sonalkamath

Struggles of an outsider

Posted on November 17, 2014 by sonalkamath

I spent the first twenty years of my life in my home in Mumbai, India. For as long as I can remember, the earthy seating and quaint surroundings was what made my home unique. The familiar lizard that seemed to grow older along with me and my sister, the pink and purple walls and welcoming kitchen were staple elements of my home that I cannot forget. The bunk bed on which me and my sister slept has attached to it many memories of adolescence and teenage years. After my mother’s passing away, when I was seventeen, the home didn’t seem to have the appealing and warm feeling it did before. This was the moment that I realized a “home” is not so much a physical surrounding. Instead, it is a place where family is together.

When I left India, I never really thought of any place in the US as home to me. I was miles away from the people I really cared about and it was this distance that fortified in my mind their value and importance. New York City was my biggest inspiration to come to the United States. There was something about the glamour and liveliness of New York that drew me to this place. The value attached to higher education in the US was another important factor that determined my move here. In the midst of these varied thoughts I hadn’t realized how difficult life is for an immigrant moving across the globe.

My first few months here were difficult without a job and an outlook of converting the dollar to Indian rupee. Surrounded by people with varied ethnicity and backgrounds, I was initially intimidated. One of my early mistakes was moving in with a person I disliked; that made the process of living away from family excessively challenging. One year later, I found myself battling depression and addiction. This was the time I decided I needed to return home once again. I spent a good two months in my comfort zone, rejuvenating, building my self-confidence and self-esteem, being loved and taken care of. This was an extremely motivating time for me and I owe it entirely to my family and friends back home.

I decided to come back with a bang!! I found 2 jobs for myself that occupied me for almost 50 hours a week. I managed to pay for my education and living for almost a year which made me realize that I still had it in me. Time passed by and in the last semester of my course I found family away from family; People who accept me for all of my idiosyncrasies, Motivate me, Help me figure my way through life’s various challenges. Friends who cooked me a four course meal for my birthday! They never deny me of anything. My friends helped me move into my new house, and more importantly helped make it a home. Two of them are now my roommates which makes living here an absolute delight. I have finished my course and am currently employed with Johnson & Johnson. I drive to and fro from work, almost two hours a day. Life is hectic but it hasn’t ever been more fulfilling than this. I can finally say I’m happy!

From this point onward, I hope to grow professionally and see myself at a better place than I am today. In the long run, I wish to expose my family to the life I have here. I don’t enjoy Skype but I love writing so I post letters to my sister and friends every now and then. She writes back to me and helps keep me sane.

Amchi Mumbai Misal Pav

Posted on November 16, 2014 by sonalkamath

I have been very lucky to have friends who have a similar ‘food wavelength’ as mine. What can I say we all love food!! Me and my roommates have this thing where every weekend one of us cooks food for the rest. Its awesome fun eating together!! Neha, my roommate decided to make Misal Pav- so for all you guys who don’t know what Misal Pav is- Its a spicy curry (of course its spicy!) made with sprouted lentils called ‘Matki‘ (Moth beans). Its served with onions, lemon and cilantro. Also the Misal (curry) is topped with ‘Farsan‘ or ‘chiwda’. And you have this curry with bread (pav) toasted with butter. I am drooling just writing about it.

So we wanted to make everything the traditional way; just like how our moms make it back home. We kept the moth beans to sprout for a long time. And by that I mean that it took a week! The weather here is so cold and dry here that the beans did not sprout for that long. It was all worth it at the end though. Five of us together had so many pavs in one meal. Thoroughly enjoyed the laboring over the Misal Pav. More like ‘Missile pav’!

I suggest you guys to try it at least once in your life. Its totally awesome!!

For recipes: http://www.tarladalal.com/Misal-(-Mumbai-Roadside-Recipes-)-33442r

Food cooked close to home :)

Posted on November 14, 2014 by sonalkamath

This is my first post as a blogger; and so I thought what could be better than writing about food first. Me and my friends always like to try out new restaurants, ice cream parlors, frozen yogurt places or may be even state parks with some barbecue and grilling outdoors. We usually Yelp these kinda things and check for 4-5 ‘star’ ratings. (We rate places ourselves too!).

On Wednesday, we decided to go for dinner next day. As usual we ‘yelped’ it. This time the craving was for Indian food. My friend had suggested this place called ‘Indus Grill’ some time ago. It is a recently opened restaurant with 4-star ratings.

Let me tell you about Indus grill — It’s a really small, little place with 6-8 tables (each has two chairs, that’s all!). Also it smells like a typical Indian kitchen full of spices. Mmmm… So we started off with some Beef chapli, Chicken Seekh Kabab, Chicken Tikka. For the main course we ordered the Peshawari Karahi, Ginger Chicken, Mughlai Korma, Chicken Biryani, Veggie Biryani, Gobi Aloo and Bhindi Masala (Not to scare you with this never ending list, but this was for 7 people :P) All of this topped with excellent Indian breads- Chicken Keema Naan, Tandoori Roti and Garlic Naan. When I took my first bite of the food, it was as though I literally went back home. Every dish was as tasty as the other. So the best part about the food -less oil, doesn’t fill you up because of its heaviness. We guys ate continuously without a word for two hours. For dessert we had Gulab Jamun and Firni; which were also very good (Seems like I can’t stop raving about this place).

The people were warm and service was really good. As it’s a small family owned restaurant they serve you with humility and warmth. I enjoyed every bit of my evening with my friends and some really good food.