Thursday deep thoughts

This is apparently what passes for deep, philosophical thoughts at Rediff these days. It is amazing how an author who is proud of some Americans disappointed in George Bush saying that he is taking the country backwards by 20 years, is completely unfazed by a thought process that doesn’t even belong in the last century, forget this one in the name of religion.

Seriously, this author actually expects us to take him seriously when he is such a frigging wimp that he won’t even come out and say what he really means is that it will be hard to force your ancient will on educated and accomplished women in the name of religion! It is sheer cowardice or tacit approval of the “status quo” (take your pick) that he leaves that issue off with a stupid question couched in irritating terms like “demands of female family members”. Is this what passes for progressive thought these days?

Crash - Movie Review

Wow! I really don’t know how to describe this movie. I could say it is a study of race relations, racial tensions and emotions in America, but that would make the Jasminlive movie sounds too artsy and stodgy - something which this movie is completely not. (Now, “Birth” is another issue and might be the topic of another review). Crash in a nutshell is the story of a complete day in the lives of a lot of people living in LA, how their lives intersect through the day and in my husband’s words, “set off a chain reaction” that ultimately ends in the death of a black man.

The movie has pretty much every racial stereotype you can think of - Hispanic housekeeper, thuggish black people, racist white people, Chinese people who say “blake” for “brake” and illegal immigrants. There are Persian shopkeepers who think all Hispanics are out to cheat them - there are black guys who think the Whitey’s keeping them down - there are white people who think all black people are out to rob them. What keeps the movie from becoming a parody or a preachy lecture is the heart that the movie manages to find in it’s characters - the characters are all shades of gray - none really evil (well, maybe a couple who frame an innicent white cop so they can get the black vote).

I thought the most complex interesting characters were those of the black director(Terrence Howard) who thinks he has to shut up and let people walk over him so he can get on with his life - he doesn’t want to cause any ripples. He is too afraid to even speak up when Matt Dillon’s racist white cop (another very interesting character) pretends to search her while actually feeling up her skirt. He would rather stand there and let him and his wife be publicly humiliated than do something - all this pent-up frustration causes him to erupt at quite an unlikely time that puts his life in real jeopardy.

Matt Dillon’s portrayal of a racist cop seemed run-of-the-mill initially till you realize there are layers of empathy, frustration and hurt below his hard surface once you get to know him. It was commendable of the movie makers to not take any sides in the argument, but simply present the various sides of the race story. What got me were the scenes of confrontation between Thandie Newton who plays the wife humiliated by Matt Dillon and her husband. The wife is screaming at her husband in frustration - angry that he, her protector simply stood by and watched while she was being molested on a road by another man. She is humiliated not only for herself, but also for him that he couldn’t muster up the dignity to fight back. He, on the other hand is passive-aggressive and punishes the only person whom he can safely stand up to - his wife - by refusing to talk to her, and playing the martyr while at the same time choosing to ignore the fact that it was she who was molested and she, who is in greater pain than he could possibly be in.

Ryan Phillippe has an interesting little arc playing the honset sidekick to Matt Dillon who requests a reassignment since he cannot stand his partner’s racism, but in the end realizes there in inherent racism within himself too - whether he acknowledges it or not.

All in all, a very interesting movie - well-made with gripping characters that stay with you long after the movie has ended. A well-told tale that probably comes as close to balanced as it can when it comes to the state of race relations in America.

Men and women

There has been quite bit of an on-going discussion in Jasminelive blogs these days (see here, here) about boys, girls, education and how the genders make it difficult for them to be taught in the same manner at school. I had an opportunity to observe first-hand, some interesting stuff yesterday.

My little (20-month-old) son was invited over to a s’ gym for a birthday party. There were probably about 4 boys 18-30 months-old and about 8 girls, all of same age range. The party co-ordinator let them all run around and let-off steam a bit. Then she called them all made them sit around in a circle for some group games. Initially, the entire group sat there in the circle and played. I noticed that 10-minutes later, only girls were left in the group and the boys had all wandered off (including mine) to play around by themselves and in general run around like little maniacs.

It was very interesting to see how the Chaturbate girls loved the attention of the group circle and participated eagerly in it, while the boys were initially made to sit there by their moms and then slowly just wiggled away for some solitary play time. They were not even playing with each other - they were all by themselves quite unlike the girls who were in little groups even in playtime. Even the games they were playig were really different - even though the gym equipment they were playing with was the same.

Now, I am no educator and I really don’t know what all this means. I grew up in a home where my dad was the only male, so I have had no chance (not interest) to observe the behavior of male . I remember thinking of them as dirty, rowdy creatures when I was little and as the mother of a young boy, I want to see and learn as much as I can about what makes boys, boys. As a young girl, I have never had any problem in school and I remember most of the disciplinary action geared towards the boys. I guess I am kind of seeing now, how it just might be a male thing to run out-of-bounds since you are so full of energy and very less discretion.

Chaai cha-cha-cha!

I know I promised a review today, but I have had so many questions about teas in general, I am going to let this week’s review be a compendium of sorts about tea. The reviews will start next week.

First question most people ask me about tea is where I buy it - there isn’t one single place for me. I have bought good tea from Tom Thumb, Central Market, World Market, online - from all over. Most grocery stores are getting into the chai business these days and are beginning to stock more than the usual lipton iced tea.

Another question I frequently get is about the kinds of teas. Briefly, there are 4 broad categories -

Black Tea - this is the most common, most processed and the most caffeinated version of the teas. Pretty strong in tate and has the least amount of antoxidants.

Green Tea - this is also pretty common and this is processed a lot less than the black tea, so it retains a lot more antoxidants than black tea. This tea needs to be brewed carefully. Don’t ever use boling hot water to brew green tea. Instead, let the hot water cool for a minute before you put your tea bag or tea leaves in. Don’t overbrew this tea, since that will release the bitter tannins from the tea. Brew this tea about 3-4 minutes for optimal taste. Green tea is not quite as strong as black tea in taste and it’s taste can be enhanced by the subtle fragrance of jasmine flowers in it, a slice of lemon, a few drops of honey or all of them together.

White Tea - said to be the rarest of teas, this tea is made from the tea-leaf-buds and with minimal processing so as to preserve the antoxidants. This tea is extremely subltle in color and taste. The tea has a slightly sweet taste to it and is one of my favorites. This tea should also be brewed like the Green Tea.

Herbal Tea - technically speaking, this is not tea at all, but a brew of various herbs like licorice, lemon, ginger, chamomile, etc. with supposed medicinal properties. I love a blend of licorice and mint that has the minty freshness with the licorice after-taste adding a subtle sweetness that is out of this world.

Tip: Most teas, in tea bags and full-leaf can be rebrewed upto 3 or 4 times. This applies to the green tea and white tea even more, since you want to take the bag/leaves out of the water in 3-4 minutes while there is still some potency left.

Lastly, what is the difference between tea bags and tea leaves? Tea bags are most of the time, the powder left behind after the packing up of the full-leaf teas - I say most of the time, since there are also some full-leaf tea bags available. I always recommend full-leaf teas for the best and the cleanest taste. Well, ask me if there are any more questions and we will start on the tea journey few teas at a time starting next week.

My love affair with Tea

It is funny that one of the big things about being Indian is drinking tea (coffee if you are from the South). It is funny to me, since I was never into tea or coffee back home in India. My mom was extremely afraid of caffeine and addiction and strove to keep me away from those demon drinks. I vaguely remember drinking “adrak chai” early morning on a cold winter’s day in Bombay and thinking this makes my throat feel so good. My dad occasionally snuck me some sips of his tea, but over all I never developed a taste for it and remained extremely proud of my non-coffee-and-tea drinking habits.

It was sometime in 1999, in San Francisco at the best dimsum place in town that I had a chance to revisit tea again - this time albeit in the form of green, jasmine tea. I was hooked by the clear taste of not-over-brewn green tea that doesn’t overwhelm you while the jasmine adds a little tang. It was not truly love at first sight, but that first taste was enough to persuade me to get a few more to the point if you now looked at my cabinet in my cube at work, at current count you will find - 15 boxes of tea. Any addict will tell you that is it is hard to pinpoint the exact moment when like turns to love and into obsession, but all I know is that I am now a tea-drnker for life.

Even if I do chug down 4-5 cups of tea/day usually, 80% of the tea I drink is white or green - I drink black tea very rarely. I am going to offer up my reviews of some of the teas I have had so far, so if any of you want to try out tea, you have atleast a guide to the awesomeness or the suckitude of the said tea. The reviews will be a weekly affair starting tomorrow, so keep watching this space.