5 things for this week (Part 30)

But these designs that I am about to tell you right now leaves me in no doubt that should you follow these techniques, you can enjoy a meal at these places, and the burden on your wallet/purse will be lighter.

Well, of course you don't know what I'm talking about. Let's start from the beginning.

We talked about food last week, and it felt right to continue it into this post too. But even though a lot of tasty treats from God's own country are yet to discussed, we'll leave them for some other time. This week we'll be looking at the various multinational food chains that have opened up in India over the past decade or so, and how to get a cheaper meal off them.

The McDonalds, the KFCs, the Pizzahuts, the Dominos, the Subways and their related corporate meal houses charge a hefty price for enjoying the food they serve up. I've more than three years of experience in buying overpriced food from their counters. But these designs that I am about to tell you right now leaves me in no doubt that should you follow these techniques, you can enjoy a meal at these places, and the burden on your wallet/purse will be lighter.

The following 'shortcuts' are for those people who find themselves forced to use these institutions to negate their hunger, but at the same time, don't want to overspend. If you are one of those who are attracted to these places by your love for their food, these methods might seem like cutting down on the 'real' taste of the place. In that case, please feel free to not follow them.

With that out of the way, shall we start on the 5 things for this week??

Did you know that you can enjoy a decent meal...

1. ...at Dominos Pizza by going on Wednesdays?

If you are to go out on a Wednesday, and want to grab a snack with a friend, try ordering online a 'pick up order' at the nearest Dominos. You'll get one pizza free with the pizza you order. You probably shouldn't ask for more than that. By the way, the magic word is 'MOB06'.

2. ...at KFC by ordering their burgers?

I know that KFC is known more for its fried chicken, but like, have you seen the prices? They have increased so much in the past two years that it is preposterous. So when I don't have a craving for a baked piece of chicken, I go for the burgers they serve. They are priced at Rs.30 for veg, and Rs.40 for chicken. And 2-3 of them will fill you up.

3.  ...at Pizzahut by having their Rs.99 meal?

Okay, so it's not Wednesday and you gotta have pizza on the cheap. Well, then Pizzahut is the place you should be at. Compared to Dominos, Pizzahut has a higher bill amount for the same stuff, mostly because they charge you service tax of 10%. But they also have this amazing combo offer that you are gonna love. They offer you one simple pizza, two slices of garlic bread with dip, and a lemonade as a combo. Rs.99 for the veg pizza and Rs.129 for the non-veg pizza.

In case you are still having doubts about this, before I knew of this offer, I had a lemonade from a shop nearby a Pizzahut store - for Rs.80. Oh how ignorant was I then.

4. ... at Subway by going for the 'Sub of the Day' or by having the egg combos they give you?

This is pretty simple. Subway gives you the option of opting for the 'Sub of the day', being served at Rs.99. Or, if you don't like the 'Sub of the day', you can choose to have an egg combo from their breakfast menu, which they serve through out the day. It's not that popular, but it surely fills up the tummy.

5. ... at McDonalds by ordering a meal?

Now, you might think 'what the...'. But over the years, I've seen ignorant folks come up to the counter at a McD, and order a burger and a coke, missing out on french fries which he/she would have got on a free, if they had just ordered the meal. They might be cutting down on the intake, but still I can't believe almost every other person who stood before me in the queue till date was on a diet.

****

Well, that's it for this week. I went to the doctor the other day, and he has informed me that Jaundice attack on me is reaching its finishing stage. I'll return to normal service by next week hopefully. In the mean time, I'm going to enjoy more of my beautiful Kerala and my sweet home and my mum's food.

Have a great weekend!!!
'til next week.

5 things for this week (Part 29)

Would I be believed if I were to say that I had a total change of 8 kgs in my body weight over the past two weeks? 5 kgs down in the first, then 3 kgs up in the second.

Okay. So, I could have said that I lost 2 kgs in two weeks, but I don't think that would have given you an idea about how fast I lose/gain weight - even though it never seems to go above 65kg or less than 60kg. According to the 'expert' opinion from a friend, who is more concerned about such stuff, 60kg must be how much my bones weigh. I would like to say that's not true, but it's a hard fact to look past.

So, getting back to my fluctuating weight, as you might have heard, I lost 5 kgs due to the dengue/typhoid/jaundice week I had at the beginning of October. The week after, which I spent in the care and nurture of my home, I gained 3 kgs. That is a huge, considering that I was allowed only to eat light foods, meaning no junk food, no mix-boil-n-serve kinda things, no meat, no oily food - you get the idea na. I basically had to be a veggie, and that too a sad kind of veggie.

I couldn't eat the really good veg foods, cos they all are fried or non-light. So, you can maybe understand my astonishment at the fact that I could gain back more than half of what I lost on that diet.

And this week's 5 things will be the 5 types of food I had/have. They are the staple items you'll get in a Southie vegetarian restaurant.

So, shall we begin??

Did you know that one of those food items...

1. ...was kanji?

Okay. I'll make a sort of confession. This food item is one of the many nicknames that I've got. Kanji, in proper Malayalam, refers to rice porridge. It is basically rice cooked, and served with the water it was cooked in. It is highly nutritious, easy enough to make, and three of us lived off eating it for dinner one year straight. And it is to this reason that I have got this name. Not cause of the slang meaning that the word has got - cheap.

That meaning stems from the fact that this is the food eaten by people who don't want to spend much on food. In our case, this was the dish which required the least amount of time to prepare. So, I repeat, I was called this cos I ate this a lot, not cos I'm cheap.

And no, this is not my usual way of saying the opposite so that you'll not believe in the correct thing. I really love kanji, and that is why I'm called so.

I know it doesn't look that good, but it's great once you start eating it daily. 

2. ...was Idli?

Now, this most of you will know. The Idli/Idli mix that you get in the north only has rice ground into a paste, but the actual Idli has dal in it too. It gives the Idli its softness. My recommendation to you - go to a Tamil Brahmin veg restaurant and order yourself a plate of Idli. You'll love it.

that's what I'm talking about baby..

3. ...was Dosa?

Again, something you know and have heard of. If you can't be arsed to make Idli, put on your frying pan and start making the Indian pancakes. The variety of dosas far exceeds the limit of human imagination. I have had the simple plain dosa, and also something which had chicken stuffed into it. But if you ask me which is the best variety I've had, I'll have to say the thattukada style dosa. Thattukada is what you would call a road side dhaba in the Kerala. You'll get dosa, chutney, sambhar, vada and omelette, if they serve veg. If they serve non-veg, you'll get almost anything there.

thattu dosa.. enough to get your taste buds flowing..

4. ...was Appam?

Now, this must be a novelty. This is another kind of pancake, again made from rice. But this is something with a completely different taste to it. I guess this is something which is resident only to Tamil Nadu and Kerala, so you won't probably get it anywhere else. But still, in case you get a chance to try it, don't let that chance pass you by.

look at those crispy edges and soft centers; and tell me you don't find it inviting..

5. ...was Puttu?

This is also something you'll find only in the two aforementioned southern states. Again, this is something you should not miss if you get a chance to devour it.

those long rod like things.. that the puttu.. the rest are the possible side dishes..

***

So there ends my list. But, this is the list of main dishes only. If you go into a restaurant serving these and order one of them, you have done only a quarter of the work. You still gotta choose one or more side dishes from the list that the table boy will be reciting; most probably in the same speed that you will usually find someone saying the alphabets. So sharpen your ear, and pay attention. You don't want to miss any possible combination.

As for me, I'll have to continue on my light diet for a few more weeks, after which I can get down to the actual business of eating these with their side dishes - these days, I'm getting by on sugar as the accompaniment.

Well, that's  it people.
Have a great weekend.

'til next week.

5 things for this week (Part 28)

October 1st 09.00pm

Friend : "It's just a viral fever. You'll get well soon."

October 3rd 10.00am

Colleague : "This might be Dengue. There is a lot of such cases in Delhi now. You better get tested for it; just to be sure."

October 3rd 06.30pm

Doctor : "This doesn't seem to be that bad a case. But you better get tested for Dengue; and Typhoid; and Malaria."

October 4th 10.00am

Lab Technician : "Both Malaria and Dengue tests has come back negative. I'll let you know about the Typhoid result by 2pm."

October 4th 02.00pm

Lab Technician : "Yes. The typhoid result has come. It's positive."

October 4th 02.30pm

Another Lab Technician : "I'll try to let you know the result of this test by 7pm."

October 4th 07.00pm

Another Lab Technician : "Typhoid test is positive, sir. I'm sorry."

October 4th 07.30pm

Myself : "Acha, I'm coming home. I've typhoid. I'll reach Trivandrum by 10.45am tomorrow."

October 6th 10.30am

Doctor : "You didn't have fever in the past two days right. This isn't Typhoid then. You can go back to Delhi.... What? You have unusually high bilrubin levels. We'll do a liver function test then."

October 6th 04.30pm

Doctor : "You've Jaundice. You better get hospitalized here as soon as possible."

***

This is how my past week went about. And here I am, having my second honeymoon with Hepatitis A, popularly known as Jaundice. I succumbeed to the same sysmptoms in 2005. And this week, my limited energy resources will be utilized to push through a post here. And it'll be about this 'wonderful' disease I'm having right now.

Shall we begin then??

Did you know...

1. ... that Hepatitis A affects the liver?

2. ... that the basic indicator of this disease is a high bilrubin level?

3. ... that Hepatitis A is spread through contaminated water/food?

4. ... that there is also Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C?

5. ... that it is best to get vaccinated for Hepatitis B?

***

I know that I haven't given my usual dose of explanation with each point. Excuse me please in favour of my ill health in that respect. I promise I'll make up for this by this month end.

Till next time then.

Have a great weekend.

i'm juggling

If you didn't get a mid week post from me, it was cos I was laid down by a nasty fever since Monday morning. And it is still making its presence known.

I went to the doctor. What he said can be paraphrased as follows,

You're juggling four balls right now - Dengue, Malaria, Typhoid and Viral fever. Your getting better depends on which of these you finally catch.[pun very much intended.]

If you remember what I said in the last blog about the number 26, I think you'll agree with me when I put this occurrence in the bad category, as it has broken the chain of weekly posting.

So my dear friends, please excuse me for my weak health. I'll get back to writing as soon as I regain full strength.

Till then, allow me to take your leave.

UPDATE 
05.10.13 - It's Typhoid. Don't expect me here for 2-3 weeks.

5 things for this week (Part 26)

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep."

- Robert Frost in "Stopping by Woods"

Even though I first came across these lines years ago, and even though I had been told many times about its obvious significance, I've always failed to see anything in it, beyond the simple, yet elegant rhyming composition.

It is said that you find the meaning of words, when  you can relate to them with the experiences you've had in your life. A simple example would be that of a teenager finding a romantic song a bit more gripping and persuasive, when he is on the throes of love. Another example would be that of the same teenager finding a sad song soothing on having seen his fledgling crush, get crushed by reality.

And so, as I grew with time, I find myself enjoying these words of Mr.Frost. They feel a lot more poignant - for I have now found my own 'woods', my own 'promises', my own 'miles to go' and my own 'sleep', all parallel to those that the poet has described.

For me, the woods manifests itself as the world, with all its distracting activities and assurances of a good time;
my promise is the promise I've made to myself to keep posting here about 5 things every week;
my miles to go is the effort I've to put in to keep that promise;
and my sleep is... well... err...  actually, my sleep is literally my sleep. That part wasn't that hard to figure out.

The whole wide world is laid exposed to my will, or at least I'm made to believe so. It is lovely, deep and dark. But if I spend myself in that world, squandering my time away, I can't fulfill my promise - my promise to write something every week. And so, I take the effort to extract myself from the woods and get down to writing. This act of "prose-ing" is my journey, and I sleep after I've made sure that I've fulfilled my promise.

As a part of this week's "5 things", we'll be looking at some poems that I've found to be just fancy words at first, and then later discovered the cryptic message in them. Shall we begin then??

Please do click the links given to read the poems in its full constitution.

Have you read...

1. ... "where the mind is without fear" by Rabindranath Tagore?

"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high,

Where knowledge is free,

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments,...

..Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake"

This dream of a patriot is still unfulfilled to this day.

2. ... "If" by Rudyard Kipling?

"IF you can keep your head when all about you 

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

IF you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;..."

Those four lines are inspiring and instructing in equal measure. He asks you to do what you think is right, even if the whole world says its wrong; but he warns that you should keep asking yourself if they are right in saying you are wrong.

3. ..."If you forget me" by Pablo Neruda?

"If suddenly 

you forget me 

do not look for me, 

for I shall already have forgotten you..."

Even though this might seem more like an attempt to intimidate your lover, the way this poem unravels itself is a sight to behold. But when he ends the poem with

"...my love feeds on your love, beloved, 

and as long as you live it will be in your arms 

without leaving mine."

you can't help wishing to be able to say this to someone.

4. ... "Still I rise" by Maya Angelou?

"...Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise." 

5. ... "The road not taken" by Robert Frost?

"...I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference. "

***


This is the 26th post in this series. 26. My favorite number. In case you are wondering why, I was born on a 26th, and it has always been special to me. Numerology states that the number 8 (the sum of individual numbers of 26) is significant in my life. It also says that it is kind of the worst number to have, as it shows a switching tendency to go back and forth between good and bad luck.

I've found that to be true in my life. My birth (26), my bike's number(7064), the day I got my job(26) all have been 8. So has also been the day I tore my ankle ligaments (26).

That last thing was painful, more mentally than physically. Before that, I looked forward to the weekend, for having a game of football, no matter how amateur or inconsequential. But on the 26th of October, 2012, I lost that. My soft right ankle forces me from taking part in dynamic sports activities. And I lost football as a sport from my life thence forward.

From the beginning of this year, I was in need of a passion, I was in need of a spark - something to look forward to every week. Thus, after much persuasion, was born this series - to be my spark, to grow and become this fire within me. And today marks the six month anniversary of this series.

I know its not much, but to me it is. And you have played a very important part in making me grow, in making this blog grow - by reading it, by commenting on it, by suggesting improvements and topics, by complimenting it, by following it, by tweeting about it, by sharing it on Facebook, etc etc.

I would like to misuse this moment to THANK YOU, one and all.

See you soon.
Have a great weekend!!