Yes... I am the breadwinner...!

It happened on one of the Saturdays... around 2-3 years back... ! He was some survey guy... the kind who goes from door to door and collects answers for survey questions and also the contact informations...! I have this hunch that these are the places from where your contact information is leaked and then you get a zillion promotional messages/calls everyday... for everything from 'easy money' to 'perfect life partner'...! And I absolutely hate any and every such messages/calls... !

Though the fear of yet another promotional call is quite a reason for turning down any such survey requests whatsoever... there is another reason too... a personality trait... my impatience...!  I tend to lose patience...very quickly !

Long story short... I am not fond of any random surveys... and definitely not on a Saturday morning...! But here he was... standing on my door and asking me all sorts of questions... ! Under any normal circumstances ... I would have turned him down... and that too not so politely...  but for once... I was trying to be polite... and understand his point of view... and also appreciate his effort... :)

He started with the questions... first my name and mobile number which I provided hesitantly... then my education and so on...!  I was happy to help... and he was happy to increase his head count by one... ! 

The survey was going on fine... at least it appeared so... until he asked me..."Who is the breadwinner of the family?" and I promptly replied... "me"... He looked up from the questionnaire sheet to my face... and then he looked beyond me to the dinning table... where my husband and my brother were having brunch and reading the newspaper... and he repeated the question... little loudly..."Who is the breadwinner of the family... Maam?" and looked at me expectantly for the *RIGHT* answer...! 

In that one moment... I felt betrayed... cheated and insulted... ! Here I am... trying to help him... and here he is... looking through me... as if I do not exist... ! Whatever happened to my engineering degree... to my professional qualifications... and to my enviable salary package? Does nothing matter... just because I am a woman? 

Is he the only one who has asked me this question... is he the first one who has asked this question? No... definitely not... ! By now... I should have gotten used to this question... just that I am not YET ready to give in... I am not YET ready to surrender... ! I have worked very hard to create a place for myself... I have slogged for hours and days and months to have a standing of my own... I have fought my way up against all hurdles...! And I am not letting go any of it... not yet... not ever...!

And so I looked straight into his eyes... and replied "Yes... I am THE breadwinner... Indeed"! 

The Road Not Taken...

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

A typical weekend brunch.. !!

My favorite weekend getaway brunch is Puffed Rice Pilaf (Poha) ... easy and quick to prepare and at the same time...  quite filling and wholesome... !! What more can I ask on a lazing weekend... :)

Car... more cars and still more cars....!!!

My brother is one of the most important influences on me… I have learnt a lot of things from him… there are few that he is aware of … but there are more that he is not… :)

He is the one who got me hooked to the cars… !! I love cars … sure I can never match his intrigue and detailing… but still I do love cars… :)

Whenever we traveled together on road… we would compete with each other to guess the brand, model and make of cars on the road… and of course he would always win… !! If ever we are found enjoying television together… it has to be one of those auto show (we have very few common TV shows… )!!

It was my husband who taught me how to drive a car… but it is my brother who taught me all about cars… !! Knowingly he would explain the exteriors, the interiors, the engine and the stepney (spare tyre)… but unknowingly also the car-servicing, petrol pumps (gas stations) and even how to change a flat tyre…!!

Now we live very far away… but every time a ‘car’ catches my eyes… I remember him… and our times together… it sure was so much fun… !!

Coming back to ‘cars’… recently I got a chance to visit an auto show – Silicon Valley International Auto Show 2011 (at San Jose McEnery Convention Center)… and it definitely was an experience… simply WOW… !! It felt as if I was standing in some ocean of cars... and more cars and still more cars…  :D!!

Under one roof... there were HONDA, TOYOTA, INFINITI, LEXUS, NISSAN, JAGUAR, VOLKSWAGEN, SUBARU, BMW, MERCEDES, GM, CHEVROLET, CHRYSLER, FORD, MAZDA, ACURA, SCION, LOTUS, HYUNDAI, LINCOLN and also BENTLEY, ASTON MARTIN, LAMBORGHINI, FERRARI and of course ROLLS ROYCE...! These are all the brands that I remember... but I may have missed a few!! The auto show sure was sumptuous... though I still wished for a PORSCHE and an ALPHA ROMEO... :)

All in all it was such a breath-taking exposure… and I loved every moment of it... !!

And I made pasta...

Cooking has suddenly become an important part of my daily life... to the extent that I am even contemplating to pursue some culinary courses... (more on my new found passion later... :D) ... !! In fact one of the daily highs for me is deciding the menu for the dinner... and once I finalize the menu... I diligently do some research on the recipes and the next step is to collect ingredients and then follows the initial preparation before I can start to cook...!!

Vartika and Arti might remember my sudden craving for pasta at lunch time... and also my quick resorting to Maggie Pasta :) ... and yes... Maggie Rocks...!! Exactly like one of those days... yesterday I again had this craving for pasta... and because I did not have Maggie Pasta in my reserve and also because I could expense some time for creativity... 'Pasta' was to be my dinner offering... !!

And then started the multiple level of choices... like which pasta... - Penne or Rivoli or Spaghetti ?? ...which sauce... - White or Red ?? and so on... :)

It took me an hour and half... ONLY for the initial preparation.... and once I was done with organizing/collecting/preparing the raw material...the colors caught my eyes... !! WOW... it had so many colors... red... yellow... green... white... off-white... pink-red... onion-pink... reddish-brown... !! And even without the cooking.... the food looked rich and wholesome...!! It was definitely a visual treat... :)

Another 40-45 minutes to cook and pasta was ready to be served...  it did look quite sumptuous... and delicious... and I was happy... but it was when I finally served the 'surprise' dinner and saw the twinkle in his eyes... that I realized ... the effort was well spent ... !!

My food fascinations...

I love food... and I love eating... :) !! I can eat anytime... but definitely not anything...!! Though I am not fussy about what to eat... but I am certainly particular about the taste...!!  Taste - the yum factor...!! 

The same food... cooked by two different people... can taste starkly distinct...!! Not only that... even the same food... cooked at two different times... by the same person... can taste drastically different...!! So 'taste' is not only governed by the ingredients... but also by the timing, person and his or her mood... !! 

I love everything about food... the color.. the flavor... the aroma... the craving... the touch... and of course the taste...!! I have always been intrigued by cooking... it is quite fascinating to observe how cooking transforms the raw to cooked... !! I love the transition... of the raw ingredients to the cooked food...!!

Yesterday I was cooking rajma (Red Kidney Beans, Indian Style) when it stuck me that it would be interesting to post some of my cooking trysts... !! So here it is... the beginning... :)

Kidney Beans and the other raw ingredients - before cooking

Kidney Beans - after cooking