I-week

Sorry, couldn't pen as much as I wanted to. I had an exam yday (after giving which I realize I could have penned anyway) and been a little bz with this I-week prep.

Its International Week here in A&M. There are booths set up by different associations of students from different countries. We had the I-buffet on thursday. I-buffet is where different countries delight your taste buds with exotic cuisine from their region. India had Gobi Pakora, Dhokla and Gulab Jamoons. The experience was wonderful. Being a vegetarian, I was a little apprehensive about what I would get to eat, but I was surely in for a surprise. I tasted Turkish, Egyptian, Colombian, African, Isralien, Iranian, German cuisine..and all I can say is ..wow!

It is very strange, but a lot of cuisines are very similar. I found turkey and egyptian had same kind of dishes.We know of course, Indian, Bagladeshi, Srilankan, Pakistani are close. I was in for a surprise when a broken wheat dish in Turkish was called Pilav (and yes, tasted like pulav). A couple of years ago, I had made Kheer for my French friends. I was surprised to learn that there is a similar Egyptian dish, a french one and here at A&M one of my friends from Panama said that she tasted something similar in Spain! Man, payasam has sure travelled a long way. (And yes, Kir is a cocktail in france). Such similarities in cuisine give this strange feeling of oneness. It suddenly dawns on me that no matter where you come from, what your culture is, we all, after all belong to this one community-humans. And with all the people from over 70 countries, big and small, with all the different colors, races, languages ..all in one room conveying to each other one simple gesture: smile. It united all of us in that room. As people indulge in wars, bloodshed, not just against other countries but against their own people too sometimes, as people get into this regionalistic row (ref. my prev blog), we need to realize. All we have this is one little earth to live in (and trust me, every time I think of this, it scares me). This is our only place to live in (oh please, there just cannot be any life anywhere else), and it is in our hands to keep it safe. No ET will be as good as us. Lets not consciously do anything to harm this only place to live or better, lets consciously do something to make our lives better here at home sweet home.

At the end of all the eating, tasting and laughing, I was quietly bit by the travel bug again. I am now craving to visit South America. The colors, the people, their cuisine has completely captivated me now. I am trying to learn about their culture. It is interesting and the exciting part is when I find some similarities between our cultures.