tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35869655873827145152024-03-12T20:28:13.651-07:00Contemporary Thoughts Meet Traditional ValuesAMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-12040527830626567522012-03-21T19:27:00.000-07:002012-03-21T19:27:12.800-07:00Register for the National Bone Marrow RegistryI care very deeply about this topic and as a south Asian, would like to do my fair bit. Until five years back, the only thing I knew about bone marrow was that they produce cells in our body - different types of them. I didn't realize the importance of the marrow till I was told to write an article. A day before my editor told me about this, I had told A that there are two Indians who are in urgent need of a marrow transplant as they had Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The next day, my editor said she wanted me to feature one or both of them and their significant others. As a former writer, I have had the opportunity to interview several people - from different walks of life. I think I can say that I've never been as attached to a story as this one. Five years later, I still find myself thinking about the families of <a href="http://www.helpsameer.org/">Sameer</a> and <a href="http://www.helpvinay.org/dp/index.php">Vinay</a>. I had interviewed Sameer and his beautiful wife Reena when he was yet to get a match to get a marrow transplant. A lot of south Asian people in the United States may know of these brave men - who battled leukemia and very unfortunately, succumbed to the disease. I didn't know either of them, or their families. But I was one of the many who used to visit their sites very regularly, and occasionally, still do.<br />
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It can be a whole different blog about their fight, their social media strategies, and the campaign strategies that they executed to encourage south Asians to register in the National Bone Marrow Registry. But this blog is about the fact that there are VERY FEW south Asians are registered on this registry. This significantly reduces the chances of finding a match when a person really needs it. Since Sameer and Vinay passed away, there have been several young (even kids) south Asians who have needed a marrow transplant. If more people register, the chances of finding a match go up, which may increase the likelihood of the person surviving as well.<br />
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Bone marrow registries are not very well set up in India also. Because of the way our body physiology works, a person of south Asian descent who is in dire need of a marrow transplant will either get the best match from his/ her own family, or someone who is of south Asian descent. Please don't wait for a bone marrow drive to take place in your city's temple or summer fair or any event. You can ask for a kit from the National Marrow donor program. They will send it to you, at no cost. There is no pain at all to register. All it requires is a simple CHEEK SWAB. That is it. When you fill the paper work, keep names, phone numbers and addresses of three people handy. Other than that, you won't need anything.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C0Ll50GKrg4/T2qNDsOW0JI/AAAAAAAAAKA/r-W_OhZyA60/s1600/Marrow%2Bregistry%2Bbooth-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-C0Ll50GKrg4/T2qNDsOW0JI/AAAAAAAAAKA/r-W_OhZyA60/s320/Marrow%2Bregistry%2Bbooth-1.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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You may be a match for a person in one month, one year, six years or maybe never. If you are found to be a match and decide to go ahead with helping a patient, you may likely have soreness in your lower back. One reason that south Asians are hesitant to register for the marrow registry is because they fear what repercussions it may have on them if they are found to be a match. Please read these articles to find out more.<br />
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http://marrow.org/Join/Join_Now/Join_Now.aspx<br />
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http://marrow.org/Join/FAQs_about_Joining.aspx<br />
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http://marrow.org/Join/Myths_and_Facts/Myths___Facts_about_Donation.aspx<br />
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If you think you have incomplete information, these articles will help. Another place where you can find valuable information is SAMAR. It is the South Asian Marrow Association of Recruiters. They do a great job of trying to get more south Asians to register. Their website is: http://www.samarinfo.org/. Please consider being a part of this registry, and believe in the power to be able to give a person another shot at life.<br />
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Here is the article I had written on <a href="http://www.helpsameer.org/wp-content/uploads/sameer_nirvana.pdf">Sameer Bhatia and his wife</a>. <br />
It has information on cord blood donation also and how it may be used. Pregnant mothers can decide if they would like to donate their precious cord blood to someone who needs it.<br />
Please think about this, and if you would like, please be the next person to join the south Asian registry, or host a bone marrow registration drive. A and I had conducted a drive when we lived in Connecticut. Apart from creating fliers to let people know of the drive, there is little that you have to do. The National marrow Donor Program will send the kits to you, and you have to send the cheek swab samples, along with the respective paperwork back to them. Things like this are not highlighted too often in the news media. I have not urged you as readers to share my blog posts until now. But I do urge this time. Please share this article. Please send to as many people as possible, so more people are made aware of it. And hopefully they will register on the National Marrow registry.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-35135433431962121912012-03-14T18:32:00.000-07:002012-03-14T18:32:06.278-07:00Maa ki Daal in the True Sense of ItFor those of you who read my blog regularly, you'll know that I write a lot about food-related things, but have never posted a recipe. This is a first for me. I have always wanted to participate in something that is food-blog related. Go back to <a href="http://www.amishi-shahmerchant.blogspot.com/2010/02/whats-for-dinner-tonight.html">this</a> post, and you'll see my love for food blogs. The number of food blogs I have bookmarked since writing that blog has significantly gone up. It is all these amazing food blogs that I follow that has given me the inspiration to write this blog post. In my next post I will write about how these food blogs are more than just a platform to share recipes. <br />
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Here is my recipe for the Indian Food Palooza event that Prerna of Indian Simmer and two other bloggers have created. Apart from the fact that this dal is called Maa ki daal, the post is titled 'Maa ki daal in the true sense of it' as this recipe has been passed down to my sister and I by our mother. Maa ki daal is Hindi for lentils cooked by mom. It is very simple, and if you are new to the world of Indian cooking, you will find this recipe very simple to follow. It comes very close to the black dal you eat at a restaurant. In the picture, along with the dal, are jeera rice and simple potato vegetables. The jeera rice goes very well with the dal. If you are short of time or feel lazy, then by all means, please use plain rice. <br />
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My sister and I have a lot of great memories associated with this simple rice and dal dish. Whenever mom made this, it meant an escape from the usual evening meal. It also meant we got a more delicious meal, than the one we had everyday. And finally, I love everything associated with rice. So having this dal with rice and papad was a great break from the routine and we looked forward to these dinners. Here is the recipe: <br />
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MAA KI DAAL <br />
INGREDIENTS: <br />
• 3/4 cup Whole urad dal (black in color), also known as Black Gram<br />
• 1/4 cup Chana dal (Bengal gram)<br />
• 1/4 can of red kidney beans (optional)<br />
• 3-4 cloves of Garlic <br />
• Cinnamon sticks<br />
• 1 tsp Ghee<br />
• 2 pieces of Laung (clove)<br />
• Cumin seeds <br />
• 1.5 tsp Cumin powder<br />
• Chilly powder<br />
• Garam masala (very optional)<br />
• Dry red chilies (very optional)<br />
• 1 - 1.5 tbsp Yogurt<br />
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METHOD<br />
1. Take 3/4 cup of dal and 1/4 cup of chana dal. <br />
2. Wash the urad dal and chana dal and cook in the pressure cooker. <br />
3. Once cooked, run a hand blender through it, so that you have small pieces of dal. keep in mind the consistency you have in a restaurant. i like that you can chew the dal. so i blend it till the dal breaks, but is not all mushed up <br />
4. In another pan, take 1/2 - 3/4 tsp of ghee (clarified butter). and add cumin seeds and one and a half dry red chillies. Omit the dry red chillies if you don't have them or like a mild flavor. <br />
5. once they start popping, add finely chopped three to four cloves of garlic. A and I love garlic, so I add lots of it. You can use lesser than three cloves, depending on your taste. <br />
6. Cook it just a little. Don't let it brown. Do keep in mind that the garlic browns very fast. <br />
7. Lower the heat and add about 1.5 tsp of cumin powder, salt to taste and chilli powder. If you prefer mild food, add less. <br />
8. Roast a little, and let the dry spices with the garlic and ghee. <br />
9. Then add the blended daal. <br />
10. Add water if needed - to improve the consistency. <br />
11. Cook for sometime and heat till you get bubbles for a minute or two. <br />
12. Add yoghurt at the very end. I used to add light or heavy cream some years back. But smooth yogurt gives the same richness as the cream. Keep on the gas for just about a minute after adding yogurt. It is only to get the richness. Tastes really nice. Again - if you're making for 4 people, you won't need more than 1 -1.5 tablespoon of yoghurt.<br />
Voila - dal is ready! Like a lot of Indian dishes, this dal will taste even better the next day. Enjoy with rice or hot-of-the-stove chapatis! <br />
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JEERA RICE <br />
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INGREDIENTS<br />
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• 1 cup rice <br />
• 1 tsp ghee <br />
• 1 - 1.5 tsp cumin seeds <br />
• Salt to taste <br />
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METHOD<br />
1. Cook the rice as you generally do. <br />
2. In a small pan (a 1-egg maker pan is best for this purpose), take the ghee and cumin seeds and heat it. <br />
3. When the seeds begin to splutter, add the ghee with the seeds to the rice. <br />
4. Sprinkle some salt to taste. <br />
5. Fluff the rice and mix the ghee, cumin seeds and rice with a dinner fork. This will ensure equal mixing and more importantly, the rice will not break. <br />
6. Cover the rice after it is cooked - to preserve the aroma of the cumin seeds. <br />
7. Serve with dal. <br />
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NOTE: A good addition maybe to take very little oil or ghee and roast cashew nuts till they turn light brown in color. Set them on a paper towel for the extra oil or ghee to be absorbed. Before serving, garnish the rice with cashew nutsAMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-79329265541134196612012-03-08T18:28:00.000-08:002012-03-08T18:28:32.896-08:00The Arts and its AudiencesA and I enjoy going to music programs, dance recitals and to watch plays. I used to freelance for Indian newspapers and magazines when we lived in Connecticut (we left the place in 2008) and I used to cover events. I was still new to the country, and so it gave me good exposure to see new plays or dance recitals or musical performances. One event that I had covered was a play based on Mahatma Gandhi's life. It was in Stamford, Connecticut. After the play got over, I met with the main organizer of the event to get her thoughts. She said something that A and I had noticed in the previous events we had gone to. The organizer said that if one looked around the auditorium, there are fewer Indians at Indian events like this, and more non-Indian people.<br />
She was very appreciative of the fact that Indian culture is of high importance to a lot of people over here. It was also very evident how much they enjoyed the program and were engrossed. But at the same time she was saddened by the fact that there were only a handful of Indians at that event. And even among those, there were hardly any younger Indians. She wished that more young Indians came to such events and saw the rich heritage that our country has to offer. We met with one of the audience members (a non-Indian), who had a theater studio in Hartford, Connecticut. He too, echoed the thoughts of the organizer and told me that, if there was some way, that people knew about it, they will take notice and things may change. Over the years, as A and I continued going to more performances, we saw how true this sentiment was.<br />
We had gone this past Sunday to an event organized by the Gandhi Memorial Center in Bethesda, Maryland. It was based on the River Ganga, where a poetess read some paragraphs from her new book on the river and a Kuchipudi dancer, well known in the greater DC metro area, gave her rendition to one of India's most-worshipped rivers. There were more Indians compared to what we had seen in Connecticut, but hardly any younger Indians.<br />
The arts is a beautiful field, but sustaining it is not easy. At a time when it is very difficult to host a show, or invite international artistes, one should appreciate the opportunity they are given, and give the artistes a boost. There are several groups across the country, who try to call budding artistes from India to give them a chance to establish themselves. These artistes need the encouragement. Think about it this way. If you were going to go play a basketball game, or a football game, or play the violin, wouldn't you want that more people saw how you did a great job by doing a 3-point shot or how you were a great teamplayer to win that crucial game. It is as simple as that. It is a sincere request that you please share this small blog post with others. Next time on, when you know an event is taking place in your town, take the time to spend a few hours of musical bliss or learning more about your home country.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-15523043128025191362012-02-29T18:06:00.000-08:002012-02-29T18:06:56.386-08:00Two book reviewsI have written only one book review till now - when I was freelancing for CT Indian Life. I want to review two books on this blog post. You know, there are times when you read something, and know that this is going to always stay with you. These books are like that for me. They are both very well known. A lot of you would have already read them as they are not new. The first is the book 'A Mighty Heart' by Mariane Pearl and the other is 'The Last Lecture', written by the late Randy Pausch.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vNjbBCXIsSI/T07ZIKtvKOI/AAAAAAAAAIg/yix50pdLASs/s1600/Mariane%2BPearl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vNjbBCXIsSI/T07ZIKtvKOI/AAAAAAAAAIg/yix50pdLASs/s320/Mariane%2BPearl.jpg" /></a></div>(Image courtesy: Amazon.com)<br />
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I read 'A Mighty Heart' maybe a fortnight back. After returning a string of books back to the library after reading only a page or two, I finished this book in about four days. I got this book when it was the 10th anniversary of the death of the American journalist Daniel Pearl, who worked with Wall Street Journal and was brutally killed in Pakistan. I wanted to read this book as I always wanted to know how he died, and the fierce way in which his wife fought to get her husband back. Why I loved this book is because of the sheer presence of mind that Pearl's wife Mariane had when everyone realized her husband was kidnapped. Despite being in the second trimester of her pregnancy, she and her fellow companion, Asra Nomani, took on the herculean task of trying to get him back. Although the outcome was known to me and any other reader, the book is still so gripping and poignant.<br />
She does not give up till the very end. In a nation where she found it so hard to trust anyone, she had formed a trusted group of Pakistani and American men who were toiling day and night to get Daniel Pearl back. She was resilient, and coherent of whatever was going on around her. It was through his laptop and emails that they formed a map with Daniel in the center and all the members of the terrorist groups that he had interacted with. I learned from the book that you have to be calm when you are dealt with a challenge that you think is beyond your capacity to handle. She demonstrated that calmness. Mariane said that she had grown up chanting the Buddhist mantra - Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, which she chanted a lot when she and her late husband really needed. Imagine being pregnant and having to go through something of this magnitude that will change the course of your life.<br />
Towards the end of the book, her description shows that she too, is human. She breaks down when a member of her trusted group gives the news of him being brutally killed. She finds some solace initially as her brother comes over to Pakistan. As promised, Mariane tells the story of herself and the group that had helped her immensely to several presidents - including the U.S. and French presidents. She also met with then President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf and has a no-nonsense talk with him. Apart from all this, she said something that I still think about. Mariane mentioned that she has not lost her spirit to live and not lost her purpose in life. She said that if she loses that, then she will give in to what the terrorists always wanted and she will not give them that. She is now mother to an almost ten-year old son.<br />
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I read The Last Lecture almost six months ago when I had just moved to Washington DC, and had time on hand (and no TV to distract me). A lot of people had told me about this book, or at least see the lecture on line. I am quite certain most of you know about the author. If you don't, he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and had very few months to live. The University regularly conducts these hour-long sessions, where professors are invited to talk that if you had to give one last lecture, what would you say. Ironically, Pausch didn't work at the University much longer after this lecture. The reason behind reviewing this book is that he had some very simple lessons to offer. The lecture or the book is not a self-help book. But it does make you think, and in my case, it did make me implement what I learned through his book.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OfflrM8UY7o/T07Zdk4_zAI/AAAAAAAAAI4/XqkNoNqIc6Q/s1600/randy%2Bpausch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="250" width="201" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OfflrM8UY7o/T07Zdk4_zAI/AAAAAAAAAI4/XqkNoNqIc6Q/s320/randy%2Bpausch.jpg" /></a></div>(Picture courtesy: Amazon.com)<br />
Pausch's kids are very young and he wrote the book and steered the lecture in a way that his children would know about him, even when he is not there. He passed away in 2008. In his lecture, he talks about how to achieve your childhood dreams. There are a few things that just stayed with me. For instance, his very famous quote is that brick walls are there for a reason. He said that brick walls/ obstructions are for those people who don't want something so badly. If you really want something, you will not let the brick wall deter you. He gave an example, by which he said that when you want something, keep trying. And when those who are trying to stop you for whatever reason stop that, at that time you know that you will make it. A and I knew this was true soon after we read the book. A's interview process for his current job in DC took a very long time, and we kept getting mixed signals. But he was persistent, and he didn't let anything deter him.<br />
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The other thing that Pausch said, which I know, a lot of us can use is to never give up. He mentioned that every person has a good side to himself. And you have to wait a long time for a person to show his/ her good side. Simple lesson, but very profound. How often have we given up on someone, because that person has done a lot of bad in our lives, and to those we love. One has to wait and that person will show his/her good side at one point.<br />
Of the several other profound thoughts that he had, he cited an anecdote, where his colleague gave him advice on relationships. He said that when it comes to men, who are romantically interested in a woman, ignore everything they say. Just pay attention to what they do. It is profound advice that a lot of us can implement or share with soon-to-be adolescent children.<br />
In short, I loved his book as it shows his and his wife's resilience amidst an illness that he eventually succumbed to. And that is was positive from any angle you looked at. The girl part of me loved his admiration for his wife and the beautiful way he thought of her and got her a cake during his last lecture. It was very emotional and if you read the book, you will read what their interaction was during that special moment. Read this book to believe in yourself, to start something new, to love your significant other and children and never take anything for granted. Cancer is a disease that takes a lot of you and your family. Only those who have lived through it or have seen their family member through it, would comprehend the tireless and unending efforts one makes.<br />
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The common theme between both these books is the extremely brave women - the better halves of both the men who are not in this world anymore, but am sure are there in spirit with these women. We all can learn a thing or two from their courage.<br />
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This post is dedicated to a very close family member who passed away last week, after battling cancer.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-36835544272285479272012-02-20T14:36:00.000-08:002012-02-20T14:36:17.884-08:00Worried about daily meals? Kickstart your Week with a Food menu-listI was speaking to my masi (mother's sister) in Bombay the other day, and told her that once I have the menu ready for the week, things are a breeze. And she said that it is a good idea to have a menu ready, so in the middle of the week, you don't feel like, 'Oh I don't want to eat this today.' Or your wife or mother will not bore you with the same question, 'What should I make for dinner tonight?'<br />
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What had started as a compulsion for me has now become a habit. When I was in school for two years, and also worked, there used to be nights when A and I returned home by 8:30 - 9 PM. The last thing you want to do then is stand over a stove and cook potatoes or make a healthy pasta. So we began making a menu every weekend. A lot of things become easy if you plan your menu for the week on a Friday or Saturday. For starters - your trip to the grocery store becomes much more beneficial. You know what you want, how much and why you want it. As a family member pointed out, since things are planned out, you don't visit the grocery store on a weekday, running to buy single things like onions or a bunch of cilantro (fresh green coriander). Since you are putting ten minutes aside only to make a list, you make sure that a) You make healthy things that are a good balance of proteins and starch and carbs and b) You don't have to eat the same boring roti-sabji (Indian flat bread with dry veggies or veggies with curry) everyday. You can put a good casserole for one day, healthy soup the other and roti-sabji the third. There - we just planned a three-day meal for you in less than five minutes. Also, if you are a picky person - you have a say from the start in what you want to eat. If you say at the last minute that you want to eat something interesting and nice, chances are the ingredients may not be at home. In this case, it won't be so.<br />
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It has been a long time now since we have been making menus and putting it up on the fridge. I would like to share some tips that may make your task a little bit easy. I have shared my own lists with you in these photographs. As you see in one picture, you can even combine a to-do-list with it. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i-HVnpNQd8A/T0LKwePxDOI/AAAAAAAAAIU/rQPFgnbA4BU/s1600/IMG_3094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i-HVnpNQd8A/T0LKwePxDOI/AAAAAAAAAIU/rQPFgnbA4BU/s320/IMG_3094.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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1. If there are things in your fridge waiting to be used, see what you can cook with those. It's amazing you can make a good square meal out of humble leftovers, or uncooked vegetables or meat if you have that in your fridge.<br />
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2. If you have been really keen to try a new recipe, put that on your list. Encourage your creativity.<br />
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3. Make it a point to write your list before you do your weekly grocery. Write all ingredients you need that you don't have at home, especially if it is a new recipe.<br />
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4. Very important - don't forget to take the list to the store. Sounds crazy, but don't tell me you have never left your list at home and realized it the minute you enter your superstore.<br />
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5. As you make the list, go over in your mind whether you'd like to take leftovers for lunch the next day. If not, please add lettuce, cucumber and basic salad needs to take salad to work.<br />
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6. Make your list healthy - make sure to put ample legumes and sprouts and greens to your menu. If you eat any kind of meat, space it out for the five days and include that as well.<br />
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7. Last, but very important - don't make your menu boring. If it is, then it is very likely that you'll be tempted to order take-out Chinese food on Wednesday night!<br />
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I now come home and make my meal every night. But as a student, I cooked on Sundays for the week. It's your call. If you want, you can also chop veggies on Saturday or Sunday and refrigerate them. It will be so simple to just saute them after that. Depending on your schedule - you can cook daily or every two days or over the weekend if you want.<br />
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If you cook at home, and try to eat an overall healthy-balanced meal, please give this a shot. Give ten minutes of your time to a small list and see the difference it makes. It will give you peace of mind and an opportunity to include favorites of what every member in your family wants to eat.<br />
Go ahead, give it a try. And let me know how it works for you.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-34557900229666437492012-02-16T04:37:00.000-08:002012-02-16T04:37:00.770-08:00New Delhi and Washington DC - my PerceptionsMy cousin M introduced me to a friend of hers, who lives close to where I do in the District. During the course of conversation over dinner, our talk veered on how Delhi is as a city. Delhi is the capital of India and is situated in the northern part of the country. One of M's friends had told her that she would be careful in a city like Delhi (or something to that effect. I forget what she said exactly). I echoed her thoughts. When I worked in Bombay (yes, I still call it Bombay, rather than Mumbai), the head office was in Gurgaon, and so I went to Delhi a few times and have also been to Delhi during family trips. <br />
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There is something about Delhi that would naturally make me more guarded. I never for a minute felt that I was not originally from Bombay during the more than three years that I lived there, but Delhi definitely made me feel like that. Like me, most people in Bombay would walk around freely, not explicitly thinking of their safety. Being a woman, and not from Delhi, I used to be careful every time I was there.<br />
What I noticed in Delhi was that everyone knows a politician or someone in the political circle. The minute you are about to enter in an argument or squabble with a person, the first thing that the person may tell you is, "You probably don't want to mess with me as my connections go a long way and I know politician X and Y from A or B party political party." I used to feel like I was one of those people who didn't know any politician, and was all by myself.<br />
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This is entirely my perception - but I feel like people from Delhi can outwardly be very sweet to you, but I would be wary of their intentions and how they would react to a situation. If you asked a simple question, you might just be countered with several other questions - asking your intent of that question and a simple situation could just get convoluted in no time. To tell it simply, the straightforwardness seemed amiss from the people. The other thing was that if you traveled by auto rickshaw drivers in Delhi, you would have to haggle for the travel fare. I saw this when I went in 2009. My friend T had told me about it, so I was aware of it. It is not as if the rickshaws are devoid of meters. They do have meters, but they just don't use them. Thankfully I didn't let the driver get the better of me. Whereas in Bombay, you pay the auto rickshaw driver by the meter.<br />
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That's why, when I decided to make the move to Washington DC, which is the capital of the United States, this thought that, 'What if DC is like Delhi?' kept coming in my mind. And I wanted to live in a Bombay-like city. Before coming here, I used to wonder if here too people would be more than eager to associate themselves with a politician (even if s/he is a wannabe), and I had to be guarded 24X7. Thankfully, in the first month itself, my thoughts were put to rest. I have felt safe on the Metro and when I come home after it gets dark (Irritatingly enough, it used to get dark by 5 PM till about two weeks back!) I have had a smooth transition from the mid-west to DC and am enjoying work and what this city has to offer. <br />
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Please note that what I write on this blog are entirely my opinions.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-82109005223442660792012-02-10T15:17:00.000-08:002012-02-10T15:17:30.692-08:00Bidding Adieu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oE6kQNSbIck/TzWlgh2Nw2I/AAAAAAAAAHY/PT97V12Odro/s1600/adieu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="214" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oE6kQNSbIck/TzWlgh2Nw2I/AAAAAAAAAHY/PT97V12Odro/s320/adieu.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I don't want you to be misled by this title. I am not going anywhere and nor are we moving. This title is about what we (A and I) went through a couple of months back. I said bye to Columbus, Ohio first in August, and finally in December, 2011. A bid his farewell to the city, close to New Years Eve. When I flew out of Columbus the last time, I was reflecting on how saying bye feels and the various times we have done this. All of us have gone through this similar phase - at some point or the other.<br />
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I remember three distinct farewells now. One was when I left India in 2006 to come here, the other when A and I left Connecticut to move to Columbus and now when left Columbus to settle in Washington, DC. If there is one common thread between the three, then it is that that your association with a place lasts longer than you think. When I was leaving Bombay, my friend K told me not to be sad that I was going away. She said that we will continue to be in touch. And we are. After six years, I find myself connecting with K often, or speaking to her when I am super elated or confused or….<br />
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Your ties with a place are not simply restricted till the time you live there. What I learned - you will keep in touch with the people you want to. You will miss them, yes, but, if you really want to, you will maintain contact. And that's the good thing. This is not because we have Facebook, which has made things easier. You will be in touch via other ways also. I had emailed someone from my work place in Columbus last week. And she said, I am doing a good job of keeping in touch. I feel as if some things don’t require a lot of time and effort. I have seen some of the busiest people reply every so quickly to emails. There is always time to send a two-sentence email to people who you think about.<br />
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You may move on from one place. But memories from there remain. A and I still miss a lot of things about Connecticut. Most of all, we miss the people and our friends. Other than that, we miss the parks and other things we take for granted. There used to be an Asian restaurant that we really liked. It still lingers on in our minds. The first time we went back to Connecticut, A and I wanted to go to all our favorite restaurants and visit some parks that we really liked.<br />
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We all get emotionally attached and associate one place with a particular event, which makes it more special. For instance, it was Connecticut where I first landed after we were married and I first came to this country. Although I didn't have much of an adjustment period, everything that I knew about the United States was first through New Britain, Connecticut. It is the place from where A got his PhD. Bombay was where I began working, and made some really close friends. Columbus, Ohio is where I went to school. That too, was huge for me, considering several things. So you may bid adieu to a place, but the emotions and sentiments remain. <br />
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It is for the same reason that after all these years, we hear our parents recount that, "When we lived in Nairobi or when we lived in Calcutta, we went for a safari every Sunday or peanuts cost X rupees." They talk ever so fondly about their time there, the weather and how the place was. Who knows, someday, after twenty years, we will recount to our children or friends of how life was when we were in our 20s and 30s.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-90291960381591102972012-01-25T04:42:00.000-08:002012-01-25T04:42:30.515-08:00The Wonder Years - Through Our NiecesToday's blog is about our (A and me) five nieces. Their age range is from six months to twelve years (6 months, 4 years, 8, 9 and 12 years). The reason why I write this post is because we get to see a whole spectrum of growth as we look at all five of them and different stages of development - their current interests, how they change with time, what they learn, etc. What each of them individually goes through at their respective age and how the transition happens to an older age is amazing. I don't want to name names, so for the sake of simplicity, the oldest (12-year old) is called A, 9-year old is B, 8-year old is C, 4-year old is D and the youngest is E. This blog is not about how each one of them is (her personality, individuality, etc). It is about the different stages of their childhood and pre-adolescence. <br />
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I have seen D and E (the younger two ones) since the time they were born. And have seen A, B and C since they were two, three and six years old. We now talk to the oldest one as an adult. She is a tween. If you were to chat with her, you would not realize that she is a tween. The only thing that gives it away is her extensive use of emoticons and smiley faces. When B and C were three and four years old, we used to spell out words, so they would not understand it. Now we do that for D. D was super excited that it was her birthday near Christmas. She was looking forward to having a princess-themed cake and candles for her big day. Yes, like other girls her age, she loves princesses and was a princess on Halloween. The older nieces went through that phase also, and have since, moved to dressing up as other characters for Halloween (read as scary witch, bed head, etc). The youngest one was too little to have a Halloween costume, so she will wait one more year for her own costume. At the end of the day, irrespective of the age they are, they all enjoy their candies and chocolates! <br />
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When we see E, the youngest one, A (the husband and not the niece!) and I are reminded of our nieces when we saw them when they were so young. E's latest thing is that she has just begun to turn on her own. I remember D began rolling from her bed the first time when we got her to Connecticut in 2008. My sister and I were in the kitchen and when we came out, she had rolled out of her little make-shift bed. E will give you the best smiles when you spend time with her. <br />
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It is so interesting to see how each has their own personality and how that plays in with their age. A and her sister C, are four years apart. Till about a year and a half back, they played with their common friends and A would play the same games as C. We are now seeing that she has grown out of that, and spends time with her friends during parties. And C plays with her own friends. With becoming a tween, also comes the thing of sleep overs. Being the oldest, she was the first to be invited to sleep overs at her friends' place as well as host sleep overs at her place. If she has moved on to sleep overs, D is still at the play-date age. She loves to go her best friend's place and play anything from lego to playing with excavator trucks to their parents reading them books.<br />
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B and C are only a year apart from each other. When we did the family trip to Canada during last summer, it was very interesting to watch both of them. The cousins were meeting after a long time. So when they first met, B and C were walking on the road, hand-in-hand. They talked non-stop and had much to share. There were a few times I think when all three were in the same car. I can only imagine what the adults in the car must have gone through! We no longer can distract them and make them silent by saying, "Count the number of red cars that pass by" or saying "Let's play the game of who stays quiet for longer". While that trick still applies to D. She remembers that and a day or two after we have left her place, she will tell her mom that she spotted a red car! I am sure within a year or two, she too will outgrow that. A (the hubby) used to spell things out when his nieces were younger. Like spelling out I-C-E C-R-E-A-M, so they would not understand it. We now do it with D. B was a terrific host when we went to Canada. Although she is nine, she made sure that all of us were comfortable and was a great guide at Calgary's stampede.<br />
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You must have already noticed that we do get to see a wide spectrum of interesting aspects with the girls and how different they all are. D's best friend is a boy and to her, he is just like her. B and C believe that boys are bad, and they are their enemies. While A is beginning to understand a little more than that. When we see all of them, we sometimes do wonder how each of them will be when they grow up. From all five of them, E has the best life as of now. She eats and sleeps. The oldest one is entering the phase where school work has just begun to get important, along with following other activities. B loves to ice-skate, C enjoys swimming and tennis, and D had her first swimming lessons this past summer.<br />
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They are not different in everything. We do see some similarities. All four girls love to dress up and they all love make-up. They wait for an occasion when mommy will allow them to apply some make-up. Another thing - they all love celebrating their birthdays. If one had a princess-theme, another was all too happy to spend her birthday with the entire family. She told her classmates about it excitedly. The others like it at a gaming plaza or having friends over for a sleep over. A (the hubby) and I can't help, but remark at times, that we get to see such different stages of growth in all five of them. We feel lucky for that and to a very large extent - it is a big learning experience for us. If you have stories about your nephews and nieces, do share them. I would love to know about them.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-141283426184545872012-01-21T07:43:00.000-08:002012-01-21T08:17:41.346-08:00Pictures from the NewseumCameras used by photojournalists - Then and Now <br />
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Part of the Berlin Wall. This was seen as a time when there was lack of communication between people. <br />
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Advent of New media <br />
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9/11 Newspaper Front Pages<br />
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Saving the best for the last - the view from the terrace<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M3nyG_ivgRE/TxrdHW8_YmI/AAAAAAAAAHA/0Ih0Ign9yZk/s1600/IMG_2756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M3nyG_ivgRE/TxrdHW8_YmI/AAAAAAAAAHA/0Ih0Ign9yZk/s320/IMG_2756.JPG" /></a></div>AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-1102688553812199132012-01-21T07:32:00.000-08:002012-01-21T07:32:33.664-08:00Visit to the NewseumAs I write this title, I feel like a child in 4th grade/ standard, who has been told to write about her visit to the zoo! I am not in 4th grade, and I did not go to the zoo either, but I sure was as excited as a ten-year old to go to the Newseum. One – the <a href="http://newseum.org/">Newseum</a>, as the name suggests, is a museum for news (read as media). That being my former profession, it definitely interested me. Two – there are some great exhibits there, which I will talk about in this post. Three – I had awesome company in A <br />
I had already been to the Newseum in September with my friends, N and H from Columbus, Ohio. They too, live in the greater DC area. I will start with two of my favorite exhibits over there. One was that of Pulitzer prize winning photographs. There were breathtaking photographs, most of which made you think for a few minutes before you moved to the next. There was a beautiful picture of a family being reunited after the Second World War. The expressions are that of relief, joy and so much more. There were pictures of the fire that took place in Chicago so many years back, and all the destruction that took place. There was one picture, where only a woman’s hand was shown. Her fore arm was infected, and she was shown holding a household blade. It was a picture depicting female circumcision in Kenya. It is alarming that that despite awareness being raised about it, that painful tradition still is a part of some African countries. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zDQfCV7S878/TxrYg68E3cI/AAAAAAAAAFg/kx8fhk1zwFg/s1600/IMG_2733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zDQfCV7S878/TxrYg68E3cI/AAAAAAAAAFg/kx8fhk1zwFg/s320/IMG_2733.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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A gripping picture was that of a famine in Africa, taken in the early 1990s. There was a small child (less than two years), clearly malnourished, in a very dry place. And behind her was a vulture, waiting to make the child its meal. The photographer managed to get rid of the vulture, and made the girl safe temporarily. He received a lot of negative comments when the picture was released, as to why he never saved the girl. And he was noted telling a friend that he had felt very bad about not helping the girl. After a few months, he committed suicide. There was a 10-15 minute video presentation that kept running, where Pulitzer prize winning photographers talked about their tasks. There were some that stuck with me. One said that you don’t do your job thinking that today I am going to click a Pulitzer Prize winner. It just happens. You can’t plan for it. Another lady said that she had seen so much pain and suffering in adults and in a lot of children, that in order to deal with it, she took pictures of people helping other people. And how she could show compassion through her photographs. <br />
This was one of the sections that I really liked. The other was a sub-section of a bigger section. The bigger section was that of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It had various exhibits within it, giving a good historical aspect also. One of my favorites was that of Sept 11, 2001. It had collections ranging from the plane’s parts to what was found in it, to confiscated passports of the terrorists in the planes. One of the most striking things there was the original letter that was given to each of the terrorists, which they were to read the night before Sept 11. It was not written in English, but a translated sheet was kept next to it. The letter stated the justification given to them, as to why they were doing this, and the supposed thing that it was the right thing to do. When I read the letter the first time, I re-read it. And yet I took time to digest it. When I went with A this time round, I told him to read it. He too was in disbelief. <br />
Moving on from this emotionally-charged exhibit to a lighter one, there was a temporary/ traveling exhibit on sports photography. Several photographs were from the magazine, Sports Illustrated by Nick Leifer. There were pictures that showed the intensity of former tennis players, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. The photographer mentioned that Mohammed Ali was a delight to photograph, and had a wonderful personality. <br />
One of the other really nice permanent exhibits is the evolution of media from radio to television to the Internet. It was historically rich, and wonderfully captured key moments in history and how media was used to broadcast that news. For instance, they showed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and how people got information at every step of the way. The other one, where millions of viewers turned on their TV sets was the wedding of the beautiful Lady Diana and Prince Charles. I wish that along with the wedding of lady Di, they kept a big poster of the big 2011 wedding of Prince William and Katherine. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QTISsFLQGZ0/TxrZMHxHjKI/AAAAAAAAAFs/lLLBUaUDzVY/s1600/IMG_2740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QTISsFLQGZ0/TxrZMHxHjKI/AAAAAAAAAFs/lLLBUaUDzVY/s320/IMG_2740.JPG" /></a></div><br />
That would have plastered a smile on my face for the rest of the day. The historical perspective continued with key political moves, natural disasters and other important events. A small room was also dedicated to social media, and how it was used in the revolution in Egypt. A humorous angle to social media was how Twitter would have been used if it was around during the time of the Civil war. It was quite funny to read that. The other humorous part in the Newseum was continuous clips being shown about late night TV shows. This included shows of Stephen Colbert, Jay Leno, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart, Saturday Night Live and others. They have played a key role in media and portraying the truth behind key developments in a humorous and satirical manner. A and I, along with other visitors had a nice time laughing at these clips, especially after watching some intense displays. <br />
On the same floor as the late night shows and development of media, was one more intense display. It was that of September 11, 2001. This was different from the one of the FBI. This gave the journalists' perspective. The center piece was the destroyed top of one of the towers of the World Trade Center buildings. On one of the walls were front pages of national and international newspapers on the day after this horrific incident. I was at the Newseum the first time on September 10, 2011. Several people choked up and some were crying as they went through this exhibit. A video clip that was being played showed raw footage, interviews with people who saw it up and close and the destruction that took place. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e-OJ3PSP58A/TxrZ748F8kI/AAAAAAAAAF4/-1EPQjWldVY/s1600/IMG_2754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e-OJ3PSP58A/TxrZ748F8kI/AAAAAAAAAF4/-1EPQjWldVY/s320/IMG_2754.JPG" /></a></div><br />
On the other side of the center piece were remains of the only journalist, a photo journalist, who died while covering what was happening on that sunny morning in September. His was a moving story of how he and his wife were walking their dogs when they heard about it. He rushed home to get his cameras, and never came back. They retrieved his cameras, which revealed some of his best shots. But he didn't live to see them. It was touching to see his glasses, phone and other personal belongings on display. <br />
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Journalists that made an impact <br />
There was one exhibit on Katrina that was there when I went in September. Without going in the details, there was a clip of Anderson Cooper of CNN where he was livid about politicians making tall claims and doing nothing while people died and suffered in the aftermath of the disaster. And there was another clip of Brian Williams of CNBC being angry about the same thing. I had this thought then that it would be terrific if both these men featured in the same show. They would make a great team. Here is a collection of headlines after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4UHIVrfS2II/TxradRWIG9I/AAAAAAAAAGE/rItgH92Slqk/s1600/IMG_2759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4UHIVrfS2II/TxradRWIG9I/AAAAAAAAAGE/rItgH92Slqk/s320/IMG_2759.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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The other one was the exhibit on Tim Russert. He was the long time face of the show 'Meet the Press'. The exhibit was that of his office when he died a few years back. He was a journalist who made an impact not just on the viewers, but even the people he interviewed. He was known for having a wealth of knowledge and who read and pored over newspapers from all over the country. He was a dedicated family man. Even after all the years of hosting the show, after a particularly important show, he would go to his office and call his father and ask how he liked the show and what his opinion was. There were imminent people in Indian media who remain very memorable, and we still talk about them. <br />
I try to generally end on a happy note. There were a series of photographs in one of the hallways of the White House Presidential dogs. These pictures are kept to engage younger museum visitors. The Kennedys had nine dogs when they were in the White House, while one of the presidents chose to have a goat instead of a dog. And there was one who had held his dog by the ears. He received a lot of negative reactions because of the way he treated his dog. <br />
I hope that if you are in DC, and if you have not been to Newseum, you get a chance to visit it. And if you get lucky, you may get to go free (yes, my sister N gave me a link where free tickets were being given by Newseum) or go at half price (shout out to Groupon)! <br />
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P.S. - As I browse through pictures - I am going to post a few pictures on this post, and have a new post with just the Newseum photographsAMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-91735571129700471142011-12-12T18:16:00.000-08:002011-12-12T18:18:42.185-08:00How Technology-dependent are You?We have all become dependent on technology. And that is not news anymore. Google has gone from becoming a noun to a verb. For example, how many of you say this every week - "I Googled about X event and came to know about it" or "Why don't you Google the nutritional value of avocado? You'll see how good they are for you."<br />
This past weekend was my last time in Columbus. It was A's and my wish to do a <i>Pooja</i> (a religious ceremony) before he moved to Washington, DC and we bid our farewell to Columbus. I had to make <i>prasad</i> (food offered to God) for the pooja. I was going to make <i>sheera, kheer</i> and have fruits and dry fruits. I have the most wonderful recipe of sheera (sweet dish made of semolina, sugar, milk and clarified butter) that has been given by A's mother. I have not made <i>kheer</i> (Indian rice pudding - made of milk, rice and I added condensed milk also) that often. So my default go-to was Google. I Googled and after looking at a few different recipes, I found the one that I was confident would be good enough to feed 30-40 people. That was the first time I used Google for the pooja.<br />
Next, was getting ready for the pooja. Three days before the pooja, I was once again on Google, looking for videos to help me drape a saree. Now if my mother were to read that I needed the help of Google and YouTube to wear a saree, I will get the longest sermon ever! "You have been married for all these years. You should know how to wear one and on and on." Yes, google once again was my answer to getting one step closer to the pooja, the way I wanted. I could have very well gone with <i>salwar-kameez</i> (an Indian attire, with drawstring pants and a long tunic), but I wanted to wear a saree, as A and I were going to perform the pooja. I was able to check two things off the list, thanks to technology/ Internet/ Google.<br />
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Next was reaching the <i>mandir</i> (temple). We didn't resort to Google maps, but did rely on technology once again. The trusty GPS was out. We made sure to use the GPS this time. The first time we went to this temple, A and I were lost. So we followed the directions of the GPS to the T this time. And we were at the temple on time, without getting lost and ready for the pooja.<br />
Next was the pooja. We just had to perform the pooja, the way the priest directed us to. Turned out, the head priest was in India. The other priest was a very dedicated man and he explained wonderfully to us, why we performed certain steps, why the lady always sits on the right side of the husband and much more. But before the pooja commenced, out came his iPhone. And he verified a few things and read them before we started. There - it was the fourth thing that got us through smoothly.<br />
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This is an example of how for one single event, we were so reliant on technology. We all have our examples. My four-year old niece is adept at going on YouTube from her dad's iPhone and iPad. We met A's four and a half year old nephew two days back. He was teaching A and his grand mother how to operate the iPad and how his grand mother could pause a video he was watching. Yes, there are pros and cons to kids learning technology at such a young age. But that is not the discussion for this blog post. How many times have you gone to the Internet to look for the perfect recipe for chilli paneer or sweet corn soup or the apt appetizer to vow your party crowd? Or you were lost on the highway and none else, but the GPS helped you. The flip side also being that your GPS was just not able to get any signal and you were not able to find your way smoothly, unless you stopped at a gas station and asked for it.<br />
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The other major change - dictionaries and thesaurus. I am as guilty as anyone else on this one. I admit not looking at a dictionary in years, yes years. If I don't know a meaning or need grammar help, all I do is go to the Merriam-Webster website (http://www.merriam-webster.com/). I have that as a bookmark on my work and home computer. But I don't have the Webster dictionary at work. One of the microwaves at work is in the room that has two printers and has stationery and office supplies. The room also has those gigantic dictionaries that we grew up seeing. (You know how old you are if you too saw those dictionaries!) During the two or three minutes that I am waiting for my food to heat up, I invariably end up thinking that, "When my children are born, and are growing up, will they use a physical dictionary? Will they peruse the encyclopedias that we did?" Or would something more advanced than Google come up by that time?<br />
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While we are at books, I see more people on the Metro who are reading e-books on the not-so-new anymore Kindle or iPad or something similar, rather than the good ol' book. I had never seen someone so engrossed in a book that they would keep reading it while walking. How is it then that they keep reading on the Kindle while walking? And then they would either slow down or bump in to someone as they are not looking ahead, but on the screen?<br />
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A and I did a fun thing a few weeks back. We had a situation in front of us, and the easy thing was to look up online for a solution. But we decided not to resort to that for once, and challenge ourselves. It was a lot of fun, and also an exercise that made us realize how dependent we have become on technology. Next time, when you too are going to click on your favorite website to help you, do pause. And see if you can work on your situation without that. I think you will enjoy it!AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-11136850561093971212011-11-29T18:54:00.000-08:002011-11-29T18:54:59.209-08:00Street Food - Part 2I enjoyed writing about street food in India and reminiscing the good old days. In the United States, I have traveled extensively to the north-east, the mid-west and a bit of south-east. The western part is still a mystery for me. So this blog post mainly talks about street food in these regions. <br />
I will start from the most current experience and go back to what I have been noticing over the years. I have lived in DC for a little over three months now. My colleagues I and A were the first to introduce me to food trucks in DC. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ORfHh7MypwY/TtWarcy11CI/AAAAAAAAAFU/9Tzkp60I0Tw/s1600/IMG_2847.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ORfHh7MypwY/TtWarcy11CI/AAAAAAAAAFU/9Tzkp60I0Tw/s320/IMG_2847.JPG" /></a></div><br />
Let me tell you that people in DC take their food trucks very seriously. There are dedicated websites not just for the food trucks, but also to <a href="http://foodtruckfiesta.com/">locate them</a>. Some URLs of websites of food trucks are: http://takorean.com/, http://fojol.com/, http://www.eatsauca.com/ and many more. Unlike India - they do not park themselves at the same place, same time every day. They are more mobile. I have not had a good experience eating good Indian food in restaurants in DC. Some of the best Indian food I have had though is at these food trucks - made by non-Indian people! The food offered by these food trucks ranges from everyone's favorite pizza to Mexican food, Thai food, empanadas, a lot of kabab trucks, Indian, Ethiopian and other cuisines. Because of my egg allergies, I have not had the cupcakes. I once got a cupcake for A and he absolutely loved it. Oh and yes - to further satiate your sweet tooth, there are specialty ice-creams and gelatos also. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7xrGscze8Ck/TtWZRuTIHPI/AAAAAAAAAE8/F-EFnpBzHV4/s1600/IMG_2846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7xrGscze8Ck/TtWZRuTIHPI/AAAAAAAAAE8/F-EFnpBzHV4/s320/IMG_2846.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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The first time I went to the food truck was during our lunch break. I could not wait to get back to my desk and eat. The Bombay Chicken was yummy. What I really liked was that they had used very good spices. And you could know from the taste, that they ground their own spices - rather than use the ubiquitous 'curry' powder. Since that time, I have had Korean tacos, vegetarian empanadas (I got lucky as they didn't have egg), Mediterranean food, Indian and Ethiopian food. I had never had Korean tacos before. They were served on a corn tortilla with fresh salad called kimchi. It was made with red cabbage, cilantro and lemon. The crispy salad went perfectly with the filling and the soft taco. During the summer and fall months, there is a once-a-month festival called 'Truckeroo'. Food trucks within DC participate in it. They all gather at one big open area and park themselves from 10 or 11 in the morning to 10 or 11 at night. I went to the last one a month back. I have to admit that I called A from there and told him I wanted to eat everything over there! I have not seen something like this elsewhere happen on such a regular basis. This is what I mean when I say that people in DC take their food trucks seriously. Currently DC citizens are trying to save the food trucks as they are competition to the restaurant business and so the latter does not want the food trucks. The only flip side is that if you went to a particularly famous food truck, chances are you will have to wait a little before you got your food.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kwJBLxkB8h8/TtWZyk1i1ZI/AAAAAAAAAFI/pT1e-w-smRE/s1600/IMG_2849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kwJBLxkB8h8/TtWZyk1i1ZI/AAAAAAAAAFI/pT1e-w-smRE/s320/IMG_2849.JPG" /></a></div> <br />
Moving on, some of the most well known food trucks in Columbus, Ohio were taco trucks. Several of them were owned by Mexican folks who didn't know or speak English. One website spelled things out for a person to order when s/he went to a taco truck and not confuse or get confused. A lot of food trucks in Columbus mushroomed late at night - after 10:30 or 11 PM and that too close to the bars and night clubs and of course close to campus. A once had the lamb gyro late at night and really liked it. They were very accommodating and customized his order. When I met my friend K A-H a few months back, she said that work was being done at the local level to offer more healthy food at the food trucks. This would provide a boost to those who wanted to eat tasty, yet healthy food and not resort to unhealthy food, just because it was street food. Columbus has the largest college campus in the country. The business of food trucks or food vendors would thrive if they could sustain themselves on or near campus. During the three years I was there (2008-2011), I didn't see a lot of options apart from the usual Panera bread, Wendy's, Chipotle and the like. I think having food trucks or food vendors in the campus area would be a great way to diversify the culinary appetite of students, faculty and staff. <br />
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The first time I had food from a food cart was masala dosa and it was in New York city (NYC)! Yes - it was masala dosa! I was at a South Asian Journalists Association's annual conference. I had been in the country only four months and I saw this advert about the dosa truck at several places. And people were already talking about it before lunch. I was curious why everyone was raving about it and so I tried it. After eating the first few bites, I understood why everyone was talking about it. The dosa (similar to a savory rice crepe) was crisp, light and the masala was adequately spiced to serve various palettes.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MVLza9KQVvg/TtWYy8YxZEI/AAAAAAAAAEk/FsEp1xL9PYw/s1600/NY%2Bdosas-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MVLza9KQVvg/TtWYy8YxZEI/AAAAAAAAAEk/FsEp1xL9PYw/s320/NY%2Bdosas-1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Thiru Kumar, also known as 'Dosa Man' is very well known and also has a loyal clientele that is willing to wait in the long lines. He dishes out masala dosas that you definitely want to try if you are in the city and spot his truck in your vicinity. A loves the food trucks and food carts in New York City. He loves the kababs and gyros that the city offers. They are quick to order, and easy to handle if you are on the go and need something handy that will not spoil your blazer during a work week. With NYC's cosmopolitan crowd and a population that is willing to try food from different ethnicities, it is no wonder that food carts and food trucks are so well known. Apart from these, there naturally are the hot dog carts and the carts that sell things ranging from small pizza slices to candy to peanuts and hotdogs. <br />
When A and I lived in Connecticut, I began working in downtown Hartford a few months before we moved to Columbus. So I didn't get a chance to explore it as much. Hartford, being the insurance capital of the country, had several big firms, IT firms and more. This was one of the main reasons that food carts were seen mostly in downtown Hartford. The way even small cities in India have a major street food presence, it is not the case in the United States. You are not very likely to see food carts or food trucks in small cities. What one may find in smaller cities though is specialty restaurants that serve some of the best local cuisine, and people from other parts of the country come to try that. <br />
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Again - please do share your share of experience with food trucks or food carts in the United States. If you have never been here, what is something that you would like to tray?<br />
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*Pictures of New York dosas taken from http://newyorkstreetfood.comAMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-22285527723637653462011-11-27T18:36:00.000-08:002011-11-27T18:36:49.759-08:00Street Food - Part 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6AHN6XQSft4/TtLyXXm4yJI/AAAAAAAAAD0/MPwp__3bumM/s1600/indian%2Bstreet%2Bfood-main.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6AHN6XQSft4/TtLyXXm4yJI/AAAAAAAAAD0/MPwp__3bumM/s320/indian%2Bstreet%2Bfood-main.JPG" /></a></div><br />
If you have not had street food - ever, or in any part of the globe - I will say you are missing something. You are missing the casual atmosphere, getting fresh and tasty food and seeing it made right in front of you. What you won't miss is burning a hole in your pocket. <i>Laaris</i> (pronounced as laa-rees) or road-side places where they make the most delicious food were the ubiquitous small places lined up on the side of the roads in most cities in India. One of my favorite cuisines to eat at these road-side stalls was Indian Chinese food. As they read this post, I know my sister N and some other friends would probably be dreaming of the piping hot vegetarian manchurian and chilli garlic noodles that we used to get from there more than ten years back. It was almost a weekly or fortnightly routine to get any type of food from these <i>laaris</i>. We used to get this food more than ten years ago and people still love the street-side food in India. My sister also loved South Indian food from a road-side eatery in Baroda. It was a tad too spicy for me, but delicious nonetheless. Those who know A know that he loves food. One of his favorite was egg-<i>bhurji</i> (scrambled eggs, cooked with Indian spices, onions, tomatoes and cilantro) and any other egg preparation. He always says that you just cannot replicate the taste of road-side egg dishes at home. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_drTMDeXI6g/TtLzuwNoAMI/AAAAAAAAAEY/f4YCw4GgUHc/s1600/indian%2Bstreet%2Bfood-tall%2Bstool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="230" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_drTMDeXI6g/TtLzuwNoAMI/AAAAAAAAAEY/f4YCw4GgUHc/s320/indian%2Bstreet%2Bfood-tall%2Bstool.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Basically - the road side stalls offered food from Indian Chinese to authentic north Indian food to all sorts of egg-preparations, and a lot more. It is not just that the price is attractive at these places. These road-side food places - that stand on four wheels and cook food in a small area right in front of you also had the appeal of a very good taste. How many of you had had stale food in 3 star to 5-star hotels? That won't be the case here as these people don't have the mechanism to store food. You won't see a refrigerator or freezer at the laari. So you know it is fresh and that gets validated in the taste. <br />
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Bombay and Delhi boast of some of the best street-side food. There are vendors who may not even have their stall on four wheels. They may dish their lip-smacking snacks from a small box that is hoisted on a bicycle or have a sturdy long stool on which they keep their snacks. For instance, one can easily find <i>Dabeli</i> (pronounced as daa-bay-lee) sellers in Bombay - who may have a stall or may operate from their bicycle. Think of dabeli as a sandwich with spicy mashed potatoes, with a smearing of two or three chutneys and sprinkled with peanuts and pomengranate seeds. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25shEtzv0Vo/TtLy0KaUrDI/AAAAAAAAAEM/WkpubZs7F0A/s1600/indian%2Bstreet%2Bfood-pav%2Bbhaji.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="213" width="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-25shEtzv0Vo/TtLy0KaUrDI/AAAAAAAAAEM/WkpubZs7F0A/s320/indian%2Bstreet%2Bfood-pav%2Bbhaji.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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The ever famous Bombay's <i>Bhel puri</i> that people eat not just by the beaches is again something one should try. It also brings me to another point. My mom always said that eat anything that is warm, but not cold. And the chutneys in the bhel and dabeli qualify as cold. The same goes for raw onions and tomatoes. Her logic was that anything that has been cooked will kill the germs. She was right, but we still indulged :) Similar to restaurants, seasoned road-side food vendors will ask you if you want your food mild, medium or spicy. <br />
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The nation's capital - New Delhi is no stranger to road side food. Here's an anecdote. On my last trip to India in 2009, I went to Delhi to visit my best friend T, her husband and their beautiful daughter. We went for a drive in the evening and her husband - being a foodie, told me to try <i>chaat</i> from one particular road-side vendor. I could not be more excited. It was around 7 PM. So we went there. It was as if I was a kid in the candy store then. <br />
There were so many options to choose from, at a humble road-side vendor. Some were a tad bigger than the others. They worked so efficiently. Once again I didn't heed to my mother's advice. I had <i>pani puri</i> from there. Now anyone who has lived in India or has had family visiting from across the pond, knows that they are always told to be cautious of the water! And I had pani puri from a road-side vendor. I couldn't miss this chance. And I've lived in India all my life. So I had that, shared the dahi bhalla, aloo tikki chaat and samosa chaat. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-acalf0fOpI4/TtLypFpJ5pI/AAAAAAAAAEA/dX9GEBMIM7E/s1600/indian%2Bstreet%2Bfood-aloo%2Bchaat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-acalf0fOpI4/TtLypFpJ5pI/AAAAAAAAAEA/dX9GEBMIM7E/s320/indian%2Bstreet%2Bfood-aloo%2Bchaat.jpg" /></a></div><br />
How could I be in Delhi and miss the chaat? After driving for about half an hour, my friend's husband asked, "Dinner kahaan karenge?" (where will we do dinner?) And I told him I thought that that was dinner. To him that was snack. And to a lot of other Delhi residents, road-side vendors help tide the people over till dinner time. The road-side food stalls serve as a snack and the heavier dishes can be a meal in itself. <br />
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To end on a sweet note, my friend S highly recommended cold cocoa. I had never had it till I went to Bombay. Cold cocoa is cold milk, with rich chocolate and lots of ice. It may or may not be sweetened with sugar. I got my chance to try that when I went to Bilimora (a town in the state of Gujarat) to my friend L's place. Her dad took us to this place and I understood the reason why S always raved about it. Cold cocoa could be vaguely similar to mocha latte (minus the coffee) or a chocolate thick shake. Like all other street-eats, this was delicious too. I consider myself lucky that I have never fallen sick or had an upset stomach because I had food from one of the road-side food stalls. If you noticed the heading - it says Part 1. Part 2 is all about street food in the United States. This post is written as I reminisce small details of India and the small things that make you smile. Immaterial of the country you grew up in, what were some of your favorite street foods? Do you even enjoy street food? I would love to know your experience. <br />
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Pictures taken from Chatteringkitchen.com, Shutterstock.com,AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-53692357853843939922011-11-19T19:49:00.000-08:002011-11-19T19:49:22.077-08:00DestinyI am writing a blog after a long long time. A lot happened between the last post I wrote – more than a year ago, and this one. I graduated from school, got a second Master's degree, fell sick with my annual flu, had a big family vacation to British Columbia in Canada, my second beautiful niece was born and I moved to Washington DC. A and I always wanted to move back to the north east part of the country and I found a good job in the District. Having a full time job has happened after a long time - five and a half years, and after working for it. A senior and very well-respected person in the field of policies told me in an email about a month back that I have a great support group here in DC. It made me emotional and immediately made me reflect on the past few years. Having a professional support group has not come easily. The email is the reason for this blogpost. <br />
I came to the United States in early 2006, with a background in journalism. I knew it would be difficult to break in to journalism, but was willing to work for it. I didn't know how much 'work' meant at that time. Since that time, I freelanced, interviewed at places for a full-time job, worked odd jobs and then got enrolled in school. Like me, there are other girls who come to the country, give up their passion to work to follow their heart and be with their significant other. The choices of finding work are limited. I would say that from the many friends I've had, M from Connecticut has been one of the luckiest, who took her GMAT and got admission in a college in NY. And then she found a job! So she didn't end up going to school, and began working. I was beyond happy for her when that happened to her. (I still remember the car conversation that the four of us had) <br />
Some of us freelanced for a year or two, hoping to break in, and at the same time understood that it was not easy. The combination of not having a work permit along with print journalism trying to cut corners was not in our favor. We went to school, changed our fields and got our degrees. It is easy for me to fit this in a few paragraphs. But it was hardly easy. We did become adept at juggling school, work, home and social responsibilities. We went to school with the hope that an educational degree from here would help finding a job a bit easier. <br />
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As luck would have it, the timing was such that by the time we graduated, the country was already in a recession. Companies didn't want to spend the money on hiring a lawyer and filing the paperwork for a work permit. A lot of us were once again writing cover letters, tweaking resumes and looking for jobs. The difference was that we had a degree from this country. The question was - to what extent did this help? <br />
A and I were extremely fortunate that we were able to get the green card (becoming permanent residents). This provided a huge impetus and a factor that helped me get the job I now have. Had I not had a green card, I would not have been eligible to even apply for this position. After spending endless hours talking on the phone with friends who were in a similar situation and asking if I should take this job, I finally did! My friend F and I have spent a lot of time on the phone since 2006 - first venting out our frustrations about freelancing, then deciding whether to go to school or not, and then talking about visas and green cards. <br />
I understand the value of this opportunity because of what my friends and I have worked for. Having a handful of friends who have been in the same boat as I and having a family that supported me has helped on various levels. In the end, it is all about choices we make and our luck. Should you go back to school? Should you pay the enormous fees that an international student pays? What's next? What if I keep trying to find a job? There will be questions at every stage of life, decisions that will have to be made. <br />
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My two cents – step back, take a look at the bigger picture. Have faith in the Higher Power. This post is called Destiny as you swim along with the currents of life and adapt accordinglyAMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-32509890189165673572010-09-15T13:23:00.000-07:002010-09-15T13:23:50.554-07:00Caring HandAn apple a day keeps the doctor away. But that doesn’t mean one will never fall sick. We all have had our share of visits to the doctor. I used to have a favorite doctor in India (back in the ‘90s and early 2000), Dr U, a Parsi <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsi"></a> gentleman. He was very calm, always made sure the patient was at ease when he/she would be with him and left feeling better also. It was not just the medicines that he prescribed that helped. He would have a very reassuring touch, when he was feeling your pulse or when he was doing a check-up. It is small things like that, which really help a patient and gives them faith. I had gone to meet Dr U last year when I went to India, not as a patient, but as someone who has a lot of respect for the doctor. He has the right diagnosis most of the times, gives you logical explanations in a way that lay man can understand and comforts the patient. <br />
Cut to 2010. Times have changed. To put it in just one sentence, the medical field has drastically changed. Doctors have to see a specific number of patients to get their dues from the insurance companies. The drill is to go to the doctor’s office, have the nurse note down your vitals and then wait for the doctor to come. If you’re lucky, the doctor will arrive within five minutes. And if you’re not, be ready to wait fifteen to twenty minutes till you see the doctor. And somehow, it always feels like the doctor is in a rush to leave the room and get the patient done with. It seems like it’s more about achieving numbers than seeing a patient. The doctor will come, ask how you’re feeling, and may or may not have a prognosis for you. The whole concept of bedside care is dwindling. <br />
Even in the ER, a doctor will stop by fleetingly to see you and to see if the head nurse has taken the proper and adequate steps to take care of you. It’s at times like that that you want to talk to the doctor, hoping the doctor is patient enough to listen to you! After waiting for hours in the ER, when you are wheeled in, the comfort is not there. That seems to be missing. Times may have changed, but a patient’s needs still remain the same. The patient still looks for reassurance, and the gentle touch. The unsaid words make a big difference, rather than the doctor saying something like, “I don’t know why this happened, or you are doing fine and your reports are normal.” <br />
Dr. Abraham Verghese writes about this topic too and his work at Stanford University emphasizes on bedside medicine. His website, http://www.abrahamverghese.com/biography.asp, mentions about ‘The importance of bedside medicine and physical examination in a time in medicine when the use of advanced technology frequently results in the patient in the bed having less attention than the patient data in the computer.” Please try to lay your hands on Dr. Verghese’s ‘Tennis Partner’ and ‘Cutting for Stone’.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-23819944861178403162010-08-26T19:01:00.000-07:002010-08-26T19:01:24.633-07:00Boss - Not Just a Hierarchical SeniorI've been working for more than seven years now. And I interned for a couple of months before I began working. Have been thinking about the role that a boss plays for sometime now. The boss I had at my current workplace left some months back. I was relatively new to the field of public policies as had moved from the journalism field. The lady was instrumental in making me understand the basics by giving tasks that would give me an understanding of things. And soon enough, she recognized my strengths and I enjoyed being proactively involved at work. But then she left and although I continue to work and be proactive, I selfishly wish she were still there. <br />
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This is the current scenario, but walking back to where I started, it was at a newspaper with one of the largest publications in Mumbai, India. An intern who was still in school and worked during the summer break, L has been the best boss one could ask for. On the very first day of my internship, she told me to tag along with a fellow reporter and I did that for the next day too. By the third day, I began going out on my own for stories. She was receptive to me getting my own story angles and also told me if covering a particular event or running a story would make sense. She pointed out where I needed to improve, and at the same time gave me the freedom to find newsworthy things happening in the city, getting contacts, etc. <br />
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Still in my first week as an intern, I covered a tricky story and to my surprise, it was the cover story the next day! By being herself, L taught sincerity, paying attention to details, and finding about stories that people will like to read. Most of all, seeing her passion for work - it instilled in me one of the biggest things I really value - loving the work I do. Some of my classmates and people from my college eventually worked under her and have had the same opinion of L. It has been great to work with her. <br />
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Another boss I had in Mumbai, at a different publication was very frank. I used to be intimidated of this person for quite some time. More than a year and a half after I joined that publication, I needed to take leave for some a couple months to go home in Baroda. I was not sure whether this leave would be granted and understandably enough, questions would be asked. It was not something that one does regularly. I told this boss that I needed this break and that would work from home, edit stories from home and help close the issue on time. The boss just asked me one question. "Why do you want to go home?". Before talking to this person, I had been in doldrums as to what to say. I told the boss the truth and the reason for the break. Without thinking for a minute, this person let me go. That day I learnt another thing. A boss will be willing to understand your point of view if you are genuine. To date, am intermittently in touch with this boss and it's always nice chatting with the person. <br />
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I've been blessed to have great bosses, that have let my creative juices flow and let me explore different ways to approach a situation. And there have been times when I've seen that bosses sometimes can't guide their team efficiently and don't take responsibility as a team leader. Or there are those who make their subordinates wary of them. <br />
Knock on wood, I've enjoyed going to work everyday in all these years of my professional life. This blog is for L, A, J, V and all the great people I've worked with!AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-12362555202256539432010-07-21T12:08:00.000-07:002010-07-21T12:27:53.879-07:00Love Is...Love is when you sleepily hold your partner first thing in the morning <br />Love is when mommy doesn't eat mushrooms, because her daughter/ son has mushroom allergies<br />Love is when your two-year old comes running at you and hugs you when you pick her up at day care<br />Love is when your partner does dishes at night, just because you don't feel like it <br />Love is when your toddler comes and kisses you because he loves mommy and daddy<br />Love is when a 60-something lady misses her husband, who is miles away from her and writes him an e-mail once in a while<br />Love is when your friend tells you out of concern that you've put on weight and need to lose some<br />Love is when your mother or mother-in-law chops onions for you as they make you cry<br />Love is when your friend wakes up early in the morning only to talk to you in peace (to account for time difference between continents and that she has a 2-year old kid)<br />Love is when you meet a friend after ages and begin talking as if you just met yesterday<br />Love is when a dog is your companion on the bus, takes you to your work safely and you give him a nice rub on his back<br />Love is when the whole family gets together to make a birthday card for a 8-year old's birthday<br />Love is when your partner writes those little notes on the aluminum foil of your lunch sandwich<br /><br /><br />It's definitely cliche, but enjoy the small pleasures! It's those memories that take you through the rough timesAMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-81821311730008076242010-07-20T12:47:00.000-07:002010-07-20T13:15:54.337-07:00Senior Speak<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/TEYDkr_nOdI/AAAAAAAAAC0/gGmsaIkLTn8/s1600/senior+person.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/TEYDkr_nOdI/AAAAAAAAAC0/gGmsaIkLTn8/s320/senior+person.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496084324071979474" /></a><br />I have to admit that I have a soft corner for senior people. I find it amazing that seniors, who are easily in their 70s, 80s and beyond, are self-sufficient and independent. Having grown up in India, senior citizens are viewed and treated differently. Have not seen them so independent, who drive cars and frequent the theatres to watch movies. <br /><br />I feel it is a matter to appreciate that they do so much on their own. In India, children and/ or grandchildren would take care of parents - willingly or with a grudge. They are pampered or restricted. My mother-in-law, who is visiting from India also happened to mention that seniors walk so efficiently over here and have the drive to spend their time in a good way.<br /><br />Some people get irked when they find a senior citizen in front of them at the grocery store and he/ she takes forever to give the current amount. They would put all change that they have on the cashier's table and let the person figure it out. I see it as them being independent enough to step out of the house, drive to Kroger/ Meijer/ Walmart/ Stop & Shop, shop for themselves, and go home. It takes alertness, quite a bit of physical fitness and confidence to do this. <br />And all these three things don't come easy when one steps in to that age when you start getting mails from AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). At times I wonder if I would be able to do what my mother's mother does at the age of 75 or what my mother's aunt does at 80-something. Do you get that thought? Are you confident that if you live that long, you'd cook so effortlessly, have the enthusiasm to go for a walk in the park or take your partner to the movies or go by yourself? <br /><br />The concern that I do have is when senior citizens are not alert while driving. Because of this, they not just harm themselves, they may end up injuring a person or a person may lose his/ her life because of the senior citizen. <br />I am not patient with them or give them one of the biggest smiles because I know that one day I'd get there too. It's just appreciation for something they do so well.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-15754080344825076272010-05-15T12:31:00.000-07:002010-05-15T13:05:12.392-07:00Meeting Children, Teens and Adults in 24 hours - An Unforgettable Experience<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S-7-b8CvKlI/AAAAAAAAACs/3-tsQy57Tzc/s1600/kids,teens,adults.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S-7-b8CvKlI/AAAAAAAAACs/3-tsQy57Tzc/s320/kids,teens,adults.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471590353229261394" /></a><br />When I started studying at the Ohio State University, my on-campus job was at the University's Child Care Center - helping teachers, playing with children and spending time with them. Since my educational background was different from my graduate studies, I was supposed to take pre-requisite courses with the Undergraduates. And then of course was attending classes in my school. It is a professional course <a href="http://www.glenn.osu.edu"></a><br />My day began in the morning at the Child Care Center (CCC). I had never known children before my time at CCC. After getting over my initial awkwardness with the children, I began enjoying there. In a lot of ways, I liked the innocence of children, seeing up and close of how children learn the basics of life - not just A, B, C,s - but also learning to eat, learning to walk, interacting with other children, adults and so much more. I began to look forward to interacting with them. There was a really sweet girl, who's mother was at a big position at OSU. I asked her once, "What do you think mommy does at work?" And she said, "She drinks water." All of a little over two years, I broke in to a smile having listened to her reply. The children didn't have sibling rivalry at that age. The kids would love it when their brother or sister came to pick them up with mommy or daddy at the end of the day. <br /><br />After spending 4-5 hours with them, I would attend courses with the undergraduate students. And suddenly you could see how different they were. It made me think about the importance of the different stages of life. These students were all grown up, they were in their late-teens, and I was in my late-twenties! These students were all about keeping up with fashion, texting their friends during class and in a hurry to leave once class got over. Although I knew what to expect, I was still somewhat amazed that students attended class in track pants and shorts. I felt this way as this was not the norm in India where I'd had all my education. I began missing the innocence of the toddlers. The teens would have a different expression on their face when I said that I didn't live with roommates, but with my husband as I was married. It seemed like they were always in a hurry to do everything. What I really liked was to see the energy they had. The energy for life, energy to do things and just go on. <br /><br />Attend spending a couple of hours learning the pre-requisite courses, I went to my graduate school. This was a professional course, where everyone was dressed really well, some in ties and jackets too. My day literally consisted from muddy pants, to shorts to ironed trousers and business attire. And it went beyond just the clothes. Some of them were fresh from undergrad school, but a lot were in the middle of their career, who attended school to enhance their knowledge on different subjects. <br /><br />My colleagues at graduate school identified more with who I was, that I was married and came from a different professional background. They were not in a hurry for things. Grades mattered to the undergrads and graduate students both. But not as much to the latter. For them, it was important to be able to use the knowledge at work. There would be times when I'd feel like some of these graduate students would be parents of infants and toddlers and teens also! And that they've gone through so many phases in life. <br /><br />I sometimes got overwhelmed with school, spending time with really different people, and trying to do well in school. What helped at that time was taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture. The little infants and toddlers gave me perspective on several things. That proper upbringing is so important and in many ways lays the foundation of your life. Stepping back and seeing the bigger picture made me see that each phase in life is so important. The experience of undergraduate years teaches you so much, make great friendships, etc. And then graduate school was important in terms of applying all that you have learnt, teaching others and more. <br />I have finished the pre-requisite courses, go only to graduate school (have only six more months of studying left!) and left child-care to work at a place that is more relevant to my school work!AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-35525401583812769022010-05-15T12:13:00.000-07:002010-05-15T12:31:26.975-07:00No Longer Second FiddlePlease do not treat this as a feminist blog. Have been meaning to write this blog for some time. It's a blog on how daughters shoulder the same responsibilities as sons, and probably have more responsibilities than them. A quintessential aspect I want to write about is buying a house for the parents. <br />I am super proud to write about three girl friends of mine, who have partially or fully helped buy a house for their parents. They all have names beginning with S. So I'd refer to them as S-Ahmedabad, S-Baroda, S-USA. <br />Will start with my friend S-USA. She came to the United States more than ten years back. Over the years, she has become very successful in her field of economics. And just last year, she paid almost half or more than half the amount for her parents' new home. Before we were married, we always spoke of how parents may feel of taking help from a daughter, as she is considered to be of a different family. She said that she felt so proud of being able to help her parents. It is amazing that her husband has also been really supportive of her. <br />The next is my friend S-Ahmedabad. It is not like her parents could not afford getting an apartment on their own. Her parents work at some really prestigious places in the city. But she really wanted to do this. My friend is an amazing writer and now is on the editorial board of one of the newspapers in the city. She too was so happy to have been able to help her parents. When we were talking, she said that who said that only sons are supposed to do this. She was proud that she also provides emotional support to her parents. <br />The third is my friend S-Baroda. Her's is a very special story. When she got a flat for her parents several years back, the bank officials, from who she took the loan said that she was the youngest person to who they were lending a home loan. They have known what tough times are. And through all that and through her hard work, S-Baroda gave not just the gift of the house, but support to her parents when they needed it the most. She's been the son of the house in the true sense. She is doing great in her job. <br />These situations are still rare in India, as Indians believe they cannot take such help from their daughters once they are married. Two of these women are married and helped their parents after their marriage. Goes to show how independent women are. And that even though times may change, and you may live in another country, but the values inculcated when we were children remains the same!AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-65958185730537030632010-04-07T13:19:00.000-07:002010-04-07T13:20:44.687-07:00Your Destiny in Your Hands. Really?<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S7zpA22gdII/AAAAAAAAACk/Z8LN8XuILoI/s1600/stones.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 318px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S7zpA22gdII/AAAAAAAAACk/Z8LN8XuILoI/s320/stones.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457493049399604354" /></a><br />How many of us have seen people wearing rings with stones of green, blue, magenta, etc? Or know family people fasting on Tuesday, Thursday or any of the other five days? I bet a lot will have positive replies to this. I find myself often asking one question. Is this hypocrisy? <br /> A lot of people wear it to avoid having a bad spell on their life or to have a reduced effect of a bad spell. Some wear it to improve their current life. Some have a reason that because they did all these things, things are not as bad as they could have been. Others will do it to have a better health, to help the couple procreate; succeed in their academics, etc. The list can go on and on. Maybe you can add on some as well. I am not being sarcastic here. And it is not like life’s always been rosy and smooth for me. In fact, it has been after going through those potholes (some really huge ones) that I think on these lines. <br /> Now the thought of why I consider this hypocrisy. The Holy book of Hindus is called Geeta. One of the biggest and better known preaching of the Geeta is that ‘Do your own duty. And in return, do not think of the fruit (outcome).’ I believe that this contradicts with the wearing of rings, some necklaces, fasting, etc. In this case, you are fasting, wearing some stones, etc, to get a desired outcome. Does this not mean you are not doing what the Geeta teaches you? One is performing an action or duty (fasting, wearing stones, in this case), precisely to get a particular outcome (something that you really want). <br /> This not only makes me think that the two thoughts have different approaches, but also tells me about faith. Those who believe in the Higher power will have faith in His decisions. And not try to manipulate that. Whenever things don’t go too well, we are told, “Don’t worry, everything happens for a reason.” This once again contradicts what one says, and what one does. We are told to “Have faith in your own self”. If we do, then why let a stone or a particular day influence that? I agree that particular days are meant for specific deities and stones for some other purpose, but what religious book tells you to do these things? And how will doing so change the course of your life? <br /> If one is doing it for their own satisfaction, that’s fine. But then few will admit to that. This may seem like a strong article, but this was something I’ve been thinking for sometime now, and am now putting it across. I hope not to offend anyone’s feelings with this.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-70909311615514573792010-04-07T13:18:00.001-07:002010-04-07T13:19:31.143-07:00Religion and Spirituality<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S7zomWQZn3I/AAAAAAAAACc/6XPnda8YbGA/s1600/prayer+hand.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S7zomWQZn3I/AAAAAAAAACc/6XPnda8YbGA/s320/prayer+hand.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5457492593973239666" /></a><br />I was at Barnes and Noble (a bookstore, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com">www.barnesandnoble.com</a>) a couple of years back, looking at some books. Curiosity got the better of me and I asked one of the employees to help me find books on spirituality. He took me to the isle that had books on religion and showed me several books on Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, etc. I told him I was looking for books on spirituality and not religion. To which he said, “This is all we have here.” After some time, I did find a few books on spirituality. This incident made me think of how people may confuse spirituality and religion. But the two are actually really different things. It also means different things to different people. <br /> Over the last ten or eleven years, I’ve developed an inclination for spirituality. And have also seen how it has helped me. To be more clear, by spirituality I do not mean going to the temple regularly and reciting a long list of prayers. I have seen that meditation helps, especially over a longer period of time. Connecting with your inner self, knowing who you really are, what you are as a person helps. Just watching your breath, and keeping your eyes closed is so helpful. One can start meditation that way. This is spirituality to me - Connecting to the Higher Being through your inner self. <br /> There was an Indian religious festival a couple of months back. In way of conversation, I was told that even early in the morning, there were so many devotees in the temple that day. And was told, “Seems like a lot of people are turning to spirituality.” So I said that, just because you go to a temple, doesn’t make you spiritual. You could be religious, and so, may go to the temple. In way of conversation, the person felt that you do need to go to a temple in order to be spiritual. This is where my point of view differed. My quest for spirituality began at a friend’s place. And over the years, I’ve found myself meditating in the living room of my house, on a lazy Saturday when am just lying in bed, or in the bus when am going to work. And this has been the case for other people also. <br />This doesn’t mean that visiting a temple is not needed to connect with your spiritual self. Different things work for different people. It could be that people need to go to a temple for connecting with the Higher Being. Silence works for people like me. And so temples usually don’t help, where there are lots of people, talking about things, meeting others, etc. <br />One technique that I have found useful to meditate – sitting, sleeping or standing, is to touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of your fingers one-by-one. If possible, close your eyes. If not, it is fine to leave them open. When you touch the finger tips with the tip of the thumb, and press very gently, you’ll feel your pulse. Feel your pulse on all four finger tips. And as you do that, transition to following your breath. And then visualize any image that calms you or makes you happy. See how it goes. Do it whenever you want, whenever you find the time and inclination for it.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-72132705744469361932010-02-21T15:07:00.000-08:002010-02-21T15:08:07.736-08:00What's for Dinner Tonight?During one of my conversations with M, I was telling her of how I cook for the week on Sunday. Weekdays for me are very hectic and by the time I return home, it is any time between 8 PM and 9 PM. I don’t have the inclination or enthusiasm to cook after that. M remarked to this routine that, “That way you don’t have to think everyday as to what make for dinner?” And I told her that for three years, I cooked food every evening. But somehow that question never arose in my mind. <br />Growing up, like several of you, my mom would also ask, “What do you want to eat for dinner tonight?” As we grew older, we realized that this was the story of many households. When I got married, I consciously made a decision not to bore A with this question and ask him in the morning or afternoon as to what to make for dinner. And somehow, four years after being married, and add to that three years of living in Mumbai where I took turns cooking with my flat-mates, I don’t run out of ideas of what to cook. In these four years, would not have asked him more than twice or thrice to help me decide what to cook. The question that was asked by my mom, I see the same question being asked by girls of my generation too. And I’ve seen their significant others not particularly being interested in answering this! <br />I’d attribute several reasons for this. An over dose of watching Food Network! I still have not gotten tired of watching Giada and Rachel Ray and Paula Deen! Another reason is reading some really wonderful food blogs by some amazing Indian women/ moms/ cooks. They try out authentic Indian recipes, some recipes that have been passed on from one generation to the other, they’d try authentic recipes from other countries like Italian or Mexican or Mediterranean cooking. I have really liked some of their fusion recipes and the way they use some vegetables, etc. Must say the photographs on the blogs of these women are the reason I am tempted to try them. Even if you simply Google ‘Indian food blogs’ or something to that effect, you’ll get an entire list of some really nice websites. <br />The third and one of the most important reasons is that I’ve somehow always been around some really good cooks. To start with – I would love seeing the way my <span style="font-style:italic;">nani</span> (mom’s mom) cooked. And the patience she had to be in the kitchen and churn out amazing food so effortlessly. Just remembering the way she cooked, and what she made sometimes gives me ideas for dinner. And then was my mom, who still makes such amazing food. After coming to the United States, I saw my friends in Connecticut cook some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. I’ve already written a blog about them. Scroll down to read about them. Anand even ate eggplant when one of them made <span style="font-style:italic;">baingan bharta </span>(cooked/slightly smoked eggplant, mashed and cooked with onions, garlic and other Indian spices)! Their cooking techniques, flavorful food and our weekend get-togethers were things to cherish! Even in Columbus, R, a friend and a colleague is a great cook and makes delectable food. <br />Oh, and yes, I am able to experiment on my cooking because A is one of the best guinea pigs I could ever have! By now you’d have guessed how much I enjoy cooking, and knowing more about recipes. :-)<br />So the next time you run out of ideas as to what to cook, try implementing one of these ideas. Who knows, along with some wonderful food, you’d enjoy a trip down memory lane that you can share with your children, parents, better half! Trust me, with these things, you’d find yourself asking the ‘What’s for dinner tonight’ question fewer times than before.AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-917332627961261522010-02-21T14:38:00.001-08:002010-02-21T14:43:37.223-08:00Is Gangtok the Capital of Sikkim? Is Itanagar a capital city or not? What about Dispur?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S4G3D2uNYUI/AAAAAAAAACU/26hSXEmLRzk/s1600-h/map+of+india-1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S4G3D2uNYUI/AAAAAAAAACU/26hSXEmLRzk/s320/map+of+india-1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440831101697089858" /></a><br />The title of this blog does give an idea of what this blog is going to be about. Will start with telling how this discussion started and evolved over time. A and I were returning home from a party about two years ago and he was telling me that someone from his family had lived in Itanagar several years ago. All I knew was Itanagar was in the eastern part of India and was a capital city. But was not willing to admit to him that my knowledge ended there. And thus started a quizzing session. I didn’t go too far before A knew that I was ignorant of the capital cities of India. I knew most of them, but the capitals from eastern India got me really confused. And what surprised me or probably didn’t was that he knew all of them! <br />I was willing to bet that most people would be like me, who wouldn’t know their capital cities too well. It started first with our close circle of friends in Connecticut. Of the 7-8 of them, none of them knew the capitals. Gradually, this mini-quizzing session started with several close friends, family, relatives, colleagues, etc. I don’t think I have met more than two people who know all capital cities of India. It definitely doesn’t look good on us when we don’t know the capital cities of our own country. <br />Recently, A’s school friend put a statement on Facebook of a survey done by Hindustan Times. That the children of International schools in India didn’t know the capital cities as compared to children from state board schools. (For those who are not aware, for a very long time, India had three types of schools. State board schools where the state government controlled the syllabus of all schools. There were CBSE schools that had a centrally or federally controlled syllabus. And then there were ICSE schools). Who was at fault for this? The education system? Children’s inclination to remember? Too difficult to remember? Is India not that open to tourism? <br />The point I am trying to make here is that it is not just children who do not know capital cities. I feel like adults like us, whether you studied in India or any other nation, should have basic knowledge like this. Ask yourself. Are you aware of all capital cities of the country you studied in? Maybe both children and adults should know the capital cities of states. What do you think? <br />Here are capitals of some states. <br /><br />Arunachal Pradesh – Itanagar<br />Assam – Dispur <br />Sikkim – Gangtok <br />Tripura – Agartala<br />Orissa – Bhubaneshwar<br />Nagaland – Kohima <br />Mizoram – Aizawl <br />Manipur – Imphal <br /><br />Did I take you back to 5th grade?AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3586965587382714515.post-15171961202534975672010-01-22T12:07:00.001-08:002010-01-22T12:08:18.209-08:00L is for Letters<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S1oFqpUyFVI/AAAAAAAAAB8/VSn1pBVh-pc/s1600-h/letter.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429658530954220882" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_d4G3p23jzBw/S1oFqpUyFVI/AAAAAAAAAB8/VSn1pBVh-pc/s320/letter.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>It seems as if writing letters has been a thing of the past. What happened to the good ol’ communication of putting ink on the paper? I know of very few people now who still continue to write letters. What prompted me to write this blog? Well – I received a New Year greeting from our very close friends, N and N. And enclosed with it was a little hand-written letter. A and I were so happy not just to read it, but simply see a hand-written letter. The feeling of getting a letter is so different than getting an e-mail or just a New Year greeting card or a greeting with the family’s photograph. That personal touch, the personal thought that goes in to writing a letter is evident when you read a letter. The personalizing of it makes a world of difference to a person who understands the value of a hand-written note or letter! When I see that hand-addressed envelope sitting in my mailbox, I have a smile on my face, and my walk quickens to go home and read it. </div><br /><div><br />Have still continued to write letters. I still exchange letters with A’s and my mom. I would write in Gujarati (our spoken language at home in India) at times also. That used to be more frequent when I would communicate with my grandparents. It is an equally good feeling to pen a letter, as much as it is to receive one. Maybe you want to give it a try! It may feel odd initially. With communication having become more quick and efficient, it is highly likely that when you sit to write a letter to your parents or friends or significant other (if he/she stays away from you), you may not have matter to write. What I have felt is that when you sit to write a letter, there are things that come up, which may not come up in routine conversations. </div><br /><div><br />The last I wrote a letter was when I sent a gift for another very close friend’s new born daughter. We were roommates in Mumbai and she’s now settled in LA, and is the mom of a beautiful baby girl. Every time I would write letters in Mumbai to my parents or grandparents in Baroda, she would always say, “When will you write me a letter?” Being in the same town, I never got an opportunity, but she did get a letter almost six years after that! </div><br /><div><br />Letters make for beautiful memories! On a day when you’re feeling low, if you go back to the old letters that you got from your mom and dad, siblings, friends, loved ones, it would bring back your mood. For those who have lived in India or received letters from there would know of the light blue International mail letter. Sometimes, just seeing that envelope does the trick for me. For one of my birthdays, when I lived in Mumbai, K had given me this beautiful letter pad made of hand-made paper. It lasted a very long time and I still remember writing letters on those hand-made papers with a beautiful design on the top! </div><br /><div><br />Some years back, when letters were already beginning to get replaced by e-mails, people would write long e-mails. And it would feel so good to see a long e-mail sitting in your inbox. A has a habit of writing good long e-mails once in a while. But now, getting long e-mails is also rare. They’re also becoming short and to the point.<br />I hope I convinced you to pick a pen and write a letter to anyone. Just think of the reaction they would have when they see a personal note from you! Happy writing! </div>AMISHI SHAH MERCHANThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08013793963552572433noreply@blogger.com0