Quest for the Dosa

I am a foodie. Everyone I know, knows that I am a foodie. Now, let me make it clear. Foodie does not mean glutton. A foodie is a one who enjoys his food and relishes it to his heart's content (and stomach too!). A foodie would go any distance to have his favourite. And of course if the food is delicious, a foodie wouldn't hesitate to go for a second helping!

Now, the quest. It has been 6 months since I moved to Asia's Silicon Valley a.k.a Bangalore for professional reasons. The transition had quite smooth in all aspects. Except one. Food. Bangalore is just 350 kms from Chennai. But with respect to food, it is light years away! I am not saying the food is bad. I'm just saying it didn't suit my palate. I tuned my taste buds and brain cells to the Bangalorean styled food. Believe me, it took quite some time!

But no matter how hard I tried, I could not accept the Bangalore (Karnataka?) Dosa. The dosa was always thick, brown in colour and chewy. This was just the oppposite to the Tamil Nadu dosa. TN dosa is thin, light, golden brown and crispy at the edges. It is just a great experience to eat one. The only desirable part of the Bangalore dosa is the onion masala smeared on the insides. Everytime I had one or I saw someone having it, my craving for the TN dosa was increasing. Wasn't there at least one restaurant that served the TN dosa?

I then began my quest for 'the' dosa. I searched for restaurants, risked ordering dosa and asked friends and acquaintances. I struggled for months. But, in vain. I was shattered! The world is indeed a cruel place.

And then, like a beacon of light in the dark, like a lighthouse for the lost ships, opened 'Kaapi Kadai'. It was a tamil restaurant. I was overjoyed. I knew that my destiny would be fulfilled. I knew my months of struggle would come to an end. But, as fate would have it, everytime I went, they had run out of stock.

But I never lost hope. On my fifth visit, I attained salvation. I asked the cashier 'Dosa irukka?'. He said 'irukku'. The word triggered on the suppressed taste buds and the ummm... salivary gland. I could feel them overworking. That was the day, I understood response to stimuli.

It felt like an eternity before the dosa was on my table. My eyes filled with tears as I saw the the perfect dosa. It was thin, light, golden brown and crispy at the edges, accompanied by the ever faithful coconut chutney and sambar. I relished each piece of it. The juice from the coconut chutney and the gentle flavour of the ghee gave my taste buds the much needed relief. Bliss.

When I finished it, I felt a sense of achievement. I walked down the steps smiling triumphantly. The world isn't so cruel after all.

Bulb!

Yesterday, when it was raining, I took shelter in "uncle's" shop. I was enjoying the rain with a hot cup of tea. I was so happy that I even posted on how wonderful I felt. But if you notice, there was no sentence like "I paid for the tea". That is because I did not! Today when I went to have my morning tea, uncle said in perfect english, "You did not pay last night". Oops! Luckily there was no one around.

By the way, as I had imagined, the trees looked beautiful with the fresh leaves and bright pink flowers.

A rainy evening

I locked my door planning to go out. My house owner was plucking jasmine flowers on the terrace. The weather had turned very cloudy. But I liked it. Cool and pleasant breeze was blowing gently as I descended down the stairs. It really felt nice walking down the road in this beautiful weather. I had hardly reached the end of the road, it started raining heavily. It only took a second for me to get drenched. It looked like floodgates were opened in the skies.

I ran for cover to a nearby general shop. In a few minutes the shop was crowded by a dozen people. And more were coming. Most of them were students of CMRIT, an engineering college near which I stay. They were a buoyant bunch. The shop is run by a person who is affectionately called “uncle”. He sells fresh delicious piping hot tea. I asked for a cup. He said “Ek minute, chai ban raha hain” (tea is being prepared). The others too asked for some tea. I turned to watch the rain clattering over the plastic shelter in front of the shop. The smell that rose from the ground was pleasant and I inhaled it deep. A young boy was talking to his group loudly about how the other guy had slipped near the shop last time. There were bursts of laughter, when one of them got teased or made fun of. Other people were smoking cigarettes. One guy was calling up his girlfriend to say he would late because of the rain. The uncle also participated in the conversations occasionally giving his comments and livening it up with his boyish laughter.

The rain was still pouring and there were streams of water running down the road. A young couple was walking down the road. They had no umbrella or raincoats. They were wet to the bone. They were walking like it was a bright sunny day and was the right time to take a walk. They were discussing something. He had his hand on her shoulders and held her close. They must have been newly married.

The tea had arrived, and everybody was waiting their turn to be served the delicious hot tea. I got mine in a small plastic throw away cup. I was right out of the stove as was hot. I blew the tea And my glasses fogged. The world look beautiful through the foggy glasses. As I sipped the hot tea, I wished I was home sharing the tea with my parents and my brother. I also missed my friends with whom the tea would have been even better, especially on this beautiful raining evening. Yet, deep inside a warm feeling was spreading. Though my family and friends were not around, I felt wonderful being amidst complete strangers. Probably it was because everybody’s mood was joyful and it caught on to me too. I also felt happy that my prayers were answered. Yesterday, I was telling my friend that I wished it rained. The tall trees on our road were blooming with pink flowers. But the leaves were a little dusty, The rain would wash away the dust giving a fresh look. It would be a sight to behold. The pink flowers and green leaves would be a treat to the eyes.

My thoughts trailed off as the rain stopped and the others started leaving. I finished my tea and disposed the cup. Though the rain had stopped I decided to go back to my room. I wanted to spend the evening happily. And I did. Half an hour of rain had given me a great feeling and I walked back home imagining the beautiful sight of the beautiful flowers I would see tomorrow morning.