Friday, August 08, 2008

essay

http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/academics/mmh-ithaca/concentrations/ops.html
my carrier trck
Master of Management in Hospitality Essay
Candidates to the MMH program are required to complete the Cornell University Graduate School statement of purpose as well as respond to the following essay question in 300 words or less. Please indicate your name and the date at the top of the document you upload.

Explain how a MMH degree will help you pursue your professional goals within the hospitality industry. Include your reasons for applying to the campus you have chosen.

Please upload your essay here:
________________________________________
Reasons for undertaking graduate work and explain your academic interests including their relation to under-graduate study. (1-2 pages)

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HARVARD- Essays

First, compose your responses to the essays in a word processing document. Please abide by the following instructions:
• Limit your responses to the lengths indicated.
• Single-space your essays.
• Please use Times New Roman font type and 12 pt font size.
• Write the question at the top of each essay.
• Refrain from using images and/or any other nonstandard English characters in your essays. They may prevent the system from processing your application.
All applicants must answer questions 1 and 2. For question 3, please choose two of the five questions listed below, and upload individually your response to each of the two questions you've chosen. If applying to a joint degree program, please upload an additional essay in the Joint Degree candidates section below.

Monday, August 04, 2008

It’s a little difficult to see India leading the world in Gastronomy even 20 years down the line the way we are going now. I was pretty disappointed to see that I was one of the 1st two attendees ever present at Madrid Fusion- A gastronomy summit held every year in Madrid. Madrid Fusion has been a platform for the leading chefs of the world and provides a unique opportunity for cuisine professionals to witness the best chefs of the world displaying their work and research. It is a display of ingenuity and creativity that ranks among the best artistic gatherings… the art of cooking.
Alvaro Cunqueiro, a Spanish writer wrote, “Cusine is one of the subtlest and deepest inventions of human soul and the pleasure to be derived from its enjoyment is not a matter to be taken lightly.” And hats off to the Spanish chefs… they have lived up to the saying!
Spanish gastronomy has gained wider recognition on the international front by virtue of its Avant-garde techniques and component elements… thanks to Ferran Adria and his team. If we compare, the Spaniards like the Indians have a big country with varying geographical conditions fostering variation in their cuisine like it varies for us from the Ganges to the Nilgiris. More than a decade back, Spain was hardly anywhere in the map of the most popular cuisines (of course except for tapas, paella and sherry). European food meant French and Italian.
I always wonder what India lacks to be a global leader in gastronomy. Why can’t the world see India beyond Tandoori chicken or a Chicken Tikka Masala? Analyzing further, I realized, centuries ago the French started standardizing each and every dish of their creating classical recipes and papered it into an Encyclopedia of French Food- La Rousse Gastronomique… the book which is referred by any chef in the world! Documenting was just one part... Researching on improving ingredients then it may be Poulet de Bresse, foiegras, cheese, wines, mustard and the list went on.. It was only their documentation, research on cooking techniques and ingredients that let them to become the mecca of the food world.
Around 2 decades back, a chef, started his carrier as a dish washer, now running the best restaurant in the world, where if you wish to dine have to book at least 8 months in advance, Ferran Adria of El Bulli came up with Avant Garde cuisine. Avant garde cusine in layman’s terms would be intelligently combining cuisine with chemistry and technology. Who would have ever thought that Liquid nitrogen, calcium chloride baths, sodium alginate and many more compounds could ever be used in kitchens? Well to throw some light there are mixers under vaccum which are used for blending which prevents oxidation in chutneys (or anything you blend) which helps retaining the colour and increases the shelf like of the product too. It actually all originated from a French scientist called- Herve This who researched for example on meat not as meat but proteins... further detailed it into what kind of protein and its reaction with temperature, moisture, air and how can we cook a particular protein better (Try hard boiling a egg at home at 60 degrees celcius and you’ll see the difference- bright yellow yolks consistently in all eggs done to perfection!) However it was Ferran Adria and his team who refined the theories and brought it to another level and finally availing it in his restaurant. In an Indian scenario, most of the chefs (and I don’t mean ALL) tend to not research and improve techniques on cooking food. We have always followed the ancient cooking techniques irrespective of whether they a right or wrong. To top it all the good recipes have always been kept as secrets, not shared or documented by our chefs and the recipes died with them. But Ferran Adria shared all his knowledge with his fraternity who with their knowledge of Spanish flavours incorporated avant garde techniques and revolutionized a restaurant menu. Today the 1st line chefs of Spain- Ferran Adria, Pedro Subijana, Juan Mari Arzak have mastered Avant Garde techniques who shared it further to create a 2nd line of Spanish chefs like Rocca brothers, Quique Dacosta, Andon Louis Adruiz and in the mode of creating 3rd line of Spanish chefs like Sergio Azagra and Davide Munoz.
They have set an excellent example of the kind of work culture that should thrive within a fraternity where knowledge is shared, nurtured and passed to the next generation. It has played a very significant role in upbringing Spain to the position it will be in the next few years.
The Indians need to take a lesson from the Spaniards of sharing knowledge and give away the Ustad-Chela culture which thrived for centuries in India. Gone are the days of secret recipes of Maharajas… where the chef was given bakshish for his creation… its time that we need to fill in the holes in our cuisine, standardize it like the French did, conducting lab research on our cooking techniques and ingredients, Sharing knowledge with younger chefs like the Spaniards do, and try becoming contemporary with the cooking methods creating a niche of Indian Chefs who would have restaurants booked for months together!
Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed.

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Wednesday, June 28, 2006

So long... Farewell

A month passed by so fast with meandmyfrequency… around 300 hits on the site already in a month… makes me feel very proud and thank you all you regular viewers. Today is my second last night in Mumbai and I’m leaving for Kolkata on 30th which means Season I of meandmyfrequency has come to an end. I’m sure I'll miss it and Mumbai both. I promise I’ll be back with a bigger bang and more exciting things which I’m sure I’ll come across in my near future which I would like to share with you all in Season II. In the mean time I’ll try my best to keep in touch with meandmyfrequency by posting articles once in 2 months or something like that. Everyone will soon be notified and I promise you it will be sooner. This is a perfect occasion for the song So Long Farewell, sung by the children in The Sound of Music… What a nice way to end a season… Love you all… Here's the song :

There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall
And the bells in the steeple too
And up in the nursery an absurd little bird
Is popping out to say "cuckoo"Cuckoo, cuckoo

Regretfully they tell us (Cuckoo, cuckoo )
But firmly they compel us (Cuckoo, cuckoo)
To say goodbye . . . (Cuckoo!)… to you

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night
I hate to go and leave this pretty sight
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu
Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu

So long, farewell, au revoir, auf Wiedersehen
I'd like to stay and taste my first champagne

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye
I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye -- Goodbye!

I'm glad to go, I cannot tell a lie
I flit, I float, I fleetly flee, I fly...

The sun has gone to bed and so must I,
So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye......................................

Friday, June 23, 2006

Andaz Apna Apna! - A forgotten movie


Since my vacations have been going on I have unusually found a lot of time for myself doing things I thought I should do and also things which I never thought I would do. Surfing the channels on television I started watching one of the classic comedy movies of Bollywood- Andaz Apna Apna directed by Rajkumar Santoshi! For some reason I started analyzing the movie and enjoying its every second. This 90’s movie looks like a low budget film with a amazing star cast of Aamir(Amar manohar) and Salman(Prem Bhopali) and also had Karishma and Raveena along with Paresh Rawal (double role of twins- Ram Gopal Bajaj and Teja), Shakti Kapoor (Crime master Gogo), Bhalla(Shehazad Khan…remember Lion/ Ajit) and Viju Khote(Robert)
I must be watching this movie co-incidentally every year at least 2-3 times just because it’s on television. There is an amazing essence of humour to every minute of the movie with Aamir’s over-confident and street smart character saying “Jhakaas!” all the time rolling his fingers through his hair balanced well with Salman’s simplicity and stupidity saying, “oyeeeee Maaa!”. Aamir turns into Tilu, the Jamal gota scene, Paresh Rawal as Teja is hilarious every time I watch it, to the same extent!
Shakti Kapoor's character (for some reason he was really funny in this film), Crime Master Gogo, is supposedly the nephew of Mogambo, the villain immortalized by Amrish Puri in Mr. India. The movie also makes references to the famous line "Mogambo Khush Hua" (Mogambo is pleased) during the many confrontations between Bhalla, Robert and Crime Master Gogo.
Some of the most under-rated dialogues in bollywood come from this movie especially the comedy ones:
Crime Master Gogo: Yeh teja teja kya hai yeh teja teja, Yeh teja teja kya hai yeh teja teja.
Crime Master Gogo: Aanken nikalke gotiyan khelunga!
Teja: the dialogue when he imagines of buying a poultry farm from bajaj’s diamonds from where the hens will lay eggs of which he’ll make omlette and open a bakery and eat omlette-bread for breakfast everyday.
: “Vasco da gama ki gun.”
“Kiske mama ki gun?”
: “Sorry ghaltee se mistake ho gaya.”
: “uncle aap ko ghalt fehmi ho gayee hai, asli uncle aap hee hain.”
Amir: “Inspector saab, yeh aapki shakal pe ja raha hai'!”
Inspector: “hain… kya matlub”
Amir: “yeh aapko baywakoof samajh raha hai, isay kya maloom ke aap baywakoof, jahil shakal se lagtay hain magar hain nahi.”
Amir: “Tum jo ho woh tum nahi koi aur hai, woh jo hai woh woh nahi koi aur hai, main jo hoon woh main nahi, ya main bhi koi aur hoon? Main kaun hoon?"
Amir: “Suno suno duniya ke logon, sabse bada hai Mr Gogo!”
Amir and Salam arrive to pay the ransom to teja on mopid ... That scene was hillarious...when Amir shouts at teja.."Tumhara plan hi theek nahi hai, tumhain beti ko kidnap kar ke baap se paisay mangney chaheye they .....Mujh ko tu ye koi kacha khiladi lagta hai!"
Final fight scene in the underground lair… Gogo, amir and salman behind walking down the stairs salman pickes up gogo's cape and says, “Gogo sahab, aapka ghaaghra!”
Crime Master Gogo: Dhik ki tikir, dhik ki tikir, dhik ki tikir, dhik ki tikir dhik!
When Salman Khan is asked whether he has seen the movie Sholay (1975), he says "Haan, pure tees baar (yes, thirty times)", Aamir Khan jokingly says "Iske baap ne likhi hai" (his father has written it). This is true. Salman Khan's father Salim Khan was one the co-writers of the 1975 blockbuster Sholay.
After watching this film with a first look, I couldn’t stop raving about how remarkable Aamir Khan is at comic roles and so was Shakti Kapoor. Aamirs comic timing, speech and expressions are insanely close to perfect, if not perfect. Almost all his scenes makes one hit the rewind button and watch it again. Aamir Khan officially impressed me after this movie (although I liked his past performances as well.)…If you ask me… I would tell you its a must watch, 90’s Bollywood Comedy… Jhakaas!!

Oh My God!!!


It was late night sometime after dinner when I was sitting with my parents and watching a comedy show and suddenly my phone started ringing. I got a call from my friend telling me that I had to believe that one of our classmate Mr.PK (virar ka Baccha) of my own age got married the same morning! Stumped? Confused? Puzzled? Perplexed? Bewildered? At sea? Amused? Baffled? Mystified? Bamboozled? Bemused? Was I dreaming? I asked him whether he meant real marriage... a wedding... a ceremony? It’s just a fact that everyone in my college and everywhere else had to believe. I wished I had a cigarette in my hand to just check if I was in my senses. It was that type of a moment where everyone can pause together and say, “Oh My God!” just like Janice Litman Goralnik nee Hosenstein or just Janice for most of us (Chandlers ex-girlfriend with her irritating, nasal voice, heavy New York accent, obnoxious laugh) in the popular television sitcom Friends, played by Maggie Wheeler or when eyes pop out in cartoons or when the phone and the bags falls off from your hands in a regular hindi soap after finding out about an unknown incidence… I mean he’s just 21 and even his graduation results are not out yet. And the girl Ms.G she’s just 20 studying in a regular mumbai college not even graduated yet!! I never thought this could happen somewhere in my very own peer circle, or with someone whom I knew. I thought I had always been acquainted with normal people who don’t require an extra dose. I went in a trance for quite sometime and then here I’m posting this permanently into meandmyfrequency. Now I’m pretty fine with it cause the best part is their parents are ok with it too! And the bestest part is it was decided only yesterday night! And the better than the bestest part is that the girls parents thought that Mr.PK is a use and throw girls type of a guy (I thought that too) and thus were against their relationship (which may be not more than a year old) and so Mr.PK and Ms.G (now Mrs.GK) thought that marriage is the only way to prove their honest, truthful, sincere love to their parents. And they thus had a nice full-fledged marriage with the pundits and the garlands etc etc. Mr.PK is going to be with me in Kolkata in another week, which makes me feel really weird and wonderful about conversing with him. Today is their 1st night after marriage… I’m really getting some weird thoughts that I need to stop. Anyways… that’s his life though. I really wish Mr. and Mrs. K (never addressed any of my peers like that before…may be even I've grown up) a happy married life! And I’m really hoping they don’t do anything more stupid and play safe for few years more cause you know they don’t even earn their own living yet…

Thursday, June 22, 2006

SPEECH MARKS!



Here are some influential quotes/ lines/ dialogues etc of some people in my life, which are different and cannot be forgotten by me. This space is specially to be viewed by matured ones only as the contents may get a little dirty at some point, Although I’m trying my best to keep it clean. So here it goes…



AV: Excuse me Guys! Maintain decency!
AV: Meri maa boli MC!
AV again: Subey subey laughing gas breakfast mein karke aaya hai kya!
RP: AV bola horns hoga to gaay (cow) or horns nahi hoga to girl!
SS: Beagleboy…
SS: Mummy!!!
AM: hamlog buller or halebid gaye they!
AM: Butta butta butta!!
RM: AT ka to education khatam ho gaya naa abhi.
KW: When the sunshine shines, make hay.
TP: I’ll teach you step by step only, that’s why I take only 15mins of class and half hour break.
AL: (holding his chin in a sing song manner) …. Ummmm…… bahut achey..
A: Repeat it again!
K: Dushman ka dushman, dost!
VI: (with a mallu accent) Gaddey… (gadhe)
VC: What you doing?
K2: You tell the recipe.
VG: Thane East… Thane East… Thane East… Thane East.
BA: They are high profile delegates!
JK: The French fries of McDonalds.
SK: I studied in a Municipality pathshaala where we were taught to ask our teachers, Teacher teacher, may I go to toilet or Drink water.
RW: You need passion for the Industry!! I’ve a Pulsar!
LS: Hemant Oberoi mereko bola aaa Lokesh caviar khaa.
RW: Mein bhaag raha hoon!
WS: Do you think you can do the bullshit you said now?
SS: Where is IMS?
Ch.GR: Your palate is like that of a cow’s backside!
Ch.GR: When I’m not there it’s the same people who cook when I’m there. I remember that journalist wearing an expensive Armani suit and asked her whether she thought that Armani stitched every suit of his brand?? Ofcourse not!
D.S: Tu hai sundar balon ki jatt aur mein us jatt ki joo, tu hai jacuzzi aur mein hoon loo!
FT: Treatment mangta hai lagta hai treatment! (giggles)…
SP: Kya kar raha hai tuuuu…….
MZ: The ceiling.
JL: I’m not a dog, I’m a snake! I don’t bark… I bite!
JL: One cartoon of beer.
K: Nirnanjan….Nirdosh…Nirmal…Nishesh…Nitin…Nupur…Olivia…Omkar…

M: Do you think I’ll buy that story!!

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Speed Post- Not Speed Posting!

Today the moment I got up from my bed and went to brush my teeth, my father asked be to take the letter which he had in his hand to the post office which had to be posted… speed posted to Denmark. I had to go by car so wasn’t a big issue then. He told me few of the post office branches, which were much closer to my house than the main office, and thus I decided that I would leave by 10 am to SPEED POST to the nearer post office. I drove my fathers Accent, an absolute gliding experience even on Indian roads listening to the all time melodic songs of MLTR in the perfect weather one should be driving and within no time I had reached the Post office branch and then the real story started… It was 10:15 AM...
I went inside the office I could see a big counter which was manned by 3 employees and behind them a few rusty iron tables and chair arranged in a slapdash manner. There were few postmen behind that arrangement with jute bags stained and stinky with letters being thrown out of them on the floor! Way behind were some rusted godrej cupboards and hooks on the wall on which there were hung a few pants and shirts which I figured out must be of those postmen who work there. Up on the ceiling were 2 fans which were I think were attempting to spin their blades… even Misty, Ms.SJ’s white small hairy dog spins himself around faster than that object hanging at the ceiling. In short a perfect Indian government office…
I moved forward to the counter where one girl of around 25 years was looking at me from behind the counter. I smiled and I said, “I’ve to speed post this letter.” She took the letter and tried to read what the PRINTED address on the letter said. Then she asked, “Where do we post it?” “Denmark!” I replied. She gave me a baffled look and asked me; “Bahargaon ka hai?” which means is it international. “Yes… To Denmark.” I replied giving a baffled look back as her question actually baffled me cause she is working in a Post Office and the address was printed in Times New Roman with 24-font size.
Looking here and there referring some of their paperback and asking few people around her she came to a conclusion that it would cost me 740 bucks. By then it was already 10:35 am. She requested for some more time. I having vacations didn’t have anything important to do so I was pretty chilled about it. Then she took out some stamps from her drawer and tried counting them and after 10 minutes with my help she figured out that they didn’t value to 740. For some reason she was hesitating to talk to her senior about it who could only in the office take out the stamps from the safe. She asked me to go to the main office far away instead of her asking her boss to take out the stamps. I gave a baffled look again and said, “No I wont… its far and besides you got to do it… I’m your customer.” After sometime more the boss and the dame spoke something and finally Mr. Boss got up from his chair and walked in his governmentally attitude way to the safe and got out the stamps folder. I felt relieved until suddenly I found that even the boss is confused about something and is discussing with the dame. Soon he announced loudly with a tranquil look on his face, “There are no Stamps in this post office… You need to go to the main office.” I was stumped! Have you heard anything like No Stamps in the Post Office! I couldn’t move for sometime. I decided there was no point arguing about it cause it was of no use cause I had already wasted an hour over there and didn’t intend to waste more. It was wiser to take a back seat and drive to the main office. Luckily the Main office has a computerized system that doesn’t need those traditional stamps and my work was done after a long wait in the queue of half an hour, fairly less as per Mumbai standards. I hope the post is speedy enough as it claims itself to be as Speed Post but definitely its not Speed Posting to the Post Office!

Friday, June 09, 2006

MEE MARATHI! I MARATHI!

I’m living in Mumbai for the past 15 consecutive years of my life and have seen and understood many things. This city has taught me a lot and of course the people. I’m a thoroughly a Maharashtrian by caste and to be precise I’m a Rigvedi Deshastha Brahmin who speaks Marathi at home and with all Marathi junta. And yes I’m proud to be one too.
For the past few years Maharashtrians have been very patriotic about Mumbai and feeling very unsecured about their status in the city; joining hands with certain political parties and trying to flee away the non maharashtrians away from Mumbai claiming, “Amchi Mumbai!” I was not totally supportive to the entire movement of the marathi crowd trying to make their own space in the city.
I witnessed horrifying incidences in the trains where the maharashtrians were fighting together with the other people for claiming a seat without identifying themselves as maharashtrians and somehow knowing they are maharashtrians some non-maharashtrians subtlety commented, “ voh saala Marathi ich hoga.” I overheard that comment which means that chap is definitely a Maharashtrian. It was quite disappointing for me to hear that comment cause it somehow reflected aggression synonymous with maharashtrains in a wrong way.
Years passed by after that incidence without it making a significant scar in my thoughts but yet the remark he made in the train was always there somewhere behind in my mind.
Last year on 26th July when Mumbai experienced heavy showers, I was stuck with my bike in my college. The next day I tried moving out thinking rain god would show mercy on the Mumbaikars and me… but it didn’t. I moved out on my bike slowly and praying. Unfortunately my bikes tyre got punctured on the way. After giving a lot of thought I planned to return back to college (fortunately not very far but definitely not walking distance from the scene to the college) walking the bike which would had definitely taken 2-3 hours! However I just kept moving on and on trying to look for a mechanic somewhere on the corner of the street. The situation was similar to a thirsty man walking in a desert trying to search for an oasis!
Like a ray of light that one can see in dark cave, I saw a car battery shop and a mechanic trying to fix some bikes outside the shop. I went running with my 150cc bike to the shop and told the shop owner about the punctured tyre. He said he would charge me 200 bucks! In normal circumstances everyone charges around 100 bucks. I could understand what he was thinking; exactly like one of the business tactics adopted by 5 hotels in Bangalore which one of my dearest professors kept on telling me throughout the year while teaching, “When the sun shines, make hay.” How could I forget that line…(its a IHM joke!)
I agreed to his proposal of fitting a new tube in the tyre and paying 200 bucks as well. When I took out my wallet I soon realized I just had 50 bucks and on enquiring I figured out none of the ATM services around were working! I had given up and went walking with shrugged shoulders towards my bike and start again with my walking bike journey to the college. Suddenly I heard a voice from behind calling loud, “Baccha!” which means Son. I turned back and to my surprise it was the same aged shop owner who was calling me. I went to him and then he asked me where was I going. I soon told him my problem and to my surprise again, he said that he would give me a tube for free today and I can come and pay him whenever I can! I was delighted! The mechanic fixed the tube into my bike and rhoom…… I went to college. Thanks to that old man that my 26th July experience was not as horrific as what other faced or what I could have faced!
The essence to this incidence is that the shop owner was definitely not a Maharashtrian nor did he care what I was, who I was, how honest I was etc… All he knew was here’s a boy… a Mumbai boy who’s a college student, who’s in trouble, who needs help and which the man did very dutifully.
Unifying both the incidences one- mee marathi(train and the protests) and the 26th July incidence something is really very salient about them.
Maybe its not fair and the right thing to do to distinguish people on the basis of place of origin… Definitely have pride about our culture and traditions and so should everyone, but its wrong to say, for that matter for anyone to say, “Our culture is superior to yours.” Maybe there were many maharashtrians as well on 26th July who were helping non-maharashtrians… even they must have not asked the sufferers are you Marathi or not? Why are we getting unified only when calamity strikes us and on any other regular day we are just a marathi or a gujju or a punju and not Mumbaikars as a whole? What I can see here is Mumbai today does not belong only to the maharashtrains... Ofcourse maharshtrians have been one of the major contributors to the city and its their own land but there has also been an humongous contribution by the gujjus, the parsi's, the sindhis and the marwadis, the muslims, the shetty's and for that matter even the britishers. Isn't it?


JOBS AND PROFESSION
Do we really need to throw out people out of Mumbai for jobs? By We I mean maharashtrians… I mean we are in the 21st century right? On one side we are talking about globalization and on the other hand we are talking about Mumbai is only of and for Maharashtrians. If we are trying to compete China then we are competing as India (and not as marathi) and if Mumbai is the base for our growth shouldn’t talent from all over the country be encouraged to give the best they can to Mumbai for a better and competitive India?
As far as jobs are concerned each person has his own potential then he might be a marathi or a gujrati or sindhi… he will make it to the highest point where he is destined to be… then he doesn’t really need Mumbai to reach that point, then why the protesting, aggression and breaking of glasses of malls etc? Aint we spoiling our own image by doing that thus reflecting ourselves as a non-seculiar community as against our ancestorial peshwas and the marathas? Aren't non-maharashtrians as well enriching Mumbai with what they have?


It’s very common to say gujjus are good businessman or shetty’s have catering joints or bhaiyyas are taking all lower level jobs… have you ever noticed MAJORITY of the best DOCTORS are Maharashtrians? All the Pandits n Kulkarnis n Desai’s and Mandke’s are common names for a Doctor aren’t they? Might not be true in the north but definitely in Mumbai and for that matter even abroad at places like London and New York. Most of the average marathi families definitely have a doctor or a engineer somewhere in their family free. There have been quality journalists, singers, sportsmen, actors, politicians, freedom fighters from the land of Shivaji. Even maharashtrians can hold pride in that. Theres nothing wrong to say that Maharashtrians are and have been Good Professionals! Thus there's no reason to feel insecurities in Mumbai except that the competition is rising which would rise anyway at one point or the other.

Its time to understand that life in Mumbai or for that matter life in globalization of the world has become a competition where a youngster in USA feels unsecured cause his job is taken by a Indian or a Chinese and in Mumbai a Marathi feels that his place is taken by someone else… Time has come for everyone and yes even maharashtrians are very much in the race to compete for their place in the globe like anyone else rather then trying to drive out people from a particular place and then being driven out themselves unknowingly from the same place and the race!..... hey that rhymes!



Sunday, June 04, 2006

INDIA POLL


Today while watching one of the most viewed English Indian news channel by the Indians which is fairly a new news channel according to a poll conducted by the same channel there is this show called something like India Poll that conducts a poll every night on any hot topic according to them for the day. One of the most reputed journalists in India Mr.RSD conducts the show on the news channel. Basically what happens is the topic is announced several times 1-2 hours before the show where our beloved Journalist –anchor who announces really loud, “ABC is the HOT TOPIC for the day. Please send you votes by SMS to AB space 1 for Yes, AB space 2 for No, AB space 3 for cant say (AB space 4 for my head!) to 3232 by 9:00PM and then we have special guests A, B, C etc… to discuss (pulverize) the topic”
Today I noticed something which none must’ve till today. Our dearly loved journalist-anchor Mr.RSD during the INDIA POLL show said really piercing and clear, “50 percent of you Indians think, YES whatever the hot topic was (I don’t remember that part) while 25% of you Indians think No and the rest, Can’t say”
I was taken aback by his confidence on whatever statement he made. Read again may be even you’ll understand. How can one of the most reformed Indian Journalist say 50 percent of You Indians! By the way polls show the percentages of the total number of people who voted right? How does that make YOU INDIANS or YOU? What makes him think that the entire population of India has voted (which is not possible)? How can he take it for granted that none of them have voted twice? Or if at all anyone votes (You never know to what extent can these news channels go which can be considered as a possibility cause I’ve not come across any INDIAN as Mr.RSD says who votes for these programmes through their mobile phones… let me know if you do)
Lets take for instance, only 3 people voted for the poll. Which means as per the above conclusion concluded by Mr.RSD arithmetically only 1 person said YES, 1 person said NO and the rest (that’s only 1 man) said Cant say. So does that really make You Indians or We Indians for that matter? I never voted… did you? From which we can also infer that these polls need not necessarily depict the opinion of WE INDIANS but only of the Indians who voted for the poll, which can also question the REALISM of the conclusions from the nations point of view, concluded in such programmes. Dont get me wrong; I'm not against polling but against not determining the sample size of a poll conducted. Dont you think that plays a vital roll especially after the illustration above?
Our Indian broadcast Journalists trying to make the politicians, the celebrities and the rest more responsible (using spy cams and other means) have forgotten that they too are somewhere responsible to the Indians. Somewhere its telling me Indian broadcast journalism is lacking what we all can call
RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM.
So all the news broadcasting groups, just be more careful next time cause these Indians can very well ask you for justification on what you do… Just try being more responsible in the statements you make cause WE THE INDIANS are not that ignorant… at least I’m not.
That’s all the news for today; I’m Creation, meandmyfrequency bureau, Mumbai.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

WE HAVE DONE IT

Today the pre monsoon showers arrived in Mumbai!! The scorching heat of the sun has been suddenly surpassed by the pleasant weather and the wonderful grey clouds up there in the sky! Just the way a change should be. Its perfect! Its time to go to Worli sea face or Marine Drive enjoying roasted chana or butta with friends and sing with everyone, “Yere Yere Pavsa” (Which is a regional Marathi song… calling the rains)

The pre-monsoon shower has also sent us an alarm that the MONSOONS ARE COMING! Gear up Guys! Remember last monsoon what happened to Mumbai!
That day of July I witnessed the world’s highest recorded rainfall in a day…. And it was disastrous and catastrophic and ruinous and grievous and all other adjectives you could think of.

Which makes me wonder whether the government has taken all the steps to avoid the same situation? They say they have cleared up the Mithi River; I hope so too.
But one thing I can comment on is the situation of the ROADS in Mumbai especially in monsoon. Let us start again… its disastrous and grievous and ruinous etc etc…

The Ghodbunder Road… Yes the legendary old road in Thane where my complex is, has been popular for all these years for the wrong reasons- Accidents, potholes etc..
The government that would get it concreted and get a flyover built with streetlights and lanes and dividers, trust me they would win all elections thereafter in the area. But it’s simply not done for all these years (Although I should mention Mr.Chandrashekhar tried his best to get it right.)

Some months back, I was coming home by bus from my college in the evening as usual and at the Kapurbadwi Circle- one of the junctions of Ghodbunder road there was a big banner…. Yes a really huge banner put up by the National Congress Party (Sharad Pawar and Company) with some of them smiling as never before and had a big heading-
WE HAVE DONE IT !
Since the bus passed by the banner really fast I couldn’t actually figure out what they had done. So I made a point to see it the next day what they have done. The next day from the bus I read the banner but I don’t remember the exact words but to give a gist they were communicating that the Ghodbunder road would be concreted. I felt good deep inside that next time I drive my car on this road …I would glide.
But hey, have you really done it? Where is it done? Its still the same… Actually not quite the same. The concretization started months after the banner which said WE HAVE DONE IT was put up. Look at the irony of the situation, the road was never looked after for so many years and now they are in the middle of concretization of the road and the monsoons have nearly arrived. Another 70% of the road is the way it was however some patchwork has been done.
I think the political parties of India lack the SENSE OF TIMING. Only in this one situation I can give you two instances; one is they started the 18 months project of Ghodbunder road 2-3 months before monsoon (hopefully the government is finding solutions to fix the problem of ½ well concreted and other half with potholes since both are at different levels) and second, the NCP should had put the banner only after the road was done, right? Or if you are really in a hurry of putting the banner then write something like-
WE ARE DOING IT! As that would make some relevance to the situation.

I have heard the CM and the other delegates are working on some temporary solution for the Ghodbunder Road for the monsoons…. I really hope they do. Or else I think once the monsoon starts things would get really pathetic to legendary levels and then the public can put a bigger banner with all these guys smiling wider than ever (or some other expression that they feel is appropriate for the situation) with a bigger heading addressing the NCP- LOOK WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!

(Nevertheless, at least the work has started. Better late then never…)
Here’s a gist of the positive side that the NCP did for the Ghodbunder road:
Tracking the tender January 12: Public Works Department (Public Undertakings) Minister Anil Deshmukh meets residents, announces plans to revamp Ghodbunder Road into a 10-lane superway. A tender is floated for the Rs 140.44-crore project
April: MSRDC board passes tender in favour of Ideal Builders. Tender is put before the infrastructure committee headed by the Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh
October 1: Newsline report highlights why the Ghodbunder road revamp is stuck
October 3: Local legislator Jitendra Awhad protests the delay in clearing the tender. Awhad, along with other Nationalist Congress Party members, plants trees inside the potholes
October 22: Anil Deshmukh had written to the CM on four occasions. Deshmukh says he ‘‘does not remember the matter and does not recall the tender’’
November 24: Tender gets a go-ahead from the CM
In that case, a banner relevant to the situation should have said, “ We have passed the tender!” or "We have passed it!" cause you know it’s not yet done….

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Enlightenment to Hospitality Industry

I being a hospitality graduate which is a degree that a common mother in India would not like their son to have or aspire for their son being one saying, “I don’t want to make my son a waiter!” Yes you westerners out there (if you come across my article) that’s the general perception the Indians have. The profession is way too under-rated than what it deserves! I don’t blame us the Indians because that’s the kind of awareness in India about hospitality industry……. my industry.
Some people will come and ask me the most stupid of questions of course I don’t blame them but then sometimes it’s really irritating after all I’m a human being too. People will ask me questions like, “ How do I marinade a broiler chicken as I’m used to marinating only country chickens in our countryside?” or “We eat food in air-conditioned dining room in the house? How do you people get rid of food smells in such room?” (For gods sake spray the air freshener man!!) and many more questions which I can give you in detail when we meet in person cause right now I want to bring some light to the Indian population specifically about the hospitality industry….

Hospitality industry is not just about food. Of course food is an integral part of the industry but the industry does not start and end with food. There are 4 core or operational departments like the Food Production, Food and Beverage Service, Front Office and the Housekeeping. (Did you know that majority of the hotels revenue in derived from rooms and not food?) Beyond these operational departments there is a lot more to a multi-crore property like Human Resources, Sales and Marketing, IT, Finance, Accounts, Purchase, Security and the Engineering department which work back in the hotel and there are numerous carrier building opportunities out there as well which pay equivalent to any other industry. (So mothers watch out the opportunities for your child and try learning more about hotels cause trust me you are missing it.)

The Kitchen Story:
People (most of them) outside the industry feel working in the kitchen is as simple as switching on a fan or like putting raw ingredients in a magic machine and then whatever comes out go and serve it to the guest. This could be true in a Irani or a Udipi or some other insignificant joint on the road. But hey, when you a talking about a fine dining restaurant it means BUSINESS… it literally means FINE DINING! In a fine dining restaurant there’s a magic machine called THE CHEF (Did you know Chef means The Chief?) Every time a product is made (that’s how food is addressed inside a restaurant kitchen) trust me it has to have the same taste and the same size and the same weight with the same colour, the same texture, the same shape, the same presentation, the same accompaniments and served at the right temperature! If you don’t do it right… hoho…. Buddy you got appraisals to be signed soon! Also you loose out from regular clients cause they expect the same damn product everytime and then there’s nothing wrong expecting that… we charge them, don’t we? A product Abc has to be like product Abc every time... Ofcourse you can potray your creativity by making other products but do not disturb the standards and authenticity of a particular product. We’ve to see that the entire meal has the correct amount and the correct combination of hot and sour, sweet and pungent, bland and spicy, soft, smooth, crunchy, tender etc etc. That’s how you can keep a person interested in the meal, throughout the meal right? (Did you know that a French Classical Menu can have as many as 13 courses and can last for even 4-5 hours or even more?)
By now I’m sure its clear to you that a restaurant kitchen doesn’t function like a house kitchen.
Cooking food is an art with a lot of science involved. Its about creating something with your own hands… its about building a product with your own hands and you’ll start getting satisfaction only once you start creating things the way its done in fine dining kitchens and dollop of appreciation on top of the creation is a bonus!

India and the world:
I agree the Indian cuisine does not make us understand what really needs to be understood as a gourmet. We have
varied cuisines within the country. It is typical for an Indian to abuse cuisines of other nations and say, “ Mera bharat aur khana mahan.” I agree that we got depth in our cuisine but that does not justify that we have a superior cusine and not appreciate other cuisines (besides Chinese which is an entire huge topic altogether). The actual reason behind this is the Indian palettes are so much used to the myriad of spices and the garam masalas (and now we are not open to any other flavours) that we’ve burnt the taste buds of our palette to actually understand the mild and subtle tastes and aromas of other cuisines of the world or say even wines. I’m sure most of us wont understand what a connoisseur or a sommelieur is speaking about a wine in a wine tasting session because we lack the palette to actually understand the wine. Majority of us wont be able to identify how a chicken tastes by itself (even thinking it makes us feel pathetic) as we are so used to stuffing chicken with lots of spices and consuming it where we somewhere forget to appreciate the subtle tastes and flavors that occur naturally in food always overpowering them with spices and then eating “spiced chicken” or make it the other way “Chickened Spices”. Although I must say the scene in India is changing gradually.

Ever wondered why Indian cuisine is not as popular as Italian or Spanish cuisine or the entire continental cuisine as a whole in the world? The primary reason is our cuisine is not well documented. For instance, if you go to an Indian restaurant and order for um… lets say a dish as simple as Chicken Roghani (that’s how the urban population says it as. But hey it’s a Indian dish right? Then make it sound Indian. Why do we say Chicken Tandoori and not Murg Tandoori or Mutton Roganjosh and not Gosht Roganjosh and some people would write on their menu cards POTATO BHAJI! Why are we so influenced by the westerners that we even forget what our food is called? Just say Aloo ki Subji or if you really want to speak English then call the entire dish in English like Chicken roasted in charcoal clay oven and flavored with spices and curd for Murg Tandoori); bet it you wont find the same Murg Roghani in other restaurant or sometimes even the same restaurant after an hour (personal experience). That fine day in a good reputed 5star hotel when I ordered for Murg Roghani for the 2nd round the waiter came with an answer as pathetic as, “ The Chef who cooked it earlier has ended his shift and went home (who served us a red curry while the new chef served us a white curry).” Can you believe that? I mean it was a 5star Indian restaurant? Even I fainted that day!
Looking at this pathetic state of our cuisine which desereves much more than that its only because its NOT WELL DOCUMENTED(Did you know Murg tikka masala is the highest selling item today in the UK?). We need to standardize all recipes in our cuisine…. You know this is one of the steps in preserving our rich culture and cuisine and an attempt to keep it as authentic as possible for centuries ahead.
The French and the Italians have documented their cuisine so well that when you order for Chicken Chasseur or let me correct it Poulet Saute Chasseur, you can expect a nice joint of chicken leg of a standard weight with some espagnol sauce and would definitely have sliced mushrooms, shallots and tomatoes in it! Now that’s what is documentation that we Indians must consider to progress our culinary art on par with any other cuisine! (Since our chefs have maintained their secrets about their dishes since centuries unlike the Italians, we have failed to popularize the cuisine amongst the chefs of other nations.)

Lets hope that this article has brought some enlightenment about the Hospitality sector and the cuisine of India to all of you. Lets make an attempt and give one more good reason to say, “Mera Bharat Mahan” cause we got the potential but we are just waiting for someone else to do it for us! (Remember food is an integral and substantial part of any culture.)

Friday, May 26, 2006

The Other Side Not Spoken Of


Adolf Hitler! Big name right? Probably one of the men and the most significant of them in the modern history of mankind.

I just think that this man fascinates every history student though I’m not an academically history student but still a keen history learner. Every student is taught in the school, “ Hitler was a bad man as he killed innocent people!” Absolutely true and I agree with that. Killing anyone in anyway is bad and any level headed man wont like it. When I say I’m fascinated by this man I’m not happy that he killed people but he is definitely worth admiring the kind of politician he was. This man when he was a boy was a poor unknown painter in Austria and with his determination he stood against others and became one of the greatest dictators of the world!! The kind of carrier he had as an individual was absolutely mind-blowing and I think I would like to praise and congratulate him on that.
This man who didn’t like fresh flowers I think is the only responsible guy to bring up Germany from the exorbitant losses it suffered in World War I to the kind of developed and powerful nation it became later. He had only one focus in life… to make Germany the best damn country in all ways and he had nearly done it hadn’t the Russians conspirated(partially) against Germany, which I think turned the whole course of World War 2.

Lets try to imagine what Adolf Hitler could have been thinking when he said Jews are traitors to Germany considering all possibilities with an assumption he was not a racist.
Ø Maybe that was the only way to unite rest of the Germans.
Ø Since at that time Jews held high posts in offices and were the wealthier population, which was not giving Germans an upper hand.
Ø He was driving away a good amount of population thus the Germans could sustain on the resources left after World war 1.

If looked objectively to the entire record of wars of mankind it’s quite true to say there is no good or bad in world politics, winners have always been good and losers have always been bad because the story is always told by the winners and obviously they wont depict themselves as bad if they want to continue their power and respect.
Hitler and the kind of disciplinarian he was had all habits right in place as all the mothers expect their child to be, like for instance No smoking, No drinking as also believed in Early to bed and early to rise as against Roosevelt and Churchill who were heavy drinkers and smokers with hardly any discipline in their lives. Interesting right?
If a person as strong as Hitler replaces the corrupt rulers of our countries, he can do miracles, please undermine greatness of the leadership of Hitler by saying that he was imperialist and ambitious, but in fact he was against injustice of Treaty of Versailles and wanted justice in order to bring back honour to Germany. He said during Disarmament Conference that Germany could not unilaterally disarm, rather disarmament should be on the basis of equality; either all should disarm to the same extent or no one should and look at the greatness of his Army, that he overran almost entire Europe in some days, who believed that man controls his luck! Looking from the other side of the Disarmament policy of the Allies it can also be thought that they were trying to weaken Germany further so that they have their own RAJ around the world. How many of us would like a leader that is as per the following equation:

Ideal Leader = Hitler - Racism - Unjustified Killing.

Remem
ber the Nathuram Godse conspiracy against Mahatma Gandhi?? Even today many Maharashtrian Brahmins say Nathuram Godse did the right thing by killing the Father of India as people don’t know the other face of the story of the Mahatma.
And why don’t the people know the other side has been explained by saying, “ We are taught history only from Congress point of view since they were in power since 1947!”
Doesn’t that make us curious what could the other side of the story be or whether it really has any other side or not? (Did you ever realize that we got history books with nearly 75% pages dedicated to the moderates and the rest 25% to the extremists and then the extremists history is never as detailed as that of the moderates and I’m sure none of us (average Indians) today can write even 10 lines on revolutionaries of our country like Chandrashekhar Azad, Sukhdev or Madam Cama)

Well thinking on same lines but slightly different try to imagine some questions like, “ What can the other side of the story of World War 2 be??” “Are we taught history only from the point of view of the Allied Forces and that’s all we know?” or a bigger question like, “ What if Germany won the war? Would Hitler have taught us some different history about the world?” or even a bigger question, “Is there a other side at all that the defeated couldn’t ever express…. Which would bring out even a bigger question about our existence, as what we follow today is only what the winners taught us who necessarily need not be the idols for a disciplined and a correct way of life………… What do you think?

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

GENERATION

Since childhood living in the city of Mumbai I've always been hearing from my parents, teachers, neighbours and elder sister always saying, "You young kids need to be in some control!" "You are crossing limits" ... My elder sister used to say, "When I was of your age, we couldn't even do ABC and you guys dont even've to ask for doing stuff like XYZ"... Me and my friends always thought whats wrong if we do stuff that we do? Its ok...Big deal.. We know what we are doin.. We are not crossing any limits.. Mother needs a break... and always went around the neighbourhood as the GENERATION NEXT guys with a YO attitude and be kewl n chilled about life. My father used to tell me when I was in 6th grade, " You guys are lucky to wear a watch at this age... I got a watch only after I passed my 10th Grade" or some other times they compare " We used to go to school walking and you find it difficult to go even by a bus!! " or " We used to go to school wearing no footwear and you guys have a pair of shoe for each day!! " ... We said So What? The situation demands those needs. It used to feel ' Hey probably we are the ones who are changing the face of Modern India... Thinking will be so similar between us and our children.. and stuff like that.. or there would be no GENERATION GAP(the important word) between us and our children"...... Suddenly we graduating this month and then all my friends hanging out together started speaking about the younger generation, " Hey these young kids in school nowdays.. Have no respect for their teachers (apparently some of my friends teach in schools on part time basis)... even we used to tease our teachers but in limits!! " or " These guys are getting out of control! Some discipline needs to be inculcated in them !! " .. while the other friend of mine said, " Even today I've to take permission from my parents to dine with my friends or to go with girls to waterparks.. But my younger brother, he and his friends (mentioning BOYS and GIRLS specifically) go every sunday to the elite restaurants of Mumbai for dining or with GIRLS (making it a big deal) to water parks !!".... Suddenly things were striking me in that quite corner of mine where I was sittin... Maybe my generation is repeating the same things as my earlier generation did... for that matter even Kapil Dev on TV once said " My children object straight on my face if they disagree with me but I didnt have the guts to do that to my parents"... Maybe the cycle of this GENERATION GAP is never ending... My grandpa went to school without chappals.. my dad went on cycle.. I went in a bus.. maybe my kids would go on bikes.. and theirs in cars .. and theirs maybe in planes..... Somethings never change.. every genertation feels we are the COOLEST generation who have limits and have fun simlutaneously..... The only way to reduce the gaps is by understanding that the society is opening up little by little every generation and then there's nothing wrong in that.. Major disputes between generation occur only on few subjects and that would be Standard of living and Way of life. If one understands that the culture of youngest generations is so similar all around the world and you know sometimes accepting it in a whole hearted way can really solve problems or maybe being a part of it to make a big entire GENERATION WITH NO GAP or lets say GENERATION FULL!!



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