The Japanese and the Art of Packing Lunch !

In many ways, Japan still remains a mystery to the rest of the world. For here, the ancient and the modern not only coexist but seem to do so in great harmony. The land of the rising Sun is as comfortable with its bullet trains and cutting edge technology as it is with Zen and Geishas.
Japan has a unique culture, with its own peculiarities and quirks that seem natural to the Japanese but intrigue and surprise all foreigners.
Through my 'Japan and I' series, I attempt to talk about the Japan I saw and experienced! Previous posts on the series can be read Here. 

Today I talk about Japanese and the art of packing the lunch Box.

What is so special about packing lunch you say. It’s simply dumping the food in different containers or wrapping it up in foil. Try telling this to a Japanese housewife and she will look at you as if you are a rodent that has entered her immaculate kitchen by mistake!

The Japanese, as they tend to do with everything that the rest of the world considers mundane, take even packing lunches very very seriously. Infact they have elevated packing the humble lunch box into an art form.

I have a sneaky feeling that most of the Japanese moms wake up early in the morning with just one mission in life – to make their kids’/Husband’s lunch box as artistic as possible.

There is a saying in Japan “We first eat with our eyes and then with our mouths”. They firmly believe that not only should the food be nutritious but also visually appealing. This also applies to packed lunches or "Bento" as they are called in Japanese.

 There are all sorts of  Bento boxes available. The most common ones are of course the simple plastic boxes, some are specifically targeted at kids with with catchy designs and shapes and then there are the very dignified,  aesthetically designed wooden boxes.

 With their fetish for rules and structures, the Japanese also have specifications laid down for making a Bento – the most popular is the 4:3:2:1 ratio (4 parts rice, 3 parts side dish, 2 parts vegetables, and 1 part pickled vegetables or a dessert). 

Special care is taken while placing the food in the box.Different colored and differently textured food is used together - this not only ensures that all the food groups are covered but also makes it very pleasing to the eye. 

Care is also taken to see that different foods don’t touch each other and flavors don’t mix - That would simply make the food unappetizing and unappealing. Plastic dividers are used to separate different types of food or slices of cucumber or lettuce or something similar is used to create sections in one big box. A Bento will also usually have chopsticks and a beautiful cloth napkin accompanying it. 

The most popular type of Bento are called  'Kyara-Ben' or Character Bento. These have food cut and decorated in the shape of a famous cartoon/TV character and are usually given to young school going kids. 
vegetables and meat is cut into pretty patterns and the rice molded into different shapes using special molds and cutters that come just for this purpose.
Most of the Japanese mothers don’t always make complicated kyara- Ben for their kids but they do try to make the food as appetizing and attractive to look at as possible so that the kids feel like eating the food.

www. e-obento.com

Kyara Ben has now evolved into an art form and there are annual kyaraben competitions and festivals all over Japan.

Then there is the very famous Ai – Bento. Ai means love in Japanese and these are the bentos lovingly prepared by new wives for their husbands. The love for the husband is declared in the form of heart shaped food or love notes written with sauce or even with seaweeds ! 

But bento is not only for people who have loving wives or mothers to prepare it for them. Bento is also sold on train stations and these are known as Eki Bento. (Eki – Station)

 Eki- Ben forms a very integral part of train travel in Japan.
 I have had so many of them while travelling through the country and have thoroughly enjoyed them. Eki- Bens are not simply some boxed food for a traveler to eat. 
The way the food is prepared, decorated and the type of box that is used usually gives you a very good insight into the regional cuisine and culture of the place. 

A shop at a station selling Bentos

Some stations are famous for the Bentos sold there than anything else. Most of the Japanese passing through the Tokyo Station make it a point to buy the marunouchi ekiben sold there. The bento is inspired by the snacks that were eaten during the intermission of kabuki performances in the area.

There are usually a lot of Bento shops near commercial districts. The busy office goer can simply pop out at lunch time to buy a bento and come back and eat at his desk. Or he can pick up a Bento on his way home and just heat up his dinner. My dinner in Japan usually comprised of Bento boxes that I bought near my office. 

Very few countries herald the change of seasons as vividly as Japan. And this gets reflected in their lunch boxes as well.
This is a special Bento for the cherry blossom season. 

And the Girls' Doll festival has its own special Bento as well. 

Book Review - Sorting Out Sid

Sorting out Sid is Yashodhara Lal’s second book. The first one, “Just Married, Please excuse” is a hilarious take on the life of a newly married couple. In her own words the book is rather autobiographical.

Sorting out Sid on the other hand, talks about the trials and tribulations of the protagonist Sid aka Siddharth Agarwal in the corporate world as well as in his personal life.

Sid is your regular guy with regular problems. Ok, not so regular because his biggest grievance is that his desk is too close to the loo so he is wary of shaking anyone’s hand if they come to his desk straight from there !

Sid’s usual reaction to the complexities in his life is to go into the denial mode, half hoping his problems will go away on their own. He tends to wander into his own thoughts; half listening to what others are saying and this almost always lands him into foot in the mouth situations. To these idiosyncrasies, add a steadily crumbling marriage, possessive parents, an obnoxious boss fond of cracking Bathroom jokes, and an HR head showing a little more than professional interest in him and you have “Sorting Out Sid”.

Sid also has a different garb for the different roles he plays in his life – The Obedient Son, The eager beaver of an employee, the socialite and the always-acting-goofy Friend. The real Sid gets a little lost in all this.

The only place he can be himself is with Brownie – Someone (or is it something!) he can have intimate conversations with over endless bottles of beer because in his own words “You know why I love you so much, Brownie … You are such a good listener. You don’t judge. You don’t preach”.

Sorting out the Book!

Despite the complexities in Sid’s life, the story is simple and uncomplicated and the characters well etched out. There is no hotchpotch of parallel stories or numerous characters. All the characters, big or small play their own significant role – even the obscure maid Sid’s soon to be ex-wife hires does her own bit to make the plot funny.

What actually made this book such a delightful read for me was the way Yashodhara Lal has treated the story. Her strength as a story teller lies in the fact that she manages to convert even the most mundane everyday life incidents into humorous tales. The story line is actually serious. We are talking about breakdown in relationships and work politics – But Yashodhara tells these sordid details with such wit and humor that you will end up laughing out loud and commiserating with Sid at the same time.

Another thing that stands out about the book is that it has been written from Sid’s point of view. This is perhaps the first time I have seen a woman writer write a book from the perspective of the male protagonist. And I must say she does it with great panache and aplomb.

There is a whole lot of conversational tone and Hinglish used in the book – which works wonderfully with some readers but then not so well with some.

The sort of reader that I am, I usually go for the language. Exposition and wordplay is usually the first thing I will look for in a book, and if the book doesn’t have that then the plot better be racy and full of intrigue. Sorting Out Sid offers you neither. There are no elaborate descriptions and the plot is actually rather mundane – Just a sequence of events that happen in Sid’s life. And frankly in between the plot tends to drag just a wee bit.

But Yashodhara Lal wins you over with the quirky dialogues and the situations laced with droll humor. The book is peppered with absolutely hilarious monologues that Sid has with himself.

The language is simple but flows very smoothly. There is no symphony of words here but then there are no jarring notes either.

Yashodhara Lal knows the pulse of her readers well. This is the sort of book that young India will relate to. For aren’t we all a bit like Sid - bumbling through the stresses of modern life and in the process still trying to Sort ourselves out!

Sorting Out Sid is a fun and breezy read. A book you can enjoy with a cup of coffee or a beer – while you sit comfortably ensconced in your bean bag. It will make a perfect antidote for a bad work day!

The Best Days of My Life !

I was introduced to Sakshi’s Blog 'Between Write and Wrong' by a friend. To be honest, I opened it in a very bored and desultory manner not really knowing what to expect. I read the first few lines of her post and the next instant I was sitting up in sheer delight. For finally, finally here was a blogger who wasn't blogging simply for the sake of it. Sakshi writes, truly writes and uses her language masterfully to create utterly captivating works of art.

What also amazes me is how prolific she is. She can make you laugh out loud with her sparkling wit and then turn around and very casually, very effortlessly churn out a post that will astound you with its deep perception.

The love of travel is something Sakshi and I have in common. So when she asked me to write a travel post for her I wanted it to be something special. I went through a whole lot of travel destinations in my mind choosing and then discarding the places I wanted to write about. Finally I chose to write a memoir on Kobe, not a well-known tourist spot but a place that is very close to my heart. Somehow it seemed very appropriate for her blog! 

I do hope you enjoy reading it! 

I have spent many happy years in the Land of the Rising Sun and have lived in almost all its major cities, but the place that remains the closest to my heart is a quaint little city called Kobe. 

Kobe lies on the southernmost tip of Japan. It’s almost at the other end from Tokyo, but what separates the two cities is not only the physical distance but also their two totally different characters. Tokyo is all about big corporates, high rises and technology. Kobe on the other hand is quiet, laid back with an old world charm. If we were to assume that these two cities are people, Tokyo to me would be an aggressive Businessman but Kobe would be a graceful and elegant lady dressed in a Kimono.

Read the rest on Sakshi's blog using the link below. 

http://www.sakshinanda.com/2014/03/guest-post-best-days-of-my-life-by.html

When Two's a Crowd !

The normal, saner members of our society usually travel with family or friends. The more daring ones travel with strangers and then there are some wanderers like me, who at times prefer their own company over the company of others.

My first solo trip was out of necessity. I was in Japan and wanted to go to Kyoto to see the Shinto Shrines in their autumn splendor. None of my friends had any inclination to “spend our time shivering in the cold watching the leaves turn red” as they put it and so I just decided to go on my own.

That trip was a revelation. I was amazed to discover how much I enjoyed being by myself.

Perhaps out of anxiety because I was traveling alone, I had planned my Kyoto trip meticulously – right from where I wanted to stay to exactly what Shrines I wanted to see. But for some reason, as soon as I got off the train, I decided to throw caution to the winds and just follow my whim. I wandered all over the city on foot, stopping where I wanted for as long as I wanted. I whizzed past the more popular and crowded temples that were on my itinerary and instead spent hours walking through smaller lesser known temples deep in the woods where the beauty of the autumn colors had to be seen to be believed. I ate at odd times at the small kiosks selling traditional Japanese food without having to worry about the food choices of anyone else.

 It was an exhilarating experience.

Usually when we travel in a group we tend to fit ourselves into the company we keep. We mould ourselves to adjust to the likes and dislikes and wants of others. And I suppose this is how it should be when you travel in a group. But at times, I also like to “revel in my selfishness” .

Traveling alone gives you an incredible sense of freedom. Stay in a hotel or a quaint B&B. Walk when you want, or take the train. Skip a museum or spend your whole day wandering in them or simply sit in a café watching the world go by. Indulge in fine dining or eat the local food off the street. Get up at five in the morning to catch the sunrise or sleep till midday. It’s all up to You!

The biggest myth about traveling solo is that you will feel lonely and get bored. No you won’t. There is a great difference in being alone and being lonely. I have spent many perfect hours simply being with myself but not feeling lonely even for an instant. And no one who has a soul of a wanderer can ever get bored in a new place.

Traveling by yourself is a chance to step away from our daily life, away from the people we usually interact with. When you travel alone it is not just a journey to a new place, it is a journey within yourself. You will discover things about you, you never thought existed. Being on your own changes you, makes you a different and I dare say a better person. It gives you that sense of space so lacking in our lives.

You also become more aware of your surroundings, more observant. I really believe true appreciation of nature needs solitude. I have seen wonderful things while on holidays with others but the sights and sounds that have stayed with me the most are the ones I saw alone.

I went to Ladakh with a group of people but decided to steal a few hours to walk around Pangong Lake on my own. The time I spent there in utter solitude just watching the play of sun and clouds over the water will stay with me forever.

When you are on your own, you learn to savor the moments, discover your own piece of happiness. At the very crowded Toronto harbor, I found happiness by sitting on a bench eating fresh cherries and simply watching the boats.

I left behind the crowded Stonehenge and found a greater delight in walking through the woods alone, reveling in the sunny day that is as rare in UK as unicorns ! 

When you travel with others, it is not truly travel, It is simply a holiday. 

To wander about a new place with just your thoughts for company, with no compulsion to follow a plan, to conform or adapt to anything - Now that is travel!

Pic curtsy Indian Home Maker 

In Nature we Rejoice !

Every once in a while, I get this urge to run away from the urban jungle I live in and spend some time in Nature. This time I decided to head out to the Bharatpur Birds Sanctuary. The timing was perfect as this is when our feathered guests from the colder regions of the world pay the sanctuary a visit ! The usual way to see the sanctuary is to take a rickshaw. Some of the rickshaw wallah have actually been trained by Salim Ali and act as fantastic guides. But we decided to do things differently. We decided to walk, to savor the natural surroundings around us at our own pace. 

At first everything seemed to be in different hues of brown and green. The ancient trees with their barks crumbling and brown, the leaves a monochromatic green. The water almost white, translucent and speckled with green moss. 

The surface of the lake seemed like some exotic green and white carpet, the moss breaking to form small emerald islands as the birds swam through it.

After a while, it seemed as if our feathered guests had decided to take a liking to us, because they started to make an appearance, Slowly at first, as if they were shy and reluctant and then in groups once they had decided we were harmless !

And they added such a dash of colour to the brown and green landscape.

I loved this Duck, with a bright orange rim around the eye, the tip of its beak a bright yellow, as if it had dipped it in yellow paint by mistake. 

The spotted brown and white of its plumage livened by a just a daub of blue.

A kingfisher dazzles us with its Spectacular Blue. 

The Painted Storks paint a perfect picture ! 

 We walked on through the woods, giving up the usually followed path to venture into wilder, lesser known trails. We felt almost surreal, as if we had been transported into another world, another time.

We saw some pelicans sit proud and regal on a small island,as if doing us a favor by letting us click them.

A little further down I saw four pelicans take flight over the water. There was something totally enthralling and mesmerizing in the way they seemed to hover above the lake, almost motionless, their pristine white wings stretched taut, their orange  beaks glistening in the sun. 

They made a breathtaking sight framed against the perfect backdrop of green trees and the untarnished blue sky.It seemed as if they were suspended in time – till they decided to soar away in a graceful arc, leaving perfect reflections in water that was as smooth as glass.

I couldn't capture the flight on camera, but the image will stay with me for a long time ! 

The wide expanse of the lake as well the trees and the birds had a very soothing, calming and strangely a very humbling effect on us. There is a lot we can learn from Nature about existing in harmony as also about the impermanence of things, about transformation and change.

But there is also some permanence in the earth and the sun and the water, in the deep rooted trees and the birds that come year after year in a cycle unaltered over ages.

The two days in the sanctuary left me totally rejuvenated. We all have different ways to deal with our turbulent life styles. But it is towards nature that I turn to uplift my spirit!

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 
There is society, where none intrudes, 
By the deep sea, and music in its roar, 
I love not man the less, but Nature more. 

                                                - Lord Byron