Mundane Musings

I'm presently reading Vir Sanghvi's Rude Food (2004) and I am thoroughly enjoying his sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes blunt account of the food he has eaten in India and around the world. He is a bit of a kill joy though, for people who aspire to write about food, as he includes so many minute details about hotels and their chefs, food served in higher end hotels, the staffs' service, the kind of wine to drink, the foods to stay clear off for the weak-hearted in other countries, they best way to cook a truffle, truth about caviar and whew...what not. And all this, in his inimitable style that very clearly defines the title of the book. Sample this: I've never eaten a raw durian. Believe me, I've tried. But the smell (like a dead rat decomposing in a pool of vomit on your dinner plate) has been too strong for my delicate sensibilities. ....I've eaten durian preserves. I've tried durian pastries. And I've struggled with a cup of durian ice-cream...

A weekend spent slouching on the sofa and watching movies. Supposed to be fun, right? Not if one of the movies you are watching is about a dumb, grinning Sardar, whose idea of a fight is dribbling a guy (like basket ball) before throwing him away. Now wait a minute. Let me just back up. Did I just write that? Dribbling a guy??? I dropped off my comfortable sofa, startling S who was mercifully (for him, that is) making perfect dosas in the kitchen, when I actually saw that scene! No kidding. Did you guess the movie yet? It's Ashwani Dhir's (who is he?) moronic offering to unsuspecting viewers, "Son of Sardar". These movies should come with a statutory warning - Watch it only after disposing your brain, your sense of logic and your very sanity. Generally, generally I read reviews before watching these hair-pulling, eyes rolling, heights of absurdities. And so I stayed clear of this movie when it was released. But when they aired it last weekend on a Hindi channel, ...