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| Taken from the Simple Indian Recipes Pinterest Board |
Pesarattu
Take
2 cups of
whole green gram
¼ cup of
idli rice
8 green
chillies
1 inch
piece of chopped ginger
I finely
chopped onion
A pinch of
asafetida
2 tsps
cumin seeds
Salt to
taste
Step
1: Wash and soak whole green gram with
rice for 5 hrs or overnight.
Step
2: Grind this with green chillies,
ginger and salt.
Step
3: Add asafoetida, cumin seeds and mix well.
Step
3.5: Pick up the phone and invite Minoo
over.
Step
4: Heat a dosa tawa and coat with oil
spray.
Step
5: Pour a ladle full of batter into the tawa and smooth it out in a circle.
Step
6: Sprinkle onions on top of pesarattu
(optional).
Step
7: Add oil along the edges, and cook evenly on
both the sides.
Whoever thinks delighting someone is complicated should take lessons from my
friends!
I have a new story to tell and it concerns losing one of my shoes. This happened the day of Tanita’s High School Graduation Ceremony. The ceremony was fun and memorable. Some of the more mischievous grads tossed tortillas into the air. And the generational gap was closed for a moment, when Dhiren Lad, a valedictorian, delivered a speech in which he thanked Google and Wikipedia for helping get him through high school. I say the same thank yous to Google and Wikipedia every day. Not just for their help with material for this blog, Minoo Jha Life Strategies, but also for the help I get from them in my day to day job as a Transition Commissions Analyst, Xactly Implementation Consultant and Varicent Implementations Consultant. Many an answer to a thorny problem has been found thanks to them.
But back to my graduation day story - I was a proud mom that day, not in the least because Tanita was listed in the events brochure as one of the magna cum laudes, but also because, when the ASB (Associate Student Body) President was called up to talk about her experience of being ASB President, she said she had many to thank and called out Tanita's name first. It was the perfect cap (or cap and gown, if you will) to Tanita’s senior year.
When the ceremony was over, we decided to celebrate. But of course! So Rosie, David, Cory, Tanita and I headed to the Pruneyard in Campbell. This is where the story of my shoes comes in.
Since about 6 months, I have started a new “shoes” habit. When I go out, I take 2 pairs of shoes with me– a comfortable well-scuffed flat pair for driving (one that always gets the “whatever is she wearing” look from people) and a pair of dress shoes (which in my case, just means non-comfy shoes, not Manolo Blahniks, Christian Louboutins or anything like that). I use the driving shoes when I am in the car driving and the "other shoes" when I have to look sharp. I have become pretty good about making the switch in the car.
So after Tanita’s graduation ceremony, I took off my dress shoes and put on my driving shoes to drive to the Pruneyard. However, when we reached the Pruneyard, in all the excitement, I forgot to make the switch, and realizing my mistake only when we had reached the restaurant, I said “oh, well,” as I sometimes do, and I sat down to dinner in my good old driving shoes.
The next morning, I went to my car to go somewhere and found that one of the dress shoes was missing. What could have happened to it? I was distraught. I had rejected tons of sharp looking shoes because they were not comfy enough before I picked this Naturalizer pair that met both the needs of comfort and style. Now I had gone and lost one of the pair. It must have accidentally fallen out of the car when we were getting out of the car at the Pruneyard.
This is where the story takes an interesting turn.
A few days went by when the phone rang:
“Hello,” said the voice at the other end of the line, “is this the owner of a black Naturalizer shoe dropped in the car park at the Pruneyard?”
“Yes,” I said, mystified that anyone could have found my shoe and traced it to me
(Could this be David,ever the practical joker, playing a practical joke on me, since he knew I was missing my shoe?)
But I was excited and relieved, nevertheless and said, “Yes, that’s me.”
“Well, guess what?” said the voice.
“What?” I replied.
“I am Alex Trebek of the Jeopardy Game Show and you have been selected to go on Jeopardy.”
I was taken aback and not thinking, I blurted “Shouldn’t you be a prince seeking his princess? Isn’t that the way the story of dropped shoes is supposed to play out?”
“Ahem,” he said, “Princess. Aren’t you are a little old for that? Evil witch maybe! Or Evil Queen would be more like it.”
I quickly checked any ego-based thoughts that were rising up in my mind in response to what he had said.
(Since becoming a meditator, dealing with comments like that have become crucial tests for me.)
“So tell me about going on Jeopardy,” I said.
“Well, this show we’re planning has a unique format. All the questions will be about your friends. We are calling it Friend Jeopardy. The contestants will have to answer questions about their friends. So what do you say? Would you like to be a contestant on Friend Jeopardy?
“Cool,” I said.
The next thing I knew I was on a Jeopardy set with 2 other contestants.
“Are you ready for your first questions?” said Alex looking at us. “Yes,” we answered. Each of us contestants was to be asked a series of questions about our friends and my turn was first.
The stylishly dressed girl turned up some of the letters on the board and this is what it looked like…
_a s s _ v e _ _g g _e s _ i v e
Alex said “You learned this term from your friend Sharon.”
“Can I have an ‘i’? I said.
“Two i’s” said Alex.
The board now read “_ a s s i v e - _ g g _e s _i v e.
“I’d like to solve,” I said.
“Passive-aggressive”.
Indeed, I learned the concept of being passive-aggressive from Sharon. We were having a conversation one day and she said “so and so was being passive-aggressive” and I went hmmm….because I realized passive-aggressive behavior was something I used to indulge in frequently before I started meditating. Being passive-aggressive is going on the offence indirectly rather than directly, for example, becoming aloof and abrupt in conversation, or ignoring someone. I have been watchful about being passive-aggressive ever since the conversation with Sharon that day.
“Good job,” said Alex, moving on to the next contestant and their question.
Before I knew it, it was my turn again.
“Hey, wait a sec, Alex,” I said, “What are the prizes involved? You haven’t said anything about that?"
“That will be revealed at the end of the show,” he replied, “Don’t worry.”
So I settled down for my 2nd question.
The letters on the board read,
A_O_ W_ _ K
“Your friend Majella participated in this,” Alex said.
“I’d like to solve,” I said.
“Avon Walk.”
“Correct,” said Alex.
Indeed, Majella had participated in the Avon Walk a few years ago and I can still remember how humbling it was to decide to join her when she was training one day. Even being a good walker myself, I just could not keep up with the pace. Needless to say my admiration for what she was doing jumped several points after that day. Majella has been such a good friend to me ever since she got me that job in Scios Pharmaceuticals. I was so busy reminiscing about her, I hadn’t realized it was my turn again.
Alex had to clear his throat to get my attention.
“You have complimented your friend Lakshmi who is so successful in real estate, calling her this…? said Alex.
F_T_RE / _ON_L_ / _R_M_
I solved it with the following letters: (p,a,d,u,t,u,u,d).
“You have told your friend Cindy that you use her as a ……?” said Alex.
_H_ _A_IST
I solved it with the following letters: (r,p,e,t).
"One of the people who helped you get to work when you had your accident and you were without a car for 2 months was working at this well known Bay Area company?"
He was referring to my friend Chandrika and I remembered where she was working at the time and solved it with 2 O's and 1 A.
Y_H__
“One
of the things you admire about your friend Becky is her love for……?"
A_ _ _A_ _
I solved it with these
letters: (m,l,n,s,i).
“You love Sharon’s
house because it is on the ……?”
_A_E_
I solved it with the
letters, t, r and w.
“One of the reasons you enjoy Brenda's company so much is her sense of….?”
_ U _ O _
I solved it with the
letters m, h, r.
“One of the things you
would never miss going to Lakshmi’s house for was her home-made…..?"
P_S_ _ A T _ _
I solved it with the letters, r,u,a,t,e.
“Ramani recently called you excitedly to say you had predicted back in elementary school her child would get a perfect score on which SAT test?”
_E_ _ I_G
I solved it with the letters d,n,r, a.
“Majella faithfully used to lend you her ear, when you belonged to which organization?”
T_ A _T M _S_ E _ _
I solved it with the letters, r, t , s, a,o, s.
“You complimented Ruth recently saying she should get what ___of the year award every year?”
_ O _ H _ R
I solved it with the letters, t, e, m.
“One of the many games you and Tanita played with Nadya and her kids was this one designed by Robert Kiyosaki…..”
_A_H_L O_
I solved it with the letters, s, w, f and c.
“A favorite meeting place for you and Sharon is……?”
_A_ A _ A / _ R I L _
I solved it with the letters, g, l, s,m,l.
And on and on went Friend Jeopardy. (I will cover the rest of the questions in the next installment of the United States of Friendship).
For most of the show, I was neck and neck with another contestant, but just before the end, I pulled ahead and was declared the winner.
It was time for me to be presented with my prize.
I couldn’t wait.
Two stylishly dressed girls came up before me, holding up a big check which was written out to “The Winner of Friend Jeopardy”.
“In the amount field on the check were the words “2000 years of friendship”.
I laughed.
I couldn’t have asked for more!!!!!
Dear Reader – thanks for coming
along with me on Friend Jeopardy, a very special edition of the United States
of Friendship. Here are the answers to the Friend Jeopardy questions in this
post, in case you weren’t able to figure them out:
FUTURE DONALD TRUMP, THERAPIST, YAHOO, ANIMALS, WATER, HUMOR, PESARATTU,
READING, TOASTMASTERS, MOTHER, CASHFLOW, MASALA GRILL. Friend Jeopardy will be continued in
the next installment of the United States of Friendship, so hope to see you back
next week for that. Hope you are having a great Memorial Day Weekend……..M…..a Pearl Seeker like you.
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