Wednesday, September 29, 2010

IS MY HUSBAND ACTUALLY MY HUSBAND...?

IS MY HUSBAND ACTUALLY MY HUSBAND...? 
Fiction Short Story 
By 
VIKRAM KARVE

I wrote this story for a Flash Fiction competition long back. The theme was "journal" and there were restrictions on word count so it is a tightly written taut story, the bare essentials.
The story was short listed, but sadly, did not win a prize. 
I wonder why...? 
Dear Reader, please tell me if you like this story.  

“See this.” 
“It’s a lab journal.” 
“I picked it up at the raddiwala.” 
“Hey, I sent you to sell old newspapers, not collect raddi.” 
“Open it, read the name.” 
“John Morris.” 
“John Morris ? It’s my husband’s name.” 
“I know – unbelievable, isn’t it? Just imagine – your husband’s science lab journal, after so many years – and that too here, at the raddiwala inDelhi.” 
“Let’s go to Mussoorie.” 
“Mussoorie ? Now ? Are you crazy ?” 
“To John’s school. He studied in a boarding school in Mussoorie but he never tells me anything about his schooldays.  I’m dying to know – let’s go, please.” 
“Annie, be sensible. You’ve got to catch the flight back home to New Yorkearly tomorrow morning.” 
“Please Priti, I have to go – this journal, serendipity, it’s a signal. Let’s go in your car – Mussoorie is only a five hour drive – we can easily be back by evening.” 
That afternoon the two women are seated in the office of the Headmaster of a famous school in Mussoorie. 
“I wonder how this school journal surfaced after twenty years, and that too in Delhi,” the Headmaster says in awe. 
“I’d love to know about my husband’s schooldays – photos, anything…” 
“Well, I’ve joined recently; most of the staff too…why don’t you ask the Bursar…he’s an old timer.” 
Annie and Priti walk to the Bursar’s office and show him the science lab journal. 
“Mrs. Bhalla must have taken this journal with her to Delhi as remembrance when she retired,” the Bursar says wistfully. 
“Remembrance ? Mrs Bhalla ?” 
“Our previous Science Teacher – John was her favourite – she treated him like a son.” 
“Son ?” 
“Yes. John was an orphan – he lost both his parents in a car accident…” 
“I know.” 
“…and Mrs. Bhalla was a childless widow. They lived for each other – like mother and son.” 
“It’s surprising – John never told me about Mrs. Bhalla…” 
“Told you ? When did you meet John Morris ?”
“Two weeks back.” 
“Two weeks back ? Impossible ! Where did you meet John ?” 
“In New York. At home. John Morris is my husband.” 
“John Morris is your husband ? That’s just not possible…” 
“Not possible ? Why do you say that ? I am Annie Morris – I’ve been married to John Morris for five years.” 
“Look here young lady. There seems to be some mistake…” 
“Mistake ? No. No. There is no mistake. Everything fits perfectly. John told me he studied here. Twenty years back, in 1988, he must have been in class nine, like it’s written on this journal. I know he was born in 1974.” 
“1974 ?” 
“Yes. The 7th of September 1974.” 
“Oh, My God…How do you know ? Tell me, do you remember when you first met John Morris ?” 
“Of course I remember – I first met him in May 2001. In New York. Why ?” 
“Come with me,” the Bursar says, and the two women follow the podgy old man up the slopes of Landour to the cemetery at Lal Tibba. 
The two women, Annie and Priti, freeze with shock as they read the large bold letters engraved on the tombstone: 
                 JOHN MORRIS
      BORN: 7 SEPTEMBER 1974
      DIED: 15 DECEMBER 1988
                 RIP 
Annie Morris stares at the tombstone, her brain in a tizzy, she blurts out: “If this is the real John Morris, then who is that man in New York? And if that man in New York, my husband, is the real John Morris, then who is this man lying dead for twenty years in this grave?”
Dear Reader, Annie Morris is asking you: “Is my husband actually my husband ...?
What do you think Dear ReaderWho is Annie's husband...? The man who lives with her in New York...? Or the man lying buried in the grave in Mussoorie...? 

VIKRAM KARVE

© vikram karve., all rights reserved. 

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2010
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
 
VIKRAM KARVE educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU, Lawrence School Lovedale, and Bishop's School Pune, is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, a Human Resource Manager and Trainer by occupation, a Teacher by vocation, a Creative Writer by inclination and a Foodie by passion. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. His delicious foodie blogs have been compiled in a book "Appetite for a Stroll". Vikram lives in Pune with his family and pet Doberman girl Sherry, with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
 
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog - http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com
 
Academic Journal Vikram Karve – http://karvediat.blogspot.com
 
Professional Profile of Vikram Karve - http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve 
 
© vikram karve., all rights reserved. 



HOW TO BAKE A CAKE

BAKING MATHEMATICS

MATHEMATICAL FORMULA CAKE  -   ¾ : 1 : 1 ½

By
 
VIKRAM KARVE
 
 
 
¾ : 1 : 1 ½– what’s that?

No, it’s not what you think – it’s not a secret code or some mathematical formula.

This mathematical ratio exemplifies the recipe for a simple cake – probably the first thing I learnt to cook.
 
It’s simple. Take ¾ [three-fourth] vati [ katori or cup] of fresh butter, cream it till fluffy with your hand, add 1 [one] vati of sugar and whisk vigorously till the sugar and butter blend smoothly, whip three eggs till they fluff up into peaks, fold into the butter-sugar mixture carefully, and beat with your hand till the batter emulsifies nicely.
 
Sieve 1 ½ [one and a half] vaties [katories] of maida [flour] with a teaspoon of baking powder and keep ready in a thali.
 
In a glass pour a generous “tot” of full-bodied dark rum – the darker and mellower the rum the better it is – as it will have more caramel which will impart an inimitable heavenly bitter-sweet flavour blended with the richly aromatic enveloping tang of molasses.
 
Now start adding, by the tablespoonful, the sieved maida to the butter-sugar-egg emulsified batter, gently folding in and smoothing in with your fingers, and alternately, from time to time add a few “drops” by the teaspoonful of the full-bodied dark rum, licking your fingers from time to time, rolling on your tongue, sampling and tasting at every step, till you get the right creamy consistency and taste.

I love to mix in a wee bit of powdered spices like cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg or cloves – innovate as per your mood and taste, and add a few drops of vanilla essence to remove what remains of that eggy taste.

Cream the batter with your hands till super smooth.
 
Now bake your cake.

The rum will guarantee that the cake does not flop and the hot spicy alcohol vapour escaping from the cake and perambulating within the oven will impart a tantalizing aroma and enticing fragrance to the cake.
 
This cake tastes best when eaten hot – as the blissful fresh spicy hot sensuous vapours overwhelm your olfactory and gustatory senses with their zesty fragrance and rich full-bodied flavour.
 
This is the first recipe I learnt from my mother when I was a small boy.

The “rum” innovation came a bit later.

I used stainless steel vaties, if you don’t have them use cups.

Don’t be too finicky about precise proportions, sample and taste at every step; and, of course, trust the rum to do the rest!

Try using brandy instead of rum for a different flavour.
 
I bake the cake in half an hour and it tastes heavenly.

Baking a cake is so simple, isn’t it?  

Just remember the simple formula - ¾ : 1 : 1 ½ ”  -  for larger cakes just use multiples of this breathtakingly simple formula. 

Happy Baking

Dear Reader and Fellow Foodie: For more such appetizing dishes do read APPETITE FOR A STROLL, a treatise on The Art of Eating, Easy to Cook Recipes and Foodie Adventures in Pune and Mumbai.

Click the links below to know more about this delicious book: 




Happy Eating
 
VIKRAM KARVE  
 
Copyright © Vikram Karve 2010
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.






  



http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

MY FAVOURITE DOG QUOTES

MY FAVOURITE DOG QUOTES
By
VIKRAM KARVE

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
-- Mark Twain

My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already believes me to be.
-- Unknown

One reason a dog is such a lovable creature is his tail wags instead of his tongue.
-- Unknown

If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience.
-- Woodrow Wilson

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

No man can be condemned for owning a dog. As long as he has a dog, he has a friend; and the poorer he gets, the better friend he has.
-- Will Rogers

Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of its tail.
-- Henry Wheeler Shaw

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
-- Josh Billings

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool out of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool out of himself too.
-- Samuel Butler

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
-- Ben Williams

If your dog thinks you are the greatest... don't seek a second opinion.
-- Unknown

LAMINGTON Melt in the Mouth Delicious Dessert

LAMINGTON
Melt in the Mouth Delicious Dessert 
By
VIKRAM KARVE

Mouthwatering Pune Memories

When I lived near Aundh, in the evenings I often used go for a walk on Aundh Road from Bremen Chowk towards the railway line at Khadki. It is one of the best places to walk in Pune, wide roads with plenty of greenery and foliage on both sides.  

Of course, Girinagar, where I live now, is a fantastic pristine verdant walkers' paradise, where you can rinse and invigorate your lungs with pure cool refreshing unpolluted air; but then it's far far away from the chaotic polluted noisy concrete jungle of Pune…!  

But one thing is for sure.

While you can rinse your olfactory senses to your heart’s content with the wonderful pure air, you can’t relish a delicious Lamington and indulge your epicurean gourmand desires on your evening walks out here. 

So let’s get back to my delicious mouthwatering memories of those glorious foodwalks around Aundh.

On my way back to my erstwhile home near the banks of the Mula River, I would treat myself with a Lamington at the Spicer College Bakery Shop.  

Let me close my eyes, transport myself to the glorious past, stop at Spicer College Bakery on my evening walk, buy a lamington and delicately place the soft delicacy between my lips, press and squeeze a piece of the wonderful stuff on my tongue, focus inwards, enhance the sensitivity of my gustatory senses in order to enhance the experience of supreme bliss as the Lamington melts in my mouth and the chocolatty-coconutty luscious syrupy sweetness permeates into me.
 
A Lamington is a delicious cube of sponge cake, dipped in melted chocolate and sugar and coated in desiccated coconut. 

The Lamington probably originated in Australia around 1898 in what later became the state of Queensland. 

Whilst the origin of the name for the Lamington cannot be accurately established, there are several theories.
 
Lamingtons are most likely named after Charles Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, who served as Governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901. 

However, the precise reasoning behind this is not known, and stories vary. 

According to one account, the dessert resembled the homburg hats favoured by Lord Lamington.  

Another apocryphal tale tells of a banquet in Cloncurry during which the governor accidentally dropped a block of sponge cake into a dish of gravy, and then threw it over his shoulder, causing it to land in a bowl of desiccated coconut or peanut butter. 

A diner thought of replacing the gravy with chocolate and thus created the lamington as we know it today.

Ironically, Lord Lamington was known to have hated the dessert that had been named in his honour, once referring to them as "those bloody poofy woolly biscuits".  

Another theory is that they were named after Lady Lamington, the wife of the Governor.
 
The Spicer College Bakery Lamington is my favourite – and can you imagine it used to cost just Eight Rupees [that’s more than six Lamingtons for a Dollar, for those who think in Dollars!].

The chocolate icing keeps the cake moist.

The desiccated coconut protects it from drying out in the hot climate. And it’s quite a juicy generous lip-smacking treat…!
 
The Spicer College Bakery in Pune serves a variety of healthy goodies like carrot cake, nut cake, doughnuts, samosas, soy patties, soya milk; but, for me, it’s always my all time favourite, the inimitable yummy succulent Lamington…! 

Tell me, Dear Fellow Foodies, have you tasted a Lamington, in Pune or elsewhere?

Dear Reader and Fellow Foodie: For more such appetizing dishes do read APPETITE FOR A STROLL, a treatise on The Art of Eating, Easy to Cook Recipes and Foodie Adventures in Pune and Mumbai.

Click the links below to know more about this delicious book:  
 




Happy Eating 

VIKRAM KARVE
 
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
 
VIKRAM KARVE educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU, Lawrence School Lovedale, and Bishop's School Pune, is an Electronics and Communications Engineer by profession, a Human Resource Manager and Trainer by occupation, a Teacher by vocation, a Creative Writer by inclination and a Foodie by passion. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. His delicious foodie blogs have been compiled in a book "Appetite for a Stroll". Vikram lives in Pune with his family and pet Doberman girl Sherry, with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.
 
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog - http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com
 
Academic Journal Vikram Karve – http://karvediat.blogspot.com
 
Professional Profile of Vikram Karve - http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve 
 
Email:   vikramkarve@sify.com
 
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.