Ruminations

Posts about Books, Food, Current Affairs, Music and Movies.

Name:
Location: Wisconsin, United States

Brihaspati - An Indian male living in the upper mid-west part of the USA. Lazy as they come, loves listening to Indian classical music and classic rock, bibliophile, oenophile, epicurean, rationalist, dabbles in existentialism and Indian philosophy, amateur tennis and table-tennis player.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Brihaspati has moved to hypergraphix.net

Hi All

Ruminations has moved to hypergraphix.net.

Vive la wordpress.

See you all there.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Missing Madras

It has been 13 or so years since I left Madras and I miss it. No, I wont call it Chennai because it is as rude as calling your parent with a different name and the word "Chennai" is jarring and insulting.

I was 17, traded Madras for Salem to complete my undergrad. Those 4 years were miserable. But for some close friendships I developed, the experience was lousy. Most of it probably had to do with my personality but every other weekend I ran away to Madras. I was head over heels in love with the city. Many times in ragging, I was slapped for referring to Madras rather than call it "coovumpatti" as the non-Madras seniors liked to call it. Not a very smart move but then the age of 19 is strangely idealisitic, often due to trivial pride. After the 4 undergrad years, I spent one year in Madras before coming to the U.S. That year is all but forgotten and better left that way.

I miss a lot of things about Madras. I miss travelling in 29C from Perambur to Nungambakkam. I miss the many hours of browsing books in Landmark and Higginbothams, longingly thumbing through many books that I could seldom afford to buy. I long for the don't-care attitude of foot-boarding in packed Pallavan buses. I miss the early morning coffee and the Hindu paper - not only the news but for the strangely soothing smell of the newsprint mixed with fresh aroma of the coffee. I long for the Potato and Sepankizhangu roasts that Amma makes on Sundays. What better way to spend a rainy day than to eat spicy-hot pakodas and swig down huge tumblers full of filter coffee? I ache for the many varieties of Mangoes and bananas. I miss the train rides from Park to Chromepet and the many summers vacations I spent there.

Nostalgia aside, I am not sure I can live there anymore. Many years of living in the US has made me realize that my body handles humidity badly and humidity is the only certain thing about Madras. Humidity and the heat wreak considerable havoc - by 11.00 A.M in the morning, my body shuts down and refuses to function. I like to think that if I lived there for one more year, I can get used to it but I am not sure.

The city itself has changed considerably - some for better and some for worse but never the same. That saddens me. Whenever I visit home, I expect a sense of soothing familiarity but Madras only bewilders me. It is unsettling to be a stranger in one's own hometown. None of my friends lives there. The engineers are in the US and the doctors have made UK their home. All my relatives lead hectic lives in tune with the changing pace of the metropolis. Paavana travels to Bangalore to spend time with her parents. I end up spending most of my time home - immensely glad to be with parents but equally listless because I have nothing much to do.

I am not sure if I can find a satisfying job in Madras. I am afraid of the heat and humidity. Living in India, irrespective of the city, will be immensely satisfying, at least personally. It would be cool to live two hrs away (at least by flight - now that the days of the discount airlines are in) from Parents and Parents-in-law. I like Bangalore - great climate, better jobs (in the industries I like to work in), cosmopolitan and Parents-in-law are there. However, living in Madras will be special.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

Swig - Small plate dining

Arul & Nandini joined us for dinner at Swig. Swig is one of the many new restaurants that have set-up shop in Milwaukee for the past year or so. Swig offers small plate dining. This is remarkable, especially in the midwest where people are wont to gravitate towards bigger portions for fewer Dollars. While this is good on the purse, the effect on the waistlines have been disastrous. Midwest is an ideal place to witness hanging guts which prevent most people from looking at their feet when they stand straight. It feels as though the midwest, especially Wisconsin, contains more obese people than the rest of the country.

So, a small plate diner where you need two or three orders to satiate the hunger is welcome. There were about 25 items (atleast, 5 to 6 vegetarian items) to choose from. The restaurant also encourages people to share, which makes eating there a communal experience. The ambience is classy and cozy and the wine list extensive. I drank a red wine called the temparanillo. I am not sure if it was a regional or a varietal, but that does not matter as the wine was smooth, full bodied and spicy - an excellent choice as it turned out.

The only downside is that the food can get pretty expensive very soon, which is apparent from the business model. Servings per plate are 40-50% less compared to normal restaurants but the reduction in the cost is not proportionate. Maybe, the costlier portions will encourage conumption in moderation.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

Wim Duisenberg - an Obituary

Wim Duisenberg, the first president of the ECB, died after drowning in his pool in France. Under his stewardship, the ECB introduced the Euro. Mr. Duisenberg and the current chairman of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet are the EU equivalents of Alan Greespan. However, unlike Mr. Greenspan, discretion and inscrutability were not Mr. Duisenberg's forte - two necessary conditions Central Bank Governors. He is said to have infamously quipped, "I hear, but I do not listen." He was also notorious for answering hypothetical questions about the ECB's policy towards the Euro, which have caused considerable consternation to the Euro.

Mr. Duisenberg was no light-weight. He held a Ph.d. in economics, was the Governor of the Dutch Central bank, the Dutch Finance Minister amongst other influential positions. For all his detractions, the introduction of Euro was remarkably smooth and painless.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Thoughts on Death Penalty

The death penalty verdict in the Indian Parliament bombing case got me thinking. My gut reaction is to oppose the death penalty. I have three simple reasons:
  1. Death penalty is final. I dont think that the government has the right to take away a person's life. It is against natural law and I believe most major relegions are against taking away people's lives.
  2. Even in countries with mature judiciaries like the US, UK and to a major extent India, the process is not fool proof. Even a very negligible chance of codemning an innocent victim to death is un-acceptable.
  3. Last, but not the least, killing the perpetrator does not reverse the crime nor does it make the victim feel any better.
The above two arguments are logical and dispassionate observations of a neutral observer.

Now, consider the instance when a loved one, be it a partner, parent, child, friend or a relative, is harmed. The next of kin's thought process would hardly be logical. Raw emotions and instincts spurred on by millions of years of evolution are bound to take control. Inspite of our apparent progress, our instincts and involuntary actions are still guided by genetic pre-conditioning. The person who committed a serious crime against our loved one will be viewed as a serious threat to our genetic interest. Human beings always react to negate and neutralise a threat. In this case, is the death penalty justified? Will reason reign supreme over genetic, animal insinct? I am not sure.

I don't know how I will react under such duress. I like to think that I will be magnanimous and that logic will prevail.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Raining on Bombay's Party

Alas! what a rude awakening. Among all the Indian cities, Bombay has always had a more confident strut. It was the quentessential Indian eveb global city - cosmpolitan, always on the move, thriving, reinventing. So Claimed the Bomabayites. Then the rains came. They came down incessantly. They washed and drowned every street, road and building together with Bombay's claim as the global city at the heart of a thriving, growing India.

I am from Madras but I love Bombay. I am not sure I can live there but Bombay charms me. I always have enjoyed visiting it. I am also a realist. I dont think that any Indian city can truly call itself global - Bombay certainly cannot. Maybe it is better than the other but that is an abysmally low bar.

Maybe the Corporations of Bombay and other Indian megacities will see this as an awakening, albeit a rude one. All the Indian cities are choking and putrefying in their own decay. They need sustainable growth plans to answer the transportation, sanitation, water-supply and pollution problems.

From what I have seen of Madras and Bangalore and extrapolating the experience, our Indian cities are atleast 50+ years from calling themselves global. Sad but True.

Obituary - World's Richest Harem Owner

Ofcourse, I am referring to King Fahd. I am not sure how many wives the Sultan of Brunei possesses but I think it will be a closely fought race. I read the obit in the FT and I was aghast to learn that King Fahd's father 13 wives and 45 kids. He had one wife for every month and a spare one just incase. In contrast the new king (or maybe it is the new prince) is a hands-down moderate - he has only 5 wives. Which century do these guys live in? They even embarrass the serial polygamist Mormons in Utah.

Even more incredulous is that the Saudi government structure is actually a genealogy tree. Gives me the creeps! This is one region that badly needs a dose of democracy and egalitarianism.

Monday Dinner Desperation

There was a minor good news at work on Monday and we decided to go to one of the Indian restaurants for dinner. Now that we have 2 good Indian restaurants, we are slightly pampered for choice. Unfortunately though, both the good restaurants are closed on Mondays. So we hem and haw for a while and decide to pay a visit to our bete-noir which we call distaste of India. We convinced ourselves that in the 3 years since we last ate there they ought to have improved.

Now we can only chastise ourselves for the sheer naivete. The food, inspite of our asking to be made as spicy as possible, was bland and flavourless. I was aghast when they gave us Sriracha when we asked for some hot chutney. How can any self-respecting Indian restaurant serve a mass produced hot-sauce? Hard to comprehend. The ambience was equally worse. Nailed all over the walls were chamki-filled Indian scenes which were garish and tawdry than alluring. The table clothes had full-figured women that were vulgar. We also ended up with upset stomachs and Paavana also caught a fever in the bargain. I blame the restaurant.