A Walk down Memory Lane!

Date: 09/09/09 

Location: Work place

Activity: Write an essay piece on "The Most Satisfying Accomplishment in your Life"

State of mind - Surprised that we had something to do other than our mundane work.

Staring at the computer my mind raced back through my mind's pages searching for that perfect moment. Surprisingly, I could find nothing immediately. I thought to myself......what is the most happiest moment in my life? 

I closed my eyes to visualise my memories, then there came from the depths of my mind's black bottomless pit, emerged the image of my mother in eastman colour, smiling with tears of joy. Her hands pressing against her cheeks to control that plum coloured blushes rouging her cheeks.

I was transported back in time swirling through the mists of my past, so captured by the memory, I could literally experience the happy feeling seeping into me and I just could not stop grinning.

Here is a page from my history. Dedicated to the best mother one could ever have. Mamitha, this is for you!!!

-------

It was my mom’s birthday!

I had started my first job just 9 months prior to mom's birthday. With the commitment of a student loan on my shoulders, I still wanted to gift my mom something nice to make her life easy. She was indeed a supermom who did everything for us, nothing for herself and never complained.

I was thinking real hard on what to get for her birthday. My sister and I were exploring the list of possibilities with 2 months to go. The list figured quite a few enticing options like Spa treatments, massages, gift vouchers, saris, cosmetics……but nothing seemed to please us. Nothing was good enough for my mother. We had reached a moot point!

Then we had it! Eureka! Fianlly! Mom had been thinking of buying a microwave for ages, but never got around to it because of ever changing financial commitments. With none of us in the family actively participating in the cooking chores, and not being accomplished cooks such as my mom, we decided let’s make that job a helluva lot easier for her. We decided on the microwave! Something pretty rare in most Indian homes back then, as most people prefer their food piping hot and straight off the stove!

So I went on a saving spree! So I started by cutting out my excesses and started a microwave fund. On the eve of the Birthday, dad had to go out of town on business. Both my sister and myself just mentioned the birthday in passing in the morning, acted very nonchalant the whole day.


Mom mistook this and thought we were way too busy with other daily things and actually tried not to show her disappointment. But the bonus for mom was all of her sisters were in town, something of a rarity especially given that everyone lived in a different town and all. We had invited them for a sleep over. My aunts were in on the secret although they did not know what the gift was. They were very supportive in keeping mom at bay.

I told mom I had to meet a client of mine and headed out. No car! Just my trusty scooterette! So while my aunts and mom were busy making dinner and swapping family stories, my sister Divya and I slinked away to the electronic shop.


And what a proud moment it was for me! I paid cash in full.  Never have I held that amount of cash in hand and that too my own hard earned money. I felt so happy. Imagine me with a smug smile like a Fairy Godmother smiling on her benefactor after the "Happily Ever After" moment. Well in this case - Fairy God Daughter, minus the magic wand…

Next part of the challenge, no delivery options. We had to smuggle the microwave home and we had only the scooterette. So with my sister on the pillion and the microwave on the leg space of the scooterette, my legs stuck out different angles, we balanced it carefully and rode back home. That was probably one of the days that I appreciated the "no road rules" policy in India.

We returned home in one piece. And we had yet to smuggle the microwave upstairs to our home without mom’s knowledge. So Divya went in earlier on and started messing up our room strewing a bunch of clothes in a pile. We snuck in and hid the microwave on the side of our bed and our study table chair providing camouflage, drowning the view under the pile of clothes. Nothing seemed amiss! Just a typical teenager's room messy and chaotic.


After this we picked up the pre-ordered cake with our nick name for mom – “Happy Birthday Mamitha”! That went into our next door neighbour’s refrigerator. Remember mom did most of the cooking!!!! She was sure to notice a box of cake.

So the scene is such, we are all back home, finished our supper, clock ticking closer and closer to midnight. My sister and I were hanging out in our room. My mother and my aunts were in the lounge talking away into the night.

I had sneaked over to my neighbour’s place when mom was not around, took the cake (fortunately a sweet neighbour who also feigned a headache and declined my invitation), lit the candles and entered the lounge with my sister at the strike of 12 and yelled Happy Birthday and burst into the Birthday song!

My mom turned shocked at the sound and started smiling and was shaking with emotion and all of us hugged her and wished her heartily. Mom cut the cake and fed us each a piece. I could see happiness and surprise shining through her eyes. Soon after Divya and I went into our room and fetched the gift. Was so heavy to lug around. We carried it into the room everyone was sitting in and enjoying the cake.

Everyone turned around. And they had thought all the excitement was over! We brought the box and placed it on the dining table. Mom looked poleaxed, stunned and her eyes widened and burst into tears of disbelief and joy. And she held her hands against her cheeks controlling her darnest to hold back her blush. It was clear she didn't expect anything from us. She was crying so much, she was almost inconsolable. We went to her and hugged her tight.


All of our aunts were so thrilled and appreciated the fact that we had bought something so useful for mom.

I can still picture my mom’s priceless expression as clear as crystal. Now that was an expression that I had never seen as often as I would have wanted to see.

That is the best moment I have ever ever had in my life. To see the pride and bursting happiness on her face that I had not failed her and grown up beyond her expectations and showed that her family cared for her very much. I think I’ll carry this memory forever.

Ona - - - - - - is coming soon!!!

Perplexed as to what Ona is? You'll be in for one helluva surprise if you read further.

It was ages since I last met up with my aunt, cousin and her daughter. So I was trying to keep my adorable niece engaged while my aunt was cooking yummy aapams and chutney.

My cousin is pregnant and was filling me in on how she was getting my niece to accept a new member in the family. I was quite happy to learn that my niece was very welcome to the idea of a new brother/sister.

This is the conversation I had with my niece. It was quite special and a memorable one. And possibly one of the main reasons as to why I'd rather spend time with kids than pretentious adults. Their mind is so full of imagination and honesty, it is so refreshing.

Me: So sweetie, tell me have you chosen a name for the baby yet?
Niece: (She squints at me and gives me one of her nose wrinkling smiles and a toothy grin and says) - Ona!!!
Me: Ona???
"In my native language Tamil, Ona means a chameleon. And I was thinking, yes this kid is no doubt from NZ where geckos are famous, but to pick a name of this sort had me bursting into laughter. Pure genius!"
Niece: "Yes"! She reaffirms innocently but with surety like a decision finally made.
Me: I asked her- "Is that your friend's name? Why did you choose this name?"
Niece: Ona is my friend.
Me: Is it a boy's or girl's name? Does Ona study at your childcare centre?
Niece: Ona is a friend! No, not in my school.
My aunt commented, on following the thread of the conversation, that she had asked the same question earlier and my niece had mentioned Ona!!! So she has pretty much named the baby Ona on her own.
Me: So when is the baby coming home?
Niece: Ona is coming home soon....

I was so pleasantly surprised by the fact that a 3 year old child could develop this level of affection to an unborn child and has thought enough about the child to even give the baby a name. On talking to her further I found that Ona was her best friend albeit unborn. I am going to have fun watching my adorable niece take on the role of a sister. I am so proud of you my ballerina!!!

Gastronome finds new delights in the land of kiwis...

Yes, yes, I know! I am talking about food again. But I just can't seem to help myself. My love affair with food is so intrinsical I don't know where to begin and it is indeed my biggest weakness. Yes now you know it! With a relationship akin to that of a snake and a snake charmer, food has the power to entrance me!

So to cut a long story short, I love FOOD.

We often grow up with fond memories and we do our own mind mapping of places that are special and have fond memories. And continue to do so even today. Most of us, am sure have atleast a couple of places that we often go to for celebrating with our families or friends.

Well today, I am going to talk about my recent discoveries interms of food and a list of food haunts I have enjoyed most. Maybe you could all try out and let me know how it goes! If I don't love it, it wont figure on my list below.

Mecca/ Mission Bay Cafe -
I am unforgiving if coffee doesn't taste good. Don't we all love to kickstart our day with the most enticing and hot cup of well brewed coffee? Imagine the hot brown liquid steaming around the rim of the mug, the warmth of the mug seeping through your palms and the rich aroma of the ground coffee beans doused with milk and sugar and at first sip swirls through your senses to give that warm hug feeling. Pure poetry and what a spine lifting shot for starting your day!

Well I have tried various places for the evasive "perfect cup" of coffee. I recommend only 2 places for really good coffee.

If you are in Auckland, a must try will be Mission Bay Cafe previously known as Mecca. I still like to call it Mecca! They make a wicked flat white. While you are there, do try some of their newly baked baklavas and sigara berogi. Well baklava by now you will know from my previous post. Sigara boregi happens to be another phyllo masterpiece rolled in the shape of cigars (hence the name 'sigara')filled with a mix of mashed potato, feta cheese and herbs served with 2 different varieties of hummus -roasted capsicum hummus and original hummus and garnished with a sprig of parsley.

Rapaura Water Gardens & their "Dam" Good Coffee-
The second place, best by far and remains unparalleled, but not so accessible or affordable- only because you need to travel miles away from Auckland. But this dream place called Rapaura Water Gardens in Thames have their own brand of coffee and they pride themselves in serving "Dam" Good coffee which lives up to its name and is also very much part of their marketing campaign. This to me is by far the best ever coffee I have tasted in my entire life. No other coffee shop can ever hold a candle to the Dam Good Coffee they serve. I highly recommend this.

Wagamama -
Unusual name? Well sure it is! A Japanese restaurant. Never in a million years did I think I would appreciate Japanese Food after being brought up on flavourful rich Indian food! Well, this is not what I would exactly call authentic, more a fusion of sorts, but they can cook up a storm with surprising flavour and blissful presentation on your platter. With tones of ginger, coconut, citrus and a lot of greens, one can never feel guilty when you eat here.

I am predominantly a vegetarian and draw my line with chicken as far as non veg food goes and maybe some sea food varieties, but that is a rarity in itself.

The Yasai Katsu curry is the best on their vegetarian menu served with steamed rice with spicy curry sauce accompanied by eggplant and kumara slices deep fried in a batter with a crumby texture and green leafy salad with a yummy tasting seasoning that adds a zing to the salad.

And their dessert menu is something really unique. You gotta try out their Ginger and Lemon cheesecake and Banana Katsu with vanilla bean icecream. If you think the ginger flavour is going to be overpowering, well you are going to be in for a surprise. The blend of the flavours are so perfect they are in perfect harmony. And this is indeed something very delicious.

As far as banana katsu goes, ripe banana is halved into two lengthwise, coated with breadcrumbs deep fried and served with vanilla bean ice cream and dusting of cinnamon garnished with mint. This was a masterful sroke of genius in terms of execution. The vanilla bean icecream with cinnamon is a delight and the ripe sweetness of the banana is a pleasant surprise oozing through the crumby texture of the deep fried banana.

Sher a Punjab-
For those homesick Indians, this is a place that offers solace to those who miss the genuineness of the flavours of Indian cooking. They whip out authentic and hearty Indian food. The portions and food are generous in portion and spirit. The aroma of spices cooked flagrantly reminds us of home and eating at a streetside Punjabi dhaba back in home soil. The colour, aroma and taste is simply beautiful. If you are looking for an ultra stylish interior, you will be disappointed. This place has a typical dhaba feel to it. Sher a Punjab's signature item is their paratas. Oh the paneer paratas are so mouth watering and the hot factor is not for the faint hearted. The paneer pakoras on the menu are simply delicious and have proper chunks of paneer fried in a batter mixed with spice powders.

Punjabi Dhaba-
Another jewel in the Indian cuisine world in Auckland. Overall menu and food is delectable and rich catering to different crowds. The restaurant setting has an old palace like interior. Their USP and most memorable item is the Amritsari Kulfi. Not even in India, have I tasted this sort of heaven on earth. The richness of the dairy and the dry fruit and nuts awash in the kulfi is something that can be understood only when it is experienced.

NZ Natural-
Icecream haven. The variety of flavours in NZ Natural is simply mind blowing and puts other major players in the market to shame. Unique and simply marvellous. And not just that, you get to try out the icecream before you can decide which one you want. It doesn't happen in all stores!!! One can find an array of flavours such as boysenberry, raspberry with white chocolate, walnut and butterscotch, english toffee, green tea, rocky road, cookies and cream, rum n raisin etc and these are just from the top of my head. The icecreams are so unique and very creamy in their consistency leaving you wanting for more. Another one of the must haves in New Zealand.

Ammamma-
I have saved the best for the last. We all call her ammamma, an elderly Telugu lady who has the power to infuse taste and flavours in her food with just the wave of her hand. Had the privelege of meeting this wonder woman through my husband who was boarding at her house during his bachelor days. And ofcourse he always was in awe about her food. And what I respect most about her is the openness of her mind to experiment and try out new things. My most loved item from her magic wand is called a "Padarpeni". These are sweets that are made from flour deep fried in the form of mini discs that are layered and soaked in sugar syrup and kept aside to dry, crystallize and harden. This remains my most favourite in her menu. Her "adhirsam" is also quite special and executed quite well. Her food is traditional in spirit, execution and taste. And reminds you of your grandmother's cooking.

Officially sworn in.......I am finally a Blogger!!!

A long time promise made by me, procrastinated and finally realised.

It was back in 2007 I said to myself, I am gonna create a blog and imprint my memories, pour out my musings and capture my footsteps in life onto it. I said I'll do it next week, then nothing. And the weeks crawled by, months sped by and years flew by.......... And also there is the big fear of what to do on a blog? What would I name it? How to run it? To be very honest, I still know nothing about it. But I am going to make my way through this and make my discoveries and absolutely determined to enjoy every bit of it. This is my newest adventure.

27th November 2009 - Baklava bytes is born.

Baklava..hmmm...yumm...Some may wonder why such a queer name? Well you might already have the answer if you knew me!

Well Baklava happens to be one of my favourite dessert items and holds very special memories close to my heart. And they are small and bite sized, with the goodness of nuts soaked in a waterfall of honey, encased in phyllo pastry sheets baked to perfection until it glints like the color of sunshine. Oh to even imagine a baklava it is so mouth watering.

Along the lines of a coffee, kaaram(spicy/pungent) and konjam(means little/some) sweet... and swarasiyam (enjoyment with relish)......Baklava being small and all , my blog will have a little bit of everything..... and "bytes" obviously was a pun intended, to mark my foray into the blogging world.

Will be back with more stuff to ramble about!