Random thoughts - by Lalit Subramanian

Friday, August 14, 2020

Front porch reveries

Every family has its own idea of a dream home. Such a dream home usually comprises of one or more 'dream features', for example a huge backyard, an amicable neighborhood etc.

Pavana and I began our house hunt about 7 years ago. Few years of apartment life and repeated discussions had eventuated a serious pursuit. Being truly fledgling house hunters, we engaged the first realtor we found and began our journey with rather open minds. We had no real dream features in mind when we began the process. However, as we started seeing more homes, quite organically, our requirements began evolving. By the time we had seen about a half a dozen homes, the requirements had matured into a laundry list of dream features.

The list seemed fairly simple, at least on the surface. We had come to realize that we weren't really big on an idyllic milieu or a gargantuan backyard. Our nascent minds decided instead that we wanted a home with a cute little front porch. A quaint picket fence along with that would do as well. So much so that every time we drove past a home with a front porch or a picket fence, we would glance at each other knowingly! We also decided that we wanted good lighting in the kitchen and a living room overlooked by a second floor landing; both largely Pavana's desires (never got a good reason from her on the latter; perhaps she wanted to keep a watch on the living room from upstairs?). Both of us definitely wanted at least partial hardwood flooring, a finished basement, and a neighborhood with kids where our kids could play. Our non-handy temperament also necessitated a home that would need minimal repairs in the next 10 years.

When we finally saw our current home, we were both convinced. We swiftly closed on it and moved in soon after. It has been 6 blissful years now in this home now. Interestingly, our home does not have many of our dream features; we neither have a front porch nor a landing overlooking the living room! The kitchen lighting also is quite meager. Even so, we love our home beyond doubt. Our young family is growing in this home and we are undeniably creating some beautiful memories here.

Meanwhile, our dream features list is still growing. Some notable additions are a three-car garage, a walk-out basement, and a second floor laundry. Like normal couples, Pavana and I have the occasional inconclusive talk about moving. Ad interim, that front porch remains a daydream...

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Quarantine food

This lock-down has visibly brought out the dormant culinarian in many. The sudden proliferation home cooking posts, photos and, recipes on Facebook are a testament to a certain culinary fecundity that was perhaps hitherto lurking just under the surface. Our home is no exception to this phenomenon. In the last few months, our kitchen has churned out some excellent dishes.

Cooking to me is therapeutic. It is a space where I can be creative. And perhaps one of the reasons I revel in it is the instant gratification it provides through acknowledgment from others at the dinner table. I have had the good fortune of honing my cooking skills around excellent cooks. One such person is my mother, who in my view is not only unparalleled cook of traditional Tamil and Maharashtrian cuisine but also has a proclivity for undertaking alternate cooking methods and unfamiliar cuisines. Another such person is my mother in law, who excels in traditional South Karnataka/Mangalorean/Havyaka fare and has an uncanny ability to incorporate any given food item available in and around the kitchen into traditional food in the most unexpected yet delectable manner.

One obvious drawback that ensues from all the cooking and being around good cooks during this lock-down is the expeditious augmentation of poundage to the figure. But as they say, never trust a skinny chef!

COVID-19

It is a strange world out there. Some call it COVID, as if it is telling us to VIDu (விடு) everything that is co- (i.e. joint, together), or to stay inside the COsy COve that is your VEEDu (வீடு). Some call it Corona, because it has undeniably caused हम सब का-रोना, and some others say इसी लिए social distancing करो ना. Whatever we call it, it isn't hard to hazard a hunch that the world is going to remain hazardous for some more time now.

COVID-19 is often compared with the pandemic of 1918 and quarantine life with World War days. However, what sets the COVID-19 pandemic apart from these two historic crises is a great invention called the internet that supposedly saves us from social isolation that our grandparents or great grandparents might have faced back then. While one cannot deny the role the internet plays in keeping us informed and up to date, one also cannot ignore the inordinately discordant pieces of information we are inundated with every single day via social media and news sources, both legitimate and semi-legitimate. Opinions are frequently passed as facts as they get heavily circulated on Whatsapp. फेंकी हुई disinformation hardly gets called out as फेक news as folks gleefully share their daily quotas of inaccuracies with each other. After all, a little bit of मसाला causes no harm, they say. Per contra, we have constantly remind ourselves that distorted truth is worse than a lie. Alternative facts help no one, and are in fact very dangerous. Perhaps more dangerous than what COVID ஐயா originally planned for us when he decided to be our बिन बुलाया मेहमान.

Some food for thought.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Reassessing favorites and lost for a current favorite...

As one learns or listens to more and more music, one evolves as a rasika. For me, every music session opens a new door that forces me to reassess my tastes. Consider this. When I was young, K J Yesudas was my absolute favorite, and then it was Maharajapuram Santhanam. I spent a long period when I used to adore and mimic the way P Unnikrishnan sang. The cassette era saw me liking new comers like S P Ramh and Balaji Shankar. I then graduated to guru Neyveli Santhanagopalan, T V Sankaranarayanan, and T M Krishna. Of the older musicians, I would listen to only Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, G N Balasubramaniam, and M S Subbulakshmi. Dr. M Balamuralikrishna was another musician I used to follow (whom I respect immensely today, and believe that trying to copy his style is like playing with fire).

When cassettes started going out of fashion, I was forced to listen to music on the internet, and this is when I realized that I had been an ignorant child all along. My journey as a rasika and singer took a different route as I developed a liking to K V Narayanaswamy and Oleti Venkateswarulu. I started learning music from Girish anna, who is T Brinda's grandson and this, I believe, started refining my taste immensely. In reality it was Oleti and Brinda amma's music that affected me the most and I would like to believe that I have begun a journey towards musical excellence ever since I have been exposed to the music of these two stalwarts. However, now I find that I am able to enjoy only a few musicians, and the troubling(?) part is that these musicians are NOT current performers. Has my outlook become very narrow and is that why the current musicians fail to create any impact on me? Is my taste really getting refined?