I read this article - Indian Culture: Not for Sale by SUCHI RUDRA VASQUEZ, Jun 13, 2007 - a couple of months back and have been thinking about it since then. There are a lot of things in the article that make me go "oh yes", "that's right", "I agree" at many instances because I have also experienced what it's like to be away from homeland. To feel the loneliness and miss all that is *Indian*.
But I do have to say that there are quite a few points that I disagree with the author. First and foremost, she does not realize the importance of knowing a language regardless of how many people in the world speak it. I would be wrong if I find a fault with her. But I think the responsibility here is on the parents who raise their children without teaching them their mother-tongue/father-tongue. Within last few decades, there have been so many inter-cultural marriages that the individuals involved in these don't realize what they are missing out. Of course there's gain and loss of any such relationship but I have noticed that when an Indian gets married into a non-Indian family, and they choose to let go of their cultural values, they are the ones at loss.
The author asks: "If I asked these questions in Bangla now, would the answers given to me be any different?" Well, the answer is "Of course! yes they would be different." People feel much more comfortable talking to you when they know you speak the same language that they do. Many people don't realize that knowing another language or having your mother-tongue different than English can make a person more knowledgeable at the same time give a child an ability to learn another language in the future.
"How could I possibly ever learn Bangla beyond these few questions? If I spoke only in questions, would they think I knew Bangla?"
"I had already escaped once from where I was born, a place where my parents were not even born but had also escaped to, and still I wasn’t where they began."
How can a person possibly consider it an "escape" to go away from homeland? That's what I didn't understand. I just feel sorry for the people who think so and their children, if at all they have any. Just so sad their parents never realized the value of passing on their valuable culture and language to their children. Then they complain when others point this out. It's quite sad actually to see people not caring for where they come from and to see them trying to become that they aren't.
She asks: "What was I doing here, struggling to learn the local Czech language, which was only useful if I stayed here? It was not like learning English or Spanish or even German, which could come in handy in many places."
After reading that phrase, I realized it is the thinking of people that makes them who they are and when their parents/teachers have failed to teach them about how important it is to know your mother-tongue, there is little an outsider can do. She harps about how she spent an ENTIRE year in Mumbai trying to adjust to the new life and the struggles she had to go through.
Some quotes of the author:
"And so, if I tried to commit to these Bangla "lessons," how would this also be useful to me?"
"But we are always doing something which is useful, practical somehow, isn’t it? Some work that will make us some money, some purchases that will be needed in the future, some planning that will keep us ahead in life. Trying to learn Bangla did not fit into these categories."
"I did not know until later that Haveli refers to a private royal residence..."
I think such thinking makes the author mighty ignorant about where her parents' come from and their mother-tongue. Here I think the author fails to realize that may be her thinking like this was the reason Rehman, the restaurant employee, thought "What does she know about Indian culture? Come on, she doesn’t know anything, yaar."
I just wish people realized how they would raise their children before getting into inter-cultural marriages. Sometimes it's not even this, I have noticed many parents living away from their country, never care to teach their kids their language thinking it's useless to teach the kid or it would be difficult for the child to learn English, if they learned another language before English. This all just does not make any sense to me. I only have one thing to say to such people you are losing your culture, your values, and your children by doing so.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Taverna Bistro
This place has been my favorite place since past few months. They have quite a collection of vegetarian dishes and most of them taste very delicious.
Since I have been there multiple times and got a chance to try out many veg. items, I am going to list them all here. First and most important, the bread in this place is to die for!!! It is awesome. The kind they serve for lunch is different than the one you get for dinner. Both of them are very good but the lunch one wins hands down. They serve it with oil and balsamic vinaigrette right before the meals.
Tomato Mozzarella (slices of fresh tomato and Buffalo Mozzarella cheese served with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette) is an appetizer item and very delicious.
Eggplant Salad is flame grilled eggplant mixed with freshly pureed garlic, herbs and parsley. This is going to be the item I eat when I am there next time.
Baba Ghanouj (flamed grilled eggplant lightly mixed with fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, salt and white pepper) is perfect for lunch with the bread that they serve. Little smaller portion because it’s a starter item but very delicious.
Greek Veggie Salad cauliflower, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers, olives and feta cheese served with homemade Italian dressing (Olives with seeds).
Avocado Orange Salad (seasonal) is toasted sesame seeds mixed with field greens topped with peeled orange and avocado slices tossed with walnuts and homemade Italian dressing. I am yet to try this one but it sounds quite good.
Their Veggie Combo (eggplant salad, hummus, sarma and Greek salad) is delicious and tops on my list of favorites at Taverna.
Falafel Plate is also quite good with freshly made falafel balls served with hummus, eggplant salad, Taverna salad, rice and yogurt sauce.
Veggie Mousakka (baked layers of grilled potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers baked to perfection in béchamel tomato sauce, served with rice) is little larger portion for a lunch but good nevertheless.
Veggie Guvec (casserole, mix of eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, mushroom, bell peppers, onions, garlic and parsley cooked to perfection, served with rice.) is my second favorite item at Taverna.
Imam Bayildi means swooning imam (baked eggplant stuffed with sautéed vegetables, served with rice and plain yoghurt). This was quite good but very filling. I personally found the yoghurt little too sour as I am not used to eat it but my colleagues said it was quite traditional Mediterranean yoghurt and really enjoyed eating it plain.
Veggie Dolmathes (baked bell peppers stuffed with a mix of rice tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs and spice, served with Taverna salad and plain yoghurt). I am yet to try this so no clue what it tastes like.
The Falafel Wrap (falafel balls with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and hummus) under the Wrap section is also vegetarian.
And their Baklawas are very delicious (although I admit they were smaller sized). :P
The staff is friendly, and they have outside (front and back patio seating), which is a lot of fun if the weather is good. And the place does get crowded a bit at peak times so reservation is recommended if you're party of more than two. The place is considered fine Mediterranean cuisine so prices are also quite fine.
Note: Always double check before ordering an item to ensure it contains no meat, no fish, no chicken broth.
Taverna gets a rating of 4/5.
Name: Taverna Bistro
Type: Mediterranean
Average Price: $10-$12/person (Lunch), $15-$18/person (Dinner)
Address: 133 South Murphy Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Phone: (408) 735-9971
Website: http://www.tavernabistro.com/
Since I have been there multiple times and got a chance to try out many veg. items, I am going to list them all here. First and most important, the bread in this place is to die for!!! It is awesome. The kind they serve for lunch is different than the one you get for dinner. Both of them are very good but the lunch one wins hands down. They serve it with oil and balsamic vinaigrette right before the meals.
Tomato Mozzarella (slices of fresh tomato and Buffalo Mozzarella cheese served with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette) is an appetizer item and very delicious.
Eggplant Salad is flame grilled eggplant mixed with freshly pureed garlic, herbs and parsley. This is going to be the item I eat when I am there next time.
Baba Ghanouj (flamed grilled eggplant lightly mixed with fresh lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, salt and white pepper) is perfect for lunch with the bread that they serve. Little smaller portion because it’s a starter item but very delicious.
Greek Veggie Salad cauliflower, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers, olives and feta cheese served with homemade Italian dressing (Olives with seeds).
Avocado Orange Salad (seasonal) is toasted sesame seeds mixed with field greens topped with peeled orange and avocado slices tossed with walnuts and homemade Italian dressing. I am yet to try this one but it sounds quite good.
Their Veggie Combo (eggplant salad, hummus, sarma and Greek salad) is delicious and tops on my list of favorites at Taverna.
Falafel Plate is also quite good with freshly made falafel balls served with hummus, eggplant salad, Taverna salad, rice and yogurt sauce.
Veggie Mousakka (baked layers of grilled potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini, green peppers baked to perfection in béchamel tomato sauce, served with rice) is little larger portion for a lunch but good nevertheless.
Veggie Guvec (casserole, mix of eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, mushroom, bell peppers, onions, garlic and parsley cooked to perfection, served with rice.) is my second favorite item at Taverna.
Imam Bayildi means swooning imam (baked eggplant stuffed with sautéed vegetables, served with rice and plain yoghurt). This was quite good but very filling. I personally found the yoghurt little too sour as I am not used to eat it but my colleagues said it was quite traditional Mediterranean yoghurt and really enjoyed eating it plain.
Veggie Dolmathes (baked bell peppers stuffed with a mix of rice tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs and spice, served with Taverna salad and plain yoghurt). I am yet to try this so no clue what it tastes like.
The Falafel Wrap (falafel balls with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and hummus) under the Wrap section is also vegetarian.
And their Baklawas are very delicious (although I admit they were smaller sized). :P
The staff is friendly, and they have outside (front and back patio seating), which is a lot of fun if the weather is good. And the place does get crowded a bit at peak times so reservation is recommended if you're party of more than two. The place is considered fine Mediterranean cuisine so prices are also quite fine.
Note: Always double check before ordering an item to ensure it contains no meat, no fish, no chicken broth.
Taverna gets a rating of 4/5.
Name: Taverna Bistro
Type: Mediterranean
Average Price: $10-$12/person (Lunch), $15-$18/person (Dinner)
Address: 133 South Murphy Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Phone: (408) 735-9971
Website: http://www.tavernabistro.com/
Intro to Restaurants' Reviews
I had always wanted to share my views about the restaurants where I have eaten before, but never really cared I saw Neha's Bangalore Restaurants Reviewed blog. So then I said to myself, better late then never and so here I begin.
I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian so once in a while I have had a hard time finding edible items at certain restaurants. But here in San Francisco bay area, it's almost never the case that you end up in a restaurant that serves no vegetarian items. That's because the population here originally comes from all over the world and has brought with them their culture and their ethnic foods with them. In fact, finding vegetarian or vegan food in SF bay area is probably the easiest in the entire country as there are many restaurants that serve only vegan/vegetarian foods.
I remember once when I was in Houston, TX for an interview and the hiring manager took me out for lunch. Unfortunately, the person taking the order at the restaurant didn't even know what vegetarian food was. I made an attempt to explain to him and gave up eventually when he called his manager to help explain what I was talking about. So we were forced to leave from first two restaurants we had stepped into and finally ended up eating at Pizza Hut because that was the only place in the area where I knew would be able to eat a cheese pizza. Of course, not the entire city of Houston is such and there are some really good restaurants that serve vegetarian food but here in the bay area, you will almost never end up in that kind of situation where there is no vegetarian food on the menu in a restaurant.
I've been to many good restaurants in the SF bay area as well as outside so I'm not limiting them to this geographical area only. Most of the dishes I'd recommend would be vegetarian only (unless once in a while when I find out what dishes my non-veg colleagues liked). Here I go...
Bon apetite!
I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian so once in a while I have had a hard time finding edible items at certain restaurants. But here in San Francisco bay area, it's almost never the case that you end up in a restaurant that serves no vegetarian items. That's because the population here originally comes from all over the world and has brought with them their culture and their ethnic foods with them. In fact, finding vegetarian or vegan food in SF bay area is probably the easiest in the entire country as there are many restaurants that serve only vegan/vegetarian foods.
I remember once when I was in Houston, TX for an interview and the hiring manager took me out for lunch. Unfortunately, the person taking the order at the restaurant didn't even know what vegetarian food was. I made an attempt to explain to him and gave up eventually when he called his manager to help explain what I was talking about. So we were forced to leave from first two restaurants we had stepped into and finally ended up eating at Pizza Hut because that was the only place in the area where I knew would be able to eat a cheese pizza. Of course, not the entire city of Houston is such and there are some really good restaurants that serve vegetarian food but here in the bay area, you will almost never end up in that kind of situation where there is no vegetarian food on the menu in a restaurant.
I've been to many good restaurants in the SF bay area as well as outside so I'm not limiting them to this geographical area only. Most of the dishes I'd recommend would be vegetarian only (unless once in a while when I find out what dishes my non-veg colleagues liked). Here I go...
Bon apetite!
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