs up..I'll apologise for any insensitivity in the upcoming blog. I'll also warn you not to read any further if you can't take a wack sense of humor.. if you can... haveits..for some of the non south indian folks I've had the (mis)fortune of meeting.. South India..a brief intro:

1. The 'South' comprises 4 states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala... it's not one blob of land called Madras.

2. Madras WAS the capital of Tamil Nadu... any Indian hailing from a place south of Maharashtra is NOT a 'Madrasi'.. in fact, the term's obsolete seeing as Madras doesn't exist anymore... refering to someone as that makes you deserving of a good hard foot stomp!

3. Do NOT tell someone who tells you she's Tamilian she doesn't 'look' like a south indian... if she's been pushed as far as I've been she might poke you in the eye! We're not clones!

4. When in South India, do not eat north indian food...if you must, dont whine that it's 'not like in dilli or bambai yaar' Of course it's not! This is not Dilli or Bambai, saar!

5. Idli and Dosai are eaten dipped in chutney or sambhar.. if you want to bite into the idlies first and drink the sambhar separately, go ahead.. just dont judge us when we bite into pani puris instead of shoving them into our mouths whole or eat puris with thenginkai chutney!

6. Do not insist on talking to us in Hindi! If we reply in another language it means we think we dont need to know it or/ and we dont want to speak it.. speak english..or the local language... or mime!

7. If you're thinking about starting a tirade of how horrible the south is..shut the hell up..we dint ask you to come here.. but you did..AND you overpaid and ruined our auto annas and velaikaara akkas.. adapt or get lost.

8. Don't smirk too much at 'South Indian' English... we pretend not to notice the fact that you say yaar after every sentence, is it naat so?

9. DO NOT be rude to staff, be a loud nuisance in public places and talk to bus conductors in Hindi!

10. Just because we dont shout every sentence and make a spectacle of ourselves, doesn't mean we're boring...just civilised!

and last but naat least...

Enjaai maadi swamy!

Shitty things that happened to me this week...

- my first mouse practical... involved murdering, skinning, disemboweling, dismembering and gouging out the eyes of BABY mices ( sob)

- I watched a scientist work with an undead (killed but flapping and flailing) chicken (i'm scarred for life!)

- two of the experiments for which we murdered the mices ( I know the plural of mouse is mice.. this is said meeses...it's personal..see?) screwed us over

-sauce from my falafel dripped all over my pants this morning..looked like the undead chicken had diarrhoea on me...or worse!

- We fought!

- The darn cells from the month long experiments were't enough!!

- it started to pour just as i got out of the station to walk 10 min to lab... I was late! and i didn't have an umbrella!!

- The Feta ruined my falafel... I paid 30c more for it!

- The darn store was out of lemon tea... have to make do with peach.

-My timer died..in the middle of a a very time dependent experiment!

- The mensa (cafeteria..geez!) at the practical course place sucks! I had to eat mashed potato with herbed curd for lunch..three days in a row.. yeuch!

- I had to shop! for clothes!!

(old unpublished posts 3)I admire and super-like people who....

- do nice things without expecting anything in return

- really listen without interupting

- talk softly

-are genuinely sad when things go badly for others

- can be uninhibited anywhere ( think making cuckoo noises in forum food court or singing the hokey pokey in the elevator)

- that are there for me even when they aren't physically there.

-say things straight out instead of hinting

-don't need the spotlight all the time

-can appreciate Vadivelu comedy as well as Wodehouse

-see the appeal of a rainy day

-dont mind being dopey when the occasion calls for it

-enjoy feeding the ducks at the park, playing with stray puppies, smiling at unsmiling passers by and dont pretend otherwise.

-dont mask their enthusiasm for silly stuff..like cotton candy and fake basketball

Amma, Appa, Sandy, Snup, Mil, Rats... big fat hug!!

(old unpublished posts 2)I absolutely hate it when people....

- sip (shlurp, drool backwash) from my water bottle.. no really.. it's gross! besides.. i'm carrying it for me..get your own! if it's a life and death situation then the least you can do is pour it in your mouth the way pakkathu veetu maami drinks filter kaapi.

- ask for a 'bite from my ice cream' or stick their forks in my food.. would you like it if i spat in your food?! because thats pretty much what you're doing!

-Are over familiar...woman! just because you think you're 'close frennds' with my folks doesn't mean it's ok to ask me about my 'baay frend' and alcohol preferences at family events.

-act like they know things to get info out of people.. ' so, what's going on with M (aside: there's a huge juicy scandal there!! tell!!)'... me: he' ok ( aside: miner alert!!)

- drag me shopping and expect me to have an opinion on the texture, shade and style of pink pleather bags... really..all you're gonna get from me is 'It's pink!'

-work/walk slowly and ask me why i'm hurrying... buck up..the sooner we finish the sooner i can go home and rant on my blog!

- use my stuff and tell me later..' oh D..i used those reagents you made... i hope it's ok!'.. well..they're gone now aren't they? make me more!

- describe me as cute..listen, fool.. little dogs, cats and monkeys are cute..if you cant think of a better word, shut up!

- who dont really know me badger me about my love life!!

Random person (RP): "so, D any thing special going on? "

me: " yeah.. we did whole skeletal preps today and my viral system's wor.."

RP (cutting me off): No no..i mean anything speshhul..y'know (wink, grin) anyone?

me ( knee jerk coldness): umm.. not really..oh sorry..i gotta go..

- say 'I'll call you back' and never call... if you want to end a conversation say 'bye'..it's wrong to lie..remember?

Phew...all done!

(written earlier, never published series...part 1)'Breaking news?!' gimme a break!

I spent a few hours checking out indian news channels online during the recent swearing in ceremony of Dr Singh.. and seriously.. if I hear/see one more ' Singh is King' in connection with our prime minister I will.. well.. I'll want to stomp really hard on the resposible party's foot.. but I'll probable just continue to seethe..
Seriously people.. stop! firstly.. why the obsessive use of some crappy, not-really-worth-remembering movie's name? It's just irritating to have that stupid phrase and even more stupid picture tossed in one's face, just as one starts to think it'll stay in the dim distant past where it belongs! Secondly.. The 'Singh' in question here is our prime minister..a little respect, please! Those ridiculous photoshopped pictures are plain revolting. Third.. ripping off movie titles and using them is just lame..how come news channels use them? aren't our journalists above using ridiculous movie titles for headlines? seriously.. who'd actually go for that nonsense?

Bye, Bangalore

The visa's arrived, most of the shopping's done, all the arrangements are in place, my room's in the process of being cleaned out (and resembles a burglary-site) and the sight of the huge black suitcases on my bed and floor are setting off these happy-apprehensive-sad waves in my stomach! I'm leaving Monday... this is probably it.. the point where I cross into the complete independence and resposibilities that go with being an adult. And as I formally grow up, it seems only right that I acknowledge all the folk that made my journey thus far worth it! So here goes..
Amma.. Thanks for being there, no matter what. For lifting me when i was down and grounding me when I started to be an ass.. For the security of knowing I'll always be able to laugh or cry to you and not have to explain. and for never ever letting me doubt my worth.
Appa.. Thank you..for being my rock. For never pressuring me. For backing me no matter what. For spoiling me rotten..and never giving up on me..even when I was being a self absorbed jerk.. For giving me everything I needed before I realised I needed it.. for being you!
Sandy.. For being friend, sister, confidante, shoulder to cry on and the bestest funnest ever company whenever I needed!
Kannan and Anand.. for being the ferpect 'gang mates'
The rest of the family.. For all the lurv!
Gerry.. For all the odd, even and aww times..
Ani, Rats, Mil, Friya and Vibs.. For being there even when you're not.. y'know..
Ravi n Goobe- for the same thing, only much much longer
Ini, Bin, Flo n Nit.. For a special brand of fun..
For everyone else that deserves mention but hasn't been on account of my laziness..

PS.. no..I'm not dying..and neither are any of these folks.. just a bizzare need for drama and sentiment!