Author: manuscrypts

  • Mirror Images

    I came across this passage while reading Kiran Desai’s “The Inheritance of Loss”. The context is of a young girl, who, because of a new found romance suddenly becomes conscious of herself.

    “But how did she appear? She searched in the stainless-steel pots, in the polished gompa butter lamps, in the merchants’ vessels in the bazaar, in the images proffered by the spoons and knives on the dining table, in the green surface of the pond. Round and fat she was in the spoons, long and thin in the knives, pocked by insects and tiddlers in the pond; golden in one light, ashen in another; back then to the mirror; but the mirror, fickle as ever, showed one thing, then another and left her, as usual, without an answer.”

    I found that I could also identify with it in the context of our encounters with the social platforms around – Orkut, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.. and how slowly the ‘Like’ and RTs seem to be defining the interactions and affecting even perceptions and understanding of the self. Its not as though people and comments never existed before, but the sheer mass of people we come into contact with, thanks to the social platforms is unprecedented. Through the conversations and responses, we see a bit of ourselves, a self colored by the other person’s perceptions. As the voices around us continue to increase, at some point, is there a danger of losing touch with what we really are? Yes, you could ignore or be selective, but then we’d just get back to an objectivity argument.

    “The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss, an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. is bound to be noticed.”

    I read that, thanks to @aanteadda‘s share on Twitter – an excellent take on the Ramayana,(do read it) and in a completely different context – that of dharma, it happened to arrive around the same place. Rama, having lived his entire life by what he considered his dharma, is distressed by what he must do with Sita after the end of the war with Ravana, irrespective of what he personally wants. The author thinks that this is Rama’s tragedy, and that of every person who lives by ‘impartial and abstract principles’, which don’t take into account ‘individuals as persons,’ and can’t see the difference between a situation and a personal situation’, and it can only lead to the destruction of the self.

    And so I wondered, whether its people, or a moral code that one follows, whatever dictates what we do, is there really a difference – between the reflections from others and ourselves? Is there one right answer for what should define us and the way we live. I think not.

    We must prioritise, I guess, based on what we think will give us happiness, and just like this neat article on addiction (the internet in particular) ends, “we will increasingly be defined by what we say no to”, all thanks to an abundance of choices, from within and without.

    until next time, you always have a choice, but do you always want a choice?

  • Under the Mango Tree

    This review was first published in Bangalore Mirror (yes, yes, we got our name in the papers n’ all) 😉 Have reworked it to suit the blog’s regular format. 🙂

    Remember Cornucopia in Richmond Town. (map) Its now got a new owner and a new name – Under the Mango Tree. The set up has been modified ever so slightly, the mango tree remains, and the erstwhile elaborate menu changed completely, though it still serves Continental and Italian. Here’s the new menu. Meanwhile, this time, my company consisted of Gautam, Radha, Karthik and Prmod.

    (click to enlarge)

    I started with a Cream of Mushroom and Leek soup, which turned out to be the best among its kind. Karthik’s Cold Melon soup was a bit of a disaster, and Gautam had still not come to terms with the existence of a vegetarian French Onion soup. The Goan sausages made a pretty decent starter.  The Pita and Hummus were only just ok.

    The ‘King Size sausages’ was what I chose for the main course, and again got lucky, because it was quite a good dish, with its caramelised onion sauce. Prmod’s Veg Lasagna also turned out to be tasty enough. The Sea Bass was quite a disappointment  – Karthik was sure it was mackerel, and both the Pepperoni as well as the Mozzarella – Hot Pepper pizzas one were only average.

    On to desserts. The Chocolate Mousse is not something a chocoholic ever complains about, but this one could’ve been better. The Mango mousse cake tried to be the saviour and just about managed to succeed despite some essence extravagance. The chocolate mousse with caramelised banana could’ve been a winner if the mousse had been allowed to be strong enough, it would have worked well with the banana, I thought.

    In essence, some hard work needs to go into the place. The aambiance is pleasant enough, and the owner, Nirmala, helps with the order as well as some amount of customisation. Cost for two people would be about Rs.1000, which would get you a couple of soups, a starter, main course dishes and a dessert. So, drop in, if you’re in the neighbourhood, and give it a shot.

    Under the Mango Tree, # 3, Laurel Lane, Richmond town, Bangalore. Tel: 9686601021

    PS: If you’re in Bangalore, and would like to be featured in a review, drop me a line with your favourite cuisine or new restaurant you’ve noticed – manuscryptsATgmailDOTcom, and we’ll figure something out 🙂

  • Recycling Gods

    Sometime back, I’d written a post about super powered individuals who later came to be known as Gods, and how technology is perhaps taking us closer and closer to these versions of gods. And sometime back, Vimoh too wrote a very thought provoking post on the evolution of Hindu gods, and how, over a period of time, important Vedic gods like Indra, Varuna, Agni etc have lost their importance to a newer set who rose to prominence according to the stage of our civilisation – Ganesha, Saraswati, whose ‘hidden’ characteristics were brought to light. An evolution from gods “that govern the elements of nature to gods that govern abstract concepts of the mind”. He also hypothesises that  in the future, the list will be further transformed when man realises that the universe is more of a network than a hierarchy and when he finds himself at par with the highest of gods and the lowest of forms, he will realise his divinity.

    I’ve always wondered whether the original set of gods was a small number and as needs arose, historical characters were pushed into divinity, their stories exaggerated, and for later generations they served as gods. The original triumvirate – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva have remained more or less a constant in their importance, though Brahma lost out in terms of places of worship.  But the evolution of gods is something I completely agree with.  As our needs changed and the things we could control changed, it was perhaps inevitable that the things we attributed to them would change. More importantly, they also changed with out interpretations of good and evil. Since our gods have always been close to us, their character and behaviour also reflected this change in ethos.  Huffington Post says they’re now pop culture, through Bollywood movies, for example. But yes, they were always more human, and ‘approachable’ anyway.

    It does bring up a point though. I wonder how our current depiction of Hindu Gods would affect how later generations perceive them. The modern retelling, which sometimes adds layers hitherto absent. Imagine a future generation treating Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana the way we treat the vedas now simply because earlier sources may not stand the test of time. If they saw Sippy’s Mahabharat and also saw Jha’s Rajneeti, would they be able to grasp the parallel? Or would they miss it because they haven’t ‘lived’ with the gods like we have? ‘Sita’ in the television series was ‘Deepika’, the actress, who has also played other roles in serials and movies. So, without a context, it might be just another role she did. There is a reason I’m thinking this way. Any of the gods could be just a role play – incarnations/manifestations – different roles in different contexts at different times. We rely on certain images and certain texts which are possibly incomplete in their current form. And thus rises the question that invariably gets asked in such discussions – who created who?

    Each age fills up the void of its unknown with its own versions of God or his opposite number. Like Vimoh states at the end of his post, the future explorer will be an amalgamation – with knowledge from many disciplines. For now, we pursue the mystery from among the tools we choose based on our interest, bias, and faith – science, religion, philosophy, and so on. The question is, will we ever reach a point when everything is known, and the God shaped hole would be finally filled with our knowledge. Maybe that’s the point when the current Brahma gets irritated and presses the ‘Delete All’ button, and the Brahman starts with the next Brahma. 🙂

    until next time, divine grapevines 🙂

  • Lankan Reams – Day 6 – Colombo

    The terrace restaurant at Mt.Lavinia hotel can’t be praised enough for the view. So we went click crazy for a while, after finishing breakfast in a hurry.

    Since neither the ones above or the others that we took do full justice to the view, let’s try a video too.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sczy0RaBD5c

    We then moved on to Colombo, and quickly managed to get the latest news updates (left). Colombo is apparently divided into 15 zones, and we managed to pass through half a dozen of them while we were there. The colonial impact is very evident thanks to architecture and road names. But thanks to global brands, it almost feels like any major Indian city. The westerner who hasn’t been to India will find the tuk-tuk (our auto) quite an experience. We tried to soak in the uniqueness of the city from among the familiar faces. As with every other nook of Lanka, Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa smiles at you at every corner, the  knowing, confident and sometimes arrogant smile of a man who has seemingly eliminated Lanka’s biggest threat since Ravana.

    We did some minor shopping at ‘Lakmedura’. Judging by the name and the time D spent there, I thought it was a beauty salon. Actually, they sold handicrafts. D got a few cheaper Batik items, though there seemed to be some minor difference in quality.The next stop was ODEL, which, though essentially a kind of Shoppers Stop, has oodles of Lankan character. Attractive fridge magnets, which had me gaping for a long time. I wish I’d bought more! I also ended up buying a tee! And luckily un-hypnotised myself from the LEGO section! Wonder if there’s a LEGO Buddha set. My sinus was acting up, and distracted me. I actually said no to a cool sounding ‘Madrasi Burger’ (not Bugger, so no racism here) in the food court, and missed out on ogling at what seemed to be Lankan P3 types! Damn!

    And it was time to go back. On the way to the airport, D finally got her King Coconut (no, she doesn’t refer to me that way! hmmph!) which was actually the same as their Mallu cousins. So much for the king tag. The guide left us at the airport and hurriedly left. And that’s when Sri Lanka decided to extend their hospitality by another day!!! The damn flight was almost 12 hours late! My head now had another reason to explode! They took us to a hotel nearby called Goodwood Plaza, which looked like those Bollywood thriller type ones, where people are killed off one by one!

    By dinner time, I had almost gotten rid of that silly sinus. The ‘buffet’ (loosely used) had a chicken curry which managed to unclog the remaining blocks. D seemed to love it though, she had tears in her eyes.

    2.30 AM! I woke up and hunted for my pen. But this wasn’t GIM and there was no test happening in 5 minutes. At least there was beer in Goa! Sigh! So there we were, bundled into a flight at 5.40 AM on 9/11. I was tempted to tell the hostess that SriLankan Airlines should drop the traditional Lankan greeting Ayubowan, and start using Ayyobuwan!!

    And thus we were back. We would miss the buffets, but hey, the rent is cheaper here.

    Costs : The customised package cost from Sri Holidays was $392 per head for 6N/7D. It could get cheaper depending on the hotels you choose. Replacing Mt.Lavinia, for instance will itself save you about $32/head. You can have a great lunch for two at $20. On the higher side, $200-250 would be quite enough for shopping.We were reasonably happy with their services. They were prompt and except for a few snafus (read below) were quite reliable.

    Tips: Use wiki, but don’t believe everything you read. Remember that damn mango juice?! Trip Advisor is almost fully reliable for hotels and restaurants. Ensure that the tour operator and guide knows every place you intend to visit. We missed Dambulla and some Ramayana sites because they didn’t do enough research. We lost out on Diya Sisila because of a seeming lack of interest. Do your own research, down to the finest details in terms of distances, time taken, costs etc, so that you don’t get fooled. The other thing you need to check on are the rains, each coast has separate rainy seasons, so ensure you time it right.

    Lanka has quite a few things that you’d enjoy – beaches, heritage sites, mountains, trekking opportunities, wildlife parks. So you have places to go and things to do as per your interest. For instance, we’d like to do one more better-researched Ramayana sites trip as well as beachbum our way from Trincomalee to Colombo along the coast, maybe even detour to Adam’s Peak and Nuwara Eliya. The people are nice, and the big hotels make you feel at home, especially when they turn on the familiar big hotel snobbery 😉 While most people prefer the Malaysia/Singapore/Thailand to baby step their way into international tourism, I think this is a good option too, and it helps that our currency is twice as valuable.

    until next time, armchair traveling, and if you’d twist Dilmah’s words a bit

    For more pics from the trip, click.

  • Lankan Reams – Day 5 – Mt.Lavinia

    The previous night, we had asked the guide if he could get us a reservation at Diya Sisila, which was known to be a good restaurant. With only half a dozen tables, and customised food, this was something we were looking forward to. Unfortunately, neither the guide,  who was more interested in managing a trip to his home (Negombo is close enough) nor the Bentota Beach Hotel receptionist who apparently stayed near the place, got the job done.

    We sulked out of the hotel and went to our second preference – Golden Grill. Chilled EGB with the chef’s special rice – with saffron rice and pork, squid, beef, chicken on the side (and prawn too, if you like). D didn’t like it much, but she was floored by the EGB. All ginger, zilch beer, and sweet. You really must try it. The late breakfast meant that I couldn’t do full justice to it.

    The drive to Colombo was pretty uneventful and was done in just over an hour and a half. Along the roadside, we could see the railway tracks, and beyond that the coast. The room at Mount Lavinia (we’d specifically asked for this hotel, and a room in the Sea & Garden wing) was a few square feet less than our house, but made up for this with a bath tub and a spectacular view. We caught a road-rail-sea picture and a few others.

    We wandered out to the beach in the evening, and stepped into some swayamwar set, I think. At least half a dozen separate couples were having their respective photoshoots in their spectacular wedding finery. A little walk and the beach was less crowded, but the sea remained rough.

    The Mt.Lavinia Hotel is another colonial piece, and the Governor’s room had a dress code for dinner – no shorts and sandals allowed. So we were forced to wear 3/4ths and slip-ons. The food was decent, but was relatively ignored in favour of the spectacular view. Watalappan showed up again, and this time reminded me of the Kerala style Halwa!

    And thus we settled down to our last night in Lanka… or so we thought.

    Day 6 tomorrow. And click here for the story so far -Days 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4.