Master Chef Australia

                   One of the most frequently watched programs, master chef Australia has captured the hearts of millions of people around the world. From small kids to adults, every single person is seen enjoying this program to a great extent. The innovative approach towards cooking is awe inspiring. This program looks at cooking with an eye none has ever viewed. In the beginning of the week there is a mystery box challenge where all the contestants are asked to cook a dish with the ingredients hidden inside the mystery box. The contestant with the best dish is pronounced the winner. This constant is asked to choose the core ingredient of the next challenge. After the selection of the core ingredient, the winner takes it outside to reveal it to the other contestants. The challenge that they then face is the invention test where the contestants have to cook their hearts out to present a dish which is both innovative and delicious (thus the name- invention test). The judges, Gary, George and Matthew then taste the dish and proclaim their views. The bottom three contestants from this challenge will have to face off in an elimination round where they will be either asked to set right a badly prepared dish or will have to face a taste test where they will be asked to taste a dish or an herb of some kind and name it. The contestant with the worst dish or wrong answer will be eliminated thus. The remaining contestants continue their journey on master chef Australia with hope and the experience of facing another tough task in the previous round. Then they will face a team challenge where the group will be divided into two, blue and red. There is always a conception that the red team has the higher chance of emerging out as winners. The two teams will have to cook off in a high profile challenge and the team with the least performance in terms of the dishes will go into an elimination round where one of their dreams of becoming the next master chef will come to an end. So in this competition there will be two eliminations in a week there by ending up with two contestants in the grand finale where one will be affirmed the winner.
                        There goes the explanation about the rules and regulations of the competition. Now let’s get to the most interesting part- naming our most favorite contestants and shedding some light on the pros and cons of the show. I personally watched only the second season of master chef Australia and I repent not watching the first season. The second season was amazingly planned and perfectly executed. The sets and the entire aura of the competition had a sophistication which is very hard to describe. The poise and the finesse with which the event was discharged were exemplary. The contestants proved too good to compare as each one was unique in their own style of cooking. Though I am not happy with the judges’ decision to name Adam Liaw the winner of the championship, I am very happy that Callum Hann, Jimmy Seervai and Claire Winton Burn made it to the top four. My most favorite contestant is Callum whose dessert making ability is staggering. I still remember his sweat filled face as he gets ready to serve his dish. Who knows how many drops of his perspiration have found their way into his dishes! Maybe those few drops of his sweat have strengthened the taste of his dishes! (Amusingly disgusting!) Next on my favorites list is Jimmy. He is known for his Asiatic style of cooking. He was born and bought up in India and this is evident in his cooking. He is known as the "raja of spices". He surprised all of us by preparing the best V8 cake (I wish I could lay my hands n that eight layered vanilla cake of Adriano zumbo!) in the finals week. And Claire is a very intelligent cook. She has a very elegant way of presenting her dishes. She was a very consistent performer and her growth as a cook was stunning.

                  One of the gravest mistake made by the judges is eliminating Marion Grasby. She was one of the most deserving contestant to win this competition. She was the best cook in master chef 2. Her capacity to impress the judges at every stage of the competition was remarkable. But a serious error landed her in an elimination challenge and yet another blunder in the elimination round sent her right out of the competition. It was a very hard decision for the judges to make but then they decided on showing her to the door. There are many other passionate contestants in the competition whose names are worth mentioning. There is Jonathan Dadia, famously known as "the eliminator". He is called so because of his talent to dodge eliminations. He had approximately eluded 9 eliminations before being ousted in the 10th ^{. The one other contestant who will always be etched in my memory is Matthew Caldecott. He, like Matthew is a dessert specialist, who unfortunately had to go in a taste test where he named apricot jam as dried apricot. Alvin is another interesting contestant. He is known for his humor both on and off the kitchen. His love for his mother is divine. He brings his mother’s ideas and presence into his cooking. The last contestant whose description, I think is necessary in this write up is Courtney. She was initially eliminated in the early stages of the competition for identifying spear mint as mint. But she came back strongly in the competition in the wild card round and stayed on for the finals week.}

                    Thus the competition came to an end with Adam Liaw winning the title.

This program kept all of us rooted to our spot through the many months of its cherished existence. Hope the next season is as dazzling as this one.

Cheers,

Aishwarya Kumar

Why this entrance exam for us?

                          There has always been an unwritten rule in the Indian tradition that a girl has to get married and that too before she turns 25. As soon as our age starts ticking above this, panic bells start ringing at homes. Go see this guy, he is very sweet. The definition of sweet comes from the fact that he owns 12 petrol bunks or a BMW. All the parents think about is settling their girl in a family loaded with money. They give more importance to money that they don’t pause to think for a second if the girl will be happy in that god forsaken, unknown family (I am not against the groom's family. I am just showing my concern for the bride, incase..!). I can’t deny the fact that money is essential for the safely of a girl but it does not essentially mean that she will end up being happy. The girl should be given freedom and independence to think and decide because she is the one who ultimately has to spend the rest of her life in that family.
                          It is only after her decision (in most of the cases) that the marriage takes place. In case the marriage of two souls doesn’t work out thanks to the husband's chauvinism or the girl's expectations, the girl is considered a sinner (even now it’s the girl who takes the blame!). Her happiness has no place in the house. "Stay there and be happy with what you have," says her mom. Her dad on the other hand tries to pacify her saying all the in laws are crazy forgetting the fact that he was once and still is a nagging husband with an equally pissing off family. And so the girl learns to lead an unhappy but safe life.
                        My mom is especially against re marriages. She has this strong opinion that if one union doesn’t work out, it will never work out with any body else! This is the topic that we usually argue about (though I am no way concerned about what happens to me). We take examples like Lara Dutta and Mahesh Bhupathi while discussing about relationships. She wants the girl to stay alone all her life if the first marriage doesn’t work out. Her argument is based on the fact that if a girl can’t adjust to a guy she will never be able to adjust with any body else. I keep reverting back that the compatibility level changes from person to person and she might infect find an other person who understands her better than the previous one.

                      The argument still goes on between mom and me. But we never agree to what each other say. She lived in an era where re marriages were considered paltry and vulgar and I cannot change that sociological perception. In this era re marriages are as common as buying vegetables and I do not appreciate it as well. All I want is that re marriages are good once the girl realizes that she will be able to live a happy and peaceful life with her mate as against living an unhappy and groggy life with the one who can never give her the want to live for him.

Cheers,

Aishwarya Kumar

The trip that enlightened me

Dated: 28th November 2010
Time: 2.30 pm
It’s freezing out here as I sit in my couch thinking about my future. The weather doesn’t trouble my thoughts though it does trouble my nose(sorry ,bad cold) and my body.(what the hell! its pouring like crazy and I am shaking all over) I was wondering what I had to do about the cold when I suddenly came up with this idea of writing about this trip that I had today. It was then that I heard my mom screaming at the top of her voice. Oops. Complication 1: I was late for lunch. I was just starting to write this bloody passage. Why is it that my mom always finds the supremely correct time to disturb me? So I groan as I get up from the couch. Complication 2: my sister is at the laptop before I could even get my ass out of the place.
So I went, had my lunch and I am back to tell you this interesting thing that happened today. So first let me give you the preliminaries as to why I had this trip to Ramanathapuram in the first place. I, as some people know and most don’t, have a great passion towards English language. It fascinates me that this language can grip me so much. People around me will let you know that "books" are my best friends. I am the most contented person when I sit reading a book. The world around me just doesn’t exist. I bungee jump into the world of the book I am reading. Okay I think I have given you enough information about my passion for English. So I decided to take up something to do with English, like journalism, communication courses etc. But I was not exactly sure which of these courses will help me the most. I keep dwindling on the idea of taking visual communication and proceeding to journalism (journalism is my ultimate goal, really) but my mind is still not fully made up. It was then that I got to meet this wonderful person called Amrita. I will get back to describing her later. My neighbor, Mrs. Geetha promised me to take me to her colleague's house who was actually a HOD in god knows what department (Ranjani is that auntie’s name). So I took down her house address and set out to her house with my dad in a scooter (I repent taking the scooter now!)When we are half way through rain starts to play its drama. We stop our vehicle near a bus stop and decide to take shelter under it till the rain gods have had their go at us. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, why 20 minutes passed but there was no sign of the rain showing any mercy on us. So we call up Nagraj uncle (our driver) and ask him to bring our car. He was there in 5 minutes and we continue our journey. It was pouring cats and dogs( sorry this might sound clichéd but how am my to explain what happened without missing the essentials?) so we go left and right in winding lanes and then I see her house NO 40 , Arumugam Nagar, near Vivek super market.
We enter into her house. Mrs.Ranjani was quite thin and her age could be anywhere between fifty and fifty five.She had short wavy hair all over her face which made her look like a cute kid! The first thing I notice about the house is that it had lots of paintings on the walls. We were waiting in the hall while aunty had a few errands to run. She was back with in five minutes. She showed me her first daughter's paintings. I was in total awe when I look around the house. (That girl must be damn good). She tells me about MOP Vaishnav and its method of selecting students. She also tells me about a 5 year literature course in IIT and she insisted that I apply for it too. Then out of the blue she tells me that her second daughter is doing BA journalism in MOP. Geetha aunty hadn't informed me earlier that she was doing journalism. I was hoping to talk to this daughter of hers to get more familiar with the course, when she meekly walked out of her room towards us. First thing I notice about her is that she seemed very friendly. She had a very charming smile. She was not only thin in stature but was also tall! (Come on, it’s not fair. how can I be so short? I think this has got something to do with the genes! Ok enough of my personal description, let’s get back to the subject in question! ) The chat that I had with her for about half an hour made me decide what I wanted to do. The conversation goes thus:
Amrita says," hey hi, how are you doing?" I say," am fine. How is college going on?" it was then that she gave me a full fledged idea about journalism. "College is good. The professors keep us ticking. In the first semester you have history of press. I really don’t know why we need history in the future. We will have to remember a few dates and facts about what happened in the past. That was the worst thing I had to go through. You just have to pass that paper and you will be fine. And you will get to know some basic concepts of journalism. It’s damn easy and pretty interesting. In the second semester you have videography, photography and technical education. And then they ask us to make our own newspaper. They give us the roll and get us involved in it. We have to go interviewing famous people, take photographs and print it all together in the form of a paper. Its all very interesting." says Amrita, using both her hands vigorously to help me get the feel of everything .I keep commenting that it all sounded very interesting. For that she says "it is interesting but it’s damn scary". I ask her about the interview that she had to face to get into MOP. She says "they just ask you basic questions like your passion for English. They will want to know if you are there to pass your time or if you are seriously contemplating on journalism. They will then ask you the line of journalism that you are most likely to specialize. I told her that I wanted to specialize in print media. You have to collect all the articles that you have written so long and file it together. This serves as a portfolio. This will help them know what you are actually made of". I keep nodding my head, taking in every word of what she was saying. Then I ask her about the hostels. She says," the hostel's pretty good. The mess food is quite ok. But there is this pain-in- the- ass curfew. You have to get back to the hostel by 6.30 in the evening. if you come a minute late they will ask us to throw in fifty rupees and let me tell you, when you start living in a hostel you become the world's most kanjoosi ( it literally means a miser) person. You will be broke by the time you rip yourself away from the fifty rupees note". It was so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing.
She was so free and she made me decide one thing "BA journalism at MOP Vaishnav its going to be, after all". She asks me to feel free to give her a ring when need arises. She tells me that she freaked out before her interview and so she could give me tips to keep calm. I tell her that in 5 months time I was to become her junior as I walk out from her house.
Cheers,
Aishwarya Kumar

A Sister in the making!

She opened her small, tear filled eyes to look up at the new arrivals. She was the tiniest creature i had ever seen then. Her hands and legs were curled along her body and she was blinking at me with her small beady eyes. This fascinating sight is still fresh in my memory. I was the happiest person in the whole world. The thought of having a younger sister thrilled me to the greatest extent. Even before she was born i used to beg my mom to get to the hospital in the thought that she would deliver the baby as soon as she reaches the hospital! I was a 6 year old kid and all i used to wonder at that age was how the baby was going to look and how it was going to bond with me. And then she began to grow in front of my eyes (of course even i was growing!) a cute little baby she used to be. A red apple would be jealous on looking at her because she would give it a tough competition! Her cheeks used to pop out of her face making it look like two oranges being stuffed into her cheeks!
she was a daddy's baby, which bothered my mom a lot ( i would say that my mom was jealous as she was the one taking care of her the whole day!) my sister used to find great pleasure in complaining about mom and me to dad. At the age of four she used to pick up the phone to dial my dad's number if my mom troubled her (my mom felt just the opposite!) she used to be an expert in bringing tears at will when my father was at vicinity just for the kick of watching my dad scream at my mom for doing something to the kid which she had never done! Whenever there used to be an argument at the dining table she used to side up with dad even if he was dead wrong!
A very stubborn girl with a strong will power, she never accepts defeat easily! As she grew up she would come to me for solving her math problems (here problem has got two different meanings! I just thought i would let you know which problem i meant!) it was in this scenario that fights always crops up. She never accepts the fact that i am the teacher and she is the student, learning something new! If i say something a bit strong, tears fill her eyes and she would kick the chair, table ( in fact everything within the vicinity! ) and scream at me saying she doesn’t want my help and that she would do fine without me. Ten minutes later, the same math brain comes back to me asking for my help again!
Her ability to grasp things is fascinating! Her way of looking at things is very different from a normal person! She has got swash buckling memory power which is really amazing! Books are her best friends. Pooja and books always go together. She is such a fast reader that my mom finds it difficult to manage the budget!
Cooking is her greatest passion and i am sure she would become the greatest chef of all time one day. We had made a deal that we both would live together and that she would take care of my hunger! Her hunger to learn more about food, the depth with which she takes in the ingredients, spices and the very aspect of combining all this to make a good food is stunning. I wish and pray for her success in the foodie world.
Of late she has taken to talking non-stop! She talks so much that at some point we just can’t take it anymore! She has this ability to enact what people around her had done and she has a comical way of explaining stuffs!
She is an emotional girl, no doubt, but she doesn’t show her emotions for public understanding. She is a very practical girl and can stand separation though it is difficult for her to handle. The red nosed beauty is learning things quickly and will surely make us all proud
Cheers,
Aishwarya Kumar

First trip to the petrol station!

It might sound crazy to write up stuff like this but then the scenario was so damn hilarious that I couldn’t help but write. It was two in the afternoon when I suddenly realized that my mom was lying in bed with a head ache and there were no head ache pills at home. I had to run to the nearby pharmacy to get her the pills (run does not literally mean I RAN all the way, I actually drove my dads scooter). When I reached Thudiyalur (a small village where we supposedly get what we need!), I realized that the scooter was running short of petrol. So I picked up the head ache pills and headed towards the petrol bunk which was just some 100 meters away.
It was the first time I was going to a bunk all by my self. When I reached the cash counter I was just so lost that I didn't know what I had to do. I kept looking at the cashier for a minute before comprehending the fact that the lady was waving at me and asking me for the amount. I revived from my initial shock and gave her a hundred rupee note and asked her to fill gasoline for hundred rupees. I was in for another stern glance from the lady when I didn't know the place in the scooter where they fill petrol. I kept wondering for what felt like an hour before I remembered that there was an opening in the middle of the scooter to fill petrol. So, after all this drama I discovered the damn place (I don’t know what happened to my brain, it just wouldn't react!). I was in for another mental assault (damn, I wonder what that lady would have thought! I was acting like a dumb ass!) when I veered the top the other way round instead of actually opening it! Finally I lunged at it and succeeded in opening the loathsome top. I filled the petrol and rushed out of the place before any body else could invade my already offended brain!
I hope you had fun reading about my cheesy day to day stuff! Will write up something interesting soon till then,
Cheers,
Aishwarya Kumar