« July 2006 | Main | September 2006 »
August 25, 2006
The Power Is Ours
This was in today's Mumbai Mirror.
On Monday night, my Mom called up to ask whether our TV was working, because all she was getting on her TV was snow. For a moment, I thought her cable had been disconnected as well, but we soon realized that the cable operators were on strike.
I thought her cable had been disconnected, because just a couple of days before, I had asked my cable operator to remove ours. Having obtained a Tata-Sky dish connection last week, I finally had the guts to do so, and it felt great to be able to free myself from the clutches of the “Great Indian Cable Conspiracy”.
Matunga, like all other parts of the country, has been carved out into monopolistic territories by the cable operators, and they have complete control not only over our connections, but also the programs that we get to see. Though my local cable operator is actually a nice guy, the fact remains that all cable in India is geared to the lowest common denominator, where we have to suffer poor quality video and audio, a general lethargy for English language channels and to top it off, channels like National Geographic and Disney in Hindi.
In the last week, since I’ve had the dish put-up, I’ve suddenly realized what I’ve been missing out on. I finally have signal quality that makes the 42” plasma really worth the effort, along with a stereo audio signal, which actually sounds good when routed through the sound system.
One really neat thing is the online program guide, which tells you what is currently playing on all channels and the schedules for the next 24 hours. This literally means that we never have to look at a paper program guide again. The bigger revelation however was when I found that many channels, especially the kiddie and sports channels, transmit audio in multiple languages and you can actually choose your language.
The big issue is of choice and power. The choice to see the programs that you want to, in the language that you want to, with a certain quality of video and audio, preferably DVD-like. And eventually, the power to use a DV recorder to record programs that you might want to see later, just as we used to do with VCRs. Thus, I could record all the Desperate Housewives’ episodes, which airs at the ridiculous 10.00PM time slot on Sunday, and then watch four or five episodes back-to-back, on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon…and at the same time skip all the ads and so finish viewing these episodes in almost half the time.
The cable guys have had us by our balls for a long time, but thankfully, no longer. For those who are happy with the current situation, there is nothing further to be said. But for those, who in today’s day and age, want a little more, at least now, there is a choice. And not only a choice between cable and satellite dishes, but even between multiple satellite dish providers.
The power to choose, of course can have funny consequences. Having been forced to watch Power Rangers in Hindi, on the Jetix Toon Disney channel, I thought my kids will immediately switch to English. On the new satellite television, Power Rangers airs in four languages – English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. So guess what my English and Hindi-empowered, Gujarati-born daughter does?...she watches entire episodes of Power Rangers in Tamil…apparently because that language has the most punch. Go figure!
Posted by bhavinj at 05:51 PM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2006
A Chinese Tale
This appeared in yesterday's Mumbai Mirror.
A couple of weeks ago, we were returning from a “jagran”, in Bandra/Khar. Luckily, “jagrans” don’t go on through the night anymore and we were able to leave within an hour. It was a Sunday and we thought of eating out in the area…as we cruised along Linking Road, we could see every eatery packed to the gills and with our six-year olds with us, we just didn’t have the courage or energy to wait in line to be fed.
We were discussing our options, when suddenly my wife, in a conspiratorial tone, confessed to a craving for American Chopsuey. And suddenly, as if a partner in crime, I felt the urge to pig out on this dish as well.
It was already past the childrens’ bed-time, so we decided to do a take-out. For people like us, living in Matunga, there is but one logical place for American Chopsuey. Nestled between Koolar and Kamal Towings, in a tiny 100 sq. ft place, with four tables, which at the most can hold fifteen people, Fu-Yong has been around ever since my graduate college days, and therefore at least for the last twenty years, if not more. And John, who oversees the place, seems to have been around for that much time at least. Add in one more waiter, and a cleaner boy and the picture is complete. Though how the waiter is able to serve when the place is full, is one for Ripley’s Believe It or Not.
While growing up, Chinese food was all about American Chopsuey, vegetable spring rolls and sweet corn vegetarian soup. It was only much later, when we first went to China Garden, then at Om Chambers, that I learnt the truth…that American Chopsuey was neither Chinese nor American, but an “Indian” concoction with a “Chinese” taste. I can still remember the supercilious look I got from the maitre, when, in all my junior college confidence, I asked for American Chopsuey, which I then found was not even on the menu.
Years later I also realized that “American Chopsuey” is the one dish you never ask for when traveling abroad. In some places, it could mean a mash of chops (a meat dish), in some other parts, a mash of pasta and in Chinese places on the west coast, a bland mix of vegetables, which some people believe is a corruption of “chopped sewage”. Which may not be a bad term to describe the possible ingredients of some of the variants of American Chopsuey dished out by the roadside Chinese stalls that have sprouted all over Mumbai. After all American Chopsuey is just a mix of vegetables, with soya and hot and sour sauce and crispy, fried noodles, thrown in on top, the most important part being its look…as red as possible.
Over the years, Chinese cuisine has amazingly evolved in Mumbai and we get a phenomenal variety of exotic dishes…with bamboo sprouts, mushrooms, black beans, asparagus, tofu, etc, all with fancy names, such as “Buddha’s delight”, “whatever, whatever, Hunan style or Peking style”, or at the end to make something sound really authentic, “Chef’s Delight”. Along with dim sums, lettuce wraps (kind of like bhel in a rotli) and a terrific variety of bean curd based starters.
And yet with all the Lings and Royal Chinas and Shanghai Clubs, once in a while, it feels really nice to just forget all this “authentic” Chinese stuff and to go back to simpler times…to “Fu-Yong’s American Chopsuey”.
Posted by bhavinj at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)
