A royal dining experience

 When we received an invitation for lunch at Taj Falaknuma, little did I realize that we were in for a royal dining experience. I knew it was a very expensive affair and I had my doubts whether I can do any sort of justice, but having committed to it, we went ahead. Though we have been living in Hyderabad for more than 4 decades, we never thought of visiting the Falaknuma palace. I once attended a CII dinner event there 20 years ago, but it was in the lawns and I did not set foot inside the palace.

The luncheon was hosted by one of my husband’s clients at the Taj Falaknuma for all the employees along with their families on the company having completed 25 years of operations. I expected it to be a routine lunch buffet, probably with a large spread and some delectable food. Well, I was pleasantly surprised that it was much more than food, it was a royal dining experience. Our hosts led us to the dining hall, which contained a 100 feet dining table which can seat 101 people. The view of the beautifully decorated dining table elicited gasps of rapture from the gathering.

Now the first question that comes to mind is how long will they take to serve 70 people at a time. Normally, one would expect it to take atleast a couple of hours. When we sit down to eat a south Indian meal at a wedding, waiters serve one dish each on a banana leaf in front of us and the leaf gets filled. However, this being a 6-course meal with each course requiring a different set of cutlery, it was a different challenge altogether. We waited with bated breath to see how it would be handled.

While the explanation of the history of the dining hall and its acoustics, the exquisite chandeliers, the rosewood table, chairs, paintings was in progress, Makai Badam ka shorba was served into the bowls kept in front of us. We lost no time as we picked up the fries/papads kept in front of us and savoured the corn and almond soup. Hunger pangs were kicking in as I was wondering how they would clear all these bowls and bring in the starters. The entirely vegetarian menu displayed on the card in front of each guest raised our expectations.

All of a sudden, close to 40 waiters walked into the dining hall in a single file. They stood to attention right behind the guests. A gong sounded and before we realized what was happening, each waiter picked up two empty bowls and they all started moving out of the hall in one go. Wow…amazing coordination. The mystery cleared and now we were confident that the 6 course meal can be completed comfortably within an hour.

Soon they entered again with the starters. Each plate contained Bharwan Paneer Tikka, Zimikand Shikampuri Kebab and Dahi ke Kebab. The starters were so tasty that we lost no time in clearing the plate. The waiters were ready to refill the plate, but the main course was yet to be served. So there was no point in filling up the stomach completely. Savouring the rich and varied dishes using silver cutlery having people waiting on us added the royal touch to the dining experience. Moreover, each dish was being explained to us by the waiter while serving it.

The next course was the signature dish – Vegetable Haleem. I have never tasted it before and I was skeptical, but it was quite tasty. 

As we were waiting for the main course to be served, the waiters filed in with yet another speciality – the Tamarind Sorbet. I was wondering whether to give it a miss, when the waiter explained the purpose of this dish. The aim is to get rid of the lingering taste in the mouth after the previous courses. The palate gets cleared of the residual smell and taste due to the tangy taste of the tamarind and leaves it fresh to savour the main course.

The main course consisted of Nizami Handi, Paneer Do Pyaaza, Dakhni Saag, Shahi Kofta, Aloo Dum Kashmiri, Dal-E-Adaa with an assorted collection of Indian breads – Naan, Garlic Naan, Paratha et al. We could just nibble on the breads and try to complete the accompaniments to the best of our abilities. The waiters soon realized we are very poor eaters since they did not have to serve any refils. The rice varieties included plain rice, Tawa Paneer Corn Methi Pulao, Subz Gulezar Biryani and Curd rice. The signature Mirchi ka Salan and the Boondi Raita was already served in the plates. It was a humungous challenge to taste each of these dishes. Of course, we could not do justice to the chef by eating much, the least we could do was to taste each dish to satiate the palate.

The last course contained a bouquet of desserts ranging from Shahi Tukda, Rasmalai, Angoori gulab jamun and Paan ice-cream. As our host commented, the calorific value of all the items in the menu was such that we would need to skip eating the next day also. It was so difficult for us to even get up from the chair after such a heavy lunch. Immediately after lunch, we were taken for a tour in the palace. Though I was not too keen to understand the history of the palace and the source of the artifacts in the palace, it gave me an opportunity to walk around so that digestion could be initiated.

All in all, thanks to our wonderful hosts, we were treated to a royal dining experience. I have always been enamored by descriptions of the lunch and dinner in books featuring the Europeans, like the Agatha Christie featuring Hercule Poirot, Sherlock Holmes or the P G Wodehouse series. The elaborate multicourse meals and the dinner gong were always an enigma. I could relate to those after my current experience.

Bharata Uvaca - A Civilisation speaks

 

When I registered for this event, little did I know what I was getting into. A few talks, some cultural shows, I thought I would spend the day listening to a few interesting speakers and maybe spend most of my time browsing on my phone. But I was in for a surprise. Every single speaker, every topic and every performance was engrossing, immersive, informative and provoking.

Starting from the Ganapati shlokas and other vedic hymns, talks ranging across a wide variety of topics from the Ramayana, rise of Bharat as a nation, cultural heritage – textiles, artifacts, temples, education, water conservation, wealth (Artha), kartavya bhava – duty or doing instead of whining. If the talks left a lot of thoughts, the performances kept the audience spell-bound. The solo dance/talk on the Ista Deva, the violin symphony from a troupe of artists across ages, the finale performance by the Shankarananda Kalakshetra students was top-notch. It took us to an entirely different world – the tales from the Bull(Nandi) and the Tiger (Simha – vahana of Parvati). From the viewpoint of these vahanas, the greatness of Shiva and Parvati was expressed to Ganesha and Karthikeya. The entire choreography, music, lighting and dance was a feast for the eyes and ears.

My takeaways from the event –

1.      Read the original Ramayana written by Valmiki (hope to be able to read it sometime in my life)

2.      Get rid of the devil inside me – procrastination

3.      Encourage weavers through use of handloom

4.      Learn Sanskrit

5.      Mindset change - Earning wealth is not a crime

When the going gets tough, the tough get going!!!

 

2020 has been a tough journey for all, more so for those appearing for CLAT 2020.

The first challenge was the introduction of the new pattern for CLAT. The announcement came last October and the details of the pattern were released in January. Though students were jubilant about the reduction in the number of questions, there was a lot of apprehension regarding the revised pattern of questions as it involved a lot of reading, which would eat up time.

The next blow came in the form of the lockdown due to the pandemic. No physical classes were possible and students had to remotely attend lectures and practice on their own. Doubts-clearing was a challenge as the faculty was not always familiar or known personally and the response could not be real-time. Interacting with faculty and studying with major reliance on mobile phone/laptop using technology was a novel concept for students and faculty alike, but I am proud of my students who have managed to make best use of the constrained circumstances.

The innumerable rescheduling of the exam threw students into a sea of confusion and apprehension. Not knowing whether the exam would be conducted and if so, when, caused a tough dilemma for students who were already grappling with remote learning. A related challenge was the lack of direct interaction with peers that would normally build up the competitive spirit and fervour. Maintaining the focus and not losing sight of the goal is a near-impossible task under these circumstances, but those who could do that, gained in the end.

The mentoring that we normally provide to students on a one-to-one basis had to be done remotely and that too, in a group.  But what is astounding is that students have acted on the feedback and made remarkable progress.

Just as the students were gearing up for the exam in the first week of September, CLAT got postponed once again and there was a distraction in the form of NLAT for NLSIU, Bangalore. Students wrote this exam, which had a tweaked pattern and reduced timeline, after preparing for only one week. Ultimately, Supreme Court quashed this exam but the time and effort spent on this could not be undone.

Multiple petitions to the Supreme Court, to the extent that one of the judgements actually came on the morning of the CLAT exam on 28th September, caused so much uncertainty and anxiety to students. In the face of all these challenges, ALP students who were tough and determined, stood their ground, unwavering in their focus and in the process, we had an excellent result. 10 students have made it to NALSAR and 30+ students have made it to the NLUs in the first merit list. More students are expected to be added to this tally as the remaining lists are out in the days to come.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This adage has been proved true by the ALPians. Three cheers to them!!!

Visit to Dayalbagh – a marriage with a difference

I first heard about Dayalbagh Radhasaomi Satsang sect around 25 years ago when my friend, Vasanta, who did M. Tech at HCU, and was briefly my roommate, handed me her wedding invitation. The groom was based at Agra and the wedding was to be performed there. At that time, her parents used to live in Kakinada, or maybe Hyderabad, and I was surprised that they were performing the wedding at Agra. That is when she explained that her wedding was fixed by their Guru and was to be performed in His august presence at Dayalbagh.

I slowly got introduced to more followers post my marriage. My father-in-law was a follower during some part of his life and his cousins were ardent followers. So when my husband’s cousin was performing his daughter’s wedding at Dayalbagh, and invited us, we took the opportunity to visit. Of course, it was our privilege as there is a cap on the number of invitees, well, I will get to that later. My father-in-law, and during the brief time that I got to interact with my brother-in-law, often used the phrase “Simple living, high thinking”, and I finally saw what they meant.  

So last weekend, we went to Dayalbagh. Since it was four hours drive from Delhi, it made sense for us to travel by train directly from Secunderabad to Agra. Entering the gated enclosure, I saw a self-sufficient village in itself. For convenience, I will refer to the gated enclosure as Dayalbagh, though I believe the name actually encompasses a larger area surrounding it too. Motorized vehicles from outside, including two-wheelers are banned inside. Honking is prohibited in Dayalbagh. There are cycle-rickshaws and e-rickshaws for the convenience of the inmates. Bicycles are a common mode of transport in addition to walking. People meet in the Satsang hall twice a day, around 3:00 am for morning prayers and 3:00 pm for evening prayers, followed by a visit and service in the fields. Young and old alike, throng to the prayer hall and maintain pin drop silence during the prayer time. Normally, it is difficult for people to stay quiet without making noise in most places, and with mobile phones switched off!! But in the prayer hall, I saw pin drop silence being maintained even though there were hundreds of people in a single hall. The prayers are broadcast live(audio) to various prayer halls across the world. After prayers, people go towards the fields, where they perform duties, which include farming activities based on the current crop that is being grown.

Let’s now see how the wedding was performed. Only residents of Dayalbagh get an opportunity to get married in the presence of the Guru. So the groom had to take a month off from work to stay at Dayalbagh and participate in service activities there in order to gain the eligibility. There are strict guidelines regarding the wedding expenditure. It cannot exceed Rs. 18000, which is hardly enough to even buy the bride’s saree, these days. This includes the cost for the wedding feast for 100 people inclusive of the bride and groom along with their families and food for the guests at the accommodation provided. There is even an audit done to verify whether additional celebrations are being done. The menu is very simple like any normal day, and the sumptuous feasts that are common in most weddings were conspicuously absent. This also ensures the guests eat healthy. Only about 65 people from the bride’s side and 35 people from the groom’s side partake of the wedding feast.

The marriage itself is a civil ceremony, that took place early morning around 5 am with the presence of the bride and groom along with their parents, a witness and a photographer. No other person, including the siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts, or other relatives are allowed to witness the marriage in close quarters. The actual process took not more than 20 minutes for the marriages of 14 couples seated in a semi-circle in front of the Guru. An exchange of garlands, signing of the marriage register, followed by the singing of a couple of shabd (prayers) completed the wedding. For an hour prior to the wedding, the bride, groom, parents and guests were tasked with cutting grass on the fields. The wedding was an activity to be witnessed in the midst of this task. So everybody, including us were involved in the task and could barely witness the wedding from a distance. All Dayalbagh devotees wear a uniform(cotton kurta-pyjama) when they go for prayers. The couple, parents and the guests were wearing similar attire for the wedding. No pomp, blaring music, silk sarees, jewellery, baraat, band, videographer, drone, etc. The wedding gifts are supposed to be a standard amount of eleven rupees. Any residual festivities/celebrations on a small scale are performed in the temporary residence of the bride/groom.

It was a unique experience. Since 14 couples got married at the same time, having these kind of rules probably helps in removing the barriers of rich/poor, caste, state and other disparities. The bride and groom need not belong to the same caste or even state for that matter. The unifying factor is the devotion to the values of the Radhasaomi sect and the Guru.  

My Universal Studios (LA) experience

I had heard a lot about the Universal Studios so I was pretty much excited. I was supposed to be travelling alone but then it is not so much fun to be all by myself. I would need someone to encourage, discuss, take pictures and enjoy with me. So I literally dragged my friend who was a classmate at college to accompany me on the trip to Universal Studios. Though grudgingly at first (I was pulling him out of his family time and that too to a place he would have visited umpteen number of times), he very chivalrously offered to give me a conducted tour of the place.

We reached Universal Studios around 9:30 am (a good half hour later than we originally planned) and then upgraded our tickets to the Universal express. (This is similar to the Rs. 300 ticket that we Indians normally take when we are visiting Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati….) They handed us a map of the Studios, but there is an app that one can download, which will give good information about the attractions – rides and shows along with the timings and wait times, if any. One good thing about the US is that there is free WiFi in every public area, so one can stay connected and instantly share pictures and videos too.

The first attraction for every age group is definitely the Harry Porter theme. So we got to see the Hogwarts express, the castle, some magic and the Harry Porter ride on the Forbidden journey. It is better to watch a Harry Porter movie or read a book prior to visiting, so that one can enjoy the ride better, relating to the characters. I was a little apprehensive about the rides, imagining a 360 degree turn or a giant wheel kind of experience, but this one is a sort of tram ride that takes you through a certain route, going up and down, with virtual reality scenes all around you. So you essentially are following Harry Porter in his adventures.

The studio tour is a ride for an hour on a tram. They take you around the studios showing you different shooting spots, experiences of various kinds, earthquake, fire, floods, car crashes, rain, skylines, bungalows used in films and television shows, skylines, etc. The best part is that the tour guide explains these and also shows the same scenes in the movies, so you can actually understand how it looks on screen.

There are rides with Simpsons, Despicable me, Transformers, the Mummy Returns, Kung Fu Panda, et al. I have not watched any of these movies, so I could not relate to the characters, but the rides are fun. For most of these rides, you are sitting at a single location, with virtual reality shows. So you would move front, back, up and down, tilt in all directions, but at the same location surrounded by the characters from that movie. The Mummy ride is a little scary as it is very fast, but then it is also exhilarating and enjoyable. The Jurassic Park theme was closed down as it was being redesigned.

The Special Effects show gives you a good idea of how the stunts are done, different sounds are produced to accompany the actions, how people survive a fire accident. So it is very enlightening. Another interesting show was the Animal actors. How animals are trained to perform in the movies, do tricks, act with strangers, was also very entertaining.

The best one that I liked in the Studios was the Water World show. It is simply amazing. This was like a theatre show. An action show, depicting an island with chases and fights, motorboats, firing from all directions, accidents, fire on the lake, water jets, chaining and killing, rescue scene. It was simply amazing to see the actors with so much energy, climbing ladders, chasing on motorboats, jumping, hanging off cliffs. It is one thing to watch such scenes in a movie, but seeing them performed live is an entirely different experience.

You also see various cartoon characters at different spots where you can get photographed. The food stalls are all over the studios, at every step. As soon as you enter, you see food even before you enter any ride. I think Americans are very fond of food.

All good things come to an end, and so did our trip. The Express pass ensured we did not have waiting time at any of the rides. There were long queues with wait times upto 60 minutes or 75 minutes at some of the rides, so I was glad to skip the waiting. Without the express pass, it would not have been possible to cover all the attractions in a single day. All in all, the Universal Studios is a must-visit spot for anyone visiting the United States.

My first book presentation

My last blog post triggered an invitation from my friend to join a book club. The book club has been in existence for the past 10 years and very systematically, one of the members presents a book every month. Sounded interesting to me and I decided to attend a couple of presentations before deciding to join.

After attending 3 sessions, I was formally inducted into the Happy Book Club. I had been designated to present a book in June. I was asked to do it in April or May, but that was a peak period at work, so I preferred June. I had chosen the book “The Moonstone” by Wilkie Collins. I had first read this book when I was still in school and somehow the story stuck in my memory. Last year, I came across another book by the same author and that’s when I decided to read it again.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and so, I decided to share the same with the group.

The first step was to re-read the entire book so as to figure out a strategy for the presentation in less than 2 hours. I have a habit of reading books on Kindle, so I underestimated the size of the book. I ordered a printed book and got a shock when I saw the size of the book. There was no way I could read significant chunk of the book. To give you an idea of the challenge involved, here is an intro to the book.

The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century British epistolary novel, which means it is written as a series of letters. It is generally considered to be the first detective novel, and it established many of the ground rules of the modern detective novel.

The Moonstone of the title is a diamond, not to be confused with the semi-precious moonstone gem. It gained its name from its association with the Hindu god of the moon, Chandra. It was said to be protected by hereditary guardians on the orders of Vishnu, and to wax and wane in brilliance along with the light of the moon.

Rachel Verinder, a young English woman, inherits a large Indian diamond on her eighteenth birthday. It is a legacy from her uncle, a corrupt British army officer who served in India. The diamond is of great religious significance and extremely valuable, and three Hindu priests have dedicated their lives to recovering it. The story incorporates elements of the legendary origins of the Hope Diamond (or perhaps the Orloff Diamond or the Koh-i-Noor diamond). Rachel's eighteenth birthday is celebrated with a large party, at which the guests include her cousin Franklin Blake. She wears the Moonstone on her dress that evening for all to see, including some Indian jugglers who have called at the house. Later that night, the diamond is stolen from Rachel's bedroom, and a period of turmoil, unhappiness, misunderstandings and ill-luck ensues. Told by a series of narratives from some of the main characters, the complex plot traces the subsequent efforts to explain the theft, identify the thief, trace the stone and recover it.

Now, how do I present such a long book, which is a detective novel in a summarized manner, and that too, including all the significant events without missing any links in the chain of detection? Whenever there is a problem, Google will show the way…. I found chapter-wise summarized notes on the internet, that formed the basis of my presentation. I had a starting point. Now, I had to tweak the notes in such a manner as to leave out unnecessary bits, condense it further so that I could hold the interest of the audience and complete the story in less than 2 hours.

Being a verbal faculty probably came to my rescue as I was comfortable with the concept of para-summary. The biggest challenge was to sustain the audience attention. I chose to read out the prologue, the epilogue and a description of events related to the disappearance of the moonstone. For the rest of the story, I used the summary notes. To my bewilderment, the entire group of 12 people managed to stay hooked on to the story, guessing, deliberating, debating and commenting through the presentation. I was warned that there could be interruptions, but being a teacher, I could manage that comfortably. All of them praised my efforts and said that it did not look like a maiden presentation at all. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I am looking forward to doing more presentations.

Takeaways from Jane Austen’s classic “Pride and Prejudice”

I happened to read the book ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen recently. I had first read this book during my teenage years and those days, I thought of it as nothing more than a love story set in the 18^th century.

When I started reading this book again after a gap of around 25 years, the perspective was completely different. I started with hesitation as I knew the writing style would be archaic and the story would be slow compared to the later fiction that I have been accustomed to. However, this book had so many takeaways that I could not resist penning them down for future reflection.

1.     Writing Style – The long winding sentences, though archaic in form, are so profound and every phrase significant that it is indeed a pleasure to read them.

A sample - “He was anxious to avoid the notice of his cousins, from a conviction that if they saw him depart, they could not fail to conjecture his design, and he was not willing to have the attempt known till its success might be known likewise; for though feeling almost secure, and with reason, for Charlotte had been tolerably encouraging, he was comparatively diffident since the adventure of Wednesday.”

2.     Characterization -

Each character is so carefully described and if you actually look around you, shades of these personalities are seen in the real world even today.

Mrs Bennet – Scheming woman, whose sole aim in life is to get her daughters married. She doesn’t mind parading them in front of gentlemen or military officers. The happiness of her daughters in the marriage is of no consequence. She just wants them to be married and stay close to her.

Mr Bennet – Father of five daughters, with no property of his own. However, never saved his income or planned for their welfare. Took refuge in his books and solitude, instead of shaping the personalities of his daughters.

Jane Bennet – Shy and demure. Never allowed her feelings to be shown to others. Always optimistic and finds good in every person and every situation. Gives allowance to people for their mistakes.

Elizabeth Bennet – Witty, lively and playful. Being the protagonist and the one with the ‘Prejudice’ in the title, her character has been described in great detail, the different moods, the transformation of her prejudice to cordiality to gratitude to love has evolved. Unafraid of authorities or titles, not swayed by wealth or power, of course she had her share of faults too -  her rude rejection of Mr Darcy, the pity towards Charlotte for marrying Mr Collins.

Charles Bingley – Easy-going personality, but one who is diffident and depends on the judgment of his friend more than his own feelings.

Lydia Bennet – Frivolous and insensitive to the feelings of family members or others. Wholly focused on balls, dresses, officers and gossip. No sense of purpose in life.

Wickham – Double-faced person. Appears very charming and pleasing to everyone, but no qualms in double-crossing them. Leaves debts wherever he goes, and spreads rumours. No sense of obligation, responsibility or gratitude.

… and many more.

3.     Various aspects that people look for in a marriage –

Charlotte Lucas -  Marriage is a necessity and if the partner has a good character, connections and job, it is enough to have a fair chance of happiness.

Lydia Bennet – Freedom and opportunity to attend many balls and parties.

Elizabeth Bennet -  Looks for a lively, well-read and superior partner with whom she can carry on interesting debates and learn something new each day. One who can understand her frankness. Wealth and material comforts are not the primary objective.

Jane Bennet – Believes in love and affection in a marriage.

4.     Prejudices can be overcome with an open mind.

Though Elizabeth was strongly prejudiced against Darcy, she read his letter with an open mind. She was able to put away the past instances when she encountered him at Pemberly estate and remain civil. Similarly her prejudice against the happy marriage of Charlotte Lucas and Mr Collins was overcome when she visited them for six weeks and observed them.

5.     Good deeds are done not to impress but to see joy in the eyes of one you love.

Most often, people do good deeds to impress someone they love or hope for a benefit from. However, the character of Darcy is shown to be so magnanimous and helpful. After seeing Elizabeth in distress over the elopement of Lydia with Wickham, he ensures their return and arranges money for repayment of all debts and gets them married. Over and above this, he requests that this information should not be disclosed to Elizabeth and her family. He has only done it for their joy and comfort.

6.     Take cognizance of feedback and work on overcoming shortcomings.

Elizabeth turns down the proposal of Darcy with very harsh words and in so doing, she reveals her impressions of his character based on his actions and words. Though completely shocked, stunned and angry, he does not regret his proposal. Instead, he reflects on what she has said and tries to amend his shortcomings, not just in interactions towards her but to all.

Of course, there are many more, but no wonder, this book is considered one of the classics. Even after so many centuries of this book, it can still be read and considered a masterpiece in this fast paced, technologically advanced era.