How and why I am an engineer?

Originally posted in a different blog of mine on Wednesday, November 28, 2007

For some odd reason, I never had any particular ambition while at school. Thanks to a few really good Maths teachers and Physics teachers at High School, I grew a good deal of interest in Science and Technology at a high school. Not to forget, my interest in opening up television sets, radio, calculators, other electronic items for the fun of it and / or repairing them. During my eighth to tenth standard, I had a group of friends who had similar interest in electronics and would make electronic items for fun and sale. So perhaps sub-consciously I had prepared myself for a career in Engineering.

My father was doing a business of raw materials for industries in Coimbatore. So names like KSB Pumps, ELGI, LMW, and other prominent industries in Coimbatore were quite familiar to us. During the long vacation after the tenth exams, I used to commute daily to Coimbatore with my father to his office for time pass and at times act like an assistant officer when he goes out. Then I had a dream of building that business once I am out of college.

But it is still amazes me how come I never thought of which group to take or even thought about the groups available in pre-graduate college till the tenth results were out. I had given Commerce as the second choice and Biology (II group) as third group since I had made my mind long back in sixth standard, that if at all I would ever have to do dissection of an animal, I would revolt, run out of lab, and abandon marks for practicals. Such a preference would give the least chance of getting in Biology group, Arts ruled out in any case. Luckily I did not have to create such a scene. Against the sky-rocketing 99.9% of State board students my humble 88% CBSE marks looked too meagre but managed to get me a first group in the grand old Govt. Victoria College, Palakkad.

The classes started somewhere in August 1999. The Engineering Entrance exams were my biggest mystery of all times. Unlike the current internet world of today, there were no such access to public information in 1996.. (hmm .. 11 long years, looks like it all happened yesterday). In the midst of the confusion some body infused into me the IIT dream too. I had to rely on whatever information was provided by friends. The faces of the college lecturers at Victoria College would turn red the moment someone mentions anything about entrance exams. I had been whining away my time during the vacation while most of my friends had joined coaching centres for entrance and tutions.

The initial weeks were like hell. I felt so unsecure about my future. Did I miss the bus? Will I ever become a Electronics Engineer? Classes at Victoria College, for that matter any Kerala college were time pass with strikes every alternate day. If it is not strike, it is the attitude of the lectures - "what if I don't take classes, these people must have enrolled somewhere for tution". Most of my friends would be discussing about the portions taken at their weekend tution classes. While i would be fighting a losing battle against differentiation, some of them would be way ahead in integration.

Faced with such a lack of information, I contacted a few of the well know names in the tution and coaching business. They added their bit of fear onto me stating that entrance exams covers a wide range of syllabus that is not covered in the university - something every middleman in India does. So enrolling in entrance coaching alone is not sufficient I need to enroll for the weekend coaching classes too.

Deluded I discussed with parents, they were equally clueless. Three things were hanging over my head. First, I knew that my father's business is not doing well. But parents were obviously not hesitant to invest as much money this would need. Second, this whole idea of sacrificing Saturdays and Sundays did not go down well into me. Third, my reasoning that if engineering entrance, (for that matter any testing of aptitude) is all about the engineering aptitude in us; it is either I have it or I don't. The whole idea of "coaching" seemed illogical. But inspite of all these I decided to go for it.

It seems a lot of important turning points in life are decided in a casual uneventful meet. One evening while returning from Melamuri I met a village mate and my senior in college. It was a casual meet but he went on to explain the nuances of the entrance exams, the professional secrets of the "coachers". He gave me a list of few books that are basically objective question banks in each of physics, chemistry and maths. His words were quite convincing, though he never addressed the carefree attitude of college lecturers in covering portions. It was dark when we parted but I was cleared of my confusions.

A week later I happened to visit my mother's cousin in Coimbatore who is in a reputed Christian Convent. She too voiced similar opinions which cemented my decision to do it alone. She also gave me address of a reputed Chennai based instution for correspondence based tutorial for IIT. I saw a few of their books at her place. I felt the content to be quite interesting as against a shortcut for success. So I enrolled.

The next two years were a race against time. The college lecturers had unfailing faith on the private coaching agencies that they took classes at their leisure and often taking an unfaithful dig at their private saviours. Strikes and college elections provided the much needed entertainment. While my classmates sacrificed their weekends, I spent some quality at home. It was not a tough job as such, since I used to return home by 11 am or 12 am everyday and spend the rest of the day learning the portions left out by lecturers. That was the best period of life though at times I would wonder if I had taken the wrong decision.

During the second year the attendance started to dry up by January end and teachers and students were boycotting classes mutually. And on one fine early February morning, there were only two boys, obviously I was one of them, in the physics class. We both went to meet the physics lecturer. He behaved like a reluctant government officer and asked us "Ningal enda tution poovaathathu?" (Why didn't you two go to tutions?)

That was humiliating. I had a last look at the room 94, our classroom for the last two years and left. The next time I was in college was for exams - I suppose.

The last days to the entrance exams were filled with fun, thrill, & anxiety. The village Ther festival was a week before the exams. I could not afford to sit and read my school books when so much fun is out in the temple. Adding to all my academic tensions, was the nuclear adventure of India. I was glued to the TV and newspapers following the world's reaction and all the double standards.

The mystery was finally solved on the Physics entrance exam. It wasn't really as big as it was all blown out to be. I was quite confident as l left the hall after the Physics exam. Maths was a washout, I would have managed to finish a face saving number of questions. During the last year I had a very dedicated Organic Chemistry lecturer at college, who made organic chemistry so interesting that I did all the questions in the Chemistry entrance confidently. A month later I went to see the results at the Civil Station along with my friend. I turned the page looking for the my rank, there it was - 2021. It was considered a "good" rank in those times. I heaved a sign of relief. We decided to go for a movie. It was raining heavily but who cares!!

The two year story will be incomplete if I don't complete the last casual uneventful meeting. It was quite sure that I will not get ECE - my fascination, atleast in Palakkad, NSS Engineering College with that rank. Most of my friends had decided to choose mechanical engineering. I kept swaying between mechanical and electrical. My arguement - EEE has an electronics in it so it will be a decent bargain against ECE. Way back in 1998, Computer Science had not become so popular. Inspite of all the advice from friends to opt for mechanical I was adamant on taking EEE. On my train journey to Thiruvananthapuram to attend the councelling, a group of college students from Bangalore joined us at Ernakulam. They had missed their train due to confusion of dates that usually happens with tickets booked on the zero hour. one of the boys was quite friendly and I picked up a chat with him. I explained my predicament. He said "Given a choice of EEE and ME, go for Mechanical. It is evergreen"

The next day, when asked for my branch at councelling. I said "Mechanical Engineering, NSS college of Engineering" I have never regretted that decision of mine.

Posted by Ramanan at 9:22 AM

The First Flight

Flying!

A feat that has been humankind's fantasy since time immemorial. No wonder, I had the fantasy too. It was indeed a surprise and a mystery about how the things down below would look when seen from sky. The closest experience I had was with a Flight Simulator programme , I used to play on my PC. Subsequently, Google Earth came closer.

Plane Gazing:

My house in Pazhavanthangal, in Chennai, was hardly a kilometre from Chennai Airport and I could watch the flights landing and taking off from my sky. But most of them being domestic ones, would be the small Airbus 300, 310 & 320 or Boeing 737s, Paramount Airlines' Embraer E-Jets and an few occasional ATRs. They provided a variety to the eyes.

The magnificent ones however are the international ones that fly the huge Airbus 340s, Boeing 747 and the Boeing 777. Most of these however stick to the night schedules. Some do fly the day times like the Air France Cargo - a B747, Emirates - A330 and a weekly Thai - B747. But then, there was one plane that I admired the most. It is a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300 (though I believed it to be an Airbus 340). Oh! the introduction is taking too long, but if I don't describe this, I will not be doing justice to this topic.

This is a late evening flight and lands at Chennai at about 10:45 at night. It is easy to identify the bigger flights even at night since, they unlike others approach the runway so slowly, sometimes even appearing to be still. It is a beautiful sight as she turns around her left as arriving from the Bay of Bengal and positioning herself along the runway. She would glide down gracefully and silently. At a kilometre before the runway, she would turn on her main lights and a few lights below her wings illuminating the herself and the trees around the airport. It is a marvellous sight to see the huge, long and magnificent bird gracefully touching down and then vanish between the trees - a sight I would see almost everyday without getting bored.

Events leading to my flight

It was late January and I received this interview call from Tata Chemicals in Mithapur, Gujarat. Attending an interview in Gujarat and returning back to work in Chennai was nothing short of a nightmare. HR of the company will be paying the equivalent of AC train fare from Chennai to their place. The biggest problem I found out with trains was that there are no good trains to Ahmedabad, that reaches on time and that I had to go another 500 km west of Ahmedabad to this place. I checked a few websites for the flight charges to Ahmedabad and it turned out that Air Deccan fares came a about Rs. 1000 higher than the AC train fare.

Given that my current job profile was not so glamorous coupled with a bureaucracy in the company that links everything from the cup you have tea in, internet access and the class of travel to your position, there was no way, I would be travelling in a plane in the near future. Though the position offered at Tata Chemicals was quite good, but then I that is something still far. So I decided to take go ahead. As I sat at Thrisulam railway station opposite to the Chennai Airport, with the e-ticket in hand and gazing at the new hoardings put up by GoAir, KingFisher and others, a few friends were discussing about their US visa interview and plans to go to USA. I looked at the destination on my ticket, Ahmedabad and laughed at myself.

At Airport

That day was the Sunday, 19th February 2006. The flight was scheduled at 12:50 I believe. I did not have much to carry, since, it was for a day or two, I just had 2 sets of clothes and a few essentials and then a camera. It was quite nervous. It is not the fear of heights but a sense of disbelief and an unknown tension. I reached the airport very well ahead of time. Being the first time, I asked the information centre what I am supposed to do. They directed me to the check in counter, and the scanner. I went to the scanner with the display "Air Deccan" and tried to put my cabin baggage into it. The personal over there told me that is for checked in baggage, I nodded as if I understood and proceeded to the check in counter. Then I completed the security and moved to the gates.

I was quite early and add to that the flight was declared late. I sat at the departure lounge looking at planes taking off and landing. There was one Indian Airlines plane to Mumbai, with a bridge attached it. Every five minutes there would be a "last and final call" for the passengers boarding that flight. Perhaps the crew were afraid of travelling alone. As the display kept updating the departures of other flights, my flight status was a static "delay".

I was watching and observing every smallest things and the activities over there, since I may not get to fly in the near future. Perhaps due to the reason that Chennai did not have enough gates, most airlines were carrying the passengers up to the plane in their buses. A cabin crew will be at the gate with a list and a security officer would be checking the boarding passes and letting the passengers into the bus.

Where to sit?

When you are going to fly for the first time and perhaps the last time, would it not be wise to have the window seat? And that is exactly what I wanted too. And not just that, I wanted to sit exactly on the side from where I can see my terrace at Pazhavanthangal from where I gazed all the planes. So I observed the direction the planes were taking off, before I left home and decided that I should be sitting on the right side to have a glimpse of my home. Since low cost airlines don't assign seat numbers, it is first come first served for seating on board.

I was in for a shock. There were couple of announcements going on. One about the late departure of my flight and another the late arrival of a flight of the same airline from Port Blair. Perhaps the flight from Andaman goes to Ahmedabad as the next flight. I was shocked to see an ATR from Andaman landing. A sense of despair ran down. I am not going to travel in a flight that resembles a Kerala transport bus with two fans on its sides. But it is too late.

As the boarding time neared, people started crowding near the gate which seemed most probable. Without losing time I jumped into the line and managed a decent 10th position, well not a bad one. But with a last minute announcement and change of gates, they ensured that I landed up in the middle of the newly formed line. Luckily that made me amongst the last persons to board the first bus and I ended up being among the first few people to board the plane.

As the bus moved on towards the ATR, all my excitement vanished and I wished I could evaporate in thin air. The bus went a few hundred metres of the ATR and made a U turn, and lo! there stands an Airbus 320, with a few staff on the tarmac and is being refuelled. So this is my flight. I was jubilant. It was exiting as I boarded the plane. I felt like it was all gloomy inside and cold and filled with smoke, but I did not fail to notice the beautiful flight attendant.

In the excitement I ran to the right seat on the fifth or so row but then realised that it could be over the wings and does not serve the purpose.

The take off

I wasn't sure if camera may be used on board so did not take it out. As the plane taxied down the to runway, I leaned against the windows to see the world outside from the air. It positioned itself and pulled forward. As it accelerated forward, the g-forces were pulling be back, I have never been subjected to this before. I cannot forget the moment the landing gears were lifted and my first moment in air. I said to myself "You did it".

On board

Soon, the familiar landmarks were zooming past, so fast that I before I could decipher them, they are gone. I did not find my terrace, all I could see was a matrix of streets and trees and concrete rectangles. The plane soon crossed the St. Thomas Mount Railway station and made a sharp turn to left before I could have a glimpse of Guindy. Further it was all uncharted territory and could hardly make out anything.

Once it crossed the Chennai suburbs and reached its cruising altitude, nothing was hardly visible on the ground. It was a clear day with blue skies and huge clouds "below". It was like flying over a garden with cauliflowers lying around.

When ever the ground was visible, I could make out cities and towns by the roads - roads would be radiating out from some points which obviously should be urban areas. It is amazing to see how illogical and round about many of the highways are when looked up from the sky. The rivers shone like strands of silver wire. At a few places, I could see large dams, identifiable with a straight edge on one side and other sides rivers running into the reservoir resembling fingers and the palm.

Thus two hours literally flew past.

After ten months, I crossed the seas in that Singapore Airlines B777-300, which I used to admire every night from my terrace.

Morning in Adithyapuram

This post was originally created on Tuesday, October 9, 2007 as a separate blog http://ramanan-atypicaldayinadithyapuram.blogspot.com/ It is now now ported to my common blog. All comments are welcome here.





I am going to Adithyapuram this week. Not that I am going after a very long time but this time there is a very high level of nostalgia in me as I recollect the past. I spent the last night recollecting the scenes on the street as I would have seen sitting on the steps of my house. So I thought of recording my feelings and scenes that ran in my mind.

Adithyapuram lying to the east of the twin villages - Adithyapuram and Pallipuram is the first to welcome, on any particular day, Adithya, a synonym for Sun . Long before the sun's rays show up, the day begins at Adithyapuram with the ringing of bells at the Gopalakrishna temple.

Soon, air reverberates with M.S.Subbalakhmi's rendition of Sri Venkatesha Suprabhatham. It is still dark on the main street but there is already activity on the street. Maamis are already cleaning and putting kolams infront of the houses. A few newspaper vendors have started their morning routine. Some devout people make their way to the temple to have a darshan of the Lord before the start of their day. A few mamas and maamis go for a morning walk - a recent "healthy" trend. An auto rickshaw or a two rush past with people who have come from Madras or Bangalore by Trivandrum or Mangalore mail and Island Express. Soon music changes to "Bhavayami Raghuraamam". Perhaps I am more nostalgic to Bhavaayami than Suprabhtham... may be because I have never woken up so early to listen to Suprabhatham. Bhaavayaami is followed by RangapuraVihara., by which time sun is up above the village tank (koLam) and in the midst of the coconut trees.

There are voices of children around the corner. A group of orphans from an orphanage near the Kanikkamatha school are going to Church. The early morning air is fresh and by now it is people who have finished their baths and making to the temple who are to be seen on the streets. Couple of students and men who commute to Coimbatore by the 7:20 train are seen rushing and hurriedly paying respects to the Lord. After an hour of silence the temple now plays naadaswaram announcing that it is time for morning Deeparaadhana. Some mama walks past me, smiling and nodding his head sideways in a typical Palakkad style. This peculiar sort of expression is perhaps never seen in any other community. A few maamis, maamas go past me on their way to the temple. One of them stop by and ask "Eppo vandhaai? Enge irukkai?" "Delhilayaa?". I think "Oh! God! when will this Delhi tag go" But deep inside I enjoy that association with dear Delhi. Loud ringing of bells announce opening of the sreekovil doors for Deeparaadhana. Not all people go to the temple for Deeparadhana, some of them wait along the "thinnais" chatting. They all rush to the centre of the street to see the Aarati. What a site!! some 2 dozen people all assembling spontaneously to see the aarati. While some of the wait to see till the end, some are satisfied with the panchaarati and return without waiting for the "kalpooram". As I see the first signs of people coming out of the temple, I rush inside the house, not wanting to hear that "Eppo vandhai........... " again.



A few men and women are seen going to the village koLam for morning bath. It seems in the days of yore, everyone in the village used to take bath in the koLam and it was a great embarrassment to bath at home. Nowadays it is usually people from places a bit far who come to take bath, though their numbers too have drastically come to almost nil. A few minutes later the children who had been to church an hour ago are seen returning. A couple of vegetable vendors on hand carts stop at houses of their odd few customers, since most people prefer to go and purchase vegetables from the market at Melamuri.

It is a school time now. Autos whroom past carrying half a dozen children to Kanikkamatha Convent and to "Church school" and picking up a few more on the way. A few people drop their children in their scooters or motorbikes. Soon the main street is again full of activity. Office goers join the students. The agraharaam that reverberated with an enchanting "Bhavayaami Raghuramam" not a few hours back now vibrates in the noise of automobiles.

"Screeeeeeh!!!!"

An autorickshaw nearly misses a bike around the corner. A couple of angry glances are exchanged and both proceed in their respective directions.

There is a momentary break in the activities by about quarter past nine. Not yet!!! I hear some kids' voices round the corner. A group of kids aged around 6-10 appear, clad in cream tops and green bottoms - Pallipuram School students. A few decades ago, everyone from the agrahaaram used to go to this school for primary schooling before they shift to Nurani High School. A lucky and talented few make to Govt. Victoria College. Perhaps, this school in its golden years would have taught the basics of education to at least half a dozen IAS officers, Army Generals, a couple of CEOs, CAs, engineers and doctors.

The kids I was mentioning are early the comers. They are in no hurry. Few are seen describing the movie they saw last night. One of them is describing (and of course exaggerating) some electronic gadget his uncle had brought from gElf. Since they are in no hurry, they take their time to explore. Some peep inside houses, some go around motorcycles or cars parked, or at least take time out to read writings on the walls. More children go past. The later they come, the faster they move. Some are seen dragging their younger siblings, lest they are late to school. By fifty minutes past nine, the group size and frequency reduces, late comers are seen running to school.

Thud!!

One seven year old fall.. he looks around ... picks his things and runs... Perhaps the last child!!

By half an hour past ten, the street is devoid of any activity. The sun is shining brightly, nevertheless I can sense a moist in the air. There is no wind and everything seem frozen. Some years past, there used to be a printing press around the corner and when everthing becomes silent, the peculiar sound of the printing press would be ringing in the air. Now I can hear the sounds of busses and vehicles from Melamuri. The Azhvaar from Pallipuram temple is seen going, perhaps, meet Ramanatha Vaadhyar of our temple. He does that Trademark Palakkadan nod and I return a similar nod. Ambi comes out of his house and as he goes to next village, stops by and asks "Eppo vandhai? oru aazhchai iruppai, illaya?".

"Illai, naaLakki raatri pooNam"

An old man, whom I have seen for ages, is seen taking about four cows to the koLam. The cows used to the route don't seem to need his directions, though.

I wait for the postman and then go for a brunch.

I will publish rest in sections as Noon, evening etc...

I never intended to break my blog into Morning, Afternoon and Evening, but as I started writing down memories started flowing and I could not stop them. Though this brought in a kind of satisfaction and joy, it also creates a sense of despair that I may never be able to go back to that wonderful life. As more young people come out of Palakkad agraharaams in search of basic opportunities, let alone "better" ones, things look gloomier than ever.

(New comments may be posted below:)

A Vegetarian Barbeque

It all started with my colleague, here in Canada office, Benedict mentioning to us that our Operations Manager, John is going to organise a family barbecue at our facility. Well, what am I to do? there is going to be a free lunch and I am going to starve!! I wondered could he not make it a pizza lunch or something else. But I realised later that barbecue is a sort of social event, and having a pizza lunch may not be able to simulate that environment.

A month passed and this barbeque never happened. One day while returning from a dinner, John was discussing about the barbecue. The problem with the whole issue is I never knew what a "family barbecue" really is and how it will be organsied. So risking at being laughed, at I asked him what the options he is going to give for vegetarians. It seemed he was equally puzzled but then said he will organise some vegetables and together we can try being creative.

The research

Finally the day was announced. It was going to be on 23rd July 2007. John wanted me to give the list of vegetables and items needed for vegetarian barbaque. So, I began researching. Oh!! researching is something I am sick of, given the vast information, internet throws up. Google threw up some 1000s of hits for "Vegetarian + barbaque" (and not to mention the three or four different spellings for barbaque and not withstanding the short form "BBQ"). Well! this is not going to help me.

So I resorted to Orkut, the Google's social networking portal. Given that a significant lot of Brahmin population is traveling abroad and must have at some point of their career come across barbaques in the West, this must be the right place. I posted my query in about some 5 Brahmin communities in Orkut. The responses were quite quick. A manager at another of our plant next street, too gave me ideas and links to FoodTv website, a famous cookery channel in Canada.

The list of ingredients

Based on the responses, and from a few websites, I started making the vegetable list - Potatoes, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, Green Onions, Green Peppers (Capsicum in American English), Sweet Corn, Eggplant (brinjal in American), Cabbages, Beans, & Tofu. Add to that items like oil, butter, pepper, lime, hot sauce, salt & sugar. I was particular that aluminum foil too should be provided so that the veggie items will not get mixed up with the meat.

Having done all the research, I developed got cold feet at the idea of making these items. I believed that in a bbq party the raw items will be placed on the table and each one has to go and make their items as per their taste. And how am i going to prevent somebody poking the meat with the cutleries I use for veggies and rendering me tool-less. It turned out that John himself is going to do all the cooking. So that solves most of the problems.

The day arrives

So the day came. To my surprise there were a couple of vegetarians from our office. Well, I had read about vegetarianism in the West, but this is the first time I got to see some vegetarians here. So I was not alone, after all. The vegetables that were purchased were potatoes, mushrooms, capsicum and bags of assorted cut veggies. Of course, we had all the usual spices and sauces.

The fire was started. John came with a large container of sauce. In no time Ben and John started dipping the chicken and beef ribs into the sauce. Thank God, I had brought some hot sauce from home.

Now the grand finale

The Grilled vegetables

John suggested cutting the potatoes in quarters and then spilling salt and pepper on it, wrap in an aluminium foil and keep it on a side of the grill allocated to the vegetarian items. He wanted me to put the mushrooms and long chopped capsicum in separate foil, and wrapped in a separate foil since potatoes take long time to cook.

Once these were done, I made one more round of mixed vegetables, this time soaked with lime.

Stuffed potatoes

Having put them on fire, I was thinking of other items. I recollected the potato recipe, (thanks to its explosive name) called Potato bomb by one Ms. Prabha in Orkut. But then these needed cheese and it was not on the list of ingredients. Then, something struck me. Instead of stuffing them with cheese i made a hollow in the potatoes and filled with a miture of lime, salt, pepper and sauce. These were wrapped again in the aluminium foils and put over the grill.

Capsicum Veggie Bombs

Hey, the capsicums were quite large and what if i stuffed its inside with the assorted vegetables (carrots, beans, radish, baby corn, red cabbage and onions), salt, pepper and then fill with hot sauce? This is what I call as the "Capsicum Veggie Bomb" I made four of them for the four vegetarians in the party. I made a mistake here. I should not have put too much hot sauce in it. The people here are cannot tolerate too hot and spicy. By the time I finished these bombs, I noticed that a few of our associates were watching me, letting my creativity go wild.

Veggie Burgers

And then there was this vegetarian patties for vegetarians to make Veg burgers.

Grilled Corn

There were some corn in the list. I took two of them for the other American vegetarians and did not add any spices and just grilled them. Took two of the other corns and spiced them up with lime and pepper and put them on the grill.

The lunch

And finally everyone sat down. The tables, three of them, was filled with meat and I wasn't sure where to put the vegetarian dishes. I assumed (another mistake) it is going to be a buffet type, so, as it is usually the practice in typical Indian restaurants, I kept the vegetarian items on the table at the end. Every one sat for lunch.

I began with a vegetable burger and some watermelon. The potatoes and the mixed vegetables were really yummy. I did not have garam masalas, but that did not make them less tasty. It was a new experience, indeed. Having done with them, I went for the capsicum bombs. They were wonderful. I had just one of those stuffed capsicum and my stomach was stuffed. I finished off with a slice of melon

Feedback.

The sad part perhaps due the fact that there lot of hot spices in the vegetarian dishes or perhaps because of the way I arranged the items assuming a buffet type lunch, the American vegetarian colleagues did not get to taste my preparations. One of my friends, who was a non-vegetarian, shied away, thinking that his tasting some of the items will reduce the food available to the vegetarians.

An Indian vegetarian collegue of mine too stayed away from all the grilled dishes, perhaps sensitive to the fact that it was cooked on the same grill as that of meat. But then why on earth did I put those aluminium foils? Perhaps, it could be because I prepared it!!!

Later, Benedict tasted one of the capsicum bombs and said it had come really well. Well, I am not a bad cook after all! Or rather I am an innovator :)

Having spent 6 months wondering what a blog is, and then another 6 months postponing, I am here. At last I have a blog :)

But still I don't have a full idea of what a blog is. I believe there will be visitors to my blog. I will post a lot of things in this.