Good things happen in pairs.

Applies to any sphere of life. But I'm not about to talk about 'any sphere of life' here. I'm talking about FOOD ! Tamil, South Indian food with a flavour of Tirunelveli/Palghat in it.

Few things in life provide more delight to me than a Keerai poricha kozhambu (or Molagootal for our Palaghat brethern) and a Pulivenda saar. Hmmmm ! The smell of the roasted cumin seeds and rich grated coconut in the Poricha Kozhambu tingles the olfactory epithelium ! And what to say of the dark red, viscous PVS with mashed tomatoes floating on the top in a thin film of oil ! A slice of heaven. Anticipation of the meal provides almost as much pleasure to the palate as does the actual act of eating the combination of the porucha kozhambu and pvs with mashed rice, dhal and a hint of ghee.

Just when one starts to think that porucha kozhambu and pvs is the ultimate, along comes the combination of sambar and roasted potato/onion curry. The secret of rendering the potato/onion roast curry just so is known only to a select few. The science is eclectic. The colour of the end product is everything. Golden brown amorphous balls of potato and their underbellies with that touch of black suggesting crispiness. That requires the exact amount of oil and the exact quantity of heat. No wonder this science is known only to a few !
Now, on to the sambar. Sambar, by itself, is a gift to the gastric juices. Add pieces of drumsticks each three inches long or slices of long white radishes to the sambar, it becomes a dish which defies description. Fresh coriander to the sambar adds that extra something - the X factor. The smell of the sambar lingers in the palm of the hand long after the meal is over. Who needs pizza !!

I could go on and on. But this piece will never be complete without mention of the God sent combination of Vetta kozhumbu and Chenai Erisheri. I don't believe I have the words to describe it. I could say awesome. But it would fall short by several notches. So let me not even try ;)
God is in the details, they say. Similarly the essence of Erisheri lies in small details.A chenai erisheri with finely ground shredded coconut is not the same as a Chenai erisheri with coarsely ground shredded coconut. Does it make any difference at all, you might ask me. Ah, well, its like asking a wine connoisseur if there is any difference between toddy and vintage port. It amazes me that potatoes, chenai, coconut and pepper can come together with such devastating effect !

Human Cloning

A lot of water has flown under the bridge since Human Cloning as a possibility was first conceived. There have been vehement protests against it - much of it justified.Man should not play God, they said. It will lead to chaos and confusion. The entire social fabric will collapse. Absolutely. I agree totally.

My personal opinion is we are making a mistake by going ahead with research on this.

But here's something we should stop and think about. It is never going to be possible to stop advances in science. The sooner we reconcile ourselves to this fact, the better it will be for all parties concerned. Whether these advances will benefit mankind is another matter. The bottomline is that passing legislations banning such research is not going to help. Even as you read this, you can be sure that research on cloning is going on in some lab in the world conducted by some maverick scientist(s).The question is not whether we should allow it. The question should be how are we going to deal with it when it happens. Again. it is not a question of 'if', rather its a question of 'when'.

So Governments around the world should be practical and wake up to this fact.

Manja Pai

Manja Pai


Any mama over the age of 60 who is in a state of rest or in uniform linear motion will always carry a manja pai unless compelled by external forces to carry something else.

For long, I have tried to find out what is it with these manja pais that makes strong men gravitate towards them. It can't be their style; the Lord knows there are other bags that are far more attractive. It can't be their strength as any mama worth his salt will tell you that you cannot put more than 1 kilo of potatoes into it. It can't be their size because u can't put anything bigger than a Tughlaq magazine into it. On one side of the MP in pale red letters, there usually is an advertisement of Ganesh beedi or Ramco cement - definitely not a sight for sore eyes.

So what, in the name of everything ugly, makes these people take them along wherever they go?I've spent many sleepless nights trying to think of a plausible answer. But all in vain. I even tried asking my Ambi mama (everybody has an Ambi mama) since when he has owned his manja pai and why he keeps it. He gave me a dirty look and did not answer. This was some 5 years back. I've never asked anybody else about it since.
Never been able to screw up enough courage.

I guess it will always remain one of mankind's deeply guarded secrets.