1st Jan 2010

1st Jan 2010


A new year has arrived with lots of hopes and aspirations. There are some unfinished tasks that need attention, and there are newer challenges to be embarked upon. We started our day with fresh aspirations and a taste of home. Not literally home, but India, for me they are synonyms. We went to Dosa Plaza for breakfast, and also had the enticing Madras Filter Coffee. It was nowhere near to the homely Filter coffee that I had during one of my sales calls in an Iyer family when I was working back in India. But we could still feel that our brain nerves were being massaged with the addictive caffeine.

While having the sumptuous Dosa/Medu Vada and the heavenly Coconut chutney, we wondered how people managed to build such a strong service brands. We also want to become successful restaurateurs with a strong Taste differentiation. So any time we hop into a restaurant, we wear our thinking caps and start analyzing everything, right from ‘A for Ambience’ to ‘Z for Zodiac effects on successes’. We thought about the various “adda’s” around Mumbai that we visited, and also missed Anna down the lane, who’s Chatni-Vada we could gulp down by dozens. We remembered Anand Bhavan & Mani’s in Matunga and the road side stall outside Dadar Station on Tulsi Pipeline. How we miss them all! I wish on my next trip home, I can thank them for their honest food service without being embarrassed. And deep within my Mind, I envied them as we also aspired to make such a remarkable lineage.

I suddenly felt a strong desire to cook something uniquely Indian. Every few hours there comes a surge of longing for India, and as usual we promised ourselves that we will not settle here, but go back soon. The breakfast was hearty, and when we returned home, we had to be a bit hasty as I also had to go to work as well. I was doing a 1-10pm shift today, and with loads of enthusiasm I started my first day of the year at work. It was a long day though, but I happened to spend my 1 hour lunch break with my husband, as he was on leave. We went to a Supermarket as he had to but some stuff for his Gym routine. Being the first day of the year, he has made ambitious fitness goals, but his much coveted Gym was closed on the 1st. What a pity for all those who made a New Year Resolution.

Another amazing thing that happened today was cooking! Which unluckily I didn’t venture in, but my husband did. He attempted to make something like a Vegetable Stew, which to me was quite delicious, but he was quite unhappy. He said that he has been so used to the tasty food that I cook, that his own little attempt seemed too short against the pyramid of his taste buds. For me, it was a gesture of him acknowledging my efforts in balancing and multi tasking.

What else do women expect on the First Day of the Year?
A breeze of happiness, an essence of companionship and above all the Spirit of Hope!