It is a sleepy Sunday morning here in the bay area. The mrs is watching an assortment of cooking shows on HGTV that is making my mouth water for the glorious chicken. Of course, it doesn't help that next week is Thanksgiving and all the cooking shows are showing how to cook that perfect succulent bird (turkey or Cornish game hen or the regular full chicken).
I had to swear off eating meat (chicken being the only meat that I would have liked to consume) as one of the preconditions for marriage with the mrs :). She feels quite strongly about this and so I have had to make the ultimate sacrifice and give up eating chicken. If I was a member of AA, I would have been given a platinum medal because it has been approximately 5 years since I last consumed a good chicken dish.
Looking back through my life, I guess my infatuation with the chicken really started in boarding school when week after week, while most children enjoyed special Sunday lunch meals (which usually was different succulent (note that this is the second time I used the "s" word) chicken dishes, the vegetarian kids (like me) received the much overrated "omelet". I wonder how long you would last before you are itching to try what the other kids were obviously enjoying so much. Flash forward a couple years and I am living with my parents again and in a strict vegetarian household. I could hardly indulge my cravings when the penalty for such a deed was instant decapitation and/or a quick cremation.
Flash forward a few more years and I am living in the US of A away from the constraints of a vegetarian household and on a voyage of succulent (yes, that makes it thrice) discovery. Life in graduate school meant a _lot_ of chicken soft tacos and grilled cajun chicken breast sandwiches. Flash forward a few more years and I am living in a small town in the east coast surrounded by some very good friends who were incidentally also excellent cooks. A steady diet of chicken in various forms (grilled chicken, tandoori chicken, chicken curry and who could forget the Hyderbadi biryani) soon inflamed my chicken cravings. It didn't help that the local Chinese establishments also made some delicious chicken chowmein and I had some good buddies who shared my passion for spicy chicken dishes. Ahh, those were some good times and some good eating.
Flash forward a few more years and here I am reflecting on the good times. My only outlet for the chicken cravings these days are the occasional guffaws when the mrs calls me at work to ask me what I would like for dinner and I respond even without thinking, "chicken kurma please" :). But on the positive side, the idea for this blog posting was originated by the mrs and I suppose she did save me from the big "avian" scare.
It is 7.46am on a Saturday morning. I have just changed the diaper of the new princess in our family and as I sleepily stare into her beautiful face, it occurs to me that the world is slowly becoming a Borg kingdom - yes, when I say Borg, I refer to the race of humanoid creatures made popular by Star Trek. Just look at the many ways people interact in the world today - phone, email, blogs, twitter, and facebook. With everybody having a virtual persona these days, doesn't it feel like we are slowly evolving into the Borg? One huge collective consciousness that seeks and destroys any other intelligent forms of life. Yup, this is my pithy observation for the day. Live long and prosper!!
Comments
While I agree that I love a good solid chicken curry too, I like a simple dhall/rice or sambar/rice just as much. Considering being vegetarian can be healthier, I would like to give up meat. But my mrs won't hear of it. Talk about ironies in life, right, Ramana? :)