Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Job hunt

Job hunt can be so frustrating. Job hunt in this era??##@@@ might sound so unfamiliar. But i remember old Kannada and hindi cinema. The hero carrying file and degree certificates and going about the streets from one interview to another and discovers that his shoes have worn out because of all the walking! One great visual hint.. the worn out shoe says so much about the grimness of the situation. Well today's job seeking generation has walked miles away from it. figuratively speaking of course. The walk ends at the computer. Everything is reduced to Google search is it not? even job hunt. Research is Google search, spouse hunt is again clicks away(may be not straight Google search, but i believe Google search will definitely help in that as well) and now job hunt if also Google hunt. Life is all about googling.. Well that is why Google Inc is making a lot of money i guess.

Job hunt on even the Internet could b frustrating. after posting resumes after resumes to companies after companies, and getting no response but an automated mail saying ' ur resume has reached our database. will be get to you if need be' and they never get back. Day after day, nights after night, the seasons roll by, trees start to bloom, and grass turns greener yet no calls. the summers wears away no call yet.. on top it you see the TV programmes, magazines, news papers screeching a possible recession. When you are most professionally qualified to say if a recession is imminent and you find no reason to believe what they say, all your years at the college seems waste. What does a job hunter do when the 'shoe-shine' boys talk of recession? Well sit and ponder over the situation. May be it is not gonna be that bad. May be there is gonna be a silver lining somewhere there in the distant part of the horizon..nothing except time can help.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

A lost vegetable!!!

These days i do not have too many activities to indulge in except for job-hunting and recipe hunting. Got to get 2-3 meals on the table everyday and i am perpetually running out of ideas to be a little more creative and avoid repetitions in my kitchen!! Mom wonder how you managed all these years! Even god damn mess secretaries had so much to think about in my erstwhile hostel!! I guess i appreciate them better now....
I was thinking of possible vegetables that i was familiar with as a kid. Now all those sounds really exotic.. like the tender tamarind blooms and leaves (hunase chiguru in Kannada) which tastes heavenly. My mouth salivates at the very thought of it. I did have the privilege of savouring it a few years back...had prepared mixed greens with the tamarind blooms! man it was heavenly.. its so sad that it is not available in super markets.
Then there is the farm greens blend. It is just about all the weeds that are plucked on farms cooked with green chillies, cumin and garlic...the fresh aroma of the greens is a step over heaven. I miss it too.. It has become a delicacy indeed.

Then there is this really mysterious vegetable called "Tuppada Herekai" which resembles the silk squash in appearance. When it is cooked it smells like Ghee/ clarified butter...amazing aroma without all the calories. I have not had the vegetable for decades now. I wonder if it is still cultivated somewhere in the remote hearts of Karnataka. I want that vegetable to survive so that i can dream of eating it at least once more.. I wonder if someone out there is familiar with this vegetable. Do get back to me if you happen to know more about the vegetable!!!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

About me!

Its been such a long time that i last posted something on my blog. I don't know what triggered the inertia!But something did, pretty strongly! Well well well..As usual lot of water under the bridge..

My submission did look rather impossible till the last minute and then lo behold i managed to submit. However i still had to reschedule my ticket by a day and lose money. What ever i was able to submit and catch the next available flight to NY. It was an experience ...however, i miss my campus. Today the validity of my ID card expired. I cease to be a student of JNU from today formally..it is a day of reckoning...strangely today i am thinking of my beloved campus and trying to measure up all that the campus gave me...From the protected confines of a loving family, i went into the unknown arms of JNU, I still remember the day my father left me in the campus with tears in his eyes not sure of how his beloved daughter will manage without him in such a far away place; and of course i remember his choking voice from a borrowed cell phone even as the train marched out of New Delhi railway station...I looks like yesterday. And then there were so many experiences that added layers and layers on what i was and of course what i am. I cherish my days at the University. I might sound romantic but then i understood what i gained from the university long long back.

I miss the long lonely walks, i miss the serenity, i miss the debates, i miss the politics and of course i miss the piece of the university we were used to carry with ourselves, on our sleeves...I miss being called a scholar, i miss being called a JNUite. But life goes on and i have thus far carried myself gracefully. Hoping to do a better job on it later as well.


On the day i landed after a long journey on the brand new Jet Airways flight ( watched 4 movies back to back and of course made full use of their food n drinks!!!) was pleasant. Much like Delhi, it was cool but not chilly. I saw my husband from a distance. There was something strange. It was as if i was meeting him for the first time. I never realised till that point that distance takes a toll on the relationship till then, not even when we were actually away from each other. He looked like a stranger. In fact he later told me that he felt the same. The day was good.. the next few days went in bringing the house under some sort of order. I got my reward as well... a trip to Walt Disney World, Orlando. It was nice. will require another will episode to document that particular trip. Then of course the new year.

The new year was great. It was a bash. Lots of food, loads of drinks and of course many guests over at my place. I play the near perfect hostess..The dust has since settled.
I am just polishing my skills at the kitchen a bit these days. Documenting recipes, writing down those that are in soft copies, thinking of vegetables that i have ignored for a while (like Pumpkin or butternut squash / kaddu or tori/ zucchini) and searching for ways to cook such vegetables the way we might like them!!!! that's a lot of work and of course it is keeping my hands full for now..

I have one more important work to do. Graduate completely from student into an adult with a real job and real income. Need to do a lot on that front ... and i hope to do a good job on the graduation part of it.