This one is for you sis.....

listening to this song by RIGHT SAID FRED brought back many memories... of you, me and our music in our growing up years...
Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and his women..New Kids on the Block and many more, our collection of grammy award tapes, our wall full of posters, craning our necks out of our bedroom window to hear the out of tune 'Hotel California' being played by amateur bands at the
Spring Fest wild fire nights and giggling our way through it and more....

Being Julia....the mom

I often wondered what my relationship with my son would be like when he was little. (Well, he is still little, but only for his indulgent parents! at 10, he thinks he is a big boy now)

Though I don't always watch movies more than a couple of times, Being Julia is an exception.What stayed with me were the last few scenes. Julia, a famous actress, has a complicated relationship with her son, husband and her own self. The only reality in her life is theatre.

Her son, now a handsome teenager, finds it difficult to comprehend his mother. On one hand, he misses the fact that his mother is not the regular plane jane mother, but on the other hand, also admires her deeply for the grand woman that she is. In one of the last scenes,Julia takes her revenge on a young actress, who has tried to take away her part, peace of mind and husband, on stage, probably the only place she is always 'at home' in....only bows to acknowledge the standing ovation when she see's her son stand up.

That one scene somehow sums up a lot ....

A beautiful life...

discovery # 1 : A nice warm perfumed bath, a good read before bed,a warm orange flavoured tisane and some old comfortable bed clothes... ummmm , lovely!

The Ghost Writer,movie review

Had read some terrible reviews of Ghost Writer, one of Roman Polanski's latest films released early this year.... The plot sounded interesting, giving Mr.Polanski the benefit of the doubt, decided to go ahead and watch the movie.. I am glad I did.

The lead, Ewan McGregor, plays a ghostwriter hired to write the memoirs of the British Prime Minister of Scottish descent, Adam Lang, played by Pierce Brosnan. The prime minister, along with his wife and staff is camping on an Island in the United States, with his ghostwriter who is only allowed to work on the manuscipt, left half done by his predecessor, in the confines of his designated workplace on the island.

The task of writing the memoirs is not as simple as it sounds.. as the ghostwriter starts his work, intrigued by the sudden and mysterious death of his predecessor. In the process, he discovers a sinister connection between the CIA and the Prime minister. The discovery eventually becomes a threat to his own life, as he uncovers the mystery surrounding his predecessors death. Read more here

Apart from the obivious, I am particulary fond of watching movies with a strong connect to the prevailing socio-cultural or political environment. And this one is definitely on the upper half of the list ...

I did some searches on Tony Blair, the erst while Prime Minister of the UK, who often came under heavy criticism in his own country for his support to the US admistration's various policies,especially those on Iraq. There were also some sundry blogposts and articles on his alleged links with the intelligence agencies of both the countries... and some malicious ones suggesting Cherie Blair's involvement as well. Ah! yes, there are also reports of the controversial arrest of Roman Polanski linking that too, to the making of this film. Read the report here

The political backdrop of this film is very very interesting, and there is certainly more than meets the eye. The similarity to real life events is uncanny, the shot of Pierce Brosnan at Martha's Vineyard airport, the mention of torture flights, the thinking wife who advices her husband on each step and is not just an arm candy besides of course, the various allegations of soft peddaling on US policies by Tony Blair during his tenure and so on....

A recommended watch...

blogging..

I have been blogging for exactly 5 years now. My first post on this blog appeared in Aug 05.

.. the tangine

bubbling away in my emile henry clay pot....

Chicken Tangine with Fennel for dinner tonight...

S,my foodie friend (and I don't mean that only in keeping with Jones way.. she is a real foodie) told me about tangines.. moroccan stews of various kinds,cooked in a dish of the same name, a shallow clay pot with a tall conical lid (see picture above), a few weeks back. I have attempted make them a few times after that, with moderate success..

After picking up fennel bulbs from a new, well appointed, gourmet store in the neighbourhood, aptly called, The Providore, I decided to make a Chicken Tangine much to the delight of my family.

It is a simple recipe with onions, garlic, ginger, saffron threads, salt, tumeric and a moroccan spice mix (ras el hanout, is what they use, I had to make do with a pared down version) with parsley sprigs or corainder leaves as bouquet garni; dunked into the pot with the chicken and fennel..and cooked for a couple of hours on a slow flame.

Served the stew with some couscous to my oohing and aahing family :)

Baking at last...

Bread making was always a disaster...mine always looked great, but were either too hard or too soft or just unevenly baked or textured, ever since college days. How did I still earn my hotel management degree.. well bakery and confectionary was only 1 of the 17 subjects we did at school, and yes, there were ways to get by :) ...

which was sad, because I love bread.. all kinds from the scrumptious croissants and baguettes in Paris boulangeries to the maska bread with a hard crust, from a local 50 year old Parsi bakery..

I figured my problem was with the quintessential eukaryotic micro-organism called 'yeast'. I am yet to learn how to work well with yeast.

So I gave up baking all together for many years. And then, I discovered quick breads.

Quick breads are breads made without yeast but with a chemical raising agent like baking powder, baking soda etc. They can be either savory or sweet.

So here I am, baking a batch of scones, at midnight, when the rest of the household is asleep, so that I can grieve for my baking disaster in private, if need be, i.e.

Well, it was'nt so bad this time. My scones are unevenly shaped and a little darker than I expected them to be, but boy!, they are delicious. My midnight feast tonight was a lovely warm scone, fresh from the oven, with a low fat version of clotted cream and jam. .. which I made !!!!

touche!

Harshada

I have seen Harshada grow into a smart, confident, young girl almost in her teens from a sickly looking 5 year old taking unsure steps into my house, holding onto her mother's sari pallu, over the last few years. Ah! the things education and general exposure to life can do to a young fertile mind of a child.
Mangal, her mother has been working for our family for the last 7 odd years. Though Mangal has her many faults, prefering to spend her evenings after work romancing her various boyfriends, she does'nt want her daughter to have the life she has and does everything she can to make sure she does'nt have to. Her husband, many years older, turns a blind eye towards her infidelity but dotes on his daughter.
Harshada goes to school. Till last year she went to a municipal school, this year she moved to a bigger school which, I believe, is not free anymore. She also asked her mother for a computer. Her mother barely literate came and asked me how much a PC would cost.
I was a little taken aback and decided to speak to Harshada myself. I met her after a long time..corporate life had been taking a toll on me for the last few years and I had little time for anything else.
She had grown up.. a little woman, poised, confident, spoke hindi fluently, strangely perceptive and mature for her age. She looks after herself most days at home after school.
I convinced her to do some basic computer courses before making her parents buy her a computer they could ill afford. She happily agreed.
So I took her to Aptech to register her for a level one Vidya course, her delighted parents in tow, as soon as her summer vacations started . One got her a cell phone and the other showed her the bus routes and got her a pass.
Harshada completed her course, she comes home to practise on one of our laptops on Sundays sometimes. She wants to complete the level II in her next vacations and learn to speak english, she writes and understands the language fluently though.
She bought JB a book to learn marathi for his birthday, on hearing about us struggling with the marathi lessons for school, from her mother.
I have asked her if she will teach JB marathi..She will be paid for the lessons, her first little job; and we will also teach her english in return.
Looks like she will have a different life than her mother after all.