Burning

I never thought it through till now... am not sure I've done that yet.. but I take back my stand on protest by burning. It felt like a big waste, sacrilege even - burning down piles and piles of stuff just to protest against it... but then I'm starting to see the point.
See it all started with me trying to be vegetarian. We were at this restaurant earlier and per my new requirements I asked the waitress if a certain dish could be made without meat. She said she would check with the chef - which I understood to mean she would check to see if he could cook it without the meat. Ultimately though I ended up with a meat version of the dish - but with the meat pieces removed!

Anyway the dilemma was to eat or not eat. Since I am protesting against growing animals to eat their meat later, it felt wrong to eat the dish. But then the animal is already dead and I would be just wasting the food. A week back I'd have been relishing it! And so started a discussion on protest and burning/wasting stuff in protest. Like burning foreign clothes in protest, burning the recovered tusks of poached elephants. Wasting a can of coke cos its coke.

I felt bad about the tusks cos they are so magnificent, so they need to be valued not burnt! But then I realized, wanting them to be valued is promoting them as a possession. That's not what I want either! And so the only way out seems to be to destroy them. This sounds more like treating the symptoms and not the cause, but is there any other way around it? And why is it that I think something beautiful needs to be preserved?

The Common Pot

Hmm.. Common Plate actually. The Ethiopian style of serving food - in one large plate for the whole group. Heads gathered close as people move in to help themselves to the food. Passing the injera around and scooping up the various concoctions; the dishes so tasty. Conversations needn't be loud as there is no table span to speak across while talking with one another. Jostling with each other for the tastiest morsel while making sure your friends sample the best offerings on the plate. Reminds me of my childhood - never have eaten from a common plate since! The familiarity yet difference in taste with Indian cuisine making it a choice variant of comfort food. My only woe was that I couldn't dig into all that sure to be yummy non-veg food lying right there on the plate I was eating from! Tempted but not truly - the veggie food was awesome! Love the whole experience.

The Trials

I was at an acquaintances place recently and came across a drawing. By his niece/nephew. Three animals (I forget which) all lined up with a caption saying "Save Animals" - "Be Vegetarian".
I have always contemplated turning vegetarian and have tried it a few times - once even went a couple of months without eating meat. But it never stuck. I guess having been raised a non-vegetarian, I find it harder to resist. Or maybe that's just my excuse. But the drawing got me back to trying again. And this time on the very day I decided to give up meat was the night I ended up going to a store and buying some chicken pickle and relishing it. So much for my resolutions.
But I'm back on the wagon again since yesterday and trying to stay that way and these are my records to keep me honest & on the track.

This was my start:
Dinner yesterday: After about 3 hours of physical activity, got out craving some proteins & carbs (think lamb chops, gongura pachchadi with rice and mashed potatoes). Ended up with a grilled cheese sandwich from Jack in the Box - almost bailed and got the double cheese burger (slurp slurrp). Almost.
Lunch today: Salad bar. Did load up on eggs (decided that is still on the veggie menu for now).

Night Time Confessions

These days the constants are lack of sleep, packed days, work and loads of fun with friends. By the time I hit the sack, I'm wondering if I can wake up on time or if my tired body will ignore the cranky ring of my cell phone alarm. But then there is one other constant and that is chatting before I sleep. With a special friend. One who knows the major happenings of my days even if not the characters. It sometimes gets difficult to keep track with all the references we have for people rather than their names. A paltry attempt at keeping some privacy. Stories swapped, views compared, movies & books recommended, photos passed around and smilies exchanged. A restful end to some otherwise crazy days.
Its turned into a routine and I'm glad I have this friend to share stuff with. And today for no reason at all, I'd like my friend to know I'm happy we have formed this habit.

A Night Gone By

I was on vacation at this gorgeous place - lush green landscape, tropical rains cooling down the temperatures every so often, keeping the air pristine. It was the last night of the year. And I was sitting out on this porch. Hardly a light to be seen; just the dull haze from the night lamp inside the room. There was a screen on the outside to prevent bugs from bothering people and I could hear them croaking and cricketing to glory. The skies were shedding their weights and raining in rage. The breeze was beautifully pleasant - the winds from the rains drizzling spray everywhere. I could almost smell the earth, or maybe I did. The water in a nearby stream overflowing down the hill and gushing its way into oblivion. So forceful that it was the only reason I knew it existed. There weren't any fireworks harping the new year in. But nature was putting on its very own show.

I was alone on the porch. And I'm glad I had that moment to myself. Nature, a new year ahead and me.