Mangalorean Pomfret Curry

Again my mum's recipe

Ingredients:

2 medium sized Pomfrets (clean, cut into 4 pieces each and keep aside)

A little more than 1/4 coconut (grated)

a handful of roasted coriander seeds

8 dry red chillies (4 Madras and 4 Kashmir)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Tamarind (a ball the size of a small lemon, soak in water)

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp black peppercorns (roasted)

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds (roasted)

1 large clove of garlic

1/2 onion (chopped)

Tempering (optional):

1/2 onion -finely sliced and fried till it is crisp and golden brown.

Method:

1) Grind the coconut, coriander seeds, red chillies, tamarind, turmeric powder, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds and water into fine paste. Every now and then add a little water to the mixture. 

2) The finer the paste the better the curry.

3) Once the paste is ready add the garlic, half onion and cumin seeds and grinds for a further 30 seconds. Do not grind for longer as we don't want the garlic and onions to get all mushy, that will kill the flavour of the other spices.

4) Place the paste in a pan and add water to it to make a nice gravy.

5) Let the curry come to a boil.

5) Once the curry starts to boil add the fish pieces and let it boil till the fish is cooks (about 5-10 mins).

6) Let it simmer while you fry the onion slices in a little oil (fry the onion till it is golden brown).

7) Add the fried onion to the curry and cover.

8) Serve hot with rice.

P.S.: The tempering is optional and is usually done when we have guests for dinner, but I like it so when I cook my curry usually has it :)

Neer Dosa

For all those who are die-hard fans of my mum's Neer Dosa, I hereby give you the recipe. The second reason why this is being documented is that I seem to have a memory of a goldfish or more close to home, seems to have developed a Ghajini complex whereby things that are not written down are forgotten. I figure I do not have enough surface area over my body (or the pain threshold) to have the recipes tattooed so have resorted to writing it down here for my own sake.

Ingredients:

1 cup kolam rice

2 cups dosa rice (you will get this in your local shop)

 1 onion - Chop half of it, the other half will be used for oiling the tawa.

1/4 coconut (grated)

Salt

Oil

Method:

1) Wash the rice and soak it water overnight.

2) Discard the water.

3) Grind the rice, onion, coconut in a mixer till it is a fine paste (I mean really really fine, put a drop of the batter on the tip of your index finger and rub it against the tip of your thumb, it should feel like paste).

4) Place in a bowl, add salt and water to make it a fairly runny batter (it should look like coconut milk at this stage only a little thinner).

5) Heat a dosa tawa (I really cannot help you here, this tawa is a speciality from Mangalore, and I don't think it is available anywhere else, you could try your local Mangalore stores, they sometimes keep this tawa or you could try get pally with your friends from Mangalore so they bring you back one on their annual pilgrimage to Mangalore).

6) Dip the onion that you reserved earlier, cut side in oil and run the cut surface all over the tawa, this way the flavour of the caramelised onion gets infused in the oil and ultimately the Neer Dosa.

7) Take a ladle full of the dosa batter and pour on the tawa. Since the batter is runny it will spread all over the tawa, there will be a few gaps, pour some more batter over them, but ensure that you don't put too much batter (else the dosa will be too thick). The best Neer Dosa look a lot like crochet handkerchiefs.

8) Cover and let it cook for about 30 odd seconds

9) Uncover and fold the dosa like you would fold a handkerchief.

10) Remove from the tawa and keep aside.

11) Serve with coconut chutney (refer earlier post for recipe).

Tip:

1) The dosa should not burn, it should only cook for 40 seconds tops, the whiter the dosa the better the cook you are :)

2) The onion is optional, you can eliminate the onion that you put in the batter. Instead once the dosa is ready, you can put sugar and grated coconut before you fold the dosa, I assure you it is a hit with kids.

P.S.: I don't have a picture at the moment, it will follow.

Coconut Chutney

This chutney is perfect with dosas, idlis or as a side dish at meals. The tempering is optional and the chutney tastes just as good without it.

Ingredients:
1/4 coconut (grated or cut into small pieces)
4 dry red chillies (I used 2 Kashmir and 2 Madras varieties)
1 inch piece of ginger (lose the skin)
Tamarind (a marble sized ball soaked in warm water)
Salt

Tempering: (Optional)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1 red chilly
a few curry leaves

Method:
1) Blitz the coconut, chillies, ginger and tamarind in a mixer, till it is a fine paste.
2) Place in paste in a bowl and add salt
3) Heat a little oil, add the mustard and let it splutter.
4) Add the urad dal to the oil
5) Add the chilly and curry leaves
6) Pour the tempering over paste and mix well.
7) Serve with dosas or idlis or as a side dish at meals.

I'm back...

Ladies and Gentlemen... boys and girls... I proudly announce that I'm finally back to my old self, the clothes loving compulsive shopaholic... 

For the past few years I had renounced shopping so much so that I almost hated it... what with only stepping into shops when I had to buy something and walking out again without making a purchase... as nothing I liked fit... but today I out-did myself and shopped till I dropped and  I'm as pleased as punch as everything fits just right... 

The last time I was so happy after shopping was in 2010 in Singapore... after that I went into denial and just stopped shopping. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I piled on a few extra kilos and I just couldn't bear the thought of going into shops and not fitting into any clothes... now London has helped me shed the extra weight I was carrying around and I've managed to drop a couple of dress sizes as a result of which I can fit into a better array of clothes... and to say I'm loving the feeling is an understatement... I'm relishing every moment right down to trying the dresses on again as soon as I got home (something that I haven't done for a long long time) and it helps to have R as a flat-mate as she has the patience of a saint and she lets me prance about the flat parading my new purchases... the fact that she was my partner in crime also helped matters :-p

It all began with R asking me if I would like to go to Lords Cricket ground as she wants to buy some cricket memorabilia for her cricket crazy family followed by some shopping and I said "OK, I'll go with you, just to give you company"... famous last words...

Everyone goes to Lords to see the place where it all began, its almost like a pilgrimage to them, but what did R and I do, we shopped... and then shopped some more and between us spent enough money that would have easily fund my rickshaw travel for close to six months back home in India... but its all towards a good cause... the proceeds will go towards maintaining the mecca of cricket and I know a number of cricket crazy  people who will approve of the charity work we did this morning...

Coming back to my story, the minute I hit the stores...right from the Lord's cricket ground shop to Zara (I think I just changed loyalties from Aldo to Zara...I'm going to be Zara girl from now on) it was like everything was just right for me and everything I liked just fit :-) it was like one of those magical days where everything just falls into place, my wallet is also a lot slimmer as I spent an indecent amount of money but I'm feeling good and retail therapy is finally working its magic on me again.

Since there is still another thirty minutes to go before this day ends I'm thinking I might as well ask God for the one thing that has kept eluding, Erm, you know what I'm referring to God, so what say??

One month on... attacking showers, becoming a laughing stock and other stories...

Time flies, it feels like yesterday that I landed in London and now I'm already halfway through my stay here :-(((. As you all know, London is a city that I love and the more time I spend here the more I love London. Its almost like we have a connection, something that goes beyond the boundaries of time and space, like I've known London from a previous birth, every time I come here I get a feeling like I'm coming home, it doesn't feel like an alien city at all, it envelopes me in a bear hug like someone welcoming a dear family member...sigh, I could go on for ever...

Thankfully I've now moved to the company flats at Paddington (P.S. my new apartment is on the 15th floor and is nice and quiet, a welcome change from the chaos at St. Paul's) and have settled down  nicely into a routine that I quite like. Everything I need is now two minutes away from my apartment complex. I've finally started cooking full fledged and quite like the independence of running my own household. You notice that I've used the word thankfully to start this paragraph, this is because I'm grateful to move out of my previous apartment complex as I've become something of a legend in a 'laughing stock' kind of way, and how did I do that??? you ask, well, smart old me, locked her self out of the house, not only did I lock myself out of the house, I kept my apartment keys in my hand bag, and where do you think I kept my hand bag, I locked it in my suitcase (it has one of those Made in China locks - the self locking variety'. So absolutely shamefaced I had to go to the reception fetch the spare apartment key and then had to bring my suitcase to the reception where the manager brought out the tool kit and the set about breaking the lock, after struggling for a few minutes he called the maintenance guy and the two of them set about trying to break the lock. The whole episode provided much comic relief to the other guest who tripped over one another as they rushed about to call their partners/friends/ children to see the 'Einstien who locked her suitcase with her keys in it!'.

That aside, it has been a really eventful stay so far, the work is challenging and while I've worked hard, I've also managed to find time to make a few new friends and travel around the countryside like my life depended on it. I've finally managed to scratch off item no 5 on my things-to-do-before-I-die list - Visit Stonehenge. More on that later and I've also done the touristy hop on - hop off bus tour of London. As an add on bonus I also visited Bath and Salisbury.

Stonehenge - To be honest the feelings after seeing Stonehenge was 'Thats it!!, is this all, shouldn't I be feeling like part of some magic!!!', but sadly it just became one more item to scratch off my list and proved to be a damp squib. It really hurt when it became another thing that I will add to my list of 'Been there, done that, none the wiser for it'. 

It is really funny that I should feel this way as I've always wanted to go to Stonehenge for the better part of my life. In my head it was like a pilgrimage that I had to do, I really looked forward to it but sadly like most things in life that I've longed for when I finally saw it, it proved to be a disappointment... Thankfully I did Salisbury Cathedral and Bath on the same day,  the stunning Salisbury Cathedral, the Magna Carta and the beauty of the city of Bath compensated for it and I arrived back in London a much happier person.

Moving on to the attacking showers, well I'm a very wary person when it comes to plumbing and related gadgets. I hate it when I'm faced with the stylish faucets that ultimately just dispense water but have such a smug look, almost as if goading me with a 'Chala kar bata, toh jaane'. I'm sure you know what I mean as everyone one has at least one story to tell about a tap that just wouldn't work, no matter what you did and how after you have conceded defeat a five year old who had been watching the proceedings with great interest came forward waved her hand in front the tap and as if by magic the tap worked, making you feel like a gigantic ignoramus. The shower in question is in my friend S's apartment and for the life of me I could not figure how to get it to work. I stayed overnight at her place one weekend and that is how I came face to face with my nemesis, It has two lever one small and the other slightly bigger. I gingerly turned the big lever and a blast of cold water hit me before I could say 'Oh ah'. Quickly I turned it off and fiddled with the small lever and again tried to work the tap, again with the same result and at the end of it I accepted defeat and quietly had a cold water shower and stepped out....

Happy Birthday !!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!!

London - Week 1 - Day 1

Now that I've somewhat settled down, I can get down to chronicling my time in the city I love. I arrived here last Saturday and the weather the past week has been amazing. Though your truly has been anything but amazing...though slowly but surely I'm getting there.

Well first things first, the early morning flight which I thought was a good idea at that time turned out to be a nightmare as the whole of India seemed to be queued up to take the flight out... the serpentine queues at the check-in and immigrations had me thinking I would be at the airport a long time. Finally the flight was announced and I guess I was so exhausted that I dozed off the minute they had finished the safety briefing. It was crick in my neck caused by my head hanging at an unnatural angle that woke me up and after that sleep eluded me. Economy class travel that is the lot of poor old me surely doesn't become of me and my Prince Charming ain't coming any time soon so I foresee cricks in the neck for a long time to come.Never mind that, so where were we, yes, sleep eluded me, it was sure a sign of things to come, but ever the optimist I let it pass,thinking of the greener pastures that were to come in the promised land. The plane landed at 7.15 am a good 45 minutes before schedule and by nine in the morning (I was at the apartment building that would be my home for the next 35 days), this inspite of the fact that I took the Heathrow Express into Paddington and then a taxi to my apartment complex at St. Paul's (yes my apartment is in the lane bang opposite St. Paul's Cathedral) .

Since I had arrived a lot earlier, they did not have the apartment ready for me to move in as the previous tenant had not yet checked out, so I was allowed to leave my luggage in the reception and asked to come back at 1ish in the afternoon as this time would allow the cleaning staff to have the rooms ready for me. I had effectively nothing to do while I waited for the room to be ready, so I decided to get some breakfast, I was starving as I don't partake of any food while travelling and my last meal has been at 8ish at night back home in India. Thankfully, London has a number of options Sandwich and Soupwise and I'm one happy girl when here. Though this time I'm sure life is going to be much more difficult as I've become a vegetarian on account of health grounds (the nature of my health problems I will pen down some other time). Having said that I found a superb vegetarian sandwich, and chips and washed it all down with some nice ginger beer.

Having replenished the calories, I still has time to kill so decided to get some sight-seeing done and decided to start with St. Pauls. I went right inside St. Paul's Cathedral and was taking in the beauty of the various murals that were adorning the walls, when I noticed that people were taking their places for the service and I decided to attend it too. The service was beautiful, accompanied by a choir who sang like angels. The singing truly moved you... I can now see why the service was jammed packed with tourists and locals alike. The service ended at 1 and I decided to go check whether my room was available, thankfully it was and I could deposit my belonging and soak in the atmosphere of the rooms that would be my home for the next few weeks. I has just about settled in when S called and was like "Get your a** out of the house, it is such a beautiful day, join me for lunch followed by some quality time lazing around at Hyde Park, Don't you dare go to bed now or you won't sleep at all at night". Little did she or your truly know that sleep from that minute on was indeed a very precious commodity. I'll let the suspense hang for a bit and let in on the reason why a little later in this post. Now if it had been the old me I would have finagled a way out of attending the appointment, but a new raring to go spirit seemed to have been instilled in me, I was like 'Carpe Diem, Baby' and agreed. We met for lunch at Marble Arch and walked to Maroush, a place that serves the best Lebanese food ( this is her husband's favorite Lebanese joint and after eating there, I agree too). Post lunch we walked about at Hyde Park and took in the atmosphere. S and I could only but wonder at the Brits, who just seemed to go gaga over the beautiful weather and could be found lying about in every patch of sunshine available, where as S and I could be found looking for shade to salvage what ever was left of our complexion, no thanks to the pollution in dear old Mumbai. After spending a couple of hours I was dead beat and decided to call it a day. Once was back at the apartment, I dived into bed only to woken up a few minutes later by the chiming of the clock at St. Paul's, the clock chimed every fifteen minutes; at quarter past, it chimed once, at half past twice, at three quarters of an hour it went three times and at the hour it rang four times followed by the Bell pealing the hour (so if it was seven, it pealed seven times), this continued through out the night, I should know, I was up all night... thanks to the incessant chiming, the traffic noise and some animal or bird that kept screaming through the night like it was being beaten to death. This was indeed not a very good start for my time here... but as always we live and hope for a better tomorrow....

Movie Review: Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (YJHD)

If I were to sum this film in one line... it would be, 'The film had great potential if it was truly an Ayan Mukherjee Film'. It began as an Ayan Mukherjee film, lost it way and then got lost some more. So much so that in the end I'm sure it suffered from a huge identity crisis and Ayan Mukherjee was compelled to end it abruptly to put it out of its misery.

I for one loved Ayan Mukherjee's first film, Wake up Sid, there was a freshness, a sense of wonder in each scene that is unfolding on the screen. Here is a sensitive director who can take a everyday scene that could be from anyone's life and make it appear more meaningful on screen, the metamorphosis of Sid into a mature adult is beautifully captured on screen. He extracted every ounce performance-wise from Ranbir Kapoor in what I feel is a near flawless film. However, YJHD reduces talented actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Farooq Sheikh and Kalki Koechlin to mere caricatures.  

Lets start from the beginning shall we,  the narrative is jumpy and the songs seem to have been added on later as an after thought to plug the holes in the narrative. In an attempt to make a stylish movie the director forgot the soul of the film. Sadly the the viewer is unable to connect with the soul less film.

Keep that aside for a minute shall we, can someone please explain to me why his friends don't feel happy for him when he gets a scholarship to attend a journalism course of his choice. As far as the viewer is concerned Bunny (Ranbir) is a guy of modest means  and he wants to travel and see every corner of the world, he even maintains a scrap book of the place he wants to see. If indeed his friends were as close to him as the director wants us to believe, they would know that and would be jumping for joy that he is indeed taking a step in the right direction. But what do they do, they send him on a guilt trip... with friends like these who needs enemies.

Deepika is absolutely spot on portraying Naina's discomfort when she initially tries to gel with the other group members. She continues with a strong performance as Naina continues to fall hopelessly in love with Bunny. Even though Naina does say that neither of them waited for the other, it does seem that while Bunny was painting the town red, Naina was actually waiting for him to realise that he loved her and that he would come and rescue her from herself, it does seems a little too far-fetched, but who knows, such things happen, so I will let it pass.

 Moving on to the script or the lack of it, I strongly suspect the while the trek sequence was in the original script the slap stick comedy goon fighting sequence was someone else's idea that the director was road rolled into adding. Also pray tell me why the need for an item song with Madhuri ?? Don't you believe in your product?? We could honestly have lived without having been subjected to it. The only song which has any sense or melody or any reason to be in the film is Kabira.

There are sequences that have the Ayan Mukherjee sensitivity, like the one where Aditi reveals to Bunny  that Taran was only trying to stop her from having a show down with Avi on his wasteful expenses. Or the one where Bunny makes Naina admit that she is dying to go to the party. Or take for instance the one where Naina's mom talks about Aditi at the dinner table. You do get glimpses of the talented director, but they are like flashes, you blink and they are gone.

I would really like to see what the original script was like before too many cooks spoilt it on the way to making the Great Indian Masala Movie.

Grilled Paneer

Ingredients:
200 gms Paneer (cut into cubes)
Salt to taste

For Marinade:
2 green Chillies
1 inch piece of Ginger
3 cloves of Garlic
Corriander leaves
a pinch of Garam Masala
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Method:
1) Put all the ingredients of the marinade (except the lemon juice and Garam Masala)  in a grinder and make a fine paste (don't add too much water as it will make the paste runny, we want a thick paste).
2) Remove to a bowl and add the lemon juice, Garam Masala and salt.
3) Prick the paneer cubes on all sides with a fork.
4) Marinate the paneer cubes in this mixture (the longer you marinate the better).
5) Heat a tawa well, for the first batch just rub a little oil on the tawa, just enough to leave a trace of oil (one or two drops of oil).
6) Place a few pieces of the marinated paneer on the hot tawa cook on a slow flame, when one side is half done, turn over. Keep turning the pieces so that they don't burn.

Note: The excess marinade on the paneer cubes will stick to the tawa and burn, ensure that you scrape the burnt marinade off the tawa and keep turning the paneer pieces to ensure that they are evenly cooked.

French Beans Salad

This is an easy to make salad and even die hard haters of French Beans will not be able to resist it... I tend to forget things a lot these days (getting old, sob, sob) so intend to write all the recipes I learn here for later reference... i.e. till the time I remember I write a blog...hehehe

Ingredients:
French Beans (chopped)
Yoghurt

For seasoning:
Cumin seeds
A pinch of Asafoetida
A few curry leaves
Oil

Method:
1) Boil the chopped french beans and keep aside.
2) Heat oil, add cumin seeds (let it crackle) then add the curry leaves and the Asafoetida.
3) Add the seasoning to the boiled french beans.
4) Add the yoghurt and mix well.

How I made the perfect rotis...

And I have finally mastered the art of making perfectly soft rotis... rotis that are not only round and fluffy but are so soft that they actually break with three fingers... honestly I had tears in my eyes when the first roti came off the stove!!!

I have been making perfect round rotis for over twenty years now, but once the perfect rounds hit the  stove all I achieved until today were rotis that would either turn brittle like papads or they would become so hard we could give them to children during playtime to be used as Frisbees. I used to envy my friends when they produced soft rotis from their lunch boxes and in equal measure give into despair that I would never ever be able to make them. All these sad thoughts were firmly kicked out of my life the minute Bajia stepped in, she lead me from roti despair to roti nirvana with her easy to follow step by step YouTube video...

From today onwards Bajia takes over as my cooking guru from Sanjeev Kapoor who has held this spot for very many years now. I can already see that we will make a great pair...

Follow the link to learn how to make the best rotis ever, if I can make it so can you...

A message for Bajia,

Dear Bajia,

You rock!!!

Thank you, thank you,  thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Kind Regards

Deepa (yup, that's my real name)

Books...

I've had a long standing love affair with books, at last count I owned about 200 books, today I donated half of the collection to a library... here is a picture of  me with the books that I donated... I really feel like a part of me is gone...

Kalaghoda Festival 2013

I went to the Kalaghoda Arts Festival yesterday...here are a few pictures...

How I completed the Marathon and other stories...

Now I can scratch out item # 34 on my list-of-things-to-do-before-I-die - Take part in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. I ran and walked and (towards then end) staggered to complete the Marathon in three hours and thirty nine minutes. I will now proceed to give you a blow-by-blow account of my experience.

Given how scared I was feeling the previous day, it is no surprise that sleep eluded me, even though I went to bed before 9 p.m. that night. Finally at around 11.30 p.m. I gave myself a mental shake and I told myself that whatever was in store it would be behind me within the next twelve hours. Post that I slept like a baby and when the alarm rang at 3.15 a.m. I practically shot out of bed in the hope that the sooner I wake up, get ready and show up, the faster the day would move. I was at Andheri station at 4 a.m. and was half expecting a desolate station but what do I see, fellow Marathoners (I like that term 'Fellow Marathoners" makes me feel like I was part of something important) were also busy buying tickets to CST and Bandra, the venues for the Full and Half Marathon respectively. SR, my colleague who was also participating was already on her way having boarded the train at Bhyandar. After what seemed like eternity the train arrived at the station and I boarded. We arrived at Bandra station around 4.30 a.m and took a rickshaw to the venue. En route we saw the Bandra-Worli Sea-link all lit up and looking grand against the inky blue sky, it was still dark as the sun was still in bed with over an hour to go before he reported for duty. When we arrived at the holding area under the flyover, near the Bandra Fire station, we were welcomed by a sea of humanity all gearing up for the race ahead. I was told that close to 13,000 had signed up for the Half Marathon. All around us we could see happy faces, people laughing, joking, encouraging each other to complete the race. I could see that along with the professional runners there were many amateurs like me and that gave me the much needed shot in the arm.

At 5.40 a.m. the race was declared open and we started running or walking in our case. SR and I had made a deal with each other that no matter what happened we would stick to each other till the end. We had decided that in the initial phases we would walk and then run a bit where we could. Soon we arrived on the Bandra Worli Sea-link, it seemed even more beautiful up close and the sea below the bridge seemed almost silvery as it reflected the lights used to illuminate the bridge. Up ahead towards the left we could see Worli. The kilometers just seems to melt away and before we knew it the Bandra-Worli Sea-link was behind us and so was the Queen of the Suburbs - Bandra, we had reached Worli, we were in town proper, whether we would paint the town red remained to be seen. 

As we took a turn that would take us away from the Sea-link into town proper, we saw crowds of people lining the streets to cheer the runners and it was not even 6.30 a.m. in the morning!!! It really surprised me that people woke up so early in the morning to cheer a bunch of strangers!!! The crowds were just magical, it was not just made up of youngsters but had all age groups, from old people right down to little children. I had always slotted townies to be snobs, but was that myth shattered to bits and how, they lined up the streets and clapped, cheered and did everything they could to egg the runners and ensure that they kept going. Most of these people were the ones who formed the upper crust of Mumbai society, they rubbed shoulders with the who's who of the Mumbai social and business circuits and here they were standing on the streets offering biscuits, tea, water, candies and fruits to the runners. The only word I can use to describe the enthusiasm on display is... INFECTIOUS!!! 

Soon the first hour came up on the clock, we had crossed the 7 k.m. marker a while ago, doing a quick calculation SR and I deduced that if we kept up this pace we would complete the race well within three hours. What we had not anticipated was that the first hour was just a trailer of what was in store... the real deal was yet to come. Once we reached the half way marker and I started feeling the first effects of the strain. My thigh and calves started tingling and every step I took seemed to take some effort. By the time we reached Haji Ali we noticed that our fingers has started to swell. We tried to  alleviate the swelling by rotating our arms but it just wouldn't help, after a while we just gave up and concentrated on walking. By the time we arrived at the Babulnath temple at something like 8.20 a.m. both SR and I were concentrating on looking out for kilometre markers that were put up at every kilometre and every time one came up SR and I rejoiced. Had it been any other circumstance I might have done a little jig but today I was beginning to feel the blisters that were being formed in my feet and I was more than happy to just be walking towards the next kilometre marker. Here I would like to point out that the first of the Elite Half Marathoners who started the race at 7.20 a.m had already overtaken us !!!

Chowpatty came and went and by and by we arrived at Marine Lines, this entire stretch was dotted with raised platforms for entertainment activities, some had people singing, others had people dancing, still others were blaring the latest film music,  then there was one with the Navy Band (with some very handsome guys in white uniforms playing the instruments, yeah, yeah, I noticed the handsome guys even when I was practically dying on pain) playing a very popular tune. We turned left onto the road that would bring us to CST... the official finish point of the Marathon. Here the crowds started to swell up again. Up in the distance we saw the marker simply stating "1000 m to the finish line" and I am not ashamed to state I almost disgraced myself by bursting into tears. I quickly checked the tears and continued to egg myself with the mantra that I had been chanting for well over an hour now "You can do it just keep walking". And before I knew it we had crossed the finish line, I had not thought of what I would feel when we crossed the finish line but it took a while for the feeling to sink in that I had indeed completed the Half Marathon!!! 

For the first few minutes after crossing the finish line, when I think back now, I feel I must have looked like an absolute moron for I was grinning at no one in particular, the grin was just pasted on my face and just would not go. In that dazed state itself we went into the Event area to collect the refreshments and medals that they were handing out to all the participants. We collected our medals and wore them, never in my life have I ever felt so pleased as I did when wore my hard earned medal!!!

We sat down for a while and then as I stood up to start my journey back home I started to feel the after effects of the strain that I had put my body through. Every muscle (even the ones I did not know existed) was screaming. Even the smallest task like picking up the bottle cap that I dropped by accident, led to excruciating spasms of pain that coursed through my body and to be honest it was getting difficult to put one foot in front of the other. The train journey was OK but alighting from the train onto the platform was another thing. Alighting from the train was still less of an ordeal as compared to the railway bridge that I needed to climb to get me out of the station. It loomed in front of me like Mount Everest and with every ounce of will power left in me I climbed the steps one at a time. 

To sum up I think the first 7 k.m. I completed due to whatever training I did over the past three months, the next 7 k.m. purely on adrenaline and the balance 7 something k.m. I only managed on prayers!!!

Mumbai Marathon...

So I run the Mumbai Marathon tomorrow and I'll admit I'm scared. I tried to train for it in my own way but as I got closer to D-Day I only started panicking. A couple of times I almost made up my mind to do what I do best when faced with a problem... avoid it and run away from it (pun unintended)... yes with great shame I admit there were dark days when I almost decided not to run the marathon and chicken out... however then I would remember all those people who trusted me enough to part with their hard-earned cash to sponsor my run and I would rein in my wayward thoughts and focus on the task at hand... At times I  was almost in tears with frustration that there was no way in hell that I was completing the marathon...

Then on one such dark day I received an email from a dear friend from Scotland, he trained me on my first job with my current company and I call him my Scottish Dad and he too takes a paternal interest in me. Though he retired a long time ago we still are in regular contact and as it happened he was the first person to sponsor my run...Coming back to the present, his mail was actually in response to my email wherein I had mentioned something about being scared and all he said was "GOOD LUCK, and just enjoy it. Hope the weather is kind to you". They are such simple words, but to me it was like I was shown the path to Nirvana, I was like, why am I stressing about this run, and killing myself thinking about the worst case scenarios, like me fainting or not completing the race....why don't I just concentrate on dressing up, showing up and  enjoying it for all its worth!!!

From then on that is what I have been doing,  going out of the way to make myself have fun and enjoy the race. Like joking with my colleagues that in a worst case scenario if I am the last person on the track, I will become a TV celebrity as the news channels will follow me and have a caption running on the screen "Will she complete this race, keep watching as we provide live minute by minute coverage of her crawl towards the finish line..." with an arrow pointing to me on the screen...

Then there were others who gave me tips on how I could ensure that I complete the run, one suggested that I should carry a length of rope and wear roller skates and as soon as one of them super fast African runners ran past, I must lasso him and roll towards the finish line and as I neared the finish line I must pull the runner back and push my self forward thereby ensuring that I came first!!!, quite a novel thought I must admit and what is even more surprising is that it came from boring accountants, I never knew we could think so creatively. Then there were other who made me promise "cross your heart and promise that you will finish the race, no matter how long it takes ....do it for us!!!". The love and goodwill that I feel around me is enough to make me feel special that I'm determined to complete the race while ensuring that I enjoy it all the way...

Then I went SHOPPING for my running gear and got myself the following: an arm-band for my mobile and ipod, running t-shirt, running tights and super comfortable sports undies. The undies nearly gave my mom a heart attack. I had washed and left them out to dry and she happened to come into my room and saw the shorts fluttering in the fan breeze, she gave them such a scandalized look and wailed, 'Are you going to be wearing these when you run the marathon !!!!?. My lightning fast response prevented her from collapsing to the floor in a heap. It was only when I showed her my running tights and assured her that the shorts would be worn underneath the tights that she relaxed. I was like, how could you even think that I would run about town wearing those tight shorts, have you ever seen me in so much as Bermuda shorts that I would consider wearing the nearly there shorts for my run ???....Never mind these small distractions...

As a wise man would say, what have I got to lose if I don't complete the marathon other than my ego being ground to dust, but my ego is nothing compared to the memories I shall make tomorrow in case it all goes well...

Bring it on I say...
I know I shall live to see another day...