Finding bliss in Miami

I just finished reading "The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World".

This is a book by a guy who was working in India and comes back to the US and decides to move to of all places…Miami. It reminded me of someone else who did something similar, though the author has since moved back to Washington D.C. The theme of the book from what I got was that if you are living in the US, you will not find bliss in Miami. Well there goes my idea for a book.

A self confessed grump, searches for bliss in various countries and continents and constantly throws up references about Miami when say coming across mad driving in Qatar or rudeness in Moldova and so on. It was more fun for me because almost every incident he talks about say in Switzerland or Moldova or Bhutan seemed like something that could happen in India. He covers that part rather nicely in the chapter on India.

Each chapter covers a country and the book is set up nicely to cover two important countries India and the USA, at the end. I had to shake my head and laugh loudly as I was there…in India dealing with the contradictions everyday and I am here…in Miami dealing with the rudeness, everyday... When I talk to friends and relatives and tell them I moved to Miami, I have to move the phone away to let them say their Oohs and Aaahs for a few minutes. What do they know…as they say “Ignorance is bliss”.

Soy Crumbles Shabzi

Morningstar Meal Starters (they resemble soy crumbles and are in the frozen food )

1 medium onion

1 medium tomato

A pod of garlic and some ginger

Olive Oil

Frozen peas

Other left over veggies like say a carrot, bell pepper, mushroom, fresh spinach

Garam Masala

Any other Indian spices like cumin powder, turmeric powder etc

Corainder seeds (jeera)

In a non stick pan on medium heat, add some olive and then throw in the onions. As the onions are cooking you can chop fine pieces of garlic and/or ginger. Let the onion cook till golden brown. Add 1 tsp coriander seeds (if you have it) as the onions are cooking. Thaw the frozen peas. If you have another veggies like say a carrot and/or bell pepper throw them in as the onion is getting cooked. These add volume to what you are cooking and may mean one more serving. Add a medium bowl of peas. If you are only using peas you can add more peas. Also they cook fast hence you add it in the end. So the order will be carrots/bell-pepper/mushrooms and then peas depending on what you have. Let the veggies cook in medium heat for say around 5 minutes. Now add around a tbsp of garam-masala and throw in a pinch of these optional spices: cumin powder, turmeric powder, ground pepper or any other pepper based on the level of spiciness you prefer.

Thaw the Meal Starters crumbles. I usually do it a bowl in the microwave, run for say 30 seconds or so and throw it into the pan. There should be between 2 -2.5 bowls, so you can add some and stir it well and then add some more so the spices take evenly. Almost home….chop and thrown in the tomatoes. Remember to stir every minute or so. It should not take more than 10 minutes. You can then add chopped coriander or parsley or curry leaves after switching off the heat. Close the pan with a lid/plate and leave it for around 10 minutes.

Note that I did not mention salt as the crumbles seem to have enough salt, so you can decide if you want to add salt, but do not add it while cooking.

You can eat this with chappati/ brown-rice/Garlic Naan.

Enjoy with some good Lager or Gewürztraminer (always goes well with spicy Indian food)

Hola from Miami

After a 4 month stint in Mumbai, I moved to Miami earlier this month. Miami is well...different from the rest of the USA. It does not even feel like you are in the States. It has been a huge shock for me. After having lived for nearly 14 years in the USA and having moved and traveled a bit all I can say is..this is different.

For starters, you hardly hear any English spoken. You walk into a gym and there are people talking in Spanish and TVs tuned to various Spanish channels. So I guess there is no debate about the debate on whether America should should adopt English as the national language. I can see this being a thorny issue in the near future. In India, most people are multi-lingual. Most of my friends could speak at least in 3 languages: English, their mother tongue (Tamil in my case) and Hindi, supposedly India's national language. Hindi was deemed the national language as maybe 40% of the people speak Hindi. This also means 60% do not speak Hindi but have it forced on them. In Tamilnadu there are anti-Hindi riots which typically involve blacking out Hindi signs in Railway Stations, damaging public property and a few deaths to defend the honor of Tamil. There is this thought in India that the nation is fragmented because there is no single national language like say the USA or UK.

Another first I encountered in Miami was the other day when I was watching the local news. As the news was coming to a close there was this ticker with important information, about where the main anchor got her dress and who did the hair for the weather person. Umm which spa in Coconut Grove does Melanie Mendez go to...oh another suicide bombing in Iraq, wait a minute where did Daisy Diaz get that pretty dress...umm gas 5 bucks a gallon...darn forgot where in SoBe Shelly Sanchez gets her hair done...

Guess I must be in Miami..

India #1: Diabisity and Remittances and Global Indian Takeover

As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry coffee or tea in India usually refers to the flavor of milk served in a small cup with a lot of sugar. There is this new term in India called “Diabisty”, obviously a combination of diabetes and obesity. There are articles about this epidemic in Newspapers almost every day saying India is the diabetes capital of the world. Out of curiosity, I googled :India Diabetes capital and from what was returned apparently this is old news . India is indeed #1 and the world diabetes capital. I for my part have given up and ask for tea or coffee without any sugar as less sugar usually refers to 5 tablespoons, I think. Maybe I should pitch this radical idea to the esteemed Health Minister.

India is #1 on another list, Remittances, according to this aptly titled article: Remittance: India tops the world. I guess the best way for Indians to generate money in India is to leave the country and send money back home. This apparently is a matter of pride. Again as I mentioned this is a nation where anything can be used as propaganda and the masses will lap it up.

This dubious article: 36% of scientists at NASA are Indians: Govt survey appeared on the front page of the Times of India. I am reproducing some portions as it is pretty funny:

NEW DELHI: If you thought that Global Indian Takeover was just a hollow cliche leaning on a few iconic successes like Pepsi's Indra Nooyi, Citibank's Vikram Pandit and steel world's Lakshmi Mittal, there is a slew of statistics now to give it solid ballast.
The extent to which desis have made an impact in the US was reeled off in the Rajya Sabha — as many as 12% scientists and 38% doctors in the US are Indians, and in NASA, 36% or almost 4 out of 10 scientists are Indians.
If that's not proof enough of Indian scientific and corporate prowess, digest this: 34% employees at Microsoft, 28% at IBM, 17% at Intel and 13% at Xerox are Indians.

Anyway, there was a follow up in the Times of India titled India rising in US: Govt falls victim to net hoax. Here are some highlights:

Both Microsoft and NASA say they don't keep an ethnic headcount. While they acknowledge that a large number of their employees are of Indian origin, it is hardly in the 30-35 per cent range.
NASA workers say the number of Indians in the organization is in the region of 4-5 per cent, but the 36 per cent figure is pure fiction.

I guess along with Diabisity, this whole propoganda about India taking over the world seems to another epidemic that needs to be tackled right away.

What about your Bush?

One of the most frustrating things in India is that you usually cannot have logical discussions. Somehow most of the Indians are convinced that they are superior to every other culture. Most of the front pages in newspapers are filled with glowing stories how well the country is doing. There will be few meaningful articles, but they are usually hidden in the middle pages and probably people brush them aside. Like the one on the Scarlette Keeling murder case in Goa by Brinda Karat, a Member of Parliament titled Don't punish the victim.

Scarlette Keeling was a 15 year old British tourist who was brutally raped and murdered in Goa. Initially, there was a cover up. But after her mother demanded another autopsy it was confirmed that she was indeed raped and murdered. Then all hell broke loose. People started blaming the mother for letting this happen. The Goa government threatened to charge the mother with neglect and put her in jail if she did not disappear. There was this nice discussion in parliament where a Congress MP blamed the mother and his esteemed colleague, the tourism minister who also happens to be a woman said "He has a point".

For the uninitiated and those without any values and lack of culture trying to make sense, here is the logic. The mom gave her daughter freedom. The daughter got drunk and may have had consensual sex and may have had drugs. This caused her to be raped and murdered as expected. Now imagine the gall of the mother to question this.

In India Two wrongs make a right, most of times during discussions. For example I might bring up the condition of the roads in Mumbai and the person I would be discussing this would criticize Condi Rice. I would ask him to forget Condi and steer the topic back to the roads. Then it would get personal and he would ask me if I had a Green Card. I would say yes. Then the person would say I had no business talking about roads in India as I am American. I remember this heated argument I had about former Indian president Abdul Kalam when this person suddenly asked rather loudly "Excuse me but what about your Bush?". My response was an equally angry "Pardon me". It took a couple of seconds to figure out he was talking about "my" president.

Bombay, Bollywood and Billionaires

My hometown Bombay, renamed Mumbai is India’s commercial capital. India’s main stock market is the BSE or Bombay Stock Exchange. It is home to Bollywood, a cartel which exports “Indian” culture and values in the form of films. It is also home to many of the billionaires in the Forbes list that was released recently. So it is like New York and LA rolled into one.

Bombayites or Mumbaikars are very proud of their city. They consider it India’s #1 city. The Times of India, one of India’s oldest newspapers is based in Mumbai. It too continues to hype the city in its front pages. There are articles about how commercial real estate is more expensive than NYC.

Recently, Forbes also released a list of the “Worst Cities in the world”. Mumbai was ranked 7th in a list headed by cities like Baku, Azerbaijan. Cities like Maputo, Mozambique and Luanda, Angola were rated to be better than Mumbai. This piece of news was on page 16 of the Times of India. Page 20 also had an editorial about how the American billionaires like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates were giving away all their fortune to charitable causes. It also questioned the philanthropic endeavors of the Indian billionaires who indulge in garish displays of their wealth during parties and weddings.

The Times of India also produces movies and carries reviews of the movies it makes. Conflict of interest is an alien concept in most of South Asia. It carries vital information like how Amitabh Bachan received a Rolls Royce as a gift from a movie producer. His son received a Bentley as a gift from a politician. India’s famous cricketer, Sachin Tendular received a Ferrari as a gift, presented by former F1 great Michael Schumacher no less.

I am curious as to how and where these people drive these cars in Mumbai. Does it even prick their conscience when they consider the infrastructure of their “home” town? Instead of being part of propaganda, why not even a single person rises up and tells the truth as it is and demands something better for the people of their home-town. These are people who are considered role-models. These are people with connections. These are people who could initiate change. These are people who love Mumbai, or at least they proclaim it in the pages of the Times of India.

Slum Tourism

The ultimate virgin, Sir Richard Branson was in Mumbai recently. He was pitching among other things Space Tourism. There was a huge supplement in today’s paper about its future. Tucked in the middle pages of today’s paper was a debate about Slum Tourism. It apparently is the next big offering in India for foreigners.

It is a guided tour where a group of people gets a chance to get a firsthand look at the pathetic living conditions of fellow human beings. Mumbai is like a big slum and every day I get this tour during my drive to and from work. You see these people defecating and showering and getting ready to work. You see them cooking and their semi-naked children playing. All that is left is like 50 square feet of space with a roof rigged with tin, tarp or newspapers with a little of their belongings. Apparently these human beings do not deserve that one last shred of dignity and privacy. People can barge in unannounced and take photographs and videos. This further demonizes the white foreigner who is presumed to be American.

Apparently these tours are organized by NGOs and there are “guidelines”. But who ensures that the guidelines are being followed? Something needs to be done to address this issue. But it is not that simple. I remember a few years back, the government gave them free housing. But it was located far from where these people work. So they rented out their homes and moved back to the slums as it was a more convenient arrangement and they made some extra cash from the rent.

Personally, I still cannot believe that people would be willing to pay to go and see the squalid living conditions of others, whatever their intent may be. I guess there are no limits to voyeurism these days and I shudder to think what will be next.