Sicily: The Godfather with volcanoes in his backyard

Apart from one cancelled flight, one delayed flight, hence one missed connecting flight, a 20-hour unplanned transit, an online hotel search in Rome at 1:00 a.m on an ipad with 14% battery charge available, a ridiculously rude taxi driver and lost baggage....

....the rest of the trip was heavenly!
Only because: 

1. It was Italy.

The country I adore! The language I love! The food is a story! The drink is heavenly!  The music is magical! The people so stylish!...amazing country.

The golden sunshine, the deep blue waters, the red tomatoes, the  glistening olive oil...life is so colourful.
2. We were with good friends. (Such good friends that after the news of the cancelled flight we just came home together, made khichuri and officially 'started' the vacation!!)

Sicily has all the ingredients needed for a perfect vacation...the colour, the smell and the taste! Add it to your bucket list!

The vacation started with a good message. I believe in "karma" too but during the transit in Milan, it became clear that the Italians have taken karma to a different level.  Only good karma can lead to great coffee! Indeed!

A glimpse from the window as the plane landed in Catania already promised a beautiful vacation. After a wonderful drive along the coast line we reached our vacation house in Taormina. The roads were nice but had a few sharp bends due to the hilly nature of the region. The speed limits changed accordingly from 30 to 50 to 80 to 100 to 30 and 20 km/per hr at some places. Very soon we noticed that most Sicilian drivers were actually very consistent in their driving..they consistently drove at 120 km/hr ignoring all the speed limits...all of them. This consistency was also inversely proportional to their patience, hence the driver from Holland who tried to obey the speed limits got frequently honked at!

;-)

After an almost precarious parking exercise (since the house was located on a slope), the car was finally parked. The Italian vacation house owner explained some basic utilities about the house. He did not speak English at all. We did not speak Italian. But all communication was smooth and perfect. Not because I understood everything but I did not hear a single word he said. As he spoke, I stared at his face. It was like music was being played...what lovely sweet melodious words they have!Maybe he was talking about the leaking kitchen tap (which we found out later) but it sounded like he was talking about the moon, stars and love.

Tranquilo, preoccupato, delicato, dollorosso, Biongiorno,.....uff uff uff.....a language to fall in love with.

For me the best was the "speed control " signs on the road sides. 

We (non Italian, normal people) would say: "Electronic speed control". Simple, curt, to the point.

Listen carefully. They say,

"Controlle electronicco della velocita" . Repeat it to yourself a few times and you will feel you can smell the sea of Sicily...taste the pomodori and feel the Sicilian sun on you. 

Once the owner left, we rushed to the balcony. Yes! Paisa wasool already!! The view was such that for a moment it felt unreal. The majestic blue Mediterranean was in front of us. The sound of waves continuous yet never boring. The water so tranquil yet so powerful.The blue of the sky so close to the blue of the sea yet so different.

I once read in a cook book that Indians and Italians are the two nationalities who can talk about the next meal WHILE eating the current meal. Talk about lunch while eating breakfast, talk about dinner while eating lunch...infact talk about food anytime..on an empty stomach or a full stomach or even an upset stomach!!
It is so true....each dish we ordered came with such a lovely description and an even more lovely smile from the Italian waiter.....the heart was satisfied even before the stomach.
I will not be able to write about the food and the wine in such a short blog post. That will be doing terrible injustice to both. I can either skip the topic totally or only put in a few photos just to give you a feel for the "looks" and torture you with visuals. I choose the second option. The taste is beyond any description and I leave it up to your imagination.

Pizza Pizza every day.....

Fold the pizza...and whoala.....a Calzone

Prawn Risotto...heaven is here here here..

The one in the center called Arancini deserves special mention. It is special Sicilian food.
Arancini (arancini or arancine in Sicilian), are stuffed rice balls that are coated with breadcrumbs, and fried. Arancini are usually filled with ragù (meat sauce), tomato sauce, mozzarella, and/or peas. There are a number of local variants that differ in fillings and shape. The name derives from their shape and color, which is reminiscent of an orange (the Italian word fororange is arancia, and arancina means "little orange"), although in eastern Sicily, arancini have a more conical shape.[Wikipedia]

The highlight of the trip of course was the Mount Etna. The largest active volcano of Europe stood there in all its majesty, smoke coming out off its head, yet capped with white snow .
Fire burning in its heart but with a cool head! ;-)
This is the first time I have been to a active volcano. It is an experience that my literary skills will not be able to describe . On one hand, it was so beautiful that it took my breath away.On the other, it's power was so evident and the noise of the internal explosions so clearly audible that it was scary as well. I stood and watched ....belittled by its sheer size, power and majesty. 
The different traits of Mother nature .........

The land of the Godfather. Volcanoes everywhere....quite a few in his backyard. Beautiful names such as Stromboli, Vulcan, Salina, Filicudi , Alicudi.........what a landscape, what colours, what a feeling. 

The vacation came to an end but the feeling lingered on.........

A beautiful place . Sicily.

Mon-er Bhasha Matribhasha (Poyla Baishakh 2015)

Kallol junior rocks!! Each year their performance gets better and better!
;-)
Every year I promise myself that from next year I will have to take a step back and let someone else pick it up. The reason is of course "time ". Even though I strongly believe that 'Only busy people have time', yet some days I too feel the .........

But...but...but... once my troup (Kallol junior) goes up on stage and performs, my resolution of stepping back goes out of the window. I feel so proud that I start planning themes for the next 5 years!!
This year we had 15 kids participating......wonderful!
;-)

Banner design :Alka Sensarma

Our theme this year was "Matribhasha" (Mother tongue)

The Oxford dictionary defines Mother tongue as the language which a person has grown up speaking from early childhood. 

The Cambridge dictionary defines it as the first language that you learn when you are a baby, rather than a language learned at school or as an adult.

Whichever source of definition you accept, it finally means that,

Mother tongue is the language of one's heart and mind.

Today we are all witnessing a globalization where we have moved out of our home countries for different purposes, such as education, desire for a better life, the need for employment etc. Our children, therefore are growing up as global citizens. They are learning many different languages and mixing with many different cultures.

One’s mother tongue has a very important role to play in this development.

Every language has its own beauty, own melody and culture. It is our duty to hold on to this beauty and pass it on to our next generation not as a thing that they MUST learn but more like a thing to be proud of. We need to encourage our children who inspite of living in a different country can still talk in their mother tongue.

                                             ***************

Once upon a time , in a far away land, there ruled a very cruel  king. 

He did not want his subjects to talk at all . The use of one's mother tongue was totally forbidden in his kingdom for three main reasons.

1. Since mother tongue is the language of one's heart and mind, if his subjects are allowed to speak in their mother tongue, they can express their feelings and opinions in the best way. If they are allowed to do that, they will freely curse the king and his way of ruling .

2.Mother tongue is one's entity, one's personality. If the subjects develop a personality of their own then they will have more opinions which is not good for the king.

3. If one can speak his/her mother tongue, he/she can learn any language of the world. If the subjects do that they can compare and discuss their kingdom's condition with others.

No, not good for the king!!

Hence Mother tongue was banned from the land.

But there were some citizens who loved their mother tongue so much that they decided to ignore the king's command and continued to talk in Bengali, their mother tongue.

Our kids excelled in their performances as these citizens. Moharaj, Mohamontri and Jollad excelled in their roles by becoming a kid again.

 

Moharaj and Mohamontri got them one by one on stage and "punished"them for not obeying the king!

"No Minecraft for a week!!" 

"No doughnuts for a week"

"No Pizza!!"

"No play station!"

"No icecream!"

.....Punishments poured in for each of them.

Jollad, the executioner was summoned to give them the punishment.

But Jollad was a nice and intelligent man. He used his magical hammer to freeze the king and his minister and let the citizens sing and dance in joy...in their mother tongue!

Finally Moharaj and Mohamontri also understood the importance of matribhasha!!!

The ban was lifted!

Citizens shouted with joy! YIPPEEEEEE!!!!


......am so proud of you kids!!! Keep it up.....
Feel proud to know and be able to speak in your "matribhasha"
;-)

Let's start planning for next year..........

Moja-r Mete and the World's Strictest Mom

....and the award for the World's Strictest Mom goes to......you-know-who!

I covered my mouth with my hands in surprise and happiness (exactly the same way Sushmita Sen did when she won the Miss Universe title)!

The crown was about to be placed on my head.....dazzling and glittering.....my gown, a pale blue shimmering thing bounced around me as I walked down the aisle.....flushed with excitement....

.....someone pulled my evening gown. 
I tried to ignore but it was pulled again with more force this time. I could also hear a muffled question....repeated again.....like an echo...very close to me......but ....but  I am still on the stage...about to start my speech....

"Moooooommm, where is my sports bag?"

A-junior was pulling my night gown!

I woke up with a start. The dream was shattered into a thousand pieces.How did I miss the alarm? Why am I still sleeping?How on earth did A-junior wake up before me? After the initial panic subsided, I felt a bit sad. Even though the winning category was not the one that I wished for (strictest mom!!) but still.....it was a crown nonetheless!

I replied back with an impatient intensity, "Use your eyes!! the bag is where it always is, Uff"

A-junior was a bit surprised. He expected a happy mother to see him up and dressed. Instead he got an irritated mother screaming back at him....he looked genuinely puzzled.

No , I did not mention the dream to the boy! I am sure he is the one who nominated me in this category!!

;-)

Recently "money" is a big topic of discussion at home. A-junior needs more information about money. Questions regarding money are popping up now and then.....

"What is your salary per hour?" or 

"How much money can you put inside a card?" or 

"Why cannot I spend my pocket money whenever I want to ?" etc etc.

Not all answers are easy and clear for the 10 yr-old or his mother!!Uff..parenting!!!

Sometime back, I read an interesting article. It was about a family where the parents at one point of time brought home one month's salary in cash and laid it out on the table. After that they subtracted all the monthly expenses from it and literally showed the child how much is really left over to do things after paying for the basic needs. The child in the article understood. I am planning to do the same soon. Hopefully my child has a similar thought process like the child in the article.

Jokes apart, I feel it is a good thing to do rather than giving vague answers to their questions. I may not do the "in cash" bit, but can use a proper calculator to do the maths. In fact I can ask HIM to do it....a bit of an addition and subtraction exercise in the evening sounds good to me!!Of course without a calculator.

Learning the value of money is important.
;-)

The other day, A-junior went to return his library books. I was waiting outside. He came out of the library and said to me in a very casual tone,

" I forgot to return the books on time so I have to pay a fine. For six books , the fine is 12 euros"

I gave him the money. He went back, paid and came back. No questions asked.

We came back home and I asked him to get his piggy bank. I asked him to count 12 euros and give it to me.

He was shocked. Taking out 12 euros, all at once from the piggy bank of a 10-yr old is a BIG thing. plus the fact that his OWN mother was doing this to him was beyond his expectation. A few angry looks, a few "you are the strictest mom", a few sad tear drops and a few sentences later, I was successful in establishing the rule that from now on his library fines are entirely his responsibility.

I am absolutely sure that he is the one who nominated me to that category.......

;-)

Moja-r Mete (Mete chocchori)

I love 'mete' (liver) curry. The reason I call it "Mojar " mete is because of some old memories associated with it. When I was in Japan, I did not (could not) cook much, Luckily, I met A'da from Bangladesh who used to stay in the same international hostel. By profession he was a doctor but his cooking skills were way ahead of his surgical skills (I am kidding, I have no clue about his surgical skills and I want to keep it that way!!). Actually, on second thoughts, the way he sliced the onions all exactly 0.6mm thick only proved his surgical skills. He used to cook a liver curry which I can taste even today (with my eyes closed). He referred to all tasty food as "mojar".

"Kheye dekho, darun mojar hoyeche"

[Taste and see, it is really tasty].

Later on, when I started to cook, if he said "mojar hoyeche" then THAT was a real compliment. He and his wife 'S' became more than family for me in Japan.

[someday I will tell you how I met A'da in  Japan...it is a story by itself]

This dish is conventionally called "Mete chochhori".

I used:

500 gms Lamb liver
2 large onions sliced
2 large tomatoes chopped ( I used canned)
2 green chillis
2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
2 bay leaves
2 tsp garam masala powder
2 pieces of cinnamon + 3-4 pods of cardamom +2-3 cloves : Crushed.
Cooking oil 

Ready steady cook:

• In a pan heat the oil.
• Add the bay leaves and the crushed mix of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.
• When the flavours hit your nose, add the sliced onions.
• Saute till light brown and add the chillis and  ginger garlic paste.
• Fry for 2 mins. Add the liver.
• Add turmeric power, salt, garam masala and keep frying on medium heat.
• Add the tomatoes.
• Mix well and cook on high heat for 5 mins. Add a little it of water if it dries up too much.
• Serve with white rice.

Ohio Gozaimasu!! You are listening to Bharat Ki Dhadkan!!

I do not understand how Amitabh Bachchan handles his celebrity status.

I, clearly am having trouble!

;-)

The other day one of my colleagues sent me a mail saying, "D, maybe a silly question but I just saw a book in the Shell shop with the author's name exactly same as yours, do you have something to do with it?"

My fingers typed " That's actually ME" . 

I had warm air coming out of my ears while I typed. 

I also noticed that I was smiling even though it was only me and my computer.

I also deleted and rewrote the above three words three times before I could press the send button.

Clearly the situation is out of my control!!

;-)

In another incident, a 12- yr old smart boy R, the son of a very close friend, took my book (The Gift Of Life) to school (in Delhi) and successfully sold it to his English teacher. I was surprised and impressed. I was already his fan...now became even more. Not because he sold a book of mine but to think of the kind of speech that he must have used to convince his teacher !! Amazing, isn't it? I have asked for a copy of that sales speech..Really!

Again, the situation is beyond my imagination.

These incidents actually took me back in time. The time when I almost became a bit of a celebrity ....ok ok...a bit....but still......Celebrity with a Japanese connection....

Haha!

Once upon a time I used to live in Japan. 

Those days I used to have a small Sony CD-player-cum radio. Every morning as soon as I opened my eyes, my hands sleepily searched for that ON button and the radio used to start....

"Ohio gozaimasu [Good Morning]" boomed the voice of a man who was the RJ (Radio jockey) of an Indian program called "Bharat ki Dhadkan"!!FM COCOLO from Osaka!

With limited access to Indian music in Japan, this daily program of 30 mins really used to wake me up! The RJ  "S" did a wonderful job too...I felt happy and homesick at the same time and that is surely a compliment for him.

After a while, I started sending in my song requests too. I also started thinking of new ideas that can make the program more interesting. I wrote a letter to S , expressing my interest and ideas.

Within a few days, he read one of my letters on the radio. I was super happy the moment he said " Dayeeta from Kobe wants to listen to the beautiful song Pal pal dil ke pas......". 

As the timeless melody filled up my tiny room, my phone started ringing. It was him!! He wanted to know if I was interested to come to their recording studio. I could not believe my ears. I fixed a quick appointment and met up at the studios. For me it was the first time inside a proper studio..an amazing feeling. S was recording something for the program. He asked me to sit down beside him, put on the headphone and read a line from the back of a cassette cover. The famous lyricist Anjaan had just passed away and S was playing "Muqaddar ka sikander" songs. He also asked me say "Bharat ki dhadkan" few times in different ways on the microphone. It was fun. After that we chatted for a while over music in general..he showed me around the studio...we had coffee and I came back home very happy.

Next morning. My eyes opened, I sleepily switched on the radio.

"GOOOOOOD MOOORNING!! Aap sun rahe hai Bharat ki Dhadkan"......

It was MY voice on the radio!!! A few paralyzed moments ...I can still 'feel' it now.
It was being recorded the day before!!!

Long story short, S called me later in the day to ask if I would be interested in becoming his co-RJ! I blabbered something in excitement and said I need to ask my Sensei..

Being a student, I was always on the lookout for part time jobs. The scholarship was good but still an extra few bucks was always welcome!

Plus this was like a"dream" job! I did not have to think twice!

Quickly I asked permission from my professor . He agreed. I joined the radio station FM COCOLO  for a few hours per week.

Every Tuesday, I used to leave for the studio early in the morning. We recorded a weeks program together on the Tuesdays. I loved it. 

The fan mails started coming. Lot of Japanese fan mails too.

"Dayeeta-san totemo sutekina koe desu ne" [Dayeeta-san, very nice voice]

Loved the job and loved the extra Yen that poured in......and of course loved those mails.

Life continued. I woke up to my own voice everyday.....

"Ohio gozaimasu....Good morning.....you are listening to Bharat ki Dhadkan"

Few months later.

Some friends were visiting me. I took them to visit Kyoto ( my most favourite city in Japan).

We decided to have lunch at an Indian restaurant [forgot the name ;-(]. Must be 'India palace' or  ' Maharaja'.

I placed the order. We chatted away happily as we waited for the food.

Suddenly  the manager of the restaurant came by and said "Dayeeta, we have lassi for you and your friends..on the house"

[Lassi : Indian Yogurt drink]

I smiled and thanked him. Then suddenly it hit me . DAYEETA?

I asked him. "How do you know my name?"

He replied, "aapki awaaz kaun nahi pehechanta? Aap hain Bharat ki Dhadkan!"
[ Who does'nt recognize your voice?, you are Bharat ki Dhadkan!]

I do not remember how exactly I reacted. I am sure it was difficult to handle.

I am sure I had warm air coming out of my ears.....

;-)))

....so coming back to my question,

How does HE really handle it???

;-))

The BEST book review!!!

Day 1: Post arrived.

HE was extremely proud of the book. 
HE held it in his hands and turned the pages carefully.
HE smiled .
HE asked me " Mama, how does it feel to see your name on it?"
HE even asked me to take a photo with the book in his hands
HE was clearly impressed!! 

.....It was a nice feeling....difficult to describe in words!!!

Anyway, after some celebrations, it was bed time. 
A-junior asked me if he can take "The Gift Of Life" to bed for reading.
A delighted mom agreed.
I took a pen and wrote ' with Love, to my "Real" Gift of Life' on the first page.
Very filmy. Very emotional moment ( even though I am joking about it). Very AWWWW!!!!
;-)

He left with the book. I cleared the dishes , cleaned the table and went to check on him after 30 mins.
He was still reading the book.
...and he was laughing!!!Loudly!!!
I asked him " Arno, hanscho keno??" [why are you laughing]

He replied "Mama, while reading your book, I realized what a funny guy I am!!!"

The best book review I can wish for!!!!
So honest, so spontaneous, so sweet!!
I cannot hope for more........

My book says "I hope that many years later when A-Junior flips through the pages of The Gift of Life in his kitchen while cooking with his children, it will bring a smile to his lips"

I smile. I hope this wish of mine comes true. Someday.
This book is a slice of my life.

This is not a cookbook.
This is not a story book either.
This is a story telling cookbook....

......Appreciating "The Gift of Life"....

The History book comes alive.....

As our small boat cruised on the river Nile, I realized that this is not a dream come true because I never dreamed about coming to Egypt. It was too "unreal and far" to even dream about it.

Egypt always belonged to the pages of my history book for its pyramids and the ancient civilization. The river Nile was always a definite map pointing question in my Geography exams. 

Nothing more than that.

Later on it did become a bit more "real" due to the movies. 
Hollywood helped us to imagine the insides of a pyramid while Bollywood danced around it.
;-)

Gradually over the years, and with time, travel and Google, Egypt finally appeared on the "to visit" list.

I feel blessed and lucky to be able to set foot on these places which were once even beyond my dreams ....

We landed in Hurgada and then went to Luxor. Hurghada is famous for its Red Sea resorts. Dotted along the coastline, these resorts offer a comfortable and relaxing vacation.There is not much to do or see around, hence you end up either in or by the pool...a good place to do "nothing".
Luxor is the second biggest city after Cairo.It was the ancient city of Thebes, the great capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom. The city is often described as the "world's greatest open air museum". As you enter the city premises, you understand immediately what an appropriate description it is. 
Whichever way I looked, the monuments and the ruins took me back in time to the kings and the queens thousands of years ago.The gigantic structures, the scripts engraved on them, the huge statues, the guide telling the story of the kings and the queens.....transported me back to the age when these monuments were intact and the kingdom alive. I stared at the little page of hieroglyphs that the guide gave me and tried to figure out what was written so beautifully on the walls. As if I could.

The camera went click click click.  Nonstop. Everytime I tried to focus on any stone on the temple complex of Karnak, my mind wandered away to inagine a story. Each inscription on the stone was a real proof of the glorious times it had witnessed. Each broken corner of the stone was an evidence of the years it had survived. Each statue spoke about someone who celebrated a life of glory. At some point of time, I switched off my camera. It was better to look with my own eyes and let my mind wander......

I imagined the young Tutankhamun on his throne royally dressed at the age of 10.When he became the king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten. I tried to imagine what these children experienced when they ascended the thrones of such vast empires. Did he not have the urge to hide behind his throne? Did she not feel like pulling his hair and running away? Did he not grab his bicycle(??) and race on the streets ringing the bell? Did he not get scolded by his mother for writing on the walls? Did they not play hide and seek behind these huge pillars? 

As if to prove the point, my trance was broken by A-junior shouting from behind the pillars!

"Ma, I look so small infront of this pillar!"

The temple of Hatshepsut is another amazing structure.  Built in honour of Hatshepsut who ruled Egypt from 1479 BC to 1458 BC, this temple is built into a cliff face in three layered terraces that rises upwards very sharply. I stood there mesmerized by its sheer size, feeling so small and inconspicuous..how on Earth did they plan such things without lifts and cranes and Autocad designing tools on their laptops? I could imagine rows of craftsmen sitting with their small chisels designing the pillars with utmost dedication...but I repeat..how on earth did they get those pillars to those places? Amazing.
A-junior ran up and down the stairs with R&H (my friend's daughters) . I stopped them once and asked A-junior, "Do you know how old this temple is?"
He replied confidently, "VERY old".
I left it at that instead of trying to explain the concept of BC to him. Some other time.

One of the biggest attractions was the weather and the sea side. The Red Sea resorts are a good place to forget the biting cold of Holland and let the skin get some Vit-D dose from the big bright yellow thing called the sun, which we do not get to see much in the part of the world we live in. Spotless blue skies merging with the spotless blue sea in the horizon...long rows of beach umbrellas dotting the beach line....happy men and women in colourful summery dresses.....cheerful children splashing about in the water....fantastic food....with best friends...What MORE can a vacation be?

Shopping was a mix of stress and fun. If you are a person who loves to decorate interiors, shopping will sweep you off your feet. The statues, the paintings, the stones, the papyrus, the engravings, ..I felt like buying everything. But the process of buying is a tedious one. The culture is to negotiate prices and that is a tricky one. This is a talent which not all of us possess, definitely not me. I just knew that I NEEDED to negotiate without a clue of where to start!
I loved a piece of jewelry (no diamonds!!) in a shop, tried to negotiate at a low price (as instructed by everyone), stuck to my price for maybe a bit too long and finally ended up making the shopkeeper angry. The trauma of "tried-to-negotiate-but-failed" haunted me at night..had to go back and get a similar thing from a different shop next morning.

This time due to many reasons we could not visit Cairo....hence the pyramids remain on the "to do" list....Some day.....some time.....for sure!

The food is coming.........