A Tale of Two Metropolitans: Food, Festivals, and Onam

I am not a very religious person. The only incentive for celebrating any religious - or to some extent cultural - festival for me is the food. Festivals are a great way to exercise one's taste buds. I must confess that every time any festival is around the corner, the part of my tongue containing the taste buds start tickling. Time and again, I begin to smell the non-existent aroma of the food that may be prepared on that particular festival. Of course, my culinary skills being limited, I cannot actively participate in the preparations of these fantastic dishes; though I do my best to help out - sometimes by staying out of the way and not trying to sneak in and get something to eat.

So far festivals for me have meant Diwali, Holi, Gudi Padwa, Ganesh Chaturthi, Christmas, and a few other local ones. And this in turn has meant gorging on chakli, shankar pali, karanji, puran poli, shrikhand, basundi, ukadiche modak (hell any modak), the christmas flower (I dunno the actual name for this one...but have just invented one myself), the easter eggs, and god knows how many other mouth watering items that are making me salivate as I write this. But that was when I was in Maharashtra. Being in Karnataka - or South India if you wish - brings with it new festivals and new delicacies. I missed out on Pongal a few months back due to my own stupidity, but was given a chance to atone for it when Onam came around.

Onam is predominantly a Keralan festival and is very sparsely celebrated in Karnataka. The most predominant image associated with Onam is that of the snake boat races. I guess I am not the right person to speak about Onam, given my range of knowledge and experience. So I will let Wiki to do the talking for me. 

Now I have been in Bengaluru for nearly an year, and yet I am to see any festival being celebrated with the kind of gusto and excitement that I have seen in Mumbai. But then I guess in a way it's not that bad to have your ear drums hale and hearty at the end of Diwali. So Onam, being a Kerala festival, was a pretty quite affair with the only visible sign being the various sales being advertised outside all the shops. Of course, we had to drag ourselves to that small confinement designed to keep the modern man in a prison whilst giving him the illusion that he is doing some very important work: an office cubicle. Of course, once I reached there, I realized that most people had decided not to be enslaved that day and had taken the day off (it was a Monday, and the next day was an holiday). An account of the rest of the day would do nothing but waste my time and yours and lead to nothing. Anyway, the only thing that managed to keep managed to uphold my sagging spirit (Monday + A near empty office = it can't get any depressing) was an invitation by a friend of mine for Onam dinner.

Well I haven't had any Onam food before, yet my stomach started aching for it more than an hour before the scheduled appointment. Tasting new food is like moving to a new locality, you are apprehensive whether it will blow you away with it's amazing flavors or it will blow your appetite away because it has something that your stomach cannot digest, but you are also excited because you are venturing into a new territory that offers more new vistas to explore. But when you are tasting home-made food, the apprehensions are normally blown away into thin air; it's just the anticipation that lasts. 

That was truly the mood as I went to my friend's place. And saying that the dinner was one of the best I have had ever since coming to Bangalore would be an understatement. Apart from the traditional rice, papad, and pickles, there was the Aviyal, a Kerala delicacy. Complimenting the Aviyal was the Olan, a delicacy prepared from pumpkin, moong, and coconut milk. Adding more flavor to this already mouthwatering fare were the cluster beans and the cabbage vegetables. The cabbage preparation was done in a rather interesting manner. Instead of just peeling the cabbage, it had been grind into a paste and then prepared the traditional way. All this was complemented by the Pachadi, the South Indian version of raita. As if this was not enough, our hosts had more plans to send my mind in a tizzy. Following the main course was the Payasam. To the uninitiated, payasam is a form of kheer. Now as most of you will be aware, there are a lot of varieties of kheer. The one that we got to savor was made from rice, mixed with milk and jaggery. The use of banana leaves as plates added to the novelty of the experience. All in all, it was a fantastic experience and one that, even if it does nothing else, still sets me drooling whenever I think of it.

Movie Review: Toy Story 3

Sequels are a tricky thing; especially the ones which are supposed to end a movie series. Try and do too much, and the audience will be left with a sour memory, do too little and the audience will be left unsatisfied. A good sequel is one which presents something new and interesting to the audience but still manages to mesh seamlessly with the previous installment. Unfortunately, there are very few movie series which can claim to have enthralled the audiences with each new installment. Some of the more recent ones that come to mind are the Lord of the Rings series and the Jason Bourne series. The latest entrant into this category is the Toy Story series.

Ever since Woody and gang entered our consciousness, they have enthralled us with their pranks, idiosyncrasies, and their camaraderie. Toy Story 3 has probably been one of the most delayed - and the most awaited - sequels of all. After the second movie released in 1999, all the fans - including yours' truly - were waiting for the third movie with bated breath. As it turned out, it was a good thing that no one held their breaths for a long time; because the third movie took a really long time to come. But what was finally dished out was absolutely sumptuous and fulfilling. It ensured that Toy Story would remain eternally ensconced in our hearts as one of the finest animated movies ever made.

The movie starts with most of the toys' - and I guess a lot of fans' - worst nightmare coming true; Andy is all grown up and ready to go off to college. The question confronting the toys is 'Where now?'. Most of the toys have been given away in the yard sale over the years. The only ones who remain are Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bullseye, Slinky, Rex, Hamm, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Heads, and the three-eyed space aliens from the Pizza Planet. The moment when Andy's mom puts the toys - except Woody, whom Andy is taking to college with him -  in the trash can instead of the attic, is when the fun begins. Though the toys do manage to escape the getting crushed in the trash collecting truck, they end up in a day care center where they meet a lot of new toys including Lots-O'-Huggin' bear, Big Baby (an actual big baby doll), and Ken. Then follows a nightmare that makes the attic in Andy's house look like heaven. Their eventual escape from there is classic sequence with lots of nail biting moments. And the ending? Well, let's just say that by the end of the movie, it will be hard not to feel goosebumps. The movie is a perfect balance of hilarious moments (none more than Buzz getting reset to Spanish settings), dark moments, and really touching moments.

The central characters still continue to enthrall you. All the previous actors/actresses return to reprise their roles. And the actual characters still retain their freshness. Woody is still the tough-but-kind cowboy of the first two movies. Buzz is still the boy-scout space ranger, though he seems to be a bit tongue-tied when speaking to Jessie (not the Spanish Buzz though). Rex is still trying - and failing - to look menacing. Mr. Potato Head is still the eternal pessimist with a sarcastic humor. So what has changed? For starters, the toys are no longer facing a threat from Sid the evil-neighborhood-kid or Al from the Al's toy barn, but from Andy himself. And for once Woody is not showing as much confidence in Andy as he once used to. 

Somehow, the plight of the characters is synonymous to the situation that each of us has to face at some time or another. Whether it be getting selected for the school play, or in a sports team, or being accepted by your peers during the day of school/college/work. And the similarities don't end here. Time and again you will be reminded of the various 'last days' that you have had. Last day at the school, last day of your graduation, last day at an office you have worked in for a long time, the day when you moved out of your home, and so on. The empty feeling that you tend to get, the sad farewells that you might have had with your closest friends, the fond memories of the times - good or bad - that you might have shared, the uncertainty of whether you will ever meet your friends again; all these feeling somehow fight their way up amongst all the worries that the modern day life tends to heap upon us. If nothing else, watch the movie for just reminiscing those moments.

Pixar's animation is awesome as usual. The direction is great. The security arrangements made by the toys at the day care center is very cleverly done; trucks for watch guards, and slides for watch towers. The escape sequence of the toys from the day care is cleverly directed. Randy Newman provides great music once again, kicking off the movie with the familiar 'You've Got a Friend In Me' track. The rest of the music provides good support to the movie.

It's very difficult to point out any flaws in the plot of the movie, except that it gets a bit serious too many times. But then, it's ok considering the fact that it was essential for the movie to end the way it did.

All-in-all, it is one of the finest animated movies I have ever seen. And Toy Story is definitely one of the best trilogies I have ever seen. When the release of the sequel was announced, my greatest fear was whether Toy Story 3 would be able to stand up to the first two movies; considering the fact that it was being made after more than a decade. But, not only has it stood up to the first two movies, in my humble opinion, it has surpassed the first two movies.