One of the things i enjoy is to visit a new restaurant and try a new flavor. The only problem is the preparation. Usually it means some exercise so that I know I deserve this indulgence. And when you live in a place which is a melting pot of all cultures, its awesome that you can try every kind of cuisine under the sun. Most of my friends dont like to experiment so in groups we usually stick to Indian, Thai or Italian food.
P loves to try new things and i am encouraged by that as well.Of course it comes with its own share of funny moments like the time we had a good laugh when we first ordered artichokes and didnt know which part to eat.
Some of the other things I have tried out is Persian, Irish, Turkish, Mexican, Moroccan, Hawaii, Vietnamese, Ethiopian (great options for veggies), Japanese, Greek, Mongolian, Swiss (fondue is heavenly) and of course Chinese not to mention a few. Yet to check out a proper French restaurant. Have also eaten in loads of places which really mix up spices and tastes from all over the world. I love this whole range of eclectic restaurants we have been checking out - simple and powerful flavors. At the end of every meal i am humbled by the diversity in food and the new combinations we see.
I am eagerly waiting for yet another oppurtunity.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Stage Fear
Ok. I guess the first step in overcoming something is admitting there is a problem. I have a huge issue with stage fear. Total lack of confidence and cannot say anything once i see a room full of people. I have no idea why this happened to me. As a kid i loved being a part of competitions where i had to perform on stage. Suddenly when i turned 15 i remember this tension that started gripping me when i used to perform anything on stage. The worst was when i had to sing solo. I had always been with a group and when my teacher forced me to sing solo i apparently did really well but i was a mess inside.
A few years later i was trying to see if i could audition for Ragamalika in Pilani. The night before, all my friends encouraged me and said i was doing a real good job and stand a good chance but in front of the audience my voice shivered. I failed and my wingies begged me to try again but I never found courage to overcome this nervousness. 5 years later, my music teacher here taught me patiently and helped me perform on stage again. My heart was racing, I made mistakes and missed thaalam and embarassed myself totally. I deleted my recording. Everybody around my has this sympathetic face like - O poor you why do you have stage fear? My labmate looked at me and said none of your swara placements were wrong. There were people learning from cassette tapes and performing and you are being coached by a Guru so what is your problem? No idea!!!!
I chickened out the next year. However before i stopped, I had the good fortune of learning from Neyveli Sir for a few days. Yes, i couldnt open my mouth. I couldnt hit the G in varali which i can sing like a thousand times if i am alone.I remember him commenting about how I had to learn to be more confident on stage. How can i explain that practically nothing came out when i tried really hard to just forget everyone and sing? My mother and sister sing really well and both swear that i have to let go, stop feeling the pressure and just do it. It will get better.
I have no idea where i will find my confidence but after looking around at everyone i feel like i am struggling to break open. I need to start enjoying what i am doing more than worrying about the result. I am hoping to give this a second start, somehow overcome my fear and start learning and singing once again. My biggest problem has been that i totally lack confidence, I look around at all the other people my age that are so good and think what am I even trying to do here? P says that my standards are way too high and this is the worst ever attitude. I guess i should lose it. I am thinking of talking to people and seeing if i can learn from a good teacher online and try and perform this year at a local aradhana all by myself. Just a simple keerthanam but i dont want to be a sweaty quivering mess. Any suggestions?
A few years later i was trying to see if i could audition for Ragamalika in Pilani. The night before, all my friends encouraged me and said i was doing a real good job and stand a good chance but in front of the audience my voice shivered. I failed and my wingies begged me to try again but I never found courage to overcome this nervousness. 5 years later, my music teacher here taught me patiently and helped me perform on stage again. My heart was racing, I made mistakes and missed thaalam and embarassed myself totally. I deleted my recording. Everybody around my has this sympathetic face like - O poor you why do you have stage fear? My labmate looked at me and said none of your swara placements were wrong. There were people learning from cassette tapes and performing and you are being coached by a Guru so what is your problem? No idea!!!!
I chickened out the next year. However before i stopped, I had the good fortune of learning from Neyveli Sir for a few days. Yes, i couldnt open my mouth. I couldnt hit the G in varali which i can sing like a thousand times if i am alone.I remember him commenting about how I had to learn to be more confident on stage. How can i explain that practically nothing came out when i tried really hard to just forget everyone and sing? My mother and sister sing really well and both swear that i have to let go, stop feeling the pressure and just do it. It will get better.
I have no idea where i will find my confidence but after looking around at everyone i feel like i am struggling to break open. I need to start enjoying what i am doing more than worrying about the result. I am hoping to give this a second start, somehow overcome my fear and start learning and singing once again. My biggest problem has been that i totally lack confidence, I look around at all the other people my age that are so good and think what am I even trying to do here? P says that my standards are way too high and this is the worst ever attitude. I guess i should lose it. I am thinking of talking to people and seeing if i can learn from a good teacher online and try and perform this year at a local aradhana all by myself. Just a simple keerthanam but i dont want to be a sweaty quivering mess. Any suggestions?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Mannus DESImus
Yes...the Indian man. I salute thee. Unique species walking this planet. And hence, I decided to devote an entry to you. An issue which is close to the heart for many a desi girlfriend. I decided to keep up with the cheekiness that my 21st century penpal loved and shunned the obsession to rhyme everything that i was jotting down.
Over the years, I have had the oppurtunity to interact with a lot of different kinds (a lot from the South)so to speak. But like Russel Peters says, they are unique. I am not just referring to small shoulders, ridiculous lungis and thinking that hirsute is ok. God gave the desi man from the South some extra gyri and sulci for sure, but took away some other qualities that might have also proven useful on other fronts. Like for example - some game. Some confidence and originality when walking up to a woman to accost her. Yes, not the - 'Arent you from Hyd' question when she is working on her assignment! Or slipping a really stupid poem in a book you lend her.Seriously?????Some good skills when you want to flirt. I admire the **** it takes to walk up to a woman to ask her out but if you want a wee bit of a chance here, I think you first need to smell good, not think of getting into her blouse then and there, ensure you dont scratch down there and lose the totally false ego that being a desi man confers on you. I also admire their absolute confidence in convincing themselves that once they have secured their admit to go to graduate school in the US, they are entitled for a 'babe' for a wife. Even better if you have sweated it out and gotten yourself into the dream schools in India for your undergraduate degree. Then you will marry a Miss Chennai. Sadly, a thought that is also encouraged by society as well. Yes, matrimonials in India ask for a slim and fair girl while the desi man blissfully builds his belly a.k.a the sign of fortune hoping his job and bank balance makes up for the lack of everything else.
The desperation that is evident in most of them as they ogle at women in the gym, is shameful. In one of our group workout classes, my labmate asked me - do all Indian men stare at women in tight fitting clothes? Did this desi guy know that the gym has mirrors everywhere and we could see what he was upto? All i ask for, is for them to be a little more subtle and not make it obvious that they have never seen a real woman's nipples before they turned 25. Imagine the glee with which all the south indian men in my class enjoyed the unobstructed image of the mammary glands of a female student(not desi and a "figure") who almost always turned up sans shelf support. I mostly take it as a good thing and run an extra mile.
Many a Raj (of Big Bang Theory fame) exist today. Society obviously helps the desi man survive without imposing a need to change. Several of these species i would consider unfit to be in a mature relationship with a woman with mutual respect. More than one desi guy has had the gumption to tell me that winning the Aditya Birla Scholarship was no big of a deal. Winning a university fellowship means nothing since someone else who won it was totally dumb. Or that i won something because i smiled at the panel/interviewers. But then i guess, education on these matters begin at home. How many south indian parents have their noses up in the air because their sons have H1B jobs? Beloved mother of the said species, i hate to break your bubble but the next time you say something totally inappropriate and sneaky, i shall have to remind you that the bride just rescued your son from a life of jerkdom amongst a host of other things. Which would have most likely never happened if he were left out there to fend for himself. Almost every desi man's balls are wrapped up in his mom's pallu and only loaned for their duties. Someday they will belong to him!
Like anything else, there are exceptions and different degrees of exceptions. A lot of the men i know really well are exceptions and i am defenitely married to one that totally is a perfect example of an exception.
Moral of the story ? Lose the Attitude, the shabbiness and get real exposure. If you want something you would like treasure, you sure as hell need to work for it and learn to stand up for it.
And watch Hitch! :P
Over the years, I have had the oppurtunity to interact with a lot of different kinds (a lot from the South)so to speak. But like Russel Peters says, they are unique. I am not just referring to small shoulders, ridiculous lungis and thinking that hirsute is ok. God gave the desi man from the South some extra gyri and sulci for sure, but took away some other qualities that might have also proven useful on other fronts. Like for example - some game. Some confidence and originality when walking up to a woman to accost her. Yes, not the - 'Arent you from Hyd' question when she is working on her assignment! Or slipping a really stupid poem in a book you lend her.Seriously?????Some good skills when you want to flirt. I admire the **** it takes to walk up to a woman to ask her out but if you want a wee bit of a chance here, I think you first need to smell good, not think of getting into her blouse then and there, ensure you dont scratch down there and lose the totally false ego that being a desi man confers on you. I also admire their absolute confidence in convincing themselves that once they have secured their admit to go to graduate school in the US, they are entitled for a 'babe' for a wife. Even better if you have sweated it out and gotten yourself into the dream schools in India for your undergraduate degree. Then you will marry a Miss Chennai. Sadly, a thought that is also encouraged by society as well. Yes, matrimonials in India ask for a slim and fair girl while the desi man blissfully builds his belly a.k.a the sign of fortune hoping his job and bank balance makes up for the lack of everything else.
The desperation that is evident in most of them as they ogle at women in the gym, is shameful. In one of our group workout classes, my labmate asked me - do all Indian men stare at women in tight fitting clothes? Did this desi guy know that the gym has mirrors everywhere and we could see what he was upto? All i ask for, is for them to be a little more subtle and not make it obvious that they have never seen a real woman's nipples before they turned 25. Imagine the glee with which all the south indian men in my class enjoyed the unobstructed image of the mammary glands of a female student(not desi and a "figure") who almost always turned up sans shelf support. I mostly take it as a good thing and run an extra mile.
Many a Raj (of Big Bang Theory fame) exist today. Society obviously helps the desi man survive without imposing a need to change. Several of these species i would consider unfit to be in a mature relationship with a woman with mutual respect. More than one desi guy has had the gumption to tell me that winning the Aditya Birla Scholarship was no big of a deal. Winning a university fellowship means nothing since someone else who won it was totally dumb. Or that i won something because i smiled at the panel/interviewers. But then i guess, education on these matters begin at home. How many south indian parents have their noses up in the air because their sons have H1B jobs? Beloved mother of the said species, i hate to break your bubble but the next time you say something totally inappropriate and sneaky, i shall have to remind you that the bride just rescued your son from a life of jerkdom amongst a host of other things. Which would have most likely never happened if he were left out there to fend for himself. Almost every desi man's balls are wrapped up in his mom's pallu and only loaned for their duties. Someday they will belong to him!
Like anything else, there are exceptions and different degrees of exceptions. A lot of the men i know really well are exceptions and i am defenitely married to one that totally is a perfect example of an exception.
Moral of the story ? Lose the Attitude, the shabbiness and get real exposure. If you want something you would like treasure, you sure as hell need to work for it and learn to stand up for it.
And watch Hitch! :P
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