After staying in Austin for 3 years I definitely turned to a true Longhorn, a Tex-Mex lover, and Mexican Martini addict!!!! Austin was just awesome and I miss the place and the food so much:(
But sure life moves on and so did I. It is true for me at least that it is the food that wins my heart to any city. No wonder I loved Bombay the instance I ate the bus stop wale bhaiya ka Bhel! and how could I forget the Scandal Point ka Dosa, Crystal Dhabha, and High Point ice cream, Church Gates Bun Maska, and of course our Sophia College Anna's vada pav :)
My memories of a place are often filled with the food I had and how much I enjoyed :)
Let me do a quick pop quiz of all my favorite eateries around the world. I really won't be surprised if I remember them all :)
Let me start with my first memories:
Raniganj:
Not many places to eat out there but among the few outside my Bua's house(Tilak Road)every evening we ate Moori Chop.
Big Byte where I remember I used to like the Grilled Sandwiches
Ranchi:
of course my mums food :)specially all her baked spaghetti dishes.
Seventh Heaven: Rasam's are my favorite in the world. The Dosas are also amazing
Ranchi Club: Chili Baby corns, and Chinese food
Ranchi Gymkhana Club: Paneer Chili
Arya: Daal(lentils)
Doranda Littis are my favorite amongst all :)
BIT Dhaba
Calcutta:
Flury's Bread and Pastery's
Mumbai:
Swati - great Gujarati food
Kobe's Sizzler - the name says it all. But my favorite is spaghetti and cheese sizzler
Sardar's Pav Bhaji: Let me warn you of sinful amounts of ghee that you will consume:)......etc etc etc...I guess I need to stop here. Specially the Mumbai list will go on forever :)and to be honest I am craving for it already!!
But the point is..I am where there is good spicy vegetarian food. In this section of my blog I will keep updated on MUST-GO places to eat.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever has!"
- Margaret Meade
I confess....I have crossed the limits of procrastination. I have a room full of recycling material stored in for almost 3 years which I could never get rid of. I always wanted to buy that 99 cents HEB reusable grocery bags..finally have two of them..thanks to National Instruments free bag distribution on Earth day :) But its never too late to learn a few more tips on ways I can move towards my short term goal "Reuse plastic bags".
Its no economics that plastic bags are so cheap to produce, its no surprise that plastic bags are so sturdy, and its no discovery that they are plentiful. They sit balled up and stuffed into the one that hangs from the pantry door. They flap from trees. They float in the breeze. Sometimes they mask the street dogs. They clog roadside drains. They drift on high seas. They also fill sea turtle bellies.
What do we do with those plastic bags after all? Well here are few ways I use plastic bags.
- Use as small trash can liners: I wont say that I use the bags for kitchen waste. They are too small to carry so much waste. But, definitely very easy replacement for bathroom bins, dry bins in your room and around the house. I would further recommend using grocery plastic bags for this purpose because they have limitations to be used as reuse material.
- Shoe bags in your suitcase when traveling
- Carry it in your suitcase when traveling to collect worn clothes.
- Soft packing for shipping bags
- Carry them next time you go shopping at the mall: I often use it when I go shopping for clothes, shoes, etc. No matter how "cool" looking brown paper bag the store offers I prefer reusing the plastic bag first. Only when I run out of plastic bags I go for paper bags.
- Sometimes I take them back to the recycling bin at the grocery store
- Nice sturdy plastic bags are very good for lining wet areas in your house like bathroom cabinet drawers
- Use them as lunch bags: I definitely prefer plastic and not paper bag for this purpose because it lasts much longer and is very sturdy.
- Store expensive clothes: Sometimes I use these bags to seal my exquisite clothes in them so that they remain intact.
- If you own jute bags/cloth bags/ reusable bags then use them for your grocery shopping. If you do not own these then definitely carry nice sturdy bags you have collected from clothes shopping. If you ran out of these then go ahead and buy yourself a reusable bag.
- Plastic bags can also be used to line your car trunks to avoid it getting dirty with your grocery. Well I know this is going little extreme but I then there are people who love to keep their car clean. Also if they are in your car trunk you can use it for shopping each time you are out.
Before you discard or even recycle another plastic bag consider reusing by trying at least some of these ideas which are convenient for you.Well these are the few ways I have tried reusing plastic bags. Please let me know if their are other ways it can be used.
"In those first years the roads were peopled with refugees shrouded up in their clothing.Wearing masks and goggles, sitting in their rags by the side of the road like ruined aviators........Look around you.Ever is a long time. But the boy knew what he knew. Ever is a long time."
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
These are just few of the many lines that gave me chill on my spine. Post-apocalyptic ideas are common talk these days. But before I begin my main intention to write this blog I have to tell each one of you to definitely go and grab this book. Its probably worth reading a few times.
I am not quite a reader. I was forced into reading this book by my English professor (Dr. Berry) at UT. She just couldn't stop raving about this book. After some point I was like ..yeah whatever...lemme just read it and get over with it.
I would say that McCarthy has left readers to interpret the book in many ways. Some get awed just by the father and son relationship, and some get scared by fierce post-apocalyptic world. To me it could be the most important and effective environment book ever. As one of the critics said, "It contains no graphs, no tables, no facts, figures, warnings, predictions or even arguments. Nor does it carry a single dreary sentence, which, sadly, distinguishes it from most environmental literature. It is a novel.....and it will change the way you see the world."
Here are my initial thoughts/questions:
- Is all this global warming issue, mass animal and plant extinction, hurricanes, floods, etc can we actually change any of it just by getting to " Use Paper, Avoid plastic" drives. I certainly believe that they do make a huge impact. They help make our environments clean, make us responsible citizens etc etc. But again, will they make a bigger impact. Sometimes I fall in between these debates that this whole environmental issue is a political gimmick and sometimes I support like an ardent environmentalist.
- How far we can go to protect it. This is the way I see it. We all should definitely play a big role and do all things we can to protect our immediate surrounding. If each one of us take care of that then blame higher authorities and politics to have not taken care of bigger issues when we took care of the small ones.
Certainly McCarthy has inspired me to take my drive to a next level. Under this thread I hope to post all the ways we can make a small difference. I will only recommend try and tested methods by myself and hope it helps each one of you.
