Sarawana Bhawan – South Indian Food served American style

The last weekend, Susmita and I had been to the new Sarawana Bhawan (yes! – the same guys from Chennai) for lunch. They had shifted their business to a new and a bigger location (from Castro, Mountain View to Mary, Sunnyvale).

Here’s is the list of things in their location that I found was different from their previous location :

1. Bigger and spacious Parking Lot – the previous location had almost very little parking space, making parking there a virtual nightmare. Thankfully, things are a lot better here.
2. The restaurant is at least 2 times the capacity of the previous location – this means that you don’t have to wait outside in queue and you will be taken inside quite fast. Of course, there was still a small queue, but it was far less compared to the long ones that used to mark the older Sarawana Bhawan.
3. The best part is the American touch ! – you are escorted into the restaurant to your seat by an American, well-dressed in coat and suit and wearing tie. This is DEFINITELY new :).
4. Menu – the menu seemed to be the same and so was the price. Of course, the menu card is new and very sleekly designed.

Overall, we had a good experience with the food there, though the coffee was just too bitter for our tastes.

What puzzled me was that there were so many non-Indians in the restaurant too. I didn’t know South Indian food was also popular among the non-Indians. The only food I knew that most Americans loved was ‘Chicken Tikka Masala’ (for whatever reason). But looking at the non-Indian crowd in Sarawana Bhawan, one can safely say that things are indeed changing.

Bon Apetit !

Indian agony in the Olympics

The Athens Summer Olympics of 2004 is over. It does bring about a tinge of sadness in everyone because it has provided us with some wonderful sporting achievements. As an Indian though, I am more than relieved that the games are over. At least, we don’t have to go through the agony of not being able to finish on the medal podium.

It’s true that Jawaharlal Nehru once said that the games should be played for the spirit of participation and not just for the purpose of winning. I do believe that winning is not really everything, but when you represent your country, you must be able to give off your best. Sadly, that was not to be seen among the Indian participants. Many were confined to the fact that they didn’t stand a chance of winning and so, never bothered to raise their performances. For instance, our women 4 * 400 relay team went against expectations and qualified for the final, the first time since 1984. This was indeed a very creditable performance. However, they faltered in the finals and ran far below their personal best. I am not blaming them for their performance because their performance was one of the better ones for India. But their example can be used to prove my point.

However, things were not totally bleak for India. Major Rathore held his nerves in the Shooting finals and won the Silver for India (read my previous post on that). Anju Bobby George not only leapt to her personal best of 6.83 metres, but I think she leapt a few notches higher in all our hearts. At least, she gave everything that she had and tried her best. Likewise, there were other notable performances in archery, boxing and tennis. But even if you count all the names, they will just be a handful, which is what really saddens me.

We are one of the populated nations in the world – with our population just next to China. China has ended up with 32 Golds (total of around 100 medals) and we have just 1 to our name. To add salt to our wounds, our Sports minister Shri Suni Dutt has said that India’s performance was commendable. That left me quite speechless indeed.

I am sure there will be committees set up to review our performance – reports will be generated, fingers will be pointed, board members will change. But I doubt whether there will be any postive step taken to improve the sports infrastructure and the quality of atheletes in India. India needs a wholesome change in this process and it’s time to do it now … or NEVER !

Bye

Pain of Losing

The ongoing Summer Olympics at Athens, Greece has given us some wonderful sporting achievements – most of which, we shall remember forever. We are least likely to forget the unbelievable swim of Michael Phelps, or the incredible 100 m race, where 5 runners finished before 9.9 seconds or the domination of the Chinese divers. If you are Indian, you are most likely to remember Major Rathore for being the saving grace for India’s performance (at least till now). But one incident that I shall forever remember is the tearful withdrawl of Paula Radcliffe from the Woman’s marathon at the 22.5 mile mark.

Paula’s failure to complete the course has actually left many (including herself) mystified. Of course, the doctor’s reports are still awaited, but it seems unlikely that anything might have been wrong with her. Paula was the outright favorite to win the title – mainly because she is the current world record holder in Woman’s marathon (2:15) and also she had been training really very very hard for this race. She had trained in the hot and humid weather of Spain to simulate the hot weather of Athens. She also had been doing a lot of altitude training – something that most African atheletes do a lot.

Taking that into consideration, one has to feel really sorry for Paula. After finishing a dismal 4th in the 10,000 m in Sydney 4 years ago, she was determined to win the gold in Athens in the marathon. It’s no doubt that the marathon route was devilish. There was 15 miles of uphill in the middle of the race. Add to that, the weather was not kind either. The runners ran the race in really hot and humid conditions. Of course, the conditions were the same for all runners too.

It might have been nerves or it could have been something that she ate or … – whatever be the reason, the race is over and she is not going to be in the podium. I am no fan of Paula – but I just feel sad that 4 years of preparation went down the drain. But then that’s how sport is – there is a very thin line between success and failure. Games are great levellers – they make you a hero and a legend on one day and a nought on another.

Workrave – Open Source Software for prevention of RSI

Recently, one of my friends told me of Workrave, an open-source software, that assists in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). I have seen various softwares of the same type, but none of them were open-source.

I checked out the features of this software. They currently have support on both Windows and the Linux platform. The software has some really neat, cool features such as prompts for regular breaks, regular rests, regular exercises etc. It also mentions some of important exercises to be performed to prevent RSI.

Having seen many of my friends suffer from this really frustrating injury, owing to the nature of job that we perform (sitting for 8 hours in front of a computer and just typing away), I feel software such as these can really help out. Of course, one has to be sincere in following the instructions that the software keeps popping on to the screen time and again. Also, this is open-source software. So, if any of you have some free time, then you could use it to contribute to this software. At least, the fact that you are contributing for a software, which has more of a humanitarian feel to it, should be incentive enough.

Let me know if any one else knows of somthing similar – it’s worth mentioning about them.

Adios !

A Silver Lining for India at the Olympics – FINALLY

India’s Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore today won the Silver medal in the Double Trap shooting event at the Athens Olympics, 2004. This is indeed a great moment to savour for India – India has never an individual Silver medal … ever !

Additionally, there have been good news coming in for other sports for India today. Firstly, the Indian Hockey Team came from behind to defeat South Africa 4 – 2. Lastly, the Indian Tennis Doubles ace Leander/Bhupathi defeated the Swiss pair of Federer and Yves Allegro to move into the Quarters.

In short, its a day for celebration ! – rest assured, we shall do so :).

Cheers !