NCERT Hindi memories

Recently while clearing up my room I happened to stumble upon some of my high school NCERT textbooks. Dust laden with tattered edges, I fondly turned over the pages of my class 8 hindi textbook. Entire paragraphs were underlined and marked with the "v imp" indicating very important for exams, and the tougher words had their word meanings in english crammed between the line spaces. The fading text brought back a barrage of high school memories. I happened to be one of the not so happening students at school who decided to choose Hindi instead of French as the second language. The downside was that in the late nineties, when it came to the Boards , hindi was not high scoring .

But now I reflect on the abundance of wisdom the stories and poems showered on us. The stories of Premachand , poems by Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, Suryakanth Tripathi Nirala were richly textured with emotions and depicting the true Indian life and spirit.

The language was taught to us by gentle north indian teachers, ( it was an indian school in the middle east), and they took great pains in taking us through the depths of some of the poetry.

It was difficult to imagine how a whole world of wisdom hid amidst two lines of Kabir's doha. This was just a glimpse of the sufi mysticism. There have been several instances in my life when just contemplating on these dohas helped me clear dilemmas. These are definitely the oldest self help and motivational writings. Premchand stories enabled us to visualise and feel the rural India. The smell of earth, the cold winters , the poverty , the anxiety following delayed rains could be experienced. These few hours of prose kept our feet firmly grounded amidst the ongoing stresses of boards , entrance exams and focussing on professions that brought home the best pay packet.

One of my favourite poems is a poem called Mera Naya Bachpan by Subhadra Kumari Chauhan.

The poet fondly remembers her childhood days and now she is overpowered by a sense of loss of those carefree days. Then she sees her little daughter playing in mud and realises that her daughter has brought her back the lost childhood.

Before embarking on my journey through thermodynamics and quadratic equations, I am grateful to this language which gave me a glimpse of the world of delicate human emotions and the wonderful feeling of being an Indian.

Perfecting the Sambhar

As a novice to cooking , I was browsing some of the dishes online , an emerging past time among new indian brides, and this time I was checking up the Southie favourite sambhar. Novices usually do not use the internet recipes for sambhar as it is that one recipe which is carefully and definitely inherited from their mothers like the precious heirlooms , but sans any inheritance wars. After numerous attempts with my mother's recipe , I realised that this dish was quite deceptive. On the surface it looks like a simple vegetable stew, cooked with lentils and tempered with spices, any moron should be able to do it , but when you are trying to get that ultimate Uduppi experience, you realise that there is more to this ancient recipe originated in the kitchen of Thanjavur Marathas ruler Shahuji in the 18 century from the south indian state of Tamil Nadu ( courtesy wikipedia ). So while on my online quest for the perfect sambhar , I was not surprised when a popular Telugu chef stated that, although he learnt the art of sambhar making from the grand masters , it did take him a while to perfect his skills with it and it is one dish which requires you to taste it at least ten to fifteen times while it was getting cooked . But experience plays an important role in this situation. I have seen my mother , aunts and older cousins rush into the kitchen at dawn, all droopy eyed pull out the vegetables from the fridge, and then a haze of washing ,peeling ,cutting, tempering , stinging , a big smoke and some coughs later PRESTO.. an amazing sambhar is brewing over the stove in minutes, and the cook in question would be still half asleep. These women have definitely not spent hours browsing about the vegetables and tempering techniques or reading up the sambhar's history from wikipedia . Well I would attribute their success to their numerous predawn experiences in sambhar making since the day they stepped into their husband's home.

My last experience with an awesome sambhar was at a Tamilian restaurant in Trivandrum,( I guess the name was Aryaas ), served with steaming hot dosas and sweet coconut chutney, it was indeed heavenly. One of my personal favourite combination is rice ( the fat kerala matta rice preferably ) served with piping hot sambhar, some form of thoran and a pickle . I could eat that for three hundred and sixty five days a year and would never trade it for any gourmet preparation.Now, I do not wish to overdo , but I believe that a good sambhar apart from being a treat to the palate, the aroma and its mixed flavours can make you a more peaceful and benevolent person and probably a good relationship booster , as it is definitely one of the ways to a south indian man's heart.

So, talking about perfecting your sambhar , I guess the secret is to stick to your own recipe ( learnt from home or online), and performing the basic manoeuvre over and over again with probably a changed spice here and there .

Here I'm posting an illegal recipe for sambhar and you can try it out if you are in a life and death situation and you absolutely need a sambhar to get you out of it !

1. Boil the toor dal, with a pinch of hing, turmeric and some crushed onions until is soft . ( Do not overcook )

2. To the boiled dal, add the cut vegetables such as the drumsticks, potatoes,brinjals, radish, colocasia,beans ,( the shalots and lady's finger should be lightly fried before adding to the dal).More variants of vegetables , the better. Add salt.

3. Boil the vegetables until they are almost cooked.

4. Add the tamarind water. On a pan slightly heat the coriander powder ( 3 tsp) and chilly powder ( 1 tsp). Add this mix to the boiled vegetables.

5. Finally add your choice of readymade sambhar powder ( this must be handy).

The important fact to note is that the sambhar powder should ideally be used as a garnishing agent, which means that your sambhar should have attained at least 3/4 of its proper taste before you sprinkle the magic powder.

6. Last but not the least ,on a pan heat oil, mustard, dried red chillies, curry leaves, and coriander leaves and temper the dish with this fried mix

7. Garnish with curry leaves and coriander leaves.

A Transcendental Drive

Back home in Trivandrum, on a lazy saturday afternoon in summer , we decide to take a trip to the misty Ponmudi Hills.Settled here in Adelaide

South Australia ,miles away from home, on summer afternoons we take a trip to the Adelaide Hills , a 20 minute drive from the city.

It is surprising , in a mere span of 20 minutes , we are transported from the hustle of a city to serene farmlands and gently rising mountains. As you drive along the winding road into the wilderness , a buzzing sensation in your ears remind you of the altitude. Apart from its scenic beauty , the Hills are famous for its other attractions such as its vineyards, a town called Hanhndorf, Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement, Mount Barker to name a few.

Here I would like to dwell exclusively on the drive in this region which I like to describe as a “ transcendental” experience in itself. As you cruise through the impeccable roads, the farmlands on either side extend into the horizon. The views are occasionally obstructed by giant trees with fading foliage and shrubbery trying to overpower the wooden fences. I can count the rays of sun filtering through the trees onto the shady road. Alternative patches of animals cows, sheep and horses graze placidly.Some are quenching their thirst in patches of artificial pristine blue water bodies. The sky is a little deep blue, floating lonely clouds , bundles of fluffy white, some of them hitting themselves against the hilltops. The grasslands extending to the hill slopes are cleverly shaded by the clouds, patches of bright green, interspersed with deeper green shades, and the occasional earthy brown thrown in by the dried grass

. They form a rich blend of shades like those on a painter’s palette.