A word or two on Santorini

As I look at the photos from our vacation to Santorini, I'm falling in love with the island all over again. But strangely enough my first reaction to it was one of disappointment.

My association with this island began when we purchased a print for Medha's room. It was of a pristine white building with a blue roof, red flower pots and looking out into the most amazing blue sea. It was no doubt a scene from the island of Santorini. Looking at it everyday, I grew to love it more and more. And so was born the vacation plan.

Did anybody warn you of expectations? Especially high ones?

Even before landing in Fira, the capital of Santorini, I was expecting to be wowed! I read all forms of literature on the island, decided that arriving by ferry is the best approach. But the charming port everyone talked about was the old one. We arrived into the new port - in the bright and hot mid-day sun, tired and expectant. The busy port, full of tourists arriving from numerous ships and boats, the hundreds of marketing folks from the hotels in Fira looking for customers and the dry steep cliff directly in front of us did little to endear Santorini to me. ( And the heat! - even the memory of summers in India didn't compare to the heat in Greece. This brown skinned girl of Indian origin learned that she too could get sun-burnt! It's important to re-apply the sunscreen)

But still I was optimistic. All that ravings of travel writers should be based on facts - shouldn't it? The island must be enchanting - I was sure. Once we reach the towns, the white and blue buildings would captivate me. However the white and blue was not be seen in Fira. We traveled closer to Oia in the coach that the hotel helpfully sent for us (for a fee, I must add) and each mile closer to Oia, I was hoping for the wow factor.

But - nothing!

We checked into our hotel, a cave dwelling. That was interesting. The Greeks do know a thing or two about architecture. The underground room was cool, and my mood improved drastically. We went out for lunch and took a siesta, wishing we had planned for just one day here instead of the two and half.







When we went out again in the evening the island was transformed! With the sun lower in the horizon, the place had turned magical. I took photos of the same things that I had shot in the morning. I couldn't believe the change. Then I shot them again a couple of hours later. The golden glow from the setting sun reflected off of everything - the white buildings, the cliffs, the people, everything, and made them look enchanting. What a difference a few hours can make! Now I understood what all the fuss was about! The colors of the sunset was wonderful. I wish I was a better photographer to capture the beauty. It was awesome, inspiring and magical. The sun brought out the beauty in everything that it touched. I wish I could bottle the effect of the sun's rays and bring it back with me. After all, I was glad we were staying for another day! For who wouldn't want to experience the beautiful setting and the magic of the place one more time.

Sometimes high expectations can be met at first glance, sometimes they take a while to establish, to soak into your system. With Santorini it was the latter.

But my God! how they were met!!

the tirade

Today didn't start out well.

I woke later than I wanted to. Immediately I was reminded of the long to-do list on my calendar. On top of that I remembered the hours I wasted watching Sharks lose yesterday.

Add to this - the fact that my daughter was sitting in her room idle. She practices her music in the morning. But today she was ready, but no music was coming out of her room. She was just sitting and staring at the wall.

I don't know what that triggered in me but I went off on a tirade. I raved and ranted at her. Oh! how the words flowed. No pause for breath, or thoughts or explanations. I was on an all-mighty roll. For those of you who'll done this, you know there is no stopping it.

For the lucky others, here's a example of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXgoJ0f5EsQ

I was doing the condensed version. Nobody recorded me but I sounded the same. If not worse!

On and on and on I went. Until my dear hubby, bless him, decided to intervene. He hugged Medha and gave me a look.

I paused - long enough for him to ask the question that I should have asked first. He asked her why she couldn't sing this morning. She said "My phone started beeping at midnight, I didn't sleep properly". Again with a warning look in my direction he asked the follow-up question. "What is special about today that you needed a remainder?"

Medha didn't even glance at me - she was afraid I would start again. Looking at her dad, she said "I set the 2 day remainder for your anniversary on the 13th! I didn't expect it to ring at night" ( she probably needed the 2 days to compose a poem or a well-thought out card or make a drawing for us)

Silence! - deadly silence followed her announcement.

You could hear a pin drop. Forget the pin, you could hear my thoughts churning in my head.

It was screaming "Oh! Why doesn't Life come with a REWIND+ERASE button? why not, why not?!!"

Better still if it came with a PAUSE+LISTEN button.

But for now, the big, bold and bright CRINGE+MAKE-UP button is beckoning.
Oh! doesn't that look well-used and well-worn!! Here comes yet another click on it.

Any ideas / suggestions for the make-up part?

movie review "Naanu Nanna Kanasu"

I saw a good Kannada movie last month. This is news mainly because I don't see many movies and that because I usually don't rate the ones that I see as good! I'm a reluctant movie watcher. To convince myself that sitting passively for longer than 30 mins is okay, I need the following conditions to be met - 2 reviews that rate the movie 4 stars and at least 2 friends who recommend the movie!

For this particular movie, I didn't follow the rules. My dad, from whom I inherit the disinterest for movies recommended "Naanu, Nanna Kanasu". So I went to watch it. The movie didn't disappoint, I actually liked the movie. Why? The storyline is the same - girl meets boy, dad doesn't approve. However, the perspective is different and that makes a totally different movie. The story is from the dad's point of view and a first person narrative. So you actually see a new aspect in it. The buildup to the problem is also good. The story follows a meeting of Uttappa and a young dad, Jayanth . Jayanth reminds Uttappa of his younger self and Uttappa decides to enlighten the young dad about the parental trials to follow. He does that by narrating snippets of his life as a dad. There are lots of subtle points too which make an interesting 3hrs. Here are a few that got to me.

1. The character development of the girl, Kanasu.
Her growth and maturity is captured beautifully by her desire to help the less-fortunate amongst us.
As a school-going kid, she insists on letting a beggar live at home, as a college going student, she takes one to a homeless shelter and as an adult she marries Joginder Singh, someone who has opened and runs a shelter part-time apart from being brilliant economist.

2. The Subtlety of some messages
For example the mom's influence on her is portrayed by 2 incidents. The younger dad, Jayanth mentions it once and later the mom-daughter dialogue about her fiancée hints at it. Also the message about adoption is done beautifully.

3. The dad's love for his daughter and her fiancée’s recognition of it is also poignant.

I would have liked to see some hints of her being financial independent, no mention of her career is made. Also the second song and the slap stick humor regarding Brijesh, the adopted beggar seems to be misplaced in the movie.

All in all a good one. Go watch it!

10 reasons for no recent blog entry

1. In the work-life balance, blogging took the last place
2. My mind doesn't come up with ideas for blogging, it is too full with work issues
3. Online games is the home page on my browser. The moment I open it to connect to my blog, I get distracted by the games!
4. I forgot about my blog, April is about the time that the NY resolutions start to fade :-)
5. my mind is blank.
6. I'm tired of typing, I want a touch screen word processor.
7. It is easier to watch TV or read a book.
8. my mind is blank (did I say it already?)
9. It's summer, who wants to sit in front of a computer?
10. I can't finish this list, let alone write a blog entry.

The Winning Edge

What makes an Olympic medalist? This was the recurring question in my mind as I watched the Winter Olympics this February. Is it sheer talent? Is it the ability to work hard? Or is it the availability of top class equipment? All athletes competing at the international level have abundance of all the above qualities. What then makes a winner? After watching individual sports for sometime I've come up with my own non-scientific list of qualities that a champion has. Let me share the top 3 with you today.

1.Passion and determination to win
2.Ability to focus
3.Mental strength

Let me illustrate these with some examples.

Ask any medalist and they'll tell you that they wanted to win very badly. They'll tell you that they never considered not winning. Think about it for a while. The minute you bring down your standards, you'll stop working as hard. So it is wise to completely eliminate that possibility. Michal Phelps has won 14 gold medals, the highest by any Olympian. Yet he wants to compete in the London Olympics, In a recent interview he said that his passion for winning is still alive.
Surely, nothing can beat that!

Of course, competitiveness needs the ability to focus. The vigorous training schedule, the stress of the actual competition and the glare of publicity tend to take your mind in a hundred different directions. But to stick to the master plan and execute requires a single minded devotion and a laser sharp focus. The altercation between the top 2 male ice skaters in the 2010 Olympics comes to mind to illustrate this point. The Russian skater Plushenko was making big waves with his statements regarding a quadruple jump. This was something that wasn't in his rival, Lysacek's routine. In almost every interview leading upto the competition, Plushenko would bring up the jump. He insisted that without it, a skating program was not fit for a men's competition. Lysacek didn't raise to the bait, he stuck to his routine and won gold. Asked later about the media pressure he admitted that he had taped a note on his mirror which read something like “Mind your Own business” Talk about focusing!

It takes mental strength to overcome a physical injury caused by a sport. Then to come back to compete and win in that sport takes greater toughness. Svidal, a Norwegians skier suffered multiple fractures on his face and a 15” laceration after a serious skiing accident. Eleven months later he won 2 events in the same venue. Most people would have been happen to function normally after accidents. It would also be considered normal if they avoided the accident site. But to compete and win internationally and do it in the same place as your accident – that requires mental toughness beyond normal. That takes a champion.

I'm not an erudite commentator of sports, But in it like life in general, determination, ability to focus and mental toughness define the winning edge.

Olympics & NBC

Olympics - a sporting feat that brings together athletes from all over the world, fighting for individual glory even as they proudly represent their country.It must be wonderful to be part of that environment.

NBC - the only network that will make the viewers on the same time zone watch the games in time delayed broadcast!

The other gripe I have with NBC is that they insult the viewers by pretending that the broadcast is live. They'll show figure skating for 2 mins, break for 5mins of ads. Then they'll cut over to a different sport because the skaters are on ice for their practice. Give me a break! I know the result of the competition. Here the network is trying to build suspense! It would be very funny if it were not a waste of time.

I guess after watching their coverage, I know more about NBC's programme lineup (parenthood, marriage ref etc) than the Olympics. Hats off to NBC. They have managed to make me lose interest in the winter olympics, me - an avid olympics fan!

I've to say it is a feat worthy of a gold medal.

roasted corn and chipotle soup

My resolution to try new recipes has become a family venture now. Help!

I've my husband and both kids hunting for recipes everywhere. It is boring now if I cook my regular set of dishes. Let me set the record straight and tell you that the number in that list is by no means small.

I'm now constantly making trips to the grocery store to shop for new ingredients. For this soup, it was chipotle chili. I'm also richer by one cool cooking gadget. It is a specialty tool for removing corn kernels from the cob. It looks like a peeler and works very nicely.

The story for this recipe goes back to summer of 2009. We went to Santa Fe, New Mexico for the July 4th weekend. We enjoyed the trip very much. In fact we could try out some new restaurants too. For a vegetarian, this is usually not the case while traveling. Venka still remembers the names of the restaurants that we visited. Southwestern cuisine lived up to all the hype, even for us grass eaters. We tried this soup in Santa Fe first. So when I was looking for new recipes, Venka researched and found the recipe. Maybe by next year he'll go the extra mile and cook it too :-)

So here it is, Roasted Corn and Chipotle Soup.
This didn't taste exactly the same as what we ate in Santa Fe. However everyone liked it and I've made this twice already. Just go easy on the chili if you like it mild, it can be very spicy.
The recipe is from the Internet, modified a bit by me.

Ingredients:
5 ears fresh corn, husked
2 red bell peppers
2 jumbo russet potatoes, peeled
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, cut in small dice
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 cups vegetable broth
2 canned chipotle chiles, removed from their sauce, seeded and finely diced
2 tomatoes, cut into small dice
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions:
Roast corn directly over a gas burner, turning until all kernels take on a smoky hue.
Cut kernels from cobs, reserving 2 cobs.

Roast bell peppers, turning as skin blackens on each side. Place roasted peppers
in a plastic bag; seal and let steam while you prepare other ingredients.

Cut 1 potato into small dice; set aside.

Quarter remaining potato and cover it with water in a small saucepan. Cook
until tender, about 15 minutes. Mash this potato coarsely with a fork; set aside.

Melt butter in the pan, add onion; saute until translucent, 7 to 10 minutes. Add garlic;
saute a few more minutes.

Deglaze pan with the broth. Add reserved corn cobs, diced and mashed potato, chipotles and tomatoes.
Bring to a boil; season with salt and pepper. Simmer until potato pieces are cooked through, about 25 minutes.

While soup is cooking, peel peppers. Discard seeds and membrane and cut flesh into small dice.

Remove cobs from soup and add corn kernels, roasted red pepper and cream. Simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Adjust for seasoning.

Serve with warm tortillas/rotis or bread.

Serves 12.

Note: You usually can find canned chipotle chiles in the Hispanic food isle in supermarkets.
Remove the peppers from their sauce, wash and dry them if you like them milder. Then slice them in half. Scrape off the seeds and mince into a pulp.
Any remaining peppers, when kept in sauce and tightly wrapped, will keep well in the refrigerator for a few weeks.